Siemens to Become One of the Biggest Investor in Russian Economy

Oct. 19 – German engineering and industrial giant Siemens AG will spend €1 billion (US$1.37 billion) on projects in Russia over the next three years, Peter Löscher, head of the board, said on Monday.

Russia’s energy sector will get the bulk of investment – around €700 million, with €400 million to be invested in a St. Petersburg-based joint venture created between Siemens and Russian firm Power Machines to be spent on gas-fired turbine construction and servicing them. The German company will hold 65 percent in the joint venture. Read the rest of this entry »

Russia to Use Foreign Ports to Export its Grain

Aug. 29 – Russia may have to use ports in the Ukraine and the Baltic States to export as much as 23 million metric tons (mmt) of grain if harvests continue to be strong this season, ZAO Rusagrotrans, the country’s biggest carrier of cereals by rail, said in a recent statement.

“Russia’s ports and railroad system are nearing their full capacity to handle grain destined for foreign shipment,” said Igor Pavensky, head of the market analysis department at Rusagrotrans. Read the rest of this entry »

Russian Railways to Expand to Europe

Aug. 24 – The state monopoly Russian Railways is considering buying a controlling stake in Zeleznica Spolecnost Cargo Slovakia from its parent company Slovak Republic Railways, Russian Railways Vice President Salman Babayev told reporters on Tuesday.

Babayev said that Russian Railways also had bid for Poland’s PKP Cargo, Europe’s No. 2 rail freight carrier. PKP Cargo is also of interest to the Czechs who want to merge Czech rail company CD Cargo with PKP Cargo in the most ambitious central European railway deal ever. Read the rest of this entry »

European Commission May Ease Travel to EU for Kaliningrad Residents

Aug. 1 – Residents of the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad may soon be able to visit relatives and do business in the European Union border region with special permits for regular crossings, instead of visas, under a proposal unveiled by the European Commission on Friday.

The European Commission has proposed allowing the states bordering Kaliningrad to negotiate bilateral agreements to make border crossings easier for people living within 30 kilometers to 50 kilometers of the EU frontier.

“(This) will facilitate people-to-people contacts and enhance economic cooperation on both sides of the border, without affecting security,” EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom told reporters in Brussels. Read the rest of this entry »

South Korea to Enter Russia’s Far East Air Transportation Market

Jul. 11 – South Korean Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC) and Khabarovsk Airport has signed a strategic partnership agreement, the airport reports.

According to the agreement, state-run IIAC acquires 75,028 additional shares – 10 percent of authorized capital stock – of Khabarovsk airport of Russia’s Far East city of Khabarovsk.

The agreement has been signed by the chairman of the board of Khabarovsk airport, Konstantin Basyuk, and the CEO of IIAC, Che-Wuk Lee, within the presence of Russian Minister of Transport, Igor Levitin, and the governor of Khabarovsk Region, Vyacheslav Shport. Read the rest of this entry »

Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus Customs Union Opens Borders

Jul. 4 – The last customs offices between Russia and Kazakhstan were closed on July 1, 2011, as a new international free-trade zone comes to fruition. The customs union (CU), which includes Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, removed the last internal customs controls at their borders on Friday.

Customs control on the inner borders of the three countries will be abolished; veterinary, phytosanitary and transport control will be moved to the CU’s external borders. As of Jan. 1, 2011, there are unified forms and instructions on declaring goods. Read the rest of this entry »

Arctic Port of Dudinka Resumes Operations after Spring Flooding

Jun. 8 – Russian metals giant Norilsk Nickel resumed shipments from its Arctic port of Dudinka after flooding prompted a seasonal halt. The port of Dudinka, the company’s main export outlet, resumed its operations on Sunday, Norilsk said in a press release.

Suspension of loading operations at Dudinka takes place annually in May and lasts approximately one month. During that period, Norilsk Nickel continues to fulfill its delivery obligations regardless of the timing of the commencement and completion of this planned operation. Read the rest of this entry »

Russians to Send Oil to China via Northern Sea Route

Apr. 21 – OAO Sovcomflot, Russia’s largest shipper, and OAO Novatek will send 3-4 cargo of gas condensate on a second voyage across the so-called Northern Sea Route rather than the Suez Canal, a senior Sovcomflot official said on Wednesday.

Last August, Sovcomflot shipped a high-tonnage Aframax tanker with 70,000 metric tons of condensate cargo along the Northern Sea Route for Russia’s largest independent gas producer Novatek in the first ever voyage by a large vessel along the route. Read the rest of this entry »

Russian Railways Look for High-Speed Rail Network Bids

Jan. 31 – Foreign investors will be invited to Russia to design, build, finance and maintain a new high-speed rail network, state-run Russian Railways announced Friday.

Russian Railways, which operate the world’s biggest passenger rail network, has created a subsidiary to handle the project, High-Speed Rail Lines, which will present potential bidders in March 2011, and reveal an international tender for the Moscow – St. Petersburg route in December this year. Read the rest of this entry »

Russia to Attract US$800 Million Investment from UAE

Sept. 22 – Russian Technologies (Rostehnoliogii), a state-run industrial corporation, signed agreements on Friday with two companies from the United Arab Emirates – the ports and logistics unit of Crescent Group and real estate developer Damac.

“The Russian market is attractive enough to the Arabian investors. In particular the Russian power industry contains a number of promises for investments,” Fahd Hamidaddin, marketing director of state-run Saudi Arabia General Investment Authority, said during an interview with Infox.ru in July. Read the rest of this entry »

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