Latest updates, insights, and analysis.
Sri Lanka has begun purchasing oil from Russia after supplies from its normal Middle East suppliers were disrupted a month ago. The price of fuel has rocketed and shortages have been affecting many aspects of local life and services. The first shipments are due to arrive at the end of this month.
Russia is set to resume its tourist trade with Venezuela after the countries President Maduro was abducted by US forces in January. The local situation appears to have returned to some normality with the resumption of direct flights between Moscow and Isla Marguerita now under discussion.
Russia has stepped up diplomatic and energy supply chain developments this past month with visits to India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, while Pakistan and Afghanistan, both bordering Iran, are also developing as key links in new emerging South Asian oil and gas infrastructure and architecture. We examine what is happening in a region that Russia is almost right in the centre of as regards energy security and future supplies.
Two senior Russian officials have released a joint analysis concerning Russia’s views of ASEAN, its relations with BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Eurasian Economic Union and its role in defining the emerging new world order. It is essential geopolitical strategic reading for anyone interested in Southeast Asia and its relations with Russia, and the developing multipolar world.
Russia’s FESCO Transportation Group and the UAE’s DP World are creating a logistics and shipping alliance that will dwarf all the largest global operators such as Maersk and will develop both the Northern Sea Route as well as look at further developing Middle East-Asia-Central Asia-Russia trade dynamics. The move comes as sanctions and conflicts disrupt traditional routes and will secure Eurasian trade in the longer term.
Russia’s Deputy Head of the Russian Presidential Administration, Maxim Oreshkin, has stated that Russia’s foreign trade has increased, not decreased since western sanctions were imposed on the country in 2022. We crunch the numbers to look at what has changed and where Russian exports markets have declined, increased, and in which commodities.
Armenia is negotiating with Russia over the construction of a second Nuclear Power Plant. Armenia’s existing NPP dates back to the Soviet era, while Armenia looks to secure future energy supplies. Yerevan however appears intent on driving a hard bargain.
The latest Russia-Cuba Intergovernmental meeting has just taken place in Moscow, with some 90 Russian companies expressing interest in providing agricultural exports and investments into the country. Pork and flour supplies are especially needed with these a staple of Cuban cuisine.
Russia’s Transmashholdings, the countries largest manufacturer of railway locomotives and carriages, is eying the Vietnamese market as several Vietnamese city projects are being put into practice including new underground Metro and regular overland rail services.
Iran has stated it will only allow ships from Russia, China, India, Pakistan and Iraq through the Strait of Hormuz. We look at the wider implications as the conflict spreads beyond military force and is now being impacted by anti-conflict Western financiers with specific implications for Europe, Asia and the United States. Western politicians are no longer being supported by their own backers.
The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko has stated that Russia will not export oil to any countries imposing a price cap. This affects all the G7 nations including the European Union, who have imposed price caps at US$45 a barrel for Russian fuel oil. However, volatility created by the conflict in Iran has seen prices fluctuate between US$75 to above US$100 a barrel while Russia has shifted its energy export priorities to markets in Asia. JP Morgan analysts suggest the price could reach US$150 a barrel if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened soon.
Russia has agreed to extend a gas supply contract with Serbia ‘on favourable terms’ following conversations between the Russian and Serbian Presidents. The existing contract was due to expire on March 31. Alternative energy supplies to Serbia have significantly dropped since the Iran conflict began, however Belgrade has a good relationship with Moscow meaning it can mitigate against these problems.
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