Russia 100716

Basic Political Developments

·  VOR: Russia-NATO Council to meet in September

·  Itar-Tass: RF-NATO council to discuss Russia’s European security treaty initiative - According to Rogozin, the Russia-NATO Council will meet on Friday at the ambassadorial level to discuss the Russian European security initiative. A draft treaty was submitted to NATO in December 3, 2009.

·  Bernama: Russia-Nato Council May Discuss Anti-missile Defence Cooperation

·  EurActiv: Merkel: EU should talk to Russia on security - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday (15 July) that the European Union as well as the NATO military alliance should discuss security issues with Russia, in order to prevent conflicts arising.

·  Itar-Tass: Russian foreign minister to attend OSCE ministerial meeting in Almaty

·  VOR: US resumes poultry export to Russia - According to Gennady Onishchenko, supply resumption will be possible only after specialists of Rospotrebnadzor carry out inspection on the US poultry processing factories.

·  Standart: Shmatko Comes to Sofia to Discuss Gas Prices

·  Oil and Gas Eurasia: Sofia Prepared To Discuss South Stream Details With Russia

·  Focus: Bulgaria and Russia to discuss South Stream roadmap

·  Novinite: Bulgaria's PM to Report about Russian Talks in Parliament

·  Focus: Parasite on the pipe - Overgas gained over USD 140 million in the 1998 – 2010 period from the difference in the price it offers to Bulgargaz and the cost of gas it pays to Gazprom, the Executive Director of Bulgargaz said, as quoted by the Politika weekly.

·  M&C: Russian foreign minister to visit former satellite Laos

·  Focustaiwan: President calls for new dimension in Taiwan-Russia ties - In 2009, two-way Taiwan-Russia trade decreased to US$2.7 billion compared to the 2008 figure of US$3.6 billion as a result of the global financial crisis, which the president said was a sign that there is ample room for the two countries to boost trade and investment.

·  RIA: Russian customs agents seize 6 tons of luxury furs at China border

·  Korrespondent: Russian TV show continues devastating film about Lukashenko - On Friday, July 16, the Russian NTV channel shows a movie about the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko

·  VOR: Rustem Khamitov appointed new Bashkir president

·  Itar-Tass: Medvedev accepts resignation of Bashkortostan’s president

·  Moscow News: Medals and pensions for departing Rakhimov

·  RIA: South Ossetian, Abkhazian leaders head to Latin America

·  Trend.az: Luxembourg calls on Russia to fulfill ceasefire agreement

·  Trend.az: Russian parliament ratifies agreement with Turkmenistan - The Russian parliament ratified the agreement between the Russian and Turkmen governments on the promotion and reciprocal protection of investments, the Russian Federation Council reported.

·  Interfax: Hizb ut-Tahrir activist wanted by Uzbekistan caught in St. Petersburg

·  Earthtimes: Critics slam proposed Russian law expanding secret service powers - An open letter to the Russian Federation Council published Friday strongly criticized a law expanding the powers of the Federal Security Service (FSB), due to go to its third and final reading in the State Duma.

·  Interfax: Militant killed in Nalchik

·  RIA: Explosions on the beach and near the shopping pavilions in Makhachkala

·  Itar-Tass: 2 militants wanted for terrorism killed in special operation in Dagestan

·  VOR: Christian priest killed in Makhachkala

·  MNN: Believers mourn the loss of a leader in Dagestan

·  Pravda: Dubai has officially confirmed the death of Yamadayev

·  AFP: Chechens charged in France over Moscow blasts

·  Russia Today: France detains three Chechens suspected of terrorist links

·  Jamestown: Kremlin Offers Money and Financial Incentives to Change the Mood in the North Caucasus - by Mairbek Vatchagaev

·  Frontpagemag: How Russia Manipulates Chechnya - Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Konstantin Preobrazhenskiy, a former KGB agent who became one of the KGB’s harshest critics

·  Itar-Tass: RF SKP and Public Chamber call to set up fed service for helping children

·  Russia Profile: Strange Bedfellows - Although Russian Energy Companies Are Not That Interested in Business With Iran, the Government Still Signed a Russian-Iranian Roadmap on Energy That Will Anger Washington

·  Tucson Citizen: Russian spy Vicky Pelaez, beneficiary of 1986 amnesty

·  Washington Post: In from the cold? U.S.-Russian relations - By David Ignatius

·  RIA: Russia's Mission Control Center says ISS orbit to be raised by over 3 km

·  VOR: 400 launches of Proton carrier

·  Russia Today: RT explores the relics of the Soviet push for atomic supremacy

·  AFP: Putin meets 'Russian Obama' on regional trip: reports - Putin met Joaquim Crima at a construction site for new accommodations for servicemen in southern Russia on Thursday and then later even summoned him to a full scale government meeting with regional officials, newspapers said.

