Russia 091109

Basic Political Developments RIA: Geneva set to host U.S., Russia strategic arms reduction talks TheNews.com.pk: Russia, US seek new N-deal RIA: APEC summit to see discussion of North Korean nuclear program - "It

stands to reason that we intend to put to use possible contacts with our colleagues from China, South Korea, Japan, the United States and other countries to compare our positions on the sidelines of the summit, including [our views] on the Korean Peninsula nuclear problem," Alexei Borodavkin said.

Itar-Tass: Medvedev to attend 20th anniversary of Berlin Wall Fall RIA: Medvedev to arrive in Berlin to attend "fall of wall" celebrations Bloomberg: Putin Says Berlin Wall’s Fall Spurred Russian-German ‘Trust’ AFP: History weighs heavy in Russia's ties with Eastern Europe The Moscow Times: The Wall That Changed Modern History - By Yevgeny

Kiselyov The Moscow Times: Finding the Right Tone For Medvedev’s Speech - By

Vladimir Frolov ISNA: Uranium enrichment is Iran's "irrefutable right", says Russia Deputy FM VOA: Russia-Iran Relations Balancing on Nuclear Issue Russia Today: G20 tees off into post recessionary economic outlook The Moscow Times: Kudrin Cool to G20 Stimulus Pledge Prime-Tass: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development President

Thomas Mirow to visit Moscow until Nov 10 RBC: Austrian Chancellor to visit Moscow The Peninsula Qatar: Austria-Russia energy talks this week Itar-Tass: Vice-Premier Sobyanin starts working visit to India IANS: Ahead of PM's visit, India, Russia hold talks RIA: Russia submits energy security proposals to EU – paper Tehran Times: Russia, Slovenia could sign deal on South Stream next week Yorkpress.co.uk: UK-Russia Closed Nuclear Cities Partnership delegation hails

growth of science jobs in York Bernama.com: Russia To Be Represented Broadly At World Travel Market In

London Focus: Sofia and Moscow, 20 years on - Bulgaria's post-communist governments

have boasted of their "pragmatic" ties with Moscow, "free from ideology", but 20 years after the fall of communism here, the politics of energy shape bilatleral relations.

Novinite.com: Moscow Refuses to Release 3 Bulgarians over Diplomatic Row Businessneweurope: Russian into Europe's nuclear power sector - RWE's decision

to pull out of the project to build a nuclear power plant in Bulgaria leaves the door open for the Russian state-owned Rosatom to finally get a toehold in Europe's nuclear power sector.

Emportal: Konuzin: Serbia to cooperate both with the EU and Russia News.az: Russian patriarch to visit Tbilisi News.am: Saakashvili addresses Russia

Messenger.com.ge: Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan outlines the countries’ common interests

Apanews.net: Russian president honours two Africans in Moscow   ISRIA: Maldives - President meets with Russian Ambassador Interfax: Application of the death penalty in Russia is impossible - the

representative of the State Duma in the Constitutional Court RIA: Top Russian court set to rule on death penalty moratorium Russia Today: Top Russian court to consider capital punishment return Russia Today: Medvedev’s administration head quits post at swimming federation Itar-Tass: Russia to launch vaccination against new flu Reuters: Russia fires police YouTube whistleblower RIA: Russian police officer who asked Putin for corruption probe fired UPI: Web video triggers Russian investigation Russia Today: Soyuz rocket to bring new module to ISS Iafrica.com: Rockets set for Guiana - The first Russian rockets to be fired into

space next year from a space centre in distant South America were on Saturday to begin the long voyage to the launch site from Saint Petersburg.

AFP: 11 Presumed Dead After Russian Military Plane Crash AFP: Four rebels killed in Caucasus clash Itar-Tass: 4 militants killed in Karachayevo-Cherkessia, 1 policeman injured NY Times: An Oasis Is No Match for Bulldozers and Bureaucrats Angus-reid.com: One-in-Four Russians See Putin Personality Cult Telegraph.co.uk: Is it possible to work in Russia without paying bribes? - Russia

Now The Moscow Times: Lawyer Says Markelov Suspect Acted Alone Russia profile: Found: Two Double Murderers? - Two former members of an

obscure neo-Nazi organization have been arrested for the murder of Stanislav Markelov and Natalia Baburova, Russian media have reported. But is it not just the slightest bit suspicious that somebody chose to leak this information on Russia’s Day of National Unity, which has been adopted by Russia’s far right?

Two former members of an obscure neo-Nazi organization have been arrested for the murder of Stanislav Markelov and Natalia Baburova, Russian media have reported. But is it not just the slightest bit suspicious that somebody chose to leak this information on Russia’s Day of National Unity, which has been adopted by Russia’s far right?

The Moscow Times: RusAl Accused of ‘Terror’ Campaign - Vedomosti said RusAl and its lawyers were bombarding its journalists with threatening cell phone calls and e-mails after it published a front-page article on Oct. 26 that contained information from a closed-door investors meeting where RusAl announced its 2008 results.

National Economic Trends Fxstreet.com: Russia Central Bank May Buy Gold From State Depository -Report Reuters: Russia c.bank may cut rates again in '09, buy gold Reuters: Russia c.bank shifts bid level-dealers Bloomberg: Ruble Gains to 2009 High Versus Dollar on Advancing Oil, G-20

Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions Reuters: Russian markets -- Factors to Watch on Nov 9 RenCap: Putin calls for Russian energy minister to adhere to 10% limit on

regulated tariff growth RenCap: Evraz gets green light to buy Vanady-Tula The Moscow Times: RusAl, Goldman Part Ways Detnews.com: General Motors tries to restart deal with Magna in Russia Russia Profile: Shifting in Reverse - After Seeing Its Hopes Dashed, Can Russia

Salvage Any Good News Out of the Collapse of the Opel Deal? WSJ: Mitsubishi Corp: Bought 40% Of Russia's Rolf Import Bloomberg: Mitsubishi Buys 40% Stake in Russia’s Rolf Import, Nikkei Says WSJ: Audi Plans To Almost Double Russia Sales By 2015 RBC: Svyazinvest's creditors may require early debt repayment

Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory) Steel Guru: Oil start receiving from Odesa refinery in Ukraine - Mr Oleksiy Bibik Bloomberg: Russia’s Sistema in Talks to Acquire Russneft, Kommersant Says Reuters: Russia's Sistema eyes oil firm Russneft – paper

Gazprom Gazprom reports its consolidated interim condensed financial results under

International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for the six months ended 30 June 2009

Upstreamonline: Demand boost pays off for Gazprom Bloomberg: Gazprom Cuts Gas Purchases 52% on Turkmen Import Halt

(Update1) RIA: Gazprom's IFRS net profit dwindles y-o-y to $10.5 bln in 1H09 Bloomberg: Gazprom Second-Quarter Net Falls 36% to 192.6 Billion Rubles Reuters: UPDATE 1-Gazprom Q2 profit falls 36 pct, beats f'cast BBC: Gazprom sees 50% drop in profits RIA: Gazprom confirms Ukraine's gas payment for October Interfax: Gazprom has confirmed payment by Naftogaz of Ukraine "of October of

gas

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Full Text Articles

Basic Political Developments

RIA: Geneva set to host U.S., Russia strategic arms reduction talks http://en.rian.ru/world/20091109/156760087.html

01:4009/11/2009

MOSCOW, November 9 (RIA Novosti) - Another round of talks between Moscow and Washington to conclude the U.S.-Russian strategic arms reduction negotiations on replacing the outdated START I treaty will open on Monday in Switzerland's Geneva.

START I (the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), the basis for Russian-U.S. strategic nuclear disarmament, is valid until December 5. The two countries' presidents have expressed hope that a new pact will be ready before it expires.

The outlines of the new pact were agreed during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama's summit in Moscow in July and include cutting both countries' nuclear arsenals to 1,500-1,675 operational warheads and delivery vehicles to 500-1,000.

START I commits the parties to reduce their nuclear warheads to 6,000 and their delivery vehicles to 1,600 each. In 2002, a follow-up strategic arms reduction agreement was concluded in Moscow. The document, known as the Moscow Treaty, envisioned cuts to 1,700-2,200 warheads by December 2012.

TheNews.com.pk: Russia, US seek new N-deal

http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=207502

Monday, November 09, 2009

GENEVA: Russian and US negotiators meet here on Monday for the start of what could be the final round of talks to renew a landmark nuclear disarmament treaty a month before it expires. “We hope that this will be the last round and that by December 5 we will have agreed a new accord,” said Russian foreign ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko.

“Both sides are aware of the responsibility they have shouldered and are doing everything to achieve the necessary results. There is progress.” Negotiations on the landmark 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) had largely stalled under George W Bush’s presidency.

However, Barack Obama’s arrival in the White House and his recent announcement to scrap missile shield plans in eastern Europe have lent fresh impetus for negotiations to move forward.

A Kremlin source quoted in the Russian press said the two Cold War foes are even planning to sign the accord before Obama receives his Nobel Peace Prize on December 10, marking a major foreign policy achievement for the US leader. Signals from Moscow have been largely positive, with Russia saying on Thursday that the latest US proposal on START was “constructive.”

Washington has been comparatively mum on the subject, but it too said in October that

there had been “progress” in the marathon negotiations.

Following a visit to Moscow by White House national security adviser James Jones, Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that the parties have found compromise on two key points.

Those areas involve limits on the numbers of ballistic missile carriers and the way in which the new treaty should address the issue of anti-missile defence.

A major issue hampering progress in negotiations has been Moscow’s insistence for the new deal to impose deep cuts in the number of carriers capable of delivering nuclear warheads.

“Lower limits must be set on the number of strategic carriers. This means ground-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) and heavy bombers,” said Nesterenko on Friday. “The treaty must also adequately reflect the linkage between strategic offensive and defensive weapons.

This is extremely important since it will make up for the absence of an agreement on a missile defence shield.”

Observers were positive on the negotiations. “I think it is fully possible to conclude a treaty by the end of the year,” said Vladimir Dvorkin, a retired Russian general who is now an expert at the Centre for International Security in Moscow.

“I think there are still problems related to verification systems — inspections and confidence measures — but a solution to them is possible,” added Dvorkin, a former Soviet arms control negotiator who took part in the original START talks.

At a Moscow summit in July, Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev agreed to each reduce their nuclear arsenal to between 1,500 and 1,675 warheads within seven years. They also agreed cuts on the number of ballistic missile carriers to between 500 and 1,100.

RIA: APEC summit to see discussion of North Korean nuclear programhttp://en.rian.ru/world/20091109/156763756.html

11:0909/11/2009

SINGAPORE, November 9 (RIA Novosti) - APEC leaders will discuss North Korea's nuclear program on the sidelines of a two-day summit in Singapore, the head of the Russian delegation at six-party talks on the issue has told RIA Novosti.

"It stands to reason that we intend to put to use possible contacts with our colleagues from China, South Korea, Japan, the United States and other countries to compare our

positions on the sidelines of the summit, including [our views] on the Korean Peninsula nuclear problem," Alexei Borodavkin said.

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum meetings began on Sunday and will culminate in a summit on November 14-15.

Borodavkin, who is also a Russian deputy foreign minister, said although the development of trade and economic cooperation remained the main focus of APEC gatherings, leaders of the organization's member states would not pass up the opportunity to discuss regional security issues

"However, it is not usual practice to discuss critical political problems with all APEC participants during our meetings," Borodavkin added.

APEC comprises 21 states, including Australia, Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Russia, South Korea, Singapore, the United States, and Japan.

The Kremlin earlier said that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev would meet with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on the sidelines of the summit. U.S. President Barack Obama is also due to attend.

Six-party talks involving the two Koreas, the U.S., Russia, Japan and China on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula ground came to a halt in April when North Korea walked out of negotiations in protest against the United Nations' condemnation of its missile tests.

The country is banned from conducting nuclear or ballistic tests under UN Resolution 1718, adopted after North Korea's first nuclear test on October 9, 2006.

However, Pyongyang carried out a second nuclear test on May 25 this year, followed by a series of short-range missile launches, and has threatened to build up its nuclear arsenal to counter what it calls hostile U.S. policies. The move led to the UN imposing new sanctions on North Korea banning the import and export of nuclear material and all weapons except small arms.

The North recently hinted that it was willing to return to multilateral talks, but insisted it first negotiate directly with the United States to repair "hostile relations."

Meanwhile, North Korea said last week it had "successfully completed the reprocessing of 8,000 spent fuel rods" by late August and seen "remarkable achievements in weaponizing extracted plutonium to strengthen North Korea's nuclear deterrence."

Itar-Tass: Medvedev to attend 20th anniversary of Berlin Wall Fall

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=14510090&PageNum=0

09.11.2009, 01.23

MOSCOW, November 9 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev accepted an invitation made by German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel and will visit Germany on Monday. He will attend international top-level events, which are dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall Fall and will probably meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

“Attending a ceremony on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall Fall, we want to note the need for breaking other walls, which have emerged in Europe in the last few years. This visit is in line with Dmitry Medvedev’s initiative to sign a new European security treaty,” Russian presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko told Itar-Tass.

President Dmitry Medvedev regretted that after the reunification of Germany Russia got NATO missiles aimed at it instead of integration into Europe.

“After the fall of the Berlin Wall there were hopes that did not come true and there were hopes that came true,” Medvedev said in an interview with Der Spiegel on November 7.

“The hopes that came true are clear: Europe is united, there is a single German state even though this process was not smooth. As for what did not come true, we thought that Russia’s place in Europe would be determined somewhat differently after the fall of the Berlin Wall. We hoped that the disintegration of the Warsaw Pact would be accompanied by a different degree of Russia’s integration into pan-European space. But what have we got as a result? NATO is after all a bloc whose missiles are aimed at Russian territory, it’s a military bloc,” Medvedev said, referring to the alliance’s eastward expansion.

He believes it important to sign a European security treaty. Its idea is “to create a forum” where such problems could be discussed “both by NATO member states and European countries that are not NATO members”. “Otherwise, non-NATO states will not feel quite comfortable anyway,” he added.

“I am not saying that this treaty should be opposed to NATO. It’s just that we need to create a universal mechanism that will allow is to communicate, discuss the most complex situations and how to overcome our inner European disagreements over certain issues,” Medvedev said.

“Medvedev is not expected to have a separate meeting with Angela Merkel, the hostess of the anniversary events, but the possibility for a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy is explored,” Prikhodko said.

RIA: Medvedev to arrive in Berlin to attend "fall of wall" celebrationshttp://en.rian.ru/russia/20091109/156758986.html

00:3509/11/2009

MOSCOW, November 9 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is arriving in Berlin on Monday to take part in events marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko earlier said the Russian leader was invited to attend the celebrations by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. He also said Medvedev was expected to meet in Berlin with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton, ex-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and other top officials are also expected to attend the events.

The Berlin Wall, which was erected in 1961 in order to divide the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from the Federal Republic of Germany, was the symbol of the Iron Curtain between Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc for decades.

After its erection, around 5,000 people successfully climbed, tunneled under or flew over the wall into West Germany. Estimates as to the number of people who lost their lives while trying to escape range from 98 to 200.

The fall of the wall on November 9, 1989, was the first step toward German reunification, which was formally concluded on October 3, 1990. The wall fell after Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev had introduced the policy of perestroika in the USSR, which led to a wave or revolutionary sentiments across Eastern Europe.

On November 9, the Festival of Freedom is to be held in Berlin, during which over 1,000 foam domino tiles over 8 feet tall will be stacked along the former route of the wall in the city center and toppled.

Medvedev told German media recently that the fall of the Berlin Wall was a positive event, but not all the hopes that arose after it came down were realized.

"The Berlin Wall was always a symbol of the division of Europe," he said. "Its fall was seen as a continuation of the path to European unity."

"Some of the hopes that I and people in my country had then were realized, and some were not," Medvedev said.

Bloomberg: Putin Says Berlin Wall’s Fall Spurred Russian-German ‘Trust’http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ayOWlPpeoYz4

By Maria Kolesnikova

Nov. 8 (Bloomberg) -- The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and reunification the following year transformed Germany’s relations with Russia, bringing “a feeling of trust and gratitude,” Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said.

“It’s one of the foundation stones in our relations,” Putin said in an interview today with Russia’s NTV television channel, according to the transcript posted on the government Web site. “There is an understanding that we need each other.”

Germany is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall’s opening on Nov. 9, an event that brought an end to communist rule in East Germany and prepared the way for reunification less than a year later, on Oct. 3, 1990.

Putin cited the Nord Stream AG venture to build a natural- gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany as an example of bilateral co-operation, saying that he hoped to convince European countries to approve the project.

Nord Stream, a joint Russian-German venture 51 percent owned by Russian state-owned gas monopoly OAO Gazprom and chaired by former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, won Swedish permission on Nov. 5, and Denmark’s on Oct. 20. Germany takes 37 percent of its natural gas from Russia, the biggest foreign customer of Russian gas.

KGB Agent

Putin served as a KGB agent in Dresden, East Germany, between 1985 and 1990 and was responsible for collecting information on political parties, leaders and future policies, as well as recruiting agents. A lawyer by training, he was handpicked by late President Boris Yeltsin as his successor on Dec. 31, 1999, and served as president until 2008.

Recounting his first impressions of East Germany in 1985, Putin said he was struck by the difference with the Soviet Union, where perestroika had started and changes were brewing.

“People lived as if nothing was happening,” said Putin, who speaks fluent German. “I had the impression that I’d come to a country that was some relic of the Soviet system of past years, even earlier than the 1970s.”

In 1989, when public protests accelerated in East Germany and rioters stormed the offices of the Ministry for State Security in Dresden, Putin said he was among those who tried to prevent them from attacking Soviet Army facilities.

“There was no conflict,” Putin said. “We explained to them that the building belongs to the Soviet Army and we have the right to be there.”

Protecting Interests

During German reunification, Russia “might have done something differently to protect our interests,” he said, without elaborating.

In a book published in 2000, Putin said that he “felt sorry” the Soviet Union lost its position in Europe.

