Russia

Russia 091125Basic Political Developments

· Reuters: PRESS DIGEST - Russia - Nov 25

· AP: Mullen leads US in arms control talks with Russia

· Kyivpost: Medvedev: Russian, U.S. aircraft manufacturers could work together

· European Jewish Press: European Jewish delegation discuss Shalit, Iran issues with Russian leaders

· The Moscow Times: Putin Will Make Appeal to Renault

· Bloomberg: Poland, Russia May End Gas Talks Tomorrow, Rzeczpospolita Says

· Dow Jones: Poland May Sign Gas Deal With Russia Thursday - Official

· RIA: Papoulias says Greece to benefit from fuel deals with Russia

· Kyivpost: Moscow slams 'hypocrisy' of Ukraine officials

· Reuters: UPDATE 2-Russia relaxes 2010 gas demands on Ukraine

· Russia Profile: One Step Back, Two Steps Forward

· Itar-Tass: Russia FM sends official note to Japan re Southern Kurils

· Xinhua: Russian legislator denounces Japan's position on territorial dispute

· Aysor.am: Medvedev, Aliev discuss Karabakh conflict

· News.az: Russian leader welcomes progess in Karabakh talks

· 24.kg: Kyrgyzstan, Russia pledge closer cooperation between capitals

· Itar-Tass: French helicopter ship to have joint drill of Russian helicopter teams in St Petersburg

· RIA: Kazakhstan moves to play down Baikonur spat with Russia

· Satnews: Arianespace Marks A First — Twice — For Russia: Arianespace has marked a historic milestone with the arrival of its first two Soyuz launchers in French Guiana, which will be used to inaugurate service with this medium-lift workhorse vehicle next year from the Spaceport.

· Barentsobserver: Next Bulava launch slated for end of December

· Reuters: Q+A-Russia delays test of troubled Bulava missile

· PakTribune: Ex-Soviet states see threat of Afghan spillover

· Interfax: Medvedev gave the Defense a month for inventory of depots and arsenals in Russia

· RIA: Col. Baranets: Russia has right to use nuclear weapons as it deems necessary – interview

· Gazeta.kz: Russian government approved Customs Code of Customs Union

· Interfax: The Federation Council approved a law providing for no increase of transport tax

· iStockAnalyst: Atomstroyexport Ready to Hire Czech, Slovak Contractors in Npp Projects

· RIA: Over 1% of Russian population HIV-positive - UN report

· RIA: Court to rule on refusal to investigate Arctic Sea case abroad

· RIA: Anatoly Chubais had an accident

· FT.com: Control of data slips from Kremlin's grasp - Gorbushka market, just outside central Moscow, does a thriving trade in any electronics good you could want: mobile phones, plasma television sets, the latest DVDs, and, if you ask to see them, software peddlers will show potential clients a list of "databases". These consist of CDs with names such as "Ministry of Interior - Federal Road Safety Service", "Tax Service" and "Federal Anti Narcotics Service" and cost about $100 apiece.

· Itar-Tass: Over 20,000 Russians make hajj to Saudi Arabia

· Interfax: The court arrested the detainee in Moscow suspected militants of the bandit Umarov

· Axisglobe: Isa Yamadayev addressed to Russian President as his hunting reportedly continues in Moscow

· Axisglobe: Russian FSB declared anti-terrorist operation in Sunzhensk area of Ingushetia and Achkhoy-Martan district of Chechen republic

· The Jamestown Foundation: Insurgent Violence Reported in Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan

· Axisglobe: High-scope fete celebrating Russian secret services agents to be held in St.Petersburg

· Axisglobe: Lieutenant-General Viktor Vlasov appointed chief of Russian FSB Border Guard directorate in Armenia

· Russia Today: Europe starts extraditing Russian suspects

· RIA: Geneva might seek extradition of Russians over crash scandal

· Telegraph.co.uk: Oligarch's sons 'have shamed Russia' in Geneva road crash

· Global voices Online: Russia Begins Registering Domains in Cyrillic

· The Moscow Times: A Third World Killing - Last week, 37-year-old Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer for Hermitage Capital, died in a Moscow pretrial detention center. - By Yulia Latynina

· Gazeta.ru: The Diary of Sergei Magnitsky disappeared in Matrosskaya Tishina

· Axisglobe: FSB dissident Litvinenko was murdered for revelations on KGB and FSB ties with Italian politicians - MP Guzzanti

National Economic Trends

· WSJ: Crisis Will Continue For 1-2 More Years In Russia - Kudrin

· Reuters: Too early for Russia to end stimulus –Kudrin

· Reuters: Russia Kudrin says Moscow exchanges overheated

· Prime-Tass: Deputy PM sees gradual retraction of govt stimulus

· Dow Jones: Russia To Raise Forex Interventions Within Ruble Trading Band

· Bloomberg: Russia to Cut Rates Further to Stem Hot Capital, Ulyukavey Says

· RIA: Ulyukayev considers the presence of the budget in the banks' capital irrational

· RIA: Kudrin introduced a bill to raise banks' capital to 1 billion rubles

· Dow Jones: Russia May Sell Newly-Bought VTB Shares In Two Years - Kudrin

· Itar-Tass: Second annual RF Pension Forum to be held in Moscow - The fulfilment of the new pension legislation and important problems of the development of the pension system are to be considered at the second annual Russian Pension Forum that is opening in Moscow on Wednesday. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will take part in its work, the press service of the RF cabinet reported.

· Russia Today: Privatisation to step into budget deficit as government looks to entice investor

· Reuters: UPDATE 1-Russia eyes $2.5 bln from privatisations in 2010

Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions

· Bloomberg: Rosneft, Gazprom, Vozrozhdenie: Russia Stock-Market Preview

· Bloomberg: Russia Micex to Exceed 1,400 as Oil Rallies: Technical Analysis

· Reuters: Russia's Sberbank net down 85 pct in Jan-Oct

· Barentsobserver: Norilsk Nickel has $6.1 billion in debt

· Barentsobserver: New terminal strengthens Norilsk Nickel

· FT.com: Daimler double - German car and truckmaker Daimler yesterday launched two joint ventures to build trucks with its Russian partner Kamaz, writes Daniel Schäfer in Frankfurt.

· The Moscow Times: VimpelCom To Raise Capex 50%

· Web News Wire: I-Synergo Opens One of the Largest IT Parks in CIS With Cisco Technology

· Property Magazine: X5 to acquire Paterson supermarket chain

· The Moscow Times: Axel Takes Over G+J Magazines - German publisher Gruner + Jahr said Tuesday that it is selling its Russian operations to Axel Springer after concluding that it would need to make too many expensive acquisitions to gain a leading market position.

Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)

· Times Online: Shell seeks stake in giant Russian gasfield

· Itar-Tass: TNK-BP starts construction of gas-turbine power plant in Tyumen region

Gazprom

· Bloomberg: Gazprom May Boost 2011 Spending to $52 Billion, Vedomosti Says

· EurasiaNet: Turkmenistan: Gazprom To Make Cutback On Gas Purchases

· Itar-Tass: Naftogaz, Gazprom formalize gas agreements

· Reuters: UPDATE 2-Russia relaxes 2010 gas demands on Ukraine

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Full Text ArticlesBasic Political DevelopmentsReuters: PRESS DIGEST - Russia - Nov 25

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKGEE5AO0CQ20091125

Wed Nov 25, 2009 7:56am GMT

MOSCOW, Nov 25 (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 President Medvedev has sacked members of the military whom he considered responsible for the recent explosions at an arms depot in Ulyanovsk, the paper writes.

- The supervisory board of retailer X5 (PJPq.L: Quote, Profile, Research) will meet on Friday and discuss a contract extention for chief executive Lev Khasis, the daily writes.

VEDOMOSTI

www.vedomosti.ru

- Russia's GDP fell by 8.1 percent in October, the daily writes, citing economy ministry data.

- Russian gas monopoly Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) has agreed to reduce gas supplies to Ukraine for Nazftogaz, the paper says.

- The paper runs an interview with the CEO of British luxury car-maker Jaguar Land Rover.

- Russia's largest lender Sberbank (SBER03.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) made a net profit of 8 billion roubles ($277.9 million) in October, the daily reports.

MOSKOVSKY KOMSOMOLETS

www.mk.ru

- A drunk Moscow policeman beat up a young man from Abkhazia to death on Monday, the paper writes.

TRUD

www.trud.ru

- Russia's health and social development ministry plans to ban the showing of any images containing alcohol drinks or people drinking alcohol on TV in a bid to fight sweeping alcoholism, the paper says.

((--Writing by Ludmila Danilova, Reuters Messaging: ludmila.danilova.reuters.com@reuters.net, +7 495 775 1242))

($1=28.79 Rouble)

AP: Mullen leads US in arms control talks with Russia

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gg4hJ4bvyJwzqAFtHNexFIGNbwPgD9C64NU00

(AP) – 5 hours ago

GENEVA — President Barack Obama's top military adviser attended the latest talks with Russia to replace an expiring Cold War-era arms control agreement, the U.S. said Tuesday.

Adm. Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met with Russian officials from Sunday to Tuesday, U.S. spokesman in Geneva Michael Parmly said.

Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev want to conclude a new treaty by Dec. 5, when the 1991 START I accord cutting U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals expires.

Mullen met Tuesday in Geneva with Russian armed forces chief of staff Gen. Nikolai Makarov, and the two discussed "military and technical issues" related to START, a spokesman for Mullen said.

"Both sides noted that the discussions were both candid and productive and that negotiations were proceeding in a positive direction," the spokesman, Capt. John Kirby, said in a statement.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said Tuesday that the talks on a replacement for START were in the "home stretch," but he stressed "they are not over."

He said both sides were intensely focused on substantive issues and on "the search for mutually acceptable compromises" as they try to reach agreement.

U.S. officials have said there is the broad outline of an agreement, but talks are ongoing on how to verify new cuts in nuclear arsenals.

Kyivpost: Medvedev: Russian, U.S. aircraft manufacturers could work together

http://www.kyivpost.com/news/russia/detail/53539/

Today at 10:44 | Interfax-Ukraine

Russian and U.S. aircraft manufacturers could work together Dmitry Medvedev told workers of the Aviastar-SP joint venture set up on the basis of the Ulyanovsk Aviation Complex.

"Advanced models must be developed," he said when the facility's plans were discussed.

As an example he named the plant's well-known product - the Antonov An-124 Ruslan cargo aircraft. "The market is enormous, so are the transportation volumes. Such planes are actually not made elsewhere in the world," he said noting that only the U.S. C-5 can be compared to Ruslan.

"Someone will occupy the niche. And it would be better if we did that," Medvedev said. "Or we could do it together with the Americans," he added.

European Jewish Press: European Jewish delegation discuss Shalit, Iran issues with Russian leaders

http://www.ejpress.org/article/40655

by: Yossi Lempkowicz

Updated: 25/Nov/2009 07:27

MOSCOW (EJP)---Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a Jewish delegation that the continuing captivity of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit by Hamas in Gaza is intolerable and a humanitarian issue of the highest regard.

The delegation from the European Jewish Congress (EJC), led by the organization’s President Moshe Kantor, brought up the issue of Shalit during a meeting with Lavrov Tuesday in Moscow.

Shalit was kidnapped more than three years ago by Palestinian groups, including Hamas, near the Gaza border.

According to the EJC, Lavrov told the delegation that he is in constant communication with the Shalit family and that the Russian government would provide any assistance that would be required.

Kantor, who spoke about how important the Shalit affair was for the EJC, presented the Russian Foreign Minister with a book that Gilad Shalit wrote when he was 11 years old called “When the Shark and the Fish First Met”.

“The continuing incarceration of Gilad Shalit is a humanitarian issue of great concern to Israel and the Jewish people,” Kantor told Lavrov.

”Given Russian influence in the Middle East we would like to ask what Russia can do to help solve this issue,” he said.

The EJC delegation is in Russia to discuss several major issues of concern to the Jewish community and is to meet with Russian President Dimitry Medvedev on Thursday.

Among the issues is also Russia’s attitude towards tough sanctions against Iran in the wake of the stalled talks on the Iranian nuclear program.

“It is vital that there is consensus on the next step should the talks fail. Russia is a vital part of any chances that a strong sanctions program will achieve its object and end the nuclear stand-off peacefully,” Kantor said.

“We also asked the Russian leaders to impress the need for tough sanctions with their allies, including the Chinese.”

Another issue of particular concern to the EJC is the possible delivery to Iran from Russia of the S-300 missile system.

“If the S-300’s were in the hands of the Iranians we can kiss goodbye to any chance of a peaceful resolution to the Iranian nuclear issue,” Kantor continued. “It is clear that the Iranians already see themselves as able to dictate terms to the international community, this missile system would allow them to think of themselves as completely above the law and would act with complete impunity.”

The EJC is a representative umbrella body of Jewish communities across Europe.

The Moscow Times: Putin Will Make Appeal to Renault

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/putin-will-make-appeal-to-renault/390280.html

25 November 2009

Combined Reports

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will talk to Renault management personally in Paris this week before finalizing plans to rescue Lada maker AvtoVAZ, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said Tuesday.

“We will start implementing AvtoVAZ’s development program after high-level talks in Paris,” Shuvalov said in a statement. The government is keen for Renault to offer to increase its current 25 percent stake in AvtoVAZ, which owes 60 billion rubles ($2.08 billion) in short-term loans. The French partner has yet to reveal its plans.

Putin will meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday in Paris, where they are expected to oversee the signing of a memorandum between the companies.

AvtoVAZ, which Putin insists must involve the French carmaker as a key investor in Russia’s largest car firm, employs nearly 100,000 workers in Tolyatti.

(Reuters, MT)

Bloomberg: Poland, Russia May End Gas Talks Tomorrow, Rzeczpospolita Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aDqPezOCZ8hM

By Marta Waldoch

Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Poland and Russia may tomorrow end negotiations of an agreement increasing deliveries of gas to Poland to about 10.3 billion cubic meters from next year, Rzeczpospolita reported, without saying where it got the information.

To contact the reporter on this story: Marta Waldoch in Warsaw on mwaldoch@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 25, 2009 01:35 EST

NOVEMBER 25, 2009, 3:12 A.M. ET

Dow Jones: Poland May Sign Gas Deal With Russia Thursday - Official

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091125-702455.html

WARSAW (Dow Jones)--Poland may sign a new natural gas agreement with Russia as early as Thursday, Polish Economy Minister Waldemar Pawlak told Polish public radio Wednesday.

"The agreement will be signed if there are no obstacles," he said.

According to Pawlak, the agreement guarantees stable natural gas deliveries to Polish gas monopoly PGNiG (PGN.WA) from Russia's OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) at a reasonable price.

"The price in the contract has not changed and is linked with oil prices, which guarantees supplies at a relatively reasonable price," he said.

In late October, PGNiG said it reached an agreement with Gazprom to increase natural gas supplies to Poland. Its implementation requires changes to Polish-Russian government-level gas agreements.

The latest agreement includes the extension of an existing gas supply contract until 2037, and involves the operations of EuRoPol Gaz, the operator of the Polish section of the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline, and the tariff policy for EuRoPol Gaz.

PGNiG said it will increase Russian gas purchases to 10.27 billion cubic meters a year, measured in accordance with Polish norms.

-By Marcin Sobczyk, Dow Jones Newswires; +4822 447-2432; marcin.sobczyk@dowjones.com

RIA: Papoulias says Greece to benefit from fuel deals with Russia

http://en.rian.ru/world/20091125/156975335.html

02:4925/11/2009

ATHENS, November 24 (RIA Novosti) - Greece and Bulgaria will benefit from joint energy projects with Russia, Greek President Karolos Papoulias said during an official dinner to mark the visit of his Bulgarian counterpart.

"We [Greece and Bulgaria] could become the main hubs of energy supplies to Europe, international players in the energy sector," he said.

He added that the construction of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline and the South Stream project could be implemented "in the near future," and that the political and economic benefits of the projects "are evident."

"Greece, Bulgaria and Russia have a very close cooperation in the energy sector. This cooperation is in our interests," he said.

Burgas-Alexandroupolis is a project between Russia, Greece and Bulgaria to pump Russian and Caspian oil from the Bulgarian Black Sea port of Burgas to the Greek Aegean port of Alexandroupolis.

Once completed, the pipeline will pump 35 million metric tons of oil a year (257 million bbl), a volume that could eventually be increased to 50 million metric tons (368 million bbl). Under an inter-governmental agreement signed in 2007, Russia holds 51% in the project company, while Greece and Bulgaria hold 24.5% each.

Greece and Bulgaria have also joined the South Stream gas project, which is a part of Russia's efforts to cut dependence on transit nations and is a rival project to the EU-backed Nabucco, which would bypass Russia. It is scheduled to be completed by 2015.

Kyivpost: Moscow slams 'hypocrisy' of Ukraine officials

http://www.kyivpost.com/news/russia/detail/53535/

Today at 10:07 | Interfax-Ukraine

Moscow, November 24 (Interfax) - Moscow expressed annoyance at an incident at Kyiv's Boryspil airport on Nov. 24 in which two Russians were denied entry to Ukraine, slamming it as "one more incident" that "highlighted the hypocrisy of state officials who verbally advocate a constructive dialogue with Russia but in practice block bilateral contacts."

"The Ukrainian authorities did not allow two Russian scholars who had arrived in Kyiv, V. L. Frolov and Y. V. Meskova, to take part in an international conference on key problems of youth policy in Ukraine and in Russia that is being arranged by nongovernmental organizations," Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"It appears that certain political forces in Ukraine are clearly displeased with the bilateral dialogue that has gradually been resuming recently and that aims to create conditions for returning the nature of mutually beneficial partnership to our relations," it said.

"Responsibly-minded politicians in Kyiv would be well-advised to think hard about potential consequences of this practice and to take measures to eradicate it as soon as possible," the ministry said.

Ukrainian State Border Guard Service spokesman Serhiy Astakhov told Interfax onNov. 24evening that the two scholars "were denied entry to Ukraine under instructions to that effect from law enforcement agencies."

