Russian Economy General News: #13

Siluanov announced additional budget revenues for ₽2.5 trillion, 04.02.2023.

Finance Minister Siluanov: at the end of March, the budget received ₽2.5 trillion of additional revenues.

The budget includes a different cost of exporting energy resources and therefore oil and gas revenues are declining, but there is no doubt that the Russian budget will be enough to fulfill all obligations, the head of the Ministry of Finance said.

At the end of March, the budget received an additional 2.5 trillion rubles, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on the Rossiya 1 TV channel, the video was published on the Telegram channel by journalist Pavel Zarubin.


“Yes, we see that there is a slight decrease in oil and gas revenues, because the price parameters for energy resources are somewhat different from what is included in the budget. But I am sure that we will fulfill all our obligations, and there is no doubt about that,” the minister said.


https://www.rbc.ru/economics/02/04/2023/6429744d9a7947f97e112dca

3.5% unemployment means a de facto lack of workforce.

Even registering as unemployed is quite a task in Russia. And it has only gotten harder.

So if this statistic is based on the official amount of unemployed in Russia and getting unemployment benefits, then mystery solved.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202303/1287717.shtml

China, Russia eye trade boom, expected to achieve $200b trade target ahead of schedule
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Mar 22, 2023
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In 2022, bilateral trade hit a record high of $190.27 billion, an increase of 116 percent over 2012. In 2019, China and Russia jointly set the goal of their bilateral trade reaching $200 billion by 2024. The bilateral trade is expected to exceed $200 billion this year, experts believed.
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Chinese customs data showed on Monday that Russia became China's top oil supplier in January and February, shipping about 15.68 million tons of crude oil to the world's second-largest economy.
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The scope of China's economic and trade investment in Russia, which used to be mainly energy and agriculture, is expanding. Investment in Russia has begun to shift to automobiles, home appliances and food processing, Jia Zhongzheng, a research fellow at the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Russia's light manufacturing industry is relatively weak, and there are now more than 1,000 Chinese companies setting up factories in Russia, Jia said.

By the end of 2022, the number of automobile dealers of Chinese brands in Russia had climbed to 1,041. Meanwhile, quality Russian products like chocolate, ice cream, honey, flour and alcohol have become more widely available for Chinese customers, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
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In the first two months of this year, trade between China and Russia surged by 36.4 percent and hit 232.5 billion yuan ($33.59 billion), Chinese customs data showed.

Russia's light manufacturing industry is relatively weak, and there are now more than 1,000 Chinese companies setting up factories in Russia, Jia said.


.............

Is this number correct????????

ALAMO wrote:3.5% unemployment means a de facto lack of workforce.

I've been working three jobs for almost a year now. And, perhaps, another one will appear soon. This is an example of how great the shortage of workers in Russia is when performing any skilled labor.

Over the past 11 months since the beginning of my experiment, my average monthly salary was 227,000 rubles (in fact, it ranges between 145,000 rubles and 310,000 rubles per month for this period), or average $2,860 at the current exchange rate, or average $7150 in PPP terms, and this is after taxes.
I understand that my example may not be representative, but I'm just reporting my own experience right now.

Not to be flexing too much but I was earning close to that with just 1 job, and this was before the war, COVID and the whole shortage of labour thing

Nowadays I do freelance work and my own project/business simultaneously but because I don't yet get any profit from the later, and my self-appraisal/balancing workload/time management skills are still rudimentary for what concerns the former; I don't earn nearly as much these days. But it's early days still and more than anything I enjoy the freedom of being my own boss.

And yeah I even tried to get registered as unemployed last month, to take advantage of a free vocational re-training program and take a practical course in electrics & wiring skills.. but was rejected even despite not being in formal employment and following the whole long-winded procedure of registration down to the letter, or so I thought, turns out there was something I missed despite my best efforts.

Experts: water export can bring Russia more income than oil, 04.05.2023.

Experts: the export of drinking water can bring more income to the Russian budget than oil.

MOSCOW, April 5 - RIA Novosti. The export of drinking water in the future 25 years can bring the Russian budget a higher income than the export of oil, according to the report prepared by Roscongress experts "Tip of the Iceberg: Real Prospects for the Arctic Economy", which is available to RIA Novosti.

"The polar caps of the Arctic and Antarctic contain approximately 70% of the planet's water resources, with the Arctic accounting for more than half of that." - the document says.

