Russia 110420
Basic Political Developments
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Russia pulling out of $1B Western aid program that supported ex-Soviet weapons
scientists - Russia is pulling out of a program that poured $1 billion from the U.S.
government and other foreign donors into the research labs that built the Soviet
Union's vast arsenal of weapons of mass destruction.
Russia, China opposed to UN interference in Yemen - According to the Russian
business paper RBC, the recent UN Security Council meeting in New York on
Yemen restricted itself to appeals for restraint and for dialogue between the
Yemeni authorities and the opposition.
Russia welcomes Syrian move - Earlier, in a telephone conversation with Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev the Syrian leader Bashar Assad announced his
intention to implement reforms.
Medvedev, Merkel discuss Libya, MidEast in phone talk - President Dmitry
Medvedev and German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel had a telephone talk.
They discussed the situation in Libya and around it, the state of affairs in the
Middle East peace process, and a number of other regional problems, the Kremlin
press service announced on Tuesday.
Pacific Fleet ships homebound after Gulf mission - The Admiral Vinogradov
anti-sub ship accompanied by a tanker and a tug-boat has successfully escorted 14
convoys of merchant ships through the pirate-infested Gulf over the past four
months.
Russian tanker in distress at Kuril Islands - The main engine of the ship happens
to be out of order. The crew have been unable to repair it so far.
Russia urges int’l community not to fan tensions in Middle East – Lavrov
Russia FM, Macedonia leaders to discuss cooperation prospects - Lavrov's visit to
Macedonia is timed to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the opening of the
Imperial Consulate -- the first official representative office of Russia in this part
of the Balkans, which at that time was part of the Ottoman Empire.
Gas power plants and gas pipeline basis of agreement - Energy, construction of
gas power plants and gas storage facilities at the ‘Southern Stream’ gas pipeline
as well as its final route through Serbia shall be one of key items of strategic
agreement between Russia and Serbia to be signed by the presidents Boris Tadic
and Dmitri Medvedev in the following months during Serbian President’s
scheduled visit to Moscow. Apart from cooperation in the sphere of energy, this
bilateral agreement shall contain provisions over trade exchange and
infrastructure.
o Russian FM: Russia is willing to better its relations with all of the Balkan
countries
o Russian-Serbian craft fair opens in Belgrade
Russian-Ukraine naval cooperation - The Russian Defense Ministry will order
AN-70 Russian-Ukrainian military transport aircraft according to Defense
Minister Anatoly Serdyukov. He made the statement at the end of his working
visit to Ukraine.
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Joint meeting Russian, Belarusian top Defense Ministry officials to mull
cooperation prospects
BELARUS RETRACTS OIL-PRODUCT DUTIES SUIT VS RUSSIA AT CIS
ECONOMIC COURT - JUSTICE MINISTRY
Russia Criticizes NATO-Georgia Commission Statement - The Russian Foreign
Ministry said a joint statement of NATO-Georgia Commission includes “usual set
of biased wordings”, which were far from realities on the ground in respect of
Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Smuggled Georgian mineral water found at Russian markets
Russia says bye to Kohno - The Japanese Embassy in Moscow hosted a reception
in connection with the end the term of the Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary of Japan to Russia, Masaharu Kohno.
Russia will continue to assist Japan - Russia will continue to provide Japan with
technical assistance in the aftermath of the accident at the Japanese nuclear plant
Fukushima-1 said the director of the Institute for Nuclear Safety, Leonid Bolshov.
Radiation background normal in Russia’s Far East
o Radiation background normal on Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula
June deadline for Belene contract not final - Bulgarian Economy Minister: "By
June 1, we are demanding (from HSBC) a thorough and detailed analysis of what
we expect from the other party and what they expect from us. We could hardly
finish by then, especially if we get on to re-designing some parts of the project,"
Traikov said.
Rosatom to Bid in Argentina - "In June, Argentina will announce a nuclear power
plant construction tender, in which Rosatom is also planning to participate,"
Komarov said.
Igor Sechin: There is no alternative to nuclear energy - Russia is sure that the
future is in the construction of safe nuclear power plants, Deputy Prime Minister
Igor Sechin said on April 19 in Kyiv.
The reactor of change - How the Japanese catastrophe will change Russia’s
nuclear energy sector. By Vladimir Dzaguto
Medvedev beheaded Moscow OMON - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has
dismissed several senior police officials and appointed head of the Investigative
Committee of Russia (MRS). This was reported today the Kremlin press service.
Medvedev submits protocol on Russian base deployment in Armenia for
ratification
Russia Baits the Hook: Armenians Leave for the “Promised Land” - Participating
in the program are 30 border districts in Russia and a number of selected cities in
each. Those making the move are allowed to take their family and possessions
with them, even the car, to the Russian city where they will work.
HIGHLIGHTS-Remarks by Russian PM Putin in annual report
o Putin To Deliver Annual Economy Report To Parliament
o 5th Duma to hear a report on govt activities Wed
o Putin to show plans to spend windfall ahead of vote - Putin's last annual
report to parliament before elections; Will discuss how to deal with
windfall revenues; Spokesman says will not address 2012 election issue
o Lawmakers cast critical eye over Putin ahead of parliament address
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Rules Needed for Selecting State Firm Board Members - Russia needs rules
for picking independent directors of state-controlled firms to reap the benefits
from a decision to remove officials from boards, the head of the country's
Independent Directors Association said.
o Exodus of Ministers from State Companies – by Chris Weafer of UralSib
Federal wanted terrorist killed in Dagestan
o Gunman killed in Dagestan turned out to be warlord henchman – NAK
Religious activist killed in Dagestan
Militant, two police officers and Muslim cleric killed in Russia’s North Caucasus
o Russia: 4 people killed in Dagestan province
CAUCASUS WARLORD DZHAGAPIROV SUSPECTED OF ATTACKS ON
POLICEMEN DETAINED IN MOSCOW REGION - NATIONAL
ANTITERRORIST COMMITTEE
o Militants from the Karachay-Cherkessia detained near Moscow
Magomedov meets Dagestan community in Moscow
Chechnya asks for $17bn in development funds
Politician's death near surgery clinic in Moscow being investigated
More patrols amid fears on Hitler anniversary - April 20 is always a worrying
time for conspicuously foreign students in Moscow and after ethnic violence
erupted onto the political agenda in December the government has been left
looking ill equipped to deal with it.
12 forest fires extinguished in Primorsky territory
Equatorial Guinean suspected robber at embassy detained in Moscow
Police detain 38 workers, 10 customs officers trying to steal seized goods
Reuters PRESS DIGEST - Russia - Apr 20
o www.kommersant.ru
o Russian IT company Sitronics (SITRIq.L) has won a Moscow city tender
to develop a computerised system to rid the city of chronic traffic jams,
the paper writes.
o A prominent Russian music critic may go to prison for publicly criticising
a traffic police officer who took part in an investigation of a deadly car
accident involving the car of Lukoil's (LKOH.MM) vice-president, the
daily writes.
o www.vedomosti.ru
o Russians' real wages have been shrinking due to rising inflation over the
last three months. People spend their savings and are burdened by credit,
the paper writes.
o Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sacked a top navy officer blamed for
the delay in talks to buy French-built Mistral helicopter carriers, the paper
reports.
o Russia will need 2.6 trillion roubles ($92.39 billion) worth of investment
to triple coal production by 2030 and increase coal exports by 1.5 times,
the paper cites energy ministry.
o www.ng.ru
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o Russia's troubled North Caucasus region of Chechnya asks for funds of
498 billion roubles ($17.70 billion) from Russia's central budget by 2025,
the daily says.
o www.trud.ru
o Half of Russians drink water that does not meet drinking water standars,
the daily writes.
o A prominent doctor criticized corruption and low wages in the Health
Ministry in front of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the daily writes.
RIA Russian Press at a Glance, Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Russia: Racism and abuse in asylum centres - A BBC investigation into Russia's
treatment of asylum seekers has found disturbing evidence of neglect, abuse, and
overt racial discrimination by officials. Our Moscow correspondent Daniel
Sandford reports.
Destroyed by the Mistral - Negotiations on the sale of the French helicopter
carrier could go back to the level of heads of state Dmitry Litovkin
Russia's Fading Army Fights Losing Battle to Reform Itself - By RICHARD
BOUDREAUX
Russia’s “Spineless” Army: Paper Sergeants - By: Roger McDermott
Rights and the Right - The Government Is Making Conspicuous Attempts to
Bring Nationalist Sentiment Under Control, Although the Latest Move May Not
Have the Intended Result. By Tom Balmforth
National Economic Trends
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Russian Economy in March: Requires Tightening, But CBR Might Opt to Wait VTB Capital
Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions
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Duma deputies suggest new fines for flight cancellations and delays
Construction sector growth still slow - The latest figures from the Federal State
Statistics Service showed that activity increased 1.6% YoY in the first quarter of
2011, to total RUB663.7bn, reports Prime Tass.
Russian crude steel output increases by 9pct in Q1
UPDATE 1-Russia's Polymetal cuts 2011 gold output forecast
Mechel Announces Pricing of Offering of Preferred Shares by Certain Selling
Shareholders
RZD to auction off 75% in Freight One
Russia's Novorossiysk says 2010 profit up 2.5 percent
Morgan Stanley, Interfax to Join Sberbank Board, Vedomosti Says
UPDATE 1-Russia's Alfa, Evraz raise $1.85 bln via Eurobonds
Russia's NRB eyes $160 mln Eurobond issue – source
Sibur mulls initial public offering (IPO) in H2- 2012
Rybolovlev sells 10% of Uralkali to Nesis and Mamut
Usmanov ups stake in Arsenal
RUSNANO and Perm Krai Choose German Nanostart AG to Manage 50 Million
Euro Fund
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Interfax Russia & CIS Energy Daily - April 19, 2011
Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)
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Russia oil flows to China normal despite talk of price row – report: China had
received 5 million tonnes of crude oil from Russia via the Sino-Russia pipeline as
of April 18, state-owned China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) said in a
company newspaper on Tuesday.
Rosneft starts share buyback program - Russia's state-run oil giant Rosneft has
started buying back its shares from the market and plans to initially spend $100200 million for that purpose, the firm said on Tuesday.
Rosneft seeking new international partner for Arctic project?
Gazprom
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Gazprom To Keep Design - The architectural project for Gazprom’s planned
business center that was originally intended to be built in St. Petersburg’s
Krasnogvardeisky district will form the basis of the company’s new construction
project on the Gulf of Finland, according to Okhta Public and Business Center,
the company behind the project.
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Basic Political Developments
Russia pulling out of $1B Western aid program that supported ex-Soviet weapons
scientists
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gjt45dE60t9PsXivk42irBJEyIw?docId=6617176
By Douglas Birch, The Associated Press – 22 minutes ago
WASHINGTON — Russia is pulling out of a program that poured $1 billion from the
U.S. government and other foreign donors into the research labs that built the Soviet
Union's vast arsenal of weapons of mass destruction.
Officials with the International Science and Technology Center are negotiating to close
the Moscow headquarters of the organization, which was formed in 1994, three years
after the Soviet Union collapsed. The centre gave tens of thousands of experts in nuclear,
chemical and biological warfare the chance to engage in civilian research and work with
colleagues from the U.S. and other nations that once stood on the other side of the Iron
Curtain.
The program helped pay the salaries of Russian weapons scientists who otherwise might
have sold their services to rogue regimes or terrorists after the Cold War, but it long
outlived the crisis that inspired its creation. Russia came to regard the intergovernmental
program as obsolete as the country's economy surged over the past decade.
Russia's U.S. ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, who negotiated the establishment of the
centre, told The Associated Press that his country no longer needs it. "The mission has
been accomplished," he said. "It is a little bit outdated."
U.S. congressional investigators concluded that U.S. taxpayer money helped Russia's
weapons institutes stay in business by recruiting younger scientists and retaining key
personnel who might otherwise have moved to the West — a finding at odds with the
program's goal of reducing the threat of weapons of mass destruction.
Foreign aid programs helped keep Russia afloat as it lurched from crisis to crisis in the
1990s. But the Kremlin has been phasing these programs out in recent years, saying in
effect it no longer needs to be treated as a charity case.
In August, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's office issued a brief statement
announcing Russia's withdrawal from the program in six months. The centre's director,
Adriaan van der Meer, said he is negotiating the terms of the closure and hopes to win an
agreement for "an orderly wind down" over the next several years of 355 Russian
projects worth about $155 million.
Van der Meer said the centre will continue working in Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus and
several Central Asian states, where it runs about $95 million worth of projects. Over the
past 17 years, the centre has tracked space debris, developed fusion power, searched for
vaccines against deadly diseases like Ebola and much more.
When the program began after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian economy
was in shambles and the government struggled to pay salaries in secret cities where
armies of technicians, engineers and scientists designed and built weapons.
"It really provided a lifeline in the 1990s for people who were underpaid or
underemployed and might otherwise have gotten desperate enough to sell their services
elsewhere," said Matthew Bunn of Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and
International Affairs.
Today Russia pumps more oil than Saudi Arabia, holds almost $500 billion in currency
reserves and by one measure has the world's seventh-largest economy. Increasingly, the
Russian government has regarded foreign aid as an embarrassing reminder of its past
dependence on aid. But some arms control experts said Russia's decision may also have
been motivated by security concerns.
Retired U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Kevin Ryan, executive director for research at the Belfer
Center, said that both Russia's Federal Security Service and the FBI have long worried
that Russian and U.S. weapons scientists working together on peaceful projects might
inadvertently spill state secrets. "That's the risk for everybody, but they consider it a
higher risk than we do," Ryan said.
The U.S. contributes about one-third of the money for the centre's projects, van der Meer
said, while the European Union pays for another third, and Canada, Norway, Japan and
South Korea the rest.
Arms control advocates such as Ryan say the program still plays a vital role by
supplementing salaries at underfunded weapons institutes and fostering ties between
Russian and Western scientists.
A 2007 Government Accountability Office study of U.S. Energy Department
collaborative research programs in Russia found that senior officials at many former
Soviet labs believed there was no longer any need for Western financial support.
Lab officials in Russia and Ukraine told the GAO, Congress' investigative arm, that
foreign grants had helped them recruit and retain key personnel, preventing them from
emigrating to the United States or other advanced industrial nations. These officials told
the GAO that there was "little danger of scientists migrating to countries of concern,"
according to the 2007 study.
The centre was prohibited from funding weapons work: The point was to introduce
weapons scientists to civilian research. Congress objected when it discovered in 2008 that
some of the institutes receiving U.S. aid were also working with Iran's nuclear program,
specifically the recently completed nuclear power plant at Bushehr. The U.S. has long
contended that Iranian officials use the Bushehr civilian power project as cover for
pursuing a nuclear weapons program. Iran has always denied it is seeking to build atomic
weapons.
Relations between the U.S. and Russia have roller coastered since the centre opened in
1994, reaching a high point after the September 2001 terrorist attacks and a post-Cold
War low in the aftermath of the August 2008 war between Georgia and Russia.
Under the Obama administration's reset of ties with Russia, Moscow has agreed to let the
U.S. ship military supplies to Afghanistan through its territory, supported tough new U.N.
sanctions against Iran and signed the New START treaty reducing the ceiling on both
countries' nuclear arsenals.
Despite these improvements, U.S. intelligence officials say Russia remains wary of U.S.
intentions. "Russian military programs are driven largely by Moscow's perception that the
United States and NATO are Russia's principal strategic challenges and greatest potential
threat," James Clapper, director of national intelligence, told Congress in March.
Russia has recently launched a $700 billion drive to modernize its nuclear and
conventional military forces by 2020.
Henry Sokolski, who once served as the Pentagon's deputy for nonproliferation policy
and is now director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, a Washington-based
non-profit, said the International Science and Technology Center leaves a mixed legacy.
"Whatever good it might have done to deflect weapons activities, it probably undid by
supporting these institutes, which are weapons institutes," he said.
Ryan said that even if Western aid has helped Russia's military institutes, they represent
little threat to the U.S. compared with the weapons programs of countries like Iran and
North Korea.
"We have disagreements (with Russia), but we're not on the verge of war," he said. "If
you look at the results of the product of the Russian military-industrial complex right
now, I don't think we ought to be concerned."
Van der Meer credited the Moscow centre with creating almost from scratch a civilian
research community in Russia, where in Soviet times 85 per cent of scientists worked in
military labs. Tens of thousands of them worked in "closed cities" that didn't appear on
any maps. Van der Meer and several U.S. officials said they hoped the centre's programs
could continue in some form in Russia.
"It would be very silly to destroy the investment of over $1 billion over the years," van
der Meer said.
Russia, China opposed to UN interference in Yemen
http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/04/20/49193010.html
Apr 20, 2011 11:33 Moscow Time
Russia and China have come out against any active UN moves in Yemen.
According to the Russian business paper RBC, the recent UN Security Council meeting
in New York on Yemen restricted itself to appeals for restraint and for dialogue between
the Yemeni authorities and the opposition.
Prior to the meeting, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned Yemeni
opposition members that they should not count on the West’s support to the same degree
as the Libyan rebels.
Mass protests have been under way in Yemen since late January this year urging
President Ali Abdullah Saleh to resign. The opposition rejects all compromise proposals
for dialogue to settle the crisis.
Russia welcomes Syrian move
http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/04/20/49183351.html
Apr 20, 2011 07:07 Moscow Time
Russia welcomes the lifting of the state of emergency in Syria by the authorities, said
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Earlier, in a telephone conversation with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev the Syrian
leader Bashar Assad announced his intention to implement reforms.
On Tuesday the Government of the Middle East country approved a draft decree on the
termination of the state of emergency.
The state of emergency was introduced after the Arab Baath Socialist Party came to
power in 1963.
A bill has been prepared for the President to sign, which regulates the holding of peaceful
demonstrations.
Now demonstrations will have to be sanctioned by the Syrian Interior Ministry but will
be allowed.
Medvedev, Merkel discuss Libya, MidEast in phone talk
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=16169162&PageNum=0
20.04.2011, 00.41
MOSCOW, April 20 (Itar-Tass) - President Dmitry Medvedev and German Federal
Chancellor Angela Merkel had a telephone talk. They discussed the situation in Libya
and around it, the state of affairs in the Middle East peace process, and a number of other
regional problems, the Kremlin press service announced on Tuesday.
Pacific Fleet ships homebound after Gulf mission
http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/04/20/49190388.html
Apr 20, 2011 10:59 Moscow Time
Russia’s Pacific Fleet ships are headed for their home ports after completing their
mission in the Gulf of Aden, ITAR-TASS reports.
The Admiral Vinogradov anti-sub ship accompanied by a tanker and a tug-boat has
successfully escorted 14 convoys of merchant ships through the pirate-infested Gulf over
the past four months.
The Pacific group will call at the Vietnamese port of Da Nang on their way home.
Russian tanker in distress at Kuril Islands
http://www.newsbcm.com/doc/771
Russian tanker "Arseniev" is in distress in the area of the Kuril Islands in the Far East of
Russia. The main engine of the ship happens to be out of order. The crew have been
unable to repair it so far.
The accident took place on the tanker on the morning of April 20. The tugboat
"Spravedlivyi" put to sea to the aid of the tanker drifting near the Fourth Kuril Strait.
According to the Primorrybvoda emergency service, the tugboat should come up to the
tanker on the morning of April 21.
The weather in the area of the incident is reported to be calm, so the crew appears to be
safe now.
Russia urges int’l community not to fan tensions in Middle East – Lavrov
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=16167530&PageNum=0
20.04.2011, 16.04
BELGRADE, April 19 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia urges the international community, and
primarily members of the U.N. Security Council, not to fan confrontation between
official authorities and opposition in countries of the Middle East and North Africa,
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday, commenting on the situation in
Libya and Yemen.
“We call on all international high-ranking officials, first of all, on members of the U.N.
Security Council, to encourage a dialogue rather than fan further confrontation,” he
stressed.
“We have repeatedly voiced our stance about inadmissibility of the use of force against
civilians,” Lavrov recalled. “The U.N. Security Council has reiterated this position in its
resolutions on the situation in Libya.”
“But the U.N. Security Council has never targeted to change the regime in Libya or in
any other country,” the Russian foreign minister said, adding that those seeking to use
these resolutions to change the Libyan regime “are blatantly violating the Security
Council mandate.”
“The worst thing is that aware of this position Libya’s opposition is categorically
reluctant to come to the negotiating table, although the current top-priority task is to
cease fire,” he noted. “This may drive Yemeni opposition to a conclusion that they could
get help from abroad. But this is a very dangerous logic.”
Russia FM, Macedonia leaders to discuss cooperation prospects
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=16169522&PageNum=0
20.04.2011, 02.00
OCHRID, Macedonia, April 20 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei
Lavrov leaves Podgorica, Montenegro, for Ochrid on Wednesday for meetings with the
Foreign minister, Premier, and President of Macedonia. Ochrid is an ancient and
picturesque city in Macedonia's south-west. It is notable for a multitude of Orthodox
churches and therefore is referred to as a "Balkan Jerusalem".
Lavrov's visit to Macedonia is timed to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the
opening of the Imperial Consulate -- the first official representative office of Russia in
this part of the Balkans, which at that time was part of the Ottoman Empire.
Within the scope of the planned meetings, the sides are to discuss ways to step up tradeand-economic contacts, interaciton in the fuel-and-energy and investment sectors, and
exchange views on the situation in the Balkans. Moscow analysts point out, "Relations
between the two countries follow an upward trend". The political dialogue "develops
dynamically", RF Ministry analysts emphasize,
Expert estimate is that Russia remain one of major trading partners of the republic. Trade
turnover between the two countries in 2010 ran at $579 milllion, a 12-percent increase as
compared with that in 2009. Investments-related interaction with Macedonia focuses
mainly on oil and gas, mining, and electric power sectors. Cumulated Russian
investments in the Macedonian economy amount to about $300 million.
In June last year, an intergovernmental agreement on a settlement of the so-called
clearing debt (RF indebtedness to Macedonia on settlements connected with trade
turnover between the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia) amounting to $60.5 million.
The funds are to be used for the construction of a gas trunkline section in the republic by
Russian companies.
RF Foreign Ministry analysts also draw attention to a high level of bilateral interaction in
the fields of science and education. A Days of Russian spiritual culture festival was a
great success in Macedonia in September 2010. A similar festival is expected to be held
in Russia in autumn this year.
Gas power plants and gas pipeline basis of agreement
http://english.blic.rs/News/7575/Gas-power-plants-and-gas-pipeline-basis-of-agreement
20. 04. 2011. - 00:02h
Energy, construction of gas power plants and gas storage facilities at the ‘Southern
Stream’ gas pipeline as well as its final route through Serbia shall be one of key items of
strategic agreement between Russia and Serbia to be signed by the presidents Boris Tadic
and Dmitri Medvedev in the following months during Serbian President’s scheduled visit
to Moscow. Apart from cooperation in the sphere of energy, this bilateral agreement shall
contain provisions over trade exchange and infrastructure.
