REUTERS
"Exclusive: Russia plans deep March oil export cuts -sources"
Reuters
February 22, 2023
MOSCOW/LONDON, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Russia plans to cut oil exports from its western ports by up to 25% in March versus February, exceeding its announced production cuts in a bid to lift prices for its oil, three sources in the Russian oil market said.
Russia's Energy ministry declined to comment.
Russia's pipeline monopoly Transneft did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Russia had already announced plans to cut its oil production by 500,000 barrels per day in March, amounting to 5% of its output or 0.5% of global production.
Russian officials said the voluntary output cuts in March would last one month and would follow the start of Western price caps on Russian oil on Dec 5. and oil products on Feb. 5.
The cut will be made from January output levels.
Russia has so far managed to reroute most of its oil exports from Europe to India, China and Turkey, which happily snapped up cheap barrels and ignored Western sanctions.
But Moscow has struggled to re-route exports of refined product away from Europe after Indian, Chinese and Turkish refiners flooded the market with fuels produced from Russian oil.
U.S. treasury officials have said the Russian decision to cut oil production reflects its inability to sell all its oil.
Washington has said it pushed for the introduction of price caps to limit revenues for President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine but have set them high enough to avoid a further spike in global oil prices.
"The export cuts appear to be deeper than the planned production cuts."
"It might help bump up the price for Russian oil," one of the sources said.
The G7 group of industrialised nations has agreed to put a price cap on Russian oil at $60 per barrel.
Russian oil has traded below than level in recent weeks due to steep discounts and expensive freight rates.
Global Brent benchmark prices trade at above $80 per barrel.
Putin and other Russian officials have said they would refuse to sell oil to countries which abide by the caps and promised to take measures to reduce the discounts.
The first source said Transneft had informed at least two oil firms they would be allocated 20-25% fewer cargoes in March from Western ports than they had asked for.
The cuts from the ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga on the Baltic Sea and Novorossiisk on the Black Sea will amount to a quarter of February volumes although some adjustments could still be made, another source said.
"There are no plans to cut exports from the Pacific," the first source said.
Russia normally exports up to 10 million tonnes a month or 2.5 million bpd of Urals crude from Primorsk, Ust-Luga and Novorossiisk and a cut of 25% would represent as much as 625,000 bpd if confirmed by Transneft and agreed by oil companies.
Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Bernadette Baum
https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodi ... 023-02-22/
RUSSIA
Re: RUSSIA
REUTERS
"G20 tussles over Ukraine war as West steps up sanctions"
By Shivangi Acharya, David Lawder
FEBRUARY 24, 2023
BENGALURU (Reuters) -Finance leaders of the world’s top economies sought on Friday to bridge differences over how to deal with Russia following its invasion of Ukraine a year ago, as the West stepped up sanctions against Moscow.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen accused Russian officials at the two-day Group of Twenty (G20) meeting in the Indian city of Bengaluru of being “complicit” in war atrocities.
But, underlining the split with those nations which have not joined efforts to isolate the Russian economy, meeting host India avoided mention of the year-old war in inaugural remarks and said the global economy faced a range of other challenges.
“I would urge that your discussions should focus on the most vulnerable citizens of the world,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, adding that stability, confidence and growth had to be brought back to the world economy.
Modi cited the aftermath of the COVID pandemic, rising debt levels, disruptions to supply chains and threats to food and energy security as key concerns.
India does not want the bloc to discuss sanctions on Russia and is also pressing to avoid using the word “war” in any communique, G20 officials told Reuters.
But French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said there was no way the group could step back from a joint statement agreed at a G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, last November, which noted that “most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine”.
“Either we have the same language or we do not sign on the final communique,” Le Maire told reporters.
Such stand-offs have become increasingly common in the G20, a forum created over 20 years ago in response to past economic crises but which has recently been hobbled by differences between Western nations and others including China and Russia.
Speaking on the first anniversary of the Russian invasion, Yellen urged G20 economies to redouble efforts to support Ukraine and restrict Russia’s capacity to wage war.
“I urge the Russian officials here at the G20 to understand that their continued work for the Kremlin makes them complicit in Putin’s atrocities,” Yellen said in remarks to the meeting.
Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland also rebuked the Russians personally, according to a Western official familiar with her remarks.
Speaking in Russian, she said: “You are apparatchiks, you are economists - you are not soldiers."
"But, all the same, you also bear personal responsibility for this criminal war."
"We know who you are, and we will not forget,” said Freeland, who is of Ukrainian descent.
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and central bank governor Elvira Nabiullina did not attend, with Moscow represented by deputies.
Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special military operation”.
G7 DEEPENS RUSSIA SANCTIONS
Leaders of the wealthy G7 democracies issued a statement pledging to continually deepen sanctions against those aiding Russia’s war effort after they had a virtual meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
“We will maintain, fully implement and expand the economic measures we have already imposed,” the statement released by current G7 president Japan said, noting that it would be working on how to deprive Russia of revenues from diamond exports.
Separately, Washington released details of new measures it was taking that not only targeted Russia but also “third-country actors” across Europe, Asia and the Middle East that are supporting Russia’s war effort.
“We will sanction additional actors tied to Russia’s defence and technology industry, including those responsible for backfilling Russian stocks of sanctioned items or enabling Russian sanctions evasion,” it said.
Britain also issued more sanctions against Russia, including export bans on every item it has used on the battlefield and import bans on iron and steel goods.
But European Union countries were still struggling to overcome disagreements on a new set of EU sanctions against Russia, diplomatic sources told Reuters.
They were making a new bid on Friday after talks ended in failure late on Thursday.
The G20 bloc includes the G7 countries, as well as Russia, China, India, Brazil and Saudi Arabia, among others.
British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt told reporters that focusing G20 discussions on Ukraine did not mean neglecting other issues.
“In the end, unless we resolve the global security threats, there can be no progress on these other areas,” he said.
Both China and India have seen trade with Russia surge in the wake of sanctions, with New Delhi vastly increasing its purchases of cheaper Russian oil.
The meeting comes amid signs that the global outlook has improved from the last G20 summit in October, when a number of economies were teetering on the brink of recession amid energy and food price spikes.
The G20 meeting is also expected to hold talks on debt relief for distressed countries, with pressure building on China, the world’s largest bilateral creditor, and other nations to take a large haircut in loans.
In a video address to the meeting, China’s finance minister Liu Kun reiterated Beijing’s position that the World Bank and other multilateral development banks participate in debt relief by taking haircuts alongside bilateral creditors.
Reporting by David Lawder, Aftab Ahmed, Shivangi Acharya, Sarita Singh, Swati Bhat, Christian Kraemer and Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Writing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Mark John; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Catherine Evans
https://www.reuters.com/article/g20-ind ... SL1N3540CE
"G20 tussles over Ukraine war as West steps up sanctions"
By Shivangi Acharya, David Lawder
FEBRUARY 24, 2023
BENGALURU (Reuters) -Finance leaders of the world’s top economies sought on Friday to bridge differences over how to deal with Russia following its invasion of Ukraine a year ago, as the West stepped up sanctions against Moscow.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen accused Russian officials at the two-day Group of Twenty (G20) meeting in the Indian city of Bengaluru of being “complicit” in war atrocities.