“I realized that the position based on walls and dividing lines can’t exist forever,” Putin said in the book, ‘From the First Person: Conversations with Vladimir Putin.’ “But I wished something else would replace it. And nothing else was offered. And that’s what hurts. We just left everything and walked out.”

President Dmitry Medvedev, Putin’s successor, said in an interview released yesterday with German news magazine Der Spiegel that after the fall of the wall he’d hoped for “a somewhat different place for Russia in Europe,” including better integration and guaranteed security.

Putin told NTV that he took “partial” credit for the warm ties with Germany, the country’s biggest trading partner. He said he enjoyed “excellent” personal and working relationships with Chancellors Helmut Kohl, Schroeder and Angela Merkel.

“What had to happen, happened,” Putin said of the events of 1989 and 1990. “Dividing the nation had no future. It was obvious to me that it’s impossible to hold back a nation in the modern world.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Maria Kolesnikova in Moscow at mkolesnikova@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 8, 2009 11:39 ESTAFP: History weighs heavy in Russia's ties with Eastern Europehttp://www.expatica.com/de/news/german-news/History-weighs-heavy-in-Russia_s-ties-with-Eastern-Europe--_57938.html

New geopolitical choices such as Eastern European countries entering NATO, and Poland and the Czech Republic consenting to host elements of a US missile shield have exasperated Moscow, which blames the influence of Washington.

Moscow -- Two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, relations remain tense between Russia and the former Eastern bloc countries, as Moscow blames the European Union for blocking a rapprochement."These relations are tainted with memories on both sides that can't be smoothed over so quickly," said Maria Lipman, an expert at the Carnegie Centre in Moscow."Eastern European countries are building up their new identity by insisting on their return to Europe after Communist subjection. Russia, on the other hand, is going through the loss of its status as a superpower," Lipman said.Russian society hasn't made an "effort of memory" to come to terms with its Soviet past, said Denis Volkov, a sociologist at the independent Levada centre.

This may explain why Russia rejects any alternative historical interpretations of World War II and refuses to investigate the massacre of Polish officers on Stalin's orders at Katyn in 1940.These resentments weigh heavy on bilateral relations and make it harder for Moscow to achieve a rapprochement with the European Union, whose members include most of the other former Communist countries in Eastern Europe.Important negotiations between Russia and the European Union on a partnership agreement have been blocked for two years over Russia's ban on imports of Polish meat.New geopolitical choices such as Eastern European countries entering NATO, and Poland and the Czech Republic consenting to host elements of a US missile shield have exasperated Moscow, which blames the influence of Washington.Poland and the Baltic States are also at the forefront of opposition to the Nord Stream, the gas pipeline that would connect Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea, seeing this as a way for Moscow to bypass them.Furthermore, these countries support the pro-Western regimes in Ukraine and Georgia, which Moscow still considers more or less a region where it should hold sway."Russia doesn't believe in the independence of the former satellites of the Soviet Union, considering that if they don't depend on us any more, then they depend on others," Volkov said.This hostility towards "traitors" and hirelings of Washington is also promoted by Russia's state-controlled television and shared by the public, which is used to anti-American slogans of the Soviet era, Volkov added.Vladimir Kumachyov, an expert at the Russian Academy of Sciences, defended this world view."In order to serve the United States, the new Europe is entering a confrontation with Russia," he said. "Washington doesn't want to see Russia grow closer to the European Union, since this would make Europe more independent from America.""Poland, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic sabotage energy projects and oppose the entry of Russian business into their countries, to the detriment of enterprises that the Russians could have saved," he complained.As for the more friendly countries, such as Serbia, analysts explain increasing contacts as the results of pragmatic mutual interests in the energy sector.The conflict in Georgia has shown that "Russia has no allies," Lipman said. Even Belarus, the former Soviet republic that is closest to Russia, has failed to recognize the independence of the two separatist regions in Georgia, she said.AFP/Expatica

The Moscow Times: The Wall That Changed Modern History http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/the-wall-that-changed-modern-history/389045.html

09 November 2009By Yevgeny Kiselyov

Monday marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and this is a good time to look at the lessons we learned from it.

I recall how I walked into work one day about six weeks after the Berlin Wall fell. A co-worker who was always joking around called out to me as I entered the room, “Have you heard the latest news? There was a revolution in Romania.” “Stop trying to play me for a fool,” I snapped back. “I was just in Romania, and there is no way a revolution could take hold there.” My colleague was offended. “I’m serious,” he said. “They really had a revolution. The army switched over to the demonstrators, and Ceausescu fled Bucharest on Dec. 22.”

That left me speechless. I was in Bucharest in the summer of 1989 attending a summit of Warsaw Pact leaders. As it turned out, this was their last gathering. During that summit, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev tried to convince the leaders of the satellite states to finally begin implementing political reforms. Nobody listened to him, especially not Romanian Communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu. At that time it seemed that the Romanian dictator’s regime would continue standing for years to come. Not a word of criticism directed at the regime was tolerated. Soldiers toting World War II-era Soviet machine guns stood on every corner, and where once the old neighborhoods of Bucharest had been, now stood gigantic new buildings and enormous vacant public squares. All of this created the impression of a regime standing very solidly on its feet.

Those feet turned out to be made of clay.

Another lesson I grasped at the time was that it is impossible to predict what seemingly trivial factor or incident is capable of sparking a major historical event. When Hungary and Austria opened their borders in 1989, they assumed that a certain number of East Germans would pass from Hungary into Austria and from there into West Germany. But nobody was prepared for the tens of thousands of East Germans who flooded through, causing traffic jams hundreds of kilometers long in their desire to reach West Germany at any cost. The impression created by the mass flight of East Germans from the “socialist paradise” was so strong that East German leader Erich Honecker quickly found himself  on a “well-deserved vacation,” which in Soviet parlance meant forced retirement.

Another lesson was that Moscow was ultimately doomed by its traditionally condescending attitude toward the Warsaw Pact leaders, typically saying, “Where could they possibly go to get away from us? We will pressure them, explain our actions, and they will understand and do everything just as we want.” The challenges and warnings Gorbachev issued went unheeded, East German leaders dug in their heels and steadfastly refused to make the slightest change to their domestic policies until the situation had grown out of their control. And when attempts were finally made to install a more moderate, reform-oriented leadership in East Germany, it was too late. At that point, the East Germans did not want to see another communist in power. The same scenario was repeated soon afterward in Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia.

Two days before the Berlin Wall fell, while most of the Soviet Union was celebrating the anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, an alternative demonstration was held in Moscow by people who wanted to see Gorbachev’s reforms extended and deepened. Gorbachev had no plans to leave the Communist Party, believed that it was possible to

build “socialism with a human face” and was therefore ready to celebrate the Nov. 7 holiday under the banner of democratic slogans. My late father loved to recall 1927, when he had only just arrived in Moscow as a boy, and how two separate rallies took place on Nov. 7 — one in support of Josef Stalin, and the other in support of the opposition headed by Leon Trotsky. In 1989, I was so struck by the fact that we were seeing the first such demonstration in Russia to have taken place in the last 60 years that whatever was happening in Europe at the time simply paled in comparison. And yet, how can one compare the significance of a march by several thousand people demonstrating for a “democratic Russia” with the fall of the Berlin Wall — a structure that had symbolized the division of the world into two competing systems, and the demolition of which led to a domino effect that caused one communist regime after another to fall in Eastern Europe?

But the Soviet Union had its own serious problems at the time. It was bogged down in a deep political and economic crisis, and was shocked by the determination shown by Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Georgia to break free from the Soviet Union. In addition, the Kremlin was deeply concerned about the first flare-ups of interethnic conflicts in the Caucasus and Central Asia. Soon-to-be President Boris Yeltsin was planning to launch a struggle for power over the Russian Federation, the largest of the 15 Soviet republics. Gorbachev was preparing for yet another confrontation with democratic opposition leader Andrei Sakharov, who spoke out stridently against the Soviet leadership that had grown increasingly slow, wavering and erratic. Nobody knew that Sakharov had only little over one month to live, that Gorbachev’s days in power were numbered, and that with his departure, the Soviet Union would cease to exist.

And certainly not a soul could have known during those fateful days in November 1989 that a fair-haired young man with the obscure surname of Putin — who, pistol in hand, had dispersed a crowd of demonstrators outside the building housing the Dresden branch of the Soviet KGB — would 10 years later become Russia’s second president.

Yevgeny Kiselyov is a political analyst and hosts a political talk show on Inter television in Ukraine.

The Moscow Times: Finding the Right Tone For Medvedev’s Speech http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/finding-the-right-tone-for-medvedevs-speech/389044.html

09 November 2009By Vladimir Frolov

New York Times columnist Tom Friedman recently wrote that U.S. President Barack Obama lacks a convincing narrative that would tie all the elements of his program and “enable each issue and each constituency to reinforce the other and evoke the kind of popular excitement that got him elected.”

This is also true for President Dmitry Medvedev.

It is not that Medvedev is lacking in effective communications. His use of modern technologies, like running his own Internet blog and online sourcing for his state-of-the-nation address, has won him the audiences that other Russian leaders never knew even existed.

It is not the problem with what Medvedev has to say. His “Go, Russia!” article contained an articulate vision for the country’s future based on innovation. The problem is that he has no narrative. With all the brilliant ideas that he has put forward, he is yet to create a national excitement, much less a popular drive for public sacrifice.

“Modernization” should be Medvedev’s narrative, but the cautious and technocratic way that he talks about it makes it sound like a corporate business plan. It does not feel like a cause that everyone can relate to or be inspired by. Nor does it move people into a call to public duty.

If he were to present modernization as a question of life and death for the country, he would be saying, “We run out of oil in 30 years, and if we don’t learn how to make things that other people would want to buy from us, we are ruined!”

There are reasons for alarm. Russia is becoming a declining, second-tier power. The crisis has forced many economists and analysts to question whether BRIC should be shortened to BIC.

As he puts the finishing touches on his address to the nation on Thursday, Medvedev needs to decide whether he wants to make his regular smart speech, or should he go for the jugular and ask Russians to sacrifice for their country for a generation to come to bridge the “modernization divide” with leading powers.

Medvedev’s first deputy chief of staff, Vladislav Surkov, recently said a country where there is no vibrant intellectual activity is a boring place to live in and if Russia did not modernize, its future would be bleak. This sounds more like a narrative that the president himself should be making.

Vladimir Frolov is president of LEFF Group, a government-relations and PR company.

ISNA: Uranium enrichment is Iran's "irrefutable right", says Russia Deputy FMhttp://www.isna.ir/ISNA/NewsView.aspx?ID=News-1435489&Lang=E

ISNA - Tehran Service: Nuclear Energy

TEHRAN (ISNA)-Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said uranium enrichment is Iran's "irrefutable right" and a sign of the country's "wise behavior."

In a meeting with Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili in Tehran, Ryabkov supported Iran's view that talks for supplying fuel for Tehran's research reactor are only for economic purposes and expressed hope the dialogues will bear fruitful results.

Ryabkov also called for expansion of Tehran-Moscow ties in all sections.

"Islamic Republic of Iran is an important and influential country in the international scene and improving Tehran-Moscow relations is of high importance for Russia."

Jalili on his part pointed out to Iran's "positive" and "strategic" approach in talks with the P5+1 Group and warned," certain powers are trying to impose the cost of their wrong behavior on other countries."

Jalili added, "Tehran still welcomes continuous talks on its package of proposals."

He stressed that talks on fuel for Tehran's research reactor seek only economic purposes and added, "Iran's technical and economic views on the issue should be taken into account."

End Item

VOA: Russia-Iran Relations Balancing on Nuclear Issue http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-11-09-voa4.cfm

By Edward Yeranian Cairo09 November 2009

A senior Iranian lawmaker has warned Russia that continuing to delay the delivery of a missile-defense system to Iran will harm relations between the two countries. The comments were made as Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was scheduled to visit Tehran.

The head of the Iranian parliament's national security committee, Alaedin Borujurdi, is warning Russia that any further delay in fulfilling a contract to sell an anti-aircraft missile-defense system to Tehran would "seriously damage" relations between the countries.

A Russian contract to sell sophisticated S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Iran has yet to be fulfilled, amid behind the scenes bickering between both countries.  The United States and other Western nations strongly oppose the sale of advanced Russian missiles to Tehran.

But Borujurdi, says a Western-backed nuclear deal to supply Tehran with highly enriched uranium is still on the table. He indicates Tehran wants to change a key provision in the

deal calling for Iran to ship 80 percent of its low-enriched uranium abroad immediately, in return for a supply of more highly enriched uranium, later.

He offered a "limited exchange" deal in which Tehran would receive quantities of highly enriched uranium at the outset in exchange for a less substantial portion of its low-grade uranium.

Meanwhile, al Arabiya TV reports Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov is visiting Tehran and met Said Jalili, the head of Iran's National Security Council.

Ryabkov has taken a part in nuclear negotiations between Tehran and the West, repeatedly urging patience with the Islamic Republic.

Saturday, Russian President Dimitri Medvedev told the German Der Spiegel magazine he would prefer to avoid the prospects of imposing further sanctions on Tehran, but that the prospect could not be excluded if nuclear talks fail.

Meir Javedanfar of the MEEPAS center in Tel Aviv says Russia has a great deal to lose if economic sanctions are imposed on Tehran and that it may be trying to avoid that prospect. "The Russian government is concerned that the recent deal offered to Iran is falling apart, because statements coming from Iran, which suggest that the fuel has to be shipped in smaller batches, plays contrary to the spirit of that agreement and as far as many countries of the West are concerned, it is a deal-breaker.  And should that finally happen and the whole deal falls through, Russia would be the country who could lose the most, because it would be put in the very difficult position where it would have to chose between its business interests with Iran and its relations with the West," he said.

Russia is in the process of helping Tehran build a much delayed civilian nuclear power plant at Bushehr.  

Russia Today: G20 tees off into post recessionary economic outlookhttp://www.russiatoday.com/Business/2009-11-09/g20-scotland-recession-economy.html/print

09 November, 2009, 10:26

The world's economy is in better shape than it was, but it’s still too soon to give it the all clear. That was the assessment of the G-20 Finance Ministers' Meeting over the weekend.

It was outside the Scottish coastal town of St Andrews that finance ministers hoped to bring about a sea-change in the way international economic policy is made.

At the top of the agenda was putting into place a mechanism for the world’s key economies to assess each other, in conjunction with the International Monetary Fund.

Agreement was reached on that, but, according to Russian Finance Minister Aleksey Kudrin, the key issue concerning to what extent countries will participate still hangs in the balance.

“It is important that the US and China will participate in these discussions and general assessments. The most important question is whether the countries will be ready to respond to those assessments and recommendations.”

And although basic agreements were reached, Pavel Pikuyev, an analyst at Trust Bank, says the meeting lacked the urgency of its predecessors.

“We will either see a slow but persistent recovery in the frame of the current economic system or we’ll see a huge downturn and this way it will be global circumstances, global economy which will make us to make decision. But as of now, it seems that the economy is turning back to growth.”

The hoped-for agreement on financing the fight against climate changed didn’t come. Countries recognized that there was a need to create a fund for new technologies to power greener economies, but Kudrin added they couldn’t agree on the role developing nations should play.

“What Russia might need is access to technologies but the modernization of the economy we will do it ourselves. It is our CIS neighbors that will need help and we will ensure that they get it.”

One thing G20 nations do agree on is it’s not yet time to stop the economic stimulus packages. Russia will continue to use state money to fuel growth and keep the jobless rate down.

The goal of this meeting was to implement the strategies agreed on in Pittsburg to reform the global economy so another crisis is prevented. But despite warnings against complacency from various leaders ahead of the gathering, one is left with the feeling that finance ministers are putting the ball along the fairway.

The Moscow Times: Kudrin Cool to G20 Stimulus Pledge http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/kudrin-cool-to-g20-stimulus-pledge/389046.html

09 November 2009By Aaron Mulvihill

Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said Saturday that it was time to begin discussing the eventual withdrawal of economic stimulus packages, after his G20 colleagues pledged to keep their support in place until a global economic recovery is assured.

G20 finance chiefs and central bank governors, meeting in St. Andrews, Scotland, cited concerns over high unemployment and uneven growth in a communique released Saturday after the two-day summit.

“With the currents of growth that have started, we already need to consider the exit strategies,” Kudrin told reporters.

He also said he was concerned that asset price bubbles might materialize because of massive rapid capital inflows. “We need to be very careful with this huge amount of injected liquidity,” he said Saturday.

While Russia, among others, slipped out of recession in the third quarter, the forum warned of “variations in the pace of economic recovery and market conditions across countries” and elected to maintain broad emergency support measures until sustainable growth returns.

“Recovery is uneven and remains dependent on policy support, and high unemployment is a major concern,” G20 ministers said.

At its last summit, held in Pittsburgh, the Group of 20 industrialized and emerging economies agreed to develop a coordinated approach to growth, but agreement beyond broad pledges has proved elusive.

The framework hammered out at this weekend’s meeting allows for continued emergency support while gradually shifting the focus from crisis response to sustained growth. The member states committed to present economic plans for common scrutiny by the end of January.

Kudrin was dismissive of a suggestion by the British hosts that a flat tax be introduced on banking transactions to create a reserve fund for future bailouts. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called for debate on the issue, arguing for an “economic and social contract” that would lessen the burden of bank bailouts on taxpayers.

But Kudrin said he was “skeptical of such tactics,” and slammed Brown as a politician who is “well known for always raising taxes.” U.S. and Canadian finance officials also criticized the British proposal.

There was general agreement, however, that the financial sector should somehow “contribute to paying for burdens associated with government interventions to repair the banking system,” according to the communique.

The G20 failed to reach agreement on the financing of environmental programs in the developing world, ahead of a major United Nations meeting on climate change in Copenhagen next month.

Asked whether Russia would contribute to an EU-led fund to curb emissions in developing economies, Kudrin said Moscow might provide technological assistance. “Our CIS neighbors will need help, and we will act to ensure that the CIS countries, those in Central and Eastern Europe, countries with low revenues, get the most help.”

