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Basic Political Developments ITAR-TASS news digest of June 17: 1. o ST. PETERSBURG - - Official opening of the 15th St. Petersburg’s international economic forum will take place on Friday. The event is expected to feature over 10,000 participants, including countries’ leaders, ministers, businesses, scientists and reporters. o ST. PETERSBURG - - Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev will open St Petersburg international economic forum and will give a speech at the Emerging Leadership For A New Era. Securing Global Growth. Medvedev will speak about Russia’s investment climate, innovations and joining the WTO. o MOSCOW - - Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev will have meetings on the fields of St. Petersburg’s international economic forum with his counterparts from Spain, Kazakhstan, Finland and Sri Lanka, Presidential Aide Sergei Prikhodko told Itar-Tass. o ST. PETERSBURG - - Russia and France will sign on Friday on the fields of the St. Petersburg international economic forum a contract on supplies of two Mistral helicopter carriers. o KAZAN - - Tatarstan’s capital will host a meeting of the CIS Inter- Parliamentary Assembly on culture, information, tourism and sports. o TSKHINVAL - - Illegal activities of European observers, who make video recording of South Ossetia from Georgia’s territory, will be discussed by a trilateral meeting /Russia, South Ossetia, Georgia/ in the framework of the Mechanisms to prevent and react to incidents, which will be organised in Georgia’s Dvani village. o ST. PETERSBURG - - Russia’s national telecommunications company Rostelecom and a major producer of micro elements Sitronics signed an agreement on implementation of the Electronic Government project, where Sitronics will produce micro chips for banking cards. o MOSCOW - - Inflation in Russia between June 7 and 14 was nil, and over June it has made 0.1 percent, Rosstat reported on Thursday. From the beginning of the current year, inflation has reached 4.8 percent. The average daily growth of prices in June makes 0.006 percent. o ST. PETERSBURG - - Before the year end, Russia’s Sberbank will organise a venture fund and a joint bank with a foreign partner to finance start-ups, the bank’s CEO German Gref told reporters. o VLADIVOSTOK - - The deadlines to finish some APEC summit facilities are extended from late 2011 to the spring of 2012, the Primorsky Territory's Governor Sergei Darkin told a meeting in Vladivostok on Thursday. o CANBERRA - - The preservation of the ethnic-cultural space and the consolidation of relations of the Russian-speaking communities with their historic motherland are the main tasks facing the Council of Russian Compatriots, which has been created abroad, Igor Savitsky, a representative of the Russian Diaspora in Australia, told Itar-Tass. He is attending the fifth conference of Russian compatriots in the Asia-Pacific Region, which is going on in Canberra. o CANBERRA - - The creation of the Foundation for the Support and Protection of Rights of Compatriots Abroad is the key factor in the implementation of plans of the Russian government, aimed at helping Russian compatriots and upholding their interests, Alexander Safronov, deputy head of the Russian Foreign Ministry department for work with compatriots, said in an interview with Itar-Tass. o ST. PETERSBURG - - The Russian Central Bank forecasts 0.4 per cent inflation rate in June, Alexei Ulyukayev, First Deputy President of the central Bank, said in the lobby of the International Economic Forum in St.Petersburg. o MOSCOW - - Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Nikolai Makarov has flied to Germany for a working visit, press secretary of the defence minister Irina Kovalchuk told journalists on Friday. o ST. PETERSBURG - - Russia’s outflow of capital according to the results of 2011 will maintain at the level of 35 billion dollars, first deputy chairman of the Central Bank Ulyukayev said at the Petersburg international economic forum on Friday. o ST. PETERSBURG - - The Transaero Company and Air Gate of Northern Capital Company, which is the managing company of the Pulkovo airport, signed a memorandum on strategic cooperation at the International Economic Forum here on Friday. The document was signed by Transaero Director-General Olga Pleshakova and Air Gate Director-General Sergey Edmin. o ST. PETERSBURG - - In June, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) made foreign currency interventions to the sum of up to two billion dollars, first deputy chairman of the Central Bank Ulyukayev said at the Petersburg international economic forum on Friday. o ST. PETERSBURG - - Johnson and Johnson, one of the world’s biggest producers of cosmetics and medical supplies, and the Russian high- technologies centre Chemrar have agreed to develop cooperation. They signed a memorandum of understanding on Friday, within the framework of the International Economic Forum in St.Petersburg. o ST. PETERSBURG - - Negotiations on Russian gas price with China are proceeding as scheduled, head of Russia’s national gas utility Gazprom Alexei Miller said on Friday. o ST. PETERSBURG - - Russia’s national gas utility Gazprom plans to take part in a tender for the development of a border section of the Sakhalin 6 project, the head of the Russian subsoil use authority, Anatoly Ledovskikh, said on Friday. Russian DM, chief of AF General Staff leave for visit to Germany. - “During the working trip, Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov will visit the Centre of Combat Training of Land Forces of Germany in the settlement of Letzlingen, as well as the test centre of the company Rheinmettal Defence in the settlement of Unterluss,” the press secretary said. URGENT – Russia, US negotiate date of Obama’s visit in Moscow. - US President Barack Obama is expected to visit Moscow before the end of this year, Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Denisov told Itar-Tass on Friday. US wants no missile defense limitation treaty with Russia - The United States welcomes cooperation with Russia but will sign no agreements which would limit its missile defense options, Under Secretary of State Ellen Tauscher said. Russia to step up support for compatriots--FM. Iran, Russia to up anti-drug cooperation - Tehran and Moscow agreed to establish a joint intelligence team to exchange information and plan joint operations ST. PETERSBURG ECONOMIC FORUM o World recovery "slow and fragile" -- China's Hu o URGENT–Medvedev calls for dominating positions of private business. o Russia development scenario to be realized no matter who rules country- Medvedev. o Part of oil profits should be saved – Medvedev o Russia must reduce reliance on oil prices- Medvedev o Medvedev warns of period of stagnation in Russia o We are not building state capitalism – Medvedev o Russia must focus on development over stability - deputy PM o Gov't slammed for lack of competitive ability o Russian government should vest more power to regions - Prokhorov o Medvedev to talk investment climate and energy security at “Russian Davos” o St. Petersburg Economic Forum in full swing o Wall Street Heads to Petersburg Lured by Medvedev $30 Billion Asset Sales o Medvedev to meet with foreign counterparts during St Pete forum o St Peterburg’s Davos opens on Friday. o RF, France to ink 2 Mistral helicopter carriers contract St Petersburg o Russia, US to simplify visa regime o Poll: Corruption scares away investors from Russia o Armenian delegation led by Armen Gevorgyan is in St. Petersburg o Investors Cheer Visa, WTO Progress o Chubais suggests WTO-plus formula for RF’s relations with EU. o Backgrounder: St. Petersburg International Economic Forum Under WTO pressure Russia reduces ban on foreign vessels’ access to its internal waters RUSSIA-CHINA o Russia and China Team Up Against NATO Libya Campaign o Chinese President Hu Jintao meets Russian PM Putin o China, Russia vow to expand economic ties o New era for Sino-Russian ties o UPDATE 1-Gazprom says no China gas deal at Russia forum o SNAP ANALYSIS-China Russia gas deal still in the pipeline o Chinese to invest in construction of 3GW of power capacity in Siberia 27 Russian defense companies to take part in Le Bourget show CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly to open in Kazan. Trilateral meeting to discuss EU illegal activity in S Ossetia. Russian parliament to review the use of military base in Armenia Duma to consider border agreement between Russia and Azerbaijan Meeting in Moscow seeks substance in EU-Russia dialogue - Former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov hosted several prominent European and Russian leaders at a conference in Moscow on Thursday, aiming to set Russia on a more European track. Russia and Price - The time has come once again to consider the reason behind the current increase in fuel deficit in Mongolia and think over the measures that our government should take to avoid this crisis so as to depend less on the accompanied price inflation. For Mongolia, which imports its entire fuel supply from the Russian Federation, slightest fluctuations in the latter’s market, particularly changes involving the oil industry, have a major impact on our economy. Kaliningrad, Gomel regions to expand business contacts. Charges against Bout called “thin” State of emergency over forest fires imposed in one more district in Buryatia. o Wildfires sweep almost 1,000 ha of taiga in Far East Kamchatka volcano spews ash to 10,000 meters o Kamchatka volcano erupts in eastern Russia European space freighter to make final adjustment of ISS orbit Two attempts made to blow up gas pipeline in Dagestan, no damage. o Bomb on Azerbaijan-Russia gas pipeline defused Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater to reopen October 17 Russian Church agrees blue lights should be restricted Court leaves former Odintsovo prosecutor under arrest(adds). RIA Russian Press at a Glance, Friday, June 17, 2011 ITAR-TASS Russian press review Uzbekistan: Is Medvedev Nudging Karimov to Step Down? Major Russian political intrigue may be solved in September - Vladimir Putin has announced that the United Russia's congress will be held in early September, when it may finally be revealed whether or not the Prime Minister will run for the presidency in 2012. The frontline strainer - Yesterday the Federal Coordinating Council of the ONF held a meeting at the government building in Moscow, where Vladimir Putin once again clarified what the Popular Front is and what type of people it is looking for. A hotline opens for police applicants - The unscheduled certification of staff members of the police departments in the capital will be open to the public. Deadlines to finish some APEC summit facilities extended. Life in Sochi Ahead of the Olympic Games The mystery of Vladimir Putin's lawn 'Miss Moscow' contender Yana Lapikova focuses on Putin post
National Economic Trends Russia sees 2011 grain crop over 85mln tones RF’s inflation between 7 and 14 June is nil - Rosstat. Russia Central Bank forecasts 0 4 % inflation rate in June. Central Bank expects $35 bln capital outflow in 2011, $10 bln-$15 bln inflow in 2012
Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions Russian markets -- Factors to Watch on June 17 Gazprom, Sberbank May Move: Russian Equity Preview Russian banks - Looking ahead post 1Q11 results Kudrin: talks about cleansing Bank of Moscow bad assets premature. Sberbank to organise venture fund to finance start-ups - Gref. o Sberbank RAS net profit in 2011 may total 250 bln-270 bln rubles – Gref o Sberbank plans venture capital boost o Sberbank set for central role in privatization of Belarusian assets Russia's Uralkali won't buy Belaruskali –shareholder Sovcomflot privatization could be rolled back Rostelecom, Sitronics sign agreement on chips production. New head of Polyus Gold may be selected before end of June – Prokhorov RPT-Russia's Norilsk Nickel says 2010 net profit $5 bln o Norilsk Nickel 2010 net profit nearly $5.2 bln Federal Grid Company to release privatization plan by year end Johnson and Johnson, Chemrar to develop cooperation. Uralkali completes merger with Silvinit AVTOVAZ may be one of grounds to assemble Yo-mobiles -- Prokhorov. Russia: boosting private equity - By Ben Aris of Business New Europe
Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory) ECON MINISTRY PROPOSES MAINTAINING PROHIBITIVE EXPORT DUTY ON GASOLINE IN JULY – SLEPNEV Russia May Supply Oil to Ukraine’s Yuzhny Port, Kommersant Says Russian consortium to reassess reserves of Venezuelan oilfield TNK-BP Stake Could Sell Fortum And Lukoil Sign Agreement On Technology Collaboration Russia, Macedonia Speeding Up Cooperation As Part Of South Stream Lukoil, Sovcomflot Sign Marine Oil Supply Contract Gazprom Gazprom head says gas price talks with China proceed as scheduled. Gazprom fails to convince China; five-year wait continues Gazprom to Raise Gas Exports This Year, Miller Says Gazprom upsizes gas exports in January-May Gazprom boosts gas exports by 22 pct Jan-May - CEO Miller Gazprom Seeks LNG Deals Abroad That May Involve Asset Swaps Russia’s Gazprom to tender development of section in Sakhalin 6 project. Okhta Seeks More Incentives - Gazprom Neft is seeking incentives from the St. Petersburg government to cover the costs of relocating its personnel from Moscow.
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Basic Political Developments
11:47 17/06/2011ALL NEWS
ITAR-TASS news digest of June 17: 1. http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/166875.html 17/6 Tass 127 ST. PETERSBURG - - Official opening of the 15th St. Petersburg’s international economic forum will take place on Friday. The event is expected to feature over 10,000 participants, including countries’ leaders, ministers, businesses, scientists and reporters. The major topics of the forum will include investment climate, globalisation of the economy and global economic growth. Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev and China’s Chairman Hu Jintao will participate in the plenary session on Friday. ST. PETERSBURG - - Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev will open St Petersburg international economic forum and will give a speech at the Emerging Leadership For A New Era. Securing Global Growth. Medvedev will speak about Russia’s investment climate, innovations and joining the WTO. MOSCOW - - Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev will have meetings on the fields of St. Petersburg’s international economic forum with his counterparts from Spain, Kazakhstan, Finland and Sri Lanka, Presidential Aide Sergei Prikhodko told Itar-Tass. ST. PETERSBURG - - Russia and France will sign on Friday on the fields of the St. Petersburg international economic forum a contract on supplies of two Mistral helicopter carriers. The value of the contract is 1 billion 120 million euros, a source close to negotiations told Itar-Tass on Thursday. KAZAN - - Tatarstan’s capital will host a meeting of the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly on culture, information, tourism and sports. “Parliamentarians will discuss a project of unified information code for members of the Commonwealth of Independent States,” Chairman of Tatarstan’s State Council Farid Mukhametshin said. “The agenda includes bills on sports training, on techno parks, on cultural heritage objects, and issues of harmonisation and unifying of the CIS countries’ legislations.” TSKHINVAL - - Illegal activities of European observers, who make video recording of South Ossetia from Georgia’s territory, will be discussed by a trilateral meeting /Russia, South Ossetia, Georgia/ in the framework of the Mechanisms to prevent and react to incidents, which will be organised in Georgia’s Dvani village. ST. PETERSBURG - - Russia’s national telecommunications company Rostelecom and a major producer of micro elements Sitronics signed an agreement on implementation of the Electronic Government project, where Sitronics will produce micro chips for banking cards. MOSCOW - - Inflation in Russia between June 7 and 14 was nil, and over June it has made 0.1 percent, Rosstat reported on Thursday. From the beginning of the current year, inflation has reached 4.8 percent. The average daily growth of prices in June makes 0.006 percent. ST. PETERSBURG - - Before the year end, Russia’s Sberbank will organise a venture fund and a joint bank with a foreign partner to finance start-ups, the bank’s CEO German Gref told reporters. VLADIVOSTOK - - The deadlines to finish some APEC summit facilities are extended from late 2011 to the spring of 2012, the Primorsky Territory's Governor Sergei Darkin told a meeting in Vladivostok on Thursday. CANBERRA - - The preservation of the ethnic-cultural space and the consolidation of relations of the Russian-speaking communities with their historic motherland are the main tasks facing the Council of Russian Compatriots, which has been created abroad, Igor Savitsky, a representative of the Russian Diaspora in Australia, told Itar-Tass. He is attending the fifth conference of Russian compatriots in the Asia-Pacific Region, which is going on in Canberra. CANBERRA - - The creation of the Foundation for the Support and Protection of Rights of Compatriots Abroad is the key factor in the implementation of plans of the Russian government, aimed at helping Russian compatriots and upholding their interests, Alexander Safronov, deputy head of the Russian Foreign Ministry department for work with compatriots, said in an interview with Itar-Tass. ST. PETERSBURG - - The Russian Central Bank forecasts 0.4 per cent inflation rate in June, Alexei Ulyukayev, First Deputy President of the central Bank, said in the lobby of the International Economic Forum in St.Petersburg. MOSCOW - - Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Nikolai Makarov has flied to Germany for a working visit, press secretary of the defence minister Irina Kovalchuk told journalists on Friday. ST. PETERSBURG - - Russia’s outflow of capital according to the results of 2011 will maintain at the level of 35 billion dollars, first deputy chairman of the Central Bank Ulyukayev said at the Petersburg international economic forum on Friday. ST. PETERSBURG - - The Transaero Company and Air Gate of Northern Capital Company, which is the managing company of the Pulkovo airport, signed a memorandum on strategic cooperation at the International Economic Forum here on Friday. The document was signed by Transaero Director-General Olga Pleshakova and Air Gate Director-General Sergey Edmin. ST. PETERSBURG - - In June, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) made foreign currency interventions to the sum of up to two billion dollars, first deputy chairman of the Central Bank Ulyukayev said at the Petersburg international economic forum on Friday. ST. PETERSBURG - - Johnson and Johnson, one of the world’s biggest producers of cosmetics and medical supplies, and the Russian high-technologies centre Chemrar have agreed to develop cooperation. They signed a memorandum of understanding on Friday, within the framework of the International Economic Forum in St.Petersburg. ST. PETERSBURG - - Negotiations on Russian gas price with China are proceeding as scheduled, head of Russia’s national gas utility Gazprom Alexei Miller said on Friday. ST. PETERSBURG - - Russia’s national gas utility Gazprom plans to take part in a tender for the development of a border section of the Sakhalin 6 project, the head of the Russian subsoil use authority, Anatoly Ledovskikh, said on Friday. “Gazprom has not yet filed its tender bid, but it plans to do it,” Ledovskikh told journalists. However he did not specify when the tender is to be held, saying only its might take place this year. “There is no need to be in a hurry,” he said.
11:09 17/06/2011ALL NEWS
Russian DM, chief of AF General Staff leave for visit to Germany. http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/166825.html 17/6 Tass 96 MOSCOW, June 17 (Itar-Tass) —— Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Nikolai Makarov has flied to Germany for a working visit, press secretary of the defence minister Irina Kovalchuk told journalists on Friday. “During the working trip, Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov will visit the Centre of Combat Training of Land Forces of Germany in the settlement of Letzlingen, as well as the test centre of the company Rheinmettal Defence in the settlement of Unterluss,” the press secretary said. According to her, the company Rheinmettal Defence is the biggest producer of defence products in Europe. Part of the delegation, which is accompanying the defence minister, will visit the ammunition base of the German Armed Forces Schneeberg.
11:28 17/06/2011ALL NEWS
URGENT – Russia, US negotiate date of Obama’s visit in Moscow. http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/166847.html 17/6 Tass 143 ST. PETERSBURG, June 17 (Itar-Tass) —— US President Barack Obama is expected to visit Moscow before the end of this year, Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Denisov told Itar-Tass on Friday. “We are negotiating the date of a visit of the US president,” the diplomat said.
US wants no missile defense limitation treaty with Russia http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/06/17/51942237.html
Jun 17, 2011 09:26 Moscow Time The United States welcomes cooperation with Russia but will sign no agreements which would limit its missile defense options, Under Secretary of State Ellen Tauscher said. Washington, Mrs.Tauscher said, has demonstrated by showing Russia the technical characteristics of its missile defense systems that they pose no threat to the Russian strategic nuclear deterrent. The US under secretary of state for arms control said that missile defense cooperation was the best way to convince Russia that US’ and NATO’s missile defense options do not jeopardize its nuclear potential.
10:24 17/06/2011ALL NEWS
Russia to step up support for compatriots--FM. http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/166791.html 17/6 Tass 77 CANBERRA, June 17 (Itar-Tass) ——The creation of the Foundation for the Support and Protection of Rights of Compatriots Abroad is the key factor in the implementation of plans of the Russian government, aimed at helping Russian compatriots and upholding their interests, Alexander Safronov, deputy head of the Russian Foreign Ministry department for work with compatriots, said in an interview with Itar-Tass. He is attending the fifth conference of Russian compatriots in the Asia-Pacific Region, which is going on in Canberra. According to Safronov, “President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree on the creation of the Foundation late in May. It will uphold the interests of our compatriots living abroad. The Foundation will have broader opportunities and powers, than the Foreign Ministry. I think that since we took into consideration the opinion of all those who are interested in the implementation of that project, we shall be able to protect the lawful interests of our compatriots living in other countries. We shall be guided in our work not only by the Russian legislation, but also by international conventions and the laws of the countries, in which our compatriots are staying.” “I am happy to say that the main stage of the work for the creation of the Foundation is over, and we have started the putting of the initiative into effect,” Safronov stressed.
Iran, Russia to up anti-drug cooperation http://www.presstv.ir/detail/185054.html Fri Jun 17, 2011 6:4AM Iran and Russia have planned to expand mutual cooperation in the campaign against narcotics through joint anti-drug operations and intelligence sharing.
“Iran and Russia play a key role in the campaign against narcotics in the region, and therefore, we have made agreements with this country (Russia) and have also held various periodic meetings [with Russian officials,]” IRNA quoted Iran's Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar as saying on Thursday.
Mohammad-Najjar made the remarks at a press briefing on the sidelines of a meeting with visiting Director of the Russian Federal Drug Control Service Viktor Ivanov in the Iranian capital, Tehran.
The Iranian minister also noted that during the meeting, the two sides discussed “regional cooperation and joint collective operations,” which he described as “the effective way of fighting narcotics.”
Tehran and Moscow agreed to establish a joint intelligence team to exchange information and plan joint operations, he further said.
“The strategy of the Islamic Republic is to increase regional counternarcotics cooperation, especially with Russia, Afghanistan and Pakistan,” Mohammad-Najjar pointed out.
For his part, the Russian official said that the issue of information sharing and joint operations on the fight against drugs is the most important subject of an accord between Iran and Russia signed seven years ago.
Accurate exchange of information on people [involved in drug trafficking] and narcotics bands can be a way of seriously coping with the scourge in the region, Ivanov added.
Iran has a 900-kilometer (560-mile) common border with Afghanistan which accounts for 90 percent of the world's illicit opium and heroin production, the UN says.
However, according to the United Nations, Iran ranks first among all countries in shutting down drug routes into its territories.
The war on drug trade originating from Afghanistan has claimed the lives of nearly 3,700 Iranian police officers over the past 30 years.
Iran has spent more than USD 700 millions to seal the borders and prevent the transit of narcotics destined for European, Arab and Central Asian countries.
The Islamic Republic blames growing drug trafficking from Afghanistan to other parts of the world on foreign military presence in the war-ravaged country.
