Russia
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Basic Political Developments
• Russian-NATO military delegations begin talks in Moscow - "We will sum up first results of the work done since the Russia-NATO Council convened in Brussels at the level of General Staff chiefs, and we will discuss European security and issues of mutual interest," Makarov said.
• NATO military chief to promote “reset” with Russia - The Russian defense ministry said “the parties plan to sum up intermediary results of Russia-NATO interaction in 2010 and consider future prospects. Priority attention will be paid to the fight against sea piracy, rear logistics, and interaction in the settlement in Afghanistan.”
• Medvedev to discuss trade, economic cooperation with Berlusconi - "These issues will be discussed in the light of the agreements reached at the sixth round of interstate consultations in December 2009, during the working visit of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to Italy on April 25-26, and at the 11th session of the Russian-Italian Council for Economic, Industrial, Currency and Financial Cooperation held in Moscow on July 6," he said.
• Medvedev to visit Italy to discuss economic cooperation with Berlusconi - As for international affairs, “Italy is a successive supporter of the development of NATO-Russia dialogue. The Italian leadership initiated in European circles the discussion about an early introduction of visa-free travel between the EU and Russia,” the press service said adding Italy is interested in the proposal of the Russian president regarding new European security architecture.
• Medvedev, Berlusconi to meet in Milan - Cultural cooperation will also be on the agenda, including cross-year culture festivals this year and next.
• Itar-Tass: Lavrov to attend ASEAN regional security forum
• ASEAN ministers okay draft document for Vietnam summit
• State President welcomes Russian Foreign Minister - State President Nguyen Minh Triet on July 22 received Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov while he is in Vietnam to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum and the ASEAN-Russia Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.
• Patriarch Kirill to meet for talks with Ukrainian president - "The Patriarch and the Ukrainian president have long-standing personal and working relations. I believe they will easily find topics for a mutually beneficial conversation," Legoida said.
• Ukrainian president, Russian patriarch to meet in Crimea
• Ukrainian nationalists to meet Patriarch Kirill with protests - The All-Ukrainian Union Freedom announced that it will hold pickets to protest the Ukrainian visit of Patriarch Kirill. One picket will be held outside the Kiev Laura of the Caves on Sunday, July 25; another picket will be held in front of St. Sophia Cathedral on Monday, July 26; and a third one in Vladimirskaya Gorka on Tuesday, July 27.
• Heavy metal extravaganza lures Russian elite to Sevastopol - Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill and Moscow Mayor will reportedly meet with motorcyclists, individually or in unison, during their visits to Crimea July 23-25.
• Putin to discuss ferrous metallurgy recovery - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will chair a meeting in Chelyabinsk on Friday to discuss the recovery of the ferrous industry and will visit several steel mills in the metallurgical region.
• Russia's restrictions on Finnish meat, dairy import come in force
• Japan Said to Mull Uranium Imports Via East Russia (Update1) - Japan, the third-largest nuclear power producer, plans to ask Russia to allow it to ship uranium from landlocked Kazakhstan through ports along the country’s Pacific coast to cut the cost of importing the atomic fuel.
• Serdyukov signed an order assigning responsibilities of acting commanders of the new Military Districs
• Changes in Northern Fleet command - As Deputy Commander of the Northern Fleet becomes Commander of the Black Sea Fleet, several internal changes are taking place in the Northern Fleet’s commanding structures.
• U.S., Japanese ships in Vladivostok for Navy Day ceremonies
• Russia Will Spend 20 Trillion Rubles on New Weapons – by Pavel Felgenhauer
• Medvedev urges more fines, less jail for employers withholding salary - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has introduced a bill concerning arrears in salary, retirement benefits, scholarships and other payments to the lower house of Russia's parliament, the Kremlin's press service said on Friday.
• Medvedev signs total drink driving ban - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a bill enforcing a zero alcohol limit for drivers, the Kremlin said on Friday.
• Russian pilot trial to begin in US on Aug 12 - The trial of Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko detained in Africa on suspicion of drug smuggling and conveyed to the United States will begin on August 12, Russian Consul General in New York Andrei Yushmanov told Itar-Tass on Thursday.
• U.S. Blames Fax Error For Russia Mistake
• U.S. apologizes to Russia for late notification on Yaroshenko's arrest
• Washington blames fax for diplomatic row with Russia
• Government Computers to Get Linux-Based Operating System - The government is hoping to launch the first version of a "national operating system" for its computers as early as next year, a senior Communications and Press Ministry official said Thursday. The operating system, for use on the computer systems of government agencies and state-run companies, will be 90 percent based on the open-source Linux operating system, Deputy Communications and Press Minister Ilya Massukh said.
• Russian protesters target police over Magnitsky death - Anti-Kremlin activists have targeted the home of one of the police officers accused of complicity over the agonising prison death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
• Dagestan authorities give militants 'final warning' - The authorities of Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan issued a "final warning" to the militants, urging them to stop further terrorist attacks, the first deputy head of the Dagestan government said.
• Railway services restored on railway damaged by blast in Dagestan
• Bomb blasted on railway in Dagestan, train traffic suspended
• Trains moving from Azerbaijan stopped due to explosion in Dagestan
• In Dagestan, land mine exploded on the railway - At the railway-the line Inchkhe Kayakent in Dagestan, an explosion occurred, which resulted in one person injured. This informs "Interfax" referring to Makhachkala branch railway.
• Veteran of Anti-Russian Wars named as Head of Dagestan's Sharia Jamaat - Seifullah of Gubden (aka Magomed Vagapov), the emir of the Gubden Jamaat, has been chosen for this position on the orders of Doku Umarov, the leader of the Caucasus Emirate
• Kremlin says to fire security aides if Caucasus attacks recur
• Dam Busters - The Attack on the Hydroelectric Plant Is Anything but a Change of Strategy – So Why Did It Catch the Authorities by Surprise?
• OMON disbanded the defenders of Khimki forest
• Russian Mill Pollutes World's Deepest Lake - The facility is not yet running at full capacity and has only launched one of its pulp production lines.
• Russian adoptions closer to reality - Russian officials have now given a permit to Inter Country Adoption New Zealand, to operate an adoption programme.
• Adoption changes risk ignoring plight of orphans in Russia - But while Russia and the US debate the future of international adoption, the murky fate of orphaned or unwanted children who remain in Russia still prompts questions.
• Moscow press review for July 23, 2010
o Government bureaucrats' fear of energy shortages has played into the hands of companies building electric power plants. Mikhail Abyzov's Group E4, the leader on the market, increased its order portfolio to a record 105 billion rubles in 2009.
o Britain's Petropavlovsk, working in Russia, has enlarged its resources in the first half of the year.
o From now on companies will have the right to adjust licenses to develop fields of mineral resources, which will allow those of them that have faced a lack of demand for raw materials to reduce production, not fearing to lose the license.
o Renova is likely to build a plant to manufacture training planes for the Air Force, a source close to the group said.
o The structure of Surgutneftegaz (RTS: SNGS) ownership may become even more complicated.
o Sberbank (RTS: SBER) is beginning independent work on the market of collective investment and plans to launch its own mutual investment funds at the end of the year.
• Forest fires spread on 7.3 thousand hectares more in Far East
National Economic Trends
• Russia Lost 10 Million Hectares of Grain Plantings, Ekho Reports - About 20 percent, or 10 million hectares (24.7 million acres) of Russia’s grain plantings were ruined by the worst drought in at least a decade, Ekho Moskvy reported, citing Agriculture Minister Yelena Skrynnik.
• Russian government officials to discuss measures against drought - Russian government's interdepartmental working group headed by Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov will discuss on Friday measures to overcome consequences of the lasting drought in Russia, a source in the government said.
• GRAINS-Russian drought sends U.S. wheat surging above $6/bu
• RenCap Says Economy Improving - Renaissance Capital on Thursday upgraded its view on the Russian equity market for the third quarter based on a wider economic recovery, increased government support and an improved geopolitical climate.
• Russia Yield Advantage Shrinks to 10-Month Low Amid Bond Sales - Russia’s borrowing cost advantage is falling to a 10-month low as the economic recovery in the world’s largest energy exporter lags behind peers and almost $12 billion of debt sales outstrip investor demand.
• European banking stress tests a ho-hum for Russia - “The impact will be nil” when asked about the possible implications for Russia, and Maxim Miller, Associate Director at FitchRatings responding likewise with 'We definitely do not expect any direct implications for the Russian banking system from the publication of these results.'
Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions
• Polyus Gold, Razgulay, RusHydro, X5: Russian Equity Preview
• Russia issues H1 output results for steel - According to the data released by the Russian Federation Federal State Statistics Service, in the first half of this year Russia produced 28.4 million tonnes of finished steel products up by 20.6% YoY, 4.3 million tonnes of steel pipes up by 43.1% YoY and 24.2 million tonnes of pig iron up by 23.2%YoY.
• Russian steel makers fail to move to long-term contracts - Kommersant
• Russian RUSAL restarts alumina refinery in Jamaica
• Rusal resumes operations in Jamaica
• Russia's Mobile Power Trio Fights For 4G Exclusivity –Vedomosti
• Russia cell operators ask Putin for transparency in 4G frequencies allocation - letter
• Moscow threatens device ban to boost Russian tech - Russia on Friday threatened to block imports of cellphones and other devices not enabled for its own competitor to widely-used U.S. navigation technology.
• Polyus Gold and KazakhGold Comment on Recent Media Speculation
• Russia’s Komarov Plans Steel Pipe Revival With Theatrical Touch
• Billionaire Kerimov Seeks to Sell Stake in PIK, Kommersant Says
• Tycoon Vekselberg plans training aircraft plant in Russia - paper
• X5 Retail applies to FAS for Kopeika acquisition
Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)
• Russian govt to hold tender for Trebs, Titov oil deposits this year - "The Federal Agency for Subsoil Use must approve the agenda of the tender committee and requirements for the content of the tender documents, send out notices on the tender before August 1, 2010, ... and conduct the tender in the fourth quarter," the statement said.
• Putin approved an open competition for oil resources Trebs and Titov
• Rosneft Offers 600,000 Tons of ESPO Oil for September, October
• Transoil RAS net profit for 2009 up by 20pct
Gazprom
• Gazprom gas production off last year's pace - According to the Fuel and Energy Dispatch Center (TsDU TEK), Gazprom had on July 21 extracted 1.059 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas, significantly under the 1.067 bcm it had produced on the same date last year.
• Gazprom, CNPC in Talks - Gazprom and China National Petroleum discussed how to finance the western, or Altai, supply route across Siberia to the Asian nation, the company said Thursday.
• Gazprom has ousted fully Iran from Turkish gas market
• AIR SHOW: Sukhoi To Supply 10 Superjets To Gazprom Unit
• Gazprom Keeps Projects in Rotenberg's Pipeline - In its first full year of operations, Arkady Rotenberg's contracting business managed to become the industry's second-largest player by revenue, thanks in large part to its contracts with state-run Gazprom, Vedomosti has learned.
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Full Text Articles
Basic Political Developments
July 23, 2010 11:59
Russian-NATO military delegations begin talks in Moscow
MOSCOW. July 23 (Interfax) - Russia and NATO's military delegations are discussing European security in Moscow.
"Your visit is very important for broadening the dialog between Russia and NATO," Russian General Staff Chief, General of the Army Nikolai Makarov told Chairman of NATO's Military Committee, Italian Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola.
"We will sum up first results of the work done since the Russia-NATO Council convened in Brussels at the level of General Staff chiefs, and we will discuss European security and issues of mutual interest," Makarov said.
"You laid wreaths to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier yesterday," he told Di Paola. "We are happy that you are joining celebrations of the 65th anniversary of the victory in World War II this year," Makarov said.
Di Paola said in turn that it was a great honor for him to lay a wreath to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Beginning the talks at the Defense Ministry headquarters in Moscow, Di Paola said with a smile: "I have been in this room so many times that I feel at home here."
"I was accorded a warm and cordial welcome here, which matched the weather. I would like to make special mention of Russian citizens' hospitality. This is your main asset," he said.
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NATO military chief to promote “reset” with Russia
23.07.2010, 04.03
MOSCOW, July 23 (Itar-Tass) -- Chairman of the NATO Military Committee Admiral Giampaolo di Paola will discuss military cooperation with Russia’s Chief-of-Staff of the Armed Forces Nikolai Makarov on Friday.
Di Paola told Tass in Brussels the first visit to Moscow of a high-ranking military official of the alliance was a result of “political reset” in relations following the crisis caused by the war in Georgia in 2008.
“Political reset does not mean that we have no contradictions, but it testifies that we are resolute to restore and strengthen mutual trust,” di Paola said.
The Russian defense ministry said “the parties plan to sum up intermediary results of Russia-NATO interaction in 2010 and consider future prospects. Priority attention will be paid to the fight against sea piracy, rear logistics, and interaction in the settlement in Afghanistan.”
July 23, 2010 09:01
Medvedev to discuss trade, economic cooperation with Berlusconi
MOSCOW. July 23 (Interfax) - President Dmitry Medvedev will pay a working visit to Milan on Friday at the invitation of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Trade and economic cooperation will be the main items on the agenda, a Kremlin source told Interfax.
"These issues will be discussed in the light of the agreements reached at the sixth round of interstate consultations in December 2009, during the working visit of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to Italy on April 25-26, and at the 11th session of the Russian-Italian Council for Economic, Industrial, Currency and Financial Cooperation held in Moscow on July 6," he said.
Italy is a leading European trade and economic partner of Russia. Bilateral trade had been growing dynamically and reached a record sum of $52.9 billion in 2008. The global economic turmoil cut bilateral trade to $32.9 billion.
"Yet Russia and Italy are positive that intensive trade, economic relations and investments in high tech industries would be the best way to recover from the crisis," he said.
First positive trends in bilateral trade emerged this year. Trade stood at $14.9 billion in January-May (including $11.8 billion worth of exports and $3.1 billion worth of imports), which exceeded the indicator of January-May 2009 by 35.7%.
"The sides will apply the successful experience of modernization interaction to the maximum broad range of areas, including energy, transport, telecommunications, medicine and environmental protection," he said.
Medvedev and Sarkozy will discuss preparations for the seventh round of interstate consultations in that light, the source said.
In addition, they will ponder topical international issues, such as the formation of new European security architecture through the prism of Medvedev's initiative of a European security treaty, and Russia's relations with the European Union and NATO. They will consider the world financial crisis, energy security, results of G8 and G20 Canadian summits, the situation in Afghanistan and the Middle East and the Iranian nuclear program.
Culture will traditionally be on the agenda. Russia and Italy will exchange national years of culture and language in 2011.
Medvedev to visit Italy to discuss economic cooperation with Berlusconi
23.07.2010, 03.02
MOSCOW, July 23 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will pay a working visit to Italy on Friday to discuss economic cooperation and international problems with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
“The talks will continue an exchange of opinions on vital issues of bilateral and international agenda,” a Kremlin official said adding the Russian-Italian dialogue “is traditionally constructive.”
The press service of the Italian government said economic issues will highlight the talks.
As for international affairs, “Italy is a successive supporter of the development of NATO-Russia dialogue. The Italian leadership initiated in European circles the discussion about an early introduction of visa-free travel between the EU and Russia,” the press service said adding Italy is interested in the proposal of the Russian president regarding new European security architecture.
