Russia 110209

Basic Political Developments US official to discuss bilateral relations, int'l issues in Moscow - William

Burns, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, arrives in Moscow on Wednesday for a two-day visit to discuss key matters concerning bilateral relations as well as an international agenda, the State Department press service announced here.

US seeks closer ties with Russia - The new American military doctrine, the first in seven years, says that Washington will seek cooperation with Russia against terrorism, the spread of nuclear weapons and nuclear materials, in space and in missile defense. 

Russian ambassador proposes UN council Mideast trip – “We are making this proposal now because we are concerned about the situation in the Middle East. The efforts to restart the Israeli-Palestinian talks are at an impasse and the situation in the region is quite fragile and is fraught with other possible complications," Churkin said. "We think a mission of the Security Council could help on both tracks."

o Russia proposes sending UN Security Council mission to Mideast o Russia urges U.N. council Mideast visit to push peace

Japan investigates anti-Russian protests - The government 'is in the process of confirming the facts,' Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said.

o Pravda: Will Russia be able to defend Kuril Islands if Japan attacks?

o Nezavisimaya: The problem with Northern Territories – a Pandora’s Box: By far not all of Japan’s neighbors are as friendly as the Russian residents.

Smolensk Russian air controller questioned, report delayedo Polish report on presidential plane crash will not be ready on time

Russia ready to help cholera-gripped Haiti -    Russia’s Chief Health Inspector Gennady Onishchenko says his agency has sent a message to that effect to the World Health Organization but received no reply so far.

British embassy employee beaten and robbed in Moscow Armenian, Russian presidents discuss ties - Serzh Sargsyan and Dmitriy

Medvedev discussed bilateral cooperation during a telephone conversation on 8 February.

Duma to consider Belarusian-Russian deal on joint military communications system

Medvedev signs bill ratifying Russian-Belarusian deal on shipments of military products

o Medvedev signs wartime supplies agreement with Belarus Finance ministry denies that Belarus failed to pay off Union State loans to

Russia - Russia's Audit Chamber wants Belarus to pay off Union State loans worth a total of 1.5 billion Russian rubles, Sergei Stepashin, head of

the agency, told reporters in Moscow on February 7 after a meeting with Alyaksandr Yakabson, head of Belarus' State Control Committee.

OSCE chairman to talk Transdnestr settlement in Tiraspol - Chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Audronius Azubalis will meet on Wednesday with the leader of the Moldova's breakaway region of Transdnestr.

Church ties on the right track – Ilarion: The relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church is following the right track, and both are aware of the challenges that Christians around the globe are faced with.

Russia set to take on Iran in away friendly football match on Wed. Russia offers RI help on nuclear power - Russian Ambassador to

Indonesia Alexander Ivanov said in a press conference Tuesday that the possibility of building a nuclear plant in Indonesia was one of many issues Russia was willing to discuss in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) later this year.

Russia will not build Mistral helicopter carriers before 2020 - source Cold War II: Russian copters to intercept US blitz - In view of the

aggressive marketing of military hardware by Americans to India, Russians are desperate not to be outdone.

Uzbek Military Court Upholds 16-Year Sentence for Russian Corporal Maker of stolen Khodorkovsky film probes case's mysteries Medvedev to convene conference focusing on anti-inflation measures Putin and Sechin to discuss the energy sector - Today, Prime Minister

Vladmir Putin, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin and Energy Minister Ser- gey Shmatko will discuss the 2010 energy sector results. The meeting will take place on the construction site of Southern CHPP, indicating that they will discuss the utilities sector in particular. With the election campaign already started, we expect some popu- list statements that may create negative sentiment on stocks in the sector.

o Putin to chair conf in St Pete on energy sector tasks for 2011 Serial blasts rock Russia's Grozny in Chechnya - Grozny, capital city of

Russian republic of Chechnya, was rocked in the past 24 hours by a number of explosions, which had wounded at least five people, local media reported on Wednesday.

o One person injured in central Grozny explosiono Blast heard in Russia's Chechnya – Ifaxo In Grozny, the third explosion rocked. The number of wounded

grows o Series of bomb blasts rock Chechnya’s Groznyo Twin blasts rock Chechen capital o Three policemen wounded in blast in capital of Chechnya

Police identify seven suspects behind Domodedovo bombing - "According to investigators, seven suspects, including a suicide bomber who belonged to the group that prepared and carried out the terror attack, have been indentified," the source said.

o Moscow airport bomber named, his siblings arrestedo Domodedovo terror act suspects arrested in Ingushetia - Three

suspected accomplices to terrorists who committed the terror act at the Domodedovo airport on January 24 were arrested in Ingushetia on Wednesday, a source in the Magas city court told Itar-Tass.

o Four Domodedovo Airport bombing suspects detained – sourceo 3 arrested in Ingushetia on Domodedovo blast implication chargeso Police arrest teenage siblings of suspected Domodedovo bomber -

paper Moscow Airport Bombing Victim Says State Abandoned Him - Denis

Zhulyev of St. Petersburg claims he was released from a Moscow hospital before his wounds had healed. He said he still has at least five bomb fragments in his body that doctors said they could not remove without causing nerve and other damage.

