Russian Economy General News: #2

sepheronx wrote:While avtovaz is still producing same rate, Ford is dropping a lot of production in Russia due to weakened rouble and low consumption rate for automobiles (even though lada granta sold very well). The blame for weak rouble is bad due to it technically makes production cheaper for them, so it is more of a political stance then anything. To make it even funnier, is they are still wanting to release and sell newer models in Russia.

sepheronx wrote:Russia and India may go Rouble to Rupee transactions

Yes, so it does begin. Finaly.

Economic ties between Russia and Iran develop successfuly

Good. This will be good for future relations and Iran is a very large market. 70M market.

Gazprom earnings up 5% jan-feb

So much for sanctions.

magnumcromagnon wrote:The U.S. dollar is a house of cards, if large economies like Russia, China, India stop using the dollar entirely (which is unlikely but still very plausible) than the currencies propping up the dollar (like the Euro) will break like the levees in New Orleans during hurricane Katrina. Take away U.S. dollar hegemony then the empire starts to collapse, just like how the British empire collapsed!

MP.net wrote:You have been banned for the following reason:
Repetitive anti-US rants

Date the ban will be lifted: Never

macedonian wrote:

magnumcromagnon wrote:The U.S. dollar is a house of cards, if large economies like Russia, China, India stop using the dollar entirely (which is unlikely but still very plausible) than the currencies propping up the dollar (like the Euro) will break like the levees in New Orleans during hurricane Katrina. Take away U.S. dollar hegemony then the empire starts to collapse, just like how the British empire collapsed!

Indeed.
I think the Russians/Chinese have just used the financial nuclear bomb actually, but I can't be sure until I see the mushroom cloud...




on a similar note (of the falling empire):

I mistakenly tried to log-on to MP.net, thinking I was logging-on here...
Gotta share with you guys the reason I was banned from that place:

MP.net wrote:You have been banned for the following reason:
Repetitive anti-US rants

Date the ban will be lifted: Never

That's how empires fall...by not respecting the rules they themselves have 'setup' to begin with...free press...a right to one's opinion...give me a break!
Good reminder...I'm havin' fun here...

macedonian wrote:

magnumcromagnon wrote:The U.S. dollar is a house of cards, if large economies like Russia, China, India stop using the dollar entirely (which is unlikely but still very plausible) than the currencies propping up the dollar (like the Euro) will break like the levees in New Orleans during hurricane Katrina. Take away U.S. dollar hegemony then the empire starts to collapse, just like how the British empire collapsed!

Indeed.
I think the Russians/Chinese have just used the financial nuclear bomb actually, but I can't be sure until I see the mushroom cloud...




on a similar note (of the falling empire):

I mistakenly tried to log-on to MP.net, thinking I was logging-on here...
Gotta share with you guys the reason I was banned from that place:

MP.net wrote:You have been banned for the following reason:
Repetitive anti-US rants

Date the ban will be lifted: Never

That's how empires fall...by not respecting the rules they themselves have 'setup' to begin with...free press...a right to one's opinion...give me a break!
Good reminder...I'm havin' fun here...

sepheronx wrote:This is going to sound strange coming from me, but lets please refrain from just blatant insults towards US and US citizens.  1) it kinda hurts the credibility of the site and (2) even if the government is a semi reflection of the people, not everyone in the US is dumb or ignorant.  And those whom are ignorant of what is going on, well, that is to be blamed by their government and media.  Many people are easily swayed when it comes to what is told to them, and many have too many worries of their own in their own country than to worry about US/Russian relations or what is happening right now.

That being said, MP.net is not a total reflection of US, Europe or what not.  Just a bunch of people with same ignorant mindsets that are banding together in one forum.  It isn't even that many people anyway.
____________________________________________________________________________________________

Now that is off my chest:

Western business circles not intrested in escalating tension with Russia — view

It is my view too, especially since Siemens told Merkel to f-off technically and that they will still continue to develop with Russia.  Same with Rheinmetal said they were disappointed with their decision on the cancellation of the sale of the simulators.  But are hoping to undo the damage they caused.

