WikiLeaks



Russia 101119Basic Political DevelopmentsRUSSIA-NATO Combined Russia-NATO missile defense could emerge from new relationship - "It will certainly be a summit that marks a fresh start in our relations," NATO Secretary General Angers Fogh Rasmussen said on the eve of the landmark November 19-20 meeting. "I hope in particular that NATO and Russia will be moving forward on missile defense cooperation."NATO Lisbon summit to see ‘fresh start’ in Russia ties - RasmussenRelations with Russia-keynote of NATO summit - Russia, in its turn, still has misgivings concerning the ABM system. According to Rogozin, Russia has not got a promise from the United States to keep the NATO ABM system on a tactical level and to give up the idea to create in Europe the weapon systems capable of intercepting ballistic missiles, which make the backbone of the Russian nuclear potential. Russia-NATO missile shield possible "in mid-term perspective" - KremlinUS defense chief to skip NATO summit - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates will not attend today’s NATO summit in Lisbon and will go instead to Chile and Bolivia to meet his Latin American colleagues there. Poland seeks assurances at NATO summit - Poland is also supporting the addition of Georgia and Ukraine into the alliance. NATO summit to tackle alliance’s identity crisis – Russia TodayNATO to Offer Medvedev a Warm Embrace at Summit - By Nikolaus von Twickel5 Reasons Why Russia Will Never Join NATO - By Michael BohmSTART TREATYObama rallies bipartisan support for New START - Obama’s meeting met with various former secretaries of state, national security advisors and experts from both major political parties is a sign of how important the treaty is, and signifies there is hope it will pass before the end of the year.US-Russian 'reset' in trouble as nuke pact stalls - By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOVFACT CHECK: Arms treaty debate full of half-truths - By DESMOND BUTLERMoscow hopes Iran Six resume talks in December (Update 1) - "I hope they [talks] will occur. At least we are now discussing concrete dates - the beginning of December," Lavrov said.China-Russia Relations Maintain Sound Development Momentum - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's upcoming visit to Russia will further bolster the relations between Moscow and Beijing that have maintained a sound momentum of development in recent years.Chinese Navy Commander visited Northern Fleet - A Chinese delegation headed by Commander of the Chinese Fleet Admiral Wu Shengli visited Murmansk on November 16-17, GTRK Murman reports. Slovenian president to visit Russia’s city of Samara - Turk will meet with governor of the Samara region Vladimir Artyakov, attend a Russian-Slovenian business conference, plant trees in the Alley of Cooperation, and visit Slovenia’s consulate and a local cancer centre, a source in the regional government told Itar-Tass. Putin to attend meeting of CIS Prime Ministers in St. Pete - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is due to attend a meeting of the Council of CIS Prime Ministers, of the Inter-State Eurasian Economic Community Council and of the Customs Union’s top body in St. Petersburg today.Armenian Prime Minister Travels To Saint Petersburg - The Armenian delegation accompanying the premier consists of Vice Premier and Territorial Administration Minister Armen Gevorgyan, Head of the Government’s Administration David Sargsyan, Culture Minister Hasmik Poghosya, Economy Minister Nerses Yeritsyan, Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan, Deputy Transport and Communication Minister Artashes Avetisyan and other officials. Azarov Leaves For Russia To Take Part In Meeting Of CIS Governments' Heads Council - The meeting plans to discuss course of preparation of draft agreement on free trade zone and interstate program on innovative co-operation between CIS countries. ..The program of the meeting also envisions discussion of agreements on co-operation in protection of intellectual property and plan of measures in the sector of humanitarian co-operation. Medvedev to discuss security in N. Caucasus - During a visit to the southern spa towns of Kislovodsk and Yessentuki the President will take part in a ceremony to award Interior Ministry officers and soldiers who distinguished themselves in combat.? Israel to roll out the red carpet for Medvedev, Peres says - President tells Russian deputy PM that Russian leader will receive same level of importance, prestige as former US president Bush. Russia not refusing territorial talks with Japan: official - Alexei Sazonov, deputy director of the Information and Press Department at the ministry, said at a briefing that Russia has never expressed that it would refuse such talks. The Etorofu, Kunashiri and Shikotan islands and the Habomai islet group are known in Japan as the Northern Territories and in Russia as the Southern Kurils.Russia against any haste in UNSC expansion - "Recent statements of the US President Barack Obama in New Delhi and Tokyo are in line with similar statements by other world leaders," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexei Sazonov said in response to a question about Obama's backing for India and Japan as the permanent members of the apex UN body. Thai government ordered Bout's extradition in advance - sourceRussia insists on fair trial for BoutRussia summit seeks to save tiger from extinction - Russia Sunday hosts an unprecedented summit of the last 13 states with populations of the fabled beast. The summit in Russia's second city of Saint Petersburg, hosted by Prime Minister and self-proclaimed animal lover Vladimir Putin, is aiming to double the number of tigers living in the wild by 2022.A last chance to save the tiger - As hunting and loss of habitat push the world's biggest cat to the brink of extinction, the 13 'tiger nations' are gathering in Russia determined to halt its calamitous declineGeorgian president:Country welcomes any EU-Russia dialogue - Georgia welcomes also any dialogue that European Union has with Russia, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said at the joint news conference with President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy.Georgian youth restores bridges with Russia - A group of Georgian young people today will travel to Moscow to strengthen humanitarian ties with Russia and to launch a dialogue with Russian youth.Church important factor of Russian-Georgian relationship stabilization - Patriarch Kirill: "The involvement of Russian Orthodox Church representatives in the life of the Georgian Church, and visits by Georgian clergymen to Russia and by Russian ones to Georgia allow not only ecclesiastical but also humanitarian ties to be maintained, while leaving real prospects for normalization of the relationship between the two countries," the Patriarch said at a meeting with the alumni of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Academy and diplomats in Moscow.Military plane crashes in Perm - MIG-31 HIGH-ALTITUDE INTERCEPTOR FIGHTER JET CRASHES IN PERM TERRITORY - LOCAL ADMINISTRATIONPART OF ROSTEKHNOLOGII'S DEFENSE COMPANIES COULD BE PRIVATIZED - CHEMEZOVRussia's leading shipbuilder seeks arms exporter status - Russia's United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) is seeking to become an independent exporter of vessels, naval arms and equipment, a respected Russian business daily said on Friday.Russian company cancels Karabakh tours - Russian travel company Astravel has changed plans for three-day tours to occupied Azerbaijani land after an approach from the Azerbaijani embassy.Bashkir teenager attacked a policeman with a cry of "Allahu akbar!"Border unit, police building come under gun fire in DagestanPolice officer dies after Dagestan attackAdditional Buildup of Military Forces in Dagestan Proceeds with CautionDagestan's deadly Islamic insurgency - By Steve Rosenberg BBC News, DagestanSheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi to the Chechens: Lay Down Your Arms, Make Peace with RussiaMayor personally heads Moscow urban planning commission - The mayor’s First Deputy Vladimir Resin and Deputies Yuri Roslyak and Natalia Sergunina are appointed deputies to the commission chairman. Russian Massacre Sparks Corruption Probe After Decade of Terror - The Russian government plans to investigate a decade of unsolved crimes in two southern regions after the murders of 12 people focused attention on allegations that local officials aided a gang terrorizing the region. CORRUPTION WATCH: Kremlin refuses income probe - The Kremlin has refused to investigate disputed income declarations from several State Duma deputies, casting doubt over whether the government is serious about fighting corruption. Mironov Loses Power To Check New Senators Russian census results to be made public before end of 2012Moscow Patriarchate, Vatican wage common fight against secular liberalism - Patriarch KirillRussian World countries will lead mankind out of deadlock - Patriarch KirillRussian Press at a Glance, Friday, November 19, 2010The third gathering since 2002 of presidents of the five Caspian Sea littoral states failed to resolve outstanding territorial issues, amid assertions by analysts that continuing ambiguity is in the interests of Russia and Iran(The Moscow Times, Vremya Novostei, Vedomosti, Kommersant, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)President Dmitry Medvedev will visit the NATO summit in Lisbon on Saturday. Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has made it clear that he wants the summit to be a turning point in NATO's often-stormy ties with Moscow(The Moscow Times, Nezavisimaya Gazeta)President Barack Obama said it was a "national security imperative" for the Senate to ratify a pending nuclear arms treaty with Russia before ending its work this year(The Moscow Times, Vremya Novostei, Nezavisimaya Gazeta)Russia has "nothing to hide" from the U.S. authorities in the case of suspected arms dealer Viktor Bout and hopes that he will get a fair trial(The Moscow Times, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that the government planned to create a “Titanium Valley” special economic zone in the Urals, at the cost of 40 billion rubles ($1.3 billion), to bring together manufacturers in the aircraft, automotive, shipbuilding and medical industries.(The Moscow Times, Vremya Novostei, Vedomosti, Kommersant, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)Imports of handmade cigars should return to pre-crisis levels in 2012 after falling by nearly half last year, Russia's exclusive importer of Cuban cigars has said.(The Moscow Times)Russian stocks, the cheapest worldwide, are getting cheaper after the nation's companies posted record profits that topped analysts' estimates by the widest margin in emerging markets(The Moscow Times, Vedomosti)Russia's United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) may seek arms exporter status. If the government supports the initiative, Russia's state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport may lose its monopoly status and up to 25% of current export contracts(Kommersant)Russian Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin reported to the lower chamber of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, on the investigation into the horrifying massacre of 12 people in the southern Russian village of Kushchevskaya on November 4(Moscow Times, Vremya Novostei, Vedomosti, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)Viktor Biryukov, a spokesman for the Moscow police department, became the first Russian official to accuse the opposition of receiving money for staging unsanctioned rallies. He said the Strategy 31 rallies on the last day of each month that has 31 days and the Day of Wrath protests near the Moscow City Hall were “commercial projects,” adding that he “was told” this. Opposition leaders regret that it is impossible to sue Biryukov over the statement(Kommersant)The North Caucasus social and economic development strategy, proposed by the presidential envoy to the region, came under strong criticism from Russian analysts. Experts from both liberal and conservative circles say that the North Caucasus is on the verge of revolution and the pessimistic forecasts of its separation from Russia may now become a reality (Vremya Novostei)Moscow press review for November 19, 2010VEDOMOSTI:Having borrowed $900 million from Western banks, SUEK started repaying early to Russian ones. The company decided to repay the loans granted by Gazprombank, Sberbank (RTS: SBER) and VTB (RTS: VTBR), secured by the shares of its largest subsidiaries in Kuzbass and Krasnoyarsk Territory. By June 30 SUEK's net debt was 80.3 billion rubles according to the IFRS. By late September - 87.9 billion rubles according to the IFRS. Collateral debt obligations - 70.8 billion rubles (before repayment of Sberbank and VTB loans). Last year banks lent reluctantly even to companies with good finances and demanded a high security, says Alexei Bulgakov, an analyst with Troika Dialog (RTS: TROY). ("SUEK going away from pledges")Oleg Deripaska has sold the most attractive forestry asset: Austria's Pulp Mill bought from BazEl 33.6% shares in the Arkhangelsk pulp and paper mill (RTS: ACBK) (ACBK). As a result, the interest of the Austrian company rose 97.42%, the company said on Thursday. The deal is worth $150 million, an ACBK spokesman said. The company lent this sum to Pulp Mill a day earlier and borrowed from Unicredit. The deal is in the process, a BazEl official said declining to elaborate. Both Pulp Mill and Deripaska became ACBK shareholders in 2003. ("Deripaska surrendering wood," also Kommersant, page 11 - "BazEl moving out from Arkhangelsk")VTB Capital has become the main and almost the only creditor of Seventh Continent (RTS: SCON), the supermarket chain's owner Alexander Zanadvornov told Vedomosti through his aide. In October VTB Capital granted a five-year $400 million loan at 9.75% interest rate per annum, in December it could grant another $250 million on the same terms. "The $400 million line was approved by the board of directors. Raising the limit to $650 million requires an approval by a general meeting of shareholders, which is what will happen on December 12," Zanadvornov said. The VTB Capital loan will be secured by property: "almost all" of it has been pledged, the businessman said. ("Seventh Continent's helper")KOMMERSANT:Gazprom (RTS: GAZP), which has long been trying to enter the Israeli market, will be finally able to do so. Before the end of 2010 the monopoly wants to receive 50% in the country's shelf blocks. According to unofficial reports, it is buying a share in the project run by local company Ratio Yam. The forecast resources are not big - around 100 billion cubic meters, but they are located close to better explored blocks with much bigger resources. At the same time, the start of its own gas production in Israel will put an end to Gazprom's plans to supply natural gas to that country through the Blue Stream gas pipeline. (page 11, "Gazprom goes to Israel")Rostelecom (RTS: RTKM) which has not yet completed the merger seems to have already found would-be shareholders. Kommersant has learnt that two months before his resignation General Director of Svyazinvest Yevgeny Yurchenko signed a memorandum with Swiss-registered fund Savoretti & Partners, which received an exclusive five-month right to negotiate the acquisition of up to 15% in the merged company for its clients. Investment bankers and the communications company managers polled by the newspaper know nothing about the fund. (page 1, "Rostelecom issued with Swiss bill")Russian Troops Dying Amid Cruelty Claims - An estimated 3,000 Russian soldiers die every year despite the fact the country is not at war.Russian soldiers to be dressed in state-of-the-art uniforms - Russian military men will be outfitted with state-of-the-art uniforms. The new uniforms will protect them against fire and cushion the consequences of bullet impacts. The new uniforms are to be introduced already next year. The program will cost Russia 5.5 billion rubles, Dmitry Bulgakov, Deputy Defense Minister of the Russian Federation said.Caspian Sea littoral states need a cooperative organization - interview with Jahangir Karami, Assistant professor, faculty of World Studies, Department of Russian Studies, University of TehranNational Economic TrendsRussia's budget deficit to come to around 4.6% of GDP for 2010 – KudrinRussia's Kudrin: 2010 Budget Deficit To Be 4.6% Of GDPRussia's tax burden to grow by 2 pct of GDP over lack of reform warns KudrinTax rises – trend, not temporary measure – KudrinBan on tax benefits could eliminate budget deficit says finance ministerCapital inflow to funds investing in Russian and CIS stocks total $52 mln for Nov 11-17 - expertsVTB: Russia/CIS bonds extend gains Reserves Fall to $495.7Bln TABLE-Russia monetary base falls to 5.29 trln rblsRenCap: Ulyukaev comments on rouble and inflation Russia to launch road show for sovereign ruble bonds in the US and Europe on November 30 Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussionsVimpelcom, Norilsk Nickel, Razgulay: Russian Stocks Preview Russian markets -- Factors to Watch on Nov 19Export duty on copper to be levied as of Dec 18 – FCSMTS to acquire stake in MGTS from AFK SistemaGovernment not discussing a merger between RTS and MicexGref Says Tax Hikes to Erase Sberbank Savings From Staff Cuts Titanium past the bottom of the trough setting VSMPO-AVISMA for growth - The world's top titanium producer VSMPO Avista has revised its development program, according to CEO, Mikhail Voevodin, speaking exclusively to RT Business.Titanium Valley Emerges in the Mountains - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the government planned to create a “Titanium Valley” special economic zone in the Urals Federal District, which may cost 40 billion rubles ($1.3 billion) and will make products for the aircraft, automotive, shipbuilding and medical industries.Uralsib gearing up for IPO, mulls direct sale to investor Inter RAO Eyes Enel's Bulgaria Coal-Fired Plant, Wind Parks – ReportStockmann opens 100,000 sq m complex in Saint Petersburg RosDorBank Plans to Offer 1.05 Billion Rubles in Bonds in the Beginning of December 2010 Russia’s Cyrillic cybernauts - For once, a Russian company was being floated whose success was not based on privatised Soviet assets and the export of raw materials. This month’s initial public offering in London by Mail.ru instead reflects the values of a “modernised” and “innovative” Russia, two buzzwords much favoured by President Dmitry Medvedev.The Finance Ministry has proposed changes seeking greater oversight of foreign-currency transactions, according to a bill published on the ministry’s web site Thursday. (Bloomberg)MICEX is seeking to buy its smaller, dollar-denominated competitor, RTS, in a “friendly takeover,” Central Bank First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said Thursday. (Bloomberg)Russia’s bid for soccer’s 2018 World Cup championship is the most expensive, with estimated costs of $4.5 billion, Kommersant reported Thursday, citing the Federation Internationale de Football Association. (Bloomberg)Rostelecom was denied approval to provide so-called 4G services by the Defense Ministry, Kommersant reported Thursday, citing an unidentified government official. (Bloomberg)Russian stocks now even cheaperActivity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)Kudrin Sees Room to Raise Natural-Gas Extraction Tax (Update1) BRIEF-Malaysia's KNM bags $216 mln Uzbek job from LukOilUrals Energy reports flow rates at first sidetrack at Petrosakh OPAL natural gas pipeline reaches Czech RepublicRussia and China still poles apart on gas prices - The discussion is top of the agenda for November 22, said Jun, when China's Deputy Prime Minister Wang Qishan and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin will meet to hold energy talks. GazpromGazprom May Seek China, Korea Partners to Work at Chayanda FieldGazprom mulls Israeli energy co investmentGazprom May Delay Nigerian Investment Plans Until Next Year Official: Study to Decide if South Stream Will Pass through SloveniaGazprom could sell Gazprom DrillingGazprom close to selling Burgaz ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Full Text ArticlesBasic Political DevelopmentsRUSSIA-NATO Combined Russia-NATO missile defense could emerge from new relationship 19/11/2010MOSCOW, November 19 (RIA Novosti) - Missile defense, one of the thorniest points in Russia-NATO relations, could be the focus for new cooperation between the two sides after the NATO summit in Lisbon."It will certainly be a summit that marks a fresh start in our relations," NATO Secretary General Angers Fogh Rasmussen said on the eve of the landmark November 19-20 meeting. "I hope in particular that NATO and Russia will be moving forward on missile defense cooperation."The Russian side agrees - something the two sides have rarely managed to achieve on missile defense issues in the past."I consider this realistic," presidential aide Sergey Prikhodko said, adding that the realization of the system was simply a matter of "political will." He also said a joint system was possible in the "mid-term, rather than the long-term".Russian Air Force Commander Alexander Zelin said on Tuesday the Air Force was ready to work on missile defense systems with NATO.The Kremlin insists that the readiness to cooperate on missile defense issues should be laid down in a written document.Rasmussen also said that the alliance is hoping for further cooperation with Russia on Afghanistan."We are hoping to finalize an understanding which would broaden the existing agreement on transit. It would allow for land movements across Russia both to and from Afghanistan. And the list of approved goods would be enlarged," he said.That enlarged cooperation could include Russian training and support for Afghanistan's helicopter force.He also expressed hope that NATO and Russia would "increase the scope" of its work on combating the drug trafficking from Afghanistan. Russian and U.S. personnel recently combined to launch raids on drug labs.The NATO head also remarked that "new NATO" meant "a more engaged NATO, open to deeper partnerships in a wider world, including with Russia."NATO Lisbon summit to see ‘fresh start’ in Russia ties - Rasmussen 19/11/2010Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to the NATO Lisbon summit will herald a new era in the military alliance’s relations with its Cold War-era adversary, NATO Secretary General Angers Fogh Rasmussen has told RIA Novosti.“It will certainly be a summit that marks a fresh start in our relations,” Rasmussen said in an interview on the eve of the landmark meeting. “I hope in particular that NATO and Russia will be moving forward on missile defence cooperation.”“I was very heartened by the approach of President Medvedev during our meeting in Moscow. He agrees with me that the Lisbon summit provides the allies and Russia with an opportunity to build a modern, durable and long-term strategic partnership,” he went on.The NATO-Russia Council meeting on Saturday will see the highest level talks between the 28-member alliance and Moscow since Russian troops moved deep into Georgia in August 2008 as part of a campaign to defend the breakaway republic of South Ossetia.Rasmussen earlier said he wants to invite Moscow to join a U.S.-sponsored missile defense shield, and the Kremlin responded ahead of the summit that the once-unthinkable development was more than feasible.“I consider this realistic,” presidential aide Sergey Prikhodko said, adding that the realisation of the system was simply a matter of “political will.” He also said the joint system was possible in the “mid-term, rather than the long-term”.Rasmussen also said that the alliance is hoping for further cooperation with Russia on Afghanistan.“We are hoping to finalize an understanding which would broaden the existing agreement on transit. It would allow for land movements across Russia both to and from Afghanistan. And the list of approved goods would be enlarged,” he said.He also expressed hope that NATO and Russia would “increase the scope” of its work on combating the drug trafficking from Afghanistan. Russian and U.S. personnel recently combined to launch raids on drug labs.The NATO head also remarked that “new NATO” meant “a more engaged NATO, open to deeper partnerships in a wider world, including with Russia.”Relations with Russia-keynote of NATO summit, November 19 (Itar-Tass) -- The problem of relations with Russia is the keynote of the agenda of the NATO summit, which opens in Lisbon on Friday. The leaders of 28 NATO member countries are to adopt its new strategic concept, to approve a plan of the stage-by-stage turning over of the powers for ensuring security in Afghanistan to the national troops, to reach agreement on the beginning of the creation of a territorial NATO ABM system and to approve a plan of a large-scale reduction of the NATO command, staff and rear structures. The new NATO strategic concept will outline its goals and tasks, and will name the main threats and methods of warding them off for the coming decade. It is not surprising that the part of the doctrine, that deals with Russia, evoked a most lively discussion not only among the NATO countries, but also between Russian and NATO experts, because it is the level of the Russia-NATO relationship that will determine the real degree of security on the Euro Atlantic territory. One should say it for NATO: during the drafting of the document, which took a year and a half, the NATO Council of Sages even visited Russia in full strength, with Madeleine Albright in the lead, where it had a number of meetings with Russian senior officials and experts. The NATO countries realise that partner relations with Russia are the best guarantee of security in the region. At the same time, they find it difficult to overcome the inertia of the ‘cold war’, when it comes to putting that understanding into effect. As a result of it, the earlier version of the new NATO doctrine included both the tasks connected with the development of strategic partnership with Russia and items on the need for providing “additional military guarantees of security” to the East European countries. It was not specified, whom those NATO countries should be protected against, but the choice was clear. The document was edited several times. “We hope that NATO has at last made up its mind about Russia,” Dmitry Rogozin, Russia’s official representative at NATO, told Itar-Tass. Another aspect of the strategic concept, which evoked Russia’s keen interest, is the intention of NATO to turn from a regional organization into a global military alliance operating where it pleases, and not only within its boundaries, but also all over the world. According to the coming reports, the draft concept contains a provision on the need for staging combat operations by NATO for ensuring the security of its allied countries. The NATO Secretary-General assures that NATO is not going to become “a world gendarme,” and that its combat operations will be based exclusively on the principles of the U.N. Charter, but Russia would prefer to see a more clear statement, to the effect that any operations abroad can be staged only with the sanction of the U.N. Security Council. Another sphere, in whose solution Russia could play a very important role, will be a resolution of the NATO summit on the creation of the NATO anti-ballistic missile (ABM) system. