Russia 091224
Basic Political Developments
· Reuters: Russia test-fires Soviet missile to extend lifespan
· RIA: Russia successfully launches heavy Voyevoda missile
· RTT News: START Talks In Mid-January: Crowley
· RIA: Russia paid small price in crisis – Medvedev: Speaking live on state television in his review of the outgoing year, Medvedev said: "The year was extremely difficult and saw many dramatic events. We have survived and are continuing to develop, paying, in my opinion, a relatively small price for the international financial and economic crisis."
· Interfax: Russia could have approx 9% inflation in 2009 – Medvedev
· Sofia Echo: Bulgaria’s Energy Minister in Christmas Eve visit to Moscow - Bulgaria’s Energy Minister Traicho Traikov, accompanied by his deputy Maya Hristova and Bulgarian Energy Holding boss Galina Tosheva were in Moscow on December 24 2009 to meet Russian energy minister Sergey Shmatko.
· Focus: RBC Daily: Some are dissatisfied with Burgas-Alexandroupolis project
· Zawya.com: Egypt, Russia to negotiate FTA in early 2010
· FT.com: Saudis invest in Urals project - Dubai-based Novaar Capital Management, the family office of a descendant of Saudi Arabia's founder, will invest through a joint venture with government-owned Ural IndustrialUral Polar.
· RIA: RIA Novosti presents Arabic edition of Moscow News in Saudi Arabia
· AFP: Georgia, Russia agree to re-open border crossing: Tbilisi
· Interfax: Kazbegi-Upper Lars checkpoint at Russian-Georgian border may reopen next spring
· Apa.az: Georgia and Russia resume air traffic
· Civil.ge: Georgia to Launch Russian-Language Caucasus TV in January
· Gazeta.kz: Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia to form single economic area by 1 January 2012
· The Straits Times: Russia sticks with missile - 'We are certainly not going to cancel Bulava,' Anatoly Serdyukov told the Rossiyskaya Gazeta in an interview to be published on Thursday, parts of which were obtained by Interfax news agency.
· Itar-Tass: RF Defence Min not to refuse from Bulava sea-launched missile
· Xinhua: Russia likely to buy foreign helicopter carrier: DM
· OfficialWire: French, Dutch Enter Russian Carrier Bid
· Russia Today: Icebreaking guard ship ready for patrol
· RIA: Russia set to start Superjet 100 deliveries in mid-2010
· RIA: Russia may penalize Siemens for Sapsan train glitches
· The Moscow Times: Medvedev Reminds Kudrin to Be Polite - President Dmitry Medvedev had to remind Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin to mind his manners Wednesday after a testy debate about a national payments system with Vneshekonombank chief Vladimir Dmitriyev
· The Moscow Times: Online to Replace Waiting in Line - Dealing with the government — for both Russians and foreigners — may actually start getting easier next year, because President Dmitry Medvedev is pushing for all state services to be available online. He told a Kremlin meeting on the issue Wednesday that he wanted it done by 2015.
· The Moscow Times: Patriarch Kirill Speaks Up for Gays
· Itar-Tass: Alexander Zhilkin to take office of Astrakhan region governor
· RIA: Ingush leader dissatisfied with fight against corruption in republic - The leader of Russia's North Caucus republic of Ingushetia admitted on Thursday to failing to fight corruption, citing "unscrupulousness" on the part of some judges.
· RIA: Borderguards HQ in Ingushetia comes under grenade fire
· Itar-Tass: Nine workers die in Yevstyuninskaya iron-ore mine blast
· Online.wsj.com: Court Gives Yukos a Rare Victory
· The Moscow Times: Court Rules Lebedev’s Arrest Illegal
· The Moscow Times: Police Tout Increase in Solved Cases
· The Moscow Times: Holiday Shoppers Try to Stretch $275
· The Financial: Russia's top sanitary official predicts second wave of swine flu in spring
· Telegraph.co.uk: Russian comedy: KVN was the TV outlet for anti-Soviet Union thoughts - Dmitry Medvedev's rise to the presidency was unexpected. As it became public that Russia's deputy prime minister would be likely successor to Vladimir Putin, a team from Moscow State University performed a TV skit as Medvedev himself roared with laughter in the front row.
· Telegraph.co.uk: Russia to curb carbon dioxide emissions despite Copenhagen Climate Change summit - Despite ambivalent results at the Copenhagen summit, Russia still plans to commit to lower CO2 targets and reduce harmful emissions. This comes as part of a broader plan to improve energy efficiency and spur economic growth through green technologies.
National Economic Trends
· Reuters: INTERVIEW - Russia state grain trader open for business - Russia's new state grain trader will welcome foreign investors as it pushes for a 40 percent share of the country's grain export market, a market that could almost double in five years with a $3 billion cash injection.
Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions
· Reuters: Russian markets -- Factors to Watch on Dec 24
· The Moscow Times: EBRD, Russia Sign Accord
· The Financial: EBRD and Russian government to cooperate on energy efficiency
· Interfax: Banks have 564.5 bln rbs on CBR correspondent accounts on December 24
· Reuters: Russia's VEB postpones $2 bln bond issue
· The Moscow Times: OGK-3 Sells Norilsk Shares
· The Moscow Times: Rusnano’s Plans for 2010
· Nanoweek.com: RUSNANO Sums Up The Year 2009
· Bloomberg: Standard Bank Boosts Troika Dialog Stake to 36%, Kommersant Says
· Bloomberg: Troika Dialog Boosts Bonus Pool to $86 Million, Kommersant Says
· Reuters: Russia's Troika cuts Kamaz, AvtoVAZ stakes –paper
· Interfax: MTS buys another 11.06% of Comstar, ups stake to 61.97%
· The Moscow Times: Aeroflot Shares Increase 9% on Cost Cutting
· Bloomberg: Magnit Board Approves Sale of 5.5 Billion Rubles of Bonds
Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)
· News.az: Russia’s oil and gas reserves to rise in 2009 - Growth in oil reserves will near 500 mln tons in 2009, while growth in gas reserves will total 650 bn cu m, Russian minister.
· Interfax: Decision on zero duty for oil from 22 East Siberian fields ready
· Reuters: Russia LUKOIL sees 2009 income falling 34-45 pct
· Bloomberg: Lukoil Net Income May Reach $6 Billion This Year, Alekperov Says
· Steel Guru: LUKoil interests in Conoco asset sales
· Bloomberg: Transneft Concerned Bulgaria May Back Out of Bosporus Pipeline
· Your Oil and Gas News: TNK-BP Sold Over 280,000 Tons of Oil Products in 2009 at Exchanges
Gazprom
· RBC: Gazprom Neft passes 2010 investment program
· The Moscow Times: Gazprom Clarifies EDF Deal
· UkrainianJournal: Russia’s Gazprom agrees to extend natural gas payment deadline
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Basic Political Developments
Reuters: Russia test-fires Soviet missile to extend lifespan
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-44965920091224
Thu Dec 24, 2009 2:00pm IST
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia on Thursday said it had successfully test-fired an RS-20V intercontinental ballistic missile as part of a wider attempt to extend the lifespan of its Soviet-era nuclear arsenal.
"The launch was carried out as part of experimental construction work aimed at confirming the flight characteristics of the RS-20V missile and to extend its life span to 23 years," Russia's Strategic Missile Forces said in a statement.
The 22-tonne RS-20V missile hit a target on the Kamchatka peninsular on Russia's Pacific coast after being fired from the Orenburg region, more than 6,500 km (4,000 miles) away, a spokesman for the Strategic Missile Forces said.
The missile, which can pierce missile defence systems and is known in the West as the SS-18 "Satan", was seen by the United States as one of the Soviet Union's most dangerous "first strike" nuclear weapons.
The 34-metre (112 ft) missile has a range of 16,000 km (9,940 miles) and can carry at least 10 nuclear warheads.
Russia, which is trying to build several new types of missiles, says extending the life of its Soviet-era missiles is a cost-effective way to preserve nuclear parity with the United States.
The RS-20V missile, known in Russia as the Voyevoda, was initially intended to be used for 15 years but Russia has kept the missiles deployed.
"The extension of the lifespan of the Voyevoda to 25 years will allow us to extend its service by 10 years," the Strategic Missile Forces said, adding that the missile fired on Thursday had been in Russia's arsenal for more than 21 years.
Earlier this year, the commander of the missile forces was quoted by Russian media as saying Russia wanted to keep the RS-20V in service until 2019.
Russia and the United States are working on a new treaty to cut vast Cold War arsenals of nuclear weapons and say a deal could be reached next year.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, editing by Robin Pomeroy)
RIA: Russia successfully launches heavy Voyevoda missile
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091224/157339099.html
Russia successfully fired a heavy Voyevoda (SS-18 Satan) missile capable of carrying 10 warheads on Thursday morning, a Defense Ministry spokesman said.
"The Strategic Missile Forces launched an intercontinental ballistic missile RS-20V (Voyevoda) from a site in the Orenburg region [southern Urals]," Col. Vadim Koval said.
Koval said the missile hit the targets on Kamchatka, Far East.
He said the launch was designed to test the missile's performance with the aim of extending its service life from to 25 years.
Introduced almost 21 years ago, the missile will remain in service until 2019, the Strategic Missile Forces (SMF) commander said earlier this year.
Col. Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov said Russia is developing a new ICBM comparable to the SS-18, and would gradually decommission older versions of the missile "in order to ensure nuclear safety."
The missile is armed with a warhead fitting 10 multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRVs) with a yield of 550 to 750 kilotons each. It has a maximum range of 11,000 km (6,800 miles) with a launch mass of over 210 tons and a payload of 8.8 tons.
