Page 88 - bne IntelliNews Russia Country report May 2017

9.1.8 Tourism sector news
The ban on Russian tourists visiting Turkey was lifted just as the summer season gets under way and they flocked to their favourite destination with the numbers of arrivals jumping several hundred percent in the first quarter. Teh number of visitors is on course to reach some 4mn this year, back at previous year highs.
9.1.9 Utilities sector news
Russia on May 29 launched its largest-ever tender for renewable energy in which contracts for the purchase of 1.9 gigawatt (GW) of clean electricity are to be awarded. Due to run through June 9, the government tender has already attracted the interest of Finland’s biggest energy company of Fortum Oyj, Bloomberg reported, adding that Italy's Enel SpA may also take part in the tender. "Russia has had a long history of leadership in the energy sector and now has the opportunity to extend that leadership into renewable energy," Adnan Amin, director-general of the International Renewable Energy Agency, was quoted as saying by Bloomberg. He added that a focus on renewable resources could "significantly contribute to the country's economic objectives such as economic growth and employment". Meanwhile, there are restrictions on the use of foreign-made equipment for Russian clean-energy plants as a fixed portion of equipment has to be locally made. For 2017, the figure is 40%.
9.1.10 Metallurgy & mining sector news
9.1.11 Transport sector news
US starts investigation into aluminium imports. According to Kommersant, US President Donald Trump has signed an executive memorandum directing the launch of an investigation into metal shipments, initiated by the Ministry of Trade. The process may take up to 270 days, followed by up to 90 days to make a decision on the implementation of protective measures. Reportedly, the US imports around 50% of the 4.8mtpa aluminium it consumes annually, while Rusal sells around 20% of its volumes to North America.
Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) conducted the first test flight of its new passenger aircraft, the MC-21 in May . The MC-21 is a mid-distance aeroplane with composite wings. Its close competitors are the Boeing 737 series and the Airbus 320, which are the most produced aircrafts in the world. It will take at least a couple of years to complete the testing procedures of the new plane. This is the second new civil aviation plane Russia has developed: the other is the SuperJet100 that was bought by an Irish airline.
Manufacturers of Russia's new medium-haul MC-21 airliner expect to sell more than 1,000 units by 2037, according to Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov. "Meeting the announced technical and economic criteria, organisation of the effective modern integrated logistic support and after-sale service, as well as formation of attractive financial sales models will mean reaching the total supplies of more than 1,000 of MC-21 to 2037," TASS quoted Manturov as saying on May 28. The aircraft made its first successful
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