This is an agreement of general type which, as ‘Blic’ learns, shall be a ground
for detailed individual agreements. Work on this strategic document is in the
final phase and it was the topic of talks during Sergey Lavrov’s yesterday visit
to Belgrade. ‘Srbijagas’ Director Dusan Bajatovic says for ‘Blic’ that he is not
acquainted with details of the draft agreement.
‘However, it certainly concerns energy – construction of gas power plants, ‘Southern
Stream’ gas pipeline and gas storage facilities along the ‘Southern Stream’’, Bajatovic
says. According to his words ‘one of important strategic issues for Serbia is balanced
export and import with this country with which we have a foreign trade deficit’.
Serbia already has agreements on strategic partnership with China, Italy and France.
Strategic partnership was also on agenda during recent visit by Russian Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin to our country when various forms of cooperation between the two
countries were discussed. It was then said that Serbian companies were interested to enter
the Russian system of state supply and that the trade should be carried out through barter
deals which would include textile, food, cosmetics, pharmaceutical goods, etc.
After meeting with his Serbian counterpart Vuk Jeremic, Sergei Lavrov said that
economic issues which had been on agenda during Putin’s last month visit were the
topics of discussion. According to his words the improvement of relations shall lead to
agreement on strategic partnership between Russia and Serbia. His opinion is that those
relations are improving very well. Lavrov also announced Moscow’s support to Serbian
initiative for launching of investigation under the UN Security Council’ mandate over
organ trafficking in Kosovo. Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic announced today that
‘Belgrade shall in the following days forward to the UN SC proposal how a credible
international investigation over illegal body organ trade in Kosovo might look like.
Lavrov said that Moscow would support Serbia in that initiative.
Milosevic: I am working for Russians and Serbs
Borislav Milosevic says that he personally is deeply interested that the
deal over
overhaul and construction of railways in Serbia from Russian credit
worth USD 800 millions is successful. ‘Formally I am on the Russian
side as advisor to the Russian railways, but personally I am deeply
interested that the deal is carried out successfully and to mutual benefit’,
Borislav Milosevic, former Yugoslav ambassador and brother of former
Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic said.
Russian FM: Russia is willing to better its relations with all of the Balkan countries
http://www.emg.rs/en/news/serbia/153137.html
20. April 2011. | 07:11
Source: Emg.rs
The strategic partnership between Russia and Serbia is not pointed against anyone,
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said ahead of his two-day tour of Serbia,
Montenegro, FYRMacedonia and Slovenia.Partners shape their cooperation
themselves, and Russia is willing to better its relations with all of the Balkan
countries, Lavrov noted, adding that his country was interested in seeing the
situation in the region return to normal.
The strategic partnership between Russia and Serbia is not pointed against anyone,
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said ahead of his two-day tour of Serbia,
Montenegro, FYRMacedonia and Slovenia.
The partnership declaration is practically finished, he noted.
The work on it started after the October 2009 meeting between Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev and his Serbian counterpart Boris Tadic and, according to Lavrov, the
document contains the two countries' views on the chief issues in their relations, key
problems and development tendencies in the world and the two sides' intention to work
together for the benefit of the Russian and Serbian people.
The Balkans is moving towards stabilization and sustainable development after a lengthy
period of conflict and economic crisis, Lavrov told . Relations between neighboring
countries are improving, but there is still a danger of a return of conflict, he underlined.
The way to a better life in the Balkans lies in establishing new forms of cooperation,
which should not cause a new form of divisions - coporate ones, he stated.
Partners shape their cooperation themselves, and Russia is willing to better its relations
with all of the Balkan countries, Lavrov noted, adding that his country was interested in
seeing the situation in the region return to normal.
Relations between Serbia, Russia on the rise
Foreign Ministers of Serbia and Russian Federation Vuk Jeremic and Sergey Lavrov
respectively said today in Belgrade that the relations between the two countries are
friendly, close and on the rise, which will be confirmed by the agreement on strategic
partnership between Serbia and Russia that will be signed soon.
Jeremic and Lavrov said at a joint press conference at the Serbian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs that this agreement will be signed during the forthcoming visit of Serbian
President Boris Tadic to Russia.
Jeremic stressed that relations between Serbia and Russia are comprehensive,
meaningful, based on mutual friendship and unambiguous support that is not conditioned
by anything.
He said that today’s meeting dealt, among other things, with economic cooperation,
especially in the field of energy.
The focus was on the Southern Stream project, as well as new projects in the field of
pharmacy and infrastructure, which will be discussed in more detail by Serbian Prime
Minister Mirko Cvetkovic and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at the end of this
year, Jeremic explained.
Lavrov said that relations between Serbia and Russia are on the rise and that one of the
topics of today's meeting were economic issues that were discussed during last month's
visit of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to Belgrade.
Jeremic and Lavrov agreed that strengthening of relations between Serbia and Russia
cannot harm Serbia’s European integration process.
Jeremic said that within next few days Belgrade will submit to the UN Security Council a
proposal on how a credible international investigation in human organ trafficking in
Kosovo could look like, and Lavrov pointed out that Russia will fully support Belgrade’s
initiative.
The Serbian Foreign Minister expressed his hope that members of the UN Security
Council will discuss this proposal of Serbia, adding that this would be a good opportunity
to show who backs the establishment of the whole truth about the trade in human organs
in Kosovo.
The whole truth can be established only through a serious investigation that has a binding
mandate for all, he pointed out and noted that only the UN Security Council can give
such a mandate.
He said that a credible international investigation under the UN auspices is necessary
because of the territorial jurisdiction of the bodies that will carry out the investigation,
but also because all war crimes committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia have
been investigated with the mandate of the UN Security Council.
If that does not happen in this case as well, it will be hard to resist the impression that
double standards are used, the Minister warned.
Lavrov underlined that Russia fully supports Belgrade’s struggle to reach justice. An
unbiased investigation of allegations from Dick Marty’s report must be carried out and
we fully support Serbia on this, Lavrov said.
Less serious crimes have been investigated by international bodies, he recalled and
stressed that there must not be double standards on this issue.
Lavrov reiterated that Russia supports Serbia in the case of Kosovo-Metohija, taking the
Resolution 1244 as a basis for its position, but also the dialogue between Belgrade and
Pristina. The importance of the role of the UN mission in Kosovo must not be
downplayed either, he said.
Speaking about culture, the ministers announced that the Days of Serbian culture in
Russia will be held in Moscow and that Russia will assist in the painting of Saint Sava
Temple.
Jeremic and Lavrov unveiled a memorial plaque dedicated to Russian architect Nikolai
Krasnov. The plaque has been placed on the Ministry of Foreign Affair’s building, which
was designed by Krasnov and erected in 1929.
Jeremic recalled that Krasnov was one of the tens of thousands of Russians who settled in
Serbia early in the 20th century and gave a huge contribution to the Serbian society.
Russia - Serbia to confirm good bilateral relations
Serbian President Boris Tadic had talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
about the upcoming official visit to Moscow during which the two countries will sign an
agreement on the strategic partnership.
The agreement will confirm good bilateral relations, reads the communiqué of the
Serbian President Press Service.
Tadic and Lavrov also discussed realization of plans in the field of economic cooperation
of the two countries that Tadic agreed upon in talks with Russian Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin.
Tadic reiterated that Putin’s recent visit to Belgrade represents a huge contribution to
development of economic and political relations of the two countries.
Tadic and Lavrov also discussed the situation in the region and Kosovo. Tadic thanked
Lavrov for Russia’s strong and unswerving support to preservation of the territorial
integrity of Serbia.
Russian-Serbian craft fair opens in Belgrade
http://www.emg.rs/en/news/serbia/153123.html
20. April 2011. | 06:32
Source: Tanjug
At this Easter festival, the second in a row, the Serbian people will have an
opportunity to get better acquainted with the beautiful work of Russian artisans, the
organizers of the event said.
Russian Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Konuzin opened Monday a Russian-Serbian
craft fair at the Progres gallery in Belgrade.
Konuzin said that the exhibited works of decorative and applied arts reveal similarities
between the arts and cultures of Russia and Serbia, and called on further strengthening of
ties between the two countries.
At this Easter festival, the second in a row, the Serbian people will have an opportunity to
get better acquainted with the beautiful work of Russian artisans, the organizers of the
event said.
In the crowded gallery, with Russian and Serbian music in the background, visitors could
see characteristic works of the Russian applied arts- ranging from babushkas and Russian
scarves, to decorative boxes, jewellery, clothes.
The exhibition will be opened until April 27, while a similar festival of the Serbian crafts
entitled A Gift from Serbia will be held in Moscow and Sankt Petersburg in mid-June, it
was announced.
Russian-Ukraine naval cooperation
http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/04/20/49182193.html
Apr 20, 2011 04:30 Moscow Time
The Russian Defense Ministry will order AN-70 Russian-Ukrainian military transport
aircraft according to Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov. He made the statement at the
end of his working visit to Ukraine.
During his visit to the Nakhimov Academy of the Ukrainian Navy in Sevastopol, the
Defense Ministers discussed the possibility of the mutual training of cadets on ships of
the Russian Navy and those of the Naval Forces of Ukraine, as well as the opportunities
present in exchanging the experience of faculty members of the military academies of
both countries.
04/20 11:48 Joint meeting Russian, Belarusian top Defense Ministry officials to
mull cooperation prospects
http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=237919
04/20 12:21 BELARUS RETRACTS OIL-PRODUCT DUTIES SUIT VS RUSSIA
AT CIS ECONOMIC COURT - JUSTICE MINISTRY
http://www.interfax.com/
Russia Criticizes NATO-Georgia Commission Statement
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=23364
Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 20 Apr.'11 / 11:57
The Russian Foreign Ministry said a joint statement of NATO-Georgia Commission
includes “usual set of biased wordings”, which were far from realities on the ground in
respect of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
The Russian Foreign Ministry particularly stressed on the part of the statement in which
NATO foreign ministers calls on Russia to follow its commitments under the August 12
and September 8, 2008 ceasefire accords.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that “the only remaining disputed issue” in respect of
those ceasefire accords was resolve after Russia withdrew its troops from the village of
Perevi last October.
“It would have been better if partners from NATO encouraged the Georgian leadership
for constructive approach towards the security and stability issues in Trans-Caucasus,”
the Russian Foreign Ministry said, adding that “reiteration of ritual spells about
ostensibly unfulfilled Russian commitments is sending false signals” to the Georgian
authorities.
Smuggled Georgian mineral water found at Russian markets
http://rt.com/news/line/2011-04-20/#id8295
RT News line, April 20
07:46
The Russian Sanitary Service has discovered smuggled quantities of the Georgian
mineral water “Borzhomi” in several Russian regions, says Gennady Onishchenko,
Russia’s Chief Medical officer of Health. Sales of “Borzhomi” and Georgian wine have
been forbidden in Russia for several years due to their unreliable quality. The smuggled
water was discovered during sanitary inspections at markets in some regions of Russia,
mainly in Moscow. The Sanitary Service also found that smuggling had been taking place
in Belarus. Earlier Onishchenko had said Georgian mineral water and wine could come
back onto the Russian market if they pass all the quality control procedures.
Russia says bye to Kohno
http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/04/20/49183484.html
Apr 20, 2011 08:01 Moscow Time
The Japanese Embassy in Moscow hosted a reception in connection with the end the term
of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Russia, Masaharu
Kohno.
The evening began with a moment of silence in memory of the victims of the earthquake
and tsunami in Japan.
Masaharu Kono expressed his gratitude to the Russian people for their support in such a
difficult time for his homeland.
The Japanese Ambassador invited a team from the Russian Emergency Situations
Ministry to the Embassy and personally gave thank you letters to the rescue workers.
More than 150 rescue workers from Russia have worked in Japan dealing with the
aftermath of the "Fukushima" disaster.
Russia had the largest contingent among the foreign rescue teams.
Russia will continue to assist Japan
http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/04/20/49182405.html
Apr 20, 2011 06:03 Moscow Time
Russia will continue to provide Japan with technical assistance in the aftermath of the
accident at the Japanese nuclear plant Fukushima-1 said the director of the Institute for
Nuclear Safety, Leonid Bolshov.
According to the scientist, Russian assistance is being provided at the request of the
Japanese side and will include the supply of equipment, instruments and materials.
Bolshov said that the situation at Fukushima-1 can be brought under control within 3-6
months. During this time, he said, the damaged reactors will be encased with protective
sarcophagi.
Radiation background normal in Russia’s Far East
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=16169602&PageNum=0
20.04.2011, 08.48
KHABAROVSK, April 20 (Itar-Tass) - Russia’s Far Eastern regions report no increases
in the gamma-radiation levels on Wednesday, weeks after the accident at Japan’s
Fukushima-1 nuclear plant.
The Far Eastern emergencies centre reported that the radiation background levels
throughout the entire Russian Far East are ranging from 11 to 16 microroentgen per hour,
which far below the permissible level of 30 microroentgen per hour.
The radiation level in the Khabarovsk region is within the range from three to 16
microroentgen per hour. In the Amur region, the Jewish Atonomous Regions and in the
republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the radiation background is within natural level, or twice as
low as the permissible level. There is no threat to the population.
“There is no radiation contamination hazard until the monsoon season starts, or until
July-August,” said Boris Voronov, the director of the Water Problems Institute of the
Russian Academy of Sciences’ Far Eastern Branch.
According to Voronov, sea water from the contaminated areas near Japan are not
reaching the Sea of Okhotsk and the section of the Sea of Japan (East Sea) bordering
Russia. Cold sea currents along the Kamchatka peninsula and the Kuril Island are forcing
southerly currents eastwards, into the ocean.
He did not exclude, however, the contaminated air might reach Russia’s Far East, when
wind change their direction in the monsoon season. “But [radiation] concentrations will
very small, unless the reactor explodes and emits a major blowout,” he said.
Radiation background normal on Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=16169485&PageNum=0
20.04.2011, 08.00
PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, April 20 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia’s Far Eastern
Kamchatka territory reports no increases in the radiation background on Wednesday,
weeks after the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan.
The Kamchatka emergencies administration reported that as at 08:00 a.m. local time
(00:00 Moscow time) the radiation background in the area was 12 microroentgen per
hour, which is below the permissible level of 30 microroentgen.
The situation is constantly monitored by 73 radiation control stations. Measurements are
taken every two hours. A Mi-8 helicopter of the Russian Emergencies Ministry takes air
samples at various altitudes over major cities on the peninsula. No deviations from the
norm have been reported.
All cargoes arriving from Japan are check for radiation at the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
sea port and airport. No radioactive cargoes have been spotted.
June deadline for Belene contract not final - Bulgarian Economy
Minister
http://www.sofiaecho.com/2011/04/20/1077671_june-deadline-for-belene-contract-notfinal-bulgarian-economy-minister
Wed, Apr 20 2011 00:02 CET
Bulgaria may sign the contract on building the Belene nuclear power plant after the
deadline agreed with Russia, Economy Minister Traicho Traikov said on April 19 2011.
Earlier in April, Bulgaria's state-owned electricity utility NEK and the Russian contractor
for Belene, Atomstroyexport, agreed to undertake "maximum efforts" to sign a final
contract for the plant's construction by June 1.
Traikov said that HSBC, which was chosen as consultant on the project, would be also
engaged in analysing the mutual expectations of both parties. Prior to the announcement,
the bank was expected only to take up the assessment of the plant's cost-effectiveness.
"By June 1, we are demanding (from HSBC) a thorough and detailed analysis of what we
expect from the other party and what they expect from us. We could hardly finish by
then, especially if we get on to re-designing some parts of the project," Traikov said.
Rosatom to Bid in Argentina
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/rosatom-to-bid-inargentina/435410.html
20 April 2011
Interfax
ST. PETERSBURG — Argentina is planning in June to conduct a tender for nuclear
power plant construction, Rosatom deputy chief Kirill Komarov told the Atomex-NorthWest conference Tuesday.
"In June, Argentina will announce a nuclear power plant construction tender, in which
Rosatom is also planning to participate," Komarov said.
As of March 2011, total orders for Rosatom stood at 142 billion rubles ($5 billion),
almost 90 billion rubles, or more than 60 percent, of which is from enterprises in the
Northwest Federal District, Komarov said. He said 10 power blocks are now being built
in Russia, as well as five blocks overseas.
Igor Sechin: There is no alternative to nuclear energy
Today at 10:32 | Interfax-Ukraine
Russia is sure that the future is in the construction of safe nuclear power plants, Deputy
Prime Minister Igor Sechin said on April 19 in Kyiv.
"Despite the gravity of accidents at nuclear power plants, we are confident that the
nuclear power sector will and must develop. Russia has no doubts that the civilian
nuclear industry still remains potentially one of the most economically profitable sources
of electric energy, on condition that relevant standards in designing and operating nuclear
power plants are observed," Sechin said at a summit on the safe and innovative use of
nuclear energy in Kyiv on Tuesday.
"Without nuclear power, it would be impossible to respond to the challenges of
humankind's need for power. It is a locomotive of high technology" and its achievements
are utilized in allied sectors," he said.
As manmade nuclear accidents inevitably affect many countries, "it is time not only to
improve the existing national government acts but also develop universal international
approaches," he said.
"Practically, we can talk about increasing responsibility of the countries using nuclear
power, improving the IAEA standards, developing and adopting strict regulations on the
construction of NPP in quake-prone areas, and perfecting the system of prompt alert on a
nuclear accident and emergency response mechanisms," he said.
Read more: http://www.kyivpost.com/news/russia/detail/102517/#ixzz1K33NBAxv
The reactor of change
http://rt.com/politics/press/kommersant/nuclear-power-japan-rosatom/en/
Published: 20 April, 2011, 07:52
How the Japanese catastrophe will change Russia’s nuclear energy sector
Vladimir Dzaguto
Rosatom has determined how the accident on the Japanese Fukushima-1 nuclear power
plant will change the development strategy of Russia’s nuclear energy. After additional
tests are conducted, a number of old reactors may be shut down. Until now, Rosatom’s
policy has been aimed at extending the operating life of the old power-generating units.
Now the focus will be on accelerated construction of new and safer nuclear power plants,
and transition to fast-neutron reactors. All of these measures will make nuclear power
plants more expensive.
Yesterday, during the events in St. Petersburg, Rosatom management announced how
the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant accident, which is already being equated to
Chernobyl, will influence the development of Russia’s nuclear energy (in mid-March,
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin gave the state-owned corporation a month to determine a
set of necessary measures). Rosatom’s First Deputy General Director, Aleksandr
Lokshin, said that the state-controlled corporation has made a decision to conduct
additional seismic testing of the operating nuclear power plants, in order to exclude any
“beyond design basis” accidents, similar to those at the Fukushima-1. If the examination
results indicate the need for excessively complex additional safety measures, then the
power-generating units will be shut down. It is also planned to supply nuclear power
plants with emergency diesel generators and “two to six months’” of water supply. It was
the malfunction of the diesel generators, and as a result, the cooling system, at the
Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant that led the reactor core and spent fuel pools to
overheat.
Rosatom is not yet ready to put an estimate on the cost of these measures. But Sergey
Kiriyenko, the head of Rosatom, admitted that the work volume and the state-owned
corporation’s spending on the construction of new nuclear power plants will rise. This is
due to the increased security requirements, and not only for technological, but also for
“psychological” reasons. The cost of new Russian-designed nuclear power plants is
already high – at least $2,300-2,400 for 1 kW of installed capacity. All costs will be
covered by the consumers – Rosenergoatom’s tariffs include an investment component,
which particularly aims to ensure safety measures at nuclear power plants – or the state, if
it allocates additional funds from the budget.
The program of long-term security measures for nuclear power plants, explained
Aleksandr Lokshin, provisions “a transfer to fundamentally new nuclear energy”. On
March 19, Sergey Kiriyenko, said that one of the lessons of the accident should be to
accelerate the development of new types of reactors. Yesterday, he confirmed that it is
necessary to expedite the construction of new nuclear power plants, which will replace
the power plants of the previous generation. According to the Rosatom representatives,
he is referring to accelerated construction of nuclear power plants with traditional watercooled and water-moderated reactors LWR, as well as new rapid reactors. Today, there is
only one experimental-industrial energy-generating unit BN-600 operating in Russia at
the Beloyarsk nuclear power plant, where another more powerful unit is being
constructed with a fast-neutron reactor BN-800 (a similar project is expected to be
implemented in China). The only types of traditional reactors that are being constructed
by Rosatom are the LWR units, with capacity from 1 to 1.2 GW, which are part of the
generation “3+”.
But Russia also has operating reactors that were built during Soviet times, a number of
them are of the previous generation (Fukushima-1 had second generation reactors). Until
recently, Rosatom’s main efforts were focused on extending the operating life of the
existing power-generating units. For example, the initial life span of an RBMK reactor is
30 years. These units were introduced in the 1970s-1980s. But the only place RBMK
reactors were shut down was at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, after it was finally
closed in early 2000s, as well as at the Ignalina nuclear power plant in Lithuania (closure
of the nuclear power plant was a precondition for the country’s accession to the EU). In
Russia, said Rosenergoatom representatives, the life span of the RBMK reactors that have
been in use for 30 years was extended by 15 years.
So far, no official decisions have been made on accelerated closure of previous
generation nuclear power plants, stressed representatives of the state-owned corporation.
Mr Lokshin explained that it was decided to suspend the program to improve the capacity
of the RBMK reactors, but this is not related to the events in Japan. At the same time,
Russian nuclear power plants are being reviewed by foreign experts form the World
Association of Nuclear Operators. Rosatom claims that “the experts’ conclusions are
positive”. The new nuclear reactor projects are not raising concerns among the leadership
of the state-owned corporation. On Monday, Sergey Kiriyenko said that the new Russian
nuclear power plants are able to withstand a situation similar to that which led to a failure
of the Fukushima-1. Their designs were tested for a 9-rated earthquake and a 14-meter
tsunami.
Leonid Bolshov, Director of the Institute for Nuclear Safety and Development, believes
that it is best to make a decision regarding dismantlement only after careful examination
of the state of the power-generating units, “and not like it was done in Germany”. There,
after the Japanese catastrophe all reactors built after 1980 were shut down, which led to
energy shortages and increased electricity imports.
Medvedev beheaded Moscow OMON
http://www.utro.ru/articles/2011/04/20/970226.shtml
April 20, 11:37 | Elena Scherbov
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has dismissed several senior police officials and
appointed head of the Investigative Committee of Russia (MRS). This was reported today
the Kremlin press service.
The latest wave of layoffs, this time in their offices swept the Moscow police.
