Moscow press review for September 27, 2016
MOSCOW. Sept 27 (Interfax) - The following is a digest of Moscow newspapers published on September 27. Interfax does not accept liability for information in these stories.
POLITICS & ECONOMICS
All three of the scenarios of the Russian economy ministry's macro forecast for 2017-2019, on the basis of which the budget will be drafted, are very optimistic. The baseline is the conservative scenario, in which the economy is expected to grow below current trends. The target scenario projects GDP growth of 4.5%, zero capital outflow and an investment boom in 2019, but this will require oil prices to climb to $55 per barrel (Kommersant, p. 1).
Russia's Education and Science Ministry is halting the process of merging post secondary institutions, the minister said on Monday. The decision essentially cancels the process of restructuring of post secondary institutions that was launched by the previous minister and has reduced the number of such institutions and branches in Russia from 2,486 to 1,450. Previously merged institutions have already asked the new minister to overturn restructuring orders to give them back their autonomy (Kommersant, p. 1).
Russian legislators announced an agreement on Monday to divide up State Duma committees, the number of which will be reduced to 26 from 30. United Russia will head 13 committees, Vladimir Zhirinovsky's LDPR and the Communists will each get five and A Just Russia will get three. The prestigious committee for international affairs will go to the LDPR for the first time (Vedomosti, p. 2).
METALS & MINING
Russia's Energy Ministry is proposing not to close dangerous coal mines, as was proposed following a fatal mine explosion in February. Concluding that 20 out of 58 mines are hazardous, the ministry estimates it would cost 53.7 billion rubles to close them, while the modernization of their safety systems would cost 23.1 billion rubles in the next four years. After this the number of hazardous mines would drop to five (Vedomosti, p. 11).
State company Rosgeo has drafted a bill to turn it into a state corporation. Rosgeo hopes to become the main overseer of the geology sector and take over the Subsurface Resources Agency's budget funding for exploration and key powers to hold tenders and auctions for mineral resources. Industry players and analysts are skeptical about the bill's prospects, as major resource companies will lobby against it (Kommersant, p. 7).
BANKING, FINANCE & INSURANCE
Russia's Finance Ministry and Central Bank have agreed on the final version of changes to the law on mandatory third-party liability auto insurance that are expected to result in more than 90% of claims being paid with repairs instead of money. Insurers will be accountable for the quality of repairs (Kommersant, p. 2; Vedomosti, p. 11).
RETAIL & CONSUMER MARKET
Businesses are unhappy with the Russian government's plans to expand labeling of goods with RFID tags, including to food goods. Such labeling could be introduced with a new bill drafted by the Finance Ministry. Businesses warn that tagging food products could push up prices and cause disruptions in supplies (Kommersant, p. 2).
REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
Russian tycoons Shalva and Alexander Chigirinsky have filed a $217 million lawsuit in Cyprus against companies controlled by Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works principal shareholder Viktor Rashnikov and his partner Nadera Nadera. The lawsuit claims Rashnikov bought their stakes in Moscow City property development projects at below the market price (Vedomosti, p. 10).
TELECOMMUNICATIONS, MEDIA & TECHNOLOGY
Russia will probably not extend the requirement to restrict foreign ownership to leading social networks, including VKontakte; search engines; YouTube video hosting, as well as Google Play and iTunes. But the requirement will apply to independent online video streaming services, which, like media companies, will have to restrict foreign ownership to 20% within 18 months (Kommersant, p. 1).
Serebryany Dozhd has complained to regulators about Radio Archive, a bot that posts the popular Russian radio station's content in the Telegram messenger without its permission. The bot enables users to download and listen to the archives of various Russian stations. If the content is not removed, Serebryany Dozhd intends to seek the blockage of both the bot and Telegram (Vedomosti, p. 10).
TRANSPORTATION & LOGISTICS
Russian Railways is forecasting that it will post a loss of 142.4 billion rubles in 2017 as it expects negative trends in freight shipments to continue. The company is asking the government to allow it to retain export surcharges on its shipping rates and to index rates by more than the rate of inflation (Vedomosti, p. 1).
Truck owners and drivers in Russia could soon face millions in fines for violating weight restrictions. A new automated system for checking vehicle weight that the Federal Road Agency has been testing for a year will become operational on October 1. The operator of the Platon system for collecting tolls from heavy trucks using federal roads is one of the candidates to develop the system. The agency estimates one in three trucks on federal highways violates weight regulations (Vedomosti, p. 4).