News.uhd.edu, June 10, 2019: Recently, UHD's  Marilyn Davis College of Business Career Center (MDCOB) received a $10,000 gift from the Kroger Companies.Kroger joins the ranks of companies, such as Phillips 66, Texas Mutual Insurance Services and Enterprise Holdings as contributors to the Center's Employer Partnership program, to ensure the continuation of important career development resources provided by the Center.

"Kroger is thrilled to be able to make this $10,000 investment to UHD's Business Career Center," said Miles Bocock, Kroger's Division Human Resource Leader. "Supporting higher education and education at all levels is a cause we feel is of great value to the communities we serve. Providing access to continuous learning and developing tomorrow's leaders through growth and development is something we strongly support."   Read more...

API.org: While 2019 marks 100 years of the American Petroleum Institute and all that it offers to its member companies, what this milestone truly represents is 100 years of American energy innovation and achievement.

The U.S. energy industry has always been at the forefront of powering positive change - from supporting the war effort in World War I to the energy revolution that has made the United States the world's leading producer, refiner and exporter of natural gas and the number one reducer of emissions.

Energy means everything to everyone. The natural gas and oil industry provides reliable and affordable energy to U.S. consumers, supports the creation of new technologies that we use every day, develops cleaner fuels, and exports energy that lifts developing communities out of poverty.    Read more...

Marinelog.com, June 8, 2019: More Russian arctic LNG will be heading to China. Russia's Novatek and Sovcomflot and China's Silk Road Fund and COSCO Shipping have signed an agreement to establish a joint venture called Maritime Arctic Transport LLC.

Natural gas giant Novatek is publicly traded. The other three parties are state controlled.

The agreement was signed June 7 during the St Petersburg Economic Forum. In a separate deal on the same day, Novatek signed an agreement to sell Chinese energy company CNOOC a 10% participation interest in its Arctic LNG 2 project.

The focus of the Maritime Arctic Transport joint venture is to manage an icebreaking tanker fleet of Arctic ice-class vessels, both existing and new, engaged in the transportation of LNG for current and planned Novatek projects, namely: Yamal LNG, Arctic LNG 2 and others.   Read more...

Finance.yahoo.com, June 12, 2019: Russian authorities have signed an agreement with  Danish  logistics giant Maersk to officially launch  blockchain shipping platform  TradeLens, according to a  press release on June 6.

As a part of the agreement, the port at Russia's second-biggest city,  St. Petersburg, will pilot the blockchain-powered logistics tool co-developed by Maersk's tech subsidiary Maersk GTD and global tech giant  IBM.

The agreement was signed in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Maersk CEO Søren Skou and Yuriy Tsvetkov, Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation and Head of the Federal Marine and River Transport Agency, the press release notes.   Read more...

Drybulkmagazine.com, June 10, 2019: The quadrilateral agreement of intent was signed on 6 June 2019 during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. The agreement outlines a comprehensive piece of work, which will study of the most effective commercial options for the use of the NSR. The parties intend to create a strategic partnership in the form of a joint venture for the development of transit cargo traffic through the NSR. The key objective of the project is to increase the volume of freight traffic through the NSR and the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. The document was signed by Dmitriyev Kirill Alexandrovich, Director General of the RDPI Management Company, Vladimir Potanin, President of Norilsk Nickel, Alexey Likhachev, Director General of Rosatom, and His Excellency Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Chairman and CEO of DP World (DPW) For the first stage, the parties to the agreement will have to develop a strategy to increase the efficiency of the use of the NSR and to determine ways of developing transit traffic.  Read more...

Rusautonews.com, June 10, 2019: Automobile production in Russia has been increased within the first four months of 2019. According to  ASM Holding data, 618.1 thousand transport vehicles (trucks, cars, buses) have been manufactured within the January-April period of 2019, which is equivalent to a 9.1% year-on-year rise. Passenger cars production has increased by 4% year-on-year during the aforementioned period, with 530.4 thousand units. The output of foreign brand cars in Russia went up 1.8% to 382.7 thousand vehicles.  Read more...

