vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #165 / Business / Reading article...

Progress will sell missiles

Primorye’s military plant Progress will sell 30 Moskit anti-ship missles to China within the next three years. The plant has started to get its personnel and equipment ready for the contract. Progress will devote 25-30 percent of its work force to fulfilling the order. The Moskits will be installed on two destroyers that are being constructed for the Chinese in St. Petersburg. The Moskit is fired in the air but flies below wave level in a trough created by its supersonic speed, and it is hard to detect.

Nakhodka recyclers increase N. Korean trade

Three Nakhodka metal recycling companies and a North Korean Foreign Trade Association agreed to increase their ship scrapping business to 10,000 tons per year. The two parties formed a joint venture last year to buy decommissioned ships in Russia, cut them up in N. Korea and sell to third countries. Scrapping ships in North Korea is cheaper than in Russia, a company official said, but the Russian side will provide fuel and equipment.

Banks hold up taxpayer payments to government

Checks by tax inspectorates throughout the krai this year revealed that banks have been holding up taxpayer payments to the government for 60 days and longer. The 58 banks and branches inspected had made 1,300 violations since Jan. 1, and they delayed 18.6 million rubles ($3.1 million), tax officials reported. The main reason for untimely transfers was that banks didn’t have money in their accounts. Vneshtorgbank-ATR alone delayed 460 payments.