Russian Economy General News: #11

GarryB wrote:Ahh boo hoo... now that they have hypersonic anti ship missile entering service they can look at more exotic stuff... .

yeah.. now they can look at the real things ,that matters for russia .. specially when the moron in chief
wasted $300 billion US  billions dollars in sports olympic bullshit , in pretty parks ,in pipelines to china ,that is become more energy independent with new discoveries of oil and natural gas..

so (now) indeed.. 20 years later he came to power , he can listen the scientific community ,the need for russia
to seriously invest in business that directly compete with americans high tech industry.. so better late than never?
20 years of potential wasted ,with that idiot in power , 20 years of putin "hoping to restore relations" with his american friends..  

relations that will never be restored and never was , the west never intended to restore relations with russia..
and the end of cold war was just a myth,.. they only changed their tactics of speak nicely and stab a knife when they are not looking. and all that putin did was focus the nation economy in turning russia into a gas station ,while allowing their adversaries to dominate in near every high tech industry and the ones they don't , still control it as it is taiwan ,japan and south korea ,through their massive high tech business influence.

So look how clever they were ,they control not only the banking industry but also the high tech too..
putin's russia in the other hand controls ,nothing that matters for for world development , dominates in no business that really matters for the average society. is an influence problem ,a leadership problem what Russia face.. all Russia problems the source of them comes from Russia lack of influence on the most important nations in the world. because had Russia was leading
in high tech exports and in space exploration and in culture, i assure you NATO will not exist today and long time ago the American empire collapsed ,as soviet union did.. and become today another regional power like Canada but with nukes..  no empire can exist without other nations support.. no empire can survive without influence is as simple as that..and money is not the most powerful form of influence.. Leadership is the most powerful influence of all , when others see you are successful ,they will want to follow..  i don't consider Russia a successful nation if it influence no one of the major powers in the world.. except for China that only follows Russia because they know there will be never a future for china ,as a vassal state of the american world.

instead of promoting so much sport bullshit ,distractions in meaningless competitions , he should have been e promoting
scientific education and engineering... instead of wasting so much money in transforming russia into a saudi arabia ,he should have focus in developing free clean energy revolution , taken advantage of the sun and other technologies.. so to collapse the petro dollar system ,and the using of oil to finance terrorism.. but Putin is a fool ,and just wasted 20 years on the development side.. economy growth ,but without progress.. without development ,without culture modernization just living from the past glories ) it was a huge mistake ,reason why i don't think russia have a chance to survive ,and will be disintegrated sooner or later by the moron in chief putin. because trying to buy patriotism with social wellfare did not worked for venezuela chavism ,have been very easy to destabilize by the west.. the best way to buy society is with success ,with development ,with leadership.. with real progress.. to lead in things no one else can do.. but putin plans for russia have been no other than ,to develop russia in the most lazy and easier and lowest risk possible ,and hope that their modernization of russia military and nukes.. will be enough to buy western support..

but what putin does is the opposite , he encourage disrespect , with his weakness and politeness idiocy.
and his outdated development of russia.. based on superficial things,,, like sports ,expensive parks
and football..    japan  was never strong power in sports.. yet japan business
have far away ,million times more influence over american citizens and europeans than any thing russia
could ever dream to be.. this is  a world ,where the leader takes it all.. and no place for second best. unless you are a vassal of the leader.

in more news ,it looks like putin now have gone full retard..
he is now trying to become an official dictator and micromanage all,
and the Russian government resigned.. he seems to want to rule in russia forever..
im sorry but i see no hopes for russia.. with putin there..

cnn albeit is most times fake news.. ironically have released a report ,that explain
what is very likely happening , this is a signal of insecurity of Putin..or the power that will remain
after he leave.. when he is insecure about the continuation of russia.. is because he is a bad leader.. \
since one of the most important role of a leader.. is to identify other good leaders ,and put them in
the ideal positions , so that they could continue his job when he retire.. putin insecurity of the system
he himself crafted ,is a clear sign that he is a bad leader. without a clear understanding of what russia needs.
or how to get there..