HJL/GHN/HRF
ST. PETERSBURG ECONOMIC FORUM
World recovery "slow and fragile" -- China's Hu http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/17/russia-china-hu-idUSWLA273120110617
4:11am EDT ST PETERSBURG, Russia, June 17 (Reuters) - The world economic recovery remains "slow and fragile", with the outlook uncertain, Chinese President Hu Jintao said on Friday in a major speech in Russia. Hu, addressing an economic forum in St Petersburg, also said it was vital to press ahead with reforms to the international financial system that would give emerging markets a greater say in financial governance. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard, Writing by Douglas Busvine)
12:18 17/06/2011ALL NEWS
URGENT–Medvedev calls for dominating positions of private business. http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/166942.html 17/6 Tass 165 ST. PETERSBURG, June 17 (Itar-Tass) —— Russian President Dmitry Medvedev stated that he has made a strategic choice in favour of stronger positions of private entrepreneurship in Russia. “Private entrepreneurship and private investors should dominate Russian economy. The state should protect the choice and property of those, who deliberately put at risk their money and reputation. We should give to them the right for a mistake and some opportunities for the drive and strivings. Moreover, a modern and stable infrastructure for the development of Russian economy should be created with the assistance of state-run companies,” Medvedev said at a plenary meeting of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum on Friday. The president laid out his vision of the strategy for Russian development.
12:09 17/06/2011ALL NEWS
Russia development scenario to be realized no matter who rules country- Medvedev. http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/166931.html 17/6 Tass 146 ST. PETERSBURG, June 17 (Itar-Tass) — Russia’s economic development scenario is to be realized regardless of who is at the helm of state, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday. “Today I will speak mainly about Russia, about positive changes Russia has achieved, about the type of economy my compatriots need, about my vision of the country in a number of years and about what I think is necessary to do,” Medvedev said at a plenary meeting of the Petersburg Economic Forum. “I will speak about the country’s development project, which is to come true through the joint effort of entire Russian society,” he said. In his words, no other projects can be implemented “unless society needs them.” “This project is to be implemented regardless of who takes which posts in the next few years,” the president stressed. “It is within the responsibility of myself as the president and of my colleagues who are in charge of the implementation of the modernization program.”
June 17, 2011 11:49
Part of oil profits should be saved – Medvedev http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=252416 ST. PETERSBURG. June 17 (Interfax) - The excessive spending of money as a result of extremely high oil prices is a "risky policy," said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. "We must live within our means by saving part of the profits from super high oil prices. The current excessive use of such 'easy money' as global inflation accelerates is a risky policy," the president told an economic forum in St. Petersburg. Such a policy will not allow interest rates to be reduced or investment activity to be sharply increased, Medvedev said. "One cannot always rely on high oil prices, let alone their continual growth," he said. "Reliance on current prices is not in line with our long-term goals," the Russian president said. kk jv (Our editorial staff can be reached at [email protected])
Russia must reduce reliance on oil prices- Medvedev http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/17/russia-forum-medvedev- idUSWEA645820110617
3:39am EDT ST PETERSBURG, Russia, June 17 (Reuters) - Russia must reduce its reliance on high oil prices and must press on with modernisation of its economy in the next few years, regardless of who is in charge, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday. He also said Russia must tackle corruption and must have effective governance. "We must not count all the time on high oil prices or on their constant growth," Medvedev told the St Petersburg International Investment Forum, Russia's answer to "Davos". "Yes, modernisation is difficult... But we don't have the right to wait." (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, Writing by Timothy Heritage, Editing by Douglas Busvine)
Medvedev warns of period of stagnation in Russia http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/17/russia-forum-president- idUSWEA650220110617
4:03am EDT ST PETERSBURG, Russia, June 17 (Reuters) - President Dmitry Medvedev warned on Friday that Russia could face a period of stagnation and cautioned against building a system of governance under one leader. In a speech likely to be seen as implying criticism of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Medvedev told the government to revise its "modest" privatisation plans by Aug. 1. He also said the domination of state companies was dangerous for Russia and senior state officials should leave the boards of state companies by the autumn. "The notorious stability could hide another period of stagnation," Medvedev told the St Petersburg International Investment Forum, Russia's answer to "Davos". "The (privatisation) plans are too modest ... The government will have to adjust its programme by Aug. 1." (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, Writing by Timothy Heritage, Editing by Douglas Busvine)
We are not building state capitalism – Medvedev http://rt.com/politics/medvedev-talk-climate-security/print/ Published: 17 June, 2011, 10:19 Edited: 17 June, 2011, 12:19 In his speech before the participants of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that Russia would support private property and entrepreneurship as the state regulation model has already depleted its potential. Speaking before the audience of world business and political leaders, President Medvedev said that integration into the global economy was the top priority of Russian authorities. Medvedev reminded of a saying popular among finance workers that markets are like parachutes, working only when they are open, and said that he expected the talks on Russia’s entry into the World Trade Organization to be completed this year if there are no political obstacles. At the same time, there is a limit to Russian readiness for compromise and if the partners continue to pressure Russia the deal may not take place, the Russian leader said.
Medvedev praised the transition to the multi-currency financial system and said that strengthening of new currencies makes the financial system more flexible and gives investors more tools and opportunities in their work.
The Russian president drew special attention to the general course that the Russian authorities were planning for country’s future – free competition and free market economy. “We are not building state capitalism,” Medvedev said. He added that at some point of its history Russia had to return to stronger regulation in the economy and admitted that this period was unavoidable. However, the Russian leader said that the potential of state involvement had depleted and the model with strong state regulation was becoming dangerous, as stabilization could easily turn into stagnation. “This is not my preference," Medvedev said. The Russian president said that the state must support private property and private entrepreneurship. For this, the state must offer legal protection of property rights, create working infrastructure that will help to develop the economy and also build a strong social system that will promote population growth, a higher level of education and longer and more productive working periods. More than 10,000 people, including heads of state, ministers, businessmen and scientists, are expected to participate in the event. A series of panel discussions at the forum will be dedicated the role of emerging economies in the post-crisis world.
Together with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, President Dmitry Medvedev will take part in a plenary session devoted to the investment climate in Russia and across the world.
According to presidential aide Arkady Dvorkovich, Medvedev will also take in a discussion about energy security, which will bring together heads of the world’s largest energy companies such as the president of Russia’s Lukoil, Vagit Alekperov, and BP CEO Robert Dudley.
Russia must focus on development over stability - deputy PM http://en.rian.ru/russia/20110617/164672412.html
11:39 17/06/2011
ST. PETERSBURG, June 17 (RIA Novosti) First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov called on Friday for the Russian leadership to focus on developing key institutions in the six years following the 2012 presidential elections. “We have been saying for many years that the leadership should maintain a certain level of stability; this we have in Russia,” Shuvalov said during a working breakfast at the St Petersburg Economic Forum. “Everything should be geared toward the fact that the country will have developed institutions by 2018.” Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has made efforts to push through a modernization drive during his term in office, while Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who was president for two terms from 2000-2008, has traditionally stressed the need for stability over reform. Neither of the two men have ruled out running in the forthcoming elections. Shuvalov hinted on Friday at an overhaul of the current leadership, saying that “many new faces” would enter government after the elections.
Gov't slammed for lack of competitive ability http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20110617113723.shtml RBC, 17.06.2011, St. Petersburg 11:37:23.Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin said that the government is not proactive enough in promoting competition and modern government institutions. Speaking at a meeting during the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, Kudrin said that government initiative is a major factor in making the country more competitive. "At present, the government is not focused enough on competition and institutions. The decisions taken over the last year or two represent a setback to the advantages we have". The fact that many companies are state-owned exerts an adverse impact on competition, he added. Two thirds of financing requests from next year's budget, which were submitted to the Finance Ministry by other ministries and government agencies, contain proposals to raise government financing of specific business sectors and even specific businesses. "If these proposals are implemented, this will make us even less competitive," he added.
Russian government should vest more power to regions - Prokhorov http://en.rian.ru/business/20110617/164672862.html
12:02 17/06/2011
ST. PETERSBURG, June 17 (RIA Novosti)
Russian businessman Mikhail Prokhorov called on Friday for a redistribution of powers between the federal government and regional administrations as the current model has been "exhausted."
"Our current model of governance was effective for the past ten years, but has now been exhausted," Prokhorov said during a working breakfast at the St Petersburg Economic Forum. "I think we need to redistribute powers among the federal center and the regions."
The businessman also named increased labor activity as an effective measure for diversifying Russia's economy away from its dependence on energy resources.
"An all-embracing increase in labor productivity should be a major priority," Prokhorov said. "This is the only condition we need to provide wealth to our citizens, instead of the redistribution of oil and gas revenues."
Prokhorov, the president of private investment fund Onexim Group, is Russia's third richest man with an estimated wealth of $18 billion. He has recently taken interest in politics and will be confirmed as the leader of pro-Kremlin Right Cause political party on June 25.
The Right Cause was founded in late 2008 as a merger of the liberal Union of Rightist Forces, Civic Power, and the Democratic Party of Russia and is widely seen as a Kremlin project to create a semblance of a multi-party political system in Russia. Medvedev to talk investment climate and energy security at “Russian Davos” http://rt.com/politics/medvedev-talk-climate-security/print/
Published: 17 June, 2011, 10:19 Edited: 17 June, 2011, 10:47 President Dmitry Medvedev is in St. Petersburg to open the 15th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which will focus on the investment climate and global economic growth. More than 10,000 people, including heads of state, ministers, businessmen and scientists, are expected to participate in the event. A series of panel discussions at the forum will be dedicated the role of emerging economies in the post-crisis world.
Together with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, President Dmitry Medvedev will take part in a plenary session devoted to the investment climate in Russia and across the world.
According to presidential aide Arkady Dvorkovich, Medvedev will also take in a discussion about energy security, which will bring together heads of the world’s largest energy companies such as the president of Russia’s Lukoil, Vagit Alekperov, and BP CEO Robert Dudley.
St. Petersburg Economic Forum in full swing http://rt.com/news/petersburg-economic-forum-russia/ Published: 17 June, 2011, 09:14 Edited: 17 June, 2011, 10:23 Top business executives, global innovators and world leaders all gathered together to debate how best to move forward economically and environmentally on various levels. This year, the big players at the forum are China and host-nation Russia. The supply of energy will remain at the very center of Russian-Chinese relations. The countries hope to hammer out gas deals worth billions of dollars, having moved to St. Petersburg, for the city's International Economic Forum. Russia and China are seen as looming large at the forum because, while the euro and dollar are struggling severely, these two countries are not only developing separately, but dynamically in their bilateral co-operation. Recent statements from both sides say that Russia and China have not only overcome the consequences of the economic crisis of 2009, but they have achieved record levels of prosperity. That allows them to set ambitious task to further intensify bilateral trade and co-operation. Russia and China see eye to eye – and very differently from the West – when it comes to various issues on the world stage. Both had their reservations about the UN resolution on Libya, both are expected to oppose strongly any kind of intervention in Syria. And both countries are going to encourage other leaders at the forum to deal with the Arab uprisings through only lawful and peaceful means. Presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Hu Jintao met in Moscow before coming to the forum, and discussed how China and Russia believe that the UN has to play bigger role on the world stage. The two presidents have already met twice this year, and they are going to meet at least twice more before the end of the year. They both will be giving speeches at this year’s International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg.
Wall Street Heads to Petersburg Lured by Medvedev $30 Billion Asset Sales http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-16/wall-street-heads-to-russia-lured-by-30- billion-asset-sales.html
By Jason Corcoran and Scott Rose - Jun 17, 2011 12:00 AM GMT+0200 Wall Street is headed to Russia as President Dmitry Medvedev tries to lure investors with state asset sales and revive the allure of the slowest-growing economy among the major emerging nations this year. Citigroup Inc.’s Vikram Pandit, Bank of America Corp.’s Brian T. Moynihan, Blackstone Group’s Stephen Schwarzman and Deutsche Bank AG’s Josef Ackermann are among the bankers circling St. Petersburg for the annual economic forum. Medvedev is trying to combat Russia’s reputation as the world’s most corrupt major economy amid investor uncertainty about the future of his ruling tandem with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The president will use the showcase to counter concern about Russia’s investment climate by unveiling a $10 billion sovereign fund to stimulate domestic private equity and a move to expand a $30 billion asset sale program. The plan to auction off company holdings will be the “thrust” of the president’s speech, Arkady Dvorkovich, his economic adviser, said June 15. “They remain skeptical but are at least willing to sit down at the table because he keeps talking the talk they want to hear,” Bernie Sucher, a board member of Aton Capital and the former country head of Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Russia, said by phone from St. Petersburg on June 15.
Citigroup, Goldman Banks including Citigroup and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are boosting their Russia headcount even as investors pause to see who will be in charge. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Jamie Dimon, Citigroup’s Pandit and Goldman’s Lloyd Blankfein are among a panel of 27 advising the Kremlin on how to turn Moscow into a global financial center. The central bank on June 14 picked Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse Group AG and Troika Dialog to manage a sale of part of its stake in OAO Sberbank, the country’s largest lender, in a transaction worth as much as $7 billion. The government also has shortlisted Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank to manage an IPO of OAO Sovcomflot, Russia’s biggest shipper. Last year was the biggest for Russian mergers and acquisitions since 2007, helped by 96 deals worth $50.9 billion in the fourth quarter alone, Bloomberg data show. Russia has seen deals worth $36 billion in the first half, up from $26 billion for the same period a year earlier.
Changing Landscape “A large part of why these banks are coming to St. Petersburg is because of this M&A and privatization business,” said Clemens Grafe, chief economist for Goldman Sachs in Russia. “The old corporate landscape is changing. Russian international corporations like Rosneft want to integrate with the West.” The authorities plan to raise $30 billion by 2015 from the sales, helping to improve corporate governance and replenish state coffers, Economy Minister Elvira Nabiullina has said. OAO TransContainer, a unit of Russia’s rail monopoly, was the last state-owned company to hold an IPO, raising about $400 million in November 2010. Russia’s economy needs a “multifold” increase in investment to be modernized, Medvedev said March 30 while unveiling his 10-point program to make the nation more attractive to investors. The measures included removing senior officials from the boards of state companies they oversee, approving a state-asset sale program for the next three years and proposing a law on minority shareholders’ right to information.
‘Big Stuff’ “This is big stuff,” Liam Halligan, the chief economist at Prosperity Capital Management in London, which oversees more than $5 billion in Russia and the CIS region, said in an interview. “You’ve now got very senior people in the government stepping down from running multibillion-dollar companies. That should be seen pretty positively.” Even so, Medvedev, who has called Russia’s reliance on oil “humiliating,” said the investment climate remains “very bad.” The nation’s failure to stop corruption and diversify the economy means it needs $200 a barrel oil to match the economic growth of China and India, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former billionaire jailed since 2003, said in written answers to questions relayed through his lawyers. Khodorkovsky said his case should remind global business leaders gathering in St. Petersburg that no one is safe from extortion. Graft threatens the foreign investment Medvedev to help boost growth to as much as 10 percent, he said.
Market Correction Russia’s 30-stock Micex Index has dropped 7.9 percent so far this quarter and was the first among benchmark measures in the world’s 20 largest equity markets to fall at least 10 percent from a recent peak, the common definition of a correction, since mid-March. Russia may have total net outflows of $30 billion to $35 billion for 2011, roughly equal to the $35.3 billion of capital that left last year, central bank First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said May 31. Investors pulled $353 million from Russian stock funds in the week to May 18, the biggest outflow since 2006, EPFR Global data show. Political uncertainty is “part of the reason, but I think it’s more complicated than that,” Roland Nash, chief investment strategist at Verno Capital, said June 10 in a telephone interview. “There’s the general business environment.” Putin, 58, chose Medvedev, a 45-year-old lawyer from his hometown of St. Petersburg, as his successor in 2008 because of a ban on serving three consecutive terms. Neither Medvedev nor Putin has ruled out running for president in 2012. “Russia is far from a perfect place to do business but there is plenty of easy money to be made for global banks involved in big deals and privatizations,” Michael Kart, a managing partner at Moscow-based investment company Spectrum Partners Ltd., said in e-mailed comments. “It’s a matter of holding your nerve.” To contact the reporters on this story: Jason Corcoran in St. Petersburg at [email protected] Scott Rose in St. Petersburg at [email protected]. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at [email protected]; Balazs Penz at [email protected].
02:49 17/06/2011Top News
Medvedev to meet with foreign counterparts during St Pete forum http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c32/166653.html MOSCOW, June 17 (Itar-Tass) —— Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev will have meetings on the fields of St. Petersburg’s international economic forum with his counterparts from Spain, Kazakhstan, Finland and Sri Lanka, Presidential Aide Sergei Prikhodko told Itar-Tass. “ This year’s guest of honour of the St. Petersburg’s international economic forum is Spain,” Prikhodko said. “Spain’s Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero heads the delegation of his country.” “This visit – in the framework of the exchange of years of Russia and Spain – will give an impetus to development of trade and economic, investment and innovative cooperation between our countries,” he said. “The base for this work was made back in December 2010 as in the framework of the Partnership for Modernisation the two countries signed a joint protocol on cooperation.” “Besides, a big delegation of Spain’s businesses came to the opening of the Years to St. Petersburg,” he added. Medvedev will have meetings with Zapatero and with businesses of the two countries. “Most of Spain’s businesses visited St. Petersburg in last February and now they have come to improve connections with their Russian counterparts, to achieve new mutually advantageous agreements,” he said. “The meeting of the two leaders will discuss future improvement of the Russia-Spain relations and a wide range of international agenda issues.” Development of oil and gas deposits in Sri Lanka is a major topic for a meeting of Russia’s president with his counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa. “This will be the second meeting of the two leaders, as last February Mahinda Rajapaksa came to Russia on a working visit,” Prikhodko said. “ The upcoming meeting’s agenda includes review of the bilateral trade and economic relations /trade turnover in 2010 reached 423 million dollars/, and participation of Russian companies in major infrastructures projects, in construction of new energy plants, in exploration and production of oil and gas deposits off shore Sri Lanka,” he said. “The sides will exchange views on up-to-date international problems and issues of bilateral cooperation in the framework of international organisations, for example, they will discuss cooperation in fighting terrorism and drugs in the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation /in 2010, Sri Lanka obtained a status of observer of the dialogue/.” It will be for the first time that Sri Lanka’s president will participate in the forum. His delegation includes foreign minister, minister of international financial cooperation, head of the central bank and five representatives of the country’s major businesses. Medvedev will continue bilateral meetings on Saturday. Finland’s President Tarja Halonen will come to Russia on a working visit and will speak at the final plenary session of the XV St. Petersburg international economic forum. “ During their meeting, the two presidents will exchange views on vital international issues, including strengthening of the dialogue between Russia and the EU and NATO, on the UN platform and in regional structures in Northern Europe,” Prikhodko said. The agenda of the two leaders includes “discussion of bilateral relations in key spheres of trade and economic cooperation, like shipbuilding, energy, forest industry.” “In 2010, trade turnover made 16.75 billion dollars /by 27.7 percent more against 2009/,” Russia’s presidential administration reports. “There are major Russian-Finnish projects – in past November the two countries signed a memorandum between the Skolkovo Foundation and the Nokia Concern, in December high speed trains started serving the St. Petersburg-Helsinki route.” Presidents of Russia and Kazakhstan will have a second meeting over the current week. “The meeting will continue the intensive – in the mood of strategic partnership and union relations between the two countries – political dialogue between Dmitry Medvedev and Nursultan Nazarbayev on a series of bilateral issues and on international and regional cooperation,” Prikhodko said. “In this context, they will pay special attention to implementation of the agreements, achieved over the working visit of Kazakhstan’s president to Russia in March and those achieved over the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation on June 14-15 in Astana.” The two leaders will discuss “traditionally important topics, which are the basis of the Russia-Kazakhstan cooperation – in the space sphere they will discuss effective use of the Baikonur complex, in energy they will discuss further development of the two countries’ fuel and energy complexes, development of new deposits, as well as issues of peaceful use of nuclear energy in the framework of implementation of the Complex programme for cooperation in the nuclear sphere, which was inked in March,” Prikhodko said. “It is planned that the presidents will discuss cooperation in transport, and a promising project of an international corridor Western China – Europe, as well as humanitarian cooperation, especially in education.” “Of course, Medvedev and Nazarbayev will exchange views on preparations for the 8th Russia-Kazakhstan Forum on Regional Cooperation, due in Astrakhan in September,” he concluded.
00:48 17/06/2011ALL NEWS
St Peterburg’s Davos opens on Friday. http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/166634.html 17/6 Tass 2 ST. PETERSBURG, June 17 (Itar-Tass) —— Official opening of the 15th St. Petersburg’s international economic forum will take place on Friday. The event is expected to feature over 10,000 participants, including countries’ leaders, ministers, businesses, scientists and reporters. The major topics of the forum will include investment climate, globalisation of the economy and global economic growth. Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev and China’s Chairman Hu Jintao will participate in the plenary session on Friday. The forum will discuss not only Russia’s business potential, another topic would be devoted to the growing role of emerging countries in formation of the post-crisis world’s economic space. This topic will be discussed over several sessions. One of them will be devoted to currencies of the BRICS countries – how emerging markets influence the world financial system. Russia’s Presidential Aide Arkady Dvorkovich said that Russia’s president will take part in Friday’s discussions about new ways to achieve energy security. Ministers, leaders of international energy companies, including LUKOIL’ s Vagit Alikperov, BP’s Robert Dudley, Rosneft’s Eduard Khudainatov, will discuss changes in the structure of demand for energy resources, new technologies, strategies in exploration, production, processing and selling. The forum will feature Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency Nobuo Tanaka. On Friday, Medvedev will present the Global Energy international prize. This year’s winners are Russia’s academician Philipp Rutberg – for fundamental research, and design of energy plasma technologies, and the USA’s Arthur Rosenfeld – for outstanding research and implementation of energy saving technologies. On the same day, Russia’s president will have dialogue with Russian and foreign businesses, bilateral meetings with foreign countries’ leaders, who have come to participate in the forum. On the fields of the forum, there will be a special meeting devoted to organisation of Russia’s fund of direct investments. Dvorkovich said that the future fund is forming up its team and prepares necessary documents. “At this stage, the most important thing is to collect a team of professionals, who will manage the fund, and this is what we are doing now. This will be an international team,” he said. Kirill Dmitriyev will be the fund’s director general, Dvorkovich added. On the closing day of the forum, June 18, participants will take part in a discussion devoted to Russia’s chairing role at the APEC forum. Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov will present a report on preparations for the APEC-2012 summit, which will be organised in the Russky Island in the Far East. Implementation of private companies’ research in production of major defence industrial corporations will be on the agenda of a roundtable devoted to international cooperation in defence industry. The forum’s final plenary session will be Managing Fault Lines And Avoiding Future Crises. The session will feature Dmitry Medvedev, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Finland’s President Tarja Halonen and Spain’s Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. Weather forecasters say that during the forum, the temperature in St. Petersburg will not be above 19 degrees. Hopefully, showers will not disappoint the investment climate of the event.
