Russian Economy General News: #12

Eastern Economic Forum set to take place on September 2-4

In 2020, the forum was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic

MOSCOW, March 12. /TASS/. The 6th Eastern Economic Forum will be held on September 2-4, 2021, on the Far Eastern Federal University campus, the Roscongress Foundation said in a statement on Friday.

"I am confident that this year’s Forum will build on its investment capacity. Moreover, it will become an important platform for developing humanitarian ties in light of our cooperation with Asian countries in fighting COVID-19," Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation, Executive Secretary of the EEF Organizing Committee Anton Kobyakov was quoted as saying.

The forum will be held "to the highest standards and will comply with Rospotrebnadzor and WHO recommendations on compulsory measures that aim to prevent the spread of coronavirus," he added.

According to Kobyakov, the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok is an efficient tool for developing international multilateral cooperation in the Asia-Pacific, which annually brings together leaders of the top APAC countries for discussing universal aspects of the global economy.

The Eastern Economic Forum was established by decree of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin in 2015 to support the economic development of Russia’s Far East and to expand international cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. It is traditionally held in early September on Russky Island in the Primorye Territory. In 2020, the forum was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

https://tass.com/economy/1265279

The Russian government facilitation of corporate development financing is bearing fruit. A new 100 billion ruble stainless steel
rolling plant will be built. Currently Russia imports 95% of this particular production.

Current Russian demand of this product is 300,000 tons per year but the new plant will be able to produce 500,000 tons per year.
The company involved is TNK which is already a large producer of steel and pipes.

This information is useful context for the retarded drivel about a 95 billion ruble trash fire on the Kuznetsov.

Interesting additional information is that the scumbag Siluanov is bitching that the new financing program is too big.
He could care less about it being effective. Somebody needs to take this maggot out back and have him shot. He
is a brazen monetarist saboteur. The last government on the planet that should be worried about too much debt or
financial risk is Russia. If Siluanov is not shot, he can go to his precious western utopia and enjoy all that fiscal
responsibility that is rampant there.

I say its his job. Putin wants it this way or the guy would be polishing rocks in Siberia. Siluanov is the little devil on Putins left shoulder which always screams: "To expensive! Save money!" On the other shoulder sits another minister and begs for money.

Rosatom buys 49% of shares in Enertech, a Korean manufacturer of lithium batteries, and will build a battery plant in Russia

Rener, a subsidiary of Rosatom's energy storage integrator, has completed the acquisition of a 49% stake in Enertech International Inc, a South Korean manufacturer of electrodes, lithium-ion batteries and energy storage systems.

The deal also includes the construction in Russia of a plant for the production of lithium-ion batteries and energy storage systems with a production capacity of at least 2 GWh by 2030. The launch of the first stage of battery production is scheduled for 2025 .

It is assumed that the batteries of the new Russian plant will be used in electric vehicles (buses and cars), special equipment and electrical networks, including as a basis for energy storage systems.

New Alliance with Korean partner was an important step in the development of non-nuclear business Rosatom . Lithium batteries are, in addition to everything, the basis of energy storage systems, which are becoming an integral part of renewable generation power plants. Let me remind you that Rosatom successfully operates a wind power division, which is being developed by its subsidiary “Novavind ". At present, the Kochubeevskaya wind farm has been put into operation, and a project has begun on the construction of the Medvezhenskaya wind farm in the Stavropol Territory.

Natalya Nikipelova, President of TVEL Company, “The alliance with a technology partner is a strategically important milestone in the development of Rosatom's energy storage business. This will increase production capacity, greatly expand our knowledge and application of lithium-ion batteries, and facilitate access to overseas markets. In addition, the presence of local production in Russia means not only new technologies and products, but also new jobs".

The creation of a world-class battery manufacturing enterprise in Russia will also become a landmark event for the Russian automotive industry. The quality and reliability, which is guaranteed by only one brand # rosatom , will give an impetus to the development of the electric vehicle industry in the country, and of course the growth of competition in the lithium battery production sector, remembering that the Novosibirsk # plant # liotech has been operating for several years . The growth of Russian battery production will lead to a decrease in dependence on imports, and the associated commercial risks and, as a result, a decrease in the cost of final products can become an incentive for the growth of production and the widespread introduction of Russian-made electric vehicles.

Selected by Rosatom as a partner to create a "battery alliance" South Korean Enertech International Inc has been developing and producing lithium batteries for 20 years. The company has its own complete production cycle and technical base for the production of electrodes, battery cells, traction battery assemblies, and energy storage systems. Only at the end of February, the company announced the imminent start of production of the 4th generation EV Gen4 lithium cell.

