Russia
Russia 100201
Basic Political Developments
• RIA: Russia, U.S. diplomats resuming arms talks in Geneva
• Itar-Tass: Russia-USA talks on new START treaty are in home stretch
• The Guardian: US-Russia arms control treaty talks resume
• RIA: Medvedev, Obama should Beware of the START Pitfalls - By Ariel Cohen, Ph.D., is Senior Research Fellow in Russian and Eurasian Studies and International Energy Policy at the Katherine and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Policy at The Heritage Foundation.
• The Hindu: Russian envoy to meet NSA Menon - In a follow-up to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s trip to Moscow in December last, Russia and India are set for a round of intensive engagement, with a two-day visit by Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, beginning on Monday.
• ColomboPage: Sri Lanka President to visit Russia - Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa will be leaving on an official visit to Russia beginning February 5th. This is President's first overseas visit since his reelection to a second term in office.
• Today’s Zaman: Medvedev to pay ‘key’ visit to Turkey in May
• Xinhua: Russia, Venezuela step up oil cooperation
• Itar-Tass: Sechin, Venezuelan minister discuss oil concern plans, car deliveries - Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin and Venezuelan Energy and Oil Minister Rafael Dario Ramirez Carreno met in Moscow to discuss the work of Russia’s National Oil Consortium in Venezuela and the deliveries of Russian vehicles, the government press office said on Sunday.
• RIA: Russia, Venezuela talk oil, cars export in Moscow
• Interfax: Russia to send more aid to Haiti - The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry will send two planes within the next few days to deliver more humanitarian aid to Haiti.
• Itar-Tass: Russian doctors end Haiti mission, return home
• : Sudanese Air Force deploys Russian military aircraft
• Korea IT Times: Why is the Military Partnership Between China and Russia Weakening?
• Pravda: Russia's Arms Sales in 2009 Evaluated at $7.4 Billion
• RIA: Russian tycoon fined $38M in Switzerland, set to appeal fine - Russian tycoon Viktor Vekselberg, the owner and chairman of Renova investment group, said on Monday he was surprised by a fine imposed by the Swiss authorities and intended to appeal the decision.
• : Russia 'concerned' at Swiss fine for tycoon
• Hurriyet: Georgian TV says taken off air to please Russia - A newly-launched Georgian TV channel said Sunday that it had been taken off air by its France-based satellite operator because of what it alleged was pressure from the Russian government.
• B92: “Russia opposes Serbian NATO membership” - “A possible decision by Serbia to join NATO would mean that the Serbian people accept the NATO action against the former Yugoslavia and accept Kosovo’s independence,” Kosachev said.
• Meat International: US may soon resume pork exports to Russia 01 Feb 2010
• RIA: Russia cancels restrictions on pork imports from Ireland
• Itar-Tass: Last of 3 GLONASS satellites launched in Dec put into operation
• RIA: Chubais urges diversification of Russian economy
• Reuters: Attack on Russian provincial police HQ kills 1
• RIA: One police official dead, another injured in shooting in South Russia
• The News: Two 'rebels' killed in Dagestan
• Itar-Tass: Two militants destroyed in Dagestan
• Itar-Tass: One killed, 2 injured in gunfire at Ingush Interior Ministry
• RIA: Russian Church marks anniversary of Patriarch Kirill's enthronization
• VOA: Kremlin Ties to Orthodox Church Raise Concern
• Itar-Tass: Criminal case opened over death of Krasnodar City Duma chairman
• The Moscow Times: Lawmaker Killed in Car Crash After Opening of First Casino
• RIA: Southern Russian city legislature speaker dies in car accident
• Casino Gambling Web: Lawmakers Death Raises Concerns Over Remote Casinos In Russia
• The Moscow Times: Hacker Attack Freezes Novaya Gazeta's Web Site - Novaya Gazeta's web site was paralyzed by a hacker attack for a sixth day Sunday in what editors called the strongest assault ever to hit the opposition newspaper's online edition.
• AP: Environmental group says office raided over Baikal - Baikal Environmental Wave said Friday local investigators searched their office the previous day without a warrant and confiscated staff computers and documents.
• The Moscow Times: Migration Service Takes Credit for Population Growth
• The Moscow Times: The Wizard of Russia - Putin is the national leader made in heaven. He is the quintessential “kind tsar” who — live on national television — saved factory jobs in Pikalyovo, redrew an oil pipeline route with one stroke of the pen to save the pristine Lake Baikal, and after meeting babushka Pelageya in Ufa raised her pension and then did the same for all pensioners.
• Gulf Times: Hope of real change under Medvedev fades - By Michael Stott/Moscow
• The Independent: Kremlin takes its revenge on the oligarchs - Mikhail Khodorkovsky's second trial for fraud has already lasted nearly a year. But his real 'crime' is to have crossed Vladimir Putin
• Russia profile: Catch Me If You Can - A Long Overdue Crackdown on Racist Violence Has Reduced Murders, but Neo-Nazis Are Now Taking on the State Itself
• Businessneweurope: Pipe dreams come true - Cold War tensions between Europe and Russia will persist as long as the energy infrastructure from that era remains in place. But in the last few months, construction has started or finished on a raft of new pipelines that have already radically changed the make-up of energy politics on the Eurasian land mass.
• Financial Sense: Russia's Conquest of Europe
National Economic Trends
• Bloomberg: Russian Manufacturing Expanded in January as New Orders Rose
• Bloomberg: Russia May Cut Rate to 7.5% This Quarter, Deutsche Bank Says
• The Moscow Times: Russia Ranks 55th in Report of 60 Globalized Economies
• Easybourse: Russian GDP Shrank By 7.9% In 2009 – Rosstat
• Bloomberg: Russian Economy Suffered Deepest Contraction on Record in 2009
Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions
• Interfax: Russian stocks open lower; MICEX index down 0.9% in first minute
• Market Watch: Russia's X5 Retail, M.video raised to overweight
• Reuters: Russia's Seventh Continent 2009 sales up 12 pct yr/yr
• UralSib: New law regulating retailers takes effect today
• Alfa: Government may cut profit-tax-deductable interest rate from 15% to 3%
• Bloomberg: Billionaire Potanin’s Prof-Media Plans April IPO, Vedomosti Says
• The Moscow Times: Banking Stocks Defy Bad Debt Questions
• Itar-Tass: Russian Post raises tariffs on parcels by 15%
• RBC: Russia may soon see trade in Rusal shares
• Reuters: Russia's Deripaska says will stay as RUSAL CEO
• Reuters: Norilsk Eyes $2 Billion 2009 Profit After Loss: Reports
• : Norilsk: nickel production fell by 5.6% in 2009
• Bloomberg: VimpelCom to Boost Spending as 2010 Bodes Return to ‘Normal’
• Interfax China: Lenovo to expand Russian operations in 2010 - Lenovo Russia GM
• RIA: McDonald's: 20 years of successful work in Russia
• Itar-Tass: Vladivostok Sollers carmaker reopens after month-long holiday
• RIA: Sollers unveils new car for Russia's Far East
• Itar-Tass: Fishermen in Kamchatka end hunger strike
• Reuters: Fear grips Russia's private sector - Russian businessmen dodge political questions in Davos ; Most focus on self-preservation, not development; Lack of a clear vision of Russian "modernisation"
Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)
• Itar-Tass: Belarus raises tariffs of pumping of Russian oil by 11 %
• Rigzone: Sakhalin Energy Delivers 100th Cargo of Russian LNG
• Bloomberg: TNK-BP Sees No ‘Immediate’ Need for Share Sale to Raise Cash
• Bloomberg: Korea Gas Pursues Project in Russia’s Far East, Yonhap Reports
• Rigzone: Tatneft Pounces on Oil at Onshore Libyan Wildcat
• Oil and Gas Eurasia: Talakan Oil Flows into the Pacific The long-awaited launch of the first stage of the Eastern Siberia – Pacific Ocean (VSTO) oil pipeline took place on Dec. 28
Gazprom
• Bloomberg: Gazprom Third-Quarter Net Rises 33% to 174.6 Billion Rubles
• RBC: Gazprom posts IFRS-based net profit
• UpstreamOnline: Price rise pays off for Gazprom
• The Moscow Times: Gazprom, Hungarian Bank Sign South Stream Deal
• Realdeal.hu: Hungary's South Stream pipeline project company established
• Realdeal.hu: No official talks on gas distributor's client transfer to Gazprom, says CEO
• Reuters: RLPC-Russia's Gazprom Neft seeks new loan-bankers
• The Moscow Times: State Won Big in Sakhalin Buy - Immediately after Gazprom bought out international companies' stakes in Sakhalin-2, the state received a privileged share in Sakhalin Energy, which paid a $1.35 billion dividend.
• NewEurope: Gazprom to deliver gas to China in 2015
• New Europe: Gazprom game changer: Hello Yamal, Goodbye Shtokman - Gazprom’s plans to develop the massive Shtokman gas field in the Arctic may be delayed indefinitely while the Yamal gas projects will probably be the Russian gas monopoly’s number one priority to reflect the new realities of the global gas market. The elements of the game have certainly changed, especially over the last year, and the board of Gazprom is currently reviewing its strategy and priorities, Chris Weafer, chief strategist at Moscow’s Uralsib bank, told New Europe by phone on 27 January.
• The Georgian Daily: Gazprom half-aknowledges pessimistic outlook
• Rigzone: Poland Secures More Gas Supplies from Gazprom
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Full Text Articles
Basic Political Developments
RIA: Russia, U.S. diplomats resuming arms talks in Geneva
09:3101/02/2010
Russian and U.S. diplomats will meet for another round of talks in Geneva on Monday, with experts on both sides optimistic about Moscow and Washington finally reaching the homestretch for a new strategic bilateral arms deal.
The presidents of Russia and the U.S., Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama, agreed last July to cut nuclear arsenals to 1,500-1,675 operational warheads and delivery vehicles to 500-1,000.
Medvedev said in late January that the new arms deal to replace the 1991 agreement which expired last December had been agreed 95%.
U.S. National Security Adviser General James Jones and Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited Moscow last week. According to informed sources in the Russian capital, the delegates held two days of closed-door talks with Russian defense officials led by General Nikolai Makarov, chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, to discuss the exchange in telemetric data on strategic missiles allowing for their identification during launches.
MOSCOW, February 1 (RIA Novosti)
Itar-Tass: Russia-USA talks on new START treaty are in home stretch
01.02.2010, 04.31
GENEVA, February 1 (Itar-Tass) - Russian and U.S. delegations will resume in Geneva on Monday talks on a new START treaty. This will be “a new full-format round of talks,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said.
Time will show whether it will be the last one, but over the past half-a-year the sides have come close to finishing work on the treaty that is to replace the previous one, which expired on December 5.
“A next full-format round of talks will begin in Geneva on February 1,” Nesterenko said. He said on January 27 the presidents of the two countries had a telephone conversation in which they agreed to instruct their delegations to shortly finish coordinating technical details of the new treaty.
“Intensive work proceeds continuously in accordance with presidents’ instructions,” the diplomat stressed.
“Everything is normal at the talks, and 95 percent of issues in the new treaty have been coordinated,” Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on January 24. He said he was quite optimistic about the agreements.
Several days after that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said following talks in London with his U.S. counterpart Hillary Clinton that work on the new agreement could be finished “literally within the next few weeks”. He said the delegations in Geneva have new specified parameters on the issues that are yet to be coordinated. However, the items that have already been coordinated still need some technical, legal and linguistic work on them, he added.
“Major steps have been done towards ending talks on the new START treaty as a result of recent contacts in Moscow,” Lavrov stressed, referring to a visit to Moscow by U.S. president’s National Security Adviser James Johns and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen.
Admiral Michael Mullen said upon his return to Washington that he was pleased by his trip to Moscow, the talks on a new strategic offensive arms reduction treaty held in the Russian capital.
On January 27, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama discussed in detail and at length pressing issues of Russian-American relations, including the signing of a new START in the near future.
“The heads of state expressed satisfaction with a serious progress in preparations for the new START treaty reached during the recent Moscow round of talks, and agreed to instruct their delegations to shortly finish technical work on the document,” the Kremlin press service reported.
The Soviet Union and the United States signed the START-1 treaty on July 31, 1991, and the treaty entered into force on December 5, 1994. The treaty was concluded for 15 years until December 5, 2009.
The treaty can be replaced with a new agreement or extended for five years. Negotiations on an extension or replacement of the treaty should begin not later than a year before the START-1 treaty expires.
The START-1 treaty obliged both sides to reduce more than 40 percent of their nuclear warheads (to 6,000 warheads) and about 30 percent of their strategic carriers (to 1,600 pieces). Russia and the U.S. had fulfilled these liabilities by 2001. On July 6, 2009, Medvedev and Obama agreed to sign a new legally binding START shortly. They set a clear goal of reaching an agreement in December. Russia and the United States agreed to reduce strategic offensive arms and to sign a new legally binding strategic offensive arms reduction treaty to replace the existing START treaty that expired in December, according to a document entitled "Joint Understanding on Further Strategic Offensive Arms Cuts and Reductions" that was signed by Medvedev and Obama in Moscow in July.
The Joint Understanding commits the United States and Russia to reduce their strategic warheads to a range of 1,500-1,675, and their strategic delivery vehicles to a range of 500-1,100. Under the expiring START and the Moscow treaties the maximum allowable levels of warheads is 2,200 and the maximum allowable level of launch vehicles is 1,600.
These numbers reflect a new level of reductions of strategic offensive arms and delivery vehicles that will be lower than those in any existing arms control agreements. The new treaty will include effective verification measures drawn from the experience of the Parties in implementing START. The new agreement will enhance the security of both the U.S. and Russia, as well as provide predictability and stability in strategic offensive forces. A follow-on agreement to START directly supports the goals outlined by the President during his speech in Prague and will demonstrate Russian and American leadership in strengthening the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
“We are ready to reduce the number of nuclear weapon carriers several times against that required by the START-1 Treaty. As for the related warheads, their number should be lower than the level provided for in the 2002 Moscow Agreement, just as we agreed with President Obama,” Medvedev said.
The Guardian: US-Russia arms control treaty talks resume
Geneva meeting works towards finding successor to 40-year-old Start 1 weapons reduction agreement, which expired last year
guardian.co.uk, Monday 1 February 2010 08.19 GMT
Luke Harding in Moscow and Daniel Nasaw in Washington
Negotiations over a new arms control treaty between the US and Russia resume in Geneva today amid growing criticism of Barack Obama's conciliatory policy towards the Kremlin from human rights groups and a newly emboldened Republican party.
Obama and Russia's president, Dmitry Medevdev, indicated last week that a successor agreement to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start 1) could be signed within weeks. The 1972 treaty expired on 5 Dec, leaving Moscow and Washington without an operational arms control regime for the first time in 40 years.
But even if the sides manage to resolve their outstanding differences over verification and missile defence, serious doubts remain about Obama's ability ratify any new treaty ahead of November's mid-term US elections. Analysts say that if Obama fails to persuade the Senate to back a deal, the current arms control "vacuum" may continue.
Sixty-seven votes are needed in the Senate to ratify the treaty, and the Republican Scott Brown's victory in the Massachusetts Senate race last week compounded Obama's difficulties, emboldening the opposition and creating anxiety among centrist Democrats. When the treaty comes up for consideration, Republicans will be inclined to portray Obama as making concessions on defence.
"They don't want President Obama to score a major policy victory that would lend heft to his credentials as a great American statesman in the run-up to the midterm elections," said a US official familiar with the treaty talks. "They are going to use this as a political football and play this in a political way rather than out of consideration for its merits."
A year after his inauguration, critics claim Obama has failed to realise many of his major foreign policy goals, including on Iran, the Middle East, and Bay, with his "reset" strategy towards Russia yet to produce tangible results. One of Obama's key aspirations was to improve relations with Moscow in return for closer co-operation on Iran and its nuclear programme and the war in Afghanistan.
So far, however, the Kremlin has made no significant concessions towards the Obama White House, either over a sanctions regime against Tehran or anything else. Obama's decision to dump the Bush-era missile defence shield in central Europe last summer – an issue that had enraged Vladimir Putin, Russia's hawkish prime minister – failed to elicit any reciprocal gesture from the Russian side.
Obama's tactical silence on human rights issues in Russia and other repressive former Soviet republics, meanwhile, has infuriated beleaguered human rights defenders. During a visit to Moscow last December, the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, made clear that human rights issues would now be discussed "behind closed doors" with the Russian government, prompting accusations that Obama had relegated values to third-tier status.
"I don't think keeping silent is the way to go. At this stage, I would express disappointment with the Obama-Clinton approach," Allison Gill, the director of the Russia office of Human Rights Watch, said. "I don't think there is any evidence that pragmatic silence has proved particularly effective, certainly in promoting human rights."
Russian human rights defenders concur. "A more definite approach from the Americans wouldn't hurt civil society in Russia. You have to speak the truth," Lev Ponomarev, a prominent activist who has met Clinton, said. Ponomarev complained Clinton had not offered any criticism of the situation in Russia, where journalists are routinely murdered, and said the secretary of state's short encounter with civil society representatives had been a "protocol" one.
Some believe that in its eagerness to improve relations with Moscow, the Obama administration made key mistakes, in particular in its erroneously "optimistic" assessment of Medvedev. During his visit to Moscow last July, Obama held long face-to-face negotiations with Medvedev while snubbing Putin, in an unsubtle attempt to boost Medvedev's domestic prestige.
Since then, however, it has become clear that Medvedev is not the liberal reformer that some had hoped but part of Russia's managed democracy construct, in which elections are stage-managed and dissent swiftly squashed. Few are in any doubt that it is Putin who continues to run the country, and who remains the supreme arbiter of both domestic and foreign affairs.
"I think the administration had the feeling that more had changed in the Russian political scene with the arrival of Medvedev than was actually the case," Sam Greene, deputy director of the Moscow Carnegie Centre, said. Asked whether the Obama administration had been naive in its assessment, he said: "I think they were very quickly disavowed of the notion [that Medvedev was a liberal] – during the summit itself, in fact."
A new Start treaty would face an uphill battle to win Senate approval, he added. "The reality is that in a hard-fought election, anything can become hostage with politics. I think the state department and the administration will be wary of risking a treaty as important as this in a political season as fraught as we are likely to see towards the summer and fall." He went on: "If they don't get a treaty soon, it may have to wait until next year to ratify."
James Collins, former US ambassador to Russia under Bill Clinton, said ratification entirely depended on whether it was consistent with the US military's nuclear posture review, currently under way, and the military's and the intelligence community's approval of its verification mechanisms.
He said the time was ripe for the eventual treaty language to be judged on its own merits, with few available political "cheap shots".
"It has been negotiated to serve American interests. Nobody was playing politics or games with it. We didn't have artificial deadlines, and it wasn't set against Obama's Nobel prize," Collins said.
Over the last month, the Republicans have considerably stepped up their attack on Obama's Russia strategy, directing their fire in particular at Vladislav Surkov, the Kremlin's chief ideologue. Surkov is synonymous with the rollback of democracy during the Putin era. He visited Washington last week as co-chair of a new US-Russian intergovernmental civil society working group set up by Obama and Medvedev.
On 11 December, more than 60 Republican members of Congress signed a letter urging Obama to boycott the meeting until Surkov, Medvedev's deputy chief of staff, was replaced by "someone who has not been involved in establishing oppressive and undemocratic policies". They also expressed concern over Russia's human rights record.
In an interview with Radio Liberty, Michael McFaul, special assistant to Obama and senior director for Russian affairs at the National Security Council, played down the "controversy" over Surkov.
He said it was better to engage with Russia, even if there were "disagreements", than to "sit in our cubbyholes and not have any real connectivity with those that we think we are disagreeing with".
Some believe Obama has brought about a marked improvement in US-Russian relations – at least in tone. "There have been positive steps. It isn't a shouting match any more," Sergei Rogov, the director of Moscow's Insitute for US and Canada Studies, said. Rogov acknowledged there were disagreements – over Russia's claim, for example, it is entitled to a sphere of influence in post-Soviet countries. He also noted that trade and investment were "going down".
The key test, he said, was whether Obama could deliver a new Start treaty. "If we sign the treaty, there may be more progress in other areas; if we don't sign, we will have a repetition of the old story – a nice declaration but no practical achievements."
Others said Obama's failure to reap any dividends from his rapprochement with Russia was due to a more profound conceptual weakness: his failure to define America's role in the 21st century. "The problem is Obama's foreign policy. He is trying to solve complex problems without having a clear strategy of how to position the US in the new world," Fyodor Lukyanov, editor-in-chief of Russian in Global Affairs, said.
Start 1 was approved in 1992 on a 93-6 vote. Despite the acrimonious climate in Washington, some analysts hold out hope the new treaty will not get bogged down in domestic electoral politics, and will be judged on its own merits.
"The concerns about US defence go beyond the party-line divisions," said Ariel Cohen, a Russia and Eurasia analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation. "In the past, both Republicans and Democrats were those who approved. And in things like nuclear weapons, responsible politicians do not trifle."
RIA: Medvedev, Obama should Beware of the START Pitfalls
12:1501/02/2010
By Ariel Cohen, Ph.D., is Senior Research Fellow in Russian and Eurasian Studies and International Energy Policy at the Katherine and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Policy at The Heritage Foundation.
Washington and Moscow will restart talks with Washington on a new arms control treaty on Monday February 1. START was one of the very few foreign policy issued mentioned by President Obama in his State of the Union Address on January 27th. Obama, unusually taciturn on his foreign policy vision, suggested that we may be close to the conclusion of the talks. However, as I’ve written last month in the New York Times, the negotiations are stuck in the muck. The Obama administration has failed to complete the negotiation of a treaty to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which expired on Dec. 5. The two superpowers are now in unchartered waters.
Moscow and Washington have stated that START still applies voluntarily. This is false. First, without the consent of the U.S. Senate, expired treaties are null and void. Second, the Russians already kicked out U.S. inspectors, thus scrapping a key provision of the now-dead treaty. Third, on Tuesday, Dec. 29, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin upped the ante, linking U.S. missile defenses with the treaty signature. Speaking in Vladivostok later that week, Mr. Putin warned against U.S. “aggressiveness” and disruption of the nuclear balance in case the Obama administration deploys missile defenses.
The officials on both sides savor their “hardship post” in Geneva, negotiating the treaty. But there are concerns about where the negotiations are going, especially in they key venue: the U.S. Senate. Senators worry that the Obama administration may be making concessions to Russia that are detrimental to U.S. national security.
