Top stories from the Russian press on Tuesday, August 17th, prepared by TASS

Izvestia: Taliban’s sweep of Afghanistan to impact global politics

By August 16, most foreign diplomatic missions had evacuated their personnel from Kabul after the Taliban (outlawed in Russia) seized power in Afghanistan. That being said, a considerable number of ordinary Afghans also tried in vain to flee the country. Meanwhile, most countries, including Russia, despite declaring their unwillingness to recognize the Taliban as the new authorities, expressed their intention to work with the transitional government, Izvestia writes.

The Russian mission, meanwhile, remained almost the only one that continued to function as usual. Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan Dmitry Zhirnov told reporters that the Taliban guaranteed the safety of their employees. Meanwhile, its consular section is working on evacuating citizens with Russian passports from the country.

So far, however, many states, including Russia, have bluntly stated that they do not intend to recognize the Taliban as the legitimate authority in Afghanistan. But at the same time, they expressed readiness to cooperate with the new interim administration of the country, hoping that it will emerge quite soon. Russian Presidential Envoy to Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said it would be possible to exclude the Taliban from the list of terrorists only after a relevant decision by the UN Security Council.

In turn, Professor Mohammad Ismail from Pakistan’s University of Peshawar suggested the presence of other external players in Afghanistan’s current events. According to him, the US could have planned everything to contain a strengthening China. US industry and capital will be moved from China to India, and Afghanistan will be used to send terrorists to China and undermine the country's security.

One way or another, the proclamation of the Taliban taking power over Afghanistan is unlikely to put an end to the long-standing Afghan conflict, said Andrei Serenko, an expert at the Center for Contemporary Afghan Studies

Vedomosti: US threatens Russia’s market economy status

Washington has launched an investigation into whether Russia should be recognized as a market economy, the US Department of Commerce reported on August 16. The formal reason for this was the possible dumping of liquid nitrogen fertilizer supplies to America - a mixture of urea and ammonium-nitrate solutions (UAN), Vedomosti writes. CF Industries Nitrogen based in the US and its subsidiaries filed a complaint.

The main Russian suppliers of urea and ammonium-nitrate solutions to the US are EuroChem and Acron, the total volume of supplies is 1-1.2 mln tonnes per year, according to independent industrial expert Leonid Khazanov. In January-May 2021, exports to America in monetary terms exceeded $223 mln.

Should the US authorities uncover evidence of dumping, protective duties are almost inevitable, Khazanov predicted. "Levying tariffs means losing market share in the United States," he added. According to the expert, companies would have to reorient their supplies to other countries, in particular to Brazil and India. Then it may be necessary to lower prices since competition in these markets is fierce.

If Russia loses its status as a country with a market economy, it will complicate protecting the interests of domestic exporters against the United States, for example, within the WTO, Khazanov added. This will create problems, specifically for metal producers.

Recognizing Russia as a non-market economy does not spell doom, said Yuri Fedyukin, managing partner at the Enterprise Legal Solutions law firm in an interview with the newspaper. The US recognizes China as such, but that does not prevent it from remaining one of the largest American trading partners.

Izvestia: More and more countries line up to purchase Russia’s EpiVacCorona jab

Russia has received applications from more than 50 countries for the supply or production transfer of the EpiVacCorona vaccine. A contract has already been signed with Venezuela and Brazil, Director General of the State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology Vector that developed the drug Rinat Maksyutov said in an interview with Izvestia.

"Vector focuses primarily on domestic demand, while Geropharm is negotiating with other countries. A contract has already been signed with Venezuela, Brazil, but in total we have already received more than 50 requests from countries either for the supply of EpiVacCorona or for the transfer of production," he told the newspaper.

EpiVacCorona was the second coronavirus shot registered in Russia on October 14, 2020. The upgraded EpiVacCorona-N vaccine should be registered at the end of August, Maksyutov forecasted.

"There were difficulties in synthesizing the third peptide [of the vaccine]. There were much less of it than the first two under the same production conditions. Therefore, we were limited in the number of doses. After using all scaling formats, we came out with only 1 mln doses per month. And when we tried to combine the second and third peptides, there was no such problem," he said.

The trials of the triple-dose vaccine will end in two months, Maksyutov said.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Minsk gearing up to resist sanctions

By introducing sanctions, the West has enabled not just itself but also the government of Belarus to cope with them as they come into effect, Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes. Minsk anticipates that once transit through Lithuania is closed, they will be able to set up alternative routes. Export flows might be transferred using Russian ports.

President Alexander Lukashenko and officials in charge of the transport sector discussed alternative routes for the supply of Belarusian products under the conditions of sanctions, mainly the transit of potash fertilizers, which are now supplied through Klaipeda, Lithuania. Following Washington’s sanctions, the transit of potash fertilizers through Lithuania will become impossible from December 9.

Transport Minister Aleksey Avramenko said after the meeting that export flows will be transported to Russian ports. Belarus has already used the Northern Sea Route to supply fertilizers to China, but the success of this project will still depend on how quickly Russia can provide its terminals at the St. Petersburg ports to service the Belarusians, Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes

So far, the transport industry and the Belarusian economy have hardly felt the impact of numerous Western sanctions. According to Avramenko, in the first half of the year, exports of transport services increased by 19% compared to the same period last year and exceeded $2 bln. Despite the aviation sanctions, the minister expects Belarus to pull in about $4 bln a year from transport services.

Vedomosti: Lukoil and Russneft discuss creating JV for gas processing

Russneft and Lukoil are hashing over the possibility of creating a joint venture on the basis of the Lokosovsky GPP for the reconstruction of facilities and infrastructure to process associated petroleum gas (APG), a source familiar with the negotiations confirmed to Vedomosti.

According to the source, Russneft's participation in the project is associated with the projected growth in APG production at the company's fields. The economic analysis of the project showed that creating a unified gas processing site will diversify the historically established gas supply arrangement in the region, significantly improve the economy and specific indicators of the project, as well as significantly reduce price risks, the source said, adding "The joint project will allow the company not only to invest in the project but also to control gas processing costs".

The Lokosovsky GPP can be estimated at 7.5-12 bln rubles ($102.17-163.36 mln), managing director of NRA rating service Sergey Grishunin said. If production is expanded 1.5-fold, investments may amount to 5-7 bln rubles ($68.11-95.35 mln), he added. According to him, Russneft will receive a stake of less than 50%.