The Kremlin official said “Medvedev and Berlusconi will pay major attention to the discussion of issues on the international agenda. They include problems of new European architecture formation in light of the initiative of the Russian president to draft a European security treaty, relations between Russia and the European Union and NATO, the global financial crisis, energy security, the results of G8 and G20 summits in Canada, as well as the situation in Afghanistan and the Middle East and the situation around the Iranian nuclear program.”
Medvedev, Berlusconi to meet in Milan
|Jul 23, 2010 01:18 Moscow Time |
President Dmitry Medvedev is meeting with Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Friday to discuss trade and other ecoconic cooperation issues, above all in high-tech areas.
This year has seen a dramatic rise in the volume of bilateral trade, especially in aircraft and auto-making.
Friday's talks will also tackle such intenational issus as Russia-NATO and Russia-EU ties, and a new European security architecture.
Cultural cooperation will also be on the agenda, including cross-year culture festivals this year and next.
Itar-Tass: Lavrov to attend ASEAN regional security forum
23.07.2010, 03.33
HANOI, July 23 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will participate on Friday in the 17th session of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) for security in Vietnam.
The agenda includes “issues of the formation of regional architecture in Asia and the Pacific Rim, an exchange of opinions on vital international problems,” the Russian foreign ministry said adding it views ARF as “an efficient dialogue platform for multilateral cooperation on such guidelines, as non-proliferation and disarmament, emergency reaction, the fight against terrorism, sea piracy and other types of transnational crime.”
The alarming situation on the Korean Peninsula following the sinking of South Korean Cheonan warship is expected to highlight the discussion. Seoul wants ARF to “energetically condemn” the incident. North Korean Foreign Minister Park Ui-Chun will attend the forum after a two-year break and analysts believe that will provide a possibility to discuss the resumption of six-party talks.
ASEAN ministers okay draft document for Vietnam summit
23.07.2010, 01.32
MOSCOW, July 23 (Itar-Tass) -- ASEAN foreign ministers approved the draft of the final document of the Russia-ASEAN summit to be held in Vietnam in October, the Russian foreign ministry said on Thursday commenting the results of the annual Russia-ASEAN ministerial meeting.
“The main topic of the meeting was preparation of the upcoming second Russia-ASEAN summit to be held in Vietnam in October,” the ministry said.
“The ministers approved in principle the draft of its final document – a joint statement of leaders which reflects common approaches of the parties to the formation of security architecture in Asia and the Pacific Rim and determines the guidelines for Russia-ASEAN dialogue.”
“The foreign ministers discussed the state and prospects of Russia-ASEAN interaction and focused on the implementation of concrete projects in such priority guidelines, as energy, science and technologies, emergency reaction, and tourism. The exchange of opinions confirmed the unchangeable intention of both parties to actively develop partnership dialogue between Russia and ASEAN,” the ministry said.
Updated : Friday, 07/23/2010 - 9:55 AM
State President welcomes Russian Foreign Minister
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State President Nguyen Minh Triet on July 22 received Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov while he is in Vietnam to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum and the ASEAN-Russia Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.
Both expressed their pleasure at the development of the two countries’ relations over the past years, especially in politics, security, defence, economies, trade, culture, education, science and technology.
Mr Triet highlighted the visits by senior officials, including the recent visit by Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh to Russia which has helped strengthened the strategic partnership between the two countries and affirmed that Russia is an important strategic partner for Vietnam.
“The State and people of Vietnam wish for further consolidation and development of the friendship and cooperation with Russia,” he said.
He also praised Russia’s role and contribution to ASEAN, adding that Vietnam is preparing to welcome President Dmitry Medvedev at the second ASEAN-Russia Summit.
For his part, Lavrov said he believes that President Medvedev’s official visit to Vietnam will create new momentum for the strategic partnership and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries forward. He also affirmed Russia’s support for ASEAN’s role in ensuring security in Asia.
Patriarch Kirill to meet for talks with Ukrainian president
03:22 23/07/2010
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church will meet for talks on Friday with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, press service of the Russian Patriarch said.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia is currently on a visit to Ukraine, where he arrived on Tuesday starting the visit with the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa on the Black Sea.
"The meeting will take place at a summer residence of the president in Crimea," the press service said.
Russian Orthodox Church spokesman Vladimir Legoida said earlier that Kirill and Yanukovych would be discussing a broad range of issues.
"The Patriarch and the Ukrainian president have long-standing personal and working relations. I believe they will easily find topics for a mutually beneficial conversation," Legoida said.
The Orthodox Church in Ukraine split in the 1990s following the breakup of the Soviet Union into followers of the Moscow Patriarchate and those seeking an independent national church. The Ukrainian Church of the Moscow Patriarchate is recognized worldwide, while the other churches are not.
During his visit to Ukraine last summer, Kirill spoke a lot of healing the rift and restoring a united Orthodox Church in Ukraine, which was then less possible under then-president Western-leaning Viktor Yushchenko.
The Russian Church hopes that under Yanukovych, who has a friendlier attitude to Russia and clearly supports the Moscow Patriarchate, the political reasons for the split in the Ukrainian Church will be forgotten and the split overcome.
ODESSA, July 23 (RIA Novosti)
Ukrainian president, Russian patriarch to meet in Crimea
23.07.2010, 06.36
KIEV, July 23 (Itar-Tass) -- Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich will meet visiting Russian Patriarch Kirill in Crimea on Friday, the presidential press service said.
Russian Orthodox Church spokesman Vladimir Legoidy said “Patriarch Kirill maintains long-standing warm relations with Yanukovich.”
Yanukovich has been vacationing on the peninsula since July 12.
Kirill began his Ukrainian visit in Odessa on July 20 and is also to travel to Dnepropetrovsk and Kiev where the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church will hold a session.
23 July 2010, 10:13
Ukrainian nationalists to meet Patriarch Kirill with protests
Kiev, July 23, Interfax - Kiev-based organizations of the Ukrainian People's Party (UNP), the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists (KUN), the Ukrainian National Assembly - Ukrainian National Self-Defense (UNA-UNSO) and the All-Ukrainian Union Freedom are getting ready to meet Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia in Kiev in their own way.
The All-Ukrainian Union Freedom announced that it will hold pickets to protest the Ukrainian visit of Patriarch Kirill. One picket will be held outside the Kiev Laura of the Caves on Sunday, July 25; another picket will be held in front of St. Sophia Cathedral on Monday, July 26; and a third one in Vladimirskaya Gorka on Tuesday, July 27.
"The current visit to Ukraine by Russian citizen Vladimir Gundyayev (Patriarch Kirill - IF), as well as the results of his two previous visits strongly indicate that his activity with regard to Ukraine is primarily political. He uses his visits to promote the hostile political concept of "the Russian world" in which there is no place for an independent Ukraine," the Freedom said in a press statement.
On July 28, representatives from the UNP, KUN and UNA-UNSO will gather at St. Vladimir Cathedral, which belongs to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (the self-proclaimed "Kiev Patriarchate") on July 28 to join a prayer and a sacred procession to celebrate the 1022nd anniversary of the baptism of the Kievan Rus.
It was reported that on July 20 Patriarch Kirill began a pastoral trip across Ukraine, which will continue until July 28.
Heavy metal extravaganza lures Russian elite to Sevastopol
Today at 06:44 | Staff reports
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill and Moscow Mayor will reportedly meet with motorcyclists, individually or in unison, during their visits to Crimea July 23-25.
All three Russian officials are also expected to meet President Viktor Yanukovych, who is vacationing on the penninsula.
The Sevastopol Bike Show is celebrating its 14th anniversary from July 23-25. The popular event, which comes just before celebration of Russian Navy Day, has been used as photo opportunity by Russian and Ukrainian officials in recent years. Both Putin and Kirill attended in 2009.
News portal e-krym's Sevastopol reporter on July 22 quoted Yanuovych's representative in Crimea, Volodymyr Kazaryn, as saying Putin plans to attend the bike rally again this year.
Read more:
Putin to discuss ferrous metallurgy recovery
23.07.2010, 05.33
MOSCOW, July 23 (Itar-Tass) -- Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will chair a meeting in Chelyabinsk on Friday to discuss the recovery of the ferrous industry and will visit several steel mills in the metallurgical region.
The government press service said Putin will discuss the state of the industry in the period of recovery from the crisis and state support to metallurgical enterprises.
The press service said the Russian metallurgy was considerably modernized in the past ten years. Capital expenditure totaled close to 900 billion rubles in 2000-2010, while the wear-and-tear of fixed assets fell from 54 to 43 percent. “The implementation of large-scale investment projects and measures to increase production efficiency helped the industry to rise to a new quality level,” it said.
Russia's restrictions on Finnish meat, dairy import come in force
02:26 23/07/2010
A decision of Russia's food safety watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor to impose restrictions on import of meat and dairy products from 14 Finnish companies comes in force on Friday.
Restrictions were imposed on a number of Finnish meat production companies, including six enterprises of the leading Finnish dairy products company Valio, following an inspection by Russian experts of 23 enterprises.
Valio exports its products to over 40 countries worldwide and Russia accounts for some 30 percent of the company's total export volume.
Rosselkhoznadzor's decision was discussed at a high level during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Finland earlier this week.
Medvedev told Finnish President Tarja Halonen he hoped the issue would be resolved within the next two weeks.
MOSCOW, July 23 (RIA Novosti)
Japan Said to Mull Uranium Imports Via East Russia (Update1)
By Tsuyoshi Inajima and Shigeru Sato
July 23 (Bloomberg) -- Japan, the third-largest nuclear power producer, plans to ask Russia to allow it to ship uranium from landlocked Kazakhstan through ports along the country’s Pacific coast to cut the cost of importing the atomic fuel.
A six-month study to assess the viability of shipments from Kazakhstan, the world’s largest uranium producer, via ports near Vladivostok will begin in August and be funded by the Japanese trade ministry, said two government officials in Tokyo with direct knowledge of the plan, who declined to be named before an official announcement due this month.
The fuel is currently shipped to Japan through western Russia and the proposed eastern route could help reduce costs for companies including Marubeni Corp., Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Sumitomo Corp. that have invested in uranium ventures in Kazakhstan. Supplies from the Central Asian country will help reduce dependence on Canada and Australia, which provide more than half of Japan’s requirements.
“Russia can play a key role and make a big change to Japan’s uranium supply chain in years ahead as Japan is increasing purchases from Kazakhstan,” said Tomoko Murakami, a nuclear analyst at the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan.
Almost all Kazakh uranium destined for Japan is currently shipped through St. Petersburg in western Russia for enrichment in the U.S., Canada and France before it reaches Japan’s utilities, said Koji Furui, a spokesman for Sumitomo, which holds a stake in Kazakh producer Appak Ltd. Some ore is also enriched in Russia, he said.
Sumitomo, Kansai
Under the Japanese proposal, the Kazakh uranium would be enriched in Russia, according to the government officials.
The new shipment route would benefit Japanese buyers as ventures ramp up production, Sumitomo’s Furui said. The Appak venture, in which Kansai Electric Power Co. is also a stakeholder, is in the testing phase of production and expects to extract 1,000 tons next year, he said.
Daisaku Saito, a spokesman for Japan’s trade ministry, declined to comment on the proposed shipment route and study.
The study will assess the safety, capacity and viability of using railways, roads and storage terminals in Kazakhstan and Russia and ports in eastern Russia, one of the officials said.
The 9,300-kilometer (5,780-mile) Trans-Siberian Railway could be used to transport the ore to enrichment facilities in the Russian city of Angarsk, the Japanese official said. The enriched uranium will likely be shipped out from ports near Vladivostok, the official said.
Trans-Siberian Railway
Soviet-era rail networks linking Kazakhstan and Russia may be used to connect with the Trans-Siberian Railway and using trucks is also an option, the official said.
Kazakhstan supplied 14 percent of Japan’s uranium needs in 2008, compared with 1 percent in 2006, according to data compiled by the trade ministry and the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan. The country imported 9,800 tons of uranium in 2008, more than half of it from Australia and Canada, the data showed.
Sumitomo and Kansai Electric agreed with Kazakhstan’s state-run Kazatomprom in 2006 to jointly invest $100 million to develop a uranium mine in Kazakhstan. Sumitomo took a 25 percent stake in Appak, a company founded by Kazatomprom, and Kansai Electric a 10 percent share.
Japanese companies led by Marubeni and Tokyo Electric bought a Kazakhstan uranium venture in April 2007 and have the right to purchase about 2,000 tons of uranium a year.
Marubeni rose 3.4 percent to 460 yen in Japan trading and Sumitomo gained 2.4 percent to 912 yen, while Tokyo Electric and Kansai fell. The benchmark Topix index rose 1.5 percent.
To contact the reporters on this story: Tsuyoshi Inajima in Tokyo at tinajima@; Shigeru Sato in Tokyo at ssato10@.
Serdyukov signed an order assigning responsibilities of acting commanders of the new Military Districs
GOOGLE TRANSLATION
22.07.2010, 22.00
MOSCOW, July 22. Itar-Tass. Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov signed an order assigning duties temporarily performing the post of the new commanders of military districts formed in the Armed Forces of Russia's strategic directions.
As the press-secretary of Defense Minister Lt. Col. Irina Kovalchuk, "Anatoly Serdyukov signed an order assigning duties temporarily performing the post commanders of military districts: interim position of commander of the Western Military Region - by Colonel-General Arkady V. BAKHINA / far - Commander troops of the Volga-Urals Military District / interim position of commander of the Southern Military District - by Lt. Gen. Alexander V. Galkin / Commander of the North Caucasus Military District / interim position of commander of the Eastern Military District - by Admiral Sidenko Konstantin Semenovich / Commander Pacific Fleet / interim position of commander of the Central Military District - by Lieutenant-General Vladimir V. Chirkina / commander of the Siberian Military District / ".
Until recently, the ground forces were 6 military districts in the Navy - four Navy and the Caspian Flotilla. Now they are subject to the new military districts on the basis of which will operate four United Strategic Command.
Changes in Northern Fleet command
2010-07-22
As Deputy Commander of the Northern Fleet becomes Commander of the Black Sea Fleet, several internal changes are taking place in the Northern Fleet’s commanding structures.
After the Northern Fleet’s Chief of Staff Vice-Admiral Vladimir Korolev was appointed Commander of the Black Sea Fleet earlier this month, there have been some changes in the commanding structure at the fleet’s headquarters in Severomorsk, RIA Novosti reports.
Rear Admiral Andrey Volozhinsky is appointed new Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander of the Northern Fleet. Volozhinsky, 50 has many years of experience from the Northern Fleet’s submarine forces and comes from the position of Commander of the Northern Fleet’s submarine forces, which were establish as one unit in February 2011. Rear Admiral Igor Mukhametshin takes over the position of Commander of the submarines forces.
Also other Northern Fleet units have had changes in commanding structures.
U.S., Japanese ships in Vladivostok for Navy Day ceremonies
|Jul 23, 2010 10:08 Moscow Time |
Two ship squads of the U.S. and Japanese navies have entered the Russian Pacific Fleet’s main base in Vladivostok to participate in Russia’s Navy Day ceremonies and in the follow-up joint rescue exercises. Residents of the Russian Primorye Region will have a rare opportunity to come aboard a U.S. mine trawler and frigate and a Japanese frigate and destroyer. The visit will last till July 27 and is aimed at cementing military cooperation in Asia and the Pacific, the Russian fleet’s press service said in a statement.
