Russia 091113
Basic Political Developments
· PRESS DIGEST - Russia - Nov 13
· Medvedev wants Siberia, Far East integrated into APR - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Siberia and the Far East of the country shall be integrated into the markets of Asia and the Pacific Rim.
· Medvedev to Address APEC Summit - President Dmitry Medvedev on Saturday will address the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Singapore, where leaders will discuss ways to spur economic recovery and Medvedev will hold a series of bilateral talks with his Asian and American counterparts.
· Dmitry Medvedev's article "APEC: Toward a Stable, Safe and Prosperous Community" has been published: APEC: Toward a Stable, Safe and Prosperous Community
· Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong’s interview with RIA Novosti
· Russia delays S300 missile contract: Iranian armed forces - Russia has delayed a contract six months to transfer S300 missiles to Iran, Iranian armed forces Chief of Staff, General Hassan Firouzabad was quoted as saying by the Mehr news agency.
· U.S. envoy to Afghanistan to visit Moscow - United States Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke will visit Moscow on November 15-17 to discuss the problems of Afghanistan and Pakistan, U.S. Department of State spokesman Ian Kelly said on Thursday.
· Sergei Lavrov to visit Afghanistan on Nov 19 – FM: “Sergei Lavrov will visit Afghanistan to take part in the inauguration ceremony of re-elected President Hamid Karzai,” the ministry’s spokesman said.
· Friday November 27, 2009: PARIS - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visits France for Franco-Russian government seminar
· Putin’s Sochi, Far East Trip - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Thursday in a meeting with Transportation Minister Igor Levitin that he would travel to Sochi and the Far East by the end of the year.
· Russia to deliver last of six Su fighters to Indonesia in 2010
· Russia to help Cuba establish emergency training center
· No need to politicize Black Sea fleet issue – Yanukovych
· Georgian National Security Council to discuss opening of borders with Russia
· Climate, crisis, WTO entry to be on agenda at Russia-EU summit - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana and Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt will take part in the summit on November 18.
· Moscow, Athens discuss plans to sign new security treaty - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov met his Greek counterpart Dimitris P. Droutsas on Thursday to discuss Russia’s initiative on signing a European security treaty.
· START ending, but US and Russia still agree on nuke verification - The main details of a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty have already been worked out and now the US and Russia have to agree on verification and warheads counting issues, non-proliferation expert Peter Crail told RT.
· Russia Seeks Removal of U.S. Observers Under New Nuclear Accord
· A Possible US-Russian Arrangement and Implications for the Middle East - By Zvi Magen
· Moscow mayor to deliver humanitarian aid to Abkhazia
· 3 State Corporations To Lose Status in ’10 - Russian Technologies, Rusnano and Vneshekonombank will likely lose their status as state corporations as early as next year, presidential aide Arkady Dvorkovich said Thursday.
· Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP unit starting planned for December
· Former Russneft Head Gutseriyev No Longer on Interpol Wanted List – Statement
· Gutseriev May Wrest Back Russneft Oil Company, Vedomosti Says
· Court extends Khodorkovsky’s detention to February 17
· Three gunmen shot dead in Russia's Ingushetia - Three militants were killed in a security operation in the south Russian republic of Ingushetia on Friday, a local law enforcement officer said.
· Cleric injured in Ingushetia
· Attacks and Shootouts Reported in Dagestan, Ingushetia and Karachaevo-Cherkessia
· Wrecks tell tale of growing violence - By Rupert Wingfield-Hayes , BBC News, Nazran
· Prominent Tatar Activist Talks Of Leaving Russia - Bayramova told RFE/RL that Russian officials have curtailed her freedom and hindered her struggle for the independence of Tatarstan, which she said now "cannot be a homeland" for her.
South Russia editor charged with extremism over poem
· Praying to Putin - In the absence of meaningful civic action, many Russians continue the czarist tradition of appealing to the country’s rulers.
· Federal Protection Service chief left post of Russian Boxing Federation president - Federal Protection Service chief left post of Russian Boxing Federation president
· UK key suspect in Litvinenko murder not against meeting with British inspectors in London
· Litvinenko murder suspect may return to Britain for questioning as Germany drops case against 'accomplice'
· St. Petersburg Prepares for Flu Jab
· Smuggler Given 9 Years - A St. Petersburg court has sentenced a 45-year-old Uzbekistan citizen to nine years in prison for attempting to smuggle heroin, Interfax reported Thursday, citing the web site of the St. Petersburg prosecutor’s office.