No comments have come so far from any of Ukraine's law enforcement agencies or from the country's Foreign Ministry.

Reuters: UPDATE 2-Russia relaxes 2010 gas demands on Ukraine

http://in.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idINGEE5AN2Q720091124

Wed Nov 25, 2009 2:12am IST

* Gazprom, Naftogaz agree to reduced gas volumes

* Ukraine to import 33.75 bcm of Russian gas in 2010

* Gazprom agrees to waive fines for 2009 (Adds details, background)

By Robin Paxton and Pavel Polityuk

MOSCOW/KIEV, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Russia relaxed demands on Ukraine for importing gas in 2010 and agreed on Tuesday to waive fines on this year's supplies in a deal easing European fears of a renewed dispute along a route supplying a fifth of its gas.

Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research), Russia's powerful state-run gas export monopoly, agreed that Ukraine -- whose economy has been crippled by the global financial crisis -- could buy 35 percent less gas than originally contracted for next year.

"The volumes have been corrected in accordance with actual consumption in Ukraine in conditions of crisis," Gazprom Chief Executive Alexei Miller said after four hours of talks with Oleh Dubyna, the head of Ukrainian state energy firm Naftogaz.

"These volumes remove the risk of the payment of fines by Naftogaz Ukraine in 2010 for the non-use of contracted gas." Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine was cut off for three weeks in January after the ex-Soviet states argued over pricing and transit, a dispute that shook confidence in Russia's ability to supply gas and Ukraine's ability to give it safe passage.

Europe is concerned the dispute, which damaged industry and left hundreds of thousands in the cold, could flare up again at New Year, especially as rival political factions in Ukraine jostle for support ahead of a Jan. 17 presidential election.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, whose often fierce rhetoric has worried European consumers, has said existing gas deals with Ukraine were a guarantee of stable energy supplies but has also warned Ukraine not to siphon gas meant for Europe.

His earlier pledge to Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko that Russia would waive fines for under-consumption of gas this year were formalised in Tuesday's agreement between Gazprom and Naftogaz, both companies said in a joint statement.

"We secured final agreement that Gazprom will not charge fines for the non-use of 13 bcm of gas in the first 10 months of 2009," Miller said.

LOWER VOLUMES

Putin and Tymoshenko, a front-runner in the Ukrainian presidential election, laid the groundwork for Tuesday's deal when they agreed at a Nov. 19 meeting in Yalta to cut the amount of gas Ukraine must take next year. [ID:nLJ170609]

Naftogaz agreed to purchase 33.75 billion cubic metres of gas (bcm) from Gazprom in 2010, both companies said in the joint statement. This was less than the 52 bcm agreed by the two countries in January.

"Considering the way the financial crisis has affected our country, we have taken considerably less gas than contracted this year and we made this request to our partners," Naftogaz head Dubyna said. "We have found understanding on this issue."

Ukraine had already been lobbying for a reduction. Tymoshenko has said she wanted to import between 27 and 33 bcm next year, depending on the economic situation in her country. [ID:nL3432316]

Though Ukraine has so far settled all its monthly gas bills on time, Tymoshenko has conceded this has been a struggle. Russian leaders have also accused her of political infighting with her rival, President Viktor Yushchenko, and of disrupting the process.

Gazprom said 80 percent of contracted gas volumes were subject to "take or pay" conditions -- meaning Ukraine would have to pay for the gas regardless of whether it was used.

Ukraine purchased 18.85 bcm of gas from Russia in the first 10 months of this year, only 59 percent of contracted volumes of 31.7 bcm for the period, a decline in consumption attributable to the global economic crisis, Gazprom said. (Additional reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Christian Wiessner) ((robin.paxton@reuters.com; +7 495 775 1242; Reuters Messaging: robin.paxton.reuters.com@reuters.net)) ((For help: Click "Contact Us" in your desk top, click here [HELP] or call 1-800-738-8377 for Reuters Products and 1-888-463-3383 for Thomson products; For client training: training.americas@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646-223-5546))

November 24, 2009Russia Profile: One Step Back, Two Steps Forward

http://www.russiaprofile.org/page.php?pageid=International&articleid=a1259082820

By Tom BalmforthRussia Profile

In the Run Up to the Ukrainian Presidential Elections, Russia Seems to Have Gained More Than It Forfeited in the New Gas Deal

On November 19, the likelihood of a gas conflict between Ukraine and Russia at the end of this year appeared to have been significantly reduced after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made a key concession on gas trade at a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko in Yalta. Tymoshenko, a front-runner in the Ukrainian presidential race, walked away from the deal looking good. But analysts say that fundamental problems, such as Ukraine’s domestic gas policy, still remain a potentially explosive flashpoint in Russia-Ukraine gas relations in the near future.

The Ukrainian economy has been battered by the financial crisis and Ukraine has subsequently found it particularly hard to meet its contractual obligations to Russia’s state-owned gas monopoly Gazprom. Vastly reduced gas consumption during the economic crisis has meant that Ukraine has fallen short of its consumption quota for gas in 2009, making it eligible for sizeable sanctions in line with its “take or pay” style gas contract. Russia has now, however, agreed to waive these fines. Moreover, at the meeting in Yalta Putin promised that Gazprom would agree to set a new volume of gas to be exported to Ukraine in 2010, taking the currently reduced demand into account. “We sincerely expect that all earlier reached agreements will be implemented, and from our side we guarantee full implementation,” Reuters quoted Putin as saying at a news conference after the deal was struck. “It would be nice to see a New Year without any shocks,” he added.

The deal will bring a sigh of relief from the millions of Europeans who were left shivering in January this year after disagreement between Ukraine and Russia resulted in a temporary disruption in gas supply. Roughly a fifth of Europe’s gas arrives from Russia through Ukraine’s transit network. Past conflicts over gas between Ukraine and Russia have prompted temporary cessations in gas delivery to Europe, often around January, when contracts between Russia and Ukraine are due for renegotiation. This year, political instability in the run up to Ukraine’s approaching presidential elections, slated for January 17, has made conflict over gas into a real worry.

But after Russia’s concession was agreed, there seemed to be a sense of optimism. “Without any doubt, removing the ‘take or pay’ obligations in the contract is good for Ukraine,” said Pierre Noël, a research fellow for energy issues at the European Council for Foreign Relations. “If Ukraine is able to buy less gas next year, that will be a great help to Ukraine’s beleaguered budget,” said Andrew Wilson, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and senior lecturer of Ukrainian studies at the School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies. “I think removing the ‘take or pay’ obligation obviously makes the contract much more favorable to Ukraine in the longer-term, in the sense that, even if gas consumption never really recovers, or recovers really slowly, they still do not have to worry about that,” said Noël.

But still, “Europe is just crossing its fingers,” said Noël. “There is a sense of relief. But you just hope it’s justified.” A gas row this year, or early next, remains a real possibility, because “the risk of a conflict in the coming weeks is more linked to the ability of Ukraine to pay for its gas in the short-term than to the structure of the contract,” he added. And Ukraine’s current economic health is extremely poor. When on November 11, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced that it would not be releasing a $3.8 billion bailout earmarked for Ukraine, Tymoshenko recognized that Ukraine was entering an “extremely difficult” period. Putin followed the news up with tough rhetoric underlining that Russia would once again turn off the taps to Ukraine if it fails to pay for its gas on time, or else siphons off gas destined for Europe. “The fact that Ukraine messed up its agreement with the IMF clearly increases the risk that it will not be able to pay,” said Noël.

One reason Ukraine struggles to afford its gas imports is because it sells imported gas to consumers at a cheap rate. “Ukraine has always paid for its gas by borrowing one way or another. They seem to be structurally unable to charge the gas to consumers in Ukraine at a price that reflects the price they pay Gazprom. This is unsustainable. It is a recipe for a crisis and at some point they won’t be able to borrow any more,” said Noël. “Obviously, politically it is very difficult. But so long as I don’t see the price of gas in Ukraine reflecting the import price, I will be worried about the Ukraine-Russia gas relationship. Even if you take the politics and geopolitics aside, it is simply not possible to buy large quantities of gas at a price that you don’t charge to your customers. It’s as simple as that,” he said. 

So, why did Russia make this concession to Ukraine? On the one hand there is a clear economic rationale to the deal. “The reality is that Ukraine’s gas contract had probably become impossible to honor exactly as it was signed. So it’s just adapting to reality - all contracts do that. Of course they were less high-profile negotiations, but after all Russia agreed to drastically reduce the ‘take or pay’ obligations of its European contracts during the last month. So after doing that with France, Germany, Italy, then why not Ukraine?” said Noël.

Politically speaking, the deal with Russia also served to promote Tymoshenko’s candidacy for president, at the expense of the current President Viktor Yushchenko’s. As Wilson said, after the agreement was reached, “it does now seem that Putin’s personal favorite is Tymoshenko.” Yushchenko’s pro-Western policies have made him extremely unpopular amongst Russia’s political establishment, and when on November 19 he appealed to the Kremlin for a revised gas deal in an open letter, he was simply snubbed, which made Tymoshenko look even better when she won a concession from Putin. “Tymoshenko’s smile [after the deal] is not at all surprising,” said Wilson.

