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Basic Political Developments
• BBC: Will sanctions against Iran hit Russian firms? - The volume of trade between Iran and Russia now stands at about $3bn (£2bn) a year, almost 10 times less than between Iran and China, says Vladimir Sazhin, a senior fellow at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
• WBJ: No evidence of malfunction, explosion at Smolensk, Tusk says
• EU Observer: Russia and Poland continue cautious rapprochement - Reacting on Wednesday (28 April) to statements by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev about the potential full disclosure of the Katyn archive, Mr Tusk said: "These words are another [positive] sign and they have to be treated with good will, but I prefer to wait for facts, not words, because without, dear God, wanting to seem impatient, I think that after the Smolensk tragedy, words are not enough."
• Reuters: China, Russia discuss settling trade in yuan, rouble - China's central bank said on Thursday that it had discussed denominating bilateral trade with Russia in their respective currencies. The People's Bank of China said in a statement on its website the discussion on settling trade in yuan and rouble had been part of broader talks on how to advance financial cooperation between the two giant neighbours.
• RIA: China's Hu Jintao first Chinese visitor to Russian pavilion at Expo 2010
• RIA: Russia, Canada to boost cooperation in energy, agricultural spheres - Russia has handed over a range of proposals on cooperation in the energy sphere to Canada, Russia's first deputy premier Viktor Zubkov said after finishing his working visit to the North American state.
• Itar-Tass: Investment, new technologies priorities for RF, Canada – Zubkov
• Russia Today: Russian PM pursuing country’s interests in Arctic - The Arctic regions are of top interest to Russia, according to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who has been visiting the Franz-Joseph Land archipelago in Russia's northern extremities.
• RIA: Arctic needs 'major cleaning' – Putin: 40,000 to 60,000 tons and called for a "major cleaning" of the Arctic, which, he said, has a strategic importance for Russia.
• Russia Today: Russia to clean Arctic from poisonous Soviet heritage
• Straits Times: Putin fears for polar bears - 'The polar bear is under threat. Their population is currently only 25,000 individuals,' Mr Putin was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying after a recent trip to an island in the Arctic Ocean.
• RIA: France's EDF to sign deal in St. Petersburg to join South Stream project - French energy producer EDF will sign an agreement to join the South Stream gas pipeline project with Russia's energy giant Gazprom and Italy's Eni during the International Economic Forum due in Russia's second city of St. Petersburg on June 17-19, Gazprom has said.
• RUVR: Russia, U.S. discuss adoption treaty
• Russia Today: US and Russia to discuss ways to lift adoption freeze - The American delegation is headed by Michael Kirby, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the US State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs. Also taking part are specialists in the matters of immigration and citizenship from the Department of Homeland Security.The Russian party is represented by officials from the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Education, as well as Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights Pavel Astakhov.
• RIA: Lavrov to defend European security treaty at PACE session
• Itar-Tass: Lavrov to present Moscow's new security architecture vision at PACE
• Russia Today: Russian FM to discuss continental security at Council of Europe
• Itar-Tass: PACE calls for not politicizing 1930 famine in Soviet Union
• RFE/RL: Russian Firm Denies 'Club-K' Missiles Could Be Used By Terrorists - A new cruise-missile system being marketed by a Russian firm is attracting attention as a weapon that, according to its own promotional video, could transform ordinary civilian freight vehicles into long-range missile launchers.
• EurasiaNet: AZERBAIJAN, ARMENIA, RUSSIA USING FAITH TO FIND KARABAKH PEACE
• RIA: Vladivostok should develop a hotel chain, said Shuvalov
• Regnum: Mamsurov remains for another five years head of North Ossetia
• Lenta.ru: The Parliament of South Ossetia seeks 13 MPs dissatisfied with the premier
• Expert Club: Brovtsev fled from Tskhinvali
• Expert Club: Russia may abolish Abkhazian "army"
• Jamestown: Medvedev’s Military Modernization Program Faces Crisis
• RFE/RL: Moscow Officials Approve 'Day Of Wrath' Protest - Sergei Udaltsov, the coordinator for the Left Front movement, told RFE/RL that the action will be held on Moscow's central Tverskoi Boulevard on May 1.
• AP: Russian court bans neo-Nazi group - The ban is part of a Kremlin crackdown on far-right groups that intensified after the January 2009 slaying of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasiya Baburova. Two activists of another ultranationalist organization, Russian Image, were charged.
• Moscow Times: Police Offer Reporters 'Safety Cards' - Moscow police have begun accepting applications from media outlets for "safety cards" intended to afford reporters additional security when covering the city's sometimes rowdy political rallies.
• Bloomberg: Russia Requests U.S. Documents on Daimler Bribery Probe
• Moscow Times: Chaika Says Crime and Corruption Are Increasing
• RBC: In Ingushetia, militants detained that organized the attack in Karabulak
• ABNA.ir: Islamic Radio to be Set Up in Ingushetia
• Rosbalt: Kadyrov: "Memorial" is funded by the West
• Interfax: One metro suicide bomber could have been stopped on way to Moscow – official
• Interfax: Investigation identifies all people responsible for Moscow Metro bombings
• Jamestown: Transfer of Suspected Militants to Moscow Points to Poor Intelligence on Insurgents - On April 27, the Kavkazsky Uzel (Caucasian Knot) website reported that suspected militants from Ingushetia were now being tortured at Lefortovo, one of the Moscow’s top security prisons. The website indicated that as many as ten suspected militants had been transferred to the FSB headquarters in Moscow.
• Georgian Daily: Russian Journalist Puts on a Hijab to Test Muscovites’ Reactions
• Russia-IC: 25 millions rubles for reconstruction of the Pscov Kremlin
• Georgian Daily: Moscow Refusing to Recognize Domestic Sources of Circassian Anger, Markedonov Says
• Moscow Times: Today in Vedomosti
o Tomsk to Elect Police Inspectors
• Russia Today: 29 April, 2010 in Russian Newspapers
o Izvestiya: Don’t be in a hurry to say goodbye to the euro
o Rossiykaya Gazeta: A club of the chosen ones - Our new missile complex frightened Western experts
o Vedomosti: Stalin is no longer relevant - Moscow Mayor’s Office decided against placing posters of Joseph Stalin along the city streets on Victory Day. The decision was most likely influenced by the Kremlin.
National Economic Trends
• Bloomberg; Russia Cuts Rate as Easing Cycle Draws to End, Inflation Looms
• Reuters: Russian rouble edges up as oil prices stay firm
• Fitch: Evolving Russian Subnational Framework Remains a Rating Constraint
• Alfa: Government proposes reducing amount of tax-deductable interest on corporate foreign debt
• Moscow Times: Quarterly GDP Gains Slow
• Reuters: Russian bank balances fall to 469.2 bln rbls
• Alfa: April inflation may decline to 0.4-0.5%
Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions
• Reuters: Russian markets -- Factors to Watch on April 29
• Interfax: Kuzbass Fuel Co cuts IPO price range, offering – sources
• Reuters: BRIEF-Russia Polymetal 2009 net profit $95.99 mln
• Reuters: Russia's Norilsk Nickel boosts Q1 metals output
• Reuters: Investors buy U.S. steel facilities from Severstal
• Reuters: Russia's air carrier Utair put up for sale-report
• Interfax: Inter RAO boosts Q1 earnings more than 20-fold to 725.6 mln rubles
• Reuters: Russia's Pharmstandard 2009 profit nearly doubles
• Moscow Times: Hewlett-Packard Launches Computer Assembly Line
• Product Placement: Russia cracks down on product placement
• News.az: Azerbaijani businessmen revamp landmark Moscow hotel
• Emerging Markets: EXCLUSIVE: Tatiana Orlova quits as ING’s senior economist for Russia
• Israel Diamond: World Diamond Congress to Take Place July 11-13 in Moscow
Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)
• Itar-Tass: Putin decrees higher oil export duties as of May 1
• RBC: Ukraine to pay decreased gas price in Q2
• Ukrainian Journal: Russian energy minister expresses interest in retail gas market
• Oil and Gas Eurasia: TNK-BP Looks to Russian Oil Field Manufacturers To Replace Imports
• Oil and Gas Eurasia: TNK-BP To Supply Russian Defense Ministry With Jet Fuel
• RBC: Rosneftegaz may use Gazprom, Rosneft's dividend to pay for stake in Kovykta
• VTB Capital: TNK-BP might sell its stake in Kovykta field to Rosneftegaz
• Trading Markets: AFK Sistema acquires 49% stake in RussNeft
• Georgian Daily: Russia Studies Tax Breaks in Caspian as Lukoil Pumps First Oil
Gazprom
• Reuters: BRIEF-Gazprom - 2009 profit beats forecast
• Alfa: Gazprombank values 51% of Sibneftegaz at $1 bln; share swap for Novatek looking more realistic
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Full Text Articles
Basic Political Developments
Page last updated at 22:56 GMT, Wednesday, 28 April 2010 23:56 UK
BBC: Will sanctions against Iran hit Russian firms?
By Konstantin Rozhnov Business reporter, BBC News
Further UN Security Council sanctions against Tehran have yet to materialise, but a number of international companies have already been pulling out of Iran.
While some firms are reluctant to risk investing in a country with uncertain perspectives, others also have to take into consideration their own interests in other parts of the world, as well as their national government's stance on Iran.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev seemed to confirm that the Kremlin was ready to support new sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear plans.
"As of yet, Iran is not demonstrating the required restraint and is behaving quite irresponsibly," he said in an interview with Danish television earlier this week.
"Of course, sanctions are a bad thing, because they rarely produce results. But when all other means have been exhausted, why not?"
An adviser to the European Union, Mehrdad Emadi, believes that it is not in Russia's interest to be in direct conflict with the EU and the US over the issue of Iran.
"If the US and EU agree on sanctions [against Iran], what cost will Russia be ready to pay?"
Far behind China
The volume of trade between Iran and Russia now stands at about $3bn (£2bn) a year, almost 10 times less than between Iran and China, says Vladimir Sazhin, a senior fellow at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
India, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and some other countries are also ahead of Russia, according to statistics.
Mr Sazhin says that historically, Iran has favoured Western rather than Russian technologies.
"Technology supplies from Germany to Iran account for 80% of the volume of trade between the two countries," he says.
Also, oil, an important factor in trade between Iran and many other countries, including China and Italy, is not part of Russian-Iranian relations, as both countries are among the leading oil exporters.
Russia also appears to have frozen arms sales to Iran, as it has not supplied Tehran with missile systems, despite a contract signed by the two countries several years ago.
'No action'
So opportunities for stronger Russian-Iranian business co-operation could be found mostly in joint oil, gas and nuclear projects.
However, there is an obstacle here, because, as Christopher Granville, managing director at Trusted Sources, an emerging markets research service, points out, "Iran has an extremely closed economy, even without sanctions."
Experts point out that most oil, gas, nuclear and weapon projects have been taken over by companies owned by or affiliated to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
Mr Emadi says that the Russian participation in the projects is "mostly limited to engineering output": Iranians had to agree to Russian involvement because they lacked know-how.
Experts says, however, that many of these projects exist only on paper.
"Documents were signed, but no action has been taken," says Mr Granville.
Meanwhile, the Iranian petrochemical industry desperately needs foreign money.
Although it is the world's fifth largest exporter of crude oil, Iran has to import up to 40% of the fuel it consumes, because it does not have enough refining capacity.
Matter of choice
Lukoil, Russia's largest private oil company, and Russian gas monopoly Gazprom have signed up to several oil and gas projects in Iran in recent years.
But since March, Lukoil has been mentioned, along with Royal Dutch Shell, Glencore, Vitol, Daimler and HSBC, as being among the firms pulling out of Iran or scaling down their activities in the country.
The company announced in March it was taking a $63m loss "for Anaran project in Iran, which was abandoned because of international sanctions".
Andrei Kuzyaev, the vice-president of Lukoil, stressed back then that the company was not "saying goodbye" to the oil project and it "does not mean that we lose the rights" to it.
Two weeks later, Lukoil declined to comment on reports that it was planning to stop supplying petrol to Iran.
The developments did not come as a surprise, as the company has 2,000 petrol stations in the US, while US firm ConocoPhillips holds about 20% of Lukoil.
"No US company is allowed to invest more than $20m in the Iranian economy, but Lukoil needed to invest hundreds of millions," said Rajab Safarov, director of the Centre for Contemporary Iranian Studies in Moscow.
Experts agree that international companies doing business both in Iran and in the US have to choose "the lesser of two evils" even before any new UN sanctions are introduced.
They need to compare the potential losses if they stay in Iran (and risk having problems in the US) and if they pull out of the country (while securing stability for their business interests in the West).
For Lukoil, it seems like an obvious choice. As Mr Emadi described Lukoil's involvement in Iran, "Russians are dipping toes in the water, but not a lot."
Replacing others
One of the main projects in which Russia is involved is building Iran's first nuclear power plant in Bushehr.
Russian and Iranian officials have said the plant should be up and running in the next several months.
Mr Granville thinks it is crucial for Russia that Bushehr is not part of any new sanctions.
In turn, Mr Emadi believes that even if Russia has to pull out of the project, it will not be a big problem in terms of money.
"Russia, so far, is not going to be in a loss position, as they have covered what they had actually spent."
He is also sure that "Russia does not want oil included in sanctions as well".
Some analysts suggest that Russian firms with little or no business interest in the US or the EU, such as Gazpromneft, might try and replace Lukoil and the Western companies leaving Iran - "to keep cards in play in Iran", as Mr Granville put it.
Experts, however, doubt that big corporations, such as Gazprom, will be able to do it.
"Large companies must operate in line with the national policy, which [now in Russia] is aimed at effective co-operation with the EU and the US, and it includes reducing support for Iran," says Mr Safarov.
Mr Sazhin agrees: "Gazprom is more free than Lukoil [to take others' places in Iran], but if new sanctions are introduced, the Russian government will not approve this approach."
Russia has made it clear that it could support sanctions against Iran if they target the Iranian regime, not its people.
It seems that the Kremlin will not have to think too hard about the business consequences for Russian companies when the final decision is due.
WBJ: No evidence of malfunction, explosion at Smolensk, Tusk says
29th April 2010
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said there are no indications of a system malfunction or an explosion aboard the Tupolev Tu-154 jetliner that crashed near Smolensk, killing President Lech Kaczyński.
Speaking for the first time about the crash investigation yesterday, Mr Tusk said much work has yet to be done to establish the facts.
"To establish even the most straightforward fact, one has to examine all the circumstances. The recordings from the black box are not enough," he said. Even establishing the time of the crash has been a problem, although the most likely time is 8:41 am.
Source: Gazeta Wyborcza
From Warsaw Business Journal
EU Observer: Russia and Poland continue cautious rapprochement
ANDREW RETTMAN
Today @ 09:30 CET
The Russia-friendly Polish leader, Donald Tusk, has encouraged Russia to declassify remaining papers about the Katyn massacre.
Reacting on Wednesday (28 April) to statements by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev about the potential full disclosure of the Katyn archive, Mr Tusk said: "These words are another [positive] sign and they have to be treated with good will, but I prefer to wait for facts, not words, because without, dear God, wanting to seem impatient, I think that after the Smolensk tragedy, words are not enough."
Mr Medvedev had earlier in the day told the press while on a visit to Denmark: "There is a series of materials, which we have not yet given [to Poland]."
Josef Stalin's secret police, the NKVD, in 1940 executed 22,000 Polish officers and intellectuals in the forests close to the town of Katyn in western Russia.
Russia in the 1990s first admitted responsibility for the massacre and declassified some documents, such as Mr Stalin's signature on a letter recommending the killings by NKVD chief Lavrentiy Beria. But it has kept secret other papers, such as a list of the identities of thousands of Poles murdered by the NKVD in Belarus, feeding mistrust. The Soviet slayings are seen on a par with the Nazi genocide by many in Poland.
Polish angst over Katyn was stirred deeply earlier this month when a tragic plane crash killed Polish president Lech Kaczynksi and 95 members of his delegation en route to a Katyn commemoration in Russia.
Mr Medvedev on Wednesday ordered the already-disclosed Katyn files to be published on the internet
, with over 2 million people quickly flocking to the website.
The internet publication was widely-covered by Russian media and will help to undermine Katyn-massacre-deniers in Russia.
