Russia

Russia 091113Basic Political Developments

· PRESS DIGEST - Russia - Nov 13

· Medvedev wants Siberia, Far East integrated into APR - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Siberia and the Far East of the country shall be integrated into the markets of Asia and the Pacific Rim.

· Medvedev to Address APEC Summit - President Dmitry Medvedev on Saturday will address the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Singapore, where leaders will discuss ways to spur economic recovery and Medvedev will hold a series of bilateral talks with his Asian and American counterparts.

· Dmitry Medvedev's article "APEC: Toward a Stable, Safe and Prosperous Community" has been published: APEC: Toward a Stable, Safe and Prosperous Community

· Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong’s interview with RIA Novosti

· Russia delays S300 missile contract: Iranian armed forces - Russia has delayed a contract six months to transfer S300 missiles to Iran, Iranian armed forces Chief of Staff, General Hassan Firouzabad was quoted as saying by the Mehr news agency.

· U.S. envoy to Afghanistan to visit Moscow - United States Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke will visit Moscow on November 15-17 to discuss the problems of Afghanistan and Pakistan, U.S. Department of State spokesman Ian Kelly said on Thursday.

· Sergei Lavrov to visit Afghanistan on Nov 19 – FM: “Sergei Lavrov will visit Afghanistan to take part in the inauguration ceremony of re-elected President Hamid Karzai,” the ministry’s spokesman said.

· Friday November 27, 2009: PARIS - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visits France for Franco-Russian government seminar

· Putin’s Sochi, Far East Trip - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Thursday in a meeting with Transportation Minister Igor Levitin that he would travel to Sochi and the Far East by the end of the year.

· Russia to deliver last of six Su fighters to Indonesia in 2010

· Russia to help Cuba establish emergency training center

· No need to politicize Black Sea fleet issue – Yanukovych

· Georgian National Security Council to discuss opening of borders with Russia

· Climate, crisis, WTO entry to be on agenda at Russia-EU summit - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana and Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt will take part in the summit on November 18.

· Moscow, Athens discuss plans to sign new security treaty - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov met his Greek counterpart Dimitris P. Droutsas on Thursday to discuss Russia’s initiative on signing a European security treaty.

· START ending, but US and Russia still agree on nuke verification - The main details of a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty have already been worked out and now the US and Russia have to agree on verification and warheads counting issues, non-proliferation expert Peter Crail told RT.

· Russia Seeks Removal of U.S. Observers Under New Nuclear Accord

· A Possible US-Russian Arrangement and Implications for the Middle East - By Zvi Magen

· Moscow mayor to deliver humanitarian aid to Abkhazia

· 3 State Corporations To Lose Status in ’10 - Russian Technologies, Rusnano and Vneshekonombank will likely lose their status as state corporations as early as next year, presidential aide Arkady Dvorkovich said Thursday.

· Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP unit starting planned for December

· Former Russneft Head Gutseriyev No Longer on Interpol Wanted List – Statement

· Gutseriev May Wrest Back Russneft Oil Company, Vedomosti Says

· Court extends Khodorkovsky’s detention to February 17

· Three gunmen shot dead in Russia's Ingushetia - Three militants were killed in a security operation in the south Russian republic of Ingushetia on Friday, a local law enforcement officer said.

· Cleric injured in Ingushetia

· Attacks and Shootouts Reported in Dagestan, Ingushetia and Karachaevo-Cherkessia

· Wrecks tell tale of growing violence - By Rupert Wingfield-Hayes , BBC News, Nazran

· Prominent Tatar Activist Talks Of Leaving Russia - Bayramova told RFE/RL that Russian officials have curtailed her freedom and hindered her struggle for the independence of Tatarstan, which she said now "cannot be a homeland" for her. South Russia editor charged with extremism over poem

· Praying to Putin - In the absence of meaningful civic action, many Russians continue the czarist tradition of appealing to the country’s rulers.

· Federal Protection Service chief left post of Russian Boxing Federation president - Federal Protection Service chief left post of Russian Boxing Federation president

· UK key suspect in Litvinenko murder not against meeting with British inspectors in London

· Litvinenko murder suspect may return to Britain for questioning as Germany drops case against 'accomplice'

· St. Petersburg Prepares for Flu Jab

· Smuggler Given 9 Years - A St. Petersburg court has sentenced a 45-year-old Uzbekistan citizen to nine years in prison for attempting to smuggle heroin, Interfax reported Thursday, citing the web site of the St. Petersburg prosecutor’s office.

· Opposition raps Medvedev poll reforms plan

· Europe should seize on Medvedev's calls for modernization - In his annual state of the nation address, Russian President Dimitry Medvedev called for sweeping internal reforms. Deutsche Welle's Ingo Mannteufel thinks this is a golden opportunity for the EU.

· WSJ: Russia's Thoroughly Modern Medvedev - By LIAM DENNING

· More Influential Than Oprah Winfrey? - Medvedev’s State of the Nation Address Centered on Modernization, but It Only Covered Old Ground - By Tom Balmforth

· The hour may be at hand for Russia's 11 time zones

National Economic Trends

· CBR keeps intact forecast for private capital outflow at $40 bln

· Russia expects positive trade surplus

· TABLE-Russia monetary base rises to 4.08 trln rbls

· FT.com: Kremlin attempts to double its grain exports

Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions

· Russian Govt Approves Draft Transfer Pricing Law

· Inter RAO consolidates blocking stake in TGK-11

· TeliaSonera, Russia’s Altimo to Merge MegaFon, Turkcell Stakes

· Usmanov: no gains for MegaFon from Telia/Altimo deal

· Deal places Alfa atop Russian mobile industry

· Deripaska’s Rusal May Offer Assets to China for IPO Support

· Evraz Group secures amendments in debt covenants

· Russia Evraz--covenants amended on $3.6 bln debt

· Siemens VAI to reconstruct concaster No 3 at Evraz NTMK

· Allocine buys into Russian website - Kinopoisk stake is part of international expansion

· INTERVIEW-UPDATE 1-Baltika: tax hike to hit Russia beer mkt

· Austrian Airlines Not Planning To Cancel Flights To Russia

Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)

· Slovenian PM to sign agreement for gas pipeline - Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor will sign a deal in Russia on Saturday for the construction through its territory of the massive South Stream gas pipeline to Europe, a government minister said Thursday.

· Wall Street Journal calls Nord Stream project "Molotov-Ribbentrop Pipeline"

· Russia Gains a Political Victory in Scandinavia with Nord Stream Approval

Gazprom

· Gazprom reveals borrowings plan for 2010

· Gazprom: Naftogaz must honor obligation to transit gas to Europe

· Gazprom, Naftogaz heads discuss problem of gas payments

· Gazprom postpones drilling in Tajikistan

· UPDATE 2-Gazprom says ups 2010 investment to $28 bln

· Oao Gazprom Approves Draft Investment Program And Budget

· Belarus asks Gazprom to review gas prices for 2010

· Why Poland Upped Its Reliance on Gazprom - Poland wants to diversify its energy supply, but a recent deal with Gazprom only increases its dependence on the Russian gas giant. Folly—or smart move?

· Gazprom's American Ambitions - Gazprom, the bare-knuckled king of natural gas, is out to make its mark in America - By Steve LeVine

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Full Text ArticlesBasic Political DevelopmentsPRESS DIGEST - Russia - Nov 13

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKLD34010720091113

Fri Nov 13, 2009 8:07am GMT

MOSCOW, Nov 13 (Reuters) - The following are some of the leading stories in Russia's newspapers on Friday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

KOMMERSANT

www.kommersant.ru

- Russia's anti-monopoly service is gathering evidence against French hypermarket chain Auchan over its card programme with Credit Europe Bank, the paper says.

- Twenty-four percent less apartments were sold in Moscow in the first three months of 2009 compared to the same period last year, the paper writes.

VEDOMOSTI

www.vedomosti.ru

- Russia's economy fell by 8.9 percent in the third quarter of 2009 compared to the same period of 2008, the paper writes.

- Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) plans to increase spending by 5 percent in 2010, the daily writes.

GAZETA

www.gzt.ru

- Russia's federal budget deficit in the 10 months of 2009 reached 1.5 trillion roubles, which is 4.7 percent of GDP, the paper reports.

TRUD

www.trud.ru

- Russia's largest lender Sberbank (SBER03.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) will cut 27,000 jobs by the end of 2009 and 30,000 in 2010-2013, the paper writes.

KOMSOMOLSKAYA PRAVDA

www.kp.ru

- The paper publishes comments of Russian experts, officials, human rights activists and other public figures on the state of the nation address by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

- Moscow officials have announced that 24 underwater parking lots will be built in Russia's capital, the paper reports.

