Russia - WikiLeaks
Russia 091125
Basic Political Developments
• Reuters: PRESS DIGEST - Russia - Nov 25
• AP: Mullen leads US in arms control talks with Russia
• Kyivpost: Medvedev: Russian, U.S. aircraft manufacturers could work together
• European Jewish Press: European Jewish delegation discuss Shalit, Iran issues with Russian leaders
• The Moscow Times: Putin Will Make Appeal to Renault
• Bloomberg: Poland, Russia May End Gas Talks Tomorrow, Rzeczpospolita Says
• Dow Jones: Poland May Sign Gas Deal With Russia Thursday - Official
• RIA: Papoulias says Greece to benefit from fuel deals with Russia
• Kyivpost: Moscow slams 'hypocrisy' of Ukraine officials
• Reuters: UPDATE 2-Russia relaxes 2010 gas demands on Ukraine
• Russia Profile: One Step Back, Two Steps Forward
• Itar-Tass: Russia FM sends official note to Japan re Southern Kurils
• Xinhua: Russian legislator denounces Japan's position on territorial dispute
• Aysor.am: Medvedev, Aliev discuss Karabakh conflict
• News.az: Russian leader welcomes progess in Karabakh talks
• 24.kg: Kyrgyzstan, Russia pledge closer cooperation between capitals
• Itar-Tass: French helicopter ship to have joint drill of Russian helicopter teams in St Petersburg
• RIA: Kazakhstan moves to play down Baikonur spat with Russia
• Satnews: Arianespace Marks A First — Twice — For Russia: Arianespace has marked a historic milestone with the arrival of its first two Soyuz launchers in French Guiana, which will be used to inaugurate service with this medium-lift workhorse vehicle next year from the Spaceport.
• Barentsobserver: Next Bulava launch slated for end of December
• Reuters: Q+A-Russia delays test of troubled Bulava missile
• PakTribune: Ex-Soviet states see threat of Afghan spillover
• Interfax: Medvedev gave the Defense a month for inventory of depots and arsenals in Russia
• RIA: Col. Baranets: Russia has right to use nuclear weapons as it deems necessary – interview
• Gazeta.kz: Russian government approved Customs Code of Customs Union
• Interfax: The Federation Council approved a law providing for no increase of transport tax
• iStockAnalyst: Atomstroyexport Ready to Hire Czech, Slovak Contractors in Npp Projects
• RIA: Over 1% of Russian population HIV-positive - UN report
• RIA: Court to rule on refusal to investigate Arctic Sea case abroad
• RIA: Anatoly Chubais had an accident
• : Control of data slips from Kremlin's grasp - Gorbushka market, just outside central Moscow, does a thriving trade in any electronics good you could want: mobile phones, plasma television sets, the latest DVDs, and, if you ask to see them, software peddlers will show potential clients a list of "databases". These consist of CDs with names such as "Ministry of Interior - Federal Road Safety Service", "Tax Service" and "Federal Anti Narcotics Service" and cost about $100 apiece.
• Itar-Tass: Over 20,000 Russians make hajj to Saudi Arabia
• Interfax: The court arrested the detainee in Moscow suspected militants of the bandit Umarov
• Axisglobe: Isa Yamadayev addressed to Russian President as his hunting reportedly continues in Moscow
• Axisglobe: Russian FSB declared anti-terrorist operation in Sunzhensk area of Ingushetia and Achkhoy-Martan district of Chechen republic
• The Jamestown Foundation: Insurgent Violence Reported in Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan
• Axisglobe: High-scope fete celebrating Russian secret services agents to be held in St.Petersburg
• Axisglobe: Lieutenant-General Viktor Vlasov appointed chief of Russian FSB Border Guard directorate in Armenia
• Russia Today: Europe starts extraditing Russian suspects
• RIA: Geneva might seek extradition of Russians over crash scandal
• Telegraph.co.uk: Oligarch's sons 'have shamed Russia' in Geneva road crash
• Global voices Online: Russia Begins Registering Domains in Cyrillic
• The Moscow Times: A Third World Killing - Last week, 37-year-old Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer for Hermitage Capital, died in a Moscow pretrial detention center. - By Yulia Latynina
• Gazeta.ru: The Diary of Sergei Magnitsky disappeared in Matrosskaya Tishina
• Axisglobe: FSB dissident Litvinenko was murdered for revelations on KGB and FSB ties with Italian politicians - MP Guzzanti
National Economic Trends
• WSJ: Crisis Will Continue For 1-2 More Years In Russia - Kudrin
• Reuters: Too early for Russia to end stimulus –Kudrin
• Reuters: Russia Kudrin says Moscow exchanges overheated
• Prime-Tass: Deputy PM sees gradual retraction of govt stimulus
• Dow Jones: Russia To Raise Forex Interventions Within Ruble Trading Band
• Bloomberg: Russia to Cut Rates Further to Stem Hot Capital, Ulyukavey Says
• RIA: Ulyukayev considers the presence of the budget in the banks' capital irrational
• RIA: Kudrin introduced a bill to raise banks' capital to 1 billion rubles
• Dow Jones: Russia May Sell Newly-Bought VTB Shares In Two Years - Kudrin
• Itar-Tass: Second annual RF Pension Forum to be held in Moscow - The fulfilment of the new pension legislation and important problems of the development of the pension system are to be considered at the second annual Russian Pension Forum that is opening in Moscow on Wednesday. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will take part in its work, the press service of the RF cabinet reported.
• Russia Today: Privatisation to step into budget deficit as government looks to entice investor
• Reuters: UPDATE 1-Russia eyes $2.5 bln from privatisations in 2010
Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions
• Bloomberg: Rosneft, Gazprom, Vozrozhdenie: Russia Stock-Market Preview
• Bloomberg: Russia Micex to Exceed 1,400 as Oil Rallies: Technical Analysis
• Reuters: Russia's Sberbank net down 85 pct in Jan-Oct
• Barentsobserver: Norilsk Nickel has $6.1 billion in debt
• Barentsobserver: New terminal strengthens Norilsk Nickel
• : Daimler double - German car and truckmaker Daimler yesterday launched two joint ventures to build trucks with its Russian partner Kamaz, writes Daniel Schäfer in Frankfurt.
• The Moscow Times: VimpelCom To Raise Capex 50%
• Web News Wire: I-Synergo Opens One of the Largest IT Parks in CIS With Cisco Technology
• Property Magazine: X5 to acquire Paterson supermarket chain
• The Moscow Times: Axel Takes Over G+J Magazines - German publisher Gruner + Jahr said Tuesday that it is selling its Russian operations to Axel Springer after concluding that it would need to make too many expensive acquisitions to gain a leading market position.
Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)
• Times Online: Shell seeks stake in giant Russian gasfield
• Itar-Tass: TNK-BP starts construction of gas-turbine power plant in Tyumen region
Gazprom
• Bloomberg: Gazprom May Boost 2011 Spending to $52 Billion, Vedomosti Says
• EurasiaNet: Turkmenistan: Gazprom To Make Cutback On Gas Purchases
• Itar-Tass: Naftogaz, Gazprom formalize gas agreements
• Reuters: UPDATE 2-Russia relaxes 2010 gas demands on Ukraine
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Full Text Articles
Basic Political Developments
Reuters: PRESS DIGEST - Russia - Nov 25
Wed Nov 25, 2009 7:56am GMT
MOSCOW, Nov 25 (Reuters) - The following are some of the leading stories in Russia's newspapers on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
KOMMERSANT
kommersant.ru
- Russian President Medvedev has sacked members of the military whom he considered responsible for the recent explosions at an arms depot in Ulyanovsk, the paper writes.
- The supervisory board of retailer X5 (PJPq.L: Quote, Profile, Research) will meet on Friday and discuss a contract extention for chief executive Lev Khasis, the daily writes.
VEDOMOSTI
vedomosti.ru
- Russia's GDP fell by 8.1 percent in October, the daily writes, citing economy ministry data.
- Russian gas monopoly Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) has agreed to reduce gas supplies to Ukraine for Nazftogaz, the paper says.
- The paper runs an interview with the CEO of British luxury car-maker Jaguar Land Rover.
- Russia's largest lender Sberbank (SBER03.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) made a net profit of 8 billion roubles ($277.9 million) in October, the daily reports.
MOSKOVSKY KOMSOMOLETS
mk.ru
- A drunk Moscow policeman beat up a young man from Abkhazia to death on Monday, the paper writes.
TRUD
trud.ru
- Russia's health and social development ministry plans to ban the showing of any images containing alcohol drinks or people drinking alcohol on TV in a bid to fight sweeping alcoholism, the paper says.
((--Writing by Ludmila Danilova, Reuters Messaging: ludmila.danilova.@, +7 495 775 1242))
($1=28.79 Rouble)
AP: Mullen leads US in arms control talks with Russia
(AP) – 5 hours ago
GENEVA — President Barack Obama's top military adviser attended the latest talks with Russia to replace an expiring Cold War-era arms control agreement, the U.S. said Tuesday.
Adm. Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met with Russian officials from Sunday to Tuesday, U.S. spokesman in Geneva Michael Parmly said.
Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev want to conclude a new treaty by Dec. 5, when the 1991 START I accord cutting U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals expires.
Mullen met Tuesday in Geneva with Russian armed forces chief of staff Gen. Nikolai Makarov, and the two discussed "military and technical issues" related to START, a spokesman for Mullen said.
"Both sides noted that the discussions were both candid and productive and that negotiations were proceeding in a positive direction," the spokesman, Capt. John Kirby, said in a statement.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said Tuesday that the talks on a replacement for START were in the "home stretch," but he stressed "they are not over."
He said both sides were intensely focused on substantive issues and on "the search for mutually acceptable compromises" as they try to reach agreement.
U.S. officials have said there is the broad outline of an agreement, but talks are ongoing on how to verify new cuts in nuclear arsenals.
Kyivpost: Medvedev: Russian, U.S. aircraft manufacturers could work together
Today at 10:44 | Interfax-Ukraine
Russian and U.S. aircraft manufacturers could work together Dmitry Medvedev told workers of the Aviastar-SP joint venture set up on the basis of the Ulyanovsk Aviation Complex.
"Advanced models must be developed," he said when the facility's plans were discussed.
As an example he named the plant's well-known product - the Antonov An-124 Ruslan cargo aircraft. "The market is enormous, so are the transportation volumes. Such planes are actually not made elsewhere in the world," he said noting that only the U.S. C-5 can be compared to Ruslan.
"Someone will occupy the niche. And it would be better if we did that," Medvedev said. "Or we could do it together with the Americans," he added.
|European Jewish Press: European Jewish delegation discuss Shalit, Iran issues with Russian leaders |
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|by: Yossi Lempkowicz |
|Updated: 25/Nov/2009 07:27 |
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MOSCOW (EJP)---Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a Jewish delegation that the continuing captivity of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit by Hamas in Gaza is intolerable and a humanitarian issue of the highest regard.
The delegation from the European Jewish Congress (EJC), led by the organization’s President Moshe Kantor, brought up the issue of Shalit during a meeting with Lavrov Tuesday in Moscow.
Shalit was kidnapped more than three years ago by Palestinian groups, including Hamas, near the Gaza border.
According to the EJC, Lavrov told the delegation that he is in constant communication with the Shalit family and that the Russian government would provide any assistance that would be required.
Kantor, who spoke about how important the Shalit affair was for the EJC, presented the Russian Foreign Minister with a book that Gilad Shalit wrote when he was 11 years old called “When the Shark and the Fish First Met”.
“The continuing incarceration of Gilad Shalit is a humanitarian issue of great concern to Israel and the Jewish people,” Kantor told Lavrov.
”Given Russian influence in the Middle East we would like to ask what Russia can do to help solve this issue,” he said.
The EJC delegation is in Russia to discuss several major issues of concern to the Jewish community and is to meet with Russian President Dimitry Medvedev on Thursday.
Among the issues is also Russia’s attitude towards tough sanctions against Iran in the wake of the stalled talks on the Iranian nuclear program.
“It is vital that there is consensus on the next step should the talks fail. Russia is a vital part of any chances that a strong sanctions program will achieve its object and end the nuclear stand-off peacefully,” Kantor said.
“We also asked the Russian leaders to impress the need for tough sanctions with their allies, including the Chinese.”
Another issue of particular concern to the EJC is the possible delivery to Iran from Russia of the S-300 missile system.
“If the S-300’s were in the hands of the Iranians we can kiss goodbye to any chance of a peaceful resolution to the Iranian nuclear issue,” Kantor continued. “It is clear that the Iranians already see themselves as able to dictate terms to the international community, this missile system would allow them to think of themselves as completely above the law and would act with complete impunity.”
The EJC is a representative umbrella body of Jewish communities across Europe.
The Moscow Times: Putin Will Make Appeal to Renault
25 November 2009
Combined Reports
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will talk to Renault management personally in Paris this week before finalizing plans to rescue Lada maker AvtoVAZ, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said Tuesday.
“We will start implementing AvtoVAZ’s development program after high-level talks in Paris,” Shuvalov said in a statement. The government is keen for Renault to offer to increase its current 25 percent stake in AvtoVAZ, which owes 60 billion rubles ($2.08 billion) in short-term loans. The French partner has yet to reveal its plans.
Putin will meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday in Paris, where they are expected to oversee the signing of a memorandum between the companies.
AvtoVAZ, which Putin insists must involve the French carmaker as a key investor in Russia’s largest car firm, employs nearly 100,000 workers in Tolyatti.
(Reuters, MT)
Bloomberg: Poland, Russia May End Gas Talks Tomorrow, Rzeczpospolita Says
By Marta Waldoch
Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Poland and Russia may tomorrow end negotiations of an agreement increasing deliveries of gas to Poland to about 10.3 billion cubic meters from next year, Rzeczpospolita reported, without saying where it got the information.
To contact the reporter on this story: Marta Waldoch in Warsaw on mwaldoch@
Last Updated: November 25, 2009 01:35 EST
NOVEMBER 25, 2009, 3:12 A.M. ET
Dow Jones: Poland May Sign Gas Deal With Russia Thursday - Official
WARSAW (Dow Jones)--Poland may sign a new natural gas agreement with Russia as early as Thursday, Polish Economy Minister Waldemar Pawlak told Polish public radio Wednesday.
"The agreement will be signed if there are no obstacles," he said.
According to Pawlak, the agreement guarantees stable natural gas deliveries to Polish gas monopoly PGNiG (PGN.WA) from Russia's OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) at a reasonable price.
"The price in the contract has not changed and is linked with oil prices, which guarantees supplies at a relatively reasonable price," he said.
In late October, PGNiG said it reached an agreement with Gazprom to increase natural gas supplies to Poland. Its implementation requires changes to Polish-Russian government-level gas agreements.
The latest agreement includes the extension of an existing gas supply contract until 2037, and involves the operations of EuRoPol Gaz, the operator of the Polish section of the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline, and the tariff policy for EuRoPol Gaz.
PGNiG said it will increase Russian gas purchases to 10.27 billion cubic meters a year, measured in accordance with Polish norms.
-By Marcin Sobczyk, Dow Jones Newswires; +4822 447-2432; marcin.sobczyk@
RIA: Papoulias says Greece to benefit from fuel deals with Russia
02:4925/11/2009
ATHENS, November 24 (RIA Novosti) - Greece and Bulgaria will benefit from joint energy projects with Russia, Greek President Karolos Papoulias said during an official dinner to mark the visit of his Bulgarian counterpart.
"We [Greece and Bulgaria] could become the main hubs of energy supplies to Europe, international players in the energy sector," he said.
He added that the construction of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline and the South Stream project could be implemented "in the near future," and that the political and economic benefits of the projects "are evident."
"Greece, Bulgaria and Russia have a very close cooperation in the energy sector. This cooperation is in our interests," he said.
Burgas-Alexandroupolis is a project between Russia, Greece and Bulgaria to pump Russian and Caspian oil from the Bulgarian Black Sea port of Burgas to the Greek Aegean port of Alexandroupolis.
Once completed, the pipeline will pump 35 million metric tons of oil a year (257 million bbl), a volume that could eventually be increased to 50 million metric tons (368 million bbl). Under an inter-governmental agreement signed in 2007, Russia holds 51% in the project company, while Greece and Bulgaria hold 24.5% each.
Greece and Bulgaria have also joined the South Stream gas project, which is a part of Russia's efforts to cut dependence on transit nations and is a rival project to the EU-backed Nabucco, which would bypass Russia. It is scheduled to be completed by 2015.
Kyivpost: Moscow slams 'hypocrisy' of Ukraine officials
Today at 10:07 | Interfax-Ukraine
Moscow, November 24 (Interfax) - Moscow expressed annoyance at an incident at Kyiv's Boryspil airport on Nov. 24 in which two Russians were denied entry to Ukraine, slamming it as "one more incident" that "highlighted the hypocrisy of state officials who verbally advocate a constructive dialogue with Russia but in practice block bilateral contacts."
"The Ukrainian authorities did not allow two Russian scholars who had arrived in Kyiv, V. L. Frolov and Y. V. Meskova, to take part in an international conference on key problems of youth policy in Ukraine and in Russia that is being arranged by nongovernmental organizations," Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"It appears that certain political forces in Ukraine are clearly displeased with the bilateral dialogue that has gradually been resuming recently and that aims to create conditions for returning the nature of mutually beneficial partnership to our relations," it said.
"Responsibly-minded politicians in Kyiv would be well-advised to think hard about potential consequences of this practice and to take measures to eradicate it as soon as possible," the ministry said.
Ukrainian State Border Guard Service spokesman Serhiy Astakhov told Interfax onNov. 24evening that the two scholars "were denied entry to Ukraine under instructions to that effect from law enforcement agencies."
No comments have come so far from any of Ukraine's law enforcement agencies or from the country's Foreign Ministry.
