Sustainable, significant commodities demand is keeping Russian Railways on track for servicing Asia By Chris Devonshire-Ellis Russia’s Eastbound rail freight shipments exceeded westbound shipments for the first time in 2022, at 80 million tonnes compared with 76 million tonnes, according to Russian Railways (RZD) Chairman Oleg Belozerov, commenting during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir[…..]
Russia is now ranked in the global top four countries in terms of gold and foreign exchange reserves with a total of US$582 billion. These indicators are based on the analysis of data from various Central Banks and include in the top five China (US$3.31 trillion), Japan (US$1.27 trillion), Switzerland (US$924 billion) and India (US$563[…..]
Latest energy-rich economies move to drop US dollar The Russian Foreign Minister has been in Baghdad speaking with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein, discussing new payment mechanisms to replace the US dollar. They have stated that Moscow and Baghdad plan to switch to paying for oil supplies in the currencies of “reliable countries” and move[…..]
Move will see Sberbank take the global lead in blockchain finance By Paul Goncharoff Sberbank, the largest bank in Russia and the third largest in Europe, has let the cat out of the bag and announced it is preparing to launch its Ethereum-compatible DeFi platform in April this year. If this happens as planned, Sberbank[…..]
By Constantin Duhamel with additional commentary by Chris Devonshire-Ellis Introduction – The Soviet ‘Special Relationship’ In an effort to promote a similar worldview during the Cold War, the Soviet Union cultivated close ties with socialist movements and governments in countries such as Angola, Algeria, Egypt and Ethiopia. As a result, top Russian officials spent significant[…..]
By Paul Goncharoff Not known for letting moss grow under his feet, on Tuesday (January 31, 2023) Russian President Vladimir Putin officially instructed the government of the Russian Federation to accelerate key changes to national projects and state programs that provide for the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) in all sectors of the economy and[…..]
Exports of grain and its products to Asian countries from Russia’s Primorye Krai totaled 80,729 tonnes in January 2023, a surge of 46% year-on-year, according to the Primorye interregional department of the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor).
Move is the first bilateral step for what will become a growing trend of bypassing the US-controlled SWIFT banking network By Paul Goncharoff Officials of the Central Banks of Russia and Iran signed an agreement formally connecting their interbank transfer systems on Sunday (January 29). The agreement calls for the 52 Iranian bank branches that[…..]
By Chris Devonshire-Ellis The Pakistan Foreign Minister, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, is in Moscow meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov. They have plenty to discuss. Pakistan, despite the assistance of China, has been recovering from several crisis, both political and financial, and lurching from one problem to the next.
Bordering China, foreign investment in Russia’s Far East increased 23% in 2022. We look at the investment trends, developments, and opportunities. The Russian Far East occupies 41% of Russia yet has just 5.56% of its total population. Yet with Russia’s Pivot to Asia, and especially trade with China, there is great potential for growth in[…..]