03:40 17/06/2011Top News
RF, France to ink 2 Mistral helicopter carriers contract St Petersburg http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c32/166660.html ST. PETERSBURG, June 17 (Itar-Tass) —— Russia and France will sign on Friday on the fields of the St. Petersburg international economic forum a contract on supplies of two Mistral helicopter carriers. The value of the contract is 1 billion 120 million euros, a source close to negotiations told Itar-Tass on Thursday. "Of this amount, 980 million will be spent on the construction of ships’ hulls, and the remaining amount includes the cost of crew training, adaptation of documentation and licenses for three technologies, including the SENIT-9." The source explained that under the contract the first two ships will be built at shipyards of the DCNS French shipbuilding corporation in Saint-Nazaire. "A total of 24 blocks for these ships will be built at Russian shipyards and transported to France," the source added. He explained that Rosoboronexport and the DCNS had agreed to build two more helicopter carriers Mistral at Russian shipyards. "If the Defense Ministry decides on a third and fourth ship by the end of this year, its price will be fixed, if not, then most likely the ship will cost more," he said. As Itar-Tass previously reported, the contract for the purchase of two helicopter carriers Mistral may be signed on June 17 on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum. The universal amphibious assault ship Mistral is designed to transport troops and cargos, land assault forces and be used as a command ship. Its displacement is over 20 thousand tonnes, hull length - 210 meters and full speed, over 18 knots. Its maximum fuel endurance is 20 thousand miles. The helicopter carrier is capable of accommodating up to 450 troops. The helicopter group includes 16 aircraft, six of which can be simultaneously placed on the flight deck. The ship has four light landing craft and two hovercraft. Mistral ships are already in service in the French Navy. In particular, they are involved in NATO’s naval blockade of Libya. As Russia's Defense Ministry said previously, it is estimated that at least one Mistral ship will be used in the Pacific Fleet and the other one - in the Northern Fleet.
Russia, US to simplify visa regime http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/06/16/51930058.html
Jun 16, 2011 21:08 Moscow Time Russia and the United States plan to significantly simplify visa regime, US Ambassador to Russia John Byerly told a St.Petersburg news conference on Thursday. An array of agreements to this effect will be clinched by the end of this summer, Byerly explained, adding that Russian businessmen will soon be able to get 3-year visas without going through red tape hurdles. Also in the pipeline are plans for issuing 12-month visas for official delegations, Byerly added.
Poll: Corruption scares away investors from Russia http://www.kyivpost.com/news/russia/detail/106940/
Today at 09:28 | Interfax-Ukraine St.Petersburg, June 17 (Interfax) - High corruption is the main barrier slowing investment in the Russian economy, leading Russian and foreign businessmen said in a poll, held at a business lunch, organized by Sberbank during the St.Petersburg International Investment Forum.
The issue discussed was whether becoming competitive was a feasible mission for Russia.
The business lunch brought together key representatives of the economic block in the Russian government, among them First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov and Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin. The participants were asked to select one of the six listed reasons for Russia's hampered economic development.
More than 45% of the businessmen cited high corruption and, second, low competition.
Some 17% of the businessmen polled quoted this particular factor as a serious barrier for their operations in Russia. Among other reasons cited was poor quality of state governance, a remark that made Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin laugh.
Sixty-nine percent of businessmen said Russia was in need of a reform of the judiciary and fight against corruption, followed by the need for the government to enter the formation of an innovative eco-system on the list of its priorities, a new recommendation on the part of the business community.
Members of the Russian government were welcome to take part in the poll and probably did.
Read more: http://www.kyivpost.com/news/russia/detail/106940/#ixzz1PVxUYooc
Armenian delegation led by Armen Gevorgyan is in St. Petersburg http://times.am/2011/06/17/armenian-delegation-led-by-armen-gevorgyan-is-in-st- petersburg/ By Times.am at 17 June, 2011, 11:42 am Delegation led by RA Minister of Territorial Administration Armen Gevorgyan will participate in the 15th international economical conference in Saint Petersburg. Deputy Minister of Economics of RA Ara Petrosyan, member of the Central Bank council Armenak Darbinyan are in the delegation. The conference is held by the favor by Russian President and political activists, businessmen, scientists, experts will attend it. The urgent issues from all over the world will be discussed. The main themes of the conference are the economical increase, the perspectives of technical adnavtage and the foundation of creative capital in Russia. /Times.am/
Investors Cheer Visa, WTO Progress http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/investors-cheer-visa-wto- progress/439003.html
17 June 2011 By Howard Amos, Irina Filatova and Nikolaus von Twickel ST. PETERSBURG — In a significant easing of visa rules, U.S. and Russian citizens will soon be able to secure three-year multiple-entry visas and will not need to secure visa invitations, U.S. Ambassador John Beyrle said Thursday. Beyrle’s announcement and buoyant optimism about Russia joining the World Trade Organization this year gave investors much to cheer about at the opening of the three-day St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Beyrle won spontaneous applause when he announced at a Russia-U.S. business session that the major travel liberalization between both countries was just three weeks away. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will sign an agreement giving tourists and business travelers from both countries the three-year multiple-entry visas “as a general rule,” Beyrle said. He acknowledged that existing hassles for obtaining visas were “the most pervasive barriers” for business and said the liberalization would have “a huge impact on a more active economic relationship.” He also promised that the agreement was just the start. “Three years is just the first step,” he said. Speaking in a room packed with corporate leaders from both countries, Beyrle called for the much-praised U.S.-Russian “reset” initiated by President Barack Obama to be extended from politics into business to “unleash the flows and reduce the barriers.” He said the political achievements of Presidents Obama and Dmitry Medvedev have not been reflected in business ties. The relationship, he said, must be founded on “solid and sustainable commercial and economic ties” — “that shock absorber that helps us ride out some of the political ups and downs.” He noted that U.S.-Russian trade figures were still dismal, with $32 billion in turnover in 2010 representing just 1 percent of U.S. worldwide trade and U.S. direct investment in Russia making up only 0.5 percent the country’s worldwide investments. Beyrle was also blunt about shortcomings in Russia’s economic development. Last year’s 4.4 percent growth was “wonderful for some, but Russia should aspire to better,” he said, adding that there were some “alarming indicators” like the fact that this year’s capital outflows already stand around $30 billion. Those figures, reported recently by the Central Bank, indicate that “things are not moving in the direction in which we need them to go,” he said. The ambassador also said that fighting corruption remains “Job No. 1” and praised recent reforms like legislation that criminalizes bribes for foreign officials and cracks down on online auctions for state procurements. But he suggested that private-sector initiative was more important. “Bureaucracies are bureaucracies, businesses get things done,” he said. Beyrle also quipped that he had failed to persuade forum organizers to hold an anti- corruption seminar. Turning to the WTO, Beyrle stressed that it was a key priority for the Obama administration to get Moscow into the organization by the end of the year. He said that accession talks were in their final stages and that the next few days would “help us get very, very close to the finish line.” Dmitry Pumpyansky, CEO of steel pipe maker TMK, pointed out that the Jackson-Vanik amendment would have to be repealed first. The Obama administration has promised to press Congress to annul the Cold War-era trade restrictions. Beyrle also picked up on the idea of a bilateral investment treaty, promoted by billionaire Viktor Vekselberg. “We agree that Russia and the United States need a bilateral investment treaty, which we see on the horizon,” he said, but added that the WTO came first. Vekselberg, who initially chaired the Thursday’s panel, expressed open frustration at U.S.-Russian business ties. “Despite the huge potential, we are at a low level,” he said. Severstal owner Alexei Mordashov noted that at 17 years, Moscow has beaten Beijing’s 14-year wait to join the WTO. China joined in 2001. Mordashov said China was an encouraging example for Russia because it experienced a huge inflow of direct foreign investment after accession. Russia is “technically ready to join to WTO” and “there are almost no unsolved questions,” he added, blaming new barriers that arise from time to time for hampering the process despite the two countries’ “great will” to complete it. WTO membership was also enthusiastically endorsed by Rusnano chief Anatoly Chubais. The liberal architect of 1990s privatizations told a separate panel devoted to ties with Europe that WTO entry would open the door to much closer trade ties with Europe. Chubais charted a three-step scenario to a wide-ranging free trade agreement with the European Union, which Russia has had many trade spats with in the past. The first stage — unveiled by President Dmitry Medvedev at last week’s Russia-EU summit in Nizhny Novgorod — would be to remove all remaining obstacles to WTO membership within one month — and failure to meet the deadline would mean that Russia could not join by December, Chubais said. “That’s the schedule that we actively support,” he said. Once WTO membership is accomplished, Moscow and Brussels could proceed with a visa facilitation agreement in 2012 as the second step and then sign a new partnership and cooperation agreement by 2013 or 2014. Chubais said European and Russian business leaders supported the three-step plan. While European investors said they approved of the plan, some said they hoped for more political predictability. Carlsberg CEO Jorgen Buhl Rasmussen called upon the government to ensure a dialogue with businesses and to “create a more predictable environment.” Rasmussen recalled that the Danish beer giant was caught off guard when the government last year increased the beer tax, resulting in a 25 percent jump in consumer prices. “Surprises are always difficult to handle,” he said. Deputy Economic Development Minister Alexei Likhachyov sought to dismiss concerns that Russia’s customs union with Belarus and Kazakhstan might hamper WTO accession. An agreement will be signed shortly that stipulates the dominance of WTO rules over the customs union rules, he told the panel. Kazakh Economic Development Minister Kairat Kalimbetov said WTO accession would “eliminate the last questions about the transparency of Russia’s and Kazakhstan’s economies.” Among the forum’s more colorful participants was Anna Chapman. The red-haired former spy was spotted by a reporter Thursday outside the Russia-EU round table wearing a tight marine-colored silk dress, and said she was attending as editor of her new Venture Business News monthly. “I came to meet with people I know,” Chapman told The Moscow Times, adding that she was going to write a story for her newspaper. Chapman added that she was still working as an aide to the president of FundServiceBank, a job she has held since October.
06:52 17/06/2011ALL NEWS
Chubais suggests WTO-plus formula for RF’s relations with EU. http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/166694.html 17/6 Tass 355a ST. PETERSBURG, June 17 (Itar-Tass) —— Before 2014 Russia and the European Union may achieve a qualitatively new level of cooperation and integration on the basis of WTO-plus principle. This would require three stages of business development, Head of Rusnano Anatoly Chubais told the St. Petersburg international economic forum on Thursday. Share of the EU in Russia’s trade is over 50 percent, he said, and trade turnover is over 300 billion dollars. Chubais addressed the audience with a suggestion to “fix tasks for the future.” The first stage, he continued, should be limited by 2011 and should be finished by Russia’s joining the WTO. “It is necessary to observe the one-month’s period, as the president said, to solve all minor issues” in relations between Russia and the EU regarding the WTO, he said. “This is important politically, because then in December the WTO ministerial meeting may adopt a decision on Russia’s joining.” The second stage should cover 2012. “During that period there will be two problems to solve: first is tactically easier visa formalities, which would let strategically refuse from visas, and the second one – improving the structure of the new RF-EU basic agreement, which should replace the out-of-date old one,” he said. “The new agreement should be prepared already now on the basis of Russia’s joining the WTO, and it should include investment issues and issues of technical regulations outside of the WTO.” This means approaching the WTO-plus logics in relations between RF and EU, Chubais said. During the third stage – to 2014 – Russia and the European Union should sign a “legally binding agreement” in the WTO-plus logics, he said.
Backgrounder: St. Petersburg International Economic Forum http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90777/90853/7413002.html
11:40, June 17, 2011 More than 4,000 delegates are arriving in Russia's second largest city to attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), which opens Thursday.
It will be the 15th edition of the annual event, which includes plenary sessions, round- tables, exhibitions and presentations. Participants include heads of state and government, CEOs and CFOs of big and small businesses, and scholars and researchers from the world's renowned institutions.
Starting as an annual summit for Commonwealth of Independent States and held in June, the forum has developed into a full-fledged international event which has come to be known as the "Russian Davos." This year's event is presided over by Russian Minister for Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina.
In 2010, 2,142 foreign and 2,066 local delegates from 87 countries and regions participated in the forum.
Media representatives from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Britain, China, Finland, France, Germany, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Nigeria, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine and the United States also attended.
In 2009, 2,514 people representing 73 countries and regions took part, with media from 28 countries represented.
In 2007, well over 8,000 representatives from 76 countries and regions participated in the forum, during which Russia and China signed 18 cooperation agreements totalling over 1 billion U.S. dollars. The previous year witnessed a change of forum venue to the current LenExpo Exhibition Center to cater for a bigger and better plenary session and round-table facilities.
In 2005, some 1,800 people took part in the St. Petersburg forum.
More than 3,000 people from 50 countries and regions were present at the 2004 forum and 2,500 people attended the previous year's forum, representing 48 countries and regions.
In 2002, 40 countries and regions sent some 2,000 people to attend the St. Petersburg forum while in 2001, the forum was officially recognized as the primary economic conference among the CIS states.
In 2000, 2,200 people from 57 countries and regions took part, while the 1999 forum was remembered for the presentation of the Russian inter-regional associations for economic interaction.
In 1998, 2,600 people attended the forum to sign a total of 52 agreements of cooperation and investment totalling 1 billion dollars.
The year of 1997 was the inaugural year for the forum, which was held as an inter- parliamentary consultation among the CIS states. A total of 1,500 people representing 50 countries and regions were present.
Source: Xinhua
Under WTO pressure Russia reduces ban on foreign vessels’ access to its internal waters http://abc.az/eng/news_17_06_2011_55137.html 17.06.2011 12:47 Baku, Fineko/abc.az. Russia is considering the issue of simplifying or liquidation of the process of permissions for use of inland water by vessels under foreign flags. In Baku during the 1st International Transport Conference Russian transport minister Igor Levitin has said that Russia expects to simplify the rules of the passage via the Volga- Don canal, within which it is considering the issue of simplifying or even eliminating the permission procedure. The minister did not mention the timing of liquidation. "At present, transshipment capacity is 11 million tons, and Russia has been upgrading the canal to increase this figure. These measures are quite expensive, but nevertheless, we consider them real. Currently, there are also problems of the passage of vessels under foreign flags - entrance for them into internal routes of Russia is closed, and in order to open for them the routes, it is necessary to work out customs and border procedures. Now this is a problem and we are working to tackle it,” he said. He said that liquidation of the permitting system will be possible after Russia lifts the ban for ships under foreign flags. He pointed out that there would be applied no permissions and ships would undergo only procedures to be carried out formally. Russia is discussing this issue with the EU within the accession to the WTO.
RUSSIA-CHINA
Russia and China Team Up Against NATO Libya Campaign http://blogs.forbes.com/kenrapoza/2011/06/17/russia-and-china-team-up-against-nato- libya-campaign/
Jun. 17 2011 - 12:33 am Russia and China teamed up this week against the NATO military campaign against Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. The north African nation has faced on-again, off-again arial attacks against strategic military positions since the UN Security Council issued a no fly zone resolution on March 17. The resolution was a response to Gaddafi’s attacks against civilian anti-government protesters. In a joint declaration signed in the Kremlin, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Chinese President Hu Jintao emphasized once more the need for political solutions to the Libya crisis, as well as the ongoing dispute about Iran and North Korea nuclear programs, the Shanghai Times reported on Friday. Nations must “not allow the wilful interpretation and expanded application” of the resolutions, the statement said. Russia and China are permanent members of the UN Security Council. Both have veto powers, but opted to abstain from the March resolution. Despite non-commitment to the Libya fight on paper, China and Russia have been critical of Washington and Brussels ever since, calling the air strikes unnecessary. Russia accuses NATO of overstepping its mandate to protect civilians, a charge Western nations deny. Russia is making an effort as peace broker in Libya. On Thursday, Mikhail Margelov, the Russian presidential envoy to Africa, met with top representatives of Gaddafi’s inner circle in Tripoli. Libyan Prime Minister Baghdadi Mahmudi and Foreign Minister Abdel Ati Al-Obeidi met with Margelov to discuss a permanent cease fire and Gaddafi’s future in Libya. Margelov told reporters at Russian newswire Ria Novosti that, “If Gaddafi steps down and is ready for a political process to resolve the crisis, then the (NATO) military actions can stop very soon.” On June 1, NATO command said it was extending its mission in Libya to September 30. On March 17, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, said he had abstained from voting, although his country’s position opposing violence against civilians in Libya was clear. Russia did not prevent the adoption of the resolution, but Churkin said he was convinced that an immediate ceasefire was the best way to stop the loss of life. Gaddafi agreed to a cease fire, then changed his mind less than 72 hours later. Russia cautioned against unpredicted consequences during the signing of the resolution and stressed that there was a need to avoid further destabilization in North Africa. Meanwhile, Security Council President Li Baodong of China, said the continuing deterioration of the situation in Libya was of great concern to China. China did not veto, Baodong said in the meeting minutes, because it considered the opinions and regional interests of the pro-resolution Arab League and the African Union.
Chinese President Hu Jintao meets Russian PM Putin http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/video/2011-06/17/c_13935731.htm
2011-06-17 14:24:48 BEIJING, June 17 (Xinhuanet) -- Before leaving Moscow to attend the St. Petersburg International Economic forum, Chinese President Hu Jintao met with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for talks on boosting bilateral ties and deepening cooperation in various sectors.
During their meeting on Thursday, Hu Jintao said China highly values Vladimir Putin's efforts for the development of Sino-Russian relations over the past decade since the signing of the China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation.
Hu Jintao stressed that China is willing to work with Russia to further enhance trust, mutual support on issues of core interest and enlarge pragmatic cooperation in various fields.
He said to further promote cooperation in the new decade, both countries should continuously increase their bilateral trade volume, with the goal of reaching 100 billion US dollars in trade by 2015 and 200 billion in 2020.
Hu Jintao also stated that the two sides should strengthen collaboration on energy, including nuclear power, coal, electricity, new energy and new technologies.
Meanwhile, China and Russia are also expected to see more progress in mutual investment, innovation and high-tech areas, and infrastructure construction in border areas.
The Russian prime minister expressed Russia's willingness to work with China to focus on deepening the China-Russia strategic partnership of coordination.
Putin agreed that bilateral cooperation in such areas of gas and oil will boost the overall development of cooperation. The Russian prime minister also hailed the two countries' efforts to explore new ways of cultural exchange, and the successful launching of "Language Year" in each other's country.
Putin expressed his expectations on the setting up of the reciprocal "Tourism Year."
(Source: CCTV)
China, Russia vow to expand economic ties http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/video/2011-06/17/c_13935736.htm 2011-06-17 14:24:49 BEIJING, June 17 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese president Hu Jintao is in Russia on a state visit, as the two countries vow to deepen their strategic partnership. On the 10th anniversary of the signing of the China-Russia Treaty on "Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation", the two countries are looking to outline future partnerships, with the focus firmly on economic cooperation.
On Thursday, President Hu Jintao and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev held a press conference, after a string of agreements were signed by the two countries. A road map for the next decade was unveiled, with economic cooperation the top priority.
Medvedev said, We've seen growing economic ties between our two countries. We aim to expand our bilateral trade volume to 150 billion US dollars by 2015, and 200 billion US dollars by 2020. We will increase investment in high-tech industries, such as astronomy, civil aviation, energy and nuclear power.
Last year, two-way trade between the two countries rocketed by 43 percent on the previous year, reaching some 55.4 billion U.S. dollars.
During Thursday's press conference, President Hu spoke about the achievements of the China-Russia treaty, over the last decade.
Hu said, "We have achieved a fruitful partnership during the last ten years. There has been remarkable progress in relations between out two countries. We will continue to adhere to the principles of the treaty, and political and strategies mutual trust."
Hu added that the China-Russia strategic partnership will reach new heights over the coming 10 years, through the joint efforts of both countries. He spoke of greater achievements, that will benefit both populations, and the contribution the partnership can make to global and regional security and stability.
The two leaders also discussed the situation in Libya, Iran and the DPRK, as well as other regional issues of common concern.
(Source: CCTV) New era for Sino-Russian ties http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-06/17/content_12718645.htm
By Wu Jiao and Qin Jize (China Daily) Updated: 2011-06-17 07:13 Joint declaration pledges mutual support on key security issues MOSCOW - China and Russia deepened their strategic relationship on Thursday by vowing to support each other on core security issues. In a joint declaration, signed by President Hu Jintao and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev, the two countries pledged support for each other on a wide range of issues, including Russia's security challenges from the United States and Europe. The declaration also stresses the common principles of "non-interference" and "less military action" in solving situations in global hotspots, including the Korean Peninsula and the Middle East and North Africa. It also addresses the competition in the Asia-Pacifi region, and calls for building a regional security and cooperation landscape characterized by openness, transparency and equality. Speculation has been increasing in some quarters that the US wants to counterbalance the rising regional clout of China. US interference in bilateral disputes between China and some Southeast Asian countries has fueled the speculation. China and Russia said in the declaration that their "strategic partnership has been a key factor in the peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific region". The declaration backs Russia against US-led missile defense plans in East Europe and stresses that priority be given to political and diplomatic solutions. It also highlighted the importance of ensuring the peaceful exploration of outer space. On the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, the two countries reaffirmed the importance of a political and diplomatic solution under the framework of the Six-Party Talks and called for a resumption of the talks as soon as possible. Targeting the frequent military exercises staged by the Republic of Korea and the US, China and Russia voiced their firm belief that "lowering military intensity in the region will be conducive to the resumption of the Six-Party Talks". Both China and Russia are committed to building a multilateral mechanism to guarantee peace and security in Northeast Asia. The two leaders also talked about Iran's right to a civilian nuclear program, saying that they will strive to restore the confidence of the international community in the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program. Russia and China oppose outside interference in the unrest in the Arab world, the declaration said. "Outside forces should not interfere in internal processes in the countries of the region." The two presidents also expressed concern over the situation in Libya, calling for an end to hostilities. Russia said earlier that it opposes the UN Security Council adopting any resolution on Syria, risking a major dispute with the West. As two veto-wielding members of the United Nations Security Council, it is rare for China and Russia to issue joint declarations on major world issues. Ji Zhiye, a scholar with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said the declaration was issued at a "critical time" because of the Middle East situation. The declaration will serve as a basic guideline for Sino-Russian cooperation, Ji said. Feng Yujun, a colleague of Ji, said China and Russia share common concerns over how to maintain regional stability and peaceful development. "It's important for China and Russia, two major nations in Eurasia, to enhance cooperation in promoting peace and stability in the region, especially now when the crisis in the Middle East and North Africa may spread." Hu is currently on a state visit to Russia to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the signing of the China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation. The two countries have staged a series of events to mark the event. In another declaration issued on Thursday by the two leaders, both countries vowed to step up military cooperation. Wang Haiyun, vice-president of the Chinese Society for the Study of the History of Sino- Russian Relations, said the establishment and development of a strategic cooperative partnership between China and Russia is based on, and supported by, their common strategic interests. Over the next few decades, the two countries will be embarking on a period of rapid development. There is a pressing need, for both countries, for a stable regional and international environment, Wang said. Qin Jize in Beijing contributed to this story.