But, underlining the split with those nations which have not joined efforts to isolate the Russian economy, meeting host India avoided mention of the year-old war in inaugural remarks and said the global economy faced a range of other challenges.
“I would urge that your discussions should focus on the most vulnerable citizens of the world,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, adding that stability, confidence and growth had to be brought back to the world economy.
Modi cited the aftermath of the COVID pandemic, rising debt levels, disruptions to supply chains and threats to food and energy security as key concerns.
India does not want the bloc to discuss sanctions on Russia and is also pressing to avoid using the word “war” in any communique, G20 officials told Reuters.
But French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said there was no way the group could step back from a joint statement agreed at a G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, last November, which noted that “most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine”.
“Either we have the same language or we do not sign on the final communique,” Le Maire told reporters.
Such stand-offs have become increasingly common in the G20, a forum created over 20 years ago in response to past economic crises but which has recently been hobbled by differences between Western nations and others including China and Russia.
Speaking on the first anniversary of the Russian invasion, Yellen urged G20 economies to redouble efforts to support Ukraine and restrict Russia’s capacity to wage war.
“I urge the Russian officials here at the G20 to understand that their continued work for the Kremlin makes them complicit in Putin’s atrocities,” Yellen said in remarks to the meeting.
Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland also rebuked the Russians personally, according to a Western official familiar with her remarks.
Speaking in Russian, she said: “You are apparatchiks, you are economists - you are not soldiers."
"But, all the same, you also bear personal responsibility for this criminal war."
"We know who you are, and we will not forget,” said Freeland, who is of Ukrainian descent.
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and central bank governor Elvira Nabiullina did not attend, with Moscow represented by deputies.
Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special military operation”.
G7 DEEPENS RUSSIA SANCTIONS
Leaders of the wealthy G7 democracies issued a statement pledging to continually deepen sanctions against those aiding Russia’s war effort after they had a virtual meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
“We will maintain, fully implement and expand the economic measures we have already imposed,” the statement released by current G7 president Japan said, noting that it would be working on how to deprive Russia of revenues from diamond exports.
Separately, Washington released details of new measures it was taking that not only targeted Russia but also “third-country actors” across Europe, Asia and the Middle East that are supporting Russia’s war effort.
“We will sanction additional actors tied to Russia’s defence and technology industry, including those responsible for backfilling Russian stocks of sanctioned items or enabling Russian sanctions evasion,” it said.
Britain also issued more sanctions against Russia, including export bans on every item it has used on the battlefield and import bans on iron and steel goods.
But European Union countries were still struggling to overcome disagreements on a new set of EU sanctions against Russia, diplomatic sources told Reuters.
They were making a new bid on Friday after talks ended in failure late on Thursday.
The G20 bloc includes the G7 countries, as well as Russia, China, India, Brazil and Saudi Arabia, among others.
British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt told reporters that focusing G20 discussions on Ukraine did not mean neglecting other issues.
“In the end, unless we resolve the global security threats, there can be no progress on these other areas,” he said.
Both China and India have seen trade with Russia surge in the wake of sanctions, with New Delhi vastly increasing its purchases of cheaper Russian oil.
The meeting comes amid signs that the global outlook has improved from the last G20 summit in October, when a number of economies were teetering on the brink of recession amid energy and food price spikes.
The G20 meeting is also expected to hold talks on debt relief for distressed countries, with pressure building on China, the world’s largest bilateral creditor, and other nations to take a large haircut in loans.
In a video address to the meeting, China’s finance minister Liu Kun reiterated Beijing’s position that the World Bank and other multilateral development banks participate in debt relief by taking haircuts alongside bilateral creditors.
Reporting by David Lawder, Aftab Ahmed, Shivangi Acharya, Sarita Singh, Swati Bhat, Christian Kraemer and Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Writing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Mark John; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Catherine Evans
https://www.reuters.com/article/g20-ind ... SL1N3540CE
Re: RUSSIA
REUTERS
"EU approves 10th package of Russia sanctions on anniversary of invasion"
By Gabriela Baczynska
February 24, 2023
BRUSSELS, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The European Union, after hectic last-minute haggling, has approved a tenth package of Russia sanctions on the anniversary of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, the Swedish EU presidency said late on Friday.
"Together, the EU member states have imposed the most forceful and far-reaching sanctions ever to help Ukraine win the war," the presidency announced on Twitter.
"The EU stands united with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people."
"We will keep supporting Ukraine, for as long as it takes."
The package includes tighter export restrictions regarding dual-use goods as well as measures against entities supporting the war, spreading propaganda or delivering drones used by Russia.
With two hours to go until midnight, EU member states made it across the finish line with little time to spare after Poland earlier threw a spanner into the works.
Warsaw said the proposed restrictions on EU imports of Russian rubber included such a big quota of imports exempted and such long transition periods that they would have no effect in practice.
Other EU countries were baffled that Warsaw - a leading Russia hawk in the bloc - was risking having no new sanctions announced on the one-year anniversary of Russia's attack against Ukraine over just one element of a broader package.
"This is very bad optics."
"What was supposed to be key here is a message of solidarity with Ukraine on this special day," said one diplomat involved in the confidential negotiations between the 27 EU countries in the bloc's hub Brussels.
All member states need to approve sanctions for them to be enacted, making negotiations among the 27 often tedious and lengthy.
The EU has said the 10th round of sanctions against Russia since the war started was designed to make financing the war more difficult and starve Russia of tech equipment and spare parts for arms used against Ukraine.
Measures were also meant to blacklist more individuals including what the West says are Russian propagandists, those Kyiv holds responsible for deporting Ukrainian children to Russia and those involved in the production of Iranian drones deployed on the frontline.
The package was also designed to cut off more banks including the private Alfa-Bank and the online bank Tinkoff from the global system SWIFT and cut trade between the EU and Russia by more than 10 billion euros, according to the bloc's executive.
Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska and Sabine Siebold; Editing by Philippa Fletcher and Matthew Lewis
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eu ... 023-02-24/
"EU approves 10th package of Russia sanctions on anniversary of invasion"
By Gabriela Baczynska
February 24, 2023
BRUSSELS, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The European Union, after hectic last-minute haggling, has approved a tenth package of Russia sanctions on the anniversary of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, the Swedish EU presidency said late on Friday.
"Together, the EU member states have imposed the most forceful and far-reaching sanctions ever to help Ukraine win the war," the presidency announced on Twitter.
"The EU stands united with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people."
"We will keep supporting Ukraine, for as long as it takes."
The package includes tighter export restrictions regarding dual-use goods as well as measures against entities supporting the war, spreading propaganda or delivering drones used by Russia.
With two hours to go until midnight, EU member states made it across the finish line with little time to spare after Poland earlier threw a spanner into the works.
Warsaw said the proposed restrictions on EU imports of Russian rubber included such a big quota of imports exempted and such long transition periods that they would have no effect in practice.
Other EU countries were baffled that Warsaw - a leading Russia hawk in the bloc - was risking having no new sanctions announced on the one-year anniversary of Russia's attack against Ukraine over just one element of a broader package.
"This is very bad optics."
"What was supposed to be key here is a message of solidarity with Ukraine on this special day," said one diplomat involved in the confidential negotiations between the 27 EU countries in the bloc's hub Brussels.
All member states need to approve sanctions for them to be enacted, making negotiations among the 27 often tedious and lengthy.