On Dec. 16, 41 senators signed a letter to President Obama, saying that they will oppose the new treaty if the United States gives up nuclear modernization. Thus, the 67 vote supermajority necessary for ratification is far from secure. The senators’ concern is real. Nuclear weapons and national security are not to be trifled with.
Supporters of missile defense, nuclear modernization and prompt global strike intercontinental ballistic missiles with conventional warheads would oppose the treaty if it undermines their priorities. Senator Jon Kyle referred to the Obama Administration negotiations as “arms control malpractice”.
The completion of the START follow-on, as well as the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty by Congress, are seen by the Obama Administration as a key stepping stone of “getting to zero” — achieving a world without nuclear weapons.
The Russian leaders and generals, however, quietly scoff at Mr. Obama’s goal. “Russia will develop offensive weapons — because without them there is no other way to defend our country,” Mr. Medvedev said in the recent TV interview.
Moreover, Russian nuclear policy and statements clearly reveal an abiding commitment to nuclear weapons. The U.S. national leadership and arms control negotiators should examine the Russian nuclear doctrine and policy as they are, not as they want them to be.
Russia is boosting the role of nuclear weapons in its national security strategy and doctrine. The Kremlin’s nuclear doctrine considers the United States its “principal adversary.” Russia will increasingly rely on nuclear weapons, including first-use use in local conflicts, such as with Georgia last year. This is what Russia’s National Security Council Secretary, General Nikolay Patrushev recently announced.
Moreover, Russia has 3,800 tactical nukes, which were not included in the follow-on treaty. And in the recent military maneuvers in Belarus, the Russian Army simulated an invasion of Poland — with 900 tanks and fired three nuclear missiles at the “enemy.”
And Russia’s military-industrial complex is busy developing high-precision and low-yield deep-penetration nuclear weapons. Yet Russia is demanding the halt to U.S. nuclear modernization, which the bipartisan Perry-Schlesinger Commission recommended to the U.S. Congress and is necessary to maintain an effective deterrent.
Lastly, the U.S. intelligence community advised Congress that Russia is currently in violation of START, as well as other arms control and nonproliferation agreements. The Obama administration’s broader agenda to “get to zero” appears to have compromised the treaty negotiations. This has caused Senator Jon Kyl, Republican of Arizona, to accuse the administration of arms control malpractice.
As we said it in a Heritage Backgrounder in November, the new treaty must not compromise U.S. or allied national security. It should not limit U.S. missile defenses or nuclear modernization. The United States should pursue a “protect and defend” strategy, which includes a defensive nuclear posture, missile defenses and nuclear modernization.
The Hindu: Russian envoy to meet NSA Menon
In a follow-up to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s trip to Moscow in December last, Russia and India are set for a round of intensive engagement, with a two-day visit by Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, beginning on Monday.
A fortnight later, another key Kremlin official and Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Sobyanin comes here. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will arrive in March to sign agreements, including the umbrella civil nuclear pact agreed upon during Dr. Singh’s December summit with President Dmitry Medvedev.
Mr. Patrushev — his visit is stated to be part of the regular exchanges to discuss international security-related issues — will be the first head of a foreign Security Council to hold discussions with the new National Security Adviser, Shiv Shankar Menon, noted Russian Ambassador Alexander Kadakin.
Mr. Sobyanin, co-chair of the Russian-Indian Commission on trade, scientific and cultural cooperation, will arrive in time for the ‘Defexpo’ here, with a delegation of officials to further military and technical cooperation. The Deputy Prime Minister, recently appointed point man for India, will also take stock of the civil nuclear cooperation, and assess the suitability of Haripur, in West Bengal, as a site for Russian nuclear reactors.
According to a Russian Embassy release, talks between Mr. Patrushev and Mr. Menon are expected to focus on regional and international security, and development of multifaceted Russian-Indian cooperation in bilateral and multilateral formats.
“Regular meetings at this level have become one of the important components of high-level confidential contacts over the last years. As a rule, the agenda includes exchange of opinions on such urgent problems as fight against international terrorism, and illegal production of and trafficking in drugs. Tasks and prospects of interaction between special services in the interests of ensuring security of our two countries, regional peace and stability are also a matter for discussion.”
ColomboPage: Sri Lanka President to visit Russia
Mon, Feb 1, 2010, 10:46 am SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 01, Colombo: Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa will be leaving on an official visit to Russia beginning February 5th. This is President's first overseas visit since his reelection to a second term in office.
The President is expected to meet his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev and other Russian leaders. He will be discussing issues regarding bilateral relations between the two countries and economic assistance to Sri Lanka.
In a congratulatory message sent to President Rajapaksa upon his reelection, the Russian President expressed confidence that the Sri Lankan President would succeed in developing the country and the policies adopted by the President for economic development would settle the social and political issues.
Noting that Russia and Sri Lanka have maintained close and friendly ties based upon friendship and mutual respect for more than 50 years, the Russian President expressed optimism that the Sri Lankan President's forthcoming visit to Russia will strengthen the longstanding relations between the two nations.
Today’s Zaman: Medvedev to pay ‘key’ visit to Turkey in May
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gül, have confirmed that Medvedev will pay a visit to Turkey in May, the Kremlin press service announced, noting that both leaders agreed that this visit will be of “key” importance in the next period of Russian-Turkish bilateral relations.
|Medvedev and Gül had a telephone conversation upon the latter’s initiative on Saturday when they exchanged views on the |
|Caucasian region, while Gül expressed his appreciation for Russia’s contribution to the international efforts to achieve |
|progress on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, a statement by the Kremlin press service said. |
|The both sides expressed satisfaction with the joint work in the Black Sea region and discussed European security issues, |
|including the Russian initiative to develop a treaty on European security. |
|The central event in Russian-Turkish relations in the near future will be the planned visit by the Russian president to Turkey, |
|the press service said, noting that the agreement on the visit planned for May was confirmed during the conversation. |
|The talk between Gül and Medvedev came days after Medvedev hosted Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan and Azerbaijani President |
|Ilham Aliyev in the Krasnaya Polyana ski resort near Sochi last Monday for talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, a territorial|
|dispute between Baku and Yerevan. |
|Russia, along with France and the United States, is one of the three co-chairs of the Minsk Group of the Organization for |
|Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which has striven to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict for more than 17 years. |
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|01 February 2010, Monday |
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|TODAY’S ZAMAN ANKARA |
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|February 01, 2010 11:11 |
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|Xinhua: Russia, Venezuela step up oil cooperation |
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|English. 2010-02-01 05:00:16 |
|MOSCOW, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- High-ranking officials from Russia and Venezuela on Sunday discussed oil cooperation and export of |
|Russian cars to the Latin American country, Russian news agency reported. |
|Russian Deputy Premier Igor Sechin and Venezuelan Oil and Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez held talks in Moscow over the operation|
|of the Russian National Oil Consortium in Venezuela, the reports said. |
|They also agreed on the delivery of Russian vehicles to Venezuela and touched upon financial cooperation. |
|Under an energy deal clinched during Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's visit to Moscow in September 2009, Venezuela's state oil|
|company, PDVSA, and a consortium of major Russian producers are to establish a joint venture to develop the Junin-6 field in |
|Venezuela's Orinoco crude belt, which has estimated reserves of 235 billion barrels of heavy oil. |
|The National Oil Consortium, formed in 2008, comprises oil giant Rosneft, state gas monopoly Gazprom, Lukoil, TNK-BP and |
|Surgutneftegaz. |
|Itar-Tass: Sechin, Venezuelan minister discuss oil concern plans, car deliveries |
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|31.01.2010, 19.23 |
|MOSCOW, January 31 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin and Venezuelan Energy and Oil Minister Rafael Dario |
|Ramirez Carreno met in Moscow to discuss the work of Russia’s National Oil Consortium in Venezuela and the deliveries of Russian|
|vehicles, the government press office said on Sunday. |
|Besides, Sechin and Ramirez discussed financial cooperation. |
|Heads of Petroleos de Venezuela and Russian oil and gas companies, Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko, Deputy Industry and Trade |
|Minister Denis Manturov and some other officials attended the meeting. |
|The National Oil Consortium was formed in 2008 to develop fields in the Orinoco basin. It is made up of LUKOIL, Rosneft, |
|Surgutneftegaz, TNK-BP and Gazprom-Neft. |
|The consortium is bound to develop the Junin 6 bloc. The overall investments may reach $30 billion. |
|RIA: Russia, Venezuela talk oil, cars export in Moscow |
| |
| |
|19:0531/01/2010 |
|Russia's Deputy Premier Igor Sechin and Venezuelan Oil and Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez discussed issues of oil cooperation |
|and export of Russian cars to Venezuela. |
|The high-ranking officials met for talks on Sunday in Moscow, have agreed on export of Russian cars and discussed the work of a |
|Russian oil consortium. |
|During visit by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to Moscow in September 2009, his country's state oil and gas company PdVSA and |
|the Russian consortium, NNK, signed a memorandum of understanding. |
|NNK, or the National Oil Consortium, consists of Rosneft, energy giant Gazprom, Lukoil, TNK-BP and Surgutneftegaz. Last |
|September Venezuela and NNK agreed to invest $20 billion into the development of the Junin 6 oil deposit in the Orinoco River |
|Basin. |
|Venezuela is one of the largest oil producing countries in the world, with about 87 billion barrels of proven conventional oil |
|reserves as of 2008. In addition, it has a huge non-conventional oil deposits (heavy crude). Most of these deposits are located |
|in the Orinoco oil belt. |
|MOSCOW, January 31 (RIA Novosti) |
| |
|Interfax: Russia to send more aid to Haiti |
| |
| |
|ZHUKOVSKY, Moscow region. Feb 1 (Interfax) - The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry will send two planes within the next few |
|days to deliver more humanitarian aid to Haiti. |
|"Another two planes will prepare for a flight to Haiti tomorrow or the day after tomorrow," the ministry‘s chief military expert|
|Pavel Plat said on Sunday. |
|The planes will deliver over 40 tonnes of humanitarian aid, mostly medicines and other necessities. |
|Russian doctors and rescuers who had been helping in efforts in Haiti arrived back in Ramenskoye near Moscow on Sunday. |
|"It was a hard mission but we accomplished it," Centrospas mobile hospital head Alexander Ivanyus said. |
|The majority of Haiti quake victims had combined injuries and bone fractures. |
|The epidemic hazard persists in Haiti, he said. |
|"There is always a threat of epidemic under such circumstances. The country was on the verge of an epidemic. Haiti has a |
|sufficient supply of medicines now," he added. |
| |
Itar-Tass: Russian doctors end Haiti mission, return home
31.01.2010, 18.17
ZHUKOVSKY (Moscow region), January 31 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian doctors and Emergency Situations Ministry personnel have returned from quake-stricken Haiti.
An Ilyushin Il-76 of the ministry landed in Ramenskoye near Moscow at 1:45 p.m. local time with doctors onboard. Another plane will deliver the Russian mobile hospital.
The hospital was deployed in Haiti on January 15, three days after the quake that claimed 170,000 lives and affected three million people.
The mobile hospital has intensive care, surgery, diagnostic, ultrasonic and X-ray units and a blood laboratory. It can operate autonomously for up to two weeks and receive 100-120 patients per day.
Locals welcomed the mobile hospital, as many health care institutions in Port-au-Prince were damaged by the earthquake and the remaining clinics were unable to give aid to all victims.
Russian doctors not only offered medical aid but also shared their reserves of drinking water and food with the locals.
In all, the hospital helped 1,738 victims, including 606 children. Sixty-three patients were hospitalized, and over 170 surgeries were made.
Ministry psychologists gave aid to 1,282 Haiti residents.
“The hospital mostly provided aid to persons retrieved from under quake debris,” First Deputy Emergency Situations Minister Ruslan Tsalikov said. “Russian rescuers came to Haiti two days after the tremor. They saved nine lives, which was a rather good result.”
The ministry started to prepare for the humanitarian operation immediately after the order from President Dmitry Medvedev, Tsalikov said.
Russian rescuers completed their Haiti mission and returned to Moscow last weekend.
Two Ilyushin Il-76 planes delivered rescuers and dog handlers, who had been clearing the debris in Haiti. In all, the rescuers examined 140 square meters of flattened buildings and retrieved nine survivors from under the debris.
Aircraft of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry performed 38 flights to transport about 260 tonnes of cargo, including humanitarian aid from Venezuela, Panama and Russia. In all, the planes spent over 200 hours in the air.
The Russian medical team operated under extreme conditions in Haiti. “It was not easy, but we accomplished the mission,” mobile hospital head Alexander Ivanyus said upon the arrival in Moscow.
In his words, the majority of patients had numerous bone fractures.
: Sudanese Air Force deploys Russian military aircraft
Last Updated: Feb 01, 2010
NEW DELHI (BNS): Sudan has received a range of Russian military aircraft for use in fighting off rebels in Darfur, a media report said.
Sudanese Air Force has been deploying Russian fixed- and rotary-wing platforms for conventional warfare and counter-insurgency operations, according to .
The air force has been operating four Russian Mi-35 attack helicopters in attacks on rebels in the Darfur province, the website quoting industry sources said.
Apart from Russia’s Su-25 Frogfoot fighter-jet, Sudan also introduced eight Su-25s, deployed at the Wadi Seidna Air Base, for operational service during 2009.
This year Sudan will receive additional Russian aircraft, the MiG-29 fighter-jet, a contract of which was signed in November 2008.
Sudan has accumulated a fleet of 12 MiG-29s. They include 10 MiG-29SEs as well as two MiG-29UBs, all of them delivered in 2004.
Korea IT Times: Why is the Military Partnership Between China and Russia Weakening?
Min Sun-young [1]
Sunday, January 31st, 2010
Russia's main arms export company, Rosoboronexport stated on January 28, Russia has sold US$240 worth of weapons in 2009, and this is an increase of 10 percent since 2008. The weapons are for the air force and military. Weapons are their major export and it is over 50 percent of their total market. Their arm sale has been developed constantly for the last nine years, the total amount in 2009 was 1.4 times more than in 2001. Their regular clients are India, Algeria, China, Venezuela, Malaysia, and Syria.
There is a decline in scientific cooperation on the military sector between Russia and China. China usually buys 20 percent of their weapons from Rosoboronexport. Thus, in 2009, China has bought 18 percent and it is expected to decrease to 15 percent.
This does not mean there are problems between the two countries. The objective conditions around them have changed, that is why their partnership is weakening. The level of Chinese military technology is growing and China’s government has less interest to finished products. Even with China’s decrease they are still the biggest customer of weapons for Russia.
Pravda: Russia's Arms Sales in 2009 Evaluated at $7.4 Billion
29.01.2010
In 2009, Russia’s defense export giant Rosoboronexport sold arms in the amount of $7.4 billion, the company’s director Anatoly Isaikin told RIA Novosti news agency. In the future, Russia plans to increase the export of arms and would even be ready to sell weapons to Iraq and Afghanistan, the official said.
“We’ve recently had a corporate meeting at the company and discussed the results of 2009. We achieved good results in 2009. The sales volume of Rosoboronexport made up $7.4 billion, which marked a ten percent increase in comparison with 2008,” Isaikin said.
The company’s export had increased 2.4 times from 2001 to 2009, he added. Today Rosoboronexport ships Russian-made military hardware to over 70 countries of the world.
“We offer new military hardware, technologies and joint production. We believe that the sales volume in 2010 will not be less than that in 2009,” the official said.
Air force weaponry made 50 percent of the company’s shipments to such basic importers as India, Algeria, China, Venezuela, Malaysia and Syria.
In 2008, Russia’s arms shipments to foreign customers were evaluated at $8.35 billion, of which $6.72 billion was the share of Rosoboronexport’s deals.
The business portfolio of the company for 2010 makes up over $34 billion.
“Russian arms enjoy great popularity with several members of NATO. They are Turkey, Greece and the countries of the Eastern bloc that have Soviet-made arms. The countries that intend to become NATO members evince interest in Russian defense technologies as well,” Isaikin said.
As for cooperation with Eastern Europe, the head of Rosoboronexport stated that those countries offer to modernize and repair their hardware.
Rosoboronexport would be ready to ship arms to Iraq and Afghanistan too, once the company receives adequate inquires from the US administration.
“Official spokespeople for Iraqi and Afghan armed forces send us their requests. We are ready to cooperate with them. An adequate decision will lead to adequate shipments,” Isaikin said.
As for Russia’s deal to sell S-300 missile complexes to Iran, Isaikin said that there had been no legal action taken to prohibit the deal.
“There are no international sanctions against Iran, which means that formally there are no bans to ship any type of arms to Iran,” Isaikin told Interfax.
Iran still remains Russia’s partner in the defense industry. “Iran has never broken any contractual obligations,” the head of Rosoboronexport said.
China is the only country in the world that acquired a license from Russia for production of Kalashnikov assault rifles.
“The issue of counterfeit production and illegal copying remains very important in the whole world in terms of both military and civil production. Other countries, such as Bulgaria and Slovakia, used to run the licensed production of Kalashnikov guns.
RIA: Russian tycoon fined $38M in Switzerland, set to appeal fine
12:1701/02/2010
DAVOS, February 1 (RIA Novosti) - Russian tycoon Viktor Vekselberg, the owner and chairman of Renova investment group, said on Monday he was surprised by a fine imposed by the Swiss authorities and intended to appeal the decision.
The Swiss Finance Department fined Vekselberg 40 million Swiss francs ($38 million) in December 2009 for allegedly breaking stock exchange disclosure rules during the acquisition of two share packages in Swiss hi-tech group Oerlikon in 2006.
Oerlikon is a global leading provider of chip assembly equipment for the semiconductor market.
"Neither we, nor our authorities found any reasonable explanations. The decision causes sincere human bewilderment. It is difficult to comment on it. The decision is unprecedented and untypical of Switzerland in all respects," Vekselberg said on the sidelines of the global economic forum at Davos.
The fine is worth almost 20% of Renova's stake in Oerlikon. Previously, the maximum fine for other companies in Switzerland in similar cases was just 50,000 Swiss francs.
The Russian tycoon, Russia's 23rd richest man with an estimated $1.8 billion, who also holds a stake in the Russian-British joint oil venture TNK-BP, said it took Swiss authorities three years to study the Oerlikon case, although information disclosures were available from the time the deal was struck.
Vekselberg also said the company received information on the fine at a time when it was holding uneasy talks with creditors on debt restructuring.
"We only have to hope that Switzerland's independent judicial system, which normally passes thoughtful and well-considered decisions, will put an end to this story," Vekselberg said.
Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin also threw his support behind the Russian businessman, saying the fine was damaging Russian investment in Switzerland and was discouraging Russian-Swiss business relations.
: Russia 'concerned' at Swiss fine for tycoon
By Haig Simonian in Davos
Published: January 30 2010 02:00 | Last updated: January 30 2010 02:00
Moscow yesterday warned the Swiss government that a proposed SFr40m fine on Viktor Vekselberg, the Russian tycoon, could strain bilateral relations between the two countries.
Alexei Kudrin, Russia's finance minister, told Hans-Rudolf Merz, his Swiss opposite number, that Moscow was "concerned" about the unprecedented regulatory penalty.
"I do not believe this will improve Swiss-Russian relationships" he told Mr Merz at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Mr Kudrin said Russia had no plans to retaliate, but hoped the Swiss government would reconsider the fine which was imposed for alleged breaches of market disclosure rules.
Apart from Mr Vekselberg, one of Russia's richest men, the Swiss finance ministry this week proposed similar fines of SFr40m ($37.8m) each on Ronny Pecik and Georg Stumpf, the two Austrian investors from whom Mr Vekselberg's Renova group bought shares in the Oerlikon industrial group in 2006.
The Swiss finance ministry has declined to comment on its decision.
The fines came after the ministry concluded that Renova and the Austrians had constituted a group and should have reported their combined holding in Oerlikon. Renova rejected the claim and said it would fight the fine in court.
Mr Vekselberg yesterday tried to defuse the crisis, saying he was committed to Switzerland and Oerlikon and Sulzer, the two Swiss engineering groups in which he is heavily invested.
"I will stay in Switzerland. I have no intention of moving and I remain strongly committed to Oerlikon and Sulzer," he told the Financial Times.
He said: "Of course I am disappointed. It was a surprise for me. We don't see any serious arguments for this decision. We did everything in a timely and transparent way. What surprises me is the timing. It has only taken three-and-a-half years to reach this decision, although nothing has changed in the meantime."
However, Mr Vekselberg, who chairs the foreign investment committee of a key Russian industry federation, warned that the penalty could affect foreign investment in Switzerland. "People are bound to rethink," he noted.
He declined to comment on refinancing talks between Oerlikon and its creditor banks. Oerlikon has suffered heavy losses and requires recapitalisation. Some Swiss commentators have warned that the fine could affect Renova's willingness to take part in a restructuring in which it would play a big part.
"Everyone knows Oerlikon is in difficult negotiations with its creditor banks about recapitalisation. The latest development could make constructive talks more difficult," he said.
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Hurriyet: Georgian TV says taken off air to please Russia
Monday, February 1, 2010
PARIS – Agence France-Presse
A newly-launched Georgian TV channel said Sunday that it had been taken off air by its France-based satellite operator because of what it alleged was pressure from the Russian government.
The Russian-language channel, First Caucasus, which is aimed at the Moscow-dominated Caucasus mountains region, accused satellite operator Eutelsat in a statement sent to AFP of being a "tool of Russian censorship." It said Eutelsat had stopped transmitting First Caucasus after signing "a lucrative contract" with Russian satellite company Intersputnik to provide broadcasts for a unit of state-controlled Russian giant Gazprom.
Once it had signed the Russian contract, Eutelsat requested "urgent" talks on the content of First Caucasus and called Georgia's public broadcasting service to "ask them to shut down" on Jan. 23, the channel alleged. It claimed Eutelsat had acted in violation of French and European laws. "This leaves Intersputnik and Gazprom Media Group - both of which adhere to the Kremlin's editorial line - with a de facto satellite transmission monopoly over Russian-language audience," the statement added.
Eutelsat could not be contacted on Sunday to respond to the allegations. First Caucasus provides news bulletins and information programs focusing on events in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as in Russia's North Caucasus region, challenging Moscow's influence in the strategic region. "Our objective is to tell the truth, something which there isn't enough of in the region," Gia Chanturia, the head of Georgian public television, said at the channel's launch on Jan. 15.
A number of high-profile figures have signed on to host programs, including Alla Dudayeva, the widow of Dzhokhar Dudayev, a Chechen rebel leader killed in a Russian rocket attack in 1996. The satellite channel was launched amid deep tensions between Georgia and Russia, who fought a brief war in 2008 over the Russian-backed breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia.
