Russia - WikiLeaks
Russia 091005
Basic Political Developments
• Prime-Tass: Russian calendar: Key events for Oct 5
• Reuters: PRESS DIGEST - Russia - Oct 5
• FOCUS News: US discuss possibility on joint usage of Russian radars in Gabal, Armavir
• Russia Today: Pentagon: joint use of Russian radars possible
• Interfax: U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense Alexander Vershbow: We didn't expect any quid pro quo for our new approach for missile defense
• Itar-Tass: Russia, Austria Foreign Ministers to meet in Moscow
• RIA: Austria anticipates 'special form' of relations with Russia
• Yonhap: S. Korea conducts case study of N. Korean denuclearization in Russia
• RIA: No agreement on Russian loan to Iceland, talks to continue – Kudrin
• RIA: Russia declines Belarus, Ukraine loan requests
• Reuters: Norway minister says Telenor-Alfa deal "good news"
• Axisglobe: Alleged Norwegian spy appeared in hands of Russian Federal Security Service
• Barentsobserver: Norwegian detained in Murmansk
• Reuters: Russia agrees to lend money to Serbia –Kudrin
• B92: Russia to assist Serbian budget?
• Itar-Tass: Serbia looking forward to Medvedev visit
• RIA: Belgrade anticipates financial aid from Russia
• 24.kg: Russia’s Presidential Chief-of-Staff arrives in Kyrgyzstan
• The Georgian Times: Ukraine ready to mediate between Georgia and Russia
• The Georgian Times: HRW: Georgia, Russia should be Pressed to Probe War Crimes
• BSANNA News: Kyiv, Moscow patriarchies will continue reconcilement talks
• RIA: Russia to showcase advanced weaponry at airshow in Libya
• Domain-B: Indian Navy's MiG-29Ks flight tested onboard Russian carrier
• : Russian spacecraft chosen for ISRO’s manned flight
• Trend.az: Azerbaijan and Russia should continue efforts to create stable and diversified relations: deputy minister
• Itar-Tass: Lavrov hopes RF-Japan forum give new quality to bilateral relations
• BSANNA News: Sergey Lavrov: Russia is ready to uphold UN Observers to Abkhazia
• The Moscow Times: Lavrov Says Navy Will Track Black Sea Ships
• News.am: Russia and Abkhazia lift visa regime
• Itar-Tass: Abkhazia to issue foreign travel passports printed in Russia
• RIA: Abkhazia to order foreign passports in Russia
• Interfax: About 28 tonnes of drugs seized in first phase of Operation Canal –ministry
• Prime-Tass: Shuvalov: No plans to privatize Rosneft, Russian Railways 2010
• UK Press Association: Litvinenko widow slams Miliband
• RIA: U.S. offers to help Russia in 2014 Winter Olympics preparation
• RIA: Wives of Arctic Sea sailors demand their return home
• Bernama: ISESCO Director General Plans To Visit Russia In 2010
• RBC: Sayano-Shushenskaya accident to require RUB 7.5bn in damages
• The Moscow Times: Chubais Blamed for Dam Disaster
• The Moscow Times: UN Tells Russia to Adapt To Shrinking Population
• RIA: Swine flu cases in Russia total 570 - top sanitary official
• RIA: Eurasia highest volcano spews hot magma to 100 meters
• New Europe: Merkel to Putin: Bring Germany das gas
• BBC: Ingushetia's cycle of violence
• BBC: Russia's litany of unsolved murders
• Russia Today: Life or death: will Russia resume death penalty?
National Economic Trends
• RIA: Net capital outflow from Russia comes in below $10 bln in Q3
• Reuters: Russia cbank to cut rates more, not worried on rbl
• Reuters: Russia IMF bond buy not dependent on reform-cbanker
• Bloomberg: Russia’s Service Industry PMI Grew for Second Month (Update1)
• AFP: Russia considers World Bank loan: minister
Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions
• Bloomberg: RusHydro, Rosneft and Sberbank: Russian Equities Preview
• Citi: China is looking to participate in development of Elgestk coal deposit
• World Poultry: Russia: Future poultry import quotas reduced 05 Oct 2009
• Bloomberg: Russia May Sell Stake in Sheremetyevo Airport, Vedomosti Says
• WSJ: Telenor, Altimo to Merge VimpelCom and Kyivstar Assets
• Bloomberg: Telenor Ends Altimo Russia Feud With VimpelCom, Kyivstar Merger
• Reuters: FACTBOX-New operator formed by Vimpelcom-Kyivstar merger
• PR Newswire: VimpelCom Welcomes Transaction Proposed by Altimo and Telenor
• The Moscow Times: Opel’s Van Factory May Move to Russia
• TTJ online: MM opens €80m sawmill in Russia
• RIA: Russian truck maker KamAZ resumes production
• RenCap: Severstal proposes job cuts to US union
• Itar-Tass: Russian companies to participate in ITU Telecom World-2009
• Reuters: TIMELINE-Russian banks struggle with bad loans
Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)
• Citi: Lukoil's CEO plans to visit Iraq this week to discuss West Kurna-2 project
• Itar-Tass: 24th World Gas Conference to open in Argentina
• Helsinki Times: Nord Stream to clear 28 mines in Gulf of Finland
• RenCap: Sistema reduces its stake in Sistema-Invest and direct stake in Bashneft
• Financial Times Adviser: Russia to get boost from oil
• New Europe: Can Russia develop both Yamal and Shtokman?
Gazprom
• RIA: Energy giant Gazprom to move into fast food
• RenCap: Gazprom White Nights 2014 notes: Callable or not?
• The Financial Times: Russia: Gazprom faces problems at home and abroad
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full Text Articles
Basic Political Developments
Prime-Tass: Russian calendar: Key events for Oct 5
/excerpt/
Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic to visit Russia, until Oct 6
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to chair official meeting on preparation for heating season
UK Energy, Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband to visit Russia, until Oct 6
MAJOR EVENTS LATER THIS MONTH
Oct 6: Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to meet with his Belarusian counterpart Sergei Sidorsky in Moscow
Oct 9-15: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to visit several countries, including Russia
Oct 9: President Dmitry Medvedev to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yushchenko at summit in Moldova
Oct 12-14: Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to visit China
Oct 20: President Dmitry Medvedev to visit Serbia
Oct 29: Ecuador President Rafael Correa to visit Russia
Reuters: PRESS DIGEST - Russia - Oct 5
Mon Oct 5, 2009 2:20am EDT
MOSCOWON, Oct 5 (Reuters) - The following are some of the leading stories in Russia's newspapers on Monday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
KOMMERSANT
kommersant.ru
- Russia wants to borrow up to $4 billion from the World Bank, according to Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin.
- Gazprom's (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) subsidiary Gazpromstroi is launching a chain of retailers and fast food restaurants for middle class consumers.
VEDOMOSTI
vedomosti.ru
- Russia's government has got tired trying to save Avtovaz (AVAZ.MM: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the daily says after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin urged French carmaker Renaut (RENA.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to either to help finance Russia's troubled carmaker or see its 25-percent stake reduce.
- Russia could consider privatising Sheremetyevo international airport in Moscow to get cash for 2010 budget.
- Russia's state bank VTB has bought a controlling stake in Moscow's vodka producer Kristall and a dozen of other alcohol companies in the regions.
ROSSIISKAYA GAZETA
rg.ru
- A government commission named on Saturday the officials responsible for the Siberian hydropower station accident that killed 75 people in August. Former head of the national power monopoly Anatoly Chubais was among the blamed for the tragedy.
- The government is preparing a new list of state companies which could be privatized in 2010 to compensate the next year's budget deficit.
- Russia has prolonged its moratorium on cloning humans for another five years, the daily says.
VREMYA NOVOSTEI
vremya.ru
- India's Defence ministry is planning to ask the government to approve a deal on buying Russia's sea-based fighters MiG-29K, according to India's mass media reports.
FOCUS News: US discuss possibility on joint usage of Russian radars in Gabal, Armavir
[pic][pic][pic]4 October 2009 | 20:37 | FOCUS News Agency [pic][pic][pic]
Moscow. US has discussed possibility on joint usage of Russian radars in Gabal and Armavir in the frames of the co-operation in the field of counter-missile defense for exchanging data on possible rocket attacks. This is what the US deputy defense minister said, Interfax informed.
“In my opinion the idea on exchanging such information before the common threat makes sense. Of course, this can be only the beginning of a co-operation in the field of counter- missile defense between NATO and Russia or US and Russia,” he said in an interview with Interfax referring to the possibilities on joint using of Russian radio-location stations.
Russia Today: Pentagon: joint use of Russian radars possible
04 October, 2009, 20:27
The US is considering jointly using two Russian radars as part of its missile defense system, US Assistant Secretary of Defense Alexander Vershbow said in an interview with a Russian news agency.
The joint use of the radars – one in Armavir in southern Russia, and another in the Azerbaijani city of Gabala – was first put forward by Vladimir Putin in 2007.
Last month, the US scrapped its plan to build two missile defense bases in Eastern Europe. Russia strongly opposed the bases, seeing them as a threat to its national security.
Washington has insisted its missile shield is only aimed at potential threats from Iran and North Korea.
In an interview with Interfax, Vershbow said that the US is now considering the joint use of the Russian radars as part of broader cooperation on missile defense, including sharing data against a possible missile attack.
"I think that the basic idea of sharing this kind of information against a common threat makes sense. And of course, it could be just the beginning of a program of cooperation between NATO and Russia, or between the United States and Russia on missile defense," he is quoted as saying.
He said Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and other officials had already “pointed to the possibility of some form of link between Russian radars at Armavir, at Gabala, to provide additional data and early warning information that could benefit both of us in defending against ballistic missile threats."
As for how exactly those links can be established and how it would work, Vershbow said that is for experts to decide.
Interfax: U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense Alexander Vershbow: We didn't expect any quid pro quo for our new approach for missile defense
Question: Mr Vershbow, сould you just briefly tell us the purpose of your visit to Moscow?
Answer: This was just a working visit, to have the opportunity to meet some Russian counterparts in the wake of the successful meetings between our two presidents, particularly the July Summit, but also the very successful meeting that they just had in New York. The Department of Defense is interested in playing its part in strengthening the relationship between Russia and the United States. There have been some very important recent decisions on missile defense, that is one subject that I work on at the Department of Defense, so one part of my agenda during these talks is to get a better understanding of the Russian reaction to President Obama’s decision and to determine whether Russia is interested in establishing a basis for cooperation on this. We believe that the new architecture that President Obama has announced provides a more effective and flexible way to defend all of Europe. Our focus of course has been on our allies in NATO, but we at the same time believe that there could be many opportunities for cooperation with Russia, recognizing the fact that there are common threats from the proliferation of ballistic missiles and by the build up of ballistic missiles by Iran.
Q.: How has the so-called reset of Russian-U.S. relations affected the countries’ military cooperation? Are there any plans for U.S.-Russian joint military exercises?
A.: That was one of the subjects of my consultations today, especially at the Ministry of Defense. I think the first positive result of the reset for our military-to-military relationship was the framework document that was signed at the summit in July by Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff admiral Mullen and Russian Chief of the General Staff Gen Makarov. They also agreed upon a work plan for the remainder of 2009 with about 17 or 18 joint activities and they are working on a much bigger and more ambitious work plan for 2010. So we hope that these activities will move ahead on schedule and will involve a whole range of exchanges, visits, and I think in the future we will certainly be open to discussing joint exercises. So we are still at an early stage. But I think we already have a good basis to reset the military-to-military relationship.
Q.: Is the U.S. considering military options among others to help resolve the Iranian nuclear and missile problem?
A.: Secretary of Defense [Robert] Gates recently said that we never take any option off the table, but for now our priority is diplomacy. The meeting that is taking place tomorrow, October 1, is an opportunity for Iran to illustrate whether it is prepared to undertake the kind of measures that could convince the international community that it is not pursuing a nuclear weapons capability. The recent discovery of a secret facility for the enrichment of uranium and the recent tests of a series of ballistic missiles highlight just how urgent it is to resolve this issue. So we certainly will explore every possible opportunity to find a diplomatic solution, but we cannot allow this process to go on indefinitely given the continued advancement of Iran nuclear program. But I think that if diplomacy is not successful the next step is much stricter sanctions. If the international community can agree on strict sanctions we hope that that would convince the Iranians to change direction.
Q.: How far do you think that Iran has progressed in its nuclear program, and could you please comment on reports that the U.S. side recently provided Russia with some new information about the Iranian nuclear program?
A.: I cannot go very deeply into this kind of sensitive information. It is clear that Iran has been making steady progress in its capability to enrich Uranium, and is therefore producing increasing amounts of material that could be transformed into fissile material for a nuclear weapon. So the situation is very urgent. And taken together with the development of ballistic missiles of various ranges it is all the more important for the international community to stand together, and convince the Iranians that the time has come to change course. Iran has the largest inventory of ballistic missiles in the Middle East. The fact that they have conducted tests just at the time when diplomacy is about to start does not inspire confidence. But nevertheless we will explore every opportunity for a diplomatic solution.
Q.: Is Geneva meeting the last chance for Iran to prove its willingness for dialog and the peaceful character of its nuclear program?
A.: We have not suggested that one meeting is all the time that we will allow for diplomacy to succeed. We would hope that this could be the beginning of a process that could lead to a solution, that provides the kind of verifiable assurances and measures to guarantee that Iran is not moving toward a nuclear weapon. Now this process may last more than one day, but it cannot go on indefinitely. And we have agreed with our main partners that we need to see progress before the end of the year, or else we will have to shift toward tougher measures, including stronger sanctions.
Q.: Do these “main partners” include Russia?
A.: I think we have had very good consultations with Russia, including President Obama’s meeting with President Medvedev, but Russia will have to speak for itself.
Q.: After revising its global missile defense plans, does the U.S. expect Russia to make reciprocal steps, including those regarding its stance on Iran’s nuclear program and the possible exports of S-300 air defense systems to Tehran?
A.: The new approach which we have decided upon for missile defense was based on an analysis of the threats and of the available technologies, and was not presented as something on which we expected any quid pro quo. But the issue of the possible Russian transfer of the S-300 is a very critical issue in its own right, and we have said to Russia many times that we believe that that system could be very destabilizing in the region, and therefore have urged Russia to exercise restraint. So this is not something which we are negotiating on but simply something that we believe that Russia should see as in its own interest.
Q.: How would you comment on the concerns of some Russian experts that the new U.S. anti-missile system could be even more dangerous to Russia than the previous one, and if need be could Washington provide guarantee to Moscow that the U.S. missile defense program will not be targeted against Russia?
A.: We look forward to further consultations with Russia to explain in greater detail than we have thus far the characteristics of the new system. Russia has already been briefed, primarily through the Russian ambassador in Washington who is a great expert in these matters. So we think Russia understands already the basic elements of the new architecture. But the whole rational for this new system is to deal with the threat from Iran, both the existing threats from short and medium range missiles, which are deployed today and already are capable of threatening not only Iran’s middleeastern neighbors but also some of our NATO allies in southeastern Europe. That’s what the first phases of the new system are focused on, providing immediate protection of our allies in the south east [of Europe]. But over time, to deal with future Iranian missiles which are already in the testing stage, and which will have longer range capacity to threaten allies in central Europe and northern Europe, the characteristics of the missiles which we are developing and the overall architecture, in our view, does not present any threat to Russia’s strategic nuclear forces. And so far I think we have found some understanding from Russia in this regard. But still, it is a new system and we are fully prepared to engage in consultations with Russia to answer any questions and to explore possibilities for cooperation. Iranian ballistic missiles are a potential threat not just to NATO but to all countries within range of these systems, and cooperating on either a U.S.-Russia or a NATO-Russia basis would be a very valuable way to strengthen our common security.
Q.: In what particular areas can Russia and the U.S. cooperate on missile defense? Does Washington consider the possibility that the two countries could jointly operate the Russian radar station in Gabala, Azerbaijan, and its S-300 and S-400 air defense systems?
A.: Secretary of Defense Gates and other senior defense officials have already pointed to the possibility of some form of link between Russian radars at Armavir, at Gabala, to provide additional data and early warning information that could benefit both of us in defending against ballistic missile threats. Exactly how these links would be established and how it would work technically is of course for the experts. But I think that the basic idea of sharing this kind of information against a common threat makes sense. And of course it could be just the beginning of a program of cooperation between NATO and Russia or between the United States and Russia on missile defense.
Q.: The U.S. missile shield plan reportedly envisions the deployment of some of its elements in the Caucasus. Could it be in Georgia, Azerbaijan, or some other state?
A.: We are just at an early stage of designing this system and we are just beginning consultations with the allies in the southeast European region, as well as all our allies who could be part of the system in the long term. So, it’s really too early to comment on what countries might be participants in this system. I think that General O’Reilly, the head of our missile agency has emphasized that one of the keys to this system is to have an early warning radar relatively close to Iran, within a thousand kilometers of Iran, to provide an immediate detection of a launch, so that the rest of the system could do good work trying to intercept the missile before it hits its target.