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/15/europe/russian-government-resigns-vladimir-putin-reforms-intl/index.html

The net inflow of funds of non-residents to OFZs and Eurobonds of Russia in 2019 amounted to $ 22.2 billion

https://sdelanounas.ru/blogs/129535/

The net inflow of funds from non-residents to Russian OFZs and Eurobonds in the fourth quarter of 2019 amounted to $ 3.4 billion against an outflow of $ 700 million a year earlier, according to the Bank of Russia, “Assessment of the balance of payments of the Russian Federation for January-September 2019”.

At the same time, according to the results of 2019, the inflow amounted to 22.2 billion dollars against the outflow of 5.3 billion dollars a year earlier.

Foreign direct investment in Russian companies in 2019 rose to $ 26.9 billion from 5.9 billion in 2018, according to the Central Bank.

Thus, the volume of direct investments of non-residents in Russian companies in the year grew by 4.6 times.

In the fourth quarter, an inflow of investments of 2.7 billion dollars was recorded.

https://sdelanounas.ru/blogs/129548/

The Russian direct investment Fund as the locomotive of the economy. The end of the year

The FUND, a sovereign Fund of the Russian Federation, 2019, and invested directly in the economy of Russia RUB 30 billion.

For each rouble of the Fund attracted more than 10 rubles from the partners of the Fund. Total investments in 2019 amounted to 365 billion rubles.

Last year marked a significant growth of foreign direct investment.

"We predicted that it will be 70%, but now see that it can be divisible and non-banking sector the growth of foreign direct investment may be four times over the past year", — said the head of RDIF.

According to him, "Russia has reached a very stable trend of increase of foreign direct investment in the future."

https://sdelanounas.ru/blogs/129419/

Railways have decided to spend 1 billion rubles on computers with Russian processors

The company plans to gain 15 thousand sets of computer equipment on the basis of Russian processors preloaded OS on the Linux kernel. Such purchase must be a first for state-owned companies.

The company "Russian Railways" (RZD) intends to purchase for their units 15 thousand personal computers on the basis of the developed in the Russian processors "Elbrus".

The maximum cost of a set of equipment for one job is set to 72 thousand rubles, the total cost of the purchase to 1.08 billion RUB., the documentation should be declared as Russian Railways e-auction (first it drew attention to the portal CNews).

In the MCST, has developed processors "Elbrus", said that the purchase of the Railways will be the largest deal with equipment based on Russian chips and the first example of large-scale deliveries of equipment on the basis of "Elbrusy" no Ministry or Agency and state-owned companies.

In accordance with the terms of reference the winner of the auction will have to complete the delivery not later than may 25, 2020 and the delivery of equipment to the addresses of divisions of the Russian Railways in different cities and regions.On the supplied computers must be preinstalled multi-language operating system on the Linux kernel, included in the register of the domestic software and text editor, graphics editor, spreadsheet editor and a browser.

Complete with every PC should be a monitor with a display diagonal of 23.8 inches, keyboard, mouse etc.

Putin promised veterans of the Great Patriotic War 75,000 rubles

https://www.vedomosti.ru/politics/articles/2020/01/18/820908-veteranam

Just had a query may be kvs can answer , was looking at SUN SPARC roadmap and knowing Russia also has its own SPARC processor where does Russia stand today say viz a viz industry leader like SUN SPARC or Fujitsu

https://www.nextplatform.com/2017/09/18/m8-last-hurrah-oracle-sparc/
https://www.fujitsu.com/global/Images/Fujitsu-SPARC-Servers-Roadmap_tcm100-3000908.jpg

Added later found something here on Russian SPARC achievement

https://www.cnews.ru/news/top/2018-04-27_razrabotchiki_elbrusov_vpervye_za_sem_let

To me the latest Russian SPARC R2000 looks comparable to SUN SPARC S7 processor

https://3s81si1s5ygj3mzby34dq6qf-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/oracle-sparc-cpu-table.jpg

Thanks kvs

kvs wrote:

miketheterrible wrote:https://sdelanounas.ru/blogs/129419/

Railways have decided to spend 1 billion rubles on computers with Russian processors

The company plans to gain 15 thousand sets of computer equipment on the basis of Russian processors preloaded OS on the Linux kernel. Such purchase must be a first for state-owned companies.