Reuters: UPDATE 2-Russia relaxes 2010 gas demands on Ukraine
Wed Nov 25, 2009 2:12am IST
* Gazprom, Naftogaz agree to reduced gas volumes
* Ukraine to import 33.75 bcm of Russian gas in 2010
* Gazprom agrees to waive fines for 2009 (Adds details, background)
By Robin Paxton and Pavel Polityuk
MOSCOW/KIEV, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Russia relaxed demands on Ukraine for importing gas in 2010 and agreed on Tuesday to waive fines on this year's supplies in a deal easing European fears of a renewed dispute along a route supplying a fifth of its gas.
Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research), Russia's powerful state-run gas export monopoly, agreed that Ukraine -- whose economy has been crippled by the global financial crisis -- could buy 35 percent less gas than originally contracted for next year.
"The volumes have been corrected in accordance with actual consumption in Ukraine in conditions of crisis," Gazprom Chief Executive Alexei Miller said after four hours of talks with Oleh Dubyna, the head of Ukrainian state energy firm Naftogaz.
"These volumes remove the risk of the payment of fines by Naftogaz Ukraine in 2010 for the non-use of contracted gas." Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine was cut off for three weeks in January after the ex-Soviet states argued over pricing and transit, a dispute that shook confidence in Russia's ability to supply gas and Ukraine's ability to give it safe passage.
Europe is concerned the dispute, which damaged industry and left hundreds of thousands in the cold, could flare up again at New Year, especially as rival political factions in Ukraine jostle for support ahead of a Jan. 17 presidential election.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, whose often fierce rhetoric has worried European consumers, has said existing gas deals with Ukraine were a guarantee of stable energy supplies but has also warned Ukraine not to siphon gas meant for Europe.
His earlier pledge to Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko that Russia would waive fines for under-consumption of gas this year were formalised in Tuesday's agreement between Gazprom and Naftogaz, both companies said in a joint statement.
"We secured final agreement that Gazprom will not charge fines for the non-use of 13 bcm of gas in the first 10 months of 2009," Miller said.
LOWER VOLUMES
Putin and Tymoshenko, a front-runner in the Ukrainian presidential election, laid the groundwork for Tuesday's deal when they agreed at a Nov. 19 meeting in Yalta to cut the amount of gas Ukraine must take next year. [ID:nLJ170609]
Naftogaz agreed to purchase 33.75 billion cubic metres of gas (bcm) from Gazprom in 2010, both companies said in the joint statement. This was less than the 52 bcm agreed by the two countries in January.
"Considering the way the financial crisis has affected our country, we have taken considerably less gas than contracted this year and we made this request to our partners," Naftogaz head Dubyna said. "We have found understanding on this issue."
Ukraine had already been lobbying for a reduction. Tymoshenko has said she wanted to import between 27 and 33 bcm next year, depending on the economic situation in her country. [ID:nL3432316]
Though Ukraine has so far settled all its monthly gas bills on time, Tymoshenko has conceded this has been a struggle. Russian leaders have also accused her of political infighting with her rival, President Viktor Yushchenko, and of disrupting the process.
Gazprom said 80 percent of contracted gas volumes were subject to "take or pay" conditions -- meaning Ukraine would have to pay for the gas regardless of whether it was used.
Ukraine purchased 18.85 bcm of gas from Russia in the first 10 months of this year, only 59 percent of contracted volumes of 31.7 bcm for the period, a decline in consumption attributable to the global economic crisis, Gazprom said. (Additional reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Christian Wiessner) ((robin.paxton@; +7 495 775 1242; Reuters Messaging: robin.paxton.@)) ((For help: Click "Contact Us" in your desk top, click here [HELP] or call 1-800-738-8377 for Reuters Products and 1-888-463-3383 for Thomson products; For client training: training.americas@; +1 646-223-5546))
November 24, 2009
Russia Profile: One Step Back, Two Steps Forward
By Tom Balmforth
Russia Profile
In the Run Up to the Ukrainian Presidential Elections, Russia Seems to Have Gained More Than It Forfeited in the New Gas Deal
On November 19, the likelihood of a gas conflict between Ukraine and Russia at the end of this year appeared to have been significantly reduced after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made a key concession on gas trade at a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko in Yalta. Tymoshenko, a front-runner in the Ukrainian presidential race, walked away from the deal looking good. But analysts say that fundamental problems, such as Ukraine’s domestic gas policy, still remain a potentially explosive flashpoint in Russia-Ukraine gas relations in the near future.
The Ukrainian economy has been battered by the financial crisis and Ukraine has subsequently found it particularly hard to meet its contractual obligations to Russia’s state-owned gas monopoly Gazprom. Vastly reduced gas consumption during the economic crisis has meant that Ukraine has fallen short of its consumption quota for gas in 2009, making it eligible for sizeable sanctions in line with its “take or pay” style gas contract. Russia has now, however, agreed to waive these fines. Moreover, at the meeting in Yalta Putin promised that Gazprom would agree to set a new volume of gas to be exported to Ukraine in 2010, taking the currently reduced demand into account. “We sincerely expect that all earlier reached agreements will be implemented, and from our side we guarantee full implementation,” Reuters quoted Putin as saying at a news conference after the deal was struck. “It would be nice to see a New Year without any shocks,” he added.
The deal will bring a sigh of relief from the millions of Europeans who were left shivering in January this year after disagreement between Ukraine and Russia resulted in a temporary disruption in gas supply. Roughly a fifth of Europe’s gas arrives from Russia through Ukraine’s transit network. Past conflicts over gas between Ukraine and Russia have prompted temporary cessations in gas delivery to Europe, often around January, when contracts between Russia and Ukraine are due for renegotiation. This year, political instability in the run up to Ukraine’s approaching presidential elections, slated for January 17, has made conflict over gas into a real worry.
But after Russia’s concession was agreed, there seemed to be a sense of optimism. “Without any doubt, removing the ‘take or pay’ obligations in the contract is good for Ukraine,” said Pierre Noël, a research fellow for energy issues at the European Council for Foreign Relations. “If Ukraine is able to buy less gas next year, that will be a great help to Ukraine’s beleaguered budget,” said Andrew Wilson, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and senior lecturer of Ukrainian studies at the School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies. “I think removing the ‘take or pay’ obligation obviously makes the contract much more favorable to Ukraine in the longer-term, in the sense that, even if gas consumption never really recovers, or recovers really slowly, they still do not have to worry about that,” said Noël.
But still, “Europe is just crossing its fingers,” said Noël. “There is a sense of relief. But you just hope it’s justified.” A gas row this year, or early next, remains a real possibility, because “the risk of a conflict in the coming weeks is more linked to the ability of Ukraine to pay for its gas in the short-term than to the structure of the contract,” he added. And Ukraine’s current economic health is extremely poor. When on November 11, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced that it would not be releasing a $3.8 billion bailout earmarked for Ukraine, Tymoshenko recognized that Ukraine was entering an “extremely difficult” period. Putin followed the news up with tough rhetoric underlining that Russia would once again turn off the taps to Ukraine if it fails to pay for its gas on time, or else siphons off gas destined for Europe. “The fact that Ukraine messed up its agreement with the IMF clearly increases the risk that it will not be able to pay,” said Noël.
One reason Ukraine struggles to afford its gas imports is because it sells imported gas to consumers at a cheap rate. “Ukraine has always paid for its gas by borrowing one way or another. They seem to be structurally unable to charge the gas to consumers in Ukraine at a price that reflects the price they pay Gazprom. This is unsustainable. It is a recipe for a crisis and at some point they won’t be able to borrow any more,” said Noël. “Obviously, politically it is very difficult. But so long as I don’t see the price of gas in Ukraine reflecting the import price, I will be worried about the Ukraine-Russia gas relationship. Even if you take the politics and geopolitics aside, it is simply not possible to buy large quantities of gas at a price that you don’t charge to your customers. It’s as simple as that,” he said.
So, why did Russia make this concession to Ukraine? On the one hand there is a clear economic rationale to the deal. “The reality is that Ukraine’s gas contract had probably become impossible to honor exactly as it was signed. So it’s just adapting to reality - all contracts do that. Of course they were less high-profile negotiations, but after all Russia agreed to drastically reduce the ‘take or pay’ obligations of its European contracts during the last month. So after doing that with France, Germany, Italy, then why not Ukraine?” said Noël.
Politically speaking, the deal with Russia also served to promote Tymoshenko’s candidacy for president, at the expense of the current President Viktor Yushchenko’s. As Wilson said, after the agreement was reached, “it does now seem that Putin’s personal favorite is Tymoshenko.” Yushchenko’s pro-Western policies have made him extremely unpopular amongst Russia’s political establishment, and when on November 19 he appealed to the Kremlin for a revised gas deal in an open letter, he was simply snubbed, which made Tymoshenko look even better when she won a concession from Putin. “Tymoshenko’s smile [after the deal] is not at all surprising,” said Wilson.
Beyond this, however, there was no clear indication of Russia working a secondary political agenda, because Russia has no reason to rock the boat. With Yushchenko’s popularity rating languishing around the five percent mark (scarcely in the frame for a president), Russia has little political stake in another conflict over gas, analysts said. “It wouldn’t be in Russia’s interest to have a gas row where it couldn’t control the consequences, given that it seems to be happy with either [front-runners] Viktor Yanukovich or Tymoshenko for president. Yushchenko is polling so low at the moment that there don’t seem to be any political incentives to have another row,” Wilson noted.
Itar-Tass: Russia FM sends official note to Japan re Southern Kurils
25.11.2009, 06.41
MOSCOW, November 25 (Itar-Tass) - the Russian Foreign Ministry has called “unacceptable” the approval by the Japanese government of a document that says about the “illegal occupation by Russia” of the Kuril Islands, it is said in a statement of the RF Foreign Ministry released on Tuesday.
“Moscow has given the most serious attention to the aforesaid step of the Japanese government,” the ministry’s document says. “We consider it necessary to stress that the Southern Kuril Islands are an inseparable part of the Russian Federation territory on legal grounds based on the WW2 results in accordance with the legally binding agreements and treaties between the ally states, as well as the UN Charter that was ratified by Japan.”
“The approval by the Japanese government of a document with the above wording cannot be assessed any other than unacceptable. The Russian side, including at the top level, has repeatedly warned about counter-productivity of such actions for the bilateral dialogue on the peace treaty problem, including the border delimitation aspect. The current steps of Tokyo contradict the fixed by the leaders of the Russian federation and Japan mutual understanding of the need to create a normal, mutually respectful atmosphere of bilateral cooperation, including the dialogue on the peace treaty problem and border delimitation. The Russian side is ready to continue the corresponding dialogue only in this manner,” the RF Foreign Ministry stated.
“The Russian Foreign Ministry has sent the corresponding official note to the Japanese Foreign Ministry. We hope that Tokyo will draw due conclusions from the situation emerged as a result of its actions,” the statement says.
“Russia for its part is committed to the development of relations with Japan in the constructive spirit that characterises contacts between the RF president and Japanese prime minister,” the Russian Foreign Ministry noted.
The Kuril Islands dispute, also known as the Northern Territories dispute, is a dispute between Japan and Russia over sovereignty over the South Kuril Islands. The disputed islands, which were occupied by Soviet forces during the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation at the end of World War II, are under Russian administration as South Kuril District of the Sakhalin Oblast, but are claimed by Japan, which refers to them as the Northern Territories, being part of the Nemuro Subprefecture of Hokkaido Prefecture. The San Francisco Peace Treaty between the Allied Powers and Japan from 1951 states that Japan must give up all claims to the Kuril islands, but it also does not recognize the Soviet Union's sovereignty over the Kuril Islands. Russia maintains, that Soviet Union's sovereignty over the islands was recognized following agreements at the end of the Second World War, however Japan has disputed this claim. The disputed islands are: Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai rocks.
Russia maintains that all the Kuril Islands, including those that Japan calls the Northern Territories, are legally a part of Russia as a result of World War II, and that this acquisition was as proper as any other change of international boundaries following the war. Moscow cites the following basic points:
The explicit language of the Yalta Treaty gave the Soviet Union a right to the Kurils, and the Soviet Union upheld its own obligations under that treaty. The nation of Russia inherited possession of the islands from the former Soviet Union, in accordance with international law.
The Japanese assertion that the disputed islands are not part of the Kurils is simply a tactic to bolster Tokyo's territorial claim and is not supported by history or geography.
Russia has said it is open to a negotiated "solution" to the island dispute while declaring that the legality of its own claim to the islands is not open to question. In other words, Japan would first have to recognize Russia's right to the islands and then try to acquire some or all of them through negotiations.
On February 6, 2008, Japan Today, an English-language news site in Japan, reported that the Russian president had suggested to Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda to finally settle all territorial disputes over the Kuril Islands and had sent him a letter inviting him to come to Russia for discussions.
The dispute over the Kuril Islands was further exacerbated on July 16, 2008, when the Japanese government published new school textbook guidelines directing teachers to say that Japan has sovereignty over the Kuril Islands. The Russian Ministry of Foreign affairs announced on July 18, “[these actions] contribute neither to the development of positive cooperation between the two countries, nor to the settlement of the dispute” and reaffirmed its sovereignty over the islands.
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met in Sakhalin on February 18, 2009 to discuss the Kuril Islands issue. Aso said after the meeting that they had agreed to speed up efforts to resolve the dispute so that it would not be left to future generations to find a solution.