The channel's availability in the North Caucasus was always likely to infuriate Moscow, which has fought two wars against Chechen separatists and is facing an Islamic insurgency in the region. The channel began limited broadcasts by satellite on Jan. 15 and was expected to be widely available in the Caucasus region from Feb. 1.
B92: “Russia opposes Serbian NATO membership”
1 February 2010 | 09:45 | Source: Beta, Večernje novosti
BELGRADE -- Serbia’s decision to join NATO would have negative effects on its relations with Russia, Konstantin Kosachev said.
“For us, such a decision would be inexplicable and would have a negative effect on relations between Russia and Serbia,” the Chairman of the Duma Committee on International Affairs told Belgrade daily Večernje Novosti.
“A possible decision by Serbia to join NATO would mean that the Serbian people accept the NATO action against the former Yugoslavia and accept Kosovo’s independence,” Kosachev said.
He added that the decision to join NATO should be made by the Serbian people, and that “no one should even try to influence that decision.”
“This decision should be made through democratic procedures, and I think that the most democratic procedure – a referendum – would be needed if that question even arose,” he said.
Kosachev also said that Serbia joining the EU would not change relations between Belgrade and Moscow.
“Experience with other Eastern European countries that joined the EU shows us that there is nothing dramatic happening if everything is well prepared and if agreements replaced with other agreements that are compatible with joining the EU,” he said.
He noted that Russia does not recognize the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo, and that he believes that the Council of Europe should deal with human rights, democracy, the election process, and the protection of ehtnic minorities, which he said is all on a very low level in Kosovo.
“This assembly should return to debate about standards, and that could solve the status question as well. Everything else goes completely against Resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council,” he said.
Kosachev said that he supports the renewal of talks between Belgrade and Priština on the future status of Kosovo, because “Kosovo has no perspective for UN or Council of Europe membership, and it will never have one.”
“It is not a normal situation, and it could last decades, which does not lead anywhere. That is why I truly support the renewal of negotiations and dialogue,” Kosachev said.
Meat International: US may soon resume pork exports to Russia 01 Feb 2010
American exports of pork to Russia may soon resume according to the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF).
According to USMEF, while there are still some unresolved issues between Russia and the US, they will not prevent American companies from resuming exports to Russia.
Currently negotiations are still proceeding, while the ban may be removed in the coming weeks. Russia is the fifth largest market for the US pork.
In addition to the US pork, starting from February 1st, Russia will remove the temporary restrictions on the supply of pork and pig meat products from Ireland, imposed in late 2008 due to high dioxin levels.
According to the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance, Ireland has already provided all the necessary safety guarantees.
RIA: Russia cancels restrictions on pork imports from Ireland
02:1801/02/2010
Russia's agricultural regulator has canceled provisional restrictions on pork imports from Ireland, imposed in late 2008 following a contamination risk warning by Irish authorities.
Ireland's veterinary authorities announced in December 2008 they were pulling pork from shelves after the discovery of cancer-inducing chemicals in Irish pork. The European Union then admitted that Russia may be among the countries that imported Irish pork contaminated with toxic dioxins.
Rosselkhoznadzor said pork imports from Ireland to Russia would resume on February 1, as Ireland has provided guarantees of the safety of its pork.
By the time the contamination risk warning was issued, Irish pork had been imported to 12 EU member states, Belgium, Britain, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Sweden, as well as to nine non-EU members, Russia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, and the United States.
MOSCOW, February 1 (RIA Novosti)
Itar-Tass: Last of 3 GLONASS satellites launched in Dec put into operation
01.02.2010, 10.38
MOSCOW, February 1 (Itar-Tass) - The last of three satellites of the global positioning system GLONASS that was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome on December 14, 2009 has been put into operation.
The TsNIIMASH Central Research Institute of Machine Building said that as of February 1, “there are 22 satellites within the orbital cluster, 18 of them are used on their designated purpose, 2 – are under temporary technical maintenance and another 2 – at the stage of withdrawal from the system.”
GONASS system’s satellites are given 54 days after their launch for their putting into the normal exploitation mode. The first of the satellites launched on December 14 became operable on January 10, the second – on January 24 and the third – last weekend.
A minimum 18 working satellites are needed for ensuring uninterrupted reception of the GLONASS system’s signal all over Russia and on the global scale – 24 satellites.
RIA: Chubais urges diversification of Russian economy
RIA Novosti
February 1, 2010
Russia's Anatoly Chubais urged on Saturday for the diversification of the economy, to prevent it from turning into a sales market for foreign commodities once the global economic has recovered from recession.
"My conclusion is that the world has woken up, realized that it is alive and needs radical change," Chubais, head of Rosnanotech, a state corporation that oversees nanotechnology research, told reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Swiss Alps.
Chubais, former head of Russia's electricity monopoly and a controversial reformer who oversaw Russia's painful transition from the Soviet planned economy to a free market, said the country must cut its dependence on natural gas and oil export revenues.
"The question is what we will be able to offer to the changing world? Gas? Gas again in five years and in 15 years? And gas in 40 years' time again?" he said adding that the EU seeks to source 20% of its energy needs from renewables, including biomass, hydro, wind and solar power, by 2020.
If gas and oil continue to sell well, Russia will retain its revenues, but can turn into a sales market for foreign goods, he said. "The dilemma is that simple - innovation or degradation," he said.
Chubais said his corporation must spearhead the efforts, and its target to bring annual sales of nanotech products to 900 billion rubles (about $30 billion) by 2015 is now the lowest possible figure.
Reuters: Attack on Russian provincial police HQ kills 1
01 Feb 2010 08:19:37 GMT
Source: Reuters
NAZRAN, Russia, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Attackers fired grenades on Monday at the police headquarters in the Russian province of Ingushetia, which borders Chechnya, killing one officer, officials said.
Two other police were injured in the attack on the Interior Ministry building in Nazran, Ingushetia's main city, a ministry official said.
An upsurge in attacks in the heavily Muslim North Caucasus over the past year has troubled the Kremlin, a decade after government forces drove separatists from power in Chechnya.
Ingushetia, which lies west of Chechnya, has been plagued by nearly daily attacks targeting law enforcement and government officials.
The assailants in Monday's attack fired about five grenades, apparently aiming for an auditorium in the police building, before fleeing in a car, the official said. (Writing by Steve Gutterman; editing by David Stamp)
RIA: One police official dead, another injured in shooting in South Russia
09:4801/02/2010
At least one police officer died and another individual was injured in an armed attack on the republic's interior ministry in Nazran, the largest city in the South Russian volatile republic of Ingushetia, local police reported.
"Five mortars were fired at the interior ministry's administrative building," the spokesman said. "One officer died and another was injured," he said, adding that it was not clear whether the injured was a policeman or not.
The mainly Muslim regions in Russia's North Caucasus were plagued by violence last year, with almost daily attacks on security forces and officials.
Deputy Interior Minister Arkady Yedelev said on January 16 that 235 police officers and interior troops died in the region in 2009, with 686 injured as recorded terrorist acts, including suicide bombings, rose sharply.
Following a January 6 suicide bomb attack on a police compound in Dagestan that killed five and wounded up to 19 people, Medvedev ordered the Federal Security Service to tighten security across the North Caucasus.
The president has also established the North Caucasus Federal District and appointed Krasnoyarsk governor and former business executive Alexander Khloponin as deputy prime minister and presidential envoy to the volatile North Caucasus. Analysts describe Khloponin as a "crisis manager" for the region.
NAZRAN, February 1 (RIA Novosti)
The News: Two 'rebels' killed in Dagestan
Updated at: 0400 PST, Monday, February 01, 2010
MOSCOW: Two suspected rebels were killed Sunday night in a clash with Russian security forces in the restive Caucasus region of Dagestan, the local news agency reported.
The suspects were accused of carrying out attacks against police in the region, a local police spokesman was quoted as saying by the agency. The clash took place in Dagestan's southern Kaitag district.
Militants have stepped up attacks in recent months throughout Russia's Caucasus region, where Islamist fighters have been battling pro-Kremlin local authorities and Russian security forces in a sporadic insurgency.
In Dagestan, a region on the Caspian Sea which neighbours Chechnya, tensions have been particularly acute and early this month five policemen were killed in a suicide bombing in Makhachkala.
Itar-Tass: Two militants destroyed in Dagestan
01.02.2010, 10.14
MAKHACHKALA, February 1 (Itar-Tass) -- Two active members of illegal armed formations were destroyed in Dagestan’s Kaitagsky region during a joint special operation of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Interior Ministry of the republic on Sunday night.
As ITAR-TASS learnt at the press service of the republican FSB Department on Monday, at 22.10 Moscow time, on the motor road between the settlements of Majalis and Rodnikovy, an attempt was made to stop a VAZ-2103 car for checking documents. “Those who were in the car didn’t obey the demand and opened submachine-gun fire at police officers, a representative of the press service said. “The driver and a passenger were destroyed in return fire. One of them was identified. It was a 29-year-old native of the city of Dagestanskiye Ogni, Kazikhan Akhmedov. According to investigators, he was an active member of the bandit underground and a member of Israpil Validjanov’s group operating on the territory of Southern Dagestan.” Akhmedov was on the federal wanted list.
The identity of another gunman is being established.
A submachine-gun with two magazines, 115 cartridges and a pistol were found inside the car.
There are no losses among the participants in the operation.
Itar-Tass: One killed, 2 injured in gunfire at Ingush Interior Ministry
01.02.2010, 09.44
NAZRAN, February 1 (Itar-Tass) -- One man was killed and two more were injured in the gunfire at the Ingush Interior Ministry building, a source in the ministry told Itar-Tass on Monday.
The killed man and one of the injured men are officers of the police patrol service, a source in the republican investigation department of the Prosecutor General’s Office Investigation Committee (SKP) said.
Meanwhile, a source in the hospital, where two injured people were brought, told Itar-Tass that one of them is in grave condition and another one is in moderate-to-severe condition.
The ministry building came under fire at about 08.50 a.m. Moscow time on Monday, 3-4 rounds were fired from the grenade launcher at the ministry, a police source said. The gunshots were made in the direction of the assembly hall located on the second floor, where briefings are usually held on Mondays. A briefing was not held on this Monday. The ministry building was damaged.
RIA: Russian Church marks anniversary of Patriarch Kirill's enthronization
07:0201/02/2010
The Russian Orthodox Church is marking on Monday the first anniversary of the enthronement of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.
Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad was elected as the 16th Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia in late January 2009 by the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, succeeding Patriarch Alexy II, who died in December at the age of 79.
The new leader of the Russian Orthodox Church was enthroned on February 1 last year, at a ceremony held in the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow.
Kirill will serve a Divine Liturgy in the Christ the Savior Cathedral on Monday. The service will be attended by Metropolitan Christopher of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, the Georgian Orthodox leader, Metropolitan Nicholas of Akhalkalak and Kumurdoi and representatives of other local Orthodox churches.
"There are many people who want to congratulate the Most Holy Patriarch and to pray together with him," Vladimir Legoyda, a spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church said.
He said Kirill will hold talks with representatives of local Orthodox Churches on February 2, because "he wants the festivities to be practically useful as well."
Legoyda said relations between the Church and the society have become more dynamic since Kirill took the office.
Kirill's visit to the Constantinople Patriarchate in July 2009 "provided a new impulse for the dialogue of Orthodox churches in the modern world", he said.
Legoyda also praised Kirill's efforts to attract young people to the Church.
Kirill has contributed to the improvement of relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Holy See. As head of the Russian Orthodox Church's external relations for more than a decade, he had led dialogue with the Vatican and other churches.
When Alexy II died in December 2009 at the age of 79, the enthronement of Patriarch Kirill, who was seen as a liberal in the largely traditionalist church, was welcomed by the Vatican.
In December 2009, Moscow and the Vatican exchanged notes formalizing the establishment of full diplomatic relations. Since 1990, the two sides maintained diplomatic representation below the level of ambassador. Now, Russia has a full-fledged embassy in Vatican.
MOSCOW, February 1 (RIA Novosti)
VOA: Kremlin Ties to Orthodox Church Raise Concern
Peter Fedynsky | Moscow 31 January 2010
Human-rights activists say 2009 represented a breakthrough in relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian government. But they say the closer ties appear to place other faiths at a disadvantage.
Sergei Mozgovoi of the independent Freedom of Conscience Institute told a Moscow news conference Russian lawmakers are rushing through laws to legitimize decisions made earlier by President Dmitriy Medvedev on behalf of Russian Orthodoxy. These include teaching the Orthodox faith to the exclusion of others in public schools and universities and establishment of a military chaplain corps.
Mozgovoi says this represents missionary work for the Orthodox Church, which he claims always supports even the most illegal and harmful decisions of government. He says another factor is the government's economic decisions on behalf of the church about real estate and cultural treasures.
Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill met with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on January 5th to discuss the return of church property confiscated by the Soviet Union and still controlled by the Russian state. The Kommersant business daily reported on the 14th that Mr. Putin called for action on a bill stalled in the Economics Ministry since 2007 that would legalize property used by religious groups.
The RIA Novosti News Agency quotes observers as saying the bill would primarily benefit the Russian Orthodox Church and turn it into a major real-estate holder.
Patriarch Kirill spoke in the Kremlin at the opening of a six-day symposium entitled, "Practical Experience and Prospects for Church-State Cooperation in the Area of Education."
The Patriarch says the forum is called upon to unite social forces in the spiritual transformation of society, which is impossible without engaging the entire education system.
Sergei Buryanov, also with the Freedom of Conscience Institute, says the church and state in Russia have a mutually beneficial relationship. Buryanov says authorities gain a few blessings, because the Orthodox Church enjoys relative authority, while religious organizations get real estate and some direct state financing.
There appears to be concern that growing cooperation between the Kremlin and the Orthodox Church could harm other denominations and branches of Orthodoxy in Russia.
In the city of Suzdal, the Autonomous Russian Orthodox Church is suing for the return of 10 churches it says were illegally transferred by the courts to the mainstream Church. And Jehovah's Witnesses say their members could face imprisonment for public distribution of their magazine, The Watchtower.
Concern is based on Article 282 of the Russian Criminal Code, which prohibits incitement of national, racial, or religious enmity. Many consider the law to be vaguely written and a modern-day version of prohibitions against anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda.
Yaroslav Sivulsky represents the Jehovah's Witnesses Executive Center in Russia. Sivulsky says there is increased pressure nationwide on Jehovah's Witnesses, with the onset of mass detentions, arrests, searches of homes, places of worship, and confiscation of religious literature.
A Central Asian refugees expert at Moscow's Human Rights Institute, Yelena Riabinina, says authorities are exploiting xenophobia and fears of terrorism through arbitrary portrayals of Muslims as radicals. Riabinina says if one considers the repression of people who did not plan, commit, or have any relation to violent acts, but whose version of Islam is not deemed tolerable by Russian authorities, then what you have is a clear case of religious persecution.
Sergei Mozgovoi says authorities do not persecute Buddhists outright, but use a carrot and stick approach to reward those loyal to the state and to keep others at bay. But he says the Kremlin prohibits visits by the Dalai Lama to avoid offending China. Mozgovoi says China and the Russian Orthodox Church constantly exchange experience about ways to pressure free thinkers and members of other faiths in a struggle against so-called sects.
In his Kremlin remarks Monday, Patriarch Kirill said the church-state education effort is aimed at creating an atmosphere of agreement to prevent national and religious hostility. But human-rights activists are calling for tolerance and repeal of government laws that appear to favor the Russian Orthodox Church.
Itar-Tass: Criminal case opened over death of Krasnodar City Duma chairman
31.01.2010, 18.27
KRASNODAR, January 31 (Itar-Tass) -- A criminal case was opened over the death of Chairman of the Krasnodar City Duma Nikolai Kotlyarov in a Saturday traffic accident on the Yeisk-Krasnodar road, a representative of the Prosecutor General’s Office Investigation Committee told Itar-Tass.
“The Toyota Camry of the Krasnodar City Duma collided with a parked Gazelle at the 40th kilometer of the Yeisk-Krasnodar road at approximately 11:30 p.m. on January 30. The Toyota driver and his passenger, Kotlyarov, died instantly,” he said.
The Krasnodar territorial department of the Investigation Committee is holding the investigation.
Kotlyarov was returning home from the Shcherbinovskaya district, where the first casino in the Azov City gaming zone opened on Saturday, a source at the city administration told Itar-Tass.
Presumably, Kotlyarov’s car collided with a Gazelle, which had broken down and blocked the road, a source at the Krasnodar territorial traffic police told Itar-Tass earlier.
“Kotlyarov and his driver died instantly,” he said. “Possibly, the driver was speeding and lost control over the vehicle on the wet road.”
The Moscow Times: Lawmaker Killed in Car Crash After Opening of First Casino
01 February 2010
Combined Reports
A senior Krasnodar lawmaker died in a weekend car crash as he was traveling home from the opening of the first casino in a new gambling zone, an accident that promises to raise new concerns about a government decision to limit legalized gambling to four remote areas.
Nikolai Kotlyarov, speaker of the Krasnodar city legislature, and his driver were killed on the spot when their Toyota Camry crashed into a car parked on the roadside of the Krasnodar-Eisk Highway at about 1 a.m. Sunday and slammed into a guardrail, Interfax reported.
Kotlyarov was among about 500 people who attended the opening of the Oracle casino in Azov City, a Rostov region gambling zone located about 200 kilometers from Krasnodar and 100 kilometers from Rostov-on-Don, the nearest sizable city.
It's unclear how many people will be eager to travel long distances for a gambling excursion, but the casino's operators said they were convinced that there is a market and they plan to start building a four-star hotel for gamblers this summer.
"There's a lot of gambling people here" in the region, said Valery Saparin, marketing director for casino operator Royal Time. "We hope that a lot of people will be drawn to us in the near future."
The casino, in a large shed-like building in a snowy field, has about 200 slot machines and 10 table games. Only about 100 of the visitors appeared to be actually placing bets Saturday.
Casinos and slot-machine halls were closed across the country July 1 under a government plan to limit gambling to Azov City, the Kaliningrad exclave, the Altai region in Siberia and the Primorye region in the Far East.
The car crash highlights a risk of placing casinos in the remote zones, and it draws new attention to Russia's dangerous roads. President Dmitry Medvedev has described the high road-accident rate as a national problem and resolved to make roads safer.
Investigators said Sunday that they believed that a violation of traffic safety rules was responsible for Kotlyarov's accident and had opened an investigation, Interfax reported.
Kotlyarov, 72, was born in the Krasnodar region and had served as speaker of the city legislature since 2005.
(MT, AP)
RIA: Southern Russian city legislature speaker dies in car accident
06:5531/01/2010
The speaker of the legislature in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar died in a car accident Saturday, police reported.
Krasnodar duma speaker Nikolai Kotlyarov was returning from the Azov City special gambling zone where Russia's first casino opened Saturday seven months after all gambling establishments had to close or relocate to four designated areas.
The accident occurred on the Krasnodar-Yeisk highway near the town of Timashevsk.
"The [speaker's] Toyota hit the rear side of a Gazelle van that stood on the roadside," a report by traffic police said.
Kotlyarov, 73, headed the Krasnodar City Duma from September 2004.
An investigation is underway.
Under a 2007 law, which came into force on July 1, 2009, casinos and other gaming establishments can operate only in four far-flung areas - in the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad, south Siberia's Altai Territory, Primorye in the Far East, and in southern Russia.
KRASNODAR, January 31 (RIA Novosti)
Casino Gambling Web: Lawmakers Death Raises Concerns Over Remote Casinos In Russia
Last year, the Russian government changed their casino gambling laws and ordered casinos near major cities to close. The government told these casinos they could relocate to remote areas of Russia.
The news was not met with high regard among the casino owners, but several vowed to open the casinos in the remote areas. This weekend, the first of those casinos, Oracle Casino in Azov City, opened their doors for the first time.
Lawmaker Nikolai Kotlyarov was one of those in attendance when the new gambling facility opened. Kotlyarov was killed on his way home from the casino at around 1AM on Sunday when the Toyota Camry he was in struck a parked car on the side of the road and crashed into a guardrail.
The death is now raising concerns around Russia of the decision to place the casinos in hard to reach, remote areas of Russia. The long travel time and dangerous roads lend themselves to more of these tragedy's in the future, according to some experts.
The Russian government was attempting to rid the major cities of the problems that come along with casino gambling last year when they enacted the law forbidding casinos in some cities, but allowing them in others.
The casino owners were concerned that the areas where the casinos would be allowed were broken down, low income areas where the casinos could not survive. Despite that opinion, there are several owners who have moved along with plans to open the casinos in these remote locations.
January 31, 2010
Posted By April Gardner
Staff Editor,
The Moscow Times: Hacker Attack Freezes Novaya Gazeta's Web Site
01 February 2010
By Nikolaus von Twickel
Novaya Gazeta's web site was paralyzed by a hacker attack for a sixth day Sunday in what editors called the strongest assault ever to hit the opposition newspaper's online edition.
The denial of service attack started Tuesday morning and peaked Thursday when the site recorded 1.5 million visits per second, said Sergei Asriyants, the newspaper's web editor.
"We had hacker attacks before but never as strong as this," he told The Moscow Times.
The attack was weaker Friday but still too strong for the newspaper's server, he said.
Novaya Gazeta's stories continue to appear online on the paper's live journal site at Novayagazeta..
Asriyants could not say where the attack had originated or who was behind it but acknowledged that it was well organized.
"The only thing I can say is that this is not the job of amateurs," he said.
The Russian Internet was awash with speculation over the weekend of what had triggered the attack and who was to blame. One widely circulating theory was that it was motivated by a commentary by Yulia Latynina published in Monday's Novaya Gazeta. Latynina is also a Moscow Times columnist.
In the articled titled "Bee Cluster or Anti-Baker," Latynina argues that Russia is so corrupt that even Adam Smith's invisible hand does not work as a regulating force.
Latynina said by telephone Friday that she had no evidence that her article was to blame. But, she said, a hacker attack over her article would confirm the article's premise that corruption is uncontrollable.
"Maybe someone is just spending his royalties now," she said in regard to the hacker attack.
But Novaya Gazeta spokeswoman Nadezhda Prusenkova dismissed the possibility of a connection to Latynina's article, noting that it had been online a whole day and spread widely on the Internet before the attack started.
"Maybe someone just wants to punish us for our overall work," she said.
Novaya Gazeta asked law enforcement authorities to open a criminal investigation Friday.
"The complaint went to the Interior Ministry, the prosecutor general and the Federal Security Service," Prusenkova said, adding that no answer could be expected from the agencies before Monday.
