On 3 June 2021, ROSATOM and the Atomic Energy Commission of Costa Rica signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the field of peaceful uses of atomic energy. The document was signed by Nikolai Spassky, Deputy Director General – Director for International Relations at ROSATOM, on the Russian side, and Esteban Picado Sandi, Director…
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Background The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2021 is being held at the EXPOFORUM Convention and Exhibition Centre from June 2 to 5. This year’s main theme is “A Collective Reckoning of the New Global Economic Reality.” In 2018, Gazprom and the Bolivian state oil and gas company Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) signed an Agreement of Strategic Cooperation. Gazprom in partnership with TotalEnergies (50 per cent, project operator),…
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June 3, 2021, 23:30 A working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Mario Mehren, Chairman of the Board of Wintershall Dea, took place today at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2021. The parties discussed current issues of their cooperation, paying special attention to joint projects. Particular mention was made of the successful start of production operations at Blocks 4A and 5A in the Achimov formations…
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Background The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2021 is being held at the EXPOFORUM Convention and Exhibition Centre from June 2 to 5. This year’s main theme is “A Collective Reckoning of the New Global Economic Reality.” Starting from January 1, 2021, Gazprom began supplying gas to Serbia, as well as to Bosnia and Herzegovina, via a new route. Gas from Russia is transmitted by the TurkStream offshore gas…
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June 3, 2021, 23:20 A working meeting with the delegates from the Slovak Republic took place today at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2021. Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, Richard Sulik, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of the Slovak Republic, and Ivan Korcok, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, reviewed the current…
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Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich, who was arrested after his plane was forced to land in Minsk, appeared on state television Thursday evening in an interview that rights campaigners say was conducted under duress. Looking uncomfortable in the video, Protasevich — the co-founder and former editor of opposition Telegram channel Nexta which coordinated anti-government demonstrations —…
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A prominent Russian opposition activist and former lawmaker, who was detained and faced possible jail ahead of parliamentary elections, was released Thursday evening without charges in a rare about-face. Russia’s opposition says that authorities have in recent months been stepping up a campaign of intimidation against dissenters ahead of a parliamentary vote in September, allegations…
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Over 1,000 coronavirus infections in Russia involve one of three variants believed to be more contagious, the head of Russia’s consumer protection watchdog said Thursday. The World Health Organization lists the SARS-CoV-2 mutations originating from Britain, India and South Africa as variants of concern but has not said that any of them are deadlier than…
DetailsOn the sidelines of the XXIV St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Evgeny Pakermanov, President of Rusatom Overseas, and Kirill Lipa, CEO of Transmashholding, have signed term sheet for transaction regarding assets incorporated under TMH-Energy Solutions company. The parties intent to close the deal by the end of 2021 subject to results of due diligence and…
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Background The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2021 is being held at the EXPOFORUM Convention and Exhibition Centre from June 2 to 5. This year’s main theme is “A Collective Reckoning of the New Global Economic Reality.” SOCAR is Azerbaijan’s largest state-owned petroleum company engaged in oil, natural gas and gas condensate exploration, production, processing, transportation and sales. In order to expedite the interaction with the…
DetailsSaint-Petersburg, Russia, 3 June 2021 – ROSATOM and Schneider Electric signed an agreement to extend a 2015 Memorandum of Understanding. The agreement was signed into being on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) 2021. The first Memorandum of Understanding between ROSATOM and Schneider Electric was signed at SPIEF on 19 June…
DetailsOn June 3, 2021, at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum ROSATOM and ROSCOSMOS (the Russian State Space Corporation) signed a cooperation agreement. ROSATOM Director General Alexey Likhachev and ROSCOSMOS Director General Dmitri Rogozin signed the document. The agreement defines key areas of the joint activity, in particular, on the issues of import replacement projects,…
DetailsOn June 3, 2021, RASU JSC (a company of ROSATOM) and JSC Element signed a Memorandum of Understanding (a framework agreement) on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum. The Memorandum signed by Andrey Butko, CEO of RASU JSC, and Ilya Ivantsov, the President of JSC Element, provides for establishment of a joint venture…
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Russian lawmakers for the first time have passed a law that will limit private enterprises’ greenhouse gas emissions as the country looks to catch up with global climate reforms. The legislation, which was approved in its third and final reading in the lower-house State Duma on Tuesday, would create a system to regulate emissions in…
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June 3, 2021, 17:15 A working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Ulf Heitmueller, Chairman of the Executive Board of VNG, took place today at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2021. The parties discussed current areas and long-term prospects of cooperation between the companies in the context of the growing demand in the European gas market. It was noted that…