Russia Will Spend 20 Trillion Rubles on New Weapons
July 23, 2010
Pavel Felgenhauer
The new First Deputy Defense Minister, Colonel-General Vladimir Popovkin (retired), who is in charge of rearming the Russian military, told journalists at the Farnborough international air show, in the UK, that spending on the procurement of new weapons will increase twofold.
The authorities in Moscow are at present finalizing a ten year state armament program (from 2011 to 2020). Russia’s state armament programs are approved once every five years for the duration of the next decade, overlapping each other, so they may be easily corrected to increase or decrease spending in accordance with international developments and the state of the economy. The previous state armament program was adopted in 2006, to 2015, and was planned to cost 5 trillion rubles ($155 billion). Last May, President, Dmitry Medvedev, announced plans to spend 13 trillion rubles ($420 billion) to rearm in ten years. However, the defense ministry sharply disagreed and asked for much more (EDM, June 10).
During hearings in the Duma, Popovkin’s subordinate, the acting defense ministry Chief of Armaments, Lieutenant-General Oleg Frolov, announced that 13 trillion rubles over ten years will only modernize the strategic nuclear forces, the air force and air defenses, while the army and navy will receive little or nothing. According to Frolov, only an increase of the state armament program to 28 trillion rubles ($900 billion) will permit the army to rearm, while spending 36 trillion rubles ($1,161 billion) is sufficient to modernize the entire armed forces (RIA Novosti, June 3).
Most observers dismissed Frolov’s demands as wishful thinking. The deputy chairman (in the rank of minister) of the powerful Military Industrial Commission, Colonel-General (Retired) Vladislav Putilin, publicly ridiculed the defense ministry for exuberance in asking for too much money: “The defense ministry states that giving them 13 trillion rubles will lead to the degradation of the armed forces, but they do not provide any proof of such horrors.” The chairman of the Military Industrial Commission, Deputy Prime Minister, Sergei Ivanov, announced that work on the main parameters of the new state armament program will soon be completed and overall defense spending will not exceed 3 percent of GDP, though more will be spent on new armaments and relatively less on the upkeep of the forces (Interfax, June 3).
According to a defense ministry source, in 2005 the ministry asked for 20 trillion rubles ($620 billion) for rearmament for ten years, but was given four times less –5 trillion rubles. The sum of 13 trillion rubles has been approved by the powerful Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Alexei Kudrin, so the generals will not obtain more (Vedomosti, June 4).
The pundits seem to have been wrong. Popovkin announced at Farnborough: “We are working with the finance ministry to drastically increase the state armament program to 20 trillion rubles or $620 billion” (RIA Novosti, July 19). This is less than Frolov asked for, but still very substantial: spending on the procurement of new weapons and defense research and development (R&D) more than $60 billion annually –in addition to regular defense spending on upkeep (pay, utilities, gasoline, food, clothing). Russian overall defense spending may consequently reach 4 to 5 percent of GDP.
Popovkin announced plans to spend this windfall to procure a thousand new helicopters in ten years including heavy Mi-26 helicopters that can carry 25 tons of cargo or more than 100 passengers for short distances. Russia currently has some 30 Mi-26 helicopters and plans to resume their production in Rostov-on-Don. According to Popovkin, new helicopters are needed to “transfer large numbers of troops in battle conditions” (RIA Novosti, July 19). In August 2001 an army Mi-26 helicopter with 153 on board was shot down by a shoulder-launched antiaircraft Igla missile in Grozny, Chechnya as it approached the Russian army base at Hankala and 116 servicemen died (Interfax, August 21, 2001). A special order was issued by the then Defense Minister, Sergei Ivanov, forbidding the use of Mi-26 helicopters to transport troops in combat zones. Apparently, this order has now been rescinded or overruled by Popovkin.
Popovkin announced that 20 new heavy An-124 Ruslan transport aircraft will be procured and 60 new T-50 “fifth generation” stealth jet fighters beginning in 2013. New RS-24 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM’s) are already being deployed, according to Popovkin (RIA Novosti, July 19).
The decision by Medvedev and Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, to drastically increase defense procurement demonstrates the significantly increased administrative power of Popovkin, who seems to be turning into a rearmament tsar. Popovkin has been a vocal supporter of plans to buy Western weapons and technologies and his apparent victory in the bureaucratic battle over the state armament program may indicate that outstanding deals –to buy the French helicopter assault ship Mistral– will go ahead. There surely seems to be enough money to procure Western weapons.
The main problem is that the state armament program and virtually everything connected to procurement is secret in Russia. The exact number of procured defense equipment is not published and the prices paid are never disclosed. The number of active R&D programs and their nature are not known. This Soviet-style total secrecy creates ample opportunities for misappropriation by forbidding any meaningful public scrutiny. More money, may mean, even higher levels of misappropriation.
A drastic increase in defense spending is occurring when the state budget faces a deficit of 5 percent of GDP this year and 4 percent next (Vedomisti, July 21). Putin and Medvedev seem to be seriously intent on rearming at almost any cost. The national security strategy approved in May 2009 by Medvedev, implies that foreign powers may use force to take over Russia’s oil, gas and other natural resources. The presumed world deficit of natural resources is seen in Moscow as one of the main reasons for armed conflict in the future (.ru, May 12, 2009). To counter this threat the Russian military is planning to build perimeter defenses against the rest of the world. For the military this is a blessing: an increased threat perception means more money will become available.
Source:
Medvedev urges more fines, less jail for employers withholding salary
12:00 23/07/2010
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has introduced a bill concerning arrears in salary, retirement benefits, scholarships and other payments to the lower house of Russia's parliament, the Kremlin's press service said on Friday.
Current Russian legislation does not differentiate the responsibilities for full or partial withholding of payments; therefore, Russian lawyers do not have a common position on using this norm of law.
"Taking into account the tendency of the humanization of [Russia's] criminal legislation, criminal punishment for such deeds in terms of imprisonment should be eased, and the increase of fines should be stipulated," an explanation to the bill said.
The bill stipulates stricter punishment for those employers who do not pay salaries in full or pay amounts under the minimum wage rate.
More than 28,900 business heads and managers were put on trial for withholding salaries in 2009, and the total amount of salary arrears reached 3.5 billion rubles ($115 million) by the end of 2009.
However, in February 2010, it exceeded 4.1 billion rubles ($135million) but declined to 3.2 billion rubles ($105.42 million) in June, the Federal State Statistic Service Rosstat said.
MOSCOW, June 23 (RIA Novosti)
Medvedev signs total drink driving ban
10:26 23/07/2010
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a bill enforcing a zero alcohol limit for drivers, the Kremlin said on Friday.
Current legislation allows drivers to get behind the wheel with a small amount of alcohol in their blood.
The new legislation aims to eliminate drink driving accidents, which are all too common in Russia.
The bill was approved by the lower house of Russia's parliament, the State Duma, earlier in July.
State Duma speaker Boris Gryzlov earlier said tougher punishments for drunk driving, enforced in the past few years, including the suspension of drivers' licenses and penalties of up to 15 days in jail, had been effective.
He said the number of car accidents caused by drink drivers had decreased by 11% and the number of those killed in such accidents dropped 35% in the first five months of 2010.
MOSCOW, July 23 (RIA Novosti)
Russian pilot trial to begin in US on Aug 12
23.07.2010, 08.24
NEW YORK, July 23 (Itar-Tass) -- The trial of Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko detained in Africa on suspicion of drug smuggling and conveyed to the United States will begin on August 12, Russian Consul General in New York Andrei Yushmanov told Itar-Tass on Thursday.
Charges against Yaroshenko and some other suspects have been brought by the prosecutor's office of New York's southern district in Manhattan.
The 42-year-old Russian pilot was detained in Africa on suspicion of involvement in international drug smuggling and conveyed under guard to the United States from Liberia’s capital Monrovia.
Yaroshenko has been held in an investigation jail in New York. Together with other detained persons he is suspected of organizing an international scheme of cocaine smuggling from South America.
According to Yaroshenko, he was taken under guard by persons wearing civilian clothes, who did not present any documents. He was held in a Liberian jail for some days and then carried by a transport plane to the United States, and only after arriving in New York he got to know he was in the United States.
U.S. Blames Fax Error For Russia Mistake
July 23, 2010
The United States has apologized to Russia for failing to promptly notify Moscow that a Russian citizen suspected of drug crimes was in U.S. custody.
The U.S. State Department blamed the error on a U.S. official hitting the wrong button on a fax machine -- sending the notification not to Russia, but to a third country.
State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said Washington had apologized to Russia over the mistake concerning the detention of cargo-plane pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who was arrested in the West African nation of Liberia in May.
Crowley declined to identify which country received the notice, but Reuters quoted U.S. officials as saying it went to Romania.
The Russian Foreign Ministry earlier accused the U.S. of "kidnapping" Yaroshenko and violating international law and U.S.-Russian pacts in the case.
Liberian authorities took custody of Yaroshenko on May 28 during a drug bust, and he was handed over to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency on May 30.
According to a U.S. federal indictment, Yaroshenko flew "thousand-kilogram" shipments of cocaine throughout South America, Africa and Europe.
He has been charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, which carries a minimum sentence of 10 years in U.S. prison and a maximum of life imprisonment.
compiled from agency reports
U.S. apologizes to Russia for late notification on Yaroshenko's arrest
05:33 23/07/2010
The U.S. Department of State has apologized to Russia for a delayed notification on the arrest of a Russian pilot in Liberia, suspected of drug smuggling.
The Russian Foreign Ministry blasted on Wednesday the United States over the detention of Konstantin Yaroshenko, 41, saying it was practically a kidnapping and a violation of international law.
"We just happened to send [the notice] to the wrong embassy. Normally we try to arrange these consular notifications within 72 hours and we didn't discover our error until it was after that period of time," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told journalists.
"We pressed the wrong button on the fax machine, to be brutally frank," he said, but refused to name the embassy, which subsequently received the notification.
"We have apologized to Russia," Crowley said adding that the United States considers the matter to be resolved.
Yaroshenko along with other members of an alleged drug trafficking group, was detained in Liberia in May. On Tuesday, a New York city court arrested them. They are accused of trafficking of cocaine to South America, Africa and Europe mainly from Liberia and Venezuela.
Prosecutors say Yaroshenko was an organizer of drug trafficking.
All of the members of the group have denied the accusations; however, if convicted, may face from 10 years imprisonment to a life sentence.
The group was rooted out by Liberia and later U.S. and Liberian national security services conducted a special operation and arrested the members of the group.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that on June 28 it sent an official note to the U.S. State Department with demands to clarify the situation and explain the activities of U.S. authorities. On July 14, the ministry invited U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Beyrle to discuss the inadmissibility of actions conducted by U.S. authorities during the Yaroshenko's arrest and his transfer to New York.
WASHINGTON, July 23 (RIA Novosti)
Washington blames fax for diplomatic row with Russia
23.07.2010, 04.33
WASHINGTON, July 23 (Itar-Tass) -- The United States has apologized to Russia for failing to give it prompt notice about the detention of a Russian national and blamed the error on an unidentified official who pressed the wrong fax button.
“We pressed the wrong button on the fax machine, to be brutally honest,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in his daily briefing on Thursday. “We have apologized to Russia,” he added.
Crowley refused to identify which country received the notice, but Reuters quoted an anonymous US official as saying it was faxed to the Romanian embassy.
Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko was detained in Liberia in late May and handed over to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. He is accused in the United States of flying "thousand-kilogram" shipments of cocaine throughout South America, Africa and Europe.
Russia issued a harsh statement regarding Yaroshenko’s detention and relocation saying the talk was about “kidnapping of a Russian citizen from a third country.”
“In addition, U.S. authorities have not informed the Russian diplomatic missions about Yaroshenko's detention. The actions of U.S. special services in the forcible and secret relocation of our citizen from Monrovia to New York could only be seen as open lawlessness,” the ministry said.
Government Computers to Get Linux-Based Operating System
23 July 2010
The Moscow Times
The government is hoping to launch the first version of a "national operating system" for its computers as early as next year, a senior Communications and Press Ministry official said Thursday.
The operating system, for use on the computer systems of government agencies and state-run companies, will be 90 percent based on the open-source Linux operating system, Deputy Communications and Press Minister Ilya Massukh said.
He said use of the operating system would be optional for all agencies.
The operating system is part of the Information Society program, which the government is planning to implement from September. The program will receive 10 billion rubles ($330 million) in funding per year and includes other technology-related projects such as the creation of an "electronic government."
The national operating system "may be one of the first targeted programs from the new raft that the government is going to approve," Massukh said.
The ministry is planning to hold a tender for the development of the operating system at the beginning of next year.
Massukh also said a state e-mail system, under the "electronic government" framework, could be launched next year.
The government may have even bigger IT goals in mind as well.
Vedomosti reported Thursday that the Kremlin is supporting the development of a national search engine to fuel the development of new technologies and increase competition.
The government is investing $100 million in the program and has convinced IT companies such as Abbyy, Rostelekom, KM.ru and IBS Group to participate.
Russian protesters target police over Magnitsky death
Anti-Kremlin activists have targeted the home of one of the police officers accused of complicity over the agonising prison death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
By Andrew Osborn in Moscow
Published: 5:45AM BST 23 Jul 2010
Mr Magnitsky, 37, died a lonely death in a Moscow prison in November 2009 after uncovering what is alleged to be the biggest tax fraud in Russian history – a $230m (£150m) crime against the state.
Before his death, Mr Magnitsky, whose firm was working for William Browder's Hermitage Capital Management at the time, alleged the fraud was orchestrated by a group of corrupt policemen using two stolen subsidiaries of the hedge fund.
His friends allege the same policemen then falsely imprisoned Mr Magnitsky. Activists from the "Other Russia" anti-Kremlin opposition party on Thursday targeted one of the policemen in a high-profile protest. They unfurled a banner making allegations about the officer on a building opposite his elite Moscow apartment.
They also glued a portrait of the late Mr Magnitsky to his front door and flooded his neighbours' letterboxes with leaflets explaining the case and the officer's alleged role in it.
"We want to inform you who is living under the same roof as you," said Alexander Averin, one of the party's senior activists.
The officer has so far not responded to the allegations though one of his colleagues, Pavel Karpov, said earlier this month that the policemen were the victims of a slanderous campaign to discredit them.
He asked the authorities to open a criminal case against Mr Browder, Mr Magnitsky's former boss, Jamison Firestone, and one other lawyer for allegedly organising the campaign.
Mr Magnitsky, who left a wife and two children, was kept in medieval prison conditions and denied basic medical care and medication despite making repeated requests for help.
Dagestan authorities give militants 'final warning'
11:10 23/07/2010
The authorities of Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan issued a "final warning" to the militants, urging them to stop further terrorist attacks, the first deputy head of the Dagestan government said.
"We are giving the militants a final warning: stop the extremist activity and give up or face elimination," Rizvan Kurbanov said.
He said the government's repeated attempts to start negotiations with the militants had been ignored.
Kurbanov said the warning was also directed at anyone who helps known militants.
"They [accomplices] must stop helping the 'forest brothers' [terrorist gangs often hide out in the forest]. They will be eliminated along with the militants, within the law, but without any mercy," he said.
Russia's mainly Muslim North Caucasus republics, especially Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia, have seen an upsurge of militant violence lately. Experts see the poor social and economic situation in the region as the main reason for the numerous terrorist attacks in the country.
