Caucasus Press Review (May 18-24)

 

By Vestnik KavkazaAccording to the Prime Minister of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic, Aliy Musukov, who is cited by Kabardino-Balkarskaya Pravda, the development of modern horticulture in the country is raised to the level of priority in the field of agriculture. In the year of farming in Kabardino-Balkaria is scheduled the tab of 1400 hectares of gardens of intensive and superintensive types. There are plans to increase the area of ​​intensive gardens to 10 thousand hectares, which will allow farmers to grow more than half a million tons of environmentally friendly apples. A logistics center with capacity of 75 thousand tonnes will be put into operation in Prokhladnensky district in the short run. It will be the largest fruit warehouse not only in Russia but also in Europe.The newspaper Dagestani Pravda also notes that in recent years the neighboring republic is actively developing fruit-growing in the country, the consumer market is saturated with high-quality fruit production and its imports is falling, and Kabardino-Balkaria in the number of leaders in the country on intensive gardening.Dagestani delegation headed by the Deputy Prime Minister Sharip Sharipov visited the Chegemsky District of Russia's southern republic Kabardino-Balkaria to study the experience of this industry. The guests were informed at the one of the biggest enterprises processing fruits LLC Fruit-trade that the company built a complete chain from production, storage and processing of agricultural raw materials to distribution of finished products, a single logistics center was also created. The storage with capacity of 5 thousand tonnes equipped with German cooling chambers and the equipment, which allows to saturate the atmosphere of storage with gas, which keeps apples, pears, plums, raspberries and strawberries fresh without losing their consumer qualities, allowing to supply the market with fresh fruits and berries year-round. The company has about 50 hectares of private gardens, half of which are already fruiting. They are going to collect about 40 tons of goods per hectare. It was noted that due to the development of irrigation systems, the protection against harsh environmental conditions and new methods of growing, fruits are growing naturally, getting the best set of nutrients, which allows us to offer consumers apples with a unique, incomparable taste.Sharipov drew attention to the fact that Dagestan also has great potential in this direction. Earlier thee were about 70 thousand hectares of gardens in the country. "We intend to build the same enterprises as the storage of products - this is a painful question of our agricultural producers: when we produce over one million tons of vegetables, we are faced with a problem when there is no place to store products," he said.The Minister of Agriculture  of the KBR, Muaed Dadov, noted that the KBR and Dagestan have much in common in matters of import substitution and the saturation of the domestic market of fruits and vegetables, this is an area where a lot of vegetables are grown and there is a lot to learn.The Ingushetia paper informs with reference to the Minister of Economic Development of the Republic, Beksultan Buzurtanov, that almost 73% of the items of anti-crisis plan of priority measures to ensure the sustainable economic development and social stability in Ingushetia in 2015.He consider the inventory of government programs, the results of which provide cost reduction of up to 20%, the measures to reduce the staff number by 10%, the reducing of the maintenance costs of the executive bodies of state power and state institutions, and others as done. The total amount of the optimization due to these measures will exceed 1 billion rubles. The negotiations to extend the cooperation with Sberbank of Russia in the framework of the subprogram "1000 apartments" are underway,  the issue of reducing the interest rate on the loan to 11% is working out.The Republican plan of anti-crisis measures was approved in February. The list of the priority measures includes optimization of budget expenditures in the region, the development of planning system and import substitution, as well as measures to support non-oil exports. The priority areas in the field of import substitution industries are those industries which produce most consumed in republic volumes products. To ensure food security and curb the growth in prices of basic food products in the country, we are establishing a reserve fund. There will be assistance to construction firms in the introduction of new energy-efficient technologies in housing construction, as well as the promotion of the use of local building materials producers. 27 points out of 60-point plan include measures to support small and medium businesses by reducing financial and administrative costs. In addition, according to the plan, the support will be provided to backbone enterprises, the most vulnerable categories of citizens, a package of measures to reduce tensions on the labor market and promote employment is adopting.Azerbaijan undertook the revival of petroleum engineering industry. The Region Plus daily paper referring to the Minister of Economy and Industry of republic, Shahin Mustafayev, reports that a working group established at the Ministry is preparing proposals for the modernization and development of this sector. Recently, the Ministry of Economy and Industry has launched an initiative of comprehensive rehabilitation of the industry and is ready to involve the state oil and gas company SOCAR and the national operator of distributive power Azerishyg in the implementation of these initiatives. These activities fit into the concept of the diversification of the economy and development of non-oil sector implemented by the government.The paper says that the oldest engineering unification of the country, now converted into JSC Azneftkimyamash, which specializes in the production of equipment for oil and gas wells, was created back in 1935. Many companies of the association counted its history since the second half of the 19th century, when the industry of metalworking and mechanical engineering have begun to develop during the era of the first oil boom in Baku. In the Soviet period, the production of this association provided about 70% of the needs of the USSR in the oil and gas equipment, moreover, a substantial part of it was exported to 35 countries.The companies included in the Azneftkimyamash gained its second breath after the implementation of structural reforms in 2001-2002, as well as technical modernization program proposed by the Norwegian fund INT-SOK, TACIS experts and specialists of the JSC. At that time, the state company Azneftkimyamash was transformed into a joint stock company. In subsequent years, 13 subsidiaries and research institutes, created on the basis of it, were able to overcome a long period of decline caused by the rupture of economic ties in the post-Soviet space. The essence of structural changes and technological upgrading was to achieve profitability of production by improving product quality to international standards, the preserving affordable prices and, finally, the perfect fulfillment of contractual obligations. Due to the introduction of modern equipment and the optimization of production processes, a lot of ranged products were able to pull up to the requirements of ISO and API (the American Petroleum Institute). The significant support was free technical assistance in the amount of $ 13 million provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency JETRO.

