Russia 110824 Basic Political Developments Current Russia-Ukraine gas deal is to be honored – Medvedev: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said the existing gas agreement between Russia and Ukraine has to be fulfilled, but without ruling out future options in this area that Ukraine ought to tempt Russia with. o Medvedev optimistic about future Russian-Ukrainian relations URGENT: Russia may recognize Libya's rebel council - Medvedev : "If the rebels have the power and spirit and opportunity to unite the country on a new democratic basis, then of course we will consider establishing relations with them," o Russia wants Gaddafi to step down, ceasefire and negotiations between Libyan political forces – Medvedev o Gaddafi still has potential in Libya – Medvedev o Medvedev urges talks between Gaddafi, Libyan rebels - "We would like (the fighting) to stop as soon as possible and for them to sit down at the negotiating table and reach an agreement on Libya's future." o Libyan Embassy in Russia could change flags on Wednesday N. Korea pledges return to nuke talks - North Korea is ready to return to the Six-Party negotiation table unconditionally and to do so, Kim Jong-il promised his country will impose moratorium on nuclear testing and nuclear weapons production. Presidential Press Secretary Natalia Timakova announced these results of the meeting on Wednesday. o Medvedev strikes deal with N.Korea’s Kim Jong-il on gas export pipeline o Talks over settlement of N. Korea's debt to USSR could resume - Storchak (Part 2)
Transcript
Russia 110824
Basic Political Developments Current Russia-Ukraine gas deal is to be honored – Medvedev: Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev has said the existing gas agreement between Russia and Ukraine has to be fulfilled, but without ruling out future options in this area that Ukraine ought to tempt Russia with.
o Medvedev optimistic about future Russian-Ukrainian relations URGENT: Russia may recognize Libya's rebel council - Medvedev : "If the rebels
have the power and spirit and opportunity to unite the country on a new democratic basis, then of course we will consider establishing relations with them,"
o Russia wants Gaddafi to step down, ceasefire and negotiations between Libyan political forces – Medvedev
o Gaddafi still has potential in Libya – Medvedevo Medvedev urges talks between Gaddafi, Libyan rebels - "We would like
(the fighting) to stop as soon as possible and for them to sit down at the negotiating table and reach an agreement on Libya's future."
o Libyan Embassy in Russia could change flags on Wednesday N. Korea pledges return to nuke talks - North Korea is ready to return to the Six-
Party negotiation table unconditionally and to do so, Kim Jong-il promised his country will impose moratorium on nuclear testing and nuclear weapons production. Presidential Press Secretary Natalia Timakova announced these results of the meeting on Wednesday.
o Medvedev strikes deal with N.Korea’s Kim Jong-il on gas export pipeline o Talks over settlement of N. Korea's debt to USSR could resume - Storchak
(Part 2)o North Korea Owes $11 Billion of Debt to Russia, Storchak Sayso Medvedev, Kim begin talkso Medvedev holds talks with N.Korea’s Kim Jong-il o (LEAD) N. Korean leader to meet Medvedev on nuclear program, energy
cooperation o Train of thought: N. Korean and Russian leaders meeto North Korea's Kim, Medvedev to hold nuclear talkso President Medvedev arrives in Buryatiao Medvedev reportedly in for summit with Kim Jong Il –N. Korean, Russian
leaders will discuss resuming six-nation nuke talks, reports sayo North Korean leader continues his tour of Russia
Russia doesn’t see the need for sanctions against Syria - Russia is satisfied with a U.N. Security Council statement on Syria passed on August 3 and doesn’t see the need to impose sanctions on Damascus. Asked to comment whether it’s the right time to introduce sanctions against Syria, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said, “No. We don’t think so.”
Iranian, Russian ministers discuss Tehran's nuclear program - The Iranian minister informed his Russian counterpart about measures taken by Tehran since their meeting in Moscow last Wednesday.
'No pause in global financial reforms' – Lavrovo Half-way stop in financial system reform disastrous – Lavrov: “We
consider current problems in the world economy systemic,” he said. “The relevant agreement was reached at the very beginning of operation of the G20, when concrete decisions targeted at a radical reform of the existing international monetary and financial system were taken.”
Moscow ready to discuss Venezuela initiative on international reserves – Lavrovo Lavrov’s visit to Venezuela to end his Latin American touro Russian, Venezuelan foreign ministers praise bilateral talks
Speech by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the Opening of the Meeting of Representatives of Business Circles of Russia and El Salvador, San Salvador, August 22, 2011
o Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Makes Remarks and Answers Questions at Joint Press Conference Following Talks with El Salvador Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez, San Salvador, August 22, 2011
Russia and Latin America - Deja Vu all Over Again - A final petit but telling episode underlines the contrasts between Washington and Moscow to the region. Russia now has visa-free travel agreements with Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Peru, Chile and Ecuador and is negotiating similar treaties with Guatemala, Panama and Uruguay. Try suggesting such a policy to the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration. By. John C.K. Daly of OilPrice.com
FG to generate electricity from nuclear sources - The Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, who came up with the strategy said that that Nigeria has to be very meticulous in reviewing the need against the backdrop of the Japanese tragedy. He made the declaration during a visit by nuclear power experts from Russia’s ROSATOM, visited him recently in Abuja. The nuclear experts came to Nigeria to seek government’s assistance to commence the construction of a nuclear power plant in Nigeria.
Georgian Diplomats Facing Eviction - A Russia-Georgia war of words has turned into a war of bills after a Moscow landlord filed a lawsuit to evict a group of Tbilisi diplomats amid feeble attempts by the Foreign Ministry to intervene.
Russia expects 'more tourists from Europe' o Kremlin targets tourism - With the diversification of the economy on its
mind, the Kremlin has final got round to doing something about its abysmal tourism trade.
Plane Accidents Double in 2011 - The number of plane accidents has doubled compared with last year, and the number of deaths has quadrupled, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said Tuesday in a report criticizing small airlines.
Investigators to apply for arrest of Politkovskaya murder suspecto Politkovskaya family lawyer confirms: new murder suspect was earlier
treated as witnesso Russian investigators say they know who ordered Politkovskaya murder
o Several wounded in Ashuluk blast are in grave condition Russian oligarch sons jailed for gang raping student at Brit college - Oleg Ivanov,
Gregory Andreev Melnikov, Norayr Davtyan and Armen Simonyan filmed the sickening two-and-a half-hour attack after bragging on camera what they were going to do to their defenceless victim whose drink had been spiked.
Russian Press at a Glance, Wednesday, August 24, 2011 A Mole Poorly Disguised as a Sapsan Terrorist - Now, with the Sapsan incident,
the FSB is trying to claim they averted another terrorist attack. But it is clear that there was a mole planted as a government informant. Most likely, the mole was Khamuzhev, the alleged mastermind of the planned attack on the Sapsan. By Yulia Latynina
Matviyenko: Her Legacy to the City Invading Afghanistan Again - Russia and NATO are expanding the logistics
operation that is moving thousands of tons of supplies a week to military forces in Afghanistan. This is very profitable for Russian railroads and freight companies, as well as for Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, which have rail terminals just across the border in Afghanistan. Russia has also agreed to supply large quantities of fuel to Afghanistan via this northern route, and lessen Afghan dependence on fuel trucked in from Iran and Pakistan. This effort will also lead to Afghanistan importing and exporting more goods via the northern route, which is less vulnerable to Islamic terrorists and Iranian and Pakistani politics.
Russian club Anzhi announces deal for Eto'oo Sports Has a New Salary King - A Russian Tycoon Lures Cameroon's
Samuel Eto'o to His Obscure Team; Fast Cars and Jihadis No Business as Usual for Russia After Gadhafi - President Dmitry Medvedev is
not expected to get any benefits out of his support of Western allies in Libya. Although he strengthened his international position by supporting sanctions against Libya, most Russians support Gadhafi, said political analyst Boris Makarenko.
o Russia Losing Libya, But Maybe Winning Norway - “We have lost Libya completely.” That trenchant sound bite came not from Col. Muammar Qaddafi or one of his belligerent children. The source was a certain Aram Shegunts, director general of the Russia-Libya Business Council.
o Russian energy interests cast eye over Tripoli finale for Libya regime
National Economic Trends Russia exports 4.4m tonnes of grain since July CBR publishes July interest rates statistics --- corporate lending rates declined
70bp to 8.0% Russian privatisations: turbulence ahead - by Courtney Weaver
Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions Russia to Raise Raise Transportation Rates 6%, Kommersant Says MinEconomy is set to propose a 6% rail tariff increase in 2H12 Federal Grid Company: Tariff growth to be postponed Magnit Q2 profit at $79 mln, below analysts' forecast UPDATE 1-Russia's AFI Development returns to profit in H1 PepsiCo, Danone embroiled in brand dispute VTB 24 to snap up KIT Finance's mortgage portfolio Autos: Fast Acceleration - Today is the start of the annual Moscow Motor Show -
until Sunday. The auto industry is one of the fastest growing segments of the economy and a very good example of how the right combination of political and financial support can really make a big difference. Troika Chris Weafer
Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory) Vietsovpetro hits Meo Trang oil - Vietsovpetro, a Vietnamese-Russian oil and gas
venture, said it had found oil at a new offshore structure in Block 09-1, with a daily oil flow of nearly 1600 barrels.
Comments: Lukoil enters Sierra Leone offshore TNK-BP Holding raises Q1 net profit 64% TNK-BP To Invest Us $100 Million In Exploration At Uvat In 2012 Media: "Transneft" complains of theft of oil in Dagestan First supertanker along Northern Sea Route - For the first time in history a
Suezmax-class tanker takes the short cut from Europe to Asia along the northern coast of Russia.
Gazprom Russia may grant Gazprom 15 pct price hike-paper
o Government might support Gazprom in 2012 tariff debates --- Gazprom Won't Begin Libya Talks Until There Is 'Legitimate' Regime Gazprom Neft Deputy CEO Exits Company Pipeline to power the Olympics - The 171.6 km, 21 inch diameter pipeline, which
was commissioned by Gazprom in June 2011, has an annual throughput capacity of 3.8 Bcm/a, which aims to ensure gas supply to Sochi, as well as to the Tuapse district of Krasnodar Krai.
Ukraine smells the gas - Shale gas will replace Gazprom Olga Mordyushenko
Current Russia-Ukraine gas deal is to be honored – Medvedevhttp://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=267957
ULAN-UDE. Aug 24 (Interfax) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said the existing gas agreement between Russia and Ukraine has to be fulfilled, but without ruling out future options in this area that Ukraine ought to tempt Russia with.
"The agreement is valid and must be fulfilled," Medvedev responded to a reporter's question after meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. "If we're speaking about the future, we are ready to consider different options," Medvedev said.
"But I'll tell you straight out, let Ukraine interest us, so that it will be interesting for us to think about cooperation in the future," the president said.
Medvedev optimistic about future Russian-Ukrainian relationshttp://www.kyivpost.com/news/russia/detail/111511/
Today at 11:25 | Interfax-Ukraine Moscow, August 24 (Interfax) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has congratulated Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych on the Ukrainian Independence Day, the Kremlin said.
"Over the past two decades of the development of a modern Ukraine, serious progress has been reached in the cause of nation-building, strengthening of democratic principles, the realization of significant economic potential," according to a congratulatory telegram, released by the press office on Wednesday.
"As years go by, Ukraine's constructive contribution to the strengthening of regional stability and security has been increasing. The country's authority on the international arena is growing. Russia rejoices at the achievements of its Ukrainian friends, with whom we share a centuries-long history of good neighborliness, and close spiritual, historical and humanitarian relations," Medvedev wrote in his message.
"The intense political dialogue, productive cooperation in various areas of the economy, substantive interaction in international affairs enable us to look with optimism into the future of the Russian-Ukrainian relationship," the message said.
"We are set to continue to firmly follow the path of deepening the mutually beneficial partnership, enriching our agenda with integration projects, both on the bilateral basis, and in the framework of the existing regional organizations," the Russian president said.
On Aug. 24, Ukraine marks the 20th anniversary of its independence.
URGENT: Russia may recognize Libya's rebel council - Medvedevhttp://en.rian.ru/world/20110824/166109789.html
12:22 24/08/2011ULAN-UDE, August 24 (RIA Novosti) - President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday Russia will recognize Libya's Transitional National Council (TNC) as the North African state's legitimate government if it brings the war-torn country together.
"If the rebels have the power and spirit and opportunity to unite the country on a new democratic basis, then of course we will consider establishing relations with them," Medvedev said during talks with North Korea's reclusive leader, Kim Jong-il, in eastern Siberia.
RT News line, August 24
Russia wants Gaddafi to step down, ceasefire and negotiations between Libyan political forces – Medvedevhttp://rt.com/news/line/2011-08-24/#id1687911:59
Russia would like to see Gaddafi step down, a ceasefire in Libya and negotiations between political forces in the country, Itar-Tass news agency quotes Russian President Dmitry Medvedev as saying on Wednesday. He also said that is if the rebels are strong enough to unite Libya, then Russia will be ready to consider establishing relations with them. However, Medvedev noted that Colonel Gaddafi still retains some military potential and influence.
Gaddafi still has potential in Libya – Medvedevhttp://rt.com/politics/news-line/2011-08-24/#id16883
12:21
Although insurgents have had some success in Tripoli, Muammar Gaddafi still wields influence and military power in Libya, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday. Russia has assumed a cautious position on the events in the North African country and will follow the developments there, he noted. If the rebels are strong enough to support Libya, Moscow will be ready to consider establishing relations with them. The president added that Moscow wants both sides of the conflict to agree to a cease fire and start negotiations.
Medvedev urges talks between Gaddafi, Libyan rebelshttp://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFLDE77N01220110824
Wed Aug 24, 2011 8:16am GMT
SOSNOVY BOR, Russia Aug 24 (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday called on Muammar Gaddafi and Libya's rebels to stop fighting and sit down for talks.
"We want the Libyans to come to an agreement among themselves," Medvedev said after talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il at a Siberian military base.
"We would like (the fighting) to stop as soon as possible and for them to sit down at the negotiating table and reach an agreement on Libya's future."
Medvedev also suggested Moscow could recognise the rebels as Libya's formal government if they can unite the country.
He said Gaddafi still has some influence and military capabilities despite rebel successes.
(Reporting by Denis Dyomkin; Writing by Alissa de Carbonnel; Editing by Steve Gutterman)
Libyan Embassy in Russia could change flags on Wednesdayhttp://www.interfax.com/news.asp
GOOGLE TRANSLATION
The Embassy of Libya in the Russian Federation may change flags as early as Wednesday
http://www.interfax.ru/news.asp?id=204812
August 24, 2011 10:28
Moscow. August 24. INTERFAX.RU - Embassy of Libya in Russia, until recently, did not recognize the victory of the opposition in his country, apparently, intends to join other diplomatic missions in Libya and to remove the old flag at his house in Moscow."While the old hang flags (the Libyan revolution, led by Muammar Gaddafi, and the African Union). It is possible that the change of flags will happen today. And it will be the new flag of the State of Libya," - said to "Interfax" in the Libyan embassy in Russia.
N. Korea pledges return to nuke talkshttp://rt.com/news/kim-jong-il-medvedev-talks-15-015/
North Korea is ready to return to the Six-Party negotiation table unconditionally and to do so, Kim Jong-il promised his country will impose moratorium on nuclear testing and nuclear weapons production.
Presidential Press Secretary Natalia Timakova announced these results of the meeting on Wednesday.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his North Korean counterpart have met in the secluded military compound Sosnovy Bor (Pine Wood) on the outskirts of the capital of Republic of Buryatia, Ulan-Ude. The talks lasted for two hours and ten minutes.The leaders shook hands for protocol photos in the presence of press, then proceeded to negotiate behind closed doors. Few results were announced once the negotiations were over, including little information about the topics of discussion.
Surely, tense topics have been discussed during the meeting. Most likely the talks were focused on Six-Party Talks: North Korea withdrew from the Six-Party Talks (which
include North and South Koreas, Russia, China, US and Japan) and continued with its nuclear experiments, defiant in its continuation of its nuclear program, predictably causing outrage not only within the Six Parties, but the whole of the international community.
Kim Jong-Il is visiting Russia for the first time in nine years, in an unusually open foreign visit for the North Korean leader, touring the country on his armored train with tight security involving dozens of guards.
These talks are the second between the two leaders. The first took place in 2000, when Dmitry Medvedev was first deputy to the head of Kremlin administration.
Once the talks were over, Kim Jong-il departed for home. On his way back he will likely pay a visit to China.
During his last visit Kim Jong-il stayed in Russia from July 26 to August 18, 2001, traveling the whole way from Vladivostok to St. Petersburg, visiting Moscow, Novosibirsk, Omsk and Khabarovsk.
Kim Jong-il’s usual atmosphere of secrecy has been maintained, but not to a usual extent. For example, most of the time the world hears about the North Korean leader’s international visits post factum, or even not at all – but not this time.
This visit is getting fairly detailed coverage in the Russian press: where Kim Jong-Il’s train stops, what the North Korean leader does, what places of interest he visits.
Today Kim Jong-Il arrived the Russian Republic of Buryatia, famous for the Lake Baikal and stunning natural attractions.
The fact that the meeting of the North Korean leader and the Russian President got in the spotlight of the media definitely means North Korea is preparing something important, probably the talks also touched a trilateral gas pipeline project between Russia and both Koreas, North and South.
Now that the traditionally-secretive Kim Jong-il has lowered the veil of secrecy for this visit to Russia, the international community is eager to find out what exactly has been said.
Medvedev strikes deal with N.Korea’s Kim Jong-il on gas export pipelinehttp://en.rian.ru/world/20110824/166106669.html
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev struck a deal with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on a gas export pipeline to South Korea during talks in Russia's Buryatia region on Wednesday.
North Korea has been in negotiations with Russian gas giant Gazprom on a pipeline that would be laid through its territory to neighboring South Korea. Reports suggest such a deal could be worth around $100m a year for the North.
Kim, who has been on a visit to Russia since the end of last week, met with Medvedev in a hotel in the town of Sosnovy Bor.
The meeting also included discussions on Pyongyang’s nuclear program, energy and possible food aid for North Korea.
Talks also include a discussion of the North’s $11 billion debt to the former Soviet Union, Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergey Storchak said.
“First of all they should recognize Russia as the Soviet Union’s successor,” Storchak said.
He added that the second stage of the talks would be about the means of payment, since the loan had been granted in rubles at an exchange rate of 60 kopeks to the dollar.