· Opposition raps Medvedev poll reforms plan
· Europe should seize on Medvedev's calls for modernization - In his annual state of the nation address, Russian President Dimitry Medvedev called for sweeping internal reforms. Deutsche Welle's Ingo Mannteufel thinks this is a golden opportunity for the EU.
· WSJ: Russia's Thoroughly Modern Medvedev - By LIAM DENNING
· More Influential Than Oprah Winfrey? - Medvedev’s State of the Nation Address Centered on Modernization, but It Only Covered Old Ground - By Tom Balmforth
· The hour may be at hand for Russia's 11 time zones
National Economic Trends
· CBR keeps intact forecast for private capital outflow at $40 bln
· Russia expects positive trade surplus
· TABLE-Russia monetary base rises to 4.08 trln rbls
· FT.com: Kremlin attempts to double its grain exports
Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions
· Russian Govt Approves Draft Transfer Pricing Law
· Inter RAO consolidates blocking stake in TGK-11
· TeliaSonera, Russia’s Altimo to Merge MegaFon, Turkcell Stakes
· Usmanov: no gains for MegaFon from Telia/Altimo deal
· Deal places Alfa atop Russian mobile industry
· Deripaska’s Rusal May Offer Assets to China for IPO Support
· Evraz Group secures amendments in debt covenants
· Russia Evraz--covenants amended on $3.6 bln debt
· Siemens VAI to reconstruct concaster No 3 at Evraz NTMK
· Allocine buys into Russian website - Kinopoisk stake is part of international expansion
· INTERVIEW-UPDATE 1-Baltika: tax hike to hit Russia beer mkt
· Austrian Airlines Not Planning To Cancel Flights To Russia
Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)
· Slovenian PM to sign agreement for gas pipeline - Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor will sign a deal in Russia on Saturday for the construction through its territory of the massive South Stream gas pipeline to Europe, a government minister said Thursday.
· Wall Street Journal calls Nord Stream project "Molotov-Ribbentrop Pipeline"
· Russia Gains a Political Victory in Scandinavia with Nord Stream Approval
Gazprom
· Gazprom reveals borrowings plan for 2010
· Gazprom: Naftogaz must honor obligation to transit gas to Europe
· Gazprom, Naftogaz heads discuss problem of gas payments
· Gazprom postpones drilling in Tajikistan
· UPDATE 2-Gazprom says ups 2010 investment to $28 bln
· Oao Gazprom Approves Draft Investment Program And Budget
· Belarus asks Gazprom to review gas prices for 2010
· Why Poland Upped Its Reliance on Gazprom - Poland wants to diversify its energy supply, but a recent deal with Gazprom only increases its dependence on the Russian gas giant. Folly—or smart move?
· Gazprom's American Ambitions - Gazprom, the bare-knuckled king of natural gas, is out to make its mark in America - By Steve LeVine
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Basic Political Developments
PRESS DIGEST - Russia - Nov 13
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKLD34010720091113
Fri Nov 13, 2009 8:07am GMT
MOSCOW, Nov 13 (Reuters) - The following are some of the leading stories in Russia's newspapers on Friday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
KOMMERSANT
www.kommersant.ru
- Russia's anti-monopoly service is gathering evidence against French hypermarket chain Auchan over its card programme with Credit Europe Bank, the paper says.
- Twenty-four percent less apartments were sold in Moscow in the first three months of 2009 compared to the same period last year, the paper writes.
VEDOMOSTI
www.vedomosti.ru
- Russia's economy fell by 8.9 percent in the third quarter of 2009 compared to the same period of 2008, the paper writes.
- Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) plans to increase spending by 5 percent in 2010, the daily writes.
GAZETA
www.gzt.ru
- Russia's federal budget deficit in the 10 months of 2009 reached 1.5 trillion roubles, which is 4.7 percent of GDP, the paper reports.
TRUD
www.trud.ru
- Russia's largest lender Sberbank (SBER03.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) will cut 27,000 jobs by the end of 2009 and 30,000 in 2010-2013, the paper writes.