According to publicly available sources, Russia currently has 88 SS-18 missile silo launchers, most of them deployed at the Dombarovsky missile base in the Orenburg Region.
MOSCOW, December 24 (RIA Novosti)
RTT News: START Talks In Mid-January: Crowley
http://www.rttnews.com/Content/Policy.aspx?Id=1165817
12/24/2009 3:21 AM ET
(RTTNews)-Talks on finding a successor to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) between the United States and Russia will resume in mid-next month, as the two former cold-war rivals failed to meet the deadlines of both December 5 and the year-end to finalize one.
Announcing the fresh schedule for the talks, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs P J Crowley told reporters Wednesday in Washington that the U.S delegation, led by Assistant Secretary Rose Gottemoeller returned over the week-end from START negotiations in Geneva for a recess.
The American goal was to conclude a solid treaty for President Barack Obama's signature as soon as possible, he said.
A team of officials from both the countries, which held intensive negotiations for past few months to find a successor treaty to the START that expired December 5, held the eighth round of talks in Geneva from November 9 to December 19.
"The issues that we're working through in terms of numbers and verification and the complex issues, regarding these kinds of systems..it does take significant time to work through it. It is very, very complex," Crowley said.
He said the U.S. had hoped to resolve the complex issues that these treaty negotiations presented by the year-end, but he was not particularly concerned that it was taking more time given the complexity of the issues.
RIA: Russia paid small price in crisis - Medvedev
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091224/157339534.html
12:4324/12/2009
President Dmitry Medvedev reiterated on Thursday that Russia has survived the global economic crisis with no major losses.
Speaking live on state television in his review of the outgoing year, Medvedev said: "The year was extremely difficult and saw many dramatic events. We have survived and are continuing to develop, paying, in my opinion, a relatively small price for the international financial and economic crisis."
He said Russia could see a GDP growth of 2.5% to 5% next year.
"We hope the next year will see the GDP grow. The extent is so far hard to predict, but analysts estimate it to be between 2.5% and 5%, in an optimistic scenario," Medvedev said.
Russia was hard hit by the global financial crisis and subsequent recession as prices for Urals crude, its main export commodity, plunged more than 70% from a record $147 in July 2008. The World Bank, however, said the country's short-term macroeconomic fundamentals made it better prepared than many emerging economies to deal with the crisis.
In a live interview with the top managers of Channel One, Rossiya and NTV channels, Medvedev said the government has continued paying welfare benefits throughout the crisis and raised pensions this year.
MOSCOW, December 24 (RIA Novosti)
Interfax: Russia could have approx 9% inflation in 2009 – Medvedev
http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=137976
MOSCOW. Dec 24 (Interfax) - Russia could have approximately 9% inflation this year, significantly less than in 2008, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in a televised interview with Russia's leading TV bosses.
"Inflation was about 13% last year and will be somewhere in the region of 9% this year," he said.
Sofia Echo: Bulgaria’s Energy Minister in Christmas Eve visit to Moscow
http://www.sofiaecho.com/2009/12/24/835335_bulgarias-energy-minister-in-christmas-eve-visit-to-moscow
hu, Dec 24 2009 09:31 CET
byClive Leviev-Sawyer
Bulgaria’s Energy Minister Traicho Traikov, accompanied by his deputy Maya Hristova and Bulgarian Energy Holding boss Galina Tosheva were in Moscow on December 24 2009 to meet Russian energy minister Sergey Shmatko.
Trakov’s ministry said that the meeting was being held to discuss "energy issues of mutual interest to the two countries".
Reports pointed out that there was nothing especially dramatic about the meeting being on Christmas Eve, because in Russia December 24 is not Christmas Eve, given that the Patriarchate of Moscow continues to use the Julian calendar, putting Christmas in early January.
Nor, according to a report by Bulgarian news website Mediapool, quoting Traikov’s ministry, should dramatic developments or "grandiose solutions" be expected from the meeting.
The Bulgarian Government that took office in July 2009 has been cool towards the major Russian-dominated energy projects to which the former Bulgarian Socialist Party-led government committed the country.
Prime Minister Boiko Borissov has kept Moscow waiting for clarity about whether Sofia will be prepared to go ahead with these projects, including the resumption of the Belene nuclear power station project about which the former government made a deal with Russian constructors, the South Stream gas pipeline and the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline project.
Traikov’s office said that the Bulgarian delegation was going to Moscow with no specific demands.
Shmatkov and Traikov met earlier in December in the framework of the intergovernmental commission on economic co-operation.
Through the Russian media, Moscow has sent several signals aimed at putting pressure on Bulgaria to clarify its stance. These signals have included scenarios in which South Stream would be re-routed to skirt Bulgaria.
On Belene, Russia reportedly has offered to finance the work of their companies on the nuke project.
Recent Russian media reports also have sought to portray current proposals for the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline as unlikely to pay off for the Russian companies involved.