Author: Steven Sahiounie

The Dutch government is set to stop production at the Groningen gas field later this year, the state secretary for extractive industries, Hans Vijlbrief, has told the Financial Times. The site is already producing only a fraction of its capacity, and it is “very dangerous” to keep operating it, according to the official. “We won’t open up more because of the safety issues…. I’m not going to do it because it means that you increase the chances of earthquakes, which I don’t want to be responsible for,” he told the news outlet. “It’s very, very simple: everybody who has some…

Payment for Russian According to Youmna El Hamaki, a professor of economics at Ain Shams University in Cairo, such a move “would bring the expected economic breakthrough”CAIRO, January 23. /TASS/. A possible transition to paying for grain supplies from Russia in rubles would help Egypt moderate the surge of the dollar rate against its national currency, the Asharq al Awsat newspaper citing economists’ comments on such a decision. According to Youmna El Hamaki, a professor of economics at Ain Shams University in Cairo, such a move “would bring the expected economic breakthrough.” “The volume of trade exchange between Egypt and…

Natural gas deliveries to Prometheus Gas under a contract with Gazprom Export began in October 2016MOSCOW, January 23. /TASS/. The Board of Directors of Gazprom will discuss the termination of the holding’s participation in the Greek company Prometheus Gas S.A. at a meeting on January 27, the Russian company reported. Prometheus Gas S.A. was established in 1991 as a 50-50 joint venture of Gazprom Export and Copelouzos Bros Group Ltd to develop Russian-Greek cooperation in the gas sector. Deputy Chairman-Mgmt Board of Gazprom, General Director of Gazprom Export, Elena Burmistrova chairs the Board of Directors of the Greek-Russian joint venture…

The total foreign trade turnover of Uzbekistan increased by 18.6% compared to 2021 and amounted to $50.008 blnTASHKENT, January 23. /TASS/. The trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Russia in 2022 increased by 23% compared to 2021 and amounted to $9.28 bln, this is the largest indicator in the foreign trade turnover of the country, the press service of the State Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan reported on Monday. According to the report, by the end of 2022, Russia has become the largest trading partner of Uzbekistan. It was also reported that the total foreign trade turnover of Uzbekistan increased by 18.6%…

Grain harvest last year reached 153.8 mln tons, according to RosstatThe volume of grain sales by Russian agricultural businesses in 2022 increased by 7.4% compared to the figure for 2021 and amounted to 66.1 mln metric tons, according to the Russian State Statistics Service (Rosstat). At the same time sales of wheat increased by 12.5% to 45.2 mln metric tons. Corn sales decreased by 4.7% to 6.9 mln metric tons. Sales of oilseeds by agricultural organizations increased by 12.3% to 13.2 mln metric tons, sunflower – by 5.5% to 7.4 mln metric tons. Potato sales decreased by 5.7% to 2.5…

Russia’s December Fiscal Deficit at Record-HighRussia’s monthly fiscal deficit reached a record 3.9 trillion rubles in December amid the EU-imposed ban on seaborne crude oil exports and the increasing operational cost of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to preliminary budget data analyzed by Bloomberg. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov on Tuesday also confirmed that Russia’s total budget deficit in 2022 amounted to 3.3 trillion rubles ($47 billion) or 2.3% of the country’s GDP, making it the second-largest deficit in modern Russian history, surpassed only by that recorded in 2020, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Siluanov nevertheless remained optimistic about…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator When the US-NATO attack on Syria for regime change began in 2011, many Syrians began to leave the country for safer areas. After the Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi won in a US manipulated election, many Syrians who were followers of the Muslim Brotherhood, packed up and left for Egypt. According to the 2018 Pew research center data, more than 150,000 Syrians are living in Egypt and Libya. Egypt’s economy is the second largest in Africa after Nigeria. Many were economic migrants following a political ideology embraced by the Syrian opposition, and aligned with…

Apple is set to shift its production away from China following Covid-related disruptions at its main assembly plantApple is looking to scale up its manufacturing in India as the iPhone maker continues to move its production away from China, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday.The tech giant wants India to account for up to 25% of its production from the current 5% to 7%, according to Goyal, who called Apple “another success story” as he talked up the advantages of doing business with the world’s fifth-largest economy.He didn’t specify when Apple wants to meet the target but…

The country’s floating LNG terminals will reach the necessary capacity no sooner than 2026, the Economy Ministry estimatesGermany is a long way from fully substituting Russian pipeline gas supplies with liquefied natural gas (LNG), estimates by the country’s Economy Ministry show.According to a document published on the Bundestag website, Germany imported 55 billion cubic meters (bcm) of Russian natural gas in 2021. The document also shows that Germany’s new Floating Storage and Regasification Units (FSRUs), which are currently being installed in a number of ports to allow the import of LNG, may reach a similar capacity no sooner than in 2026.By…

Leaders of the bloc will meet next month to discuss possible responses to what they see as unfair measures. Germany and France have urged the EU to step up its support for domestic industry and unleash massive investments to keep from falling behind American companies in light of the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which they deem discriminatory.   On Sunday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron met in Paris to discuss how the EU should respond to the controversial American program.   The legislation has sparked fears in the EU that the “protectionist” measures may be “discriminatory” towards…