Basic Political Developments s22

Russia 090429

Basic Political Developments

·  SWINE FLU

o  Swine Flu 'May Hit Russia in A Week' - A senior virologist warned on Tuesday that the swine flu outbreak could reach Russia in a week and said the risk of a global pandemic was "very high." No cases have been reported in Russia. A Russian woman who recently visited Mexico was hospitalized in Moscow on Monday night, but doctors said Tuesday that she did not have the swine flu virus.
Russia Disputes U.S. Claim Swine Flu Not Spread Through Meat

o  Russia bans import of “contagious” American pork, beef, poultry

o  Russia Expands Meat Ban - Russia has expanded the list of banned U.S. meat imports. In addition to U.S. pork, they have also banned U.S. beef and poultry from certain U.S. states.

o  Russia Bans U.S. Meat Amid Swine Flu Outbreak

o  Russian ban on AZ pork called political - Russia has banned pork imports from Arizona and a number of other states and all meat imports from Mexico, California, Texas and Kansas -- where cases of the swine flu have been confirmed.

o  Belarus intensifying border sanitary control over swine flu - According to the country’s Chief Sanitary Doctor Valentina Kachan, Belarusian specialists are monitoring the situation with the aim of preventing the penetration and spread in the Belarusian territory of the swine flu virus and are working out a system of measures to enhance the republic’s readiness for possible pandemic.

·  Russia-NATO Council to hold official meeting in Brussels - Russia-NATO Council is due to have an official meeting at the level of ambassadors here Wednesday, the first official conference after the conflict in South Caucasus last August when Russia had to launch a peace enforcement operation against Georgia in response to that country's armed punitive action in South Ossetia.

·  NATO to resume formal contacts with Russia - Diplomats say ambassadors from Russia and NATO's 28 member nations will discuss a possible meeting of foreign ministers next month. The talks are being held under the framework of the NATO-Russia Council, a panel set up to improve relations between the former Cold War foes.

·  Afghanistan is the key to Russia-NATO relations - The future of Afghanistan and the whole Central Asian region is on the agenda of Russia-NATO cooperation because stability in neighbouring Iran and Pakistan is under question.

·  Lavrov to take part in Arctic Council ministers meeting in Norway - Problems of climate change in the Arctic region will be discussed in the Norwegian city Tromso on Wednesday by participants in a meeting of the Arctic Council. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov heads the Russian delegation at the forum.

·  Global Wake-up Call from Tromsø - Moscow says the upcoming session will have special significance in conditions of a rapidly evolving Arctic situation owing to climate change and its consequences, greater international cooperation in the Arctic, and a sharp increase in attention to it in the world. Sergey Lavrov is also planning to submit the proposals of Russia on a number of new concrete projects of the Council. Later this year, in October, Lavrov invites his colleges from the Barents member countries to Murmansk for the Ministerial Barents Council meeting.

·  EBRD president arrives in Moscow for talks with Russian government - President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Thomas Mirow arrived in Moscow on Tuesday for talks with the Russian government on the eve of an annual bank’ s meeting due in London on May 15-16, the Prime Tass economic news agency cited the EBRD’s press release.

·  Lavrov Warns EU - Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned the European Union against meddling with former Soviet republics Tuesday

·  Lavrov, Solana discuss Iran’s nuclear program - EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks on leading international issues, including Iran’s peaceful nuclear program, in Luxembourg on Tuesday. The two sides also exchanged views on developments in the Middle East, Kosovo, Moldavia and disputed regions in Europe.

·  Russia urges closer EU cooperation on security - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged the EU Tuesday to work with Russia on a new European security project, insisting that the forum for Moscow's security ties with NATO needs revision.

·  Are EU-Russia Relations Stuck In A Loop? - The Czech foreign minister and current EU chairman, Karel Schwarzenberg, told journalists in Luxembourg after a morning of talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on April 28 that after a "very frank and open discussion," he has "better knowledge of the views [of] and prospects for cooperation" with Russia.

·  Russian, Ukrainian premiers to discuss energy in Moscow

·  Ukraine to offer Russia small pipeline deal - Ukraine will offer to revive a $350 million project with Russia to jointly build a new pipeline for Russian gas, Russian daily newspaper Kommersant reported today.