The North Korean leader is making his first visit to Russia since 2002. He arrived in an armored train on Saturday. Rail travel is Kim's preferred mode of transport, due to a reported fear of flying.
On Tuesday, Kim visited Siberia's Lake Baikal, the world's largest lake, and a helicopter plant.
He told journalists on Wednesday his journey through Russia's Far East and Siberia had been "pleasant."
August 24, 2011 11:10
Talks over settlement of N. Korea's debt to USSR could resume - Storchak (Part 2)http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=267922
ULAN-UDE. Aug 24 (Interfax) - Russia and North Korea could resume talks over the settlement of North Korea's $11 billion debt.
"The North Korean debt stands at $11 billion, granted by the former Soviet Union," said Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak, who is in Buryatia where President Dmitry Medvedev has met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
The loan was granted in Soviet rubles at 60 kopeks per U.S. dollar, he said.
Asked whether North Korea recognizes the debt, Storchak said that, "this is yet another topic."
"First, we need to agree that we are the successors, so that they recognize Russia as the successor to the USSR," he said.
"This is first thing. Then we need to agree on the methodology of re-calculating rubles, which can be an unusual currency sometimes," said Storchak, adding that the U.S. dollar equivalents are used in such matters.
The next stage is "to agree on the settlement of the resulting countable sum," he said.
"So far, we do not see these factors. First we need recognition, then the methodology of re-calculation, and then an agreement in principle," Storchak said.
Asked whether the issue will be raised at the talks with North Korea, he said he has come here to resolve "some" issues.
North Korea Owes $11 Billion of Debt to Russia, Storchak Sayshttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-24/north-korea-owes-11-billion-of-debt-to-russia-storchak-says.html
North Korea owes Russia $11 billion of debt that dates back to the Soviet period, Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak told reporters at a military base near Ulan-Ude, a Siberian city close to the border with Mongolia.
Russia hasn’t lent money to North Korea since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 because the Asian nation hasn’t settled its Soviet-era debt, said Storchak, who is part of a delegation of Russian officials led by President Dmitry Medvedev meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Il today near Ulan-Ude.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ilya Arkhipov in Ulan-Ude, Buryatia at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Balazs Penz at [email protected]
09:16 24/08/2011ALL NEWS
Medvedev, Kim begin talks
http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/210402.html
ULAN-UDE, August 24 (Itar-Tass) — Russian and North Korean presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Kim Jong Il began talks.
The meeting takes place at the Sosnovy Bor closed military base near Ulan-Ude.
Medvedev holds talks with N.Korea’s Kim Jong-ilhttp://en.rian.ru/world/20110824/166106669.html
10:43 24/08/2011
ULAN-UDE, August 24 (RIA Novosti)
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is holding talks with reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in a closed military town in the south Siberian republic of Buryatia,
Kim, who has been on a visit to Russia since the end of last week, met with Medvedev in a hotel in the town of Sosnovy Bor.
The meeting is expected to concentrate on Pyongyang’s nuclear program, energy and possible food aid for North Korea.
North Korea is also currently in negotiations with Russian gas giant Gazprom about a pipeline that would be laid through its territory to neighboring South Korea. Reports suggest such a deal could be worth around $100m a year for the North.
The North Korean leader is making his first visit to Russia since 2002. He arrived in an armored train on Saturday. Rail travel is Kim's preferred mode of transport, due to a reported fear of flying.
On Tuesday, Kim visited Siberia's Lake Baikal, the world's largest lake, and a helicopter plant.
He tod journalists on Wednesday his journey through Russia's Far East and Siberia had been "pleasant."
2011/08/24 14:26 KST
(LEAD) N. Korean leader to meet Medvedev on nuclear program, energy cooperation http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/northkorea/2011/08/24/15/0401000000AEN20110824005500315F.HTML
ULAN-UDE, Russia, Aug. 24 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il arrived at a venue in eastern Siberia on Wednesday for rare talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, which Moscow says will focus on how to revive the long-stalled talks on ending Pyongyang's nuclear programs.
Kim entered the Sosnovy Bor military base on the outskirts of the city of Ulan-Ude at 1:55 p.m. local time, hours after Medvedev arrived there.
(END)
Train of thought: N. Korean and Russian leaders meethttp://rt.com/news/kim-jong-il-medvedev-talks-15/
Kim Jong-Il is visiting Russia for the first time in nine years, in an unusually open foreign visit for the North Korean leader, touring the country on his armored train with tight security involving dozens of guards.
Kim Jong-il is visiting Russia for the first time in nine years, in an unusually open foreign visit for the North Korean leader, touring the country on his armored train with tight security involving dozens of guards.
A meeting with President Medvedev in Russia's Republic of Buryatia is scheduled for Wednesday.
Kim Jong-il’s usual atmosphere of secrecy has been maintained, but not to a usual extent. For example, most of the time the world hears about the North Korean leader’s international visits post factum, or even not at all – but not this time.
This visit is getting fairly detailed coverage in the Russian press: where Kim Jong-il’s train stops, what the North Korean leader does, what places of interest he visits.
Today he is in Ulan Ude, capital of the Russian Republic of Buryatia, famous for the Lake Baikal and stunning natural attractions.
Tense topics are sure to be discussed during the meeting of the leaders of Russia and North Korea. Most likely the talks are going to be focused on Six-Party Talks. North Korea withdrew from the Six-Party Talks (which include North and South Koreas, Russia, China, US and Japan) and continued with its nuclear experiments, defiant in continuation of its nuclear program, predictably causing outrage not only within the Six Parties, but the whole of the international community.
The fact that the meeting of the North Korean leader and the Russian President got in the spotlight of the media definitely means North Korea is preparing some sort of “wow” statement, but there are different issues to be discussed during the talks, most naturally bilateral economic relations, including a trilateral gas pipeline project between Russia and both Koreas, North and South.
Now that the traditionally-secretive Kim Jong-il has lowered the veil of secrecy for this visit to Russia, the international community is eager to find out what exactly is going to be said.
North Korea's Kim, Medvedev to hold nuclear talkshttp://in.reuters.com/article/2011/08/24/idINIndia-58938820110824
9:53am IST
MOSCOW (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will discuss Pyongyang's nuclear programme and economic cooperation, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.
It did not set a date or place for the meeting but it was widely expected to take place later on Wednesday in Siberia after Kim's armoured train pulled in to Ulan-Ude, a provincial capital near Lake Baikal, on Tuesday.
The secretive North Korean leader has said little about his visit but is also likely to ask for economic aid for his destitute state, whose economy has been hit by floods as well as international sanctions over its nuclear weapons testing.
"Much attention will be paid to the topic of an early resumption of six-party talks to resolve the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula," the Kremlin said in a statement.
"Russia has consistently advocated a peaceful, political and diplomatic solution to this problem, for the restoration of dialogue and cooperation between North and South Korea."
The Kremlin said Pyongyang had announced its readiness to return to six-party talks on its nuclear programme with South Korea, Russia, China, Japan and the United States, more than two years after they broke up, and welcomed recent dialogue on the issue.
Russian and South Korean officials confirmed on Tuesday that Kim's train had reached Ulan-Ude, three days after crossing the border more than 2,000 km (1,250 miles) to the east.
Kim, who leads one of the world's most secretive nations, is on his first visit to Russia in nine years.
Media reports say Kim, 69, who travels by train because of his fear of flying, aborted a trip to Russia in June because of security concerns after news of his plans leaked out.
SIX-NATION TALKS
His first visit to North Korea's Soviet-era ally since 2002 caps a relative flurry of diplomacy for the reclusive leader, who has visited China, now his country's closest partner, three times in less than two years.
It also follows discussions between Pyongyang and Washington on the resumption of six-nation talks designed to provide North Korea with economic aid as an incentive for giving up its nuclear weapons programme.
Russia and China have backed the immediate resumption of the aid-for-disarmament talks and Kim may ask Russia to exert more pressure on South Korea, the United States and Japan to restart the negotiations.
North Korea has also sought economic help from regional powers following floods that have exacerbated its economic problems.
Citing a "severe deficit" of food products, Russia said on Friday it would send 50,000 tonnes of grain to North Korea by the end of September. The North has also been seeking foreign investment to improve infrastructure.
Kim could also seek energy aid, although a long-discussed project for a natural gas pipeline linking Russia with North and South Korea is unlikely to go far without a significant thaw between the two Koreas, which are technically still at war.
07:31 24/08/2011Top News
President Medvedev arrives in Buryatia
http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c32/210335.html
ULAN-UDE, August 24 (Itar-Tass) — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday arrived on a working trip to Buryatia. Buryatian President Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn met the head of state at the Baikal international airport in Ulan-Ude.
Medvedev asked Nagovitsyn what changes had occurred in Buryatia since he visited the republic for the fist time two years ago and whether the unemployment rate in the republic was high.
“The republic has overcome the crisis without losses. Anti-crisis measures helped to avert the growth of unemployment,” Nagovitsyn said.
Nagovitsyn stressed the role of the flagships of Buryatian industry such as the Ulan-Ude aviation plant, an instrument-making plant as well as enterprises of the mining industry. He drew the president’s attention to the fact that the construction of a special economic tourist zone, the Baikal Harbour, was under way in Buryatia.
Nagovitsyn told Medvedev that the economic zone has attracted Russian investors registered at the Russian Ministry of Economic Development.
“The crisis taught everybody how to work,” President Medvedev said in turn.
Nagovitsyn told Dmitry Medvedev about preparations for the celebrations of the 350th anniversary of Buryatia’s accession to the Russian state. The anniversary will be marked in July. Fifty-six social and infrastructure facilities have either been built or will be finished by that date. The federal centre and the republic have spent 13 billion roubles on their construction.
Medvedev reportedly in for summit with Kim Jong Il
N. Korean, Russian leaders will discuss resuming six-nation nuke talks, reports say By HYUNG-JIN KIM, NATALIYA VASILYEVA
updated 18 minutes ago
MOSCOW — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev reportedly arrived Wednesday in remote eastern Siberia for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il expected to focus on energy deals, economic aid and nuclear disarmament.
Kim has rolled across sections of eastern Russia aboard his special armored train in a trip that began Saturday. It is his first visit to North Korea's Cold War ally since 2002. His train arrived Tuesday in Ulan-Ude, the capital of Buryatia, a Buddhist province near Lake Baikal.
Medvedev arrived Wednesday morning at an army base on the outskirts of Ulan-Ude for a meeting with Kim later in the day, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported, citing unidentified sources in Ulan-Ude. Kim, however, had yet to show up at the meeting venue, Yonhap said.
The leaders will discuss how to quickly resume long-stalled six-nation talks aimed at ending the North's nuclear weapons program in return for aid, Russian and South Korean news agencies reported Wednesday.
"Much attention will be paid to this issue," Itar-Tass news agency said, quoting an unidentified Kremlin official. Yonhap carried a similar report.
Another likely topic would be Moscow's proposal to build a pipeline through the North's territory that would allow Russia to stream natural gas to South Korea. North Korea, long
reluctant, has recently shown interest in the project, South Korea officials said. Seoul has expressed hope that negotiations on the project will make progress.
"One of the pressing themes on the agenda will be prospects for launching tripartite economic projects with participation of Russia, South Korea and North Korea," the Kremlin official was quoted as saying.
Also under discussion is an energy project that would involve the extension of power lines to make it possible for Russia to sell electricity from plants like the Bureya hydroelectric plant that Kim visited at the start of his trip.
The exact timing for the summit hasn't been official announced.
Kim's Russia trip comes as his country pushes to restart the aid-for-disarmament talks. Seoul and Washington have demanded that the North first show its sincerity on fulfilling past nuclear commitments. The Korean peninsula has seen more than a year of tension during which the North shelled a South Korean island and allegedly torpedoed a South Korean warship.
North Korea is pushing for outside aid ahead of an important national anniversary next year. Kim has promised his 24 million people that he will build a "powerful, prosperous" nation to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the birth of his father and North Korea's founder Kim Il Sung.
Last month, North Korean diplomats separately met U.S. and South Korean officials to discuss the resumption of the talks, which have been stalled for more than two years. The negotiations involve the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan.
The itinerary for Kim's visit, expected to last about a week, has been largely kept secret because of worries about security from North Korea. A few people managed to take photos of Kim during his visit to the hydroelectric plant on Sunday, but heavy police cordons kept the media and onlookers in Ulan-Ude away from the train station and the adjacent square.
On Tuesday, Kim's motorcade headed for a picturesque village on the shores of Baikal, a huge freshwater lake.
Kim took a two-hour Baikal tour on a yacht guarded by two North Korean boats, the Inform Polis Online website reported, quoting eyewitness accounts. Cruising the waters, Kim recollected that his father visited the lake in July 1961, the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported from Pyongyang.
The water in Baikal is ice-cold even in summertime, so Kim decided to take a swim onshore, in a pool filled with Baikal water. The speaker of Buryatia's legislature joined Kim in the swim, the Inform Polis Online website reported.
Kim said the lake is "the pride of the Russian people and underscored the need to preserve it and surrounding natural environment well," according to KCNA.
On shore, the North Korean leader was treated to traditional Buryat food, including meat dumplings and Baikal fish prepared over an open fire.
Later Tuesday, Kim went back to Ulan-Ude to visit a major aircraft factory, which among other things produces Sukhoi attack planes, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported from the plant.
___
Kim reported from Seoul, South Korea.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
04:38 24/08/2011ALL NEWS
North Korean leader continues his tour of Russia
http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/210278.html
ULAN-UDE, August 24 (Itar-Tass) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Il will continue his tour of Buryatia on Wednesday.
“He is likely to have a cultural program in the first half of the day,” a well-informed source told Itar-Tass.
The program just like all other information related to the North Korean leader’s visit is kept secret. However, it’ s believed that Kim Jong Il may visit a museum in Ulan-Ude on Wednesday. Besides, according to unofficial reports, Buryatian artists and the stars of the Buryatian Opera Theatre are preparing a concert for the North Korean leader.
Kim Jong Il arrived in Ulan-Ude in his armoured train in the morning of August 23 and immediately headed for Lake Baikal. The North Korean leader examined a site for the construction of the Baikal Harbour tourist zone. Turka is one of the centres of this tourist area. A modern port, a congress hall and hotels and other accommodation facilities for tourists will be built in Turka.
The North Korean guest took a yacht trip over Lake Baikal on the route Turka-Goryachinsk-Turka.
Prior to the yacht trip Kim Jong Il had had a swim in a swimming pool with Baikal water. On the bank of Lake Baikal he was treated with dishes of Buryatian national cuisine, which consisted of various types of meat, fish and freshly boiled sausages. The North Korean leader finished his first day in Buryatia by visiting the Ulan-Ude aviation plant.
Viktor Ishayev, the Russian president’s special envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District, and Buryatian President Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn are accompanying Kim Jong Il on his trip.
Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and Viktor Tolokonskiy, the presidential envoy in the Siberian Federal District, arrived in Buryatia on August 23.
Anatoly Serdyukov paid a visit to the troops of the Eastern military district to discuss questions of military reform.
Viktor Tolokonskiy is on a working trip during which he has had personal meetings with citizens and has visited several construction sites.
02:45 24/08/2011ALL NEWS
Russia doesn’t see the need for sanctions against Syria
http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/210254.html
UNITED NATIONS, August 24 (Itar-Tass) — Russia is satisfied with a U.N. Security Council statement on Syria passed on August 3 and doesn’t see the need to impose sanctions on Damascus.
Asked to comment whether it’s the right time to introduce sanctions against Syria, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said, “No. We don’t think so.”
Western countries members of the U.N. Security Council are working out a draft resolution urging to exert pressure on the Syrian government. The package of measures includes introduction of sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad and other high-ranking Syrian officials whom the West is blaming personally for the death of peaceful civilians. The vote is scheduled for Tuesday evening local time.
Besides, the United States and its allies intend to blacklist a number of Syrian companies and ask the International Criminal Court in the Hague to issue an arrest warrant for President Bashar al-Assad as it was the case with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi whose troops are now losing the last positions in fighting against the opposition forces.
Russia, which is a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, has the right to veto decisions on this issue. Representatives of China, which’s also a permanent member of
the U.N. Security Council, as well as South Africa, Brazil and India that are non-permanent members of the U.N. Security Council will most likely share the opinion of Russian diplomats that there’s no need to impose sanctions on Damascus.
Vitaly Churkin refused to comment on specific details of the draft resolution. “Only ideas are being suggested at the moment,” the Russian diplomat said. At the same time, he emphasized that Russia felt comfortable after the Security Council adopted a statement on August 3.
After long consultations the Security Council condemned widespread violations of human rights and the use of force against peaceful population by the Syrian authorities. The statement contained a call for an immediate end to all violence.
“We hope to see progress, we hope to see dialogue (between the sides) in Syria,” Churkin explained. “We think that we need to work on the basis of this single position,” he emphasized.
According to the United Nations, about 2,200 people have been killed in Syria since March when the Syrian authorities began suppressing protests. In this connection, the United Nations Human Rights Council launched an investigation on Tuesday into outbreaks of violence in Syria, despite opposition from Russia and China, to see whether crimes against humanity were committed during those outbursts.
The Iranian and Russian foreign ministers have discussed Moscow's plan for a settlement to the standoff with the West over Iran's nuclear program.
Ali Akbar Salehi and Sergey Lavrov discussed different aspects of the nuclear issue during their phone conversation.
The Iranian minister informed his Russian counterpart about measures taken by Tehran since their meeting in Moscow last Wednesday.
Salehi also reiterated that Iranian officials were studying the "road map" plan proposed by Moscow to settle the country's nuclear standoff with the West.
On 13 July, Lavrov proposed a new "step-by-step" approach toward Iran's nuclear program that would enable the Islamic Republic to take steps to address the questions raised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
According to the proposed plan, Iran can revive negotiations to alleviate individual concerns of the IAEA about its nuclear activities and be rewarded along the way by the partial removal of sanctions.
The approach would start out with the easiest questions and move on to more complicated ones that would require a longer time for a response, according to Lavrov.
Iran says that according to the modality plan agreed by the Islamic Republic and the IAEA in 2007, the agency should close Iran's nuclear dossier since Tehran has addressed and resolved all issues of contention.
Fars News
'No pause in global financial reforms' – Lavrovhttp://english.ruvr.ru/2011/08/24/55087307.html
Aug 24, 2011 10:51 Moscow Time
“Making a pause in reforming the global financial system would result in a catastrophe”, Russia`s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said while staying in Venezuela as part of his Latin American tour.