Presidential decree dismissed the deputy head of public security police metropolitan
police department, commander of the special police (OMON), Major-General
Vyacheslav KHAUSTOV police. In addition Khaustova, head of the Moscow riot police
in 2007, dismissed from their posts two more metropolitan police chief. Their positions
have lost the head of Internal Affairs of Zelenograd police colonel Alexander Makarov
and deputy head of police in the Moscow region, the head of department on work with
the staff of police Maj. Gen. Nikolai Voitenkov …
Medvedev submits protocol on Russian base deployment in Armenia for
ratification
http://www.news.az/articles/armenia/34714
Wed 20 April 2011 04:42 GMT | 6:42 Local Time
Protocol stipulates for automatic extension of agreement term for further periods of 5
years.
The Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev submitted for parliamentary ratification a
protocol on amendments to 1995 bilateral agreement on Russian military base
deployment in Guymri.
Extension of document term in mentioned in the protocol, Kremlin press service reported.
The Protocol was signed in Yerevan in August 2010. The 1995 agreement term was set at
25 years, while the new document extends it for 49 years (starting from 1995).
The protocol stipulates for automatic extension of agreement term for further periods of 5
years, unless stated otherwise by agreement parties.
The Russian 102nd Military Base is a Russian military base in Gyumri, Armenia, part of
the Transcaucasian Group of Forces. It was formerly the Soviet Army's 127th Motor
Rifle Division of the Soviet Seventh Guards Army. The base is about 120 kilometers (75
miles) north of the Armenian capital, Yerevan.
By the mid-late 1990s the composition of the 127th Motor Rifle Division had changed,
following the departure of the majority of the Soviet forces from Armenia. It consisted of
the 123rd, 124th, and 128th Motor Rifle Regiments, the 992nd Artillery Regiment, and
the 116th Independent Tank Battalion. The 123rd Motor Rifle Regiment was formed
from the former 164th Motor Rifle Division, also stationed in Armenia.
There are 3,000 Russian soldiers officially reported to be stationed at the 102nd Military
Base located in Gyumri. In early 2005, the 102nd Military Base had 74 tanks, 17 infantry
fighting vehicles, 148 armored personnel carriers, 84 artillery pieces, 18 MiG-29 fighters
and several batteries of S-300 anti-aircraft missiles. A great deal of military hardware has
been moved to the 102nd Base from the Russian 12th Military Base in Batumi and the
Russian 62nd Military Base in Akhalkalaki, Georgia which includes 35 tanks and
armored vehicles and 370 pieces of military hardware. The military base is part of a joint
air defense system of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which was
deployed in Armenia in 1995. Furthermore, the Armenian Air Force relies partially upon
the Russian MiG-29s located at the military base, for the defense of Armenia's airspace.
In 1997, Armenia and Russia signed a far-reaching friendship treaty, which calls for
mutual assistance in the event of a military threat to either party and allows Russian
border guards to patrol Armenia’s frontiers with Turkey and Iran.
PanARMENIAN.Net
Russia Baits the Hook: Armenians Leave for the “Promised
Land”
http://www.armeniadiaspora.com/component/content/article/84-news/2309-russia-baitsthe-hook-armenians-leave-for-the-promised-land.html
Tuesday, 19 April 2011 20:32
Hetq.am, By Tehmineh Yenokyan -- Recently, while riding in a city bus, the following
conversation of two boys caught my ear.
Ara, don't you get it? They're giving out Russian citizenship for nothing. What are you
waiting for? I've already got my documents together. Let's get the heck out of this
forsaken country together.
The conversation caught the attention of the others in the bus as well, about 15
passengers. At once, they all started to drill the one boy with the question – will you tell
us where to go?
You'd think they were talking about how to get to paradise or something, but it was just
Russia's Migration Agency here in Armenia. I decided to check out the office as well.
Customer service was top-notch; office staff were courteous and attentive.
Staffers at the office, located at 72 Manoushyan Street, take the time to listen to all
applicants, reassuring them that by going to Russia a bright future awaits them. To find
out more, I sat in at one of the migration agencies seminars. I soon realized that the office
needed no additional advertising. The person conducting the seminar confessed the same.
"We run no ads. People find out about us through word of mouth; via friends and family,"
he said, noting the example of the bus encounter. Nevertheless, I still asked why they
didn't advertise
"There'd be no one left in Armenia if we advertised," he answered, adding that most
come voluntarily.
"We do not force anyone to go. Those who do link their bright future only with a
powerful country like Russia," said the seminar guy.
Participating in the program are 30 border districts in Russia and a number of selected
cities in each. Those making the move are allowed to take their family and possessions
with them, even the car, to the Russian city where they will work.
Their travel costs are paid and housing awaits them on the other end. Those relocating
can also obtain permanent citizenship, employment, legal and health services and a nice
sum of money.
What else does one need to maintain a family? I asked myself if the government of
Armenia would ever be able to launch a similar campaign to attract Armenians overseas
back home. While at the office, I found out that some 50-60 Armenian citizens apply
daily. They all have one aim in mind – to leave Armenia. If, as it says on the agency
flyers, such a program is of vital strategic importance for Russia, populating its border
regions with professionally prepared Armenians, then the natural question arises, what
exactly is the benefit for Armenia? Why does official Yerevan allow such a government
sponsored program to operate here?
Those leaving Armenia mince no words when they explain why – it's for their children's
future. The only concern is making ends meet. Living ion an alien land, with all the
unforeseen dangers this entails, is of no consequence to them.
A new twist to the program has been unearthed. If those leaving for Russia are granted
even temporary residence, they are pressured to renounce their Armenian citizenship.
Thus, it's safe to say that those leaving will never return.
Russia is investing huge sums to attract and keep the new "arrivals". Naturally, these
Armenians won't be allowed to leave Russia; at least until they pay-back the funds
invested in them by Moscow.
The bigger the family, the bigger the relocation sum received by each. Sadly, the
prospects that any will return to the motherland grow slimmer in proportion.
HIGHLIGHTS-Remarks by Russian PM Putin in annual report
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE73J05M20110420
Wed Apr 20, 2011 8:39am GMT
MOSCOW, April 20 (Reuters) - Following are some of the remarks Russian Prime
Minister Vladimir Putin made in an annual report to parliament on Wednesday.
"In 2010 Russia's GDP rose by 4 percent, which is the highest figure among the G8
countries. The forecast for this year is an increase of around 4.2 percent. For your
information I can say that in the first quarter growth totaled 4.4 percent. This means that
by the beginning of 2012 Russian economy will fully compensate for crisis-driven
losses."
"Let's be frank: In the modern world if you are weak, there is always someone who will
come in and unequivocally recommend which way to go, what policy to conduct, what
path to choose ... ... One must be independent and strong, and most important, one must
conduct policy in the interests of one's own people."
"The country needs a decade of strong, calm development. Without different kinds of
swings, poorly thought out experiments based on unjustified liberalism or, on the other
hand, on social demagoguery."
"To ensure the country has enough bread and to control prices we have implemented a
temporary ban on grain export. In March-April inflation started to slow down. We expect
that inflation will not exceed 6.5-7.5 percent for the full year."
"I want to say something in particular to our farmers, who in the most difficult conditions
managed to harvest 61 million tonnes, in addition to the stocks from past years that let us
guarantee the security of Russia's food supply."
"State support will reach all large farms, small and medium size business. ... I propose to
change the budget to add 13 billion roubles for support for the countryside."
"Now we are closely watching Siberia and the Far East, where a difficult situation with
fires is unfolding. One must do everything to minimize the possibility of repetition of
full-scale catastrophes." (Reporting by Katya Golubkova, Vladimir Soldatkin, Melissa
Akin and Steve Gutterman)
Putin To Deliver Annual Economy Report To Parliament
http://www.rferl.org/content/putin_deliver_annual_economy_report_parliament/9499488.
html
April 20, 2011
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is schueduled to deliver his annual report on Russia's
economic performance to the State Duma lower house of parliament today.
The address will be the last such report that Putin will deliver to the current State Duma
before parliamentary elections in December and the 2012 Russian presidential election.
In his address to the legislature, which is led by Putin's ruling United Russia party, Putin
is expected to outline government spending plans in light of billions of dollars of
revenues from sales of oil, Russia's main export commodity.
Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov, said the prime minister was not expected to speak to
the Duma about whether he plans to seek the presidency in next year's poll.
Putin has said it is still too early to say whether he or current President Dmitry
Medvedev, Putin's hand-picked successor, would again pursue the presidential office.
5th Duma to hear a report on govt activities Wed
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=16169503&PageNum=0
20.04.2011, 07.00
MOSCOW, April 20 (Itar-Tass) - The State Duma lower house of the Russian parliament
on Wednesday will hear an annual report, the last one before the start of an election
campaign, on government activities. The date of the presentation of the report by Premier
Vladimir Putin coincides with last year's. The report will be the central item on the
agenda of the meeting ofthe House which does not intend "to limit the report presentation
time", House Speaker Boris Gryzlov said earlier.
According to the rules of procedure set by the House Council, after the presentation of
the report, members of Duma factions each will be able to put three questions to the Head
of Government (each question must be asked within one minute) and then take the floor
for ten minutes each. Associations of MPs have already referred five written questions
each to the government. It is not necessarily that the Prime Minister will give answers to
those questions in his report but he is obliged to give them in a written form.
It follows from the questions referred to Putin that the Premier is to report on all major
areas of the government's work without exception. The United Russia party members
concentrated primarily on soocial subjects: plans in support of the teachers, young
families, veteran workers, as well as outlook for refinement of the housing-utilities sector
management.
The Communist Party's five written quesions "are devoted mainly to sectoral themes: a
sowing campaign, aviation, education, defence sector, and taxation system", said Ivan
Melnikov, House Deputy Speaker from the CPRF faction.
The Liberal Democrats would like to know the Premier's opinion about various economic
aspects. The Just Russia party members enquire about indexation of wages and salaries of
the public sector workers,andthe staffing of the science and education sector.
Putin to show plans to spend windfall ahead of vote
http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/04/20/russia-putin-idINLDE73I1SO20110420
5:30am IST
* Putin's last annual report to parliament before elections
* Will discuss how to deal with windfall revenues
* Spokesman says will not address 2012 election issue
By Gleb Bryanski
MOSCOW, April 19 (Reuters) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is expected to
outline plans to spend billions of dollars in windfall energy revenues on Wednesday in
his last annual report to parliament before a 2012 presidential vote.
Putin, still seen as Russia's most powerful man after steering successor Dmitry Medvedev
into the Kremlin in 2008, has hinted he may use the March election either to return to the
presidency or endorse his protege for a second term.
Putin, who as prime minister is in charge of running Russia's $1.5 trillion economy, said
last week that it was too early to name a favoured presidential candidate.
His spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin would not mention the issue in his address to
the State Duma, the 450-seat lower parliament house.
But while the purpose of the annual event is to report to parliament on the previous year's
economic performance, Putin has used it in the past to craft his image and it will be
watched for hints of his political plans.
The annual report is the last one Putin will deliver to the current State Duma before
parliamentary elections in December. He will be hoping his ruling United Russia party
can maintain its overwhelming dominance in the legislature.
High oil prices, which helped fuel Russia's economic resurgence during Putin's 20002008 presidency, have come as a blessing for his government just as opinion polls show
public approval ratings for United Russia have fallen.
Oil, Russia's main export commodity, is up 28 percent so far this year.
"It smells of money," Putin told a recent government meeting.
Putin has urged caution in handling an expected $40 billion in windfall oil revenues this
year amid strong voter concerns about inflation. But he has asked United Russia to
consider how best to spend an extra $11 billion expected from other sources.
Putin's Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin has said that about $10 billion will go to
replenish the Reserve Fund, the country's safety cushion, heavily depleted in the
aftermath of the 2008 economic crisis.
About $2 billion will go towards creating Russia's new state private equity fund and a
smaller amount to domestic debt.
The government is due to submit amendments to the 2011 budget to the Duma shortly to
take higher revenues into account. Peskov said Putin would address the issue "in some
way".
Putin was to begin delivering his report at the Duma building near the Kremlin at 0800
GMT, then answer questions from United Russia and the other three parties in
parliament.
The government said that overall Putin would speak for about three hours.
Putin is also likely to outline ways to reduce the social tax, a measure already flagged by
him and Medvedev. The government hiked the social tax from the start of the year to
plug the growing pension fund's deficit.
United Russia leaders recently proposed spending more money building roads, saying it
would please provincial voters who are a key support base for Putin.
He may also likely to address the woes of farmers ahead of the delayed spring sowing
campaign, as Russia hopes for a good harvest this year following a devastating drought in
2010. (Writing by Gleb Bryanski)
Lawmakers cast critical eye over Putin ahead of parliament address
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20110420/163608516.html
12:04 20/04/2011
Opposition parties criticized Russia's powerful Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in
comments to the press ahead of his annual address to parliament on Wednesday.
"The country continues to be in pain," Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov told
reporters. "It has not got out of the crisis."
Zyuganov claimed Putin's cabinet has done next to nothing to diversify Russia's economy
away from oil and gas.
Just Russia head Nikolai Levichev complained of increasing "social discomfort" in the
country.
"The government is responsible for how society feels," he said, and claimed Putin would
try to gloss over it in his speech.
"There will be a lot of figures, well-matching, they will show that everything's alright,"
Levichev said.
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, head of the ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party, was
unusually bland in his comments, merely saying that the party will raise a few issues
during Putin's address.
MOSCOW, April 20 (RIA Novosti)
Rules Needed for Selecting State Firm Board Members
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/rules-needed-for-selecting-state-firmboard-members/435374.html
20 April 2011
Reuters
Russia needs rules for picking independent directors of state-controlled firms to reap
the benefits from a decision to remove officials from boards, the head of the country's
Independent Directors Association said.
President Dmitry Medvedev ordered Prime Minister Vladimir Putin last month
to "initiate" the removal of his deputies and ministers from the boards of state companies,
but stopped short of saying how to replace them.
"There is a need to create transparent mechanisms for the selection of independent
directors," Alexander Ikonnikov, a veteran corporate governance consultant and the
association's head, said last week.
"Now independent directors for strategic companies are often picked from a tight group
of people friendly with officials," he said.
The state property agency recently nominated 25 of the association's 500 members
to boards in state-controlled firms.
Critics of Medvedev's decision argue that in Russia the presence of an influential minister
on the board can help a company deal with potential problems such as red tape or
dishonest competition.
Prominent officials affected by Medvedev's order include Finance Minister Alexei
Kudrin, board chairman of Russia's No. 2 bank VTB, and First Deputy Prime Minister
Viktor Zubkov, chairman of gas export monopoly Gazprom.
The practice of including officials on boards has origins in the 1990s when state giants
like Gazprom were de-facto spun off from ministries. It contradicts corporate governance
rules accepted by developed countries.
Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said last week that Putin's deputies will soon have
meetings to discuss potential candidates. The criteria for nominations are not known.
Ikonnikov said the presence of professional directors on the boards of state-controlled
companies could double their value in the long term, removing the so-called "corporate
governance discount" applied by investors to Russian firms.
"The P/E [price to earnings] ratio of Indian firms is in the 9-10 area; ours is about 4.5-5.
If we can improve investors' confidence, we can raise this ratio at least twice, if we take
India as a benchmark," Ikonnikov said.
Exodus of Ministers from State Companies
http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text14921
Chris Weafer of UralSib
April 20, 2011
Finance Minister Kudrin said that he will not seek re-election to the board of VTB in line
with the directive issue by President Medvedev for state officials to leave corporate board
positions. Finance Minister Kudrin will also leave the board of diamond producer Alrosa.
His decision came after the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Sechin left the position
of Chairman of the board at Rosneft.
The retiring state officials will be replaced by "state nominees" and all strategic decisions
taken by the boards of companies, in which the state has a controlling equity position,
will of course continue to be cleared and approved by the relevant government minister.
To that extent, this first step in separating state from business is largely cosmetic. But, it
is one of a package of ten measures announced by President Medvedev and, in aggregate,
form a very positive directional move.
Apart from the resignations already announced, the other positions that will have to
change by the July 1st deadline are;
- First Deputy PM Viktor Zubkov will leave Russian Agriculture Bank, Rosspirtptom
(state alcohol company) and Rosagroleasing. All three of those companies are on the list
of the state's ten priority privatization candidates
- Agriculture Minister Yelena Skrynnik will leave United Grain Company, also a
privatization candidate
- Deputy PM Igor Sechin will also have to leave Rosneftegaz, INTER RAO UES and
United Shipbuilding. The latter is also on the list of state companies to be privatised.
- Head of the Presidential Administration, Sergey Naryshkin, will leave his position as
Chairman of the board of Sovcomflot, another of the state companies on the priority
privatization list
- Economy Minister Elvira Nabiullina will leave Gazprom
- Deputy PM Sergey Ivanov should leave the board of United Aircraft Corp
- Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov will leave the board of Oboronservis
- Energy Minister Sergey Shmatko will leave RusHydro, Gazprom and Zarubezhneft
- Transport Minister Igor Levitin will leave the boards of Sheremetyevo Airport and
Aeroflot * Communications Minister Igor Shchyogolev will leave the boards of
Svyazinvest and First Television Channel
Initially it had been though that Deputy PM Sechin might be able to stay at United
Shipbuilding, Deputy PM Ivanov at United Aircraft Corp and Kremlin Administration
Chief, Naryshkin, at Sovcomflot. That is because these companies are monopolies. It now
seems more likely that all state officials will have to leave all of their board positions.
Federal wanted terrorist killed in Dagestan
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/news/politics/13082.html
On Wednesday officers of special services killed near Makhachkala a federal wanted
terrorist, RIA Novosti reports.
According to preliminary information the killed is of Kazakhstan origin, Sabiti Amanov.
He was the main bomber of a local terrorist center. Amanov was trained in Pakistan and
used to commit crimes in Ingushetia.
It was said that Amanov was a close supporter of the terrorist ideologist Said Buryatsky,
who was killed in Ingushetia some time before.
Gunman killed in Dagestan turned out to be warlord henchman – NAK
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=16169674
20.04.2011, 09.14
MOSCOW, April 20 (Itar-Tass) - A gunman killed in a special operation in Russia’s
North Caucasian republic of Dagestan on Wednesday turned out to be a former
accomplice of Ingush warlord Alexander Tikhomirov nicknamed Sayed Buryatsky killed
about a year ago, a spokesman for Russian’s National Antiterrorism Centre (NAK) told
Itar-Tass on Wednesday.
“At 04:20 a.m. Moscow time on Wednesday, a counter-terrorist operation regime was
imposed in the settlement of Novy Khushet. Based on information received from the
Russian Federal Security Service law enforcers blocked a militant in a private residential
house. The man was killed after he refused to surrender,” said Nikolai Sintsov.
“The man was identified as a leader of a gang operating in Makhachkala, Omanov,” who
was a henchman of warlord Sayed Buryatsky,” he said.
According to Dagestan police, Sabitbai Omanov, born in 1983, was a resident of
Kazakhstan. According to NAK’s Dagestan office, the killed gunman was a chief bomb
specialist in the Makhachkala gang, and after its former leader Magomed Sheikhov was
killed, Omanov took over the leadership. He was trained in Pakistan and was a member
of illegal armed groups in Ingushetia.
20 April 2011, 10:52
Religious activist killed in Dagestan
http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=8392
Makhachkala, April 20, Interfax - Nuri Ramazanov, an active Sufi preacher and a former
imam of the mosque in the village of Borozdinovskaya, the Chechen Republic, was killed
in the Kizlyar District of Dagestan early on Wednesday.
Ramazanov was killed with automatic weapons in the backyard of his own home in
Averyanovka, Alkhas Amirkhanov, a senior aide to the head of the Investigative
Committee department for Dagestan, told Interfax.
"One of the most likely theories of the crime is that members of the terrorist and sabotage
underworld killed Ramazanov," Amirkhanov said.
A criminal investigation on murder and illegal arms trafficking charges has been opened.
Militant, two police officers and Muslim cleric killed in Russia’s
North Caucasus
http://rt.com/news/line/2011-04-20/#id8311
11:40
RT News line, April 20
A Sufi Muslim cleric, two police officers and a militant have been killed in separate
attacks in Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Dagestan over the past two days. Imam
Nuri Ramazanov was shot dead outside his house early on Wednesday. Islamic militants
are suspected to be behind the murder. Late Tuesday night, a militant was shot dead
during a police crackdown in the capital, Makhachkala. Two police officers were also
killed in a shoot-out with suspected militants in the town of Khasavyurt on Tuesday.
Dagestan, along with other regions in Russia's North Caucasus, has been destabilized by
Islamic insurgency that has experienced a rise lately due to the enforcement of federal
forces’ anti-terror operations in the region.
Russia: 4 people killed in Dagestan province
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4058744,00.html
Published: 04.20.11, 09:40
Police say a Muslim cleric, two police officers and a militant have been killed in separate
attacks in Russia's restive province of Dagestan. Interior Ministry spokesman Vyacheslav
Gasanov said Wednesday that Imam Nuri Ramazanov was shot dead outside his house in
the
republic's north bordering with Chechnya on Tuesday night. Police suspect Islamic
militants to be behind the murder.
Late Tuesday night, a militant was shot dead during a police operation in the provincial
capital of Makhachkala. And northwest of the city, two police officers were killed in a
shoot-out with suspected militants in the town of Khasavyurt. (AP)
09:23
CAUCASUS WARLORD DZHAGAPIROV SUSPECTED OF ATTACKS ON
POLICEMEN DETAINED IN MOSCOW REGION - NATIONAL
ANTITERRORIST COMMITTEE
http://www.interfax.com/news.asp
GOOGLE TRANSLATION
Militants from the Karachay-Cherkessia detained near Moscow
http://www.bbc.co.uk/russian/rolling_news/2011/04/110420_rn_bomber_detention_mosc
ow.shtml
Last Updated: Wednesday, April 20, 2011, 05:41 GMT 09:41 MCK
Employees of the FSB of Russia on April 19 during a special operation in Moscow
detained Mahomed Dzhagapirov on federal wanted list, who is known as a member of the
bandit underground group Karachay-Cherkessia.
RIA Novosti news agency informs referring to the National Anti-Terrorism Committee of
the Russian Federation.
According to NAC, Dzhagapirov carried out training of terrorists based in the mountain
woodlands of the Republic, was firing and the tactical and special training of subversive
activities, was responsible for ensuring that the militants weapons and their means of
committing terrorist acts.
Dzhagapirov is involved in several attacks on law enforcement, the report said.
According to NAC, the detention was carried out without the use of weapons.
Magomedov meets Dagestan community in Moscow
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/news/politics/13086.html
The president of Dagestan Magomedsalam Magomedov met with representatives of
Dagestan community in Moscow. The meeting is a part of the Third Dagestan Peoples
Congress. The meeting was opened by the representative of Dagestan under the president
of RF Gadzhi Makhachev, RIA Novosti reports.
Representatives of federal ministries, administration of Moscow and plenipotentiary
representatives of the North Caucasus Federal District republics gathered in Moscow.
Magomedov addressed to the audience and stressed that idea of such meeting was born
long ago. It is connected also with the events which took place on the Manezhnaya
Square. Nevertheless, Moscow is home for many Dagestan people.
During the meeting problems in different spheres were discussed.