"It's another important step. I doubt that the Communists will stop saying what they are saying, but their credibility will be now be much smaller," Andrei Artizov, the head of the Russian archives depository, said, Poland's Gazeta Wyborcza reports.
Poland's testy relationship with Russia has in recent years seen Warsaw veto an EU-Russia political pact and try to put off plans for a new Russia-Germany gas pipeline, with the late Lech Kaczynski and his twin brother, Jaroslaw, chief in the Russia-hostle class in the Polish establishment.
The Tusk government has over the past two years tried to normalise relations with Moscow and to come in out of the cold in terms of the EU's collective approach to its giant neighbour.
Russia's sensitive and emotional handling of the Smolensk tragedy has helped the cautious rapprochement between the two states to make further progress in recent weeks, with Mr Tusk on Wednesday also thanking Russia for its openness in the air crash probe.
"We have no reasons to say that on the Russian side there were attempts to obfuscate the investigation," he said.
Poland is to hold snap presidential elections on 20 June, with Bornislaw Komorowski, from Mr Tusk's ruling centre-right Civic Platform party, expected to trounce his main contender, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, by 60 percent to 34 percent, according to pollsters.
2010-04-29 08:27
Reuters: China, Russia discuss settling trade in yuan, rouble
BEIJING, April 29 (Reuters) - China's central bank said on Thursday that it had discussed denominating bilateral trade with Russia in their respective currencies.
The People's Bank of China said in a statement on its website the discussion on settling trade in yuan and rouble had been part of broader talks on how to advance financial cooperation between the two giant neighbours.
Chinese and Russian central bank officials met in Hangzhou, China, over the past two days.
(Reporting by Zhou Xin and Simon Rabinovitch; Editing by Ken Wills)
((simon.rabinovitch@; +86 139 0111 6692; Reuters Messaging: simon.rabinovitch.@)) Keywords: CHINA RUSSIA/TRADE (If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to news.feedback.asia@)
RIA: China's Hu Jintao first Chinese visitor to Russian pavilion at Expo 2010
09:4629/04/2010
Chinese President Hu Jintao became the first Chinese visitor to attend the Russian pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo 2010.
The Chinese leader on Thursday visited the Russian pavilion and checked out its exhibition. Then he made some notes in the honored guest book.
"Those who visit the pavilion, will see the wisdom and intelligence of the Russian people," Hu said adding that he was sure "the pavilion will have great success."
The Chinese president said Russia and China have strong and developing ties among their people. He said the concept of children that Russia chose for its exhibition theme is very important as children are the future.
Russia is constructing its Expo pavilion for the first time in 30 years, rather than renting one from the host country. The sun-shaped pavilion will comprise 12 white-and-gold towers symbolizing the 12 months, and occupy an area of 6,000 sq. m. It will showcase Russia's recent scientific and economic development, as well as offer a diverse cultural program.
The 2010 World Expo fair is to run from May 1 to October 31 under the motto "Better City - Better Life." Some 70 million visitors are expected to attend the event. The spokeswoman said leaders of all countries are invited to attend.
SHANGHAI, April 29 (RIA Novosti)
RIA: Russia, Canada to boost cooperation in energy, agricultural spheres
05:2729/04/2010
Russia has handed over a range of proposals on cooperation in the energy sphere to Canada, Russia's first deputy premier Viktor Zubkov said after finishing his working visit to the North American state.
Russia and Canada, the leading energy suppliers among the Group of Eight (G8), should develop their cooperation in the sphere, both in bilateral and multilateral formats, Zubkov said.
"Russia is interested in the realization of joint projects", he said, adding nuclear and hydroelectric energy, along with oil production, were among the most promising spheres of cooperation.
"In a practical sense, we are talking about joint engineering, construction and exploitation of energy facilities producing renewable energy," the Russian official said, adding that "concrete proposals" were handed over to Canadian companies.
Zubkov said the two countries were also planning to boost their cooperation in the agriculture sphere. The two countries will discuss joint projects in the sphere during a Russian-Canadian business forum, which will take place in Canada in November, he said.
Among other promising spheres of bilateral cooperation are ferrous and nonferrous metal industry, housing, forestry, aviation and transport, Zubkov said, adding the current level of cooperation was lower than it could be.
The Russian official also said Canada continued supporting Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization. Russia has been seeking WTO membership since 1993, and is the only major economy outside of the global trade body.
"This question was touched upon during talks with [Canadian] Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Canada's Minister for International Trade Peter Van Loan. As it was noted by the Canadian side, Russia should have been accepted to the WTO long ago... They consider that Russia can become a WTO member as early as this year," Zubkov said.
OTTAWA, April 29 (RIA Novosti)
Itar-Tass: Investment, new technologies priorities for RF, Canada – Zubkov
29.04.2010, 08.53
OTTAWA, April 29 (Itar-Tass) - Priorities for Russia and Canada at present are issues related to investments, the introduction of new technologies and new agro-technical methods in agriculture, Russian First Vice Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov who has ended his working visit to Canada, told Itar-Tass.
“At meetings with Canadian Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and International Trade Minister Peter Van Loan we discussed these matters,” he continued. “It is necessary to introduce best practices in the sphere of plant cultivation and animal breeding in the Russian agro-industrial production. We have arranged that before September-October the Russian side will present a list of companies and regions that would like to cooperate with Canada and introduce advanced technologies, modernise their own production, use new equipment and achievements in animal stock-breeding. At the same time the Canadian side will present its proposals in which sectors of agriculture it would be ready to participate in investing in Russia,” Zubkov noted.
He said that these proposals will be thoroughly studied and in November a large group of Russian businesspeople and heads of regions will arrive in Canada for the participation in a business forum organised with support of the Russian and Canadian state structures.
“Today we had a conversation on the joint investments, joint projects, joint business,” he stressed. “This is the most important today. I am very satisfied with these meetings and the attitude observed in Canada’s ministries and departments. We should adjust our business for the good joint work. It certainly should be mutually advantageous, but I have no doubts at all that the experience and practice of the leading Canadian agricultural companies will be successfully introduced on Russian fields – as we have similar climate conditions,” Zubkov said.
Canada and Russia enjoy a diverse and productive relationship as vast resource-rich northern countries as well as G8 partners. Canada and Russia benefit from extensive cooperation on trade and investment, energy, democratic development and governance, security and counter-terrorism, northern issues, and cultural and academic exchanges.
The Soviet Union had established diplomatic relations with Canada on June 12, 1942.
On June 12, 2007, Canada and Russia marked the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. Canada is officially represented in Russia by an Embassy in Moscow as well as an Honorary Consulate in Vladivostok. The Russian Federation maintains an Embassy in Ottawa, two consulate generals (in Toronto and Montreal), and an Honorary Consulate in Vancouver.
Presently, Russia’s ambassador in Ottawa is Georgy Mamedov.
Both countries are full members of the G8 and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
Meetings between Canadian and Russian representatives regularly occur at the highest levels. Prime Minister Harper and President Putin met for the second time at the G8 Summit in Heiligendamm. They first met at the G8 Summit in St. Petersburg in 2006, where they issued joint statements on Canada-Russia Relations and Canada-Russia Energy Cooperation. Canada and Russia cooperate extensively within the framework of the UN, G8, APEC, NATO-Russia Council, and other multilateral forums.
Canada and Russia maintain regular political dialogue on security, counter-terrorism and global issues. This dialogue has now been incorporated into the Global Security Talks, which allow high-level officials to share concerns and solutions on non-proliferation, regional issues and defence relations. Canada’s major security undertaking with Russia is the leading role in the Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction , a G8 initiative first proposed at Kananaskis. This programme, with a budget of up to $1 billion over ten years, recently reached its mid point.
Growing domestic demand combined with vast natural resource wealth has made Russia a prime destination for the export of Canadian goods and services and for new Canadian foreign direct investment. To help facilitate closer economic ties between Canada and Russia, the governments of both countries participate in the Canada-Russia Intergovernmental Economic Commission (IEC). Working groups are active year-round in the areas of agro-food and agriculture, fuel and energy, construction and housing, mining, and the Arctic and North.
The first ever Canada-Russia Business Summit, was held March 26-27, 2007, in Ottawa. This event successfully combined the 6th session of the Canada-Russia IEC, co-chaired by Minister Emerson and Russian Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyev, and the second meeting of the Canada-Russia Business Council (CRBC).
Canada and Russia are both major Arctic states. Active bilateral cooperation in this area began more than 35 years ago. Through the Arctic and North Working Group of the Canada-Russia IEC, both countries work together to develop a forward-looking agenda on northern cooperation.
The Canadian International Development Agency's Russia Program, established in 1991, is a concrete demonstration of Canada’s long-term commitment to assist the process of reform and transition in Russia. The overall goal of the programme is to support the establishment of a stable, prosperous and democratic Russia with a well-developed market economy and efficient, responsive institutions.
Russia Today: Russian PM pursuing country’s interests in Arctic
29 April, 2010, 04:59
The Arctic regions are of top interest to Russia, according to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who has been visiting the Franz-Joseph Land archipelago in Russia's northern extremities.
He took part in an expedition jointly organized by the Russian government and the Russian Geographical Society, which was launched to assess how global warming affects polar bears.
The prime minister fixed a satellite collar on an animal which will monitor its behavior and migration habits. He also announced a "spring clean" to improve the Arctic environment.
His visit also took in Russia's most northerly frontier post at Nagurskoye, for the first ever Arctic exercises held by the Russian Emergencies Ministry and frontier troops of the Russian Security Service, the FSB.
RIA: Arctic needs 'major cleaning' - Putin
08:1829/04/2010
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has called for a "major cleaning" of the Arctic, where the level of pollution is six times higher than normal.
The Russian government's press service said on Thursday that the prime minster had visited the Alexandra Land, one of the islands of the Franz Josef Land archipelago in Russia's far north.
"The reduction of military cooperation after the collapse of the Soviet Union resulted in this scrapheap which we can observe," the Russian premier said.
Thousands of barrels containing used lubricants, as well as plane, car and other wreckage have been piled up in the Arctic for years.
Putin said the amount of used lubricants piled up in the Arctic territories ranged from
40,000 to 60,000 tons and called for a "major cleaning" of the Arctic, which, he said, has a strategic importance for Russia.
"Arctic hosts our naval bases, as well as aviation patrol routs. There are also economic interests, natural recourses. The Stockman [gas deposit] is 300 kilometers away from the Barents Sea coast. Major transport communications of the Northern Sea Route are here," the Russian premier said.
Putin has called for international cooperation to preserve the polar bear population in the Arctic, which has been threatened by ecological problems. If the temperature increases by 3-4 degrees Celsius, the situation would become even worse, he said.
"This should be [done] in partnership between the state and the private sector. But the state should take the first steps - to reveal the nature and the significance of the danger, to understand how to utilize waste products," Putin said, adding this should be done as soon as possible.
MOSCOW, April 29 (RIA Novosti)
Russia Today: Russia to clean Arctic from poisonous Soviet heritage
29 April, 2010, 07:32
During his visit to the Russian Arctic, Vladimir Putin decided to clean the area from countless barrels of oil remaining from the Soviet era.
The nearest city is 3,000 kilometers away from the Franz Josef Land archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, while the North Pole is just 800.
It may look like a place where man has never set foot, but even deep snow cannot hide this land's bitter secrets of the past.
Alexandra Land is home to thousands of barrels of fuel and lubricants. They were brought here in the 1960s for Soviet military bases, but after the collapse of the Soviet Union, they were no longer needed, and were just left here, as taking them away seemed too expensive. But economy eventually clashed with ecology, as the leaking fuel and rusty metal pose a serious environmental threat, a case of past heritage threatening future life in the area.
At least five endangered species live in the archipelago. And if nothing is done today, ecologists warn, there will no be tomorrow for them.
“When the spring arrives, poisoned rivers will flow into the Barents Sea and then to the ocean… oil patches will cover the water,” said Vyacheslav Rozhnov, a biological scientist and deputy director of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution. “And these flows will kill everything along their path. Among them are beluga whales, walruses and polar bears.”
The scientists don't have the authority to take the barrels away. But they've brought the issue to the attention of those that do.
Putin was far from impressed with what he saw and he said Russia must be responsible for the Soviet legacy in the Arctic region, and will do its best not to allow this cemetery of barrels to become a graveyard for wildlife.
“The level of pollution is 6 times higher than normal here!” Putin exclaimed. “We need to do a major cleanup of the Arctic. This needs to be done through cooperation between the state and private investors, but of course the state should take the first steps, and we need to do it as soon as possible.”
Experts say words may be easy, but action will be a lot tougher.
“We only have four months a year when ships can reach this land and can go through the ice,” said Roman Ershov from the Franz Josef Land Reserve. “A weak infrastructure will also be a serious obstacle. I think it'll take up to 10 years or even more.”
But at least it seems that the problem that has been frozen for so long is finally showing signs of melting away.
Apr 29, 2010
Straits Times: Putin fears for polar bears
MOSCOW - RUSSIAN Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, better known in the West for his tough-guy image, expressed concern on Thursday for the fate of Arctic polar bears threatened by climate change.
'The polar bear is under threat. Their population is currently only 25,000 individuals,' Mr Putin was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying after a recent trip to an island in the Arctic Ocean.
Although Mr Putin is better known in the West for pushing a muscular foreign policy and tightening control over the Russian political system, he has occasionally shown compassion for wildlife and nature. His press service and the Russian Geographical Society said that Mr Putin went to the Arctic to visit Russia's most northerly border post and take part in a Russian scientific expedition.
'The reduction in the surface of the ice sheet, the melting of the ice, all this adds to the complications in the conditions of life' of the polar bears, he said.
He helped scientists put a tracking collar on a 230kg polar bear as part of an observation programme, Last year he condemned the hunting of baby whitecoat seals, saying it was a 'bloody business'.
In 2006 he decided to re-route a controversial oil pipeline around Siberia's Lake Baikal, winning praise from environmental groups, and in October 2008 he was shown on television cuddling a tiger cub he had received as a birthday gift. -- AFP
RIA: France's EDF to sign deal in St. Petersburg to join South Stream project
00:4629/04/2010
French energy producer EDF will sign an agreement to join the South Stream gas pipeline project with Russia's energy giant Gazprom and Italy's Eni during the International Economic Forum due in Russia's second city of St. Petersburg on June 17-19, Gazprom has said.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced on Monday that Gazprom and Eni will each give 10% of their shares in the project to EDF.
The South Stream project will pump 63 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas annually to Bulgaria, Italy and Austria and is part of Russia's efforts to cut dependence on transit nations, particularly Ukraine and Turkey. It is widely considered a rival project to the EU-backed Nabucco pipeline, which is also intended to transport Caspian and Central Asian gas to Europe, but bypassing Russia.
The gas pipeline is expected to start operating in late 2015 and account for about 35% of Russian natural gas supplies to Europe. It will run under the Black Sea from the Russian port of Novorossiysk to the Bulgarian port of Varna.
Austria was recently also brought into the project after the final documentation necessary for the go-ahead of the pipeline was signed in Vienna during a visit by Putin.
Investment in the project is estimated at 25 million euros ($32.8 million).
Russia is also building the Nord Stream gas pipeline to carry 55 billion cu m of Russian natural gas annually to Western Europe under the Baltic Sea.
MOSCOW, April 29 (RIA Novosti)
RUVR: Russia, U.S. discuss adoption treaty
|Apr 29, 2010 09:49 Moscow Time |
A delegation of U.S. officials is in Moscow for talks on adoptions. Russia is pressing for a bilateral treaty specifying the rights and responsibilities of each of the sides in the adoption process, Interfax quotes a Foreign Ministry spokesman, Igor Lyakin-Frolov, as saying. The treaty will enable the Russian side to demand observance of the legitimate rights and interests of adopted children by their foster parents. Violations will carry punishment up to criminal proceedings. The talks followed a series of tragic incidents involving Russian children adopted by U.S. families.
Russia Today: US and Russia to discuss ways to lift adoption freeze
29 April, 2010, 09:15
A US delegation has arrived in Moscow to work out a legal document ensuring the safety of Russian children adopted by American parents.
Moscow wants to see two major articles included in the document. First, it should ensure safe and proper living conditions for adopted children from Russia. The second issue is to create a system that will monitor the fate of children taken to the US.
