“The government funds which was use to spent on unprofitable mining enterprises support will be going to modernization of those mines, which can be successfully privatized in the near future,” a government official explained.

Last year the Cabinet of Ministers did not shut down any of unprofitable mines, on the contrary government has allocated 4 billion grivnas to cover their expenses and obliged state-run power plants to buy coal exclusively from the state-owned mines. Furthermore, in 2009, the parliament approved tax privileges for any unprofitable mining enterprises.

“It is more expedient to spend funds directed to unprofitable mines for perspective enterprises development and modernization,” a cabinet official explained to daily Kommersant-Ukraine.

According to the official, the government will concentrate on the development of 63 state-run mines in 2010. Currently, there are 126 mines and management companies under the Ministry of Coal Industry control now.

According to the law, state-run NJSC Naftogaz in order to give an equal access to gas pipelines for each market participant, will be divided to three different enterprises by type of activity: marketing, extracting and transportation.

“Naftogaz needs financial aid. So the EU says: Give us transparency and we’ll give you aid,” Tom Mayne, an analyst at UK-based anti-corruption NGO Global Witness, said to euobserver.com

While the Ukrainians have fulfilled the European Union’s demands, the EU funds for country’s Gas Transit System modernization still remain in doubt due to the necessity of another condition; the adjusting of domestic gas tariffs on a level with world prices.

The current domestic price of natural gas paid by households and a utility company does not cover gas import costs.

“The document has been accepted in order to establish transparent rules in the market and to make them clear for our European partners”, Naftogaz of Ukraine official explains to local media.

According to the law, Ukrgazdobycha, Ukrtransgaz and Gas of Ukraine will become independent companies. They now exist as affiliated enterprises of NJSC Naftogaz.

The new law gives market participants possibility to freely choose suppliers, take part in delivery tenders and auctions.

“During the pre-crisis years real estate markets were overheated due to very trite reason like greediness”, UMA chairman of board Igor Yushko said to Kommersant-Ukraine daily.

The Association also registers the volume of problem debts enlargement from 0.7 percentage point to 5.8 percent amounting to 7.22 billion grivnas.

Bankers suppose that the noticeable worsening of debts is related not only to customers incomes diminishing, but also to excessive “dolarization” (US dollars debts take up 77 percent of the portfolio), and the fall in real estate prices. Last year real estate in Kiev has become cheaper by 10.7 percent in average.

The head of the Ukraine BNP Paribas representative office Dominic Menu remarked that it is possible to avoid this difficult situation if the Central Bank limited foreign currency crediting.

“It had to be limited even in 2007″, he confided, “This is absolutely wrong when banks receive overseas funding for 2 to 5 years while credits were been given for 30 years”.

Escalating quantity of the market members and decreasing the average of grivna credits interest rates form 26 to 24.5 percent were not able to prevent the market decline. Bank conditions are still unaffordable for the majority of potential customers. So, the Association estimates further declining of mortgage volume.

“We have to hold prices for at list half a year to ensure customers that real estate will not continue to fall in price”, said Yushko.

“The growth renewal might be possible if banks will allows to work with long term credits in grivnas, which is hard to expect in the near future”, Troyka Dialog senior analyst Evgeny Grebenuk said.

“Central bank have to switch on a printing press and fill the economy with grivnas”, Minister of Economy adviser Sergey Yaremenko said.

“When inflation rate will drop lower than 10 percent, we’ll start to talk about mortgage market renewal”, Forum Bank official Kshishtov Kuzhbik concluded.

The shares of construction company with total value of US$1.37 billion were issued on January 6, 2010. US$3.2 billion is required for the project achievement.

Construction on the Rogun Dam began back in 1976, and continued in starts and stops for the past 30 years. In 2004, the Tajik government formed a partnership with Russia’s Rusal to complete the project. Despite Rusal’s US$2 billion commitment to the project, Tajikistan authorities had canceled their contract in 2007.

Both sides disagreed on multiple regional considerations, notably the appropriate height of the dam. Russia had argued that the dam should be shorter than originally planned, due to seismic activity in the region, but Tajikistan insisted that the dam should reach a height of 1.099 feet (335 meters). Since the cancellation of the contract, Tajikistan had struggling to find investors to complete financing for the US$3.2 billion project.

At the beginning of December 2009, the government ordered that every family in the country would be required to pay US$690 to finance the completion of Rogun dam, while the average Tajik salary is only US$60 per month.

Earlier, the experts indicated the voluntary-compulsory nature of stocks promotion. The mass media reported the unofficial competition between the regional authorities on higher sales of the Rogun stocks. Some sources reported that even the students were forced to buy stocks in order pass the exams.

The purchase of the Rogun hydropower plant shares by the population became the reason of undermined food security in Tajikistan, monitoring report of UN World Food Program for Tajikistan, based on data, supplied by Rapid evaluation and coordination group under the Emergency Control Ministry said late April.