Chechnya asks for $17bn in development funds
http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text14921
bne
April 20, 2011
The government of Chechnya has submitted a plan for a RUB500bn ($17bn)
development program to the Regional Development Ministry, the press office of the
regional authorities said on Tuesday, reports Prime Tass.
The development program includes 515 construction projects, measures to support
various sectors of the republic's economy, and the implementation of a social program.
The whole project is expected to be completed by 2025, the press office said, citing
Chechen economic development and trade minister Abdulla Magomadov.
Once the centre of the separatist movement in the North Caucasus, Chechnya has seen
fighting between rebels and Moscow shift to other parts of the region since Moscow
handed the reins to Ramzan Kadyrov in February 2007. Whilst the former warlord has
been credited for bringing some stability to the region and rebuilding the shattered capital
Grozny, all has been done with federal funds, whilst Kadyrov has been heavily criticized
over allegations of corruption and human rights violations, including the accusations of
the murder of rivals for power in Chechnya and human rights campaigners.
April 20, 2011 11:48
Politician's death near surgery clinic in Moscow being investigated
http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=237919
MOSCOW. April 20 (Interfax) - Law enforcement agencies are conducting an inquiry
into media reports on the death of Maxim Goloviznin, the secretary of the Sverdlovsk
regional branch of the party A Just Russia, at the entrance to the Vishnevsky Surgery
Research Institute in Moscow several days ago.
"A preliminary inquiry is being conducted, based on which a procedural decision will be
made," a Moscow city police source told Interfax on Wednesday.
Interfax has yet to obtain official confirmation of this information and comments from
the Vishnevsky Institute.
Echo Moskvy radio reported earlier on Wednesday that Goloviznin was lying in front of
the gates to the institute's territory for about half an hour before he died. "This happened
back on April 15, but the circumstances of the A Just Russia delegate's death have
become known only now," it said.
The man had felt unwell not far from the institute, and his friends delivered him to the
clinic's gates, Echo Moskvy said. "However, the security would not let the dying man to
the institute's territory, referring to the administration's order that people from the street
not be admitted. A security guard even made a call to the administration, which said it
could not help, as the institute did not admit urgent patients, and recommended calling an
ambulance," it said.
"In order to have the man admitted, his friends blocked the entrance to the institute with
their car, but this did not work, either. At this moment, a police patrol was passing by the
institute's gates. Seeing what was happening, one of the policemen entered the clinic,
handcuffed himself to a doctor and forced him to perform CPR on the man. And only
then did an ambulance arrive, whose doctors confirmed the politician's death," Echo
Moskvy said.
More patrols amid fears on Hitler anniversary
http://themoscownews.com/local/20110420/188598447.html
by Tom Washington at 20/04/2011 10:06
Young Kremlin activists are taking to the streets to preserve calm as tensions mount for
Hitler’s birthday.
April 20 is always a worrying time for conspicuously foreign students in Moscow and
after ethnic violence erupted onto the political agenda in December the government has
been left looking ill equipped to deal with it.
Patrols
Youth activists will patrol Moscow on Wednesday in a bid to prevent attacks by neo-Nazi
groups celebrating the 122nd anniversary of Adolf Hitler's birth, officials said.
Rosmolodezh, Russian Federal Agency of Youth Affairs, said that 750 people from the
country’s ‘Volunteer Brigade,’ with close links to law enforcement bodies, together with
representatives from ethnic minorities would “take under special control” open public
spaces such as squares, train stations, RIA Novosti reported.
Under lock and key
Hundreds of students at the prestigious Sechenov Moscow Medical Academy, among
other institutions, were told to stock up on food and warned they would not be let out of
the dormitories until Saturday in an attempt to protect them amid a marked rise in hate
crimes, democraticunderground.com reported.
Race riots
A 5,000 strong riot erupted outside the walls of the Kremlin on Manezhnaya Ploshchad in
December when a memorial rally to dead Spartak fan Yegor Spiridov turned nasty.
The event catapulted racial tensions to the top of the political agenda after years of being
swept under the carpet, and observers have yet to notice a coherent strategy on how to
deal with it.
The issue of Russian identity has never been clearly defined and political heavyweights
continue to make nods towards hard-right groups, giving them more of a toe-hold than
they do in the West, further muddying the waters, Masha Lipman of the Carnegie Centre
told The Moscow News.
12 forest fires extinguished in Primorsky territory
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=16169514&PageNum=0
20.04.2011, 08.21
VLADIVOSTOK, April 20 (Itar-Tass) - As many as 12 forest fires with an overall area
of 350 hectares have been put out in Russia’s Far Eastern Primorsky territory in the past
24 hours, a spokesman for the territorial emergencies administration told Itar-Tass on
Wednesday.
According to the spokesman, some 90 men and 62 pieces of hardware were involved in
the fire fighting operations.
About 160 wildfires have already been reported in the Primorsky territory since the
beginning of the fire season this year, of which 95 percent were extinguished during the
first day, a spokesman for the local forestry administration told Itar-Tass. About 10 new
fires are reported daily.
The fire situation is monitored in the round-the-clock regime a single control centre,
which receives data from both satellites and land fire fighting services.
The weather in the area is dry and windy. Meteorologists forecast no heavy rains in the
days to come. This was the reason to raise the fire hazard level in the territory.
Equatorial Guinean suspected robber at embassy detained in Moscow
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=16169822&PageNum=0
20.04.2011, 10.03
MOSCOW, April 20 (Itar-Tass) - An Equatorial Guinean citizen, who is suspected of
theft from the ambassador of this country, was detained in Moscow, a source in the
Moscow law enforcement agencies told Itar-Tass on Wednesday.
On April 16, a robber broke into the office of the extraordinary and plenipotentiary
ambassador of Equatorial Guinea at the country’s embassy in Pogorelsky Bystreet. He
stole 86,000 dollars, 2,000 euros and escaped.
“On Tuesday, in a search operation the police detained an Equatorial Guinean suspected
robber at the Tourist Hotel on Leninsky Avenue. Some part of the stolen sum was already
confiscated from him,” the source said.
Police detain 38 workers, 10 customs officers trying to steal seized goods
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=16170084
20.04.2011, 11.09
MOSCOW, April 20 (Itar-Tass) -- As many as 38 workers and ten customs officers have
been detained in Moscow on suspicion of trying to steal seized goods from a storehouse,
police told Itar-Tass on Wednesday.
“Overnight to Wednesday, police detained 38 workers and drivers and ten customs
officers at a storehouse belonging to AST-Crgo company located in 2nd Irtyshsky lane,”
police said. “They were trying to take seized products – consumer goods – by six trucks.”
Criminal case was opened.
According to preliminary information, the storehouse had consumer goods originally
meant to be sold at the Cherkizovo marketplace before it was outlawed.
PRESS DIGEST - Russia - Apr 20
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE73J0BB20110420
Wed Apr 20, 2011 7:28am GMT
MOSCOW, April 20 (Reuters) - The following are some of the leading stories in Russia's
newspapers on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for
their accuracy.
KOMMERSANT
www.kommersant.ru
- Russian IT company Sitronics (SITRIq.L) has won a Moscow city tender to develop a
computerised system to rid the city of chronic traffic jams, the paper writes.
- A prominent Russian music critic may go to prison for publicly criticising a traffic
police officer who took part in an investigation of a deadly car accident involving the car
of Lukoil's (LKOH.MM) vice-president, the daily writes.
VEDOMOSTI
www.vedomosti.ru
- Russians' real wages have been shrinking due to rising inflation over the last three
months. People spend their savings and are burdened by credit, the paper writes.
- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sacked a top navy officer blamed for the delay in
talks to buy French-built Mistral helicopter carriers, the paper reports.
- Russia will need 2.6 trillion roubles ($92.39 billion) worth of investment to triple coal
production by 2030 and increase coal exports by 1.5 times, the paper cites energy
ministry.
NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA
www.ng.ru
- Russia's troubled North Caucasus region of Chechnya asks for funds of 498 billion
roubles ($17.70 billion) from Russia's central budget by 2025, the daily says.
TRUD
www.trud.ru
- Half of Russians drink water that does not meet drinking water standars, the daily
writes.
NOVYE IZVESTIA
- A prominent doctor criticized corruption and low wages in the Health Ministry in front
of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the daily writes.
Russian Press at a Glance, Wednesday, April 20, 2011
http://en.rian.ru/papers/20110420/163607031.html
09:26 20/04/2011
POLITICS
Over half of heads of Russia’s regions have already submitted information on their
income and property for 2010. Head of Russian republic of Bashkortostan Rustem
Khamitov reported an income of 11 million rubles ($390,000)
(Kommersant)
A draft agreement on the strategic partnership between Russia and Serbia is ready and the
document is expected to be signed this June during the visit of Serbian President Boris
Tadic to Moscow
(Kommersant)
The ruling United Russia party has registered with the Justice Ministry the promodernization "Go Russia!" movement
(Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Kommersant)
The State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, passed in the second reading
a bill that envisages bigger fines for officials who take bribes
(Kommersant)
An interview with Kremlin property manager Vladimir Kozhin on Olympic construction
in Russia, new presidential aircraft and other issues
(Kommersant)
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Tycoon Alexander Mamut has acquired a 3.5% stake in Russia's largest fertilizer
producer Uralkali for an undisclosed sum
(Vedomosti, Kommersant)
Nomos Bank, one of Russia's top 30 banks, has placed 22% of its stock in an initial
public offering (IPO) to raise $718 million and become the first Russian private bank
listed in London
(Vedomosti)
An interview with former president of Bank of Moscow Andrei Borodin, a key figure in a
criminal probe into a 12.76 billion ruble loan ($455 million) granted by the bank to an
obscure real estate company
(Vedomosti)
ENERGY
Russian state nuclear energy agency Rosatom may review its strategy of nuclear energy
development following the accident at Japan’s Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant. A
number of old nuclear reactors in Russia may be closed.
(Kommersant)
WORLD
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko hit out at Western powers for "not sending
condolences" to the people of Belarus following a deadly bomb attack in the capital
(Kommersant)
The Belarusian ruble could face a 20% devaluation, after the nation's central bank
announced the launch of a second foreign exchange trading session on Tuesday, in which
the local ruble rate will not be regulated by the authorities
(Vedomosti)
REAL ESTATE
The U.K.'s most expensive apartment has been bought for more than $220 million by
Donetsk-based holding company System Capital Management (SCM), owned by
Ukrainian tycoon Rinat Akhmetov
(Vedomosti)
MOSCOW
Russia's largest high-tech company Sitronics won tender to create an intellectual
transportation system that would help the Russian capital get rid of traffic jams
(Vedomosti)
Moscow is Europe's biggest city, with a population that has swelled by 1.1 million people
over the past eight years, but mostly due to an inflow of migrants attracted by the best
wages in the country, new statistics show
(The Moscow Times)
20 April 2011 Last updated at 00:12 GMT
Russia: Racism and abuse in asylum centres
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13131359
A BBC investigation into Russia's treatment of asylum seekers has found disturbing
evidence of neglect, abuse, and overt racial discrimination by officials. Our Moscow
correspondent Daniel Sandford reports.
Most people who come to Russia seeking political asylum arrive at the international
airports in Moscow and St Petersburg, or cross the country's southern borders.
Ochyor, where the Federal Migration Service has set up Russia's only centre for destitute
asylum seekers, is in the northern Ural mountains.
To get there from Moscow you have to fly more than 1,000km (600 miles) east to Perm,
and then drive for almost two hours. Or you can travel for 1,300 km (800 miles) on the
Trans-Siberian railway.
What is now at stake is the survival of the white race. We feel this in Russia”
End Quote Konstantin Poltoranin Chief spokesman, Russia's Federal Migration Service
The centre is a collection of mobile homes on a small hill half an hour's walk from the
town centre. Ochyor is a historic but run-down place where jobs are hard to come by.
It is not only the isolation of their accommodation that the asylum seekers complain
about. They describe a regime of neglect and even fear.
"We asked for asylum and we are being persecuted," says Benjamin N'Guessan from
Ivory Coast.
"We were persecuted in our own countries and we are being persecuted here."
As an example, he describes how they are taken to Perm for their court hearings.
"When they have to take us by car, they put us in the boot - the closed boot of a car - for
100km."
Like most asylum seekers in the country, he chose Russia only because it was easy to get
a tourist visa, and then applied for asylum after arrival.
The only European language Mr N'Guessan speaks is French, and he is being given no
Russian classes.
His friend Fofana Baleymory, also from Ivory Coast, says he was attacked in Ochyor last
month.
"I was assaulted by the son of a woman who works at the camp," he tells me.
"We can't go out alone. We have to go out in groups. It is really dangerous for us to live
here."
'Racist in charge'
After climbing up a steep wooded path still covered in snow to enter the camp through
the back entrance, I found a collection of rotting mobile homes that had been used by
East German labourers in the 1980s.
The buildings were falling apart. In the bathrooms, there were holes in the walls. Many of
the rooms had buckets in the middle of the floor to catch the water dripping through
electrical fittings in the ceilings. Most walls were warped with water damage.
The buildings were well insulated, but the residents said some bedrooms were bitterly
cold when the temperature outside dropped to -30C, as it often does in this part of the
Urals.
The most serious complaints the residents made were about the newly-promoted director
of the camp, Leonid Tsvirko.
Frederic Karangwa from Rwanda said: "He is racist. But his racism is particularly
targeted at us Africans."
Mr Karangwa fell out with Mr Tsvirko while he was still the deputy director. It started
with a row over Mr Karangwa's passport, which he was trying to get back after asking for
it to be photocopied.
When a member of staff would not return it to him, he grabbed for it, at which point the
director attacked him.
"He grabbed me forcefully by the neck. He turned me and dragged me to the floor, and I
fell on my knee like that," he said.
Mr Karangwa showed me a photograph of his badly-swollen knee. He said he also had
severe bruising on his face.
"Someone who commits criminal acts like that, and he is the director of the centre. We
are afraid."
No criminal charges were brought against the director, but independent eyewitnesses
confirmed Mr Karangwa's version of events to the BBC.
Another asylum seeker was taken away from the camp by international agencies because
he feared for his life.
No medicine
The refugees complain that the food makes them sick, and that the camp administration
has asked people in the town not to let them send faxes or emails, or even make phone
calls.
This institution is supposed to be a shelter for people who can't live in their own
countries”
End Quote Tatiana Margolina Ombudsman, Perm region
They said that their Iraqi friend from the camp, Abu Maxim, who was diabetic, died from
a lack of medicine. The official inquiry said he died of natural causes.
"Our friend Abu Maxim - it was we who buried him," Mr Baleymory explained.
"It was we who sent him to hospital. Nobody from the camp administration went there.
After he died, no-one told us about his death. It was the doctor who told us: 'Listen, your
friend has died.'
"If we had had the means, we would have gone and paid for the medicine for him. But
unfortunately we had no money."
During the day we spent at the camp, we saw one of the guards pushing an African
resident. We also saw a group of young men from the village shouting Nazi slogans at the
asylum seekers while we were interviewing them.
Tatiana Margolina is the ombudsman, or human rights watchdog, for the Perm region,
and has been monitoring the centre at Ochyor.
"This institution is supposed to be a shelter for people who can't live in their own
countries," she told me.
"In my opinion, the main mistake the staff who work there made is that they didn't see
this as the main purpose. There is a huge element of repression in the way the residents
are being treated."
We asked Russia's Federal Migration Service why people seeking refuge were being kept
in such poor conditions in such a remote spot.
Konstantin Poltoranin, the chief spokesman for the FMS, said it was planning to open a
new camp.
He told me that the African residents were probably complaining because they did not
want to stay in Russia anyway, and were looking for another country to take them. He
said that, in any case, Russia preferred immigrants of Ukrainian and Belarusian origin.
Then he said: "What is now at stake is the survival of the white race. We feel this in
Russia. We want to make sure the mixing of blood happens in the right way here, and not
the way it has happened in Western Europe where the results have not been good."
As we left, Mr N'Guessan made a final plea to the outside world.
"Here we are really traumatised and persecuted," he said. "And at this moment we don't
know who is going to come to our rescue."
Destroyed by the Mistral
http://rt.com/politics/press/izvestiya/mistral-french-head-negotiations/en/
Published: 20 April, 2011, 06:21
Edited: 20 April, 2011, 06:21
Negotiations on the sale of the French helicopter carrier could go back to the level of
heads of state Dmitry Litovkin
Dmitry Medvedev has issued a decree, dismissing the head of shipbuilding, armaments,
and operation of weapons, Deputy Commander of the Navy’s armaments, Nikolay
Borisov. The Vice Admiral’s name is being linked to the breakdown of negotiations on
the purchase of the French helicopter carrier, Mistral.
Nothing is being said about the reasons for the dismissal of the 51-year-old deputy navy
commander. The only thing known is that he, himself, had written a letter of resignation
two weeks in advance. Nikolay Borisov was the key figure in the talks with the French
about the procurement of the helicopter carrier. He was the one responsible for defending
the Russian side’s position in the contract.
In December 2010, the deputy commander signed a protocol with France, which
determined the price of the contract as €1.15 billion. The sum covers the cost of
construction of two Mistral ships (€980 million), logistical services (€131 million), and
crew training (€39 million). This agreement excluded half of the initial requests of the
Russian Defense Ministry, which insisted that the price of the contract included the cost
of licensing for the construction of two Mistrals in Russia, and all technical
specifications. As a result, while citing the document signed by Borisov, France refused
to include the cost of licensing and specifications in the contract, which are estimated at
€90 million.
Eventually, it was discovered that the Vice Admiral had signed the protocol without first
consulting with Rosoboronexport (Russian Defense Export) and the Federal Service of
Military-Technical Cooperation. When the French Defense Ministry and DCNS (the
producer) presented it to the Russian delegation, this came as a shock to the
representatives.
“We have a problem,” admitted Sergey Chemezov, head of the state-owned corporation,
Rostechnologies, which includes Rosoboronexport. “Initially we were saying that this
figure should not only include the ship, but also the specifications. It seems that this was
agreed upon at presidential level, but when this matter was transferred to the
negotiators, everything stalled. Now, we are trying to reach an agreement, butting heads
back and forth.”
“Today, the situation is very complicated, the negotiations process is very difficult,” said
a source in the military-industrial complex. “The stumbling block is the ship’s ‘filling’.
The dispute concerns two NATO standard control systems – the tactical control system
Zenith-9 and battle group (fleet) command and control system SIC-21.” The French are
ready to transfer the Zenith-9 to Russia without production licensing, and do not wish to
transfer the SIC-21 with the ship altogether.
Meanwhile, head of the General Staff, Nikolay Makarov, has repeatedly asserted that all
of the questions regarding Mistral have been closed. Russia will receive the ship in full
packaging arrangement (including the communication and control systems of the diverse
NATO troops). Does Vice Admiral Borisov’s dismissal mean that the negotiations
process is back to square one?
“Currently, it is a toss-up,” Konstantin Makiyenko, an expert with the ACT Center, told
Izvestia. "We’ll add €200 million and get the ship. If not, I would, personally, not get
upset if the project did not go through, because a billion would remain in the country.
And the French would once again prove that they are able to undermine, what seem to
be, already signed contracts, which is what happened with the supply of Rafale fighter
jets to Morocco, Brazil, UAE, and Singapore.”
However, according to Makiyenko, there is “a double bottom” in the sale of Mistral. It is
the SIC-21 fleet command and control system. The French Navy is actively opposed to
its transfer, and argues that it is a national treasure, which cannot be sold under any
circumstances. For example, France’s only aircraft carrier, Charles de Gaulle, is equipped
with the system. “The Russian military would have probably acted the same in a similar
situation,” argues the expert. It is also noteworthy that Borisov’s dismissal happened on
the eve of the main French negotiator, General Benoit Puga, head of French intelligence’s
arrival in Moscow. Perhaps now, Moscow is hoping to change the course of the
negotiations by trying to get out as much as it can from its partners from the very
beginning. If all else fails then, argue experts, we will be forced to go back to square one
– talks at the level of heads of state. And after this type of “artillery” is used, national
interests are sometimes compromised at the expense of economic benefit – and vice
versa.
APRIL 20, 2011
The New Arms Race
Russia's Fading Army Fights Losing Battle to Reform Itself
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703678404575636412726670020.html
By RICHARD BOUDREAUX
VOLGOGRAD, Russia—Sergei Fetisov, a 23-year-old welder, signed on for one of the
most ambitious projects in Vladimir Putin's Russia: rebuilding the remains of the oncemighty Soviet Red Army.
A cornerstone of that effort was the creation of special combat-ready units staffed
entirely by professional soldiers, not conscripts. Mr. Fetisov volunteered to be one of
them. He enlisted for a renewable three-year stint, enticed by higher pay and the chance
to learn new skills.
One of his first tasks, he recalls, was toiling past midnight shoveling snow and ice from a
football-field-size parade ground. The work that followed was menial, humiliating and of
little practical use, he says. Combat training consisted of two firing exercises a year, he
says, and a chunk of his paycheck was routinely withheld by corrupt officers.
"When I realized that being a professional soldier was just the same as serving as a
conscript, I wanted to tear up my contract and get out of there," he says. He quit when his
commitment ended in July, he says, "but we had guys who simply ran away."
With volunteers like Mr. Fetisov leaving in droves, the Defense Ministry has abandoned
the initiative altogether. The program's failure shows the limits of Mr. Putin's grand plan
to transform the army from a cumbersome machine designed for European land war into
a lithe force capable of fighting regional wars and terrorism.
Russia's struggle to rebuild its armed forces comes as the world's military balance is in
flux.
Two decades after the Cold War ended, China is engaged in a military buildup that has
many of its neighbors, including Russia, scrambling to bolster their defenses. The U.S.,
still the world's dominant military power, is trying to rein in defense spending—while
simultaneously keeping a wary eye on China, projecting power in the volatile Middle
East and dealing with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's persistent concerns about
Moscow.
Currently, Russia is at odds with NATO's air assault in Libya. Moscow has stayed out of
the military conflict, despite its stakes in weapons deals and oil-exploration ventures with
Col. Moammar Gadhafi's regime. But Mr. Putin said last month that the bombing in
Libya is part of a "steady trend" of U.S. military intervention around the world and "a
timely indicator that our efforts to strengthen [Russia's] defense are justified."
In February, Russia outlined a $650 billion plan to acquire new warplanes, ships, missiles
and other arms over the next decade, the Kremlin's biggest spending spree since the Cold
War.
Mr. Fetisov's account of poor morale in the army's ranks, however, raises questions about
Russia's long-term ability to assert power abroad.
The Defense Ministry declined to comment on Mr. Fetisov's complaints, but has
acknowledged that widespread discontent among volunteers undermined its enlistment
campaign. Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov has said that the program had been
poorly managed and would cost too much to fix.
"We cannot afford to create a fully professional army," he said in October. "If we save
funds elsewhere, we will certainly go back to this idea, but well prepared."
