Russia 100503

Basic Political Developments

·  RUVR: Russian-Japanese meeting to consolidate bilateral relations – Medvedev: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says that he hopes that the ongoing Moscow meeting of the heads of Russian and Japanese regions will serve to consolidate the two countries’ partnership.

·  RUVR: New York conference to focus on nuclear nonproliferation - The Russian delegation to the conference is led by a high-ranking diplomat Anatoly Antonov.

·  RIA: NPT review conference starts in New York

·  RIA: NPT review conference: Iran and Israel - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov is to address the forum on Tuesday.

·  Guardian: US and Russia to propose ban on WMD in Middle East

·  RIA: China's Hu to visit Moscow for Victory Day celebrations

·  AP: China's Hu to visit Russia on May 8-9 for celebrations of World War II anniversary

·  RUVR: Another rehearsal of Victory Parade in Red Square

·  Itar-Tass: Patriarch leads memorial service on Battlefield of Prokhorovka

·  African Press Agency: Russia values its relations with North Africa, says legislator - A Russian parliamentarian and coordinator of the Inter-parliamentary Group in charge of developing ties with North African countries (Mahgreb states), Nikolai Gerasimenko, has said that "Russia has the most fruitful relations with the North African region."

·  Gulfnews: Court rejects requests to extradite a Russian businessman

·  Zawya: Telecom Cooperation With Russia

·  Armenia Now: From Iran Media: Russia lauds Iran mediation in Karabakh

·  KYRGYZSTAN

o  RIA: Kyrgyz authorities offer rewards for capture of former officials

o  24.kg: Initiative Kyrgyz citizens speaks for reunion with Russia

o  Turkish Weekly: Son Of Ousted Kyrgyz President Investigated For Corruption

o  Turkish Weekly: An Interview with Dinara Oshurahunova, the Head of "Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society" in Kyrgyzstan

·  RFE/RL: ‘Predators Of The Press’ List Released - The group's list of what it calls "predators of the press" includes presidents and heads of government including Chinese President Hu Jintao, Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

·  RIA: Police officer injured in North Caucasus attack - A traffic police officer was injured when an unidentified assailant opened fire at a checkpoint with an automatic weapon in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, a police source told RIA Novosti on Monday.

·  Russia Today: Militants attack gas distribution hub in Southern Russia

·  Interfax: Attack disrupts communication between Dagestan gas distribution facilities

·  RIA: Point of contact gas distribution stations attacked in Dagestan

·  RBC: One of the leaders of the Slavic Union arrested in St. Petersburg, arrested on suspicion of involvement in a series of explosions.

·  RIA: ADB Board of Governors meeting will be held in Tashkent - The annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will be held in Tashkent on 1-4 May, told RIA Novosti spokesperson of the Government of Uzbekistan.

·  RBC: Dmitry Medvedev signed a law on compensation for court delays

·  Premier.gov.ru: Prime Minister Vladimir Putin welcomes filmmakers and spectators to the St Petersburg International Film Forum

·  Russia!: Who Gave Mr. Medvedev His iPad?

·  Itar-Tass: Putin releases leopardess from cage to house in Sochi nature park

·  Russia Today: Putin releases wild cat

·  RIA: Russians visit Cuba more often — authorities

·  Daily Times: Pakistan, Russia top list of ‘non-smiling’ nations

·  The Other Russia: Thousands of Russians Turn Out for May Day Rallies

National Economic Trends

Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions

·  Seeking Alpha: Russia's 10 Largest Traded Stocks

·  Reuters: UC RUSAL plans $1.03 bln corporate bond; shares up

·  Bloomberg: Rusal Says Unit to Sell 30 Billion Rubles of Bonds (Update1)

·  Reuters: UPDATE 1-Russia's Rencap buys SAfrica's Barnard Jacobs Mellet

·  Panarmenian: MoneyGram International announces low money transfer fees

·  Meat International: Meat purchase prices in Russia still below production costs 03 May 2010

·  Russia Today: New players open menus on Russian fast food market

Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)

·  Reuters: UPDATE 1-Russia Apr oil output near record levels, gas falls

·  Upstreamonline: Russia tops Saudi in crude output

·  UPI: Russian oil companies eye small fields - Tatneft met with academic, ministerial and industrial officials, including delegates from Lukoil and TNK-BP, to discuss the need for state assistance for oil production from smaller fields. "The problems of developing small deposits and deposits of extra-viscous oil are becoming increasingly relevant in connection with the increasing depletion of large fields and the increase of the hard-to-recover share oil reserves in the resource base of the country," Tatneft said in a statement.