MAKHACHKALA, July 23 (RIA Novosti)
07/23 11:42 Railway services restored on railway damaged by blast in Dagestan
Bomb blasted on railway in Dagestan, train traffic suspended
23.07.2010, 10.35
MAKHACHKALA, July 23 (Itar-Tass) -- Unidentified gunmen set off an explosive device on the Inchkhe-Izbirbash railway section in Dagestan on Friday morning. The bomb blast went off at 8.50 am Moscow time on the 2,362nd kilometer of the North Caucasus Railway, a source in the police alert force of the Makhachkala transport police department told Itar-Tass.
“About two meters of the railway track were damaged on the down line. No casualties were reported,” the source said.
The Baku-Kharkov passenger train was delayed and is on standby on the railway station Derbent.
Detectives are working at the blast site. After that the repairmen will start restoring the railway track.
Trains moving from Azerbaijan stopped due to explosion in Dagestan
23.07.2010 12:20
Azerbaijan, Baku, July 23 / Trend /
We have not received the information about delay of trains because of the explosion at the railway Inchkhe-Izbirbash in Dagestan (Russia) yet, spokesman for CJSC Azerbaijan Railways Nadir Azmammadov said.
Russian media reported that the movement of the passenger train Baku-Kiev was temporarily halted because of the explosion. The train is in Derbent.
The blast occurred today about 10:00 Baku time on the 2,362 km North-Caucasian Railway. The blast damaged about 2 m line. No one was injured.
CJSC Azerbaijan Railways chief engineer Gurban Nazirov said that demand for tickets for trains from Azerbaijan in this direction reduced by 20-30 percent due to often explosions on the railway on the territory of Russia (Dagestan).
Nazirov said that explosions affect negatively both on passenger and freight transportation and lead to delays in the schedule of trains.
The explosions often take place on the Russian railway on the territory of Dagestan. An explosive device detonated when a buffer distance train, consisting of a locomotive and two wagons with sand, was moving July 15.
As a result of such incidents trains moving to Azerbaijan and from Azerbaijan delay. Today CJSC "Azerbaijan Railways" makes trips through Dagestan to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Rostov, Tyumen, Kiev, Kharkov and other cities.
In Dagestan, land mine exploded on the railway
GOOGLE TRANSLATION
At the railway-the line Inchkhe Kayakent in Dagestan, an explosion occurred, which resulted in one person injured. This informs "Interfax" referring to Makhachkala branch railway.
The incident occurred at 8:50 local time. According to railway officials, exploded bombs, hidden in a bag wrapped in duct tape.
At the time of the explosion of trains on this section was not - trains traveling in both directions, had to pass. Nevertheless, the explosion had damaged about half a meter rail, and fragments of an explosive device hit the arrows of the railway.
At the same time, the Itar-Tass quotes a few other details. As the agency in the duty of Makhachkala linear Department of Internal Affairs on transport, the explosion occurred in the line-Inchkhe Izberbash. According to the source of Itar-Tass, damaged about two meters of track. According to police, there were no injuries.
As a result of the accident train traffic in both directions suspended. In particular, time to destination is not able to arrive at a passenger train number 369 Baku-Kiev, which is now in Derbent.
Jihad railroad occur regularly in Dagestan. In July alone, such cases were already at least two. July 11 explosion occurred in the way of freight trains on the line Aci Izberbash, resulting in electric locomotives and 13 cars derailed. Four days later, on the line Tarkio Manas has been undermined by train. No victims in both cases.
Veteran of Anti-Russian Wars named as Head of Dagestan's Sharia Jamaat
July 23, 2010
Mairbek Vatchagaev
Dagestan’s Sharia Jamaat acquired a new leader this past week, six months after the death on the night of December 31, 2009 of the previous Emir al-Bar (aka Umalat Magomedov).
Seifullah of Gubden (aka Magomed Vagapov), the emir of the Gubden Jamaat, has been chosen for this position on the orders of Doku Umarov, the leader of the Caucasus Emirate (, July 15). Seifullah of Gubden is now not merely the emir of Dagestan, but has also become the chief qadi of the Caucasus Emirate under a separate decree by Umarov. Vagapov has thus also assumed the responsibilities that were filled by Emir Seifullah (aka Anzor Astemirov), the leader of Kabardino-Balkaria’s Yarmuk Jamaat, before he was killed on March 25, 2010 (, March 25) and left the post vacant. The new leader of the Dagestani rebels thus enjoys a bigger role than his predecessors did since he now leads both the military branch of the Sharia Jamaat and the judiciary branch of the entire Caucasus Emirate.
The appointment of Seifullah of Gubden is not surprising. He was one of two potential candidates. A trickier part of the question is why the selection process for the new emir took such a long time –more than six months. It could well be true that the leadership of the Caucasus rebels was considering someone else for that position, who might have died between March and April. Among the purported candidates was also Ibrahim Gadzhidadaev, a two-time champion of Europe and the world in Chinese martial arts (wushu) (runewsweek.ru, February 3), who organized the assassination of Dagestan’s Interior Minister, Adilgirei Magomedtagirov, on June 5, 2009 in the Dagestani capital, Makhachkala (Kommersant, June 6, 2009). Gadzhidadaev now serves as the leader of the Gimri Jamaat, one of the active units on the Dagestani front of the North Caucasus insurgency. Despite the fact that many Russian press sources had long circulated information on Gadzhidadaev’s appointment, Caucasus Emirate representatives did not hurry to either confirm or deny the Russian media speculation. In any case, an official decree on the appointment of the successor to Emir al-Bar has appeared only in regard to Emir Seifullah (Magomed Vagapov).
No matter what, the incumbent emir is well known across Dagestan as a tough and uncompromising man toward everyone who supports Russian rule in the North Caucasus. He received his Islamic education overseas, including in Pakistan (print.php?new=3444). Apparently, his knowledge of Islamic law was taken into account when he was appointed as supreme qadi of the Caucasus Emirate. Emir Seifullah started his rebel career in Chechnya with the beginning of the second Russo-Chechen war in 1999. The Gubden Jamaat that he leads is thought to be quite numerous, and includes approximately 50 men and has the reputation for being one of the most efficient military units in the entire Dagestan Jamaat.
Now that a man with a ten-year war experience in Dagestan and Chechnya is in charge of the jamaat, it might be assumed that rebel attacks would intensify all across the Dagestan front of rebel activities. But even without a further intensification, that part of the North Caucasus is already dangerously active. For instance, after the decree on Emir Seifullah’s appointment was published, on July 15 yet another armored train was blown up in Dagestan, interrupting the connection with the southern part of the republic, as well as with Azerbaijan for both passenger and freight trains. That same day, the head of the administration of the village of Kirov-aul was killed in Makhachkala’s Separatorny district. Around the same time, unidentified rebels fired for fifteen minutes on the house of a local police officer in the Dagestani village of Sergokala. A little later, Arthur Suleimanov, the 49-year-old minister of the Hosanna Protestant Church was killed in the Dagestani capital. And finally, Russian law enforcement officers engaged in a 16-hour-long battle in the city of Khasavyurt as they attempted to storm a house where two rebels were hiding.
Details of these attacks are from open source information that is freely accessible on the Internet. But, obviously, there are other incidents, especially in the mountainous sections of Dagestan, routinely left outside media coverage. It is just such information that the Russian authorities are trying as hard as they can to hide from the public.
Meanwhile, disturbing reports have started to emerge from the Black Sea coastline on the opposite side of the Caucasus. With the arrival of the Russian army in Abkhazia and simultaneously wider Internet accessibility, there has been (paradoxically) more news from that region, which is not controlled by either the local or Russian authorities. For instance, the Spiritual Board of Abkhaz Muslims announced that there had been an attempt to kill the imam of the Sukhumi mosque, Salikh Kvaratskhelia, on July 10 (kavkaz-uzel.ru, July 12). Three days later, in the town of Gagra in Abkhazia, unidentified gunmen shot dead a member of the public chamber and the chairman of the Gagra division of the Spiritual Board of Abkhaz Muslims, Emmik Chachmach-ogly (, July 17). It is worth remembering that the first murder in Abkhazia of a member of the Muslim clergy was committed in 2007, when Imam Khamzat (Rokki) Gitsba and a resident of the Russian city of Ufa, Ruslan Assadulin, were killed in the town of Gudauta in Abkhazia (kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/123425/). Investigators have not even come up with official interpretations of those three murders.
Given that Abkhazia has a very small population and Islam is observed by a majority of the population (unofficially, Islam, Christianity and Animism are very much mixed up here and at times it is difficult to attribute a certain person to a perticular religion), it would be difficult to say that those murders were religiously motivated. But, in fact, hundreds of thousands of Abkhaz living in Turkey are Muslims. They are rather influential and are capable of impacting the situation in Abkhazia. The Abkhaz Diaspora allegedly has political rather than religious motivations, and there seems to be a force in Abkhazia that opposes Turkish influence in Sukhumi. Given the political leverage of the Abkhaz Diaspora in Turkey, they have to make concessions to it. The initial thought that the Abkhaz themselves could use tourism for their economic prosperity now already lacks credibility (). To change the situation, significant financial resources are needed. Having recognized Abkhazia’s independence from Georgia, Moscow would probably not like to have yet another Muslim republic in its southern flank that could strongly influence the neighboring Circassian lands in Russia’s Northern Caucasus. It can be concluded that the assault on and murders of Abkhazia’s Muslim figures are directly linked to Russian policy in the region. As the Muslim part of the population becomes stronger, Christians will depend on help from the outside. If this trend continues, then in two or three years the region might have new problems that would be impossible to regulate from Moscow.
Source:
Kremlin says to fire security aides if Caucasus attacks recur
Thu, Jul 22 2010
* Medvedev orders protection of economic assets in Caucasus
* Hydropower plant closed for at least 2 years after bombing
* Residents say they fear further attacks
By Amie Ferris-Rotman and Katya Golubkova
MOSCOW/ATAZHUKINO, Russia, July 22 (Reuters) - President Dmitry Medvedev threatened on Thursday to sack top security officials if they fail to prevent more attacks on strategic assets in Russia's North Caucasus after suspected Islamist rebels bombed a hydropower plant there.
Six masked men stormed the power plant in Kabardino-Balkaria on Wednesday, shot dead two guards and set off remote-controlled bombs beside the main generator units, investigators for the prosecutor's office said in a statement.
The attack ignited fears the Islamist insurgency along Russia's southern flank was expanding beyond the epicentre of violence, and analysts said the promise by rebels to shift their focus to economic targets was being fulfilled.
"There needs to be a fundamentally different system, designed and unified for all economic structures in the Caucasus," Medvedev told top energy official Igor Sechin at a meeting in Moscow shown on state television.
Officials "must do all they can to make sure that such things do not happen again. If they do, none of the law enforcement, security and energy company chiefs will keep their jobs. They will all be fired."
A year ago Islamist rebels vowed "economic war" on Russia's strategic assets such as pipelines and power stations as part of their plan to create a separate pan-Caucasus Islamic state.
The insurgency leader and Russia's most wanted man, Chechen rebel Doku Umarov, self-named "Emir of the Caucasus Emirate", claimed responsibility for twin suicide bombings in the Moscow metro that killed 40 people in March and the derailing of an express train in November that killed at least 26.
TWO YEARS NEEDED TO REBUILD PLANT
Sechin earlier on Thursday visited the burnt-out Baksanskaya plant in Atazhukino, about 40 km (25 miles) to the west of Kabardino-Balkaria's capital Nalchik, where police armed with Kalashnikov automatic rifles nervously guarded the entrance.
Although power supplies were not disrupted, Sechin said it would take almost two years to rebuild the plant, and it would cost 1.5 billion roubles ($49.10 million).
No one has taken responsibility for the bombing. But state-run media, citing unnamed law enforcement sources on Thursday, said authorities and police believed a local Islamist leader masterminded the attack.
Bewildered residents of Atazhukino, a town of 60,000 people, gazed at spirals of grey smoke still drifting into the sky out of the dilapidated plant, while the air was heavy with a toxic smell of burnt rubber and metal.
"They (rebels) receive money to do this, to scare us," said a 55-year-old local who did not wish to give his name.
The Kremlin is struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency in Chechnya, site of two separatist wars since the mid-1990s, Dagestan and Ingushetia, where youths fuelled by poverty and the ideology of global jihad stage near-daily attacks.
Violence in relatively peaceful Kabardino-Balkaria, west of this turbulent trio, has grown in recent months and analysts warn that the region's proximity to Sochi, due to host the 2014 Winter Olympics, could pose a new headache to the Kremlin.
A 15-year-old high school student, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said fellow classmates were shocked by the attack. "Absolutely everyone is horrified. I am so scared of what the terrorists could now do," he said as women in headscarves stacked watermelons for sale at the roadside.
(Writing by Amie Ferris-Rotman; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
July 22, 2010
Dam Busters
By Roland Oliphant
Russia Profile
The Attack on the Hydroelectric Plant Is Anything but a Change of Strategy – So Why Did It Catch the Authorities by Surprise?
After a dramatic assault on a hydroelectric plant in the troubled Caucasian republic of Kabardino-Balkaria in the early hours of Wednesday morning, the hunt is on for a previously little known insurgent leader. Meanwhile, the authorities are scrabbling to improve security at the republic’s dams and power stations. But the investigators’ biggest challenge will be untangling the web of ethnic grievance and religious fundamentalism that inspires the insurgency in Kabardino-Balkaria.
Wednesday’s dramatic raid on Kabardino-Balkaria’s Baksanskaya hydroelectric plant was neither especially bloody by local standards - only two policemen were killed, which in a region blighted by regular suicide bombings and ambushes is light casualties – nor, at first glance, very effective. Energy supplies were barely interrupted thanks to reserve sources, and RusHydro, the state monopoly in charge of Russia’s hydropower plants, quickly claimed that the two destroyed generators had been scheduled for replacement by 2014 anyway, and that the terrorists had merely hastened the process.
All that has allowed the authorities to put a relatively brave face on what was actually an embarrassing lapse in security. The attack was obviously well planned coordinated, and carried all the hall marks of being carried out by experienced fighters with access to good intelligence, said Andrei Soldatov, security expert and editor of the Agentura.ru Web site.
The raid on the power station was preceded by a diversionary bombing near an Interior Ministry building in Baksan, five kilometers from the dam. No one was hurt by the blast, but nearly all the police in the area were summoned to the scene, and others placed on high alert protecting their buildings, the Kommersant daily reported.
It was under cover of this commotion that a five-man squad of militants attacked the Baksanskaya hydroelectric plant one hour later, using silenced weapons to kill the only two officers on duty – Ensign Aslan Mezhgikhov and Junior Sergeant Timur Tutukov – before they could raise the alarm, then beating and tying up two technicians. They planted one time bomb on each of the station’s three aging turbines, two of which went off at 5:50 in the morning – over an hour after the militants had made their escape. Two more devices destroyed an oil circuit breaker, ensuring flammable liquid continued to flow into the fire created by the first explosions.
But the apparent professionalism of the perpetrators depended on a lack of preparation on the part of the security services, Soldatov pointed out. “[The terrorists] obviously knew that it would be guarded by just two people and that the staff would not be able to resist even a small group,” he said.