The setback has the Kremlin in a bind. Counting on volunteers to make up nearly half of
all soldiers, Mr. Putin had bowed to public sentiment and shortened the draft from two
years to one. Now, the dearth of volunteers and a drop in Russia's draft-age population
have prompted the Defense Ministry to cancel some deferments and step up conscription
of men 18 and older, risking discontent over a twice-yearly ritual that began anew on
April 1 and is widely evaded.
Russia relies mainly on its nuclear arsenal to project power and protect its territory.
Tensions with the West have eased, but Mr. Putin sought a revival of conventional forces,
which had been weakened by budget cuts, to put muscle behind his push for influence in
former Soviet republics that are now independent.
The army's decline became evident in the mid-1990s with its battering by separatist
rebels in Chechnya. The land, air and naval forces Mr. Putin inherited when he became
president in 2000 were a pale shadow of the Red Army, five million strong at the time of
the Soviet Union's breakup in 1991. They stand at one-fifth that size today.
Under the enlistment program, launched in 2004, officers were to train volunteers as
career specialists and make the new combat-ready units fully operational by 2010. The
shift to professional soldiers was supposed to better enable the army to operate the hightech weaponry Russia plans to acquire.
The U.S. abolished the draft in 1973, attracting volunteers through advertising, pay
increases, educational benefits and re-enlistment bonuses. By the time of the Persian Gulf
War of 1991, the move was widely viewed as a success.
Russia's campaign to attract volunteers, by contrast, was not as well funded or advertised.
By 2008, the army said it had signed up 99,000 volunteers for the new units, about
40,000 short of the goal.
Then the number began a sharp decline as most of them chose not to re-enlist or went
AWOL. That trend was evident during Russia's clumsy but ultimately successful invasion
that year of neighboring Georgia. Conscripts were sent to fight and die there, despite Mr.
Putin's promise that only professionals would serve in hot spots.
Despite the shortage of volunteers, Mr. Serdyukov, the defense minister, announced at
the end of 2009 that Russia's ground forces had been reorganized into 85 brigades of
"permanent combat readiness," doing away with bulkier divisions and making the army
more mobile. Only later did officials acknowledge that the brigades were made up mostly
of one-year conscripts, men with few combat skills.
The enlistment drive's failure puts constraints on Russia's reach. When ethnic rioting in
June threatened to tear Kyrgyzstan apart, its president appealed for Russian peacekeepers,
the kind of force Moscow once deployed routinely as a political tool. This time the
Kremlin demurred—in part, defense analysts say, because the army couldn't spare a full
brigade of professional soldiers.
Democratic reformers have lobbied for years to end the draft, arguing that a smaller,
professionalized force could better defend the nation's interests. Opinion polls show
majority support for the idea, and Mr. Putin endorsed it early in his presidency.
But tradition-bound generals favored keeping a large conscript army. Mr. Putin opted in
2003 for a compromise: The Defense Ministry would continue to draft, but also would
start recruiting for the combat units. The government budgeted $3.3 billion for higher pay
and better housing for volunteers.
By the time Mr. Fetisov received a draft notice four years later, the plan was faltering.
Recruiting stations, unaccustomed to any task other than rounding up draft-age men, were
given no blueprint for luring volunteers.
The army was a tough sell, too. Salaries for contract soldiers averaged $270 per month at
the end of 2007, about half the average salary for civilians. Housing construction at bases
fell behind schedule. Residential buildings paid for by the military were turned over
without running water, plumbing or electrical wiring, government auditors reported.
Mr. Fetisov, who has dyed-blond hair and a passion for video games, had no interest in
leaving his $370-a-month welding job. He lived with his mother and two brothers in
Volgograd, a "hero city" once named Stalingrad and famed for resisting the Nazis in
World War II, but he wasn't attracted to military life.
Once he was drafted, however, an army contract seemed to offer advantages. Draftees at
the time served 18 months, earning next to nothing. But they had the option to go
professional six months after induction. Mr. Fetisov, who says he was offered $400 a
month, thought a contract would raise his status in the army and enable him to master
new skills.
He reported to the 99th Artillery Regiment's base near Nizhny Novgorod in November
2007.
His disillusionment began with midnight snow-shoveling duty. "We worked in cleaning,
construction, regular things, not serving as soldiers," he says. "We didn't do anything that
would help us in a combat situation."
Mr. Fetisov and others who served in recent years say the army's search for contract
servicemen centered exclusively on draftees already under its control.
The 99th Artillery, for example, had 600 volunteers on three-year contracts, including
Mr. Fetisov, and 300 draftees. Officers were under instruction to recruit as many new
volunteers as possible.
Mr. Fetisov says they resorted to an unusual recruiting technique: Nearly every night at
11 that first winter, conscripts were mustered on the parade ground and made to stand in
formation for hours, facing superiors who sometimes were drunk.
"Finally an officer would say, 'Those willing to sign contracts, you're dismissed. The rest
of you, stay at attention,'" Mr. Fetisov recalls. "A personnel officer would tell stories
about the great treatment contract soldiers get."
"They had to stand there in the cold until at least two or three men agreed to sign," Mr.
Fetisov says. "This went on for weeks, but they never got 100%" of the regiment on
contract.
Volunteers under contract lived three to a room in new barracks with televisions and
DVD players. Conscripts slept in bunk beds, 20 to a room.
Beyond that, the distinction seemed to blur. Volunteers and conscripts alike were treated
harshly, Mr. Fetisov says. Sometimes a soldier who broke disciplinary rules was ordered
to dig a deep pit and stay inside for days, he says.
His accounts were corroborated by two other contract soldiers, Artyom Pugach and Denis
Pushkin, who served at the base and were interviewed separately.
The three soldiers say they experienced arbitrary deductions from their paychecks of $20
to $135 a month for what they say an officer described as "needs of the regiment." Some
contract soldiers had to forfeit their final month's pay in exchange for discharge papers,
says Mr. Pushkin.
A 2008 study by Citizen and Army, a Russian human-rights group, said such deductions
were widespread, amounting to large-scale misappropriation. Mr. Fetisov says his
commander had leeway with payroll money because his contract, like many others, didn't
state the salary he was promised. He says the commander threatened to punish anyone
who challenged the cuts.
"We were told there were some financial difficulties with the military reform," he says.
"But we could see that the commanders got new cars.…We saw what they were driving,
and it was clear what was being spent on what."
Crime and coercion plagued other volunteer units. Police in Russia's Far East broke up
gangs that extorted cash from soldiers on paydays at three bases.
In Kaliningrad, a military prosecutor's inquiry led to the annulment in 2006 of 83
contracts signed under pressure, according to that city's chapter of the Soldiers' Mothers
Committee, an advocacy group. Elsewhere, commanders of soldiers who went AWOL
kept them on the roster, pocketing their salaries, says Alexander Golts, a military
specialist and deputy editor of Yezhedevny Zhurnal, an online Russian publication.
In 2009, Mr. Fetisov was among 160 soldiers sent to form the all-volunteer artillery
battalion of the new 6th Specialized Tank Brigade. There, he says, he injured his hand
badly while cleaning the artillery barrel of a tank, and army doctors neglected it. When
his three-year contract came up for renewal, Mr. Fetisov bailed out. At the time, he says,
only 10 volunteers remained of the 160. The rest had been replaced by draftees.
"The army ran out of fools," his mother, Tatyana Fetisova, said recently as she listened to
her son tell his story.
And so it went at bases across Russia. The exodus left a handful of all-volunteer units,
staffed by a few thousand contract soldiers, in an army made up overwhelmingly of
conscripts, say defense officials and independent observers.
"It's no secret how the contract service was implemented," Mr. Serdyukov, the defense
minister, told news magazine Odnako. "Active duty soldiers were induced to sign
contracts by all means. Their [low] monthly salary and standard barracks life made them
quit the armed forces as early as possible. There was no systematic preparation of
military specialists."
Mr. Serdyukov, a former business executive close to Mr. Putin, was appointed during the
enlistment effort and felt cheated by officers who resisted or mismanaged it, says Vitaly
Shlykov, a retired colonel who advises him. The minister, he says, concluded that Russia
must change the culture of its officer corps before trying to switch to a professional army.
Backed by Mr. Putin and the current president, Dmitry Medvedev, Mr. Serdyukov is
slashing the number of officers and changing the way new ones are educated. He is
training Russia's first corps of career sergeants since the czarist era, starting with a class
of 300.
But those leaders will take a generation to develop, Mr. Shlykov says, and meanwhile
"Russia will have a conscription army for years to come."
That is bad news for Russia, says Mr. Fetisov, the former enlistee, but at least those who
serve will do so with fewer illusions.
"Now everybody knows you just put up with a year of hell," he says, "and then you're
free."
Write to Richard Boudreaux at [email protected]
Russia’s “Spineless” Army: Paper Sergeants
http://www.jamestown.org/programs/edm/single/?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=37809&tx_ttnews[
backPid]=27&cHash=603ad51e24ccd8298a14f69ea8a4a003
Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 8 Issue: 76
April 19, 2011 02:19 PM Age: 3 hrs
Category: Eurasia Daily Monitor, Home Page, Military/Security, Russia
By: Roger McDermott
A critical test for the reform of the Russian armed forces is whether and to what extent a
new generation of professional non-commissioned officers (NCOs) can be formed.
Marshal Zhukov once stated, “I and the NCOs run the Army.” Yet, the NCO cadre has
effectively ceased to exist in Russia, and the latest efforts to address this crucial issue
have been encased in another experiment.
It appeared that the defense ministry was serious about reforming the NCO cadre, and
despite early setbacks in 2009 a prestigious 34 month course was opened in Ryazan in
December 2009 to train professional NCOs for the Ground Forces, Airborne Forces
(Vozdushno Desantnye Voyska –VDV) and a variety of military specialties. Failure to
secure enough cadets for the course, or address how to develop the Ryazan model to
produce sufficient numbers of NCOs for the armed forces signaled deeper problems. On
April 6, 2011, Krasnaya Zvezda reported on a visit by President Dmitry Medvedev and
Defense Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov, to the VDV 45th Guards Spetsnaz Regiment in
Kubinka, west of Moscow. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technician asked his
commander-in-chief about the career structure for contract NCOs. Medvedev speculated
that an NCO might progress to become an officer: Serdyukov was promptly told to
examine it (Krasnaya Zvezda, April 6).
Much of the official reporting on the progress of the Ryazan NCO experiment has been
positive, emphasizing pay and conditions, with cadets paid 21,000 rubles monthly
($746.57) –provided their grades are “excellent,” while others receive 16,000 rubles
($568.81). Consistent with plans to increase pay and allowances throughout the armed
forces in 2012, professional NCOs will be paid up to 34,000 rubles monthly ($1,208.73).
Krasnaya Zvezda stresses that two categories of cadet enter the professional NCO course
in Ryazan: those who have completed conscript service and no older than 24, and
contract personnel aged up to 30. The Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces,
Colonel-General Alexander Postnikov remains broadly supportive of the course and its
aims, though he has called for professional NCOs to be trained in ten month courses
(Krasnaya Zvezda, February 26; Interfax, March 15).
Highlighting the crucial nature of the issue, Colonel (retired) Vitaly Shlykov sharply
criticized current plans to form a new NCO cadre. In Voyenno Promyshlennyy Kuryer,
Shlykov’s indictment of the defense ministry appeared in the second of a three-part series
titled: “Beskhrebetnaya Armiya” (Spineless Army). Arguing that for more than fifty
years the US systematically worked on developing the world’s finest NCO corps, while
Russia meandered in the opposite direction, Shlykov dismissed the Ryazan experiment as
a mere public relations exercise designed to assuage the ministry’s critics. Indeed, he
drew attention to the insufficient numbers pursuing the elite course and said that Russia is
unique in taking as long as 34 months to train proper sergeants (Voyenno Promyshlennyy
Kuryer, vpk-news.ru/articles/7426, April 13).
Shlykov noted that the former Defense Minister, Colonel-General Igor Rodionov
lamented in 2003 that Russia was the first country in modern military history attempting
to exist without a body of junior commanders. All efforts to reduce institutional
dedovshchina in the barracks ultimately flounder in the absence of high-quality NCOs. In
an interview in Rossiyskaya Gazeta in 2006 the sociologist Sergei Belanovsky had
warned against reducing the length of conscript service, arguing that it may result in the
collapse of the Army. Shlykov had disagreed with this negative assessment, and like
many others considered that reducing the term of service from two years to twelve
months might reverse ill-discipline in the barracks. The experience of the “new look” has
demonstrated Belanovsky’s thesis, and according to Shlykov the collapse of the army has
most likely only been avoided as a result of the 8,000 officers demoted to fill sergeant
posts, as well as some aspects of Serdyukov’s efforts to “humanize” military service.
Shlykov believes the defense ministry is now wasting time trying to disprove Rodionov’s
assertion that the Russian military is trying to survive without NCOs (Voyenno
Promyshlennyy Kuryer, April 13).
The tendency of the defense leadership has been to pin the ultimate blame for the worst
manifestations of dedovshchina on commanders. Referring to a case in which a
commander roll-called his men in the freezing cold after they had bathed which resulted
in the then Defense Minister, Sergei Ivanov, drawing the conclusion that commanders are
often the culprits. Commanders, in turn should be responsible for stamping out this
unwelcome aspect of military life, and Serdyukov has expressed similar views. Shlykov
argues that this is like finding a purse under a lamp because there is light, overlooking the
much deeper need for NCOs. Reducing the term of service, then cutting the number of
officers in the armed forces without introducing high-quality NCOs was, in Shlykov’s
view, irresponsible on the part of the defense ministry. He agreed with the former Head
of the Main Directorate of the Ground Forces, Colonel-General Yuri Bukreev who told a
meeting of reserve officers that the institution of sergeant exists in Russia only on paper
(Voyenno Promyshlennyy Kuryer, February 23).
Consequently, the “new look” relies upon conscript NCOs whose training since
December 1, 2010 has been “streamlined” from five months to three months. Indeed,
since October 2010, the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School has trained conscript
sergeants in courses lasting three months. Following preparatory phases, the first
conscripts completing this course were sent to units on March 28, 2011. They include
conscript servicing, maintenance and repair of motor transport and communications
specialists, platoon commanders and deputy commanders in combined-arms brigades,
VDV subunit specialists and reconnaissance specialists for Spetsnaz. Condensing the
length of the training period has resulted in cutting corners, specifically in technical and
weapons training. There are reported shortages of simulators and other combat training
equipment. The educational levels of many conscripts are frequently too low to meet the
demands for specialists. Moreover, in implementing the “new look” training posts to train
platoon and company commanders were eliminated, and only one course officer
remained which proved to be insufficient. Company first sergeants, according to one
source, are civilians paid only 5,000 rubles monthly ($177.75) and consequently many
leave (Zapiski Russkogo Soldata, February 11).
Rudyard Kipling observed in the nineteenth century that “the backbone of the Army is
the non-commissioned man,” and it was known and understood in Zhukov’s military.
Shlykov has highlighted that the current reform is in effect in suspended animation, as the
backbone of the Russian Army is missing.
Rights and the Right
http://russiaprofile.org/politics/35017.html
The Government Is Making Conspicuous Attempts to Bring Nationalist Sentiment Under
Control, Although the Latest Move May Not Have the Intended Result
By Tom Balmforth Russia Profile 04/19/2011
Moscow City Court on Monday banned the Movement Against Illegal Migration (DPNI),
a leading nationalist organization, after its activities were found to be “extremist.” The
move was welcomed by Russia’s top hate crime monitors. The court’s decision was made
at the behest of Moscow State Prosecutors. It took into account a range of evidence,
including speeches by the organization’s leader Alexander Belov at the unprecedented
nationalist riots of December 2010, in which he told thousands about the need to form
“defensive battalions,” Gzt.Ru reported.
Alexander Verkhovsky, the head of Sova, Russia’s leading hate crime monitor, hailed the
court’s move and placed it in the context of the authorities’ broader, newly-invigorated,
campaign against nationalist-motivated crime. “There are more serious signs of the
government’s campaign. The police are being extremely active in catching participants of
violent groups. It’s just that these moves aren’t as noticeable, but they are far more
important,” said Verkhovsky. DPNI activists who get caught now face a year in prison,
according to the Prosecutor General’s Web site.
But the leader of the DPNI, Alexander Belov, has warned that banning the organization
may result in masked nationalist youths roaming the streets without leadership to restrain
them. Verkhovsky said that the court’s decision would definitely have less impact than
the elevated police action did in 2010, during which twice as many perpetrators of
nationalist hate crime were caught as in 2009.
Vladimir Ermolaev, a representative on the national council of the DPNI, said that the
group will appeal the Moscow Court’s decision, which he called “not objective and
baseless.” In a blog entry today, Vladimir Tor, another leader of the group, called it an
“unfair and deliberately unlawful decision.” “Of course, they can ban the DPNI just as
they can with any social organization that is not of use to the authorities. But they’re too
cowardly to ban Russians,” wrote Tor, the nationalist Muscovite whose real name is
Vladlen Kralin.
The nine-year-old Movement Against Illegal Migration, a group of around 1,600
according to Ermolaev, has lobbied for migration to be curbed in Russia and strict
language requirements to be imposed on migrating workers. The group was also behind
the mass riots in December 2010 on Manezh Square in central Moscow which bear out
the simmering nationalist tensions in Russian society. In 2006, Belov, the leader of
DPNI, had a criminal case opened against him after he called for the deportation of
people from the Caucasus – which the court also referred to as it delivered its verdict on
Monday.
Verkhovsky said that the group fulfils a legitimate function in questioning migration
legislation, but he said that the other side of the group is where the problem lies. “Many
of the activists of the whole group have been involved in violent crimes, which were
linked to their political views. This clearly is a different matter,” said Verkhovsky. “This
is a very clear basis for banning the organization. I understand that in a big organization,
certain things can happen, and that the leadership can’t be held responsible for everyone.
But in that case they should have spoken out against these things, and they never did.”
Ermolaev said the group is being repressed by the authorities. “The state has exhausted
its other ways of fighting,” Ermolaev of DPNI said. “They’ve tried to discredit us in the
mass media and to bring us into conflict with other organizations. They’ve tried
everything and nothing worked – we are developing from strength to strength. Now, after
the events in North Africa, these people really took fright and have decided to take this
step to remove us from the political field and ban us.”
Last week 110 illegal immigrants were arrested in western Moscow, and many of them
were deported when they were discovered in what police officers described as an
“underground city.” Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin last year said that a quarter of a
million migrant workers are registered in Moscow, although he said the real figure is
more like a few million. RIA Novosti quoted experts as saying that there are between
four and five million illegal immigrants in Russia.
National Economic Trends
Russian Economy in March: Requires Tightening, But CBR Might Opt to Wait
http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text14921
VTB Capital
April 20, 2011
Yesterday, Rosstat released economic data for March that reveals a decoupling in
incomes and consumer demand, as well as a continued decline in fixed capital
investment. We attribute the former to companies optimising labour costs in response to
the social tax hike. Weak investment might prevent the CBR from hiking interest rates in
April. However, inflation risks persist, and the possible upward revision to the 2010 GDP
numbers implies the need for a tighter monetary policy.
Incomes and consumption diverge as companies respond to taxes. Retail sales increased
4.8% YoY in March. The labour market also continued to improve with a 0.5pp drop in
the unemployment rate to 7.1% in March. At the same time, real wages and real
disposable income declined last month 0.4% YoY and 3.4% YoY, respectively. We
attribute this divergence to companies responding to the higher social tax and optimising
their labour costs.
Investment declined for the third month in a row, limiting room for a rate hike. Fixed
capital investment declined in March for the third consecutive month (it was down 0.3%
YoY) despite a robust industrial output reading (up 5.3% YoY) and a strong rebound in
construction (up 4.2% YoY). The continued decline in investment, coupled with weak
consumer confidence and stabilised inflation, might prevent the CBR from hiking interest
rates in April.
Inflation risks persist. Weekly CPI data suggests that inflation will edge slightly higher in
April to 9.6-9.7% YoY from 9.5% YoY in March. Despite headline inflation having
stabilised, core inflation continues to rise and monetary and fiscal policy remain too
loose, suggesting that there could be the risk of higher inflation down the road.
Possible upward revision of GDP. Following the revision to the reported growth rates for
the sales series in 2H10 (up 2.0-3.5pp), Rosstat might also increase the 2010 GDP growth
estimate (from the current 4.0% YoY). This would imply that the economy required a
tighter monetary policy last year.
Aleksandra Evtifyeva
Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions
Duma deputies suggest new fines for flight cancellations and delays
http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text14921
Renaissance Capital
April 20, 2011
Event: Today (20 April), Kommersant reported that the State Duma will analyse a bill
introducing a RUB10,000-24,000 fine for the cancellation of a flight or a delay of three
hours or more; the size of the fine would depend on the length of the trip. Currently, the
Air Code sets the fine at RUB25/hour per passenger, but not more than 50% of
passengers' flight expenses. The amendments will be discussed on 11-12 May.
Action: We do not expect the impact to be significant.
Rationale: The suggested fines are lower than those set by the Montreal Convention,
which can be up to $6,500 per passenger, or even higher if delays are proved to be the
fault of the air carrier. Under the new law, Aeroflot's fines for delays and cancellations
last year reportedly could have reached RUB300-720mn (2-4% of 2010 EBITDA), vs
RUB10mn under the current law. However, Russian airlines claim that air carrier-caused
flight delays are rare for normal operations, so future fines may not increase significantly.
Ivan Kim
Construction sector growth still slow
http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text14921
bne
April 20, 2011
The construction sector is seeing consistent growth, but still struggling to recover from
the crisis. The latest figures from the Federal State Statistics Service showed that activity
increased 1.6% YoY in the first quarter of 2011, to total RUB663.7bn, reports Prime
Tass.
The construction sector was perhaps the hardest hit of all in the economic crisis, with the
country's over-leveraged developers finding themselves cut off from credit almost
overnight. Many real estate assets ended up on the balance sheets of the banks - and
remain there to that day.
In March, construction in Russia amounted to RUB281.8bn, up 4.2% on the year and
46.3% on the month. In January-March, 9.3m square meters of housing was built, down
2.2% on the year, the service said. In 2010, construction in Russia decreased 0.6% YoY
to a total of RUB4.206 trillion, with 58.1m square meters of housing built, a drop of 3%
on 2009.
Russian crude steel output increases by 9pct in Q1
http://www.steelguru.com/russian_news/Russian_crude_steel_output_increases_by_9pct
_in_Q1/201259.html
Wednesday, 20 Apr 2011
According to Russia Federal State Statistics Service, Russia crude steel production in the
first three months of this year reached 17.3 million tonnes up by 9.2%YoY. In addition,
Russian output of finished steel in the given period rose by 7.9% to 14.7 million tonnes
while production of cast iron went up by 0.8%YoY to 12.1 million tonnes.