The American delegation is headed by Michael Kirby, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the US State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs. Also taking part are specialists in the matters of immigration and citizenship from the Department of Homeland Security.
The Russian party is represented by officials from the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Education, as well as Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights Pavel Astakhov.
The talks in Moscow have been brought about by the ban imposed by Russian authorities after several cases of severe child abuse of Russian kids by American foster parents.
Since 1992, according to the Ministry of Education, 17 Russian children have died after they were adopted by American parents and brought to the US, reports news agency Ria Novosti.
The case that triggered the freeze was the recent story of seven-year-old Artyom Saveliev, who was adopted by an American mother about six years ago. The woman had sent him back to Russia on his own with a note saying that she did not want the boy any longer.
RIA: Lavrov to defend European security treaty at PACE session
07:0229/04/2010
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will try on Thursday to persuade members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to support Russia's proposal to draw up a new European security treaty.
Lavrov will talk about European security among other issues at a PACE plenary session in Strasbourg.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev proposed drawing up a new pan-European security pact in June 2008, and Russia published a draft of the treaty on November 29, 2009, sending copies to heads of state and international organizations, including NATO.
However, world nations have been reluctant to support Russia's initiative.
In late February, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton rejected Russia's proposal, saying Europe's security would be strengthened by closer cooperation between Russia and NATO.
The Russian foreign minister is also expected to talk about the danger of the attempts to falsify history.
PACE adopted a resolution on Wednesday saying that the regime of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin was responsible for the Great Famine (Holodomor) in the Soviet Union in the 1930s.
The Assembly has rejected several radical amendments to the resolution, which proposed the Holodomor be recognized as an act of genocide against the Ukrainian people.
Lavrov is also planning to discuss cooperation between Russia and PACE with Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland and PACE president Mevlut Cavusoglu on Thursday.
MOSCOW, April 29 (RIA Novosti)
Itar-Tass: Lavrov to present Moscow's new security architecture vision at PACE
29.04.2010, 05.59
STRASBOURG, April 29 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will take part in the Thursday session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe as special guest. He arrived in Strasbourg on Wednesday evening from Copenhagen, where he had accompanied Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on his state visit to Denmark.
Lavrov's trip to the PACE session is taking place ahead of the 65th anniversary of the victory in World War II. His report will be devoted to issues of Europe's post-war history. Addressing the 47-nation Assembly, Lavrov will draw its attention to the upcoming jubilee, empathizing the decisive role of the USSR in defeating Nazism.
The Russian diplomat will call for resisting the falsification of history and remind about the significance of the Council of Europe in overcoming the consequences of the "Cold War" and the dividing lines it had generated.
Lavrov will use his speech at the PACE to present to the European audience the Russian approaches to the most acute issues of intentional politics, in the first place the shaping of the new architecture of security, including the problem of the security treaty in Euroatlantic space.
The Russian Foreign Ministry appreciates the role of the Council of Europe in modern conditions, regarding this organization as "one of the key agencies in Euroatlantic space, a crucial instrument in building a common legal space of Greater Europe."
Yet, Russia insists on the Council of Europe's "adapting to the new reality of the modern world by achieving greater unity between its members, for the sake of protecting and realizing the ideals and principles that belong to their common heritage, and contributing to their economic and social progress," Russian diplomats said.
In this context, Russia defends the line toward preserving the diversity in the Council of Europe's activities.
The future Council of Europe, as seen by Russia, is not in narrowing its mandate, but in increasing the effectiveness of its activities and developing cooperation between states under the CE aegis in all the fields of its competence. Also, the restructuring should not harm the ongoing efforts in a broad range of themes, including social issues, the struggle against new challenges and threats and development of culture and education.
Lavrov is due to meet with Assembly Chairman Mevlut Cavusoglu and Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland.
Russia Today: Russian FM to discuss continental security at Council of Europe
29 April, 2010, 10:57
Sergey Lavrov’s report in Strasbourg will look into European post-war history and raise the issue of a new security system for the continent.
The foreign minister’s attendance at the session of the council's Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) takes place just ahead of the 65th anniversary of the victory of World War II.
Addressing the 47-nation Assembly, Lavrov will draw attention to the upcoming jubilee, emphasizing the role the USSR played in defeating Nazism.
The foreign minister is also expected to outline the changing role of the council itself.
During his visit, Lavrov is to hold a meeting with PACE President Mevlut Cavusoglu and Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjoern Jagland.
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Itar-Tass: PACE calls for not politicizing 1930 famine in Soviet Union
29.04.2010, 02.28
STRASBOURG, April 29 (Itar-Tass) - The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on Thursday called for not politicizing the events of the 1930s, when a large famine gripped many republics of the former USSR.
In the resolution commemorating the victims of the Great Famine (Holodomor), the Assembly called upon the politicians in all Council of Europe member-states to "abstain from any attempts to exert political influence on historians and prejudge the outcome of independent scientific research."
The report by PACE chairman Mevlut Causoglu, Turkey, "calls on historians of all countries of the former Soviet Union, which suffered during the Great Famine, as well as historians from other countries, to conduct joint independent research programs in order to establish the full, un-biased and un-politicized truth about this human tragedy, and to make it public."
It welcomed "the important work already done in Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Republic of Moldova, Russia and in particular in Ukraine in order to ease access to archives, and calls on the competent authorities of these countries to open up all their archives and facilitate access thereto to all researchers, including from other states."
"The events of the 1930s were one of the most tragic pages in the history of the peoples of the former Soviet Union was the mass famine in grain-growing areas of the country which started in the late 1920s and culminated in 1932-33.The totalitarian Stalinist regime in the former Soviet Union led to horrifying human rights violations which deprived millions of people of their right to life...millions of innocent people in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine, which were parts of the Soviet Union, lost their lives. The mass starvation was caused by cruel and deliberate actions and policies of the Soviet regime," the Assembly said.
The resolution acknowledged that Ukraine suffered the most, but in Kazakhstan and Russia’s grain producing regions millions died as well.
"In absolute figures, it is estimated that the population of Russia paid the heaviest death toll as a result of the Soviet agricultural policies," the document said.
During the discussion, the Assembly rejected all the amendments calling to recognize Holodomor the genocide against the Ukrainian people. Moscow has been opposed to such interpretation.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich supported the Russian delegation. In his speech in Strasbourg earlier this week, he said it was wrong and unfair to recognize the great famine as the genocide against the Ukrainian people. "It was a common tragedy of peoples within the Soviet Union. These were the consequences of Stalin's totalitarian regime," Yanukovich stated.
A year ago, the Assembly supported Ukraine's motion to consider the great famine of the 1930s in Ukraine. It was planned to draw a document recognizing Holodomor a genocide. Russia criticized the interpretation, suggesting instead to pool documents and commemorate the memory of all the victims of the great famine.
The famine of 1931-1933 devastated many districts of the Russian republic within the former Soviet Union: the Volga region, the Central Black Earth Region, the North Caucasus, the Ural region, the Crimea, part of western Siberia, as well as districts in Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Belarus.
RFE/RL: Russian Firm Denies 'Club-K' Missiles Could Be Used By Terrorists
April 29, 2010
By Ron Synovitz
A new cruise-missile system being marketed by a Russian firm is attracting attention as a weapon that, according to its own promotional video, could transform ordinary civilian freight vehicles into long-range missile launchers.
The weapon, known as the Club-K Container Missile System, has been promoted on the Internet and at international arms fairs by the Moscow-based defense firm Concern Morinformsystem-Agat.
The state-controlled firm's marketing campaign describes a concealed and highly mobile satellite-guided missile system that could be hidden inside an ordinary cargo container -- making it indistinguishable from other freight containers on trains, trucks, or cargo ships.
The development of such a missile system has raised fears in the West that Russian missiles might become a weapon for terrorists if they fall into the hands of groups like Al-Qaeda. But the manufacturer is downplaying those concerns as hysterical propaganda.
Robert Hewson, editor of the arms-industry journal "Jane's Air-Launched Weapons," tells RFE/RL that the Club-K would use satellite-guided missiles built by Russia's Novator firm. He also notes that the Club-K system appears to be only in the conceptual stage of development.
"Right now, as far as we can see, all that exists regarding the Club-K system as a containerized weapon is as marketing material. The basic components for this -- the missiles, which is the most important bit -- exist as hardware," Hewson says.
"But what I think you are seeing now is a new concept that the manufacturer has obviously seen a need for and has put out there to show people that they are capable of building this. Now what they need is for someone to come and pay for development and actually buy it."
Hewson says the Russian firm's marketing campaign appears to be aimed at countries like Iran and Venezuela, which have expressed concerns about the presence of U.S. military bases or troops deployed in neighboring countries.
The Club-K project also suggests that Russia's struggling post-Soviet defense firms are trying to adapt to evolving markets by anticipating how a country like Iran might fight a future conflict.
"The system is clearly being positioned towards possible customers who may feel they are under threat from actions from neighboring countries -- a fairly sophisticated customer who can afford the bill, because they will have to pay a significant amount of money to have development completed," Hewson says. "Somebody who feels the need to keep this as a concealed capability -- countries like Iran and Venezuela and also any other nation that has an interest in dominating the sea and land space around it."
Company Defends Campaign
Officials at Concern Morinformsystem-Agat have declined to answer questions directly about the Club-K or its marketing campaign. But the firm issued a press statement today dismissing reports that the system could be used as a terrorist weapon.
The statement says the Club-K is designed primarily for installation on ships called up for military service in the case of threats by a hostile enemy.
Although an animated promotional video shows Club-K missiles being fired from an ordinary cargo ship, train, and transport truck, a spokeswoman for the firm says in a video statement posted on the firm's website that "professionals understand perfectly well it is impossible to use such [a] system from any container ship or truck."
The spokeswoman also argues that the weapon system could serve as a lower-cost deterrent for smaller countries against would-be aggressors.
She says that the development of the missile system "was based on the fact that not every country can afford such expensive toys as frigates, corvettes, destroyers, and other ships that are equipped with such military weapons. But nobody has the right to deprive these countries of the opportunity to have the power of sovereignty. Moreover, the potential aggressor should keep in mind that he can suffer unacceptable damage."
Concern Morinformsystem-Agat also says Russia has strict weapons-export controls that eliminate the possibility of the unauthorized transfer of Club-K missiles to terrorist organizations or regimes. In that sense, the firm argues, the Club-K system is a weapon for "effective countermeasures against state terrorism."
Concealed Weapon
Many countries have shown interest in Russia's existing Club missiles -- which already can be deployed on land, sea, and air. For example, Club-S missiles are fired from submarines while Club-N missiles are launched from naval surface vessels and Club-A missiles are launched from aircraft.
What makes the Club-K system different is that it's not immediately recognizable as a weapon system. The design features four ground- or sea-launched cruise missiles fitted inside the standard freight containers used across the world to carry commercial cargo.
An animated promotional video that was posted briefly on the YouTube video-sharing site before it was removed shows how Club-K missiles in an ordinary shipping container could be hidden among other cargo containers on trains, cargo ships, or trucks.
The video shows the roof of the cargo container can be slid back and four missiles tilted upright when they are ready to be fired from trucks, trains, or cargo ships -- allowing the missiles to be prepared and launched before their deployment could be detected.
Western Concerns
The Club-K system features two different types of missiles. One is a fairly conventional cruise missile -- a land-attack or antiship missile -- with a range of a few hundred kilometers and a warhead containing several hundred kilograms of conventional explosives.
A second missile type in the Club-K series is a dedicated antiship missile with a two-stage component. After launch, the second stage separates and becomes an extremely high-speed, supersonic missile that hits a target with high kinetic energy.
It is a weapon type that is produced only in Russia and that has raised concerns in Western navies because there aren't many proven defenses against it. And despite today's denial from Club-K's manufacturers, worries remain that a well-funded terrorist organization could obtain the missile system.
Hewson doubts such a purchase -- which would cost an estimated $20 million for four of the missiles and launchers -- could be made directly. He also agrees that Russia's strict "end user" policies would make it difficult for terrorists to obtain Club-K cruise missiles on the international market.
"Russia would only sell it to another state and not to any sort of nonstate actor or terrorist group," Hewson says. "Remember, this probably doesn't exist as a piece of hardware yet. It needs a paying customer to complete it. So that makes it extremely unlikely that anyone is going to roll up with an Al-Qaeda checkbook and buy one of these things."
Still, such arguments may not be enough to quell concerns that a rogue state might obtain the Club-K system and illegally pass the missiles along to terrorist groups.
EurasiaNet: AZERBAIJAN, ARMENIA, RUSSIA USING FAITH TO FIND KARABAKH PEACE
Mina Miradova 4/28/10
They have tried threats. They have tried PR. And now, 22 years into the search for a Nagorno-Karabakh peace settlement, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia are turning to the power of faith.
The head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Garegin II, and Azerbaijan’s Muslim leader, Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade, met on April 26. The 90-minute discussion -- facilitated by Kirill I, the Russian Orthodox patriarch -- marked the sixth such tête-à-tête between the religious leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan since 1988, when the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict began.
More significantly, the meeting, held on the sidelines of the World Interfaith Summit, marked Garegin II’s first-ever trip to Baku. A protest conducted by the Karabakh Liberation Organization in front of the summit site at Baku’s Gulistan Palace reflected the discomfort in some sectors of Azerbaijani society generated by Garegin II’s presence. A group of women, mostly family members of Azerbaijanis killed during the Karabakh conflict, held posters depicting war victims to protest the Armenian Catholicos’ arrival.
The protest appeared to do little to dampen summiteers’ enthusiasm for what Kirill I termed "our religious peace-making process."
A joint declaration signed after the meeting affirmed the religious leaders’ intention to "not allow a return to a military solution of disputable issues" between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The declaration also stated that "our joint efforts will help to overcome animosity between nations."
In downtown Baku, Catholicos Garegin II visited the closed Armenian church of St. Gregory the Illuminator, a facility that is now used to store books for a library run by the presidential administration. He was later received by President Ilham Aliyev at his Zagulba residence. The Armenian religious leader and the Azerbaijani president chatted for about one hour in what local media described as "an unconstrained and sincere atmosphere."
Tight security measures were maintained throughout the day. Journalists were not allowed to attend the two events.
The meeting appears to have produced some results - or at least verbal commitments. President Aliyev reportedly agreed to assist Armenia with reconstructing the church of St. Gregory, which was damaged by fire in 1990, the Turan news agency reported, citing an unnamed Azerbaijani official. In exchange, Garegin II promised to promote the restoration of a mosque in the Nagorno-Karabakh town of Shusha, a site with strong cultural significance for Azeris. [A mosque restoration project has been underway in Shusha for a few years already -- ed.] Catholicos Garegin II also invited Pashazade to visit Armenia.
The trio confirmed plans to continue their discussions and called on Azerbaijan and Armenia’s political and religious leaders to increase efforts to release those detained in connection with the Karabakh conflict, as well as to protect religious monuments and sacred places within the conflict zone.
Although few Azerbaijani experts believe that these results will be able to jump-start stalled peace talks, they note that the meeting at least created grounds for re-building trust and tolerance among Armenians and Azeris.
Others have a less rosy outlook.
"[H]is arrival to Baku is positive, but the declaration [signed at the end of the trilateral meeting] is meaningless with relation to its influence on resolution of the Karabakh problem," declared independent political analyst Rasim Musabeyov, in reference to Armenian Catholicos Garegin II.
Arif Yunus, an expert at Baku’s non-governmental Institute for Peace and Democracy, took that appraisal one step further. Given the strong secular trend in both Armenia and Azerbaijan, the influence of Garegin II and Allahshukur Pashazade is limited, he posited. "The summit and meeting can play both a positive and negative role only in societies where at least 50 percent of the population are true believers," contended Yunus. "Neither Armenian society nor Azerbaijani society is like that, and, on the other hand, the authority of both Garegin II and Pashazade is not on such a level that we can talk about their contribution to a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict."
Musabeyov said the religious leaders’ commitment to a non-violent approach on Karabakh is important. And down the road, he added, their influence could prove critical once a peace deal is reached and both Yerevan and Baku find themselves confronted by "the need to isolate radical forces, and redirect public opinion."
One leader of Azerbaijan’s Muslim community sees another influence already at work. Ilgar Ibrahimoglu, head of the Centre for Protection of Freedom of Conscience and Faith, thinks that Garegin II’s visit to Baku demonstrates Russia’s increased influence in the South Caucasus.
