Russia 110405
Basic Political Developments
· Tokyo, Moscow looking at using Russian nuclear waste treatment ship - Japan’s government is squaring with Moscow the use of the Landysh ship equipped with a liquid nuclear waste treatment unit in clear-up operations at the trouble Fukushima-1 nuclear plant, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official told Itar-Tass on Tuesday. The ship was brought to Russia from Japan some time ago.
o Small concentrations of iodine 131 found in water in Far East - Experts continue identifying iodine 131 /radioiodine/ in the concentrations posing no danger to human health as they study the samples of atmospheric aerosols taken in the air above Vladivostok, the press service of the Primorsky /Maritime/ territory center for hydrometeorology said.
o Radiation levels in Russia's Sakhalin Region remain within norm
· Ivanov: Economy links key to better Russia-US ties - Ivanov told the Council on Foreign Relations Monday night that in 2010, U.S.-Russia trade totaled just $23.5 billion.
o Sergey Ivanov begins his visit to the United States - Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov began a Five day visit to the United States today that will include talks with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as well as Chairmen of both the House Committe on Energy and Commerce and the House Committe on Ways and Means.
o WTO in summer or fall - Russia intends to join the World Trade Organization in the summer or autumn of this year, said Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
· Russia Seeks U.S. Guarantee on Nuke Targeting, Kommersant Says - Russia’s government wants “legal guarantees” that the U.S. won’t use its planned missile shield in Europe to guard against Russia’s nuclear arsenal, Kommersant reported, citing an unidentified Russian diplomat.
· Jury to try Russian pilot struck in New York
· Head of the Muslims of the Caucuses raps Florida church's burning of Koran
· Moscow calls for end to Ivory Coast bloodshed - "We address an insistent call to both Ivorian sides to immediately stop the bloodshed and begin dialogue with the aim of a political resolution of the conflict," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement.
· Moscow supports cease-fire in Libya - Alexander Lukashevich intends to travel to Libya and to meet with the warring parties.
· Iran attends Shanghai meeting in Moscow
o Fatollahi to represent Iran at SCO meeting on Afghanistan
· King to visit Moscow - His Majesty King Abdullah will leave for Moscow on Wednesday on a working visit to examine means to advance bilateral cooperation and discuss recent regional developments.
· Medvedev to meet Belgian Prince - President Dmitry Medvedev is meeting today with Belgium’s Prince Philip to discuss closer cooperation in aviation, space, IT and nanotechnology, chemistry and biogenetics. Increased safety of existing nuclear stations will also be discussed.
· Russia, Georgia to co-operate in the power industry - According to "Business Georgia", the memorandum of co-operation between the two countries must be signed between the JSC "Inter RAO UES", LLC "State Electric System of Georgia" and LLC "Energotrans".
· Plenipotentiary For Co-Operation With Russia And CIS Muntiyan: Ukraine Might Join Protocol On Creation Of CES Customs Union In July
· Russia, Azerbaijan to mark 19th anniversary of diplomatic relations
o 'Azerbaijani-Russian ties far beyond purely diplomatic procedures'
· Council of Rus-French Energy Efficiency Centre to meet in Moscow - French Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry Christian Lagarde and Jean-Jacques Gillet, co-chairman of the Centre, will speak at the meeting on behalf of France. Timur Ivanov, president of the Russian Energy Agency and co-chairman of the Centre, will speak on behalf of Russia. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov is expected to take part in the work of the meeting.
· Egypt: the Russians are coming (back) - Russia’s foreign ministry on Fridaydropped its ban on travelto Egypt after being forced two months ago to evacuate 40,000 sun-hungryRussian tourists who flocked to the region in droves despite signs of political uprising.
· Medvedev dismisses several police officials - The above police officials have reached retirement age, while the Interior Ministry's institutions have begun restructuring, the Kremlin said.
o Dmitry Medvedev dismisses 10 more generals - Medvedev organized early re-evaluation of candidate for chief positions in police structures in March. Approximately 50 police chiefs are to be dismissed. Over 20 generals have been dismissed.
· RF govt raises money allowance for military servicemen - From April 1, the salaries of for military position and salaries for military ranks of military servicemen serving under contract were increased 1.065 times.
· Putin to attend conf on better forecasting of calamities
· Russia wildfires begin in south Siberia
· Putin shuts down Azov City gambling zone in Rostov region
· Russia launches one more missile boat in Caspian Sea - 11661K project Dagestan class missile boat of Russia for the Caspian Flotilla has been launched.