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Russia has sentenced six Jehovah’s Witnesses to multi-year prison terms on extremism charges, the religious organization said Thursday. Rights advocates decry Russia’s prosecutions of Jehovah’s Witnesses — which has been banned in Russia as an “extremist” group since 2017 — as infringements of religious freedom. A district court in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk sentenced…
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June 3, 2021, 16:50 Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director General of the State Hermitage Museum, signed an Agreement of Intent today at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2021. The document outlines the main avenues of cooperation with regard to the implementation of joint social-and-cultural projects which cover, inter alia, activities related to exhibitions, expositions, and education.…
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June 3, 2021, 16:45 A working meeting of Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, with Markus Rauramo, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Uniper, and Klaus-Dieter Maubach, Chief Executive Officer of Uniper, took place today at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2021. The parties reviewed the prospects of further cooperation in the gas sector, including potential supplies of Russian helium. Special attention…
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Belarusian rights group Viasna on Thursday criticized plans by state-run media in Minsk to air an interview with opposition activist Roman Protasevich whose dramatic arrest last month spurred a global outcry. Protasevich, 26, and his Russian girlfriend were arrested last month when Belarusian authorities scrambled a jet to intercept their Ryanair flight from Greece to…
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Russia’s and Belarus’ intelligence agencies have joined forces against “destructive” Western activities in the wake of Minsk’s highly criticized plane diversion to arrest a dissident, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) announced Thursday. SVR chief Sergei Naryshkin met his KGB counterpart less than two weeks after Belarusian authorities ordered a European flight to land in…
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The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned Russia’s business and political elite not to underestimate the challenges the global green energy transition will present for the country, as a leading government minister blasted the EU’s green energy plans as “protectionist.” “We will see a very significant structural transformation, related to the world…
DetailsOn June 3, 2021, in Saint-Petersburg, Director General of ROSATOM Aleksei Likhachev took part in the SPIEF-2021 session “Russia in the Race for Top Global Managerial Talent” at the 24th Saint-Petersburg International Economic Forum. First Deputy Head of the Russian Presidential Administration Sergei Kirienko, Head of the Federal Agency for CIS Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad…
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In late January, as some wealthy countries were opening vaccination clinics, Tashkent resident Rustam Djabborov took to Facebook to make an announcement of his own. A journalist by trade, Djabborov referenced an article he had written a few months before, where he promised to be the first to volunteer for clinical trials if Uzbekistan developed…
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Background The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2021 is being held at the EXPOFORUM Convention and Exhibition Centre from June 2 to 5. This year’s main theme is “A Collective Reckoning of the New Global Economic Reality.” TotalEnergies handles the whole range of operations in the oil and gas sector from production to sales of marketable products to end consumers. Gazprom in partnership with TotalEnergies (50 per cent, project…
DetailsRosneft was the general partner of the youth section of the XXIV St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF Junior), which is being held for the first time as part of the SPIEF.
June 3, 2021, 14:35 A working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Peter Szijjarto, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, took place today at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2021. The meeting focused on the current matters and opportunities with regard to strengthening cooperation in gas supplies. It was noted that in the first five months of 2021 Gazprom’s…
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Russia’s sovereign wealth fund will ditch its holdings in dollars, dramatically increase its holdings of Chinese yuan and invest in gold for the first ever time, Russia’s Finance Ministry said Thursday. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) that Russia’s $186-billion national welfare fund (NWF) would completely divest its $41…
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The World Health Organization (WHO) and Europe’s medicines authority are wrapping up their review of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine and are expected to report their findings as soon as this week, the Russian state-run TASS news agency reported Thursday. The WHO, which has approved eight vaccines so far, and the European Medicines Agency launched…
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June 3, 2021, 13:15 Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Olga Taratynova, Director of the Tsarskoe Selo State Museum and Heritage Site, today signed at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2021 the Agreement of Cooperation for the preservation of cultural heritage and development of the Tsarskoe Selo Museum. The signing ceremony took place in the restored interiors of the Lyons…
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June 3, 2021, 13:00 A working meeting of Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, with Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ENGIE, and Catherine MacGregor, Chief Executive Officer of ENGIE, took place today at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2021. The parties discussed the cooperation of their companies in the gas sector, highlighting in particular the growth in Russian gas supplies…