Q.: Could Georgia be part of it?
A.: I really cannot say anything about specific countries. Right now we are consulting with our NATO allies. I can’t say anything more. Russian General Staff Chief Nikolai Makarov told that Russia had a negative attitude to the possible deployment of U.S. missile defense sites in the Caucasus. I think the important thing to remember is that we are talking about defending against the potential threat and potential attacks against our territory, our allies’ territory, and potentially Russian territory. I think that defensive strategies are inherently ones that bring countries together, countries that are facing a common threat. So that’s why we would hope that we can establish a basis for cooperation with Russia, so that everyone interested are protected.
Q.: Russian-U.S. consultations on strategic nuclear forces are now being conducted in Geneva. The parties continue to differ on some issues, specifically: the number of nuclear delivery vehicles, the issue of delivery vehicles in non-nuclear equipment, and the relation between defensive and offensive weapons. Has any progress been achieved on any of these issues?
A.: It is not really very appropriate for me to comment on the issues in the center of negotiations. They are making progress. Our two presidents both agree that completing these negotiations is not only necessary, but possible before the expiration of the START treaty on December 5. So I think the negotiators try to narrow the differences between our two sides and try to find acceptable solutions.
Q.: Which of the problems are more complicated?
A.: There are many complicated issues, and of course, the issue of verification which is also complicated. I think we have lots of experience going back many decades in negotiating on these issues, so I think that with the help of the experts and with political will from the leadership we will find solutions.
Q.: Are you optimistic about a successful conclusion of the negotiations by December?
A.: I am by nature an optimist. I think a successful conclusion of the negotiations is possible.
Q.: Can the U.S. agree that a new strategic arms deal with Russia would stipulate a certain ratio between defensive and offensive weapons?
A.: You have identified another issue that is being negotiated. The U.S. view is that this treaty is about the reduction of offensive nuclear arms, just as the START Treaty that it will replace was about offensive nuclear arms. We certainly understand the Russian view on the inter-relationship between offensive arms and defensive arms. We believe the focus of the talks should remain on the reduction of the offensive weapons. We certainly are ready to discuss missile defense on its own terms and as I have stressed we are interested in exploring the possibility of cooperation. But these are issues that our negotiators are talking about every day. Leave it to them to find a way forward.
Q.: Has the U.S. changed its position on the ratification of the adapted Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE)?
A.: I would not say that we have changed our position. We remain interested in finding a way to bring Russia back into the CFE Treaty, because it has unilaterally suspended its implementation. And this suspension has now gone on for more than a year. So the situation is not satisfactory and we would like to find a way to bring Russia back into the treaty and find a way to move forward toward the ratification of the CFE Treaty, but there are many issues that would have to be addressed in that process. We have lots of discussions between the United States and Russia on different approaches but so far we have not found a way to move forward. We are still interested in that, but the longer Russia remains out of the treaty, the more complicated the situation becomes.
The dialogue is continuing and we have not found the basis for a way forward. We are still searching.
Q.: When is the U.S. going to start using its right of military transit to Afghanistan through Russia?
A.: I can’t give you an exact date (when the U.S. will start transit through Afghanistan) There are still some procedural issues that are not quite completed. I don’t think there are any differences between the countries, but there are some processes that have to run their course. We are hoping that these flights can begin very soon. The agreement in July was a very important commitment by Russia to contribute to the success of the NATO operation in Afghanistan. And putting that agreement to effect, I think, will not only be of practical value, but will be a strong signal to people of Afghanistan and to the surrounding region that the United States and Russia are working together to deal with a major challenge to international security.
Q.: What else could Russia do in cooperation on Afghanistan?
A.: We continue to discuss other ways that Russia could contribute to the solution in Afghanistan. I think Russia is particularly interested in the problem of narcotics trafficking and it has already provided valuable training to some of the Afghan national police at the Domodedovo training center. And there may be other ways to deal with the narcotics problem, as well. And of course, Russia may be able to make an important contribution to Afghanistan’s economic development, which is one of the many elements of the international community’s strategy to strengthen the Afghan state and to strengthen the attractiveness of the legitimate government of Afghanistan and to reduce the appeal of the Taliban.
Q.: The U.S. earlier criticized Russia for failing to honor its obligations on reducing tactical nuclear weapons in Europe. Does Washington still see the things this way?
A.: Well, this is a subject I think that we would like to take up maybe at the next stage of the nuclear arms reductions process. President Obama, of course, has laid out a very ambitious agenda to substantially reduce and, in the long term, eliminate our nuclear weapons. In the current negotiations we're focusing on the strategic arms, but I believe President Obama would certainly want to explore with Russian leaders the possibility of extending the disarmament process to tactical nuclear weapons in the future. But I think it's premature to speculate on the details of this. First we need to get the START-following treaty finished and then move on both to implement that treaty and begin a new stage of nuclear arms reduction talks.
Q.: Reduction of tactical nuclear weapons?
A.: I think that's certainly one of the possibilities that's definitely in our conceptual framework.
Q.: An independent international commission has determined that it was Georgia which started the war in the South Caucasus last August. Do you think these findings could affect the U.S.’ military cooperation with Georgia?
A.: Washington is still studying this report, from what I have read only in the news it talks about the responsibility of both sides, but I think that it is really premature to draw any other conclusions before we have a chance to fully assess the report. We have always stood by Georgia’s sovereignty and independence and we will continue to support Georgia’s sovereignty and independence, and in the context of this report we should await the first comments of the [U.S.] State Department.
Q.: But in any case you will continue to support the sovereignty and independence of Georgia?
A.: Yes. And of course we continue to support the territorial integrity [of Georgia].
Itar-Tass: Russia, Austria Foreign Ministers to meet in Moscow
05.10.2009, 06.02
MOSCOW, October 5 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and visiting Austrian counterpart Michael Spindelegger will discuss the whole scope of bilateral relations, including international issues here on Monday, a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
“The Moscow negotiations will continue the exchange of views on a broad range of issues of bilateral relations and topical international problems. The foreign ministers began these talks at their previous meeting in Vienna last June. The ministers will focus attention on the preparations of a Moscow visit of Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann,” the Russian diplomatic source said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry recalled that “Austria was elected as an non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2009-2010 and will preside in the Council in November.” In this connection, Lavrov and Spindelegger will focus on such topical issues as “the drafting of a European Security Treaty, the condition and prospects of Russia-EU relations, the prospects for restoring the viability of the CFE regime, the Middle East settlement process, the situation around the Iranian nuclear program and the situation in the Balkans.”
The Russian ministry noted that the relations between Russia and Austria are stable and predictable. The absence of any serious political problems “permits to focus efforts on the development of mutually beneficial cooperation in many practical spheres.
“The sides are invariably seeking for a constructive and trust-based cooperation.”
“Since the Austrian side is interested to involve in the South Stream gas project the countries are drafting a bilateral intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in this issue. The countries are also drafting agreements on cooperation in crime struggle, mutual assistance in natural and man-made disasters and scientific-technical cooperation,” the diplomatic source said.
According to the statistical data cited by the Russian Foreign Ministry, Austria is ranked the 12th among the countries investing in the Russia economy. Austria’s accumulated investments amounted to 3.9 billion dollars at the end of 2008.
The ministry noted a steady growing tendency in the trade between Russia and Austria. The bilateral trade reached 5.4 billion dollars in 2008. Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated with regret that “the figure has reduced by 38.6% in the first half of this year against the similar period of the previous year.” “The joint intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation will devote its next session to the search for the ways to stabilize the bilateral trade. The sides will agree on the date of the next session of the commission later. The Russian-Austrian business council, which was established last March to bring together businesspeople of the countries, acts as a coordinating mechanism in this sphere,” the source added.
As for the humanitarian aspect of bilateral relations, the Russian diplomatic source recalled that the Russian-Austrian program of cultural exchanges for 2009-2012 was endorsed last June. The document outlines the main trends of cooperation in higher and secondary education, arts, in the sphere of libraries and museums, youth and sport contacts.
The bilateral cooperation in the problem of cultural valuables displaced during the Second World War is an important trend in the relations between the countries. “The cooperation in these issues was established in a constructive way, in full compliance with the Russian legislation. Specifically, last June the Russian government decided to return some Austrian archives (51 funds), which were stored at the Russian State Military Archive,” the Russian diplomatic source said.
RIA: Austria anticipates 'special form' of relations with Russia
12:2605/10/2009
MOSCOW, October 5 (RIA Novosti) - A "special form" of relations with Russia is anticipated when Austria chairs the UN Security Council in November, Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger said on Monday.
Spindelegger is in Moscow to meet with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, for preparations for a visit to Russia by Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann in October. The two diplomats will also discuss bilateral relations and international issues, including international security and the Iranian nuclear program.
"I'm glad we have the opportunity to discuss Austria's chairing the Security Council because we are anticipating a special form of relations with Russia," Spindelegger said during a meeting with Lavrov.
Russia's top diplomat also welcomed high-level talks on bilateral cooperation with Austria.
"We value the upcoming ability to discuss bilateral relations and our cooperation in European and international relations, especially since Austria will chair the UN Security Council in November," Lavrov said.
The presidency of the UN Security Council is held for a month on an alphabetically rotating list of its members. The current head is Vietnam.
Yonhap: S. Korea conducts case study of N. Korean denuclearization in Russia
By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Oct. 5 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean military officer went to Russia in May to observe the dismantling of a nuclear-powered submarine and learn techniques that may one day be needed if North Korea allows its nuclear program to be dismantled, an official said Monday.
The officer, an Army major, observed the dismantlement of a nuclear reactor inside a submarine at a base in Vladivostok from May 7-10 -- the second time South Korea has organized such a trip -- an official at the Ministry of National Defense said.
South Korea agreed in 2006 to provide US$250,000 for Russia, which is undergoing a gradual reduction of its nuclear arms as part of global efforts to reduce weapons of mass destruction.
Russia and South Korea are also members of stalled six-nation talks that seek to compensate North Korea for its complete and verifiable denuclearization.
"If one day North Korea agrees to have its nuclear arms programs disassembled, South Korea needs to play a role in the technical aspect of it, too," a South Korean official said, speaking on the customary condition of anonymity. "We hope to expand this type of cooperation with Russia."
North Korea has conducted two known atomic tests in the last three years -- one in October 2006 and the other on May 25 this year. The six-nation talks, which also include the United States, China and Japan, have been in limbo since late last year when North Korea repudiated U.S. assertions on verification methods.
North Korea appears to be inching back toward the talks as it comes under increasing international sanctions imposed on it after its May nuclear test.
On Sunday, its leader Kim Jong-il met with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, leading to speculation the two may reach a breakthrough agreement announcing the return of his country to the talks. China, a major source of economic and diplomatic support for North Korea, hosts the talks.
The South Korean official declined to identify the Russian submarine that was disassembled earlier this year, only saying it was a Victor I class, which entered service in the 1960s. Japan and Australia joined in providing financial support for the Russian dismantling project, he said.
samkim@yna.co.kr
RIA: No agreement on Russian loan to Iceland, talks to continue – Kudrin
23:0304/10/2009
ISTANBUL, October 4 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian and Icelandic delegations have failed to reach an agreement on a loan to Iceland but consultations will continue, the Russian finance minister said Sunday.
"We are continuing consultations," Alexei Kudrin told journalists after a meeting with his Icelandic counterpart Steingrimur Sigfusson.
A delegation from Iceland was in Moscow a year ago for a series of meetings to agree the terms for a loan that would allow Iceland's government to shore up its shaky national currency, the krona, which collapsed after the country was forced to nationalize its three main banks after they amassed debts of over $60 billion.
Iceland's foreign debt now is several times higher than the country's GDP. Iceland originally asked Russia for a 4 billion euro ($5.8 billion) loan, but after it received most part of the sum from Scandinavian countries and the IMF, the sum of the mulled loan went down to $500 million.
RIA: Russia declines Belarus, Ukraine loan requests
12:3605/10/2009
ISTANBUL, October 5 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will not disburse the last $500 million tranche of a $2 billion stabilization loan to Belarus and will not grant a $5 billion loan to Ukraine, Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on Monday.
"So far, we are not considering the continuation of the loan disbursement to Belarus," Kudrin said.
Russia decided late last year to allocate a $2 billion loan to Belarus. The former Soviet republic has already received $1.5 billion, but Russia's Finance Ministry has refused to disburse the last tranche, saying it needed to assess carefully the prospects of loan repayment.
Apart from Russia, Belarus is also raising money from the International Monetary Fund. On January 12, 2009, the IMF approved a 15-month standby loan worth about $2.46 billion and the Fund's experts later recommended the IMF board to increase the loan facility by $1 billion.
Kudrin said, however, that Russia would help Belarus and Ukraine obtain loans from the IMF and the anti-crisis fund of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) comprising Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
Ukraine had earlier sought a loan of around $5 billion from Russia to pump gas into its underground storage facilities to avoid interruptions with gas transit to Europe.
Ukraine is also borrowing funds from the IMF. In November 2008, the IMF approved a $16.4 billion loan for Ukraine. Ukraine has already received three tranches of $4.5 billion, $2.8 billion and $3.3 billion as part of a stabilization loan program provided by the IMF to stabilize its economy.
"We are carefully watching the fulfillment [by Ukraine] of the IMF program. As a member of the IMF, Russia supports the IMF loan disbursement to Ukraine but does not plan to grant a loan on a bilateral basis," Kudrin said.
Reuters: Norway minister says Telenor-Alfa deal "good news"
Mon Oct 5, 2009 2:14am EDT
OSLO, Oct 5 (Reuters) - A deal between Norway's Telenor (TEL.OL: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Russian Alfa Group to end legal disputes and join their mobile operations in Russia and Ukraine is "good news", Norway's Industry Minister Sylvia Brustad said on Monday.
"We haven't had a chance to review all the elements of this transaction, but from the information I've received so far this is a good deal for Telenor's shareholders," Brustad said.
"This removes a large uncertainty tied to the ownership, particularly in Vimpelcom," she said in a statement.
(Reporting by Oslo newsroom)
Axisglobe: Alleged Norwegian spy appeared in hands of Russian Federal Security Service
04.10.2009
An alleged spy has been detained by the customs officials of Russia’s Murmansk, radio Ekho Moskvy reports.
The detained person is a citizen of Norway. In the course of examination the Russian officers revealed "confidential" maps of the Russian regions and equipment which could be used for gathering of intelligence information. At the same time the Norwegian citizen has specified "tourism" as the purpose of his trip across Russia. Now his case is being probed by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), radio marks. Brian Palmer, of Slate magazine points out that intelligence agencies of smaller countries tend to be extremely focused on bordering nations.
As a result, when it comes to their immediate geographical neighborhood, their intelligence knowledge and capabilities often surpass those of larger intelligence powers. According to the analyst, Norway is a good example of this.
Ever since the days of the Cold War, the United States has depended on the Norwegian Intelligence Service (NIS) to monitor the activities of Russia’s Northern Fleet, which is based in Russia’s Kola Peninsula. The Murmansk Oblast, where Kola Peninsula is situated, borders Norway and is home to many ethnic Norwegians, some of whom have collaborated with the NIS over the years, according to online paper .
Barentsobserver: Norwegian detained in Murmansk
2009-10-02
A Norwegian citizen is under investigation by FSB after the customs at Murmansk airport found illegal maps and suspicious technical devices.
The regional news site B-port reports that the person arrived in Murmansk with the plane from Tromsø, but Murmansk was not his final destination.
According to the press-release from Murmansk Customs authorities, the case is now sent over to FSB for investigation, B-port writes.
- The Norwegian citizen was holding a tourist visa to Russia, and Murmansk was not his destination, says Alla Sveshnikov, press secretary of Murmansk customs.
No information about the name of the Norwegian citizen is given.
According to NRK there is no information about the status of the person in question, if he was expelled from Russia or is still in detention in Murmansk.
Reuters: Russia agrees to lend money to Serbia –Kudrin
By Toni Vorobyova
ISTANBUL, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Russia has agreed to lend money to Serbia to help cover its budget deficit and fund investment into roads, although the amount and the terms of the loan are yet to be decided, Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said.
Despite suffering a recession, Russia still holds the world's third biggest foreign currency reserves of over $400 billion and has been approached by a number of other crisis-hit countries for cash.
Russian officials met with representatives of several would-be borrowers -- Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Iceland and Belarus -- over the weekend on the sidelines of the semi-annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank in Turkey.
But only Serbia -- which asked Moscow for a 1 billion euro ($1.45 billion) loan in the summer -- got a deal.
Of the total, 350 million euros was intended to plug its budget deficit, and the rest for investment projects.
"We will give a loan," Kudrin told reporters after meeting with his Serbian counterpart. "The first part will be for the budget ... In the next two weeks we will decide on the size, the duration and the terms."
He added that Moscow was still considering the possibility of some of the money being provided by a Russian bank.
