Ruble-yuan settlements to fuel Russia-China trade boom — minister

 

January 13, MOSCOW
“Cooperation between Russia and China in 2014 has seen breakthroughs in numerous spheres,” Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov said

© EPA/HOW HWEE YOUNG

MOSCOW, January 13. /TASS/. Deeper trade ties are on the horizon in cross-border settlements financed by Russian rubles and China’s yuan, Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov told Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

© ITAR-TASS/Yuri Smityuk

Russia-China trade exceeded $95 billion in 2014

“Cooperation between Russia and China in 2014 has seen breakthroughs in numerous spheres despite global economic and political unrest,” Morgulov said in the news service report.

“Official estimates have shown that bilateral trade volumes in 2014 could exceed $90 billion,” the diplomat was quoted as saying, recalling that the countries’ leaders had pledged to raise volumes to $100 billion in 2015 and $200 billion in 2020. “We are more than confident of reaching the goals,” he said.

Partnership in financial transactions, aircraft manufacturing, space and high technology had gained momentum in the past year, the report said, adding that the two countries had already broadened the scale of local currency settlement.

“China is not only a major strategic partner for Russia in the economy, but also in politics,” the diplomat said, noting Russia’s interest in strengthening practical cooperation with China in multiple areas of mutual benefit.

Developing inter-regional partnerships, deepening cross-border cooperation and improved transport infrastructure were major challenges facing the two nations, the report added.

Crimean wines may be exported to India, China

Crimea’s ambitions are not limited to providing wine to Russian consumers. It also expects to enter the markets of China and India, the head of Crimea Sergey Aksyonov told the reporters.

“Today there is demand for Crimean wine everywhere. During my visit to Moscow, I was approached by entrepreneurs who deliver products outside of Russian Federation – in China, in India, where there is direct interest, including the supplies of Crimean wines,” Aksyonov said.

According to him, Crimea has a great potential in terms of growing grapes. Vineyards occupy more than 30 thousand hectares of the peninsula, while in the rest of Russia – about 60 thousand hectares.

“We believe that Crimea should become a priority region where the wine industry will attain a certain momentum, and enable Crimea to supply wine to all of Russian Federation,” Aksyonov said.

He added that when Crimea was a part of Ukraine, many of its vineyards were rendered unusable. “Unfortunately, the state of Ukraine almost never allocated funds to support this industry,” Aksyonov said.

India and China are among the fastest growing wine markets in the world. The former produces wine in the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka, and as a result, the country has high duties on wine imports. The duties have been a bone of contention between India and the European Union.

Analysts believe that Crimean wines would have a distinct price advantage in India when competing with wines from Spain, France and Chile.

Crimean wine: A chequered history

In 1820, during the reign of Catherine II, Count Mikhail Vorontsov planted the first wine gardens in Crimea and established a large winery near Yalta. A viticulture research institute called Magarach was founded eight years later.

The Russian sparkling wine, called champagne was founded by Prince Lev Golitsyn after the Crimean War.

In the 19^th century, Crimean Wine was considered the best in all of the Russian Empire.

Under Tsar Nicholas II, the predecessor of Massandra, today’s state winery, was founded.  The most well known wines from Crimea are Massandra and Novy Svet. The companies have been operating produce sweet and fortified wines in the French style.

White House Makes Unflattering Remarks About Possibilities of Russia, China to Fight Ebola

White House spokesman claimed that the attempts of Russia and China to fight the Ebola fade in comparison with US efforts

© REUTERS/ Kevin Lamarque

 28/10/2014

WASHINGTON, October 28 (RIA Novosti) – White House press secretary Josh Earnest has stated that the attempts of Russia and China to fight the deadly Ebola disease fade in comparison with US efforts.

“When we have a situation like this on the global scene, people aren’t wondering what the Chinese are doing to respond to it. People aren’t picking up the phone and wondering if Vladimir Putin is going to commit Russian resources to this effort. People want to know what the United States of America is doing about it. And what this President has done is stepped up and showed the kind of American leadership that makes the American people proud,” Earnest said Monday at the press briefing.

“There’s no other international government that’s made a commitment like the United States has to ensuring that we’re going to strengthen the logistics in place in West Africa to speed the transfer of supplies, equipment and personnel into the region to stop this outbreak at the source,” White House spokesperson claimed.

The United States earlier announced the transfer of nearly 4,000 soldiers to Liberia to help combat the disease and pledged to help build a number of temporary hospitals in the Ebola-hit countries. So far, the US military have launched a field hospital with 25 beds for local medical workers, who may be infected with a virus.

