Moscow press review for May 27, 2015
MOSCOW. May 27 (Interfax) - The following is a digest of Moscow newspapers published on May 27. Interfax does not accept liability for information in these stories.
POLITICS & ECONOMICS
The deputy chairman of the Military-Industrial Commission, Oleg Bochkarev was seriously reprimanded on Tuesday for saying that Russia will not be buying two Mistral helicopter carriers from France, sources said. Russia has not officially declined the vessels and Bochkarev has never been involved in talks on the Mistral carriers (Kommersant, p. 1).
A bill submitted to the State Duma on Tuesday would allow Russians to bequeath their assets to funds they have founded, spouses to write joint wills and notaries rather than potential heirs to collect paperwork for inheritances in some cases. Estate funds could help return capital to Russia, some analysts believe (Kommersant, p. 1).
The expert council of Russia's Industry Development Fund has selected the first projects to establish import substitution production facilities that will get subsidized loans. The projects will cost about 9.2 billion rubles and could get 3.2 billion rubles from the fund. The list includes pharmaceutical, engineering and scientific projects, among others. Far from all of them guarantee a high return, analysts said (Vedomosti, p. 4).
The data processing center that Russia's Federal Tax Service opened on Tuesday will soon be used to identify unregistered and untaxed real estate in Moscow Region, according to an agreement signed by the service and the regional authorities. A top official said the new FTS information system allows the authorities to see the whole system of companies' relations with counterparties, but the government only plans to use the data to help market participants (Kommersant, p. 2).
President Vladimir Putin attended the ten-year anniversary forum of Business Russia on Tuesday. Representatives of the organization asked to be allowed to assess bills before their second readings in the Duma. They also complained about lack of security for businesses, export support and access to government contracts. Putin promised support, but also advised businesses to seek new opportunities themselves and not get caught up in lobbying (Vedomosti, p. 4; Kommersant, p. 3).
OIL & GAS
The Russian government has agreed to allow Transneft to pay out only 25% of its RAS net profit as dividends this year. Dividends for 2014 will therefore total 2.94 billion rubles, down more than 60% from 7.9 billion rubles, or 70% of RAS net profit for 2013. The oil pipeline monopoly needs money for its investment program, which totals 383.3 billion rubles for 2015 (Vedomosti, p. 12).
Given a lack of funds to develop fields and excess gas on the market, Rosneft might have to revise its ambitious gas program, under which it plans to produce 100 bcm per year by 2020. The Russian oil major could face the first difficulties as early as in 2016, when it will have to start supplying 35 bcm of gas annually to utility Inter RAO, if gas from its Rospan project will not be enough for this (Kommersant, p. 7).
METALS & MINING
Metalloinvest, a major Russian mining and steel company, has announced a new strategy to 2023 under which it will invest up to $5.8 billion in expansion and production of value added products. This will include up to $2 billion to be invested in projects at Mikhailovsky GOK aimed at boosting production of iron ore concentrate and hot briquetted iron (Kommersant, p. 9).
BANKING, FINANCE & INSURANCE
Russia's Central Bank has restricted the operating license of Rosgosstrakh in regard to mandatory third-party liability auto insurance, citing "massive violations," including failure to provide proper discounts on policies. The insurance company, the biggest player with over a third of the market, cannot issue new policies but must continue to service existing ones (Kommersant, p. 1; Vedomosti, p. 1).
Russian homeowners with foreign currency mortgages have won their first victory against banks. A Moscow region court has ordered retail bank VTB24 to recalculate a forex mortgage loan at an exchange rate of no more than 24 rubles/$1, including for payments already made for the whole period that they exceeded the exchange rate on the date the loan was issued, and count the overpaid portion toward repayment of the debt (Vedomosti, p. 10).
REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
Russian Highways, the state company responsible for the construction of the Central Ring Road in Moscow Region, is thinking about replacing the contractor for the project. SGC has acknowledged that it cannot fulfil the contract to build and maintain the first section of the road, for which it bid an unexpectedly low price of 48.9 billion rubles. The contract might be handed over to Aras Agalarov's Crocus Group (Vedomosti, p. 11).
TELECOMMUNICATIONS, MEDIA & TECHNOLOGY
Russian mobile service providers have found a way to commercialize the data they have collected on their customers. Vimpelcom and MTS have launched a pilot project to assess subscribers as potential borrowers based on analysis of big data on consumer behavior and sell the assessments to banks. Giving banks scores rather than the information itself does not break the law, lawyers said (Kommersant, p. 1).
Interview: Sergei Belousov, Founder and CEO of Acronis (Vedomosti, p. 8).
AGRICULTURE, FISHING & FORESTRY
Russia's export duty on grain in the coming 2015/2016 agricultural year will be calculated in rubles, but it will only go into effect if the U.S. dollar exceeds 60-70 rubles, the agriculture minister said. If the duty does go into effect, exporters will likely pass it on to producers. Russia could export 30 million tonnes in the 2015/2016 agricultural year, the Agriculture Ministry reckons (Vedomosti, p. 11).