Russia - WikiLeaks
Russia 091027
Basic Political Developments
• Reuters: PRESS DIGEST - Russia - Oct 27
• RIA: Russia, India, China set to forge energy ties
o AFP: India, China, Russia FMs stress unity after talks
o SahilOnline: Ninth Trilateral meeting of Russia, India, China begins
o Itar-Tass: Russia, India, China discussing energy security-CORR
o Itar-Tass: RF, India, PRC FMs to coordinate stands on Afghan issue
o PTI: India, China and Russia agree to cooperate closely
o M&C: India, Russia, China to expand cooperation against terrorism (Roundup)
o : India, Russia, China to expand counter-terror cooperation
o Sindh Today: India, Russia, China for bigger voting power in global economic bodies
o AFP: India, China, Russia FMs hold talks in Bangalore
o Bloomberg: India, China Dispute May Overshadow Meet with Russia (Update1)
o M&C: Foreign ministers of India, China, Russia meet in Bangalore
• DNA: Khul ja sim SIM, Modi woos Russians
• ISRIA: Sri Lanka - Russian FM assures continued support to SL
• Upstreamonline: Sri Lanka invites Russian exploration
• : Putin praises signing of agreement between Cyprus and Russia
• Itar-Tass: Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Minister Yury Trutnev to visit South Africa, Namibia, until Oct 30
• Itar-Tass: RF notes positive attitude in Hatoyama remarks
• Gazeta.kz: Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia delegation carrying on negotiations to join WTO
• Gazeta.kz: Chairman of Federation Council of Russia noted dynamics of strengthening of inter-parliamentary communications of Russia and Kazakhstan
• Meat International: Russia may restrict meat and livestock exports from EU 27 Oct 2009
• ABC.az: Moscow agrees on safe Caspian Sea in multilateral format
• RIA: Russian missile cruiser to depart on visit to Singapore
• RIA: Over 300 Russian peacekeepers serving with UN in Africa
• RIA: No survivors in private jet crash near Minsk - emergency services
• Itar-Tass: Putin calls for restructuring regional, municipal govt network
• RIA: Russia reports first swine flu deaths
• Reuters: Russia reports first swine flu deaths – agency
• Itar-Tass: Powerful typhoon approaching Russian Kuriles
• RIA: Police officer killed in Russia's Dagestan
• Itar-Tass: Police major shot down in Dagestan
• RIA: Police in Chechnya kill militant
• RFERL: After Aushev Murder, 'To Work In Human Rights In North Caucasus Is Suicidal'
• Kuwait Times: Investigator testifies in Chechen's killing
• Georgian Daily: Activist Killing Said to Be Tied to the Police
• The Moscow Times: Ingush Opposition Activist Laid to Rest
• Reliefweb.int: A café turned shanty town for the displaced in Ingushetia
• Georgian Daily: New pro-Russia campaign comes to EU capital
• RIA: Russian lawmaker faces extradition from Chile on fraud charges
• The Moscow Times: Lawmaker Seeks Fewer Time Zones
• The Moscow Times: Modernization From Below - A survey conducted by the Levada Center from Sept. 18 to 21 offers insights into the thinking of Russia’s business and political elite. It confirms that Medvedev hit the nail on the head: The country’s elite are generally satisfied with the status quo and do not want to change anything.
• Russia Profile: The People’s Desperation - In a Country Where the Electorate Is Apathetic, Authorities Rig Elections for the Sake of Legitimacy
• Russia Profile: Will Work for Paychecks - Demand for Skilled Workers is Up, but Russian Employees Are Still Wary of Insisting on Their Work-Place Rights
• Moscow News: Switching channels - Most Russians don't get their news from newspapers, as polls regularly tell us, so the majority of the country's info-consumers probably missed Kommersant's recent warning that they'd soon be getting less-varied daily dispatches from their medium of choice – television
• : In Moscow, Lenin Lights the Way to Angry Debate
• The Guardian: 'Half a good man is better than none at all' - A study of polygamy in Russia suggests we have a lot to learn about how to beat the recession
National Economic Trends
• Reuters: TABLE-Russia M2 on Oct 1 +2.6 pct m/m, -5.0 pct y/y
• Interfax: Russian inflation still 10 times higher than in EU – Rosstat
• RenCap: Russia's economic growth restarted in September with a seasonally-adjusted rise of 0.5% MoM
• Citibank: Russia's real sector data come out as expected
• WSJ: Slump Tames Russian Inflation - Consumer prices have been flat for three straight months; economists credit the downturn
• Business Week: Russia out of recession as economy grows in Q3
• Russia Today: Retail sales begin to turn as buyers head for discounts
Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions
• Bloomberg: Evraz, Lukoil, Rosneft: Russian Equity Preview for Oct. 27
• Alfa: In September corporate NPLs declined for the first time since the crisis began
• VTB: CFO and Head of the Siberian division to leave RusHydro
• Bloomberg: Carlsberg May Shut Russian Plants on Higher Tax, Vedomosti Says
• Bloomberg: RBC Information Lenders Agree to Restructuring, Kommersant Says
• Reuters: Russia's RBC agrees $208 mln debt restructuring – paper
• Bloomberg: Rusal Seeks CIC, Temasek as Investors for IPO, HKEJ Reports
• Steel Guru:Alrosa sells USD 1 billion in diamonds in 9 months
• RFERL: GM Car Assembly Begins In Kaliningrad
• Russia Today: Russian Opel rolls off the line as Magna-Sberbank deal awaits signoff
• PRMinds: RNCOS Releases a New Report - Russian Retail Industry Forecast to 2013
• Businessneweurope: INTERVIEW: DST drives social networking in Russia and beyond
Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)
• Interfax: OPEC invites Russia to join meeting in Angola in December
• Reuters: Russia LUKOIL, Rosneft face new anti-trust fines
• Bloomberg: Lukoil to Offer Russia’s First Private Dollar Debt in 15 Months
• Reuters: UPDATE 1-TNK-BP reports better Q3, 9-mth profit halves
• TNK-: TNK-BP Maintains Year-on-year Production Growth of 3%; Posts a 34% Rise in Net Income in the Third Quarter
• SmallCapsNews.co.uk: Matra Petroleum kicks off drilling at A-13 well in Russia
• Upstreamonline: Matra takes another look in Russia
• TNK-: Battle Floor - The government is going to build up exchange trade of oil products, to which oil companies show no great interest so far. A meeting was held late last week dedicated to exchange trade development, which was headed by Vice President Igor Sechin and participated by representatives of Russian oil companies and oil authorities. A source familiar with the results of this meeting said to Vremya Novostei that oil companies are ready to substantially increase the volume of their sales at alternative trading marketplaces if the government manages to attract major customers there.
• The Moscow Times: Shmatko Wants Siberian Oil Duties Lifted for 5 to 7 Years
• The Georgian Times: Russia Throws Down the Gauntlet Over Pipeline Projects
• The St. Petersburg Times: South Stream Pipeline May Open Before Nord Stream
• RenCap: Highlights from 7th Annual Oil & Gas Week
Gazprom
• RBC: Gazprom's board of directors to review price policy on gas
• Warsaw Business Journal: Gazprom and PGNiG to squeeze Gudzowaty out of EuRoPol
• Market Watch: Gazprom Neft cut to neutral at Goldman Sachs
• Oil and Gas Eurasia: Gazprom welcomes prospect of resuming gas purchases from Turkmenistan
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Full Text Articles
Basic Political Developments
Reuters: PRESS DIGEST - Russia - Oct 27
Tue Oct 27, 2009 4:03am EDT
MOSCOW, Oct 27 (Reuters) - The following are some of the leading stories in Russia's newspapers on Tuesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
KOMMERSANT
kommersant.ru
- Russia could lose support in its attempts to access Mongolia's resource with the resignation of Prime Minister Sanj Bayar, the daily says, referring to Russian Railways bid to control the coal-rich Tavan Tolgoi mine.
- Alfa-Bank has filed a new suit against UC Rusal, controlled by Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, to make the aluminium giant pay interest worth $8.7 million still owed on debts that it has now paid off.
VEDOMOSTI
vedomosti.ru
- Dmitry Zimin, a former shareholder of Russian fixed-to-mobile telecoms group Vimpelcom VIP.MM, plans to buy a stake in Sweden's Saab carmaker, the daily reports.
- UC Rusal is asking for a 30 percent charges discount for rail shipments from 2010, the daily says, reporting on the talks between the aluminium producer and Russian rail monopoly.
VREMYA NOVOSTEI
vremya.ru
- Russia is expecting Poland to sign a deal on Wednesday to increase its gas purchases from Gazprom.
NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA
ngz.ru
- The government plans to increase its spendings on defence by 3.4 percent and lawmakers are ready to back the rise, to signal their support for the military.
- Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) officials have no plans to reduce the price for exported natural gas to European consumers.
GAZETA
gzt.ru
- A jobless lawyer complained to Moscow city police on Monday that $16 million was stolen from his rented apartment, the daily reports, adding that the victim has failed so far to explain the origin of the money.
RIA: Russia, India, China set to forge energy ties
12:1627/10/2009
BANGALORE (India), October 27 (RIA Novosti) - The foreign ministers of Russia, India and China agreed on Tuesday to enhance energy cooperation.
Russia's Sergei Lavrov, India's S.M. Krishna and China's Yang Jiechi met in the Indian city of Bangalore to discuss energy security, the fight against terrorism and climate change.
"India, Russia and China are seeking to intensify international energy cooperation on a new basis to help make the energy market more open, transparent and competitive and reflect the common interests of all the parties involved," the three diplomats said in a joint declaration.
The ministers recognized Russia as a leading oil and gas supplier for energy-hungry India and China, major suppliers of manufactured products and services.
"Trilateral relations can be forged in the future through the establishment of mutually advantageous energy contacts," the declaration read.
The Indian and Russian foreign ministers held talks in Moscow on October 21, while the Indian and Chinese premiers, Manmohan Singh and Wen Jiabao, met at the weekend on the sidelines of an ASEAN summit in Thailand.
The three countries are also members of the BRIC union with Brazil.
AFP: India, China, Russia FMs stress unity after talks
BANGALORE, India, Oct 27 (AFP) Oct 27, 2009
The foreign ministers of India, China and Russia stressed on Tuesday the increasing influence of their countries on the world stage and said they had all weathered the economic crisis well.
Ministers from the three emerging giants said that during talks in the Indian technology hub of Bangalore they had found common ground over issues ranging from climate change to trade, security and development.
Their joint statement vowed to pursue a further "deepening and strengthening" of trilateral cooperation to ensure peace and stability in the region.
"Despite the impact of the international financial crisis, the pace of development of the three countries has improved, contributing to faster growth among them," it added.
The meeting of the countries -- normally grouped with Brazil as BRIC -- brought together Russia's Sergei Lavrov, India's S.M. Krishna and China's Yang Jiechi.
Yang said afterwards the participants were all major emerging countries that "have the same or similar positions" on matters of key international concern, which include drug trafficking, organised crime and oil and gas deals.
The statement said the three nations took the threat of global warming "very seriously" and that they would all work towards achieving a successful result at the UN emissions conference in Copenhagen in December.
India, China and Russia stretch over 20 percent of the total land mass and include about 40 percent of the global population, the statement said.
Shashi Tharoor, India's deputy foreign minister, struck an upbeat note on Sino-Indian ties, which have been hit over plans for Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama to visit an Indian state at the heart of a border dispute between the neighbours.
China regards the Dalai Lama, who has lived in northern India for decades, as a "splittist" bent on independence for Tibet.
"Things seem to be very good," Tharoor told the NDTV news channel in reference to cross-border relations, adding that "minor irritants" had been blown out of proportion by the host nation's media.
Krishna and Lavrov met in Moscow on October 21, and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held talks with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at the weekend on the margins of an ASEAN summit.
SahilOnline: Ninth Trilateral meeting of Russia, India, China begins
PTI, Tuesday, 27 October 2009 - 14:12:53 IST
Bangalore : The ninth trilateral meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Russia, India and China(RIC) began here today to explore business opportunities in key sectors, including infrastructure and energy.
Talking to newspersons here yesterday, the Ministry of External Affairs(MEA) spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said the foreign ministers will discuss trade and business opportunities in infrastructure, energy, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and nano-technology for mutual benefit.'' Mr Prakash sought to dismiss the tensions that had recently developed between the two countries by claiming that both India and China are mature and have a framework in place to narrow down the differences.
The MEA spokesperson said some of the global issues on the agenda are climate change, world trade and the global financial crisis, from which the world is gradually emerging. RIC accounted for 20 per cent of the earth's land mass and represented 39 per cent of the global population, he added.
The meeting was held on the backdrop of bilateral meetings the External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov had during the 15th session of the Indo-Russian inter-governmental commission in Moscow on October 21 and between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at Han Hin in Thailand on Oct 24 on the sidelines of the Indo-ASEAN summit.
''The RIC process also encourages academic exchanges. India enjoys most important and time-tested relations with Russia based upon mutual trust, continuity and understanding,'' Mr Prakash said.
After a two-hour meeting, the Foreign Ministers would sign a joint declaration, which would also focus on collaboration to consolidate the structure for a greater role in world affairs.
The MEA spokespeson said the RIC meetings turned out to be a useful forum to discuss political, regional and international issues. The RIC forum had decided to hold its trilateral meetings outside the national capitals.
This was for the first time after a gap of 23 years, the Garden City was hosting a major international meet after the second South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit held in November 1986.
Itar-Tass: Russia, India, China discussing energy security-CORR
27.10.2009, 11.14
BANGALORE, October 27 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia, India and the Republic of China have agreed to coordinate approaches to ensuring reliable energy security, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said here on Tuesday, commenting on the results of a tripartite meeting of foreign ministers of Russia, India and China.
“We agreed to coordinate our efforts, aimed at creating a more democratic system both in the sphere of finances and in the security sphere. We agreed to coordinate our approaches to international discussions on ensuring reliable energy security and on problems of climate changing,” he said.
According to Lavrov, the ministers were unanimous in their opinion that the world financial crisis was the result of the discrepancy between the global architecture, created after World War II, and the present-day situation. Lavrov said as well that participants in the discussion in the Russia-India-China format had discussed the situation in the Korean Peninsula and around Iran. “We have coinciding approaches regarding diplomatic methods of settling the situation in the Korean Peninsula and the Iranian nuclear programme,” Lavrov said.
Lavrov reminded that it was the ninth meeting in the Russia-India-China (RIC) format. “One could state that RIC has become an international format and an important factor in the formation in the multi-polar world structure,” he said. According to his information, a joint communiqu· was adopted at the current meeting, which recorded in detail the approaches of the three countries to international regional problems.
Itar-Tass: RF, India, PRC FMs to coordinate stands on Afghan issue
27.10.2009, 01.14
BANGALORE, October 27 (Itar-Tass) - The 9th ministerial meeting of Russia, India, and China (RIC) is to be held in this city in India's south on Tuesday. It will be attended by Sergei Lavrov, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, who is currently on a short Asian tour.
Upcoming discussions will focus on Afghanistan's highly important current problems. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko emphasized when speaking ahead of the talks, "In the light of the still obtaining extreme instability in Afghanistan, the Ministers are to discuss the Afghan problems in specific detail with an eye to working out common approaches by the three countries, including the coordination of efforts to counteract the threats of terrorism and drugs trafficking, the threats that emanate from that country, and with a view to giving assistance to the economic rehabilitation of Afghanistan".
Nesterenko said the Ministers would also discuss the problem of "energy sufficiency, a reform of the UN, Iran's nuclear programme, interaction within the scope of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the situation on the Korean Peninsula".
The diplomat pointed out, "During a discussion of trilateral cooperation it is planned to sum up the results of the past year and map out further steps to stimulate work in various fields". "As a result of the RIC Foreign Ministers' meeting, it is planned to adopt a joint communique which is to reflect prospects for cooperation within this format and the approaches of the three countries to the solution of international and regional problems," Nesterenko pointed out.
On the whole, in an estimate of the RIC format, the RF Foreign Ministry spokesman referred to it as "a mechanism for foreign-political interaction and practical cooperation on the basis of the interests of the three countries, which are strategic partners for one another".
The RF Foreign Minister has arrived here from Colombo where he held meetings with the Sri Lankan leadership.
PTI: India, China and Russia agree to cooperate closely
STAFF WRITER 13:9 HRS IST
Bangalore, Oct 27 (PTI) India, Russia and China today agreed to closely cooperate in the fight against terrorism emanating from Pakistan and Afghanistan to provide stability to the region.
The three countries also decided to give impetus to their trilateral relations in various areas including health, agriculture and disaster mitigation besides deciding to cooperate closely on climate change and reducing the impact of global recession.
External Affairs minister S M Krishna, Russian Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jei Chi held two-hours of meeting to review the progress made in eight rounds of the trilateral dialogue.
Meeting under the format, RIC--Russia-India-China, the three leaders also discussed the situation in the region particularly in the context of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan and Pakistan.
After the meeting, the leaders told reporters that their discussions have been "productive" and they had identified new areas of cooperation.
M&C: India, Russia, China to expand cooperation against terrorism (Roundup)
Asia-Pacific News
Oct 27, 2009, 9:24 GM
New Delhi - India, Russia and China agreed Tuesday to enhance cooperation in combating terrorism and expressed concern at the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan.
A joint communique issued after a meeting in Bangalore of the foreign ministers of the three countries said among the topics they discussed were the global financial crisis, climate change, increased cooperation in the energy sector and reform of international bodies, including the United Nations.
Terrorism in the region and the situation in Afghanistan figured prominently in the talks among Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna and his Chinese and Russian counterparts, Yang Jiechi and Sergei Lavrov, the joint communique said.
It was the ninth meeting between the foreign ministers of the three emerging economies, which represent 39 per cent of the global population and, according to analysts, hold the key to the world's economic recovery.
'We discussed trilateral action against terrorism and transnational crime,' Krishna said at a joint press briefing after the meeting.
Lavrov stressed the need for enhanced cooperation in combating rising terrorism in Afghanistan and the common stake of the three countries in the restoration of peace and stability in the violence-torn country.
The ministers discussed at length the current global economic crisis and stressed that future global economic governance should ensure that there was due representation of emerging markets and developing economies.
Yang said there was an urgent need to create a more just and equitable international order and called for greater democracy in international relations.
A one-on-one meeting between the Indian and Chinese foreign ministers was scheduled to follow the trilateral discussions.
: India, Russia, China to expand counter-terror cooperation
Indo-Asian News Service
Banglaore, October 27, 2009
First Published: 13:15 IST(27/10/2009)
Last Updated: 13:20 IST(27/10/2009)
India, China and Russia on Tuesday agreed to jointly expand their trilateral cooperation in combating international terrorism and called for greater democratisation of international bodies.
External Affairs Minister SM Krishna held talks with his counterparts, Yang Jiechi of China and Sergei Lavrov of Russia, on a wide range of regional and international issues in this Indian IT hub.
A joint declaration said the three ministers discussed ways to expand their trilateral cooperation on issues like international terrorism, the global financial crisis, climate change, energy security and the reform of international bodies.
The resurgence of Taliban-led violence in Afghanistan figured prominently in the discussions.
This was the ninth trilateral meeting between foreign ministers of the three emerging economies that hold the key to an emerging international order.
"We discussed trilateral action against terrorism and transnational crime," Krishna said at a joint press interaction with his counterparts from Russia and China.
Krishna said the three foreign ministers identified "common approaches" in addressing a host of regional and international issues.
Yang described the meeting as a "very productive one" and underlined that it marked a "new progress" in trilateral cooperation. He emphasised that the three countries shared "similar approaches" on regional and international issues.
Yang also called for greater democracy in international relations and underlined the need for creating "a more just and equitable international order".
Lavrov emphasised the need for enhanced cooperation in combating rising terrorism in Afghanistan and the common stake of the three countries in the restoration of peace and stability in the violence-torn country.
Sindh Today: India, Russia, China for bigger voting power in global economic bodies
October 27th, 2009
Bangalore, Oct 27 (IANS) Ahead of the meeting of the G20 finance ministers in Scotland next month, India, Russia and China Tuesday pooled in their collective economic weight to push for greater voting power and representation of developing and emerging countries in global economic bodies.
“They stressed that the future of global economic governance should feature in balanced representation, equality and result-orientedness, and ensure the voice and representation of emerging market and developing countries,” a joint communique said here at the end of the 9th trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of India, China and Russia.
The three countries also made a pitch for holding future G20 summits in developed countries and in emerging market and developing countries “by rotation based on the principle of transparency and equity”.
Issues relating to the global economic crisis figured prominently in discussions between India’s External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and his counterparts, Yang Jiechi of China and Sergei Lavrov of Russia.
The ministers emphasised that one of the ultimate goals of governance structure reform for international financial institutions is equitable distribution of voting power between developed countries and developing ones, said the joint declaration.
Alluding to key decisions taken at the third G20 summit in Pittsburgh, US, last month, the three foreign ministers called for “speedy shift” in quota share in International Monetary Fund (IMF) of at least five percent to emerging market and developing countries and a significant increase of at least three percent of voting power in the World Bank for developing and transition countries.
The common stance of the three major emerging economies — that together comprise 20 percent of the total global landmass and represent 39 percent of the global population — is expected to push the ongoing process of recasting the international economic order to accommodate developing countries in economic governance.
