Russia Supplies Syria Mission with Turkey's Old Cargo Ships
Earlier this year, an old refrigerator ship called the Georgiy Agafonov, built to transport fruit and vegetables for the Soviet Union, was quietly gathering rust in the Ukrainian port of Izmail where the Danube flows into the Black Sea. Its owners, a Ukrainian state company, assumed it would never sail again. When a Turkish company offered to buy it for $300,000, they watched as the hulk was towed away, presumably for scrap. Nine months later the ship is back at sea, renamed Kazan-60, reflagged as part of Russia's naval auxiliary fleet, and repurposed as an unlikely part of Moscow's biggest military operation outside the old Soviet boundaries since the Cold War.
Baltic Military Shadow-boxing Said to Reach Cold War Levels
A daily game of Cold War cat-and-mouse is ratcheting up tensions in the Baltic and drawing the biggest military presence into the region for over 20 years, Swedish military officials say. Eye-to-eye encounters with Russian combat jets and reports of suspected submarines in Swedish and Finnish waters are fuelling regional concerns about Russian assertiveness in the wake of the Ukraine crisis and reversing years of defence cuts. Western officials say Russia has stepped up probing flights and mock bomb runs near Europe's borders since 2013, forcing jets from NATO nations and non-NATO allies like Sweden to scramble repeatedly. For its part, Moscow says NATO has dramatically increased reconnaissance flights near its borders.
Yamal LNG Inks Deal with Gazprom to Sell LNG in Asia
A trading subsidary of Russian gas producer Yamal LNG has signed a long-term supply contract with a trading subsidiary of Gazprom, under which liquefied natural gas (LNG) produced by Yamal LNG will be sold in Asia, Yamal LNG said on Friday. The company said in a statement that the contract involved sales of 2.9 million tons of LNG per annum which would be sold to the Asia-Pacific region, primarily India, with the LNG priice indexed to crude oil. The contract was signed by Yamal Trade Pte Ltd and Gazprom Marketing & Trading Singapore Pte Ltd. (Reporting By Jason Bush)
Russian Assets Sink on Oil price Collapse
Russia's rouble and shares hit new lows on Friday as oil prices collapsed after OPEC decided to leave its output unchanged despite heavy oversupply. At 1000 GMT, the rouble was around 2.2 percent below the previous close at 49.72 roubles per dollar, and 1.7 percent weaker against the euro at 61.94 roubles . It earlier hit an all-time low of 49.90 to the dollar. Traders said market moves were exacerbated by thin volumes, which mean that even small purchases of foreign currency were able to move the market. Brent crude was last trading at around $72 a barrel after falling as much as $6.50 a barrel a day earlier, when the OPEC oil producer group made known its decision not to cut its output targets.
Russia Going Ahead with South Stream Gas Pipeline
The Russia-led South Stream undersea gas pipeline is still going ahead, Energy Minister Alexander Novak was quoted as saying on Saturday, following concerns the European Union might be losing enthusiasm for the project. The natural gas pipeline, which will cost an estimated $40 billion, is designed to carry Russian gas to the centre of Europe on a route that bypasses crisis-hit Ukraine. The project has yet to be approved by the EU, which is trying to become less dependent on Russian gas. Supplies from Russia currently account for about a third of EU gas imports. "The South Stream project has not been stopped," Novak was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency. "The agreements which were signed remain in force.
Iran Won't Replace Russia as Top Gas Supplier
Iran is not ready to replace Russia as a key gas supplier if sanctions against Tehran are removed, Itar-Tass news agency quoted Iranian President Hassan Rouhani as telling Russian TV channel Rossiya 1. The European Union is quietly increasing the urgency of a plan to import natural gas from Iran, as relations with Tehran thaw while those with top gas supplier Russia grow chillier, a European Commission source told Reuters in September. "We are lagging in production and think about domestic consumption first," Rouhani told the channel in an interview. Iran has the world's second-largest gas reserves after Russia. "From time to time, we have problems during winter and then, you know, we have many buyers, clients around us...
Putin says Russia cannot be isolated
President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that it is not possible to isolate a country such as Russia and Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over its involvement in Ukraine disrupt the world economy. Speaking to a group of Western journalists on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin said that sanctions are counterproductive for all sides involved. "They lead the Russian, European, global economy to turbulence that no one is interested in," Putin said. (Reporting by Paul Ingrassia and Alexei Anishckuk; Writing by Lidia Kelly, editing by Jason Bush)
No New Cold War Talks Over Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday dismissed talk of a new Cold War over the crisis in Ukraine and denied trying to rebuild the Soviet Union after reclaiming Crimea. In an interview with Reuters and other international news agencies in a grandiose palace outside St Petersburg, Putin blamed the violence and political instability in Ukraine on the West and warned that sanctions would rebound on the United States and the European Union. The crisis has plunged East-West relations to their lowest level since the Cold War ended in 1991. But making a new pledge to work with whoever is elected president in Ukraine on Sunday, Putin called for dialogue with the West and hoped the European Union and the United States were ready for compromise.
Western Gas Route To China May Be Implemented Faster
Russia 's President Vladimir Putin on Saturday that the Western Said route to supply Gas to China May be Implemented Faster than the eastern route if China is Supportive. Moscow and Beijing have clinched a $ 400 billion Gas Deal this week after years-Long Talks, which will Help Russia to Diversify Gas Supplies away from Europe , its main export Market. (Reporting by Katya Golubkova, editing by Jason Bush)
