Russian News: January 11th, 2008!

RBC, 11.01.2008, Moscow 17:16:33.GM-AVTOVAZ produced 55,052 Chevrolet Niva and Chevrolet Viva cars in 2007, up 15 percent from the previous year, the automobile manufacturer’s press office said in a statement today. The company’s sales grew 14 percent to 54,610 cars. In particular, 6,457 cars were sold in the CIS. By the end of 2007, the company’s dealer network included 121 dealerships in 79 Russian cities and a further 9 in the CIS.

RBC, 11.01.2008, Moscow 16:17:14.Russia’s trade surplus increased 45.82 percent to $13.453bn in November 2007 compared to the same month a year earlier, the Bank of Russia reported. The estimates were given on a balance-of-payments basis. Exports grew 41.1 percent to $36.124bn and imports rose 38.4 percent to $22.571bn. Foreign trade according to the balance-of-payments methodology amounted to $445.935bn in January-October 2007, a 20.8 percent increase from the same period a year earlier…..(Click: read more)

RBC, 11.01.2008, Moscow 16:08:43.Ukraine supplied 4.621bn kilowatt-hours of electricity to Central and Eastern European countries in 2007, down 6.8 percent from the previous year’s figure, the republic’s Fuel and Energy Ministry stated. Electricity exports to the CIS fell 16.9 percent to 4.553bn kilowatt-hours, while imports from a number of countries, including Russia, reached 34m kilowatt-hours in 2007. Ukraine did not import electricity in 2006. Electricity exports to Central and Eastern European countries decreased 12.5 percent to 356m kilowatt-hours in December 2007 compared to the corresponding month a year earlier. Meanwhile, supplies to the CIS dropped 65.2 percent to 252m kilowatt-hours.

RBC, 11.01.2008, Moscow 15:40:17.Russia’s gold and currency reserves stood at $476.4bn on January 1,2008. Therefore, the reserves grew 0.5 percent, or $2.4bn within the last three days of 2007. As a result, the Bank of Russia’s reserves went up a total of $172.7bn, or 57 percent from the previous year. In 2007, Russia has been able to somewhat narrow the huge gap separating it from China and Japan, the world’s leaders in terms of gold and foreign exchange reserves.

RBC, 11.01.2008, Chisinau 14:11:19.In 2007, Moldova increased its currency reserves by a factor of 1.7, the National Bank of Moldova told RBC. As of December 21, 2007, the bank’s currency reserves reached USD 1,333.68m, up from USD 775.29m a year earlier. By the end of the first half of 2007, the reserves stood at USD 878.52m, and the level of USD 1bn was beaten in late August 2007. The rise in currency reserves is attributable to the National Bank’s acquisition of currency surplus resulting from contributions by guest workers as well as new loan tranches from the International Monetary Fund. Earlier, Moldova’s Prime Minister Vasily Tarlev said that the steady growth of the nation’s currency reserves proved its financial stability and encouraged foreign investment.

RBC, 11.01.2008, Moscow 11:39:47.At today’s special dollar trading session for tomorrow deals, the low on deals is currently at 24.35 RUB/USD, RUB 0.13, or over 0.5 percent, below the official dollar rate set by the Bank of Russia for January 11, 2008. The dollar’s recession against the ruble has been prompted by the euro’s steady rise on the global market, where it is now buying some USD 1.4810, up from USD 1.48 at today’s open, and from USD 1.4670 yesterday morning. As a result, the weighted average dollar exchange rate has slipped as low as 24.36 RUB/USD.

Subscribe in a reader