Russia 100813

Basic Political Developments Hamsayeh: Turkey, Russia Resume Gasoline Shipments to Iran - Turkey and

Russia two of Iran strategic partners have dismissed US-led Western gasoline embargo on Iran a Middle Eastern country known for its immense geostrategic importance.

Russian official says no ban on Moldovan wine imports -“Over the last week, imports of Moldovan wines in Russia continued,” Onishchenko said. “Unfortunately, it should be said the Moldovan side does not take practically any measures towards normalizing the quality of produce.”

President to cut short Russia visit - After strong criticism of his visit to France and the United Kingdom at a time when the nation was coping with the worst flood, President Asif Ali Zardari has decided to cut short his visit to Russia.

Zardari to visit Russia next week - Despite strong criticism of his visit to France and the United Kingdom at a time when the nation was coping with the worst flood, President Asif Ali Zardari remains undeterred and will leave next week for Russia.

Pakistan: Visit of trade delegation to Russia - A meeting with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation and the External Economic and International Relations Department of Government of Moscow City in are also scheduled during the visit. A meeting with the First Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade is also scheduled.

Medvedev, Kokoity to discuss post-war reconstruction of South Ossetia - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will meet with South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity on Friday to discuss post-war reconstruction in the former Georgian republic of South Ossetia, the Kremlin press service said.

Sale of S-300 to Azerbaijan to strengthen CSTO missile defense, expert - According to Ramil Latipov, the sale of S-300 to Azerbaijan will strengthen the missile defense system of CSTO.

Russian missile diplomacy surprises EU - The EU's monitoring mission in Georgia told this website that it is also unable to confirm the Russian media reports because its officers are denied entry into the Abkhazia region. "The situation is calm at the moment but it is unpredictable. Certainly events like this give input to further tensions," a contact in the mission said. "I was told by military experts they are simply air defence systems, they are not strategic missiles, which means they can only be used to target aircraft."

RF, Denmark to plan joint navy exercises in 2011-Baltic Fleet cmdr The State Duma readies treaty on mutual legal assistance between Russia and

Japan - On Thursday Russian President Dmitry Medvedev introduced a treaty between Russia and Japan on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters for ratification to the Duma.

No tech problems for handing to Poland presid plane crash docs - There are no technical problems for the handover to the Polish side of documents on the crash of the presidential plane Tupolev Tu-154 outside Smolensk, the Prosecutor’s

Office is to decide this issue, Russian Vice Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov told journalists on Thursday.

Russia to send 7 officials to Kyrgyzstan as part of OSCE police mission U.S. court to start hearing case of suspected Russian cocaine-smuggling pilot Foreign Ministry Rejects U.S. Ruling on Jewish Library Russian Guard Missile Cruiser “Moskva” visits Sri Lanka on a Goodwill Mission Indian submarine arrives in Russia for modernization No pollution threat to Amur Amur water meet standards, as Sungari not exceed water pollution WILDFIRES IN RUSSIA

o Fire near Russian nuclear centre grows - "The fire which appeared in the eastern part of the nature reserve two days ago after lightning struck a pine tree has grown in size and now presents a certain danger," the head of the emergencies ministry for Mordovia, Major General Vyacheslav Kormilitsyn, said in a statement.

o Fire near Russian nuclear centre grows: Official - Wildfires raging close to Russia's main nuclear research centre have grown in size and emergency services are working round the clock to contain the blaze, officials said on Friday.

o Wildfire area reduced by 15,000 ha in Russiao 611 wildfires still burning across Russia – forestry agencyo 611 wildfires still burning across Russiao Fire zone shrinks, concerns over air pollution in Moscow remain o Russia's smog spreading to Kazakhstano Storm drenches parched Moscow but heatwave to go ono U.S., Spain Offer Aid to Combat Russian Fires, Kremlin Says o U.S. ready to supply firefighting equipment to Russia — Kremlin o Lithuania sending 24 fire fighters, special equipment to Russiao King of Spain offers assistance to Russia in dealing with wild fireso ČR sends money in aid to fire-hit Russia - The Czech Republic will send 5

million crowns to Russia for removing the aftermath of the recent devastating fires, the Czech Foreign Ministry has told CTK, adding that last weekend's Czech floods prevented Prague from sending in rescuers or equipment that Moscow had asked for.

o Pan-European centre to be set up to fight natural disasters - Russian Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu, Yuri Brazhnikov says, spoke of this at the height of fighting the fires. Actually the Russian Emergencies Ministry has long since suggested setting up a European air squadron for the purpose. The idea was shared by many European countries.

o Satellites register over 350 wildfire hotspots in Russia o Thunderstorms replace heat wave in central Russiao Hurricanes, tornadoes may follow heat wave in Central Russia o Nezavisimaya/Russia Today: Moscow authorities don’t want to discuss

morgues or corpses

o Anti-Corruption Cameras Show Empty Fields - The Regional Development Ministry on Thursday slammed local officials for the way they set up web cameras to monitor construction of new homes for victims of wildfires, saying they show empty fields, not construction work.

o Bulgaria: Sheinovo Hospital proposes to accept pregnant women from Russia regarding complicated situation there due to fires - The Second Specialized Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital Sheinovo offers assistance to Russia because of the complicated situation with the fires there, hospital director Dr. Ivan Kostov told FOCUS News Agency

NORTH CAUCASUS o Dagestan plans to use 'ethnic' military units to fight militants - According

to Kommersant, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev approved the formation of a "special unit comprising at least 800 people" to conduct military operations in Dagestan during a meeting with Dagestan's President Magomedsalam Magomedov on Wednesday.

o Chechen president Kadyrov seeks to change his title o Kadyrov offers parliament to change name of republic head posto Chechen leader could be called "imam" - Kadyrov's press secretary

Total of 35 people detained in Moscow at unauthorized rally Prominent rights activist in hospital after detention at opposition rally Police End Anti-Mayor 'Day of Wrath' - An unsanctioned rally against Mayor

Yury Luzhkov was cut short by police, who cordoned off the site hours in advance and detained 35 protesters Thursday evening.

Luzhkov and Gromov sling mud over the fires In Russia, fires -- and politicians -- are bringing down forests - By William J.

Dobson Putin, Medvedev Ignore Kursk Date - By Alexey Eremenko Fires Not Likely to Scorch Tandem - By Nikolaus von Twickel and Alexandra

Odynova Russians criticize Putin on corruption and oligarchs - Russians like Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for boosting Moscow's image abroad and improving living standards but fault him for not fighting corruption or reining in billionaire oligarchs, a new opinion poll showed. The poll by the independent Levada Center found that Putin's overall ratings remained broadly positive. Fifty-nine percent said Putin was doing a good job or would do a good job sorting out Russia's problems, down from 63 percent a year earlier.

Altai Ter governor removes Barnaul mayor from office Counterfeiters Busted - Police have busted the biggest counterfeiting racket in

recent years, shutting down a sophisticated operation in four areas, including Moscow, that was capable of producing 50 million rubles ($1.6 million) a month, the Interior Ministry said Thursday.

National Economic Trends Russian monetary base up 36.2 bln rubles to 5101.8 bln rubles RenCap: Foreign trade statistics: Imports continue to strengthen in June Russia May Export More Wheat on ‘Robust’ Prices, Commodore Says

Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions Russian dairy producers to be fined for price gouging - paper: Russian dairy

producers will be fined for price gouging following a recent scandal over the overstated prices for dairy products, Federal Antimonopoly Service's (FAS) managing director Teymuraz Kharitonashvili told a Russian business daily on Friday.

Ruble Rises Versus Dollar, Trims Weekly Drop as Oil Rebounds ‘Worst Is Over’ for Russia, Templeton’s Zhilyaev Says (Update1) Finnish newspaper: Ban on Finnish meat to Russia could continue Coal miner Belon Group makes 1.7 bln rbl H1 net profit The Long March to Energy Efficiency - By Maria Antonova Rio Tinto eyeing Uralkali: national champion to be built by an international team? RenCap: Sberbank provides Interros with $2bn credit line Metropol: Interros may receive an additional USD 3bn in credit lines - raising

cash to buy Norilsk stake? Potanin borrows $3 bln for Norilsk Nickel war chest Kazan Helicopter Plant: Favorable outlook announced by management

Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory) Nord Stream Construction Move To Finland Industrial Production Begins On Million-Ton Sharonovskoye Field In Perm

Territory Lukoil pumps up the volume - Russian oil company Lukoil’s total hydrocarbon

production jumped 1.8% to 2.2 million barrels of oil equivalent in the first half of 2010 compared to the same time a year ago.

Blic: Government generous towards ‘Lukoil’ - The Government’s [Serbia] undertaking is also that ‘Lukoil’ shall not have to assign the property onto Croatian company thus interfering directly in the work of judicial power

Lukoil Junk Threat Lifts Yields to 15-Month High Versus Gazprom Rosneft: High oil inflows at Yurubcheno-Takhomskoye field Tatneft reported 1H 10 RAS results

Gazprom Severstal completes special order for Russia’s gas monopoly Gazprom - Severstal

Cherepovets has so far produced more than 1,000 mt of this type of pipe, which will be used by Gazprom for the construction of its Bovanenkovo-Ukhta gas trunkline system.

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Full Text Articles

Basic Political Developments

Turkey, Russia Resume Gasoline Shipments to Iranhttp://www.hamsayeh.net/hamsayehnet_iran-international%20news1556.htm

If the preference of the private sector is to sell these [petroleum] products to Iran, we will help them. There is no demand for Turkey to halt the trade of these products with Iran: Turkey's Energy Minister.Tehran, August 13, 2010 (Hamsayeh.Net) - Turkey and Russia two of Iran strategic partners have dismissed US-led Western gasoline embargo on Iran a Middle Eastern country known for its immense geostrategic importance. Turkish energy minister Taner Yildiz supported Ankara’s relations with its historic neighbor in the East saying he will support ongoing trades since Iran is more important to Turkey than US is in energy fields. ‘If the preference of the private sector is to sell these [petroleum] products to Iran, we will help them. There is no demand for Turkey to halt the trade of these products with Iran,’ Yildiz said in an interview.Iran, the world largest energy holder with its oil and gas reserves combined, is one of Turkey’s main suppliers of fossil fuel energy. In spite of its massive energy resources Iran imports 35 percent of its domestic gasoline consumption from foreign produces. The government has implemented several mega projects to increase gasoline production and should those projects come online Iran will become a net exporter of this commodity in the future. Turkey and Iran relations however go way beyond trades and economics. The two have extensive cultural, historical and geopolitical bounds since the down of civilization. Furthermore, in a move that would surly upset Washington and its overall designs against the international community, the Russian giant Lukoil company in partnership with China’s state-run firm Zhuhai Zhenrong said they will continue supplying gasoline to the Iranian market. Last week they discharged 250,000 bbl to Iran and other shipments are scheduled for the future.Both Moscow and Beijing reject unilateral and futile sanction moves against Iran maintaining that they had supported a UN resolution only to resolve the nuclear standoff through negotiations. 

Russian official says no ban on Moldovan wine imports

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=15401515&PageNum=0

13.08.2010, 01.03

MOSCOW, August 13 (Itar-Tass) - Russia’s trade and sanitary inspection agency Rospotrebnadzor did not impose any bans on the imports of wine from Moldova and its supplies continue, the head of the agency, Russia’s Chief Sanitary Doctor Gennady Onishchenko said Thursday.

Simultaneously, Rospotrebnadzor officials are holding talks with Moldova on the importance of ensuring proper quality of winery products.

“Over the last week, imports of Moldovan wines in Russia continued,” Onishchenko said. “Unfortunately, it should be said the Moldovan side does not take practically any measures towards normalizing the quality of produce.”

“Of the 300,000 liters of wine supplied over a period of seven days, a total of 140,000 liters were culled out because of the presence of dibutyl phthalate and other hazardous substances in it,” he said.

“We dismiss the Moldovan side’s list of steps towards control over and increase of the quality of wine as a non-committal reply that doesn’t reflect the true situation in the leading branch of the economy in that country,” Onishchenko said.

He indicated that consultations with the experts representing the Moldovan winery business began in Moscow Thursday.

“They will continue tomorrow, too, and their objective is to harmonize the two nations’ approach to the quality and safety of produce,” Onishchenko said.

“By holding these consultations we pursue the goal of ensuring steady access for quality Moldovan wines to the Russian market,” he said. “Let them supply 250,000 liters of wine per week instead of the current 300,000 liters but we’ll be able to let the entire volume of imports reach the Russian consumers then.”

A number of mass media said Thursday Rospotrebnadzor had imposed a ban on the imports of Moldovan wines.

President to cut short Russia visit http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/19-zardari-to-visit-russia-next-week-380-hh-09

Friday, 13 Aug, 2010

ISLAMABAD: After strong criticism of his visit to France and the United Kingdom at a time when the nation was coping with the worst flood, President Asif Ali Zardari has decided to cut short his visit to Russia.

According to the presidential spokesman, President Zardari has cut short his visit because of flood situation in the country and he will now visit Russia for only a few hours instead of two days.

The president will reach Moscow on August 18 and will return to Pakistan the same night, the spokesman explained.

He is likely to sign a much-delayed anti-drug trafficking agreement, which is being opposed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

The agreement, which was scheduled to be signed between Pakistan and Russia last year, is expected to be given the final nod by President Zardari during his visit.—DawnNews

Zardari to visit Russia next week http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/19-zardari-to-visit-russia-next-week-380-hh-09

By Our Staff Reporter Friday, 13 Aug, 2010 ISLAMABAD: Despite strong criticism of his visit to France and the United Kingdom at a time when the nation was coping with the worst flood, President Asif Ali Zardari remains undeterred and will leave next week for Russia.

He is likely to sign a much-delayed anti-drug trafficking agreement, which is being opposed Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

“It will be an official visit of the president to Russia next week,” president’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar told Dawn on Thursday.

The agreement, which was scheduled to be signed between Pakistan and Russia last year, is expected to be given the final nod by President Zardari during his visit, slated to begin on Aug 18.

Visit of trade delegation to Russiahttp://www.tradingmarkets.com/news/stock-alert/efu_visit-of-trade-delegation-to-russia-1108510.html

Posted on: Fri, 13 Aug 2010 02:20:24 EDT

Symbols: EFU KARACHI, Aug 12, 2010 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) --

The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) has embarked upon exploring new markets for local products especially to Russia and CIS Region. There is a vast potential of Russian market for Pakistani products especially rice, fresh fruits and vegetable, seafood, meat, poultry, textile, leather items and surgical instruments.

Unfortunately this potential had not been exploited in the past which is reflected from the export figures of just $100 million from Pakistan to Russia. These figures are minimal when compared to the total imports of Russia, which is around $190 billion per annum. In this regard, Pakistan Russia Business Forum (PRBF) had a serious of many meetings with Syed Mohibullah Shah , CE - TDAP and other high level officials of the TDAP for sending a delegation to Russia. In response, TDAP planned a very high level business delegation comprises the following eminent personalities that visits to different parts of

Russia: Tariq Rafi M/s Siddiqsons , Dr. Zahid Hassan M/s Zems International , Sohail Aziz M/s Nasa International , Abdul Wahid M/s Chase International , Muhammad Waseem Vohra M/s Eastern Enterprises (Karachi), Qaiser Saleem, CEO of World of Martial Arts Sialkot, and Ali Raza of Tabani Corporation. Ilyas Ghori, Minster (trade) Embassy of Pakistan in Moscow has also been directed to deal with the delegation.

A meeting with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation and the External Economic and International Relations Department of Government of Moscow City in are also scheduled during the visit. A meeting with the First Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade is also scheduled.

TDAP played a key role in arranging the visit of the delegation to Russia in order to open this new market to exporters, all the meetings were held according to the schedule and this visit has proved to be a great success. It is expected that this visit go a long way in enhancing our bilateral trade with Russia, says a TDAP release here Wednesday.

Many Russian State and Private Companies also showed keen interest to have strong trade and economical relationship with Pakistan. All the arrangements regarding meetings, inland travel of the delegates and their visits to various warehouses and other companies were made by Ilyas Ghori, Minister (Trade) Embassy of Pakistan, Moscow in an excellent manner. All the seven delegates appreciated his efforts, which made this visit a real success.

Medvedev, Kokoity to discuss post-war reconstruction of South Ossetiahttp://en.rian.ru/russia/20100813/160182651.html

07:04 13/08/2010

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will meet with South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity on Friday to discuss post-war reconstruction in the former Georgian republic of South Ossetia, the Kremlin press service said.

"The talks will focus on Russia's assistance in rebuilding infrastructure and residential sector destroyed as a result of Georgian aggression two years ago — in August 2008," a Kremlin spokesman told RIA Novosti.

Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov earlier said Moscow's total aid to the republic would stand at 28 billion rubles ($916 million). South Ossetia has already received 4.7 billion rubles ($154 million), and will get 6.8 billion rubles ($222 million) next year.

During their meeting in the southern Russian city of Sochi the presidents will also discuss security in the Caucasus region.

The meeting comes several days after the Russian leader's visit to another former Georgian republic, Abkhazia.