The company "Russian Railways" (RZD) intends to purchase for their units 15 thousand personal computers on the basis of the developed in the Russian processors "Elbrus".

The maximum cost of a set of equipment for one job is set to 72 thousand rubles, the total cost of the purchase to 1.08 billion RUB., the documentation should be declared as Russian Railways e-auction (first it drew attention to the portal CNews).

In the MCST, has developed processors "Elbrus", said that the purchase of the Railways will be the largest deal with equipment based on Russian chips and the first example of large-scale deliveries of equipment on the basis of "Elbrusy" no Ministry or Agency and state-owned companies.

In accordance with the terms of reference the winner of the auction will have to complete the delivery not later than may 25, 2020 and the delivery of equipment to the addresses of divisions of the Russian Railways in different cities and regions.On the supplied computers must be preinstalled multi-language operating system on the Linux kernel, included in the register of the domestic software and text editor, graphics editor, spreadsheet editor and a browser.

Complete with every PC should be a monitor with a display diagonal of 23.8 inches, keyboard, mouse etc.

About time that major institutions in Russia start buying Elbrus based PCs.   They are more than developed enough to take on any standard business or
government task.   It is in the HPC sector that they are behind because of too few cores per socket.   In terms of FPU they are now much better per
core than the previous generation.  

More sales volume will help develop the Elbrus further.

That is where Elbrus 16S will fill that gap:
https://www.russiadefence.net/t2824p625-ew-technologies-and-innovation-development-in-russia#272034

After that, they may work on more cores or something else.

Technically Russia could contract China's FAB plant to make microprocessors. They could end up coming up with an agreement that would benefit both sides. It would have been ideal if MCST would have worked with Chinese companies on the processor. But China decided to go the MIPS route.

Technically Russia could contract China's FAB plant to make microprocessors.

Are FAB plants/ factories expensive? Why not just set up FAB plants in Russia?

OT

Russia’s rally puts it back on the radar for global fund managers




Russia’s equity market was stuck six years ago. The Ukraine crisis, and resulting western sanctions, sent stock prices lower, with investors balking at the country’s economic prospects. Making matters worse, the oil price slumped.

The market has since made a remarkable revival. The Moex Russia Index, the main rouble-denominated benchmark, is up more than 150 per cent since its early 2014 trough, as the waning threat of fresh US sanctions and signs of a recovering economy feed momentum. The dollar-denominated RTS Index rose more than 40 per cent last year, making it the second best-performing among more than 90 major markets tracked by Bloomberg.

Investors have been drawn back into Russian assets by lower interest rates, higher dividends paid by state-run companies, and improved corporate governance, according to Boris Blokhin, head of cash equities at the Moscow Exchange. 

The revival was symbolised by state-owned energy giant Gazprom, which took back the crown of the country’s biggest listed company last year after beefing up its dividend payouts.

Monetary policy has been supportive. Having appeared to bring inflation under control, Russia’s central bank cut interest rates five timeslast year, to 6.25 per cent. Banks have passed on lower rates to savers, prompting some to pile in to stocks in search of income.

The number of private investors on the Moscow exchange doubled last year to 3.85m, while total retail inflows went up by Rbs47bn ($760m), according to the exchange.



“Whenever they cut rates we have new inflows,” Mr Blokhin said. “People don’t want to keep deposits in banks, 5 per cent returns aren’t enough for them, so they look at other instruments.”

Foreigners have come in, too. Overseas investors’ stakes in Russian companies totalled $80bn at the end of last year, the largest sum since sanctions were introduced in 2014. Foreign inflows totalled $4.6bn in the 12 months to September 2019, according to official data tallied by Bloomberg. 