The investment part of the loan would include projects involving Russian companies, "mainly in the construction of roads and the underground," Kudrin said.
Of the other would-be borrowers, Bulgaria has asked for 3.8 billion euros to help build a nuclear power plant in Belene.
"The Russian government will consider the possibility of providing such a loan," Kudrin said, adding that in case of a deal, Russian companies would be involved in the construction.
Earlier he said there was no decision yet on Iceland.
There are currently no plans for Russia to lend directly to Belarus or Ukraine, Kudrin said. But Minsk could secure cash from the EVRAZES anti-crisis fund launched by five ex-Soviet states, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
"We will mostly lend to the EVRAZES countries through this fund," Kudrin said.
"Belarus has fulfilled 90 percent of the reforms that I would have liked to see ... I am happy with the Belarussian government's actions in terms of reforms."
(Editing by Ruth Pitchford) ($1=.6879 EURO) Keywords: IMF RUSSIA/LOANS
(antonina.vorobyova@; Tel: +7495 7751242, Reuters Messaging: antonina.vorobyova.@)
B92: Russia to assist Serbian budget?
5 October 2009 | 10:14 | Source: FoNet
ISTANBUL -- Finance Minister Diana Dragutinović has met with her Russian counterpart Aleksey Kudrin in Istanbul, Turkey.
The two ministers discussed the possibility for Russia to financially support Serbia's state budget, reports said.
It was agreed that official negotiations on the subject will be conducted during this month, after the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank assemblies, the Ministry of Finance announced.
Kudrin, who is also Russian deputy prime minister, expressed Moscow's readiness to react quickly and to, if need be, change existing legislation in order for Serbia to receive the assistance this year – considering that it is not on the list of countries that have been approved for financial help in 2009.
Dragutinović thanked Kudrin for the support Russia is ready to offer Serbia, and stressed the important role of Ambassador Aleksandr Konuzin in coordinating the meeting.
The minister added she hoped that "this time as well, traditionally friendly relations between the two countries would be proved".
Itar-Tass: Serbia looking forward to Medvedev visit
05.10.2009, 10.46
MOSCOW, October 5 (Itar-Tass) -- Various forms of financial support, including Russian investments in the infrastructure of Serbia, will be discussed during the coming visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to that country, Serb Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper.
“We hope that after the visit of President Medvedev our economic cooperation will enter a new stage covering all branches of the economy,” Jeremic said.
In his opinion, the coming visit of President Medvedev, scheduled for October 20, will be “history-making.” “Because of a number of historic factors, this is going to be the first official visit of a Russian president to the Republic of Serbia. This is why we believe this is a history-making event. Despite the fact that the integration in the European Union is a matter of strategic priority for Serbia, Russia has been in the past and continues to be our best friend,” Jeremic stressed.
“The fact that President Medvedev is coming to Belgrade to attend celebrations on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the liberation of our capital from Nazi invaders, gives special importance to the visit.
Serbia is working for the preservation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity, against a further recognition of the independence of Kosovo, using diplomatic methods, and Russia is giving wholehearted support to it, primarily at the U.N. Security Council, Jeremic reminded. Serbia expects from Moscow “that its support will be as strong as it used to be in the past, and that Moscow will take a most active part in our efforts for preventing unilateral recognition of Kosovo’s independence all over the world. Anyway, we are very much grateful to Russia for all it is doing for that,” Jeremic added.
RIA: Belgrade anticipates financial aid from Russia
10:5905/10/2009
MOSCOW, October 5 (RIA Novosti) - Belgrade anticipates financial aid from Moscow, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said in an interview with a Russian daily ahead of his Moscow visit.
Jeremic arrives in Moscow on Monday to hold preparations for Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Belgrade on October 20.
In an interview with Kommersant newspaper, Jeremic said Serbia "anticipates a positive answer" from Moscow on its request for financial aid.
The amount of financial aid was not noted in the interview.
According to Jeremic, Belgrade hopes that during Medvedev's visit to the country, implementation of financial aid will also be discussed to include investments into Serbia's infrastructure.
"We expect that after Medvedev's visit, bilateral cooperation in the economy will get a new phase covering all spheres," the minister said.
Medvedev will arrive in Serbia to celebrate the 65th anniversary of Belgrade's liberation from fascist invaders. Jeremic called the Russian leader's visit a "historical event" because it commemorates "overall victory" between the two countries and should "be celebrated together."
24.kg: Russia’s Presidential Chief-of-Staff arrives in Kyrgyzstan
05/10-2009 10:29, Bishkek – News Agency “24.kg”
Sergei Naryshkin, Presidential Chief-of-Staff of the Russian Federation arrives in Kyrgyzstan these days, Kurmanbek Bakiev’s administration informed 24.kg.
The Kyrgyz president will expectedly receive the high guest on October 6.
Note fro, the news agency 24.kg - Naryshkin Sergei Evgenyevich was born on October 27, 1954 in Leningrad. In 1978 graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Mechanics with a degree in engineering. In the 1990s Naryshkin graduated from the Petersburg International Management Institute with a degree in economics and takes the post of the presidential chief-of-staff since May 2008.
The Georgian Times: Ukraine ready to mediate between Georgia and Russia
Ukraine is prepared to contribute to the regulation of Georgia-Russia relations - Russian Foreign Ministry has said in a statement released regarding the independent investigation commission on August war.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has welcomed the report and expressed its hope that it will assist the international society to contribute to the improvement of situation.
The statement released by the Ukraine`s Foreign Ministry calls upon the international society to intensify its attempts for convincing the confronted sides to sit at one table.
Rustavi2 2009.10.05 12:08
The Georgian Times: HRW: Georgia, Russia should be Pressed to Probe War Crimes
The international community should press Georgia and Russia to bring to justice those who violated the laws of war in last August’s conflict, Human Rights Watch said on October 1.
“The international community is largely focusing on who fired the first shot, but the need for justice should not be ignored,” Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said. “The people whose lives were ruined by fighting are still waiting for justice. It's hard to imagine how there could be any real reconciliation without it.”
In its voluminous report on the August war released in January, 2009 Human Rights Watch said “violations of the laws of war” were committed by all the parties. The rights group’s recent call for the probe comes after the EU-funded fact-finding mission released its report on the August war on September 30.
Civil Georgia 2009.10.05 11:07
BSANNA News: Kyiv, Moscow patriarchies will continue reconcilement talks
KYIV, October 5. /UKRINFORM/. Workgroups of the Ukrainian Orthodox Churches of the Moscow and Kyiv Patriarchies have reached an agreement on prolongation of the dialogue on restoration of unity of the Ukrainian orthodoxy. This decision was passed following the first meeting of the groups on Friday.
The heads of both groups, Archbishop of Bila Tserkva and Bohuslav Mytrofan and Metropolitan of Pereyaslav-Khmelnytskyi Dymytriy, expressed satisfaction with the meeting, and voiced hope that the coming dialogue would help overcome the split in the Ukrainian orthodoxy.
Both hierarchs noted that the meeting did not mean a start of the official dialogue between the two churches, and was just the first move on the path towards its preparation.
RIA: Russia to showcase advanced weaponry at airshow in Libya
01:3405/10/2009
TRIPOLI (Libya), October 5 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's state arms exporter Rosoboronexport said on Monday it will exhibit a wide range of aircraft, air defense systems and high-precision guided missiles at an airshow in Libya.
The 4th Arab-African Aviation Exhibition and Conference LAVEX-2009 will be held in Tripoli, the capital of Libya, on October 5-8.
"Rosoboronexport will showcase in Tripoli a wide range of Russian aircraft, air defense systems and other advanced weaponry due to their high popularity in the Middle East and North Africa," a company's official told RIA Novosti.
According to the official, the countries in the region expressed a high interest in the Russian Su-35 Flanker-E multi-role heavy fighter.
The Su-35 fighter, powered by two 117S engines with thrust vectoring, combines high maneuverability and the capability to effectively engage several air targets simultaneously using both guided and unguided missiles and weapon systems.
The aircraft also features the new Irbis-E radar with a phased antenna array, which allows the pilot to detect and track up to 30 air targets, while simultaneously engaging up to eight targets.
It is equipped with a 30-mm cannon with 150 rounds, and can carry up to eight metric tons of combat payload on 12 external mounts.
Russia plans to export at least 160 Su-35 fighters to several countries, including Algeria.
"We will also exhibit the new S-400 Triumf air defense system, developed to counter all existing and future types of airborne threat," the Rosoboronexport official said.
The S-400 Triumf (SA-21 Growler) is capable of intercepting and destroying airborne targets at a distance of up to 400 kilometers (250 miles), and can simultaneously engage up to six targets.
Saudi Arabia, which has traditionally bought only Western, mainly U.S.-made, civilian and military equipment, has recently expressed an interest in acquiring S-400 air defense systems.
Rosoboronexport will also promote high-precision "air-to-air" and "air-to-ground" missiles, guided bombs, on-board radars and fire-control systems, navigation and communications equipment and computer-assisted training systems for air defense personnel.
"We are expecting to sign a number of new, in certain respect breakthrough, deals [during the airshow in Libya]," said Alexander Mikheyev, deputy general director of Rosoboronexport and the head of the Russian delegation at the LAVEX-2009.
Domain-B: Indian Navy's MiG-29Ks flight tested onboard Russian carrier
05 October 2009
Moscow: MiG RAC said earlier in the week it had successfully tested four MiG-29K carrier-based fighter jets, manufactured for delivery to the Indian Navy, on board the Russian Navy's Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier.
The aircraft have been produced consequent to a contract signed by Russia and India in January 2004, which stipulated the supply of 12 single-seat MiG-29Ks and four two-seat MiG-29KUBs to the Indian Navy as part of an overall $1.5 billion deal to retrofit and deliver the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier.
"During the tests on September 28-29, the MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB fighters conducted several take offs and landings on the deck of the [Admiral Kuznetsov] aircraft carrier in the Barents Sea," the company said in a statement.
Admiral Kuznetsov is the only aircraft carrier in the Russian Navy.
The two MiG-29Ks and two MiG-29KUBs were officially transferred to India earlier this year. They were inspected by Indian technical experts and used in a five-month flight training course for the Indian pilots.
The aircraft will be delivered to India in mid-October.
: Russian spacecraft chosen for ISRO’s manned flight
Posted on October 05th, 2009 in Science & Technology
By Sapna Ranka
Mumbai: India has chosen a Russian spaceship for sending “space tourists” into orbit as a part of its ambitious manned space flights programme.
“Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has applied for acquiring a spaceship for sending space tourists,” Russian space agency, Roscosmos’ spokesman Alexei Krasnov said.
The non-reusable ‘Soyuz TMA’ ship will be piloted by a Russian cosmonaut and two space travelers could fly. Roscosmos charges about $35 million for a space tourist’s 10-day flight to the International Space Station (ISS).
Last year in an agreement between Moscow and New Delhi, it was agreed that Russia will help ISRO in training Indian astronauts and provide knowhow for building an indigenous spaceship for the national programme of space flights.
In April 1984, Rakesh Sharma had travelled into space on the Russian Soyuz T-11 spaceship.
Trend.az: Azerbaijan and Russia should continue efforts to create stable and diversified relations: deputy minister
05.10.2009 11:07
Azerbaijan, Baku, October 2 / Trend Capital, N.Ismayilova /
As before, Russia remains one of the major trade partners of Azerbaijan, and exports to Azerbaijan occupies a leading position with a specific weight of 17.5 percent, said the trade representative of Russia in Azerbaijan Yuri Shedrin at the meeting of Azerbaijan-Russia Chamber of Business Cooperation on Oct 2.
"Azerbaijan-Russia trade turnover continues to have a wide range of commodities, Shedrin said. - But the global financial crisis was the main reason for the reduction of indicators of Azerbaijan-Russia trade turnover, since it affected the economies of both countries."
According to statistical data of Russia, for January-August, the trade turnover between Russia and Azerbaijan fell by 21.7 percent to $967.5 million compared to the same period of last year, he said.
According to the statistics of Azerbaijan, the trade turnover between the countries amounted to 91 percent from last year's volume.
According to Deputy Minister of Economic Development of Azerbaijan Niyazi Safarov, the crisis affected the trade turnover between the two countries, but at the moment it is important to use the potential, which is large enough.
"Efforts should be made to create stable and diversified relations between Russia and Azerbaijan," said Safarov.
As noted at the meeting, the trade turnover between the countries began to grow, and there are plans to bring it up to $2 billion during the year.
The agenda of the meeting included issues such as discussing the current situation and prospects of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries, measures taken in Azerbaijan in the field of state regulation of foreign economic activity, investment policies, including state-private partnership, forming a favorable environment for entrepreneurship. The agenda also included meeting of business circles of Azerbaijan and Russia, which will be held in the first half of 2010 in Moscow.
Itar-Tass: Lavrov hopes RF-Japan forum give new quality to bilateral relations
03.10.2009, 17.12
MOSCOW, October 3 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov hopes that the Russian-Japanese forum will help give a new quality to relations between the two countries.
Speaking at the 6th Russian-Japanese forum on Saturday, Lavrov said: “Since the forum has been founded in 2000 it become an important component of the bilateral dialogue. The forum united authoritative representatives of scientific, political, business-like, official and public circles of Russia and Japan. They gathered to hold open and constructive discussions on a wide range of issues. The forum makes a remarkable contribution to building creative partnership between our countries.”
Lavrov said it is symbolic that the session of the forum “is being conducted in Irkutsk, the city which reminds us a few of light pages in the history of relations between Russia and Japan”. “Here in the 18th century the first school was set up to study the Japanese language. It is in this city where expeditions were prepared to study Japan and establish contacts with it. And today the city and the Irkutsk region are energetic and interested participants in Russian-Japanese exchanges, maintain contacts with partners in the areas of Japan,” the Russian minister said.
“We hope that the forum will be reach by new idea and non-trivial approaches towards ways to further strengthening of Russian-Japanese relations in order to give them a new quality in all directions,” Lavrov said.
He stressed that these tasks “are burning now in light of the recent meeting between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama that took place in New York and that stressed the need to step up bilateral relations and use the potential of Russian-Japanese cooperation for this purpose”.
BSANNA News: Sergey Lavrov: Russia is ready to uphold UN Observers to Abkhazia
TBILISI, October 5. (GHN). Russian Federation is ready to return to Abkhazia UN observers, in the case if this step will not
demand the restoration of the territorial integrity of the country. This declaration was made by Sergey Lavrov, Russian foreign MInister during his being in Sokhumi.
"We are ready to uphold abkhaia for return of Un observers, which will not be connected with the business of restoration of already nonexistant territorial integrity of Georgia, " - Lavrov said.
He as well said that in the case if Abkhazian side will consider that the working parameters of UN
observers are satisfactory then we will have nothing against such suggestion.
"Some are accusing us that we blocked the work of UN in Abkhazia and South Ossetia this is not the case", - Lavrov said.
The Moscow Times: Lavrov Says Navy Will Track Black Sea Ships
05 October 2009
Reuters
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday that the Navy would track shipping in the Black Sea to defend the breakaway Abkhazia region from Georgia.
Lavrov’s warning is a further indication that regional tensions following last year’s five-day war with Georgia are not fading, days after an EU-commissioned report said there was a serious threat of further conflict.
“Georgian provocations in neutral waters toward the foreign ships that deliver cargo to Abkhazia, humanitarian, economic or any legal cargo are without doubt a serious concern,” Lavrov said during a visit to Abkhazia’s capital, Sukhumi, Interfax reported.
Russian authorities earlier said they would detain any Georgian ship entering waters claimed by Abkhazia without permission, raising fears of naval skirmishes in the Black Sea.
“We believe that it will be possible to regulate the tracking of cargo, guaranteeing that they will be defended from provocations,” Lavrov said.
Russia’s coast guard said Sept. 21 that it had begun patrols off Abkhazia, where tensions are already running high over a Georgian blockade of the rebel-run territory.
Georgia is seizing cargo ships heading to and from the rebel region under a ban on unauthorized commercial and economic activity with its two rebel territories, adopted after last year’s conflict with Russia over South Ossetia.
Russian Navy ships were deployed off the Abkhaz coast during the war in August last year.
Russia has since recognized the two regions as independent countries, but so far only Nicaragua and Venezuela have followed Moscow’s lead.
Lavrov, meanwhile, confirmed that Abkhazia would adopt Russia’s +7 international dialing code, but he did not say when.
“Agreement has been reached on transferring Abkhazia from the telephone code of Georgia to the Russian code,” he said.
“Of course, we will continue working with international organizations to provide Abkhazia with a separate code,” he said.
Landline telephones in South Ossetia already carry the +7 code, and Russian mobile phone operators cover both regions.
Georgia condemned the move.
“The Georgian side urges the respective UN authorities to prevent these illegal actions of the Russian Federation,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
A report commissioned by the European Union and issued Wednesday said last year’s war was triggered by an unjustified Georgian assault on South Ossetia on the evening of Aug. 7 after a long period of increasing tensions and provocations.