Phone calls to the Interior Ministry's press service went unanswered Friday, but the ministry said Thursday that it would investigate the attack once it received a complaint.
Prusenkova said she hoped that the problem would be solved by Monday.
Novaya Gazeta is frequently critical of the government, and four of its reporters have been killed since 2000, including Anna Politkovskaya.
The newspaper is co-owned by businessman Alexander Lebedev and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Lebedev did not return a request for comment Friday.
Hackers have troubled national media organizations in the past.
In late November, a mystery virus destroyed the web site of Moskovsky Komsomolets. Editors of the popular national tabloid determined that hackers were behind the attack, which deleted parts of the paper's archive.
The government has been accused of orchestrating denial of service Internet attacks, including assaults on Georgian sites during the 2008 war in South Ossetia and on Estonian government sites in 2007. The Russian government has denied wrongdoing.
Russia has produced an active generation of computer engineers in recent years, and the country's hackers have achieved worldwide notoriety. Antivirus software firm Kaspersky Lab said last week that while most cybercrimes originated in China last year, Russians deserve the “gold medal” for Internet fraud.
AP: Environmental group says office raided over Baikal
By NATALIYA VASILYEVA
Associated Press Writer
[pic]
updated 5:42 a.m. ET Jan. 29, 2010
MOSCOW - Police in Russia's Far East have raided the office of an environmental group that criticized the reopening of a paper mill on the shores of the world's largest freshwater lake.
Baikal Environmental Wave said Friday local investigators searched their office the previous day without a warrant and confiscated staff computers and documents.
Police in the nearby regional center of Irkutsk said in a statement that the search was organized to respond to "a private citizens' petition" claiming that the group uses counterfeit computer software. They denied that the raid was connected with its activities.
Lake Baikal, which contains more fresh water than all of America's Great Lakes combined, is home to some 1,500 species of plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. The activists have said the mill threatens the lake's fragile ecosystem.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin last week decreed the reopening of the Baikal Paper and Pulp Mill, which employed more than 2,000 people in the town of Baikalsk and shut down due to pollution concerns in October 2008.
The raid came just hours after Baikalsk's mayor, the plant's management and workers defended the re-opening at a Moscow news conference. Mayor Valery Pintayev acknowledged that the mill cannot stand on the shores of Baikal forever, but said the town needs three to four years to come up with a comprehensive job plan.
Baikalsk, located 2,600 miles (4,200 kilometers) east of Moscow, has a total population of only 17,000 and the plant closure hit the local economy hard.
Mill managers said they've already installed new technology that would allow the plant to operate without dumping waste into the lake, but the equipment requires several years of testing.
Marina Rikhvanova, co-founder of Baikal Environmental Wave, told The Associated Press that she believed police wanted "to paralyze our acitivities."
She said during the raid police showed the activists the petition, but did not have authorization to seize servers and computers. She said the police told them the computers would be held for 45 days. The group said it would file an official complaint.
The organization's Web site has been offline since Thursday.
Greenpeace and the World Wide Fund for Nature issued a joint statement Friday demanding a probe into the raid. They said they have reasons to believe the search is connected with the group's professional activities.
Baikal Environmental Wave said it was preparing a rally in Irkutsk next month against the reopening.
The Moscow Times: Migration Service Takes Credit for Population Growth
01 February 2010
By Alexander Bratersky
The Federal Migration Service announced Friday that it had contributed to Russia's first demographic increase in 15 years by granting Russian citizenship to about 400,000 people last year.
The new Russians along with 227,000 migrants who arrived to Russia in 2009 have helped to offset the country's shrinking population and even allowed a small growth of 1.4 percent, Federal Migration Service chief Konstantin Romodanovsky said.
“This is the first demographic increase in the past 15 years,” Romodanovsky said, Interfax reported.
President Dmitry Medvedev touted the end of a 15-year drop in the country's overall population in mid-January after Health and Social Development Minister Tatyana Golikova announced that preliminary statistics for last year showed that the country's population of 141.9 million had either remained stable or increased by 15,000 to 25,000 people.
The Federal Migration Service expelled 34,000 migrants from the country last year, an increase of 70 percent from 2008, and called $113 million in fines from people and companies that violated migration laws, Romodanovsky said.
He said 1.3 million migrants are expected to work in Russia this year, far below a cap of 2 million set in a government quota announced late last year.
Romodanovsky also said his agency planned to speed up the procedure for Russians to obtain passports for foreign travel, making it possible to order the document online.
“I think we will resolve this question within a year,” Romodanovsky said.
The service will start issuing new foreign passports valid for 10 years in March, according to the decree signed by President Dmitry Medvedev last month. The change will only apply to new biometric passports.
Romodanovsky also said all Chechen refugees have been returned to Chechnya and the camps that hosted them for many years in Ingushetia and other regions have been closed.
The Moscow Times: The Wizard of Russia
01 February 2010
By Michael Bohm
A year after former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky was arrested on fraud charges, Baikal Finance Group — a mysterious company with a share capital of only 10,000 rubles ($330) — acquired Yukos’ largest subsidiary, Yuganskneftegaz, for $9.3 billion in an “auction” consisting of only one bidder. After Yuganskneftegaz was sold four days later to state-controlled Rosneft, Andrei Illarionov, economic adviser to then-President Vladimir Putin, called the state expropriation of Yukos “the Biggest Scam of the Year” in his annual year-end list of Russia’s worst events. When Illarionov announced his 2009 list in late December, he should have added another award and given it to Putin: “the Best PR Project of the Decade.”
The Yukos scam was “legal nihilism” par excellence, but most Russians have a completely different version of the event. The Kremlin’s 180-degree PR spin on the Yukos nationalization should be a case study for any nation aspiring to create a Ministry of Truth. As Putin explained in his December call-in show, the Yukos affair was not government expropriation at all, but a way to give money that Yukos “stole from the people” back to the people by helping them buy new homes and repair old ones. Putin, it turns out, is also Russia’s Robin Hood. War is peace. Ignorance is strength.
Putin is the national leader made in heaven. He is the quintessential “kind tsar” who — live on national television — saved factory jobs in Pikalyovo, redrew an oil pipeline route with one stroke of the pen to save the pristine Lake Baikal, and after meeting babushka Pelageya in Ufa raised her pension and then did the same for all pensioners.
He also plays a convincing Terminator, threatening to hang Saakashvili by his family jewels, sending the country’s richest oligarch to jail and chiding the United States to its face during the now-famous Munich speech of 2007.
Putin never lies, steals or even makes a mistake. His reputation is irreproachable. Few Russians know about the corruption allegations brought against him by two Legislative Assembly deputies when he headed the Committee for External Relations of the St. Petersburg Mayor’s Office in the early 1990s. Few know about Putin’s decree two weeks ago allowing the notorious Baikalsk Paper and Pulp Mills, owned by oligarch Oleg Deripaska, to renew operations after being closed down for polluting Lake Baikal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site; nor do they know how many of Putin’s friends were given CEO positions in Russia’s largest corporations, helping them make their way onto the Forbes billionaire list in only a couple of years — nor would they believe any of this if they found out about it.
In a rare occasion, Putin responded to Western media reports alleging that his net worth is estimated to be tens of billions of dollars. In his signature style, he said commentators invented this rubbish by picking the information from their noses and spreading it across their newspaper pages and Internet sites. End of discussion. In an open society, these and other allegations would be aired, investigated and made part of the public discussion.
In sharp contrast, look at what happened to U.S. President Barack Obama’s approval rating late last year after the U.S. media had examined his strengths and weaknesses for 11 months: It dropped from a January high of 67 percent to below 50 percent in November. Also, remember Russia’s television during the wild, but free, 1990s — NTV and other independent networks showed every side of President Boris Yeltsin, including his very worst ones, and viewers drew their own conclusions. It is interesting to speculate how much Putin’s ratings would drop if there were a full, open discussion of his record on independent television.
A president needs to earn his political legitimacy by winning in a fierce and competitive battle that includes campaign debates (Putin and United Russia have always refused to participate in debates), free and fair elections, criticism from a real opposition in the parliament and scrutiny from an independent media — above all, television.
The goal of any political PR project, of course, is to manipulate public opinion without the people having even the slightest inkling that they are being manipulated. In this sense, the Kremlin spin doctors — with tremendous help from government-controlled television, of course — get top marks for creating Project Putin. When more than 70 percent of Russians year after year approve of Putin, they do it sincerely, wholeheartedly and without any coercion. Putin is clearly no Kim Il Sung, whom citizens love out of fear.
Russia’s infatuation with Putin was so strong in 2007 that his most avid supporters formed the For Putin movement and begged him to change the Constitution to remain president for life. Although, to his credit, he turned down the offer, he found a way to leave without leaving, and his fans are content enough with the tandem setup to wait it out until the next presidential election in 2012.
There is one Russian national trait that makes the Kremlin’s PR job a lot easier: Many of Putin’s loyal constituency are all too willing to deceive themselves into believing the overly pretty picture that the Kremlin paints of Putin’s infallibility, kindness and omnipotence. Even when Russians experience hardships directly tied to the government’s incompetence, corruption and criminal negligence, “the tsar is always good; it’s the boyars who are bad.” Believing in Vladimir the Great is like believing in a wonderful fairy tale. After all, who wants to listen to Putin’s opponents carping about his mistakes and misdeeds? Why make life more complicated and ugly than it already is? Putin himself put it best a week ago: Russia’s political life should never be “Ukrainized.” Leave the free media that air the country’s dirty laundry, messy debates and political battles to Ukraine.
Of course, a lot of the credit for Putin’s high ratings should go to Putin himself: He is very smart, talented and, indeed, works like a “galley slave.” At times, even the most cynical of all cynics have trouble not falling under Putin’s spell. The attraction is certainly powerful. For example, while watching the first television replays of the Pikalyovo dressing-down scene, they couldn’t resist being captivated by Putin’s apparent wizardry — how he masterfully controlled the meeting, knew all the minute details of the complex contracts and how he put the greedy Deripaska in his place. Bravo! Encore! Only afterward did it become clear that it was a well-orchestrated theatrical performance in which every actor played his role.
To be fair, Putin has certainly done a lot of good things for Russia, but there is a difference between being a good president and being an immaculate or divine tsar. Although Putin has said on several occasions that he doesn’t like being a cult figure, in all likelihood he was being falsely modest.
In the 1939 movie classic “The Wizard of Oz,” the wizard created a God-like image with the help of a machine that generated fire, smoke and a booming voice. He was able to dupe the people for a long time until Toto, Dorothy’s dog, pulled back the curtain that was hiding him and his machine. It turned out that the wizard was a complete sham — a simple man from Kansas pulling a lot of levers.
The wizard’s mistake, of course, was that he had terrible security. If he were smart, he would have made sure that nobody got even close to him and his PR machine. Putin is clearly much smarter than the wizard. He has a team of talented, shrewd “PR technologists” who carefully script his public appearances and deftly spin his image on state-controlled television. He has built a PR fortress that is virtually impenetrable.
Barring a devastating economic crisis similar to 1991-92 that would allow Russians to pull back the curtain and reveal the Wizard of Russia, Putin can rest assured that he can keep pulling those levers for many years to come.
Michael Bohm is opinion page editor of The Moscow Times.
Gulf Times: Hope of real change under Medvedev fades
Pollsters say rising prosperity and greater stability during Putin’s 2000-2008 presidency has made him much more popular among ordinary people than Medvedev
|Publish Date: Sunday,31 January, 2010, at 10:51 PM Doha Time |
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By Michael Stott/Moscow
He took office promising cautious reforms but almost halfway through his term, critics say Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s real agenda may be different - to keep the Kremlin seat warm for a return by Vladimir Putin.
Nearly two years after his election, analysts say there is scant evidence that Medvedev is implementing promises to open Russia’s controlled political system, modernise its oil-fuelled economy, fight corruption and establish the rule of law.
Local elections in October were dubbed Russia’s dirtiest ever by opposition leaders. NGOs and business chiefs say corruption is as bad or worse. Kremlin-friendly regional bosses accused of unethical behaviour have been re-appointed. And abuses of police and court power are reported each day.
“Medvedev has shown he doesn’t want to reform,” said Vladimir Ryzhkov, who served as the last independent deputy in the State Duma (Russian parliament) until changes to election law prevented him running again in 2007.
“He keeps doing a few very small cosmetic things to pretend to reform but in fact there are no real reforms.”
Asked to list Medvedev’s achievements since his March 2008 election, the Kremlin said it was preparing detailed information for the press to mark his two years in office in May this year but did not have such information available now.
Medvedev’s spokeswoman Natalya Timakova said the president would focus this year on more reforms to the political system, improving the investment climate, pacifying the troubled North Caucasus and agreeing a nuclear arms pact with Washington.
State-run media has tried to boost the president’s image - an analysis by the Interfax news agency said references to Medvedev in Russian media last year outweighed those to Putin.
But pollsters say rising prosperity and greater stability during Putin’s 2000-2008 presidency has made him much more popular among ordinary people than Medvedev. This popularity continues now in Putin’s role as prime minister.
Russia’s elite also respects Putin more. A typical example: Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov referred to Putin several times in a Reuters interview last month, terming him a “very strong leader of world stature”. He did not mention Medvedev.
Hopes among Western powers that Medvedev would prove a more pliable and accommodating partner than Putin quickly evaporated, as Medvedev led Russia into a brief war with Georgia in 2008.
Last year, Moscow raised hopes it would finally enter the World Trade Organisation, ink a nuclear arms reduction pact with the United States and agree to tough sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme - only to disappoint on all three so far.
In each case, officials say privately, Putin had the final say, not his formal superior Medvedev. This shows where power lies in Russia’s ruling “tandem”.
Officials at the Kremlin and at the White House (Putin’s prime ministerial offices) insist publicly that the “tandem” is a close and productive working relationship of two equals who respect each other’s constitutional areas of competence.
An example: Medvedev convened a meeting last week to discuss reforms to Russia’s political system, so dominated by the Kremlin’s United Russia bloc that critics compare it to the Soviet-era Communist Party.
But Putin had the last word: “We should continually think about perfecting Russia’s political system. But we must act...in this area with extreme caution,” he said. “The political system must not wobble like runny jelly with every touch”.
“Putin’s message was clear,” said one senior diplomat. “There will be no serious political reform in Russia”.
Investors are also clear about where power lies. Asked how Russian markets would react to a Medvedev departure, one chief strategist replied at a Moscow bank replied: “Not a blip.” When asked the same question about Putin, the answer was “mayhem”.
Nonetheless, the frequent differences in public tone between Putin and Medvedev have led some Russia-watchers to speculate about arguments between them, or even to suggest a power struggle might be taking place inside the elite.
Promoters of Medvedev are especially keen on spreading that message to burnish his reformist credentials, diplomats say.
In this version of events, Medvedev’s lack of reform achievements is explained because he is moving cautiously so as not to upset Putin. Boosters of the president insist that at some unspecified future time Medvedev will move more boldly.
But many close to the circles of power dismiss such talk. Opposition journalist Yulia Latynina has argued that it is impossible to have a struggle between a man who holds all the power (Putin) and a man who has none (Medvedev).
Sceptics also argue that Medvedev, a consummate insider who has worked closely with Putin for 19 years, is highly unlikely to have a reform agenda which he has kept secret for so long from his boss - a very well-informed former KGB spy.
Many informed commentators believe that barring an upset such as a major financial crisis, Putin is likely to return in 2012 to the presidency, taking advantage of a constitutional reform extending the next Kremlin chief’s term to six years - the most significant political reform Medvedev has enacted.
Re-election could take Putin, now 57, through to 2024 before he would be obliged by the constitution to leave office.
Putin is more popular and more trusted than Medvedev, said Olga Kryshtanovskaya, an expert on the Russian elite and member of United Russia.
“I’m just back from a trip to the provinces and everyone believes Putin will come back in 2012, that’s the popular view. I share this view...Putin has more resources and more support”. — Reuters
The Independent: Kremlin takes its revenge on the oligarchs
Mikhail Khodorkovsky's second trial for fraud has already lasted nearly a year. But his real 'crime' is to have crossed Vladimir Putin
By Shaun Walker
Sunday, 31 January 2010
On the second floor of a scruffy courtroom in central Moscow, the stairwell reeking of fried potatoes and the floor wet and dirty from the snow melting off boots, Russia's most famous prisoners undergo yet another day in their seemingly interminable trial.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, formerly Russia's richest man, and his former business partner Platon Lebedev are taken each day from their holding cells at Moscow's notorious Matrosskaya Tishina prison, bundled into a cage in a police van and driven to the courtroom. Already sentenced to eight years in prison, Mr Khodorkovsky is now undergoing a second trial, widely dismissed as even more of a farce than the first, that could see him put behind bars for a further two decades.
The courtroom is an exercise in the absurd that could come straight from the pages of Gogol or Kafka. The two defendants sit inside a bullet-proof glass cage, nicknamed the "aquarium", that is remarkably similar in structure to the hundreds of snack kiosks that dot the streets of Moscow. A bank of six defence lawyers sits opposite the trio of prosecutors, who in their navy uniforms look like ticket collectors on a train. Huge mounds of documents are everywhere.
The judge, sitting in front of a Russian flag, peers over proceedings and looks thoroughly bored. It's not surprising – the trial started last March, and nobody knows when it will finish. The prosecution promises to call 250 witnesses, and so far only 40 have taken the stand. Then it will be the turn of the defence, who say they plan to call top-ranking Russian officials including the Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, to the witness stand.
They have been through all this before, of course. Arrested in 2003, Mr Khodorkovsky was given a nine-year prison sentence in 2005, later reduced to eight, which until the new trial he had been serving thousands of miles from Moscow in the wastes of Siberia.
His conviction was widely seen as a message from Mr Putin, then the President. Mr Khodorkovsky had breached an unwritten agreement that the President had made with Russia's richest men, the oligarchs, when he took office in 2000. The businessmen were permitted to keep their vast financial gains from the tumultuous 1990s in exchange for staying out of politics.
Mr Khodorkovsky was the most successful of these oligarchs. He had started out making money through the Komsomol, the Communist youth league, and by the late 1990s was in charge of Yukos, Russia's biggest and richest oil company. He was never into the obscene displays of wealth and bling for which other oligarchs such as Roman Abramovich have become well known. Especially in the early years, he cut a modest figure, wearing geeky glasses and thick cardigans. But he had begun to break the rules of the game, financing opposition political groups, and this was the price he paid.
Yukos was dismembered, and most of its assets were auctioned off, ending up under the control of the state-run company Rosneft, chaired by Igor Sechin, a shadowy Kremlin figure close to Mr Putin and thought to lead a clan of hardliners within the Russian elite. Mr Khodorkovsky was convicted of fraud and tax evasion and sentenced to eight years in prison. The message sent was loud and clear – don't mess with the Kremlin.
It is widely acknowledged that it was difficult to become rich during the 1990s while remaining fully within the bounds of the law, and most of the oligarchs could quite easily be convicted of similar crimes if the political will were there to bring them to court. Mr Khodorkovsky became the poster boy for what happens if you break the unspoken agreement with the Kremlin.
But while eight years seemed like a long sentence, the years ticked down quickly. Various reasons were found to ensure that Mr Khodorkovsky was denied early release, including a caution for taking a walk in prison grounds with his hands in the wrong position. At one stage, a fellow inmate even came forward to claim that the former Yukos boss had sexually assaulted him, a charge that was dismissed as absurd even by the normally compliant courts system.
The authorities insist that both trials were instigated by purely legal concerns, but supporters of Mr Khodorkovsky have said that the second trial was initiated due to a fear of what would happen if he were released. The way that Mr Khodorkovsky's PR team, and his extensive array of foreign supporters, portray him – essentially as an emblem of good corporate governance and a philanthropist who fell foul of an evil regime – finds little truck among ordinary Russians. They view the oligarchs – including those who are still in favour with the Kremlin – as little more than opportunists who robbed the country of its wealth at a time when the majority of people went hungry. But the worry among Russia's ruling elite is that Mr Khodorkovsky's time in jail has the potential to give him what no other billionaire who grew rich during the 1990s has – moral credibility with the Russian population. "With every year that goes by, he becomes seen less as a thieving oligarch and more as a potential political alternative," Dmitry Oreshkin, a Moscow-based political analyst, says.
Mr Khodorkovsky has become an active commentator on events in Russia, despite his location behind bars. He recently won a literary award for a series of letters he exchanged with the winner of the Russian Booker Prize, Lyudmila Ulitskaya, and a letter exchange with the best-selling novelist Boris Akunin has also been published. Last week he published a long article in a US newspaper, decrying the direction of modern Russia and warning that without political reform the country was liable to collapse. "There is very little chance of a 'not guilty' verdict," Mr Oreshkin says of the trial. "This is about revenge; it's about a lesson to other businessmen, and it's about fear of him becoming an opposition figurehead if he's released."
President Dmitry Medvedev, who took over from Mr Putin in 2008, is a lawyer himself and has promised to reform the country's notoriously weak court system. But most observers in Moscow say he would be powerless to go against Mr Putin and the system and have Mr Khodorkovsky released, even if he wanted to.
Back in the courtroom, last week was taken up with the questioning of Alexei Golubovich, formerly a top-ranking Yukos executive, called by the prosecution to give evidence against his old boss. "Our trial is quite paradoxical," said the lead defence lawyer, Vadim Klyuvgant. "Often, the prosecution's witnesses end up supporting our case. Much of what he said has been very helpful to the defence."
On Friday, Mr Golubovich was being directly questioned by Mr Lebedev from inside the "aquarium". The witness was visibly uncomfortable, answering most questions with claims not to remember the events or not to know. After one mumbled response, Mr Lebedev swung round with a triumphant look in his eyes. "You do realise what you've just admitted to?" he asked the witness, to sniggers from the audience. Every claim from Mr Golubovich that he can't remember something was met with a darkly sarcastic "I see". Mr Lebedev appeared to be thoroughly enjoying himself, perhaps because he finally has the chance to stretch his razor-sharp intellect, denied mental exercise so long during the dull years of imprisonment.
Mr Khodorkovsky sniggered along on occasions, and the harassed-looking prosecutors occasionally jumped up to object. The defendants appeared rather like a pair of cheeky schoolboys tormenting obtuse teachers who have put them in detention.
The trial could go on for at least another year, and the defence says there are repeated procedural violations in favour of the prosecution. Even some normally loyal figures have suggested that trying Mr Khodorkovsky a second time on similar charges is ill-advised. But the need to keep him locked up is stronger. "This is explicable using Stalinist, bandit logic," Mr Oreshkin says. "It's about who is stronger. The authorities think that if they release him, it won't be a display of humanity, a display of lenience. It would be a display of weakness. And that is unacceptable."
