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Russian production of spacecraft and missiles decreases dramatically
The production of high-tech manufacturing industries has decreased by almost 5% after two years of growth, RBC reported. The decline was caused by the collapse in production of civilian and military aircraft, helicopters, spacecraft and intercontinental missiles.
According to the news agency, in 2018, the production of Russian aircraft, including spacecraft, decreased by 13.5%, although in 2014-2017, the production was growing by 9-20% annually.
The decline continued in early 2019. The …
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Nearly one quarter of Russians lack access to sewerage systems
In modern Russia, 22.6% of the population does not have access to centralized sewerage systems, according to a survey performed by the Russian Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) in September 2018. The investigation into the quality of life in Russia showed that most of these families (16.8%) use a pipe to a pit latrine, and 5.8% of Russians simply lack any sewerage system.
There is no centralized sewerage system for 66.5% of Russians residing in rural areas (half of them use pit …
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Belarus decides to raise tariff for Russian oil transit by a quarter
Belarus has notified the Russian company Transneft about its plans to raise oil transit tariffs by 23%, reports the RBC news agency with reference to Transneft’s President Nikolay Tokarev.
According to Tokarev, the proposal to increase the tariff for transporting oil via the Druzhba pipeline is a standard procedure.
“We have a methodology, a tariff is being agreed, and now the government will have a platform for negotiations,” said Tokarev. “23% increase is Minsk’s negotiation position and is …
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Russian missile ships conduct exercises in the Black Sea
A group of ships from the Russian Black Sea Fleet conducted missile firing exercises in the Black Sea and returned to the naval base in annexed Sevastopol, reported Alexei Rulev, the head of the fleet’s press service.
"Together with missile ships Ivanovets and R-60, which carried out the missile test firing, 14 ships and support vessels of the Black Sea Fleet returned to the permanent deployment places. They participated in the closure of the marine test site to ensure the safety of civilian …
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Russian Foreign Minister comments on attacks in Syria without mentioning Israel
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was extremely evasive in his comments to Arab journalists about the Israeli operations in Syria.
In an interview with the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram ahead of his visit to Egypt, Lavrov answered many questions concerning Russia-Egypt relations and developments in the Middle East.
One of the questions he was asked was whether Moscow’s stance on the “Israel’s ongoing bombardments of Syrian territory” had grown “softer” compared to its stance in 2018, when …