He also cautioned against “piling commitments onto developing countries,” which he said could jeopardize efforts to eradicate poverty.

http://www.prime-tass.com/news/show.asp?topicid=0&id=467508

Prime-Tass: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development President Thomas Mirow to visit Moscow until Nov 10

RBC: Austrian Chancellor to visit Moscow

http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20091109115429.shtml

      RBC, 09.11.2009, Moscow 11:54:29.Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will hold an official meeting with Austria's Chancellor Werner Faymann on Tuesday, the Russian leader's press office reported today. Faymann will arrive in Moscow for a two-day official visit.

The Peninsula Qatar: Austria-Russia energy talks this week http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Business_News&subsection=market+news&month=November2009&file=Business_News2009110803113.xml

Web posted at: 11/8/2009 0:31:13Source ::: Reuters Moscow: Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann will travel to Moscow this week for talks with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin over a proposed gas pipeline. The South Stream project, promoted by Russian gas monopoly Gazprom and Italian group ENI, would carry Russian gas under the Black Sea to Bulgaria. Two routes - a northerly one towards Austria and a southerly one towards Greece - are being considered for the rest of the pipeline. South Stream is seen as a rival to the Nabucco project, advocated by the European Union, which would run a pipeline to the EU from the Caspian Sea and reduce Europe’s dependency on Russian gas. Before meeting Putin on Wednesday, Faymann will hold talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday.

Itar-Tass: Vice-Premier Sobyanin starts working visit to India

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=14509161

08.11.2009, 20.11

NEW DELHI, November 8 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Sobyanin has arrived in India on a working visit aimed to prepare the Russian-Indian summit in Moscow this December.

The Russian cochairman of the Intergovernmental Commission for Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation will meet with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Foreign Minister Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath and Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora.

Sobyanin will address delegates to the Indian Economic Summit in New Delhi and decorate with Russian state awards Indian citizens at the Russian embassy. The awards are bestowed for the development of bilateral relations and partnership.

The vice-premier will visit the Tamil Nadu state and the Kudankulam nuclear power plant under construction by India and Russia’s Atomstroyexport. The major bilateral project will operate two units, each of 1,000 megawatt.

The NPP capacity will at least triple with the construction of another four reactors in keeping with the agreement reached during the Indian visit of President Dmitry Medvedev last December.

Sobyanin will visit the Indian high tech center, Bangalore, to take a look at leading IT and biotechnology companies and to attend the launch of a regional MTS network. A subsidiary of the Russian AFK Sistema strengthens its positions on the Indian mobile phone market under the MTS brand.

IANS: Ahead of PM's visit, India, Russia hold talkshttp://www.samaylive.com/news/ahead-of-pms-visit-india-russia-hold-talks/666693.html

(Source: IANS)Published: Mon, 09 Nov 2009 at 14:09 IST

New Delhi: Ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Russia next month, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Sobyanin Monday held talks with External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna on a host of issues, ranging from civil nuclear energy and defence ties to trade and terrorism. Sobyanin, who arrived here on a four-day visit Sunday, co-chaired the meeting of the Indo-Russian Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC) with Krishna.

The two sides decided to give a fresh impetus to sluggish trade ties that remain much below potential despite strong political ties between them.

The Indian side pressed for a streamlined visa regime, specially fast-track processing of business visas that could be a key factor in spurring bilateral trade from $7 billion to $20 billion by 2015.

They discussed an entire spectrum of bilateral relations, including expanding civil nuclear cooperation, new defence deals and prospects of greater Indian stakes in Russia's hydrocarbon sector.

The volatile situation in violence-torn Afghanistan and the common threat of extremism in the region also figured prominently in the discussions, official sources said.

Sobyanin will call on Manmohan Singh later in the day.

Manmohan Singh heads for Russia early December for a two-day visit to hold the annual summit meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

Two military pacts, including a 10-year deal on weapons, aircraft and maintenance contracts estimated to be around $5 billion, are expected to be signed during the prime minister's visit.

The pacts were agreed during Defence Minister A.K. Antony's visit to Moscow last month.

RIA: Russia submits energy security proposals to EU – paperhttp://en.rian.ru/russia/20091109/156764193.html

11:4409/11/2009MOSCOW, November 9 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Energy Ministry has submitted to the European Commission proposals on an early warning system against disruptions in energy supplies to Europe, a Russian business daily said on Monday.

"I have made the final amendments [to the memorandum], and we have submitted it to Director for Security at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Energy and Transport, Marjeta Jager," Russian Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Yanovsky said.

He told the paper he was ready to start negotiations any time so that Russia-EU energy dialogue coordinators could sign a deal on November 18.

The mechanism at the center of the proposal is based on bilateral energy relations between Russia and the EU, with the opinion of energy transiting countries to be taken into account only with the approval of Russia as an energy supplier and Europe as a consumer, Kommersant said.

According to the paper, the Russian proposals are mostly aimed at preventing energy tapping or unsanctioned energy transit cuts, as well as emergency measures in case of a pipeline failure.

The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's department for cooperation with Europe, Vladimir Voronkov, told Kommersant on Sunday that the signing of the deal as soon as possible would thwart gas conflicts and prevent problems with Russian natural gas supplies to European consumers.

However, some experts doubted the Russian energy proposal would help settle the Ukrainian gas issue.

"If the standoff continues within Ukraine's executive branch, Russia-EU commissions will be of no use at all," Konstantin Simonov, director of the Moscow National Energy Security Foundation told the paper.

Mikhail Korchemkin, who heads the U.S.-based East European Gas Analysis, also pointed out that the EU or Russia would still be unable to influence Ukraine, which would not be involved in the scheme.

The proposal names Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko and EU Commissioner for Energy Andris Piebalgs as coordinators, according to Kommersant.

Tehran Times: Russia, Slovenia could sign deal on South Stream next week

http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=207491

SARAJEVO (RIA Novosti) - Ljubljana and Moscow have finalized an agreement to take the South Stream gas pipeline through Slovenia and could sign it in Moscow next week, a Slovenian paper reported on Saturday. Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor is expected to visit Moscow for talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, next Saturday. His visit will coincide with the first playoff between Slovenia and Russia for a 2010 World Cup qualifier.

In an interview with the Dnevnik paper, Janez Kopac, acting director general of the Energy Directorate at the Slovenian Ministry of Economic Affairs, said the two countries could sign the South Stream deal on the day of the match.

“We can confirm that after extensive talks with Russia we have reached agreement,” Kopac said.

Pahor said the talks led by Economy Minister Matej Lahovnik had been tough. He said issues related to taxation and the security of Russian investment and assets have yet to be solved.

Pahor and Putin met in Gdansk in early September and urged efforts to speed up talks on South Stream.

Russian energy giant Gazprom and Slovenia’s Geoplin Plinovodi will each hold a 50% stake in a joint venture to be set up under the deal, according to Kopac.

“Under EU rules, the new company should provide access to the pipeline to other players on the gas market

[third countries], and obtain approval from Brussels before starting to operate,” Dnevnik reported.

Slovenia is a member of the European Union.

The South Stream gas pipeline to carry gas to southeastern Europe is part of Russia’s efforts to cut dependence on transit nations. South Stream is a rival project to the EU-backed Nabucco, which would bypass Russia.

Yorkpress.co.uk: UK-Russia Closed Nuclear Cities Partnership delegation hails growth of science jobs in Yorkhttp://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/4727368.Russian_delegation_hails_growth_of_science_jobs_in_York/

7:54am Monday 9th November 2009

By Mike Laycock »

YORK has been hailed as an international example for economic success.

A delegation of Russians visited the city as part of a bid to create new employment for former nuclear weapons scientists and technicians.

The 22 Russians visited York Science Park as part of a fact-finding mission to the UK led by the UK-Russia Closed Nuclear Cities Partnership (CNCP) programme.

The programme was launched at the G8 summit in 2002 to combat the threat of nuclear proliferation, the key objective being to create sustainable job opportunities for former weapons workers by supporting technology-based civil enterprises.

Charles Monck, the organiser of the mission, said York had been selected as a “relevant and comparable model” to the Closed Nuclear Cities in Russia.

“York’s success in building up its knowledge economy is a good example of what can be achieved when cities take the initiative and adopt a targeted approach to developing their economies,” he said.

Imogen Foster, a spokeswoman for Science City York, said York’s selection to host the Russian delegation was a testament to the influence and value of the strategic partnership between the city and the University of York.

“It’s a pleasure to welcome the CNCP delegation to York and an important opportunity to evidence our achievements over the last decade.”

Tracey Smith, the Science Park’s general manager, said it was keen to continue developing international links and staff had been pleased to show the Russian delegation how it had become one of the key local drivers for economic growth. “York Science Park is seen as a world-class facility which now has over 1,400 people currently working on our 21-acre site, in 96 different technology and science-based companies,” she said.

The delegation comprised representatives from The Russian Federal Agency for Atomic Energy, leaders from the main nuclear research and production enterprises, mayors and senior administrative staff and business support agencies.

Their tour included a visit to Tissue Regenix, which is dedicated to the development of clinical solutions to the chronic shortfalls in donor tissue in areas such as vascular and orthopaedic medicine.

November 09, 2009 16:40 PM

Bernama.com: Russia To Be Represented Broadly At World Travel Market In London

http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=453696

LONDON, Nov 9 (Bernama) -- The joint delegation from Moscow, St. Petersburg and several Russian regions will represent the Russian tourist industry at the international tourist forum World Travel Market 2009 that will open in the British capital from Monday, Russian news agency, Itar-Tass, reported.

The 30th annual tourist forum will be held at one of the biggest present-day exhibition centres of the British capital ExCel from November 9 to 12.

Moscow and regional tourist businesses will be represented at the joint stand of the Moscow Committee for Tourism with an area of 258 square metres. Tens of tourist companies, hotels and museums, including Intourist, Mosturflot, Krugozor, Russian Tourist Resources, Metropol, National, Zolotoy Kolos, the Moscow state open-air museum Kolomenskoe and others, participate in the forum.

The tourism potential of Russian regions at the stand are presented by the All-Russia tourist coordination council Regions of Russia - Moscow Agreement, the Kaliningrad and Vladimir Regions, the Republic of Tatarstan and St. Petersburg.

Taking into account long-term mutually advantageous cooperation with the Moscow Committee for Tourism and participation of the Russian capital as an official partner in the preparation and holding of the exhibition-fair here in 2005, the London organising committee of the current forum provided the best place in the central part of the pavilion for the joint stand.

During one of the world's biggest tourist forums, the presentation of the 10th Moscow international tourist fair Tourism and Recreation and the Tourist Information Centre of Moscow will be held at the Moscow stand.

The permanent participation of the Russian capital and regions in the London forum is caused by "a growing interest of British tourists and tour operators in the history and culture of Moscow and Russia," chairman of the Moscow Committee for Tourism Grigory Antyufeyev said on the eve of the travel trade show.

The inflow of British tourists grows every year and the number of British tourists occupies a stable place among the top five foreign countries for the last seven years.

The construction of new hotels is one of the factors for a growing number of tourists, experts believe. The commissioning of new hotels makes them more competitive and makes Moscow hoteliers cut the price for hotel rooms. In the first half of the year six hotels for 1,450 visitors were commissioned in Moscow.

Nine hotels for 2,000 visitors are to be commissioned in the Central Administrative District of the Russian capital by the yearend. Twenty hotels will be opened in Moscow in 2009. Currently, 253 hotels for more than 80,000 guests operate in Moscow.

Focus: Sofia and Moscow, 20 years onhttp://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=a1031

9 November 2009 | 10:51 | AFPBulgaria's post-communist governments have boasted of their "pragmatic" ties with Moscow, "free from ideology", but 20 years after the fall of communism here, the politics of energy shape bilatleral relations.The ousting of dictator Todor Zhivkov, Bulgaria's longest ruling communist leader on November 10, 1989, a day after the fall of the Berlin Wall, put an end to "the eternal Bulgarian-Soviet friendship," allowing Sofia to join the European Union and NATO.But over 90 percent of the natural gas and 60 percent of the oil used in Bulgaria comes from Russia.The Neftochim oil refinery, the biggest in the Balkans located in the eastern Black Sea

city of Burgas, was bought in 1999 by Russian oil giant Lukoil.Meanwhile, its sole Soviet-built nuclear power plant in Kozloduy, on the Danube, runs on Russian fuel.A Russian company, Atomstroyexport, was contracted to build a second nuclear power plant at Belene, in which Moscow has proposed to buy a stake following the withdrawal of German utility RWE from the project.And while supporting the EU's Nabucco gas pipeline project, Sofia also joined the Russian-backed South Stream project to pump gas to Europe under the Black Sea, and the Burgas-Alexandrupolis pipeline to channel Russian oil between the Black Sea and the Aegean."Bulgaria cannot go without Russia where energy is concerned," noted a European diplomat in Sofia."But Russia also needs Bulgaria's strategic position in the Balkans, while Bulgaria's contacts and knowledge of Russia are useful to the EU," he added.Bulgaria, a Slavic and Orthodox country like Russia, was freed from centuries of Ottoman rule in 1878 by Russian Tsar Alexander II. A monument to the "Liberator" still stands opposite parliament in Sofia, and another to the Soviet army can be seen nearby.Nevertheless, Bulgaria was among the countries worst hit by the Russia-Ukraine price spat in January.The gas crisis that followed showed that it was the only EU country with no alternative to Russian gas supplies via Ukraine. Bulgaria's pipeline network also lacks key links to those of neighbouring Greece and Romania."The wars in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s pushed investors away from the region, while economic difficulties during the transition from communism did not allow the country to invest in diversifying its energy sources," explained Krasen Stanchev, president of the board of the Institute for Market Economy in Sofia.Bulgaria's dependence on Russia from the 1960s onwards resulted from the country's huge foreign debt, according to recently opened secret archives, noted Stanchev: thus, Zhivkov asked Moscow in 1963 and again in 1973 to accept it as a member of the Soviet Union. Moscow refused."Bulgaria did not become so economically dependent on Russia because it was Moscow's most faithful Soviet-era ally," noted Stanchev."It was the indebtedness, that it could not shake off until the very ousting of the regime, that dictated its faithfulness," he concluded.

Novinite.com: Moscow Refuses to Release 3 Bulgarians over Diplomatic Rowhttp://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=109744

Diplomacy | November 8, 2009, Sunday

Russian authorities have extended the detention of the three Bulgarian citizens, who were arrested on Friday in the wake of the Russian police raid into the Bulgarian Industrial Center in Moscow.

Nikola Nikolov, Kostadin Kostov and Krasimir Velchev are connected with the Bulgarian company “Millenium 2001”, whose offices and rented apartments at the

Bulgarian Industrial Center in Moscow were targeted by the Russian police forces on Thursday.

They will be kept behind bars for another 72 hours so that investigators can collect more evidence on the allegations of producing piracy CDs and software.

The Bulgarians have protested their innocence and have hired lawyers to defend them.

The court first hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday.

The police raid on the Bulgarian Industrial Center in Moscow left Bulgaria and Russia tangled in a dispute over its diplomatic immunity.

Bulgaria’s Ambassador to Russia, Plamen Grozdanov, stated the two countries were holding negotiations over the status of the buildings of the Bulgarian Industrial Center in Moscow.

In his words, Bulgaria and Russia have been negotiating for years for the status of a number of real estate properties.

Bulgaria says the Industrial Center enjoys diplomatic immunity, a claim that has been rejected by the Russian side.

It is not clear what items have been taken by the Russian police during their Thursday’s raid at the Bulgarian Industrial Center.

Businessneweurope: Russian into Europe's nuclear power sector

http://www.businessneweurope.eu/storyf1854/Russian_into_Europes_nuclear_power_sector

Nicholas Watson in Prague November 6, 2009

RWE's decision to pull out of the project to build a nuclear power plant in Bulgaria leaves the door open for the Russian state-owned Rosatom to finally get a toehold in Europe's nuclear power sector.

RWE's announcement on October 28 ended months of speculation that the German utility was having second thoughts about its involvement in the project to build a 2,000-megawatt nuclear power plant in Belene in northern Bulgaria. RWE had been picked in 2008 as the strategic partner to build and operate the plant in conjunction with the state-owned national electricity company NEK, which is now part of the country's energy holding company, BEH, which retained 51% in the project. RWE held the other 49%.

The terms of the deal required RWE to pay €500m for the project's structuring and to invest another €1.2bn during the initial stages of development. However, the global economic crisis was making financing for the project difficult, which in turn was inflating the cost of the project. In January, NEK signed a €4bn contract with Russia's state-owned nuclear engineering exporter Atomstroyexport to build the two 1,000-MW reactors. However, it was later disclosed by Atomstroyexport that delays in the project from the government's failure to provide financial guarantees had pushed up the estimated cost of construction to €6bn. Then after a new Bulgarian government was elected in July, its review of the country's various energy projects found that the cost of the whole project would actually probably be nearer €10bn.

At the same time, RWE's sums were showing that future revenues from the plant would be less than initially thought. According to Datamonitor, projections made in 2007 for power demand are now reckoned to be overly optimistic. "Without sufficient demand for power, baseload prices will remain below the minimum threshold necessary to render nuclear generation viable," Datamonitor says. "Belene would thus face excessive price risk in that one cannot easily turn off a nuclear power station, should baseload prices fall too low."

Furthermore, the economic crisis hit emerging Europe's economies hard, causing industrial output there to collapse. This in turn cut greenhouse gas emissions to such an extent that many utilities and corporations in the region are now long on carbon credits, eliminating the cost advantage that nuclear power enjoys over coal- or gas-fired generation.

Given that RWE hadn't yet put any money into the project because the government had dragged its feet over finalizing deals for project financing, engineering, delivery and construction, this was probably a good time to get out. This was also the third project in Central and Eastern Europe that RWE had pulled out of in as many weeks – it ended talks to buy a stake in the Polish utility Enea and withdrew from an LNG project in Croatia – suggesting the crisis has forced the German utility to focus on its core activities and market.

Harder work

RWE's withdrawal probably won't spell the end for the Belene project, but, as Bulgaria's Economy Minister Traicho Traikov admitted a day later, it certainly "makes things even harder." The next step, he said, would be to hold a transparent tender to hire a consultant for the project. After a consultant is selected, Bulgaria will see what investment interest there is and decide - with the consultant's help - what share package to offer a new strategic investor.