"Over a 25-year horizon, untreated fresh water could become a more important and profitable Russian export than oil," the authors of the report believe.

Experts note that Russia is the absolute leader in terms of fresh water reserves beyond the Arctic Circle. "In the USA (in Alaska ) , not a single large river flows into the Arctic Ocean . In Canada - 3. In Russia - 11," the authors explain.

"The annual flow of the Yenisei into the Kara Sea reaches 624 cubic kilometers. The Lena is the largest river in the world, completely flowing in the permafrost region. The flow of the Lena into the Laptev Sea is about 540 cubic kilometers. The Ob is in third place. The annual flow into the Ob Bay of the Kara Sea is about 400 cubic kilometers. Lakes are no less significant. Only the 32 largest reservoirs of the Putorana Plateau contain more than 45% of the total lake water reserve of the Russian Arctic zone," the document says.

"It is expected that by the end of the 21st century the Arctic river flow will increase by 30%. By the same time, fresh water may become a more valuable export resource than oil," experts believe.

The authors of the report note that the possibility of export supplies of drinking water is already being discussed in Russia. "Projects for deliveries to far abroad countries, up to the countries of the Persian Gulf , which are already experiencing an acute shortage of water, are at an early stage of discussion," the document says.

https://ria.ru/20230405/voda-1863084060.html

The situation with the revenues and expenditures of the Russian budget stabilized in March after a deficit at the beginning of the financial year that frightened analysts. In January, it amounted to 1.65 trillion rubles, in February - 933 billion rubles, Kommersant writes .

At the end of the last month, Russia recorded a small surplus of 183 billion rubles, which narrowed the gap in the first quarter. After large-scale advances, expenses entered a normal rhythm, and incomes, if not started to grow, then became more stable.

In the future, the budget can be supported both by the created "stash" and external circumstances. We are talking about a rise in oil prices, a weakening of the ruble, a new way of calculating oil taxes, a one-time fee from large businesses, unallocated reserves and a “saved” transfer to the Social Fund.

https://inforeactor-ru.translate.goog/23981981-sootnoshenie_dohodnoi_i_rashodnoi_chastei_byudzheta_rossii_v_marte_nachalo_stabilizirovat_sya?utm_source=finobzor.ru&_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en

Russia will start producing new oil - lithium, by Svetlana Zadera, Sergei Tikhonov for Rossiyskaya Gazeta. 04.09.2023.

In Russia, they plan to start industrial production of lithium, which is often called the oil of the new economy. The first project is planned to be launched at the Kolmozerskoye field in the Murmansk region by Rosatom and Norilsk Nickel. Gazprom also had a lithium project. They were going to extract it at the Kovykta field, from where gas is supplied via the Power of Siberia to China.

Lithium was mined in our country back in the 20th century, but then we completely switched to imports, mainly from Argentina, Chile and Bolivia. In 2022, Argentina and Chile stopped deliveries to Russia, and they accounted for up to 80% of our total lithium exports. Bolivia alone cannot cover our needs. Moreover, in 2021-2022, the price of lithium has risen sharply on the world market, almost 8 times, so the profitability of its imports compared to local production began to be questionable.

Lithium is used in the production of energy storage devices - batteries for mobile phones, laptops, household appliances and renewable energy sources (RES). But the main scope of lithium batteries is electric vehicles. It is with the increase in their number that the rapid growth in global demand for lithium and its rise in price is associated. According to Igor Bryzgunov, director of the Russian Wind Industry Association (RAWI), up to 70% of the world demand for lithium is associated with electric vehicles.

Russia is among the top ten world leaders in terms of forecasted lithium resources, explains Egor Zaruba, an analyst at VYGON Consulting. "According to our estimates, the cost of lithium production at the Kolmozerskoye field, which is being launched, is comparable to the ore projects of Australia, the USA, Mexico and Canada. It is also worth mentioning the potential of Russia in the extraction of lithium from formation waters (brines). Our analysis shows that the cost of lithium production from brines is lower than ore projects," Zaruba notes.

According to him, the concentration of lithium in the brines of individual aquifers in Western Siberia, the Ural-Volga region and the North Caucasus (these reserves are not included in the State balance sheet) exceed the minimum industrial content. The high mineralization of groundwater also makes it possible to obtain additional products: bromine, iodine, manganese, calcium and others. With the complex production of components from brines within the framework of the oil and gas field infrastructure, the cost of lithium production becomes comparable to the cost of production of key projects in South America, where lithium almost itself comes to the surface.

