Sunday, April 17, 2011

Russian and Central Asian News This Week

Moscow - On March 30, at a meeting of the commission on modernization in Magnitogorsk Dmitry Medvedev made several proposals for improving the investment climate in Russia, which he described as "very bad". First and foremost, on the eve of the season of annual shareholder meetings the president demanded "eliminating the excessive influence of state-owned companies on the investment climate" and instructed the government to remove from the boards of directors all deputy prime ministers and ministers.

On Apr. 11th, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin has been the first to act on Russian President Medvedev's instruction on the replacement of government officials on the boards of large companies co-owned by the state with independent directors. Without waiting for shareholders' meetings Igor Sechin resigned on Monday evening as the chairman of the board of directors of the state-owned company Rosneft and revoked the intention to seek a seat on a new board. However, Analysts and investors predicted his departure would do little to change Russia's biggest oil company. on Friday on the sidelines of a meeting, Rosneft's CEO Eduard Khudainatov said that "Sechin will keep control, and I believe he will even strengthen it."

Moscow - Russia does not seek exclusive influence over Central Asia and is not worried by other world powers trying to advance their interests in the region, Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said on Wednesday. "Russia is not laying claim to any exclusive role in Central Asian affairs and is open to cooperation with other states, including on a competitive basis," Karasin said. However, Moscow "acts on the premise that Russia's traditional strategic interests in this region should be fully ensured, and the actions of other players should be predictable and transparent," he added. Interesting enough, comparing the Russian version and English version of this press release, one can sense the difference in emphases and tones. In the Russian version, the article highlghts Russia's vested interests in the region, while in the English version article, Russia's support of broad international cooperation in the region is given more attention and space.

China - Medvedev arrived in China on Wednesday for a four-day visit that will see him attend a BRICS summit and push for Russia's economic integration into the Asia Pacific region. Ahead of this visit, Medvedev said in an interview with China Central Television that he expects bilateral trade to reach $100 billion in the near future. During his meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Medvedev said - "Our countries are strategic partners, which allows us to coordinate policies in international relations. We are also partners in economic, political and other spheres. I believe that today we can make the next step in the deepening of partnership." "We had an extensive exchange of views on topical issues, "- Hu said. In particular, Medvedev said on Thursday that Russia and China should increase their efforts to get agreement this year on the basic principles of Russian gas supplies to China. Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation have set up a working group to discuss the commercial and technical terms of a Russian gas supply contract. From Saturday to Sunday, the Russian president visited Hongkong and said Russia wants to boost investment and trade with Hong Kong to give Russian companies more presence in the area and use it as a gateway to mainland China. Medvedev's landmark China trip has been widely interpreted as to trade energy for investment. “He will try to make China a source of investment and technology, not just a vacuum cleaner for Russian resources,” said Fyodor Lukyanov, an analyst at the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy in Moscow.

Tashkent - Officials of special services of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) gathered in Uzbekistan’s capital Tashkent on Wednesday for two days of talks on fighting terrorism. The conference is co-organized by the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terror Structure (RATS), a permanent acting agency of the SCO headquartered in Tashkent. The participants vowed to step up regular meetings of various bodies of SCO member nations to exchange intelligence and strengthen cooperation in the fight against what they see as their three main threats: terrorism, separatism and extremism.

Uzbek President Islam Karimov will pay an official visit to China on April 19-20, Uzbek national news agency reported on Saturday. From 2005 to 2010, bilateral trade volume between China and Uzbekistan rose from $ 680 million to $ 2.47 billion, i.e. 3,6 times. Uzbekistan's exports to China grew from $ 450 million to $ 1.299 billion in 2010, i.e. 2.88 times.

Astana - China’s Sinopec Tenth Construction has begun building a 500,000 tonnes-per-year aromatics facility at Kazakhstan’s Atyrau oil refinery, the Platts news portal reported, citing a report by Sinopec Group. Sinopec Engineering was awarded the $1.04-billion contract to build the facility in 2009. The facility, which is scheduled to come online in 2013, will produce up to 133,000 mt/year of benzene and 496,000 mt/year of paraxylene, Kazakhstan’s national oil and gas company KazMunaiGas said in 2009.

Obama and Nazarbayev met on Monday and Nazarbayev granted the United States new over-flight rights for the resupply of US and NATO troops in Afghanistan. In addition to agreeing on a new air route to ship military cargo through Kazakhstan into Afghanistan, Obama and Nazarbayev signed agreements on economic cooperation between the two countries and discussed the human rights situation in Kazakhstan.

Ashgabat - Turkmenistan's export revenues of natural and liquefied gas, oil products and polypropylene combined soared 250 percent year-on-year for the January to March 2011 period. The government said total exports in the first quarter of this year exceeded $1.7 billion. Its exports of natural gas surged 87.9 percent in the first quarter 2011 compared with the same quarter last year. Turkmenistan aims to ratchet up crude output from current levels of around 11 million tons to 74 million tons by 2030.


Articles referred to in this post:

"Игорь Сечин вышел из совета директоров 'Роснефти'" (Sechin leaves Rosneft board)

"И.Сечин сохранит влияние на 'Роснефть' после выхода из СД компании" (Sechin to retain control after stepping down from the company's board of directors)

"Председатель правления «Роснефти» заявляет, что Сечин сохранит контроль над этой компанией" (Chairman of the board of Rosneft said that Sechin will retain control over this company)

"МИД: Другие страны должны учитывать интересы РФ в Центральной Азии" (FM: Other countries should take Russia's interests in Central Asia into account)

"Russia unfazed by foreign presence in Central Asia"
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20110413/163510766.html

"Медведев: Россия и КНР могут увеличить товарооборот до $100 млрд" (Medvedev: Russia and China could increase trade volume to $ 100 billion)

"Медведев рассчитывает на углубление партнерских отношений с Китаем" (Medvedev hopes to deepen partnership with China)

"Медведев: согласование условий поставок газа в Китай нужно ускорить" (Medvedev: agreement on the conditions of gas supply to China needs to be accelerated)

"Медведев обсудит в Гонконге вопросы расширения связей в экономике" (Medvedev will discuss in Hong Kong on expanding ties in the economy)

"Medvedev to Trade Energy for Investment on China Trip"

"Представители ШОС и СНГ обсудили деятельность террористических организаций" (Representatives of the SCO and the CIS discussed the activities of terrorist groups)

"Президент Узбекистана посетит Китай" (Uzbek President to visit China)

"中国石化哈萨克斯坦阿特劳炼油厂芳烃装置开工" (Sinopec begins construction of petrochemical facility in Atyrau)
"Kazakhstan: Obama-Nazarbayev Meeting Does Not Yield OSCE Summit Pledge"

"Turkmenistan Q1 energy export revenues jump 250%"

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