2024-06-25 12:51

MOSCOW, June 25 (Reuters) - Russia's oil and gas revenue in June is set to rise by more than 50% year on year to $9.4 billion, Reuters calculations showed, after a decrease in subsidies to refineries and reflecting the Russian economy's ability to limit the impact of sanctions. These revenues have been the most important single source of cash for the Kremlin, accounting for around a third to a half of total federal budget proceedings for the last decade. The military conflict in Ukraine has prompted the West to impose multiple sanctions aimed at curbing Russian oil and gas income that accounts for about a third of the country's federal budget. Russia was able to divert oil exports away from Europe to India and China, securing the much-needed financial flows for its budget, which is in deficit as Moscow spends heavily on defence and security. Reuters calculations show Russia's projected June oil and gas revenue at 814 billion roubles ($9.4 billion), up from 794 billion roubles in May and 529 billion roubles in June 2023. It is expected that the subsidies to refineries from the budget will decline by 60 billion roubles from May. The subsidies include a payment known as a damper that encourages refineries to sell their product on the domestic market instead of exporting it for a higher price. The Finance Ministry will publish June's budget data on July 3. For 2024 as a whole, the government budgeted for federal revenue of 10.7 trillion roubles from oil and gas sales, up 21% from 2023, when weaker oil prices and a fall in gas exports reduced the revenue by 24%. Russia has heavily increased defence and security spending since launching what it calls a special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, leading to two consecutive annual deficits exceeding 3 trillion roubles, about 2% of GDP. It financed these with internal borrowing and by drawing on the rainy day National Wealth Fund (NWF). Russian President Vladimir Putin has hailed high rates of economic growth, saying they outstrip that of Western economies. The economy grew 3.6% in 2023 after a revised 1.2% contraction in 2022. Russia-based economists have highlighted the poor quality of economic growth, saying that production of missiles and shells may contribute to higher GDP but offer limited benefit to the population. ($1 = 87.0000 roubles) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russian-oil-gas-revenues-set-rise-by-50-yy-june-reuters-calculations-show-2024-06-25/

2024-06-25 12:49

JAKARTA, June 25 (Reuters) - A former chief executive of Indonesia's state energy firm Pertamina has been sentenced to nine years in jail for graft in a case related to a long-term contract to procure liquefied natural gas from a unit of U.S. company Cheniere Energy (LNG.N) New Tab, opens new tab. The Central Jakarta Corruption Court on Monday found Karen Agustiawan guilty of improper procurement from the unit, Corpus Christi Liquefaction, a video of the hearing showed. The court also fined her 500 million rupiah ($30,544). Her lawyer, Luhut Pangaribuan, told Reuters on Tuesday that she would appeal the verdict. "Cheniere follows all applicable laws, domestic and international, and adheres to the highest ethical standards in our contracts and in our daily business," a Cheniere spokesperson said, adding that the company's relationship with Pertamina is no different. Pertamina said it respected the legal process when asked for comment. Pertamina's first female CEO, who led the company between 2009 to 2014, Agustiawan was found guilty of improperly signing a long-term sales and purchase contract with Corpus Christi, a deal that caused state losses of $113.84 million between 2011 to 2014, according to state news agency Antara. Cheniere's Corpus Christi export facility was not producing LNG until 2018 and the plant's first cargo to Pertamina was not supplied until 2019, the company said. Pertamina had resold LNG cargoes from Corpus Christi to the international market at a loss because the market in Indonesia could not absorb them, local media reports said. Agustiawan had denied any wrong doing and said she was following government orders. Corpus Christi was not a defendant in the case, but the panel of judges at the court said it had the "responsibility" to repay the country for the losses, media reported. In a separate case in 2020, Agustiawan was acquitted by the Supreme Court when it overturned an eight-year prison sentence handed by a lower court over her decision for Pertamina to invest in the Basker Manta Gummy Block in Australia in 2009. The court had ruled at the time that her business judgment was not a crime. ($1 = 16,370.0000 rupiah) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/former-ceo-indonesias-pertamina-jailed-over-cheniere-lng-contract-2024-06-25/

2024-06-25 12:47

KONJIC, Bosnia, June 25 (Reuters) - Environmental activist Lejla Kusturica stood on the banks of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Neretva river, wondering if it was the last time she would get to watch teams of raft racers battling through the rapids on its emerald-green waters. Upstream, construction crews were working on a hydro-power dam and plant that the regional Serb Republic government commissioned as part of a move away from fossil fuels, but that activists worry will affect the river's flow and ecosystem. "Economically, the people live of rafting, but there is a threat that Neretva will be completely changed," Kusturica, from the Atelier for Community Transformation campaign group, said. Shifts in the water level caused by the dam would disrupt wildlife and rafters - tourists and competitors in this month's European Rafting Championship alike - she added. "Vegetation and the animal world - Adriatic brown trout, sculpin, marble trout - all of them are endangered." Power trader and operator Energy Financing Team (EFT) first got the 120 million Bosnian marka ($65.8 million) concession to set up the 35 Megawatt plant in 2009, with China's Sinohydro [RIC:RIC:SINOH.UL] chosen to construct it. EFT told Reuters it had taken steps to protect the environment throughout the project, which was due to be operational by the end of the year. "All necessary preventive measures to stop negative impact have been applied at the Ulog dam construction site," it said in a statement. "During the preparation phase for the realisation of the project, extensive research works have been conducted and all specifics of the terrain taken into account when project solutions were defined and works conducted." The regional government's ministry for construction and ecology said the site of the plant has already been shifted once in response to geological risks in the area prone to landslides. It added there had been no complaints made in response to environmental protection plans issued when the plant first got the go-ahead. The region's energy ministry, which cleared the project, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The statements have not reassured the activists, and many people in the southern riverside town of Konjic who have built their lives and livelihoods around tourism. Pippa Gallop of CEE Bankwatch, a network of environmental and human rights groups in central and eastern Europe, said the dam would block the upper Neretva "flooding almost five kilometres of this otherwise pristine ecosystem". "With tourism we preserve the nature and can live well off it," Teufik Niksic, who organises rafting tours in Konjic, said. Packing the river with rafters and holiday-makers would "earn more millions than those who want to block it and destroy its purity, colour and the life of endemic species." Bosnia - which gets 40% of its electricity from hydro power and the rest from coal-fired plants - is one of the few nations in the region with enough capacity to export power. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/activists-say-bosnian-dam-threatens-river-life-rafters-2024-06-25/