“Many people will realise that this market is quite different now compared to 2013-14,” said Alexander Branis, Moscow-based chief investment adviser at Prosperity Capital Management.

The better conditions could spark a series of initial and secondary public offerings by Russian companies this year, said Luis Saenz, co-head of equities at BCS Global Markets in London, after a two-year fallow period following the most recent round of US sanctions.

Bullish analysts argue that the rally has further to go. “If you look at earnings multiples and dividend yields, Russian assets are still undervalued,” said Mr Branis. The Moex index has a trailing price/earnings ratio of about 7, roughly half the level of China’s major equity index and less than one-third that of the S&P 500. The index’s dividend yield is about 6 per cent.

Russia is still playing catch-up in other ways. The sharp drop in the price of oil from 2014, the country's main export, combined with the effect of sanctions, sent its economy into recession before returning to anaemic growth in 2016. Though GDP growth was only about 1 per cent last year, analysts note that a softer tone from Washington has brightened the outlook.

“Rewind to 12 months ago; what was holding investors back was the fear of sanctions coming from the US, but those fears have been allayed,” said Paul Greer, portfolio manager of emerging markets debt and FX, at Fidelity International.

Luis Costa, head of European emerging markets strategy at Citi, describes a “special cocktail” to attract investors: positive growth, inflation under 4 per cent, a current account surplus and $542bn in foreign exchange reserves.

Other analysts continue to tread cautiously. “There are limits on the potential growth Russia can generate,” said Magdalena Polan, senior economist at Legal & General Investment Management. “Despite a lot of talk and plans drafted in the past, there hasn’t been much investment in shifting the economy away from commodities.”

“The ship is safe and secure but not moving forward,” Russia’s deputy finance minister Alexei Moiseev said in October. “That is the problem”.

The government is using modest forms of fiscal stimulus to try to kick-start growth, but the central bank has raised concerns about the effect this will have on inflation. The quality of company management remains a concern for investors.

“We’re looking for corporate governance, which is really important for protecting minority shareholders — that’s why we really struggle in Russia,” said Rob Marshall-Lee, an emerging-markets portfolio manager at Newton Investment Management. “There’s every prospect of the rally continuing for a little while, but with growth not very strong and governance poor it’s unlikely it will last.”

https://www.ft.com/content/c848ccb4-36eb-11ea-a6d3-9a26f8c3cba4

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-26/putin-decides-low-growth-russia-could-use-some-help-from-keynes

Putin Decides Low-Growth Russia Could Use Some Help From Keynes

With time running out on his final term as president, Vladimir Putin evidently wants to end it with a boom.

Putin has been a cautious steward of Russia’s $1.7 trillion economy, partly to shield it against blowback from his more adventurous foreign policy. For the last five years, he’s imposed some of the world’s toughest budget austerity. Combined with high interest rates, that’s made Russia a favorite of carry-trade investors –- but it’s left living standards mired at 2012 levels and economic growth stuck below 2%.

Now, the president is changing course –- and channeling an economist whose pro-growth ideas are mainstream almost everywhere else: John Maynard Keynes. Putin just appointed a new cabinet stacked with advocates for more government spending and investment, a Keynesian recipe. And he’s told them to hurry up about it.

In power for 20 years, Putin gets credit at home for steadying an economy that suffered a decade of chaos and debt default after the Soviet Union collapsed. But lately, stability has threatened to turn into stagnation.


Until now, the government hasn’t rushed to the rescue. It’s pared borrowing to a minimum in the last five years, and has been stashing any spare cash from Russia’s commodity exports into a massive rainy-day fund.

“Russia’s first priority was to secure its borders to reduce its vulnerabilities,” said Elina Ribakova, deputy chief economist at the Institute of International Finance in Washington. “At the time, it would’ve been wrong to lean on Keynesian theories. Now they’re so comfortable on that front that it’s time to start thinking about how to boost potential growth.”