Mr. Lavrov noted that the national debt crisis in the US and poor economic situation in some European countries proved that a new approach is required to handle such issues.
The Russian minister stressed the importance to fulfill all commitments made at the G20 summit, including a better control of the financial situation and austerity budget plans.
12:08 24/08/2011ALL NEWS
Half-way stop in financial system reform disastrous - Lavrov
http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/210515.html
CARACAS, August 24 (Itar-Tass) — The U.S. government’s debt and the situation in the euro zone demonstrated that it is disastrous to stop half-way in the process of reforming
the international monetary and financial system, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference after the talks with his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday.
“We consider current problems in the world economy systemic,” he said. “The relevant agreement was reached at the very beginning of operation of the G20, when concrete decisions targeted at a radical reform of the existing international monetary and financial system were taken.”
“When the crisis was slightly defused, the leading western nations felt a temptation to stop half-way and to try to keep the maximum of what had existed in the pre-crisis system,” Lavrov said.
“The U.S. debt and the situation in the euro zone proved that a half-way stop is disastrous,” he said.
The Russian diplomat expressed confidence that all agreements within the G20 should be fully completed.
Moscow ready to discuss Venezuela initiative on international reserves – Lavrovhttp://english.ruvr.ru/2011/08/24/55085372.html
Aug 24, 2011 10:18 Moscow Time
Moscow is ready to discuss Venezuela`s initiative to place its gold and currency reserves in Russia, in case Caracas makes such a proposal, Russia`s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said while staying in Venezuela as part of his Latin America tour.
Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez had earlier said his country would like to return its gold and currency reserves worth $12 billion to Venezuelan banks.
He also said that Caracas wanted to place its operational currency reserves in Brazil, China and Russia.
Lavrov’s visit to Venezuela to end his Latin American tour
http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/210358.html
CARACAS, August 24 (Itar-Tass) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is ending his Latin American tour on Wednesday by visiting Venezuela.
He’s expected to meet his Venezuelan counterpart, the vice-president and the speaker of the National Assembly as well as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Alexander Lukashevich, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson, said that talks with the Venezuelan leadership would focus on an Action plan for developing partnership before 2014, which was signed after the summit in Russia in 2010.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday praised bilateral talks during Lavrov's visit to the South American country.
After Wednesday's talks, Lavrov and Maduro signed an agreement on the establishment and operation of scientific and cultural centers, in line with which Russia will set up a Russian language and culture center in Caracas.
The two ministers also signed a plan of consultations until 2014 and a joint statement.
Speech by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the Opening of the Meeting of Representatives of Business Circles of Russia and El Salvador, San Salvador, August 22, 2011http://www.ln.mid.ru/bdomp/brp_4.nsf/e78a48070f128a7b43256999005bcbb3/ecfb1ec876c6d87ac32578f5005b1e1e!OpenDocument
First of all I would like to thank our Salvadoran colleagues for the organization of the meeting with the participation of representatives from the business community of El Salvador and from Russian business circles.
Russia is ready for open, mutually beneficial and equal cooperation with all who show reciprocal interest. We appreciate the mindset which the current leadership of El Salvador shows for the all-round expansion of ties with Russia.
El Salvador is one of the few countries in Latin America with which our relations started to develop relatively recently. In 2011, we will be celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. However, by joint efforts in recent years we have made significant progress in expanding political contacts. Now on the agenda of our relations is one of the key issues – building cooperation in the economic sphere.
We highly appreciate the attention the Government of El Salvador pays to intensifying trade and economic ties with Russia. For our part, we also try to give an additional impetus to the development of this area of bilateral cooperation. At the state level, we can and will support the business community by creating an appropriate legislative framework. There will be signed an agreement on the basic principles of relations between our two countries today, which highlights the intention of the parties to cooperate for mutual benefit in the trade and economic sphere and exchange experience in the area of access to markets and technological advances.
No less important task in our opinion is to create opportunities for direct dialogue between the business communities of Russia and El Salvador. I am convinced that the effectiveness of economic interaction depends largely on the degree of involvement of business circles in it. In this regard we welcome the fact that during the visit of El Salvador’s Minister of Foreign Affairs to Moscow last year the foundation was laid for promoting contacts between entrepreneurs of our two countries. Minister Hugo Martinez brought with him to Russia, representatives of the Salvadoran business community.
Today’s meeting is also the result of our agreement reached during the visit of Mr. Martinez to Russia. It is encouraging that such well-known Russian
companies as Technopromexport, Power Machines, Russian Buses – GAZ Group, Helicopters of Russia, Scartel, Rosoboronexport, Energomashexport Corporation and others responded to the proposal to convene a meeting of business representatives of the two countries during the official visit of the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs to El Salvador. Most of them have specific proposals for discussion, the rest are willing to consider the wishes of partners. In addition to those present here, a number of Russian companies are interested in establishing ties with Salvadoran counterparts in areas such as supply of automotive products, truck cranes, bulldozers and other construction hardware, power equipment. Russian representatives of agricultural machinery are also ready to cooperate.
We call participation by the foreign affairs agencies in efforts to establish business relationships “diplomatic support” for business contacts. We attach great importance to this line of activity of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which we carry on in close coordination with the economic bloc of the Government of Russia. Let me note that our delegation includes G. I. Kurochkin, Deputy Director of the Department of the Countries of America of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.
We hope that this meeting will allow participants to familiarize themselves substantively with the possibilities of Salvadoran and Russian business and lay the groundwork for businesses of our countries to be able to move to direct cooperation and specific projects in the near future. Consistent work in this area has been prescribed by the leaders of the two states. I am convinced that it will produce beneficial results for the good of our countries and peoples.
We have no doubt that all these tasks can and must be successfully solved. All necessary preconditions exist for that – the political will of the leaders of Russia and El Salvador and a mutual desire to cooperate.
As we have said with my Salvadoran counterpart, you enjoy support at the governmental level. We hope that following today's meeting, this support will be in demand for specific arrangements.
I wish you successful work. I thank the Salvadoran friends for their hospitality and initiative in organizing the present meeting.
Thank you for your attention.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Makes Remarks and Answers Questions at Joint Press Conference Following Talks with El Salvador Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez, San Salvador, August 22, 2011http://www.ln.mid.ru/bdomp/brp_4.nsf/e78a48070f128a7b43256999005bcbb3/8184743ea10aa0fdc32578f500557169!OpenDocument
1239-23-08-2011
Mr. Minister, Ladies and Gentlemen,
During today's meeting with President of the Republic of El Salvador Mauricio Funes and talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs Hugo Martinez, both sides reaffirmed their interest in further strengthening bilateral cooperation in various fields.
The history of official relations between Russia and El Salvador is not that long: next year we will celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. But this does not mean that El Salvador is terra incognita to Russians. Back at the start of the 20th century the world famous Russian geneticist Nikolai Vavilov visited Central America, exploring the natural riches of this land. In his diaries, he admired the beauty of El Salvador and the distinctive identity of its people.
In recent years we note the strengthening of positive trends in bilateral relations, the mindset to deepen them on the basis of mutual respect and trust. Today, our discussion focused on looking for concrete ways of enhancing interaction. The signed Agreement on Basic Principles of Relations between the Russian Federation and the Republic of El Salvador opens up broad vistas for its buildup, creating a solid legal basis for detailing our approaches to cooperation in the most diverse fields.
As noted by Minister Martinez, we primarily want to make significant progress in the trade and economic field. My counterpart and I together attended the opening ceremony of today’s meeting of business representatives of our two countries. There will be a follow-up report prepared on available potential projects and at the level of our ministries agreements will begin to be developed for providing the necessary political support to entrepreneurs.
We discussed in detail the state of affairs in the world. Our approaches to contemporary international problems are close or coincide. Russia and El Salvador advocate developing relations based on respect for international law and strengthening the UN’s central role through the furtherance of its reform process. We favor solving all international problems and conflicts in different parts of the world or in individual countries peacefully, without outside interference, avoiding the use of force.
Our countries also agree that the current world trends require heightened attention to issues of regional integration. Such processes are taking place both in the CIS area and in Latin America and the Caribbean.
We noted the active role of El Salvador in promoting cooperation within the Central American Integration System (SICA). We agreed to develop cooperation between Russia and SICA and want to prepare a ministerial meeting in this format next year. In this connection I would like to thank my colleague for his initiative in this matter. It is important to flesh out the content of the meeting. During today's conversation President Funes outlined his vision of priorities for Central American integration, which fully coincide with Russia’s. We are talking about commercial and economic cooperation, about the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime and about humanitarian cooperation. All of this creates good opportunities for nurturing interaction.
Speaking of drug trafficking and organized crime, which we also focused on today, we agreed to speed up work on a bilateral agreement to combat this scourge. We also agreed that the fight against drug trafficking will occupy a priority place in relations between Russia and SICA. We already have some experience working in this area with the countries of the region. In particular, the Russian Federal Drug Control Service is actively cooperating with Guatemala. This experience has generated interest among our Salvadoran friends.
In general, the talks here were very fruitful – they confirmed that bilateral relations have gained a good pace. Now it is important to keep up the pace in the future. After today’s talks, we have enough work ahead of us; there is a specific blueprint plan to develop cooperation. I think, on both sides we feel the mindset to fully and effectively carry it out. I am convinced that all this will benefit our countries and peoples.
In conclusion I would like to thank my Salvadoran colleagues for their hospitality and the excellent organization of work. We appreciate such an attitude.
Question: Does the bilateral relations agenda envision opening embassies and trade missions in Russia and El Salvador?
Foreign Minister Lavrov: In today's talks, we discussed El Salvador’s interest in opening a trade mission in the Russian Federation. For our part, we support this intention of the Salvadoran friends and their wish to consider it as a first step towards opening a full-fledged embassy. The development plans of the Russian diplomatic service also provide for the opening of a Russian embassy in El Salvador in the near future.
Question: How can you comment on the developments in Libya? Will Russia recognize the legitimacy of the Libyan National Transitional Council if Muammar Gaddafi quits? Will Moscow conduct a dialogue with representatives of the NTC on various issues, including protecting the interests of Russian business?
Foreign Minister Lavrov: The Libyan affair enters its denouement. Very soon the power in that country will shift into the hands of rebel forces. We always wanted the denouement to arrive as soon as possible. And it could have arrived earlier. Unfortunately, this was prevented by a number of factors, including the position of Gaddafi, who insisted until the last moment that he was the only one to negotiate with, as well as reluctance in some circles to back the well-known African Union initiative. This was also hindered by the actions of NATO that went far beyond the mandate issued by the UN Security Council. A denouement that could have taken place earlier, of course, would have saved many lives. But we have what we have.
By all indications, power is about to pass into the hands of insurgents. Thus, the National Transitional Council and other groups on the side of the rebels will bear responsibility for further developments in the country. We want to see among their priorities ensuring the safety of foreign nationals, including the Russians currently in Libya.
I think that Libya’s new transitional leadership will be facing a very difficult task. Already there have been alarming reports of looting. The leader of the NTC has called on his supporters to forbear revenge on the opposing side. We hope that the situation will be kept under control, although this won’t be easy. In any case, the cessation of hostilities must immediately be followed by the beginning of a political process, the formation of legitimate bodies of power and negotiation of the bases and principles for the establishment of a democratic disposition in Libya for the benefit of all its citizens while respecting Libya’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.
One important lesson from the Libyan conflict is the confirmation of an obvious truth: in conditions of civil strife in a sovereign country all foreign players should conduct themselves with utmost responsibility and restraint, strictly abiding by the letter and spirit of the UN Charter and following the principle “do no harm.” A large number of casualties could have been avoided if the international community had not sided with one party over the other, but rather encouraged all the parties to sit down at the negotiating table and decide the fate of the country in the interest of all its inhabitants, all the social, political, religious, and ethnic groups. This is a universal principle that also applies to the situations in Yemen and Syria.
In Yemen, the international community acts precisely that way, encouraging the parties of a conflict no less severe than Syria’s not to go into further confrontation, but to strive to reach an agreement through a process of political compromising. I hope that all those on whom it depends will show the utmost responsibility.
There are already disturbing reports of attempts to infringe on the rights of certain minorities, including Christian, in a number of countries that are undergoing tumultuous internal processes. This is a very alarming signal. I hope that the outcome of this entire drama that is called the “Arab spring” and which is still going on, will not bring about an infringement of the rights of religious and other minorities in the region, will not create a situation where the existing problems will be solved only partially, but there will be new and more serious problems.
Russia is ready to contribute actively to the political process in Libya. We have traditions of friendship, long-term interaction and cooperation with the Libyan people and we will continue to act in line with this posture.
Obviously we will necessarily gain respect for our interests in Libya, since I believe they will not disappear and that the Libyan leadership to be formed in the wake of a transition to democracy will be responsible. Libya is a member of the international community, where there are definite rules of conduct. Again, we have no reason so far to doubt that the feelings of sincere friendship remain as the basis for relations between the Russian and Libyan peoples.
Question: Could you specify the areas in which Russia and El Salvador are ready to step up economic cooperation? What are the prospects for bilateral military-technical cooperation?
Do Russia and Guatemala have any joint projects to combat drug trafficking?
Foreign Minister Lavrov: Regarding the promising areas of bilateral cooperation in the economic sphere, during today's meeting President Funes touched on the theme of investments in which El Salvador is interested. We'll be ready to consider the various proposals of the Salvadoran side. Of course, high technologies occupy one of the priority places in joint plans. Russian companies have specific proposals in this regard. In particular, Scartel and Iota are active in the high segment of mobile communications in Nicaragua and are keen to cooperate with El Salvador in the same area. They plan to take part in the international exhibition which will soon open in San Salvador.
As for military-technical cooperation, there is no obstacle to this. As part of the companies that took part in today’s meeting of business circles of our countries, a representative of Russian corporation Rosoboronexport was present there.
Cooperation between Russia and Guatemala in the antidrug sphere is fairly intensive and includes such types of interaction as assistance in law enforcement training, transfer of counternarcotics skills and exchange of information that may be useful in carrying out specific operations in the region. I think that El Salvador also has an interest in this area, as mentioned by President Funes today. We agreed to accelerate the preparation of an appropriate intergovernmental agreement.
Question: What is Russia’s position with regard to the situation in Syria, taking into account the role of Western countries? Is external military intervention in the Syrian conflict possible?
Will Russia recognize the independence of a Palestinian state?
Foreign Minister Lavrov: I don’t think anyone in his right mind would contemplate external military intervention in the events in Syria. I’ve already talked about the need for all external players to not interfere with or disturb the national dialogue. Bashar al-Assad did take very important steps, even though belatedly. These included a change in legislation, announcement of a multiparty system, reform of the media law, announcement of upcoming democratic elections and preparation of a new draft constitution. The Syrian President is inviting the opposition and all those interested in the future of the state to a national dialogue.
I consider the “No to dialogue” protests absolutely irresponsible. This would lead the country to a very serious crisis, which all want to avoid, given the vital strategic role of Syria in the region and in the Middle East peace process. The only way is negotiations. All those who have been watching the events in Syria
from the outside and feel understandably concerned about the deaths of people, including Russia, which actively calls for the Syrian leadership to avoid such excesses, should encourage the parties to negotiate and develop a political and other reforms model acceptable to all Syrians.
As for Palestine, for Russia, this problem does not exist. In 1989, the Russian Federation recognized the State of Palestine. Since then the Palestinian Embassy headed by an Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary has been operating in Moscow. I repeat we have long ago and unambiguously solved this matter.
Russia and Latin America - Deja Vu all Over Againhttp://oilprice.com/Geo-Politics/International/Russia-and-Latin-America-Deja-Vu-all-Over-Again.html
Written by John Daly Wednesday, 24 August 2011 00:17
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” – Albert Einstein
Twenty years ago this month, a hardliner coup failed in Moscow. Four months later the USSR collapsed.
Next month is the 10th anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks on the U.S., which set America off on a global campaign of revenge, centered on Iraq and Afghanistan, the latter referred to for more than a century as “the graveyard of empires.”
There is more synergy between these events than might first appear – first is that the USSR learned its lessons from its bloody nine-year occupation of Afghanistan, withdrawing its troops in 1989, while Washington has yet to see the light at the end of the Khyber Pass after a decade.
A U.S. Cold War policy that has survived for 51 years celebrates its anniversary in October – the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba. For three decades the USSR was Cuba’s stalwart ally, giving Washington pause after the ill-fated April 1961 Bay of Pigs fiasco, which in turn led to the Cuban Missile crisis six months later. The U.S. still treats Cuba as it did then, a point of some relevance to Einstein’s wry observation.
Cuba fell into the USSR’s lap because of U.S. Latin American foreign policy. Now, in an eerie replay of those days, the entire continent is shifting towards deeper relations with Moscow, a situation for which Washington has solely itself to blame, having fixated for the past decade on punishing Muslim terrorists.
If stories of Washington’s “global war on terror” have dominated the U.S. media for the last ten years, then surely the biggest overlooked story in Washington is how its influence in Central and Latin America has ebbed away during that same period, a country at a time.
And, as in 1960, one of the chief beneficiaries is Russia, not through any dynamic policy initiatives, but because the Latin low-hanging fruit is literally falling into its lap. Nothing better epitomizes this than Russian Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's upcoming official visits to El Salvador, Peru and Venezuela, scheduled for 21-25 August.
During an interview with Russkoe Informatsionnoe Agentsvo Novosti Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich discussed Lavrov’s visits, saying, “In recent years, Russia's relations with Latin American countries have acquired a qualitatively new momentum. It is important that the intensification of our ties with Latin American countries fits into the new configuration of international relations of the contemporary multi-polar world. This is a new level of interaction between the evolving development centers, one of which is to become Latin America. Its leading states demonstrate an ability to actively and productively participate in dealing with issues on the global agenda and in economic growth rates the region is second only perhaps to Asia. Not for nothing have experts begun to talk of the dawn of a ‘Latin American decade.’”
Since 2008 Latin America has assumed a higher and higher priority in Russian foreign policy, as evidenced by the 22 summit and more than 60 high-level meetings held between Russia and various Central and Latin American nations. In words certain to cheer every Central and Latin American politician anxious to reduce Washington’s heavy regional thumbprint, Lukashevich added, “At the core of our political contacts is the fundamental concurrence of approaches to the formation of a new polycentric world order and settlement of key international issues on a collective basis.”