- An officer of Russia's defence ministry threw eight-year-old daughters of his cohabitant out of the balcony, the popular daily writes.

Medvedev wants Siberia, Far East integrated into APR

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=14526119&PageNum=0

13.11.2009, 00.32

MOSCOW, November 13 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Siberia and the Far East of the country shall be integrated into the markets of Asia and the Pacific Rim.

“Russia wants Siberia and the Russian Far East to be directly involved in regional integration. We did not join APEC empty-handed. We have much to offer our partners, not just abundant reserves of oil, gas and various minerals, biological resources and fresh water, but also the no less competitive asset of the science and technology, industrial and intellectual potential that the eastern part of our country possesses,” the president said in a article headlined APEC: Toward a Stable, Safe and Prosperous Community. Medvedev leaves fore APEC summit in Singapore on Friday.

The president said preparations for Russian presidency in APEC in 2012 is a major priority.

“We are open to diverse and mutually beneficial cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. Our main reference point in this area is the preparation for Russia's chairmanship of the forum in 2012. This honorary mission carries with it great responsibilities and comes with many obligations. We will do everything necessary to ensure that the APEC summit in Vladivostok is productive and of the highest quality,” Medvedev said.

“Russia has built up invaluable experience of cooperation with its APEC colleagues since we joined the forum in 1998. We have always been actively involved in resolving the issues of greatest urgency and concern, not only at the summits and ministerial meetings, but also through the ongoing painstaking work in the forum's various expert committees and groups. As in the other international organisations, we seek to be a reliable and responsible partner within APEC,” the president said.

Medvedev to Address APEC Summit

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/medvedev-to-address-apec-summit/389388.html

13 November 2009

By Aaron Mulvihill

President Dmitry Medvedev on Saturday will address the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Singapore, where leaders will discuss ways to spur economic recovery and Medvedev will hold a series of bilateral talks with his Asian and American counterparts.

Medvedev will carry out bilateral talks with Chinese leader Hu Jintao, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and U.S. President Barack Obama, a Kremlin official said Thursday. Medvedev and Obama will also have one-on-one talks in which they will discuss a revision to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, due to expire Dec. 5, the White House said.

At the APEC CEO summit Saturday, Medvedev is slated to give a keynote address, in which he will discuss priorities for action in the global economy.

The summit for heads of state comes after a week of lower-level ministerial conferences discussing ways to cement worldwide economic recovery. APEC finance ministers met Thursday and agreed to move to “market-oriented” exchange rates and keep in place huge stimulus programs for as long as it takes for the economy to completely recover.

“We will undertake monetary policies consistent with price stability in the context of market oriented exchange rates that reflect underlying economic fundamentals,” the ministers said in a statement.

China has come under increasing criticism for its pegged exchange rate, which critics say artificially props up the countries’ exporters, providing an unfair trade advantage. China’s central bank said Wednesday that it would consider major currencies in guiding the yuan, suggesting a departure from the effective dollar peg. Russia’s Central Bank has set a floating exchange rate as its long-term goal.

Nevertheless, the countries agree that sudden realignments in exchange rates are no ‘silver bullet’ for addressing economic imbalances, Shanmugaratnam said.

Separately, APEC foreign and trade ministers met on Thursday and expressed concern over a fragile global recovery and high unemployment. They promised to “lay a foundation for growth that is inclusive, balanced and sustainable, supported by innovation and a knowledge-based economy.”

Delegates also reiterated their support for Russian accession to the World Trade Organization in line with a regional push to dismantle trade barriers.

Deputy Finance Minister Dmitry Pankin headed Russia’s delegation to the finance ministers’ meeting, while Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina led the country’s delegation to the foreign and trade ministers’ meeting.

Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin, also at the meeting, said Thursday that North Korea’s nuclear program will be the focus of multilateral talks on the summit sidelines.

“We intend to put to use possible contacts with our colleagues from China, South Korea, Japan, the United States and other countries to compare our positions on the sidelines of the summit, including [our views] on the Korean Peninsula nuclear problem,” Borodavkin said. Medvedev’s visit to Singapore is the first ever to the Pacific Rim country by a Russian head of state.

Dmitry Medvedev's article "APEC: Toward a Stable, Safe and Prosperous Community" has been published:APEC: Toward a Stable, Safe and Prosperous Community

http://eng.kremlin.ru/speeches/2009/11/13/0005_type104017_222698.shtml

November 13, 2009

Published in the media of the APEC member states

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit about to begin in Singapore coincides with the twentieth anniversary of this influential regional grouping’s founding. I think this is an opportune moment to look back over its achievements so far and outline its key tasks for the period ahead.

Today, APEC has established itself clearly as a powerful engine for integration in the Asia-Pacific region and a generator of new ideas contributing to regional development. Over these last twenty years, the forum has become an independent and crucially important factor in the global economy and politics, and its role will continue to grow.

What is the secret of APEC’s success? We can find the answer to this question in the concluding statement of the first APEC ministerial meeting that took place in November 1989 in Canberra. It emphasises that the organisation will build cooperation based on principles such as recognition of the differing social and economic systems and levels of development of the APEC’s Member Economies, voluntary choice, commitment to open dialogue and consensus, and equal respect for the views of all participants. Combining these principles has enabled APEC to stimulate investment cooperation, resolve international and regional trade issues and much more.

The dialogue on the global economic crisis further confirms the forum’s effectiveness, flexible approach and ability to make the needed responses to global change. Of course, each individual economy is battling the crisis based on its own priorities and possibilities, but it is always useful to study partner countries’ positive experience. APEC offers the tools we need to organise just this kind of active exchange of positive experience.

APEC’s agenda is not limited to economic matters alone. The forum’s participants are constantly engaged in the search for joint answers to the challenges we face today in guaranteeing security and social protection for millions of people.

Over the years, APEC has proven multi-polar diplomacy’s viability in practice. Joint efforts and equal involvement of its members in the search for solutions to our common problems is the basis of the forum’s work. I am certain that this is the guarantee of APEC’s success now and in the future. 

Russia has built up invaluable experience of cooperation with its APEC colleagues since we joined the forum in 1998. We have always been actively involved in resolving the issues of greatest urgency and concern, not only at the summits and ministerial meetings, but also through the ongoing painstaking work in the forum’s various expert committees and groups. As in the other international organisations, we seek to be a reliable and responsible partner within APEC.

Russia wants Siberia and the Russian Far East to be directly involved in regional integration. We did not join APEC empty-handed. We have much to offer our partners, not just abundant reserves of oil, gas and various minerals, biological resources and fresh water, but also the no less competitive asset of the science and technology, industrial and intellectual potential that the eastern part of our country possesses.

We are open to diverse and mutually beneficial cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. Our main reference point in this area is the preparation for Russia’s chairmanship of the forum in 2012. This honorary mission carries with it great responsibilities and comes with many obligations. We will do everything necessary to ensure that the APEC summit in Vladivostok is productive and of the highest quality. 

“Sustaining Growth, Connecting the Region” is the slogan for APEC’s work this year. In Singapore, we will discuss a broad range of anti-crisis measures, most of them related to the decisions taken at their recent summit by the leaders of the G20 countries, where almost one half of APEC members took part. Discussions will examine, of course, the steps needed to reform the global financial system and make it fairer and more balanced. If we do not do this the global economy will remain in danger of more crises in the future. 

Although the world has not put all the economic difficulties behind it yet, the forum will nonetheless examine optimum models for APEC’s economic development in the post-crisis period. I think this is a far-sighted and effective decision, for we need to prepare in advance for the next stage in global economic growth.

Like the other APEC leaders, I share the view that economic growth should be not only sustainable but also universal. We need to bring growth to all countries and all economic sectors, and bring its fruits to all members of society, above all the most vulnerable groups – children and the elderly, unemployed people, and people with disabilities.

I think the corporate social responsibility concept currently being discussed actively in APEC is vitally important. It has particular relevance for the companies and financial institutions receiving state support during the economic downturn period. 

I also share the predominant view in APEC on protectionism in global trade. This kind of state support should be targeted and only a temporary measure. Each country makes a priority of supporting its own producers of course, but excessive protectionist barriers that create hothouse conditions for unprofitable businesses run counter to the principles of free competition and ultimately do more harm than good to a country’s business development.   

