Russia has been showing serious concern about the development of its Far East region. It is a huge underdeveloped region and despite the harsh climate conditions, the Russian government consistently expresses the desire to turn it into agricultural field and is determined to support both local and foreign investors interested in developing agriculture.
The 7th Eastern Economic Forum, which organizers expect visitors from over 60 countries and scheduled in Vladivostok on September 5-8, prioritizes the region’s agriculture for further exhaustive discussions based on the previous sessions. With the support of the Ministry of Development of the Russian Far East, the panelists will again review the recognition given to and significance of the sector especially large-scale production for internal consumption and for exports to foreign countries.
The session on agriculture has interconnection with the future of certain industries such as the efficient development of the industrial sector, food security, the climate and environmental issues, and of course the development of domestic and inbound tourism. In relation to the construction sector as well as many others, the panelists’ might further focus talk about the lives (including feeding) of indigenous peoples in the Far East.
It brings to the fore the significant question of agricultural self-sufficiency in the Russian Far East in today’s realities. The prerequisites for increasing production of all types of products exist, including the potential for putting agricultural land into maximum utilization and review the raw material base for processing, which is the basis for the sustainable development of grains, dairy and cattle breeding as well as poultry farming.
Our discussions with experts show that the natural and climatic conditions of this region allows to produce almost all types of crops and agricultural products generally. Agricultural experts say mechanizing production and planning within the dictates of the climate and natural conditions, there is possibility of meeting agricultural production targets. For this, only state support is needed.
On the other hand, experts here believe that given the fundamental transformation of the geopolitical and economic landscape, the Russian economy is facing an unprecedented task in its complexity and scale – to create a fundamentally new economic development model for the country aimed at achieving its technological sovereignty, reducing dependence on imports of critical foreign products, restoring and reformatting value chains in key sectors of the national economy.
Some suggested that there are various ways to build an effective incentive system for large-scale import substitution and the ways to achieve integration between fundamental science of agriculture and the related sectors of the economy. Russia has significant resource, technical and scientific potential, but one other surest way is attracting private investment in the development of this remote Far East region of Russia.
At present, Russia has all the necessary prerequisites in place for the transition to a new bottom-up phase. Obviously, it is not possible to achieve this goal from the state budget alone; the Russian business community must be actively involved in this process. Overcoming imbalances in the development of remote territories – Siberia, the Arctic, and the Far East – and creating new enclaves of integrated economic development are essential to achieving sustainable economic growth.
Therefore, participants in the sessions of the forthcoming forum will determine whether the existing support measures for the industry allow for a multiple increase in production volumes, identify priority areas of the industry for each region of the Far Eastern Federal District, and discuss how to ensure the transfer of products between regions of the district and bring unused land into use at an accelerated rate. Special attention will be paid during the session to support measures to increase the level of agricultural self-sufficiency of the Far East.
The are obvious problems to overcome. Agricultural facilities are very costly undertaking. For investment projects related to processing, it is crucial that feedstock is better protected, it has shown that existing 20% currently available is insufficient in the region. The development of infrastructure is probably the most critical element in terms of enabling the agricultural sector to fully capitalize on the potential afforded by its climate and increase production.
The key issue is investment – long term investment in storage facilities and logistics. We need 10 to 15-year investments, and Sber bank is in a position to offer these. This is also vital for unlocking export potential, according to Vladimir Sitnov, Senior Vice President of Sberbank. These are investments related to processing, including the processing of products which are in demand in key markets. A crucial element which is still not being properly discussed – although the ministry is already giving thought to it – is putting logistics in place in target sales markets.
Last year, the Asia-Pacific region imported food and agricultural products worth a total of almost $700 billion. That in effect represents 45% of global imports. It can be difficult for producers of goods in the Far East to find new sales channels in the Asia-Pacific region. But the outlook is that it sets out a great many measures and its agricultural sector can capitalize on in the Far East.
“We can see a fundamental approach for the Far East’s agricultural industry to substantially increase both production volumes and added value. By this we can capitalize on exports to the Asia-Pacific region. The potential in this area will bring about an increase in agricultural production that will be measured not as a percentage, but as a multi-fold increase,” stressed Sergey Levin, Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation.
