The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Russia

  • Russia urges OPEC to limit oil output rises from Libya, Nigeria in near future

    Russia urges OPEC to limit oil output rises from Libya, Nigeria in near future

    Russia called on OPEC to limit oil output rises from its members Libya and Nigeria in the near future, as it hosted a meeting of key OPEC states on Monday to discuss ways to prop up oil prices.

    OPEC has agreed with several non-OPEC producers led by Russia to cut oil output by a combined 1.8 million bpd from January 2017 until the end of March.

    OPEC states Libya and Nigeria are exempt and their production has been rising.

    The deal to curb output propelled crude prices above 58 dollarsa barrel in January but they have since slipped back to the 45 dollars to 50 dollars range as the effort to drain global inventories has taken longer than expected.

    Rising output from U.S. shale producers has offset the impact of the output curbs, as has climbing production from Libya and Nigeria, which were granted an exemption from the cuts to allow their industries to recover from years of unrest.

    Russia’s energy minister Alexander Novak said on Sunday that Libya and Nigeria were approaching the moment when their output should be capped due to significant rises in recent months.

    “I think that these countries should join other responsible oil producers and contribute to the market stabilisation initiative as they reach a stable level of output,” Novak told the Financial Times.

    Libya has been producing over one million bpd, below its capacity of 1.4 million to 1.6 million bpd but near its record high since unrest erupted that toppled former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

    Nigeria has also ramped up output in recent months.

    The two countries have now increased their production by around 700,000 to 800,000 bpd since the OPEC-led pact was agreed.

    OPEC sources told Reuters on Saturday that Nigeria could cap output if it managed to sustain production at 1.8 million bpd for 90 days.

    They also said Libya could struggle to sustain output at above 1 million bpd and hence a cap was not needed.

    Saudi Arabia has signaled that it was prepared to accommodate rising output from Libya and Nigeria, but stressed that additional measures should be taken by all producers.

    Russia said it was willing to further cooperate with OPEC.

    However, the option of deeper output cuts has so far been ruled out, OPEC sources said.

    Non-OPEC member Oman’s oil minister Mohammed al Rumhy told reporters he saw no need for additional production cuts from OPEC and non-OPEC.

    OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo said market rebalancing would accelerate as demand would pick up in the second half of the year.

    The oil ministers and officials are attending a meeting in the Russian city of St Petersburg of a ministerial committee that monitors the pact, known as the JMMC.

    The committee meets again in a few months before OPEC’s formal November gathering.

    Russia and Saudi Arabia, both members of the JMMC, face mounting pressure to prop up oil prices.

    Russia, which is heavily reliant on oil revenues, is holding a presidential election next year.

    Saudi Arabia needs higher prices as it wants to list its state giant oil firm Saudi Aramco next year.

    It has also faced several years of record budget deficit and has had to dip into its foreign exchange reserves to plug fiscal holes.

    The JMMC also includes Kuwait, Venezuela, Algeria and Oman.

  • Jehovah’s Witnesses vow to appeal Russia ban in European court

    Jehovah’s Witnesses vow to appeal Russia ban in European court

    Jehovah’s Witnesses said on Tuesday it would appeal a ban on its activities in Russia at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, saying it had exhausted all other legal channels.

    It was speaking a day after Russia’s Supreme Court rejected the religious group’s appeal and upheld an April ruling which declared the organisation “extremist” and ordered it to disband in Russia.

    “We plan to appeal this at the European Court of Human Rights as soon as we can,” Yaroslav Sivulskiy, a member of the European Association of Jehovah’s Christian Witnesses, said by phone.

    “All legal avenues inside Russia have been exhausted.”

    Sivulskiy said the Jehovah’s Witnesses strongly disagreed with the court’s ruling against it, but had no option but to comply.

    Religious life in Russia is dominated by the Orthodox Church, which exerts considerable political influence and enjoys the support of President Vladimir Putin.

    Some Orthodox scholars view Jehovah’s Witnesses as a ‘totalitarian sect’.

    Prior to the ban, Russian authorities put several of the group’s publications on a list of banned extremist literature and prosecutors have long cast it as an organization that destroys families, fosters hatred and threatens lives.

    The group, a U.S.-based Christian denomination known for its door-to-door preaching and rejection of military service and blood transfusions, says this description is false.

    It says it has 175,000 followers in Russia.

  • EU worries over 372 trade barriers against exporters

    EU worries over 372 trade barriers against exporters

    The EU has expressed worry over 372 trade barriers against its exporters in 2016 largely by some of the G20 countries.

    The union in its annual report published on Monday stated that largest share of the barriers came from Russia, Brazil, China, India and Indonesia.

    The EU expressed concern that Russia introduced the largest number of new trade barriers faced by European exporters in 2016.

    According to the report, the measures introduced by Russia could potentially affect trade flows worth up to 12.26 billion euros (13.71 billion dollars).

    The report stated that along with Russia, the other countries topping the list of places that have introduced the most new protectionist measures in 2016 include Switzerland and Algeria.

