Buenos Aires - The European Union will extend its existing economic sanctions on Russia next month, a top official with the bloc said on Friday after Moscow’s action against Ukraine’s navy in the Sea of Azov. European Council President Donald Tusk will chair a summit of EU leaders on Dec. 13-14
Kiev - The imposition of martial law is not affecting Ukrainian grain shipments from ports on the Azov Sea so far and if necessary they can be diverted to the Black Sea, Ukraine’s acting agriculture minister says. More broadly, the prospects for grain exports from the Azov Sea are unclear at this point
Astrakhan - An ocean cruise liner under construction at the Russian Lotus Shipyard in Astrakhan will be ready for water trials next year. Russia hasn’t built vessels of such class for more than 60 years. The keel of the PV300 cruise ship with a capacity of 300 passengers was laid down at the shipyard in August 2016
Moscow - Roman Abramovich and a business partner will buy a 24.84 percent stake in Russia’s largest freight container operator TransContainer from VTB bank, two industry sources told Reuters on Thursday
hanghai - More than 1,000 firms from 58 countries along the Belt and Road will attend the inaugural China International Import Expo (CIIE) to be held in Shanghai
Baku - Three seamen have died from an unspecified toxic substance that poisonedall 11 crew members of an Iranian cargo ship on the Caspian Sea. According to the report, the crew of the vessel, “Nazmehr”, was transferred to a hospital in Baku
Moscow - Russian shipyard Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex is to build the country’s first LNG-fuelled tankers under an order from Sovcomflot for two Aframax newbuilds. The 114,000dwt ships will feature dual-fuel propulsion using LNG as the primary fuel
Aktau - Iran and four ex-Soviet nations, including Russia, agreed in principle on Sunday how to divide up the potentially huge oil and gas resources of the Caspian Sea, paving way for more energy exploration and pipeline projects
Taranto - The port of Taranto and the container terminal have their eyes set on Turkey’s Yilport Holding AS. On Tuesday, the Port System Authority of the Ionian Sea, whose president is Sergio Prete, acknowledging the “preliminary positive evaluation by the Permanent Internal Commission”
Moscow - Vladimir Putin has created a new directorate inside the Russian army to promote patriotism, evoking memories of a Soviet practice that once saw soldiers taught the precepts of Marxism and Leninism by political commissars
Brussels - The European Union has imposed asset freezes on six Russian firms for their involvement in the construction of a new road-and-rail bridge linking Russia to the annexed Crimean peninsula, which the bloc says is illegal
Mangalia - To signify its first day of operations at Damen Shipyards Mangalia in Romania, Damen held a modest ceremony at the yard on Monday, July 23rd. The celebrations mark Damen’s successful completion of the transaction with Daewoo Shipbuilding Marine Engineering (DSME) for the Mangalia shipyard
Tbilisi - Hong Kong and Georgia have signed a free trade agreement (FTA) which will provide legal certainty and boost market access and investment flow between the two countries. Georgia will eliminate import tariffs on 96.6% of its tariff lines for Hong Kong products
Qingdao - Russia did not choose to leave the G7 and would be happy to host its members in Moscow, President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday when asked about U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Russia should have been at its latest meeting
Istanbul - Turkey’s lira hit its firmest level in nearly two weeks on Wednesday, a day after top economic officials met with investors in London in an attempt to soothe concerns about the direction of monetary policy under President Tayyip Erdogan
Yalta - RF Government is set to develop a plan for filling the order backlog of Crimean shipbuilding and ship repairing yards up to 2030 within a couple of months, says Dmitry Rogozin, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation
Constanta - Romania’s seaports handled 46.18 million tonnes of cargo in 2017, down 0.2 percent on the year, National Institute of Statistics (INS) data show.
Kiev - Ukraine’s grain industry is thriving, but its expansion is being hobbled by an aging railway. The entire rail network is operated by state-run Ukrzaliznytsya, hauling about two-thirds of all grains that go from farmers’ fields to the the country’s ports in the Black Sea area
Ankara - Turkey earned 1.46 billion Turkish liras ($387 million)in tolls from two bridges on the Istanbul Strait as well as toll roads in 2017, according to data released Wednesday by the state Highways Directorate. The July 15 Martyrs’ Bridge and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, together yielded around 362.32 million liras
Singapore - Vard Holdings Limited,one of the major global designers and shipbuilders of specialized vessels, announced its financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended 30 September 2017. VARD recorded a revenue of NOK 2.01 billion in 3Q 2017, up 33%