·  Ukraine to offer Russia $350 mln gas project – paper

·  Ukrainian premier to discuss cooperation issues in Moscow

·  Putin, Timoshenko May Agree Pipeline Overhaul, Kommersant Says

·  Ukraine to pay $270.95 for natural gas in Q2

·  Russia seeks Ukraine PM's assurances after gas rows

·  Greek PM Karamanlis, Putin phone talks on energy issues - Karamanlis noted the Greek side's desire to continue cooperating with Russia in the vitally important energy sector and his satisfaction with the progress of negotiations between Gazprom and Greece's DESFA (Hellenic Gas Transmission System Operator S.A.) for the Southstream natural gas pipeline.

·  President Medvedev: Bulgaria Relations Back on Track

·  Putin Strikes South Stream Deal With Sofia - As a result of the deal, Russia dropped its intention to use Bulgaria's existing pipelines to transit gas to Europe as part of South Stream, instead agreeing to consider other options, Putin and Stanishev said without naming them. Putin downplayed bilateral contentions in the matter.

·  Central Asia Water Talks Break Down - A rare Central Asia summit on how to share scarce water resources broke down in bitter disagreement on Tuesday after the region's five leaders failed to find any common ground in one of the world's driest regions.

·  Russian ship Admiral Panteleyev detains Somali pirates' boat

·  Russian Warship Captures 29 Pirates, Vessel Off Somali Coast

·  Russian destroyer captures 29 Somali pirates: reports

·  Russian destroyer detains about 30 Somali pirates

·  Meeting between Patriarch, Pope should not be result of opportunistic motives - Moscow Patriarchate

·  Criminal case instituted over killing of policeman in N Caucasus

·  Citizens of nine countries arrested in Dagestan for popularization of “nurculuk” Islam extremism

·  Russia has nearly 10,000 extremists, most are students – official

·  Gen Alexander Ivanov appointed acting Moscow police chief

·  New governors to be appointed by parties - Political parties will play a key role in the appointment of new governors, a decree from President Dmitry Medvedev states.

·  Medvedev gives go ahead for 'curfew' law for under 18s

·  Medvedev amends law on main guarantees of child’s rights

·  Site Owners Must Prove Identity - Internet regulators are cracking down on domain owners who publish illegal information on web sites by requiring them to provide their passports or another form of verifiable identification.

·  NTV Pulls Political Show - NTV television will shut down the political talk show "K Baryeru," hosted by prominent radio and television journalist Vladimir Solovyov, from May 1, Interfax reported Tuesday.

·  Conviction of Activist Who Protested Baptism of Tatar Infants Decried - Last Friday’s conviction in a Naberezhny Chelny court of a Tatar activist who had spoken out against the baptism of Tatar infants by a Russian Orthodox priest without the permission of their parents or guardians has sparked protests from the Tatar Social Center (TOTs) as well as from human and religious rights groups elsewhere.

·  WSJ: Kremlin Shows Rare Openness on Crash - When photos surfaced of a January helicopter crash in Siberia that appeared to involve government officials on an illegal hunt, wildlife campaigners assumed the Kremlin would hush up the incident.

·  Moscow tested by tensions in outer regions - The events underline the balancing act that characterises relations between Moscow and Russia's outlying regions spread across 11 time zones, which is being tested as the economy contracts this year for the first time in a decade and federal subsidies to places such as Dagestan face cuts.

National Economic Trends

·  Citigroup Revises Russia Economy Outlook to Contraction of 6.5%

·  Russian per capita income falls for first time in decade

·  Nomura: Russia - Deep recession without a crisis

·  Money supply drops 9.5% YoY in March

·  Russian tax cut stimulus equal to RUB600-700bn for 2009

Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions

·  Russian Stocks Rise, Snap Three-Day Drop; OGK-3, Gazprom Gain

·  Interest rate caps to turn VEB loans into "capital of last resort;" non-strategic businesses could see higher rates as a result

·  RBC Information Systems: Rosbank AM files $46mn suit against RBC shareholders

·  Energy Ministry on project delays; Mosenergo's missed 2009 earnings

·  Tariff Increases: Slowing Down?

·  Russia's OGK-3 told to sell Norilsk stake –paper

·  Audit Chamber suggests OGK-3 cancel its recent acquisition deals

·  Mosenergo Says Prices Are Unfair - Mosenergo, Gazprom's main electricity asset, will earn 1 billion rubles ($30 million) less than it planned this year because of "unfair" capacity pricing by state-controlled Market Council, making it difficult for the generator to build new stations, Denis Fyodorov, head of Gazprom's power assets, said on Tuesday.