The EU has said the 10th round of sanctions against Russia since the war started was designed to make financing the war more difficult and starve Russia of tech equipment and spare parts for arms used against Ukraine.
Measures were also meant to blacklist more individuals including what the West says are Russian propagandists, those Kyiv holds responsible for deporting Ukrainian children to Russia and those involved in the production of Iranian drones deployed on the frontline.
The package was also designed to cut off more banks including the private Alfa-Bank and the online bank Tinkoff from the global system SWIFT and cut trade between the EU and Russia by more than 10 billion euros, according to the bloc's executive.
Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska and Sabine Siebold; Editing by Philippa Fletcher and Matthew Lewis
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eu ... 023-02-24/
Re: RUSSIA
REUTERS
"U.S. Treasury sanctions Russian mining sector, goes after sanctions evasion"
By Andrea Shalal and Jonathan Landay
February 24, 2023
Summary
* Sanctions part of coordinated U.S. and global moves
* Those involved in Russian mining and metals can be targeted
* More than a dozen Russian banks isolated
WASHINGTON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday slapped new sanctions on Russian banks and targeted its mining and metals sector, while going after over 30 people and companies from Switzerland, Germany and the Middle East for helping Moscow evade earlier sanctions and keep funding its war against Ukraine.
The new measures, announced on the first anniversary of Russia's invasion, hit over 250 individuals and entities, adding to more than 2,500 sanctions imposed over the past year.
The action would further isolate Russia from the global economy, Treasury said in a statement.
The new sanctions were coordinated with other U.S. agencies, U.S. allies and the Group of Seven rich nations to limit Russia's ability to wage the war that has killed tens of thousands, and uprooted millions of Ukrainians.
"What we're doing today is furthering the vice around the Kremlin's ability to fight its war in Ukraine," Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told CNBC.
He said the U.S. government was sending a clear signal to the world: "If you support Russia, you're going to face being cut off from the economies, not just of the United States, but of our allies and partners."
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen underscored America's deep commitment to continue piling pressure on Russia and supporting Ukraine.
"Our actions today with our G7 partners show that we will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes," she said.
Treasury said the latest measures were aimed at impeding Russian President Vladimir Putin's ability to raise capital to fund the war by targeting banks, wealth management-related firms and individuals in Russia's financial services sector.
The action, which freezes any U.S. assets of those targeted and generally bars Americans from dealing with them, marks the latest round of U.S. sanctions on Russia.
"We're not going to stop using every tool available to us to disrupt Russia's ability to wage its war," White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters, adding that further sanctions were possible if needed.
"We're just going to keep at this, and so are our allies and partners.
METALS AND MINING
In a significant widening of Russia-related sanctions, Treasury announced a new determination by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) that allows sanctions on any individual or entity operating in Russia's metals and mining sector.
On Friday, it hit four mining and metals sector companies, including TPZ-Rondol, a unit of Russia's largest ammunition maker, for producing weapons for the Russian military, including the navy, the Treasury said.
Among other entities hit on Friday were more than a dozen Russian banks.
They included the Moscow-based Credit Bank of Moscow Joint Public Stock Company, Russia's largest non-state public bank, which the European Union fully blocked in December.
Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a license setting a deadline of 12:01 a.m. on May 25 for the winding down of transactions with some of the entities, the statement said.
Another bank hit was MTS Bank, which is located in Moscow and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Brian Nelson, Treasury's top sanctions official raised concerns about UAE's decision to license the Russian bank during a visit to the country the week of Jan. 30.
Other new targets included Walter Moretti, a Swiss-Italian business executive and a network of companies involved in secretly purchasing sensitive Western technology for Russian intelligence services and the military, Treasury said.
A German, an Italian, a Swiss Italian and four Swiss who worked with Moretti also were sanctioned, it said.
Treasury also sanctioned the founders of Russian wealth-management firm Confideri Pte Ltd, Russian-Israeli citizens Olga Borisovna Raykes and Marat Maratovich Savelov, who also own a firm in Vienna, Austria.
Also sanctioned were more Russian firms involved in providing technology and materials to Russian intelligence agencies and the military, including UMATEX Joint-Stock Company, which produces carbon fibers used in aircraft and rockets.
The firms also included some that Treasury said provided Russian intelligence with support for "malign influence operations" and databases containing the personal information of Western nationals.
Reporting by Jonathan Landay and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Philippa Fletcher and David Gregorio
https://www.reuters.com/world/us-treasu ... 023-02-24/
"U.S. Treasury sanctions Russian mining sector, goes after sanctions evasion"
By Andrea Shalal and Jonathan Landay
February 24, 2023
Summary
* Sanctions part of coordinated U.S. and global moves
* Those involved in Russian mining and metals can be targeted
* More than a dozen Russian banks isolated
WASHINGTON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday slapped new sanctions on Russian banks and targeted its mining and metals sector, while going after over 30 people and companies from Switzerland, Germany and the Middle East for helping Moscow evade earlier sanctions and keep funding its war against Ukraine.
The new measures, announced on the first anniversary of Russia's invasion, hit over 250 individuals and entities, adding to more than 2,500 sanctions imposed over the past year.
The action would further isolate Russia from the global economy, Treasury said in a statement.
The new sanctions were coordinated with other U.S. agencies, U.S. allies and the Group of Seven rich nations to limit Russia's ability to wage the war that has killed tens of thousands, and uprooted millions of Ukrainians.
"What we're doing today is furthering the vice around the Kremlin's ability to fight its war in Ukraine," Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told CNBC.
He said the U.S. government was sending a clear signal to the world: "If you support Russia, you're going to face being cut off from the economies, not just of the United States, but of our allies and partners."
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen underscored America's deep commitment to continue piling pressure on Russia and supporting Ukraine.
"Our actions today with our G7 partners show that we will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes," she said.
Treasury said the latest measures were aimed at impeding Russian President Vladimir Putin's ability to raise capital to fund the war by targeting banks, wealth management-related firms and individuals in Russia's financial services sector.
The action, which freezes any U.S. assets of those targeted and generally bars Americans from dealing with them, marks the latest round of U.S. sanctions on Russia.
"We're not going to stop using every tool available to us to disrupt Russia's ability to wage its war," White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters, adding that further sanctions were possible if needed.
"We're just going to keep at this, and so are our allies and partners.
METALS AND MINING
In a significant widening of Russia-related sanctions, Treasury announced a new determination by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) that allows sanctions on any individual or entity operating in Russia's metals and mining sector.
On Friday, it hit four mining and metals sector companies, including TPZ-Rondol, a unit of Russia's largest ammunition maker, for producing weapons for the Russian military, including the navy, the Treasury said.
Among other entities hit on Friday were more than a dozen Russian banks.
They included the Moscow-based Credit Bank of Moscow Joint Public Stock Company, Russia's largest non-state public bank, which the European Union fully blocked in December.
Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a license setting a deadline of 12:01 a.m. on May 25 for the winding down of transactions with some of the entities, the statement said.
Another bank hit was MTS Bank, which is located in Moscow and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Brian Nelson, Treasury's top sanctions official raised concerns about UAE's decision to license the Russian bank during a visit to the country the week of Jan. 30.
Other new targets included Walter Moretti, a Swiss-Italian business executive and a network of companies involved in secretly purchasing sensitive Western technology for Russian intelligence services and the military, Treasury said.
