Russia 111129

Basic Political Developments Russian, Icelandic foreign ministers plan to sign Arctic cooperation declaration

o NATO shouldn’t meddle in disputes about Arctic – Lavrov: Lavrov made the statement during a press conference in Moscow on Tuesday following the talks with his Icelandic counterpart Össur Skarphedinsson.

Russian FM says Moscow is against arms embargo on Syria, warns against ultimatums - Sergey Lavrov told Tuesday's news conference that calls for an arms embargo on Syria are "unfair," adding that militant groups opposing the government have been armed from the outside. He drew parallels to the war in Libya, where he said the West was arming the opposition forces despite a United Nations arms embargo.

o Lavrov urges to stop ultimatum policy towards Syriao Russia opposes arms embargo on Syria: report o LAVROV: TIME TO STOP USING LANGUAGE OF ULTIMATUMS

IN DEALING WITH SYRIAo LAVROV: PROPOSAL FOR SYRIA ARMS EMBARGO DISHONESTo LAVROV: SYRIA UNREST PROVOKED BY ARMED OPPOSITION

RATHER THAN AUTHORITIESo Russia against arms embargo on Syria – Lavrov

Russia's reply to missile defense deployment will not jeopardize U.S. security – Rogozin

Russia Considers Blocking NATO Supply Routes - Russia said it may not let NATO use its territory to supply troops in Afghanistan if the alliance doesn't seriously consider its objections to a U.S.-led missile shield for Europe, Russia's ambassador to NATO said Monday.

Washington says continues talks with Russia on conflict in Syria - Asked whether the United States are holding consultations with Russia concerning a possible UN Security Council resolution on Syria, similar to the one on Libya early this year, Toner said that, “We continue to talk with Russia. We continue to talk with everyone, trying to make the case for further action against Syria.”

Russian FM calls for compromise in Syrian crisis, supports LAS initistive - “It is necessary to look for agreed-upon compromises without ultimatums in order to resolve the crisis in Syria and other countries in the region,” Lavrov said at a meeting with the ambassadors of Arab countries and the Office of the League of Arab States in Moscow on Monday, November 28.

o Russian Foreign Ministry: Preserving Unity, Territorial Safety, Sovereignty in Syria Come ahead in Solving Crisis - Zhirinovsky told SANA correspondent in Moscow that Russia stands against any Security Council resolutions against Syria that aimed at deteriorating the situation in Syria or imposing restrictions on its leadership.

Russia-China Consultations on Issues of Bilateral Relations - Consultations took place in Moscow on November 28 between Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs

Alexei Borodavkin and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China Cheng Guoping.

o 'Dynamic' China could give impetus to Russian Far East development – diplomat: The advantages of proximity to the rapidly developing northeastern part of China are obvious for Russia's Far East, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin said in an interview published on the Kommersant newspaper's website on Tuesday.

o Interview of Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Alexei Borodavkin "Kommersant" newspaper, Moscow, November 29, 2011 - [link]

Russian-Israeli relations gain in scale over 20 years - According to the Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, the Russian-Israeli trade turnover runs into billions of dollars, while relations in the fields of people’s diplomacy and culture are a phenomenon that’s unparalleled anywhere in the world.

Russian cultural center to open in Memphis, Tennessee Jackson-Vanik's End in 2012? - "We expect that it can hardly be done this year,

but President Obama has made it clear that it will be a priority for us in 2012," Beyrle said Monday.

Russia plans to tap UNIDO potential for BRICS cooperation - Russia plans to tap the United Nations Industrial Development Organization’s potential to expand cooperation with BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov, who led the Russian delegation to the UNIDO General Conference that opened on Monday, told Itar-Tass.

Kazakh Senators discuss bilateral interaction prospects with Russian colleagues in Moscow - A delegation of the Kazakh Senate has held a meeting with representatives of the Federation Council of Russia. The sides took part in the 5th session of the Parliamentary group for cooperation between the Russian Federation Council and the Kazakh Senate.

 President Medvedev pays visit to Russia’s Kaliningrad Region - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived on Tuesday in the country’s western exclave of Kaliningrad for a working visit.

Poland expects gas demand to double by 2030, lower price from Gazprom - Demand for gas in Poland will double by 2030 as gas-fuelled power generation will increase, Michal Szubski, CEO of Polish gas monopoly PGNiG, told the Vedomosti newspaper.

No problems with Russian gas for Europe this winter - Ukraine and Russia agreed on a new price for Ukraine’s natural-gas imports and accords will be signed by the countries’ presidents late this month or early in December, Ekonomicheskie Izvestia reported, citing a person familiar with the matter in the administration of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, cited Bloomberg in a report from Kiev.

Armenia’s Deputy Defense Minister meets with Russian military attachéo Armenia and Russia discuss cooperation in training military staff

Suspected Russian spy to learn of deportation fate - An alleged Russian spy will today find out whether she is allowed to stay in the UK when an appeal against her deportation reaches its conclusion.

Russia seeks termination of parental rights for U.S. adoptive couple

Argentina receives two MI-17E helicopters transported by an AN-124 aircraft - The country could also decide to exercise the option for three more aircraft

Putin’s electoral programme published - A programme, with which Vladimir Putin is going to run for presidency at the 2012 elections, has been published on the site otf the United Russia (UR) Party.

Fair Russia to nominate Sergei Mironov for president First launch from new eastern spaceport planned for 2015 Russian space agency fails to change Phobos-Grunt orbit Stalin’s daughter Svetlana passes away in U.S. at age of 85

o Prisoner of father’s name: Stalin’s daughter dies Smuggling and hooliganism suspects in Russia are detained in Armenia Police detain ex-Moscow mayor’s brother-in-law Baturin 50,000 policemen to ensure security during Duma elections in Moscow Ban on Duma election forecast publication to last until vote end

o Some 650 international observers to monitor parliamentary vote in Russiao Russia not to limit election monitorso Where MPs get employment after they leave Duma - Every ninth deputy

to the fifth Duma quit his working place and found a new job, the Vedomosti writes. The Duma ceased to be a decision-making body, and the mandate of a MP no longer guarantes personal immunity.

o Russia’s “Apple” Party Says Kremlin Ruled By “Vegetables” Three-person family shot dead in Kaspiisk

o Three killed in Dagestan's Kaspiisk Major lab producing psychotropic drugs liquidated in Pskov Region RIA Novosti denies ‘censorship’ charge Renowned Moscow atheist suggests Orthodox believers burning down his book PRESS DIGEST - Russia - Nov 29

o www.vedomosti.ruo The head of Polish energy firm PGNiG, Michal Szubski, says in an

interview that 60 percent the country's natural gas is supplied by Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom .

o Some 43 percent Russians prefer Google Inc's Android platform based phones, the paper says citing recent Internet poll.

o www.kommersant.ruo The Kremlin-backed candidate fails to win presidential elections in

Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia, where an opposition candidate is leading in the vote, the paper says.

o The focus of Vladimir Putin's presidential political programme is modernisation, the paper cites documents published by his United Russia party as saying.

o Members of Russia's cultural elite, human rights and opposition groups plan a round table on Dec. 12 to discuss the hypothetical collapse of Vladimir Putin's rule, the daily says.

o www.ng.ru

o Russia's pharmaceutical companies appealed to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Monday to get rid of price controls on life-saving drugs, saying many firms may become unprofitable, the daily says.

Horse Racing Draws a Line at Licensing Chechen Leader - It appears, though, at least in New York and in Kentucky, that there are limits to who can race a horse. Officials in those states have taken steps to exclude from racing a horse owned by Ramzan A. Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya, who has been accused by human rights groups of murder, torture and other abuses over the years.

‘Russia is underrepresented in Asia’ - Editor-in-Chief of the Russia in Global Affairs Magazine, Fyodor Lukyanov, talks to Kommersant’s correspondent Aleksandr Gabuyev about what role Russia plays in Asia.

The post-imperial syndrome - Foreign policy has gone almost unmentioned in the elections debates. By Leonid Radzikhovsky

The Vote of the Young - Young Voters Are United Against United Russia, But Divided on All Else

RT: Peddling the ‘Tandem’, youth-style

National Economic Trends Russia’s Medvedev inks law on tobacco, alcohol excise tax hike Russian banks to face stiffer capital requirements Bank Rossii Limits Kazkommertsbank Deposits, Kommersant Reports Agricultural output may overshoot forecast Three banks get 46 bln rubles at budget funds auction Micex Pares Biggest Gain in 7 Weeks After Moody’s Euro Warning Sberbank Leads ADRs Higher as U.S. Sales Bolster Crude: Russia Overnight Investment Estimated at $36Bln - Foreign direct investment in Russia reached

$36 billion in the first 10 months of the year, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Monday during a meeting of the government's commission on foreign investment, citing the Central Bank.

Viewpoint: Russia's economy needs to reform - By Evgeny Yasin Head of the Higher School of Economics, Moscow

Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions Intellectual property court bill clears parliament

o Russia to establish Patent Court by 2013 Barclays Russia Owner to Cut Staff, Salaries, Kommersant Says Russia's Nomos denies reports it cut stake in BKM Rostelecom to swallow up Svyazinvest in 2012

o Sources: Russian govt gives prelim OK for Svyazinvest liquidation Car sales surge 39% Russia's X5 says Q3 net loss $2.1 mln, above fcast DJ Highland Gold Mining: Belaya Gora Gold Processing Plant Gets OK Ruble bears lifting swap rates lure Vancouver's Uranium One: Russia Credit TEXT-Fitch:Russian steel companies have more flexibility than peers SURVEY: The dominant state of Russian banking - bne

Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory) Rosneft's, Gazprom Neft's and TNK-BP's greenfields in Eastern Siberia is to get

access to ESPO Rosneft, Gazprom Neft and TNK-BP close to agreeing with Transneft on

construction of new pipeline from Yurubcheno-Takhomsk to VSTO Russia Transneft hikes fines for below par oil load UPDATE 2-Russia confirms Ust-Luga port delay to Q1 2012 Russia's Rosneft to pay $2.2 bln for Carabobo Putin Policy Sees Natural-Gas Prices Pass U.S.: Chart of the Day TNK-BP Completes Preparation of Sub-sea Infrastructure of the Lan Tay

Offshore Project in Vietnam to Launch Production of New Wells Rostneftegas Geo buys 3 gas sections in Rostov Region

Gazprom Gazprom Cuts Belarus Gas Price This Year, Allows Delayed Payment

o Gazprom, Beltransgaz concur on lower gas prices in H2 2011 o Russia Grants Belarus New Gas Price Discounto "Gazprom" and "Beltransgaz" settled the question of payment for gas

supplied in the second half of 2011 Gazprom, pipe producers switch to contract with price formula Gazprom Neft starts drilling in Iraq Russians here to look for oil - Russian oil and gas giant GAZPROM has sent a

four-member technical team to check on the viability of oil and gas exploration in northern Sri Lanka’s Mannar Basin, Petroleum Industries Minister Susil Premjayantha said yesterday.

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Full Text Articles

Basic Political Developments

11/29 10:43   Russian, Icelandic foreign ministers plan to sign Arctic cooperation declaration

http://www.interfax.com/news.asp

NATO shouldn’t meddle in disputes about Arctic – Lavrovhttp://english.ruvr.ru/2011/11/29/61197944.html

Nov 29, 2011 13:39 Moscow Time

There is absolutely no reason why NATO should meddle in disputes about and conflicts over Arctic resources, said the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. He feels that it is those who have an eye on the Arctic resources and get a grip of what does not belong to them that are trying to provoke this kind of interference by the alliance. Lavrov made the

statement during a press conference in Moscow on Tuesday following the talks with his Icelandic counterpart Össur Skarphedinsson. Russia’s topmost diplomat stressed that decisions on Arctic development should be made exclusively by the regional nations that are members of the Arctic Council, on the basis of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

(IF)

The Canadian Press - ONLINE EDITION

Russian FM says Moscow is against arms embargo on Syria, warns against ultimatumshttp://www.winnipegfreepress.com/world/breakingnews/russian-fm-says-moscow-is-against-arms-embargo-on-syria-warns-against-ultimatums-134657478.html

By: The Associated Press Posted: 11/29/2011 3:17 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

MOSCOW - Russia's foreign minister has dismissed calls for an arms embargo on Syria and warned against imposing ultimatums on President Bashar Assad's government.

Sergey Lavrov told Tuesday's news conference that calls for an arms embargo on Syria are "unfair," adding that militant groups opposing the government have been armed from the outside. He drew parallels to the war in Libya, where he said the West was arming the opposition forces despite a United Nations arms embargo.

Lavrov said that Syria's problems can't be solved by ultimatums and reaffirmed Moscow's call for a political settlement.

Russia has staunchly resisted a Western push for sanctions on Assad's regime over its violent crackdown on protests. Moscow also has provided Assad's regime with combat planes, missiles and other weapons.

RT News line, November 29

Lavrov urges to stop ultimatum policy towards Syriahttp://rt.com/news/line/2011-11-29/#id22735

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has urged to abandon the politics of ultimatums towards Syria, Interfax reports. “Now it is necessary to stop acting through ultimatums

and try to redirect the situation into a political course,” Lavrov said at a press conference on Tuesday. He also said that Moscow opposes an arms embargo on Syria, referring to the Libyan scenario. Lavrov’s speech comes days after the Arab League and the European Union imposed new financial sanctions on Syria as a means to stop the violence in the country.

Russia opposes arms embargo on Syria: report http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=82284

Russia believes the international community should stop threatening Damascus with ultimatums, local news agencies quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on Tuesday.

Russia opposes the imposition of an arms embargo on Syria and believes the international community should stop threatening Damascus with ultimatums, local news agencies quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on Tuesday.

The U.N. Human Rights Council accused on Monday Syrian military and security forces of committing crimes against humanity including murder, torture and rape, and called for an arms embargo on Syria.

Russia teamed up with China last month to veto a Western-backed U.N. Security Council resolution condemning President Bashar al-Assad's government for violence the United Nations says has killed more than 3,500 people.

Reuters

12:26LAVROV: TIME TO STOP USING LANGUAGE OF ULTIMATUMS IN DEALING WITH SYRIAhttp://www.interfax.com/news.asp

 12:24LAVROV: PROPOSAL FOR SYRIA ARMS EMBARGO DISHONESThttp://www.interfax.com/news.asp

 12:23LAVROV: SYRIA UNREST PROVOKED BY ARMED OPPOSITION RATHER THAN AUTHORITIEShttp://www.interfax.com/news.asp

Russia against arms embargo on Syria – Lavrov http://en.ria.ru/russia/20111129/169138657.html

13:07 29/11/2011

MOSCOW, November 29 (RIA Novosti) – Russia is against imposing an arms embargo on Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow following his meeting with Arab ambassadors to Russia on Monday, Lavrov said lessons should be learnt from the situation in Libya, where an embargo on arms supplies was “only applied against the Libyan army.”

“Groups, including those formed from citizens who penetrated to Syria from other states, have been actively supplied with arms,” he said. “That is why proposals to introduce a ban on any arms supplies to Syria are quite unfair.”

November 29, 2011 11:04

Russia's reply to missile defense deployment will not jeopardize U.S. security – Rogozinhttp://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=290766

MOSCOW. Nov 29 (Interfax) - Measures Russia could take in response to a U.S. missile defense shield will not jeopardize U.S. security, Russia's NATO envoy Dmitry Rogozin said.

"Our military-technical response will not threaten the security of the United States. Our military-technical answer will only offset the gap the American missile defense shield wants to make in our security system," Rogozin told Russia's NTV television station on Monday.

The present situation resembles the Caribbean Crisis of the 1960s, he said.

"Americans are effectively doing today what [Soviet leader Nikita] Khrushchev did in the 1960s - they are moving their missiles, their weapons closer to our borders," Rogozin said.

tm

(Our editorial staff can be reached at eng.editors@interfax.ru)

EUROPE NEWS

NOVEMBER 28, 2011, 2:27 P.M. ET

Russia Considers Blocking NATO Supply Routes http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204753404577066421106592452.html

By ALAN CULLISON

MOSCOW—Russia said it may not let NATO use its territory to supply troops in Afghanistan if the alliance doesn't seriously consider its objections to a U.S.-led missile shield for Europe, Russia's ambassador to NATO said Monday.

Russia has stepped up its objections to the antimissile system in Europe, threatening last week to deploy its own ballistic missiles on the border of the European Union to counter the move. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization says the shield is meant to thwart an attack from a rogue state such as Iran, that it poses no threat to Russia, and that the alliance will go ahead with the plan despite Moscow's objections.

If NATO doesn't give a serious response, "we have to address matters in relations in other areas," Russian news services reported Dmitri Rogozin, ambassador to NATO, as saying. He added that Russia's cooperation on Afghanistan may be an area for review, the news services reported.

Threats to the NATO supply line through Russia come at an awkward time for the alliance. NATO has become increasingly reliant on the Russian route as problems in Pakistan—its primary supply route—have escalated. Over the weekend, Pakistan closed its border to trucks delivering supplies in response to coalition airstrikes Saturday that killed 25 Pakistani soldiers.

NATO began shipping its supplies through Russia in 2009, after the so-called reset in relations between Moscow and the U.S., allowing the alliance a safer route for supplies into Afghanistan. But U.S.-Russian relations have been strained lately by the approach of elections in both countries. In the past week, the Kremlin has sharply stepped up its anti-Western rhetoric ahead of parliamentary elections on Dec. 4.

Ivan Safranchuk, deputy director of the Moscow-based Institute of Contemporary International Studies, said Russia is unlikely to cut off the flow of NATO supplies to Afghanistan as an immediate response to missile-defense decisions. But Russia does want its objections to the missile shield to be taken more seriously, he said.

"If the U.S. is not responsive, then a cutoff could be a reality at some point," Mr. Safranchuk said. "Russia would like the U.S. to be more serious about Russian concerns."

Write to Alan Cullison at alan.cullison@wsj.com

Washington says continues talks with Russia on conflict in Syriahttp://en.rian.ru/russia/20111129/169130747.html

05:19 29/11/2011

WASHINGTON, November 29 (RIA Novosti)

The United States and Russia continue talks on the conflict situation in Syria, said Mark Toner, a U.S. Department of State deputy spokesperson.

Asked whether the United States are holding consultations with Russia concerning a possible UN Security Council resolution on Syria, similar to the one on Libya early this year, Toner said that, “We continue to talk with Russia. We continue to talk with everyone, trying to make the case for further action against Syria.”

Toner said that it is still early to talk about such resolution on Syria and although the United States look at the UN Security Council as an effective tool in resolving the conflict much has been already done without organization’s involvement.

“The Arab League has taken really an historic position against Syria, and has enacted now economic sanctions against them, and suspended them from membership to the Arab League. So we continue to look to the Security Council if it’s indeed a viable option. But we’ve succeeded, I think, outside of the Security Council in applying additional pressure,” he said.

On October 4, Russia and China vetoed a Western-backed draft resolution condemning violence in Syria and calling on the country's embattled president Bashar al-Assad to immediately fulfill the promised reforms or face "targeted measures."