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is sure that shortly after the adoption of the resolution NATO will invite Moscow to take part in the creation of the system. The NATO countries are not unanimous in their opinion of the initiative. Most West European countries believe that the NATO ABM system should be created on the basis of transparency and should not become the reason for the growth of suspicion in relations with Russia. At the same time, some East European countries doubt the need for too much openness in relations with Russia in the ABM sphere. Russia, in its turn, still has misgivings concerning the ABM system. According to Rogozin, Russia has not got a promise from the United States to keep the NATO ABM system on a tactical level and to give up the idea to create in Europe the weapon systems capable of intercepting ballistic missiles, which make the backbone of the Russian nuclear potential. So, the resolutions of the NATO summit on the ABM system will become a topic for discussion at the summit of the Russia-NATO Council about a possibility of cooperation in that sphere. The summit is to approve a “road map’ for turning over the powers for ensuring security in Afghanistan to the Afghan authorities and armed forces. The plan will be intended for a period of 2011-2014. The NATO Secretary-General has stressed on more than one occasion that this is not a strategy of the withdrawal and that NATO will remain in Afghanistan as long as it is needed. Nevertheless, the reduction of the international contingent in Afghanistan will become a natural element of the process. At present its numerical strength is 130,000. A number of the leading NATO countries – Spain, France, Germany, Italy and Sweden – intend to begin the withdrawal of their troops from Afghanistan no later than 2012. The Afghan direction is of great interest for Russia. “If NATO withdraws from Afghanistan too quickly, without creating conditions for the maintenance of stability, the country will again fall into the hands of the Taliban movement, and the consequences of this situation will be faced by the Central Asian countries and Russia, which is their main ally,” Rogozin explained. This is why Russia not only follows the discussion at NATO on the problem, but also is willing to take steps for supporting NATO’s efforts. The Russia-NATO summit will expand the agreement on the transit of non-lethal cargoes across the Russian territory for the NATO troops in Afghanistan and will continue the discussion about the purchase for Afghanistan of a consignment of Russian helicopters together with services for their maintenance and the training of pilots and engineers. Apart from it, Russia and NATO are going to expand the centre for the training of Afghan drug-control specialists in Domodedovo. The last of the main problems to be discussed at the summit is a large-scale reduction of the NATO command and staff structure. At first sight, it is not connected with Russia. In fact, however, the reduction of the number of NATO staffs from eleven to seven and of their personnel – from 13,500 to 8,500 is more than just “the reduction of the personnel.” It means the removal of stationary structures, left after the ‘cold war’ period, and the improvement of the mobility of the NATO command system. Most staffs are to become fully mobile, which will make it possible to transfer them to areas of possible conflicts. If Russia and NATO choose cooperation as a vector of the development of their relations, the reform will promote a higher level of mutual understanding, because it will bring down the history-based orientation of the NATO infrastructure and command system towards the warding off of the “threat from the east.” If the parties prefer conflict relations, the NATO military reform will soon force Russia to take steps for adjusting its military potential to a new situation. Russia-NATO missile shield possible "in mid-term perspective" - Kremlin 19/11/2010A joint Russia-NATO missile shield may be created in mid-term perspective, Kremlin aide Sergei Prikhodko said ahead of the Russia-NATO summit.Russia-NATO council will convene on Saturday in Lisbon. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is due to take part in the top-level gathering for the first time since the August 2008 war between Russia and Georgia, which soured Russia's relations with the alliance."I think that [the idea of joint missile defense] is real... The process is quite simple. We are ready to integrate," Prikhodko said."The issue is purely practical, and its implementation, according to experts... may be carried out not even in long-term, but in short-term perspective, given that [the sides] have political will," he said.He added that Russia had political will to go ahead with the project.Russian Air Force Commander Alexander Zelin said on Tuesday the Air Force was ready to work on missile defense systems with NATO. The Air Force is looking into the possibility of using military transport aircraft in the interests of NATO, he added.The Kremlin insists that the readiness to cooperate on missile defense issues should be laid down in a written document.NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen earlier said the alliance hoped to work with Russia on a variety of issues, including the European missile defense.Moscow hopes that the summit in Lisbon will finally put an end to the post-Cold War period and will set guidelines toward a strategic partnership between Russia and NATO.MOSCOW, November 19 (RIA Novosti)US defense chief to skip NATO summit 19, 2010 04:28 Moscow TimeUS Defense Secretary Robert Gates will not attend today’s NATO summit in Lisbon and will go instead to Chile and Bolivia to meet his Latin American colleagues there. ?Pentagon press secretary Jeff Morrell Thursday that Secretary Gates believed there was very good US representation in Lisbon in President Barack Obama.Poland seeks assurances at NATO summit 08:03A new strategic concept for the 21st century, a missile defence shield and the war in Afghanistan are just some of the issues on the table at the NATO summit which begins in Lisbon today. Poland will be pushing for a clarification of NATO’s traditional defence functions embodied in Article V, guaranteeing collective security in the event of an attack on any one member state. In a world where attacks by one state on another by traditional warfare methods are unlikely, Article V must take into account new threats such as cyber attack, threats to energy security or environmental disaster.President Bronislaw Komorowski, Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski and Defence Minister Bogdan Klich will also be seeking further defence investment in Poland in the shape of a permanent NATO base in the country. A withdrawal from Afghanistan is also on the agenda, with President Komorowski saying that Poland aims to change the nature of its mission in the war-torn nation in 2012, where Polish troops would concentrate not on fighting the Taliban but on training Afghanistan security forces to be able to hold back the insurgency. NATO leaders will also be inviting Russia’s president, Dmitry Medvedev to become involved in a new anti-missile shield. A new start“This summit will be a new start in relations with Moscow. The time has come as we no longer fear each other. We need to work more closely together and I believe that will happen,” said NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen.Warsaw is anxious that any closer cooperation with Moscow should not endanger Poland’s security. Though welcoming the thaw in relations with Russia, President Komorowski wrote in an article published in the Gazeta Wyborcza daily yesterday that any new deal “must not interfere with the unity of NATO or its ability to fulfil all its functions. NATO's relations with Russia cannot be developed at the cost of the security interests of other nations in Eastern Europe.”Poland is also supporting the addition of Georgia and Ukraine into the alliance. President Komorowski will be giving a press conference on the summit in Lisbon on Friday evening. (pg)NATO summit to tackle alliance’s identity crisis : 19 November, 2010, 09:40Created more than 60 years ago to counter the Cold War threat of the USSR, the NATO alliance is now in a search of a new clear goal, which it is expected to present at a summit set to open in Portugal.NATO is the biggest and oldest military alliance in modern times. But when you come to think about what its place in the world today is, the answer does not come easily. Decades after the Cold War ended, NATO member countries have no common enemy.“Originally it was supposed to defend Western Europe against the Soviet Union,” said Ivan Eland, the director of the Center on Peace & Liberty at the Independent Institute.NATO allies have been at a loss for a new one – and at a loss for a clear purpose.“NATO has been in identity crisis for a while,” said Patricia DeGennaro, adjunct professor of the Department of Politics at New York University.Weakened severely by the seemingly endless Afghan war, with NATO members growing weary, and countries such as Canada and the Netherlands pulling troops out, the power of the bloc is in question.“Now in Afghanistan and in many other places in the world we are seeing the consequences of the lack of NATO’s ability to transform and adapt,” said Dmitry Suslov, political analyst for the Council for Foreign and Defense Policy.And perhaps, that is the consequence of a growing group of now 28 nations driven together, but still largely led by the interests of one.“The US is trying to use NATO directly and indirectly – directly it is trying to use NATO as it does in Afghanistan to fulfill American missions,” Suslov added.Yet everyone feels the strain. And with goals not having been laid out since before the 9/11 attacks which drove the alliance into war, there is little in the way of concrete aims to guide an organization seemingly in crisis – which is just one reason why now in Lisbon, this meeting matters.The alliance is going to try to vie for modern relevance with the promise of “new strategic goals”, but also in Lisbon, are a group of “international critics”, who believe there is no place for NATO in the 21st Century.One of them, Reiner Braun, is planning an anti-NATO protest.“I think there is no place for NATO. I think there is no place for military alliances any longer in the world, because you can’t solve any of the global problems with military. None,” he believes.NATO is now looking to old foe for help in solving its problems.“It is impossible for NATO to deal with such burning issues as the ongoing war in Afghanistan without Russia, which has now emerged as one of the basically leading global players,” says Viktor Mizin from Moscow State University of International Relations.The alliance is looking to Russia for help with supply routes and fighting the drug trade. And now, an organization that famously touted a mission of “keeping the Russians out and the Americans in” needs the Russians “in” Afghanistan to help Americans get out.“I am not sure that NATO is in the 21st Century, and I think it is outdated,” Ivan Eland said.And without a major rethinking of its goals, policies, and missions, an alliance looking for a new place in the world may find itself fumbling along without one.NATO to Offer Medvedev a Warm Embrace at Summit November 2010By Nikolaus von TwickelWhen President Dmitry Medvedev visits the NATO summit in Lisbon on Saturday, he should be prepared for some unusual courting from the alliance's leadership.Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has made it clear that he wants the summit to be a turning point in NATO's often-stormy ties with Moscow."My strong sense is that Russia shares our view that the time has come to stop worrying about each other. The time has come to work together," Rasmussen said in a video address released late Wednesday on his web site.Rasmussen, who has made improving NATO-Russian ties a hallmark of his tenure, has said he wants to widen cooperation over Afghanistan and invite Moscow to join a U.S.-sponsored missile defense shield.But a senior State Duma deputy cautioned that NATO should be judged by its actions, not by the words of its leaders.The first challenge for Russia will be to analyze a new strategy that the 28-member alliance will unveil at the summit, which opens Friday, said Andrei Klimov, deputy chairman of the Duma's International Affairs Committee."President Medvedev is going there to get a firsthand account of how NATO’s leadership sees the future of the organization," Klimov, a member of United Russia, said in an interview in his Duma office.Expectations have been high, and in his remarks Rasmussen dubbed the summit "the most important in NATO's history." He said the new strategy would guide NATO for the next decade.A first draft published in May said NATO should focus on improving ties with Moscow, which has assisted the alliance by opening overland supply routes to Afghanistan. Medvedev is expected to sign an agreement in Lisbon allowing NATO to use more supply routes through Russia.The expert group under former U.S. Secretary of State Madelaine Albright that prepared the draft strategy held consultations with Moscow, but the final version to be presented at the summit is expected to differ significantly.Klimov said that once the new strategy is known, it will be easier for Russian policymakers to formulate future relations with NATO.Apart from areas where NATO's and Moscow's interests have long been close, like Afghanistan, terrorism and piracy, Rasmussen has called for Russia to join a planned missile defense shield that roiled U.S.-Russian relations under former U.S. President George W. Bush.Russia had complained that those plans, which consisted of launch pads in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic, were too close to its borders and undercut its own nuclear deterrent.As part of his "reset" policy, U.S. President Barack Obama replaced Bush's shield with a downscaled and more mobile version, but the revamped plans still feature stationing elements in Turkey and Romania, also close to Russia's borders.At the Lisbon summit, NATO members are expected to accept Obama's missile plan and transform its European dimension into a NATO project. Rasmussen has said cooperation with Moscow on missiles will be discussed at a later stage.Pavel Zolotaryov, a retired general and deputy head of the Institute for the USA and Canadian Studies, said Obama's concept was less controversial because it focuses on protection from short- and medium-range missiles, while Bush included long-range strategic missiles.But he said any progress depends on Washington's willingness to make it a cooperation of equals, including sharing sensitive technology."If they look at Russia as a potential ally, possibly we can go ahead," he said.Klimov, the Duma deputy, cautioned that hopes for a NATO-Russia reset should not aim too high."We do not see NATO as an enemy — but we understand that it is a military organization with live nuclear weapons and carrier systems," he said.He noted that the most serious disagreements with NATO — the 1999 war over Yugoslavia and the 2008 conflict in Georgia — occurred long after the Cold War ended and continue to influence current relations."We have not forgotten that NATO bombed the Balkans and killed civilians. And we remember very well that [Georgian President Mikheil] Saakashvili hoped for NATO protection when he decided to attack South Ossetia," he said.Rasmussen has said the fact that both sides continue to have disagreements should not be an obstacle for cooperation.Klimov agreed, saying he would prefer a world without NATO, where security policy is made by the UN Security Council and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe — both of which have Russia as a member. "My belief is that there is no place for this organization in the 21st century," he said. "But as a realist, I understand that it won't go away.5 Reasons Why Russia Will Never Join NATO 19 November 2010By Michael BohmGeorgia war of 2008. On the eve of the meeting, Ivo Daalder, U.S. ambassador to NATO, dropped a hint about future NATO membership for Russia. While referring to Article 10 of the alliance’s charter, which says NATO membership is open to any European country, he stressed that this article certainly applies to Russia — as long as it meets the alliance’s requirements. Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, head of a panel working on a new mission statement for NATO, and former NATO Secretary-General George Robertson have also supported the idea of working toward NATO membership for Russia. In addition, Igor Yurgens, head of the liberal Institute for Contemporary Development think tank, has said repeatedly that NATO membership is in Russia’s best interests.Unfortunately, this is all wishful thinking. There are five main reasons why Russia will never become a NATO member.1. NATO requires that its members have civilian and democratic control over their armed forces. This is a fundamental principal that allows for military integration and inter-operability among members. Although NATO countries have different political systems — some are presidential republics, others are parliamentary — they all have transparent defense budgets and public and legislative oversight over their countries’ military affairs. This includes independent investigations into military failures and abuses, parliamentary control over how funds are allocating — or not allocated — for weapons programs and constitutional checks and balances on a leader’s ability to send troops to fight in foreign military operations. In Russia, however, civil control over the military is anathema to the basic principles of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s vertical power structure, which has effectively folded all three branches of power into one huge executive branch. Any autocratic power, by definition, rejects public accountability in all spheres of government — and this is particularly true for its armed forces. In Russia, a lack of public and parliamentary accountability allows the Defense Ministry to cover up the true scope of its inefficiencies, blunders and overall backwardness. In addition, a closed military structure also allows rampant corruption at all levels of the military to continue unchecked. As long as the vertical power structure is in place — whether it be headed by Putin or his successor — there will never be civilian control over the military. Another reason why Russia will fiercely resist NATO’s requirement for transparency in military affairs is that it is hypersensitive about sharing its “military secrets” with NATO — particularly concerning its nuclear forces — even when its so-called secrets are well-known in the West. Nonetheless, a commitment to transparency is a basis for cooperation among NATO members. 2. Russia needs NATO as an “enemy,” not as an alliance partner. NATO is seen by conservative and nationalist forces that dominate the defense and security establishment as an inherently anti-Russian alliance. All the talk about NATO’s revised strategy and focus on new threats — terrorism, sea piracy, narcotics or cyberattacks — is a sham, we are told. The alliance’s real target remains Russia, just as it was during the Cold War. Even Dmitry Rogozin, Russia’s envoy to NATO, wrote on Twitter in March that NATO’s top brass to this day are developing military strategies and plans aimed against Russia.This fear was reflected in Russia’s latest military strategy, published in February, in which NATO was listed as the country’s No.1 danger. Hardened NATO opponents within the political, military and government-controlled media elite are against any cooperation (including joint projects in Afghanistan) with the alliance, which they view as a tool for U.S. imperialist aggression and military expansion — “an iron leviathan that crushes all humanity,” as Maxim Shevchenko, host of Channel One’s “Sudite Sami” political talk show, described NATO in a September 2009 interview on Ekho Moskvy radio. As soon as Daalder and Yurgens floated the idea of possible NATO membership for Russia, the first thing we heard from many of these opponents was: “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts. This is another NATO trick.” 3. China. If Russia ever became a NATO member, it would extend the alliance’s territory to China, which has a 4,000-kilometer border with Russia. This would upset the tripolar global security balance between NATO, Russia and China, and it would cause China — which is just as suspicious of enemy conspiracy theories as Russia is — to believe that Russia and NATO are joining forces to “contain,” or even weaken, China. It is clearly not in the interests of Russia or the United States, which both have deep economic ties with China, to heighten tensions or provoke China, even if Beijing’s fears are exaggerated. Moreover, we are told, the possibility that the United States’ or NATO’s next reckless military venture will be aimed at China (or Iran) should not be excluded. If this happens, Russia, as a NATO member, would automatically become a target for a Chinese (or Iranian) counterattack. To avoid this scenario, the argument goes, Russia should insist on strict military neutrality from NATO.4. The Collective Security Treaty Organization. NATO membership would effectively mean the end of the CSTO, which Russia has worked so hard on since its creation in 2002 to compete with NATO for influence in the global security arena. “I believe it [Russia’s membership in NATO] is absurd,” said CSTO chief Nikolai Bordyuzha on Sept. 16. “What is the sense of NATO membership if Russia has created its own security framework with its allies and this system of collective security functions well?” Rogozin, for his part, in an April 2009 interview with European-Asian News service, said: “We can handle our security problems independently. … We don’t need NATO.”5. Russia’s global ambitions. Most important, Russian membership in NATO would all but mean the end of Russia’s dream of restoring its former superpower status. By joining NATO, Russia would effectively become “just another large European country” on the same level as Germany, Britain or France — a “sacrilege” for the derzhavniki, or great-power nationalists, who remember when the Soviet Union was larger and more powerful than these three countries combined. It would also be an admission that Russia is de facto subordinate to the United States in the world’s largest and most influential security organization, which is unacceptable even to moderate members of the political and military establishment. Although the Kremlin no longer has messianic ambitions to create a Third Rome or Third International, at the very least it will want to preserve its sovereignty and independence as a regional and global power. That will be impossible to accomplish if it becomes a member of NATO with the United States at the helm of the alliance.The United States’ disingenuous peace feelers to Russia about NATO membership was clearly more PR and provocation than anything else. As President Dmitry Medvedev attends a NATO-Russia Council meeting in Lisbon on Saturday, it would be much better if both sides focus on smaller, more realistic NATO-Russian partnership projects — such as regional missile defense or fighting terrorism together — and forget once and for all about Russia ever becoming a member of NATO.Michael Bohm is the opinion page editor of The Moscow Times.START TREATYObama rallies bipartisan support for New START: 19 November, 2010, 01:09US President Barack Obama met with a group of bipartisan leaders in an effort to push a nuclear arms deal with Russia through the US Congress by year’s end. The New Start Treaty replaces an older version of the bilateral nuclear arms reduction agreement between the US and Russia. It was initially signed by both Presidents Medvedev and Obama on April 8, 2010. It has yet to be ratified by national legislative bodies.Many have called the treaty Obama’s main foreign policy success. Even with bipartisan support, there are a number of challenges to the ratification. Republicans who once openly favored the treaty now oppose it, and newly elected conservative members continue to rally against it.Obama’s meeting met with various former secretaries of state, national security advisors and experts from both major political parties is a sign of how important the treaty is, and signifies there is hope it will pass before the end of the year.“I think the group around the table will confirm — that this New START treaty is completely in line with a tradition of bipartisan cooperation on this issue. This is not a Democratic concept; this is not a Republican concept. This is a concept of American national security that has been promoted by Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and now my administration,” said Obama.Joseph Cirincione, a nuclear weapons policy expert and the president of the Ploughshares Fund said many people were surprised when Republicans, such as Senator Jon Kyle, reversed their position on ratifying the treaty swiftly.Kyle was previously in favor of ratifying the agreement, on conditions that Congress would fund the modernization if the remaining US nuclear arsenal. Now, he wants to put off the ratification until at least next year.“He [Kyle] seems to have alienated not just the administration, not just the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the military in the United States really want this treaty, but members of his own party,” said Cirincione.Senior US Senator Richard Lugar, the ranking Republican member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, blasted Kyle. He said Kyle’s change in stance is a mistake, calling treaty and positive US-Russian relations vital to US national security.“It looks like the administration wants this treaty ratified by the end of the year and there’re willing to fight for it,” said Cirincione.This is evidenced by high level talks between the Obama administration and Republican leadership. The treaty is necessary to secure US national security, argued Cirincione. The entity of the US national security establishment is solidly in favor of the agreement.“You have the military backing this; you have almost every senior former Secretary of Defense and Secretary of State and national security advisor backing it,” he added.However, there are those on the right who continue to oppose the treaty.