By Vestnik Kavkaza

 

According to the Prime Minister of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic, Aliy Musukov, who is cited by Kabardino-Balkarskaya Pravda, the development of modern horticulture in the country has been raised to the level of priority in the field of agriculture. In the farming year in Kabardino-Balkaria a tab of 1400 hectares of gardens of intensive and superintensive types is scheduled. There are plans to increase the area of ​​intensive gardens to 10 thousand hectares, which will allow farmers to grow more than half a million tons of environmentally friendly apples. A logistics center with a capacity of 75 thousand tonnes will be put into operation in the Prokhladnensky district in the short run. It will be the largest fruit warehouse not only in Russia but also in Europe.

 

The newspaper Dagestani Pravda also notes that in recent years the neighboring republic has been actively developing fruit-growing in the country, the consumer market is saturated with high-quality fruit production and its imports are falling, and Kabardino-Balkaria is in the number of leaders in the country on intensive gardening.

 

A Dagestani delegation headed by the Deputy Prime Minister Sharip Sharipov visited the Chegemsky District of Russia's southern republic of Kabardino-Balkaria to study the experience of this industry. The guests were informed about one of the biggest LLC fruit-processing enterprises, Fruit-trade, that the company built a complete chain from the production, storage and processing of agricultural raw materials to distribution of finished products, a single logistics center was also created. The storage with a capacity of 5 thousand tonnes equipped with German cooling chambers and equipment, which allows to saturate the atmosphere of storage with gas, which keeps apples, pears, plums, raspberries and strawberries fresh without losing their consumer qualities, allowing to supply the market with fresh fruits and berries year-round. The company has about 50 hectares of private gardens, half of which are already fruiting. They are going to collect about 40 tons of goods per hectare. It was noted that due to the development of irrigation systems, protections against harsh environmental conditions and new methods of growing, fruits are growing naturally, getting the best set of nutrients, which allows us to offer consumers apples with a unique, incomparable taste.

 

Sharipov drew attention to the fact that Dagestan also has great potential in this direction. Earlier there were about 70 thousand hectares of gardens in the country. "We intend to build the same enterprises as the storage of products - this is a painful question of our agricultural producers: when we produce over one million tons of vegetables, we are faced with a problem when there is no place to store products," he said.

