PETROL PRICE TO INCREASE!

Boakye Agyarko, Minister of Energy

After the recent decline in oil prices, many oil-producing countries have stopped investing in oil production. This may lead to oil shortages and interruptions in oil supplies in the next three years already. As a result, prices on gasoline and diesel fuel will grow, a report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) said predicting the state of affairs for the global oil market in the next five years. 

According to IEA chief Fatih Birol, current conditions on the market are completely different from what they were a year ago. Birol also refers to the recent change in the strategy of OPEC states.

For a long time, the OPEC was aiming maximum volumes of production not to let American shale oil producers enter the market. As a result, the price per one barrel of oil fell below $30. Last year, OPEC and 13 other countries outside the cartel decided to restrict production, having triggered a rise in oil prices up to 55 dollars per barrel, Die Welt wrote. 

The IEA does not doubt that oil prices will continue rising, as the phase of cheap oil always leads to certain consequences that manifest themselves in three to four years. Until recently, oil-producing countries were not making any investments in new oil projects. Therefore, it remains unclear how they will cope with the growing demand.

In the next three years, there will be enough oil on the market, but the supply will decrease significantly later. The trend shows that the peak of the deficit will fall on 2022, when oil production capacities reach absolute minimum over the past 14 years,, the report says. 

According to forecasts, the world will step over the "magic threshold" of 100 million barrels a day as early as in 2019. In 2022, mankind will be consuming up to 104 million barrels per day. The demand in oil will grow presumably at the expense of Asian countries, such as China and India.

If no decisions on new projects are made, oil supplies will not be able to meet the demand after 2020, the report also says.  

Naturally, the US, as well as a number of OPEC members such as Iran, Iraq and the UAE, will increase production volumes, but it will not be enough to keep prices on their current level, especially if Russia keeps its current output, while Nigeria, Algeria and Venezuela are expected to cut production.

On November 30, the OPEC summit in the Austrian capital reached an agreement to cut oil production from January 1, 2017 to a level of 32.5 million barrels per day. Thus, OPEC countries are expected to reduce the average daily production by almost 1.2 million barrels.

In the beginning of December, eleven other non-OPEC countries joined this agreement: Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, the Republic of Sudan and South Sudan. Taking into account these countries, the total reduction in the first half of 2017 will make up 1.7-1.8 million barrels per day.

Pravda.Ru 

Editorial

POOR NANA

President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo has to be pitied.

In spite of the fact that he is desperately trying to please all those who helped him to win the 2016 elections, there are signs of disgruntlement all over the country.

The pressure on him has pushed him to appoint as many as 110 Ministers to set the all-time record for Ministerial appointments since the end of colonialism.

It is the same pressure, which is behind the removal of anything and everything which smells NDC in the public and civil service and their replacement with NPP loyalists.

It appears that Nana Akufo-Addo’s wish to build an all-inclusive government has hit the rocks and his own people are still not satisfied.

For us the way out of this situation is to dismantle the politics of patronage and replace it with a new kind of politics that is rooted in principle.

Until then poor Nana Akufo-Addo and all other Presidents will continue to suffer the anger of their supporters for their inability to deliver the goodies.

LOCAL NEWS:

NPP MAN IS ANGRY

Mr Osei Bonsu, an activist of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) at Kwabre in the Ashanti Region is not a very happy man.

He says that if the Akufo-Addo administration continues on the path it has chosen, it would be in power for only four years.

In an interview with “The Insight”, Mr. Bonsu said many of the people who made significant sacrifices for the victory of the NPP are being ignored.

He claimed that a loyalist of the party who worked at the Forestry Commission has been replaced by Mr. John Allotey in the haste to get rid of all those who worked under President Mahama.

“It is not everybody who worked under President Mahama who is a Member or sympathiser of the NDC and we have to be careful”, he warned.

He said activists of the NPP sacrificed for the party’s victory in the 2016 elections so the problems of the people of Ghana can be solved.

“But we are also Ghanaians and have a right to demand that our problems are solved too” he said.

DELTA FORCE

The private militia of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Kumasi, Delta Force, is still insisting on the removal of the Ashanti Regional Security Co-ordinator from office.

Although the Force has apologised for vandalising the office of the Regional Security co-ordinator and subjecting him to brutal assault, it still insists that he ought to be removed from office.

In an interview with “Atinka FM”, Kwame Bamba the apparent leader of the group, said they are still waiting for President Akufo-Addo’s reaction to their petition calling for the removal of the Regional Co-ordinator.

Asked if they still insist on the removal of the regional co-ordinator, he said, “we have sent our petition to the President and we are waiting for him”.

Mr Bamba asked for forgiveness from the NPP, the Police, the President and the general public.

“What we did was not right and we promise that it will never happen again”, he said.

Tema Traditional Council will not work with non-native MCE

President Akufo Addo, what do you say?

By Laudia Sawer

The Tema Traditional Council (TTC) has threatened not to work with any non-indigene appointed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to the position of the Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive officer.

The TTC at a press conference on Sunday said if their plea for the nomination of an indigen to the position was not heeded to, they would fight to express their discontent.