“You have a minority within the Republican Party that are trying to score political points. They think that they can show that Obama is weak or humiliate him in some way by using this treaty as part of their partisan battle,” Cirincione explained. “I think that this is going to back fire a bit time on them.”There are still thousands of nuclear weapons in existence, yet much of the public has forgotten or is unaware of the magnitude. But when informed, the America public favors a reduction in nuclear arms, according to recent polls.Cirincione said there is unease in the US about nuclear weapons and with incidents of mistakes being made; the answer is to reduce the number weapons to their lowest possible levels and many in America support this goal.Brent Budowsky, a columnist with The Hill in Washington, DC said he believes the treaty has a 95 percent probability of ratification, but only a 30 to 40 percent chance of being ratified by the end of this year. However, high level Democrats and Republicans are involved in ongoing meetings to work together to find a compromise in order to ratify the New START by year’s end. “There is some politics and on the Republicans side there is a pressure to attack the President and to delay,” said Budowsky.There are a number of Republicans who oppose the treaty, and a few who see its merit. They understand a need for a positive change in US-Russian relations and the need for nuclear arms reeducation. “Military leaders in the US are telling Republicans as well as Democrats that this treaty serves the interests of the United States and the Russians, and that’s why it ought to be ratified,” Budowsky explained. “Many people in Russia are saying the same thing over there.” However, Republicans fundamentally do not believe in cooperating with democrats, argued Budowsky.“Short of President Obama becoming a Republican,” said Budowsky, conservative leaders will not cooperate with the President’s goals or agenda. “We have reached a point in Washington of non-stop partisan politics.”He argued that American voters want politicians on both sides to cooperate, however that is rarely the reality, and is becoming increasingly rare in US politics as recent statements have shown. “As Senator McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate said, hours after the election was over his main priority is defeating President Obama in 2012in the presidential campaign,” Budowsky said. US-Russian 'reset' in trouble as nuke pact stalls VLADIMIR ISACHENKOVThe Associated Press Friday, November 19, 2010; 2:22 AM MOSCOW -- Is the reset on the rocks? Rumblings in Washington by the resurgent Republican Party against Senate ratification of the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty raise doubts about a fragile U.S.-Russian rapprochement - the "reset" that has been a centerpiece of President Obama's diplomacy. An unraveling of ties, which hit post-Cold War lows during the administration of George W. Bush, would erode global stability at a time of burgeoning security threats and harm international efforts to stem the spread of weapons of mass destruction. New START bolstered mutual trust, helping Washington win crucial Kremlin backing for a new set of sanctions against Iran and stronger support for the war in Afghanistan. "The failure to ratify the treaty will deal a very painful blow to Obama's administration and the policy of 'reset,'" said Sergei Rogov, head of the Moscow-based U.S.A. and Canada Institute, a top think-tank advising the government on foreign policy. If "the administration can't deliver what it promised, it would seriously undermine Obama's position in the international arena." The Russian Foreign Ministry sought to play down a statement from Sen. Jon Kyl, a leading Republican, who spoke against holding a ratification vote this year. But it warned that the process should go forward in both countries at the same time. Obama on Thursday urged the Senate to ratify the treaty, appearing at the White House with former secretaries of state and defense of both parties who all support it. "This is not about politics," he said. "It's about national security." Some Kremlin-connected legislators and political pundits said Senate failure to ratify the agreement would likely push Moscow to rethink its relationship with the United States. Mikhail Margelov, head of the foreign affairs committee in the upper house of parliament, said Moscow may reconsider its stance on Iran and Afghanistan if the treaty fails. "We should agree with Vice President Joe Biden who fears that due to procrastinations with the ratification, the United States may lose Moscow's vital support in tackling the problem of Iran and in the war in Afghanistan," Margelov was quoted in Russian news reports as saying. "The continuation of 'reset' that envisages the development of partnership on security issues hinges on the treaty's ratification." Moscow backed the latest set of U.N. sanctions against Iran in June and later shelved a 2007 contract to supply Iran with sophisticated S-300 air defense missile systems that drew strong U.S. and Israeli concerns. The moves angered Tehran, which accused Moscow of kowtowing to the West. The Kremlin also has offered stronger support for NATO operations in Afghanistan, allowing the alliance to carry supplies across the Russian territory. A Russia-NATO summit in Lisbon this weekend is expected to see the signing of a new deal on the so-called "reverse" transit that would allow NATO to ship cargo back from Afghanistan. Rogov said Russia would be unlikely to backtrack on its moves regarding Iran and Afghanistan, even if the Senate fails to seal the arms deal, but that it would close the door to any further friendly action. "It's not that we will turn back, but any further moves toward cooperation will be unlikely," he told The Associated Press. Dmitry Trenin, head of the Carnegie Endowment's Moscow office, said Russia will continue to cooperate with Obama, but show more caution. "The relations will be stable and businesslike, but limited in depth and scope," he said. The nuclear arms deal signed in April by Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev would reduce strategic warheads to 1,550 for each country from the current ceiling of 2,200 and restore onsite inspections and other verification measures that ceased when the previous START treaty expired nearly a year ago. Trenin said that the unraveling of arms control would erode stability. "It's always dangerous to have nuclear arsenals of two major powers develop without proper information exchange," he said. "That would reduce the level of predictability." Rogov warned that the termination of inspections would prompt each country to overestimate the other's potential, as happened during the Cold War. "If on-the-ground inspections aren't restored, both the U.S. and Russia will have to proceed from the worst-case scenario as they did before the first arms control agreements were reached in the early 1970s," he said. Rogov and other observers also warned that failure to put New START into force would ruin hopes for global nuclear disarmament and encourage the spread of atomic weapons. "The world is no longer bipolar, and the collapse of the U.S.-Russian arms control mechanism will turn the multipolar world into multipolar chaos, as no one else would be able to persuade other nuclear powers to accept at least some rules of the game," Rogov said. "The consequences of the New START collapse could be extremely grave." Sergei Karaganov, chairman of the Council for Foreign and Defense Policies that includes some of Russia's top political and military analysts, said that if the treaty fails in the Senate, Obama and Medvedev might agree to implement its provisions by executive orders. He added, however, that many in Russian officialdom would likely oppose that, arguing it would make no sense to fulfill the deal at a time when the U.S. policy may change soon. Some said the arms treaty's collapse would play into the hands of hawks in the Russian government and weaken Medvedev, who has pushed for better ties with the U.S. "It will raise doubts about the 'reset' and undermine positions of Medvedev who placed his bets on that," said Sergei Markov, a leading lawmaker with the ruling United Russia party led by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. FACT CHECK: Arms treaty debate full of half-truths DESMOND BUTLERThe Associated Press Friday, November 19, 2010; 3:46 AM WASHINGTON -- In their showdown over the fate of a major arms-control treaty with Russia, Democrats and Republicans are charging each other with undermining national security. So who's right? The Obama administration is pushing for a vote this year on the treaty, while Republicans are calling for a delay until a new Congress convenes in January. Here's a closer look at the claims flying back and forth in the debate: EDITOR'S NOTE - An occasional look at assertions by government officials and how well they adhere to the facts.THE CLAIM: Opponents of the treaty, known as New START, say it will limit U.S. options for future missile defense. "New START could hamper our ability to improve our missile-defense system - leaving us unable to destroy more than a handful of missiles at a time and vulnerable to attacks from around the globe," Republican Sen. Jim DeMint wrote in the National Review in July.THE FACTS: The treaty itself does not place any constraints on missile defense. The document's preamble, which is not legally binding, acknowledges an interrelationship between nuclear weapons and missile defense, an assertion that was accepted by George W. Bush's administration and is self-evident: The point of missile defense is to counteract nuclear-tipped missiles. Opponents also point to Russia's assertion in a signing statement that it reserves the right to withdraw from the treaty if the United States significantly boosts its missile defenses. In fact, both sides have the right to withdraw from the treaty for any reason they believe is in their national interest. The Soviet Union made a similar assertion when leaders signed the original 1991 START treaty, warning the country might withdraw if the United States did not respect the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. But when President George W. Bush withdrew from the ABM treaty in 2001, Russia did not pull out of START. The START treaty held together for the same reason it was signed: It was in both countries' national interest. THE CLAIM: Opponents have alleged Russia is likely to cheat on the treaty and that its compliance will be hard to verify. "I think the treaty is weak on verification, especially compared to previous treaties," Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on a radio program last month. "We will have much greater trouble determining if Russia is cheating and given Russia's track record, that's a real problem."THE FACTS: Bond has said that a classified report raises concerns about Russian cheating. That's impossible to evaluate without seeing the document. But without the treaty, it would be even harder for the United States to make sure Russia is not covertly expanding or improving its nuclear or ballistic missile capabilities. The U.S. has not had inspectors in Russia checking its nuclear assets since the 1991 START treaty expired in December. The only quick way of getting them back is to bring a new treaty into force. It's debatable whether U.S. treaty negotiators got the best terms on how they can conduct inspections, but the treaty followed hard-fought talks. The Soviet Union for years resisted allowing inspections at all. Without inspectors, the U.S. would have to rely on espionage and satellite monitoring, which are much less effective and more expensive than onsite inspection. THE CLAIM: The treaty's backers say getting inspectors back on the ground in Russia is so urgent that the United States cannot afford to wait until next year. "This is not about politics," President Barack Obama said Thursday. "It's about national security. This is not a matter than can be delayed."THE FACTS: The urgency is political. Next year the Republican ranks in the Senate will expand by six and it will be much more difficult to ratify the treaty. Even the administration concedes that the security risk is not immediate. "I am not particularly worried, near term," Obama's top adviser on nuclear issues, Gary Samore, said Thursday. "But over time, as the Russians are modernizing their systems and starting to deploy new systems, the lack of inspections will create much more uncertainty." Intelligence officials have also expressed concerns about returning inspectors that have sounded less than urgent. "I think the earlier, the sooner, the better. You know, my thing is: From an intelligence perspective only, are we better off with it or without it? We're better off with it," the director of national intelligence, James Clapper, said recently. THE CLAIM: Republicans, led by Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, say they won't consider the treaty until the Obama administration budgets adequate money for the nation's nuclear arsenal and the laboratories that oversee them. The treaty would reduce the limits on U.S. and Russian warheads, and Kyl says he needs assurances that the remaining nuclear arsenal is modernized and effective. THE FACTS: The administration acknowledges that the weapons complex has been underfunded and says that it wants to address that. It has pledged a total of $85 billion to maintain the nuclear arsenal over the next 10 years, including a $4.1 billion boost recently pledged in an attempt to address Kyl's concerns. The president can't guarantee Congress, which controls spending, will go along with those figures. For his part, Kyl hasn't said whether he thinks the pledge is enough. But it would lift average spending over the five years beginning 2012 nearly 30 percent over 2010 levels. Even before the administration's new pledge, Linton Brooks, who oversaw the nuclear laboratories as director of the National Nuclear Safety Administration during the Bush administration, told an audience at a Washington think tank that he "would have killed for" the amount in this year's budget. Moscow hopes Iran Six resume talks in December (Update 1) 19/11/2010Moscow hopes the Iran Six group of mediators will resume talks in early December, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said."I hope they [talks] will occur. At least we are now discussing concrete dates - the beginning of December," Lavrov said.He added that the date and location of talks were not discussed during Thursday's meeting between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad."The Russian president indicated our serous interest in resuming the talks as soon as possible and called on our Iranian colleagues not to procrastinate," Lavrov said.He added that although Turkey offered to host the event, other locations are also being considered."We may meet in European headquarters of international organizations. We are convinced that any variant will do, as soon as everyone feels comfortable," the Russian foreign minister said.Western powers suspect Iran of building nuclear weapons under the guise of a peaceful nuclear program, an accusation Tehran strongly denies.The Iran Six, which comprises Russia, the United States, China, Britain, France and Germany, has been trying since 2003 to convince Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program and to alleviate concerns about its nuclear ambitions.Talks between Tehran and the Iran Six came to a halt in 2009, after an IAEA resolution condemned the Islamic Republic over the construction of a second uranium enrichment facility.Earlier this month, the Iranian Foreign Ministry confirmed Teheran's plans to resume talks with the Iran Six on Turkish territory. The talks were expected to be held in Istanbul on November 10 or 15.MOSCOW, November 19 (RIA Novosti)China-Russia Relations Maintain Sound Development Momentum ??? 2010-11-19 13:25:43 ??? Xinhua??????Web Editor: Zhang Jin Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's upcoming visit to Russia will further bolster the relations between Moscow and Beijing that have maintained a sound momentum of development in recent years.Wen will pay a visit to Russia on Nov. 22-24, during which he will attend the 15th Chinese-Russian prime ministers' meeting. During recent years, political mutual trust between Russia and China has been growing steadily. The year 2010 has witnessed the most frequent contacts between top leaders of the two countries. On May 9, Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived in Moscow to attend the 65th anniversary of Russia's Victory Day. In September, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev paid a state visit to China. During Medvedev's visit, the two sides signed an agreement on security cooperation, pledging to fight together against terrorism, separatism and extremism. The agreement laid a strong foundation for bilateral cooperation between China and Russia in coping with the threats. Economic and trade cooperation between China and Russia has also been on the rise. The latest statistics show that their bilateral trade volume stood at 45.1 billion U.S. dollars from January to October, surging 45 percent compared with the same period in 2009. Bilateral trade volume for the whole year was expected to rebound to the pre-crisis level. Trade and economic cooperation between the two nations has entered an important stage, as the trade structure has been improved significantly. Technology-oriented exports from Russia to China have been growing swiftly in the past three years. Two-way investments have also been increasing steadily. Meanwhile, bilateral cooperation in special economic zones, property rights protection, standards setting, timber processing and some other sectors has also achieved visible successes. The two countries have been also stepping up their cooperation in such areas as oil and gas, coal, hydro-energy, and nuclear energy. They have made concerted efforts in improving energy efficiency and the search for new sources of energy. Moreover, humanitarian and cultural exchanges between the two nations have also scored great success.The successful Russian Language Year in China held last year and the current Chinese Language Year in Russia have helped deepen the mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples and strengthen the social foundation of the two nations' strategic partnership and cooperation.Chinese Navy Commander visited Northern Fleet Chinese delegation headed by Commander of the Chinese Fleet Admiral Wu Shengli visited Murmansk on November 16-17, GTRK Murman reports. The aim of the visit was “to open a new page in the relationship between Russia and China and bring political trust, strategic interaction and business cooperation to a new level”, the admiral said to GTRK Murman.In Murmansk the delegation visited the aircraft carrier “Admiral Kuznetsov”, which currently is based at the shipyard nr 35 in the Kola Bay and the nuclear submarine “Tigr”, the Russian Armed Forces’ web site informs. All of the delegation members, including the admiral himself, have either studied or worked in Russia earlier, Admiral Wu said.Slovenian president to visit Russia’s city of Samara, November 19 (Itar-Tass) -- Slovenian President Danilo Turk on Friday will come to the Russian city of Samara as part of his official visit to Russia. While in Samara, Turk will meet with governor of the Samara region Vladimir Artyakov, attend a Russian-Slovenian business conference, plant trees in the Alley of Cooperation, and visit Slovenia’s consulate and a local cancer centre, a source in the regional government told Itar-Tass. A source in the Togliatti mayor’s office told Itar-Tass that some members of the Slovenian delegation headed by Slovenian Minister of Economic Affairs Darja Radic will visit the city of Togliatti to meet with the city’s officials. The minister will be accompanied by representatives from Slovenian-based companies specializing in the manufacture of car components and those active in the area of recreational tourism. The city officials will hold a presentation of the city’s socio-economic development concept. The Slovenian delegation will also visit production facilities of Russia’s biggest car manufacturer AvtoVAZ. According to customs statistics, the Samara region exports to Slovenia organic chemical compounds and other chemicals. Imports from Slovenia include tanning and colouring agents, plastics and plastic items. In May 2007, Slovenia was the first European state to open a consulate in Samara. Slovenia’s third consulate in Russia, it was timed to mark the 15th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Russia and Slovenia. Samara will be the ultimate destination within Turk’s visit to Russia after he visited Moscow and St. Petersburg. Late on Friday, the Slovenian president will take off from the Samara airport for Ljubljana. Putin to attend meeting of CIS Prime Ministers in St. Pete 19, 2010 09:24 Moscow TimeRussian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is due to attend a meeting of the Council of CIS Prime Ministers, of the Inter-State Eurasian Economic Community Council and of the Customs Union’s top body in St. Petersburg today. The Prime Ministers’ Council meeting will be the last one that Russia has chaired during its one-year long presidency. During the Inter-State Council meeting the Prime Ministers are due to approve moves to carry out priority development projects of the Eurasian Economic Community in 2011 through 2013 and subsequent years. Also today the Inter-State EurAsEc Council will meet as the Top Agency of the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. The meeting is due to adopt a decision on coming into force the four documents that form a contractual-legal basis for the Customs Union.?Armenian Prime Minister Travels To Saint Petersburg, November 19. /ARKA/. Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, with his wife, Gohar Sargsyan, flew Friday to Saint Petersburg for a two-day official visit, ARKA News Agency correspondent reports. The Armenian delegation accompanying the premier consists of Vice Premier and Territorial Administration Minister Armen Gevorgyan, Head of the Government’s Administration David Sargsyan, Culture Minister Hasmik Poghosya, Economy Minister Nerses Yeritsyan, Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan, Deputy Transport and Communication Minister Artashes Avetisyan and other officials. Sargsyan will attend a CIS prime-ministerial meeting in Saint Petersburg.The meeting participants will discuss 20 draft documents.Creation of free trade zone and dairy market as well as enhancement of food safety in CIS countries and consumption of energy are among top-priority issues on the agenda. The Commonwealth of Independent States is presided by Russia this year.The meeting participants will also outline humanitarian cooperation prospects for 2011 and 2012. The Armenian premier is set to meet with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts -Vladimir Putin and Nikolay Azarov. Sargsyan will also attend the 28th session of Eurasian Economic Community’s intergovernmental council.The nucleus of the competitive integration project of common economic space will be formed in 2011. Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan Customs Union established in July was the first step in this program.The Armenian prime minister will visit Saint Petersburg Economy and Finance Institute, from which he graduated in 1983, and Saint Petersburg State University, where he will attend the ceremony of unveiling the bust of Iosif (Hovsep) Orbeli, prominent Armenian-Russian orientalist and public activist. He will also meet with business men in Saint Petersburg. –0--19/11/2010 11:58Azarov Leaves For Russia To Take Part In Meeting Of CIS Governments' Heads Council (10:04, Friday, November 19, 2010)Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has left for Russia to take part in the meeting of the council of CIS governments' heads. The meeting plans to discuss course of preparation of draft agreement on free trade zone and interstate program on innovative co-operation between CIS countries. The program of the meeting also envisions discussion of agreements on co-operation in protection of intellectual property and plan of measures in the sector of humanitarian co-operation. Chairmen of governments of CIS countries plan to hear outlook of production and consumption of energy resources for the period until 2020, concept on increase of food security, major trends in functioning of beef and milk products and information about major targeted macroeconomic indicators of the CIS. Besides, it is planned to consider the report on activity of the coordination transport council in 2006-2009, on activity of the interstate council for standardization, metrology and certification, and information about implementation of the first stage of strategy of economic development of CIS. As Ukrainian News earlier reported, in July, heads of CIS countries agreed on liberalization of trade between the countries. Medvedev to discuss security in N. Caucasus 19, 2010 01:30 Moscow TimePresident Dmitry Medvedev will be meeting with senior military and security officials today to discuss additional measures to ensure peace and security in the North Caucasus. During a visit to the southern spa towns of Kislovodsk and Yessentuki the President will take part in a ceremony to award Interior Ministry officers and soldiers who distinguished themselves in combat.? Medvedev recently threatened to fire the leaders of the North Caucasus republics who fail to improve the work done by the local law enforcement agencies.??Israel to roll out the red carpet for Medvedev, Peres says GREER FAY CASHMAN? 