PhosAgro Welcomes EU-wide Cap on Cadmium Levels in Fertilizers

Moscow – PhosAgro (“the Company”) (Moscow Exchange, LSE: PHOR), one of the world’s leading vertically-integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers, welcomes the final decision taken at the level of the European Parliament and the European Council to limit the sale of phosphate-based fertilizers containing high levels of heavy metals everywhere in the EU from 2022 and to…

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Russians Most Opposed to Having LGBT Neighbors – Poll

Russians are more likely to oppose having an LGBT neighbor than a neighbor from another social group, according to a new survey released by the independent Levada Center pollster. Recent public polling has shown surging anti-LGBT sentiment in the years since Russia banned “homosexual propaganda” among minors in 2013. Respondents to the survey released Wednesday…

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Russian Government Rejects Proposal to Fine Officials for Insulting Citizens

The Russian government has rejected a bill that would have introduced fines for officials who exhibit disrespect toward citizens, weeks after lawmakers passed a bill that introduced fines for disrespecting the authorities. Communist lawmakers introduced the legislation in February, seeking to fine and suspend civil servants for humiliating voters. Around the same time, another bill that…

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U.S. Fighter Jets Again Intercept Russian Bombers Off Alaska

U.S. fighter jets intercepted several Russian bombers in international airspace off the coast of Alaska on Tuesday, in the fourth and fifth such incursions this year, U.S. military officials said on Wednesday. “The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and at no time entered U.S. or Canadian sovereign airspace,” the North American Aerospace Defense Command…

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Russian Radio-Electronic Shield Now Covers the Arctic, Officials Say

New systems for radio-electronic warfare installed along Russia’s Arctic coast are capable of jamming foreign ships and aircraft from thousands of kilometers away, Russian military officials have been cited as saying by the Izvestia tabloid. The Northern Fleet has completed its new Center for Radio-Electronic Warfare, military representatives told Izvestia. The center includes two Murmansk-BN systems, as…

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Ukraine Considers Referendum on Possible Russian Peace Deal

Ukraine may submit any preliminary peace deal agreed with Russia to the Ukrainian people for a referendum, the new head of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s administration told Ukrainian television Tuesday. Ukrainian troops are fighting Russian-backed separatists in the Donbass region in a conflict that has killed 13,000 people since 2014. Ukraine also wants Russia to return…

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2 Killed in Counter-Terror Operation in Western Russia

Security forces have killed two militants in western Russia suspected of planning a terrorist act, authorities said Wednesday. The suspects in Vladimir region refused to lay down arms and opened fire on FSB officers, Russia’s National Antiterrorism Committee (NAC) said in a statement. “They were neutralized by return fire in the ensuing shootout,” the statement…

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PhosAgro Receives Shareholding Notice from Igor Antoshin

Moscow – PhosAgro (Moscow Exchange, LSE: PHOR), one of the world’s leading vertically integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers, has been informed by its shareholder Igor Antoshin about a transaction with the Company’s shares. Following the transaction, Mr Antoshin’s total stake in PJSC PhosAgro’s authorised capital amounts to 6.15% (7,962,529 voting shares).  As a result, the Company’s…

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Gazprom and OMV discuss gas supplies and Nord Stream 2

Release May 21, 2019, 19:10 A working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Rainer Seele, Chairman of the Executive Board of OMV, took place in Moscow today. The parties reviewed current areas of cooperation. Among other things, the meeting participants discussed the ongoing exports of Russian gas to Austria, noting that gas exports to the country continue to grow in 2019 and the…

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On This Day: Andrei Sakharov

Andrei Sakharov was a nuclear physicist and an outspoken activist for disarmament, peace and human rights in the Soviet Union. He was persecuted for his views on civil liberties and reform, but it was these efforts that earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975. Today, the Sakharov Prize is awarded by the European Parliament…

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Poland Urges Russia to Compensate for Oil Mistakes — Polish Prime Minister

Russian suppliers will have to provide financial compensation for their mistakes over contaminated oil, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Tuesday. Flows through the Druzhba pipeline were suspended last month due to contamination, sending shockwaves through global oil markets. “Russian suppliers made major business and operational mistakes… Russia and Russian firms have to respond…

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Renault Hands Control of the Dashboard to Yandex

Russia’s transition to connected vehicles is looking increasingly homegrown after the country’s biggest car-making alliance handed control of its dashboards to local search engine Yandex. The Renault-Nissan-AvtoVAZ partnership, which has about a third of the Russian market, will use Yandex in locally made cars for services like real-time navigation, voice assistance and music. The pact…

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Kremlin Is Spending $43M to Renovate Imperial Mansion for Orthodox Patriarch, Media Reports

The Kremlin’s property management department is financing luxury renovations for the residence of Russian Orthodox Church leader Patriarch Kirill near St. Petersburg, The Bell business outlet reported Tuesday. The former residence of Russia’s imperial family, which is being converted for use by the patriarch, occupies almost 2.5 hectares (6.1 acres) of land south of St.…

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15,000 Employees of Rosneft and Its Subsidiaries Take Part in Green Spring Environmental Campaign