|Xinhua: Russian legislator denounces Japan's position on territorial dispute |
| |
| |
| |
| |
2009-11-24 23:29:34
|MOSCOW, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Japanese government's position on the four disputed islands is counterproductive to dialogue|
|on the territorial issue, a senior Russian lawmaker said Tuesday. |
| The Pacific islands, known as the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia, were occupied by |
|Soviet troops in 1945 and are currently under Russian control. |
| Japan's parliament passed a law describing the islands as an "integral part" of Japan this summer. The Japanese |
|government on Tuesday reiterated that "the Russian Federation is illegally occupying four northern islands" when responding |
|to a parliamentary query. |
| The Japanese position is "an attempt to exert pressure on the Russian Federation and obtain concessions," Konstantin |
|Kosachyov, head of the international affairs committee in the lower house of Russia's parliament, was quoted as saying by |
|Russian news agencies. |
| The Russian authorities, primarily the Foreign Ministry, should provide "a harsh official reaction to this document," |
|Kosachyov said. |
| Russia and Japan have long been at odds on the four Pacific islands, which has blocked a peace treaty between the two |
|countries since the end of World War II. |
|Aysor.am: Medvedev, Aliev discuss Karabakh conflict |
| |
| |
|Wednesday,November 25 |
|Russian and Azerbaijani Presidents had a detailed discussion on negotiations for settlement of Karabakh conflict, Kremlin’s |
|spokeswoman Natalia Timakova said. |
|“Ilham Aliev has told President Medvedev a detailed resume of last round of negotiations between Azerbaijani leader and |
|Armenia’s President Serge Sargsyan with participation of Minsk Group co-chairs.” She said Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev|
|“has welcomed positive move of negotiation process and assumed Moscow will continue contribute to settling of Karabakh |
|conflict.” |
|Meanwhile, Russian experts and analysts try to predict Dmitry Medvedev’s position at meeting with Azerbaijani counterpart. |
|“Aliev’s threats gave mediators a fright,” said expert at the International Relations and World economy Institute of Russian|
|Academy of Science, Alexander Krylov. |
|“I guess Medvedev tried to calm Aliev down and bring round the futility of acting by force,” he said pointing that it is not|
|in Russia’s interest if the region goes in war as in this case in acceptance with the Madrid principles foreign peacekeepers|
|would be deployed including those from NATO states. |
|News.az: Russian leader welcomes progess in Karabakh talks |
| |
| |
|Wed 25 November 2009 | 07:01 GMT |
|Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has welcomed progress in the negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh and said that Moscow will |
|continue work to resolve the conflict. |
|Medvedev and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev discussed the negotiating process on the Karabakh conflict settlement during|
|their meeting in Ulyanovsk on Tuesday, Russian presidential spokeswoman Natalya Timakova said. |
| |
|"Ilham Aliyev briefed Dmitry Medvedev on the results of the latest round of talks with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan |
|involving the Minsk Group representatives," she said. |
|"The Russian president welcomed the positive progress in the negotiating process and gave assurances that Moscow will |
|continue working to resolve the Karabakh conflict," Timakova said. |
| |
|She said the presidents had also discussed bilateral cooperation, including on the economy, and the schedule of further high|
|level contacts. |
|24.kg: Kyrgyzstan, Russia pledge closer cooperation between capitals |
| |
| |
|25/11-2009 12:01, Bishkek – News Agency “24.kg”, By Aizada KUTUEVA |
|Nariman Tyuleev, the Bishkek city governor on Wednesday vowed closer cooperation with Moscow at the end of his official |
|visit to the Russian capital. |
|In course of bilateral meetings Tyuleev and his Moscow counterpart Yuri Luzhkov outlined importance of strategic |
|partnership, development of traditional business, economic, cultural and humanitarian ties in new economic climate. |
|“The heads of the administrations have marked spheres for extension of cooperation. It is municipal housing economy, health |
|care, cultural and humanitarian spheres, capital construction and investments. New cooperation agreement between the two |
|cities is to be signed in the nearest days,” the report said. |
| |
|Itar-Tass: French helicopter ship to have joint drill of Russian helicopter teams in St Petersburg |
| |
|24.11.2009, 21.55 |
|MOSCOW, November 24 (Itar-Tass) -- The French Mistral helicopter ship will have a joint drill with Russian helicopter teams |
|in St. Petersburg, the captain said on Tuesday. |
|The ship arrived in St. Petersburg on Monday. |
|In the words of the captain, the joint drill was a usual element of a foreign ship’s visit to a port of a friendly state. |
|He also noted that the visit was not directly related to the wish of the Russian Navy to buy the ship, but Russian |
|engineers, shipbuilders and Navy representatives had a chance to tour it. |
|The captain invited average citizens to visit the ship on Wednesday. |
|The Mistral helicopter ship can move at the speed of 18 knots to the distance of 20,000 miles. It has a crew of 160 and may |
|take aboard 450 marines on long voyages and 900 marines on brief voyages. The ship carries 16 helicopters, including six |
|that can be positioned on the ship deck simultaneously. The ship hold can contain over 40 tanks or 70 vehicles. |
|NATO has not developed an official position on Russia-France negotiations on the possible acquisition of a Mistral |
|helicopter ship, alliance spokesman James Appathurai said earlier in the day. |
|He said the alliance was aware of the negotiations. If the negotiations are successful, NATO hopes they observe the laws and|
|customs commitments, he said. |
|The Russian Navy took an interest in the helicopter ship at the St. Petersburg naval show held this June, and the Navy |
|command confirmed the possibility of the ship acquisition in August. |
|The Navy thinks the helicopter ship can be used for peacekeeping, rescue and anti-piracy missions. If the ship is acquired, |
|Russia may use the technology for making similar vessels at domestic shipyards. |
|RIA: Kazakhstan moves to play down Baikonur spat with Russia |
| |
| |
|11:0925/11/2009 |
|Kazakhstan moved to play down a spat with Russia over a delay in a rocket launch from the Russian-leased space center in the|
|Central Asian republic earlier this week, saying it was a result of a misunderstanding. |
|Russia's launch of a European communications satellite on a Proton rocket from Baikonur was delayed from Monday until late |
|Tuesday, which sparked a bitter exchange of accusations between the two ex-Soviet nations. |
|"There has been no scandal around the launch. It was a typical misunderstanding. One side had put an inaccurately worded |
|phrase in documents, and the other had to change a whole range of procedures as a result," Talgat Musabayev, head of |
|Kazcosmos space agency told reporters, adding the two countries should streamline organizational procedures. |
|Kazcosmos accused Russia's space agency on Monday of constantly changing launch plans, which led to the delay in the |
|Proton-M blast. |
|Roscosmos said it had submitted all documents in time and blamed its Kazakh partners for slowly issuing government approvals|
|for launches. |
|"This is not the first time the launch of a spacecraft has been threatened with failure for reasons not depending on |
|Russia," Roscosmos said. |
|Musabayev said on Wednesday that "Kazakhstan has remained Russia's reliable partner," and Kazcosmos hopes "its Russian |
|brothers and friends" will help the country join the club of space powers. |
|Russia rents the Soviet-built launching facility in Kazakhstan since the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, paying an annual |
|rent of $115 million. |
|Its activities in the area have been marred by Proton accidents and Kazakhstan's complaints about toxic pollution. Russia is|
|building a new launching site in the Far East to cut its reliance on Baikonur. |
|ASTANA, November 25 (RIA Novosti) |
| |
|November 24, 2009 |
| |
|Satnews: Arianespace Marks A First — Twice — For Russia |
| |
|Arianespace has marked a historic milestone with the arrival of its first two Soyuz launchers in French Guiana, which will |
|be used to inaugurate service with this medium-lift workhorse vehicle next year from the Spaceport. |
| |
|Containers with the stages for Arianespace’s first two Soyuz launchers are rolled out from the MN Colibri’s interior cargo |
|compartment. |
| |
|The Soyuz 2-1a launchers were carried aboard the MN Colibri roll-on/roll-off transport ship, which docked on schedule |
|yesterday morning (November 23) at Pariacabo port near Kourou after completing the transatlantic crossing from St. |
|Petersburg, Russia. |
| |
|Unloading operations at Pariacabo started with refined kerosene propellant for the launcher's strap-on boosters and its |
|Block A and Block I stages, along with UDMH, N2O4 and hydrazine for its Fregat upper stage. The activity began yesterday |
|from the ship's upper deck, and continued through this morning. |
| |
|Also brought ashore yesterday from the MN Colibri's upper deck was a functional model of the Fregat, which will be used for |
|fueling tests in French Guiana. |
|This was followed by today's rollout of containers with the Soyuz launchers' four first-stage strap-on boosters, their Block|
|A core stages and Block I third stages, Fregat upper stages, as well as the Soyuz ST-type payload fairings. The transfer of|
|these elements began in road convoys to the Spaceport today, and will be completed tomorrow. |
| |
|One of the two Fregat upper stages brought to French Guiana by the MN Colibri is transported from Pariacabo port to the |
|Spaceport. |
| |
|Claude Bessemoulin, Arianespace's head of logistics, said the unloading operations went very well, and followed the |
|procedures employed for years in transporting Ariane launchers from Europe to French Guiana - a process that utilizes the MN|
|Colibri and its sister ship, the MN Toucan. |
| |
|Soyuz is one of the world's most utilized launchers, having been operated in 1,750 missions from Baikonur Cosmodrome in |
|Kazakhstan and Russia's northern launch site at Plesetsk Cosmodrome. Its introduction at French Guiana will bring this |
|venerable medium-life vehicle into Arianespace's growing launcher family, joining its heavy-lift Ariane 5 now operational at|
|the Spaceport, and subsequently the lightweight Vega. |
|Barentsobserver: Next Bulava launch slated for end of December |
| |
|2009-11-25 |
|Russia’s new submarine-launched ballistic missile will be test-launched in the end of December. The launch was planned to |
|take place yesterday. |
|Yesterday’splanned launch of Russia’s troubled missile has been postponed until the end of the year, RIA Novosti reports. |
|This is the second time the launch has been postponed. The last test-launch of Bulava took place on July 15 2009 and became |
|the sixth failed launch out of 12. |
|- Because of the need for coordination of several questions – including technical questions, between the producers and the |
|Russian Ministry of Defence, the test-launch will only be conducted at the end of the year, a source told RIA Novosti. |
|The Bulava missile is designed for the “Borei” class submarines, the fourth generation nuclear subs, the first of which are |
|now being tested in Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk Oblast. The vessel “Yury Dolgoruky” will be the flagship in the Russian |
|submarine fleet. Another two vessels of the kind is under construction in the yard. |
|Reuters: Q+A-Russia delays test of troubled Bulava missile |
| |
| |
|Tue Nov 24, 2009 11:30am EST |
|MOSCOW, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Russia on Tuesday delayed the latest test launch of its troubled new submarine-launched Bulava |
|intercontinental ballistic missile, the state RIA news agency reported. |
| |
|RIA said the launch -- which was first scheduled for late October -- should have taken place on Tuesday but had been delayed|
|again. |
| |
|"In connection with the need to agree a host of questions, including technical ones... the latest launch of the Bulava |
|should take place before the end of the year," RIA quoted an unidentified source in the Russian defence sector as saying. |
| |
|The following are key details about the missile: |
| |
| |
| |
|WHAT IS IT? |
| |
|The Bulava (Mace), which is capable of carrying 6-10 nuclear warheads 8,000 km (5,000 miles), is designed to be deployed on |
|Russia's Project 955 atomic Borei (Arctic Wind) Class submarines. |
| |
|The 37-tonne, 12-metre (39 ft) intercontinental ballistic missile is known as the Bulava-30 inside the Russian military. Its|
|NATO reporting name is the SS-NX-30 and in international treaties it is known as the RSM-56. |
| |
|Russia's Borei class submarines can carry at least 12 of the missiles, which are the sea-based version of the Topol-M |
|intercontinental missile. |
| |
| |
| |
|HOW MANY FAILURES? |
| |
|Of 11 previous tests that have been openly reported, at least six have been unsuccessful, including a test on July 15 when a|
|Bulava self-destructed after a malfunction during the first stage of its flight from the White Sea. |
| |
|A test launch planned for late October was aborted and the submarine which was supposed to fire the missile returned to |
|base, local media quoted a navy source as saying. |
| |
|The Russian navy does not release detailed information about the missile launches, citing national security. |
| |
| |
| |
|WHO TESTS IT? |
| |
|The missiles are usually tested by the Dmitry Donskoy Project 941 Akula (Shark) submarine, which operates as part of the |
|navy's North Fleet. |
| |
|The missiles are usually fired from underwater in northwestern Russia towards the Kura testing site on the Kamchatka |
|peninsula in the Pacific. |
| |
| |
| |
|WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? |
| |
|The missile has been billed as Russia's newest technological breakthrough to support its nuclear deterrent and a way to |
|bolster the country's once mighty submarine fleet. |
| |
|But the repeated test failures are an embarrassment for the Kremlin which has touted the missile as a unique weapon capable |
|of breaching any air defence. |
| |
|The test failures have convinced a growing number of analysts -- and even senior navy officers -- that the Bulava is |
|fundamentally doomed and that it would be cheaper and safer to start from scratch on a new project. |
| |
|Some Russian defence analysts say the project is eating up funds better spent on other projects and that the repeated |
|failures of Bulava are eroding morale in the navy. |
| |
|Russia's chief of the general staff, Nikolai Makarov, said in August that the missile has to fly otherwise Russia would have|
|to refit all of its new generation Borei class nuclear submarines. |
| |
|Asked if it would be better to deploy the reliable, Soviet-era designed Sineva missile on the new submarines, Makarov said: |
|"The Bulava is a totally different system...To refit a submarine for the Bulava means to redesign it completely." |
| |
|Makarov blamed technical glitches rather than a fundamental design fault for the test launch mishaps. He said that the chief|
|constructor of the missile, the head of Moscow's Institute of Thermal Technology, Yuri Solomonov, had resigned. |
| |
|If Russia did scrap the Bulava it would have to scramble to develop a new submarine-launched ballistic missile before its |
|current Soviet-built nuclear submarines reach decommissioning age in the next two decades. (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, |
|editing by Jon Boyle) ((guy.faulconbridge@, +7 495 775 12 42)) |
|PakTribune: Ex-Soviet states see threat of Afghan spillover |
| |
|Wednesday November 25, 2009 (1147 PST) |
|ALMATY: Afghanistan’s Taliban may seek to establish a foothold in ex-Soviet Central Asia to recruit supporters and disrupt |
|supplies for US troops in Afghanistan, regional security officials said on Tuesday. |
|Former Soviet republics Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan act as transit nations for US Afghan supplies and |
|all but Kazakhstan have reported armed clashes with Islamists this year. |
|In the past year, the Taliban insurgency has spread to parts of northern Afghanistan that had long been relatively peaceful,|
|even as violence raged in the south and east of the country. |
|“The deteriorating situation in northern Afghanistan enables the Taliban to spread their influence in that region, giving |
|international terrorists more opportunities to infiltrate the territory of Central Asian states,” Mikhail Melikhov, a senior|
|official at the Common Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), told a conference in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek. |
|CSTO, dominated by Russia, is a defence bloc of ex-Soviet republics. Marat Imankulov, the head of the anti-terrorist centre |
|of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), another post-Soviet bloc that focuses on economic and political ties, said |
|security risks were compounded by the economic downturn. |
|“Frankly speaking, the economic crisis in the CIS countries is turning into a social one,” he told the conference. “We |
|cannot avoid talking about the growing risks of extremist and terrorist activities.” |
|Imankulov said some security analysts expected the Taliban to try destabilising Central Asian states “to disrupt equipment |
|and food supply channels for coalition forces.” |
| |
|25.11.09 08:36 |
|Interfax: Medvedev gave the Defense a month for inventory of depots and arsenals in Russia |
| |
|/Google translation/ |
|November 25. Interfax-Russia.ru - President Dmitry Medvedev called for a real security personnel and residents of Ulyanovsk,|
|associated with work in the warehouses of ammunition. |
|"We need to ensure real security and military personnel who are involved in the commission of such works, and residents of |
|Ulyanovsk. And not only here, in Ulyanovsk, and elsewhere. We have a similar depots and arsenals in the country a lot, the |
|quality of storage of munitions it is necessary to check" , - said Dmitry Medvedev during a meeting in Ulyanovsk on the |
|situation with the explosions at ammunition depots in the city. |
|Dmitry Medvedev recalled that he had commissioned a full inventory depots and arsenals, "with pictures, with a technical |
|description of what is happening there." |
|"As far as I know, when it all happened on 13 November, the authorities, which correspond to the arsenal, at midnight could |
|not find" - said the President. |
|He noted that such an inventory should be conducted, and to take immediate measures to ensure the safety of everyone who has|
|to do with it. The President gave the Defense Ministry a month to conduct the inventory. |
|"November 13 at the warehouse the Navy in Ulyanovsk been a major emergency, people died, and this became possible because of|
|lack of control by the Ministry of Defense and the criminal negligence of those who were instructed to dispose of ammunition|
|at a time" - said Dmitry Medvedev. |
|He noted that this incident was being investigated, however, despite the arrival of a large number of chiefs from Moscow as |
|from the Ministry of Defense, and representatives of the district, yesterday there was absolutely unconscionable thing. " |
|"Yesterday, at the same arsenal of killing people, and this tragedy already makes to think about more serious things. It is |
|a consequence of the complete lack of discipline in the organization of this work, it is a consequence of the guilt of |
|persons who have not fulfilled their direct duties," - said the president. |
|He stressed that those responsible must answer in accordance with the disciplinary and criminal law. "Here, we present and |
|the chief military prosecutor and head of the Investigative Division of the Prosecutor General. I authorize you to conduct |
|the necessary investigations and as part of a preliminary investigation to take all necessary action" - said Dmitry |
|Medvedev, addressing the participants of the meeting. |
|November 13 at 31-m of the Navy's arsenal in Ulyanovsk there was a fire in one of the shops where there is a waste of |
|ammunition. As a result, PE, killing two soldiers, injured 60 people, including six were hospitalized. According to |
|preliminary information, the cause of the fire was the violation of technology in the disposal of ammunition. |
|November 23, when loading ordnance on the 31-m of the Navy's arsenal in Ulyanovsk detonated one of the shells, because of |
|the exploded munitions loaded into the car. Killing two officers and six soldiers on contract service, two were |
|hospitalized. |
|RIA: Col. Baranets: Russia has right to use nuclear weapons as it deems necessary |
| |
| |
|21:5624/11/2009 |
|Our guest today is Colonel Viktor Baranets, a military commentator from Komsomolskaya Pravda daily. Welcome, Mr. Baranets. |
| |
|Global security is a key issue today. How has the world changed? How have weapons needed to guarantee security changed? |
|Which weapons should we rely on if we abandon a policy of nuclear deterrence? |
| |
|Globally, the temperature of confrontation of Russia and its allies in the Collective Security Treaty Organization with NATO|
|has been falling. However, the only practical step taken by the United States within the “reset” policy is its refusal to |
|deploy ballistic missile defense systems in Europe. |
| |
|It was a positive signal, yet we have likely been too optimistic about it. Barely two hours after President Obama announced |
|the decision, it was said that we had misunderstood him, and that the United States would do it, but a bit differently. |
|Moscow is closely monitoring the situation, but still, the decision not to deploy ABM systems in Europe is a very serious |
|positive signal. |
| |
|As for nuclear confrontation, you know that the global trend was to gradually cut nuclear weapons within the START-1 and |
|START-2 treaties. We are now working hard on a new treaty, which will cut the number of nuclear warheads to 1,200-1,500 per |
|side. |
| |
|This move could be interpreted as both nuclear parties’ decision to lower the nuclear threshold – theoretically. However, in|
|practice we cannot reach an agreement with the U.S. on the rules of the game. Secretary of State Clinton made a statement |
|during her visit to Russia which could interest only professionals, or which only professionals could notice. She said they |
|would allow Russian officers to inspect U.S. nuclear arsenals. |
| |
|What does that mean? Under the treaty, an American commission inspected Russian arsenals, and a Russian commission went on a|
|similar mission to the United States. And it turned out that Russia liquidated warheads in compliance with the treaty, while|
|the sly Americans stored the scrapped warheads, which created the serious problem of “return potential.” The U.S. can take |
|warheads from storage and mount them on a missile, which puts Russia at a big disadvantage. |