Medvedev and Kokoity have already met twice this year — during the Victory Day celebrations in Moscow on May 9 and at a horse racing event in the Southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don on June 1.

Moscow recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent after the five-day war with Georgia in August 2008 and has since been the guarantor of their security.

Russia also signed earlier this year agreements with South Ossetia and Abkhazia on establishing permanent Russian military bases there. On August 11 Russia announced the deployment of the S-300 air defense systems in Abkhazia.

MOSCOW, August 13 (RIA Novosti)

Sale of S-300 to Azerbaijan to strengthen CSTO missile defense, expert

http://www.news.az/articles/20902

Fri 13 August 2010 | 07:04 GMT

According to Ramil Latipov, the sale of S-300 to Azerbaijan will strengthen the missile defense system of CSTO.

Despite the leadership of Russia's Rosoboronexport dismissed the reports of the plans to sell S-300 complex to Azerbaijan, I believe the possible supply of S-300 Favorit from Russia to Azerbaijan would have a number of advantages on the background of the planned expansion of the functions of the Russian military base in Gyumri on provision of Armenia and prolongation of its term of stay.

The due statement came from director of the Center of Analysis of Terror Threats and Low Intensive Conflicts (Moscow), creator and chief of the CSTO International Center of Information Support, Ramil Latipov.

'First, if the sale of S-300 complex is conducted, I think this will raise the capacities of the missile defense system of the CIS countries, as well as the missile defense system of CSTO states. In this case it will be possible to speak of the assistance of the Azerbaijani side to raising security of the CSTO states, as well as Azerbaijan's possible joining CSTO in the nearest future, for example as an associate member. Naturally, the CSTO leadership will have to develop and introduce a definite tool to reach this goal', Latipov said.

1 news.az

Russian missile diplomacy surprises EU

http://georgiandaily.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19704&Itemid=132

August 13, 2010

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov neglected to mention to his EU counterpart Catherine Ashton on the phone on Wednesday (11 August) that Moscow was about to make a major security announcement on Georgia.

The pair in a well-publicised exchange spoke at length on Wednesday afternoon on the subject of Russian wildfires, with Ms Ashton voicing condolences for victims, while Mr Lavrov thanked the EU for member states' support.

But the union was surprised to learn shortly after in a statement by Russian colonel general Alexander Zelin to the Itar-Tass, Interfax and RIA Novosti news agencies that Moscow has stationed S-300 ground-to-air missiles in Georgia's disputed Abkhazia region.

"He [Mr Lavrov] said nothing on the subject. Within an hour or so later, we got the news," a source in the EU institutions told EUobserver.

The US State Department on Wednesday noted "it's our understanding" that Russia has had S-300s in Abkhazia for two years but could not confirm if the battery is being upgraded.

The EU's monitoring mission in Georgia told this website that it is also unable to confirm the Russian media reports because its officers are denied entry into the Abkhazia region.

"The situation is calm at the moment but it is unpredictable. Certainly events like this give input to further tensions," a contact in the mission said. "I was told by military experts they are simply air defence systems, they are not strategic missiles, which means they can only be used to target aircraft."

Despite the on-the-ground calm, EU diplomats based in Georgia are considering whether or not to make a formal complaint.

"It is indeed a serious issue. It is yet another demonstration of the fact that the Russian side is not in compliance with the six-point agreement," a Georgia-based diplomat said, referring to the 2008 EU-brokered Russia-Georgia peace treaty, which stipulates that Russia should withdraw its forces to pre-war positions.

The Georgian government has not been so reticent.

"It is absolutely beyond understanding what aims this extremely dangerous, provocative step may serve, which poses a threat not only to the Black Sea region but to the security of Europe as a whole," the Georgian foreign ministry said in a statement on a Thursday.

The S-300 affair comes amid a Russian-German initiative to create a new high-level EU-Russia security committee to tackle frozen conflicts in the post-Soviet region.

"It tells us that although EU-Russia relations have normalised considerably since the 2008 war, there's a gap between words and deeds. The announcement of this [new] commission - nothing has come out of it so far," said the International Crisis Group's Tbilisi-based analyst, Lawrence Sheets.

"It's one thing to say something that one believes one's counterpart wants to hear and quite another thing for Russia to abandon its geopolitical agenda, and that includes a heavy military presence in Abkhazia and South Ossetia [a second disputed region in Georgia]."

URL: http://euobserver.com/9/30616

© 2010 EUobserver.com. All rights reserved.

RF, Denmark to plan joint navy exercises in 2011-Baltic Fleet cmdr

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=15401462&PageNum=0

13.08.2010, 06.32

COPENHAGEN, August 13 (Itar-Tass) - In 2001 Russia and Denmark will start to plan joint naval exercises, Commander of the Russian Baltic Fleet Vice Admiral Viktor Chirkov told Itar-Tass. He arrived in Copenhagen on Thursday at the invitation of Commander of the Royal Danish Navy Rear Admiral Nils Wang to attend festivities on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the Royal Danish Navvy.

During talks between the Baltic Fleet commander and commander of the Danish Navy the sides discussed further joint work. “Next year we will be planning joint exercises to drill fighting piracy at sea and marine rescue operations,” Chirkov said. “Meetings of working groups will be held that will be planning these events. I hope that the Defence Ministry will approve this initiative.”

In Copenhagen the Baltic Fleet commander will also participate as a guest in an enlarged session of the Council of Navy Commanders of European countries. “Russia’s representative is for the first time taking part in this informal forum,” Chirkov stressed. “We would want Russia to become member of this forum – at the initial stage, maybe as observer, and further – as a permanent member.”

“Russia is a European country and it has many interests in Europe,” the commander stressed. “ Russia is also a sea power with a vast operational zone and responsibility zone. Therefore we would like Russia, starting from the Navy, to develop good

neighbourly relations with European countries. I hope that during the discussion we will reach accord and understand the European Navy’s development trend. We will also tell them about the Russian Navy and offer our variants of cooperation in various operational zones,” Chirkov said.

“For many years the Russian and Danish Navies have had very good relations,” the Baltic Fleet commander said. “We have been friends for a long time. I can recall that in 1956, at the height of the Cold War the Soviet cruiser Ordzhonikidze called at Copenhagen.” “It should also be taken into account that Denmark is a state that, in essence, guards the Baltic Sea, as all ships entering it pass the Danish straits.”

In conclusion the RF Baltic Fleet commander said that the Russian Navy is not planning to take part in the DANEX 2010 international naval manoeuvres that will be conducted in the Baltic Sea near the Bornholm Island in the Kattegat and Skagerrak Straits on August 16-26.

The State Duma readies treaty on mutual legal assistance between Russia and Japanhttp://english.ruvr.ru/2010/08/13/15557405.html

Aug 13, 2010 03:12 Moscow Time

On Thursday Russian President Dmitry Medvedev introduced a treaty between Russia and Japan on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters for ratification to the Duma.

The agreement, the basic document on issues of bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the criminal justice field, was signed in May 2009 during the visit of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to Japan reports "Interfax".

No tech problems for handing to Poland presid plane crash docs

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=15401364&PageNum=0

13.08.2010, 03.28

MOSCOW, August 13 (Itar-Tass) - There are no technical problems for the handover to the Polish side of documents on the crash of the presidential plane Tupolev Tu-154 outside Smolensk, the Prosecutor’s Office is to decide this issue, Russian Vice Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov told journalists on Thursday.

“The decision in the handover to the Polish side of the originals of the documents should be made by the Prosecutor’s Office as an independent body,” he said. “There are no technical problems linked with the handover of the documents’ originals.”

This April, the plane of Polish President Lech Kaczynski crashed outside Smolensk. All the passengers, including the president and his wife, were killed.

The 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash occurred on 10 April 2010, when a Tupolev Tu-154M aircraft of the Polish Air Force crashed near the city of Smolensk, Russia, killing all 96 people on board. These included the Polish president Lech Kaczynski and his wife, the chief of the Polish General Staff and other senior Polish military officers, the president of the National Bank of Poland, Poland’s deputy foreign minister, Polish government officials, 12 members of the Polish parliament, senior members of the Polish clergy, and relatives of victims of the Katyn massacre. They were en route from Warsaw to attend an event marking the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre; the site of the Katyn massacre being approximately 19 kilometres (12 mi) west of Smolensk.

The cause of the crash is under investigation. According to preliminary reports, the pilot attempted to land at Smolensk North Airport, a former military airbase, in thick fog that reduced visibility to about 500 metres (1,600 ft). The plane was too low as it approached the runway. It struck trees in the fog, rolled upside down, impacted the ground, broke apart, and eventually came to rest 200 metres (660 ft) short of the runway in a wooded area. On 1 June 2010, the Polish Prime Minister released a full transcript of the last 39 minutes (from 10:02:48.6 to 10:41:05.4 MSD) of the cockpit voice recording.

Russia to send 7 officials to Kyrgyzstan as part of OSCE police missionhttp://en.rian.ru/world/20100813/160184295.html

10:42 13/08/2010BISHKEK, August 13 (RIA Novosti) - Seven Russian officials will be part of a police advisory group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Kyrgyzstan, the Kremlin said on Friday.

The group, headed by former head of the OSCE Center in Bishkek Markus Mueller, will also comprise officials from Turkey, Serbia, Latvia, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Lithuania, Sweden and Finland.

The OSCE police mission will monitor the situation and the work of law enforcement agencies in the south of Kyrgyzstan and will curtail law enforcement agencies and the population from illegal acts, according to a statement by the Kyrgyz government.

Kyrgyzstan saw violent interethnic clashes in mid-June that killed up to 300 people according to official estimates, with the unofficial death toll reaching 2,000. About 100,000 people fled to neighboring Uzbekistan to avoid the worst interethnic violence in two decades. Hundreds of houses have been destroyed in the riot-hit Osh and Jalalabad regions.

Following the riots, OSCE agreed to provide support to Kyrgyzstan, which would include a police mission of 52 officers sent to the country's violence-hit southern regions.

OSCE has allocated over 3.7 million euro ($4.7 mln) to support its police mission in the Central Asian republic.

Critics say the OSCE mission is redundant because the situation in the country has been already stabilized.

U.S. court to start hearing case of suspected Russian cocaine-smuggling pilothttp://en.rian.ru/world/20100813/160182352.html06:00 13/08/2010

A U.S. court will hold pre-trial hearings into the case of Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot who was arrested in Liberia on charges of drug trafficking and transferred to the United States.

The pre-trial hearings will start at noon local time at New York's Southern District court.

Yaroshenko's Russian lawyers said on Thursday that the defense would seek to postpone hearings into the case, but a court spokesman said the session would go ahead as scheduled.

During the session the judge expects to find out why it took the prosecutors so long to prepare additional documents, which delayed the start of the court proceedings, Yaroshenko's U.S. lawyer told RIA Novosti

Yaroshenko, 41, was detained by U.S. intelligence agencies in late May on charges of trafficking cocaine to South America, Africa and Europe, mainly from Liberia and Venezuela.

The Russian Foreign Ministry blasted the United States over the detention, saying it was practically a kidnapping and a violation of international law.

Yaroshenko and other alleged members of the cocaine trafficking group have denied all charges. If they are convicted, they may face from 10 years imprisonment to life sentences.

NEW YORK, August 13 (RIA Novosti)

Foreign Ministry Rejects U.S. Ruling on Jewish Library http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/foreign-ministry-rejects-us-ruling-on-jewish-library/412281.html

13 August 2010Combined Reports

The Foreign Ministry has rejected a U.S. court ruling to turn over a Jewish library to a Hasidic group in New York as illegal.

A U.S. judge last week ruled against the Russian government for its refusal to return thousands of manuscripts that once belonged to a Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi. The library was seized by the Red Army in Nazi Germany as war booty.

The Foreign Ministry said late Wednesday that the ruling is a "rude violation" of international law.

It said the library was nationalized because its owner, Rabbi Joseph Isaac Schneersohn, had no heirs. Schneersohn was forced to leave Russia in 1927.

"On the contrary, it is American Hasids who must return to Russia seven books from the same collection that they borrowed from the Russian State Library in 1994 through the U.S. Congress library for two months and have withheld illegally for 16 years," the ministry said in a statement on its web site.

The ministry also said the Schneersohn library was available for scientific study and worship.

Chabad-Lubavitch said it feared that some manuscripts were headed to the black market.

(AP, MT)

Russian Guard Missile Cruiser “Moskva” visits Sri Lanka on a Goodwill Mission

http://www.navy.lk/index.php?id=2499

The Guard Missile Cruiser “ Moskva” belonging to the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation arrived at the Port of Colombo today (13th August 2010). It was ceremonially welcomed by the Sri Lanka Navy on arrival.

The ship is 187 meters in length and has a displacement of 11280 tons. The ship complement consists of 51 officers and 464 non-commissioned officers and sailors. The Commander of the Cruise is Deputy Commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet Naval Surface Force, Captain 1st Rank Igor V. Smolyak. The ship is commanded by Guard Captain 1st Rank Sergey I. Tronev.

The ship’s visit is expected to develop bilateral naval cooperation. The ship crew is scheduled to participate in a series of programmes organized by the Sri Lanka Navy to enhance the relations between the two Navies during the ship’s stay.

“Moskva” arrived from Klang, Malaysia and is scheduled to depart on 15th for its next port of call Salalah, Oman.

Indian submarine arrives in Russia for modernizationhttp://logisticsweek.com/ocean/2010/08/indian-submarine-arrives-in-russia-for-modernisation/

By NewsDesk

News, Water 12 mins ago

India’s fifth Kilo class diesel-electric submarine INS Sindhurakshak has arrived at a Russian shipyard for an overhaul under a recent contract, the shipyard company said Thursday.

The INS Sindhurakshak would be the fifth Indian submarine to be upgraded by Russia’s Zvyozdochka shipyard at Severodvinsk on White Sea.

The submarine is being upgraded under a direct contract between the Zvezdochka shipyard and the Indian Defence Ministry, signed on June 4, 2010.

Russia has built ten Kilo class submarines for India and has already overhauled four of them at the Zvezdochka shipyard in the north of the country. One submarine is being retrofitted at Vishakhapattanam, ITAR-TASS reported.

The upgrade program includes a complete overhaul of the submarine, including its hull structures, as well as improved control systems, sonar, electronic warfare systems, and an integrated weapon control system.

The upgrade is reported to cost around USD 80 million, RIA Novosti added.

Source:PTI

No pollution threat to Amurhttp://english.ruvr.ru/2010/08/13/15567614.html

Aug 13, 2010 10:31 Moscow Time

Specialists took water samples from the Amur River after waters from the Chinese river Songhua, where over 7,000 containers with chemicals had been washed into by floods, had reached the Amur.

The results showed that pollutants do not exceed the normal level. The accident occurred on July 28. The Chinese side claims that nearly all of the containers have been retrieved.

Amur water meet standards, as Sungari not exceed water pollution

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=15402031

13.08.2010, 10.13

KHABAROVSK, August 13 (Itar-Tass) - The Amur River meets standards on microbiological and major physical-chemical indicators. The life and health of people is not in danger. The monitoring, which the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring, the Federal Service for Control of Consumer Rights and Human Welfare and the Khabarovsk municipal enterprise Vodokanal are making, confirmed the monitoring results.

“No excessive toxic agents in the Amur River in the Jewish Autonomous Region and the Khabarovsk Territory were reported at 9 am on Friday,” a source in the Far Eastern regional center of the Ministry of Emergency Situations told Itar-Tass on Friday.

Eleven water samples were taken at various parts of the river at the junction of the Sungari and Amur rivers near the village of Nizhneleninsky in the Jewish autonomous region to Khabarovsk over the past day. China permitted to take samples along the whole river. The water samples are taken at the right Chinese bank, where probably polluted waters are flowing.

On July 28, the flood has washed away more than 7,000 barrels with chemicals from the stocks of the chemical plants in the Chinese province Jilin. Dozens of barrels got in the Sungari River blew up.

Hydrologists estimated that the Sungari polluted waters would reach Khabarovsk on August 14-15 mixed with cleaner Amur waters on the left bank of the river. Experts believe that an excessive water pollution level is slightly probable.

However, a scope of preventive measures is being taken. Additional points to take water samples for laboratory tests are posted in the vicinity of Telegino and Vladimirovka near Khabarovsk.

“The drinking water quality, which the Khabarovsk municipal enterprise Vodokanal is pumping in the water supply network, meets fully the standards on microbiological and sanitary-chemical indicators,” the Russian consumer rights watchdog said. Vodokanal is ready for an additional water purification procedure by absorbent carbon.

WILDFIRES IN RUSSIA

Fire near Russian nuclear centre growshttp://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gkLkGNG_EYjZACMlKUYUSC1aMaZQ

(AFP) – 1 hour ago

MOSCOW — Wildfires raging close to Russia's main nuclear research centre have grown in size and emergency services are working round the clock to contain the blaze, officials said on Friday.

Russia has sent thousands of firefighters to douse wildfires close to its top nuclear research centre in Sarov, a town in the Nizhny Novgorod region still closed to foreigners as in Soviet times.

"The fire which appeared in the eastern part of the nature reserve two days ago after lightning struck a pine tree has grown in size and now presents a certain danger," the head of the emergencies ministry for Mordovia, Major General Vyacheslav Kormilitsyn, said in a statement.