KOMSOMOLSKAYA PRAVDA
www.kp.ru
- The paper publishes comments of Russian experts, officials, human rights activists and other public figures on the state of the nation address by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
- Moscow officials have announced that 24 underwater parking lots will be built in Russia's capital, the paper reports.
- An officer of Russia's defence ministry threw eight-year-old daughters of his cohabitant out of the balcony, the popular daily writes.
Medvedev wants Siberia, Far East integrated into APR
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=14526119&PageNum=0
13.11.2009,00.32
MOSCOW, November 13 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Siberia and the Far East of the country shall be integrated into the markets of Asia and the Pacific Rim.
“Russia wants Siberia and the Russian Far East to be directly involved in regional integration. We did not join APEC empty-handed. We have much to offer our partners, not just abundant reserves of oil, gas and various minerals, biological resources and fresh water, but also the no less competitive asset of the science and technology, industrial and intellectual potential that the eastern part of our country possesses,” the president said in a article headlined APEC: Toward a Stable, Safe and Prosperous Community. Medvedev leaves fore APEC summit in Singapore on Friday.
The president said preparations for Russian presidency in APEC in 2012 is a major priority.
“We are open to diverse and mutually beneficial cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. Our main reference point in this area is the preparation for Russia's chairmanship of the forum in 2012. This honorary mission carries with it great responsibilities and comes with many obligations. We will do everything necessary to ensure that the APEC summit in Vladivostok is productive and of the highest quality,” Medvedev said.
“Russia has built up invaluable experience of cooperation with its APEC colleagues since we joined the forum in 1998. We have always been actively involved in resolving the issues of greatest urgency and concern, not only at the summits and ministerial meetings, but also through the ongoing painstaking work in the forum's various expert committees and groups. As in the other international organisations, we seek to be a reliable and responsible partner within APEC,” the president said.
Medvedev to Address APEC Summit
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/medvedev-to-address-apec-summit/389388.html
13 November 2009
By Aaron Mulvihill
President Dmitry Medvedev on Saturday will address the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Singapore, where leaders will discuss ways to spur economic recovery and Medvedev will hold a series of bilateral talks with his Asian and American counterparts.
Medvedev will carry out bilateral talks with Chinese leader Hu Jintao, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and U.S. President Barack Obama, a Kremlin official said Thursday. Medvedev and Obama will also have one-on-one talks in which they will discuss a revision to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, due to expire Dec. 5, the White House said.
At the APEC CEO summit Saturday, Medvedev is slated to give a keynote address, in which he will discuss priorities for action in the global economy.
The summit for heads of state comes after a week of lower-level ministerial conferences discussing ways to cement worldwide economic recovery. APEC finance ministers met Thursday and agreed to move to “market-oriented” exchange rates and keep in place huge stimulus programs for as long as it takes for the economy to completely recover.
“We will undertake monetary policies consistent with price stability in the context of market oriented exchange rates that reflect underlying economic fundamentals,” the ministers said in a statement.
China has come under increasing criticism for its pegged exchange rate, which critics say artificially props up the countries’ exporters, providing an unfair trade advantage. China’s central bank said Wednesday that it would consider major currencies in guiding the yuan, suggesting a departure from the effective dollar peg. Russia’s Central Bank has set a floating exchange rate as its long-term goal.
Nevertheless, the countries agree that sudden realignments in exchange rates are no ‘silver bullet’ for addressing economic imbalances, Shanmugaratnam said.
Separately, APEC foreign and trade ministers met on Thursday and expressed concern over a fragile global recovery and high unemployment. They promised to “lay a foundation for growth that is inclusive, balanced and sustainable, supported by innovation and a knowledge-based economy.”
Delegates also reiterated their support for Russian accession to the World Trade Organization in line with a regional push to dismantle trade barriers.
Deputy Finance Minister Dmitry Pankin headed Russia’s delegation to the finance ministers’ meeting, while Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina led the country’s delegation to the foreign and trade ministers’ meeting.
Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin, also at the meeting, said Thursday that North Korea’s nuclear program will be the focus of multilateral talks on the summit sidelines.
“We intend to put to use possible contacts with our colleagues from China, South Korea, Japan, the United States and other countries to compare our positions on the sidelines of the summit, including [our views] on the Korean Peninsula nuclear problem,” Borodavkin said. Medvedev’s visit to Singapore is the first ever to the Pacific Rim country by a Russian head of state.