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Putin Officials Said to Admit Real Syria Goal Is Far Broader

File photo showing Russian MIG-29 jet fighters. Russian intervention may last as long as a year, official says As Russia’s air war in Syria nears its fourth week, officials now admit that Moscow’s aim is far broader than the publicly announced fight against terrorist groups. The Kremlin’s real goal is to help Syrian President Bashar al-Assad retake as much as possible of the territory his forces have lost to opponents, including U.S.-backed rebels, Russian officials told Bloomberg News. Moscow’s deployment of several dozen planes, as well as ships in the Black and Caspian Seas, could last a year or more, one official said. President Vladimir Putin is willing to run the risk of falling into the kind of quagmire that helped sink the Soviet Union a generation ago for the chance to roll back U.S. influence and demonstrate he can dictate terms to Washington. If the strategy is successful, […]

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Ruble Slumps With Crude Oil as Credit Suisse Sees New-Year Rally

The ruble weakened the most worldwide, sinking in lockstep with falling crude prices. Credit Suisse Group AG predicted the currency of the world’s biggest energy exporter will rally in the new year, triggering a resumption of dollar-buying by the central bank. The ruble fell for the first time in four days as oil tumbled on data that showed the Chinese economy grew at the slowest pace since 2009 in the third quarter. Russian policy makers will cut interest rates 50 basis points by the end of the month as the ruble stabilizes and may need to intervene to tame its gains in the first quarter, Credit Suisse economists said in a note today. "Neither the commodities markets nor the currencies markets have fully absorbed the Chinese data, so there’s a chance the ruble will test the level of 62.50 to 63 in the next few days," Evgeny Koshelev, an […]

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Russian anti-monopoly board says Gazprom could split

Federal antitrust group in Russia hears proposals to split gas company Gazprom into separate business entities. Photo courtesy of Gazprom. MOSCOW, Oct. 16 (UPI) — Russian natural gas company Gazprom could be divided into separate production and transportation groups, a federal anti-monopoly service said. The European community has looked to rival suppliers to advance its own energy security needs, expressing frustration with the monopoly Gazprom holds over transit and supplies. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the country would remain the key energy supplier for Europe, however. Igor Artemyev, the head of Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service, said Igor Sechin , the chief executive officer at Russian oil producer Rosneft, initiated the talks for a Gazprom split . "It had been subject of discussion for a decade," Artemyev said. "The issue should be discussed within the respective program of gas market development." Sechin asked the Kremlin last year to use […]

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Hedge Funds Bullish on Russia’s Ruble for First Time Since July

Hedge funds have started betting the Russian ruble will strengthen, turning bullish for the first time since July after the currency jumped the most in emerging markets in the last two months amid signs a rout in oil, the country’s main export, had been contained. Hedge funds and large speculators were net long 1,171 futures contracts on the currency in the week ended Oct. 13, wagering that the ruble will increase in value, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data published Friday. That compares with net short positions of 128 in the prior five trading days. Speculators turned bullish on the ruble as Brent crude stabilized around $50 a barrel while eased tension in Ukraine raised the prospect that sanctions imposed to punish President Vladimir Putin for supporting a rebellion there may be lifted. The ruble was the worst performer among the world’s major currencies from mid-May through […]

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Putin: Economic crisis has peaked

Russian President Vladimir Putin says the economy in his country is growing accustomed to low crude oil prices and sanctions pressures. Pool Photo by Chip Somodevilla/UPI MOSCOW, Oct. 14 (UPI) — Economic decline has reached its peak and Russia is adapting to the new climate of low crude oil prices and sanctions pressures, President Putin said. "We have generally reached the peak of the crisis and overall our economy is gradually adapting to these new economic circumstances" Russian President Vladimir Putin said at an investment conference in Moscow . "Not all of it, but generally, it has adapted." The Russian economy teetered on the brink of recession when entering fiscal year 2015. The International Monetary Fund warned in its latest economic forecast Russia’s economy may be in for a prolonged contraction. "In Russia, the economy is expected to contract by 3.8 percent this year, reflecting the interaction of falling […]

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Germany: Russia a key energy partner

German company BASF says Russia will retain a strong role in the European energy market. File Photo by UPI/Shutterstock/Kodda ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, Oct. 13 (UPI) — Russia will remain a key oil and natural gas supplier through its strong connections to the European market, the chairman of Germany’s BASF said. "Our cooperation makes outstanding contribution towards securing energy supplies to Europe," BASF Chairman Kurt Bock said in a statement. BASF subsidiary Wintershall is a partner to Russian energy company Gazprom in the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline running through the Baltic Sea to the German coast and sending Russian natural gas into the European market. Gazprom in early September signed a shareholder agreement on the development of the second phase of the twin Nord Stream pipeline system in the Baltic Sea with German energy companies BASF and E.ON, French company ENGIE, Austria’s OMV and Royal Dutch Shell. Under the […]

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Ruble Drops as Nabiullina Warns on Russia’s Crude Oil Dependence

The ruble had its longest streak of declines in a month after crude slumped and as Russia’s central bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina warned the currency is too dependent on oil-price swings. Brent’s 5.3 percent tumble on Monday contributed to the Russian currency’s drop against the dollar today, trimming a month-to-date gain. Russia relies on crude and natural gas exports for almost half of its budget revenue and the correlation between the ruble’s movements and oil is close to a record. “The exchange rate largely repeats the movements of oil,” Nabiullina said in an interview with Bloomberg Television at an investor conference in Moscow today. “To bring an end to them moving in sync, the economy needs to be diversified.” The Russian currency traded down 0.4 percent at 62.5100 as of 7:12 p.m. in Moscow, dropping for a third day. Government ruble bonds fell for a second day, lifting the […]

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Russia calls Saudi oil to East Europe ‘toughest competition’

Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak arrives at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels ahead of a meeting with EU officials March 2, 2015. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia’s entry into East European oil markets, traditionally dominated by Russia, was the "toughest competition". "Every country has the right to sell where it thinks necessary. This is a competition, the toughest competition is going on now," Novak told reporters. Saudi Arabia has started supplying crude to Poland, the head of Russia’s biggest oil company, Rosneft, said on Tuesday, becoming another Middle Eastern producer to enter a market traditionally supplied mostly by Russia. A global battle for market share is under way among oil exporters. Those with the deepest pockets, such as Saudi Arabia, are using low prices to enter new markets – often at the expense of Russia, one of the world’s top crude producers. […]

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$50 Oil for 15 Years Isn’t What Scares Bank of Russia Governor

Fifteen years of oil at $50 a barrel isn’t the worst nightmare for Russian central bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina. “What worries me more is the pace of reforms in the economy that could stimulate private investment,” Nabiullina, 51, said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Tuesday. “What’s very important is a whole set of conditions to make Russia more attractive to private investments. And what’s worrisome is the pace of such changes.” Elvira Nabiullina It’s a shot across the bow to President Vladimir Putin, who’s faced growing pressure from inside and outside the government for new measures to pull the world’s largest energy exporter out of its first recession in six years. While Russia has adjusted to the collapse in oil prices by allowing the ruble to lose almost half its value since January 2014 and letting consumer demand bear the brunt of the downturn, its economy remains hamstrung […]

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