January 28, 2010
Russia profile: Catch Me If You Can
By Tom Balmforth
Russia Profile
A Long Overdue Crackdown on Racist Violence Has Reduced Murders, but Neo-Nazis Are Now Taking on the State Itself
Racist and neo-Nazi attacks in Russia “clearly decreased” in 2009, but the scale of xenophobic violence remains “frightening,” according to a report released yesterday by Russia’s Sova Center. The hate crime monitor said the fall - unprecedented during Sova’s six years of monitoring - could be attributed to the disbanding of particularly violent ultranationalist groups by the police last year. But now extremist groups are beginning to target state institutions and personnel. Are Russia’s hard-line nationalists finally being sidelined, or are they merely changing their objectives?
The Sova Center’s report on racially motivated violence in Russia last year registered 71 murders (down from 109 in 2008), and 333 assaults resulting in injury (down from 486). The attacks still followed the usual template: they were mostly perpetrated by extreme right-wing nationalists, while Central Asian and Caucasian immigrants were the most frequently targeted. The Moscow District (city and region) was the most dangerous place for foreigners, with 38 murdered and 131 injured, followed by St. Petersburg and the surrounding Leningrad region, with 8 murders and 36 injured.
The report tallies with findings from other human rights monitors. Alexander Brod, the head of the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights, said his organization will soon release its 2009 summary report on xenophobia in Russia, and that it had observed a similar trend with “some falls in the number of murders and attacks compared with previous years.”
So why the improvement? Well, Russia’s Interior Ministry can take a rare pat on the back, as both Brod and the Sova Center’s report credited last year’s police crackdown on radical neo-Nazi groups in Russia, particularly in Moscow, for the decrease in racist violence. The prosecutor’s office too has recently opened up more criminal cases against far-right extremists, and courts have increasingly passed guilty verdicts, both of which have had a positive impact, according to Brod.
But there is still little room for optimism. Sudden spikes in racist violence remain possible in any region because not enough is done by the state to reverse xenophobic sentiment, which is continually building up, particularly amongst the younger generations, said Brod. “The state is not implementing measures to prevent young extremists, it does not enlighten its citizens, it has not attempted to fine-tune its migration policy, and it does not oppose the ideology of racism, xenophobia and neo-Nazism,” said Brod. These knock-on effects are then further aggravated by socio-economic factors such as poverty and unemployment.
That Russia registered fewer racial attacks in the middle of its worst economic crisis in over a decade is clearly encouraging. But high unemployment looks likely to continue for at least the near future, and Brod even said “I think it’s possible there will be a surge in racist attacks.”
The Levada Center, an independent pollster, published a survey in December which showed that an increasing number (35 percent last year) of Russians “responded negatively or very negatively” to immigrant workers even from Russia’s “near abroad.” In another survey Levada found that 54 percent of Russians support the slogan “Russia for the Russians.”
What’s more, Russia’s mainstream political parties actively manipulate this widespread nationalist sentiment to strengthen their support base, according to Galina Kozhevnikova, the deputy head of the Sova Center who compiled the report. “Xenophobic propaganda continues to appear as an attribute of the electoral campaign between the majority of official parties (including United Russia [the party of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev and the largest faction in the Duma] and Just Russia),” she wrote.
Nonetheless, Kozhevnikova said 2009’s improved statistics reflected the state’s improved anti-xenophobia efforts. “In comparison with previous years, the government last year did more. But the problem is that the government is late in getting round to new challenges. It’s always slow to react – for a long time it didn’t react to racist violence and now, ten years after people in Russia started killing in the name of nationalism, it’s finally starting to catch these racists,” she said.
On January 19 anti-fascist demonstrators took to the streets to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the murders of human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova, who were gunned down in broad daylight in central Moscow. Although the march was prematurely brought to an end by a salvo of tear gas and a string of arrests, those commemorating can take consolation that the gunman, who had links to far-right groups, has been convicted.
But now that the police are finally catching up with murders by extremist groups, Kozhevnikova said, the groups are once again evolving. “Now racists have stopped killing so much, but now they are carrying out bombings, arson and other vandalism. The government is not ready for this – it is always lagging behind, and in this sense the situation is only going to get worse,” said Kozhevnikova. According to the Sova report, racially motivated vandalism grew unprecedentedly in 2009.
Perhaps the most striking finding in the report is that ultranationalist groups are “more willingly and actively moving toward anti-state terrorism,” and they are less likely to carry out random attacks on foreigners. Kozhevnikova said this was a natural reaction to the improved efforts of the state and that the far-right groups were now changing their objectives. “First of all, this is because the state has begun to position itself as the enemy of the extremist right. Secondly, it’s just a normal, logical progression for such a movement. The reason they assaulted foreigners was that they hoped that they would leave. When nothing changed, they started killing, which also changed nothing. Now they are trying to create instability in the country to create a revolution so they themselves can throw out the foreigners,” she said.
Kozhevnikova said she was encouraged by the state’s increased response to xenophobia, but that it is too early to speculate whether more significant progress was in the offing. “The government has recently been a lot more active, and if this trend continues, the situation could well improve. Whether this will happen, though, it’s really difficult to say,” she said.
Businessneweurope: Pipe dreams come true
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Ben Aris in Moscow
January 27, 2010
Cold War tensions between Europe and Russia will persist as long as the energy infrastructure from that era remains in place. But in the last few months, construction has started or finished on a raft of new pipelines that have already radically changed the make-up of energy politics on the Eurasian land mass.
Russia's stranglehold over the business has been broken and the new geo-political energy balance will make for a more civilised market. The Kremlin is fighting back through a string of deals to buy into the energy infrastructure of other countries, but so far it has had only limited success.
Russia inherited an imperialistic power over most of its former republics in the form of a web of oil and gas pipelines. Former president Boris Yeltsin's strategy was to bottle up the hydrocarbon-rich Central Asian countries and force them to accept prices for their oil and gas that were pennies on the dollar compared with international prices.
When Vladimir Putin took over as president he set up a Eurasian Energy Union that was supposed to put energy relations on a more market footing. The Kremlin has (more or less) dumped the strategy of subsidising oil and gas prices to its friends, and expects everyone to pay full whack now. This has created conflict: the Kremlin came in for severe criticism after it cut Ukraine's gas supplies off in 2006 and then again 2009 for failing to pay its gas bill; in January, Russia was threatening to cut off Belarus' oil supplies after Minsk refused to accept lower oil transit tariffs through the Druzhba pipeline. Meanwhile, for the last five years the Russians have been reasserting their position by building new pipelines to take a bigger share of the market and simply buying out energy assets in other countries.
At the same time, the shape of the gas business has changed dramatically: liquefied natural gas (LNG) transported by tankers has created a more flexible "spot" market for gas (rather than one characterised by pipeline supplies delivered on long-term contracts), while new unconventional gas deposits are being developed (see accompanying story). The US, which was in gas deficit a few years ago, overtook Russia in 2009 to become the world's biggest producer of gas; the US produced an estimated 624bn cubic meters (cm) of gas last year, against Russia's 582bn cm. And more of this shale gas is thought to lie under the ground in Western Europe, which further will weaken the position of the Russian gas monopoly Gazprom.
On the oil front, this year marks the first big drive to open up fields in Eastern Siberia, which was untouched by the Soviets and is thought to harbour large reserves of oil.
But the biggest change in the energy business has been China's sudden appearance as a major producer and importer of Central Asia's oil and gas. From almost nothing last year, China will become the biggest buyer of Kazakh oil and Turkmen gas by the end of this year.
TransAsian pipeline changes the game
As ceremonies go, pipeline inaugurations are pretty unexciting affairs. Most of the presidents of Central Asia joined Chinese President Hu Jintao and his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov two weeks before Christmas to stand in the freezing cold next to a large gas pipeline and declare it "open." But this pipe completely changes the energy balance in Central Asia and moves the so-called "Stans" from the middle of nowhere on the geopolitical map a lot closer to the centre of the action.
The $6.7bn pipeline allows energy-hungry China to tap Central Asia's copious supplies of gas and at a stroke will supply about half of the gas its booming economy so desperately needs. "The new pipeline marks an economic power shift to the benefit of the three Central Asian countries and China and to the detriment of Russia," argues Philip H. de Leon, publisher of .
The TransAsian gas pipeline is the first one built out of the Caspian region that runs east, linking Turkmenistan's massive gas basin with China's West-East Gas Pipeline. Now Turkmen gas can be sent as far as Shanghai and Hong Kong, carrying a total of 40bn cm/y by 2013, half of China's forecasted gas needs.
Russia has bullied Turkmenistan for most of the last two decades into selling it gas at way below international prices, but analysts concur that the Kremlin has overplayed its hand and merely accelerated the appearance of new pipelines out of the region that avoid Russia.
Turkmenistan has been rowing with Russia over prices for its gas for some time and an explosion on its export pipeline that it blamed on Gazprom's negligence. Ashgabat's response has been to move forward plans to build a second new pipeline to Iran on its southern border, which came online in January and will increase exports to the south to 20bn cm/y. Then the Kremlin was forced into a humiliating climbdown in December when it agreed to buy 30bn cm of Turkmen gas at European prices this year. Analysts say that Russia will actually lose money on this deal, as it will force Gazprom to reduce its own production, wiping about $1bn off its profits in 2010.
There appears no stopping the Chinese march into Central Asia. The Chinese have already finished another oil pipeline that links them to Kazakhstan, where they already account for about a third of oil production. The first phase of the Kazakh oil pipeline went into operation in July last year and a second phase will link Kazakhstan's oil-rich Caspian shores to China.
So if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Russia has done a dramatic volte-face on its traditional wariness of China. Putin returned from a trip to Beijing in October and announced that Russia would build its own gas pipeline from Siberia to China's energy-starved northwest province, which will supply the other half of China's expected demand for gas in the coming years.
Russian gas trident
Russia has (inevitably) lost out in the battle with its emerging market rival China over Central Asia, but it's doing much better in the West. The Kremlin's response to rising competition has been to beef up its own energy transport infrastructure in the hopes of holding on to its market share.
Russia has repeatedly clashed with Ukraine in recent years as Kyiv barely covers its gas bill. But the reason that cutting off Ukraine's gas causes such a furore is because Russia also cuts off Western Europe in the process; Russia sends about 80% of its gas to Western European customers through the Ukrainian pipeline system – the only one that currently connects Russia to Europe.
The obvious solution is to build more pipelines and two more are on the cards: Nord Stream will run from northwest Russia to Germany; and South Stream will run from southern Russia under the Black Sea to Turkey and possibly on to southern Europe. Both routes are gathering momentum fast.
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Putin ordered construction to start on Nord Stream at the end of last year after the pipeline got the last environmental permits from Germany. And in January, Gazprom started building the first pumping station at the mouth of the first of two parallel pipes, which is supposed to be operational by 2011 with a capacity of 27.5bn cm/y. Thanks to Nord Stream, 2009 should be the last episode of the Russo-Ukraine "Gas for Cash" soap opera, which usually ends with Europe freezing.
South stream, the other pipeline project, will close the circle, but this pipeline has had a harder time getting off the drawing board and is competing with the EU-sponsored Nabucco pipeline, which is supposed to source Caspian region and Middle East gas and send it to Europe without crossing Russian soil. The problem is that there's probably only enough demand to support one pipeline.
The Kremlin was working very hard in 2009 to get South Stream off the ground and managed to sign a string of deals to get Croatia, Bulgaria and Hungary on board. By the end of the year, it looked as though Russia had won the race, largely because the new TransAsian pipeline will soak up much of Turkmenistan's spare gas that would be eventually needed to fill up the rival Nabucco pipe. However, never say never when talking about pipeline politics. The issue will really be decided when someone breaks ground and actually starts building their pipeline.
Go east, Espo!
The Kremlin has also turned its attention to rounding out the oil pipeline infrastructure. Like the gas pipes that will now run both east and west, Putin opened the first section of the ambitious Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean (Espo) oil pipeline on New Year's eve, which will link Siberian oilfields with Russia's Pacific coast.
The 4,857-kilometre Espo is by far the most expensive of all the pipeline plans on the table at the moment. But strategically it will allow Russia to deliver oil directly to the whole of the Pacific Rim, significantly diversifying Russia's customer base. Construction of this anaconda of a pipe was actually begun in 2004, but the project has regained its momentum since a branch to China's Daqing was started in April last year (a pipeline originally proposed by the now-bankrupt Yukos oil company and the main reason its former owner, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, clashed with the Kremlin). "This is a happy event for Russia - a large-scale project that gives us access to new markets in the Asia-Pacific. And we have managed to do this during a global financial crisis," Putin said at the opening ceremony.
The Chinese dogleg will carry 15m tonnes of oil a year (t/y) and the second phase, due to be finished in about 2014, will carry 80m t/y and will cost at least $30bn to build. But the success of the pipeline will depend on the currently untouched oil reserves thought to exist in Eastern Siberia; optimistic forecasts say the eastern fields will reach production levels of 70m-80m t/y around 2030, but serious exploration of the region will only begin this year.
With Central Asia largely lost to the Chinese, the Kremlin has been casting about for new partners; Russian firms have been very active in bidding for a piece of the oil and gas business opening up in Iran and Iraq.
Both Gazprom Neft and Lukoil have been active in Iraq, promising to invest billions of dollars in the development of the Badra and West Qurna II oil field in Iraq respectively. Meanwhile, an Iranian delegation headed by Deputy Petroleum Minister Hossein Nogrekar Shirazi arrived in Moscow on January 13 hoping to woo Russian partners (and tap Russian cash) in the development of Iranian oilfields, as well as building more energy sector infrastructure in Iran. Russian Deputy Energy Minister Sergei Kudryashov said the two countries are "destined to cooperate on major projects." Gazprom Neft and the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) already signed an agreement in November to work together on developing the Azar and Shanguleh oilfields, which have reserves of about 2bn barrels. And since July 2008, Gazprom has joined Total and Petronas (Malaysia) in developing Iran's South Pars gas condensate field.
Financial Sense: Russia's Conquest of Europe
by J. R. Nyquist
Weekly Column Published: 1.29.2010
On 11 November 2009 the Russian libertarian economist Andrei Illarionov spoke at a meeting of the "discussion club" of the OGF (United Citizens Front) in Moscow. He offered some remarkable observations and analysis that American readers should know about. For those who are unfamiliar with his work, it is worth noting that Illarionov has been an economic advisor to Russian leaders, resigning in protest when Russian leaders refused to take his advice. Illarionov speaks out boldly, and has warned American politicians that their policy toward Russia is worse than appeasement. In an article that appeared in the Washington Post two years ago, he characterized U.S. policy toward Russia as "enabling" dictatorship.
Perhaps the most striking statement made by Illarionov in recent months, was on the subject of corruption. "Totalitarian regimes are very much corrupted," said Illarionov during the 11 November meeting of the discussion club. "[The Russian leaders] find support abroad, outside, among the states that are citadels of democracy, in the countries that actually make a big effort to protect freedom and democracy at home; but still, the totalitarian regimes find support there...."
How do they find this support? According to Illarionov, "Under the existing system, it is very easy to buy off the European leadership. It costs very little, and is easily done, so it is not a problem to achieve results with this method in Europe." In fact, Illarionov asks if the statesmen of any system can remain independent in the wake of sweetheart deals they cannot refuse to take. The Russians look at European politicians the way a shopper looks at goods in a store. They see one they like, examine the price tag, and pay the cashier. In fact, they use oil money, which allows them to buy whatever they see. Illarionov noted: "The largest export that Russia delivers is corruption. It's not oil or gas, but corruption. And this is in greater demand than even oil or gas." The politicians of Western Europe love corruption, because it makes them rich.
The Russians, Illarionov explained, are trying to push the United States out of Europe. Why should Europe need a security alliance with America? Why not ally with Russia? It is the stated policy of Russia to remake Europe by eliminating NATO, by creating a "new security infrastructure" that effectively isolates the Americans. For the last ten years, noted Illarionov, the leadership of Germany realized that unification transformed Germany into the strongest political force in Europe -- except for Russia. The Germans began to resent America's role as Europe's protector. This suited the Russians perfectly. "The policy of Germany in Europe is the policy of the leader of Europe for the past ten years," noted Illarionov. The Germans want to lead Europe. "No other country, except Russia of course, can pursue a policy of leadership like Germany." So the Russians flatter the Germans, and let them imagine a bright future. "Let the Americans go home, and leave Europe," they say. "Russia will gladly work with Germany. After all, we [Russians] respect our German 'partners.'"
For those unfamiliar with Soviet Cold War strategy, the Kremlin's goal is nothing new. Russia wants America out of Europe so that Russia can dominate Europe. Once the Americans have withdrawn their commitment to protect Europe, the Germans will be forced to accept satellite status under Russia. This is not understood today, because the German leaders are corrupt. They have been bought, and are vulnerable to blackmail. Meanwhile, America's position in Europe is diminishing. The time is coming, therefore, when America will be isolated; when America will be surrounded by a hostile world. Latin America will be in the Russian camp (under Chavez and his associates), Europe will be in the Russian camp, China will be in the Russian camp, etc.
Someone asked Illarionov if Russia was increasing global tensions in preparation for a world war. Illarionov replied: "The government in Russia is interested in increasing international tensions to its maximum or even up to the level of a world war which may lead to a global catastrophe and to a change of the world order; [but] we cannot see into the heads of our [Russian] leadership."
According to Illarionov, the Russian leaders "possess a feature" which indicates "an absence of an understanding of basic things. But I would like to hope that their goal is not to push tensions to a world war, though they definitely wan tensions increased in specific areas, like the Middle East and Persian Gulf region, between Israel and Iran on the issue of Iran developing nuclear weapons. This is influencing the oil prices. This is the best way to bolster oil prices throughout the world. In a matter like this they are not stupid at all, and they know how money is made. This is one of the major sources to support their political power, and to fill their own private coffers. From this point of view their policy is very rational, and quite cynical."
The West is asleep. A game of "divide and conquer" is advanced against us. The days of the NATO alliance are numbered. Russia has been buying politicians all over Europe, and if those politicians stay bought, there will be no one to oppose the Russian plan. America will then find itself isolated, economically vulnerable, and militarily inferior.
Copyright © 2010 Jeffrey R. Nyquist
National Economic Trends
Bloomberg: Russian Manufacturing Expanded in January as New Orders Rose
By Alex Nicholson
Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Russian manufacturing expanded last month for the first time since September as new orders increased and companies fired staff at a slower pace.
VTB Capital’s Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 50.8 after falling to 48.8 the month before, the lowest reading since July, the bank said in an e-mailed statement today. The index, based on a survey of 300 purchasing executives, grew for the first time in 14 months in September then fell back for the next ensuing months.
“The headline number was supported by new orders,” Dmitry Fedotkin, an economist at VTB Capital in Moscow, said in the statement. “New export orders rose only marginally, suggesting the domestic market was a key driver of demand growth” while the pace of companies cutting staff “was the second-lowest of the past 17 months.”
Ten central bank rate cuts since April and an 83 percent surge in the price of Urals crude, Russia’s key export earner, are pushing the economy to recovery after a record contraction last year. Industrial production grew in December for a second month, the first consecutive increases in more than a year.
OAO AvtoVAZ, Russia’s largest automaker, plans to boost production 51 percent this year as the country’s economy recovers, the company said on Jan. 13.
Revived Demand
Reviving demand for industrial goods helped lift industrial output at the end of last year. OAO TMK, Russia’s biggest producer of pipes for the oil and gas industry, boosted production 22 percent in the fourth quarter from the previous period and OAO Raspadskaya, the second-biggest producer of coal for steelmaking, raised production of coal concentrate 10 percent in the fourth quarter after average prices in the period jumped 61 percent.
OAO Russian Railways, the rail monopoly whose sales account for about 2.5 percent of gross domestic product, said cargo shipments rose 11 percent in December from a year earlier, as oil, coking coal and metals shipments rose. Rail shipments fell 15 percent in all of 2009. Railroads account for about 85 percent of Russia’s cargo transport, excluding pipelines.
Wage arrears plummeted 29.4 percent in December after a 6.6 percent decline in November as industrial production stabilized, the statistics service said on Jan. 22.
“The output index rose to 52.3, pointing to production rising for six straight months and supporting the recent upturn in official statistics,” Fedotkin said in the statement.
The government has forecast a rebound from Russia’s 10.9 percent annual contraction in the second quarter, the steepest drop since at least 1995. Output fell a further 8.9 percent in the third quarter and will contract about 8.5 percent for all of 2009, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Dec. 30.
“The key question now is how long it will take for banks to respond to the easing of financial conditions by increasing their lending,” Goldman Sachs wrote in a report last month.
VTB Group, Russia’s second-biggest bank, expects to increase outstanding loans to companies by 17 percent this year, Interfax reported on Jan. 28, citing Chief Executive Officer Andrei Kostin.
VTB consumer lending will probably increase 23 percent, Kostin was cited as saying by the Russian news service.
To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Nicholson in Moscow at anicholson6@
Last Updated: February 1, 2010 00:00 EST
Bloomberg: Russia May Cut Rate to 7.5% This Quarter, Deutsche Bank Says
By Paul Abelsky and Agnes Lovasz
Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Russia’s benchmark interest rate may fall 1.5 percentage points this quarter, according to Deutsche Bank AG, before the central bank reverses direction to focus on pacing a recovery fueled by last year’s 83 percent surge in oil.
Inflation last month slowed to an annual 8.8 percent, the lowest year-end rate on record. That’s created room for Bank Rossii to ease policy to help households and businesses gain access to credit. In the second half, higher oil prices will fuel a rebound that may require tighter policy, the bank’s First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said on Jan. 20.
“On the back of lower inflation, Russia’s refinancing rate will decline by another 1 percent to 1.5 percent by the end of the first quarter,” Yaroslav Lissovolik, Deutsche Bank’s chief economist in Moscow, said in an interview in London. “But later on as inflation stabilizes in the second quarter and then picks up in the second half of the year, we’re expecting a bit of an increase in interest rates.” His forecast is for reductions to “about” 7.5 percent this quarter, followed by “one or two” increases in the last quarter and a year-end rate of 8 percent.
Bank Rossii, which cut rates 10 times between April and December to a record low 8.75 percent, will be the last central bank in the so-called BRIC group that includes Brazil, India and China to bring its monetary easing cycle to an end. The world’s biggest energy exporter is poised to return to pre-crisis growth levels, though the economy may experience the same “overheated development” that its oil-fed expansion spurred in the past, Ulyukayev said last month.