"[I]t shows that the Russian Orthodox Church is currently headed by a charismatic patriarch who is able not only to create opportunities for meetings between belligerent states, but also to make the visit of a religious leader of one state to another one a reality," commented Ibrahimoglu. "I see the role of Russia here."
Editor's Note: Mina Muradova is a freelance reporter based in Baku.
RIA: Vladivostok should develop a hotel chain, said Shuvalov
GOOGLE TRANSLATION
Theme: Preparing for the APEC summit 2012 Vladivostok
04/29/2010 8:22
VLADIVOSTOK, April 29 - RIA Novosti. Chain hotels to be developed in Vladivostok, as now in the city are not enough good hotels, but after 2012, when the city will host a summit of APEC, the region can take a lot of tourists, said Thursday in Vladivostok, the first vice-premier of Russia Igor Shuvalov.
Shuvalov met in the town meeting on the preparation of Vladivostok for the APEC summit. He noted that Vladivostok needs good hotels, which are in short supply.
"We believe that after 2012 will be developed transport infrastructure, will operate a large modern airport will be able to take a large number of tourists and visitors. This requires a hotel chain," - "Shuvalov told reporters after the meeting.
According to him, the governor of Primorsky Territory held a "very qualified selecting sites for construction of hotels.
"Kind of all the hotels will be very good, this marine species. It is convenient places associated with the transport infrastructure", - said Shuvalov.
According to him, held talks with some network management companies that are interested to take under its control future hotels in Vladivostok.
In Vladivostok, in preparation for the APEC summit scheduled for the construction of several five-star hotels. One of them will be built at Cape rapid, the second - on the ship promenade, in the heart of the city.
According to the Primorsky Territory Administration, by December 2011 in Vladivostok is planned to build a complex area of 43.1 square meters in the vicinity of Cape rapid and complex business-type area 32.3 thousand square meters in area Korabelnaya embankment.
Designing hotel complexes involved in the Scottish company RMDzhM Scotland Limited, together with colleagues from Hong Kong. According to the contract date for completion of design hotels - April 2010.
Regnum: Mamsurov remains for another five years head of North Ossetia
GOOGLE TRANSLATION
The head of North Ossetia, Teimuraz Mamsurov for another five years, remains the head of the republic. This decision was taken on April 29 deputies of the North Ossetian parliament. People elect at its extraordinary session endowed Mamsurov for a second term as head of the Region, a REGNUM correspondent reports News.
The candidacy of 56-year Mamsurov was supported by the party "United Russia" and presented to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The Russian head of state after all the procedures suggested higher legislative body to give Mamsurov for a second term of the head. During his candidacy, voted all members of the faction "United Russia", which have a majority in parliament. The competition Mamsurov were Deputy Commander of the Black Sea Fleet Sergei Menyailov rector of the North-Ossetian State University Oleg Hatsaev.
The appointment of Taimuraz Mamsurov for a second term to a REGNUM correspondent commented news known in North Ossetia public figures. Coordinator of the North Ossetian regional office LDPR Zozrov George said: "We stand for the elected leaders of regional leaders. For five years in office Taimuraz Mamsurov of North Ossetia has been no progress, some disadvantages. Economic indicators is also no one hyped-up figures. In our country there is no freedom of speech being persecuted dissent, unemployment is growing. Unfortunately, we have five more years to tolerate officials who think only of themselves. need to form a coalition government that will bring North Ossetia with heavy political and economic situation. Definitely we do not support Taimuraz Mamsurov.
Head of the All-Russian Public Organization "Voice of Beslan" Ella Kesaeva: "Direct elections of the heads of subjects were canceled after the Beslan tragedy, and more precisely on Sept. 10, 2004. Vladimir Putin has thus decided to strengthen the power vertical. The people denied the right choice of leaders of the regions, there is no Nothing good. With corruption and terrorism in the country did not become better deal. This vertical power was not justified. As Taimuraz Mamsurov, the president made the right choice of three candidates proposed. The people he knows better than Hatsaeva Oleg and Sergey Menyailov. However, he would enjoy greater authority, he was appointed head of by direct election. "
Against the proposed candidate supported the Communist deputies, who are in the parliament with 6 seats. The Communists, as previously stated by the First Secretary of the North Ossetian republic Committee CPRF Kazbek Taysaev, favor the election of heads of Russian regions.
Lenta.ru: The Parliament of South Ossetia seeks 13 MPs dissatisfied with the premier
Members of the Parliament of South Ossetia began collecting signatures for a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister Vadim Brovtsev, wrote on April 29 Kommersant, citing sources close to the leadership of South Ossetia.
According to sources edition, the issue of distrust Brovtsevu can be made already at the meeting on May 4. The question is to collect signatures from 13 parliamentarians from 34.
April 28, Vadim Brovtsev arrived in Moscow for a meeting with the head of the presidential administration Sergei Naryshkin and the head of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev. South Ossetian media viewed as a departure Brovtseva "flight". The press service Brovtseva said that the Prime Minister in Moscow, discussing issues of socio-economic development, and the rumors about his possible resignation refused to comment on.
Back in February, there were initial reports that the Prime Minister is going to resign, and after a few weeks in the local press to launch an information campaign against Brovtseva and his team. According to Kommersant, after some time criticizing the government Brovtseva appeared as on public television. Sources of publications argue that the republican leadership displeasure prime minister since his appointment financial flows from Russia no longer controlled by Ossetian officials.
Following the announcement of South Ossetia's independence in the country was forcibly retired for two cabinet ministers. The first was headed by Yuri Morozov, who was sacked for poor performance, and the second - Aslanbek Bulatsev, the official version lacking the post because of the infarct.
Expert Club: Brovtsev fled from Tskhinvali
28/04/2010 14:30
Tskhinvalian "prime minister" has been absent from the workplace since April 26th and he cannot be contacted by telephone. On April 25th Vadim Brovtsev's bodyguards escorted him to the Russian border, and after that he went on his own. This information was published by news agency Regnum with reference to "informed source" in Tskhinvali.
It was also noted that recently against the background of open confrontation between Kokoity and Brovtsev Prosecutors' office of the puppet regime instituted criminal proceedings against members of "Chelyabinsk team" of the Tskhinvalian Prime Minister who are accused of corruption.
However hilarious charges of corruption would be (or rather, of reluctance to share as much as demanded) coming from Kokoity and his people, given revelations of a member of his team Tatiana Pokrovskaya, who is not well-acquainted with specifics of the local business, it is possible to understand probable fleeing of Vadim Brovtsev. There should also be noted yesterday's strange behavior of Ossetian media in connection with information about the vote of no-confidence of " Prime Minister".
Expert Club: Russia may abolish Abkhazian "army"
29/04/2010 11:28
Giorgi Tsiklauri
"Experts' Club"
Sergei Bagapsh dismissed the entire contingent of Abkhazian staff of generals. The entire military elite of the puppet regime was dismissed - five generals, colonels and other senior officers. According to the Club of Experts Sukhumi took this step under pressure from Moscow that is unhappy with the situation in Abkhazian armed formations that had been given a role of principal actors in the implementation of military provocations or the role of auxiliary forces in case of recurrence of large-scale military operation of Russia against Georgia.
The Russian leadership decided to completely reorganize the General Staff of Abkhazia and need for this has been brewing for a long time. This decision was dictated by very high level of corruption along with the extremely low level of discipline in Abkhazian armed formations and their insufficient attention to military training. But the catalyst became a recent resignation of the Chief of General Staff Anatoly Zaitsev who was removed from office by Sergei Bagapsh.
Sukhumi tried to conceal this event, but the information still leaked. The reason for the dismissal was an incident that could be hardly considered serious taking into account realities of Abkhazia. Zaitsev's driver and several members of his security were arrested during a night robbery of gas station. But one can always find pretext if only one wishes to do so. Anatoly Zaitsev who is a professional soldier, a good professional sent from Russia to bring Abkhazian "army" into shape was not loved in Sukhumi considering him to be a "watcher" of Moscow.
Attempts of the Russian general to do something with the pervasive cronyism and corruption in the structure entrusted to him led to a confrontation with the "defense minister" Merab Kishmaria and other representatives of the Abkhazian leadership. Zaitsev did not receive resources for reforms. But it is not so easy to dismiss Moscow's man, and Bagapsh got to know that.
So now Instead of one Russian general Sukhumi will get the entire staff of generals filled with Russian contingent. Anatoly Zaitsev's resignation was seen by Russian leaders as reason to take control of Abkhazian armed formations and forced Bagapsh to "reorganize" general staff, after which it will be very interesting to look at the names of all new officers. It is possible that after the establishment of full control the next step of Moscow will be virtual elimination of the Abkhazian "army", as it has already happened in Tskhinvali region.
The Russian Federation has enough reasons for this step. Firstly, Abkhazian militants are entering into armed conflict with Russian soldiers more and more frequently. And Against the backdrop of growing dissatisfaction in Abkhazia with lawlessness of Russians, with cases of lawlessness of the occupation troops, redistribution of spheres of influence and different kinds of criminal business, such incidents have all chances to spontaneously develop into large-scale confrontation. And this would be the collapse of the entire political model that the Kremlin has been constructing around Abkhazia. And secondly, the armed forces of Russia have already taken over functions of the Abkhazian "army". So why spend resources on poorly controlled groups that have their own interests that differ from those of Russia!?
Jamestown: Medvedev’s Military Modernization Program Faces Crisis
April 28, 2010
Roger McDermott
Army-General Yury Baluyevskiy, the Deputy Secretary of the Russian Security Council and former Chief of the General Staff told a roundtable in Moscow on April 16 that the modernization of military equipment and weapons must proceed at the rate of around ten percent annually.
Nevertheless, he characterized this assertion as both important and difficult, adding: “This needs to be done, so that the share of modern weapons reaches 70 percent by 2020” (Interfax, April 17). Such comments mask a deeper and systemic crisis facing the defense industry and the capability of the state to meet its military modernization targets. Increasingly, 2020 as an end date for such a highly ambitious rearmament program looks impossible to achieve.
Major-General, Vasiliy Burenok, Director of the Defense Ministry’s 46th Research and Development Institute, speaking at the same event, disclosed that the current rate of rearmament is currently only 2 percent annually. He concurred with Baluyevskiy’s view that a much higher rate of modernization is required, putting it at 9 percent, depending on the category of arms, while underscoring the paltry nature of the actual figure of 2 percent. In 2013 to 2015, he said, weapons and equipment now in service will be decommissioned en masse due to technical reasons (Interfax, April 17).
On April 20, in an effort to promote his military reform agenda, Defense Minister, Anatoliy Serdyukov, held an open day in the 5th Guards Tamanskaya motor-rifle brigade, meeting human rights activists and members of the committee of soldiers’ mothers. Some remarked that it had the appearance of a health resort for young men, rather than an army barracks, and indeed the word “dormitory” was the preferred term. Serdyukov also commented on the state procurement program, saying it would differ in approach: “We will buy only those weapons that are necessary for the armed forces. By initiating these meetings, we wanted to stimulate the [defense] industry to produce not what they are used to and comfortable with but what is necessary for us and what is today’s requirement” (Channel One TV, April 20).
Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, has persistently called on the defense industry to meet the challenges of modernizing the armed forces. During a meeting devoted to its future on April 5, he noted that 40 percent of research and development was unused, and that the government needed a clear picture of the types of hardware required by the armed forces and their precise purpose. “The money and the work of specialists are being spent, but the results are put on the back burner,” he said, adding: “Forty per cent is a bit much.” Putin also stated that this demanded urgent action, in order to form an “effective system for commissioning and developing weapons.” In his view, further auditing will be needed to establish these priorities. However, it is interesting to note that Putin admitted the Russian government currently lacks clarity on what weapons and equipment are needed and for what mission types, despite the modernization program aiming at a 70:30 balance by 2020 (ITAR-TASS, April 5).
The depth of the crisis facing the state modernization program was earlier revealed by Deputy Prime Minister, Sergei Ivanov, who confirmed that the government had determined the amount of funding for the new State Armaments Program for 2011-2020, involving allocating an additional 100 billion rubles ($3.44 billion) annually to reform the defense-industrial complex. Ivanov said that this was necessary to ensure the fulfillment of the program to 2020. Vasiliy Zatsepin, an analyst in the Institute of Transition Period Military Economics, argued that “it is impossible to solve the problem of rearming our armed forces by a simple increase in funding, which is Ivanov’s typical method.” The failures of the Bulava Sea-Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) indicate the serious nature of the present crisis, not least since this represents its most expensive project. However, greater scrutiny over expenditure and infusing the monitoring structures with adequate powers are also needed. Mikhail Barabanov, the editor of the Moscow Defense Brief, argues that 100 billion rubles annually may well prove insufficient to resuscitate the defense industry, while his colleague at the Moscow-based Center for the Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST), Andrey Frolov, agrees, noting that the state armaments program long ago became hostage to the limited capacities of the defense industry, particularly in the sphere of high-technology systems (Kommersant, March 25).
Deputy Defense Minister, Vladimir Popovkin, also expressing dissatisfaction with the progress of modernization, emphasized that the ministry will not procure weapons or equipment that fail to meet “modern requirements.” Many of his reported comments were entirely reasonable, for instance pointing out that the army has no need to buy artillery systems with a range of 30 kilometers (km) if an enemy force possesses hardware with a range of 70 km. Popovkin confirmed that the ministry had abandoned a plan to develop a transport version of KamAZ trucks, since alternatives could be purchased abroad. ITAR-TASS cited Popovkin as critical of Russian armored hardware. “We will not be buying the BTR-80, because I don’t know how to get off it via the side door,” he said. Similarly, he observed that officers and soldiers do not want to remain inside the BMP-3 infantry vehicle, preferring instead to sit on its roof, and these specific model types were airbrushed from Interfax reporting (ITAR-TASS, Interfax, April 16).
One plausible solution is to buy abroad, and the expression of interest in the Mistral, or procuring a small number of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV’s) from Israel seems to support such an approach. Yet, Aleksandr Sukhorukov, the Director of the Federal Defense Procurement Service (Rosoboronzakaz), claims that these are only being bought in order to “take a look,” as their numbers are too low for it to be otherwise. Rosoboronzakaz audited the implementation of government orders in 2009. The misuse of funds, again, resurfaced as a pressing problem, accounting for 627 million rubles ($21.53 million) as well as 1 billion rubles ($34.34 million) in “wrongfully obtained funds.” The schemes involve paying for work never carried out, double payments for the same job and substandard deliveries of products (nr2.ru, April 15). Sukhorukov noted that the bulk of expenditure is on the strategic nuclear deterrence, while how the new brigades will be equipped remains classified: perhaps because no one in the government or military really knows the answer.
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RFE/RL: Moscow Officials Approve 'Day Of Wrath' Protest
April 28, 2010
MOSCOW -- Moscow officials have given permission for the first time for opposition groups and human rights activists to hold a so-called "Day of Wrath" protest, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.
Sergei Udaltsov, the coordinator for the Left Front movement, told RFE/RL that the action will be held on Moscow's central Tverskoi Boulevard on May 1.
The protesters plan to demand the resignations of Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov and Moscow Oblast Governor Boris Gromov.
They also want to urge the federal government to reinstitute direct elections for the heads of Russia's regions.
The previous "Day of Wrath" action on March 20 was forcibly dispersed by police, who arrested some 70 protesters.
AP: Russian court bans neo-Nazi group
Associated Press / April 29, 2010
MOSCOW — Moscow City Court said yesterday that it had outlawed one of Russia’s largest ultranationalist groups for the promotion of neo-Nazi ideology.
The Slavic Union, whose Russian acronym, SS, intentionally mimicked that used by the Nazis’ infamous paramilitary, was declared extremist, the court said in a statement.
The group’s leader said it has tried to promote its far-right agenda legally, and warned the ban will embolden Russia’s most radical ultranationalists.
“They will burn cars, blow up power stations, kill officials, and commit other resonant crimes,’’ Dmitry Demushkin said. “All this will be the result of stupid government policies to eliminate legal nationalism.’’
Recently, four former Slavic Union activists were sentenced to life in prison for a 2006 explosion targeting non-Slavic traders at a Moscow market that killed 14, including two children, and wounded dozens.
The ban is part of a Kremlin crackdown on far-right groups that intensified after the January 2009 slaying of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasiya Baburova. Two activists of another ultranationalist organization, Russian Image, were charged.