A German, an Italian, a Swiss Italian and four Swiss who worked with Moretti also were sanctioned, it said.
Treasury also sanctioned the founders of Russian wealth-management firm Confideri Pte Ltd, Russian-Israeli citizens Olga Borisovna Raykes and Marat Maratovich Savelov, who also own a firm in Vienna, Austria.
Also sanctioned were more Russian firms involved in providing technology and materials to Russian intelligence agencies and the military, including UMATEX Joint-Stock Company, which produces carbon fibers used in aircraft and rockets.
The firms also included some that Treasury said provided Russian intelligence with support for "malign influence operations" and databases containing the personal information of Western nationals.
Reporting by Jonathan Landay and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Philippa Fletcher and David Gregorio
https://www.reuters.com/world/us-treasu ... 023-02-24/
Re: RUSSIA
REUTERS
"U.S. hits Chinese, Russian firms for aiding Russian military"
By Karen Freifeld, Susan Heavey and Alexandra Alper
February 24, 2023
WASHINGTON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Friday added Chinese and Russian companies, including Russia's No. 2 mobile phone operator, to a trade blacklist for allegedly supporting the Russian military, deepening its crackdown on Moscow on the first anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine.
The actions by the U.S. Commerce Department aim "to cut off the Russian defense industrial base and military from even low-technology consumer goods Russia seeks to obtain to sustain the war effort," it said.
The moves show President Joe Biden's administration is broadening its efforts to thwart Russia's military, targeting companies globally for helping Moscow evade export restrictions and access key technologies.
The Commerce Department added Public Joint Stock Company Megafon, Russia's second-largest mobile phone operator, to its entity list for allegedly "acquiring and attempting to acquire" U.S. technology to support Russia's military.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The blacklisted companies also include two Chinese satellite companies, Spacety Co Ltd, and China HEAD Aerospace Technology Co, which also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Spacety Co, which was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in January, at the time said it complied with international sanctions against Russia and maintained no ties with the country after the restrictions were imposed.
The agency also imposed new export curbs on Iran, targeting Russia's use of Iranian-made drones in Ukraine.
Of the scores of new additions to its trade restriction list, 79 were Russia-based, five are listed under China, and two are based in Canada.
Another three entities are based in France, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.
Five of the Russian entities were listed for providing support for what the United States called "filtration operations" in occupied areas of Ukraine, which include "the use of biometric technology in suppressing Ukrainian resistance and enforcing loyalty among the Ukrainian population in occupied areas."
Companies on the list are restricted from receiving U.S.-origin goods and technology.
China on Friday said the only sanctions that should be imposed on Russia should be endorsed by the U.N. Security Council - where the Russians hold veto power - and unilateral sanctions and pressure "only create new problems."
Reporting by Susan Heavey and Karen Freifeld; Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu and Alexandra Alper; Editing by Caitlin Webber, Alexandra Alper, Tomasz Janowski and Mark Porter
https://www.reuters.com/world/us-commer ... 023-02-24/
"U.S. hits Chinese, Russian firms for aiding Russian military"
By Karen Freifeld, Susan Heavey and Alexandra Alper
February 24, 2023
WASHINGTON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Friday added Chinese and Russian companies, including Russia's No. 2 mobile phone operator, to a trade blacklist for allegedly supporting the Russian military, deepening its crackdown on Moscow on the first anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine.
The actions by the U.S. Commerce Department aim "to cut off the Russian defense industrial base and military from even low-technology consumer goods Russia seeks to obtain to sustain the war effort," it said.
The moves show President Joe Biden's administration is broadening its efforts to thwart Russia's military, targeting companies globally for helping Moscow evade export restrictions and access key technologies.
The Commerce Department added Public Joint Stock Company Megafon, Russia's second-largest mobile phone operator, to its entity list for allegedly "acquiring and attempting to acquire" U.S. technology to support Russia's military.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The blacklisted companies also include two Chinese satellite companies, Spacety Co Ltd, and China HEAD Aerospace Technology Co, which also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Spacety Co, which was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in January, at the time said it complied with international sanctions against Russia and maintained no ties with the country after the restrictions were imposed.
The agency also imposed new export curbs on Iran, targeting Russia's use of Iranian-made drones in Ukraine.
Of the scores of new additions to its trade restriction list, 79 were Russia-based, five are listed under China, and two are based in Canada.
Another three entities are based in France, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.
Five of the Russian entities were listed for providing support for what the United States called "filtration operations" in occupied areas of Ukraine, which include "the use of biometric technology in suppressing Ukrainian resistance and enforcing loyalty among the Ukrainian population in occupied areas."
Companies on the list are restricted from receiving U.S.-origin goods and technology.
China on Friday said the only sanctions that should be imposed on Russia should be endorsed by the U.N. Security Council - where the Russians hold veto power - and unilateral sanctions and pressure "only create new problems."
Reporting by Susan Heavey and Karen Freifeld; Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu and Alexandra Alper; Editing by Caitlin Webber, Alexandra Alper, Tomasz Janowski and Mark Porter
https://www.reuters.com/world/us-commer ... 023-02-24/
Re: RUSSIA
REUTERS
"New intelligence points to pro-Ukraine group in Nord Stream attack, NYT reports"
Reuters
March 7, 2023
WASHINGTON, March 7 (Reuters) - New intelligence reviewed by U.S. officials suggests that a pro-Ukraine group - likely comprised of Ukrainians or Russians - attacked the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September, but there are no firm conclusions, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.
There was no evidence that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy or other Ukrainian government officials were behind the attacks which spewed natural gas into the Baltic Sea, the newspaper reported, citing U.S. officials.
Reuters could not independently verify the report.
The Sept. 26 explosions on the pipelines connecting Russia and Germany occurred in the exclusive economic zones of Sweden and Denmark.
Both countries have concluded the blasts were deliberate, but have not said who might be responsible.
The United States and NATO have called the pipeline attacks "an act of sabotage," while Moscow has blamed the West.
Neither side has provided evidence.
Denmark, Germany and Sweden said last month that their investigations have not yet concluded.
The United States and Britain said on Tuesday they were waiting on those findings.
"We need to let these investigations conclude and only then should we be looking at what follow-on actions might or may not be appropriate," said White House spokesperson John Kirby.
Germany said on Tuesday it had taken note of the New York Times report but that its own investigation had not yet produced results.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson both declined to comment on the New York Times report during a news conference in Stockholm.
A senior aide to Zelenskiy, Mykhailo Podolyak, said that Kyiv was "absolutely not involved" in the blasts and has no information about what happened.
Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the media reports on Tuesday underscored the need for Moscow's questions about what happened to be answered.
She also accused those responsible for the media leaks of wanting to divert the public's attention and avoid a proper investigation.
OPPOSITION TO PUTIN
The pipelines were built by Russia's state-controlled Gazprom.
Gazprom did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
German energy company E.ON and Wintershall DEA, both shareholders of the Nord Stream pipeline, declined to comment.
In the year since Russia invaded Ukraine, Europe has drastically cut its energy imports from Russia.
Moscow this week called for all Nord Stream stakeholders to decide its fate.
The U.S. intelligence review suggested those who carried out the attacks opposed Russian President Vladimir Putin "but does not specify the members of the group, or who directed or paid for the operation," the New York Times wrote.