In other welcome news for the Latino leaders, Russia is interested in expanding bilateral trade links, “particularly in light of the creation of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.” Last year, Russian trade with the region soared by 15 percent to $12.4 billion. Russia envisages bilateral projects in fields ranging from space to nuclear power generation, while Aeroflot and Transaero are to restore direct air links with Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, Panama, Nicaragua, Cuba and Chile.
If Fidel remains Washington’s favorite bête noire, then Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez comes a close second. In a tart rebuke to U.S. regional unilateralism Lukashevich said, “Of fundamental importance is the similarity of Russia and Venezuela's approaches toward creating a more just and democratic world order. At its foundation we see the principles
of multilateralism and due consideration for the legitimate interests of states, the maintenance of peace and stability, strengthening the UN's central role and respect for international law.”
It remains to be seen how much concrete results will be achieved by Lavrov’s visit, much Moscow’s regional approach contrasts starkly with America’s paternalistic Big Brother” Monroe Doctrine attitudes and the Kremlin initiatives are accordingly being given a warm reception.
A final petit but telling episode underlines the contrasts between Washington and Moscow to the region. Russia now has visa-free travel agreements with Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Peru, Chile and Ecuador and is negotiating similar treaties with Guatemala, Panama and Uruguay. Try suggesting such a policy to the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration.
What is still singularly lacking in Washington’s approach to the region is respect “for the legitimate interests of states,” with the U.S. administration apparently still believing that Central and Latin American governments should pay heed above all other considerations to Washington’s pronunciamentos.
If for no other reason than the region’s vast oil reserves, Washington should change its attitudes. After all, OPEC announced this week that Venezuela’s proven oil reserves exceed Saudi Arabia’s, and Brazil’s offshore oil deposits are certain to make it one of the 21st century’s rising export states. As the U.S. will remain the world’s largest importer of energy for the foreseeable future, this fact alone should cause Washington’s bureaucrats to reorient their policies towards Central and Latin America.
Remember Einstein’s dictum – the Kremlin certainly is.
By. John C.K. Daly of OilPrice.com
FG to generate electricity from nuclear sourceshttp://www.momentng.com/en/news/3610/fg-to-generate-electricity-from-nuclear-sources.html
THE Federal Government has raised the hope of generating electricity through nuclear option as part of the agenda to boost national power reserve.
Posted at 24/08/2011 06:14 AM | Updated at 24/08/2011 06:14 AM
By Anayo Korie THE Federal Government has raised the hope of generating electricity through nuclear option as part of the agenda to boost national power reserve. This position is coming at the heels of the Fukushima, Japan nuclear disaster in March, which has led several western nations, including Germany, France and United States of America, to review their nuclear energy policies. The Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, who came up with the strategy said that that Nigeria has to be very meticulous in reviewing the need against the backdrop of the Japanese tragedy.He made the declaration during a visit by nuclear power experts from Russia’s ROSATOM, visited him recently in Abuja. The nuclear experts came to Nigeria to seek government’s assistance to commence the construction of a nuclear power plant in Nigeria. The Power minister agree with the Russians that given Nigeria’s industrial potential, its size and population, nuclear power would have been the fastest and more sustainable way of solving the nation’s electricity challenges. However, he insisted that the safety of Nigerians transcends every other consideration. ‘Nigeria intends to sit down and properly evaluate what happened in Japan and weigh the risk against national interest,’ said Nnaji adding that Nigeria and the Russian federation have struck a co-operative agreement for the development of a nuclear power plant in the country towards boosting the nation’s energy resources. Accordingly, the two countries have agreed to pull resources together to ensure the development of nuclear power plant for the generation of electricity in Nigeria.Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, unveiled the commitment of the Federal Government when a delegation of nuclear experts from Nigeria and Russia paid him a courtesy call. He said the Nigeria Government takes seriously the option of using nuclear power for electricity and was delighted and appreciative of the interest shown by Russia to help Nigeria solve its electricity challenges through the application of nuclear power. While commending the team of experts for fine tuning the details of the co-operative agreement for the development of nuclear power plant in Nigeria, he promised to set up a steering committee to look into the agreement and work out a document for presentation to the President and the Federal Executive Council for final approval. He stressed that before the end 2011, a draft agreement will be signed and officially endorsed by the Nigerian government.
Georgian Diplomats Facing Eviction 24 August 2011By Natalya Krainova
A Russia-Georgia war of words has turned into a war of bills after a Moscow landlord filed a lawsuit to evict a group of Tbilisi diplomats amid feeble attempts by the Foreign Ministry to intervene.
The Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, took a new stab at Georgia, accusing it on Tuesday of preparing an invasion into the breakaway province of South Ossetia through a "peace march" of internally displaced people from the region.
The Moscow Arbitration Court has registered a lawsuit filed by the Ostozhenka Business Center against the Georgian diplomatic section located on its downtown premises, the Rapsi judicial news agency said Tuesday.
The business center accuses the diplomats of occupying offices without signing a lease or paying for utilities, the report said. No date for a hearing was set.
Moscow and Tbilisi severed formal diplomatic ties after the 2008 war over South Ossetia. Georgian diplomatic interests in Russia are currently represented by the Swiss Embassy, and its consular department has occupied space in the business center on Ulitsa Ostozhenka since 2009.
The building's owner has cut off electricity to the Georgian office twice this month, rendering it unable to issue visas for several days at a time.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry last week called the demands of the landlord "groundless," but did not elaborate.
The Russian Foreign Ministry asked the business center on Friday to leave the power on for the next two months, ministry spokesman Alexei Pavlovsky said.
"The situation is undesirable and brings unnecessary political tension," Pavlovsky said in comments carried by RIA-Novosti.
The ministry also said in a statement Tuesday that it suggested to Givi Shugarov, head of the Georgian interests section, more than two weeks ago to "immediately start direct talks" with the business center.
It remained unclear whether the talks ever took place or whether the landlord would comply with the ministry's request.
Repeated calls to both the Ostozhenka Business Center and the Georgian interests section at the Swiss Embassy on Maly Rzhevsky Pereulok went unanswered Tuesday. A spokeswoman for the consular department refused comment when reached by telephone.
The Foreign Ministry expressed hope that no crackdown would follow on its own consular section at the Swiss Embassy in Tbilisi, where, indeed, no problems have been reported so far.
Meanwhile, Russian diplomats accused Georgia of preparing a "massive illegal penetration" of South Ossetia under the guise of a "peace march."
More than 3,000 people, mostly internally displaced Georgians from South Ossetia, have been asked to march into the region Friday, which marks the third anniversary of Russia's decision to recognize the region as independent, the Foreign Ministry said on its web site.
"Georgian authorities are making extensive use of threats and pressure. … Sometimes citizens are being forced to sign up for the 'march of peace,'" the ministry said.
Shota Utiashvili, a spokesman for the Georgian Foreign Ministry, described the Russian comments as "made-up rumors" and the "invention of a deranged mind," news reports said.
South Ossetian officials also said a march was in the works, but a spokesman for the European Union's mission in the region said the EU had no such information, Gazeta.ru said.
A similar march in 1989, inspired by Tbilisi and aimed against South Ossetian plans to increase the republic's autonomy, ignited a standoff that eventually culminated in an 18-month war in 1991-92 and the region proclaiming independence. Between 20,000 and 40,000 Georgians took part in the initial rally.
About 100,000 Ossetians fled Georgia during fighting in the 1990s, while some 23,000 ethnic Georgians left South Ossetia. Many refugees from South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another breakaway province, still live in rundown temporary housing, prompting worries from international human rights bodies.
A "peace march" by internally displaced Georgians was in the works in 2007, a year before the 2008 war, but the plans did not materialize.
Three years after the war and Russia's recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, relations between Moscow and Tbilisi remain strained, in large part due to open Russian hatred toward Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.
President Dmitry Medvedev said earlier this month that he "will never forgive" Saakashvili for ordering to kill "hundreds of our citizens" in the war. He vowed that he would never work with him.
Read more: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/georgian-diplomats-facing-eviction/442558.html#ixzz1Vvi7JTqq The Moscow Times
Russia expects 'more tourists from Europe'http://en.rian.ru/russia/20110824/166101793.html
06:40 24/08/2011
MOSCOW, August 24 (RIA Novosti)
Russia expects more tourists from Europe, first of all Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Spain and Finland, Alexander Radkov, the head of the country's federal tourism agency, told the Izvestiya daily.
Radkov said other countries that could contribute to the tourist inflow are China, Japan, South Korea, India, the Gulf states, Canada, Mexico and Brazil.
The key tourism official said foreign tourists are attracted by Russia's arts and cultural sites, churches and beautiful nature.
The federal authorities plan to spend 330 billion rubles ($11.4bn) on tourism development over the next eight years. The share of tourism in Russia's GDP currently does not exceed 2.5%.
Kremlin targets tourism
http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text16416
bne, Ria NovostiAugust 24, 2011
With the diversification of the economy on its mind, the Kremlin has final got round to doing something about its abysmal tourism trade.
While outbound Russian tourists have been the saviour of many tourist destinations (and have overtaken the Germans and the most unpopular visitors according to one poll), the number of inbound tourists to Russia is still pathetically small.
However, on August 24 the government said it expects more tourists from Europe, first of all Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Spain and Finland, Alexander Radkov, the head of the country's federal tourism agency, told the Izvestiya daily.
Radkov said other countries that could contribute to the tourist inflow are China, Japan, South Korea, India, the Gulf states, Canada, Mexico and Brazil.
The key tourism official said foreign tourists are attracted by Russia's arts and cultural sites, churches and beautiful nature.
The federal authorities plan to spend 330 billion rubles ($11.4bn) on tourism development over the next eight years. The share of tourism in Russia's GDP currently does not exceed 2.5%. Due to bad roads and a shortage of cheap hotels, only 5.6 million people visit historical and cultural landmarks annually.
"Our country's potential is only 30 percent utilized!" Putin said last month at a Presidium meeting while discussing the program, according to government.ru.
Nearly everything needs to be developed, starting with building more mid-range hotels; the hotel industry remains geared towards visiting businessmen and Moscow boasts some of the most expensive rooms in Europe.
The development of tourism is also part of the regional development programme that has been framed in the context of hosting major international sports events like the winter Olympic games in 2014 and the World Cup in 2018 - the same year the federal tourist promotion programme is due to end.
Several cities in the development programme will also host football matches during the World Cup. In the Northwest Federal District, there will be one covering parts of the Silver Ring; in the Central Federal District - the Golden Ring; in the Volga Federal District - the Great Volga cities; in the North Caucasus and Southern federal districts - the Krasnodar and Stavropol and Rostov regions, and Kabardino-Balkaria. In Siberia, year-round tourist destinations could be developed in the Sayan Mountains and on Lake Baikal.
The program's cost is 332 billion rubles, with some 96 billion coming from the federal budget, 25 billion from regions and the rest from private investors. Almost 95 percent of that total is earmarked for construction, though the program does not say exactly what will be built, reports Vedomosti.
The government wants the number of foreign tourists to increase 5.6 times over the eight-year period, with their share in the total amount of tourists going from 11 percent to 33 percent. But the government plans to spend domestically and internationally a meager 850 million rubles on advertising tourism.
Plane Accidents Double in 2011 24 August 2011The Moscow Times
The number of plane accidents has doubled compared with last year, and the number of deaths has quadrupled, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said Tuesday in a report criticizing small airlines.
Thirteen crashes killing 81 people took place from January to mid-August, Ivanov told a government transportation commission in Moscow.
Another 26 accidents without deaths occurred over the same period, he said.
The statistics did not include the Monday crash-landing of an An-2 biplane that killed one in the Tuva republic and the Saturday crash of a Yak-18T plane near St. Petersburg that left four people dead.
Ivanov did not provide precise comparative figures.
The majority of this year's crashes with fatalities involved obsolete planes, Ivanov said, adding that most of them were owned by small airlines that operate "five or six airplanes, if not less," Interfax reported.
Ivanov reiterated his earlier criticism of the small carriers, saying they were unable to maintain and update their fleets.
Earlier this month, the Transportation Ministry banned long-haul airlines with less than 10 similar aircraft from operation starting January, with the bar to be raised to 20 planes from 2013.
The number of certified airlines has been halved over the past year, Interfax said. The 15 biggest airlines — each with fleets of more than 20 planes — handle 90 percent of all air traffic in the country, it said. But small airlines serve many remote localities.
Read more: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/plane-accidents-double-in-2011/442551.html#ixzz1Vvhv1Ryh The Moscow Times
Investigators to apply for arrest of Politkovskaya murder suspect
http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/210440.html
MOSCOW, August 24 (Itar-Tass) — Russia’s Investigation Committee will apply for arrest of a suspect in the murder case of Anna Politkovskaya, an observer of the Novaya Gazeta newspaper.
“Today, the Investigation Committee plans to apply to the court for arrest of Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov [a former police colonel],” the committee’s spokesman, Vladimir Markin, told Itar-Tass on Wednesday.
“Moreover, I should say that investigators have the information about a suspected mastermind behind the murder. However, investigators consider it premature to disclose this information,” he said.
August 23, 2011 23:31
Politkovskaya family lawyer confirms: new murder suspect was earlier treated as witnesshttp://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=267886
MOSCOW. Aug 23 (Interfax) - A lawyer for the family of Novaya Gazeta observer Anna Politkovskaya has confirmed that the man who has been detained on suspicion of a role in killing the journalist figured in the first trial as a witness for the prosecution.
"He was the prime witness for the prosecution in the first trial. We have suspected for a long time that he could have been responsible for committing this crime," lawyer Anna Stavitskaya told Interfax.
She said she hoped that "this detention would become a turning point in the case."
"Surely, it is for the court to find out whether the people figuring in the case are guilty or not," she said.
"This detention could possibly lead the investigators to the one who ordered the murder if they work hard in this direction," she said.
"As for us, we will do all we can so that all individuals involved in the crime be criminally prosecuted," Stavitskaya said.
Nadezhda Prusenkova, the Novaya Gazeta press secretary, had told Interfax earlier on Tuesday that one more person had been detained on suspicion of a role in killing Politkovskaya.
"This happened just several hours ago. Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, a former chief of the fourth division of the Moscow city police operational search department, has been detained," Prusenkova said.
Pavlyuchenkov "figured in the first trial dealing with the journalist's murder as a secret witness for the prosecution, and therefore he was questioned in a secret procedure," she said.
"He said then that he had learned about the murder from the defendants, but now the investigation has every reason to presume that he was an accomplice," she said.
"A motion on taking Pavlyuchenkov into custody is likely to be forwarded to a court tomorrow. He is currently in a pretrial detention facility in Moscow," Prusenkova said.
Sergei Sokolov, a Novaya Gazeta deputy editor-in-chief, told Interfax that Pavlyuchenkov is suspected of having contracted to kill the journalist when he served for the police.
Investigators believe that it was Pavlyuchenkov who put together a criminal group, arranged the shadowing of Politkovskaya, and gave the killer a gun with a silencer.
"The Investigative Committee has not yet made official statements, but I have no doubts that everything happened exactly this way," Sokolov said.
Interfax could not immediately obtain confirmation of this information from investigative bodies.
Politkovskaya was shot dead at the entrance hall of her apartment building in Moscow on October 7, 2006.
The investigation into the crime has been extended until September 7, 2011.
Russian investigators say they know who ordered Politkovskaya murderhttp://en.rian.ru/russia/20110824/166105911.html
10:14 24/08/2011
MOSCOW, August 24 (RIA Novosti)
Russian investigators said on Wednesday they think they know who was behind the 2006 murder of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya.
"The investigation has information about the alleged organizer of the crime, although it is too early to make this information public," a spokesman for the Investigative Committee - a body separate from the police force - said.
The announcement comes after a former senior Russian police officer was detained on Tuesday. Lt Col Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov is suspected of organizing the shooting of Politkovskaya and supplying the killer with a weapon, investigators said.
The main suspect in the case, Rustam Makhmudov, was detained in Chechnya in May, 2011.
His two brothers, Dzhabrail and Ibragim, have been accused of driving him to and from the murder scene. Former police officer Sergei Khadzhikurbanov has been accused of helping to set up the murder. All three were tried and acquitted for lack of evidence in 2009. The verdict was later overturned by Russia's Supreme Court, which ordered a retrial.
Politkovskaya, who won international acclaim for her investigations into human rights abuses in Chechnya, was shot dead in her apartment building in Moscow on then-President Vladimir Putin's birthday in 2006.
Former police officer held over Politkovskaya murderhttp://en.rian.ru/russia/20110823/166093247.html
A former senior Russian police officer was detained on Tuesday in connection with the 2006 murder of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, the editor of the paper she worked for said.
“Ex-lieutenant colonel Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov was detained,” during questioning by investigators, Novaya Gazeta editor Dmitry Muratov said.
He is suspected of organizing the shooting of Politkovskaya and supplying the killer with a weapon, Tuesday’s edition of the opposition Novaya Gazeta paper said.
Politkovskaya, a fierce Kremlin critic, was shot dead in her apartment block more than four years ago.
The main suspect in the case was detained in Chechnya in May, 2011.
06:18 24/08/2011ALL NEWS
New suspect in Politkovskaya’s murder case detained
http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/210309.html
MOSCOW, August 24 (Itar-Tass) — A former police colonel, Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, has become a suspect in the murder case of Anna Politkovskaya, an observer of the Novaya Gazeta newspaper.
Pavlyuchenkov used to be a witness in Politkovskaya’s case. He was detained during interrogation on Tuesday.
“Investigators believe that Pavlyuchenkov received an order from an unidentified person to organize Politkovskaya’ s murder for a monetary reward. He accepted the offer and organized a crime group, which included the Makhmudov brothers,” Vladimir Markin, an official representative of the Russian Investigative Committee, told Itar-Tass.
“Pavlyuchenkov promised to reward the perpetrators, obtained a pistol and handed the weapon over to the killers. He also informed them of the journalist’s address and the model of a car in which she moved around the city,” Markin went on to say.
They kept an eye on Politkovskaya for three days. On October 7, 2006 the journalist was killed in the entrance of her apartment building on Lesnaya Street in the centre of Moscow.
Sergei Sokolov, the deputy editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, told Itar-Tass that Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov was supposed to be presented with charges of organizing a murder.
Investigators may ask the court to arrest him on Wednesday.
At present, Pavlyuchenkov is kept in a temporary detention facility.
He attended the first trial of Politkovskaya’s murder as a witness. According to Novaya Gazeta, he tried to misinform investigators about his complicity in the murder. He tried to be useful to investigation as a valuable source of information which he had allegedly got from the defendants.