President Vladimir Putin, in an early September message to participants, expressed Russia ‘s readiness to continue, along with all interested partners especially those from the Asia-Pacific countries, to make efforts to improve regional cooperation and in various sectors in the Far East.
The Far East is sparsely populated and government’s efforts to repopulate this region has been unsuccessful till now. Far back in 2016, a programme was approved which hoped to resettle at least 500,000 Ukrainians in the Far East. This included giving free land to attract voluntary immigrants from Ukraine and the settlement of refugees from East Ukraine.
The region’s 6.3 million people translates to slightly less than one person per square kilometer, making the Russia’s Far East one of the most sparsely populated areas in the world. According to geographical records, by description and depending on the context, it has over one-third of total land area and located in the easternmost part of Russia.
The right policies can protect the workers of Asia and the Pacific
MD Africa Editor Kester Kenn Klomegah is an independent researcher and writer on African affairs in the EurAsian region and former Soviet republics. He wrote previously for African Press Agency, African Executive and Inter Press Service. Earlier, he had worked for The Moscow Times, a reputable English newspaper. Klomegah taught part-time at the Moscow Institute of Modern Journalism. He studied international journalism and mass communication, and later spent a year at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. He co-authored a book “AIDS/HIV and Men: Taking Risk or Taking Responsibility” published by the London-based Panos Institute. In 2004 and again in 2009, he won the Golden Word Prize for a series of analytical articles on Russia's economic cooperation with African countries.
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Absolute Proof that EU Leaders Are Responsible for Europe’s Soaring Fuel-Prices
The epidemic of oil and gas psychosis in the so-called unfriendly countries keeps heating up as the G7 countries (UK, Germany, Italy, Canada, France, Japan and the US) plan to introduce a price ceiling for Russian oil by December 5.
This move will unbalance even more the global oil and gas flows with unpredictable consequences for all market players. The G7 members have finally put in deep freeze the ideals of “free market” and “free competition,” as well as those of free access to energy resources, including LNG, and processed hydrocarbon products. This will certainly reflect on the prices and other significant factors that will be very much visible in the global energy field.
Do you want to remove Russia, one of the world’s three biggest players, from this market? If so, then you will get a serious deformation of the entire system – oil, gas, price, economic. Yes, this will benefit the United States, but hardly everyone else, including America’s G7 partners, let alone all the other players in the global energy market.
The Americans, as always, lead the way in making repressive declarations, with Republican Senator Marco Rubio having already drafted a bill to sanction oil and LNG shipments from Russia to China. However, a halt in oil supplies from Russia will force Beijing to join in the struggle for hydrocarbons from the Middle East and Africa, which is sure to send prices up.
The West keeps ramping up its sanctions pressure against Russia, justifying this by Moscow’s ongoing special military operation in Ukraine.
The events of the past 12 years have changed the energy and political picture of the world, with the United States turning from the world’s leading consumer of oil and gas to their biggest producer and a major exporter, while China has become the main consumer of these resources.
During the 1990s and early 2000s, the United States and the International Energy Agency believed that in the foreseeable future, America would remain the world’s number one importer of energy resources. Therefore, Washington was actively looking for external partners in the energy sector, while Russia was viewed as one of the main such partners, along with Saudi Arabia. Indeed, after the crisis of the 1970s, the United States relied on the Middle East – above all on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – as the main guarantor of its own energy security. During the 1990s, Washington’s hopes were quite naturally pinned on Russia.
Russia needed US technologies, investments, management experience, and the United States needed Russian energy resources, especially oil and gas, and Russian markets for American products. This cooperation was developing fast and in the 1990s, US companies actively participated in the implementation of major oil and gas investment projects in Russia (Sakhalin-1, Sakhalin-2, etc.), with the US government providing strong political support for and prioritizing these projects.
The Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission, where I worked, was directly involved in the promotion of these projects. One of the outcomes of the May 2001 meeting between the presidents of Russia and the United States, was the idea of an Energy Dialogue between the two countries, designed to promote commercial cooperation in the energy sector by increasing interaction between Russian and US firms engaged in the exploration, production, processing, transportation and marketing of energy resources, as well as in the implementation of joint projects, including in third countries.
Also in 2001, there came out the “Partnership between the US and Russia: New Times, New Opportunities” White Paper, which outlined the position of the US Congress regarding energy cooperation with Russia. The document explicitly stated that the development of bilateral energy cooperation should become a priority in US foreign policy, since the US could thus “save itself from the risks of uncertainty in energy supplies and unnecessary dependence.”** (American Foreign Policy Council. Washington, D.C.: Franklin’s Printing Company, 2003.)
However, America’s technological progress and new industrial breakthroughs made in a single decade turned the situation all around. With the advent of the shale revolution, the pace of the cooperation between the two countries, including in energy, slowed down. A shift in America’s priorities pushed its the energy partnership with Russia into the background. Moreover, the dramatic reduction of energy ties with Russia has become an additional factor in Washington’s push for an across-the-board escalation of tensions with Moscow. Similar things are happening with our main European partner, Germany. “In addition to the pandemic, sanctions, global trade conflicts and protectionism have become a serious challenge for large German concerns, medium-sized businesses and family businesses operating in Russia,” said Rainer Seele, former head of the Austrian company OMV.
In Europe, the dreams of a future carbon-free energy are still alive, even though the upcoming winter season has put them on the back burner. The German government fears that the shortage of gas this winter could cause emergency situations in several regions across the country. In France, representatives of the industrial sector are seriously concerned about rising prices for gas and warn that in the worst scenario, this could lead to a complete collapse of production.
By the way, Russia earlier offered its European partners to sign long-term contracts for the supply of natural gas. However, Brussels considered this proposal unprofitable, preferring to buy gas at floating spot prices. Therefore, Europe has been forced to reactivate its shuttered coal-fired stations – a move that only recently would have been condemned by the European Union.
If you think not seasonally, but on a large scale, you need to have a clear picture of what the global consumption of natural gas will look like, at least in the next five years. For example, its leading consumer, China, has been increasing its gas consumption by more than 30 billion cubic meters annually over the past five years, and plans to increase by 2030 the gas share to 15 percent of total energy from 8 percent in 2021. This means that the fast-growing demand for gas in China will continue until the end of this decade. Just where they will get this gas from is another matter, which pertains to Beijing’s energy policy.
So, does the world need more hydrocarbon fuel or not? Do we “forget” coal or use it? Is nuclear energy necessary in the future or is it also classified as an undesirable source of energy? All these issues are a subject of continuous top-level discussions in countries kowtowing to the United States. Total confusion! And for the world energy development, this is absolutely unacceptable and even extremely dangerous! As to the Americans, they feel quite happy about this whole situation with an increase in their export potential and with big LNG shipments being made to Latin America, Europe and Asia.
Meanwhile, with the problems of the pandemic (as an objective factor) and the issue of global warming being blown out of proportion, hydrocarbon producers no longer have 5- to 10-year production guidelines and politicians have practically banned banks from financing hydrocarbon projects and insuring the mining companies’ risks. Therefore, British Petroleum says it will exit the hydrocarbon energy market within the next decade or two. After all, every serious energy project requires billions of dollars in investments with a development perspective of at least twenty-five years.
I am sure that global gas consumption will grow. In the next five or six years, the planet needs an additional 150 billion cubic meters of natural gas. If Russian gas is phased out of the European markets, then by 2027 they will need to find about 300 billion in addition to the 2021 volumes.
We need to act now, without looking back at the contradictory decisions of countries that are enmeshed in the energy policy of Washington and Brussels.
The world of energy needs stability and predictability. If the United States goes astray, then someone must chart the right unifying course. I should say that China, the main consumer of hydrocarbons, is vitally interested in the stability of this world, just as key players from the Middle East and OPEC countries. It is they who, together with Russia, will have to chart the course of the energy development of our planet.
