Central Bank Investigated
Prosecutors in Moscow are conducting a probe at the Central Bank to check if its activities comply with banking legislation, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday.
The investigation came to light after the Audit Chamber asked the National Banking Council, chaired by Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, for permission to conduct a probe next year. The request was rejected because of the current investigation. (Bloomberg)
Ban on Rice Eased
The food regulator cleared for sale 20,000 tons of foreign rice unloaded at ports prior to a ban on the grain amid rising prices, Kommersant reported Tuesday.
Average wholesale prices for rice have risen 20 percent since the Dec. 4 ban, the newspaper said, citing Alexander Khamidulin, the head of importer Prodgamma. The wholesale rice market is worth as much as $600 million per year and importers have a market share of about 65 percent. (Bloomberg)
Polish Transit Fees to Rise
Gazprom will pay more in 2007 to ship gas across Poland through its Yamal pipeline, after a Polish court overrode a ruling by the country's energy regulator, Parkyet newspaper reported Monday.
The regulator approved a decrease in the fees charged this year by EuRoPol, a joint venture of Gazprom and the Polish gas monopoly Polskie Gornictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo, after EuRoPol's Polish and Russian board members failed to agree on a price for gas transit and filed competing requests. (Bloomberg)
Evraz to Name New CEO
Evraz Group said its board recommended that Alexander Frolov be appointed CEO at an extraordinary shareholder meeting scheduled for Jan. 18.
Frolov, Evraz's billionaire board chairman, will replace Valery Khoroshkovsky, who was named first deputy secretary of the Security and Defense Council in Ukraine, the company said in a statement Tuesday. (Bloomberg)
RusAl Plant in Khakassia
RusAl will begin aluminum production Friday at its $750 million Khakassia smelter in Siberia, which will add 11 percent to the capacity of the world's No. 3 producer of the metal used in beverage cans and cars.
The Khakassia smelter, the first aluminum plant built in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union, will have the capacity to produce 300,000 tons per year and is expected to reach this target by 2008, RusAl officials said Tuesday. (Reuters)
Bushehr Money Sped Up
TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran will speed up payments to Russia to accelerate the completion of its first nuclear power plant, the Tehran Times reported Tuesday, citing Qolam-Reza Aqazadeh, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization.
"We need more cooperation between Iranian and Russian experts, and one of the most important issues is acquiring sufficient financial support,'' the newspaper quoted his Russian counterpart, Sergei Kiriyenko, as telling reporters Monday. (Bloomberg)
LUKoil Kazakh Unit Sale
The foreign arm of LUKoil will sell half of a Kazakh oil and gas unit, Caspian Investments Resources, for $980 million to Mittal Investments, LUKoil said in a statement Tuesday.
Mittal Investments will also take on half of Caspian's outstanding debt or $160 million in obligations. (Bloomberg)
Halyk Boosts Stock Sale
Halyk Savings Bank, Kazakhstan's third-biggest lender by assets, raised the price of the shares it was selling, boosting its planned public stock offering to as much as $748 million.
Halyk is offering as many as 46.75 million global depositary receipts at $13.50 to $16 apiece, the company said in a statement Tuesday. The range set previously was $11.80 to $14.30. (Bloomberg)
Gasoline Prices Decrease
Average prices for motor gasoline in the period from Nov. 28 to Dec. 4 decreased by 0.1%, the State Statistics Service said Tuesday, Interfax reported.
In the first 11 months of the year, prices for gasoline increased by 11.1 percent, outstripping the rate of inflation, Interfax reported. Lower gasoline prices were registered in 12 cities across the country. However, prices stayed level in another 75 cities, including Moscow and St. Petersburg. (MT)
Benefits Increase 11.7%
Benefit payments increased by 11.7 percent this year, Georgy Batanov, the chairman of the Pension Fund, said at a news conference Tuesday, Interfax reported.
On average, benefits rose by 297 rubles ($11.32), Batanov said. Old-age pensions increased 297 rubles, while handicapped and World War II veterans had their pensions boosted by 684 and 703 rubles respectively, he said. Accordingly, the benefits for these two categories rose to 7,032 rubles ($268) and 6,832 rubles per month, respectively. (MT)
1,000th Pyatyorochka Open
X5 Retail Group, the country's largest supermarket chain, opened its 1,000th Pyatyorochka food store, part of a plan to expand as consumer spending increases.
The Pyatyorochka store opened in Moscow and was the 12th opened in the Russian capital and its outskirts in a month, X5 said Tuesday. (Bloomberg)
EU Steel Quotas for Russia
STRASBOURG, France -- The European Union will roll over quotas on steel imports from Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan in 2007 as the bloc negotiates new accords with the three suppliers.
The EU fixed next year's quotas at 2.3 million tons for Russia, 1 million tons for Ukraine and 205,000 tons for Kazakhstan. (Bloomberg)
Novatek Output Up 11%
Novatek, the country's No. 2 natural gas producer, expects production this year to rise 11 percent to exceed 28 billion cubic meters.
The company's production will represent more than 27 percent of the gas extracted in the country by companies other than Gazprom, the world's largest producer of the fuel, Novatek said Tuesday in a statement. (Bloomberg)
Oil Output Growth at 2-3%
Oil output is likely to grow by 2 to 3 percent in 2007, Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko said Tuesday, confirming analysts' views that the country will face a third consecutive year of modest growth.
The Economic Development and Trade Ministry has said it expects oil-production growth to exceed 2 percent in 2007 to reach 492 million tons. (Reuters)