Bangkok-bound Boeing 757 crash-lands in Novosibirsko Passenger airliner makes emergency landing in Siberia

Protest In Eastern Russia Over Utility Price Hikes - The "separate" demonstrations, which were organized by the Communist Party, were held in the city of Irkutsk by activists from the town of Angarsk. Dozens of protesters held single-person protests in front of the Irkutsk Oblast government building.

Murder suspect's video stokes ethnic tensions - A Dagestani man wanted by police for the murder of a Moscow football fan has released a video accusing Russian society of being racist and its political leaders of stoking up ethnic tensions.

Sudden Death of Ethnic Minority Champion in Dagestan Raises Suspicions - On February 5, it came to light that Magomed Gamzatov, the outspoken leader of the Didoi (aka Tsez) minority in Dagestan, died under suspicious circumstances. The Didoi people and Gamzatov made headlines in Russia in December 2010, when they requested protection from the Georgian government to support and promote their ethnic identity.

Russian police detain suspected killer of world boxing champion - Police in Russia's southern republic of North Ossetia have detained the suspected killer of youth world boxing champion Khteag Kozayev.

Rapes, Hate Crimes Rising in Moscow - The crime rate in Moscow decreased year on year in 2010, but figures for both rapes and hate crimes grew, and the average size of a bribe extorted by officials in the capital was 20 times larger than nationwide, the Investigative Committee said Tuesday.

Yabloko Activists Detained In Moscow To Face Trial - Members of the Russian opposition Yabloko party's youth branch were detained February 8 while picketing the Central Election Commission office in Moscow, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.

RIA Russian Press at a Glance, Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Pravda: The Guardian, Harding and the British obsession with the Cold War

From Russia with love! Moscow millionaire expresses interest in buying cash-strapped Pompey

Russian Scientists: Apophis Asteroid Could Destroy Earth in April 2036

National Economic Trends Finance Ministry to offer 35 billion rubles worth of OFZ-PD 25076 fixed-

rate government bond issue Finance Ministry to offer 25 billion rubles worth of OFZ-PD 25078 fixed-

rate government bond issue RenCap: Ministry of Finance to target cut-off yield Russian will have about 15 mln tonnes in grain reserves by July 1 - Grain

Union

Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions Electricity consumption down 0.3% y-o-y in January Russia’s Ashinskiy sees increased steel output in January Russian pipe market could grow 7pct to 10pct in 2011 - Mr Alexander

Shiryayevo TMK signals higher margins, possible resumption of dividend

payments in 2011 New rescue package to save Lucchini Sberbank buys stake in company that owns Mosmetrostroy RUSSIA WILL LIMIT VTB PRIVATIZATION TO 10% STAKE IN

2011 – SOURCE Russia's Polyus Gold plans London listing in summer

o Polyus Gold plans LSE premium listing Investors choke on first bite at Russian IPO apple - Renaissance Capital's

head of equity capital markets for Russia, Arie Kravtchin, says that if all the plans to list mentioned by Russia's hydropower producers, gold miners, pipe makers and state-run banks come to fruition, they could raise as much as $30bn – although that includes $20bn via the government's huge privatisation programme. "There is plenty of liquidity on the market to meet this large pipeline," Kravtchin says. "Investors will find the cash if it's an interesting deal at the right price."

Sibirsky Cement continues to seek EUR 50mn from Italcementi Acron invites VEB to join its potash project Magnit eyeing expansion in Moscow and St. Petersburg Abramovich firm sells part stake in Russia state tv - New owner said to

have ties with Russian PM; Deal reported to have been done for $150 million

GAZ dealerships sold 3,965 cars and light commercial vehicles in January, up 36 percent year on year, the Association of European Businesses' automobile manufacturers committee said in a statement Tuesday. (Interfax)

Steel-pipe producer TMK raised prices by 10 percent last month and may resume dividend payments following a return to profit last year, senior vice president Vladimir Shmatovich said Tuesday, adding that the company's U.S. unit, TMK IPSCO, boosted charges by about 15 percent in January. (Bloomberg)

Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory) Gov't issues license for Trebs, Titov oil fields to Bashneft Matra Petroleum set for new £1.55 mln funding BP's TNK-BP partner says say no talks on stake sale Conoco Sells LUKoil Shares China's demand for gas to drive Russian exports Shell to join Russia's harem

Gazprom Gazprom Neft Completes R30 Bln Bond Sale

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Full Text Articles

Basic Political Developments

US official to discuss bilateral relations, int'l issues in Moscow

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=15935443&PageNum=0

09.02.2011, 03.39

WASHINGTON, February 9 (Itar-Tass) - William Burns, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, arrives in Moscow on Wednesday for a two-day visit to discuss key matters concerning bilateral relations as well as an international agenda, the State Department press service announced here.

The brief announcement points out that Mr. Burns will hold meetings with government officials, members of the business community, and representatives of public organizations and human rights groups.

Mr. Burns and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov are co-chairmen of the Working Group on Political Coordination within the framework of the Presidential Commission on Cooperation Development. The Working Group was set up in accordance with the understandings reached between Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama in July 2009.