The Minister of Agriculture  of the KBR, Muaed Dadov, noted that the KBR and Dagestan have much in common in matters of import substitution and the saturation of the domestic market of fruits and vegetables, this is an area where a lot of vegetables are grown and there is a lot to learn.

 

* * *

The Ingushetia newspaper, with reference to the Minister of Economic Development of the Republic, Beksultan Buzurtanov, informs that almost 73% of the items of the anti-crisis plan of priority measures to ensure the sustainable economic development and social stability in Ingushetia in 2015 has been implemented.

 

He considers the inventory of government programs, the results of which provide cost reductions of up to 20%, measures to reduce the staff number by 10%, the reduction of the maintenance costs of the executive bodies of state power and state institutions, and others as done. The total amount of the optimization due to these measures will exceed 1 billion rubles. The negotiations to extend cooperation with Sberbank of Russia in the framework of the subprogram "1000 apartments" are underway,  the issue of reducing the interest rate on the loan to 11% is working out.

 

The Republican plan of anti-crisis measures was approved in February. The list of the priority measures includes optimization of budget expenditures in the region, the development of a planning system and import substitution, as well as measures to support non-oil exports. The priority areas in the field of import substitution industries are those industries which produce most consumed in republic. To ensure food security and curb the growth in prices of basic food products in the country, we are establishing a reserve fund. There will be assistance to construction firms in the introduction of new energy-efficient technologies in housing construction, as well as the promotion of the use of local building materials producers. 27 points out of a 60-point plan include measures to support small and medium businesses by reducing financial and administrative costs. In addition, according to the plan, support will be provided to backbone enterprises, the most vulnerable categories of citizens, a package of measures to reduce tensions on the labor market and promote employment is being adopted.

* * *

Azerbaijan undertook the revival of the petroleum engineering industry. The Region Plus daily paper, referring to the Minister of Economy and Industry of republic, Shahin Mustafayev, reports that a working group established at the Ministry is preparing proposals for the modernization and development of this sector. Recently, the Ministry of Economy and Industry has launched an initiative of comprehensive rehabilitation of the industry and is ready to involve the state oil and gas company SOCAR and the national operator of distributive power Azerishyg in the implementation of these initiatives. These activities fit into the concept of the diversification of the economy and development of non-oil sector implemented by the government.

 

The paper says that the oldest engineering unification of the country, now converted into JSC Azneftkimyamash, which specializes in the production of equipment for oil and gas wells, was created back in 1935. Many companies of the association counted its history since the second half of the 19th century, when the industry of metalworking and mechanical engineering began to develop during the era of the first oil boom in Baku. In the Soviet period, the production of this association provided about 70% of the needs of the USSR in oil and gas equipment, moreover, a substantial part of it was exported to 35 countries.

 

The companies included in Azneftkimyamash gained their second breath after the implementation of structural reforms in 2001-2002, as well as the technical modernization program proposed by the Norwegian fund INT-SOK, TACIS experts and specialists of the JSC. At that time, the state company Azneftkimyamash was transformed into a joint stock company. In subsequent years, 13 subsidiaries and research institutes, created on the basis of it, were able to overcome a long period of decline caused by the rupture of economic ties in the post-Soviet space. The essence of structural changes and technological upgrading was to achieve profitability of production by improving product quality to international standards, the preserving affordable prices and, finally, the perfect fulfillment of contractual obligations. Due to the introduction of modern equipment and the optimization of production processes, a lot of ranged products were able to pull up to the requirements of ISO and API (the American Petroleum Institute). Significant support was provided by free technical assistance worth $13 million from the Japan International Cooperation Agency JETRO.

* * *

Azneftkimyash has started exporting beam units, gears and spare parts for them, road tankers, production of Christmas trees, lifts, latches and other equipment to Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Vietnam. The growing portfolio of orders and the rising demands for local oil extraction has enabled the company to increase production to 90.5 million manats in 2005.