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This year’s winner of the prestigious Russian National Bestseller Award was announced in St. Petersburg on May 29. The award went to writer and journalist Alexander Pelevin for his novel “Pokrov-17.” Fusing Russian reality circa 1993 with mysticism, it tells the story of Moscow journalist Andrei Tikhonov, who is sent on a mission to the…
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Surging inflation is not a temporary trend and poses a serious threat to Russia’s economic recovery, Central Bank chief Elvira Nabiullina has warned. “We have very hot inflation and high inflation expectations. At first it seemed like it would be temporary. But now we don’t think so,” Nabiullina told the opening session of the St.…
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Updated at 12:06 p.m. on June 3. Russian authorities stepped up its crackdown on opposition figures Tuesday morning, raiding apartments, offices and a summer house connected to a vocal anti-Kremlin politician and his relatives. Former parliamentarian and opposition politician Dmitry Gudkov said Russian security officers raided his family dacha early Tuesday, while security services also…
DetailsOn June 2, the collegium of the Ministry for Emergency Situations of the Republic of Belarus has taken a positive decision on amending the license of the “Belarus NPP” State Enterprise for the right to operate in the area of atomic energy use which allows starting the commercial operation of the Belarus NPP power unit…
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June 3, 2021 PAO Severstal, one of the world’s leading vertically integrated steel and mining companies, and PJSC Gazprom Neft, one of Russia’s leading oil producers, today signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) and cooperation agreement to collaborate on the development of technologies and materials for the production, transportation, storage and use of hydrogen in…
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Russia is seeking to expand wide-ranging sanctions it adopted in response to a U.S. human rights abuse law to all foreigners but will continue to limit its controversial adoption ban to U.S. citizens, according to legislation introduced Wednesday. “Currently, sanctions for violating the rights and freedoms of Russians are only set for U.S. citizens,” said…
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Russia’s independent VTimes news and economics outlet has announced it will shut down on June 12, just weeks after authorities designated it as a “foreign agent.” VTimes was launched last October by a group of former senior editors and journalists who left the business daily Vedomosti after clashing with newly appointed chief editor Andrei Shmarov,…
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June 3, 2021 PAO Severstal (MICEX-RTS: CHMF; LSE: SVST) announces the publication of its Sustainability Report 2020 on the corporate website. The company’s 2020 Report became the eleventh in a row, which passed the procedure of public assurance by the Council of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs on Non-Financial Reporting and was prepared…
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June 2, 2021, 21:20 A working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Valery Limarenko, Governor of the Sakhalin Region, took place today at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2021. The parties discussed the progress of the Sakhalin Region’s gas supply and gas infrastructure expansion program for 2021–2025. It was noted that both the Company and the Region are…
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June 2, 2021, 21:10 A working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Vladimir Semashko, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to the Russian Federation, took place today at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2021. Стороны рассмотрели актуальные вопросы сотрудничества в газовой сфере. Background The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2021 is being held at the EXPOFORUM…
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June 2, 2021, 19:15 Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Francois Fillon, French politician, discussed today at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2021 the development trends and prospects of Europe’s energy market. The parties noted the essential role of natural gas in ensuring the reliable and well-balanced operation of Europe’s energy system. It was also emphasized that expanded use of natural gas is the…
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June 2, 2021, 18:25 A working meeting between Alexey Miller Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Gerhard Schroeder, Chairman of the Shareholders’ Committee of Nord Stream AG, took place today at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2021. The parties highlighted the successful operation of the Nord Stream gas pipeline and exchanged views on the development prospects of Europe’s gas sector. Background Nord Stream AG has been…
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Background The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2021 is being held at the EXPOFORUM Convention and Exhibition Centre from June 2 to 5. This year’s main theme is “A Collective Reckoning of the New Global Economic Reality.” Gazprom and LUKOIL are bound by the 2014–2024 General Agreement on Strategic Partnership, pursuant to which, among other things, LUKOIL supplies gas into Gazprom’s gas transmission system. The…
DetailsOn June 5, 2021, the Energy Panel “Transformation of the World Energy” organized with the support of Rosneft will be held during the XXIV St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Russia has transferred the second installment of a billion-dollar loan to Belarus, as the isolated country prepares to be hit by a fresh round of Western sanctions. Belarus’ Finance Ministry said Wednesday it had received the $500 million payment from Moscow — the second tranche of a $1-billion funding package the two countries agreed last…