“A criminal lawsuit against Pavlyuchenkov’s former friend Sergei Khadzhikurbanov was filed following an application from Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov. The latter accused Khadzhikurbanov of extorting a huge sum of money,” Novaya Gazeta writes.
“Today, the investigation has enough witness evidence exposing Pavlyuchenkov, including those received from the journalists of Novaya Gazeta who carried out their own investigation into their colleague’s murder and the defendant’s lawyers,” Novaya Gazeta writes.
The deadline for investigation of Anna Politkovskaya’s murder has been extended several times. The last time it was prolonged in May until September 7, 2011.
The former policeman Sergei Khadzhikurbanov and brothers Dzhabrail and Ibragim Makhmudov were charged with complicity in the murder. A separate case was opened against the fourth participant, Rustam Makhmudov, who’s believed to be the direct perpetrator. Rustam Makhmudov is on an international wanted list. The Interior Ministry, the Federal Security Service and the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service as well as the Interpol are searching for him.
On February 20, 2009 the Moscow district military court acquitted three defendants on the basis of the jury’s verdict. On June 25, the Russian Supreme Court overruled the verdict and ordered a new investigation that started on August 5, 2009.
Sergei Khadzhikurbanov was sentenced to 8 years in prison in February 2010 on a charge of extorting 350,000 dollars.
Magomedsalam Magomedov: “Counteraction to extremism and terrorism is the major priority of work for the heads of municipal formations” http://www.riadagestan.com/news/2011/08/24/7147/
Makhachkala, August 24, 2011. On August, 23 the Head of the Republic of Dagestan Magomedsalam Magomedov held a joint session of the Security Council RD and the Antiterrorist commission RD to discuss the situation in Kizlyar district and the city of Kizlyar related to counteraction to terrorism and extremism, and measures to increase the efficiency of activity of the antiterrorist commissions in the republican municipal formations. Besides, the session participants considered measures aimed at maintenance of antiterrorist and fire-prevention safety in the educational institutions of the Republic of Dagestan on the cusp of the Knowledge Day.
Opening the work of the expanded session, the Head of Dagestan underlined that the questions included into the agenda were very important and it was not casual that the heads of municipalities were invited – the designated problems are expected to be solved in the districts attracting the local population.
As to the Head of Dagestan the criminal environment in the republic remains complicated. More crimes of terrorist orientation have been committed in 2011 in comparison with the last year. The growth of the number of infringements on the life of law enforcement officers, peace citizens, representatives of public authorities and local government is registered.
Taking into consideration the complexity of the operative situation in Dagestan, the President of the Russian Federation has ordered to increase the number of divisions of the Interior Ministry troops up to 7 thousand persons, having placed them in 7 operative zones. Special measures will be taken for maintenance of personal protection of those engaged in ideological work. Special subdivisions providing safety for the representatives of clergy, education, municipal employees, the government officials and those who find themselves on the forward front of ideological struggle will be created in Dagestan.
The Government of the Russian Federation considers the possibility of allocate financial means for the introduction of a hardware-software complex “Safe city” in the republic. RUR 1,5 billion needed to install similar system in Makhachkala.
MOSCOW. Aug 24 (Interfax) - The criminal inquiry into the death of Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in custody has been extended, the Russian Investigative Committee told Interfax.
"The investigation of the criminal case over the death of S. Magnitsky has been extended until November 24, 2011," Markin said.
"The reason for extension is the need to conduct investigative proceedings involving the accused, including the verification of the information received from them in justification of their innocence plea," Markin said.
Based on the results of the planned measures, legal decisions will be made during the extended investigation period to reflect the inquiry conclusions about causes and circumstances surrounding Magnitsky's death, he said.
Magnitsky died in the Matrosskaya Tishina detention facility on November 16, 2009, at the age of 37. He had been charged with tax evasion.
Magnitsky's death drew broad public response. The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case on charges of failure to provide assistance to a patient and negligence.
Despite several resignations in the Federal Penitentiary Service, there was no real inquiry into the Magnitsky death, human rights campaigners said.
On July 4, 2011, the Russian Investigative Committee announced the completion of an additional medical examination. As a result, a criminal investigation was opened against two former employees of the Butyrka pre-trial detention facility N2, including the lawyer's former doctor Larisa Litvinova (causing death by recklessness as a result of failure to perform professional duties).
A blast at an ammunition storage site in the southern Russian region of Astrakhan killed six soldiers and injured at least 12, Interfax reported, citing an unidentified military officer.
The accident occurred when the soldiers were trying to dispose of munitions, Interfax said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jason Corcoran at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at [email protected]
August 23, 2011 21:37
Several wounded in Ashuluk blast are in grave conditionhttp://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=267875
ASTRAKHAN. August 23 (Interfax) - Five soldiers out of seven taken to the Astrakhan regional hospital after an explosion at the Ashuluk firing range are in grave condition, the hospital's chief doctor Viktor Akishkin told Interfax.
"They are being operated on," he said.
However, there is no information on the condition of the two other soldiers.
Five more soldiers were admitted to a military hospital, the Astrakhan Region Health Ministry told Interfax.
"Their condition varies from light to very grave," it said.
It was reported earlier that six soldiers were killed and 12 were wounded in an explosion during the disposal of ammunition at the Ashuluk firing range in the Astrakhan region, the Russian Defense Ministry told Interfax. The explosion occurred at 5 p.m. Moscow time.
A commission led by Southern Military District Commander Col. Gen. Alexander Galkin has flown to the scene at the order of Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, the Ministry reported.
Military investigators and criminalists of the Russian Investigative Committee have also flown to the scene, Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin told Interfax.
Russian oligarch sons jailed for gang raping student at Brit college by Alun Palmer, Daily Mirror 24/08/2011 Decrease font size Increase font size
Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/08/24/russian-oligarch-sons-jailed-for-gang-raping-student-at-brit-college-115875-23367067/#ixzz1VvFWDJcl Go Camping for 95p! Vouchers collectable in the Daily and Sunday Mirror until 11th August . Click here for more information
FOUR evil Russians who gang-raped a fellow student at an exclusive college were yesterday locked up.
Oleg Ivanov, Gregory Andreev Melnikov, Norayr Davtyan and Armen Simonyan filmed the sickening two-and-a half-hour attack after bragging on camera what they were going to do to their defenceless victim whose drink had been spiked.
Three of the gang were sons of wealthy oligarchs. A court heard the four celebrated wildly after their vicious assault on the teenager “like footballers who had just scored a goal”.
Judge Peter Murphy told a court: “The iPhone footage shows what can only be described as a callous disregard for the victim as a human being and indeed as anything other than an object of their own pleasure.
“No one who has seen that footage can leave this trial without feeling complete disgust.
“Although there was no pre-existing plan, once the sequence of events started, they were encouraging each other to do more and more.
“They were clearly seen on the iPhone celebrating their triumph almost in the manner of -professional footballers celebrating the scoring of a goal. They also boasted that they would show the footage to anyone in Moscow.”
The four thugs had only been in Britain for two weeks when they launched their vile assault at £32,000-a-year Bellerbys College in Greenwich, South-East London.
Ringleader Davtyan, 22, a water polo international, was jailed for 10 years. Melnikov, 23, got nine years while Ivanov, 23, and 19-year-old Simonyan were each caged for eight years at Woolwich crown court. The four had gone to a disco at the college in January where they were studying to get into British universities.
Davtyan held an impromptu party in his room in the halls of residence at Deptford not too far from the college. The victim went there at around 7pm and had a shot of whisky before leaving. She became dizzy and felt her drink had been spiked.
CCTV captured her stumbling though the main entrance and filmed her in a smoking area talking to Ivanov and Melnikov.
She was later seen walking away with Melnikov to the party in Davtyan’s room. Once there she vomited and lay on the floor.
She was eventually left alone with the four men and footage from Davtyan’s phone shows her being raped by the baying mob.
Prosecutor Peter Clement told jurors: “At one point Mr Ivanov said he felt pity for her, but this was only after he and the others had sex with her.
“He was talked out of that attitude by Davtyan who described the girl as just a whore and a machine for f******.”
Footage also showed the rapists taking regular breaks to go outside for cigarettes.
The gang had all denied rape but were convicted. They tried to claim the victim had consented.
While Melnikov, Davtyan and Simonyan are from rich families, Ivanov is not, Sandy Canavan, defending, told the court. The barrister said: “His family is not a wealthy one.” He lived on his own with his mum in Moscow and had worked to fund his college course. But that was now in tatters thanks to a “night of madness”.
Russian Press at a Glance, Wednesday, August 24, 2011http://en.rian.ru/papers/20110824/166104198.html
08:57 24/08/2011
POLITICS
A Russia-Georgia war of words has turned into a war of bills after a Moscow landlord filed a lawsuit to evict a group of Tbilisi diplomats amid feeble attempts by the Foreign
Ministry to intervene. The ministry took a new stab at Georgia, accusing it of preparing an invasion into South Ossetia.
(Moscow Times)
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Russia's largest state lender Sberbank has postponed investor meetings in the Middle East and Asia as jittery markets cast the privatization of a 7.6 percent stake in doubt, three banking sources said.
(Moscow Times)
Against the backdrop of gas price reduction talks with Moscow, Kiev keeps indicating to Russia it is going to gradually stop buying its gas.
(Kommersant)
The Central Bank said Russian banks have been suing individuals over debts more often in 2011.
(Kommersant)
The government has shown which monopoly is more important: energy giant Gazprom's prices may grow 15% while other monopolies' by 5-6% in 2012.
(Vedomosti)
SOCIETY
An American woman put hot sauce in her adopted 7-year-old son's mouth not to punish the Russian boy for lying, but to come up with sensational footage to get on a television show, a prosecutor said.
(Moscow Times)
The Moscow City Court denied bail to a Dagestani-born mixed martial arts champion charged with killing a 19-year-old police college dropout with a single blow. According to secret services, nationalists planned to organize riots on Sunday if the champion was released on bail.
(Kommersant, Moscow Times, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told Chechen media that corruption is one of the most urgent problems for the North Caucasus. Experts say Russian security agency officers are to blame.
(Kommersant)
The Transportation and Finance ministries published draft documents on new regulations for compulsory motor vehicle inspections.
(Kommersant)
IT
Volvo presented a new electric car in Moscow.
(Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
A Mole Poorly Disguised as a Sapsan Terrorist 24 August 2011By Yulia Latynina
The Federal Security Service told Kommersant last week that it had prevented a major terrorist attack against the Sapsan bullet train between Moscow and St. Petersburg. According to the FSB, the attack was organized by Islam Khamuzhev, a native of Kabardino-Balkaria. Khamuzhev allegedly traveled to Moscow from Dagestan and at a mosque became acquainted with three Islamist radicals, two from Chechnya and one from Mordovia, the Volga region with an Islamic Tatar minority. The four supposedly began preparing for the terrorist attack by purchasing ammonium nitrate and scouting a location along the train route to plant the explosives.
Immediately afterward, Khamuzhev returned home and left Chechen Murad Edilbiyev, 22, in charge of everything. Edilbiyev moved the ammonium nitrate, wires and other components to his own home but, realizing that there was something strange about the whole affair, tried to throw away a bag full of explosive materials in a park. That was when agents detained him.
Although I am highly skeptical of the official version of these events, it would be wrong to say that I do not believe terrorist attacks are ever averted. For example, I believe that the suicide bombing that Lithuanian citizen Egle Kusaite planned to carry out in Russia was averted, although she was ultimately arrested by Lithuanian, not Russian, security forces.
I also believe that Ruslan Ozniyev, who was arrested in 2009 while preparing a terrorist attack, really did attempt to carry it out. I believe it only because it was French intelligence that tipped off Russian agents after Ozniyev had spent time in France planning the attack.
But in those cases when attacks were planned on Russian soil, the FSB has had few successes. Take, for example, Mariam Sharipova, who blew herself up in the Moscow metro on March 29, 2010. Although she was the widow of a well-known Jordanian militant, her activities were not tracked by the FSB.
Or take Magomed Yevloyev, the Domodedovo Airport suicide bomber. Yevoloyev’s in-laws took his daughter away from him, fearing that his affinity for terrorism would have a negative impact on her upbringing. This fact was also missed by the FSB.
Now, with the Sapsan incident, the FSB is trying to claim they averted another terrorist attack. But it is clear that there was a mole planted as a government informant. Most likely, the mole was Khamuzhev, the alleged mastermind of the planned attack on the Sapsan.
There are several reasons why I do not believe the FSB claims. First, Khamuzhev, an ethnic Kabardin, popped up out of nowhere in some small Dagestani town and said, “OK, guys, let’s plot a bombing together.” Why would Khamuzhev risk getting a bullet to the head for being an FSB spy? And why would he go to Dagestan at all when there are so many fellow Mujahedin at home in Kabardino-Balkaria? In any case, it makes no sense that he was sent to Moscow with instructions to “find some accomplices there and blow something up.”
Second, Khamuzhev had no Moscow connections whatsoever. Real terrorists always rely on people very close to them. For example, Sharipova’s brother escorted her to the metro.
Third, Khamuzhev went to a Moscow mosque to recruit the first three chance acquaintances he bumped into and convinced them to help stage a major terrorist attack. Does this sound like a real terrorist?
This is clearly a case of FSB entrapment and has nothing to do with foiling a terrorist attack.
Yulia Latynina hosts a political talk show on Ekho Moskvy radio.
Read more: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/a-mole-poorly-disguised-as-a-sapsan-terrorist/442562.html#ixzz1VvvsAp5D The Moscow Times
Matviyenko: Her Legacy to the City http://www.times.spb.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=34443
By Irina Titova The St. Petersburg TimesPublished: August 24, 2011 (Issue # 1671)
Former St. Petersburg governor Valentina Matviyenko, who officially left her position on Tuesday, said she was “leaving the city with a feeling that she had performed her duty.”
“We’ve done everything we could during the time we had,” Matviyenko said at her final press conference on Tuesday.
Joking with journalists, Matviyenko said that during the past eight years she had signed more than 82,000 documents that weighed a total of 1,200 kilograms and were a total of 74 kilometers in length.
“That means I read 102 pages of documents a day, then made a decision about all those projects and signed them,” she said.
“The work of a governor is a very heavy burden. It implies endless responsibility for the life of the city. However, I’ve been happy for all the eight years of my work… I cannot remember a day when I didn’t want to go to work,” Matviyenko said.
Matviyenko named the construction of new roads such as the Ring Road and Western High-Speed Diameter as the major achievements of the city during the years of her tenure, along with the repair of old roads, completion of the city’s dam, reconstruction of old housing, opening of new metro stations and the arrival of numerous foreign investors on the city’s market.
“The budget of St. Petersburg has increased by five times during the past eight years, and currently the money allocated for education in the city is equal to the whole budget of St. Petersburg in 2003,” the ex-governor said when answering questions about the results of her work.
In addition, the city has become the home of the federal Constitutional Court and host of the high-profile St. Petersburg International Economic Forum and International Film Festival, she said.
“The rhythm of the city has clearly changed. The city stopped being sleepy,” Matviyenko said.
The ex-governor recalled that when she came to St. Petersburg eight years ago, she had the feeling that the city had a slow rhythm of life.
“At that time, some people said St. Petersburg was not ready to develop big projects. However, we have passed that point of no return,” Matviyenko said. “Today the city is much more dynamic, there are far more business and cultural activities going on,” she said.
However, Matviyenko said there are still many things that need to be done for the city and that there are things she regrets.
“St. Petersburg still needs to sort out its old housing, develop roads more intensively and open more metro stations,” she said.
“As for developing the city’s metro system, of course this requires more federal investment, because the city budget is not big enough for that,” the ex-governor said.
When asked about her regrets, Matviyenko said she was sorry that she had not entered into a dialogue with city preservationists earlier.
“But it’s good that we did it nevertheless,” she said, adding that the decision to move the construction of the planned Okhta Center skyscraper from the center of the city to the outskirts was the right one.
Matviyenko said she always understood how important the project was for the city.
“Any European city would struggle to develop such a project,” she said.
Matviyenko also expressed regret over problems arising with clearing snow from the city’s roads and sidewalks last winter, but said it was a freak winter.
When asked what was the most irritating question she had heard from journalists during her career in St. Petersburg, Matviyenko said it was one about “the role of women in politics” that she was regularly asked on the eve of International Women’s Day.
“I have always thought that it doesn’t matter whether you are a man or a woman in politics. I think what matters is if that person is a professional,” she said.
Matviyenko said that among the most memorable gifts she had been given during her time as governor were rubber boots and a pan for making jam given to her by her colleagues. The governor said she used the pan to make red bilberry and apple jam, before giving jars of it to her colleagues.
Boris Vishnevsky, a political analyst, said the list of the ex-governor’s achievements was shorter than the list of her mistakes.
Vishnevsky said Matviyenko’s major accomplishments were the registration in the city of major tax payers such as Gazprom Neft that had brought substantial funds to the city budget, more active housing construction in the city, and the opportunity to watch city government meetings online.
“In the end it was good that she recognized the mistake of building the Okhta Center in the center of the city, though it took her five years to give up that idea,” Vishnevsky said.
Among the other mistakes of the governor, Vishnevsky named the demolition of buildings in the historic center, where many new buildings have been constructed instead, along with infill construction that led to the destruction of a number of parks and alleys,
and discrimination against small businesses when small kiosks were closed near metro stations.
“Of course, another sore point was the suppression of political freedom and ban on opposition activities in the city,” Vishnevsky said.
Nina Oding, an economic analyst at the Leontief Social and Economic Research Center, said that Matviyenko’s major accomplishment was “smoothing out the federal center’s economic policy.”
“The governor really made all possible efforts to attract investors and to lobby the interests of the region. She also rewarded all of her team for good work,” Oding said.
However, Oding said that in her opinion, business was still able to exercise too much influence on the city’s economic decisions. She criticized the Western High-Speed Diameter and reclaimed land projects, saying they were not worth the costs involved.
“We already have the Ring Road, so perhaps the Western High-Speed Diameter was not really necessary. Instead, the city could have built more metro stations using that money,” Oding said.
Oding said that Matviyenko’s style of working was “extremely individual” and “full of active spirit and emotions.”
“She was a leader in whom people could see an active person,” Oding said.