Caspiannews.com, June 11, 2019: To invest or not to invest is the question officials from Azerbaijan's state-run energy conglomerate SOCAR are thinking, when it comes to the Antipinsky Refinery in central Russia. "It will be decided whether to participate in the project or not in a short period of time," Farid Jafarov, the general director of SOCAR's subsidiary SOCAR Rus in St. Petersburg, said on June 8, according to  Marja.az .

SOCAR already owns 80 percent of the refinery along with Russia's largest commercial bank, Sberbank. Sberbank and SOCAR purchased 80 percent of the shares at Antinpinsky and deposits owned by the complex in the Orenburg region of Russia, through the SOCAR Energoresurs joint venture formed earlier this month. The deal gave SOCAR control over 48 percent of the facility while Sberbank has 32 percent. The remaining 20 percent remained at hands of Nikolai Egorov, a Russian entrepreneur, who acquired one-fifth of the refinery in 2015.  Read more...

Ecns.cn, June 13, 2019: "I'm happy to sell cotton to Chinese people," said Tajik cotton farmer Vahit, who did not give his full name, when telling his stories about China's Zhongtai (Dangara) New Silk Road Textile Industry Company, a large cotton processing and textile producing enterprise bridging China and Tajikistan.

His special relationship with Zhongtai started three years ago, when Zhongtai made an exception for Vahit and bought a batch of his cotton that had been soiled in a truck accident. Deeply touched by the generous gesture, Vahit has decided to prioritize his business with Chinese companies ever since.

This is an epitome of Zhongtai's people-oriented development plans. Founded in the Dangara District of Tajikistan's Khatlon Province in 2014 by China's Zhongtai Group and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, the company, with vigorous support from the Tajik government, aims to build a modern cotton industrial base which helps boost the economy and improve local people's livelihood.   Read more...

Enadmtyumen.ru, June 7, 2019: The Tyumen region was ranked third in the National Investment Climate Rating among other Russian regions. The city of Moscow ranks first and the Republic of Tatarstan ranks second. The results of the rating were announced on June 7 at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

The rating is accessed on the basis of 44 indicators which form an index (max 400 points). All indicators are grouped into 4 groups: regulation environment, business institutions, infrastructure and resources, and small business support.

It is worth reminding that the National Investment Climate Rating is coordinated by the Federal Agency for Strategic Initiatives since 2014. Twenty-one regions participated in the rating back then. Since 2017 all 85 regions, republics, and areas take part in the rating.

The National Rating aims at identifying the best regional practices on investor relations and creating a system of incentives to increase the investment attractiveness of the Russian regions, as well as to form and develop effective regional project teams.    Read more...

Russian.rt.com, 10 июня, 2019: Так, на 2019 год  прогноз повышен с $60 до $65 за баррель, на 2020 год - с $55 до $60. Прогноз на 2021 год сохранён на уровне $55 за баррель. Банк России на заседании совета директоров принял решение  снизить ключевую ставку на 25 базисных пунктов, до 7,5% годовых. В январе  МВФ снизил прогноз нефтяных цен в нынешнем году до $58,95.  Читать далее...

Russkiymir.ru, 14 июня, 2019: Более 1300 компаний станут участниками VI Российско-китайского ЭКСПО, которое открывается в Харбине 14 июня и продлится шесть дней. Около 400 кв. м займёт экспозиция Республики Саха (Якутия), которая станет одним из главных гостей форума. В рамках ЭКСПО состоится большая культурная программа, сообщает ТАСС. Представители Якутии приехали в Китай, чтобы достигнуть договорённости с китайскими партнёрами в сфере туризма, строительства и в других областях. Свои стенды на выставке откроют и другие российские регионы. Иркутская и Еврейская автономная области представят продукцию местных производителей, делегация Приморского края презентует режим электронной визы.  Читать далее...