UPDATE 1-Gazprom says no China gas deal at Russia forum http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/17/russia-china-gas-idUSLDE75G02O20110617
1:34am EDT * No gas deal signing on Friday * Medvedev, Hu to speak at St Petersburg forum ST PETERSBURG, Russia, June 17 (Reuters) - Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and China's CNPC will not sign a long-awaited gas supply deal at an economic forum taking place in St Petersburg, Interfax news agency quoted Gazprom's export chief as saying on Friday. "We will not sign anything this time," Alexander Medvedev was quoted as saying. The failure to get the 30-year gas supply deal --- which could be worth up to $1 trillion -- over the line marks a new setback after five years of talks between Russia, the world's largest energy producer, and China, the largest consumer. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said after meeting Chinese President Hu Jintao on Thursday that the two sides were finalising terms before their joint appearance at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday. Negotiations have long been stuck on the issue of price, with Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom saying it will not accept a lower effective price than it receives from its core European customers. The deal would have foreseen Russia exporting up to 68 billion cubic metres of gas per year to China, compared to expected export volumes to Europe of more than 150 billion cubic metres this year. (Writing by Jessica Bachman and Douglas Busvine; Editing by Timothy Heritage)
SNAP ANALYSIS-China Russia gas deal still in the pipeline http://www.forexyard.com/en/news/SNAP-ANALYSIS-China-Russia-gas-deal-still-in- the-pipeline-2011-06-17T073117Z Friday June 17, 2011 05:31:07 PM GMT CHINA-RUSSIA/GAS (SNAP ANALYSIS) By Tom Miles BEIJING, June 17 (Reuters) - The failure of China and Russia to clinch a gas pipeline deal on Friday is unlikely to be the end of the story as the world's top producer and consumer of energy can both see a pact makes sense. After years of negotiations and increasingly optimistic rhetoric that a deal would be struck before or during a visit by China's President Hu Jintao to the St Petersburg economic forum, the bubble of belief in a deal appears to have burst. The stumbling block? Price. The two sides had long said the price of gas to be delivered -- via two pipelines, then one, and now two again -- was the sole remaining obstacle. But they seemed to wave away the seriousness of the divide by promising the deal would be finalised in mid-2011. The fact that President Hu went to St Petersburg with his foreign ministry trumpeting the near-certainty of a deal appears to suggest it was the Russians who pulled the plug on the provisional agreement. Russia may be betting that China, which is facing its worst power shortages in seven years this summer, cannot afford to say no to 68 billion cubic metres of Russian gas to feed its burgeoning gas market annually from 2015. But Hu may console himself that if Russia's Gazprom won't deal, there are many other wannabe suppliers queueing up to talk to Beijing. OTHER SUPPLIERS China already has a 30 bcm pipeline bringing gas from Turkmenistan and may build a smaller pipe from Myanmar. China's triumvirate of state oil firms is also planning a rash of gas import terminals that will pop up along China's coast, to be supplied by ships arriving from Australia, Qatar and elsewhere. That smorgasbord of suppliers gives Hu the confidence that he can walk away from St Petersburg without a deal, whereas Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, like Vladimir Putin before him, has very few export options beyond increasing dependence on Europe -- exactly the problem the China deal was meant to solve. China also holds a wild card in the shape of its own gas industry which could be gigantic, if some experts' predictions about the potential of shale gas are realised. In that case, China's reserves would rival Russia's, and Moscow would have to kiss goodbye to any chance of selling to China. But that remains a pipe dream because shale gas development has barely begun in China, and in the short term President Medvedev, and Gazprom's export chief, his namesake Alexander Medvedev, may both be banking on Hu feeling the heat at home this summer. China's latest electricity crisis has rammed home the importance of finding alternatives to coal, easily China's dominant fuel. China is already placing huge expectations on hydropower, nuclear and wind, and gas could be the best available option. The failure to sign in St Petersburg will rekindle memories of past mutual suspicion, and again raise uncomfortable questions about why the two countries -- one a huge seller and one a huge buyer of natural resources -- punch so far below their weight in bilateral trade. The only major ventures the former Cold War frenemies have undertaken together have been two long-term oil deals, both struck at moments where Moscow had little choice but to accept Beijing's terms. One was $6 billion to help Russia break up the defunct YUKOS oil firm, and which funded six years of cheap oil shipments to China. The second was a $25 billion lifeline to Russia's economy in the depths of the global financial crisis for oil to be supplied along the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline, a route that opened last year. The fact that the ESPO pipeline got built shows that politicians in both camps can see the strategic importance of the bigger picture, and for the same reason a gas deal is likely, one day. (Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
Chinese to invest in construction of 3GW of power capacity in Siberia http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text15922 VTB Capital June 17, 2011
News: En+ Group has signed an agreement with Export-Import Bank of China that envisages USD 5bn of investments in joint projects in Siberia. The utilities part of the agreement implies the construction of 3GW of new capacity (two HPPs and a thermal power plant).
Separately, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin was quoted by Interfax yesterday as saying that electricity exports to China would reach as much as 1.4bn kWh in 2011. He added that there was significant potential to increase exports and that additional grid capacities were being developed to exercise this potential. Sechin highlighted that RusHydro was teaming up with China's Three Gorges Corporation.
Our View: Cooperation between Russian and Chinese companies in the utilities sphere is increasing. The fact that En+ has attracted investments to construct 3GW of power capacity supports the outlook for the power market's development in general, and Siberia's export potential in particular.
We remind investors that RusHydro recently announced that it might team up with some strategic investors by the end of this year, mentioning Chinese investors among the potential candidates.
27 Russian defense companies to take part in Le Bourget show http://en.rian.ru/russia/20110617/164665898.html
01:04 17/06/2011
MOSCOW, June 17 (RIA Novosti)
A total of 59 Russian firms and agencies, including 27 defense companies, will take part in the upcoming international air show outside Paris, the Federal Service for Military- Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) said. The 49th International Paris Air Show will be held at Le Bourget on June 20-26. "Twenty-seven defense companies will exhibit military aircraft and related products," a FSMTC spokesman told RIA Novosti on Thursday. According to the official, Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 passenger jet and Be-200 amphibious plane will make demonstration flights at the biennial air show, which this year attracted over 2,000 exhibitors and 205 official delegations from 88 countries. Russia will also showcase a full-scale mockup of a cockpit of the prospective MS-21 airliner for 150-212 passengers, which could become a market rival to Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 planes. Aircraft industry experts agree that Russia, China and Brazil will dominate the Paris Air Show this year.
02:33 17/06/2011ALL NEWS
CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly to open in Kazan. http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/166650.html 17/6 Tass 8 KAZAN, June 17 (Itar-Tass) —— Tatarstan’s capital will host a meeting of the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly on culture, information, tourism and sports. The event will feature participants from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Ukraine. “Parliamentarians will discuss a project of unified information code for members of the Commonwealth of Independent States,” Chairman of Tatarstan’s State Council Farid Mukhametshin said. “The agenda includes bills on sports training, on techno parks, on cultural heritage objects, and issues of harmonisation and unifying of the CIS countries’ legislations.” Guests of the assembly will have a tour of Tatarstan’s capital, which is over a thousand years old and will visit Kazan’s Kremlin, a UNESCO monument. On Saturday, June 18, they will participate in the national holiday, the Sabantui. Sabantui – "celebration of the plough" – is one of the unique, colourful and especially popular Tatar festivals. It takes place after the first haymaking. Sabantui brings together many traditional games and competitions, which have developed over centuries. Everyone can take part in racing with the yoke carrying pails full of water, sack races, smashing pots while blind-folded, and in many more games, as well as in popular Tatar wrestling and, of course, in horserace where skill of dzhigits (trick riders) is rewarded with special gifts.
05:09 17/06/2011ALL NEWS
Trilateral meeting to discuss EU illegal activity in S Ossetia. http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/166669.html 17/6 Tass 9 TSKHINVAL, June 17 (Itar-Tass) —— Illegal activities of European observers, who make video recording of South Ossetia from Georgia’s territory, will be discussed by a trilateral meeting /Russia, South Ossetia, Georgia/ in the framework of the Mechanisms to prevent and react to incidents, which will be organised in Georgia’s Dvani village. The meeting will feature EU observers and a co-chair of the OSCE Geneva discussions, head of South Ossetia’s delegation Merab Chigoyev told Itar-Tass. “Every episode of video recording and monitoring the territory of South Ossetia has been fixed by South Ossetian and Russian services, guarding the border,” he said. “We consider this activity illegal, excess of the mandate and we shall demand it stopped.” South Ossetian delegation will also initiate an issue of massive violations of the border by Georgian citizens and an issue of Georgia’s blocking border-crossing stations. “We are worried about the fact that civilians are blocked from entering or leaving Georgia, though the Georgian side continues to claim it is the South Ossetian side who block the border,” he said. South Ossetia will once again pay attention to the problem which has been on agenda of various meetings – the fate of South Ossetian citizens who are considered missing persons. The country will suggest discussing an opportunity of exchanging persons under investigation and those imprisoned. “A similar procedure took place last time in February of the current year, and today it is necessary to continue this process,” Chigoyev said. South Ossetian ombudsman David Sanakoyev said that presently about 30 citizens of South Ossetia are imprisoned in Georgia, while about ten Georgians are in prisons of South Ossetia. Meetings of the Mechanisms to prevent and react to incidents, which are organised regularly in Georgia’s Dvani village, comply with decisions of the Geneva discussions on security in Transcaucasia, which followed the Medvedev-Sarkozy agreements. The discussions feature representatives of Russia, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Georgia, the USA, EU, UN and OSCE.
Russian parliament to review the use of military base in Armenia http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20110617/164668354.html
06:19 17/06/2011
MOSCOW, June 17 (RIA Novosti)
The Russian parliament will review on Friday a protocol extending Russia's use of a military base in Armenia.
Russia and Armenia signed amendments to a 1995 bilateral treaty extending Russia's use of the 102nd Military Base in Gyumri near Armenia's border with Turkey through 2044.
The amendments stipulate that the term will be automatically extended every five years unless one of the sides notifies the other about the annulment of the treaty six months in advance. The base is under command of Russia's North Caucasus Military District and is part of the CIS integrated air defense system.
There are around 5,000 personnel at the base, as well as S-300 surface-to-air missile systems and MiG-29 fighters.
Russia has repeatedly said that the presence of its base in the Central Asian republic does not violate any international agreements or upset the balance of forces in the region.
Duma to consider border agreement http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/06/17/51935303.html
Jun 17, 2011 03:32 Moscow Time Russian State Duma will consider an agreement between Russia and Azerbaijan which establishes the border lines affecting the borders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Georgia to the Caspian Sea. The borderline correspond to the former administrative border between Dagestan ASSR and Azerbaijan. The agreement was signed in Baku on 3 September 2010. Russia is the first country with which Azerbaijan has signed an agreement on the state border. Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry has once again confirmed that between Russia and Azerbaijan, there are no territorial claims. The land border is 284 kilometers long. The total length of the Russian state border is about 60 thousand kilometers.
Russia | 17.06.2011
Meeting in Moscow seeks substance in EU-Russia dialogue http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15163890,00.html
Relations between Russia and Europe are full of opportunities, but beset by difficulties. Now a former Russian prime minister is staging a conference to explore bilateral ties - and to try to turn Moscow westward.
Former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov hosted several prominent European and Russian leaders at a conference in Moscow on Thursday, aiming to set Russia on a more European track. A packed hall in the dazzling nouveau Hotel Metropol, a stone's throw away from the Kremlin, was an unlikely setting for the meeting. Many of the dozens of Russian opposition leaders and human rights activists in attendance are the political arch enemies of the Russian leadership. The idea of the conference was to create a deeper and more meaningful dialogue, compared with more formal diplomatic events, such as the recent Russia-EU summit. Kasyanov was Russia's prime minister for four years during the first presidential term of Vladimir Putin, but is now in fierce opposition to him. His People's Freedom Party is awaiting registration by the Justice Ministry, but he said hopes are slim that it will go far. "Over the past four years, eight parties have not been registered," he said. "We may become the ninth party. That means that the Russian authorities demonstrate that they have no respect for the Russian constitution, or for their international obligations, following from Russia's membership of the Council of Europe and the OSCE." 'Cucumber policy' Discussions at the recent Russia-EU summit mainly focused on Russia's import ban of vegetables from Europe - much less on human rights. Political analyst Lilia Shevtsova criticized what she called Europe's "cucumber policy" toward Moscow. "The European Commission in Brussels... did not discuss with Medvedev any standards or principles, nor the rule of law," she said. "They discussed the problem of cucumbers. And as far as I understand, both sides did their best to be as agreeable as possible to each other." Shevtsova said the meeting shows that there are two Europes - one that boasts a pious pro-human rights platform with little substance, and another that is deeply concerned with Russia's drift away from free democracy. Elections to be litmus test Among the people Shevtsova had in mind was former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, who expressed regret that European leaders had ignored anti-democratic developments in Russia, like changes to election laws that have made it tougher for opposition groups to enter parliament. "There is more and more awareness for the fact that this cannot continue, what is happening in Russia," he said. "And there is more and more knowledge also in the international community that it is necessary to stand up and to criticize what is happening." According to Verhofstadt, the elections for the Duma next December and the presidency in March 2012 will be a litmus test for free democracy. He said Europe should speak out more and do whatever it can do make Russia comply with its international obligations. "2011 is certainly a crucial year for Russia - as crucial as it was, I think, in 1990," Verhofstadt said. "I think that both elections shall define the path for the coming decades of this great country. And that is why we are here with this delegation, to confirm our commitment from the European side to a democratic and to a European Russia." Author: Geert Groot Koerkamp / acb Editor: Nicole Goebel Russia and Price http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/index.php? option=com_content&task=view&id=6471&Itemid=41
Written by D.Jargalsaikhan
Friday, June 17, 2011.
The time has come once again to consider the reason behind the current increase in fuel deficit in Mongolia and think over the measures that our government should take to avoid this crisis so as to depend less on the accompanied price inflation. For Mongolia, which imports its entire fuel supply from the Russian Federation, slightest fluctuations in the latter’s market, particularly changes involving the oil industry, have a major impact on our economy. Because the smallest drop in the economic pool there becomes a large wave by the time it reaches us here, it is crucial to examine, grasp and take actions in sync with political and economic changes in Russia. It is also important to recognize that this chronic fuel deficiency that shocks Mongolia time and again is not intentional from the Russian side. That the largest oil producer in the world (10 mln barrels or 1.43 mln Tonns per day) followed by Saudi Arabia, has ceased to supply its oil demand has political causes. Russia consumes half of its oil production and up to the present has artificially restricted the price on the domestic market. The founder and owner of “Lukoil” V. Alekperov says, “As of today, Russia’s domestic gas prices cannot cover the cost of production and delivery.” By mid April of this year the increase in gas price on the international market rose to double by comparison to Russian domestic price. As a result, oil suppliers started to focus on export. Another reason for the increase in oil price on the international arena is that, since its recent natural catastrophe, Japan has intensively stocked up on its oil reserves by buying a sizeable amount of gas supplies from Russia. While in Russia, domestic shortage in gas supply was a beneficial strategy for resisters to president A. Medvedev’s policy: to withdraw the government from setting ceiling prices in gas trade, opponents to the president also expressed their discontent with his decision, announced in February of this year, to resign senior public officials from the posts at the board of directors of companies that have substantial government stakes. Furthermore, since the four petroleum companies that entirely dominate Russia’s market – the three state owned “Gazprom”, “Rosneft”, “TNK-BP” and the single independent “Lukoil” – began to export most of the products to the international market, Russia had begun to experience a gasoline shortage starting from mid April in Siberian cities and spreading throughout the whole country so that by May 1st oil export had halted altogether. As Russian presidential elections approach, A. Medvedev’s program to cutback government involvement in the national economy is exposing the discrepancy in political views between the president and V. Putin who advocates stronger government role in the economy. The fault of market supply and demand, however, is not the reason behind Russia’s gas shortage. Rather the blame falls on the government’s intervention into prices of goods, which reveals that Russia still has not learned its lesson from the fall of the Soviet Union. Liberating oil prices is not a good decision for those who wish to soon be re-elected because it would mean that inflations in other sectors are sure to follow. That is why both Mongolia and Russia will have to continue to face shortage of supplies for at least a year, until the elections. If Russia, the largest producer cannot regulate its gas prices then it is useless to even bother trying for a country such as Mongolia because price control for any product set by government never succeeds anywhere but only turns instead into a special type of discount for select group of individuals. Out of all the options, though it is initially all difficult to adapt to, only free-market regulation or the law of supply-and-demand could realistically regulate consumption and production. Only free market price naturally dictates what to do or not to do for involved parties. Only It allows to predict about supply-and-demand. And only this law protects and assists the user in making choices. It is time for Mongolia to begin to follow cost-cutting- principles. To present day, the Mongolian government applies restrictions on gas prices by way of levelling to import excise tax rates. Our five oil-importing companies have become too accustomed to them, which is clearly visible in the racing of soaring prices and restricting excise tax tariffs. If Russia were to liberate its domestic market prices, Mongolia too would have more options to choose from besides “Rosneft.” That one not well-known company recently declared to have started supplying gas from “Gazprom” is good news. These few Mongolian large suppliers confuse users by explaining their parallel price rates as are they all supply from one source. Instead of competing by reducing operation costs and lowering their prices, they conspire with each other and the government is incapable of taking any action. Long time has past since Mongolian government authorities including the President, the Prime Minister as well as Ministers of certain sectors have been serving as directors in charge of supply in the above-mentioned companies. Finally, if foreign and domestic private sectors do not compete freely to supply cheaper, faster and uninterruptedly gas to Mongolia, the time has long come to realize from top and bottom, from Mongolia and Russian side that such “monkey business” will never end. In the long run, it is far more beneficial if the market minded its business and the government governed. After all citizens choose not individuals but competent stable and transparent governance.
06:25 17/06/2011ALL NEWS
Kaliningrad, Gomel regions to expand business contacts. http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/166691.html 17/6 Tass 486a KALININGRAD, June 17 (Itar-Tass) —— Russia’s Kaliningrad Region and Belarus’ Gomel Region confirmed plans to expand bilateral business contacts. The Kaliningrad Region’s Governor Nikolai Tsukanov and the Gomel Region’s Chairman of the government Vladimir Dvornik signed a plan of activities for 2011-2013 to implement the agreement on cooperation between Russia’s most Western region and Belarus’ major territory, press service of the Kaliningrad Region’s government said on Thursday. “The economic and industrial potential of out regions, mutual trade – nine million dollars over past year and three million over first three months of the current year – will continue growing, and we are capable of raising effectiveness of our economic and humanitarian contacts, of giving a new impetus to them,” Dvornik said. “Good and services from Belarus are very popular in the Kaliningrad Region.” “It is no doubt that supplies of meat and milk products from Gomel will be growing, while in the construction sector Gomel has been involved in building of ten condominium houses, and by the end of 2013 we shall build five more,” he continued. “Belarus’ business community, as it enters the Kaliningrad market, will appreciate the preferences, which is provided to investors by the status of the Kaliningrad Region as a special economic zone,” Tsukanov said.
Charges against Bout called “thin” http://rt.com/news/charges-bout-called-thin/
Published: 17 June, 2011, 11:44 Edited: 17 June, 2011, 12:19 A US judge has called the case against alleged Russian gunrunner Viktor Bout unconvincing, and the prosecution's accusations “thin”. After consulting defense and prosecution lawyers, the Manhattan federal judge Shira Scheindlin said she did not see much evidence against Bout.
Viktor Bout is currently awaiting trial in a New York prison, facing charges of smuggling arms to Colombian rebels. Accusations he denies. The 44-year-old Bout was arrested in a 2008 American sting operation in Thailand and extradited to the US in November 2010.
11:43 17/06/2011ALL NEWS
State of emergency over forest fires imposed in one more district in Buryatia. http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/166874.html 17/6 Tass 64 ULAN UDE, June 17 (Itar-Tass) — The state of emergency over ravaging forest fires has been imposed in one more district of Russia’s republic of Buryatia, a spokesman for the republican forestry agency told Itar-Tass on Friday. In all, the state of emergency is in force in five districts of Buryatia, with two of them located around Lake Baikal. At the same time, a spokesman for the republican emergencies administration told Itar- Tass, efforts to contain forest fires are bringing results. Thus, as many as 22 fires on an overall area of slightly over 460 hectares are under control, while two fires on an area of 210 hectares have been localized. According to the spokesman, a total of 13 wildfires on an area of 380 hectares have been put out in the past 24 hours. “There are no big fires, neither is a threat to populated localities,” he said. Fire fighting operations involve more than 460 men and up to 90 units of hardware, including three An-2 airplanes and a Mi-8 helicopter. Since the beginning of this year’s fire season, more than 1,000 forest fires have destroyed 46,000 hectares of taiga, which is trice as much as in the same period last year. As many as 98 criminal cases have been opened over forest fires, two of them have
08:50 17/06/2011Top News
Wildfires sweep almost 1,000 ha of taiga in Far East http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c32/166726.html KHABAROVSK, June 17 (Itar-Tass) —— The area of forest fires has enlarged to 977 hectares in the Far East. There were 18 outbreaks in Yakutia, the Amur Region, the Khabarovsk Territory and Chukotka by Friday morning, the forestry department in the Far East Federal District reported to Itar-Tass. Eight new fires broke out in the taiga over the past day. Ablaze are 390 hectares of forests in Yakutia and 552 hectares in the Amur Region. The fires are not large so far in the Khabarovsk Territory and the Chukotka Autonomous Area, a department source said. A special fire prevention regime is imposed in 35 municipalities in Yakutia, the Amur Region, the Jewish Autonomous Region, the Khabarovsk and Primorsky Territories and The Chukotka Area, the Russian Emergencies Ministry's regional centre said. Since the beginning of the season, there have been 1,234 wildfires in the Far East. The blaze swept more than 450,000 hectares, including over 339,000 hectares of forests. The wildfires destroyed logging areas as well as more than 3,100 hectares of forest reserves.
