Новости

/TASS/. UN Secretary-General António Guterres will do everything in his power to ensure the export of Russian fertilizers as part of the grain deal. This was stated on Wednesday at a briefing by Deputy Spokesperson of the Secretary General of the World Organization Farhan Haq following Guterres' visit to Kyiv.

"We will continue discussions, including with the participation of the UN Secretary General, with leading persons in Russia and Ukraine, on this issue, but at the moment I do not have information about specific contacts. It is obvious that the Secretary General will continue to do everything in its power to remove obstacles to the export of Russian fertilizers," he said.

As part of the grain deal, the export of Russian ammonia fertilizers via the Togliatti-Odessa pipeline, and then on ships across the Black Sea, is being discussed, but no agreement has yet been reached on this matter.

"Next step. We expect a Russian delegation to arrive in Geneva for talks next week. This will include discussions with Secretary General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development Rebecca Greenspan, who deals with the issue of Russian exports, including fertilizers," the UN representative noted. "Rebeca Greenspan is working hard to ensure that barriers to such exports are lifted." The UN will analyze whether any further contacts are needed to continue this, Haq said.

Asked how the impediment to Russian fertilizer exports affects needy African countries and the food crisis, Haq said it is difficult to measure such an impact, because "the long-term effect is very serious." "If you can't apply fertilizer in a timely manner to specific areas, including many needy countries in Africa, you won't be able to grow crops," he said. just so that people can grow crops, and for this they need fertilizers.

grain deal

Agreements on food exports from Ukraine were concluded on July 22 last year in Istanbul for 120 days. One of the agreements regulates the procedure for the export of grain from the ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny controlled by Kyiv. Created by Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN, a joint coordination center in Istanbul is designed to inspect ships with grain in order to prevent smuggling of weapons and exclude provocations. In addition, a memorandum was signed between the Russian Federation and the UN, which implies the obligations of the world organization to remove various restrictions on the export of Russian fertilizers and agricultural products to world markets. In November, the grain deal was extended for another 120 days and expires on March 18.

Foreign films imported through Belarus will not be released in Russia. This was stated in the Ministry of Culture of Russia.

The department said that the distribution of such films restricts the rights of foreign copyright holders. It should be reminded that earlier members of the committee sent a proposal to the government of the Russian Federation on issuing a distribution certificate in Russia when importing foreign films through Belarus.

“Public display or other form of commercialization of an audiovisual work without the consent of the copyright holder is a violation of the exclusive right. Moreover, the regulation proposed by the draft resolution is a restriction of civil rights,” the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation said.

Petersburg Diary

The US Department of Commerce and the Treasury presented recommendations on how to combat the circumvention of sanctions against Russia. Thus, the departments are sure that deliveries of goods through Armenia, Turkey, Uzbekistan and other border states, as well as transactions with organizations that are poorly represented on the Internet or not represented at all, should be considered suspicious.

In addition, the States promise rewards to whistleblowers in the amount of 10 to 30% of the fine that the authorities charge for violating sanctions. According to experts interviewed by Rossiyskaya Gazeta, it is impossible to isolate Russia from imports.

In the first three weeks of 2023, FinCEN (the financial crime unit of the US Treasury) received more than 100 whistleblower reports, some of which were related to possible attempts by banks to circumvent sanctions against Russia. It is reported by Bloomberg.

According to the authors of the publication, such a stir is connected with the promise of the US authorities to reward whistleblowers. Now scammers can count on an amount ranging from 10 to 30% of the fine levied for violating sanctions.

Whistleblowers can rely on recommendations provided by the US Department of Commerce and the US Department of the Treasury. The document describes maneuvers to circumvent sanctions against Russia when making trade deals.

"These efforts enable employees to identify potential violations of U.S. sanctions and export controls and report them to compliance officers so that companies can voluntarily disclose information to the U.S. government in a timely manner," the document says.

Thus, the US authorities urged to pay attention to suspicious transactions: if the delivery of goods is carried out through Armenia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and other countries bordering Russia. Whistleblowers should also take into account the fact if the buyer company has a weak presence on the Internet or refuses to train, install and maintain the purchased goods.

According to the head of the analytical department of AMarkets Artem Deev, the United States, of course, will not completely isolate Russia, imports will still come to our country. The only question is to what extent and how it will affect critical imports.

“If we can definitely live without smartphones of the latest model, then there may be more serious problems in the industry. It is easier to replace household goods or find other suppliers than to provide supplies for production,” the expert notes.

