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Eastern Europe Economy & Foreign Trade Russia

Belarusian Gold, Forex Reserves at Record High

After Belarus’ reserves were depleted last year owing to a severe financial crisis, it has achieved the set 2012 target of US$7 billion in forex and gold reserves in the very first week, the National Bank of Belarus said in a statement earlier this month.

As local information agency BelTA reports, the increase in the gold and foreign exchange reserves was facilitated by the second tranche of the EurAsEC Anticrisis Fund loan to the tune of US$440 million and the transfer of part of the syndicated loan provided to OAO Belaruskali by Sberbank of Russia and the Eurasian Development Bank.

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Central Asia Economy & Foreign Trade Issue

Kazakhstan to Join WTO by End of 2012

Kazakhstan expects to enter the World Trade Organization (WTO) by December 2012, KazTAG reported Timur Sulejmenov, vice minister of economic development, as saying.

Negotiations on the post-Soviet republic’s WTO accession have been on-going for more than 14 years. According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the country applied for membership in the WTO in April 1996 and circulated its Memorandum on the Foreign Trade Regime in 1996. Kazakhstan’s Working Party met for the first time in March 1997.

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Central Asia Economy & Foreign Trade Finance & Taxes Issue

Kazakhstan to Raise Export Duties on Oil Products

Kazakhstan’s government has raised export duties on petroleum products, the national press reports.

The decree, signed by Prime Minister Karim Massimov on September 5, was published in the national press last Saturday, September 17. The new export duty rates will come into force from September 27.

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Eastern Europe Economy & Foreign Trade Finance & Taxes Issue Legal & Regulatory Politics

Ukraine to Confirm Pension Reform for IMF Tranche

Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada has approved an unpopular pension reform bill set as a key requirement to unlock a US$15.6 billion aid package from the International Monetary Fund to the Ukrainian economy.

The bill, approved early Friday, is designed to overhaul Ukraine’s Soviet-era pension system as the government seeks to slash spending in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis.

Ukraine’s parliament approved a government bill on pension reform at first reading on June 16.

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Eastern Europe Economy & Foreign Trade Russia

Georgia Wants to Double FDI to US$1 Billion

Georgia expects foreign investment to double to US$1 billion this year, with energy and tourism sectors leading the way, its economy minister Vera Kobalia said last Wednesday.

Foreign direct investment in Georgia fell 16 percent in 2010 year on year to US$553 million, official data shows, well below the US$1 billion target already set for last year. Nevertheless, FDI still accounted for 5 percent of gross domestic product in 2010.

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Central Asia China Economy & Foreign Trade Issue Russia Science & Technology

Mongolia to Have First Nuclear Power Plant by 2020

Mongolia will have its first nuclear power plant by 2020 and planned to build nuclear fuel production capacity, Tsogtsaikhan Gombo, deputy chairman of state-owned MonAtom LLC has stated this week.

Japan’s recent nuclear disaster is not seen to have a lasting impact on the global nuclear industry, he said.

“We don’t think it’s a big problem for the industry as a whole. It’s a little bit of set-back in time frame, but as a whole it will go on” Gombo said. “We want green development and nuclear is the number one choice.”

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Central Asia Economy & Foreign Trade Politics

Mongolia May Store Taiwanese and South Korean Spent Nuclear Fuel

Mongolia may store Taiwan’s and South Korea’s spent nuclear fuel, a senior U.S. diplomat said to the Global Security Newswire.

According to Richard Stratford, who directs the State Department’s Nuclear Energy, Safety and Security Office, U.S. Energy Department’s officials and their counterparts in Ulaanbaatar, the Mongolian capital, are in the early stages of discussion.

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Central Asia Economy & Foreign Trade Issue

Indian Steel Producer to Buy Two Coal Mines and Build up a Factory in Mongolia

The second-largest Indian steel producer is seeking to purchase at least two coking coal mines in Mongolia and build one US$3 billion factory.

According to the Steel Authority of India Ltd., the company aims to buy one mine itself and another through a venture with other state-run metal and energy companies.

Mongolia, holding the world’s largest deposit of steelmaking raw material, is seeking developers to help it feed demand for raw materials from its neighbors, while maintaining control over the deposits. The Tavan Tolgoi region holds more than 6 billion metric tons of coal in the deserts of southern Mongolia.

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Central Asia Economy & Foreign Trade Finance & Taxes

Mongolia to Choose Underwriters for Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi IPO

Mongolian state-run Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi is expected to appoint banks to manage an IPO worth up to US$5 billion for the world’s largest unexploited coking coal deposit, a source close to the matter told reporters.

More than 150 investment banks from Wall Street, Europe and Asia-Pacific made pitches to the Mongolian government over the past few days to win the coveted underwriting mandate for the Tavan Tolgoi coal mine. Sources said a decision is expected within two weeks.

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Eastern Europe Economy & Foreign Trade Issue Legal & Regulatory Russia

Latvia to Lure Foreign Investors With Five Year EU Residence

A new Latvian law that provides residency rights to foreign investors has provided a boost to the real estate market and nationalist sentiment alike, the BBC reported.

The new amendment to the Latvian Law on Immigration came into force in July, 1, and allows foreign investors and their family members including those from non-EU countries to receive a 5-year residence permit in Latvia along with the right to travel in the Schengen area freely, if they purchase Latvian property of at least 70,000 euros (US$95,000) in value, or invest in a business.