US seeks closer ties with Russiahttp://english.ruvr.ru/2011/02/09/43473685.html

Feb 9, 2011 07:12 Moscow Time

The US will expand the political dialogue and military cooperation with Russia based on the progress in the shared effort to reduce the two countries’ strategic nuclear arsenals.

The new American military doctrine, the first in seven years, says that Washington will seek cooperation with Russia against terrorism, the spread of nuclear weapons and nuclear materials, in space and in missile defense. 

“And we will welcome Russia’s more active role in ensuring security and stability in Asia,” the document says.

Russian ambassador proposes UN council Mideast trip http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=207427

By ASSOCIATED PRESS  02/09/2011 04:30

Under plan, Security Council would undertake its first mission to region since 1979, Vitaly Churkin says. UNITED NATIONS — Stalled peace talks with the Palestinians and an ongoing protest in Egypt have lead Russia to propose that the Security Council undertake its first mission to the Middle East since 1979, the country's representative to the UN said Tuesday.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters that he made the proposal during consultations late Thursday afternoon.

Churkin said details of the trip still must be worked out, and the countries to be visited and the messages to be sent must be carefully considered.

"We are making this proposal now because we are concerned about the situation in the Middle East. The efforts to restart the Israeli-Palestinian talks are at an impasse and the situation in the region is quite fragile and is fraught with other possible complications," Churkin said. "We think a mission of the Security Council could help on both tracks."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon earlier briefed the council on his recent trip to Europe and Africa, including his participation at Quartet talks in Munich.

The Quartet, he said, "met against the backdrop of dramatic developments in the region," which include ongoing protests in Egypt calling for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarek's resignation.

"While the Quartet did not discuss Egypt in detail, we are all conscious that it remains a crucial partner for both the Palestinian Authority and for Israel, and for the peace process," Ban said. The UN chief on Tuesday also briefed Arab ambassadors on the Quartet talks.

Speaking on background, a diplomat for another country holding a permanent council seat indicated that the trip is not a done deal.

The diplomat said council members expressed serious questions about the trip's timing and purpose, while others wondered if it would do more harm than good. Council members will now take the proposal to their governments while consultations on the issue continue, the diplomat said.

Russia proposes sending UN Security Council mission to Mideasthttp://en.rian.ru/world/20110209/162513829.html

03:44 09/02/2011

Russia has proposed sending a UN Security Council mission to the Middle East to promote resumption of negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, Russia's envoy to the UN Vitaly Churkin said.

"The situation remains fragile in the region, while efforts to resume talks between the countries are still in the dead end," Churkin said adding that the UN Security Council had not sent its missions to the region since 1979.

"We believe that the Security Council mission will help to stabilize the situation as well as to promote international efforts to resume the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations," the diplomat said.

Direct talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, which resumed last September after a 20-month standoff, collapsed in December after Israel refused to stop construction in the occupied West Bank.

Last Sunday Palestinians voiced their disappointment that the Middle East Quartet of negotiators, which met on February 5 in Germany, refused to heed their call for

unilateral statehood and failed to take a strong stance on Israel's settlement construction.

The quartet - the UN, the U.S., the EU and Russia - met on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference amid ongoing pro-democracy protests in Egypt and discussed the current impasse facing the Palestinian-Israeli search for peace.

NEW YORK, February 9 (RIA Novosti)

Russia urges U.N. council Mideast visit to push peacehttp://in.reuters.com/article/2011/02/09/idINIndia-54753420110209

UNITED NATIONS | Wed Feb 9, 2011 6:30am IST

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia proposed on Tuesday that the U.N. Security Council make its first visit to the Middle East in more than three decades to help restart stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

In addition to Israel and the Palestinian territories, the 15-nation council should aim to visit Egypt, Lebanon and Syria, Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters.

He said the council could boost international efforts to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks with its first visit to the region since 1979. "We think that the Security Council could play a role in helping this move ahead," he said.

Council diplomats said privately that it was unclear whether the United States would support a council visit to the Middle East at the present time.

Churkin said the council would want to visit the West Bank, as well as the Gaza Strip "in some form." The militant Islamist group Hamas, which does not recognize Israel's right to exist, controls Gaza. The Palestinian Authority controls the West Bank.

Churkin said a Security Council visit would ideally take place soon, given a weekend statement from the Quartet of Middle East peace negotiators -- the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations -- that reiterated support for concluding Israeli-Palestinian negotiations by September.

The United States and the United Nations have urged the revival of peace talks mired by long-running Israeli-Palestinian disputes about Israeli settlements in the West Bank, boundaries, and the inflexibility of Hamas rulers in Gaza.

Middle East diplomacy has been thrown into further disarray by the weeks of political upheaval in neighboring Egypt -- the key regional power broker -- and other Arab states.

(Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Chris Wilson)

Japan investigates anti-Russian protests http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1618017.php/Japan-investigates-anti-Russian-protests

Feb 9, 2011, 6:09 GMT

Tokyo - Japan was investigating right-wing activists accused of insulting the Russian flag during protests over high-level Russian visits to a disputed set of islands, the government said Wednesday.

The government 'is in the process of confirming the facts,' Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said.