Russia plans to sign a memorandum with Guinea in the coming weeks on the joint effort to fight Ebola, including, in particular, completion of Russian vaccine against Ebola.

Also, Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a phone conversation agreed to increase cooperation on combating the virus.

The current Ebola outbreak began in southern Guinea in the beginning of this year and later spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Senegal.

According the most recent estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 4,900 people have died from current Ebola outbreak that originated in the West African country of Guinea. There have also been some 10,100 occurrences of confirmed, suspected and registered Ebola cases.

Putin to take part in SCO summit in Dushanbe

© ITAR-TASS/Alexei Nikolsky

MOSCOW, September 11. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will arrive in Dushanbe on Thursday to take part in a two-day summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

“It is a landmark summit for us as after Dushanbe Russian will take over presidency in the SCO from Tajikistan,” Russian president’s aide Yuri Ushakov told Journalists on Wednesday.

Russia ready to organize SCO conference on Afghanistan

On Thursday evening, ahead of the official summit’s programme, the heads of delegations will meet at a gala concert and a dinner. On Friday, September 12, the Council of the Heads of State will meet first in a narrow format and later in an extended format, involving representatives from SCO observer countries /Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia, and Pakistan/. Turkmenistan’s president and heads of a number of international organizations have been invited to the summit as guests.

The final document – the Dushanbe declaration – is expected to focus on consolidated approaches of the member states to the SCO development and to acute international issues.

According to Ushakov, at their narrow-format meeting the SCO heads of state will discuss cooperation in the sphere of security and efforts to improve the SCO activities. They will also exchange views on the situation in the region and in the world.

“Traditionally, major attention at a narrow-format meeting will be focused on informal discussion of the situation in Afghanistan,” Ushakov said. “We hope the meeting will yield a consolidated position of the SCO member states, who stand for Afghanistan’s development as an independent, neutral and peaceful states and support the central, coordinating role of the United Nations Organization in efforts on the Afghan settlement and assistance to the Afghan people.”

He also said that Russia planned to come out with an initiative to organize in Russia a SCO top-level conference on Afghanistan and invite SCO member states, observers and partners, as well representatives from other countries and international organizations concerned. The previous such conference was held in Moscow in March 2009.

Another topical international problem to be discussed at the SCO summit will be the Ukrainian crisis. “It is planned to include into the Dushanbe declaration provisions on the Ukrainian developments,” Ushakov noted. “It will be noted that the SCO heads of state stand for the soonest restoration of peace in Ukraine, for continuation of the negotiating process to finally settle the crisis in that country.” The SCO leaders, according to Ushakov, commend the Minsk protocol signed after consultations of the Contact Group on Ukraine.

SCO more modern than organizations with rigid bloc discipline — Lavrov

Ushakov also stressed that the SCO member countries reiterated their readiness to step up efforts against terrorism, illegal drug trafficking, trans-border organized crime and other challenges. The declaration will set a task of intensifying multilateral and bilateral ties in the areas of culture, science and technology, innovation, education, etc.

Apart from that, the summit is expected to yield documents regulating accession to the organization for new members. Ushakov reminded that India, Pakistan and Iran had applied for SCO membership. “However due to the United Nation’s current sanctions, Iran’s admission will be apparently postponed,” he said, adding that India and Pakistan could be granted full-fledged membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization already at its next summit in Russia’s Ufa in July 2015.

The SCO summit is also planned to make a decision to elaborate a draft strategy of the SCO development till the year 2025 /in this event, the strategy may be adopted at the Ufa summit in 2015/ and a decision on joint celebrations on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the victory in WWII.

Apart from that, Putin will hold separate meetings with the leaders of China, Mongolia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan /on September 11/ and with the leaders of Kazakhstan and Iran /on September 12/.

After the Dushanbe summit, Russia will take over the presidency in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization from Tajikistan. The next SCO summit will be held in Russia’s city of Ufa on July 9-10, 2015 along with the summit of the BRICS (an acronym standing for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization includes Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. Observer states are Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia, and Pakistan. Belarus, Turkey and Sri Lanka have a status of partners in dialogue.

Russian Gas Price for China to Exceed Preliminary Estimates – Source

MOSCOW, May 21 (RIA Novosti) – The price of gas under a new contract between Russian energy giant Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation exceeds analysts estimates of $350 per thousand cubic meters, a source acquainted with the terms of the contract told RIA Novosti Wednesday.