Russia, which stands firmly against any mention of sanctions citing the example of Libya where the NATO countries largely overstepped the UN mandate in a military operation against Muammar Gaddafi, said the text of the document was "unacceptable" and reflected a "confrontational" approach toward the resolution of the crisis in Syria.

According to UN estimates, more than 3,500 people have been killed in Syria since mid-March, when first protests against Bashar al-Assad's regime began.

22:46 28/11/2011ALL NEWS

Russian FM calls for compromise in Syrian crisis, supports LAS initistive

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/283764.html

MOSCOW, November 28 (Itar-Tass) —— Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called for looking for mutually acceptable compromises without ultimatums in order to resolve the crisis in Syria.

“It is necessary to look for agreed-upon compromises without ultimatums in order to resolve the crisis in Syria and other countries in the region,” Lavrov said at a meeting with the ambassadors of Arab countries and the Office of the League of Arab States in Moscow on Monday, November 28.

“Russia’s position of principle is that the internal political problems should be resolved peacefully, no matter how acute they are, through national dialogue aimed at achieving public consensus, and without external interference,” he said.

“We are interested to further strengthen cooperation between Russia and the LAS member states for the sake of stronger peace and security in the region, successful resolution of key problems in the Middle East and North Africa,” the minister said.

“It is important to use existing foreign policy tools effectively, including Russia’s participation in the work of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum mechanisms and the strategic dialogue between Russia and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf,” Lavrov said.

Russia also calls for using the potential of the League of Arab States in full.

Moscow “is closely watching the efforts taken by the League in search for a speedy peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis within the Arab framework without external interference”, the Foreign Ministry said.

“We believe that a priority task is to preserve the unity, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Syria as one of the key countries in the Middle East, prevent further escalation of inter-religious and inter-ethnic confrontation. We think it necessary to use the potential of the LAS initiative and other possibilities in full in order to stop violence, no matter where it comes from, receive full objective information on that score and begin inter-Syrian dialogue as soon as possible. This would make it possible to normalise the

situation in the country and promptly carry out political and socio-economic reforms in accordance with the aspirations of the Syrian people,” the ministry said.

Stopping violence in Syria, regardless of its source, is the main goal, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and Syrian Ambassador in Moscow Riyad Haddad said at their meeting on November 26.

“The sides confirmed that the main goal is to stop violence in Syria immediately, regardless of its source, and to resolve all internal problems in the country through a comprehensive national dialogue towards democratisation, political, social and economic reforms and in the interests of all Syrians,” the Foreign Ministry said.

“Moscow has actively supported the crisis settlement plan for Syria proposed by the League of Arab States (LAS) and welcomed the Syrian authorities’ readiness to start implementing it without delay,” the Foreign Ministry said earlier.

“The confirmation by Damascus on November 4 of the release of 553 arrested people and the declaration of amnesty for the rebels who would agree to lay down arms” became an important step in this context, it said.

“These measures and other parts of the LAS initiative create an opportunity for starting a constructive and substantive political dialogue between the Syrian government and the opposition in order to lead the situation to the road of reconciliation and reforms without outside interference,” the ministry said.

Lavrov sent oral messages to the foreign ministers of some countries and the leaders of international organisations, urging them to support the LAS plan and use their possibilities for ensuring coordinated influence on all parties to the conflict in Syria in order to implement the LAS initiative within the shortest time possible and put the settlement process in Syria on a peaceful political footing.

In a telephone conversation with LAS Secretary-General Nabil El-Araby earlier, Lavrov noted “the great importance of the efforts and role of the League of Arab States in fostering the dialogue and stressed Russia’s commitment to the need for the Syrians to find solutions to their internal problems on the basis of consensus and a programme of political and socio-economic reforms in the interests of all people”, the ministry said.

Russia continues to object to possible U.N. sanctions against Syria.

The Kremlin stressed that Russia’s position has not changed. “We urge the Syrian leadership to consistently carry out the reforms it has declared,” a source in the presidential administration said.

“We remain critical about possible sanctions against Syria,” he said, adding that the United States and the European Union have already imposed sanctions against that country.

“The main question is to implement consistently the reforms ... stop violence and prevent casualties,” the source said.

President Dmitry Medvedev sent a message to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad earlier, urging the authorities and the opposition to stop violence and start declared reforms in the country.

“In the course of the conversation, while discussing the situation in Syria, the Russian side placed the main emphasis on the need for an urgent and full stop to violence on either side, and for immediate concrete steps to carry out the reforms declared by the leadership of the Syrian Arab Republic,” the presidential press service said.

“It was also stressed that the opposition should not avoid the dialogue proposed by the authorities because this is the only way to restore civil peace and accord and Syria’s movement along the road of democratic reforms,” it said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry urged all sides in Syria to refrain from violence and continue to look for fair and lawful solutions to burning problems.

Russian Foreign Ministry: Preserving Unity, Territorial Safety, Sovereignty in Syria Come ahead in Solving Crisis

http://www.sana.sy/eng/22/2011/11/29/384747.htm

Nov 29, 2011

MOSCOW, (SANA)_Russia said that preserving unity, territorial safety and sovereignty , as well as preventing the escalation of the situation in Syria as a key country in the Middle East come ahead in solving the crisis.

In a statement on Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry called for launching national dialogue in Syria as soon as possible and implementing the political, social and economic reforms as to meet the aspirations of the Syrian people.

The statement laid emphasis on stopping violence wherever it comes from, obtaining objective information in this regard and pushing ahead with the Arab work plan to the very end, indicating that Moscow is following up on the efforts of the Arab league to find a speedy peaceful settlement to the crisis in Syria within the Arab framework and without foreign interference.

Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov underlined his country's principled stance which calls for resolving the states' political internal issues through peaceful means and national dialogue to reach a social reconciliation without foreign intervention.

A statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry, following Lavrov's meeting with heads of diplomatic and the Arab League's missions accredited in Moscow, stated that Lavrov called for finding a compromise, away from any ultimatum, to overcome the crisis in Syria and other regional countries.

The statement said that the talks concentrated on the complicated situation in the Middle East and North Africa in light of the profound changes that are taking place in the region.

During the meeting, the Syrian Ambassador in Moscow Riyad Haddad stressed that the Russian stance stems from commitment to the Syrian people and maintaining Syria's unity and sovereignty.

He reiterated that Syria is determined to the reforms, serious in conducting the comprehensive national dialogue which Syria considers as the only way to end the crisis.

Deputy Chairman of Russia's Duma Council: AL Decisions against Syria Completely Incorrect 

Deputy Chairman of the Russian Duma Council, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, stressed Monday that the Arab League decisions against Syria are completely incorrect, adding that no sanctions should have been imposed on Syria.

Zhirinovsky told SANA correspondent in Moscow that Russia stands against any Security Council resolutions against Syria that aimed at deteriorating the situation in Syria or imposing restrictions on its leadership.

He added that the Syrian people have right to live in peace under the leadership of President Bashar al-Assad.

Earlier, Zhirinovsky called on the Russian Government to reject any resolutions issued by the Security Council against Syria and Iran.       F.Allafi /M. Ismael/Mazen

PRESS RELEASE

Russia-China Consultations on Issues of Bilateral Relations

http://www.ln.mid.ru/bdomp/brp_4.nsf/e78a48070f128a7b43256999005bcbb3/a17e7daed59bdb0944257957002857fb!OpenDocument

1869-28-11-2011

Consultations took place in Moscow on November 28 between Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexei Borodavkin and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China Cheng Guoping.

In the course of the talks the progress made in Russian-Chinese relations in 2011 was summed up, along with reviewing preparations for upcoming political contacts at Summit and Ministerial level over the year ahead, and discussing themes related to further development of bilateral partnership and strategic interaction.

The discussion also touched on topical security issues in the AP region and on the collaboration between the two countries in regional multilateral structures – the SCO, EAS, ARF and others.

November 28, 2011

November 29, 2011 12:22

'Dynamic' China could give impetus to Russian Far East development – diplomathttp://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=290798

MOSCOW. Nov 29 (Interfax) - The advantages of proximity to the rapidly developing northeastern part of China are obvious for Russia's Far East, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin said in an interview published on the Kommersant newspaper's website on Tuesday.

"Being neighbors with rapidly developing China offers indisputable advantages for the implementation of developing strategies in Russia's eastern regions," Borodavkin said.

China has made a qualitative breakthrough in socioeconomic development in the past 30 years of reforms, he said.

"China's northeastern part, with which our country shares a border, is turning in front of our eyes into a modern industrial, agrarian, transport and logistics center for the whole

Northeastern Asia region, oriented, among other spheres, toward the production of high-tech commodities," the diplomat said.

"We need to make the most of it in the interest of our Far East's development," Borodavkin said.

China is "a capacious and sufficiently stable market for traditional export-oriented industries of our eastern territories - oil, gas, coal, timber, mining sector products and seafood," he said.

Russia and China drafted and signed a program aimed at making cooperation between the two countries' border districts "more systemic and orderly."

"However, all of the above said in no way means that 'control' over Russia's East has been given to China," Borodavkin said.

tm rb

(Our editorial staff can be reached at eng.editors@interfax.ru)

Interview of Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Alexei Borodavkin "Kommersant" newspaper, Moscow, November 29, 2011[link]

1877-29-11-2011

http://www.mid.ru/brp_4.nsf/0/D8E7F804D6E48D1A4425795700280D74

Russian-Israeli relations gain in scale over 20 yearshttp://english.ruvr.ru/2011/11/29/61184188.html

Nov 29, 2011 10:02 Moscow Time

Cooperation between Russia and Israel has gained in scale over the 20 years since the two countries re-established diplomatic relations between them.

This cooperation is unique in character and boasts quite a potential. The point was made by those attending a reception at the Russian Cultural Centre in Tel Aviv on Monday to mark the occasion.

According to the Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, the Russian-Israeli trade turnover runs into billions of dollars, while relations in the fields of people’s diplomacy and culture are a phenomenon that’s unparalleled anywhere in the world.

He admitted that there are certain problems in political relations between Russia and Israel, but the positive clearly outweighs the negative in them.

(TASS)

Russian cultural center to open in Memphis, Tennessee http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/11/29/61183936.html

Nov 29, 2011 09:59 Moscow Time

A Russian cultural center will soon appear in Memphis, Tennessee.

Located at the junction of the Mississippi and Wolf Rivers, Memphis is  a major city of the American South and home to such world-renowned musicians as Elvis Presley, B.B. King and Jerry Lee Lewis. It also boasts a vibrant Russian community.

Mayor A.C. Worton has declared January, 14 the Day of the Russian Federation.

(TASS)

Jackson-Vanik's End in 2012? 29 November 2011

The Jackson-Vanik amendment is unlikely to be repealed this year, but the United States will try to do it in 2012, U.S. Ambassador to Moscow John Beyrle said, Interfax reported.

"We expect that it can hardly be done this year, but President Obama has made it clear that it will be a priority for us in 2012," Beyrle said Monday.

It is time for the Jackson-Vanik amendment to be repealed now that an agreement has been reached on Russia's accession to the WTO, Beyrle said.

U.S.-Russian trade grew abruptly in 2011, Beyrle said, speaking at the Asia Pacific forum in Moscow.

Trade grew 76 percent in the first three quarters of 2011 as compared with the same period last year, he said.

(MT)

Read more: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/jackson-vaniks-end-in-2012/448814.html#ixzz1f4qh8SlE The Moscow Times

09:12 29/11/2011ALL NEWS

Russia plans to tap UNIDO potential for BRICS cooperation

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/283930.html

VIENNA, November 29 (Itar-Tass) — Russia plans to tap the United Nations Industrial Development Organization’s potential to expand cooperation with BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov, who led the Russian delegation to the UNIDO General Conference that opened on Monday, told Itar-Tass.

Among promising projects that will be implemented under the UNIDO aegis he emphasized the project on the creation of an innovative technological centre for small and medium enterprises of Russia and Brazil.

The project fully conforms to the declaration of the BRICS summit in 2011.

“Cooperation with BRICS nations is the priority for us and we are ready in every possible way to boost our relations with the countries, including that under the UNIDO umbrella,” he said noting that BRICS countries “expressed readiness to search for joint directions within the framework of BRICS that could be used for the needs of developing countries in the future.”

“In this respect UNIDO can create a good platform for stepping up cooperation among BRICS countries. At first, it is necessary to determine at the expert level what industrial areas can be of mutual interest for us and then using our advantages in different areas to propose on behalf of BRICS relevant projects and programs for developing countries,” Gatilov said.

The diplomat noted that “the preparation of regional programs and proposals for resolving environmental problems through the resources of the Global Environment Fund” can be one more idea of deeper cooperation between Russia and UNIDO.

Kazakh Senators discuss bilateral interaction prospects with Russian colleagues in Moscowhttp://engnews.gazeta.kz/art.asp?aid=353091

12:46 29.11.2011 text: Kazinform

A delegation of the Kazakh Senate has held a meeting with representatives of the Federation Council of Russia. The sides took part in the 5th session of the Parliamentary group for cooperation between the Russian Federation Council and the Kazakh Senate.

As First Deputy Chairman of the federation Council Alexander Torshin noted, parliamentary cooperation develops very successfully, its further development has great opportunities connected with activation of integration processes, participation of our countries in the Customs Union, Single Economic Space.

Head of the Kazakh delegation, Chairman of the Senate's Committee for Social and Cultural Development Akhan Bizhanov outlined that the sides conduct successful work on legal groundwork for the Customs Union and Single Economic Space.

A.Bizhanov noted that taking into account implementation of the state program of forced industrial innovative development the Russian experience of industrial production is under interest.

Within the session there were also discussed the prospects of cooperation in the education and scientific spheres.

  President Medvedev pays visit to Russia’s Kaliningrad Region http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20111129/169129232.html

03:44 29/11/2011

KALININGRAD, November 29 (RIA Novosti)

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived on Tuesday in the country’s western exclave of Kaliningrad for a working visit.

Medvedev’s visit comes after his statement last Wednesday that Russia would move "advanced offensive weapon systems" to its European borders in response to a planned U.S.-backed NATO missile shield if talks on the project fail.

Two days after the presidential statement, the chief of the Russian Aerospace Defense Forces, Lt. Gen. Oleg Ostapenko, said that a new radar station, capable of monitoring missile launches from the North Atlantic, as well as the future European missile defense system, is ready to be opened in the Kaliningrad Region.

He added that the radar station is ready to go into operation as part of the national missile early warning attack system.

A source in the Russian Defense Ministry earlier said that the radar station will be opened on November 29 and will go on a combat duty starting December 1.

Russia also plans to deploy Iskander tactical missiles in the Kaliningrad region in the near future.

Moscow is seeking written, legally binding guarantees that the shield will not be directed against it. Washington, however, has refused to put its verbal assurances in writing.

Washington responded by saying it would not alter its plans for a European missile defense project, despite increasingly tough rhetoric from Moscow.

Poland expects gas demand to double by 2030, lower price from Gazpromhttp://www.kyivpost.com/news/russia/detail/117792/

Today at 11:06 | Interfax-Ukraine Demand for gas in Poland will double by 2030 as gas-fuelled power generation will increase, Michal Szubski, CEO of Polish gas monopoly PGNiG, told the Vedomosti newspaper.

Poland currently consumes 13 billion-14 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

PGNiG at the beginning of November initiated arbitration proceedings in order to review the price of gas in contracts with Gazprom. Szubski said he hoped the company would get a better price deal than now if it continues to buy large volumes of gas from Gazprom.

He said Gazprom currently supplied 60% of Poland's gas, Poland itself produced 30% and other suppliers provided the other 10% under various contracts. "And we'd like to modify that a little, i.e. to be getting at most 50% from Gazprom, continue to produce 30% ourselves and increase other sources to 20%. This does not mean Gazprom will be selling less," he said.

Regarding on-going price negotiations with Gazprom, Szubski said his company wanted to lower the basic prices and introduce a spot element to the contract.

He said the price formula for future liquefied gas supplies was also partially coupled to oil prices, as in long-term contracts with Gazprom, but this is "shorter" than in the contract with Gazprom at three months compared with nine [the time lag in price coupling]. "It is of course hard to compare these formulas. But we think that in the long term, LNG will be cheaper," Szubski said.

Szubski also said he was sure shale gas was environmentally friendly. "Independent institutes carry out studies at every stage of exploration. We've carried out hydrofracturing at two wells, and analyzed the water before and after, and it remained clean. As for the hydrofracturing process, this has been done the world over for 40 years now in coal production, at oil field and at traditional gas fields. It's the same substances, the same chemicals. The difference is that more powerful and more precise fracturing is used to produce shale gas," he said.

Szubski said he thought the forecasts and prospects for share gas production in Poland would be aired in the second half of 2012.

Following a lengthy process, and intervention by the EC, Russia and Poland signed documents on gas supplies in October 2010, stipulating that in 2010 Gazprom will supply Poland with 9.7 bcm of gas (of Russian or other origin), 10.5 bcm in 2011, and 11 bcm in 2012-2037. The prior protocol provided for 8 bcm per year until 2014 and 9 bcm thereafter.

Russia did not grant but promised Poland discounts for gas supplied in excess of contracted volumes.

Read more: http://www.kyivpost.com/news/russia/detail/117792/#ixzz1f5JwCPXW

No problems with Russian gas for Europe this winter http://www.bsr-russia.com/en/oil-gas/item/1990-no-problems-with-russian-gas-for-europe-this-winter.html

Posted by Editor on Tuesday, 29 November 2011 00:19 | Published in Oil & Gas

Ukraine and Russia agreed on a new price for Ukraine’s natural-gas imports and accords will be signed by the countries’ presidents late this month or early in December, Ekonomicheskie Izvestia reported, citing a person familiar with the matter in the administration of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, cited Bloomberg in a report from Kiev.

The price agreed is between $220 and $230 per 1,000 cubic meters and Ukraine can pay and obtain loans for gas imports in Russian rubles, according to the newspaper.

Russian investors will have a privileged position if they bid for state assets in Ukraine, according to Izvestia.

This accord, grouped with the launch of NordStream undersea pipeline linking Russia directly with Germany and the agreements signed in Russia last week by Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko and Russian leader Dmitry Medvedv, means that Europe’s gas supply is secure.

Russia agreed to cut prices for natural gas supplies to Belarus in a deal that sees Russia’s Gazprom acquire full ownership of the Belarus’ pipeline network.

Belarus will pay $165.60 per 1,000 cubic meters for gas in 2012, according to the deals.

Gazprom will buy the 50 percent of national pipeline operator Beltransgaz that it doesn’t already own for $2.5 billion, according to the agreement.

Full ownership of the pipeline network will allow Gazprom to deliver gas directly to European customers, Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko told reporters. The two former Soviet republics along with Kazakhstan will create a single economic zone from Jan. 1 and aim to further integrate economic and currency policy in the Eurasian Union as soon as 2015.

The benefits Belarus is obtaining from membership of the Eurasian Union are being pointedly offered to Ukraine in an inducement to join the new grouping.