Meanwhile the first significant rain for weeks poured down on Moscow on Friday although forecasters said the heatwave that has left tens of thousands of hectares of land ablaze and destroyed a quarter of Russian crops would continue over the next days.

Despite signs of public frustration with the authorities, a heavy police presence ensured only a few dozen activists turned out for a protest against the Moscow mayor's handling of the crisis, several of whom were then arrested.

A dramatic storm with rain throughout the night hit Moscow. Temperatures up to 32 degrees Celsius were expected later in the day -- hotter than usual but still cooler than temperatures edging up to 40 degrees recorded earlier.

There was little sign of the smog from the wildfires that had blighted the Russian capital in the last week but new reports emerged accusing the authorities of hiding the true health toll from the heatwave.

Moscow's top health official has already said the mortality rate had doubled in the heatwave, with hundreds more deaths every day than in usual periods. However the federal authorities have refused to confirm these figures.

The Interfax news agency quoted Moscow doctors as saying they had been forbidden to give "heatstroke" as a cause of death to keep a lid on the statistics.

"We received the order not to use the diagnosis 'heatstroke'. We are told that the statistics for heatstroke were mounting up," one doctor told the news agency.

"There was no official order, everything is has been communicated orally," the source added.

News website lifenews.ru even published a picture of what it said was an informal order pinned up in a Moscow hospital saying: "Attention! Do not use the diagnosis heatstroke!"

"This is done so that the statisics, including cases of death connected with the heatwave, do not mount up," a medical source told the website. There was no immediate official confirmation.

Several dozen activists gathered outside Moscow's city hall Thursday evening for an unsanctioned protest against mayor Yuri Luzhkov, where they were quickly surrounded by riot police.

Around 20 people were arrested including veteran human rights activist Lev Ponomaryov and Left Front leader Sergey Udaltsov, who was prevented from joining the demonstration.

Luzhkov controversially remained on holiday as the city's health crisis mounted, only returning on Sunday.

With the full impact of the drought and fires becoming clear, President Dmitry Medvedev said one quarter of Russia's crops had been lost and many farms were now on the verge on bankruptcy.

Russia has banned grain exports and US government slashed its 2010-11 global supply forecasts by around 2.5 percent from last month's estimates, on lower than expected production from the former Soviet Union.

Fires have also blazed in neighbouring Ukraine, with the emergency services working to put out a two-hectare (five-acre) peat bog fire 60 kilometres (35 miles) from Chernobyl.

But the authorities have said the situation is under control.

Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved.

Fire near Russian nuclear centre grows: Official http://www.timeslive.co.za/world/article599948.ece/Fire-near-Russian-nuclear-centre-grows--Official

Aug 13, 2010 9:26 AM | By Sapa-Afp

Wildfires raging close to Russia's main nuclear research centre have grown in size and emergency services are working round the clock to contain the blaze, officials said on Friday.

Russia has sent thousands of firefighters to douse wildfires close to its top nuclear research centre in Sarov, a town in the Nizhny Novgorod region still closed to foreigners as in Soviet times.

"The fire which appeared in the eastern part of the nature reserve two days ago after lightning struck a pine tree has grown in size and now presents a certain danger," the head of the emergencies ministry for Mordovia, Major General Vyacheslav Kormilitsyn, said in a statement.

Wildfire area reduced by 15,000 ha in Russiahttp://english.ruvr.ru/2010/08/13/15587406.html

Aug 13, 2010 11:51 Moscow Time

The total area of wildfires in Russia has been reduced by 15,000 hectares, according to of the head of Emergency Ministry’s crisis center Vladimir Stepanov.

He said that enhanced fire fighting operations have already yielded results in the Moscow, Sverdlov and Ryazan regions. 

The area of forest and peat bog fires outside Moscow was reduced by 50 hectares. The situation in the Ryazan region stabilized completely with the number of fires also constantly reducing.  

Apart from these two regions, the Emergency Ministry’s efforts are focused on the Vladimir Region, said Stepanov.

Meanwhile, the overall number of wildfires across Russia increased from 545 to 611 in the past 24 hours, Russia’s Rosleskhoz federal forest management reported.

August 13, 2010 10:53

611 wildfires still burning across Russia – forestry agencyhttp://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=182855

MOSCOW. Aug 13 (Interfax) - The number of forest and peat bog fires raging across Russia stood at 611 on Thursday, Russia's Federal Forestry Agency said.

"A total of 611 wildfires were registered on August 12," it said.

According to the agency, 16,700 people, 59 aircraft and over 2,600 pieces of equipment are currently working to put out the blazes triggered by a long, record-breaking heat wave.

A total of 26,900 wildfires have been registered in Russia this summer, it said.

No new fires have been reported in the past 24 hours, and the fire-stricken area has been reduced by 15,000 hectares, Vladimir Stepanov, director of the Emergency Situations Ministry's National Crisis Management Center, told journalists.

"The number of forest fires continues to decline. The area engulfed by fires on Russian territory has been reduced by 15,000 hectares in the past 24 hours," Stepanov said.

Although the fire-stricken area in the Moscow region has decreased by 50 hectares, the Emergency Situations Ministry continues strengthening its firefighting force in the Moscow, Ryazan, Sverdlovsk and Vladimir regions, he said.

tm ap

611 wildfires still burning across Russiahttp://www.kyivpost.com/news/russia/detail/78195/

Today at 10:22 | Interfax-Ukraine The number of forest and peat bog fires raging across Russia stood at 611 on Thursday, Russia's Federal Forestry Agency said.

"A total of 611 wildfires were registered on August 12," it said. According to the agency, 16,700 people, 59 aircraft and over 2,600 pieces of equipment are currently working to put out the blazes triggered by a long, record-breaking heat wave.

A total of 26,900 wildfires have been registered in Russia this summer, it said. No new fires have been reported in the past 24 hours, and the fire-stricken area has been reduced by 15,000 hectares, Vladimir Stepanov, director of the Emergency Situations Ministry's National Crisis Management Center, told journalists.

"The number of forest fires continues to decline. The area engulfed by fires on Russian territory has been reduced by 15,000 hectares in the past 24 hours," Stepanov said. Although the fire-stricken area in the Moscow region has decreased by 50 hectares, the Emergency Situations Ministry continues strengthening its firefighting force in the Moscow, Ryazan, Sverdlovsk and Vladimir regions, he said.

Read more: http://www.kyivpost.com/news/russia/detail/78195/#ixzz0wTCw4OZh

Fire zone shrinks, concerns over air pollution in Moscow remain http://rt.com/Top_News/2010-08-13/fire-russia-smog-moscow.html/print

13 August, 2010, 09:42

With relief from rain that fell on parts of Moscow early on Friday, the Russian capital continues to enjoy a break from the poisonous smog that engulfed the city for several days.

Firefighters say they are having success in tackling the forest blazes that have been blowing dense smoke across the region, and beyond.

However, meteorologists warn that the air pollution could be back, as the record heat wave clings to the capital.

The fire fronts in Russia have shrunk by 10,000 hectares and the state of emergency has been lifted in several areas.

Over 4,000 volunteers are helping to extinguish fires in Central Russia, the Russian Emergencies Ministry reported. Many of them are representatives of youth organizations and former firefighters.

According to the head of Russia’s Emergencies Ministry, Sergey Shoigu, in order to protect towns and villages from fires, volunteer firefighting services similar to ones in USA and Europe, should be established in Russia.

“Today we have one quarter of the firefighters the USA has and half as many as Germany, if we take volunteer firefighters into consideration,” he said. “The USA has the same number of professional firefighters, and in addition to that, they have one million volunteers.”

Russia's smog spreading to Kazakhstanhttp://www.kyivpost.com/news/russia/detail/78188/

Today at 09:48 | Interfax-Ukraine The smog from Russia's fires has enveloped Kazakhstan's Kostanai region.

"The smog has come from the Kazakh-Russian border regions - Chelyabinsk and Kurgan with their burning forests and fields. There are no forests that can create such a strong smog in our territory," the spokesman for the Regional Emergency Situations Department Dastan Zhumabayev told Interfax-Kazakhstan.

According to him, the situation is aggravated by anomalous heat that prevails in the area. The authority expects the smoke to clear in a week.

Read more: http://www.kyivpost.com/news/russia/detail/78188/#ixzz0wT3hR8rw

Storm drenches parched Moscow but heatwave to go onhttp://rawstory.com/news/afp/Storm_drenches_parched_Moscow_but_h_08132010.html

Published: Friday August 13, 2010AFP

The first significant rain for weeks poured down on Moscow on Friday although forecasters said the heatwave that has left tens of thousands of hectares of land ablaze and destroyed a quarter of Russian crops would continue over the next days.

Despite signs of public frustration with the authorities, a heavy police presence ensured only a few dozen activists turned out for a protest against the Moscow mayor's handling of the crisis, several of whom were then arrested.

A dramatic storm with rain throughout the night hit Moscow. Temperatures up to 32 degrees Celsius were expected later in the day -- hotter than usual but still cooler than temperatures edging up to 40 degrees recorded earlier.

There was little sign of the smog from the wildfires that had blighted the Russian capital in the last week but new reports emerged accusing the authorities of hiding the true health toll from the heatwave.

Moscow's top health official has already said the mortality rate had doubled in the heatwave, with hundreds more deaths every day than in usual periods. However the federal authorities have refused to confirm these figures.

The Interfax news agency quoted Moscow doctors as saying they had been forbidden to give "heatstroke" as a cause of death to keep a lid on the statistics.

"We received the order not to use the diagnosis 'heatstroke'. We are told that the statistics for heatstroke were mounting up," one doctor told the news agency.

"There was no official order, everything is has been communicated orally," the source added.

News website lifenews.ru even published a picture of what it said was an informal order pinned up in a Moscow hospital saying: "Attention! Do not use the diagnosis heatstroke!"

"This is done so that the statisics, including cases of death connected with the heatwave, do not mount up," a medical source told the website. There was no immediate official confirmation.

Several dozen activists gathered outside Moscow's city hall Thursday evening for an unsanctioned protest against mayor Yuri Luzhkov, where they were quickly surrounded by riot police.

Around 20 people were arrested including veteran human rights activist Lev Ponomaryov and Left Front leader Sergey Udaltsov, who was prevented from joining the demonstration.

Luzhkov controversially remained on holiday as the city's health crisis mounted, only returning on Sunday.

With the full impact of the drought and fires becoming clear, President Dmitry Medvedev said one quarter of Russia's crops had been lost and many farms were now on the verge on bankruptcy.

Russia has banned grain exports and US government slashed its 2010-11 global supply forecasts by around 2.5 percent from last month's estimates, on lower than expected production from the former Soviet Union.

Russia has been stepping up efforts to halt wildfires near its main nuclear research site in the town of Sarov. There have also been fears the fires could stir up particles on land still contaminated by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

Fires have also blazed in neighbouring Ukraine, with the emergency services working to put out a two-hectare (five-acre) peat bog fire 60 kilometres (35 miles) from Chernobyl.

But the authorities have said the situation is under control and urged against panic.

U.S., Spain Offer Aid to Combat Russian Fires, Kremlin Says http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aRlpekavfBR0

By Maria Kolesnikova

Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. and Spain offered Russia equipment and expertise to help combat deadly wildfires that have claimed at least 52 lives, the Kremlin said.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev held telephone conversations with President Barack Obama and King Juan Carlos late yesterday, according to an e-mailed statement from the Kremlin.

Italy, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus and Armenia and other countries have dispatched 6 planes, 7 helicopters and 551 people to fight forest and peat-bog fires that have scorched

816,515 hectares of Russia’s heartland this year, according to the Emergency Situations Ministry. China pledged about $4 million in cash and equipment to help Russia fight wildfires.

While the official death toll from the fires is 52, at least 15,000 people may have died as a result of smog created by the fires and a record heat wave, according to extrapolations based on Moscow’s mortality rate made by Jeff Masters, co- founder of Weather Underground Internet service.

Smoke from wildfires in central Russia reached as far as the Saratov region on the Volga, RIA Novosti reported today, citing local branch of the emergency ministry. Patches of smoke have returned to Moscow after several days, RIA Novosti said.

Hot and dry weather will prevail in central Russia through at least Aug.15, the national weather forecaster said on its website late yesterday.

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

Last Updated: August 13, 2010 02:16 EDT

U.S. ready to supply firefighting equipment to Russia — Kremlinhttp://en.rian.ru/russia/20100813/160182126.html

05:15 13/08/2010

The U.S. was ready to supply firefighting equipment to Russia to help deal with continuing wildfires and peat bog fires caused by abnormally hot weather, the Kremlin press service said.

U.S. President Barack Obama made a phone call to his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev late on Thursday to express his condolences about the disastrous environmental situation in Central Russia.

"Obama reiterated the U.S. readiness to supply the necessary firefighting equipment and render expert assistance," reads the statement, posted on the kremlin.ru website.

A scorching heat wave has gripped much of European Russia since mid-June, which coupled with the worst drought since the 1970s has made the countryside particularly susceptible to wildfires.

Thousands of emergency workers and military personnel have been working round the clock for almost three weeks to fight fires in 22 Russian regions, which have so far killed

more than 50 people and left over 3,500 homeless. The immediate economic cost of the fires has been estimated at $15 billion.

MOSCOW, August 13 (RIA Novosti)

Lithuania sending 24 fire fighters, special equipment to Russia

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=15401348&PageNum=0

13.08.2010, 03.03

VILNIUS, August 13 (Itar-Tass) - Lithuania is sending to Russia for fire extinguishing efforts 24 fire fighters, 4 fire-fighting vehicles and a pumping station. This decision was made at a meeting of the country’s government on Thursday, the press service of the cabinet reported.

It will also send to Russia 5,000 respirators and 20 professional compressed air devices for the protection of breathing organs. All the procedures of border crossing and transport issues between the corresponding agencies have been promptly coordinated, the press service of the Lithuanian government said.

King of Spain offers assistance to Russia in dealing with wild fireshttp://english.ruvr.ru/2010/08/13/15557769.html

Aug 13, 2010 04:30 Moscow Time

In a telephone conversation with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, King of Spain Juan Carlos I, offered to help Russia in combating forest fires.

The conversation took place on Thursday at the initiative of the Spanish side.

"The King of Spain on his own behalf and on behalf of all the Spanish people expressed sincere sympathy and grief at the loss of life which has occurred in Russia which has suffered from the disaster. He noted that Spain, whose people have always had warm and friendly feelings towards Russia and is ready to provide any necessary assistance including sending fire-fighting equipment." the press-service of the Kremlin informed RIA-Novosti.

President Dmitry Medvedev, in turn, thanked Spain and the King Juan Carlos for their sympathy and willingness to assist in fighting the fires.

The King of Spain and the President of Russia objectively discussed the parameters and conditions of such interaction.

During the conversation, President Dmitry Medvedev and King Juan Carlos also exchanged views on current and future areas of Russian-Spanish cooperation.

They welcomed the high degree of success in the fulfillment of agreements reached during the state visit of the President of Russia to Spain in 2009.

Discussed, were also several issues related to preparations for the upcoming event in bilateral relations called the Year of Russia in Spain and the year of Spain in Russia which will take place in 2011.

ČR sends money in aid to fire-hit Russiahttp://www.praguemonitor.com/2010/08/13/%C4%8Dr-sends-money-aid-fire-hit-russia

ČTK | 13 August 2010

Prague, Aug 12 (CTK) - The Czech Republic will send 5 million crowns to Russia for removing the aftermath of the recent devastating fires, the Czech Foreign Ministry has told CTK, adding that last weekend's Czech floods prevented Prague from sending in rescuers or equipment that Moscow had asked for.

The financial contribution will be handed over to the Kremlin-controlled organisation that gathers and distributes the means for urgent help and renewal.

Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg has written to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to inform him about the financial aid.

Five million crowns is the maximal sum the minister can provide as one-off humanitarian assistance. A higher sum would require approval from the Czech cabinet.

The fires that have been tormenting the areas around Moscow were reduced by over one-fourth in the past 24 hours, as were fires in other areas in western Russia. Nevertheless, fire continues raging on some 80,000 hectares.

The number of victims has reached 54, according to the Russian authorities.

The Czech Republic, mainly the northern regions, were afflicted by disastrous floods last weekend, which claimed five lives. Other people are reported missing. The material damage is estimated at billions of crowns.

($1=19.063 crowns)

Pan-European centre to be set up to fight natural disastershttp://english.ruvr.ru/2010/08/13/15583052.html

Aug 13, 2010 11:23 Moscow Time

The natural calamities of this summer have shown that no country can cope with them on its own. In the last three years Russia has repeatedly pointed out the need for setting up a common European centre to fight natural calamities. Now Europe seems also prepared to decide on creating this kind of centre, says the Head of the EU representative mission in Russia Fernando Valenzuela.

The Russian Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu made the first attempts to that end in spring 2007, when Russia together with Germany and Italy started setting up a European air squadron that would put out fires and evacuate people from disaster areas. The heat wave of 2007 caused major fires in many European countries. Russia then called the attention of the European Heads of State to the need for an effective common action by an international fire-fighting force. Russia suggested concluding a Pan-European agreement on mutual support, says the Director of the Emergencies Ministry Department for International Affairs Yuri Brazhnikov, and elaborates.