Here, however, the question arises, what should we do with such an amount of lithium. In 2022, the volume of domestic consumption of lithium was equal to imports and amounted to 8-9 thousand tons of lithium carbonate, Zaruba specifies. And according to Bryzgunov, by 2030 our country's need for lithium will be 30,000 tons.

Only at the Kolmozerskoye deposit it is planned to produce up to 45-50 thousand tons of lithium by the same 2030. We could talk about exports, but the main sales market is Europe, the USA and Canada, which are now not eager to establish trade relations with us. Asian countries have their own lithium deposits, and, importantly, export supplies have already been established - from Latin America and Australia.

As Sergei Gorkov, head of Rosgeologiya, noted in an interview with RG, we mainly consume lithium in the finished product. For example, as a battery for an electric car. Therefore, we now need to create not only the first redistribution (mining), but also the second (processing), the third (output), the fourth (goods ready for sale to the consumer) consumption redistributions.

However, we also have the opportunity to compete for export markets, if only by simply dumping prices. The cost of our extraction of one ton of lithium carbonate from ore raw materials is approximately 5-8 thousand dollars, explains Zaruba. According to the forecasts of foreign analytical agencies, by 2025 the price of lithium carbonate may drop from 70 to 20-30 thousand dollars per ton, when more supply from China, Chile and Australia enters the market. Even in the event of such a price reduction, the development of ore deposits in the Murmansk region will be profitable.

According to the expert, all excess production can be exported to the growing, nearby Asia-Pacific market, which currently forms more than 80% of world demand for lithium salts.

Russian lithium is in demand on the world market even under sanctions, primarily in the countries where the Rosatom corporation operates, Bryzgunov notes. The company works systematically, creating an umbrella brand. A completely own chain of production of a high-tech product with high added value is being created. These are the purchase of a South Korean manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries, the construction of a plant for the production of lithium-ion cells and batteries in Kaliningrad, the construction of a plant for the processing of lithium-ion batteries in Dzerzhinsk, and lithium mining projects in Bolivia. It's time to tackle the ambitious task of restoring lithium production in Russia.

But there are environmental issues here. Mining is associated with great environmental risks, especially in a situation where access to the best available technologies (mining with the least environmental impact) becomes more difficult, director of the HSE Institute of Ecology, Honored Ecologist of Russia Boris Morgunov told Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

"The huge accumulated environmental damage, both Russian and global, and the need to eliminate it (which is extremely costly), suggests that it is important to compare attractive economic prospects with possible environmental consequences. This may have a particularly detrimental effect not on the expansion of existing production locations, and in the territories of new development," Morgunov said.

Bryzgunov believes that the main environmental risks in the issue of lithium mining come down to the fact that there is no efficient and safe recycling of used lithium-ion batteries in the world.

“With current technologies, 50% of raw materials can be used again during processing, further technologies will only improve. A plant is being built in Dzerzhinsk for the task of processing lithium-ion batteries,” he said.

In general, an increase in the production of scarce minerals is expected in Russia, and lithium is included in this list. The Ministry of Natural Resources has prepared a draft strategy for the development of the mineral resource base until 2035 with an extended planning horizon until 2050. Morgunov noted that he considers such a vector of national geological exploration to be very promising.

The head of the Public Council under the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia, Alexander Zakondyrin, told RG that in April the Public Council would consider this document and make recommendations, including on the environmental component.

“As for environmental risks, here it is necessary to take into account a combination of two factors: economics and ecology. It is clear that in such difficult times that the Russian Federation is now in and, given the sanctions policy, technological restrictions, financial difficulties, constantly create new regulatory requirements for subsoil users and users of natural resources, probably, we should not. At the same time, the issue of environmental safety in the extraction, processing, transportation of minerals within the framework of the current legislation, of course, needs to be controlled," said Zakondyrin.

https://rg.ru/2023/04/04/v-rossii-nachnut-dobyvat-novuiu-neft-litij.html

"Beauty will save the world", Fëdor Mikhailovich.

Putin highlights the development of the Russian economy despite pressure from the US and its allies, 04.11.2023.

The government has revised upward its forecasts for socio-economic development as positive trends in the Russian economy intensify, the country's President Vladimir Putin said, stressing that annual inflation in the state has fallen. This comes as the US and the European Union (EU) continue to announce sanctions against Russia.

