Page 170 - RusRPTJun24

9.1.8 Telecoms sector news 9.1.9 Tourism sector news
Crimea is preparing for the high tourist season. If the flow does not recover to pre-war levels, it will exceed last year’s minimum by 20%, perhaps more. The industry association ATOR predicts an increase in tourist flows in the summer by even 50–60%, writes Kommersant. The association's booking data for May (+35-40% y/y) and June (doubled) supports these estimates. Individual tour operators and integrators have slightly different figures, but they all expect rapid growth. At Intourist, bookings in Crimea for the summer increased by 40%, at Ostrovok - by 55%, while in Russia as a whole - by 13%, and in the Krasnodar Territory - by 10%. Thus, in absolute numbers, 5–6mn people are waiting in Crimea. This is less than in the pre-war, but still pandemic, 2021 (9.5mn people), but more than the ATOR estimate for 2023 (4–4.5mn people). Local authorities, however, estimated last year’s tourist flow at 5.2mn people – 20% less than in 2022. There are two reasons for the growth in demand, industry officials say. Firstly, this is an inhumane increase in prices for accommodation in the competing Krasnodar region. In the coastal cluster of Sochi, a night in a good hotel has risen in price over the year by almost a quarter, to 12.8 thousand rubles, in the mountain cluster - by 18%, to 21.7 thousand rubles. A room in Gelendzhik and Anapa has risen in price by a third and is close to 10 thousand rubles. About the same price (about 10 and 9 thousand rubles) costs a night in Alushta or Yalta (+10% and +15%, respectively), and the average for the peninsula is 5.2 thousand rubles (+14%).
9.1.10 Utilities & Renewables sector news
Uranium prices again reaching annual highs. The cost on global exchanges has surpassed $90 per pound, a fivefold increase over the past 12 months. The price spike is primarily due to the USA's attempt to pressure Russia by imposing sanctions, including against the uranium industry. The US Senate recently voted for a law banning the import of enriched uranium from Russia. The bill is now awaiting President Joe Biden's signature. If signed into law, Western companies will face additional strain on their processing and enrichment capacities. It's important to note that Rosatom, Russia's state atomic energy corporation, holds a global market share of 30-40% in the supply of enriched uranium for nuclear power plants. Sanctions against Russian uranium are expected to drive prices up by at least another 20-30%, according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Centrus, the largest nuclear energy company in the United States, has
170 RUSSIA Country Report June 2024 www.intellinews.com