11/19/2010 05:34 President tells Russian deputy PM that Russian leader will receive same level of importance, prestige as former US president Bush. During his visit in early 2011, Israel wants to give Russian President Dmitry Medvedev the same degree of importance and prestige it accorded to former US president George W. Bush, President Shimon Peres told Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov on Thursday morning.The two men met at Beit Hanassi prior to Zubkov’s participation in a Russia-Israel business meeting aimed at promoting joint ventures between the two countries.Although Peres acknowledged that Medvedev’s visit will be brief, Israel would nonetheless like to have an evening of Russian culture, because culture, he said, is part of diplomacy. The president also emphasized music, noting that Israel has a lot of talented musicians of Russian background and training, and this would be an ideal opportunity for cultural bridge-building.Medvedev will be the second Russian president to visit Israel. President Vladimir Putin came during the intermediate days of Pessah in 2005, and at a state dinner hosted for him at a leading Jerusalem hotel by thenpresident Moshe Katsav, was forced to eat matzot, because there was no bread.At the time, Israel was greatly concerned about Russian missile sales to Syria and participation in the creation of Iran’s nuclear reactor. Such issues still remain on Israel’s agenda in its relationship with Russia, and in all probability will be raised with Medvedev.Meanwhile, Zubkov, who is on a working visit to Israel with the aim of strengthening cooperation in industry and trade, told Peres that Russia is interested in everything from agriculture to outer space, and would like to work on joint projects with Israel.Among the joint projects in which Russia would like to engage are a second communications satellite, a factory for the production of fertilizer, and the creation of a production plant for medications in partnership with an Israeli company.In conversations with Peres and other prominent Israelis, Zubkov underscored the benefits for Israel in entering into joint ventures with his country, due to the size of the Russian market.He was pleased that Russia and Israel have signed an research and development agreement, and stated that there are more agreements in the pipeline.He also noted the intense political discussions between Russia and Israel, which will be enhanced with the celebration in 2011 of the twentieth anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.The former Soviet Union was among the first countries to recognize Israel after its establishment but severed ties in the immediate aftermath of the Six Day War.Russia not refusing territorial talks with Japan: official (Kyodo) -- Russia is not refusing to have territorial talks with Japan in the future over the disputed isles in northern Pacific, the Russian Foreign Ministry's deputy spokesman said Thursday.Alexei Sazonov, deputy director of the Information and Press Department at the ministry, said at a briefing that Russia has never expressed that it would refuse such talks. The Etorofu, Kunashiri and Shikotan islands and the Habomai islet group are known in Japan as the Northern Territories and in Russia as the Southern Kurils.Sazonov said Russia's position regarding the territorial dispute is clear and added that Russia intends to build its relations with Japan not by focusing on the existence of the problem but by strengthening political dialogue, economic cooperation and human exchange.But Sazonov declined to give direct answers regarding the 1956 declaration between Japan and the Soviet Union in which Moscow agreed to return Shikotan Island and the Habomai islet group to Japan following the conclusion of a bilateral peace treaty.The Soviet Union occupied the disputed isles following Japan's surrender in World War II on Aug. 15, 1945 and the two have yet to sign a peace treaty.In a Monday edition, Russian newspaper Kommersant quoted Russian sources as saying that Moscow will not have talks with Japan based on provisions in the 1956 declaration.(Mainichi Japan) November 19, 2010Russia against any haste in UNSC expansion: Fri Nov 19 2010, 08:59 hrs Moscow:Russia is against any haste in the expansion of the UN Security Council and said the issue needs much wider support among UN members than the two-thirds majority in the General Assembly and may take many years. "Recent statements of the US President Barack Obama in New Delhi and Tokyo are in line with similar statements by other world leaders," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexei Sazonov said in response to a question about Obama's backing for India and Japan as the permanent members of the apex UN body. He said that the progress in the issue of UNSC reform was possible only through a search for a compromise, for which there was a need for delicate work, which, probably may take many years. "Like many participants of this process, the Russian Federation has also voiced support for the candidatures of the countries, which significantly influence the modern international processes," Sazonov said in an obvious reference to Moscow's support for UNSC aspirants like India and Germany. Thai government ordered Bout's extradition in advance - source 19/11/2010The Thai government issued final approval for extradition of Russian national Viktor Bout at least a day before it took place, a source in the Thai foreign ministry said.Bout, 43, was extradited to the United States on Tuesday after spending more than two and half years in Thai prisons. Thai media has reported that the decision to extradite Bout was made during a governmental session some three hours before the accused arms dealer was put on a charter flight and flown to New York."The decision to extradite Viktor Bout, issued by the prime minister's office, was received by the Foreign Ministry on Monday afternoon," the source told RIA Novosti on condition of anonymity.The Russian side received no formal notification that the government gave its final approval for the extradition, he added.Thai foreign ministry officials earlier stated that Russia was notified of all stages of the extradition procedure.Bout's lawyer, Lak Nitivat, earlier said that the Thai authorities had not informed him, Bout's wife, or the Russian embassy in Bangkok about the move.Bout's extradition to the United States was ordered by the Thai appeals court on August 20, but was not carried out because the United States brought a second set of charges against him in February.These charges were dropped in early October, bringing the so-called Merchant of Death one step closer to extradition. His remand period was due to expire on Friday.Bout was officially charged in a New York City court on Wednesday. His charges include conspiring to supply arms to terrorist groups and kill U.S. nationals. He could face a 25 year sentence if convicted on all four charges against him.BANGKOK, November 19 (RIA Novosti)Russia insists on fair trial for Bout 19/11/2010Russia insists that suspected arms dealer Viktor Bout is given a fair trial, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said."We will not act as Bout's advocates and do not claim that he did not commit any illegal offences. That we do not know, and no-one will know, until justice is done," Lavrov said.He said Russia provides its citizens with all the rights guaranteed by international law."We want to see justice prevail, nothing more," he added.The Russian top diplomat said Bout's case sparked too much speculation in Russian and Western media."We are accused of protecting a criminal, though he has never been found guilty of anything by any court. I would like to make it absolutely clear that we are always obliged to protect the rights of Russian citizens, regardless of whether this citizen is a suspect or not. Especially, when no trial has yet taken place," Lavrov said.He also said that the Russian consul met with Bout on Wednesday, and such contacts would continue."We communicated with Russian citizen Victor Bout through our consul in New York. The conditions he is being kept in are not quite perfect," Lavrov said.Bout, 43, was extradited to the United States on Tuesday after spending more than two and half years in Thai prisons. He was officially charged in a New York City court on Wednesday. His charges include conspiring to supply arms to terrorist groups and kill U.S. nationals.The next hearing in the case of the former Russian officer, dubbed the Merchant of Death, will be held on January 10 next year. Bout could face a 25 year sentence if convicted on all four charges against him.MOSCOW, November 19 (RIA Novosti)Friday ,Nov 19,2010, Posted at: 11:01(GMT+7) Russia summit seeks to save tiger from extinction , Nov 19, 2010 (AFP) - In a meeting billed as the final political chance to secure the future of the tiger, Russia Sunday hosts an unprecedented summit of the last 13 states with populations of the fabled beast.The summit in Russia's second city of Saint Petersburg, hosted by Prime Minister and self-proclaimed animal lover Vladimir Putin, is aiming to double the number of tigers living in the wild by 2022.Due to decades of poaching and habitat destruction, there are currently only 3,200 tigers living in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), compared with 100,000 a century ago."Three subspecies have already disappeared and none of the other six are secure," says a draft declaration that is due to be adopted by the heads of government at the summit.Russia is the only country to have seen its tiger population increase in the last years from 80-100 in the 1960s to around 500 now and experts have hailed Putin for taking an active role in saving the tiger. "Russia can play here a leading role as a host and as a good example as its tiger population has actually grown," Sabri Zain of TRAFFIC, which monitors the global trade in wild animals and plants, told AFP."The important thing here is the attention given to the event by Vladimir Putin so that other heads of government will sit down and listen," he added.Putin has personally championed the protection of the Amur Tiger in the country's Far East, where he once famously fired a tranquillizer dart at one of the big cats.But underlining that even the situation in Russia is far from rosy, an Amur Tiger was found dead from gunshot wounds early on November 16 in Russia's Far East in the Khasan district, south of the main regional hub of Vladivostok.The WWF said in a statement that a criminal inquiry would be opened for illegal hunting although it was possible that the animal had been killed in self-defence.The November 21-24 summit is due to be attended by five heads of government, including Putin and his Chinese counterpart. The meeting is thought to be the first time world leaders have gathered to discuss the fate of a single species.While there is now consensus on the need to save the tiger, there is a stark lack of any coordination on the ground to stop illegal trade in tiger parts like whiskers, paws and bones that are prized in traditional Asian medicine."Countries cannot fight the tiger trade individually, because of the very nature of the trade, where tiger parts come from one country, are processed in another and consumed in a third," said Zain of TRAFFIC.Along with Russia, 12 other countries host fragile tiger populations -- Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam.But experts say by far the key players in saving the tiger are India and China.India is home to half of the world population, while the Chinese remain the world's biggest consumers of tiger products despite global bans."In China, things are going from bad to worse," said Alexei Vaisman of the WWF. "But it is hard for the Chinese authorities, who are fighting against a millennium-old tradition."Experts meanwhile commend Russia for its far-seeing policies in creating improved tiger reserves which work together with non-governmental ecological groups and border guards.Vladimir Krever, the coordinator for biodiversity at WWF, said that the current population of 500 tigers in Russia was optimal for the current availability of habitat. Raising numbers to 600 would be "an absolute maximum."Zain of TRAFFIC described the target of the summit of doubling tiger populations by 2022 as "very ambitious but achievable"."Proof is Russia, it's a success story as the number of tigers has increased," he said.A last chance to save the tiger hunting and loss of habitat push the world's biggest cat to the brink of extinction, the 13 'tiger nations' are gathering in Russia determined to halt its calamitous declineBy Shaun WalkerFriday, 19 November 2010The remains were discovered in the woods early on Tuesday, thousands of miles from Moscow, near Russia's distant eastern border with North Korea. A single bullet had proved fatal, and by evening the country's Interior Minister had been tasked with mounting a thorough investigation and severely punishing the culprits. The victim? Not a muck-raking journalist, or a local mafia boss, but a Siberian tiger, one of only about 450 left in the far east of Russia.It was a gruesome reminder of the severity of the threat to wild tigers. This weekend, the leaders of the world's 13 "tiger nations", including Russia, China and India, are to meet. Billed as the last chance to save the wild tiger, the St Petersburg summit will be hosted by the Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, and will launch a programme to double the number of tigers in the wild by 2022, the next Chinese Year of the Tiger.There are now just 3,200 tigers left in the wild, compared to about 100,000 a century ago, and wildlife experts say that if serious measures are not taken, the tiger could die out within a generation. "This summit may be the last chance for the tiger," said Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank, which is coordinating the programme to be presented at the summit. "Tigers are vanishing, due to illegal poaching, trafficking and loss of habitat." Mr Zoellick said financial and legal measures were required. "We need to see poachers behind bars, not tigers," he said, but added that there was also a need for community programmes to teach people the value of tigers, and conservation programmes to safeguard tiger habitats.Poaching is still a major problem, usually aimed at servicing the black market in China, where tiger parts are in great demand for use in traditional medicines and as aphrodisiacs. A tiger skin can fetch anything up to ?15,000 on the Chinese black market, and the bones go for more than ?500, to be used as medicines or alleged aprodisiacs.Experts were divided on whether the target of doubling tiger populations over the next 12 years is achievable. "The goal is realistic, but achieve it, there needs to be a lot of political will and financial support," said Vladimir Krever of the World Wildlife Fund's Moscow Office. Of all the tiger countries, Russia has been the most successful at breathing new life into its tiger community, with the Siberian tiger rescued from the brink of extinction to a population of about 450 in the Russian Far East that has remained stable for a decade.Russia's tigers live in the forests along Russia's borders with North Korea and China, which was where the dead tiger was found this week. In the Pacific port city of Vladivostok, there is even a Tiger Street, and a monument to tigers will be unveiled tomorrow to coincide with the St Petersburg forum.Siberian tigers, the largest subspecies, can grow to over two metres in length and 400kg in weight, and occasionally become a threat to local residents. Just last week, in the city of Nakhodka, a tiger veered into a residential area in search of food and ended up mauling a dog to death. Locals have been advised not to walk dogs in the woods until the tiger has been found. The appearance of tigers in urban areas speaks to a growing problem for conservationists, the destruction of traditional tiger habitats, and the encroachment of human infrastructure onto what were once tiger-hunting grounds. "The problems facing tigers vary from country to country," says Mr Krever. "But it's fair to say that while poaching still remains a huge problem, especially in the Asian countries, the bigger problem is now that the traditional habitats of tigers are being destroyed."Cambodia, China, Malaysia, Burma, Thailand and Vietnam all have small tiger populations, varying in size from just a few remaining specimens up to about 300. Some experts in these countries expressed scepticism that the goals of the summit were manageable. "It sounds very ambitious and positive that we will have 6000 tigers in two decades, but tell me how will they do it without being able to save the existing ones?" Belinda Wright, director of Wildlife Protection of India, told Agence France Press. "Patchy intelligence-gathering techniques across Asia and lack of cross-border commitment to end the sale of tiger parts has led to a collective failure."In India, which has the largest tiger population of any country, the population of wild tigers has fallen to 1,411, compared to 3,700 less than a decade ago, and 40,000 at the time that the country gained independence from Britain in 1947. Since 2007, a new tiger protection force has been introduced in the country, and promised millions of pounds of funding for a new anti-poaching programme. The government has even moved villagers out of tiger-reserve areas to allow the beasts to roam more freely. But the results have been mixed. That this summit will attract a large number of heads of state, including Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, is extremely important, say the organisers. "[Mr Putin] has taken a personal interest in trying to increase their numbers," said Mr Zoellick. "If it weren't for Prime Minister Putin I don't think we'd have the level of heads of government that we're having put this together."Mr Putin is known for his fondness for the wide range of wild animals to be found in Russia, an interest that often manifests itself in televised stunts designed to boost his "macho man" image, and appeal to Russian voters. He has been pictured shooting a tracking device onto a whale with a crossbow, seeking out a polar bear in the Arctic ice, and riding horses through the taiga, and the Siberian tiger has not been spared his attention either. In 2008, during a visit to a tiger reserve in the Russian Far East, a tiger apparently advanced on the Russian Prime Minister and television crew that had travelled with him. Mr Putin, according to the reports, fired an accurate shot with a tranquiliser gun to neutralise the animal. Mr Putin stroked the unconscious tiger while it was fitted with an electronic tracking device, and Russian media have reported that the female has since given birth to two cubs.Aside from the suspicion that Mr Putin's animal encounters are cheap publicity stunts, campaigners agree that the attention given to the issue from the top can only help. "Having commands come from right at the top of government forces those agencies and structures that need to implement measures to do so," says Mr Krever of the WWF.Mr Zoellick, of the World Bank, said: "Ultimately, we need to find ways that people can benefit more from live tigers than dead ones." He added that given that every child across the world knows from a young age how endangered the tiger is, it sends a bad signal if efforts to save the creature in the wild fail. "If we can't save the tiger, what is the likelihood that we'll be able to save other species?"Georgian president:Country welcomes any EU-Russia dialogue 11:06?Georgia, Tbilisi, Nov. 19 / Trend N.Kirtzkhalia /Georgia welcomes also any dialogue that European Union has with Russia, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said at the joint news conference with President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy."Obviously we welcome also any dialogue that European Union has with Russia, provided also that this dialogue is not used by Russia to divert away from the existing issue," Saakashvili said.Saakashvili said people mustn't forget that Russia keeps occupying territory of the sovereign European country. "In any case, this is our way; Georgia's way is European way," he added.Van Rompuy made a statement in which he expressed his support to Georgia and pointed out that EU continues its full support to Georgia's security, stability, sovereignty and territorial integrity."I underline the European Union's full support for the security, the stability and territorial integrity of Georgia, to expect in tight international community to do so as well," he said. "Future of the EU's energy supply and energy security is of course linked with this neighborhood as well. Including the countries of Eastern Partnership and beyond.""I recognize the constructive role Georgia plays in development of energy transit route," Van Rompuy stated.Military actions were launched in the unrecognized republic of South Ossetia in August 2008. Georgian troops entered Tskhinvali, the capital of de facto South Ossetia, and later Russian troops occupied the city and drove the Georgian military back into Georgia. Russia recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia on Aug. 26 and established diplomatic relations with these regions on Sept. 9, 2008.Georgian youth restores bridges with Russia group of Georgian young people today will travel to Moscow to strengthen humanitarian ties with Russia and to launch a dialogue with Russian youth.The Union of Georgians of Russia has organized the visit which will last 7 days, ITAR-TASS reports. 19 November 2010, 10:02Church important factor of Russian-Georgian relationship stabilization - Patriarch Kirill , November 19, Interfax - Inter-Orthodox relations play a special role in the relationship between Russia and Georgia, said Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia."The involvement of Russian Orthodox Church representatives in the life of the Georgian Church, and visits by Georgian clergymen to Russia and by Russian ones to Georgia allow not only ecclesiastical but also humanitarian ties to be maintained, while leaving real prospects for normalization of the relationship between the two countries," the Patriarch said at a meeting with the alumni of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Academy and diplomats in Moscow.The latest such visit was made by head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk, to Georgia for the celebration of the millennium of the Metropolitan Cathedral in Mtskheti in October 2010, and this Sunday the Patriarch will conduct a prayer service with two Georgian hierarchs at the Kremlin.November 19, 2010 12:18Military plane crashes in Perm. Nov 19 (Interfax) - A military fighter jet crashed in the Perm territory on Friday, local Public Security Minister Igor Orlov told Interfax."The preliminary information available to us confirms that two pilots ejected near the village of Troitsa in the Perm district in the Perm territory. Presumably, the plane flew farther and crashed near the village of Denisovka in the Chusovo district," Orlov said.Rescuers are searching for the airplane and the pilots, he said."It is still unclear whether the pilots are alive," he said.tm mjMIG-31 HIGH-ALTITUDE INTERCEPTOR FIGHTER JET CRASHES IN PERM TERRITORY - LOCAL ADMINISTRATION12:07PART OF ROSTEKHNOLOGII'S DEFENSE COMPANIES COULD BE PRIVATIZED - CHEMEZOV's leading shipbuilder seeks arms exporter status 19/11/2010Russia's United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) is seeking to become an independent exporter of vessels, naval arms and equipment, a respected Russian business daily said on Friday.According to USC's draft development concept, the 100% state-owned company is seeking the status of a separate "entity in military-technical cooperation," which allows it to "carry out foreign trade activities concerning military equipment," Kommersant said.The document was submitted for approval to the Russian government about a month ago.So far, only Russia's state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport is entitled to export the whole range of military items, including fully assembled equipment. Other 21 engineering companies and manufacturers, also vested with the status, are allowed to export only spare parts, disassembled equipment and carry out service maintenance."We are now studying various models of entering foreign markets, in calm dialog with Rosoboronexport," an unnamed source in USC told Kommersant.Rosoboronexport, which accounts for 80% of all Russian arms exports, said, however, that USC's plans may damage Russia's national interests."The emergence of new entities in military cooperation, entitled to sell ready-to-use military equipment, is a step backwards. In fact, it will return us to the times when Russian arms exports stood at $2 billion. At that moment, we eliminated competitiveness on the export market, and now the figure has grown to $10 billion," a Rosoboronexport spokesman, Vyacheslav Davydenko, told the paper.Exports estimate that Rosoboronexport may lose up to 25% of its current export contracts if the government approves the initiative."According to Rosoboronexport's forecasts, Russia's overall defense exports will top $10 billion and set another record this year, and actual deliveries of new vessels and naval arms constitute a considerable share in it," Kommersant quotes Mikhail Barabanov, the editor-in-chief of the English-language Moscow Defense Brief magazine, as saying."It's highly unlikely that Rosoboronexport agrees to give up its monopoly status," he added.The Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation did not comment on the reports.Similar attempt by United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) failed several years ago.MOSCOW, November 19 (RIA Novosti)Russian company cancels Karabakh tours 19 November 2010 07:42 GMT | 8:42 Local TimeRussian travel company Astravel has changed plans for three-day tours to occupied Azerbaijani land after an approach from the Azerbaijani embassy.An official from the Azerbaijani embassy in Moscow explained to Astravel President Valeriy Loshits that the trips to Karabakh would be illegal.Astravel was planning three-day trips to the occupied Azerbaijani lands as part of a 14-day tour called "The Golden Ring of Armenia".The company has now cancelled the trips to the occupied areas, according to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry press service.Bashkir teenager attacked a policeman with a cry of "Allahu akbar!", 19.11.2010, 8:51:38Armed with a knife, a resident of the Bashkir October, shouting "Allahu akbar!" stormed the local police station and wounded a policeman, according to the website MVD of Bashkortostan.After this 18-year-old unemployed tried to escape, but in the courtyard of his office colleagues were detained militiamen. During the arrest teenager managed to stab a sergeant.First Lieutenant Vilmir Minnikhanov received stab wounds neck, chest and left forearm. He was hospitalized. According to Interfax, the state Minnikhanov assessed as satisfactory. Sergeant assistance was rendered on the spot.I seized the detained teenager note read: "in the October and throughout the world should be the law of Allah." In connection with this investigation considers the version of the religious background of the crime. As part of the criminal case teen screened for mental competency.Border unit, police building come under gun fire in Dagestan, November 19 (Itar-Tass) -- A border unit of the Russian Federal Security Service and the local police building came under grenade and gun fire in the Khunzakh district of Russia’s North Caucasian republic of Dagestan overnight to Friday, a spokesman for the republican interior ministry told Itar-Tass. According to the spokesman, the incident occurred at about 00:30 a.m. Moscow time. Luckily, no one was hurt but the shooting caused fire at one of the border unit’s buildings. The fire was extinguished instantly. Police officer dies after Dagestan attack 19/11/2010A police officer has died in hospital after a suspected militant attack in Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, a police source said on Friday.The attack took place on Thursday evening in the Khasavyurtovsky district of the volatile republic.