The Head of State recalled that, when preparing the current budget, the Russian Government started from a forecast of a GDP decline of 2.9% in 2022 and 0.8% in 2023. But the reality turned out to be much more positive, and the Cabinet significantly improved its estimates thanks to the new statistics.

"As I said, its positive trends are getting stronger and stronger. Thus, according to operational data, since the beginning of April the turnover of retail trade increased by almost 25%," Vladimir Putin said at a meeting on economic issues.

He added that annual inflation in Russia fell to 3.3% from April 3 and will be below 3% by the end of the month.

"As of April 3 ... the president of the Central Bank [Elvira Nabiúllina] confirms that inflation fell to 3.3% in annual terms," he reported.

The president also indicated that since Russia's unemployment rate is historically minimal, there are labour shortages in many sectors.

"Given the historically low unemployment rate of 3.5% nationwide, there simply aren't enough workers in many areas. There are three main challenges to address. The first is to use the human resource potential of regions where the level of unemployment remains high, and we have such regions," the Head of State stated.

In his words, the use of appropriate manufacturing and automation technologies should be actively promoted in all sectors and in the social sphere investment in training in the most demanded professions should be intensified.

Putin added that there are reasons to believe that economic activity will continue to spike in Russia, since the index of business activity is growing. He detailed that external risk factors are still present, the government has no right to relax and let things flow on their own.

This comes as numerous countries condemned the special military operation in Ukraine and announced sanctions against Moscow.

However, according to the Russian president, the Western plan to crush the Russian economy in the short term did not succeed. It contracted by just 2.5% last year, a considerably smaller decline than those experienced during the financial crisis of 1998 (5.3%) and the great recession of 2008 (7.9%). The International Monetary Fund also forecast that Russian economic growth would surpass that of Germany and the United Kingdom in both 2023 and 2024.

Yandex Translate from Spanish

https://sputniknews.lat/20230411/putin-destaca-el-desarrollo-de-la-economia-rusa-pese-a-la-presion-de-eeuu-y-sus-aliados-1138005170.html

Based on GDP so understated for non financialized countries.

Stockmann decided to open 16 department stores in Russia in 2023, by Alexandra Yudina for VZGLYAD. 04.13.2023.

Stockmann, in connection with the departure of foreign brands, announced the decision to open 16 department stores in Russia in 2023.

The Stockmann company plans to open 16 department stores in the areas of the departed brands in Russia, Gennady Levkin, general director of the department store chain, said.

According to him, at the moment there is an opportunity for expansion, good places have appeared. It is planned to open new department stores in Moscow, Sochi, St. Petersburg, Krasnoyarsk, Perm and other cities. The volume of investments will amount to 45 thousand rubles per meter, in general, it is estimated about 3 billion rubles, TASS reports.

Levkin also noted that the average footage of department stores will be from 2 to 4 thousand square meters. m, the range is formed by international brands, including Turkish ones.

So, in Moscow, the nearest opening will take place on May 9 at the Vegas Kuntsevo shopping mall. Also on May 8-9, the only Stockmann department store in the south of Russia will open in Sochi's MoreMall shopping and entertainment center.

Earlier it became known about the beginning of import substitution in the Russian fashion market. Thus, the Stockmann network planned to open up to 50 women's clothing stores under its own brands. Recall that the Stockmann department store chain was founded in Finland and has been operating in Russia since 1989. In January 2022, the Russian Stockmann was bought by Sberbank.

https://vz.ru/news/2023/4/13/1207431.html

Looks like its the more sanctions the better it is for Russia


ayden
@squatsons
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The annual inflation rate in Russia fell sharply to 3.5 percent in March of 2023, the lowest since July of 2020 and compared to 11 percent in the previous month, as the base year started to include the initial economic impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Stores of the new Zara will open en masse in Russia until June 1, 04.14.2023.

Until June 1, stores of the new Zara will open en masse in the Russian Federation. Dmitry Tomilin, a member of the presidium of the Russian Council of Shopping Centers, told Izvestiya about this on April 14.

He explained that the retailer undertook precisely such obligations to the most visited shopping centers - Columbus, Aviapark, Metropolis, Atrium, European and many others. We are talking about the brands Maag, Ecru, Dub and so on. Earlier it was reported that the trading network closed unprofitable points in Russia, leaving only 200 sites.