August 23, 2011: Russia and NATO are expanding the logistics operation that is moving thousands of tons of supplies a week to military forces in Afghanistan. This is very profitable for Russian railroads and freight companies, as well as for Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, which have rail terminals just across the border in Afghanistan. Russia has also agreed to supply large quantities of fuel to Afghanistan via this northern route, and lessen Afghan dependence on fuel trucked in from Iran and Pakistan. This effort will also lead to Afghanistan importing and exporting more goods via the northern route, which is less vulnerable to Islamic terrorists and Iranian and Pakistani politics.
August 22, 2011: A second public flight of the Russian T-50 (comparable to the American F-22) was aborted as the aircraft spend down the runway. The pilot deployed the landing parachute when he noted a problem with one of the engines. The aircraft was not damaged. The T-50 is a joint development deal with India. Four years ago India agreed to partner with Russia in the development and production of a “Fifth Generation Fighter.” This caused some unrest in the senior ranks of the Indian Air Force. Some
generals believed India was paying too much ($5 billion, about half the development cost) and was not involved enough. The Russians had frozen the design of the aircraft by then. This was not to say that Indian air force generals could not have some input when changes had to be made during development, but the current deal did not force the Russians to pay much attention. The Russian-Indian effort is meant to build a superior aircraft to the American F-22. The Sukhoi T-50 PAK-FA was not expected to fly until 2010, and not be in service for another 5-10 years (depending on how quickly the new technology could be developed). The T-50 looks a lot like the F-22. The 37 ton T-50 is about the same weight as the F-22, and has a similar shape.
August 21, 2011: North Korean leader Kim Jong Il arrived in eastern Russia for a visit, his first since 2002. Kim is to meet with p resident Dmitry Medvedev later this week. The visit is apparently part of a joint Chinese-Russian effort to offer Kim economic aid in return for cutting back North Korean nuclear weapon and ballistic missile development. At the same time the visit was announced, Russia said it was sending 50,000 tons of free food to North Korea.
In Dagestan, two bombs went off in supermarkets, wounding fifteen women and children.
August 19, 2011: Twenty years ago, a Communist Party coup against a reformed Soviet Union government collapsed. This resulted in the dissolution of the Soviet Union (with fourteen new countries being created) and leaving a much smaller and less powerful Russia. The Cold War was officially over, with the Soviet Union not only losing, but disappearing. Since then, most Russians have come resent the way their empire was “taken from them.” It became popular to assume that it was all a plot. But gradually, Russians began to accept that the corruption inherited from the Czarist government, and intensified by 70 years of communist rule, had survived and thrived as Russia turned to democracy for the first time. Russia is still coming to terms with its past, all of it, and it hasn’t been easy.
August 18, 2011: A police commander was shot dead in Ingushetia. The culprits or their motives were not known, although Islamic terrorists in the area are known for assassinating particularly troublesome police commanders. In neighboring Chechnya and Dagestan, several police operations left twelve Islamic terrorists dead.
August 17, 2011: Russia has sold 14 more Mi-17 helicopters to Sri Lanka. The tiny island nation south of India already operates several types of Russian aircraft.
In Russia, a Dnepr satellite launcher put seven micro-satellites into orbit. Dnepr is an old R36 (SS-19) ICBM, refurbished to put lightweight satellites into orbit.
August 16, 2011: Russia new jet fighter, made its first public flight at a trade show outside Moscow. It was also announced that the T-50 would enter service by 2015.
August 15, 2011: Islamic terrorists ambushed an army convoy in Ingushetia, leaving four soldiers dead and seven wounded. In Dagestan, six men died in several attacks apparently carried out by Islamic terrorists.
August 14, 2011: The government revealed that it had recently foiled a plot, by Chechen Islamic terrorists, to use a fertilizer bomb to derail one of the high-speed trains that travel between Moscow and St Petersburg. Meanwhile, in Ingushetia, a small bomb went off in the town of Karabulak, injuring no one.
August 11, 2011: In the last two days, counter-terror operations in Dagestan left seven Islamic terrorists dead, including a senior commander.
August 10, 2011: The Ingushetia government has set up a special organization, containing police and religious leaders, to crack down on illegal alcohol sales during the holy month of Ramadan. Since the Soviet Union fell two decades ago, many largely Moslem areas in the Caucasus have banned alcoholic drinks. But the demand for booze has been so strong that a thriving illegal trade has developed. The latest anti-alcohol campaign is seen by many as just another scam to obtain bribes from those arrested for having illegal alcohol.
August 6, 2011: Two policemen were shot dead in Dagestan.
Russian club Anzhi announces deal for Eto'ohttp://www.kyivpost.com/news/russia/detail/111499/
Today at 08:05 | Associated Press MILAN (AP) — Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala announced a deal with Inter Milan for Samuel Eto'o on Tuesday that could make the Cameroon striker the highest paid footballer in the world.
"Today an agreement was reached between the football clubs Anzhi and Inter for the transfer of Samuel Eto'o. The terms of the transfer fully suited both sides," a statement on Anzhi's website said.
Anzhi said Eto'o would undergo a medical exam on Wednesday, after which he will be awarded a three-year contract.
While financial terms were not disclosed, reports in Italy say Eto'o will be paid €20 million ($29 million) net per season, eclipsing the estimated €12 million ($17.4 million) that Cristiano Ronaldo earns at Real Madrid and the €10.5 million ($15.2 million) that Lionel Messi is paid by Barcelona.
After a week of negotiations in Milan, the transfer fee was reportedly set between €25 and €27 million ($36 and $39 million).
According to Anzhi, Eto'o will join his new club Thursday to prepare for a match against FC Rostov.
Inter did not make any formal announcement.
"Tomorrow the deal will be formalized," Inter sporting director Piero Ausilio said, according to the ANSA news agency.
Anzhi, from the troubled southern Russian province of Dagestan, is owned by billionaire oil tycoon Suleiman Kerimov.
At 30, Eto'o is still in his prime, but he has already won three Champions League titles — two with Barcelona and one with Inter — and is apparently excited about playing in the developing Russian league.
In Forbes magazine's latest list of the world's richest people, Kerimov's net worth was estimated at $7.8 billion, tying him for 118th place with Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi and family.
Anzhi's captain is 38-year-old Roberto Carlos, once the standout left back for Brazil.
Inter has been linked with Diego Forlan of Atletico Madrid, Ezequiel Lavezzi of Napoli or Carlos Tevez of Manchester City as a replacement for Eto'o. Inter's other forwards are Giampaolo Pazzini, Diego Milito and Goran Pandev.
Inter opens the Serie A season against Lecce on Sunday.
Eto'o led Inter with 37 goals in all competitions last season, having replaced Milito as the club's biggest scoring threat. He was a key member of the Inter side that won the Champions League in 2010, often accepting an attacking midfield or defensive role for then-Inter coach Jose Mourinho.
Before joining Inter in 2009, Eto'o played five seasons with Barcelona.
Makhachkala is plagued by violence from insurgency that has spread across the North Caucasus after two separatist wars in Dagestan's neighboring region of Chechnya.
Anzhi players live and train at a training camp outside Moscow and travel to Makhachkala for home games, flying about 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) 15 times a season.
Sports Has a New Salary King http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903327904576526622339442518.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
A Russian Tycoon Lures Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o to His Obscure Team; Fast Cars and Jihadis By JONATHAN CLEGG and ALAN CULLISON
Moscow
Move over, Peyton Manning. Stand aside, Alex Rodriguez.
The highest-salaried athlete in professional sports these days may be a Cameroonian soccer player named Samuel Eto'o, who will play his home games for an obscure club in the violence-wracked Caucasus region of Dagestan, Russia.
In a deal announced Tuesday, Anzhi Makhachkala of the Russian Premier League agreed to pay Eto'o's former club, Inter Milan, a transfer fee of $39 million to acquire the 30-year-old forward. The team also agreed to a contract with the player that, given Russia's favorable tax rates, would net Eto'o $29 million per season. That not only eclipses the estimated $17.4 million salary Cristiano Ronaldo earns at Real Madrid, it also outstrips the net income of top U.S. stars like Manning, Rodriguez and Kobe Bryant.
The only athlete on earth who might pocket as much is Fernando Alonso, the Spanish Formula One driver for team Ferrari whose contract is worth more than $40 million per year.
"Today an agreement was reached between the football clubs Anzhi and Inter for the transfer of Samuel Eto'o," a statement on Anzhi's website said. "The terms of the transfer fully suited both sides."
The decision by Eto'o to leave Inter Milan, one of Europe's most hallowed professional teams, for an obscure mid-level team in Russia, is an unlikely one that leaves devout soccer fans scratching their heads.
Eto'o is a three-time Champions League winner. He was signed by Real Madrid at 16, scored more than 100 goals for FC Barcelona and is the most decorated African player of all time. Chiseled and lightning fast with a laser-accurate shot, he's known as one of the sport's most prolific goal scorers.
By contrast, his new club plays in a second-rate league in a downtrodden stadium in front of an average crowd of 11,067. The Dagestan province has become a center of jihadi insurgency where shootouts between rebels and police are a nearly daily occurrence. For security reasons, Anzhi's high-profile players live in Moscow and only fly to
Makhachkala for home games. In recent years the club has narrowly avoided relegation from Russia's top division.
The unlikely story behind soccer's richest transfer begins in January when Anzhi was bought by Suleiman Kerimov, an oil tycoon whose net worth is reported to be $7.8 billion. Kerimov, a Russian senator who was born in the southern republic of Dagestan, is a lover of elaborate parties and exotic sports cars. He once famously split a Ferrari Enzo in half in an accident in the south of France and lived to tell about it.
Upon taking control of the team, Kerimov vowed to turn Anzhi into a contender and, in doing so, help transform the region's reputation. In March, he lured Roberto Carlos, a World Cup winner with Brazil in 2002, to the club with an annual salary of $7.2 million and a Bugatti Veyron, which was given to to the veteran defender by Kerimov as part of a gala birthday party that cost an estimated $3 million. (The guest list included Anna Chapman, a Russian spy nabbed by U.S. authorities in 2010 who has since become a pinup in Russia.)
A handful of other promising acquisitions have followed, including fellow Brazilians Jucilei da Silva and Diego Tardelli and Hungarian winger Balasz Dzudszak, a $20 million signing from PSV Eindhoven.
Kerimov is also building a new 45,000-seat stadium, hotels and a soccer training camp along the shores of the Caspian Sea near the capital that locals have called "Anzhi City." An official close to Mr. Kerimov said that the project will cost more than $1.5 billion in the next few years and "has a long-term character with two different aims—social and athletic."
"In the future, we hope to get to the championship league, but we clearly understand that it takes time and enormous work," the Kermiov official said. "Among our other aims is to prepare players for the Russian national team."
The influence of Russian money in European soccer is nothing new. Back in 2003, Roman Abramovich arrived in England's Premier League like a hurricane, plunking down $250 million to buy Chelsea and embarking on an unprecedented shopping spree that transformed the upstart club into one of Europe's powerhouses. Russia was also chosen to host soccer's World Cup in 2018, beating rival bids from England, Spain-Portugal and Belgium-Netherlands. Moscow hosted the Champions League final in 2008.
The deal for Eto'o points to a new reality in European soccer, one where midsize Russian clubs awash with money and backed by wealthy benefactors are threatening to transform the professional game at a time when new financial rules have forced even the wealthiest clubs to rein in spending.
Starting this season, European teams are bound by Financial Fair Play regulations, a series of measures introduced by UEFA, the governing body of European soccer, to prevent clubs from spending more than they earn in revenue. This season's accounts are
the first that must be submitted to comply with the new rules, which come into force for the 2013-14 season.
As the sport's biggest teams curb spending, a series of star players has been bought by obscure teams in Eastern Europe for sums ranging from $62 million for a Portugese midfielder to $18 million for a manager.
In some respects, Eto'o's decision to swap the glamour of Milan for megabucks in Makhachkala is only the latest testament to the lengths athletes will go—and the indignities they will endure—in exchange for astronomical paychecks.
In the Russian Premier League, overseas stars have also been forced to endure racist slurs from opposing fans. The Russian Football Union has fined two teams nearly $11,000 apiece for incidents in which Anzhi's Roberto Carlos has been taunted with bananas.
Not everyone in Russia is pleased about the sudden influx of overseas superstars. Football fans in Russia have been grumbling about all the money being pumped into the troubled region all season. Members of the Spartak Moscow fan club called for a boycott of Anzhi and two other teams from the area.
Not that Anzhi followers are complaining. The team beat Dynamo Moscow 2-1 in its last game, currently sits fourth in the 16-team league and faces first-place CSKA Moscow in its next match on Sept. 11.
"The club has clear aims—they want to be a decisive factor in the Champions League," said Dzudszak, the team's Hungarian winger. "This year, it's not possible but in 2012 we can get there."
No Business as Usual for Russia After Gadhafi 24 August 2011Combined Reports
Read more: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/no-business-as-usual-for-russia-after-gadhafi/442571.html#ixzz1Vvy0DoDj The Moscow Times
While Moammar Gadhafi was somewhere in Tripoli making phone calls to old friends, the situation in the capital remained dangerous and analysts say Moscow's position in the country will be weak if the rebels finally take control.
Reports as of 8 p.m. Tuesday Moscow time indicated that rebel forces had stormed Gadhafi's compound.
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, head of the World Chess Federation and eccentric former leader of Kalmykia, said Tuesday that he spoke with Gadhafi by telephone and the leader remains in Tripoli and defiant.
Ilyumzhinov's trip to Tripoli in June was among the last times the Libyan leader was seen in public.
Ilyumzhinov said in an interview with Interfax that Gadhafi called him at around 6 p.m. Moscow time on Tuesday and said he was "alive and well and still in Tripoli."
Gadhafi's voice was calm, he spoke in Arabic and his son Mohammed, Libya's Olympic chief, translated his words into English, Ilyumzhinov said.
The phone call was brief, not much more than a minute, and Gadhafi promised to call again later.
Meanwhile, NATO said Tuesday that the situation in Tripoli remained very dangerous and the alliance would continue its operations over the country, bombing forces loyal to Gadhafi if they keep fighting.
But spokesman Roland Lavoie told reporters that pro-Gadhafi forces are losing strength through desertions and defections.
"Our military mission has not changed. It remains to protect the civilian population, enforce the no-fly zone and the arms embargo," he said. "We will conduct strikes wherever necessary to protect the population of Libya."
Rebels and pro-regime troops were fighting street battles in several parts of Tripoli as of Tuesday afternoon, a day after opposition fighters swept into the capital with relative ease.
Russian observers are now analyzing the military and commercial aspects of the situation.
Colonel Viktor Murakhovsky said the likely victory of the rebels was made possible by the West's coordinated efforts. He said a key role was played by intelligence services in buying out or influencing the defections of officials and soldiers formerly loyal to Gadhafi. The training of the rebels by Western advisers and the methodical isolation of the regime were also factors, he said.
The operation in Libya also showed the weaknesses of European warplanes, which could not act independently of the United States, Murakhovsky said.
Mikhail Margelov, President Dmitry Medvedev's special representative to Africa, said the rebels have promised to preserve and reconfirm all existing contracts with Russia.
But the new authorities will not forget that Russia abstained from voting on Resolution 1973 that authorized the no-fly zone, said Vladimir Isayev, an analyst with the Institute for Oriental Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences. France and Britain will get the economic advantages, he predicted.
The rebels have also indicated that they might revisit contracts.
"We have a few political questions to Russia, China and Brazil," said Abdeldzhalil Mayuf, a spokesman for The Arabian Gulf Oil Company, or AGOCO, Libya's state oil firm now under rebel control. Gazpromneft and Tatneft were actively working in Libya.
AGOCO said Monday that it might resume oil production at two fields in the east of the country within two weeks after a four-month suspension because of the fighting.
"As soon as we see that things have calmed down, we could start production again at the Messla and Sarir fields within two weeks," said Hassan Bolifa, a company manager.
The pipeline connecting the two fields to the export port of Tobruk was not damaged in the six-month battle between Gadhafi's forces and rebels seeking his ouster, Bolilfa said.
The National Transitional Council, the Benghazi-based governing body that represents the rebels, is in talks with foreign oil companies over returning after the conflict forced them to leave, Bolifa said.
A spokesman for Russian Railways, which has a contract from 2008 to build a 550-kilometer high-speed rail link in Libya between Sirt and Benghazi, said the company was planning to start work on the project as soon as the situation in the country stabilizes.
During the recent MAKS air show, Anatoly Isaikin, the general director of Rosoboronexport, said the UN sanctions have cost the arms exporter $4 billion.
The Tactical Missiles Corporation based in Korolyov outside Moscow suffered 600 million euros worth of damage from a blocked air-based missile contract with Libya, Boris Obnosov, the company's general director, said last week.
A contract for six Yak-130 trainer aircraft was frozen, said Irkut Corporation president Alexei Fyodorov.
The big winner will be France, which can now export its Rafale fighter to Libya, said Konstantin Makiyenko, an analyst with the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies.
President Dmitry Medvedev is not expected to get any benefits out of his support of Western allies in Libya. Although he strengthened his international position
by supporting sanctions against Libya, most Russians support Gadhafi, said political analyst Boris Makarenko.
(MT, AP, Vedomosti, Bloomberg, Reuters, Interfax)
Read more: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/no-business-as-usual-for-russia-after-gadhafi/442571.html#ixzz1Vvy8dIn1 The Moscow Times
Russia Losing Libya, But Maybe Winning Norwayhttp://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/russia-markets-bric-countries-bric-russia/8/23/2011/id/36513
By Craig Mellow Aug 23, 2011 3:00 pm
Russian oil companies will suffer from their government's support for Qaddafi.“We have lost Libya completely.” That trenchant sound bite came not from Col. Muammar Qaddafi or one of his belligerent children. The source was a certain Aram Shegunts, director general of the Russia-Libya Business Council.
Qaddafi was pretty good to Russia. With Anglo-American oil majors barred from Libya by economic sanctions, the colonel ceded multi-billion dollar drilling contracts to state-connected Russian oil companies like Gazprom Neft and Tatneft. The Kremlin repaid him with dogged support when civil war broke out in his country this spring.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin compared the North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces supporting the anti-Qaddafi rebels to medieval Christian crusaders. Russian state TV reverted to full Orwell mode, portraying the bloody Libyan tyrant as a plucky patriot besieged by the heartless minions of imperialism. Now Russian commerce looks set to pay the price for this pigheaded policy. It turns out the victorious rebels already have an oil company called AGOCO (commit that one to memory), and the company has a spokesman who told Reuters: “We don’t have a problem with Western countries, but we may have some political issues with Russia, China and Brazil.”
