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New Cypriots: how golden passports threaten EU security The European Commission for the first time presented a report on the practices of granting foreigners citizenship or residency in the European Union in exchange for investments. These schemes pose risks to the security of the EU, the commission concluded
Photo: Yves Herman / Reuters
Three EU countries offer citizenship to foreigners in exchange for investments (“golden passports”), and 20 EU countries - residence permits in exchange for investments (“golden visas”). These programs pose risks in terms of potential money laundering, tax evasion and corruption, according to a report by the European Commission (EU executive) on the “citizenship / residency for investment” schemes, published January 23 (.pdf).
Bulgaria, Cyprus and Malta from 2005, 2007 and 2013, respectively, have issued “golden passports” to foreigners:
in Bulgaria for this you need to invest € 1 million;
in Cyprus - from € 2 million plus purchase property on the island;
in Malta, it is required to contribute € 650 thousand to the national investment fund, to additionally invest € 150 thousand into the economy and to purchase or rent real estate.
EU citizenship without physical residence
In these three countries, the applicant does not even need actual residence in the territory, except for a visit to submit biometric data, submit an application, and have a personal interview. Thus, it is relatively easy to obtain EU citizenship and all rights and privileges associated with it, including free movement within the EU.
In addition, residency programs in exchange for investments are in place in 20 EU countries. The investment threshold varies from very low (about € 13.5 thousand for Croatia) to very high (more than € 5 million in Slovakia and Luxembourg). A residence permit in most EU countries makes it possible to travel freely within the Schengen zone for 90 days during any 180-day period.
The European Commission believes that such schemes pose risks to the security of the European Union, including the possibility of infiltration of organized criminal groups into the EU. Although Cyprus, Malta and Bulgaria require the applicant information about his “purity” from the point of view of criminal connections, the European Commission has identified “gray areas” when the applicant can bypass security filters. There are also risks in terms of money laundering and tax evasion. In addition, the transparency of citizenship schemes leaves much to be desired. Thus, neither Malta, nor Cyprus, nor Bulgaria provide complete information about the personalities of investors who acquire citizenship. If Malta at least annually publishes the names of those who received citizenship, Bulgaria and Cyprus do not provide such information.
Cyprus from 2008 to early 2018 granted citizenship to 1,685 foreign investors and 1,651 members of their families, wrote
Center for the Study of Corruption and Organized Crime (OCCRP). In particular, in 2017, Oleg Deripaska received Cyprus citizenship, the Guardian newspaper wrote and a representative of a businessman confirmed to RBC. In addition to Deripaska, Cypriot citizenship was also offered to the head of the Renova group, Viktor Vekselberg, but he refused.
Cyprus Parliament voted to tighten the issuance of "golden passports" From January 31, 2020, investors will find it harder to obtain the “golden passports” of Cyprus. The law tightening the provision of such documents was supported by 29 deputies, 17 parliamentarians opposed
Ayia Napa, Cyprus (Photo: Petros Karadjias / AP)
Cyprus Parliament voted for the bill, toughening the issuance of so-called gold passports to investors, the Cyprus Times reported. So called passports and residence permits, issued in exchange for investment in the economy.
29 deputies voted for the law, against - 17. It will come into force on January 31, 2020, until that time, the Cyprus authorities must work out the rules for granting Cypriot citizenship. Voting was preceded by lengthy discussions, during which opponents of the bill indicated that it would impede investment.
According to them, there are sectors of the economy of Cyprus, which require additional investments, such as agriculture and research, but the authorities are limited only to the construction of luxury housing in the country, for example, towers in the city of Limassol. Supporters of the law indicated that it was intended to "protect the integrity of Cyprus."
In the European Union, three countries - Bulgaria, Cyprus and Malta - issue golden passports to foreigners. To obtain such a document in Malta, it is necessary to contribute € 650 thousand to the national investment fund and another € 150 thousand to the economy, and it is necessary to purchase or rent real estate. The Bulgarian “gold passport” will cost € 1 million, Cyprus’s - from € 2 million, you also need to buy real estate.
In January, the European Commission prepared a report in which it pointed out the risks of providing "gold passports" that may contribute to money laundering, corruption and tax evasion. The European Commission also pointed out the risks to the security of the European Union, because thanks to such programs, organized criminal groups can get there. The report emphasized that Cyprus, Malta and Bulgaria do not provide complete information about the identity of investors who are granted citizenship.
Russians become leaders among foreigners who received Cyprus passport In 2017, 5,517 people acquired Cyprus passports, most of them are Russians (more than 1.3 thousand people), followed by the British and Ukrainians. In early 2019, the Cyprus authorities tightened the provision of citizenship to investors
Photo: Yiannis Kourtoglou / Reuters
The Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) has published data on the number of foreigners who received European citizenship in 2017 - this is about 825 thousand people. In 2016, this figure was 995 thousand people, in 2017 - 841 thousand
The most numerous group, which was given passports of the EU member countries, were Moroccans - almost 68 thousand people, 83% of them received citizenship of Italy, Spain and France. Albanians follow (almost 59 thousand, 97% of them received passports of Italy and Greece) and Indians (31.6 thousand people, 53% became citizens of Great Britain). Then come the Turks (almost 30 thousand people, more than 50% received German passports), Romanians (25 thousand, of whom 32% decided to obtain another EU citizenship, in particular Italian), Pakistanis (23.1 thousand, 45% became citizens of Britain), Poles (22 thousand, 63% received another EU citizenship - British and German) and Brazilians (21.6 thousand, 74% of them received passports of Portugal and Italy). Most of the passports for foreigners were issued in Italy (146.6 thousand), then in Britain (123.1 thousand), Germany (115.4 thousand) and France (114.2 thousand). In 2017, over 5.5 thousand people received Cyprus citizenship, of which 23.8% (1313 people) were Russians, 9.1% (502 people) were British, and 8.7% (479 people) were Ukrainians.
In February 2019, the Cypriot parliament voted for a bill to toughen the issuance of so-called gold passports to investors, which, like a residence permit, can be obtained in exchange for investment in the economy of the republic. It will take effect from January 31, 2020.
