Gazprom and VNG discuss development of Katharina UGS facility and sci-tech cooperation

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Release April 24, 2019, 16:20 A working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Ulf Heitmueller, Chairman of the Executive Board of Verbundnetz Gas (VNG), took place today in Moscow. The parties discussed their ongoing and future cooperation, in particular the interaction in the field of underground gas storage (UGS) in Germany. It was noted that the joint project for the development of the…

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Alexey Miller and German Ambassador Ruediger von Fritsch review progress of Nord Stream 2 project

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Release April 24, 2019, 15:30 A working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Ruediger von Fritsch, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Russian Federation, took place today in Moscow. The parties discussed issues related to cooperation in the gas sector. It was noted that Germany is the largest importer of Russian gas in the world. In 2018, Gazprom’s…

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Joint Russia IAEA-NEM School for Managers in Nuclear Organizations concluded in Sochi

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The joint Russia-IAEA Nuclear Energy Management School for Managers in Nuclear Organizations concluded in Sochi on  April 19. The objective of the NEM School was to support middle-level managers and decision-makers in the nuclear sector in enhancing managerial and technical competencies that are essential for establishing or expanding national nuclear energy programmes. This year hit…

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Reuters Corrects Story Saying Venezuela Is Avoiding U.S. Sanctions by Funneling Oil Sales Through Russia

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Reuters has corrected a story it published on April 18 saying Venezuela is funneling cash flow from oil sales through Russian state energy giant Rosneft to evade U.S. sanctions after Rosneft threatened to ban the international news agency from operating in Russia. The story, datelined Mexico City, said Reuters had uncovered a scheme whereby Venezuelan…

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Putin’s Closest Ally Fears Takeover as Kremlin Plots Succession

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President Vladimir Putin may look beyond Russia for a mechanism to keep power after his current term ends. That’s making Moscow’s closest ally nervous amid spiraling tensions over Kremlin threats to slash economic subsidies. After years of spending billions of dollars to support Belarus’s state-dominated economy, Russia is intensifying pressure on President Alexander Lukashenko to…

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First Russian Found Guilty Under ‘Disrespect’ of Authorities Law – Reports

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Russian authorities have issued the first guilty verdict under a new law criminalizing “blatant disrespect” toward the authorities for online posts calling President Vladimir Putin an expletive. A Novgorod region court 570 kilometers northwest of Moscow found a local resident guilty and fined him 30,000 rubles ($470) Monday for posts calling Putin “a fantastic f——”…

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World’s only floating nuclear power unit to begin commercial operations in Russia

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Murmansk, Russia – After a series of successful and comprehensive tests, including on its twin KLT-40 reactor system, the unique floating nuclear power unit (FPU) “Akademik Lomonosov” is ready to start commercial operations. The FPU’s reactors, No.1 and No.2, were successfully brought up to 100% capacity on the March 31. These tests confirmed the operational…

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World’s only floating nuclear power unit to begin commercial operations in Russia

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Murmansk, Russia – After a series of successful and comprehensive tests, including on its twin KLT-40 reactor system, the unique floating nuclear power unit (FPU) “Akademik Lomonosov” is ready to start commercial operations. The FPU’s reactors, No.1 and No.2, were successfully brought up to 100% capacity on the March 31. These tests confirmed the operational…

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Putin Unveils World’s Longest Nuclear Submarine at Shipyard Ceremony

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President Vladimir Putin has unveiled a submarine capable of carrying six thermonuclear warheads on Tuesday ahead of its deployment in 2020-2021. Russia’s naval submarine called “Belgorod” will be the world’s longest submarine ever built, measuring 184 meters, The Barents Observer has estimated. The Belgorod will be able to carry six underwater “Poseidon” drones, the state-run…

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Russian Auditor Finds $12Bln in Government Spending Violations

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Russia’s public finance watchdog has uncovered 772.7 billion rubles ($12.12 billion) in government spending violations last year. The volume of total violations has decreased substantially from 1.87 trillion rubles in 2017 as detections increased by 43 percent, the RBC news website reported Tuesday. Procurement accounted for the highest share of budget violations at 294.6 billion…

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Russian Lawmaker Says Bans Are Freeing and Civil Rights Are Restrictive

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An outspoken Russian lawmaker has turned heads for arguing that civil rights are restrictive, while bans are a form of freedom. Yelena Mizulina, who successfully lobbied for Russia’s 2012 “gay propaganda” law and spearheaded efforts to decriminalize domestic violence, made the statement in defense of recent internet restriction laws. On Monday, Russian senators backed tighter…

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On This Day: April 22, 1899

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On this day in 1899, the writer Vladimir Nabokov was born in St. Petersburg. His father was a liberal politician; his mother a well-educated and cultured member of a prominent business family. He was the oldest of five children. He received his early education at home with governesses and tutors and then at a liberal…

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Putin Won’t Congratulate Zelenskiy On Ukraine Presidential Win, Kremlin Says