| |
|The negotiating teams are now focused on rapidly drafting fair rules for the game because we are tired of being duped. |
|A few words about the latest Russian statements on nuclear weapons. Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security |
|Council, recently made a series of high-profile statements, one of which frightens our foreign partners. He said that since |
|Russia has nuclear weapons it also has the right to use them as it deems necessary, and also that it reserves the right to |
|deliver preventive nuclear strikes. |
| |
|Some Western critics immediately said this means that Russia will deliver blows at whomever it wants. But the idea is that |
|Russia has not only intercontinental missiles but also other types of nuclear weapons – tactical missiles – as well as |
|weapons that interest other countries the most, small nuclear charges. I believe it was these nuclear weapons Mr. Patrushev |
|was referring to. |
| |
|It was a hint to Georgia that if Russia fails to repel another potential aggression it may consider delivering a nuclear |
|strike. It would not be a strike that pulverizes half of Georgia; it would be a strike delivered within the limits of |
|expediency, only to stop the enemy. |
| |
|In general, nuclear bargaining has never stopped, and nuclear weapons have always been the core of the Russian armed forces.|
|Nuclear weapons are the umbrella giving Russia a historical chance to reform its armed forces. If not for nuclear weapons, |
|Russia would have been treated quite differently in the world especially since foreign intelligence services are not sitting|
|on their hands. They cleverly analyze the real situation in the Russian armed forces, which are halfway to a new destination|
|and are undergoing radical change. |
| |
|The main thing is that possession of nuclear weapons allows Russia to restructure its armed forces. Taken together with |
|petrodollars and mineral resources, this allows Russia to advance progressively, even though it is making some mistakes in |
|the process. Military reforms have provoked contradictory views in the expert community both in Russia and abroad. |
| |
|You mentioned Georgia. Is there still a potential threat coming from the Saakashvili regime? |
| |
|Yes, the unfriendly political regime led by Mikheil Saakashvili stands at the helm in Georgia and its army has been working |
|with combined NATO assistance to strengthen its muscle after its failure in August 2008. |
| |
|Over 22 NATO and several other countries helped arm Georgia before it attacked South Ossetia. For example, Israel supplied |
|unmanned air vehicles. It later asked forgiveness from the Kremlin and promised never to supply UAVs again. However, the |
|chief of Israel’s main intelligence agency recently admitted officially that Israel is again supplying UAVs. |
| |
|But they are acting within the framework of international law, aren’t they? |
| |
|Certainly. When I analyzed the issue of Ukraine’s military supplies to Georgia, and when we found documents of the Ukrainian|
|parliament’s special commission which undeniably showed that Ukraine supplied weapons and specialists to Georgia, Ukrainian |
|politicians said: “Sorry, but Ukraine has a military technical cooperation agreement with Georgia.” |
| |
|And this is true. The supply of weapons to a country adjacent to Russia immediately sets into motion other mechanisms – |
|mechanisms of political morals. The Ukrainian air defense missiles supplied to Georgia were used to kill Russian servicemen,|
|down Russian aircraft, and murder peaceful South Ossetians. |
| |
|Russia has nothing against military technical cooperation between Ukraine and Georgia, but it also understands the meaning |
|of this cooperation. These two countries have been working hard to get into NATO, and are doing their best to prove their |
|worth. Everyone can see this. Intelligence data, unofficial information and statements all point in this direction. |
|What has Moscow done in this situation? The Russian president said we should draw proper conclusions, thereby hinting that |
|Russia could apply economic sanctions. I can understand this – when the United States dislikes a country where Russia |
|supplies weapons, it immediately uses sanctions against that country. |
| |
|Which types of weapons is Russia relying on now? |
| |
|Russia is using every achievement in the world that could be interesting and expedient in the military sphere. The Russian |
|S-400 air defense missile system is certainly one of the best in the world, and we are now completing the S-500 system. |
|Although the process is very difficult, the much-lauded U.S. Patriot can’t hold a candle to the Russian system. |
| |
|This also means that Russia’s military technical potential is very strong even though 8,000 Russian scientists have |
|emigrated in the last 18 years. Not all of them are working for the military, but some 20% are surely strengthening other |
|countries’ defenses. |
| |
|As for new types of weapons, we are now actively using tank protection systems. When an enemy missile is fired at a tank, |
|the tank protection system intercepts and destroys it. Foreign intelligence services have been watching our efforts closely |
|over the last 18 years, buying one bit of the project after another. This is evidence that Western military highly value |
|Russian achievements. |
| |
| |
|Gazeta.kz: Russian government approved Customs Code of Customs Union |
| |
|12:27 25.11.2009 |
|text: Kazakhstan Today |
|The government of the Russian Federation approved the Customs Code of the Customs Union of Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus. |
|The Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, Elvira Nabiullina, informed on Monday, following the results|
|of the government session of the Russian Federation, the Kazakhstan Today agency reports citing ITAR-TASS. |
|According to the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, "the document has base character and its approval|
|is the major step towards formation of the Customs Union in the interests of our three country-partners." |
|The decision on creation of the Customs Union was accepted by the Presidents of the EurAsEC countries on October 6, 2007. |
|Formation of the uniform customs territory assumes cancellation of customs borders between the countries of the Customs |
|Union and shift all kinds of state control, except boundary, to the customs border of the union. "Control at the |
|Belarus-Russian border will be cancelled from July 1, 2010 and on Kazakhstan - from July 1, 2011. The uniform custom duties |
|in the territory of two countries will come into force on January 1, 2010. The customs code will start to operate from July |
|1, 2010. |
| |
|25.11.09 10:53 |
|Interfax: The Federation Council approved a law providing for no increase of transport tax |
| |
|/Google translation/ |
|November 25. Interfax-Russia.ru - Federation Council of Russia at a meeting on Wednesday approved a new version of the law |
|on vehicle tax, which retains its current rate. |
| |
|Earlier, the Federation Council rejected a law passed by the State Duma, which has increased the transport tax twice. |
| |
|After this was set up a conciliation commission, which has resolved all issues. |
| |
|However, for a more flexible form of regional revenue budgets federal law gave the regional authorities the right to |
|increase or decrease the rate of vehicle tax, but not more than 10 times. Previously the law provided an opportunity to |
|increase or decrease five times. |
|iStockAnalyst: Atomstroyexport Ready to Hire Czech, Slovak Contractors in Npp Projects |
| |
| |
|Monday, November 23, 2009 2:51 PM |
|(Source: Daily News Bulletin; Moscow - English)[pic]MOSCOW. Nov 23 (Interfax) - Atomstroyexport, Russia's general contractor|
|of nuclear power plant projects, has signed a memorandum of mutual understanding with Czech and Slovak companies in Prague. |
|Atomstroyexport intends to buy equipment and services from partners in building nuclear power plants in Russia and third |
|countries. |
|The sides will cooperate in the construction of nuclear power plants of the Russian make, with water-cooled water-moderated |
|reactors VVER (the export name MIR 1200), Atomstroyexport said. |
|The pool of partners is a rather large one, the company said. |
|Atomstroyexport hopes that Czech and Slovak partners will engage national export agencies with appropriate financial[pic] |
|resources in the construction of nuclear power plants in third countries. |
|Atomstroyexport, Hydropress and Skoda JS are taking part in a tender for building the third and fourth units of the Czech |
|Temelin nuclear power plant. If the bid is victorious, the consortium will employ the maximal number of local contractors. |
|It will also hire companies from EU member countries, such as Italy and France. Atomstroyexport is already cooperating with |
|French Areva in the construction of the Belene nuclear power plant in Bulgaria, and discussing joint projects with Italian |
|Enel (that owns nuclear assets[pic] in Slovakia). |
|The Rosatom State Corporation has offered the Czech Republic to build a nuclear fuel plant on the Czech territory. The plant|
|will guarantee nuclear fuel deliveries to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and other European countries, Rosatom said. |
|(c) 2009 Daily News[pic] Bulletin; Moscow - English. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved. |
|A service of YellowBrix, Inc. |
| |
|RIA: Over 1% of Russian population HIV-positive - UN report |
| |
| |
|06:4525/11/2009 |
|NEW YORK, November 24 (RIA Novosti) - Over 1% of Russian residents are HIV-positive, according to a joint report by the UN |
|Program on HIV/AIDS and the World Health Organization. |
|Injecting drug use remains the primary transmission route in Russia and the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia region|
|on the whole. According to the report, about 37% of Russia's estimated 1.8 million drug users are HIV-infected. Young people|
|account for a considerable number of infections among injecting drug users in the region. |
|"In a study involving street youth (aged 15-19) in St. Petersburg, 37.4% of the people surveyed were HIV-infected, with a |
|positive HIV status strongly and independently associated with injecting drugs and sharing needles," the report, released on|
|Tuesday, said. |
|According to the report, three countries in the region - Estonia, the Russian Federation and Ukraine have HIV prevalence |
|that exceeds 1%, with Ukraine showing the most alarming infection rate of 1.6%. |
|The estimated number of people living with HIV in Eastern Europe and Central Asia rose to some 1.5 million, up 66% from |
|2001. |
|The report says about 33.4 million people are living with HIV worldwide. New HIV infections dropped 17% over the past eight |
|years worldwide. |
|RIA: Court to rule on refusal to investigate Arctic Sea case abroad |
| |
| |
|05:2625/11/2009 |
|MOSCOW, November 25 (RIA Novosti) - The Moscow City Court will consider on Wednesday an appeal submitted by a suspect in the|
|Arctic Sea ship seizure case, against a lower court ruling not to hand the case to investigators in Malta or Sweden. |
|Dmitry Bartenev is reportedly one of the eight armed men who boarded the Finnish-owned, Maltese-flagged Arctic Sea ship |
|manned by a Russian crew and listed as carrying lumber from Russia to Algeria. The vessel was freed off Cape Verde on August|
|16 by a Russian warship. |
|"We will appeal the ruling of the first instance court, which said the investigators' refusal... to hand the case to |
|relevant bodies in Sweden or Malta was legitimate," Bartnev's lawyer, Konstantin Baranovsky, said. |
|He added that the case should be handed either to Sweden, as the incident took place in its territorial waters, or to Malta,|
|as the vessel was flying the country's flag. |
|A state prosecutor said it was impossible under the Russian constitution, as Russian nationals were among the suspects. |
|The freighter was handed over to Maltese authorities in late October. The ship was given permission to enter the port |
|following a thorough inspection by Maltese officials. |
|In early November, four sailors, who had remained on board the Arctic Sea, returned to their home base in northern Russia. |
|The Arctic Sea, sailing under a new 14-member crew, left the Maltese port for Algeria on November 11, to resume its route |
|interrupted by hijackers. |
|RIA: Anatoly Chubais had an accident |
| |
| |
|09:01 25/11/2009 |
| |
|MOSCOW, November 25 - RIA Novosti. The head of Rosnano Anatoly Chubais on Tuesday came in a car accident, told RIA Novosti |
|spokesperson of the state corporation. |
| |
|"Yesterday, at 18.30 Moscow time, Anatoly Chubais, drove to the meeting of the Supervisory Board of the office building of |
|the corporation. His service included a car with warning lights and siren started a movement to strip back the streets |
|Nametkina toward the intersection with the street Profsoyuznaya. To move forward in passing direction in the far left lane |
|car Class SUV suddenly turned sharply to the left through two solid lines of road markings. Despite the sharp deceleration, |
|the collision could not be avoided, "- said the representative Rosnano. |
| |
|In place of the accident was quickly called up the traffic police. |
| |
|The head of Rosnano, making sure that the driver of an SUV is not injured and can move independently, continued to move in |
|another car. |
: Control of data slips from Kremlin's grasp
By Charles Clover in Moscow
Published: November 25 2009 02:00 | Last updated: November 25 2009 02:00
Gorbushka market, just outside central Moscow, does a thriving trade in any electronics good you could want: mobile phones, plasma television sets, the latest DVDs, and, if you ask to see them, software peddlers will show potential clients a list of "databases".
These consist of CDs with names such as "Ministry of Interior - Federal Road Safety Service", "Tax Service" and "Federal Anti Narcotics Service" and cost about $100 apiece.
Each contains confidential information gathered by Russian law enforcement or government agencies: anything from arrest records, personal addresses, passport numbers, phone records or address books to bank account details, known associates, tax data and flight records are on offer.
In some malls these are sold openly, but in Gorbushka, after a recent police sweep, sellers are more discreet; one merchant gives shoppers a list of available titles and offers to burn the disks for 3,000 roubles ($104, €70, £63). He said there was no moral dilemma about selling personal information. "There is a market and we fill it. It's not a question mark for me," he said.
The confidential information is a goldmine for criminals, spies and journalists - but most of all for the police and bureaucrats that sell the information to computer hackers, who mass produce the CDs and sell them openly through vendors in electronics markets or online.
The size of the black market for information is estimated in the tens of millions of dollars and shows a unique side of the Russian state apparatus - one that has painstakingly tried to maintain a monopoly on information but nonetheless is so corrupt that it cannot. Journalists, while nominally the lowest in the pecking order of the semi-authoritarian state, actually have access to more information about the authorities than in perhaps any other country.
"American journalists must be envious of how open we are in Russia," joked Sergei Kanev, an investigative reporter at Novaya Gazeta, an opposition newspaper, who has written articles about the information trade and occasionally uses the databases in his reporting. He says the main users of the information black market are criminals. He has covered cases of blackmail where extortionists used records of reported rapes or prostitution convictions to blackmail women.
Booting up a database of narcotics offenders, Mr Kanev says: "Look here, you have photos, addresses, phone numbers, what kind of drugs they use. It's very common for con artists to take this database, call up a family member and tell them their son or daughter has been arrested for drugs. They pretend to be policemen and for 10,000 roubles they offer to let the kid go. The parents know their kid is a user, they think its true, and so they pay up. It's all a trick."
But the corruption of the state occasionally works to the advantage of those who are working to change it - giving citizens the resources to spy on corrupt authorities, in an odd reversal of roles for a semi-authoritarian state such as Russia. For example, reporters investigating the murder of Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya in 2006 used a database of flight records known as "Sirena" as the basis to link an officer in the Federal Security Service, who is suspected of being an accomplice, to a hired killer who is serving a 12-year sentence for attempted murder in a separate case and is a relative of two other suspects.
The database allegedly shows the FSB officer, Pavel Ryaguzov, flying to Ingushetia with the convicted hit man, Lom Ali Gaitukayev, and his own boss, an FSB colonel.
The men sat together, and registered for the flight at the same time, suggesting they were travelling together. While the information does not prove anything, it does show an uncomfortably close relationship between the FSB and organised crime. The details of the trip were also backed up by an eyewitness account. Mr Kanev broke this story in February. Mr Ryaguzov was acquitted in a related case by a jury that month, but the acquittal was overturned by the supreme court. A new trial is expected soon.
The black market trade in information is illegal but tolerated in Russia - as long as it stays under the surface. Selling in discreet stalls in shopping malls is tacitly accepted. But one recent effort to set up an online black market database failed - in 2008 the website was operational for less than a week - registered to a Panamanian national and hosted on a US server - before being shut down.
Many large corporations maintain their own security departments, all of which use information databases. However, most of the big players have direct relationships to state officials and do not rely on commercial or black market providers of such information, said Sergei Minaev, general director of Special Information Systems, one of Russia's largest legitimate providers of information for commercial purposes.
Mr Minaev and others question the value of much of the information available on the black market. Mr Minaev said that despite appearances, many of the databases were out of date. "Most of it is junk. All these databases you buy on the street are old, and three out of 10 items are wrong." Others have raised the possibility that some of the information is deliberately falsified
He said that the passage of tough laws in 2002 didn't wipe out the trade, but simply sent it underground. "The authorities destroyed the black market without creating a white one," he said. "They created no alternative for people who legitimately need information. They made everything illegal. That is why it's possible to buy anything."
Elena Lukyanova, a law professor at Moscow State University, said that some legislation in Russia, such as a 2004 law requiring political parties to disclose membership lists, violated constitutional protections on information disclosure and privacy.
"This was done to control the opposition," she said. "If there are violations of the constitution like this, at the level of legislation, we should not be surprised that laws get violated and these black market databases are out there."
She said the problem was endemic corruption.
And while it is possible to find many secrets using Russia's information black market, there is still evidently a tight grip on the most sensitive information of all - foreign bank accounts of top officials, their ownership of assets and those of their relatives. Those are not to be found at the Gorbushka market.
Itar-Tass: Over 20,000 Russians make hajj to Saudi Arabia
25.11.2009, 10.03
MOSCOW, November 25 (Itar-Tass) - Over 20,000 Russians are taking part in the culminating phase of the hajj that begins in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
On November 26, pilgrims will travel to Mount Arafat and stand in the open praising Allah. After sunset they will leave Arafat and head to nearby Muzdalifah, where they will collect pebbles for the next phase of pilgrimage – the symbolic stoning of the devil represented by three pillars in Mina. On November 27, they will celebrate the festival of sacrifice, thanksgiving, rejoicing and prayer.
“Saudi Arabia’s quota issued to Russia this year has been fully used,” the aide for hajj affairs under government’s commission for religious organizations, Islam Nazaraliyev, told Itar-Tass.
He noted that Saudi Arabia cut this year’s quotas over the outbreak of swine flu. Last year 26,000 Russian pilgrims made the hajj pilgrimage.
Over 2.5 million Muslim believers take part in the hajj, of them 2 million are travelers from another part of the globe.
“This year eight companies were responsible for the organization of the hajj, two – in Moscow, two – in Dagestan, as well as in Tatarstan, Ingushetia, Chechnya and the Coordination Centre of North Caucasus Muslims,” Nazaraliyev said.
Around 80 percent of pilgrims are from the North Caucasus, he said. The number of those who travel to Saudi Arabia by plane increase – 50 percent this year.
Russian pilgrims will begin to return to Russia on December 1.
25.11.09 12:14
Interfax: The court arrested the detainee in Moscow suspected militants of the bandit Umarov
/Google translation/
November 25. Interfax-Russia.ru - Lefortovo Court in Moscow issued an arrest warrant for a suspect of involvement in an illegal armed formation, led by Doka Umarov.
"The judge Lefortovo district court ruled, according to which of Ruslan Ozniev suspected of committing a crime under Art. 208 (participation in illegal armed formation) and Art. 222 (illegal possession of firearms and ammunition) of the Criminal Code, to preventive measures in the form detention ", - told Interfax on Wednesday, the spokesperson of the Moscow City Court, Anna Usacheva.
According to investigators, during the search on November 19 in R. Ozniev Makarov pistol was seized from two shops to him, as well as "Moscow map with marks of the possible places a bookmark explosives."
The material indicates that at the end of July 2007 Ozniev R., born in 1983, came from the Republic of Poland in the factory district of Grozny, where, on its own initiative, entered into in violation of the law created by Dmitry Umarov militia.
The detainee is suspected that supported the establishment and activities of form, but also knew about the presence of the participants of firearms.
Investigators believe that being in an illegal armed formation, R. Ozniev to conspiracy took the nickname Abdulmalik and served in various directions managers.
Subsequently, as noted in the materials, hiding from the law enforcement officers, the suspect went to France, where he remained until November 2009. Received this month instructions from one of the leaders of illegal armed groups, said a consequence, R. Ozniev arrived in Moscow to assist participants in forming.
