North Asia

Forbes Russian-language Forbes list of Russia's wealthiest individuals reported that the richest Russians saw their wealth increase by more than 8 percent to $625.5 Billion over the last year. The magazine also noted on Thursday that at least 146 billionaires were listed. Vagit Alekperov is the former head of Lukoil Oil Company and topped Forbes' list with an estimated fortune of 28.7 billion dollars. He resigned from his position as Lukoil president in 2022, after Britain imposed sanctions on him. Alexei Mordashov, who was ranked fourth last year, rose to second place with a wealth of 28.6 billion dollars. Forbes...

The Kremlin's spokesman stated that oil prices are an important indicator of Russia's financial state. Economic authorities are watching closely the "very tense" situation surrounding lower prices. Oil fell by 7% Friday, as China increased tariffs on U.S. products. This escalating trade war has caused investors to increase the probability of a recession. Last week, Brent and WTI crude oil lost 10,9% and 10,6% respectively. The federal budget of Russia receives a third its revenue from oil and gas sales. The first-quarter revenue fell almost 10% to 2.64 trillion Russian roubles (30.59 billion dollars) due to lower oil prices globally...

Two delegates said that the top OPEC+ Ministers meeting on Saturday will not make any new changes to oil output policy. This is after this week's unexpected decision by the group to increase production further sent prices to pandemic levels. At 1200 GMT, a joint ministerial monitor committee (JMMC), or Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries plus allies, led by Russia will be held online. The JMMC is a group of oil ministers that includes Saudi Arabia, Russia, and other major producers. It meets about every two months, and it can make policy recommendations. On Saturday, two sources stated that...

RusKhimAlyans is a subsidiary owned by Gazprom. It has announced job openings for its new complex of gas processing in the Baltic Sea Port of Ust-Luga. This was a signal of confidence that the plant would start operating despite the sanctions. Gazprom has a strategy of shifting its focus from production to processing. The complex will include a gas chemical and processing complex. The plant is designed to be able to process 45 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, as well as 13 million metric tonnes of liquefied gas. It can also produce 3.6 million tones of ethane,...

The threat by U.S. president Donald Trump to impose secondary duties of 25 to 50 percent on buyers of Russian crude is so outrageous and bold that it may achieve his stated goal of a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia. What is important now is how the other key players react to the latest move of this mercurial, inconsistent U.S. president. Do Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister NarendraModi, as well as Chinese President Xi Jinping, believe that Trump is going to follow through on his promises? If so, what will this mean for the energy situation of...

The oil markets shrugged Monday off the threat of U.S. president Donald Trump to impose tariffs on Russian oil buyers as the shock factor of the White House's barrage of threats begins to wear out with jaded traders. Analysts and traders have questioned the seriousness of Trump's proposal. Warren Patterson, ING's director of commodities strategy, said that the U.S. government's announcements on tariffs and other sanctions have a tired feel. He said that the market would not overreact until he could provide more concrete information. The price of oil fell on Monday. Brent crude futures, the most active, were down...

These are the most popular stories from the Financial Times. These stories have not been verified and we cannot vouch their accuracy. Headlines Volvo Cars brings former boss back to provide a'steady' hand Trump threatens to impose secondary tariffs on Russian Oil if there is no agreement on Ukraine Isar declares launch of rocket a success, despite first-time failure to reach orbit Task force urges to eliminate oil and gas windfall taxes before 2030 View the full article Volvo Cars has appointed Hakan Samuelsson as its new chief executive after warning last month of a potentially challenging 2025. Donald Trump,...

Four trade sources reported on Friday that the Far East flagship ESPO blend oil price in Russia fell to its lowest level in 10 months due to a cooling in demand by China, the main consumer of the oil. Prices for April loading have now become a discount at Chinese ports for first time since last June, they said. The sources reported that ESPO blend oil cargoes loaded for the next month were trading at a discount up to $1.50 a barrel against the ICE Brent benchmark, delivered to China. Data shows that this is the lowest level of price...