Beyond this, however, there was no clear indication of Russia working a secondary political agenda, because Russia has no reason to rock the boat. With Yushchenko’s popularity rating languishing around the five percent mark (scarcely in the frame for a president), Russia has little political stake in another conflict over gas, analysts said. “It wouldn’t be in Russia’s interest to have a gas row where it couldn’t control the consequences, given that it seems to be happy with either [front-runners] Viktor Yanukovich or Tymoshenko for president. Yushchenko is polling so low at the moment that there don’t seem to be any political incentives to have another row,” Wilson noted.

Itar-Tass: Russia FM sends official note to Japan re Southern Kurils

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=14566788&PageNum=0

25.11.2009, 06.41

MOSCOW, November 25 (Itar-Tass) - the Russian Foreign Ministry has called “unacceptable” the approval by the Japanese government of a document that says about the “illegal occupation by Russia” of the Kuril Islands, it is said in a statement of the RF Foreign Ministry released on Tuesday.

“Moscow has given the most serious attention to the aforesaid step of the Japanese government,” the ministry’s document says. “We consider it necessary to stress that the Southern Kuril Islands are an inseparable part of the Russian Federation territory on legal grounds based on the WW2 results in accordance with the legally binding agreements and treaties between the ally states, as well as the UN Charter that was ratified by Japan.”

“The approval by the Japanese government of a document with the above wording cannot be assessed any other than unacceptable. The Russian side, including at the top level, has repeatedly warned about counter-productivity of such actions for the bilateral dialogue on the peace treaty problem, including the border delimitation aspect. The current steps of Tokyo contradict the fixed by the leaders of the Russian federation and Japan mutual understanding of the need to create a normal, mutually respectful atmosphere of bilateral cooperation, including the dialogue on the peace treaty problem and border delimitation. The Russian side is ready to continue the corresponding dialogue only in this manner,” the RF Foreign Ministry stated.

“The Russian Foreign Ministry has sent the corresponding official note to the Japanese Foreign Ministry. We hope that Tokyo will draw due conclusions from the situation emerged as a result of its actions,” the statement says.

“Russia for its part is committed to the development of relations with Japan in the constructive spirit that characterises contacts between the RF president and Japanese prime minister,” the Russian Foreign Ministry noted.

The Kuril Islands dispute, also known as the Northern Territories dispute, is a dispute between Japan and Russia over sovereignty over the South Kuril Islands. The disputed islands, which were occupied by Soviet forces during the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation at the end of World War II, are under Russian administration as South Kuril District of the Sakhalin Oblast, but are claimed by Japan, which refers to them as the Northern Territories, being part of the Nemuro Subprefecture of Hokkaido Prefecture. The San Francisco Peace Treaty between the Allied Powers and Japan from 1951 states that Japan must give up all claims to the Kuril islands, but it also does not recognize the Soviet Union's sovereignty over the Kuril Islands. Russia maintains, that Soviet Union's sovereignty over the islands was recognized following agreements at the end of the Second World War, however Japan has disputed this claim. The disputed islands are: Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai rocks.

Russia maintains that all the Kuril Islands, including those that Japan calls the Northern Territories, are legally a part of Russia as a result of World War II, and that this acquisition was as proper as any other change of international boundaries following the war. Moscow cites the following basic points:

The explicit language of the Yalta Treaty gave the Soviet Union a right to the Kurils, and the Soviet Union upheld its own obligations under that treaty. The nation of Russia inherited possession of the islands from the former Soviet Union, in accordance with international law.

The Japanese assertion that the disputed islands are not part of the Kurils is simply a tactic to bolster Tokyo's territorial claim and is not supported by history or geography.

Russia has said it is open to a negotiated "solution" to the island dispute while declaring that the legality of its own claim to the islands is not open to question. In other words, Japan would first have to recognize Russia's right to the islands and then try to acquire some or all of them through negotiations.

On February 6, 2008, Japan Today, an English-language news site in Japan, reported that the Russian president had suggested to Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda to finally settle all territorial disputes over the Kuril Islands and had sent him a letter inviting him to come to Russia for discussions.

The dispute over the Kuril Islands was further exacerbated on July 16, 2008, when the Japanese government published new school textbook guidelines directing teachers to say that Japan has sovereignty over the Kuril Islands. The Russian Ministry of Foreign affairs announced on July 18, “[these actions] contribute neither to the development of positive cooperation between the two countries, nor to the settlement of the dispute” and reaffirmed its sovereignty over the islands.

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met in Sakhalin on February 18, 2009 to discuss the Kuril Islands issue. Aso said after the meeting that they had agreed to speed up efforts to resolve the dispute so that it would not be left to future generations to find a solution.

Xinhua: Russian legislator denounces Japan's position on territorial dispute

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-11/24/content_12533420.htm

2009-11-24 23:29:34

MOSCOW, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Japanese government's position on the four disputed islands is counterproductive to dialogue on the territorial issue, a senior Russian lawmaker said Tuesday.

    The Pacific islands, known as the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia, were occupied by Soviet troops in 1945 and are currently under Russian control.

    Japan's parliament passed a law describing the islands as an "integral part" of Japan this summer. The Japanese government on Tuesday reiterated that "the Russian Federation is illegally occupying four northern islands" when responding to a parliamentary query.

    The Japanese position is "an attempt to exert pressure on the Russian Federation and obtain concessions," Konstantin Kosachyov, head of the international affairs committee in the lower house of Russia's parliament, was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.

    The Russian authorities, primarily the Foreign Ministry, should provide "a harsh official reaction to this document," Kosachyov said.

    Russia and Japan have long been at odds on the four Pacific islands, which has blocked a peace treaty between the two countries since the end of World War II.

Aysor.am: Medvedev, Aliev discuss Karabakh conflict

http://www.aysor.am/en/news/2009/11/25/medvedev-aliev/

Wednesday,November 25

Russian and Azerbaijani Presidents had a detailed discussion on negotiations for settlement of Karabakh conflict, Kremlin’s spokeswoman Natalia Timakova said.

“Ilham Aliev has told President Medvedev a detailed resume of last round of negotiations between Azerbaijani leader and Armenia’s President Serge Sargsyan with participation of Minsk Group co-chairs.” She said Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev “has welcomed positive move of negotiation process and assumed Moscow will continue contribute to settling of Karabakh conflict.”

Meanwhile, Russian experts and analysts try to predict Dmitry Medvedev’s position at meeting with Azerbaijani counterpart.

“Aliev’s threats gave mediators a fright,” said expert at the International Relations and World economy Institute of Russian Academy of Science, Alexander Krylov.

“I guess Medvedev tried to calm Aliev down and bring round the futility of acting by force,” he said pointing that it is not in Russia’s interest if the region goes in war as in this case in acceptance with the Madrid principles foreign peacekeepers would be deployed including those from NATO states.

News.az: Russian leader welcomes progess in Karabakh talks

http://www.news.az/articles/3307

Wed 25 November 2009 | 07:01 GMT

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has welcomed progress in the negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh and said that Moscow will continue work to resolve the conflict.

Medvedev and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev discussed the negotiating process on the Karabakh conflict settlement during their meeting in Ulyanovsk on Tuesday, Russian presidential spokeswoman Natalya Timakova said.

"Ilham Aliyev briefed Dmitry Medvedev on the results of the latest round of talks with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan involving the Minsk Group representatives," she said.

"The Russian president welcomed the positive progress in the negotiating process and gave assurances that Moscow will continue working to resolve the Karabakh conflict," Timakova said.

She said the presidents had also discussed bilateral cooperation, including on the economy, and the schedule of further high level contacts.

24.kg: Kyrgyzstan, Russia pledge closer cooperation between capitals

http://eng.24.kg/bishkek24/2009/11/25/9748.html

25/11-2009 12:01, Bishkek – News Agency “24.kg”, By Aizada KUTUEVA

Nariman Tyuleev, the Bishkek city governor on Wednesday vowed closer cooperation with Moscow at the end of his official visit to the Russian capital.

In course of bilateral meetings Tyuleev and his Moscow counterpart Yuri Luzhkov outlined importance of strategic partnership, development of traditional business, economic, cultural and humanitarian ties in new economic climate.

“The heads of the administrations have marked spheres for extension of cooperation. It is municipal housing economy, health care, cultural and humanitarian spheres, capital construction and investments. New cooperation agreement between the two cities is to be signed in the nearest days,” the report said.

Itar-Tass: French helicopter ship to have joint drill of Russian helicopter teams in St Petersburg

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=14566767&PageNum=0

24.11.2009, 21.55

MOSCOW, November 24 (Itar-Tass) -- The French Mistral helicopter ship will have a joint drill with Russian helicopter teams in St. Petersburg, the captain said on Tuesday.

The ship arrived in St. Petersburg on Monday.

In the words of the captain, the joint drill was a usual element of a foreign ship’s visit to a port of a friendly state.

He also noted that the visit was not directly related to the wish of the Russian Navy to buy the ship, but Russian engineers, shipbuilders and Navy representatives had a chance to tour it.

The captain invited average citizens to visit the ship on Wednesday.