In the same month, the Cyprus authorities tightened the conditions of the program for issuing citizenship for investments, now investors need to make an additional contribution of € 150 thousand. Since 2013, 1864 applications have been approved for this program, not counting the applicants' family members, the total investment amounted to € 6.6 billion
In St. Petersburg there will be an enterprise for the production of power plants
The Petersburg Diesel Building Plant of PJSC Zvezda (controlled by the Ekaterinburg holding Sinara) and the power engineering company Zvezda-Energetika announced the creation of a joint venture for the production of autonomous power plants Zvezda-Energokompleks LLC. This was reported in a joint press release. According to SPARK, 51% of the new enterprise belongs to PJSC Zvezda, another 10% belongs to the investment holding MTV, and 39% belongs to Zvezdy-Energetika. The volume of investment in the new project and the capacity of the enterprise is not announced. According to preliminary data, the new production will be located in St. Petersburg, on the basis of the Zvezdy squares. "The parties intend to organize the mass production of power plants based on electrical units for backup and continuous autonomous power supply of facilities, as well as the assembly of diesel generator sets of medium and high power," said the press service of PJSC Zvezda. In the production of power plants will be used engines developed by PJSC "Star". PJSC planned to start production of these engines jointly with the Ekaterinburg holding Sinara (investment in this project was estimated at 10 billion rubles). The new power plants will be used as emergency backup and main sources of power supply for objects of oil and gas producing industries, medical institutions, facilities of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and communications, and construction facilities. “Cooperation of enterprises is logical; Zvezda-Energetika makes large diesel generators (from 3-4 MW), and Zvezda is small - from 300 kW. There is a demand for the products of the new enterprise on the market, including for use in shipbuilding, at social and other facilities, ”says the head of the Association of Industrial Enterprises of St. Petersburg Valery Radchenko. “The presence in the portfolio of autonomous power plants will allow the company to increase the volume of orders from Gazprom structures. However, the project may require significant investments - and it is not yet clear where to get the money, ”said one of the market experts. According to the research company Alto Consulting Group, the last three years, the volume of production of diesel generator sets in Russia is growing (for example, in 2017 it amounted to 591.8 MW - by 4.7% more than last year). The revenue of only the largest St. Petersburg manufacturers of diesel power plants for 2017 exceeded 18 billion rubles. The results for 2018 have not yet been published. In St. Petersburg, diesel power plants are produced by Zvezda-Energetika, REP-Holding, Alliance Group, NG-Energo and Alfa Balt Engineering. The products of the Kolomna Plant are also represented on our market. reference PJSC "Zvezda" - a major manufacturer of high-speed diesel engines. In 2017, the plant's revenue amounted to 2.1 billion rubles, profit - 14 million rubles. In the middle of last year, Zvezda came under the control of a new owner, Yekaterinburg holding Sinara, Dmitry Pumyansky. The former owner of PJSC Zvezda Pavel Plavnik has lost all posts in the company. Zvezda-Energetika produces block-modular power plants, as well as high-power diesel generator sets. The company's revenue, according to SPARK, for 2017 exceeded 6 billion rubles, profit - 79 million rubles. The company’s owner is Cypriot LavencoLimited. According to the media, it is controlled by former shareholders of St. Petersburg "Baltinvestbank" Igor Shvidak and Vadim Egiazarov, they are on the board of directors of the company. In 2017, it became known that Zvezda-Energetika could become part of Transmashholding, but the deal did not take place.
Poland bought the US missile systems to strengthen the eastern borders of NATO
On Wednesday, the United States and Poland signed an agreement. Warsaw will buy HIMARS missile systems with an ammunition range of about 300 km The signing ceremony for the purchase of HIMARS artillery missile systems was held at the military airbase near Warsaw in the presence of the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, and the Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence, reports Radio Poland. In accordance with the agreement, the Poles will receive 20 multiple launch rocket systems. The contract value is about $ 414 million.
Duda said in his speech that the signed agreement would help modernize the Polish army and strengthen security on the eastern borders of NATO. At the same time, he noted the growing cooperation between Warsaw and Washington.
In turn, Pence noted the importance of the deal in the conditions of the modern “dangerous world” and thanked the Polish authorities for investing heavily in strengthening the country's defense capability.
The HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) is a multifunctional rocket launcher system. It is able to use both conventional, unguided, and guided munitions, as well as tactical missiles, whose range is about 300 km. The manufacturer of the system is the American company Lockheed Martin.
MLRS HIMARS US Army used in Afghanistan. In 2016, with the help of this system, US troops from the territory of Jordan attacked the positions of the “Islamic state” (banned in Russia) in Syria. Before that, in 2015, systems were used in battles against terrorists in Iraq.
Last year, Poland entered into an agreement with the United States to acquire the Patriot air defense system. The transaction amount was estimated at $ 4.75 billion.
Putin for the first time will deliver a message to the Federal Assembly in Gostiny Dvor
The President’s message to the Federal Assembly this year will be held in Gostiny Dvor, RBC sources told. This is the first time when Gostiny Dvor has been selected for a similar format of the head of state The presidential address to the Federal Assembly, scheduled for February 20, will be held at Gostiny Dvor. About this, RBC was told by two interlocutors close to the Kremlin. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier that this year the message will not be held in the Kremlin, as the St. George Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace, where the head of state has read the message in recent years, is currently under repair. Peskov promised to report on the specific location of the message later. At the request of RBC to comment on whether the message will take place in Gostiny Dvor, the presidential press secretary replied: “We will confirm it in a timely manner.” The Gostiny Dvor traditionally hosts the annual straight line of the president with citizens. The message to the Federal Assembly will be held in Gostiny Dvor for the first time. Until last year, the president read the message in the Kremlin, in 2018 he spoke at the Manege. Then the president spoke about the newest models of Russian weapons: the Avangard hypersonic missile system, the Dagger hypersonic rocket, the RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile. Audiences showed videos demonstrating the capabilities of this weapon.
It was the technological and logistical difficulties of installing screens in the historic St. George Hall of Peskov that explained the transfer of the location of the message from the Kremlin to the Manege. As another reason, the press secretary of the president called an increase in the number of invitees.
On average, the number of people invited to the message fluctuates around 1 thousand people. These are State Duma deputies, members of the Federation Council, the leadership of the presidential administration, members of the government, governors, chief editors of the media, public figures and representatives of major denominations.
The current message of the president to the Federal Assembly, if nothing changes at the last moment, will be of a working nature, two people familiar with the process of preparing the document of the interlocutor of RBC told earlier. Preparation of the message began before the new year, now the document is in a high degree of readiness, sources said.
Matvienko explained the reason for the absence of Putin’s message
The Speaker of the Federation Council explained that she would not be present at the message of Vladimir Putin to the Federal Assembly because of a planned trip to Southeast Asia.
Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko will not be present at the announcement of the message to the Federal Assembly of President Vladimir Putin. The reason was a trip to the countries of South-East Asia, planned earlier, the speaker of the Federation Council herself explained in a conversation with journalists, reports TASS.
The Foreign Ministry and the leadership of the presidential administration said that at this stage, a few days before the visit, canceling the visit and postponing <...> was considered inexpedient, ”said Matvienko, noting that canceling the visit would bring“ image losses for the Russian Federation. ” She explained that for this trip it was necessary to agree on many points, including dates for meetings at the leadership level of countries and parliaments. “There is an instruction to convey the President’s message to the leadership of [these countries],” she added.
Matvienko noted that she would have the opportunity to listen online and see Putin’s message online, and then “comment and think about how we can organize the work to fulfill the tasks that will be put in the message”.
Vladimir Putin will deliver a message to the Federal Assembly on February 20. For him, this will be the 15th message in a row. The speech of the head of state is traditionally attended by members of the Council of Federation, State Duma deputies and chairmen of both chambers.
This year the message will not be held in the Kremlin, since the St. George Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace is closed for repairs. A new place will be announced later. The source of RBC, close to the presidential administration, clarified that the final location of the event will be chosen after the number of guests has been determined.