During the global economic recession of 2008-2009, when the oil prices were four times lower, many post-Soviet countries were searching for a way to reduce expenditures in the sector of raw extraction by means of localizing production of oil and gas equipment on its territory. It was a blow for the export potential of Azneftkimyash. SOCAR is the main purchaser of its equipment, buying products worth 15 million manats in 2014. The company exported equipment to Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan worth about 4 million manats.

The company produces about 100 types of products and machines of about 600 standards, including equipment, instruments and spare parts for geological exploration, drilling, extraction of oil and reconstruction of oil wells. Composition of project documents for 22 new products and development of 11 prototypes of constructions were accomplished in 2014.

Magzum Mirzagaliyev, Kazakhstani vice minister of oil and gas, and Ravil Zaripov, vice prime minister, minister of industry and trade of Tatarstan, discussed cooperation with Azerbaijan in the field of oil machinery during a visit to Baku. Azneftkimyash specialists do not rule out exports of their products to the Middle East.

* * *

The Severnaya Ossetiya paper informs that the republic's House of Government hosted a presentation of a draft concept of the Alania technopark. The grand project will be realized at Vladikavkaz's OZATE. It consists in construction of a complex innovative infrastructure akin to the Skolkovo innovation center and the legendary Silicon Valley in the US. The construction will cost around 3 billion rubles. The republic will file an application for a tender in April 2016. Should the application be given the go-ahead, the federal budget will finance 95% of the costs, the republic will only need to spend 140 million rubles. The funds will later be returned via a compensation program for technoparks.

Andrey Shpilenko, the director of the Russian Technoparks Association, noted that the technopark will increase the number of small and medium-size enterprises in North Ossetia. About 80 companies offering some 450 workplaces are expected to open at the technopark in five years. The technopark will house the Baspik technological center, offices of Elektrotsink and Pobedit, the Center of Information Technologies. The innovative center will make 5.7 billion rubles.

Shpilenko believes that the concept of North Ossetia considers all flaws that made most technoparks in Russia inefficient. The technopark resembles infrastructure maintaining the economy via scientific and technical developments and solving many problems: the drain of young specialists, the increase of small and medium-size enterprises in the republic, the opening of high-tech workplaces, support of startups and innovation companies. The director of the association believes that North Ossetia has made such a sophisticated project that the chances for its success are very high.

* * *

Karachay-Cherkessia is preparing to launch a unique radio telescope. The Zelenchuk Observatory is about to complete its testing. According to the local newspaper Cherkessk: Vchera, Segodnya, Zavtra, astronomers have been preparing for its launch for over a year. Scientists expect the telescope to make a breakthrough in space research. Its hallmark is the antenna rotating at a speed of 12 degrees a second, several times faster than other telescopes. While moving, it focuses on different space objects, making over a thousand observations a night.

Specialists of the RAS Institute of Applied Astronomy are in touch with their German colleagues, who have already been operating such a telescope. Astronomers are yet to synchronize four telescopes located thousands of kilometers away from each other. Two of them are situated in Spain and Germany, one in Baikal. Scientists plan to watch one space object, for example, quasars located billions of light years away, from different spots. 'These are distant sources, such as motionless beacons. Orienting by them, we can make very accurate calculations on Earth. The bases between the telescopes are located thousands of kilometers away from each other and are calculated with a millimeter precision,' explained Andrey Dyakov of the Institute. In the words of astronomers, watching celestial objects enables scientists to understand what is going on in the places of their radiation and learn to use the energy. Thousands of space objects affect Earth, for example, its rotational speed. That is why navigation signals sent from satellites are often inaccurate. Correction of coordinates requires knowledge of parameters of the planet's rotation. Information from several telescopes improves the effectiveness of the GLONASS system.

Scientists and engineers need to do scrupulous work with adjusting the telescope and making it reliable. It will be launched with full output in a few weeks.