"Officials who have reviewed the intelligence said they believed the saboteurs were most likely Ukrainian or Russian nationals, or some combination of the two."
"U.S. officials said no American or British nationals were involved," according to the New York Times report.
Germany's ARD broadcaster and Zeit newspaper reported on Tuesday, without citing sources, that German authorities were able to identify the boat used for the sabotage operation.
A group of five men and one woman, using forged passports, rented a yacht from a Poland-based company owned by Ukrainian citizens, the German media outlets reported.
The nationality of the perpetrators is unclear, they reported.
Investigators founds traces of explosives on the yacht, which the group took from Rostock, Germany on Sept. 6, according to ARD and Zeit.
They also reported that intelligence indicated that a pro-Ukrainian group could be behind the attack, but German authorities have not yet found any evidence.
Reuters could not independently verify the information.
Russia last month gave the U.N. Security Council a draft resolution which - if adopted - would ask U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to establish an international, independent investigation into the attack and who was responsible.
Russia's Deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy said the media reports on Tuesday made Russia's move at the United Nations as "very timely," telling Reuters that "by the end of March there definitely will be a vote" on the resolution.
Reporting by Steve Holland, Simon Lewis and Jonathan Landay in Washington, Michelle Nichols in New York, Riham Alkousaa in Berlin and David Ljunggren; Writing by Susan Heavey, Kanishka Singh and Michelle Nichols; Editing by David Gregorio and Cynthia Osterman
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/us ... 023-03-07/
"New intelligence points to pro-Ukraine group in Nord Stream attack, NYT reports"
Reuters
March 7, 2023
WASHINGTON, March 7 (Reuters) - New intelligence reviewed by U.S. officials suggests that a pro-Ukraine group - likely comprised of Ukrainians or Russians - attacked the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September, but there are no firm conclusions, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.
There was no evidence that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy or other Ukrainian government officials were behind the attacks which spewed natural gas into the Baltic Sea, the newspaper reported, citing U.S. officials.
Reuters could not independently verify the report.
The Sept. 26 explosions on the pipelines connecting Russia and Germany occurred in the exclusive economic zones of Sweden and Denmark.
Both countries have concluded the blasts were deliberate, but have not said who might be responsible.
The United States and NATO have called the pipeline attacks "an act of sabotage," while Moscow has blamed the West.
Neither side has provided evidence.
Denmark, Germany and Sweden said last month that their investigations have not yet concluded.
The United States and Britain said on Tuesday they were waiting on those findings.
"We need to let these investigations conclude and only then should we be looking at what follow-on actions might or may not be appropriate," said White House spokesperson John Kirby.
Germany said on Tuesday it had taken note of the New York Times report but that its own investigation had not yet produced results.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson both declined to comment on the New York Times report during a news conference in Stockholm.
A senior aide to Zelenskiy, Mykhailo Podolyak, said that Kyiv was "absolutely not involved" in the blasts and has no information about what happened.
Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the media reports on Tuesday underscored the need for Moscow's questions about what happened to be answered.
She also accused those responsible for the media leaks of wanting to divert the public's attention and avoid a proper investigation.
OPPOSITION TO PUTIN
The pipelines were built by Russia's state-controlled Gazprom.
Gazprom did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
German energy company E.ON and Wintershall DEA, both shareholders of the Nord Stream pipeline, declined to comment.
In the year since Russia invaded Ukraine, Europe has drastically cut its energy imports from Russia.
Moscow this week called for all Nord Stream stakeholders to decide its fate.
The U.S. intelligence review suggested those who carried out the attacks opposed Russian President Vladimir Putin "but does not specify the members of the group, or who directed or paid for the operation," the New York Times wrote.
"Officials who have reviewed the intelligence said they believed the saboteurs were most likely Ukrainian or Russian nationals, or some combination of the two."
"U.S. officials said no American or British nationals were involved," according to the New York Times report.
Germany's ARD broadcaster and Zeit newspaper reported on Tuesday, without citing sources, that German authorities were able to identify the boat used for the sabotage operation.
A group of five men and one woman, using forged passports, rented a yacht from a Poland-based company owned by Ukrainian citizens, the German media outlets reported.
The nationality of the perpetrators is unclear, they reported.
Investigators founds traces of explosives on the yacht, which the group took from Rostock, Germany on Sept. 6, according to ARD and Zeit.
They also reported that intelligence indicated that a pro-Ukrainian group could be behind the attack, but German authorities have not yet found any evidence.
Reuters could not independently verify the information.
Russia last month gave the U.N. Security Council a draft resolution which - if adopted - would ask U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to establish an international, independent investigation into the attack and who was responsible.
Russia's Deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy said the media reports on Tuesday made Russia's move at the United Nations as "very timely," telling Reuters that "by the end of March there definitely will be a vote" on the resolution.
Reporting by Steve Holland, Simon Lewis and Jonathan Landay in Washington, Michelle Nichols in New York, Riham Alkousaa in Berlin and David Ljunggren; Writing by Susan Heavey, Kanishka Singh and Michelle Nichols; Editing by David Gregorio and Cynthia Osterman
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/us ... 023-03-07/
Re: RUSSIA
REUTERS
"India's oil deals with Russia dent decades-old dollar dominance"
By Nidhi Verma and Noah Browning
March 8, 2023
NEW DELHI/LONDON, March 8 (Reuters) - U.S.-led international sanctions on Russia have begun to erode the dollar's decades-old dominance of international oil trade as most deals with India - Russia's top outlet for seaborne crude - have been settled in other currencies.
The dollar's pre-eminence has periodically been called into question and yet it has continued because of the overwhelming advantages of using the most widely-accepted currency for business.
India's oil trade, in response to the turmoil of sanctions and the Ukraine war, provides the strongest evidence so far of a shift into other currencies that could prove lasting.
The country is the world's number three importer of oil and Russia became its leading supplier after Europe shunned Moscow's supplies following its invasion of Ukraine begun in February last year.
After a coalition opposed to the war imposed an oil price cap on Russia on Dec. 5, Indian customers have paid for most Russian oil in non-dollar currencies, including the United Arab Emirates dirham and more recently the Russian rouble, multiple oil trading and banking sources said.
The transactions in the last three months total the equivalent of several hundred million dollars, the sources added, in a shift that has not previously been reported.
The Group of Seven economies, the European Union and Australia, agreed the price cap late last year to bar Western services and shipping from trading Russian oil unless sold at an enforced low price to deprive Moscow of funds for its war.
Some Dubai-based traders, and Russian energy companies Gazprom and Rosneft are seeking non-dollar payments for certain niche grades of Russian oil that have in recent weeks been sold above the $60 a barrel price cap, three sources with direct knowledge said.
The sources asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Those sales represent a small share of Russia's total sales to India and do not appear to violate the sanctions, which U.S. officials and analysts predicted could be skirted by non-Western services, such as Russian shipping and insurance.
Three Indian banks backed some of the transactions, as Moscow seeks to de-dollarise its economy and traders to avoid sanctions, the trade sources, as well as former Russian and U.S. economic officials, told Reuters.
But continued payment in dirhams for Russian oil could become harder after the United States and Britain last month added Moscow and Abu Dhabi-based Russian bank MTS to the Russian financial institutions on the sanctions list.
