17 June 2004 21:41
Yesterday in Brief for June 17, 2004
The following is a digest of headline news from June 16 to 11:30 a.m. on June 17: RUSSIA NOT TO HEED OPEC REQUEST TO
INCREASE OIL PRODUCTION
Russia does not plan to increase oil production as OPEC has requested, Federal Energy Agency Director Sergei
Oganesian told Interfax.
"We are working according to our own plan. We do not have valves that we can open or close. We are producing as
much as we can," he said.
OPEC plans to propose that countries not in the cartel, including Russia and Mexico, increase production to reduce
world prices, OPEC President Purnomo Yusgiantoro told journalists in Jakarta. MOST LIKELY OIL PRICE IN 2005 $26 PER
BARREL - GREF
The Russian government forecasts that oil prices will be about $26 per barrel in 2005, Economic Development and Trade
Minister German Gref said at a government meeting Thursday.
"According to conservative estimates, this figure may amount to $20.5," Gref said.
Lukoil intends to sell to Gazprom the natural gas produced
under the project, Lukoil President Vagit Alekperov told
He said lack of pipeline capacity, which is holding back growth in oil exports, may e resolved in three years.
LUKOIL, GAZPROM SIGN $2BLN IN DEALS WITH UZBEKISTAN
Russia's Lukoil signed a production-sharing agreement (PSA) for the estimated $1-billion Kandym-Khauzak-Shady
project in the Bukhara-Khiva region of southwest Uzbekistan with Uzbekistan's national oil and gas company
Uzbekneftegaz.
Lukoil will own 90% and Uzbekneftegaz 10% of the project's operating company.
journalists.
Russia's Gazprom, following in Lukoil's footsteps, plans to invest over $1 billion in the economy of
Uzbekistan, President Vladimir Putin announced on Wednesday after talks with Uzbek President Islam Karimov in the Uzbek
capital of Tashkent. COURT POSTPONES KHODORKOVSKY, LEBEDEV, YUKOS HEARINGS
Moscow's Meshchansky Court announced a recess in hearing the case of former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky and
Menatep head Platon Lebedev until June 23, because key defense attorney Genrikh Padva underwent eye surgery.
Yukos chief executive Simon Kukes late last week asked
principal Yukos shareholders for guarantees for a sum that
The court left both men in custody, rejecting pleas from their defense. The defense lawyers intend to appeal the
decision.
The Moscow Arbitration Court on Wednesday also postponed until June 23 consideration of a protest from the Tax
Ministry against a judgment suspending execution of an April 14 ruling to charge Yukos 99.4 billion rubles in back taxes
and fines. MENATEP OFFERS TO BE GUARANTOR OF SOME YUKOS TAX ARREARS
Group Menatep Ltd, the largest shareholder in oil company Yukos, has announced it will offer the government
proportional guarantees on the payment of Yukos tax arrears.
exceeds the arrears by a minimum of 20%.
Menatep is Yukos's biggest creditor, having lent the company $1.6 billion. STOCK MARKET DECLINE STOPS AT AROUND
530 POINTS
The RTS index's decline stopped at 533.26 points on Wednesday, down 1.72%, as local sale volumes dropped. Yukos
shares, which have been driving the market down over the past few days, fell 2.5% to $6.16, having recovered some ground
lost in the morning, when the shares slumped 8.2% to $5.8. RUSSIA'S GDP TO GROW BY 6.6% IN 2004
Russia's GDP is expected to grow by 6.6% and industrial output by 6.3% in 2004, Economic Development and Trade
Minister German Gref told a Thursday Cabinet meeting as he was presenting a forecast for the country's
development.
If incomes continue to grow at the current rate, the amount of people under the poverty line will decrease to 11% -
12% from the 20% figure in 2003, he said.
The Federal State Statistics Service reported on Wednesday that Russia's GDP increased by 7.4% in the first
quarter of 2004 against the same period last year and industrial production rose 7% year-on-year in January-May. FINANCE
MINISTRY AGAINST EUROBOND PLACEMENT IN 2004
Ahead of a June 17 government session that will address the main parameters of the 2005 budget, the Finance Ministry
has suggested that Russia not place Eurobonds in 2004, a ministry source told reporters on Wednesday.
Russian oil major Lukoil on Wednesday launched the first
phase of its oil terminal in the Leningrad region town of
Vysotsk, which will be used to export oil to Russia and the
The government had considered issuing $2.76 billion of Eurobonds in 2004, but plans instead to use additional revenue
and $500 million in savings on foreign debt servicing and repayments arising from exchange rate differences, he
said.