Russia is ready to take part in continued regional economic integration and cooperate on other issues on the APEC agenda. We want to exchange experience and work together on innovative development and spreading the use of advanced technology and computerisation. In accordance with the commitment to the Bogor Goals – building a system of free and open trade and investment activity in the Asia-Pacific region – that we declared when we joined APEC, we will work with our partners on enhancing economic legislation, carrying out structural reform, ensuring transparency and preventing corruption, developing small businesses and micro-enterprises, and activating public-private partnerships. The review of Russia’s individual action in APEC, carried out in July 2009, showed that our country has made considerable progress in these and other areas. 

We will continue to build up cooperation on guaranteeing food, energy, transport, environmental and information security throughout the APEC region. Our work together on guaranteeing personal security and emergency situation management is also set to move to a new level. The fight against international terrorism, organised crime, drugs trafficking, human trafficking and piracy continues to call for our closest attention.

I would like to conclude by congratulating the APEC forum on its twentieth anniversary and wishing it a successful road forward to our common goal of building a harmonious and prosperous Asia-Pacific community and guaranteeing stability, security and prosperity for our peoples.

Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong’s interview with RIA Novosti

http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20091113/156817952.html

09:0713/11/2009

Q:  “What does the first-ever visit of the Russian President to the Republic of Singapore mean for your state?”

Mr Lee:  “It is a very significant milestone for our relationship.  We have cultivated our relations with Russia over many years. There have been many exchanges of visits at different levels, including ministers’ visits, but this is the first time that the President of Russia is visiting Singapore. So, we are very much looking forward to it.”

Q:  “The Russian Federation and the Republic of Singapore seem to be very different in almost every aspect.  One is the largest country in the world and the other one is one of the smallest ones, one is cold and snowy and the other one is hot and humid, etc. And yet, relations between our two countries lately seem to be developing very fast.  Could it be because Russia and the Republic of Singapore are mutually complementary to each other?”

Mr Lee:  “I think there are opportunities for us to work together.  We may be very different in scale and size and location, even in outlook on the world, but there is opportunity to work together because we welcome Russia to come to Asia, to our part of the world, to trade, to invest, to visit, do business. We think that through Singapore Russian companies, Russian tourists, Russian business people can gain an entry into the Asian region because we are an environment which you will be comfortable to operate in and you can use us as a base to operate throughout Asia. 

“On the other side, there are opportunities in Russia for Singaporean companies: to invest, to do business with, to trade with.  There are infrastructure projects like airports, there are other projects like special economic zones.  There are also cooperation opportunities outside of business, for example, research and development, for example, cultural links, for example, links with your business schools, like the Skolkovo School, which are our Minister Mentor is on the Board of Advisers of.  So, I think that being different does not mean we cannot work together.  In fact, it means there are more opportunities where we can complement one another’s different characteristics.”

Q:  “Can you give some examples of the latest developments in the mutually beneficent cooperation between our two countries?”

Mr Lee:  “We have a double-tax agreement which has been signed, I think it has now been ratified.  Recently, we had a Russian business forum in Singapore which had several hundred Russian business people come here and network with Singaporean business people as well as people from the region - Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia and that was a great success. As I said earlier, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has just visited Moscow and he was at the Skolkovo School again and also, we have relationships between Keppel and Sembawang, which are our oil rig builders, supporting and supplying Russian oil exploration companies.  So, I think there is quite a broad-based relationship.”

Q:  “Can you give us more details, such as general trade, investment and finance, tourists, transport and specifically, air transport, logistics and infrastructure and science and technology?”

Mr Lee:  “We have items on all those areas. I think what we would like to see is that Russia enhances its links, not just with Singapore, but through Singapore, its links with Asean, and more broadly with the Asia-Pacific region, but I think Asean is a good focus and Singapore is a natural centre for that.”

Q:  “Singapore is also acting as a consultant for special economic zones for Russia.  What can your government teach us in this area? 

Mr Lee:  “Our circumstances are very different.  So, we would be hesitant to say we can teach another country, but we have some experience building special economic zones, building industrial infrastructure, industrial estates, in fact, townships, not just the hardware of the city layout and the services and utilities and the factory buildings, but also the software, the governance of the industrial park, how you can attract investments in, how you have to manage the investments so that they will have a good experience and they will continue to invest and continue to create jobs for your people in the country.  So, on that basis, we have an MOU with Russia and I think under this MOU, we have had quite a number of Russian officials come to Singapore for exposure, for attachments to understand how we operate in these key areas, investment promotion, estate management of the industrial park, development of the industrial park and we hope that something of what we do will be relevant in Russia’s very different circumstances.  But it is up to the Russian officials and the Russian Government to decide what you think is relevant and how perhaps what we have might be adapted to your circumstances.”

Q:  “What about political cooperation between our countries?”

Mr Lee:  “Political cooperation – we work together in Apec, of course, and we have bilateral visits, our Minister Mentor has visited, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong has also visited Russia.  Foreign Minister George Yeo has also visited Russia, I think, just this year and on the other side, your Foreign Minister has visited and your President is coming.  So, I think that there are exchanges and we should continue to intensify and deepen them.”

Q:  The head of the Russian Orthodox Church has recently expressed his gratitude to Singapore authorities for their help to a Russian Orthodox church in Singapore. Is there any other religious cooperation between our countries?

Mr Lee:  “Well, I think the Russian Orthodox Church would very much like to build a church in Singapore and we would like to welcome that because it would be marvellous if in Singapore, in the middle of the tropics, we have an Orthodox church with golden onion domes, like you have in St Basil’s Cathedral and in the Red Square and all over the Russian countryside. We have told the Russian Government we would like to be helpful and we will do our best to see what we can do to make this happen.”

Q:  “One of the few instances where Russia and Singapore are similar is that both countries are are multiethnic and multicultural. So what about cultural cooperation between us?

Mr Lee:  “We have visits.  I think we have got visits from your orchestras, from your ballets, from your performing groups.  It has been a long time since a Russian circus has visited recently, but we also would like to have cooperation between our institutes of higher learning, our educational centres and in research and development and I think that our institutions are in touch with yours and there are certain projects which are already under way.”

Q:  “Prime Minister, you mentioned just now a recent visit of Minister Mentor to Russia when he agreed to become a member or the trustees of the Business School of Management at Skolkovo.  But are there any Russians currently studying in Singapore universities - and vice versa?”

Mr Lee:  “There are a few dozen students in the universities and a few even in our schools.  We hope that as the Russian population here grows, the number of students who are here will also increase because the families will grow.  But we also hope that we will have more exchange visitors, students who are coming to spend a semester or two in our universities and our students can also spend a term or two in your universities and we get to know each other and we enrich each other’s educational experience.”

Q:  “First of all maybe there is something you  yourself would like to tell to Russian people?”

Mr Lee:  “Well, we would like Russia to pay an active interest in the Asia-Pacific region and particularly in the Southeast Asian region.  I think your main population mass is in Europe.  A lot of your preoccupation is your relations with European countries, near abroad, of course, but also with EU and NATO.  But in the Far East, there are many opportunities for trade, for visits for exchanges and the Far East is prospering.  We used to have  bananas and lemon trees.  We still try and keep Singapore a clean and green and beautiful garden city with waters and plants, but at the same time, it’s a vibrant cosmopolitan city which has people from all over the world and which is constantly transforming itself because the whole region is doing so and so are we. And we would like Russians also to come and to visit.  Right now, we have maybe about 50,000 Russian visitors a year, but considering your population, I think even ten times that number would not be too many.”

By RIA Novosti's Mikhail Tsyganov in Istana (Singapore Presidential Palace)

Russia delays S300 missile contract: Iranian armed forces

http://en.trend.az/news/nuclearp/1579454.html

13.11.2009 12:38

Russia has delayed a contract six months to transfer S300 missiles to Iran, Iranian armed forces Chief of Staff, General Hassan Firouzabad was quoted as saying by the Mehr news agency.

"We are dissatisfied with the actions of the Russians who we consider our friends," he said. "Do Russians not know about the significance of Iran's geopolitical strategy to ensure the security of Russia? Why has Russia not fulfilled the contract on the transfer of S300 missiles or complied with the terms of the contract for the past six months?"

Firouzabad hoped his statement would serve as a reminder to Russia to fulfill the contract.

Concerning nuclear fuel exchange with Western countries, Firouzabad said the country has nothing to lose. By purchasing 20-percent enriched uranium fuel for the Iranian reactors, energy could be provided to one million Iranians per year, he added.

In late September, while attending the Sixty-Fourth U.N. General Assembly, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad agreed to exchange 3.5-percent enriched uranium fuel for 20-percent enriched uranium fuel for Tehran's nuclear laboratories.

U.S. envoy to Afghanistan to visit Moscow

http://www.interfax.com/3/529459/news.aspx

WASHINGTON. Nov 13 (Interfax) - United States Special

Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke will visit

Moscow on November 15-17 to discuss the problems of Afghanistan and

Pakistan, U.S. Department of State spokesman Ian Kelly said on Thursday.