The trilateral meeting, which also discussed a host of regional and international issues like the UN reforms, terrorism and climate change, comes ahead of the meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors from the G20 group Nov 6-7 in St. Andrews, Scotland.
[LM1]
AFP: India, China, Russia FMs hold talks in Bangalore
1 hr 26 mins ago
BANGALORE, India (AFP) – The foreign ministers of India, China and Russia met Tuesday for a trilateral meeting in Bangalore to boost ties between the emerging market giants, officials said.
Climate change, world trade and the global financial crisis were likely to be high on the agenda and the three were expected to issue a joint declaration later in the day.
The meeting of the countries -- normally grouped together with fellow emerging giant Brazil as BRIC -- brought together Russia's Sergei Lavrov, India's S.M. Krishna and China's Yang Jiechi.
Sino-Indian ties have been hit recently by a spat over plans for Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to visit an Indian state at the heart of a border dispute between the neighbours.
China regards the Dalai Lama, who has lived in northern India for decades, as a "splittist" bent on independence for Tibet.
But Shashi Tharoor, India's deputy foreign minister, struck an upbeat note as the talks opened.
"Things seem to be very good," he told the NDTV news channel in reference to relations between India and China, adding that "minor irritants in any case have been blown out of proportion" by the host nation's media.
Krishna and Lavrov met in Moscow on October 21, and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held talks with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at the weekend on the margins of an ASEAN summit.
Bloomberg: India, China Dispute May Overshadow Meet with Russia (Update1)
By Bibhudatta Pradhan
Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The Dalai Lama’s planned trip to an Indian border region claimed by China is threatening to overshadow talks on trade, energy security and terrorism between the world’s two most populous nations and Russia.
Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna, his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi and Russia’s Sergei Lavrov will meet today in Bangalore. The trilateral trade discussions may be eclipsed by the dispute in India’s mountainous Himalayan region of Arunachal Pradesh, part of which is claimed by China.
Ties between India and China are hampered by “tension, confusion and speculation,” said Alka Acharya of the Centre for East Asian Studies at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University. A weekend meeting between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao enabled a clarification of positions, and the “two ministers will take that forward,” Acharya said.
While trade has flourished between the world’s fastest- growing major economies, relations remain hobbled by differences over parts of the 3,500-kilometer (2,175-mile) border the two nations share. They fought a war over the frontier in 1962.
Indian media reports of cross-border incursions by Chinese troops, rejected by Indian officials, and tit-for-tat official exchanges this month over a visit to Arunachal Pradesh by Singh have renewed tension. China supports its territorial claims by saying the area was traditionally the southernmost part of Tibet.
‘Maintain Peace’
Yang and Krishna will engage in an “extensive” and “in- depth exchange of views” on bilateral ties and regional issues of common interest, China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said last week. China is likely to raise the issue of flexible visas to Chinese workers and removing barriers to bilateral trade, Acharya said.
Together with Russia, the two nations will look to expand their clout in negotiations over global issues such as climate change and world trade negotiations, Acharya said.
Singh told reporters at a regional summit in Thailand at the weekend that he and Wen had “reaffirmed the need to maintain peace and tranquility on the border pending a resolution of the boundary question. They agreed to “strengthen efforts to build political trust and understanding.”
Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee visited Arunachal Pradesh to campaign for their Congress Party in state legislative elections.
India accuses China of occupying 38,000 square kilometers (14,670 square miles) of territory in Jammu and Kashmir to the west, while the government in Beijing lays claim to 90,000 square kilometers of land in Arunachal Pradesh. The two sides have been unable to resolve their disputes after more than a dozen rounds of discussions since 2005.
Dalai Visit
Singh told Wen that the Dalai Lama is an “honored guest” in India, where he maintains a base with the Tibetan government- in-exile, but won’t be allowed to participate in political activity.
Ahead of the Buddhist spiritual leader’s planned November visit to Arunachal Pradesh, Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said he was free to travel to any part of the country, according to a transcript on the ministry’s Web site.
China considers the Dalai Lama a divisive force who advocates Tibetan independence. The Dalai Lama says he is seeking true autonomy for Tibet, not separation.
To contact the reporter on this story: Bibhudatta Pradhan in New Delhi at bpradhan@.
Last Updated: October 26, 2009 23:43 EDT
M&C: Foreign ministers of India, China, Russia meet in Bangalore
Asia-Pacific News
Oct 27, 2009, 6:36 GMT
New Delhi - The foreign ministers of India, Russia and China began a meeting Tuesday in the southern Indian city of Bangalore to discuss business opportunities as well as political and regional issues.
Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna and his Chinese and Russian counterparts, Yang Jiechi and Sergei Lavrov, were expected to sign a joint declaration after a two-hour meeting.
The global economic slowdown, energy cooperation, the financial sector and climate change were expected to figure in the discussions, Foreign Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said on the eve of the meeting, the ninth such meeting between the three countries.
A one-on-one meeting between the Indian and Chinese foreign ministers was scheduled to follow the trilateral discussions.
The meeting came against the backdrop of tensions between the two neighbours on border issues and the proposed visit by Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to India's north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims is disputed territory.
Speaking to reporters Monday, Krishna said nothing would be off the table in the discussions between the two sides.
The Indian government has cleared the Dalai Lama's week-long visit to Arunachal Pradesh beginning November 8 despite Chinese objections.
The Dalai Lama has been living in exile in India since he fled Tibet in 1959 after its Chinese occupation.
India accepts Tibet as a part of China but says the Dalai Lama is its honoured guest who is free to move around the country.
DNA: Khul ja sim SIM, Modi woos Russians
Tuesday, October 27, 2009 14:10 IST
Gandhinagar: Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has invited the Russian telecom giant, SIS TEMA, to set up a Sim card and microchip manufacturing unit in Gujarat. Modi, who is currently in Russia on a three-day visit, invited the company on Monday after a tour of SIS TEMA's manufacturing unit in Moscow.
Quoting reports from Moscow, sources in Gandhinagar said that the chief minister had also observed SIS TEMA's disaster management technology that can be used by the coast guard. The sources added that SIS TEMA had responded positively to Modi's offer and had promised to send a delegation of company officials to Gujarat.
Earlier in the day, the CM addressed the 4th International Energy Week Conference that is being held in Moscow. In his speech, he highlighted the achievements of Gujarat in the petroleum and energy sector, and said that Gujarat had made considerable progress in creating an "integrated value-chain in the petroleum and energy sector".
Recalling that, in 1964-67, Russia had conducted extensive exploration for oil in the bay of Khambhat, Modi invited Russian oil and gas companies to invest in Gujarat once again. He told the delegates at the conference that, in 2001, Gujarat had evolved a strategy for exploration and research in hydrocarbons (gas, oil and petroleum).
As a result, the state had become the petro-capital of India within a decade, he said.
The sources in Gandhinagar said that Modi had state at the conference in Moscow that all major petroleum and gas companies had a presence in Gujarat today. He told the assembled delegates that the state had entered into tie-ups for technical collaboration with the world's best gas, petroleum and energy companies.
To become a major player in the oil and gas sector, Gujarat is now focussing on creating an integrated value-chain in the petroleum sector, the chief minister said. He added that, for this, the state was working to integrate exploration, production, transmission and distribution of petroleum and gas in the state.
ISRIA: Sri Lanka - Russian FM assures continued support to SL
Sri Lanka was capable to face any international pressure on alleged war crimes or any other problems as it had a proper judicial system and the Russian government had always supported the Sri Lankan government to protect its national integrity, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei V. Lavrov at a press conference yesterday (26).
The Russian Foreign Minister called on President Mahinda Rajapaksa last evening at the President's House.
Following this meeting the Russian Foreign Minister with his Sri Lankan counterpart, Minister Rohitha Bogollagama signed a bilateral agreement between the two countries on ‘Cooperation to Suppress Illicit Traffic in and Abuse of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances'.
Russia would also continue to assist in the de-mining process by sending a team of de-mining experts and humanitarian assistance, the Russian Foreign Minister said.
During the discussions, Foreign Minister Bogollagama also noted the Russian Federation’s assistance in addressing the post conflict challenges which includes the provision of relief items and US0,000 through UNHCR. He conveyed the appreciation of the Government of Sri Lanka to the Russian Federation for the unstinted support during Sri Lanka’s fight against terrorism.
Foreign Minister Bogollagama also placed on record Sri Lanka’s appreciation to the offer made by the Russian Federation for the state credit line of US$.300 Million.
The MOU on the Prevention of Natural Disasters and Mitigation of their Consequences was signed at the conclusion of the bilateral consultations by the Ambassador for the Russian Federation in Sri Lanka Vladimir P. Mikhailov and Acting Secretary of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights Mr. G.D.K. Amarawardena.
Upstreamonline: Sri Lanka invites Russian exploration
News wires
Sri Lanka has invited Russia to explore for oil off its north western coast, Sri Lanka's foreign minister Rohitha Bogollagama said today after a meeting with his Russian counterpart.
Sri Lanka, after a quarter-century war with the Tamil Tiger separatists, is keen to rebrand itself as an attractive investment destination, and to commercially exploit resources that were largely untouched during the war.
It has eight oil and gas exploration blocks in the northwestern Mannar basin, two of which have been granted to the governments of China and India.
Cairn India, a unit of Britain's Cairn Energy, also has one and has earmarked $100 million for the first three years of exploration.
"We have invited Russian companies and the government of Russia to look at the oil exploration sector with greater interest, which could be facilitated by the government of Sri Lanka," Reuters quoted Bogollagama as telling reporters.
Lavrov, the first Russian foreign minister to visit Sri Lanka in 52 years, acknowledged the invitation but made no comment at a joint press conference.
Sri Lanka's staunchest allies during the closing phase of the war - Russia, China and India - are among those whose companies or state-run enterprises have made the fastest entries into the post-war investments.
The government in the past has said seismic data showed more than one billion barrels of oil lie under the sea off the northwest coast, though no reserves have yet been proven.
If proven, the reserves would be a boost for Sri Lanka, which produces no oil and imported $3.4 billion worth in 2008.
Monday, 26 October, 2009, 12:03 GMT | last updated: Monday, 26 October, 2009, 12:06 GMT
: Putin praises signing of agreement between Cyprus and Russia
October 27, 2009 - By Maria Fili - Moscow (CNA)
Underlining the traditionally very good relations between Cyprus and Russia, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, addressing House President Marios Garoyian and the parliamentary delegation, which is visiting Russia said that the agreement to avoid double taxation will make the economic relations of the two countries more transparent.
Referring to the cooperation agreement that will be signed on Tuesday between the Democratic Party and United Russia Party, he said that it will constitute a supplement of the agreement.
Garoyian repeated Cyprus’ gratitude to Russia for the support it has granted when other countries had abandoned it.
Addressing Garoyian, Putin said that the signing of the agreement between the President of the Democratic Party Garoyian and the United Russia Party, Boris Gryzlov is an important supplement in the cooperation on a state and parliamentary level between the two countries.
Referring to the good historically relations between Russia and Cyprus, he said they are developing very well, adding that his government has ratified the agreement for the avoidance of double taxation, adding that this agreement will make the cooperation between the two countries more transparent on the economic level.
“Our cooperation is developing well, however cooperation with other partners, just as with Cyprus, is exhibiting a slight decrease due to the world recession”, said Putin, adding that the commercial exchange between the two countries is on a good level.
Replying, Garoyian said that his meeting with the Russian Prime Minister is a privilege. He repeated the gratitude of the people of Cyprus towards the government of the Russian federation, the Russian people and the State Duma for the policy of principles and values that the Russian federation has adopted and continues to adopt on Cyprus.
He said that during the hard times of the modern history of the Republic of Cyprus, the Russian Federation, the government, the Duma and the Russian people supported the people of Cyprus at a time when others abandoned Cyprus.
Garoyian expressed the hope that the small Republic of Cyprus, will be able to contribute in its own way, in promoting the vital interests of the Russian federation and at the same time, “continue to be the best friend of Russia within the EU”.
The Cypriot parliamentary delegation consists of MPs Nikos Katsourides, Parliamentary Spokesman of AKEL, Averof Neofytou, Vice President of DISY, Andreas Angelides, Parliamentary Spokesman of the Democratic Party, Yiannakis Omirou, President of EDEK and Dimitris Syllouris, President of the European Party.
Garoyian and the delegation return to Cyprus on Thursday, October 29.
Prime-Tass: Russian calendar: Key events for Oct 27
Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Minister Yury Trutnev to visit South Africa, Namibia, until Oct 30
Itar-Tass: RF notes positive attitude in Hatoyama remarks
27.10.2009, 07.21
TOKYO, October 27 (Itar-Tass) - Russia has noted a positive attitude in Japan's new Premier Yukio Hatoyama pronouncements on matters concerning bilateral relations that found reflection in his speech in the country's parliament, Alexei Borodavkin, Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, said here on Tuesday during talks with his Japanese counterpart Kenichiro Sasae.
The high-level Russian diplomat said, "Tuesday's consultations are of especial importance, for they are held for the first time since the advent of the new government headed by Premier Yukio Hatoyama to power in Japan. We came to feel a positive attitude in the new Premier's speech in parliament, and we hope that those pronouncements will be put on a practical plane".
The diplomat said, "This applies to political relations, economic cooperation, and the question of the conclusion of a peace treaty".
"Our consultations have been always notable for the atmosphere of partnership. We have been conducting a friendly dialogue.I hope that such an atmosphere will be keeping on subsequently as well," Borodavkin remarked. He recalled that President Dmitry Medvedev and Premier Yukio Hatoyama had met in New York recenlty. Next in line is their new meeting in Singapore on the sidelines of the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
Kenichiro Sasae, for his part, expressed interest in a discussion of the agenda of the forthcoming bilateral top-level meeting in Singapore in November with a view to strengthening the basis for interaction in the APR and preparing contacts at another level. Internaitonal problems of current concern are among themes being discussed here on Tuesday, he said.
In so doing, Sasae drew attention to the contents of Hatoyama's remarks in his keynote speech in parliament on Monday, October 26. Premier Hatoyama, when speaking at the opening of the parliament session on Monday, had announced his intention to cooperate with the Russian Federation as a partner in the Asia-Pacific region, develop political and economic relations with it, and make efforts towards signing a peace treaty in the end, upon solving the South Kuriles issue.
Sasae pointedout that Tokyo proceeds from the assumption that the territorial problem existing in relations between the two countries remains the most important item on the bilateral agenda.
Gazeta.kz: Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia delegation carrying on negotiations to join WTO
13:22 27.10.2009
text: "Kazakhstan Today"
Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia unified delegation is carrying out negotiations to join the World Trade Organization (WTO). EurAsEC Secretary General of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC), Tair Mansurov, informed journalists, following the results of the meeting with the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, on Monday, "Kazakhstan Today" agency reports citing Belarus news agency BELTA.
According to BELTA, T. Mansurov said that each country on the coordinated conditions will carry on negotiations to join WTO. These countries will join WTO simultaneously.
He informed that the presidents of Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan will sign the documents on formation of the Customs Union in Minsk on November 27.
"The heads of three states at the summit in Minsk will confirm the Customs Code, unified custom duties and will sign the documents on customs administration.
Gazeta.kz: Chairman of Federation Council of Russia noted dynamics of strengthening of inter-parliamentary communications of Russia and Kazakhstan
15:00 27.10.2009
text: "Kazakhstan Today"
The chairman of the Federal Council of the Assembly of the Russian Federation, Sergey Mironov, at the meeting with the chairman of the Senate of Parliament of Kazakhstan, Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev, has noted strengthening of the inter-parliamentary relations of Russia and Kazakhstan, the press service of the Senate of Parliament of Kazakhstan informed Kazakhstan Today agency.
According to the press service, S. Mironov has highly appreciated development of relations between Kazakhstan and Russia and has noted dynamics of strengthening of the inter-parliamentary cooperation.
According to the press service, S. Mironov said during an exchange of opinions on a wide spectrum of cooperation questions that Kazakhstan will play an important role in the forthcoming presidency of Kazakhstan in OSCE and underlined "that the Russian Federation shares the majority of positions of Kazakhstan regarding solution of the problems in this organization."
According to the press service, the Speaker of the Senate of Parliament of Kazakhstan has invited S. Mironov to pay an official visit to Kazakhstan.
Meat International: Russia may restrict meat and livestock exports from EU 27 Oct 2009
Russia may restrict the exports of meat and livestock from the European Union due to the absence of their quality assurances, Russian media reports.
By Evegen Vorotnikov
"From 10 to 13 November, we are planning to consult with the European Commission due to the fact that the veterinary services of some European countries do not provide Russia with safety guarantees on their meat and livestock supplies," said the head of the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor), Sergei Dankvert.
According to him, as shown by an inspection carried out by the Russian veterinarians, the lists of the European meat suppliers to Russia consist of some companies where production does not meet safety requirements. This applies to suppliers of meat and dairy products and livestock.
"Tests showed the ineffectiveness of the provided assurances - nearly half of the companies included in the lists of suppliers of meat and dairy products do not meet Russia's veterinary requirements,” noted Dankvert.
He also added that starting from December 1, Russia will revise the list of the European meat importers.
According to Russian media, Rosselkhoznadzor has already invited heads of veterinary service of all the EU countries for the special consultations.
ABC.az: Moscow agrees on safe Caspian Sea in multilateral format
Baku, Fineko/abc.az. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia is satisfied with the outcome of the expert discussion of the Caspian Sea security agreement held last week.
The Russian Ministry informs that the meeting showed an interest of all the Caspian states to foster collaboration in ensuring security in the Caspian to counteract terrorism, organized crime, illegal migration, arms smuggling and illicit drugs traffic, human traffic. In the centre of discussion was a draft of the relevant agreement prepared by the Azerbaijani side.
“We hope that all the littoral countries’ joint efforts will allow soon to sign a consensus document to serve a steady basis for creation of effective mechanism of coordination of work on counteraction to existing and potential threats and challenges in the Caspian. The Russian party is inclined for further constructive work,” the statement says.
The meeting of Caspian states’ deputy foreign ministers took place in Baku on 22-23 October, and following it Azerbaijani deputy minister Khalaf Khalafov announced that already this January the Caspian experts would gather in Baku for the next discussion of the draft agreement to cover all the Caspian states’ proposals. The draft agreement can be signed at the Caspian Presidents’ Summit to be held in Baku as well.
RIA: Russian missile cruiser to depart on visit to Singapore
07:3427/10/2009
VLADIVOSTOK, October 27 (RIA Novosti) - The missile cruiser Varyag, the flagship of Russia's Pacific Fleet, will sail on Tuesday on a month-long tour-of-duty, which will include a visit to Singapore, a fleet spokesman said.
"The group of ships departing today from Vladivostok comprises the Varyag missile cruiser, the Fotiy Krylov salvage tug and the Pechenga tanker," the official said.
"There is a naval infantry unit, an air support group and a number of naval cadets on board the cruiser," he added.
According to the spokesman, the main goal of the visit to Singapore is "to further develop and strengthen friendly contacts between the two countries."
Varyag is a Slava-class missile cruiser, which entered service with the Pacific Fleet in 1990.
In 2007, the warship visited the South Korean port of Pusan, while in April this year it led a fleet of 21 foreign naval vessels participating in a parade to mark the 60th anniversary of China's Navy off the coast of the eastern city of Qingdao.
The Fotiy Krylov and the Pechenga were part of a naval task force from the Pacific Fleet, led by the Admiral Vinogradov destroyer, which participated in international anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden in January-March this year.
RIA: Over 300 Russian peacekeepers serving with UN in Africa
04:0927/10/2009
UNITED NATIONS, October 26 (RIA Novosti) - A total of 330 Russian peacekeepers are participating in five UN missions in African countries, including Sudan and Chad, Russia's envoy to the UN said.
"Russian peacekeepers are involved in almost all UN missions on the continent. We intend to continue our support of African countries aimed at strengthening peace and stability in this region," Vitaly Churkin said at a meeting of the UN Security Council on Monday.
As of August 31, 2009, 154 Russian peacekeepers were deployed in Sudan, comprising 123 military personnel from a helicopter support group, 12 military observers and 19 UN police officers.
A total of 118 peacekeepers and four Mi-8MT helicopters take part in the UN mission in Central African Republic and Chad.
The rest of Russian peacekeepers participate in UN operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Western Sahara and Cote d'Ivoire.
Russia has recently rotated military personnel of its helicopter support group in Sudan, which is equipped with four Mi-8 helicopters.
The group provides transport services for UN military observers in Sudan, including accompanying freight, and also carries out rescue operations.
The UN Mission in Sudan was established in 2005 to monitor the peace agreement between the government in Khartoum and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in southern Sudan, which ended the longest-running civil war in Africa.
The first unit of Russian peacekeepers arrived in Sudan in April 2006. They are expected to stay in the country for up to six years with regular rotations every six months.
RIA: No survivors in private jet crash near Minsk - emergency services
01:1027/10/2009
MINSK, October 27 (RIA Novosti) - No survivors were found at the crash site of a Russian business jet near the Minsk airport, an emergency services official in Belarus said on Tuesday.
A Hawker-125 executive jet flight took off at 21:06 Moscow time (18:06 GMT) on Monday from the Vnukovo airport in Moscow and disappeared from radar screens at 22:35 (19:35 GMT) on approach to the Minsk international airport.