In March last year, Inditex closed its brand stores in Russia. The reason for this decision was the inability to guarantee the continuity of operations in the country. On October 25, it became known that the Spanish company had agreed to sell its business in Russia to Daher.

In mid-December, it was reported that the Lebanese Daher would create local brands specifically for Russians.

On April 4, Olga Antonova, Head of the Commercial Real Estate Department at the Commonwealth Partnership (CMWP), said that the former Inditex stores will open in stages, depending on the delivery schedule, site readiness and contractors.

https://iz.ru/1498407/2023-04-14/magaziny-novoi-zara-massovo-otkroiutsia-v-rossii-do-1-iiunia

The Russian division of Henkel began to Russify brands, 04.16.2023.

The Russian division of Henkel began to Russify brands before the completion of the sale of assets.

MOSCOW, April 16 - RIA Novosti. Henkel Russia, which has been operating in the country since the beginning of the year as an independent company called Lab Industries, began to Russify brands from its portfolio, a RIA Novosti correspondent was convinced.

So, in domestic stores and marketplaces, brand products began to appear in the same design, but with names in Russian. For example, Vernel fabric softener has become Vernel, Persil laundry detergent is now Persil, and Bref toilet blocks are Bref. Also in one of the product cards on Ozon it says - "We changed the letters, but nothing has changed."

Lab Industries itself confirmed to the agency that since January this year, Henkel Russia has been operating as an independent company under a new commercial name, while the transaction for the sale of assets in the country, according to them, is at the final stage.

“Prior to the signing, we cannot provide any additional information: neither about the deal, nor about business plans for the product portfolio or individual brands. At the same time, we can confirm that Vernel is produced by Lab Industries,” added there.

Ozon said that "the names of some Henkel brands were Russified by the manufacturer itself." They emphasized that in fact nothing has changed, except for writing in Cyrillic instead of Latin, and the goods are produced at the same enterprises and are also checked before sale, as before the change in spelling of the name.

Key Consulting Group Managing Partner Anastasia Kucherena also noted that such changes were probably dictated by the company's decision, and not, for example, by current regulations, including the law on the state language. "There are other reasons for changing names, for example, rebranding of companies," she said.

The Henkel group of companies is one of the largest European chemical concerns producing household chemicals, cosmetics and construction products. The company's brands include Moment glue, Pemolux cleaning products, Persil, Pemos, Losk, Laska, Vernel; cosmetics and hygiene products Fa , Taft, Shamtu, Schwarzkopf, Syoss; finishing products Ceresit, Metylan and others. The company announced last spring that it was going out of business in Russia . Upon completion of the sale, Henkel intends to relinquish control over all activities of the sold Russian business.

https://ria.ru/20230416/henkel-1865616573.html

The departure of the Michelin guide from Russia did not affect restaurateurs, expert believes, 04.16.2023.

Expert Tiusonina: the departure of the Michelin guide from Russia has not changed anything for restaurateurs.

The departure of the Michelin guide from Russia did not change anything for restaurateurs, since he was present only in one city and only for one year, Irina Tiusonina, the founder of the All-Russian restaurant award WhereToEat, said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

"Michelin was only one year in one city. Experts did not study establishments in other Russian cities, which means that such a guide meant little for the country as a whole. Moscow is not all of Russia. Yes, it is the center, yes, there are many already well-known restaurants "But Michelin came and went. Of course, it's a pity that this happened," Tiusonina said.

The Michelin Gastronomy Guide has been produced since 1900 and has a three-star restaurant rating system for countries and individual cities. One star indicates high-quality dishes in establishments worth visiting. Two are given to those whose cuisine is so good that for the sake of it you can change the planned travel route. And three stars is the highest recognition. Restaurants deserve them, for which it is worth going to a particular city specially.

In October 2021, the first Michelin guide was presented in Moscow. The first Michelin stars in the history of Russia were awarded to nine Moscow restaurants: seven - one star each, two restaurants - two stars each. In early March, the Michelin gastronomic guide announced the freezing of its projects in Russia.

https://ria.ru/20230408/michelin-1863916884.html

In 2023, Russia's GDP should increase by 1.2%, after falling by 2.1% in 2022. This is reported in the latest forecast of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation.