Glavred "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" Accused Friends of trying to bribe
Before filming "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" With the participation of Friends Master "What? Where? When? ”, According to Ilya Bera, I asked to help him win the main prize of 3 million rubles. In exchange for this, Friends, he said, promised to share money
The editor-in-chief of the TV program “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” On Channel One, Ilya Ber, accused the master of the game “What? Where? When? ”(Also aired on television) by Alexander Druze in an attempt to bribe him. Ber told about this on his Facebook and Livejournal pages.
“As many of you know, I’ve been working for ten years as the editor-in-chief of the TV show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” When we came to the program with the editorial group, we had an agreement in principle with [General Director of Channel One] Konstantin Ernst and Ilya Krivitsky, the head of Red Square, that the players, no matter how stellar, important and cool, should not be know questions and answers ", - said Ber. He did not have any problems with this during his work.
However, in November last year, as Ber indicated, “Alexander offered to help him win 3 million rubles.” The program "Who wants to be a millionaire," with the participation of the master and another player, "What? Where? When? ”Victor Sidnev, in question, according to the chief editor of the program, was recorded on November 23. She went on the air in December. On the eve of filming, Druz, as Ber noted, "tried to bribe him." “He offered me to share the money if I won the main prize of the program,” the program’s chief editor explained. Conversation with Druze Behr recorded on the recorder.
In connection with the incident, the editor-in-chief of “Who wants to be a millionaire?” Addressed the board and the ethics committee of the International Club Association (IAC) “What? Where? When?". Representatives of the organization Ber proposed to disqualify Friends as a player in “What? Where? When? ”And as“ tournament organizer and MAK functionary ”. It is noteworthy that, according to the official website of the organization, the chairman of the IAC ethics committee is Druz.
In the commentary to RBC, Ber stated that he had warned the master that he would publish a post about an attempted bribe. “I had exactly the requirements for him that became the requirements of the appeal to the International Association of Clubs“ What? Where? When? ”[MAC],” added the chief editor. According to them, Druz was supposed to "go everywhere." In this case, Ber "would not have published it."
"I scandal as a scandal is completely unnecessary, I have a very specific goal," - said the interlocutor of RBC. According to him, he appealed to the IAC because “this structure works in the ecosystem in which it exists and which interests him”. “And the Russian penitentiary system is not at all interested in me, so I’m not going to go there,” said Ber. According to him, so far no reaction has followed from the appearance of the post.
The press service of Channel One told RBC that they had learned about this story from the media and that they had “a lot of questions” about it. “We have to check the accuracy of the telephone records and find out whether Ilya Bera’s interlocutor was Alexander Druz, and ask a number of questions to Ilya Beru himself, the main one of which is: why, if such a situation did occur, he made public these facts only now, although The program was shot in November last year. Having received answers to all these questions, we, together with the producers of the programs “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” And “What? Where? When? ”We take decisions and inform them,” said the press service.
“We understand this situation. Our comment will be later ", - told RBC in the press service of" I-TV ", the manufacturer of" What? Where? When?". RBC sent a request to the press service of the Igra-TV company for a detailed comment. RBC was not promptly contacted by Viktor Sidnev.
The court arrested the property of the former owner of the Russian Forbes
The court seized the property of the former Forbes owner Alexander Fedotov of Russia. Such a decision is interim measures in the framework of the claim for 170 million rubles. about the debt to billionaire Igor Rybakov not returned
On January 31, the Gagarinsky Court of Moscow issued a decision on the arrest of the property of the former owner of the Russian version of Forbes magazine Alexander Fedotov, follows from the data bank of the enforcement proceedings of the Federal Bailiff Service and was confirmed to RBC in the court’s press service. Thus, the court granted the application of Sergei Amendment to take interim measures on his claim to Fedotov, LLC A-Media and LLC A-Media Distributor for 170 million rubles. The suit itself was filed on December 18, follows from the court file. Type of property is not specified, said the representative of the court.
Sergei Amendment - CEO of Security-TV, one of the companies of billionaire Igor Rybakov. It was Rybakov, as Vedomosti wrote earlier, that he gave the former head of Forbes Russian a loan of 150 million rubles. But Fedotov, within the prescribed period of six months, returned only a portion of the funds, the source said. As a result, the billionaire transferred the rights of claim under the Debt Amendment, which previously worked for the consulting company Penny Lane Realty, where he specialized in debt recovery. In addition to the principal amount of 150 million rubles. another 20 million rubles. - interest for the use of the loan and penalties for late payments.
In August of this year, Alexander Fedotov sold the company - publisher of the Russian Forbes and “OK!” JSC “AS Rus Media” to the president of the Global Venture Alliance Fund, Magomed Musayev. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The sale of Forbes to a businessman from Dagestan was preceded by a months-long conflict between Fedotov and the editors. Last June, Fedotov dismissed Forbes chief editor Nikolai Uskov because of the “dissatisfaction with the quality” of his work. At the end of July, the editorial staff filed a lawsuit against the owner of the publication because of an article about businessmen Ziyavudin brothers and Magomed Magomedovs who were removed from the number of the article.
According to SPARK, Fedotov is now the sole owner of three companies - Art Trading Portfolio JSC, Trading Contract LLC, FAF Media LLC, and co-owner of Zhalyu Media Group LLC and other companies.
Alexander Fedotov and Sergey Amendments failed to get comments at the time of publication.
In Norway, announced the development of the Russian Aerospace Force strike on its radar
Morten Haga Lunde, Director of the Norwegian Intelligence Service, reported that Russian aircraft simulated an attack on a military radar stationed at the border.
Speaking to members of the military community in Oslo, Lieutenant General Morten Haga Lunde said that on February 14 last year, 11 Russian Su-24s flew from the airfield in Monchegorsk in the Murmansk region, flew to the Barents Sea and simulated an attack on a military radar in the area populated Verde Point. After that, they, without crossing the state border, turned back, reports the Barents Observer.
Lunde recalled that last March he told the same story about how Russian aircraft rehearsed the attack on the radar on March 24, 2017. However, the difference, according to him, in the number of aircraft. If in 2017, according to his estimates, nine aircraft were involved in such maneuvers, then this time - 11.
The general noted that Russian rhetoric against Norway has become tougher. “And there are no signals that Russia's relations with the West will improve this year,” said Lunde.
In the city of Verde, on the shores of the Barents Sea, is the American Globus II radar, which should in theory track the flight of Russian ballistic missiles. According to the Barents Observer, Russia has repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with the fact of the presence of the radar, fearing that it could become part of the US missile defense system on the very border with the Kola Peninsula.
The prosecutor's office became interested in the mass cancellation of Aeroflot flights
The supervisory authority decided to find out what caused the cancellation of flights and whether the rights of passengers were respected. Previously, the airline announced the cancellation of more than 70 flights due to weather conditions.
Aeroflot’s plans to cancel on February 13 due to adverse weather conditions about a hundred flights that were supposed to fly out or arrive at Sheremetyevo interested the Moscow interregional transport prosecutor's office.