The Mistral helicopter ship can move at the speed of 18 knots to the distance of 20,000 miles. It has a crew of 160 and may take aboard 450 marines on long voyages and 900 marines on brief voyages. The ship carries 16 helicopters, including six that can be positioned on the ship deck simultaneously. The ship hold can contain over 40 tanks or 70 vehicles.

NATO has not developed an official position on Russia-France negotiations on the possible acquisition of a Mistral helicopter ship, alliance spokesman James Appathurai said earlier in the day.

He said the alliance was aware of the negotiations. If the negotiations are successful, NATO hopes they observe the laws and customs commitments, he said.

The Russian Navy took an interest in the helicopter ship at the St. Petersburg naval show held this June, and the Navy command confirmed the possibility of the ship acquisition in August.

The Navy thinks the helicopter ship can be used for peacekeeping, rescue and anti-piracy missions. If the ship is acquired, Russia may use the technology for making similar vessels at domestic shipyards.

RIA: Kazakhstan moves to play down Baikonur spat with Russia

http://en.rian.ru/world/20091125/156978520.html

11:0925/11/2009

Kazakhstan moved to play down a spat with Russia over a delay in a rocket launch from the Russian-leased space center in the Central Asian republic earlier this week, saying it was a result of a misunderstanding.

Russia's launch of a European communications satellite on a Proton rocket from Baikonur was delayed from Monday until late Tuesday, which sparked a bitter exchange of accusations between the two ex-Soviet nations.

"There has been no scandal around the launch. It was a typical misunderstanding. One side had put an inaccurately worded phrase in documents, and the other had to change a whole range of procedures as a result," Talgat Musabayev, head of Kazcosmos space agency told reporters, adding the two countries should streamline organizational procedures.

Kazcosmos accused Russia's space agency on Monday of constantly changing launch plans, which led to the delay in the Proton-M blast.

Roscosmos said it had submitted all documents in time and blamed its Kazakh partners for slowly issuing government approvals for launches.

"This is not the first time the launch of a spacecraft has been threatened with failure for reasons not depending on Russia," Roscosmos said.

Musabayev said on Wednesday that "Kazakhstan has remained Russia's reliable partner," and Kazcosmos hopes "its Russian brothers and friends" will help the country join the club of space powers.

Russia rents the Soviet-built launching facility in Kazakhstan since the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, paying an annual rent of $115 million.

Its activities in the area have been marred by Proton accidents and Kazakhstan's complaints about toxic pollution. Russia is building a new launching site in the Far East to cut its reliance on Baikonur.

ASTANA, November 25 (RIA Novosti)

November 24, 2009

Satnews: Arianespace Marks A First — Twice — For Russia

http://www.satnews.com/cgi-bin/story.cgi?number=63616374

Arianespace has marked a historic milestone with the arrival of its first two Soyuz launchers in French Guiana, which will be used to inaugurate service with this medium-lift workhorse vehicle next year from the Spaceport.

Containers with the stages for Arianespace’s first two Soyuz launchers are rolled out from the MN Colibri’s interior cargo compartment.

The Soyuz 2-1a launchers were carried aboard the MN Colibri roll-on/roll-off transport ship, which docked on schedule yesterday morning (November 23) at Pariacabo port near Kourou after completing the transatlantic crossing from St. Petersburg, Russia.

Unloading operations at Pariacabo started with refined kerosene propellant for the launcher's strap-on boosters and its Block A and Block I stages, along with UDMH, N2O4 and hydrazine for its Fregat upper stage.  The activity began yesterday from the ship's upper deck, and continued through this morning.

Also brought ashore yesterday from the MN Colibri's upper deck was a functional model of the Fregat, which will be used for fueling tests in French Guiana.

This was followed by today's rollout of containers with the Soyuz launchers' four first-stage strap-on boosters, their Block A core stages and Block I third stages, Fregat upper stages, as well as the Soyuz ST-type payload fairings.  The transfer of these elements began in road convoys to the Spaceport today, and will be completed tomorrow.

One of the two Fregat upper stages brought to French Guiana by the MN Colibri is transported from Pariacabo port to the Spaceport.

Claude Bessemoulin, Arianespace's head of logistics, said the unloading operations went very well, and followed the procedures employed for years in transporting Ariane launchers from Europe to French Guiana - a process that utilizes the MN Colibri and its sister ship, the MN Toucan.

Soyuz is one of the world's most utilized launchers, having been operated in 1,750 missions from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and Russia's northern launch site at Plesetsk Cosmodrome.  Its introduction at French Guiana will bring this venerable medium-life vehicle into Arianespace's growing launcher family, joining its heavy-lift Ariane 5 now operational at the Spaceport, and subsequently the lightweight Vega.

Barentsobserver: Next Bulava launch slated for end of December

http://www.barentsobserver.com/next-bulava-launch-slated-for-end-of-december.4657044-58932.html

2009-11-25

Russia’s new submarine-launched ballistic missile will be test-launched in the end of December. The launch was planned to take place yesterday.

Yesterday’splanned launch of Russia’s troubled missile has been postponed until the end of the year, RIA Novosti reports. This is the second time the launch has been postponed. The last test-launch of Bulava took place on July 15 2009 and became the sixth failed launch out of 12.

- Because of the need for coordination of several questions – including technical questions, between the producers and the Russian Ministry of Defence, the test-launch will only be conducted at the end of the year, a source told RIA Novosti.

The Bulava missile is designed for the “Borei” class submarines, the fourth generation nuclear subs, the first of which are now being tested in Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk Oblast. The vessel “Yury Dolgoruky” will be the flagship in the Russian submarine fleet. Another two vessels of the kind is under construction in the yard.

Reuters: Q+A-Russia delays test of troubled Bulava missile

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSGEE5AN0F7

Tue Nov 24, 2009 11:30am EST

MOSCOW, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Russia on Tuesday delayed the latest test launch of its troubled new submarine-launched Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile, the state RIA news agency reported.

RIA said the launch -- which was first scheduled for late October -- should have taken place on Tuesday but had been delayed again.

"In connection with the need to agree a host of questions, including technical ones... the latest launch of the Bulava should take place before the end of the year," RIA quoted an unidentified source in the Russian defence sector as saying.

The following are key details about the missile:

WHAT IS IT?

The Bulava (Mace), which is capable of carrying 6-10 nuclear warheads 8,000 km (5,000 miles), is designed to be deployed on Russia's Project 955 atomic Borei (Arctic Wind) Class submarines.

The 37-tonne, 12-metre (39 ft) intercontinental ballistic missile is known as the Bulava-30 inside the Russian military. Its NATO reporting name is the SS-NX-30 and in international treaties it is known as the RSM-56.

Russia's Borei class submarines can carry at least 12 of the missiles, which are the sea-based version of the Topol-M intercontinental missile.

HOW MANY FAILURES?

Of 11 previous tests that have been openly reported, at least six have been unsuccessful, including a test on July 15 when a Bulava self-destructed after a malfunction during the first stage of its flight from the White Sea.

A test launch planned for late October was aborted and the submarine which was supposed to fire the missile returned to base, local media quoted a navy source as saying.

The Russian navy does not release detailed information about the missile launches, citing national security.

WHO TESTS IT?

The missiles are usually tested by the Dmitry Donskoy Project 941 Akula (Shark) submarine, which operates as part of the navy's North Fleet.

The missiles are usually fired from underwater in northwestern Russia towards the Kura testing site on the Kamchatka peninsula in the Pacific.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

The missile has been billed as Russia's newest technological breakthrough to support its nuclear deterrent and a way to bolster the country's once mighty submarine fleet.

But the repeated test failures are an embarrassment for the Kremlin which has touted the missile as a unique weapon capable of breaching any air defence.

The test failures have convinced a growing number of analysts -- and even senior navy officers -- that the Bulava is fundamentally doomed and that it would be cheaper and safer to start from scratch on a new project.

Some Russian defence analysts say the project is eating up funds better spent on other projects and that the repeated failures of Bulava are eroding morale in the navy.

Russia's chief of the general staff, Nikolai Makarov, said in August that the missile has to fly otherwise Russia would have to refit all of its new generation Borei class nuclear submarines.

Asked if it would be better to deploy the reliable, Soviet-era designed Sineva missile on the new submarines, Makarov said: "The Bulava is a totally different system...To refit a submarine for the Bulava means to redesign it completely."

Makarov blamed technical glitches rather than a fundamental design fault for the test launch mishaps. He said that the chief constructor of the missile, the head of Moscow's Institute of Thermal Technology, Yuri Solomonov, had resigned.

If Russia did scrap the Bulava it would have to scramble to develop a new submarine-launched ballistic missile before its current Soviet-built nuclear submarines reach decommissioning age in the next two decades. (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, editing by Jon Boyle) ((guy.faulconbridge@reuters.com, +7 495 775 12 42))

PakTribune: Ex-Soviet states see threat of Afghan spillover

http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?221739

Wednesday November 25, 2009 (1147 PST)

ALMATY: Afghanistan’s Taliban may seek to establish a foothold in ex-Soviet Central Asia to recruit supporters and disrupt supplies for US troops in Afghanistan, regional security officials said on Tuesday.