Russia's Foreign Ministry requested Tuesday that Japan look into protests in front of the country's embassy in Tokyo the previous day by right-wing groups concerning the Russian-held Kuril Islands, which Japan claims as its 'Northern Territories.'

The activists dragged Russia's flag on the ground, the Itar-Tass news agency reported. It was torn, stained and covered with black cross symbols, it said.

The Japanese government 'failed to ensure conditions for normal work of the embassy, to which both visitors' access and exit of the embassy's staff and families was impeded,' the news agency said.

Such acts of vandalism were 'outrageous and unpardonable,' the embassy said in a note forwarded to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, according to Itar-Tass.

Officials at Tokyo's embassy in Moscow were also summoned to the Foreign Ministry, the report said. The Japanese government was irked by a series of visits to the disputed islands by high-ranking Russian officials, starting with a trip by President Dmitry Medvedev in November. Medvedev was the first Russian leader, including those of the Soviet Union, to visit the islands.

Visits by the ministers of defence and regional development followed.

Japan's inexperienced leaders had been 'totally ridiculed by Russia,' said a foreign policy expert who declined to be named because of his role in the Japanese government.

The visits also infuriated Japanese who once lived on the islands and hoped to return to their old homes some day.

The four islands were under Japanese control until they were seized by Soviet forces soon after Japan's World War II surrender on August 15, 1945.

At an annual rally on Monday to push for the return of the four islands, Prime Minister Naoto Kan criticized Medvedev's visit as an 'unforgivable outrage.'

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was quick to respond to Kan's comments by saying the premier's remarks were 'undiplomatic.'

Will Russia be able to defend Kuril Islands if Japan attacks?http://english.pravda.ru/russia/politics/09-02-2011/116829-russia_japan_kuril_islands-0/

09.02.2011

Anti-Russian hysteria continues in Japan. On February 7, Japanese revanchists who gathered at the walls of the Russian Embassy in Tokyo demanded that Russia returns four Kuril Islands, and abused the Russian national flag in the process. The police did not intervene in the proceedings, acting as interested spectators.

Perhaps the far-right were inspired by Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who spoke on the same day with an official address in which he called the recent visit of Dmitry Medvedev to the Southern Kuriles "inexcusable rudeness".

The next day, February 8, the Russian Embassy received a letter with a bullet and a note from which the Russian diplomats learned that the "northern territories is a Japanese land".

Moscow's position boils down to the fact that four Kuril Islands, whose ownership is disputed by the Japanese, belong to Russia as the successor to the USSR following World War II.

So far the battle for the Southern Kurils is diplomatic. But who knows what would the Japanese do when it becomes clear that their diplomatic efforts are futile? The history has precedents where the ownership of certain territories was disputed at a battlefield.

The latest example of this kind is directly related to Russia - the actions of Georgia in August of 2008 in South Ossetia. Most of the experts did not consider a possibility of an attack. Until the last minute most of them were confident that the little Georgia will not risk fighting with a much stronger Russia. However, as the experience shows, Saakashvili who dreamt of the "return of the historic Georgian territories," was not even afraid of Russian nuclear weapons.

Japan is a much more formidable opponent in all respects. Of course, we can assume that the Japanese leaders, in contrast to Georgia, are much saner and that the economic relationship between Japan and Russia will not allow the conflict flare up. However, economics does not always dominate politics. As evident from history, sometimes the political attitudes may outweigh the economic benefits.

The behavior of the Japanese leadership cannot but cause concern. In 2007, then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that it was time to get away from the postwar regime and give the army due respect. In other words, Japan has been steadily reviving the "fighting spirit of the nation" to return to the club of the world powers.

Military spending in Japan is also growing. In 2010 the country ranked fifth in the world in terms of military spending (approximately 44.3 billion dollars annually), outrunning Germany and conceding only to the U.S. (600 billion), China (81.4 billion dollars), the UK (48.8 billion dollars) and France (45 billion dollars). Most likely, considering that the latter are significantly reducing their military budgets, in 2011 Japan could get to the third place in the world and would compete with China for the second. Russia is far behind Japan in terms of these indicators.

In this regard, in recent years the Japanese have been actively building up their offensive potential. It now has an entire set of attributes of superpower, including military preparedness. For example, Japan has aircraft carriers, a modern missile defense system, and powerful air forces of "self-defense".

Overall, the Japanese self-defense forces, not counting civil employees, amount to 240,000 people and are among the most powerful in the region. This is substantially contributed by regular updates of military equipment. A specific role is given to the Navy that includes over 250 combat ships, support ships and boats.

In addition, the Navy has 40 destroyers, of which eight are guided missile defense destroyers capable of hitting targets at long range. The Japanese naval forces continue to grow, including amphibious.

Among them there are four (according to other reports, five) "flagship" ships that are helicopter carriers. They perform both the role of aircraft carriers and amphibious units. Moreover, helicopter destroyer of the Hyuga class introduced in 2009, according to the general opinion of military experts, is a light aircraft carrier, which can be rapidly converted to receive military aircraft.

It was called a destroyer only to avoid postwar restrictions on the ability to have ships of this class. In the coming years two more ships of this class with a displacement of 19,500 tons and capable of accommodating every 14 helicopters, four thousand soldiers and 50 trucks will be introduced.