Thus, there is a great dependence on equipment from abroad in production lines, in the automotive industry, in the production of railway transport, etc. As a result, it is likely that obtaining such imports will be more difficult than it is now, and their cost will rise, Deev said.

It is also worth mentioning that the Russian authorities support parallel imports by systematically expanding tax, customs, and foreign exchange benefits for importers. Thus, importers receive powerful support from the state. This was told to Rossiyskaya Gazeta by Alexander Fedotov, Legal Adviser of the Sovet Legal Group.

According to the expert, depending on the scale, the principle of exhaustion of the exclusive right is classified into types: international - the sale has begun in any country in the world, it can be sold without the consent of the copyright holder; regional - if the manufacturer has given permission for the sale of goods in any country of the commonwealth of states, it can automatically be sold in other states of this union; national - you can sell goods in the country only after the start of sales in it has been started by an official representative.

“Before the introduction of the parallel import regime, a regional principle was in force in relation to a certain list of goods on the territory of Russia, but now the international principle of exhaustion of exclusive rights is applied. Thus, it is impossible to completely isolate Russia from the import of imports, otherwise it would be necessary to prohibit the introduction of sanctioned goods in any part of the globe , which is unrealistic for any reason," Fedotov concluded.

Russian newspaper

The Ministry of Energy will track prices for Russian export oil based on data from the St. Petersburg Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange, the Argus agency and the Federal Customs Service. Such an order of the Ministry of Energy is published on the official portal of legal information.

As Parlamentskaya Gazeta wrote, on December 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree according to which Moscow imposes a ban on the supply of its oil and petroleum products to foreign legal entities and individuals that use the price cap mechanism in their contracts. It entered into force on February 1, 2023 and will be valid until July 1.

In early January, the Ministry of Energy announced that they would soon publish the procedure for applying retaliatory measures, as well as details on monitoring prices and discounts.

According to the order, prices for Urals oil from the ports of Novorossiysk, Ust-Luga, Primorsk, as well as the ESPO energy carrier from Kozmino, will be monitored monthly. The change comes into effect on March 4.

Meanwhile, Anatoly Aksakov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market (A Just Russia - For Truth), said in a video interview with Parliamentary Newspaper that there are options for solving the problem of determining the real price of Russian oil, including on world markets. They, according to the deputy, have already been proposed by specialists who work in this area.

parliamentary newspaper

The size of the export duty on grain may be "updated" in the new agricultural season (begins in July), the Ministry of Agriculture told RG.

What specific changes can be discussed, the ministry did not explain, noting only that they are possible "taking into account market conditions and the emerging cost of production."

Farmers have repeatedly asked the authorities to cancel or at least reduce export duties on grain. Against the backdrop of a record grain harvest in the country in 2022 (153.8 million tons in net weight), prices for it fell. At the same time, due to sanctions, spending on agricultural machinery and other means of production has increased. Therefore, the profitability of agricultural production has seriously decreased. Active export could remove excess grain from the market and thereby support the economy of Russian agricultural producers. But this season it has proved difficult.

Since July 2022, the duty has been calculated in rubles, and the burden on farmers has decreased. But until then, until the ruble began to weaken. After all, duties are considered all the same from world prices, and they are calculated in dollars. As a result, since March 1 of this year, the duty increased slightly, but increased (for wheat - by 1.9%).

Cancellation of export duties or modernization of the formula for calculating rates can help - either return to the previous formula, or raise base prices (in particular, for wheat from 15 thousand to 20 thousand rubles), reduce the duty from 70% to 50%, or even up to 30% (from the difference between the indicative and base price), says Vladimir Petrichenko, general director of the analytical company ProZerno. "If the current rule for calculating duty rates is maintained, the financial results of agricultural production will get worse and worse," he says.

Now, in the middle of the agricultural year, "shaking the topic of duties" is counterproductive, says Eduard Zernin, chairman of the board of the Union of Grain Exporters. "This can lead to the formation of false expectations (price increases. - Ed.) of farmers and exacerbate the problem of overstocking their warehouses before a new harvesting campaign," he explained to RG. Moreover, regardless of the duty, Russia will not be able to export more grain physically - the infrastructure is currently fully loaded, says Zernin.

According to him, the current situation in the domestic market is already "the result of the irrational belief of some players in rising prices in the domestic market." As a result, the grain was not sold on time, and the market was overstocked. "With a high degree of probability, the price on the domestic market will go down," Zernin said.

A floating export duty on grain has been introduced in Russia since June 2, 2021. So the state untied domestic grain prices from world prices, ensuring a stable price situation for producers of bread, milk, and meat.