MTS had facilitated some Indian oil non-dollar payments, the trade sources said.
Neither MTS nor the U.S. Treasury immediately responded to a Reuters request for comment.
An Indian refining source said most Russian banks have faced sanctions since the war but Indian customers and Russian suppliers are determined to keep trading Russian oil.
"Russian suppliers will find some other banks for receiving payments," the source told Reuters.
"As it is, the government is not asking us to stop buying Russian oil, so we are hopeful that an alternative payment mechanism will be found in case the current system is blocked."
FRIENDLY VERSUS UNFRIENDLY
Paying for oil in dollars has been the nearly universal practice for decades.
By comparison, the currency's share of overall international payments is much smaller at 40%, according to January figures from payment system SWIFT.
Daniel Ahn, a former chief economist at the U.S. State Department and now a global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, says the dollar's strength is unmatched, but the sanctions could undermine the West's financial systems while failing to achieve their aim.
"Russia's short-term efforts to try and sell things in return for currencies other than the dollar is not the real threat to Western sanctions," he said.
"(The West) is weakening the competitiveness of their own financial services by adding yet another administrative layer."
The price cap coincided with an EU embargo on imports of Russian seaborne oil, rounding off a year of bans and sanctions, including largely expelling Russia from the SWIFT global payments system.
Around half of its gold and foreign exchange reserves, which stood near $640 billion, were frozen.
In response, Russia said it would seek payment for its energy in the currency of "friendly" countries and last year ordered "unfriendly" EU states to pay for gas in roubles.
For Russian firms - as payments were blocked or delayed even if they were not violating any sanctions, due to overly zealous compliance - dollars became potentially a "toxic asset", independent analyst and former adviser at the Bank of Russia Alexandra Prokopenko, said.
"Russia desperately needs to trade with the rest of the world because it's still dependent on its oil and gas revenues so they are trying all options they have," she told Reuters.
"They're working on building a direct infrastructure between the Russian and Indian banking systems."
India’s largest lender State Bank of India has a nostro, or foreign currency, account in Russia.
Similarly, many banks from Russia have opened accounts with Indian banks to facilitate trade.
IMF Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath said in the month after Russia's invasion of Ukraine that sanctions on Russia could erode the dollar's dominance by encouraging smaller trading blocs using other currencies.
"The dollar would remain the major global currency even in that landscape but fragmentation at a smaller level is certainly quite possible," she told the Financial Times.
The IMF did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Beyond Russia, tensions between China and the West are also eroding the long-established norms of dollar-dominated global trade.
Russia holds a chunk of its currency reserves in renminbi while China has reduced its holdings of dollars, and Russian President Vladimir Putin said in September Moscow had agreed to sell gas supplies to China for yuan and roubles instead of dollars.
INDIA DISPLACES EUROPE
India in the last year displaced Europe as Russia's top customer for seaborne oil, snapping up cheap barrels and increasing imports of Russian crude 16-fold compared to before the war, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency.
Russian crude accounted for about a third of its total imports.
While India does not recognise the sanctions against Moscow, the majority of purchases of Russian oil in any currency have complied with them, trade sources said, and almost all sales have taken place at levels below the price cap.
Even so, most banks and financial institutions are cautious about clearing any payments to avoid unwittingly breaching any international law.
For Indian refiners that in recent weeks started settling some Russian oil purchases in roubles, according to the trade sources, payments have been processed in part by the State Bank of India via its nostro roubles account in Russia.
Those transactions are mostly for oil purchases from Russian state energy giants Gazprom and Rosneft, the sources added.
Bank of Baroda and Axis Bank have handled most of the dirham payments, the sources added.
The banks, Gazprom and Rosneft did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
India has prepared a framework for settling trade with Russia in Indian rupees should rouble transactions be cut off by further sanctions, the sources said.
Asked for comment, the U.S. Treasury referred to the assertion by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen two weeks into the war: "I don’t think the dollar has any serious competition, and is not likely to for a long time."
Reporting By Noah Browning and Nidhi Verma, Additional reporting by Sidhhi Nayak; Editing by Veronica Brown and Barbara Lewis
https://www.reuters.com/markets/currenc ... 023-03-08/
"India's oil deals with Russia dent decades-old dollar dominance"
By Nidhi Verma and Noah Browning
March 8, 2023
NEW DELHI/LONDON, March 8 (Reuters) - U.S.-led international sanctions on Russia have begun to erode the dollar's decades-old dominance of international oil trade as most deals with India - Russia's top outlet for seaborne crude - have been settled in other currencies.
The dollar's pre-eminence has periodically been called into question and yet it has continued because of the overwhelming advantages of using the most widely-accepted currency for business.
India's oil trade, in response to the turmoil of sanctions and the Ukraine war, provides the strongest evidence so far of a shift into other currencies that could prove lasting.
The country is the world's number three importer of oil and Russia became its leading supplier after Europe shunned Moscow's supplies following its invasion of Ukraine begun in February last year.
After a coalition opposed to the war imposed an oil price cap on Russia on Dec. 5, Indian customers have paid for most Russian oil in non-dollar currencies, including the United Arab Emirates dirham and more recently the Russian rouble, multiple oil trading and banking sources said.
The transactions in the last three months total the equivalent of several hundred million dollars, the sources added, in a shift that has not previously been reported.
The Group of Seven economies, the European Union and Australia, agreed the price cap late last year to bar Western services and shipping from trading Russian oil unless sold at an enforced low price to deprive Moscow of funds for its war.
Some Dubai-based traders, and Russian energy companies Gazprom and Rosneft are seeking non-dollar payments for certain niche grades of Russian oil that have in recent weeks been sold above the $60 a barrel price cap, three sources with direct knowledge said.
The sources asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Those sales represent a small share of Russia's total sales to India and do not appear to violate the sanctions, which U.S. officials and analysts predicted could be skirted by non-Western services, such as Russian shipping and insurance.
Three Indian banks backed some of the transactions, as Moscow seeks to de-dollarise its economy and traders to avoid sanctions, the trade sources, as well as former Russian and U.S. economic officials, told Reuters.
But continued payment in dirhams for Russian oil could become harder after the United States and Britain last month added Moscow and Abu Dhabi-based Russian bank MTS to the Russian financial institutions on the sanctions list.
MTS had facilitated some Indian oil non-dollar payments, the trade sources said.
Neither MTS nor the U.S. Treasury immediately responded to a Reuters request for comment.
An Indian refining source said most Russian banks have faced sanctions since the war but Indian customers and Russian suppliers are determined to keep trading Russian oil.
"Russian suppliers will find some other banks for receiving payments," the source told Reuters.
"As it is, the government is not asking us to stop buying Russian oil, so we are hopeful that an alternative payment mechanism will be found in case the current system is blocked."
FRIENDLY VERSUS UNFRIENDLY
Paying for oil in dollars has been the nearly universal practice for decades.
By comparison, the currency's share of overall international payments is much smaller at 40%, according to January figures from payment system SWIFT.
Daniel Ahn, a former chief economist at the U.S. State Department and now a global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, says the dollar's strength is unmatched, but the sanctions could undermine the West's financial systems while failing to achieve their aim.
"Russia's short-term efforts to try and sell things in return for currencies other than the dollar is not the real threat to Western sanctions," he said.