Earlier this month, a judge was gunned down in Moscow several months after handing down long prison sentences to members of another white supremacy group, the White Wolves, for assaulting and killing non-Slavs.
Russia’s ultranationalist movement is so deeply embedded in the country’s culture that militant groups have sprouted up around Russia to fight against it. Antiracist groups regularly spearhead attacks on ultranationalists, sparking revenge assaults. In November, the leader of one such group, Ivan Khutorskoy, also known by the nickname Bonebreaker, was fatally shot on Moscow’s outskirts.
Neo-Nazi and other ultranationalist groups mushroomed in Russia after the 1991 Soviet collapse. The Moscow Bureau for Human Rights estimated that some 70,000 neo-Nazis were active in Russia.
Moscow Times: Police Offer Reporters 'Safety Cards'
29 April 2010
The Moscow Times
Moscow police have begun accepting applications from media outlets for "safety cards" intended to afford reporters additional security when covering the city's sometimes rowdy political rallies.
The program was developed jointly with the state-run RIA-Novosti, city police chief Vladimir Kolokoltsev and the Moscow Journalists Union chairman Pavel Gusev said in a statement announcing the program.
The cards were conceived after regular complaints from reporters that they are prevented from doing their work by law enforcement officials, who in turn say they cannot tell the journalists from the protesters, RIA-Novosti reported.
The cards are not, however, obligatory. Russian journalists may cover protests with an editorial accreditation, while foreign reporters must have accreditation from the Foreign Ministry and personal identification, the document said.
"Journalists, members of society and the police are all working together. We're sitting in one ship and heading in the same direction. The Moscow police will do everything to make journalists' work safe," Kolokoltsev said in the memorandum.
Bloomberg: Russia Requests U.S. Documents on Daimler Bribery Probe
By Anastasia Ustinova
April 29 (Bloomberg) -- Russian prosecutors said they have asked the U.S. Department of Justice to pass on documents to help investigate allegations that Daimler AG paid bribes to Russian officials.
Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika said he has ordered an “internal investigation” and is waiting for information from the U.S. to see if further probe is needed.
“The case in being investigated, it hasn’t stalled,” Chaika said yesterday during a televised government meeting. “All the internal probes are finished and we are waiting for the results from the United States.”
Chaika said he made the request three weeks ago.
Daimler units in Russia and Germany earlier this month pleaded guilty to violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act as part of an agreement with prosecutors to resolve allegations the German carmaker paid bribes to foreign officials. Stuttgart-based Daimler agreed to pay $93.6 million fine to settle the criminal probe. It also agreed to pay $91.4 million to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Russian officials may have received more than $5 million between 2000 and 2005 as payoffs from Daimler, Kommersant newspaper reported March 25. The SEC ordered Daimler’s Russian unit to pay $27.4 million in fines, according to the agency’s Web site.
Daimler spokeswoman Ute von Vellberg said the company is willing to cooperate fully with the local authorities, adding that the company has strengthened its governance procedures in connection with the SEC settlement.
To contact the reporter on this story: Anastasia Ustinova in St. Petersburg at austinova@.
Last Updated: April 29, 2010 01:42 EDT
Moscow Times: Chaika Says Crime and Corruption Are Increasing
29 April 2010
By Natalya Krainova
Prosecutor General Yury Chaika painted a dismal picture of corrupt investigators and rising crime Wednesday, telling a Federation Council hearing that fewer crimes were solved last year even though law enforcement officers tried to boost crime-solving rates with tricks like failing to register crimes.
Chaika said the sharpest increases in registered crimes last year involved extremism, corruption and child abuse.
Law enforcement officials registered a 19 percent increase in extremist crimes in comparison with 2008, Chaika said.
"Last year, there were 548 extremist crimes, of which 484 were solved," Chaika said, reading his annual 2009 report to the Federation Council, Interfax reported.
"Last year, we detected 80 members of organized groups, half of whom were minors, who had engaged in extremist crimes," he added. "We also detected 70 individuals who had committed crimes for political and nationalistic reasons or because of religious hatred."
A total of 19 murders were motivated by extremist beliefs, an increase of 12 percent from 2008, according to Chaika's report, a copy of which was published on his agency's web site.
Chaika said law enforcement officers were trying to boost crime-solving rates by failing to register crimes and attributing unsolved crimes to people without sufficient evidence.
In 2009, prosecutors detected 155,000 crimes, including 250 murders, that law enforcement officers knew about but failed to register, the report said. This is an increase of 9 percent from 2008.
Law enforcement officers in the North Caucasus often attribute unsolved crimes to slain suspected militants without sufficient evidence, Chaika said.
More than 1.3 million crimes remained unsolved last year, Chaika said. This is 43 percent of all crimes registered last year, according to figures on the Interior Ministry's web site.
The number of unsolved crimes last year was an increase of 62,000 from 2008, Chaika said.
Investigators closed criminal cases against more than 1,300 people last year after establishing that they were innocent, almost double the number from 2008. One in five of the 1,300 falsely accused people were jailed.
The number of terrorism-related crimes increased by 2 percent to 654 cases last year, Chaika said.
More than 400 militants were arrested or killed last year, including 40 rebel leaders. A total of 15 terrorist attacks were carried out, compared with 10 in 2008.
About 32,430 of last year's crimes were directed against children. Registered cases of child sex abuse rose by 11 percent to about 10,100, while 60 percent more cases were opened into the distribution of child pornography.
Juvenile crimes stemming from alcohol and drug abuse rose by 28 percent, Chaika said, without specifying the number of crimes, Interfax reported.
RBC: In Ingushetia, militants detained that organized the attack in Karabulak
Law enforcement agencies of Ingushetia conducted an operation to arrest militants involved in the terrorist attack at the Interior Ministry building Karabulak, during which two policemen were killed.
In the raid were detained by the organizer and a member of a gang which committed a terrorist act in Karabulak 5 April 2010. According to the police, the leader of the gang was a local resident born in 1986.
Also operatives in the village of Nesterovskaya Sunzhensky district was arrested his accomplice born in 1989, member of the group.
Recall that on 5 April this year in Karabulak near the city of ATS two explosions. The first explosion occurred about 8:15 Moscow time at the barrier, located at the entrance to the city department of internal affairs. An explosive device detonated a suicide bomber.
Second explosives in the car VAZ-2112, parked in front of the police department Karabulak, an unknown person triggering remotely approximately at 9:00 am Moscow time. The explosion occurred at a time when he arrived investigative task force began examination of the scene of the first incident.
The attack killed two privates trainee policeman, another 13 people were injured. Among the victims - a policeman, acting as prosecutor of Karabulak and a civilian.
After the blast a criminal case immediately after the five articles of the Penal Code.
29 April 2010.
ABNA.ir: Islamic Radio to be Set Up in Ingushetia
Spiritual Board of Muslims of Ingushetia plans to set up Islamic Radio of the country.
According to islamrf, the plan has been proposed to the officials in charge and the project will begin in a few months.
The objectives of the project have been announced as to promote spiritual education of the youth and to encourage them to pay due attention to principles and teachings of Islam and to listen to Quran verses.
The project will be financially supported by the government of the republic of Ingushetia.
Quran recitations, speeches by Muslim scholars and lessons on religious principles and Arabic language are among the programs to be broadcast through the Islamic radio.
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Rosbalt: Kadyrov: "Memorial" is funded by the West
GOOGLE TRANSLATION
GROZNY, April 29. "Memorial" - an organization that receives funding from the West, believes Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov. He said this at a press conference for foreign journalists. "They do everything they instruct those who pay - said Kadyrov. - There are always people ready for the big money to carry out "dirty" work. " So the head of state said the statement by a journalist that in the past year in Chechnya, was kidnapped 91 people.
"You have been misinformed. We do not have such a number of stolen, you confuse. Just prosecutors all unsolved cases that it has been since the days of Chechnya, referred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which, of course, recorded all of these long-term cases of missing persons ", -" Kadyrov said.
"I just met twenty Svetlana Gannushkina, Oleg Orlov. A year ago at a meeting with them I asked to ask me the most unpleasant questions. I asked them to prove to me that they were more than I care about protecting the rights of citizens of the republic, and what they do for the people more than I do "- said prezilent Chechnya.
"All that they could give me, so this is a list of signatures and without names. Anyone could put these paintings "- he believes.
"Protecting human rights - is for us a holy cause, - Kadyrov stressed. - Why should I violate the rights of people, abducting people, if the law allows us to put the offender? Why should I do if I have 7 thousand people pardoned - brigadier generals, commanders of Chechnya. I myself went to the talks. I returned the group of 60-80 people. I defend these people, was almost their lawyer. Why would I kidnap people, do you think? "
Interfax: One metro suicide bomber could have been stopped on way to Moscow – official
Today at 11:01 | Interfax-Ukraine
One of the two women suicide bombers who committed the terrorist attacks in the Moscow Metro last March aroused suspicions even on her way to the city, chief of the Moscow Interior Department Vladimir Kolokoltsev has said.
"Even other passengers paid attention to one of the suicide bombers when she was traveling on a bus. She posed as an expectant mother but her stomach was unnaturally shaped. She was traveling in a tightly closed jacket, and tried to remain inside the bus. Her escort came up to her regularly asking how she felt," Kolokoltsev said in an interview with Rossiiskaya Gazeta.
Under these circumstances other passengers should have demonstrated vigilance, he said. "The bus was packed, but there were suspicious signs. Why didn't they approach the driver or the traffic police that regularly stop vehicles and point out the suspicious passenger?" the police official asked.
The explosions in the Lubyanka and Park Kultury metro stations took place during the morning rush hour on March 29, killing 40 people and injuring over 90. The attacks were carried out by two female suicide bombers.
Interfax: Investigation identifies all people responsible for Moscow Metro bombings
Today at 10:51 | Interfax-Ukraine
Moscow, April 29 (Interfax) - The Investigative Committee within the Russian prosecution system has identified virtually all people responsible for organizing the March 29 bombings in the Moscow Metro, Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin told Interfax on Thursday.
"The investigators completed the entire set of urgent investigative measures on the initial stage. Dozens of complicated forensic expert studies, including genetic and explosion, and also analyses of video records, including those retrieved from the subway carriages, have been conducted," he said.
"This helped quickly and as accurately as possible identify the individuals involved in the crimes," Markin said.
Jamestown: Transfer of Suspected Militants to Moscow Points to Poor Intelligence on Insurgents
April 28, 2010
Valery Dzutsev
On April 27, the Kavkazsky Uzel (Caucasian Knot) website reported that suspected militants from Ingushetia were now being tortured at Lefortovo, one of the Moscow’s top security prisons. The website indicated that as many as ten suspected militants had been transferred to the FSB headquarters in Moscow.
According to the relatives of the detainees, in the process of vigorous interrogation, some of them had their ribs broken. At the same time, the interrogators severely restricted lawyers’ access to the suspects. Moreover, a source close to the investigators told the website that suffocation, beatings and electric shocks were applied repeatedly to extract confessions from the suspects. According to the source, the threat of sexual assault and its public exposure were also used to make the detainees to plead guilty (kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/168150).
The ten suspects were captured on March 2-3 in a special police operation in the Ingush town of Ekazhevo, which is in the vicinity of Ingushetia’s main city, Nazran. The authorities suspect the group of having staged the attack on the Nevsky Express train on November 27, 2009. Twenty-seven people were killed and 90 injured when a blast derailed the elite Russian commuter train connecting Moscow and St. Petersburg (Kommersant, April 4).
The transfer of such a large group of detainees to Moscow and what appears to be their torture in prison there marks a significant shift in Russian policies in the North Caucasus. The move exposes the weakness of Russia’s rule in the North Caucasus, most notably in Ingushetia, where it cannot rely on the local police to the extent that it has to send the suspects to Moscow for interrogation.
Although according to the Russian law, a suspect should be interrogated and tried in the place where he committed the crime, in this case the detainees were not sent to the Tver region, where the explosion took place, but to Moscow. Also a Moscow district court ruled on the suspects’ transfer the day after their arrest and nearly two months later it is still not confirmed whether these men were the perpetrators of the crime. In fact, their relatives have insisted the militant suspects, nine of whom bear the same surname and are related to each other, were captured randomly (kavkaz-uzel.ru, April 27).
The well-known ideologist of the insurgency in the North Caucasus Said Buryatsky was killed along with several other suspected militants during the same police operation in Ekazhevo on March 2-3. Yet the much hailed success of the Russian security services did not prevent the attacks on the Moscow metro on March 29, which claimed 40 lives.
Rights activists have criticized the Russian law enforcement agencies for their brutal methods of suppressing the insurgency that often involved innocent civilians and almost always were in breach of Russia’s own laws. The rights activists and analysts alike have argued that when the law enforcement agents killed innocent civilians or broke the laws they contributed to the expansion of the conflict. However, the recent actions that the Russian government has taken, and police practice, reveal a new, much more troubling pattern. It appears that the Russian security services do not understand the new generation of insurgent leaders and, most strikingly, the authorities do not possess the good, on the ground intelligence needed to stage precise, well-targeted police operations. This, in turn, indicates that the gap between the local population and Moscow in terms of how they view the situation is widening. Of course, this is especially characteristic of Ingushetia, Chechnya and Dagestan, and to a significantly less extent in the other North Caucasian republics.
This explains a large part of the indiscriminate and often unapologetic killings committed by Russian law enforcement personnel. Following the suicide bomb attacks in Moscow on March 29, North Caucasus insurgency leader, Doku Umarov, stated that they were carried out to avenge the killing of civilians in a police operation in vicinity of Arshty and Dattykh villages on the border area between Chechnya and Ingushetia on February 11. Even though the Russian security services hailed the killing of 18 alleged insurgents as a great success, even they had to eventually recognize that they killed at least four innocent civilians during that operation. Some Russian media outlets went a step further by claiming that all of those killed were innocent civilians (lenta.ru, April 1).
What most of the Russian observers chose not to notice, however, was that the police did not even attempt to investigate the deaths of at least several villagers killed by the Russian security services.
Russia’s political leadership has resolved to take extraordinary steps to stabilize the North Caucasus. Most notably, the map of the country’s federal districts was redrawn to allow the government to focus exclusively on the needs of the North Caucasian republics’ development. President Dmitry Medvedev stated that the government and corporate investments in the North Caucasus are currently worth more than $7 billion (RIA Novosti, April 26). So, Moscow is genuinely interested in pacifying the region using not only the stick, but also carrots. Yet, despite the obvious connection between the law enforcement abuses of power and the exasperation these evoke among the locals, law enforcement has practically acted unconstrained up until now.
It may well be the case that Russian law enforcement simply cannot do a better job than eliminating every suspected insurgent and in the process often killing innocents. The general population in some areas of the North Caucasus has become so antagonized that the Russian security services are unable to obtain high quality intelligence on the activities of the armed underground. Instead of recognizing this embarrassing fact, Russian officials seem to pretend that indiscriminate killings actually show the strength of the security services, which should supposedly evoke awe among North Caucasians and Russians alike. However, as the perception is manifestly distorted, it can hardly contribute to a proper policy response to the spiraling regional insurgency.
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Georgian Daily: Russian Journalist Puts on a Hijab to Test Muscovites’ Reactions
April 29, 2010
Paul Goble
Vienna, April 28 – In an update of John Howard Griffin’s 1961 classic study of racism in the US, “Black Like Me,” in which a white journalist passed as a black man, a Russian writer donned a hijab in order to see for herself just how the reaction of Muscovites to “ordinary Muslim girls” has changed since the period since the subway bombings in the Russian capital.
In this week’s “Sobesednik,” Elena Khanyan says that her experiences confirm what Muslim women have told her: In recent weeks, they “try not to leave their residences lest they become victims of xenophobes, who have begun more frequently to attack” those who wear the hijab (sobesednik.ru/incident/sobes_15_10_hidzab/).
Before taking this step, Khanyan asked some Muslim women whether they could do without the hijab. “Not in any case,” Asya Israilova, a representative of the Russian Congress of Peoples of the Caucasus. “It isn’t one of the five pillars of Islam, [but] it is no less a matter of obligation.”
Israilova acknowledged that there were various opinions about this, and one sales clerk at the Muslim clothing store where Khanyan bought her own black hijab said that “if there is a threat to one’s life [because one is wearing the hijab], then it is better to take it off or replace it with a hood.”