As per report, in the January to March period of the current year, Russia saw a 21.2%
increase in its steel tube production to 2.6 million tonnes and a 7.55% rise in its iron ore
concentrate production to 24.4 million tonnes. On the other hand, the country production
of metallurgical coke went down by 0.1%YoY to 6.8 million tonnes during the first three
months of 2011.
Market insiders are optimistic about market conditions with good prospects supported by
rising demand amid growth in the national and global economies.
UPDATE 1-Russia's Polymetal cuts 2011 gold output forecast
http://af.reuters.com/article/metalsNews/idAFLDE73J06420110420
Wed Apr 20, 2011 7:10am GMT
* Cuts 2011 gold output forecast to 470,000-500,000 ounces
* Commissioning of POX plant delayed by 2-3 months
* Q1 2011 gold output down 12 percent y/y to 88,000 ounces
* Q1 2011 revenue $229 million, up 33 percent from year ago
(Adds details, background)
MOSCOW, April 20 (Reuters) - Russian precious metals miner Polymetal (PMTL.MM)
said on Wednesday it had to cut its 2011 gold output forecast to 470,000-500,000 ounces
from 620,000-660,000 due to "unexpected difficulties".
"Polymetal had a challenging first quarter as planned grade declines coupled with
unexpected difficulties resulted in operational underperformance and project delays," it
said in a statement.
The weak performance nonetheless failed to dent its share price, which has been rising on
the back of record gold and silver prices and was up 1.4 percent at 0703 GMT,
outperforming the wider market.
Polymetal said it produced 88,000 ounces of gold in the first quarter, 12 percent less than
a year ago as output at its Varvara and Omolon mines failed to offset planned decreases
in output at Voro and Khakanja, caused by declining grades.
Silver production declined 23 percent year on year to 3.8 million ounces due to the
impact of the gravity circuit start-up on throughput at the Dukat mill and excessive
dilution at Lunnoye mine underground.
The Amursk pressure oxidation (POX) facility, which was expected to start processing
concentrate from Polymetal's Albazino mine in September, was delayed by two to three
months for technical reasons, it said.
Its Omolon project failed to receive new mining equipment in time due to poor winter
road conditions and therefore the mill had to process existing low-grade ore stockpiles.
This led to significant downward revisions to the production plans for both facilities for
2011, Polymetal said.
"Quarterly performance was clearly dismal, and the resulting downward production
guidance revision is painful," Vitaly Nesis, CEO of Polymetal, said in the statement.
"Nevertheless, we remain confident in Polymetal's ability to deliver on its long-term
targets and overcome operational challenges."
Polymetal had to cut its silver output forecast to 18-19 million ounces from a previously
announced 21-22 million ounces, but it left its copper output guidance unchanged at
6,000-7,000 tonnes, the statement said. (Reporting by Aleksandras Budrys; Editing by
Will Waterman)
Mechel Announces Pricing of Offering of Preferred Shares by Certain Selling
Shareholders
http://www.istockanalyst.com/business/news/5074238/mechel-announces-pricing-ofoffering-of-preferred-shares-by-certain-selling-shareholders
Wednesday, April 20, 2011 1:55 AM
Apr. 20, 2011 (GlobeNewswire) -MOSCOW, April 20, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mechel OAO (NYSE:MTL), one
of the leading Russian mining and steel companies, announces the pricing of a
public offering (the "Offering") by certain selling shareholders of preferred shares
of Mechel OAO.
The preferred shares are being offered by James C. Justice II, James C. Justice III, James
C. Justice Companies Inc. and Jillean L. Justice (the "Selling Shareholders"). The Selling
Shareholders have agreed to sell 32,000,000 preferred shares. The price has been set at
US$16.50 per preferred share.
The Offering has been registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the
"SEC") under an automatic shelf registration statement filed by Mechel.
Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated and Renaissance Securities (Cyprus) Limited have
acted as Joint Global Coordinators and Joint Bookrunners for the Offering. VTB Capital
has acted as a Joint Bookrunner for the Offering. VTB Capital is not registered as a
broker-dealer with the SEC, therefore any offers and sales of the preferred shares by VTB
Capital in the United States are made through one or more SEC-registered brokerdealers, which may be affiliates of VTB Capital, to the extent required by applicable U.S.
securities laws and regulations. Coalmetbank has marketed the preferred shares to the
general public in the Russian Federation. Coalmetbank does not underwrite any of the
preferred shares sold in the Offering.
A copy of the prospectus relating to the Offering can be obtained on the EDGAR website
operated by the SEC or by contacting the underwriters for the Offering through Morgan
Stanley & Co. Incorporated, 1585 Broadway, New York, NY 10036, United States of
America, tel: +1 (866) 718-1649 (attention of Prospectus Department, 180 Varick Street,
New York, NY 10014, e-mail: [email protected]); or, for requests from
the United States, through RenCap Securities, Inc., 780 3rd Avenue, 20th Floor, New
York, NY 10017, USA, tel: +1 (212) 824-1099 (attention of David Kuzmanich and John
Duffy) and, for requests outside the United States, through Renaissance Capital Limited,
One Angel Court, Copthall Avenue, London, EC2R 7HJ, United Kingdom, tel: +44 (207)
367-7202 x8202 (attention of Gary Lennon); or, for requests outside the United States,
through VTB Capital Plc, 14 Cornhill, London EC3V 3ND, United Kingdom, tel: + 44
(20) 3334-8000 (attention of Equity Syndicate).
Mechel is one of the leading Russian companies. Its business includes four segments:
mining, steel, ferroalloy and power. Mechel unites producers of coal, iron ore
concentrate,
RZD to auction off 75% in Freight One
http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20110420105654.shtml
RBC, 20.04.2011, Moscow 10:56:54.Russian Railways (RZD) has preliminarily
approved the sale of its 75% minus two shares stake in Freight One at an auction with
a limited number of participants, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov told
reporters late Tuesday.
The stake was valued at RUB 115.5bn (approx. USD 4.06bn) by independent
appraiser KPMG. Transcreditbank will arrange the auction. "The stake will be sold in
the third quarter of 2011 at an auction to one strategic investor. The stake will be sold
as one lot," Zhukov said. The starting price is almost double the amount as of the date
of Freight One's creation.
Bidders eligible for the auction should be registered in Russia, should not be state
corporations and own at least 15,000 rail cars, according to Zhukov and Russian
Railways President Vladimir Yakunin.
Russia's Novorossiysk says 2010 profit up 2.5 percent
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE73J09420110420
Wed Apr 20, 2011 6:51am GMT
MOSCOW, April 20 (Reuters) - Russian port Novorossiysk (NMTP.MM) said on
Wednesday its 2010 net profit came in 2.5 percent higher at $258.4 million, although
revenue fell as the company suffered from Russia's ban on grain exports.
"Due to the government ban on export of grain, we missed substantial volume of one of
our most profitable cargos. Nonetheless .. we managed to increase net profit," Chief
Executive Igor Vilinov said in a statement.
Full year revenue came in 5.9 percent lower at $635.3 million.
(Reporting by John Bowker, Editing by Toni Vorobyova)
Morgan Stanley, Interfax to Join Sberbank Board, Vedomosti Says
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-20/morgan-stanley-interfax-to-join-sberbankboard-vedomosti-says.html
By Yuliya Fedorinova - Apr 20, 2011 6:45 AM GMT+0200
Morgan Stanley (MS)’s Russian chief Rair Simonyan and Interfax’s Mikhail Matovnikov
will replace government officials on the board of directors at OAO Sberbank, Vedomosti
reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.
The executives will replace Economy Minister Elvira Nabiullina and Kremlin economic
adviser Arkady Dvorkovich, the Moscow-based newspaper reported today.
Alessandro Profumo, the former CEO of UniCredit SpA and an advisor to Sberbank
Chief Executive Officer German Gref, will also join the board, Vedomosti said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Yuliya Fedorinova at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Brad Cook at [email protected]
UPDATE 1-Russia's Alfa, Evraz raise $1.85 bln via Eurobonds
http://af.reuters.com/article/metalsNews/idAFLDE73J0CQ20110420
Wed Apr 20, 2011 7:59am GMT
* Initial yields were cut on the back of U.S. data
* Russian corporate borrowers raised almost $10 bln in 2011
(Adds Evraz placement, details)
MOSCOW, April 20 (Reuters) - Russia's Alfa Bank and steelmaker Evraz (HK1q.L)
have raised a combined $1.85 billion this week on the Eurobond market, cutting the
initial premiums as risk appetite rebounded on U.S. data, banking sources said. Evraz
raised $850 million via a seven-year Eurobond placement, pricing the issue at 6.75
percent yield, a banking source told Reuters.
The final yield is in the middle of earlier guidance ranges of 6.625-6.75 percent and to
6.7-7.0 percent, helped by positive U.S. housing statistics. [ID:nCAT005413]
[ID:nLDE73I1DA]
Alfa Bank, Russia's largest privately-owned lender, raised $1 billion via a 10-year
Eurobond with a yield of 7.75 percent, at the lower end of latest guidance, seen at 7.757.875 percent on Tuesday. [ID:nLDE73I1JW]
Despite worries that Monday's decision by Standard & Poor's to downgrade the U.S.
credit outlook would depress global markets, the effect seems to have proved brief.
[ID:nN18109803]
"As expected, equities bounced back yesterday (on Tuesday), as markets realized that
S&P's verdict did not contain much that was not known before and was more of a
message to U.S. politicians," Alfa Bank said in a research note.
Alfa Bank and Evraz's issues follow a combined $1.5 billion in Eurobonds raised by
Russian companies last week and take the total to almost $10 billion since the start of the
year. (Reporting by Oksana Kobzeva and Katya Golubkova; Editing by Will Waterman)
Russia's NRB eyes $160 mln Eurobond issue – source
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/20/russia-nrb-eurobondidUSLDE73J0F820110420
4:02am EDT
MOSCOW, April 20 (Reuters) - Mid-sized Russian lender NRB may place a Eurobond
worth $160 million, a banking source told Reuters on Wednesday.
The source did not provide details on a possible roadshow schedule to market the bond.
NRB could not immediately be reached for comment.
Russia's largest privately-owned lender Alfa Bank raised $1 billion via a 10-year
Eurobond issue on Wednesday, with the yield of 7.75 percent at the lower end of earlier
guidance. [ID:nLDE73J08M] (Reporting by Elena Orekhova, writing by Katya
Golubkova)
Sibur mulls initial public offering (IPO) in H2- 2012
http://www.plastemart.com/plasticnews_desc.asp?news_id=19733&P=P
(20-4-2011)
Sibur, Russia's largest petrochemical group, may hold an initial public offering (IPO) in
H2-2012.
The company "is currently considering options for an IPO," as per Ilya Rogol, project
manager at Sibur Holding. "It is the company's size that matters when you decide on
floating the stock. There is no sense to go public with small sales volumes. In December
2010, Leonid Mikhelson, head of Russia's largest independent gas producer Novatek, had
planned the company's IPO, but it must be preceded by the large-scale reorganization of
the company's business. Mikhelson increased his stake in Sibur Holding to 50% in March
2011.
Rybolovlev sells 10% of Uralkali to Nesis and Mamut
http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text14921
Troika Dialog
April 20, 2011
Dmitri Rybolovlev, former principal shareholder of Uralkali, has disposed of his
remaining 10% stake in the company, according to the official filing. Alexander Mamut
bought a 3.5% stake and Alexander Nesis' ICT Group purchased the other 6.5%, but
simultaneously sold a 2.0% stake to an undisclosed group of investors, most likely
implying a sale on the open market. As a result, Nesis increased his stake in Uralkali
from 13.2% to 17.7%. The deal could have been made at the market price (implying
$1.65 bln for the whole stake) or, much more likely, at the price of Rybolovlev's initial
53.2% stake disposal of $23.5 per GDR (40% below the market level and $998 mln for
the stake), assuming that there were some option agreements between Rybolovlev and
Suleiman Kerimov back in June 2010. However, no details on the price were officially
disclosed.
Troika's view: Rybolovlev, Uralkali's founder, has finally been bought out of both
Silvinit (with 20% of common shares acquired under the Uralkali/Silvinit merger scheme
in February 2011) and Uralkali by a consortium of investors led by Suleiman Kerimov.
The share of Kerimov and his partners in the united enterprise should come close to
55.5%, up from 52.4%, including Nesis' 12.2 % (up from 9.1%). Mamut, a close partner
of ICT Group in Polymetal and a number of other investments, has become a new
minority shareholder with a 2.4% stake in the combined company. All key shareholders
represent financial investors and could dispose parts of their stakes on the open market to
lock in handsome gains.
Usmanov ups stake in Arsenal
http://www.timeslive.co.za/sport/soccer/article1031456.ece/Usmanov-ups-stake-inArsenal
Apr 20, 2011 8:46 AM | By Sapa-AP
Russian investor Alisher Usmanov has increased his stake in Arsenal despite
American sports tycoon Stan Kroenke mounting a full takeover bid after
securing a controlling stake in the Premier League club.
Underlining his vow not to sell his stake to Kroenke, Usmanov spent 70,950 pounds
($115,600) on six shares to hold 27% in the club.
The announcement came a week after Kroenke announced that his stake would rise from
29.9% to 62.89% after agreeing to buy shares from Nina Bracewell-Smith and Danny
Fiszman, who died from cancer last week.
By going over the 30% threshold, Kroenke, who is already an Arsenal director, was
obliged to make an offer for the remaining shares. The takeover values the club at 731
million pounds ($1.2 billion).
Usmanov, who is not on the board, owns his stake through Red and White Holdings,
which is controlled jointly with Farhad Moshiri.
On Monday, Usmanov bought three shares at 11,7500 pounds each and another three at
11,900 pounds each. Red and White Holdings didn’t say where Usmanov bought the
shares from.
Arsenal is second in the Premier League.
Posted: Apr 20th, 2011
RUSNANO and Perm Krai Choose German Nanostart AG to Manage 50 Million
Euro Fund
http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=21087.php
(Nanowerk News)
An agreement of cooperation with investment company Nanostart AG, winner of the
open competitive tender to manage venture capital fund Kama Fund First, was signed
today by RUSNANO CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board Anatoly Chubais, Perm
Krai Governor Oleg Chirkunov, and Nanostart CEO Marco Beckmann. Nanostart AG is a
leading nanotechnology investment company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany.
Signing took place in Moscow as part of a Global Innovation Partnerships forum being
held April 18–22, 2011, in Moscow and Kazan. The forum has attracted 25 heads of
European venture funds and executives of international technology companies. Kama
Fund First is a two-billion-ruble (€50 million) venture capital fund for high-tech
developments in Perm Krai. RUSNANO and Perm Krai will each invest 750 million in
the fund; Nanostart AG will invest 500 million rubles. The fund with a planned life of ten
years will be registered with Russia's Federal Service for Financial Markets in June 2011.
The purposes of Kama Fund First are to accelerate innovative developments in Perm
Krai, diversify venture financing instruments, and increase the project base in the region
for RUSNANO co-investment at later stages. The fund will invest in 10 to 20 projects of
which at least 75 percent will be projects in nanotechnology. "I view Kama Fund First as
a generator of promising nanotechnology projects that will grow in their next stage of
development, with financial participation from RUSNANO, into significant businesses,"
said Anatoly Chubais. "It is heartening to us that one of the leading investment
companies in nanotechnology will invest in the fund and manage its resources. This is the
same smart money that is essential to the development of an innovation economy."
Interfax Russia & CIS Energy Daily
http://www.interconnectionworld.com/index/display/wire-newsdisplay/1402139820.html
Russia & CIS Energy Daily
April 19, 2011
MOSCOW. (Interfax) - Rosneft may consider a role for TNK-BP in the deal with BP,
Alexander Shokhin, an independent director on the TNK-BP board, told journalists on
April 19.
Rosneft is mainly interested in the share swap with BP and could seek out a different
partner for development of the Arctic shelf.
"That's Mobil, Shell, but since the exchange of shares with BP is a question that has been
virtually decided, it will definitely be very difficult to find another partner that would
take on the Arctic deal and the share exchange deal," Shokhin, who is also head of the
Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, said.
The question now is whether BP succeeds in having the deal separated into two parts: the
share exchange and the Arctic exploration.
"There is the alternative of having TNK-BP participate in the deal instead of BP. That
would be the simplest answer for TNK-BP and BP, but not for Rosneft," he said. Rosneft
has little interest in taking an equity stake in TNK-BP or exchanging shares with it, he
said.
"Nonetheless, another portion of the deal concerns Rosneft's entry into BP capital, and
that part remains. It cannot be ruled out that this compromise [TNK-BP's participation in
the deal with Rosneft instead of BP] might be considered by Rosneft and the Russian
government," Shokhin said.
Meanwhile, RH Razvitie LLC, a wholly owned Rosneft SPV, has increased its stake in
the parent company from 9.42% to 9.53% with the purchase of 11.3 million shares in the
run-up to a share-swap with British Petroleum, according to a Rosneft statement and
sources close to the company.
Back in January, BP and Rosneft announced the creation of a global strategic alliance
based on a mutual exchange of shares and partnership in Arctic-shelf operations. Rosneft
is to get 5% of BP in exchange for almost 9.5% of its own stock.
At that moment, however, Rosneft had only 9.4% of its own shares at its disposal.
Some of the 11.3 million shares recently acquired were bought on the market, one source
said. The Rosneft statement says the stake increase was posted April 13, the day before
the deadline initially set for the swap by the two parties involved.
Judging from the Rosneft share price at the close of trading on April 13, this deal was
worth almost 3 billion rubles.
The outcome hinges on the agreement reached by shareholders and the Russian
government's position, as well as the ruling in Stockholm arbitration.
The AAR consortium (Alfa Group, Access Industries, and Renova), a co-owner in TNKBP, charged the deal violated the TNK-BP shareholders agreement and took the matter to
court. Last week, Rosneft and BP agreed to extend the swap timeframe until May 16.
Following the first round of hearings in Stockholm, the court blocked BP from carrying
out the deal with Rosneft. That injunction was extended following the second round. The
companies agreed to extend negotiations on the share swap, which was originally
scheduled to close on April 14, until March 16. No date has been set for a resumption of
the hearings.
KYIV. (Interfax) - The chief executive of Russia's Gazprom said on April 18 that a
Ukrainian initiative to revise the current Russian-Ukrainian natural gas trade agreement
and possibly to have it annulled judicially is "absolutely unconstructive and has no
chance of being put into practice."
"For the first time in the history of our relations with Ukraine has a long-term contractual
base has been created that fully conforms to what has been an international practice of
doing gas business for many years," Alexei Miller told Interfax.
"The price, which is now calculated via a formula, is market-based and fair," he said.
"And it needs to be remembered as well that Gazprom cannot offer more privileged terms
as regards gas price to Ukraine than to other members of the Customs Union," Miller
said.
Earlier, Ukrainian Deputy Prosecutor General Renat Kuzmin had said the signature of the
gas agreement in 2009 had involved "gross violations of Ukrainian law" and that Ukraine
might rescind the deal abrogated by a national court order or seek its annulment by an
international court.
"On the Ukrainian side, all that was done in signing the contract was illegal, and this
means that the contract itself and all that has been done to enforce this contract may be
challenged and abrogated judicially," he said.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said his country cannot refer gas
contracts with Russia to court.
"The Ukrainian court cannot pass rulings on Russia's actions. The issue of court cases has
to do only with the Ukrainian side in this particular instance," Yanukovych said at a joint
press conference with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in Kyiv
commenting on Kuzmin's comments.
The competence of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office is limited by the current
Ukrainian legislation, he said.
"Regarding decisions related to the officials, who signed this agreement and were
involved in that, only the court has the right of decision-making," he said.
Kuzmin had earlier told Inter TV that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has not
played a direct role in the signing of gas agreements between Russia and Ukraine and
cannot be held responsible in any way.
Neither of the two countries' prime ministers signed the gas contract - it was between two
businesses, Naftogaz Ukrainy and Gazprom, Kuzmin said.
The gas agreement between the two countries clinched in 2009 could be annulled by the
courts, perhaps internationally, since "the signing of this contract involved substantial
violations of Ukrainian law," Kuzmin said.
MOSCOW. (Interfax) - Shtokman Development AG (SDAG) will ask the government for
tax breaks to develop the giant Shtokman gas condensate field in the Barents Sea in
September, since the project costs are known, the company's chief, Alexei Zagorovski,
told a press conference at the Interfax central office in Moscow held April 19.
SDAG will begin tender procedures in May, so that by September it has a clear picture of
costs in the construction phase. The cost of those facilities "of a more standard nature"
will be calculated based on pro forma data from Giprospetsgaz, while the "more unique"
facilities will be valued on a tender basis, he said.
"Management is preparing to submit documents to shareholders in September to make a
final investment decision," he said.
SDAG's shareholders did not initially seek tax breaks for the projects. However, prices
for materials have been rising for four years and industrial safety requirements have also
increased. The shareholders now want to review how beneficial a special tax regime
would be for the project.
Zagorovski said in November that SDAG was in talks with state officials on tax breaks
for the project. In March, SDAG shareholders Total and Statoil along with SDAG
management, said there would be no final investment decision pending a government
decision on tax breaks. SDAG said the tax breaks would have to be on a par with those
being offered for the Yamal LNG project.
Zagorovski also said that the shareholders decided to merge the investment decisions
regarding pipeline gas and LNG because it was too difficult to project costs on a separate
basis. "It makes a full-fledged valuation of the entire project and an overall commercial
decision impossible," he said.
"In addition, the maritime facilities are calculated based on an LNG-component and a
pipeline component," he said.
Last year the SDAG shareholders postponed the launch of the Shtokman project for three
years due to the glut on the gas market and low prices for LNG.
The final investment decision on pipeline gas was planned for March 2011 and on LNG year-end 2011.
Three consortia are vying for the right to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant for the
first stage of the Shtokman gas condensate project, Zagorovskoi said.
Zagorovskoi declined to name the companies involved.
"Participants in the tender for the LNG-plant have been formed into consortia, and there
are now three of them. Who is in them is a commercial secret," Zagorovskoi said.
Tenders for the shoreline facilities will be closed three months prior to the final
investment decision being made, which is planned for this December, he said. The
tenders should be finalized in May or June.
The deputy to Shtokman Development's senior managing director Kirill Molodtsov said
during the Oil and Gas of the Russian Arctic conference that the project to build a unique
floating production unit (FPU) has undergone preliminary analysis. "Now we're getting
ready for state analysis," he said. The world's only such class of vessel will be the basis
for the opening of Arctic deposits, he said.
The consortia Aker/Technip/SBM and Saipem/Samsung/Sofec are contending for the
right to build the FPU, which will be used to extract Shtokman gas.
The giant Shtokman field in the central Barents Sea, with C1+C2 reserves of 3.8 trillion
cubic meters of gas and approximately 37 million tonnes gas condensate, is supposed to
produce 23.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year in its first phase. The field is
located about 600 kilometers from Murmansk, where the waters can reach 340 meters
deep.
