this is business briefing. i'm samantha simmonds. six more years — as vladimir putin begins another term as president, we'll take a look at the challenges facing the russian economy. hotting up or cooling down? we'll explain why the price of ice cream may be about to reach new heights. and on the markets, a mixed start to the trading week following some strong numbers on wall street on friday. welcome to the programme. today vladmir putin will be inaugurated as russian president for a further six years. his most recent term has seen mixed fortunes for the country's economy. since 2014, russia has suffered as a result of both falling oil prices and western sanctions following the annexation of crimea. but more recently, the economy has returned to growth as the global price of crude has stabilised. while experts are optimistic about the country's prospects over the next couple of years,

the potential for renewed economic sanctions still pose a threat to living standards. last month, in response to allegations that russia interfered in the us presidential election, washington froze the assets of seven russian oligarchs and 12 companies they control. the move saw investors take flight from the russian currency, with the rouble falling over 10% in the space of a few days. with me is cornelia meyer, chief executive of meyer resources. welcome to you. thank you for being here. president putin struggled to revive the economy over the past few yea rs. revive the economy over the past few years. he has an awful lot to do and has made a lot of promises. he has made a lot of promises on healthcare and all sorts of things. the top of his list is getting the economy on a surer footing, without a surer footing he cannot develop any of the

promises he made. it also has was going on and they are expensive. higher oil prices work. he went into alliance with opec to take some barrels out of the market. that really helps. the current—account surplus has grown recently so he is in better shape than turkey or argentina in terms of emerging markets. —— techie mac. he needs to address the issues and the fact that the russian economy is way too dependent on oil, gas, and mining sectors. he needs to work on better diversification. how much are sanctions biting? we have seen new sanctions biting? we have seen new sanctions brought in in the last couple of months, it is affecting the ruble, how does that affect ordinary people? it affects ordinary people more than it does the top percentile. it is biting, but what

you have seen is the high oil prices cushioning the globe on the one hand on on the other hand you see that when you look at the russian exports and the trading partners, china is becoming ever more important. they are exporting to places like saudi arabia and so on, defence staff. in that sense they are just reorienting its trading partners —— that sort of thing. it is biting, but they are trying to circumvented by trading with other people. you say he needs to spend more within the country and to spend more within the country and to diversify, but as far as infrastructure goes, which we have seen he is committed to, for example, healthca re and seen he is committed to, for example, healthcare and education, where the money coming from?m example, healthcare and education, where the money coming from? it will come the treasury. it will come from the taxes he collect them from the money he gets also from oil. so what he gets from having oil going

through pipelines and so on. the high oil price helps. but no sanctions were definitely help as well. 0k. thank you very much urinalysis, cornelia meyer, thank you. thank you. over the weekend, there's been another development in the ongoing row between china and the united states. let's cross over to rico hizon in our asia business hub in singapore. rico, what can you tell us? samantha! well, it has to do with aviation. the chinese government recently told several airlines, including us carriers, to change the way they refer to taiwan, hong kong, and macau in promotion and advertising materials. washington has gruson as beijing bod trying to impose these territorial demands on these areas —— they have sent it to 36 foreign air carriers, objecting any indication the three entities

are independent of separate from china. the white house press secretary called this move orwellian nonsense and part of a growing trend, for the chinese, this party to imposes political views on american citizens and private companies. taiwan is tainah‘s less sensitive territorial issue. beijing considers the self—rule democratic island a wayward province. hong kong and macau are former european colonies that are now part of china but ryan largely autonomously —— but ryan. will these foreign carriers follow what the civil aviation of china wants to do? if not, they may lose chinese passengers, which are one of the largest tourism dollars that contribute to airlines and countries around the world. for now, thank you. there could be some bad news for those of you looking to cool off with an ice cream over the next few months. vanilla is already the second most expensive spice in the world,

but now bad weather in madagascar has hit the harvest, pushing up prices of the sweetest flavour to over $600 a kilo. maryam moshiri has more. cookie dough, chocolate brownie, creme brulee, whatever your favourite flavour, vanilla, the key ingredient for sweet treats is now, after safra n, ingredient for sweet treats is now, after safran, the second most expensive spice in the world. after safran, the second most expensive spice in the worldlj after safran, the second most expensive spice in the world. i have got some flavours for us to try. i've got honeycomb and original vanilla and a rhyme and reason. this isa vanilla and a rhyme and reason. this is a scheme company is run by three sisters in cheshire. the family has been churning ice cream for 30 yea rs, been churning ice cream for 30 years, but the cost of this key ingredient is starting to bite. yes, it has gone up. we decided to buy it when you's were. we had to make a decision as to whether we would absorb the costs, which we did in the end. the sisters insist they

will stick with the real thing, but other ice cream businesses are taking vanilla off the menu. so why has vanilla become such a valuable commodity? 75% of the well‘s vanilla grows in madagascar. vanilla is currently around $600 per kilo. the main reason for this is that there was a cyclone in madagascar last march which damage a lot of the plantations and despite hopes that the price would have eased by now it is still on the high side, around those levels, and, in fact, this means it is higher than the price of silver. a highly priced and highly priced ingredients, as a result, only i% of the flavouring in food comes from actual vanilla plants like these ones. and even though you mightfind it like these ones. and even though you might find it in sweet scented perfumes or candles, cakes, or even cocktails, do beware, because cheap alternatives can be extracted from