But it is not as if the authorities did not have ample warning of the threat to the mountainous republic’s numerous hydroelectric dams. On November 18, 2009 security forces in Kabardino-Balkaria averted a similar attack when they uncovered a stash of plastic explosive and weapons hidden in woods just 200 meters from another hydroelectric plant on the Cherek River. A day before that discovery, explosions had struck a cable-car and another, smaller hydropower plant on the Adir Su river, a tributary of the Baksan.
In August 2009 Doku Umarov, the undisputed leader of the jihadist insurgency in the Caucasus, claimed responsibility for the disaster at the Sayano-Sushenskya hydro plant in Siberia, which killed 75 and led to widespread power cuts.
That was probably no more than opportunism on Umarov’s part – no evidence has emerged linking the disaster to terrorism and the official report blamed it on long-term metal fatigue in the dam’s second turbine - but “the point is that he clearly showed his interest in such kinds of attacks,” said Soldatov. “And why the forces and the law enforcement decided not to pay attention to that, for me it’s very strange.”
New kid on the block
All the more strange given the recent appointment in Kabardino-Balkaria of a new insurgent leader looking to make his mark. On Thursday morning RIA Novosti quoted an anonymous source “in the security structures of the North Caucasus Federal District” who named Kazbek Tashuyev as the likely organizer of the attack. “Staff at the plant identified members of his gang,” the source said.
The Russian media were soon referring to Tashuyev, who also goes by the Arabic moniker of Abdul-Jabbab, as “a famous fighter,” but relatively little is actually known about him. He is an ethnic Cherkess who was born in 1978 in the Baksan district of Kabardino-Balkaria where Wednesday’s attack took place. But he is believed to be the main contender for the leadership of the “Baksansky Djamat” insurgent group after its leader Anzor Astemirov, one of Umarov’s right hand men and an organizer of the raid on Nalchik, the republic’s capital, was killed in March this year. A lengthy interview with a Jihadist Web site in which Yeshuyev promised a series of attacks on targets in Kabardino-Balkaria was seen as a bid to cement his authority.
The insurgency in Kabardino-Balkaria is all the more difficult to untangle because of the web of ethnic and religious loyalties. “The story is quite different because Kabardino-Balkaria is not such an Islamized region as for example Dagestan or Ingushetia,” said Soldatov. “One of the biggest problems in the republic is not Islamization but the conflict between different ethnic groups,” he said, adding that there is some evidence that Balkar youths have joined the Jamaat not for religious reasons, but a sense that they and their families were being pressured by the authorities.
But Sergei Markedonov, an expert on Caucasian affairs who laments the lack of serious analysis of the region, is more cautious. “There’s definitely an ethnic component to the insurgency in Kabardino-Balkaria, but to say all the Jihadists are Balkars is a massive simplification,” he said.
Astemirov, he points out, was a Kabardin. Tashuyev is Cherkessian. And significantly, the Islamists in the republic of Karachai-Cherkessia are thought to be more “intellectually motivated” than their counterparts in neighboring republics. “In Ingushetia, for example, terrorist attacks are often motivated simply by personal vendettas,” said Markedonov.
Astemirov was one of a number of Muslims from Kabardino-Balkaria who studied at universities in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries in the 1990s. The education he acquired there made him a highly regarded expert on Islamic law in the eyes of many in the insurgency, and led to his appointment by Umarov as the supreme judge on the sharia court of the “Caucasian Emirate,” the shadow state the Chechen claims to lead. The presence, and commitment of Jihadists in Kabardino-Balkaria should not be underestimated.
“A friend of mine from the region, who I won’t name, says we shouldn’t be talking of three nationalities in the republic - Russians, Kabardins, Balkars - but four. And the fourth are Muslims,” said Markedonov.
OMON disbanded the defenders of Khimki forest
GOOGLE TRANSLATION
Riot police detained a group of activists, environmentalists, encamped in the forest Khimki and prevented his cutting, RIA Novosti reported. Detainees taken to ATS Khimki.
Previously, it was reported that on Friday morning, July 23, in a fight camp. According to environmentalists, in Khimki timber arrived about a hundred people in masks, "similar to the radical football fans." They blocked the defenders of the forest, after which the cutting was renewed. In clashes with these unknowns few environmentalists were injured. What happened to the unknown after the arrival of riot police, were reported.
Environmentalists have reported that arrived on the scene police patrol, but then one of the detained activists said that police called, but it did not come.
Confrontation loggers and environmentalists in Khimki forest began in May 2010 when a group of activists disrupted the beginning of logging at the site highway Moscow - St. Petersburg. Environmentalists argued that the decision of cutting taken from the violations, although in March confirmed the legality of the cassation at the Supreme Court. Felling of resumption on July 15, after which the Khimki forest camp was organized by the environmentalists to block the work.
Russian Mill Pollutes World's Deepest Lake
2010-07-23 02:21
A team of Russian scientists has discovered that a pulp and paper mill is polluting Lake Baikal, the world's deepest lake. Using one of the country's Mir self-propelled manned submersibles to dive near the place where the mill discharges its waste waters in the lake, the scientists collected water samples from various depths and the bottom sediments.
[Eugene Chernyaev, Scientist]:
"Our task was to lower to a depth of 2.5 kilometers below the discharge pipes of the pulp and paper factory, and then move through a canyon where the pollutants are deposited and bring back samples from the deposits and the water."
[Igor Khanaev, Scientist]:
"If we compare the water of the lake with the water around the factory pipes there is a difference in clarity, and there is the presence of weighed substances, and when working in this area we also saw traces of these substances on the surface of the water."
After analyzing the samples, the scientists said they had discovered illegal and harmful substances in the samples.
[Mikhail Grachev, Director, Limnological Institute]:
"The dive took place on the 10th of July and today we finished the draft for results of our analysis. We found dangerous substances for which the maximum permissible concentration has not been established. That is it. Now I think our government needs to decide to either delete this part of the law or enforce what was previous promised, namely to install a closed-loop waste water circuit in the factory."
Built in 1966, the Baikalsk Pulp and Paper Mill has long been under heavy criticism for being the largest source of environmental pollution of the lake.
In October 2008 production was halted following instructions from environmental authorities to introduce a closed-loop waste treatment system and to cease dumping waste into Lake Baikal.
In January 2010, however, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin allowed the mill to resume operations, using the old open-loop waste treatment system.
The facility is not yet running at full capacity and has only launched one of its pulp production lines.
Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Lake Baikal is known for its natural beauty and biodiversity. Over 80 percent of the animals living in the lake are unique.
Russian adoptions closer to reality
Published: 4:35PM Friday July 23, 2010
Source: Newstalk ZB/ONE News
The door could soon be open again to families who want to adopt Russian orphans.
The practice was stopped four years ago and both the New Zealand government and Russia have been working to develop new adoption protocols.
Social Development Minister Paula Bennett said progress is being made.
Russian officials have now given a permit to Inter Country Adoption New Zealand, to operate an adoption programme.
Bennett said it is a positive first step towards Russian adoptions being allowed again.
"We are satisfied the work has been done to ensure the process will be robust and we continue to work with Russian officials on that," said Bennett.
While New Zealand is a party to the Hague Convention where it applies to international adoptions, Russia is not, so similar protocols must be formed.
Adoption changes risk ignoring plight of orphans in Russia
by Tom Washington at 22/07/2010 18:08
Nothing touches Russian heartstrings like tales of adopted infants being mistreated in foreign lands.
Trans-Atlantic adoptions gone wrong provoke tabloid hang-wringing and righteous indignation from officials.
But while Russia and the US debate the future of international adoption, the murky fate of orphaned or unwanted children who remain in Russia still prompts questions.
Sent home alone
Earlier this year foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said the treatment of Artyom Savelyev was “the last straw” for overseas adoption.
Savelyev, aged 8, was dumped on a plane back to Moscow with a note saying he was “mentally unstable” after his adoptive American mother decided she could not cope with him.
And the subsequent furore brought the whole question back under the spotlight.
Crisis in Russia
But while international adoption is a big political issue, the numbers in Russia’s orphanages continues to climb.
There are now 700,000 orphans, 30 per cent of them living in state homes, according to figures from the parliamentary committee on family and children – more than at the end of World War II. Pro rata it’s four to five times higher than in the west.
Committee bosses describe it as a “humanitarian catastrophe”, and it’s one which childcare workers fear is being hidden by the lurid headlines.
“The main issue is not to forget about the kids behind all this talk about controls and regulations,” Director of educational centre of ROOF Olga Tikhomirova told The Moscow News.
“For the children to be happy, family is always preferable, no matter how good the orphanage is. There are the best orphanages with the best directors and carers [out there], but it is still worse than a family,” Tikhomirova said by telephone.
Tougher rules for foreigners
The ministry of education has ended independent adoption and wants to ensure that all future offers to give a home to a Russian orphan are handled by about 40 licensed agencies.
The scrunity won’t stop when the child leaves Russia. “It’s important that we can monitor the situation in the family until the child reaches 18,” Director of Education Alina Levitskaya told Kommersant.
“Right now the Russians require reports from social workers [in the US],” adoption agency World Child International Director Yaroslav Panasov said. He added that dates of visits are agreed in advance and that in some US states parents can deny inspectors access.
But reports on the children’s progress are meaningless, says psychologist Galina Semya. The earlier reports on the children in Russia are less rigorous and so there is nothing to compare the American checks with.
Finding homes
Last year Americans adopted 1,423 children from Russia and 50,000 from within the States, with Russians taking 9,500 from Russian orphanages. “We are pleased to say that the figure is growing,” Levitskaya said.
In total, since 1996, 80,000 Russian children have been adopted by families in the US, and 15 of them have died due to parental negligence.
July 23, 2010 10:03
Moscow press review for July 23, 2010
MOSCOW. July 23 (Interfax) - The following is a digest of Moscow newspapers published on July 23. Interfax does not accept liability for information in these stories.
VEDOMOSTI
Government bureaucrats' fear of energy shortages has played into the hands of companies building electric power plants. Mikhail Abyzov's Group E4, the leader on the market, increased its order portfolio to a record 105 billion rubles in 2009. (Engineering Leader).
Britain's Petropavlovsk, working in Russia, has enlarged its resources in the first half of the year. The gold mining company reported that it had obtained licenses to develop three sectors in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, whose reserves and resources are estimated at 3.5 million ounces. All of the three sectors are near the major gold field Olimpiadninskoye of Polyus Gold field (RTS: PLZL). Another gain is the license to develop the Pioner sector near Petropavlovsk's field in the Amur region. But no geological prospecting has been carried out on it, a Petropavlovsk spokesman said, adding that no forecasts are available. The new fields will allow the company to enlarge its resources by 30% to 15.1 million ounces, according to Nikolai Sosnovsky, an analyst with Uralsib (RTS: USBN). (Harvesting Gold).
From now on companies will have the right to adjust licenses to develop fields of mineral resources, which will allow those of them that have faced a lack of demand for raw materials to reduce production, not fearing to lose the license. Amendments to the law on the subsoil mineral resources, giving companies the right to adjust the license agreements, have been posted on the website of the Natural Resources Ministry. (Demand Will Be Taken into Account).
Renova is likely to build a plant to manufacture training planes for the Air Force, a source close to the group said. The planes will be based on the PC-9 M and PC21 models, manufactured by the Swiss aircraft concern Pilatus. Individual components will be supplied by companies of the United Aircarft Corporation. The implementation of the project depends on whether orders will be secured from the Defense Ministry. (A Plane from Vekselberg).
KOMMERSANT
The structure of Surgutneftegaz (RTS: SNGS) ownership may become even more complicated. One of its subsidiaries - OOO Invest-Zashchita, which may control up to 45% of Surgutneftegaz shares - could get a new owner. As a result, control will be retained, but the oil companies will be immune to accusations of using cross ownership structures. (Page 9. Surgutneftegaz Departs from the Crossing).
Sberbank (RTS: SBER) is beginning independent work on the market of collective investment and plans to launch its own mutual investment funds at the end of the year. In experts' estimate, using its branches, Sberbank will manage to draw 0.5 billion - 1 billion rubles to its mutual investment funds, while in a couple of years market leaders will find it difficult to compete with its management companies. (Page 8, Sberbank Launching Mutual Investment Funds).
Forest fires spread on 7.3 thousand hectares more in Far East
23.07.2010, 10.43
KHABAROVSK, July 23 (Itar-Tass) -- The area of forest fires has increased by 7.3 thousand hectares in the Russian Far East for the past day. The forestry department said in emergency reports that 39 wildfires were registered on an area of 17.6 thousand hectares of forests and 20.3 thousand hectares of non-forest lands.
The fires are raging in Yakutia, the Magadan Region, Chukotka and Kamchatka. Heavy rains passed in other regions of the Far East and helped the forest defenders to put down all fire nests.
More than 500 people and 50 units of machinery were involved in the firefighting efforts, including 359 people from Yakutia. Slight rains are going in this republic, but dry thunderstorms trigger new taiga fires every day.
“Since the start of the fire-prone season in the Far Eastern Federal District 889 wildfires broke out. The fires burnt down 62,536 hectares of forests and more than 70,000 hectares of other lands,” the forestry department said. More than 2,000 hectares of forests were damaged in the national parks of the Amur River region, the Khabarovsk Territory and the Primorsky Territory as well as deer pastures in Chukotka.
National Economic Trends
Russia Lost 10 Million Hectares of Grain Plantings, Ekho Reports
By Paul Abelsky
July 23 (Bloomberg) -- About 20 percent, or 10 million hectares (24.7 million acres) of Russia’s grain plantings were ruined by the worst drought in at least a decade, Ekho Moskvy reported, citing Agriculture Minister Yelena Skrynnik.
Emergencies have been declared in 23 regions, Skrynnik told the Moscow-based radio station in an interview late yesterday, adding that there are no reasons for increases in bread prices because of government support measures.
About 9.6 million hectares of plantings were ruined as of July 15, according to the Agriculture Ministry.
To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Abelsky in Moscow at pabelsky@.
Last Updated: July 23, 2010 00:46 EDT
Russian government officials to discuss measures against drought
04:29 23/07/2010
Russian government's interdepartmental working group headed by Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov will discuss on Friday measures to overcome consequences of the lasting drought in Russia, a source in the government said.
For the past four weeks temperatures across western Russia have topped 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit), killing scores of people and creating what is thought to be the worst drought since 1972.
Many farmers are on the brink of bankruptcy, while a state of emergency has been declared in 23 Russian regions. Nearly 10 million hectares of crops have been destroyed by drought.
The group's session will include a videoconference with the heads of the regions that declared the state of emergency.
With a request of 40 billion rubles ($1.3 billion) in aid for stricken regions from the Russian Grain Union and an inevitable rise in food prices, the government has a tough job to do.
In March, in the wake of the much-criticized 2009 Copenhagen Summit, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called for tougher environmental restrictions, ordering the government to act on the national climate doctrine approved during last year's summit.
MOSCOW, July 23 (RIA Novosti)
GRAINS-Russian drought sends U.S. wheat surging above $6/bu
Published: 22 Jul 2010 19:52:31 PST
* Wheat soars on dim Black Sea export prospects
* Ukraine sees smaller exportable surplus
* Corn retreats from early gains on profit-taking
* Coming up: U.S. CFTC commitments data on Friday (Updates with closing prices)
CHICAGO, July 22 - U.S. wheat futures rose above $6.00 a bushel for the first time in 13 months on Thursday and extended the rally to 28 percent in July on drought reduced crop prospects in parts of Europe and the Black Sea region.