"The emergency services are working at the crash site. An investigation into the causes of the crash will involve an S-Air representative," the official from the Belarusian emergencies ministry told RIA Novosti.
The Moscow-based S-Air company, the operator of the jet, said there were six people on board, including three passengers and three crew members. However, Russian air traffic control officials claim that three were only two passengers on board because the third missed the flight.
According to preliminary information, the plane failed to make the landing from the first attempt and was lost by traffic controllers following the second attempt to land in normal visibility and satisfactory, although rainy, weather conditions.
The wreckage of the plane was found 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the runway.
The CEO of the S-Air airline, Marat Romashkin, was reportedly on board the plane.
S-Air is a small private company, which provides charter services to top-level executives and government officials.
Its fleet comprises several Yak-42D, Tu-134, Yak-40, Hawker-125-700B and Hawker-125-800B planes.
Itar-Tass: Putin calls for restructuring regional, municipal govt network
26.10.2009, 20.58
MOSCOW, October 26 (Itar-Tass) -- Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called for restructuring a network of regional and local authorities and stopping their enlargement.
He said the growing number of regional and municipal officials and a result the growth of administrative expenses remained one of the serious problems in Russia.
“We could see this tendency even in the first half of 2009, when the crisis was at its peak. That’s totally wrong,” Putin said at a meeting of the government commission on regional development.
He said administrative expenses at the federal and municipal levels had increased by 30 percent in 2008. The growth in 2009 was not as big – 4 percent -- because of the crisis. “But still there was a growth, and this at a time of crisis, when we try to economise wherever possible. I flatly reject references to new tasks. This network should be restructured,” Putin said.
He also said that ineffective administrative expenditures were unacceptably big and had exceeded 116 billion roubles in 2008.
Putin urged regions to live according to their means and stop inflating budget expenditures.
Consolidated regional and municipal budget expenditures in 2009 increased by 4 percent and in some regions by more than 25 percent, Putin said at a meeting of the commission on regional development.
He noted that many regions are increasing public administration and other such expenditures. "On the whole, consolidated regional and municipal budget expenditures for administrative bodies in 2009 increased by 4 percent, and in some regions by more than 25 percent," the prime minister said, adding that the growth was 38 percent in the Magadan region, 30 percent in Ingushetia, 25 percent in the Nizhny Novgorod region, 27 percent in Moscow, and 24 percent in Adygeya.
"The following arguments are put forth: the overall workload for the administrative personnel is increasing and money is needed for the work of anti-crisis groups, monitoring and other additional functions. New funding is secured for such tasks," Putin said.
"Anti-crisis management should be ensured by way of internal redistribution of resources and personnel, saving in less important areas rather than by inflating staffs and budgets," he added.
Only officials in Ingushetia could account for such growth. Until recently legislation allowed civil servants in Ingushetia to be underpaid for special conditions of work, Ingush government chief of staff Ayub Gagiyev said. Under federal legislation, the extra pay may be as big as up to 200 percent of the base salary, but did not exceed 50 percent in the republic. "We have brought the extra pay in line with federal legislation. As a result, civil servant expenditures have increased since May of this year," he explained to the business daily Vedomosti.
"The second factor behind the growth of administrative expenditures is that the minimum wage is 4,330 roubles since January 1. But before that many categories of civil servants received less, and we have to obligate all governmental institutions to pay salaries that at least match that amount. The number of government officials in the republic has decreased from last year by 5 percent to about 1,000 people."
Putin urged regions to live according to their means.
Kudrin said earlier that the optimisation of administrative expenditures in Russian regions was inevitable.
"Today's signal sent to regions by the chairman of the government will be taken into account," he said.
The minister said the regions that fail to optimise administrative expenditures would get small aid.
According to the minister, travel, repair, purchase and automobile expenses would be cut by 15 percent in 2010.
"When drafting the budget for 2010 we sharply reduced ministerial and departmental expenditures," Kudrin said.
Administrative expenditures were cut by 30 percent in 2009 and will be cut by another 15 percent in 2010. "The overall reduction will exceed 40 percent," the minister said.
According to an FBK survey, combined administrative expenses in the first six months of the year increased by 3.8 percent in regions and by 16.4 percent at the federal level.
Due to the crisis, budget revenues are plummeting, but expenditures, primarily administrative ones, are growing.
Combined administrative expenses in regional budgets in the first six months of 2009 exceeded last year's indicator by 3.8 percent. But federal administrative expenses grew much faster at a rate of 16.4 percent in the same period.
The director of FBK's Department of Strategic Analysis, Igor Nikolayev, believes that the federal government's complaints that regional authorities are inflating administrative expenses seem to be unjustified. It's the other way round: the federal government appears to be much less modest.
RIA: Russia reports first swine flu deaths
09:3727/10/2009
CHITA, October 27 (RIA Novosti) - Two women diagnosed with swine flu have died in eastern Siberia's Chita, the regional governor's press service said on Tuesday.
"Two women are believed to have died of the A/H1N1 virus," the spokesman said, adding that official confirmation of the causes of death would only be available in 21 days.
One of the victims, a 29-year-old woman, was pregnant. Doctors were unable to save the baby.
Russia's top sanitary official said the woman was hospitalized with swine flu and pneumonia and died on October 19, and the other victim, a 50-year-old patient, died in hospital on October 22.
Gennady Onishchenko also said there were more than 1,300 confirmed swine flu cases across Russia as of October 26.
Russia plans to start a swine flu vaccination program in December. Ten million people - medical staff, employees at electric power and water treatment plants and other facilities - will be given flu jabs in the first instance. Another 30 million will be vaccinated if the virus spreads.
Reuters: Russia reports first swine flu deaths – agency
Tue Oct 27, 2009 12:45pm IST
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Two Russian women have died from H1N1 swine flu in the country's first fatalities from the virus, health officials were quoted as saying by Interfax news agency on Tuesday.
Russia has registered several hundred cases of the virus in humans, but has not previously confirmed any deaths.
The two women, aged 29 and 50, died in Chita in Russia's Far East, close to the border with China and about 7,000 km (4,350 miles) east of Moscow, Russia's chief sanitary official Gennady Onishchenko was quoted as saying.
"Both had confirmed A/H1N1 diagnoses and suffered from pneumonia," Onishchenko said.
His spokeswoman could not be reached immediately by Reuters for comment on the Interfax report.
In the United States, more than 1,000 people have died from the virus and a national emergency was declared on Oct 24 by President Barack Obama.
(Reporting by Conor Sweeney)
Itar-Tass: Powerful typhoon approaching Russian Kuriles
27.10.2009, 08.13
TOKYO, October 27 (Itar-Tass) - Powerful Typhoon Lupit is moving along the north-eastern coast of Japan’s Honshu Island towards Russia’s Kurile Islands.
Its speed reaches 100 kilometres per hour, while gusts of wind are up to 45 meters per second. The zone 400 kilometres east and 280 kilometres west typhoon’s centre is the most dangerous. Wind speeds there exceed 25 meters per second. A storm warning has been issued in that area, and ship captains were ordered to exercise maximum caution.
It is expected that Lupit will reach Kurile Islands late on Tuesday, local time. Then it will lose its power and will become just an area of low pressure.
RIA: Police officer killed in Russia's Dagestan
08:3827/10/2009
MAKHACHKALA, October 27 (RIA Novosti) - A police officer was shot down early on Tuesday in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, a law enforcement source told RIA Novosti.
"Unidentified assailants, believed to be using automatic weapons, opened fire at him when he went into the yard of his house," the source said.
The attack happened in the republic's Kizilyurtovsky district, some 60 kms north of the capital, Makhachkala.
Russia's predominantly Muslim North Caucasus republics, in particular Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia, have seen a marked rise in militant violence of late.
Itar-Tass: Police major shot down in Dagestan
27.10.2009, 09.41
MAKHACHKALA, October 27 (Itar-Tass) -- Unidentified people shot down district police major Abdurakhman Magomedov in the settlement of Kulzeb of Dagestan’s Kizlyar region overnight to Tuesday.
As ITAR-TASS learnt at the law enforcement bodies of the republic, “the incident occurred at about midnight on Monday.” Unidentified people called the policeman out of his house and shot him down from automatic arms in the yard.
Criminal proceedings were instituted over the given fact. A search for the criminals is underway.
RIA: Police in Chechnya kill militant
09:2827/10/2009
MOSCOW, October 27 (RIA Novosti) - Police in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Chechnya have killed a militant in a shootout, a law enforcement source said on Tuesday.
The source said that the shootout took place on Monday at 6:45 p.m. (15:45 GMT) in a wooded mountainous area in the republic's Vedeno district
"During an operation...police officers discovered a militant, a local resident, who put up armed resistance," the source said.
A Kalashnikov automatic weapon and ammunition were recovered from the scene, the source added.
RFERL: After Aushev Murder, 'To Work In Human Rights In North Caucasus Is Suicidal'
October 26, 2009
By Kevin O'Flynn
Rights activists say that the death of Maksharip Aushev, who was killed after the car he was driving was peppered by more than 60 bullets, shows that human rights work in the restive North Caucasus is tantamount to suicide.
More than 3,000 people gathered on October 26 in Aushev's home town of Surkhakhi, about 10 kilometers outside Nazran in the Russian republic of Ingushetia, to bury the rights activist.
Aushev, an Ingush activist and businessman, became the latest North Caucasus rights worker to fall victim to violence.
The 43-year-old was killed at the wheel on October 25 as he was driving to visit relatives near Nalchik, in the neighboring republic of Kabardino-Balkaria. A female relative traveling in Aushev's car was also seriously injured in the attack.
Aushev, a strong critic of the former Ingush president, Murat Zvazikov, had briefly run the opposition website , formerly owned by fellow activist Magomed Yevloyev. Yevloyev was killed in police custody last year, and Aushev assumed control of the site, stepping down only after Zvazikov was removed by the Kremlin.
Death Threats
Tatyana Lokshina, the director of Human Rights Watch in Russia, said Aushev became active in human rights after two of his relatives were kidnapped.
“Personal trauma brought him to opposition and human rights work. His son and his nephew were kidnapped and he got them freed," Lokshina said.
"This was in 2007, and after that he felt that it was his duty to change the situation in the republic, to help other people, to ensure that similar crimes did not take place on the territory of Ingushetia.”
Aushev had received death threats before his murder. In an interview with RFE/RL's Russian Service in September, he said he had been the target of an attempted kidnapping that month.
He said as he was traveling home after a meeting with officials to discuss the political situation in Ingushetia, his car was stopped by police and his documents seized.
“The policeman who took my documents came up to the open door of the GAZelle and said, 'This is a stolen car. Come with me.' I understood that it was a setup and immediately ran to the side of the road where they had re-routed all the other cars," Aushev said.
"A few of them tried to grab me, but I managed to get away and stop the passing cars. A government official appeared, the deputy of the government representative. He showed the ones who had held me his government pass and started to tell them off, trying to understand what was happening.” When asked who he thought was behind the kidnapping attempt, Aushev had no doubts as to who was to blame.
“I believe that it was Zyazikov’s people, [the former Ingush Interior Minister Musa] Medov. I think that it could have been at their political order, because they still practically rule the republic,” Aushev said.
Zyazikov was replaced almost exactly one year ago by Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, who himself was badly injured in an assassination attempt in June. Aushev was seen as having good relations with Yevkurov.
High Death Toll
Yevkurov issued a statement aiming to do everything to track down Aushev's killers, who he said aimed to destabilize the situation in the region. "Maksharip was a famous and well-respected person in the republic," the Ingush leader said.
Violence continues to mount in Ingushetia and other North Caucasus republics, where tensions between law-enforcement agencies, tribal clans, and political groupings remain rife.
An Ingush opposition leader, Magomed Khazbiyev, speaking on October 25 to RFE/RL's Russian Service, blamed the mounting death toll and Aushev's killing on Yevkurov and his government.
"The blame lies with the government and Yevkurov -- first of all with President Yevkurov, and then former [Ingush] leaders, and other officials, right up to the Kremlin. It is the bandit government of this country and its bandit methods that are to blame for [Aushev's] murder," Khazbiyev said.
The region has been deadly for human rights activists.
Natalya Estemirova, who headed Memorial's office in Grozny, abducted and killed in July; a month later, Zarema Saulayeva, the head of a charity for Chechen war victims, was shot dead together with her husband.
Activists including Lyudmila Alekseyeva of the Moscow Helsinki Group have urged Khazbiyev to leave the republic, fearing he will be next.
Lokshina of Human Rights Watch said activism has become so dangerous it is tantamount to suicide.
Aushev's murder is a huge blow to the human rights movement, said Aleksandr Cherkasov, a leading member of Memorial.
"It is a big loss because this man has shown that there can be another way besides violence, besides armed resistance," he said.
"There is a nonviolent way toward justice. He was a remarkable person, and it is a big loss for Ingushetia and the whole of Russia. Memorial mourns him."
Kuwait Times: Investigator testifies in Chechen's killing
Published Date: October 27, 2009
DUBAI: A hand-drawn map showing the murder site of a former Chechen warlord was found in a Dubai apartment linked to two suspects in the slaying earlier this year, a police investigator testified yesterday. The testimony provided the first public details of the police probe after the March killing of Sulim Yamadayev, who was a bitter foe of Chechnya's Moscow-backed president. The investigator, Ahmad Al-Marri, said police discovered a trail of cast-off items around the beachside complex where Yamadaeyev wa
s gunned down, including a pair of black gloves and a bag containing pieces of the pistol believed used in the slaying.
Later, authorities received information about two Russian brothers possibly linked to the shooting, Al-Marri testified. In an apartment rented by the brothers, he said investigators found a hand-sketched map of the murder site. The brothers fled Dubai and there is an international arrest warrant for them. But two other men - from Iran and Tajikistan - were arrested in the Emirates on charges of helping plot the ambush-style slaying and helping the suspected killers. The two have pleaded not guilty. The tr
ial was adjourned until Nov 16.
Yamadayev was a former Chechen warlord who switched sides in the conflicts between Chechen rebels and the Russian government, but later also fell out of favor with the region's Kremlin-allied president Ramzan Kadyrov. Yamadayev had been living under an alias in a luxury high-rise complex along the Gulf coast. His slaying was the first reported politically motivated killing in Dubai, which regularly hosts out-of-favor political figures from around the world with the tacit understanding they would remain ou
t of the public eye. Other suspects wanted by Dubai authorities in the slaying include Adam Delimkhanov, a Russian parliament deputy and close ally of the Chechen president. Delimkhanov has denied Dubai's allegations that he masterminded the killing. – AP
Georgian Daily: Activist Killing Said to Be Tied to the Police
October 26, 2009
Ellen Barry
The Kremlin-backed president of Ingushetia said Monday that an opposition activist gunned down in his car over the weekend might have been killed by law enforcement officers, indicating a deep cleavage between power structures in the violent North Caucasus.
President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov — an appointee of President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia who has made a point of reaching out to internal dissidents — also said the killing was a direct challenge to his authority.
The activist, Maksharip Aushev, had mostly withdrawn from opposition activities since Mr. Yevkurov was appointed, though he continued to accuse security forces of abducting and killing citizens in their effort to control Islamic militant groups in Ingushetia, a Russian republic.
In comments to the Ekho Moskvy radio station, Mr. Yevkurov said he believed that the police might have killed Mr. Aushev.
“We understand that law enforcement structures could have taken part in this,” Mr. Yevkurov said. “Law enforcement representatives sometimes take part in criminal feuds. But that doesn’t mean the authorities ordered it.”
Mr. Aushev died Sunday morning, when his car was strafed with automatic-weapon fire from a passing car. His colleagues have said they believe that federal forces were behind the killing.
A spokesman for the Russian prosecutor general’s office told the Interfax news service that investigators were exploring various theories about Mr. Aushev’s death, among them his involvement with “criminal elements,” a commercial dispute or a relationship with a woman.
A businessman from an influential family, Mr. Aushev was buried Monday in the village of Surkhakhi.
Video from the ceremony shows a snaking procession of cars and buses making their way into a grassy field.
, the opposition Web site that Mr. Aushev took over for a time after its owner was shot last year, reported a crowd of 2,000 at the ceremony, and it quoted graveside remarks by his father, Magomet.
“If you had told me the murder of my son and dozens of others would be an escape from the situation which we have been in recent years, I without a doubt would have wished for his death,” he said. “In recent years he had ceased to be my son, he became a son of Ingushetia.”
The Moscow Times: Ingush Opposition Activist Laid to Rest
27 October 2009
Reuters
SURKHAKHI, Ingushetia — More than 3,000 people gathered Monday in Ingushetia to bury an opposition activist whose murder rights groups say has underlined the slide into violence across the North Caucasus.
Maksharip Aushev, 43, who campaigned against what he said were abductions by the security forces, died at the wheel of his car after his vehicle was peppered with bullets as he drove to visit relatives in the nearby republic of Kabardino-Balkaria.
Mourners gathered in drizzle at a graveyard by a small mosque in the village of Surkhakhi, about 10 kilometers outside Ingushetia’s biggest city, Nazran, to bury Aushev.
Wailing men gently lowered Aushev’s body, tightly covered in a white sheet, into the moist ground before planting a tombstone with his name in both Arabic and Russian.
“The situation is so bad that it simply cannot get any worse after the murder of Maksharip. This is the absolute limit,” said Bakha Chapanov, a 51-year-old journalist in Nazran.
His murder on Sunday came just over a year after his friend, reporter Magomed Yevloyev, was killed in police custody in Ingushetia. Yevloyev’s parents have since said they have lodged an appeal with Europe’s human rights court after previous cases at home collapsed.
Rights groups called on Russian leaders to condemn Aushev’s murder and ensure those responsible were brought to justice.
“There needs to be a clear condemnation of this kind of killing by the Russian leadership because what happens at the highest level sends a signal to those below,” said Allison Gill, the Russia director of Human Rights Watch.
Sarah Mendelson, director of the Human Rights and Security Initiative at the U.S.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said international dialogue was key. “Until you have senior government officials in the U.S. and various European capitals talk about what’s going on in the North Caucasus, you’re not going to see any international justice,” she said.
There has been no Kremlin reaction to the killing so far. At least four campaigners have been killed so far this year. On Jan. 19, Stanislav Markelov, a lawyer acting for the family of a Chechen girl murdered by a Russian army colonel, was shot in central Moscow. On July 15, Chechen activist Natalya Estemirova was murdered by unknown assailants. In August, Zarema Sadulayeva, head of a Chechen children’s charity, and her husband, Alik Dzhabrailov, were found shot dead in the trunk of a car.
Aushev, who was from a prominent Ingush family and had a flourishing construction business, dived into local politics in 2007 by leading a campaign against the republic’s security services, which he blamed for the abduction of his son and nephew.
The Kremlin removed former Ingush leader Murat Zyazikov, whom Aushev publicly opposed, in October 2008 and replaced him with Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, with whom Aushev had good relations. Yevkurov was badly injured in an attempt on his life in June.
Yevkurov on Monday visited the Aushev family’s house in Nazran to pay his condolences, a rare sign of respect for a rights campaigner by a leader in the region. He vowed to take the investigation under his personal control.
But residents said Yevkurov must put an end to killings in Ingushetia.
“We need to stop this outrageous shooting of people. If Yevkurov cannot fight this, then he must say so and leave his post,” said Akhmed, a 42-year-old resident of Ingushetia who declined to give his surname.
Reliefweb.int: A café turned shanty town for the displaced in Ingushetia
Source: International Medical Corps (IMC)
Date: 26 Oct 2009
By Sergey Gagloev
A two-story, dilapidated brick building, Tanzila used to be a café, a place of leisurely barbecues and tea. Today, it is a settlement for internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in Ingushetia.
Tanzila's residents live in makeshift homes made from scrap metal, scavenged wood, and cardboard. They huddle together behind the building in a courtyard framed by a wasteland speckled with litter, broken glass, and overgrown shrubs. Communications lines and cables are scattered everywhere, and cars constantly run over an exposed gas line, which looks like it could explode at any minute.
For almost 10 years, people have lived in these conditions in the courtyard at Tanzila, in shacks with decaying roofs and no running water or sanitation facilities. They fled to Tanzila to escape the war in Chechnya that ended nearly nine years ago.
"I've been living here for almost ten years," says Asia, 41. "We fled from Chechnya during the war. Me, my children, and two older brothers - we stayed alive, but everybody else was killed. It was a miracle that anyone survived. We could not live in Grozny any more. All of our neighbors and friends left Chechnya and we decided to stay in Ingushetia. …Actually, I am used to living here. My son got married here and they have two children, so I became grandmother here."
Just after the war ended, some 1,600 people lived at Tanzila. In the last few years, many left Tanzila. The current residents say that most of them sold everything and sought asylum in Europe, but very few returned to Chechnya because there was nothing to return to. Today, International Medical Corps estimates that there are 304 residents, including 65 families, living in Tanzila. With a 60 percent unemployment rate, many struggle to find regular work year-round, especially in the winter.
Aset, 42, has eight children and cannot find a permanent job. She scrapes out a meager living by providing cleaning services, washing dishes, and cleaning at funerals or weddings. She finds it almost impossible to feed her eight children and pay the bills.
"My daughter-in-law is pregnant again and I am happy," says Aset. "It is very hard to raise a big family, but I am trying hard to support them. While I'm working somewhere, my neighbors and older daughter Madina help to look after the children, give them food, and take care of them."