Gazprom

·  Somaliland Press: DJIBOUTI:The Russian giant GAZPROM moved to Djibouti

·  Oil and Gas Eurasia: New Oil Field Discovered in Yamal

·  BarentsObserver: Gazprom might merge energy assets - The Board of energy major Gazprom considers to merge several of the company’s electricity generating units, among them the TGK-1.

·  Dow Jones: Gazprom Neft To Double Annual Oil Output By 2020 - Prime-Tass

------Full Text Articles

Basic Political Developments

RUVR: Russian-Japanese meeting to consolidate bilateral relations – Medvedev

http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/05/03/7230172.html

May 3, 2010 09:41 Moscow Time

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says that he hopes that the ongoing Moscow meeting of the heads of Russian and Japanese regions will serve to consolidate the two countries’ partnership. This comes in a statement by the Kremlin’s press service. The meeting, Medvedev says in a message, will enrich cooperation between the territorial entities of the Russian Federation and Japan’s prefectures, and it will also help shape relations of true partnership between the two nations. The Russian leader pointed out that regional ties are an important and much sought-after component part of Russian-Japanese relations. The president’s message was read out by Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov.

RUVR: New York conference to focus on nuclear nonproliferation

http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/05/03/7230528.html

May 3, 2010 09:54 Moscow Time

An international conference is due to get under way at the UN Headquarters in New York later today to focus on the prevention of the spread of nuclear weapons and illegal circulation of nuclear materials. The Russian delegation to the conference is led by a high-ranking diplomat Anatoly Antonov. The forum will specifically concentrate on Iran’s nuclear programme. The parties to the forum expect an address by Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to uncork a sensation. This kind of conferences has been normally held once every five years since 1979, when the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty came into force. The Treaty officially proclaimed Russia, the UK, the US, China and France as nuclear powers. 189 world nations have since joined the Treaty.

RIA: NPT review conference starts in New York

http://en.rian.ru/world/20100503/158849170.html

02:2803/05/2010

The 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is opening in the United Nations Headquarters in New York on Monday as disputes continue on Iran's nuclear program.

The United States and other Western countries suspect Iran of developing nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear energy program and are seeking new sanctions following Iran's move to enrich uranium to 20%. This is likely to be one of the main focuses of the conference.

The Iran Six (France, Britain, Germany, the United States, Russia and China) began on April 19 discussing the text of a draft resolution imposing sanctions on Iran over its controversial nuclear program.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton will be the key figures on the agenda of the conference's first day.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov is to address the forum on Tuesday.

UNITED NATIONS, May 3 (RIA Novosti)

RIA: NPT review conference: Iran and Israel

http://en.rian.ru/world/20100503/158850370.html

06:1903/05/2010

The 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is opening in the United Nations Headquarters in New York on Monday as disputes continue on Iran's nuclear program.

The United States and other Western countries suspect Iran of developing nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear energy program and are seeking new sanctions following Iran's move to enrich uranium to 20%. This is likely to be one of the main focuses of the conference.

The Iran Six (France, Britain, Germany, the United States, Russia and China) began on April 19 discussing the text of a draft resolution imposing sanctions on Iran over its controversial nuclear program.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton will be the key figures on the agenda of the conference's first day.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov is to address the forum on Tuesday.

The NPT is an international agreement on control over the proliferation of nuclear weapons and technology. It fixes the right of all member states to research, produce and use nuclear power for civilian purposes. All UN members except Israel, India, North Korea and Pakistan are signatories to the NPT.

NPT review conferences are held each five years. The last one, in 2005, was a failure as the countries failed to adopt a single declaration due to numerous differences.

As regards Israel, its closed nuclear program and the country's unwillingness to join the NPT cause concerns worldwide.