Russian Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu, Yuri Brazhnikov says, spoke of this at the height of fighting the fires. Actually the Russian Emergencies Ministry has long since suggested setting up a European air squadron for the purpose. The idea was shared by many European countries.

It was held that the squadron planes would be based on national airfields, but would take off and head for crisis spots on a signal from a single international centre. A series of talks were held in September 2007, and it was agreed that an international air squadron would start operation as early as 2008. But the idea failed to win the sufficient support from the EU leaders. So, assistance in emergencies continued to be rendered on the basis of relevant intergovernmental agreements.         

But Russia kept on raising the issue. The last time it did so was at the UN Conference on Climate in Copenhagen last year, says the head of the Climate and Energy Programme of the World Wildlife Foundation Alexei Kokorin in an interview with the Voice of Russia, and elaborates.

No agreement was lamentably reached in Copenhagen, Alexei Kokorin says, although the need for international cooperation to this end is perfectly obvious. Even the best developed nations cannot boast advanced technologies to cope with more involved problems on their own. There could be several cooperation formats. Let us hope that the next conference in Mexico in December this year will yield results, albeit partial. Then we could sign an agreement to that end in, say, a year’s time.

Statements by European politicians on the need to set up this kind of centre give grounds for hope that this time European countries will support Russia’s initiatives, and that this country will not have to wait for another three years to translate these proposals into life. But then, there are signs that make one feel doubtful.

The EU representative in Russia Fernando Valenzuela says that although the European Union is prepared for setting up a new agency, the discussion of the agency’s specific forms will only get under way after the EU nations have eliminated the after-effects of this year’s natural disasters.

Satellites register over 350 wildfire hotspots in Russiahttp://en.rian.ru/russia/20100813/160181583.html

03:16 13/08/2010

Satellite monitoring showed a significant drop in the number of wildfire hotspots on the Russian territory with only 359 registered on Thursday, according to the ScanEx website that receives information from two NASA satellites.

The Aqua satellite, equipped with an atmospheric infrared sounder, and Terra, equipped with a thermal emission and reflection radiometer, registered 359 hotspots from fires across Russia on August 11, compared with 494 just a day earlier.

The satellites also registered significant increase in hotspots in worst fire-ravaged Ryazan and Moscow regions, where the number of wildfires grew from 12 and 14 to 69 and 41, respectively.

"It does not mean that wildfires have spread so rapidly. Yesterday vast parts of these regions were covered by clouds. So today's information should be compared to Tuesday's data, when the sky was clear. A total of 127 hotspots were spotted near Ryazan and 68 near Moscow then," ScanEx director Vladimir Gershenzon told RIA Novosti.

A scorching heat wave has gripped much of European Russia since mid-June, which coupled with the worst drought since the 1970s has made the countryside particularly susceptible to wildfires.

Thousands of emergency workers and military personnel have been working round the clock for almost three weeks to fight the fires in 22 regions, which have so far killed more than 50 people and left over 3,500 homeless. The immediate economic cost of the fires has been estimated at $15 billion.

MOSCOW, August 13 (RIA Novosti)

Thunderstorms replace heat wave in central Russiahttp://english.ruvr.ru/2010/08/13/15562386.html

Aug 13, 2010 09:34 Moscow TimeThunderstorms and hurricanes are moving into the centre of the European part of Russia to replace the scorching heat of the last two months. A thunderstorm hit a number of

Moscow districts last night. Meanwhile a squall has felled about fifty trees in a district in the Krasnodar region, in the south of Russia, leaving some 1,000 people without lighting. Weather forecasters claim that the anomalous heat of the last two months will start receding shortly. This, they specify, will occur when the unique anticyclone over the European part of Russia starts falling apart, with thunderstorms and hurricanes hitting the area to replace the heat wave. 

Hurricanes, tornadoes may follow heat wave in Central Russiahttp://en.rian.ru/russia/20100813/160180420.html

01:28 13/08/2010

Central Russia will face a high risk of tornadoes and hurricanes as the long-awaited weather change comes to the region next week, a top Russian meteorologist said.

"As a rule, such disastrous events [tornadoes and hurricanes] take place when weather changes dramatically," said Roman Vilfand, the head of the Russian state meteorological center.

He earlier said that the high pressure system over central Russia will start dissipating next Tuesday, as first changes will appear in the atmospheric circulation for the first time since June 21.

Meteorologists expect the temperature in Central Russia to finally drop to 23-28 degrees Centigrade on Tuesday.

A scorching heat wave has gripped much of European Russia since mid-June, which coupled with the worst drought since the 1970s has made the countryside particularly susceptible to wildfires.

Thousands of emergency workers and military personnel have been working round the clock for almost three weeks to fight fires in 22 Russian regions, which have so far killed more than 50 people and left over 3,500 homeless. The immediate economic cost of the fires has been estimated at $15 billion.

Vilfand said this summer has been "catastrophic" in Russia, adding that an increase of eight degrees Centigrade in average temperatures can be observed only once in approximately 5,000 years.

Mike Blackburn of the University of Reading, U.K. said the unusual holding patterns in the jet stream are to blame for the heat in Russia and rains in northern Pakistan, as well as for other less catastrophic events observed around the world this summer, The New Scientist has reported.

"In recent weeks, meteorologists have noticed a change in the jet stream's normal pattern. Its waves normally shift east, dragging weather systems along with it. But in mid-July they ground to a halt," the magazine quoted the scientist as saying.

MOSCOW, August 12 (RIA Novosti)

Nezavisimaya/Russia Today: Moscow authorities don’t want to discuss morgues or corpses http://rt.com/Top_News/Press/eng.html

Officially, there are 1.5 to twice as many deaths in the capital than anywhere else

Marina Obrazkova

It’s not a custom of the capital’s cadaver examiners to have heart-to-heart conversations

Recently, virtually everyone has been talking about Moscow’s morgues, which are operating in critical conditions. Nezavisimaya Gazeta (NG) (see article dated 08.10.11) has already reported on the increased death rate, which has been observed by experts. According to the official version, people are dying 1.5 to 2 times faster, and according to people’s observations, the rate seems to be higher. Death is generally shocking, but when people are surrounded by it, and do not simply see it on their TV screen, their perception becomes much more distorted. An NG correspondent visited a morgue in one of the hospitals just outside of Moscow and learned about the working conditions during the record heat wave.

Late last week, an online message appeared, describing the terrible situation in one of Moscow’s hospitals.

Its author reported that, while working in the medical facility, she witnessed that corpses were being placed in a standing and not a reclining position – in order to be able to fit more bodies. Officials reported that the situation is indeed difficult, but with proper organization things will be managed, and noted that there are 1,500 available spots in morgues, of which 1,300 are occupied.

The attempt to figure out whether or not the situation truly was as dismal as the medical worker described in her blog, had stumbled upon a roadblock in communication. All of the staff members of hospitals, which were telephoned by the NG correspondent, refused to talk. The most common response, heard from the personnel of doctors’ reception rooms, was rather short: “Call the Department” – followed by the sound of the dial tone. Moscow’s Healthcare Department was also unable to provide much information, citing that the person who responds to reporters was absent from work. Thus, ordinary citizens were forced to make a choice – believe the official statistics or the frightening messages, which have accumulated on the Internet.

The NG correspondent was unable to enter a single morgue in the capital. Despite the fact that an unofficial agreement was given by one of the morgues, its staff members refused

to comment at the last moment. But, an opportunity came up to visit one of the hospital morgues, just outside of Moscow. The intensity of the heat and the smog in this district was no different from the conditions in Moscow, thus people are feeling no better there.

One doctor on staff said that the situation is discouraging. The heat wave not only hinders people’s improvement, but also hinders doctors’ ability to treat them. According to him, even the operating room does not have an air conditioner, and that makes things truly difficult. This piece of equipment, which today is vitally important, was once installed – though it was later taken down for repairs and never re-installed.

Yesterday, the weather was somewhat more merciful, therefore being in the hospital’s corridors and patient rooms was fairly tolerable. Patients, who are mobile, walked around the facility – most often dressed in undergarments.

The morgue, which is located in a detached building, is not particularly cool either. Coffin covers stand in cement clearance spaces. A suffocating smell fills the basement. The doctor explained that people’s nasal receptors are designed in such a way that they stop recognizing the smell about seven minutes later; therefore, people are able to work in this environment. In the room to the left, lays a bloated body of a man. He has already been examined, as the stitches are evident. There are three more cadavers on the floor. One is covered with a white cloth, and along the body there is a dried puddle of blood. The guide explained that the person fell from a great height, and the body looks whole on the outside, but is shattered from the inside.

Further down the corridor is an autopsy examination room. On each of the two tables lies a body. A male body is examined on the table furthest from the door, and a female body – on the table closest to the entrance. The autopsy expert says that now things are a little easier, because it was possible to transfer many of the bodies to their relatives, but nonetheless, much work remains to be done. According to the doctor, in the heat, many people suffering from chronic diseases, mainly related to the heart, die. Also, bodies of many drowning victims are brought in.

Among the ten bodies that have been laid out on the floor (the correspondent did not look inside the cooler) about half are elderly people, another three are clearly people who abused alcohol. My guide tells me that despite the increased number of deaths, organ transplantation professionals don’t have much work, because they need organs that are healthy and whole.

The job of a cadaver examiner is tough. It’s hard to imagine why people chose this profession. The doctor says that it’s because examining the human body is very interesting. However, after being in this environment it’s hard to imagine how strong this interest needs to be in order to enable a person to perform his job duties. A basement. No air conditioner. Outdated equipment. Formalin – which is harmful to one’s health. A chance to come across someone who had tuberculosis.

The doctor explained why medical workers are hesitant to speak to journalists. According

to him, a lot is reflected in a negative light: doctors work under very complex conditions, but that remains behind the scenes.

Read the article on the newspaper's site

Anti-Corruption Cameras Show Empty Fields http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/anti-corruption-cameras-show-empty-fields/412290.html

13 August 2010By Irina Filatova

The Regional Development Ministry on Thursday slammed local officials for the way they set up web cameras to monitor construction of new homes for victims of wildfires, saying they show empty fields, not construction work.

Deputy Regional Development Minister Konstantin Korolevsky said Thursday that the live feeds, which Prime Minister Vladimir Putin promised to track personally, do not show the actual work done so far.

"Personally make sure the cameras are pointed to the place where [construction] work is being done, not just at a field opposite these sites," Korolevsky said at a meeting with heads of the regions ravaged by wildfires.

The cameras, most of which went online last Friday, largely showed empty lots or a few individuals milling around. By Thursday afternoon, many regions had construction equipment or even buildings in the works.

Korolevsky also said the ministry would be tracking down any discrepancies between construction plans presented by the regions and the actual buildings being built.

"It doesn't always look like construction work is really progressing, and there's no impression that they really meet the plan," Korolevsky said. “The matter will be closely overseen.”

Putin said Monday that he was dissatisfied with the picture from surveillance cameras. The live feed "is not very good so far," he said, adding that specialists should be called in to fix the problem.

On Thursday, the images from the web cameras were several times larger, although their quality had not noticeably improved.

Surveillance cameras were set at construction sites in 11 regions on Putin's orders and are broadcasting footage to Putin's office and apartment, as well as the government's web site.

Opposition leader Ilya Yashin said he thought that they were introduced solely to prevent theft. "The web cameras are there so that local workers do not steal construction materials," he told The Moscow Times on Thursday.

Regional Development Minister Viktor Basargin said Monday that construction of new houses had already started in all regions that have fallen victim to blazes.

Most regions promise to meet Putin's Nov. 1 deadline for construction.

Sheinovo Hospital proposes to accept pregnant women from Russia regarding complicated situation there due to fires http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n227953

13 August 2010 | 11:01 | FOCUS News AgencyHome / BulgariaSofia. The Second Specialized Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital Sheinovo offers assistance to Russia because of the complicated situation with the fires there, hospital director Dr. Ivan Kostov told FOCUS News Agency. He sent a letter by the Embassy of Russia to the Minister of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation Tatyana Golikova and Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov. "In connection with the complicated situation in Moscow as a result of fires in Podmoskovie, I would like to propose to you to take advantage of the capabilities of Sheinovo hospital hospitalization, accommodation and parturition of pregnant women in the capital of Bulgaria. The additional capacity we can afford is 100 births per week, "he wrote in the letter. Dr. Ivan Kostov made the proposal after a conversation with Prime Minister of Bulgaria Gen. Boyko Borisov.

NORTH CAUCASUS

Dagestan plans to use 'ethnic' military units to fight militantshttp://en.rian.ru/russia/20100813/160183792.html

10:04 13/08/2010

Authorities in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan are planning to form military units enlisting local residents to fight militants in remote mountainous areas of the region, a Russian daily said Friday.

According to Kommersant, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev approved the formation of a "special unit comprising at least 800 people" to conduct military operations in Dagestan during a meeting with Dagestan's President Magomedsalam Magomedov on Wednesday.

Dagestan's First Deputy Prime Minister Rizvan Kurbanov told the paper that at least two "ethnic" battalions would be deployed in the mountains "to maintain order in the areas where the militants were highly active."

"We expect the local personnel to be more effective because, unlike the federal troops, they know all the roads in the mountains and can tell the difference between traditional Islam believers and the extremists even by their appearance," Kurbanov said.

If the Dagestan leadership's plans become reality, the "ethnic" motorized battalions would most likely be part of the Russian Interior Ministry's special 102nd brigade based in Makhachkala.

Russia has experience of forming "ethnic" units in another North Caucasus republic, Chechnya.

Special battalions Vostok and Zapad were two special purpose units of the Russian military intelligence (GRU) based in Chechnya. The overwhelming majority of personnel were ethnic Chechens, while the commanding staff was mixed Russian and Chechen.

Both Vostok and Zapad were reportedly deployed by Russia in a brief war with Georgia over South Ossetia in August 2008.

In November 2008, both battalions were disbanded under pressure from Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov.

MOSCOW, August 13 (RIA Novosti)

GOOGLE TRANSLATION

Dagestan introduces internal forces/ / Local staff to be sent to fight militants in the mountains

http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=1486264

As the Kommersant, the authorities in Dagestan to fight the militants have decided to use the Chechen experience, creating battalions of internal forces, which under the contract and the appeal will be local residents. Acting Special Forces, part of the North Caucasus Regional Command of Interior Ministry troops to Russia and promptly report to the head of Dagestan Interior Ministry, will be in the mountainous regions of the republic, where militants have intensified recently.

Recall that last Wednesday at a meeting in Sochi, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has generally supported the proposal of the Head of Dagestan Magomedsalama Magomedov, aimed at attracting investment to the republic, the improvement of the local

police and the fight against corruption. According to Kommersant himself Mr Magomedov, was approved and established in Dagestan, a separate unit staffing level of at least 800 people "and to conduct special military operations in mountainous, wooded area. "It is impossible to address issues of economic development in isolation from the need to ensure the safety of investors and citizens living in Dagestan," - said the president Magomedov and at a press conference when he returned from Sochi to Makhachkala.

As explained yesterday, "b" the first vice-premier of Dagestan Rizwan Kurbanov, who oversees the local security forces, we are talking about forming a republic of two or three battalions of internal forces to be deployed in the mountainous regions, where now there is a high activity of the militants and will "direct order there. According to Deputy Prime Minister, it is assumed that the new units will be formed mainly by local residents - both contractors and military conscripts. "We expect that the Dagestani forces will be effective because, unlike the Feds, they know their territory all the mountain roads and trails, and even their external features can distinguish between a representative of traditional Islam from the extremists," - said Mr. Kurbanov.

If the idea Dagestani authorities will be implemented, but this requires a corresponding decree of the President, who, as stated in the Law on Interior Troops of Russia ", according to the composition, size and structure of forces, and also decides on their deployment and redeployment, the republic will create some special motorized battalions of explosives. Now the troops are in the country 102 th separate brigade for operational use (Makhachkala), North Caucasus Regional Command of Interior Ministry troops to Russia. The structure 102 Brigade and is expected to include Dagestan battalions.

Note that these parts of the internal troops, consisting of national staff, has already been created in Russia. In 2006 at the initiative of President Ramzan Kadyrov, the republic came 248 th and 249 th Separate special motorized battalions of North and South, are included in the stationed in Grozny, the 36 th Brigade MVD. Initially, these contracts were recruited militants amnesty, and then began to call and young Chechens. At the same troops in the republic is not only called Guard Ramzan Kadyrov, in general, not far from the truth. Even in the Law on Interior Troops pointed out that these units' senior operational commanders, are the Ministers of Interior and the head of the Interior on the subjects of the Russian Federation on whose territory they are deployed. By analogy, one can conclude that our troops will now power Dagestan.

In turn, the deputy prime minister of Dagestan Kurbanov told Kommersant that the copy of the Chechen policemen in the country are not going, but "the positive experience of neighbors to use. One of the differences between the Chechen and Dagestani units will be that in the past will not charge former fighters.