The high-ranking U.S. diplomat will visit Russia as part of his European

tour, during which he will visit Berlin (November 12), Paris (November

13), Munich (November 14), the spokesperson said.

"These routine meetings are part of continued efforts to stay in

close touch with allies and partners on Afghanistan and Pakistan. He

will then travel to Afghanistan for the inauguration of President Hamid

Karzai," the U.S. State Department said.

Sergei Lavrov to visit Afghanistan on Nov 19 – FM

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=14526905

13.11.2009, 10.50

MOSCOW, November 13 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is to visit Afghanistan on November 19, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported on Friday.

“Sergei Lavrov will visit Afghanistan to take part in the inauguration ceremony of re-elected President Hamid Karzai,” the ministry’s spokesman said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssFinancialServicesAndRealEstateNews/idUSL946782520091113

Friday November 27, 2009

PARIS - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visits France for Franco-Russian government seminar.

Putin’s Sochi, Far East Trip

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/putins-sochi-far-east-trip/389391.html

13 November 2009

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Thursday in a meeting with Transportation Minister Igor Levitin that he would travel to Sochi and the Far East by the end of the year.

Levitin invited Putin to see a ring road around the Black Sea resort town, which he said would be finished by the end of November.

Levitin also told Putin that a state program to subsidize flights for residents in the Far East would be expanded next year, and that domestically made planes such as Sukhoi’s Superjet could be used to fly the routes. More than 160,000 people have made use of the program since President Dmitry Medvedev announced it in February, Levitin said.

Russia to deliver last of six Su fighters to Indonesia in 2010

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091113/156818448.html

09:3713/11/2009

MOSCOW, November 13 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will deliver the last of six contracted Su fighter jets to Indonesia in 2010, a Russian Federal Service for Military and Technical Co-Operation deputy director said on Friday.

Under a $300 million contract, signed in 2007, Russia is to supply three Su-30MK2 and three Su-27SKM fighters to Jakarta.

"Under the contract, two Su-27SK jets must be delivered by the end of 2009. One more fighter will be delivered in 2010," Konstantin Birulin said.

The third Su-30MK2 jet was delivered in January.

Indonesian Armed Forces Commander Air Marshal Djoko Suyanto said in 2007 that the country needed at least one squadron equipped with 16 Sukhoi fighters to replace part of the outdated fleet of U.S. F-16 fighters.

Russia to help Cuba establish emergency training center

http://en.rian.ru/world/20091113/156816486.html

05:4313/11/2009

HAVANA, November 13 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will help Cuba establish a training center for defense and emergencies services specialists, Russia's emergencies minister said.

Sergei Shoigu, who is currently on a working visit in the Cuban capital Havana, said he had signed a memorandum and a plan on cooperation with Cuban Civil Defence Chief Ramon Pardo Guerra on Thursday.

"The main point of the plan is the establishment of an [emergency] training center," the minister said, adding the center is intended not only for training specialists, but also for providing a "fast response to various emergencies."

The minister said the center, expected to be established by 2010, will prepare a wide range of specialists, including rescuers, firemen and divers, as well as civil defense specialists.

Shoigu also said Russia will help Cuba modernize its meteorological and seismological systems.

Cuba, located across the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico, is prone to frequent hurricanes. Three storms devastated the Caribbean island last summer, causing more than $10 billion in damage.

No need to politicize Black Sea fleet issue – Yanukovych

http://en.rian.ru/world/20091113/156814756.html

00:4913/11/2009

SIMFEROPOL, November 13 (RIA Novosti) - Ukrainian presidential candidate and former prime minister Viktor Yanukovych has said the issue of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, based in Ukraine's Crimea, should not be politicized.

"Taking into consideration our international obligations, earlier undertaken by Ukraine, we must not politicize the issue and appear like an unreliable or unpredictable partner," Yanukovych, who is the leader of the opposition pro-Russian Party of Regions, said on Thursday.

Russia's Black Sea Fleet uses a range of naval facilities in Ukraine's Crimea, including a base in Sevastopol, as part of a 1997 lease agreement valid until 2017.

On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said "the existence of Russia's Black Sea Fleet has seriously destabilized Ukrainian-Russian relations."

Yushchenko has also led calls for Russia to prepare to withdraw its fleet from Ukraine's territory when the agreement expires in 2017. Russia hopes to extend the lease. Russian and Ukrainian deputy foreign ministers hold regular meetings to discuss the implementation of the 1997 agreement.

Yanukovych said the position of the Ukrainian authorities on the issue is the result of a negative attitude toward Russia.

"The current "orange" authorities have been demonstrating openly their enmity to Russia, which is our strategic ally... and have been searching for conflicts," Yanukovych said.

"[Foreign] policy has to be balanced and mutually beneficial," he added.

Georgian National Security Council to discuss opening of borders with Russia

http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=110973

[ 13 Nov 2009 11:57 ]

Tbilisi. Nizami Mammadzadeh – APA. National Security Council of Georgia will hold a meeting on Friday to discuss the opening of Lars checkpoint on Georgian-Russian borders, APA reports. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Grigol Vashadze will declare his ideas about the issue. Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili will inform the council about the situation in the occupied territories. The council will also address the issue related to the arrest of Georgian young people in Tskhinvali few days ago.

Oppositionists not represented at the parliament Zurab Tkmeladze, Akaki Asatiani, as well as oppositionist parliamentarians, members of the Christian-Democratic Party Giya Tortladze, Bachuki Kardava and Jondi Bagaturia are also expected to attend the National Security Council meeting.

Recently Minister of Foreign Affairs Grigol Vashadze told APA Georgian bureau that Russia proposed to Tbilisi to open Lars checkpoint on Russian-Georgian borders.

Climate, crisis, WTO entry to be on agenda at Russia-EU summit

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=14525824&PageNum=0

12.11.2009, 20.05

STOCKHOLM, November 12 (Itar-Tass) - Climate problems, the economic crisis and Russia’s WTO entry will be in the focus of attention at the Russia-EU summit on November 18.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana and Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt will take part in the summit.

A statement of Sweden, which currently chairs the European Union, said one of summit priorities would be an appeal to Russia to produce plans on the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions ahead of the U.N. conference on climate protection, due in Copenhagen in December.

Russia and the EU will continue coordinating efforts towards overcoming the economic crisis, the statement said. The European Union intends to particularly emphasize a need to avoid protectionism and remove the remaining trade barriers between the European Union and Russia, it stressed.

It said the EU keeps analysing the new situation after Russia has changed its stance on WTO entry. Major delays in Russia’s entry will influence bilateral relations, Swedish European Affairs Minister Cecilia Malmstrom said.

The parties will also discuss at the summit Russia’s role as the major energy partner of the EU, as well as the issue of bringing into action mechanisms of an early warning in case of the reduction of gas deliveries.

Moscow, Athens discuss plans to sign new security treaty

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=14525927&PageNum=0

12.11.2009, 21.49

ATHENS, November 12 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov met his Greek counterpart Dimitris P. Droutsas on Thursday to discuss Russia’s initiative on signing a European security treaty.

“We discussed European security, including within Russia’s initiative on signing a European security treaty, as well as Russia-EU and Russia-NATO interaction. During the talks, both sides showed interest in continuing close cooperation and developing foreign political interaction on many regional and European problems. Both parties exchanged views on the OSCE agenda due to Greece’s presidency in the organisation and an upcoming session of the Council of OSCE Foreign Ministers in Athens,” Titov said.

According to the deputy minister, “the sides also discussed several regional problems, including the situation on the Balkans, the Cypriot settlement, the Middle East peace process. They revealed the commonness of positions on these problems.”

Commenting on what changes Greece would like to see in joint projects on the construction of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline and the South Stream gas pipeline, Titov said: “Greece stressed the importance to realise these projects and observing environmental requirements when facilities are erected. But Greece does not concretise its position. We are open for a dialogue on these issues.”

According to the deputy minister, as a whole both parties showed interest in intensifying business-like cooperation and searching for new forms of bilateral interaction. “An idea of holding Year of Russia to Greece and Year of Greece to Russia in the nearest years has been discussed,” he said.

Greece hopes to strengthen relations with Russia, Droutsas said. “I welcome Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mr Titov who has arrived here on the first visit (after a new Greek government came to power). I believe that this prove of close relations between Russia and Greece. The peoples of our countries have common moments in the history and common culture. I think that this unites us,” he said.

“We hope to strengthen relations with Russia,” the Greek deputy foreign minister said.