·  Polymetal Acquires Mayskoye Gold Deposit From Highland Gold

·  Highland Gold Mining 2008 IFRS preview

·  Unilever Buys Buys Russian Sauces Business Baltimor

·  Unilever Buys Baltimor’s Sauces Business in Russia (Update1)

·  Sistema-Hals posts FY 2008 Net Loss of $381.1 million

·  Russia's Sistema Q4 net loss $713.9 mln

·  Sistema announces unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and the full year ended December 31, 2008

·  Acron posts FY 2008 Net Profit of 9.89 billion Roubles

·  Vimpelcom: Court Once More Rules Against Telenor

·  Two Russian companies included on world’s most expensive brands list

·  Cushman & Wakefield comment: High demand for Russian agricultural land - In spite of the current macroeconomic situation, we continue to see high demand for agricultural land in black earth regions of the Russian Federation, with foreign investment funds some of the most active of our clients.

·  INTERVIEW-Soviet toxic legacy still poisoning Russia

Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)

·  Russia to raise oil export duty from $110 to $137.7 per ton

·  Government to block private oil field development - Russia's Energy Ministry has sent to the government proposals on assigning oil fields to the state oil reserve. The ministry does not support the idea of making a reserve by accumulating the oil produced, because building and running storage facilities will cost too much.

·  Oil independents in play: Even at a premium to current share prices, independents offer majors cheap reserves

·  Cost of Ukraine's gas in 2Q09 to be $270.95 per 1,000 cubic meters

·  TNK-BP Partners to Extend Acting Chief Executive's Contract

·  TNK-BP expects toreport its annual USGAAP audited financial statements for 2008on 29April and its results for the 1st quarter of2009lateMay.

·  Kamennoye Progress Pleases TNK-BP

·  YUKOS unit wins $389 mln Dutch ruling vs Rosneft –paper

·  Tender for Shtokman power plant in Teriberka

·  Blocks Offered in Nenetsk Autonomous Area and Sakhalin Region

·  Oil company fires 1000 in Nenets AO

·  Kharyaga partners might have to cut spending

·  Eurasia Drilling reports 2008 results, EBITDA exceeds our expectations

·  COMMENT: Eurasian pipelines - a forecaster's nightmare: The world's leading experts who gathered at Columbia University's Harriman Institute for the conference, "The Architecture of Energy Export System of the Caucasus and Central Asia," believe that future uncertainties jeopardize western control of much of Eurasian energy.

·  Chris Weafer, Uralsib: Pipeline Politics

Gazprom

·  Agreement with Gazprom will be signed in May /ROUNDUP/ - Bulgargaz and Gazprom will sign the agreement on South Stream gas pipeline in the middle of May. This was announced after the end of the talks in Moscow.Bulgarian PM paid a three-day working visit to Moscow.

·  GDF Denies It Was in Talks To Buy Stake in Nord Stream

·  Hungarian EMFESZ to buy gas from RosGas instead of RosUkrEnergo: Hungarian-based gas and electricity supplier EMFESZ Kft has agreed to buy natural gas from RosGas, "a company in Gazprom's network of business interests," due to the problems its former supplier, Swiss-based gas trader RosUkrEnergo, is facing, EMFESZ said in a statement.

·  Gazprombank Reports 2008 Net Loss of 60.1 Billion Rubles

·  Russia's Gazprombank reports 2008 loss

------Full Text Articles

Basic Political Developments

SWINE FLU

Swine Flu 'May Hit Russia in A Week'

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/600/42/376673.htm

29 April 2009

By Maria Antonova and Alexandra Odynova / The Moscow Times

A senior virologist warned on Tuesday that the swine flu outbreak could reach Russia in a week and said the risk of a global pandemic was "very high."
But passengers greeted by mask-wearing health officials at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport brushed off concerns about swine flu, which has been linked to 149 deaths in Mexico and has been confirmed in the United States, Canada, Scotland, Spain and New Zealand.
The Agriculture Ministry expanded a ban on raw meat imports from the United States on Tuesday to include meat products carried in passengers' carry-on luggage and food served on planes and ships.
No cases have been reported in Russia. A Russian woman who recently visited Mexico was hospitalized in Moscow on Monday night, but doctors said Tuesday that she did not have the swine flu virus.
"The risk of a pandemic in the world is very high. It could reach Russia in a week," Dmitry Lvov, head of the Institute of Virology at the Russian Academy of Sciences, said at a news conference.
No vaccine is available for the virus, with scientists saying the earliest one will be ready will be in the fall. Lvov said people could protect themselves in the meantime by taking anti-viral drugs like Tamiflu.