Head of Press Office Glavkomat Interior Ministry troops to Russia Vasily Panchenkov told Kommersant that the creation of new departments of internal forces in Dagestan, he knew nothing as yet, but according to him, created in his time in Chechnya battalions BB "proved positive" : "They are very effectively involved in combat actions, because formed from local residents who know the customs, mentality, well-versed on the

ground. According to him, the facts betray the interests of the service by the amnesty militants who now serve in the army, no.

In turn, human rights advocates are skeptical about the idea of creating a separate battalions of Dagestan interior ministry troops. "Both I and my colleagues in the union opposes the creation of such battalions - told Kommersant, the chairman of the Independent Union of Workers of the Interior and the Prosecutor of Dagestan Magomed Shamilov .- How much they may be called, it will be units that will occupy the destruction of Daghestan, which according to the will of fate or because of their own mistakes were on the "other side". In law enforcement there are other opportunities to restore order, in particular, by strengthening the operational work, but they chose the most bloody way. " According to Mr. Shamilova, the Ministry of Internal Affairs there are traitors, and the address of every soldier in the battalion will soon be available to militants: "They will be destroyed one by one, as is happening now with the police." "Solve the problem must be based on national consensus, through the ideological work, through dialogue and discussions," - he said.

Olga Allenova; Julia Rybin, Makhachkala

Chechen president Kadyrov seeks to change his titlehttp://en.rian.ru/russia/20100813/160181864.html04:09 13/08/2010

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov has sent a letter to the republic's parliament with a proposal to change his official title and called on to "end the parade of regional presidents," his press service said.

"I have sent a letter to the parliament of the Chechen Republic with a request to rename the post of the republic's top official. I'm convinced that a single state should have only one president, and top regional officials should be referred to as heads of republics, heads of [regional] administrations, governors and so on," the press service of the Chechen president quoted Kadyrov as saying.

The Chechen leader said he was ready to accept any new name for his post, except for "president."

Heads of 13 Russian republics currently hold the official title of president. In May 2005 the presidential title was scrapped in the North Caucasus republic of North Ossetia. In 2008 the regional parliament wanted to rename the highest executive post in the Volga Republic of Tatarstan, but the then president of Tatarstan opposed the move.

GROZNY, August 13 (RIA Novosti)

Kadyrov offers parliament to change name of republic head post

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=15401495

13.08.2010, 07.04

GROZNY, August 13 (Itar-Tass) - Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov has offered the republic’s parliament to change the name of the post of the head of the Chechen Republic.

“On the first day of the holy month of Ramadan I signed a resolution on leaving for the annual vacation. Before that I sent to the Chechen parliament an official letter in which I ask to change the name of the supreme executive of the Chechen Republic,” Kadyrov told reporters. He stressed that he is “ready to accept any term specifying the post of the head of the subject (of the Federation), except the name “president.”

Kadyrov explained his position by his belief that “there should be only one president in a united state, and in subjects the first persons can be named heads of republics, heads of administrations, governors and so on.” In his view, the “parade of regional presidents” should be stopped in the country.

The republic’s head also noted that “from the first days he refused from the idea to sign an agreement between the federal centre and the Chechen Republic on the delimitation of authority.” “I am strongly convinced that such documents are absolutely not needed. We have the Constitution in which everything is specified. So there should be no subjects with special authority,” Kadyrov stressed.

Kadyrov for the first time is taking a vacation on the post of the Chechen president. According to him, he intends “to spend these days in prayers, visit shrines, engage in charity.”

13 August 2010

Chechen leader could be called "imam" - Kadyrov's press secretaryhttp://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=dujour&div=220

Moscow, August 13, Interfax - Officials in Grozny are discussing various possible job titles for the leader of the Chechen Republic, the Chechen president's press secretary Alvi Karimov said.

"Any title is acceptable for Kadyrov as long as it does not conflict with the Russian and Chechen constitutions," he told Interfax.

"He [Kadyrov] clearly expressed his opinion in a document sent to parliament today. He is convinced that only one person in the country, namely the head of state, must be called president. The rest is the product of the 1990s when Russia saw a parade of sovereignties. Parliament will carefully study Kadyrov's request, discuss options and choose the most suitable [title] for Chechnya," Karimov said.

Asked whether the job could be titled "imam," he said he saw "no contravention to the fundamental law."

"Why not? Although I do not know what parliament is considering. My personal opinion is that it is a concise title that is easy to write and to pronounce. The main thing is that, regardless of the options, the powers and duties of the top official in the republic are not changing. If I were a member of parliament, this is precisely what I would have proposed, but I do not know what opinion will be reached by the MPs," Karimov added.

Total of 35 people detained in Moscow at unauthorized rally

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=15401277&PageNum=0

13.08.2010, 00.23

MOSCOW, August 13 (Itar-Tass) - Policemen detained 35 people in downtown Moscow for an attempt to hold an unauthorized rally in front of the city mayoralty on Tverskaya Street, Viktor Biryukov, the official spokesman for the city’s Interior Department told Itar-Tass.

The leader of the Movement for the Rights of Man, Lev Ponomaryov, and the coordinator of the Levyi Front /Left-Wing Front/, Sergei Udaltsov are among the detainees, he said.

A group of people tried to hold a meeting near the mayoralty’s building Thursday night in spite of a ban imposed on it by the authorities. The protesters’ major demand was the resignation of Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, who vacationed away from Moscow while forest fires were raging in the nearby areas and city districts were veiled with thick and acrid smog.

According to Biryukov, about 70 sympathizers and 150 Russian and foreign reporters came to watch the action.

The police issued persistent calls to the participants in the action to cancel it and to go away but they did not obey, after which the detentions began.

At around 21:00 hours, orderliness on the square in front of the mayoralty was fully restored and all the people who had come the unauthorized action went away “clearing the space for the residents and guests of the city.”

The detainees were taken to police departments of Moscow’s Central Administrative District where protocols on administrative offenses were filled out for them.

August 13, 2010 09:24

Prominent rights activist in hospital after detention at opposition rally

http://www.interfax.com/news.asp

Police End Anti-Mayor 'Day of Wrath' http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/police-end-anti-mayor-day-of-wrath/412303.html

13 August 2010The Moscow Times

An unsanctioned rally against Mayor Yury Luzhkov was cut short by police, who cordoned off the site hours in advance and detained 35 protesters Thursday evening.

Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov and human rights champion Lev Ponomaryov, who staged the rally dubbed “Day of Wrath,” were among those detained in front of City Hall, Ekho Moskvy reported.

Protesters called for a "Moscow without Luzhkov" and were asked to bring "black marks" made out of paper or cloth that symbolized distrust in Luzhkov, the organizers said in a statement.

"In particular, participants claim that Mayor Yury Luzhkov, as the city's chief, carries direct responsibility for the capital's unpreparedness for the heat wave and the wildfires," Udaltsov said before being dragged to a police bus, Interfax reported.

Luzhkov spent the first days of August on a European vacation that he did not immediately interrupt, despite the heavy smoke that was choking the city, causing death rates to skyrocket.

Luzhkov and Gromov sling mud over the fireshttp://www.mn.ru/politics/20100813/187979767.html

by Tom Washington at 13/08/2010 10:30

Relations between Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and the Governor of Moscow Region Boris Gromov took another turn for the worse this week, with both leaders carping at the other’s attempts to deal with the wildfires.

Gromov, claims Luzhkov, has not implemented fire protection schemes and this has led to smog engulfing Moscow, burnt out homes and deaths. “In 2002, on our initiative, the government of the Russian Federation commissioned a fire-protection plan.” Luzhkov said at a City Hall meeting on Tuesday, straight after the abrupt summons from his holiday. “It was designed but it was not carried out by anyone,” he said.

 

Amazing claims

“It amazes me,” retaliated Gromov at a firefighters’ meeting on Thursday. “In this difficult situation some of the leaders of Moscow are trying to bluff and play around with these difficulties, blaming the government and Moscow Region… I would advise those who make these comments firstly to study history well and secondly to think about to whom those parts of Moscow region [actually] belong,” a reference to the chaotic system of boundaries in Moscow and disputes that has prompted, “and then to make these sweeping statements.”

 

Playing to the grandstand

“Both leaders are members of that critical group of governors who can be replaced in the future. It is pretty important for both of them to have a good image and show the Kremlin their effectiveness and their eagerness to work,” Carnegie Centre analyst Nikolai Petrov told The Moscow News.

Relations between both men started well, when Gromov was first elected and Luzhkov was his good friend, but things started turning sour when interests clashed and Luzhkov expanded his sphere of influence out into Moscow Region.

Now, with both men believed to be on the government's hit-list of regional politicians ripe for retirement - nationwide all but three of Luzhkov's long-serving peers have left office this year - the pair could be in a fight for their professional survival.

For Gromov, picking a fight with the out-of-favour Luzhkov could be an attempt to win favour with the Kremlin; for Luzhkov it's useful to deflect attention away from the city's smoky failures.

In Russia, fires -- and politicians -- are bringing down forests

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/12/AR2010081205317.html

By William J. DobsonFriday, August 13, 2010

The biggest story in Russia today is the battle to tame a national outbreak of wildfires. The flames have consumed nearly 2 million acres of forests, farms and villages in their

path. More than 4,000 people have lost their homes. A dense blanket of smoke and pollution has settled over Moscow; hundreds are pouring into hospitals because of illnesses triggered by the suffocating smog.

Russian media are focusing on government efforts to extinguish the fires, showcasing President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's promises to hold local officials accountable for not preventing the devastation. What the media are not reporting is the Kremlin's insistence, even as these fires rage, that a centuries-old oak forest on the outskirts of Moscow be cut down.

If you know about the destruction of Khimki Forest, it is only because you have heard the voice of Yevgenia Chirikova, the 33-year-old mother of two who unexpectedly has become one of Russia's fiercest environmental activists.

The Khimki Forest is a rarity in Russia -- a publicly protected green space. The land is said to have been one of the czars' favorite spots for hunting boar. Boars still wander the dense oak groves, but the wild forest has dwindled in size after decades of development. Nevertheless, what was left received the government's highest level of environmental protection long ago, ensuring that it would remain free of commercial use.

Three years ago, Chirikova took her daughters for a walk in the woods and noticed that many trees had been splashed with red paint. Online later, she read that Khimki Forest had been marked for demolition. The expanse was to be clear-cut to make way for a motorway between Moscow and St. Petersburg. Chirikova assumed this was a mistake; the land was protected, and there were more direct routes that didn't require bulldozing the forest. Someone needs to alert the authorities, she thought.

But it wasn't a mistake. Government officials, some with clear conflicts of interests, stand to benefit from the project.

When she realized the demolition was indeed to go forward -- recalling that time, Chirikova now says, "I was very naive" -- she returned to the forest armed with fliers to inform others about the planned construction. With support from her community, she founded the group In Defense of Khimki Forest. She began organizing protests, started a petition drive and worked with local journalists to publicize her campaign.

It is safe to presume that even if the Kremlin had known who Yevgenia Chirikova was, it never would have perceived her as a threat. She doesn't come from a political family. She had never attended a protest. But almost overnight a mother on maternity leave became a grass-roots environmental activist.

In Russia, speaking out can be dangerous. Chirikova's supporters received death threats. They were detained and arrested on trumped-up charges. One of her colleagues, journalist Mikhail Beketov, was brutally beaten outside his house -- and left with permanent brain damage.

Chirikova responded by stepping up her campaign. She ran for mayor as a single-issue candidate, forcing the incumbent as well as Moscow's regional governor to abandon their direct support for the highway. She brought lawsuits in Russian and international courts. Perhaps most effectively, she lobbied European banks to deny the Russian government roughly $750 million in financing. Ultimately, Putin was drawn directly into the fight over the 2,500-acre forest, issuing a decree -- that contravened Russian federal law -- to allow the construction to go forward.

A few months ago, I traveled to Khimki so that Chirikova could walk me through the forest she is fighting to preserve. The ground that drizzly April afternoon was still damp from the morning's rain. I asked, after all of her success holding the government at bay, what she thought would be the government's next move. "The next step is probably that they will start building," she replied. "We are ready. It is going to be very loud."

She was right. Last month the Kremlin sent loggers to Khimki. They didn't have permits, so Chirikova was able to stop them -- temporarily. Then the intimidation began. She was assaulted and nearly run over by a thug's car. At 5 a.m. on July 23, dozens of masked men attacked a campsite that Chirikova's campaign had set up in the forest and beat her supporters. The police arrived an hour later -- and arrested the activists. Last week Chirikova was detained after holding a news conference in downtown Moscow. She was charged with holding an illegal rally.

While wildfires burn around Moscow, the government is mowing down another forest. The wildfires are a legitimate natural disaster. But the government's ineffectiveness in extinguishing them is borne from the failings of the same authoritarian system that seeks to bulldoze Khimki Forest. Putin has promised to hold officials responsible, but he is the architect of the centralized, one-party system that has eliminated any genuine institution that can hold government accountable. Thus, firefighters have found access roads overgrown, ponds intended to refill trucks filled with sludge, and equipment in disrepair.

A corrupt, unaccountable politics does more than run roughshod over its citizens. It brings poor governance. Even after the last fire is out, the system that permitted this summer's devastation, and that destroyed Khimki Forest, will remain.

William J. Dobson, a former managing editor of Foreign Policy magazine and senior editor for Asia at Newsweek International, is writing a book on the challenges to democracy.

Putin, Medvedev Ignore Kursk Date http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/putin-medvedev-ignore-kursk-date/412302.html

13 August 2010By Alexey Eremenko

Navy ships of the Northern Fleet lowered their flags and sounded their sirens at 11:44 p.m. Thursday — the exact time of the 10th anniversary of the blast that destroyed the Kursk nuclear submarine in the Barents Sea.

Memorial events were held in St. Petersburg, Murmansk, Severodvinsk, Severomorsk and Arkhangelsk, where the 118 members of the Kursk's crew are buried, Interfax reported.

All Russian Orthodox churches on Navy bases held services in memory of the sailors who died in the incident.

But officials chose to ignore the date, relatives of dead sailors said.

“We hoped that someone from the Defense Ministry or the Navy's staff would contact us for the 10th anniversary. We thought that someone from the country's authorities would come to commemorate the memory of our boys. But alas, looks like they don't think death of 118 submariners is a big tragedy,” said Sofia Dudko, mother of the Kursk's first mate, Sergei Dudko.

Neither President Dmitry Medvedev nor Prime Minister Vladimir Putin commented on the Kursk anniversary Thursday.

But the Navy has learned its lessons from the tragedy, modernizing its rescue forces, which were unable to provide help to the Kursk's crew back in 2000, a Navy spokesman said, Interfax reported.

Andrei Zvyagintsev, the first Russian rescuer to reach the Kursk after it had sunk, said two Navy rescue submarines were modernized in recent years, and all fleets received diving suits capable of operating in depths of up to 365 meters.

The Kursk came to a rest on the seabed 108 meters underwater after its hull was ravaged by a blast from one of its own torpedoes.

Twenty-three crew members survived the blast, but died before rescuers reached them nine days after the explosion, despite repeated assurances from federal authorities that the submariners would be saved.

Russian authorities initially refused help from other countries, but later accepted it. Norwegian rescuers were the first to enter the submarine on Aug. 21, 2000.

Putin, then the newly elected president, was on vacation during the incident, returning to work only five days after the Kursk blast.

On Sept. 8, 2000, he made a now-notorious comment about the situation on "Larry King Live," answering a question about what happened to the submarine with the curt remark, “It sunk.”

The Prosecutor General's Office ruled in 2002 that the Kursk incident was caused by the torpedo blast, but did not say why it exploded. No one was ever charged over the incident.

Media reports have said the Kursk could have faced a sneak attack from an American submarine or collided with such a vessel, but experts doubted this explanation.

“Those who speak about the collision with an American submarine are just trying to lay the blame at someone else's door,” Navy Captain Igor Kudrin said Thursday, Interfax reported.

“It's very convenient for us to have an American version,” he said, adding that the crew could have simply mishandled the torpedo.

Roman Kolesnikov, a former Navy captain and father of Dmitry Kolesnikov, who died on the Kursk, told Izvestia in an interview published Thursday that he considered the vessel's and its ammunition's state of disrepair, caused by a lack of financing, as the most likely explanation.

“To maintain complex equipment, you need money, and there's no money,” he said. “Try to abandon your house for 10 years, and then come and see what happens.”

Fires Not Likely to Scorch Tandem http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/fires-not-likely-to-scorch-tandem/412325.html

13 August 2010By Nikolaus von Twickel and Alexandra Odynova

The country's ruling tandem has adopted different styles of responding to the record heat wave that has killed 53 people in wildfires and sickened millions more in unprecedented levels of smog.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin bet on his strongman image by co-piloting a Be-200 amphibious aircraft and dumping water over a burning forest in the Ryazan region this week.

The flight, widely shown on state television, led to much criticism from opposition politicians and bloggers, who described it as a publicity stunt with dubious legal grounds because Putin lacks pilot training and it is illegal to steer an aircraft without a license.

President Dmitry Medvedev himself had just denounced such moves. Speaking on Monday to local officials in Marii-El, a Volga River republic hit hard by the fires, Medvedev said it was unacceptable for politicians to use the natural disaster to boost their clout.

