Category: Russia

ENLARGE German Chancellor Angela Merkel, bottom left, Russia’s President Vladimir, Putin, left, French President François Hollande, third right, and Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko, right, during the 10th Asia-Europe Meeting in Milan last year. The European Union discussion paper suggests the EU consider gradually start normalizing many aspects of its ties with Moscow. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images BRUSSELS—The European Union could significantly scale back sanctions and resume discussions with Russia on issues ranging from visa-free travel; cooperation with the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union; and the crisis in Libya, Syria and Iraq; if Russian President Vladimir Putin moves to end the crisis in eastern Ukraine, according to an EU discussion paper. While insisting the EU can’t return to “business as usual” with Moscow, the paper suggests the EU consider gradually normalizing many aspects of its ties with Russia in what would be a significant shift in relations. It says the change would […]

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MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s finance minister has promised to maintain a tight lid on spending as the country faces its worst economic downturn in 15 years. Anton Siluanov said an earlier plan to boost government spending by nearly 12 percent this year is unrealistic, and some of the planned expenditures should be cut. He told an economic forum Wednesday that if oil prices average at $50 a barrel this year, government revenues will drop by around $45 billion compared to an earlier plan. The Russian ruble lost about half of its value last year under the combined blow of slumping global prices for oil and Western sanctions over Ukraine. The currency dropped about 1 percent in morning trading in Moscow, nearing 66 rubles per dollar. With oil trading at almost a six-year low, the World Bank on Wednesday sharply revised its predictions for Russia’s economy, foreseeing a 2.9 percent […]

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Why Europe no longer fears the Russian gasman thumbnail A MILD winter and robust European Union policy have blunted the edge of what was once Vladimir Putin’s most effective foreign-policy weapon: the politicised export of gas. Contrary to some expectations, Russian gas has been flowing to Europe across all four main export pipelines this winter, while the Kremlin’s flagship new pipeline project, South Stream, has come to a mysterious and embarrassing end. Now the focus is on the EU to see if it will push ahead with the prosecution of Gazprom, Russia’s main gas exporter, for years of anti-competitive practices. Why has Russia lost its hold on European gas? European policymakers still remember the shocks of 2006 and 2009, when Russia cut gas supplies to Ukraine amid a row about prices and debts, leading to heating crises and factory closures in countries such as Slovakia and Hungary, and making […]

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Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signals economy is on the verge of a major crisis. File Photo by Anatoli Zhdanov/UPI MOSCOW, Jan. 12 (UPI) — Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Monday all government hands were called upon to help an economy damaged by low oil prices and sanctions. The Russian currency, the ruble, was trading near historic lows Monday at 61 per U.S. dollar. Dual strains from Western sanctions imposed in response to the Kremlin’s policies in Ukraine and the low price of oil is pushing the Russian economy toward recession. Medvedev told his deputies there should be regular meetings to discuss the looming economic crisis . "The economic situation is quite problematic to say the least," he said. "Therefore, all of the members of the government must hold key meetings in the areas that they coordinate, as we have already agreed," Medvedev said. Analysis from the World […]

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The world’s top ruble forecaster is unimpressed by the currency’s 30 percent rebound from a record low. The analyst — Danske Bank A/S’s Vladimir Miklashevsky — says the ruble could be testing new lows again this quarter as the plunge in oil, Russia ’s top export, threatens to cost the country its investment-grade credit ratings and turns Russians away from their currency. The ruble traded at 62.7805 per dollar at 10:36 a.m. in Moscow, after reaching 80.1 on Dec. 16, the weakest on record. “We can easily see new records as the oil price is much lower,” Miklashevsky said by phone from Helsinki, last week. Concern over a rating cut and the loss of confidence among Russians “are the ingredients for a further bout of weakness,” he said. Depreciation would exacerbate the challenges facing President Vladimir Putin as the economy teeters on the edge of a recession and investors […]

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Employees walk between valve controls near the Ekaterina drilling rig at OAO Gazprom’s… Read More After last year’s plunges in oil and the ruble, Russian President Vladimir Putin now has another thing to worry about: the price of natural gas. While the fuel held up better than oil last year, weakening just about half as much, the average cost on Europe ’s biggest open market will fall 13 percent this year to the lowest since 2010, according to the median of 13 traders, brokers and analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Part of the reason for the drop is that global production capacity of liquefied natural gas will jump the most in four years, boosting competition for Russian pipeline flows that meet almost a third of Europe’s demand. Brent crude , used to help price state-owned OAO Gazprom’s gas sales to Europe, slumped 48 percent last year on global oversupply. […]

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After last year’s plunges in oil and the ruble, Russian President Vladimir Putin now has another thing to worry about: the price of natural gas. While the fuel held up better than oil last year, weakening just about half as much, the average cost on Europe’s biggest open market will fall 13 percent this year to the lowest since 2010, according to the median of 13 traders, brokers and analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Part of the reason for the drop is that global production capacity of liquefied natural gas will jump the most in four years, boosting competition for Russian pipeline flows that meet almost a third of Europe’s demand. Brent crude , used to help price state-owned OAO Gazprom’s gas sales to Europe , slumped 48 percent last year on global oversupply. Russia gets two-thirds of its export revenue from oil and gas and Putin has warned […]

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OAO Gazpromneft fell to a three-week low, leading declines in U.S.-traded Russian energy companies as crude prices tumbled for a fourth day. The state-controlled oil company dropped 6.4 percent to $11.36 in New York. The stock contributed the most to a 1.2 percent retreat in the Bloomberg Russia-US Equity Index. OAO Lukoil (LUKOY) , the nation’s biggest non-government oil producer and OAO Surgutneftegas (SGTPY) each declined more than 3 percent. Oil, the country’s biggest export, continued its slide after the worst annual drop since 2008 on speculation expanding U.S. inventories will worsen a global supply glut. Brent crude , the grade traders use to price Russia’s main export blend, sank 3.8 percent to $51.10, the lowest since April 2009. Energy Ministry data released last week showed Russian producers boosted output to a post-Soviet record of 10.667 million barrels a day in December. “For the economy, investors and business in […]

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MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s 2014 oil output hit a post-Soviet record high average of 10.58 million barrels per day (bpd), rising by 0.7 percent helped by small non-state producers, Energy Ministry data showed on Friday. Oil and gas condensate production in December hit 10.67 million bpd, also a record high since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The data showed Russia’s so-called small producers, mostly privately held, increased their output by 11 percent to just over 1 million barrels per day. Crude oil exports via state monopoly Transneft fell 5 percent to 195.5 million tonnes due to rising domestic demand and refinery runs. Exports to China reached a new high of 22.6 million tonnes (452,000 bpd), up 43 percent on the year as Russia seeks to diversify its energy customers. Russian producers capitalized on rising oil prices in the first half of 2014, when they reached over $113 per […]

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