📈 Russia's GDP grew by 4.1% in January-October; growth is concentrated in high-value-added sectors - Putin

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❗️The digitalization level of Russia’s financial sector surpasses global averages, Putin noted at the "Russia Calling!" investment forum

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💬Russia seeks to strengthen economic sovereignty and technological leadership, Russia's president said

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📹Russia ranks among leaders in quality of business climate - Putin

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Key statements by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the "Russia Calling!" investment forum
 
🔸 In 2022, a number of countries proved themselves to be unreliable partners, destroying trade relations with the Russian Federation
 
🔸 The auto industry and machine building of the Russian Federation are growing at a great pace
 
🔸 The Russian economy has not only transformed, but also demonstrated structural changes 
 
🔸 Russia has a record low unemployment rate compared to many western countries

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❗️Russia did not expel anyone or squeeze them out of its market - Putin
 
Despite political pressure, many Western companies have not left the Russian market - Russia's president stressed

Russia will not create special conditions for Western companies that want to return to its market, but it will not hinder them either, Vladimir Putin has said.

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Putin stresses that Russia's pivot to the East has been steadily in progress since the 2000s, not just recently.
 

Based on the trends, Russia is developing relations with China regardless of events in the Ukrainian direction; this is its long-time partner, Russia's president added.

 
Russia focuses on those markets where there is growth and where there are partners who do not respond to the barkings of third countries, Putin concluded.

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📹 BRICS tries to pay due attention to the creation of a single digital payment system, Vladimir Putin has said.

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💬 Using the greenback, the US continues to exploit other economies for its own benefit - Putin

Other statements:

◻️ The use of the dollar as a world currency brings the United States large revenues "from the sky"
 
◻️ The Biden administration has done a lot to undermine the dollar's influence on the world stage
 
◻️ Russia did not reject the dollar; it was denied its use.

◻️ Bitcoin and other digital currencies will develop; no one will be able to ban them, regardless of the fate of the dollar

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📹 “Are you a Pole? No, I’m worse”: Rare story from Putin’s KGB years

The Russian president has recalled how his “friend” (apparently a Soviet spy on a mission) told him about his Tarantino-style dialogue with an old German fisherman in Berlin.

- Is your fishing ok?
- No.
- Why?
- It’s the wind from the east.
- All the problems come from the east…
- Are you a Pole?
- No, I’m worse.

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💬 Vladimir Putin called the development of new logistics routes inevitable, including due to Western sanctions.

Transport volumes along the Northern Sea Route will grow, Russia's president said.

The "North-South" corridor is already in operation, and the volumes of transportation along it are constantly increasing, the president added.

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⚡️Who can prohibit Bitcoin? No one! — Putin

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📹 "Why in English?" Putin offers an injection of "sovereignty" to a German investor, who asked him a question in English.

"Sovereignty" was successfully regained as the conversation between them continued in German (0:33).

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📌 Watch Putin's full speech at the 'Russia Calling!' investment forum in Moscow

Here are the highlights:

🔶 Those who wanted to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, including in the economy, failed

🔶 Investments in Russia have been growing for the third year in a row, despite all the problems that they [the West] have tried to create for us from the outside

🔶 Russia's GDP grew by 4.1% in January-October; growth is concentrated in high-value-added sectors

🔶 The level of digitalization of the financial sector in Russia exceeds the global level

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❗️Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova's visa for Malta was cancelled on the eve of the OSCE Foreign Ministers' Meeting, despite being issued already, according to the ministry.

The visa was cancelled at the OSCE with the wording "due to circumstances beyond their control," the Russian Foreign Ministry stated.

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Top 5 сorruption scandals shaking the world

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol's surprise declaration of martial law has ended in fiasco. Was this a last-ditch attempt to stay in power by the lame-duck president amid his corruption scandal?

Here are the major corruption scandals making headlines globally:

1️⃣ South Korea:

🇰🇷President Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife, Kim Keon Hee, are embroiled in a corruption and influence peddling scandal involving the People Power Party's 2022 nominations and accepting luxury gifts.

🇰🇷Yoon's recent martial law move may lead to impeachment and possible imprisonment, according to media reports.

2️⃣ US:

🇺🇸Joe Biden provided a blanket pardon to his son, Hunter, not only for tax and gun felonies, but any other potential crimes.

🇺🇸This move, criticized as a "new low" by legal experts, came amid Republican-led congressional investigations into Hunter's alleged influence-peddling schemes involving his father.

3️⃣ Israel:

🇮🇱PM Benjamin Netanyahu's long-running corruption trial includes charges of fraud, breach of trust, and accepting bribes. Despite repeated delays, his testimony is set to continue on December 10.

🇮🇱Opposition media suggest Netanyahu hoped the ongoing war in Gaza would delay his court appearances, but judges remained firm.

4️⃣ Ukraine:

▪️Defense Minister Rustem Umerov was summoned on December 3 over faulty military mines. In November, police arrested former Defense Ministry adviser Roman Balykin and Igor Franchuk, ex-President Kuchma's former son-in-law, for a fraudulent uniform procurement scheme.

▪️In October, authorities uncovered a draft-dodging scam in Odessa involving fake medical documentation.

5️⃣ EU:

🇪🇺Belgian lobbyist Frédéric Baldan has accused European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen of corruption and collusion with Pfizer in his book "Ursula Gate: Compromise by Lobbies."

🇪🇺Efforts to hold her accountable have been thwarted by the EC's refusal to disclose details of the controversial deal.

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❗️Russia's FM spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on the cancellation of her visa to visit the OSCE Foreign Ministers' Meeting: There is no cooperation or interaction left, and instead of principles there is unscrupulousness.

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💬 A decision on funds to support Ukraine will be made by President-elect Donald Trump, not current President Joe Biden, who requested $24 billion, Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson has said.

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US President-elect Donald Trump nominates Daniel P. Driscoll to serve as Secretary of the Army

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