Rosneft and more than 80 subsidiaries took part in Green Spring, the Russia-wide environmental volunteer clean-up. Throughout the month, the Company’s employees were participating in environmental campaigns: they were cleaning the area of garbage, planting trees, engaging in the development of urban areas and manufacturing sites. Overall, more than 930 hectares were cleaned, which is…

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15,000 Employees of Rosneft and Its Subsidiaries Take Part in Green Spring Environmental Campaign

Rosneft and more than 80 subsidiaries took part in Green Spring, the Russia-wide environmental volunteer clean-up. Throughout the month, the Company’s employees were participating in environmental campaigns: they were cleaning the area of garbage, planting trees, engaging in the development of urban areas and manufacturing sites. Overall, more than 930 hectares were cleaned, which is…

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Rosneft Launches Digital Field Project in Bashkiria

Rosneft launched the information system Digital Field in trial operation. This project, implemented based on the Bashneft Ilishevskoye field, for the first time in the industry covers all basic processes of oil production and logistics. The opening ceremony dedicated to the launch of innovative system was attended by Chairman of the Board of Bashneft, Andrei…

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A Glimpse Behind the Iron Curtain

As a young ballerina with the Moscow City Ballet, from 2008-2012 Varvara Bortsova lived, traveled and worked alongside dancers from across the post-Soviet sphere. Artists in the company came from nearly every corner of the former U.S.S.R., from the steppes of Central Asia to the mountains of the Caucasus to the shores of the Baltic…

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Russia Has Most Protected Natural Areas in the World, WWF Says

Russia now ranks first in the world for its amount of protected natural areas, according to World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Russia data. Official statistics state that Russia has 63.3 million hectares of specially protected natural areas, WWF had previously reported. These figures do not take into account natural territories including cultural heritage sites and territories of traditional use,…

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Record $185M in Cash Seized From Russian Official in Sting Operation

Russian authorities have seized 12 billion rubles ($185.5 million) from former FSB official Colonel Kirill Cherkalin, making him the country’s richest ex-law enforcement official under investigation for corruption. Cherkalin, former head of the FSB economic security department’s financial counterintelligence support unit, was charged with bribery of $850,000 last week. Videos posted online show bags stuffed…

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Spring Bike Festival Races Through Moscow

You know it’s spring when Moscow closes its busiest streets and lets outdoor activities take over. Last weekend saw a rare trio: a half marathon, a cross-country race and an epic bike festival that gathered cyclists in the tens of thousands. Here’s a look at central Moscow during the festival:

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Putin Has No Plans to Congratulate Zelenskiy on Inauguration — Kremlin

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, asked if Vladimir Putin will congratulate incoming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on his inauguration, says the Russian president had no such plans. He said that Putin would congratulate his newly elected counterpart if Zelenskiy makes progress in settling the conflict with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine and mending relations with Russia. 

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The Heroic Bitter Land of ‘Chernobyl’

“Chernobyl” is not an easy show to watch. Nor should it be. The 1986 explosion at Chernobyl in present-day Ukraine was the worst nuclear accident to date, which killed hundreds of thousands and still affects millions more. But HBO’s five-part miniseries is hard to watch for reasons beyond those harrowing facts and graphic images of…

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Self-Help Lessons From the Russian Classics

Writer and comedian Viv Groskop has faced many rooms full of strangers expecting to be amused in her career as a stand-up. But what really scared her in the run-up to the publication of her latest book were the Russians. “I was terrified they would be offended,” Groskop said. She needn’t have worried. Part memoir,…

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Russia’s Arctic Basks in the Snow for Summer ’19

In Moscow, residents are enjoying the start of a breezy summer with increasingly warm temperatures and picnics in the park. Nearly 2,900 kilometers northwest, residents of Norilsk — an industrial city above the Arctic Circle — are not quite as lucky. However, they’re not letting the lack of warm temperatures stop them from some serious summer…

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Night in the Museum, Day in the Hotel

Moscow is celebrating this year’s Night in the Museum with a record 356 events at 200 venues  — and keeping the doors open until 6 a.m. The theme is “Live in the Museum” with events designed to let you study, listen, experience, see, create and stroll in some of the city’s best, biggest, smallest and…

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Pompeo Names 3 National Interests U.S. Shares With Russia

The United States shares counterterrorism, North Korean denuclearization and Afghan reconciliation interests with Russia, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said after his visit to Russia. Pompeo’s trip marked the first high-profile U.S. visit to Russia since allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and an investigation rankled bilateral relations. Though the…

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Gazprom discovers two new fields containing over 500 billion cubic meters of gas on Yamal shelf

Background Vasily Dinkov (1924–2001) was an eminent figure in the history of the Russian fuel and energy complex. He served as Minister of the USSR Gas Industry in 1981–1985 and as Minister of the USSR Oil Industry in 1985–1989. Gazprom secured the subsurface use licenses for the Rusanovsky and Nyarmeysky licensed blocks in 2013. Since then, 3D seismic surveys covering 5,790 square kilometers have been carried out within…

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Russia to Award $3M to Greenpeace in Settlement

Greenpeace will receive 2.7 million euros ($3 million) from Russia under a settlement reached between the Dutch state and Moscow, the environmental group said on Friday. The agreement should end years of legal battles following the seizure by Russian authorities of a Dutch-flagged Greenpeace vessel, the Arctic Sunrise, in 2013 and the arrest of 30…

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