Aset is one of 25,000 displaced persons living in Ingushetia who are below the poverty line – approximately $80 a month for a family. There are another 23,000 in Chechnya.
International Medical Corps has worked in the region since 2000, first providing emergency services to those affected by the war. With the war long over, International Medical Corps transitioned its services from emergency response to long-term development projects aimed at helping the Caucuses rebuild and recover from its turbulent past.
"We often see international missions' representatives here," says Aset. "They ask the same questions all the time - why are we here and why can we not go back to Chechnya. I think they do it just to report to their donors. Only a few have actually helped us and International Medical Corps is the only international organization that continues to help us."
With support from the U.S. government's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, International Medical Corps has been building clinics in spontaneous settlements like Tanzila in Ingushetia and Chechnya since 2003. At Tanzila, International Medical Corps built a clinic with all the technology to diagnose and treat serious and chronic conditions. For most of the displaced living in Tanzila, this clinic is the only place where they can access primary healthcare services, as they do not have the government registration papers to receive treatment in hospitals or the money to cover out of-pocket expenses.
"I received free medications from International Medical Corps doctors and nurses here and they have treated me quite a few times," says Aset. "The clinic and the psychosocial support room that International Medical Corps built are wonderful."
Georgian Daily: New pro-Russia campaign comes to EU capital
October 26, 2009
Andrew Rettman
Russian news agency Ria Novosti is rolling out a new public relations campaign in the political capital of the European Union which, according to sources in the PR industry, aims to justify Russia's great power ambitions and improve the image of Joseph Stalin.
The state-owned news agency has teamed up with a little-known Washington, London and Zurich-based consultancy called RJI Companies and is trying to recruit one of the top 10 PR firms in Brussels to put the project in play.
The primary contract involves organising a high-level conference about the Arctic to take place in Moscow in late November. The Arctic event is to portray Russia as a good egg on environmental and energy policy and is likely to be followed up by similar events in the Middle East and the Far East next year.
Ria Novosti is also offering a second contract to "generally improve the image of Russia abroad," a contact in the campaign team told this website.
An RJI Companies agent in September in Brussels pitched the project to a major PR firm, saying that the aim of the second contract is to help portray Russia as a benign great power entitled to negotiate with the likes of the US, China and the EU on global security and energy issues.
He added that part of the PR effort would be to cast a positive light on the actions of the Soviet Union before and after World War II in order to justify the idea that modern Russia should also impose its influence on neighbouring countries for the good of the world.
A senior executive at the PR firm in question recalled one particular exchange with the RJI Companies envoy: "I asked him 'Do you want us to say that Stalin was not such a bad guy?' And he said 'Well, I know it will be difficult.' I said 'So, you want history to be rewritten?' And he said 'Yes, in a way'."
"Expect to see more articles in European newspapers saying that Stalin had his good points as well," the PR executive added.
When contacted by EUobserver, RJI Companies denied that the second contract has anything to do with Stalin. And Ria Novosti denied that a second contract exists at all. "Our business is not to enhance Russia's image. It's to report news," the company's spokesman Valery Levchenko said.
Normal in Moscow
Kremlin watchers, such as the Moscow-based paper Novaya Gazeta, the former employer of murdered Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, say that a campaign to rehabilitate the reputation of Stalin is already under way inside Russia.
They point to developments such as the recent state-sponsored publication of a secondary school history textbook which describes Stalin as an "efficient manager" and to secret police seizures of NGO documents on Stalinist-era crimes as examples of the trend.
At the highest political level, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Poland last month defended the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, a 1939 deal between the USSR and Nazi Germany to carve Europe. Russian MPs also accused Polish deputies of "defaming" Stalin's name by accusing him of genocide in a parliamentary resolution.
Novaya Gazeta deputy editor Valery Shiriaev said that Soviet revisionism is linked to the vanity of Russia's ruling class as much as its geopolitical ambitions.
"It's important to the ex-KGB people, Putin and his friends, to explain why they are repeating the policies of Soviet Russia," he said. "They need to say there were good things in the former Russia, so that they do not see themselves as cannibals. It's important for the psychological health of the Russian elite."
Meanwhile, Russian diplomats say there is no Kremlin programme to rebrand Soviet ideology.
"Nobody in the Russian government is trying to whitewash what was happening then. And of course Stalin was responsible for numerous criminal acts," Russia's ambassador to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, told this website.
The ambassador added that "history should be left to the historians." But he went on to give a less black and white picture of Stalin than is conventional in the West.
"It is of course obscene to put Hitler and Stalin on the same plane," he said. "People can argue endlessly whether the Soviet Union became a great power because of Stalin or in spite of Stalin, his harsh methods of industrialisation."
Words and things
When asked by EUobserver if Stalin, who is estimated to have overseen the deaths of between 9 million and 20 million people, could be called a "mass murderer," Mr Chizhov gave a relativistic answer.
"Stalin committed a lot of crimes, you could definitely say, so did other people. You could [point to], the battle of Mers-el-Kebir in 1940, when the British navy bombarded the French navy, and they were allies, not enemies, and the number of victims was the same as of Americans in Pearl Harbour," he said, referring to two World War II battles.
Apart from RJI Companies, Russian interests also work with PR firms GPlus in Brussels, Berlin and Paris, Ketchum Pleon in London and Washington, Weber Shandwick in London and Brussels and Saylor Company in Washington and Brussels.
Novaya Gazeta's Mr Shiriaev said the Kremlin's use of PR professionals was pioneered in the final years of the Boris Yeltsin presidency in the late 1990s. The first company it hired was the Moscow-based agency Niccolo M, named after the Renaissance-era thinker Niccolo Machiavelli.
RIA: Russian lawmaker faces extradition from Chile on fraud charges
11:1327/10/2009
MOSCOW, October 27 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian regional lawmaker has been arrested in Chile and is facing extradition to Russia where he is wanted on fraud charges, a business daily said on Tuesday.
Sergei Zadnepryansky, 57, a lawmaker in a small west Siberian town, was arrested by Interpol at Russia's request and is now in jail in the Chilean capital of Santiago, Kommersant reported. He was put on the wanted list in April 2008 after fleeing the country when a probe was launched into his activities.
The paper said, citing a source in the prosecutor's office in the Omsk Region, that Zadnepryansky is suspected of failing to repay Sberbank a total of over 120 million rubles ($4.1 million at the current exchange rate) in loans he received in 2004 and 2005, the paper said.
"Investigators said the lawmaker, along with his business partners, forced people, including his employees at the Fortuna firm, to take loans, and seized most of the funds from them," the paper said.
Fortuna, based in the town of Isilkul, built residential buildings and installed plastic windows. Its property has been sold off by bailiffs to repay the debts to Sberbank, the paper said.
Zadnepryansky, elected to Isilkul's legislature in October 2005, maintained his position as a lawmaker as only a court can strip him of the post.
He was detained in the city of San Filipe, where he was working at a ceramic tile factory, the daily said. If convicted, he faces up to 14 years in prison.
An aide to the Omsk Region's prosecutor, Tatyana Borodina, told the paper there were three other suspects in the case, but did not give their names.
The Moscow Times: Lawmaker Seeks Fewer Time Zones
27 October 2009
By Alexandra Odynova
The time difference between Moscow and Vladivostok might be cut to four hours from the current seven if a Primorye region lawmaker gets his way.
Gennady Lazarev, a United Russia deputy and rector of the Vladivostok State Economics and Service University, said the change would promote economic ties between Moscow and the Far East.
“Our working day ends when it starts in Moscow. It’s both inconvenient for us and Moscow,” he said in a statement published on his university’s web site.
Lazarev also said the time difference created many inconveniences for businessmen and politicians who travel often between Moscow and the Far East.
A change would ease traffic jams in Vladivostok because some organizations would start their working days earlier, at 6 a.m or 7 a.m., he said.
He said he had the support of several colleagues and promised to raise the issue in the Primorye region legislature.
“The conversion should be very smooth,” Lazarev said.
He made no comment about whether any other time zones should be changed. The time difference between Kamchatka, Russia’s easternmost point, and Kaliningrad, its westernmost point, is 11 hours.
Other politicians have also discussed playing with time to improve the efficiency of commerce. Mayor Yury Luzhkov proposed earlier this month changing the working hours of some Moscow organizations to decrease rush-hour traffic.
Vyacheslav Lysakov, head of the motorists’ movement Freedom of Choice, said politicians might be onto something with their plans to change working hours to reduce traffic jams. “Despite the fact that Luzhkov has come up with a number of outlandish ideas, this one has a grain of sense,” Lysakov said.
But changes should be overseen by experts, not politicians, he said. “There are many other ways to tackle the traffic problem,” he said. “Yury Mikhailovich [Luzhkov] and other Moscow officials could start to take the metro.”
The Moscow Times: Modernization From Below
27 October 2009
By Vladimir Ryzhkov
In his September “Go, Russia!” article, President Dmitry Medvedev lashed out angrily at those who oppose his impassioned call for modernization. He wrote, “Influential groups of corrupt officials and do-nothing ‘entrepreneurs’ are well ensconced. They have everything and are satisfied. They’re going to squeeze the profits from the remnants of Soviet industry and squander the natural resources that belong to all of us until the end of the century. They are not creating anything new, do not want development and fear it.”
A survey conducted by the Levada Center from Sept. 18 to 21 offers insights into the thinking of Russia’s business and political elite. It confirms that Medvedev hit the nail on the head: The country’s elite are generally satisfied with the status quo and do not want to change anything.
As it turns out, there is a major discrepancy between the way the poor majority and the thin layer of the wealthy ruling elite view Medvedev’s call for modernization. Fewer than half of all poor people think that the country is on the right track, while two-thirds of the wealthy think that it is. As always, the crisis hit the poorest families the hardest, 60 percent to 75 percent of whom have been directly affected by it, compared with only 24 percent of the richest families and about 40 percent of those living somewhere above the minimum. Surprisingly, 24 percent of the wealthiest families became even wealthier during this period, and 61 percent of the richest families experienced no change at all.
The top 0.5 percent of the wealthiest people in the country are optimistic about the future, with 80 percent believing that “everything will work out” in the near future. Only 22 percent of the poorest people share that opinion. That same 0.5 percent of the country’s nouveau riche is Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s strongest support base, 73 percent of whom rate him favorably. Only 43 percent of the poor like Putin. Not surprisingly, United Russia, which Putin heads, is also popular among wealthy Russians, with their support for the party ranging from 46 percent to 74 percent. Only 30 percent to 40 percent of the poorest Russians support the party of power. This may explain the widespread allegations that election returns were falsified in United Russia’s favor in the Oct. 11 vote.
The survey also revealed an interesting attitude toward corruption, which Medvedev has repeatedly called the country’s main scourge. The poor majority constitute about 90 percent of the population, and about the same percentage of respondents said they “definitely agree” or “probably agree” with the president’s alarmist conclusions, while only 55 percent of the wealthiest people share the president’s opinion, with 44 percent saying they “probably disagree” with him. It is obvious that the Russian elite are quite satisfied with the corrupt system that has developed in this country.
There were differing views regarding the ability of Russians to change the fundamental problems in the country’s political and economic systems. From 41 percent to 53 percent of the poor and very poor agree with Medvedev that “the Russian people can overcome the resistance of corrupt officials and businessmen who are bargaining away the country’s wealth,” but not a single respondent among the very wealthiest fully agreed with that statement, and only 37 percent partially agreed.
At the same time, the wealthiest Russians are more pro-Western than the poor majority, largely agreeing with Medvedev’s claim that Russia should strengthen ties with the West. While only 30 percent to 50 percent of the poor support the president on this issue, 60 percent to 80 percent of the wealthy and very wealthy do. That can be explained by the fact that the elite hold most of their money in Western bank accounts, their children study in Western universities and they vacation in their Western villas and luxury apartments.
Russia’s ultrarich are forming a ruling caste that controls most of the country’s wealth, and they are growing increasingly isolated from the rest of society. About 70 percent of respondents with moderate incomes answered that they have at least one relative or acquaintance who recently lost his job, while 40 percent to 76 percent of the wealthy do not have any friends or acquaintances who experienced that hardship.
If Medvedev wants to modernize the country, the first thing he should do is change the people with whom he consults on a regular basis. At present, most of them come from the wealthiest 10 percent of the population — those who are satisfied with the status quo and who are protected from the harmful effects of the economic crisis, as well as from political and economic competition. The president’s recent meeting with the country’s top business leaders is a perfect example. It is no surprise that they advised him to raise protectionist barriers and encouraged him not to be ashamed about the highly suspicious landslide victory of United Russia candidates in the Oct. 11 vote.
If Medvedev really wants to modernize Russia, he should be listening more closely to the majority of the Russian people and not to the oligarchs and their servants.
Vladimir Ryzhkov, a State Duma deputy from 1993 to 2007, hosts a political talk show on Ekho Moskvy radio.
October 26, 2009
Russia Profile: The People’s Desperation
Comment by Alexander Arkhangelsky
Special to RIA Novosti
In a Country Where the Electorate Is Apathetic, Authorities Rig Elections for the Sake of Legitimacy
On October 23, the chief voter of the country Vladimir Churov made a speech at the State Duma and responded to questions from the dissatisfied factions. But the main problem is not the factions, and the main questions are not in the State Duma. The main problem is in the country, and the main questions are the ones it has refused to answer for itself.
Now, the first of these questions. Nobody doubts the fact that United Russia received the majority of votes by legal means. Although it wasn’t too bad, the Communists were breathing down their necks, while Just Russia, Yabloko and the LDPR mostly made their way into the local parliaments in order to take up modest posts that, in essence, make no difference whatsoever. The question is, what was the point of inflating its percentage, the way schoolchildren try to work up a temperature in order to stay home from school? Was there a need to exscind the fellow travelers in such an obvious manner?
There is no need for any hypothetical mathematical models or court cases to be able to proclaim that the elections (at least, in Moscow) were not democratic, even remotely or nominally. The last time, in 2007, the indubitable winners at least tried to make it look like they were really struggling with their serious enemies and competitors. This time, they managed without the décor. First the capital’s electoral committee cleaned up the lists and dismissed all of the candidates from the anti-Yuri Luzhkov opposition. And then, during the elections themselves, they overrated the turnout. Some observers believe that this was done just for the sake of legalizing the stacks of ballots that were placed in the ballot boxes before the polls opened. We don’t know for sure if this is or isn’t true. We just know that the commissions that we saw with out own eyes sat in solitary silence, both during the day and in the evening, until closing time. Thus a part of the real ballots that were put in the boxes could have very well evaporated. Some reached the height of professionalism by managing to write down “0” for Yabloko in a polling station where the party’s leader, Sergei Mitrokhin, voted. Whether we like him or not, the aftertaste is still there.
I will ask again: why? Just so that the formal leader of United Russia, during a meeting with the president, could make a harsh reply to the soft question of whether the winning party is prepared to nominate non-United Russia candidates to gubernatorial posts? Sure, theoretically, we could, but only in places where we have less than half of the seats. And then add, with a sly smile: but there were no such regions in these elections. It’s hard to believe that the rigging was done just for this. And that means there is no answer to the question.
Now, the third question, which is no less important. It doesn’t have an answer, either. If the voter quietly endures such funny treatment, does not stage protests or demand for the election results to be cancelled (again, at least in Moscow), then why would he need a democratic fiction at all? I’ll emphasize: I am not talking about a revolution, a coup, or fighting to the death, I am talking about ordinary people who don’t want perturbations, but don’t like to be dummies in someone else’s game. Just don’t start saying that we have no one to defend, that the opposition and proposition are decaying, that if the fruit wants to rot away not far from the tree, there is no stopping it. There is no need to defend Yabloko, Just Russia, or the Communists. We need to defend ourselves and our right not to be debased. And if there is no such will, that means there is nobody to blame.
A democracy, like any relative power-shaping model (which, by the way, is better than any other), has at least two invariably weak links. Both of Achilles’ heels. A mass action by a destitute, uneducated, and deprived population brings Hugo Chavez, our tender friend, to power. And it doesn’t just bring him there (this in itself is normal, although unpleasant), it allows him to legally and democratically stay there forever, or at least while there is some strength and populist authority left among the risen masses. If the modestly well-off (and even more modestly) educated society is passive, the tools of democracy become dull and completely useless, and in the end, lead to the Chavez scenario. Without the drive, the dancing, the nervous breakdowns and the parties on the day of victory over the political opponents. But with the same outcome for the active, mobile, and developing part of the population.
And then everything comes back to a familiar place. Some are pleased because nothing has changed, although these happy ones can, at any moment, as it so often happened in history, suddenly turn around and start hating everything they so eagerly accepted before. Then there won’t be revolution, but an uprising. Others grumble quietly, but essentially bet not on themselves, but on the kind czar, whom they nonetheless criticize. But in an era of utter political apathy, he is the only one on whom forward motion depends. Or the lack of motion. But what can a czar lean on? On electoral emptiness? The result is obvious.
I don’t know how much historic time we have left in order to overcome this stalemate. Or, more exactly, to try. With no guarantees, but at least with some hope. And whether we have any left at all. But we should try to wake up. As they say, give yourself a chance. Buy a lottery ticket.
October 26, 2009
Russia Profile: Will Work for Paychecks
By Svetlana Kononova
Special to Russia Profile
Demand for Skilled Workers is Up, but Russian Employees Are Still Wary of Insisting on Their Work-Place Rights
Despite the heavy blow that the recent economic downturn has dealt to Russia’s job market, the latest signs are those of recovery, analysts say. The number of available vacancies is slowly growing, and salaries in some segments of the job market are on the rise.
In September, data from the biggest Russian job portal HeadHunter showed an 11 percent increase in the number of vacancies. The most dramatic changes have taken place in the art, media, sports and science industries. The number of vacancies in art and media has grown by 29 percent, in sports – by 26 percent, and in science and education by 18 percent. But in spite of this, there are still many more candidates than here are vacancies. According to HeadHunter, some 54 candidates compete for each vacancy.
“The job market became a ‘sellers’ market’ at the time of the credit crunch,” said Olga Ovchinnikova of the Ancor Recruitment Agency. “Many companies have put new projects on hold and laid off some of their employees. Competition on the job market has gotten fiercer. Thus, many highly skilled professionals are now willing to accept a job that pays 30 to 50 percent less than it did before the crisis.”
However, a recent survey by the recruitment agency Ancor revealed that the number of vacancies has grown by ten to 15 percent every month since August. The fastest growing industries appear to be medicine and pharmaceuticals: because of a shortage of qualified personnel, salaries in these fields have been increasing even during the economic crisis. Sales managers and production managers are also in high demand. On the other hand, Ancor’s data shows that architects, construction workers, civil engineers, and marketing and advertisement managers are still going through hard times. Credit managers and gambling industry professionals are presently the least sought-after, according to the Unity recruitment agency.
Surprisingly, the credit crunch has had a positive impact on some of Russia’s top managers. “Top managers’ salaries have risen dramatically during the crisis,” said Olga Simonova, a top personnel recruiter at Unity. “The starting salary for a top manager is still 90,000 rubles ($3,000) per month. But the upper margin has risen twofold from 150,000 ($5,000) to 300,000 ($10,000) rubles per month.” “Business owners are betting on highly-qualified top managers to make their businesses more efficient and take them to a new, post-credit crunch level,” said Simonova.
And it seems that the top managers fully appreciate the value of their skills and experience. “Most companies simply can’t afford to hire me,” wrote one manager who wished to remain anonymous in his cover letter on HeadHunter. “Therefore I am interested in serious job offers only. I am interested in working for companies that seek motivated top managers, and do not think that a monthly salary of $10,000 is too high for a qualified professional like me.”
But the average company employee can ill-afford such confidence. Recent surveys conducted by HeadHunter show that Russians are not inclined to insist on their rights being respected at work. For example, 83 percent of women and 76 percent of men continue coming to office when sick. Ten percent of women and 13 percent of men work from home when ill, and only ten percent of women and 19 percent of men can afford to take days off to recover from an illness.
Moreover, 80 percent of office workers in Russia put in overtime, according to HeadHunter’s recent poll. Sixty-one percent of respondents said that they work overtime at least once a week, and 19 percent do so one to three times each month. Ninety one percent of respondents complained that employers do not pay extra for overtime.
Yet this phenomenon can hardly be explained by fear of losing one’s job. “Our clients are not bothered by work-related issues too much,” said Elena Blinnikova, a spokesperson for the Psygrad Psychological Aid Center, an NGO. She claims that Russians rarely seek psychological help for coping with unemployment in times of crisis. “The average Russian worries much more about his relationship with a spouse, a lover or a child, than about work issues,” Blinnikova added.
Even if you’ve lost your job, there is still a chance to get free training at the government employment service. “Many people who are registered as unemployed with our service are interested in getting training,” said Leonid Berres, a spokesperson for the Moscow Work and Employment Agency. The agency has already trained some 6,000 people in 2009, and 8,000 more will be trained by the end of the year. Job seekers can choose a new occupation from a list of 60 professions that are presently in demand in Moscow, and most of them, such as hairstylist, nurse, carpenter and tailor, do not require a college degree.
However, former office workers are not too keen on blue-collar work even if they take a long time to find the same kind of job they lost. There are currently about 184,000 open vacancies at the Moscow Work and Employment Agency, while the number of those who have registered as unemployed is just a third of that. Unemployment is worst for those aged 45 to 54.