“The gas price under the contract is over $350,” the source said, refusing to name the exact figure citing commercial confidentiality.

Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller earlier declined to reveal the contract price for gas for the same reason. He did, however, say that the value of the entire contract was $400 billion, which if calculated against the expected flow amounts, comes to around $350 per thousand cubic meters.

Russian President Vladimir Putin later specified that the price was tied to the market price of oil and oil products and had satisfied both parties.

Gazprom and CNPC earlier in the day signed a 30-year contract on the sale of Russian gas to China at a volume of 38 billion cubic meters per year with delivery along the eastern route. It was signed on the second day of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s official visit to Shanghai.

The document was under discussion for several years with the gas price that the parties finally agreed on at the last minute being the main stumbling block.

OPINION: Russia-China Gas Deal to Mark Shift to Multipolar World

WASHINGTON, May 21 (RIA Novosti), Lyudmila Chernova – A long-negotiated gas deal between China and Russia is part of the coming shift toward a multipolar world, Dr. Richard Wellings, Deputy Editorial Director at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), told RIA Novosti Wednesday.

“It’s part of the monumental shift in world trade. And this is probably the first of many such deals, but we’ll see more of these,” Wellinngs told RIA Novosti Tuesday. “There is a shift to a multipolar world.”

Wellings believes that the gas agreement is very important and will have benefits in terms of current political difficulties, as it might significantly reduce Russia’s dependence on European markets.

“The European Union is a stagnating economic region, whereas China is a rapidly growing part of the world economy,” he stated. “There are potentially enormous benefits in terms of diversifying trade. It can also be a stacking stone to more deals and starting point of much more trade between China and Russia.”

Wellings warned that if Europe becomes too hawkish on economic sanctions against Russia, there is a danger for it to end up increasingly marginalized in terms of trade.

“It won’t happen overnight, because the European Union is far too dependent on Russian energy at the moment, and I don’t think it is practical to find alternative sources,” the expert said, adding that the process for Europe to begin importing US shale gas will take years.

The deal, if struck, will provide for gas deliveries amounting to 38 billion cubic meters per year via the eastern route to China, the largest market for Russian gas in the Asia-Pacific region.

The contract is expected to be signed for a 30-year period and according to analysts is worth about $400 billion. The signing of the contract has been delayed several times and many see Russian President Vladimir Putin’s current visit to China as the final stage of the negotiating process.

In a surprising turn of events, however, the two sides failed to reach an agreement citing a pricing issue as the main stumbling block. Nevertheless, experts think the deal will be sealed before Russian President Vladimir Putin leaves China on Wednesday.

US Spy Program Penetrated Russian Military Networks

WASHINGTON, January 14 (RIA Novosti) – The United States has infiltrated Russian military networks under a program that uses radio frequencies to spy on computers not connected to the Internet, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

The penetration was carried under a US National Security Agency (NSA) program, code-named Quantum, that has been used primarily against the Chinese Army but also against Mexican drug cartels, European trade institutions and targets in Pakistan, India and Saudi Arabia, the newspaper reported on its website, citing NSA documents, US officials and computer security experts.

The report, based in part on documents disclosed by fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, did not provide further details about the infiltration of Russian military computers.

But the Times cited an unidentified senior official as saying that nearly 100,000 computers had been penetrated under the program worldwide.

The Quantum program’s surveillance software is implanted primarily by accessing computer networks, the Times reported.

But the program also uses small circuit boards or USB cards that are secretly inserted into computers and then use radio waves to transmit data from – and into – the machines even if they are not connected to the Internet, according to the report.

Typically, the hardware must be inserted into the computer by a spy, a manufacturer or an unsuspecting user, the Times reported.

The newspaper cited officials and experts as saying that most of the surveillance conducted under the program, which the NSA has used since at least 2008, is defensive in nature and aimed at heading off cyber attacks.

The Virginia-based US firm Mandiant, which specializes in cyber-security issues, published a report in February claiming hacker-attacks on US companies were being carried out by a special unit within the Chinese military, based near Shanghai. China’s Defense Ministry denied the allegation.

US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said in 2012 that “entities within” China and Russia “are responsible for extensive illicit intrusions into US computer networks and theft of intellectual property.”

The Times said in its report that there is no evidence that the NSA has implanted its software or the radio frequency technology in domestic computers.