The capacity of the first phase of the terminal is 4.7
million tonnes of oil products per year, and of the entire
The ministry submitted materials for the June 17 meeting that estimated foreign debt interest payments in 2004 at
207.5 billion rubles, instead of the 223.2 billion rubles envisaged in the budget. EXPENDITURES ON STATE DEFENSE
CONTRACTS TO INCREASE IN 2005
Expenditures on state defense contracts written in the 2005 federal budget are expected to increase by 43-45 billion
rubles, a Russian Finance Ministry official told reporters ahead of the June 17 government session to discuss the
budget. Funding for state defense contracts has been increasing over the past few years, he said. LUKOIL LAUNCHES EXPORT
TERMINAL IN VYSOTSK
"The AN-70 will be developed. There are certain drawbacks,
but they will be rectified. The AN-70 is to be reliable and
United States.
terminal - about 12 million tonnes per year. The first phase cost about $200 million to build and construction began
in June 2002. RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN PROTOCOL ON AN-70 DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM SIGNED
A joint Russian-Ukrainian workgroup has signed a protocol to develop the AN-70 medium transport plane.
country pledges to refrain from "any act, including the
conclusion of a treaty with a third country, that would
safe," Ukrainian Air Force Commander-in-Chief Yaroslav Skalko said.
"The AN-70 is a matter of principle for the two states. Our states have every prerequisite for developing own
aircraft," Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Viktor Chernomyrdin said. UZBEKISTAN, RUSSIA SIGN STRATEGIC SECURITY
TREATY
The European Commission will soon get a mandate to conduct
negotiations on the easing of visa regulations between the
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Uzbek President Islam Karimov on Wednesday signed a strategic partnership treaty
on stable and effective security in Central Asia, under which each
The visa regime will not be fully abolished and will
function in accordance with the current legislation and
jeopardize the sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity of the other party" and vows not to "permit
the use of its territory by a third state if such use jeopardizes the national sovereignty, security, and territorial
integrity of the other party."
The agreement also allows each country to use military objects located on the other country's territory if the
need arises. EU, RUSSIA MAY BEGIN TALKS ON VISA REGIME SOON
European Union and Russia, said Richard Wright, the head of the delegation of the European Commission in Russia. He
did not say when the talks would begin.
agreements Russia has signed with Germany, France, and Italy, Wright said. IAEA LOOKS TO VERIFY RUSSIAN NUCLEAR POWER
PLANT SAFETY IN 2006
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is looking to conduct safety verification at nuclear power plants in
Russia in 2006, head of the IAEA Operational Safety Section Miroslav Lipar announced at a Wednesday press conference in
Moscow. COURT UPHOLDS ABOLITION OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES BRANCH
The Moscow City Court upheld a ruling by a lower court to abolish the Moscow Jehovah's Witnesses community for
allegedly fanning religious strife, ruining families, and forcing the seriously ill to reject medical assistance for
religious reasons. Lawyers for the Jehovah's Witnesses said they will appeal the ruling. CIS AND THE BALTICS SCO
SUMMIT OPENS IN TASHKENT
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) launched a counter-terrorism organization Thursday at a ceremony in the
Uzbek capital of Tashkent. The SCO comprises Uzbekistan, Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. CAPEX
SOARS 10% IN KAZAKHSTAN IN 5 MTHS
Capital investments in Kazakhstan were 391.9 billion tenge ($2.88 billion) in January-May 2004, up 9.7% year-on-year,
the country's National Statistics Agency told Interfax. The majority of foreign investments - 85.6% - were directed
towards the mining industry. GEORGIA WANTS PEACEKEEPER COMMANDER OUT OF CONFLICT ZONE
Georgia wants the commander of the joint peacekeeping force, Gen. Svyatoslav Nabzdorov, to leave the
Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone, Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Gomiashvili told a Wednesday briefing. He said Georgia
sent a request to the Russian authorities several days ago. MOLDOVA, EU COORDINATE INTEGRATION PLAN
Moldova and the European Union coordinated a plan for Moldova's integration into the EU during the fourth round
of Moldova-EU negotiations on Tuesday, the Moldovan Foreign Ministry's press service reported Wednesday. One of the
main aims of the plan is to continue to support the settlement of the Transdniestrian conflict.
[Interfax] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