It said Russia’s military response went beyond reasonable limits and violated international law, but that Georgian claims of a large-scale Russian invasion before Tbilisi’s Aug. 7 assault had not been substantiated.
News.am: Russia and Abkhazia lift visa regime
02:11 / 10/03/2009
Russia and Abkhazia signed a visa-free regime agreement during RF Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Sukhumi, October 2. The document was signed by Lavrov and his Abkhazian counterpart Sergey Shamba.
Hence, the domestic passport of citizens of Russia and the Moscow-recognized Abkhazia will suffice to travel to the countries for maximum 90-day stay.
Lavrov declared that check point at the border will be modernized, a new bridge built, and customs procedures maximally facilitated to ease the transit.
Itar-Tass: Abkhazia to issue foreign travel passports printed in Russia
05.10.2009, 11.01
MOSCOW, October 5 (Itar-Tass) -- President of Abkhazia Sergei Bagapsh expects foreign travel passports for Abkhazian citizens to be printed in Russia, he said in an interview published by Vremya Novostei newspaper on Monday.
Despite an agreement on visa- free visits signed by Russia and Abkhazia on October 2, 2009, President Bagapsh believes Abkhazia should issue its own foreign passports that should conform to international standards.
"Foreign passports issued in Abkhazia will conform to all the international standards in terms of protection, printed data and all the other parameters. Abkhazia will have foreign passports for its citizens printed in Russia. The work will begin in within a month or two," he said. The idea is to enable Abkhazian citizens to freely move into the Russian Federation provided with the Abkhazian foreign passports. The passports that will conform to all the international standards will enable Abkhazian citizens to visit other countries as well, Bagapsh said.
Commenting on the situation in respect to Abkhazia's recognition by other countries. Bagapsh said that not only a country in Latin America, but also one or several CIS countries will recognize Abkhazia. Bagapsh said that negotiations to this effect were already going on with some of these countries which he did not name.
In a separate statement, Bagapsh declared that Abkhazia does not ask Russia for financial assistance. " We are not asking for anything now. Our task is to learn to earn money on our own. We have all possibilities for that. We are not asking for money as such, but are asking to give support to projects that Abkhazia undertakes." he said. The matter concerns projects in the field of transportation, railways, airports, power supply, shipment of cargoes, re-exports of cargoes to the territory of Russia through Abkhazian ports." All of them are mutually advantageous projects," Bagapsh noted.
RIA: Abkhazia to order foreign passports in Russia
10:2805/10/2009
MOSCOW, October 5 (RIA Novosti) - Authorities from the former Georgian republic of Abkhazia will order passports in Russia giving its citizens the ability to travel abroad, a Russian daily reported on Monday.
Abkhaz passports are expected to correspond to international standards, Abkhaz President Sergei Bagapsh said in an interview with Vremya Novostei.
"We will order passports in the Russian Federation," Bagapsh said, adding: "We expect to start printing passports within one or two months."
Though Abkhaz internal passports allow citizens of the republic to enter Russia, the Abkhaz president believes the republic's residents should have foreign passports as well.
"This will allow [Abkhaz citizens] to travel to other countries," the president said, adding he expected Abkhazia and another former Georgian republic, South Ossetia, to be recognized soon by other states.
According to international law, citizens of Abkhazia are still considered to be Georgian citizens and must receive international passports through Tbilisi.
"Essential negotiations" on this issue are being held with several states, the president said, adding Belarus's recognition of Abkhazia should "be settled any day now."
Bagapsh said Abkhazia will never reunite with Georgia.
"We will create our own independent state," he said. "We will develop friendly relations with Russia in the first place, since we have such a good partner and neighbor."
Russia recognized the independence of the former Georgian republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia last August after a five-day war with Georgia over the latter, which was attacked by Tbilisi in an attempt to bring it back under central control. Besides Russia, only Nicaragua and Venezuela have recognized the former Georgian republics.
Under mutual assistance treaties signed last November, Russia pledged to help South Ossetia and Abkhazia protect their borders. Moscow promised significant financial support to rebuild the republics, which had been de facto independent since the early 1990s.
Interfax: About 28 tonnes of drugs seized in first phase of Operation Canal –ministry
ASTANA. Oct 5 (Interfax) - Police forces of the Collective Security
Treaty Organization (CSTO) member countries have completed the first
phase of Operation Canal 2009 with the seizure of about 28 tonnes of
drugs.
The first phase of the operation was held on September 20-28 and
aimed to expose and block drug trafficking from Afghanistan to Central
Asia, the Kazakh Interior Ministry said.
Law enforcers from Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Bulgaria, Venezuela,
Germany, Iran, Italy, Spain, China, Colombia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland,
the United States, Turkey, Ukraine and Estonia observed the operation
together with financial intelligence units of the Eurasian Group on
combating money laundering and terrorist financing (EAG).
"A total of 6,354 drug-related crimes were exposed, among them
2,345 cases of drug selling and 694 cases of drug trafficking. About 28
tonnes of drugs were seized, including 5.77 tonnes of opium in Iran and
Afghanistan, and 749 kilograms of heroin in Iran, China, Afghanistan and
Turkey," the ministry said.
"In all, the operation engaged over 139,000 CSTO officers," the
ministry said.
"Three hundred and thirty-four persons were apprehended on drug
trafficking charges, among them 264 citizens of CSTO member states and
264 citizens of CIS member states," the ministry said.
Prime-Tass: Shuvalov: No plans to privatize Rosneft, Russian Railways 2010
MOSCOW, Oct 5 (PRIME-TASS) -- The Russian government has no plans to privatize its stakes in oil major Rosneft and railroad monopoly Russian Railways in 2010, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said in an interview with the Rossiya television channel on October 3.
“In order to finance Russian Railways’ investment program, we are considering raising funds through offering corporate securities, bonds, and other instruments,” he said.
The government is currently working on the privatization program for 2010, Shuvalov said. It intends to include sea ports, river ports, and airports in the program, he said.
Shuvalov said in September that the government might privatize Rosneft in 2010, Financial Times reported.
End
05.10.2009 11:56
UK Press Association: Litvinenko widow slams Miliband
(UKPA) – 37 minutes ago
The widow of the Russian dissident assassinated by radiation poison in London has criticised the prospect of a visit to Moscow by the Foreign Secretary.
Marina Litvinenko - whose husband Alexander's poisoning in November 2006 sparked a major diplomatic row between the UK and Russia - said she was "deeply dismayed" at reports David Miliband would travel to the Russian capital next month.
"That his visit will take place exactly on the third anniversary of my husband's poisoning is adding insult to injury," she said.
Former spy Mr Litvinenko died on November 23 2006, three weeks after being poisoned with a massive dose of polonium-210. The incident sparked a major public health scare in the capital, as well as one of the biggest diplomatic rows of recent years.
After a lengthy investigation, British police tried unsuccessfully to extradite the chief suspect, former KGB operative Andrei Lugovoy.
Last week Moscow news agency Interfax quoted a Russian foreign ministry spokesman in a report saying Mr Miliband was expected to make his first trip as Foreign Secretary on November 2.
Mrs Litvinenko said in a statement: "I am deeply dismayed by the reports that Foreign Secretary David Miliband is planning to visit Moscow.
"For three years I trusted the Government when they said that they were doing everything possible to get some justice for my husband and our family. I even accepted as a political necessity their reluctance to name the Russian state as the party behind the crime."
She added: "But one thing is to observe the constraints of diplomacy, and another is to seek to normalise relations as if nothing happened.
"The fact remains that a British citizen was murdered in the centre of London in a state-sponsored act of nuclear terrorism. In the face of this truth, the apparent softening of Mr Miliband's position is a great disappointment to me."
Copyright © 2009 The Press Association. All rights reserved.
RIA: U.S. offers to help Russia in 2014 Winter Olympics preparation
03:1405/10/2009
MOSCOW, October 5 (RIA Novosti) - The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) has offered Russia its assistance in the preparation for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in line with a cooperation agreement with the Russian Olympics Committee.
Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi won the right to host the 2014 Olympics at an IOC session in Guatemala in July 2007 after a close race with South Korea's Pyeongchang and Austria's Salzburg.
"It is a framework agreement, which outlines our cooperation with the USOC for the future and stipulates that the Americans are ready to actively participate in programs developed by Sochi-2014 Organizing Committee," said Viktor Khotochkin, first vice-president of the Russian Olympics Committee.
Khotochkin said on Saturday that the agreement also envisioned "exchange of sports delegations...joint fight against doping in sports and many other aspects [of cooperation]."
The agreement has been concluded for a term of five years, until 2014.
Russian business daily Vedomosti reported earlier citing data from the Ministry of Regional Development that 1.054 trillion rubles is to be spent between 2009 and 2012 on a government program for the construction of Olympic facilities in Sochi, with 699.3 billion rubles allocated from the federal budget.
Russia has never hosted the Winter Olympics and Moscow's hosting of the Summer Games in 1980 was marred by a U.S.-led boycott involving more than 60 countries.
The USOC is a non-profit organization that serves as the National Olympic Committee (NOC) for the United States and coordinates the relationship between the United States Anti-Doping Agency and the World Anti-Doping Agency and various international sports federations.
RIA: Wives of Arctic Sea sailors demand their return home
02:2105/10/2009
MOSCOW, October 5 (RIA Novosti) - Wives of four Russian sailors kept on board the Arctic Sea ship, which was hijacked in the Atlantic in July, have asked Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to authorize their immediate return home.
"An investigation commission finished its work on September 16, but our husbands still remain on board the ship. It has been 49 days since the ship was freed by the Russian Navy, but they have not been replaced, although the replacement crew is ready," Sovfracht, a Russian maritime journal, quoted an open letter to Putin written by the women.
The Finnish-owned, Maltese-flagged cargo ship manned by a Russian crew and listed as carrying lumber from Russia to Algeria, was reportedly boardered by a group of eight men on July 24. Officials later said it had disappeared in the Atlantic. It was freed off Cape Verde on August 16 by a Russian warship.
"The current destination of the cargo ship is unknown. Our husbands need emergency medical and psychological assistance...," the wives said in the letter, asking for Putin's help in the return of their husbands.
According to the most recent reports, the vessel, with the captain and three crew members on board, is now heading to the Mediterranean Sea, being convoyed by Russia's Ladny frigate.
The other 11 crew members and eight suspected hijackers were flown to Moscow in late August to be questioned by the Russian authorities. The sailors have reportedly now returned home to the northern Russian city of Arkhangelsk, while the hijackers have been arrested and charged with piracy and kidnapping.
The Arctic Sea has been the focus of media speculation, with some reports saying it was carrying Russian S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Iran or Syria.
Russian investigators said they had not found any compromising cargo on board.
The ship was originally expected to dock at the port of Las Palmas, the capital of Spain's Canary Islands, to be handed over to Malta on September 18. However, the Maltese authorities unexpectedly refused to take part in the handover of the ship, and the vessel remained anchored 25 kilometers offshore until September 24.
According to the letter, the wives of the four sailors have been informed by Russian investigators that their husbands will be sent home after a probe and some formal procedures have been finalized.
October 05, 2009 14:54 PM
Bernama: ISESCO Director General Plans To Visit Russia In 2010
RABAT, Oct 5 (Bernama) -- Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO) Dr. Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri is planning to visit Russia in 2010 to develop and strengthen cooperation, Russian news agency, Itar-Tass, reported Monday.
This visit will make part of the events targeted at further enhancement of relations between the Islamic world and Russia, Altwaijri said in an exclusive interview with Itar-Tass.
ISESCO rivets closer attention to Russia, particularly to those Russian regions, where the Islam is traditionally spread, he noted.
In this respect, Alwaijri called as successful the results of the international scientific practical conference "Muslim Education in Russia and Abroad" that was held in Kazan in Russia at the end of September. The ISESCO chief participated in the conference.
The ISESCO director general named as an important result of the conference an agreement between ISESCO and several Russian universities to strengthen cooperation with ISESCO and the Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World (FUIW) and to spread jointly the culture of dialogue and cooperation between civilisations.
During his meetings with Tatarstan's government officials, officials of Russian public and humanitarian organisations Altwaijri assured them in ISESCO's striving to forge cooperation with Russia.
ISESCO, an organisation acting within the framework of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), was established at the initiative of the late Moroccan King, Hassan II, in 1982.
ISESCO's role in the Muslim world is similar to that of UNESCO in the world. The ISESCO headquarters is situated in the Moroccan capital of Rabat. ISESCO brings together 50 countries. Russia was granted an observer status in ISESCO in 2007, less than two years after the country had been granted the similar status in the OIC.
RBC: Sayano-Shushenskaya accident to require RUB 7.5bn in damages
RBC, 05.10.2009, Moscow 11:19:50.According to preliminary data, losses from the accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station are expected to reach RUB 7.5bn (approx. USD 249m), the Russian Federal Service for Environmental, Technological and Nuclear Supervision's (Rostekhnadzor) investigation report on the causes of the accident reads.
According to the document, expenditures on the localization and liquidation of the accident's outcome will amount to RUB 192.51m (approx. USD 6.39m). Expenses of the Russian Emergencies Ministry incurred while carrying out the rescue operation are estimated at RUB 83.2m (approx. USD 2.76m).
Moreover, the ecological damage alone is estimated at over RUB 63m (approx. USD 2.09m).
"The final sum may be revised once the reconstruction works have been completed and the payment of damages to third parties have been made, or on any other reasonable basis," the document states.
The Moscow Times: Chubais Blamed for Dam Disaster
05 October 2009
By Alex Anishyuk and Alexandra Odynova
Anatoly Chubais, the former CEO of Unified Energy System, tops a list of six officials accused of neglect and making bad decisions in a much-anticipated report on the cause of the August dam disaster that killed 75 people.
The report, released Saturday by the industrial safety watchdog after a monthlong delay, says Chubais was among the six officials “conductive to the disaster” at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydropower station on Aug. 17.
The report also blames TGK-1 CEO Boris Vainzikher and Valentin Stafiyevsky, head of RusHydro’s southern division, as well as former Energy Minister Igor Yusufov, former Deputy Energy Minister Vyacheslav Sinyugin and Anatoly Dyakov, who headed a commission that launched the dam in 2000.
The 141-page report directly links Chubais to the accident because he signed off on documents approving its launch in 2000. At the time, Chubais headed UES, the state electricity monopoly that he finished dismantling last year.
“Under order No. 690 dated Dec. 13, 2000, … UES chairman Anatoly Chubais approved the act of the central commission to launch the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydropower complex without a comprehensive evaluation of the data on Sayano-Shushenskaya’s operations,” says the report by the Federal Inspection Service for the Environment and Technology.
Chubais, who is widely disliked among Russians for his role as the architect of Russian privatizations in the 1990s and now heads state-run Rusnano, confirmed that he had signed the documents in 2000. “I’m responsible for everything that took place in the field during my time in office,” Chubais said in a statement posted on his official web site late Saturday.
He said the plant had already been working for 20 years when he signed the papers, adding that officials had been forced to take many risks in 2000 because of a lack of money. He said waiting for funds to replace crucial equipment at the plant would have “meant a catastrophe for the economy of Siberia and millions of residents there.”
It was not immediately clear why Chubais had issued the order so many years after the RusHydro-run plant actually began operating.
Saturday’s report also accuses 19 people of failing in their duties to prevent accidents at the plant, including Vasily Zubakin, the acting chairman of RusHydro’s executive management board; Alexander Toloshinov, who headed the plant from 2002 to 2006; and Nikolai Nevolko, who headed the plant when the disaster occurred in August and currently works as Zubakin’s adviser.
The report, however, promises not to have a decisive impact on the official investigation into the disaster.
“Investigators can take into consideration the commission’s conclusions, but only checks ordered in the course of the official investigation will be decisive in the case,” a law enforcement source told Interfax on Sunday.
The industrial watchdog’s chief, Nikolai Kutin, also voiced caution about whether his report might lead to any criminal charges.
“Our state is a democratic one, and therefore it is the court that defines who is guilty,” he told reporters Saturday. “For our part, we study the technical causes of the accident that were in the making for a long time, and that is why you will find a relatively large number of names, both from the plant management and RusHydro, as well as senior officials who made decisions affecting the stability and security of the plant’s operation.”
None of the officials mentioned in the report had resigned or been dismissed as of Sunday evening.
Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko, who is also chairman of RusHydro’s board of directors, told reporters Saturday that he would shuffle the staff at RusHydro but Zubakin, the acting chairman of the executive management board, was not to blame for the disaster.
The head of a group representing relatives of those who died in the accident, Nikolai Zholob, criticized the report as incomplete, saying at least 30 officials should be named as responsible, Ekho Moskvy radio reported.
RusHydro officials and other people named in the report could not be reached for comment Sunday.