However, most experts agree: the Russian job market is on its way to recovery. “Companies have beaten the credit crunch and need high-skilled workers now,” said Ovchinnikova. “Based on our research, we can predict a growth in demand.”
26/10/2009 | Moscow News №41 2009
Moscow News: Switching channels
Mark H. Teeter
Most Russians don't get their news from newspapers, as polls regularly tell us, so the majority of the country's info-consumers probably missed Kommersant's recent warning that they'd soon be getting less-varied daily dispatches from their medium of choice - television. The respected business daily reported on Oct. 16 that a top-down reorganization of Moscow-based REN TV and Petersburg - Channel 5 (the last two nationally-available privately-owned channels producing their own news broadcasts) meant the stations would be abandoning news gathering next year, allegedly as an economy move, and instead airing news segments produced by RT, the state-funded 24-hour news channel.
f this apparent final centralisation of Russian TV news operations didn't sound ominous enough in itself, the Orwellian euphemism used to describe it by one interested party ("an optimisation of the management structure") and the self-appointment of another as the project's "chief ideologist" surely coloured in the numbered spaces for even casual observers. In a word: yikes.
Granted, in the days following the Kommersant report two prominent REN TV representatives maintained that the reorganisation would not affect news programming. Still and all, it's hard not to see this progression as handwriting on the wall - and not least because it will put the two stations literally within the same walls and under the same roof that RT already enjoys, at the RIA Novosti agency's headquarters on Zubovsky Bulvar.
It makes sense to be concerned about any diminution, actual or potential, of Russia's ever-uncertain prospects for a civil society. But it also makes sense to keep three points in perspective as the REN TV/Channel 5 scenario actually plays out. Americans in particular would be wise to wait for the reorganisational smoke to clear before making judgments, as recent excesses in US news broadcasting have done much to render American television reporting more vulnerable to criticism - and less attractive as a paradigm - than ever before.
First, would the Russian consolidation really represent, as one local observer immediately characterised it, "a return to one of the worst aspects of the Soviet past, in which most people will have access to only one version of news"?
In fact, this "final centralisation" would actually be less final and less centralised than it might appear. Even with TV news sourced solely by state outlets, any Muscovite who doesn't like it can easily turn on various electronic options, including the round-the-clock, Russian-language Euronews TV channel (my own choice for viewing over breakfast) and the editorially independent Ekho Moskvy radio station (where my kitchen radio's dial is set). If those aren't enough, the world's news in the world's own terms is no further from most Russians than a laptop or their local Internet cafe. How many international TV stations are available now through any high-speed cable hook-up - a thousand? Two?
Second, Russian state TV is not - and can't become - Soviet state TV. The latter was a genuine monolith that largely deserved the 1950s joke about its "diversity": Channel 1 was all propaganda, while Channel 2 showed a man telling viewers to turn back to Channel 1. Today's state channels can occasionally diverge in their reporting, as Channel 1 and NTV did last week over Gazprom's controversial Okhta tower in St. Petersburg. Various talk shows and documentaries, moreover, can be quite frank and utterly un-Soviet in their criticism of state institutions and government authorities - and these are not solely the province of the intelligentsia-oriented Kultura channel.
Thirdly, the proximate monopolist alleged in the REN TV/Channel 5 case, RT, is itself a diverse and self-critical institution. (Full disclosure: RT and The Moscow News share a sibling relationship within the RIA Novosti/TV Novosti family. Fuller disclosure: I once appeared as a paid talking head on an RT news analysis programme. Fullest disclosure: I stunk.) Stinking aside, any state channel that would put me on the air live, given what I've written about state TV here over the years, is either commendably diverse and self-critical already or willing to get egg on its face trying.
OK, now let's get cross-cultural for a moment. A reduction in reporting perspectives is an unfortunate development anywhere, of course - or is it? If you've recently returned from (another) visa exile to the United States, as I have, it's hard not to make some comparisons that are fairly unflattering to the post-Cronkite generation of your historic homeland's TV news.
Last week a Pulitzer Prize for Shoddy Reporting should have gone to the myriad national TV broadcasters who fell for and perpetuated two utterly bogus "stories" - of a boy supposedly trapped alone in a balloon somewhere over Colorado (when he was in fact hiding out in the family home on orders from his publicity-hound parents); and of a US Chamber of Commerce announcement that the organisation had suddenly reconsidered its longstanding opposition to measures against global warning - when it had done no such thing. In both cases, the need to get on the air first, or at least fast, with something "truthy", to borrow news satirist Stephen Colbert's wonderful coinage, trumped any impulse the TV reporters and producers might have felt to take a longer look at these suspicious-sounding non-events before promoting them into air-worthy news items.
OK, hoaxes happen everywhere, maybe this was just a bad week. That doesn't account for the giant hoax known as Fox News, a rabidly partisan political concern that has been masquerading as a network news organisation for some years now. If any doubt as to Fox's real status persisted as late as 2008, right-wing crowds at last year's presidential campaign rallies dispelled it with frenzied rhythmic chanting - "Fox News! Fox News! Fox News!" - quite as though the network itself were running for something.
And maybe it is. How else would you decode the work of "commentator" and Republican functionary Sean Hannity, who uses his Fox News slot to organise, publicise and then "analyse" anti-administration rallies? Or the excesses of Fox-friendly Rush Limbaugh, who spent much energy last week airing citations from what he mistakenly took as Barack Obama's "college thesis" - and then "explaining" that his use of hoax-quotes didn't matter, since they certainly reflected what Obama had been thinking [!]. You want to talk Orwellian? Fox's slogan is "Fair and balanced."
Yet even these whoppers are trumped by Foxman Glenn Beck, whose incendiary, screw-loose ranting - over President Obama's "deep-seated hatred for white people", for example, presumably including his own mother - alternately tests the limits of American credulity and US libel laws, all for the entertainment of a large, growing and angrily undiscriminating TV audience. If you can imagine the ultra-nationalist gadfly Vladimir Zhirinovsky suddenly getting perhaps twice the TV exposure of Channel 1's incorrigible crank-commentator Mikhail Leontyev, you can perhaps begin to sense what the phenomenon of Glenn Beck bodes for the future of American newscasting.
Yes, "scary" is the word you're looking for. This self-acknowledged media "rodeo clown," with a history of alcoholism, drug abuse and religious zealotry, makes Zhirinovsky seem articulate and Leontyev positively Socratic. Yikes again.
If there was any good news about the news in recent days, perhaps it was that two prominent US journalism professors produced a timely and possibly eye-opening essay in the Washington Post titled "Finding a new model for news reporting." The piece was condensed from a larger report that warned quite soberingly, if belatedly, that traditional journalism "is now at risk" and that "preserving independent, original, credible reporting, whether or not it is profitable" is of "paramount" importance for the country. And not just that one, of course.
TV news practices in both these societies need serious scrutiny - and soon, before a dearth of independence debilitates one and an unconstrained profusion of it further debases the other. Put otherwise, near-monopoly and near-anarchy should both be averted: if Channel One is a problem, Fox News is not the solution.
Mark H. Teeter teaches English and Russian-American relations in Moscow.
: In Moscow, Lenin Lights the Way to Angry Debate
By SOPHIA KISHKOVSKY
Published: October 26, 2009
MOSCOW — When a verse praising Stalin reappeared at a renovated Metro station in August, there was an immediate outcry.
So the director of the Metro system decided to fix things — by also restoring a verse in praise of Lenin, founder of the Soviet state.
“Stalin reared us — on loyalty to the people, / He inspired us to labor and to heroism,” words from the Soviet anthem of 1943, were joined after some overnight editing last week in the Kurskaya station’s vestibule with the line that preceded them in the anthem: “Through tempests shone on us the sun of freedom, / And the great Lenin lighted the way.”
The change makes the verse dedicated to Stalin even more visible to passengers leaving the station — and this weekend many stopped to stare at or photograph it.
Angry debate over the verses and the bumbling over their placement have highlighted the depth of confusion in Russia over the interpretation and handling of Soviet history.
The Stalin half of the verse was restored in gilt lettering for the vestibule’s grand reopening in August, after a year of renovation. The intention, Moscow Metro officials said, was to recreate the atmosphere of the station when it opened in 1950.
The verse to Stalin had been removed during the period of de-Stalinization under Nikita Khrushchev, while the Lenin verse had remained in place until the station closed for repair last year.
In August, when the Stalin lines reappeared, human rights activists warned of creeping re-Stalinization. The Russian Orthodox Church said monuments and quotations honoring those who killed millions were inappropriate, and even an official of the Communist Party questioned the timing, saying the Stalin verse was a tactic to lure pensioners to United Russia, the pro-Kremlin party, for city elections held on Oct. 11.
Impassioned discussions flared on blogs and Web sites — a popular arena for criticism and dissent absent from most mainstream Russian media. Now, talk is bubbling again.
Leonid Radzikhovsky, a liberal commentator, noted sardonically Friday on the radio station Ekho Moskvy that Metro officials “decided to correct Stalin with Lenin, to follow something tasty, so to speak, with something wonderful.”
Dmitri Gayev, director of the Moscow Metro, said removing Lenin was a mistake by the restorers that he had noticed as soon as the renovated station was unveiled and planned immediately to fix. He chafes at talk the Stalin verse be removed, comparing it to Stalin’s purges.
“People tell me ‘remove that quote,’” he told the newspaper Izvestia last week. “On what basis? This is the ‘Hymn of the Soviet Union.’ You’re not about to deny the existence of the Soviet Union? Remove Stalin? We went through this after 1937, when the names of the inconvenient dead were removed.”
Aleksandr Kuzmin, Moscow’s chief architect, expressed support for the restoration. “If you’ve taken on restoration, then you must restore it as the artist created it,” he said at a news conference Friday, according to the news agency RIA Novosti . “I’m not a Stalinist, but I respect the creation of those who worked before me.”
Since the Kurskaya station reopened in August, barbs have flown over another sign in Moscow. A kebab cafe called Antisovetskaya — it is opposite the Hotel Sovetskaya and had been known unofficially by that name for decades — was targeted by World War II veterans, led by Vladimir Dolgikh, who was a senior Communist official in Soviet days.
The veterans took their gripe to the Moscow city authorities, who pressured the owners to change the name to Sovetskaya.
Aleksandr Podrabinek, a former Soviet dissident who served time in a prison camp and continues to crusade as a journalist and human rights activist, criticized the move on the Web, unleashing the fury of Nashi, a pro-Kremlin youth organization. Mr. Podrabinek said he had to go into hiding because of their threats.
Mr. Radzikhovsky, the Ekho Moskvy commentator, wrote on his blog that the debates over history are a symptom of Russia’s deep complexes.
“We clearly have an exaggerated interest toward our ‘sacred and accursed’ past,” he wrote. “Something like a societal Oedipus complex: so who was that mustached Father? State propaganda takes pleasure in aggravating these complexes, pushing dreams of the past instead of today’s real, live problems.”
The Guardian: 'Half a good man is better than none at all'
A study of polygamy in Russia suggests we have a lot to learn about how to beat the recession
Mira Katbamna
The Guardian, Tuesday 27 October 2009
A study of polygamy in Russia might not seem an obvious place to look for insights into how the financial crisis might play out in suburban Kent or rural Yorkshire. But Caroline Humphrey, Sigrid Rausing professor of collaborative anthropology at Cambridge University, says central Asia and Russia have much to teach us.
"In the 1990s, Russia and central Asia experienced huge economic change: what a bank was, how your career was going, what you could expect from life, everything changed overnight," she explains. "And of course it had a huge impact on people's lives, from family life to politics, and polygamy is part of that whole scene. So far, we haven't had such dramatic change in the west, but you never know."
Humphrey specialises in the anthropology of communities on the edges of the former Soviet Union, and has spent much of her career studying the Buyrat people who live north of the Mongolian border in Siberia. Humphrey says that anthropologists slowly build a deep knowledge and understanding of a place and culture, but nevertheless, her discovery that there is a polygamy lobby was a surprise.
"Friends of mine in Siberia told me that their friends were lobbying parliament to legalise polygamy," she says. "I always knew that there were men who like the idea of polygamy, but what I found fascinating was that women were also in support."
So is the recession going to turn the good burghers of Tunbridge Wells into polygamists? It's unlikely. But it remains the case that the reasons why men – and, even more interestingly, women – are advocating polygamy in Russia and Mongolia are as much about economics as they are about sex. The critical issue is demography. The Russian population is falling by 3% a year – and there are 9 million fewer men than women. Nationalists, such as the eccentric leader of the Liberal Democratic party, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, claim that introducing polygamy will provide husbands for "10 million lonely women" and fill Mother Russia's cradles.
Elsewhere, in the former Islamic regions of Russia, men argue that polygamous marriage is traditional and will encourage men to take greater responsibility – thereby alleviating poverty and improving "moral" education.
Improbably, for both groups, this is polygamy as a solution to contemporary social ills – and, according to Humphrey, is appearing outside Islamic regions. In rural areas the "man shortage", exacerbated by war, alcoholism and mass economic migration, is even more serious. But when it comes to polygamy, rural women have a quite different agenda from their nationalist male counterparts.
"A lot of women live on what were collective farms, which are often deep in the forest and miles away from the nearest town," Humphrey says. "You live very close to nature, and life can be very hard – your heating is entirely through log stoves, there's no running water and inside sanitation is rare. If you are lucky enough to keep animals, you must care for and butcher them yourself. So if you are looking after children as well, life can be near impossible for a woman on her own."
Perhaps unsurprisingly then, Humphrey's investigations have uncovered women who believe that "half a good man is better than none at all". "There are still some men around – they might be running things, with a job as an official, for example, or they might be doing an ordinary labouring job, but either way, there aren't very many of them," she says. "Women say that the legalisation of polygamy would be a godsend: it would give them rights to a man's financial and physical support, legitimacy for their children, and rights to state benefits."
Legalising polygamy has been repeatedly proposed and discussed in the Russian Duma, or parliament – and always turned down. For the urbanites of Moscow and St Petersburg it is a step too far.
In Mongolia, too, the legalisation of polygamous marriage is anathema. Yet in Ulan Bator, the thrusting capital city, well-educated women are combining traditional and modern to create something that looks suspiciously like a form of polygamy.
Surprisingly, it starts with the dowry. Eschewing the traditional gifts (horses, cushions, clothes), successful Mongolian families are increasingly giving their daughters a good education in place of a dowry. In contrast, their brothers often have to leave school early to either manage the herds or run the family business.
"In Mongolian culture, the bride's family are the senior family; and a bride should be clever. And they had 70 years of communism, so the idea that women should be well-educated is not new," Humphrey explains. "Since Mongolia, in common with Russia, also has a problem with alcoholism, there is an imbalance between urban educated women and the number of men these educated women deem to be suitable husband-material."
The solution is simple: they just don't get married. Instead, they take what is known as a "secret lover" – usually a well-educated man who just happens to be married to someone else. Any children resulting from the union are brought up by their mother and the maternal family.
"It is completely accepted. These women are among the elite of Mongolian society – they might be a member of parliament or a director of a company and they are tremendously admired," Humphrey says. "They would be horrified by the idea of polygamous marriage because they don't want to risk their independence."
So what does this mean for marital relations in Russia and central Asia? Humphrey says it's unlikely that polygamous marriage will ever be legalised in Russia – but perhaps that doesn't matter.
"An insufficiency of men, educated women who want to realise themselves, rural women who want to protect themselves, all these things are going to give rise to arrangements like polygyny," says Humphrey, "whether it's called that or not."
National Economic Trends
Reuters: TABLE-Russia M2 on Oct 1 +2.6 pct m/m, -5.0 pct y/y
Oct 27 (Reuters) - Russian money supply (M2) rose 2.6 percent on Oct 1 to 13.65 trillion roubles from 13.31 trillion roubles on Sept 1, the central bank said on its Web site.
"Russia's M2 acceleration is boding well for investment recovery due to its relatively high correlation with investment activity," analysts at UniCredit said in a research note.
"Given budget spending and the federal budget deficit are likely to accelerate sharply."
M2 was up 1.2 percent since the start of the year.
M2 (bln roubles) Oct 1 Sept 1 Oct 1, 2008
Amount 13,649.5 13,305.0 14,374.6
Pct change m/m +2.6 +1.4 -1.1
Pct change y/y -5.0 -8.4 +8.3
NOTE - M2 is defined as total cash in circulation and rouble balances on accounts held by resident non-financial organisations and individuals.
For key Russian indicators click here. Keywords: RUSSIA M2/ (Moscow Newsroom, +7495 775 1242, moscow.newsroom@)
Interfax: Russian inflation still 10 times higher than in EU – Rosstat
MOSCOW. Oct 27 (Interfax) - Russian inflation is still ten times
higher than in the European Union, despite coming to a halt in August,
the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) said.
Consumer prices in Russia grew 8.1% in January-September, compared
with growth of just 0.8% in the EU.
But Russia's 8.1% inflation for January-July was 20 times higher
than the EU's 0.4%, so the gap has been bridged thanks to the zero
inflation that Russia had in August and September at a time when prices
edged up in the EU.
RenCap: Russia's economic growth restarted in September with a seasonally-adjusted rise of 0.5% MoM
Renaissance Capital, Russia
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
According to the Ministry of Economic Development, seasonally-adjusted Russian GDP improved by 0.5% MoM in September, while the zero growth in August was revised up to 0.1% MoM. On a YtD basis, September GDP contracted 8.5%. Official data mentions the agriculture sector as the main accelerator of the growth, while we think a pick-up in industrial production (by 5.1% MoM) also added to the acceleration. We commented earlier that in September the automotive sector restarted production and that part of the Sayano-Shushenskaya capacities lost due to the August accident have been partially met by thermoelectric power stations, thereby increasing demand for coal and fuel minerals.
Quarterly seasonal-adjusted GDP grew 0.6% QoQ, with the government estimating the corresponding annual figure at 2.4%. Therefore, de-jure, the recession in Russian was over in 3Q09. In 4Q09 we are likely to begin seeing significant recovery in YoY indicators as the high-base effect passes (the Russian economy began to plunge in 4Q08). According to government officials, the Russian economy in 4Q09 may show an annual growth rate of 3-4%, but we view this figure as largely underestimated. We expect the Russian economy to continue recovering and the 3Q09 figures seems to be too low to indicate the pace of that growth, as the one-off collapse in production in August distorts the final 3Q numbers.
Anton Nikitin
Citibank: Russia's real sector data come out as expected
Citibank, Russia
October 27, 2009
According to preliminary estimates, announced by the Russian Ministry of the Economy yesterday, the decline in GDP moderated to -9.4%YoY in 3Q from -10.9%YoY in the previous quarter (Vedomosti, 21 October 2009). We believe that the recovery will be slow and therefore in 2H09 GDP will still show a contraction of 5% YoY (-10.4% in 1H09), supported by budget-driven stabilisation in consumption and some improvement in inventories. We believe that Russia's growth may reach 3% in 2010 owing to re-stocking, a pick-up in consumption and only a gradual recovery in imports, as well as the base effect.
Other real sector data have been all broadly in line with market expectations and our forecasts. These are detailed as follows:
_ The contraction in investment in productive capacity at 18.6% YoY was largely expected owing to the lack of access to long-term funding and the still uncertain outlook for end-2009 demand.
_ No surprises in retail sales. We did not expect retail sales to stabilise in September; we expect a turnaround in consumption and retail sales only towards end-2009.
_ The continued stabilisation in real wages and disposable income is encouraging and is in line with our forecast that consumption should stabilise towards end-2009.
_ The continued improvement in unemployment is difficult to interpret. The previous months' improvement can be largely attributed to an expansion of the definition of the labour force base.
OCTOBER 27, 2009
WSJ: Slump Tames Russian Inflation
Consumer prices have been flat for three straight months; economists credit the downturn
By IRA IOSEBASHVILI
MOSCOW -- Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has found a silver lining to the financial crisis that laid the Russian economy low: the lowest inflation in post-Soviet history.
Economists warn it may not last, but for nearly three months Russia hasn't posted any increase in consumer prices -- the longest period without inflation in the country's modern history. That comes as unemployment has risen to 7.6%, gross domestic product has shrunk at an annual 8.6% rate, and the price of oil is hovering at half the level of 15 months ago.
Falling food prices, moderate growth in electricity rates and wage cuts across a swath of industries have weighed down prices, economists say. The ruble's recent strength has cut the cost of imported goods, and the central bank may beat its forecast of inflation at around 10% this year.
"We are working on lowering inflation to 8% to 9%," Mr. Putin said Sunday. "This year it will be a little over 8%." Price growth of 5% to 6% is a "possibility" in the next few years, Mr. Putin said.
Before the financial crisis struck last fall, inflation was Russia's chief economic problem. During the 1990s, the country saw double- and even triple-digit price growth in the face of drastic economic changes and currency devaluation.
Prices also rose quickly when Mr. Putin was president earlier this decade as the skyrocketing price of oil, Russia's main export, brought in flows of petrodollars, forcing the central bank to print money to prevent ruble appreciation, says Julia Tsepliaeva, chief economist at Merrill Lynch in Moscow. As recently as 2008, inflation ended the year at 13.3%.
But for much of this year the rising ruble -- which reached 28.92 to the dollar on Monday, compared with a low of 36.34 in February -- has been a key factor keeping prices down. The central bank estimates that a 1% rise in the ruble shaves 0.3 percentage point off inflation.