Russian media have carried reports that Muslim women wearing the hijab have been attacked. Shortly after the Moscow metro explosion, two such women were beaten because someone thought they might be suicide bombers. And similar attacks have occurred since that time not only in the capital but in other Russian cities.
Consequently, any Muslim woman who wears the hijab faces “a real threat,” the “Sobesednik” journalist continues. When she put one on, she reports, “everyone looked at her.” Some “turned away; others “crossed the street” to avoid her. “No one through a rock at her back,” she writes, “but many did not conceal their hatred.”
When Khanyan went into the metro, the first ticket seller refused to sell her a ticket. But the second sold her one, although after doing so, she “ran away somewhere,” the journalist says. “On the platform, people moved away from me,” she writes. “But all of them were quiet.” When the train arrived, one women waited to be sure Khanyan wasn’t getting on before entering it.
On her way out of the station, Khanyan continues, she noted that she was being tracked by a militiaman with a dog. Perhaps, she said, the ticket seller had called his attention to her. But “they were going down, and I was already going up,” she says, a possible indication that this was no more than a coincidence.
Another militiaman told her that he was glad he didn’t have to check her. “You need a detector, and I don’t have one, and women must search women, and in our unit, there aren’t any.” Asking for a passport won’t help. It might even be “stupid,” he said, because if the woman was a shahid, “she could blow herself and you up right there.” He’d seen that on TV, he told her.
At the same time, he “acknowledged,” Khanyan writes, that his bosses had “all the same ordered [officers] to track Muslim women with large bags,” but she notes that he gave no indication the interior ministry had given any directive that militiamen should give extra protection to Muslim women should as a result of the recent attacks on them.
Russia-IC: 25 millions rubles for reconstruction of the Pscov Kremlin
29.04.2010
The medieval fortress of Pskov Kremlin (Krom) suffered from fire on the April, 28. One tower, Vlasyevskaya, was burned down and completely damaged, and the second one, Rybnitskaya, was considerably damaged. The buildings of the neighboring Dovmontov Gorod are damaged as well.
The fire broke out on the roof of Vlasyevskaya tower. It was spreading very quickly because of the strong wind. All the Pskov fire-fighting teams were alarmed. But unfortunately, everything they were able to do was to locate the fire. The roofs of the towers and the roofing of the walls were lost.
The fir became a shock for the Pskov people: Krom is a sacred place of culture and history for them. The causes of the fire are being investigated. The first version is that the restaurant of Rus, situated in the tower did not comply with fire safety rules. Every fire outbreak could invite disaster and it did. It also could be an arson.
There are strange conjunctions, taking place in the history sometimes. It was on the April, 28, 1562, when the Pskov Kremlin was burned down and completely destroyed.
Georgian Daily: Moscow Refusing to Recognize Domestic Sources of Circassian Anger, Markedonov Says
April 29, 2010
Paul Goble
Vienna, April 28 – Russian officials are refusing to recognize the domestic roots of Circassian anger in the North Caucasus, preferring instead to blame the United States for seeking to “weaken Russia” and refusing to understand that there will never be “complete stability” in a multi-ethnic milieu, according to a Moscow specialist on the region.
When Aleksandr Khloponin, the presidential plenipotentiary to the North Caucasus Federal District, visited Karachayevo-Cherkessia last week, Sergey Markedonov points out in an essay posted online yesterday, the Russian official suggested that the US was behind Circassian problems there (politcom.ru/10020.html).
That is a profound misreading of the situation, the Moscow specialist on the Caucasus says, one that not only could may allow Russian officials to avoid facing up to the ways in which Karachay leaders have exacerbated post-Soviet problems there but only at the cost of further destabilizing an already tense situation in the region.
“The ‘Circassian problem’ in Karachayevo-Cherkessia in its contemporary form” took shape, Markedonov says, as a result “of the complex processes of the disintegration of ‘the single community of the Soviet people’” and “the search [by Circassians and others] for self-identification.”
During that process, ethnicity and religion grew in importance, but “this struggle far from always led to open armed conflicts,” the Moscow commentator points out. In many places, officials responded in sensitive ways, and as a result, “the struggle for ‘collective rights’ (the rights of the ethnos)” was kept from getting out of hand.
In Karachayevo-Cherkessia, he continues, “this was done by means of the introduction of ethnic quotas in cadres policy.” The president of the republic was to be a Karachay and the prime minister a Circassian. That reflected “the numerical balance which exists in [that] ‘bi-national republic,’” and it prevented political blocs from forming along ethnic lines.
But that balance was violated in 2008 when the new republic president, Boris Ebzeyev – who was, as Markedonov points out, Medvedev’s “first appointment” in the North Caucasus – “decided to violate the cadres tradition and install in the position republic prime minister an ethnic Greek.”
“On the one hand,” the Moscow analyst says, “this decision was based in the noble goal of minimizing ethno-cratic tendencies. But on the other, it … provoked the social-political activity of Circassian organizations not only in Karachayevo-Cherkessia but also in the neighboring republics of Kabardino-Balkaria and Adygeya” with large Circassian populations.”
While Ebzeyev’s actions led to an extraordinary Circassian Congress and other meetings, the powers that be in Moscow might have ignored it had it not been for “the recent initiative of certain nationalistic Circassian structures and Georgian politicians” who are seeking to have the expulsion of the Circassians in the 19th century as “a genocide.”
But given those initiatives and the media attention they have garnered, Markedonov continues, “the ‘Circassian question’ could not fail to become a subject of consideration” by Khloponin during his visit. Unfortunately, his comments suggest that neither he nor his bosses in Moscow understand what is in fact taking place.
Khloponin clearly believes that “the main source of problems in the North Caucasus is the United States,” Markedonov writes. The permanent representative said that “the North Caucasus is a strategic territory of the Russian Federation just like Siberia and the Far East. And our opponents beyond the borders of Russia always hit precisely at the weakest places.”
After Ukraine, Khloponin continued, the US is focusing on “the problem of the North Caucasus, Kyrgyzstan and Iran.”
Consequently, “Any actions which take place here,” the polpred said, he will “personally consider as a threat to the stability of the North Caucasus” emanating from abroad.
Pointing to the question of “the genocide of the Circassians” that is being raised in Georgia, Khloponin “continued the theme of an American conspiracy: ‘You know from where this theme arose, who stands before it, and what forces are working in order to ignore the match -- all the more so because of the character and ambitions of the North Caucasians.”
From a senior official, Markedonov says, one would like to hear more specifics when such charges are made. “What kind of institutions are the ones he is talking about? Who leads and finances them? And at least it should be possible to provide one name” so that people will know just who is involved.
“If one is speaking about the Jamestown Foundation, which raised the theme of genocide at a March conference in Tbilisi,” Markedonov continues, one should address the question of just how closely linked that private institution is with any US government project rather than suggesting that anything emanating from Washington is the result of US policy.
It is long past the time when such charges are justified if they ever were. “Otherwise,” Markedonov says, “following the same logic, we would agree that any scientific research forum at MGIMO on the problems of the US or Europe represents evidence of a clever plan of the Kremlin for ‘the strategic weakening’ of the West.”
Of course, the Moscow analyst says, such charges allow Russian officials to ignore that most of the problems they face are “the result of errors committed by the administration and the imperfect of Russian administration as a whole.” But such a focus guarantees that the Russian powers that be won’t be able to address the real issues.
Moreover, this focus on outside forces also allows officials to “ignore an obvious fact: the dissatisfaction of Circassian society with the concrete cadre decisions of the president of Karachayevo-Cherkessia has little in common with the activity of foreign organizations of the diaspora.” In short, this dissatisfaction has “in the first instance domestic causes.”
There is another aspect too, Markedonov says. “Anti-Americanism of the kind used by Khloponin is politically ineffective.” Anti-American themes may work for Turkey or Azerbaijan to promote specific policy agendas, but the kind of charges Khloponin has made do not achieve anything, except to blind some to what needs to be done.
The North Caucasus cannot be shut off from the rest of the world, Markedonov says, and consequently, the Russian powers that be must win over the young people there with “more attractive ideas, resources and perspectives” than those offered by “the propaganda of radical Islamists or nationalists.”
That and not anti-Americanism is “the task of an effective and strong state,” the Moscow analyst says. Further, “it is time finally to recognize that complete stability will exist only in a cemetery. In any dynamically developing society, … conflicts are inevitable,” all the more so in multi-ethnic and poly-confessional places.
It is an entirely different question, of course, how these conflicts should be resolved, he says. Consequently, “one should not fall into a stupor from the serious problems in Karachayevo-Cherkessia or Kabardino-Balkaria. One must be able to find measures of anti-crisis administration and the warding off of possible new crises and extremism.”
“That is a much more useful [approach for Russian officials and commentators],” the Moscow analyst says, “then searching for an American black cat in a dark room. All the more so if such a cat is not there.”
Moscow Times: Today in Vedomosti
Issue 4382. Last Updated: 04/29/2010
Tomsk to Elect Police Inspectors
By Mikhail Rudnev
Tomsk police have become the first in Russia to allow citizens to choose their district inspectors themselves. The procedure is set up as a traditional election with three candidates for a position.
Russia Today: 29 April, 2010 in Russian Newspapers
Izvestiya: Don’t be in a hurry to say goodbye to the euro
The influential Standard & Poor’s ratings agency lowered the ratings of Greece and Portugal. As a result, the euro lost value on the European stock markets. But people should not be quick to dispose of the European currency from their bank accounts. Analysts believe that the decline will be short lived. As for predictions that the euro and the dollar will be linked at a 1:1 ratio, that is something that no one believes. At most, the exchange ratio may decline to 1:1.2
By Evgeny Arsyukhin
Greece’s rating fell by three points (that of Portugal by two); the sovereign securities of Greece lost their investment status. Now, if Athens decides to borrow money from a central bank of any of the euro-zone countries, it will no longer be able to use its securities as collateral. Judging from the analyses, “normal” borrowing markets will be closed to the Greeks for about two years.
Rossiykaya Gazeta: A club of the chosen ones
Our new missile complex frightened Western experts
By Sergey Ptichkin
“[Russia’s] devastating new cruise missile system… can be hidden inside a shipping container,” Reuters reported, describing the latest innovation of our defense industry. Panic ensued.
British publications report that the clever Russians did something that has never been done before. They managed to hide missiles capable of destroying an aircraft carrier in a standard shipping container, and offer the new product for export. Robert Hewson, a military expert for the Jane’s Defense Weekly magazine, confirmed that the Russians created something truly unique. According to him, the Club-K system allows making long-range precision strikes using missiles positioned on non-military, ordinary vessels. The weapon could be moved to any place on the globe, without attracting attention.
Vedomosti: Stalin is no longer relevant
Moscow Mayor’s Office decided against placing posters of Joseph Stalin along the city streets on Victory Day. The decision was most likely influenced by the Kremlin.
By Maria Tsvetkova, Maksim Glikin and Vera Kholmogorova
Moscow expositions dedicated to the 65th anniversary of Victory Day do not display any images of Joseph Stalin. Representatives of the Mayor’s Office had earlier stated that a billboard with the image of Stalin will be displayed at Theater Square. This did not happen, however, despite the fact that information stands have already been set up there in time for the Victory Day celebrations. A source close to the leadership of the organizing committee for the celebrations said that 75% of the PR materials have already been distributed and they do not include images of Stalin -- nor will the remaining 25%. Vedomosti’s source notes that such “advertising” would contradict the declarations of the country’s leadership about the crimes of the Stalin regime, as well as the latest practical steps, which include the publication of information on the Katyn massacre on Russia’s Federal Agency of Records’ (Rosarkhiv) webpage.
National Economic Trends
Bloomberg; Russia Cuts Rate as Easing Cycle Draws to End, Inflation Looms
By Maria Levitov
April 29 (Bloomberg) -- Russia’s central bank cut its main interest rate for the 13th time in a year to bolster economic growth and spur credit flows, nearing the end of an easing cycle on the prospect of accelerating inflation.
Bank Rossii lowered the refinancing rate a quarter point to 8 percent, effective April 30, it said on its Web site today. The decision was expected by 20 of 27 economists in a Bloomberg survey. The bank last cut rates a quarter-point on March 26 when it reintroduced overnight deposit operations at a rate of 2.75 percent.
The regulator has reduced rates a total of 5 percentage points in 13 months while the government last year raised spending by 27.3 percent to drag the world’s largest energy supplier out of its worst recession by unlocking credit flows and rekindling demand. Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin on April 6 warned the stimulus may trigger faster inflation and bring an end to the cuts. The refinancing rate has been higher than the inflation rate since the fourth quarter.
“When rates enter positive territory in real terms you do fewer stupid things, take fewer risks and this produces better- quality growth,” said Anton Stroutchenevski, an analyst with Troika Dialog in Moscow, before the announcement. Today’s cut “is an urgent necessity” to spur a recovery.
Economic growth slowed to a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent last quarter from 1.7 percent in the previous period and 2 percent in the third quarter, according to the Economy Ministry.
Inflation, Banks
Inflation, the slowest in 12 years last month at 6.5 percent, is set to accelerate and Bank Rossii has signaled it may start raising rates in the second half.
An increase in bank lending to households and businesses may also prompt the regulator to start tightening policy, economists said. Bank Rossii has indicated it may withdraw liquidity by forcing lenders to raise reserve requirements to pre-crisis levels.
Lending may grow 15 percent this year, bank Chairman Sergei Ignatiev said on April 9. The credit portfolio of Russian banks excluding the nation’s largest lender OAO Sberbank expanded about 1.5 percent in March, he said, adding the rise may be “a coincidence or a change of trend.”
Corporate loans shrank 0.7 percent in February and retail lending contracted 0.6 percent in the month, central bank data show.
‘World’s Biggest Rebound’
That will help the economy grow 7 percent this year, compared with last year’s 7.9 percent contraction, marking the world’s biggest rebound, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in an April 8 note.
The bank has also signaled it may do less to cap ruble gains and Ignatiev on April 9 said the regulator “sharply reduced” the extent to which it steers the currency.
A 76 percent surge in the past 12 months in Urals crude, Russia’s chief export blend, has supported a 14 percent appreciation in the ruble against the dollar. Policy makers may let the ruble strengthen more than the government wants, according to UBS AG and Commerzbank AG. Even after the currency’s gains, the ruble remains about 25 percent undervalued, Clemens Grafe, chief economist at UBS in Moscow, said in an April 20 interview.
The central bank may allow the ruble to rise as it targets a free float regime and uses a stronger currency to cap inflation, Barbara Nestor, an emerging-markets strategist at Commerzbank in London, said in an April 12 note.
Australia, Norway, Israel and Vietnam have raised rates since the peak of the global crisis. China and India have increased reserve requirements for banks to avoid stoking unsustainable lending growth, while the U.S. Federal Reserve has raised the rate charged to banks for direct loans, signaling an end to emergency measures to supply liquidity to financial institutions.
To contact the reporter on this story: Maria Levitov in Moscow at mlevitov@
Last Updated: April 29, 2010 03:17 EDT
2010-04-29 08:21
Reuters: Russian rouble edges up as oil prices stay firm
MOSCOW, April 29 (Reuters) - The Russian rouble was on firm ground in early trade on Thursday, supported by still strong oil prices but dealers said investors were reluctant to make new bets ahead of a long weekend in Russia.
By 0635 GMT, the rouble was up 6 kopecks versus the euro-dollar basket at 33.52, trading within 9 kopecks of a 16-month high, hit earlier this week.
The rouble retained support from oil prices, with futures for Brent crude back to $86 a barrel as the market shrugged off credit rating downgrades for southern euro zone countries.
"We see some thin selling (of foreign currencies) from the exporters' side. The rouble will stay around current levels if the situation on external markets remains stable," said Vasiliy Ushakov, a dealer at Investbank.
Russian exporters and their banks have been bolstering the rouble since mid-April by converting part of their dollar and euro revenues to meet domestic tax payments and other needs.
Markets were waiting for the central bank's decision on interest rates, which is due to be announced on Thursday. Ten of 14 analysts polled by Reuters expect a 25 basis point cut in the refi rate to 8.00 percent, while others sees rates on hold.