Currently there are five Japanese small and medium landing ships, as well as at least eight landing crafts, with which they can land troops in heavy weather and natural conditions. The landing crafts alone can land up to 36 armored vehicles, or more than 4.2 thousand marines at a time. In addition, the Japanese leaders do not rule out future significant increase in the number of amphibious ships and boats.

Furthermore, government officials declare their intention to revive full-fledged Marines, creating "mobile assault units," designed to capture the coastal strip of the probable enemy.

That is, Japan has been actively building up its strike group designed to conduct amphibious operations. Is Russia ready for the Japanese that once had lost all hope of returning "native Japanese territories," to take action?

Konstantin Sivkov, senior vice president of the Academy of Geopolitical Issues, answered this question for Pravda.ru.

"Of course, when we try to imagine a scenario of conflict with Japan, we should take into account the fact that it is not limited to amphibious operation in the Southern Kuril Islands," the expert believes. "Japanese revenge-seekers who are raising their head increasingly more must understand that in case of military adventurism on their part they will have to deal with Russia on the vast theater of operations, from Vladivostok to the Kuril chain, and possibly up to Kamchatka. They surpass Russia both at sea and in the air at this point. Although on our side we have strategic aircrafts unavailable in Japan. Thus, our missiles can be guaranteed to hit targets within a radius of 1500-2000 kilometers.

With regard to nuclear weapons, in a conventional conflict, without the use of weapons of mass destruction, we simply will not use it, and we do not hope that it can stop the aggressor.

Until recently there was a rather strong Russian unit in the conflict zone, including an artillery division, designed precisely to reflect a probable enemy assault. However, in 1990, our Kuril group significantly deteriorated in the general context of weakening of Russian defenses. In particular, a significant

portion of the park was comprised of obsolete armored vehicles T-55. Or there is something else - while the Japanese are increasing their military preparedness, we are only just beginning to wonder out loud: "Should we send S-300 to the Kuriles? It says a lot.

In case of an attack of a potential enemy, our Kurile unit, including the southern islands, is guaranteed to hold out for a day or two. Maximum - three or four days. During this time we must ensure the delivery of reinforcement, otherwise the outcome of the likely conflict may not be very pleasant.

It is important that the transport infrastructure connecting the archipelago with the mainland leaves much to be desired. In recent years, observing the Japanese to increase their offensive force, we also expressed some interest in the defense of the Kuril Islands and started building new and reconstruct old airfields.

In the foreseeable future, the Japanese are unlikely to hold military adventure. However, this cannot be guaranteed further on, especially if we are at war with some third country and are not able to pay due attention to the Far East direction".

There has been a similar precedent in history. In 1855, using the fact that Russia was involved in the Crimean War, the Japanese pushed for a favorable agreement on the South Kuriles. Not wanting to conflict with Japan, Russia gave them four islands, which the Japanese are not willing to forget.

At one time the notorious Bismarck spoke of possible opponents: "I'm not interested in their intentions, I'm interested in their capabilities." The capabilities of the Japanese are getting larger.

Sergei BalmasovPravda.Ru

Nezavisimaya: The problem with Northern Territories – a Pandora’s Boxhttp://rt.com/politics/press/nezavisimaya/russia-japan-kuril-islands/en/print/

Published: 9 February, 2011, 03:22Edited: 9 February, 2011, 09:35

By far not all of Japan’s neighbors are as friendly as the Russian residents.

Yury Vadimovich Tavrovsky – professor at the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia

On February 8, Tokyo marked another Day of the Northern Territories. This spectacle first premiered in 1981, and since then, the scenario has hardly changed.

While working as a correspondent in Tokyo in the 1980s, I became a viewer of the still-fresh production. The gatherings of political leaders in some large concert hall closely resembled a typical grand meeting of the Soviet era with reports and debates, sleeping members of the presidium and the handing out of portfolios with the indispensible fountain pen. At the same time, the agitprop Jeeps and minibuses of the Uyoku ultra-right-wing organizations gathered in front of our embassy, trade mission, and other official representative offices. From a distance, one could hear cries, amplified with speakers, demanding the return of the “hoppo ryodo”, or Northern Territories. The same thing happened on February 7, 2011.

The effect of the spectacle since its premiere is measured by the formula n+1, where n tends to the minimum. Soviet-Japanese, and later Russian-Japanese, relations did not develop in a negative or a positive direction depending on the scope of the “Territories’ Day” or the state of the smoldering dialogue over “the problem of the northern territories”. It appears that neither will the current production have any serious economic repercussions. No Tokyo Cabinet of Ministers will be able to knock out the Japanese companies and banks form the positions they have won in the Russian market. Serious Japanese business cannot afford to see a vacuum in the exploration of the Far East and Siberia, as it will immediately be replaced by Chinese, South Korean, and American competitors. The growth of the resource base for “China’s peaceful rise” at the expense of the Japanese share will hardly be approved by the American strategists, who have a strong influence in Tokyo and are making plans to restrain the Celestial Empire.             