    “We clearly see that the scourge of protectionism is on the rise. It affects European firms and their workers.

    “Wines and spirits, agriculture as well as fisheries were the sectors recorded with the highest number of new reported barriers.

    “It is worrying that G20 countries are maintaining the highest number of trade barriers,” Cecilia Malmstroem, the EU Trade Commissioner said.

  • Russia to improve bilateral relationship with Nigeria-envoy

    Russia to improve bilateral relationship with Nigeria-envoy

    Russia has pledged to strengthen bilateral trade and investment cooperation with Nigeria.

    Mr Nikolay Udovichenko, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Nigeria made this known during the Russian Federation National Day celebration which took place at the Russian federation embassy in Abuja on Monday.

    “Nigeria is one of our greatest trading partners and we have had a strong relationship in the last years but hope to strengthen it and do a lot more together in the future.

    “We would continue to support Nigeria in achieving economic and social development by helping Nigeria utilise its resources in more effective ways.

    He also said that Russia would continue its educational programme to Nigerian students on scholarship basis.

    “We are glad that we can celebrate our national day in a country that has been very supportive.

    “The Russian government has offered many Nigerians scholarships to study in Russia and we extend our gratitude to those who have studied in Russia for always being supportive and cooperative.

    “I also want to thank my fellow Russians for their hard work and support in the diplomatic mission here in Nigeria,’’ Udovichenko said.

    Dean of Diplomatic Corp and High Commissioner to Nigeria, Salaheddine Ibrahima, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that it was nice to have countries come together to support other countries celebrate their growth.

    “It is nice to see that we are supportive of each other and that we see the need to celebrate our countries as a way to improve our relationships.

    “We are happy for Russia and wish them much more growth and success in the years ahead,’’ he said.

    NAN reports that Russia and Nigeria took steps to deepen their economic and political ties, after Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama, held diplomatic talks with his counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, during an official working visit to Moscow on May 29 to May 31.

    Lavrov held talks with Onyeama and his delegation on May 30.

    The foreign ministers discussed issues pertaining to the steady development of bilateral ties in political, trade, economic and humanitarian areas.

    They concentrated on prospects of cooperation in the nuclear industry, hydrocarbon processing, infrastructure projects and exports of Russian industrial products to Nigeria.

    The ministers further held an in-depth exchange of views on international and regional issues, focusing on countering terrorism and extremism, settling crises in Africa, primarily in the Sahara and the Sahel, and fighting pirates in the Gulf of Guinea.

    After the closed meeting, Lavrov told a media conference here that the meeting noted a strong potential for cooperation in areas such as hydrocarbon production.

    Others are processing, nuclear power industry and agriculture, and further expressed mutual interest in continued military-technical and military cooperation and training civilian specialists and law enforcement officers for Nigeria at Russian universities.

    NAN reports that so far, the two countries have held three meetings of the Joint Commission, the last was held as far back in 2009.

    The Joint Commission is the platform for the two countries to sit down and draw up agreements and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on how to conduct businesses and investment in each other’s country.

    Russia and Nigeria’s two-way trade was 350 million dollars in 2013.

  • Russia protests: Hundreds detained at opposition rallies

    Hundreds of people have been detained at anti-corruption rallies in Moscow and St Petersburg.

    Riot police in central Moscow were picking protesters out of the crowd at random, a BBC correspondent at the demonstration has said.

    Opposition leader Alexei Navalny was detained at his home ahead of the protests, according to his wife.

    Thousands of supporters have heeded his call to take to the streets of Moscow and other Russian cities.

    OVD-Info, an independent NGO, told Russian media that 600 people had been detained at the Moscow protest.

    Police in Moscow say about 5,000 took part in the demonstration there, Interfax news agency reports.

    Russia’s interior ministry says that about 3,500 people attended the protest in St Petersburg, and 500 were detained.

    “Alexei [Navalny] has been arrested in the entrance to our block of flats,” Yuliya Navalnaya wrote on Twitter, ahead of the demonstration.

    Mr Navalny, who intends to stand for the Russian presidency next year, had been due to attend the unauthorised rally in central Moscow.

    This was a peculiar protest.

    At first it was hard to tell who was taking part. Tverskaya Street was full of families marking Russia Day with entertainers in historical costumes.

     

  • Trump’s attorney general to testify in public on Russia

    AS Attorney General Jeff Sessions will testify in public to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday on his role in the Russia investigation.

    Mr Sessions, who wrote to the Senate Intelligence Committee at the weekend, has asked that the hearing be open.

    He will face questions about undeclared meetings with Russian officials and the president’s firing of the FBI chief.

    Media reports last week said Mr Sessions had offered to resign because of tensions with the president.

    Who is Jeff Sessions?

    Mr Trump was angry that the attorney general had recused himself from the FBI’s Russia probe, according to US media.

    Tuesday’s hearing has been scheduled for 14:30 local time (18:30 GMT).