That new strategic investor will most likely be Russian. Earlier this year, as the economic crisis punched a hole in the country's finances, the government had put out feelers to sell down its 51% stake in the project, perhaps by 20-30%. Several foreign companies reportedly approached the government, but the only real interest came from Russia. On

October 30, Sergei Novikov, an advisor to the chief of the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, was quoted by newswires as saying that his company is still interested in holding a stake in the power plant regardless of WE's decision and expects to receive a proposal soon from the Bulgarian government regarding the terms and conditions of its participation in the plant's capital structure.

The presence of the Russians is no surprise to analysts. Ivan Koutsarov of IHS Global Insight notes that the Bulgarian state has already invested more than €1.2bn in the project, with construction work begun and equipment already ordered from Atomstroyexport. "It's highly unlikely that any credible western investor will be willing to commit to a majority stake in Belene, given that the framework of the project has already been laid down… This leaves Russia as the only viable foreign partner," Koutsarov says. "The financial difficulties of Belene may turn out to be an excellent opportunity for Russia to realise its objective of entering the EU nuclear power sector."

Emportal: Konuzin: Serbia to cooperate both with the EU and Russia http://www.emportal.rs/en/news/serbia/103781.html

09. November 2009. | 07:08

Source: EMportal

Serbia should be admitted to the EU, but it should also cooperate with Russia and should not forget it is a Slavic and Orthodox country, Russian Ambassador in Belgrade Alexandar Konuzin said.

Serbia should be admitted to the EU, but it should also cooperate with Russia and should not forget it is a Slavic and Orthodox country, Russian Ambassador in Belgrade Alexandar Konuzin said.

In a lecture entitled RUSSIA AND MODERN WORLD, at the Megatrend University in Belgrade, he said Russia had nothing against Serbia’s EU integrations, but added it was very important that Serbia, after being admitted to the EU, should not forget that, as a Slavic and Orthodox country, it will be in a minority and that the only country to support it will be Russia.

Some East European countries have forgotten good relations with Moscow too soon, he emphasized, adding the EU was an important trade partner of Russia.

News.az: Russian patriarch to visit Tbilisi

http://www.news.az/articles/1934

Mon 09 November 2009 | 06:30 GMT

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia will visit Tbilisi by invitation of Catholicos Patriarch of All Georgia.

The decision was achieved at the meeting of patriarchs held in Baku, Azerbaijan on Novembers 6. Ilia II and Kirill discussed the Russia-Georgia relations at the meeting and said, that despite all the current circumstances, relations of Georgian and Russian churches remain firm. The head of teh Russian Orthodox Church said that churches are able to take the Russia-Georgia relations out of the stalemate.

`The wise policy, Azerbijani President Ilham Aliyev is conducting and the wise policy, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is conducting are the guarantee for intensification of the relations between the two countries in the future`, Ilia II said.

Georgian Times

News.am: Saakashvili addresses Russia

http://news.am/en/news/8216.html

10:28 / 11/09/2009

President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili called Russian authorities to follow Turkey’s example. According to him, Turkey (the same as Russia) was unfriendly to Georgia in the past, however, nowadays it is not.

“I hope Russia will follow the example of Turkey if it wants to be as modern and successful as Turkey is now,” Saakashvili stated. He underlined that Russia tries to annihilate “the Lord-granted natural border between Georgia and Russia — which is the Caucasian Mountains, and tries to set a new one of the barbed wire.”

“Russia is concerned only about its ambitions and it has nothing to do with Ossetins,” maintained President of Georgia adding that Russia, “as well as many other invaders, will for sure leave Georgia.”

Messenger.com.ge: Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan outlines the countries’ common interests http://www.messenger.com.ge/issues/1978_november_9_2009/1978_econ_three.html

By Messenger Staff Monday, November 9

The Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Vladimer Dorokhin has stated that Azerbaijan is conducting a balanced policy which takes into account the national interests of other countries as well. He highlighted three major directions of common interest for both Russia and Azerbaijan: trade, energy and regional security. Cooperation in all these fields is improving.

Asmik Arushanian, a political analyst from Karabakh, suggests that Russia can contribute seriously to the democratisation of Azerbaijan, thus facilitating resolution of the Karabakh conflict. Arushanian thinks that since Russia and Azerbaijan have a common border they have many small ethnic groups in both countries who might become sources of destabilisation, and both countries have a common interest in this respect too. She says that an undemocratic Azerbaijan is a threat not only for Karabakh but the whole region.

Apanews.net: Russian president honours two Africans in Moscow   http://www.apanews.net/apa.php?page=show_article_eng&id_article=110954

APA-Moscow (Russia) Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has awarded state honours to foreign citizens, including two Africans, who have made great contributions to building friendship and cooperation with his country, APA has learnt here.

According to Kremlin sources in Moscow on Sunday, Medvedev thanked the recipients of the state awards, calling them “true enthusiasts who make efforts at the highest level to support interest in Russian culture and history, promote the study of Russian, and preserve the integrity and diversity of the unique Russian world that unites all Russians, wherever they may be, and all friends of Russia around the world.”

Receiving his award, former Ethiopian ambassador to the Russian Federation, Kassa Gebre Hiwot, said “having an Ethiopian citizen receive the Order of Friendship is a clear expression of the feelings that the people of Ethiopia and Russia have toward one another.”

He added, “I am happy that I have lived and worked as an educator in Russia for over 30 years.”

On his part, Russian language teacher at Umaru Musa Yar’Adua University in Nigeria, Isa Naya Bakori, said “on a day as tremendous as this one in the life of any individual, I must express my sincere feelings of respect for the warmth with which you have given me. I am very grateful to you.”

Bakori, who received the Pushkin Medal, concluded, “I would like to thank you on the part of my people, and share a request from my people to re-establish radio broadcasts from Moscow in my native language.

“We had such broadcasts before, but now, we no longer hear them. If you please, we would like to listen to the radio from Moscow.”

ISRIA: Maldives - President meets with Russian Ambassador http://www.isria.com/pages/9_November_2009_44.php

President Mohamed Nasheed has today met with the Russian Ambassador, Mr Vladimir P. Mikhaylov.

Discussions were on strengthening bilateral ties that exist between the two countries as well as on climate change.

Ambassador Mikhaylov said that Russia was prepared to cooperate with the Maldives in finding a common solution to climate change.

He said that small countries could play a big role in the international arena and noted the President’s role in highlighting the effects of climate change.

Speaking on the Maldives’ plan to become carbon neutral, the Ambassador said some Russian companies have modern renewable technologies and that those companies were interested in investing in the Maldives.

Speaking at the meeting, President Nasheed stated that climate change was not only a Maldives issue but that in it was in fact a global issue. He further spoke on the need to work together to reach an agreement to tackle the issue.

President also said that there were many Maldivian students studying in Russian universities. He also explored the possibility of obtaining scholarships from Russia to Maldivian students.

09.11.09 11:44 Interfax: Application of the death penalty in Russia is impossible - the representative of the State Duma in the Constitutional Court

http://www.interfax-russia.ru/main.asp?id=53019

November 9. Interfax-Russia.ru - Death penalty in Russia can not be applied, stated permanent representative of the State Duma in the Constitutional Court of Russia, Alexander Kharitonov at the plenary session of the court.

             "The political position of the leadership of the State Duma stated in public speeches. For several years the position is such that the death penalty in Russia can not be applied", - said Alexander Kharitonov on Monday at a meeting of the Constitutional Court.

             In his speech, Kharitonov said that the decision taken on this matter should be "based on the commitments undertaken by Russia joining the Council of Europe." He recalled that in 1997 Russia signed a protocol number 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits the death penalty, although so far and has not ratified it.

RIA: Top Russian court set to rule on death penalty moratoriumhttp://en.rian.ru/russia/20091109/156761678.html

06:1109/11/2009

MOSCOW, November 9 (RIA Novosti) - On behalf of a request from the Russian Supreme Court as of October 29, the Constitutional Court of Russia will consider at its plenary session on Monday whether capital punishment could again be legal from January 1.

In February 1999, the Constitutional Court introduced a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, ruling that no court could sentence criminals to death until all courts had switched to jury trials.

However, jury trials have now been established throughout Russia. Chechnya will become the final Russian republic to institute jury trials on January 1, 2010.

Russia still has capital punishment on its books, but undertook to abolish it in 1997, when it signed Protocol 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights.

Russia is the only one of the 47 members of the Council of Europe not to have ratified the protocol, under which states commit to abolishing the death penalty except in times of war or the imminent threat of war.

Russia Today: Top Russian court to consider capital punishment returnhttp://www.russiatoday.com/Top_News/2009-11-09/death-penalty-russia.html/print

09 November, 2009, 08:27

The future of the death penalty is to be discussed on Monday in Russia's constitutional court.

It is currently suspended by a moratorium, but may come back into force due to the latest changes in the country's court system.

The moratorium was introduced in 1999 following Russia’s signing in 1997 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which was a condition of its joining the Council of Europe. Under Protocol 6 of the document, states commit to abolishing the death penalty except in times of war or the imminent threat of war.

Russia remains the only one of the 47 members of the Council of Europe not to have ratified the protocol.

The 1999 Constitutional Court ruling stipulates that no court can sentence criminals to death until jury trials are implemented in all courts, in order to guarantee equal rights to suspected criminals all across the country.

Jury trials have now been established all across Russia except in Chechnya and Ingushetia. They will become the last Russian republics to institute jury trials on January 1, 2010. The delay is related to the peculiarities of the Russian legal system under which juries are appointed by municipal authorities. But local elections in these republics only became possible this year due to the cancellation of the condition of anti-terrorist operations.

The issue has sparked debate in society.

Some put forward rational reasons:

“The implementation of the death penalty in Russia is out of the question for me. It has absolutely no influence on the criminal environment in any country, while the numbers of judicial errors are quite high,” believes State Duma deputy Stepan Krashennikov.

While others are more inclined to appeal to emotions:

“Everyone who's against capital punishment has to go through losing loved ones to understand,” says State Duma Deputy Chairman Lyubov Sliska. “I was astonished by the cynicism with which the serial killer Pichuzhkin acted during his court hearings. It turned out he was a chess player with sadistic ideas. I think that, for people like him, whose guilt has been proved, the death penalty should be inevitable.”

Human rights groups say the death penalty is simply barbaric and is unacceptable in a civilized society.

“The death penalty takes lives. It's not we who give life to humans. That's why the death penalty should not be a human deed. It's pagan, it's beastly. Capital punishment should be excluded from the range of human punishments,” believes Human Rights Commissioner Vladimir Lukin.

Russia Today: Medvedev’s administration head quits post at swimming federationhttp://russiatoday.com/Sport/2009-11-08/medvedevs-administration-head-quits.html/print

08 November, 2009, 18:53

Sergey Naryshkin, the head of presidential administration in Russia, has stepped down from his other job as the president of the country's swimming federation.

This is in line with new rules from President Medvedev, who wants to see sports professionals heading sports’ governing bodies in Russia.

Naryshkin will still oversee the sport, after becoming the head of the Guardianship board of the Russian Swimming Federation.

Four-time Olympic champion Vladimir Salnikov has been appointed the body's acting president until elections take place.

Itar-Tass: Russia to launch vaccination against new flu

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=14510066&PageNum=0

09.11.2009, 02.10

MOSCOW, November 9 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia will launch a vaccination campaign against new flu on Monday. The first stage of the vaccination will be held in the Altai Territory, the Moscow, Tyumen, Bryansk and Voronezh regions.

Minister of Health and Social Development Tatiana Golikova will visit a hospital in Lvovsky, Podolsk district of the Moscow region on this occasion.

The first stage of the vaccination will embrace utility workers (the housing and utilities complex, water and electric power supplies, as well as the communications), the press service of the Ministry of Health and Social Development told Itar-Tass. Medical workers, teachers, senior students of medical higher educational institutions will be vaccinated since late November. The next stage of the vaccination will embrace other categories of the population in the risk groups exposed to the threat of severe complications of the disease – people with chronic diseases, pregnant women and children.

Four vaccines were developed, passed pre-clinical and clinical tests, proved their efficiency and full safety in the tests and were registered, the press service recalled. “The Russian government allocated four billion roubles for the purchases of first 43 million vaccines,” the press service reported. The Microgen federal state unitary enterprise, which is one of the vaccine’s producers, has already concluded a state contract for the first anti-A(H1N1) flu vaccine supplies (1.3 million vaccines).

Reuters: Russia fires police YouTube whistleblowerhttp://in.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idINTRE5A71OV20091108

Mon Nov 9, 2009 12:37am IST

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A junior Russian policeman was fired on Sunday after making a YouTube appeal to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accusing senior officers of corruption, a claim dismissed by authorities as false, news agencies reported.

The policeman from the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk last week posted a seven-minute clip that accused senior officers of forcing him to work weekends and solve imaginary crimes, as well as blocking him from claiming compensation for an injury.

"I want to show you from the inside the life of cops across Russia ... the ignorance, the boorishness, the recklessness, where officers die because of their dim-witted bosses," Alexei Dymovsky said in the video, posted on YouTube and his personal site, dymovskiy.ru.

After almost 200,000 viewings on YouTube and hundreds of media reports, Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev, responsible for the police, responded through a spokesman on Sunday with a promise of a probe into Dymovsky's accusations.

The probe would begin on Monday and the results would be presented to both Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev, ITAR-TASS and RIA news agencies quoted ministry spokesman Valery Gribakin as saying.

But two hours later, the agencies quoted the same spokesman as saying a probe had been completed and that the officer in question had been fired "for libel and actions that tarnish the honor" of the police.

In an interview with Ekho Moskvy radio station, Dymovsky said he believed his car had been followed and that he would send his wife and daughter to Moscow for safety reasons.

(Writing by Conor Humphries, editing by Mark Trevelyan)

RIA: Russian police officer who asked Putin for corruption probe firedhttp://en.rian.ru/russia/20091109/156760666.html

03:4509/11/2009

MOSCOW, November 8 (RIA Novosti) - A police officer from the southern Russian city of Novorossiisk has been fired after posting a video on the web asking Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to launch a nationwide corruption probe, an Interior Ministry spokesman said Sunday.

Police Major Alexei Dymovsky from the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk in the Krasnodar Territory recently posted two videos on his website accusing his chiefs and colleagues of corruption. Dymovsky addressed his speech to Putin. The video address was also posted on YouTube with English subtitles.

The video shows Dymovsky saying department chiefs forced officers to solve nonexistent crimes and even "jail innocent people" to improve statistics and lamenting that ordinary staff were treated "like cattle," had no days off or sick leaves, as well as saying that young people came to work to police on a 12,000 ruble monthly wage ($413) because they knew they would have "tributes."

"I am addressing you to ask you to carry out an independent investigation across Russia. I am ready to show the commitment to carry out this investigation. I have many acquaintances who care about the truth," Dymovsky told Putin in his address, adding that he was ready to tell the premier of those "ordinary cops who live, work, who like this work."

Dymovsky also said: "I will turn the entire life of cops throughout Russia inside out, with corruption and all the rest - ignorance, boorishness, recklessness, when honest, really honest officers die because they have dumb bosses...I would very much like to talk to you one-on-one."

Putin was informed of the video address, but "said nothing as reacting to such statements is impossible without having checked the claims," according to the Russian prime minister's spokesman Dmitry Peskov, as quoted by media.

"On instructions from Russian Interior Minister, Army General Rashid Nurgaliyev, officers from interested Krasnodar Territory police units carried out, for two days, a check of claims outlined by Dymovsky. The check has not confirmed the claims. Besides, it turned out that Dymovsky defames his colleagues," Interior Ministry spokesman Police Maj. Gen. Valery Gribakin said.

"The results of the check were reported to Krasnodar Territory police chief, Police Lt. Gen. Sergei Kucheruk. Kucheruk... decided to dismiss Dymovsky," Gribakin said.

He also said a Russian Interior Ministry commission comprising "officials from the personnel department, internal affairs division and other interested units" will start on Monday a complex internal check of the Novorossiisk police department.

Gribakin said a report would be drafted following the check, and that Nurgaliyev would present it to President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Maj. Dymovsky worked in the police department since 2004. He dealt with illicit drug-related crimes.

The Novorossiisk police department said the major has not appeared at work "almost since August 2009" as he was on a sick leave. The department also said it believes Dymovsky should have discussed the problems inside of his unit instead of "bringing them to the web and tarnishing the image of Novorossiisk police."

"We disagree with his statement that police officers put up with a lack of free time... and small wages only because they are frightened by their chiefs. We knew where we went and realize that our work is inevitably connected with great difficulties," the Novorossiisk police department said in a statement.

Dymovsky earlier said on Moscow-based Ekho Moskvy radio that his colleagues support him in private conversations. He also said he was being pressured and had to hire a bodyguard to ensure the security for himself and his family.

President Medvedev has highlighted corruption as one of the country's key problems. In May 2009, Medvedev said corruption in Russia needs to be made "improper" and public opinion should contribute to this way of thinking.

Shortly after taking office in May 2008, Medvedev signed a decree to set up a presidential anti-corruption council and approved a plan to deal with the problem in July 2008, proposing that special units be created in every branch of government.

UPI: Web video triggers Russian investigationhttp://www.upi.com/Top_News/International/2009/11/08/Web-video-triggers-Russian-investigation/UPI-28301257719555/

Published: Nov. 8, 2009 at 5:32 PM

NOVOROSSIISK, Russia, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- A police department in southern Russia will be investigated after a critical video by a local police officer was posted on a Web site, officials said.

In the video, a police major identified as Alexei Dymovsky accused his superiors in the Novorossiisk police of corruption in a statement he addressed to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, RIA Novosti reported Sunday.

A commission to investigate the charges would begin work on Monday, the Russian Interior Ministry announced.

Dymovsky claimed department chiefs made officers "solve" non-existent crimes to improve statistics. He also charged that staff had no sick leave or days off, and that young officers knew their 12,000 ruble ($413) monthly wage would be augmented by "tributes."