By the end of this year, the benchmark rate will probably stand at 8 percent, according to the median estimate of 15 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
Slower Tightening
The central bank still has “some room for additional cutting,” Ulyukayev said on Jan. 27. Inflation risks may return in the second half of the year, though prices probably won’t grow more than 7 percent on an annual basis, he said.
The pace of tightening may not be as fast as the series of rate cuts that was pushed through last year, when the economy suffered a worse recession than during Russia’s 1998 default.
“When inflation is going up,” the central bank is “unlikely to be as emphatic in increasing rates,” Deutsche’s Lissovolik said. “Growth considerations will be predominant in this and as long as there are concerns about a relatively low growth performance, we will observe this asymmetry in monetary policy.”
Australia, Norway, Israel and Vietnam have raised rates since the peak of the global crisis. China and India have increased reserve requirements for banks to avoid stoking unsustainable lending growth.
Growth Outlook
Bank Rossii has lagged behind other central banks in easing monetary policy and will trail them as regulators reverse rate cuts, Ulyukayev said last month.
“Like everyone else in the world, we will shift from an easing cycle to a stabilization cycle, which will possibly be followed by a rate increase,” he said.
The International Monetary Fund on Jan. 26 raised its forecast for Russia’s economic expansion to 3.6 percent this year following an estimated 9 percent contraction in 2009. Gross domestic product may expand about 3.1 percent this year after an 8.5 percent contraction in 2009 and has the potential for a “quick return to a growth trajectory” of 5 percent to 6 percent, the government said in a Dec. 30 report.
Gross domestic product this year will expand 2 percentage points more than the government’s official estimate 3.1 percent expansion, the central bank predicts.
-- With assistance from Zoya Shilova in Moscow and Ryan Chilcote in Davos. Editors: Tasneem Brogger, Chris Kirkham.
To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Abelsky in Moscow at pabelsky@.
Last Updated: January 31, 2010 16:00 EST
The Moscow Times: Russia Ranks 55th in Report of 60 Globalized Economies
01 February 2010
The Moscow Times
Russia is one of the least globalized countries among the 60 largest economies in the world, according to a report released Friday.
The country ranks 55th on the list, compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit and Ernst & Young — just above Indonesia and below Ecuador.
Each of the countries was graded by analysts using a 1 to 5 scale on a number of factors, ranging from trade policy to Internet subscribers to migration.
While Russia scored relatively well in categories ranking countries' trade policies and capital restrictions, it ranked much lower in indicators measuring the exchange of technology and ideas, such as the number of Internet users, as well as measures of cultural integration, such as tourism. Russia scored a 1.77 in the technology category and a 2.01 in the cultural category.
Russia's aggregate score in 2009 was 2.77, up only slightly from the 2.51 it scored in 1995.
BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) all rank in the bottom half of the list and "none has increased, or is even expected to increase, its globalization progress at anything like the pace of its economic growth rate," the report said. "This may be explained in large part by a greater focus on new opportunities arising in home markets."
Singapore, Hong Kong, Ireland, Belgium and Sweden led the list, while Indonesia, Nigeria, Algeria, Venezuela and Iran brought up the rear.
Easybourse: Russian GDP Shrank By 7.9% In 2009 – Rosstat
MOSCOW -(Dow Jones)- Russia's economy shrank by 7.9% in 2009, preliminary data released by the Federal Statistics Service, or Rosstat, showed Monday.
The number, while less than the 8.7% decline forecast by government officials towards the end of last year, still stands as Russia's worst economic decline since 1994.
The data showed significant drops in a broad swathe of economic sectors, from construction, which fell by 16.4% after growing by over 10% in the previous year, to manufacturing, off 13.9% after a 0.2% gain in 2008.
Russia technically emerged from recession last year, although the manufacturing sector continues to struggle and unemployment remains a problem. Officials have said the economy could grow by as much as 5% this year.
-By Ira Iosebashvili, Dow Jones Newswires; +7 495 232 9195; ira.iosebashvili@
Bloomberg: Russian Economy Suffered Deepest Contraction on Record in 2009
February 01, 2010, 04:02 AM EST
By Alex Nicholson
Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Russia’s economy shrank the most on record in 2009 after the price of oil slumped 77 percent from peak to trough and left businesses to start the year trying to adjust to smaller profits as banks cut off credit.
Gross domestic product fell 7.9 percent in 2009 after rising 5.6 percent the previous year, the State Statistics Service said on its Web site today, citing preliminary figures. The median forecast of 18 economists in a Bloomberg survey was for an 8.5 percent contraction, in line with the government’s prediction.
President Dmitry Medvedev has called 2009 the “hardest year” since Russia’s 1998 default. Banks withheld credit and companies were forced to restructure debts as 12 consecutive months of contracting industrial output depleted earnings. The sudden drop in Urals crude, the country’s chief export, to $32 in December 2008 from a peak of $143 in July that year ended a decade of growth in the world’s biggest energy exporter.
“Among the largest economies, growth collapsed the most” in Russia, Tatiana Orlova, an economist at ING Bank NV in Moscow, said before the report. “The economy was impacted by its high oil dependence and was vulnerable when external capital markets shut down.”
Household spending shrank 8.1 percent last year, the office said. Net exports, or exports minus imports, grew 58 percent in 2009 while fixed capital investment fell 18.2 percent, according to the report.
‘Humiliating’
GDP slumped a record 10.9 percent in the second quarter, underscoring what Medvedev in his “Go Russia” open letter called a “humiliating” reliance on commodities. Even as the contraction slowed to 8.9 percent in the third quarter, Russia’s performance lagged its emerging market peers. Brazil’s GDP fell 1.2 percent that quarter, while China’s grew 10.7 percent in the fourth and India’s increased 7.9 percent in the third.
The economy will expand about 3.1 percent this year and there may be a “quick return to a growth trajectory” of 5 percent to 6 percent, the government said in a Dec. 30 report.
The government exceeded its budget revenue target for the year by 9.3 percent and ratings companies Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings raised their outlooks, citing improving finances.
That means the Finance Ministry’s foreign borrowing need won’t be “anywhere close” to the maximum $17.8 billion set out in this year’s budget, economists at Troika Dialog, Russia’s oldest investment bank, said in a Jan. 27 note.
‘Inflationary Risks’?
After 10 central bank interest rate cuts since April, lending may increase 20 percent this year, compared with 0.2 percent in 2009, helping the economy to grow 5 percent this year, Central Bank First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said on Jan. 20. At the same time, the recovery risks spurring speculative capital inflows, creating ruble volatility that may result in overheating, he warned.
“Inflationary risks are possible in the second half of the year,” and Bank Rossii may need to raise rates, Ulyukayev said.
Though 2009’s 83 percent rebound in the price of Urals crude has helped propel Russia toward recovery, policy makers warned the economic outlook may be as unsustainable as the last growth wave because of the country’s continued reliance on commodities.
“The economy will return to the quantitative parameters of its pre-crisis development quite quickly. But I don’t think this is necessarily a good thing,” Ulyukayev said. “Our pre-crisis development lacked quality, it was overheated development.” He said Russia needs institutional reform to manage its oil revenue.
“We are in the middle between Norway and Nigeria in this sense.”
--Editors: Tasneem Brogger, Chris Kirkham.
To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Nicholson in Moscow at +7-495-771-7715 or anicholson6@.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Kirkham at +44-20-7673-2464 or ckirkham@
Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions
Interfax: Russian stocks open lower; MICEX index down 0.9% in first minute
MOSCOW. Feb 1 (Interfax) - Russian stocks followed exchanges abroad lower at the open of trading on Monday.
The MICEX index fell 0.93% to 1,406.19 points and the RTS index was down 0.76% to 1,462.54 points. The blue chips posted declines in the range 0.6%-1.8%.
RTS futures were 6.1 points below fair value, indicating moderately negative investors expectations.
RTS$#&: GAZP, GMKN, LKOH, PLZL, ROSN, SBER, SIBN, SNGS, TATN, VTBR
Feb. 1, 2010, 2:45 a.m. EST
Market Watch: Russia's X5 Retail, M.video raised to overweight
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- Russia's X5 Retail Group N.V. (OTHER:XFRGY) was upgraded to overweight from neutral on Monday at J.P. Morgan. The broker also raised its rating on M.video OAO, a Russian consumer electronics and home appliance retail chain, to overweight from underweight. "We expect X5 and M.video to be key beneficiaries of recovering demand for consumer durables and declining cost of debt," J.P. Morgan said in a note to clients. The broker downgraded Russia-based Dixy Group to neutral from overweight, saying that the current share price already reflects expectations of an operational turnaround in 2010. J.P. Morgan reduced its rating on Magnit's local shares to neutral from overweight, saying they were fairly priced. But the broker maintained its overweight rating on Magnit's global depositary receipts in anticipation of the shares' inclusion in the MSCI Index in 2010. The broker also left unchanged its underweight rating on grocery chain Seventh Continent "due to less defined strategy and very poor earnings visibility."
Reuters: Russia's Seventh Continent 2009 sales up 12 pct yr/yr
Mon Feb 1, 2010 1:24pm IST
MOSCOW, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Russian grocery chain Seventh Continent (SCON.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday that its 2009 sales rose 12 percent on the year to 49.08 billion roubles.
In dollar terms, sales came to 1.56 billion, the company said in a statement.
Seventh Continent opened five stores last year, which brought the total to 142 stores. In 2010, the company plans to add another 14 stores, including three hypermarkets.
"Because of the increase in space and work on increasing effectiveness, our cash flow should improve and we should be able to lower our debt burden," Seventh Continent said in a statement.
(Writing by Lidia Kelly)
((lidia.kelly@; +7 495 775 1242))
UralSib: New law regulating retailers takes effect today
UralSib
February 1, 2009
Long debated, still ambiguous. Today, a new law regulating the market share and relations with suppliers of retailers in Russia will take effect. However, the law will probably only gradually be enforced, as retailers will be allowed to work with old contracts at least until 1 August 2010. While the law was long expected and debated, it remains rather ambiguous. In particular, the law does not specify how to calculate the share in local markets.
Expansion and payable days limited. According to the new law, no organised retail chain may exceed 25% market share in a single administrative district (federal unit). The law will take effect in municipal districts from 1 July. Additionally, this law will prohibit charging bonuses (back-loaded volume discounts) from suppliers or any marketing and shelf-usage fees (fixed payments for using the most prominent shelf space) and sets strict payable days for three categories of goods, limiting the payment period to the typical circulation period of goods, i.e. 10 days for perishable goods and no more than 45 days for others.
Slightly negative for retailers, slightly positive for suppliers. The impact of the law will not be immediately felt for any retail chains. It could be slightly negative for X5, which already has 31% of the market share in St Petersburg; however, the chain will not be required to close any of its stores as the law only applies to new expansion. It may present problems for Magnit, which typically expands into smaller towns. Although the law forbids charging bonuses and marketing fees from suppliers, it does allow a discount of up to 10% of volume - sufficiently large enough to compensate retailers. Retailers may notice if there is an increased need for working capital. However, Magnit, which mainly uses prepaid schemes with small regional suppliers, may not be affected by this issue at all. We believe the law could be slightly negative for retailers (X5 Retail Group, Magnit, Dixy Group, and Seventh Continent) and slightly positive for suppliers (Wimm-Bill-Dann, Cherkizovo), but the real impact will be seen no sooner than 4Q10.
Tigran Hovhannisyan
Alfa: Government may cut profit-tax-deductable interest rate from 15% to 3%
Alfa
February 1, 2010
The Russian government is trying to reduce corporate demand for foreign debt. As the market would likely react negatively to a direct restriction on foreign borrowing, the CBR has proposed making such debt less attractive by lowering the profit-tax deduction. Currently, foreign-currency payments with an interest rate below 15% are deductable from profit tax; the proposal would cut this rate to 3%.
This step could cost businesses RUB70 bln in additional tax payments, not a large number compared with the net profit of $117 bln reported by the Russian corporate sector in 11M09. Also, the proposed change will have virtually no effect on large companies and banks, which are now able to borrow at rates very close to 3%. The new rule is more likely to limit small- and medium-size businesses' access to foreign-currency borrowing. However, for the measure to be effective, something must also be done to develop the local debt market. At the moment, international markets still offer much longer maturities, which is a huge advantage for borrowers.
We believe that the attempt to limit corporate foreign borrowing is in part a way to assure favorable placement conditions for Russian sovereign Eurobonds. Even though we believe the Eurobond program is not necessary this year, we cannot rule out that the Russian government will go to the market in the coming years. Thus, even if the new rule is unlikely to be very effective, we still think it stands a chance of being introduced.
Natalia Orlova, Ph.D.
Bloomberg: Billionaire Potanin’s Prof-Media Plans April IPO, Vedomosti Says
By Maria Kolesnikova
Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin plans to list his Russian media company, Prof-Media, in London in April, Vedomosti reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.
Potanin pledged 60 percent of Prof-Media to VTB Group as collateral for a $3.5 billion loan to his holding company Interros after the value of the original collateral, shares in OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel, declined in value, the Russian newspaper said today. He’s asking VTB to free the Prof-Media stake before the initial public offering, citing recent gains in Norilsk stock, Vedomosti said.
Bankers valued Prof-Media at as much as $2.5 billion, according to the newspaper. Interros declined to comment on today’s report.
To contact the reporter on this story: Maria Kolesnikova in Moscow at mkolesnikova@
Last Updated: February 1, 2010 02:58 EST
The Moscow Times: Banking Stocks Defy Bad Debt Questions
01 February 2010
By Rachel Nielsen
With the MICEX Financial Index flaunting a January gain of more than 4 percentage points above the broader market and financial shares pushing forward despite last week's sour news on bad loans, Russian banking stocks could seem Teflon-coated.
But the sector's fundamental determinant — the state of lending — remains in question for the coming year.
Consumer worries about unemployment, a slowness by banks to part with their cash, and a backlog of bad loans all could impinge on lending — and banks' profits. There will be a marked increase in credits this year, analysts say, though the rise may not be quite as spectacular as the Central Bank wishes.
Then again, Russian stock markets have been suggesting a rosier view. For January, the MICEX Financial Index of 11 banking stocks jumped 7.7 percent, versus just 3.6 percent for the main MICEX, a ruble-denominated index of 30 stocks. Last week, the financials closed up 3.2 percent, compared with a 0.6 percent increase for the broader index, which finished at 1419.42.
Central Bank board member Alexei Simanovsky said Jan. 25 that bad loans — including restructured and "hidden" bad loans — could stretch to 11 percent of the banking sector by mid-2010. Nonperforming loans were 5.2 percent of the sector's overall portfolio as of Dec. 1, according to Central Bank data.
Despite frequent encouragement from the government and the Kremlin, not to mention months of Central Bank rate cuts, it could still be a while before lenders really start opening up to the real sector.
"Credit never recovers quickly," said Elina Ribakova, chief economist for Russia and the CIS at Citibank. Typically, lending resumes at a healthy clip one or two years after the middle of the crisis, she said.
That view was echoed by Vladimir Savov, head of research for the Otkritie investment bank, who said bank lending usually begins the year after the recession.
"Our expectation is for relatively slow [lending] growth this year," he said.
The Central Bank is more chipper. On Jan. 20, First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev predicted that loan growth would be 20 percent this year. But Savov said the forecast appeared "extremely confident" and that it should be taken "with a pinch of salt."
Otkritie estimates loan growth of 12 percent for 2010, while Alfa Bank forecasts a 10 percent increase.
"The impression is that in December and January, the [lending] market did not improve," said Natalya Orlova, chief economist at Alfa Bank. In particular, retail loans were likely mild because Russians have less disposable income and fewer jobs.
"The majority of people are not very comfortable taking loans," she said.
And while consumer confidence has been rising, the State Statistics Service said last week that unemployment rose to 8.2 percent in December, the highest rate in half a year.
Of course, the real moneymaker for large banks is corporate lending, which brings earnings from interest on massive loans. The Russian banking sector holds some $420 billion in corporate loans, compared with about $120 billion in retail lending assets, according to Alfa Bank.
But it seems that banks could be offering more of that credit, especially as Russian industry looks to refinance debt racked up during a buying rampage before the economic crisis.
Given the relatively low interbank lending rates, "banks appear to be flush with liquidity," said Citibank's Ribakova. If that money isn't lent to business, it isn't making the banks money.
Even government officials have not been able to convince banks to part with their cash, Ribakova said. Last summer, for example, the authorities were regularly signaling that they wanted credit loosened, but lending rates stayed flat.
If lending rose 10 percent this year, the overall figure would still be humble compared with precrisis levels.
In 2007, credit to businesses, banks and individuals grew by 53 percent from a year earlier, Otkritie's Savov said. A year later, lending was rising at the start early on, but it stopped and then entered negative territory with the crisis, producing 35 percent growth for all of 2008. Last year, lending volumes either remained flat or fell about 1 percent, Savov said.
Banking stocks, on the other hand, have mostly been on the mend since March, which Orlova attributed to a stabilizing ruble exchange rate.
Since March 2, 2009, Sberbank has risen 517.2 percent on the MICEX, while VTB's stock price has jumped 289 percent. From the end of last year through Friday's trading, VTB has gained 8.7 percent, while Sberbank has risen 6.4 percent.
And those are the big state banks, whose survival through the crisis was never in any real doubt.
Orlova said she expected a marked but not overwhelming increase of 10 percent in all aspects of the banking sector, from assets to loan books, or total loan assets.
If bank stocks give only modest performances in 2010, then they will be overpriced, she said. Already, in terms of share price, "Russian banks are no longer so cheap."
Itar-Tass: Russian Post raises tariffs on parcels by 15%
01.02.2010, 09.43
MOSCOW, February 1 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Post on Monday is raising tariffs on parcels sent inside the country by 15 percent.
The tariffs will be increased depending on the distance of the dispatch, weight and way of sending and the increase will reach 15 percent on the average, Russian Post explained.
Thus, for example, the tariff for a standard parcel with the weight up to 500 grams by ground transport from Moscow to the Kaluga region will reach 111 roubles and 20 kopecks, and the tariff for a similar parcel sent from the Stavropol Territory to the Republic of Tatarstan will reach 112 roubles and 70 kopecks.
If a parcel is dispatched in combination (by ground and air transport) then the tariff will be formed from two components” one for the ground part of the trip (determined according to a new tariff scale of Russian Post) and for the air part of the trip (depending on the air company tariffs).
Last time the tariffs for the dispatch of parcels in Russia were changed in 2008.
Russian Post, is the Unitary enterprise postal operator of Russia. The company is responsible for the delivery of mail in Russia, and the issuing of postage stamps. Russian Post employs about 390,000 people and has over 40,000 postal offices. Russian Post cooperates with Sviaz-Bank.
Russian Post is a founding member of the Universal Postal Union created in 1874. In 1902 Chief Postal Service was made part of the Internal Affairs Ministry and in 1917 under the Provisional Government it became part of Ministry of Post and Telegraph. During the Great Patriotic War Soviet postal service part of People’s Commissariat of communications was delivering up to 70 million parcels per month to the Soviet army front from the rear under extremely difficult and often very dangerous conditions.
In 1993 Russian Post became a part of Ministry of Communications and in 2002, its status changed from a government ministry to a Unitary enterprise in the framework of the restructuring the federal postal communication agencies. The company's headquarters are located in Moscow.
In 2008, Andrei Kazmin, former CEO of Sberbank was appointed to the CEO of the company.
Although in January 2009 it was announced that Kazmin had to leave his post as CEO of the Russian Post. Current General Director is Alexander Kiselyov.
Postal network of the Russian Federation provides postal services throughout the country including all towns and rural settlements.
Russian Post represents 84 branches, 42, 000 post offices with 415 000 employees. Postal employees collect, process and deliver more than 1.4 billion letters, 38 million parcels and over 188 million money orders annually.
FSUE (Federal State Unitary Enterprise) Russian Post was established within the framework of the restructuring the federal postal communication agencies. It aims at providing universal postal services throughout the Russian Federation, enlarging the range of postal services and creating modern postal infrastructure.
According to information posted on the company’s official website, Russian Post is an integral part of state infrastructure. The multi-branch network of post offices unifies all even the furthest and difficult-to-access settlements. Post has long-term history and people trust it. Nowadays Russian Post grants wide range of postal, financial, info-communications and other services and implements socially oriented state projects.
Federal enterprise Russian Post represents postal sector of Russia. For several years the enterprise integrates largest country’s network of post offices and one of the numerous postal staff.
FSUE Russian Post was established under the Government Decree of September 5, 2002. The enterprise was registered on February 13, 2003. The Statute was also adopted. FSUE Russian Post unifying regional branch network was set after restructuring the federal postal communication agencies. A completely new system of regional postal organizations management was implemented on the base of uniform principles of financial, tax and managerial accounting. Presently Russian Post includes 84 branches, 42, 000 post offices rendering services throughout the country.
Within the framework of structural changes the enterprise attracts both individuals who can use different services at post and business clients offered network ones. Russian Post implements a complex of measures aimed to improve quality of postal services, to modernize logistics, technical and technological work processes. The enterprise arranges new line-haul and railway routes, purchases modern mail vans and new vehicles. It also implements the project on construction of network of automated sorting centres.
Annually the enterprise collects, sorts and delivers over 1.5 bln letters, 48 mln parcels and over 190 mln money orders.
In general Russian Post offers over 80 different services. Post offices perform delivery of pensions and allowances, also periodicals. People can make utilities payments, get credit and redeem loan, encash money from plastic card, arrange insurance, buy lottery, air and railway tickets, book seats to theatres and purchase consumer goods. In public access outlets customers can use Internet services, send and get emails, print documents and use other services.
Russian Post does it best not only to enlarge the range of services, but to improve their quality. Since 2005 the enterprise implements the project on quality management system. Presently half of all regional branches got the certificates of international standard ISO 9001:2000 concerned rendering postal services (letter correspondence, parcels, express- mails) and financial ones (postal orders, delivery of pensions, collection of payments).
RBC: Russia may soon see trade in Rusal shares
RBC, 01.02.2010, Moscow 11:18:29.UC Rusal's General Director Oleg Deripaska is confident that trade in the company's shares may begin within the next 12 months. "We think that in the next year, those Russian investors who purchased UC Rusal's shares will ensure the Russian depository program's implementation, and we will then see trade in the company's shares in Russia," Deripaska said in an interview with Russia 24 TV channel.
Reuters: Russia's Deripaska says will stay as RUSAL CEO
Mon Feb 1, 2010 12:36pm IST
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Oleg Deripaska will remain as UC RUSAL's chief executive after losing majority control of the indebted aluminum giant in a $2.2 billion IPO, he said in an interview cleared for publication on Monday.
