Search Results for: Russia

BY MARK ROWE
RUSSIA is lifting export duties on unalloyed aluminium and primary aluminium alloys. The export duty on raw aluminium will amount to 5 per cent, while unalloyed aluminium and primary aluminium alloys will be exported duty free, according to a statement issued by the Russian government’s information department.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is teaming up with Japanese-owned Sumitec International to create a US$45 million facility, providing lease financing for Russian companies expanding or modernising their mining equipment. The scheme will especially focus on Siberia and other far-east regions of Russia, which – said a bank memorandum – “are currently under-serviced by the leasing industry.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Japanese-owned Sumitec International are creating a US$45 million facility, providing lease financing for Russian companies expanding or modernising construction equipment. The scheme will focus on Siberia and other far-east regions of Russia, which – said the bank – “are currently under-serviced by the leasing industry.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
In what it calls a signal of confidence in the former Soviet Union, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is investing 20 million euros to promote beer, wine and mineral waters in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Russia.…

BY MARK ROWE
PRODUCTION of vodka and other hard liquors dropped in Russia last year, as the country’s bourgeoning middle class continued to choose more upmarket drinks. Analysts believe the trend may reflect the improvement of the Russian economy and the greater disposable incomes of white-collar workers.…

BY MARK ROWE
RUSSIA’S Urals Mining and Metals Company (UGMK) has bought the nation’s second largest zinc smelter, Elektrotsink. UGMK, which is headed by entrepreneur Iskander Makhmudov, said it intends to invest in production at the zinc smelter factory and produce up to 85,000 metric tons of zinc at Electrotsink this year.…

BY MARK ROWE
THE LARGEST museum in the world and – arguably – the grandest of them all, the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg is returning to its roots. In the middle of a long and painstaking modernisation process, the Russian museum is striving, in addition to the urgent physical restoration required to bring the museum into the 21st century, to recapture the ambience of its Imperial origins, when its vast palaces were the residence of the Tsars.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE European Environment Agency reports that under current policies the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2010 will be only 0.5 per cent below the 1990 target instead of the Kyoto target of 8 per cent. Sweden and the UK will do better than planned, but several will miss their targets by more than 20 per cent.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
BINDING energy conservation targets have been proposed for European Union (EU) Member States by the European Commission, a move that could further tighten fuel economy rules for Europe’s transport sector. Brussels has proposed a general energy saving target of one per cent a year from 2006-12, measured against average energy distribution from the previous five years.…

BY MARK ROWE
RUSSIA’S Vision International People Group plans to build a US$100 million plant in the Moscow region next year, initially producing drinking water and a small range of soft drinks. It will later expand to produce juices and milk.…