Titov said: “Strategic cooperation between both countries is important for us. We want to interact with the new Greek government more closely because we have common goals at many levels.”

“We should respond to many challenges in our common region. Our views on international problems coincide. Both sides rivet much attention to intensifying the dialogue,” the Russian diplomat said.

START ending, but US and Russia still agree on nuke verification

http://russiatoday.com/Politics/2009-11-13/start-ending-us-russia.html/print

13 November, 2009, 02:18

The main details of a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty have already been worked out and now the US and Russia have to agree on verification and warheads counting issues, non-proliferation expert Peter Crail told RT.

The current version of the treaty known as START expires on December 5. On Monday, Russia and the US began the eighth round of negotiations on upgrading the Cold War-era document.

Most of the major details of a new treaty have already been hammered out, said Crail, a research analyst at the Arms Control Association. “It’s now down to narrowing out technical details, mostly related to verification issues.”

Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev “came to an agreement on the broad outlines during this summer” and since then there’ve been a lot of negotiations on details. One of the issues the sides have to agree on, Crail said, is counting the warheads and delivery systems.

“We’ve seen a very high level commitment by both presidents to get this done by the deadline,” he said.

Russia Seeks Removal of U.S. Observers Under New Nuclear Accord

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aDyNSk8CI_ZE

By Lyubov Pronina

Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Russia seeks to overcome “a range of problems,” including the presence of U.S. monitors at a ballistic-missile plant, as it pushes to meet a December deadline for a new bilateral nuclear arms agreement, the head of the Russian military’s General Staff said.

Under the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which expires on Dec. 5, the U.S. has a permanent observer mission at a facility in Votkinsk, where Russia produces the Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile.

“There’s an issue on Topol,” Nikolai Makarov told reporters in the Kremlin today. “We don’t have such observer missions in the U.S., so it’s natural that we tell them that this mission needs to be removed. On Dec. 5 it will depart.”

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his U.S. counterpart, Barack Obama, have made signing a new nuclear arms accord a priority as they try to repair ties that sank to a post-Cold War low under Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush. At a summit in July, Medvedev and Obama called for a reduction of nuclear arsenals to between 1,500 and 1,675 warheads and between 500 and 1,100 delivery systems.

“We want the agreement, if it’s signed by Dec. 5, to take the security interests of Russia and the U.S. into account in equal measure,” Makarov said.

Another sticking point is a limit on delivery systems proposed by the U.S. that Russia doesn’t agree with, the Kommersant newspaper reported today, citing an unidentified member of Russia’s negotiating team.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov declined to discuss the details of the talks, which resumed in Geneva on Nov. 9. Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said on Nov. 6 that Russia hoped this round of talks would be the last.

Medvedev and Obama will meet in Singapore on Nov. 15 during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lyubov Pronina in Moscow at lpronina@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 12, 2009 11:44 EST

Russia aimed to induce a confrontation in the international arena on three levels

A Possible US-Russian Arrangement and Implications for the Middle East

http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/16795

 By INSS  Thursday, November 12, 2009

By Zvi MagenWe have recently been witness to a new US initiative launched by the Obama administration for dialogue with Russia that affects both the bilateral and global levels.

The American proposal, which generated several top level meetings, including with presidents and foreign ministers, was apparently submitted to the Russian side as a comprehensive “package deal.” If it materializes, this arrangement will yield a positive change in relations between Russia and the West and stands to have considerable implications for the international system, with an emphasis on the Middle East.

According to the previous policy, which was driven by superpower aspirations, Russia aimed to induce a confrontation in the international arena on three levels:

  1. On the global level: alongside full integration in the international system, Russia pursued assertive and defiant activity against the United States and its allies in order to enhance its own status.  2. On the regional level: Russia aimed to displace the United States and further its own agenda, using a range of leveraging means. Naturally, the Middle East, which was the locus of cooperation with the Axis of Evil, featured strongly here.  3. On the “near abroad”/former Soviet Union (FSU) level: In this area, identified as the Russian interest in the area of the former Soviet Union, Russia is desperately resisting the efforts of the West to extend its influence eastwards.

The American initiative makes a reversal possible by generating conditions for positive dialogue with Russia, while offering proposals for solving most of the aforementioned problems based on far reaching concessions. However, along with the important concessions for Russia, it appears that the American proposal is submitted as a single unit encompassing all the issues, including those that are problematic – first and foremost Iran. There is a growing impression that this process has been successful and that the sides have agreed on most of the package, even though a number of issues are still to be settled.

As far as it is possible to assess, the arrangement incorporates the follow topics:

·    Understanding with regard to the agreement on limiting strategic arms, which is due to come into force this December (START).

·      US forgoing of its anti-missile defense in Eastern Europe.

·    Cooperation on containment of the Iranian nuclear program, including the transfer of uranium for enrichment in Russia.

·    The inclusion of Russia in political activity in the Middle East, alongside the United States, in all main areas. An indication of this is agreement to hold a conference on Middle East affairs in Moscow.

·    Recognition of Russia’s status in the domain of the former Soviet Union. This topic has been defined as “a solution for conflict in the post-Soviet expanse.”

·      Russian involvement in NATO operations, which relates to assistance (aerial passage) for the US in Afghanistan, cooperation on a policy of restraint on North Korea, and Russian involvement in a new plan for European security.

This arrangement apparently includes American concessions that are important to Russia and that substantially upgrade Moscow’s international standing. In turn, Russia is expected to reward American flexibility by softening its stance on the Iranian nuclear program as well as cooperating in the war on terror. This constitutes an important American achievement, but it appears that it is the Russians who have gained a diplomatic victory in proving that the Russian strategy of the last few years has paid off. Without tangible means, Russia has managed to improve its international standing and achieve most of its objectives.

With regard to the implications of the arrangement for Middle East affairs, it seems that Russia has positioned itself in a new and significantly improved position compared with the past. This is a function of two main issues. The first is the Iranian issue, which will enable Russia to gain important leverage because of its role in the agreement on uranium enrichment. At the same time, Russia’s inclusion in an arrangement with the West highlights the familiar Russian dilemma: choosing between cooperation with the international community and the option of full cooperation with Iran and its partners in the Axis of Evil. Russia still views Iran as an important partner, a regional power, a potential leader of the future Muslim world, and as such, a country capable of furthering Russian global objectives. This makes it difficult to apply the Iranian clause of the American-Russian arrangement. Yet given inconsistent Iranian behavior and Russia’s tough bargaining with the Americans, Russia has gained a sense of self-importance. In any case, Russia is ensured a central role in future talks with the Iranians.

The second issue concerns the new and enhanced standing that Russia is expected to gain in all areas of the Middle East political process. A conference in Moscow on the Middle East will constitute a clear expression of this. According to Russian foreign minister Lavrov, the conference will incorporate the Israeli-Palestinian channel and the Syrian and Lebanese channels. This is naturally also contingent on other developments, including Israel’s willingness to cooperate.

These two areas provide Russia with relative advantages in forging an influential position with regard to Middle East affairs, and gaining a standing similar to that of the United States. Thus if the agreement is implemented, the Middle East may see a strategic transformation in the region.

This script confronts Israel with a new reality. Instead of the familiar regional picture, a different complex of problems and ways to seek solutions are expected to emerge. In such a situation, the success of the new direction is largely dependent on Israel’s position, largely because Russia identifies it as one of the main regional players, both vis-à-vis the Iranian issue and the political process. Russia’s active participation in the political process creates additional pressure on Israel with regard to the price and conditions of any future arrangements it makes.

It appears that Russia has lately been working on creating an image of a fair and efficient broker that is acceptable to all the sides in the region, and indeed, it has scored points in this area. A certain degree of tension that has recently emerged in the bilateral relationship with Israel may be attributable, beyond an expression of Russian dissatisfaction with Israel’s conduct, to Russia’s interest in demonstrating an “objective” position.

The United States has put together a clever proposal, offered as a single package with concessions to Russia that also obligates Russia to make corresponding concessions, primarily on the Iranian issue. For Russia this is a considerable achievement and an impressive diplomatic success that enabled it to achieve strategic objectives without what would otherwise presumably be considered necessary tools. The arrangement grants Russia a position in the Middle East with considerable future influence, potentially similar to that of the United States. As such, this constitutes a change that can be defined as strategic, and it requires a proper, thoughtful response by Israel and other relevant actors.

The Institute is non-partisan, independent, and autonomous in its fields of research and expressed opinions. As an external institute of Tel Aviv University, it maintains a strong association with the academic environment. In addition, it has a strong association with the political and military establishment.