The Novorossiisk police department said Dymovsky has been put on sick leave. He should have discussed the problems inside of his unit instead of "bringing them to the Web and tarnishing the image of Novorossiisk police," the department said.

Russia Today: Soyuz rocket to bring new module to ISS http://russiatoday.com/Sci_Tech/2009-11-08/iss-module-search.html/print

08 November, 2009, 18:26

The Soyuz U rocket has been installed on a launch pad in Baikonur. It will roar into the heavens in two days, carrying a valuable new module for the International Space Station.

The module called ‘Poisk’ (‘Search’ in English) will deliver scientific equipment and basic supplies, food and water to the station. After that it will be used as part of the Russian segment of the ISS.

In the module, scientific research will be conducted, and in a while it will become an additional docking port for the Station. Later on, it will serve as an airlock which will help with spacewalks.

The rocket launch is scheduled for 17.22 Moscow time on November 10.

Iafrica.com: Rockets set for Guianahttp://technology.iafrica.com/news/space/2040480.htm

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:51

The first Russian rockets to be fired into space next year from a space centre in distant South America were on Saturday to begin the long voyage to the launch site from Saint Petersburg.

Two Russian Soyuz rockets, the mainstay of its space programme, were later on Saturday to leave the northern city by ship bound for the French overseas department of French Guiana ahead of their expected launch next year.

Packed in containers on board the French vessel Le Colibri, they will arrive 15 days later, ahead of the first planned launches next year of Soyuz rockets from France's launch site in French Guiana.

"We are in line for the first launch in the second quarter of next year," the chief executive of French aerospace firm Arianespace Jean-Yves Le Gall told AFP.

Didier Coulon, the head of the project at the European Space Agency (ESA), said the first launch could take place as early as April.

Finally confirming the project is ready after a string of delays, he said that the first satellite to be launched by a Soyuz from French Guiana will be the Hylas telecommunications satellite of British firm Avanti Communications.

The satellite will deliver broadband and corporate data network services across Europe, according to the company.

Two other such launches are planned in 2010 — the Pleiades Observation Satellite and a launch of two satellites in Europe's Galileo programme.

The first Soyuz launch had been envisaged in 2009 but was delayed due to hold-ups in the delivery of the infrastructure that the rocket needs in order to function. France and Russia signed a deal on the launches back in 2003.

The move to French Guiana is a major step for Russia, which has mostly relied on the Baikonur launch pad in Kazakhstan from where the first man-made object and the first astronaut were launched into space.

Launching Russian rockets so close to the United States is likely to send a strong message about Russia's continued role in space.

It brings several other advantages for Moscow, including reducing dependence on Baikonur, which has been the subject of periodic disputes with Kazakh authorities.

French Guiana's closeness to the equator also enables heavier payloads — three tons compared with 1.7 tons from Baikonur — as launches can gain extra momentum from the Earth's own spinning motion.

AFP: 11 Presumed Dead After Russian Military Plane Crashhttp://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4366165&c=EUR&s=AIR

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Published: 8 Nov 2009 14:25

MOSCOW - A Russian military plane crashed into the sea during a training exercise in Russia's Far East region, leaving all 11 crew members missing and presumed dead, officials said.

The Tupolev Tu-142 plane disappeared from radar as it was coming to the end of a training mission Nov. 6 over the Tatarski Strait that divides Russia's Far East island of Sakhalin from the mainland, the defence ministry said.

"Given the conditions under which the catastrophe took place, we can presume that all the crew aboard the Tu-142 were killed," a source in the emergencies ministry told the RIA Novosti news agency.

"But search operations will continue as long as there is the slightest hope of finding someone alive," the official added.

Military sources told Russian news agencies that there were 11 crew aboard the plane. Previously, officials said there were 10 crew members.

An emergencies ministry source in the Khabarovsk region in the Far East told RIA Novosti that in the early morning an object was found at a depth of 144 feet under water "which appears to be the fuselage of the plane."

"Objects are being investigated at water level which could be fragments of the plane," the source added.

Search teams lead by Russia's Pacific Fleet were currently searching for the plane's black boxes and could use special submersibles to locate them, RIA Novosti said.

A defense ministry source told the agency that the most likely cause of the crash was a technical fault. Investigators have opened a criminal enquiry into the possible infringement of flight rules and preparation, it said.

All flights by the Air Force of the Russian Pacific Fleet have been suspended pending the results of an investigation into the accident, Russian news agencies said.

Deadly accidents are a frequent occurrence in Russia's armed forces, where military hardware still includes aging Soviet-era equipment.

The decorated commander of the country's celebrated military aerobatic stunt team, the Russian Knights, was killed in August when two Sukhoi Su-27 fighters collided in practice for the annual air show.

The Tu-142 is a reconnaissance anti-submarine warfare jet which was first introduced into the armed forces in 1971. Some 75 Tu-142 jets are currently employed by the Russian armed forces, the ITAR-TASS news agency said.

AFP: Four rebels killed in Caucasus clashhttp://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hVxXZRsEjIUKGdLOQJBU0Yi4EN8g

(AFP) – 2 hours ago

MOSCOW — Four suspected rebels were killed in a clash with police in the Karachay-Cherkessia republic in Russia's North Caucasus, the Interfax news agency said Monday quoting a local Interior Ministry official.

The rebels were suspected of having mounted several attacks on officers, the official said, adding that a police officer was also injured in the clash and guns and amunition were seized.

Concerns have mounted over increased militant attacks throughout Russia's Caucasus region, where Islamist militants have been battling pro-Kremlin local authorities and Russian security forces in a sporadic insurgency.

Itar-Tass: 4 militants killed in Karachayevo-Cherkessia, 1 policeman injured

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=14510239

09.11.2009, 11.11

CHERKESSK, November 9 (Itar-Tass) -- Four militants were destroyed and one police officer got an injury in Karachayevo-Cherkessia, ITAR-TASS learnt at the law enforcement bodies of the republic on Monday.

On Sunday, during a special operation near the deserted settlement of Indysh of the Karachayevsky region in the Khudesskoye Gorge, officers of the Russian Interior Ministry and the Russian Federal Security Service Department for the republic blocked four militants. They offered armed resistance.

“In the exchange of fire, a senior police officer got an injury. At the same time, the militants were killed in return fire,” a law enforcer said.

Operatives found two Kalashnikov submachine-guns, a carbine, a Makarov pistol, a F-1 grenade and cartridges at the site of the incident.

Moscow Journal

NY Times: An Oasis Is No Match for Bulldozers and Bureaucrats http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/world/europe/09land.html?_r=1

MOSCOW — In the 1950s, the Soviet government set aside a bit of land on the Moscow River for Maria I. Gurlynina’s family and several dozen others to grow food. It was a barren plot, “nothing but sand and swamp,” Ms. Gurlynina said. But it was theirs. Her family carted in soil and planted apple trees and berry bushes. Her grandfather, a decorated World War II submariner, died hauling in a heavy load. But several birch trees that he planted decades ago still stand in front of the family’s gingerbread-style cottage, built in recent years.

“They gave us this land and told us to develop it,” Ms. Gurlynina, now 78, said. “They said we could stay here forever.”

Then, early one morning last year, the bulldozers arrived.

The municipal government had declared that the Soviet-era permits giving Ms. Gurlynina and her neighbors use of the land were invalid, and it had ruled that the 200 or so homes in Ms. Gurlynina’s community, called Rechnik, as well as dozens of others in a neighboring community, had to be removed. Moreover, the city said, the residents would have to pay for the demolition themselves.

It is a predicament not uncommon in Russia. The Soviet government’s land monopoly may have ended some two decades ago, but the ability of the authorities to give and take away territory has not, real estate experts here say.

While private land ownership is not forbidden today as it was in the Soviet era, current real estate laws are vague: residents can buy homes and apartments, for instance, but not the land they stand on. In all cases people are left open to the caprice of corrupt officials and businessmen.

In Moscow, where space is limited and valuable, the problem is most acute.

“In different corners of Moscow, people are trying to defend their courtyards,” said Yelena S. Shomina, a housing expert at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics. City officials, she said, “calculate not the losses to the family, but the losses to the construction company, which are losses to the city government.”

Government critics have accused the Moscow authorities of using ambiguous land laws and the ignorance of residents to snap up lucrative plots and resell them to private interests.

Yelena Baturina, the wife of Moscow’s powerful mayor, Yuri M. Luzhkov, is a billionaire who is one of the city’s most successful real estate developers and Russia’s richest woman. Her company, Inteko, has benefited from several major Moscow government contracts.

On the day the bulldozers came to Ms. Gurlynina’s neighborhood, dozens of homes were demolished. Their owners were denied compensation and had to seek new housing on their own. Ms. Gurlynina’s house still stands, but the government has vowed to tear it down along with others before winter.

Officially, the government plans to turn the area into a nature preserve, though for many residents, the golf course and newly built gated neighborhood called Fantasy Island up the road suggest other intentions.

Rechnik was originally founded as a gardening collective in 1956 for employees of the Moscow Canal, a water transportation route, which was dug mostly by prisoners and connects the Moscow and the Volga Rivers.

The workers were given a strip of land along the Moscow River to “plant fruit trees and berries,” according to a copy of the original agreement. Though under Soviet law they could never own the land, the agreement granted the workers its “perpetual use.”

In the years since, the region has become an oasis in this sprawling city. On a recent visit, the leaves were a rich gold, and a silver frost gilded the last of Ms. Gurlynina’s roses. The birches have grown tall and thick in the last half-century, and gardens bring bountiful crops of apples, plums, berries and other produce, residents said.

In the legal vacuum that followed the Soviet Union’s collapse, many of the original canal workers began passing their plots to their children or selling them, believing their lengthy stewardship of the land gave them the right to do so. The new owners have built sturdier and more luxurious homes, despite having no titles for the land.

As Rechnik has grown, so has the city around it. Today, the view from the river is obscured by gaudy high-rises that have been the hallmark of a Russian construction boom only recently curtailed by the economic crisis. As space has shrunk in Moscow, this sparsely populated property just inside the city’s last ring road has grown more attractive.

City officials did not respond to numerous phone messages seeking comment on their plans for Rechnik.

But the Moscow government has said that the Soviet-era agreement on Rechnik does not envisage permanent housing or allow workers to pass on or sell their plots to others. Officials have also questioned the legitimacy of the original Soviet-era decision to hand over the land and have declared the region a protected ecological zone.

“These are not residents here; they are temporary occupants,” Mr. Luzhkov, the mayor, said during a visit to Rechnik in 2007 covered by Russian television. “This village, like any other illegal construction in the city, does not have a right to exist.”

Because laws on land ownership remain incomplete and cumbersome, it is not clear who in this case and many similar ones throughout Russia is legally in the right, said Dmitri I. Katayev, a former Moscow City Council member who helped draft the first property laws after the Soviet collapse in 1991.

Though there are bureaucratic mechanisms in place for Russians to assume ownership of former communal apartments and private homes, he said, “The government just forgot about the issue of land.”

Residents of Rechnik say the government has ignored their requests to register their homes even without the land they sit on.

Whatever the law, the government has the upper hand. Shortly after Mr. Luzhkov’s visit two years ago, the city cut off water and power to Rechnik. Today, the residents who still live there full time rely on generators.

Still, other than a few half-hearted protests, many residents — many of them elderly — have put up little fight to save their houses, in part because the concept of land ownership still escapes them, said Yuri A. Kladov, a member of Rechnik’s self-appointed administrative council.

“It turns out that the people of Rechnik are unprepared to see themselves as owners of this land,” he said. “This is a throwback, dating to the days when we had no rights. A person could not do anything for himself or think for himself and did not want to.”

Angus-reid.com: One-in-Four Russians See Putin Personality Culthttp://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/34446/one_in_four_russians_see_putin_personality_cult/

November 09, 2009

Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Some people in Russia think prime minister and former president Vladimir Putin is the subject of a personality cult, according to a poll by the Yury Levada Analytical Center. 23 per cent of respondents share this opinion.

An additional 26 per cent of respondents say there is no Putin personality cult in Russia at the moment, but it could be developed. 38 per cent say there are no signs of any such cult.

Russian voters renewed the State Duma in December 2007. United Russia (YR)—whose candidate list was headed by then president Putin—secured 64.1 per cent of the vote and 315 of the legislature’s 450 seats. On that same month, Putin, who had been in office since 2000, endorsed Dmitry Medvedev as a presidential candidate, and Medvedev said it would be of the "utmost importance" to have Putin as prime minister.

In March 2008, Medvedev easily won Russia’s presidential election with 70.28 per cent of the vote. In May, Medvedev was sworn in as president. His nomination of Putin as prime minister was confirmed by the State Duma in a 392-56 vote.

Russians have named streets, pop songs and vodka after the current prime minister. The latest sign of admiration for Putin is a book of poetry for children called Putinyata. Earlier this month, Irina Konnova—the book’s author—said she wants to thank Putin for encouraging families to have more children in order to reverse a downward demographic trend in Russia, and added, "There is no cult of Putin here. It is just that in Soviet times I was taught to respect those who lead the country."

Polling Data

Do you think Vladimir Putin is the subject of a cult of personality in Russia?

  Oct. 2009 Oct. 2007

Yes, all its signs are already present 23% 22%

Not yet, but it could still happen 26% 27%

No, there are no signs of this cult 38% 38%

I make it difficult to answer 12% 13%

Source: Yury Levada Analytical Center Methodology: Interviews with 1,600 Russian adults, conducted from Oct. 16 to Oct. 19, 2009. No margin of error was provided.

Telegraph.co.uk: Is it possible to work in Russia without paying bribes? - Russia Nowhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/russianow/6161338/is-it-possible-to-work-in-Russia-without-paying-bribes---Russia-Now.html

This online supplement is produced and published by Rossiyskaya Gazeta (Russia), which takes sole responsibility for the content

Published: 11:01AM BST 09 Sep 2009

Q&A: We talk to Evgeny Roshkov, managing partner, Kesarev Consulting, about how to avoid corruption hamstringing your company’s operation

An international cosmetics and food company has operated in Russia for more than 10 years. It invested some $100m in the construction of its own plant, winning three significant regional tax incentives. All was well until a new regional governor took office late last year.

The new administration said it would review the tax policy, but offered a compromise to the corporation, promising patience with the tax benefits if the company showed social responsibility and agreed to invest in regional development programmes.

“However, as soon as the managers gave the first million for the region’s needs, Pandora’s box flew open,” recalls Evgeny Roshkov, whose company advised the corporation on how to deal with the new administration.

No sooner had officials realised that the company had paid out money than it was inundated by a flood of letters from various government-related institutions, begging for cash, and the amounts did not always correspond to the declared purposes. An imminent conflict arose. The company did not want to pay bribes, even if disguised, so it sought expert advice.

Russia is seen as a country with a high level of corruption, so is it possible to work in Russia without paying bribes?

In fact, Russian officials are not bent on bribes, Mr Roshkov believes, dismissing the idea as a myth popular in the West. At the same time, he admits that Russia remains a country with a high rate of corruption, largely due to the entrepreneurial vigour of government-affiliated institutions selling various services.

Yet he is convinced that one must understand that it is not only possible but necessary to work with Russian officials on a legal basis.

Mr Roshkov, a member of the American League of Lobbyists, developed a multi-stage plan for the international company. First, the managers should make it clear that the charity budget is limited. For this, the company held a public presentation, explaining how much it would spend annually, and for what purposes. Second, a single person was appointed to handle all charity requests as many fund-seekers used unofficial means, pushing their appeals through friends and relatives.

The flurry of requests was thus duly organised. Third, the process of decision-making in the company was hammered home to local officials.

“The seekers had to realise that the managers working in the region were not all-powerful,” Mr Roshkov said. The managers found common language with officials, telling them that all financing decisions required approval from both Moscow and global leadership; moreover, they had to fit within the limits of financing allocated to the country, and match the company’s goals and corporate ethics code, as well as the UN anti-corruption charter.

From then on, all requests were to be submitted in writing, after which they would be considered by appropriate company departments, with those seeking funds being informed about the status of their applications at all stages. As a result the flood of petitions eased, together with expectations of easy cash, while relations with the new administration improved.

It is important to build relations correctly from the start, and it is certainly a mistake to start by offering cash. Instead, prospective companies should make the job of local officials easy, such as by showing them a business plan with numbers proving that a project is vital to the region as it would bring X amount of investment, as well as creating Y number of jobs and a tax base that the region has dreamt of for years.

Before asking anything from an official, it’s advisable to get him or her in one’s debt. This is where information moves to the fore. The more important a department is the greater value it places on information.

Almost every Russian ministry suffers from a shortage of reliable industry statistics, to say nothing of their interpretation. Meanwhile, officials need such figures for interdepartmental talks and reports to the government.

Another sort of information wanted by every department is information about rivals. This does not mean that companies should go from ministry to ministry dishing dirt on their competitors as that could backfire, Mr Roshkov warns. But in some cases, such as a tough deadline and complete uncertainty, this may be more acceptable.

On the whole, mid-level officials solve most industrial policy issues. Even if you represent a global industry giant, you can only meet a minister a few times a year. But it is not the ministers who draft resolutions; it is department heads and aides – ordinary people who appreciate good human relations.

Taking them out for a coffee to show gratitude for their efforts has nothing to do with corruption, and everything to do with appreciation.

The Moscow Times: Lawyer Says Markelov Suspect Acted Alone http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/lawyer-says-markelov-suspect-acted-alone/389090.html

09 November 2009The Moscow Times

A suspect detained in the January killing of human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and Novaya Gazeta reporter Anastasia Baburova has admitted to the crime and insisted that he acted alone, his lawyer said Friday.

Moscow’s Basmanny District Court on Thursday approved the arrest of Nikita Tikhonov, 29, and another suspect, Yevgenia Khasis, 24, in connection with the killings.

But lawyer Yevgeny Skripelev told Ekho Moskvy radio that Tikhonov had acted alone when he attacked Markelov and Baburova in central Moscow on Jan. 19.

Skripelev also said his client had been motivated by personal animosity and was not linked to any ultranationalist groups. “There were no ideological differences behind it, just a personal grudge,” he said.