The secure supply of gas to Europe underlines what Gazprom has maintained since the so-called gas wars of 2005/2006: the gas problem with Europe is one of transit not supply.

Armenia’s Deputy Defense Minister meets with Russian military attaché

http://news.am/eng/news/83703.html

November 29, 2011 | 11:13

YEREVAN. - Davit Tonoyan, Armenia’s First Deputy Minister of Defense, on Monday received Colonel Vasilev, the Russian Embassy’s Military and Air Force Attaché, and discussed the organization and improvement of teaching in Russian universities.  

The interlocutors also looked into the prospects for cooperation in education and personnel training, both bilateral and within the framework of the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization), MOD Press Service informed Armenian News-NEWS.am. 

Factoring in the allied relations between Armenia and Russia, the parties also underscored the necessity to develop methods in respective domains.

Armenia and Russia discuss cooperation in training military staffhttp://vestnikkavkaza.net/news/politics/20417.html

Armenian Deputy Defense Minister David Tonoyan has met Colonel Yevgeny Vasilyev, a military attaché of the Russian Embassy, News.am reports.

The sides discussed organization and modernization of staff training at higher education centers of the Russian Defense Ministry, prospects for cooperation in staff training within the framework of bilateral relations and the CSTO.

The sides noted the need to continue coordination of programs for military staff training, demands for qualification characteristics and development of approaches to military education.

Suspected Russian spy to learn of deportation fate29 Nov 2011 http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-24015400-suspected-russian-spy-to-learn-of-deportation-fate.do

An alleged Russian spy will today find out whether she is allowed to stay in the UK when an appeal against her deportation reaches its conclusion.

Katia Zatuliveter, 26, who was last month compared to "femme fatale" Anna Chapman during an immigration tribunal, is accused of passing secrets to Moscow when she was a researcher - and mistress - to MP Mike Hancock.

Mr Justice John Mitting, the chairman of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac), will deliver his oral judgment in central London this morning.

During the Siac tribunal, much of which was heard behind closed doors because of national security, the lawyer acting on behalf of the Home Secretary, Jonathan Glasson, said Miss Zatuliveter targeted Mr Hancock, 65, because he was "potentially vulnerable".

He told the hearing the Portsmouth South MP was known to have had a number of extra-marital affairs.

"You knew that Mr Hancock's private life might make him potentially vulnerable," he told the Russian in cross examination.

The parliamentarian was also a member of the Defence Select Committee at the time of the affair, which the Home Secretary's lawyer said would have made him of particular interest to the Kremlin.

Responding to Miss Zatuliveter's comment that he was just a backbench MP, he said: "He's not just a backbench MP though, is he? He's a member of the Defence Select Committee."

The Siac panel also heard the Russian had a string of relationships, mostly sexual, with unidentified officials from European countries when she acted as a chaperone to delegates attending conferences in Russia.

Tim Owen QC, representing Miss Zatuliveter, told the tribunal the MI5 spooks investigating his client were more like bumbling Inspector Clouseau than fictional espionage hero George Smiley.

Launching a scathing attack on the Security Service he likened the spies to the comedy Pink Panther character made famous by Peter Sellers rather than being like the spymaster in John Le Carre's novels such as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

Mr Owen said: "On any view it reveals an extraordinarily poor investigative approach, more akin to Inspector Clouseau than George Smiley."

An expert witness for the defence, Nicholas Fielding, told the Siac panel the UK security service case against Miss Zatuliveter was more a "risk assessment" than an "evidence-based case".

Speaking of the elements that make up the case, the defence expert on Russia said: "It runs the risk of appearing to be like a bunch of drunks walking down the road.

"By adding bits to it, it may seem that it adds strength, but if one thing doesn't add up, you run the risk of making the whole thing collapse."

Miss Zatuliveter was stopped at Gatwick Airport in August last year, and was arrested in December amid fears she was engaged in espionage.

The Government wants to deport her on the grounds that her presence is a danger to national security.

Mr Justice Mitting chairs the panel and sits alongside Mark Ockleton and Sir Stephen Lander.

Russia seeks termination of parental rights for U.S. adoptive couplehttp://en.rian.ru/world/20111129/169138366.html

12:53 29/11/2011

MOSCOW, November 29 (RIA Novosti)

Russia’s chief investigator said on Tuesday that the U.S. adoptive parents of a Russian child who died of injuries in 2009 should be deprived of parental rights to their second adopted child.

A Pennsylvania court ruled on November 18 that Michael and Nanette Craver, found guilty of the involuntarily manslaughter of their adopted Russian son, Ivan, must serve from 16 months to four years. The couple had already spent about 18 months in jail so they were released immediately.

The Russian Investigative Committee deemed the U.S. sentence too lenient and demanded further investigation.

RIC chief Alexander Bastrykin sent letters to Russian presidential human rights council head Mikhail Fedotov and human rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin to initiate proceedings to strip the Cravers of parental rights with respect to Ivan’s sister, Dasha.

It is important to ensure Dasha’s early return to Russia, Bastrykin wrote.

Seven-year-old Nathaniel Craver (Ivan Skorobogatov) died in August 2009 at a hospital in Pennsylvania. Doctors said the boy died of injuries and malnutrition. They discovered more than 80 injuries on his body, including 20 on his head.

The Cravers were arrested in February 2010 and denied all the charges brought against them, saying the boy suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome and attachment disorders. The couple's defense said his injuries were self-inflicted.

Prosecutors demanded the death sentence for the couple. The jury however found them partially guilty, dismissing the charges of the deliberate murder of the boy.

The Russian Foreign Ministry slammed the sentence, calling it “flagrant irresponsibility” of the U.S. judicial system.

Since 1991, a total of 17 adopted Russian children have died worldwide as a result of beatings or negligence, according to official Russian statistics.

Helicopters07:40 pm - Monday

Argentina receives two MI-17E helicopters transported by an AN-124 aircraft (VIDEO)http://www.avionews.com/index.php?corpo=see_news_home.php&news_id=1135990&pagina_chiamante=index.php

Moscow, Russia - The country could also decide to exercise the option for three more aircraft

(WAPA) - Thanks to the hold of an Antonov An-124 aircraft it has been possible to carry two Mil Mi-17E and additional equipment in Argentina, destined for the country's Air Force. The exercise followed the contract signed by the Argentinian Ministry of Defence and Rosoboronexport, the national agency that deals with import-export of equipment and aircraft for the defense, in late August 2010 valued at 20 million dollars, including training of personnel.

A contract previously approved by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during his official visit in April 2010.

The MI-17, NATO code name Hip, is a twin-engine aircraft for tactical transport. The "Hip E" version has one of the most powerful weapons ever used on a helicopter, with 192 rockets, a machine gun and four anti-tank missiles.

The government of Buenos Aires could also decide to exercise the option for three more aircraft included in the contract, to support its Antarctic bases.

The video below shows how this helicopter, in service for several decades, is still able to

operate in war zones like Afghanistan. The United States have bought a dozen specimens from Russia destined to Afghan security forces.

12:04 29/11/2011RUSSIAN PRESS REVIEW

Putin’s electoral programme published

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c142/284096.html

MOSCOW, November 29 (Itar-Tass) — A programme, with which Vladimir Putin is going to run for presidency at the 2012 elections, has been published on the site otf the United Russia (UR) Party. Promises take up a major part of the document. Experts believe that the authorities will explain with a possible crisis their inability to fulfil some of them.

Russia will be a united and strong country, which will guarantee a reliable job and high living standards to every individual, and in which “freedom will be based on the foundation of justice.” According to the document, published on the UR site, this is the programme, with which Putin will run for the third presidential term, The Kommersant writes. The opposition pays no attention to another “programme of promises,” which the current authorities “give, but do not fulfil.” Experts believe that even the authors of the programme will forget about it after the elections.

The presidential programme of UR was ready prior to the nomination of Putin to the post of president. The document was drafted by the Institute of Social, Economic and Political Studies, which was created in May 2011 for drafting a programme of the All-Russia Popular Front. The 135-page document, drafted by 600 experts from the Institute, was ready by the end of September. It was entitled People’s Programme. A programme, with which UR ran for parliament, was based on that document. The programme of presidential candidate Putin came from the same source. The same as the People’s Programme, it begins with the summing up of the results of the past decade, when the country managed “to defeat separatism and to overcome the sternest crisis of the hard 90s.” Now, “relying on the Popular Front and a broad public support,” we can pass over to “resolute and responsible actions for achieving the modernization of the country.” The programme says that “the development of individuals is the key value.” This is why “proper living standards” have been promised to “the people of the great country.” All this will be based on “the national economy, modernized on the basis of innovations, in which labour productivity should be doubled within the coming decade.”

Mikhail Rogozhnikov, deputy director of the Institute of Public Designing, told The Kommersant that “this is a good bourgeois programme.” In his opinion, its bourgeois character comes from the ideas about “the priority importance of freedom, family values, the protection of private property and the reduction of the repressive character of law enforcement agencies.” The programme says nothing, however, about the mechanisms with the help of which it could be put into effect.

Experts believe that the coming crisis will put all the ideas on their proper place, The Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes. In the opinion of Nikolai Petrov, member of the scientific council of the Carnegie Foundation, this is the reason for the current shift towards the army, the police and the security services: “populism of the electoral campaign will not be put into effect, and the authorities are getting prepared for social protests well in advance.” A representative of the Communist Party believes that the hope of the authorities, that the crisis will permit them to drop most of the promises, is not a supposition, but the truth.

12:52 29/11/2011ALL NEWS

Fair Russia to nominate Sergei Mironov for president

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/284156.html

MOSCOW, November 29 (Itar-Tass) —— The Fair Russia party is going to nominate Sergei Mironov for the president of Russia, the party’s leader, Nikolai Levichev, told a news conference on Tuesday.

“I believe that at the December 10 congress Sergei Mironov will be supported. At least as the leader of the party I am going to suggest nominating precisely this candidature,” Levichev confirmed.

About mass media publications to the effect Mironov would not participate in the presidential race Levichev said it was a rumor launched with the aim to cause discord within the party’s leadership.

“There are no differences. We are united,” he said.

03:56 29/11/2011ALL NEWS

First launch from new eastern spaceport planned for 2015

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/283863.html

VLADIVOSTOK, November 28 (Itar-Tass) —— The Soyuz-2 launch system will be used at Vostochny (Eastern) spaceport in the Amur Region, and the first blast-off is planned for 2015.

The first launch of a manned spacecraft is planned for 2018.

Liquid oxygen and kerosene will be used as propellant for rockets, unlike toxic heptyl that is used at present for Proton space vehicles, said participants in the two-day conference held by space specialists in Blagoveshchensk’s State Pedagogical University.

Under discussion at the conference were conceptions of launch vehicles, ecological issues and the significance of the spaceport for the economic development of the Far East and the Amur Region.

A special group will be formed in the region to monitor the environment.

The Amur Region administration said on Monday that the stage-by-stage creation of the ground infrastructure would begin in 2012 and the first launch pad would be built by 2015.

The region's production potentialities, including its labour resources, will be used in the construction of the spaceport, in accordance with the agreement concluded between the region and cosmodrome builders that will be in force till 2020.

More than 20 specialists from the Center for the Use of Ground Infrastructure Facilities (Moscow) and the Institute of Water and Ecological Studies (Barnaul) and also chief scientific secretary of the Roscosmos scientific technical board Alexander Milovanov participated in the conference held in connection with the spaceport construction.

RT News line, November 29

Russian space agency fails to change Phobos-Grunt orbithttp://rt.com/news/line/2011-11-29/#id22733

Russia’s space agency has failed to change the orbit of the stray Phobos-Grunt probe, Interfax says, citing the agency press service. On Monday night space stations in Western Australia and Baikonur, Kazakhstan, tried to send signals to the probe to raise its orbit, which would allow longer connection sessions. Phobos-Grunt, the probe to investigate the soil of Mars’s moon – Phobos, was launched on November 9, but reaching the Earth’s orbit it failed to take its course for Mars. Last week the European Space Agency, and then Russia’s Roscosmos, received telemetric information from the probe for the first time since it went astray.

Stalin’s daughter Svetlana passes away in U.S. at age of 85http://en.rian.ru/russia/20111129/169127816.html

02:22 29/11/2011

MOSCOW, November 29 (RIA Novosti)

Svetlana Alliluyeva, the daughter of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, passed away in the United States at the age of 85, the New York Times reported on Monday.

The newspaper reported that she died of a colon cancer in Richland, Wisconsin, on November 22, but the authorities announced the news of her death only on Monday.

The only daughter of brutal Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, was born on February 28, 1926 under the name of Svetlana Stalina. After her father died in 1953, she took her mother’s last name Alliluyeva.

In 1970s she moved to the United States, married an American and since then she lived under the name of Lana Peters.

Prisoner of father’s name: Stalin’s daughter dieshttp://rt.com/news/stalin-daughter-svetlana-dies-427/

Published: 29 November, 2011, 12:13Edited: 29 November, 2011, 12:16

Svetlana Alliluyeva, also known as Lana Peters, the only surviving child of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, has died at the age of 85. She sparked a global uproar by her high-profile defection to the West, where she denounced her father and communism.

Peters died of colon cancer on November 22 in Richland County, Wisconsin, county attorney Benjamin Southwick announced Monday.

The only daughter of the tyrant lived a turbulent and bewildering life that tossed her around the world.

"Wherever I go," she said in an interview to the Wisconsin State Journal, "here, or Switzerland, or India, or wherever. Australia. Some island. I always will be a political prisoner of my father's name."

Svetlana, who was born in 1926, was the only daughter of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and his second wife Nadezhda Alliluyeva, who committed suicide in 1932.

Following the death of her father in 1953, Svetlana traveled to India in 1967 where she asked for political asylum in the US embassy. Such a move in the midst of the Cold War sparked an international uproar and caused a major embarrassment to the Soviet Union.

Upon her arrival in the United States, she denounced Soviet regime and described her father as “a moral and spiritual monster.”

On Voice of America radio, Svetlana told Soviet citizens that life in the United States was “free, gay and full of bright colors.”

Svetlana Alliluyeva gives a press conference, 27 April 1967, in New-York, USA. (AFP Photo)

Her best-selling autobiography, “Twenty Letters to a Friend” brought her more than US$2.5 million.

In 1970, Svetlana Alliluyeva married architect William Wesley Peters, an apprentice to Frank Lloyd Wright, and settled in Wisconsin. They later divorced.

After years spent in the US and Britain she became disillusioned with the West and in 1984 was allowed to return with her daughter Olga to the Soviet Union, where she then denounced the West.

But unhappy with life in the USSR, they returned to the West. Ms. Peters had to disavow the anti-Western things she had said upon her arrival in Moscow, claiming she had been mistranslated.

Svetlana Peters spent her last years in seclusion in a shared rented home.

Being a daughter of one of the most controversial figures in human history and one of the highest-profile defectors from the Soviet Union, Svetlana Alliluyeva herself felt that people did not understand her.

“People say ‘Stalin’s daughter, Stalin’s daughter!’ meaning I’m supposed to walk around with a rifle and shoot the Americans. Or: ‘No, she came here, she is an American citizen.’ That means I’m with a bomb against the others,” she said in a documentary film Svetlana about Svetlana by Svetlana Parshina. “No, I’m neither one, I’m somewhere in-between. That ‘somewhere in-between’ they cannot get.”

“All I’ve learnt so far is theosophy, brotherhood of mankind, cosmopolitanism,” she said in the film.

Svetlana is survived by a daughter Ekaterina, born 1950 who studies volcanoes in Russia’s Far East, and another, Olga, 40, who goes by the name of Chrese Evans and lives in Oregon.

Smuggling and hooliganism suspects in Russia are detained in Armenia

http://news.am/eng/news/83705.html

November 29, 2011 | 11:18

Armenian Police Force officers detained, on a street in capital Yerevan on Monday, a 49-year-old man who was wanted by Russia’s Saratov Customs, since August 3, on smuggling charges.  

Also on the same day, Armenia’s law enforcement officers detained, in Marmashen village, a 29-year-old man who was wanted by Russia’s Altai Regional Police, since July 24, on hooliganism charges.

Police detain ex-Moscow mayor’s brother-in-law Baturinhttp://en.rian.ru/russia/20111129/169127323.html

01:58 29/11/2011

MOSCOW, November 29 (RIA Novosti)

Russian businessman Viktor Baturin, the brother-in-law of former Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov, was detained on Monday in the Russian capital on fraud charges, a Moscow police spokesperson said on Tuesday.

In early June this year, Baturin, the brother of property construction tycoon Yelena Baturina, received a suspended three-year jail term for fraud.

He was found guilty of selling one property in downtown Moscow to two men for $857,000 and $1.5 million within the space of one month in 2008.

Baturin pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

The Presnensky district court also fined Baturin $10,800 in damages.

12:03 29/11/2011ALL NEWS

50,000 policemen to ensure security during Duma elections in Moscow

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/284086.html

MOSCOW, November 29 (Itar-Tass) —— More than 50,000 policemen will ensure security during the State Duma elections in Moscow due to be held on December 4, chief of the Public Order Maintenance Department of the capital Main Department of the Interior Ministry Vyacheslav Kozlov told journalists on Tuesday.

“It is planned to involve more than 51,500 officers of interior bodies and servicemen of Interior Troops,” Kozlov said.

As he said, all the officers of the Moscow Garrison who will be on duty on December 4 will be able to vote at the places of their service.

“The Main Department of the Russian Interior Ministry for Moscow will take all necessary measures to ensure security during the period of preparations for and holding of the elections,” the chief of the department said.

09:45 29/11/2011ALL NEWS

Ban on Duma election forecast publication to last until vote end

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/283968.html

MOSCOW, November 29 (Itar-Tass) — A ban on publishing opinion poll results on the outcome of elections to the State Duma lower house of parliament comes into force on Tuesday in the parliamentary election campaign. Under the law a similar ban is imposed also on other studies related to the elections. It extends to the placement of such data in information and telecommunication networks, including the Internet. This measure, in essence, precedes the “day of silence” and serves the same purpose, the Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) explained to Itar-Tass. “Before the vote, the electorate should have a possibility to make a conscious choice without any outside pressure, including data of authoritative sociological services,” the CEC said.

The ban will last until 21:00 MSK on December 4, when all polling stations at the Duma elections will be closed in Russia. On the same hour the sociologists are expected to make public the “hottest” information - the data of exit polls that will be the first to shed light on the possible results of the voting. Such exit polls have been included in Russia’s electoral practices and have already been conducted in a number of federal cycles.

It is no secret that at some elections the exit poll results were announced ahead of time, in violation of the law. Russian CEC head Vladimir Churov fears that this can happen also on December 4. Moreover, he does not rule out the appearance of fake exit polls. “False information, exit polls conducted by nobody can appear - a kind of ballot-stuffing,” Churov said last week at a meeting with representatives of nongovernmental organisations. The CEC head said that “the problem with the exit polls has not been settled in the world.” According to him, as a rule, they appear early on the websites or in electronic media in foreign countries that are accessible to residents of the country where elections are held. In particular, Churov believes that the exit polls data can be posted “on websites in Ukraine or Moldova, or in Estonia.”