Compare the Kremlin’s inept handling of the Libyan crisis with the wilier line pursued by Italy, Qaddafi’s best friend in Western Europe. Silvio Berlusconi’s government managed to play good cop and bad cop serially, offering to mediate early in the conflict but lining up with its NATO allies when push came to shove. As a result, Italian energy giant Eni (E) is poised to reassume its leading role in Libya, and its shares jumped 7% in two days after the rebels entered Tripoli.
Russians take their foreign policy seriously, too seriously at times. The apogee of Soviet education was the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, or MGIMO, and a diplomat Socialist society’s most prestigious job. Putin’s Russia has repeatedly harmed itself with an itch to throw around weight it no longer has. Its overreaction to its provocative neighbor Georgia in 2008 -- countering Georgian incursions into a disputed border province with a full-blown armored invasion of Georgia proper -- lowered Russia’s international moral standing. (It was already low enough.) The idea that Moscow could counterbalance the united might of NATO in Libya was simple delusion.
But Putin has also had some substantial, if quieter, foreign policy successes. The most important has been discovering China and the rest of the world to Russia’s east and south after predecessor Boris Yeltsin’s sometimes subservient fixation on the West. Putin has steadily nurtured trade relations with Beijing, which now stand on the cusp of huge, multi-decade energy supply agreements. (They have been on that cusp for a while, as both sides love to haggle.) Russia built a new gas pipeline to Turkey on Putin’s watch, formalizing a relationship that has grown organically closer as Russian tourists flood their southern neighbor’s beaches.
Putin has also served his country’s long-term interests by pushing physically and diplomatically to secure the Arctic, the vast, petroleum-rich frontier that must be a key to Russia’s economic power once the relatively hospitable West Siberian fields are exhausted. Efforts here range from the patriotic-theatrical -- Russian submarines leaving a titanium flag in the seabed beneath the North Pole -- to the eminently practical, state oil company Rosneft’s search for a strategic global partner in Arctic shelf exploration. (A proposed deal with BP (BP) blew up on opposition from the British company’s existing Russian joint venture, TNK-BP, but Rosneft looks bent on a replacement.)
Moscow’s persistent ties with rogue regimes have also paid off sometimes politically when, as in the case of Iran, it has stepped away from its hard line far enough to play intermediary.
All these positive steps have borne tentative fruit over the past week, offsetting at least a bit the apparent Russian debacle in Libya. In the Arctic, Norway’s energy ministry quietly noted that it had cleared its first Russian oil company, Lukoil), to bid for concessions on its ocean shelf. A Lukoil spokesman said the commercial breakthrough grew from a diplomatic one: Last year Russia and Norway ended a 40-year (!) disagreement and drew a boundary between the countries’ zones in the far-northern Barents Sea.
Russia’s Ostpolitik and coziness with outre leaders also yielded some prospective benefits this weekend when North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il made one of his rare sorties abroad, traveling by secret train to an undisclosed location in Eastern Siberia to meet Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The subtext of this sub rosa summit, according to a New York Times dispatch from Seoul, was Pyongyang considering a longstanding proposal to build a Russian gas pipeline across its territory and down the peninsula to energy-hungry South Korea. While they are at it, the South Koreans could also use some
excess transshipped electricity from East Siberia’s huge hydropower plants.
In short, Russia looks poised between two alternative futures in world affairs. It could develop into a potent non-aligned force in a world increasingly wary of an American-Chinese power duopoly, a sort of Switzerland with vital mineral resources to sell (and a few missiles just in case). Or it could lose itself in dreams of resurrected superpower status, overspending on a morally decrepit military and opposing the civilized world for the heck of it. Hopefully the “complete loss” of its interests in Libya will help Moscow make the right choice.
Russian energy interests cast eye over Tripoli finale for Libya regime http://rt.com/business/news/lybia-russia-oil-contracts-123-955/
With Russian energy majors heavily invested in Libya, Business RT spoke with Aleksandr Nazarov from Gazprombank about the implications of the ousting of the Gaddafi regime, stemming from Russia holding back from overt rebel support.
Russian oil companies may not be allowed to resume their oil operations in Libya, should rebels and NATO oust the Gaddafi regime, Reuters reported, referring to Aram Shegunts, the head of Russia – Libya business group.
“We completely lost Libya. We won’t be given the green light, and if somebody thinks in a different way, that’s a deception.”
Rebels in Libya, who’ve taken almost the whole country under their control, accuse Russia of not allowing them enough support, with Abdeljalil Mayouf, a manager for information at the oil company of Libya’s rebels, saying the country could disrupt some of the oil contracts with Russia.
“We have no problems with companies in Western states, such as Italy, France and Great Britain. But we could have some political disputable issues with Russia, China and Brazil.”
Among Russian oil companies that have already suffered are Zarubezhneft and Gazpromneft which haven’t managed to complete the acquisition of a 50% stake from Italy’s Eni ina consortium that develops Libya’s Elephant oilfield, in a $178 million transaction.
Russia exports 4.4m tonnes of grain since July http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text16416
bneAugust 24, 2011
Russia has exported 4.4m tonnes of grain since the embargo on exports was lifted on July 1, the Agriculture Ministry said reports Interfax.
This is 11% more than a year ago. Farmers have brought in 58m tonnes of grain so far this harvest, including 37.3m tonnes of wheat.
The total expected harvest this year is on the order of 90m tonnes First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov said in July, less than the bummer 2008 harvest of 110m tonnes, but more than enough to cover the domestic demand of about 65m tonnes.
Russia's grain harvest amounted to 57.9m tonnes as of Tuesday over a harvesting area about 22.0m hectares, or 50% of the total crop acreage, the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement reports Prime.
The wheat harvest amounted to about 37.3m tonnes over an area of 12.6m hectares, or 49% of the total crop acreage, as of Tuesday, while the barley harvest stood at about 12.2m tonnes from an area of 5.1m hectares, or 64% of the total crop acreage.
In 2010, the country's grain harvest fell 35% on the year to 60m tonnes due to a prolonged drought, Agriculture Minister Yelena Skrynnik said earlier.
CBR publishes July interest rates statistics --- corporate lending rates declined 70bp to 8.0%http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text16416
VTB CapitalAugust 24, 2011
--- retail deposit rates edged down MoM --- margins dropped back to 3% --- further increase in lending rates expected in the autumn
News: The CBR has published July statistics for interest rates for corporate loans and retail deposits of up to one year (excluding Sberbank). The key highlights are as follows.
_ Corporate lending rates dropped 70bp, erasing the June increase and returning to May lows of 8%.
_ Deposit interest rates slid 10bp to 6.1% for term deposits and 20bp overall to 5%. The spread came down to 3.0%.
Our View: The seasonally slow summer months bring additional volatility to lending stats, with rates erasing their gain from the previous month. Banks in our coverage universe think that pricing competition has eased significantly, see the current level of rates as the bottom and expect a rate increase of some 50bp in the autumn (which they think will support margins due to the quicker re-pricing on the asset side).
Dmitry Dmitriev
Please respect FT.com's ts&cs and copyright policy which allow you to: share links; copy content for personal use; & redistribute limited extracts. Email [email protected] to buy additional rights or use this link to reference the article - http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2011/08/23/russian-privatisations-turbulence-ahead/#ixzz1VvIKdcYK
Russian privatisations: turbulence aheadAugust 23, 2011 3:07 pm by Courtney Weaver
As September approaches, Russian companies are being forced to make a hard decision about going ahead - or pulling the plug – on autumn initial public offerings. And they aren’t the only ones.
While the Kremlin originally planned to privatise 300bn roubles ($10.4bn) worth of assets this year it may be forced to delay planned offerings, such as Sberbank’s, if market volatility brings a drastic discount to valuations.
Though Dmitry Medvedev is said by the FT’s sister paper Vedomosti to have already approved a Sberbank secondary public offering as soon as September, and an initial public offering of shipping giant Sovcomflot before the end of year, the government could put the plans on hold if market conditions stay the way they are currently.
Alexei Ulyukaev, the deputy head of Russia’s central bank - Sberbank’s main shareholder, told Vesti television on Monday that it would be better to wait and sell the planned 7.6 per cent stake in Sberbank in a wider window sometime before 2013 than the force the share sale when market conditions remained tough.
Meanwhile, Dmtiry Peskov, spokesman for Vladimir Putin, told Vedomosti that while it was too soon to say whether the Sberbank sale would be postponed, the government was not going to sell shares at fire-sale prices.
“The privatisation of Sberbank will certainly not happen if it comes at the detriment of the government,” he said.
As Vedomosti notes in the article, it’s hard to imagine the sale going ahead if market conditions remain as they are, given the stark difference between Sberbank’s current share price and the price at which the government was hoping to value the company.
For starters Sberbank’s market capitalisation has fallen 20 per cent since the month. While the Ministry of Economic Development had valued the 7.6 per cent stake it plans to sell at 150-180bn roubles, the bank’s closing share price on Monday would imply the stake is worth just 129.2bn roubles, according to Vedomosti.
Sberbank’s decision to go through with the listing, or wait, will ultimately depend on how global markets perform – a factor that will be true for any Russian company that tries to tap foreign capital markets this fall.
However, as Chris Weafer, now chief strategist at Troika Dialog, tells beyondbrics, the postponement of Sberbank’s secondary public offering won’t do much to reassure investors about the seriousness of the privatisation programme.
While of course a postponement would be based on factors outside Sberbank’s and the government’s control, it would come a whole two years after the government first announced the list of companies that would be privatised, with many wide-sweeping revisions to the privatisation programme seen in between.
“The government has revised the privatisation programme a number of times over the past couple of years and keeps delaying the start date, with the exception of the VTB [secondary offering in February]. There’s a fair amount of sceptism about the programme and what will actually be done,” Weafer says.
Bankers and investors have been exictedly talking about the Sberbank SPO as one of the most exciting offers of the privatisation programme.
It will be interesting to see what effect its decision to postpone, or go ahead in less-than-ideal conditions, will have on the other offerings that are meant to follow.
Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions
Russia to Raise Raise Transportation Rates 6%, Kommersant Sayshttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-24/russia-to-raise-raise-transportation-rates-6-kommersant-says.html
QBy Marina Sysoyeva - Aug 24, 2011 6:52 AM GMT+0200
Russia’s Economy Ministry plans to to raise state-controlled rail transportation rates by 6 percent, Kommersant reported, citing an unidentified ministry official.
The increase may take effect in the second half of 2012, the newspaper said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Marina Sysoyeva in Moscow [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at [email protected]
MinEconomy is set to propose a 6% rail tariff increase in 2H12
http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text16416
VTB CapitalAugust 24, 2011
--- would be negative for railway operators such as Globaltrans
News: The Ministry for the Economy is preparing a proposal to increase monopolies' tariffs 6% in 2012, and apply the increase only half way through the year, according to Kommersant sources in Russian Railways.
Our View: The logic behind the proposal could be to postpone tariff rises, and thereby limit inflation, until the presidential elections in March 2012. Tariff increases later in the year could be applied to compensate for the delay, considering that Russian Railways has heavy capex that needs to be financed.
However, if only a 6% tariff increase were to be applied in 2H12, and none in 1H12, railway operators such as Globaltrans would see their revenues forecast downgraded 3% at the revenues level, while EBITDA margins could fall 1.2pp.
Federal Grid Company: Tariff growth to be postponed
More pressure on transmission tariffs suggested. The Economics Ministry has suggested limiting Federal Grid Company's (FEES RX - Hold) tariff growth to 6% for 2012, starting from 1 July 2012 (remaining unchanged in 1H12), Kommersant reports today. Our current base case scenario is 26% YoY tariff growth starting from 1 January 2012.
Pre election move. The most frustrating thing for utilities-sector investors will be another interruption to so-called "long-term" tariff regulation, which was supposed to bring predictability and transparency to grid companies' operating cashflows. However, we only expect such substantial tariff-growth limitations to be in force until the election cycle in Russia is over, as the sector still has demand for significant capex.
Future remains unclear, but negative impact on 2012 EBITDA could be significant. This kind of downside risk was the core reason for our downgrade of FGC to a Hold in July. The Economics Ministry's suggested scenario would result in a 26% EBITDA drop for 2012E, leading to 2012 EV/EBITDA of 4.5; FGC's international peers are trading at 2012E EV/EBITDA of 5.9.
Matvey Taits
Magnit Q2 profit at $79 mln, below analysts' forecasthttp://in.reuters.com/article/2011/08/24/magnit-idINLDE77N00P20110824
10:11am IST
MOSCOW, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Russian retailer Magnit said on Wednesday its second-quarter net profit came to $79 million, below analysts' forecast of $83 million.
In the corresponding period of last year, the supermarket chain, Russia's second-biggest retailer by sales behind Mikhail Fridman's X5 (PJPq.L: Quote, Profile, Research), saw a net profit of $67 million.
In the first half of this year, Magnit's net profit in dollar terms rose 7 percent year-on-year to $140.4 million, the company said in a statement.
Both Magnit and arch rival X5 have been opening stores at a breakneck pace in 2011 to take advantage of Russia's recovery from the global economic crisis.
During the first half Magnit added 405 stores and increased its selling space by nearly 40 percent on the year.
"In the second half the company will continue to develop in two key directions - increasing of market share and improving of operating efficiency," Magnit cited the chief executive Sergey Galitskiy as saying.
Growth flattened slightly over the summer months, causing Magnit to cut its full-year sales forecast to 46-48 percent from 49 percent previously. (Writing by Lidia Kelly and John Bowker; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
UPDATE 1-Russia's AFI Development returns to profit in H1http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/24/russia-afi-idUSLDE77N03S20110824
2:52am EDT
* Says H1 net profit $28.7 mln vs loss of $63 mln in H1 '10
* H1 revenue up 47 pct to $58.2 mln on higher rent
(Adds owner comment, detail)
MOSCOW, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Russian-Israeli property developer AFI Development (AFRBb.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) returned to profit during the first half of the year and increased revenue thanks largely to the opening of flagship Moscow shopping centre AFIMALL City.
The company, controlled by billionaire diamond dealer Lev Leviev, said on Wednesday it made a net profit of $28.7 million during the first six months of the year, compared to a $63 million loss during the same period in 2010.
Revenue increased 47 percent to $58.2 million, nearly half of which came in rental income from Moscow's shopping centre AFIMALL City, which was opened earlier this year after a two year delay.
The group said it was in advanced discussions with banks about providing financing to buy out a 25 percent share in the mall owned by Moscow's government.
"We are delighted to have reached an agreement to take full ownership of AFIMALL City, which is showing a continued increase in daily footfall and turnover," Leviev said in a statement.
AFIMALL is among the largest retail outlets to be built in Europe this year, and is situated in Moscow's fledgling financial district known as Moscow City.
AFI (AFIDLq.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) was hit hard by the real estate meltdown that froze Russian markets in 2008 and 2009 but said earlier this year it saw a period of recovery, particularly in Moscow.
(Reporting by John Bowker, Editing by Andrey Ostroukh)
PepsiCo, Danone embroiled in brand dispute
http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20110824112841.shtml
RBC, 24.08.2011, Moscow 11:28:41.Two transnational companies PepsiCo and Danone, which hold leadership on the Russian dairy market, have become embroiled in a brand dispute, RBC Daily reported today.
Russia's Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods (WBD Foods), taken over by PepsiCo in November 2010, filed in June to the Federal Service for Intellectual Property Rights, Patents, and Trade Marks (Rospatent) to liquidate the registration of the Activia brand owned by former shareholder Danone, according to information released by Rospatent.
PepsiCo's spokesman Alexander Kostikov said that WBD Foods has been attempting to liquidate the registration of the brand in those categories of products where it is not used. Danone disagrees with the reasons put forward by WBD Foods to Rospatent and is ready and willing to provide its own evidence, Marina Balabanova, spokeswoman for Danone's Russian division, said.
Earlier this year, Danone tried to dispute the registration of WBD Foods' Bio Max brand, claiming it is confusingly similar to Activia, but Rospatent rejected Danone's claim and retained legal protection of the Bio Max brand.
VTB 24 to snap up KIT Finance's mortgage portfolio
http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20110824113426.shtml
RBC, 24.08.2011, Moscow 11:34:26.VTB 24, the retail arm of banking group VTB, is expected to buy up mortgage loans worth RUB 34.2bn (approx. USD 1.18bn) from KIT Finance Investment Bank, the latter bank said in a statement today.
The board of directors of KIT Finance Investment Bank has approved the terms of the transaction, including a 1.8% premium to the value of the portfolio. All settlements in connection with the deal are to be finalized by December 10. VTB 24 is expected to fully assume monitoring the loans in the portfolio as of January 1, 2013.
Today is the start of the annual Moscow Motor Show - until Sunday. The auto industry is one of the fastest growing segments of the economy and a very good example of how the right combination of political and financial support can really make a big difference.
Through the 1st half of this year, a total of 1,24 mln vehicles were sold in Russia. That is an increase of 56% over the same period last year. Through all of 2010, a total of 1.90 mln vehicles were sold and, according to the Association of European Business, this year's target is 2.35 mln. In 2010, Russia was the world's tenth largest new vehicle market and, according to the Boston Consulting group, it should be the sixth biggest at the end of this decade.
Autos: Political Support & Financial Lifelines
The auto industry was one of the hardest hit in the economic slump of 2008/'09. Vehicle sales fell 56%, year on year, in 2009 to 1.4 million units. As a result, the region around Togliatti, in which AvtoVaz is based, was one of the hardest hit by the recession. Prime Minister Putin made a political commitment to help the industry recover, to modernize and to grow.
In keeping with the strategy for helping all strategic industries to become more efficient Prime Minister Putin was actively involved in trying to secure a deal for a Magna/Sberbank consortium to buy General Motors Opel division in Germany. The plan was that, having secured a direct equity interest in Opel, the company would start to work more closely with the Russian auto industry to help companies, such as AvtoVaz, become more efficient and more competitive. The lack of experienced management in some Russian industries is a bigger problem than capital constraint. When the Opel deal fell apart, Putin personally took charge of revising the deal with Renault. There was now no other choice as one of the critical elements to improving many of Russia's aged industries is the involvement of established industry partners in a strategic equity role.