‘Feel the Change’
Western sanctions and volatile oil prices have been a key reason for Putin’s “fortress Russia” approach, which aimed to make the economy self-sufficient. But the turn to Keynesian stimulus shows that Russia isn’t walled off from wider currents of economic thinking. There’s been a similar shift in other countries.

The U.S. has widened budget deficits even after a decade-long expansion, and the U.K. and Germany have begun to shift away from austerity. India and Turkey are trying to boost growth via fiscal policy.

At the first meeting of Russia’s new government, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said he wants to get the spending spree underway quickly. Russians should “feel the changes in their lives and surroundings in the near future,” he said.

Mishustin has appointed former Kremlin adviser Andrey Belousov, who’s lobbied for more government borrowing and spending, as his deputy premier. Evgeny Yasin, a director at Russia’s Higher School of Economics and one of the country’s most prominent economists, calls Belousov a “Russian Keynesian.”

“Russian political changes at this moment have one goal: to boost economic growth,” Billionaire Oleg Deripaska, founder of aluminum producer United Co Rusal Plc, told Bloomberg Television in Davos.

There are limits to how far he can loosen the purse-strings. The government is sticking to a budget law that says revenue from oil above $42 a barrel (it currently trades around $61) must be saved, not spent.

Still, extra spending this year could total 2.1 trillion rubles ($34 billion), or 1.3% of gross domestic product, according to calculations by ING Groep NV in Moscow. The government will likely tap its rainy-day fund and release about 500 billion rubles left over from last year’s budget, which posted a surplus equal to 1.8% of GDP.

Any Means Necessary
A key part of the fiscal push will be speeding up an existing plan to invest $400 billion in things like highways, housing and ports over four years. The so-called National Projects got mired in bureaucracy and made little progress in 2019.

Other elements are new. Putin proposed last week to spend about $65 billion through 2024 on expanding benefits for families and the poor.

Putin’s growth program relies mainly on state spending because increased pressure on business and a still-uncertain sanctions outlook has stalled private-sector investment.

Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina argues that Russia needs structural reform aimed at improving the business climate and increasing competition. Putin has long claimed to support such measures, but never made much progress on implementing them.

“This isn’t a market economy,” and Putin doesn’t follow any particular economic principles, Yasin said. The president “uses any methods that seem necessary to him in order to maintain full control.”

His latest methods may not deliver much of a boost right away. Budget easing will probably add 20 or 30 basis points to economic growth rates in the short term, according to Bloomberg Economics.

But as Keynes always argued, spending is better for growth than squirreling away money. Markets have generally welcomed the shift –- including even some of the bond investors who’ve reaped rewards from years of tight policy.

Russian austerity was geared all along to “preparing for a future crisis,” said Oleg Shibanov, a finance professor at Moscow’s New Economic School.

“Russia is prepared now,” he said. “I expect that there’ll be more spending and more investment.”

No, the national projects didn´t get mired in bureaucracy. This is called planing, something the west desperately needs.

The growth in Russia is real growth. No share buy backs. No bloated stock market, real estate market and so on. No galloping health and education costs. Just people producing stuff that actually exists.

Hole wrote:No, the national projects didn´t get mired in bureaucracy. This is called planing, something the west desperately needs.

The growth in Russia is real growth. No share buy backs. No bloated stock market, real estate market and so on. No galloping health and education costs. Just people producing stuff that actually exists.

Yeah. We have a growing number of morons in this forum keep posting fake news sources as Owais now does too.

This forum became so shit now cause of these people it's horrifying.

The national projects were expected to start this year. No money lost either

Hey KVS, some Russian commie wannabe is claiming on twitter that Russia's economy is 70% raw material.

I wanna destroy him. Please help

A new one for you.

A Russian I am speaking with states that 1/3 of GDP is reliant on exports. I told him that's nonsense.

Lukoil's investments in ten years may exceed $ 100 billion

https://rns.online/energy/Investitsii-Lukoila-za-desyat-let-mogut-previsit-100-mlrd-2020-01-28/