At the same time, the new territories (regions) that became part of the Russian state in 2022 (LPR and DPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions) should bring 2 trillion rubles or 1.25% of the total volume of the country's economy to the common piggy bank (add to GDP ) . . According to the department’s calculations, the nominal volume of the Russian economy, including them, will amount to 159.8 trillion rubles in 2023, and without them – 157.8 trillion rubles. Russian economist Konstantin Dvinsky drew attention to this on his Telegram channel.

The expert noted that such a weak economic impact of the four subjects of the Russian Federation mentioned at once should not embarrass anyone. There is a NWO that leaves its mark. The loading of the industry is now small or non-existent. However, this allows us to count on a solid growth in production and, accordingly, GDP in the future.

At the same time, we already have a GRP (gross regional product - Ed.) of 2 trillion rubles, which is comparable, for example, with the capital of coal mining - the Kemerovo region. The GRP of the industrial Sverdlovsk region in 2022 amounted to 3.1 trillion rubles, the Krasnoyarsk Territory - 3.5 trillion, Nizhny Novgorod - 1.9 trillion the expert noted.

Dvinsky is sure that after restarting the economy of new territories, investments in the real sector, development of other industries, one can safely expect a multiple increase in the output of goods and services. He believes that the LPR and DPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions will together be able to add 10 trillion rubles to the country's GDP in the foreseeable future, i.е. will increase by 5 times at current prices.

And this is significant he summed up.

https://topcor-ru.translate.goog/34188-v-jetom-godu-novye-subekty-rf-dobavjat-v-vvp-strany-2-trln-rublej.html?utm_source=finobzor.ru&_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en

A "new IKEA" has opened in Moscow. How the analogue of the Swedish brand works, by Sergey Bulanov for Rossiyskaya Gazeta. 04.17.2023.

"New IKEA" - this is how thousands of buyers called a small shop in a shopping center near the Shchelkovskaya metro station, where they began selling furniture and household goods on the model of the Swedish brand, buyers immediately dubbed it "New IKEA". As you know, branded stores in Russia were closed against the backdrop of Western sanctions. A huge niche remained empty, and it was clear that it would not be so easy to fill it even against the backdrop of a decline in consumer demand. But the Swedish brand's competitors tried to fill the gaps in the field of import substitution.

First, some "IKEA" goods appeared in the Russian hypermarkets of the German retail chain OBI, now it's the turn of Swed House, a Belarusian company that, apparently, specializes in the sale of well-established European-quality household items. And products that are similar to the usual IKEA for Muscovites appeared in an ordinary shopping center near the metro. As RG correspondents were convinced, a small corner, even at the height of Monday, became a place of mass pilgrimage.

How to get to the "new Ikea"? This is the most popular question that visitors ask the staff of the Schelkovsky shopping center. The store opened on the fourth floor in a relatively quiet location behind the children's play areas. Nevertheless, there were almost twice as many people there as at the food court. IKEA has become a symbol of home comfort for many residents of the capital.

There is hardly a house where there are no branded napkins, plates, candles, and especially the furniture of this Swedish brand. She fell in love with the residents of the capital for their lightness, compactness and ease of assembly. Unlike many other manufacturers, IKEA supplied the perfect assembly kits, not bulky, with varying heights and other parameters. Well, plush sharks and other "IKEA" attributes went along with the furniture, people actively bought them, as it were, in addition.

When, after the start of the CBO, the Swedish brand announced its departure from Russia , the townspeople became sad. Someone snatched up stock from sales, someone hunted for authentic goods on online classifieds services. And now there is a "new IKEA" - under the Swed House brand. In terms of dimensions, the store is significantly inferior to the previous one in Khimki. Furniture is presented only at the entrance. Bedside tables, bookcases - all this is very similar to what was sold in that hypermarket.

As the archivist predicted in the classics: "People rushed to look for their furniture." The concentration of people is no less than in "Tasty and that's it." “Oh, I have long dreamed of putting one in the nursery,” Muscovite Oksana Loskutova coveted the white locker. “Oh, and there are toy sharks!"

There are some, but prices, as buyers rightly notice, are 15-20 percent higher than they were at IKEA: on average, 20-25 thousand rubles. The assortment, on the occasion of a small space, also cannot be compared with the authentic one. Therefore, visitors take more photos than they buy. But, it must be admitted, the products are really "similar". As the consultants explain, a significant part of the products is made in Belarus and China. But in some places there are also IKEA labels. Although even outwardly experienced buyers find discrepancies with the original, Still, for the most part, they are satisfied. Managed to get bored!