Kutin also described in detail what had happened the day of the accident. He said part of a turbine unit weighing 1,500 tons had flown 14 meters into the air after the screws holding it down had come loose, causing flooding and debris that killed dozens of workers in seconds.
He said Sunday on Vesti state television that his watchdog would finish inspecting the country’s hydropower plants in November, a probe ordered by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin shortly after the accident.
Several electricity analysts declined to comment on the accident report Sunday, saying it was more about politics than the power sector.
Stanislav Belkovsky, a one-time Kremlin insider who works at the Institute for National Strategy think tank, said he agreed with the conclusions of the investigation but doubted any officials would face trial.
He added that the accusations against Chubais suggested that a struggle had broken out for control of the hydropower sector. “The real goal behind the accusations is not to blame everything on Chubais again but to reduce the influence of his team over the hydropower sector,” he said.
He speculated that Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin and RusAl owner Oleg Deripaska might be on one side, and among the close allies of Chubais whose influence was in the balance was Sinyugin, the former deputy energy minister who now oversees hydropower in the Energy Ministry.
“Although Deripaska and Sechin are not close friends, their interests meet here,” he said. “They both would like to get hold of hydropower. Sechin wants to control RusHydro, while Deripaska wants to get additional leverage to provide cheaper energy for his plants and also get access to new investment projects.”
Irina Khakamada, a former State Duma deputy who coheaded the Union of Right Forces party together with Chubais in 2001, said she also saw Sechin’s hand in the report.
“The investigation was guided by Sechin, and it is known that Chubais and Sechin are rivals,” she said.
Khakamada stressed that there was a difference between being named as a responsible party in the report and being called guilty.
Calls to Sechin’s office and RusAl were not immediately answered Sunday.
Communist and Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers harshly criticized Chubais on Sunday.
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, said Chubais and the other five officials should be relieved of their current duties, charged and jailed. “As for Chubais, he will do the same things at Rusnano that he did as the head of UES,” Zhirinovsky said on Ekho Moskvy.
Communist Duma Deputy Sergei Obukhov said the report backed his party’s belief that Chubais was to blame. “His reformation of the electricity sector broke the system,” he said by telephone.
Chubais, 54, has been blamed for problems before. As the minister in former President Boris Yeltsin’s government responsible for state property, he supervised the shady privatizations that saw key state enterprises sold for kopeks to well-connected businessmen in the 1990s.
Later as Kremlin chief of staff, he helped engineer Yeltsin’s re-election campaign in 1996 but once again found himself in the middle of a scandal when campaign staff were detained attempting to smuggle $538,000 in cash in a box out of the White House. A re-elected Yeltsin dismissed Chubais from his new post as finance minister in 1997 for receiving with four other officials an advance payment of $90,000 from a publishing house to write a book titled “The History of Russian Privatization.”
During his stint at UES from 1998 to 2008, Chubais was questioned by prosecutors over a major blackout that left part of Moscow and its neighboring regions without electricity for hours on May 25, 2005.
Saturday’s report is likely to add to the public’s dislike of Chubais. Chubais survived an assassination attempt in 2005 that prosecutors have blamed on nationalists.
The Moscow Times: UN Tells Russia to Adapt To Shrinking Population
05 October 2009
The Associated Press
Russia’s population has fallen by 6.6 million since 1993, despite the influx of millions of immigrants, a United Nations report said, and by 2025 the country could lose a further 11 million people.
The result could be labor shortages, an aging population and slower economic growth, the UN said in the report, which will be released Monday.
Recent Kremlin efforts to reward women for having more babies have caused a surge in the birth rate, the report said, but won’t make much difference in the long term.
It urged Russia to reduce its high mortality rate — similar to that in parts of sub-Saharan Africa — through reform of its public health system and by encouraging lifestyle changes, especially a reduction in alcohol consumption.
The United Nations Development Program report, titled “Russia Facing Demographic Challenges,” predicted that Russia would be forced to adapt to a smaller population and work force.
“Efforts to resist the unfavorable trends must be combined with efforts to adapt to what cannot be resisted,” the report says.
Population levels in many developed countries have stagnated and are expected to fall by 2025, but Russia’s population, currently about 142 million, has been in retreat since 1992.
Monday’s report notes that population decline in general reduces a country’s “strength and dynamism.” The report adds that the effects of depopulation will be magnified in Russia because of its huge territory.
An influx of immigrants over the past 16 years has helped soften the impact of Russians dying young and having fewer children. But the report says many of these immigrants were ethnic Russians returning to their homeland from other former Soviet states, and this is mostly over.
Meanwhile, many skilled Russians could be lured abroad in the coming decades, the report says, as labor shortages develop in Western Europe, where a shrinking pool of working-age people is expected to drive up wages for the highly educated.
To cope with this demographic crisis, the UN report recommends that the government overhaul the health system to provide more efficient care, while encouraging lifestyle changes to reduce the number of deaths related to alcohol consumption.
Russia can help compensate for fewer births and high death rates, the report said, by encouraging immigration. It estimated that the country will need to attract about 15 million migrants by 2025 to fill vacant jobs.
But the report notes that migration can also lead to tensions. It says the country will have to make a major effort to assimilate migrants.
In order to ensure that the shrinking work force does not slow economic development, the report said, efforts should be made to raise labor productivity. In part, that means cutting employment in many faltering industries where Soviet-era labor practices linger and encouraging people to move to more productive jobs in high-tech industries.
The report also predicts that the number of students entering Russian institutions of higher education will fall by half in the coming decades, forcing universities and technical schools to compete for students in order to survive.
The report predicts this trend could lower the quality of education and professional training, handicapping economic development efforts.
RIA: Swine flu cases in Russia total 570 - top sanitary official
06:0205/10/2009
MOSCOW, October 5 (RIA Novosti) - The number of people diagnosed with the swine flu in Russia has risen to 570, Russia's top sanitary official said on Monday.
"A total of 570 cases have been officially confirmed across Russia, with 491 cases diagnosed among people who traveled abroad," Gennady Onishchenko said.
He also dismissed reports that several schools in Moscow had been closed because of the spread of the swine flu, or A/H1N1 virus.
"No schools were closed in Moscow, only a few classes, and only because of the spread of the seasonal flu," the official said, adding that a total of 41 classes had been closed.
According to the latest report from the World Health Organization, 340,000 cases of the swine flu have been confirmed throughout the world and 4,100 people have died from the virus as of September 27.
RIA: Eurasia highest volcano spews hot magma to 100 meters
07:3705/10/2009
PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, October 5 (RIA Novosti) - Eurasia's highest volcano, the Klyuchevskoy, on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's Far East, has shown signs of intensified activity throwing red-hot rocks to a height of 100 meters (about 330 feet).
The Klyuchevskoy, which lies 220 miles north of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, is one of the largest active volcanoes in the world and reaches an altitude of 15,584 feet. It erupts about every 2 years.
"At present, the Klyuchevskoy spews out magma to a height of 100 meters with 1- to 6-minute intervals," said Alexei Ozerov, a leading researcher at the Far Eastern Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
"This eruption, [which started on October 3], unlike many others, started slow, but its intensity is rapidly growing," the scientist said, adding that the volcano is dangerous only to tourists at this point.
However, the increased activity of the volcano could soon bring lava flows and high-altitude ash emissions, which could threaten air traffic in the region.
Seismological stations near the Klyuchevskoy are registering over 100 local tremors every 24 hours.
The volcano started a new active cycle with an eruption on February 15, 2007. Volcanic ash from that eruption stretched over 500 km above the Bering Sea at the height of 8.2-8.7 km.
There are more than 150 volcanoes on Kamchatka, 29 of them active.
New Europe: Merkel to Putin: Bring Germany das gas
Author: Kostis Geropoulos
4 October 2009 - Issue : 854
An interesting question following Angela Merkel’s victory in Germany’s general election is how much has Berlin’s Russia policy changed under her first term? Turns out, the answer is not much.
During his time as chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, through his close buddy-relationship with Vladimir Putin (a fluent German speaker from his KGB days in Dresden), consolidated German-Russian cooperation. The two countries are involved in a number of projects, including the construction of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, which will transport Russian gas under the Baltic Sea to Germany and Western Europe, avoiding irritating eastern EU neighbours. And Putin takes care of his own. The Russian leader rewarded Herr Schroeder soon after the latter left office in late 2005 with a big-paying job as supervisory chairman on the Nord Stream project.
Frau Merkel is also pressing ahead with Nord Stream, realizing that Germany needs Russia’s energy. Moreover, German companies BASF/Wintershall Holding AG and E.ON Ruhrgas AG are part of the Nord Stream AG consortium. E.ON and BASF are also taking stakes in the major Siberian Yuzhno-Russkoe gas field, which is a large source of natural gas for Nord Stream. E.ON’s CEO Wulf Bernotat is a member of Gazprom’s board of directors, as the company holds a 6.5% stake in the gas giant. Bernotat was among a group of foreign energy bosses addressed by Putin on 24 September in the town of Salekhard on Russia’s Yamal peninsula. Putin called on the international companies to invest in gas production in the region.
A pragmatic politician, Merkel is pursuing the same Russia policy with President Dmitry Medvedev as Schroeder did with Putin. “A lot of experts thought that there would be more cold relations if we compared them, of course, with the time of Mr. Schroeder, but now see that Merkel doesn’t want to struggle with Russia. She is a supporter of Nord Stream and I think German companies like E.ON and BASF explained to Merkel that it can be a serious mistake to struggle with Russia,” Konstantin Simonov, director of the independent National Energy Security Fund in Moscow, told New Europe on 1 October. “It is a big business not only for Russia but German companies also. Germany will be a serious distributor of Russian gas in Europe,” he said, adding that Russia’s energy relations with Germany, Italy and France are excellent.
Basically, Germany is Russia’s closest ally inside Europe – to the point of defending Moscow from attacks by the new EU members of eastern Europe. “We have three different ‘Europes’ inside Europe,” Simonov said. These are Brussels and the Euro-bureaucracy; post-Soviet countries and former satellites of Europe; and the so-called old Europe led by Germany, Italy and France. “With Brussels and this so-called New Europe Russia has very difficult relations because of the history and the view of European bureaucracy.” The Russian analyst minced no words, criticising the European Commission’s policy of trying to lessen its energy dependence on Russia. “[European Commission President Jose Manuel] Barroso is absolutely sure that Russia is an enemy and it is impossible to change his mind,” Simonov said. “But our relations and energy relations with old Europe are usually very, very good and even after the gas war with Ukraine there was no real change in relations.”
KGeropoulos@NEurope.eu
BBC: Ingushetia's cycle of violence
Political violence and killings seem to be daily occurrences in the tiny mainly Muslim republic of Ingushetia in the Russian North Caucasus, which shares a border with Chechnya. Dom Rotheroe explains why.
"Don't mention to our mother that he was tortured before he died," one of the sisters of the late Batyr Albakov whispers to us before we interview his family.
"She doesn't know about that and she has a weak heart."
They came in the early hours of 10 July to take Mamma Albakov's son away. Two carloads of security forces had barged their way into the family flat in Russia's Caucasian republic of Ingushetia.
Eleven days later, Batyr's family learned of his death through a report on the internet.
In that time, the 26-year-old aeroplane engineer had supposedly become an Islamic militant, acquired a gun and camouflage gear and been killed in a shoot-out with security forces.
Daily violence
The lie to this is given as soon as Batyr's mother is out of the room, and his siblings show us the mobile phone photos they cannot let her know about.
The photos of their brother's body reveal an array of gruesome injuries - multiple haematomas, knife wounds, an arm almost severed at the shoulder - that could hardly have been sustained in a gunfight.
Such incidents occur almost daily in Ingushetia. The territory with its 300,000 people has suffered for sharing a border with Chechnya during the latter's two wars for independence from Russia.
After Russia finally took control of Chechnya, extremist rebels proclaimed an Islamic Emirate Of The North Caucasus and spread the fight into Russia's other mainly Muslim republics, like Ingushetia.
Their jihadi ideology has not found much sympathy with the general population.
A few miles down the road from the Albakovs we meet another grieving family.
Some days before, two of their sisters were shot dead by militants in their roadside kiosk.
'Fake' attack
It was probably because they were selling alcohol, which is not a crime in conservative but secular Ingushetia.
Yet, like the Albakovs, the family of the murdered sisters lay the final responsibility on the Russian and Ingush authorities and their security forces.
The way these institutions have cracked down on not only the militants but many innocent people has made them the perfect recruiters for the insurgents.
Batyr Albakov's sister, Lisa, blames it on statistics. The security forces have to show they are actively combating the militants, she says.
But it is much easier to grab a civilian and dress his corpse up as a militant rather than go into the woods and actually fight the jihadis.
People here seem to think the only good thing the Russian authorities have done is replace Ingushetia's loathed President Zyazikov with the popular Yunis-Bek Yevkurov last year.
Mr Yevkurov cracked down on the previous regime's corruption and initiated talks with the militants, yet this June he was nearly killed in a suicide bomb attack on his car.
Since then the fight against the militants has indeed been stepped up, but so has the violence against civilians by the security forces.
More than 200 people have been killed so far this year, the same figure as for the whole of 2008.
More and more young men are going "into the hills", as joining the rebels is known.
Some may do so out of religious belief, yet Magomed Mutsolgov of human rights NGO, Mashr, believes that at least 80% leave home because of revenge.
Mashr's office is dominated by a board displaying photographs of the 174 people, including Magomed's younger brother, who have disappeared without trace during the past seven years.
The vast majority of them, Magomed says, were kidnapped by security forces.
In the other 500 cases of abduction and murder that are not on the board, not a single member of the security forces has been brought before a court.
'No justice'
It is a complaint we hear all over Ingushetia, that there is no law or justice.
In a society in which blood vendettas are part of a man's honour, young male relatives of the deceased have to seek their own justice.
They head into the hills to get a gun and take revenge. And while with the extremists, their ideology may shift accordingly.
Some may become suicide bombers, of which the North Caucasus has seen a resurgence this summer, culminating in an attack on Ingushetia's main police station in August which killed 21 and injured more than 100 more.
My most poignant memory of the Albakov family is of Batyr's younger brother, Beslan.
Beslan's rejects blood revenge and wants legal justice for his brother, a justice he knows will never come.
He also knows that the security forces will suspect him of seeking revenge and therefore may come for him at any time.
His quietly desperate face is the face of Ingushetia today, trapped between the rock and hard place of the militants and the authorities who seem intent on feeding the ever-growing cycle of violence.
BBC: Russia's litany of unsolved murders
By Artyom Krechetnikov
BBC Russian Service
The number of unresolved, high-profile murders in Russia over the past 15 years paints a dismal picture of the work of Russia's law-enforcement organisations and its judiciary.
Of the 12 most infamous killings, only two have been solved.
Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliev told journalists earlier this year that Russia was "moving in the right direction" in combating contract killings.
Yet many Russian MPs believe corruption and a labyrinthine bureaucracy are to blame for poor investigations and the frequent failure to secure justice.
Below is a list of 12 of the most high-profile cases in Russia.
DMITRY KHOLODOV, JOURNALIST - UNSOLVED
The first high-profile killing in the so-called new Russia was of Dmitry Kholodov, a journalist with a Moscow tabloid newspaper.
He was killed in October 1994 by a briefcase bomb.
Kholodov had been investigating corruption in the army.
Prosecutors said the assassination was organised by a group of six people led by the head of the intelligence service of air-borne forces.
In June 2003, Moscow's military court cleared the defendants, citing a lack of evidence.
VLADISLAV LISTYEV, TV PRESENTER - UNSOLVED
A popular TV presenter, Vladislav Listyev was killed in Moscow in March 1995, only 34 days after becoming director of Russia's Public Service Television.
The killer waited for Listyev at the entrance to his block of flats and fired two shots at point-blank range.
No one has ever been arrested.
Commentators say Listyev was targeted due to his attempts to make advertising at the channel more transparent.
MIKHAIL MANEVICH, GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL - UNSOLVED
Mikhail Manevich was a 37-year-old senior official in St Petersburg, and friend of Anatoly Chubais, who organised Russia's disastrous "loans-for-shares" privatisations in the 1990s.
Manevich was shot in the morning of 18 August, 1997, on his way to work.
Bizarrely, although the case has never officially been solved, on the anniversary of the crime in 2005, Mr Chubais announced that Manevich's killers "had been found".
LEV ROKHLIN, RETIRED ARMY OFFICER - SOLVED
Lev Rokhlin was a former lieutenant-general who fought in Afghanistan and the first Chechen war from 1994-1996 - famously condemning its brutality.
He was assassinated on the night of 3 July, 1998, at his dacha near Moscow.
He was shot in the head with a gun he had received as recognition for his military achievements.
In November 2000, a court convicted Rokhlin's wife, Tamara, of her husband's murder and sentenced her to eight years in prison.
Her supporters insist the security services were behind the murder.
GALINA STAROVOITOVA, LIBERAL POLITICIAN - UNSOLVED
Galina Starovoitova was an MP and one of the leaders of Russia's democratic movement as well as a human rights activist and international relations specialist.