As is known, public opinion polls have become an integral part of any election campaign. It is not accidentally that the legislation includes the requirements that the media should strictly comply with when they publish their results. The country’s authoritative social services have a very responsible approach to the compilation of electoral ratings. It is noteworthy that the leading sociologists have repeatedly organised a kind of a “sweepstake,” a week before the voting closing in a safe sealed envelopes with their forecasts in order to see on the vote results whose study proved more accurate.

The parliamentary campaign was officially kicked off on August 30, after the presidential decree appointing the voting date was published. These elections, like the previous ones, will be held under the proportional election system, or by party lists. For the first time in Russia’s recent history, all the seven political parties registered by the Ministry of Justice are taking part in the campaign. All the seven have managed to win registration for parliamentary elections, including the three parties, which had no seats in the State Duma of the fifth convocation. These three parties managed to collect 150,000 signatures to be registered. So, slightly more than 3,000 registered candidates will compete for 450 Duma seats.

Although the term of a next Duma has been extended to five years, an average of seven candidates are vying for one Duma seat, or almost by half less than at the previous elections. Experts say that notwithstanding this fact the completion is not less tough, which is reflected in media canvassing. According to analysts, canvassing methods used in this campaign are rather tough, if not brutal. Thus, some TV companies demanded that parties’ campaign masterminds employed some censorship to their TV reels. Moreover, they appealed for clarification to the Central Election Commission, and the latter referred two reels of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) and the Just Russia party to police for an expert opinion of their compliance to law.

The ruling United Russia party, which has not been taking part in televised debates for years, has finally released a number of reels featuring the president and the prime minister. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) found itself in a focus of a scandal over the use of photos of legendary arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov. The Central Election Commission received to contradictory documents about the latter’s consent to take part in the CPRF’s campaigning. Unlike the previous Duma campaign, the parties are making a more extensive use of the Internet for their campaigning

purposes. One positive thing about the current campaign is that such methods as graffiti are no longer used.

It is expected that the coming week will be rich in events. A number of parties have already announced their intention to stage mass rallies on the last day of campaigning, December 2. At midnight on December 3, the so-called day of silence, when any canvassing or campaigning is banned, begins. From November 29, it will be prohibited to announce the results of all kinds of opinion polls or election forecasts. On the same day, the CEC will hold a videoconference with all other election commissions. Taking part in the videoconference there will be officials from the Russian president’s administration, the Russian government, Prosecutor General’s Office, federal and regional authorities.

Along with elections to the national parliament’s lower house, local legislatures will be elected in 27 Russia regions on the same day. In all, according to the CEC, about 2,800 elections of various levels, and 103 local referendums will be held in Russia’s 77 constituent regions on December 4. About 45,000 candidates have been registered for all these elections across Russia, Vladimir Churov said.

11:37 29/11/2011ALL NEWS

Some 650 international observers to monitor parliamentary vote in Russia

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/284060.html

MOSCOW, November 29 (Itar-Tass) —— About 650 international observers will monitor parliamentary elections in Russia on December 4, chairman of the Russian Central Election Commission Vladimir Churov said on Tuesday.

“Now it is obvious, that all 650 international observers will be granted accreditation,” Churov said at a video conference at the Russian Ministry of Communications. “This is a very small figure compared with 500,000 observers from parties.”

Churov reminded that the Russian legislation is among world’s rare ones that regulate the rights and liabilities of international observers.

“It is a must to observe their rights but we should not forget that international observers, along with domestic observers, have certain liabilities,” he stressed.

According to the chairman of the Russian Central Election Commission, observers are to have permits of local election commissions to make photo or video coverage of balloting at polling stations. In his words, more than once he saw international observers “rushing brassily to polling stations with cameras at the ready.” He noted that under the current rules, international observers are required to introduce themselves to the local election commission and show their accreditation cards.

He also expressed concern over reports about “two fake written rules of behavior for observers” and called to display due vigilance.

Russia will elect a new, sixth, State Duma, or lower house of the national parliament, on Sunday, December 4.

Russia not to limit election monitorshttp://en.rian.ru/russia/20111129/169137121.html

12:04 29/11/2011

MOSCOW, November 29 (RIA Novosti)

Russia’s chief election manager has said all 650 international observers will be able to monitor a crucial parliamentary vote on Sunday.

“We will accredit all 650 international monitors,” election commission head Vladimir Churov announced on Tuesday.

There had been fears Russia may limit foreign monitors at its parliamentary elections on December 4.

But Churov, who has been accused of favoring the ruling United Russia party, warned monitoring groups including the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, or OSCE, against being overzealous.

“You should be very careful… We are guarding democracy and law,” he said.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned Western powers against attempts to “influence the course of the election campaign in our country” in what independent observers described as his “total misunderstanding” of the political crisis in Russia.

12:10 29/11/2011RUSSIAN PRESS REVIEW

Where MPs get employment after they leave Duma

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c142/284102.html

MOSCOW, November 29 (Itar-Tass) — Every ninth deputy to the fifth Duma quit his working place and found a new job, the Vedomosti writes. The Duma ceased to be a decision-making body, and the mandate of a MP no longer guarantes personal immunity.

The lower chamber of the Russian parliament set the record by the number of MPs, who quit their posts and took up new jobs, the newspaper writes. They were not only promoted to higher posts, but also took up the jobs, which previously were regarded as less presigious.

A total of 51 Duma members took up new jobs after February 2008, and most of them are from the United Russia (UR) Party. The figure is comparable with the numerical strength of a whole faction. Many MPs left the Duma and went to work in riegional administrations. Five MPs from UR becme governors. Vladimir Gruzdev, who was appointed governor of the Tula Region, invited three MPs to work as his assistants.

UR MP Vyacheslav Volodin, deputy speaker of the Duma, got the most prestigious post: he was appointed head of the government staff and deputy pime minister. Five MPs were appointed deputy ministers. Alexander Koval was appointed head of the Federal Service for Insurance Supervision. Several MPs managed to move to the Federation Council. Even a law was adopted, which made it possible for Duma members to be transferred to the Federation Council.

Another four MPs left their places in the Duma for posts of members of regional councils. Previously it was regarded as demotion, but today a deputy to a regional council could influence political and personnel decision-making. Regional councils are more independent in amending their charters, than the Duma, political scientist Alexander Kynev believes. It is better to play an important role in one’s native region, than to be one of 450 deputies to the Duma, a UR MP, who went to work for a regional council, told The Vedomosti.

November 29, 2011, 10:02 AM CET

Russia’s “Apple” Party Says Kremlin Ruled By “Vegetables”http://blogs.wsj.com/emergingeurope/2011/11/29/russia%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Capple%E2%80%9D-party-says-kremlin-ruled-by-%E2%80%9Cvegetables%E2%80%9D/

By William Mauldin

MOSCOW — Just a few days before Russia’s Duma election, things are starting to get interesting, at least on the fringes. Almost all political observers expect Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party to retain a comfortable majority in parliament, but opposition parties are also making their voices heard.

The Yabloko party, whose name means “apple” in Russian, recently gave viewers some food for thought with a TV ad referring to the ruling party as “vegetables.”

“For all those who are tired of vegetables, choose an honest, democratic apple,” says one of the party’s founders, Grigory Yavlinsky. In the ad, available on YouTube, the Communist Party is compared with a bland Russian soup, colored red, while Vladimir Zhirinovsky’s Liberal Democratic Party is described in terms of “poisonous” nationalism.

Three-person family shot dead in Kaspiisk http://www.riadagestan.com/news/2011/11/29/8018/

29.11.2011 , 10:41

Kaspiisk, November, 29, 2011. On November 29 at around 06:00 Moscow time a heinous crime has been committed in Dagestan town of Kaspiisk. According to the source in the Interior Ministry RD, attackers cold-bloodedly shot dead the whole family, consisting of three persons. The police found bodies of two women and a men in the house. Presumably, they are husband, wife and their daughter. At the present time all the circumstances of the incident are being investigated. The family was selling furniture on Kaspiisk municipal market. The investigators have to reveal whether this was the motive of the crime.

November 29, 2011 11:27

Three killed in Dagestan's Kaspiiskhttp://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=290778

MAKHACHKALA. Nov 29 (Interfax) - A triple murder has been committed in the Dagestani town of Kaspiisk, Dagestan's Interior Ministry's press service told Interfax.

"A man, woman and their 22 year-old daughter were killed. There are gunshot wounds on their bodies," the press service said.

The killed people worker at the local furniture market, it said.

An investigation is underway.

09:21 29/11/2011ALL NEWS

Major lab producing psychotropic drugs liquidated in Pskov Region

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/283942.html

MOSCOW, November 29 (Itar-Tass) — A major laboratory for the production of psychotropic substances has been liquidated in Russia’s Pskov Region, local law enforcement agencies reported on Tuesday.

“It was organized in an abandoned house in the village of Ovsyanka, Sebezh district. About 50 kilograms of amphetamine have been seized there,” sources told Tass. An unemployed man was detained on Monday on suspicion of being involved in that. Police try to identify associates and the organizer of the laboratory, the sources said. Criminal proceedings have been instituted.

RIA Novosti denies ‘censorship’ chargehttp://en.rian.ru/russia/20111129/169125384.html

00:21 29/11/2011

MOSCOW, November 29 (RIA Novosti)

The state-run RIA Novosti media company on Monday denied that one of its outlets had been ordered to “soften” or limit the publication of articles from foreign media critical of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and the ruling United Russia party.

“The editorial management of RIA Novosti has given no instructions to soften headlines concerning any political party or any political activity,” RIA spokeswoman Alla Nadezhkina said.

“RIA Novosti strives for maximum balance and objectivity in its reporting on the State Duma election campaign,” she added, noting that media censorship was prohibited by the Russian Constitution and legislation.

The allegations come just days before parliamentary polls on December 4. Both Putin and United Russia’s approval ratings have been falling in recent weeks.

The company issued the statement after an employee of InoSMI, a RIA Novosti outlet that publishes translations into Russian of articles from foreign media, asserted in a blog post that he had been told to limit translations of stories critical of Putin and United Russia and to “soften” headlines on those articles that were translated and published.

The employee, Grigory Okhotin, supported his assertion by publishing screen shots of a chat exchange with a RIA manager responsible for internet projects in which the latter asked him to refrain from translating “negative” political stories in the week leading up to the Duma elections on Sunday.

"They told me rather clearly not to translate harsh stories about Putin or United Russia," Okhotin wrote in his blog. "Or, they said, you can translate some but soften the headlines and don't put them on the front page."

Nadezhkina confirmed that all editorial departments had been told to pay particular attention to ensuring balanced and objective coverage ahead of the vote. But she said the charges made by Okhotin, who has resigned, contained “clear distortions.”

29 November 2011, 10:43

Renowned Moscow atheist suggests Orthodox believers burning down his bookhttp://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=8909

Moscow, November 29, Interfax - Believers spoke about their readiness to burn down a book written by the head of Moscow Atheistic Society Alexander Nikonov Opium for People. Religion as Global Business Project.

The author himself suggested it during his discussion with the leader of the Orthodox Church Banner Bearers Leonid Simonovich-Nikshich on air of the RSN Radio.

Simonov-Nikshich told that Orthodox believers had already publicly burned the book of renowned TV anchor Vladimir Solovyov and in his turn Nikonov asked: "And why haven't you burn my book?"

"Just a minute, I'll write it (the title - IF) down. It's a nice idea," the banner bearer reacted.

PRESS DIGEST - Russia - Nov 29http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL5E7MT0F620111129

Tue Nov 29, 2011 7:53am GMT

MOSCOW Nov 29 (Reuters) - The following are some of the leading stories in Russia's newspapers on Tuesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

VEDOMOSTI

www.vedomosti.ru

- The head of Polish energy firm PGNiG, Michal Szubski, says in an interview that 60 percent the country's natural gas is supplied by Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom .

- Some 43 percent Russians prefer Google Inc's Android platform based phones, the paper says citing recent Internet poll.

KOMMERSANT

www.kommersant.ru

- The Kremlin-backed candidate fails to win presidential elections in Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia, where an opposition candidate is leading in the vote, the paper says.

- The focus of Vladimir Putin's presidential political programme is modernisation, the paper cites documents published by his United Russia party as saying.

- Members of Russia's cultural elite, human rights and opposition groups plan a round table on Dec. 12 to discuss the hypothetical collapse of Vladimir Putin's rule, the daily says.

NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA

www.ng.ru

- Russia's pharmaceutical companies appealed to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Monday to get rid of price controls on life-saving drugs, saying many firms may become unprofitable, the daily says.

November 28, 2011

Horse Racing Draws a Line at Licensing Chechen Leaderhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/29/sports/horse-racing-draws-line-at-licensing-chechen-leader.html?_r=1

By BILL FINLEY

Thoroughbred racing has always attracted a mix of royalty and rogues. Blue bloods like the Whitneys and the Vanderbilts have long been owners. So, too, have mischief-makers like the mobster Arnold Rothstein, who won the 1921 Travers at Saratoga with a racehorse named Sporting Blood.

It appears, though, at least in New York and in Kentucky, that there are limits to who can race a horse. Officials in those states have taken steps to exclude from racing a horse owned by Ramzan A. Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya, who has been accused by human rights groups of murder, torture and other abuses over the years.

The horse’s charming name, Sweet Ducky, has not seemed to help his case.

Last month at Keeneland racetrack in Lexington, Ky., with Sweet Ducky scheduled to race, the State Department reached out to the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission to make it fully aware of the longstanding allegations that have been made against Kadyrov. The commission subsequently ordered the horse scratched because Kadyrov and his representatives did not answer a request to appear at a hearing before his request for a license could be approved. Kadyrov, it should be noted, is not a frequent visitor to the United States.

Two months earlier the New York State Racing and Wagering Board had also received an application for a racing license for Kadyrov. Such requests are usually approved within a matter of days, but the New York racing officials, who also consulted with the State Department, delayed processing his application and appeared ready to delay the matter for the foreseeable future.

“Short of the State Department drastically changing its tune on Mr. Kadyrov,” said one New York racing official who refused to be identified by name, “it’s safe to assume he will not be racing horses in New York State.”

Alvi A. Karimov, a spokesman for Kadyrov, said he believed the licensing issue was a flimsy pretext for scratching a horse who was simply too good.

“I have no doubt that all this fuss was raised exclusively with one aim — to kick the horse out of the race,” Karimov said in a telephone interview. “The horse had all the qualities necessary to win the race. I am deeply convinced that there was no other reason than that.”

Karimov added that he regarded the decision as “ideological sabotage against the Chechen authorities,” adding, “Targeted work is being conducted by certain organizations in the United States.”

He said Sweet Ducky had received an invitation that granted him the right to participate, “and then at the last moment they said due to some reasons and so on and so forth.”

Kadyrov, 35, who became the leader of Chechnya in 2007, is an avid horse racing fan and has acquired a stable of top thoroughbreds who have competed in major races in Russia, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong and England.

He began to assemble his stable around 2008, and one of his first acquisitions was Racecar Rhapsody, who finished fourth in the 2008 Preakness Stakes and later finished fourth in the Russian Derby for his new owner.

In March, Kadyrov purchased Gitano Hernando from American owners for a reported $4 million. Three months later, he won the $2.3 million Singapore Airlines International Cup in Singapore with the 5-year-old horse.

“You have a guy who is very passionate about horses and cares about horses,” Robert Harrison told The Associated Press in an article published in May. The article described Harrison as Kadyrov’s racing manager.

“When his horses are injured, he takes them to Chechnya, where they have a great life,” Harrison added. “There are not very many owners who will do those kind of things. He has a very compassionate side to him.”

The world of horse racing has always thrived, sometimes with a wink, sometimes not, at the sketchy quality of some of its players. Whether it has been Hollywood poking fun at the sport and its nefarious characters or real-life investigations over the years into fixed races, crooked jockeys and the rise of drug usage, racing’s image has always been less than pristine.

Kadyrov, though, seems to have presented a new challenge. It is not hard to see why, given his bloody reputation. Some Australian politicians protested in 2009 when one of his horses entered the Melbourne Cup.

“If this nasty character were to get his hands on the Melbourne Cup, it would be the lowest point in Australia’s sporting history,” Senator Bob Brown told an Australian newspaper. But the horse ran and placed third, winning a purse worth about $450,000.

Sweet Ducky entered Kadyrov’s stable in 2011. Owned by George and Lori Hall, who are based in New Jersey, the horse won two minor stakes races at Monmouth Park in 2010 and was on the Kentucky Derby trail after finishing second this year in the Jan. 30 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park in South Florida. That changed when Kadyrov bought him, turned him over to the South African trainer Herman Brown and sent him to Dubai to run in the United Arab Emirates Derby, where he finished 13th.

It appeared unlikely that Sweet Ducky would return to the United States. Kadyrov had never started a horse in this country and seemed intent on focusing on major races in Eastern Europe, Asia and the Middle East. But Sweet Ducky did come back. With Seth Benzel, a trainer based in New York, he had a workout at Saratoga in June and was entered in and then scratched from the Oct. 7 race at Keeneland.

Rachel Denber, the deputy director of the Europe and Central Asia division of Human Rights Watch, applauded the efforts of regulators to keep Kadyrov’s horses off the track.

“Scrutinizing this person and, especially, looking at where his money is coming from, was absolutely the right thing for these racing commissions to do,” she said. “These are state licensing commissions, and they have a duty to scrutinize Kadyrov.”

Sweet Ducky eventually surfaced at Woodbine racetrack in Toronto, where he was entered in a $78,937 race on Oct. 30.

“We have no reason to deny the man a license,” Gunnar Lindberg, an Ontario Racing Commission steward, said before Sweet Ducky’s race at Woodbine. “All there are at this point are allegations. I have Googled him, and at this point in time, there are no charges against him or any charges pending in North America. He is also licensed in the United Kingdom and is spending a lot of money there on horses.”

The Woodbine race was a disaster for Sweet Ducky. He trailed every step of the way and finished last. He has not raced since, and his whereabouts remain a mystery. The New York Racing Association has a record of Sweet Ducky’s leaving Belmont Park to race in Canada, but not one of any return.

Ellen Barry contributed reporting from Moscow.

‘Russia is underrepresented in Asia’http://rt.com/politics/press/kommersant/russia-asia-role-interivew/en/

Published: 29 November, 2011, 08:58Edited: 29 November, 2011, 09:02

Editor-in-Chief of the Russia in Global Affairs Magazine, Fyodor Lukyanov, talks to Kommersant’s correspondent Aleksandr Gabuyev about what role Russia plays in Asia.

Kommersant: Could we say that Russia is one of the leading players in Asia?

Fyodor Lukyanov: There is no way Russia can be considered a leading player in the region. Though Russia’s potential leadership role in Asia is noted by other counties, so far, no one is really seeing this role being plaid out or has any major expectations of our country. However, that’s understandable: Russia is underrepresented in Asia.    

K: But Russia is a member of all Asian associations.