2024-06-25 12:33

OSLO, June 25 (Reuters) - Finnish energy firm Gasum, a key gas supplier to the Nordic region, will halt purchases and imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia in July in line with fresh European Union sanction, the company said on Tuesday. "Gasum complies with all sanctions imposed by the EU and will not purchase or import Russian LNG as of 26 July," the company said in a statement. EU member nations on Monday adopted a 14th package of sanctions on Russia that hit the country's gas exports for the first time. This includes a clause prohibiting the purchase or import of Russian LNG through European Union terminals that are not connected to the EU gas network, added on the behest of Sweden and Finland and allowing them to cancel some LNG contracts. While other LNG sanctions under the EU's latest package do not take effect until next year, the clause applying to Finland and Sweden is effective from July 26. "The sanctions adopted by the EU do not allow Gasum to terminate its agreement with Gazprom Export, but constitute a force majeure on the purchase or import of Russian LNG to off-grid terminals," Gasum said. The company has a long-term LNG supply contract with Gazprom Export which was concluded before 2022 on a so-called take-or-pay agreement, obliging it pay for the contracted gas regardless of whether it uses it or not. Without sanction, Gasum had been lacking legal grounds to stop its purchases. Gasum buys the LNG from the Kryogaz-Vysotsk plant controlled by Russia's Novatek. Gazprom and Novatek did not respond to requests for comment. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/finlands-gasum-stop-russian-lng-import-line-with-sanctions-2024-06-25/

2024-06-25 12:12

BEIJING, June 25 (Reuters) - China welcomes dairy companies from all countries, including the U.S., to expand their business in the Chinese market, Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen said on Tuesday. Wang made the remarks when meeting with U.S. Dairy Export Council President Krysta Harden, the ministry said in a statement. The visit came days after the ministry said China may impose provisional anti-dumping measures on pork imports from the European Union as part of a year-long probe that began on June 17. China has opened an investigation into EU pork and its by-products, a step that appears mainly aimed at Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark, after the bloc imposed anti-subsidy duties on Chinese-made electric vehicles. In Tuesday's statement, the commerce ministry said China and the U.S. exchanged views on economic and trade relations, cooperation in dairy products and other agricultural products. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/china-welcomes-us-dairy-firms-expanding-country-vice-minister-says-2024-06-25/

2024-06-25 11:43

Group firms said last month they had received notices from regulator Adani Enterprises said notices had no "material consequential effect" Group raising spending in fiscal 2025 by 85% to 1.3 trln rupees Targeting expected boom in infrastructure development in India AHMEDABAD, India, June 25 - The finance chief of the Adani Group conglomerate on Tuesday deemed some of the Indian market regulator notices received by group firms citing alleged regulatory lapses as "trivial" in nature. Led by billionaire Gautam Adani, the group has faced regulatory challenges in India since a report by short seller Hindenburg Research in January 2023. It accused group firms of improper use of tax havens and stock manipulation which sparked a $150 billion meltdown in the market value of group firms. The Adani Group denied any wrongdoing. Then last month, flagship firm Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS) New Tab, opens new tab and other group companies disclosed they had received notices from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) about alleged violations including non-compliance with certain provisions for listed companies. "Some (notices) are trivial," Chief Financial Officer Jugeshinder Singh told a media briefing in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. He referred to one such query he himself received relating to his share trading history in relation to the time that GQG Partners invested in the group last year. "I don't even have a demat account. They were very surprised to find out that I don't have a demat account," he said, referring to a trading account. "So that ends there. So they were these kinds of procedural things. They have to do something, they couldn't find anything." GQG and SEBI did not respond to Reuters' requests for immediate comment. Adani since the Hindenburg report has attracted investment from investors including GQG and Abu Dhabi conglomerate International Holding (IHC.AD) New Tab, opens new tab. Group companies said the notices they received were related to disclosure rules and related party transactions, but they have not provided detail regarding the alleged violations or the parties involved. Adani Enterprises said the notices had no "material consequential effect" for relevant financial statements and there was "no material non-compliance of applicable laws and regulations". INFRASTRUCTURE Also on Tuesday, Singh said the group would increase spending in fiscal year 2025 by 85%, to 1.3 trillion rupees ($15.6 billion), as it prepares to capitalise on an expected boom in infrastructure development. Adani Green Energy, the renewable energy arm of the group, will spend 340 billion rupees to add 6 gigawatts of capacity, Singh told reporters. Adani is also aiming to nearly double its cement making capacity to 140 million tons (MT) capacity by 2028 from 79 MT, he said. On Monday, the owner of Adani Group told investors it is "well positioned" to capitalise on opportunities in India's booming infrastructure sector. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/adani-cfo-calls-some-regulator-notices-group-received-trivial-2024-06-25/