Kamchatka volcano spews ash to 10,000 meters http://en.rian.ru/natural/20110617/164666681.html
02:23 17/06/2011
PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATKSKY, June 17 (RIA Novosti)
Russia's northernmost active volcano is churning out ash to a height of 10,000 meters (33,000 feet) in the country's Far East, local scientists reported on Friday.
The 3,283-meter (10,771-foot) Shiveluch volcano increased activity in May 2009 and has been periodically spewing ash from three to eight kilometers.
"Low clouds prevent us from getting a clear visual of the event, but our seismic data indicates that Shiveluch has churned out ash plumes to a height of up to 10,000 meters," a source at the Far Eastern Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.
According to scientists, the volcanic activity over the past two-three years has significantly altered the contour of the volcano with the crater increasing in size by 50% and the slopes becoming far steeper than before.
Although the current eruption poses no immediate threat to nearby settlements, the ensuing ash fallouts could be hazardous to health and the environment.
The clouds of volcanic ash could also pose threat to air traffic because the tiny particles cause problems with aircraft engine turbines.
The recent eruption of the Cordon Caulle volcano in Chile has grounded hundreds of flights in the southern Pacific, stranding tens of thousands of passengers.
Kamchatka volcano erupts in eastern Russia http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-06/17/c_13935768.htm 2011-06-17 14:32:38 VLADIVOSTOK, June 17 (Xinhua) -- An active volcano in the eastern Russian peninsula of Kamchatka has been pumping ashes 10 kilometers high into the air, creating a possible hazard to local residents and air traffic, Russian scientists reported Friday. Although the eruption poses no immediate threat to nearby settlements, the ensuing ash fallouts could be hazardous to local people's health and the environment, they said. The volcanic ash cloud could also pose a threat to air traffic as tiny ash particles can cause problems in aircraft engines. Scientists reported increased level of activity at the volcano, located in the center of Kamchatka peninsula, in May 2009, and since then the volcano has periodically spewed ash three to eight kilometers high into the air. Kamchatka peninsula is adjacent to a major air corridor used by commercial flights between Japan, South Korea, and North America. The volcanic activity over the past two to three years has significantly changed the overall look of the volcano, with the crater enlarged by 50 percent and the slopes made far steeper, scientists said.
European space freighter to make final adjustment of ISS orbit http://en.rian.ru/science/20110617/164667255.html
03:27 17/06/2011
MOSCOW, June 17 (RIA Novosti)
Europe's ATV-2 Johannes Kepler will perform the last task of its current mission by raising the orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) to 382 kilometers (237 miles) on Friday, Russia's Mission Control said.
The ATV-2 space freighter is scheduled to undock from the orbital station on June 21 and burn up as it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere, disposing of unneeded items from the space station.
The spacecraft will fire its engines at 8.21 p.m. Moscow time [16.21 GMT] for 27 minutes to move the ISS up 6.8 kilometers (4.2 miles) to a new working orbit.
Johannes Kepler arrived at the ISS on February 24, bringing about seven tons of supplies to the station and the six-man crew.
European ATV space freighters have proved to be vital for ISS logistics as they can carry up to 7.5 metric tons of supplies, or three times more than Russia's Progress cargo spacecraft. In addition, ATV's powerful thrusters are used to readjust the ISS orbit to ensure safe docking with arriving spacecraft.
11:10 17/06/2011ALL NEWS
Two attempts made to blow up gas pipeline in Dagestan, no damage. http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/166826.html 17/6 Tass 103 MAKHACHKALA, June 17 (Itar-Tass) —— Unknown persons have made two attempts to blow up the Mozdok-Kazimagomed gas pipeline in Dagestan's Derbent district. The pipeline is not damaged, a Dagestani police source told Itar-Tass on Friday. On Thursday morning, guards of the Gazprom Transgaz Makhachkala company's security service discovered a black package fixed with a tape to the pipe. FSB sappers, who were called to the site, destroyed the bomb with the use of a hydrodynamic device. Another similar bomb was set off on the gas pipeline in the same area on the night to Thursday. The line was not damaged, but a one-cm deep and ten-cm wide dent was left on the pipe. A criminal case is opened on charges of "illegal making of explosives and explosive devices".
Bomb on Azerbaijan-Russia gas pipeline defused http://www.news.az/articles/society/38614 Fri 17 June 2011 06:36 GMT | 8:36 Local Time A homemade bomb on a pipeline has been defused in Dagestan. Homemade radio controlled explosive device installed on Mozdok-Qazimammad (Azerbaijan) pipeline was defused on Thursday in Dagestan. A law enforcement source in the region told RIA Novosti over the phone.
"The guards of Mozdok-Qazimammad pipeline found a black plastic bag which contained homemade radio-controlled explosive device in Derbent region of the republic near Gejukh village. It consisted of a metal shell, stuffed with explosives, electric detonator and a mobile phone Nokia," said the source.
The source noted that that the power of the bomb was about 150 grams of TNT. Federal Security Service officers defused dangerous founding using hydrodynamic destroyer.
"The inspection of the pipe revealed that the previous night someone detonated an explosive device of small capacity. The pipeline did not get damaged, but it got a dent with depth of 1 centimeter and diameter of 8-10 cm," the source added. RIA Novosti
Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater to reopen October 17 http://en.rian.ru/russia/20110617/164670076.html
09:15 17/06/2011
MOSCOW, June 17 (RIA Novosti)
The old building of Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater will reopen after a lengthy reconstruction on October 17, First Deputy Moscow Mayor Vladimir Resin said in an interview with the Rossiskaya Gazeta government daily published on Friday. “The Bolshoi Theater is a symbol, not just for Moscow, but for the whole of Russia,” Resin said. “Therefore, for the builders, of whom there are currently 3200, it is a matter of honor to keep their word and finish construction on time and without any setbacks.” The Moscow authorities began reconstructing the nearly 200 year-old theater in 2005. Initially due for completion in 2008, the project has been marred with repeated schedule delays and a misspending scandal. Russian prosecutors opened a probe in 2009 into the suspected embezzlement of millions of dollars during the renovation. Since early 2010, the theater has been running performances in the Choral, Round and Beethoven halls, where reconstruction work has already been completed. Reconstruction work on the main foyer, the façade and the square in front of the theater is also complete. By October, the theater should have a new back stage, extra foyers and cafeterias, and underground premises that will also accommodate spacious storage for stage decorations. The reconstruction work is expected to provide extra space of 50,000 square meters.
17 June 2011, 10:03
Russian Church agrees blue lights should be restricted http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=8527 Moscow, June 17, Interfax - The Russian Church shares the opinion that special signals should not be used on the country's roads except cases of emergency.
"I believe we should give up blue lights except emergency cases when a state official, an official of law enforcement agencies or emergency needs to get somewhere quickly," head of the Synodal Department for Church and Society Relations Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin on air City FM radio station.
He pointed out that the Church officials do not have any blue lights. Father Vsevolod informed that the state protects Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia as "we live in a complicated world: there's a great number of people who seek to destabilize situation in the country and in the Church by inflicting harm to His Holiness the Patriarch."
"There are no blue lights on his car, only automobiles accompanying him have them," he said.
"We need more equality in road traffic, but at the same time we need more equality in relations between a person and society, a person and the state. Today there are people who are "more equal" than others: and they are not only state officials, not only a certain circle of state officials," the priest stated.
According to him, "rich people in Russia use to being bold and pushy and it also should be discussed."
12:05 17/06/2011ALL NEWS
Court leaves former Odintsovo prosecutor under arrest(adds). http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/166928.html 17/6 Tass 121 MOSCOW, June 17 (Itar-Tass) —— The Moscow City Court found legitimate the arrest of the former prosecutor in the Moscow regional town of Odintsovo Ruslan Nishchemenko, who is accused of massive bribery under the illegal gambling case. The Moscow City Court found legitimate the arrest warrant issued by the Basmanny District Court and found the arguments produced by the detective, who asked for arrest, grounded and convincing. The term in arrest was set until July 4. The lawyers of the former prosecutor insisted on the arrest of their client to be cancelled. The prosecutor supported the lawyers in the court. “The investigation is going on at the accelerated pace, hastens too much and fails to substantiate the evidence. The prosecutor believes that the bribery cases are not proved yet,” the prosecutor said. A lawyer Nishchemenko told the judges that “the bribery case by his client was not proved yet.” The former prosecutor in the Moscow regional town of Odintsovo is accused of taking bribes under the illegal gambling case in the Moscow Region. He was detained in a shop of the town of Pushkino on May 17. A detective Denis Nikandrov affirmed that Nishchemenko received systematic bribes from Ivan Nazarov (a suspected owner of illegal casinos) right in his office at the Odintsovo town prosecutor’s office or at a restaurant. He received a bribe of at least two million roubles. The former chief of the 15th department of the Moscow regional prosecutor’s office Dmitry Urumov and the former prosecutors of Noginsk and Serpukhov Vladimir Glebov and Oleg Bazylyan were arrested under the same charges earlier. Another two suspects in the bribery case, namely the former first deputy prosecutor in the Moscow Region Alexander Ignatenko and the former Klin prosecutor Eduard Kaplun escaped and are wanted. Meanwhile, the chief of the Directorate K (for the struggle against the crimes in high technologies) of the Russian Interior Ministry Farit Temirgaliyev and his deputy Mikhail Kulikov, who are also accused of taking bribes from the masterminds of the illegal gambling ring, were arrested on June 9. The Federal Security Service announced about the illegal gambling ring exposed in the Moscow Region last February. The Russian Investigation Committee stated that the chiefs of the departments in the prosecutor’s office and the Moscow regional police are probably involved in the illegal gambling case. The Prosecutor General’s Office has made a service inquiry in the regional prosecutor’s office that exposed no corruption cases. Meanwhile, the detectives found the cases of informal communication between the prosecutors and Nazarov. Upon the results of the inquiry the prosecutor in the Moscow Region Alexander Mokhov was dismissed. The first deputy prosecutor in the Moscow Region Alexander Ignatenko (was put on the federal wanted list) and the chief of the 15th department of the regional prosecutor’s office Dmitry Urumov were fired for violating the oath of the prosecutor. Then the Russian general prosecutor issued the orders to dismiss the prosecutors from Noginsk and Klin Vladimir Glebov and Eduard Kaplun (they were also put on the wanted list). The court arrested earlier suspected masterminds of the illegal gambling ring Ivan Nazarov, Alla Guseva and Marat Mamyev. Then the fraud charges were changed to the illegal entrepreneurship charges and a term in custody was replaced with a recognizance not to leave the city. They are cooperating actively with the detectives. The fraud charges were also brought against two Moscow regional policemen. The criminal case was based on the testimony made by Ivan Volkov. He was put on recognizance not to leave the city.
Russian Press at a Glance, Friday, June 17, 2011 http://en.rian.ru/papers/20110617/164669611.html
08:39 17/06/2011
A brief look at what is in the Russian papers today
POLITICS Russian President Dmitry Medvedev dismissed Tver region Governor Dmitry Zelenin, who caused a stir among the ruling elite in December for complaining on Twitter that he had been served a "worm salad" at a Kremlin reception. Experts believe though that Zelenin was dismissed because the ruling United Russia party received poor results at local general elections in March. (Kommersant, Izvestia, Moscow News) Russia’s ruling United Russia party will hold a congress on September 3-4 to approve a list of 600 candidates for the December 2010 parliamentary elections. (Kommersant, Vedomosti) WORLD Israel may introduce fingerprinting for all foreign tourists “to ensure security and improve passport and customs control at entry points” by the end of 2011. (Moscow News) Leader of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization Ayman al-Zawahiri has been appointed the new chief of al-Qaeda. He is on the CIA wanted list for allegedly planning terrorist attacks on U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998 which killed over 200 people. (Kommersant, Vedomosti) ECONOMY & BUSINESS Russia and China failed to agree on the price of gas in a long-awaited 30 year supply contract during Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to Russia. (Kommersant, Rossiiskaya Gazeta) Russia’s industrial output grew 4.1 percent in May, exceeding market expectations and pre-crisis indices. (Kommersant) Russia’s embargo on grain exports, which has been in effect since August 2010, may have a negative effect on domestic producers as the United States, Canada and the European Union have taken over Russia’s share of the market. (Kommersant) Inflation in Russia froze during the week of June 7-14 after steady growth in the past 13 months. (Vedomosti) The Russian Transport Ministry has proposed a measure to cover insurance expenses for cancelled flights by including an additional 30 ruble ($1) charge in the price of a plane ticket. The measure would guarantee an extra $100 million for insurance purposes in two years, officials believe. (Kommersant) Russia and China have agreed to set up a joint venture to develop bio-energy technologies. The future company will build plants to produce fuel from peat, wood waste and other bio-products. (Vedomosti) DEFENSE NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen sharply criticized Russian plans to develop new intercontinental ballistic missiles in response to a planned NATO missile shield in Europe. Russia’s NATO envoy Dmitry Rogozin immediately retorted that Russia has the right to protect its national security by any available means. (Kommersant) SOCIETY 2011 high-school graduates may be allowed to defer their compulsory conscription to the army to improve their chances of entry into higher-education institutions. (Rossiiskaya Gazeta) More than 40 percent of the largest companies on the 2010 Fortune 500 list were founded by immigrants or their descendants, according to a report by Partnership for a New American Economy. (Izvestia) 12:03 17/06/2011ALL NEWS
Russian press review. (Itar-Tass World Service) 17/6 Tass 84 PRESIDENT DISMISSES TVER REGION GOVERNOR President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday accepted voluntary and early resignation of Tver region governor Dmitry Zelenin (whose term in office should have expired in July 2012). Experts name dropping rating of the United Russia party at the March elections (39.79 percent) as one of the main reasons for dismissal. They forecast that further resignations may run through other regions on the eve of the election to the lower house of Russian parliament. Last October Dmitry Zelenin created a full-fledged political scandal with his own hands writing on his Twitter account of a small worm on the edge of a plate of salad at a Kremlin reception and posted a photograph, the Kommersant business daily recalled. The presidential aide, Sergei Prikhodko, advised then to fire the governor for “imbecility”. However, etiquette violations could hardly be a reason for dismissing the governor, the newspaper supposed. A bigger threat for Dmitry Zelenin’s prospects was United Russia’s decision not to put him on the top of the voting list at the March elections to the local legislature in December 2010. Opponents of the ruling party noted that Zelenin due to his low rating will “become not a locomotive, but a drop weight” on the party list. As a result United Russia received one of the country’s lowest results at the local legislature elections in the Tver region. Oxana Goncharenko, an expert with the Center for Political Conjuncture of Russia, believes that “Zelenin failed to adjust to life in an alien region, to gain support among the local elite and the local population, which is vitally important in the light of the upcoming elections.” However, there is no word about the elections or ratings in the official explanations of his early resignation. Acting secretary of the presidium of the party’ s general council, Sergei Neverov, described the Tver region as “one of the country’s most problematic regions.” Experts commenting on Zelenin’s dismissal discussed an opportunity for further dismissals in the corps of governors. The director-general of the Moscow-based Institute of Regional Problems, Dmitry Zhuravlev, told Kommersant that “the process of cleaning territories is underway. The authorities are interested in getting concrete results at the elections.” He did not rule out that the heads of the republics of Udmurtia and Mari El, Alexander Volkov and Leonid Markelov, may be dismissed as well. Oxana Goncharenko forecasts that the heads of the Tula and Omsk regions, Vyacheslav Dudka and Leonid Polezhayev, may lose their seats. A source close to the Kremlin told RBK daily that until the end of the year governors of the Tula and Omsk regions, Vyacheslav Dudka and Leonid Polezhayev, will peacefully lose their posts. Meanwhile, RBK daily wrote that Dmitry Zelenin will not be employed in the corridors of power. A source close to the United Russia leadership told the daily that Zelenin has been for several months persuaded to step down and take a seat at the State Duma, but he refused hoping to convince the tandem to leave him the governor’s seat. At present, there are no more talks about the ex-governor’s employment. The president appointed Ryazan vice-governor Andrei Shevelev, who is on the list of Medvedev’s candidates pool, as an acting governor of the Tver region. A source close to the Kremlin assured that this candidate’s potential has been also debated for a long while. ALL-RUSSIA POPULAR FRONT TO CHOOSE CANDIDATES FROM UNITED RUSSIA FOR PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS A pre-election congress of the United Russia party will take place in Moscow on September 3-4. By this time the ruling party and All-Russia Popular Front should conduct “popular primaries” to choose 600 best claimants who will become candidates from United Russia. The federal coordinating council of All-Russia Popular Front led by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin took such a decision on Thursday. Vladimir Putin proposed the date of the party’s congress for party members and those who joined All-Russia Popular Front “to have an opportunity to discuss all ideas and proposals in regions in detail” before the election, Kommersant wrote. The list of candidates for parliamentary seats that United Russia will nominate for the Duma elections should be fully completed by the party’s congress. Under the law there should be no more than 600 candidates, 150 of them the party is ready to take from non-party activists of All-Russia Popular Front. It will be known only after the results of the preliminary voting (primaries) are announced who of the claimants will become such candidates. This is required by the party’s charter from which United Russia has no plans to deviate, but it agreed that the Front’s nominees will take part in the primaries equally with those of United Russia. The Rossiyskaya Gazeta daily cited Putin as saying that the Front’s task is not limited to participation in the elections to the State Duma. “We should look into the future and draft a strategy of development for a long period,” he said. All-Russia Popular Front should help to expand public support in taking governmental decisions. Thus, representatives of the Front have already been taking part in discussions on the state budget. “I would not like people who care more about their personal interests to appear in the structure.” According to Nezavisimaya Gazeta, the document prepared by United Russia declares formal equality of members of All-Russia Popular Front. Of course, this means that everybody will be able to nominate their candidates. But United Russia will have a final say. However, Vladimir Putin made no concrete statements about the primaries. The daily recalled that Putin made it clear from the very beginning that all participants in All- Russia Popular Front will be equal irrespective of what political muscles they have. The leader of United Russia promised not once that through the Front the party will get “an injection of fresh blood.” Influential experts and sources in United Russia believe that this very part of Putin’s strategy alarmed party members to a greater degree. If All-Russian Popular Front really nominates candidates and United Russia formally approves them at its congress, then this would mean that Putin has really serious plans for the presidential election and for possible renovation of United Russia, the daily underlined. The head of the Centre for Political Technologies’ regional research department, Rostislav Turovsky, supposed that in the medium term another ruling party may be easily created from All-Russia Popular Front. This time it will unite not bureaucracy, but as it would seem all people. RUSSIA AND CHINA FAILED TO FINALIZE GAS AGREEMENT, BUT DECIDED TO BOOST TRADE On Thursday, Russian and Chinese presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Hu Jintao held talks in the Kremlin. The two countries failed to finalize a long-awaited gas contract. Nevertheless, Russia and China seek to increase their bilateral trade from 59 billion dollars to 200 billion dollars by 2020. During the Kremlin talks between Dmitry Medvedev and Hu Jintao Russia and China failed to coordinate a long-awaited gas contract over prices, Kommersant wrote. The delay in the gas talks with Beijing promises problems in the negotiations on gas exports with the European Union. However, Moscow and Beijing signed several agreements to attract China’s companies to develop energy efficiency in Russia that fits quite well into Medvedev’s modernization program. As for the gas contract, the sides have to resolve not a few contradictions, one of them is the price, the daily noted. Vice-Premier Igor Sechin said the Russian side hopes that exports to China will bring revenues equal to those it has under Gazprom’s European contracts – the gas monopoly forecasts that this year’s average price will total 352 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters. Meanwhile, a source in the Chinese delegation told Kommersant that Beijing proposes to take as the basis for a gas price for the western link the one it pays for gas from Central Asia (approximately 250 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters). Thus, there is a gap equalling approximately 100 dollars. According to a source in the Russian delegation, the countries could not even coordinate a gas pricing formula, let alone separate coefficients. “One of the main issues is whether we will take a loan for laying a pipeline as we did for building the oil pipeline, or whether we will do with our own funds. If we take a loan, we have one price, and if we use our own funds, then it will be different,” the source said. The two countries’ leaders set a new task – to increase bilateral trade to 100 billion dollars by 2015 and to 200 billion dollars by 2020, Novye Izvestiya wrote. In 2010, the two countries’ trade turnover reached 59 billion dollars, notably that Russia’s import from China almost by half exceeded Russia’s export to that country (39 billion dollars as against 20 billion dollars). For ten years the two countries had increased their trade by 7.5 times, in 2000 it totalled some 8 billion dollars. If Russia’s supermarket shelves are filled with China-made goods, nobody will find goods from Russia in China’s stores, the daily reported. Our country mainly sells to China oil, timber and metal. Soon the list of export items will be supplemented by electric power and coal. The agreements on the construction of three electric power stations in Eastern Siberia which will export most of generated power to China, and on the development of fields in Tuva to supply coal to China were signed on Thursday. Experts believe that stronger trade with China is based on the growth of oil and gas exports, a breakthrough in economic diversification and high technologies is unlikely, the Vedomosti daily wrote. In the whole structure of Russia’ s foreign trade China accounts for a mere 10 percent, the EU member-states remain Russia’s main partner. “China is a safety cushion for Russia’s main export markets and if trade flows are reoriented for Asia, this will happen at a very slow pace,” said Leonid Gusev from the analytical monitoring centre of Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO- University).