"(The West) is weakening the competitiveness of their own financial services by adding yet another administrative layer."
The price cap coincided with an EU embargo on imports of Russian seaborne oil, rounding off a year of bans and sanctions, including largely expelling Russia from the SWIFT global payments system.
Around half of its gold and foreign exchange reserves, which stood near $640 billion, were frozen.
In response, Russia said it would seek payment for its energy in the currency of "friendly" countries and last year ordered "unfriendly" EU states to pay for gas in roubles.
For Russian firms - as payments were blocked or delayed even if they were not violating any sanctions, due to overly zealous compliance - dollars became potentially a "toxic asset", independent analyst and former adviser at the Bank of Russia Alexandra Prokopenko, said.
"Russia desperately needs to trade with the rest of the world because it's still dependent on its oil and gas revenues so they are trying all options they have," she told Reuters.
"They're working on building a direct infrastructure between the Russian and Indian banking systems."
India’s largest lender State Bank of India has a nostro, or foreign currency, account in Russia.
Similarly, many banks from Russia have opened accounts with Indian banks to facilitate trade.
IMF Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath said in the month after Russia's invasion of Ukraine that sanctions on Russia could erode the dollar's dominance by encouraging smaller trading blocs using other currencies.
"The dollar would remain the major global currency even in that landscape but fragmentation at a smaller level is certainly quite possible," she told the Financial Times.
The IMF did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Beyond Russia, tensions between China and the West are also eroding the long-established norms of dollar-dominated global trade.
Russia holds a chunk of its currency reserves in renminbi while China has reduced its holdings of dollars, and Russian President Vladimir Putin said in September Moscow had agreed to sell gas supplies to China for yuan and roubles instead of dollars.
INDIA DISPLACES EUROPE
India in the last year displaced Europe as Russia's top customer for seaborne oil, snapping up cheap barrels and increasing imports of Russian crude 16-fold compared to before the war, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency.
Russian crude accounted for about a third of its total imports.
While India does not recognise the sanctions against Moscow, the majority of purchases of Russian oil in any currency have complied with them, trade sources said, and almost all sales have taken place at levels below the price cap.
Even so, most banks and financial institutions are cautious about clearing any payments to avoid unwittingly breaching any international law.
For Indian refiners that in recent weeks started settling some Russian oil purchases in roubles, according to the trade sources, payments have been processed in part by the State Bank of India via its nostro roubles account in Russia.
Those transactions are mostly for oil purchases from Russian state energy giants Gazprom and Rosneft, the sources added.
Bank of Baroda and Axis Bank have handled most of the dirham payments, the sources added.
The banks, Gazprom and Rosneft did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
India has prepared a framework for settling trade with Russia in Indian rupees should rouble transactions be cut off by further sanctions, the sources said.
Asked for comment, the U.S. Treasury referred to the assertion by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen two weeks into the war: "I don’t think the dollar has any serious competition, and is not likely to for a long time."
Reporting By Noah Browning and Nidhi Verma, Additional reporting by Sidhhi Nayak; Editing by Veronica Brown and Barbara Lewis
https://www.reuters.com/markets/currenc ... 023-03-08/
Re: RUSSIA
CNBC
"Russian jet downs U.S. drone over Black Sea"
Amanda Macias @AMANDA_M_MACIAS
PUBLISHED TUE, MAR 14 2023
KEY POINTS
* A Russian fighter jet downed a U.S. drone operating over the Black Sea on Tuesday, U.S. European Command said in a statement.
* Two U.S. Defense officials confirmed to NBC News that salvage operations are currently being discussed but added that there are currently no U.S. vessels in the Black Sea.
* State Department spokesman Ned Price said that the Biden administration was in the process of summoning Russia’s Ambassador Anatoly Antonov.
WASHINGTON — A Russian fighter jet downed a U.S. drone operating over the Black Sea on Tuesday, U.S. European Command said in a statement.
“Our MQ-9 aircraft was conducting routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and hit by a Russian aircraft, resulting in a crash and complete loss of the MQ-9,” said U.S. Air Force Gen. James Hecker, commander of U.S. Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa.
Before the collision, two Russian aircraft including the one involved in the collision harassed the drone, he said.
“Several times before the collision, the Su-27s dumped fuel on and flew in front of the MQ-9 in a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner,” the statement added.
The incident “demonstrates a lack of competence” by Russia, the European Command said.
The U.S. called the behavior “unsafe and unprofessional,” and part of a pattern of dangerous behavior by Russian pilots.
The collision occurred in international airspace, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
He added that the U.S. was consistently flying over the Black Sea before the war in Ukraine broke out in February of last year.
Kirby said the U.S. is not required to “check in” with Russia before flying.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense said its two fighter aircraft did not come in contact with the U.S. drone.
In a statement posted on its official Telegram channel, the ministry said the drone was flying with its transponders off near the Crimean Peninsula when it went into “unguided flight” and then fell into the water.
The U.S. is discussing salvage operations for the drone, two U.S. Defense officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity told NBC News.
The officials added that no U.S. vessels are currently in the Black Sea.
The incident was the first time the officials were aware of a Russian jet dropping fuel on a U.S. aircraft during an intercept.
One official said that the aircraft that collided with the drone was most likely damaged, but initial reports indicate it was able to land in Crimea.
Russia annexed that peninsula on the Black Sea in 2014.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said the Biden administration was in the process of summoning Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., to discuss the “brazen violation of international law.”
“We have engaged at high levels with our allies and partners in the first instance, to brief them on this incident and to let them know what we know,” Price said on a conference call with reporters.
“We are engaging directly with the Russians again at senior levels to convey our strong objections to this unsafe unprofessional intercept, which caused the downing of the unmanned U.S. aircraft,” he added.
The Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
The MQ-9 drone system is designed to collect intelligence and carry out reconnaissance missions and is manufactured by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems.
The remotely piloted system can carry a combination of Hellfire missiles, Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMs.
Pentagon press spokesman U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder declined to say if the drone was armed.
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/14/russian ... k-sea.html
"Russian jet downs U.S. drone over Black Sea"
Amanda Macias @AMANDA_M_MACIAS
PUBLISHED TUE, MAR 14 2023
KEY POINTS
* A Russian fighter jet downed a U.S. drone operating over the Black Sea on Tuesday, U.S. European Command said in a statement.
* Two U.S. Defense officials confirmed to NBC News that salvage operations are currently being discussed but added that there are currently no U.S. vessels in the Black Sea.
* State Department spokesman Ned Price said that the Biden administration was in the process of summoning Russia’s Ambassador Anatoly Antonov.
WASHINGTON — A Russian fighter jet downed a U.S. drone operating over the Black Sea on Tuesday, U.S. European Command said in a statement.
“Our MQ-9 aircraft was conducting routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and hit by a Russian aircraft, resulting in a crash and complete loss of the MQ-9,” said U.S. Air Force Gen. James Hecker, commander of U.S. Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa.
Before the collision, two Russian aircraft including the one involved in the collision harassed the drone, he said.
“Several times before the collision, the Su-27s dumped fuel on and flew in front of the MQ-9 in a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner,” the statement added.
The incident “demonstrates a lack of competence” by Russia, the European Command said.
The U.S. called the behavior “unsafe and unprofessional,” and part of a pattern of dangerous behavior by Russian pilots.