wood and even petrol. it will take untiljune to find out how this you's vanilla harvest fares. the tea m you's vanilla harvest fares. the team at sudbury is so they're not putting on the cost to customers yet. they say the taste is worth it, whatever the price. grecu, yet. they say the taste is worth it, whateverthe price. grecu, bbc yet. they say the taste is worth it, whatever the price. grecu, bbc news. i tend to agree. now let's brief you some other business stories. the french economy minister has warned that air france could "disappear" as airline workers hold firm over their demands for higher wages. staff have staged several walkouts in recent weeks and on friday the company's chief executive resigned over the crisis. british businesses have voiced their support for a customs partnership with the european union. it comes as the uk business secretary, greg clark, emphasised the importance of frictionless trade with europe. the cabinet are weighing up the possibility of collecting import duties from non—eu countries following the uk's departure from the trading bloc. more on that in the press briefing

coming up. and now, what's trending in the business news this morning: business insiderfeatures a poll which shows that a quarter of facebook users are using the platform less following the recent data breach. the study showed that nearly two—thirds of all adults log onto facebook at least once a day. the billionaire hedge fund manager warren buffet has once again lashed out at bitcoin according to cnbc. during his annual investor conference, the legendary investor described the cryptocurrency as "rat poison squared". and marvel‘s new avengers film has become the fastest movie to reach a billion dollars in box office sales. bloomberg says it tookjust 11 days for the film to hit the milestone. and don't forget, let us know what you are spotting online — use #bbcthebriefing. that's it for business briefing this hour. but before we go, here are the markets. the hang seng is trading higher following some strong us data on friday.

the dow closing up. unemployment is at an 18—year low, but fewer than expected jobs were created — this pushed all of the major us indices up by over i%. up next, newsbriefing, we'll take you through the stories making headlines in the global media today including more on that study on facebook user numbers. the sun is shining, it's a bank holiday monday so what better way to enjoy the glorious weather than a stroll in the park. invaluable leisure time, you might think. or is it? a new report from the charity fields in trust, has put a financial value on the amount of enjoyment we get from green spaces, as part of a project to preserve our parks. simon jones has been finding out more.

park life, somewhere to unwind, breathe, run, play, but there are fears cash strapped councils could increasingly give up their green spacesin increasingly give up their green spaces in favour of development. increasingly give up their green spaces in favour of developmentlj think spaces in favour of development.” think being inbee park gives you a chance to be out in the open, it makes you feel calm and relaxed at inbee park. first time i have been toa inbee park. first time i have been to a park in here. what do you think? it is really nice. it is nice to come out from a hectic life. think? it is really nice. it is nice to come out from a hectic lifem is nice to be out of hospital and escape. you might think it is not exactly rocket science to say that coming toa exactly rocket science to say that coming to a park, enjoying the greenery, getting away from it all, is going to leave you feeling better both physically and mentally, but now experts are trying to put an actual value on it. the charity fields and trusses using methodology approved by the treasury to measure well—being it has calculated that people would have two spent 900 semi

well pounds each year to achieve the same level of satisfaction they get from parks, if they went there. multiply that by the adult population and they say parkes generate more than £34 billion of benefits. we are seeing a crisis time for parks and green spaces in that their future is very uncertain. at filton trusts we thought it was important to re—evaluate these bases and think about what they were to be individuals who use them. we have adopted a very standard to measuring goods that don't have a cost, so things that don't have a cost still have a value. the ministry of community has welcomed the resurgence as it wants to improve access to parts for everyone. simon jones, bbc news. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: the diplomatic push is on — britain's foreign secretary urges president trump not to abandon the iran nuclear deal. another brexit warning — the uk's hospitality industry says it'll struggle to recruit staff once britain leaves the eu. a new development in the rape

and murder case that has shocked india — as the supreme court weighs in to the row. now it is time look at the stories that are making the headlines in media across the world. we begin with the i newspaper in the uk one of many saying theresa may risks angering the eurosceptics in her party as she reportedly looks towards a customs union with the eu. the south china morning post carries north korea's warnings to donald trump to stop taking credit for the talks with the south. the paper also reports kimjong—un and president trump will meet at the end ofjune in singapore. another deal that donald trump's looking at is in the financial times the iran nuclear agreement — the country's president/ hassan rouhani's warning the us president not to pull out saying it would be a "historic regret". let's turn to london's evening standard now, it reports a private

police company operating in the capital will be the first to go nationwide — its services would set you back £200 per month. technology site c—net among many looking at another facebook story. it says most facebook users in us are staying loyal to the site after its recent data disaster. and finally, to the new york times with a tale of a secret millionaire — a 96—year—old woman who retired just before her death — left almost $9 million to charity — shocking family and friends who described her as frugal. so let's begin. back with me is priya lakhani — the founder and ceo of century tech — a uk based education technology platform. let's start with eia, the story saying that the prime minister risks the wrath of the tory rebels over customs partnership. after greg clark warned again thatjobs could be lost. project fair and saying

that it be lost. project fair and saying thatitis be lost. project fair and saying that it is scaremongering. that is hisjob. he is the business secretary, we expect him to speak to manufacturers like toyota and talk about the concerns of business. this is all about a customs union and the fa ct is all about a customs union and the fact that the prime minister and the business secretary had approached, eve ryo ne business secretary had approached, everyone in westminster saying we had this idea of the customs partnership and using sparc technology we could ensure that we have some sort of partnership but we don't have to have hard orders, obviously the eurosceptics have come back and said it is not good enough, they do want any partnership whatsoever. so they have said that they want some kind of hard border, we are not taking control of the uk if we have a partnership or a union. it is the secretaryjob