Traction batteries Enertech International Inc with a capacity of 6 to 27 kW * h is equipped, for example, monorail trains in Incheon.

PS

Without "swinging" for a long time, Rosatom began to transfer its in-plant electric transport to lithium-ion batteries of its own design and production, instead of outdated lead-acid batteries. This program was launched at the NPO "Centrotech" enterprise in Novouralsk, Sverdlovsk region. Within the framework of the project, batteries with a capacity of 480 A * h with an operating voltage of 48 V will be installed on six electric trucks. Two more electric forklifts will be equipped with storage units with a capacity of 320 A * h with an operating voltage of 44 V.

https://zen.yandex.ru/media/iap_zts/rosatom-kupil-49-akcii-enertech-koreiskogo-proizvoditelia-litievyh-akkumuliatorov-i-postroit-v-rossii-akkumuliatornyi-zavod-6043721458285736dd49597b

The dig at lead-acid is ignorant pap. You don't need lithium-ion for plant-level service vehicles. And once a lithium-ion battery is
dead it is fully dead and needs to be reprocessed. "Primitive" lead-acid batteries only "die" because consumers don't know that you
can rejuvenate them.



Considering that lithium is a rare resource, it does not make sense to pimp it for every application. Use it where it is needed.

Russia doubled gold export revenues in January

Russia exported 13.73 tons of rough gold in January 2021, which is 1.5 times more than in January 2020. At the same time, in monetary terms, exports almost doubled - up to $ 812 million, follows from the data of the Federal Customs Service.

At the same time, in December 2020, gold exports were higher - 22 tons by $ 1.3 billion.

In January, most of the gold was traditionally supplied to the UK - 12.9 tons, or more than 90% of the total export volume. Also, supplies went to Kazakhstan and Switzerland.

In 2020, Russia exported gold worth a total of $ 18.535 billion, which is 3.2 times more than in 2019. In physical terms, the export of gold in 2020 more than doubled - up to 320 tons against 123 tons in 2019.

In April 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Trade was allowed to issue general licenses to producers for the export of refined gold and silver bullion on the basis of a statement approved by the Ministry of Finance. Prior to that, general export licenses were issued only to banks that received a corresponding license from the Central Bank. Companies and refineries could export precious metals on the basis of one-time licenses issued for a contract with a specific foreign counterparty.

https://sdelanounas.ru/blogs/140064/

Kiko wrote:
In January, most of the gold was traditionally supplied to the UK - 12.9 tons, or more than 90% of the total export volume.

Why is UK buying so much gold from Russia?

Because the UK has no gold.

One reason could be the many people from India and the ME living there.

The London OTC market has historically been the center of the gold trade and today comprises approximately 70% of global notional trading volume per our estimates. The London market attracts participants from all around the world and sets the twice daily global reference benchmark for gold, the LBMA Gold Price. Uniquely the market in London trades 400 ounce bars ‘Good Delivery’ bars which are stored in the member vaults of the London Precious Metals Clearing Limited (LPMCL) and the Bank of England.

owais.usmani wrote:

Kiko wrote:
In January, most of the gold was traditionally supplied to the UK - 12.9 tons, or more than 90% of the total export volume.

Why is UK buying so much gold from Russia?

The UK isn't buying any gold. It is just where the gold market and cartel is located. Russian gold miners are selling their gold on the London market. It has nothing to do with Russia's sovereign holdings or the UK's sovereign holdings.

Kiko wrote:Russia doubled gold export revenues in January

Russia exported 13.73 tons of rough gold in January 2021, which is 1.5 times more than in January 2020. At the same time, in monetary terms, exports almost doubled - up to $ 812 million, follows from the data of the Federal Customs Service.

At the same time, in December 2020, gold exports were higher - 22 tons by $ 1.3 billion.

In January, most of the gold was traditionally supplied to the UK - 12.9 tons, or more than 90% of the total export volume. Also, supplies went to Kazakhstan and Switzerland.

In 2020, Russia exported gold worth a total of $ 18.535 billion, which is 3.2 times more than in 2019. In physical terms, the export of gold in 2020 more than doubled - up to 320 tons against 123 tons in 2019.

