Russia

MOSCOW, April 11. /TASS/: Zarubezhneft plans to boost crude oil production more than three-fold by 2030 to 15 mln tonnes, according to the company’s in-house publication.

"The strategic goal is to bring production to 15 mln tonnes by 2030 in five regional centers (Russia, Southeast Asia, Middle East, CIS, Latin America) with a balanced projects portfolio," the publication said.

In 2019, the group’s output exceeded the planned volumes by 5.6% and amounted to 4.77 mln tonnes of oil equivalent.

MOSCOW, April 10. /TASS/: OPEC+ may increase or decrease the timeframe of the new two-year agreement on cutting oil output, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told Rossiya-24 television channel on Friday.

"We will have an opportunity to extend this timeframe. If the situation on the market improves faster, we will be able to decide to cease activities on restoring the market in shorter time," Novak said.

MOSCOW, April 10. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has discussed the question of cutting oil output with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud in a telephone conversation, the Kremlin press service reported on Friday.

"The questions were discussed connected with talks in the OPEC+ framework regarding cutting oil output," the press service said.

The sides also agreed to continue Russian-Saudi contacts on this issue.

OPEC+ countries have agreed to cut oil output by 10 million barrels per day in May-June.

MOSCOW, April 11. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin’s health is excellent despite more work, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Channel One’s Bolshaya Igra (Great Game) show.

"Excellent," he said when asked about President’s health. "You can see that by the work schedule. Though all contacts are held as videoconferences, the number of events has even increased compared with the usual level," he said, adding that Putin also holds face-to-face meetings.

Most staffers of the presidential administration regularly pass coronavirus tests, Peskov noted.

MOSCOW, April 10. /TASS/: Russia will be ready to host international sports tournaments, which have been put on hold due to the ongoing global spread of COVID-19, Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin said on Friday.

MOSCOW, April 10. /TASS/: Russia plans to retain the position of the biggest global wheat exporter, press service of the Agriculture Ministry reported with reference to Minister Dmitry Patrushev on Friday.

"Russia will continue boosting food trade both with Saudi Arabia and other priority markets in the future, due to which we particularly plan to retain the position of the biggest global wheat exporter," the minister said.

MOSCOW, April 9. /TASS/: Work to fulfill this year’s defense procurement order continues in full strength and on schedule despite the novel coronavirus pandemic, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov told reporters on Thursday.

"As far as the work on the state procurement order is concerned, a total of 72.6% of assignments have been placed, which corresponds to the 2019 pace. The same applies to the volume of financing, transferred to general contractors of the state procurement order," he said.

MOSCOW, April 10. /TASS/: The number of coronavirus cases in Russia rose by 1,786 in the past 24 hours, reaching 11,917, the anti-coronavirus crisis center said in a statement on Friday, adding that coronavirus patients had been identified for the first time in the Tuva region.

"A total of 11,917 coronavirus cases have so far been recorded in 82 Russian regions (up by 17.6%). As many as 97 people were discharged from hospitals in the past 24 hours. Eighteen coronavirus patients died in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 94," the statement reads.

MOSCOW, April 10. /TASS/: Russia’s government has completed the transaction on purchase of 50% of Sberbank shares from the Bank of Russia using the funds of the National Wealth Fund, which totaled 2.139 trillion rubles ($29 bln), according to a joint statement released by the Finance Ministry and Central Bank on Friday.

NOVO-OGARYOVO, April 9. /TASS/: The current situation with the novel coronavirus requires flexible changes in the area of military-technical cooperation in order to maintain Russia’s leading positions on defense export, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday during a session on military-technical cooperation with foreign states.

He noted that international competition in the sphere of military-technical cooperation is very high, and the spread of the coronavirus infection that affects the global economy creates additional risks.