Former Soviet republics Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan act as transit nations for US Afghan supplies and all but Kazakhstan have reported armed clashes with Islamists this year.

In the past year, the Taliban insurgency has spread to parts of northern Afghanistan that had long been relatively peaceful, even as violence raged in the south and east of the country.

“The deteriorating situation in northern Afghanistan enables the Taliban to spread their influence in that region, giving international terrorists more opportunities to infiltrate the territory of Central Asian states,” Mikhail Melikhov, a senior official at the Common Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), told a conference in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek.

CSTO, dominated by Russia, is a defence bloc of ex-Soviet republics. Marat Imankulov, the head of the anti-terrorist centre of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), another post-Soviet bloc that focuses on economic and political ties, said security risks were compounded by the economic downturn.

“Frankly speaking, the economic crisis in the CIS countries is turning into a social one,” he told the conference. “We cannot avoid talking about the growing risks of extremist and terrorist activities.”

Imankulov said some security analysts expected the Taliban to try destabilising Central Asian states “to disrupt equipment and food supply channels for coalition forces.”

25.11.09 08:36 Interfax: Medvedev gave the Defense a month for inventory of depots and arsenals in Russia

http://www.interfax-russia.ru/main.asp?id=57173

/Google translation/

November 25. Interfax-Russia.ru - President Dmitry Medvedev called for a real security personnel and residents of Ulyanovsk, associated with work in the warehouses of ammunition. "We need to ensure real security and military personnel who are involved in the commission of such works, and residents of Ulyanovsk. And not only here, in Ulyanovsk, and elsewhere. We have a similar depots and arsenals in the country a lot, the quality of storage of munitions it is necessary to check" , - said Dmitry Medvedev during a meeting in Ulyanovsk on the situation with the explosions at ammunition depots in the city. Dmitry Medvedev recalled that he had commissioned a full inventory depots and arsenals, "with pictures, with a technical description of what is happening there." "As far as I know, when it all happened on 13 November, the authorities, which correspond to the arsenal, at midnight could not find" - said the President. He noted that such an inventory should be conducted, and to take immediate measures to ensure the safety of everyone who has to do with it. The President gave the Defense Ministry a month to conduct the inventory. "November 13 at the warehouse the Navy in Ulyanovsk been a major emergency, people died, and this became possible because of lack of control by the Ministry of Defense and the criminal negligence of those who were instructed to dispose of ammunition at a time" - said Dmitry Medvedev. He noted that this incident was being investigated, however, despite the arrival of a large number of chiefs from Moscow as from the Ministry of Defense, and representatives of the district, yesterday there was absolutely unconscionable thing. " "Yesterday, at the same arsenal of killing people, and this tragedy already makes to think about more serious things. It is a consequence of the complete lack of discipline in the organization of this work, it is a consequence of the guilt of persons who have not fulfilled their direct duties," - said the president. He stressed that those responsible must answer in accordance with the disciplinary and criminal law. "Here, we present and the chief military prosecutor and head of the Investigative Division of the Prosecutor General. I authorize you to conduct the necessary investigations and as part of a preliminary investigation to take all necessary action" - said Dmitry Medvedev, addressing the participants of the meeting. November 13 at 31-m of the Navy's arsenal in Ulyanovsk there was a fire in one of the shops where there is a waste of ammunition. As a result, PE, killing two soldiers, injured 60 people, including six were hospitalized. According to preliminary information, the cause of the fire was the violation of technology in the disposal of ammunition. November 23, when loading ordnance on the 31-m of the Navy's arsenal in Ulyanovsk detonated one of the shells, because of the exploded munitions loaded into the car. Killing two officers and six soldiers on contract service, two were hospitalized.

RIA: Col. Baranets: Russia has right to use nuclear weapons as it deems necessary

http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20091124/156973187.html

21:5624/11/2009

Our guest today is Colonel Viktor Baranets, a military commentator from Komsomolskaya Pravda daily. Welcome, Mr. Baranets.

Global security is a key issue today. How has the world changed? How have weapons needed to guarantee security changed? Which weapons should we rely on if we abandon a policy of nuclear deterrence?

Globally, the temperature of confrontation of Russia and its allies in the Collective Security Treaty Organization with NATO has been falling. However, the only practical step taken by the United States within the “reset” policy is its refusal to deploy ballistic missile defense systems in Europe.

It was a positive signal, yet we have likely been too optimistic about it. Barely two hours after President Obama announced the decision, it was said that we had misunderstood him, and that the United States would do it, but a bit differently.Moscow is closely monitoring the situation, but still, the decision not to deploy ABM systems in Europe is a very serious positive signal.

As for nuclear confrontation, you know that the global trend was to gradually cut nuclear weapons within the START-1 and START-2 treaties. We are now working hard on a new treaty, which will cut the number of nuclear warheads to 1,200-1,500 per side.

This move could be interpreted as both nuclear parties’ decision to lower the nuclear threshold – theoretically. However, in practice we cannot reach an agreement with the U.S. on the rules of the game. Secretary of State Clinton made a statement during her visit to Russia which could interest only professionals, or which only professionals could notice. She said they would allow Russian officers to inspect U.S. nuclear arsenals.

What does that mean? Under the treaty, an American commission inspected Russian arsenals, and a Russian commission went on a similar mission to the United States. And it turned out that Russia liquidated warheads in compliance with the treaty, while the sly Americans stored the scrapped warheads, which created the serious problem of “return potential.” The U.S. can take warheads from storage and mount them on a missile, which puts Russia at a big disadvantage.

The negotiating teams are now focused on rapidly drafting fair rules for the game because we are tired of being duped.

A few words about the latest Russian statements on nuclear weapons. Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council, recently made a series of high-profile statements, one of which frightens our foreign partners. He said that since Russia has nuclear weapons it also has the right to use them as it deems necessary, and also that it reserves the right to deliver preventive nuclear strikes.

Some Western critics immediately said this means that Russia will deliver blows at whomever it wants. But the idea is that Russia has not only intercontinental missiles but also other types of nuclear weapons – tactical missiles – as well as weapons that interest other countries the most, small nuclear charges. I believe it was these nuclear weapons Mr. Patrushev was referring to.

It was a hint to Georgia that if Russia fails to repel another potential aggression it may consider delivering a nuclear strike. It would not be a strike that pulverizes half of Georgia; it would be a strike delivered within the limits of expediency, only to stop the enemy.

In general, nuclear bargaining has never stopped, and nuclear weapons have always been the core of the Russian armed forces. Nuclear weapons are the umbrella giving Russia a historical chance to reform its armed forces. If not for nuclear weapons, Russia would have been treated quite differently in the world especially since foreign intelligence services are not sitting on their hands. They cleverly analyze the real situation in the Russian armed forces, which are halfway to a new destination and are undergoing radical change.

The main thing is that possession of nuclear weapons allows Russia to restructure its armed forces. Taken together with petrodollars and mineral resources, this allows Russia to advance progressively, even though it is making some mistakes in the process. Military reforms have provoked contradictory views in the expert community both in Russia and abroad.

You mentioned Georgia. Is there still a potential threat coming from the Saakashvili regime?

Yes, the unfriendly political regime led by Mikheil Saakashvili stands at the helm in Georgia and its army has been working with combined NATO assistance to strengthen its muscle after its failure in August 2008.

Over 22 NATO and several other countries helped arm Georgia before it attacked South Ossetia. For example, Israel supplied unmanned air vehicles. It later asked forgiveness from the Kremlin and promised never to supply UAVs again. However, the chief of Israel’s main intelligence agency recently admitted officially that Israel is again supplying UAVs.

But they are acting within the framework of international law, aren’t they?

Certainly. When I analyzed the issue of Ukraine’s military supplies to Georgia, and when we found documents of the Ukrainian parliament’s special commission which undeniably showed that Ukraine supplied weapons and specialists to Georgia, Ukrainian politicians said: “Sorry, but Ukraine has a military technical cooperation agreement with Georgia.”

And this is true. The supply of weapons to a country adjacent to Russia immediately sets into motion other mechanisms – mechanisms of political morals. The Ukrainian air defense missiles supplied to Georgia were used to kill Russian servicemen, down Russian aircraft, and murder peaceful South Ossetians.

Russia has nothing against military technical cooperation between Ukraine and Georgia, but it also understands the meaning of this cooperation. These two countries have been working hard to get into NATO, and are doing their best to prove their worth. Everyone can see this. Intelligence data, unofficial information and statements all point in this direction.

What has Moscow done in this situation? The Russian president said we should draw proper conclusions, thereby hinting that Russia could apply economic sanctions. I can understand this – when the United States dislikes a country where Russia supplies weapons, it immediately uses sanctions against that country.

Which types of weapons is Russia relying on now?

Russia is using every achievement in the world that could be interesting and expedient in the military sphere. The Russian S-400 air defense missile system is certainly one of the best in the world, and we are now completing the S-500 system. Although the process is very difficult, the much-lauded U.S. Patriot can’t hold a candle to the Russian system.