However, “the fight for the return of the Northern Territories” is producing some type of results. In Russia, where according to sociologists everyone continues to favorably regard the Japanese, tensions are rising among the ruling elite as well as the population. Last year, after the many years of Far Eastern parliamentarians’ appeals, the State Duma, Federation Council, and the Russian president confirmed September 2 – the date of the signing of Japan’s Capitulation Act in 1945 – a new day of military honor under the title of The Day of the End of the Second World War. And it was not entirely without the influence of the screaming Tokyo that the Kremlin began paying greater attention to the poor living conditions of the Kuril Islands residents. In a matter of months, the islands were visited by President Medvedev, as well as such power-players as Shuvalov, Basargin, and Serdyukov. The harshest words yet, which were expressed by Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan during the annual February 7 celebrations of the Northern Territories’ Day, about Medvedev’s “unacceptable harshness”, could intensify the forces in Moscow that believe it is necessary to stop searching for the happy medium and forever close the topic of ownership of the Kuril Islands in the communications with Tokyo.         

It could be said that a result of Tokyo’s persistent activity in the struggle for the Northern Territories is Beijing’s rising level of activity in the fight for its own northern territories. The Chinese raised the question of ownership of the Diaoyu

Islands (Senkaku) almost at the same time as the onset of the celebrations of the Day of Northern Territories in Japan. Last year, things boiled down to a clash between the Japanese patrol ships with Chinese fishermen, the captain’s arrest, and the unprecedented crisis in the bilateral relations, which had been sparked by these events. Last year will also go down in history as the starting point for the Chinese claims for Okinawa. In the course of the protests against the fishermen’s arrest near the Diaoyu Island, Chinese students demanded the “return of China’s ancestral land of the Luchu (Ryukyu) archipelago”. Considering the popularity of a historical theme among the online users of the Celestial Empire, and especially the study of examples of “humiliation by foreigners”, one could expect to see numerous materials from the history of the Japanese takeover of the Ryukyu.           

The Ryukyu Kingdom, located on this and the adjacent islands, had between the 15th and 19th centuries, been paying tribute money to China, which was getting rich by trading Chinese goods with Japan and the Southeast Asian countries. Tea traders from the Fujian Province opened factories in Okinawa, mixed with the local population, while importing Chinese cultural achievements, including Kung Fu fighting, which traveled to Japan and, in the 20th century, became known as Karate.   

During my many visits to Okinawa, I was surprised by the “non-Japanese” appearance and speech of the local residents, the distinctive character of the household and cultural items, and their resemblance to the similar Chinese items. Starting in 1611, the Ryukyu Kingdom also started paying money to pirates – maritime samurais of the Japanese Satsuma clan from the Kyushu Island.

The weakening of China and the activation of the Japanese expansion led to the Ryukyu kings’ losing the remnants of power, and in 1879, the Okinawa Prefecture became part of the Japanese Empire. The Kuril Islands, meanwhile, became a Japanese territory not long before – in 1855, on February 7.

While seeking to review the territorial status quo, Japanese politicians are opening the Pandora’s Box wider and wider. By far, not all of Japan’s neighbors are as friendly as the residents of Russia. The events of the recent years showed that the grievances and problems that have accumulated over the last centuries toward the Land of the Rising Sun are ready to ignite. This could happen at any time and be expressed in any form – including with the request to return “the ancestral territories”.

Smolensk Russian air controller questioned, report delayedhttp://www.thenews.pl/international/artykul148957_smolensk-russian-air-controller-questioned--report-delayed.html

09.02.2011 08:42Victor Ryzenko, one of the Russian air traffic controllers at the Severny airport when the TU 154 crashed last April, has been interrogated by the Polish Military Prosecutor’s Office.

On Monday, another Russian air controller, Pavel Plusin, was also questioned by the Polish prosecutors in Moscow.

“The questioning lasted eight hours, which is allowed by Russian law. Prosecutors are satisfied with the outcome,” said the Prosecutor’s General Andrzej Seremet, adding that the witness will be asked additional questions soon. Seremet did not want to reveal the details of the interrogation.

The Polish prosecutors in Moscow are going to look through the Russian files on the Smolensk air disaster and hear more witnesses.

Contrary to the Russian report into the disaster which killed President Lech Kaczynski - which put most of the blame on pilot error - Polish investigators are looking at the role of air traffic control in the tragedy, believing that the plane was not given vital information on weather and other conditions as it approached Smolensk on 10 April.

Report delay

It was announced by the Interior Ministry Wednesday morning however that Poland’s final report into the Smolensk tragedy will be delayed six weeks due to problems with another TU 154 (number 102) that is being used to simulate flight patterns.

“The execution of such a flight is very important to determine why the TU-154 (101) crashed on April 10. The flight is to demonstrate whether the crew had sufficient time to terminate descent procedures safely,” a ministry spokesman told the TVN 24 news station this morning.  (mg/pg)

Source: PAP

Polish report on presidential plane crash will not be ready on timehttp://en.rian.ru/world/20110209/162517512.html

A Polish report on the causes of the April 2010 presidential plane crash in western Russia will not be ready in February as scheduled, the Polish Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife and dozens of high-ranking Polish officials were killed when their Tu-154 plane crashed on April 10 near the Russian city of Smolensk while landing in thick fog.