Nov. 18, according to the materials, R. Ozniev met with an unidentified person from whom he received "explosives, tools, initiating explosives, firearms and ammunition, as well as personal disguise - a wig and glasses.
These substances and firearms were seized at the place of residence R. Oznieva November 19 this year, said the investigation.
The court order may be appealed within three days after the announcement in Moscow City Court.
Axisglobe: Isa Yamadayev addressed to Russian President as his hunting reportedly continues in Moscow
24.11.2009
The conflict between the clan of the Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov and the authoritative Chechen family of Yamadayevs has been lasting for some years, daily Moskovsky Komsomolets (MK) writes. The paper’s source from the security services commented on the current situation, “Several groups at once have been working regarding Isa Yamadayev, arrival of those people to Moscow from the Chechen Republic has been fixed last week. The New Year is put as deadline of the task to solve the question concerning him. But they will not leave from Moscow until they execute the order”. The definition „several groups” may mean that there is a certain number of persons who jointly have been tracking down the potential victim (Isa Yamadayev) with the aim of his elimination, MK marks. “ To solve the question concerning him” means to eliminate, to kill Yamadayev. Thus, it turns out that Isa Yamadayev should be killed till January 1, 2010. Judging by the chain of liquidations of his brothers, these intentions are more than serious, the daily points out.
Isa Yamadayev visited the editorial office of the MK and confirmed the reports about the chase. He told that the Interior Ministry of Russia had allocated protection to him and he had decided to address to the President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev through mass media on the matter.
The conflict between the two most influential clans in the Chechen Republic ripened for a long time, MK expands. The Yamadayevs were getting increased authority and popularity. The conflict entered its "hot" stage on April 13, 2008. A road accident took place in central Gudermes because of a Kadyrov’s relative who considerably had exceeded speed. Two servicemen of the Russian GRU Chechen battalion Vostok*,commanded by Sulim Yamadayev, died as a result of the accident. On April 14, 2008, the conflict between Yamadayev and Kadyrov inflamed when the two motorcades refused to let pass each other on the Caucasus highway in the area of Gudermes. Two hours later under Ramzan Kadyrov's instruction the battalions Sever, Yug, republican special-task police division, rapid-reaction unit, regiment named after Akhmat-Hadzhi Kadyrov, the so-called oil regiment, special troops of the Ministry of Interior of Chechen Republic, in total of 25,000 servicemen blocked the 500-men strong base of Vostok battalion in Gudermes and ordered the battalion’s servicemen to change their affiliation. They were demanded to go over under Ramzan Kadyrov’s command, that is to voluntary leave the Vostok battalion of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Russian Defence Ministry’s General Staff. On April 15, Kadyrov publicly accused Yamadayev of murders and abductions of peaceful inhabitants. Simultaneously a criminal case was brought for alleged use of violence against the representative of authorities, concerning Badrudi Yamadayev. On April 19, Yamadayev accused Kadyrov of similar crimes. In May, 2008, Sulim Yamadayev was dismissed from command of the battalion.
(* A special dossier on Chechen security forces is available on AIA website.)
Russian FSB declared anti-terrorist operation in Sunzhensk area of Ingushetia and Achkhoy-Martan district of Chechen republic
24.11.2009
The counter-terrorist operation regime has taken effect since this morning in Sunzhensk area of Russia's North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia, news agency RIA Novosti reports, referring to the press service of the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation Ingushetia directorate.
A FSB directorate’s spokeman told the agency that they had information that members of illegal armed groups, involved in fulfilment especially grave crimes, could keep in hiding in the specified area.
"The head of the Operative staff in Republic of Ingushetia declared a counter-terrorist operation from 08:00 Moscow time within the framework of the territory limited by settlements of Nesterovskaya, Chemulga, Arshty, Galashki, Alkhasty and administrative border with the Chechen republic,” according to the FSB official. According to the FSB directorate, the zone of counter-terrorist operation is blocked by law enforcement bodies of Ingushetia.
One person was killed in the republic's largest city of Nazran yesterday when unknown assailants opened fire on a vehicle driven by a police officer, RIA Novosti cites Ingush police.
In its turn, the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation directorate in Chechen republic confirmed introduction of counter-terrorist operation regime in Achkhoy-Martan district to news agency RIA Novosti. The security forces believe that a group of insurgents has been hiding in mountain-woody part of the district. The special regime has taken force in a strip located from eastern suburb of Bamut settlement through the river Fortanga in southern and eastern directions, news agency reports.
Attacks on troops, police and other officials have been reported almost daily in Ingushetia and Russia's other North Caucasus republics in recent months.
The Jamestown Foundation: Insurgent Violence Reported in Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan
[tt_news]=35768&tx_ttnews[backPid]=7&cHash=13fad434e2
Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 6 Issue: 217
November 24, 2009 02:04 PM Age: 5 hrs
Category: Eurasia Daily Monitor, North Caucasus Analysis, Home Page, North Caucasus , Military/Security
By: The Jamestown Foundation
The Russian federal authorities today imposed a counter-terrorist operation regime on part of Chechnya’s Achkhoi-Martan district, with the aim of neutralizing a group of militants hiding out in a wooded mountainous area. The regime means that military and law enforcement personnel will have the right to search and demand ID’s from suspicious individuals, as well as inspect cars and other means of transport. The inhabitants of some areas within the designated area will be evacuated and, if necessary, vehicles will be seized (, November 24).
Today’s announcement of a counter-terrorist operation launched in Achkhoi-Martan came against the backdrop of reported incidents of insurgent violence in other parts of Chechnya over the last several days. Yesterday (November 23), unidentified gunmen in the capital Grozny shot and killed Roza Almazova, the chief accountant for the Chechen branch of the Federal Service for Narcotics Control. The incident took place at the entrance to her apartment building in Grozny’s Leninsky district. A suspected militant was killed on November 22 in a shootout between security forces and a suspected group of rebels numbering at least ten people in a wooded area between the villages of Avtury and Serzhen-Yurt in Chechnya’s Shali district (kavkaz-uzel.ru, November 23).
Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov told journalists today that the remains of Dokka Umarov, the Chechen rebel leader and “emir” of the Caucasus Emirate, were not found following an operation earlier this month on the outskirts of the village of Shalazhi in Chechnya’s Achkhoi-Martan district. Kadyrov had earlier speculated that Umarov’s remains were among those of some 20 militants killed during the operation by rockets fired from helicopters. However, a close associate of Umarov, Islam Uspakhadzhiev, was reportedly among the slain rebels, along with two other high-ranking militants, Rustam Akuev and Alakhazur Bashaev. Kadyrov said today that both Uspakhadzhiev and Umarov were known to have been in the area where the former was killed, which is why he suggested that Umarov might have also been killed. The Chechen leader said “the hunt for Umarov is currently being carried out in many directions,” adding that Umarov, “like a rat, is dug in somewhere in the mountains” with fewer and fewer fellow rebels “and he will hardly manage to survive the fall and winter, because they are hot on his heels” (, November 24).
In neighboring Ingushetia, unidentified gunmen shot and killed Alikhan Buzurtanov, the head of the administration of the Nasyr-Kortovsky municipal district of the city of Nazran on November 23 (kavkaz-uzel.ru, November 23). On November 21, an unidentified attacker fired a grenade launcher at a police post near Nazran, wounding one policeman. On November 20, unidentified attackers fired on a traffic police car traveling on the Kavkaz federal highway in Nazran. One policeman was wounded and subsequently died in the hospital (kavkaz-uzel.ru, November 22).
In Dagestan, a policeman was wounded in the republican capital Makhachkala on November 22 as he was trying to remove an explosive device from the hood of his car. On November 21, a resident of Dagestan’s Buinaksk district, Khan Khadisov, was killed while he was trying to plant an explosive device on a road in the village of Durangi (kavkaz-uzel.ru, November 22).
Meanwhile, a newly-published report by Thomas Hammerberg, the Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner, states that the number of terrorist acts, killings and abductions in Chechnya has increased this year compared to 2008, despite the fact that the Russian government officially earlier this year ended the counter-terrorist operation launched in the republic in 1999. Hammerberg called on the Russian authorities to clarify the legal norms governing zachistki, or counter-insurgency sweeps, in the republic, to guarantee the observation of human rights during such operations, to carry out independent investigations of violations and to put an end to abductions, extra-judicial killings and secret arrests.
Hammerberg noted that the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has heard over 100 cases connected to counter-terrorist operations in Chechnya. According to the report: “in many cases the court has encountered violations of fundamental rights that are protected by the European Convention for Human Rights, including the right to life, and also violations of the prohibition on torture and inhumane treatment” (, November 24).
High-scope fete celebrating Russian secret services agents to be held in St.Petersburg
24.11.2009
The governor of Russia’s St.Petersburg, Valentina Matviyenko, will hold on December 18, a solemn reception on the occasion of the Day of the Russian state security agencies’ workers, or the Day of the Cheka officer, as an average people say, online paper Zaks.ru reports. The event is intended to take place in the historical area of the city, 200 persons are invited, 20 of them put in the VIP rank.
According to online paper , the city Legal and Law and Order Committee has announced an opened tender on organization of the holiday. The happy winner will receive an order for 1 million roubles. The amount does not cover expenses, if only a number of invited Russian pop-stars and entertainers will not flash their talents free of charge, Zaks.ru marks.
The event is planned to be held in the historical part of the city in the area of Bolshya and Malaya Nevka. The building should be located separately from others, protected, with an opportunity of closing of street traffic around the site, notes. Two parkings for 100 vehicles are also required. Presence of own kitchen, a lobby with an opportunity of accommodation of an orchestra, make-up rooms, VIP-entrances for guests, and also lounges for the VIPs is a must, the online paper adds.
Lieutenant-General Viktor Vlasov appointed chief of Russian FSB Border Guard directorate in Armenia
24.11.2009
Lieutenant-General Viktor Vlasov who earlier served in Russia’s Far Eastern region has become the chief of Border Guard directorate of the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation in Armenia, according to the decree of the President of Russia, news agency Regnum reports, referring to the press service of the FSB Border Guard directorate in Armenia.
The former head of the Border Guard directorate of the FSB of Russia in Armenia, Lieutenant-General Sergei Bondarev will continue military service in the Far Eastern region. Finishing his service in Armenia, Genral Bondarev expressed gratitude for long-term fruitful cooperation to the leadership and the government of Armenia, Regnum adds.
Russia Today: Europe starts extraditing Russian suspects
25 November, 2009, 09:13
The number of extraditions from the European Union to Russia has grown significantly in recent years, as a result of improved cooperation in international criminal investigations.
Within the last two weeks alone, Bulgaria, Poland and Cyprus have extradited three men wanted in Russia on various charges.It was the first time Cyprus responded to an extradition request from Moscow since 2004.Russia's Prosecution has hailed this new era of European cooperation as extremely productive.
RIA: Geneva might seek extradition of Russians over crash scandal
07:3425/11/2009
PARIS, November 25 (RIA Novosti) - Authorities in Geneva might seek extradition of Russian nationals over a drunken high-speed car race, which left a German man severely injured, the Tribune de Geneve paper said on Wednesday.
The paper said authorities in Geneva might demand the extradition of the four suspects if it is proven that they caused the crash and subsequently fled the scene. However, investigators have yet to prove that a street race took place.
"If the facts are serious, the justice might demand their extradition," the prosecutor general of Geneva, Daniel Zappelli, told the paper.
The paper, which identifies the suspects as "brothers I.," said they left the country on Sunday on a private plane, and flew to Istanbul "to meet with their father, a wealthy Russian oligarch."
The Russians were reportedly racing a Lamborghini, a Bugatti, a Mercedes and a Porsche at over 220 km an hour (about 150 miles an hour) on a highway by Lake Geneva last week. The Lamborghini driver hit a Volkswagen driven by a 70-year-old German citizen, who received head injuries and is still in hospital.
Investigators have not disclosed the names of the suspects, but media reports said two of the young racers were sons of the tycoon Telman Ismailov, who opened an ultra luxury hotel on Turkey's Mediterranean this summer. The third suspect was not identified.
The Lamborghini Murcielago driver was identified as 22-year-old Ziya Babayev, a local university student.
Telegraph.co.uk: Oligarch's sons 'have shamed Russia' in Geneva road crash
Two sons of a prominent Russian oligarch have been involved in a lakeside road crash near Geneva in an incident that casts new opprobrium on the lifestyles of the post-Communist "golden youth".
By Andrew Osborn in Moscow
Published: 6:00AM GMT 25 Nov 2009
Swiss police are investigating Alik and Sarhan Ismailov, the sons of billionaire businessman Telman Ismailov and an unnamed friend who is the son of a high-ranking Russian official, the daily newspaper Kommersant said yesterday. They were part of a group of four Russians allegedly involved in a high speed road race between a Bugatti, Mercedes SLR McLaren, Porsche Cayenne Turbo and Lamborghini on a road skirting the shores of Lake Geneva.
The Lambroghini hit a Volkswagen Golf after allegedly passing through a red light, resulting in the hospitalisation of 70-year old German pensioner.
Swiss police are investigating allegations that four young Russians held a dangerous high-speed race along the shore of Lake Geneva last Thursday after a heavy drinking session.
The man driving a Lamborghini allegedly fled the scene with the other Russians.
The German pensioner driving the VW Golf had to later be cut out of the crumpled car.
In an unusual move even by his own outspoken standards, Russia's ambassador to Nato said the incident had brought Russia into international disrepute.
"This incident will have big consequences for Russians," Dmitry Rogozin told Vesti TV. He referred to "The first generation of our 'new Russians' . We are talking about a golden generation who are not embarrassed to throw away 100 euros on a cup of tea or to order a risotto ordering 300 euros."
Mr Rogozin said the alleged behaviour of the four young Russians was an "insult to the (Russian) state and people."
The incident has caused uproar in Switzerland, where the media have accused the police of letting the young Russians off too lightly because of their powerful parents. Three of the four were allowed to leave the country on a private jet before the probe was concluded.
Global voices Online: Russia Begins Registering Domains in Cyrillic
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 @ 06:21 UTC
by Gregory Asmolov
November 2009 will take a special place in the history of the Russian Internet. It is the month when a Cyrillic domain zone was born - .РФ (Russian Federation). Russia became the first country that allows top-level domains in non-Latin characters.
Up until now, governments, companies and individuals could register domain names based on different languages only in Latin transliteration. The current Internet domains system will go much further allowing to use Cyrillic characters in a URL.
“The main thing here is that people who do not understand Latin (English) will be able to use their own language to access the Internet. The Web will become more familiar to people,” Veni Markovski, a representative for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) [ENG] in Russia, CIS and Eastern Europe, told the GVO.
The final decision to introduce Cyrillic URLs was made in October 30, 2009 when the ICANN finally approved the request to let different states use their national alphabets for domain names. On November 16, the Russian Coordination Center for National Intern Domain (RU-Center) submitted an official request for creating a .РФ zone. Although a limited registration of Cyrillic domains starts on November 25, the first requests were already submitted on November 11. The administration of the Russian president is very likely to become the first institution in the .РФ zone with a new URL “кремль.рф” (kremlin.rf). The local government of the Ekaterinburg region also submitted a request asking for “екатеринбург.рф” (ekaterinburg.rf) and “екбург.рф” (ekburg.rf) domains.
The main concern for the RU-Center during the registration is cybersquatting when people and companies buy popular domain names with the only purpose to resell them later for a higher price. But it looks like making a fortune with reselling .РФ URLs won’t be an easy task.
The first stage of registration starts on November 25, 2009 and will continue until March 25, 2010. Only government organizations and owners of officially recognized trademarks - there are at least eight thousand trademarks owners in Russia- will be allowed to apply for a .РФ address during the first months.
The registration will be opened to the general public in April 2010. But not everyone will be able to afford a new domain. Buying a domain name on the first day of the open registration would cost 10 million rubles ($340,000). The price will decline to 100,000 rubles ($3,400) closer to June when the process won't be regulated by the RU-Center. At that point, everyone will be able to purchase a domain name at the price set by different commercial domain sellers.
The stream of applications to the RU-Center started long before November 25. Several thousands of Russian companies and organizations submitted early requests. More than a half of those requests were already denied.
“Over a week, only 1,117 applications have been approved while over 1,500 have been declined,” Andrey Vorobyov, a PR manager at the RU-Center, said. “The applicants do not take the rules seriously and their domain names contain Cyrillic letters along with Latin characters. Some names do not even represent their trade marks.”
The RU-center does not allow Latin letters in new .РФ domains. New URLs also cannot contain offensive words and expressions. A special group of Russian linguists analyzes every application for any abuses of the language.
Some Russian experts see potential conflicts and issues at the earliest stages of the registration. Svetlana Vladimirova, a director of “Mediapartner” company, said that some trademark owners have almost identical names and that can lead to all sorts of problems and confusions during the process.
Russia is the first but not the only country that will have top-level domains based on its own alphabet. The Egyptian Minister of communication Tarek Kamel said at the Sharm El Sheikh Internet Governance Forum [ENG] that Egypt would be the first to use Arabic letters in the state domains. The new URLs will contain “.masr” (Egypt) extension written in Arabic.
Applications for new national top level domains were also submitted to the ICANN by China, Bulgaria and few other countries. One can witness a chain reaction around the former Soviet Union with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine expressing their interest in Cyrillic domain names for their countries.
Most Russian experts consider .РФ domain great news of national importance and a special achievement for the country. The new zone will definitely provide new and more effective ways to reach the Russian-language audience. It will also significantly increase the amount of Russian speakers using the World Wide Web. Some experts say that the age of Internet users in Russia will be significantly younger since the usage of Cyrillic in URLs will make it easier for children to go online.
The Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called the creation of the Cyrillic zone an “important goal” of the Internet development in the country. Medvedev also underlined its symbolic importance for Russia. The authorities claim that it will speed up the process of creating an effective e-government system. The Russian Minister of Communications Igor Shegolev noted recently that the new domain zone would be used to create a government e-mail services making it easier for citizens to communicate with government officials.
But not everyone is optimistic. “No one needs an .РФ zone,” Vladimir Dolgiy-Rapoport, a CEO of Aroundme.ru, said in an interview for the Forbes magazine. “The net is international but the Cyrillic address can’t by typed in most of the countries.”
For better or for worse, the emergence of a .РФ zone also includes a strong political message. The global nature of the Internet in many cases threaten the sovereignty of state actors. In many cases, a commitment of people to a particular network that doesn’t have any affiliation with the state identity is stronger than their commitment to state framework. Until now, governments had difficulties defining state-affiliated spaces in the virtual word. In a way, the national alphabet domains create new borders in the virtual reality and support the state sovereignty.
Domains in different languages also raises some questions about net neutrality. In the near future, the access to some of content on the Internet will be limited to those who know and can type national alphabet characters into an address box of a Web browser. In other words, the new domains not only support the state sovereignty but can also increase the cyberspace fragmentation by drawing new virtual borders.
Veni Markovski believes that the new domain zone has nothing to do with the net neutrality. He claimes that it makes the Internet more accessible. “There is no relation between the new top level domains and the net neutrality issue, which is mainly an issue in the United States,” he said. “The IDN ccTLD - and note, we are talking here only about a country code TLD, not generic TLD - provide more access. If you are from a country that does not use Latin letter, you might never be able to understand what the Internet says… Think about it in a different way, what if the Internet was created in China, instead of in the U.S., and we all had to write the web addresses in Chinese? How many users would there be in E.U., or the U.S., or in Russia?”
The Moscow Times: A Third World Killing
25 November 2009
By Yulia Latynina
Last week, 37-year-old Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer for Hermitage Capital, died in a Moscow pretrial detention center.
William Browder, head of Hermitage Capital and a talented financier, did a lot to improve the investment climate in Russia in the 1990s. We learned much from Browder about the way Gazprom is structured, and he was the first to inform the world about the existence of the Eural Trans Gas company, which traded gas from Central Asia through Ukraine to Europe.
In 2005, Browder investigated the ownership structure of Surgutneftegaz, a company that political analyst Stanislav Belkovsky claims actually belongs to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. As a result, Browder was forced to leave Russia, and Hermitage Capital’s office was raided in June 2007. Heading the search was Lieutenant Colonel Artyom Kuznetsov, an official with the tax inspection department of the Interior Ministry.
As Magnitsky later stated in testimony that may have been his death sentence, “Kuznetsov was present during the search of the branch office … and said that if we had met with him earlier as he had suggested, none of this would have happened.”
During the raid, agents seized official company stamps for three companies through which Hermitage, like any participant on the Russian market, traded shares with the goal of optimizing tax liability. Then, control of those companies was transferred to Moscow tax inspection offices Nos. 25 and 28. Next, a few phony firms brought hyped-up lawsuits against them in St. Petersburg that resulted in the former Hermitage companies being charged with a debt of 5.4 billion rubles ($187.5 million). The new owners of the three companies then requested that the tax inspectors refund that sum in profits tax that they had previously overpaid.
The tax inspectors quickly transferred money that had been converted to cash by using the small Universal Savings Bank controlled by Dmitry Klyuyev, a famous name in the world of corporate fraud. He was given a three-year suspended sentence for his role in a scam involving shares of the Mikhailovsky mining works.
What’s more, Klyuyev had a distant relationship with the security service of the Renaissance Capital investment bank, which, as Browder explained, suffered the same type of raid that the Hermitage subsidiaries suffered.
Renaissance did not lodge a formal complaint for understandable reasons. It was obvious that any group capable of making a tax refund using phony structures had ties that are better left unchallenged. Renaissance understood that crossing the siloviki could be very dangerous.
Browder, however, had nothing to lose. He was faced with an outrageous situation. The firms stolen from him during the raid, regardless of how small or bogus they were, were used to cheat the state out of 5.4 billion rubles. Browder went public with his accusations. What happened after that is incredible: Browder’s lawyer was put on the most wanted list, and the prosecutor began trying to prove that it was actually Browder who had stolen the 5.4 billion rubles.
For all intents and purposes, Magnitsky was tortured to death to extract testimony against Browder. Magnitsky’s death marks a new stage in Russian history — its has definitely become a Third World country.
Before, investors complained while sipping cocktails after work how siloviki stole their assets. Now, they complain how the siloviki kill their colleagues during pretrial detention.
Yulia Latynina hosts a political talk show on Ekho Moskvy radio.
Gazeta.ru: The Diary of Sergei Magnitsky disappeared in Matrosskaya Tishina
Today at 05:46 Marina Yurshina
/Google translation/
Investigation Committee of the Prosecutor's Office (UPC) opened a criminal investigation into the death of a lawyer of investment fund Hermitage Capital Management Sergei Magnitskogo in jail, "Sailor's Silence". Investigators saw in the tragic incident, the signs of negligence and failure to assist a patient.
This happened immediately after Dmitry Medvedev instructed Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika and Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov, to investigate what happened. In addition, the President instructed to check the quality of care provided in institutions of the Federal Penitentiary Service, and analyze the practice of detention of suspects of economic crimes.
Yesterday was nine days after the death of Sergei Magnitsky, arrested exactly one year ago, on Nov. 24, 2008. This "Gazeta" said his mother, Natalia.
She also reported that she was not given some of the things the deceased son. According to her, when she came on Monday in the "Sailor's Silence", she was asked to wait until the authorities decide that it is out of things to give. "Then there were materials that someone compromise" - she said.
According to the woman lost part of the Prison Correspondence of Sergei with his family and his diaries. This was confirmed by Magnitsky lawyer Dmitry Kharitonov, now representing the interests of Natalya Nikolaevna. "I know of at least four of his notebooks - Kharitonov said. - I've seen them and worked with them, along with Sergei. There were copies of his petitions, as well as personal notes, that is, it is quite important evidence in the case."
According to counsel, 24 November, he filed a complaint with the UPC in connection with the loss of notebooks. It requires that they be removed and attached to the record. Kharitonov said that since the death of Sergei, he had already filed about 10 applications and petitions, but the reaction has not yet followed.
The lawyer said that he considers it necessary to conduct audits of all the circumstances of this case: as it is instituted and investigated how and why Magnitsky imprisoned for non-violent crime and held in prison for a year.
37-year-old Sergei Magnitsky, a former tax and legal advisor to the investment fund Hermitage, died on November 16 in jail, "Sailor's Silence". Death was allegedly as a result of cardiovascular failure.
In the Investigation Committee under the Ministry of Interior of Russia claimed that during the detention Magnitsky never complained of health - in fact there is no document confirming his indisposition. However, a lawyer, relatives and colleagues of the deceased has already issued several complaints from Magnitsky in jail administration and Prosecutor General's Office, the inhuman conditions of detention, denial of treatment (the prisoner suffered from a serious illness) and exerted psychological pressure. However, they were rejected or not reviewed.
According to investigators, in 2002 Magnitsky tried to halve tax payments on profits, after arranging a fictitious company owned by Hermitage disabilities. Investigators believe that as a result of this scheme, the budget received less than 500 million rubles.
In the Hermitage declare that all persons with disabilities were employed legally. Moreover, it argued that Magnitsky arrested for having defended the interests of the Fund in the commission of fraud against the company, who had been involved in law enforcement and a few corrupt officials. Management believes Hermitage, Magnitsky deliberately not provided medical aid, forcing change testimony.
Published in the publication "Gazeta", № 222 dated November 25, 2009
Axisglobe: FSB dissident Litvinenko was murdered for revelations on KGB and FSB ties with Italian politicians - MP Guzzanti
24.11.2009
The former Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officer Alexander Litvinenko* who was poisoned in November, 2006, in London, could have been murdered because he was giving evidence on ties between the Italian politicians and the KGB and the FSB, Italian parliament member Paolo Guzzanti told in an interview to Radio Liberty.
Paolo Guzzanti headed the so-called Mitrokhin's commission which in 2002-2006 was engaged in studying of the documents taken out from the USSR by the former employee of the KGB archive Vasily Mitrokhin. Three months ago Guzzanti published a book, Il mio agente Sasha (My Agent Sasha), declaring that Litvinenko had been the main informer of the commission. The new book is to be presented on November 26, at Libreria Battei in Parma, Italy, according to Parmadaily.it.
"The probability that Litvinenko was killed because of Mitrokhin's commission, is rather high,” Guzzanti told the radio, emphasizing that Putin had really had serious interest in disruption of the commission’s work. In the day of poisoning, a member of commission, Mario Scaramella, met with Litvinenko. He had arrived to tell him about threats addressed to both of them by an e-mail. Guzzanti concedes that these threats could be sent intentionally to arrange a meeting to cast suspicions on Scaramella.
"Litvinenko himself had thought that it was Scaramella who poisoned him... British police had the same suspecions. Everybody thought so!” marks Guzzanti. Scaramella and Litvinenko had to meet Igor Ponomarev, Russia’s representative in the International Maritime Organization, but he had suddenly died of heart attack on October 30, 2006. Guzzanti considered that Ponomarev had been killed by radioactive substance, the same way as Litvinenko. Autopsy was impossible, as the Russian embassy immediately had taken away Ponomarev’s body, Guzanti noted. "Both, Ponomarev and Litvinenko were contacts of Mario Scaramella,” he added.
Guzzanti already for a long time has stated that Litvinenko was killed for the compromising information on former Italy’s Prime Minister Romano Prodi. He wrote earlier that the same compromising evidence was the reason of murder of Russian journalist Ivan Safronov in 2007 and the FSB General Anatoly Trofimov in 2005.
Mitrokhin's commission established that Prodi had been connected with the KGB, but the Italian newspapers did not become interested in it, according to Guzzanti. He says the criticism of the Russian secret services and Vladimir Putin is simply forbidden in Italy as Prime Minister and media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi is a friend of Putin.
In January, 2007, the British TV and radio corporation BBC showed video with participation of Litvinenko who told Scaramella that Prodi had ties with the KGB. This was ostensibly reported by the late General Trofimov. He said he had no other sources.
The daily La Repubblica wrote that it was Paolo Guzzanti who sent Scaramella to the former FSB officer as the term of work of Mitrokhin’s commission was expiring and Guzzanti allegedly ordered to find a person who would agree to accuse for money the Italian politician of ties with the Soviet secret services.
(* AIA published Alexander Litvinenko: A Complete Profile on this website)
National Economic Trends
NOVEMBER 25, 2009, 2:00 A.M. ET
WSJ: Crisis Will Continue For 1-2 More Years In Russia - Kudrin
MOSCOW (Dow Jones)--The effects of the financial crisis could be felt in Russia for another one to two years, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said Wednesday.
He added that demand for oil--Russia's biggest export--has fallen catastrophically, and said he expects the price for crude oil to be between $60 and $70 a barrel for the next few years.
-By Will Bland, Dow Jones Newswires; +7 495 937 8445; william.bland@
Reuters: Too early for Russia to end stimulus –Kudrin
MOSCOW, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Russia should be in no hurry to end economic stimulus measures, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin told a conference on Wednesday.
"The crisis will continue for another one-two years despite renewed economic growth," he said. "It is too early to exit from (stimulus) packages, we need to maintain demand. The situation has not stabilised yet".
(Moscow Newsroom, + 7 495 775 12 42)
Reuters: Russia Kudrin says Moscow exchanges overheated
11.25.09, 02:34 AM EST
MOSCOW, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin on Wednesday said local stock markets have become overheated by inflows from speculative international investors.
'We, like many other markets, have received a large volume of short-term speculative money from the world markets. They have arrived, they are among us, and the index is inflated, it is overheated,' he said.
(Reporting by Alfred Kueppers) Keywords: KUDRIN/STOCK MARKET
(alfred.kueppers@; Tel +7 495 775 1242; Reuters Messaging: alfred.kueppers@@)
Prime-Tass: Deputy PM sees gradual retraction of govt stimulus
MOSCOW, Nov 24 (PRIME-TASS) -- Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said the government's retraction of the stimulus program would be a gradual phase-out, rather than an abrupt termination.
"The government has a plan for pulling out of this stimulus program but it should not be short-term and fast and we should do it gradually," he said.
Shuvalov also said the economy was expected to transition into sustainable growth next year, and described the economic situation as stable and positive.
Dow Jones: Russia To Raise Forex Interventions Within Ruble Trading Band
Wed, Nov 25 2009, 08:01 GMT
MOSCOW (Dow Jones)--Russia plans to gradually increase its intervention in foreign currencies within the moving trading corridor that it has set for the ruble and the euro and dollar, the Russian central bank's Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said Wednesday.
Ulyukayev said earlier this month the ruble's floating trading band against the euro/dollar basket was between RUB35 and RUB38. The dollar has a weight of 55% in the basket, while the euro weight is 45%.
-By Ira Iosebashvili, Dow Jones Newswires; +7 495 937 8445; ira.iosebashvili@
Bloomberg: Russia to Cut Rates Further to Stem Hot Capital, Ulyukavey Says
By Alex Nicholson and Paul Abelsky
Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Russia’s central bank will continue to cut interest rates as policy makers try to prevent speculative capital from destabilizing the currency, Bank Rossii First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said.
Russia needs to keep cutting rates to stem the use of the ruble as a vehicle for the carry trade, and after the economic decline removed inflation risks, Ulyukayev said at a conference in Moscow today organized by Vedomosti.
The bank yesterday lowered the benchmark refinancing rate to a record low 9 percent in the ninth reduction since it started easing in April. Ulyukayev said today the bank will be “more active” in using currency transactions to steer the ruble within a “floating” corridor of 35 to 38 against a target basket of dollars and euros. The bank said in October it will also use interest rates to manage the currency.
The crisis has shown that the economy of the world’s biggest energy exporter is “extremely vulnerable” to external events, Ulyukayev said.
The bank will also continue to cut interest rates as it sees “no inflationary risks” next year with a rate “much lower” than 9 percent, Ulyukayev said. Inflation slowed to an annual 9.7 percent in October, the lowest rate in two years.
Russian equity funds drew record amounts at the end of October, according to EPFR Global. The ruble is the second-best performer among emerging market currencies after the Chilean peso in the past three months, having gained 8.7 percent in the period, Bloomberg data show.
The ruble gained even after Russia bought foreign currency, raising reserves to $441.7 billion as of Nov. 13, compared with a low of $376.1 billion on March 13, central bank data show.
‘Overheating’
Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said today that speculative capital has left Russian stocks overvalued, leading to a threat of “overheating.”
The Micex Stick Index of Russia’s 30 most liquid stocks has gained 116 percent this year. Interest in Russian assets has picked up following this year’s 80 percent rise in the price of Urals crude. Energy products make up about 70 percent of Russia’s export revenue.
Russia, which has the fourth-highest benchmark interest rate in Europe after Ukraine, Iceland and Serbia, is the only member of the four so-called BRIC nations still cutting rates.
“In terms of nominal interest rates Russia is still offering the highest yields in the emerging market space and in an environment where oil prices are remaining relatively well supported we think that the ruble will continue to be seen as an attractive way to position for global recovery,” Manik Narain, an emerging markets strategist at Standard Chartered Bank Plc in London said yesterday.
For Related News and Information: Top economy stories: TOP ECO World currency ranker: WCRS Credit market watch: MW Top eastern European stories: TOP EEU Emerging-markets monitor: EMMV Stories on BRIC economies: TNI BRIC ECO For Russian economic data: ECO RU
Last Updated: November 25, 2009 03:40 EST
RIA: Ulyukayev considers the presence of the budget in the banks' capital irrational
11:05 25/11/2009
/Google translation/
MOSCOW, November 25 - RIA Novosti. Russia's banking system needs capitalization growth and consolidation, but do so at the expense of budgetary resources improperly, according to the Central Bank first deputy chairman Alexei Ulyukayev.
"The presence of the budget in the capital of banks is irrational. We need to increase the capitalization of the banking system, but I do not think that this must be due to the budget," - he said at the forum "Vedomosti" on Wednesday.
Adopted law, which allows the exchange of state bonds (OFZ) in preferred shares of banks, Ulyukayev called offer. "I do not think that banks will have to use this tool," - he added.
RIA: Kudrin introduced a bill to raise banks' capital to 1 billion rubles
11:54 25/11/2009
/Google translation/
MOSCOW, November 25 - RIA Novosti. Vice-Premier and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin promised a year to introduce legislation requiring banks to raise capital for five years at least 1 billion rubles.
"Today we have 25 November and a year later I was ready to make a bill raising the minimum capital of banks up to 1 billion rubles ... a term of five years", - Kudrin said at the forum of the newspaper Vedomosti.
NOVEMBER 25, 2009, 3:52 A.M. ET
Dow Jones: Russia May Sell Newly-Bought VTB Shares In Two Years - Kudrin
MOSCOW (Dow Jones)--The Russian government might, in two years time, sell the shares it recently bought at OAO Bank VTB's (VTBR.RS) capital increase, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said Wednesday.
VTB issued new shares to the state in the middle of September, attracting 180 billion rubles (6.24 billion), and increasing the government's stake in the bank by 8% to 85.5%.
Kudrin said the newly bought shares could be sold at a profit in two years' time.
-By Ira Iosebashvili, Dow Jones Newswires; +7 495 937 8445; ira.iosebashvili@
Itar-Tass: Second annual RF Pension Forum to be held in Moscow
25.11.2009, 00.58
MOSCOW, November 25 (Itar-Tass) - The fulfilment of the new pension legislation and important problems of the development of the pension system are to be considered at the second annual Russian Pension Forum that is opening in Moscow on Wednesday. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will take part in its work, the press service of the RF cabinet reported.