Russia accused Ukraine of attacking its energy infrastructure on Friday, despite a ban on such strikes. It said a major piece of gas pipeline in Sudzha was virtually destroyed. An official from Ukraine said that Russia was responsible for the attack on Sudzha's gas transit point. It was not possible to confirm independently which side was responsible. Separate agreements were announced by the United States and Russia on February 2 to stop their attacks in the Black Sea, and to target each other's energy. These agreements are potential stepping-stones that Washington hopes can lead to a complete ceasefire and to...

Trafigura’s top executive for Mongolia has been suspended pending an investigation into a fraud scheme worth billions of dollars at the Swiss trading firm. The executive, however, lent more than $500 million from Trafigura to a company owned by his aunt. Lex Oil is Trafigura’s main counterparty in Mongolia. According to three sources and a document, it belonged to Erdenetuul who is the aunt of Trafigura’s suspended local boss Jononbayar Erdenesuren. Trafigura announced last October it had suffered a loss of $1.1 billion after an internal investigation found that employees within its Mongolian petroleum product supply business engaged "serious misconduct"....

Kherson, a Ukrainian city on the frontline of the conflict with Russia for three years, has more reasons than others to want to see an end to it. They are wary of talks because they have experienced occupation and constant attacks after Russian forces were pushed out. Serhiy (64), a security guard, is lying in a hospital with his foot bandaged. He claimed he was on his way to work as a security guard, when he was struck by a grenade that was dropped by a drone operated by Russian forces. He refused to reveal his family name, and asked...

U.S. Energy Sec. Chris Wright said that the United States would be willing to take over the running of Ukrainian power plants if it was necessary to bring about a ceasefire in the war-torn nation. According to a U.S. statement, U.S. president Donald Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that the U.S. might be able to help Ukraine run its nuclear power plants and even own them. Zelenskiy stated that Ukraine has started talks with the U.S. regarding its possible involvement in the restoration of Europe's biggest nuclear power plant in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Region, which has been closed since Russian...

Kyiv announced on Friday that it hopes to conclude talks with Washington by the end next week on a deal on joint exploiting of Ukrainian mineral resources. Ukrainian officials hope this agreement will help to soften U.S. backing for their war against Russia. Washington has indicated that, even though the final terms aren't set in stone, it will have access to Ukraine’s natural resources as a form of compensation for its military support of the country for the past three year. The U.S. government and the Ukrainian government signed a letter of intent late on Thursday night, signaling their intention...

Ukraine announced on Thursday that Kyiv had signed a Memorandum with Washington as an initial step to clinching a deal on developing minerals in Ukraine. This is a deal pushed by U.S. president Donald Trump. Trump has said that the agreement could be signed as soon as next week. Yulia Shvyrydenko (Ukraine's first vice-premier and minister of economy) announced on social media the signing of the memorandum. She wrote: "We are pleased to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Intent with our American Partners, which opens the door for an Economic Partnership Agreement, and the creation of the Investment...

Bloomberg News reported Wednesday that the United States had reduced its estimate of the cost for assistance provided to Ukraine after Russia's invasion 2022 from $300 billion to around $100 billion. This was based on the opinions of people who are familiar with the issue. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, is looking for a bilateral mineral deal to help end Russia's conflict in Ukraine. Trump sees the deal as a means to recoup billions of dollars that were spent on military aid to Kyiv - even though it was not a loan. The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated on Tuesday...

China's imports of coal fell by 6% in March due to high inventories and low domestic demand. Spot prices have fallen to four-year lowest levels. According to the General Administration of Customs, imports were down 38.73 million tons from March 2024 (41.38 million). According to the Bohai-Rim Bay Thermal Coal Price Index, China's domestic coal price with a heat content of 5,500 kilocalories/kilogram was 676 Yuan ($92.70), the lowest price since March 2021. China's coal exports to the United States in January and February were at a record level of 76.12 millions metric tons. This was an increase of 2%...