Moscow mayor to deliver humanitarian aid to Abkhazia

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091113/156815488.html

02:4113/11/2009

SUKHUMI, November 13 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov will visit Abkhazia on Friday to hand over humanitarian aid and sign an agreement on food supplies to the former Georgian republic, an Abkhaz presidential spokesman said.

Moscow will deliver office equipment, computers and electrical equipment, cables and car tires to Abkhazia. The Russian city will also give the republic a rescue vehicle, an ambulance and laboratory and medicinal equipment.

Luzhkov allocated 1.2 million rubles ($41,000) for the delivery of the cargo and customs clearance.

During his stay in Abkhazia, the Moscow mayor is also expected to visit a Russian border guard base.

Russia recognized Abkhazia and another former Georgian republic, South Ossetia, as independent after a five-day war over the latter with Georgia last August.

Last summer, the Moscow mayor suggested Georgia recognize the independence of both Abkhazia and South Ossetia, referring to what he described as the inevitable drive for sovereignty in Europe and globally.

3 State Corporations To Lose Status in ’10

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/3-state-corporations-to-lose-status-in-10/389384.html

13 November 2009

By Irina Filatova

Russian Technologies, Rusnano and Vneshekonombank will likely lose their status as state corporations as early as next year, presidential aide Arkady Dvorkovich said Thursday.

The state corporations could be transformed into state-controlled joint-stock companies in 2010, Dvorkovich said at a news conference responding to President Dmitry Medvedev’s state-of-the-nation address.

Medvedev laid out the case against state corporations in his address to the Federation Council, saying some of the corporations should be wound down soon.

“As far as state corporations are concerned, I think they have no prospects in the current environment,” Medvedev said in his address.

“Those that work on commercial, competitive terms should become modern, open joint-stock companies controlled by the state. In the future, they shouldn’t be held in the public sector and should be opened to private investors.”

Medvedev and other high-ranking officials have come out against state corporations since they were created in 2007, with the critics saying they should operate under the same laws as regular joint-stock companies. State corporations are not obliged to make public any financial information, and laws on bankruptcy do not apply to them.

The seven state corporations include: the Deposit Insurance Agency, Vneshekonombank, Rusnano, Rosatom, the Housing and Utilities Reform Fund, Olimpstroi and Russian Technologies.

Rosatom and the Housing and Utilities Reform Fund will keep their status in the short term, as there “is no urgency,” Dvorkovich said. Those corporations that were created to achieve a set goal, such as Olimpstroi and the Housing and Utilities Reform Fund, will be wound up as soon as that goal is accomplished, he said.

As for the first three state corporations to be transformed, in the long term, their assets could be sold to private investors, Dvorkovich said.

“I think it first and foremost concerns the assets of Russian Technologies,” he added.

Russian Technologies, a state holding with stakes in more than 400 companies ranging from miners to defense firms, said becoming a joint-stock company would make it easier to do business.

“We are finishing up the process of transforming our defense plants into joint-stock companies, and several holdings created from these companies will have an IPO,” Russian Technologies said in a statement. It added that the corporation would welcome private investment in the defense sector, which is currently facing financing problems.

Rusnano was similarly optimistic on the prospects of a new charter.

“There’s no fundamental difference between a state corporation and a joint-stock company,” Rusnano spokeswoman Yelena Kovalyova said. She added that Rusnano’s job was investment, which the firm could do easier if it were a joint-stock company.

“For foreign investors, co-financing a project with a state corporation is not very transparent,” she said. “We understand that our financial model must be based not only on the government’s level of support but also on the level of income from project companies.”

VEB’s press service declined to comment Thursday.

Dvorkovich’s comments came two days after Prosecutor General Yury Chesented the results of his inspection of state corporations to Medvedev. Chaika said Tuesday that the prosecutor’s office had opened 22 criminal cases as a result of the investigation.

Rusnano, which is currently investing in 38 nanotechnology projects, has also come under direct fire in the report. Of the 130 billion rubles that Rusnano received from the state two years ago, only 10 billion rubles ($348,280) has been used. Of that, 5 billion rubles went to fulfilling its day-to-day operations.

Chubais said in September that Rusnano would pay back the 130 billion rubles that it had received from the government as early as 2015 in order to become financially independent.

Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP unit starting planned for December

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=14526588&PageNum=0

13.11.2009, 08.42

GORNO-ALTAISK, November 13 (Itar-Tass) -- The Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power plant infrastructure damaged in the disaster has been restored, and the first starting of its hydro power units is planned for December.

Representatives of the station and the Emergencies Ministry met in Abakan to discuss life-support systems safety and electricity supply issues. Among the first tasks is starting of the undamaged sixth unit.

Former Russneft Head Gutseriyev No Longer on Interpol Wanted List – Statement

http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/3630948

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 2:52 PM

(Source: Daily News Bulletin; Moscow - English)MOSCOW. Nov 11 (Interfax) - The Russian National Central Bureau of Interpol has confirmed that the name of Mikhail Gutseriyev, the former head of the Russneft oil company, has been removed from Interpol's international database of wanted individuals.

"Gutseriyev's international search has been officially terminated," a spokesperson for the Russian National Central Bureau of Interpol told Interfax on Wednesday.

Gutseriyev was declared internationally wanted in August 2007, and his assets were frozen. Moscow City Court spokesperson Anna Usachyova said Gutseriyev was charged with tax evasion and "large- scale illegal entrepreneurship committed by an organized group."

Gutseriev May Wrest Back Russneft Oil Company, Vedomosti Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aMJnGdnOkaOI

By Alex Nicholson

Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Mikhail Gutseriev, the founder of OAO Russneft who fled Russia amid tax evasion charges, may regain control of the oil company, Vedomosti reported, citing people it did not identify.

AFK Sistema, billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov’s holding company, may help Gutseriev with the deal, the newspaper reported. The company may already be under Gutseriev’s control, according to one person, while another said the sale to either Sistema or Gutseriev was being considered, Vedomosti said.

Gutseriev sold Russneft to companies belonging to Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska in 2007 for $6.5 billion, Vedomosti said. Investigators canceled a warrant for Gutseriev’s arrest in October and he was removed from Interpol’s wanted list last week, the newspaper said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Nicholson in Moscow at anicholson6@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 13, 2009 00:29 EST

Court extends Khodorkovsky’s detention to February 17

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=14526392&PageNum=0

13.11.2009, 02.31

MOSCOW, November 13 (Itar-Tass) -- The Khamovniki district court of Moscow on Thursday extended the investigation prison custody for former YUKOS head Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his partner Platon Lebedev up to February 17 in the framework of their second criminal case.

Khodorkovsky’s lawyer Natalya Terekhova said the court provided no reasons for the extension and the defense will appeal against the decision to the Moscow City Court.

Khodorkovsky and Lebedev are serving 8-year prison terms for tax dodging and fraud, but were moved to the investigation prison in connection with new accusations.

Three gunmen shot dead in Russia's Ingushetia

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091113/156819569.html

11:2113/11/2009

ROSTOV ON DON, November 13 (RIA Novosti) - Three militants were killed in a security operation in the south Russian republic of Ingushetia on Friday, a local law enforcement officer said.

He said they were killed in a shootout with security forces when their car was stopped at 9:40 Moscow time (6:40 GMT) on the Magas-Ali Yurt highway.

One of the militants was Vakha Bekov, on the federal wanted list since 2004, while the other two have yet to be identified.

Attacks on troops, police and other officials have been reported almost daily in Ingushetia and Russia's other North Caucasus republics in recent months.

On August 17, Ingushetia was rocked by a suicide bombing which killed at least 20 people and injured 260 people. In June, Ingush President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov survived a car bomb attack on his motorcade.

12 November 2009, 15:20

Cleric injured in Ingushetia

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=6635

Moscow, November 12, Interfax - A cleric was slightly injured in a car explosion in Ingushetia, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office Investigation Committee said on Thursday.

"A bomb presumably placed under a VAZ-21099 vehicle was set off on Demchenko Street in Orjonikidzevskaya in the Sunzha District of Ingushetia at approximately 11:45 a.m.," the committee said.

"Cleric Kosum Meiriyev, who was inside the car at the moment of the explosion, was slightly injured and taken to hospital," the committee said.

Forensic experts are working at the scene of the incident.

