Russia Financial News

cargo shipped along the Northern Sea Route (NSR) in 2023 totaled 36.254 million tons which is more than 250 thousand tons above the target set in the “Development of the Northern Sea Route” federal project being implemented under Russia's nuclear major Rosatom. Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev said that the cargo shipping record was set even before the end of the year thanks to partner companies that had found an opportunity to redirect their cargo from west to east, including first of all PAO NOVATEK, LNG accounts for more than half of the cargo, as well as Gazprom Neft, LUKOIL, PJSC MMC Nornickel. «In 2023, we saw intensified transit traffic, 2 million 129 thousand tons of cargo were shipped, which makes it a historical peak. “Transit cargo shipping evidences the NSR popularity, therefore its intensification from the maritime logistics point of view is the most important result,” noted Vladimir Panov, Rosatom Special Representative for the Arctic development. It is also worth noting the growing interest of foreign shipping companies in the Northern Sea Route including from India. In addition, there were 3 round regular domestic voyages along the Northern Sea Route from the northwestern part of Russia to the regions of the Far East in 2023. The Northern Sea Route (NSR) is the shortest shipping route connecting the western part of Eurasia and the Indo-Pacific region. The goal of the “Development of the Northern Sea Route” project is to create infrastructure to facilitate the increase in cargo shipping as well as in the total capacity of seaports.

Russian authorities say that a huge fire tore through a large warehouse used by Russia's largest online retailer south of St. Petersburg

Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka's Grand Slam comeback ended abruptly Monday, crashing out to Caroline Garcia, but US Open winner Coco Gauff and men's third seed Daniil Medvedev surged on in Melbourne. On a baking-hot day at Melbourne Park, men's seventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and women's sixth seed Ons Jabeur also tasted first-round victory. But Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova and veteran Andy Murray made early exits. Japanese star Osaka, 26, stepped away from the sport in September 2022, citing mental health concerns. After giving birth to a baby girl in July, she decided to return for the new season and was back at the scene of her title-winning exploits in 2019 and 2021. But she was unable to rediscover her championship-winning form against 16th-seeded Frenchwoman Garcia after just two competitive games in Brisbane since returning. «She's been through a lot but I'm just very glad to see her back and I hope she can enjoy the tennis now and have fun out there.

S Jaishakar on Monday met Iran's Minister of Roads and Urban Development and discussed on establishing a «long-term cooperation framework» for Chabahar port, a strategic maritime facility situated on the southereastern coast of Iran. EAM Jaishankar is in Iran as part of the ongoing high-level exchanges between the two sides, according to the Ministry of External Affairs. «Began my engagements in Tehran by meeting Minister of Roads and Urban Development @mehrdadbazrpash.

Russian version of the popular Wikipedia internet encyclopaedia, will take place on Monday, according to Russian media reports. Beta testing — a limited audience testing of the site — started in mid-2023, the daily Kommersant reported, and there were reportedly already more articles in Ruwiki than in the Russian-language segment of Wikipedia.

Cost of Living LIVE Updates January 15: The cost of living is the amount of money one needs to survive in a given place – and one's most essential needs such as food, water, housing, taxes, cost of commute, healthcare, etc. The high rate of inflation has pushed up the cost of living across the globe, burning a hole in the common man's pocket.

military personnel to serve across Europe in a major NATO exercise in the first half of this year, as well as warships and fighter jets, the defence ministry said on Monday. The deployment includes 16,000 British army troops who will be based in Eastern Europe from February to June, an aircraft carrier strike group and F35B Lightning attack jets and surveillance planes. NATO's Exercise Steadfast Defender 24 marks the Western alliance's 75th year. «I can announce today that UK will be sending some 20,000 personnel to take part in one of NATO's largest deployments since the end of the Cold War,» Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said in excerpts of a speech due to be delivered later on Monday at Lancaster House, published by the defence ministry. The NATO alliance has boosted the number of combat-ready troops after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine almost two years ago and has continued to support Kyiv with military, economic and humanitarian aid.

A Russian economist has claimed Moscow will eventually force the elderly to accept CBDC pension payments as part of the digital ruble rollout.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy's peace formula on Sunday said a growing number of countries are working to help set the groundwork for Russia to join one day, an admittedly distant goal as the nearly two-year war grinds on and neither side willing to cede ground. The fourth such meeting of national security advisers takes place in the Swiss town of Davos, where Zelenskyy is set to attend the World Economic Forum's annual meeting starting Tuesday. He will endeavor to keep up international focus on Ukraine's defense amid eroding support for Kyiv in the West and swelling distractions like conflict in the Middle East.