“Three officers were taken to hospital, where one of them later died of his injuries,” the source said.According to the National Anti-Terrorist Committee, more than half of all terrorist attacks in the North Caucasus in 2010 have occurred in Dagestan.November 19 (RIA Novosti)Additional Buildup of Military Forces in Dagestan Proceeds with Caution 19, 2010Valery DzutsevOn November 14, Russian Deputy Interior Minister, Nikolai Rogozhkin, who is commander of the ministry’s internal troops, announced the first native Dagestani military detachment formation. The new unit is comprised of 300 people and eventually will grow to 700 servicemen. Rogozhkin concisely expressed Moscow’s hopes: “The unit is mostly comprised of Dagestanis who performed their military service in the Russian army. We expect that Dagestanis themselves will give a proper rebuff to the bandit scum that is tying to terrorize the local population” (kavkaz-uzel.ru, November 14).The decision to set up a locally manned military unit was announced earlier on September 27. The move was modeled on the example of Chechnya, where Moscow pursued the so-called policy of “Chechenization,” recruiting former insurgents to fight their former comrades. However, infrastructural problems and lack of financing have plagued the establishment of a Dagestani military force.Instability in the North Caucasus manifests itself most evidently in Dagestan. Two-thirds of those lost on the government side in the North Caucasus in 2010 were killed in Dagestan. According to Dagestan’s interior ministry, 104 members of the law enforcement agencies and 123 suspected militants have been killed in the republic since the beginning of 2010 (kavkaz-uzel.ru, November 14).On November 11, a group of four militants staged a series of spectacular quick attacks and retreats in Dagestan’s capital Makhachkala. The group attacked several grocery stores that sold alcohol, as well as policemen and military personnel. The militants killed 7 servicemen before the police, aided by the Russian military, managed to kill them in a shootout (Kommersant, November 12).The Kremlin is trying to exert additional pressure on the North Caucasian leaders to make them more eager to quell the insurgency. On November 8, President Dmitry Medvedev threatened to dismiss those republican leaders who fail to make progress in reducing the level of insurgent activity. The Russian president entrusted this evaluation to his envoy in the region, Aleksandr Khloponin. Experts say, however, that it is unlikely Khloponin will use his powers anytime soon, given that the three most restive republics –Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria and Dagestan– acquired their leaders not long ago. Rather, Medvedev’s statement should be interpreted as an attempt to boost Khloponin’s credentials as a powerful decision-maker. The head of the Russian parliament’s committee on security, Vladimir Vasiliev, held up Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov as the desirable type of leader in terms of security (Kommersant, November 9).However, speaking in the Russian parliament on October 25, Russian Deputy Prosecutor-General, Ivan Sydoruk, who oversees the North Caucasus, expressed the opposite opinion about Chechnya. According to Sydoruk, in the first ten months of 2010, 352 terrorist attacks took place in the North Caucasus and 254 of them were carried out in Chechnya. The next day, October 26, the Chechen interior ministry stated there was not a single terrorist attack in Chechnya in 2010. Sydoruk said that 400 insurgents were killed, reflecting an increase in the number of suicide bombers, while the law enforcement agencies suffered 205 casualties in the same period.Sydoruk was very critical of the law enforcement agencies in the North Caucasus, calling for a massive clean-up of the police forces “to get rid of cowards and traitors.” Also, he stressed the problem of illegal arms, most of which are sold by corrupt government officials to the insurgents. In the first ten months of 2010, over 500 guns and 100 grenade launchers were confiscated by the police forces (Interfax, October 25). Sydoruk later backtracked on his statements about massive betrayal on the local police forces’ side in the North Caucasus, saying that the media misrepresented his words (Kommersant, October 28). Even if there are many cases of the law enforcement members aiding the insurgents, it would be not in the best interests of Moscow to admit that, as this would reflect badly on its standing in the North Caucasus.Meanwhile, the Dagestani government set up a commission to help repentant insurgents adapt to civilian life. On November 17, the commission issued a special guide for people willing to give up their resistance and surrender to the authorities. However, the government appears to have failed to provide any additional guarantees for the rebels, outside of those that are already incorporated in the Russian Criminal Code, such as reaching a deal with investigators, revealing the identity of accomplices and receiving shorter jail terms. The head of the commission, Dagestani Deputy Prime Minister, Rizvan Kurbanov, reportedly made an astonishing statement to the members of the commission, saying that president of Dagestan had promised that those who surrender would not be subjected to torture by the police (kavkaz-uzel.ru, November 17). If this assertion is read backwards, it represents a tacit official recognition of that suspected insurgents are tortured in Dagestani detention centers.Conflicting statements by Russian officials, inconclusive actions like the halfhearted amnesty for insurgents in Dagestan and the creation of a local military force in Dagestan indicate deep divisions inside the Russian government on what to do next in the North Caucasus. The serious rifts among the key political players in Moscow in regard to North Caucasus policy make it hard for Moscow to pursue a particular strategy. It is more likely there will be no drastic changes in Moscow’s approach to the North Caucasus in the near future, although administrative reshuffles are still a possibility. As Russia enters a new electoral period, with parliamentary elections in 2011 and presidential elections in 2012, the North Caucasus will most likely be used in internal political battles.Source: November 2010 Last updated at 13:18 GMTDagestan's deadly Islamic insurgency Steve Rosenberg BBC News, DagestanMagomed has one of the most dangerous jobs in Russia. He is a policeman - in Dagestan. "Police here are constant targets," he tells me as we drive through the capital, Makhachkala. "Whenever I get out of the police car, I always wonder if the insurgents will see my uniform and will shoot me. Six of my colleagues have been killed this year. At night you won't find any policemen on the streets - we're all too frightened."From the car window, Makhachkala looks like a normal, bustling city.The roads are full of traffic, the streets bristling with pedestrians hurrying home from work. With its stunning backdrop of the Caucasus mountains on one side, and the Caspian Sea on the other, the place almost feels like the Russian Riviera. But an Islamic insurgency has turned a potential resort into a war zone. Nearly every day, the rebels attack police and local officials. In one shooting spree last week, seven Dagestani policemen were killed. On Monday, a gunman burst into a hospital and murdered a traffic policeman who had been recovering in bed. The Russian security forces respond by carrying out "special operations" in towns and villages across Dagestan. Acting on intelligence, they seal off streets, whole neighbourhoods, and open fire to root out rebel fighters. But who are the insurgents? And what are they fighting for? 'Foreign training' "The aim of the extremists is to tear the Caucasus away from Russia," Dagestan's President, Magomedsalam Magomedov, tells me. "Many of them are mercenaries who've undergone instruction in Taliban training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan. "They have links to al-Qaeda and to other terrorist groups across the Caucasus which share the same goal. "They want to turn the whole region into an Islamic state based on sharia [Islamic] law but we will defeat them."Moscow sees this is as a battle it cannot afford to lose - not only if it is to retain control of the North Caucasus, but also provide security for the whole country. In recent years, different parts of Russia have suffered acts of terror carried out by extremists from the Caucasus. Police say it was female suicide bombers from Dagestan who attacked the Moscow Metro earlier this year killing 40 people. I head into the mountains and drive to Gubden - a village viewed by the authorities as a hotbed of Islamic fundamentalism. A Gubden rebel commander was suspected of having organised the Moscow Metro attacks and there have been "special operations" in and around the village. The atmosphere is tense. One entrance to the village is blocked off and there is a checkpoint with troops. When I finally get in, the streets are busy. There are children driving mopeds down narrow twisting lanes and women in headscarves gathering water from a well. The entire village and its small white houses seem to grow out of the rock of the Caucasus mountains themselves. 'Abducted and tortured'In his garden in Gubden, Magomed Saidgadzhiev keeps sheep and chickens. There are fruit trees too. As we stroll across the grass, Magomed, 77, tells me about his son Saidgadzhi, killed by the security forces. The police had told Magomed his son had been caught taking supplies to the insurgents and that he had been shot in a gun battle. But Magomed claims his son was abducted and tortured to death. To prove their case, his family later show me photographs of the corpse taken in the morgue "There was only one bullet hole in his whole body," Magomed tells me."The rest of his wounds were made by a knife. A dagger. He'd been sliced up like you'd cut up a pig. What the authorities want all of us to do here is turn our backs on fundamentalist Islam. Then they'll leave us in peace. But I will never turn my back on my faith."Human rights campaigners in Dagestan warn that brutality by the police and the security forces is pushing some Muslims to take up arms against the state. Followers of Salafi Islam, the kind of strict Islam promoted by Saudi Arabia, regularly complain of police harassment and persecution. The authorities concede that force alone will not secure peace.The chronic economic and social problems of the region - high unemployment and rampant corruption - feed extremism. Radical ideas thrive in such a soil. 'There will be war' Even the police admit the situation is out of control. When I sit down with policeman Magomed and two other officers to talk about Dagestan, together they paint a bleak picture. They tell me about the sons of police chiefs who had become insurgents. One had driven a rebel commander round in his father's police car for a year. Another had ordered his own father's murder. In this atmosphere of increasing brutality, the lines between religious extremists, mafia gangs and corrupt officials are blurred. One of the officers told me that on one occasion local police had pretended to be Islamic fighters so they could extort money from local businessmen. At the end of our meeting, Magomed drives me back to my hotel. I ask the policeman what he thinks will happen in Dagestan. "There will be war here, war!" he tells me."Don't expect anything else. It'll be the same as it was in Chechnya. No. It will be even worse. The war in Chechnya was simpler - it was a conflict between Russians and Chechens. "Dagestan is such a multi-ethnic republic. When it all explodes here, you won't be able to restore peace between all the different peoples of Dagestan. Nobody will know who's fighting who. Not here. It will be a nightmare."Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi to the Chechens: Lay Down Your Arms, Make Peace with Russia 18, 2010Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi, head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, has recently spoken out against the terrorist attacks and guerilla war that Muslim Chechen separatists are waging against the Chechen government of President Ramzan Kadyrov, whom the separatists accuse of collaborating with Russia. In a recorded speech he sent to a June 2010 Islamic convention held in the Chechen capital, and in a September 2010 fatwa he issued in response to a request by Chechen Muslim scholars, Al-Qaradhawi called on the Chechen insurgents to abandon violence and take up diplomacy in order to further their cause, because, he explained, Islam is a peaceful religion that advocates fighting only against those who wage war on Islam or expel Muslims from their homes, and jihad is allowed solely for defense purposes.Al-Qaradhawi's statements met with criticism from several Muslim clerics and organizations supportive of the Chechen insurgents' cause, which asked why the sheikh drew a distinction between the Palestinian struggle and that of the Chechens, and claimed that his religious ruling deviated from Islamic law. It should be noted that the Chechen jihadists do not consider Al-Qaradhawi a religious authority; however, in light of his prominent status in the Islamic world at large, his ruling could dissuade non-Chechen Muslims from joining the Chechen insurgency.It is noteworthy that in the past Al-Qaradhawi has expressed opposite views, calling to support the Chechen jihad and its struggle for independence from Russia. Chechen Mufti Sultan Haji Mirzayev explained that Al-Qaradhawi had changed his position after Chechen Muslim clerics and President Kadyrov presented him with a clear picture of the situation on the ground, while in the past he had been given misleading reports on circumstances in Chechnya.Mayor personally heads Moscow urban planning commission, November 19 (Itar-Tass) -- Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has signed a resolution of November 16 to form a Moscow urban planning and land commission and personally headed it. The mayor’s First Deputy Vladimir Resin and Deputies Yuri Roslyak and Natalia Sergunina are appointed deputies to the commission chairman. According to the resolution, the commission is established to promptly settle issues of urban development, investment activities, land relations, construction, reconstruction and restoration of cultural heritage sites. The commission will hold meetings when needed, but at least twice a month. Commission decisions come into effect from the date of approval by the chairman and must be obligatorily followed by city executive authorities. The executive authorities must within their jurisdiction ensure participation in preparation and commission consideration of draft resolutions on all issues of changing investment contract (agreement) terms and land lease agreements concluded by the Moscow government or its representative authorities, on construction, including special measures to preserve and regenerate historic urban and natural environment of cultural heritage sites, reconstruction of buildings and restoration of cultural heritage sites. Russian Massacre Sparks Corruption Probe After Decade of Terror Ilya ArkhipovNov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- The Russian government plans to investigate a decade of unsolved crimes in two southern regions after the murders of 12 people focused attention on allegations that local officials aided a gang terrorizing the region. Members of three families, including four children, were killed Nov. 5 at a cottage in the town of Kushchevskaya, police say. The suspects are allegedly members of a gang that has operated in the Krasnodar and Rostov regions since the 1990s, said Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor General’s Office. Teams of investigators have been sent to the region to uncover any links between the gangsters and local officials, said Vladimir Vasiliev, head of the Security Committee of the State Duma. President Dmitry Medvedev has made fighting corruption one of his main goals and plans to reorganize police nationwide after reports of illegal arrests and beatings. “This case will make us assess the situation across the country; this is about the new police law,” Vasiliev told reporters yesterday in Moscow after meeting with Bastrykin. “We need to go there and work with people so residents understand this gang doesn’t represent the Krasnodar region or Russia.” Bastrykin said he will travel to Kushchevskaya personally to meet with residents and receive their complaints. Federal investigators have arrested six people in connection with the Kushchevskaya case, including the alleged gang leader, Sergei Tsapok, a member of the municipal parliament for Kuschshevsky district Tsapok’s elder brother, Nikolai, helped found the gang in the mid-1990s and was killed in 2002, according to the committee. Authorities ‘Compromised’ “We think these are not the final arrests,” Bastrykin said. “There are two main motives that could be behind this crime. One is a robbery and the second is the revenge for the killing of the elder brother.” Investigators will review information about the gang previously published in the local media, Bastrykin said. The newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda published the results of its first investigation of violence in the region of 73,000 people four years ago, saying many complaints of rapes and other attacks weren’t accepted by police. Komsomolskaya Pravda this week reported that members of the gang raped more than 220 girls over the past 16 years. Residents were unwilling to provide police with information about the suspects in the Kushchevskaya killings because local officials are “compromised,” Vasiliev said. As a result, the investigation is being conducted by teams assigned by federal authorities, he said. Russia is the world’s most corrupt major economy, according to Berlin-based Transparency International’s 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index released Oct. 26. It ranked 154th among 178 countries, alongside Tajikistan and Kenya. Criminal cases will be opened against local officials if evidence of their involvement is uncovered, Bastrykin said. “We have a law that allows us to give life sentences to officials if they are cooperating with gangs,” Vasiliev said. To contact the reporters on this story: Ilya Arkhipov in Moscow at iarkhipov@ To contact the editor responsible for this story: Willy Morris at wmorris@ Last Updated: November 19, 2010 03:43 ESTCORRUPTION WATCH: Kremlin refuses income probe 19, 2010The Kremlin has refused to investigate disputed income declarations from several State Duma deputies, casting doubt over whether the government is serious about fighting corruption. Opposition Yabloko party leader Sergei Mitrokhin, who appealed to the Kremlin to investigate the income declarations earlier this autumn, criticized the Kremlin's rationale as "artificial" on November 18, reports The Moscow Times. "The presidential administration has showed that this issue is extremely uncomfortable for them," Mitrokhin said.On Sept. 23, Mitrokhin and the Russian office of the Transparency International anti-corruption watchdog petitioned Kremlin chief of staff Sergei Naryshkin to review the income declarations of Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov of United Russia, Liberal Democrat Ashot Yegiazaryan and Communist Sergei Levchenko. On Oct. 4, the petitioners submitted a second letter, urging Naryshkin to review the declarations of five additional lawmakers, all from United Russia.The appeals noted that the lawmakers' declared assets were not compatible with their modest incomes for the year.The Kremlin has redirected his request to the Federal Tax Service and to the Duma's ethics committee, he claims. Meanwhile, the Kremlin said that the Duma deputies, all from the ruling United Russia party, are not specified as officials in the presidential anti-corruption decree. In spring 2009, President Dmitry Medvedev ordered all top officials to declare their incomes, and later the same year authorized the Kremlin directorate for state service and the Cabinet chief of staff to open reviews of income declarations at the request of political parties and nongovernmental organizations."The refusal [to check the declaration] does not confirm the seriousness of the real fight against corruption," Mitrokhin claims.On November 6, the Investigative Committee opened a $65m fraud case against Yegiazaryan after the Duma lifted his immunity from prosecution. Yegiazaryan, who reportedly has fled to Britain, has denied wrongdoing.Mironov Loses Power To Check New Senators November 2010The Moscow TimesPresident Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday signed into law a bill that strips the Federation Council speaker from confirming the credentials of new senators, the Kremlin said, ending a procedure that was known to sometimes take months of elaborate checks.Under the new rules, a candidate will automatically become a senator on the 10th day after his appointment by regional authorities. The law takes effect on Jan. 1.The speaker, Sergei Mironov, who heads the pro-Kremlin A Just Russia party, opposed the bill, introduced by rival pro-Kremlin United Russia, which controls both houses of parliament.In an article published in Vedomosti on Nov. 9, Mironov predicted that the new rules could allow people with low professional skills to become senators, lowering the quality of the chamber's work on bills.Nevertheless, Mironov said he convinced fellow senators to support the legislation. He was the only senator to vote against the bill, which was previously approved by the State Duma.Meanwhile, Mironov is drafting am amendment that might give parties a chance to participate in proposing gubernatorial candidacies to the president, Kommersant reported Thursday.Currently, the party that wins regional legislative elections has the right to pitch candidacies to the president, regardless of how many votes it collects in elections. United Russia has been winning most elections at all levels for years, often with more than 50 percent of the vote.Mironov's proposal says that if no party garners more than 50 percent of the vote, a coalition of parties that jointly have more than 50 percent of the vote should be granted the right to propose gubernatorial candidacies. Mironov's bill could break United Russia's monopoly on the right to propose governors in St. Petersburg and the Novosibirsk, Severdlovsk and Kurgan regions, Kommersant said.Separately, Kremlin first deputy chief of staff Vladislav Surkov said Thursday that United Russia might fail to collect two-thirds of the vote in the 2011 Duma elections and "will have to enter into coalitions to pass a number of important issues," RIA-Novosti reported.Russian census results to be made public before end of 2012 19, 2010 09:41 Moscow TimeThe final returns of the recent All-Russia census are due to be made public before the end of 2012. The Rossiyskaya Gazeta daily will have carried the results of the first stage of the census by May 31st next year. Earlier the authorities said they would not be able to sum up the census results before 2013. According to the previous census in Russia in 2002, the population of this country made up 145 million 274,000.19 November 2010, 10:18Moscow Patriarchate, Vatican wage common fight against secular liberalism - Patriarch Kirill, November 19, Interfax -Despite a difficult relationship between the Russian Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Churches, they have been effectively cooperating along many avenues, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia told students and diplomats at the Russian Foreign Ministry Diplomatic Academy in Moscow."Together with the Roman Catholic Church we have been defending the traditional Christian concept of family and human values from aggressive secular liberalism. Our Churches are waging a common fight against medico-biological experiments incompatible with respect for human dignity," His Holiness said.Cooperation with the Roman Catholic Church has become possible thanks to Pope Benedict XVI and is proceeding simultaneously along several avenues."Starting from 1980, we have been conducting a theological dialogue in the course of which and together with other Orthodox churches we were discussing problems that separate us such as the role of the Roman bishop, the Unia issue and others," the Patriarch said.This has not been an easy dialogue as it is "impossible to find quick solutions to problems that have separated the Christian East and West for a whole millennium".Nevertheless, "thorough theological analysis of all that has happened is being carried out, in particular, our understanding of history because many differences stem from the way we understand it", Patriarch Kirill said.The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church expressed concern over trends in some Protestant communities towards liberalizing theology and Christian morals. Thus, some Protestant communes have sanctioned mono-sex marriages and the ordaining of homosexuals.At the same time, he pointed out that in the majority of Churches in the CIS and Eastern Europe - the Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant Churches - adhere to the traditional understanding of Christian values.For example, Protestants in Russia and the Baltic countries are closer to Orthodoxy than to their Western fellow Christians because "they are not striving to liberalize their doctrine", the Patriarch said.19 November 2010, 11:01Russian World countries will lead mankind out of deadlock - Patriarch Kirill, November 19, Interfax - Russia, Ukraine and Byelorussia have a special mission on the global arena, said Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia."We [the countries of the Russian world: Russia, Ukraine and Byelorussia] must make our own unique contribution to the development of the human civilization," the Patriarch said at a meeting with the alumni of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Academy and diplomats in Moscow.There have been statements lately about the relativism of moral principles, "leading in a number of countries to the fall of family values, legalization of immoral models of behavior such as drug addiction, prostitution and homosexualism," he said. "It is the mission of the Russian world to thwart this destructive trend leading humankind into a deadlock," Patriarch Kirill said.Today the deficit of moral values "is being felt in international relations like never before, with many countries succeeding in building effective economies, coherently advancing their national interests and strengthening of the technological potential," he said.However, all these achievements "remain a 'colossus on clay feet' unless they are propped by moral values, by the integrity of human personality, as the recent global crisis has shown well," the Primate said.Russia has "both spiritual and intellectual potential to face up to the super-challenges, one of which is to change the spiritual and, intellectual paradigm, including in the international relations," he said.In the modern world, no country "can declare itself a serious global player without an articulate moral position and a vision of the humankind's ideology," and "the great power is characterized by the ability to defend the traditions of its people, its religious, cultural values and the moral backbone of society," the Patriarch said.Russian Press at a Glance, Friday, November 19, 2010 19/11/2010POLITICSThe third gathering since 2002 of presidents of the five Caspian Sea littoral states failed to resolve outstanding territorial issues, amid assertions by analysts that continuing ambiguity is in the interests of Russia and Iran(The Moscow Times, Vremya Novostei, Vedomosti, Kommersant, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)President Dmitry Medvedev will visit the NATO summit in Lisbon on Saturday. Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has made it clear that he wants the summit to be a turning point in NATO's often-stormy ties with Moscow(The Moscow Times, Nezavisimaya Gazeta)President Barack Obama said it was a "national security imperative" for the Senate to ratify a pending nuclear arms treaty with Russia before ending its work this year(The Moscow Times, Vremya Novostei, Nezavisimaya Gazeta)Russia has "nothing to hide" from the U.S. authorities in the case of suspected arms dealer Viktor Bout and hopes that he will get a fair trial(The Moscow Times, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)VEHICLES & ENGINEERINGPrime Minister Vladimir Putin said that the government planned to create a “Titanium Valley” special economic zone in the Urals, at the cost of 40 billion rubles ($1.3 billion), to bring together manufacturers in the aircraft, automotive, shipbuilding and medical industries.(The Moscow Times, Vremya Novostei, Vedomosti, Kommersant, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)CONSUMERImports of handmade cigars should return to pre-crisis levels in 2012 after falling by nearly half last year, Russia's exclusive importer of Cuban cigars has said.(The Moscow Times)STOCK MARKETSRussian stocks, the cheapest worldwide, are getting cheaper after the nation's companies posted record profits that topped analysts' estimates by the widest margin in emerging markets(The Moscow Times, Vedomosti)DEFENCERussia's United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) may seek arms exporter status. If the government supports the initiative, Russia's state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport may lose its monopoly status and up to 25% of current export contracts(Kommersant)CRIMERussian Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin reported to the lower chamber of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, on the investigation into the horrifying massacre of 12 people in the southern Russian village of Kushchevskaya on November 4(Moscow Times, Vremya Novostei, Vedomosti, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)SOCIETYViktor Biryukov, a spokesman for the Moscow police department, became the first Russian official to accuse the opposition of receiving money for staging unsanctioned rallies. He said the Strategy 31 rallies on the last day of each month that has 31 days and the Day of Wrath protests near the Moscow City Hall were “commercial projects,” adding that he “was told” this. Opposition leaders regret that it is impossible to sue Biryukov over the statement(Kommersant)The North Caucasus social and economic development strategy, proposed by the presidential envoy to the region, came under strong criticism from Russian analysts. Experts from both liberal and conservative circles say that the North Caucasus is on the verge of revolution and the pessimistic forecasts of its separation from Russia may now become a reality (Vremya Novostei)November 19, 2010 10:03Moscow press review for November 19, 2010. November 19 (Interfax) - The following is a digest of Moscow newspapers published on November 19. Interfax does not accept liability for information in these stories.VEDOMOSTI:Having borrowed $900 million from Western banks, SUEK started repaying early to Russian ones. The company decided to repay the loans granted by Gazprombank, Sberbank (RTS: SBER) and VTB (RTS: VTBR), secured by the shares of its largest subsidiaries in Kuzbass and Krasnoyarsk Territory. By June 30 SUEK's net debt was 80.3 billion rubles according to the IFRS. By late September - 87.9 billion rubles according to the IFRS. Collateral debt obligations - 70.8 billion rubles (before repayment of Sberbank and VTB loans). Last year banks lent reluctantly even to companies with good finances and demanded a high security, says Alexei Bulgakov, an analyst with Troika Dialog (RTS: TROY). ("SUEK going away from pledges")Oleg Deripaska has sold the most attractive forestry asset: Austria's Pulp Mill bought from BazEl 33.6% shares in the Arkhangelsk pulp and paper mill (RTS: ACBK) (ACBK). As a result, the interest of the Austrian company rose 97.42%, the company said on Thursday. The deal is worth $150 million, an ACBK spokesman said. The company lent this sum to Pulp Mill a day earlier and borrowed from Unicredit. The deal is in the process, a BazEl official said declining to elaborate. Both Pulp Mill and Deripaska became ACBK shareholders in 2003. ("Deripaska surrendering wood," also Kommersant, page 11 - "BazEl moving out from Arkhangelsk")VTB Capital has become the main and almost the only creditor of Seventh Continent (RTS: SCON), the supermarket chain's owner Alexander Zanadvornov told Vedomosti through his aide. In October VTB Capital granted a five-year $400 million loan at 9.75% interest rate per annum, in December it could grant another $250 million on the same terms. "The $400 million line was approved by the board of directors. Raising the limit to $650 million requires an approval by a general meeting of shareholders, which is what will happen on December 12," Zanadvornov said. The VTB Capital loan will be secured by property: "almost all" of it has been pledged, the businessman said. ("Seventh Continent's helper")KOMMERSANT:Gazprom (RTS: GAZP), which has long been trying to enter the Israeli market, will be finally able to do so. Before the end of 2010 the monopoly wants to receive 50% in the country's shelf blocks. According to unofficial reports, it is buying a share in the project run by local company Ratio Yam. The forecast resources are not big - around 100 billion cubic meters, but they are located close to better explored blocks with much bigger resources. At the same time, the start of its own gas production in Israel will put an end to Gazprom's plans to supply natural gas to that country through the Blue Stream gas pipeline. (page 11, "Gazprom goes to Israel")Rostelecom (RTS: RTKM) which has not yet completed the merger seems to have already found would-be shareholders. Kommersant has learnt that two months before his resignation General Director of Svyazinvest Yevgeny Yurchenko signed a memorandum with Swiss-registered fund Savoretti & Partners, which received an exclusive five-month right to negotiate the acquisition of up to 15% in the merged company for its clients. Investment bankers and the communications company managers polled by the newspaper know nothing about the fund. (page 1, "Rostelecom issued with Swiss bill")Russian Troops Dying Amid Cruelty Claims UK, Friday November 19, 2010 Amanda Walker, Moscow correspondent An estimated 3,000 Russian soldiers die every year despite the fact the country is not at war.The shocking figure comes from a mothers' rights charity in Moscow.Olga and Anatoly Kolychev visit their son Ivan's grave every day. Flowers and other effects are their attempt at honouring his memory which they feel has been trampled on.At their home in Siberia, they showed Sky News a video of their son in uniform - smiling as he kisses his girlfriend while on leave.Ivan served in the army for 18 months. His parents described him as a happy and open young man who was at first proud to be a soldier.But then, the cruelty began.Ivan told his mother that he and his fellow soldiers had to eat stray dogs to stay alive. Their senior officers were starving and beating them.She said: "An officer called us late at night and said - your son got bored with his life and hanged himself. They said come and pick him up."Why did they tell me this on the phone? It seemed like they were teasing us."Mrs Kolychev said her son would never have taken his own life.She showed Sky News a certificate proclaiming his excellent service - which was contradicted after his death by officers who said he was a bad soldier.The mother said: "There is no order in the army. Commanders don't fulfil their duty."Every time I saw my son's unit commander he was drunk. Even when they handed out my son's coffin, the commander was drunk."Sky News obtained a video filmed by soldiers showing the sort of brutality that goes on.It shows one officer going down a line of young men who are each braced for a punch or kick. They are resigned to it.It is accepted as the norm by many of those who serve - but the consequences lead to an alarming number of bereaved families.The Mothers' Right Foundation in Moscow fights for families like Ivan's - if not to disprove spurious suicide claims, then at least to allow some form of compensation.Its founder, Veronika Marchenko, said: "One reason for the high number of deaths is that the whole system of military service is ancient - another is that there is no proper investigation into deaths and other crimes."Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev says the modernisation of the Russian army is vital - he plans to fully re-equip the armed forces with modern military hardware within the next 10 years.The focus does seem to be more on weapons than the treatment of the people who serve.Some 280,000 soldiers are in the process of being conscripted right now. For these young men, a life of humiliation and brutality seems almost inevitable.Russian soldiers to be dressed in state-of-the-art uniforms Russian military men will be outfitted with state-of-the-art uniforms. The new uniforms will protect them against fire and cushion the consequences of bullet impacts. The new uniforms are to be introduced already next year. The program will cost Russia 5.5 billion rubles, Dmitry Bulgakov, Deputy Defense Minister of the Russian Federation said.The delivery of new fabric for the Russian Armed Forces has been included in the state defense order for 2011, a spokesman for a group of textile companies Dmitry Rybakov told Interfax. The new "Termofort 220" heat-resistant fabric is made of aramid fiber and protects a human being from fire and high temperatures."The fabric neither burns nor melts, and it is resistant to contacting solid surface heated up to 400 degrees Celsius. The fireproof and stability qualities of the fabric do not depend on the number of washings or dry cleanings, the official added."Fort 220" fabric is going to be another novelty for the Russian army next year. The fabric is used for designing bulletproof vests and coatings for helmets. This is 100% polyamide fabric that can withstand strong impacts and breaking loads up to 20,000 newtons.It was reported on November 10, 2010 that the federal budget plans to assign over 25 billion rubles for purchasing new uniforms for military men in 2011-2013. The material support for the Russian army will cost approximately 38 billion rubles in 2011-2013, reports said.However, Deputy Defense Minister Dmitry Bulgakov rejected the information."I don't know where this number comes from. The introduction of the new uniform next year will cost 5 or 5.5 billion rubles maximum," the official said.Marina Volkova Bigness Caspian Sea littoral states need a cooperative organization 19/11/2010? RIA Novosti. Dmitri AstakhovJahangir KaramiA resolution to all of the problems in the Caspian such as drug trafficking, environmental disasters and terrorism depend on forming an organization of cooperation between Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. interview with Jahangir Karami, Assistant professor, faculty of World Studies, Department of Russian Studies, University of TehranQ.: What do you think about the economic development levels and potential of the Caspian states?A.: In this region, there are five countries at different levels of economic development. Russia is a great power in the world and is a member of both the G-8 and BRIC. It has the 12th largest economy in the world by nominal GDP and the 7th largest by PPP. Iran is a regional power, and the economy of Iran is the 19th largest economy in the world by PPP. The other states are at lower levels of GDP, GNP, total population and infrastructure development. But the rate of economic growth in Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan is high and the potential for economic development in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan is very active. Further cooperation in the region depends on the programs and interest of the stronger countries. Q.: The security of external borders, primarily in terms of the Afghan drug threat in the Caspian region, is seen as a high-priority objective. How can we cooperate in finding a solution to the Afghan drug threat?A.: First it depends on security and development in Afghanistan. Second, the countries in the region need to create cooperative processes for security and construct permanent border security facilities around the area. At the Azerbaijan summit, the heads of the five states discussed Caspian Sea security arrangements.Q.: Could you please say a few words about the Nabucco gas pipeline project and its role in regional cooperation?A.: The Nabucco project is an attempt to decrease European dependence on Russian energy. The project is backed by several European Union states and the United States. Project parameters deny any role for Iran or Russia but it is difficult to protect regional cooperation.Q.: Protecting the environment while extracting natural resources has become a high priority issue after the disastrous April 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Do you think it’s necessary to stipulate common Caspian environmental standards between the regional countries?A.: The oil and gas reserves in the Caspian region have highlighted the state of the environment in this basin. Unfortunately, petrochemical and refining complexes?? are sources of pollution, and discharges and spills from oil and gas drilling have had negative impacts on the environment. Thousands of seals that live in the Caspian Sea have died since 2000 due to pollution that weakened their immune systems. In the absence of regional cooperation, exasperated by the still unresolved legal status of the Caspian Sea as well as weak environmental regulation and an inability to enforce them, it is difficult to find an affective approach to protect the Caspian's environment. But there remains an urgent need to protect the Caspian environment for future generations. Regional cooperation will be required to create a single set of Caspian environmental standards. This is necessary to improve the state of the environment in and around the Caspian Sea in coming years.Q.: Regional security and the struggle against Islamist terrorism are important challenges the region faces. Could you please evaluate the cooperation of the Caspian countries in this respect? Where do you see the potential for improving cooperation on this issue?A.: A resolution to all of the problems in the Caspian such as drug trafficking, environmental disasters and terrorism depend on forming an organization of cooperation between these five countries. Iran has promoted the creation of such an organization since 1992. Three years ago, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that the Caspian Sea littoral states needed a cooperative organization.National Economic TrendsNovember 19, 2010 10:42Russia's budget deficit to come to around 4.6% of GDP for 2010 – Kudrin. Nov 19 (Interfax) - Russia's budget deficit for 2010 will come to around 4.6% of the country's GDP, Deputy Prime Minsiter and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said at a tax conference in Moscow on Friday."Our deficit this year will come to around 4.6% of GDP, a bit less than we initially supposed. Nonetheless we will have to reduce it in the coming years. For such favorable prices, around $75-$77 per barrel [of oil], which will be the average this year, we need to reach a deficit of zero by 2015," Kudrin stressed.IhRussia's Kudrin: 2010 Budget Deficit To Be 4.6% Of GDP -(Dow Jones)- Russia budget deficit will be lower than previously expected at 4.6% of gross domestic product, the country's finance minister, Alexei Kudrin, said Friday."The budget deficit for this year will be 4.6%, slightly lower than expected," Kudrin said.Russia ran its first budget deficit in over a decade in 2009, and had previously expected a deficit of 5.3% of GDP this year. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has called for the deficit to be cut to zero by 2015.Kudrin said he did not see sustained higher oil prices in coming years, and emphasized the role taxes would play in filling Russia's budget gap."Over 50% of budget revenue may soon come from higher taxes," he said. -By Ira Iosebashvili, Dow Jones Newswires; +7 495 232 9197; ira.iosebashvili@ (Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen in Moscow contributed to this story.) Russia's tax burden to grow by 2 pct of GDP over lack of reform warns Kudrin 19/11/2010MOSCOW, November 19 (RIA Novosti) - The share of tax receipts in Russia's 2011 budget revenues will rise by two percent of gross domestic product (GDP), Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on Friday."Taxes will rise by two percent of GDP from next year," Kudrin told a tax conference. "We are standing at a crossroads and facing the choice of paying more attention to improving the effectiveness of spending... or the bulk of the (burden) will be a tax increase."Kudrin said he preferred the first option, but warned that if "the government was weak and afraid to implement structural reforms," it would have to choose the second option.Tax rises – trend, not temporary measure – Kudrin, November 19 (Itar-Tass) - A higher tax burden is a trend, but not a temporary measure, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin told a tax conference on Friday. “We face not a temporary measure, we face a tax increase trend,” he said adding that the relevant measures are being taken in many countries, including Western Europe. All countries face the problem of the budget deficit and all of them should pass through the budget consolidation in the volumes from 3-4 percent to 8-10 percent of the GDP, he was quoted by the Prime-Tass business news agency as saying. Speaking about the budget consolidation Kudrin noted that taking into account experience of the 1998 crisis the burden of the spending cuts to tax rises was split 50-50 in industrialized countries and 30-70 in developing countries. “During this crisis we will have 50-50 ratio (of the tax rises and spending cuts) or over 50 percent of tax rises,” the minister said. “We need to create a neutral tax system and evade tax incentives,” Kudrin said. He expressed confidence that measures aimed at increasing indirect taxes, mainly the value added tax, will be more effective from the point of view of economic development, as “this slightly slows down the economic growth.” A higher profit tax restrains the economic growth, as “profits can be hidden or taken to tax havens,” Kudrin said. Ban on tax benefits could eliminate budget deficit says finance minister 19/11/2010A ban on tax breaks could balance Russia's 2010 budget without the government having to resort to raising tax rates, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on Friday."If we want to cut the budget deficit by 4.6 percent of gross domestic product, than an end to all kinds of tax breaks without raising rates could solve the problem," Kudrin said, referring to this year's expected budget deficit.Tax breaks amounted to about five percent of GDP, Kudrin said, adding he was not proposing cancelling all benefits.MOSCOW, November 19 (RIA Novosti)?10:27Capital inflow to funds investing in Russian and CIS stocks total $52 mln for Nov 11-17 - experts bonds extend gains CapitalNovember 19, 2010Russian/CIS enjoyed a healthy rally yesterday on the back of notable trading volumes. Gazprom's longer-dated bonds led the way with GAPZRU 22 (YTM 6.14%), GAZPRU 34 (YTM 6.72%) and GAZPRU 37 (YTM 6.87%) up 1.5-2.0pp. These were closely followed by TMENRU 20 (YTM 6.03%), VEBBNK 20, SCFRU 17 (YTM 5.71%) and CHMFRU 17 (YTM 7.05%) that added near 1.00pp in price. Russian government bonds lagged the market with the benchmark RUSSIA 30 (YTM 4.46%) closing almost flat to Wednesday's levels at 118.25pp, while in the first half of the day we saw deals at 25-50bp higher price-wise. Russian 5-year CDS-spread tightened 5bp to 141bp. In the CIS universe, long KMG, BTAS and Ukraine sovereign bonds were in demand posting 1.0-1.5pp in gains. Once again we want to spotlight the KMG 15 (YTM 5.38%, +405bp to swaps) and KMG 18 (YTM 6.32%, +390bp to swaps) issues that trade 30-50bp wider than the wings of the KMG's curve. In general, as we wrote in yesterday's Fixed Income Monitor we continue to expect a further tightening in the credit spreads of Russian/CIS bonds.Reserves Fall to $495.7Bln November 2010Russia’s international reserves, the world’s third largest, declined last week as the dollar’s advance eroded the value of the portion denominated in other currencies. “Most of the decline was because of the dollar’s strength,” Alexandra Yevtifyeva, an economist at VTB Capital, the investment banking arm of Russia’s second-largest bank, said Thursday.The stockpile fell $3.5 billion to $495.7 billion in the week to Nov. 12, the Central Bank said Thursday, the lowest level since the week ended Oct. 29. The euro slid 2.4 percent against the dollar last week, its biggest weekly decline since August, as concern about Ireland’s debt-laden banks spurred investors to seek the safety of the greenback. The pound dropped 0.4 percent against the dollar last week and the yen lost 1.5 percent. (Bloomberg)TABLE-Russia monetary base falls to 5.29 trln rbls Nov 19, 2010 12:11pm IST MOSCOW, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Russia's monetary base fell to5.29 trillion roubles ($176.9 billion) on Nov. 15 from 5.30trillion roubles a week earlier, the central bank said onFriday. It provided the following details. Date Monetary base (bln roubles) 2010 Nov 15 5,294.4 Nov 8 5,302.0 Nov 1 5,220.6 Oct 25 5,290.2 Oct 18 5,280.4 Oct 11 5,226.7 Oct 4 5,163.3 Sept 27 5,214.9 Sept 20 5,235.8 Sept 13 5,174.3 Sept 6 5,132.0 Aug 30 5,147.1 Aug 23 5,190.0 Aug 16 5,165.1 Aug 9 5,101.8 Aug 2 5,065.6 July 26 5,133.1 July 19 5,134.4 July 12 5,075.3 July 5 4,996.6 June 28 5,005.6 June 21 5,032.4 June 15 4,985.0 June 7 4,883.2 May 31 4,861.2 May 24 4,890.0 May 17 4,842.6 May 11 4,801.9 May 4 4,760.9 April 26 4,746.2 April 19 4,728.4 April 12 4,642.9 April 5 4,566.7 March 29 4,581.8 March 22 4,617.4 March 15 4,578.4 March 9 4,553.8 March 1 4,479.5 Feb 24 4,563.2 Feb 15 4,483.4 Feb 8 4,420.0 Feb 1 4,403.1 Jan 25 4,479.2 Jan 18 4,482.5 Jan 11 4,716.0 Jan 1 4,716.0 2009 Dec 28 4,487.6 Dec 21 4,353.0 Dec 14 4,246.4 Dec 7 4,154.7 Nov 30 4,103.5 Nov 23 4,157.7 Nov 16 4,133.8 Nov 9 4,081.3 Nov 2 4,049.7 Oct 26 4,101.6 Oct 19 4,095.9 Oct 12 4,047.0 Oct 5 3,988.3 Sept 28 4,026.8 Sept 21 4,055.4 Sept 14 4,039.3 Sept 7 3,990.9 Aug 31 3,976.4 Aug 24 4,078.6 Aug 17 4,076.5 Aug 10 4,023.5 Aug 3 3,985.7 July 27 4,059.6 July 20 4,083.6 July 13 4,055.8 July 6 3,986.6 June 29 3,988.4 June 22 4,007.3 June 15 3,975.8 June 8 3,883.5 June 1 3,857.4 May 25 3,893.9 May 18 3,871.7 May 12 3,848.2 May 4 3,820.2 April 27 3,820.9 April 20 3,825.7 April 13 3,772.0 April 6 3,710.1 March 30 3,729.8 March 23 3,759.6 March 16 3,751.5 March 10 3,741.4 March 2 3,715.9 Feb 24 3,781.8 Feb 16 3,741.2 Feb 9 3,707.5 Feb 2 3,755.4 Jan 26 3,896.1 Jan 19 4,066.2 Jan 12 4,218.7 Jan 1 4,391.7 2008 Dec 29 4,283.1 2007 Dec 24 4,016.6 2006 Dec 25 3,002.0 NOTE - Monetary base comprises cash in circulation andcommercial banks' deposits at the central bank. To see more detailed historical data on Russia's monetarybase you can go to cbr.ru/eng/main.aspUlyukaev comments on rouble and inflation CapitalNovember 19, 2010Yesterday (19 Nov), during the Prime-TASS Conference, Alexey Ulyukaev, first deputy chairman of the Central Bank of Russia (CBR), commented on rouble dynamics and inflation. ? According to Ulyukaev, the CBR has moved the floating corridor in the past two days after having reached $650mn in "accumulative FX interventions". Given the 8-12 Nov international reserves dynamics, the CBR sold around $1.5bn (approximately $750mn is attributed to "accumulative"), we estimate. As such, the regulator has already accumulated about $2.2bn in so-called accumulative interventions. ? The regulator does not intend to disclosure to the market details regarding recent rouble movements, as, based on monetary policy guidelines, the CBR has already moved the floating corridor 20 kopecks. Prime-TASS reports the floating corridor is currently at 33.0-37.0. ? The CBR is surprised by recent rouble dynamics and expects the trend to reverse, according to Ulyukaev. The CBR's general explanation of rouble weakening is that it is due to foreign debt repayment. We, however, do not share this view because the amount of foreign debt due is always overestimated by official statistics and could not be solely responsible for the rouble's recent movements. Thus, in addition to foreign debt repayment, pure capital outflow and speculative plays against the rouble are likely the main explanations for recent rouble dynamics, in our view. ? Furthermore, Kommersant reported yesterday that the CBR will review the FX positions of Russia's top-100 banks and the major transactions of the banks' clients. As such, we believe the CBR is unhappy with recent rouble movements and this review signals that speculative plays against the rouble are not supported by the regulator. ? Ulyukaev also said that inflation in November should be around 0.8% MoM. The corresponding consumer price change for Nov 2009 was 0.3% MoM. Hence, given 7.5% YoY inflation as at the end of October, we think 2010 inflation could be higher than the regulator's range of 7-8%. However, we do not see any reason to change our inflation forecast of 8.2% for 2010. Anton NikitinRussia to launch road show for sovereign ruble bonds in the US and Europe on November 30 BankNovember 18, 2010The issue may total RUB30-80bn, with a maturity of 3-10 years. The yield is not meant to exceed the OFZ yield, i.e. it should be no more than 6-7.7% p.a. J.P. Morgan, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Renaissance Capital and VTB Capital are the issue's lead managers.Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussionsVimpelcom, Norilsk Nickel, Razgulay: Russian Stocks Preview Anastasia UstinovaNov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- The following companies may have unusual price changes in Russian trading. Stocks symbols are in parentheses and share prices are from the previous close. Russia’s Micex Index rose 1.2 percent to 1,552.21. Vimpelcom Ltd. (VIP US): Orascom Telecom Holding SAE said it could be in international arbitration next year unless it can resolve a dispute with the Algerian government over its local unit, Djeezy, Chief Executive Officer Khaled Bichara said yesterday at a Morgan Stanley conference in Barcelona. The shares added 1.7 percent to $15.79 in New York. VTB Group (VTBR RX): VTB Bank, a unit of Russia’s second- largest bank, may sell Eurobonds denominated in Brazilian reais, a banker with knowledge of the proposal said yesterday. The shares rose 1.7 percent to 10.47 kopeks in Moscow. OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel (GMKN RX): Copper rose for a second day in New York and London as the dollar weakened, spurring demand for commodities as an alternative investment. Russia’s largest mining company added 1.1 percent to 5,847.01 rubles. OAO Razgulay (GRAZ RX): Wheat rose the most in almost two weeks on signs that global demand is increasing while supplies remain tight. The Russian grain and sugar producer was little changed at 46.40 rubles. To contact the reporter on this story: Anastasia Ustinova in St. Petersburg at austinova@. To contact the editor responsible for this story: James M. Gomez in Prague jagomez@ Last Updated: November 18, 2010 22:00 ESTRussian markets -- Factors to Watch on Nov 19 Nov 19, 2010 7:26am GMT MOSCOW, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Here are events and news storiesthat could move Russian markets on Friday. You can reach us on: +7 495 775 1242 STOCKS CALL (Contributions to moscow.newsroom@): OLMA: Sharp movements are unlikely as no importantstatistics or reports are scheduled for today. The RTS .IRTSindex is likely to remain within the 1,580-1,620 point range. OTP Bank: We expect the market to open near yesterday'sclosing levels. EVENTS [RU-DIA] (All times GMT): KISLOVODSK, Russia - Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev tohold a meeting on the development of the North Caucasus FederalDistrict. MOSCOW - Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin and Sberbank(SBER03.MM) Chief Executive German Gref to attend a taxconference. MOSCOW - Russia's top cosmetic maker Kalina (KLNA.MM) toannounce third-quarter financial results, followed by aconference call. MOSCOW - Russian pharmaceutical company Pharmsynthez toprice its Moscow IPO. IN THE PAPERS [PRESS/RU]: The Moscow City government may sell its stakes in Vnukovoairport and the Moskva airline as part of new mayor SergeiSobyanin's plan to unload non-core assets, business dailiesVedomosti and Kommersant report. Kommersant writes that Russia's gas export monopoly Gazprom(GAZP.MM) plans to set up a joint venture in Israel to developoffshore gas deposits. TOP STORIES IN RUSSIA AND THE CIS [RU-NEWS]: TOP NEWS:*Russia says 'nothing to hide' in Bout case [ID:nLDE6AH1LN] COMPANIES/MARKETS:*Rouble rebounds on firmer oil, c.bank comments [ID:nLDE6AH1VQ]*Russia to launch yuan-rouble trade in mid-Dec [ID:nLDE6AH1DG]*Russia to create "Titanium Valley" [ID:nLDE6AH1U5]*Russia's MTS beats profit forecast, eyes NTC [ID:nLDE6AH198]*Russia's VTB holds roadshow, mulls Eurobonds [ID:nLDE6AH1SG]*Russia could list 10-15 pct of First Freight [ID:nLDE6AH18A]*Russia's InterRAO seeks asset swap with Enel [ID:nLDE6AH173] ECONOMY/POLITICS:*Russia NATO envoy stresses gap on mis.defence [ID:nLDE6AH0YD]*Russia c.bank cancels OBR bill auction [ID:nLDE6AH1AV]*Russian gold/fx reserves fall to $495.7 bln [ID:nMOS007660]*Russia Oct jobless rate up to 6.8 pct [ID:nLDE6AH1RQ]*Russia average wages up 9.7 pct y/y in Oct [ID:nLDE6AH1TP]*Russia Oct capital investment up 10.7 pct y/y [ID:nLDE6AH1SY]*Russia Oct retail sales +4.3 pct y/y [ID:nLDE6AH1R9]*Russia's Oct housing completions -0.2 pct y/y [ID:nLDE6AH1T3] ENERGY:*Kazakhstan suspects Agip of $110 mln fraud [ID:nLDE6AI019]*Belarus to get Venezuela crude in Glencore swap [ID:nLDE6AH1WR] COMMODITIES:*Russia needs to reap 80 mln T grain in 2011/12-lob [nLDE6AH11Y]*Russia Silvinit potash output fell 13 pct in Oct y [nLDE6AH0LX] MARKETS CLOSE/LATEST: RTS .IRTS 1,599.5 +0.05 pct MSCI Russia .MIRU00000PUS 844.2 +2.13 pct MSCI Emerging Markets .MSCIEF 1,110.5 -0.04 pct Russia 30-year EurobondRU011428878= yield: 4.501/4.470 pct EMBI+ Russia 11EMJ 209 basis points over Rouble/dollar RUBUTSTN=MCX 30.9350 Rouble/euro EURRUBTN=MCX 42.3110 NYMEX crude CLc1 $81.54 -$0.31 ICE Brent crude LCOc1 $84.80 -$0.25 For Russian company news, double click on [E-RU] Treasury news [M-RU] Corporate debt [D-RU] Russian stocks [.ME] Russia country guide RUSSIA All Russian news [RU] Scrolling stocks news [STXNEWS/EU] Emerging markets top news [TOP/EMRG] Top deals [TOP/DEALS] European companies [TOP/EQE]November 19, 2010 11:55Export duty on copper to be levied as of Dec 18 – FCS. Nov 19 (Interfax) - An export duty on copper measuring 10% will be levied in Russia effective December 18, the Federal Customs Service told Interfax.It was earlier reported that a government decree (N893) on introducing the duty had been signed on October 12. The currently export duty on copper stands at 0%.It was earlier reported that a governmental subcommittee on customs and tariff policy, chaired by First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov, approved introducing an export duty on copper at the end of September. In addition, the export rate on nickel was raised from 5% to 10%.According to the calculations of Russia's Finance Ministry, the introduction of a 10% duty on the export of copper will net the Russian budget 8.8 billion rubles in additional revenue for 2011.Russia's main producers are OJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel (RTS: GMKN), CJSC Russian Copper Company and Urals Mining and Metallurgical Company (UGMK).IhMTS to acquire stake in MGTS from AFK Sistema 19/11/2010MOSCOW, November 19 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's top mobile phone operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) plans to buy 23.3 percent of the Moscow City Telephone Network (MGTS), the capital's fixed-line incumbent, from AFK Sistema, MTS' parent company, MTS President Mikhail Shamolin said on Friday.The deal's date and parameters have not yet been discussed, Shamolin said, adding that if MTS decided to acquire Sistema's stake in MGTS, the price would be defined by an independent appraiser chosen by an MTS board committee, consisting of independent directors.MGTS' current core shareholder is Comstar-UTS, which plans to merge with MTS in April 2011, after which Comstar will cease operating as a single legal ernment not discussing a merger between RTS and Micex 19, 2010 A merger between the RTS and Micex is not being discussed at a governmental level, Intellinews reports quoting deputy finance minister Alexei Savatyugin.Savatyugin said that the government has no such plans, despite an amalgamation of the two bourses having been mentioned as a vital measure in President Medvedev's ambition to turn Moscow into an international financial centre. At the same time deputy head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) Andrei Kashevarov said that the watchdog has never supported the idea of merging the pair. He said instead that FAS believes that competition supports the development of financial infrastructure. Some sources linked the recent decision by RTS to list at least 20% of its shares in 2011 as a move trying to avoid the possible merge with the Micex.Gref Says Tax Hikes to Erase Sberbank Savings From Staff Cuts Maria LevitovNov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- OAO Sberbank Chief Executive Officer German Gref said tax increases next year will erase savings the lender made in the last two and a half years by cutting about 15 percent of staff and “optimizing” other procedures. He spoke at a conference in Moscow today. To contact the reporter on this story: Maria Levitov in Moscow at mlevitov@ To contact the editor responsible for this story: Patrick Henry at phenry8@ Last Updated: November 19, 2010 02:43 ESTTitanium past the bottom of the trough setting VSMPO-AVISMA for growth: 19 November, 2010, 11:29The world's top titanium producer VSMPO Avista has revised its development program, according to CEO, Mikhail Voevodin, speaking exclusively to RT Business.MV:? “I think that the global titanium market is passed the bottom of the trough. VSMPO, as the player which controls a third of the market, is also recovering. 2010 has become the turning point?– volumes are increasing, and we are anticipating even more substantial growth of around 20% in 2011.”RT:? Back in 2007, your company agreed on a programme aimed at increasing capacity to 46 thousand tonnes of titanium production per year, and has postponed this because of the crisis.? When do you plan to achieve this goal?MV:? “Our development concept till 2015 implies a shift from the raw materials market to the manufacture of more advanced products in area of industrial titanium. I should point out that VSMPO AVISTA is the only vertically integrated holding with titanium grain at the input and finished products at the output. There are no equivalents in the world.”RT:? China is increasingly becoming an active player on the titanium market. How does this change things?MV:? “China as a new player on the titanium market, started by producing products for use in industry. But it's now moving into the production of titanium products that are sold to the public. This has resulted in some dumping of products, which has had the familiar effect of lowering prices." RT:? There are proposals to create a special economic zone in the so-called titanium valley in Russia.? What difference will this make?MV:? “The idea originated in 2006. Intuitively, we felt that we needed to create new production plants here. A free economic zone is a good way to attract financial and technological investment.” RT: Who has already shown interest and what needs to be done to attract more firms?MV:? “First of all, we are inviting our partners and our buyers. These are the companies like Boeing, Airbus, Goodrich and Rolls Royce. This fully corresponds with their aims to cut costs. In some sense, this will require investments, but in the following 3-4 years they will get more advanced products. Plus, the list of incentives provided in the free economic zone is extensive and attractive, especially for those companies already interested in investing in the Russian Federation.”Titanium Valley Emerges in the Mountains November 2010By Irina FilatovaPrime Minister Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the government planned to create a “Titanium Valley” special economic zone in the Urals Federal District, which may cost 40 billion rubles ($1.3 billion) and will make products for the aircraft, automotive, shipbuilding and medical industries.“We'll issue a governmental decree in the coming two weeks on creating a special economic zone here with special benefits, including customs privileges,” Putin said during his visit to the Sverdlovsk region.Putin, who visited facilities of the region's key industrial enterprises, including the world's largest titanium manufacturer VSMPO-Avisma, said the funds for the economic zone would be appropriated in the 2012 budget, while building infrastructure would start next year.The new economic zone will create “a new technological base” for the titanium maker and allow it to attract new partners, Putin said.The project will create a total of 20,000 jobs, Bloomberg reported, citing documents provided by the Sverdlovsk region government ahead of Putin's visit.A total of 20 companies involved in shipbuilding, power-plant engineering, petrochemicals and medicine may participate in the project, said Sergei Chemezov, head of Russian Technologies, which owns VSMPO-Avisma.Chemezov said Russian Technologies planned to attract current partners of the titanium maker, and partners of Boeing, a stake holder in a joint venture with VSMPO-Avisma.Among the companies which may launch production in the Titanium Valley are Rolls-Royce Group and Goodrich — which supplies parts for the aircraft and defense industries, Chemezov said.VSMPO-Avisma has invested a total of $700 million in modernization over the past several years and plans to invest another $500 million by 2015, said the company's head Mikhail Voyevodin. The investment volume in the Sverdlovsk region will reach the 2008 pre-crisis level of 240 billion rubles this year, said the region's governor Alexander Misharin, according to the government’s web site.Russia's 16 special economic zones, or territories providing economic benefits to investors, include two industrial zones, four innovation zones, eight tourism zones and two ports.Putin also took part in launching an electric arc furnace at pipe maker ChelPipe's steel mill in Pervouralsk. ChelPipe, also known as ChTPZ, invested a total of 19 billion rubles in the project, including 8 billion rubles loaned by Sberbank.The new mill, whose capacity is 950,000 metric tons of steel annually, will supply solid billets for pipes to ChelPipe. The facility will reach full capacity next year.During his visit to Uralsky Lokomotivny Zavod, a joint venture between Siemens and Russia's Sinara Group, Putin said that manufacturing of Russian Railway's high-speed Sapsan trains might start in Russia.“Prospects are good,” Putin said. “Good suppliers allow to localize production not only of Lastochka, but other new generation stock as well, for example Sapsans,” he said, RIA-Novosti reported. The Sapsan trains traveling between Moscow and St. Petersburg and Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod are currently supplied by Siemens.The German concern signed contracts with Russian Railways, or RZD, in 2009 and 2010 to supply 54 Desiro Rus trains, also known as Lastochka, which will start? running during the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014.The sides also signed a memorandum in July to supply another 240 trains over the next 10 years. RZD may partner with Siemens in implementing a program to develop high-speed railway traffic in Russia, Putin said, adding that the program could include maintenance of the rail beds, as well as manufacturing of rails and stock. The program could become a big joint project with the German company “for many, many years to come,” the prime minister said at a meeting with Siemens president Peter Loescher.“… in that case we're interested in localizing production here,” Putin said, Interfax reported.Russian Railways' Sapsan fleet includes eight trains, with more vehicles to come. RZD may buy another four to eight Sapsans, the company's senior vice president Valentin Gapanovich said, RIA-Novosti reported.Gapanovich said local manufacturing of high-speed trains might be launched in the future, though for now the infrastructure is not ready.Uralsib gearing up for IPO, mulls direct sale to investor , 19.11.2010, Moscow 11:59:14.Uralsib is preparing for an IPO in 2011, but does not rule out the possibility of selling shares directly to a strategic investor, the RBC Daily newspaper reported today citing a source in the lending institution. The bank intends to put at least a blocking stake up for sale. According to the source, Uralsib is currently in the midst of holding a 'beauty contest' among investment banks. Analysts believe, however, that next year will prove to be a tough one for private banks' share offerings, since investors will most likely focus their attention on the privatization of state-owned banks.??????Meanwhile, according to the publication's source in Uralsib, eight leading investment banks have already expressed interest in the deal, including J.P.Morgan. Uralsib is expected to select two lead managers for the flotation.??????The IPO or sale of shares to a strategic investor is expected to help Uralsib increase its lending and strengthen its positions in all of Russia's regions, except for the Far East. Inter RAO Eyes Enel's Bulgaria Coal-Fired Plant, Wind Parks – Report | November 19, 2010, FridayRussia's state power trader Inter RAO wants to acquire not only the majority stake of Italian energy giant Enel in Maritsa East 3, a Bulgarian coal-fired plant, but also its wind parks near the Black Sea coast, according to reports."We will offer in exchange the Russian government's stake in Russian power producer OGK-5, controlled by Italy's Enel," Boris Kovalchuk, Chairman of Management Board at Inter RAO UES, said, as cited by Moscow-based Komersant newspaper.Italian energy major Enel owns 56% of OGK-5, the Russian government owns 26.4% and the rest is held by minority shareholders, including the EBRD. Inter RAO is expected to take over the governmental share at the end of this year or the beginning of next year.Should the Russian company acquire Enel's assets in Bulgaria, it will become of the biggest energy companies in the country, accounting for about 12% of the electricity output.Komersant newspaper cites experts, who say the planned Bulgarian purchases fit in well with the strategy of the Russian company, which already owns GRES, the largest power station of Moldova, which exports electricity to Romania and Bulgaria.Inter RAO also plans to be part of the consortium, which will construct the 4.8 GW Akkuyu nuclear plant. Turkey's first nuclear power plant is scheduled to be put into operations in 2011, with completion expected in 2018.Russia's Inter RAO has been tipped as the most likely buyer of a majority stake in Bulgaria's Maritsa East 3 coal-fired power plant, controlled by Italy's Enel SpA, according to Italian media reports from the beginning of October.Inter RAO may be the leading candidate among five bidders interested in Maritza, Italian daily Il Messaggero reported, without citing sources.According to the report Enel, advised by Deutsche Bank AG, aims to pocked EUR 600 M from the sale and talks are at advanced stage.Fulvio Conti, CEO of Enel SpA, said at the beginning of September that the Italian company will sell its stake in Bulgaria's Maritsa East 3 power plant in the fall of 2010.Conti made it clear that Enel plans to sell gas distribution assets in Spain by September, and its Bulgarian coal-fired power plant shortly after that, but declined to give a value for the sales.In late July, Austria's utility EVN, which already owns EVN Bulgaria, an electricity distribution company in south and southeast Bulgaria, confirmed it is holding talks for the acquisition of a majority stake in the Maritsa East 3 coal-fired power plant.British utility International Power, US power producer AES Corp. and CEZ AS are also said to have shown interest in acquiring Enel majority stake in Maritsa East 3.A year ago Enel increased the capacity of Maritsa East Three plant to 908 megawatts, up from 840 MW, and also put new desulphurisation installations on the plant's four units.Experts comment that the potential buyer is probably eying a 100% stake in the plant, in which the state owns a 27% stake. The rumors were fanned by a statement of Energy and Economy Minister Traicho Traikov, who recently announced that the state can land EUR 200 M from the sale of its stake in the plant.The plant is located in the Maritsa East lignite coal mining complex in southern Bulgaria.Stockmann opens 100,000 sq m complex in Saint Petersburg by Elena Toporikova on Friday, 19 November 2010 03:25 | Published in Retail & Consumer GoodsStockmann, the Finnish retailer, opened a new retail and office complex "Stockmann Nevsky Center" in Saint Petersburg earlier this week. The complex which is almost 100,000 square meters in size and cost over €185 million to build will include a 20,000 square meter Stockmann department store and 80 other retail, catering and office units. The center is located in a prime location in central St Petersburg benefiting from high footfall and close proximity to the Nevsky railway station which bring 10,000 passengers daily from Moscow to St Petersburg. Stockmann was established in 1862 and has stores in Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. It entered the Russian market in 1987 and has 7 department stores in the country. An 8th is currently under construction and due to open in Ekaterinburg next year. The Russian market is increasingly important for Stockmann, it accounted for over €177 million (17.4%) of global sales so far this year. November 19, 2010 03:00 AM?Eastern Time? RosDorBank Plans to Offer 1.05 Billion Rubles in Bonds in the Beginning of December 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE)--RosDorBank plans to offer 1.05 billion rubles in bonds series 01 on December 07, 2010. The book opened on November 15, 2010. The maturity of the issue is 3 years, with 1-year put option. The first 6-month coupon will be determined by the issuer as a result of the tender on December 07, 2010. The first coupon rate is expected to be within the range of 10.25-10.75% per year. The second coupon rate is equal to the first coupon rate. RosDorBank is the arranger and the payment agent. RosDorBank will use the funds to increase its credit portfolio, including development of SME credit programs. In July 2010 Moody’s Investors service has assigned B3 rating to RosDorBank, outlook is “stable”. Gleb Gurin, Chairman of the Board of RosDorBank, said: "We are pleased to launch the issue, that will help our liquidity and publicity. RosDorBank will use the funds to increase its credit portfolio, including development of SME credit programs." "We made preliminary poll and see?good demand. So we hope the issue will be well subscribed," the Head of Treasury of RosDorBank, Alexey Androsov,?said. Russia’s Cyrillic cybernauts Charles Clover, Joseph Menn and Courtney Weaver Published: November 18 2010 20:46 | Last updated: November 18 2010 20:46For once, a Russian company was being floated whose success was not based on privatised Soviet assets and the export of raw materials. This month’s initial public offering in London by Mail.ru instead reflects the values of a “modernised” and “innovative” Russia, two buzzwords much favoured by President Dmitry Medvedev.The company is driven by brainpower rather than oil and gas, it is globally competitive and it is open to the world, with a reach from China to South Africa to Silicon Valley. A small but valuable stake in Facebook, the west’s biggest social networking site, is just one of its jewels.But there are other areas where Mail.ru is uniquely Russian. It is not just a Russian internet company: to all intents and purposes it is the Russian internet. It owns or part-owns sites, including the country’s top two social networking sites and its largest free e-mail service, that together represent as much as 70 per cent of page views on the Russian-language web.Concentrating the ownership of a resource in a few trusted hands has proved an established method of economic management for the Kremlin. Oil, metals, transport, television and other commanding heights of the Russian economy are either in state hands or in companies that are at least quasi-state – owned by oligarchs dependent on Kremlin patronage. “Just as Gazprom is to the gas industry, Rosneft is for oil, Mail.ru is the internet,” one Russian politician says wryly.It is not that no other companies of its kind exist in Russia. For instance, there are Yandex, the country’s biggest search engine, and ProfMedia, which owns the rival Rambler.ru search engine. Tellingly, there is also Gazprom Media, which recently bought Rutube, the local equivalent to YouTube, the video-sharing site. But Mail.ru is by far the biggest.Most of its assets were formerly owned by DST Global. The two companies have different managements but the same shareholders. DST, now a $1bn venture fund, retains roughly 6 per cent of the Facebook stake, while Mail.ru has more than 2 per cent.In a country where the big mass media are by and large muzzled, the web is widely seen as the last domain for the free exchange of information. And some internet users express increasing concern that the company, because it is so big and is owned by businessmen with close links to the Kremlin, represents a threat to internet freedom in Russia. Having internet companies in friendly hands could also make it easier for the authorities to monitor users’ online activity. So far the Kremlin seems to have opted for a policy of “soft control” rather than the “China scenario” of overt state control, says Ilya Ponomarev, a member of parliament and an avid blogger. “Why set up a Great Firewall”, he asks, referring to China’s massive internet filtering apparatus, “when you can just pick up the phone and give some advice to the key sites, about what they should do and what they shouldn’t?”The closure by Yandex of a blog ratings site, where blogs by the political opposition were achieving high popularity scores, gave rise to suspicions of censorship by displeased officials. “It is understood they [Yandex] got a phone call,” says Mr Ponomarev. “And Yandex acted fairly. Instead of manipulating the numbers, they just shut it down.”Yandex, however, blames the closure not on outside pressure but on manipulation of the figures by users, saying its decision was unprompted.For its part, Mail.ru has avoided controversy by steering clear of politics and news. “News sites don’t make any money,” says a senior executive of DST, out of which Mail.ru was spun ahead of the flotation. Both Mail.ru and DST, he says, are focused on electronic commerce, social networking and online gaming because that is where the profits lie. Alternatives to Mail.ru sites exist, he points out. “If consumers thought the service was [politically] influenced they would use different services. There are plenty of [competitors] to Mail.”All the same, DST and Mail.ru carry with them the perception in Russia of a close relationship to the Kremlin. This among other things led to scrutiny by American law enforcement agencies of its recent purchase of ICQ, the US web chat service. Law enforcement representatives say they complained that the sale would prevent them from monitoring chats by Russian criminal organisations that might use the service. Objections from law enforcement agencies reached the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, a panel led by the Treasury that has representatives from the departments of defence, justice and homeland security and on occasion can block acquisitions on national security grounds. Those submissions proved to be in vain, however.DST and Mail.ru say that while they a good relationship with the government, they remain independent.Nonetheless, Yuri Milner, founder and chief executive of DST and still a shareholder in Mail.ru, is one of few private individuals to sit on Mr Medvedev’s prestigious commission for modernisation and technological development, part of the president’s effort to promote his innovation agenda. He is an unofficial ambassador to the global technology sector – whether seeking to sell Silicon Valley on the merits of Mr Medvedev’s zeal for innovation or to attract investment in a state-led project to build a technology centre in Moscow.Boris Nemtsov, an opposition politician and former business partner, says Mr Milner’s connections have been a helpful but not decisive factor in his success. “Yes he has a close relationship to the Kremlin, but this is not the reason for his success. He just sees farther than everyone else.” Silicon Valley sees Mr Milner as a long-term investor with unusual flexibility: he puts in millions of dollars without demanding a board seat, and his willingness to buy shares from early employees has helped keep the Valley’s important secondary market liquid and profitable. That combination has made him virtually irresistible. “He is not a venture capitalist in the pure sense,” says a western investment banker in Moscow. “He doesn’t make risky bets. He puts money in proven companies which already have cash flows.”Marc Andreessen, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist and member of Facebook’s board, says of Mr Milner and his empire: “They have been a fantastic investor. They have an edge in really understanding what is happening globally. We don’t have that.”The DST executive says the company “functions like a private equity fund” that has “purely financial interests” in its stakes, because it does “not want to end up in a situation where we’re on the board of a company we have a minority stake in” if that company ends up being a competitor of another one of its businesses.A rush of acquisitions since 2008 has expanded DST’s global reach. “What astonishes me,” says a DST competitor “is where they got all that money.” The answer to that question appears mainly to be Alisher Usmanov, metals magnate and part owner of Arsenal football club in London, who took an estimated 34 per cent stake in DST in 2008. He now has 25 per cent of Mail.ru and an unspecified stake in DST Global.At a time when Russian oligarchs were being driven into exile or worse, Mr Usmanov quietly eased his way into the Kremlin’s favour. “He is basically Medvedev’s proxy in many matters,” says Stanislav Belkovsky, a Moscow political commentator.Mr Usmanov did spend six years in prison in Soviet times, following allegations of fraud, but after his conviction was overturned he emerged as a Gazprom executive in the 1990s. Most of his metals holdings are assets that were put into bankruptcy by Gazprom after Russia’s 1998 financial crisis.His 50 per cent controlled Metalloinvest was among those to benefit from state largesse in the wake of the latest global crisis. In September last year it received Rbs30bn in state guarantees as part of a Rbs61bn bail-out loan from VTB, a state-controlled bank, allowing the company to get through the crisis without costing shareholders any equity.