moscow news

More than 2,500 RIA Novosti readers have...

More than 2,500 RIA Novosti readers have sent messages of support for the Polish people in the aftermath of the death of their president in a plane crash in western Russia on April 10.

MOSCOW, February 18 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian...

MOSCOW, February 18 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian consortium comprising En+ Group, Severstal and Renova submitted investment proposals to the Mongolian government last month to develop one of the world"s largest coal mines, a business paper said on Wednesday. According to Vedomosti, the consortium"s intention to develop the Tavan Tolgoi coal field in the Gobi Desert, with estimated reserves of 6.5 billion metric tons of coking coal, was confirmed by an executive of the Severstal steelmaker while a representative of the Renova asset management group declined to comment. A representative of En+ Group owned by Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska told the paper that the Mongolian side viewed positively the consortium"s proposals. At the same time, the Mongolian government has yet to determine its project requirements and it is not yet clear whether it will issue a license for the entire mine or for separate sections, the paper said. In any case, competition is going to be tough as major global companies, such as Vale, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Xstrata and China"s Shenhua Energy are also keen to take part in the tender, the paper reported.

MOSCOW, May 4 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s Reserve...

MOSCOW, May 4 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s Reserve Fund shrank by 13.7% to 3.551 trillion rubles ($106.81 billion), and the National Prosperity Fund declined by 1.6% to 2.869 trillion rubles ($86.3 billion) in April, the Finance Ministry said on Monday. The Reserve Fund was set up to cushion the federal budget against a fall in oil prices, and the National Prosperity Fund was designed to help the government carry out pension reforms. So far this year, Russia has spent 1 trillion rubles ($30.3 billion) from the Reserve Fund to cover the federal budget deficit, the Finance Ministry said. It said a total of 1.6 trillion rubles would be spent from the Reserve Fund to cover the deficit in the first half of 2009 alone. Russia posted a budget deficit of 50 billion rubles ($1.5 billion), or 0.1% of gross domestic product, in the first quarter of this year. Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin earlier said budget spending had increased in the first quarter as the government allocated additional funds for anti-crisis measures, in particular measures to support the pension system, regional governments and key sectors of the economy, such as the defense complex and the auto industry. He said the largest budget deficits were expected in the second, third, and possibly fourth quarters, as the government spends more on anti-crisis measures. The minister said the projected 7.4% federal budget deficit in 2009 would be covered by the Reserve Fund.