"I know the company very well and have no plans to leave the position of chief executive," Deripaska told Reuters.
Deripaska also said a case brought by the outgoing government of Guinea, where UC RUSAL owns bauxite and alumina assets, resembled "extortion" and that he was prepared to enter talks with the new government of the West African country.
He said UC RUSAL, the world's largest aluminum producer, was not seeking any new acquisitions and that the company was focusing increasingly on Asian markets.
"We have a basket of assets that will allow us to develop for the next 25-30 years. We do not need to acquire anything," he said.
"We are now altering our marketing strategy. We are orienting ourselves more and more toward Asia."
Deripaska also said UC RUSAL could list stock in Russia within 12 months.
(Reporting by Gleb Bryanski, Editing by Robin Paxton and Dmitry Zhdannikov)
Reuters: Norilsk Eyes $2 Billion 2009 Profit After Loss: Reports
January 30, 2010
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's metals giant Norilsk Nickel expects to book a $2 billion net profit for last year after it ended 2008 with a loss of $449 million, Russian media reported on Saturday.
The Russian news agencies also quoted Vladimir Strzhalkovsky, the head of the world's largest nickel and palladium miner, as saying that the company has redeemed a loan of $1.25 billion thank to the profit.
He did not elaborate on the loan at the meeting with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and it was not immediately clear, to what banks the debt was repaid.
On Friday, Norilsk Nickel said it had raised its nickel output forecast for this year to 299,000-309,000 tons from a previous outlook of 300,000 tons.
Norilsk's main shareholders are billionaire Vladimir Potanin and UC RUSAL , the indebted aluminum giant controlled by another Russian industrial magnate, Oleg Deripaska.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin)
: Norilsk: nickel production fell by 5.6% in 2009
Published: 01 Feb 2010 00:25:49 PST
February 1 MetalBiz--OAONorilskNickel, Rusia's nickel producer claimed that the company's annual nickel production declined by 5.6% year on year to 282,894 tonnes in 2009
The company's nickel and palladium production occupied 20% of world's totals and 50% of global totals correspondingly. The company also claimed that it yielded copper of 402,214 tons, down 4.1% year on year, which was in line with the estimation of 402,000 tons and its annual production was 419,212 tons in 2009.
The company decreased palladium and platnum output to 2.805mln ounces and 661,000 ounces respectively, while it was 2.82mln ounces and 659,000 ounces in 2008 correspondingly.
Norilsk pointed out that it is estimated that its Russia's branch produced 234,000 tons of nickel in 2010 and its international branch company produced 65,000 tons and 75,000 tons respectively.
Bloomberg: VimpelCom to Boost Spending as 2010 Bodes Return to ‘Normal’
By Yuriy Humber
Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) -- OAO VimpelCom, Russia’s second- largest mobile phone company, plans to boost investment and roll out more data services this year as the country’s economy recovers, Chief Executive Officer Boris Nemsic said.
Spending will rise to as much as 18 percent of sales this year from 10 percent last year, Nemsic said Jan. 30 in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The cash will go to network maintenance, connecting more homes in Russia to the Internet, and to upgrading VimpelCom’s equipment to support third-generation mobile services, he said.
“We see 2010 as what we call a normal year, normal in the sense that we are not speaking about crisis anymore,” Nemsic said. “People will be looking for new tariffs, new services.”
Russia’s economy may grow about 3 percent this year, according to the finance ministry, after a slump in commodity demand pushed the nation into its deepest recession on record in 2009. Building 3G and 4G telecommunications infrastructure within five years will help diversify Russia away from oil revenue, President Dmitry Medvedev said Nov. 12.
VimpelCom’s spending plans run counter to those of its biggest domestic rival, OAO Mobile TeleSystems. MTS, as the company is also known, is likely to spend less than its earlier announced 22 percent to 25 percent of sales this year to preserve cash, CEO Mikhail Shamolin said Jan. 28.
Cash
“We’re still in a tough economic environment and we have to be careful with cash,” Shamolin said.
Neither mobile operator expects a significant expansion of client numbers this year, as the number of subscribers in Russia already exceeds the total population. Still, consumers may spend more time on the phone this year as their purchasing power revives along with the economy, Shamolin said.
“This spending may not immediately translate into revenue growth” as operators may need to cut prices to compete, VimpelCom’s Nemsic said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Yuriy Humber in Davos at yhumber@
Last Updated: February 1, 2010 01:30 EST
Interfax China: Lenovo to expand Russian operations in 2010 - Lenovo Russia GM
The Beijing Olympics provided Lenovo with a marketing narrative to introduce its products to Russia, and now Lenovo Russia's GM, Bai Yuli, aims to increase the computer maker's market share in Russia's dynamic urban markets. Bai discusses the company's convergence strategy for 2010 with Interfax.
RIA: McDonald's: 20 years of successful work in Russia
23:5531/01/2010
MOSCOW, January 31 (RIA Novosti) - Twenty years ago, on January 31, 1990, some 5,000 people gathered in Moscow's Pushkinskaya Square, waiting for the opening of a McDonald's restaurant, the first to start working in the Soviet Union.
A total of 30,000 Soviet citizens tasted hamburgers and Coca-Cola in McDonald's in the first day of its work, setting a new record for the number of first day visits in the restaurant's history. The previous record was registered when the first McDonalds outlet opened in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, attracting 9,100 people in the first day.
Soviet citizens were ready to stay in line for hours to taste a hamburger worth 1.5 rubles, and a Big Mac worth 3.75 rubles. An average salary then did not exceed 150 rubles in the Soviet Union, and a one-month bus ticket cost 3 rubles.
The first McDonald's restaurant was capable of serving some 700-900 people simultaneously.
In 1993, Russia's second McDonald's outlet opened in the central Moscow pedestrian street, the Old Arbat. Another restaurant opened in Moscow's central Tverskaya Street in the same year.
In 1996, a McDonald's outlet opened in Russia's second city of St. Petersburg.
As of now, some 218 McDonald's restaurants are open across Russia, serving a total of 600,000 people daily.
Earlier in January, Burger King, the U.S. chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, opened its first outlet in Russia's capital to compete with McDonald's.
Itar-Tass: Vladivostok Sollers carmaker reopens after month-long holiday
01.02.2010, 06.10
VLADIVOSTOK, February 1 (Itar-Tass) - The Sollers carmaker in Vladivostok was reopened on Monday after a month-long holiday, the head of the public relations department, Varvara Nasyr, told Tass. She said the plant would operate in two shifts. About 450 people work at the plant.
The car assembly plant was launched on December 29, 2009, and was immediately stopped for holidays. At first the plant will produce SsantYong off-road vehicles and ISUZU trucks.
It will begin with producing 10,000 vehicles a year, with plans to make up to 30,000 vehicles a year in the future. The vehicles will be sold not only in the Far East, but also in Siberia and western regions of the country.
In the second half of the year it will begin producing four-wheel drive commercial vehicles on the basis of Fiat Ducato, adapted to conditions of the Far East.
Starting from the middle of 2010, the company plans to begin supplying Fiat Ducato 4X4 vehicle sets to the enterprise in the Far East. Ambulances, school buses, special taxis will be produced there on their basis, and will be supplied to the market of Russia’s Primorye, Nasyr said.
The new Fiat Ducato 4X4 was designed by the company after studying conditions of the Far East with its difficult landscape, moist climate and difficult road conditions, particularly during the winter period.
RIA: Sollers unveils new car for Russia's Far East
12:1201/02/2010
VLADIVOSTOK, February 1 (RIA Novosti) - Russian automaker Sollers has presented a new version of the off-road Fiat Ducato, a Sollers spokesman told RIA Novosti on Monday.
Sollers, which produces the UAZ sports utility vehicle, have started assembling foreign brands such as Isuzu, launched production in Vladivostok in late December 2009.
"The new car, a 4x4 off-roader, was developed in view of road and driving conditions in Russia's Far East. Sollers will start selling the car in the Far East market in mid-2010," added Varvara Nasyr.
The Fiat Ducato is the first Russian off-road vehicle to be equipped with a 4x4 system which was designed by the French engine manufacturer Dangel.
The car's features include high road clearance, increased cross-country capacity, and heightened security in rough road conditions.
"Sollers is scheduled to start delivering the components for the production of the Fiat Ducato to its Far East plant by the middle of 2010, where it will be making specialized off-road versions of the Ducato, ambulances, school buses and taxis," Nasyr added.
The price of the vehicles was not disclosed.
"We know from our own experience that driving conditions in the Far East are difficult because of the uneven landscape, severe climate and poor road conditions. It is now evident that off-road vehicles are in high demand for the social infrastructure and passenger transportation," Nasyr said, citing Sollers General Director Vadim Shvetsov.
The Sollers plant in Vladivostok, which has 450 employees, began production on December 29, 2009. The company is expected to produce some 15,000 cars annually in the first stage mainly for central Russia's European regions, significantly increasing production throughout Siberia and the Far East in 2011. Once the plant goes into full production, it will begin assembling SsangYong SUVs, Isuzu trucks and Fiat Ducato off-roaders. By 2012, the company plans to produce 40,000 cars annually.
Itar-Tass: Fishermen in Kamchatka end hunger strike
01.02.2010, 05.54
PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, February 1 (Itar-Tass) - Fishermen of 12 fishing vessels belonging to the Cyprus company Akros have stopped a three-day warning hunger strike. They protested, as their ships have been idle for more than a year at the port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky over company’s unsettled problem with repaying loans.
The participants in the strike are in good health and there have been no incidents during the hunger strike, sources from the regional fishermen trade union told Tass on Monday.
The fishermen went on strike on January 29. Their ships were built in Germany against state guarantee. Because of the problem with repaying loans, they are formally still owned by the Cyprus company, and remain anchored at port. The Akros company says the settlement of the problem is within the competence of the Russian Finance Ministry. Fishermen say the problem is stalled unreasonably.
According to the trade union, the Russian government will consider the issue on February 2. The fishermen are pinning their hopes on the results of the session, the sources stressed.
Reuters: Fear grips Russia's private sector
• Russian businessmen dodge political questions in Davos
• Most focus on self-preservation, not development
• Lack of a clear vision of Russian "modernisation"
Published: 9:49AM Monday February 01, 2010
Source: Reuters
Russian businessmen at the World Economic Forum in Davos struck a gloomy note this week, with many uncertain about the country's direction and others warning a climate of corporate fear could hamper growth.
The wealthy businessmen who ran Russia 10 years ago under President Boris Yeltsin lost their political influence during Vladimir Putin's presidency in 2000-08.
During the global economic crisis, many have gorged on state bailouts. The state now controls about 60% of the economy and President Dmitry Medvedev's call for modernisation to lessen the dependency on oil is falling on deaf ears as entrepreneurs are too scared to show initiative after years of what they see as state bullying.
German Gref, CEO of Russia's largest lender Sberbank, was the only Russian in Davos who spoke openly about the mood of fear gripping the private sector since the state takeover of oil major YUKOS several years ago.
Gref, who also sits on the board of Russia's largest private oil firm LUKOIL, said that since the YUKOS affair, "the main issue on LUKOIL's agenda has been not development, but self-preservation".
"For me, it was a shock to learn that," Gref told an audience of investors, as LUKOIL's head and shareholder Vagit Alekperov looked on. Gref then called for a push to privatise state assets, suggesting a start with the bank he heads.
YUKOS assets were nationalised and former CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky jailed for tax evasion after a protracted legal battle that has become a symbol of the fear and uncertainty governing business is Russia.
Even the word YUKOS is taboo and officials and other businessman rushed to play down Gref's words.
"It is for the government to decide," about bank privatisation, said another state banker Andrei Kostin, CEO of second largest bank VTB. Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said that the sale was "too early to even talk about."
"It was very bold of Gref to say that," said another businessmen, who declined to be identified.
Gref, a prominent political and business figure, drafted the liberal reform programme for Vladimir Putin's first presidential term. His plans were implemented but then partly reversed during the second term, with the YUKOS takeover seen as a turning point towards more authoritarian policies.
Prime Minister Putin, whose speech in Davos on the state of the global economy last year was met with scepticism by international investors, did not come to the gathering this year - but even in his absence the businessmen did not talk freely.
"There is no modernisation. To carry out modernisation you need leadership and there is no leadership," said the head of a large Russian company. He declined to be identified, saying he did not want to put his business at risk.
"I have thousands of people working for me."
No middle ground
The depth of Russia's economic troubles last year brought new reform plans, with officials loudly talking about a new wave of privatisation and even political liberalisation, but rising commodity prices have put those ideas on the back burner.
Anatoly Chubais - the architect of Russia's first wave of privatisation who now heads a state firm tasked with developing the hi-tech sector - was among those issuing a stark warning.
"It is either modernisation or degradation. There is no middle way for Russia," Chubais told Reuters.
Conversations with Russian delegates at Davos showed there was no common vision of what the modernisation should mean.
"It is your ability to compete in the market which tells how "modern" you are. But I would first concentrate on cutting excess costs," Oleg Deripaska, CEO of the world's biggest aluminium firm UC RUSAL, told Reuters.
Deripaska, whose business empire was bailed out by the state, was humiliated by Putin in front of TV cameras during the prime minister's visit to one of his factories last year.
"I think that the best modernisation is the construction of roads," said Mikhail Shamolin, CEO of the country's biggest telecom company MTS.
Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin offered his own plan of reform at Davos, focusing on improving the efficiency of state spending to achieve 20% in real term savings within two years. He was vague on details.
To compensate for their fears at home, however, Russian businessmen descended en masse to a Ukrainian presentation - where most felt free to crack jokes about messy politics across the border.
Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)
Itar-Tass: Belarus raises tariffs of pumping of Russian oil by 11 %
01.02.2010, 10.36
MINSK, February 1 (Itar-Tass) -- As of Monday, Belarus has raised by 11 percent tariffs of transit of Russian oil through the territory of the republic and pumping of oil to Belarussian refineries.
Corresponding ordinances were issued by the Ministry of Economy of the republic.
As ITAR-TASS learnt at the press service of the Ministry of Economy, the decisions were adopted in accordance with the agreements reached between Belarus and Russia in Moscow on January 27. Then the sides coordinated, in particular, methods of changing tariffs of oil transportation services. These methods were included in the package of documents regarding conditions and volumes of supply of Russian oil to Belarus.
Besides, if earlier tariffs of oil pumping were established in euros, then now they are calculated in Russian rubles,” a spokesman for the Ministry of Economy said.
Rigzone: Sakhalin Energy Delivers 100th Cargo of Russian LNG
Sakhalin Energy 1/29/2010
URL:
The hundredth tanker carrying Russian liquefied natural gas, shipped from the LNG plant in Prigorodnoye, has arrived in Japan.
The cargo was delivered to Kyushu Electric by Grand Aniva, the same LNG carrier that transported the first LNG from Sakhalin.
Over 5.5 million tonnes of LNG have been shipped since Russia's first LNG plant began operating less than a year ago in February 2009.
"This is a milestone for the Company and for Russia as a global energy supplier," said Andrei Galaev, CEO of Sakhalin Energy. "It shows that we have established a stable supply channel of the 'blue fuel' to markets in the Asia-Pacific. This significantly enhances the market diversification of Russian energy supplies, and represents an important step towards improving global energy security."
The major destination for Sakhalin LNG last year was Japan, representing more than 50% of volume of the delivered LNG. Remaining quantities of LNG were shipped to South Korea, India, Kuwait, China and Taiwan.
Bloomberg: TNK-BP Sees No ‘Immediate’ Need for Share Sale to Raise Cash
By Yuriy Humber and Maria Kolesnikova
Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) -- TNK-BP, BP Plc’s Russian venture, foresees no need to raise cash through a share sale in the near future, Executive Director Viktor Vekselberg said.
“Shareholders have no plans to reduce their holdings in the company, and the company’s financial position is quite stable,” Vekselberg told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 29. “This goal is of no immediate interest.”
BP and AAR, the company representing the half of TNK-BP controlled by billionaires Mikhail Fridman, Vekselberg, Len Blavatnik and German Khan, agreed in 2008 to sell as much as 20 percent of TNK-BP in an initial public offering to improve governance.
TNK-BP will focus on developing its Uvat and Verkhnechonskoe oil fields, as well as the Yamal project, which will become “a platform for the company’s future growth,” Vekselberg said. TNK-BP accounts for a quarter of BP’s output and reserves. Yamal is “a totally new region” and TNK-BP will work with other companies in the area, where it owns several deposits, he said.
In eastern Siberia, TNK-BP hasn’t sold the Kovykta field, whose 1.9 trillion cubic meters of gas would be enough to supply Asia for almost four years. The Moscow-based company agreed in June 2007 to sell Gazprom its 63 percent stake in OAO Rusia Petroleum, which owns the Kovykta license, after the state threatened to revoke its rights to the deposit for failing to produce required volumes.
Kovykta will “surprise” people “quite a bit,” Vekselberg said, without elaborating.
To contact the reporters on this story: Yuriy Humber in Davos via Moscow newsroom at yhumber@; Maria Kolesnikova in Moscow at mkolesnikova@,
Last Updated: February 1, 2010 01:00 EST
Bloomberg: Korea Gas Pursues Project in Russia’s Far East, Yonhap Reports
By Bomi Lim
Jan. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Korea Gas Corp., the state-run utility, plans to begin discussing a natural gas project in Russia’s Far East with a provincial government, Yonhap News reported, citing the Korean company’s Chief Executive Officer.
Russia’s OAO Gazprom Neft may also take part in the project, Yonhap reported, citing the interview with Choo Kang Soo.
To contact the reporter on this story: Bomi Lim in Seoul at blim30@.
Last Updated: January 31, 2010 00:33 EST
Rigzone: Tatneft Pounces on Oil at Onshore Libyan Wildcat
Libyan National Oil Corp. 1/29/2010
URL:
NOC confirmed that on January 28, TATNEFT, its partner in an Exploration and Sharing agreement, reported initial information concerning the exploration well B1-82/04 in Ghadames Basin.
Well B1-82/04, drilled to a total depth 8,750 feet and located approximately 345 km South of Tripoli, encountered hydrocarbons in Ouen Kasa with a net pay 11 feet.
The initial production testing from Ouen Kasa established an oil flow rate of 829 barrels per day, through a 32/64 inch choke, and with an API gravity of 37.31.
This well represents the second discovery in Area 82, which was awarded by NOC in December 2005. TATNEFT drilled the well as an operator under an EPSA agreement with NOC with interest distributed as Follows: First Party Interest (NOC Libya) 89.5 %. Second Party Interest (TATNEFT) 10.5 % (Operator).
Oil and Gas Eurasia: Talakan Oil Flows into the Pacific The long-awaited launch of the first stage of the Eastern Siberia – Pacific Ocean (VSTO) oil pipeline took place on Dec. 28
The idea of building a pipeline that would link Russia’s Siberian oilfields with the Pacific Ocean coast existed even in the Soviet days. However, it took more than three decades from dotting the future trunkline’s route on a project map to loading first oil onto a tanker in the Kozmino Bay.
By Elena Zhuk
Meanwhile, the Soviet Union ceased to exist and the fast-paced development of southeast Asia tremendously spurred oil demand in the region. The emergence of Asia as one of the global leaders in oil consumption justified the implementation of a project often compared in scale with the construction of the Baikal-Amur railway.
In late December, the first tanker carrying East Siberian crude sailed out of the special-purpose marine port of Kozmino in Russia’s Far Eastern Primorsky Territory. The project’s first stage envisages transportation of oil from Taishet in the Irkutsk region, via a 2,700-kilometer-long pipeline, to Skovorodino railway station in the Amur region, where the crude is loaded into tank cars and carried by train to its final destination, the Kozmino port. The scope of the project is impressive – according to Transneft President Nikolai Tokarev, the first stage of construction cost approximately 420 billion rubles ($9.54 billion). Of those, some 350 billion rubles were spent to build the Taishet-Skovorodino section, 60 billion rubles – to construct the Kozmino marine port, and 6 billion rubles – to erect an oil-loading terminal in Skovorodino, Tokarev told Kommersant.
Bonus for Exporters
The importance of the new project for the national economy was highlighted by the Russian government’s Dec. 1 decision to annul the export duty on oil produced at 13 oilfields in Eastern Siberia. By doing so the Cabinet confirmed its commitment to stimulate oil producers operating in the region. “All oil produced in Eastern Siberia will be exported,” Russia’s Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko told reporters after the measure went into effect.
The annulment had been planned earlier and the producers’ reaction was quick – even before the duty was officially scrapped the companies had invested over $10 billion into developing East Siberian fields and building infrastructure in a frontier region with a harsh climate.
In August, Rosneft launched production at the Vankor field in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Bringing Vankor onstream was a key project for securing the resource base that would supply crude to fill the Pacific-bound pipeline. By November, Rosneft invested some 200 billion rubles in field developement here, with another 100 billion rubles already earmarked for next year. Another important milestone was the completion of the oil pipeline linking the Vankor field with the village of Purpe in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous DIstrict – in early May the workers welded the “golden joint” of a new pipeline which will carry the Vankor-produced crude to Transneft’s national oil pipeline grid.
Another prospective supply source for VSTO is the Verkhnechonskoye field, jointly developed by Rosneft and TNK-BP. Commercial oil production started last year and 2008 also saw the completion of the 85-kilometer pipeline linking the field with the VSTO trunkline.
The third large field, Talakan, is developed by Surgutneftegaz. In early October 2008, a 1,100-kilometer section of the Pacific-bound pipeline (Talakan – Ust-Kut – Taishet) was launched in reverse, marking the start of the commercial oil production at the Talakan oil and gas condensate field. In late June 2009, Surgutneftegaz started commercial production at another East Siberian field, Alinskoye, located in the province of Sakha-Yakutia. According to Surgutneftegaz first deputy general director Anatoly Nuryayev, Alinskoye is expected “to provide substantial support to production at Talakan.” And while this year the output at Alinskoye won’t top several dozen thousands of tons, Surgutneftegaz planned to finish 2009 with over 1.9 million tons produced at its Eastern Siberian fields.
Rosneft also wants to back up its production at Vankor and regards its Yurubcheno-Tokhomskoye oil and gas condensate field as a perfect choice, planning to link it with Taishet via a 600-kilometer pipeline in 2013. On parallel tracks Rosneft is going to build the necessary infrastructure, carry out preparatory work and drill production wells.