Zivo wrote:

sepheronx wrote:This is going to sound strange coming from me, but lets please refrain from just blatant insults towards US and US citizens.  1) it kinda hurts the credibility of the site and (2) even if the government is a semi reflection of the people, not everyone in the US is dumb or ignorant.  And those whom are ignorant of what is going on, well, that is to be blamed by their government and media.  Many people are easily swayed when it comes to what is told to them, and many have too many worries of their own in their own country than to worry about US/Russian relations or what is happening right now.

That being said, MP.net is not a total reflection of US, Europe or what not.  Just a bunch of people with same ignorant mindsets that are banding together in one forum.  It isn't even that many people anyway.
____________________________________________________________________________________________

Now that is off my chest:

Western business circles not intrested in escalating tension with Russia — view

It is my view too, especially since Siemens told Merkel to f-off technically and that they will still continue to develop with Russia.  Same with Rheinmetal said they were disappointed with their decision on the cancellation of the sale of the simulators.  But are hoping to undo the damage they caused.

Thank you sepheronx.

MP.net is in no way a representation of the political opinions of the American people. The bulk of the Americans that site are what most other countries would consider as being ultra-nationalist, "The King can do no wrong" types of people.

Zivo wrote:Personally I don't like the term "neo-con", because it's almost exclusively associated with the Republican Party. The "problem" crosses party lines so I don't like to use a term generally associated with just one political party.

I guess Atlanticists is a better term. BTW the neo-cons are the Russophobes that usually dominate MP.net, and key-publishing aviation forum because "lefties" in America usually tend to be gun-o-phobic.

DT wrote: The European Union is close to freezing plans to complete the $50bn (£30bn) South Stream gas pipeline through the Black Sea from Russia, the first serious EU action to punish the Kremlin for the seizure of Crimea.

Key details emerged in a leaked briefing by the European Commission’s chief, Jose Manuel Barroso, to Bulgarian politicians, warning the country not to stand in the way of the EU’s tough new line on the project, or attempt to undercut a unified EU response over Ukraine. “We are telling Bulgaria to be very careful,” he said, according to reports in Bulgaria’s press.

Mr Barroso said there are “people in Bulgaria who are agents of Russia”, a reference to figures in the ruling Socialist party who have been trying to clinch a bilateral deal with the Kremlin.

macedonian wrote:I hope this EU thing doesn't last too long.

Austin wrote:^^ Well good , Let EU pay more price for Gas from alternate source and screw up their economy. 

Alexander Dyukov, chief executive of Gazprom Neft, told reporters in St Petersburg that the company had discussed shifting contracts to euros with its customers. “Practically all – 95 per cent of our customers – confirmed their willingness to move to settlement in euros,” he said.

The discussions reflect the growing fear among larger Russian companies that they could soon come into the cross-hairs of US and European sanctions that have so far targeted wealthy individuals and a single mid-sized bank – Bank Rossiya.

One senior banker said that many commodity groups, including Gazprom Neft, had held talks with bankers about financing in euros rather than dollars. “Every commodity sector business is talking about what is possible if you couldn’t do deals in dollars – if you couldn’t get dollar clearing through New York,” he said.

Such a switch could result in higher costs for companies because of the need to convert currencies and the lower liquidity for those other than the US dollar.

Russian stocks tumbled on Monday after pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk said they would hold a referendum for the eastern province to join Russia, mimicking earlier moves that lead to Crimea’s annexation. The benchmark Micex index fell 2.4 per cent, with Sberbank down 3.7 per cent and Gazprom 2.5 per cent weaker.

The US sanctions – imposed in response to the Crimean annexation – effectively prohibit named companies and individuals from dealing in dollars, lawyers and bankers say.

Andrei Kostin, chief executive of state bank VTB, said over the weekend that Russian exporters should consider payments in roubles rather than dollars. “To a certain degree this would be a guarantee that, if at some point someone decided to impose Iran-style sanctions on us, we would have a level of protection from it,” he told state television.

Mr Kostin, one of the most senior figures in the Russian business community, added that he had spoken to the heads of three of the largest Russian exporters – Gazprom, Rosneft, and Rostec – and that they were “in principle ready to do this”.

“It is somewhat strange that a payment from Kazakhstan to Russia goes through New York,” he said. Gazprom said that it was considering the idea, but Rosneft said that it would “settle payments in the currency of the contract”.