The Office announced that it had started a check in connection with the relevant statements of the air carrier in order to monitor compliance with the rights of passengers. The supervisory authority intends to establish the reasons for delays and cancellation of flights, and also to find out whether the rights of passengers were respected and whether the corresponding services were provided to them when waiting for flights.
In the event of violations, prosecutorial measures will be taken, the agency promised.
On Tuesday, February 12, Aeroflot announced that “due to the forecast of adverse weather conditions at Sheremetyevo Airport”, on February 13, it will cancel more than 70 flights. The schedule has about 20 flights amended.
According to the forecast of weather forecasters announced earlier this week, about a third of the monthly norm of precipitation may fall in the metropolitan area this week. The most precipitations are expected on Wednesday night and in the morning of February 13.
A similar situation with Aeroflot flights was observed at the end of January. Then the carrier canceled more than 130 flights, the departure time for another 171 flights was changed. The airline then also called the “weather forecast” at Sheremetyevo as a reason.
Smolny will give the St. Petersburg monopoly to security officials
The results of the inspection of the St. Petersburg State Unitary Enterprise "Vodokanal" by the Chamber of Control and Accounts (PCB) will be sent to law enforcement agencies. The vice-governor of the city, Maxim Shaskolsky, gave the relevant instructions to the head of the Smolny Energy Committee, Andrei Bondarchuk, writes Fontanka.
Recall that according to the results of the audit, which took place last summer, the PCB found numerous violations at Vodokanal. In particular, the report of the inspectors stated that receivables and payables grew steadily at GUPa. The company "has the risk of responding to signs of bankruptcy," the auditors suggested.
One of the main claims of the inspectors was that Vodokanal, in their opinion, concluded contracts for the preparation of financial statements, the organization of medical services, insurance and food in the amount of more than half a billion rubles with only suppliers. Thus, the company paid for these services on the most unfavorable conditions for themselves. In addition, the PCB found in Vodokanal untargeted spending.
Speaking at the interdepartmental commission today, Maxim Shaskolsky noted that he specially made bookmarks in the CSR materials so that the Energy Committee would not miss important details.
President Vladimir Putin did not find the head of Tatarstan at a meeting of the State Council when he was about to give him the floor
During the extended meeting of the State Council Presidium in Kazan, Vladimir Putin after his speech decided to give the floor to the head of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, who headed the working group. However, looking into the hall, the president did not see the next speaker.
“I took it and went somewhere. Where did you go? ”Putin asked Minnikhanov, who at that moment was heading for the microphone, follows from the broadcast, which was conducted by the Russia 24 TV channel.
The press service of the head of Tatarstan emphasized to the RIA Novosti news agency that Minnikhanov at the time of Putin’s address went to the podium, which was on the side. He did not leave the meeting of the State Council Presidium.
Earlier, Putin, discussing the issue of housing conditions, decided to suddenly turn to Minnikhanov, but he did not hear that question.
“Rustam Nurgalievich, Rustam Nurgalievich. Do not be distracted by you? Not listening to us. We will not put the head of the republic in a difficult position. He did not hear what we were talking about here, ”Putin said.
The meeting of the State Council in Kazan was devoted to the housing situation. In the course of it, Putin called to monitor the level of the mortgage rate due to changes in the rules for financing equity construction, which comes into force on July 1.
Putin, in particular, pointed out that recently the mortgage rate was 9%, and now it has risen to 11% on average in the country. “I hope that our predictions about the fact that this is a short-term and one-time effect will come true. Today there is no reason to think otherwise. But we need to follow this closely, ”said the president.
The media reported on the timing of the harmonization of new US and EU sanctions against Russia
New EU and US sanctions against Russia may approve in a few weeks. In December last year, the EU countries to agree on sanctions failed
New restrictions against Moscow will be imposed due to the detention of Ukrainian ships and sailors who tried to enter the Kerch Strait. The US and European countries are working in this direction, Sky News reports, citing three "European sources". Specific measures that can be taken against Russia will be discussed at a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday, February 18, the Financial Times writes. The newspaper was told about this by diplomats who are aware of the discussion.
Details can be worked out by the end of March, one FT interlocutor added. Sources of the business newspaper also confirmed that sanctions would be imposed jointly by the US and the EU. However, Sky News informers say the EU may announce sanctions in the “coming weeks.”
One of the officials, on condition of anonymity, clarified the FT that the purpose of the sanctions would be “people and companies associated with the seizure” of Ukrainian ships.
Western countries have already tried to coordinate measures against Moscow because of the detention of Ukrainian sailors. However, this could not be done in December 2018, and the European Council limited itself to a statement of extreme concern about the situation. Nevertheless, the previously imposed sanctions against Russia, the EU authorities extended.
Since then, the likelihood that the new measures against Russia will be introduced, said Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen, and the special representative of the US State Department for Ukraine Kurt Volker.
According to Moscow, on November 28, 2018, Ukrainian ships violated the border of Russia and ignored the demands of the border guards to stop. They also did not inform Moscow of their intention to pass through the Kerch Strait. The sailors, 24 people, were accused of illegally crossing the border and arrested.
Ukraine considers what happened as an act of aggression from Russia. The Ukrainian Navy insists that Kiev has notified Moscow of the impending passage of ships.
Norwegian intelligence has prepared to strengthen the hacker attacks from Russia
The greatest threat to Norway is represented by the activities of the special services of Russia and China on the Internet, according to an intelligence report. Norwegian special services do not expect that in 2019 cyber espionage will become less large-scale
Russia and China will increase intelligence pressure on Norway on the Internet, both countries are capable of conducting complex offensive operations on the Internet and are constantly improving their skills. About this, as the newspaper Verdens Gang, says in the annual report of the Norwegian intelligence Focus 2019.
Russia will continue to work on the Network aimed at undermining political processes and intensifying contradictions in Europe and NATO, Lieutenant-General Morten Haga Lunde, the head of electronic intelligence, said in a presentation.
One of the most effective ways to influence, Lunde warned, is to create sites with fake news. “The number of news sites with distorted information is growing to put the Western community and Western values in a bad light. And Norway is no exception, ”he said.
One of the most effective ways to influence, Lunde warned, is to create sites with fake news. “The number of news sites with distorted information is growing to put the Western community and Western values in a bad light. And Norway is no exception, ”he said.
The annual report of the Security Information Service of the Czech Republic (Bezpečnostní informační služba, BIS), submitted in December 2018, spoke about the involvement of Russian hackers in cyber attacks on government departments of the country.
“According to our findings, organized by Turla (one of the Russian-speaking hacker groups. - RBC), the cyber attack campaign comes from the Russian intelligence service of the FSB and [group] APT28 / Sofacy (better known as Fancy Bear. - RBC), which is attributed to military intelligence GRU, ”the report said.
The document says that in 2016–2017, hackers managed to hack into the information system of the Czech Foreign Ministry, thanks to which they got access to the e-mail inboxes of a hundred and fifty employees of the department and copied the information stored in them. BIS specialists noted that the main purpose of hackers was the mailboxes of the top officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the attackers checked them repeatedly and managed to get a lot of information useful for conducting new attacks on other government agencies.