The Shtokman Development joint venture between Russia's Gazprom (51%), France's
Total (25%) and Norway's StatoilHydro (24%) was set up to carry out the first phase.
MOSCOW. (Interfax) - Sakhalin Energy, the operator of the Sakhalin-2 project, targets
production of 10.8 million tonnes of LNG and 6 million tonnes of oil in 2011, a source at
the company told journalists.
Sakhalin-2 exported 10 million tonnes of LNG in 2010, according to data from the Fuel
and Energy Central Dispatch Service.
Sakhalin Energy has stepped up operations at the LNG plant as part of efforts to boost
supplies to Japan.
The operator plans to drill several additional oil wells at the Piltun-Astokhhskoye fields.
A number of wells drilled earlier produced more gas than initially planned.
Construction of a third line of the LNG plant will take three years once project
documentation is finalized. The additional capacity might be supplied with gas from the
Kirinskoye field (Sakhalin-3).
MOSCOW. (Interfax) - Russian gas giant Gazprom plans to be extracting 200 billion
cubic meters (bcm) of gas on Russia's continental shelf by 2030, State Duma deputy
speaker and head of the Russian Gas Society Valery Yazev said at the Oil and Gas of the
Russian Arctic conference.
The Prirazlomnoye field will start yielding its first oil at the end of this year, Yazev said.
Pipeline gas will arrive from Shtokman in 2016 and liquefied natural gas in 2017.
The Kharasaveiskoye and Kruzenshternskoye fields in the Karsk Sea will be launched in
2019 and 2020, respectively.
A bill concerning the southern boundary of Russia's Arctic zone will be submitted in
2013, Yazev said.
Under the current system of taxation, extraction operations on Russia's Arctic shelf are
unpractical, he said.
MOSCOW. (Interfax) - Russian gas giant Gazprom and E.ON, one of Europe's biggest
buyers of Russian gas, remain far from a solution of their price dispute.
At the start of this month, deputy Gazprom chief Valery Golubev told the press that the
dispute had been settled, but many gas-market sources subsequently told Interfax that
was not the case and that the parties have yet to see eye-to-eye.
Rainer Hartman, head of E.ON's offices in Russia, confirmed this an hour or so after
Golubev's statement with one of his own: "No comment. We're continuing the
negotiations."
In 2009, E.ON led the way in contract reform, being the first to secure the inclusion of a
16% spot component in Gazprom's price. Wintershall, GDF Suez, and GasTerra followed
suit.
At the end of last year, E.ON demanded that Gazprom take another look at prices.
As April began, E.ON discovered formal grounds for going to court. However, one
market source told Interfax, the parties agreed to freeze negotiations until August and to
not take any action until then.
The situation is complicated by a lack of clarity as regards E.ON's position, at least in the
public arena. At first there was an unofficial report (later confirmed by Gazprom) that the
German company intended to move solely to spot indexation. Then E.ON CEO Johannes
Teyssen said that it was not all that simple - the main thing for the company was to get
gas at a lower price, no matter how that was determined formulaically, via spot pricing or
contract discount.
E.ON might try to get the spot component in contract price increased to 50%, perhaps,
one of the sources said.
MOSCOW. (Interfax) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's directive that sectorrelated officials be removed from the boards of directors at state-held company's has
compelled Gazprom to postpone its annual general shareholders meeting from June 24 to
30.
The list of board candidates for election at the AGM was put together at the beginning of
February, long before the president's directive. Gazprom finds itself in the position of
being unable to elect a new board.
Gazprom will have two meetings on June 30: the AGM first, at which will be elected a
board from the old candidate list, and then immediately following at 4:00 p.m. Moscow
time will be an extraordinary meeting that should produce a new board, the company
said.
The date for closing the register of shareholders and the ex-dividend date will also move,
to May 12 from May 6 previously. May 12 will also be the date for shareholders of
record able to participate in an extraordinary meeting.
The Gazprom board currently includes three high-ranking government officials: First
Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov, Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko and Economic
Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina.
The state has over a month - until the end of May - to name candidates to replace them in
elections at the ESM. Under Gazprom's charter, when the agenda for an ESM includes
the election of members to the board of directors, shareholders controlling a combined
stake of at least 2% of shares have the right to nominate candidates until 30 days before
the meeting date.
At their meeting on April 19, the board of directors received the report on energy
conservation and greater energy efficiency in 2011-2020 and the corresponding program
for 2011-2013, which contains targets the company must meet.
The board also approved the results of Gazprom's gasification program in the regions for
2010, noting that all targets had been met, and directed management to continue the
program in 2011. Last year Gazprom completed construction of 156 inter-community gas
pipelines in 44 Russian regions totaling more than 2,100 kilometers, including 18 built on
an expedited basis. The pipelines built in 2010 will provide gas service to more than 300
towns.
In addition, the board revised the program for developing Russia's shelf resources to
2030. The board directed management to ensure that shelf development work continues
and to present a report to the board on the results of the program at the end of 2012. By
2030 the gas giant expects shelf reserves to increase by more than 11 billion tonnes of oil
equivalent (compared with an increase of 2 billion tonnes in 2005-2010). Implementation
of the program will boost Gazprom's shelf production to more than 200 bcm of gas a year
(excluding Sakhalin-2 production) and about 10 million tonnes of oil.
MOSCOW. (Interfax) - Farkhad Akhmedov wants Inter RAO UES to pay $1.8 billion for
his 49% stake in Northgas rather than the $1.5 billion agreed late last year.
Akhmedov proposed the higher price in a letter to Inter RAO chief Boris Kovalchuk last
week, Vedomosti reported.
A source familiar with the situation confirmed the letter had been sent. Inter RAO
declined to comment.
Akhmedov wants the entire sale price in cash, although he is willing to take $300 million
in the form of the new shares Inter RAO is issuing.
Akhmedov is asking more due to the higher oil prices and the increased energy company
capitalization. DeGolyer and MacNaughton recently valued the stake in Northgas held by
Akhmedov's company, REDI, at almost $3 billion. A leading international investment
bank valued the stake at $2.2 billion-$2.4 billion in April.
The higher valuations "inevitably require us to revise the initial parameters of the deal,"
Vedomosti quoted the letter as saying.
The $1.5 billion valuation of REDI's stake in Northgas was made assuming oil priced at
$75 per barrel.
Gazprom, which owns 51% of shares in Northgas, has right of first refusal to buy shares
in the company. However, a source in the energy industry told Interfax recently that
Gazprom is not interested in REDI's stake and in fact might sell its own stake.
Northgas was formed in 1993 to develop the Neocomian horizons of the North Urengoi
field. Gazprom originally had a 51% stake in the company that was later diluted in a
supplementary share issue. Gazprom began working to regain a controlling stake in the
company in 2002, a year after current CEO Alexei Miller was appointed to the top spot in
the gas giant.
Urengoigazprom, filed suit to have the supplementary share issue canceled and also
sought to revoke agreements with Northgas covering pipeline shipments, delivery of
water and electricity and provision of medical services. In response, Akhmedov changed
the company's form of incorporation a number of times, and also switched its registration
from Yamalo-Nenets autonomous district to Krasnodar, which he represented in the
Federation Council. The litigation ended in 2005, when Gazprom regained a controlling
stake in Northgas.
BAKU. (Interfax) - Turkish Botas plans to sign a contract on purchase and transit of gas
from the Shah Deniz project in Azerbaijan in the second quarter of 2011, business
development head Levent Ozgul said.
"We are in talks with the Shah Deniz consortium on purchase of Phase 2 gas. The
agreement on gas purchase and transportation will be signed in the second quarter,"
Ozgul said at an oil and gas conference in Baku on April 19.
"We have also prepared an intergovernmental agreement with Azerbaijan on gas
deliveries that will be signed very soon," he said.
Botas is receiving 6.6 bcm of Shah Deniz gas a year under Phase 1. "Under Phase 2 will
receive 6 bcm for Turkey's domestic consumption and 10 bcm a year for transit to Greece
and Bulgaria," he said.
Those volumes will require upgrades to the company's gas pipeline network before 2015.
"We already have a definite agreement with the Azerbaijani government on deliveries of
small volumes of gas to Greece and Bulgaria. In future we plan to build connectors to
deliver Azerbaijani gas to Syria, Bulgaria and Greece," he said.
Botas expects transit deliveries of Phase 2 gas from Shah Deniz to begin in 2015-2020,
with volumes of Azerbaijani gas shipment increasing in 2020-2025 (including Shah
Deniz Phase 2, deep-lying horizons at Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli, Umid field, and the
Apsheron, Alov and other structures), as well as volumes from Iraq, Qatar and
Turkmenistan.
The multinational consortium developing Shah Deniz includes project operator BP
(25.5%), Statoil (25.5%), SOCAR (10%), Lukoil (10%), NICO (10%), Total (10%), and
TPAO (9%).
Phase 1 covers extraction of 178 bcm of gas and 34 million tonnes of condensate.
Production under Phase 1 is sold under contracts with Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia
and has seen construction of a 690-kilometer pipeline to Turkey (including 442
kilometers in Azerbaijan and 248 kilometers in Georgia). The gas supply contract with
Botas was concluded in 2003.
Annual production under Phase 2 will total at least 16 bcm. Phase 2 production is
currently scheduled to commence in 2012.
MOSCOW. (Interfax) - Russian oil major Lukoil plans to undergo listing in Hong Kong
in a year or a year and a half, company Vice President Leonid Fedun told reporters.
It will take 12-18 months to complete the listing process, he said.
The previous leadership of the Russian Federal Financial Markets Service (FFMS) did
nothing to help the process along. "There must be an agreement between Russia and
Hong Kong recognizing each other's markets. Work can proceed after that. So far there is
no such agreement," he said.
Lukoil is not planning to utilize treasury stock to bring in a new strategic investor.
"There will be no strategic investor," Fedun said.
Fedun said previously that Lukoil planned to list shares in Hong Kong or Singapore.
No supplementary shares will be issued. Existing shares - possibly those that Lukoil
bought back from ConocoPhillips - might circulate on the new exchange.
ConocoPhillips previously owned 20% of Lukoil shares, but decided to dispose of the
holding early last year. The company finished selling off its Lukoil shares in February
2011.
Lukoil charter capital consists of 850,563,255 shares.
Fedun also told the press that Lukoil will pay a substantially higher dividend for 2010
than it paid for 2009.
"Alekperov [Vagit Alekperov, Lukoil's president] has already said that dividends will be
higher than 2009, significantly so," Fedun said.
Alekperov earlier told journalists the dividend payment will be decided at a board
meeting slated for April 26 in Astrakhan. The board will also discuss the development of
Lukoil's northern Caspian projects.
Lukoil's dividends went up by 4% from 2009 from 2008 at 52 rubles per share, or 44.229
billion rubles in total, which accounted for 20.86% of the company's US GAAP
consolidated profit for 2009.
Fedun said that the company's board of directors is sticking to the general position to
boost the dividend rate annually.
MOSCOW. (Interfax) - Vice President at Russian oil major Lukoil Leonid Fedun plans to
discuss the resumption of work on a company project in Cote d'Ivoire with that country's
new President Alassane Ouattara at some point.
"When the situation in the country stabilizes, I plan to travel there and meet with the
newly elected president to discuss when it will be possible to get to work," Fedun told the
press.
As to the company's project in Ghana, Fedun said that the drilling platform Olympia will
be in place over the drilling site May 12 or 13.
Lukoil joined a project for exploring, assessing, developing, and extracting hydrocarbons
at Ghana's deep-water block Cape Three Points Deep Water (CTPDW) in July 2006. In
June 2009, a new basic project agreement was signed.
Lukoil declared force majeure on its CI-205 offshore prospecting project in crisisstricken Cote d'Ivoire early this month because of the heightened tensions between
Ouattara supporters and those of former President Laurent Gbagbo, whom Ouattara
defeated in last November's elections.
The 2,600-square km deep-water Block CI-205 is 100 km offshore. Lukoil Overseas is
project operator with 63% of a production-sharing agreement, Nigeria's Oranto Petroleum
International owns 27% and Cote d'Ivoire's Petroci Holding has 10%. Substantial 3D and
2D seismic surveying has been carried out over the last six years.
MOSCOW. (Interfax) - Slavneft reduced oil output by 2.2% year-on-year to 4.46 million
tonnes in January-March 2011, the company said in a statement.
Since the start of the year, the company has drilled through 212,800 meters of rock since
the start of 201, up 9.6% year-on-year. A total of 49 new wells were brought online, up
25.6%.
Slavneft's total gas output came to 210.7 million cubic meters in the first three months,
largely unchanged from the result for 2010.
The company's rate of associated oil gas utilization went up by 5% to 75.8% in the first
quarter in comparison with the same period of 2010.
Total refining of crude went up by 10.7% to 5.8 million tonnes in the first quarter.
Slavneft-Yaroslavnefteorgsintez (YANOS) refined 3.5 million tonnes of crude, up 3.6%
year-on-year. Mozyr Oil Refinery increased refining by 23.4% to 2.3 million tonnes. The
substantial increase in Mozyr Refinery's output was driven by rising inflow of crude from
Venezuela and Azerbaijan.
Production of car gasoline in the quarter went up by 18.4% to 1.16 million tonnes.
YANOS produced 580,000 tonnes of gasoline, up 5.9% yea-on-year. Mozyr Refinery
increased output by 34.5% to 580,000 tonnes.
Slavneft is owned by TNK-BP and Gazprom Neft on a parity basis.
TOMSK. (Interfax) - Russian oil giant Rosneft has no intention of selling 50% of the
shares in Tomskneft VNK, Ivan Glazunov, Rosneft's director of future development, said
at a press conference in Tomsk on April 19.
"They [negotiations] are not underway. We are completely satisfied with the system set
out in the shareholder agreement," Glazunov said.
The Deputy Governor of the Tomsk Region, Vladimir Yemeshev, early said that
Gazprom Neft might purchase 50% in Tomskneft from Rosneft's subsidiary.
"There is a protocol and a general agreement for Gazprom Neft to purchase 50% from
Rosneft. This should take place in 2011," Yemeshev said.
Tomskneft VNK owns 31 licenses for oil and gas production in the Tomsk region and the
Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous District, as well as seven licenses for geological
exploration with future subsoil production. In addition, the company is the agent for the
development of two sections licensed to Rosneft.
Rosneft and Gazprom Neft own Tomskneft on a parity basis.
ALMATY. (Interfax) - KazMunayGas Exploration Production (KMG EP) has closed the
transaction to acquire a 50% stake in Ural Group Limited (UGL) from Exploration
Venture Limited (EVL).
UGL owns the exploration license for the block Fedorovskiy through 100% stake in LLP
Ural Oil and Gas (UOG).
"The final acquisition price is $164.4m, including $61.3m for shares and $87.8m of
shareholder loans (as of January 1, 2010) and $15.3m - adjustment for EVL's work
program financing until the deal close (2010 and 1Q11)," the company said in a
statement.
Earlier the acquisition was approved by the Board of Directors of KMG EP and the
Board of Directors of EVL. All regulatory approvals have also been received.
KMG EP announced about the deal with Exploration Venture Limited in March this year.
KMG EP planned to pay $149.1 million for the 50% stake in UGL, including $61.3m for
shares and $87.8 million of shareholder loans (as of January 1, 2010). According to the
terms of the transition, shareholder loans should be repaid to KMG EP after commercial
production starts. The final price of shareholder loans is subject to adjustment due EVL's
work program financing obligations until the deal close. The deal will be financed with
the KMG EP's own funds.
KMG EP planned to finance the deal from its own funds.
UOG operates under a Subsoil Exploration Contract that expires in May 2014 with the
right to extend the contract for production of hydrocarbons. In 2008 Rozhkovskoye oil
and gas field was discovered at the Fedorovskiy block. Currently UOG is in the process
of evaluating the hydrocarbons deposit. According to the estimates approved by the RK
State Commission, the block's total recoverable gas and condensate reserves of category
C1+C2 are 203.4 million barrels of oil equivalent. Gazprom's Orenburg-Western Europe
gas pipeline lies through the territory of Fedorovskiy block and the main export oil
pipeline Atyrau-Samara lies within close proximity of the block as well as the
Karachaganak-Atyrau oil pipeline which provides access to world markets via Caspian
Pipeline Consortium.
KMG EP was created in March 2004 as result of a merger of two daughter companies of
KazMunayGas - EmbaMunayGas and OzenMunayGas. The company's shares are listed
on Kazakhstan Stock Exchange and the GDRs are listed on London Stock Exchange.
MOSCOW. (Interfax) - A company headed by Igor Putin, a relative of Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin, has signed an agreement covering preparation of the feasibility study for
construction of the Yakutia-Sea of Okhotsk gas pipeline.
According Putin's Surguttruboprovodstroy will prepare the pipeline's feasibility study
while Russian-Omani Gulf Investment Company will attract investors to the project,
according to a copy of the framework agreement between the two companies. The
agreement was signed on March 19, 2011
Gulf Investment is owned 50-50 by Mikhail Arzhakov and Sheik Salim Said Hamed Al
Fannah Al Araimi, according to the SPARK database.
A source familiar with progress in the talks said Gulf Investment was prepared to invest 1
billion euro in the project. The project might include construction of a liquefaction plant
for export of LNG to Pacific Rim countries.
Another source said the pipeline would be supplied with gas from a field belonging to
state-owned Sakhatransneftegaz. The source said Gennady Timchenko, the founder of oil
trading company Gunvor, had agreed to buy production from the field for delivery on the
new pipeline to customers in the Asia-Pacific region. Yet another source said the pipeline
would be supplied by Yakutia Fuel-Energy Company (Yatek), a company in the Summa
Capital group, with 185 bcm of reserves.
A gas industry source told Interfax previously that Summa Capital had found a partner to
jointly develop gas fields in Yakutia, in order to supply LNG exports to the Asia-Pacific
region. The company currently supplies all production to Yakutia and has no exports.
Another source denied that Summa Capital had found a partner, saying instead that the
company hopes to become a partner in the Yakutia-Sea of Okhotsk project.
Yatek later denied it is in official talks on a partnership to transport LNG through the Sea
of Okhotsk. "Yatek's key investment project at present is production of motor fuel from
natural gas using GTL technology," it said in a statement.
SHANGHAI. (Interfax) - China's Xinjiang Guanghui Industry Investment (Group) Co.
Ltd. (Xinjiang Guanghui), a gas and real estate conglomerate, and Uzbekistan's stateowned oil and gas company Uzbekneftegaz signed an agreement April 16 to jointly
transport liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Uzbekistan to Kazakhstan and China,
Xinjiang Guanghui announced April 19.
The two parties will transport 100 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas annually from
pipelines in northern Uzbekistan and the Fergana Valley in central Asia, as well as 500
mcm annually from pipelines in central Uzbekistan, according to the announcement.
The company did not disclose any further details.
In 2009, Xinjiang Guanghui acquired a 49% stake in Tarbagatai Munay LLP (TBM), an
oil and gas company in Kazakhstan, for $40 million. Through the acquisition, the
company gained a 49% share in the Zaysan oil and gas block, which is expected to begin
producing in the second half of 2011. Xinjiang Guanghui is currently constructing a gas
processing plant in Xinjiang to process 500 mcm of natural gas annually from Zaysan.
MOSCOW. (Interfax) - The board of directors of Federal Grid Company (FGC) has
approved a program for innovative development to 2016 and beyond to 2020 that was
drawn up at the urging of President Dmitry Medvedev.
The program aims to improve operation of the grid through upgrades and creation of
smart grids, the company said in a statement.
FGC plans two smart grid pilot projects in the northwest and east.
FGC CEO Oleg Budargin presented plans for developing the east's unified grid to the
board in October 2010. They included construction of DC lines, smart grids using digital
technologies, electricity storage for meeting peak demand and use of high-temperature
superconductivity, which would together produce a benefit totaling 50 billion rubles.
Similar pilot projects were on tap in Russia's northwest and Siberia, he said.
FGC also plans to support for domestic electrical equipment manufacturers in order to
bolster its own production base. The accent will be on electricity storage devices, hightemperature superconductivity and DC transmission.
FGC will invest 19 billion rubles in R&D to 2014. The company plans to expand its
research capabilities and is prepared to involve foreign partners in that process.
KRASNOYARSK. (Interfax) - Generating company Yenisei TGK (TGK-13) reduced
electricity output by 9% year-on-year to 3.88 billion kilowatt hours in the first quarter of
2011, the genco said in a statement.
"The decrease in production was driven by increases in the cold and rotating reserve of
capacity, thanks to which, TGK-13 was able to compensate for Sayano-Shushenskaya
Hydroelectric Power Plant's (HPP) offline capacity in 2010," the statement.
Commercial electricity output in the three months reduced by 9.6% year-on-year to 3.365
billion kilowatt hours.
Production of heat in the first quarter went down by 24% year-on-year to 5.478 million
Gcal.
The statement said that the main reason for this decrease in heat output had been higher
air temperatures in the first quarter of 2011 in comparison with the same period of 2010.
In addition, steam output at CHP-1 in Krasnoyarsk decreased by 46,900 Gcal owing to
reduced production at industrial enterprises in the territory.
TGK-13 includes six CHPs (combined heat and power plants) and one GRES (regional
power station) in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, one CHP in Khahasia and the Krasnoyarsk
heat network. The genco's installed electricity capacity comes to 2,525 megawatts and
heat capacity - 7,137.9 Gcal per hour.
MOSCOW. (Interfax) - EMAlliance's IFRS net profit went up by 46% in 2010 to 520
million rubles, the company said.
"The change in this result was driven by a substantial increase in sales and the
optimization of consignment costs," EMAlliance said in a press release.
The company's EBITDA went up by 70% to 1.9 billion rubles.
EMAlliance's sales revenue increased by 43.3% to 13.7 billion rubles.
EMAlliance's profit from sales went up by 37% to 3.7 billion rubles.
The company's sales came to 18.5 billion rubles for 2010, up 12% from the result for the
previous year.
The company's order portfolio increased by 5 billion rubles to 47 billion rubles as of
December 31, 2010.
EMAlliance produces and repairs equipment for boiler island power stations. It owns
75% of the Red Boiler plant in the Rostov region and has branches in Taganrog, Podolsk,
Barnaul and Ivanovo. Auburn Investments Ltd is the sole owner of EMAlliance. Yevgeny
Tugolukov is the main beneficiary of Auburn Investments.
State-owned Inter RAO UES is currently interested in the company. Inter RAO plans to
acquire a controlling state in the equipment-maker through an additional share issue for
consolidating assets.
ALMATY. (Interfax) - Kazakhmys' Ekibastuz GRES-1, a coal-fired thermal power
station in Pavlodar region, has started building and assembly works at Unit number 2.
The restoration of the unit started a year earlier then planned. Ekibastuzenergoremont, the
general contractor for the repair works, has started preparing design and estimate
documentation, removing pipe wrapping, and area cleanup, the plant said in a statement.
Investment the in restoration of Unit 2 exceeds $409 million, of which 10% has been
directed to prepay for the manufacturing of basic equipment.