Norilsk Nickel, the world’s largest nickel and palladium miner, earlier told the FT that it was discussing denominating long-term contracts with Chinese consumers in renminbi.

Western sanctions have so far had minimal impact on the Russian commodity sector’s ability to export. But there are worries among some executives that further rounds of sanctions from the US could target the energy sector, which accounts for about half of Moscow’s budget revenues.

Robert McNally, president of Rapidan Group and a former White House oil adviser, said that he expected the next round of sanctions – if it came – to hit investment in oil and gas production.

“In the event Washington and the west are unable to prevent Putin invading southeastern Ukraine, there will be broad-ranging sanctions from the US side that will touch US energy companies,” he told the FT.

“In terms of western investment in promising frontier areas in Russia, it would be very negative for those companies and negative for Russia. They would lose capital and technological expertise and momentum that has been built up already. It would be quite disruptive.”

Mr Dyukov of Gazprom Neft acknowledged that a shift away from dollars would not be without costs to the company.

“I am not ready to say that such a shift will happen absolutely painlessly and without losses,” he said.

Alexander Kornilov, oil and gas analyst at Alfa Bank in Moscow, said that the shift, if it happened, could hurt Russian companies’ earnings.

“Switching to the rouble would imply some extra undesirable transaction costs for international buyers, and this could threaten to undermine the competitiveness of Russian oil and gas producers on the global market,” he said.

Austin wrote:^^ Well good , Let EU pay more price for Gas from alternate source and screw up their economy. 

Russian GDP in 2013 is $1.9 Trillion

http://en.itar-tass.com/economy/726441


Russia’s GDP in 2013 was $1.9 trillion (66,7 trillion roubles). Rosstat had previously estimated GDP at $ 1.9 trillion (66,6 trillion roubles).

Gold reserves of the Russian Federation in February increased to about 1041.9 1034.7 tons per ton in January, according to data on the website of the International Monetary Fund.
In January, Switzerland reserves totaled 1,040.1 tons, and data for February on the IMF has not yet been published.
Russia probably ranked sixth gold reserves after the U.S., Germany, Italy, France and China, as the size of the gold reserves of Switzerland, according to the IMF, in 2008, almost unchanged.

sepheronx wrote:Gold reserves of the Russian Federation in February increased to approximately 1041.9 tons

Gold reserves of the Russian Federation in February increased to about 1041.9 1034.7 tons per ton in January, according to data on the website of the International Monetary Fund.
In January, Switzerland reserves totaled 1,040.1 tons, and data for February on the IMF has not yet been published.
Russia probably ranked sixth gold reserves after the U.S., Germany, Italy, France and China, as the size of the gold reserves of Switzerland, according to the IMF, in 2008, almost unchanged.

zg18 wrote:

sepheronx wrote:Gold reserves of the Russian Federation in February increased to approximately 1041.9 tons

Gold reserves of the Russian Federation in February increased to about 1041.9 1034.7 tons per ton in January, according to data on the website of the International Monetary Fund.
In January, Switzerland reserves totaled 1,040.1 tons, and data for February on the IMF has not yet been published.
Russia probably ranked sixth gold reserves after the U.S., Germany, Italy, France and China, as the size of the gold reserves of Switzerland, according to the IMF, in 2008, almost unchanged.

It only takes into account what is inside CB vault , commercial banks buy more gold than Russian CB several years already. Real gold reserves are in range of 1500-2000 metric tons.

Tekhnopromexport signed contracts with the Ministry of Energy and Water of the Republic of Angola to overhaul hydraulic unit number 2 HPP "Kapanda", as well as spare parts and materials for work on the project.
In accordance with the contracts TPE perform overhaul and adjustment of the main equipment of the second assembly station, and will supply spare parts.
Tekhnopromexport belongs to the State Corporation Rosteh, for five years, is a partner of the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources of the Republic of Angola to the implementation of repair and service hydroelectric "Capanda" and carrying out all types of repair work on the project.
Over the past two years the company overhauled the third and fourth station hydraulic units.
HPP "Capanda" total installed capacity of 520 MW was built "turnkey" Technopromexport in 2007. The station is the main supplier of electricity to the region and among the top ten most extensive waterworks of the African continent.