FL: That’s true. Russia has long strived to take part in the work of all of the regional organizations, and now were we are included in every organization as a fully-fledged member, or an observer, or a dialogue partner. This is definitely an achievement of the Russian diplomacy. But it seems that no one in Moscow knows just what to do with all of these riches, how to position ourselves.  

K: Does Russia have a clear Asia policy?

FL: Officially it always has, even in the 1990s. And yet, the focus has been made exclusively in the Western direction. One could say that the shift toward Asia began with Dmitry Medvedev – suffice to look at the geography and the number of his visits.  

Objectively, Moscow is forced to look at this part of the world for two reasons. First, the global power center – both political and economic – is located in the Asia-Pacific region. Second, Russia needs to do something with its Far East and Siberia. And when it comes to that, we cannot do without an Asia policy.

K: Why hasn’t Asia been a priority in the past?

FL: Before, our activities in Asia were usually perceived as an element in the game with the West. Meanwhile, in their subtext, visits to Asia had always harbored a desire to show off to NATO and demonstrate to the US and Europe that we have friends in other corners of the world. But now, Russia can no longer afford its policy in Asia to be based on some third factors, such as a desire to sniff at the US, instead of the real state of affairs. For Moscow, the Asia policy is now valuable in itself – and that is already a great achievement.     

K: Is this shift linked to the crisis and the different ways Russia and our eastern neighbors experienced it? Could it be said that Russia has stopped looking at Asia with arrogance?

FL: The crisis has certainly played its role. Under Medvedev, for the first time, Asia started being mentioned as a source for Russia’s modernization – second after the West. In other words, the leadership has for the first time realized that Asia is more developed than we are.

But there are other, more significant reasons. The Asia-Pacific Region and the Indian Ocean are now becoming the main venue for world politics. And if you are even slightly underrepresented there, you cannot claim the role of a global power.   

Moscow understands this. It’s no wonder the first purchased French Mistral warship is being deployed to the Pacific Ocean. Clearly, by doing so, Russia wants to demonstrate its presence in the Asia-Pacific Region. And we are not waving our flag before the Japanese, as much as we are in front of the Chinese.

K: If Russia is underrepresented in Asia, then what role can it play in the regional division of labor? Are we at least in any way in demand by anyone?  

FL: Economically, we are needed in Asia – mainly as a source of energy products and other mineral resources. Meanwhile, at this time the interest is also hypothetical: we practically have no infrastructure, necessary for the export of resources to Asia. So China, for example, though it has Russia by its side, continues buying gas from just about anyone but us.  

K: So our only role is provider of natural resources?  

FL: Not only. From a geopolitical viewpoint, Russia could act as a participant in the alignment of intricate balances in the region.  

The current environment in Asia is extremely confrontational; competition between the US and China is rising. In these conditions, there may be a need for an independent weight that could be placed on various sides of the scale, depending on the situation, and maintain a balance. Of course, given the territorial scales and all other realities, it’s strange to call Russia a weight, but if we consider our real influence in Asia – we are currently unable to claim a larger role.   

K: Many are getting the impression that Russia is too closely tied to China, and that creates some serious risks for the RF.

FL: It would be very dangerous if China and Asia were equivalent in the minds of our leaders. The inclination toward China is explainable: it is a lot more powerful than all of our other neighbors. But now, Russia’s main objective, if it wants to develop Siberia and the Far East without any risks to sovereignty – is maximum diversification of contacts.

The post-imperial syndromehttp://rt.com/politics/press/rossijskaya-gazeta/nato-russia-foreign-policy/en/

Published: 29 November, 2011, 08:36Edited: 29 November, 2011, 08:38

Leonid Radzikhovsky

Foreign policy has gone almost unmentioned in the elections debates.

First, foreign policy details are of little concern to the voters. Second, the four “big parties” are basically unanimous on these topics and could, theoretically, create a “dominant bloc”. The principles of the “bloc” generally correspond to the beliefs of an overwhelming majority of voters. Indeed, “the people and the parties are one” when it comes to the idea that: “Just as decades ago, we continue being surrounded by a hostile world, by ‘geopolitical Darwinism’. And, in this jungle, Russia’s allies are the army and the Navy.”

The main potential adversaries are NATO countries, and particularly the United States. They are encroaching on our borders, wanting to steal our natural resources, just like they did from Iraq (incidentally, all of the Iraqi oil belongs to the Republic of Iraq, just as it did before, while concessions for oil development are given to various companies, including Lukoil. However – these are trivial matters).   

Such a worldview is not simply a result of TV propaganda. Here, the historic memory of numerous wars, hot and cold, comes into play. However, it is also true that the European states were not only in a continuous war with Russia, but with each other as well – and have since been able to unite and put an end to the “European history of wars”. Meanwhile, our generals, politicians, and voters continue preparing for wars past – for a nuclear June 22…

Though foreign policy details are of little concern to people, the “defense anti-Western complex” is the foundation of social consciousness.

In reality, a “war on the Western front” is impossible – the EU and the US cannot attack Russia (nor Russia them), as it would be nuclear suicide. There is no need for war. Meanwhile, we will gladly sell oil, gas, and other natural resources to the EU, and have no ideological or territorial conflicts with NATO.

But if we finally realize that a nuclear war between Russia and NATO is impossible, just as it is between the countries of NATO, then our entire worldview shifts. 

Geopolitics.

Russia (the leadership and the people) assess most countries based on the anti-NATO logic: “The enemy of my enemy is my friend”. This was the main rationale, based on which Russia sympathized with Saddam, Gaddafi, and now Chavez and Ahmadinejad. Russia does not feel any sympathy for these people per se, but the “anti-NATO navigation” is pointing to them. And if this navigation stops working, it will immediately become clear that by far not all of NATO’s enemies are our friends. And there are no special reasons to sympathize with them, or support them. We can trade with them if it is beneficial (and even then, perhaps, it would be more advantageous to seek a strategic partnership with the US rather than direct monetary profits from Iran or Venezuela). Russia has disputes with the West over gas and oil pipelines (such as Nabucco). But all of these are matters of political and economic bargaining rather than military threats or

sacred ideology. Russia’s desire to sell more of its oil and gas to the EU is not a reason for military confrontation with Europe.  

The “anti-NATO” tones determine our relations with the former Soviet states.

The very thought of Georgia’s accession to NATO was so intolerable that it played its role, albeit minor, in the military confrontation with Georgia. (Incidentally, the NATO Charter does not allow the accession of a country with unsettled territorial disputes, so Georgia’s path to NATO was closed either way). The fact that Russia has a business relationship with NATO and, from time to time, we hear talks that we, ourselves, would not mind joining the despicable NATO, makes things all the more interesting. However, no one is inviting us to join. In the 1990s, it was made clear to us that no one in NATO awaits for Russia.     

But if we acknowledge that there is no threat of a military attack from NATO, then why should NATO’s possible expansion worry Russia? You want to expand – be my guest…

It’s hard to let go of the preconceived notions, thought there is little rationale behind them and plenty of emotions. Countries of the Eastern Europe, the Baltic States had all entered NATO – so what? It was the 1990s, the oil and gas sector was being privatized, and the Western states were not allowed to get a share of the pie. If NATO is ready to fight for our resources, then why did it not put pressure the weak Russia of the 1990s? There has not been a single military threat. So who, or what, is it that we are afraid of? And why?  

With this approach, the “asymmetric response” to the US deployment of missile defense looks different. India and Brazil, for example, are not fighting against the US missiles – why should we?

India and Brazil, which are not dependent on the United States, are its competitors-partners. Korea, Japan, Malaysia, and the Gulf countries – which the US is paying vast amounts of money for oil – none of these countries have missile defense systems, even remotely similar to ours. Neither are they trying to acquire them as, for some reason, they are not afraid of being shelled by the US.

In reality, for Russia, relations with the West are not so much a matter of external security, but inner peace. We need an image of an enemy – alas, there is not much else that can unite society.

If the feeling of constant threat from the West disappears, if the anti-NATO stilts collapse, then our self-esteem will plummet. It is one thing if we are living to struggle against “prestigious competitors”, such as NATO, and another if “we exist just because”, on our own. The “intrigue of confrontation” disappears, and the question: “Do you respect us, are you intimidated by us?” is answered by an echo. Living without this National Idea is boring, while another common idea does not exist.  

The US is not liked throughout the world. But we, perhaps, are the only ones, who constantly engage in the “battle of strength” with the country (other than Iran and North Korea), or play the perpetual zero-sum game against the US, or consider “competition against the US” our Mission and the core of our policy.   

Moreover, many political constructions within the country (including the vertical power structure) could tremble, if the “anti-NATO scaffolding” is removed. Without the anti-Western glasses, the country’s real problems become much clearer – the “anti-NATO correction”, which assumes that things may be bad here, but the main thing is to stand up to the “Western influence”, disappears. What other universal excuses are there for unpleasant questions? 

Anti-Americanism is a system-forming component in our System.

The entire world, including us, is perfectly aware of the fact that Russia has not been the Alternative Center of the World for a long time. Our confrontation with the US is virtual and one-sided – the US does not consider us the Main Adversary – we do not hold the central place in its strategy (and this beastliness will not be forgiven!). Global rivalry with the United States is irrelevant in this multi-polar world, where there is not a “global vertical structure”. Each year brings more doubt that the all-powerful and horrible Unites States is that “Center” (incidentally, the “Global Policeman” complex is also inadequate and is ruining America).    

But great power ambitions are a drug. There is a craving to imagine and portray what doesn’t exist, the soul demands high intrigues, the Great Game. “The darkness of the low truths is more valuable to us than the elevating lies.”  

So as not to lie to ourselves, to adequately accept ourselves, not to act “in spite of an arrogant neighbor”, not to fight with prestigious pseudo-threats, but limit ourselves to the prose of our life – there needs to be a paradigm shift of  consciousness.    

But our society is full of resolve not to capitulate to common sense and continue the “stand-off against NATO-US”. It’s hard to let go of the preconceived notions, especially when there is little rationale behind them, and plenty of emotion.

The Vote of the Younghttp://russiaprofile.org/politics/50037.html

Young Voters Are United Against United Russia, But Divided on All Else

By Dan Peleschuk Russia Profile 11/28/2011

Ahead of Russia’s first Duma vote since 2007, millions of Russian citizens have become eligible to vote for the first time. They are the voices of a new generation – those with no memory of the Soviet Union, who have come of age in an era of managed democracy. And although their electoral preferences vary, many young, educated Muscovites seem to be united by a common thread: on December 4, they will vote for anyone but United Russia.

“All of my university classmates share the same inclination – anyone but United Russia,” said Yulia Agryzkova, an 18-year-old student at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics (HSE). “I don’t know a single person in my age group, from 18 to about 22, who is willing to vote for United Russia.”

It has been a difficult election season for the party of power. Amidst a steady decline in its ratings, a string of public embarrassments and, in general, growing discontent over the current political situation, United Russia has never seemed quite so vulnerable. A lion’s share of the criticism has come from the Internet, the consummate meeting place for a generation of young, educated and increasingly disenchanted youth who voice their concerns – or the latest anti-establishment jokes – through outlets such as LiveJournal, VKontakte and Twitter.

This, however, hasn’t stopped United Russia from attempting to rally young voters. Most recently, it released a controversial online ad featuring a young woman at a polling station pulling a male interlocutor into the booth, then emerging with him, disheveled and smiling, under the slogan, “Let’s do it together.”

But campaigns such as these seem to have had little effect on young voters. And while many doubt the honesty of the upcoming elections, they nevertheless said the best way to voice their discontent is by going to the polls in support of other parties. “I don’t have the feeling that my vote will count, unfortunately, but I think it’s better to go and show them – United Russia – that they don’t have a majority like they used to have,” said Bogdina Buvaeva, an 18-year-old law student at the Moscow State University of International Relations (MGIMO). “They don’t like the youth, and you can see [signs of] it on the Internet – in blogs, Twitter, and wherever else.”

But while many first-time voters seem solidly against United Russia, the similarities end there. They diverge on a range of other issues – the parties they support, the primary influences on their voting choice, and their opinions of Russian democracy – and cast the image of the oft-heralded “young, liberal voter” in a more complex light. Many are frustrated, but while some vote with economic interests in mind, others vote in line with their family’s political leanings. Still more are torn between parties, or about whether to vote at all.

Twenty-two year old Yevgeniy Popov said he will vote for the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), headed by the notoriously vocal Vladimir Zhirinovsky, because he feels that job opportunities in Moscow have been drastically limited by the influx of migrant workers. LDPR has increasingly taken up the anti-

immigration mantle, and its posters can be found around Moscow emblazoned with Zhirinovsky’s face and with the slogan “For Russians!” “It’s becoming more difficult for people who live in Moscow to find good work,” he said. “And LDPR promises to deal with this issue.”

Popov, a student at the Moscow State Road-Transport Institute, said his professors at university influenced his decision to vote in the upcoming elections. By explaining to him the “mechanism,” he said, by which his otherwise uncounted vote would likely end up going to another party, they underscored the importance – no matter how seemingly futile – of voting.

Others seem to follow the family trend, despite the widely perceived gap between the Soviet and post-Soviet generations. Agryzkova, a journalism student at HSE, said she will vote for the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF), and although she was leaning toward voting for Yabloko, a social liberal party once popular in the Boris Yeltsin era, her family’s tradition of supporting communists won her over. She also believes the KPRF, Russia’s second most popular party, is the only viable challenger to United Russia. “Throughout my childhood, my family would always tell me about how the quality of living for them [under communism] was so high,” she said. “Although I understand all the minuses, all the horrors of the socialist era, I think many people still lived very happily.”

Buvaeva, the MGIMO student, said she has also been influenced by her family. The Republic of Kalmykia native said her family’s deep-seeded distrust of the communist party, which is rooted in the Soviet regime’s mass deportation of the Kalmyk people in the early 1940s, plays a major role in both their collective memory and voting habits. “For my family, it was a very tragic event,” she said. “We would never support the communists.”

Instead, Buvaeva said, she will likely vote for Yabloko, though she had considered spoiling her ballot to ensure her vote “wouldn’t be cheated.” She ultimately settled on Yabloko because it supports social programs from which she said her native village in Kalmykia could benefit.

If there is a second prominent trend among young voters, however, it is perhaps a sense of resignation over what they feel is a limited range of choice in the electoral landscape. It is a sort of dangerous apathy, a degree of which has always lingered in the minds of young voters in Russia, whether during the chaotic democracy of the 1990s or today. Due in most part to their mistrust of the authorities, many believe that the fate of the elections and other participating parties will be decided in the Kremlin, and not at polling stations.

Piotr Baranov, a 21-year-old student at Moscow State University, said he and his peers are discouraged by what they feel is a largely staged competition in which their voices matter little. It is a sentiment echoed by Buvaeva and many of her friends as well. “If there was an option to vote against all of them, I would vote against all,” Baranov said. “I just don’t see any party that’s determined to develop things, or any with its own ideas.

They’re all playing their little games with one another, and not one of them has a united and justified position.”

Recent polls have confirmed a rising tide of passivity among young voters. According to a survey by state pollster VTsIOM, published by Interfax on November 28, about 74 percent of Russian youth do not expect any sort of political protests in the lead-up to the elections – almost tied with United Russia supporters, 72 percent of whom feel the same way.

In a wide-ranging case study on Russian youth published by the Levada Center earlier this year, researchers found that 54 percent of Russian youngsters are disinterested in politics, while only 22 percent discuss politics with their friends. The same study also found drastically low levels of trust in state institutions: 36 percent of respondents trust the government, 22 percent trust the State Duma, and only 19 trust political parties.

Peddling the ‘Tandem’, youth-stylehttp://rt.com/news/medvedev-putin-young-support-433/

Published: 29 November, 2011, 09:59Edited: 29 November, 2011, 09:59

Politics may not be top-of-mind among most young voters, but some are turning popular pastimes into political playgrounds, attracting attention from their peers.

Russia's two main political figures have been set against an entirely different backdrop from the battlefield of top-level politics.

Young cartoonist Sergey Kalenik sees them battling it out in the fictional realm of The World of Warcraft.

“I cast Medvedev as an Orc. Putin plays the Troll. The personalities of the two leaders excellently match their Warcraft characters. Putin is tough and aggressive. Medvedev is calm, quiet and clever, he is brutal although he looks very much like an intellectual," says Sergey.

The online fantasy role-play game is hugely popular in Russia, players here making up the lion’s share of the 10 million subscribers worldwide. Plenty of potential fans for the comic book adventures of the president and the PM.

There are not too many people who would take being depicted as one of these guys as a compliment, but the man at the top seems happy with his Orc persona.

“President Medvedev laughed sincerely when he saw my comic. I think he is going to read it to the end. Or he is going to give it to his son, who also plays Warcraft. I think he would be happy to learn that a comic starring his father has been made in Warcraft,” Sergey says.

From the gruesome to the glamorous, both Medvedev and Putin have drawn unusual fan groups in the past.

“Medvedev's Girls” and “Putin's Army”, both collectives of young attractive women, have made headlines around the world.

And one rally this summer literally stopped traffic in the Russian capital.

“Our main goal is to support Medvedev's initiatives, and to inform the general public, especially young people, about them. Recently we attended a meeting with Medvedev, and our girls' dream came true – we got to kiss our President,” says Alisa Meshcheryakova, the head of “Medvedev's Girls”.

These groups have come under attack from some political experts, who say a lack of policy is being hidden behind pretty faces.

“These girls are one way of entertaining people. Obviously they do not raise serious political issues and they do not appeal to the intellect of the voters. But they keep them entertained,” David Satter from Johns Hopkins University says.

In response, the girls say they are sincere in their admiration for Russia's political big guns.

“Unfortunately, people do not seem to believe that anyone could do something like that from their heart. We are working on breaking this stereotype, and hopefully we are succeeding in this work,” Alisa Meshcheryakova says.

National Economic Trends

Russia’s Medvedev inks law on tobacco, alcohol excise tax hikehttp://www.prime-tass.com/news/0/%7B0FC05328-417A-4AA3-9AFF-B73AA886D973%7D.uif

MOSCOW, Nov 29 (PRIME) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed into law a bill seeking to hike excise taxes for tobacco and alcohol products in 2012–2014, the Kremlin’s press service said in a statement Tuesday.

Under the law, the excise tax on cigarettes is to amount to no less than 460 rubles per 1,000 units from January 1, 2012; 510 rubles from July 2012; 730 rubles from 2013; and 1,040 rubles from 2014.

The excise tax on alcohol products is to increase by 10% to 254 rubles per liter from January 1, 2012. The excise tax on alcohol is expected to amount to 300 rubles per liter from July 1, 2012; 400 rubles from 2013; and 500 rubles from 2014.

(31.4117 rubles – U.S. $1)

End

29.11.2011 12:30

Russian banks to face stiffer capital requirements

http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20111129113108.shtml

      RBC, 29.11.2011, Moscow 11:31:08.The Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian parliament, has approved a bill aimed at raising capital requirements for new banks, as well as nonbank lending institutions seeking to obtain a banking license from RUB 180m (approx. USD 5.7m) to RUB 300m (approx. USD 9.5m) effective January 1, 2012.

