Day: June 7, 2024
President Ilham Aliyev: Hungary is our number one partner in European Union. https://t.co/WIottBkZq2 pic.twitter.com/13zp0egg7n
— Emin Bred (@emin_bred) June 7, 2024
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received the delegation led by Zhang Ming, Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
The Prime Minister welcomed Zhang Ming’s visit to Armenia and emphasized the development of cooperation with the organization. Nikol Pashinyan noted that Armenia is interested in deepening broad regional cooperation and referred to the “Crossroads of Peace” project of the Armenian government in that regard.
Zhang Ming emphasized the interest of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Secretariat in expanding mutually beneficial relations with Armenia.
The interlocutors exchanged views on the activities of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and further cooperation.
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Cut off from the West, Russia is pitching its $2 trillion economy to giants like China and Saudi Arabia and longer-term prospects like Zimbabwe and Afghanistan at its premier investment forum in St. Petersburg, which was founded by the czars as a window to Europe.
The war in Ukraine has led to the biggest upheaval in Russia’s relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and Western sanctions have forced a once-in-a-century revolution in Russia’s economic relations.
Since Peter the Great laid the foundations of the modern Russian state and made St. Petersburg the capital in the early 18th century, Russia’s rulers have looked to the West as a source of technology, investment and ideas.
The 2022 invasion of Ukraine, though, has forced President Vladimir Putin to pivot towards Asia and the rest of the non-Western world amid what the Kremlin says amounts to an economic blockade by the United States and its European allies.
Western sanctions have not torpedoed Russia’s economy, however, and Moscow has nurtured ties with China, major regional powers in the Middle East and across Africa and Latin America.
It is less clear, though, how much cash these countries are prepared to invest in Russia’s economy, and at what price. No blockbuster deals have been announced so far.
But Russian officials say it is just beginning — and that relations with the West are ruined for a generation.
Bolivian President Luis Arce, who will join Putin at the main session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, said he wanted to share the experience of Bolivia’s new economic model — with a big state — since 2006.
“We have our own economic model, which we have been implementing since 2006, and we want to share this experience,” Arce told Putin.
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa is attending, as are 45 other foreign officials including the Saudi energy minister, Oman’s minister of trade and commerce, and a senior Taliban official.
Russian trade with Zimbabwe is tiny though — just $168 million in 2023 versus Russian-European Union trade of $300 billion in the year before Russia invaded Ukraine.
Gone from the forum are the Western investors and investment bankers who once flocked to secure a slice of Russia’s vast mineral wealth and one of Europe’s biggest consumer markets. Reuters saw no major Western companies at the forum.
Largely gone too are the 1990s oligarchs who made fortunes wheeling and dealing in the chaos of a collapsing superpower.
In Putin’s Russia the main arbiter is the state, controlled by the former Cold War spies and technocrats in his entourage.
Chinese dragon
State-controlled banks such as Sberbank, VTB and VEB have massive stands, as do Russian regions and ministries along with resource giants such as Gazprom Neft and Novatek.
In a sign of the times, Alfa Bank’s stand was a vast Chinese inflated dragon adorned with Chinese characters and an assertion that Alfa was “the best bank for business with China.”
Chinese luxury car brand Hongqi featured armored vehicles. A delegation from the Taliban, still officially banned in Russia, toured the stands. The Taliban originally drew members from fighters who, with U.S. support, repelled Soviet forces in the 1980s.
The theme of the forum is the statement: “The foundation of a multipolar world is the formation of new points of growth.”
While Russia’s economy has shown resilience in the face of stringent Western sanctions, prices are rising as defense spending balloons.
In dollar terms, the economy is about the same size it was a decade ago, and Putin is locked into an economic war with the West, whose financial might is at least 25 times bigger than Russia’s on a nominal GDP basis.
From many foreign attendees there was praise for Russia. “This year’s event has grown in size… There are a lot of opportunities,” Nebeolisa Anako, an official from Nigeria, told Reuters.
“The West may be actually isolating themselves as they are a minority in the world, although a very important part of the world. It is always better to cooperate with other parts of the world.”
Other officials from Africa and the Middle East echoed those words.
Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman met Putin’s energy point man, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, at the forum.
Novak said “friendly countries” took the vast majority of its oil exports and that about 70% of it was paid for in national currencies.
“We already supply 95% of oil and petroleum products to friendly countries this year in four months,” Novak said.
Депутаты «Грузинской мечты», поддерживающей российский закон, реагируют на введение визовых санкций со стороны США. Как пишет в соцсети депутат Нино Цилосани, цель санкций — продление «жизни оппозиции». При этом она заявила, что гордится тем, что «служит» своей стране. «По поводу санкций я уже однажды высказала свою позицию и особо не изменила своего мнения. Однако если […]
The Mangystau region of Kazakhstan has proposed boosting the supply of consumer food products from Azerbaijan, according to Azerbaijan in Focus, reporting Azernews.
Nurdaulet Kilybay, head of the Mangystau region, presented this proposal during a meeting with Elchin Mammadov, the Consul General of Azerbaijan in Aktau.
“I’d like to propose some collaboration options. Instead of waiting for high-level official meetings, let’s initiate joint projects and foster bilateral relations through mutual agreements. As you know, the Mangystau region lacks a variety of fruits and vegetables and mostly relies on imports. Therefore, I suggest that companies in Azerbaijan explore opportunities to enhance the supply of food and consumer goods, particularly fruits and construction materials, to our region. Additionally, we should strengthen tourism ties between Azerbaijan and the Mangystau region,” he said.
Mammadov emphasized the strong relationship between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, expressing the Consulate General’s keen interest in fostering joint projects to reinforce the fraternal ties between the two peoples.
“The Mangystau region is of significant importance to our nation. Collaboratively, the state maritime companies of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have augmented the fleet of vessels for cargo transportation. We believe that construction materials, textiles, and agricultural products from both countries, as well as the exchange of food items, mutual investments, and joint productions, can substantially boost trade volume. There are promising prospects for enhancing tourism cooperation between our nations. It’s worth noting that in 2025, the city of Aktau will be designated as the capital of the Turkic world. Numerous events and official visits from delegations of Turkic-speaking countries are anticipated. This presents an opportunity for us to further strengthen our close cooperation,” he elaborated.
In 2023, the trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan surged to $529.4 million, marking a 14.2 percent increase compared to the previous year’s figure of $463.3 million. Exports to Azerbaijan during this period totaled $456.3 million, representing a notable 21.6 percent increase compared to the same period in 2022. Imports from Azerbaijan from January through December 2023 experienced a decline of 17.3 percent, amounting to $73 million, compared to $88.3 million in 2022.
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