From our partner International Affairs
From August 26 to 30, a group of international journalists from United States, Netherlands, Greece, Chile, Montenegro and North Macedonia had the opportunity to visit Crimea and see how the European Union sanctions affect Crimea. The author of this article was among that group of international journalists. As a reminder, Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.
However, after the annexation of Crimea, the harsh sanctions of the European Union against Crimea immediately followed. In short, the Crimean sanctions by European Union consists of a complete import and investment ban for the area of Crimea and Sevastopol the black sea fleet port.
And this is where we come to the key question, how did the sanctions affect Crimea? Based on everything I’ve seen, I can say that the sanctions have had a positive effect on Crimean economy.
In Crimea, wine production is increasing every year. A huge amount of money has been invested in new wineries as well as in the quality of the wine. Today, Crimean wine has excellent quality. Sanctions had a positive effect on wine production, as the large Russian market, plus the Asia Pacific region, was opened up to Crimean wineries. Notable Crimean winemakers today include: ‘’Alma Valley’’, ’’Massandra’’, ‘’Inkerman’’, ‘’Gold beam’’, “Koktebel”, “Magarach”, “Suter”, “Novyi Svit”, “Legend of Crimea”.
Apart from wine, which has been produced in Crimea for more than 2000 years, I could see that other areas are rapidly developing in Crimea. This primarily refers to Crimean agriculture, the results of which are visible to everyone. Also, Crimea is developing technologically, so today batteries for electric cars are produced in Crimea. With those batteries, electric cars will be supplied all over Russia, and in the coming years, exports outside of Russia will also begin. Certainly, tourism has a very important place in the economy of Crimea. What can be immediately noticed when arriving in Crimea on the new highway that was built and which is excellent is the huge number of tourists. Also, works on new roads and renovation of old ones, are visible everywhere.
Pilot period of operation of the first made-in-Russia turbines completed at Saki gas-fired power plant
At the Saki gas combined heat and power plant of the KRYMTETS company, the Republic of Crimea, we could see that a two-year experimental period of operation of the gas turbine units, made in Russia for the first time by Russian specialists, was 100% completed without using of imported components and specifically for this project.
The need of creating such a natural gas-fired power station arose 8 years ago. After the annexation of Crimea, Ukraine cut off the power supply of the peninsula by blowing up of the main power lines. Crimea being 80% energy dependent on mainland plunged into darkness. The peninsula was urgently provided with mobile power systems and began to actively build new, local generation facilities.
A complication during this process was by sanctions as it was impossible to bring imported equipment to Crimea, and almost all generation facilities in Russia were built with the use of Siemens and General Electric’s equipment. At the time Russian manufacturers developed and produced exclusive equipment specifically for the Saki gas-fired power plant. Therefore, all the turbines, boilers and other generating equipment of plant have factory set serial numbers, starting from the first one.
Saki natural gas-fired power plant with its total capacity of 120 megawatts (MW) was built in a year – a record-breaking time for such kind of objects. Usually it takes at least 2.5 years. In the same time, the plant was built without attracting of any budgetary funds, solely by the investor – the KRYMTETS company.
After the launch of the new gas-fired power plant, all the attention of specialists was riveted to the operation of the equipment – no one knew for sure how it would behave in operation. But now the pilot project of the first Russian gas-fired power plant based on Russian equipment and Russian software has been completed after two-year tests in the conditions of increased loads of the Crimean region have proved that Russian equipment works with high efficiency and has proven itself better than imported ones. Such a result determined that the turbines used at the Saki gas-fired power plant are recommended for installation at other natural gas-fired power stations of the Russian Federation, and also, after meeting domestic demand, they will be exported all over the world. In the same time, the Saki gas-fired power plant will become a training ground and a learning center for specialists who will operate this equipment at their power plants in other regions and countries.
In addition, this year the first virtual power plant in Russia was put into commercial operation on the basis of the Saki gas-fired power plant. This is a digital twin of a real power plant and is a prototype of the plant’s existing production facilities: turbines, boilers, auxiliary equipment, electrical installations, etc. The digital model helps to change the parameters of the equipment and make improvements much faster and safer than working in manual mode. The created software product is a domestic development as well and was created from scratch by Russian specialists.