“When you get a wodge of credit this big from a state bank, it suggests that politically everything is in very good order,” says one analyst. However, as with other oligarchs, the relationship has a price: “When mother Russia calls, you do what they say.”Despite being so cash-strapped that he needed the bail-out, Mr Usmanov was able to finance the $200m purchase of 2 per cent of Facebook in May 2009. Operating profits and asset sales by DST also contributed to the purchase, according to someone close to Mail.ru.Other acquisitions have relied on his financial backing as well, although DST has accumulated further shareholders including Tencent, the Chinese internet portal, and Naspers, the South African media company. Last December came a $180m stake in Zynga, the maker of social games. That was followed by the $188m purchase of ICQ in April, a month in which it also paid $135m for a stake in Groupon, the social commerce site. A spokesman for Mr Usmanov declined to say how much of these purchases he financed.Mr Usmanov’s relationship with the Kremlin is one of quid pro quo, say insiders. He has done everything from buying Fabergé eggs and the art collection of cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and donating them to the state, to interceding in a 2006 feud between Altimo, a telecommunications company, and investment funds with ties to top politicians over shares in Megafon, the third largest mobile phone provider.He emerged as its biggest shareholder but “played the role of a mediator and problem solver”, says Vladimir Zhukov, an analyst for Nomura, the investment bank. “Not everyone gets asked to do such favours for the Kremlin, which kind of indicates his relationship with top-level figures.” The Usmanov spokesman says the Megafon deal was simply a long-term investment and not a favour for the Kremlin.While Mr Medvedev has often stated his commitment to keeping the internet free, many remain concerned that the tide may be shifting towards a crackdown.Mr Ponomarev says he sees the Kremlin’s goal as having the infrastructure available so that it could launch a crackdown at a moment’s notice if it chose to. “Technically speaking, if a political decision were taken to launch a ‘China scenario’ in Russia, it would be possible to do this quite quickly and simply,” he says.The technology is already in place – every Russian internet service provider is legally bound under a programme known as Sorm-2 to install monitoring equipment at its own expense. In the interior ministry there is a special “department E” that monitors internet “extremism” and can recommend to federal prosecutors that a site should be closed.The internet is “the remaining source for the free exchange of information in Russia”, says Kimberly Zenz, a Moscow-based cybersecurity analyst for VeriSign, an internet infrastructure company. “This encroaching control gets no attention because it’s not direct censorship.”Kremlin provides valuable protection, but at a priceThe state is ever present in Russian business. Keeping political ties to the Kremlin is an important ingredient for success in any industry, including the internet, and Mail.ru is not alone in keeping lines open to the leadership, writes Charles Clover.The Kremlin considers it desirable to control the commanding heights of the Russian economy, either through shareholdings in strategic companies such as Gazprom, the state-controlled gas producer, or through the loyalty of private strategic shareholders. It has encouraged consolidation in key industries around companies owned by loyal private businessmen such as Oleg Deripaska, head of UC Rusal, the aluminium giant, or around state-controlled companies such as Rosneft, the oil company.This not only gives the Kremlin influence over management decisions but also provides Russian companies with a competitive advantage. In the case of Mail.ru, its dominant position has allowed it to withstand the onslaught from brands such as Google and Facebook.The price of loyalty is steep. Even wholly private companies such as Rusal salute when the Kremlin barks an order – for example, investing in building infrastructure for the 2014 winter Olympic Games in Sochi.In return, the Kremlin takes care of its own. None of Russia’s 100 largest companies was allowed to fail during the 2008-09 global economic crisis, when Russian gross domestic product fell by 7.9 per cent. Many banks and industrial groups received state bail-out credits that totalled roughly $200bn.But for those businessmen seen as politically disloyal, the price is high. Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the oil magnate, was jailed for tax evasion in 2003 and is likely to be sentenced again to another jail term in December. Alexander Lebedev, who owns the Independent and Evening Standard newspapers in the UK but in Russia also part-owns the opposition Novaya Gazeta, underwent a mysterious police raid this month on the bank he owns.For the Record November 2010The Finance Ministry has proposed changes seeking greater oversight of foreign-currency transactions, according to a bill published on the ministry’s web site Thursday. (Bloomberg)MICEX is seeking to buy its smaller, dollar-denominated competitor, RTS, in a “friendly takeover,” Central Bank First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said Thursday. (Bloomberg)Russia’s bid for soccer’s 2018 World Cup championship is the most expensive, with estimated costs of $4.5 billion, Kommersant reported Thursday, citing the Federation Internationale de Football Association. (Bloomberg)Rostelecom was denied approval to provide so-called 4G services by the Defense Ministry, Kommersant reported Thursday, citing an unidentified government official. (Bloomberg)Russian stocks now even cheaper 19, 2010Russian stocks, the cheapest worldwide, are now even better value after the nation's companies posted record profits that topped analysts' estimates by the widest margin in emerging markets, Bloomberg reports. Meanwhile, whilst investors have begun to switch their attention to Russia from fashionable emerging markets like Turkey and South Africa, with fund flows perking up over the last month or so, that money appears happy to remain on the sidelines for the moment. Micex Index companies reported combined earnings of RUB178 a share ($5.70) during the past year, the most since at least 2003 and 29% above the average of about 400 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The Micex is valued at an average P/E of 6.8 based on profit forecasts for the next 12 months, the lowest level among 59 world stock indexes tracked by Bloomberg, and about half the global average of 12.While the Micex advanced 13% in the past year, its valuation tumbled 31% because Russian shares failed to keep pace with a surge in earnings estimates spurred by oil's rally above $80. Equity mutual funds in the world's largest energy exporter attracted less money in the past six months than funds in the other so-called BRICs -- Brazil, India and China -- as investors favored more expensive shares in faster-growing economies, EPFR Global data show.However, fund flows into Russia have started picking up in the last month, as it appears investors may finally be ready to take a punt on the low valuations of Russian stock. That said, for the moment, much of that money appears to be waiting on the sidelines whilst the global picture remains so rocky."Russia really stands out as being cheap and attractive," said Maarten-Jan Bakkum, an emerging-market equity strategist in The Hague at ING Investment Management, which oversees about $100 billion in developing nations. "Investors will increasingly be looking for emerging economies that can still improve," he said. "For Russia, there should be some room for improvement."Russia's economic expansion will probably accelerate to 4.3 percent next year from 4 percent in 2010, according to October estimates from the International Monetary Fund.China's growth will slow to 9.6 percent from 10.5 percent, while the pace in India will drop to 8.4 percent from 9.7 percent, and Brazil's expansion will decelerate to 4.1 percent from 7.5 percent, IMF forecasts show.Russia has lagged behind the other BRIC nations in luring investors. Chinese equity mutual funds attracted about $3.3 billion in the past six months, while Indian funds received $1.3 billion and Brazil got $1.9 billion, data compiled by Cambridge, Massachusetts-based EPFR Global show. Russian funds took in $637 million, the data show.Gazprom shares are poised to rally 34 percent in the next 12 months, according to the average of 10 analysts' share-price estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The stock has retreated 7.8 percent this year, compared with a 2.3 percent gain for PetroChina.Russia has the cheapest stocks among major developing nations, based on 10-year reported earnings, a valuation measure designed to adjust for economic cycles, Jonathan Garner, the chief Asia and emerging markets strategist at Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong, wrote in a November 8 report."It's probably the cheapest market among global emerging nations," said ING's Bakkum, who recommends an "overweight" position in Russia. "A lot of people are prepared to buy Russian assets."Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)Kudrin Sees Room to Raise Natural-Gas Extraction Tax (Update1) Maria LevitovNov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said the government has room to increase the natural-gas extraction tax further. “I believe there’s still room to raise the mineral extraction tax for gas,” Kudrin told a conference in Moscow today. Russia plans to raise the tax by 61 percent next year and may peg increases in 2012 and 2013 to the estimated level of inflation. The government needs to boost taxes on commodities to help meet its spending plans, including a 9 percent rise in pensions next year, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on July 28. To contact the reporter on this story: Maria Levitov in Moscow at mlevitov@ To contact the editor responsible for this story: Willy Morris at wmorris@ Last Updated: November 19, 2010 03:48 ESTBRIEF-Malaysia's KNM bags $216 mln Uzbek job from LukOil Nov 19, 2010 12:05am GMTKUALA LUMPUR Nov 19 (Reuters) - Malaysia's KNM Group (KNMP.KL):* says won $216 million job to provide technical documentation, equipment and services for development of gas condensate fields in Uzbekistan.* says awarded two-year contract by the Uzbek unit of LukOil (LKOH.MM) and covers Adamtash, Gumbulak and Djarkuduk Yangi Kizilcha gas condensate fields.* says project to contribute positively to KNM Group's earnings for the financial years ending 31 December 2011 and 31 December 2012.(Reporting by Niluksi Koswanage) Urals Energy reports flow rates at first sidetrack at Petrosakh CapitalNovember 19, 2010Event: Yesterday (18 Nov) Urals Energy (UEN) provided an operating update, confirming that it has paid back the first tranche ($3mn) of its debt to Petraco and announcing that the initial flow rate at sidetrack well 35b was 152 bopd. The company also reported that accumulated material prevented the tubing from being run further down the hole and that the tubing was stopped at 1,478 metres (while the well was perforated at 1,470-1,535 metres). According to UEN, the well has been producing for six days and is still flowing back drilling fluid and cuttings as a result of lost circulation. The company plans to remove this material from the well and commence full-scale production. The company will start drilling a second sidetrack well at Petrosakh in Jan 2011. Current production at both fields amounts to 2,475 bopd. Action: We confirm our BUY rating on the company. Rationale: While the loss of circulation may be perceived as a serious technical problem, we think it could be resolved in this case. We also point out that the current flow rate is occurring naturally without the use of pumps. After a conversation with the company, we think there is a reasonable chance that the flow rate could be higher following the removal of fluids from the reservoir. We initially estimated that both sidetracks could increase daily output by over 300 bopd and we still think the company can achieve this. The fact that current production is 7% higher than in September confirms the company's commitment to focusing on efficient operations and unlocking the value of its reserves, in our view. Ildar DavletshinOPAL natural gas pipeline reaches Czech Republic 18, 2010 Eric Watkins OGJ Oil Diplomacy Editor LOS ANGELES, Nov. 18 -- The Ostsee-Pipeline-Anbindungs-Leitung (OPAL) pipeline, which eventually will extend 470 km to link the Nord Stream Pipeline to Eastern Europe, has been laid across the German-Czech border, according to company officials. “The closer cross-border integration of national natural gas pipeline systems called for by the European Union has taken a key step forward,” said Bernd Vogel, managing director of OPAL Nel Transport GMBH, a subsidiary of the Wingas Group, which is co-owned by Germany’s Wintershall and Russia's OAO Gazprom. "By building the Nord Stream Pipeline and its connecting pipeline OPAL, European customers are gaining direct access to the major Russian natural gas reserves in Siberia,” said Vogel, whose firm will perform the tasks of network operator for OPAL. About 400 km of the pipeline’s overall length have already been laid, and the welding together of the more than 26,000 pipes has also largely been completed. "This makes us confident of completing the pipeline by the late summer 2011 as planned and bringing it online in October 2011 together with the first Nord Stream Pipeline," said Vogel. Gazprom projects completion of the first 27.5 billion cu m/year Nord Stream line in 2011, with a parallel line of the same capacity to follow in 2012. The line will pass through Russian, Finnish, Swedish, Danish, and German waters. Construction of the 1,200-km Nord Stream system, which will extend through the Baltic Sea from Vyborg, Russia, to Greifswald, Germany, began Apr. 9 (OGJ Online, Apr. 9, 2010). Meanwhile, Wingas Chief Construction Manager Michael Muth outlined the work program for OPAL over the coming months, saying that it “will concentrate on the construction of the gas transfer station in Lubmin and the natural gas compressor station in Baruth, south of Berlin.” When complete, OPAL will be the largest gas line to be laid in Europe, with an annual transport capacity of 36 billion cu and a diameter of 1.4 m. In addition to OPAL, Wintershall and Gazprom also are planning construction of the 440-km North European gas pipeline (NEL), which will transport Nord Stream gas from Greifswald on the German coast west to Rehden in Lower Saxony. NEL is scheduled to come on stream in 2011 and has a planned capacity of 20 billion cu m/year. “It will connect Nord Stream with the European gas network, just as the OPAL natural gas pipeline does to the Czech Republic,” Wingas said. That will facilitate gas transportation from Russia, through Germany, to Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and the UK. Earlier this week, the European Union described the Nord Stream line part of one of four “big axis” for the diversification of gas supplies in Europe: the Southern Corridor from the Caspian, the Northern Corridor from Norway, the Eastern corridor from Russia, and the Mediterranean Corridor from Africa. Wingas is owned 50.02% by BASF subsidiary Wintershall and 49.98% by Gazprom. Wingas owns 80% of OPAL and 75% of NEL, with E.On Ruhrgas holding the remaining 20% and 25%, respectively. Nord Stream's shareholders include Gazprom 51%, E.On Ruhrgas and Wintershall 15.5% each, and Dutch state Gasunie and France's GDF Suez, each with 9%. Contact Eric Watkins at hippalus@.Russia and China still poles apart on gas prices 19, 2010Russia and China still are still far from finally agreeing a pricing formula for gas supplies, a Chinese official said yesterday ahead of another round of energy talks in Moscow on Sunday.The pair has been at loggerheads in negotiations for years now, but following President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Bejing in September to sign off on a raft of deals, Russian officials said they were optimistic that an agreement was close. However, with Prime Minister Wen Jiabao set to lead a delegation to Moscow on November 20, the deputy director general of China's National Energy Administration Gu Jun told a Foreign Ministry briefing: "Companies from both countries have made a considerable effort during price negotiations, but we should admit that there is still a large difference, which now amounts to about $100 per 1,000 cubic meters," reports RIA Novosti. The discussion is top of the agenda for November 22, said Jun, when China's Deputy Prime Minister Wang Qishan and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin will meet to hold energy talks. On returning from Bejing two months ago, Medvedev said that the pair moved as much as $60 closer in their positions, whilst Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin told the press that he expected an agreement in the first six months of 2011. Russia is attempting to ward off a rash of demands from European customers for lower prices since spot prices have dwindled in the wake of the financial crisis. At the same time, it is attempting to accelerate its strategy to forge a closer relationship with China, and opened a new spur of the ESPO oil pipeline last month that will start delivering crude to the north of the country in January. Gazprom is also discussing guaranteed supply volumes with Bejing, reports Prime Tass, whilst the company said in September that in mid-2011 it planned to sign a 30-year contract to supply 30bcm per year starting 2015. The Russian gas giant currently makes no exports to China.As part of that deal, it announced it will bring forward construction of the Altai pipeline, linking gas fields in western Siberia with western China. Reports suggested that Russia hopes Bejing will finance the project, in an extension of the 2008 deal that saw China grant $20bn to power development of energy infrastructure. For its part, China is scouting for more energy, and more diversity in suppliers, to feed its booming economy. It has ploughed billions into a pipeline carrying gas from Central Asian, with a second on the drawing board, whilst energy imports from South America have been growing menting on Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao's visit to Russia, one official said that China also expects to sign agreements on cooperation in the nuclear power and coal industries, as well as on the upgrade of electric power grids in both countries.GazpromGazprom May Seek China, Korea Partners to Work at Chayanda Field 18, 2010, 8:55 PM ESTBy Stephen Bierman and Anna Shiryaevskaya Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) -- OAO Gazprom may invite Chinese and South Korean companies to help develop the Chayanda oil and gas field in eastern Siberia, said Valery Golubev, deputy chief executive officer of the Russian gas exporter.South Korean and Chinese companies may join the project as services contractors, Golubev told reporters today in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. He didn’t name the companies.Gazprom, the world’s biggest gas producer, targets Chayanda as “the main base field” for exports to Asia, said Vsevolod Cherepanov, head of the gas, condensate and oil production department in June. In the first half of next year, the Moscow- based company plans to complete an investment study for Chayanda, which may match supply volumes to Europe in the future.The field holds 1.24 trillion cubic meters of gas and 68.4 million metric tons of oil and condensate. Crude production may start in 2014, to be followed by gas output in 2016. Gazprom is yet to start building a pipeline connecting the field with existing and planned infrastructure on the Pacific coast.Gazprom News: GAZP RM <Equity> CN <GO>--Editor:Anna Shiryaevskaya in Moscow at ashiryaevska@To contact the reporters on this story: Stephen Bierman in Ashgabat via Moscow at sbierman1@.To contact the editor responsible for this story: Will Kennedy at wkennedy3@Gazprom mulls Israeli energy co investment officials have held talks in recent months with various parties in Israel's energy market.18 November 10 17:54, Tal MoiseRussia's Gazprom is planning to invest in Israel and acquire 50% of private Israeli company that holds licenses to offshore deposits, form a joint venture, and start exploration, reports "Interfax", citing Stanislav Tsygankov, head of the company's foreign economic operations. Moscow-based Gazprom plans to begin the necessary studies and drilling by next year. "Interfax" quotes First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov as saying that the cooperation would not put an end to talks about supplying Russian gas to Israel. According to foreign media reports, Gazprom will make the investment this year, after company officials held talks in recent months with various parties in Israel's energy market. Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - globes- - on November 18, 2010 ? Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2010Gazprom May Delay Nigerian Investment Plans Until Next Year Paul OkoloNov. 18 (Bloomberg) -- OAO Gazprom, the world’s largest gas producer, may delay plans to invest billions of dollars in Nigeria until after an oil bill is passed and general elections are held next year. “Any investment decision has to be after the elections,” Vladimir Ilyanin, chief executive officer of Gazprom’s Nigerian unit, said in an interview yesterday in the capital city of Abuja. Once the polls are over and legislation is passed, “we’ll roll out our plans.” Nigeria has Africa’s biggest hydrocarbon reserves of about 36 billion barrels of crude oil and 187 trillion cubic feet of gas, according to the Petroleum Ministry. The country plans to spend $30 billion to build a gas pipeline network and processing facilities to supply domestic users and a pipeline across the Sahara Desert to Europe. Failure to link power plants now under construction to gas supplies by investing in a pipeline network will frustrate efforts to end chronic power shortages, Bart Nnaji, presidential adviser on power, said Nov. 8. The country’s parliament is working on new petroleum industry legislation that will spell out rules for operating in the oil and gas business. The law is likely to be approved before the end of this year, Emmanuel Egbogah, presidential adviser on petroleum, said Nov. 16. The delay in passing the bill is a “major impediment,” Ilyanin said. “We need clear rules and a level-playing ground.” Shell, Chevron International oil companies, including Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Chevron Corp., have protested against proposals to raise oil royalties and taxes, which they say will discourage capital- intensive investments in the country’s deep offshore waters. Nigeria says oil production will remain competitive under the provisions of the law. Last year, Gazprom signed an agreement in Abuja to form a company called NiGaz Energy Co. Ltd. that will invest in gas production, transportation and infrastructure in Nigeria. Boris Ivanov, head of Gazprom’s global exploration and production unit, valued the venture at a minimum of $2.5 billon. “The projects are long term” and the partners are in “a lot of discussions,” according to Ilyanin. Gazprom also has an understanding with Nigerian energy company Oando Plc “to jointly develop projects in multiple sectors of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.” The two operators were among 15 energy companies selected by the Nigerian government in March last year as potential investors to help develop gas projects. Political tension has heightened in Africa’s most populous nation after President Goodluck Jonathan, a southerner from the oil-rich Niger Delta region, declared his intention to run for president again in the elections expected to be held in April. To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Okolo in Abuja pokolo@. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Hirschberg at phirschberg@. Last Updated: November 18, 2010 10:30 ESTOfficial: Study to Decide if South Stream Will Pass through Slovenia, 18 November (STA) - Russian energy giant Gazprom has not yet decided whether to route its South Stream gas pipeline through Slovenia. The decision on this will be based on a feasibility study that is nearing completion, officials from the two countries have said.11/19 11:40 ? Gazprom could sell Gazprom Drilling close to selling Burgaz CapitalNovember 19, 2010Event: Today (19 Nov) Kommersant reported that Gazprom's board of directors recently approved the sale of the company's drilling and service subsidiary, Burgaz, for an estimated price range of $75-130mn. According to unofficial comments from Gazprom, the asset will be put up for sale before year-end. Arkady Rotenberg, a Russian businessman who is a core shareholder of Stroytransgaz, was mentioned by Kommersant as a potential buyer of the asset. Accordingto Kommersant, in 2009 Burgaz generated $1.3bn in revenue and a net loss of $62mn ($1.5mn profit in 2008). Action: We confirm our BUY rating on Gazprom. Rationale: Gazprom's intention to sell Burgaz was reported earlier this year (click here to read our article Gazprom may divest its drilling subsidiary in the CIS Morning Monitor dated 24 May 2010) . On our estimates, Gazprom's sum-of-the- parts valuation amounts to $16.3/share, providing over 150% upside potential. Thus, we welcome any efforts aimed at crystallising the value of Gazprom's assets. The sale price may seem low when compared with Burgaz's turnover (we note that TNK-BP sold its oilfield services [OFS] subsidiary for about 0.8x revenue); however, in the valuation of OFS subsidiaries, much depends on internal pricing, which in this case seems to favour Gazprom. We also note that Burgaz has an estimated $203mn of short-term debt. Ildar Davletshin ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download