Search Results for: Russia

BY PAUL COCHRANE, IN BEIRUT; AND MARK GAO, IN ISTANBUL

MOST states in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) have mulled developing nuclear power over the past decade, from Morocco to Egypt, and Jordan to Saudi Arabia, but only the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is coming close to embarking on the nuclear option thus far.…

BY MIKE STEIN, IN PRAGUE

EASTERN and central Europeans often have mixed feelings about dealing with the Russians – and for good reason, given their 40-plus-year domination of the region after the Second World War. It has encouraged many governments to seek alternative energy supplies other than Russian gas, but – as the Cold War recedes into memory, old scars are healing and joint energy ventures with Russia’s energy giant Gazprom are increasingly being assessed on their merits.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

SOUTH Korea’s paint and coatings market may be mature but that has not stopped it from showing steady growth. According to business research firm Timetric, which has a South Korea office, the country’s architectural paint market was worth USD582.9 million in 2010 and USD600.8 million in 2011.…

BY MARK ROWE AND KEITH NUTHALL

THE WORLD’S oils and fats exporters probably drew a sigh of relief when Russia secured agreement for it to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO) last December. The country has a history of using unpredictable and, some say, arbitrary bans on food imports to punish exporting countries with which it is unhappy.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF, IN LUCCA

The Politecnico di Milano, one of Italy’s leading technical universities, has announced that from the beginning of the 2014 academic year, all Master of Science and PhD courses will be taught exclusively in English. The switch to English at the expense of Italian however has met with opposition from some of the institution’s professors, and 285 have signed a petition to the Rector.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is preparing to release calls for research proposals commanding millions of Euros of European Union (EU) funding, offering opportunities for innovative liquid fuel and oil production. The initiative is the last batch of funding under the outgoing EU seventh framework programme on research, which ends next year.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

CONSTRUCTION in Europe is traditionally associated with metal, steel and other heavy materials, but plastics and plastic composites are increasingly used as energy and cost-efficient options for buildings, bridges, houses and other structures.

Construction contributes more than 20% of demand for plastics in Europe – the second largest market segment after packaging, according to Brussels, Belgium-based trade association PlasticsEurope.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is launching an inquiry into establishing a European civil liability regime for offshore oil and gas companies involved in major accidents. They could then fund repairs and compensation for damage they cause without relying on local governments.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, IN BEIRUT

LAST year the Turkish government announced it had set a target of building a "minimum" of 20 nuclear reactors by 2030. Detailed plans have been developed to commission two nuclear power plants, and the Turkish government has announced plans for three more plants to meet rising power demand and ensure energy security.…

BY EUGENE VOROTNIKOV, IN ST PETERSBURG

RUSSIA has agreed to lift restrictions on the import of Ukrainian solid and semi-hard cheeses, just as soon as the Ukrainian side can provide evidence of proper control over product quality.

"We are ready to grant a right to the Ukrainian authorities to check the quality of the product in accordance with our requirements," said Gennady Onishchenko, head of Russian consumer rights watchdog Rospotrebnadzor.…