Among the forum participants are members of the government, heads of related ministries and departments, members of the Federation Council (upper house of parliament) and State Duma (lower house), heads of state and non-state pension funds and representatives of the business community.
“It is planned to discuss issues of enhancement of pension rights and liquidation of poverty among pensioners, problems of the transition to insurance principles of financing of labour pensions, as well as the strategy of the development of non-state pension provision,” the press service said. “The main goal of enhancement of pension rights of citizens is restoration of justice for aged persons who had the employment history or most of its part during the Soviet period,” it added.
The considerable work was done in 2009 for taking measures aimed at raising the real level of pension support for all pensioners. The special attention was given to the older generation whose pension rights were infringed in the 1990s. Important laws were worked out and adopted aimed at wider introduction in the pension system of insurance principles and at its long-term balance. They fix the transfer of the pension’s basic part to insurance part, replacement of the unified social tax with direct contributions for compulsory pension insurance, transition to quarterly reporting on contributions and other mechanisms.
“All this creates prerequisites for bringing the pension support in Russia to a qualitatively new level that will ensure pensions at the level of European standards with the rate of replacement of wage with pension not lower than 40 percent of the wage from which insurance payments were made for at least 30 years,” the press service explained.
The Russian Pension Forum is an expert venue where representatives of the state, business, civil society and science discuss issues of the development of pension legislation and further improvement of the pension system.
The first Pension Forum was held on December 16, 2008 and gathered about 300 participants. It publicly presented the guidelines of the development of the pension system included in the Concept of the long-term socio-economic development of the Russian Federation for a period up to 2020.
Russia Today: Privatisation to step into budget deficit as government looks to entice investor
24 November, 2009, 23:27
Russia may sell up to $3.5 billion of state assets each year under its latest privatisation plan. Starting in 2010, airports, shipyards, freight shippers and an insurer will be sold to private investors.
Russia is seeking to re-fill its treasury, drained by supporting the economy, with a sale of state assets. Privatisation may also bring private sector skills to industry and make it more competitive.
But for that, the government must turn 180 degrees. Companies which were declared strategic assets – closed to foreign investors – are now up for sale.
The government plans to raise over two and a half billion dollars in 2010 by selling 14 companies, including shipping giant Sovcomflot and insurer Rosgosstrakh, according to Economic Development Minister, Elvira Nabiullina .
“The government has approved the privatization plan for next year. The state will continue to sell its excess assets. One of the aims of privatization is to attract non – budget investment to companies that are currently in state hands. Another goal is to increase management efficiency at these companies.”
Negotiations with potential buyers, including foreign ones – are already underway.
Reiner Hartmann, the chairman of the Association of European Businesses says the government will have to convince foreign partners their investments are secure.
“Member companies of our association are in discussions now with the government, on strategic assets, which were not on the agenda a year ago. It’s the prime objective of the government, now, to convince investors that their capital is well placed if they enter these strategic assets. It is the Associations opinion that the Russian government means business.”
Russia saw the first wave of privatization in the 1990’s. That proved controversial – for creating tycoons overnight – though some analysts say those companies were largely responsible for driving Russia's economic growth over the past decade.
It's only recently that the state started to increase it's share of the economy – now it's reversing the process. However, if investors are interested in state heavyweights like Sberbank and VTB or energy majors Rosneft and Gazprom – they will have to wait well beyond 2010.
Reuters: UPDATE 1-Russia eyes $2.5 bln from privatisations in 2010
Wed Nov 25, 2009 12:45am IST
* Govt approves privatisation programme
* To boost state coffers, raise efficiency
* Stakes to be sold in over 400 state firms
(Adds details, background, banker comment)
By Gleb Bryanski
MOSCOW, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Russia aims to raise about 72 billion roubles ($2.5 billion) next year selling stakes in more than 400 state-owned companies, including ports, shipping and power firms, Economy Minister Elvira Nabiullina said on Tuesday.
Russia's privatisation drive seeks to boost competitiveness in a country where the state is viewed as an inefficient corporate manager, as well as to replenish state coffers drained by helping the country through its first recession in a decade. "The privatisation plan for 2010 has been approved," Nabiullina told reporters after a government meeting.
"The preliminary estimate is about 72 billion roubles of budget revenues. We are doing this not only to get revenues for the budget, but also to increase management efficiency and to create a competitive environment," she said.
The state sell-off offers investors entry to 28 strategic companies, including shipping form Sovcomflot, although some say the privatisation programme for 2010 falls short of expectations by failing to offer up stakes in the country's crown jewels.
Investors interested in state-controlled heavyweights such as banking giants Sberbank (SBER03.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) and VTB (VTBR.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) or energy majors Rosneft (ROSN.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) and Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) will have to wait beyond 2010.
A Western banker, who declined to be identified, said that Sovcomflot would probably draw strong interest from investors but that other firms on offer were less attractive. Russia would be less inclined to sell, he said, should the economy recover.
"If oil goes up to $120 per barrel, do you think there will be any sizeable privatisation in Russia?" he said.
Oil CLc1 URL-E, Russia's key export commodity, is trading at around $75 per barrel, half its peak value in July 2008 but almost double its worth at the start of this year.
UP FOR GRABS
Russia plans next year to sell stakes in insurance firm Rosgosstrakh and power firm TGK-5 (TGKE.MM: Quote, Profile, Research), as well as cement and salt-mining firms and construction company Moskovsky Metrostroi.
Also potentially up for grabs are stakes in three airports -- Koltsovo in Yekaterinburg, Tolmachevo in Novosibirsk and Anapa, which serves the eponymous Black Sea resort town -- and the sea ports of Novorossiisk, Murmansk, Vanino and Tuapse.
The 72 billion roubles quoted by Nabiullina was slightly lower than the 77 billion roubles quoted by a source in the government on Monday. [ID:nGEE5AM163]
The source told Reuters that the Russian market could potentially "digest" between 50 billion and 100 billion roubles of state asset sales annually over the next three years.
Nabiullina did not name individual firms, but she said the privatisation of strategic firms was expected to yield 54 billion roubles of the 2010 total. Large, non-strategic firms would yield 12 billion and small firms a further 5 billion.
She said some of the stakes would be sold via Internet auctions. (Writing by Robin Paxton; Editing by Ron Askew) ((robin.paxton@; +7 495 775 1242; Reuters Messaging: robin.paxton.@)) ($1=28.79 Rouble)
Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions
Bloomberg: Rosneft, Gazprom, Vozrozhdenie: Russia Stock-Market Preview
By Maria Kolesnikova
Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- The following shares may have unusual price changes in Russian trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses and prices are from the previous close unless otherwise noted.
The 30-stock Micex Index lost the most in three days, falling 1.8 percent to 1,331.12 in Moscow. The dollar- denominated RTS Index declined 1.3 percent to 1,447.23.
OAO Rosneft (ROSN RX): Russia’s largest oil producer is due to report third-quarter financials. Rosneft fell 1.1 percent to 254.71 rubles in Moscow.
OAO Gazprom (GAZP RX): The world’s biggest gas producer agreed to cut natural gas supplies to Ukraine next year and waive fines for fuel it doesn’t take in 2009. Gazprom fell 1.9 percent to 175.80 rubles.
Bank Vozrozhdenie (VZRZ RX): The Russian bank focused on small businesses is expected to report third-quarter financial results. Vozrozhdenie rose 0.7 percent to 1,194.98 rubles.
OAO Wimm-Bill-Dann (WBDF RX): Russia’s largest dairy company is due to report third-quarter financial results. Wimm- Bill-Dann rose 0.1 percent to 1,240.6 rubles.
To contact the reporter on this story: Maria Kolesnikova in Moscow at mkolesnikova@.
Last Updated: November 24, 2009 22:00 EST
Bloomberg: Russia Micex to Exceed 1,400 as Oil Rallies: Technical Analysis
By Tal Barak Harif
Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Russia’s Micex Index, the world’s best-performing benchmark equity gauge this year, will surpass 1,400 by the end of December as oil prices rally, said Richard Ross, a technical strategist at brokerage Auerbach Grayson & Co.
The Micex will gain more than 5 percent to a 14-month high by the end of 2009 as crude rises to $82 a barrel, Ross said, citing 50-day moving averages. Oil, which traded at $76.02 a barrel yesterday, may climb to $90 in the next six to nine months if the U.S. maintains its economic recovery, he said.
“A breakout is imminent and could certainly occur by yearend,” Ross said in a telephone interview from New York. “Oil should catch up and provide the catalyst for that breakout above 1,400 and beyond.”
The Micex has surged 115 percent this year to 1,331.12, the best performance among 89 benchmark equity indexes tracked by Bloomberg, as oil and metals prices jumped amid a global economic recovery. Russia’s dollar-denominated RTS Index is up 130 percent. Oil, the country’s biggest export, has soared 74 percent this year.
The Micex’s 50-day moving average outperformed the 200-day moving average, a sign the index may extend gains, said Ross, whose firm trades in 128 countries. The measure’s convergence and divergence moving average, a technical tool that analysts use to gauge the most appropriate time to buy or sell, has also shown a buy signal.
In technical analysis, investors and analysts study charts of trading patterns and prices to forecast changes in a security, commodity, currency or index.
Russian stocks may also benefit should U.S. retail sales get a boost from “Black Friday” on Nov. 27, the traditional start of the holiday-shopping season, Ross said.
“If retail sales come in better than expected here in the U.S. on Black Friday, I think this could provide a catalyst for both stocks and oil,” Ross said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Tal Barak Harif in New York at tbarak@
Last Updated: November 24, 2009 18:49 EST
Reuters: Russia's Sberbank net down 85 pct in Jan-Oct
Tue Nov 24, 2009 2:44pm EST
* 10-month net profit 17.1 bln roubles
* Expects full-year net profit of at least 20 bln rbls
* Figures are according to Russian Accounting Standards
* Buys Eurozone sovereign securities for first time
By Oksana Kobzeva
MOSCOW, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Sberbank (SBER03.MM: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Russia's largest lender, on Tuesday reported an 85 percent year-on-year drop in net profit for the first 10 months of the year under Russian Accounting Standards
State-controlled Sberbank said in a statement net profit for the period was 17.1 billion roubles ($594 million), down from 113 billion roubles a year earlier.
Sberbank Chief Executive German Gref said on Nov. 10 he expected the bank to post a net profit of around 20 billion roubles or more for the full year. [ID:nLA421383] That would be less than a fifth of the 109 billion roubles earned in 2008 under Russian Accounting Standards.
Sberbank's closest rival, No. 2 Russian bank VTB (VTBR.MM: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), is expected to post a loss this year.
Sberbank said on Tuesday that it acquired sovereign securities of Eurozone countries for the first time in October. It did not give details.
"Of course, we will invest, if it's profitable for us," Sberbank's first deputy chief executive, Bella Zlatkis, told Reuters, referring to the securities. (Writing by Robin Paxton; editing by John Wallace) ((robin.paxton@; +7 495 775 1242; Reuters Messaging: robin.paxton.@)) ($1=28.79 Rouble)
Barentsobserver: Norilsk Nickel has $6.1 billion in debt
2009-11-25
The company is now discussing with banks about the possibility of refinancing its debt by issuing a $1 billion Eurobond in the first half of next year.
A banking source says to Reuters that Norilsk Nickel is in talks on various ways of debt refinancing, including placing a Eurobond, which would be worth at least $1 billion (€666 million). Reuter’s source says this may happen in the second quarter of 2010.
By the end of the first half of 2009, Norilsk Nickel’s debt was $6.1 billion (€4.06 billion), of which 48 percent was short-term debt, according to Reuters.
Norilsk Nickel operates mines and smelters in Norilsk in Siberia. On the Kola Peninsula the company has mines in Zapolyarny and a nickel smelting plant in Nikel near the border to Norway. Also, in Monchegorsk, south of Murmansk, the company operates a nickel and copper smelter.
Last week, the Norwegian government announced that the Norwegian Pension Fund has sold all its shares in Norilsk Nickel because the company’s factories on the Taimyr Peninsula are afflicting environmental damages which clashes with the fund’s guidelines, as reported by BarentsObserver.
The shares which were sold has a value of NOK 328,6 million (€ 39 million). That is approx. 0,4 percent of the shares in Norilsk Nickel.
Visiting the Kola Peninsula last week, General Director of Norilsk Nickel, Vladimir Strzhalkovsky, said the company will increase its mining production in Zapolyarny on the Kola Peninsula, as reported by BarentsObserver.
A total of three billion RUB will be invested in the region only in 2010, Strzhalkovsky said, MBnews.ru reported.
Barentsobserver: New terminal strengthens Norilsk Nickel
2009-11-25
Mining and metallurgy giant Norilsk Nickel intends to complete the upgrade of its new port terminal in Murmansk by 2011. That will further boost the company’s ability to handle logistical operations in the region without assistance from other companies.
During his visit to the Kola Peninsula last week, General Director Vladimir Strzhalkovsky confirmed that the port areas in Murmansk, which the company acquired in 2004, are quickly being modernized. In late 2010, the port terminal will be able to handle all the company's loading operations in the area, MBnews.ru reports.
That will further boost the independence of the company. From before, Norilsk Nickel has built its own fleet of ice-class cargo vessels which can operate without icebreakers on the route between Taimyr and the Kola Peninsula.
The port areas in Murmansk were bought from a local shipyard in 2004. They were first planned used for container shipping. However, the company in 2008 reconsidered and is now instead developing terminal capacities in the area. The new terminal as well as an upgrade of the adjacent railway infrastructure will be ready by the end of 2010, the company maintains.
That will make the company less dependent on the services of the Murmansk Sea Trade Port, a port which itself might soon face upcoming changes. As reported yesterday by BarentsObserver, the trade port is one of the companies on the Russian state privatization list for 2010. The state currently owns 34 percent of the Murmansk Sea Trade Port.
During his visit to Murmansk, Mr. Strzhalkovsky also said that Norilsk Nickel has decided to construct an ice-class tanker, MBnews writes.
: Daimler double
By Daniel Schäfer in Frankfurt
Published: November 25 2009 02:00 | Last updated: November 25 2009 02:00
German car and truckmaker Daimler yesterday launched two joint ventures to build trucks with its Russian partner Kamaz, writes Daniel Schäfer in Frankfurt.
Daimler said it would start production of light trucks at the Fuso Kamaz Trucks Rus JV in the first quarter of 2010 and heavy trucks in another tie-up called Mercedes-Benz Trucks Vostok from the second quarter.
Daimler is in talks to raise its 10 per cent stake in Russia's largest heavy truckmaker. It bought a small stake in Kamaz late last year , when it was wary of spending too much cash in the middle of a severe industry crisis.
The Moscow Times: VimpelCom To Raise Capex 50%
25 November 2009
Reuters
VimpelCom said Tuesday that it would raise capital spending by at least 50 percent next year to fund its third-generation network.
Although the telecoms industry has been less affected by the global economic downturn than most other sectors, many operators have cut capex as a cautionary measure, hurting equipment makers like Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent. VimpelCom, Russia’s No. 2 mobile operator, also froze new equipment orders this year to focus on repaying debt and mitigate any potential impact of the crisis.
In the third quarter of 2009, its capital expenditure fell by 77.1 percent, year on year, to 3.8 billion rubles ($132 million), VimpelCom said Tuesday.
“For 2010, we expect a substantial increase of capex for VimpelCom. We haven’t made the final guidance, but it will be at least half as much as this year,” CEO Boris Nemsic told a news conference for the group’s Q3 results.
The results were its first since the settlement of a years-long ownership battle between Norway’s Telenor and Alfa Group, which agreed to merge their holdings in VimpelCom and Ukraine’s Kyivstar last month.
VimpelCom did not disclose exact capex forecasts for 2009 and 2010, but said the increase was needed to finance further expansion of its 3G network, while the strengthening of the ruble had also given it breathing space.
VimpelCom’s main rival, MTS, last month raised capex guidance for 2009 because of the ruble strengthening and the need to build infrastructure amid recovering traffic.
The company said Q3 net profit more than doubled to 13.51 billion rubles, helped by a massive foreign exchange loss in the third quarter of 2008. Although it missed a 16.36 billion ruble average forecast in a Reuters poll, the figure was within a wide range of 11.5 billion to 19.6 billion rubles.
The company also said its net debt decreased to $5.5 billion by the end of September from $6.3 billion at the end of June.
Web News Wire: I-Synergo Opens One of the Largest IT Parks in CIS With Cisco Technology
by editor on November 24, 2009
in Indian Press Release, Web News Wire
IT Park in Kazan Will Help Expand Russia’s Research and Development Potential.
KAZAN, Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, One of the largest information technology (IT) parks in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was opened in Kazan, the capital of the republic of Tatarstan and one of Russia’s largest cities. Built by the IT solutions and services provider I-Synergo, the park’s networking and communications infrastructure is based on Cisco technology.
The IT park is intended to function as a business incubator and will help consolidate the region’s IT potential. Its main objective is to support innovative start-ups at the initial stages of development by providing them with a high-tech work environment, equipment, consultancy and data. The 32,000-square-meter central complex is designed as an intelligent building, using the Cisco® Smart+Connected Real Estate concept.
Highlights / Key Facts:
* Investments in the IT park, including federal budget allocations, amount to 2.9 billion rubles. Plans are for the park to house about 80 companies by 2012, which are expected to create about 10,000 new jobs in IT and other businesses.
* In addition to the office facilities, the IT park includes a convention center, a press center, training and demonstration facilities, and two hotels. The park also established a center for certification and licensing to help resident companies obtain patents, licenses and certificates valid for Russia and abroad, as well as for providing companies with legal and compliance support in a number of areas.