A decision to hold rates would be neutral or slightly negative for markets, as it has been generally priced in after some policy makers repeatedly said the central bank had not determined yet whether there was a need to cut rates further, said Vladimir Osakovskiy, analyst at Unicredit bank in Moscow.
If the bank does cut rates, it should support the fixed income market and thus would technically support the rouble. But a rate cut would also affect the rouble's high-yield status and appeal as a carry trade, said Osakovskiy.
The rouble may remain relatively stable until the end of the month as market players are reluctant to take big new positions ahead of long weekends in Russia. The local markets are shut on May 3 and May 10.
Against the dollar, the rouble was down 2 kopecks at 29.30 , and gained 5 kopecks to 38.68 versus the euro .
(Reporting by Andrey Ostroukh; Editing by Susan Fenton) Keywords: RUSSIA ROUBLE/
(andrey.ostroukh@, +7 495 775 12 42)
29.04.2010 - Fitch Ratings
Fitch: Evolving Russian Subnational Framework Remains a Rating Constraint
Fitch Ratings-Moscow/Barcelona/London-29 April 2010: Fitch Ratings says in a new report that the Russian Federation's (RF) evolving institutional framework for local and regional governments (LRGs) has a shorter track record of stable development than many of its international peers and remains a rating constraint.
The constraints in the RF's institutional framework include the limited fiscal autonomy and financial self-sustainability of Russian LRGs due to significant concentration of tax-setting authority at the federal level. Furthermore, regions' tax proceeds are volatile as they are largely income-tax-based and rely on the national economic environment. Revenue volatility is lower for municipalities, as they mostly rely on financial transfers from the regional governments.
The debt management of many Russian LRGs is less than sophisticated, which increases their short-term risk as their debt is generally dominated by one-year bank loans taken out for budget deficit-financing purposes. Such short-term maturity causes high refinancing risk, despite the relatively low indebtedness of most LRGs.
The system of inter-governmental relations between federal, regional and local governments that was initiated in the RF in the early 2000s is still under development. In recent years, it has been affected by frequent changes in tax-sharing arrangements, transfer allocations and expenditure allocation among the various tiers of government. The instability of the system imposes certain limitations on LRGs' medium- and long-term budgeting, investment and debt planning.
Nevertheless, the report also highlights some positive factors, which have had an impact on LRGs' ratings. The existing system of fiscal equalisation is generally based on clear, objective criteria. This formula-based distribution mechanism considers major aspects of the socio-economic environment and incorporates each level of LRG.
In general, Russian LRGs have a low debt burden. Strict restrictions on total debt, annual budget deficits and annual interest payments are set by the RF's regulations. Most Russian LRGs have no foreign exchange risk or derivative exposure.
During the last decade, greater transparency of LRGs' budget execution and debt stock has been achieved. The RF's treasury and finance ministry publishes up-to-date information and data concerning budget execution and debt obligations on a regular and timely basis.
Alfa: Government proposes reducing amount of tax-deductable interest on corporate foreign debt
Alfa Bank
April 29, 2010
According to media reports, the Finance Ministry and CBR have proposed canceling the 15% p.a. threshold for tax-deductable interest on foreign debt for Russian banks and companies starting in 2011, instead linking it to the refinancing rate. Since the proposal does not distinguish between banks and companies, the new rule would prevent banks from boosting domestic lending by limiting access to long-term funding.
The plan is part of the governments effort to discourage foreign borrowing as a way of stimulating domestic lending, which is currently struggling to recover.
However, it should be noted that while Russian banks are currently awash with short-term liquidity, they still lack the long-term funding necessary to increase loan books. Therefore, if foreign borrowing becomes equally unattractive for the entire corporate sector, Russian banks will find themselves unable to satisfy the increased demand from companies, forcing the latter to borrow externally on less favorable terms. Therefore, we are also concerned by the extent of the potential decline in tax-free foreign debt, as a fixed 3% threshold was previously discussed. If the adjustment coefficient results in such a substantial decrease, it will put pressure on the profitability of Russian companies.
Moscow Times: Quarterly GDP Gains Slow
29 April 2010
The economy slowed its quarterly expansion in the first three months of the year after the country’s record slump in 2009, the Economic Development Ministry said Wednesday, citing preliminary estimates.
Gross domestic product grew a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent in the first quarter compared with the previous three months, the ministry said, citing preliminary estimates. On a seasonally adjusted basis, GDP gained a quarterly 1.7 percent in the fourth quarter and 2 percent in the third, the report said.
(Bloomberg)
2010-04-29 07:30
Reuters: Russian bank balances fall to 469.2 bln rbls
MOSCOW, April 29 (Reuters) - Banks' balances in their correspondent accounts at the Russian central bank fell to 469.2 billion roubles on Thursday from 618.0 billion roubles in the previous session, the central bank said.
All figures are in billions of roubles
BALANCES April 29 April 28
Total 469.2 618.0
Moscow region 305.7 452.7
Banks' deposits at the central bank 556.6 557.6
NOTE - Correspondent account balances are an indicator of Russian banks' liquidity. Keywords: RUSSIA BALANCES/ (Moscow Newsroom, +7495 775 1242, moscow.newsroom@)
Alfa: April inflation may decline to 0.4-0.5%
Alfa Bank
April 29, 2010
According to Rosstat, CPI for April 1-26 amounted to 0.3%, meaning the full month inflation will be below the 0.6% seen in March. The continuing deceleration in price growth combined with a slow economic recovery strengthens the argument for an additional cut in the CBR refinancing rate.
In the last several weeks, weekly inflation has been a very modest 0.1%, which resulted in a substantial deceleration in annual CPI from 8.1% to 6.5% in March. At the same time, this month a number of state officials have indicated that signs of a recovery in lending highlight the risk of an upcoming acceleration in CPI, thus pressuring the CBR to stop cutting the refinancing rate, currently at 8.25%.
We, however, argue that a sustainable recovery in lending has yet to be seen, as according to the CBRs preliminary estimates, March growth in loan books excluding Sberbank was just 0.3% m-o-m. Also, taking into account the modest 1Q10 economic growth of 0.6% q-o-q, we believe current real interest rates are too high for Russian companies, which calls for a further reduction in the refinancing rate. The CBR is due to make a rate decision today; we expect another 0.25 bpt cut to 8.0%.
Natalia Orlova
Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions
2010-04-29 05:49
Reuters: Russian markets -- Factors to Watch on April 29
MOSCOW, April 29 (Reuters) - Here are events and news stories that could move Russian markets on Thursday.
You can reach us on: +7 495 775 1242
STOCKS CALL (Contributions to moscow.newsroom@):
Uralsib: Inevitably, equities, and anything that can be categorised as a risk asset, will come under fresh downward pressure this morning. The downgrade of Greece's debt and rising concerns about contagion to other EU debt markets provides a hostile backdrop to all markets.
Olma: Expects the downward correction to deepen on Wednesday following international indexes.
Troika: We are opening our prices this morning down 2.0 percent.
EVENTS (All times GMT):
COPENHAGEN - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is visiting Denmark, due to meet Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen.
MOSCOW - The upper chamber of parliament, the Federation Council, is set to ratify the treaty with Ukraine on the Black Sea Fleet base in the Crimea.
MOSCOW - Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak will report to the Federation Council on preparations of 2014 Winter Olympic sites in Sochi.
BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan - Rocket booster Soyuz will set off to take to orbit cargo space ship Progress-M05M, which is due to dock with the International Space Station.
ASTRAKHAN, Russian - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on offshore oil exploration.
MOSCOW - Russian power producer OGK-6 to announce 2009 IFRS results.
IN THE PAPERS:
Utair, Russia's fourth-largest air carrier, was put up for sale and German airline Lufthansa is named among the potentials buyers, Russian business daily Kommersant reported.
TOP STORIES IN RUSSIA AND THE CIS: TOP NEWS:
• RUSSIA MAKES PUBLIC KATYN MASSACRE DOCUMENTS COMPANIES/MARKETS:
• INTERVIEW-DUNKIN' DONUTS RETURNS TO RUSSIA
• RUSAGRO IPO PRICE BAND SET AT $13.5-$17.0
• PROTEK RAISES $400 MILLION IN IPO
• PHOSAGRO EYES $1 BLN IN 2011-12 IPO
• SBERBANK MAY START EUROBOND ROADSHOW IN MAY
• ROSNEFT TO INCREASE '09 DIVIDEND BY 20 PCT
• MECHEL Q1 COKING COAL OUTPUT UP 230 PCT
• TNK-BP SEES CAPEX FLAT OVER NEXT 5 YEARS
• DEERE EYES $500 MLN INVESTMENT IN RUSSIA
• COKE DEAL TO BUY NIDAN MAY BE POSTPONED
• AVTOVAZ IN TALKS ON 24 BLN CREDIT LINE ECONOMY/POLITICS:
• VEB SELLS $1 BLN BOND ON DOMESTIC MARKET
• PUTIN SETS UKRAINE PIPE QUOTA AT 260,000 T
• RUSSIA M2 +2.8 PCT M/M, +32.1 PCT YR/YR ENERGY:
• Eni, Gazprom to finalise EDF S.Stream entry
• Belarus may cut Russian oil offtake by 27 pct
• Bulgaria rejects loan for nuclear plant COMMODITIES:
• INVESTORS BUY U.S. FACILITIES FROM SEVERSTAL
MARKETS CLOSE/LATEST:
RTS 1,566.8 +0.23 pct
MSCI Russia 838.1 -2.52 pct
MSCI Emerging Markets 1,006.7 +1.36 pct
Russia 30-year Eurobond yield: 5.264/5.222 pct
EMBI+ Russia 181 basis points over
Rouble/dollar 29.2800
Rouble/euro 38.8300
NYMEX crude $83.18 -$0.03
ICE Brent crude $86.12 -$0.05
April 29, 2010 10:57
Interfax: Kuzbass Fuel Co cuts IPO price range, offering – sources
MOSCOW. April 29 (Interfax) - Kuzbass Fuel Company has lowered the price range for its IPO to $6.5-$7.5 from the $7.7-10.4 announced last week, financial industry sources told Interfax.
The number of shares on offer has been reduced by 30%.
Pr
2010-04-29 07:50
Reuters: BRIEF-Russia Polymetal 2009 net profit $95.99 mln
MOSCOW, April 29 (Reuters) - Polymetal:
* Reports results for full year 2009
* Net profit at $95.99 million against a loss of $15.73 million in 2008
* Revenues $560.74 million, up from $502.7 million
(Reporting by Aleksandras Budrys) Keywords: POLYMETAL RUSSIA/BRIEF (aleksandras.budrys@; +7 495 775 1242; Reuters Messaging: aleksandras.budrys.@)
Reuters: Russia's Norilsk Nickel boosts Q1 metals output
Thu Apr 29, 2010 12:04pm IST
MOSCOW, April 29 (Reuters) - Russian miner Norilsk Nickel (GMKN.MM) boosted nickel production in the first quarter of 2010 to 70,180 tonnes from 69,357 tonnes in the same period of last year, the company said on Thursday.
Copper output rose to 96,574 tonnes in the first quarter from 95,714 tonnes in the same period last year.
Norilsk said in a statement that first-quarter palladium output rose to 690,000 ounces from 590,000 ounces and platinum output to 160,000 ounces from 141,000 ounces in the same comparison. (Reporting by Robin Paxton)
Reuters: Investors buy U.S. steel facilities from Severstal
Thu Apr 29, 2010 4:45am IST
* Aurora Capital Group to buy Northern Steel assets
* To buy 4 facilities from Severstal North America unit
* Northern Steel CEO Murley to be CEO
NEW YORK, April 28 (Reuters) - U.S. investment firm Aurora Capital Group agreed on Wednesday to acquire four steel service center facilities from Northern Steel Group, a unit of Russia's Severstal OAO (CHMF.MM), for undisclosed terms.
Patrick Murley, chief executive of Northern Steel, will be CEO of a new company comprised by Northern's Miami Valley Steel Service, Premier Resource Group, Electric Coating Technology and U.S. Metals & Supply.
The deal is expected to close in the second quarter, pending antitrust regulatory approvals. (Reporting by Joseph A. Giannone; editing by Andre Grenon)
2010-04-29 05:49
Reuters: Russia's air carrier Utair put up for sale-report
MOSCOW, April 29 (Reuters) - Utair, Russia's fourth-largest carrier, has been put up for sale and German airline Lufthansa is named among the potentials buyers, Russian business daily Kommersant reported on Thursday.
Quoting sources close to Russia's oil company Surgutneftegas , whose affiliates own the carrier according to the newspaper, Kommersant said they had put the Utair price tag at 10 billion roubles ($340.7 7 million).
Kommersant also quoted a source in Moscow city administration as saying that a proposal to buy the company was sent to Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov and that the Moscow government is the likeliest buyer.
Last year, Utair's passenger traffic totaled 3.5 million passengers, which is the fourth largest among Russian air carriers.
One of the newspaper's sources said the owners have long been mulling the sale of company, which saw healthy "increase in the passenger traffic".
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Lincoln Feast) ($1=29.35 Rouble) Keywords: RUSSIA/UTAIR (vladimir.soldatkin@, +7 495 775 12 42, Reuters Messaging: vladimir.soldatkin.@)
April 29, 2010 09:52
Interfax: Inter RAO boosts Q1 earnings more than 20-fold to 725.6 mln rubles
MOSCOW. April 29 (Interfax) - Inter RAO (RTS: IRAO) boosted net profit 20.5-fold to 725.6 million rubles in Q1 2010 from 35.1 million rubles in the same period of last year, the electricity company said in materials.
Pr
Reuters: Russia's Pharmstandard 2009 profit nearly doubles
Thu Apr 29, 2010 12:48pm IST
MOSCOW, April 29 (Reuters) - Russian drugmaker Pharmstandard (PHSTq.L) said on Thursday its net profit nearly doubled last year on higher sales of medicines, especially its popular Arbidol flu drug.
Net profit amounted to 6.85 billion roubles ($233.7 million) in 2009, against 3.50 billion roubles a year earlier, with sales of the Arbidol drug doubling to 5.50 billion roubles and sales of all pharmaceutical products rising by 77 percent.
The London-listed company confirmed earlier reports that sales jumped 68 percent last year to 24.10 billion roubles, 96 percent of which came from sales of pharmaceutical products [nLDE61B0CK].
Higher sales of Arbidol, whose efficacy for treatment of the H1N1 flu was confirmed by Russian scientific institutes, and bigger sales of other drugs increased the company's share in the Russian pharmaceutical market to 4.4 percent from 4.0 percent a year earlier.
Pharmstandard also said that its first quarter 2010 revenue increased by a fourth to 5.73 billion roubles year-on-year, with 98 percent of that in pharmaceutical products. ($1=29.31 ROUBLE) (Writing by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Hans Peters)
Moscow Times: Hewlett-Packard Launches Computer Assembly Line
29 April 2010
By Alex Anishyuk
ST. PETERSBURG — Hewlett-Packard and component maker Foxconn opened a pilot assembly line to make computers in St. Petersburg on Wednesday, but the partners offered few details on when their main production facility would be finished.
The companies were also reluctant to discuss the economic viability of the project, which they first announced in May 2008. At the time, the 32,000-square-meter main facility was expected to cost $50 million and have an annual capacity of 500,000 personal computers.
The ceremony, attended by senior local officials including Governor Valentina Matviyenko, offered the U.S. computer giant a welcome opportunity to showcase its investment in Russia after investigators raided its Moscow offices as part of a corruption probe earlier this month.
German investigators have said they suspect that HP executives gave millions of dollars in bribes to officials at the Prosecutor General's Office in 2002 and 2003 to win supply contracts. Russia's current top prosecutor, Yury Chaika, said Wednesday that the investigation was ongoing and that criminal cases could still be opened.
"If there's every reason and they hand us the materials, then naturally a criminal case will be opened. So far, we don't have that information," Chaika said during a hearing in the Federation Council, Interfax reported.
HP said it would not be commenting on the investigation Wednesday, and the companies were nearly as tight-lipped on the prospects for their main Foxconn Rus facility, initially planned to be on line by spring 2009.
Jim Chang, executive vice president of Taiwan-based Ho Hai Precision Group, owner of Foxconn, said the plant would "probably not be finished this year" and could exceed initial cost expectations.
“Two years ago when we started this project, we announced the figure of $50 million,” he said. “We are still in the process of making our investment, but I have a feeling we may go beyond this figure.”
