Top stories in the Russian press on Wednesday, March 10, prepared by TASS

Kommersant: Washington accuses Moscow of vaccine smear campaign

The policy of containing Russia, proclaimed by the new US administration, has extended to the fight against the pandemic. Representatives of the White House and the State Department have accused Russian intelligence agencies of an information war against Western vaccines designed to undermine their credibility as an effective and safe way to fight the coronavirus infection, Kommersant writes. Washington announced that Pfizer and Moderna inoculations were the main target of the "Moscow propaganda campaign" aimed at Western audiences, and promised to fight this disinformation. Russian experts interviewed by the newspaper believe that the accusations indicate an escalating struggle for the global market of coronavirus vaccines.

"We are witnessing the beginning of a major commercial war between RNA vaccines and adenovirus vaccines. The first group includes Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the second, in addition to Sputnik V, includes CanSino, AsrtaZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson. The second group looks safer and easier in terms of logistics, but huge investments and political motives do not allow abandoning the first group," Skoltech professor Dmitry Kulish told Kommersant.

According to Director of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations Fedor Voitolovsky, a struggle is unfolding for the promotion of vaccines and medicines to the markets of third countries in the global pharmaceutical market, which received new incentives for development thanks to the pandemic. "The COVID-19 pandemic has become a global challenge, which, on the one hand, contributes to the consolidation of international efforts to overcome its consequences, and on the other hand, creates conditions for the emergence of new areas of interstate and corporate competition. In US-Russian relations with a cumbersome history, such competition can be especially painful," the expert told Kommersant.

Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for US and Canadian Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Vasiliev believes that "the emerging global market for vaccines against COVID-19 requires the same regulatory mechanism that the World Trade Organization applies to major types of medical and pharmaceutical products."

Vedomosti: Russia teams up with China for Moon exploration

Russia and China have embarked on exploring the Moon, a necessary step in widening exploration of space. However, the United States and other partners in the International Space Station have been left out of that plan. Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin and Head of China’s National Space Administration Zhang Kejian signed a memorandum of understanding between the governments of both countries during a videoconference on March 9 in the field of cooperation on the creation of the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS). According to experts interviewed by Vedomosti, the project can come to fruition only if it is confirmed and proposed to other countries at the very highest levels of leadership.

The signing of the memorandum is the very first step on a path that will take decades, a source close to Roscosmos told Vedomosti. It is too early to talk about when practical work on launching the elements of the ILRS will begin, the source added.

Many complex joint technical projects between Moscow and Beijing have dragged on for a long time due to disputes over the areas of responsibility. But, according to Vasily Kashin from the Higher School of Economics, the situation may be different with the lunar project, since this time Russia is really interested in it, because it has no other partner here except China. And Beijing is interested in cooperation with Moscow, at least in its experience in the field of manned flights and space nuclear power facilities.

According to corresponding member of Russia's Tsiolkovsky Academy of Cosmonautics Andrey Ionin, the Russian-Chinese project can become a reality only if a decision on it is made at the level of the leaders of Russia and China and they also invite other countries to participate in it. These could be other BRICS members, or Turkey, UAE, and Iran.

Izvestia: Russia offers rapprochement mechanism to US, Iran

To restore the Iranian nuclear deal, it is necessary that both sides - Tehran and Washington - meet each other halfway and make simultaneous concessions, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. On March 9, the top diplomat discussed this topic in detail in the UAE, where he arrived as part of his Persian Gulf tour. According to experts interviewed by Izvestia, on the part of the United States, the first step could be at least unfreezing Iran's funds in accounts in third countries, and Iran will be required to stop building up its nuclear program and restore expanded access for IAEA inspectors to its nuclear facilities.