Russian "Gazprom" signed today with the Kyrgyz side agreement to purchase 100 percent of the shares "Kirgizgaza" for $ 1, according to ITAR-TASS. Russian company also undertook all the debt of the company, which currently amount to about $ 40 million
The new division will be called "Gazprom-Kyrgyzstan". According to the head of "Gazprom" Alexey Miller, "the main purpose of the new company will be a continuous supply of natural gas to consumers Kyrgyz in the required quantities."
According to the bilateral agreement, "Gazprom" will provide for five years at least 20 billion rubles for the modernization of distribution networks Kyrgyzstan length of about 700 kilometers.
"We also intend to resume carrying out exploration work on the territory of Kyrgyzstan, to increase the capacity of the country. Today the country produces no more than 30 million cubic meters of gas, and we intend to increase this percentage as the number of gas consumers in Kyrgyzstan", - said Miller.

Tekhnopromexport belongs to the State Corporation Rosteh, completed the reconstruction unit number 2 TPP "Gorazal" in Bangladesh.
Work at the facility were conducted under contract with the Office of Energy Development Bangladesh (Bangladesh Power Development Board) for the reconstruction and modernization of two units of the TPP "Gorazal" capacity of 55 MW each.
Tekhnopromexport works in the energy market of Bangladesh for over 35 years and during that time has commissioned seven backbone of this country for power units with a total installed capacity of 1160 MW. Among them, two units of 55 MW and 210 MW for four at TPP "Gorazal" as well as one unit installed capacity of 210 MW TPP "Siddirganch."

In accordance with the contract Tekhnopromexport spent on repair work turbogenerator unit transformer, auxiliary equipment and coastal pumping station unit, and was substituted in place of boiler heating surfaces, steam turbine unit and piping and boiler connection.
As a result of this work to improve the economic and operational performance indicators unit. Currently, the unit is turned into the grid of Bangladesh and is stable.
The project was financed through commercial credit Technopromexport under the sovereign guarantee of the Government of Bangladesh.

On the basis of the Istanbul Technical University, a technical discovery fourth foreign public information center Atomic Energy Rosatom. In PICs will clearly shows the principle of the power plant of Russian design, layouts NPP industrial site and its reactor; acquaint visitors with the way arranged protective barriers at the nuclear plant.
Staff at the new center will educate guests in the field of nuclear energy, engaged in promotion of Russian nuclear technology and Russian education. The target audience will be the center of pupils, students, teachers of secondary and higher education institutions, as well as representatives of government and non-governmental organizations and the media.
Outside Russia, the expansion of the network InfoCenter Atomic Energy planned in countries using Russian technology for the construction of the nuclear industry. In 2012, the centers were opened in Hanoi (Vietnam), Mersin, Buyukedzheli (Turkey), in the past year - in Dhaka (Bangladesh). This year, plans to open an information center in Minsk.

BASRA, March 29. / ITAR-TASS /
Investments of "LUKOIL" in Iraqi field "West Qurna-2" for 2 years from the beginning of development amounted to $ 4 billion, told reporters CEO Alekperov.
According to him, "the company to the forefront of production of 120 thousand barrels of oil per day, and from that moment begins the process of recovery of expenses in a project where" LUKOIL "is the operator."
By the end of the year production from this field will increase to 400-450 thousand barrels per day, he said.

In turn, the vice-premier of the Russian government Arkady Dvorkovich noted that the "world's largest project that implements the Russian company" . Production at the "West Qurna-2", according to Dvorkovich, will reach 10% of Russia's oil production .

JSC "Russian Railways" starts construction and reconstruction of railways of Serbia, which are financed by export credit provided by the Russian government.
March 25 in Pancevo hosted a ceremony beginning construction and electrification of the second railway line from Pančevo Bridge (Belgrade) to the station Pancevo Home (Pancevo).

Cyberspec wrote:Interesting stuff....could be the beginning of something very important

It's On: Gazprom Prepares "Symbolic" Bond Issue In Chinese Yuan
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-04-10/gazprom-prepares-symbolic-bond-issue-chinese-yuan


and related to the above...

40 Central Banks Are Betting This Will Be The Next Reserve Currency (Yuan)
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-04-08/40-central-banks-are-betting-will-be-next-reserve-currency