The main factory in Kolpino, a suburb in southern St. Petersburg, was supposed to be launched first, but because of the recession, the partners agreed to start with a pilot production line on a rented 10,000-square-meter facility in nearby Shushary, HP and Foxconn said in a joint statement.
The line, operating in test mode since the start of the year, will produce HP, HP Pro and Compaq models. It will initially employ 100 workers, although the staff will grow as production increases.
Eric Cador, HP's senior vice president in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said the production pace would “be driven by demand.”
The assembly line will produce up to 40,000 PCs per month. HP is now negotiating with its Russian partners on distribution, the statement said.
When asked by reporters about the logic of localizing in Russia rather than importing from China, Chang conceded that the project had obstacles to overcome, at least in the short term.
“Like any company, from the efficiency point of view, we’d like to see ourselves in a profitable position, but we are realists. At least at the beginning, this will not be a profitable project,” he said. “We’ll have to learn, but we are historically fast learners, so I’m optimistic about it.”
He did not say when the investors might break even on the project, which Cador called a long-term investment.
“We are here for the long prospective, so I think it will be profitable after all,” Cador said.
The main benefit to consumers, he said, will be faster access to new technology, since all updates will be made locally. When reporters asked whether the localization would reduce costs, St. Petersburg Deputy Governor Mikhail Oseyevsky stepped in to note that "every college student knows … the price is defined by the basic ratio of supply and demand."
Matviyenko, who was on hand for the project's announcement in May 2008, said Wednesday that there was a good reason her city was chosen for the high-tech production.
“The first radio and the first TV in Russia were made in St. Petersburg, so we have a long tradition of innovation here,” she said. “We as a government are doing our best to create a high-tech cluster, and this factory will become the first of its kind.”
She then pressed a symbolic blue button to launch production and granted the first 20 computers made there to a local school.
Product Placement: Russia cracks down on product placement
April 29, 2010 PPN Staff
Russian television stations may have to decrease their commercial breaks if they want to continue allowing product placements.
Reports say that the Office of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) says that product placement should occupy the time allocated for commercials.
The FAS might be considering regulating product placement. The organization penalized product placements in 2003, so this move is nothing new.
Reports claim that FAS is now investigating TNT, which has allegedly violated several provisions in the advertising law.
News.az: Azerbaijani businessmen revamp landmark Moscow hotel
Thu 29 April 2010 | 05:51 GMT
Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, the Azerbaijani ambassador to Russia, Polad Bulbuloglu, representatives of different religious confessions, public figures, businessmen and others attended the opening ceremony.
The hotel is owned by Azerbaijanis God Nisanov and Zarah Iliyev will be officially called the Radisson, but will preserve its historic name.
The Azerbaijani tricolor flies alongside other flags outside the hotel. One of the hotel partners, hotel Ilham Rahimov, told a briefing it had been his idea to fly the Azerbaijani flag. 'There are many things inside the hotel connected with Azerbaijan. Even national carpets, ornaments of Azerbaijan have been used in some rooms. We want to show in this way that Azerbaijanis living in Russia have not only bought a hotel, but have also spent a great deal of money on major refurbishment. This is no secret - purchase of the hotel cost 275 million dollars, while 300 million were spent on its refurbishment.'
Rahimov said that relations between Azerbaijan and Russia were developing in all areas. 'But I think that it's Vladimir Putin that stimulated the development of bilateral cooperation. He paid a historic visit to Azerbaijan in 2001 and since then relations between the two countries became more dynamic.'
APA
Emerging Markets: EXCLUSIVE: Tatiana Orlova quits as ING’s senior economist for Russia
by admin on April 29, 2010
By Andrei Skvarsky
Tatiana Orlova has quit Dutch bank ING as its Moscow-based senior analyst for Russia and the CIS.
A spokeswoman for ING Wholesale Banking Russia confirmed Orlova’s departure to EmergingMarkets.me but said the bank would not disclose whether she had left for a new job.
Before joining ING in autumn 2007, Orlova spent four years at the London office of Credit Suisse First Boston as chief economist for the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia and Egypt and a backup economist for Russia and Ukraine. Orlova is an economics graduate of the London School of Economics and holds a master’s degree in applied mathematics.
ING is understood to be retrenching across its businesses in Russia. A year ago, it sold its non-state pension fund business and its holding company in Russia to British insurer Aviva.
Speculation internally about the bank’s commitment to remaining in Russia has heightened recently.
skvarsky@
Israel Diamond: World Diamond Congress to Take Place July 11-13 in Moscow
[pic]29.04.10, 08:07 / World [pic]
The 34th World Diamond Congress, hosted by the Diamond Chamber of Russia and the Russian Diamond Manufacturers Association, will be held from July 11 through July 13. The Congress sessions will take place at The Ritz-Carlton Moscow Hotel that is situated in the centre of the Russian capital near by the Red square and the Kremlin.
The World Diamond Congress, held every two years, serves as forum of the World Federation of the Diamond Bourses (WFDB), as well as for the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA). The main aims of the Congress are to find solutions to the hottest issues of the diamond business and determine the further sectoral strategy.
The program of the Congress includes the WFDB and IDMA working sessions and the joint WFDB/IDMA Plenary sessions in which will also be attended by Russian and foreign representatives of the business, scientific and research organizations and non-governmental organizations of the diamond and jewelry business.
The participants of the Congress and their accompanying persons will be offered visa support, special group rates for the hotel accommodation, airport meeting service and “airport-hotel-airport” transfers. Furthermore, a special cultural program will be organized for the participants’ accompanying persons during the Congress working sessions.
Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)
Itar-Tass: Putin decrees higher oil export duties as of May 1
29.04.2010, 09.45
MOSCOW, April 29 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed a decree on a higher crude export duty from 268.9 dollars per tonne to 284 dollars per tonne as of May 1. The text of the document was published in the Rossiiskaya Gazeta on Thursday.
The export duties on light oil products will rise from 193.5 dollars per tonne to 203.7 dollars per tonne and on black oil products from 104.2 dollars per tonne to 109.7 dollars per tonne.
The export duty on propane, butanes, ethylene, propylene, butylene, butadiene and other liquefied gases is set at 53 dollar per tonne against 65 dollars per tonne since April 1.
The zero export duties are set on oil calcinate coke.
Since December 1, 2009, the government set the zero oil export duty from several deposits in Eastern Siberia. According to an official of the Ministry of Economic Development, the export duty on Eastern Siberian oil will be made zero monthly simultaneously with the duties on oil and oil products set monthly.
According to the monitoring survey, the average oil price has made 78.11 dollars per barrel from March 15 to April 14, 2010, chief of the analytical department of the Finance Ministry Alexander Sakovich told Prime-Tass. The average oil price increased by more than three dollars against the previous month. Proceeding from this price, the highest oil export duty will make 284.063 dollars per tonne, and the oil export duty will be set at 284 dollars per tonne.
RBC: Ukraine to pay decreased gas price in Q2
RBC, 29.04.2010, Astrakhan 10:36:32.The discounted natural gas price for Ukraine will amount to $236 per 1,000 cubic meters in the second quarter of 2010, Deputy Chairman of Gazprom's Executive Committee Valery Golubev told journalists on Wednesday. He added that without the discount, the price for gas would have been $336 per 1,000 cubic meters.
As reported earlier, Russia will be selling gas to Ukraine with a 30-percent discount, but no more than 4100 per 1,000 cubic meters. The discounted price will apply to 30bn cubic meters of gas in 2010 and 40bn cubic meters in the following years.
Ukrainian Journal: Russian energy minister expresses interest in retail gas market
Journal Staff Report
| |
|MOSCOW, April 28 - Russia remains interested in operations on Ukraine's retail gas market, Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko told |
|journalists. |
| |
|"Without a doubt, we are interested in entering Ukraine's retail market," he said. |
| |
|Gazprom is already present on the Ukrainian market in the form of Gazprom Sbyt Ukraine, a 100% subsidiary. The company is |
|examining opportunities to receive a portion of the gas Russia exports to Ukraine "We planned for a certain amount of the gas |
|delivered to Ukraine at a discount to be handled by the subsidiary," Shmatko said. |
28.04.2010
Oil and Gas Eurasia: TNK-BP Looks to Russian Oil Field Manufacturers To Replace Imports
TNK-BP is open for proposals of Russian equipment manufacturers from Tyumen offering equipment matching imported equipment, TNK-BP Vice President of Management Oleg Chemezov said at a meeting of TNK-BP’s contracting coordination group held April 27 in Tyumen and chaired by Alexander Mor, Deputy Governor of Tyumen Region.
The main criteria for cooperation of TNK-BP with Russian equipment manufacturers is that their equipment must be licensed and meet quality and price requirements.
Substituting Russian-made equipment for imports was the main subject of the meeting. Mor stressed that this subject will be discussed with all oil and gas companies in Tyumen Region in the next two months. The first negotiations were conducted with TNK-BP. Fifteen managers of leading equipment manufacturers from the Tyumen Region took part in the meeting.
Oleg Chemezov said Schlumberger's plant in Tyumen plant become one of the major suppliers of equipment for TNK-BP in near future. Neftemash also expressed its willingness to supply its equipment to TNK-BP.
Apart from import substitution, participants in the meeting discussed current contracting proceedings and issues. Olga Malyshkina, Vice President, Supply Chain Management Division, TNK-BP, named the innovation and research complex “Tyumen Water Treatment Systems” and the Tyument Metalwork Plant as the company's most successful partners last winter.
Copyright 2010, TNK-BP. All rights reserved.
28.04.2010
Oil and Gas Eurasia: TNK-BP To Supply Russian Defense Ministry With Jet Fuel
TNK-BP has signed a jet fuel supply contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense, the company reported in a news release. The contract was concluded after the first-ever electronic tender conducted by the Ministry of Defense. The total volume of supplies under this contract will amount to 235,000 tons from May to October 2010.
Aiming to accelerate the development of the domestic fuel market, the Russian Government has required all government enterprises and agencies to procure oil products through electronic tenders only starting from 2010.
“TNK-BP has been a regular fuel supplier to the Ministry of Defense and its structures. The new contract is the largest in the history of our cooperation, its volume amounts to one fifth of TNK-BP’s annual jet fuel production. We intend to continue bidding in electronic tenders of the Ministry of Defense and other government agencies, and also develop oil product exchange trading that we view as a transparent market mechanism”, said Dmitry Ustinov, Vice President, Business Marketing and New Business Development, TNK-BP.
Copyright 2010, TNK-BP. All rights reserved.
RBC: Rosneftegaz may use Gazprom, Rosneft's dividend to pay for stake in Kovykta
RBC, 29.04.2010, Moscow 11:10:36.The Russian-British oil company TNK-BP has decided to withdraw from the Kovykta oil and gas deposit's development and sell its share in RUSIA Petroleum to the state-owned company Rosneftegaz, the RBC Daily newspaper reported today citing a source close to the negotiations.
The talks have stalled at the exact amount of the deal, however. Other companies' interest in the project allows TNK-BP to ask for a considerable sum for its asset, which Rosneftegaz is unable to pay at the moment. Yet, there is a solution. According to the publication, the state-owned company may pay for the stake in the project with the dividend payout by Gazprom and Rosneft for 2009, which will exceed $1bn.
Among other companies who may bid for a stake in Kovykta are Gazprom - the original candidate - and Rosneft, whose interests are lobbied by Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin and businessman Gennady Timchenko. Gazprom's CEO Alexei Miller indicated in February, however, that Gazprom did not need Kovykta's resources to organize gas exports to Asian countries. Meanwhile, TNK-BP hopes to raise $700m-$900m for the asset.
VTB Capital: TNK-BP might sell its stake in Kovykta field to Rosneftegaz
VTB Capital
29 April 2010
Neutral for TNK-BPs stock
News: According to RBC-Daily, TNK-BP is to sell its stake in the Kovykta gas condensate field to Rosneftegaz. The paper speculates that Rosneftegaz will pay for Kovykta using cash received from Gazprom and Rosneft in the form of 2008 and 2009 dividends. Vedomosti speculated in February that TNK-BP estimates the price of Kovykta at USD 700-900mn.
Our View: This news has already been discussed in the Russian broadsheets for some three months. Considering Gazproms and Rosnefts recommended 2009 dividends, Rosneftegaz might receive USD 842mn by the end of 2010. Together with the 2008 dividends of around USD 550mn that would be enough to acquire TNK-BPs stake in Kovykta. Were the Kovykta licence to be sold, that would be neutral for TNK-BP Holding, as the profit would be received by TNK-BP International (the non-traded entity).
Trading Markets: AFK Sistema acquires 49% stake in RussNeft
Posted on: Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:15:51 EDT
Apr 28, 2010 (Datamonitor Financial Deals Tracker via COMTEX) --
AFK Sistema OAO, a consumer services company, has acquired a 49% stake in RussNeft NK OAO, an integrated oil company. Both the participants are based in Russia.
Announcement (March 26, 2010):
Sistema has signed an agreement to acquire a 49% stake in RussNeft.
The total amount which is expected to be paid is contingent on RussNeft achieving a number of financial and operating indicators, but will not exceed $100 million.
Rumor (November 9, 2009):
According to Hemscott, Kommersant newspaper reported that Sistema is planning to acquire RussNeft from Oleg Deripaska.
Deal Value (US$ Million) 100
Deal Type Acquisition
Sub-Category Minority Acquisition
Deal Status Completed: 2010-04-23
Deal Participants
Target (Company) RussNeft NK OAO
Acquirer (Company) AFK Sistema OAO
Deal Rationale
The acquisition of RussNeft is in line with Sistema's oil and energy group portfolio strategy.
% Acquisition 49%
Georgian Daily: Russia Studies Tax Breaks in Caspian as Lukoil Pumps First Oil
April 29, 2010
By Stephen Bierman and Anna Shiryaevskaya
April 28 (Bloomberg) -- Russia will consider scaling back export duties for Caspian Sea oil, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said today after OAO Lukoil pumped the country’s first crude from the region.
“Oil men have raised the question of reducing export duties and we will think about that,” Putin said during a ceremony to mark the start of commercial output at the Korchagin field. “In any case, projects of this sort we will support.”
Lukoil Chief Executive Officer Vagit Alekperov has joined other energy company heads in calling for tax breaks in Russia’s new oil regions. Producers have said extending existing tax rules to areas such as eastern Siberia and the Caspian Sea, where investment costs can be higher than at older, established fields, may delay development.
The Finance Ministry has urged the government to maintain taxes to narrow a budget deficit that may widen to 7.2 percent of gross domestic product this year from 5.9 percent in 2009, after the economy’s worst contraction on record. Eastern Siberian oil export tax breaks alone may cost the budget $4 billion this year, according to the ministry’s estimates.
Operators in the Caspian Sea are already exempt from mineral extraction taxes for as long as 12 years, or until total output reaches 10 million tons of oil.
Gazprom
2010-04-29 09:18
Reuters: BRIEF-Gazprom - 2009 profit beats forecast
MOSCOW, April 29 (Reuters) - Gazprom:
• 2009 PROFIT ATTRIBUTABLE TO EQUITY HOLDERS OF OAO GAZPROM 835,182 MILLION
rbls (Reuters poll: 704,687 million rbls)
• 2009 NET DEBT BALANCE INCREASED 35 PERCENT TO 1,372,307 MILLION RBLS AS OF
dec.31 2009
• 2009 SALES FALL TO 2,990,971 MILLION ROUBLES FROM 3,285,486 MILLION ROUBLES IN 2008
(Moscow Newsroom, + 7 495 775 12 42, moscow.newsroom@)
Alfa: Gazprombank values 51% of Sibneftegaz at $1 bln; share swap for Novatek looking more realistic
Alfa Bank
April 29, 2010
Gazprombank valued 51% of Sibenftegaz at $ 1bln, Vedomsoti reports, citing sources close to Gazprom. If used in exchange for Novatek shares, this could be equivalent to around 5.5%-6% of the company. The fact that there is now a valuation opens the path to further negotiations between the two companies.
We note that even though speculation in the media began earlier this year on the possibility of a share swap of the Novatek shares Gazprom holds for Sibneftegaz (short-term production target of 12 bcm), it was unclear as to how the latter would be valued. At this point, we do not believe that this transaction will have a material impact on either Novatek or Gazprom and therefore view the news as NEUTRAL.
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