·  RIA: Abramovich to settle Hiddink's pay as Russia coach - paper

National Economic Trends

·  RIA: Russia's summer heat wave threatens higher inflation - paper: Grain prices may double in comparison with 2009, Pavel Skurikhin, the head of National Union of grain Producers of Russia, told the paper. Grain prices may double in comparison with 2009, Pavel Skurikhin, the head of National Union of grain Producers of Russia, told the paper.

·  Interfax: CORRECTED: Russian monetary base up 78.7 bln rubles to 5075.3 bln rubles

·  VTB Capital: State Duma to consider new FX and RUB borrowing thresholds today

·  RenCap: Industrial production in Russia: Steady growth pauses in June

·  RenCap: Producer prices fall in June

·  Prime-Tass: Statistics: Russia’s industrial output up 10.2% in January–June

·  Moscow Times: Industrial Output Rises 9.7%

Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions

·  Reuters: Russian markets -- Factors to Watch on July 16

·  Bloomberg: Russia Stocks Advance on $76 Oil, Goldman Sachs U.S. Settlement

·  Bloomberg: Rosneft, Sberbank, RusHydro, AvtoVAZ: Russian Equity Preview

·  Bloomberg: Russia Stocks May Rally 30% in Next 12 Months, ING Groep Says

·  VTB Capital: Connection to electricity grid should be free of charge for developers, Putin says

·  Forbesrussia: Former Armenian President and head of Sistema become its shareholders

·  VTB Capital: Sberbank's largest private shareholder Nikolai Maksimov claims that a court has arrested part of the Sberbank shares he owns

·  Bloomberg: Infineon Not in Talks With Sistema, Chief Tells Sueddeutsche

·  RIA: Russia's VEB may replace Russian Technologies in Boeing contract - paper

·  Reuters: Steelmakers Say They Raised Output in Q2

·  Financial: EBRD and IFC raise $164 million for Russian private bank

·  Diamonds.net: Yakutia Supports ALROSA's Proposal on Gokhran Diamond Sales

·  Visor Capital: Uranium One’s Board recommends the transaction with ARMZ to shareholders

·  Itar-Tass: AvtoVAZ, Renault-Nissan to make 300,000 cars a year in 2012

·  Reuters: Renault affirms investment in AvtoVAZ-CORRECTED-UPDATE 2

·  Steel Guru: AvtoVaz starts posting profits in Q2

·  ATC Network: Era Selected for Second Russian Airport

Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)

·  FT: Russian energy industry facing fresh tax blow - A debate is growing between big oil and the finance ministry that could shape the country’s economic growth for years. Russia’s biggest oil companies claim potential growth in the country’s gross domestic product is being squandered amid uncertainty over taxation.

·  Reuters: Total eyes up to 25 pct in Russia Yamal LNG-paper

·  Oil and Gas Eurasia: Slavneft Increases Drilling, But Sees Production Slip

·  Oil and Gas Eurasia: SKOLKOVO And TNK-BP Launch Major Projects Academy In Russia

·  Energy Solutions: Lukoil and ERG Considering Partnership in Renewable Energy

Gazprom

·  RBC: Gazprom Neft named Hunin-6 coordinator

·  Moscow Times: Gazprom Neft to Open AT-9

·  Bloomberg: Gazprom, Shell Sakhalin Gas Venture Reports Unexpected Profit

·  BBC: Gazprom pipeline 'could harm Russian nature reserve'

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Basic Political Developments

VOR: Russia-NATO Council to meet in September

http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/07/16/12471880.html

Jul 16, 2010 03:07 Moscow Time

The Russia-NATO Council may be meeting next already in September in New York, on the fringes of the UN General Assembly.

"It would make a lot of sense to hold a Foreign Minister level meeting when top diplomats of all the 29 nations of the Russia-NATO Council come together," Russia's NATO envoy Dmitry Rogozin said on Friday.

Itar-Tass: RF-NATO council to discuss Russia’s European security treaty initiative

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=15323405&PageNum=0

16.07.2010,02.35

BRUSSELS, July 16 (Itar-Tass) -- NATO will make public its official position on Russia’s initiative to sign a European security treaty at a Friday session of the Russia-NATO Council, Russia’s permanent representative at the North Atlantic Alliance Dmitry Rogozin told Itar-Tass.

According to Rogozin, the Russia-NATO Council will meet on Friday at the ambassadorial level to discuss the Russian European security initiative. A draft treaty was submitted to NATO in December 3, 2009.

“I am somewhat surprised at such a protracted reaction,” Rogozin said. “As far as I know, NATO delegations have had emotional consultations, and finally, NATO has declared its readiness to discuss this issue and to give its opinion on it.” However, Rogozin said he did not expect breakthrough results “with an orchestra and a scouts parade.”