Davos on Sunday to discuss a peace formula for Ukraine, with India and many other nations pushing for the restoration of peace in the war-hit country. A representative of the Swiss Foreign Ministry, which co-hosted the meeting along with Ukraine, said, «By organising the meeting, Switzerland continues to support Ukraine in achieving this goal». This was the fourth NSA meeting on the peace formula proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2022, which follows ten principles aimed at ensuring a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.

AP. North Korea's neighbouring countries including Japan and South Korea informed that they detected a possible ballistic missile launch by North Korea. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and Japan’s Defense Ministry informed that the country ruled by Kim Jong Un fired missile on Sunday.

After 100 days, Israel’s war with Hamas is turning into a protracted conflict with no clear end, threatening to spread across the Middle East, disrupt global trade and bog down the U.S. One of the biggest geopolitical events this century, the war has swung from a Hamas attack on Oct. 7 that Israel says killed 1,200 people to the Israeli military’s ferocious retaliation against the militant group in Gaza.

SunOnline newspaper. Ibrahim Khaleel, the Minister at the President's Office for Strategic Communications, told SunOnline newspaper that both the countries had agreed to set up a high-level core group during the meeting between President Muizzu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the COP28 in Dubai in December. Khaleel said besides the withdrawal of Indian military personnel, the group also discussed expediting India-backed development projects in the island nation.

By Ju-min Park and Makiko Yamazaki

RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Jayanth R Varma said on Sunday. Varma further said he expects a benign outcome in 2024 where inflation comes down and growth remains robust. «The Indian economy has withstood all these shocks (Russia-Ukraine war, Israel-Hamas war, rising oil prices, Houthi attacks) in the last couple of years, and I do not believe that the geopolitical situation will be significantly worse in coming months than what we experienced in the recent past,» he told PTI in an interview.

South Africa says more than 50 countries have expressed support for its case at the United Nations' top court accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in the war in Gaza. Others, including the United States, have strongly rejected South Africa's allegation that Israel is violating the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Many more have remained silent.

Deputy national security advisor (NSA) Vikram Misri will represent India at a peace meeting on Ukraine in Davos this weekend and is expected to suggest creation of a formula that is acceptable to all sides. India will emphasise on a holistic approach to creation of peace formula that should involve presence of all stakeholders in talks and the process for a durable peace, said people with knowledge of the matter. Misri will drive home India’s long-standing position on dialogue and diplomacy as the way forward to end the conflict, they said. This is the fourth edition of peace talks under the Copenhagen format led by NSAs.

Taiwan elections 2024: Lai Ching-te, candidate of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP), won the Taiwan election held on Saturday, January 13. Both China and the United States reacted sharply to the latest polls as the DPP secured unprecedented third consecutive term in the nation. Taiwan's election took place at a time of growing geopolitical tensions between Beijing and Washington.

Jaishankar will meet Foreign Minister of Iran, HE Dr Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and hold discussions on bilateral, regional and global issues. "Political cooperation, connectivity initiatives and strong people-to-people ties will constitute important aspects of the agenda," the statement by the ministry added. Jaishankar and Amir-Abdollahian are also likely to discuss boosting regional connectivity through the Chabahar Port.

Russian missile attack in the early hours of Saturday, its air force said, adding that Moscow had fired some of its most fearsome hypersonic missiles. Air defences shot down Russian missiles in at least five regions across Ukraine, according to local officials from those provinces. However, no details were given on whether any targets were hit, and far less information about the attack than usual was provided by officials. Ukraine's air force warned during the attack that Russia had fired Kinzhal missiles — perhaps the hardest conventional Russian missile to shoot down, moving at several times the speed of sound. Police in the northern region of Chernihiv posted a picture of a large crater made by a downed missile. «As a result of being hit by the debris of an enemy missile, several private homes and non-residential buildings were damaged, one building was practically destroyed,» the police wrote, adding that a dog had been killed but no people were hurt.

trade minister said on Saturday. «Ground reports indicate that the crop is quite good and this year's production is expected at a record 114 million metric tons,» Piyush Goyal told reporters. India banned wheat exports in 2022 after output was curtailed due to a heat wave, but more recently overseas sales picked up as Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent global prices to multi-year highs. The government has sold around 6 million metric tons of wheat to local bulk buyers since June. 1, when the state-run Food Corporation of India started selling the grain from its warehouses. Despite selling wheat from its granaries, inventories at state warehouses are likely to remain above the target of 7.46 million metric tons fixed for April 1, when a new marketing year starts, a top government official said earlier this month. The country's wheat stocks at state warehouses stood at 16.47 million metric tons as of Jan.