The deterioration of the food security in Tajikistan has been observed in the last three months and, in the opinion of authors of report, one of the reasons of such situation, especially in the rural area, is the purchase of the Rogun hydroelectric power plant stocks by the population. The report also indicates that over one third of Tajikistan’s population is affected by the downturn of the food security.

Tajikistan has some of the greatest hydroelectric power potential, largely untapped. The country has tapped only three percent of its hydroelectric capacity, which is estimated to be 527 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually.

Tajikistan currently generates approximately 16.5 billion kWh of electricity per year. Most of that is generated by the huge Nurek Dam, which was constructed from 1961-1980. It contains nine generating units each with a capacity of 300MW for a total capacity of 2.700MW. The reservoir behind the dam covers a surface area of 98 square kilometers.

Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko has asked the government to look for new commodity markets. “There are other fish in the sea besides Russia and Europe — it is necessary to reach out to the new regions”, he told Interfax. According to Lukashenko, Belarus is being pushed to embrace new partners because of unfair trade conditions with Russia and evasion of arrangements.

Minsk started it’s search for new partners when Russia stopped to finance delivery of cheap oil, he reminded. This year Belarus will receive 6.3 million duty-free tons of oil though 1.7 million tons less than asked for.

China decided to grant Belarus a soft loan of one billion dollars for the implementation of joint projects. According to the deputy chairman of China, President Hu Jintao personally ordered Chinese officials to study all the proposals of the Belarusian side on development of joint projects.

“We need to develop the potential of trade and promote cooperation in most large-scale projects, and thereby raise the level of our cooperation”, – said Xi in Minsk during his official visit to the country.

The Belarusian government’s press-service informed that the two countries’ cooperation program includes 89 projects, such as car manufacturing, renovation of power stations, building of hotels and a China-town in the country. Projects ought to be realized within three to four years. “Belarus prepares for privatization, and China would like to participate in it”, said the head of “Strategia” analytical center Leonid Zaiko.

The vice-premier of the government Vladimir Semashko told Reuters that Minsk going to import oil from Venezuela and a trial run of 80 000 tons is supposed to arrive in May.

Earlier Belarusian representatives declared their intention to import 4 million tons from Venezuela in 2010 and to increase volumes of purchases to 10 million tons in a year’s prospect. The total amount of the country internal consumption is now 6.3 million tons.

“We do not want to avoid cooperation with Russia, this is a question of markets diversification and mutually beneficial cooperation with new partners” announced Minsk officials to local media, while adding, “We offer Venezuela and China the projects rejected by the Russian Federation”.

Meanwhile, head of Mizesa’s Research center Yaroslav Romanchuk is assured that the transportation costs from Venezuela will block any profit. “The union with Venezuela is a rather political anti western campaign than economical decision”, — said Romanchuk to Russian business paper Vedomosti. The statistics does not reflect any growth of trade between these two countries. In January 2009 Venezuela bought 517 Belarus tractors while only seven in January 2010 .

The agreement was signed in Vientiane on March 22 by the Laotian Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sitaheng Rasphone and T. Badamjunai, the Mongolian Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry.

“We are interested in trading agricultural and forestry products with Laos”, said Mongolian Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Mr. Badamjunia during his official visit to the country. He told local media, “this cooperation would increase relations between the two countries in the future.”

Under the agreement, the two sides agreed to formulate joint collaborative projects involving both the public and private agricultural sectors of the two countries and to set up joint venture companies in rice production and processing, said the newspaper.

According to signed agreement, Laos would export rice and sugar to Mongolia, as well as invest in wood processing and livestock breeding exchanges.

Laos contains more than 800.000 hectares of rice fields and produced about three million tones of rice last year, a figure which is set to rise to 3.3 million tons this year, said President of the Lao-Agro Processing Association, Mr Phouvong Korasack.

The country has sufficient rice for domestic consumption and also exports the crop to Vietnam and Thailand. Last year the country exported around 10.000 tones of sugar to Europe, said Mr Phouvong. The Laotian government plans to increase production of rice and sugar to ensure domestic supply is met and that exports can be increased.

Mongolia currently imports about 25.000 tons of sugar and 30.000 tons of rice a year, primarily from Vietnam and China.

On the basis of the cooperation agreement, Laos will consider a number of proposals by Mongolia including the transferring agricultural land use rights of 10.000 hectares in Laos to Mongolian companies to produce rice and other crops, the development of sheep farming in Laos and the establishment of a Mongolian agriculture cooperation center in Laos.

Andrei Kruglov, Gazprom’s deputy CEO, discussed his company’s interest in boosting its stake in the company. This comes a few years after the company purchased 50 percent of Beltrangaz’s shares in 2007 indicating Gazproms’s intention to increase their control over the Belarusian pipeline.