Lower inflation this year has allowed Russia to cut its key interest rates seven times since April, and central-bank First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said Friday that the refinancing rate may be lowered below 9% next year, allowing banks to charge healthier interest rates for loans.
"As a result, we will see higher investment activity," says Joerg Bongartz, head of the management board at Deutsche Bank in Russia. "Even now, there is more confidence, more demand and increased investor appetite."
But keeping inflation down -- even until the end of the year -- may be easier said than done. One critical factor is a looming infusion of government funds that will hit the economy in the fourth quarter.
"The government severely underspent this year's budget and will start trying to catch up on spending in November," says Martin Gilman, a professor at Russia's Higher School of Economics and a former International Monetary Fund representative in Russia. "This huge influx of liquidity could be a nasty shock to the economy."
Another shock could come when food prices -- which have stayed relatively low because of warm weather this fall -- turn higher in winter months, says Chris Weafer, chief strategist at Uralsib Capital. Mr. Putin's inflation forecast of around 8% would be "extremely difficult" to achieve, he adds.
Capping prices could be even harder next year, especially if the Russian economy sustains its recent momentum. Official data released Monday for the third quarter showed that the economy grew 0.6% from the previous three months -- the second straight quarter of economic growth.
"As the economy recovers, people could once again start spending their disposable incomes," driving prices higher, says Mr. Weafer.
Business Week: Russia out of recession as economy grows in Q3
By NATALIYA VASILYEVA
MOSCOW
Russia technically emerged from recession in the third quarter after official data on Monday showed economic activity grew 0.6 percent from the previous three months -- the first quarterly rise since the crisis struck a year ago.
Despite the increase, gross domestic product was still 9.4 percent below year-earlier levels, underscoring the amount of damage the recession and lower oil prices have wreaked on Russia's economy .
The Economic Development Ministry said that in the month of September, GDP fell 8.6 percent on the year, less that the 10.5 percent contraction in August.
The improvements were due to less capital outflow and to companies replenishing their stocks, the ministry said, which bolstered belief that the country is now past the worst of its downturn.
The ministry has forecast a 8.5 percent fall in GDP for all of 2009.
Industrial production grew 5.1 percent during September, according to the Federal Statistics Agency.
Russia's economy, weathering its first economic downturn in a decade, has been supported in recent months by rising oil prices, which hovered around $80 per barrel on Monday. The Russian ruble has gained some 10 percent of its value against the dollar since early September on higher crude prices and a further weakening of the American currency.
Manufacturing and agriculture have been the main industry drivers, statistics show, with a big harvest boosting agricultural activity by 10 percent.
Retail and construction, however, are still weighing on the economy. Retail shrank by 9.9 percent on the year in September and was down 0.7 percent against August.
Analysts hailed the moderate growth but expressed concern over weak retail sales and consumer demand.
"We need high consumer demand for the GDP to rise year on year, " said Yevgeny Nadorshin, chief economist at the Trust investment bank. "There are still no signs that the demand is picking up. This could complicate the overall recovery."
Observers widely expect the government to post encouraging statistics in October, including some year-on-year economic growth, since October 2008 was one of the worst months for the Russian economy in a decade.
Russia Today: Retail sales begin to turn as buyers head for discounts
27 October, 2009, 08:47
The improving economic outlook, and sentiment, plus a rebounding Rouble are putting a floor under consumer sales figures, but sales of luxury goods remain under pressure.
Shoppers are beginning to open their purses once again with the latest sales data showing a small increase in September. Peter Partma, Board Chairman at TSUM says anecdotal evidence backs the findings, with more people looking for upside going forward.
“It feels like we have stabilised and it’s not based on economic figures or other statistics. It’s more a general feeling when you are talking to people around – colleagues and customers that you have a feeling of some kind of confidence that we are now over the hurdle.”
But luxury goods sales are expected to be the last to recover. As with all economic downturns, demand for staple consumer goods remains. Like the 1998 downturn, 2009 has seen as much as three quarters of average disposable income going to ordinary household items. At the same time consumers have deserted upmarket brands and headed for discounted items according to Dale Clark, from PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Retail and Consumer Practice.
“The luxury segment has been the hardest hit. In fact, all branded products have been hit fairly badly by the financial crisis, and we’re seeing a move by customers away from branded products to lower-end or discounted products.”
Although improving quarterly and monthly data has economic analysts seeing a rebound from recession, or a floor to it, about 8.5% of the workforce – or 6 million people – remain unemployed. That’s 1.5 million more than a year ago.
Expectations too have been pared back. Just over a year ago, with inflation running at 13%, and crude spiralling beyond $130/bbl UBS predicted Russian retail sales would grow more than 20% annually through 2010. One year forward, with inflation running at 0% over the last 8 weeks, and oil back at just under $80/bbl – after having been as low as $35/bbl – and Dale Clark is looking at 5%.
“The days of 20 % growth are certainly gone, but hopefully it becomes a more sustainable growth rate – around 5% – with inflation coming down, consumers becoming more confident, and companies being able to plan their ongoing needs and growth around a 5% growth rate which is indicative of a more mature market.”
The upcoming holiday season – which can account for as much as half of annual sales – will be the crucial test of Russian consumers, and how far their confidence has been repaired. Even if they are only after bargains, the signs of an economic rebound offers hope that improving sentiment will ring retails tills into the new year.
Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions
Bloomberg: Evraz, Lukoil, Rosneft: Russian Equity Preview for Oct. 27
By Stephen Bierman
Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The following companies may be active in Russian trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses and share prices are from the previous close. The 30-stock Micex Index fell 0.5 percent to 1,358.31 at the close in Moscow. The dollar-denominated RTS Index added 1 percent to 1,476.06.
Evraz Group SA (EVR LI): Evraz Group SA, Russia’s second- largest steelmaker, said it agreed to three credit facilities totaling $950 million with Gazprombank. The money can be drawn within the next nine months and the facility lasts 45 months, the company said in a statement. Evraz fell 1.4 percent to $29.35 in London.
OAO Rosneft (ROSN RX): Crude oil tumbled the most in a month as the dollar advanced from a 14-month low against the euro, reducing the appeal of commodities. Crude oil for December delivery fell $1.87, or 2.3 percent, to $78.63 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil producer, fell 0.7 percent to 244.28 rubles in Moscow.
OAO Lukoil (LKOH RX), Russia’s second largest oil producer, fell 1.4 percent to 1,875.45 rubles in Moscow.
To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Bierman in Moscow sbierman1@.
Last Updated: October 26, 2009 22:01 EDT
Alfa: In September corporate NPLs declined for the first time since the crisis began
Alfa, Russia
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
According to the CBR, corporate NPLs declined from 5.7% in August to 5.6% in September, and lower provisioning charges allowed banks to earn RUB23bn last month.
Banks were able to reduce reserve charges because corporate NPLs decreased for the first time since the crisis began, falling 2.4% m-o-m. This improvement, however, was largely thanks to a couple of large players: for example, in September VTB reported a decrease in NPLs of RUB42bn, or 6% of total accumulated banking sector NPLs. For this reason, the decline in NPLs was not matched by a recovery in lending activity: last month, the corporate loan book declined by 0.7%, while retail loans were down 1%.
Natalia Orlova
VTB: CFO and Head of the Siberian division to leave RusHydro
VTB Capital, Russia
October 27, 2009
- other changes in management team are possible - might increase volatility in the stock
News: Yesterday, the Supervisory Board of RusHydro terminated the powers of CFO Sergey Yushin and Alexander Toloshinov, the Head of the company's Siberian Regional Division. At the same time, the Board voted to replace them with David Kuznetsov, the Head of Levit (a company which holds of 7.5% of Novatek) and Andrey Konovalov, the former Head of Irkutskenergo.
Separately, Interfax has reported that the company might raise RUB 4.3bn under the new share issue to finance the reconstruction of Sayano- Shushenskaya HPP.
Our View: The news might increase volatility in the stock as uncertainty over possible management team changes is growing (and indeed we do not exclude further changes taking place).
The news regarding the parameters of the new share issue (which is due to take place later this year) is also important for the stock. So far, the RusHydro Board has not taken the respective decision, but there might be newsflow as soon as early next week when the Board meets to decide on that question.
Back to top Dmitry Skryabin
Bloomberg: Carlsberg May Shut Russian Plants on Higher Tax, Vedomosti Says
By Maria Ermakova
Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Carlsberg A/S may shut some plants in Russia should the government triple its excise duty on beer, Vedomosti reported, citing Chief Executive Officer Joergen Buhl Rasmussen.
About 100,000 people in Russia’s brewing industry may lose their jobs should the government go ahead with the tax plan, the Moscow-based newspaper cited Rasmussen as saying.
To contact the reporter on this story: Maria Ermakova in Moscow at mermakova@
Last Updated: October 27, 2009 02:29 EDT
Bloomberg: RBC Information Lenders Agree to Restructuring, Kommersant Says
By Maria Kolesnikova
Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- OAO RBC Information Systems has agreed with creditors to restructure $208 million in debt, a prerequisite for billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov to buy 51 percent of the media group, Kommersant said, citing unidentified people.
RBC Information, the owner of Russia’s only business channel, will convert half of the debt into five-year bonds with a 7 percent coupon, the newspaper said. The rest will either be repaid or converted into eight-year bonds with a 6 percent coupon, Kommersant said. RBC Information plans to announce the restructuring deal “in the coming days,” the newspaper said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Maria Kolesnikova in Moscow at mkolesnikova@,
Last Updated: October 27, 2009 02:05 EDT
Reuters: Russia's RBC agrees $208 mln debt restructuring – paper
RBC-RESTRUCTURING/
MOSCOW, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Russian business news provider RBC has agreed with creditors to restructure its $208 million debt, Kommersant business daily reported on Tuesday.
A successful debt restructuring is the key condition to clearing the way for magnate Mikhail Prokhorov to buy a 51 percent share in RBC.
RBC will convert half the debt into bonds maturing in 5 years with a 7 percent coupon. The rest will be converted into 8-year bonds with a 6 percent coupon, or will be paid back in cash.
The total amount of the debt will be increased by 10 percent should the proposed scheme materialise. The deal will be announced in the near future, Kommersant said, citing two sources close to the restructuring talks. (Reporting by Dmitry Sergeyev, Editing by Ian Geoghegan)
Bloomberg: Rusal Seeks CIC, Temasek as Investors for IPO, HKEJ Reports
By Bloomberg News
Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- United Co. Rusal, the biggest aluminum producer, is in talks with parties including China Investment Corp. and Temasek Holdings Pte to invest in a Hong Kong share sale, the Hong Kong Economic Journal said, without citing anyone or providing details of the investments.
Wu Xueling, a Beijing-based official at CIC, the nation’s sovereign wealth fund that holds almost $300 billion of assets, declined to comment. Temasek spokespeople in Singapore weren’t immediately available for comment.
Rusal, controlled by billionaire Oleg Deripaska, has applied to sell about 10 percent of the company’s shares in a Hong Kong initial public offering to try to cut debt of more than $16 billion. Metal prices are rising as the global economy recovers, with the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index, a gauge of 19 raw materials and commodities, hovering at this year’s high.
CIC is increasing investments in commodities after losing money on financial companies including Blackstone Group LP and Morgan Stanley. The Beijing-based company will provide SouthGobi Energy Resources Ltd., a unit of Vancouver-based Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., a $500 million convertible debenture to expand and develop coal reserves in southern Mongolia, SouthGobi said yesterday.
Temasek, Singapore’s government-owned investment firm, in June agreed to buy a stake in Olam International Ltd., a Singapore-based agricultural commodities supplier. Temasek would consider investments in resources as the sector provided a proxy for economic growth, especially in emerging economies in Asia and the rest of the world, Nagi Hamiyeh, managing director of investments in natural resources at Temasek, said on March 24.
Aluminum Demand
Rusal, based in Moscow, said earlier this week that banks holding half its foreign debt approved a restructuring of the company’s borrowings. The company will meet foreign creditors, who hold a total of $7.4 billion of its debt, after agreeing new terms with Russian banks and shareholder Onexim Group, said Oleg Mukhamedshin, head of capital markets, on a conference call.
Rusal would be the only Russian company with shares trading in Hong Kong.
Aluminum futures in Shanghai rose 31 percent this year as investors bet that China’s $586 billion stimulus spending will spur demand from builders and carmakers. Alcoa Inc., the largest U.S. producer of the metal, said Chinese demand will rise 4 percent in 2009, compared with a previous prediction of no growth.
Aluminum Corp. of China, China’s biggest producer of the metal, won’t buy shares in Rusal’s share sale, Caijing Magazine reported Oct. 12, citing an unidentified official with the Chinese company. The company, known as Chinalco, had considered buying a stake in the Russian company, the magazine reported earlier.
--Helen Yuan. With assistance from Joyce Koh in Singapore and Dingmin Zhang in Beijing. Editors: Teo Chian Wei, Andreea Papuc
To contact the Bloomberg New Staff on this story: Theresa Tang at ttang3@; Helen Yuan in Shanghai at hyuan@.
Last Updated: October 27, 2009 00:29 EDT
Steel Guru:Alrosa sells USD 1 billion in diamonds in 9 months
Tuesday, 27 Oct 2009
Interfax reported that Alrosa sold USD 1.73 billion in cut and uncut diamonds in January-September 2009.
Alrosa sold USD 1 billion in diamonds in the third quarter alone.
Alrosa has sold USD 351 million in rough diamonds USD 255 million of this on the market since the start of October.
Alrosa stopped selling diamonds on the market in December last year. It sold rough diamonds only to the State Precious Metals and Gemstones Repository until July when it returned to the market. Alrosa sold USD 150 million in uncut diamonds on the market in July mostly under long-term contracts.
A source at the Gokhran has told Interfax that the repository bought an additional RUB 20.4 billion in diamonds from Alrosa in September and that total its total diamond procurements from had been increased to RUB 32.5 billion in 2009.
Mr Fyodor Andreyev chief of Alrosa said last month that overall sales this year could come to USD 2.75 billion.
The company also said it intended to reduce its debt which stood at USD 5 billion on June 1st to USD 3.86 billion by the end of 2009.
(Sourced from Interfax)
RFERL: GM Car Assembly Begins In Kaliningrad
October 26, 2009
KALININGRAD, Russia -- U.S. carmaker General Motors (GM) has started assembling Opel Astra and Opel Zafira automobiles at the Avtotor plant in the Russian Baltic port city of Kaliningrad, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.
In the first stage, cars will be assembled in Kaliningrad with bodies brought from Opel factories in Germany. But by 2011 the car bodies are expected to be made and painted in Kaliningrad.
GM and Avtotor are investing about 50 million euros ($75 million) in the project. Avtotor is currently assembling GM's Cadillac, Chevrolet, and Hummer models. In addition, BMW, KIA, and several types of motorcycles and trucks are being produced at the plant.
Avtotor announced last month that it would stop assembling cars for the
Chinese automaker Chery.
Russian carmakers, led by AvtoVAZ, have announced layoffs of more than 30,000 workers in recent months.
Russia Today: Russian Opel rolls off the line as Magna-Sberbank deal awaits signoff
27 October, 2009, 11:11
The first Russian produced Opel has come out of the Avtotor Kaliningrad plant, ahead of the finalisation of the GM-Sberbank-Magna deal for the Russian Canadian joint venture to buy into GM’s German arm.
The first Opel comes off a Russian production line. This week has seen the first of up to 25000 cars GM and Russia’s Avtotor plan to assemble in Kaliningrad. That’s despite Opel sales in Russia being down 62% this year, but Chris Gubbey, Managing Director, GM Russia and CIS, says that the production is for the longer term and that the market might rebound quickly.
“We, like most people, don’t think there is going to be a rapid resurgence next year. Marginal improvement, but it’s very difficult to predict. If the price of oil stays at $80 for a prolonged period we might see that recover much quicker than people are predicting today.”
GM says Opel Astra is one of the its best selling cars in Russia, and by making them in Kaliningrad they will be more competitively priced on the domestic market – being freed from import tariffs.
The Kaliningrad Avtotor plant is assembling the Opel Astra and Zafira, adding to other output which includes Hummer, BMW, and Chevrolet models.
The plant will be joined in making Opel’s by GM’s St Petersburg plant next year, with other Russian sites to join in when the GM-Magna-Sberbank deal is finalised, according to Ivan Bonchev, Senior Manager at Ernst & Young.
“In such a deal where Russia is supposed to be, if the deal happens a major partner, then obviously any existing capacity is currently being screened and assessed whether it would make sense both economically and strategically to be used.”
The long running Opel sale has seen the Magna Sberbank consortium agree to buy 55% of GM’s German in September, after months of negotiations which saw it beat off a rival bid and overcome concerns about plant closures and intellectual property. General Motors is expected to finally approve the deal at a board meeting on November 3.
|PRMinds: RNCOS Releases a New Report - Russian Retail Industry Forecast to 2013 |
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|Source: B 129 Sector 6 Noida 201301 > 27 October 2009 (E-Business) |
|[pic] |
|RNCOS has recently added a new Market Research Report titled, “Russian Retail Industry Forecast to 2013” to its report gallery. |
|Our report provides detailed overview on the retail industry in Russia. |
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|RNCOS has recently added a new Market Research Report titled, “Russian Retail Industry Forecast to 2013” to its report gallery. |
|Retail is one of the fastest growing industries of the Russian economy. In recent years, Russia has emerged as a leading name |
|among the countries providing most conducive retail environment. In fact, Russia is the second most attractive destination for |
|retail after India, thanks to its rapid economic growth and favorable policy framework, which along with other supporting |
|factors resulted in unprecedented growth level for the country’s retail industry. Retail sales in Russia grew at the CAGR of |
|almost 25% during 2004-2008. |
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|The rapid development of retail trade and high consumer spending has attracted large number of international players to Russia. |
|At present every big name in retail industry from Metro, IKEA, Auchan is operating in the Russian retail market. These foreign |
|chains are now expanding beyond large metropolis like Moscow and St. Petersburg to small tier 1 cities. |
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|However the retail industry will witness negative growth during 2009 due to after impact of global financial crisis and slowing |
|economy which will lead to low consumer confidence and contraction in consumer expenditure, but this is expected to be just a |
|short term phenomenon. The industry will regain its lost momentum from 2010 onwards. As per our findings, retail sales will |
|witness a healthy CAGR of around 18% during 2009-2013 and will surpass US$ 800 Billion by 2013. |
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|The improving economic conditions, government support to push consumer spending and positive consumer outlook will help industry|
|to recover the lost momentum. We anticipate the expansion plans by most of the foreign and local companies to grow rapidly once |
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Businessneweurope: INTERVIEW: DST drives social networking in Russia and beyond
Jason Corcoran in Moscow
October 27, 2009
Yuri Milner has two strong bets in the horse race for global domination of social networking. The heavily fancied Facebook is the frontrunner, but Russian challenger Vkontakte has caught the attention of some punters and is showing good form on its home turf.
Digital Sky Technologies (DST), which Milner founded with his partner Gregory Finger in 2005, leapt to international attention in May after it acquired an initial 1.96% stake worth $200m in Facebook. It was DST's first foray out of Russia where it has sizeable stakes in a string of internet companies such as the social networks Vkontakte and Odnoklassniki, web portal Mail.ru, game developer Astrum Online and the online classified business Headhunter.ru.
Facebook and Vkontakte are now going head-to-head in 12 new markets besides the Russian one, where Facebook is only the seventh most popular social network. Milner insists a conflict of interest does not arise, because DST does not interfere operationally or with its companies' products. "For us, the fundamental issue is that we don't get involved operationally and that's how we really resolve the conflict of interest situation. Vkontakte is doing what they want to do, as is Facebook, and we don't get in the middle of it," he tells bne in an interview.
DST will continue to build its share of Facebook "opportunistically" by buying from shareholders of the California-headquartered company. It initially spent about $200m acquiring 1.96% and has since invested another $100m, which increased its holding to 3.5%. Milner insists a potential merger of Facebook and Vkontakte, which looks like a clone of its US rival in design and functionality, has "never been an issue."
"It's about the vision," he explains. "It's about being long term and our mutual understanding that social networks will play a significant role going forward in the people-sharing information."
Vkontakte claims on its homepage to have attracted over 46m registered users, which still pales in comparison to Facebook's 250m-plus users. But the company has recently snapped up the domain name for an undisclosed amount and plans to use it to brand and market Vkontakte in 12 other languages, starting this month.
Entrepreneurial spirit
From his 57th floor office in Moscow City Naberezhnaya Tower, Milner can survey the growth of the capital's emerging business district, which is close to where he grew up in nearby Kutuzovsky. Sipping on expensive bottled Voss water, Milner points out the building where he grew up and the Number 4 School he attended. A trained particle physician, Milner has not followed the typical career path of a Soviet Academy of Sciences graduate. After leaving the academy for US-based Wharton School of Business in 1989, he turned to the world of banking and worked for the World Bank for a few years helping to develop Moscow's embryonic financial markets.
Milner was lured to Bank Menatep, founded by the now-jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, to build its brokerage and investment banking arm. He left the bank and got involved in private equity before stumbling on the internet's early boom in the late 1990s. Milner's international and banking contacts have helped DST to raise about $1bn to invest in its portfolio of Russian and Eastern European internet companies. Investors include Renaissance Partners, Tiger Global, Goldman Sachs and steel billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who is rumoured to hold a 32% stake.