This also means that Russia’s military technical potential is very strong even though 8,000 Russian scientists have emigrated in the last 18 years. Not all of them are working for the military, but some 20% are surely strengthening other countries’ defenses.

As for new types of weapons, we are now actively using tank protection systems. When an enemy missile is fired at a tank, the tank protection system intercepts and destroys it. Foreign intelligence services have been watching our efforts closely over the last 18 years, buying one bit of the project after another. This is evidence that Western military highly value Russian achievements.

Gazeta.kz: Russian government approved Customs Code of Customs Union

http://eng.gazeta.kz/art.asp?aid=140383

12:27 25.11.2009 text: Kazakhstan Today

The government of the Russian Federation approved the Customs Code of the Customs Union of Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus. The Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, Elvira Nabiullina, informed on Monday, following the results of the government session of the Russian Federation, the Kazakhstan Today agency reports citing ITAR-TASS.

According to the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, "the document has base character and its approval is the major step towards formation of the Customs Union in the interests of our three country-partners."

The decision on creation of the Customs Union was accepted by the Presidents of the EurAsEC countries on October 6, 2007. Formation of the uniform customs territory assumes cancellation of customs borders between the countries of the Customs Union and shift all kinds of state control, except boundary, to the customs border of the union. "Control at the Belarus-Russian border will be cancelled from July 1, 2010 and on Kazakhstan - from July 1, 2011. The uniform custom duties in the territory of two countries will come into force on January 1, 2010. The customs code will start to operate from July 1, 2010.

25.11.09 10:53 Interfax: The Federation Council approved a law providing for no increase of transport tax

http://www.interfax-russia.ru/main.asp?id=57245

/Google translation/November 25. Interfax-Russia.ru - Federation Council of Russia at a meeting on Wednesday approved a new version of the law on vehicle tax, which retains its current rate.

Earlier, the Federation Council rejected a law passed by the State Duma, which has increased the transport tax twice.

After this was set up a conciliation commission, which has resolved all issues.

However, for a more flexible form of regional revenue budgets federal law gave the regional authorities the right to increase or decrease the rate of vehicle tax, but not more than 10 times. Previously the law provided an opportunity to increase or decrease five times.

iStockAnalyst: Atomstroyexport Ready to Hire Czech, Slovak Contractors in Npp Projects

http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/3662813

Monday, November 23, 2009 2:51 PM

(Source: Daily News Bulletin; Moscow - English)MOSCOW. Nov 23 (Interfax) - Atomstroyexport, Russia's general contractor of nuclear power plant projects, has signed a memorandum of mutual understanding with Czech and Slovak companies in Prague. Atomstroyexport intends to buy equipment and services from partners in building nuclear power plants in Russia and third countries.

The sides will cooperate in the construction of nuclear power plants of the Russian make, with water-cooled water-moderated reactors VVER (the export name MIR 1200), Atomstroyexport said.

The pool of partners is a rather large one, the company said.

Atomstroyexport hopes that Czech and Slovak partners will engage national export agencies with appropriate financial resources in the construction of nuclear power plants in third countries.

Atomstroyexport, Hydropress and Skoda JS are taking part in a tender for building the third and fourth units of the Czech Temelin nuclear power plant. If the bid is victorious, the consortium will employ the maximal number of local contractors.

It will also hire companies from EU member countries, such as Italy and France. Atomstroyexport is already cooperating with French Areva in the construction of the Belene nuclear power plant in Bulgaria, and discussing joint projects with Italian Enel (that owns nuclear assets in Slovakia).

The Rosatom State Corporation has offered the Czech Republic to build a nuclear fuel plant on the Czech territory. The plant will guarantee nuclear fuel deliveries to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and other European countries, Rosatom said.

(c) 2009 Daily News Bulletin; Moscow - English. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.

RIA: Over 1% of Russian population HIV-positive - UN report

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091125/156976714.html

06:4525/11/2009

NEW YORK, November 24 (RIA Novosti) - Over 1% of Russian residents are HIV-positive, according to a joint report by the UN Program on HIV/AIDS and the World Health Organization.

Injecting drug use remains the primary transmission route in Russia and the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia region on the whole. According to the report, about 37% of Russia's estimated 1.8 million drug users are HIV-infected. Young people account for a considerable number of infections among injecting drug users in the region.

"In a study involving street youth (aged 15-19) in St. Petersburg, 37.4% of the people surveyed were HIV-infected, with a positive HIV status strongly and independently associated with injecting drugs and sharing needles," the report, released on Tuesday, said.

According to the report, three countries in the region - Estonia, the Russian Federation and Ukraine have HIV prevalence that exceeds 1%, with Ukraine showing the most alarming infection rate of 1.6%.

The estimated number of people living with HIV in Eastern Europe and Central Asia rose to some 1.5 million, up 66% from 2001.

The report says about 33.4 million people are living with HIV worldwide. New HIV infections dropped 17% over the past eight years worldwide.

RIA: Court to rule on refusal to investigate Arctic Sea case abroad

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091125/156976234.html

05:2625/11/2009

MOSCOW, November 25 (RIA Novosti) - The Moscow City Court will consider on Wednesday an appeal submitted by a suspect in the Arctic Sea ship seizure case, against a lower court ruling not to hand the case to investigators in Malta or Sweden.

Dmitry Bartenev is reportedly one of the eight armed men who boarded the Finnish-owned, Maltese-flagged Arctic Sea ship manned by a Russian crew and listed as carrying lumber from Russia to Algeria. The vessel was freed off Cape Verde on August 16 by a Russian warship.

"We will appeal the ruling of the first instance court, which said the investigators' refusal... to hand the case to relevant bodies in Sweden or Malta was legitimate," Bartnev's lawyer, Konstantin Baranovsky, said.

He added that the case should be handed either to Sweden, as the incident took place in its territorial waters, or to Malta, as the vessel was flying the country's flag.

A state prosecutor said it was impossible under the Russian constitution, as Russian nationals were among the suspects.

The freighter was handed over to Maltese authorities in late October. The ship was given permission to enter the port following a thorough inspection by Maltese officials.

In early November, four sailors, who had remained on board the Arctic Sea, returned to their home base in northern Russia.

The Arctic Sea, sailing under a new 14-member crew, left the Maltese port for Algeria on November 11, to resume its route interrupted by hijackers.

RIA: Anatoly Chubais had an accident

http://www.rian.ru/incidents/20091125/195389134.html

09:01 25/11/2009

MOSCOW, November 25 - RIA Novosti. The head of Rosnano Anatoly Chubais on Tuesday came in a car accident, told RIA Novosti spokesperson of the state corporation.

"Yesterday, at 18.30 Moscow time, Anatoly Chubais, drove to the meeting of the Supervisory Board of the office building of the corporation. His service included a car with warning lights and siren started a movement to strip back the streets Nametkina toward the intersection with the street Profsoyuznaya. To move forward in passing direction in the far left lane car Class SUV suddenly turned sharply to the left through two solid lines of road markings. Despite the sharp deceleration, the collision could not be avoided, "- said the representative Rosnano.

In place of the accident was quickly called up the traffic police.

The head of Rosnano, making sure that the driver of an SUV is not injured and can move independently, continued to move in another car.

FT.com: Control of data slips from Kremlin's grasp

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8fe2b26e-d962-11de-b2d5-00144feabdc0.html

By Charles Clover in Moscow

Published: November 25 2009 02:00 | Last updated: November 25 2009 02:00

Gorbushka market, just outside central Moscow, does a thriving trade in any electronics good you could want: mobile phones, plasma television sets, the latest DVDs, and, if you ask to see them, software peddlers will show potential clients a list of "databases".

These consist of CDs with names such as "Ministry of Interior - Federal Road Safety Service", "Tax Service" and "Federal Anti Narcotics Service" and cost about $100 apiece.

Each contains confidential information gathered by Russian law enforcement or government agencies: anything from arrest records, personal addresses, passport numbers, phone records or address books to bank account details, known associates, tax data and flight records are on offer.

In some malls these are sold openly, but in Gorbushka, after a recent police sweep, sellers are more discreet; one merchant gives shoppers a list of available titles and offers to burn the disks for 3,000 roubles ($104, €70, £63). He said there was no moral dilemma about selling personal information. "There is a market and we fill it. It's not a question mark for me," he said.

The confidential information is a goldmine for criminals, spies and journalists - but most of all for the police and bureaucrats that sell the information to computer hackers, who mass produce the CDs and sell them openly through vendors in electronics markets or online.

The size of the black market for information is estimated in the tens of millions of dollars and shows a unique side of the Russian state apparatus - one that has painstakingly tried to maintain a monopoly on information but nonetheless is so corrupt that it cannot. Journalists, while nominally the lowest in the pecking order of the semi-authoritarian state, actually have access to more information about the authorities than in perhaps any other country.

"American journalists must be envious of how open we are in Russia," joked Sergei Kanev, an investigative reporter at Novaya Gazeta, an opposition newspaper, who has written articles about the information trade and occasionally uses the databases in his reporting. He says the main users of the information black market are criminals. He has covered cases of blackmail where extortionists used records of reported rapes or prostitution convictions to blackmail women.