      Existing lenders with a share capital below this benchmark will have three years to increase it. The banks that fail to meet these new capital requirements by January 1, 2015 will have their licenses revoked.

      In line with earlier amendments to banking laws, capital requirements for Russian banks were scaled up from RUB 90m (approx. USD 2.8m) to RUB 180m (approx. USD 5.7m) effective January 1, 2012.

Bank Rossii Limits Kazkommertsbank Deposits, Kommersant Reportshttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-29/bank-rossii-limits-kazkommertsbank-deposits-kommersant-reports.html

QBy Stephen Bierman - Nov 29, 2011 6:02 AM GMT+0100

Russia’s central bank has limited the amount of retail deposits a local unit of Kazkommertsbank may accept as the regulator seeks to keep foreign banks from sending

money abroad, Kommersant said, citing unidentified bankers close to the unit, called Moskommertsbank.

To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Bierman in Moscow at sbierman1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Will Kennedy at wkennedy3@bloomberg.net

Agricultural output may overshoot forecast

http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20111129130517.shtml

      RBC, 29.11.2011, Moscow 13:05:17.Agricultural output in Russia is expected to increase 17% this year, higher than the earlier-projected 13.7%, Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina said at the Federation Council today.

      She added that quite a few measures were taken in the agriculture to provide incentives for its development.

November 29, 2011 12:49

Three banks get 46 bln rubles at budget funds auctionhttp://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=290811

MOSCOW. Nov 29 (Interfax) - Banks won the right to hold 46 billion rubles in idle budgeted funds offered by the Finance Ministry at a November 29 auction at 5.96% pa, the ministry said in a statement.

The banks can keep the funds on deposits for three weeks, until December 21.

A total of three banks bid and demand was 47.2 billion rubles, or just above the 46 billion rubles on offer. The minimum bid allowable was 5.90% and bids at the auction ranged from 5.90% to 6.01%. The cut-off was 5.92%.

Pr

(Our editorial staff can be reached at eng.editors@interfax.ru)

Micex Pares Biggest Gain in 7 Weeks After Moody’s Euro Warninghttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-29/micex-pares-biggest-gain-in-7-weeks-after-moody-s-euro-warning.html

QBy Brad Cook - Nov 29, 2011 7:48 AM GMT+0100

Russian stocks fell, paring the Micex (INDEXCF)’s biggest gain in seven weeks, after Moody’s Investors Service warned of downgrades for European banks and the U.S. urged the region’s leaders to act to save the single currency.

The Micex Index fell 0.2 percent to 1,464.08 at 10:19 a.m. in Moscow, trimming yesterday’s 3.9 percent surge, the biggest since Oct. 6. The dollar-denominated RTS Index was little changed at 1,475.03.

“There was a very audible sigh of relief across all markets yesterday” after the U.S. reported better-than-expected economic data, but Europe’s monthly confidence report is the focus today, said Troika Dialog, the Moscow-based investment bank being acquired by OAO Sberbank. “This is the first major survey since the escalation of debt fears.”

All but five of the Micex’s 30 component stocks declined, led by pipeline operator OAO Transneft, Moscow utility OAO Mosenergo and coal producer OAO Mechel all sliding more than 1 percent. Transneft decreased 1.8 percent to 49,666 rubles, while Mosnergo slumped 1.2 percent to 1.98 rubles and Mechel dropped 1 percent to 302.10 rubles

President Barack Obama renewed pressure on European leaders to prevent a dismantling of the single currency before euro-area finance ministers meet today to seek a resolution to the two- year-old crisis. Moody’s said it may cut ratings on lenders in 15 European countries as a “rapid escalation” of the crisis threatens the region.

Gazprom Neft, Rosneft

Crude oil, Russia’s biggest export earner, dropped from the highest close in more than a week before a report forecast to show that U.S. crude and gasoline stockpiles increased.

Futures for January delivery fell as much as 98 cents to $97.23 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile and were at $97.55 at 8:50 a.m. in Moscow.

OAO Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of the world’s largest gas producer, dropped 1 percent to 137.65 rubles, while bigger rivals OAO Rosneft and OAO Lukoil slid 0.6 percent and 0.3 percent to 215.93 rubles and 1,707.10 rubles, respectively.

OAO Magnit, the country’s biggest food retailer by market value, aluminum maker United Co. Rusal and potash producer OAO Uralkali (URKA) all gained.

Magnit rose 0.8 percent to 2,900.50 rubles, Rusal advanced 0.4 percent to 223.50 rubles and Uralkali climbed 0.2 percent to 241.68 rubles.

To contact the reporters on this story: Brad Cook in Moscow at bcook7@bloomberg.net;

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Hellmuth Tromm at htromm@bloomberg.net

Sberbank Leads ADRs Higher as U.S. Sales Bolster Crude: Russia Overnighthttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-29/sberbank-leads-adrs-higher-as-u-s-sales-bolster-crude-russia-overnight.html

QBy Ksenia Galouchko and Halia Pavliva - Nov 29, 2011 5:11 AM GMT+0100

Russian stocks in New York climbed the most in a month, led by OAO Sberbank, as signs of a recovery in U.S. consumer demand buoyed the global economic outlook and boosted commodity prices.

The Bloomberg Russia-US 14 Index of Russian companies traded in New York gained 4.7 percent, the most since Oct. 27, to 95.06, as Sberbank, Russia’s largest lender, jumped 6 percent. OAO Mechel, the nation’s biggest coal producer for steelmakers, added the most in four weeks and Yandex NV, operator of Russia’s most popular search engine, climbed 6.3 percent. In Hong Kong, United Co. Rusal, the world’s largest aluminum producer, rose 0.9 percent at the city’s midday break.

Crude, Russia’s biggest export earner, rose to the highest level in three days yesterday as U.S. retail sales over the Thanksgiving weekend, including so-called Black Friday on Nov. 25, climbed to a record $52.4 billion. A proposal for a rescue fund to insure bonds of debt-plagued nations with guarantees of as much as 30 percent in Europe, Russia’s chief export partner, also boosted prices for metals.

“The Black Friday numbers have shown that the American consumer is still willing to spend,” Yan Gloukhovski, a trader at Alforma Capital Markets, the New York unit of Russia’s Alfa Bank, said by phone yesterday. “Russia is a commodity-driven market and commodities are dependent on the global market environment.”

Futures expiring in December on Moscow’s dollar-denominated RTS index were little changed at 147,750 by 2:50 p.m. in New York. The RTS Volatility Index, which measures expected swings in the index futures, fell 7 percent to 49.98 points, the biggest drop since Oct. 7.

Market ‘Correlation’

American depositary receipts of Sberbank rose 6 percent to $10.55, the biggest one-day gain in a month. The stock added 5.8 percent on the Micex index in Moscow to 82.98 rubles, or the equivalent of $2.64. One Sberbank ADR is equal to four ordinary shares.

“We are in a high level of correlation with what happens in the U.S., what happens in Europe,” said Ian McCall, managing partner at Geneva-based Quesnell Capital SA, which manages the equivalent of about $116 million of emerging-market assets, including Russian bank bonds.

ADRs of Moscow-based Mechel (MTLR) rose 5.1 percent to $9.43, the most since Oct. 27. Shares snapped a nine-day decline on the Micex, climbing 3.5 percent to 305.10 rubles, or $9.71.

The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Index of 24 raw materials rose 1.4 percent to 644.84, while copper for March delivery added 2.7 percent to $3.3715 a pound on the Comex in New York, the biggest advance for a most-active contract since Oct. 27.

Yandex, Lukoil

Yandex, based in The Hague, Netherlands, was the biggest gainer on the Bloomberg Russia-US 14 Index after the company said it acquired developer SPB Software to expand the use of its search capabilities on mobile devices. Yandex climbed 6.3 percent to $20.99 in New York, the biggest one-day advance since Nov. 3. The price of the acquisition wasn’t disclosed.

Crude oil for January delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange dropped as much as 1 percent in after-hours trading. Futures climbed 1.5 percent yesterday to settle at $98.21 a barrel. Brent crude for January settlement gained 2.4 percent to $109 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Urals crude, Russia’s chief export blend, rose 2.4 percent to $108.78.

Oil and natural gas sales contribute about 17 percent of Russia’s gross domestic product and as much as 40 percent of government revenue.

OAO Lukoil (LUKOY), Russia’s biggest non-state oil producer, rose the most since Oct. 10 in New York trading, gaining 5.9 percent to $54.63 in New York and rising for the first time in five trading days. Lukoil’s Micex stock climbed 4.2 percent to 1,712.20 rubles, or $54.54. One Lukoil ADR is equal to one ordinary share.

Lukoil Recommendation

Moscow brokerage IFC Metropol cut their price target for Lukoil ADRs by $5.90 to $70.10, following a 21 percent drop in the company’s third-quarter profit and declines in crude and natural gas production. Raiffeisenbank AG reduced its recommendation on

Lukoil shares traded on the Micex and RTS indexes to “hold” from “buy,” according to an e-mailed client note.

ADRs of OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel (NILSY), the world’s largest producer of the metal, gained 5.3 percent to $17, the largest advance since Nov. 18. Norilsk rose 4 percent in Moscow to 5,364 rubles, or $170.89. One ADR in the company is equal to one-tenth of an ordinary share.

Norilsk plans to spend $2.1 billion upgrading power stations and infrastructure under its strategy to 2025, the company said on its website yesterday. Russia may cap nickel and copper export duties as soon as the country joins the World Trade Organization, the Interfax news wire reported, citing Maxim Medvedkov, Russia’s chief WTO negotiator.

The 30-stock Micex index advanced 3.9 percent to 1,466.22 in Moscow yesterday. The RTS index added 4.4 percent to 1,475.25.

To contact the reporters on this story: Ksenia Galouchko in New York at kgalouchko1@bloomberg.net; Halia Pavliva in New York at hpavliva@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Papadopoulos at papadopoulos@bloomberg.net

Investment Estimated at $36Bln 29 November 2011By Khristina Narizhnaya

Foreign direct investment in Russia reached $36 billion in the first 10 months of the year, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Monday during a meeting of the government's commission on foreign investment, citing the Central Bank.

Last year the amount of foreign investment for the same period was $32.2 billion, Putin said.

During its final meeting of the year, the commission approved eight foreign investment requests, Federal Anti-Monopoly Service deputy director Andrei Tsyganov said.

French IT company Atos gained approval to provide services for the 2014 Olympics and the 2018 football World Cup. Atos will invest more than 1.5 billion rubles ($48 million) in the Russian economy by 2014.

Putin said it was a "smart" decision by Atos, adding that the nation needs more of such investments.

The commission approved an investment from the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, or EBRD, in Moscow firm Belaya Dacha Trading to develop existing and new facilities for packaged salad processing. The EBRD's purchase of shares in several Russian financial services companies was also approved.

Other smaller deals blessed by the commission include foreign investment in cobalt mining and the tire industry. A review of Polyus Gold's plan to change its registration to Britain was delayed and will be conducted next year, Tsyganov said.

Polyus, part-owned by Mikhail Prokhorov, is seeking a premium listing on London's prestigious FTSE Index, but it must first register as a legal entity in Britain before it can qualify.

Several amendments to federal laws that ease foreign investment will come into effect in 2012.

Amendments include lifting government control from investment deals where international organizations such as the EBRD and the International Finance Corporation are investors. Another amendment exempts foreign companies from getting government permission to buy stocks in Russian oil, gas or mining companies if the total share remains under 25 percent.

The government's objective is to create a favorable environment for foreign companies to invest in Russia, in areas such as food, medicine, banking and mining, Tsyganov said.

The liberalization in investment will be good for competition, he added.

"Russian markets have always been open in some way for international investment," Tsyganov said. "For more than a decade we are living in strict competition with foreign entrepreneurs who either invest in Russia or sell their services and products on the Russian market."

Business will work under the new laws starting next year. The commission has approved 128 of 136 investment proposals since its creation in 2008, Tsyganov said.

Last week the State Statistics Service published a report that put the value of direct foreign investment for the first nine months of this year at $11.7 billion. The discrepancy lies in different calculating methods used by the State Statistics Service and the Central Bank. While the State Statistics Service uses figures companies proposed to invest, the Central Bank uses actual numbers gathered from financial documents, Trust National Bank chief economist Yevgeny Nadorshin said.

Read more: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/investment-estimated-at-36bln/448817.html#ixzz1f5EMtU6Q The Moscow Times

28 November 2011 Last updated at 23:31 GMT

Viewpoint: Russia's economy needs to reformhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15923960

By Evgeny Yasin Head of the Higher School of Economics, Moscow

Between 1989 and 1998, Russia went through a severe crisis. It was a crisis of transformation caused by the collapse of the Soviet system and a wide range of reforms.

As a result, Russia became a country with a market economy.

By 1995-1997, institutions of this new economy were still in their infancy. However, the troubles of socialism, including some of the most obvious, such as the lack of goods in the shops, were over.

Money now had real value and a new structure of the economy came into being. For the first time in decades it was based on the concept of supply and demand.

Oil economy

There is a lot of talk about how the Russian economy depends on exporting fuel and raw materials, but this is something that was also true decades ago. In the late 1960s, rich oil and gas deposits were discovered in Western Siberia. This dependency only strengthened as oil prices around the world peaked in the 1970s.

During the transformational crisis of 1989-1998, Russia's economy contracted by 40% and its industrial output fell by 55%. A decline of this magnitude is unheard of, at least in peacetime.

The final blow was delivered by the financial crisis of 1998. It also led to political changes: the government of reformists was forced to resign. Russia was now facing its first change of president in post-Soviet history.

But after the crisis of 1998, which saw oil prices drop to their lowest point since 1973 to $12 per barrel, things started to pick up again.

Growth from a low level

Russia's economy grew very quickly between 1999 and 2008, so quickly in fact that many became convinced that Russia was ready to join the elite club of developed countries.

Over these years, Russia's gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 185% compared with 1998. Its average rate of growth reached 7.3% per year.

This was what made Russia one of the Bric countries, as defined by Goldman Sachs. These countries were seen as the world's locomotives for growth in the early 21st century.

But it's worth remembering that this growth followed a very difficult crisis; and that comparisons were being made with the worst days of that crisis.

Compared with the 1989 level, inflation was 108% in 2008.

Over the same time period, people in Russia started spending more and saving less. Savings fell from 31% to 19% of GDP.

Mixing business with politics

On the whole then, the years 1999 to 2008 were a period of reconstructive growth and the factors that defined it are unlikely to return. Even if they do, their effect will probably be much weaker.

The whole decade can be broken down into two distinct parts.

The first one (from 1999 to 2003) saw quick economic growth and cooperation between businesses and the authorities. Business activity levels were high; industries that had been underperforming were now coming back online and oil prices remained moderately low ($20-25 per barrel on average).

But in 2003, a new conflict between business and the authorities became apparent. It culminated in the sentencing of billionaire businessmen Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev. Politically, election regulations were tightened, and the regime, on the whole, became less liberal.

The second stage, covering the years of 2004-2008, saw the state interfering more and more with the economy as business activity fell. However, this was happening against a background of very high oil prices and cheap foreign credit. These factors kept businesses alive and foreign investors interested, often artificially.

Need for reform

As the global financial crisis of 2008-2009 struck, things changed again. The factors that had been supporting the growth in Russian GDP started tailing off.

One of these factors was the increase in the size of the workforce. Before 2008, it grew about 2% a year. In the near future the trend is likely to be reversed, and the workforce will start contracting by 1% a year.

Russian exports are also likely to become less favourably priced.

So the conclusion is that Russia's growth is likely to slow down, even as oil prices remain high, unless Russia carries out institutional reform.

Property rights need to be protected and true economic and political competition introduced to Russia. The country also needs to guarantee the rule of law.

Unless these steps are taken, it would be wrong to expect a marked growth in the levels of business activity.

Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions

Intellectual property court bill clears parliament

http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20111129114133.shtml

      RBC, 29.11.2011, Moscow 11:41:33.The Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian parliament, has passed a set of bills which lay the groundwork for an intellectual property court as part of the Supreme Arbitration Court system.

      The court, to be established before February 1, 2013, will hear lawsuits and cassation appeals in litigation over intellectual property rights.

Russia to establish Patent Court by 2013http://en.ria.ru/russia/20111129/169138802.html

13:12 29/11/2011

MOSCOW, November 29 (RIA Novosti)

A Patent Court, aimed to resolve disputes on intellectual property rights, will be established in Russia by 2013.

 

The court, which is due to start operating no later than February 1, 2013 will deal with disputes about infringed or contested intellectual property rights as a first-instance and cassation court.

Now, Russian patent holders use the Supreme Commercial Court to defend their copyrights but in 2013 they will be able to solve two kinds of cases in the Patent Court: cases on establishing rights’ existence (titleholder) and cases on the violation of rights.

Germany traditionally sends the largest amount of bids (about 18 percent of total) to the European Patent Office (EPO), which grants patents for up to 36 European states.

 

In 2009 Russian bids to the EPO made up about 4 percent of all bids.

Barclays Russia Owner to Cut Staff, Salaries, Kommersant Sayshttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-29/barclays-russia-owner-to-cut-staff-salaries-kommersant-says.html

QBy Stephen Bierman - Nov 29, 2011 5:36 AM GMT+0100

Igor Kim, who led a group of investors that bought Barclays Plc (BARC)’s Russian retail operation, plans to cut about one-quarter of the workforce and reduce salaries by 20 percent, Kommersant said, unidentified people familiar with the matter.

To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Bierman in Moscow sbierman1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Will Kennedy at wkennedy3@bloomberg.net.

Russia's Nomos denies reports it cut stake in BKMhttp://in.reuters.com/article/2011/11/28/nomos-denial-idINL5E7MS3ZI20111128

MOSCOW | Mon Nov 28, 2011 10:02pm IST

Nov 28 (Reuters) - Russian mid-sized bank Nomos denied local media reports on Monday that it had sold a stake in regional lender Bank Khanty-Mansiysk (BKM), saying it retains in majority control.

Nomos, which raised $782 million in an initial public offering of shares earlier this year, said it was restructuring its investment in BKM but it will keep its 52 percent controlling interest.

"Nomos has restructured internally, selling its stake in BKM to a daughter company as part of its efforts to improve capital deployment," Jean-Pascal Duvieusart, director of strategy and investor relations at Nomos, told Reuters.

"Final ownership stays at its current level of 52 percent and the move does not affect the consolidated financial statements of Nomos Bank," Duvieusart added.

(Reporting by Douglas Busvine; Editing by John Bowker)

Rostelecom to swallow up Svyazinvest in 2012 http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20111129122203.shtml

      RBC, 29.11.2011, Moscow 12:22:03.A government commission chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov decided on November 28, 2011 to wind up the state-owned telecommunications holding Svyazinvest and to merge it with the state-owned telecommunications operator Rostelecom "as soon as possible," as early as 2012, RBC Daily reported today.