The report is expected to be released in late-March, the ministry said.

The delay was caused by technical failures on a Tu-154 plane, on which Polish experts are carrying out tests to establish the causes of the crash.

WARSAW, February 9 (RIA Novosti)

Russia ready to help cholera-gripped Haitihttp://english.ruvr.ru/2011/02/09/43500925.html

Feb 9, 2011 11:33 Moscow Time

Russia’s health service is ready to supply specialists to work with an international group of experts on the outbreak of cholera in Haiti.

   Russia’s Chief Health Inspector Gennady Onishchenko says his agency has sent a message to that effect to the World Health Organization but received no reply so far.

   Russia is concerned over the cholera epidemic in Haiti as it might spill over into the neighboring Dominican Republic, which is visited by thousands of Russian tourists every year.

    Onishchenko urged Russians to refrain from travelling to the Dominican Republic.

    Cholera in Haiti has claimed more than 4 thousand lives and separate cases of cholera have been reported in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the United States and Canada. 

CORRECTED GOOGLE TRANSLATION

Last Updated: Wednesday, February 9, 2011, 07:35 GMT 10:35 MCK British embassy employee beaten and robbed in Moscow http://www.bbc.co.uk/russian/rolling_news/2011/02/110209_rn_moscow_britain_grabbing.shtml

On Tuesday night, unknown assailants beat and robbed the employee of the visa department of the British Embassy at the junction of Smolensk Square. According to Russian reports citing the police, the attacker of the Briton took his credit card, a gold ring, about ten thousand rubles, and documents. Law enforcement authorities have opened a criminal case in the case of robbery.

Armenian, Russian presidents discuss tieshttp://www.news.az/articles/armenia/31064

Wed 09 February 2011 05:40 GMT | 6:40 Local Time

Serzh Sargsyan and Dmitriy Medvedev discussed bilateral cooperation during a telephone conversation on 8 February.

“The heads of state discussed topical issues in Russian-Armenian cooperation and a schedule for bilateral contacts in the future,” News.am reported, quoting the Kremlin press service.

The conversation was initiated by the Armenian side.

On 27 January, Armenian President Sargsyan said he would visit Russia within two weeks.

The conversation took place the day before the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, including Russian diplomat Igor Popov, are to meet Serzh Sargsyan in Yerevan to discuss a settlement to the Karabakh conflict.

From Yerevan they will travel to Baku for talks on the conflict with the Azerbaijani president.

News.Az

02/09 10:47   Duma to consider Belarusian-Russian deal on joint military communications system

http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=220960

11:10Medvedev signs bill ratifying Russian-Belarusian deal on shipments of military products

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

Medvedev signs wartime supplies agreement with Belarus

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=15936442&PageNum=0

09.02.2011, 11.40

MOSCOW, February 9 (Itar-Tass) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the federal law on ratification of the agreement between the government of Russia and Belarus on mutual supplies of military, civil and dual-purpose goods in wartime.

The document was approved by the State Duma lower house of the Russian parliament on January 26, 2011, and by the Federation Council (upper house of the Russian parliament) on February 2, 2011, the Kremlin press office reminded on Wednesday.

The federal law ratifies the wartime supplies agreement between the two countries signed in Moscow on December 10, 2009. It is aimed at strengthening Russian-Belarusian relations by creating legal groundwork and mechanism of bilateral economic and military-technical cooperation between the signatories to the agreement in the period of mounting aggression and in wartime.

In the designated period, the states - signatories to the agreement - pledge to ensure mutual supplies of products in accordance with the plans of mutual supplies of products for government needs of Russia and Belarus within the framework of the mobilization plans of their economies.

In accordance with sub-item "g", item 1, article 15 of the federal law on international treaties of the Russian federation, the agreement with Belarus requires ratification, as it is related to the country's defence capability.

The implementation of the agreement does not require additional federal budget expenditure.

Finance ministry denies that Belarus failed to pay off Union State loans to Russiahttp://naviny.by/rubrics/english/2011/02/09/ic_news_259_361027/

09.02.2011 / 10:04

It is false that Belarus failed to repay 1.5 billion Russian rubles in Union State loans, the press office of the finance ministry told BelaPAN on February 8.

"Belarus, as a sovereign borrower, has never obtained loans out of the budget of the Belarusian-Russian Union State," the press office of the finance ministry told BelaPAN.

A total of 1.5 billion rubles was provided out of the budget in 2009 for implementing law-enforcement and security programs and 93.3 percent of the amount had been spent as of January 1, 2011, the press office said.

Russia's Audit Chamber wants Belarus to pay off Union State loans worth a total of 1.5 billion Russian rubles, Sergei Stepashin, head of the agency, told reporters in Moscow on February 7 after a meeting with Alyaksandr Yakabson, head of Belarus' State Control Committee.

"There's a problem of unpaid loans worth 1.5 billion rubles," Mr. Stepashin said. "And we have asked the government of the Union State to settle the issue."

OSCE chairman to talk Transdnestr settlement in Tiraspolhttp://en.rian.ru/world/20110209/162514693.html

Chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Audronius Azubalis will meet on Wednesday with the leader of the Moldova's breakaway region of Transdnestr.