She was shot dead near her St Petersburg home on 20 November, 1998.
In 2005, a court sentenced the "technical organiser" of the killing, Yury Kolchin, and the gunman, Vitaly Akinshin, to long prison terms.
But who ordered the murder - and why - remains unknown.
In September 2009, the case was re-opened because of "new developments".
AKHMAD KADYROV, CHECHEN LEADER - UNSOLVED
Akhmad Kadyrov died on 9 May, 2004, when a bomb exploded at a stadium in the Chechen capital, Grozny. He was 52.
He was the leader of the pro-Moscow Chechen administration and former mufti of the self-proclaimed Republic of Ichkeria.
In the first days of the second Chechen war, he moved to the federal forces' side.
Officially, the case has not been resolved, but his son Ramzan Kadyrov, current president of Chechnya, says he has killed everyone involved in his father's death. ANDREI KOZLOV, BANKER - SOLVED
Andrei Kozlov, the 41-year-old first deputy director of the Central Bank of Russia, was shot at close range on the evening of 13 September, 2006, while getting into his car.
On 13 November, 2008, Alexy Frenkel, a former head of VIP bank, was sentenced to 19 years in prison for organising the assassination.
Alexy Polovinkin, who pulled the trigger, was sentenced to life in prison.
Three months before the crime, the central bank had taken away Frenkel's licence.
ANNA POLITKOVSKAYA, JOURNALIST - UNSOLVED
A columnist for the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta and well-known human rights activist, Anna Politkovskaya was shot on 7 October, 2006, at the entrance to her block of flats on Moscow's Lesnaya Street.
For many years, the main theme of her work had been Chechnya.
In August 2007, a Moscow court ordered the arrest of 10 suspects in connection with her death. But the majority of them were later freed.
A Moscow police officer and two Chechen brothers stood trial for the murder, although a third brother, who was suspected of being the gunman, disappeared.
The three were acquitted by a jury in February 2009, and have since been sent for retrial.
But Russia's Supreme Court also ordered a new effort to catch those who planned and carried out the killing.
Lawyers say the case against the three suspects in custody will now be halted and merged with the hunt for the killer and alleged mastermind.
THE YAMADAEV BROTHERS, CHECHEN LEADERS - UNSOLVED
A former State Duma deputy from Chechnya, Ruslan Yamadaev was shot dead in central Moscow in September 2008.
His brother Sulim, a former Russian military commander of the "Vostok" battalion formed of contracted Chechen soldiers, was killed on 28 March, 2009 in Dubai.
He was shot dead in a parking lot near his home.
The brothers were members of an influential clan that virtually controlled Chechnya's second-biggest city, Gudermes.
When the second Chechen war broke out in 1999, the brothers switched sides and joined Russia's federal forces.
Their relations with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov had become tense in the years before their deaths.
MERKELOV/BABUROVA, LAWYER/JOURNALIST - UNSOLVED
Moscow lawyer Stanislav Markelov, 34, and 25-year-old Novaya Gazeta journalist Anastasiya Baburova were shot and killed in broad daylight by a masked gunman on Prechistenka street, near the Kremlin.
Markelov worked on several human rights cases, some in connection with Chechnya, and had received several phone threats from extreme Russian nationalist groups.
The main areas of Baburova's journalistic interests were neo-Nazis and skinheads.
Both murders remain unsolved.
ADILGIREI MAGOMEDTAGIROV, POLITICIAN - UNSOLVED
Dagestan's 53-year-old interior minister, Adilgirei Magomedtagirov had a reputation for being a fierce opponent of Islamic radicals.
He was killed on 5 June, 2009, in the region's capital Makhachkala.
He was shot by a sniper near a restaurant where he had been celebrating the wedding of a colleague's daughter.
The killer used a specialist rifle and rounds commonly used by Russia's special forces.
The investigation has so far been fruitless.
NATALIA ESTEMIROVA, CHECHEN RIGHTS ACTIVIST - UNSOLVED
A Chechen human rights activist, journalist and employee of the human rights group Memorial, Natalya Estemirova was kidnapped on 15 July, 2009.
Several hours later, her body was found riddled with bullets on a roadside in neighbouring Ingushetia.
She was 50 years old.
The crime remains unsolved.
Russia Today: Life or death: will Russia resume death penalty?
05 October, 2009, 09:41
Russia’s moratorium on the death penalty expires early next year. While some want capital punishment outlawed completely, many still believe there are criminals who deserve it.
The arguments for and against the death penalty are well established. Most legal and criminal analysts insist capital punishment does little towards the problem of crime – what matters is the unavoidability of it.
Even though public support for the death penalty has fallen in Russia in recent years, several violent incidents in the past ten years keeps the issue very much in the limelight, making implementing a total ban a highly contentious issue.
The risk of a mistake
“The Butcher of Rostov” Andrey Chikatilo – the most infamous serial killer in Soviet history – was convicted of murdering 52 people, mostly women and children, and sentenced to death in 1994. His case is often quoted when Russians debate the merits of the death penalty – a subject that continues to ignite controversy.
State Duma deputy in 1994-1999 Valery Borshchev initiated a parliamentary hearing back in 1996, devoted to the moratorium on capital punishment. He is convinced its abolition benefits society and the justice system.
“The main problem is the shortcomings of our legal system – the risk of judicial error is too high,” he said.
“It is common knowledge that two people who were convicted by mistake before Chikatilo was found and proved guilty. During my own career I managed to prove the innocence of three people who were sentenced to death, and even the mother of the victims was helping me clear the names of the wrongly accused.”
Russia hasn’t performed an execution since the establishment of the moratorium thirteen years ago – one of the conditions for joining the Council of Europe.
However, with society polarized over the issue, lawmakers have been unable to pass legislation to outlaw the method completely.
Vladimir Lukin, Ombudsman for Human Rights, says he is against capital punishment.
“I understand that there are certain political conditions within the state that make its abolition difficult, but what matters right now is that Russia continues to refrain from using the death penalty.”
“They deserve an unmarked grave”
A decade of terrorist attacks across the country has prompted some to demand the death penalty for those involved.
The only surviving member of the group responsible for the Beslan tragedy in 2004 that left 331 people dead, 186 of those children, was sentenced to life imprisonment. Many of those who lost their loved ones believe that all that Nurpashi Kulayev deserves is an unmarked grave.
There has also been strong public pressure for the execution of convicted serial killers, murderers and child abusers.
Chief investigator in the Chikatilo case, Issa Kostoyev – the man responsible for the capture of the murderer – wonders:
“How can we talk of humanity when a person murders his parents, his own children or someone is dismembered, or a child is raped?”
In his opinion, given the crime rate in Russia, the country cannot afford not to use capital punishment.
“I think no one would deny the United States is a democracy, but they still use it when deemed necessary.”
The Kremlin is not in any hurry to see the controversial subject return to the political agenda, at least for now.
At the moment there are no plans to bring back the death penalty and revoke the moratorium, according to Natalya Timakova, spokeswoman to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
Therefore, Russia is likely to stand by the ruling for the meantime.
National Economic Trends
RIA: Net capital outflow from Russia comes in below $10 bln in Q3
11:3505/10/2009
ISTANBUL, October 5 (RIA Novosti) - Net capital outflow from Russia came in at less than $10 billion in the third quarter of the current year, the first deputy head of the Central Bank said on Monday.
Alexei Ulyukayev said a slight net capital inflow was expected in the fourth quarter, but the year's overall net outflow should ring in at $42 billion, as earlier predicted.
These figures are in line with the projections contained in a blueprint for state monetary policy for 2010 through 2012.
Russia's net capital outflow was $130 billion in 2008.
Reuters: Russia cbank to cut rates more, not worried on rbl
Mon Oct 5, 2009 1:30am EDT
* C.bank 1st deputy chairman Ulyukayev: room for lower rates
* Recent rouble appreciation not a concern
* Inflation seen lower than forecast this year and next
By Toni Vorobyova
ISTANBUL, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Russia's central bank has scope to cut rates again this year and next as inflation will likely come in lower than expected, but the pace of easing is unlikely to pick up, first deputy chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said.
He also reiterated that the current strength in the rouble was not a cause for concern, and the central bank's priority was to smooth out excessive volatility of the exchange rate. Russia has already cut rates by 300 basis points since April taking the benchmark refinancing rate down to 10.00 percent in a bid to help the economy out of its first recession in a decade.
"The speed is already very fast -- in two weeks (we) cut by 50 basis points, so I doubt we can move at a greater pace," Ulyukayev told reporters on the sidelines of an IMF meeting.
"But...we think that this year inflation is highly likely to be under 11 percent and next year probably under 9 percent. That gives us a good opportunity for further cuts. I think this year we have further scope (to cut again)," he added.
Analysts see the refinancing rate at 9.50 percent by year-end, and inflation for 2009 at 11 percent [ECILT/RU].
As rate cuts filter through into cheaper loans for end borrowers and the economy stabilised, the central bank expects nominal lending growth of 12-15 percent in 2010, Ulyukayev said.
NOT WORRIED ABOUT THE ROUBLE
The rouble has proved resilient to the monetary easing as Russia still offers favourable returns compared with rates of 1.00 percent or less in the other G8 countries.
The currency posted a record monthly gain versus the central bank monitored dollar basket in September RUS=MCX and broke beyond the psychologically key 30 mark versus the dollar.
The central bank entered the market with dollar-buying interventions as part of its policy to smooth out big exchange rate swings in either direction, but Ulyukayev reiterated that the rouble level itself was not currently a concern.
"I don't think there is a reason to worry, the current appreciation does not provoke undue concern," he said.
"We are just extinguishing excessive swings," he added, noting that the central bank had bought under $100 million in the first two trading days of October.
The rouble appreciation and stock market gains in September have marked the return of net capital inflows after outflows in the previous two months. Overall for the third quarter, there was likely a net outflow of under $10 billion, Ulyukayev said.
The markets have been cheered by signs that the worst of the slowdown is over both for the economy and banks. Officials now say banks won't need all the 460 billion roubles ($15 billion) of state funds allocated to support the sector through capital injections via special OFZ treasury bonds in 2009-2010.
Ulyukayev said no banks had yet officially applied for such funds and doubted any of the money would be claimed this year.
"It is not an easy process, a lot of work. Technically, it is hard to do it (by year-end) and I reckon banks will think some more, do some calculations," he said.
(Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
Reuters: Russia IMF bond buy not dependent on reform-cbanker
Mon Oct 5, 2009 1:30am EDT
ISTANBUL, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Russia's commitment to buy $10 billion of bonds from the International Monetary Fund is not pre-conditioned on reform of the institution, Russian central bank's first deputy chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said. The BRIC countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China are pushing for emerging markets to have a 50 percent say at the IMF. Developed nations agree a shift of vote quotas is needed, but think the change should be a smaller one. The BRICs have indicated that their pledges of extra cash to boost IMF coffers during the global economic crisis -- $80 billion in total -- are firmly tied to reform. [ID:nFCD000062]
But Ulyukayev denied such a link for Russia.
"It is not linked at all. These $10 billion are our hard commitment, without a link to the change in quotas," he told reporters on the sidelines of an IMF meeting in Istanbul.
He added that Russia could purchase the bonds by the end of the year. (Reporting by Toni Vorobyova; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
Bloomberg: Russia’s Service Industry PMI Grew for Second Month (Update1)
By Alex Nicholson
Oct. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Russia’s service industries ranging from banks to mobile-phone retailers expanded for the second consecutive month in September after orders rose and new business grew.
The Purchasing Managers’ Index advanced to 53 last month from 52.2 in August, VTB Capital said in an e-mailed statement released today. A reading above 50 indicates expansion.
The economy of the world’s biggest energy exporter is showing signs of recovering from a record slump in output sparked by declining commodities prices. Services, which account for about 40 percent of the economy, are picking up after seven central bank rate cuts since April and following government stimulus measures aimed at funneling credit from banks to businesses.
“The survey indicates improving market conditions and growing clientele, resulting in a further expansion of new orders and business activity across all sub-sectors,” Svetlana Aslanova, an analyst at VTB Capital in Moscow, said in the report. “In addition, the rebound in the future activity index shows an improvement in business sentiment for the next 12 months.”
The ruble strengthened 0.5 percent to 30.1014 against the dollar at 10:05 a.m. in Moscow. It weakened 0.4 percent against the euro to 44.0614.
Russian retail sales will rise 5.3 percent next year, adjusted for inflation, as higher incomes allow consumers to boost purchases of food and other products, according to Renaissance Capital. The services gauge grew for the first time in 11 months in August as orders rose and business confidence improved.
Hasbro, Ikea
“Underpinning sustained growth of activity was a further rise in the level of new work received in September. New work also increased at a faster pace than one month previously,” according to the report. “Firms reported that underlying market conditions had improved during the month.”
Hasbro Inc., the second-largest toymaker, opened a Moscow office last month, calling Russia one of its “key markets” and saying it expected the country’s share of European sales to “grow significantly.” Ikea, the world’s biggest home- furnishings retailer which entered the Russian market in 2000, said in August its sales are growing faster there than in any other market.
‘Complex Situation’
The government forecasts the economy will grow 1.6 percent next year compared with a drop of 8.5 percent in 2009, the first contraction since Russia defaulted on its debt and devalued the ruble in 1998. The economy contracted a record 10.9 percent in the three months through June.
The situation in the service sector remains fragile as pay cuts and mounting joblessness force shoppers to reduce spending.
August sales slid 9.8 percent from a year earlier, the most since the same month in 1999, after declining 8.2 percent in July, the Federal Statistics Service said Sept. 21.
“The complex situation in the sector earlier this year is still convincing companies to cut costs, with job shedding increasing further,” Aslanova said. “This leaves less room for a rapid sector rebound if new orders continue to grow.”
VTB first compiled the survey, which is based on responses from about 300 purchasing managers, in October 2001.
To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Nicholson in Moscow at anicholson6@.
Last Updated: October 5, 2009 02:14 EDT
AFP: Russia considers World Bank loan: minister
(AFP) – 20 hours ago
MOSCOW — Russia is considering borrowing up to four billion dollars (2.74 billion euros) from the World Bank next year, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin was reported on Sunday as saying.
Kudrin said he discussed the idea with World Bank chief Robert Zoellick on the sidelines of a joint World Bank and International Monetary Fund meeting in Istanbul at the weekend.
"We discussed the possibility of receiving a credit of 2.0-4.0 billion dollars. Of course, we are interested in a simplified, fast-track credit," Russian news agencies quoted Kudrin as saying.
"It all depends on the conditions and we agreed to negotiate about the conditions."
Deputy Finance Minister Dmitry Pankin added that Moscow would not accept any credit which came with conditions about the running of Russian economic policy.
The global financial crisis has blown a major hole in the Russian budget, with the deficit predicted to be around 8.0 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2009.
The possible World Bank loan is the latest mechanism to be considered by the government to obtain extra cash.
It has already announced plans to issue 17.8 billion dollars of eurobonds in 2010 and relaunch a long-mothballed privatisation drive.
Russia has proudly boasted that it has not needed to ask for credit from the IMF to help it through the economic crisis, in stark contrast to other ex-Soviet states such as Ukraine.
Yevgeny Yasin, research director at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, said taking a loan from the World Bank was "good, something that should have been done a long time ago".
"If Russia takes this money from the World Bank, then this money will be spent on something which will be good for the whole country," he told Moscow Echo radio.
Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions
Bloomberg: RusHydro, Rosneft and Sberbank: Russian Equities Preview
By Stephen Bierman
Oct. 5 (Bloomberg) -- The following shares may have unusual price changes in Russian trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses, and prices are from the previous close unless otherwise noted.
The 30-stock Micex Index fell 2.94 percent to 1,175.83 at the close in Moscow, the largest fall in almost two weeks. The dollar-denominated RTS Index fell 3.32 percent to 1,224.80.
OAO RusHyrdo (HYDR RX): Russia’s industrial safety watchdog said on Oct. 3 that an accident at the nation’s largest power plant that killed 75 people was caused by a combination of technical and human factors. The Russian utility fell 0.86 percent to 1.039 rubles in Moscow on Oct. 2.
OAO Rosneft (ROSN RX): Crude oil closed down 1.2 percent on the New York Mercantile Exchange after a report showed the U.S. jobless rate increased to a 26-year high. Russia’s largest oil producer fell 3.4 percent to 220.71 rubles in Moscow.
OAO Sberbank (SBER03 RX): Magna International Inc., the lead investor in a group buying General Motors Co’s Opel unit, was accused of plans to move van production to Russia from Luton in the north of London, the Financial Times reported on Oct. 3, citing local trade union official Tony Woodley. Sberbank, Russia’s largest lender, and Magna are planning to at least buy 55 percent of Opel. Sberbank fell 2.5 percent to 58.50 in Moscow.
To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Bierman in Moscow sbierman1@.