      Earlier reports claimed that the second phase of Svyazinvest's reorganization could be rolled back until 2017.

      However, the final decision on this merger and how it will be carried out has yet to be taken. The 25% stake in Svyazinvest owned by Rostelecom could be either sold to state corporation Vnesheconombank or cancelled, sources aware of the situation told RBC Daily.

Sources: Russian govt gives prelim OK for Svyazinvest liquidationhttp://www.prime-tass.com/news/_Sources_Russian_govt_gives_prelim_OK_for_Svyazinvest_liquidation/0/%7BB7C770DD-86E3-468E-B6A2-0ED9090F5278%7D.uif

MOSCOW, Nov 29 (PRIME) -- The Russian government has given its preliminary approval for the liquidation of state-controlled telecommunications holding Svyazinvest after its merger with major Russian telecommunications company Rostelecom, sources familiar to the decision, told PRIME late Monday.

The government’s preliminary approval was given at a special meeting headed by Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, the sources said.

A final decision on the liquidation and merger is expected to be taken by years-end.

The Communications and Mass Media Ministry, Rostelecom, and Svyazinvest did not provide any further comments.

At present, Rostelecom has a 25% plus one share stake in Svyazinvest, which has a 43.37% common stake in Rostelecom. In the event a merger between Svyazinvest and Rostelecom takes place, the latter is expected to cancel or sell the treasury stock reducing the government’s stake in the company. To avoid such an outcome, state-owned bank Vnesheconombank (VEB), which already has a 2.43% common stake in Rostelecom, was expected to buy the stocks.

The first stage of merger between Rostelecom and Svyazinvest was completed in April, when seven regional units of Svyazinvest were integrated into Rostelecom.

At present, the government indirectly has a 53.25% voting stake in Rostelecom via Svyazinvest, VEB, and state-owned Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA), which owns a 7.43% common stake in Rostelecom.

End

29.11.2011 13:21

Car sales surge 39%http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text18043

bneNovember 29, 2011

According to a forecast by Renault, car sales in Russia increased by 39% y-o-y to 2.65mn vehicles in 2011 and by 8%-13% y-o-y to between 2.85mn-3mn vehicles in 2012. RenaultÕs forecast exceeds the AEB forecast for 2011 of 2.55mn vehicles.

Renault will increase production at its Moscow Avtoframos plant by 10% this year to 175,000 cars per year at a cost of 100m euros, according to Vedomosti. The company will launch assembly production of the Latitude and Koleos models in 2012 after having originally planned the move for this year. This will bring the number of models produced at the plant to seven.

Russia's X5 says Q3 net loss $2.1 mln, above fcasthttp://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFR4E7LH02B20111129

Tue Nov 29, 2011 7:07am GMT

MOSCOW Nov 29 (Reuters) - X5 Retail Group, Russia's biggest food retailer by sales, reported on Tuesday a $2.1 million net loss for the third quarter due to a foreign exchange hit, beating market expectations.

X5, which had been expected to report a net loss of $20 million, said depreciation of the Russian rouble against the dollar resulted in a $52.5 million non-cash forex loss.

Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 13 percent to $219.8 million, above a $207.6 million average forecast in a Reuters poll.

The EBITDA margin dropped to 6.1 percent from 7.4 percent the year earlier, but beat a 5.7 percent forecast.

DJ Highland Gold Mining: Belaya Gora Gold Processing Plant Gets OK

http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story.asp?storyid={ed25a3bd-5506-4770-932a-40daaed3e0bb}

DowJones - Tuesday, November 29, 2011

DJ Highland Gold Mining: Belaya Gora Gold Processing Plant Gets OK LONDON, Nov 29, 2011 (Dow Jones Commodities News via Comtex) -- U.K.-listed Russian gold producer Highland Gold Mining Ltd. (HGM.LN) said Tuesday the Russian State authorities have approved its plans to build a stand-alone processing plant at its Belaya Gora gold project in southeast Russia, which it hopes could be commissioned in the fourth quarter of 2012. The company said this approval opens the way for the second stage of development of the Belaya Gora Project, phase one drilling started in November 2010. The processing plant capacity is expected to process 1.5 million tons of ore a year with an expected gold production ranging from 75,000 to 110,000 ounces a year. In the first half of 2011, the company processed 30,460 tons of ore and produced 2,191 ounces of gold from the project. Highland Gold said project capital expenditure estimates are being finalized but will allow for construction to begin in the winter period. Shares closed Monday at 181.7 pence. -By Iain Packham, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9269; iain.packham@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires 11-29-11 0303ET Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Ruble bears lifting swap rates lure Vancouver's Uranium One: Russia Credit  By Ilya Khrennikov, Bloomberg News November 28, 2011

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Ruble+bears+lifting+swap+rates+lure+Vancouver+Uranium+Russia+Credit/5779300/story.html#ixzz1f4oysZcO

Uranium One Inc., the Russian-owned miner of the nuclear fuel, is seeking to benefit from a weaker ruble by borrowing in the currency and then converting the money into dollars using more lucrative swap rates.

Uranium One, which is based in Vancouver, plans to sell as much as 16.5 billion rubles ($525 million) of five-year bonds at a yield between 9.73 percent and 10.78 percent, Troika Dialog, the organizer of the financing, said in an e-mailed statement. Uranium One President Vadim Zhivov said it will switch the debt into dollars, while Chief Executive Officer Chris Sattler said it was one of the options the company was looking at.

"The Russian capital market is an interesting alternative," Sattler said in an interview in Moscow on Nov. 22. Exchanging the proceeds into dollars would get an effective borrowing rate lower than the company could get in North America, Zhivov said in the same interview.

The transaction may underscore how the Russian currency is losing its allure because of concerns about inflation and the knock-on effects of the European debt crisis. The Brazilian real, the worst-performer among emerging markets so far this month, is forecast to rally 8 percent by the end of the first quarter next year, compared with 3.3 percent for the ruble, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The Russian currency has tumbled 12 percent against the dollar since the end of June. Bets on more declines increased rates for ruble-dollar swaps to 7 percent from 6.5 percent on Oct. 27, Bloomberg data show.

Commodity producers including Alliance Oil Co., Evraz Plc and United Co. Rusal swapped their ruble bonds into dollars this year to achieve lower borrowing costs as Russia's inflation rate remains above 7 percent, a ceiling targeted by the central bank. Uranium One would be the first foreign company to do the same, should the sale go ahead.

The higher swap rate may enable Uranium One to cut its borrowing cost in dollars to less than 5 percent, said Dmitry Turmyshev, an analyst at Trust Investment Bank in Moscow. That would be "unreasonably low," he said.

Kazatomprom, a larger peer of Uranium One which has an investment-grade rating from Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Ratings, has 2015 bonds yielding 4.5 percent currently, he said. The dollar bonds of Russian miner Metalloinvest, which has the same BB- credit rating, yielded 9.06 percent on Nov. 25.

Uranium One is also considering seven-year bonds yielding 10.04 percent to 11.09 percent as part of the current sale. It will start to accept bids for both the five-year and the seven- year securities on Dec. 1, according to OAO Gazprombank, that is co-managing the sale with Troika.

The ruble strengthened 0.2 percent to 31.4467 per dollar as of 11:34 a.m. in Moscow today. Non-deliverable forwards, which provide a guide to expectations of currency movements, show the Russian currency at 31.9109 per dollar in three months.

Russia's dollar bonds due in 2020 fell, pushing the yield three basis points higher to 4.861 percent. Ruble notes due August 2016 rose, decreasing the yield seven basis points to 8.37 percent. The yield on Russia's ruble Eurobond due in 2018 fell nine basis points to 7.567 percent.

The cost of protecting Russian debt against non-payment for five years using credit-default swaps rose 19 basis points to 305 Nov. 25, up from 187 on Oct. 27, according to data provider CMA, which is owned by CME Group Inc. and compiles prices quoted by dealers in the privately negotiated market.

Russia is rated Baa1 by Moody's, the third-lowest investment grade. The contracts pay the buyer face value in exchange for the underlying securities or the cash equivalent if a government or company fails to adhere to its debt agreements.

The extra yield investors demand to hold Russian debt rather than U.S. Treasuries declined three basis points to 361, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. EMBIG indexes. The difference compares with 233 for debt of similarly rated Mexico and 239 for Brazil, which is rated one step lower at Baa2 by Moody's.

The yield spread on Russian bonds is 77 basis points below the average for emerging markets, down from a 15-month high of 105 in February 2010, according to JPMorgan Indexes.

ARMZ, the mining unit of Russia's state-run nuclear holding Rosatom Corp., acquired control in Uranium One last year in a bid to boost international presence. The acquisition made it the world's fourth-largest uranium producer after Canada's Cameco Corp., France's Areva SA and Kazakhstan's Kazatomprom.

Spending Money

Uranium One will most likely use the proceeds from the ruble bonds sale to help acquire Mantra Resources, owner of uranium-mining projects in Tanzania, from ARMZ, Yury

Nefedov, an analyst at Aton Capital, said in a note. The company has an option to buy the asset from the Russian parent for about $1 billion, Uranium One said in its nine-month report.

CEO Sattler said it was "too early to say" whether the company would use the money for that purchase.

Uranium One's largest borrowing was $240 million of convertible bonds with a 5 percent coupon, he said. Most companies in uranium mining use equity financing, he said.

"I doubt that Uranium One's experience will attract other foreign companies to borrow in the ruble market to benefit from dollar swaps," said Denis Poryvay, a credit analyst at ZAO Raiffeisenbank in Moscow. "There is not enough liquidity even for domestic borrowers."

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Ruble+bears+lifting+swap+rates+lure+Vancouver+Uranium+Russia+Credit/5779300/story.html#ixzz1f4p4qV1q

TEXT-Fitch:Russian steel companies have more flexibility than peers http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/11/28/idINWLB932720111128

Mon, Nov 28 2011

(The following statement was released by the rating agency)

Nov 28- In a new report, Fitch Ratings says that Russian steel companies would have better flexibility in the event of economic downturns compared with their international peers. The relatively strong credit metrics of Russian steel companies are explained by their self-sufficiency in key raw materials and access to cheap energy, natural gas and labour.

As a result, the cash cost of upstream operations of Russian major vertically integrated companies, according to Fitch, is 25%-35% lower compared with the global average. Cost competitiveness contributes to higher utilisation rate of companies' production capacities, more than 90% compared with 75%-80% globally.

"Fitch considers the high self-sufficiency of Russian steel companies in key raw materials as one of their main competitive advantages compared with international peers. This allows Russian steel producers to be less exposed to volatile iron ore and coking coal

prices," says Alexei Fadyushin, a Director in Fitch's European Industrials team. "Although domestic prices for natural gas and electrical power are 4.0 and 2.4 times lower than the average in the European Union, the agency notes the rising energy costs for Russian corporates, which could negatively affect profitability in the medium term," adds Fadyushin.

The major Russian steel companies have improved their operational profiles in 2011. OJSC Novolipetsk Steel increased its crude steel production capacity by 40% by launching a new blast furnace and converter. New upstream operations capacity was balanced by acquiring rolling facilities of Steel Invest and Finance S.A. As a result, the company decreased its excessive exposure to semi-finished steel products and improved product mix in favour of high value-added (HVA) products.

OJSC Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) launched a new rolling mill in July 2011 with production capacity up to 1.5m tonnes, which produces flat steel for automotive manufacturers. This strengthened MMK's position as a supplier of HVA products in a segment with good growth prospects. The launching and further acquiring of 50% of Turkey-based steel mill MMK Metalurji improves the geographical diversification of assets and revenues.

OAO Severstal (Severstal) has sold three of its five underperforming facilities in North America in 2011, which contributed to an improvement in the company's credit metrics. In addition, Severstal benefits from better product diversification compared with its Russian peers: the gold segment provided 24% of company's total H111 EBITDA, according to company reports, and supports the company's margins. Uncertainty about the company's majority-shareholder strategy for Lucchini S.p.A. is a constraint on Severstal's ratings.

Evraz Group S.A.'s key strengths include scale, geographical diversification of assets and self-sufficiency in raw material inputs. During 2010-H111, Evraz's management has been focused on improving the company's liquidity position and deleveraging. Fitch views positively the direct listing of the company's shares on London Stock Exchange from November 2011, which confirms that the company complies with its admission and disclosure standards.

Link to Fitch Ratings' Report: Comparative Analysis of Russian Steel Companies

here

SURVEY: The dominant state of Russian banking http://www.bne.eu/storyf3056/SURVEY_The_dominant_state_of_Russian_banking

bne November 29, 2011

Given the tumultuous change taking place in the global financial system, it's perhaps surprising how little appears to have changed in this year's bne Eurasian bank survey. Look closer, though, and big shifts are underway.

Like last year, the size of banks has grown marginally (see accompanying pdf for the complete table), but still at nothing like the blistering pace seen in the earlier part of the previous decade when Russian banks, for example, grew at 40-50% in the glory years of 2005-2008. Since the financial crisis first struck in 2008, we have clearly entered a phase of lower growth for some years to come, with the sector growing at only about 15%.

Needless to say, the list of the top 10 banks in the Eurasian region remains a Russian affair. Russian savings bank Sberbank leads, followed by the other state-influenced banks VTB, Gazprombank and the Russian Agricultural Bank.

The effect of recent M&A is making itself felt. Rosbank, in 18th place last year, has merged its way up to 9th spot on this year's list. Rosbank is the consolidation platform for French Societe Generale's Russian businesses such as Rus-Finance. CEO Vladimir Golubkov told newswires earlier this year that he's aiming for the bank to be among the top five Russian banks in assets and equity, right behind the state-owned lenders.

VTB Group now has three subsidiaries in the top 10 after coming to the rescue of Bank of Moscow (BoM) earlier this year with a $5bn bailout. VTB Bank consolidated control of 75% over BoM in September. After a complex takeover due to the previous management's misrule, VTB believes it has a gem on its hands. "The branch network and the municipal accounts would both be extremely difficult to reproduce in a competitor bank. In this sense, the BoM's business is unique," Herbert Moos, chief financial officer of VTB, told bne in an exclusive interview.

Russian banks too have risen up the ranking at the expense of many of their Eurasian counterparts. Belarusian and Kazakh banks have all fallen down the ranking in general.

The Belarusian banks have been hit by the escalating economic problems of the country. Belarusbank has fallen to 15th spot from 12th last year and Belagroprombank is down to 29th place from 25th. The Belarusian ruble has lost two-thirds of its value this year as a result of a balance-of-payments crisis sparked by massive state spending to keep the economy afloat. The central bank raised its refinancing rate to 40% from 35% in November in the 11th increase this year. Meanwhile, annual inflation hit 92% in October.

Kazakh banks too fell slightly again this year, though analysts say that apart from BTA Bank, Kazakhstan’s banking sector is in much better shape than it was three years ago and has proved remarkably resilient so far to the Eurozone crisis. The elephant in the room is, of course, BTA, which announced huge losses of KZT102.6bn ($693m) – considerably higher than expected – for the first half of 2011, prompting concerns that

unless it gets additional help from its majority shareholder, Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna, it could collapse.

Ukraine's banking sector may be coming apart at the seams, but many of its banks have actually risen in this year's list, most notably Privatbank, which reached 11th spot from 17th last year, Oschadbank, which rose to 21st place from 29th, and VTB's subsidiary, which rose five places to 45th. Many Ukrainian banks also managed to increase their assets, surprisingly given the country's problems, with Privatbank's growing $4.5bn and Oschadbank's growing $1.9bn.

Azerbaijan's sector has also benefited from its relatively conservative banking culture within a sound regulatory framework, coupled with the stable economy that's supported by rising oil and gas exports. The country now has five banks in the top 200 – International Bank of Azerbaijan, Kapital Bank, Xalq Bank, Texnikabank and PASHA Bank – most of which have grown substantially over the year. Texnikabank rose from 198th spot to 183rd, Kapital Bank rose from 158th spot to 122nd, and Xalq Bank rose from 187th to 160th.

Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)

Rosneft's, Gazprom Neft's and TNK-BP's greenfields in Eastern Siberia is to get access to ESPO

http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text18043

VTB CapitalNovember 29, 2011

--- projected pipeline capacity 18mnt, length of 600km --- minimum supply volumes to be guaranteed.

News: According to Kommersant, Transneft is to build a pipeline from the Eastern Siberian greenfields (Yurubcheno-Tokhomskoye and Kyumbinskoye fields) to ESPO (Eastern Siberia Pacific Ocean), with the investment in construction (amounting to more than USD 2bn) to be made by Transneft. In return, the oil companies will guarantee volumes to fill the capacity of the pipeline. President of Rosneft Eduard Khudainatov said that Transneft would finish negotiations over the pipeline scheme with Rosneft, Gazprom Neft and TNK-BP before the year end. He also said that there had been a meeting with Nikolay Tokarev, President of Transneft, last week. Khudainatov commented that an

investment decision might be made before the year end. Rosneft is due to start production at Yurubcheno-Tokhomskoye field in 2013, where recoverable reserves are estimated at 513mnt, with peak production slated at 10mnt a year. The reserves of the Kyumbinskoye field, jointly owned by TNK-BP and Gazprom Neft, are estimated at 65mnt (C1). The projected length of the pipeline is 600km, with capacity expected at 18mnt.

Our View: On the one hand, the aforementioned oil companies will not have to bear any additional expenses in the form of pipeline construction costs, which would have a positive effect on their cash flow generation from developing capital intensive greenfield projects. On the other hand, all the costs are to be included into the tariffs, although at this stage there is no information about the incremental part related to the compensation for pipeline costs. However, we doubt that it would be comparable with the initial costs. The news is long term positive for TNK-BP, Gazprom Neft and Rosneft.

Rosneft, Gazprom Neft and TNK-BP close to agreeing with Transneft on construction of new pipeline from Yurubcheno-Takhomsk to VSTO

http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text18043

AlfaNovember 29, 2011

Rosneft has confirmed that a final investment decision on the construction of a new pipeline from its Yurubcheno-Takhomsk field in West Siberia to the VSTO pipeline will be approved by year-end, Kommersant reports today. Other participants in the project include Gazprom Neft and TNK-BP, which also have crude production assets in the region, specifically the Kuyumba field, which they jointly own through Slavneft. The length of the pipeline is expected at 600km with capacity around 18mtpa. The construction cost of the project is estimated at RUB63bn.

Transneft has agreed to finance the construction of the pipeline, with a guarantee of the companiesÕ ability to fill up the projected capacities under the Òpump or payÓ principle. Production at RosneftÕs Yurubcheno-Takhomsk field is expected to begin in 2013E, with production at peak estimated at 10mtpa. Overall, we treat this news as mildly POSITIVE, for all participants, particularly for Rosneft, as the construction of a pipeline from the Yurubcheno-Takhomsk field to the VSTO removes one of the main obstacles to the fieldÕs development, ensuring the company has an export route for its potential production. It seems that receiving preferential tax regime for Yurubcheno-Takhomsk is now the key requirement for development to start.