UK Secretary of Defense to warn Russia about provocation charges
After Brexit, London and its allies need to be ready to use “force,” the British defense minister will announce. For the "annexation of the Crimea, interference with the US elections and the poisoning of Skripale Russia must pay," he will also warn
Reuters and the Times were able to read excerpts from a speech by British Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson, which he will deliver in London on Monday, February 11. According to the materials that the editors of the publication and the agency have seen, the head of the department will declare: after Brexit, the United Kingdom and its allies should be ready to use "hard power" to protect their interests.
The boundaries between peace and war are becoming blurred, Reuters and Times quoted an excerpt from the Minister’s speech. According to the latter, Williamson will blame Russia and China for this.
Speaking about the relations of the West with Moscow, the head of the Ministry of Defense will say that they remain tense on issues such as the "annexation of the Crimea", "interference in the last presidential elections in the United States", as well as poisoning with the nerve agent of the former GRU colonel Sergey Skrypal and his daughter Julia in the UK, writes Reuters. “Russia must pay for such actions,” the agency quotes from a speech by Williamson.
Without citing specific examples, according to Reuters, the head of department will also warn: the cost of non-interference in the situation of Western countries is often "unacceptably high." Western countries, according to the official, can not ignore those who need their help.
“The strategy, which is to speak, but not act, runs the risk of leading us to the fact that our nation will be perceived only as a“ paper tiger ”, - says Williamson.
In addition, in London, according to Reuters, Williamson will talk about the close "military ties" between the United Kingdom and the United States and will support the call by American leader Donald Trump for NATO countries to increase defense spending. Explaining this position, Williamson, according to the agency, will refer to the need to better deal with "Russian provocations."
In addition, according to Times, the Minister of Defense of Great Britain will announce the sending of the flagship of the British Naval Forces, the aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth, first to the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern regions, and then to the waters of the Pacific Ocean. On board the ship, according to the head of department, there will be two squadrons of British and American F-35 aircraft.
“Brexit led us to a great moment in our history. The moment when we must strengthen our global presence, increase the lethality of our weapons and increase our weight [in the world], ”Williamson said. The rest of the details about this speech, the agency and the publication do not lead.
Relations between Russia and Great Britain escalated in early March last year, after the poisoning in the British Salisbury of the former GRU Colonel Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. According to the British authorities, both of them were poisoned by the nerve agent Novice, which was previously developed in the USSR. In this regard, as the British Prime Minister concluded, Moscow was involved in the incident “most likely”. The Russian authorities have repeatedly denied the allegations.
The operator "Plato" received a contract for the introduction of such a system in India
The company - operator "Plato", co-owner of which is Igor Rotenberg, began the introduction of a fare payment system based on the GLONASS on the New Delhi - Mumbai highway. Its operation in India can bring up to $ 2-3 billion per year
Plato "is adapted for use in India
The company RT-Invest Transport Systems (RTITS), co-owned by Igor Rotenberg, won the tender for the introduction of a toll-based satellite navigation system GLONASS in India and has already begun its implementation on the New Delhi-Mumbai highway. This was reported to RBC by a representative of the RTITS and confirmed by the representative of the National Highway Agency of India.
The Russian company signed a contract with the National Agency in late December 2018, a representative of RTITS told RBC. Parties do not disclose the cost of the project.
According to Maxim Khudalov, director of the group of corporate ratings of ACRA, the refinement and adaptation of Plato for India can cost about 10–15% of the development cost, that is, 2.9–4.4 billion rubles.
At the same time, RTITS earns not only on the installation of the system, but also on its maintenance: according to Vedomosti, the operator receives at least 10.6 billion rubles in Russia for his services. in year. For 2016, the first full year of operation, Plato in Russia brought about 14 billion rubles, Khudalov notes. Given the Indian scope, we can talk about potential revenues from the system at the level of $ 2-3 billion annually, he adds.
Who does Plato work for?
RTITS, co-owners of which are RT-Invest (50%), Igor Rotenberg (23.5%), Andrei Shipelov (19%) and CEO of the company Anton Zamkov (7.5%), are the developer and operator of Plato, State system of charging on the basis of GLONASS satellite navigation. This system covers 53 thousand km of federal highways and over 1 million trucks weighing over 12 tons. Since the launch of Platon in November 2015, 66 billion rubles have been collected in the road fund. Investments in the creation of the system amounted to 29 billion rubles.
How will deploy the system
The contract for the supply of transport monitoring and control systems based on satellite navigation systems GLONASS and GPS to India was signed in 2010. The fact that India is also interested in the implementation of the Platon system, in November 2017, was spoken by Yevgeny Dietrich, at that time the first deputy minister of transport. In April 2018, the head of the Ministry of Transport, Dietrich, clarified that an agreement with India on the use of the Russian toll system could be signed before the end of the year.
In addition to RTITs, this contract was claimed by other foreign toll systems operators - Skytoll from Slovakia, National Toll Payment Services from Hungary, and the Indian subsidiary of the Austrian company Efkon.
According to the representative of RTITS, work on the deployment of the Platon system on the New Delhi-Mumbai highway with a length of 1.419 thousand km began in January of this year, the launch is scheduled for April.
“The project is being implemented in three stages until the end of 2019. The results of the system will be presented to the Indian road agency for making further decisions, “- said the interlocutor of RBC. Now the technological integration of the Russian system and the FASTag system existing in India is taking place, the existing roads are being digitized, where there will be barrier-free payment - there will be no barriers at the checkpoints, the RTITS representative said.
The vehicles will be equipped with onboard devices based on the GLONASS / IRNSS satellite system, which have been developed specifically for this project.
What results are expected in India from "Plato"
According to the Indian industrial portal IBEF, the road network in India is one of the largest in the world, its total length is about 5.5 million km (almost four times more than in Russia), the length of toll roads is about 12 thousand km. 64.5% of all goods are transported on the country's roads, 90% of the total passenger traffic goes through them.
Anton Zamkov conveyed through a representative that the Platon system would relieve India’s roads of traffic jams, increase the speed of delivery of goods and reduce the costs of cargo carriers and motorists. At the same time, according to Zamkov, within the framework of the project, the company will offer its Indian colleagues to test the developed system of weight and dimensional control and other services.
Ashish Sharma, board member of the National Highways Agency of India, told the RTITS press service that the Plato implementation project is the first step “to organize convenient and non-stop traffic” on the New Delhi-Mumbai transport corridor. “If the Russian technology shows its effectiveness and allows it to solve existing problems on highways, the next step could be to roll out a project across the entire road network in the country,” he said.
Russia's trade representative in India, Yaroslav Tarasyuk, told RBC that not many Russian IT companies operate in India, and there are no such RTITs at all. The Plato system will be in demand, he believes, because it is now taking a lot of time to overcome the fare collection points with barriers on toll roads in India. “If we manage to set up a system of this kind, it will speed up the movement of transport on Indian roads and the transport of goods by road,” Tarasyuk added.