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Background The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2021 is being held at the EXPOFORUM Convention and Exhibition Centre from June 2 to 5. This year’s main theme is “A Collective Reckoning of the New Global Economic Reality.” On December 5, 2019, Gazprom and the Government of Mongolia signed a Memorandum of Understanding. The document provides for a joint assessment of the feasibility of the project for pipeline gas supplies…
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A Russian court on Wednesday ordered that Kremlin critic Andrei Pivovarov be held in pre-trial detention for two months, his allies said from the courtroom. “Andrei Pivovarov has been detained for two months,” allies wrote on his Facebook account from the courtroom, describing the ruling as a “pretext” to bar the activist from running in…
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Russian authorities widened a crackdown on the country’s beleaguered opposition on Wednesday as the legislature advanced a bill that would bar opponents from polls and a court jailed another well-known Kremlin critic. Russia’s opposition says authorities are stepping up a campaign of intimidation against dissenters ahead of a parliamentary vote in September, allegations the Kremlin…
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Belarusian opposition activists in exile are calling for the EU to ramp up sanctions on President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime after the forced landing of a Ryanair Athens to Vilnius flight and arrest of a dissident journalist onboard. Outrage over the incident — in which Lukashenko scrambled a MiG-29 jet fighter to intercept the flight carrying…
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Background The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2021 is being held at the EXPOFORUM Convention and Exhibition Centre from June 2 to 5. This year’s main theme is “A Collective Reckoning of the New Global Economic Reality.” The World Energy Council is a global non-governmental energy organization, which was created in 1923. With its headquarters in London, the WEC currently connects more than 3,000 energy-related organizations via national…
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Holding on tight to the handlebars of his black electric scooter, 34-year-old IT consultant Evgeni Ovchinnikov, zooms along the embankments of the Moscow River, passing the Kremlin and Red Square on his daily commute to work. “I have halved my trip to work because of this thing. No more traffic rage either!” he said. Like…
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A former Austrian foreign minister who danced with Russian President Vladimir Putin has been voted onto the board of directors of Russia’s largest oil company. Karin Kneissl, who served as Austria’s foreign minister from 2017-2019, will join the board of state-controlled Rosneft, the company said Wednesday in a statement. Kneissl caused a stir across Europe…
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The exhibition was almost ready when the order to cancel came from above. Set to take place on central Moscow’s trendy Chistoprudny bulvar, the open-air exhibition, part of an ambitious program of celebrations for the centenary of the birth of Andrei Sakharov, was to commemorate the nuclear physicist and Soviet dissident’s campaigns for human rights…
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A sea in Russia’s Arctic known as the “birthplace of ice” could break ice melt records for a second consecutive year in 2021, climatologist Zachary Labe of Colorado State University tweeted Tuesday. In 2020 the Laptev Sea stayed ice-free until November for the first time in documented history. The sea, which plays a crucial role…
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U.S. President Joe Biden should urge the release of U.S. citizens detained in Russia at his first summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who was jailed in Russia for spying, has said. “I would ask President Biden to aggressively discuss and resolve this issue with his Russian counterparts,” Whelan told…
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Viasna, citing Latypov’s relatives, said Wednesday the activist was returned to prison and that family had been able to deliver him a parcel there. Latypov was detained last September and went on trial in the capital Minsk on several charges including creating protest symbols and resisting law enforcement. Viasna said he appeared in court with…
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Updated at 2:15 p.m. on June 3. Turkey will send home Russian military experts helping it operate the Russian-made S-400 air defense system but will not budge on the key U.S. demand to scrap the deal altogether, Bloomberg reported this week. Russia delivered its first of four S-400 batteries to NATO member Turkey in July…
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Nearly one in four Russians say they have had coronavirus though most have not been officially diagnosed, according to an independent survey published Wednesday. Only 7% of those polled told the Levada Center polling agency that they had obtained an official diagnosis after contracting the coronavirus. Another 17% said they had not been diagnosed but…
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Airline companies said flights between Germany and Russia had resumed Wednesday evening, after each country blocked the other’s incoming flights as part of the fall-out from tensions over Belarus. German airline Lufthansa told AFP that the Russian authorities had finally granted it clearance for passenger flights to Russia in June. “That means Lufthansa flights to Moscow and St. Petersburg…
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Sudan’s transitional government is renegotiating the previous administration’s naval base agreement with Russia, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported Tuesday. The Sudanese army chief of staff’s remarks follows Arab media reports in April that Sudan had suspended the naval base agreement. Russia’s Embassy in Khartoum said at the time it had not yet been…
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