The collision occurred in international airspace, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
He added that the U.S. was consistently flying over the Black Sea before the war in Ukraine broke out in February of last year.
Kirby said the U.S. is not required to “check in” with Russia before flying.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense said its two fighter aircraft did not come in contact with the U.S. drone.
In a statement posted on its official Telegram channel, the ministry said the drone was flying with its transponders off near the Crimean Peninsula when it went into “unguided flight” and then fell into the water.
The U.S. is discussing salvage operations for the drone, two U.S. Defense officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity told NBC News.
The officials added that no U.S. vessels are currently in the Black Sea.
The incident was the first time the officials were aware of a Russian jet dropping fuel on a U.S. aircraft during an intercept.
One official said that the aircraft that collided with the drone was most likely damaged, but initial reports indicate it was able to land in Crimea.
Russia annexed that peninsula on the Black Sea in 2014.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said the Biden administration was in the process of summoning Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., to discuss the “brazen violation of international law.”
“We have engaged at high levels with our allies and partners in the first instance, to brief them on this incident and to let them know what we know,” Price said on a conference call with reporters.
“We are engaging directly with the Russians again at senior levels to convey our strong objections to this unsafe unprofessional intercept, which caused the downing of the unmanned U.S. aircraft,” he added.
The Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
The MQ-9 drone system is designed to collect intelligence and carry out reconnaissance missions and is manufactured by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems.
The remotely piloted system can carry a combination of Hellfire missiles, Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMs.
Pentagon press spokesman U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder declined to say if the drone was armed.
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/14/russian ... k-sea.html
Re: RUSSIA
REUTERS
"India using SWIFT global payment system to settle Russia dollar trade - source"
By Shivangi Acharya
March 15, 2023
NEW DELHI, March 15 (Reuters) - Indian companies are using the SWIFT global payment system to settle dollar payments with Russia, a top trade official said on Wednesday, even though many Russian banks are blocked from the network due to Western sanctions.
The West blocked access to SWIFT for several Russian banks, including Sberbank and VTB, soon after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February last year to target Russian trade, making it harder for Russian companies to do business.
SWIFT underpins financial transactions globally.
“We are using SWIFT for dollar payments," the official, who did not want to be named, said, when asked about the payment gateway being used for Russian payments.
The official did not give more details about the banks that Indian traders were using to make the dollar payments.
India's trade and finance ministry did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.
India's imports from Russia have increased nearly five times in the April 2022 to February 2023 period to $41.56 billion from $8.54 billion, compared with the same period the prior year, according to data released by the government on Wednesday.
Last month, Reuters reported India's Russian oil imports climbed to a record 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd) in January, up 9.2% from December, with Moscow still the top monthly oil seller to New Delhi, followed by Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
India has been using varied currencies to settle trade with Russia since the war in February last year.
"Payments happen in different currencies, including dollar, euros, dirham," the country's Directorate General of Foreign Trade Santosh Kumar Sarangi told reporters.
Indian refiners payed for most of their Russian oil purchased via Dubai-based traders in United Arab Emirates dirhams instead of U.S. dollars, Reuters has reported.
Reporting by Shivangi Acharya; Editing by Andrew Heavens
https://www.reuters.com/world/india/ind ... 023-03-15/
"India using SWIFT global payment system to settle Russia dollar trade - source"
By Shivangi Acharya
March 15, 2023
NEW DELHI, March 15 (Reuters) - Indian companies are using the SWIFT global payment system to settle dollar payments with Russia, a top trade official said on Wednesday, even though many Russian banks are blocked from the network due to Western sanctions.
The West blocked access to SWIFT for several Russian banks, including Sberbank and VTB, soon after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February last year to target Russian trade, making it harder for Russian companies to do business.
SWIFT underpins financial transactions globally.
“We are using SWIFT for dollar payments," the official, who did not want to be named, said, when asked about the payment gateway being used for Russian payments.
The official did not give more details about the banks that Indian traders were using to make the dollar payments.
India's trade and finance ministry did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.
India's imports from Russia have increased nearly five times in the April 2022 to February 2023 period to $41.56 billion from $8.54 billion, compared with the same period the prior year, according to data released by the government on Wednesday.
Last month, Reuters reported India's Russian oil imports climbed to a record 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd) in January, up 9.2% from December, with Moscow still the top monthly oil seller to New Delhi, followed by Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
India has been using varied currencies to settle trade with Russia since the war in February last year.
"Payments happen in different currencies, including dollar, euros, dirham," the country's Directorate General of Foreign Trade Santosh Kumar Sarangi told reporters.
Indian refiners payed for most of their Russian oil purchased via Dubai-based traders in United Arab Emirates dirhams instead of U.S. dollars, Reuters has reported.
Reporting by Shivangi Acharya; Editing by Andrew Heavens
https://www.reuters.com/world/india/ind ... 023-03-15/
Re: RUSSIA
RIGZONE
"Russia Becomes China's Biggest Oil Supplier"
by Bloomberg |Alfred Cang
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
Russia surpassed Saudi Arabia as China’s biggest oil supplier with refiners taking advantage of cheap barrels to feed rebounding demand in Asia’s biggest economy following the end of Covid Zero.
The Asian nation imported 7.69 million tons of crude from Russia last month, or 2 million barrels a day, according to Chinese customs data.
Flows from Saudi Arabia slipped to the lowest level since June, down 29% from January.
China and India have emerged as major buyers of Russian crude after the war in Ukraine re-shaped global energy flows.
Moscow has been offering its oil at discounted prices, a move to entice a shrinking pool of customers and widely welcomed by Asian buyers trying to control inflation.
Demand for transport fuels such as gasoline has returned aggressively in China following the end of Covid restrictions late last year, leading to more frequent traffic jams in major cities.
Russia and Saudi Arabia have shared the title of China’s top crude oil supplier more often since the war.
Energy is expected to be among the key topics discussed during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow this week, labeled by Beijing as a journey of “friendship, cooperation, and peace.”
Russia is also a major supplier of coal and liquefied natural gas to China.
https://www.rigzone.com/news/wire/russi ... 2-article/
"Russia Becomes China's Biggest Oil Supplier"
by Bloomberg |Alfred Cang
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
Russia surpassed Saudi Arabia as China’s biggest oil supplier with refiners taking advantage of cheap barrels to feed rebounding demand in Asia’s biggest economy following the end of Covid Zero.
The Asian nation imported 7.69 million tons of crude from Russia last month, or 2 million barrels a day, according to Chinese customs data.
Flows from Saudi Arabia slipped to the lowest level since June, down 29% from January.
China and India have emerged as major buyers of Russian crude after the war in Ukraine re-shaped global energy flows.
Moscow has been offering its oil at discounted prices, a move to entice a shrinking pool of customers and widely welcomed by Asian buyers trying to control inflation.
Demand for transport fuels such as gasoline has returned aggressively in China following the end of Covid restrictions late last year, leading to more frequent traffic jams in major cities.
Russia and Saudi Arabia have shared the title of China’s top crude oil supplier more often since the war.
Energy is expected to be among the key topics discussed during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow this week, labeled by Beijing as a journey of “friendship, cooperation, and peace.”
Russia is also a major supplier of coal and liquefied natural gas to China.
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