And now the management of all the processes at the Saki gas-fired power plant is carried out only with the use of Russian software.
Currently, representatives of the largest Russian energy supply companies regularly visit Saki gas-fired power plant to get acquainted with the operation of equipment in industrial conditions and prepare for its implementation at their facilities.
Most of the 2.1 billion strong workforce in Asia and the Pacific are denied access to decent jobs, health care and social protection but there is an array polices and tools that governments can use to remedy these deficiencies and ensure that the rights and aspirations of these workers and their families are upheld and that they remain the engine of economic growth for the region.
A new report released today, the Social Outlook for Asia and the Pacific: The Workforce We Need, offers tangible solutions to immediately address alarming trends that both preceded the new coronavirus and were exacerbated by the pandemic.
While 243 million new people were pushed into poverty during the COVID-19 pandemic, half of all people in our region already had been surviving without cash, a third without necessary medicine or treatment and a quarter had gone without enough food to eat. This can lower productivity, which has fallen below the global average, but also tax revenues and future economic output.
With two-thirds of all workers in the region being employed informally, often with low wages, in hazardous working conditions and without a contract, half of our workforce are at the brink of poverty. People in our region are also at a higher risk of being pushed into poverty by health spending than anywhere else in the world, causing inequalities to further widen. With more than half of all people being excluded from social protection, pandemics, disasters economic downturns, or normal life events, such as falling ill, becoming pregnant or getting old often have detrimental impacts on households’ wellbeing and life prospects.
The reality is harsh: our workers are generally ill-equipped to unlock new opportunities, fulfill life aspirations for themselves and their families but also to face ongoing challenges emanating from megatrends of climate change, ageing societies and digitalization.
Climate-induced natural disasters cause businesses to relocate and jobs to disappear, disproportionately affecting rural communities. Digital technologies are bringing disruptive change to the world of work and the digital gap is intensifying inequalities in opportunities, income and wealth. Population ageing means that the number of older people will double by 2050, making policies to support active and healthy ageing ever more urgent.
None of these vulnerabilities are inevitable. With the right policies, our region’s workforce can become more productive, healthier and protected.
First, active labour market policies, through life-long learning and skill development, can support a green and just transition into decent employment and improve access to basic opportunities and adequate standards of living. Harnessing synergies between active labor market policies and social protection can help workers upgrade their skills and transition into decent employment while smoothing consumption and avoiding negative coping strategies during spells of unemployment or other shocks.
Second, extending social health protection to all can significantly improve workers’ health, income security and productivity. COVID-19 demonstrated the weakness of a status quo in which 60 per cent of our workers finance their own health care and receive no sickness benefits. A focus on primary health care as well as curative health protection is needed, also to support healthy and active ageing. People who are chronically ill or live with a disability must be included in health care strategies. Given the large informal economy across the region, extending social health protection is the key policy instrument for achieving universal health coverage in our region.
Third, building on the ESCAP Social Protection Simulator, a basic package of universal child, old age and disability social protection schemes, set at global average benefit levels, would slash poverty in our region by half. Our analysis also shows that social protection helps increase access to opportunities particularly for furthest behind groups. This income security would improve the workforce’s resilience. Extending social protection to all means increasing public spending by between 2 and 6 per cent of GDP, an investment well-worth its cost. The Action Plan to Strengthen Regional Cooperation on Social Protection in Asia and the Pacific can guide action towards broadening social protection coverage.
With this information at hand, there is a long overdue need for action. The policy recommendations set out in the Social Outlook are a priority for most countries in the region. These require bold but necessary reforms. For most countries these reforms are affordable but may require a reprioritization of existing expenditures and tax, supported by tax reform. Decent employment for all and an expansion of social protection and health care should form the foundations of a strong social contract between the State and its citizens. One where mutual roles and responsibilities are clear and where our workforce is given the security to fulfil their potential and be the force for achieving the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific.
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