· Medvedev says intransigent rebels must be detained or destroyed
· West practicing Russia destabilization scenario in Mideast – Kadyrov
· Kadyrov predicts United Russia's State Duma election win in Chechnya
· Islamist websites report Russia's "bin-Laden" still alive
o Militan leader 'alive' after Russian air strike: Website
· Bleak outlook for maternal and child health in the Russian North Caucasus
· Russia's Soyuz TMA-21 with new ISS crew launched from Baikonur
o Soyuz TMA-21 Gagarin spaceship takes off from Baikonur space center
· Kiriyenko Opposes Cutbacks - "If thecountry curtails nuclear power generation, we will lose acompetitive nuclear weapons complex in10, 15 or, with abit ofluck, 20 years," Kiriyenko said. Theconstruction ofnuclear submarines, "which today guarantee thestrategic balance," depends onthe development ofthe nuclear power industry, he said.
· Special search for Sapsan passengers - Tourists, traveling by high-speed trains, namely Sapsan train Moscow-St. Petersburg-Moscow, will be searched in special rooms organized at railway stations of Moscow and St. Petersburg. All the high-speed train services will be soon provided with such security measure.
· Sochi builders jump the gun to meet Olympic deadline
· Russian Press at a Glance, Tuesday, April 5, 2011
· Russian Bankers May Replace Officials on Boards, Kommersant Says
o Bankers to replace ministers at Russian majors-paper: Bankers, professional directors may replace ministers; Morgan Stanley banker nominated for Sechin's Rosneft seat
· Sechin, Check Out - President Medvedev Weakens Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin While Setting Out to Improve Russia’s Business Climate
· The benefits of space exploration - “We need to explore new living environments and to learn how to feel comfortable in them. The future of humankind will depend on it,” Yazev said. “This is why a continuous human presence in space – at first in orbital stations and later in fixed bases on the Moon and Mars – is necessary. Their payoff will eventually be huge.”
National Economic Trends
· US QE attracts cash into emrg mkts-Russia's Kudrin
· Russia's Kudrin: Pre-Election Spending Risks Chronic Inflation
· Russia’s Services Sector Fails to Build Growth, PMI Data Shows
o Russian Service Sector Activity Slows Marginally
· RF govt approves social pension indexation rate
· RenCap: Russian inflation - Less problematic than in other EMs
Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions
· Russia Stocks Climb 3rd Day on $108 Oil; Norilsk Gains on Buyout
· Norilsk subsidiary starts open market purchases of Norilsk shares, ADS
o Norilsk Nickel launches $1.2 bln share buyback
· Yuan Bond Pulled as Rusal Plans Second Ruble Sale: Russia Credit
· Russia's Rostelecom plans overseas listing in 2011
· Mobile TeleSystems’ Turkmen Ouster Cost $137 Mln, Vedomosti Says
· Polymetal delays Amursk POX plant launch by a quarter
· Book for Russia Rusagro's IPO fully subscribed-source
· UPDATE 1-Nomos to sell 20 pct stake in IPO
· Russian tycoon Mamut could invest in Nomos-source
· Prokhorov's Intergeo eyes Canada placement-paper
· Canada's Kinross gold miner signs $350mln share deal to buy Russia's Kupol
o UPDATE 1-Kinross to pay $350 mln for full ownership of Russia mine
· GAZ creates another JV - Now with Sweden-based Bulten
Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)
· Gas output up 35% at NOVATEK, 1% in Russia; down 2% at Gazprom
· Oil output up 1.2% in 1Q11 on Rosneft, Bashneft and Surgutneftegaz
· Lukoil declares force majeure on Cote d'Ivoire project
· INTERVIEW-LUKOIL applies for oil/gas licenses off Norway
· Rosneft May Increase Dividends 20% a Year, Vedomosti Reports
· Rosneft to build oil refinery in Chechnya
· BP’s alliance with Rosneft still in balance - By Sylvia Pfeifer and Ed Hammond in London and Sheila McNulty in Houston
o BP seeks Rosneft share swap approval
o BP BATTLES TO SCRAP BAN ON ROSNEFT DEAL
· Russneft's Orenburgnefteproduct acquired to expand retail network
Gazprom
· Gazprom Choosing North Sea Assets - By the end of the year, Gazprom will choose which field assets to acquire in the North Sea, the company confirms.
Libya and Japan to bring additional $3.5 billion of revenue to Gazprom
· New gas prices yet unclear - In March representative of Gazprom said the presidents will discuss issues related to gas price but the final decision will be made by business entities - ArmRusGazprom and Gazprom.
