Russia 110111 Basic Political Developments

Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions

Russia Stocks Climb as Coal Miners Surge on Australian Floods

http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aZUik9XbiFUw

By Alex Nicholson

Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Russian stocks climbed on the first day of Moscow trading this year as coal producers surged after floods in Australia pushed prices to a two-year high.

OAO Mechel, the country’s biggest producer of coal for steelmaking, rose 7.4 percent while OAO Raspadskaya gained as much as 8.3 percent. OAO Lukoil, Russia’s second-biggest oil producer, climbed 2.6 percent, helping lift the 30-stock Micex gauge 0.2 percent to 1,690.81 as of 11:22 a.m. in Moscow.

Australian export coking coal prices jumped 6.9 percent last week, according HIS McCloskey, a Petersfield, U.K.-based provider of coal data. Thermal coal prices rose to the highest since September 2008 as Queensland’s worst floods in 50 years disrupted mines and cut transport, it said.

Russian markets reopened today after public holidays for New Year and Orthodox Christmas.

The Micex’s gains were muted by concern on global markets yesterday that possible defaults in Europe will derail the global economic recovery, Chris Weafer, chief strategist at Moscow-based UralSib Financial Corp., wrote in an e-mailed note. “Steel-coal themes are the exception because of the flooding,” he wrote.

To contact the reporter responsible for this story: Alexander Nicholson at [e-mail]

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at [e-mail]

Last Updated: January 11, 2011 03:40 EST

Russia Keeps Duties on Raw Timber Shipments Unchanged for 2011

http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aAetVP2EZOiE

By Marina Sysoyeva

Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Russia kept export duties on raw timber unchanged for 2011, the government said in a resolution published on its website.

The duty on most timber was kept at 25 percent of the customs value, and not less than 15 euros ($19.41) a cubic meter, it said. That excludes shipments of poplar, gum-tree and aspen, where the export duty is 10 percent of the customs value and not less than 5 euros a cubic meter.

There is no duty on exports of timber with a diameter of less than 15 centimeters, according to the resolution, which Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed on Dec. 29.

To contact the reporter on this story: Marina Sysoyeva in Moscow [e-mail]

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at [e-mail]

Last Updated: January 11, 2011 03:41 EST

Russia bans filament lamps of 100 watts and above

http://rt.com/news/line/2011-01-11/#id1093
RT News line, January 11

Starting this past January 1, the production and sale of incandescent light bulbs is prohibited on the territory of the Russian Federation. Low-power bulbs will be outlawed in the following three years.

This is done to improve the situation with energy efficiency in the country. Today the energy-output ratio of the Russian economy is about three times bigger than in the world’s largest economies.

Russia is following the example of the EU, where production and use of incandescent light bulbs of over 75 watts is already banned.

Rostelecom Seeks to Acquire NTK Cable Operator, Vedomosti Says

http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a3oCDKQhUnew

By Ilya Arkhipov

Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- OAO Rostelecom, Russia’s dominant long-distance phone company, plans to acquire cable television and Internet provider NTK for as much as $1.45 billion, Vedomosti reported.

Rostelecom plans to acquire 21.8 percent of NTK for $288 million, the Moscow-based newspaper reported, citing Rostelecom documents. Two affiliates of state-run Rostelcom, OAO Svyazinvest and OAO Uralsvyazinform, each plan to buy 25 percent of NTK, Vedomosti said.

Rostelecom will merge with Svyazinvest and Uralsvyaz in March and the combined company would hold 71.8 percent of NTK, triggering a mandatory offer to minority shareholders that could push the total price of the NTK acquisition to $1.45 bilion, according to Vedomosti. Moscow-based NTK, part of banker Yury Kovalchuk’s National Media Group, has more than 5 million customers.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ilya Arkhipov in Moscow at [e-mail]

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Brad Cook at [e-mail]

Last Updated: January 11, 2011 00:53 EST

Mechel Keeps Neryungri Coking-Coal Plant Shut After Accident

http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ae95rjUp_KKE

By Maria Kolesnikova

Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- OAO Mechel, Russia’s largest miner of steelmaking coal, said a washing plant at its Neryungri processing facility in eastern Siberia remains shut after a Dec. 26 accident.

The company will decide when to resume operations after reviewing assessments from experts at the site, Ekaterina Videman, a spokeswoman for Moscow-based Mechel, said today in an e-mail.

Neryungri is Russia’s third-largest coal washing plant and accounted for 33 percent of Mechel’s steelmaking coal output in the first nine months of 2010, according to UralSib Financial Corp. A washing plant removes soil and rock from coal, preparing it for sale.

To contact the reporter on this story: Maria Kolesnikova in Moscow at [e-mail]

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Amanda Jordan at [e-mail]

Last Updated: January 11, 2011 03:21 EST

IRC Russian may raise prices this year

http://www.steelguru.com/russian_news/IRC_Russian_may_raise_prices_this_year/185510.html

Tuesday, 11 Jan 2011

It is reported that IRC Russian plant in Kuranakh was put into operation in May 2010 and had an iron ore production capacity of 2.6 million tonnes in September.

Kuranakh will sell refined iron ore for USD 131 per tonne to a steel producer in Heilongjiang province.

IRC announced it would raise its prices this year. The firm also invested USD 400 million in K&S Mine in Russia of which 85% will be borrowed from Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

K&S Mine is expected to have refined iron ore production capacity of 3.2 million tonnes once operational in 2013.