Front-month September wheat on the Chicago Board of Trade settled up 8-1/4 cents at $5.96-1/2 per bushel, after climbing to $6.10, the highest level for a front month on continuous charts since June 2009.
Profit-taking knocked wheat off its highs by the CBOT midsession and turned corn lower, erasing an early rally. Soybeans finished narrowly mixed.
U.S. traders said CBOT wheat took cues from the European wheat market in Paris, where benchmark November wheat futures roared to a contract high of 183.50 euros per tonne but pared gains by the close, settling at 178.75 euros.
CBOT September corn fell 3-1/4 cents to finish at $3.76-1/2 per bushel while August soybeans ended up 3/4 cent at $10.16 a bushel.
Grain markets remained focused on the Black Sea region, where drought is forcing major exporters -- Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan -- to cut their 2010 forecasts further. As a result, their exportable surplus may shrink.
"European and Russian weather are driving the market," said Glenn Hollander, of Chicago cash grain merchant Hollander & Feuerhaken.
"We can talk all we want about some hot and dry (U.S.) weather here longer-term, but the big problems are in the Russian and European grain areas," Hollander said.
Ukraine said it would likely cut its grain exports in the 2010/11 market year to 16 million metric tonnes, from 21.5 million in 2009/10.
Farming association DBV said 2010 wheat yields in Germany would drop 10 to 20 percent from last year due to a recent heat wave.
And temperatures in Moscow hit 95 degrees fahrenheit (35 celsius) for the first time since 1981. Russia has experienced higher than average temperatures since late June, affecting central parts of European Russia, the Volga region, southern Urals and Siberia.
A weaker dollar and stronger equity markets also helped support grains, as well as other dollar-denominated commodities including crude oil and gold. The Reuters-Jefferies CRB index, a global commodities benchmark, hit a one-month high as oil and copper prices surged.
The dollar fell more than 1 percent against the euro after U.S. housing data and better-than-expected euro zone manufacturing and services data revived appetite for risk.
CORN SETS BACK
Corn was unable to hold its early strength, retreating despite the strength in wheat and a higher-than-expected weekly U.S. corn export sales tally from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Traders said corn bulls were undermined by lackluster cash markets and forecasts for mostly benign weather as the U.S. corn crop continues pollinating this month, a key phase in determining yield.
Technical factors added pressure, with September corn futures unable to match last week's multi-month highs.
RenCap Says Economy Improving
23 July 2010
Reuters
Renaissance Capital on Thursday upgraded its view on the Russian equity market for the third quarter based on a wider economic recovery, increased government support and an improved geopolitical climate.
"It is increasingly apparent that the Russian economy is recovering gradually as we move through 2010," RenCap said in a report. "On almost all metrics, the country is well beyond crisis mode."
It said Russian corporates looked undervalued compared with peers in other emerging markets, while much had been done to repair balance sheets damaged during the financial crisis.
RenCap said it remained cautious about falling oil prices — a major influence on the Russian equity market and the greatest risk for its future performance.
"From an economic perspective, the recent decision by the Russian government to increase the oil price used in its assumptions (from $59 per barrel to $75 per barrel), leaves Russia far more vulnerable to an oil price correction than a more conservative assumption," the bank said.
RenCap analysts credit the government for much of the improvement in the domestic economy, including real wages and industry output growth. The latter was pushed by government sponsored incentive schemes, such as the cash-for-clunkers program.
Some 21 percent more people were able to find jobs by June 2010 than did a year ago, with most of the rehiring taking place in infrastructure, according to RenCap.
"We therefore recommend selectively increasing Russian exposure," RenCap said, adding that it prefers stocks that offer "substantial upside potential," "exposure to growth," "a turnaround story" or "have a high dividend attached."
Russia Yield Advantage Shrinks to 10-Month Low Amid Bond Sales
July 23, 2010, 1:54 AM EDT
July 22 (Bloomberg) -- Russia’s borrowing cost advantage is falling to a 10-month low as the economic recovery in the world’s largest energy exporter lags behind peers and almost $12 billion of debt sales outstrip investor demand.
Yields on foreign-currency debt sold by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s administration were 54 basis points, or 0.54 percentage point, less than the emerging-markets average yesterday and touched 47 on July 20, the smallest gap since September, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s EMBI+ Indexes. Just five months ago, the spread was 105.
Russia’s bonds returned less than emerging-market debt for six months, the longest streak since 2006, according to JPMorgan data. Government yields are about 60 percent below the average since 1997. That’s hurting demand as the economy expanded 2.9 percent in the first quarter, compared with 8.95 percent in Brazil and 11.9 percent in China.
“At these levels there’s not a lot of screaming value” in Russian sovereign debt, said Edwin Gutierrez, a London-based emerging-market money manager at Aberdeen. The firm’s $531 million Aberdeen Emerging Markets Bond Fund beat 84 percent of peers in the past year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. “They happened to price a lot of bonds almost at the market top. Among the BRIC economies, Russia is the laggard.”
Russian debt has underperformed as investors speculated spending cuts by indebted European countries and China’s efforts to slow its economy will curb global demand for oil, Russia’s largest source of export earnings. Gross domestic product will probably expand 4.3 percent this year, compared with 6.8 percent in developing nations as a group, according to the International Monetary Fund. Crude has slumped 9.4 percent from this year’s closing high on April 6 to $78.65 a barrel in New York.
Record Low
The government’s foreign-currency debt returned 4.3 percent from January through July 21, about half the 8.3 percent rally in global emerging-market bonds, according to EMBI+ Indexes. The extra yield investors demand to own Russia bonds over U.S. Treasuries was 244 basis points yesterday, compared with 298 for emerging markets, according to JPMorgan’s EMBI+ Index. Similarly rated Mexico notes trade at 167 and Brazil, which is rated one step lower at BBB- by S&P, has a spread of 216, according to JPMorgan’s EMBI+ Indexes.
Russian sovereign yields fell to a record low 4.9 percent on April 20 and were at 5.18 percent on July 21. That compares with an average 13.4 percent since the JPMorgan index started in December 1997. Russia has a BBB rating from Standard & Poor’s, the second-lowest investment-grade ranking.
The cost of protecting Russian debt against non-payment for five years with credit-default swaps dropped about 3 basis points to 170 basis points on July 21, according to London-based CMA’s prices. Default swaps, which rise as the perception of credit quality deteriorates, pay the buyer face value in exchange for the underlying securities or the cash equivalent should a government or company fail to adhere to its debt agreements.
1998 Default
The yield on ruble bonds sold by state-controlled gas producer OAO Gazprom is 220 basis points more than the same- maturity Gazprom debt in dollars, down from a yield difference of about 600 a year ago, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The spread narrowed to as little as 115 on June 14.
The ruble strengthened 0.1 percent to 30.425 per dollar in Moscow yesterday. Non-deliverable forwards, or NDFs, which provide a guide to expectations of currency movements as they allow foreign investors and companies to fix the exchange rate at a specific level in the future, show the ruble weakening to 30.5612 per dollar in three months.
The government’s $5.5 billion April bond sale, the first international issue since Russia defaulted on $40 billion of ruble debt in 1998, is the most dollar debt sold by an emerging- market government this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. State companies, led by Vnesheconombank and OAO Sberbank, issued $6.4 billion of debt.
‘More Time’
Russian debt is likely to outperform emerging-market peers as issuance slows, said Jeremy Brewin, head of developing-nation bonds at Aviva Investors in London, which oversees about $377 billion.
“We had quite a bit of Russian supply and it means the range of investors in Russian debt need more time to absorb it,” Brewin said in an interview. “The Russian asset class, in particular the sovereign and the sub-sovereign, they have some good value.”
Russia raised 34 billion rubles ($1.1 billion) less than offered at two bond auctions on July 21 as investors demanded higher yields than the government was willing to pay. The Finance Ministry has sold about 21 percent of the 1.2 trillion rubles of bonds planned for this year to plug its second budget shortfall since 1999.
Economic growth may continue to trail peers because Russian banks are reluctant to lend, said Aberdeen’s Gutierrez. Total lending rose 2 percent in June, down from a 2.6 percent gain in May, Mikhail Sukhov, a central bank board member, said in St. Petersburg on July 8.
“It does have an impaired banking system, and that unfortunately isn’t going to change in the near term,” said Gutierrez. “Credit is not going to be a strong engine of growth.”
--Editors: Stephen Kirkland, Gavin Serkin
To contact the reporters on this story: Denis Maternovsky at dmaternovsky@; Michael Patterson in London at mpatterson10@.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at gserkin@.
European banking stress tests a ho-hum for Russia
23 July, 2010, 08:57
Exams for European banks are nearly over, with the results of stress-tests on ninety one financial institutions to be released on Friday. But analysts aren’t expecting major problems.
If too many banks pass the tests – it means the tests failed. That’s a widespread suspicion about the assessment of Europe's biggest lenders. The banks have been asked to estimate how much additional capital they would need adverse scenarios. They haven’t been disclosed but are believed to include the economic situation deteriorating for two years, and a scenario with an additional sovereign shock. But Jennifer McKeown, European Economist at Capital Economics questions just how realistic the tests can be.
“It’s very difficult to say, partly because we don’t know what the so-called adverse scenarios that will be considered are just yet. We know that they’ll be considering a mild recession as perhaps a worse case scenario, which incidentally we don’t think is the worst case scenario, but we don’t know how great a probability they’re going to assign to the risk of a sovereign default, so what they do on that front will determine the results.”
The long waited results will be released late Friday after the European bourse close for the week-end, which is meant to avoid a panic on already nervous markets. But Paul Mackel, senior foreign exchange strategist at HSBC Bank believes the caution is excessive.
“There is been a number of officials coming out saying that banks in eurozone are in a good shape – going to pass. There has been a couple of banks saying that they could possibly fail, and the market already has good feel for these type of failures, so it may may end up as non event."
If it is a non event in London it is even more of a non event in Moscow, with analysts in complete consensus that the stress tests are almost completely irrelevant to Russia. Leonid Slipchenko, banking analyst at Uralsib Capital logically questioned whether seriously bad results – of the type which might create volatility in markets – would be likely to stem from tests. Undertaken by Committee of European Banking Supervisors, it wouldn’t be in the interests of European banking for them to come out particularly negative, particularly with the ECB recently called upon to look at buying bank bonds to shore up liquidity in the event of sovereign risks in Greece, Spain, Italy, Eire and Portugal.
“In fact, I think, that the importance of the stress test is overestimated, as whatever the real picture is, I doubt that European financial authorities are likely to come out with any negative announcement. My personal expectations are neutrally positive, so to say. There are a lot of quite stable banks in the European system and though some local problems could really be there, the system in general is quite ok.”
Slipchenko added that the direct impact of the tests for Russia – whether good or bad – was marginal.
“Being a globally important financial player, Europe will certainly have an effect on the rest of the world, including Russia, but as for our country that’ll be very indirect.”
More direct was Head of Research at Metropol, Mark Rubinstein, responding directly “The impact will be nil” when asked about the possible implications for Russia, and Maxim Miller, Associate Director at FitchRatings responding likewise with 'We definitely do not expect any direct implications for the Russian banking system from the publication of these results.'
With 3 largely state owned banks comprising an nearly three quarters of the domestic banking system, in addition to a state owned developed bank which has been used to channel funds from the $430 billion in reserves Russia still has available, Russian bankers will be following the stress test results with a largely detached interest.
Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions
Polyus Gold, Razgulay, RusHydro, X5: Russian Equity Preview
By Anastasia Ustinova
July 23 (Bloomberg) -- The following companies may have unusual price changes in Russian trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses and share prices are from the previous close.
Russia’s ruble-based Micex Index rose 2 percent to 1,381.36 in Moscow.
OAO Polyus Gold (PLZL RX): Gold futures rose for the third straight day on speculation that the Federal Reserve will act to stimulate U.S. growth, driving the dollar lower and boosting the appeal of the precious metal as an alternative asset. Russia’s largest gold producer rose 0.2 percent to 1,441.44 rubles.
OAO Razgulay Group (GRAZ RX): Wheat futures rose to a 13- month high as buyers rushed to make purchases amid concern that adverse weather will slash this year’s global crop. The Russian grain and sugar producer rose 7.5 percent to 43.647 rubles.
X5 Retail Group NV (FIVE LI): Russia’s largest supermarket chain filed a request to buy its rival OAO Trading House Kopeyka, Russia’s anti-monopoly watchdog said in an e-mailed statement. Shares added 0.6 percent to $36.93 in London.
OAO RusHydro (HYDR RX): The Russian government will invest $49 million to help rebuild the Baksanskaya plant after an attack on the facility left two people dead. Shares rose 0.3 percent to 1.593 rubles.
To contact the reporter on this story: Anastasia Ustinova in Chicago at austinova@.
Last Updated: July 22, 2010 22:00 EDT
Russia issues H1 output results for steel
Friday, 23 Jul 2010
According to the data released by the Russian Federation Federal State Statistics Service, in the first half of this year Russia produced 28.4 million tonnes of finished steel products up by 20.6% YoY, 4.3 million tonnes of steel pipes up by 43.1% YoY and 24.2 million tonnes of pig iron up by 23.2%YoY.
In the first six months of this year the country registered a 13.4%YoY increase in its coal mining output and an 18%YoY rise in its iron ore concentrate output. The respective figures in metric tons were 156 million and 46.3 million. In addition, Russia metallurgical coke output during the period in question went up by 23.7%YoY to 13.6 million tonnes.
In June this year, Russia finished steel product output went down by 9.4%MoM, its pig iron output decreased by 7.9%MoM while its pipe production increased by 7.6%MoM. In June, Russia coal output went down by 4.2%MoM, its coke production decreased by 8.2%MoM while its iron ore concentrate output rose by 0.4%MoM.
(Sourced from )
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Russian steel makers fail to move to long-term contracts - Kommersant
09:33 23/07/2010
Russian steel makers have not fully complied with instructions given by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to move to long-term contracts with consumers due to a fall in metals prices since May, Kommersant business daily said on Friday.
Putin called for the shift to long-term contracts following a series of complaints made by Russian Railways, various automakers and other major consumers about unreasonably high prices. The prime minister is to hold a meeting in the Russian Urals city of Chelyabinsk today to discuss the shift towards long-term contracts.
Kommersant said that long-term contracts have only been concluded with the companies that made the complaints.
Metal companies MMK and Severstal have agreed to long-term contracts with the auto industry, but with the option of correcting the prices every quarter, the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) told Kommersant.
Steel company Evraz signed a contract with machine building company Uralvagonzavod on a fixed price until the end of the year (price in the second half will be 17 percent higher than in the first half), a source close to the company said. It has also agreed on pricing with Russian Railways until 2012. The price will be pegged to the cost of scrap metal, plus about 9 thousand rubles per ton and will be reviewed every quarter, Kommersant said.
Smaller consumers are refusing to go onto long-term contracts because of price volatility, a source from one of the companies told Kommersant. Since May, the price of steel has dropped more than 20% and it continues to fall, the source added.
The FAS is continuing to investigate unreasonably high steel prices. Next week the service is planning to announce the results of an audit on Severstal and MMK, a source in the service said. Signs of violations, he said, are that MMK worked with an unreasonably high return of 80% and Severstal was selling one type of product at different prices.