“As for Gazprom’s corporate policy in the investment area, we are striving to obtain control,” he said to local media in Minsk.

According to Kruglov, the company would “correct its business plan based on inter governmental relations.”

“Gazprom’s investment in Beltransgaz is part of an agreement at the inter-governmental level and is fully compliant with internal corporate investment policy for the development of transport infrastructure.”

He added that the company would look carefully at possible investment yields. “We will be making sure that in the future out input corresponds with the yield standards.”

The company could also seek the Belarussian government’s minority stake in Belgazprombank, the second largest bank in Belarus outside the state sector.

“That depends on the government of Belarus. It could decide to hold onto its stake in Belgazprombank, and if it does, we’ll support that. It those shares are put up for sale, of course the shareholders will think about the proposal,” said Kruglov while also adding that Gazprom is satisfied with their current level of involvement in Belgazprombank.

The mid-annual price for the Russian gas was established for Belarus in 2010 at $171.5 for one thousand cubic meters.

Kruglov has also pointed out that Belarusian debts for supplied gas now reach $94.5 million. He has declared that Gazprom expects to obtain repayment of Belarusian debts this year.

“I can report that 20 thousand tons of wheat has been exported to the Peoples Republic of China for the first time,” said Kazakhstan’s Vice-Premier Umirzak Shukeev during the meeting.

Earlier, during negotiations between Kazakhstan’s national corporation ‘Prodkorporatsija’ and China’s leading grain, oil, and food trading group COFCO, the ‘Prodkorporatsija’ stated their readiness to deliver around 150 thousand tons of high-quality wheat to the PRC market.

“The serious barrier to advancement of Kazakhstan grain to world markets is the absence of a direct transit route to seaports. The expense of transfer tariffs for each ton of grain rises approximately 50 dollars,” said Shukeev.

In this regard, the Kazakhstan government plans to initiate and complete export infrastructure construction including a railway grain terminal along the Kazakhstan – PRC border by 2013. The terminal will directly link Dostyk station (Kazakhstan territory) and Alashankou (Sintszjan-Uigur Independent Area, Northwest China). The single storage capacity of the terminal is put at one million tons of grain.

Shukeev also stated that the coordination of the project by governmental order has provided a direct means of reducing the transportation costs of the grain through China and this rate stands at 40 US$ per ton.

According to the ‘Kazakh-grain’ news agency, the country topped world wheat flour exports in 2007 and now maintains 6th place among the world’s largest grain exporters. Last year, the country’s share from the world’s total wheat flour export amount stood at 18 percent.

By Edith Balazs

Feb. 24 (Bloomberg) — Hungarian Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai said countries in central and eastern Europe should join together and create a “triangle” of supply points for natural gas to reduce dependence on fuel from Russia.

“I’m proposing that countries in the region set up a gas supply triangle to boost the diversity and security,” Bajnai said at an energy summit in Budapest today, which was attended by heads of government from countries in the region. “We need to increase the number of independent suppliers.”

Countries in the region, dependent on Russian gas, have repeatedly suffered from fuel shortages because of pricing disputes between Russia and Ukraine, a transit country. Hungary gets about 80 percent of its gas from Russia and supports the European Union-backed Nabucco pipeline aimed at bringing Caspian gas to Europe.

Nabucco would be the eastern tip of a triangle, which would include a planned liquefied natural-gas terminal in Poland in the north and an LNG terminal in Krk, Croatia, in the south, Bajnai said. The plan would secure supply of gas transported in the Baltic and Adriatic seas, he said.

“Our aim is to create a critical mass that can represent its interest more efficiently, a critical mass that simply can’t be passed by or overlooked,” Bajnai said.

“The United States has kept providing Taiwan with defensive weapons according to the Taiwan Relations Act, enabling Taiwan to be more confident in pressing for reconciliation with the Chinese mainland,” Minister Kao said.

“In the future, Taiwan will continue purchasing more weaponry from the United States… so as to build a smaller and leaner deterrent force.”

The US$6.8 billion arms sale between the U.S. and Taiwan in January infuriated Chinese officials who accused America of using “cold war logic.”

Speaking at a security conference in Munich last week, China’s Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said that the deal violated standards in international relations and provoked officials in Beijing.

According to the AFP, Taiwan’s Premier Wu Den-yih dismissed Yang’s allegations, saying Beijing’s continued missile buildup along the mainland coastline facing the island had prompted Taiwan to seek more self-defensive weaponry.

“It’s just like two people trying for reconciliation. If one of them sticks a gun in his waist, it would be weird, don’t you think so,” Wu said in an interview with Hong Kong-based Phoenix satellite television Saturday.

“The people of Taiwan would feel better if China can withdraw its missiles…,” he said.

That’s not going to happen.