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Russian President Vladimir Putin will not officially congratulate Ukrainian president-elect Volodymyr Zelenskiy on his landslide victory, the Kremlin said on Monday. Ukraine has entered uncharted political waters after near final results show Zelenskiy, a comedian, winning Sunday’s presidential election by a landslide, dramatically upending the political status quo in the ex-Soviet republic. It’s “too early”…

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Figure skating competition backed by Gazprom Dobycha Shelf Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk held in Sakhalin Region

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Background Gazprom Dobycha Shelf Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gazprom focused on developing fields within the Kirinsky block, including the Kirinskoye and Yuzhno-Kirinskoye fields, as part of the Eastern Gas Program. By developing these reserves, the company will make a substantial contribution to meeting the energy demand of Russia’s Far East and creating opportunities for natural gas exports to Asia-Pacific. A subsea production system is used for the…

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Kovyktinskoye field right on track for commercial production

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Release April 22, 2019, 15:00 A working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Sergey Levchenko, Governor of the Irkutsk Region, took place today in St. Petersburg. The parties highlighted the strategic nature of the ongoing cooperation. Gazprom continues to make extensive efforts in the region to shape the Irkutsk gas production center on the basis of the Kovyktinskoye field. Work is proceeding on schedule…

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ROSATOM, WorldSkills Russia and BCG join forces to help solve urgent ‘skills gap’ issue

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15th April 2019, Sochi, Russia – During the 11th Atomexpo International Forum, ROSATOM  unveiled the new “Mission: Talent” initiative together with its partners, WorldSkills Russia and BCG, aimed at dealing with one of the most pressing issues of our time: the growing skills gap and talent deficit. As part of the ‘Mission: Talent’ initiative, the…

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Rosneft took part in all-Russia ecological clean-up event Green Spring

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Rosneft took part in all-Russia ecological clean-up event Green Spring.  The opening ceremony took place in Sokolniki Park in Moscow. As part of the event, the Company employees planted young birch trees and painted a children’s playground. Green Spring is an annual project implemented by Nongovernmental Ecological Foundation named after V.I. Vernadskiy and All-Russian Society…

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Ukraine’s Election Result Pleases Both Russia’s Opposition and the Kremlin

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Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a comedian and actor with no political experience, swept to victory on Sunday in the second round of Ukraine’s presidential election, in a race that has fascinated the country’s looming neighbor to the north. The victory triggered speculation in Russia on Sunday that relations between the neighboring countries might improve. It also presented…

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Into the Frying Pan: 9 Top Russian Cookbooks

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Writing about cookbooks should not be a minefield, but in trying to nail down exactly what constitutes a “Russian” cookbook, I often feel the need of a sturdy flak jacket.  When you focus on a region whose physical and political borders have ebbed and flowed as often as Russia’s has, culinary history can well become controversial if not positively incendiary.…

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U.S. Calls On Countries to Deny Airspace to Russian Planes Destined for Venezuela

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The U.S. State Department spokesperson has called on countries to “follow Malta’s example” and block Russian military planes en route for Venezuela from using their airspace. On Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Malta refused a Russian request to use its airspace to fly military aircraft from Syria to Venezuela on April…

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Kremlin Says Mueller Report Shows No Evidence of Russian Meddling

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The Kremlin said on Friday that U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s long-awaited report did not contain any evidence the Russian state had meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Mueller’s report, released on Thursday, details extensive contacts between Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russian operatives who, it said, sought to tilt the election in Trump’s favor. However,…

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Putin Ally to Ukraine’s Probable New Leader: Do Deal and Get Territory Back

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Ukraine’s new president could regain control over the separatist-controlled east of his country within months and get cheap gas and major investment from Russia if he repairs ties with Moscow, the Kremlin’s closest ally in Ukraine said. Viktor Medvedchuk, a prominent figure in Ukraine’s Russia-leaning opposition, outlined the prospect in an interview before a presidential election runoff in…

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Gazprom and Shell praise Sakhalin Energy

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Справка Royal Dutch Shell is a British-Dutch oil and gas holding company focused on hydrocarbon production, processing and marketing in more than 70 countries. Gazprom and Shell are jointly engaged in the Sakhalin II project, which includes Russia’s first LNG plant. The project operator of Sakhalin II is Sakhalin Energy (Gazprom – 50 per cent plus one share, Shell – 27.5 per cent minus one share, Mitsui – 12.5 per cent,…

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Mueller Probe Did Not Establish Trump Coordination With Russia, U.S. Attorney General Says

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U.S. Attorney General William Barr on Thursday offered some details of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russia‘s role in the 2016 U.S. election before making it public, emphasizing that it found no collusion between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Moscow. Barr, a Trump appointee, gave a news conference ahead of the planned release of the…

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Abramovich Partner’s Marijuana Business Returns Him to Forbes’ Richest Russians List

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A marijuana business has helped Roman Abramovich’s associate Andrei Bloch return to Forbes magazine’s list of richest Russians. Bloch briefly served as president of oil producer Sibneft from 1998 until Abramovich sold it to Russia’s state energy firm Gazprom in 2005. Bloch and another partner bought Abramovich’s Unimilk dairy business in 2004 — which merged…

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