And then, after a more or less spacious central zone, there are the famous "IKEA" labyrinths. Who forgot, the Swedes did this on purpose so that people could see the entire range. However, all the same dimensions of the room intervened, not comparable with the former expanses. In the new labyrinths - stuffy, crowded. But people are happy with the product itself. Furniture, yes, has risen in price, but all sorts of plates, napkins, candles have not changed in price. People are buying baskets full of them.

As noted by the "new Ikea", these oases of comfort will soon appear in other shopping centers throughout the city.

https://rg.ru/2023/04/17/reg-cfo/v-moskve-otkrylas-novaia-ikea-kak-ustroen-analog-shvedskogo-brenda.html

In addition:

Furniture will be made again at the former IKEA factory in Novgorod, by Marina Ledyaeva (Veliky Novgorod) for Rossiyskaya Gazeta. 04.17.2023.

The largest of the former Russian sites of IKEA - a factory in Veliky Novgorod - will start working again in May. The products will be released under a new brand, but the Russian investor promises to keep the unique experience gained in production.

Polls show that many Russians are still longingly searching the Internet for the products of the Swedish giant. Residents of megacities are used to going to her stores and slowly choosing furniture for themselves, looking into cabinets and testing beds. Therefore, the company will continue to produce mass-market furniture in the same categories as before: modular kitchens, wardrobes and storage systems.

Today, the consumer misses this approach: ergonomics, quality, convenience, ease of assembly, say experts from the company, which is restarting production. Therefore, it is important not only to preserve the main features with which the products of the Swedish manufacturer are associated, but also to create new original Russian-made furniture.

In addition, the Novgorod factory will produce new products for it - components for business class furniture. And the chipboard plant, located at the same production site, will continue to produce laminated chipboard. The market for these materials for cabinet furniture is often in a fever, and today it is not in the best situation - prices are falling. But the release of various products - plates, components, finished furniture - should ensure the sustainability of the entire production, the new owner believes.

Production in Veliky Novgorod was suspended a year ago after the decision of the Swedish company to leave the Russian market. For employees, it was a difficult period of waiting and uncertainty. But the main backbone of the team managed to be preserved. During forced downtime, personnel were trained, equipment was maintained in working condition.

In the future, the range of products is expected to be replenished with furnishings for home offices and children's offices. The geography of sales will also expand. If the products of the previous owner were mainly sold in their own stores located only in large cities, then new products will be available in small towns. In particular, it will appear on marketplaces. They promise to leave prices in the same range as under the former owner.

https://rg.ru/2023/04/17/reg-szfo/chtoby-pokupatel-ne-skuchal.html

Russia-India trade booming – official, 04.18.2023.

Mutual turnover has reached $45 billion, India’s foreign minister has announced.

India and Russia have seen massive growth in bilateral trade over the past year, rapidly outpacing the goals initially set by the two countries, according to the Indian Minister of External Affairs.

The trade turnover between the nations touched $45 billion between April 2022 and February 2023, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar announced on Monday at a Russia-India business-dialog meeting in New Delhi.

Riding largely on oil shipments and fertilizer exports from Russia, the volume of trade has outperformed the countries’ $30-billion-by-2025 target, and well ahead of schedule. It is also more than triple the $13 billion trade turnover registered in 2021.

Russia is now one of India’s top five trade partners and, according to Jaishankar, mutual interest in boosting cooperation is growing across the spectrum, from large to small businesses. The official highlighted a surge in trade from last April, noting that Moscow and New Delhi are discussing further diversification of economic cooperation.

“Over the past decade, we have witnessed an increase in the level of cooperation in many fields such as energy, science and technology… which have complemented traditional areas of cooperation in the defense, nuclear and space sectors,” the foreign minister said.

Russia has also become India’s top supplier of crude, after Moscow rerouted its energy supplies away from Western countries in response to sanctions, embargoes and price caps.

Over the past few months, the nations have been ditching the US dollar in trade, with most deals settled in other currencies, such as the Russian ruble, Indian rupee, and the UAE dirham, according to oil-trading and banking sources.

The countries have also resumed negotiations on a free-trade agreement between India and the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union, which were disrupted by the pandemic. The talks mark a step-up in economic relations and will create more opportunities for Indian companies to increase their exports to Russia.

https://www.rt.com/business/574865-india-russia-trade-surging/