Russian newspaper

PRIME. The procedure for paying the recycling fee for self-propelled vehicles and trailers manufactured or imported into the Russian Federation has been changed since March 1, the relevant government decree comes into force.

Now the payment of the recycling fee for them is carried out once. An exception is the manufacture or completion of self-propelled vehicles and trailers if their type or category has been changed.

The utilization fee is calculated by the payer independently, except for the cases when the utilization fee is calculated by the customs authorities.

As noted in the Federal Customs Service, it will now be possible to deposit money towards the payment of salvage fees using advance payments according to a single budget classification code. The calculation of the utilization fee and documents confirming the information specified in the submitted calculation of the utilization fee are submitted to the customs authority in electronic form. Also, there is no longer a need to submit copies of payment documents for the payment of salvage fees.

The Russian Federation continues to supply India with the maximum possible amount of oil, despite the recovery in Chinese demand, in February, New Delhi imported about 1.85 million barrels per day from the Russian Federation. It is reported by Bloomberg with reference to the analytical company Kpler.

The publication notes that before the imposition of EU and US sanctions, India practically did not buy Russian oil.

Kpler's lead analyst Victor Katon says Russia's imports into the country surged to near a potential high of 2 million barrels per day in February.

He added that the PRC, after abandoning the policy of "zero tolerance" for the coronavirus, "can buy literally all of Russian oil exports." But the Russian Federation would like to keep the Indian market because it is more profitable and gives oil sellers more control over supplies, the agency said.

Earlier, RT reported that Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said that the price of Russian oil for India is formed by market methods.

The Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia stressed that the Russian side has repeatedly said that it does not trade in energy resources at a loss.

Newspaper.Ru

Russian grain exports in the 2022/23 season may reach 57 million tons, including 46 million tons of wheat, Dmitry Rylko, Director General of the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies (IKAR), estimated.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia could export 55-60 million tons of grain until the end of this agricultural season (June 30).

According to Rylko, at the end of last week, Russia had already shipped more than 37 million tons of grain, including more than 31 million tons of wheat, to foreign markets.

Deliveries of grain abroad will be record-breaking this season, despite the continuing difficulties in cash settlements, logistics, and insurance. Exporters simply adapted to them, said Dmitry Rylko.

According to the International Grains Council (IGC) as of January this year, Russia can supply 42.1 million tons of wheat to foreign markets this season (excluding Crimea). Thus, the country will retain its leading position in the export of this crop with a share of 21.7%. The EU will account for 17.7% (34.4 million tons), Australia - 14% (27.2 million tons), USA - 11% (21.3 million tons), Ukraine - 7.2% (14 million tons). ).

According to Rosstat, Russia harvested 153.8 million tons of grain in net weight in 2022, including 104.4 million tons of wheat. This is an absolute record for the country.

Russian newspaper

PRIME. Greece last year imported Russian goods worth a record 9.33 billion euros, exports fell to 156.4 million euros, according to data from the Greek statistical service Elstat.

"From January to December 2022, the value of Greece's imports from Russia amounted to 9.33 billion euros, an increase of 116.9% compared to the period from January to December 2021, when it was 4.302 billion euros," the documents read. .

It is emphasized that Russia supplied oil and oil products for 4.166 billion euros, gas for 4.111 billion, aluminum for 430 million and other goods.

At the same time, Elstat points to a reduction in Greek exports to Russia by 24.3 percent, to 156.4 million euros. The main exports were electrically insulated wires and cables, tobacco waste, raw tobacco, elevators, escalators and other lifting machines.

The service adds that the negative trade balance between Greece and Russia last year reached 9.173 billion euros.

INTERFAX.RU - The Bank of Russia raised the forecast for the physical volume of oil exports from the Russian Federation over the entire forecast horizon of 2023-2025. This is stated in the report of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation on monetary policy, published on Monday.

This happened "by improving the prospects for the reorientation of supplies to alternative directions," the document says.

The previous forecast was made at the end of October 2022.

The report does not provide the forecast for oil exports in absolute terms.

The forecast for the physical volume of exports for 2023 as a whole has been improved from minus 7.5% - minus 11.5% in the October version of the report to minus 2.5% - plus 0.5%. The indicator may go into the positive zone "due to the faster formation of new chains for the sale of products," the Central Bank said in a report.

In 2024, the physical volume of exports, which sank by 15.1% in 2022, will grow at a recovery rate of 2.5-5.5% and subsequently stabilize in the range of 1-3% due to the continued recovery of non-oil and gas exports and exports of services, the Central Bank believes .