Tel Aviv, which, according to many experts, has nuclear weapons, has neither officially confirmed nor denied this. The country's refusal to join the treaty has made the international community think the suspicions are true.

But Israel does not come under international sanctions as it is under the protection of its key ally — the United States whose foreign policy is to a large extent defined by the interests of influential Jewish organizations.

Ahmadinejad is expected to touch upon the issue, once again raising the question why Israel is allowed to have what is believed to be a secret nuclear weapons program and not join the NPT, whereas Iran, an NPT signatory, is being constantly talked out of having a civilian nuclear program of its own.

UNITED NATIONS, May 3 (RIA Novosti)

Guardian: US and Russia to propose ban on WMD in Middle East

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/02/major-powers-propose-ban-wmds-middle-east

Tough global talks ahead in review of nuclear treaty as Egypt aims to put pressure on west over Israel

Julian Borger, diplomatic editor

guardian.co.uk, Sunday 2 May 2010 22.15 BST

The US and Russia have drafted an initiative to ban nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East, the Guardian has learned.

The proposal – involving the appointment of a special coordinator to conduct exploratory talks with Israel, Iran and the Arab states, followed by a regional conference – will be a central issue at a conference beginning tomorrow in New York aimed at preventing the further spread of nuclear weapons around the world.

Washington and Moscow have circulated the proposal among the three other permanent members of the UN security council, seeking their endorsement. But it is unclear whether the initiative, aimed at reviving a largely-forgotten 15-year-old agreement with some tentative practical steps, will go far enough for Egypt, a key player at this month's talks. Cairo has long championed the idea of a WMD-free Middle East as a means of exerting pressure on Israel, the only country with nuclear weapons in the region.

The New York conference brings more than 150 countries together in a month-long effort to repair and update the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), at a time when it is threatening to unravel.

"This will be the most important conference in our lifetime on disarmament and non-proliferation," said Des Browne, the British former defence minister who now leads a multi-party group of veteran politicians and generals pushing for the elimination of nuclear weapons. Some officials are calling the NPT review conference a "nuclear Copenhagen". Like the climate summit last December, it demands complex trade-offs between powerful nations, emerging powers and weaker states. The eventual outcome may be unclear, with degrees of success measured in shades of grey. And, like Copenhagen, the consequences of failure may not be felt for years, but could prove catastrophic.

"We're not at a nuclear tipping point, but we are approaching a nuclear tipping point," said Daryl Kimball, the head of the Washington-based Arms Control Association in Washington.

The pact itself is not in imminent danger of implosion. Its 189 national signatories extended its life indefinitely in 1995. But its underlying bargain – that the nuclear powers would disarm and share their technology for peaceful purposes and, in return, the rest of the world would not try to acquire nuclear weapons – is fraying.

Israel, India and Pakistan, which all have nuclear arsenals, remain outside the treaty. North Korea withdrew seven years ago and has since been building its own bombs. Iran is widely suspected of cheating, and the five nuclear powers recognised under the pact – the US, Russia, UK, France and China – are under fire for what non-weapons states see as hypocrisy and the slow pace of disarmament.

Western officials fear that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, who is expected to attend tomorrow, will use the occasion to put the nuclear powers on trial and distract attention from his country's controversial programme.

The last NPT conference, in 2005, broke up in acrimony when Iran clashed head-on with the Bush administration. Many countries in the non-aligned movement (NAM), a cold war grouping which still carries clout in these negotiations, sided with Iran in lambasting the US and other established nuclear powers.

Barack Obama's administration believes it has done enough to avert another fiasco. Last year the US president pledged to pursue the eventual abolition of weapons. In its nuclear posture review last month, the US narrowed the circumstances in which it would use nuclear weapons, and in the new Start treaty, both the US and Russia have lowered the number of strategic warheads they will deploy. "The setting is very different from 2005, in terms of disarmament," said a senior diplomat from the non-aligned movement. "In 2005, there was no disarmament going on. Bush didn't even believe in multilateral treaties."

According to the Washington Post, the US will reveal the exact size of the American arsenal for the first time, in a show of transparency and to underline the cuts it has made. But to ensure vital support from Egypt, which is chairing the non-aligned movement nations, the US and Russia have also drafted the proposal for a nuclear-free Middle East zone.