Uzbekistan: Is Medvedev Nudging Karimov to Step Down? http://www.eurasianet.org/node/63693
June 17, 2011 - 12:30am, by Catherine A. Fitzpatrick Bruce Pannier, blogging for Chaikhana at Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe, caught the rumors that before the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Astana this week, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev stopped in Tashkent for a visit and supposedly urged long-time dictator Uzbek President Islam Karimov to step down voluntarily and ensure a peaceful transition of leadership in his country. The story is based on speculation from a Russian expert on Central Asia who spoke on Kommersant FM, a commercial Russian radio show, on the eve of the SCO summit. As we can see from the transcript, Sergei Zatsepilov, general director of the Center for A Just Foreign Policy in Moscow, was theorizing about Medvedev's plans before he headed off for a meeting with Karimov, which he believed involved an offer to leave peacefully: The most important task Medvedev has on this visit is to pin down Uzbekistan and come to an agreement about this, before the conference of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a new system for Asian security created with Chinese participation. Uzbekistan is one of the key players in the region. Internal upheavals are quite likely in Uzbekistan. A change of government is coming, a change of the top leadership. Therefore it is important to do everything so that the transition of power was smooth and peaceful, and that the SCO takes upon itself the appropriate guarantees of security, and that the leadership of Uzbekistan cooperates closely with this organization. Then the bilateral issues of relations between Russia and Uzbekistan will be resolved much more constructively. The Russian president himself isn't actually on the record saying anything like this, however. Instead, he is shown on Russian TV First Channel, talking about the impact of the Arab Spring and the need for cooperation to ensure a peaceful transition -- with a glum-looking Islamov some feet away, says Pannier. The text of the staged, televised conversation between the two leaders was published on kremlin.ru. After remarking about a 30-40% increase in trade turnover between Russian and Uzbekistan, Medvedev references events in the Middle East and North Africa, and seems to make a veiled allusion to Russia's and Uzbekistan's large Muslim populations: This year began with the so-called "Arab Spring," which created a completely new situation both in the Arab East and the North of Africa. In all likelihood, the international consequences of what has happened will be drawn out for a significant period. We are interested that these events in this region develop according to an understandable and predictable scenario for us, since we are closely connected to many of these states by a large number of invisible ties. These are not only economic and trade relations, but numerous humanitarian and cultural ties. They can be very positive but can be complicated as well and sometimes even destructive in nature. Russia and Uzbekistan must discuss what is happening with our near neighbors, so that the national interests of our countries and our peoples are guaranteed. Aleksei Mitrofanov, the Russian nationalist commenator and former parliamentarian who has been very wrong before about Uzbekistan, said that he did not think Russia sought Karimov's departure because it didn't have a candidate -- even though he guessed that the West did, in exiled Erk party leader Muhammad Salih, uznews.net reported. Uzmetronom.com, a semi-official web publication that usually has this kind of conspiracy story du jour, merely a bit snarkily recycled the kremlin.ru transcript of the four-hour meeting, but didn't speculate about Medvedev's possible nudge of Karimov into retirement. A correspondent followed another conspiracy angle, however, which was to analyze the SCO "family photo": it turns out Karimov is standing under Kazakhstan's flag, and Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbayeva is standing under Uzbekistan's flag. The intrigue seems to involve Karimov's wish not to be photographed standing next to his nemesis, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, and to get himself next to Chinese President Hu Jintao. Of course, Karimov is said to have his own very carefully selected succession plans that don't reference Russia.
Major Russian political intrigue may be solved in September http://rt.com/politics/putin-popular-front-election/ Published: 16 June, 2011, 18:27 Edited: 16 June, 2011, 19:06 Vladimir Putin has announced that the United Russia's congress will be held in early September, when it may finally be revealed whether or not the Prime Minister will run for the presidency in 2012. Speaking at the session of the Russian Popular Front's co-ordinating council on Thursday, Putin suggested calling the majority party’s congress on September 3 or 4. "I think that we need to hold a congress of the party at the very beginning of September in order to be able to discuss all of our ideas and suggestions in Russian regions before the elections to the State Duma," he said, as cited by Interfax. Earlier, the Premier’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that the United Russia will decide on its candidacy for 2012 presidential election “at congress of the party”. It means that the main intrigue in Russian politics may finally be resolved in September and Putin will say whether he would compete for the country’s top job or not. It is still though not clear whether the upcoming gathering will be exactly the congress where the major decision will be made. So far, neither he nor President Dmitry Medvedev has ruled out the possibility of taking part in the election. At the same time, both have stated that they would not run against each other, but would agree on which of the Medvedev-Putin tandem would be the presidential candidate. With less than a year left before the D-day, the mystery remains unsolved. The United Russia said earlier that it would support Medvedev’s possible candidacy in the election, but only if the party’s leader Putin was not running. Speaking on Thursday at the council’s meeting, Putin did not mention the 2012 election, but focused on this year’s parliamentary vote. The council approved a mechanism selecting possible candidates for the State Duma elections in December. It was agreed that lists of candidates will include both United Russia and the Popular Front members nominated by the party or various unions, individuals or public organizations. Later the electors will choose candidates who will participate in the elections and present the final list at the September congress. Opening the session, Putin stressed that he would want the procedure to be “as honest, transparent and unbiased as possible.” The prime minister noted that the All-Russia Popular Front's tasks go beyond the participation in the parliamentary elections. The movement needs among its members people who care for public, rather than personal interests. “I would like to stress again that the front's task is not limited by the participation in the State Duma elections, even though that was the reason for the creation of this all-nation political platform,” Putin said. Addressing the participants of the meeting, he said that he favors the idea of allowing not only individuals, unions and associations, but also workforces to join the Popular Front. However, the movement does not have an objective to let everyone in. “There are thousands of workforces, therefore we do not have an aim to sign up… everyone without grounds. I am confident that there are a lot more people who will support us than those who would want formally to join us,” Putin observed. According to Putin, the Popular Front should look into the future and work out a development strategy. The movement should provide for a wider public support when it comes to making “state, municipal and regional decisions.” Therefore, open discussions of most important issues must become a usual rule for the front. “Of course, interests of the society are made up of interests of individuals,” Putin noted. However, the PM stressed that he would not want people who care for their personal interests more than for public ones to be members of the newly-created structure. The Russian Prime Minister put forward the idea to set up the Popular Front at the ruling United Russia’s party conference in Volgograd in May this year. The major aim of the movement is to bring together different political parties, trade unions, youth and women’s organizations, veterans' groups and under a single political platform ahead of parliamentary elections in December. This, in Putin's view, would help to further public initiatives more easily, and, also, attract new supporters to United Russia. According to Putin, the front should include people "united by the idea of strengthening our country and the idea of searching for the optimal possibilities of solving the current problems.” The prime minister also suggested that United Russia – which he chairs – give parliamentary seats to popular people with active political positions, even if they are not members of the party.
The frontline strainer http://rt.com/politics/press/rossijskaya-gazeta/primaries-structure-government-party/en/
Published: 17 June, 2011, 03:41 Edited: 17 June, 2011, 03:41
Kira Latukhina The United Russia congress will take place on September 3-4, the Chairman of the Government and party leader, Vladimir Putin, announced yesterday. At this time the preliminary list of candidates will be approved. The list will be prepared with the participation of special electors, half of whom are “front liners” –All-Russia Popular Front (ONF) nominees – while the other half is made up of party members.
Yesterday the Federal Coordinating Council of the ONF held a meeting at the government building in Moscow, where Vladimir Putin once again clarified what the Popular Front is and what type of people it is looking for. “The point and purpose of the creation of the All-Russia Popular Front is to attract new people with interesting ideas to work at national and regional levels,” Vladimir Putin reminded the attendees. And the proposal was linked to United Russia as the leading political party, he added that it would be easier to bring these people to power through its channels.
The United Russia chairman noted that it was recently decided to not only attract citizens and associations to the front, but also labor unions. “However, I have already heard my colleagues’ opinion that we have thousands of labor unions… It is not our goal, and it doesn’t make sense to indiscriminately recruit everyone to our All-Russia People’s Front,” explained Vladimir Putin. “I am confident that there are a lot more people who will support us than those who will want to formally join this platform.”
Having clarified that it is necessary to operate with the utmost transparency, the prime minister noted that it will be correct to listen to criticism as well, because the front’s main goal is not limited to participation in the State Duma elections: “We must look to the future and develop a long-term strategy.” The ONF must promote the expansion of public support for government decisions. For example, representatives of the front are already participating in state budget discussions.
“We would not want people who are more concerned about their personal interests to become part of the structure,” warned the United Russia leader. “We want those who are ready to do real work and those, who enjoy credibility among the people,” he said, pointing to the guests: Dr. Leonid Roshal and the leader of “The lamentable roads of Pskov” online community, Aleksandr Vasilyev.
According to the prime minister, “the ONF should be open to religious and local organizations that are familiar with the problems and needs of the citizens, and that directly interact with them and are ready to work for the wellbeing of the people. It is very important that, with the help of the Popular Front’s capabilities, competent, energetic, and goal-driven people come to all of the power structures,” he said, reiterating the main goal.
The Coordinating Council was to approve the procedure of the preliminary election of candidates, or the so-called primaries. It must be transparent, fair, and objective, said the party’s leader: “We need real competition that would make it possible to nominate the best candidates. United Russia, itself, is interested in seeing interesting and effective people come to positions of authority through its capabilities, through its channels. This will strengthen United Russia, and there is nothing to be afraid of here” he told the United Russia members. Putin also urged members to work on the nomination of candidates at the local level, as well as locally discussing the front’s election campaign, which will include a large regional component.
Changes in the structure of the primaries were discussed by Boris Gryzlov, chairman of the Supreme Council ofUnited Russia. First and foremost, instead of “the intraparty preliminary election,” the procedure will be called “a popular preliminary election.”
“The title itself determines the base for the selection of candidates,” explained Gryzlov, “In other words, it’s not only party members.” Proposals for the nomination of primary candidates will be collected by the regional coordinating councils until July 1. Then, they will be directed to the Federal Coordinating Center, from where the approved lists will be re-directed to the regions. Meanwhile, the bureau and the presidium of the General Council can also nominate their candidates. Voting will start on August 1.
Electors, or as they are called within the party “authorized individuals,” will include party members as well as candidates from community organizations who are members of the regional coordinating center. Voting, during which more than one candidate if not the entire list may be selected, will be secret. The counting commission will be formed by the regional coordinating council, and protocols will be transferred to the federal level for final processing. The proposals for the 600 positions on the list, which will be approved by the congress on September 3-4, will be formed according to these protocols.
“All members of the ONF coordinating council have equal rights in the list of primaries,” Gryzlov told journalists. “Candidates are nominated by all participants of the People’s Front equally,” he added. In the final list, United Russia members propose giving “the front liners” 150 spots.
Meanwhile, community leaders were not only interested in the structural questions, but also in pressing issues. They flooded Vladimir Putin with various suggestions. Some, such as the FITUR head, Mikhail Shmatkov, wanted to postpone the congress for a week, some suggested expanding the authority of FAS, while others, such as Vyacheslav Lysakov from the Motorists’ Freedom of Choice, expressed outrage about arbitrariness on the roads. The prime minister found time for everyone. In regard to FAS, he recalled that its authority has already been significantly expanded, but we do not have to stop there. “We need to understand just what it is. It is a fairly sharp weapon of today,” he explained.
The United Russia leader promptly responded to Lysakov’s remark regarding the imminent demolition of Putin’s father’s garage. “I have a trailer there,” he said. “It’s intact! I carried potatoes on it, on this trailer,” recalled the head of the government. “It is also valuable as a memory,” agreed Lysakov. “Why as a memory?” disagreed Putin. “It’s a material object.” Lysakov agreed with that as well, and added that the garage is not being demolished in order to pave a road: “Businessmen are buying up land there.” If they are doing this to conduct some sort of schemes, they need to be stopped, concluded the prime minister.
A hotline opens for police applicants http://rt.com/politics/press/kommersant/police-irregularity-hotline-violation/en/
Published: 17 June, 2011, 06:23 Edited: 17 June, 2011, 06:23
Oleg Rubnikovich The unscheduled certification of staff members of the police departments in the capital will be open to the public. Meanwhile, policemen who discover irregularities in the work of the certification commissions (of which there will be about 200) will be able to report them by calling a special hotline number. This was announced during yesterday’s daily briefing, which was held by the head of the Interior Ministry’s Moscow department, Vladimir Kolokoltsev. Yesterday Police Lt.-Gen., Vladimir Kolokoltsev held a daily briefing with the leadership of the law enforcement bodies in the capital. It was dedicated to the unscheduled certification of personnel conducted within the framework of the ministerial reform. “I have signed an order to establish a certification commission under the Main Internal Affairs Directorate of Moscow, as well as a plan and a scheme for the realization of the unscheduled certification of personnel applying for positions in the divisions and regional bodies of the Main Directorate,” said the general. “Now the certification mechanism has been launched.” He reiterated community leaders will certainly be included in the certification commissions. “These are people with different views and positions, but they are united with us by the desire to hold the unscheduled certification in the most effective way possible, so as to make sure that the new composition of our Main Directorate includes professionally trained personnel with a good, active lifestyle,” noted Kolokoltsev.
The head of the Main Directorate’s HR department, Vitaly Krasnov, spoke in greater detail about certification. According to him, 199 commissions will be established in the city police departments: 169 in the Internal Affairs Directorates of the administrative districts and another 30 in the central apparatus of the Main Directorate and the directly subordinate units. Krasnov assured those present that certification will be held “in a transparent manner,” and members of the commissions will examine the entire work history of candidates wishing to serve on the Moscow police force. He explained that the main evaluation criteria of those going through the certification process will be their level of professionalism, attitude towards official duties, and psychological and moral character, as well as a presence of compromising material or a lack thereof (an assessment of the applicants will also be made by the private security of the Main Directorate).
If a staff member obtains information about irregularities in the work of one or another commission, he will be able to share it by calling a special hotline. “In case any violations are discovered, if [we are] informed about a lack of objectivity in the certification process, the reaction to the given facts on the part of the Main Directorate’s leadership will be rather harsh,” promised representatives of the Main Internal Affairs Directorate.
As was previously reported by Kommersant (May 31 issue), in the course of the certification and restructuring, the personnel of the capital’s law enforcement bodies will be reduced by 10,000 people. As was then stated by Vladimir Kolokoltsev, personnel cuts will mainly affect those units, “which carry the lesser burden when it comes to the direct provision of citizens’ safety.” Alan Hopkins
10:03 17/06/2011ALL NEWS
Deadlines to finish some APEC summit facilities extended. http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/166763.html 17/6 Tass 42 VLADIVOSTOK, June 17 (Itar-Tass) —— The deadlines to finish some APEC summit facilities are extended from late 2011 to the spring of 2012, the Primorsky Territory's Governor Sergei Darkin told a meeting in Vladivostok on Thursday. These are the bridge across Golden Horn (Zolotoy Rog) Bay, the highway from the settlement of Novy to the De-Friz Peninsula, Sedanka and Patrokl Bay with the low bridge between De-Friz and Sedanka and the section of the highway between Patrokl Bay and Golden Horn Bay. The roads and bridges will be open no later than May 31, 2012. The construction will be finished by December 2011, but some work can be done only during the warmer months. It is bridge painting, waterproofing, asphalt-concrete covering and landscaping work, Darkin explained. The changes are already made to the draft federal programme. The work for the rest facilities is proceeding according to schedule and will be completed in time, the governor added. The bridge across Golden Horn Bay will be a part of the new transport system of the territory's centre. It will link central Vladivostok with the city's Pervomaisky district on the Churkin Peninsula. The bridge will be about 1,400 metres long, with the 733-m-long main bay part. The height over the water is 60 metres. The total length of the construction with interchanges will exceed two kilometres. The height of the supports is 226 metres, the second highest after the pylons of the bridge to Russky island, which will be 320 metres high. The work has already started to assemble the bridge. The 40-km highway from the settlement of Novy via De-Friz and Sedanka to Patrokl Bay will link the airport and the city and together with the bridges across Golden Horn Bay and the Eastern Bosphorus Strait will be the main part of the city's new transport infrastructure. A part of the new highway will be a low 4,362-m-long bridge across Amur Bay. The bridge construction is proceeding strictly according to schedule. Out of its 81 main supports, 49 are already completely built, and out of the 18,000 tonnes of metal constructions, 5,300 tonnes are completely assembled and installed.
Life in Sochi Ahead of the Olympic Games http://www.times.spb.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=34175
By Simon Eliasson The St. Petersburg Times Published: June 17, 2011 (Issue # 1661) As the Black Sea city of Sochi prepares to host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, the biggest sporting event in Russia since the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics, the whole city is being transformed. The area around Imeretinskaya Bukhta (Bay), south of the center, is the site set for the most radical changes. Even though the arenas are starting to take shape, a couple of hundred houses and their owners remain. But soon the whole area will be completely demolished, only to rise from the rubble in a new form in less than three years time. This is where the Olympics will be inaugurated in February 2014. “The Olympics will be a huge celebration for Russia, and the modernized infrastructure it brings will have positive effects for the citizens of Sochi for a long time to come,” said Tatyana Strakhova, head of the city’s Information Center 2014.
The citizens of Imeretinskaya Bukhta do not all share her unreserved optimism about the Olympics. In total, about a thousand citizens in Sochi have had their property expropriated by the state to make way for construction. Valentina Selivanova is one of them. She lives with her husband in the area, but they don’t have much time left here. Their house will soon be demolished, though they still haven’t been informed exactly when it will happen.
“We have lived in this house since 1972, and now nothing remains of it,” said Selivanova.
Her son Nikolai is emptying the house he grew up in. Roofing, copper pipes — everything that might be of value is stacked in a pile on the lawn in front of the house. The house itself is empty, except for the one room in which Valentina and her husband still live. The empty windows of the other rooms gape hauntingly, and the roof is partially gone. Nearby the heap of metal scraps lies a mound of grapevines, torn up from the backyard. Selivanovna and her family chose to accept financial compensation for their house rather than move to a new house supplied by Olympstroi, the state corporation in charge of construction for the Olympics.
“The new houses in [the area of] Nekrasovka are being built in a hurry and lack quality,” said Selivanova. “There have been many problems with them, from bad flooring to skewed doorways. That’s the reason we chose compensation instead, rather than take the risk of ending up in a bad quality house.” Currently, the family is looking for an apartment in central Sochi. The compensation they received will be enough to buy about 60 square meters of living space there, compared to the more than 200 square meters they had in the house.
Back at the Information Center, Strakhova proudly shows off the room where Prime Minister Vladimir Putin praised the development in Sochi at a press conference earlier this year. Putin’s enthusiasm is shared by Strakhova, as she describes how wonderful the city is becoming thanks to the Olympic Games. An influx of well educated and skilled workers, international attention and the money being poured into infrastructure and the public sector are just a few of the things that will change the city completely, she says.
“Of course, every city has its problems,” she says. “But the Olympics have given us a chance to improve everything here, and all these changes would have taken many years to accomplish if it wasn’t for the extra funds we’ve received because of the Games.” She explains that it is an impossible task to keep everyone satisfied while working on a project of this scale.
“The people who are negative about the Games just want everything to stay the way it always has been,” said Strakhova. “The people of Bukhta are used to living a quiet life near the sea and living off tourism. Of course they are bitter about losing their homes and land.” Many of the inhabitants of Bukhta do not have formal documents proving that they own the land. In many cases, they received the land during the Soviet era, and when the Soviet Union collapsed, the ownership was not transferred properly. Now, as the state claims back the land, some residents have had problems in proving their right to compensation or substitute housing.
“The state is working on helping everyone to get proper documentation of their ownership,” said Strakhova. “It is a slow and time-consuming process, but no one will be thrown out on the street.”
Outside the regional court in the neighboring town of Adler, 15 former Bukhta residents are waiting for a court session. Many hold plastic bags full of documents. The reasons they are here differ. Some have received no compensation at all, and others claim that their compensation was too low. What they have in common is despair over their situation — and a hatred of Olympstroi, the Sochi administration, and everything to do with the Olympics.
“Suddenly, one day three years ago, our land was fenced off with barbed wire and we had no access to it anymore,” said Zina Leinchik. “We haven’t received compensation, and now we’ve been fighting for our rights for three years without any success.
“I remember when I first heard that Sochi had been chosen to host the Olympic Games,” Leinchik continued. “I couldn’t sleep all night because I was so happy and excited about what would happen to our city. Even then, my husband said: ‘Just wait until they take our land away.’ But back then I couldn’t imagine that something like this would happen,” she said.
The door to the courtroom is opened an hour and a half after it was due to open. The 15 residents are herded into a small room, where some have to remain standing. The Russian flag hangs limply in a corner, and the federal emblem adorns the wall behind the judge. The air is stuffy, and the only noise that can be heard before the magistrate starts speaking is the frantic scribbling of the clerk. During the roll call, it becomes clear that no representative for either Olympstroi or the city’s administration is present. The hearing is postponed until the next month, and the 15 have to leave the court without results.
“Now it is postponed until next month, the next time it will be until August,” said Leinchik. “They ignore us completely, and until we obtain a ruling from the regional court, we cannot take the case to higher bodies.”
A local lawyer who wished to remain anonymous gave his interpretation of the problem.
“There is probably no money left now in the budget for compensating relocated people. Now they are trying to slow down the process as much as they can, hoping that people will give up.”
A couple of hundred meters from the construction sites in Bukhta, the Black Sea meets the coast. Immense waves pound the dark, rocky beach constantly. A couple of years ago this beach was the scene of everyday life for the residents of Bukhta: A place for fishing, strolling, enjoying the sunset and watching dolphins. Now the beach, too, is a building site. A bulldozer roars while shoveling the remains of an industrial building in front of it. In the neighboring building, fisherman Yevgeny Varnov is packing up his life from an apartment one floor above a fish factory. He has lived here for the past seven years, together with four colleagues and his wife Stella. Rubbish is thrown out of the door while the rest is packed up in bags. His colleagues help. The apartment is in poor condition. The wallpaper hangs loose from the walls, and a solitary light bulb dangles from the ceiling. In one of the bedrooms, the walls are papared with pages from magazines. This is the other side of Bukhta: Run-down accommodation, unstable access to electricity, and a lack of proper plumbing. Many say it’s not a day too soon that places like this are being torn down.
“Olympstroi knocked on the door this morning and told us we have three days to move,” said Varnov. “Now my wife and I have nowhere to go, but it will work itself out some way. It has to. I’m glad we don’t have any children yet,” he added. He looks tired and resigned.
The promised three days turn out to be one. The day after Varnov showed his living quarters to the outside world, the building was demolished, leaving nothing behind but a large pile of rubble. The bulldozer continues its never-ending scraping, and the remnants of the fish factory lie neatly piled up by the road, waiting to be removed. Some scrap- metal scavengers from Tajikistan pick the pile clean of metal, while the fishermen watch silently with cigarettes in the corners of their mouths. In a future where the attention of the world is focused on Bukhta and the Olympics, it seems there is no place for people like Varnov. He has to find a new place in which to live, without the help of Olympstroi.
