China Greets Energy Firms
Russian companies may invest in oil exploration and natural gas distribution in China after the two nations signed an agreement to expand trade, the Chinese government said on its web site Tuesday, citing a cooperation plan approved June 17.
Russian companies may participate in the construction of underground natural gas storage tanks in China, while Chinese companies are encouraged to develop oil and gas fields and build gas liquefaction plants in Russia, China's National Development and Reform Commission said.
The two nations may set up a joint venture in China to manufacture equipment for nuclear power plants, the government said.(Bloomberg)
Svyazinvest Pushes Tariffs
Cisco Systems and Nortel Networks may build factories in Russia to make telecommunications equipment if the government increases import duties on such products, Kommersant reported Tuesday.
Svyazinvest wants the state to raise duties on imported communications equipment to encourage foreign companies to produce components locally, Kommersant said.(Bloomberg)
Baltika's Foreign Sales Up
Baltika Breweries expects beer sales outside of the country to increase 5 percent to 6 percent this year, export chief Dmitry Kistev said Tuesday.
The company sold 30 million decaliters of beer outside Russia last year via exports and licensing agreements, Kistev said on a conference call. Baltika also said it started production in Australia, where it plans to make 50,000 decaliters this year. (Bloomberg)
Reiman Rejoins Svyazinvest
Svyazinvest voted Tuesday to return former Communications Minister Leonid Reiman to the post of board chairman, a position he previously held for eight years, as it begins major reform.
The industry veteran is expected to take charge of the government's latest reform of the state telecoms industry, consolidating a stable of operators around Rostelecom to help them compete with more efficient, privately controlled rivals.(Reuters)
State Plans Bank Bond Swap
The government plans to swap as much as 210 billion rubles ($6.8 billion) of bonds for shares in banks next year to help lenders increase loans, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said Tuesday.
The amount is equal to 0.5 percent of gross domestic product.(Bloomberg)
TNK-BP Backs Dividend
TNK-BP's shareholders approved a dividend of 34.5 billion rubles ($1.1 billion) at the company's annual general meeting Tuesday, the company said.
They also voted for the accession of four subsidiaries. (Bloomberg)
For the Record
Transneft's net income rose 17 percent last year to 70.5 billion rubles ($2.26 billion) as it carried more crude, the company said on its web site Tuesday. (Bloomberg) Uralkali expects the market for the fertilizer to "remain unstable for some time ?€¦ [but] be one of the first markets to recover from the global downturn," the company's owner, Dmitry Rybovlev, said Tuesday. (Bloomberg) ()
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