Nii Amarh Somponu II, Tema Shipi and Secretary of the Tema Stool land, addressing the media, stressed that "if after all our plea, a non-indigen is imposed on us, we will not accord him or her the usual courtesy, we shall fight back to express our discontent".

According to them, from Accra to Ada, it was only Tema that was facing challenges of having an indigen being appointed to the position.

Nii Sompuno noted that the TTC conveyed a meeting with the Memebers of Parliament for Tema East, West and Central constituencies and the Greater Accra Regional Minister who hailed from Tema to state emphatically that an indigene should be given the MCE position but that was being ignored.

He regretted that it seemed that the people of Tema were selling their identity and treasures when their forefathers agreed to give their ancestral home for the development of the harbour and a planned city.

"If this is the price to pay for sacrificing our ancestral home for the building of another gateway to Ghana, then we cannot bear it", he emphasized.

The TTC called on the New Patriotic Party (NPP) not to satisfy some selfish and parochial interest in the appointment but rather look out for the good interest for the people and residents of the industrial hub and harbour city.

He expressed the Council's displeasure at some verbal attacks on the people and chiefs of Tema by some members of the NPP Tema East branch during a recently held press conference in relation to the appointment of an MCE.

They noted that it was worrying that the hierarchy of the party failed to call their members to order and asked them to apologize if they do not support their action.

GNA

Russia awards scholarships to 60 African students

Russian President Vladimir Putin

By Kester Kenn Klomegah, Moscow Bureau Chief

The Russian Nuclear Corporation, Rosatom has announced a number of bursaries available for African students to study towards a nuclear profession at one of its world renowned universities.

The announcement was made in Johannesburg, South Africa, at this year’s Working World Exhibition, a career forum for school leaving students. More than 15 000 students attended the three day event where Rosatom representatives offered guidance on how to apply for a free tertiary education.

Viktor Polikarpov, Rosatom’s Regional Vice-President for Sub-Saharan Africa, noted that Russia, was one of the global leaders in scientific development.

“We offer a broad range of educational opportunities for foreign students and young specialists to gain relevant knowledge in different scientific fields. There is currently an opportunity for 60 African students, including 10 South Africans, to study for a Bachelor’s degree in nuclear-related subjects at one of our cutting edge learning institutions.

“This is a great opportunity for foreign students who want to become part of a unique learning experience which has been gained over decades. ”   

South African Master’s student at the Department of Theoretical and Experimental Physics of Nuclear Reactors in MEPhI, Blessed Raphotle, said he privileged to study at one of the world’s leading research universities, especially in the field of nuclear technology.

He said the educational process in MEPhI corresponded to highest standards aimed at stimulating students into acquiring more knowledge. “I will take all the knowledge I have gained back to South Africa with the hope of inspiring a set of values and ideals towards a productive society. Everything in the University is based on the principles of openness, internationalism, and innovation,” noted Raphotle.

With over 70-years’ experience in the industry, Rosatom believes that nuclear technology has a critical role to play in the enhancement of modern society, not just through the production of clean sustainable energy but also through the further advancement of medicine, including; diagnostics, imaging, scanning and analysis.

The company has thus far, granted a number of scholarships, holds competitions with trips to Russia as main prizes and gives local schools the equipment needed to conduct laboratory tests. Rosatom also launched a number of exciting competitions during this year’s Working World Exhibition, hoping to inspire young South Africans to pursue a career.

Rosatom is the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation bringing together over 262 000 people in 360 enterprises and scientific institutions including all Russian civil nuclear companies, research organizations and the world’s only nuclear-propelled icebreaker fleet.

With 70 years' expertise in the nuclear field, Rosatom remains the leader in nuclear energy.

FOREIGN NEWS:

Small business in Cuba

A privately run cafe in the Havana neighborhood of Alamar

By Katheryn Felipe González | informacion@granma.cu

When in April of 2011, the 6th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba approved the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines of the Party and the Revolution, the country began a definitive process of updating its economic model, which, as was recognized at the time, would lead to significant changes over the following five years.

To conduct a review before getting to the heart of the matter, let us recall that the Guidelines established that the economic system would continue to be based on the entire people's socialist ownership of the fundamental means of production, governed by the principle that distribution (also socialist) would be based on "from each according to their capacity, to each according to their work." Of course, the possibility of obstacles and contradictions in the Guidelines' implementation was acknowledged.

Understanding that only socialism is capable of overcoming difficulties and preserving the revolutionary ideals of equality and justice, the national economy would continue to be based on planning, while at the same time attention would be paid to market forces, and more autonomy afforded to state enterprises and new private forms of economic management.

In the words of the Minister of Economy during the period 1995-2009, José Luis Rodríguez, the Guidelines would maintain social ownership of the means of production that were decisive to the nation's development; establish limits on non-state property, preventing the accumulation of capital; and assure the provision of basic social services for all, free of charge.

In addition to maintaining the central role of state enterprises, he said - as we have seen - the updating would recognize and promote economic activity by foreign investors, cooperatives, small farmers, those working land granted in usufruct, renters of state property, and the self-employed, among others.

