Author: Steven Sahiounie

Economic cooperation between the two countries has been gaining momentum, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry. Moscow and Tehran intend to further increase the share of their national currencies in mutual settlements, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said on Friday, adding that the sides have been strengthening cooperation in the banking sector. “We will continue to work with Iran, stimulating trade operations in national currencies. In 2021, the share of settlements in national currencies exceeded 60%. The positive trend continued last year,” Rudenko told Interfax news agency. He noted that interaction with Iran through central banks and credit institutions has…

Companies have remained despite “unprecedented pressure,” the Russian envoy has said. The vast majority of Austrian companies present in Russia continue to operate even in the face of Western sanctions, the Russian ambassador to Vienna, Dmitry Lyubinsky, stated on Friday. Most of the 650 Austrian firms working in the Russian market have stayed, the diplomat said in an interview with RIA Novosti. Lyubinsky noted that entrepreneurs in both countries “are showing great interest in the continuation of mutually beneficial cooperation.” He added that despite facing “unprecedented pressure,” only a “handful” of Austrian companies have opted to leave Russia. The envoy pointed at numbers…

The head of the International Energy Agency called for investment in transition after a bumper 2022. The global energy sector earned nearly $4 trillion last year, the head of the International Energy Agency said on Saturday, stressing that the figure marks a substantial increase from the recent average. “The global oil and gas industry’s income jumped to almost $4 trillion in 2022, a huge rise from its recent average of $1.5 trillion,” Fatih Birol wrote on his Twitter account. According to data provided by agency chief, annual oil and gas revenue has averaged between $1 trillion and $2 trillion worldwide in recent years.…

South America’s largest economy is aiming for more cooperation with Gazprom, according to its ambassador. Brazil is seeking investment in its energy sector from Russian gas major Gazprom, the country’s ambassador to Russia, Rodrigo de Lima Baena Soares, has revealed. “We have a new legal framework for the Brazilian gas sector, we expect investments from Gazprom in Brazil so that we have a serious presence of a large Russian company,” he told RIA Novosti at the Prodexpo exhibition on Thursday. According to Brazil’s National Confederation of Industry, foreign investment in the country could reach about $29 billion by 2030 thanks to…

Moscow’s Ambassador to Riyadh Sergey Kozlov says last year exports neared $1 billion. Russian agricultural exports to Saudi Arabia saw an unprecedented surge last year, Russia’s Ambassador to Riyadh Sergey Kozlov said on Sunday in an interview with RIA Novosti. The envoy noted that Moscow’s cooperation with Riyadh in the agricultural sector is one of the major catalysts for the development of the entire range of Russian-Saudi trade and economic relations. “In 2022, exports of Russian agro-industrial produce to Saudi Arabia saw an unprecedented increase by 49.9% and approached a significant milestone of $1 billion,” Kozlov said. The diplomat recalled the…

The company says the safety and wellbeing of its workforce is its priority, but a union has claimed it was not taken seriously enough. McDonald’s has signed a legal agreement with the equality watchdog amid concerns over how it has handled sexual harassment complaints made by UK staff. A union representing some employees had claimed in 2019 that more than 1000 complaints had been logged. The Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) had alleged a “toxic culture” at UK sites in the wake of strikes that hit restaurants in several US cities in 2018 on the same issue. The…

The Call of Duty maker responds to the CMA’s competition concerns by claiming the regulator doesn’t understand the gaming market while Microsoft says “solutions” will be found. The UK’s competition watchdog has moved a step closer to potentially blocking Microsoft’s planned $69bn (£56bn) takeover of Call of Duty gaming firm Activision. In a provisional ruling, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the proposed tie-up could lead to higher prices, fewer choices and less innovation for UK gamers. Activision responded by claiming the regulator did not understand the market. The massive deal, first announced over a year ago, was designed to…

Global oil producers may have to reconsider their output policies if demand in China recovers, Reuters reports, citing the International Energy Agency (IEA). The warning comes as the OPEC+ alliance of major oil-producing nations, led by Russia and Saudi Arabia, decided last week to maintain output at current levels. “We expect about half of the growth in global oil demand this year will come from China,” the IEA’s executive director, Fatih Birol, told the media outlet on Sunday on the sidelines of the India Energy Week conference. He added that China’s jet fuel demand is exploding, putting upward pressure on demand.…

India will continue to import oil from suppliers it deems reliable, despite mounting pressure from the West to stop buying the commodity from Russia, according to the country’s energy minister, Hardeep Singh Puri. In an interview with CNBC, Puri said New Delhi “didn’t allow the geopolitical turbulence or the pandemic or anything else to come in the way of our ability to supply to our consumer.” The minister added that India has no plans to change this approach. “Today we feel confident that we’ll be able to use our market to source from wherever we have to, from wherever we…

The trade deficit in France almost doubled last year and reached a new record as the country’s energy imports surged, official data published on Tuesday showed. France’s trade deficit jumped to €164 billion ($176 billion) from €86 billion year-on-year, triggered by the energy crisis in the EU. According to trade ministry data, 86% of that increase was directly due to surging imports of oil, gas and electricity. Energy flows to the EU from Russia dropped to historic lows last year over the conflict in Ukraine, pushing prices up to record levels. To make up for the shortfall, EU nations have…