Attacks and Shootouts Reported in Dagestan, Ingushetia and Karachaevo-Cherkessia

http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=35724&tx_ttnews[backPid]=7&cHash=0063b8828a

Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 6 Issue: 209

November 12, 2009 04:01 PM Age: 8 hrs

Category: Eurasia Daily Monitor, North Caucasus Analysis, Home Page, Military/Security, North Caucasus

By: The Jamestown Foundation

The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry was quoted today (November 12) as saying that a blast from an “unidentified explosive device” last night had ruptured a section of the natural gas pipeline stretching between Mozdok, North Ossetia and Kazimagomed, Azerbaijan. The affected section of pipeline is located in Dagestan’s Karabudakhkentsky district south of the republican capital Makhachkala. Security guards had reportedly discovered a suspicious item under the pipeline at around 9.00 p.m., local time, and called the Federal Security Service (FSB) bomb disposal experts, but the blast occurred before the FSB unit arrived. The incident cut off gas supplies to villages in Makhachkala’s suburbs and parts of the city itself, affecting an estimated 545,000 people.

Earlier in the day, signs of an explosion were discovered at a section of another natural gas pipeline –this one linking the Baku, Azerbaijan and Novorossiysk, in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai– also in Dagestan’s Karabudakhkentsky district. That blast, which was estimated as having the force of one kilogram of TNT, resulted in the pipeline’s deformation, but apparently did not rupture it (www.rbc.ru, www.regnum.ru, Interfax, November 11-12).

Another apparent terrorist attack took place late yesterday in Dagestan’s Karabudakhkentsky district, when an explosive device detonated inside a car on the Madzhalis-Makhachkala highway. The car was reportedly registered to a 64-year-old Makhachkala resident and a driver’s license of a 21-year-old resident of the city of Derbent was found inside the vehicle along with the ID’s of two other people, three 100-liter plastic barrels, a gas cooker and gas bottle (www.rosbalt.ru, November 12).

In another incident yesterday, two unidentified gunmen traveling in a Zhiguli car on the outskirts of the city of Khasavyurt opened fire on traffic police post, killing one policeman and wounding another. The shooters managed to escape while the driver, apparently a taxi driver, was taken into custody (www.rbc.ru, November 12).

Two militants were reportedly killed in a shootout with police and FSB personnel in the village of Botashyurt in Dagestan’s Khasavyurt district on November 7 (Interfax, November 9).

Meanwhile, Dagestani President Mukhu Aliev told policemen in a speech marking Police Day on November 10 that kidnapping is a shameful phenomenon which is casting a shadow not only on Dagestan’s law enforcement bodies, but the entire republic. Aliev said Dagestan had in recent years managed to sharply curtail kidnappings, but that they had flared up over the last few months. “In various media you hear the idea that members of the law enforcement bodies are involved in the kidnappings,” he said, adding: “Of course, anyone can get hold of a camouflage uniform these days. But while there are cases in which the police located people who went missing, nonetheless the law enforcement bodies will be complicit in those kidnappings as long as they do not solve the crimes. It is the only way to preserve an unsoiled reputation. Protecting the honor not of the uniform, but protecting the honor of each citizen is what guarantees the authority of the law enforcement system.”

Kavkazsky Uzel quoted Aliev as telling the policemen that one of the goals of Dagestan’s Islamic insurgents is to discredit the law enforcement bodies, but that it is necessary to distinguish between “objective criticism of the police” and politically motivated criticism aimed at destabilizing the republic.

According to the Mothers of Dagestan human rights group, 25 people were kidnapped in the republic between February and August of this year, including five young people in August alone. According to the Memorial human rights group, 12 people were kidnapped in Dagestan in 2008 (www.kavkaz-uzel.ru, November 11).

Violent incidents have been reported in other republics of the North Caucasus over the last several days. Unidentified attackers in Ingushetia fired a grenade launcher at a gas station in the city of Nazran yesterday. No one was hurt in the resulting blast. Twenty minutes later, unidentified gunmen fired on the administration building in Nazran’s Altievsky municipal district. No one was hurt in that incident either (www.kavkaz-uzel.ru, November 12).

On the evening of November 10, unidentified attackers opened fire on police in the city of Karachaevsk, Karachaevo-Cherkessia, wounding two officers and a former colleague who had come by to offer them congratulations on Police Day (www.kavkaz-uzel.ru, November 11). The previous day, November 9, four men were killed during a special operation near the village of Indysh in Karachaevo-Cherkessia. The operation was aimed at capturing Ruslan Khubiev, who was suspected of attacking several policemen. Khubiev and three others were killed in a shootout with police, while one policeman was wounded (Interfax, November 9).

Wrecks tell tale of growing violence

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8356824.stm

Page last updated at 15:07 GMT, Thursday, 12 November 2009

By Rupert Wingfield-Hayes BBC News, Nazran

Who has ever heard of Ingushetia?

Not many people outside Russia. And why should they? It's tiny.

In this vast country of 11 time zones, Ingushetia is a speck on the map.

In the "about the size of" stakes, it ranks with the English county of Hampshire. Its population is less than half a million.

Ingushetia has always been overshadowed by its larger and more violent neighbour, Chechnya.

But that suddenly changed in August when Ingushetia hit the headlines for all the worst reasons.

A suicide bomber smashed a lorry into the police headquarters in the republic's capital Nazran. Twenty policemen were incinerated. Another 160 were badly injured.

The bombers were Islamist radicals. In a chilling video posted on the internet, a Russian-born Muslim convert called Said Buryatsky makes it clear the bomb was intended to kill as many people as possible.

He shows how they packed chopped-up pieces of metal bar around the bomb to act as shrapnel, to shred the bodies of the policemen and anyone else standing nearby.

And he promises that there will be more attacks on those "who deny the book of Allah".

Blood-stained seats

In fact this attack was only the largest, not the first. The violence in Ingushetia has been growing for two years.

On my first day in Nazran I'm taken to a police compound on the edge of town (it's hardly large enough to be called a city).

Behind the high walls sit piles and piles of smashed-up cars.

It looks like a junkyard.

But closer inspection reveals a different story.

Every one of the vehicles has been destroyed in some violent confrontation.

My guide is a jolly, corpulent policeman who clearly doesn't get many foreign guests.

"Three militants were killed in that one," he says, pointing to a bullet-riddled Lada.

"You can still see the blood on the seats," he adds with enthusiasm.

"And that one was a suicide bomber." He points to another Lada with its roof opened like a tin can.

The dozens of cars piled up have all arrived within the last few months.

I have come to see one very specific piece of wreckage. It's sitting in a corner by itself.

"Ah yes," says my guide. "This was the president's car."

Bizarre conspiracy theory

All that is left is a burned-out heap of twisted steel.

It was blown up by a huge car bomb in June as Ingushetia's president, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, was on his way to work.

The thought that anyone could have got out of the mangled wreckage alive seems impossible. But somehow he did.

When I'm shown in to his office the Ingush president looks remarkably well for a man who was reported to be on the verge of death just four months ago.

But his explanation for what is going on in his tiny republic smacks of Moscow-scripted propaganda.

"The security services of several foreign countries, working together with the illegal terrorist groups, are seeking to destabilise this part of southern Russia," he says.

When pushed he refuses to name the foreign countries, but hints strongly that Georgia is one of them, and by implication Georgia's best friend, America.

This seems a bizarre conspiracy theory.

But it's a fairly standard Russian line.

Blown up three times

It traces its origins back to 1980s Afghanistan, when the CIA really did pay radical Islamist groups to fight against Moscow.

But it is of little help in explaining what's going on here today.

At the burned-out shell of the police headquarters, they're still clearing away the debris from the August suicide bombing.

Standing on the spot where he very nearly died, Lt Vasanbek Porogov tells me a different story of Ingushetia. It's the third time he's been blown up.

So why, I ask him, does he still do this job?

"There are no other jobs here," he says. "If you have a family to raise the security services are the only option."

I ask him why he thinks the violence is growing.

"You need to ask our leaders," he says. "They kill people, they say they're killing fighters, but I don't know.

"They're killing a lot of young people. There are 12 so-called fighters who have been in detention for three years - I guarded them, I talked to them; they didn't seem like fighters to me.

"If they're guilty, they need to be convicted; if not, let go."

Bitterness and fury

It's an odd answer from a man who's nearly been killed by rebels more than once.

But it demonstrates just how convoluted everything is about Ingushetia.

My last stop is a large house on the edge of Nazran.

It belongs to the Aushev clan, one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in Ingushetia.

Magomed Aushev is a huge man, with a barrel chest, a long white beard and tall woollen hat.

He is the archetypal Ingush patriarch.

He is also filled with bitterness and anger.

Ten days before my visit his son was murdered in his car. He had been a leading opposition politician.

"My son got in the way because he tried to tell the truth," he tells me. "He got in the way of this political game."

Then he launches into a tirade against the security services.

"They have money and the weapons. It's them who do the kidnappings, the killings, the illegal executions. They embezzle half the budget, but nothing is done about them."