· Only Russia Gazprom will be interested to buy Naftohaz stock, fuel expert Sokolovsky says
------Full Text Articles
Basic Political Developments
Tokyo, Moscow looking at using Russian nuclear waste treatment ship
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=16118741
05.04.2011,11.02
TOKYO, April 5 (Itar-Tass) -- Japan’s government is squaring with Moscow the use of the Landysh ship equipped with a liquid nuclear waste treatment unit in clear-up operations at the trouble Fukushima-1 nuclear plant, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official told Itar-Tass on Tuesday. The ship was brought to Russia from Japan some time ago.
“We are considering the issue, including technical details, with the Russian side,” the official said. “So far, however, no decision has been reached. We shall look at the use of the Landysh and its secondment to Fukushima-1 after technical details are considered.”
On Monday, Sergei Novikov, the director of public relations department of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom, told journalists that Japan had asked to look at possible use of this ship in clear-up operations at the Fukushima-1 plant. “If the Japanese side is satisfied with the unit’s technical characteristics, it might be promptly sent to the Fukushuma-1 area,” he said.
The Landysh ship was built in 2001 to treat liquid nuclear waste from Russian scrap submarines. The financing came from Japan. The ship’s nuclear waste treatment unit is capable of disposing of up to 70 tons of waste a day. The ship is currently staying at the Zvezda shipyards in the town of Bolshoi Kamen in Russia’s Far Eastern Primorsky territory.
According to experts, the ship can be used to treat radiation polluted water in a number of Fukushima’s auxiliary premises and its drainage system.
Small concentrations of iodine 131 found in water in Far East
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=16118074&PageNum=0
05.04.2011,06.47
VLADIVOSTOK, April 4 (Itar-Tass) – Experts continue identifying iodine 131 /radioiodine/ in the concentrations posing no danger to human health as they study the samples of atmospheric aerosols taken in the air above Vladivostok, the press service of the Primorsky /Maritime/ territory center for hydrometeorology said.
Iodine 131 was for the first time identified in atmospheric samples March 26 at the Sadgorod station near Vladivostok.
At all the other stations where the samples were taken, the experts did not find any traces of iodine 131.
“The concentrations of iodine 131 in the atmospheric air over the Primorsky territory don’t pose any real danger to the population and they only confirm the sensitivity of the equipment used at our stations,” said Galina Semykina, the chief of the territorial Center for Environment Pollution Monitoring.
Weather forecasters say iodine 131 appeared here due to a natural flow of discharges from the damaged power units of Fukishima 1 nuclear plant in Japan.
What is particularly interesting in the Primorsky territory case is that iodine 131 arrived here from the West after having crossed the globe eastwards all the way from problem plant.
Various services operating 193 monitoring stations in the Primorsky territory continue exercising control over the radiation background. The effort involves specialists from hydrometeorology services, the Far Eastern Department of the Customs Control Service, the Ministry of Public Health and Social Development, the Russian nuclear power corporation Rosatom, the Interior Ministry, the Ministry for Emergency Situations and Civil Defense /EMERCOM/, the Interior Ministry, and Defense Ministry.
Samples are taken on the ground, from aboard aircraft and sea ships.
Tuesday, the natural radiation background in Vladivostok totaled 14 microroentgen per hour, which is well below the accepted ceiling of 30 microroentgen per hour.
In the meantime, emergency officials in the Sakhalin region said the radiation background on the island of Sakhalin and on the Kurile Islands at 09:00 local Standard Time Tuesday /22:00 hours GMT Monday/ remained within norm and varied from 5 through to 13 microroentgen per hour.
According to EMERCOM’s Sakhalin region division, not a single case of mounting radiation levels has been exposed across the entire region, which includes apart from Sakhalin itself the whole Kurile range of islands separating the Sea of Okhotsk and the Pacific Ocen./
Reinforced observation network includes 99 specialized posts and the data gathered this way is sent every two hours to the Sakhalin regional center for crisis situations management.
Experts there say there is no radiation risk for the region’s population and the issuance of radiation safety alerts is not envisioned.
Watch over radiation levels has been stepped up in the wake of the dangerous situation at the calamity-stricken Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant in neighboring Japan.
Radiation levels in Russia's Sakhalin Region remain within norm
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20110405/163375501.html
07:55 05/04/2011
Radiation levels are within the norm in Russia's Far East region of Sakhalin as of early Tuesday morning, a spokesman for the regional emergencies ministry said.
"There are no deviations from the norm in all districts of the region," he said adding that all radiation monitoring services continue working intensively.