"To make PR here and to score political points is not nice," Medvedev said, according to a Kremlin transcript.

But both Medvedev and Putin have spent hours meeting with people who lost homes in the fires and encouraging firefighters — just as opinion polls indicate that their popularity is in steep decline.

The drop, while far from devastating to their popularity, has prompted the leaders to take to the television cameras to show that they are actively helping fight the wildfires, said Nikolai Petrov, an analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Center who linked the ratings decline to effects of the recession rather than the fires.  

He and other analysts said the impact of the fires would be slight at best.

"As long as the government controls major media outlets, they do not have to fear much," said Lev Gudkov, an analyst with the Levada Center, an independent pollster.

But the opposition said the authorities' inability to quickly stop the fires and widespread doubt about whether promised aid would be delivered effectively bode ill for Putin and Medvedev.

"This will be a big problem for both," said Ilya Yashin, a senior activist with the Solidarity opposition movement.

He criticized Putin's plane flight as "cynical," saying Putin in his two terms as president had approved legislation, including the 2007 Forest Code, that set the stage for the wildfire disaster.

"Putin was flying over the blood of those killed [in the fires]," Yashin said.

Repeated calls to Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov went unanswered Thursday.

Yekaterina Yegorova, head of the political consulting firm Nikkolo M, said ratings would suffer as people continued to feel helpless.

She said Putin's plane flight was probably counterproductive because it did not show much effective firefighting. "It would be better to demonstrate efficient organized work aimed at helping victims," she said.

Putin's rating has fallen to 47 percent from 53 percent at the start of the year, and Medvedev's dropped to 39 percent from the previous 44 percent, the state-run VTsIOM pollster said earlier this week.

But a Levada Center poll found that Putin's rating actually shot up from 44 percent in June to 48 percent in July.

Both leaders have traveled to hot spots offering help to victims. On Thursday, Medvedev visited a children's health resort for fire victims in the Rostov region.

But Putin has looked uncomfortable when confronted with public anger. Last week, a video appeared where he was berated by fire victims during a July 30 visit to Verkhnyaya Vereya, a village in the Nizhny Novgorod region.

Also last week, local and national media reported that the son of a Voronezh region firefighter who was killed fighting a blaze flatly refused an offer by Putin to give his family a new home.

As an explanation, the son, Andrei Galkin, said it would be "presumptuous" to accept such a gift while thousands of others were left homeless, the Moe-online.ru news site reported.

The fires have also taken a toll on Mayor Yury Luzhkov and Moscow region Governor Boris Gromov.

When Luzhkov returned from vacation earlier this week, after staying away from the capital during the worst days of smog, he faced no direct public criticism from Putin or Medvedev, and Putin even praised the mayor for coming back.

On his return, Luzhkov immediately criticized Moscow regional authorities for failing to implement safety measures decided after peat bog fires in 2002.

Gromov struck back on Thursday, saying he was "surprised" by the criticism and that City Hall should provide better assistance in the efforts to put out the fires. "I'd like to remind them that Moscow also has numerous problems," he said, Interfax reported.

Luzhkov and Gromov have little to fear from voters, since Putin abolished gubernatorial elections in 2004 and many analysts believe that neither will be reappointed for another term.

A federal state of emergency remains in effect in the Moscow region as well as three other regions. Medvedev on Thursday ended a state of emergency in Voronezh, Vladimir and Marii-El.

Meanwhile, meteorologists said winds would keep the city's sky clean until Saturday — when the smog is likely to return.

Roman Vilfand, director of the federal weather bureau, said that while the heat wave would end next week, there was a high possibility the smoke would return before that.

Despite clear skies, the capital's air remains highly polluted, he told reporters, Interfax reported.

The Emergency Situations Ministry said Thursday that the overall size of the fires around Moscow has shrunk by 25 percent to 126 hectares.

Nationwide, 562 fires were still burning, covering more than 81,000 hectares.

Meanwhile, a team of American experts will visit some fires to assess their ecological impact, the U.S. Embassy said. The United States also will send fire-resistant clothing, water tanks and backpack pumps to Russia, the embassy said in an e-mailed statement.

Leaking air conditioners have wrecked computer servers of the only company that produces biometric passports nationwide, forcing the Federal Migration Service to stop issuing passports, Interfax reported Thursday.

The incident happened Aug. 5, but the service's spokesman, Mikhail Tyurkin, only confirmed it on Thursday, adding that operations should resume by Friday.

Russians criticize Putin on corruption and oligarchshttp://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE67C0T220100813

3:07am EDT

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russians like Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for boosting Moscow's image abroad and improving living standards but fault him for not fighting corruption or reining in billionaire oligarchs, a new opinion poll showed.

The poll by the independent Levada Center found that Putin's overall ratings remained broadly positive. Fifty-nine percent said Putin was doing a good job or would do a good job sorting out Russia's problems, down from 63 percent a year earlier.

When asked in detail about Putin's achievements and failings, a more nuanced picture emerged.

On the positive side, 23 percent credited the premier, Russia's paramount leader, with "strengthening Russia's relations with the West" and 20 percent praised him for improving living standards. Nineteen percent liked him for "strengthening Russia's positions abroad."

But a much higher proportion -- 37 percent -- said Putin's least successful action had been the fight against corruption.

A further 24 percent criticized him for not curbing the power of the country's billionaire businessmen and 18 percent said he had failed to fight crime effectively.

Putin ruled Russia as president from 2000 to 2008 before handing over the Kremlin job to his chosen successor, Dmitry Medvedev, and becoming prime minister.

Most Russians believe Putin remains the final arbiter on important decisions and polls show he is the country's most popular politician with approval ratings of over 60 percent.

Western politicians, media and human rights groups often criticize Putin for stifling democracy, choking media freedom and curbing opposition.

But the Levada Poll showed that Russians take a very different view. Slightly more respondents praised Putin for protecting democracy and citizens' political rights than faulted him in this area.

But both the positive and the negative tallies on this score were very low -- four and three percent respectively, suggesting that the issue was not an important one for Russian voters.

Levada polled a sample of 1,600 people between July 23-26 for the survey, which had a margin of error of 3.4 percent. The poll was published on Thursday but was taken before Russia's recent catastrophic wildfires.

(Reporting by Michael Stott, Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Altai Ter governor removes Barnaul mayor from office

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=15401734&PageNum=0

13.08.2010, 09.48

BARNAUL, August 13 (Itar-Tass) - The Altai Territory’s Governor Alexander Karlin has taken the decision to remove Barnaul's Mayor Vladimir Kolganov from the office. The governor himself said this in his address to the territorial centre’s residents.

"Kolganov's ignoring his duties makes citizens, organisations and offices of prosecutors to appeal to courts for protection of personal rights and freedoms and state and public interests. However, even after court rulings oblige Kolganov as city head to take certain actions to restore violated rights and interests, the rulings are not obeyed for a long time," the governor said, commenting on his decision.

According to Karlin, the city administration has not followed 12 court decisions, including six to remove unsanctioned waste dumps from the city, two decisions to stop harmful waste water draining and some to provide housing for citizens and eliminate violations in work of utilities.

Kolganov's deputy Igor Savintsev is appointed acting Barnaul mayor.

Kolganov headed Barnaul's administration from 2003. In March 2008, he was re-elected as mayor with the United Russia Party's support. The Barnaul central court declared the elections not valid, but later the territorial court overruled the decision.

Kolganov's work repeatedly was subjected to the governor's harsh criticism. The main cause was Barnaul's utilities.

Last September, the Investigation Committee's territorial department instituted proceedings against Kolganov on charges of negligence. The investigation continues.

Counterfeiters Busted http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/counterfeiters-busted/412322.html

13 August 2010

Police have busted the biggest counterfeiting racket in recent years, shutting down a sophisticated operation in four areas, including Moscow, that was capable of producing 50 million rubles ($1.6 million) a month, the Interior Ministry said Thursday.

The counterfeiters were able to reproduce more than 90 percent of the security features of the 5,000- and 1,000-ruble banknotes that they were printing, said Denis Sugrobov, senior investigator at the Interior Ministry, RIA-Novosti reported. He said some of the profits from the business, which was also located in Dagestan and the Volgograd and Moscow regions, went to support North Caucasus terrorists.

Twelve people, including the ringleader, a 32-year-old Dagestan native, were detained by police, and four sets of equipment were confiscated in a complex operation that started in June, Sugrobov said.

(MT)

National Economic Trends

August 13, 2010 09:57

Russian monetary base up 36.2 bln rubles to 5101.8 bln rubleshttp://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=182840

MOSCOW. Aug 13 (Interfax) - The narrow monetary base in Russia stood at 5101.8 bln rubles on August 9 up from 5065.6 bln rubles on August 2, the Central Bank reported on Friday.

The narrow monetary base includes cash in circulation (including cash held at credit institutions), and balances on banks' mandatory local-currency-deposit reserve accounts with the Central Bank.

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RenCap: Foreign trade statistics: Imports continue to strengthen in June http://www.businessneweurope.eu/dispatch_text12512

Renaissance CapitalAugust 13, 2010

The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) recently released foreign trade statistics for June. According to the data, exports increased to $32.3bn (from $31.6bn in May), imports were up to $19.8bn (from $19.4bn in May) and the corresponding trade balance increased to $12.5bn (from $12.2bn in May) in June.

According to the Federal Customs Service, oil and gas products contributed around 70% to Russian exports, with the pickup in global commodities prices in June supportive. Oil and gas exports increased from $20.3bn in May to $20.7bn in June. Metals and mining exports fell from $4.1bn in May to $3.8bn in June. Exports from other sectors picked up as well, but at a moderate pace.

The major trend seen in Russia's foreign trade is strengthening imports. Imports of machine building products increased from $7.1bn in May to $7.7bn in June and chemical products from $2.7bn in May to $3.0bn in June. We explain this by improved business and consumer sentiment and, moreover, this trend has become insensitive to the short-term fluctuations in the rouble exchange rate.

We think the drought and shortage of supply of agricultural products will stimulate food imports in 2H10 and 1H11. Thus, we think the current global environment is likely pointing to a further weakening of Russia's trade balance rather than a strengthening. We think the potential for a rise in nominal exports is limited; moreover, it seems to be stable in real terms. Fundamentally, we think the trade balance, at these levels, would be enough to support moderate rouble appreciation and we maintain our expectation of the USD/RUB eop at 28.4.

Russia May Export More Wheat on ‘Robust’ Prices, Commodore Sayshttp://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-08-13/russia-may-export-more-wheat-on-robust-prices-commodore-says.html

August 13, 2010, 3:49 AM EDT

By Alaric Nightingale

Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Russia, which banned grain exports after the worst drought in at least 50 years, may ship more wheat in the current marketing year than many analysts forecast as high prices spur shipments, Commodore Research said.

Russia will export between 6 million and 8 million metric tons in the current marketing year, New York-based Commodore said in a report e-mailed today. Other analysts are forecasting exports of 3 million tons, it said.

Russia said last week it would ban grain exports from Aug. 15 until the end of the year after the hottest summer on record in many regions destroyed crops.

“After a few months of a strict ban on wheat exports we believe it is possible that Russia could eventually return to the wheat export market and take advantage of robust prices, once the worst is over,” Commodore said.

The ban has already led to increased shipments from the U.S. to countries that were previously awaiting Russian supplies and may also bolster Argentine and Australian cargoes, Commodore said. Shipping congestion has risen in the Black Sea as cargoes are canceled, it said.

The country’s wheat shipments will plunge to 3 million tons this year from 18.5 million a year earlier, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said yesterday. Grain exports may total between 2 million and 4.5 million tons in the marketing year that began July 1, Agriculture Ministry spokesman Oleg Aksyonov said yesterday.

December-delivery wheat rose as much as 1.1 percent to $7.5225 a bushel today, extending yesterday’s 2.6 percent advance. It traded at $7.4925 a bushel at 10:18 a.m. Singapore time, taking the weekly loss to 0.8 percent.

--With assistance from Maria Kolesnikova in Moscow. Editors: John Deane, Dan Weeks.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alaric Nightingale in London at anightingal1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net.

Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions

Russian dairy producers to be fined for price gouging - paperhttp://en.rian.ru/business/20100813/160184614.html

10:57 13/08/2010

Russian dairy producers will be fined for price gouging following a recent scandal over the overstated prices for dairy products, Federal Antimonopoly Service's (FAS) managing director Teymuraz Kharitonashvili told a Russian business daily on Friday.

On Thursday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during his working trip to south Russia inspected several agricultural cooperatives in the region and was told that intermediaries bought milk from farmers for 11.5 rubles per liter and sold it in retail stores for 32 rubles (approximately $1).

"So, the farmers get 30% of the price and the intermediaries - about 70%," Medvedev said, asking Russian Agriculture Minister Yelena Skrynnik to take appropriate measures to regulate the discrepancy.

The executive director for the Russian Union of Dairy Enterprises, Vladimir Labinov, said the price of dairy products for the end consumer is calculated starting from the farmers providing raw milk (40%), followed by producers (26-28%), and finally the distributors and purveyors (32-34%).

Seventh Continent, one of Russia's biggest food retailers, scrapped contracts on deliveries from Danone and Unimilk dairy producers due to a large one-time increase in their prices.

Vedomosti daily said, citing Kharitonashvili that FAS intends to put a 1.5%-revenue fine on the dairy producers for the unjustified price hikes.

Kharitonashvili said high fines and prescriptions were the main measures against the speculative price hikes.

Meanwhile, the dairy producers said the increase of the prices was justified since they had to pay for packing, logistics, and distribution in line with the increased price for raw milk.

The government has the ability to influence prices by setting a ceiling for essential goods in a region that has hiked prices by 30%, but this measure had not been discussed yet, the deputy Trade Minister, Andrei Dementyev told Vedomosti paper.

The scientific director of the Higher School of Economics, Yevgeny Yasin, said natural disasters usually cause food price hikes. A direct control of the prices would only aggravate the situation, he said.

The prices on agricultural products could become a vital issue for the Russian economy following a scorching heat wave which has gripped much of European Russia since mid-June, coupled with the worst drought since the 1970s.

MOSCOW, August 13 (RIA Novosti)

Ruble Rises Versus Dollar, Trims Weekly Drop as Oil Rebounds http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=arzZUsaOlEus

By Denis Maternovsky

Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) -- The ruble strengthened against the dollar for the first time this week as oil, Russia’s chief export, rebounded from a one-month low.

The Russian currency added 0.7 percent to 30.4175 per dollar by 10:56 a.m. in Moscow, trimming its first weekly decline since July 4 to 2.1 percent. It rose 0.04 percent to 39.2299 per euro, heading for its highest close since July 23.

Crude for September delivery gained as much as 1.3 percent to $76.70 a barrel after its lowest settlement since July 12 yesterday. Russia’s Micex Stock Index rose 0.8 percent to 1,386.05, heading for its first one-day gain since Aug. 9.

Investors pared bets that the ruble will weaken further, with non-deliverable forwards showing the currency at 30.6219 per dollar in three months compared with an NDF of 30.7712 on Aug. 13. The contracts are a guide to expectations of currency movements as they allow foreign investors and companies to fix the exchange rate at a particular level in the future.

The movements against the dollar and the euro left the ruble at 34.3798 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 January 2009 to defend.

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

Last Updated: August 13, 2010 03:25 EDT

‘Worst Is Over’ for Russia, Templeton’s Zhilyaev Says (Update1) http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=arR_ESvimeAs

By Shiyin Chen

Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) -- The “worst is over” for Russia as its economy rebounds from the global financial crisis and the government increases efforts to draw foreign investors, according to Templeton Asset Management Ltd.

“Russia’s avenue for growth is plentiful,” Templeton Asset’s Gennady Zhilyaev said in a posting on Executive Chairman Mark Mobius’s blog yesterday.

Efforts to boost technology investment, including the creation of the Skolkovo project, could help attract state, institutional and private funds to an industry that seems “immensely promising,” said Zhilyaev, a deputy director in the Templeton Emerging Markets Group, referring to Russia’s plan create its version of Silicon Valley in the Moscow suburb of Skolkovo.

Russia’s 30-stock Micex Index has gained 0.4 percent this year, compared with a 1.3 percent decline in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. The gauge more than doubled last year, making Russia the best performer among the four largest developing nations including Brazil, China and India.

Gross domestic product grew 5.2 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, accelerating from the 2.9 percent growth in the January-March period, government statistics released this month showed. The International Monetary Fund has forecast Russia’s economy to expand by 4.3 percent for the full year, helped by rising oil prices and an improving fiscal outlook.

Commodity Dependency

Russia, which is benefiting from demand for natural resources, may find it “challenging” to reduce its dependence on global demand for raw materials, according to the blog.

Companies should have a “strong exploration base, professional operations and low production costs” to help them weather economic cycles and stay competitive, the analyst also said, citing a Russia producer of nickel, palladium, platinum and copper without naming the company.

“Such companies that have outstanding business models could garner a lot of credibility for Russian investments,” Zhilyaev wrote.