Last Updated: October 4, 2009 22:00 EDT
Citi: China is looking to participate in development of Elgestk coal deposit
Citi
October 5, 2009
Interfax reports that China may participate in the share capital of OPK Mining which is developing the Elgestk coal deposit in the Tuva region. China will be interested in securing coal shipments from this project as well, according to the report.
Daniel Yakub
World Poultry: Russia: Future poultry import quotas reduced 05 Oct 2009
The Ministry of Economic Development of Russia has proposed to reduce quotas on poultry and pork imports to Russia for the period of 2010-2012, according to the deputy head of the Ministry Andrei Slepnev.
"We are proposing to decrease the quotas on poultry and pork imports for 2010," he said. Moreover, in the case of beef the quota will remain the same.
Slepnev reported that this proposal will be considered at a future meeting of the governmental commission on customs-tariff regulation.
He noted that the country principle and the amount of fees will be retained at current levels, while the new quotas will be calculated from the desired level of stability of the Russian meat market.
The deputy minister did not specify a specific quota size, arguing that the final decision will be made during a governmental meeting. "We are proposing to set these quotas for a three year period that will allow producers to plan their business," he explained.
By Evegen Vorotnikov
Bloomberg: Russia May Sell Stake in Sheremetyevo Airport, Vedomosti Says
By Paul Abelsky
Oct. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Russia’s government may sell a stake in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport to help finance its budget deficit, Vedomosti reported.
The country’s second-busiest airport will be included on next year’s “privatization plan,” the newspaper said, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. The government may wait until a new terminal opens in 2011 before selling a stake, Vedomosti said. Sheremetyevo declined to comment, according to the newspaper.
The government has about 5,500 enterprises that can be converted into joint stock companies and sold starting as early as this year, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said last month.
To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Abelsky in Moscow at pabelsky@.
Last Updated: October 5, 2009 00:57 EDT
OCTOBER 5, 2009, 2:19 A.M. ET
WSJ: Telenor, Altimo to Merge VimpelCom and Kyivstar Assets
By DOMINIC CHOPPING
STOCKHOLM -- Norwegian telecom operator Telenor ASA Monday announced a deal with Russian telecom investment firm Altimo, where both companies will merge their assets in OAO Vimpel Communications and Kyivstar to create a new mobile telecom operator.
The new company is to be called VimpelCom Ltd. and will provide mobile telecom services in Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
VimpelCom Ltd. will have its headquarters in the Netherlands and once the deal is completed, in mid-2010, the company will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Both parties have agreed to suspend their ongoing legal dispute, with a new structure put in place to cut the chance of any new disputes arising.
Telenor shares closed Friday at 63.50 kroner, valuing the company at 105.28 billion kroner ($18.26 billion).
Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@
Bloomberg: Telenor Ends Altimo Russia Feud With VimpelCom, Kyivstar Merger
By Meera Bhatia and Diana ben-Aaron
Oct. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Telenor ASA, the biggest Nordic phone company, will merge its stakes in OAO VimpelCom and ZAT Kyivstar with those of Russia’s Altimo, ending a dispute over control of Russia’s second-largest mobile company.
The deal will create a new company, VimpelCom Ltd., headquartered in the Netherlands, Telenor and Altimo said in a statement today. The companies will suspend ongoing legal proceedings and withdraw or settle them before the transaction is concluded, they said.
Telenor has been locked in disputes over control of VimpelCom and Kyivstar, including a Siberian case that resulted in a $1.7 billion fine for Telenor. A Moscow bailiff arrested the Fornebu, Norway-based company’s shares in VimpelCom in March. The Siberian case was brought by Farimex Products Inc., the Russian owner of 0.002 percent of VimpelCom. Altimo has denied any link to Farimex.
“We are pleased to announce an agreement that will enable us to focus completely on the long-term value creation opportunity of the new company and put all previous disagreements behind us,” Telenor Chief Executive Officer Jon Fredrik Baksaas said in the statement.
The new joint venture will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and incorporated in Bermuda for neutrality, the companies said. The companies expect to complete the transaction by mid-2010.
To contact the reporter on this story: Diana ben-Aaron in Helsinki at dbenaaron1@
Last Updated: October 5, 2009 02:11 EDT
Reuters: FACTBOX-New operator formed by Vimpelcom-Kyivstar merger
Mon Oct 5, 2009 2:44am EDT
OSLO, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Norway's Telenor (TEL.OL: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Russia's Alfa Group have agreed to end years of conflict and lawsuits with a merger of their mobile telecoms interests in Russia and Ukraine and the creation of a new U.S.-listed operator. For latest story please click on [ID:nL5637811] Below are some facts about the new company:
* Russia's second-biggest cellphone group OJSC Vimpelcom (VIP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Ukraine's market leader Kyivstar to merge to create new company, VimpelCom Ltd.
* VimpelCom Ltd will be biggest mobile operator in emerging markets in Europe, Middle East and Africa, Telenor says. Its proforma 2008 revenue would have been $12.6 bln, core earnings (EBITDA) at $6.3 bln and it had 85 million subscribers.
* Voting rights in VimpelCom Ltd: Alfa's Altimo 43.89 percent, Telenor 35.42 percent, minorities 20.69 percent. Economic ownership: Altimo 38.46 percent, Telenor 38.84, minorities 22.70 percent.
* VimpelCom Ltd will launch an offer for all issued and outstanding shares in OJSC Vimpelcom subject to a greater than 95 percent acceptance threshold.
* Upon completion of the offer Telenor and Alfa's telecoms arm Altimo will contribute their respective shareholdings in Kyivstar to VimpelCom Ltd.
* VimpelCom Ltd will be headquartered and tax resident in the Netherlands, incorporated in Bermuda.
* It will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, its shareholders' agreement is governed by New York law and any future shareholder disputes are to be resolved by arbitration proceedings in London.
For a separate FACTBOX on Telenor's legal wrangles with Alfa, see [ID:nLA514488]
(Reporting by Wojciech Moskwa; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
PR Newswire: VimpelCom Welcomes Transaction Proposed by Altimo and Telenor
By: PR Newswire
Oct. 5, 2009 01:07 AM
MOSCOW and NEW YORK, Oct. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Open Joint Stock Company "Vimpel-Communications" (the "Company") (NYSE: VIP) welcomes today's decision by its two major shareholders, Altimo and Telenor, to combine ownership of VimpelCom and Kyivstar under a new company, VimpelCom Ltd., to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
"This exciting development strengthens VimpelCom's position as a global player in the telecommunications industry. It provides us with renewed clarity on a strategy of growth and expansion," said Company Chief Executive Officer Boris Nemsic. "We are delighted that our two major shareholders have agreed on a framework to create a powerful new vehicle for growth with VimpelCom and Kyivstar joined together under the newly listed VimpelCom Ltd. as one group. We believe this transaction will have positive strategic, synergistic and operational value for both companies, their shareholders and their customers."
The Company's Board of Directors has expressed its support for this proposal, based on the review by a special working group comprised of its three independent directors unaffiliated with either of Altimo or Telenor. This statement of support from the Board of Directors is based on current facts and circumstances, the proposed structure and terms of the transaction as disclosed by Altimo and Telenor and the diligence the Company and its advisers have conducted to date.
The terms of the exchange offer proposed by Altimo and Telenor are described in their joint press release issued today. The proposed exchange offer cannot commence until a registration statement has been filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and until the relevant offering document has been reviewed by the Federal Service for the Financial Markets of the Russian Federation. Once commenced, the completion of the proposed exchange offer will be subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain conditions. This statement by the Company is not a recommendation or solicitation with respect to the proposed exchange offer. Consistent with SEC rules and Russian law, the Company's Board of Directors will make a formal recommendation to the Company's minority shareholders with respect to the proposed exchange offer following the commencement of the exchange offer, which is not expected to occur for several months.
Advisors
The Company has engaged UBS Investment Bank to act as its financial advisor and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP to act as its legal advisor.
The Moscow Times: Opel’s Van Factory May Move to Russia
05 October 2009
Combined Reports
Magna International, the lead investor in a group buying General Motors’ Opel unit, was accused of plans to move van production to Russia from its British factory, by Unite, a trade union at Opel’s Vauxhall division, the Financial Times reported Friday.
“This is a stitch-up,” said Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of Unite, the newspaper reported. “We could see vans go to GAZ.”
Woodley told the newspaper that Magna had given no guarantee that the Luton plant would produce vans after 2013, when a production joint venture with Renault expires. Production may go to Oleg Deripaska’s GAZ Group, the newspaper said.
Magna denied the plans to the newspaper, saying, “No movement of production facilities to Russia is envisioned under the business plan and workers at Luton are in no worse a position than they were under GM, which had made no commitment beyond 2013,” the newspaper reported.
“What we’re dealing with here doesn’t … share the pain of downsizing and job losses,” Woodley said.
“It’s clearly biased for obvious political and financial reasons toward the German plants,” he said.
Magna gained favor early on with the German government, which strongly backed the firm’s Opel bid. Germany is providing 4.5 billion euros ($6.6 billion) of loan guarantees, which are necessary to finance Opel’s restructuring.
The deal has come under increasing criticism from other European countries where Opel operations are housed. Critics say that most of the downsizing is targeted on Opel’s non-German operations.
On Friday, Magna told Opel’s unions in Spain that it planned to present a new proposal on cost cuts next week, a labor representative said Friday.
Chema Fernando, a union leader at the plant in Figueruelas, Spain, said he was “satisfied” that Magna agreed to review an earlier proposal for the factory following a two-day meeting in Germany this week. A new plan will be presented Oct. 5, Fernando said in an interview, without giving details.
Opel’s reorganization after the division’s planned sale to a partnership of Magna and Sberbank may lead to the loss of as many as 10,900 jobs in Europe. Under a July proposal, Magna, Canada’s largest car-parts maker, would eliminate 1,672 jobs, or 23 percent of the work force, at Opel’s Spanish plant.
Workers at Opel’s four German factories, where GM employs 25,000 people, may have to achieve 175 million euros ($254 million) in annual savings out of a proposed 265 million euro Europe-wide cost-cut target, Alfred Klingel, works council chief at the Kaiserslautern, Germany, plant, said Sept. 30.
(Bloomberg, MT)
TTJ online: MM opens €80m sawmill in Russia
5 October, 2009
Mayr-Melnhof’s (MM) new sawmill in Russia has been officially opened by Leningrad governor Valery Serdjukov.
The opening of the €80m mill in Efimoskij follows a three year construction process and five month trial operations.
”The Russian market is interesting for Mayr Melnhof in two repsects,” said CEO Joseph Dringel. “Firstly, it offers an abundance of timber and also there is demand for highly processed standard timber in Russia.”
Annual production capacity will be about 650,000m³ of roundood, resulting in 350,000m³ of sawn timber.
Primary markets for the spruce sawn timber are the Baltics, central Europe, Japan and north-west Europe. Around 15% is aimed at the Russian market.
RIA: Russian truck maker KamAZ resumes production
11:2805/10/2009
MOSCOW, October 5 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's largest truck maker, KamAZ, restarted its main assembly line on Monday after a freeze since September 29, the company's PR department said.
"Today, on October 5, the main KamAZ assembly line, as well as all basic and auxiliary production and management departments resumed their working process," a company statement said.
The ongoing global financial crisis has caused a slump in world demand for vehicles. The assembly line at the Volga-based truck producer was halted to clear overstock due to low sales.
"A four-day workweek was introduced for [employees] until the end of October. Some of the personnel involved in truck production will work a five-day week the last part of October," the statement said.
The company suspended production several times since the beginning of 2009, putting workers on forced holidays.
KamAZ is the world's 11th largest truck maker and the eighth largest producer of diesel engines globally. KamAZ has 96 plants in Russia, Poland, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Vietnam, and Ethiopia.
In January-June 2009, KamAZ produced some 10,900 trucks. In September, some 2,800 trucks were produced by the company. Earlier company officials said KamAZ was expected to sell about 28,000 trucks in 2009, while 47,500 trucks were sold in 2008.
RenCap: Severstal proposes job cuts to US union
Rencap
October 5, 2009
Event: According to a Baltimore Sun article on 2 Oct, the union that represents 2,500 employees at the Sparrows Point steelworks (a Severstal subsidiary) has received a draft proposal from parent company outlining a restructuring plan that envisages cutting 580 jobs. Severstal has detailed a number of ways in which jobs could be affected, including reductions, retirements or transfers to other departments. In addition, Steel Business Briefing last week reported the temporary idling of a sinter plant at Sparrows Point. Severstal acquired Sparrows Point for $810mn in 2Q08.
Rationale: The Baltimore Sun cited John Cirri, president of United Steelworkers Local 9477, as saying, "other than the draft, there has been no discussion at all with local union as far as restructuring talks" on Severstal's side. Bette Kovach, a Severstal spokeswoman, said the company is still deciding whether to cut jobs, and how it will restructure Severstal North America. On our estimates, Severstal continues to lose money on its North American operations at a significant pace. The cash cost on Severstal's North American sites of $570-590/tonne for HRB exceeds industry averages in the US, and barely enables the operations to break even under current price levels. In our view, Severstal needs a fundamental restructuring of its North American operations, as a spin-off of the assets will not cover any reasonable part of the acquisition price. The loans used for acquisitions in North America remain on the parent company's balance sheet. The details published by the Baltimore Sun signal that Severstal has made no significant progress in negotiations with labour unions so far.
Boris Krasnojenov
Itar-Tass: Russian companies to participate in ITU Telecom World-2009
05.10.2009, 07.33
GENEVA, October 5 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian companies will participate in the international exhibition ITU Telecom World-2009, which will open here on Monday. Russia will have its pavilion for the first time at this prestigious forum, which will be held at the Geneva Palexpo exhibition center until Friday, October 9.
Twenty Russian companies, including Svyazinvest, Rostelecom, Russian Satellite Communications Company, were preparing the Russian pavilion. The Russian exhibitors represent the diversity of the industry of information communications technologies (ICT), from equipment vendors and federal research institutes to telecoms operators and space and radio communications providers.
Minister of Telecommunications and Mass Communications Igor Shchegolev, who heads the Russian delegation, said at the last Friday’s meeting of the Russian government presidium that the telecom forum is “some kind of an Olympiade of telecommunications technologies that is held once in four years.”
In Geneva Russian exhibitors intends not only to acquire experience, but also present their technologies – “to tell what we are doing in Sochi for 2014, how we will develop the infrastructure network, what we will do in Vladivostok (by an APEC summit) and by the Kazan Universiade (2012).” Meanwhile, Russian participants are planning to have contacts with telecom equipment producers and suppliers, which are interested in the sales in Russia and launching productions in Russia.
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), which organized forum, expects that about 40 countries will present their expositions and the delegations from 150 countries will attend the exhibition.
Reuters: TIMELINE-Russian banks struggle with bad loans
Mon Oct 5, 2009 4:37am EDT
MOSCOW, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Russian banks could be forced to make provisions of $45 billion in 2009 should bad loans rise to 10 percent of their overall credit portfolio, wiping out profits in the banking sector.
Following is a chronology of recent key events in the sector:
MAY
May 19 - Problem loans could soar to 35 to 50 percent of total lending in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, Standard & Poor's says. [ID:nLJ957879]
JUNE
June 1 - Russian banks may need to be recapitalised with around 1.3 trillion roubles ($43.25 billion) in 2009, Moody's says. [ID:nL1554029]
June 5 - President Dmitry Medvedev rules out creating a "bad bank" to clean up bad loans. [ID:nL534983]
June 19 - VTB says bad debts could rise to $9 billion by June 2010. [ID:nLJ543168]
June 29 - VTB says will likely make a loss this year. [ID:nLT624294] [ID:nLT718543] [ID:nLT16910]
June 30 - Alfa Bank President Pyotr Aven says defaults may hit $130 billion in the next 12 months. [ID:nLU501949]
- Russian banks require $20 billion to $80 billion in additional capital within a year as NPLs will reach 15 to 40 percent of banks' loan portfolios by year-end, Fitch says. [ID:nLU368648]
JULY
July 9 - Russia says it will spend 150 billion roubles in 2009 and 310 billion in 2010 on recapitalising banks via OFZ treasury bills. [ID:nL9317896]
July 14 - Sberbank restructures 6.5 percent of its corporate loan portfolio and 5 percent of retail loans. [ID:nLE295374]
July 22 - Oleg Vyugin, chairman of MDM bank, says bad loan levels are already 10 percent in the banking system [ID:nLM83854]
AUGUST
Aug 4 - VTB reports a worse-than-expected net loss in Q1 [ID:nL4371084]
Aug 27 - Sberbank will complete and sell real estate projects it has accumulated as non-performing loans rise and it forecloses on pledged assets [ID:nLR76657]
Aug 28 - Russian officials cut forecasts for banks' bad loans to less than 10 percent by the year-end and said state help for the sector could be scaled back. [ID:nLR695672]
SEPTEMBER
Sept 7 - VTB sells 41.5 pct of new share issue for 180.03 billion roubles ($5.7 billion) to the state. [ID:nL0449822]
Sept 11 - The state is unlikely to buy into privately owned banks, says central bank First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev. [ID:nLB635152]
Sept 16 - Russian companies have restructured the lion's share of problem debts but the issue will stay on the 2010 agenda, the local head of Raiffeisen (RIBH.VI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) says. [ID:nLG149961]
Sept 19 - Sberbank says it hopes to sell assets acquired through unpaid loans during the crisis within three years. [ID:nLJ444394]
Sept 21 - Sberbank (SBER03.MM: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) says it expects provisions to rise above the forecast of 10 percent in 2009 [ID:nNLP502374]
Sept 30 - Central bank chairman Sergei Ignatyev says the Russian banking system as a whole will likely end 2009 in the black, and Russia's Alfa Bank backtracks from an earlier gloomy prognosis and says "there is no danger of catastrophe" for the financial system. [ID:nLU343674] (Compiled by Dmitry Sergeyev, editing by Will Waterman) ($1=30.06 Rouble)
Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)
Citi: Lukoil's CEO plans to visit Iraq this week to discuss West Kurna-2 project
Citi
October 5, 2009
Lukoil's CEO Vagit Alekperov plans to visit Iraq at the end of this week to "run an additional round of consultations" with the Iraqi government. As a reminder, Lukoil has stated that it hopes, in a partnership with ConocoPhillips, to revive a pre-war contract for development of the giant 4.8bn bbl West-Kurna-2 project. Lukoil and ConocoPhillips unsuccessfully bid for the West Kurna-1 project in the first post-war Iraqi licensing round last year.
