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Russia invites Iran to use Crimean port facilities
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 02 Sep 2019

On September 2 Moscow announced that it is inviting Iran to use ports in the disputed Crimean Peninsula. Iran is an OPEC member but this has not helped much in maintaining access to oil markets. Iranian crude oil exports have fallen by 80% due to US sanctions. However, oil product exports have no...

Tax break for Russian LNG company
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 01 Sep 2019

On August 30 it was announced that Novatek (Russia's second biggest LNG extractor) has been granted a USD 597 million tax break. This is to incentivize building a part in the Arctic nar Gydan. Putin supports this effort. He sees the Arctic as the key region for economic growth. This port will als...

Ukraine and Russia negotiate exchange of prisoners
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 30 Aug 2019

Both Ukraine and Russia have confirmed that they are negotiating an exchange of prisoners. On August 30 Ukraine stated that the negotiations are not yet complete. They are eager to secure release of 24 Ukrainian sailors arrested in November 2018. There is rumor that these sailors have been releas...

Russia's shadow economy is 13% of GDP
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 29 Aug 2019

An analysis of official data on August 28 concluded that 13% of Russia's GDP is made up of the shadow economy. The shadow economy consists of unofficial salaries, peer to peer sales and other informal economic activities. This is not about crime. The analysis was performed by RBK one of Russia's ...

Russian plans major coal extraction drive
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 28 Aug 2019

President Putin held a meeting for governors of Russia's seven main coal mining regions to congratulate them for their work. The Energy Minister Alexander Novak made a speech on the success of the coal industry. He claimed that over the past decade Russian coal extraction has increased by 30%. It...

Russia and Turkey enhance co-operation
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 27 Aug 2019

On August 27 the presidents of Russia and Turkey held a press conference in Moscow to announce their plan to co-operate in destroying ISIS in Syria. Turkey already has troops in her southern neighbor Syria against the wishes of the Syrian Government. There is a tense situation because the Syrian ...

Trump keen to bring Russia back into G7
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 27 Aug 2019

A row has broken out in the G7 about the readmission of Russia. Russia was expelled from the group of major economies in 2014 due to the Ukrainian situation. President Trump is eager to bring Russia back in. Most countries are adamant that this must not happen unless Russia changes course majorly...

Uzbek currency to float freely
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 26 Aug 2019

On August 20 it was announced that the Uzbek currency (the UZS (pronounced 'Som')) will float freely. Up until now the Uzbek Government had a cap on the currency's daily fluctuations and the government limited a citizen's right to buy other currencies. This is part of the government's liberalizat...

President of Turkmenistan disproves rumors of death
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 26 Aug 2019

After weeks of speculation that he is dead the President of Turkmenistan has made some public appearances. Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov hosted a conference in Turkmenistan on August 12. The Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was among those who attended. Berdymukhamedov appeared only slightly d...

US oil imports from Russia highest since 2013
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 22 Aug 2019

The US Energy Information Administration stated on August 20 that US oil and petroleum imports are the highest since 2013. The US bought almost 62 million barrels of crude or petroleum from Russia from January to May 2019. This is almost a 10% increase on the equivalent period in 2018. Russian oi...

Essential CIS Politics: August 2019
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · Report · 21 Aug 2019

More US sanctions on Russia are unlikely to have much impact. Large-scale demonstrations surprise Russia but peter out. The conflict in eastern Ukraine is largely calming down. Atambaev, the former President of Kyrgyzstan, has been arrested after violent clashes around his home.

US sanctions in Venezuela and Iran boost Russian oil revenue
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 20 Aug 2019

Russia earned an additional USD 905 million from November 2018 to July 2019 due to US sanctions on Venezuela and Iran. The Russian Urals blend of crude has traded at premium to Brent. The OPEC production cut has also helped Russia. There is not much sour crude on the market. Urals is at its zenit...

Russia keen to avoid a nuclear arms race
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 19 Aug 2019

On August 18 the Russian Minister Defense announced his country's intention to avert a nuclear arms race. The United States repudiated the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty earlier in August 2019. The US alleges that Russia possesses a type of nuclear arms that are prohibited under the ter...

Fear of nuclear arms race
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 13 Aug 2019

More information has been has been discovered about the August 8 nuclear accident in Russia. On August 8 accident took place at off Archangelsk killing 5 nuclear weapons experts. At the funeral of the scientists the head of the nuclear arms program praised the men for their courage. The US suspec...

Russia's credit rating now BBB
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 12 Aug 2019

On August 9 Fitch Ratings lifted Russia's credit rating to BBB. Fitch said the rating move was due to sound public spending policy and a proper strategy to limit inflation. BBB is still the second lowest rating for countries that are basically stable. Standard and Poor's also rates Russia at BBB....

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