Yet Milner, 46, says his most prized contacts are the young internet entrepreneurs running his portfolio companies rather than the bankers and investors. "The founder of Vkontakte is 25 and the chief executive of Mail.ru is 30. The internet is mostly the game of the young. Social networks started in colleges and grew, which means these guys started these businesses young and will run these companies for another 15-20 years."
Milner says his business model is more long term than other private equity firms investing in technology. An IPO is the favoured exit for investors, but only when the investment climate is absolutely right. "We would rather DST goes public and gives them liquidity that way. I don't have a date for that. A lot depends on the market and other things we don't control," he says.
Some warn that the growing investor interest in online social networks like Twitter and Facebook could yet feed another bubble, which burst spectacularly at the beginning of the decade. Milner is conscious of past mistakes and he has own experience of launching three Internet businesses during the same period. The e-commerce vehicle failed to take off while the online auction site Molotok and the Geocities-styled Narod have since been folded into Yandex and Mail.ru, respectively. "The problem with e-commerce was transaction trust and low penetration, because you need a critical mass of buyers," explains Milner. "Russia is still not today a perfect play for e-commerce, but in a few years it will be."
DST's portfolio companies have been pioneers insofar as showing their western counterparts how to monetise and to make social networking a profitable enterprise. Vkontakte and Odnaklassniki generate their incomes from the traditional model of online advertising, but have also experimented successfully with premium paid services and micro-payments, allowing users to buy and sell items with the site taking a portion of the revenue.
Russia's other competitive advantage is its legacy from the Soviet system of producing great mathematicians. Milner cites how three teams from Russia featured in the top four places of last year's 32nd Annual ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest World Finals. Russian students from St Petersburg and Saratov rose to the top against 6,700 teams from 1,821 universities globally in the event, which is seen as the Olympics of computer programming. "Russia could encourage sectors outside natural resources and the technology sector could be one. We have a competitive advantage because we have always produced good mathematicians and Russians have the entrepreneurial flair too which is required."
Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)
| |
Interfax: OPEC invites Russia to join meeting in Angola in December
MOSCOW. Oct 27 (Interfax) - Russia has received an invitation from
the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to attend
its meeting in Angola in December, Russian Energy Minister Sergei
Shmatko told the press.
Reuters: Russia LUKOIL, Rosneft face new anti-trust fines
Tue Oct 27, 2009 5:24am EDT
MOSCOW, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Russia's anti-monopoly service plans to slap new large fines on the country's two largest oil producers, Rosneft (ROSN.MM: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and LUKOIL (LKOH.MM: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the head of the service said on Tuesday.
"Today decisions will be taken to impose fines on oil firms Rosneft and LUKOIL. They will be big," Igor Artemiyev told a news conference.
Last year, the service slapped fines on all major Russian oil firms for oil products price fixing amounting to around $50 million per company but oil firms have won court rulings overturning the decisions.
This year, the service ruled that LUKOIL and Rosneft violated anti-trust legislation and imposed combined fines of over $300 million on their peers, TNK-BP (TNBPI.RTS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Gazprom Neft (SIBN.MM: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).
The companies have said they would appeal the rulings and it remains unclear whether they paid the fines.
The service, known as the FAS, has recently been transformed from something of a paper tiger after Russia adopted a package of legislation which significantly beefed up its powers.
To read a column about FAS click on [ID:nLM157232] (Reporting by Yekaterina Golubkova, writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov, Editing by David Cowell)
Bloomberg: Lukoil to Offer Russia’s First Private Dollar Debt in 15 Months
By Denis Maternovsky
Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- OAO Lukoil, Russia’s second-biggest oil producer, is meeting international investors this week as it seeks to become the country’s first privately-owned company to sell dollar bonds in almost 15 months.
Lukoil executives are making presentations to bondholders in the U.S. and Europe until Oct. 28, according to a person familiar with the transaction, who declined to be identified before the deal is completed. OAO Severstal was the last privately-owned Russian company to sell dollar bonds when it raised $1.25 billion in July, 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Russian companies turned to local banks and ruble bonds after the global financial crisis blocked access to international debt markets to all but safest government-owned corporations. They raised $10.8 billion in foreign-currency bonds this year, the lowest since 2004, compared with a record 611 billion rubles ($21.15 billion) of domestic notes, Bloomberg data show.
“There’s definitely a lot of appetite for Russian bonds,” said Mikhail Galkin, a fixed income analyst at VTB Capital in Moscow. “Inflows to emerging market funds continue while dollar bond supply from Russia is surprisingly very low.”
Almost $1 billion was invested in emerging market bond funds during the second week of October, according to EPFR Global, which tracks fund flows and asset allocation data. That’s the most since EPFR started compiling the information in 2001, the company said Oct. 20.
Lukoil spokesman Dmitry Dolgov declined to comment.
The company’s new bonds may be “attractive” if they yield 6.5 percent for a five-year maturity, or 7.75 percent for a 10- year note, Yury Tulinov, a fixed-income analyst at Trust Investment Bank in Moscow, wrote in a report to investors. The yield on Lukoil’s $500 million of notes maturing in 2017 fell more than 750 basis points this year to 6.557 percent, Bloomberg prices show. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.
Moscow-based Lukoil may raise between $1 billion and $1.5 billion, according to Luis Costa, an emerging markets debt strategist at Commerzbank AG in London.
To contact the reporter on this story: Denis Maternovsky in Moscow at dmaternovsky@
Last Updated: October 27, 2009 03:26 EDT
Reuters: UPDATE 1-TNK-BP reports better Q3, 9-mth profit halves
Tue Oct 27, 2009 7:44am GMT
* Q3 net income rises 34 percent vs Q2
* Says 9-mth net income $3.7 bln, down from $6.5 bln
* Says positioned for a solid performance for 2009
(Adds detail)
MOSCOW, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Russia's third biggest oil & gas producer TNK-BP (TNBPI.RTS: Quote, Profile, Research) said better third quarter trading would help deliver a solid performance for 2009 despite a near halving in nine-month profit.
The company said on Tuesday its net income for the three months to end September came in at $1.7 billion, up 34 percent on the previous quarter, helped by higher oil prices and the sale of its oil services business.
The figures contrasted sharply with net income for the nine-month period, down 44 percent year on year as the company suffered the effects of a recession-driven oil price plunge in the first half of the 2009.
"The third quarter results show that TNK-BP is well-positioned to deliver solid performance for 2009," interim Chief Executive and Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman said in a statement.
TNK-BP, a joint venture between four Russian billionaires and oil giant BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research), was the subject of a fierce shareholder dispute between the two parties last year -- resulting in BP ceding much of its influence at the group.
BP reported a halving of third quarter profit on Tuesday, but the results were better than analyst forecasts. [ID:nLQ683027]
(Reporting by John Bowker; Editing by David Cowell)
TNK-: TNK-BP Maintains Year-on-year Production Growth of 3%; Posts a 34% Rise in Net Income in the Third Quarter
October 27, 2009, Tuesday
TNK-BP today reported its results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30th 2009 (US$ millions unless otherwise stated).
|2Q2009 |3Q2009 | |9M2009 |9M2008 |
|58.1 |68.0 |Urals (average US$/barrel) |56.6 |108.1 |
|32.2 |31.3 |Foreign Exchange (average RUR/US$) |32.5 |24.0 |
|1,669 |1,691 |Oil and Gas Production (mboed)* |1,676 |1,628 |
|8,159 |10,260 |Revenues |24,747 |43,900 |
|942 |1,118 |Operating Expenses |2,945 |3,914 |
|2,355 |2,819 |EBITDA |6,663 |10,918 |
|1,260 |1,684 |Net Income |3,691 |6,552 |
|1,677 |1,748 |Operating Cash |4,606 |7,898 |
|5,799 |5,133 |Net Debt |5,133 |4,904 |
|556 |831 |Capex (organic) |2,098 |3,556 |
*excluding Slavneft
Commenting on the results, Mikhail Fridman, interim Chief Executive Officer of TNK-BP, said:
“In the third quarter of 2009, TNK-BP continued to improve on the strong performance it reported for the first half of the year. We remained an industry leader in growing oil and gas production, with volumes for the 9 months to September amounting to a 3.0% increase relative to the same period in 2008. This represents 8 continuous quarters of production growth. In addition, TNK-BP benefited from stronger oil and product markets, prudent financial management, and in July, we realized a gain on the sale of our oil field services business of $204 mln. As a result, our net income rose by almost 34% relative to the second quarter.
The company continued to apply a focused and controlled approach to its capital investment programme in order to ensure new projects are delivered on time and on budget, as well as maintaining the efficiency of the existing asset base. Confidence in management’s ability to deliver allowed the Board to support a $1.3 bn investment in refinery upgrades as well as over $0.4 bn to continue work in developing our new Greenfield projects in Yamal. We continued to work to make TNK-BP a safer and cleaner company with once again significant improvement on our days away from work frequency and further reduction in oil spills.
The third quarter results show that TNK-BP is well-positioned to deliver solid performance for 2009 and continue to look forward to developing sustainable growth and improving performance in the future. We are focused on a sustainable way forward which will create additional workplaces and revenue for the Russian economy.”
3Q operational highlights
• Oil and Gas volumes for 9M09 increased by 3% relative to 9M08 (excl. Slavneft) largely due to incremental greenfield production from Uvat and Kamennoye fields in West Siberia, the Verkhnechonskoye oil field in East Siberia as well as sustainable growth in Orenburg in the Volga-Urals region.
• By the end of August, the Uvat development had yielded over 1 million tonnes of crude from the first six months of operations.
• In July, TNK-BP completed the divestment of its oil field services business to Weatherford International Ltd; generating a profit of $204 mln in the third quarter.
• TNK-BP and Gazpromneft completed the split of Russian retail assets of the oil company Slavneft which the two companies jointly own, the result of which was that TNK-BP acquired control of 88 service stations and 12 oil depots in the Yaroslavl, Kostroma and Ivanovo regions.
• Turnarounds in the Nizhnevartovsk refinery (NNPO) and Krasnoleninsk refinery (KNPZ) were successfully completed on time and without incidents.
• In August, the company started to trade through the oil products exchange in St Petersburg and the range of products sold was extended to include diesel, gasoline of different grades and jet fuel; by the end of September, the volume sold through the exchange had exceeded 45,000 tonnes.
• TNK-BP for the first time reported data on greenhouse gas emissions showing consistent reduction in annual volumes (2008 emissions volume is 18% lower than in 2007). The company applied a proprietary method of greenhouse gas emissions evaluation based on recommendations made by the IPIECA (the International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association) and the API (American Petroleum Instritute).
• The company achieved important milestones in occupational safety — 15 million man-hours of operations at the LINIK refinery (Lisichansk, Ukraine) and 10 million man-hours of operations at the Ryazan refinery (RNPK) without lost time injuries.
Jonathan Muir, Chief Financial Officer of TNK-BP, said: “This represents a very strong set of results. While the overall environment remained strong, the major growth quarter on quarter was due to volume growth and performance improvements which continued to contribute to stronger earnings further boosted by the sale of our OFS business”.
3Q 2009 financial highlights
• Revenues for 3Q increased 26% quarter-on-quarter driven by a 17% increase in average Urals prices, higher crude production and additional sales of oil products.
• Export duties and other taxes increased by 43% quarter-on-quarter with a 48% increase from the price effect on export duties and MET, partly offset by the effect of lower export sales as a result of channel optimisation.
• EBITDA for 3Q amounted to $2.8bn, a 20% (+$464m) improvement on 2Q; the benefit from higher prices was offset by a lower positive duty lag and the effects of forex, with improvements from volume growth, performance optimization initiatives and the gain from sale of TNK-BP’s oil field services business.
• Net Income for 3Q amounted to $1.7bn, a 34% (+$424m) improvement on 2Q due to the effects of the EBITDA benefits and the effect of fixed costs.
9 months 2009 financial highlights
• Revenues for 9M09 decreased by 44% relative to 9M08 with a 48% fall in average Urals prices partly offset by a 3% growth in production volumes.
• Export duties and other taxes fell by 56% for 9M09 relative to 9M08 largely due to the fall in Urals price, with a further benefit from changes in tax legislation offset by higher sales volumes and lower export duty lag.
• Cash costs (operating expenses, transportation and SG&A) decreased by 19% reflecting reductions from cost management initiatives and the benefit of a weaker ruble.
• EBITDA for 9M09 amounted to $6.7bn which is 39% lower compared to the same period in 2008 largely due to the combined effect of revenue, tax and cost reductions partly offset by the gain on divestment of the oil field services business.
• Income Tax has fallen by 55% in 9M09 due to the fall in pre-tax profits as well as the benefit from changes in tax legislation in 2009.
• Net Income for 9M09 amounted to $3.7bn which is 44% lower compared to the previous period in 2008 due to the decrease in EBITDA and the dilution effect of dd&a charges.
• Cash from operations of $4.6bn remained strong despite the volatile trading environment.
• Net debt was reduced by $1.2bn in 9M09 resulting in gearing falling to 24%.
• Organic capital investment amounted to $2.1bn, aimed at focused development of both Greenfields and Brownfields.
The financial information shown in the press release relates to TNK-BP International Ltd. This information does not constitute Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements. The Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements will be published in early November 2009.
Notes to editors:
TNK-BP is Russia’s third largest oil company, 50% owned by BP and 50% owned by the AAR Consortium (Alfa Group, Access Industries and Renova). TNK-BP also owns close to 50% of another Russian oil and gas company, Slavneft. TNK-BP accounts for approximately 16% of Russia’s production (including its share of Slavneft). SEC proved reserves (life of field basis) were 8.1 billion boe as of December 31, 2008. The company’s upstream operations are located in West and East Siberia and the Volga-Urals region. TNK-BP owns and operates five refineries in Russia and Ukraine, and retails through a network of 1,400 service stations working under the BP and TNK brands.
For further information please contact:
Marina Dracheva: TNK-BP International Media — telephone +7 (495) 363-65-80
Nikolai Gorelov: TNK-BP Russian Media — telephone +7 (495) 363-27-57.
SmallCapsNews.co.uk: Matra Petroleum kicks off drilling at A-13 well in Russia
27 October 2009
Russian focused oil and gas group Matra Petroleum has begun drilling operations on the A-13 well on the Arkhangelovskoe License in Orenburg, Russia.
The well is the first appraisal of the Sokolovskoe Field discovered by Matra's A-12 well in 2007, and will be drilled to an up-dip location, testing the crest of the structure. The well will be drilled to 3,850m, taking approximately 120 days in total and costing $4.5 million.
Matra's managing director, Peter Hind said: “We are pleased to have started well A-13, which is a very significant well for us. We expect to have results early in the New Year.”
Upstreamonline: Matra takes another look in Russia
By Upstream staff
London listed Matra Petroleum commenced drilling yesterday on the first appraisal well in the Sokolovskoe field.
London listed Matra Petroleum commenced drilling yesterday on the first appraisal well in the Sokolovskoe field.
Matra has chartered an Uralmash-4E electric rig to drill the A-13 well.
The appraisal well will take about 120 days to drill to a planned well depth of 3850 metres. The drilling cost is estimated at $4.5 million.
The Sokolovskoe field is located in the Arkhangelovskoe License of Orenburg, Russia.
Tuesday, 27 October, 2009, 08:10 GMT | last updated: Tuesday, 27 October, 2009, 08:13 GMT
TNK-: Battle Floor
October 26, 2009, Monday
The government is going to build up exchange trade of oil products, to which oil companies show no great interest so far. A meeting was held late last week dedicated to exchange trade development, which was headed by Vice President Igor Sechin and participated by representatives of Russian oil companies and oil authorities. A source familiar with the results of this meeting said to Vremya Novostei that oil companies are ready to substantially increase the volume of their sales at alternative trading marketplaces if the government manages to attract major customers there.
The meeting was held at TNK-BP, said a source of Vremya Novostei in oil circles. The choice of the meeting venue was not random as TNK-BP was acknowledged by the government as the most active seller of oil products at exchange trade floors. The company is going to sell 15% of its fuel at trading marketplaces.
Vremya Novostei was told that the meeting was participated by Igor Sechin, Vice President of the Russian Federation; Anatoly Golomolzin, Deputy Head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service; Vladimir Milovidov, Head of the Federal Service for Financial Markets; Stanislav Svetlitsky, Deputy Minister of Energy; representatives of Lukoil, Gazprom Neft, Rosneft, TNK-BP, and Surgutneftegaz; and Sergey Maslov, President of the Saint Petersburg Commodity Exchange. In conclusion, Mr. Sechin recommended that the relevant ministries and agencies should “consider increasing the volume of oil products sales at exchange trading marketplaces.”
The idea of establishing a dedicated oil and gas exchange originated in the government in 2006. Two years later, the government decided to open a trading floor in Saint Petersburg and start trading oil products only. The Saint Petersburg commodity exchange was founded by governmental and near-governmental structures – Transneft, Transnefteproduct, Rosneft, Gazprom Neft, Zarubezhneft, and Surgutneftegaz together with Sovkomflot, Russian Railways, Bank for Foreign Trade, Sberbank, and Gazpromnabk. The first exchange deals were conducted at this commodity exchange a year ago.
Oil companies have long been saying that they are ready to build up their sales at the commodity exchange if the number of players in it is adequate, but so far the demand does not match the supply. In early September, TNK-BP proposed three lots of oil products but sold only two of them. Other oil companies are facing similar problems, said the source. “For this reason, participation of governmental structures in exchange trade could considerably enhance the interest to the trading floor,” noted the source of Vremya Novostei. The Vice President ordered to develop a regulatory framework for participation of major customers, such as the Ministry of Defense and Russian Railways, in exchange trade and reduce the excise tax on oil products for attracting oil companies to exchange trading.
Apart from that, Mr. Sechin requested to reach a compromise for the most controversial issue – correct price formula for estimating the market price of oil products. Earlier, the Federal Antimonopoly Service proposed several versions which did not suit oil companies. “A mechanism for formation of objective market prices of oil products based on a number of indicators for the internal market” must be worked out by November 30, said the source and noted than the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade is now involved into development of an optimal price formula.
Oil companies are ready to increase their sales of oil products at commodity exchanges, which was confirmed by Rosneft and Lukoil. Reorientation of sales to trading floors will help oil companies get rig of endless conflicts with the Federal Antimonopoly Service, which claims that oil products are overpriced and imposes multi-billion fines on oil companies. Despite the fact that the claims of the Federal Antimonopoly Service are often declined at the court, the claims still have a negative impact on the image of oil companies. “We are tired of constantly fighting with the Federal Antimonopoly Service. If serious players come to exchange trading floors, we will have good reasons for trading there,” said a representative of one of the oil companies to Vremya Novostei.
Source: Vremya Novostei
The Moscow Times: Shmatko Wants Siberian Oil Duties Lifted for 5 to 7 Years
27 October 2009
Bloomberg
Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said Monday that oil companies in remote regions might need exemptions from export duty for more than five years in order to make producing from the areas profitable.
Crude producers in eastern Siberia will need a break from the duty for a “minimum of five to seven years,” Shmatko said.
The government has proposed granting an exemption for an unspecified period for 13 deposits in eastern and northern Siberia, including developments run by Rosneft and TNK-BP. The country has pledged breaks to encourage development of largely untapped eastern Siberian fields as it opens up new pipelines to Asia.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed an order in July to exempt the 13 fields. The order applies to such fields as Rosneft’s Vankor, which started output this year and is expected to pump 220,000 barrels per day by the end of 2009.
“Seven years at current oil prices might not cut it if we have low oil prices,” said Shirvani Abdullayev, an analyst at Alfa Bank. “The real issue is that the government shouldn’t be managing returns for oil companies.”
Abdullayev said the tax structure, especially confusion on the length of the exemption, may hurt investments. “This creates an additional level of uncertainty in terms of government action and makes it difficult for oil companies to make proper economic and investment decisions,” he said
The Georgian Times: Russia Throws Down the Gauntlet Over Pipeline Projects
The race between Russia and the European Union over energy pipeline corridors has become a little more intense after a series of recent events in Turkey.
Months of delays in negotiations between Turkey and Azerbaijan over Turkey’s price for transmitting gas to Europe through the Nabucco gas pipeline and the Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy gas pipeline have culminated in a row between Baku and Ankara. This seemed to coincide with the recent rapprochement between Azerbaijan’s ally Turkey, and its enemy Armenia. As Turkish-Armenian rapprochement began to appear inevitable, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan arranged a deal with Moscow during a Commonwealth of Independent States meeting in which he would direct the sale of 500 million cubic metres of gas from the newly tapped Shah Deniz Phase 2 gas field reservoir (a large deposit located below the Shah Deniz Phase 1 reservoir off Azerbaijan in the southern Caspian Sea) in 2010, and threatened to extend this deal into a permanent supply agreement. This would divert gas from the South Caucasus gas pipeline (which supplies gas to Georgia) and bypass Turkey.
A week later, after the signing of the Ankara-Yerevan rapprochement, President Aliyev announced on Azerbaijani national television that he would no longer subsidise gas sold to Turkey, issuing further threats against Western efforts to use the Turkish pipeline to deliver gas to Europe. Negotiations have been quietly proceeding since then to restore Azerbaijan’s confidence in Turkey as a transportation corridor partner.
