Russian oil firm Rosneft could double its oil supplies to China in exchange for a $30 billion loan from the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), reported Reuters on Wednesday, in a deal that would make Beijing the world’s largest consumer of Russian oil.
The Russian economy saw nearly $764.3 billion in illicit financial flows leave and enter the country from 1994 through 2011, said a new report by research and advocacy organisation Global Financial Integrity (GFI) on Wednesday, raising serious questions over the nation’s financial transparency, ahead of its chairing of the G-20 summit this week.
Russia’s defence industry exported a record $15.16 billion worth of weapons and military equipment to foreign countries in 2012, claimed officials this week, beating a previous forecast set in late-December and cementing the nation’s position as the world’s second largest arms exporter after the U.S.
The Russian government will debate this week on whether to allow private energy companies to begin exploring for oil and gas in its Arctic Shelf, reported AFP on Monday, in the hopes of expediting energy developments in the region, which are presently conducted by just two state-owned companies.
Heightened production activities among its state-owned oil companies helped push Russia’s crude oil output to a post-Soviet era record high of 10.37 million barrels per day (bpd) last year, according to data released by the country’s energy ministry on Wednesday, earning Russia the title of the world’s largest oil producer in 2012 ahead of traditional giants Saudi Arabia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in New Delhi on Monday, pledging to tighten defence ties with India, while promising to double the current level of bilateral trade from $10 billion to $20 billion within the next three years.
Putin, who will meet with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on a one-day visit, said that the two BRIC countries could expand on their current trade and defence relationship, especially as India was now the world’s largest arms importer while Russian-made military equipment accounted for 70 percent of Indian arms supplies.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday criticised Russia’s efforts to create a new Eurasian Union; and accused Moscow of attempting “to re-Sovietise the region” under the ruse of deeper economic integration.
Thousands of vehicles – including some 4,000 trucks – were caught in a three-day traffic jam along the M10 highway from Moscow to St. Petersburg over the weekend, reported Reuters, after a heavy snowstorm paralysed traffic conditions for a stretch of up to 200km.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged domestic industries to adapt quickly to the new market conditions that have arisen from the nation’s entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO); and warned that the initial adjustment to WTO regulations may cause the overall economy to suffer in the short-term.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has defended his nation’s decision to sell arms to the Syrian government, reported Reuters, after claiming that the Russian government was obliged to do so under Soviet-era commitments, while asserting that the weapons were meant for defence against external threats only.