“The RTITS contract with Indians means recognition of our technologies abroad,” said Khudalov. This is one of the first foreign applications of the GLONASS system, so that in the future its operation can be reduced in price, the expert says.
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Russian national hockey team won the Czech Republic in the last match of the Swedish games
The Russian hockey team won a second victory at the Swedish games. In the final match of the tournament, the team beat the Czech national team, which in advance guaranteed itself a victory in the third stage of the Euro Tour
The match of the Swedish hockey games between the national teams of Russia and the Czech Republic ended in victory for the Russian team with a score of 3: 1. The meeting took place at the Hovet Arena in Stockholm. In the Russian team, Alexander Kadeikin and Andrey Kuzmenko, who took the double, scored goals. The only goal of the Czechs was on the account of Tomas Zogorny.
For the Russian national team, this game was the final at the Swedish games. Earlier in the course of the tournament, the Russians beat Finland in Finland and also lost to the Swedes with a score of 2: 4. The winner of the tournament was the Czech team, which scored six points, beating Sweden and Finland. The Russian national team with five points takes the second place, but can go down to the third line in the event that the Swedes outplay the Finns.
The head coach of the Russian team Ilya Vorobyev after the match summed up the performance of the team in the tournament. “We have two victories, we checked a lot of guys. Now we will analyze all the data. We will see who will be invited further, to whom we have further views, and to whom it is already or not yet, ”Vorobyov quotes“ SE ”.
Vorobyev also noted that the decision on the composition of the Russian national team for the 2019 World Cup will be made later. “Everything is difficult here, we will watch. Even before Bratislava, the regular championship section, the playoffs, and then the cards will be mixed up in a new way, ”said Vorobyov.
Earlier, during the Euro Hockey Tour, the Russian team won the Karjala Cup and the First Channel Cup. A total of nine meetings, the Russian team scored 19 points and retains confident leadership in the final table. The fourth and final stage of the Euro Hockey Tour will be the Czech Games. Competitions will be held from 3 to 5 May at the Tipsport Arena stadium in Prague.
Gazprombank denied transfer of PDVSA joint venture accounts
Gazprombank called Reuters no information that Venezuelan PDVSA began to transfer the accounts of all joint ventures to a Russian bank
The Venezuelan national oil company PDVSA did not transfer the accounts of all the joint ventures to Gazprombank. This was reported to RBC representative of the bank.
“The Reuters news agency is not true. Being one of the largest oil companies in the world, PDVSA has open accounts in many large banks, including international ones, ”said RBC's interlocutor.
“Within the framework of cooperation with several Russian companies - bank customers in the Gazprombank group, a few years ago, PDVSA accounts were also opened. However, we emphasize that no new accounts have been opened and are not planned by the bank for opening, ”the representative of the bank added.
Earlier, PDVSA began to transfer the accounts of all the joint ventures to Gazprombank, sources told Reuters. The company's internal documents also noted that PDVSA requires Equinor, French Total and American Chevron to determine whether they will continue to participate in joint projects.
The US imposed sanctions against PDVSA on January 28, Washington froze the company's assets for $ 7 billion. Finance Minister Stephen Mnuchin noted that the subsidiary of Venezuelan company Citgo Petroleum, which operates in the States, can avoid restrictions if it does not transfer funds to PDVSA.
Later, the Ministry of Finance called the condition for easing sanctions: the transfer of control over the Venezuelan oil company to opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself the interim president of the country.
After the imposition of sanctions, Rosneft began to provide PDVSA with “vital petroleum products in exchange for Venezuelan oil,” the New York Times reported. Due to this, the oil company will be able to "partially replace the lost American supplies." In 2018, PDVSA halved the debt to Rosneft from $ 4.6 billion to $ 2.3 billion.
CNN linked the increase in the share of Russian pollock in the US market with the policy of Trump
By 2017, almost half of the fish sticks that were served in American school canteens were made from Russian fish processed in China. Due to the cheapness of pollock from Russia took a share of $ 200 million in the US domestic market
The administration of US President Donald Trump inadvertently provided a price advantage for the Russian pollock, which is sold in America in the form of fish sticks and imitation of crab meat. This is reported by CNN.
Russian pollock is cheaper than fishermen in Alaska catching, which helped him to get a share of $ 200 million in the American domestic market. By 2017, almost half of the fish sticks fed in schools in the United States were made from Russian pollock recycled in China, reports TV channel referring to the data of 14 American fish companies Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers.
American fishermen and fish producers hoped that Trump’s policy on imposing sales duties would help “erase the price advantage of Russian fish,” but the presidential administration instead aggravated their situation, CNN said. The reason was the US trade war with China. The US Trade Representation has excluded the Russian pollock from the list of goods for increasing import duties, while maintaining its price advantage, but Beijing’s response rates of 25% limited US fishermen’s access to the Chinese market.
Sales of American pollock in China almost doubled in 2016–2017, Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers spokesperson Pat Shanahan told CNN. “China’s response has virtually closed the Chinese market for pollock [from the US],” he said.
Earlier in the States, pollock from Russia was sold under the Alaska brand because of the “confusing nomenclature and secret coding system,” notes CNN, this was only changed after Congress in 2015 settled the law. At the same time, in the tariff code used by the US trade mission, the fish are still identified as Alaska Pollock, regardless of its origin.
Russia is the world's largest supplier of pollock, reminds Agro & Food Communications managing partner Ilya Bereznyuk. This species of fish is the main target of fishing in the Far East: according to the Pollock Mining Association association, in 2019 the authorized catch volume in this region is 1.8 million tonnes. This is 0.3%, or 5.2 thousand tons more than was set for 2018. The “sensation” is that the United States purchases Russian pollock Bereznyuk does not see: in his opinion, this is due not so much to politics as to the fact that it is cheaper than similar products from the same Alaska. The price advantages of the Russian pollock are primarily used by American companies that buy pollock directly from Russian fishermen, or through Chinese intermediary companies, emphasizes Bereznyuk. The main part of pollock mined both in Russia and in the United States is traditionally processed into fillets or fish sticks in China, he points out. American companies are trying to find an alternative to Chinese processing in other countries - for example, in Vietnam, but this can not be done quickly, adds Bereznyuk.
Rogozin estimated the reliability of Russian missiles at 99%
The head of "Roscosmos" Dmitry Rogozin believes that Russian missiles are very reliable, and accidents are inevitable with any kind of technology
Speaking in the program “Moscow. Kremlin. Putin ”, Rogozin shared his opinion on the reliability of Russian missiles. According to him, “Soyuz” is a very reliable rocket, ”but there is not a single sample of equipment that has 100% reliability. “The reliability coefficient of a technique is, say, 99 - and some percent more after the comma. These percentages are those cases that occur sooner or later, ”RIAzosino quoted Rogozin as saying.
The head of "Roscosmos" also offered to take into account the fact that the current "Union" - one of the modifications of the rocket, which was created by Sergei Korolev. “The accidents corresponded to the very statistics of the reliability of this rocket,” Rogozin stressed.