To contact the reporter on this story: Shiyin Chen in Singapore at schen37@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 13, 2010 00:13 EDT

Finnish newspaper: Ban on Finnish meat to Russia could continuehttp://russia-media.ru/economy/morenews.php?iditem=1568

[12.08.10]

The Finnish Food Safety Authority (EVIRA) estimates that only some Finnish meat manufacturers will be able to continue exports to Russia in the near future. EVIRA hopes that Russia could deliver their decisions next week. The matter has been reported by the Turku-based daily Turun Sanomat.

On the basis of the inspections conducted by EVIRA, Russia is to lift its import restrictions to some extent, while limits on the import to Russia of meat products by certain Finnish manufacturers will still be in force.Russia lifted its ban on the import of Finnish dairy products last Friday, August 6th. Restrictions on the import of meat products by certain Finnish manufacturers were still kept in force.

”A decision on the meat dispute could be made in Russia soon, as the holiday season of Russian officials is close at hand and they would obviously like to remove all pending

items from the agenda”, Turun Sanomat quotes Kyösti Siponen, head of the import and market monitoring unit of EVIRA, as saying. A report on EVIRA’s on-site inspections is to be submitted to the Russian authorities on Friday August 13th.At present, more than five Finnish meat production facilities are unable to export meat or meat products to Russia, as according to the neighbouring country’s authorities, for example the concentrations of antibiotics in Finnish meat have exceeded the levels permissible in Russia.

On the European scale, the import restrictions imposed by Russia apply to around 200 food processing facilities.

Coal miner Belon Group makes 1.7 bln rbl H1 net profithttp://en.rian.ru/business/20100813/160184647.html

10:58 13/08/2010

Russian coal miner Belon Group, part of steelmaker Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK), posted a 1.7 billion ruble ($57 million) January-June net profit compared to a net loss of 932 million rubles in the same period last year, Belon said on Friday.

Belon's EBITDA in the first six months of 2010 amounted to 3.699 billion rubles, while the EBITDA margin reached 42 percent, the company said in a statement.

"The investment operations disbursement as of the first half's end exceeded two billion rubles. The funds were primarily aimed at acquiring new mining equipment, the Nikitsky field development license and for production upgrades," the company said.

The firm spent than 100 million rubles on social projects in the company's home region of Kuzbass and on economic aid for veterans.

In July, Belon announced plans to boost investment by 200 percent to 4.7 billion rubles excluding value added tax.

The company also confirmed its plans to produce 8.2 million tons of coal in 2010, up 40 percent on the previous year.

 

KEMEROVO, August 13 (RIA Novosti)

The Long March to Energy Efficiency http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/the-long-march-to-energy-efficiency/412301.html

13 August 2010By Maria Antonova

Residents of the Veshnyaki neighborhood in southeast Moscow were in for a surprise last month when the radiators in their apartments started heating at full blast while it was nearly 40 degrees Celsius outside.

No problem, district authorities told reporters, we're just checking the system.

These and other problems with the way Russians produce and consume energy make the country among the world's biggest energy wasters, using 2.5 times more energy to produce a given amount of goods and services than the world average. This dramatic inefficiency has led President Dmitry Medvedev to set a goal of lowering the amount of energy spent per unit of economic output by 40 percent by 2020, compared with the 2007 level.

Doing so won't be cheap. The current programs directed toward this end will require 800 billion rubles ($26 billion) of state funds — and that's not counting money channeled through state-run firms such as Rusnano and the Russian Venture Fund.

Modernizing the country's energy infrastructure and promoting energy efficiency is one of the five priority areas for modernization established by Medvedev in June 2009 and overseen by his presidential commission for modernization.

The agenda includes programs to incentivize both conservation and the development of alternative energy sources. And while there is much to be gained by upgrading the Soviet-era energy infrastructure, plans to develop new sources of energy continue to be held hostage to a slow-moving bureaucracy and mixed signals from high-ranking officials.

Reducing Consumption

Theoretically, there is much to be gained by programs to help reduce consumption. As part of the "New Light" program, the government has pledged 100 billion rubles to start phasing out wasteful incandescent light bulbs in favor of florescent lights, which use five times less energy, by 2014.

The program is estimated to save as much as 10 billion kilowatt hours per year — or approximately the yearly electricity consumption of Lithuania.

Nevertheless, the energy used for lighting constitutes only a small percentage of all energy used at a company or a household, said Vladimir Baskakov, deputy director at

Tsentr Teplovidenia, a Moscow-based heat imaging and energy audit company, with some estimates putting the figure at only 2.6 percent of the country's total domestic energy consumption.

"Take an apartment, for example. There are several types of energy consumers there. You can replace the light bulb, but you also have a washing machine that eats a lot of energy, especially when there is an infant in the family, and there is a fridge that is constantly working," Baskakov said. "So, of the total 300 [kilowatts] per household, 100 is used for light. Replace the bulb, and you will still be using 220 kilowatts," he said.

If domestic energy consumption is to be reduced, the 800-pound gorilla that needs to be addressed is heating, which accounts for 70 percent of the total.

The key challenge to reducing residential energy consumption is to turn residents into more discriminating energy consumers. Consumers need to be given an incentive to turn down their radiator rather than open up a window when their apartment gets too hot in the winter.

The law on energy conservation, which went into effect in November, requires owners of all residences to install energy metering equipment on the premises: a heat meter for each building and meters for electricity, water and gas for each apartment.

Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina has estimated that switching all residences over to modern metering systems will help reduce domestic energy consumption by as much as 20 percent.

But with an aging, inefficient energy infrastructure, there is only so much that can be done on the consumer's end to increase energy efficiency. Policy needs to be coordinated on the municipal and regional levels.

To get the point across, Medvedev signed a decree in May ordering all municipal governments to issue yearly reports on how their energy efficiency strategies are progressing, including per capita consumption of electricity, heat, gas and water.

"Money needs to be spent correctly," Medvedev wrote on Twitter after a meeting in late June, where he fumed that his energy efficiency ideas are seen too abstractly.

"What is energy efficiency in schools? It's not just some checkmarks in documents," he said at the meeting. "We have to understand that lowering energy consumption by 30 percent in the school means additional money for books and equipment." He added that the law on energy efficiency should be fashionable for social institutions.

While it may take time for the whole country to get used to this new fashion, over the past year, several have adopted energy efficiency programs aimed at revamping their aging energy infrastructure.

In the frigid and sparsely populated Murmansk region, 90 percent of the fuel, which consists of coal, diesel and fuel oil, is imported from other regions, according to the Murmansk region's energy efficiency strategy, published in June. All of the region's energy infrastructure is at least 15 years old, and 53 percent is more than 25 years old. Carrying out the strategy to modernize the system will save 1.1 million metric tons of fuel per year, the document says.

The region also has estimated that it can reduce electricity consumption by 5 percent and heat consumption by 3 percent by implementing an "efficiency propaganda" program, which will include brochures, 10-second television advertisement clips and essay contests for schools.

Small Producers

But making far-flung regions like Murmansk more energy efficient requires changing the way they produce energy as well. Using biomass, for example, to produce energy would be much more efficient in a big timber-producing region than would importing huge quantities of coal and diesel to light and heat the region.

Enormous volumes of timber currently go to waste in Russia because small timber producers throw out as much as 50 percent of the initial product. Out of 130 million cubic meters of timber produced in Russia last year, 13 million was bark that has no commercial value, and millions more are floating logs in Russian reservoirs, where forests had not been cut before being flooded.

"Inefficient municipal heating stations would benefit the most from new equipment that permits the use of plentiful timber rather than diesel or fuel oil brought from hundreds of kilometers away," said Denis Sokolov, managing director of the Timber Confederation of the Northwest.

A study Sokolov participated in estimated that converting 100 out of 700 power plants in the northwest to run on wood chips would save money. But these plants belong to municipal governments, which cannot afford to re-equip, and purchasing fuel other than what is customarily supplied by the state may be construed as a misuse of state funds, Sokolov said.

Another hindrance to a more widespread use of biomass as an energy source is the law on state purchases, he said. The law, which governs the sale of state assets, provides no incentive for federal agencies to make efficient use of the natural resources at their disposal.

"Vast natural resources that legally belong to the government — like timber cut to make way for roads built by the Federal Road Agency or floating logs in Russian reservoirs — are most likely to get thrown away because the state, in the form of the Federal Property Management Agency, has no incentive to organize the sale of this timber to others," he said.

"The law has to be amended, not least because its loopholes leave a lot of room for corruption," Sokolov said. "But that's exactly the reason why many people don't want it to change," he added.

Waiting on the Law

And biomass isn't the only renewable energy source being held back by restrictive legislation. Turning renewable energy sources into consumable energy requires huge amounts of capital investment, and investors may be hesitant to get involved in such projects unless the government irons out the kinks in its legislation and clarifies the rules for operating in the sector.

State industrial holding Russian Technologies, state-owned hydroelectric company RusHydro and German technology firm Siemens signed a preliminary agreement last month to create a joint venture to make wind turbines in the Volgograd region. RusHydro would then use the turbines to build a 1,000 megawatt wind farm on the Volga River, the sides tentatively agreed upon last month.

But the project won't materialize unless the government finalizes a set of rules that clarify the alternative energy market for investors, said Mikhail Kozlov, head of the department for renewable energy and innovations at RusHydro, a former subsidiary of Unified Energy Systems that has inherited a hodgepodge of alternative energy projects.

"One thousand megawatts is a very big project, and we cannot launch it on a whim," he said in an interview. "No large company is going to enter the Russian market without substantial guarantees," he said.

Since 2007, the renewable energy industry has been waiting for new rules and regulations that would make it possible for alternative energy producers to compete with gas or coal. A so-called feed-in tariff would guarantee grid access and allow producers to charge prices high enough to generate a competitive return on investment.

"There have been many deadlines for introduction of these additional rules since 2008, but we are really counting on the latest date set by the authorities, and signing the partnership agreement with Siemens is a promising sign that this time it will really happen," Kozlov said. "Over the past few months, many have come to the understanding that Russia should introduce subsidies based on installed capacity — it would be the easiest to realize and more understandable in our country," Kozlov added.

Other alternative energy producers are also waiting not so patiently for these legislative reforms as well.

"I would be very happy if they are discussing these mechanisms right now," said Alexei Bakharev, director of Nord Hydro, a company investing in small hydroelectric plants in the northwestern part of the country.

"Unless the rules of the game are established for investors, the renewable energy market will never be born," he said by telephone from St. Petersburg.

Nord Hydro bought some 35 small hydroelectric plants and is renovating 16 of them. But rebuilding them is 30 percent to 100 percent more expensive in Russia than in Europe, and investment per unit of capacity is so high that it takes up to 40 years to generate profit, Bakharev said.

"No bank will ever finance such a project," he added.

If the government allowed hydroelectric plants to charge five to eight rubles per kilowatt hour, prices in the Northwest Federal District would rise by only 0.5 percent, Bakharev said. Meanwhile, regions like Karelia would benefit tremendously — Karelia already buys 40 percent of its energy from other regions.

But while fostering the development of renewable energy may require higher energy prices in some regions, in some of the more remote areas it could lower prices by reducing dependence on rare oil and gas.

"There are settlements in Russia where one kilowatt hour costs 60 rubles, since it comes from diesel fuel brought in by helicopters," said Andrei Kotenko, director of polysilicon at solar energy firm Nitol Solar. "A combined solar/wind power station would pay for itself in two years in such places," he said.

Solar power becomes 8 percent cheaper every year while traditional power is becoming more expensive, Kotenko said, adding that with the right government support, solar panels could produce up to 12 gigawatts in Russia by 2020, accounting for up to 35 percent of the total power produced from renewable sources.

But government support is a fickle thing. Theoretically, it should exist: In 2009, the government instituted a long-term goal to increase the share of electricity generated from renewable sources to 4.5 percent by 2020.

While 4.5 percent may seem like a small share of the total electricity production, it would mean that a full 10 percent of the country's electrical capacity would come from renewable sources, Kozlov of RusHydro said, citing company calculations. "That is about 25 gigawatts — or roughly another RusHydro — in 10 years," he said.

But despite the optimistic goals, the government has been slow to implement the legislation necessary to support the sector, and many officials don't really see the point.

"I am cautious regarding massive application [of renewable energy] and think that it is not a very good fit for Russia," Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said last month in Yekaterinburg as Siemens and Russian Technologies were reaching the agreement on the wind farm. "This technology can be used in Russia locally, but, to speak frankly, we will never use it on a large scale," he said.

Small energy producers remain undeterred, however. Asked why his company is engaged in what is currently a loss-making business, Bakharev of Nord Hydro said, "Renewable energy is still the future."

Olga Razumovskaya contributed to this report.

Rio Tinto eyeing Uralkali: national champion to be built by an international team?http://www.businessneweurope.eu/dispatch_text12512

bneAugust 13, 2010

The M&A gossip surrounding the fertilizer sector expanded to include some of the world's largest miners yesterday, as Reuters reported that Rio Tinto and Potash Corp are interested in buying a stake in Uralkali.

Rumours of one deal or another in the sector have been flying practically every day since Suliman Kerimov bought a controlling stake in Uralkali. With his strong connections in the Kremlin and stake in rival Silvinit, the purchase is widely understood to mark the first move in building a national champion in the sector, just as has been done in gas (Gazprom), oil (Rosneft) and other industries.

Reuters claims two sources have said that Rio Tinto is running the rule over Uralkali, while one claimed that several other companies are also interested -- including Canada's Potash Corp.

If true, this suggests that the Kremlin will take a somewhat different approach to building its new champion than it did in building the likes of Rosneft, in which foreign participation was unwelcome.

However, this scenario appears very unlikely. There's little need for the inclusion of a foreign partner in the project - cash is not an issue and neither is technology - and such a deal would require government approval under strategic sectors legislation.

Analysts remain entirely unconvinced. "No foreign companies will be allowed to participate," said Anna Kupriyanova from Uralsib. "As far as I understand it, the state, at this stage, is looking to create a national champion to combine potash and possibly other fertiliser segments."

Alfa bank writes: "It is unclear exactly who Rio Tinto is in negotiations with. It would be unusual if the company is in talks with Suleiman Kerimov, who, along with his partners (Alexander Nesis and Filaret Galchev), only recently became the major shareholder. Mr. Kerimov and his partners own just ~53% and we think they will not sell URKA shares in the near future, as selling a meaningful stake would result in a loss of control over the company. Moreover, the Russian authorities would never approve of the sale of a stake in

a strategic Russian asset to a foreign investor. We therefore believe that the most likely scenario would be that Rio Tinto or Potash Corp will buy former Uralkali owner RybolovÕs remaining 10% share. Vedomosti, citing sources close to URKAÕs shareholders, reports that Rio Tinto and Potash Corp, acting independently, are interested in a stake of 10-15%."

Indeed, the most common speculation across the market still suggests a tie-up between Uralkali, Silvinit and Phosagro is on the cards, which would create one of the largest fertilizer holdings in the world. However, recent gossip in the media suggests that this latest Kremlin project may have ambitions to break out of the country, with Uralkali thought to be pushing for assets in both Ukraine and Belarus, where it's thought to face international competition in any bids.

RenCap: Sberbank provides Interros with $2bn credit linehttp://www.businessneweurope.eu/dispatch_text12512 Renaissance CapitalAugust 13, 2010

Event: Interros announced yesterday (12 Aug) that Sberbank had provided the company with a five-year $2bn credit line, of which $1bn was used to repay debt to VTB. The loan facility will enable Interros to refinance its debt and fund new projects.

Action: Neutral for Sberbank, in our view.

Rationale: Although no guidance on the interest paid under the deal was provided, we think it is good to see Sberbank issuing its second sizeable loan ticket to a first-class borrower this week: on Monday (9 Aug), Sberbank agreed to provide RUSAL with a three-year $4.5bn loan to repay its debt to VEB. The RUSAL loan carried a 500 bpts margin over one-year LIBOR, plus an upfront fee of 200 bpts. The $2bn (RUB61bn) loan to Interros is about 1.1% of Sberbank's loan book as of 1H10 under Russian Accounting Standards.

Armen Gasparyan

Metropol: Interros may receive an additional USD 3bn in credit lines - raising cash to buy Norilsk stake?http://www.businessneweurope.eu/dispatch_text12512

MetropolAugust 13, 2010

Vladimir Potanin's Interros received USD 2bn in loans for 5 years from state-run Sberbank and has agreed to borrow from international lenders to refinance debt and fund new projects. Interros refinanced credit lines, raised the limit on new long-term facilities from VTB and agreed to borrow from international lenders, including JP Morgan Chase,

UBS, ING Bank and Raiffeisen Zentralbank.

As a result, Interros may receive an additional USD 3bn in credit lines. It appears that Mr. Potanin may be accumulating funds for the acquisition of a 25% stake in Norilsk Nickel from UC Rusal.

The market value of the 25% stake in the nickel producer is approximately USD 7.8bn, and USD 3bn is obviously not enough. However, Norilsk's management said in a statement that the company may combine with other investors to acquire UC Rusal's stake in the company.

According to press reports, Interros's debt restructuring started more than six months ago, before talk about the acquisition of the Norislk stake had begun. Although it may look like Mr. Potanin is accumulating funds to acquire Mr. Deripaska's Norilsk stake, this could turn out to be nothing more than another round of speculation, in our view.

