Bolivia to buy Russian helicopters; EU challenges Russian recycling fee on foreign cars at WTO; Russia to restructure its loan to Cyprus; Russia seeks to build stronger military-technical cooperation with Malaysia; Russia and China complete a joint naval
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    • (JULY 8-14)

    According to reports, Bolivian Defence Minister Ruben Saavedra has said that his country will buy Mi-17 helicopters from Russia to fight drug trafficking. Bolivia together with Colombia and Peru is on the list of world’s largest cocaine producers. 1

    Reports noted that the European Union challenged Russia's recycling fee on foreign cars at the World Trade Organization. The recycling fee was introduced in September 2012 and applies to importers of all types of vehicles, both new and used. According to European experts, the amount of preferences received by the Russian car industry as a result of this measure exceeds 3 billion euros per year. 2

    According to reports, Russian Ambassador to Cyprus Vyacheslav Shumsky has said that Russia and Cyprus have agreed to restructure the 2.5-billion euro loan extended by Moscow to Cyprus at the end of 2011. The repayment of the debt will be adjourned for five years - from 2016 to 2021 and the interest rate will be reduced from 4.5 percent to 2.5 percent. 3

    According to reports, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Russia is seeking to build stronger military-technical cooperation with Malaysia, especially in the field of military hardware maintenance and training of highly skilled personnel. A Su-30 fighter maintenance centre was opened in Malaysia in 2012 and a pilot training centre in 2011. 4

    In other developments, according to reports, Russia and China have completed an extensive naval exercise in the Far East titled “Naval Interaction 2013 exercise” in which four thousand servicemen participated. 5

    Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Russia will continue to support the territorial integrity of Moldova and that it should retain its sovereignty. 6

    The space agencies of Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine have confirmed their intention to develop the Bayterek rocket, which is a modernized Zenit launch vehicle and will be used for commercial launches. 7

    The Russian Energy Ministry has said that this year’s oil production will remain at the 2012 level of about 518-520 million tons with gas production at 655 billion cubic metres. 8

    Russia has delivered a total of 70 metric tons of humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees in Syria on July 11, 2013. 9

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