Having agreed that new deal, the Russian government injected billions of rubles into the sector, both directly and via loan guarantees, to help fund modernisation. The state also put in place the Russian version of the "cash-for-clunkers" programme to incentivize Russian consumers to buy new domestically produced vehicles. 2010 sales of vehicles increased 30% year on year to 1.91 million units and are projected to increase to 2.35 million units in 2011 and to top 2.5 million in 2012. Of the top ten
selling brands in 2010, nine were domestic models and the top four were produced by AvtoVaz. The state allocated an additional 17 billion rubles ($560 mln) to help the industry in 2011.
Last December, Prime Minister Putin said that the government is working on legislation that will require auto manufacturers to source approximately 50% of parts from Russian suppliers within 5 years. A strong initiative that will help create new SMEs - and jobs - to supply that industry.
Other Investment Implications
That combination of directed political and financial support was a significant factor in the rapid revival and growth in the auto sector. Clearly both "political time" and money are limited. Industries and economic sectors that may get the same treatment and, therefore "may" also show impressive results for investors, i.e. based on comments from senior officials, include;
. Pharmaceutical industry,
. Agriculture & food production sector,
. House Builders,
. Financial services
. Utilities
. Selected infrastructure, i.e. based on the high profile events to be staged in Russia
Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)
Vietsovpetro, a Vietnamese-Russian oil and gas venture, said it had found oil at a new offshore structure in Block 09-1, with a daily oil flow of nearly 1600 barrels.
News wires 24 August 2011 05:23 GMT
The oil was found at a depth of 3350 metres in well MT-1X in the Meo Trang (White Cat) field, south-west of the Bach Ho field, Vietnam's largest oilfield, Vietsovpetro said in a statement on its website.
Vietsovpetro deputy chief executive Tran Van Hoi said commercial production at Meo Trang would start next year.
"The outcome of assessments on geological potential plus the results of exploratory drilling and structure testing as above have affirmed Meo Trang as a new oilfield with industrial reserves," he said.
Vietsovpetro will drill another well to get a more comprehensive assessment of the field's reserves and will build a new rig to connect it with the existing facility at Bach Ho for production next year.
The find is the third so far this year by the venture between Vietnam’s state-run Petrovietnam group and Russian state oil company Zarubezhneft, which has been striving to keep production stable due to ageing fields, Reuters reported.
Vietsovpetro has previously said it expected to produce about 126,719 barrels of oil per day this year, down from previous years.
It plans to invest $7 billion between now and 2015 to produce 133,000 bpd of oil, aiming for annual output of about 151,507 barrels of oil equivalent per day, state-run media reported.
The venture's production has fallen gradually since a 2002 peak of about 292,192 bpd. Vietsovpetro's output represents roughly 40% of Vietnam's annual crude production, estimated at about 324,658 bpd last year.
Published: 24 August 2011 05:23 GMT | Last updated: 15 minutes ago
Comments: Lukoil enters Sierra Leone offshore http://www.petroleum-economist.com/IssueArticle/2888109/Archive/Lukoil-enters-Sierra-Leone-offshore.html 23 August 2011 Russia's Lukoil has taken a 49% stake in Sierra Leone's offshore Block SL-5-11, in a deal with Nigerian independent Oranto Petroleum. Financial terms were not made public. Under the terms of the deal, Lukoil will be required to drill one exploration well on the block before 2013. Water depths range from 100 metres to 3,300 metres. Lukoil said seismic data indicated a number of promising structures. In a statement, it said: "The block is part of the Sierra Leone-Liberia geological basin, where a number of large oil fields have been discovered during the last two years, proving its potential productivity."
TNK-BP Holding raises Q1 net profit 64%
http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20110823182524.shtml
RBC, 23.08.2011, Moscow 18:25:24.The net profit of TNK-BP Holding under U.S. GAAP rose 64% year-on-year to $4.58bn in January-March, the company said in a report today.
Revenue increased 38% to $26.55bn, pretax profit climbed 60% to $5.79bn, while net profit per share amounted to $0.30 compared to $0.19 a year ago. Net operating cash flow soared 64% to $4.8bn.
TNK-BP Holding consolidates nearly all TNK-BP's operations in Russia.
24.08.2011
TNK-BP To Invest Us $100 Million In Exploration At Uvat In 2012http://www.oilandgaseurasia.com/news/p/0/news/12629
The Limited Liability Company TNK-Uvat (a TNK-BP subsidiary) expects to invest ca. US$100 million in exploration work in 2012 under the Uvat project pursued in the south of the Tyumen region, which is about the same as this year’s investment.
The Company is going to put on line 70 production wells at the project fields by the end of 2011, mainly located in the Uvat Eastern Hub, General Director of TNK-Uvat, LLC Yury Masalkin told a press conference.
The Company has traditionally put a big focus on exploration at Uvat – in 2012, they will proceed with the field appraisal work and preparing the Tyamkinsky and Protozanovsky Hubs for production. Based on the exploration and production drilling data, TNK-Uvat
expects to see a 14-16 mln t reserves addition this year.
Copyright 2011, TNK-BP. All rights reserved.
GOOGLE TRANSLATION
Media: "Transneft" complains of theft of oil in Dagestanhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/russian/rolling_news/2011/08/110823_rn_transneft_dagestan_leaks.shtml
Last Updated: Wednesday, August 24, 2011, 02:50 GMT 06:50 MCK"Transneft" claims that in June and July 2011, has lost 18 thousand tons of oil in the pipe, laid between Azerbaijan and the port of Novorossiysk. This was the company reported in an official letter to the president and interior minister of Dagestan."Transneft" expressed concern about the safety of trunk pipelines in Dagestan.Over the summer, have been discovered and blocked eight frames. At the moment, according to top managers of "Transneft" in an interview with the newspaper "Izvestia" daily from the pipe goes "on the side" of about 600 tons.Resourceful thieves have become used to tie-in pipeline technology, directional drilling and special plastic tubes of high pressure. Determine the presence of such a frame can not afford even a special instrument.Sometimes taken oil substitute ordinary tap water. As a result, the pressure in the pipeline is not falling, and an automatic system that monitors leaks, does not notice the theft.Leadership of Dagestan, in turn, assures that "the scale of theft is small and does not constitute a substantial share of the shadow economy (the country)."
First supertanker along Northern Sea Routehttp://www.barentsobserver.com/first-supertanker-along-northern-sea-route.4951370-16178.html
2011-08-24 For the first time in history a Suezmax-class tanker takes the short cut from Europe to Asia along the northern coast of Russia.
The Sovcomflot-owned tanker “Vladimir Tikhonov” left Murmansk on August 20, loaded with 120 000 tons of gas condensate bound for markets in Southeast Asia. The vessel is chartered by Novatek, Russia’s second largest producer of natural gas.
"Vladimir Tikhonov" has a deadweight capacity of over 162,000 tons and Suezmax dimensions – 280 meters long, 50 meters wide and with a draft of 13 meters. It will be led by the two nuclear-powered icebreakers “50 Years of Victory” and “Yamal”. According
to Vladimir Arutyunyan in Rosatomflot, this is the largest vessel ever to be escorted by nuclear icebreakers, RIA Novosti reports.
- “Yamal” will be waiting for them [the tanker and “50 Years of Victory”] off the New Siberian Islands, where there is more ice. Generally we don’t expect any problems from this voyage, because this is a well-tested route. The captains already have experience piloting several major tankers, and now is the most favorable time for making a passage in the Northern Sea Route (NSR): there is no heavy ice at all, Arutyunyan said.
At an average of 13-14 knots an hour, the tanker is due to steer through the NSR within 8 to 9 days, whereupon she will proceed to its port of destination in Thailand.
In July, the Panamax-class tanker "STI Heritage" loaded with 61.000 tons of gas condensate sailed the Northern Sea Route in only eight days, breaking the speed record for the route.
Novatek plans to ship a total of 420 000 tons of gas condensate through the NSR in 2011. This is six times as much as in 2010.
Text: Trude Pettersen
Gazprom
Russia may grant Gazprom 15 pct price hike-paperhttp://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE75Q0GD20110824
Wed Aug 24, 2011 7:21am GMT
MOSCOW Aug 24 (Reuters) - Russia's government may grant state gas company Gazprom a 15 percent price increase next year, more than any regulated company would receive, Vedomosti reported on Wednesday, citing a deputy minister.
The newspaper cited Deputy Economy Minister Stanislav Voskresensky as saying that under preliminary proposals, domestic gas consumers would pay 15 percent more next year, while rail and utility customers would see increases in line with inflation.
Voskresensky was quoted as saying the proposals should ensure investment levels can be maintained next year.
The newspaper cited a source as saying the government was concerned that an increased tax burden on Gazprom, holder of the world's largest gas reserves, next year would lead to a reduction in investment.
The source participated in a meeting on monopoly tariffs held last week by Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov. Another source who participated in the meeting said the tariff increase was part of a plan to bring domestic gas sales profits in line with export profits.
Industry sources say Gazprom may struggle to balance investment in gas production and infrastructure in the coming years, and shortfalls in upstream investment may create new opportunities for independent producers to sell gas into the Gazprom system.
(Writing by Melissa Akin; editing by Lidia Kelly)
Government might support Gazprom in 2012 tariff debates ---http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text16416
VTB Capital, Russia Wednesday, August 24, 2011
electricity tariffs to be limited by CPI --- could hurt grids tariffs most of all --- still waiting for a final decision.
News: Vedomosti reports that the government might support Gazprom in the 2012 tariff campaign and leave the previously expected growth in gas tariffs almost unchanged (Gazprom might see 12.5%YoY growth in domestic gas prices next year). At the same time as leaving gas prices almost unchanged, the government might cap the growth in electricity tariffs and railroad prices at the level of CPI.
Our View: The suggested scenario (12.5% growth in gas prices and close to CPI for the utilities sector) is the worst case scenario for the utilities universe ever discussed by the government a s i t c ould h ave a strong n egative e ffect o n t he sector's profitability (especially grids companies' financials). Assuming the suggested parameters for the 2012 tariff campaign and unchanged wholesale electricity market principles (liberalisation, DPM agreements and existing capacity market), grid companies could see only 2-4% YoY growth in their tariffs next year, which is well below even CPI.
However, we continue to believe that the government will ultimately take a balanced decision that could meet the interests of all counterparties (utilities companies, Gazprom and main costumers). In our view, 12.5% YoY growth in gas tariffs simultaneously with the 10-11% YoY growth in electricity tariffs would be a balanced resolution. All in all, the utilities sector is likely to remain under pressure given the lack of visibility on next year's tariffs.
Mikhail Rasstrigin
Gazprom Won't Begin Libya Talks Until There Is 'Legitimate' Regimehttp://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=110424&hmpn=1
Gazprom won't begin talks on restarting its projects in Libya until a "legitimate" regime is in place in the North African country, the company said Tuesday.
Gazprom halted work at oil concessions C96 and C97--a joint project with Wintershall, a unit of German chemical giant, producing 100,000 barrel a day when unrest broke out in the country in February. One of the projects is in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya's coast, while the second is Block 64 located in the Gadames oil province, .
"We would like to return to Libya as soon as possible," a Gazprom spokesman said.
"But until Libya has a legitimate government in place, we won't start negotiations," he said.
Wintershall said Monday that production at the C96 and C97 concessions could be restarted within several weeks, depending "on the state of the export infrastructure as well as a stable security situation in the country."
Plans by Gazprom's oil unit Gazprom Neft to acquire a 33% stake in ENI's Elephant field in Libya were also delayed due to the unrest in the country. The company said in April the deal would be finalized when the situation stabilizes in Libya, but declined to comment Tuesday.
MOSCOW -(Dow Jones)- Russian oil producer OAO Gazprom Neft (SIBN.RS), which is controlled by state gas company OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS), said Tuesday its deputy chief executive, Boris Zilbermints, has left the company.
Zilbermints, who was in charge of exploration and production at Gazprom Neft, left the company due to personal reasons and has been replaced by Chief Financial Officer Vadim Yakovlev, the company said.
Gazprom Neft--95%-owned by Gazprom--is Russia's fifth-largest oil producer with a daily output of about 1 million barrels of oil equivalent.
Pipeline to power the Olympics http://pipelinesinternational.com/news/pipeline_to_power_the_olympics/063226/#
The recently commissioned Dzhubga – Lazarevskoye – Sochi Pipeline will not only bring gas to the city of Sochi, Russia, but to the Olympics as well, as Sochi is transformed into a Winter Olympics Games host city and a mountain resort.
Up until recently, half of the Black Sea coast cities and town relied on either expensive LNG or the 30-year-old Maikop – Samurskaya – Sochi gas pipeline for their natural gas, with the latter often experiencing gas supply issues due to the complex geological conditions along the pipeline route.
In light of the upcoming 2014 Winter Olympics, to be hosted in Sochi, the Government of the Russian Federation decided to construct the Dzhubga – Lazarevskoye – Sochi gas pipeline to enhance the reliability of the regional gas supplies, and deliver gas to the sports venues commissioned for the 2014 competitions.
In addition, the pipeline was also planned to assist in the development of Sochi as a mountain resort. Ensuring a reliable gas supply would allow health resorts to remain open all year round, attracting tourists in the autumn and winter seasons and creating permanent jobs for local residents.
The 171.6 km, 21 inch diameter pipeline, which was commissioned by Gazprom in June 2011, has an annual throughput capacity of 3.8 Bcm/a, which aims to ensure gas supply to Sochi, as well as to the Tuapse district of Krasnodar Krai.
With 90 per cent of the pipeline – or 159.5 km – located offshore, the pipeline route runs along the bottom of the Black Sea, approximately 4.5 km away from the coastal line in
water depths of approximately 80 m, to the Kudepsta gas distribution station near Sochi. The pipeline is made of high-strength steel, with a wall thickness of 15 mm in the offshore section and 11.3 mm in the onshore section.
Gazprom began construction of the pipeline in September 2009, and made environmental safety a priority due to the fact that the pipeline – according to the company – ‘crosses the most climatically attractive and, therefore, the most cherished areas of [Russia] – the Black Sea coast of the Krasnodar Krai’.
Several steps were taken to reduce interference with the coastal flora and fauna. The most vital biocycles of the local fauna species were taken into account when the pipeline’s construction schedule was devised, and directional drilling was used instead of trenching for the construction of landfalls near the cities of Dzhubga, Novomikhailovsky, Tuapse and Kudepsta.
The decision to include an offshore section in the pipeline route has considerably minimised impact on industrial and agricultural industries, and forest lands, as well as specially protected natural reservations.
Cathodic protection was adopted to protect the pipeline, and precautionary measures were also taken to protect the pipeline in case of natural incident such as direct lightning strike and electromagnetic impact. In addition, the pipeline has been designed to withstand magnitude nine earthquakes, based on seismic survey data collected early on in the project.
Major companies involved in the pipeline construction included contractor Piter Gaz, general designer Pitergazengineering, general contractor Stroygazmontazh, offshore pipeline subcontractor Grup Servicii Petroliere, onshore pipeline subcontractor Krasnodargazstroy, and directional drilling subcontractors SP VIS-MOS and DrillTec Rus.
The pipeline is now being operated by Gazprom subsidiary Gazprom transgaz Krasnodar (formerly Gazprom transgaz Kuban).
Ukraine smells the gashttp://rt.com/politics/press/kommersant/ukraine-gas-meters-billion/en/
Yesterday, Ukraine’s minister of fuel and energy, Yury Boiko, announced that the country plans to reduce its procurement volume of Russian gas to 12 billion cubic meters by the year 2017 (in 2011 Ukraine relies on Russia for 40 billion of the 54 billion cubic meters it currently uses). Meanwhile by 2012, Ukraine’s gas consumption is expected to decrease to 44-46 billion cubic meters of gas.
“The remainder will be produced by us or will be replaced with alternative types of energy,”
explained Yury Boiko.
Ukraine plans to increase its gas production by 35%, or up to 27 billion cubic meters. Production is expected to rise on the Black Sea shelf (for which a drilling platform has already been purchased), as well as from shale gas recovery. This, as was noted by Kommersant’s source on the Ukrainian market, will be incorporated into the new energy strategy of Ukraine until 2030, which was expected to be adopted by late 2010. “The strategic changes are almost entirely aimed at decreasing dependence on Russia,” he says.
This is not the first time Ukraine has talked about replacing traditional gas with shale gas. Earlier, deputy chairman of the NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine, Vadim Chuprun, stated that the country’s shale gas reserves could be on the level of 1.5-2.5 trillion cubic meters. Government representatives argue that several foreign companies are ready to work on the country’s territory, including Royal Dutch Shell and Italy’s ENI.
Moreover, Russia’s TNK-BP is also interested in production in Ukraine. The company is ready to invest $2 billion in the development of gas and shale until 2020, bringing total recovery to 3 billion cubic meters of gas. TNK-BP was expecting to receive a licensing agreement in the first quarter of 2011, but still has not. Meanwhile, Mr. Boiko announced that a number of new auctions will be held in the near future for the allocation of land for shale gas production.
However, in the midst of development of the new energy strategy, Ukraine is increasing its purchase volume of Russian gas, while keeping in mind its price increase in the fourth quarter. According to the Central Control Administration of the Fuel and Energy Complex, between January and June it had purchased nearly 29 billion cubic meters of Russian gas, which is 91.3% more than in the same period in 2010. In the first two quarters, the price of gas amounted to $264 and $297 per 1,000 cubic meters, respectively. In the fourth quarter it will rise to $388.
Gazprom, however, is confident that there are no alternative sources that will be able to help Ukraine reduce its dependency on Russia. Sergey Komlev, head of the Directorate of Pricing and Contract Structuring for Gazprom Export, notes that the estimated shale gas reserves in Ukraine are technically recoverable, but not proven reserves. Meanwhile, in late 2010, the monopoly signed a memorandum with Naftogaz of Ukraine on the
creation of a joint enterprise for methane recovery from coal beds. Also, the Russian monopoly is discussing a merger with the NJSC.
Aleksandr Nazarov from Gazprombank says that “Ukraine’s theoretical plans are feasible, but not in such a short time period.” According to him, today the country has no economically proven reserves, so it will be cheaper to purchase gas prom Russia than to produce its own. Therefore, says the analyst, the procurement level of Russian gas will remain the same over the next five years.
Anastasia Sosnova from Investcafe says that it is the high gas prices that are forcing Ukraine to look for various ways to lower its consumption of gas from Russia. According to her, the development of shale deposits is a costly and extended project which could, however, prove to be effective. At the same time, the analyst believes that in its energy dialogue with Russia, Ukraine is making it clear that there is no reason to hope for Ukraine’s sale of its gas transportation network to Gazprom.