Design throughput capacity of the first stage of VSTO is 30 million tons per annum. According to Tokarev, in 2010 the pipeline will ship half of that amount, with the crude coming from Talakan and Verkhnechonskoye fields, which at this stage can jointly contribute 7 million tons per annum, and the Vankor field, slated to produce around 12-13 million tons.
Getting Bigger, Reaching Further
The construction of the second stage of the VSTO pipeline is scheduled to start in early 2010 and finish in 2012, says Tokarev. After its completion the throughput capacity will rise to 80 million tons per year. The cost of construction is estimated at approximately 350 billion rubles and will cover the construction of the Skovorodino – Kozmino leg, as well as the installation of additional booster stations along the Taishet – Skovorodino section.
Despite ongoing discussions questioning the sufficiency of the East Siberian crude supply base, the Transneft chief believes that scrapping the export duty (by the way, the list of “privileged” East Siberian fields is likely to grow) will contribute to making “the pipeline-filling prospects even more optimistic than before.” By the time Talakan, Verkhnechonskoye and Vankor fields hit their projected peaks of output, the pipeline will also be filled with West Siberian crude via the Samotlor – Purpe pipeline, currently built by Transneft.
“It’s still too early to talk about Stage 2 of VSTO. In my opinion, that project will be completed no sooner than 2013, with 2014 looking like a more feasible target,” Otkrytie financial company analyst Natalia Milchakova told Oil&Gas Eurasia. “At the same time, regional resources are quite sufficient to fill the pipeline at Stage 1 – many fields, such as Rosneft’s Yurubcheno-Tokhomskoye, Slavneft’s Kuyumbinskoye, Gazprom Neft’s Vakunaiskoye are still to be brought onstream. Clusters of large deposits are dotting the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Irkutsk Region and Yakutia. Also, the pipeline can carry oil from West Siberia.”
According to Alexander Pavlov, deputy director of the Government Policy and Regulation Dept. for Geology and Subsoil Use at Russia’s Natural Resources Ministry, the Stage 2 supply base relies on the growth of new reserves at main and satellite fields and development of the blocks slated for licensing in the near future (so far these blocks have been appraised only for perspective resources).
“Besides that, another important factor for providing the VSTO supply security at both Stage 1 and Stage 2 is the development of the Vankor center of the Bolshehetskaya zone of West Siberian platform, located in the northwestern part of Krasnoyarsky Territory. The oil produced there is expected to be another source of supply to the VSTO pipeline,” Pavlov told OGE.
Bridging the Amur
In the not so distant future East Siberian oil will reach foreign markets not only by sea, but by land, too. According to an intergovernmental agreement signed by Moscow and Beijing, Russia will start shipping crude across the Chinese border in early 2011. The deliveries will be made via a VSTO spur, jointly built by Transneft and CNPC. In February, China’s China Development Bank agreed to provide $25 billion in loans to Rosneft and Transneft. Of those, the Russian oil producer will receive $15 billion against the pledge to ship 15 million tons of crude each year over a 20-year period, while the oil transport monopoly will spend its $10-billion share to complete the VSTO project.
Gazprom
Bloomberg: Gazprom Third-Quarter Net Rises 33% to 174.6 Billion Rubles
By Stephen Bierman
Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) -- OAO Gazprom’s net income in the third quarter climbed 33 percent from the same period a year earlier after the ruble weakened against the dollar and domestic gas prices increased.
Net income rose to 174.6 billion rubles ($5.75 billion) from 131.7 billion rubles in the third quarter of 2008, the Moscow-based company said in an e-mailed statement today. That beat the median estimate of 156 billion rubles in a Bloomberg survey of 12 analysts. Sales fell 8.1 percent to 770.8 billion rubles.
The ruble weakened 22 percent against the dollar, averaging 31.3 in the third quarter compared with the year earlier period, according to Bloomberg data. Gazprom’s sales to Europe account for about 40 percent of its total revenue.
“The market situation seems to have improved since, with October-December 2009 statistics showing a significant recovery in both domestic and European sales,” Alexander Burgansky an oil and gas analyst at Renaissance Capital said in an e-mailed statement on Jan. 27.
To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Bierman in Moscow sbierman1@.
Last Updated: February 1, 2010 02:32 EST
RBC: Gazprom posts IFRS-based net profit
RBC, 01.02.2010, Moscow 10:42:28.Gazprom's net profit under IFRS shrank 36.2 percent to RUB 479.29bn (approx. USD 15.75bn) in the first nine months of 2009 compared to the same period of the previous year, the Russian energy holding indicated in a statement today.
Sales revenue (excluding an excise tax, VAT and customs duties) inched down 7 percent to RUB 2.410 trillion (approx. USD 71.19bn), while operating expenditures rose 16 percent to RUB 1.822 trillion (approx. USD 59.87bn).
Meanwhile, Gazprom's net revenue from natural gas sales slid 2 percent to RUB 1.548 trillion (approx. USD 50.87bn), due primarily to lower sales in all regions. The company's net revenue from gas sales to Europe and other countries inched up 0.3 percent to RUB 995.8bn (approx. USD 32.72bn). Net revenue from gas sales to the former USSR dropped 9 percent to RUB 225.8bn (approx. USD 7.42bn), and went down 4 percent to RUB 325.96bn (approx. USD 10.71bn) in Russia.
UpstreamOnline: Price rise pays off for Gazprom
Russian gas giant Gazprom saw its third quarter net income rise by 33% year-on-year on the back of a weaker rouble and an increase in domestic gas prices.
Upstream staff Monday, 01 February, 2010, 08:25 GMT
Net income rose to 174.6 billion rubles ($5.75 billion) from 131.7 billion rubles in the third quarter of 2008, beating the median estimate of 156 billion rubles in a Bloomberg survey of 12 analysts. Sales fell 8.1% to 770.8 billion rubles.
Gazprom’s sales to Europe account for about 40% of its total revenue.
However, the company's profit for the first nine months of last year fell more than one-third compared with a year earlier.
Net profit for the January to September 2009 period was 479.289 billion roubles, compared with 751.676 billion roubles for the same nine months in 2008.
The figures reflect an overall drop in sales of about 7% and an increase in operating expenses of 16%.
Published: 01 February 2010 08:25 GMT | Last updated: 01 February 2010 08:25 GMT
The Moscow Times: Gazprom, Hungarian Bank Sign South Stream Deal
01 February 2010
The Associated Press
BUDAPEST, Hungary — Gazprom and the state-owned Hungarian Development Bank signed a deal Friday setting up a company to develop Hungary's part of the South Stream gas pipeline project.
The agreement was signed by Gazprom deputy chief Alexander Medvedev and Hungarian Development Bank chief executive Janos Eros.
"We have no doubt that South Stream will become an extra safeguard for the reliability and flexibility for Russian gas supply to European markets," Medvedev said in a statement posted on Gazprom's web site.
The deal was completed during a visit to Hungary by First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov, who took part in a session of a committee promoting economic cooperation between the two countries.
The agreement is considered another step in Russia's efforts to consolidate its position as Europe's primary gas supplier and undermine the alternative Nabucco pipeline plan, which is backed by the European Union.
Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Slovenia have also signed up for South Stream, while press reports in Russia have said Austria is expected to enter the deal soon.
South Stream would exit Russia under the Black Sea and enter the EU through Bulgaria. A northwest route would supply Serbia, Hungary and Austria, while another would ship gas west through Greece and into southern Italy.
Hungary joined the Russian-led project in Feb. 2008 and agreed to set up a joint venture to finance, build and operate the pipeline in Hungary.
South Stream's construction — funded chiefly by Gazprom and Italy's Eni — is planned to start this year and to be completed by 2015, carrying gas to Central and Western Europe while bypassing Ukraine.
Pricing disputes between Russia and Ukraine, a key transit country, caused gas shortages in Europe last winter.
Despite its role in South Stream, Hungary has also repeatedly insisted on its commitment to the Nabucco plan, which would deliver gas from the Caspian Sea region westward via the Caucasus, bypassing Russia, and into Bulgaria via Turkey.
February 01, 2010, 9:45 CET
Realdeal.hu: Hungary's South Stream pipeline project company established
By MTI-ECONEWS
Representatives from the Hungarian Development Bank (MFB) and Russian gas company Gazprom signed an agreement following a meeting of the Hungarian-Russian mixed economic committee on Friday establishing the project company Deli Aramlat Magyarorszag Zrt. to prepare the construction of the section in Hungary of the planned South Stream gas pipeline.
MFB and Gazprom have equal stakes in the joint venture.
Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai of Hungary, First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov of Russia and Hungary's Minister of Finance Peter Oszko were present during the signing of the agreement.
Mr Zubkov said at a press conference following the meeting of the committee that the agreement between MFB and Gazprom represented an important step in organizational preparations for the construction of Hungary's section of the South Stream pipeline.
The governments of Hungary and Russia signed an agreement on Hungary's involvement in the South Stream project on February 28, 2008. One year later, on March 10, 2009, MFB and Gazprom signed a cooperation agreement with the view to establish a 50-50pc Hungarian-Russian joint venture for the Hungarian section of the South Stream pipeline.
The company - the statutes of which have been signed on Friday - will have registered capital of HUF 5m and maintain its headquarters in Budapest, and its brief is to organise the preparation of the feasibility studies, and finance, construct and operate the pipeline section in Hungary.
The agreement also prohibits MFB, Gazprom and their subsidiaries from participating in other projects aimed at transporting gas to markets in southern Europe.
Both MFB and Gazprom will delegate two members to the joint venture's four-member board, whose president will rotate on a 12-month basis.
February 01, 2010, 9:38 CET
Realdeal.hu: No official talks on gas distributor's client transfer to Gazprom, says CEO
By MTI
Hungarian gas distributor EMFESZ has not held any official talks on relinquishing its clients, EMFESZ chief executive Istvan Goczi told MTI on Friday, in response to press reports claiming there would be talks about such a transfer to Russia's Gazprom.
On Wednesday, several papers reported that Hungary's government would ask Russia's Gazprom to supply the clients of troubled EMFESZ in the long term at a meeting of the Hungarian-Russian mixed economic committee. The committee meeting will take place later on Friday.
Goczi said talks would address setting up a Hungarian-Russian joint venture, without providing more details.
EMFESZ supplies 20 percent of the Hungarian natural gas market.
Reuters: RLPC-Russia's Gazprom Neft seeks new loan-bankers
Fri Jan 29, 2010 6:21pm IST
LONDON, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Gazprom Neft (SIBN.MM: Quote, Profile, Research), the oil arm of gas export monopoly Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research), is in talks with banks for a new syndicated loan, bankers close to the deal said on Friday.
The new deal will be used to refinance existing debt and will also provide the borrower with new money, one of the sources added.
Gazprom Neft's previous loan was an unsecured $500 million facility agreed in October 2009 via a club of banks organised by agent Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. [ID:nLK438497].
The margin was 5 percent.
Gazprom Neft is Russia's fifth largest oil producer. (Reporting by Christopher Mangham; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
The Moscow Times: State Won Big in Sakhalin Buy
01 February 2010
By Yelena Mazneva / Vedomosti
Immediately after Gazprom bought out international companies' stakes in Sakhalin-2, the state received a privileged share in Sakhalin Energy, which paid a $1.35 billion dividend.
"I want to thank our partners for their flexibility," Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said when Shell, Mitsui and Mitsubishi agreed to cede control over Sakhalin Energy, the operator of the Sakhalin-2 natural gas deposit, to Gazprom for $7.45 billion.
The authorities had been involved in a conflict with the international investors for two years. The investors had been accused of environmental violations and cost overruns, and the government threatened that it would pull their licenses and bring criminal charges.
On April 19, 2007, two days after Gazprom bought a stake in Sakhalin energy, the operator signed an agreement with the government, which was issued a single privileged share without voting rights but with obligatory dividends, both fixed and variable. For 2007, the liabilities only for the fixed portion of the dividend were $1.35 billion. This is described in Sakhalin Energy's 2007 report according to U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, a copy of which Vedomosti was able to obtain. (The company doesn't publish public results).
The dividend was a serious outlay for Sakhalin Energy: Its earnings for 2007 were $939 million. The payments to the government were recorded as other expenses, and the company finished 2007 with losses of $1.36 billion. Other shareholders didn't receive dividends in 2006 to 2007, the report said.
The report didn't indicate when the state budget received the dividends for 2007. A Gazprom employee said there have not been any payments so far, but there definitely will be. An official taking part in the deal said the payment already went through.
Representatives of Sakhalin Energy, Gazprom, Shell and the government refused to discuss the issue. The deal was kept as a strict secret, a government official said. There is no legal obligation to divulge such assets and deals, said Dmitry Stepanov, a partner at Yegorov, Puginsky, Afanasiyev & Partners.
The special share was purchased by what was then the Industry and Energy Ministry for a nominal fee, said an official taking part in the deal. Nominal means $1, said another person close to Gazprom.
The ministry was the nominal owner of the share, and all income from the share went into the treasury. The body authorized to deal with such purchases, the Federal Property Management Agency, couldn't have made such a purchase quickly enough; it would have needed amendments in the state budget.
The dividends for Russia were calculated to recoup the profits that the state was owed for several years but was unable to get because of cost overruns on Sakhalin-2 (costs increased from $12 billion to $21.5 billion), said the first official.
The question was whether to keep the production sharing agreement for Sakhalin-2. The investors violated the agreement, so a mutual deal was discussed — the sale of their stake to Gazprom and the issue of a special stock for Russia.
The dividends should be roughly the same every year as they were in 2007, a person close to the Economic Development Ministry said, but Vedomosti was unable to confirm this.
NewEurope: Gazprom to deliver gas to China in 2015
31 January 2010 - Issue : 871
Russian gas monopoly Gazprom plans to deliver gas to China from 2015, the Russian gas giant’s Deputy Chief Executive, Alexander Medvedev, said recently.
“We should finalize commercial contracts in the middle of next year,” Reuters TV quoted Medvedev in an interview. That will enable Gazprom to deliver gas from 2015 to the western corridor of China, he said. Gazprom is betting on reviving demand for the fuel and is promising improved earnings and demand after profits in the first half plummeted 50% as demand slumped due to the financial crisis.
China has called for more reliable energy resources since it is dedicated to using sources of energy like nuclear power and natural gas.
New Europe: Gazprom game changer: Hello Yamal, Goodbye Shtokman
Author: Kostis Geropoulos
31 January 2010 - Issue : 871
Gazprom’s plans to develop the massive Shtokman gas field in the Arctic may be delayed indefinitely while the Yamal gas projects will probably be the Russian gas monopoly’s number one priority to reflect the new realities of the global gas market. The elements of the game have certainly changed, especially over the last year, and the board of Gazprom is currently reviewing its strategy and priorities, Chris Weafer, chief strategist at Moscow’s Uralsib bank, told New Europe by phone on 27 January.
Gazprom is concerned about losing markets due to the strong emergence of US shale gas extraction and the possibility the US will be a major exporter and competitor of Gazprom. Also, Gazprom has to factor in that China now has a direct link into Central Asia and is seeking more supplies from that region. Moreover, Qatar is commissioning the world’s biggest gas processing plant this year and is also targeting the Chinese market. Finally, Gazprom will have to factor in that there has been a substantial reduction in the forecasts for long-term gas consumption in Europe. “We will not be surprised to see Shtokman put on an almost indefinite delay. Gazprom’s priorities right now will be to develop the Yamal peninsula in particular because that’s the only source of gas to replace the expected depletion from existing fields,” Weafer said. Gazprom seems to have realized that it has to adopt a greater sense of urgency to avoid losing market share in Europe, the opportunity to be a big supplier to China and being short of gas in existing markets, he said.
Gazprom plans to develop its three gas fields in the Yamal peninsula as pipeline gas and Russia’s largest independent gas producer Novatek will develop a fourth Yamal field - South Tambey - as liquefied natural gas (LNG). Gazprom has a 20% equity stake in Novatek. South Tambey is a field Novatek acquired from Gennady Timchenko, who owns big oil trading company Gunvor, in an asset swap last year that increased his stake in Novatek. “We expect that the Novatek gas field will be fast-tracked developed as Russia’s first major LNG project in addition to what has already taken place in Sakhalin I. The next big LNG project would likely be the Novatek project rather than Shtokman in the Arctic. That would allow Russia to get into the LNG business, but it would also mean that Gazprom could concentrate on what are now higher priorities of Yamal and developing a gas source in the Far East to serve China,” Weafer said. On the distribution side, the government is pushing aggressively for the Nord Stream gas pipeline and the construction of a pipeline to China.
The fact that the development of Shtokman seems “highly unlikely” will not affect the Nord Stream pipeline. The Yuzhno Russkoye field, which Gazprom is jointly developing with Germany’s BASF and E.ON, is on time and will be a big source of gas for at least the first phase of the Nord Stream pipeline. “At least the first phase will not be an issue, but Yamal will be required to fill the second phase,” Weafer said. “Without Yamal Russia would almost certainly not have enough gas to fill both Nord Stream and South Stream - that simply would not happen. It needs Yamal for domestic purposes as well as the South Stream pipeline.”
KGeropoulos@NEurope.eu
The Georgian Daily: Gazprom half-aknowledges pessimistic outlook
January 30, 2010
By Vladimir Socor
Gazprom’s board of directors held its traditional start-of-year meeting on January 26 to set policies for 2010 (Interfax, January 26, 27). The board's attention and decisions focus on marketing policy and pipelines, rather than investment into new field development.
This focus increases the probability of a gas shortfall in Russia in the short-to-medium term and can only bring that situation nearer.
The Russian government’s statistical authority, RosStat, shows gas extraction in the country at 584 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2009, down by 12 percent from 2008 (Interfax, January 25). Gazprom’s own report shows exports to “far abroad” countries (in Europe outside the former USSR) at 140 bcm, again down by 12 percent from 2008. The company expects, "in a moderately optimistic scenario," to deliver 161 bcm in 2010 and 163.5 bcm in 2011 to "far-abroad" Europe (Gazprom press release, Interfax, January 26).
For its part the technical authority, Central Dispatcher Administration of the Fuel and Power Complex (TsDU TEK), reports gas extraction in Russia at 582 bcm in 2009, down by 12.4 percent from 2008. Total exports (including the “near abroad” countries of the former USSR) were 167 bcm in 2009, down by 10.3 percent from 2008. Use of natural gas within Russia itself amounted to 429 bcm in 2009, down by 6.6 percent from 2008 (Interfax, January 11).
According to Gazprom’s Vice-President and GazEksport head Aleksandr Medvedev, Gazprom’s revenues dropped from 111.5 billion Euros in 2008 to 72.5 billion Euros in 2010; and Gazprom’s profits shrank from 21.5 billion Euros in 2008 to 11.5 billion Euros in 2009 (interview in Southeastern European Times, January 12).
The international economic recession precipitated the decline in Gazprom’s exports and profits. The decline would have been even steeper, but it was cushioned thanks to the “take or pay” obligations in Gazprom’s long-term contracts with European buyers. German and other European companies can now buy gas on the fast-growing LNG and spot markets at lower prices than Gazprom’s prices. However, long-term contracts with Gazprom on a take-or-pay basis constrain those companies’ freedom of choice. Some of them, notably E.ON Ruhrgas, are now seeking ways out of those constraining arrangements, into which they had earlier allowed themselves to be lured.
Gazprom’s board meeting announced a set of policy goals and decisions for 2010: 1. "Maintaining Russia's existing share" on European gas markets. 2. Entering “new markets” through pipeline construction and Russian LNG development. 3. Preparing to meet an anticipated growing demand for gas in Russia itself. 4. Improving payment collection from consumers (“payment discipline”). 5. Switching to market principles of gas price formation with all users, “without exception.” 6. Developing alternative routes of gas delivery [from Russia] “for an effective management of gas flows,” and diversifying the directions of export pipelines (Interfax, January 26).
Moreover, Gazprom has announced a 25 percent increase on spending for its internal gasification program in 2010, “with an emphasis on gasification of the village" (Interfax, January 19).
Those guidelines partly acknowledge, partly conceal Gazprom’s pessimistic outlook. Under the first point, Gazprom retrenches from the goal of expanding on European markets to that of maintaining its share. Points two (alluding mainly to China) and six, however, presuppose vast pipeline construction projects, which Russia would be unable to finance without external support. Meanwhile, Moscow can only expect German-mobilized credits for Nord Stream, which is only one of Russia’s exorbitant pipeline projects. Points five and six reflect a sense of urgency about remedying Gazprom’s financial situation. However, payment discipline remains unrealistic, given Russia’s precarious social discipline. And the implied goal to raise prices for consumers “without exception” would conflict with the Russian government’s political and social agenda, which mandates deeply discounted gas prices for Russian household consumers, at Gazprom’s expense.
The guidelines' focus on marketing policy reflects Gazprom’s financial constraints and limited capacity for investment. The board’s decisions are an inevitable result of Gazprom’s shrinking production, exports, and profits during 2009, when the stagnant trends of the preceding years turned into outright decline.
The most striking omission from the list is investment in new field development. Gazprom and, apparently, the Russian government lack the necessary financial resources for such development. Their declared spending priority is pipelines, rather than production to fill those pipelines. While gas production stagnates in the short and medium term, pipeline planning continually expands, with theoretical export pipeline capacities massively exceeding Russia's export potential from its stagnant production. That production will continue stagnating for as many years (possibly a decade henceforth) as will be needed for developing new gas fields, beyond those past-their-peak from the Soviet era.
The economic recession in Europe and in Russia itself since the second half of 2008 has temporarily reduced demand for Russian gas. Falling demand has hidden the Russian gas shortfall from view and postponed its consequences until the post-recession period. Once external and internal demand recovers, however, Gazprom and the Kremlin will no longer be able to side-step the dilemma they were already facing on the eve of the recession. They will face that dilemma in an even more acute form, having to decide which consumers among Gazprom’s multiple consumers (internal and external) to prioritize over others.
Source:
Rigzone: Poland Secures More Gas Supplies from Gazprom
Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) 1/29/2010
URL:
Poland's gas monopoly PGNiG has signed a deal with Russian Gazprom to increase gas deliveries to Poland and extend a contract for transit of gas, PGNiG said Thursday.
The deal extends until 2037 a gas delivery contract signed in 1996 for transport of gas from Russia to Poland. It also increases delivery to 10.2 billion cubic meters annually.
The company said the deal also extends until 2045 a contract for gas transit through Poland through the Yamal pipeline.
Warsaw and Moscow were in negotiations for several months in the talks focused on increasing gas supplies from 8 to 10.2 billion cubic meters, Polish Radio reported.
Poland negotiated the deal after it stopped receiving 2.3 billion cubic meters of gas last year from the Russian-Ukrainian company RosUkr Energo.
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