In April 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Trade was allowed to issue general licenses to producers for the export of refined gold and silver bullion on the basis of a statement approved by the Ministry of Finance. Prior to that, general export licenses were issued only to banks that received a corresponding license from the Central Bank. Companies and refineries could export precious metals on the basis of one-time licenses issued for a contract with a specific foreign counterparty.

https://sdelanounas.ru/blogs/140064/

Actually the source mentions one small but important details- exported gold was unprocessed gold. I am not an expert but I would say had the gold been processed/minted into coins, lingots or why not jewery its value would have drastically increased.
Actually thats what I think many buyers in UK do- they buy cheap Russian prime material, process it quickly and then re-sell with huge benefits.

They do. And like how Russia has banned sale of raw wood materials, same should be applied all all raw materials besides oil and gas at this point.

Nomad5891 wrote:

Kiko wrote:Russia doubled gold export revenues in January

Russia exported 13.73 tons of rough gold in January 2021, which is 1.5 times more than in January 2020. At the same time, in monetary terms, exports almost doubled - up to $ 812 million, follows from the data of the Federal Customs Service.

At the same time, in December 2020, gold exports were higher - 22 tons by $ 1.3 billion.

In January, most of the gold was traditionally supplied to the UK - 12.9 tons, or more than 90% of the total export volume. Also, supplies went to Kazakhstan and Switzerland.

In 2020, Russia exported gold worth a total of $ 18.535 billion, which is 3.2 times more than in 2019. In physical terms, the export of gold in 2020 more than doubled - up to 320 tons against 123 tons in 2019.

In April 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Trade was allowed to issue general licenses to producers for the export of refined gold and silver bullion on the basis of a statement approved by the Ministry of Finance. Prior to that, general export licenses were issued only to banks that received a corresponding license from the Central Bank. Companies and refineries could export precious metals on the basis of one-time licenses issued for a contract with a specific foreign counterparty.

https://sdelanounas.ru/blogs/140064/

Actually the source mentions one small but important details- exported gold was unprocessed gold. I am not an expert but I would say had the gold been processed/minted into coins, lingots or why not jewery its value would have drastically increased.
Actually thats what I think many buyers in UK do- they buy cheap Russian prime material, process it quickly and then re-sell with huge benefits.

If it is destined for resale on the gold market as mentioned by a previous poster then it would need to be unprocessed.

miketheterrible wrote:They do.  And like how Russia has banned sale of raw wood materials, same should be applied all all raw materials besides oil and gas at this point.

Economic independence from western blackmail necessitates such an approach. Russia should transition all of its mineral exports to value added production.
There is no case where the value added is marginal and unjustified. The price skyrockets for any sort of processing.

Even though Russia imports bauxite, it is typical of many ores in that there are other valuable minerals

Bauxite is the most important ore of aluminum which contains only 30–54% alumina, Al2O3; the rest is a mixture of silica, various iron oxides,
and titanium dioxide along with trace amounts of zinc, phosphorous, nickel, vanadium etc.

So it would make more sense for bauxite exporters such as Australia to process it into its components and sell those instead.
Russia exports aluminum so it is not just some banana republic. It is making better use of bauxite than Australia.

Russia can even divert processed mineral exports into actual products such as pipes and equipment since it has the technological
base to do this.

miketheterrible wrote:They do.  And like how Russia has banned sale of raw wood materials, same should be applied all all raw materials besides oil and gas at this point.

That doesn't really work in the long-run, such protectionist policies ultimately artificially skewer the economy, although they can be useful as a short-term measure.

Case in point is Russia putting up export tariffs against the export of wheat and other grains abroad earlier this year, in a bid to slow down the acceleration of food prices

By depriving Russian farmers of their most lucrative export markets however, the farmers are responding by lowering the area of their plantations this year, as it's simply not as lucrative and they can try other crops instead. Or they simply can't afford to plant as much as they're now struggling to break even. This in turn only lowers the supply of wheat in both the Russian market and the world market further in a situation where demand is outpacing supply; the end result is that food prices will continue increasing.
And of course adding to that is the fact that we have a ban on European food imports, which could otherwise serve to provide competition and deflate the prices for Russian consumers.

By banning the export of unprocessed gold and timber, this also lowers the stakes for those enterprises engaged in mining and lumbering respectively; they don't get the free choice of who to export to - whether internal Russian processors of these materials, or ones abroad, therefore their profit margins sink as internal processing companies assume a monopoly and are able to leverage themselves on the primary extraction enterprises, primary extraction becomes less lucrative overall and some of them will go out of business, and then the prices of both unprocessed gold and timber on the internal market will climb, and Russian processors of these materials might turn to importing it themselves.

Russia will have to walk back on every one of these policies in the end, mark my words. Whether it'll be now, or later on. These policies will only work for as long as output increases significantly with each year due to productivity gains and new fields coming online.