Sources with knowledge in the matter say that U.S. officials and Ukrainian officials met Friday to discuss a U.S. plan to gain access to Ukraine’s mineral wealth. However, they also said the chances of a breakthrough are slim, given the "anti-social" atmosphere at the meeting. Source: The tensions in Washington stemmed from Trump's latest draft proposal which is more expansive than its original version. The source pointed out that the "maximalist draft" submitted by the Trump Administration last month was a sign of the hostile negotiating climate. A spokesperson for the Treasury Department confirmed that discussions were "technical" in nature....

The Ukrainian Steel Producers' Union reported on Wednesday that the steel production in Ukraine has continued to grow in the first quarter of 2025, despite the loss in eastern Ukraine of Pokrovsk's coking coal mine. Metinvest, the Ukrainian steelmaker, has suspended operations in Ukraine's sole coking coal mine. The company cited a deteriorating situation due to Russian advances. Data showed that the raw steel production rose 2.7% between January and March 2025, to 1,73 million metric tonnes. Since the Russian invasion of February 24, 2022 leading steel mills have been destroyed. Ukraine, once a major exporter and producer of steel,...

Denmark's Prime Minister landed in Greenland for talks on Wednesday with the incoming government of the semi-autonomous Danish territory. This was in response to President Donald Trump's expressed interest in controlling this vast Arctic island. Mette Frederiksen starts her three-day journey less than a month after the visit by U.S. vice president JD Vance to the territory was met with a cold reception from authorities in Denmark. She said that her goal was to strengthen Copenhagen’s ties with Greenland and stressed the importance of respecting cooperation in the face of what she called "great pressure" on Greenland. Frederiksen is expected...

Unknown advisor to the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation is opposing a plan of President Donald Trump that would use it to increase domestic investment in mining production. Why it's Important: DFC is one of the world's leading sources of development financing. It has more than 50 billion dollars in portfolios of projects ranging from critical infrastructure to food, energy and health. Over 70% of this funding goes to low- and lower middle-income countries. Experts in development are worried that Trump's executive order of March 20, which invoked emergency power to boost domestic production of critical minerals and named DFC...

Denmark's Prime Minister will visit semiautonomous Greenland for talks on Wednesday with the territory’s incoming Government, after U.S. president Donald Trump repeatedly expressed his interest in controlling this Arctic island. Mette Frederiksen starts her three-day journey less than a month after the visit by U.S. vice president JD Vance to the territory was met with a cold reception by authorities in Denmark. Greenland’s incoming prime minister Jens-Frederik Nielson, who won the general elections last month and will form a government coalition, said that he welcomed Frederiksen’s visit, declaring on Monday, that Denmark remains “Greenland’s closest partner”. The relationship between Greenland,...

Solidcore, a Kazakh gold miner, is looking at issuing bonds to fund investment in Kazakhstan, including new projects estimated to cost $350 million. The company's CEO Vitaly Nesis said that Solidcore was considering issuing these bonds to the Gulf region. Solidcore (formerly Polymetal International) is the second largest gold miner of Kazakhstan. In 2024, the company was forced to sell its Russian assets which accounted for 70% of its production. This happened after U.S. sanctioned its operations in Russia. Mercury Investments, a government-owned fund in Oman, was the largest shareholder of this new company. Its five-year investment program had to...

Kazakh gold miner Solidcore said Monday that high gold prices and growth in sales have almost doubled their net profit by 2024. However, they warned of the impact sanctions on concentrate delivery to Russia will have on first-quarter revenues. Solidcore (formerly Polymetal International) is the second largest gold miner in Kazakhstan. It expects to produce 487,000 gold equivalent ounces by 2025. In 2024, the company sold off its Russian assets after U.S. sanctions were imposed on its business in Russia in response to Moscow’s military actions in Ukraine. About 70% of the group's output and 50% of its core earnings...

These are the most popular stories from the New York Times' business pages. These stories have not been verified and we cannot vouch their accuracy. If he believes that Moscow is blocking the efforts of President Donald Trump to end the conflict in Ukraine, he will impose secondary duties of 25 to 50 percent on Russian oil buyers. Nearly 40 countries, including China and Russia, have voiced their opposition to the plan of The Metals Company, a Canadian miner, to begin seabed mining on the Pacific Ocean. The company applied for exploration permits and permits to the U.S. Department of...