The mystery of Vladimir Putin's lawn http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/8579477/The-mystery-of- Vladimir-Putins-lawn.html
When Vladimir Putin announced he was visiting Pskov last month, the Russian city spared no expense installing new bins, freshly painting lamp posts and laying new lawns. 7:00AM BST 17 Jun 2011 But a video on YouTube uploaded by a local resident shows that the freshly laid turf was removed when the prime minister left, leaving only bare mud behind. Russian bloggers have dubbed the turf the 'Potemkin lawn', suggesting that it might have been "an exclusive lawn from Moscow that travels the country in Putin's baggage". The Potemkin lawn is a play on the Russian trend of 'Potemkin villages', named after the 18th Century general Prince Grigory Potemkin, who is said to have had whole villages built to impress Catherine the Great when she visited the newly conquered Crimea in 1787. The name has stuck as shorthand for any effort by local authorities to give a misleadingly positive impression to visiting dignitaries. The case of the Potemkin lawn is the latest such scandal to hit the Russian blogosphere. Last week a video emerged on the internet of workers in the city of Saransk apparently painting barren earth green ahead of a visit by Mr Putin. The workers later turned out to be spreading a mixture of water, grass seeds and dye in a procedure called "hydro-seeding." Media have also accused authorities in Nizhny Novgorod of cosmetic efforts ahead of the recent EU-Russia summit in the city. And the Ministry of Natural Resources was reported to be trying to pull the wool over President Dmitry Medvedev's eyes when he tried to inspect pollution at the nearby chemical producing city of Dzerzhinsk. The problem has become so acute that Mr Medvedev threatened in April to "name and shame" officials who tried to set up Potemkim villages for him. He has even taken to using the element of surprise, making unannounced visits to hospitals and other venues to see things "as they really are."
'Miss Moscow' contender Yana Lapikova focuses on Putin post http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/miss-moscow-contender-yana- lapikova-focuses-on-putin-post-2298717.html By Shaun Walker in Moscow Friday, 17 June 2011 Russians are used to seeing photographs of their Prime Minister's daredevil exploits in the news – but now it is the person holding the camera that is raising eyebrows, as it has been revealed that Vladimir Putin has hired a former model as his personal photographer. Yana Lapikova – who has already started work following Mr Putin on his busy schedule of meetings, events and travel around Russia's regions – is a former Miss Moscow contestant. Ms Lapikova, 25, who has posed in her underwear for fashion magazines, may be able to give Mr Putin advice on how best to undress for the camera. He has posed topless for the cameras when riding horses and swimming in Siberia. Sultry black-and-white shots posted online feature Mr Putin's new photographer puffing seductively on a cigarette, while a full-colour photograph shows Ms Lapikova blindfolded and holding a candle aloft. "We don't choose our photographers according to their gender," Mr Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said. "She's really a good photographer and her past as a model doesn't interest us at all – it's not a crime." Some Russian bloggers sniggered at the appointment and pointed out photographs – recently removed – that Ms Lapikova had previously posted online. One of them is called Fruit Composition – East and features a platter of fruit, with some radishes in the foreground, lit by a candle.
National Economic Trends
Russia sees 2011 grain crop over 85mln tones http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/17/russia-forum-grain- idUSLDE74P1FR20110617
2:37am EDT ST PETERSBURG, Russia, June 17 (Reuters) - Russia's grain crop in 2011 could be higher than 85 million tonnes, Deputy Economy Minister Andrei Klepach told reporters on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday. (Reporting by Katya Golubkova, editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
07:04 17/06/2011ALL NEWS
RF’s inflation between 7 and 14 June is nil - Rosstat. http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/166696.html 17/6 Tass 357a MOSCOW, June 17 (Itar-Tass) —— Inflation in Russia between June 7 and 14 was nil, and over June it has made 0.1 percent, Rosstat reported on Thursday. From the beginning of the current year, inflation has reached 4.8 percent. The average daily growth of prices in June makes 0.006 percent. During the second week of June prices grew for beef – by 0.3 percent, for tinned meat – by 0.2 percent. Prices went down for eggs – by 2.9 percent, sugar – by one percent, milk and rice, cheese – by 0.2-0.4 percent. Vegetables and fruit lost about 0.9 percent of price. http://www.interfax.com/ 10:44 17/06/2011ALL NEWS
Russia Central Bank forecasts 0 4 % inflation rate in June. http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/166800.html 17/6 Tass 111 ST.PETERSBURG , June 17 (Itar-Tass) ——The Russian Central Bank forecasts 0.4 per cent inflation rate in June, Alexei Ulyukayev, First Deputy President of the central Bank, said in the lobby of the International Economic Forum in St.Petersburg. “I believe the June inflation rate will stand at 0.4 per cent. The figure for the first six months will not exceed 5.2 per cent, and for nine months – 5.5-5.6 per cent,” he said. According to Ulyukayev, the Central Bank believes the annual inflation rate will be seven per cent.
June 17, 2011 10:25
Central Bank expects $35 bln capital outflow in 2011, $10 bln-$15 bln inflow in 2012 http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=252366
ST. PETERSBURG. June 17 (Interfax) - The Central Bank of Russia expects a capital outflow totaling $35 billion in 2011 and a capital inflow of $10 billion-$15 billion in 2012, Central Bank First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev told journalists on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum. He also said that the Central Bank has been less active on the currency market in June. "There was a decline in May compared with April and June has been lower than in May, which is indirect evidence of a decline in the capital outflow from Russia," he said. jh (Our editorial staff can be reached at [email protected])
Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions
Russian markets -- Factors to Watch on June 17 Fri, 17th Jun 2011 07:48 MOSCOW, June 17 (Reuters) - Here are events and news stories that could move Russian markets on Friday. You can reach us on: +7 495 775 1242 STOCKS CALL (Contributions to [email protected]):
OLMA: 'There is no reason to expect strong market movements at the beginning of trade.'
INVESTCAFE: 'Ahead of the weekend, trade is traditionally cautious. We expect Russian indexes to open at yesterday's closing level.' EVENTS (All times GMT): ST PETERSBURG, Russia - St Petersburg International Economic Forum (to Jun. 18).
ST PETERSBURG, Russia - Chinese President Hu Jintao to speak at the St Petersburg economic forum.
MOSCOW - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin holds budget meeting
IN THE PAPERS:
Russia's VTB may have give 150 billion roubles in financial assistance to the Bank of Moscow, which it bought a nearly 50-percent stake in earlier this year, Vedomosti business daily reported, citing government sources involved in bailout discussions between the bank and government officials.
In an interview with Kommersant business daily the president of Renaissance Insurance, Boris Jordan, says that the main problem facing the insurance business in Russia is that it isn't possible to turn a profit in the first 5-7 years.
TOP STORIES IN RUSSIA AND THE CIS:
TOP NEWS:
Gazprom says no China gas deal at Russia forum Russia says backs Ban Ki-Moon for 2nd UN term Russian envoy arrives in Libya to meet govt
COMPANIES/MARKETS:
Global Ports aims for up to $572 mln London IPO
KOKS places $350 mln eurobond at 7.75 pct
Kazakh Chevron JV plans $15-20 bln growth by 2016
Sistema unit in high-tech JV with China's ZTE
ECONOMY/POLITICS:
Russia cbank keeps inflation forecast for'11 Russian stats data show no imminent rate hike
COMMODITIES:
Russian steelmaker says wary of weak U.S.
Russian sugar refining up 26 pct year on year
Russia sells 6,233 T wheat at intervention tender
MARKETS CLOSE/LATEST:
RTS 1,888.2 -0.4 pct
MSCI Russia 998.7 -1.2 pct
MSCI Emerging Markets 1,104.3 -0.3 pct
Russia 30-year Eurobond yield: 4.444 pct
EMBI+ Russia 200 basis points over
Rouble/dollar 28.1700
Rouble/euro 39.9000
NYMEX crude $94.32 -$0.62
ICE Brent crude $113.51 -$0.50
Keywords: RUSSIA FACTORS/
([email protected], +7 495 775 12 42, Reuters Messaging: [email protected]) Gazprom, Sberbank May Move: Russian Equity Preview Thursday, June 16, 2011
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi? f=/g/a/2011/06/16/bloomberg1376-LMW4UK0YHQ0X01- 0CPEDI57O3N9UNN9LSHDBQCE7Q.DTL#ixzz1PVjgqFeQ (Corrects second paragraph after Gazprom press service says Miller misspoke on time period of growth.) June 17 (Bloomberg) -- The following companies may be active in Russian trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses and share prices are from the previous close of trading in Moscow. The 30-stock Micex Index fell 0.5 percent to 1,671.10. The dollar-denominated RTS Index slid 1.2 percent to 1,896.72. OAO Gazprom (GAZP RX): The Russian gas export monopoly plans to boost gas exports this year, after shipments abroad rose 22 percent in the first five months, Chief Executive Officer Alexei Miller said late yesterday. The shares lost 0.7 percent to 204.46 rubles. OAO Sberbank (SBER03 RX): The sale of shares in Russia's biggest lender should "not interfere with" the initial public offering of OAO Sovcomflot, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov told reporters in St. Petersburg late yesterday. The stock declined 0.7 percent to 96.98 rubles. --Editors: Marie-France Han, Brendan Walsh
Russian banks - Looking ahead post 1Q11 results http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text15922
Renaissance Capital June 17, 2011
All the Russian banks under our coverage have reported 1Q11 results, except VTB. Below we summarise our takeaways from the numbers, changes to our models and our current views.
Key trends in 1Q numbers:
* Loan growth ranged from +3% QoQ (Sberbank) to +10% QoQ (Vozrozhdenie).
* NIM showed signs of stabilisation, having passed the trough of 3Q-4Q10. Bank St Petersburg (BSPB) saw the strongest QoQ pick-up in NIM (+30 bpts).
* Cost growth: 17-30% YoY, fuelled by the social tax hike (effective from 1 January 2011) and salary increases at individual banks (Sberbank, BSPB and Nomos).
* Asset quality: Subdued provisioning charges (below 1.5%) supported bottom-line earnings in 1Q11. Sberbank posted a net write-back of reserves (equivalent to 0.9% of gross loans, annualised).
* RoE: 33.8% at Sberbank, followed by BSPB (28.2%), NOMOS (21.2%) and Vozrozhdenie (7.5%).
We update our models post 1Q results.
* Sberbank: More confidence in our 2011 earnings forecast (RUB299bn) , as 1Q11 earnings annualised at RUB347bn. We tweak our 2011 forecasts: we now expect lower provisions and a moderate NIM recovery through the year to compensate for higher costs, with the bottom line unchanged. Our 2012/13E earnings decrease 6%, as higher costs feed through: BUY, TP $4.6 / $3.7 pref.
* VTB: Staying neutral. VTB has yet to report its 1Q11 results. We forecast RUB18bn of earnings for 1Q, with upside risk to our numbers from volatile trading income. We maintain our neutral view on the stock (click here to view VTB: BoM in focus - Capital in question, 3 June 2011 for details): HOLD, TP $6.6.
* NOMOS: 1Q11 numbers supportive. A solid post-IPO set of results is a welcome first step towards building investor confidence. We increase our 2011 earnings forecast by 5% (as we cut the provisioning charge from 1.1% to 0.8%), our 2012/13E earnings are unchanged: BUY, TP $22.5 (prev. $22).
* BSPB: EBRD taking a stake and strong 1Q11 results supportive; GDRs a potential game changer. We updated our model on 10 June - click here to view Bank St Petersburg: Positive momentum building up for details: BUY, TP $6.5 common / $7.1 conv. Pref.
* Vozrozhdenie: Lower NIM, lower provisions.1Q11 numbers surprised on the downside with the NIM (-30 bpts QoQ), yet provisions were only 1.2% (vs our FY11 forecast of 1.8%). We modify our 2011 forecasts accordingly, with bottom-line earnings unchanged. Our 2012/13E earnings decrease 16%/11% due to a 50 bpts cut in the NIM forecast: HOLD rating maintained, TP $37.6 (prev. $39.5) .
Our top picks are mid-caps: NOMOS and BSPB. We maintain our preference for Sberbank over VTB in the large-cap space, however, the outlook for both stocks is currently blurred by near-term events (privatisation and stock overhang risk at Sberbank, uncertainty around BoM consolidation at VTB). With that in mind, we believe a dollar invested is better off in the mid-cap space. In this category we stay positive on NOMOS, while the prospect of a GDR listing at BSPB calls for adding the latter to our list of top picks for 2H11.
12:02 17/06/2011ALL NEWS Kudrin: talks about cleansing Bank of Moscow bad assets premature. http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/166915.html 17/6 Tass 130 ST PETERSBURG, June 17 (Itar-Tass) — Russia’s Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin considers it premature to speak about the need of cleansing bad assets of the Bank of Moscow. The Central Bank extended its inspection until June 30, he told reporters on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg international economic forum on Friday. “There is no need to make statements until the results of the inspection are announced,” Kudrin said.
07:15 17/06/2011ALL NEWS
Sberbank to organise venture fund to finance start-ups - Gref. http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/166699.html 17/6 Tass 394a ST. PETERSBURG, June 17 (Itar-Tass) —— Before the year ends, Russia’s Sberbank will organise a venture fund and a joint bank with a foreign partner to finance start-ups, the bank’s CEO German Gref told reporters. “Now, together with Troika Dialogue we discuss organising a new venture fund, or recapitalising an existing venture fund,” he said. “Besides, with one of our western partners we discuss organising a joint bank here in Russia, which would focus on start-ups, on innovation start-ups,” he added. He was asked when the plans may be considered realistic. “I believe, before the year ends, we shall be able to speak about them,” Gref replied.
June 17, 2011 11:21
Sberbank RAS net profit in 2011 may total 250 bln-270 bln rubles – Gref http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=252401 ST. PETERSBURG. June 17 (Interfax) - Sberbank Russia (RTS: SBER) may post a net profit of 250 billion-270 billion rubles in 2011 under Russian accounting standards (RAS), Sberbank President and CEO German Gref told journalists on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum. "We had about 137 billion rubles in the first five months. I think it might be 250 billion- 270 billion rubles for the full year," he said. It was reported earlier that Sberbank posted an RAS net profit of 136.937 billion rubles in January-May 2011, 140% more year-on-year. The profit in May was 25.767 billion rubles. RTS$#&: SBER jh (Our editorial staff can be reached at [email protected])
Sberbank plans venture capital boost http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text15922 bne June 17, 2011
Sberbank plans to either establish a new venture capital fund, or reinvigorate its existing one, in a joint bid with Troika Dialog to boost investment for Russian start ups, reports Prime.
CEO German Gref revealed few details when he announced on Thursday that his bank aims to increase its role in Russian venture capital by the end of the year. He failed to disclose the estimated level of investment into the project, saying that he did not rule out the possibility of recapitalizing the bank's existing venture fund.
On the other hand, he said that Sberbank is currently holding talks with an unspecified foreign partner over the creation of a special bank to finance venture start-ups, Gref said, also without elaborating.
Whilst the Kremlin has been pushing on its 'modernization' drive for some time in a bid to encourage high-tech start ups to help diversify the economy, VC is rare in Russia. With most segments facing serious challenges - particularly in terms of the commercial acumen on the part of high-tech developers and the business infrastructure around such potential start ups - IT and internet is the only sector that has seen any significant success in attracting venture capital. Sberbank set for central role in privatization of Belarusian assets http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text15922 bne June 17, 2011
Sberbank is pitching for a leading role in organizing the privatization of Belarusian assets, CEO German Gref said on Thursday, reports Market Watch. The announcement from the head of Russia's largest state-controlled bank suggests that, despite denials from Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko that Minsk has agreed to sell off a raft of state companies.
"We are in active consultations with the government of Belarus," Gref said on the sidelines of an economic forum, reports Market Watch. The banker also revealed that Sberbank is ready to finance Suliman Kerimov's $15bn purchase of potash company Belaruskali.
Facing an economic meltdown of its state-controlled economy, Belarus secured a $3bn bail out from the EurAsEC CIS crisis fund at the start of the month. Negotiations on the loan were extended, with most assuming that the sticking point was demands from Moscow that Belarus allow it to buy the juiciest assets.
Moscow announced last month that it is to buy the remaining 50% in the Belarusian gas pipeline operator Beltranzgaz, and that Minsk has agreed to privatize $7.5bn in state companies over the next three years. In his inimitable style, Lukashenko sternly denied the privatization plan, and warned against foreign vultures trying to take advantage of his country's vulnerability.
Belarus has since said it is to apply to the IMF for a bail out, as it reverts to its old tactic of trying to play Russia off against the West. However, following the political clampdown in December, the US and EU are unlikely to be keen to bail Lukashenko out, whilst the IMF has been calling for a wide-scale privatization program for months.
Either way, Belarus is thought to need a lot more cash this year to prop up its economy. The EurAsEC will hand over around $1.2bn in 2011, whilst analysts suggest the country needs closer to $10bn.
China has also agreed to provide $1bn in loans for investment projects, whilst after Kerimov was revealed to be in negotiation for the giant Belaruskali, it emerged that he is also ready to front $1bn.
It now appears that Sberbank will actually provide that cash, and be heavily involved in further sales. That suggests an agreement for Russia to get its choice of Belarusian assets has been secured, whether or not Lukashenko is ready to tell Belarusians about it.
Russia's Uralkali won't buy Belaruskali –shareholder http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/17/uralkali-belaruskali- idUSLDE75G06D20110617
2:39am EDT ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, June 17 (Reuters) - Russia's Uralkali (URKA.MM: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which recently merged with Silvinit SILV.MM to become Russia's largest potash miner, is not planning to buy rival Belaruskali, a major Uralkali shareholder said on Friday. "Talks are not ongoing, and in general I am not sure that a deal is possible," he said on condition of anonymity. Uralkali last week said it was "considering entering into a transaction with Belaruskali", but that no binding agreements had been signed. [ID:nLDE7591FC] (Reporting by Polina Devitt, writing by Alfred Kueppers; Editing by Lidia Kelly)
Sovcomflot privatization could be rolled back http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20110617114401.shtml RBC, 17.06.2011, Moscow 11:44:01.The government could postpone the privatization of major shipping company Sovcomflot until 2012, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov told reporters late Thursday. "Consultants contend that this is not the best time for shipping companies, as freight rates are not favorable. Additionally, the current value and state of many companies are not consistent with their long-term value," he explained. The final decision to sell part of the government's interest in Sovcomflot will be made this fall, Shuvalov said. The government will be ready to sell part of its stake in Sberbank by that time and it is necessary to ensure that there is no conflict between the two deals. The government could decide either to sell its equity positions in both companies or only its holding in Sberbank in fall.
05:57 17/06/2011ALL NEWS
Rostelecom, Sitronics sign agreement on chips production. http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/166673.html 17/6 Tass 472a ST. PETERSBURG, June 17 (Itar-Tass) —— Russia’s national telecommunications company Rostelecom and a major producer of micro elements Sitronics signed an agreement on implementation of the Electronic Government project, where Sitronics will produce micro chips for banking cards. The sides signed the agreement during the St. Petersburg international economic forum on Thursday. Sitronics will produce chips and some elements for plastic cards, which will carry electronic signatures, and Rostelecom will be responsible for providing access to the united portal of state services with use of these cards from any gadget. Visa and Mastercard will be responsible for processing, and issuers will include Alfa Bank, VTB, Bank of Moscow, Bank of St. Petersburg and about ten more banks, Rostelecom’s CEO Alexander Provotorov said. “Users should have a protected access to state services when they use electronic devices,” Sitronics’ CEO Sergei Aslanyan said. “We open a factory to produce 90-nano-metre chips and they will be universal platforms for providing state services.” The company plans to produce by 2017 chips for about 50 million cards. Production capacity is sufficient, and everything will depend on demand for cards, he explained. Now there is a limited number of such cards, which were produced under pilot projects, which would continue for another four to six weeks. Those cards may be used for paying for state services, fines or other payments using either special machines, which will be installed throughout Russia, or using special reading devices connected to computers, Deputy CEO of Rostelecom Alexei Nashchekin said.
June 17, 2011 10:07
New head of Polyus Gold may be selected before end of June – Prokhorov http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=252353 ST. PETERSBURG. June 17 (Interfax) - The board of directors of Polyus Gold (RTS: PLZL) may select the company's new general director at a meeting on June 27, current general director and co-owner, Mikhail Prokhorov, told reporters. Prokhorov himself may be elected head of Right Cause at the party's convention on June 25. RTS$#&: PLZL jh (Our editorial staff can be reached at [email protected])
RPT-Russia's Norilsk Nickel says 2010 net profit $5 bln http://af.reuters.com/article/metalsNews/idAFLDE75G08J20110617
Fri Jun 17, 2011 6:39am GMT (Repeats to additional Reuters clients) ST PERTERSBURG, Russia, June 17 (Reuters) - Russia's Norilsk Nickel (GMKN.MM) posted a 2010 net profit of more than $5 billion, General Director Vladimir Strzhalkovsky told reporters on Friday, while revenue for 2010 was around $15 billion. The revenue figure included power company OGK-3 (OGKC.MM) and its stake in North American miner Stillwater Mining (SWC.N), Strzhalkovsky added. (Reporting by Darya Korsunskaya, Writing by John Bowker, Editing by Alissa De Carbonell)
Norilsk Nickel 2010 net profit nearly $5.2 bln http://en.rian.ru/business/20110617/164673020.html
12:11 17/06/2011
ST PETERSBURG, Russia, June 17 (RIA Novosti) Russia's largest nickel maker Norilsk Nickel's 2010 net profit reached almost $5.2 billion to IFRS, General Director Vladimir Strzhalkovsky said on Friday. Revenue amounted to $15 billion last year, Strzhalkovsky said on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. "The situation is as follows: Stillwater is leaving the group and it can be calculated or not and WGC-3. With WGC-3 and Stillwater revenue will be about $15 billion and net profit about $5.2 billion," he said. Norilsk has stakes in U.S. Stillwater Mining Company and Russia's WGC-3 or Third Generation Company. Norilsk Nickel plans to sell off most of its majority stake in platinum and palladium company Stillwater Mining in a public offering. Norilsk also plans to sell its majority stake in WGC-3 to InterRAO.
Federal Grid Company to release privatization plan by year end http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text15922 Troika Dialog June 17, 2011
Federal Grid Company (FGC) intends to determine how to go about privatizing the state's 4.11% stake in the company by year end, Interfax cited the company's CEO Oleg Budargin as saying yesterday. Also, FGC could organize the sale of the stake in conjunction with other minority shareholders (Norilsk Nickel, Gazprom, InterRAO UES and others), Budargin stated. Thus, the company could place a 4-9% stake in total. Budargin said the decision and the placement terms should be balanced, noting that hurrying is not necessary. The value of the company is twice the current market level, in his view.
Troika's view: We currently consider the news to be neutral, as the parameters have yet to be disclosed. To recap, the government earlier defined the threshold as no less than R0.50 per share (27% higher than yesterday's closing price) for the possible placement. Hence, this could be regarded as a medium-term target for the stock. FGC's management previously said that attracting a strategic investor would make sense if the government's stake decreases to a controlling level (current law requires above 75%). Thus, it is possible that the stake could be placed on the market, for example, as a GDR, we believe. However, the regulatory uncertainty and tariff growth must first be addressed. We still prefer MRSK Holding, although it is also relatively more risky.