According to Rodríguez, now an advisor at the Center for Global Economic Research, opening spaces for small private businesses of the self-employed; agricultural and non-agricultural cooperatives; and joint ventures with foreign capital is a way to give such economic forces participation in the country's development "without being predominant, if they are channeled appropriately, and do not become overpowering."

From the point of view of psychologist María del Carmen Zabala, specialist in the issue of social equality, and advisor to the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences' Cuba Program, the Guidelines reflect a commitment to equity and suppose the implementation of measures which lead to more options for employment and income, to the benefit of Cuban families.

Thus, the strategic document outlining the Guidelines states, "In the forms of non-state management, the concentration of property by individuals or legal entities is not to be permitted," adding that the tax system would establish higher rates for those with the highest incomes, in an effort to "mitigate inequalities between citizens."

Just as Cuban President Raúl Castro Ruz made clear during the 7th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, held in April of 2016, in Havana, "The neoliberal formulas that advocate rapid privatization of state property and social services, such as health, education, and social security, will never be applied in Cuban socialism."

Raúl, also first secretary of the Party Central Committee, said, "A revolution of the humble, by the humble, and for the humble," as Fidel defined it, with an undeniable social project already constructed, "will never seek solutions to its problems on the backs of the people, or with the restoration of capitalism, which would lead to the application of shock therapies on layers of the population with fewer resources, and destroy the unity and confidence in the Revolution and the Party of the majority of our citizens."

In Cuba, he has reiterated many times, "No one will be left unprotected."

After five years of taking steps to update the economy, the non-state sector has grown exponentially. While employment in the state sector constituted 81.2% of the total in 2010, it stood at 70.8% in 2015. Likewise, there were 157,371 registered self-employed in September of 2010, and more than 500,000 at the close of 2016.

Although, as the Cuban President noted, "The increase in self-employment and the authorization to hire a work force has led, in practice, to the existence of private medium sized, small, and micro-enterprises, which function today without the appropriate legal standing, and are governed by law within a regulatory framework designed for individuals working in small businesses undertaken by the worker and family members," developing is an atmosphere which does not discriminate against or stigmatize non-state work.

At the same time, in socialist and sovereign Cuba, the people's ownership of the principal means of production constitutes the foundation of workers' real power, as Raúl has explained, and supports the success of non-state forms of economic management, on the basis of strict compliance with relevant legislation and within well defined limits.

Regarding this issue, the Cuban President stated, "We are not naïve, or unaware of the aspirations of powerful external forces which are betting on what they call 'empowerment' of non-state forms of management, with the goal of generating agents of change, in hopes of putting an end to the Revolution and socialism in Cuba through other means."

Raúl has emphasized, "Cooperatives, the self-employed, and private medium, small and micro-enterprises are not in their nature anti-socialist or counterrevolutionary," noting that the vast majority working in this way are patriots.

With economic development, the struggle for peace, and ideological firmness as the Party's focus, the experimental process of developing productive non-agricultural cooperatives continues, especially in commerce, food and technical services, small industry, and construction.

Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro Ruz himself insisted, "If one works with fervor and dignity, the material and cultural goods human beings need can be produced." This is precisely what the country is seeking, without allowing economic decisions to affect the people's unity.

Also worthwhile is a look at the ground rules established for the orderly, gradual process of separating state and enterprise roles, which have often overlapped. This effort has faced obstacles since the change requires an end to obsolete mentalities.

Raúl has emphasized that needed are more explications to the people, more discipline and rigor, and greater follow-up on the change process, saying, "We must have our ears, and our feet, firmly on the ground."

Measures adopted to facilitate freeing the state from all responsibility for economic administration include affording state enterprises more authority, reorganizing the workforce and salaries to eliminate inflated rosters across all sectors, and assuring that work is the principal way the population earns income.

On another front, progress has been made in the development, without subsidies, of wholesale priced supply markets, and equipment rental services to serve state enterprises, budgeted entities, and non-state businesses.

The Guidelines additionally propose making the social objectives of state enterprises more flexible, so they can take maximum advantage of their potential, as well as expanding their authority to manage working capital and investments to a certain degree.

Another evolution has been in what is known as "pay per performance," which means that wages for workers in state and non-state enterprises are increasingly linked to results obtained.

The conceptualization of Cuba's economic model approved at the 7th Party Congress in 2016, states that the consolidation and sustainable development of socialism is only possible on the basis of preserving values and increasing the productivity of labor, to provide for greater wealth and its just distribution, a better standard and quality of life, as well as the realization of legitimate individual and collective aspirations.

At the same time, the National Economic and Social Plan through 2030 defines the strategic axes and driving forces in the development of Cuba: an effective socialist government; social integration; productive change and international involvement; the development of infrastructure; human potential; science, technology, and innovation; protection of natural resources and the environment; equity and justice.

Let us not forget that all of these changes are taking place within a reality marked by little population growth, with low birth rates and longer life expectancy, a negative migratory balance, increasing urbanization and aging of the population, which imply great social and economic challenges for the country - issues to be addressed in future editions of Granma International.