According to Petroleum Intelligence Weekly, the first round was a failure as Iraq awarded only one contract due to the wide disparity between the Iraqi officials and the oil companies on suitable service fees. The second-round bidding parameters, per-barrel service fee and a plateau production target, are expected to be released in early November. Currently the oil companies are in the process of discussing field data and model contract and they are due to meet with Iraqi officials in mid-October. If everything goes on schedule, Iraq could secure deals with the oil companies at the end of January 2010.
Alexander Korneev
Itar-Tass: 24th World Gas Conference to open in Argentina
05.10.2009, 03.20
BUENOS-AIRES, October 5 (Itar-Tass) -- The 24th World Gas Conference will open in the Argentinean capital on Monday. Experts and top managers of the leading world oil and gas companies will participate in the conference. The Russian delegation includes Deputy Speaker of the State Duma Valery Yazev, who chairs the Russian Gas Union.
The chief executive officers of the leading world companies in the gas industry, including Russia’s gas major Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller, will deliver 14 main reports at the conference. Miller will deliver a report at a plenary meeting on the stability of the natural gas supply and demand on October 6.
An exhibition will be held simultaneously with the gas forum. The newest technologies and developments in the energy industry will be presented at the exhibition.
The International Gas Union (IGU) holds the World Gas Conference once in three years. The IGU brings together gas associations and companies from 71 countries, which produce 95% of natural gas in the world. Russia is an IGU member-country since 1957. The IGU was established in 1931 to promote the development of the gas industry in the world.
|Helsinki Times: Nord Stream to clear 28 mines in Gulf of Finland |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|Monday, 05 October 2009 10:20 |
|Nord Stream, a German-Russian joint venture that is planning building an undersea gas pipeline between the two countries, said in|
|a statement Friday it was planning beginning mine clearance work along the pipeline's path this month. |
| |
|The statement added that 28 munitions would be cleared by next spring. |
| |
|The clearance work is to be carried out by UK-based Battle Area Clearance and Training Equipment Consultants. |
|RenCap: Sistema reduces its stake in Sistema-Invest and direct stake in Bashneft |
| |
| |
|Rencap |
|October 5, 2009 |
| |
|Event: Sistema said in a statement to the regulator that 1) Sistema decreased its shareholding in Sistema-Invest (which holds |
|about 20% in Bashkirian Oil assets) from 65% to 19.99% and 2) Sistema decreased its direct shareholding in Bashneft from 55.6% to|
|50.9%. |
| |
|Action: Such a transaction is likely to be considered unusual by the market, in our view, and taken negatively. |
| |
|Rationale: The company says the sale is related to the financing terms of the Bashkirian Oil assets purchase. The deal amounts |
|and the counterparty are not disclosed. Sistema has the right to buy the Sistema-Invest stake back. This transaction is unusual, |
|but the company explains it by "simple management restructuring". As per US GAAP, Sistema will continue to consolidate the 65% |
|stake in Sistema-Invest within its accounts. |
Financial Times Adviser: Russia to get boost from oil
• Story by: Oliver Shah
• Magazine: InvestmentAdviser
• Published Monday , October 05, 2009
The oil extraction sector will grow 20-30 per cent in 2010 and fuel expansion in the Russian economy, Fortis Investments has predicted.
Chief investment officer Vladimir Tsuprov said the negative trend that has seen the halving of net profits from two of the country's foremost oil producers this year would be reversed.
Oil and gas constitute almost 70 per cent of Russia's exports, with taxes on oil companies bringing in more than half the government's annual income.
Despite nine-year record production figures – in August, the country produced just under 10m barrels per day – the state-controlled oil producer Rosneft saw a 47 per cent year-on-year fall in net profits in the first half, while independent producer Lukoil suffered a 50 per cent decline.
The Russian government is expected to announce tax cuts for new oil fields soon, which Mr Tsuprov said would benefit companies such as Rosneft and Lukoil. This would help a renaissance in the sector, which would push the national economy back into growth in 2010 and to pre-crisis health by 2010.
Mr Tsuprov said: "The economy will grow in 2010. In late 2009, the government may make as much as 30 per cent of the expenditure allocated to the entire year.
"We expect inflation to continue to decline, eventually allowing for further cuts in the central bank policy rates. Despite positive August figures, however, we reiterate our annual inflation forecast for the year at 12 per cent."
He added: "In 2010, the inflation rate will be 11 per cent, compared with 12 per cent this year."
New Europe: Can Russia develop both Yamal and Shtokman?
Author: Kostis Geropoulos
4 October 2009 - Issue : 854RUSSIA is selecting contractors to develop the challenging Shtokman gas field in the Barents Sea, Shtokman Development AG Deputy Executive Director Herve Madeo said.
The Swiss-registered company was established in February 2008 to develop the deposit, estimated to contain 3.8 trillion cubic metres of natural gas and more than 37 million tonnes of gas condensate. Gazprom has a 51% equity interest in Shtokman Development AG where StatoilHydro (24%) and Total (25%) are the two other partners.
In the first phase of the field’s development, Shtokman Development is selecting contractors supplying and manufacturing equipment and technology to produce natural gas at depths exceeding 1,000 feet, the construction of a 373-mile natural gas pipeline from the gas field to the coast and contractors to build a liquefied natural gas plant in Teriberka port, Madeo was quoted by the press as saying.
According to Murmansk region Governor Dmitry Dmitriyenko, Shtokman Development AG is seeking foreign contractors for the work because Russian companies lack the expertise. During a news conference Dmitriyenko told reporters, “Russia’s experience in building pipeline systems at such large depths is very limited. Most likely, Russian contractors will not be involved in those works since we do not have the required technology.”
Russia is seeking to beef up its presence in the global market for LNG to a 20% share with the help of Yamal and Shtokman. Gazprom’s Chief Executive Alexei Miller said he expects the global market for LNG will double by 2020. Gazprom operates Russia’s only LNG project - Sakhalin II - located on the Pacific island of Sakhalin. Shell was forced by Russian authorities to cede control of the project in 2007 - a move that rattled many investors. But two weeks ago, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s called for Western companies to help Russia develop its gas reserves in the Yamal peninsula. The peninsula in northern Russia and surrounding area is said officially to hold some 70 percent of Russia’s total known gas reserves.
Asked if Russia’s Yamal initiative may, if pursued, impact negatively on Shtokman’s prospects, Konstantin Simonov, director of the independent National Energy Security Fund in Moscow, told New Europe on 1 October that Gazprom is developing Shtokman jointly with two foreign partners – StatoilHydro and Total. “Shtokman is not a Russian problem. Shtokman is the problem of Total and the problem of StatoilHydro. And the same situation is with Yamal peninsula,” he said. He noted that the Russian government has reconsidered its earlier decision to develop Yamal’s strategic reserves on its own and is seeking foreign help. “Putin made this presentation of the Yamal project and soon it will be possible to speak about joint ventures between Gazprom and other foreign companies,” he said. “For Russia it would be difficult to develop both projects. But now Shtokman is not a Russian project. It’s our joint project and the same can be with Yamal.”
Transporting gas from the Yamal peninsula is very uncertain. There is no final decision because several years ago the official plan was to build the Bovanenkovo-Ukhta pipeline system and transfer gas from the Bovanenkovo field and all other fields to Ukhta, Simonov said, adding that currently there are more active discussions about possible LNG exports from Yamal to the United States. However, Gazprom is still considering building the Bovanenkovo-Ukhta pipeline, which can connect with existing pipelines in Ukraine and Belarus, he said. He also said that he sees no need to use Nord Stream to export gas from Bovanenkovo to Europe. “I don’t think that Yamal and Shtokman will struggle for a place in Nord Stream,” he said, adding that the majority of produced natural gas from Shtokman’s first phase would be sold to Europe via Nord Stream.
Gazprom
RIA: Energy giant Gazprom to move into fast food
12:4505/10/2009
MOSCOW, October 5 (RIA Novosti) - Gazprom subsidiary Gaztorgpromstroy is to open a series of supermarkets and a fast food chain, Russian business daily Kommersant said on Monday.
According to the newspaper, Gaztorgpromstroy will use 400 stores and canteens which currently only cater to Gazprom employees for its new up-market supermarkets and Naraskhvat restaurants.
Most of the stores and restaurants will be located in Siberia and the Urals, the site of Gazprom's largest natural plants. However, several restaurants may be also opened in central Russia.
Gazprom's subsidiaries include Gazprombank, Gazprom-Media, Gazpromgeofizika, the Promstroybank of Russia, Sibneftegas, and Uraltransgaz.
RenCap: Gazprom White Nights 2014 notes: Callable or not?
Rencap
October 5, 2009
On 30 Sep, the Irish Stock Exchange reported that Gazprom had fully repaid its $600mn loan from GPB Credit Risk Management, a Gazprombank special-purpose vehicle, which was an underlying asset for the respective notes issued in Apr 2009 and due Mar 2014 (ISIN: XS0422451517). The loan was part of Gazprom's financing package for the acquisition of a 20% stake in Gazprom neft in Apr 2009 (where additional lenders included Sberbank for $3bn and RSHB for $600mn). All three components of the package carried similar terms, with five-year maturities and a 10% interest rate.
This event, although without any direct relevance to other tradeable exposure to Gazprom, still raises concerns about whether VTB's White Nights notes referencing two loans to Gazprom (due 2014, ISINs: XS0416535820 and XS0420135443) may also be prepaid. This would have made them effectively callable (it is irrelevant, in our view, that the term sheet says they are not formally callable). The previously mentioned loans are very expensive to Gazprom now - paying 10.5% interest on a combined $1.3bn of debt when LIBOR is at historic lows (with the five-year swap rate at 2.5%) and Gazprom's five-year CDS is below 300 bpts. The underlying loan agreement says the borrower (Gazprom) may fully prepay before maturity with the prior written consent of the lender. If such consent is granted, this would clearly be very detrimental to the holders of the notes, which are trading close to 114 in price terms.
We have re-examined the issue documentation and, in particular, the underlying Master Trust Deed (as amended on 26 Sep 2007) for the issuer's programme through which the notes were launched. We believe this document was not part of the standard package that was distributed to the market before the notes were floated. The lender under the underlying loan was White Nights itself (not VTB). The powers given to the trustee (TMF, in this case) in relation to the underlying loan agreement include the power to exercise any and all rights which would have been exercisable by the lender. The trustee, as is typically the case, may give such consents if it is satisfied that the interests of the noteholders will not be materially prejudiced thereby. The trustee is also forbidden, of course, to go against an extraordinary resolution of the holders, should a meeting to pass such resolution be convened. In short, our reading of the documents indicates that with the presence of a reputable trustee and a typically worded trust deed, the risk of early repayment of the bonds is only theoretical. As a side note, GPB Credit Risk Management's note was prepaid because the loan agreement in this case explicitly allowed the borrower to prepay at its discretion, without any consent from the lender. This, in all likelihood, was precisely why the issue was never marketed and sold to investors.
Petr Grishin
The Financial Times: Russia: Gazprom faces problems at home and abroad
By Miriam Elder
Published: October 2 2009 15:53 | Last updated: October 2 2009 15:53
In late September, Russia’s prime minister Vladimir Putin summoned chief executives from 10 global energy companies to meet inside the Arctic Circle, on the gas-rich peninsula of Yamal.
There, at probably Europe’s main source of energy, he assumed his new role of chief salesman, urging the companies to help Gazprom develop new gas fields in one of the world’s harshest climes.
“I can assure you that you have not made this long trip to the end of the Earth in vain,” he said.
It is a different tune from the one Mr Putin was singing during the boom years. But Russia is in a vastly different position today, as is state-run Gazprom, hit by a financial crisis that has affected Russia more harshly than most emerging markets.
Gazprom has cut its investment program for 2009 by 17 per cent, to Rbs761bn ($25.4bn).
Yamal was the first to be affected. The start-up of Bovanenkovo, a field estimated to hold 4,900bn cubic metres (bcm) of gas, was put off by one year, to late 2012. With that, Yamal’s gas fields – discovered and touted in Soviet times – saw their first launch further delayed. The company cited lower demand as the cause.
Inside Russia, the drop has been particularly severe. Industrial output declined 14 per cent in the first seven months of this year, compared with 2009, dropping again in August following a modest rise in June and July. The recovery is expected to be slower than in Europe, with officials saying the country will not reach pre-crisis levels of growth until at least 2012.
Russia has given hints that it will change its domestic gas policy accordingly. Independent gas producers, long largely denied access to the Gazprom monopoly’s infrastructure, may emerge the big winners.
“In the near future, we will try to liberalise the domestic market,” Mr Putin told an investment conference on September 29. “We will try to liberalise access to pipelines.”
Domestic gas sales account for most of Gazprom’s turnover but a paltry fraction of its revenues. Many analysts were sceptical of Russia’s plans to liberalise domestic gas prices by 2011 to reach parity with Europe when the plan was first announced.
The already politically difficult decision will be harder to pull off with Russian industry and consumers struggling under the weight of the crisis.
Valery Nesterov, energy analyst at Troika Dialog, says he expects the move will not be made until 2013-15.
The crisis has also prompted disputes with Central Asian nations such as Turkmenistan, which boost Gazprom’s supplies to customers in Russia and the CIS.
“Gazprom is basically ready to cede part of the domestic market to independent gas producers,” Mr Nesterov says. “Its traditional priority is export, since 80 per cent of its revenue comes from that.”
Concerns over European energy security resulting from Russia’s failure to invest in new fields were loud during the boom years, and have grown louder since the crisis hit.
“If the company cuts [its investment] too much, it may be harmful for them if demand surges. They will miss an opportunity,” says Fatih Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency. “It may give an impetus to European governments to look at other options,” he says, including renewables and nuclear energy.
Gazprom says it will keep investments down as long as European demand remains in a slump. “Why invest money in what is not in demand?” Gazprom deputy chief executive Alexander Ananenkov said when first floating the Bovanenkovo delay in June.
Gazprom’s production is expected to drop significantly. Mr Ananenkov says that whereas it produced 550 bcm in 2008, output would shrink to between 450 and 510 bcm this year and creep up to 523 bcm by 2012. The company says it expects European demand to begin to recover this year, and rise 11 per cent by 2020.
In the short term, that should have little effect on European supply, as demand remains low and work at the massive Bovanenkovo field is close to completion, says Jonathan Stern, director of gas research at the Oxford Institute of Energy Studies. The long-term is a different story, but one with a similar narrative to the main discussion pre-crisis.
“Europe is fundamentally confused,” he says. “It doesn’t know whether it wants more Russian gas because it can’t rely on other people, or less because it can’t rely on Russia.” That could lead to an increased push for alternative sources and liquefied natural gas, as well as the Nabucco pipeline to deliver central Asian gas to Europe.
Gazprom insists its priority projects, including the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany and the development of the Arctic Shtokman field, remain on track, although analysts have long called the projected timelines optimistic.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. You may share using our article tools.
................
................
In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.
To fulfill the demand for quickly locating and searching documents.
It is intelligent file search solution for home and business.
Related searches
- 10 facts about russia s history
- facts about russia for kids
- videos about russia for kids
- learn about russia for kids
- map of russia for kids
- russia kids learning tube
- russia for kids printables
- information about russia for kids
- russia and central asia map
- german soldiers in russia ww2
- china and russia warn us
- iran china russia news