Markelov, 34, who defended clients against ultranationalists, had accused Tikhonov of involvement in the murder of a campaigner against hate crimes, Alexander Ryukhin, in southern Moscow in 2006, said Sova Center, which tracks hate crimes. Markelov represented Ryukhin’s mother after the killing.

Several neo-Nazi attackers were convicted in a 2007 trial, but Tikhonov, who was among the suspects, escaped arrest and went into hiding.

Skripelev said Tikhonov had not wanted to shoot Baburova and regretted her death. “He said he had no intention to kill her,” Skripelev said, refusing to elaborate.

Federal Security Service director Alexander Bortnikov told President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday that Tikhonov had confessed to being the masked gunman who carried out the attack.

Bortnikov also said the two suspects were part of a criminal group that carried out a racially motivated murder in September and was planning a high-profile killing.

National media reported Friday that investigators were trying to link the suspects to the shooting death of Rasul Khalilov, a young Caucasus native who was killed as he left his Moscow apartment building to attend a trial where he and several other young men were accused of belonging to a group called the Black Hawks, which allegedly carried out attacks on ultranationalists.

Investigative Committee sources told Kommersant that Tikhonov would be sent for a psychiatric evaluation.

November 5, 2009Russia profile: Found: Two Double Murderers?http://www.russiaprofile.org/page.php?pageid=Politics&articleid=a1257446960

By Roland Oliphant

Russia Profile

Investigators Appear to Have Eliminated the Caucasus Connection in the Murders of Markelov and Baburova

Two former members of an obscure neo-Nazi organization have been arrested for the murder of Stanislav Markelov and Natalia Baburova, Russian media have reported. But is it not just the slightest bit suspicious that somebody chose to leak this information on Russia’s Day of National Unity, which has been adopted by Russia’s far right?

The arrests reportedly took place late Wednesday during what the press is describing as a “special operation.” According to unconfirmed reports in several Russian media, all of which quote “sources in the law enforcement agencies,” two people have been detained on suspicion of direct involvement in the murder.

The first leaks, details of which were printed in the Kommersant daily on Thursday morning, suggested that a man and a woman had been detained. While noting that the investigative bodies were officially refusing to comment, the daily reported “talk” that the woman was believed to have trailed Markelov before the murder and communicated his movements to her male accomplice, who carried out the killing.

By Thursday afternoon the two suspects had been named in public – Yevgenia Khasis, a 24-year-old manager in a trade company, and Nikita Tikhonov, 29, unemployed. Both were once members of Russian National Unity, a far-right group that broke up in 2000.

Both the law enforcement agencies and those close to the Baburova and Markelov have been tight-lipped about the latest developments. Novaya Gazeta, the paper where Baburova worked, declined to comment, saying that it would release a statement on Friday. Meanwhile, Markelov’s brother Mikhail, a former State Duma deputy for the Just Russia party, told Kommersant that he had known about the arrests in advance but refused to go into details, saying he did not want to jeopardize investigative secrets.

When Markelov was killed no one – including, to their credit, the authorities – wasted any time pretending that his murder was not connected to his professional activities. Being in the words of his friend and colleague Tanya Lokshina “the kind of person who receives threats on a daily basis,” the only problem was working out which of his various fields of legal practice had prompted the murder.

A back-of-an-envelope rogues gallery drawn up in the hours after the killing would have turned up three chief suspects. Firstly and most obviously, he had been representing the family of a young Chechen woman murdered by a Russian colonel, Yuri Budanov, in 2000. Budanov was released just days before the murder, and Markelov was shot after leaving a press conference in which he announced his attention to challenge Budanov’s early release. Whether or not Budanov was involved (he denied it immediately), his sympathizers could have acted alone.

Then there was the other side of his work in Chechnya. Although Markelov was praised by the Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov for bringing Budanov to justice, he had also championed the cause of the “disappeared” in the republic. One such case he became involved in was that of Mokhmadsalakh Masaev, who was abducted after accusing Kadyrov of running illegal prisons in Chechnya. Furthermore, Markelov’s murder had been preceded by a series of assassinations of Kadyrov critics.

Mikhail Markelov, however, has dismissed both of these versions. In an interview with the BBC’s Russian service last month, he said that his brother’s murder was “related neither to the Budanov case, nor to the Caucasus.” He also said that he had conducted his own investigation and come to exactly the same conclusions as the official enquiry, and that he knew the “names and whereabouts” of the killers.

Russian National Unity was one of the scarier and more formidable neo-Nazi groups to emerge out the chaos of the early 1990s. It was involved in the defense of the White House during the constitutional crisis of 1993, and its members underwent paramilitary training, including instruction in small arms and explosives. By 1999 the organization was outlawed in certain regions in Russia, including Moscow, but continued to organize until internal disputes led to the expulsion of leader and founder Alexander Barshakov in 2000. “It was without questions a dangerous organization,” said Alexander Brod, the director of the Moscow Human Rights Bureau and an expert on Russia’s far right.

Since then, two organizations – one under Barshakov’s leadership, and another, calling itself the “All Russian Civil Patriotic Movement” (RNU), have claimed the movement’s name and the slavicized Swatika emblem. It is not clear which of these splinter groups Khasis and Tikhonov were involved with, though Barshakov’s lawyer told Interfax Thursday that members of the RNE were not involved in the killing.

But posts on nationalist Internet forums talking about opening champagne after hearing the news of Markelov’s murder are evidence enough of how much he was hated on the far-right. Not long after the murder, Alexander Batrykin, the head of the Investigative Committee of the Chief Prosecutor’s Office, announced that he was focusing on the nationalist connection. “It is quite possible that nationalists were involved in the murder,” said Brod. “They have an aggressive mood, a lot of lists of enemies, including human rights activists and journalists. And they have attacked their enemies before.”

Possibility, however, is not likelihood, and other than clear antipathy toward Markelov and a well-known violent temperament, there is no hard evidence available in the public sphere that nationalists were indeed involved. Presumably, the law-enforcement community will present its evidence in court in the near future, but Markelov’s and Baburova’s families can only hope that prosecutors do not make the same mess of their case as they did with the trial for Anna Politkovskaya’s murder.

The Moscow Times: RusAl Accused of ‘Terror’ Campaign http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/rusal-accused-of-terror-campaign/389092.html

09 November 2009By Alex Anishyuk

As deeply indebted United Company RusAl sweet-talks foreign investors ahead of a planned initial public offering, it has launched a “terror” campaign at home against a business newspaper.

Vedomosti said RusAl and its lawyers were bombarding its journalists with threatening cell phone calls and e-mails after it published a front-page article on Oct. 26 that contained information from a closed-door investors meeting where RusAl announced its 2008 results.

The article, titled “$6 Billion Found Missing,” revealed that RusAl had posted a net loss of $5.98 billion for last year and a $720 million loss for the first quarter of 2009. Vedomosti cited a presentation from the meeting as its source, without saying how it was obtained.

Vedomosti editor-in-chief Elizaveta Osetinskaya said RusAl accused the newspaper of breaking the law by publishing commercial secrets and was now waging a “war” to force it to reveal its source and prevent it from writing about the company again.

“UC RusAl and its lawyers from Egorov, Puginsky, Afanasiev & Partners have triggered an information terror [campaign] against Vedomosti,” Osetinskaya wrote in an unusually sharp post on her LiveJournal blog late last week. “Their goal is to make us stop writing fairly and objectively about one of the most closed companies in Russia, as we have done for the past 10 years.”

Vedomosti is a joint venture between The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times and Independent Media Sanoma Magazines, which is the parent company of The Moscow Times.

RusAl refused to comment for this article. The company’s press office has rejected requests for comment from The Moscow Times since April, when the newspaper bypassed the press office to talk to RusAl workers about conditions at their plant.

Dmitry Afanasiev, chairman of Egorov, Puginsky, Afanasiev & Partners, said Vedomosti was in breach of the law for publishing financial data from the RusAl presentation in three separate articles, even though it had been warned that the information was a commercial secret.

“We have a number of legal options open to us against the newspaper and its editors, and we are currently reviewing these,” he said Sunday in e-mailed comments.

He did not address Vedomosti’s complaints of intimidation.

Osetinskaya said Vedomosti had no obligation to check with sources whether information it received was a commercial secret. She stressed that Russian media legislation gives journalists the right to gather and publish any information, unless proven that they knew about the confidentiality and still decided to make it public.

“[RusAl and its lawyers] are trying to force us to stop writing stories about RusAl’s business,” Osetinskaya wrote. “This is a real legal terror: They call the mobile phones of our staff from early morning until late at night, warning them, ‘Are you sure you should write about this?’”

The lawyers, she wrote, have flooded staff’s e-mail boxes and even tried to convince the journalists that the phone calls and e-mails fell under the category of confidential information, too.

They “are threatening journalists with consequences” such as possible criminal charges, she said.

Osetinskaya wrote that the real goal was most likely to find out the identity of the source.

“In unofficial conversations, lawyers have made it clear what they indeed want from us,” she wrote. “They need the source of the information.”

She said such a demand was in violation of a company policy that requires journalists to shield the identities of sources from third parties except when ordered by a court.

The whole affair, Osetinskaya wrote, is most likely orchestrated by RusAl owner Oleg Deripaska himself.

“I’m almost sure that Deripaska is dissatisfied personally with the fact that unsanctioned information about his brainchild and about himself has surfaced,” she wrote. “A person who assembled a large empire under his control is trying to control us — genuinely independent journalists.”

Alexander Nadmitov, a lawyer with Nadmitov & Partners not connected to the RusAl-Vedomosti affair, said Vedomosti had no obligation to refrain from publishing the RusAl report unless its source had said the information was a commercial secret.

At the same time, he said, RusAl would be hard-pressed to make the commercial secrets claim stick in court if it had not required the investors at the closed-door meeting to sign a nondisclosure agreement.

“If there was no written agreement between the company and its counteragents, no information provided can be regarded as confidential,” he said.

He said a lot of red tape goes into classifying something as a commercial secret.

“If a company lists certain information as a commercial secret, it should be documented and a list should be made of the people who have access to it,” Nadmitov said. “If a company gives certain information in the form of leaflets to conference participants, the leaflets should bear a disclaimer mentioning that this data should not be disclosed to a third party.”

The RusAl presentation was marked confidential on each page and was prepared for a small group of investment bankers under a confidentiality agreement, Afanasiev said.

Nadmitov agreed with Vedomosti’s assessment that RusAl was probably more interested in finding the source of the leak than going after Vedomosti.

RusAl, which has long been sensitive about how its activities are portrayed in the media, has a lot at stake as it prepares for a possible IPO next month that could raise $2 billion in Hong Kong and Paris. RusAl would use the earnings to reduce its massive debts of about $16.8 billion.

Companies often threaten the media with lawsuits, but the courts are unlikely to be persuaded by an argument based on the commercial secrets law, said Leonid Bershidsky, editor-in-chief of the Slon.ru business portal and a former editor-in-chief of Vedomosti.

“However, if you bribe a judge you can win such a case, well, you can probably win any case then,” he said.

Bershidsky said companies can be aggressive when they lack the ability to work well with the media, investors, analysts and consumers. Journalists, in turn, often find it easier to give in to a big company “that tries to reach its goals by threats or bribes rather than to do their jobs honestly,” he said. “Vedomosti, however, looks for the fair rather than the easy way. This is what Liza Osetinskaya’s blog post is about.”

RusAl has a reputation of being a closed company when it comes to dealing with journalists, said Maxim Kashulinsky, editor-in-chief of Forbes Russia magazine.

“We haven’t experienced any pressure from RusAl so far, but I wouldn’t call their approach a friendly one,” he said. “We ran an article about Deripaska’s business a year ago, and RusAl’s press office declined to comment for it.”

He said some companies try to pressure journalists into not publishing certain information, but this rarely results in lawsuits.

“Companies don’t use such threats on a systematic basis,” he said. “This scandal is an alarming signal for journalists, and I hope Vedomosti comes off victorious, which would benefit all journalists working in Russia.”

A receptionist at RusAl’s press office said no spokespeople were available to comment when called several times Friday. Sergei Babichenko, a spokesman for Basic Element, Deripaska’s holding company that has a controlling stake in RusAl, forwarded all questions to RusAl.

RusAl has used similar tactics against The Moscow Times. In an article in April titled “RusAl Saves $554M On Costs, Production,” The Moscow Times asked workers in one of RusAl’s mines how cost cuts were affecting them. One miner’s response, that the drop in spending was forcing workers to cut corners on safety, drew an angry reaction from RusAl’s press office, which said the newspaper could only publish information about the company that had been cleared by the press office.

Representatives of the mining giant also threatened to sue the newspaper, but no lawsuit materialized. The company has since refused to reply to inquiries from The Moscow Times.

National Economic Trends

Fxstreet.com: Russia Central Bank May Buy Gold From State Depository -Report http://www.fxstreet.com/news/forex-news/article.aspx?StoryId=32522146-5a39-4428-a4f7-440a43c07521

Mon, Nov 9 2009, 09:40 GMT

http://www.djnewswires.com/eu

Russia Central Bank May Buy Gold From State Depository -Report

MOSCOW (Dow Jones)--Russia's central bank may buy gold from the government's Gokhran depository, Interfax reported, citing Alexei Ulyukayev, a deputy central bank chairman.

"If we're offered reasonable conditions, we will buy," Ulyukayev told journalists, the newswire said.

Agency Web site: www.interfax.ru

Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=MJzxBhF%2FjzBefbmnV8by9Q%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 09, 2009 04:40 ET (09:40 GMT)

Reuters: Russia c.bank may cut rates again in '09, buy goldhttp://www.iii.co.uk/news/?type=afxnews&articleid=7616487&action=articleMOSCOW, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Russia's central bank does not exclude further rate cuts before the end of 2009 and may buy gold from the state repository, Gokhran, the bank's first deputy chairman, Alexei Ulyukayev, said on Monday. "We will buy (gold) only if conditions are adequate," Ulyukayev told reporters.The central bank had bought more than $1 billion in November on the foreign exchange market to cap the appreciation of the rouble, he said.Ulyukayev also said the central bank had no plans to invest again in U.S. mortgage agency bonds.(Reporting by Yelena Fabrichnaya, writing by Dmitry Sergeyev) Keywords: RUSSIA ULYUKAYEV/ (dmitry.sergeev@reuters.com; +7 495 775 1242; Reuters Messaging: dmitry.sergeev.reuters.com@reuters.net)

Reuters: Russia c.bank shifts bid level-dealershttp://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2009/11/09/afx7100064.html

11.09.09, 02:43 AM EST

MOSCOW, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Russia's central bank on Monday shifted its intervention bid level after buying $700 million on the forex market, dealers said.

The regulator moved its intervention bid level to 35.25 roubles per euro/dollar basket, used for guiding the rouble's nominal exchange rate policy, from the previous 35.30, dealers said.

At 0725 GMT, the rouble traded at 35.29 against the basket, 10 kopecks stronger from Friday's close.

The rouble has firmed about 8.5 percent against the basket since its rally began in early September, recovering nearly half of its losses incurred during gradual depreciation a year ago.

The rouble also continued its upward march against the dollar, which has been weakening globally. The rouble firmed to 28.84 per dollar early on Monday, its strongest level since December 2008.

(Reporting by Andrei Ostroukh; writing by Lidia Kelly) Keywords: RUSSIA/ROUBLE

Bloomberg: Ruble Gains to 2009 High Versus Dollar on Advancing Oil, G-20http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a1h4BD3Uhbxw

By Denis Maternovsky

Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- The ruble gained to the highest level against the dollar this year after oil advanced and the Group of 20 governments agreed to maintain stimulus efforts.

The currency gained 0.8 percent to 28.8390 per dollar by 10:29 a.m. in Moscow, heading for its strongest close since December. It was little changed at 43.1235 per euro.

Oil prices have more than doubled since February, boosting the earnings outlook for the world’s biggest energy exporter and supporting the ruble. Crude oil for December delivery gained 1.3 percent to $78.45 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling, hosting a meeting of finance ministers from G-20 nations, said his colleagues decided to keep supporting their economies. The G-20 agreed to keep interest rates low and maintain record budget deficits until recoveries take hold.

The movements against the dollar and the euro left the ruble at 35.2655, the strongest since Dec. 25, against the central bank’s target currency basket, which is used to manage swings that hurt Russian exporters.

The basket is calculated by multiplying the dollar’s rate to the ruble by 0.55, the euro to ruble rate by 0.45, then adding them together. The ruble remains within the 26 to 41 band the central bank pledged Jan. 22 to defend.

To contact the reporter on this story: Denis Maternovsky in Moscow at dmaternovsky@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 9, 2009 02:55 EST

Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions

Reuters: Russian markets -- Factors to Watch on Nov 9http://www.iii.co.uk/news/?type=afxnews&articleid=7616299&subject=markets&action=article

MOSCOW, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Here are events and news stories that could move Russian markets on Monday.

You can reach us on: +7 495 775 1242

STOCKS CALL (Contributions to moscow.newsroom@reuters.com):

OTP Bank: We are observing a positive external environment, and if there are no material changes (on world markets) we expect the Russian market to open at current levels or above the previous session's close

Aton: We expect a positive opening on Russian stock exchanges. Positive U.S. futures and a rebound on the oil market will support the most liquid shares at opening.

EVENTS (All times GMT):

BERLIN - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev takes part in celebrations to mark the fall of the Berlin wall

MOSCOW - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will chair foreign investments council - 0900

GENEVA - Ninth round of US-Russian talks on START treaty begin

ST PETERSBURG, Russia - Russia's Constitutional Court starts hearings on the country's moratorium on the death penalty, which came into force 13 years ago until trial by jury was established nationwide

MOSCOW - Car sales data for October to be published by the Association of European Businesses in the Russian Federation

(AEB)

MOSCOW - The world's biggest gas producer, Gazprom , to publish H1 2009 results

MOSCOW - Russian steel and coking coal producer Mechel to report H1 2009 results

IN THE PAPERS:

Kommersant business daily reports that Russia's Energy Ministry submitted a memorandum on an early-warning mechanism to the European Commission, which would serve as a guide for action in case of a sudden energy supply stoppage to Europe.

