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Putin unleashes fury at US ‘follies’

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club in the Black Sea resort of Sochi ©AP Russian president Vladimir Putin on Friday accused the US of undermining the post-Cold War world order, warning that without efforts to establish a new system of global governance the world could collapse into anarchy and chaos. In one of his most anti-US speeches in 15 years as Russia’s most powerful politician, Mr Putin insisted allegations that its annexation of Crimea showed that it was trying to rebuild the Soviet empire were “groundless”. Russia had no intention of encroaching on the sovereignty of its neighbours, he insisted. More On this story Russia takes EU to court over sanctions EU energy deal will hurt Putin, says Davey Drinks with Russian soldiers in Lugansk Global Insight US experts fear Russia sanctions blowback Editorial Putin is leading Russia down an isolationist path […]

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Russian currency crashes

Value of Russian currency collapses under pressure from sanctions targeting energy sector. (FileUPI/Dennis Van Tine) By midday in Moscow, the currency hit bottom with trade at 42 rubles to the U.S. dollar. The Russian economy is burdened by Western sanctions targeting Russian energy companies. With oil trading below the $100 mark, sanctions were blamed for record inflation and a struggling ruble. Igor Sechin , the head of Russian oil company Rosneft, said Thursday a lawsuit was filed in Luxembourg against the European Union in retaliation against sanctions . "Our aim is to protect the interests of our shareholders," he said. "We will always protect their interests at any cost." Sechin in August asked the Kremlin to use a national welfare fund to support its growing debt. The company’s total production, meanwhile, is down to its lowest level in more than a year. Sechin and the oil company he leads […]

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Russia may go it alone on arctic exploration

Russian gas company Gazprom may join forces with oil company Rosneft for arctic exploration. (UPI/Shutterstock/Igor Golovniov) U.S. energy company Exxon Mobil has a partnership with Russian oil company Rosneft for work in the arctic waters of Russia. With Western sanctions impeding developments, the Russian government has placed a greater emphasis on domestic exploitation of arctic reserves . "Where the Arctic is concerned, we will probably grant the last licenses on the arctic shelf [exploration] to Rosneft and Gazprom," Orest Kasparov, deputy director of the Russian Federal Agency for Subsoil Use said. Western governments blacklisted Rosneft and other Russian energy companies in response to the Kremlin’s stance on the separatist campaign in eastern Ukraine. In mid-September, the European Union took additional steps by barring Russian oil company Rosneft and its counterparts Transneft and Gazprom Neft from working in European capital markets. Sanctions have hit a Russian economy that depends heavily […]

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Russian inflation spikes on sanctions pressure

Pressure from sanctions on Russia’s energy sector dragging Russian economy down, Russian Central Bank says.(UPI/Shutterstock/Igor Golovniov) The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said sanctions imposed on Russian energy companies Rosneft, Gazprom Neft and others in response to the crisis in Ukraine were taking their toll on the Russian economy . The Russian Central Bank earlier this year said it expected inflation to stay around 7 percent. Central Bank First Deputy Director Kseniya Yudaeva said a weekly gauge on the inflation rate showed an increase. "It’s already at 8.3 percent," the director said. Russian state-backed media RIA Novosti reported slumping oil prices were putting additional strains on the Russian economy. Russia’s credit rating was downgraded last week by international ratings agency Moody’s. The agency downgraded the credit rating for St. Petersburg and Moscow this week because of market risks.

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West out of step on Ukraine, Kremlin says

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Western powers encroaching on Kremlin’s turf with stance on Ukraine. UPI Geopolitical tensions over Ukraine are a result of Western efforts to preserve long-standing regional divisions, the Russian foreign minister said Wednesday. Western powers enacted tough economic sanctions on Russian energy companies in response to the Kremlin’s policies regarding the former Soviet republic of Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it was the West that was out of step with the region . "The Ukrainian crisis is a direct consequence of the attempts of our Western colleagues again to preserve and move to the east the dividing lines in the Euro-Atlantic area," he said. Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula of Ukraine in the aftermath of political upheaval that follows Ukraine’s pivot toward the European Union. Pro-Russian separatists have jockeyed for more autonomy in eastern Ukraine since then. The crisis has spilled over […]

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Russia Loses Oil Ally in De Margerie After Moscow Crash

Christophe de Margerie’s last act as chief executive officer of Total SA (FP) left no room for doubt about his feelings toward Vladimir Putin’s Russia . In a Moscow speech hours before the plane crash that took his life two days ago, De Margerie said U.S. and European Union sanctions on the country were “unfair and unproductive,” and that he opposed efforts to render it “isolated from the major global economic and political process.” Appearing before a receptive audience that included Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and a host of Russian executives, he cited his work as co-chair of a Franco-Russian business body alongside Gennady Timchenko — a commodities billionaire who was one of the first targets of U.S. sanctions. De Margerie’s death removes from the scene a businessman who rarely shied away from geopolitical debates and became one of Russia’s most outspoken allies in its efforts to avoid economic […]

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Russia doesn’t fear Azeri gas, scholar says

Russia has little to fear about Azeri energy deals in Europe, scholar tells Turkish media. (UPI/Shutterstock/Igor Golovniov) Trade deals between Russia, Turkey and Azerbaijan should ease Kremlin concerns about Baku’s energy agreements with Europe, an Azeri scholar said. Elhur Soltanov, a foreign policy export at Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy, told Turkish newspaper Hurriyet trilateral relations between Baku, Ankara and Moscow are a diplomatic success . "This interdependence, with all the interrelated energy and trade deals, eases Russia’s concerns over Azerbaijan’s energy deals," he said Monday. A European economy fearful that conflict in Ukraine could jeopardize the gas supplies Russia sends through the former Soviet republic has looked to Azerbaijan as a source of energy security. Last week, the State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan Republic announced it signed contracts in Turkey for the construction of the Trans-Anatolian natural gas pipeline . TANAP will transport natural gas from the Shah Deniz complex […]

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Oil Drop Outpacing Ruble Strains Russia Budget: Chart of the Day

Russia ’s budget deficit plans are increasingly strained as the drop in oil prices outpaces the concurrent ruble slide stoked by U.S. and European sanctions. The CHART OF THE DAY shows the price of Brent oil, expressed in rubles, dropping below the level envisaged in the government’s 2015 budget. Even as crude tumbled, Russia’s budget has been shielded by the ruble, whose depreciation increases the local-currency value of exported oil and gas. Penalties imposed by the U.S. and EU, who accuse President Vladimir Putin of fomenting the Ukrainian crisis by aiding separatists, limit the country’s access to market funding and make deficit-financing more difficult. A weaker ruble may be needed for Russia to keep next year’s deficit at the planned 0.6 percent of gross domestic product, according to ING Groep NV. “The Russian government either accepts more ruble weakening or a higher budget deficit,” Dmitry Polevoy, the chief economist […]

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