In Geopolitics Today - Thursday, January 13th
Indonesia Partially Relaxes Coal Export Ban, Russia’s Surprising Economic Diversity, and CSTO Begins Withdrawal from Kazakhstan
Indonesia Partially Relaxes Coal Export Ban
Following pressure from countries in the region heavily dependent on coal imports from Indonesia, officials in Jakarta have chosen to enact a partial relaxation of the ban on coal exports the country imposed at the start of the month. The Coordinating Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Investment has announced that the country has allowed 37 vessels loaded with coal to leave the country. The ministry said that due to a rise in domestic coal stocks, the ships that have already been loaded "will be released for export."
When Indonesia imposed the ban, officials said that the state-owned Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) faced critically low stockpiles that could threaten power supply to the islands of Java and Bali. The Indonesian government said that coal miners had not met their domestic market obligations, under which they must supply 25% of their production to the domestic market. Japan, South Korea and the Philippines heavily rely on Indonesian coal in order to generate electricity, and all three countries requested that Jakarta drop the export ban within days of it coming into force. The ban was imposed due to an increase in miners skirting domestic obligations by selling their coal overseas for larger profits. The ban is expected to be fully lifted by the end of this month.
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Russia’s Surprising Economic Diversity
Russia has often been described as a petrostate, a country which derives its wealth almost entirely from its energy exports. As US President Joe Biden remarked last year, Russia possesses an economy that has “nuclear weapons and oil wells and nothing else.” But this is a wholly inaccurate assessment of the country’s economic capacity, one which often clouds understanding Russia’s economic power, and in turn, Russian capabilities. As a matter of fact, sales derived from oil and gas made up just over 15% of Russia’s GDP last year.
While hydrocarbons still play a dominant role in Moscow’s federal budget, Russia’s economy today is rather diverse. Russia is engaged in numerous civilian nuclear reactor transfers globally and is the second largest exporter of conventional weapons in the world. The country also generates revenue by providing services in the space sector and selling billions of dollars’ worth of metals every year. Russia is also both the top producer and the top exporter of wheat, is a major coal exporter and the country harnesses a domestic services sector that plays a major role in its economy. With the capacity to domestically produce domestic appliances, vehicles, civilian aircraft, agricultural machinery and more, Russian businesses are able to produce goods and services that can fulfil the needs of the population.
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CSTO Begins Withdrawal from Kazakhstan
Peacekeeping troops sent as part of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) began withdrawing from Kazakhstan today as the government lifted a state of emergency across several regions. A ceremony to mark the pull-out was held in Almaty, where the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, gave a speech announcing the end of CSTO operations, with the withdrawal process expected to be concluded by January 23rd.
The majority of the troops deployed as part of the CSTO contingent involved troops from Russia, but the CSTO force also featured the military forces of Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The main goal of the CSTO forces is said to have been to guard strategic facilities, such as government buildings, airports and military warehouses, while local Kazakh troops conducted what authorities called an anti-terrorist operation. On the whole, about 250 units of military machinery were flow into Kazakhstan with roughly 2,000 CSTO peacekeepers. The rapid withdrawal of CSTO forces following the restoration of order in Kazakhstan is a win for Russia as Moscow demonstrated the efficacy of the CSTO for the very first time.
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