MOSCOW, July 22 (RIA Novosti)
Russian RUSAL restarts alumina refinery in Jamaica
Fri Jul 23, 2010 5:16am GMT
MOSCOW July 23 (Reuters) - The world's top aluminium producer Russia's UC RUSAL (0486.HK) (RUAL.PA) said on Friday it had restarted operations at its Windalco Ewarton alumina plant in Jamaica mothballed in 2009 due to the economic crisis.
RUSAL said in a statement it plans to refine by the end of the year around 321,000 tonnes of alumina, an intermediate product for aluminium smelting, at the refinery, which has an annual capacity of 650,000 tonnes. (Reporting by Aleksandras Budrys)
Rusal resumes operations in Jamaica
RBC, 23.07.2010, Moscow 10:25:36.Rusal, the world's largest aluminum producer, said it would resume operations at its mine and alumina plant of Ewarton, part of Windalco, in Jamaica.
The company's press office cited positive trends on the aluminum market and agreements reached with Jamaica's government and subcontractors as factors that contributed to an improvement in Ewarton's economic standing and permitted Rusal to resume operations. Rusal's Deputy General Director for alumina business Yakov Itskov praised the decision since the mining industry, in his opinion, played a crucial part in Jamaica's economic and social life. He also said that the resumption became possible largely due to a constructive stance and assistance on the part of Jamaica's government and partners.
Russia's Mobile Power Trio Fights For 4G Exclusivity –Vedomosti
First Published Friday, 23 July 2010 02:23 am - © 2010 Dow Jones
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
The heads of Russia's three biggest mobile providers have urged government leaders not to award next-generation frequencies to inexperienced upstarts, business daily Vedomosti reports Friday.
In a letter to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin last week, the chief executives of OAO Mobile TeleSystems (MBT), VimpelCom Ltd. (VIP) and OAO Megafon said granting frequencies to "newly formed small companies" would bring "negative consequences for the vast majority of the population of Russia, our companies and the state as a whole."
The Big Three singled out Osnova and Red Telecom for criticism, arguing that neither has enough capital at its disposal to ensure timely build-out of a so-called 4G network. The market leaders say Osnova and Red would have to spend as much as $7 billon over five years or more on their part of a national 4G network.
MTS, VimpelCom and Megafon insist they alone have the experience and deep pockets to handle the task and should be awarded 4G frequencies through the government's competitive auction. According to their argument, if newcomers get the frequencies, they're likely to resell them to the big operators anyway, which would delay delivery of 4G services to users. With that in mind, they asked Putin to order "further work to develop a precise, transparent approach to the allocation of radio frequencies."
Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Vedomosti on Thursday that he couldn't comment on the matter.
Also called LTE, for Long-Term Evolution, 4G is a mobile-network standard that's more advanced and up to 10 times faster than conventional third-generation technology.
The authenticity of the letter from CEOs Mikhail Shamolin of MTS, Yelena Shmatova of VimpelCom and Sergei Soldatenkov of Megafon was confirmed by all three companies. A representative of one of them said the Big Three is stepping up efforts to draw attention to the issue by appealing to Russia's leadership.
The CEO trio sent a similar missive, dated July 6, to the minister of communications and mass media, Igor Shchegolev. That appeared to be a response to news that Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov had asked President Dmitry Medvedev in late May to support the formation of Osnova as a privately held mobile-broadband operator using the 4G standard across Russia. Medvedev replied by instructing subordinates "to make all necessary decisions in conjunction with the Communications Ministry in the prescribed manner."
In Russia, slices of the cellular spectrum are allocated by the State Commission for Radio Frequencies, an interagency body that Shchegolev heads. A week before the commission's most recent meeting, on July 15, the Defense Ministry proposed that the Communications Ministry consider behind closed doors "questions related to carrying out … the instruction of the president." But the request couldn't be taken up: By law, the commission's agenda had been set three weeks before the meeting. Shchegolev said his ministry continues to discuss 4G-frequency allocation and "will see what happens with Defense."
The matter of 4G frequencies will be decided by August, Shchegolev has said.
Newspaper website: vedomosti.ru
-Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2900
Russia cell operators ask Putin for transparency in 4G frequencies allocation - letter
11:37 23/07/2010
MOSCOW, July 23 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's top three mobile operators have sent a letter to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin asking him for transparency in the allocation of frequencies for the development of the fourth generations networks, a letter obtained by RIA Novosti said on Friday.
Russia's Defense Ministry holds the bulk of the country's frequencies while in developed countries most frequencies belong to private companies.
Russian media have said that the Defense Ministry has suggested awarding Long Term Evolution (LTE) frequencies covering the whole of Russia to a company set up by it and a private businessman without a tender.
Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov suggested to President Dmitry Medvedev that his ministry create the 4G network alone and Medvedev ordered him to work the idea out with the Telecommunications Ministry.
The "Big Three" operators - Mobile TeleSystems, MegaFon and VimpelCom - asked Putin to change legislation to allow them to use frequencies, including GSM, CDMA and MMDS, allocated for other communication and television technologies, to develop LTE networks.
The companies also requested to legally permit them to use frequencies they possess to develop any technology at their discretion.
The letter said the operators were worried by information about plans to allocate frequencies in favor of newly created small companies. They said that the creation of a nationwide LTE network would require $5-7 billion and 5-7 years which small companies could not afford. The Big Three said that the firms were created to resell the frequencies they will get.
The companies have already sent a letter to Telecommunications Minister Igor Shchegolev asking for transparency in LTE frequencies allocation.
The State Frequencies Commission was to consider setting up LTE test zones on July 2, but failed to do so because of differences of opinion regarding the allocation of frequencies between the Defense and the Telecommunications Ministries.
"The LTE issue is very important for Russia and we thought it our duty to say again that the allocation of frequencies for the LTE must be as transparent as possible," VimpelCom spokeswoman Anna Aibasheva said.
Moscow threatens device ban to boost Russian tech
Thu, Jul 22 2010
By Gleb Bryanski
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia on Friday threatened to block imports of cellphones and other devices not enabled for its own competitor to widely-used U.S. navigation technology.
Russia has been developing GLONASS, its answer to the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS), since 1976 but cannot yet produce enough chips for mass manufacture of GLONASS-compatible devices.
Russia, as well as other emerging countries like India, is keen to develop GLONASS to lessen dependence on GPS, which is controlled by the United States.
The chief executive of oil-to-telecoms holding company Sistema, which is developing GLONASS, said the firm had held conversations about the technology with manufacturers such as Nokia, Siemens and Motorola.
"They understand that we will close the market for equipment without a GLONASS chip anyway," said Vladimir Yevtushenkov, according to the transcript of a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin posted on the government's website.
"It is good that our partners understand that we will defend our interests and promote our own product," Putin said, citing Russia's experience with global car makers, which opened plants after Russia abolished import duties on car parts.
Yevtushenkov told Putin that foreign firms had accepted the warning: "They will get over it because the Americans at a time when they were moving to GPS also protected their market."
Under Sistema's proposal, consumer navigation devices destined for use in Russia will be required to have a GLONASS receiver alongside the GPS one. Such measure may force gadget makers to move part of production to Russia.
Yevtushenkov said that in 2010 Sistema will have samples of GLONASS-enabled gadgets while mass production of GLONASS-enabled devices may begin in 2011.
Sistema's subsidiary Sitronics is developing chips for GLONASS navigation receivers after licensing a 90 nanometre integrated circuits technology from Europe's top computer chip maker STMicroelectronics.
Russia is also talking to Germany about Sistema's interest in taking a stake in German chipmaker Infineon, a deal that has been mooted since late 2009 although it is not clear whether the purchase is linked to GLONASS chips.
(Editing by David Cowell)
(For more news on Reuters India, click in.)
2010-07-22
Polyus Gold and KazakhGold Comment on Recent Media Speculation
Polyus Gold and KazakhGold have noted recent media speculation surrounding the original agreement for Polyus to acquire a 50.1% stake in KazakhGold.
This agreed transaction was publicly announced to the London Stock Exchange in June 2009 and a full circular setting out all the terms and conditions was posted to KazakhGold shareholders and all the related materials were publically available. The Partial Offer, which was governed by English law, was reviewed by regulators in several countries and received all necessary approvals. The acquisition was unanimously approved by the KazakhGold Board of Directors, including the representatives of the Assuabayev family.
The acquisition by Polyus Gold of a 50.1% stake in KazakhGold was approved overwhelming by KazakhGold shareholders. Over 96% of KazakhGold shareholders voted to support the transaction, including the Assaubayev family. The Assaubayev family were responsible for obtaining the waivers from the relevant governmental agencies in Kazakhstan of their preemptive rights under the Kazakh subsoil laws.
Kanat Assaubayev, as Executive Chairman of the Board of KazakhGold, confirmed in the official shareholder circular that Polyus Gold had received all necessary government and regulatory approvals in Kazakhstan to acquire its 50.1% stake in KazakhGold and prior to commencement of the transaction Aidar Assaubayev, for and on behalf of the Company, gave written assurances to Polyus Gold that there were no reasons that would indicate that the approvals are not valid.
Since the original transaction, under which Polyus Gold became Guarantor of KazakhGold’s $200 million Senior Notes due 2013, Polyus Gold has provided two $50 million shareholder loans to support KazakhGold financially. Polyus Gold has also provided management and production assistance to KazakhGold, helping to increase production by 50%.
Polyus Gold is committed to developing KazakhGold’s assets, providing new investment and securing production and jobs in Kazakhstan.
“The agreement for Polyus to acquire a major shareholding in KazakhGold was open, transparent and in the interests of all shareholders. The Assaubayev family supported the transaction, with Kanat Assaubayev confirming that they had received all necessary approvals in Kazakhstan and voted in favour of the deal at the shareholders meeting.
“The combination of KazakhGold and Polyus Gold will create the leading CIS gold producer, provide fresh investment in Kazakstan and secure jobs and production.”
OJSC Polyus Gold is an international company, Russia’s leading gold producer and one of the world’s largest gold mining companies in terms of market capitalization, mineral reserves base and output. The Company’s international asset portfolio includes ore and alluvial deposits in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Irkutsk, Magadan and Amur Regions, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), as well as in the Republic of Kazakhstan and Romania. Gold production of OJSC Polyus Gold totaled 1,3 k oz in 2009.
For further information please contact:
Anton A. Arens, PR Director
+7 (495) 641-3365
+7 (495) 544-5496
pr@
Russia’s Komarov Plans Steel Pipe Revival With Theatrical Touch
By Ilya Khrennikov
July 23 (Bloomberg) -- ChelPipe Group, once the largest maker of steel pipes in Russia and now weighed down by $2.5 billion of debt, is preparing a dramatic recovery. Literally.
Billionaire owner and onetime theater administrator Andrei Komarov plans to double capacity and boost productivity with a new $700 million plant, the introduction of Toyota Motor Corp.- style efficiency methods and an eye for the spectacular.
“It was Mr. Komarov’s idea to paint gold all technological equipment at the new mill so it would resemble the mechanism of a giant Swiss watch,” said Sergei Moiseev, chief financial officer of the supplier to gas-export monopoly OAO Gazprom. The plant, tagged by ChelPipe as Russia’s most modern, will come under the scrutiny of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin when he visits today.
Komarov, 43, needs more than chutzpah and the ear of Putin to revive a business that like other Communist-era producers has lost sales to nimbler rivals. ChelPipe, which dates back to 1942, slipped to third place among Russia’s biggest pipemakers last year, behind United Metallurgical Co., as its market share shrank to 16.5 percent from 22.7 percent in 2005 and about 70 percent in Soviet times.
The billionaire, who made his mark trading goods from cars to lingerie and is now deputy chairman of parliament’s natural resources committee, is counting on a doubling in demand from Gazprom, which is building the 760-mile Nord Stream natural-gas line linking Europe to Russia under the Baltic Sea.
‘Ride the Surge’
To commit to that wager, Komarov almost doubled ChelPipe’s debt in the past three years, funding the pipe factory and a new steel plant to make the company self-sufficient in the metal.
“We plan to ride the surge in orders with our new mill and to pay back investments quickly,” Moiseev said. Komarov wasn’t available for comment when Bloomberg News called his office at the Russian parliament’s Federation Council.
The company’s plans to start up the pipe facility, with an annual output capacity of 600,000 metric tons, were pushed back to today from last year by the world economic slump. ChelPipe cut production 23 percent in 2009 in response to the crisis.
“It would’ve been nice for ChelPipe to have this new facility in place half a year ago when tenders on pipe supplies for Russia’s major pipeline projects were held,” VTB Capital analyst Olga Danilenko said in Moscow. “Contracts to supply the second stage of Nord Stream have been awarded. Things will depend on whether Gazprom and Transneft will approve new large pipeline projects in the second half of 2011.”
TMK Growth
Rivals such as OAO TMK, Russia’s biggest steel-pipe maker, and OAO Vyksa Steel Works have large-diameter pipe orders booked until mid-2011 and are running at full capacity, while ChelPipe risks being under-utilized in the “short term,” Danilenko said.
Vyksa, United Metallurgical’s biggest unit, said first-half output jumped a third, with large-diameter pipes for Gazprom and OAO Transneft, the national oil pipeline company, up 36 percent.
TMK said on Jan. 29 it would spend about $1.1 billion on plants by 2012. It will increase capacity for seamless pipes to 3.4 million tons and for large-diameter ones to 1.2 million tons, the company said in a presentation during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to its Taganrog factory.
The global recession has also strained finances at ChelPipe, which refinanced debt from Russia’s OAO Sberbank and received state guarantees for 5 billion rubles ($164 million) of loans. Komarov and his partners also sold a 58 percent stake in OAO Chelyabinsk Zinc Plant.
Build From Scratch
Still, the billionaire has shown an ability to build a fortune from scratch, while innovating with management ideas new to Russia.
After three years as chief administrator for the Satyricon Theater in Moscow from the age of 23, he made money trading goods and began buying workers’ shares in the assets of ChelPipe, building those into a 40 percent stake by 1997. He also became Russia’s largest developer of golf courses.
Komarov’s listed Chelyabinsk Pipe Works, which controls his biggest mill, has surged 57 percent in Moscow trading in the past year.
Even the all-white overalls for the 1,400 workers at the new plant are part of his attempt to instill the Japanese ethos of continuous improvement, or “Kaizen,” to involve staff in increasing efficiency and generating ideas. The factory, where employees get meals prepared by a chef trained in Spain as well as programs to quit smoking, is surrounded by lawns.
“The exotic designs at ChelPipe may be good from the standpoint of corporate culture, but are unlikely to boost sales,” said Andrei Lobazov, an analyst at IFC Metropol in Moscow.
Whether or not ChelPipe doubles output, Komarov isn’t alone in forecasting burgeoning demand. Use of large-diameter pipes, the most profitable segment, will grow to as much as 3 million tons by 2012 from 1.4 million tons last year, according to Russia’s Pipe Industry Development Fund.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ilya Khrennikov in Moscow at ikhrennikov@
Last Updated: July 22, 2010 16:01 EDT
Billionaire Kerimov Seeks to Sell Stake in PIK, Kommersant Says
By Paul Abelsky
July 23 (Bloomberg) -- Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov wants to sell his stake in property developer PIK Group for $1 billion, Kommersant reported, citing an unidentified person close to Kerimov’s investment company Nafta Moskva.