During Lavrov’s visit to Abu Dhabi, the situation around Iran and the restoration of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - a political agreement between Tehran and a group of key nations regarding its nuclear program - was one of the central topics. Moscow welcomes Washington's decision to return to the Iranian nuclear deal. Russia's proposal is for Washington and Tehran to take simultaneous steps towards a deal. All this, according to Lavrov, could be discussed at a regional security focused conference, suggested earlier.

According to analyst at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations Adlan Margoev, the first step from by the US in an ideal scenario would be lifting the banking, oil and industrial sanctions linked to the Iranian nuclear program, or at least releasing Tehran's frozen funds in accounts in third countries. "On the Iranian side, the main measure is to stop expanding the program's capacity and restore expanded access for IAEA inspectors to its nuclear facilities in accordance with the additional protocol to the safeguards agreement," the expert told Izvestia.

According to political scientist Roland Bidzhamov, Lavrov's UAE-Saudi Arabia-Qatar tour is especially interesting since the Biden administration’s foreign policy track in this region has become more pronounced in recent weeks. The expert told Izvestia that the Persian Gulf states are extremely interested in coordinating a number of issues of concern with Moscow. Moreover, developing relations with Russia expands their possibilities in terms of the need to move away from the one-sided direction of Washington’s foreign policy.

Izvestia: Financial reporting season may propel stock market to all-time highs

The Russian stock market is looking forward to growth and renewed historical highs in the near future, according to analysts interviewed by Izvestia. Along with the economic recovery, as well as high oil prices, the stock market indices will be supported by Russia’s dividend payments season. At the same time, analysts are also paying attention to another key risk: the new sanctions against Russia.

Large Russian companies publishing their IFRS financial statements will lead to a surge in stock prices, analysts believe. Finam's Natalya Malykh is confident that the renewal of historical highs is on the horizon. The market will be supported by the expectation of economic recovery and higher prices for raw materials, she noted. The start of the dividend season and medium-term revenue growth of Russian companies in almost all sectors of the economy will also help boost the market, Otkritie Broker’s Anton Zatolokin told the newspaper.

However, analysts are keeping an eye on the top risk looming over markets, namely, the possible exacerbation of US-UK sanctions, which may put pressure on the national currency. Financial reporting of Russian companies is not the main driver of growth, Freedom Finance analyst Georgy Vashchenko noted. The market follows the dynamics of stock and commodity markets abroad.

According to financial gurus, the current high oil prices provide strong support for the ruble. Experts believe that in the event of a correction in oil prices and an increase in sanctions pressure, the exchange rate may move to the range of 76-78 rubles per dollar and 90-92.5 rubles per euro.

Vedomosti: Russia sets out to tax bloggers

Foreign companies may be obliged to pay personal income tax for Russian bloggers who make money from advertising using platforms such as YouTube, according to the proposal of Russia’s Ministry of Digital Development. The project is planned to be prepared by the middle of this year, according to the list of measures to support the Russian IT industry. Such a decision would lead to an increase in budget revenues from the activities of Russian bloggers, but requires tech giants to open official offices in Russia, according to experts interviewed by Vedomosti.

According to BloggerBase, in 2020 video bloggers in Russia alone earned about 18 bln rubles ($242.96 mln). The pandemic has stimulated an increase in demand for content and, as a result, for advertising on the Internet, in particular through social networks.

"Integrating advertising into blogging content is a comprehensive and effective tool that advertisers are willing to use, but social media marketing today looks like a fragmented ‘Wild West’ as this market is still emerging," President of IAB Russia advertising association Boris Omelnitsky told the newspaper, adding that the market needs a unified methodology for assessment.

The Ministry’s initiative raises many questions, Director of the Association of Professional Users of Social Networks and Messengers Vladimir Zykov told Vedomosti. "How will they find the owners of the account with that advertisement? For example, not all owners of accounts on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Vkontakte, TikTok and Odnoklassniki are known," he said, The expert noted that foreign companies first need to open full-fledged representative offices in Russia, "comply with previously adopted laws, and only then it makes sense to put forward new demands on them."