Snowden, a former NSA contractor, leaked a trove of documents on the agency’s surveillance programs to the media earlier this year, sparking a global firestorm over its massive collection of data on private individuals in the United States and abroad.

He fled to Hong Kong and then to Moscow, where he was granted temporary asylum in Russia in August despite repeated extradition demands from the United States, where he is wanted on espionage-related charges.

UK parliament rejects military intervention in Syria

MOSCOW, August 30 (RIA Novosti) – The UK government has lost a vital parliamentary vote endorsing military operation in Syria in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime, British media reported.

The motion calling for a “strong humanitarian response” on Syria was defeated by 285 to 272 votes late on Thursday, The Guardian reported. The opposition gained a majority when around 30 Conservative MPs crossed the floor to vote against the government, The Independent reported.

Speaking in parliament after the historic vote, ruling out London’s involvement in any US-led strikes, Prime Minster David Cameron said: “It is clear to me that the British Parliament, reflecting the views of the British people, does not want to see British military action. I get that and the government will act accordingly,” the paper reported.

In response to the vote by the British parliament, the White House said Washington “will continue to consult” with Britain, one of its “closest allies and friends,” the BBC reported.

The British vote follows a deadlocked meeting of the UN Security Council Wednesday, in which Britain had tried to get support for a resolution condemning Syria and authorizing military support against it for using chemical weapons. China and Russia opposed the resolution.

The UK Prime Minister’s Office said previously that if action in the UN Security Council is blocked, international law would still permit the country “to take exceptional measures in order to alleviate the scale of the overwhelming humanitarian catastrophe in Syria.”

Western powers are considering armed intervention in the two-year civil war after hundreds of people were killed last week in the Syrian capital Damascus in an apparent nerve gas attack that the Syrian opposition claimed was carried out by government forces and the government blamed on rebels. Western media speculated that such intervention might begin in the coming days.

Cameron called the purported gas attack “one of the most abhorrent uses of chemical weapons in a century,” The Guardian said.

Naval forces from the France, Russia, the United Kingdom and United States are known to be in the eastern Mediterranean. Typhoon fighter aircraft from Britain’s Royal Air Force had already deployed Thursday morning to the British Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus, the UK Defense Ministry said.

Russian, Chinese diplomats discuss Syria in Moscow

MOSCOW, August 29 (RIA Novosti) – Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and China’s ambassador to Moscow, Li Hui, met in Moscow on Thursday to discuss recent international developments regarding the conflict in Syria.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the meeting had been held upon a request from the Chinese side and an emphasis was placed on issues of “further Russian-Chinese political and diplomatic cooperation in connection with the acute deterioration of the situation concerning Syria.”

Western powers are debating armed intervention in the two-year civil war after an apparent nerve gas attack that the Syrian opposition claimed was carried out by government forces and killed nearly 1,300 people. The Syrian government quickly denied the allegations and said it had evidence of rebel groups using chemical weapons.

Moscow and Beijing, both permanent members of the UN Security Council and purported allies of Syrian President Bashar Assad, have repeatedly blocked resolutions that would have paved the way for foreign military intervention.

US must choose back Syria conference or rebels

ST. PETERSBURG, June 21 (RIA Novosti) – The United States needs to choose between its support for an international conference designed to end the civil war in Syria and unilateral steps to support the armed opposition, Russia’s foreign minister said Friday.

The United States is giving the Syrian opposition mixed signals, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a joint interview with The Associated Press and Bloomberg.

“The message the opposition is getting is, ‘Guys, don’t go to Geneva, don’t say you are going to negotiate with the regime, soon things will change in your favor,’” Lavrov said.

“It’s either the conference or the instigation of the opposition not to be flexible. I don’t think it’s possible to do both at the same time,” he added.

In May, Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry proposed holding a second international conference on Syria. The planned gathering has been dubbed “Geneva 2” because the first such conference on Syria was held in Geneva last summer.

“If our goal is the conference, then we must avoid any discussions and, of course, any action designed to establish a no-fly zone. We must avoid confrontational debates and one-sided resolutions in the [United Nations] General Assembly,” Lavrov said Friday.

More than 90,000 people have died since fighting broke out between Syrian government forces and rebel groups in March 2011, according to the latest UN figures.

Russia, along with China, has faced widespread condemnation over its refusal to approve UN sanctions against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime. Moscow has repeatedly stated that it has no interest in seeing Assad remain at the helm, but is concerned that a power vacuum would lead to more violence.