Mr. Deripaska has ruled out the sale of his Norilsk shares several times, saying that it is a strategic investment and that such a scenario is impossible. Moreover, Deripaska continues to say that Norilsk could double its valuation by enhancing corporate governance and operational performance and that he could buy Potanin's stake in Norilsk himself. It is too early to bet on an outcome of the conflict, at least until the results of the EGM, which is scheduled for October 21, are known.

Potanin borrows $3 bln for Norilsk Nickel war chesthttp://en.rian.ru/business/20100813/160184021.html

10:29 13/08/2010

Vladimir Potanin, the billionaire boss of Interros holding company, has taken out a $2 billion loan and is looking to borrow more in what experts think is preparation for buying out US RusAl's stake in Norilsk Nickel.

Interros revealed on Thursday that it had borrowed $2 billion in five-year credit lines from Russia's largest lender, state-owned Sberbank, to refinance debts and also took on a syndicated loan from a series of foreign lenders including JP Morgan Chase, Raiffeisen Zentralbank and UBS, according to Vedomosti.

Interros says the borrowing will permit it to make "the next step in the company's development program and finance major investment projects."

Vedomosti quotes sources in Interros saying that the company has so far only borrowed $1 billion from Sberbank. The paper speculates that Potanin is accumulating a war chest in order to buy out the 25% stake in Norilsk Nickel held by RusAl, the world's largest aluminum company.

The two sides have been locked in an increasingly acrimonious struggle for control of Norilsk Nickel, in which Potanin's Interros also holds 25%.

On Wednesday, RusAl filed a complaint with the London Court of International Arbitration against Interros over a disputed Norilsk Nickel June shareholders' meeting.

RusAl believes that Interros has violated an agreement that they had reached in November 2008, under which each would work to make sure that an equal number of candidates from each side would be elected to the board.

At the June AGM, RusAl failed to push through as many candidates as it planned to the board of directors and was left with three representatives there, while Interros has four.

Norilsk Nickel announced on Thursday that it will hold an extraordinary general meeting on October 21 to try to resolve the management issue.

MOSCOW, August 13 (RIA Novosti)

Kazan Helicopter Plant: Favorable outlook announced by management http://www.businessneweurope.eu/dispatch_text12512

UralSibAugust 13, 2010

Positive comments from the CEO. Yesterday, Vadim Ligay, the CEO of Kazan helicopter plant (KHEL RX - Buy), one of the three main produc- ers of Mi-family helicopters and Ansat made several positive comments on the outlook for the company that included: 1. 2010 revenue expected to increase 40% YoY to $662 mln (RUB20 bln), which would exceed our current forecast by 19%. Moreover, revenue is projected to increase 109% to $993 mln (RUB30 bln) by 2015 from the 2009 level on the back of an expected increase in helicopter sales in the medium- term and due to the sale of more advanced (thus, more expen- sive) types of helicopters. The company has a contract to supply 80 Mi-17 helicopters to India in 2011-13. In the medium-term, helicopter production is expected to be in a range of 85-90 units pr annum, close to last year's production of 85 units.

Upside potential to our forecasts. Our current model for Kazan helicopter implies production of 81 helicopters in 2010 and 2011, and 82 in 2012, which would enable the company to work at nearly 90% capacity. Higher helicopter sales this year should lead to 2010 revenue of $557 mln (up 18% YoY), while we forecast EBITDA to increase 89% YoY to $125 mln, implying a 22% EBITDA margin. Based on the comments from the CEO, we now see upside risk in our current financial forecasts and target price for the stock. A this stage, we are not changing our model assumptions or financial projections, as we rather to wait for 1H10 financials and possible details of the company's order book, which might appear with the publication of its 1H10 financials (ex- pected soon).

Positive for the stock. We view the news as clearly positive for Kazan Helicopter Plant's stock. We also note that our current fi- nancial projections for the company might prove too conservative. We reiterate our Buy recommendation for the stock.

Anna Kupriyanova

Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)

Nord Stream Construction Move To Finlandhttp://www.officialwire.com/main.php?action=posted_news&rid=199961

Published on August 12, 2010 (iWireNews ™ and OfficialWire)

ZUG, SWITZERLAND

A ship designed to lay pipelines on the sea floor arrived in Finnish waters to continue the construction of the Nord Stream pipeline, the consortium said.

Construction for Nord Stream started April 9 in the Swedish waters of the Baltic Sea when operators placed the first 2 miles of the pipeline on the sea floor.

Almost 30 miles of the pipeline were dropped in Finnish waters as of Wednesday and the multinational consortium managing the pipeline said construction would continue for another 60 miles.

Engineers pulled the first section of the Nord Stream gas pipeline onto the German shore in July and the first section reached Russian shores later that month.

Waters within about 2 miles of the vessels laying the pipeline are closed, the consortium said. All activity conforms to Finnish environmental standards.

Moscow aims to diversify its gas transit options by moving gas through the dual Nord Stream pipelines through the Baltic Sea to Germany.

The first pipeline for Nord Stream is scheduled for operation as early as next year. The entire project could move more than 1.9 trillion cubic feet of gas to European markets when both pipelines enter service in 2012.

13.08.2010

Industrial Production Begins On Million-Ton Sharonovskoye Field In Perm Territoryhttp://www.oilandgaseurasia.com/news/p/0/news/8340

LUKOIL-Perm has started industrial production at the Sharonovskoye field (Oktyabrskiy and Chernushinskiy districts in Perm Territory), the company reported in a news release.The Sharonovskoye fields was discovered in 2005. Today it produces 15 tons of crude a day. Additional wells will be drilled and brought on line in the next few years. LUKOIL-Perm plans to begin developing another field, the Preobrazhenskoye field (Uinskiy District, Perm Territory) by the end of this year. The Preobrazhenskoye field has recoverable resources of 200,000 tons.LUKOIL-Perm owns 123 subsoil licenses giving it the right to explore, develop and produce hydrocarbons. 134 fields are operating in Perm Territory. Copyright 2010, LUKOIL-Perm. All rights reserved. Copyright 2010, LUKOIL-Perm All rights reserved.

Lukoil pumps up the volume http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article225692.ece

Russian oil company Lukoil’s total hydrocarbon production jumped 1.8% to 2.2 million barrels of oil equivalent in the first half of 2010 compared to the same time a year ago.

Upstream staff  13 August 2010 06:56 GMT

Crude production by Lukoil group in the first half of 2010 totaled 48.14 million tonnes. Natural and petroleum gas output from company and available for sale was 9.24 billion cubic metres, up by 25.6% year on year. Output as part of international projects totaled 2.48 bcm, while output in Russia hit 6.76 bcm.

Blic: Government generous towards ‘Lukoil’ http://english.blic.rs/Society/6786/Government-generous-towards-Lukoil

B. Stamenković | 13. 08. 2010. - 00:02h | Foto: AP

The actual Serbian Government was very generous towards the Russian naphtha giant ‘Lukoil’ which bought ‘Beopetrol’ in 2003. Namely, in October of 2008 the Government undertook to pay EUR 117 millions from the money of the tax payers of Serbia should court decision happen to be in favor of ‘Ina’.

The Government’s undertaking is also that ‘Lukoil’ shall not have to assign the property onto Croatian company thus interfering directly in the work of judicial power.

‘Ina’ has filed the matter to a court in Belgrade requesting return of property and compensation of costs in total amount of EUR 190 millions.

‘Beopetrol’ was founded from the property which in former Yugoslavia belonged to ‘Ina’. It was sold to ‘Lukoil’ in 2003. Then Serbian government undertook that the Russian company ‘shall not have to bear any costs should ‘Ina’ get court decision in its favor nor that it shall have to assign any part of the property to Croatian company’. The actual Serbian Government has extended that guarantee!

Lukoil Junk Threat Lifts Yields to 15-Month High Versus Gazprom http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=axzH7SdlunFs

By Stephen Bierman and Denis Maternovsky

Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Investors are demanding the highest yields in 15 months to buy bonds of OAO Lukoil rather than gas company OAO Gazprom on concern plans by Russia’s second-biggest oil producer to buy back shares will prompt a downgrade to junk.

Lukoil’s $500 million of notes due in 2022 yielded as much as 32 basis points more this week than Gazprom’s $1.3 billion bonds due the same year, the widest gap since May 2009, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Yields on Lukoil debt were lower than for state-run natural gas producer Gazprom in June.

Lukoil yields are climbing after the Moscow-based company unveiled plans in a July 28 statement to purchase 7.6 percent of its own shares for $3.44 billion from ConocoPhillips and consider an option to acquire a further 11.6 percent stake. Standard & Poor’s said it may cut Lukoil’s credit rating by one level to below investment grade should Lukoil use short-term debt to exercise the option, which expires Sept. 26.

“The key risk with a downgrade to junk is that it might lead to forced selling since Lukoil is a darling of many emerging-market corporate credit funds,” said Sergey Dergachev, who helps manage about $6 billion of developing-nation debt, including Lukoil dollar bonds, at Union Investment in Frankfurt. “Many funds have investment grade restrictions for their holdings, so this S&P announcement made them more nervous.”

Buyback

While ConocoPhillips is selling its 20 percent stake in Lukoil to help reduce its indebtedness, Lukoil may spend a total $9 billion buying back equity, according to the companies. The Houston-based ConocoPhillips bought the 7.6 percent stake from the Russian government in 2004.

The yield on Lukoil’s dollar bonds due November 2014 fell 4 basis points since the July 28 buyback statement to 4.846 percent, compared with a decline of 21 for Gazprom’s 2014 dollar bonds in the same period, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Lukoil’s 2014 bonds, which yielded 106 basis points less than debt from Moscow-based Gazprom as recently as June 11, were 52 basis points higher on Aug. 9, the most since they were issued last October.

Lukoil’s bonds are ranked BBB- by S&P and Fitch Ratings, the lowest investment-grade level. S&P rates Gazprom at BBB, one grade higher than Lukoil.

The ruble weakened 1.1 percent against the dollar yesterday, the most in two months, to 30.6150. Non-deliverable forwards, or NDFs, which provide a guide to expectations of currency movements and interest rate differentials and allow companies to hedge against currency movements, show the ruble at 30.7575 a dollar in three months.

Russian Bonds

Russia’s dollar bonds due in 2020 gained, cutting the yield 3 basis points, or 0.03 percentage point, to 4.656 percent, near the lowest level since they were sold in April. The country’s ruble notes due November 2014 fell, lifting the yield 6 basis points to 6.84 percent, the highest since July 22.

The cost of protecting Russian debt against non-payment for five years using credit-default swaps was little changed at 165 basis points yesterday, according to data provider CMA. The contracts pay the buyer face value in exchange for the underlying securities or

the cash equivalent should a government or company fail to adhere to its debt agreements.

Russia credit-default swaps cost 4 basis points less than contracts for Turkey, which is rated four levels lower at Ba2 by Moody’s Investors Service. That difference has narrowed from 40 basis points on April 20.

Narrowing Spreads

The extra yield investors demand to hold Russian debt rather than U.S. Treasuries fell 2 basis points to 232, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. EMBI+ indexes, compared with 139 for debt of similarly rated Mexico and 196 for Brazil, which is rated two steps lower at Baa3 by Moody’s.

The yield spread on Russian bonds is 41 basis points below the average for emerging markets, down from a 15-month high of 105 in February, according to JPMorgan indexes.

The extra yield on Lukoil’s bonds may be unjustified, Kiti Pantskhava and Maxim Korovin, analysts at VTB Capital in Moscow, said in a research note on Aug. 10. Lukoil, which has $4 billion in available cash, can tap an additional 150 billion rubles ($4.9 billion) for as long as 10 years from a credit line with OAO Sberbank and can sell some of the 100 billion rubles of domestic bonds the board approved in June to complete the full buyback and avoid a ratings downgrade, the analysts said.

TNK-BP

Lukoil’s bonds should be trading at about the same yield as Moscow-based TNK-BP, Dergachev at Union Investment said. Lukoil dollar bonds maturing in June 2017 yielded 19 basis points more than TNK-BP dollar bonds due the same year, the widest spread since April. Lukoil’s notes yielded 123 basis points less than TNK-BP’s on June 4, Bloomberg data show. TNK-BP’s bonds are rated the same as Lukoil at BBB- from S&P.

“Both are low leveraged and highly profitable private corporations and exhibit very low degree of default risk,” Dergachev said.

S&P will review Lukoil’s plans for the share purchase and any change in debt as it decides on the ranking during the next three months, analysts at the New York-based ratings company, led by Andrey Nikolaev, said in the July 29 report.

“We currently think a downgrade of at most one notch is possible if the company exercises the option or its liquidity becomes stretched,” the S&P analysts said.

Fitch maintained Lukoil’s rating with a stable outlook in an Aug. 2 statement, citing the company’s “historically demonstrated conservative financial profile,” which provides

“sufficient headroom to absorb both transactions without putting significant pressure on its credit metrics.”

‘Undervalued’

“We do believe that Lukoil is one of the most undervalued companies in its universe,” Andrei Gaidamaka, Lukoil’s director of strategic development, said in a telephone interview on Aug. 11. “If you have an asset that is quite underpriced, then you just go for it.”

Chief Executive Officer Vagit Alekperov and Leonid Fedun, his deputy, control at least 30 percent of Lukoil, according to Gaidamaka. The share buyback would increase the Russian ownership to more than 50 percent, qualifying the company to bid for large deposits where the government has limited foreign access, Andrey Gromadin, an oil and gas analyst for New York- based JPMorgan, said in a note to investors Aug. 3.

Lukoil may seek to buy the Trebs and Titov oil fields, a large untapped Soviet-era discovery in the Timan Pechora region, to add reserves and boost output, Gromadin said.

Lukoil shares have slumped 5.1 percent to 1,659.21 rubles since July 28, compared with a 1.4 percent decline in the 30- stock Micex Index in Moscow and a 0.9 percent drop for OAO Rosneft, Russia’s biggest oil producer.

“While we do not think that bondholders’ desire to unload some positions in Lukoil is rational, we do see it as understandable,” VTB’s Pantskhava and Korovin said. “The company’s low leverage allows it to take on a significant amount of debt yet still maintain robust credit metrics.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Bierman in Moscow sbierman1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 12, 2010 16:37 EDT

Rosneft: High oil inflows at Yurubcheno-Takhomskoye field http://www.businessneweurope.eu/dispatch_text12512

Alfa BankAugust 13, 2010

Rosneft's East Siberian Yurubcheno-Takhomskoye field is seeing high oil inflows from the two exploratory horizontal wells completed in June. Well flow tests showed 142 cm and 191 cm oil inflows, or 870 bpd and 1160 bpd, respectively, almost three times higher than average West Siberian wells flows. Rosneft's Vankor development has yielded well flows of around 800 tons per day.

While the impressive well flow tests show the superior quality of the asset, future

development of the 513.4-mmt Yurubcheno-Takhomskoye field still largely depends on the potential tax benefits currently being considered by the government. We believe that Rosneft is currently trying to show how highly prospective the field is, but underline the fact that without further tax breaks even such an attractive field may not be worth investing in. A firm position on tax breaks is particularly important after the E. Siberian export duty tax breaks were partially revoked by the government once the projects were up and running, reducing confidence in further investment. The government is currently considering the future of MPT tax breaks for the region.

Pavel Sorokin

Tatneft reported 1H 10 RAS resultshttp://www.businessneweurope.eu/dispatch_text12512

MetropolAugust 13, 2010

Tatneft reported its 1H 10 RAS results. RAS results are historically about 70% of consolidated US GAAP figures, so they only serve as an indication of what the US GAAP results could be.

Nevertheless, RAS net profit is the basis for calculating dividends. Tatneft has historically paid out 30% of its RAS net profit, one of the most attractive dividend plays in the Russian oi l& gas universe.

1H 10 RAS net profit was down 45% y-o-y to RUB 18.65bn. In our view the main reasons for the decrease in net profit were an increase in interest expenses and a rise in commercial expenses, connected to the increase in debt for Nizhnekamsk Refinery's construction.

Projecting the same net profit dynamics for the rest of the year, we can estimate 2010 dividends at RUB 3.55/share for both ordinaries and prefs, implying yields of just 2.5% and 4.5%, respectively.

On the back of recent share price appreciation, we downgrade our recommendation for Tatneft ordinary shares from Buy to Hold, reiterating our fair value of USD 4.85 per share, which currently implies only 1% upside.

Gazprom

Severstal completes special order for Russia’s gas monopoly Gazpromhttp://www.steelorbis.com/steel-news/latest-news/severstal-completes-special-order-for-russias-gas-monopoly-gazprom-549076.htm

Thursday, 12 August 2010 16:51:02 (GMT+2)

Severstal Cherepovets, the main steel producing facility of Severstal Russian Steel, has announced that within the framework of its cooperation with the Russian state-run gas monopoly Gazprom, in July this year it developed the production of large diameter pipes with rough external surfaces.

Accordingly, Severstal Cherepovets has so far produced more than 1,000 mt of this type of pipe, which will be used by Gazprom for the construction of its Bovanenkovo-Ukhta gas trunkline system.

The new unit for the application of rough external surfaces at the plant's coating line was purchased last year and was installed at its pipe rolling production facility in February this year during overhaul work.