Booting up a database of narcotics offenders, Mr Kanev says: "Look here, you have photos, addresses, phone numbers, what kind of drugs they use. It's very common for con artists to take this database, call up a family member and tell them their son or daughter has been arrested for drugs. They pretend to be policemen and for 10,000 roubles they offer to let the kid go. The parents know their kid is a user, they think its true, and so they pay up. It's all a trick."

But the corruption of the state occasionally works to the advantage of those who are working to change it - giving citizens the resources to spy on corrupt authorities, in an odd reversal of roles for a semi-authoritarian state such as Russia. For example, reporters investigating the murder of Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya in 2006 used a database of flight records known as "Sirena" as the basis to link an officer in the Federal Security Service, who is suspected of being an accomplice, to a hired killer who is serving a 12-year sentence for attempted murder in a separate case and is a relative of two other suspects.

The database allegedly shows the FSB officer, Pavel Ryaguzov, flying to Ingushetia with the convicted hit man, Lom Ali Gaitukayev, and his own boss, an FSB colonel.

The men sat together, and registered for the flight at the same time, suggesting they were travelling together. While the information does not prove anything, it does show an uncomfortably close relationship between the FSB and organised crime. The details of the trip were also backed up by an eyewitness account. Mr Kanev broke this story in February. Mr Ryaguzov was acquitted in a related case by a jury that month, but the acquittal was overturned by the supreme court. A new trial is expected soon.

The black market trade in information is illegal but tolerated in Russia - as long as it stays under the surface. Selling in discreet stalls in shopping malls is tacitly accepted. But one recent effort to set up an online black market database failed - in 2008 the website radarix.com was operational for less than a week - registered to a Panamanian national and hosted on a US server - before being shut down.

Many large corporations maintain their own security departments, all of which use information databases. However, most of the big players have direct relationships to state officials and do not rely on commercial or black market providers of such information, said Sergei Minaev, general director of Special Information Systems, one of Russia's largest legitimate providers of information for commercial purposes.

Mr Minaev and others question the value of much of the information available on the black market. Mr Minaev said that despite appearances, many of the databases were out of date. "Most of it is junk. All these databases you buy on the street are old, and three out of 10 items are wrong." Others have raised the possibility that some of the information is deliberately falsified

He said that the passage of tough laws in 2002 didn't wipe out the trade, but simply sent it underground. "The authorities destroyed the black market without creating a white one," he said. "They created no alternative for people who legitimately need information. They made everything illegal. That is why it's possible to buy anything."

Elena Lukyanova, a law professor at Moscow State University, said that some legislation in Russia, such as a 2004 law requiring political parties to disclose membership lists, violated constitutional protections on information disclosure and privacy.

"This was done to control the opposition," she said. "If there are violations of the constitution like this, at the level of legislation, we should not be surprised that laws get violated and these black market databases are out there."

She said the problem was endemic corruption.

And while it is possible to find many secrets using Russia's information black market, there is still evidently a tight grip on the most sensitive information of all - foreign bank accounts of top officials, their ownership of assets and those of their relatives. Those are not to be found at the Gorbushka market.

Itar-Tass: Over 20,000 Russians make hajj to Saudi Arabia

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=14567488&PageNum=0

25.11.2009, 10.03

MOSCOW, November 25 (Itar-Tass) - Over 20,000 Russians are taking part in the culminating phase of the hajj that begins in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.

On November 26, pilgrims will travel to Mount Arafat and stand in the open praising Allah. After sunset they will leave Arafat and head to nearby Muzdalifah, where they will collect pebbles for the next phase of pilgrimage – the symbolic stoning of the devil represented by three pillars in Mina. On November 27, they will celebrate the festival of sacrifice, thanksgiving, rejoicing and prayer.

“Saudi Arabia’s quota issued to Russia this year has been fully used,” the aide for hajj affairs under government’s commission for religious organizations, Islam Nazaraliyev, told Itar-Tass.

He noted that Saudi Arabia cut this year’s quotas over the outbreak of swine flu. Last year 26,000 Russian pilgrims made the hajj pilgrimage.

Over 2.5 million Muslim believers take part in the hajj, of them 2 million are travelers from another part of the globe.

“This year eight companies were responsible for the organization of the hajj, two – in Moscow, two – in Dagestan, as well as in Tatarstan, Ingushetia, Chechnya and the Coordination Centre of North Caucasus Muslims,” Nazaraliyev said.

Around 80 percent of pilgrims are from the North Caucasus, he said. The number of those who travel to Saudi Arabia by plane increase – 50 percent this year.

Russian pilgrims will begin to return to Russia on December 1.

25.11.09 12:14 Interfax: The court arrested the detainee in Moscow suspected militants of the bandit Umarov

http://www.interfax-russia.ru/South/main.asp?id=57294

/Google translation/November 25. Interfax-Russia.ru - Lefortovo Court in Moscow issued an arrest warrant for a suspect of involvement in an illegal armed formation, led by Doka Umarov.

"The judge Lefortovo district court ruled, according to which of Ruslan Ozniev suspected of committing a crime under Art. 208 (participation in illegal armed formation) and Art. 222 (illegal possession of firearms and ammunition) of the Criminal Code, to preventive measures in the form detention ", - told Interfax on Wednesday, the spokesperson of the Moscow City Court, Anna Usacheva.

According to investigators, during the search on November 19 in R. Ozniev Makarov pistol was seized from two shops to him, as well as "Moscow map with marks of the possible places a bookmark explosives."

The material indicates that at the end of July 2007 Ozniev R., born in 1983, came from the Republic of Poland in the factory district of Grozny, where, on its own initiative, entered into in violation of the law created by Dmitry Umarov militia.

The detainee is suspected that supported the establishment and activities of form, but also knew about the presence of the participants of firearms.

Investigators believe that being in an illegal armed formation, R. Ozniev to conspiracy took the nickname Abdulmalik and served in various directions managers.

Subsequently, as noted in the materials, hiding from the law enforcement officers, the suspect went to France, where he remained until November 2009. Received this month instructions from one of the leaders of illegal armed groups, said a consequence, R. Ozniev arrived in Moscow to assist participants in forming.

Nov. 18, according to the materials, R. Ozniev met with an unidentified person from whom he received "explosives, tools, initiating explosives, firearms and ammunition, as well as personal disguise - a wig and glasses.

These substances and firearms were seized at the place of residence R. Oznieva November 19 this year, said the investigation.

The court order may be appealed within three days after the announcement in Moscow City Court.

Axisglobe: Isa Yamadayev addressed to Russian President as his hunting reportedly continues in Moscow

http://www.axisglobe.com/article.asp?article=1954

24.11.2009The conflict between the clan of the Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov and the authoritative Chechen family of Yamadayevs has been lasting for some years, daily Moskovsky Komsomolets (MK) writes. The paper’s source from the security services commented on the current situation, “Several groups at once have been working regarding Isa Yamadayev, arrival of those people to Moscow from the Chechen Republic has been fixed last week. The New Year is put as deadline of the task to solve the question concerning him. But they will not leave from Moscow until they execute the order”. The definition „several groups” may mean that there is a certain number of persons who jointly have been tracking down the potential victim (Isa Yamadayev) with the aim of his elimination, MK marks. “ To solve the question concerning him” means to eliminate, to kill Yamadayev. Thus, it turns out that Isa Yamadayev should be killed till January 1, 2010. Judging by the chain of liquidations of his brothers, these intentions are more than serious, the daily points out. Isa Yamadayev visited the editorial office of the MK and confirmed the reports about the chase. He told that the Interior Ministry of Russia had allocated protection to him and he had decided to address to the President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev through mass media on the matter.The conflict between the two most influential clans in the Chechen Republic ripened for a long time, MK expands. The Yamadayevs were getting increased authority and popularity. The conflict entered its "hot" stage on April 13, 2008. A road accident took place in central Gudermes because of a Kadyrov’s relative who considerably had exceeded speed. Two servicemen of the Russian GRU Chechen battalion Vostok*,commanded by Sulim Yamadayev, died as a result of the accident. On April 14, 2008, the conflict between Yamadayev and Kadyrov inflamed when the two motorcades refused to let pass each other on the Caucasus highway in the area of Gudermes. Two hours later under Ramzan Kadyrov's instruction the battalions Sever, Yug, republican special-task police division, rapid-reaction unit, regiment named after Akhmat-Hadzhi Kadyrov, the so-called oil regiment, special troops of the Ministry of Interior of Chechen Republic, in total of 25,000 servicemen blocked the 500-men strong base of Vostok battalion in Gudermes and ordered the battalion’s servicemen to change their affiliation. They were demanded to go over under Ramzan Kadyrov’s command, that is to voluntary leave the Vostok battalion of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Russian Defence Ministry’s General Staff. On April 15, Kadyrov publicly accused Yamadayev of murders and abductions of peaceful inhabitants. Simultaneously a criminal case was brought for alleged use of violence against the representative of authorities, concerning Badrudi Yamadayev. On April 19, Yamadayev accused Kadyrov of similar crimes. In May, 2008, Sulim Yamadayev was dismissed from command of the battalion. (* A special dossier on Chechen security forces is available on AIA website.)

Russian FSB de