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Eastern Europe
March 15, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 20
Russia estimates reserves of oil at $600bn, gas at $173bn
bne IntelliNews
Russian Ministry of Natural Resources has for the first time estimated the monetary value of Russia's hydrocarbon reserves, which is to be re- assessed annually, RBC business portal reported on March 14.
As of end of 2017, the total reserves of oil were worth RUB39.6 trillion ($605bn). The reserves of natural gas were valued at RUB11.3 tril- lion ($173bn), and coking coal at RUB2 trillion ($30.6bn).
Apart from that, the reserves of iron ore, dia- monds and gold were estimated at RUB808bn, RUB505bn, and RUB480bn, respectively. The total aggregate cost of all the mineral and energy re- sources was estimated at RUB55.2 trillion or the equivalent of 60% of 2017 GDP.
At the same time it must be noted that the min- istry only calculated the fields and mines that already have an extraction licence granted and technical or investment project in place. Thus, the estimate is way below the valuation of actual untapped mineral and hydrocarbon reserves.
In natural values, as of end of 2017 the ministry estimated that Russia had reserves of 9.04bn tonnes of oil, 14.5 trillion cubic meters of gas, 1,407 tonnes of gold, and 375mn metric carats of diamonds. The estimates for oil do not include Russia’s very extensive shale oil reserves – the largest in the world.
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IKEA postpones start of Ukraine retail operations
IntelliNews Pro
Swedish furniture giant IKEA has postponed
its entry into the Ukrainian market due to construction delays at the Ocean Mall trade and entertainment centre in Kyiv, Ukrainska Pravda online outlet reported last week.
Last year, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that IKEA is going to open its first Ukrainian store in 2019. The company was interested in opening its stores in Ukraine in 2005 and 2010, but plans unravelled because of the endemic corruption in the country. In December, the company said in that it intended to enter the Ukrainian market.
Meanwhile, news agency Interfax reported on March 7 that IKEA "is considering alternative options that will allow it to enter the Ukrainian market as soon as possible" due to the delay in construction and obtaining permits for the Ocean Mall shopping centre, according to the company's statement.
More detailed information regarding the release of IKEA in Ukraine "will be made public as soon as it becomes available,” the statement reads.