I ask him if that's why the young men are turning to violence.

"These generals who come have no regard for the law," he says.

"They kill, they burn, they beat. They have weapons, they have armoured vehicles.

"The young men who stand against them don't have anything. They take a gun and go to the woods.

"They have a [suicide] belt. They're not drug addicts or madmen. No, they're good young men from good families; they take that belt and walk away to death."

Prominent Tatar Activist Talks Of Leaving Russia

http://www.rferl.org/content/Prominent_Tatar_Activist_Talks_Of_Leaving_Russia/1875503.html

November 11, 2009

KAZAN, Russia -- Prominent Tatar activist Fauzia Bayramova has said she wants to leave Russia because of the pressure put on her by federal authorities for her political activism, RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service reports.

Bayramova told RFE/RL that Russian officials have curtailed her freedom and hindered her struggle for the independence of Tatarstan, which she said now "cannot be a homeland" for her.

She did not say to which countries she may try to emigrate.

Bayramova, 58, said that federal authorities have in the past several months put great pressure on her and others in the self-proclaimed, pan-Tatar National Parliament (TMM), of which Bayramova is the chairwoman.

She said Tatar President Mintimer Shaimiyev, Prosecutor-General Kafil Amirov, and police in Tatarstan have not assisted her in regard to the problems she has had with the Russian authorities.

In fact, she said that Tatar officials have actually helped Moscow officials put pressure on her.

Meanwhile, Tatarstan's Justice Ministry ruled this week that TMM's activities should be suspended for four months.

The TMM was established by Tatar nationalists in 1992.

In an open letter issued in December 2008, the TMM called on the international community to recognize Tatarstan's independence from Russia.

The call came just a few months after Russia recognized the independence of the breakaway Georgian republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

The action by TMM angered Moscow and led Russian officials to begin an investigation into TMM's activities.

Bayramova and her TMM colleagues were officially accused of fomenting interethnic hatred in Tatarstan.

South Russia editor charged with extremism over poem

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091113/156818853.html

10:1013/11/2009

KRASNODAR, November 13 (RIA Novosti) - The editor of a paper in south Russia's Krasnodar Territory is to stand trial on charges of extremism after publishing an allegedly racist poem, prosecutors said on Friday.

Investigators say that Boris Solomakha, editor of the regional Vesti Slavyan Yuga Rossii (South Russia Slavic News) paper, approved in 2007 the publication of a poem entitled "Be Russian!"

The poem, whose author was only identified as Skvoreshnev, was judged to be insulting and racist with regard to "Jews and Roma." Prosecutors also claim the poem was aimed at stirring up interracial discord.

Solomakha faces five years behind bars if found guilty of the charges.

Praying to Putin

http://www.tol.cz/look/TOL/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrIssue=347&NrSection=2&NrArticle=20972

by Galina Stolyarova12 November 2009

In the absence of meaningful civic action, many Russians continue the czarist tradition of appealing to the country’s rulers.

ST. PETERSBURG | A sociologist here conducted some interesting research a couple of years ago, asking poll respondents – Russian citizens from various parts of the country – what they thought were the key qualities of the Russian people and what brings the nation together. The majority of the survey’s participants suggested a typical Russian is kind, open, passive, and unhappy.

I was reminded of that poll this week while reading yet another petition to the Russian president about the absurdity of the Mikhail Khodorkovsky trial. I agreed with every word in the appeal, yet I could not help thinking that one very common quality of the Russian people had somehow escaped the sociologist’s Russian national character research. Naïve, I was thinking. Just how naïve.

Sending petitions to President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is a popular pastime in Russia. As a journalist, I see many such petitions – on subjects ranging from the construction of a waste-burning facility to freeing a prisoner of conscience, to protecting a city park to renaming a street – on a weekly basis. A few days ago, I even received a special file containing a bunch of petitions from a Moscow-based NGO, with the revealing subtitle “Writing Letters, Hoping For the Better.”

At every Russian school, history teachers tell pupils about the naivety of the old-time peasants who would send petitions to the czar – whom they would address with worship and reverence as “the Lord’s Anointed” – and expect him to solve all imaginable problems and come to the rescue as justice personified. Such a petition was called a chelobitnaya, and when delivered, was accompanied with the deepest bow, so that the forehead would touch the ground. What the teachers do not say is how little has changed.

THE EQUALIZER

Apparently, it is hard for many of my compatriots to draw an obvious parallel. They throw themselves enthusiastically into writing letters to the Kremlin.

Putin clearly takes pleasure in the image of “justice personified” – or good fairy, take your pick – as he often acts in a manner that encourages the petition-writing fever. The prime minister has made it a tradition to regularly appear amid a conflict or crisis and forcefully resolve it by personal order. In one of the most resonant cases, in June Putin flew in dramatically to resolve a crisis in the village of Pikalevo near St. Petersburg, where the village’s three major enterprises, including tycoon Oleg Deripaska’s BaselCement, had not paid workers for several months. As he stepped out of his helicopter, Putin started an impressive tour de force, ordering Deripaska to pay the workers immediately and making sarcastic remarks about the oligarch as he went about his mission.

“It’s my opinion that you’ve made thousands of people hostages to your ambition, lack of professionalism, and plain greed. This is absolutely intolerable,” Putin said.

On another occasion, the prime minister unexpectedly responded to a desperate Christmas letter from a poverty-stricken provincial girl and invited her to a New Year’s party at the Kremlin. There is nothing wrong with children believing in good fairies, but it is dangerous when such attitudes prevail among adults.

Naturally, the plight of Pikalevo’s workers was not unique. There are still huge numbers of Russian villages suffering from similar problems. Inspired by the Pikalevo happy ending, desperate residents of these poverty-stricken places are sending letters to Moscow. They do not understand that the Pikalevo case was a muscle-flexing game with a high dose of self-promotion – and naturally the prime minister is far too busy to intervene in every case.

What the petitioners who signed the letter to Dmitry Medvedev in support of Khodorkovsky are hoping for is hard to say. The petition is one of many on the subject, and there has been no sign of movement on the situation.

The hordes of letters sent to Putin and Medvedev show that Russia is ruled like an empire, and that its leaders are clearly comfortable with such public attitudes. Each letter is proof that everyone acknowledges the power vertical system and knows who really makes decisions. To see human rights advocates indulge in sending repeated letters – which are never answered – on topics about which the rulers hold a very different view, makes it seem that civil society in Russia has been completely neutered.

Another part of the problem is that while nongovernmental organizations are struggling to make a bigger impact, they have very few ways even to be heard, let alone make a difference. Indeed, there are crucial differences between Russian legislation and European law, the key point being that the definition of a nongovernmental organization and the understanding of its functions differ dramatically.

In Europe, nongovernmental organizations are an important check on the government, while in Russia things have been turned upside down. The government restricts civil society instead of ensuring its own transparency and accountability.

Even so, petition-writing to the head of state is not a solution. Legal battles often end up being horrendously time-consuming and hopeless enterprises, and street protests fail to gather any meaningful numbers, yet the only answer is to face up to these challenges and stop writing letters. An Eastern European politician and former civil-society activist whom I recently met when she was visiting St. Petersburg compared modern Russia with East Germany in the late 1980s.

She mentioned the massive street protests of August and September 1989 on the heels of the “Pan European Picnic” held near the border town of Sopron, Hungary, still very vivid in her memory, where East Germans peacefully demanded an open border.

“The streets were flooded with protesters,” the politician told me. “Of course, at the time, media coverage of the demonstrations was very different from what I saw with my own eyes, but the scale of the protests was so massive that it was impossible for the government to ignore. And this was how the political situation started to change.” This example alone is a compelling enough illustration of how to make a difference. And it is much easier, indeed, to learn from someone else’s positive experience than from your own repeated frustration. Russia’s petition-writers can either learn from the East German protesters, or from the peasants who constantly pinned their hopes on the czar.

Federal Protection Service chief left post of Russian Boxing Federation president

http://www.axisglobe.com/article.asp?article=1946

12.11.2009

 

 

 

The president of the Russian Boxing Federation, the Director of the Federal Protection Service (FSO) General Yevgeny Murov yesterday at session of the Russian Boxing Federation presidium announced his resignation, online paper NEWSru reports. He will head a new structure, the Supreme supervisory council of the Russian Boxing Federation. "At the session of presidium the president of the federation, Yevgeny Alekseevich Murov, within the framework of performance of the assignment of the President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev, has declared his resignation,” the executive director of the Russian Boxing Federation Vladimir Surkov ascertained in an interview to news agency Ves Sport. „Thus it has agreed to head the Supreme supervisory council of the federation. The first v