Russia Transneft hikes fines for below par oil loadhttp://in.reuters.com/article/2011/11/28/russia-transneft-idINL5E7MS1GT20111128

Mon, Nov 28 2011

* Fines hiked to 610 roubles/tonne from 15 roubles

MOSCOW, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Russia's oil pipeline operator Transneft will substantially increase fines for lower than agreed volumes loaded into its network, a company spokesman told Reuters on Monday.

Igor Dyomin said that starting from next year Transneft will increase the fines from 15 roubles per tonne to 609.9 roubles ($19.36) per tonne that the oil companies fail to deliver to the network.

The operator of the 50,000 kilometres-long oil pipeline networks is tightening the screws on the companies as it embarks on construction an Arctic pipeline between Purpe and Zapolyarnoye.

While Transneft will finance the project, it set out strict rules for the companies -- including Russia's top crude producer Rosneft and TNK-BP, half owned by BP that will use the pipeline -- including a minimum required level of oil shipments to the system.

Transneft's, whose sole source of revenue is derived from oil shipping fees, is also laying pipes to the Pacific port of Kozmino, finishing its project of East Siberia - Pacific Ocean trunk.

Earlier on Monday, Transneft also confirmed that the launch of the Baltic Sea oil terminal Ust-Luga has been delayed until the first quarter of 2012.

($1 = 31.4985 Russian roubles) (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Lidia Kelly)

UPDATE 2-Russia confirms Ust-Luga port delay to Q1 2012http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/11/28/russia-ust-luga-idINL5E7MS0R420111128

Mon, Nov 28 2011

* No Urals cargoes this year

* Initial plans to ship 10-20 million tonnes in 2012 (Adds Rosneftebunker comments)

By Vladimir Soldatkin

MOSCOW, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Russia on Monday confirmed that the launch of the Baltic Sea oil terminal Ust-Luga has been delayed until the first quarter of 2012, which will hit Moscow plans to bypass transit countries.

Russia's oil pipeline operator Transneft also said it cancelled plans to ship a 100,000 tonne Urals crude blend cargo from the port this year.

On Friday, industry sources told Reuters that Russia had postponed the opening of its Ust-Luga oil terminal until the end of the first quarter due to heavy damage from landslides.

Transneft had planned to start operations at the port, which serves as a destination point of the newly built Baltic Pipeline System (BTS-2) pipeline, by the end of this year. The pipeline was supposed to ship up to 20 million tonnes a year.

"Engineering and technical problems have not allowed us to launch the port as it had been planned," Transneft spokesman Igor Dyomin told Reuters.

Last week, the head of Russia's industrial safety regulator Rostekhnadzor said in a letter, seen by Reuters, that as of Nov. 16, the port's quayside had been hit by three major landslides.

"The fifth quay is especially badly damaged," Dyomin said.

"The government ordered Transneft to coordinate works aimed at eliminating the problems," he said, adding that construction work had been carried out by NTK and Rosneftebunker, controlled by a co-owner of Gunvor trading house, Gennady Timchenko.

"It was decided to carry out a comprehensive examination of the soil. A verdict on whether the object is in line with industrial safety as well as further decisions will be made based on the results," a spokesman for Rosneftebunker told Reuters in e-mailed comments.

Delays to its launch have boosted bullish sentiment on the Russian Urals crude market this month. The grade from the world's largest oil producer is now enjoying its longest rally on record, also buoyed by fears of disruptions to Iranian supplies.

Just over a week ago the head of Transneft told reporters that Ust-Luga would load its first crude oil cargo on Dec. 15-20.

"There will be no cargo this year," Dyomin said.

Russia, the world's No. 2 oil exporter after Saudi Arabia, wants to bypass the countries that stand between its abundant oil and gas reserves and customers in Europe after arguing with both Ukraine and Belarus over transit terms in recent years.

The BTS-2 pipeline was first mooted after a transit dispute with Belarus in 2005-2006. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; editing by Lidia Kelly and Jason Neely)

Russia's Rosneft to pay $2.2 bln for Carabobohttp://in.reuters.com/article/2011/11/29/venezuela-russia-carabobo-idINN1E7AR1YL20111129

5:34am IST

CARACAS, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Russia's state-controlled oil giant Rosneft (ROSN.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) will pay $1.2 billion up front and also give a $1 billion loan to Venezuela's state company PDVSA for access to the Carabobo 2 block, a minister said on Monday.

The companies are partnering in the project in the southern Orinoco extra heavy crude belt, which Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said could eventually produce 400,000 barrels per day (bpd).

Rosneft is also one of five Russian companies in a consortium working with PDVSA to develop the Junin block 6 of the Orinoco belt.

Carabobo 2 had been one of the last major ventures to be awarded in the Orinoco, where the South American OPEC member is pinning hopes for future production increases.

"A $1 billion loan for PDVSA and a bonus of $1.2 billion were agreed," Ramirez told reporters, saying a formal deal would be signed at a later date.

Two other Carabobo blocks were auctioned to foreign companies last year, creating joint ventures with state oil firm PDVSA and paving the way for billions of dollars of foreign finance in one of the world's largest crude reserves.

The three Carabobo projects have similar surface areas containing some 128 billion barrels of oil, Venezuela says.

The government believes about 26 billion barrels are recoverable. The projects are each slated to produce 400,000 bpd. Each project will include the construction of a heavy crude upgrader that can turn 200,000 bpd of tar-like Orinoco oil into lighter and more valuable synthetic crude.

The remaining 200,000 bpd will be blended with lighter oil to yield an intermediate grade, officials say. (Reporting by Marianna Parraga; Editing by Gary Hill)

Putin Policy Sees Natural-Gas Prices Pass U.S.: Chart of the Dayhttp://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-28/putin-policy-sees-natural-gas-prices-pass-u-s-chart-of-the-day.html

November 28, 2011, 3:51 PM EST By Anna Shiryaevskaya

(GRAPHIC: COD_RUSSIA_NATURAL_GAS_112811. CHART OF THE DAY. Size: 3C X 3.75in. (146.0 mm X 95.25 mm) Available now.)

Nov. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Industrial users in Russia, the world’s biggest natural-gas producer, are paying more for the fuel than U.S. consumers as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s government raises prices to improve OAO Gazprom’s profitability.

THE CHART OF THE DAY shows Russian industrial users will pay about $2.84 per million British thermal units for gas this year, according to Bloomberg calculations based on Gazprom data. That compares with $2.83 per million Btu for the next-day contract at Henry Hub in Louisiana, the U.S. benchmark.

Russia, which sits on the world’s biggest gas reserves, is gradually increasing domestic rates to match oil-linked prices in Europe, Moscow-based Gazprom’s biggest market by revenue. The domestic market is the producer’s largest by volume. U.S. prices fell 26 percent over the past year as increased production from shale deposits boosted supply.

“It feels like the end of an era where cheap gas was a foundation of the old system,” said Kingsmill Bond, an analyst for Citigroup Inc. in Moscow. “The domestic price is now arguably artificially high not artificially low, and that will surely over time put more pressure on Gazprom to be run more effectively.”

Natural-gas prices for Russian industrial users will average $107 per thousand cubic meters next year, Gazprom Chief Executive Officer Alexei Miller said Nov. 25. That’s about $3 per million Btu.

--Editors: Rob Verdonck, Will Kennedy

-0- Nov/28/2011 20:29 GMT

To contact the reporter on this story: Anna Shiryaevskaya in Moscow at ashiryaevska@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Will Kennedy at wkennedy3@bloomberg.net

TNK-BP Completes Preparation of Sub-sea Infrastructure of the Lan Tay Offshore Project in Vietnam to Launch Production of New Wellshttp://www.tnk-bp.com/en/center/news/2011/11/11154/

Moscow, November 29, 2011 – TNK Vietnam, a wholly-owned subsidiary of TNK-BP, has successfully completed a 32-day Subsea Intervention Campaign on the Lan Tay offshore facilities. The work was performed to prepare the infrastructure prior to the development of the Lan Do gas field in block 06.1 on the Vietnam continental shelf.

This scheduled intervention campaign at the offshore platform became the first technical project implemented by TNK-BP outside of Russia. The company successfully solved new engineering and technological issues to ensure reliable operation of five underwater gas wells in the Lan Tay field, one of the largest gas fields in Vietnam. Additionally, new data was gathered for use in updating the remaining reserves figures and forecasting production dynamics of the field.

In carrying out the maintenance work, the company used two diving support vessels and remotely operated underwater vehicles and engaged over 100 specialists from international contractors in addition to its own employees.

Hugh McIntosh, General Director of TNK Vietnam, said: “Following the completion of the sub-sea intervention campaign at Lan Tay, the field is ready to reach the highest levels of production during periods of high demand.”

Information for editors

TNK-BP is the third largest oil company of Russia. It is owned on a parity basis by BP and the AAR Consortium (Alpha Group, Access Industries, and Renova). TNK-BP owns about 50% of the Russian oil and gas company Slavneft. TNK-BP’s share in Russia’s oil production, including its share in Slavneft, is approximately 16%. As of December 31, 2010, the total proven SEC life-of-field (LOF) reserves of the company, estimated according to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), amount to 8.794 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

In October 2010, TNK-BP and BP announced that they signed agreements on acquisition of BP’s production, pipeline transportation, and power generation assets in Vietnam and Venezuela by TNK-BP for a total sum of US $1.8 billion. The companies concluded a deal in June 2011 for acquisition of assets in Venezuela and officially obtained an investment license in October 2011 for development of block 06.1 in Vietnam. In addition, TNK-BP signed an agreement with the Brazilian company HRT O&G on acquisition of a 45% stake in an oil and gas project in the Solimões basin in Brazil.

TNK-Vietnam, a subsidiary of TNK-BP, became the operator of the project at the offshore platform Lan Tay in October 2011, when changes were officially made in the investment license for development of offshore block 06.1. Currently, the company

searches for new opportunities for organic and inorganic growth and establishes strategic partnerships for development of new energy projects in Vietnam.

References to TNK-BP or Group mean TNK-BP International and its consolidated subsidiaries unless the context requires a different reading.

For more information, please contact:

Public Affairs Division, Tel. (495) 363-2757

media@tnk-bp.com

www.tnk-bp.ru

November 29, 2011 13:27

Rostneftegas Geo buys 3 gas sections in Rostov Regionhttp://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=290831

ROSTOV-ON-DON. Nov 29 (Interfax) - Moscow-based CJSC Rostneftegas Geo has been declared the winner of auctions for the right to do geological surveys, prospecting, and gas production at the Severo-Donsky, Yuzhno-Donsky, and Gashunsky gas sections in Rostov Region.

An Interfax correspondent present for the auction at the Southern Federal District subsurface resource usage department (Yugnedra) reported that the company offered the top one-off payment - 160,000 rubles - for the resource usage rights at the Gashunsky section (starting price 100,000 rubles).

Rostneftegas Geo offered 102,000 rubles (starting price 60,000 rubles for the Yuzhno-Donsky resource usage rights and 176,000 rubles (110,000 rubles) for Severo-Donsky rights.

Yug Geo LLC also took part in the auctions.

A Yugnedra representative explained that the auction winner will receive licensing for 25 years in a month's time after confirmation of the auction results.

Predicted D1 gas reserves at Severo-Donsky amount to 2.2 billion cubic meters (bcm), at Yuzhno-Donsky to 0.4 bcm, and at Gashunsky to 1.8 bcm.

According to the SPARK database, Rostneftegas Geo is involved in geological prospecting, geophysical and geochemical work in the study of Rostov Region resources

and replenishment of its mineral and primary raw materials base. As of end-April 2010, the company's General Director Nikolai Kizub owned 100% of company charter capital.

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(Our editorial staff can be reached at eng.editors@interfax.ru)

Gazprom

Gazprom Cuts Belarus Gas Price This Year, Allows Delayed Paymenthttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-29/gazprom-lowers-gas-price-for-belarus-in-second-half-of-this-year.html

QBy Stephen Bierman - Nov 29, 2011 9:05 AM GMT+0100

OAO Gazprom, Russia’s gas export monopoly, reduced fuel prices for Belarus in the second half of this year and will allow the country to delay some payments after agreeing to buy the national pipeline operator.

Beltransgaz, the Belarusian operator, will pay $244.80 per 1,000 cubic meters of natural gas for second-half supplies, Moscow-based Gazprom said today in an e-mailed statement. That represents a 12 percent discount from previously contracted third-quarter prices and is 20 percent less than the fourth- quarter level, according to the statement.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Belarusian counterpart Aleksandr Lukashenko agreed to slash gas prices next year at a Nov. 25 meeting near Moscow as the countries integrate into a single economic zone and Belarus struggles to contain a balance of payments crisis.

Beltransgaz, the Belarusian pipeline company, will pay for part of the second-half gas supplies this year and the rest in monthly installments next year, Gazprom said.

Belarus will pay $165.60 per 1,000 cubic meters for gas deliveries next year, according to the Nov. 25 agreement. Belarus in return agreed to allow Gazprom to buy the half of the operator that it didn’t already own for $2.5 billion.

To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Bierman in Moscow at sbierman1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Torrey Clark at tclark8@bloomberg.net

Gazprom, Beltransgaz concur on lower gas prices in H2 2011

http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20111129104916.shtml

      RBC, 29.11.2011, Moscow 10:49:16.Gazprom and Belarusian pipeline operator Beltransgaz, which was recently taken over by Russia's gas giant in exchange for lower gas prices in 2012, have signed a supplementary agreement to the natural gas supply and transit deal for 2007-2011, Gazprom said in a statement.

      Under the terms of the agreement, Beltransgaz is to pay $244.80 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas for a part of Gazprom's deliveries in the second half of 2011 instead of the full price of $279.16 in Q3 and $305.72 in Q4.

Russia Grants Belarus New Gas Price Discounthttp://english.capital.gr/News.asp?id=1341797

Tuesday, 29 November 2011 - 09:36

MOSCOW -(Dow Jones)- Russian state gas firm OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) said Tuesday it has agreed to further gas price discounts to neighboring Belarus, lowering the price for the second quarter of 2011 to $244.8 per 1,000 cubic meters.

Under an existing contract that expires On Dec. 31, Belarus would pay $279.16 in the third quarter and $305.72 in the fourth quarter for Russian gas imports, Gazprom said.

Gas delivered to Belarus in the second half of the year will be paid in monthly tranches by state gas pipeline operator Beltransgaz in 2012.

The agreement is in addition to a deal signed on Friday, under which Gazprom took full control of Beltransgaz and lowered prices to the former Soviet republic.

-By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, Dow Jones Newswires; +7 495 232-9197, jacob.pedersen@dowjones.com

GOOGLE TRANSLATIONhttp://www.gazprom.ru/press/news/2011/november/article124372/"Gazprom" and "Beltransgaz" settled the question of payment for gas supplied in the second half of 201129.11.2011 10:00Yesterday, the development reached agreement November 25, OAO "Gazprom" and JSC "Beltransgaz" signed addendum to the contract amounts and conditions of supply of gas to Belarus and transit through its territory in 2007-2011.According to a document of "Beltransgaz" makes a partial payment of natural gas supplied by "Gazprom" in the second half of 2011 - at 244.8 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters. m., but not at the prices of the third and fourth quarters, calculated in accordance with the contract (respectively 279.16 and 305.72 dollars dollars).Payment of the remaining amount of the payment for the delivered in the second half of 2011 Russian gas will be produced "Beltransgaz 'monthly payments during 2012.

November 29, 2011 10:23

Gazprom, pipe producers switch to contract with price formulahttp://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=290755

MOSCOW. Nov 29 (Interfax) - Gazprom (RTS: GAZP) and pipe producers have agreed on a price formula that will be used under contracts for pipe supplies, primarily large diameter pipes (LDP), Gazprom reported following negotiations between the company's top managers and pipe producer representatives.

The components of the price formula for LDP will include: price quotations on metallurgical raw materials (iron concentrate, coking coal and scrap steel), the price dynamic on sheet steel and LDP, and the index of change on the price charged by industrial goods producers in Russia.

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(Our editorial staff can be reached at eng.editors@interfax.ru)

27.11.2011

Gazprom Neft starts drilling in Iraqhttp://www.oilandgaseurasia.com/news/p/0/news/13614

On 24 November, drilling of the first appraisal well in the Iraqi Badra oil deposit, operated by Gazprom Neft, commenced. The depth of the appraisal well will reach 4,900m. 

Drilling is expected to be completed in April 2012.  Before drilling started, 3D seismic field surveys were carried out and the results were  processed and evaluated. The seismic work clarified the geology and maps of the main  productive strata have been produced. Based on the results of drilling the appraisal wells, a  plan for the most efficient way for development of the deposit will be drawn up. 

In July 2011, a three-year agreement was signed with Schlumberger to drill 11 wells. A total of three rigs will operate simultaneously on the site. Drilling of the second appraisal well  at Badra will be started by the end of 2011 and in January 2012 the recommissioning and  testing of the earlier Bd.1 exploratory well will commence. When investigations have been completed, the appraisal wells will become operational. 

It is planned to start drilling a deep appraisal well (6,200m) to study the lower strata at the Badra deposit in June 2012. A tender is currently under way to test the wells and bring  them into production. 

“The results of the initial appraisal wells will allow us to better understand the geology of the location, produce a definitive operating plan and move to commercial production of at least 15,000 barrels of oil per day in August 2013. 

All the work on the project is being carried out in line with the schedule set out in the Badra operating agreement,” commented Vadim  Yakovlev, First Deputy CEO of Gazprom Neft.  Copyright 2011 Gazprom-Neft press service 

Russians here to look for oil http://www.dailymirror.lk/news/15088-russians-here-to-look-for-oil.html

Tuesday, 29 November 2011 02:00

Russian oil and gas giant GAZPROM has sent a four-member technical team to check on the viability of oil and gas exploration in northern Sri Lanka’s Mannar Basin, Petroleum Industries Minister Susil Premjayantha said yesterday.

He said another team was expected from the Indian Oil and Natural Gas Company

(ONGC) next week.

“The GAZPROM team which arrived yesterday was a sequel to discussions between President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Russian Authorities when he visited Russia last year and my follow up trip to Moscow. GAZPROM is keen on oil and gas exploration in the Mannar Basin.

They are liaising with the Petroleum Resources Development Secretariat (PRDS) on this matter,” the minister said and added that GASPROM would be offered a block in the Mannar Basin after it completes studying the data available. The minister said Cairn-Sri Lanka, a subsidy of Cairn India, is analysing the data collected from the two oil wells it drilled in the Mannar Basin to determine their commercial viability. It’s also drilling third well.

“In 2007 when Sri Lanka offered three blocks, C1, C2 and C3 in the Cauvery Mannar Basin Cairn India won the bid as it was the only company able to meet the conditions of the tender and was offered block C2 for oil exploration,” the minister said and added that Cairn India had conducted three dimensional seismic tests and based on the results of the data collected were now in the process of drilling oil wells in block C2.

The minister said five blocks in the Mannar Basin -- M1, M2, M3, M4 and M5 located off the North Western coast were lined up for international tenders. (Sandun A. Jayasekera)