The paper also says Russian oil-to-telecoms group Sistema is in talks to acquire mid-sized oil company Russneft from tycoon Oleg Deripaska.

Vedomosti business daily runs an interview with Christian Esteve, leader of Renault's Eurasia management committee. He said Renault sees a bright future for ailing Russian car Lada.

TOP STORIES IN RUSSIA AND THE CIS: TOP NEWS:

MEDVEDEV LEAVES DOOR OPEN TO IRAN SANCTIONS RUSSIA KUDRIN: FIRMS MUST COPE WITH STRONG ROUBLE RUSSIAN MILITARY PLANE CRASHES IN PACIFIC UKRAINE PM SAYS "DIFFICULT" RUSSIAN BILL SETTLED COMPANIES/MARKETS: GAZPROM PROFIT FALLS 50 PCT IN H1 GLOBALTRANS TO GET APPROVAL FOR CAPITAL HIKE RUSSIAN DUMA PASSES BEER TAX HIKE IN 1ST READING RUSSIA ROUBLE FAILS TO EXTEND WEEKLY GAINS RUSSIA RAISES RICE IMPORT TARIFF TO 120 EURO/T SOUTHERN TELECOM GETS 3 BLN ROUBLE CREDIT LINES ECONOMY/POLITICS: MEDVEDEV: KIEV INFIGHTING HOLDING UP GAS PAYMENTS RUSSIAN CAPITAL INFLOW SEEN AT $10 BLN IN OCT RUSSIA JAN-SEPT TRADE SURPLUS $91.7 BLN-CUSTOMS RUSSIA MAY CUT 2009 INFLATION FORECAST TO 9.0 PCT ENERGY: RUSSIA VYSOTSK NOV PRODUCTS EXPORTS TO EDGE DOWN GAZPROM Q2 NET PROFIT SEEN DOWN 37 PERCENT UKRAINE SAYS HAS ENOUGH GAS FOR WINTER FLOWS-EU NOVOROSSIISK OIL PORT REOPENS AFTER STORM -SOURCE

MARKETS CLOSE/LATEST:

RTS 1,336.9 -0.05 pctMSCI Russia 761.6 -1.88 pctMSCI Emerging Markets 943.1 +0.71 pct

Russia 30-year Eurobond yield: 5.594 pct

EMBI+ Russia 234 basis points over

Rouble/dollar 29.0582

Rouble/euro 43.1300

NYMEX crude $78.33 +$090ICE Brent crude $76.82 +$0.95

For Russian company news, double click on

Treasury news Corporate debtRussian stocks Russia country guideAll Russian news Scrolling stocks news

Emerging markets top news

Top deals European companies

Keywords: RUSSIA FACTORS/ (vladimir.soldatkin@reuters.com, +7 495 775 12 42, Reuters Messaging: vladimir.soldatkin.reuters.com@reuters.net)

RenCap: Putin calls for Russian energy minister to adhere to 10% limit on regulated tariff growth

http://www.businessneweurope.eu/dispatch_text10448

Renaissance Capital, RussiaMonday, November 9, 2009

Event: During a meeting last Thursday (5 Nov) with Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin demanded that electricity tariff growth for next year should not exceed an average 10%. In Putin's words, electricity companies should concentrate on cutting costs, both of operational activities and of capex expenses "through real and fair competition in purchasing practices." Putin also said the government should "allow both consumers and producers to enjoy the rewards of cost reduction."

Action: Neutral for Russian power sector companies, in our view.

Rationale: While we judge that government is fully committed to price reform in the sector and fully understands that consumers will need to pay more, we regard Putin's remarks as a reminder that, for 2010 at least, electricity prices will not be allowed to soar. We believe Putin was specifically referring to next year's growth in regulated tariffs.

Here, we judge that the additional 10% is intended to accommodate the introduction of rate-of-return reuglation for the transmission and distribution grids. As for generators, they will be operating in a pricing regime where 70% of their output will be priced by competitive markets - and hence will be relatively free of imposed limits on price rises. Looking at the overall situation, we estimate that the average liberalised tariff for industrial consumers will grow 27% in 2010.

Vladimir Sklyar

RenCap: Evraz gets green light to buy Vanady-Tula

http://www.businessneweurope.eu/dispatch_text10448

Renaissance Capital, RussiaMonday, November 9, 2009

On Friday (6 Nov), It was reported that Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service had allowed NTMK, an Evraz Group subsidiary, to purchase a 91% stake in Vanady-Tula, which controls more than 70% of V2O5 and FeV production in Russia and approximately 15-18% of global volume. The company was sold in late 2007 by its former owner, Koks Group to Siberian Mining and Smelting Company (SibGMK). As reported by newswires at the time, SibGMK could be an interim buyer, acting in favour of Evraz, which could not buy Vanady-Tula because of anti-monopoly limitations imposed due to Evraz's acquisition of HighVeld. According to newswires (including Vedomosti and Kommersant), Evraz had an option to buy the stake in Vanady-Tula for RUB3.14bn, which was subject to approval by the Federal Antimonopoly Service.

In 2008, Vanady-Tula produced 6,420 tonnes of saleable V2O5 and 31,76 tonnes of FeV. Its revenues in 2008, according to RAS accounts, were RUB7.5bn, with EBITDA of RUB867mn. However, in 1H09 sales dropped 80% on the back of collapsed prices and lower volumes and the company reported a RUB36mn net loss. Evraz Group's companies are Vanady-Tula's key suppliers, therefore its acquisition would fit vertical integration within the group very well. Vanady- Tula's debt is zero and the price of the company likely to be in the neighborhood of $100mn, hence the deal will not seriously affect Evraz's credit metrics. Furthemore, as the purchase could represent the completion of a previously agreed deal, we do not think it signals that M&A appetite has returned to Evraz, or that the company will look for new acquisitions again.

Andrey Markov

The Moscow Times: RusAl, Goldman Part Ways http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/rusal-goldman-part-ways/389091.html

09 November 2009Combined Reports

Bank of America Merrill Lynch replaced Goldman Sachs as a “key adviser” on United Company RusAl’s planned $30 billion stock-market listing, the Independent on Sunday reported, citing unidentified bankers.

The reason for Goldman’s departure was unclear and the decision was “mutual,” the newspaper said.

The report came after The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday that Wall Street firms were in a quandary about getting involved with the planned listing because majority owner Oleg Deripaska has been barred from getting a U.S. visa on allegations that he is connected to organized crime.

Citing sources familiar with the matter, the Journal reported that Goldman Sachs Group had looked likely to take one of the top two underwriting slots before stepping away from the deal.

Deripaska has denied links to organized crime and has never been charged with a crime. The Wall Street Journal’s sources said Goldman had been unable to get comfortable with risks linked to the deal in the accelerated time frame.

On Wednesday, sources with direct knowledge of the deal said RusAl would seek Hong Kong listing committee approval soon, hoping to raise about $2 billion through a dual listing. The sources said RusAl also planned to list in Euronext Paris, but that the primary listing would be in Hong Kong.

RusAl hopes to begin trading in December, though the IPO is contingent on progress with its debt restructuring, the sources said. The Journal has reported that Deripaska traveled to the United States twice recently using entry permits arranged by the FBI, with whom he met during his visits. 

(Reuters, Bloomberg)

Last Updated: November 08. 2009 5:07PM

Detnews.com: General Motors tries to restart deal with Magna in Russiahttp://www.detnews.com/article/20091108/AUTO01/911080312/1148/GM-tries-to-restart-deal-with-Magna-in-Russia

Christine Tierney / The Detroit News

General Motors Co. hopes to salvage a key element of the collapsed plan to sell its Adam Opel GmbH carmaker -- a three-way production deal in Russia.

The Russian component of the plan seemed doomed after GM decided last Tuesday that it wouldn't sell a majority stake in Opel to Canadian parts supplier Magna International Inc. and its Russian partner Sberbank.

But GM officials said last week that they still hoped to negotiate an agreement with Magna and Russian automaker GAZ.

A source familiar with the situation said GM has already contacted Sberbank.

The Russian-controlled bank with strong ties to the Kremlin had agreed to acquire 27.5 percent of Opel and transfer the stake to a Russian automaker, most likely GAZ.

GAZ, Russia's No. 2 automaker, Magna and GM began discussing a production deal three years ago. But the negotiations fizzled after GAZ owner Oleg Deripaska ran into financial trouble. Soon afterward, GM was struggling with its own financial difficulties.

Deripaska and Magna Chairman Frank Stronach have close ties and, for a time, Deripaska was a big investor in Magna.

"I see us being able to pick up with Magna and GAZ and continue to try to but obviously now as part of a GM-retained develop this business-- Opel, not as part of a Magna-Sberbank consortium," GM Group Vice President John Smith, the chief negotiator of the Opel deal, told reporters last Wednesday.

An outcry in Europe

GM's unexpected decision to keep Opel sparked an angry outcry in Germany -- and a prickly reaction in Russia, as well.

Vladimir Putin, Russia's powerful prime minister, was quoted as saying that, "GM didn't discuss anything with anyone."

"It doesn't hurt our interests, but it speaks of a peculiar culture of communication of American business with its business partners," Putin said. "This arrogant attitude is directed first and foremost at the Europeans rather than at us."

Warren Browne, a former head of GM Russia, said he believed that GM would be able to work out an arrangement with the Russians.

"The end of the Opel deal does not preclude GM from continuing to help GAZ with Magna's support," Browne said.

The U.S. automaker may face more resistance in Germany. But Smith said he was not surprised by the reaction in Opel's home country. Most German state and federal officials and Opel's labor representatives in Germany had favored a Magna-Sberbank deal.

But GM would not cut more jobs than Magna would have, Smith said. All the restructuring proposals for Opel, including one from Brussels-based RHJ International, were patterned on a restructuring plan for GM Europe that GM officials had drafted earlier this year.

They all envisage roughly 10,000 job percent reduction in the work force. They all cuts, representing a 20 percent. In all of them, set out to reduce structural costs by about 30 GM's Antwerp, Belgium, plant seems to be at risk of closure.

n a recent interview, GM's head of international operations, Executive Vice President Nick Reilly, said Opel had a cost problem. "The product's good," he said. "Its biggest problem is financial. It has a very heavy emphasis in relatively high cost countries with a strong euro, and it needs to get that cost base down significantly."

Reilly, based in Shanghai, is taking over management of GM's European operations on an interim basis until a replacement is found for Carl-Peter Forster, who is leaving the company.

Starting over

GM executives are making revisions now to their Opel restructuring plan, which the company will review this week.

GM will then approach European labor unions and governments with Opel facilities to discuss financial assistance to restructure Opel. GM estimates it needs 3 billion euros, or $4.5 billion -- significantly less than what the German and other governments were prepared to offer Magna-Sberbank.

"We hope by the end of the first quarter to have a restructuring plan agreed with governments and unions," Smith said.

In contrast to the criticism of GM heard in Europe, Magna's response to GM's reversal has been mild.

"We'll continue to support Opel and GM, and hope our business will continue to grow with them," Magna Co-Chief Executive Don Walker said Thursday on a quarterly results call.

For his part, Smith noted that Magna "is among GM's best suppliers. We like them. We continue to be their largest customer."

ctierney@detnews.com (313) 222-1463 Associated Press contributed.

November 6, 2009Russia Profile: Shifting in Reverse

http://www.russiaprofile.org/page.php?pageid=Business&articleid=a1257531390

By Tom Balmforth

Russia Profile

After Seeing Its Hopes Dashed, Can Russia Salvage Any Good News Out of the Collapse of the Opel Deal?

Russia’s ailing car industry took another blow on November 4, as America’s General Motors unexpectedly cancelled the proposed sale of its German Opel unit to a consortium of Russia’s Sberbank and Canada’s Magna. The collapse of the deal, which comes after months of negotiations, is not only a setback for Russia’s auto industry, but also represents a major blow to the government’s entire strategy for modernizing the Russian industry. By bringing in Western technology and management experience, the deal would have given Russian car makers a much-needed competitive edge, and would also have allowed Russia to gain an important foothold in European business, setting a precedent for future Russian investment projects.

GM’s decision to abandon the sale of Opel was prompted by improving business conditions in Europe: the board subsequently reevaluated Opel’s strategic value. At first, the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin appeared hopeful that the deal would still go through, arguing on November 4 that it was the German trust charged with overseeing Opel, rather than GM, who should decide on further steps. The next day, his optimism had already given way to resigned acceptance. “The decision to refuse to sell Opel to the consortium of Magna and Sberbank does not harm Russian interests. But we were ready to support the completion of this project,” he said at a Russian government committee meeting. “The situation surrounding Opel is a lesson for us. Now Russia too will consider this style of conducting relations with its partners in the future,” he added.

GM’s decision has been met with outrage in Germany, where 10,000 workers are to be made redundant as GM balances the books following its decision to hold onto its European unit. “For the Russian auto sector in general it certainly is a lost opportunity and a setback for the government’s plan,” said Chris Weafer, the chief strategist at Uralsib. “The opportunity to have a partnership with a company like Opel would have helped the Russian auto sector generally and GAZ, of course, in particular,” he said. The terms of the Opel deal would have seen Oleg Deripaska’s GAZ company benefiting from Opel’s technology and management experience.

Russia’s auto sector has been a real headache for the government during the global recession. Russia’s pre-crisis car industry was posting the fastest growth rate in Europe and had been set to overtake Germany as the largest automobile industry in Europe. However, when the recession started to bite and brought with it reduced demand, car sales in Russia slumped dramatically. The Russian government countered with protectionist measures such as raised tariffs on imported cars in order to stimulate domestic demand. Nonetheless, Russia’s biggest car maker, AvtoVaz, posted net losses

of 19.4 billion rubles ($647 million) in the first half of 2009 alone. At a government meeting on November 3 Putin announced plans to settle the whole of Avotvaz’ debt, which amounts to 38 billion rubles ($1.3 billion). But he warned that “it’s not enough, money is also needed for long-term development.”

GM’s sudden change of mind will further frustrate that development, not only for the auto sector, but also for the Russian industry in general. Since the beginning of Putin’s second term as president in 2004, the government has identified a number of “strategic industries” (of which the auto industry is one) and sought to modernize them by helping them forge partnerships with international peer companies. In doing so, Russia hoped to emulate China’s success, in which the Chinese government has “retained control over strategic industries but has helped them bring in equity partnerships with international companies, which was very decisive in making Chinese companies more efficient, more modernized and more competitive,” explained Weafer. 

“A key part of the whole of [the Russian government’s strategy for industry] was the recognition that for Russia’s ‘strategic industries,’ particularly manufacturing, the biggest problem was that industrial companies were still largely unchanged from the Soviet era. Management practices were the same, production practices were the same, and they recognized that they needed to modernize and become more efficient,” Weafer said. “The way around this was to form relationships with international companies, taking in management expertise and the know-how and the technology. [GM’s decision] is therefore a big setback,” he added.

Back in 2006, Russia tried unsuccessfully to invest in Airbus owner EADS, the world’s biggest aerospace company. When Putin then encountered political opposition to Russian investment from France and Germany, he made no secret of his frustration, saying at a speech in Bavaria that “European legislators have to get used to the fact that this is not the Red Army coming, but Russian money to invest.” GM’s change of heart is not political, but it will still greatly frustrate Russia.

Now that the Opel deal has fallen through, Russia has also lost its leverage to pressure France’s Renault, which owns a 25-percent stake in AvtoVaz, into buying a larger stake in the troubled company. On November 4, a Russian government source told Reuters that Renault could step into the breach and buy a controlling stake in the Russian carmaker, but that suggestion was quickly denied by Carlos Ghosn, Renault’s chief executive.

When the Opel deal was still a possibility, the Russian government was able to put pressure on Renault to stop “sitting on the fence,” by, for instance, suggesting it could merge GAZ and AvtoVaz into a single new company dealing primarily with Opel, rather than Renault, Weafer explained. “But now that Opel is no longer available, it swings the pendulum back to Renault.”

Russia has for some time been trying to raise its international status and expand its assets abroad, particularly in Germany, with whom it shares what both sides call a “strategic partnership.” “From the political aspect, Russia will see it as a bit of a blow,” said Tom

Mundy, the vice president for equities at Renaissance Capital. “I think it was an opportunity to stamp its mark on Europe to show that it can get involved in European business and that it can also benefit from interaction with Europe, benefitting from the technology that Opel had,” said Mundy. “It would have been a big psychological win for Russia to know that it’s essentially bailing out the German car industry and German Chancellor Angela Merkel would have owed Russia because of that,” he said. But, as another opportunity to gain a springboard into European business passes by, it is Russia’s strategy for industry that suffers most. “Frankly, industries like the auto sector and other similar industries are simply not going to develop until these relationships can be formed and this cross-over of expertise and technology can be achieved. This is a big deal, a very big deal,” said Weafer. Ahead of President Dmitry Medvedev’s trip to meet Angela Merkel in Germany on November 9, it remains to be seen whether Russia can salvage anything positive from GM’s decision. “It will be interesting to see if they can come up with something novel, some alternative to the ‘bad Americans’ angle,” concluded Weafer.

NOVEMBER 8, 2009

WSJ: Mitsubishi Corp: Bought 40% Of Russia's Rolf Import http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091108-705456.html

TOKYO (Dow Jones)--Mitsubishi Corp.(8058.TO) said Monday it has bought a 40% stake in Rolf Import, the distributor for Mitsubishi Motors Corp. (7211.TO) in Russia.

The initial price of the stake is $72 million, with scope for additional payments of up to $128 million depending on the business performance of Rolf Import, the Japanese trading house said.

Rolf Import has been the distributor for Mitsubishi Motor Corp. in Russia since 1992.

-Tor Ching Li, Dow Jones Newswires; 813-6895-7565, chingli.tor@dowjones.com

Bloomberg: Mitsubishi Buys 40% Stake in Russia’s Rolf Import, Nikkei Sayshttp://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=acHEVedD.PaM

By Theresa Barraclough

Nov. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Mitsubishi Corp., Japan’s largest trading house, bought a 40 percent stake in Russia’s Rolf Import, Nikkei English News reported, without saying where it obtained the information.