Kerimov owns 35 percent to 45 percent of the developer, a holding he acquired in 2009 in exchange for helping the company renegotiate its debt, the newspaper said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Abelsky in Moscow at pabelsky@.
Last Updated: July 23, 2010 01:18 EDT
Tycoon Vekselberg plans training aircraft plant in Russia - paper
10:29 23/07/2010
Russian Renova Group, owned by tycoon Viktor Vekselberg, may build a plant for the production of training aircraft, based on the technology of the Swiss aircraft manufacturer Pilatus, Vedomosti daily reported on Friday.
The project will only go ahead if Renova manages to conclude delivery contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry, a source close to the group told the paper.
If launched, the plant will produce aircraft based on the Pilatus PC-9 M and PC-21 models. The PC-9 M is a single engine, low-wing tandem-seat turboprop training aircraft with a strong dorsal fin. The PC-21 model is a single-turboprop, low wing swept monoplane advanced trainer with a stepped tandem cockpit.
Renova is currently estimating possible demand for these aircraft. Construction of the plant will be efficient if it delivers 50 planes a year.
The training aircraft would be sold to the Russia's Defense Ministry and potential customers abroad, although negotiations with foreign partners have not yet begun.
An official from the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that the project is being discussed, although Russian Air Forces representative Vladimir Drik told Vedemosti he had not heard about the project.
The project may face problems with the certification of its plants in Russia and with tough Swiss regulations on the export of military products, experts told the paper.
Vekselberg chose Pilatus for the project because 13.97% of its shares belong to the Swiss Oerlikon, which is controlled by Renova. However, the manufacturer's role in the project has yet to be defined.
MOSCOW, July 23 (RIA Novosti)
X5 Retail applies to FAS for Kopeika acquisition
10:55 23/07/2010
MOSCOW, July 23 (RIA Novosti) - X5 Retail, Russia's largest supermarket chain by revenue, has applied to the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) to acquire retailer Kopeika and its subsidiaries, the FAS said on Friday.
"The application will be considered within a legal period," the service said in a statement.
Russia's competition law says the application should be considered within 30 days from the day it was received, while the review duration can be extended by a maximum of two months.
X5 Retail Group Chief Executive Lev Khasis said the application was 'a technicality', necessary for probable merger negotiations.
In October 2009, the FAS approved X5's application to acquire the Paterson supermarket chain within less than a month, and in December 2009, X5 closed a $189.5 million merger deal with Paterson owners, brothers Alexei and Konstantin Mauergauz.
X5 has also paid off the retailer's $85 million net debt. X5 began to rebrand the acquired stores after the merger, transforming 53 retailers into Perekryostok stores and 22 into Pyatyorochka discounters.
Kopeika's chief financial officer Alexander Tarasov said that the company knew X5 had applied to the FAS, and that the management was searching for an opportunity to raise the company's shareholder value to its maximum level.
In early summer Kopeika, which is owned by Uralsib bank head Nikolai Tsvetkov, valued itself at 50 billion rubles ahead of a possible Initial Public Offering in autumn.
Analysts think X5 will considerably increase its share of the Moscow market after acquiring Kopeika.
Earlier media reports suggested that the U.S. supermarket chain Wal-Mart, which has no stores in Russia, was thinking of purchasing Kopeika.
Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)
Russian govt to hold tender for Trebs, Titov oil deposits this year
10:38 23/07/2010
The Russian government will hold a tender for the Trebs and Titov oil deposits in the north of the country in the fourth quarter of 2010, the government's website said on Thursday.
"The Federal Agency for Subsoil Use must approve the agenda of the tender committee and requirements for the content of the tender documents, send out notices on the tender before August 1, 2010, ... and conduct the tender in the fourth quarter," the statement said.
The Trebs and Titov oil deposits are among the most promising in the Timan-Pechora oil province, with reserves estimated at 78.9 million tons and 63.4 million tons of oil respectively to C1 category.
The government earlier approved tender terms for the Trebs and Titov oil deposits.
A source in a company interested in participation in the tender said that the government had proposed including a clause on the obligatory refining of oil from the deposits at local refineries in tender terms.
Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev has said that an initial payment at the tender would amount to $500 million.
Rosneft, LUKOIL, Gazprom Neft, Bashneft and Zarubezhneft are interested in obtaining licenses for the deposits.
MOSCOW, July 23 (RIA Novosti)
Putin approved an open competition for oil resources Trebs and Titov
GOOGLE TRANSLATION
Rosbalt, 23/07/2010, 8:51 News
MOSCOW, July 23. Russian government approves an open competition for the subsoil of federal significance, including the oil fields of. Roman Trebs and them. Anatoly Titov in the Nenets Autonomous District in the 4 th quarter of 2010. The corresponding order was signed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Rosnedra requested to approve the August 1, 2010 Rules of the competition committee, the requirements for the content of tender documentation and notification of the contest, part of the competition committee and arrange in 4 th quarter of the contest.
Participants should submit the tender documentation in two phases. At the first available application with the documents in a sealed envelope, the document confirming payment of fee for participation in the competition, and signed by the applicant The deposit for participation in the contest.
At the second stage, the participants provide the technical and economic indicators in a sealed envelope, the document confirming payment of the deposit for participation in the competition, suggestions about the size of a single payment for the use of mineral resources in a sealed envelope.
The structure of the competition committee composed of at least 11 people, including representatives of the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Economic, Energy, Rosnedra, other federal bodies of executive power, the administration of the NAO. The decision of the competition committee adopted an open vote.
The winner is recognized bidder who meets the conditions of competition and presenting the best technical and economic indicators that meet basic criteria established by RF legislation. Techno-economic indicators proposed by the Bidder, the recognized winner, to be included in the license agreement.
Recoverable reserves of oil exploration areas in gosbalanse on 1 January 2009 are 89 million 727 thousand tons - of C1, 50 million 332 thousand tons - for C2 and 59 million 289 thousand tons - for C3. Inferred resources of oil - 70 million tons by category D1l.
Rosneft Offers 600,000 Tons of ESPO Oil for September, October
By Christian Schmollinger
July 23 (Bloomberg) -- Rosneft Oil Co. offered to sell 600,000 metric tons of East Siberian Pacific Ocean pipeline oil, or ESPO crude, for loading in September and October, said two traders who received the notice.
Details of the offer are as follows:
-----------------------------------------------------------
Crude: East Siberian Pacific Ocean pipeline oil
Quantity: 100,000 tons, or 730,000 barrels, x 6 cargoes
Loading: Sept. 7-10, Sept. 9-12, Sept. 11-14, Sept. 20-23,
Sept. 28 to Oct. 1, Oct. 3-6
Port: Kozmino Bay Terminal, Russia’s Far East
Bids close: July 27
-----------------------------------------------------------
To contact the reporter on this story: Christian Schmollinger in Singapore at christian.s@.
Last Updated: July 22, 2010 20:55 EDT
Transoil RAS net profit for 2009 up by 20pct
Friday, 23 Jul 2010
Interfax reported that OOO Transoil net profit according to Russian accounting standards in 2009 went up by 20% to RUB 5.4 billion.
The company sales revenue in 2009 reached RUB 50.7 billion which is a 19% increase from a year previous.
Transoil short term debt at the end of December 2009 came to RUB 3.7 billion. The company long term debt stood at RUB 5.2 billion.
Transoil transfer oil and petroleum products with a fleet of 17,000 tanker cars and 37 locomotives. The company works in partnership with Russia leading oil companies including Transneft, Surgutneftegas and Rosneft.
Gazprom
July 23, 2010 10:38
Gazprom gas production off last year's pace
MOSCOW. July 23 (Interfax) - Gazprom's current ongoing gas extraction has for the first time fallen below the level of last year - the worst in the history of Russia's gas sector.
According to the Fuel and Energy Dispatch Center (TsDU TEK), Gazprom had on July 21 extracted 1.059 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas, significantly under the 1.067 bcm it had produced on the same date last year.
The situation was otherwise just one day prior - 1.062 bcm extracted on July 20, 2010, versus 1.035 bcm on July 20, 2009.
The current 1.059 bcm production level is for now the lowest daily extraction since the start of this year, although it is substantially higher than last year's low of 891.7 million m3.
Since this year began, Gazprom has also significantly increased last year's levels.
However, the extraction curves of this and last year are mixed. Whereas in 2009 Gazprom hit the year's low on June 21 and then rose, this year has up to now seen a continued drop in extraction.
Cf
Gazprom, CNPC in Talks
23 July 2010
Gazprom and China National Petroleum discussed how to finance the western, or Altai, supply route across Siberia to the Asian nation, the company said Thursday.
Gazprom deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev and CNPC vice president Wang Dongjin also discussed the “main commercial and technical aspects” of gas delivery at a meeting in Beijing, the company said.
(Bloomberg)
Gazprom has ousted fully Iran from Turkish gas market
Baku, Fineko / abc.az. Turkey has become the only European country that is not scared by complete gas dependence on Gazprom.
The Russian gas monopoly informs that after an explosion at a pipeline via which Iranian gas is delivered to Turkey, Botas applied to Gazprom with a request to double Russian gas supplies via Blue Stream route to remove the consequences of the accident. As a result, the supply via Trans Black Sea gas pipeline has been increased from 14 million up to 22 million cu m a day. Botas’s full application is 32 million cu m.
“Botas requested previously an increase in supplies in excess of the maximum daily commitments. Having technical capabilities Gazprom always agreed to meet the requests of the Turkish side, delivering larger volumes of natural gas,” Gazprom said.
It is not reported of the causes of the explosion on the gas pipeline from Iran which supplies up to 23 million cu m a day: before to investigate the incident one must first to extinguish the fire on the gas pipeline.
It should be noted that Azerbaijan, which also supplies gas to Turkey via the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline, does not report of any increase of its supplies.
JULY 21, 2010, 7:48 A.M. ET
AIR SHOW: Sukhoi To Supply 10 Superjets To Gazprom Unit
By Jonathan Buck
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
FARNBOROUGH, England (Dow Jones)--Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Co. on Wednesday announced an agreement of intent to supply 10 Sukhoi Superjet 100/95 LR aircraft to a unit of Russian energy giant OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS), in a deal worth $323 million at list prices.
Deliveries to Gazpromavia are due to begin in 2012, Sukhoi said in a statement at the Farnborough International Air Show.
The Moscow-based aircraft manufacturer, formed in 2000, is majority owned by Sukhoi Holding. A minority stake is owned by Italy's Alenia Aeronautica, a unit of defense giant Finmeccanica SpA (FNC.MI).
-By Jonathan Buck, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 207 842 9237; jonathan.buck@
Gazprom Keeps Projects in Rotenberg's Pipeline
23 July 2010
By Yelena Mazneva / Vedomosti
In its first full year of operations, Arkady Rotenberg's contracting business managed to become the industry's second-largest player by revenue, thanks in large part to its contracts with state-run Gazprom, Vedomosti has learned.
Stroigazmontazh, which first appeared two years ago, had revenue of nearly 89 billion rubles ($2.9 billion) last year under Russian accounting standards, according to data from the State Statistics Service. That made it the single biggest company in the "construction" section by data from the statistics service that are available in Interfax's SPARK database.
The company's consolidated revenue last year was 100.3 billion rubles, a source close to Stroigazmontazh told Vedomosti.
On its web site, the builder only lists projects from Gazprom, including the Olympics gas pipeline Dzhubga-Lazarevskoye-Sochi, the Russian section of Nord Stream, and the project of the decade — the Sakhalin-Khabarovsky-Vladivostok pipeline, the first phase of which is alone worth about 210 billion rubles.
A spokesperson for Stroigazmontazh declined to comment on how much of the company's revenue was from Gazprom, as did spokespeople for the gas company. Gazprom is Stroigazmontazh's "main customer," the builder's spokesperson said, declining to comment on whether it was the only one.
But the market's leader is still Stroigazkonsalting, which had 2009 consolidated revenue of 138 billion rubles, according to a company presentation that Vedomosti has seen. The company also lists Gazprom as its largest client, representing about 65 percent of its turnover, but Stroigazkonsalting also has other projects, such as a contract to reconstruct the highway between Moscow and Minsk in a consortium with Lider and Gazprombank.
The Stroigazmontazh spokesperson declined to say whether the company was ready to surpass its main competitor this year. "We don't have a goal to try to surpass anyone, but we are developing exponentially and it's already clear that the company has broken into the industry leaders."
Stroigazmontazh's owner is Arkady Rotenberg, who was a childhood judo partner of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
The company got its start when firms controlled by Rotenberg bought five of Gazprom's construction subsidiaries in March 2008 for 8.3 billion rubles, essentially at their starting prices. By May of that year, Stroigazmontazh won its first Gazprom tender. It then won four major orders, two of which — the Sochi and Sakhalin pipelines — were awarded without a tender.
The main owner of competitor Stroigazkonsalting is Jordan-born businessman Ziyad Manasir, who first visited the Soviet Union as an exchange student 26 years ago. His junior partners are managers at the company, although until last year he had other co-owners.
In the spring of 2009, Manasir told Forbes that Pyotr Polyanichko received a 20 percent stake in his business in 1995. Polyanichko is the son of the late Viktor Polyanichko, a former deputy prime minister and close acquaintance of Gazprom's first chief, Viktor Chernomyrdin.
Another partner was Olga Grigoryeva, the daughter of the late Alexander Grigoryev, a friend of Putin's and former deputy chief of the Federal Security Service, Forbes reported.
"The guarantee of our success is skillful, quality and quick work as well as resources — people and equipment," the Stroigazmontazh spokesperson said. "We even go after the projects that others turn down."
For example, the undersea Dzhubga-Lazarevskoye-Sochi pipeline will be built in about a year, although similar projects typically take two years, the spokesperson said.
Manasir gave roughly the same explanation for his success in an earlier interview with Vedomosti. "I always fulfill the terms of contracts. No one will support you if a project fails."
He could not be reached for comment Wednesday, and a spokesperson for Stroigazkonsalting declined to comment further.
Several years ago, the largest oil and gas contractor was Stroitransgaz, which was Gazprom's favorite builder under chief executive Rem Vyakhirev. Then Gazprom sold its shares in Stroitransgaz and reduced its orders. The firm's earnings began to fall, and in 2007 it was sold to oil trader Gennady Timchenko. Its major clients now include state-run Rosneft and Transneft.
Vedomosti was unable to speak with Stroitransgaz chief Sergei Makarov on Wednesday about the company's forecasts and plans. Under a program formed by its previous president, Alexander Ryazanov, Stroitransgaz planned to double its revenue by 2013 and generate an operating profit this year.
Contractors by revenue
|Company |2009 |2008 |
| |Revenue |Profit / (Loss) |Revenue |Profit / (Loss) |
|1. Stroigazkonsalting* |138.12 |N/A |138.97 |N/A |
|2. Stroigazmontazh |88.98 |1.04 |6.91 |0.26 |
|3. Stroitransgaz |41.45 |(6.74) |34.38 |(6.22) |
|4. Globalstroi-Inzhiniring |31.11 |5.35 |38.47 |1.55 |
|5. Mezhregiontruboprovodstroi |21.42 |2.24 |19.85 |2.60 |
Figures are in billions of rubles
*Unaudited results; others are to Russian accounting standards.
Source: Interfax’s SPARK, Vedomosti
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