Alexander Kotikov
11:30 17/06/2011ALL NEWS
Johnson and Johnson, Chemrar to develop cooperation. http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/166849.html 17/6 Tass 115 ST. PETERSBURG, June 17 (Itar-Tass) —— Johnson and Johnson, one of the world’s biggest producers of cosmetics and medical supplies, and the Russian high-technologies centre Chemrar have agreed to develop cooperation. They signed a memorandum of understanding on Friday, within the framework of the International Economic Forum in St.Petersburg. Johnson and Johnson, U.S., specialises not only on the production of cosmetics, hygienic goods and medical equipment, but also on the production of pharmaceutical preparations. This is the sphere in which the two companies will develop their cooperation, which provides for the selection of the most interesting finds in the sphere of pharmaceutics. The Chemrar centre is a non-state research complex and innovation business-incubator. It rallies high-technology institutions, which do scientific research for Russian and foreign producers of pharmaceutical and biotechnological goods. The production and marketing of innovation medicines on the basis of the most up-to- date “post-genome” technologies, the development and the promotion of production of innovation preparations, which are capable of replacing the imported ones, and the introduction of comprehensive programmes for localizing pharmaceutical factories are the main direction of Chemrar’s work.
Uralkali completes merger with Silvinit http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text15922 Troika Dialog June 17, 2011
Uralkali announced on Thursday that its merger with Silvinit was officially completed after the Federal Financial Markets Service (FFMS) registered the report on the results of the share issuance on June 15 and the newly issued Uralkali shares that were distributed to former Silvinit shareholders became transferable.
Importantly, former Silvinit shareholders who have now officially become Uralkali shareholders are eligible to participate in Uralkali's AGM (to be conducted on June 29, record date was May 24) and receive dividends (should they be approved by the AGM). The BoD recommended dividends of R4.55 per local share ($0.81 per GDR).
The newly issued shares will be accepted into Uralkali's GDR program, and the company expects the new GDRs to be admitted to trading on the LSE on or about June 21.
To recap, the Suleiman Kerimov•orchestrated merger was initiated in December 2010 with approved swap ratios of 133.4 Uralkali shares per each common share of Silvinit and 51.8 Uralkali shares per each preferred share of Silvinit. EGMs of both companies approved the transaction on February 4. As part of the deal, the 20% stake in Silvinit owned by Dmitri Rybolovlev was acquired by Uralkali on February 28 for $1.4 bln and subsequently cancelled. Unsurprisingly, only a marginal part of both Uralkali and Silvinit shareholders who voted against the deal submitted their shares for redemption. The total cash consideration allocated by Uralkali to redeem the shares amounted to just $1.7 mln. Redeemed ordinary and preferred shares of Silvinit were also cancelled, as required by Russian law.
Troika's view: The timely completion of the merger was well expected and will have little effect on the share price, though we could see some short to medium•term stock overhang, as former Silvinit shareholders who now possess a much more liquid investment may want to cash out and dispose of their stock into the market.
12:02 17/06/2011ALL NEWS
AVTOVAZ may be one of grounds to assemble Yo-mobiles -- Prokhorov. http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/166926.html 17/6 Tass 113 ST. PETERSBURG June 17 (Itar-Tass) — The AVTOVAZ plant may be one of the grounds to assemble Yo-Mobiles, ONEXIM Group head Mikhail Prokhorov told reporters on Friday. "AVTOVAZ may be one of the grounds ready to assemble them," he said. The conception of the company envisages a great number of various partners, he added. A Yo-mobile is a Russian hybrid car. Three models will be produced -- Yo-Cross-Coupe, Yo-Microvan and Yo-Van. It has a dual-fuel system (methane and petrol), a body of composite materials, all-wheel drive in the basic model and a rotary-vane engine. The maximum speed is 130 km/h.
Russia: boosting private equity http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2011/06/17/russia-boosting-private-equity/
June 17, 2011 8:14 am by beyondbrics By Ben Aris of Business New Europe A state-backed fund promoting private equity investment won’t change Russia even with $10bn at its disposal and president Dmitry Medvedev’s personal backing. But Kirill Dmitriev, the new CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) launched this year, believes he can make a difference by co-investing with private investors, reducing country risk and making foreign institutions feel more comfortable. Dmitriev says in an interview: The fund will not a replace the other institutional reforms and both the president and prime minister have been very vocal about the need to improve the investment climate. But the idea of co-investment is to reduce the Russian risk and make foreign investors more comfortable. If they come and invest $1 now with the RDIF and make money then these foreign investors will come back on their own and invest $10 down the road. The goal of the RDIF is to show foreign investors from some of the world’s largest funds that Russia is not as risky as they think and that the president intends to prove it by making good returns for investors co-investing in projects backed by the sovereign fund. Dmitriev’s appointment to run the fund is a testament to the commercial nature of the project. One of Russia’s new generation of rising business leaders, Dmitriev cut his teeth working as a manager at Delta Private Equity Partners, a US-government backed investment fund designed to promote capitalism by financing the growth of independent business. He then set up his own successful $1bn fund Icon Private Equity that invested in projects across the CIS. At the same time he founded the Russian Association for Venture Capitalists and advised the government on the creation of the Russian Venture Company, a state backed fund promoted by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to kick start Russia’s venture capital business. Sitting in a cafe on Red Square this week, just before the start of the Kremlin’s annual investment jamboree in St Petersburg, Dmitriev says: I am not a politician. I am a fund manager and the primary goal of the RDIF is to earn returns for the investors. We thought long and hard about the best form for the fund, to make it as attractive as possible to investors. The fund is limited to a minority roll of no more than 50% minus one share in any project. It means the co-investors don’t have to invest into anything they don’t believe will earn returns. I don’t see the RDIF as a political initiative, however the political goals of the government will be achieved from these investment – but as a by-product. Dmitriev is currently hiring staff, most of whom will be Russian professionals. The first $2bn will be released this September and the first investment made before the end of this year, says Dmitriev. After that, the state-owned debt agency and de-facto development bank Vnesheconombank (VEB) will release another $2bn every year over the next five years that the Kremlin hopes will attract another $90bn of private co-investment money. Dmitriev says: Russia is a very attractive investment destination and people have to some extent lost sight of what the country has to offer. It is the sixth largest economy in the world (even Russians forget this fact) and the number of people that are earning more than $10,000 a year has tripled in the last six years. I am not saying that everything is good but the rising incomes have lead to an incredible amount of change in a remarkably short amount of time. The structure of the fund is designed to ally foreign investors fears about investing into Russia. The Russian stock market has been the best performing significant market in the world over the last decade, but the average price to earnings ratio of under 7 at the moment stands in stark contract to those in the early teens for the other major emerging market. Russia performs way below emerging market peers in terms of incoming portfolio and direct investments. The structure of the fund is designed so the fund can tap into the expertise of experienced global investors. The executive committee, meeting four times a year, will be made up of senior government figures and international advisors (the list of candidates has not been approved yet). However, once a year there will be a meeting of an international advisory committee composed of representatives from global funds. Dmitriev wants to use this outside expertise: For example we have talked to a private equity fund that is a global leader in health sector investments in the US and Europe. Very few private investors in Russia have invested into private sector health care but clearly there is need for them. So this is potentially a very profitable investment. The same is true for the pharmaceutical sector where Russia has the fastest growing pharma market in the world but 80% of the products are still imported. Among the international investors that have already expressed an interest in joining the international advisory board are Goldman Sachs, Blackstone, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Kuwait Investment Authority, China Investment Authority, Permira and Caisses des Depots. With all those experts, Dmitriev will have plenty of international insight available. But Russia has never been short of foreign advice on its managing its economy. The problem has always been implementing it.
Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)
06/17 10:51 ECON MINISTRY PROPOSES MAINTAINING PROHIBITIVE EXPORT DUTY ON GASOLINE IN JULY – SLEPNEV http://www.interfax.com/news.asp
Russia May Supply Oil to Ukraine’s Yuzhny Port, Kommersant Says http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-17/russia-may-supply-oil-to-ukraine-s- yuzhny-port-kommersant-says.html
By Kateryna Choursina - Jun 17, 2011 10:01 AM GMT+0200 Russia may ship as much as 9 million metric tons of crude oil a year to Ukraine’s port of Yuzhny, Kommersant-Ukraine newspaper reported citing Valery Subbotin, vice president of Russia’s OAO Lukoil. Some of the shipped oil may go to Lukoil’s refinery in Odessa, according to the newspaper. Crude may also be delivered to refiners in the western parts of Ukraine, Kommersant said. To contact the reporter on this story: Kateryna Choursina in Kiev at [email protected]; To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at [email protected]
Russian consortium to reassess reserves of Venezuelan oilfield http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20110617104951.shtml RBC, 17.06.2011, St. PPetersburg 10:49:51.Russia's National Oil Consortium is in negotiations with the Venezuelan government to reassess the reserves of the Junin-6 block in Venezuela, Andrey Kuzyayev, president of Lukoil's foreign arm Lukoil Overseas, told reporters today. Lukoil would like to combine the Junin-3 block with Junin-6 and the company is discussing this proposal with the Venezuelan government, Kuzyayev said. The National Oil Consortium, which includes Lukoil, TNK-BP, Rosneft, Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, has a 40% stake in the Junin-6 project. The remainder belongs to Venezuelan oil corporation Petroleos de Venezuela.
TNK-BP Stake Could Sell http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/tnk-bp-stake-could-sell/439025.html
17 June 2011 ST. PETERSBURG — TNK-BP shareholder Viktor Vekselberg said he might sell his stake at the right price. "Now we are not looking to sell," Vekselberg said Thursday at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. "But if there is an interesting proposal, why not?" Vekselberg said he couldn't promise that he won't have sold his stake in the venture by the end of the year. There are no talks currently with BP about share purchases, Vekselberg said. Neither Rosneft nor any other company has made any proposal, he said. TNK-BP has no plans to sell shares in an initial public offering, Vekselberg said. Vekselberg, also chairman of aluminum producer United Company RusAl, said the company may consider acquisitions in the metals industry once it reduces its debt to three times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization. He expects RusAl to pay dividends this year. Vekselberg said an initial public offering of his gold miner Zoloto Kamchatki in Hong Kong might be possible next year. (Bloomberg)
Fortum And Lukoil Sign Agreement On Technology Collaboration http://www.eurasiareview.com/fortum-and-lukoil-sign-agreement-on-technology- collaboration%E2%80%8F-17062011/ Written by: Eurasia Review June 17, 2011 Fortum and the Russian energy company Lukoil have signed a technology collaboration framework agreement. The agreement covers collaboration in the areas of operation, maintenance and capacity upgrades of power plants and heating networks, among others. The companies also agreed on research and development collaboration aiming to improve energy efficiency. The collaboration agreement was signed today in conjunction with the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. The agreement is based on Fortum’s long experience in providing operation and maintenance services to Russian energy companies. Fortum, for example, performs efficiency and productivity optimisation audits at Lukoil’s power plants. ”Collaboration with Lukoil, one of the world’s leading energy companies, provides us with even better opportunities to develop energy-efficient electricity and heat production in Russia,” says Fortum’s President and CEO Tapio Kuula. ”Sustainability is at the core of Fortum’s strategy, and I am very pleased that we can offer also Lukoil our know-how in this area,” he emphasises.
16.06.2011
Russia, Macedonia Speeding Up Cooperation As Part Of South Stream http://www.oilandgaseurasia.com/news/p/0/news/11683
A meeting between Alexander Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Zoran Stavreski, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia was held today within the framework of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2011.
The meeting participants discussed the current issues of interaction in the energy sector. The Macedonian party was informed that the feasibility study for the South Stream gas pipeline was nearing completion and had to be finalized in the third quarter of 2011.
Taking into account Macedonia's interest in being connected to the gas pipeline, Alexander Medvedev and Zoran Stavreski agreed to speed up the cooperation with a view to study the feasibility of Russian gas supplies to Macedonia as part of the South Stream project.
Copyright 2011, Gazprom. All rights reserved. 17.06.2011
Lukoil, Sovcomflot Sign Marine Oil Supply Contract http://www.oilandgaseurasia.com/news/p/0/news/11681
Vagit Alekperov, President of Lukoil, and Sergey Frank, Director General of OAO Sovcomflot, signed a contract for the supply of marine lubricants and technical services in accordance with the existing international standards. The contract was signed today in Saint Petersburg within the framework of the International Economic Forum.
The document provides for the delivery by LUKOIL to Sovcomflot between July 1, 2011, and July 1, 2014, of a total of more than 20,000 tonnes of 67 items of various lubricants.
Lukoil is Russia’s largest oil manufacturer.
Lukoil marine oils have been approved for use by the world’s leading producers of marine engines. They are manufactured in 17 countries and supplied to vessels in 512 ports of 54 countries.
Copyright 2011, Lukoil. All rights reserved.
Gazprom
11:31 17/06/2011ALL NEWS
Gazprom head says gas price talks with China proceed as scheduled. http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/166850.html 17/6 Tass 141 ST. PETERSBURG, June 17 (Itar-Tass) — Negotiations on Russian gas price with China are proceeding as scheduled, head of Russia’s national gas utility Gazprom Alexei Miller said on Friday. “Talks with the Chinese side go on as scheduled,” Miller told Itar-Tass. When asked why the talks between Russian and Chinese Presidents, Dmitry Medvedev and Hu Jintao, yielded no agreement on Russian gas price, Miller once again said, “Everything proceeds as scheduled.”
Gazprom fails to convince China; five-year wait continues http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text15922
Renaissance Capital June 17, 2011 Event: Yesterday (16 June) Chinese President Hu Jintao met key Russian officials in Moscow and visited Gazprom's head office. A final deal to supply gas to China was not signed, despite high expectations. Importantly, however, Gazprom's CEO Alexei Miller announced that Gazprom plans to start building a gas pipeline with throughput capacity of 60bcm, which would link the Chayanda field with the Sakhalin-Khabarovsk- Vladivostok (SKV) pipeline, and be completed in September this year. Miller also noted that Gazprom is likely to increase exports to Europe in 2011 by 22%, compared with 138bcm in 2010, while Bloomberg reported yesterday that Miller's deputy, Alexander Medvedev, estimated that FY11 exports to Europe would be 158-159bcm, beating the previously revised plan of 155bcm. Almost as a countermove, Kazakhstan announced yesterday it had agreed with China to expand export pipeline capacity to 65bcm by adding a third line (25bcm) by 2013.
Action: Mixed news; should neutralise the impact on Gazprom's share price, we think.
Rationale: The failure to sign a final agreement with China is clearly disappointing, but is reflective of various fundamental positions of the parties. Specifically, we understand that the Chinese are reluctant to accept Gazprom's position, which prioritises a western route, provides little flexibility on minimum off-take volumes, and has relatively high price expectations of around $350/mcm. At the same time, we view the firm decision to link Chayanda with the SKV pipeline as very positive, as it should bring the two sides closer. Ultimately, we think China's huge energy demand should lead to the countries signing the final supply agreement, most likely this year. A different issue of course is the economics of the supplies, and how minority shareholders may benefit from them. Ildar Davletshin
Gazprom to Raise Gas Exports This Year, Miller Says http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-16/gazprom-to-raise-gas-exports-22-this-year- ceo-miller-says.html
By Marina Sysoyeva - Jun 17, 2011 6:30 AM GMT+0200 (Corrects period after Gazprom press service says Miller misspoke in headline, first paragraph of report published June 16.) OAO Gazprom plans to boost gas exports this year, after deliveries rose 22 percent in the first five months, said Chief Executive Officer Alexei Miller. The Russian gas export monopoly increased total exports by 24 billion cubic meters in January through May, Miller said today, while presenting Gazprom’s pipeline- management center to Chinese President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The company shipped 140 billion cubic meters of fuel to Europe last year. Gazprom, which supplies about a quarter of Europe’s gas, benefited from unrest in Libya and Japan’s nuclear crisis. Demand for Russian fuel has been climbing this year at an increasing pace compared with a year earlier, Miller said last month. Exports to Europe, excluding former Soviet republics, may reach 158 billion to 159 billion cubic meters this year, Deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev told Bloomberg TV today at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. “We are rather sure exports will be more than predicted,” Medvedev said. To contact the reporter on this story: Marina Sysoyeva in Moscow [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Torrey Clark at [email protected]
Gazprom upsizes gas exports in January-May http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20110617115432.shtml RBC, 17.06.2011, Moscow 11:54:32.Gazprom ramped up natural gas exports by around 22% year-on-year in January-May, the company's CEO Alexey Miller said late Thursday. The gas giant expects exports to rise in 2011, he added. In 2010, Gazprom produced 508.6 billion cubic meters of gas (bcm), of which 140 bcm were exported.
Gazprom boosts gas exports by 22 pct Jan-May - CEO Miller http://en.rian.ru/business/20110616/164659212.html
19:43 16/06/2011
MOSCOW, June 16 (RIA Novosti)
Russia's state-controlled gas export monopoly Gazprom has boosted its exports for the first five months of 2011 by about 22 percent, Gazprom Chief Executive Officer Alexei Miller said on Thursday. "We'll definitely raise our exports by about 22 percent in 2011," Miller said, adding that the company's 2010 exports totaled 140 billion cubic meters of gas. Gazprom has significantly increased its gas export forecast for 2011, and if the company's foreign supplies grow by 22 percent, the overall volume may hit 170 bcm. Gazprom already raised its 2011 forecast to 155 bcm in May from the former 151.5 bcm. Miller earlier said a significant growth in exports was caused by the recent unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, and by the series of deadly earthquakes and tsunamis which hit Japan. In May, Gazprom boosted its supplies to Europe by 30 percent and is still continuing to raise exports. Gazprom Seeks LNG Deals Abroad That May Involve Asset Swaps http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-16/gazprom-seeks-lng-deals-abroad-that-may- involve-asset-swaps.html
By Anna Shiryaevskaya and Caroline Connan - Jun 16, 2011 6:53 PM GMT+0200 OAO Gazprom, Russia’s gas export monopoly, is seeking liquefied natural-gas deals outside of Russia that may involve asset swaps. “We are looking at new projects,” Deputy Chief Executive Officer Alexander Medvedev said today in an interview at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. “In possible asset swap deals we will be interested to include existing LNG assets that our potential partners have.” Medvedev declined to identify possible partners, though he said that talks with Royal Dutch Shell Plc include an “LNG element.” Gazprom, which leads Russia’s sole LNG project known as Sakhalin-2, with Shell, Mitsui & Co. and Mitsubishi Corp., wants to expand in markets such as Asia where demand is growing at a faster rate. The Moscow-based producer is targeting production of as much as 25 billion cubic meters of LNG outside Russia, according to a presentation to investors on Gazprom’s website. Shell may offer assets in Asia to Gazprom to support expansion of the Sakhalin-2, people with knowledge of the negotiations said in February. The Hague-based company may gain access to offshore blocks in Russia’s east, they said at the time. Gazprom is considering expanding the Sakhalin-2 LNG plant and is looking at ways to increase the resource base needed to support a third production line, or train, Medvedev said today. At the same time, the company is also studying plans to build an LNG plant near the city of Vladivostok, he said. Most of the gas from Sakhalin-2 goes to Japan, the world’s biggest LNG consumer, where a March earthquake and tsunami have knocked nuclear power offline. “Japan is now analyzing what the consequences of this catastrophe are, also in view of demand recovery from industries,” Medvedev said. Japan may need as much as 20 million tons of additional LNG, Medvedev said. “And this is a very serious volume that doesn’t yet exist on the market, you have yet to produce it.” To contact the reporters on this story: Anna Shiryaevskaya in St. Petersbrug via Moscow at 7729 or [email protected] Caroline Connan in St. Petersburg via London at [email protected]; To contact the editor responsible for this story: Will Kennedy at [email protected]
11:40 17/06/2011ALL NEWS
Russia’s Gazprom to tender development of section in Sakhalin 6 project. http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/166873.html 17/6 Tass 119 ST. PETERSBURG, June 17 (Itar-Tass) —— Russia’s national gas utility Gazprom plans to take part in a tender for the development of a border section of the Sakhalin 6 project, the head of the Russian subsoil use authority, Anatoly Ledovskikh, said on Friday. “Gazprom has not yet filed its tender bid, but it plans to do it,” Ledovskikh told journalists. However he did not specify when the tender is to be held, saying only its might take place this year. “There is no need to be in a hurry,” he said. The oil and gas Sakhalin 6 project is the biggest section of the Sakhalin shelf. Its reserves are estimated at about one billion tons of oil. The projects embraces five structures and two fields.
Okhta Seeks More Incentives http://www.times.spb.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=34172
By Alla Tokareva, Yelena Mazneva and Anatoly Tyomkin Vedomosti Published: June 17, 2011 (Issue # 1661)
Gazprom Neft is seeking incentives from the St. Petersburg government to cover the costs of relocating its personnel from Moscow.
The possible savings could be equal to expenditure on the construction of the planned Okhta Center itself.
Gazprom Neft will receive tax benefits from the St. Petersburg administration and will be able to claim compensation for all the expenses involved in relocating the company’s head office from Moscow, the company’s general director, Alexander Dyukov, said at the annual shareholders’ meeting last week. He didn’t give any details and declined to estimate the volume of the moving costs. The costs will be dependent on the number of employees willing to move to St. Petersburg, explained Dyukov.
One Gazprom Neft manager told Vedomosti that the St. Petersburg authorities are preparing a draft law according to which firms investing more than 15 billion rubles ($536 million) in the city’s economy will be able to receive tax benefits for five years. Gazprom Neft officials expect the bill to be approved by the end of the year, he added. The governor’s press office declined to comment. A spokesperson for Deputy Governor Mikhail Oseyevsky neither confirmed nor denied this information. The city’s Legislative Assembly has not yet received any proposals on this matter, said the head of the legislation committee Vitaly Milonov.
The decision to move Gazprom Neft’s corporate center to St. Petersburg was made by the shareholders in 2006, when the company was reregistered in St. Petersburg. The move to the Quattro Corti business center on Pochtamptskaya Ulitsa is to be completed by 2012. Of 1,500 employees in the head office in Moscow, only 1,000 are expected to move to St. Petersburg.
Of that number, about 500 will return to Moscow during the course of the first year, estimates Boris Rokhin, the head of Ward Howell office in St. Petersburg. A partner at Top-Contact, Artur Kamilov, estimates Gazprom’s expenses on additional compensation for those employees moving to be about $40 million to $50 million.