“I hope they will at least provide their arguments about what they like or dislike in the document. Today we are in for an intense, but necessary discussion, which will allow to show hand,” he said.

July 16, 2010 15:07 PM

Bernama: Russia-Nato Council May Discuss Anti-missile Defence Cooperation

http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsworld.php?id=514072

BRUSSELS, July 16 (Bernama) --- NATO might specify its position concerning its cooperation with Russia in the area of anti-ballistic missile defence at a session of the Russia-NATO Council due Friday, although the issue is outside the official agenda, Russia's permanent representative at the North Atlantic Alliance Dmitry Rogozin told Russia's Itar-Tass news agency.
"The main subject on agenda of the session is NATO's response to the Russia-proposed European security treaty. The second issue is traditionally put as 'miscellaneous,' however, I am sure that this 'miscellaneous' implies anti-missile defence," he said.
According to Rogozin, there are serious disagreements within NATO as regards to cooperation with Russia in the area of anti-ballistic missile defence.
This fact "is perplexing, since the idea of creating a common anti-missile system from Vancouver to Vladivostok was voiced by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen," he said.
He did not name NATO member states which oppose this approach, saying only that these included countries "that would like to see elements of the US anti-missile shield on their territories."
In this connection, he expressed the hope that Friday's session will "finally spell out a mandate of the Russia-NATO Council's working group on anti-missile defence problems.
Earlier, it was a group on theatre missile defence, which considered "local possibilities for cooperation between Russian and NATO short-range missile interception systems to ensure security of military contingents deployed within joint peacekeeping missions," he noted.
"Now it has been proposed to extend this group's competences to study possibilities for intercepting ballistic missiles targeted at Europe.
"However, as soon as we came close to practical issues of the group's mandate and competences for talks, it has become obvious that there are states within NATO that fear Russia's integration into a common European anti-ballistic missile defence system," Rogozin stressed.
"So, today we may expect a heated debate on this problem," he added.
-- BERNAMA

EurActiv: Merkel: EU should talk to Russia on security

http://www.euractiv.com/en/foreign-affairs/merkel-eu-should-talk-russia-security-news-496401

Published: 16 July 2010

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday (15 July) that the European Union as well as the NATO military alliance should discuss security issues with Russia, in order to prevent conflicts arising.

Background

EU-Russia relations went through a difficult period after Russia and Georgia fought a five-day war in August 2008. The conflict saw Russian troops repel an assault on the breakaway pro-Russian region of South Ossetia, which broke free from Tbilisi's rule in the early 1990s.

Russia later recognised South Ossetia and Georgia's second breakaway region of Abkhazia as independent states. Russia has thousands of troops stationed in both regions.

On the energy side, Russian gas giant Gazprom is drawing uplong-term plans to strengthen its grip on Europe with pipeline projects backed by the Kremlin (see EurActiv LinksDossier on 'Pipeline Politics').

Last year, Moscow lashed out at a European Commission initiative to modernise Ukraine's gas pipeline system (EurActiv 24/03/09). In Moscow's eyes, the EU executive should have better coordinated this plan with Russia, which is Europe'smain gas supplier.

Russia alsodislikes the EU's 'Eastern Partnership' initiative (EurActiv 08/05/09), a plan to foster closer political and economic ties with six former Soviet republics, suspecting that it is designed to substitute the Moscow-centred Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) with a Brussels-centred alternative.

However, Russia remains a key EU partner. It is its third largest trading partner and an important exporter of oil and gas. Current cooperation is based on four policy areas: economic and environmental issues; freedom, security and justice; external security; and research and education.

A new EU-Russia basic treaty is under negotiation.

"We believe we have found a mechanism to raise all this to a higher level within the existing institutions in Brussels - namely to the level of foreign ministers - in order to create an institutional partnership," Merkel said on Thursday at a joint news conference in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

"This is not directed against anything," Merkel added. "We need an intensive dialogue to avoid conflicts. If certain problems are not resolved, bigger conflicts could arise from them."

Russia's ties with the West hit crisis point in 2008 when it fought a brief war with Georgia. Differences remain over security, despite a recent warming in relations.

Medvedev has argued for a "new European security architecture" to replace NATO, which Moscow sees as an outdated Cold War institution, but the United States and its European allies have shown little enthusiasm for the idea.

Earlier in the day, Russia and Germany pledged to strengthen economic ties as Medvedev called Europe's largest economy Moscow's "key partner" for the future.

Merkel, who after taking office in 2005 initially adopted a more reserved attitude to Russia than her predecessor Gerhard Schroeder, has increasingly warmed to Moscow, meeting Medvedev for the second time in just a few weeks.