Author: Steven Sahiounie

The “Akuyu” plant, the first nuclear power plant in Turkey, is witnessing today the nuclear fuel loading ceremony at the station, and Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will participate in the event via video technology. The project will allow Turkey to join the countries that have civilian nuclear energy. The cost of the project is $20 billion and its capacity is 4,800 megawatts. It includes the construction of 4 reactors in the village of Akkuyu overlooking the Mediterranean. The Akkuyu nuclear plant in Turkey occupies an important space in the energy sector relations between Ankara…

Oil prices rose, in trading today, Thursday, after suffering losses this week, in light of concerns about the prospects for demand for black gold and global economic growth. By 10:08 Moscow time, US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.38% to $74.58 a barrel. While Brent crude futures rose by 0.54% to $78.11 a barrel, according to Bloomberg agency data. Prices received support after data from the US Energy Information Administration indicated that crude oil stocks fell in the United States by about 5.1 million, contrary to expectations. Source: RT

The economist Alexander Nazarov warned of a decline in the US currency in the future, with the US Congress heading to approve raising the public debt ceiling. The economist believes that raising the public debt ceiling will prompt the US Federal Reserve to resume printing unsecured money, with the largest US creditors reducing their investments in US Treasury bonds and bills, which will fuel inflation. “The current US budget deficit is about 8% of GDP. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the probability of a recession this year is 60%,” the expert explained in a post on…

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak confirmed that the oil market is balanced at the present time, and there is no need for an additional reduction in oil production by the “OPEC +” countries. Black gold production in Russia In remarks he made to reporters today after a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Moscow Energy Institute, the Russian Deputy Prime Minister stated that Russia will this year reduce oil and gas condensate production by 20 million tons to 515 million tons. At the end of 2022, oil production in Russia reached 535 million tons, an increase of…

First Republic says it plans to sell off assets, restructure its balance sheet, and lay off staff Shares in First Republic Bank plunged another 30% on Wednesday following a wipeout one day previously, after the struggling US lender revealed that depositors had withdrawn more than $100 billion in the first quarter. The bank’s stock dropped 49% on Tuesday after the San Francisco-based lender disclosed that it had lost 40% of its deposits, fueling fears of further bank collapses in the US. The concerns follow the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in March, leaving the US…

Russian industrial output grew in March despite expectations of a decline, according to official figures released on Wednesday. Industrial production was up 1.2% last month compared to the previous period last year, and 13.4% compared to February, data published by the Federal Statistics Service shows. An earlier survey of economists carried out by Bloomberg predicted a 1.4% decline in Russia’s industrial production. Growth was reported across a wide range of industries in March year-on-year. The biggest gains in manufacturing were made in finished metal goods (30.3%), computers, electronic and optical products (22.5%), electrical equipment (21.5%) and other transport (13.1%). There…

Wintershall says it is working on divesting from joint projects in the sanctioned country One of Europe’s leading oil and gas companies, Wintershall Dea, announced plans to completely pull out of Russia and is currently exploring ways to withdraw from joint projects in the country. “We no longer see any prospects for the energy partnership in and with Russia for the foreseeable future. Our decision is final,” Wintershall CEO Mario Mehren stated at a press conference on Wednesday. “We have been taking appropriate steps over the past weeks.”  The company is studying options to divest from its Russian assets and taking personnel…

The yuan has become the most widely used currency in Beijing’s international settlements, figures have shown The yuan surpassed the US dollar to become the most-used currency in China’s cross-border transactions last month, Reuters reported on Wednesday citing official data. Cross-border payments and receipts in yuan surged from $434.5 billion in February to a record $549.9 billion in March, according to calculations by the outlet, based on data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. The Chinese currency was used in 48.4% of all cross-border transactions, reflecting a trend of shifting away from the dollar, as well as…

Buenos Aires will pay for imports in yuan, after signing a currency swap deal with Beijing Argentina will aim to pay for the bulk of its monthly imports from China in yuan rather than US dollars, Economy Minister Sergio Massa announced on Wednesday. Buenos Aires and Beijing signed a currency swap agreement last year, aimed at stemming the outflow of foreign currency from Argentina’s central bank. China is currently Argentina’s second largest trade partner after Brazil, and the second biggest destination for Argentinian exports. Argentina’s total imports from China were around $13.5 billion in 2021, according to the United Nations…

Central banks are buying the commodity as a hedge against possible sanctions, a market expert has suggested Central banks around the world are shifting away from the US dollar and turning their attention to gold as a safe haven asset, the chairman of Rockefeller International, Ruchir Sharma, has said. Prices for the commodity have surged 20% in the past six months, with demand coming not from “the usual suspects” such as large and small investors “seeking a hedge against inflation and low real interest rates,” but from “heavy buyers” like central banks, Sharma wrote in the Financial Times on Sunday.   According to the…