* The park’s information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure is based on Cisco solutions. This includes a local area network (LAN) and wireless coverage with more than 60 access points. Cisco Unified Communications has been implemented with more than a thousand Cisco Unified IP Phones, two clusters of Cisco Unified Communications Manager and a Cisco Unified Contact Center.
* Users have access to the Cisco Unified Personal Communicator, a powerful desktop computer application that integrates the most frequently used communications applications and services. It provides easy access to voice, video, instant messaging, Web conferencing, voicemail and presence information from a single multimedia interface on the user’s computer.
* The park’s Cisco Unified Contact Center, the largest in the republic, can process incoming calls for tenants as well as any other company, enabling the IT park to offer outsourced contact center services. The resilient contact center based on the Cisco Unified Contact Center Enterprise edition is an efficient means of interaction for resident companies and their customers supporting various tasks, including call administration, telemarketing, product maintenance, technical support and so on.
* At the heart of the IT park’s infrastructure is a flexible and scalable data center, with up to 8,000 servers. It is designed for uninterrupted operations and provides high-speed data processing, high levels of security and reliability of storage.
Supporting Quotes:
* Arsen Khusnutdinov, chief executive officer, I-Synergo:
Our vision of a highly efficient information society starts with developing real solutions using state-of-the-art technologies. Innovative projects like the IT park in Kazan will help develop an information society and stimulate small and medium-sized businesses
* Alexander Lavrushko, enterprise account manager, Cisco Russia:
The IT park is the first project in Tatarstan to use a broad range of integrated Cisco solutions. Cisco offered the most innovative solutions for routing, switching, unified communications, data security, wireless technologies and data center
Source: WEBWIRE
Property Magazine: X5 to acquire Paterson supermarket chain
Russia - X5 Retail Group N.V., Russia's largest retailer in terms of sales, today announced that following the approval of its Supervisory Board, it has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the business and assets of Paterson supermarket chain from a holding company CorpInvest Inc. Regulatory approval for the transaction was received on 27 October 2009 when the Russian Federal Anti-Monopoly Service granted its unconditional consent. X5 expects to complete the transaction by mid-December 2009.
Paterson is a non-public supermarket chain of 82 stores located in Moscow, the Moscow region, St. Petersburg, Kazan and other cities of European Russia and Urals. Net selling space totals approximately 65 thousand sq.m., while total space amounts to 145 thousand sq.m., approximately 20% of which is owned.
The transaction will be structured as a 100% payment in cash for equity and full assumption of Paterson's debt. In accordance with the agreement, equity value totals USD 189.5 million. Paterson's net debt stands at approximately USD 85 million. X5 plans to finance this purchase from its operating cash flows.
The Moscow Times: Axel Takes Over G+J Magazines
25 November 2009
Combined Reports
German publisher Gruner + Jahr said Tuesday that it is selling its Russian operations to Axel Springer after concluding that it would need to make too many expensive acquisitions to gain a leading market position.
Gruner + Jahr gave no financial details on the sale of its G+J Magazines business to fellow German publisher Axel Springer, which will need Russian anti-monopoly authorities’ approval.
Springer’s takeover of the unit, which publishes the GEO, GEOLenok, GEOTraveller and GALA Biografia magazines, will be effective from Dec. 1, Gruner + Jahr said. G+J board member Torsten-Joern Klein said his company “will continue to systematically apply ourselves to those international markets where we already command an outstanding position or have hopes of attaining such a position.”
“In Russia, Gruner+Jahr would have managed to do so only through a disproportionate number of expensive acquisitions,” Klein said in a statement. “For this reason, we are withdrawing from the Russian market.”
Springer, the publisher of Germany’s mass-circulation Bild daily, already publishes the Russian editions of Forbes magazine and Newsweek.
The Berlin-based publishing giant reported third-quarter net profits of 102.2 million euros ($153 million) in the third quarter, 10.2 percent more than in the same period last year.
(AP, MT)
Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)
November 24, 2009
Times Online: Shell seeks stake in giant Russian gasfield
Robin Pagnamenta, Energy Editor
Royal Dutch Shell is hopeful that it will gain an equity stake in a giant Russian gas field that could supply all of the world’s needs for a decade.
Peter Voser, Shell’s chief executive, said that talks with the Russian government about the Yamal project in the Siberian Arctic were progressing well.
“Our understanding is that this would be based on equity participation,” he said, adding that a development plan for Yamal would be drawn up by the end of March 2010.
“We are preparing ourselves for a potential participation.”
Reserves in the remote Yamal peninsula and Kara Sea in the Russian Arctic may hold more than 30 trillion cubic meters of gas, enough to supply the world for a decade, according to a plan presented in the Kremlin by Shell in 2007.
Shell has estimated that development of the province may cost “several hundred billion” dollars and take more than 50 years.
Mr Voser, who visited Moscow last month to discuss the project, said that Shell hoped to be part of a consortium to develop the project, which would be at least 51 per cent controlled by Russian companies including Gazprom.
“Russia has such huge gas reserves we will try to be part of that,” he said.
The conditions in Yamal were so inhospitable that its development would require the development of new technologies, such as a ice-breaking liquefied natural gas tankers, he said.
Mr Voser, who took over as chief executive of the Anglo-Dutch oil giant in July, also said that another giant gas project in Qatar, called Pearl, was going well and would soon add 10 per cent or about 350,000 barrels per day to the company’s total production.
Royal Dutch Shell will gain cashflow of $4 billion a year from 2011 following the opening of the Pearl project, which aims to convert natural gas into a liquid fuel.
Mr Voser also said that a major cost-cutting drive at Shell was now on track for completion by January 1. The group had axed nearly 20 per cent of staff from some business units in a drive to shed a total of 5,000 staff.
A new technology and project management division had been created with 8,200 staff, allowing Shell to let go 1,800 un-needed staff from other divisions because of overlaps. “I am pleased with progress so far," Mr Voser said.
Shell was aggressively cutting costs across other parts of the business and drilling costs were likely to be down 15 per cent this year from $7 billion.
Mr Voser wanted Shell to increasingly focus on gas production, in part because of its lower carbon emissions.
He warned that Europe was losing its leadership in so-called carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology to countries such as Canada and Australia, who he said were pushing harder to commercialise the technology.
“Europe had a leading position for quite a long time but they are losing their CCS leadership. I have conveyed that message to Brussels and the UK government,” he said.
Itar-Tass: TNK-BP starts construction of gas-turbine power plant in Tyumen region
24.11.2009, 23.37
TYUMEN, November 24 (Itar-Tass) -- One of Russia’s biggest oil companies TNK-BP starts construction of a gas-turbine power plant at the Ust-Tegusskoye deposit in the south of the Tyumen region, Chief of the TNK-BP-Sibir regional press department Irina Arkhipova told Itar-Tass.
On Tuesday, the company’s subsidiary TNK-Uvat adopted the project and announced a tender for a contractor of the construction and start-up works, she said.
“Initially, the gas-turbine power plant will consist of four units with a total capacity of 20 megawatts,” Arkhipova said, adding that the power plant will be commissioned in October 2010.
The gas-turbine power plant will use casing head gas for fuel.
Construction of the second stage of the gas-turbine power plant with an overall capacity of 20-25 megawatts will begin in 2011, the official said.
According to estimates, commissioning of the second stage in 2012 will make it possible to meet the growing demands of the Urengoi and Ust-Tegussokye oil fields in electricity and use up to 95 percent of casing head gas, which is produced at the deposits.
The group of deposits of the Uvat project in the south of the Tyumen region is located far from cities and stationary sources of electricity.
The Urengoi and Ust-Tegussokye oil fields are provided with electricity generated by their own diesel power plants.
Currently, an average daily consumption of diesel fuel at the oil fields is about 47 tonnes. A daily demand in diesel fuel will reach 100 tonnes in 2010, when oil production is expected to increase.
Based on this, TNK-BP and the Tyumen regional government decided to construct the 45-megawatt gas-turbine power plant at the Ust-Tegusskoye oil field.
That project is a part of the Uvat investment project for 2010. The government and the company signed the protocol to the long-term strategic cooperation agreement at the end of October.
TNK-BP’s investments in the Uvat project will reach 2.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2004-2009, while the company will allocate 54 billion roubles (USD 1 = RUB 28.84) in the project in 2007-2010.
Russian Presidential Envoy to the Urals Federal District Nikolai Vinnichenko pointed to the importance of the Uvat project for the district and for the country, in general. “The project will help resolve a great number of many social problems, creation of new jobs, as well as drawing of investments, industrial development, including associated sectors,” he said.
In the Tyumen region, TNK-BP possesses 13 licensed blocs in the Uvat district. The company is developing three deposits – Kalchinskoye, Urnenskoye, and Ust-Tegusskoye.
In January-September 2009, TNK-BP produced almost 2 million tonnes of oil at the Uvat field, which is amount twice bigger than in the same period of 2009.
TNK-BP is Russia’s leading oil company and is among the top ten privately-owned oil companies in the world in terms of crude oil production. The company was formed in 2003 as a result of the merger of BP’ s Russian oil and gas assets and the oil and gas assets of Alfa, Access/Renova group (AAR).
BP and AAR each own 50 percent of TNK-BP. The shareholders of TNK-BP also own close to 50 percent of Slavneft, a vertically integrated Russian oil company.
TNK-BP is a vertically integrated oil company with a diversified upstream and downstream portfolio in Russia and Ukraine. The company’s upstream operations are located primarily in West Siberia (Khanty-Mansi and Yamal-Nenets autonomous areas, Tyumen Region), East Siberia (Irkutsk Region), and Volga-Urals (Orenburg Region).
In 2008 the company (including its 50 percent share in Slavneft) produced on average 1.85 thousand barrels a day in oil equivalent.
Under SEC methodology on a life of field (LOF) basis, TNK-BP’s total proved reserves were 8.112 billion barrels of oil equivalent. This represents a Total Proved SEC (LOF) reserves replacement ratio of 82 percent.
TNK-BP controls 675 thousand bbl/day in installed refining capacity, with principal refining assets located in Ryazan, Saratov, Nizhnevartovsk (West Siberia) and Lisichansk in Ukraine.
TNK-BP operates a retail network of approximately 1,400 filling stations Russia and Ukraine working under the BP and TNK brands. The company is one of the key suppliers to the Moscow retail market and is a market leader in Ukraine.
TNK-BP is headquartered in Moscow and is governed by a multinational management team with experience of working in over 50 different countries.
TNK-BP employs approximately 63,000 people, mostly located in eight major areas of Russia and Ukraine.
Gazprom
Bloomberg: Gazprom May Boost 2011 Spending to $52 Billion, Vedomosti Says
By Anna Shiryaevskaya
Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- OAO Gazprom, the world’s largest natural-gas producer, plans to almost double investment spending in 2011 to extend its pipeline network and develop new fields, Vedomosti reported, citing two unidentified people familiar with the company’s plans.
Moscow-based Gazprom plans to increase spending to 1.5 trillion rubles ($52 billion) in 2011 from 802.4 billion rubles next year, an amount approved by the company’s board yesterday, the newspaper said today.
To contact the reporter on this story: Anna Shiryaevskaya in Moscow at ashiryaevska@
Last Updated: November 25, 2009 00:42 EST
EurasiaNet: Turkmenistan: Gazprom To Make Cutback On Gas Purchases
11/24/09
Gazprom’s natural gas purchases from Turkmenistan are set for a drastic fall over the next three years, according to a Russian newspaper report.
The broadsheet Vedomosti reported that Gazprom plans to purchase "not more than" 10.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) from Ashgabat during 2010-2012. In 2009, Gazprom had planned to purchase in excess of 50 bcm of gas from Turkmenistan at a cost of $375 per thousand cubic meters (tcm). However, Gazprom sources told Vedomosti that relations between Ashgabat and Gazprom "collapsed" earlier this year when Gazprom refused to continue paying above European market rates for Turkmen gas. Deliveries came to a standstill in April following a pipeline explosion.
"The partners have been discussing a new contract since [April], but there is no clarity on either volumes or price," the source said adding that Gazprom was not prepared to pay more than $222/tcm.
Gazprom reportedly plans to increase gas imports from Uzbekistan by 2 percent, up to 14.5 bcm over the next three years, and is willing to pay $220/tcm. The company is also ready to pay $230/tcm and $244.50/tcm respectively for Kazakh and Azeri gas, the source continued.
Even at these rates, Gazprom’s penchant for buying up Caspian Basin gas is not cost-effective, Michael Korchemkin, the director of the US-based energy consulting firm East European Gas Analysis, told the newspaper on November 24.
"The only reason for the concern to continue purchases from producers in Central Asia is an unwillingness to let them [export] directly to Ukrainian and European markets, as that would mean Russia would lose its ’favorite instrument of pressure’ on its neighbors," he said.
Itar-Tass: Naftogaz, Gazprom formalize gas agreements
24.11.2009, 22.08
MOSCOW, November 24 (Itar-Tass) -- Naftogaz Ukrainy and Gazprom have formalized gas agreements, a Gazprom source told Itar-Tass on Tuesday, following negotiations of Naftogaz CEO Oleg Dubina and Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller.
“In keeping with the agreements between the Russian and Ukrainian prime ministers, the sides signed supplements to the gas contract of January 19, 2009. The supplements set the amount of gas, which will be delivered in 2010, at 33.75 billion cubic meters, and say that no fines will be levied for Naftogaz’s taking less gas than required by contract in 2009,” he said.
Naftogaz and Gazprom signed two contracts on January 19, 2009. One was about gas delivery in 2009-2019, and the other about gas transit in the same period.
The contract provides the switch to European standards in gas pricing and transit charging in 2010.
The sides agreed on 20% discount from the European gas pricing formula in 2009 and said that each quarter the price would be amended with due account of fuel oil and gas oil prices.
Ukraine pledges to retain the gas transit charge of $1.7 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas carried to 100 kilometers in 2009.
The take-or-pay principle was applied to 80% of the supplied gas.
Yet the financial and economic slowdown cut gas consumption in Ukraine. The country bought only 18.85 billion cubic meters of gas instead of 31.7 billion planned, Prime Tass said.
Reuters: UPDATE 2-Russia relaxes 2010 gas demands on Ukraine
Wed Nov 25, 2009 2:12am IST
* Gazprom, Naftogaz agree to reduced gas volumes
* Ukraine to import 33.75 bcm of Russian gas in 2010
* Gazprom agrees to waive fines for 2009 (Adds details, background)
By Robin Paxton and Pavel Polityuk
MOSCOW/KIEV, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Russia relaxed demands on Ukraine for importing gas in 2010 and agreed on Tuesday to waive fines on this year's supplies in a deal easing European fears of a renewed dispute along a route supplying a fifth of its gas.
Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research), Russia's powerful state-run gas export monopoly, agreed that Ukraine -- whose economy has been crippled by the global financial crisis -- could buy 35 percent less gas than originally contracted for next year.
"The volumes have been corrected in accordance with actual consumption in Ukraine in conditions of crisis," Gazprom Chief Executive Alexei Miller said after four hours of talks with Oleh Dubyna, the head of Ukrainian state energy firm Naftogaz.
"These volumes remove the risk of the payment of fines by Naftogaz Ukraine in 2010 for the non-use of contracted gas." Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine was cut off for three weeks in January after the ex-Soviet states argued over pricing and transit, a dispute that shook confidence in Russia's ability to supply gas and Ukraine's ability to give it safe passage.
Europe is concerned the dispute, which damaged industry and left hundreds of thousands in the cold, could flare up again at New Year, especially as rival political factions in Ukraine jostle for support ahead of a Jan. 17 presidential election.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, whose often fierce rhetoric has worried European consumers, has said existing gas deals with Ukraine were a guarantee of stable energy supplies but has also warned Ukraine not to siphon gas meant for Europe.
His earlier pledge to Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko that Russia would waive fines for under-consumption of gas this year were formalised in Tuesday's agreement between Gazprom and Naftogaz, both companies said in a joint statement.
"We secured final agreement that Gazprom will not charge fines for the non-use of 13 bcm of gas in the first 10 months of 2009," Miller said.
LOWER VOLUMES
Putin and Tymoshenko, a front-runner in the Ukrainian presidential election, laid the groundwork for Tuesday's deal when they agreed at a Nov. 19 meeting in Yalta to cut the amount of gas Ukraine must take next year. [ID:nLJ170609]
Naftogaz agreed to purchase 33.75 billion cubic metres of gas (bcm) from Gazprom in 2010, both companies said in the joint statement. This was less than the 52 bcm agreed by the two countries in January.
"Considering the way the financial crisis has affected our country, we have taken considerably less gas than contracted this year and we made this request to our partners," Naftogaz head Dubyna said. "We have found understanding on this issue."
Ukraine had already been lobbying for a reduction. Tymoshenko has said she wanted to import between 27 and 33 bcm next year, depending on the economic situation in her country. [ID:nL3432316]
Though Ukraine has so far settled all its monthly gas bills on time, Tymoshenko has conceded this has been a struggle. Russian leaders have also accused her of political infighting with her rival, President Viktor Yushchenko, and of disrupting the process.
Gazprom said 80 percent of contracted gas volumes were subject to "take or pay" conditions -- meaning Ukraine would have to pay for the gas regardless of whether it was used.
Ukraine purchased 18.85 bcm of gas from Russia in the first 10 months of this year, only 59 percent of contracted volumes of 31.7 bcm for the period, a decline in consumption attributable to the global economic crisis, Gazprom said. (Additional reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Christian Wiessner) ((robin.paxton@; +7 495 775 1242; Reuters Messaging: robin.paxton.@)) ((For help: Click "Contact Us" in your desk top, click here [HELP] or call 1-800-738-8377 for Reuters Products and 1-888-463-3383 for Thomson products; For client training: training.americas@; +1 646-223-5546))
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