    America’s top justice official will be the most senior government official to testify before the Senate committee, which is looking into allegations that Russia had tried to meddle in last November’s election.

    It is one of several congressional panels that, along with a special counsel, is also investigating whether any Trump campaign officials colluded with the alleged Kremlin plot.

  • Retaliation: Russia to seize US compounds, school

    Six months after two properties belonging to Russia were seized by the U.S. government, Moscow  is  threatening  to return the favour if the properties are not released.

    Russia vowed to seize U.S. diplomatic property in Moscow and complicate life for an Anglo-American school unless Washington hands back the two diplomatic compounds before July.

    The daily Kommersant newspaper citing unnamed diplomatic sources, said that Moscow wanted the compounds back before a possible meeting at the G20 in Germany in July between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump.

    If that did not happen, a sources said that Russia could retaliate by seizing a U.S. diplomatic dacha, or country house, in Serebryany Bor in north-west Moscow and a U.S. diplomatic warehouse in Moscow.

    It said that Russian authorities could also complicate life for Moscow’s Anglo-American school by altering its legal status.

    Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said that Moscow was still waiting for the return of its U.S. compounds and could retaliate in kind if that did not happen.

    In December, the former U.S. president Barack Obama ordered the expulsion of 35 Russians over what he said was their involvement in hacking last year’s U.S. presidential election, allegations Moscow flatly denies.

    The U.S. authorities seized two Russian diplomatic compounds, one in Maryland and another on Long Island, at the same time.

    Moscow did not retaliate, saying it would wait to see if relations improved under the incoming U.S. president, Donald Trump.

  • Russia successfully tests hypersonic missile

    Russia successfully tests hypersonic missile

    Russia is in the process of adding hypersonic missiles to its arsenal after successfully testing the deadly weapon a year ahead of schedule.

    Moscow’s official news agency Sputnik, said Zircon, as the missiles are called, could be installed on Pyotr Veliky, the country’s nuclear-powered missile strike ship.

    Defence experts brand them a “quantum leap in technology.”

    Travelling at 7402kph (4,600mph) which is almost 66 times the speed of sound, the missiles are faster than any other missile on the planet.

    Their speed is almost 66 times the speed of sound which practically guarantees they cannot be targeted or intercepted.

    Military analyst Vladimir Tuchkov told Sputnik: “It (the Zircon missile system) is expected to be added into Russia’s arsenal between 2018 and 2020.”

    These reports emerge as relations between the West and Russia reach their worst since the Cold War, fuelled by the crisis in Ukraine, the devastating conflict in Syria and the alleged Russian meddling in Western politics – most notably, the US elections.

     

  • French, Russian spacefarers return safely back to Earth

    French, Russian spacefarers return safely back to Earth

    A Russian spacecraft landed in the Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan on Friday, having returned French astronaut Thomas Pesquet and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy from the International Space Station.

    The duo’s six-month mission aboard the orbiting station was Pesquet’s first. Novitskiy, a veteran spacefarer, has spent a total of more than 300 days in space.

    “It’s been a fantastic adventure and amaSing ride,” Pesquet said in a post on Twitter that also featured a collage of landscapes in the colours of the French flag.

    “The space station is such a unique and remote and almost magical place,” Pesquet said. “I will miss it.”

    The Soyuz craft landed on schedule, according to a statement by the European Space Agency (ESA).

    Pesquet will now travel to the ESA’s astronaut centre in Cologne, Germany, and Novitskiy to the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre near Moscow, Russia, the ESA said.

    Three spacefarers remain on the station.

    Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and U.S. astronaut Jack Fischer arrived in April, and veteran U.S. commander Peggy Whitson

  • Boko Haram: Russia to supply Nigeria military hardware, helicopters 

    Russia has promised to supply Nigeria with military hardware and helicopters to battle the Boko Haram sect, Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama said yesterday.

    Onyeama spoke in Moscow, Russia,in an interview with reporters from Nigeriaon the gains of his visit.

    He said during his discussions with Russian officials led by Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov, Nigeria’s exemplary role  in ensuring peace and stability in Africa and the rest of the world was hailed.

    Onyeama said both countries are stepping up their cooperation in the efforts to tame Boko Haram and other terrorist groups in the world.

    The minister said: “Terrorism is an area we also want to cooperate with Russia. It’s a global challenge. They also face terrorism challenges and we look forward to stepping up our cooperation with Russia in the area of fighting terrorism.

    “They have agreed to deliver some military equipment and some helicopters. They are very much in the pipeline.”

    He added: “Russia has shown great solidarity with us, and we really look forward to a vibrant and very  dynamic  relationship between our two countries. We face a lot of conflicts in Africa and also in our country Nigeria. Again, we are looking to Russia.”

    The minister stressed that “a strong Russia will give the world a balance”.

    He said: “If you have one country that is totally dominant, it might not always necessarily make for a balance approach towards issues. We believe in multilateralism. We believe that global issues should be addressed on a multilateral framework.”