Then last week Russia, in a race to push through the Gazprom-Eni backed South Stream gas pipeline before the EU’s Southern Corridor can be constructed jumped a major hurdle when Turkish Economy Minister Taner Yildiz announced on Tuesday that his Government will permit the Russian-Italian project to lay pipes within Turkish territorial waters. This will allow South Stream to bypass territorial waters controlled by Ukraine.
These events have brought the race between the Southern Corridor and South Stream to the forefront of international attention, and moved Russia into a neck-and-neck chase with the Europeans, in which it may be even a bit ahead, in the race to build the first pipeline.
Europe’s Entry: The Southern Corridor
The Southern Corridor is Europe’s latest effort to diversify its energy sources and move beyond dependence on Russia. To be implemented by the Caspian Development Corporation (CDC), a body devised last November to serve as a “one-stop shop” for the transport of gas from the Caspian Sea and Central Asia to Europe, the Southern Corridor concept will involve using the existing South Caucasus gas pipeline, the Nabucco gas pipeline connecting Turkey and Austria, the Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy gas pipeline, the proposed White Stream project connecting Georgia, Ukraine and Romania and the Trans-Adriatic gas pipeline connecting Romania and northern Italy to deliver gas to Europe along three corridors (Turkey-Austria, Turkey-Italy and Georgia-Romania-Italy).
Southern Corridor diversifies Europe’s energy providers from the east. Since the West-Siberian gas pipeline was extended to Western Europe in the 1980s, Russia has dominated the European energy market. Today, the European Union receives 50 percent of its gas and 30 percent of its oil supplies through the Russian pipelines.
Tapping Caspian Sea oil and gas resources was seen as the best remedy to reduce Russian control of Europe’s energy market. In 1994 the BP Company (formerly British Petroleum) led a consortium of 10 oil firms in forming the Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC – likely a play on BP’s original name: the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company). The new AIOC began developing the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) oil fields in the central Caspian Sea. Similarly, BP worked with a smaller group of companies in a joint venture to develop the Shah Deniz offshore gas field farther south.
Today, Caspian oil runs through Georgia and Turkey in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline (the second largest oil pipeline in the world after the Druzhba), and its gas goes through the South Caucasus pipeline (which follows the same route as far west as Erzurum). In the future, it is planned to send Caspian gas from eastern Turkey through the Southern Corridor pipelines. The most well-known component of the Corridor is the proposed pipeline from Turkey to Austria to be built by Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH (named after a Giuseppe Verdi opera), a consortium led by Austria’s OMV energy firm. This pipeline would supply southeastern Europe and connect Caspian gas with Western European energy markets.
Russia’s Entry: South Stream
Russia is racing in with a pipeline of its own to supply gas to southeastern Europe and ensure an equally reliable connection with Western Europe. With its South Stream, and corresponding Nord Stream, gas pipelines Moscow plans to eliminate its own reliance on its Western neighbours.
Russia began facing difficulties transmitting gas to the West when newly independent Ukraine diverted it from pipelines passing through its territories. Russia attempted to halt gas supplies to Kiev several times for its alleged failure to pay for what it had overtly imported, but each time the Ukrainians simply diverted gas from the pipelines going to Europe to make up the shortfall.
Following the 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine and after a 2007 dispute over Transneft’s attempt to normalise the price of oil sold to Belarus, Russia’s quest for another option became even more urgent. Gazprom selected two projects: Nord Stream, a Baltic subsea pipeline that would carry gas from St. Petersburg to Germany, and South Stream, a Black Sea subsea pipeline that would carry gas from the Krasnodar Region to Bulgaria.
The South Stream project is useful to Russia not only as a more reliable means of delivering gas to the market, but, as Russian Prime Minister Putin demonstrated this week, an effective diplomatic weapon. The Russian newspaper Kommersant stirred fears internationally on Tuesday by suggesting that the timing of the Russian-Turkish agreement meant that Bulgaria, which has elected the relatively anti-Moscow Citizens for European Development (GERB) Party under Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, would be excluded from the South Stream project for refusing to cooperate on other energy projects. In a more notable example of non-cooperation, fellow GERB Party politician and Mayor of Burgas Dimitar Novikov echoed on Greek television the unpopularity of the pipeline. “Our priorities are projects related to the development of tourism and light industry, not those which threaten the environment such as the Burgas-Alexandropoulis oil pipeline,” he said.
Putin has arranged with Turkish Economy Minister Yildiz the use of the proposed Turkish Samsun-Ceyhan pipeline, replacing the Bulgarian-Greek bypass route, but the threat to take the gas pipeline around Bulgaria has proved to be either inaccurate reporting or a bluff, at least for the time being. Still, Turkish cooperation removes a bargaining chip from Ukraine, which had earlier sought to trade its approval for the South Stream passing through Ukrainian territorial waters in return for Russian approval for Ukraine’s White Stream subsea gas pipeline to pass from the Georgian coastline through Russian territorial waters to Ukraine.
Turkish cooperation has also reportedly helped speed up the South Stream project’s timetable, so that it would be completed before the rival Nabucco pipeline. Media observers such as The Moscow Times have suggested that the threat of the speedy construction of such a bypass of the Ukraine-based West-Siberian gas pipeline might be designed to damage Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko’s chances of reelection at the beginning of 2010.
By Ben Angel
The St. Petersburg Times: South Stream Pipeline May Open Before Nord Stream
Issue #1521 (83), Tuesday, October 27, 2009
By Anatoly Medetsky
The St. Petersburg Times
MOSCOW — Russia may start gas supplies to Europe through a Black Sea pipeline before westbound deliveries will flow under the Baltic Sea, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said in a surprise announcement Thursday.
Gazprom and Italian energy company Eni have planned to complete the South Stream pipeline under the Black Sea by the end of 2014, three years after Gazprom and its other foreign partners want to start the Baltic Sea pipeline, Nord Stream.
Putin’s statement that the southern project — worth at least 19 billion euros ($28 billion) — may move ahead of schedule comes less than three months before presidential elections in Ukraine, which could end up losing its key transit role and substantial revenues because of the new pipeline.
Moscow has blamed Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko for derailing bilateral ties and has laid hopes for improvement on his replacement.
The South Stream “has a good chance of being implemented earlier than a similar project in the Baltics, Nord Stream,” Putin said in a meeting with his Italian counterpart Silvio Berlusconi in St. Petersburg.
Later in the day, the two leaders held a conference call with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in which Putin said Berlusconi was the driving force behind the project’s acceleration.
“Silvio sets a very difficult task for our companies regarding the South Stream,” Putin said. “He says the South Stream must be constructed sooner that the Nord Stream.”
Berlusconi stepped in to say, “It’s a challenge that we must accept.”
Putin continued, saying, “We can, in fact, accept it.”
A stretch of the South Stream will pass through Turkish waters — a snub to Ukraine whose waters were the alternative option — and requires Turkey’s consent. Turkey has given permission to Gazprom and Eni to start a feasibility study in the area.
Russia and Ukraine frequently haggle over gas trade, suspending transit to Europe in the process, most recently for three weeks in January.
Putin, Berlusconi and Erdogan gave no indication of exactly when South Stream, which could carry up to 63 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia to Bulgaria and on to southeastern Europe, could start operating.
Calls to Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov went unanswered Thursday afternoon. Gazprom issued a statement Thursday, saying its chief Alexei Miller met with Eni chief Paolo Scaroni earlier in the day to discuss the southern pipeline as a way to increase Europe’s energy security.
Irina Vasilyeva, a spokeswoman for Nord Stream AG, the company set up to build the Baltic pipeline, said it was on schedule to start construction next year and complete it by the end of 2011.
Alexander Nazarov, a gas analyst at Metropol, said he thought Nord Stream would start operating in 2014. There is potential to bring the South Stream on line in 2013, he said.
Even so, he said Putin’s announcement about the South Stream had more to do with the election campaign in Ukraine because it would likely stir debate there about the sour bilateral relations.
RenCap: Highlights from 7th Annual Oil & Gas Week
Highlights from 7th Annual Oil & Gas week: Gazprom neft
Renaissance Capital, Russia
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Event: Gazprom neft presented at the 7th Annual Oil & Gas week in Moscow yesterday (26 Oct). Key highlights of the presentation include:
Gazprom neft stated that its strategic priorities for 2020 remain to nearly double both its crude output (to 100mnt pa) and refining throughput (to 76mnt pa).
According to the company, with a 13% organic decline rate in its own crude output, the focus will be on M&A with most likely additions coming from Gazprom's oil assets, such as the Novoportovskoye field which will likely be transferred to Gazprom neft by the end of 2009. The terms of this transfer are yet to be agreed with Gazprom.
Currently, the company generates enough cash flow to finance existing projects only, with further acquisition opportunities requiring new sources of funding.
The company is looking to consolidate its OFS assets into a single unit, with further restructuring opportunities possible along the way.
Gazprom neft expects that the fiscal environment in Russia will be supportive of oil production in new regions.
Alexander Burgansky
Highlights from 7th Annual Oil & Gas week: Novatek
Renaissance Capital, Russia
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Event: Novatek presented at the 7th Annual Oil & Gas week in Moscow yesterday (26 Oct). Key highlights of the presentation include:
Novatek remains a low cost producer when compared to its global peers, with high reserve replacement rates (over a 150% average for the past three years) and low reserve replacement costs ($2.22/boe for the same period). It is also differentiated by high production flow rates, yet low levels of capital intensity.
The company's development plan is on schedule with Phase 2/stage 2 of the Yurkharovskoye field development launched in Oct 2009. The Yurkharovskoye field will remain the key focus for the firm, in which 85% of all expenditures are concentrated. The company is on track to build a 320km pipeline from the Yurkharovskoye field, connecting it with the Purovsky gas processing plant. The pipeline is expected to be completed by Apr 2010, leading to the ramp up in production from June 2010.
The company continues to diversify sales destinations for its stable gas condensate exports (currently, 85% are sales to North America). 2Q09 saw the first two tankers deliveries to China, with other destinations including Brazil and South Korea.
The South Tambeyskoe field will represent significant growth in the future. To date, 55 exploration wells have been drilled and 1,160 km2 of 3D seismic data have been acquired. Novatek believes this field could be used for both pipeline gas and LNG.
Alexander Burgansky
Highlights from 7th Annual Oil & Gas week: Regal Petroleum
Renaissance Capital, Russia
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Event: Regal Petroleum presented at the 7th Annual Oil & Gas week in Moscow yesterday (26 Oct). Key highlights of the presentation include:
The company still targets plateau production of about 40k boepd by 2017 with 95-well drilling programmes Regal Petroleum is bullish on the Ukrainian gas market, with rising domestic gas tariffs and stable fiscal regime. Moreover, one of the conditions of the recent IMF loan is that gas purchases are done on the same terms as other European countries It is assessing M& A opportunities in Ukraine, both in upstream and gas processing areas Regal holds $150mn in cash that allows it to proceed with its development programme to become cash flow positive by 2011 Production is expected to increase to 3.0k boepd after well SV-58 is put in operation (the current production level is 1.6k boepd). This implies SV-58 flow at 233mcm/d, well above the 50mcm/d recently reported for MEX-106 well The updated report on reserves estimates is being prepared and will be published after the potential of D- and T-sands is assessed Alexander Burgansky
Highlights from 7th Annual Oil & Gas week: TNK-BP Ltd
Renaissance Capital, Russia
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Event: TNK-BP Ltd., the parent company of listed TNK-BP Holding, presented at the 7th Annual Oil & Gas week in Moscow yesterday (26 Oct). Key highlights of the presentation include:
TNK-BP consistently ranks at the top of the Russian oil industry on capital efficiency metrics.
A brownfield renaissance in Russia continues with the application of enhanced recovery methods, leading to higher recovery rates and higher LfL oil production.
Brownfield projects with current capital expenditure profile will remain marginally profitable under a $60/bbl scenario, which is the company's long-term oil price assumption.
The company's gas assets (Rospan and Kovykta, in particular) could unlock significant value in the future but this is subject to negotiations with Gazprom. Overall, gas is set to become a priority, likely contributing 20% to total EBITDA by 2013.
The company's significant resource base offers plenty of growth opportunities in Russia, while the high cost of capital offering limited expansion opportunities outside Russia.
Downstream remains a priority given its high profitability in Russia.
TNK-BP is opening up its dialogue with the equity market and may consider an IPO as part of its future funding strategy. It is most likely that the parent company will be floated, which may require an exit option to be offered to minority shareholders of the currently listed entity, TNK-BP Holding.
Alexander Burgansky
Highlights from 7th Annual Oil & Gas week: Gazprom
Renaissance Capital, Russia
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Event: Gazprom presented at the 7th Annual Oil & Gas week in Moscow yesterday (26 Oct). While no new material information was provided, the company has reconfirmed its overall strategic priorities and existing targets. Key highlights of the presentation include:
Gazprom's long-term planning is based on a $45/bbl oil price and scenario analysis It expects global gas demand to grow over the long term as better standards of living and ecological advantages take priorities Gazprom's Russian sales currently amount to over 50% of its production. The company's key priority here is to maintain the current volumes while increasing its profitability In Europe, the company targets to maintain its current market share China is being viewed as a significant growth opportunity in the future; Gazprom expects that future sales contracts will be based on an oil price link, similar to its European contracts Gazprom targets 620bcm of annual gas output in 2020, but is conscious not to overinvest in capacity growth. It expects that annual capex will need to be maintained at about RUB600-700bn pa until 2020 to achieve this target The company is not planning to renegotiate its existing long-term supply contracts with European or domestic customers in the wake of lower demand this year, and expects sales volumes will recover to pre-crisis levels by 2012-13 Alexander Burgansky
Highlights from 7th Annual Oil & Gas week: Surgutneftegas
Renaissance Capital, Russia
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Event: Surgutneftegas (SNGS) presented at the 7th Annual Oil & Gas week in Moscow yesterday (26 Oct). Key highlights of the presentation include:
SNGS is concerned with the general natural rate of decline of oil production in the industry. It views the latest growth reports as having a short-term effect, which is not sustainable without broad tax incentives from the government and heavy investments by oil companies.
The company expects its oil production to stop falling from 2011-2012, and start rising again in 2013-2014 at a rate of 0.5-1% per year.
A zero MET rate and tax holidays for crude export duty produced in Eastern Siberia and Timan-Pechora allow the company to reach IRR of 14-15% (without the tax breaks IRR would be significantly lower). The tax holidays on export duty to last three to five years, and an official announcement is to be made in November.
Other fields in East Siberia to be launched soon include Alinskoye (2009), Vostochno-Talakanskoye (2012), Vostochno-Alinskoye (2013), Severo-Talakanskoye (2014) and Stanakhskoye (2015) with aggregate crude output reaching 5mnt pa in 2014.
Surgutneftegas's refining cover currently is 30%, which it aims to raise to 50% through a Kirishi upgrade and M&A opportunitites. Phase 1 of the Kirishi upgrade will cost $2bn, leading to the increase in conversion rate to 75%, and Nelson complexity index set to rise to 5.5 from 4.0.
The company plans to keep its dividend payout ratio at 20-25%.
Alexander Burgansky
Highlights from 7th Annual Oil & Gas week: Rosneft
Renaissance Capital, Russia
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Event: Rosneft presented at the 7th Annual Oil & Gas week in Moscow yesterday (26 Oct). No new material information was provided, with the company's presentation focusing mainly on its new upstream projects and financial position. Key highlights of the presentation include:
Vankor field will add 5% to the company's crude production in 2H09; Rosneft's production ex-Vankor is flat currently Vankor's production currently is approximately 150k bpd, this will move towards 220k bpd by the end of 2009 and will stay at this level for 2010 Total Vankor investments are planned at $12bn, which will allow it to recover about 3bn bbls of crude over the project's lifetime The Yurubcheno-Tokhomskoye field with 2.3bn of C1+C2 recoverable reserves is the next major project in East Siberia, but the development programme and capex assessment are still at an early stage The recent $15bn Chinese loan has transformed the credit profile of Rosneft, offering it unprecedented financial flexibility $5.9bn of the Chinese loan has already been received by 31 Aug 2009; a further $4.1bn is available before year-end Rosneft plans to spend $7bn on downstream projects over the next five years, which will result in the increase in the Nelson complexity index of its refineries from 4.0 to 7.5 Alexander Burgansky
Highlights from 7th Annual Oil & Gas week: CATOil
Renaissance Capital, Russia
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Event: CATOil presented at the 7th Annual Oil & Gas week in Moscow yesterday (26 Oct). Key highlights of the presentation include:
CATOil has successfully increased its market share in the hydraulic fracturing (HF) segment from 22% in 2005 to 26% in 2008 and is bullish on long-term demand. It expects 'hard to recover' reserves to reach 70% of total reserves in 2010 (vs a 50% share in 2003).
CATOil has increased its market share in sidetrack drilling even more dramatically from 5% in 2005 to 18% in 2008, competing mostly against small domestic players and Schlumberger. It has increased its rig fleet from two in 2005 to 15 in 2009.
The company is focusing on organic growth through the development of strategic partnerships (Gazprom neft, Russneft) and long-term contracts (TNK-BP, Russneft); targeting new regions (East Siberia, Central Asia); and diversification of product offerings.
Rosneft and TNK-BP are CATOil's key customers (accounting for almost 70% of turnover in 2008), followed by LUKOIL (10%) and Gazprom (8%).
The company's outlook for 2H09 and 2010 has substantially improved recently, although final negotiations are yet to commence.
Pricing in the HF segment is expected to remain flat in 2010, while sidetracks pricing will increase, according to CATOil.
Alexander Burgansky
Gazprom
RBC: Gazprom's board of directors to review price policy on gas
RBC, 27.10.2009, Moscow 10:38:30.Gazprom's board of directors is expected to discuss the price policy for gas and oil products for Russian consumers in the near future. The meeting's agenda also includes a review of the product risks monitoring system, an analysis of the legal terms of protection of Gazprom's interests in gas exports under existing agreements, and proposals on the further improvement of these terms.
The company's board of directors will also discuss Gazprom's readiness to satisfy customer demand for gas during the peak months - at the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010. Another item on the agenda is the progress of the construction of Olympic facilities, to which Gazprom is a party, and the implementation of the South Stream gas pipeline project.
26.10.2009
Oil and Gas Eurasia: Gazprom welcomes prospect of resuming gas purchases from Turkmenistan
Gazprom (RTS: GAZP) welcomes the
prospect for a resumption of natural gas imports from Turkmenistan,
Deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev said on Monday at the Fourth International
Energy Week event.
"We are conducting productive talks with our partners from
Turkmenistan and welcome the prospect of resumed gas exports to Russia
in the near future," he said.
An explosion on the Central Asia-Center pipeline in Turkmenistan
halted gas supplies to Russia in April. Turkmenistan blamed the blast on
Russia, claiming it had not notified Turkmen pipeline personnel that it
would dramatically reduce the amount of gas it took from the pipeline,
creating an overpressure on the Turkmen side. The pipeline was later
repaired, but gas exports have not resumed.
The price Russia paid for Turkmen gas had risen to European levels
effective from the beginning of the year. However, Gazprom officials
said there was little demand for the higher priced Turkmen gas,
prompting Gazprom to propose that Ashgabat either lower the price of
delivery volumes.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Turkmenistan in
September produced a political agreement to resume the gas deliveries
and Gazprom is currently translating that agreement into a commercial
contract.
- Copyright 2009, Interfax. All rights reserved.
Warsaw Business Journal: Gazprom and PGNiG to squeeze Gudzowaty out of EuRoPol
27th October 2009
According to unofficial information, the directors of Gazprom and Polish Oil and Gas (PGNiG) agreed that these two companies will be the only shareholders of EuRoPol Gaz, which is responsible for the Polish section of the Yamal pipeline transporting Russian gas to Germany.
This means that they will try to purchase a 4 percent stake from Gas Trading in EuRoPol Gaz. This is bad news for Aleksander Gudzowaty who opposes this concept as his company, Bartimpex, co-owns Gas Trading.
If, as announced earlier, Mr Gudzowaty tries to block the transaction, the whole issue might end up in court.
The meeting between PGNiG and Gazprom directors – which might conclude negotiations which began in the spring – is scheduled for Wednesday in Moscow.
The deputy president of Gazprom, Aleksandr Miedwiediew, and PGNiG president, Maciej Szubski, assure shareholders that it is possible the companies reach a compromise.
If talks are successful, there should be no problems with gas supplies to Poland in the winters of 2009 and 2010.
At present both parties have agreed that the contract should be a long-term one.
Sources: Rzeczpospolita; Puls Biznesu
Market Watch: Gazprom Neft cut to neutral at Goldman Sachs
Oct. 27, 2009, 4:16 a.m. EDT
By Polya Lesova
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- Russian oil and gas producer Gazprom Neft /quotes/comstock/11i!gzpfy (GZPF.Y 26.53, -0.98, -3.56%) was downgraded Tuesday to neutral from buy at Goldman Sachs, which cited its recent strong share price performance. "We believe that Gazprom Neft's attractive exposure to the Russian downstream sector, a key driver of its superior (vs. peers) gearing to oil price growth is now fairly priced in," Goldman analysts wrote in a note to clients. Since June 5, Gazprom Neft's stock price has risen 54%.
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