Importing food wouldn´t deflate the prices. In the past this was the main factor for the inflation in Russia.

This is the same BS that privatizing public utilities would make them cheaper.

Nowhere on the planet has privatization of water and electricity resulted in lower prices.   In fact, water became an extortion
racket in many developing countries leading to mass unrest.

Hole wrote:Importing food wouldn´t deflate the prices. In the past this was the main factor for the inflation in Russia.

Flaming retard more like than python.

The importation has destroyed Russian agricultural industry for decades.  Russia has produced more food now than before so his talk is stupid that isn't backed up by sources or reality

No one is reducing plantation in Russia. Maybe some regards in form of protest but ultimately will lose out to farmers who are taking advantage of current structure.

Protectionism is what gre Japan, South Korea and the like. But it's bad for Russia cause of....well, no real excuses.

People with no knowledge of economics try to tell me, whom is in the field.  Lol.

I'll give a hint - you maximize what available farmland to you to sell in volume of sale thus increasing financial velocity. Russia faced a shortage of food that forced importing. It wasn't the other way around of facing a supply excess that makes farmers rely on exporting.

Russia isn't there yet hence why they still import cows. If supply is too much and can't export, it was farmers fault for not finding an alternative product to sell.

A strong nation isn't one that relies on importing. This is basic.

Japan is a protectionist fail. It tries to grow its own rice which makes it very expensive. Japan has some of the most atrocious
consumer prices on the planet. Then they wonder why their population is collapsing.

Anyone running around claiming that Russian agriculture is in decline is spreading pure lies. It is growing every year and Russia
is now one of the main exporters of food on the planet. Why the fcuk would it need to import food to reduce prices? The
excess production drives those prices down. At least for the farmers. The middle men reseller parasites do not actually
engage in market economics, they engage in extortion rackets.

kvs wrote:Japan is a protectionist fail.  It tries to grow its own rice which makes it very expensive.   Japan has some of the most atrocious
consumer prices on the planet.   Then they wonder why their population is collapsing.  

Anyone running around claiming that Russian agriculture is in decline is spreading pure lies.   It is growing every year and Russia
is now one of the main exporters of food on the planet.   Why the fcuk would it need to import food to reduce prices?   The
excess production drives those prices down.   At least for the farmers.   The middle men reseller parasites do not actually
engage in market economics, they engage in extortion rackets.

Ask flaming. He failed economics but sure does love to talk as if he knows it.

I'm telling you what's happening now, and the results will become apparent by the end of the year. If the grain harvest this year turns out to be worse than last year's, don't go acting surprised.

Farmers are decreasing their plantation areas due to the new export tariffs, this is a fact. Even as the government is introducing a scheme to give the farmers credit for new equipment through the money they collected from them through the tariffs. If the government is that desperate to decrease food prices, then it should subsidize them for the population, by allowing farmers and processing industries to sell them to anywhere they wish, but introduce a price cap in supermarkets and then compensate them each product sold out of the government's own funds.

I never said that protectionism can't work. It can and does work, and is evidently necessary to protect your weaker national industries against stronger foreign ones, if I'm not mistaken even Adam Smith said as much.
But it's a temporary stage. Once your industries modernize and make all the productivity gains they can easily, then it becomes counterproductive to prevent foreign goods from entering your market, or restricting your own producers from exporting.

Preventing lumberers and gold miners from exporting will make both of these sectors significantly less lucrative, that's also a fact. Whether that can be justified by making conditions for processors of those materials better, and getting these industries up to speed - is an open question. Maybe, but either case the export ban can only be temporary.
But if the government wants to grow the processing industries, then it'll be a better idea to subsidize them out of its own pocket instead. Same results, without making primary extractors suffer.

Of course the government doesn't want to do that, it doesn't want to pay for anything - and that's really what all of this is about. Let the farmers, lumberers and miners pay for the growth of Russian industries out of their own profit margins instead.

Up to 4.5% per annum: The Central Bank raised the key rate for the first time since December 2018
19 March 2021

https://russian.rt.com/business/article/843923-centrobank-stavka-mart-2021

I thought that is what it was before?

miketheterrible wrote:I thought that is what it was before?

RT needs to stop spreading nonsense. The CBR prime rate in 2018 was over 7%.

https://www.global-rates.com/en/interest-rates/central-banks/central-bank-russia/cbr-interest-rate.aspx

The CBR rate was lowered from 6.0% to 4.2% only in 2020.

RT is rather shitty itself so I'm not surprised.