The launch of Unit 2 into operation in 2014 will bring up the power plant capacity to
3,500 MW.
The project investments will cover the replacement of boilers, turbines, generators,
repairs of support equipment and commissioning of a high-performance electrostatic
precipitator.
"Ekibastuz GRES is steadily and successfully implementing the stages of the investment
program ahead of schedule. This is a huge project with a total value of $1 billion," said
Chief Executive Officer Oleg Novachuk.
Ekibastuz GRES-1, a coal fired thermal plant with a nameplate capacity of 4,000 MW
capacity, is equally owned by Kazakhmys and Samruk-Kazyna.
ST. PETERSBURG. (Interfax) - State corporation Rosatom has not ruled out the
possibility of shutting down power units following seismic studies of nuclear plant
platforms for additional security, Alexander Lokshin, director of Rosatom's nuclear
industry department and first deputy general director of Rosatom, told a forum in St.
Petersburg on April 19.
According to the information, Rosatom has already decided to conduct additional seismic
studies of Russian nuclear power stations to rule out situations such as the recent nuclear
crisis in Japan.
"If any additional measures are needed, these measures will be taken. If these measures
are too complex, the power units will be shut down," Lokshin said.
In addition, there are plans to alter the equipment of the old nuclear power stations if
need be and replace old reactors with new ones such as the ones that are now being built
at the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant 2 and the Beloyarskaya Nuclear Power Plant in the
long-term perspective, Lokshin said.
Rosatom also plans to take additional measures to prevent situations such as the recent
nuclear crisis in Japan, Lokshin said. Among the short-term measures, Rosatom intends
to equip all active power units with emergency power supply mechanisms, assembled
pipelines, pumps, and water reserves (i.e., the things that Japanese experts lacked in the
first days after the tsunami and the earthquake). 'It will be done in the course of two
months to half a year," he said.
Lokshin believes it will take five to ten years to fully deal with the aftermath of the
Fukushima disaster.
Foreign specialists are currently finishing checking Russian nuclear power plants as part
of worldwide inspections of nuclear plants following the accident at Japan's Fukushima
Daiichi nuclear plant caused by a massive earthquake, said the chief administrator of the
Russian civil nuclear industry.
"Today representatives of other states are working at Russian nuclear plants. They are
checking to what extent the Russian plants meet their safety demands," Sergei Kiriyenko,
head of Rosatom, the state corporation running Russia's civil nuclear sector, told Russian
television channel Vesti 24.
Russia's nuclear plants have already been through two rounds of inspections, being first
checked by Rosatom and then by the country's Federal Service for Ecological,
Technological and Nuclear Surveillance (Rostekhnadzor), Kiriyenko said.
He said countries that have delegated their inspectors to Russia are checking their own
plants as well.
"Our partners are doing what we are - they are launching inspections both at their existing
plants and at all plants that are under construction," Kiriyenko said.
He also said neither India nor China nor any other country that has nuclear plant
construction plans has scrapped them because of the Fukushima Daiichi accident.
"We can see that the decisions to halt [nuclear programs] were made by countries that
have not yet started on them," he added.
ST. PETERSBURG. (Interfax) - State Corporation Rosatom estimates its portfolio of
equipment and machinery orders this year at 220 billion rubles, the company's deputy
general director, Kirill Komarov, said at the conference Atomeks-North-West on April
19.
"The order portfolio only for equipment in 2011 will be worth 220 billion rubles," he
said.
He said that these orders would be met within Russia. As of March 2011, total orders for
Rosatom stood at 142 billion rubles, almost 90 billion rubles of which, or over 60%, are
from enterprises in the North-West Federal District, Komarov said. Furthermore,
Komarov said that Rosatom plans to build $300 billion in power blocks by 2030.
He said that 10 power blocks are now being built in Russia, as well as five blocks
overseas. Also, another 22 projects are currently under negotiation.
ST. PETERSBURG. (Interfax) - State corporation Rosatom plans to launch a floating
nuclear electricity station at Kamchatka in 2014, the director of the corporation's program
for managing engineering projects, Sergei Boyarkin, told journalists in St. Petersburg on
April 19.
"So far, the plan for 2014 is in place," he said when asked when the project would be
brought online.
Boyarkin said that the floating station will be set up at Krasheninnikov Bay since surveys
have shown that placement at this location will minimize any harmful effects on the
environment.
The station will produce electricity and heat for isolated consumers in remote locations
without access to centralized power supply, which have to pay high prices for fuel
deliveries. The most populated of these locations include ports along the northern sea
passage and coast of the Far East, as well as subsoil field sites and military bases.
KYIV. (Interfax) - Russia has started preparations for building reactors for the third and
fourth energy generating units at the Khmelnytskyy nuclear power plant in Ukraine,
Alexander Dybov, the first vice president of the Russian nuclear equipment exporter
Atomstroyexport, told reporters in Kyiv on April 18.
At the request of the Ukrainian side, the Russian companies United Machine-Building
Plants and Gidropress started talks on the blueprints and production of parts for the
reactor bodies, he said.
"The Izhora Plants and Gidropress have started the work on the project without pay at the
Ukrainian side's request. We've been casting our plans into iron since February 2011,"
Dybov said.
He also said that under an earlier signed framework agreement between Energoatom
(Ukraine) and Atomstroyexport on the construction of power generating units the sides
have drafted six contracts. The worth of the contracts has not been discussed so far, he
said.
Talks on the price will begin in late April, he said.
Ukraine and Russia on June 9, 2010, signed an intergovernmental agreement on
cooperation in building the third and fourth energy generating units at the Khmelnytskyy
nuclear power plant. Under the agreement, the Russian side will provide sufficient
funding to plan the construction and commission the power generating units.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin will head the Russian delegation at a
summit on the safe and innovative use of nuclear energy in Kyiv on April 19, the Russian
Embassy told Interfax.
ST. PETERSBURG. (Interfax) - Argentina plans to have a tender this June for the
building of a nuclear power plant, the deputy director of Russia's state nuclear power
corporation Rosatom, Kirill Komarov, said April 19 at the AtomEx-Northwest
conference in St. Petersburg.
"We understand today that Argentina and Brazil are not declining [plans to develop
nuclear power]. And Argentina plans to announce a tender this June for the building of an
atomic energy station, in which Rosatom also plans to take part," Komarov said.
In the wake of the Fukusima-1 accident, Britain, Switzerland, Germany, and Japan have
curtailed their nuclear programs. At the start of April, according to a Rosatom
presentation, there were no data associated the events in Japan, but closer to the end of
the month it became clear the two countries were not deviating from their nuclear
programs.
"A majority of our partners have confirmed the firmness of their choice and readiness to
build nuclear power plants," Komarov said.
At the end of last year, Argentina was planning to select a supplier of reactor technology
for a project to build a new nuclear power station. Rosatom submitted proposals, as did
Areva (France) and Westinghouse (U.S.), as well as China and Korea.
There are now two nuclear power generation units operating in Argentina, and another
(#2 at the Atucha station) is being completed and is slated for launch sometime this year.
As reported, Rosatom and Argentina's Ministry of Federal Planning, Public Investment
and Services signed a cooperation agreement in the field of peaceful nuclear power usage
earlier this month.
Rosatom expressed readiness to take part in the building of a nuclear power plant in
Argentina and to supply fuel for it. The ministry, for its part, undertook to consider the
possibility of localizing in the country elements of the nuclear-fuel cycle, including the
capacity to produce nuclear fuel.
MOSCOW. (Interfax) - Shareholders in Australia's Mantra Resources will vote on a new
configuration for the company's sale to Russia's Atomredmetzoloto (ARMZ) on May 20,
Mantra said in a statement.
According to the understandings reached, Mantra's shareholders will receive A$7.02 per
share, including A$6.87 cash from ARMZ and A$0.15 from Mantra by way of dividends.
The previous configuration would have involved ARMZ paying A$8 cash and would
have cost the Russian company $1.2 billion in total. It will now cost $1.053 billion, of
which ARMZ will pay $1.03 billion.
The last date for trading in Mantra's shares will be May 30 and the deal should be closed
on June 9.
Mantra's board of directors is recommending that shareholders accept the new offer.
Strategic shareholder Highland Park S.A., with 13.5% of Mantra's shares, said it backs
the new terms and will vote for them in the absence of a more attractive offer.
ARMZ announced the acquisition of Mantra Resources for $1.2 billion last December.
The company has main assets in Tanzania, a field close to the Mkuja River. The Mantra
Board of Directors approved the deal, and authorization from regulators was expected in
the first half of the year.
However, a drop in the price of uranium and the value of uranium mining companies in
the wake of the nuclear accident in Japan and the suspended nuclear power projects of
some countries cast doubt over the deal in its current form.
ARMZ gave Mantra notice on March 17 that it considers the series of serious incidents at
the nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan are likely to have a material adverse effect
on the business, results of operations, assets or liabilities, financial position or prospects
of Mantra and, consequently, that the condition precedent relating to material adverse
change was not capable of satisfaction. ARMZ has agreed to remove the material adverse
change condition in the Scheme Implementation Agreement.
Once the deal has been done, shares in Mantra will probably be sold to Canada's Uranium
One as per an option deal for the same A$6.87 per share. ARMZ owns 51.4% of Uranium
One.
Under the terms of the original Put/Call Agreement, Uranium One had a call option to
acquire Mantra from ARMZ, exercisable at any point within 12 months of closing of the
acquisition of Mantra by ARMZ and ARMZ had a put option to sell Mantra to Uranium
One at the end of such term for consideration equal to ARMZ's acquisition cost plus
certain additional expenditures.
The Amended and Restated Option Agreement provides Uranium One with the ability to
extend the term of the put/call option to 24 months from 12 months provided that
Uranium One partially exercises its call option and acquires approximately 15% of the
shares of Mantra for $150 million before the later of six months from closing of the
acquisition of Mantra by ARMZ and January 31, 2012.
If Uranium One's call option is partially exercised, ARMZ's put option is only exercisable
at the end of the 24 month term. The option to acquire the remaining 85% interest in
Mantra (or 100% if the option is not partially exercised) remains subject to minority
shareholder approval.
MOSCOW. (Interfax) - The bid-book for preferred shares in coal and steel group Mechel
will be closed on April 19 at 9:00 p.m. London time, or 24 hours earlier than originally
planned, due to high demand, sources in financial circles told Interfax.
One source said the book was covered. There is no information as to price yet, but
figuring the large amount of demand, a small discount might be expected (previously the
bid-book was subscribed with a 15% discount).
Another source said the bid book had been subscribed 1.5-fold and the discount against
prefs traded on the NYSE could be 10%-15%.
The price for ADR on Mechel prefs (one share equals two ADR) was $9.94 at the close
of trading on the New York Stock Exchange April 18.
The Justice family, which holds 42% of Mechel prefs (58.3 million securities), is placing
up to 26 million of the prefs on the RTS and MICEX exchanges. Placement is only on
Russian trading floors, as the quota for selling Mechel ADR abroad has been exhausted.
Mechel has applied to both Russian floors to have its prefs included on the list of
securities admitted to trading without undergoing listing procedures.
Pricing was set for April 20 previously. The placement organizers are Morgan Stanley,
Renaissance capital, and VTB Capital.
The Justice family has already placed 25 million prefs in Mechel in the form of ADRs on
the NYSE.
The Justice family acquired 83.3 million prefs in Mechel from the sale of U.S. asset
Bluestone Coal Co. to the Russian company. A total of 55.5 million shares were retained
by Mechel's subsidiary Skyblock Ltd, which became treasury shares. According to the
transaction's agreement, both sides should hold a public placement of prefs as soon as
favorable market conditions appear.
The Mechel Group has consolidated controlling stakes in coal, steel and iron ore
companies and a number of ports. General Director Igor Zyuzin is Mechel's chief
beneficiary. The ADR free float is around 30%.
MOSCOW. (Interfax) - Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) is proposing to the
government that a world oil-price level be determined at which fuel excises on the home
market will begin to decrease at a rate equivalent to the growth of export duties on oil and
oil products, FAS chief Igor Artemyev told the press.
"Unending price growth on the world market should not lead to unending export duty
growth, because that leads to the sector falling into stagnation. And in the event of such
[oil price] growth, excises on oil products need to be reduced proportionally," Artemyev
said. The FAS offered this proposal at a meeting devoted to oil products with Deputy
Prime Minister Igor Sechin last week, he said.
MOSCOW. (Interfax) - Representatives of Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS)
will be put on regional energy commissions and will have the right to provide a
consultative voice, FAS chief Igor Artemyev said.
"The government has decided that representatives of the Federal Antimonopoly Service
will return again to regional energy commissions. We will finally have the opportunity as
an antimonopoly service to influence state policy in the field of tariffs [on electric
power]," Artemyev told reporters.
BAKU. (Interfax) - Cumulative investment in Azerbaijan's oil and gas sector now tops
$35 billion, Khoshbakht Yusifzade, first vice president of State Oil Company of the
Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR), said at an oil and gas conference on April 18.
"Proven oil reserves total 2 billion tonnes and gas reserves - 2.2 trillion cubic meters.
Forecast hydrocarbon reserves amount to an estimated 6 billion tonnes of oil equivalent.
Azerbaijan produced 50.7 million tonnes of oil and 26 bcm of gas in 2010, of which
SOCAR's share is 7.2 million tonnes and 8.4 bcm. Development of contract territories,
primarily Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli, is driving the production growth," he said, noting that
oil production is up 460% since 1997 and gas production is up 420% since 2004.
Cumulative exports on oil pipelines as of March 1, 2011, total 150 million tonnes for
Baku-Ceyhan, 55 million tonnes for Baku-Supsa and 33 million tonnes for Baku-
Novorossiisk. Another 17.7 million tonnes has been exported by rail. Gas exports amount
to 22.2 bcm, including more than 17.5 bcm on Baku-Tbilisi-Erzerum, 1.1 bcm to Iran and
3.6 bcm to Russia.
SOCAR has begun new exploration drilling at the mature Bulla Deniz and Alyaty Deniz
fields. "An exploration well 6,400 meters deep is being drilled at Bulla Deniz and one
4,800 meters deep at Alyaty Deniz," he said.
SOCAR plans to conduct further exploration and development of the Karabakh and
Arshafi fields and development of the Babek, Asiman-Shafag, Apsheron and Zafar
Mashal structures. French Total has begun drilling a well 7,20 meters deep at Apsheron,
he said.
Other projects include construction of a new petrochemical and refining complex in the
Karadag region and construction of a shipyard. "SOCAR is also expanding its filling
station network in other countries. It already has a large network in Georgia. It has
acquired 20 filling stations in Ukraine as a pilot project. The company is examining
opportunities to invest in that nation's oil refining sector. Similar work is being conducted
in Romania," he said.
BAKU. (Interfax) - Azerbaijan's oil refineries reduced output by 3.4% year-on-year in the
first quarter of 2011, the State Statistics Committee told Interfax.
According the committee, production of car gasoline went down by 8.6% to 270,800
tonnes in the three months, straight-run gasoline - 8.1% to 64,900 tonnes, kerosene 1.3% to 147,200 tonnes and diesel fuel - 10.4% to 573,800 tonnes.
Production of lubricants went up by 61.4% t o 13,400 tonnes. Petrol bitumen output went
up by 26.9% to 37,300 tonnes.
Two refineries currently are in operation in Azerbaijan, Azerneftyag and the Geidar
Aliyev Oil Refinery in Baku with total combined capacity at 22 million tonnes a year.
Both facilities are part of State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR).
SHANGHAI. (Interfax) - China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), the country's largest
oil and gas producer, earned net profit of RMB 172.7 billion ($26.49 billion) last year,
according to its annual Corporate Social Responsibility Report issued April 18.
The company's 2010 revenue totaled RMB 1.72 trillion ($263.80 billion), the report said.
PetroChina Co. Ltd. (PetroChina), the listed arm of CNPC, reported total revenue of
RMB 1.47 billion ($198.94) and net profit of RMB 139.87 billion ($18.93 billion) in its
2010 fiscal report issued in March this year.
CNPC produced 72.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas in 2010, outstripping
PetroChina's output by 9.60 bcm. Additionally, CNPC processed 135 million tonnes of
oil in 2010, while PetroChina processed 122.33 million tonnes.
Vedomosti
*** Farkhad Akhmedov has reversed his decision to sell a stake in Northgas to Inter
RAO for $1.5 billion and he informed Inter RAO Chairman Boris Kovalchuk of this
decision in a letter last week. The businessman negotiated a deal in January to sell the
Cyprus-based REDI Holdings, which owns a 49% stake in Northgas, to the energy
company. The deal was estimated at $1.5 billion. But now Akhmedov demands $1.8
billion in cash, according to the letter. The businessman confirmed to Vedomosti that the
letter was authentic. Oil is becoming more expensive, causing shares of oil and gas
companies to gain weight, too, he said. Akhmedov said he plans to spend the $300
million difference to buy Inter RAO papers. (Northgas Overestimated).
*** Integra will publish its IFRS financial results for 2010.
*** Mechel will close the register of shareholders for participation in annual general
Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)
Russia oil flows to China normal despite talk of price row – report
http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/04/20/china-russia-oil-idINL3E7FK05F20110420
7:30am IST
BEIJING, April 20 (Reuters) - Russian crude oil flows into China, the world's secondlargest consumer, remain normal, an industry paper reported, despite market talk of oil
pricing disputes between the two countries.
China had received 5 million tonnes of crude oil from Russia via the Sino-Russia pipeline
as of April 18, state-owned China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) said in a company
newspaper on Tuesday.
The volume was equivalent to about 338,000 barrels per day since the parent of
PetroChina Co Ltd began operating the pipeline from the beginning of this year,
indicating oil flows were not affected by pricing rows.
Moscow believes Beijing underpaid it by $100 million for oil in 2011 under a landmark
20-year supply deal, industry sources have said. [ID:nLDE72O1ZV]
Under the supply deal, Russia will supply 300,000 bpd of crude to China for 20 years
from 2011, in return for $25 billion in loans from Chinese banks. (Reported by Jim Bai
and Tom Miles; Editing by Chris Lewis)
Rosneft starts share buyback program
http://en.rian.ru/business/20110420/163608243.html
11:38 20/04/2011
Russia's state-run oil giant Rosneft has started buying back its shares from the market and
plans to initially spend $100-200 million for that purpose, the firm said on Tuesday.
"Also, Rosneft's president and two members of the management board announce that they
had purchased company shares in the amount of $27 million," Rosneft said in a
statement.
"These acquisitions reflect Rosneft management's firm view that the company as well as
its prospects for growth are substantially undervalued by the market."
Rosneft said its subsidiary RN-Razvitie had raised its stake in the parent company to 9.53
percent from 9.44 percent for $104 million on April 13.
In January, Rosneft and BP signed a share swap deal under which under which BP will
swap 5 percent of its shares for a 9.5 percent stake in Rosneft. The companies also agreed
to develop Russian Arctic together, but both parts of the contract are frozen by AAR, the
Russian shareholders in TNK-BP, BP's local joint venture.
MOSCOW, April 20 (RIA Novosti)
Rosneft seeking new international partner for Arctic project?
http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text14921
bne
April 20, 2011
Rosneft may look for another international partner to help it explore the Arctic for oil and
gas reserves, and go ahead with the proposed share swap with BP separately, an
independent director at TNK-BP suggested on Tuesday, reports Bloomberg. However,
the JV - which features a partnership between BP and four Russian oligarchs within AAR
- would have trouble joining the Arctic project without being involved in the share swap,
he said.
AAR has secured an injunction against BP's joining the Arctic project - citing a
shareholder agreement inside TNK-BP which states that the partners must pursue any
new projects in Russia through the JV. BP is trying to save the $16bn tie up with Rosneft
by seeking to go ahead with the share swap - which would see it get 10% of Rosneft
whilst the Russian state giant gets 5% of BP - by claiming that it is a financial, rather than
strategic, deal.
"Rosneft is, of course, waiting to see whether BP will be able to split the parts of the deal
in court and proceed with the share swap without the Arctic project," Alexander Shokhin,
a TNK-BP board member and head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and
Entrepreneurs, said.
The original deal, announced in January, was blessed by the Russian president and prime
minister as an example of Russia's improving investment climate. At the same time,
Rosneft is keen to get exposure to international markets via a stake in BP. However, the
top priority is to access the British company's expertise in drilling in inhospitable
environments offshore, putting the Arctic deal front and centre.
Many analysts have suggested that the full deal will be pushed through eventually, with
AAR merely holding out for as high a price as it can get to exit TNK-BP, thereby
dropping the case. Rosneft has repeatedly said that it will not accept TNK-BP - which has
no experience offshore - as a partner, whilst the long-term nature of the needed
investment into the Arctic project is at odds with the oligarchs usual strategy.
Last week it was reported that BP and Rosneft had offered close to $30bn - an 8%
premium to the JV's market price - for the oligarch's 50% of the JV. However, AAR
apparently feels it has the pair over a barrel, and demanded as much as $40bn. BP called
the price unreasonable and refused.
"Finding another partner who would join the Arctic deal and the deal to swap shares is
very difficult," Shokhin said. "The question of exchanging shares with BP was practically
decided." However, Rosneft may seek out another foreign partner to help it in the Arctic,
Shokhin said, claiming the state-company could turn to "Exxon Mobil or Shell." TNK-BP
would have trouble joining the Arctic project without taking part in the share swap,
Shokhin said, and both BP and Rosneft have said they won't allow TNK-BP to hold large
volumes of shares in their companies.
Gazprom
Gazprom To Keep Design
http://www.times.spb.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=33879
By Alla Tokareva
Vedomosti
Published: April 20, 2011 (Issue # 1652)
The architectural project for Gazprom’s planned business center that was originally
intended to be built in St. Petersburg’s Krasnogvardeisky district will form the basis of
the company’s new construction project on the Gulf of Finland, according to Okhta
Public and Business Center, the company behind the project.
The original plans were for a controversial 400-meter skyscraper with around one million
square meters of floor space, 20 percent of which was designated for the offices of the
gas giant. Tatyana Yuryeva, a representative of the Ohkta Public and Business Center,
didn’t say if there were plans to hold a new contest for the architectural design. Yuryeva
said the company had not yet made any final decisions regarding the height or the exact
function of the building.
A developer already familiar with Gazprom Neft’s plans said that the company does not
intend to reduce the height announced earlier. According to the Committee for Urban
Planning and Architecture, the directive to prepare documents related to the territory’s
development was received on April 5. The company now has a year to work on the plans,
said Yuryeva.
Konstantin Kovalyov, deputy director of the Okhta Group, said that making alterations to
existing designs usually comes to about 30 percent of the cost of the original planning
work.
The cost of creating a new design could be as much as $40 million, estimated a source
familiar with the process. The decision to use the old design project will save time and
resources, according to Kovalyov. The new Okhta Center will still need to be approved
by the Directorate-General for the State Environmental Review, he added.