The purchase may cost the company as much as $18 billion, depending on Rolf Import’s earnings, the newspaper said. Rolf, Russia’s largest automobile dealership group, is a distributor of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. cars.

To contact the reporters on this story: Theresa Barraclough in Tokyo at tbarraclough@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 6, 2009 21:28 EST

NOVEMBER 9, 2009, 2:30 A.M. ET

WSJ: Audi Plans To Almost Double Russia Sales By 2015 http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091109-702515.html

FRANKFURT (Dow Jones)--Luxury auto maker Audi AG (NSU.XE) plans to almost double sales in Russia by 2015 despite the current steep market downturn, highlighting the trend among auto makers to tap emerging markets for future growth.

Sales in Russia are expected to come in around 30,000 cars in 2015 after about 16,500 this year, Audi executive board member responsible for sales and marketing, Peter Schwarzenbauer, said in an interview.

Audi is the premium brand of Volkswagen AG (VLKAY,VOW.XE), Europe's largest auto maker by sales, and has been the group's biggest earnings contributor in the first nine months of 2009.

Russia appeared on track to surpass Germany as Europe's largest single car market, but demand for cars contracted sharply when credit markets turned sour amid the financial crisis.

According to Russia's Association of European Businesses, domestic car and light commercial vehicle sales slumped 51% on the year in the January-to-September period to 1.11 million units. Audi posted a 13% decline compared to the same period last year--to 11,464 cars in Russia.

The so-called BRIC countries Brazil, Russia, India and China are seen as crucial for growth in the auto industry in coming years and companies are pushing hard to ramp up their presence there.

Russia's economy, however, has been battered by the global economic downturn and is recovering far more slowly than its peers in the BRIC group.

Schwarzenbauer said he expects the Indian market to exceed 3 million vehicles in 2015. India currently has a market volume of around 1.3 million vehicles per year.

Audi's sales in India are on track to come in at 1,650 cars this year and are poised to rise to more than 2,000 in 2010, Schwarzenbauer said.

He noted that the number of potential luxury car buyers in India is growing, but that infracture and the quality of the roads still represent obstacles for stronger growth in the country's premium segment.

Schwarzenbauer said Audi's sales in Brazil are on track to come in at around 2,300 cars in 2009. Sales in Brazil might reach 5,000 cars in 2013 already, earlier than 2015 as initially planned, he said.

He said Audi's brand image in Brazil is often still focused on the A3 hatchback, currently its entry-level model, but efforts to improve the awareness for the company's entire product line-up are ongoing.

Audi started to produce A3 models locally in Brazil in 1999, but ceased production in 2006 as sales volumes didn't live up to expectations.

Thanks to an early market entry of parent Volkswagen, Audi is the best-selling luxury brand in China, by far the largest of the BRIC markets.

In terms of global luxury sales Audi still ranks third behind BMW AG (BMW.XE) and Daimler AG's (DAI) Mercedes-Benz brand. But it has been narrowing the gap during the industry crisis, mainly due to its relatively small exposure to the troubled U.S. market and its large footprint in China.

Schwarzenbauer said last week that Audi will significantly exceed its target of 130,000 car sales in China this year and expects the country to outpace its German home turf as its largest single market in 2012 or 2013 at the latest.

Annual sales in China might soar to 250,000 cars by 2012 or 2013 as Audi is preparing for the launch of several new or revamped models, is ramping up local production and expanding its dealership network.

-By Christoph Rauwald and Nico Schmidt, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 69 29 725 512; christoph.rauwald@dowjones.com

RBC: Svyazinvest's creditors may require early debt repayment

http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20091109112806.shtml

      RBC, 09.11.2009, Moscow 11:28:06.The merger between Svyazinvest's subsidiaries on the basis of Rostelecom may cost up to RUB 38bn (approx. USD 1.31bn), the RBC Daily newspaper reported today. The telecommunication holding's consultants say that this amount is likely to be called for repayment. Another RUB 15bn (approx. USD 517m) could be spent on the share buy back from the minority

shareholders. The sum of RUB 53bn (approx. USD 1.83bn) will be the government's biggest payment to private investors and creditors as part of the company's reorganization.

      "Rostelecom is poised to issue a ruble-denominated loan if the creditors of Svyazinvest's interregional communications companies request the early repayment of debts," a source close to the company's board of directors told the newspaper. Meanwhile, Svyazinvest's official statement indicates that its consolidated net debt stood at RUB 113.9bn (approx. USD 3.92bn), and the creditors will be able to request the early repayment of debt once the board of directors has made the decision on the merger between the interregional communications companies to Rostelecom.

      Analysts say that Rostelecom as a creditor looks much better than other subsidiaries of Svyazinvest, noting that RUB 38bn (approx. USD 1.31bn) was not such a great sum for the company.

Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)

Steel Guru: Oil start receiving from Odesa refinery in Ukraine - Mr Oleksiy Bibikhttp://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/11/09/MTE5NTE5/Oil_start_receiving_from_Odesa_refinery_in_Ukraine_-_Mr_Oleksiy_Bibik.html

Monday, 09 Nov 2009

Interfax cited Mr Oleksiy Bibik aide to the plant's general director as saying that oil is now getting through to the Odesa refinery in Ukraine by pipeline.

Mr Bibik said "Oil started to be supplied along the pipeline at 10:00 PM. He did not say precisely when the refinery might start refining the crude, only that preparations to get it running at full capacity were underway.”

Russia Lukoil has said the refinery was still refining stockpiled crude recently as pipeline oil was still not getting through. It said last week it would resume delivering oil to the Odesa refinery from November 1st.

The company said Russian pipeline operator Transneft has found the technical capability to start up oil supplies on the Druzhba pipeline on the Belarusian border-Brody-Odesa route from November 1st 2009

The Odesa refinery will receive 195,000 tonnes of crude in November, which will allow it to resume oil refining at previous levels. Lukoil will continue talks with all the concerned parties concerning the possibility of improving the economics of deliveries to the Odesa refinery.

Lukoil management decided on October 2 to stop production at the Odessa Oil Refinery. The Russian company said "This was a necessary decision owing to the actions of Ukrtransnafta which stopped pumping oil on the Lisichansk-Kremenchug-Odessa route

on October 1st 2009."

Moreover, Transneft did not have the technical ability to deliver oil to the Odesa refinery on other routes in October. Alternative oil delivery routes being proposed by Ukrtransnafta would substantially raise the cost of the oil and render the Odesa refinery unprofitable. One proposed route, to ship Russian oil through Belarus to Brody and on to Odesa, would increase transportation costs by USD 5.7 per tonne.

(Sourced from Interfax)

Bloomberg: Russia’s Sistema in Talks to Acquire Russneft, Kommersant Sayshttp://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aER1JJe8sScY

By Alex Nicholson

Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- AFK Sistema, billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov’s holding company, has held talks on acquiring oil producer OAO Russneft, Kommersant reported, citing people it didn’t identify.

Sistema is wary of acquiring Russneft with its current level of debt, the newspaper added.

Russneft had 193 billion rubles ($6.7 billion) in debt at the end of the first half this year according to Russian accounting standards, Kommersant said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Nicholson in Moscow at anicholson6@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 9, 2009 01:42 EST

Reuters: Russia's Sistema eyes oil firm Russneft – paperhttp://in.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idINL936366320091109

Mon Nov 9, 2009 2:28pm IST

MOSCOW, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Russian oil-to-telecoms group Sistema (SSAq.L: Quote, Profile, Research) is in talks to acquire mid-sized oil company Russneft from tycoon Oleg Deripaska after having bought an oil and refining hub in the Urals this year, a newspaper reported.

Kommersant business daily said on Monday that Sistema Chairman Vladimir Yevtushenkov had discussed the possibility of purchasing Russneft several times, but that the potential deal was complicated by Russneft's debt of around $6.65 billion. Deripaska, majority owner of aluminium producer UC RUSAL, agreed to buy Russneft from businessman Mikhail Gutseriyev in 2007.

Gutseriyev fled Russia as police pursued him for tax debts and Deripaska has been waiting for over two years to get clearance from antitrust authorities to complete the purchase.

Sistema, whose main asset is Russia's top mobile operator, MTS (MBT.N: Quote, Profile, Research), in March paid $2.5 billion for control of Bashneft and five other energy firms in which it already owned blocking stakes of up to 30 percent.

Bashneft needs additional crude to feed its refineries, and Sistema has said it was looking for upstream assets, without elaborating.

A spokesman for Deripaska declined to comment on the report.

A source close to the situation confirmed to Reuters that Sistema was interested in Russneft, which sources have previously said was also being targeted by Gazprom's (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) oil arm, Gazprom Neft (SIBN.MM: Quote, Profile, Research).

Russneft produces around 300,000 barrels per day from fragmented fields spread all over Russia and its main refining asset is the 130,000-barrels-per-day Orsk refinery. (Reporting by Katya Golubkova, writing by Vladimir Soldatkin)

Gazprom

November 9http://www.gazprom.com/

Gazprom reports its consolidated interim condensed financial results under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for the six months ended 30   June 2009

Upstreamonline: Demand boost pays off for Gazpromhttp://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article198263.ece

By Upstream staff

Russian gas giant Gazprom beat analyst forecasts by booking a 36% drop in quarterly net profit that signalled demand for its gas in Europe had picked up from a barren first quarter of the year.

Russia's gas export monopoly reported profit attributable to shareholders of 192.6 billion roubles ($6.6 billion) in the second quarter. Analysts polled by Reuters had on average forecast a 188.15 billion rouble profit for the period.

Though down year-on-year, second-quarter profit rose from 110 billion roubles in the preceding three months, when Gazprom was hit hard by low demand in Europe and a three-week supply suspension that resulted from a pricing dispute with Ukraine.

Gazprom said in a statement second-quarter sales fell 16% from the same period last year, while operating expenses rose 13.5%.

Gazprom shares traded up 2.5% by 0822 GMT, in line with the broader market, a Reuters report said.

Monday, 09 November, 2009, 08:51 GMT | last updated: Monday, 09 November, 2009, 08:51 GMT

Bloomberg: Gazprom Cuts Gas Purchases 52% on Turkmen Import Halt (Update1)http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aWyNJsmYXVYM

By Anna Shiryaevskaya

Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- OAO Gazprom, the world’s largest gas producer, spent 52 percent less on purchases of the fuel in the second quarter after a pipeline blast halted imports from Turkmenistan.

The cost of gas purchases fell to 135.3 billion rubles ($4.7 billion) from 281.1 billion rubles in the first quarter, the Moscow-based company said on its Web site today. Operating expenses fell 14 percent from the previous quarter, to 559 billion rubles.

Gas imports from Turkmenistan, the biggest producer of the fuel in Central Asia, were halted in April after an explosion on the export pipeline to Russia. Gazprom and Turkmengaz, Turkmenistan’s state gas company, are yet to complete talks on resuming the supplies.

“Gazprom is saving about $3.4 billion a quarter after Turkmen imports stopped,” Maria Radina, a Moscow-based analyst at Nomura International Plc, said by telephone. “This will have a positive effect on Gazprom’s costs. The delay in resuming Turkmen purchases is positive news for Gazprom and helps accelerate the revival of its own production.”

Gazprom has used purchases of Central Asian gas to offset declining output at Siberian fields, mainly re-selling the fuel in Europe.

Gazprom had second-quarter net income of 192.6 billion rubles, an increase of 86 percent from the previous period. Net income fell 36 percent compared with a year earlier, beating Bloomberg’s median estimate of nine analysts by 11 percent.

Gas purchases rose 34 percent in the second quarter compared with the same period last year, according to Bloomberg calculations. They had nearly tripled in the first quarter compared with the year-earlier period after Central Asian suppliers raised prices, the company said in August.

Gazprom shares gained 2.9 percent to 179.92 rubles as of 11:41 a.m.

For Related News and Information:

To contact the reporter on this story: Anna Shiryaevskaya in Moscow at ashiryaevska@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 9, 2009 03:42 EST

RIA: Gazprom's IFRS net profit dwindles y-o-y to $10.5 bln in 1H09http://en.rian.ru/business/20091109/156764492.html

12:0009/11/2009MOSCOW, November 9 (RIA Novosti) - Russian energy giant Gazprom said on Monday its net profit under International Financial Reporting Standards dwindled to 305.76 billion rubles ($10.5 bln) in January-June year-on-year.

Gazprom posted a net profit of 609.35 billion rubles ($21 billion at current exchange rates) in the first six months of 2008.

The gas monopoly's revenue declined by 6.6% to 1.64 trillion rubles ($56.5 bln) in the first six months of 2009.

The company's net debt grew by 316.5 billion rubles ($10.9 bln), or 31%, to 1.334 trillion rubles ($46 bln) as of June 30, 2009. Gazprom explained the increase by a rise in long-term borrowing and a reassessment of both long- and short-term foreign currency loans.

Gazprom said it borrowed $300 million from the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in October under a $500 million loan deal signed in August.

In July-September, the company took out a total of more than 1.4 billion rubles ($49 mln) in loans.

In late October, Gazprom posted a 56% year-on-year decrease in its January-September net profit under Russian Accounting Standards to 189.2 billion rubles ($6.5 bln).

Last year, the energy giant, in which the government controls more than 50%, posted a 52% decrease year-on-year in RAS net profit to 173 billion rubles ($5.9 bln at current exchange rates).

Bloomberg: Gazprom Second-Quarter Net Falls 36% to 192.6 Billion Rubleshttp://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aYVlUURHtQow

By Anna Shiryaevskaya

Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- OAO Gazprom’s net income fell 36 percent in the second-quarter to 192.6 billion rubles ($6.7 billion), the Moscow-based company said on its Web site today.

To contact the reporter on this story: Anna Shiryaevskaya in Moscow at ashiryaevska@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 9, 2009 01:56 EST

Reuters: UPDATE 1-Gazprom Q2 profit falls 36 pct, beats f'casthttp://www.reuters.com/article/rbssEnergyNews/idUSL936219620091109

Mon Nov 9, 2009 3:30am EST

* Net profit 192.6 bln rbls vs f'cast 188.15 bln

* Q2 net profit falls 36 percent year-on-year

* Debt balance increases by 31 pct in H1

(Adds detail)

MOSCOW, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the world's largest natural gas company, beat analyst forecasts with a 36 percent drop in quarterly net profit that signalled demand for its gas in Europe had picked up from a barren first quarter of the year.

Russia's gas export monopoly on Monday reported profit attributable to shareholders of 192.6 billion roubles ($6.6 billion) in the second quarter. Analysts polled by Reuters had on average forecast a 188.15 billion rouble profit for the period.

Though down year-on-year, second-quarter profit rose from 110 billion roubles in the preceding three months, when Gazprom was hit hard by low demand in Europe and a three-week supply suspension that resulted from a pricing dispute with Ukraine.

Gazprom said in a statement second-quarter sales fell 16 percent from the same period last year, while operating expenses rose 13.5 percent.

Gazprom shares traded up 2.5 percent by 0822 GMT, in line with the broader market .MCX.

Gazprom, Russia's most indebted company, also said its debt balance rose by 316.45 billion roubles, or 31 percent, in the first half of 2009 to 1,335 billion roubles.

The company said it borrowed heavily amid the rouble's depreciation against global currencies. (Editing by David Holmes) ($1=29.01 Rouble)

BBC: Gazprom sees 50% drop in profits http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8349884.stm

Profits at Russian energy giant Gazprom have halved because of the higher cost of buying gas.

Net profit for the first half of the year fell to 305.8bn roubles ($10.6bn, £6.3bn), down from 609.4bn roubles in the first six months of 2008,

The company said the cost of purchased gas from central Asia had increased by 105%, resulting in lower profits.

Other energy companies, such as BP and Royal Dutch Shell, also reported declines in profits last month.

Energy firms have been hit by a decline in oil prices. After hitting a record high of $147 a barrel in July of last year the price of oil fell back to about $30 last December, although it has since rebounded to $79 a barrel.

The value of Gazprom's sales of gas to Europe and other countries increased 6% as higher prices compensated for a drop in export volumes.

The company said the surge in gas costs was "mainly caused by the increase in prices for gas from Central Asia and increase in gas trading activities on the European market and respective increase of gas purchases in Europe".

RIA: Gazprom confirms Ukraine's gas payment for Octoberhttp://en.rian.ru/russia/20091109/156764955.html

12:4309/11/2009

MOSCOW, November 9 (RIA Novosti) - Russian energy giant Gazprom confirmed on Monday that Ukraine's Naftogaz had paid in full for Russian natural gas supplies in October.

"Naftogaz has paid in full for gas supplies in October," a Gazprom spokesman said.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said on Friday that Ukraine had paid the $500 million bill, but the information was not immediately confirmed by Gazprom.

Bohdan Sokolovskyi, a Ukrainian presidential envoy for international energy security, said the cash-strapped ex-Soviet state had converted its special drawing rights (SDRs) into dollars to make the payment.

The European Commission signaled on Friday that it wants confirmation of Ukraine's gas payment for October, according to Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen, a European Commission deputy spokesperson.

In late October, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned against possible problems with Kiev's payment for gas, saying they could cause difficulties for European consumers receiving Russian gas via Ukraine.

A dispute between Moscow and Kiev at the start of the year over gas debts and 2009 deliveries left millions of Europeans without gas in January.

09.11.09 11:09 Interfax: Gazprom has confirmed payment by Naftogaz of Ukraine "of October of gashttp://www.interfax-russia.ru/main.asp?id=52990

November 9. Interfax-Russia.ru - "Naftogaz Ukraine" fully paid for the October delivery of gas, told reporters in the information department of Gazprom (RTS: GAZP).

 According to the Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, in October, "Naftogaz" to import gas worth about $ 500 million

According to the presidential secretariat, the payments for the October delivery of gas, estimated at $ 470 million, implemented through the use of special drawing rights (SDR), listed by the International Monetary Fund, Kiev, in August-September as part of the last allocation of SDR.

National Bank of Ukraine said that on Friday the government, previously applied to the IMF for a conversion of the SDR in U.S. dollars, will receive about $ 480 million as a result of conversion SDR300 million