Commenting on the Soyuz FG carrier rocket crash in mid-October, the head of Roskosmos noted the fact that the crew had escaped. “Americans in such situations killed people, a large number of people. We did not allow this, ”Rogozin said.
The head of "Roscosmos" stressed that the causes of the accident found and completely eliminated.
On October 11, during the dispatch of cosmonaut Oleg Ovchinin and American astronaut Nick Haig an accident of the Soyuz FG launch vehicle occurred on the ISS. The crew managed to evacuate. Later it turned out that the cause of the accident was the deformation of the separation sensor of the first and second stages of the rocket.
In early December, Rogozin said that Ovchinin and Haig will be sent to the ISS on March 1.
French President Emmanuel Macron is unlikely to go down in history as a great politician, but he definitely deserved a place in history books and books of various records, if only because he is definitely the first and only person who tried to take the underwater gas pipeline hostage.
We are talking about a sharp change in the position of France on the "Nord Stream - 2", which made pretty nervous many observers over the adventures of the Russian project, which is under constant attack by the United States and the European Commission.
Friday passed a vote in the European Council of Ministers, which was supposed to accept or reject the draft amendments to the so-called gas directive of the European Union. These changes, drafted by Romanian diplomats in accordance with the wildest anti-Russian wishes of Washington, Warsaw and Kiev, effectively gave the European Commission the right to block the construction of Nord Stream-2 for political reasons and, in general, would take the gas pipeline itself from German jurisdiction to the EU jurisdiction, which would create quite serious problems for its construction and subsequent operation. Until February 7, no one expected any surprises and difficulties for the Nord Stream - 2 from voting: Germany and several other EU countries spoke out against the draft changes to the "gas directive". And judging by past attempts of this kind (they are trying to introduce changes from 2017), the resistance of countries whose companies participate in the project (that is, Germany, France, Holland and Austria), as well as their allies, would be enough to create " blocking minority. " However, a surprise happened on February 7: the French government sharply changed its position and declared support for the anti-Gazprom directive, despite the fact that its adoption would have caused direct and multi-billion financial damage to the French investor in Nord Stream 2 (that is, Engie, which is not just is the main energy company in France, but is actually controlled by the state). It turns out that the Macron administration was in favor of damaging the interests of France, the French budget and the country's main energy company. Without the French vote, the defenders of Nord Stream 2 would not have been able to organize a “blocking majority” - and a decision against Nord Stream 2 would have been made.
What could be behind such a strange decision of the Elysian Palace?
It is logical to suspect the influence of Washington, but this version has several problems. First, Macron has a very tense relationship with Trump, a sluggish trade war between the European Union and the United States, and Macron himself and the ministers of the French government have repeatedly made extremely harsh statements against the United States. Secondly, the American media, which are usually very well aware of the actions of American diplomacy, could not hide the shock of the "betrayal" of the French president. American diplomats and diplomatic sources did not brag about their successes in the French direction, and Twitter, the main boaster of the planet, Donald Trump, was suspiciously silent. Third, the French could easily explain their behavior by Washington’s pressure, which would have caused a storm of delight in many European and American politicians, but instead representatives of the French authorities lopat something unintelligible about the "need to protect Eastern Europe" and common European interests. In this context, the simplest and most cynical explanation seems to be the most likely: Macron simply blackmailed Merkel and tried to take hostage the most important energy project for Germany as a whole and for the German Chancellor. It is significant that the same version offers readers as the main American business magazine "Forbes".
The French president was faced with the impossibility of implementing his Napoleonic plans to reform the European Union and transform it into a more centralized structure, in which Paris and Macron personally would play a key role. Macron promoted presidential, well-defined supranational financial structures, and he himself was perceived by many as the main globalist project that showed the whole world that the global establishment found the right answer to populist (ie anti-globalist) political projects - such as Donald Trump, Brexit, and Italian " League and Five Star Movement. In practice, it turned out that instead of turning the French president into an all-European leader and reformer of the EU, as well as the leader of the “global coalition against populists”, he faced a drop in the rating in his homeland and is now forced to put out the political crisis caused by the protests yellow vests. " Macron urgently needs money in order to solve the economic and political problems of France and finance its extremely ambitious plan for reforming the European Union. There is no money in France, and this has been known to everyone for a long time, and institutional investors will not credit Macron search projects, even if he lays down the Elysee Palace and the Eiffel Tower. And Macron himself, as a former high-ranking banker of the structures of the Rothschild family, is well aware of this. He has exactly one way out (which he himself has repeatedly acknowledged) - in order to save France and the European Union, according to his plan, financial support from weaker EU countries should be financed by EU debts, which Germany will guarantee, because otherwise will give. Very few people in Berlin might like the idea in the style of "the French, Italians, Poles and everyone else will spend money borrowed under the guarantees of the German budget and taxpayers." Over the decades spent in the status of an actual American colony, German politicians and taxpayers, of course, have become accustomed to a variety of national humiliations, but that would be too much. That is why Angela Merkel, as Forbes noted, did not support such bold projects and selfish ideas of the French leader. Apparently, the "yellow vests" and economic problems in France, as they say, were cornered against the wall of Emmanuel Macron - and he decided that if you take the Nord Stream 2 hostage, then Germany will still give France money.
Needless to say, this decision caused a shock in the European energy and financial community: no one expected the French president to torpedo a project that would benefit the country and the French company. However, even if the anti-Russian changes to the “gas directive” were adopted, this would not mean blocking the project - since the European Commission would have to “drag” it through the European Parliament before the end of its term in May of this year, and then prove it in the European The Supreme Court that the rules of the "gas directive" can be applied to the "Nord Stream - 2" retroactively, that is, in violation of the fundamental legal principle "the law is not retroactive." Moreover, it should be noted that the legal expertise of the Council of Ministers of Europe has already given a negative opinion on the anti-Russian changes to the "gas directive". However, it did not come to all this, because Angela Merkel personally joined the taming of the obstinate Macron, who resolved the issue in 24 hours: on Friday, on the day of the fateful vote, she made a statement in which she said that Paris " agreed to a compromise. " The final text of the revised “gas directive” is similar to anything other than a compromise, but rather resembles the subtle mockery of German diplomats over their European opponents: all anti-Russian points are left in the document, but all have been made with annotations that entitle the German authorities not to use them and also introduce almost any exceptions to the rules of the directive itself.
The story resembles the situation with the "Nord Stream - 1", which "in the exception mode" already operates at full capacity, despite the protests of the United States, as well as lawsuits from Poland.
