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Saudi Construction Sector to Complete 5,000 Projects Worth $1.6 Trillion

Expectations of an active return to the construction sector to complete implementation of development projects in Saudi Arabia (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Expectations of an active return to the construction sector to complete implementation of development projects in Saudi Arabia (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Construction Sector to Complete 5,000 Projects Worth $1.6 Trillion

Expectations of an active return to the construction sector to complete implementation of development projects in Saudi Arabia (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Expectations of an active return to the construction sector to complete implementation of development projects in Saudi Arabia (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The construction sector in Saudi Arabia has been the most affected by the suspension of economic activities during the coronavirus pandemic.

However, specialists in the construction and urban development sector have expected a strong resumption of work, which would contribute to reducing economic losses while completing pending projects.

They affirmed that smoothly starting economic activities can ensure the sector’s gradual recovery and reinforce expectations for an active return to construction in Saudi Arabia to complete the implementation of 5,000 projects worth $1.6 trillion.

These hopes come in light of the challenges facing the sector due to the coronavirus crisis, which has cast a shadow over Saudi contracting activity.

According to the Saudi Contractors Authority, a survey conducted on 600 contracting companies in Saudi Arabia has revealed the challenges facing Saudi contractors, mainly in cash flow, project delays, and supply chain disruptions.

It pointed to an expected decrease in awarded projects this year by 20 percent due to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, operating sources have stated that the Saudi market is expecting an active and gradual resumption of activity in the construction sector.

They pointed out that the boom in the conclusion of construction contracts in 2019 supports the restoration of this activity to complete the commitment to implementation during 2020, which would record growth during Q1 2021.

Fahad bin Mohammed Al Hammadi, former chairman of the Federation of Arab Contractors, expected early 2021 to experience a maximum flow of mega projects in the Kingdom.

He cited the Red Sea Development Project after raising the value of its awarding contracts to more than double in 2020, to increase from SAR2.3 billion ($613 million) in 2019 to SAR6.8 billion ($1.8 billion) in 2020.

He noted that the coronavirus pandemic has greatly affected the construction sector, as work was suspended in line with the precautionary measures imposed.

Another challenge was low oil prices, he stressed, adding that spending in the construction sector during 2020 was negatively affected by the pressure posed on the oil sector since the virus’s outbreak.

Fadl al-Buainain, a financial and banking analyst, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the construction sector was one of the most affected by the Kingdom’s suspension of economic activity.

He expressed hope that activities would resume strongly and contribute to reducing losses, gaining profits, and gradual recovery.

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US Treasury Targets Russia's Gazprombank with New Sanctions

FILE PHOTO: A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
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US Treasury Targets Russia's Gazprombank with New Sanctions

FILE PHOTO: A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

The United States imposed new sanctions on Russia's Gazprombank on Thursday, the Treasury Department said, as President Joe Biden steps up actions to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine before he leaves office in January.
The move, which wields the department's most powerful sanctions tool, effectively kicks Gazprombank out of the US banking system, bans its trade with Americans and freezes its US assets, Reuters reported.
Gazprombank is one of Russia's largest banks and is partially owned by Kremlin-owned gas company Gazprom. Since Russia's invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has been urging the US to impose more sanctions on the bank, which receives payments for natural gas from Gazprom's customers in Europe.
The fresh sanctions come days after the Biden administration allowed Kyiv to use US ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory. On Tuesday, Ukraine fired the weapons, the longest range missiles Washington has supplied for such attacks on Russia, on the war's 1,000th day.
The Treasury also imposed sanctions on 50 small-to-medium Russian banks to curtail the country's connections to the international financial system and prevent it from abusing it to pay for technology and equipment needed for the war. It warned that foreign financial institutions that maintain correspondent relationships with the targeted banks "entails significant sanctions risk."
"This sweeping action will make it harder for the Kremlin to evade US sanctions and fund and equip its military," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said. "We will continue to take decisive steps against any financial channels Russia uses to support its illegal and unprovoked war in Ukraine."
Gazprombank said Washington's latest move would not affect its operations. The Russian embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
Along with the sanctions, Treasury also issued two new general licenses authorizing US entities to wind down transactions involving Gazprombank, among other financial institutions, and to take steps to divest from debt or equity issued by Gazprombank.
Gazprombank is a conduit for Russia to purchase military materiel in its war against Ukraine, the Treasury said. The Russian government also uses the bank to pay its soldiers, including for combat bonuses, and to compensate the families of its soldiers killed in the war.
The administration believes the new sanctions improve Ukraine's position on the battlefield and ability to achieve a just peace, a source familiar with the matter said.
COLLATERAL IMPACT
While Gazprombank has been on the administration's radar for years, it has been seen as a last resort because of its focus on energy and the desire to avoid collateral impact on Europe, a Washington-based trade lawyer said.
"I think that the current administration is trying to put as much pressure and add as many sanctions as possible prior to January 20th to make it harder for the next administration to unwind," said the lawyer, Douglas Jacobson.
Officials in Slovakia and Hungary said they were studying the impacts of the new US sanctions.
Trump would have the power to remove the sanctions, which were imposed under an executive order by Biden, if he wants to take a different stance, Jacobson said.
After Russia's invasion in 2022, the Treasury placed debt and equity restrictions on 13 Russian firms, including Gazprombank, Sberbank and the Russian Agricultural Bank.
The US Treasury has also worked to provide Ukraine with funds from windfall proceeds of frozen Russian assets.