Net Capital Outflow
Russia had a net capital outflow of $4.1 billion in the first quarter, reversing the net inflow recorded in the same period last year, the Central Bank said.
The outflow of private sector capital in the period was less than the $4.5 billion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2005, the bank said on its web site Wednesday.
Russia had a net inflow of $1.5 billion in the first quarter of last year. (Bloomberg)
Current Account Surplus
The Central Bank said Russia's first-quarter current account surplus was the widest since 1998 amid continued high prices for its crude oil.
The current account surplus was $28 billion in the first quarter, compared with $20.3 billion in the same period a year ago, the Central Bank said in a statement Wednesday on its web site. (Bloomberg)
Economy Can Grow by 7%
Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov said the economy had the resources to grow 7 percent per year through 2020 and double its size every 10 years.
"The Russian economy has the resources to grow 7 percent a year through 2020," Zhukov said Wednesday at a banking conference. To secure that pace of growth, the government must diversify the economy away from oil and develop the banking system, making more long-term loans available for companies and individuals, he said. (Bloomberg)
Date for Rosneft IPO
Rosneft may have a date for its initial public offering set by next week, Interfax reported Wednesday, citing Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref.
The ministry plans to hold a meeting next week to "clearly" set the schedule for the sale of Rosneft shares, Interfax cited Gref as saying. He said the sale would be in the third quarter of this year, the news agency reported.
Rosneft president Sergei Bogdanchikov said last month that the IPO could happen as early as July. (Bloomberg, MT)
Gazprom Trading
LONDON -- Gazprom's London unit has hired Ed Makurah and Rukes Ahmed, both former traders for Royal Dutch Shell, to set up European power-trading for the company, the Heren Report said.
Gazprom Marketing and Trading plans to start trading in the French and British power markets in the third quarter of this year and move into other markets in the fourth quarter, Heren said, citing Keith Martin, the company's head of trading. Makurah and Ahmed will join the company on May 4, it said. (Bloomberg)
Oil to Lithuania
Lithuania is delaying its takeover of the Mazeikiu refinery from oil firm Yukos to avoid angering the Kremlin and keep Russian oil flowing, Yukos' chairman said Wednesday.
"I think things are being delayed deliberately as it is important for Lithuania to continue receiving crude from Russia. So if you [Russia] put some pressure on them, they will keep dragging it out," Viktor Gerashchenko told Reuters. A Moscow court has barred Yukos from selling any foreign assets. (Reuters)
Yukos Executive Named
Yukos has appointed its new executive vice president, Vasily Aleksanyan, to coordinate with external bankruptcy managers. Yukos' board endorsed Aleksanyan's recent appointment as executive vice president, the company said in a statement Wednesday.
It said that in his new capacity, Aleksanyan would represent management during the three-month period of external supervision.
Interfax reported on April 3 that Aleksanyan had been accused by Russian prosecutors of money laundering and embezzlement. A Moscow court is scheduled to decide Wednesday whether to let prosecutors press charges, the agency said. (Bloomberg)
Yukos Worth $20Bln
Yukos said it is worth more than $20 billion, so it should be allowed to pay debts, Interfax reported Wednesday, citing Vasily Aleksanyan, a company vice president.
The company owes creditors $10 billion, Interfax said. The valuation of Yukos is based on the consensus of appraisals by independent analysts who Aleksanyan did not identify, the news agency said. (Bloomberg)
Sibir's Oil Venture in Siberia
Sibir Energy achieved a record daily production at its Salym venture in western Siberia, the company said.
The development, owned equally by the London-based company and Royal Dutch Shell, is producing more than 30,000 barrels per day, Sibir said in a statement Wednesday.
The $1.25 billion oil project went into production last year. The partners' goal is output of at least 165,000 barrels a day. (Bloomberg)
EBRD Loan for Mosenergo
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has completed syndication of a 7.2 billion ruble ($260 million) loan to utility Mosenergo, it said Wednesday.
The loan is the longest ruble syndication to date and is priced at 275 basis points over three-month Mosprime, an interbank rate the EBRD is promoting as a benchmark to function like the London Interbank Offered Rate.
Mosenergo will use the money raised to refurbish 17 combined heat and power stations around Moscow, which suffered a blackout last May after a blast at a 40-year-old electricity substation. (Reuters)
RusAl Cathode Buy
RusAl acquired a Chinese cathode plant with an annual capacity of 15,000 tons, the company said Wednesday in a statement, without announcing the purchase price.
The plant, situated in Liangshi, northeastern China, will provide RusAl with half its annual cathode block needs. The company is also considering a $3 million modernization program to boost the plant's capacity to 25,000 tons, the statement said.
RusAl currently buys its cathode blocks, a key component in the aluminum production progress, from Russian and Ukrainian suppliers. (MT)
Nissan: Still No Decision
Nissan Motor said Wednesday that it still had not taken a final decision on whether or not to start car production in Russia, Dow Jones reported. Earlier on Wednesday, Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref was reported as saying that Nissan had taken a decision to construct a production plant in Russia and was now at the stage of choosing the best site.
"Nissan's official position has remained unchanged -- we still haven't taken a final decision on whether or not to launch production in Russia," Tatyana Natarova at Nissan in Moscow told Dow Jones Newswires. (MT)
Chery Car Assembly
Avtotor, a Kaliningrad-based private car assembly plant, plans to make around 17,600 Chery vehicles this year, Interfax reported, citing an unidentified company representative. Avtotor will assemble A15 and A21 sedans, as well as T11 off-roaders, it said.
Avtotor board chairman Vladimir Shcherbakov said the two companies were planning to start building a Chery plant this year, Interfax reported.
Avtotor plans to hold talks with China's Chery at the end of April to hammer out cooperation terms, Interfax said.
In February, Avtotor said it was planning a new $200 million plant with an annual capacity of 150,000 vehicles, where Chery would be a possible tenant. (MT)
Motorola Shipment Seized
Customs officials seized a shipment of Motorola handsets intended for Yevroset, Russia's largest mobile-phone retailer, Kommersant reported.
The delivery of 167,500 phones, valued at $19 million, was impounded on March 29 by customs officials who said the merchandise had been illegally imported, the newspaper reported.
The Interior Ministry said the phones were produced in Brazil and China for those countries' domestic markets and did not comply with requirements for use in Russia, the newspaper reported, citing an Interior Ministry statement. (Bloomberg)
MegaFon Fees in Chechnya
MegaFon, Russia's third-largest wireless operator, halved tariffs in Chechnya after the republic's prime minister told the company to cut prices or face a ban, Kommersant reported Wednesday.
Mobikom-Kavkaz, MegaFon's subsidiary in the republic, cut prices after Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov last month gave the unit two weeks to slash prices, the newspaper reported, citing MegaFon's Moscow office. (Bloomberg)