Western analysts are wondering whether Macron received something in exchange for this "compromise." Truth we, most likely, will never know. But the most likely answer comes down to the fact that he received a small, rough and visual lecture from the German authorities on the fact that, if necessary, Berlin would simply destroy his political career: for this, Germany does not even need to support "yellow vests", so how it is enough just to prohibit France from violating the pan-European rules to limit the budget deficit, which Macron allowed to “violate as an exception” in order to support the country's economy in a period of political turbulence. Even if pro-American countries of the EU and pro-American officials of the European Commission tried to defend France, Germany would have had enough influence both in the European Commission and in the European Central Bank in order to arrange a financial crisis in France. One hard statement, Merkel, would be enough to provoke the flight of investors from French financial markets, total panic and the massive sale of French government bonds and shares of French companies. Then, of course, French banks would have to be rescued so as not to sink the entire European financial sector, but Angela Merkel would do it in collaboration with another French president. It’s not for nothing that in America they say that they don’t have to annoy their banker, and Germany at the moment is by and large the main and de facto only European Union’s “banker”.
“Nord Stream - 2” will be completed, unless, of course, there is any difficultly predictable political or economic surprise, however, the “Macron case” has already clearly shown that Germany is ready to actively protect this project, and this is a good sign for Russia. gas pipeline, and for the Russian-German relations in general.
NYT found out about the PDVSA-replacing US deals with Rosneft
The Russian oil company, as the newspaper found out, agreed to provide the Venezuelan PDVSA, which was subject to sanctions, with “vital petroleum products”. In exchange, PDVSA provides her with oil, the publication’s sources say.
After the United States imposed sanctions against the Venezuelan state-owned oil and gas company PDVSA (Petróleos de Venezuela S.A.), Rosneft agreed to provide it with “vital petroleum products in exchange for Venezuelan oil”. About this, without specifying the sources of information reported by the American newspaper The New York Times (NYT). Thus, the Russian company “will partially replace the lost [PDVSA due to the sanctions] American supplies,” say two oil traders and two partners of a Venezuelan company who are familiar with this issue, the NYT reports. Such transactions, according to her, allow the PDVSA to continue to function without access to the international banking system.
Before the introduction of sanctions, as the newspaper explains, Venezuela imported about 120,000 barrels of oil and oil products per day from the United States. Venezuelans mixed lighter American oil with their own viscous crude oil so that it can flow through pipelines to ports. US shipments were suspended last week.
At the same time, the publication continues, officials from the Venezuelan oil and gas company notified the partners: "The country provided gasoline supplies until the end of March, preventing [for a while) the inevitable energy crisis caused by US sanctions."
A spokesman for Rosneft, commenting on the information on PDVSA shipments to NYT, said that the company pursues only business interests in Venezuela. He declined to comment on any barter deal with PDVSA.
NYT experts in the field of energy explained to the newspaper that the nature of the global oil market is such that Venezuela will be able to save some oil income, lowering the price and finding alternative customers in Asia. “In the end, there is always someone who does not have crude oil and who buys it in limited quantities,” said former Mosvir and former Latin American asset manager Chevron’s assets in Venezuela and other Latin American countries. However, in his opinion, buyers will go to such transactions only if a “big discount” is made for oil.
Earlier, on February 5, Rosneft’s first vice president in charge of production, Eric Liron, said that the Russian company assesses the situation in Venezuela as “temporary and does not affect Rosneft’s projects (quoted by TASS). According to him, the Russian company does not expect a decline in production in the framework of joint ventures with PDVSA in Venezuela. Assets in Venezuela are an exceptional resource base, Lyron added.
The US authorities imposed sanctions on PDVSA on January 29. On the same day, Washington explained that the United States would block $ 7 billion in company assets, “plus more than $ 11 billion in lost export earnings.” At the same time, the US authorities explained that they would continue to issue temporary licenses that would allow for “some transactions” with PDVSA. The American subsidiary of the Venezuelan state-owned company Citgo Petroleum will also be able to continue working, but only if the money it received will not be sent to PDVSA, but will remain on accounts blocked in the USA.
Later, the American Ministry of Finance called the condition of a possible easing of sanctions. To do this, according to representatives of the agency, control over the state PDVSA should pass to the speaker of the Venezuelan parliament, Juan Guaido, who declared himself president in January.
The federal center is not ready to allocate money for the construction of the Eastern High-Speed Diameter (VVD) in St. Petersburg. This was announced at a meeting with the participation of the vice-governor of the city, Eduard Batanov, which took place on Friday, February 8. Nevertheless, officials do not abandon plans to build a highway worth 182.8 billion rubles. by the year 2024. It is planned to do this by attracting a private investor, although there are no obvious candidates for participation in the project either.
Preliminary costing
According to Eduard Batanov, the design and estimate documentation is being developed for three sections of the road - from the WHSD to Vitebsky Avenue, from Vitebsky Avenue to Soyuzny Avenue with the crossing over the Neva River and the third - from Soyuzny Avenue to the Ring Road. The average cost of the first and third section will be 90 rubles, the second - 120 rubles. Traffic intensity on the highway, as calculated by the city authorities, will be at least 230 thousand vehicles per day.
According to Batanov, the cost of maintaining the IRR will not exceed 1 billion rubles. per year, while the annual revenue due to the toll on the highway will reach 8.65 billion rubles.
In addition to the cost of building the VVD, according to Batanov, the city will need 51.5 billion to build 11 junctions, which will connect the latitudinal highway to the street road networks. “These are our city commitments to adjoin the city system,” the official explained.
Federation will not help
The project is planned to be implemented on the principle of public-private partnership. Half of the funds must make private investors. About 80 billion rubles. will provide the state.
“Within the framework of PPP, we hope for federal funding in the state unit. After we receive an answer from you and understand the costs of the city and the private sector, we will be able to start developing the project, ”said Eduard Batanov, addressing the Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation, Evgeny Dietrich, who was present at the meeting.
However, it became clear from the minister’s response that there was no need to rely on federal assistance, since there are already several approved projects in the queue for federal funding. “I will tell you so - hope for the federation, but don’t make it yourself. If the project is good, it pays back, then I would take it and start working with it myself. In St. Petersburg, there are many experts on the design of paid highways. I think that you will manage without federal co-financing, I am afraid that you will wait for him for a very long time, ”the minister advised.
As for private investors, there are still no clear candidates for participation in the project. According to Batanov, Vnesheconombank shows interest in the project, but the final decision has not yet been made.
Not enough money
Alexander Beglov, acting Governor of the city, spoke about the need to attract federal funds to solve the infrastructure problems of St. Petersburg. “We have accumulated a whole range of problems, the solution of which requires the efforts of both regional and federal authorities. The road network does not correspond today to the level of automobilization. There are not enough high-speed and continuous traffic in the city, ”said the mayor.
According to Beglov, 48.5 billion rubles are needed to implement projects for the development of transport infrastructure. Of these, about 30 billion rubles. pay the city budget, 18 billion rubles. Smolny expects to receive from the federal budget. As Alexander Beglov told, he sent a corresponding appeal to the government of the country.
Money is needed for the repair of existing and construction of new interchanges and roads. Among the most important tasks are the reconstruction of the M-10 highway (7 billion rubles), the A-180 Narva on the section from the Ligovo railway station to Krasnoe Selo (3.1 billion rubles), the reconstruction of Ropsha highway (3.5 billion rub.), sections of Prospect Engels (1.4 billion rub.), construction of an overpass in the alignment of Yunnatov Street (3.2 billion rub.).