OSCE Chairman and Lithuanian Foreign Minster Azubalis is meeting with Transdnestr President Igor Smirnov in Tiraspol, the capital of Transdnestr, to discuss perspectives for resuming official negotiations on the regional conflict in the "5+2 format."

The talks on the future of Transdnestr in the "five-plus-two" format, involving Russia, Ukraine, OSCE, Moldova, Transdnestr, with the United States and the EU as observers, have been frozen since February 2006.

The Russian-speaking province of Transdnestr has maintained de facto independence from Moldova since a brief war in 1992, which erupted from a buildup of tensions following the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Tiraspol insists on independence, and even integration with Russia, while Chisinau says it is willing only to give Transdnestr autonomy within Moldova.

Transdnestr also insists it should be an integral part of any talks or agreements on the settlement issue.

TIRASPOL, February 9 (RIA Novosti)

Church ties on the right track – Ilarionhttp://english.ruvr.ru/2011/02/09/43485733.html

Feb 9, 2011 10:35 Moscow Time

The relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church is following the right track, and both are aware of the challenges that Christians around the globe are faced with.

   A statement to that effect was made by Metropolitan Ilarion, who chairs the Moscow Patriarchate’s Foreign Relations Department. 

   In December 2009 Russia and the Holy See established diplomatic ties and the Vatican’s mission in Moscow was raised to the status of an embassy.

Russia set to take on Iran in away friendly football match on Wed.http://en.rian.ru/sports/20110209/162513602.html

The Russian national football team will take on the Iranian side in an away friendly match on Wednesday as part of the team's preparations for the 2012 Euro Cup qualifiers.

The match, which will be the first one for the Russian team this year, will be held at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, at 19:00 Moscow time (17:00 GMT).

Dutch trainer of the Russian team Dick Advokaat said he does not intend to make any experiments with the team in the match against Iran.

"For now, it is important for the players to feel the game and to recall all playing combinations. That is why I am not going to make any experiments with tactics or the lineup," Advocaat said.

After the friendly with Iran, Russia will next take on Armenia in the 2012 Euro qualifier on March 26 in Yerevan.

Russia currently tops Euro 2012 qualifying Group B with 9 points after 4 games. It is followed by Slovakia, Ireland and Armenia with 7 points each.

ABU DHABI, February 9 (RIA Novosti)

Russia offers RI help on nuclear powerhttp://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/02/09/russia-offers-ri-help-nuclear-power.html

Zamzam Aden, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 02/09/2011 11:37 AM | World

Russia has said it was ready to provide Indonesia with assistance to build its own nuclear power plant.

Russian Ambassador to Indonesia Alexander Ivanov said in a press conference Tuesday that the possibility of building a nuclear plant in Indonesia was one of many issues Russia was willing to discuss in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) later this year.

He said developing renewable energy cooperation with Indonesia was part of a new mechanism of Russia-ASEAN relations in Asia.

“We signed a deal with Vietnam to build a [nuclear power plant], and last year we made a presentation on nuclear power in Indonesia to the energy [and mineral resources] minister. But we think it’s up to the Indonesian government to [decide on] building the atomic power plant,” Ivanov said.

The Indonesian government has floated the idea to building a nuclear power plant to boost the country’s electricity grid while reducing reliance of fossil fuels.

Public resistance has long been the main barrier to the proposal’s implementation. A previous plan to build a nuclear power plant in Muria, Jepara, Central Java, faced strong opposition from locals and NGOs.

Indonesia currently has three small nuclear reactors — in Serpong, Banten, in Yogyakarta and in Bandung, West Java. The reactors produce a combined 90 megawatts of electricity.

Apart from Muria, the government also suggested building a nuclear power plant in Bangka Belitung and Kalimantan.

While acknowledging that some people in Indonesia “don’t agree with the idea of having a nuclear power plant”, Ivanov said the Russian government has allocated special funds to finance joint projects, a workshop on renewable energy for ASEAN and the establishment of the ASEAN Center.

“We have contributed US$1.75 million. Russia expects to spend US$1.5 million per year,” he said.

The dialogue partnership of Russian and ASEAN was established in 1996. In 2004 Russia exceeded the treaty of amity cooperation, also known as the Bali Treaty. In previous years, Russia and ASEAN foreign ministers signed joint declarations of partnership in political cooperation, economic trade, culture and humanitarian aid.

Combating terrorism was also on the agenda, with Russia planning to hold talks at ASEAN summits. Ivanov said terrorism was not only a domestic issue, but an international problem and had become a threat to Russia.

Last year in Moscow, ASEAN sign a deal with Russia to work on combatting terrorism. Ivanov said he believed that with the support of ASEAN and bodies such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Russia was likely to see a breakthrough in combating terrorism.

”We’re ready to help to ensure stability in Asia Pacific,” he said.

Other programs in the Russia-ASEAN partnership are aimed at establishing a foreign language for business and professional groups and building e-commerce for small-scale enterprises.

11:20Russia will not build Mistral helicopter carriers before 2020 - source

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

Cold War II: Russian copters to intercept US blitzhttp://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_cold-war-ii-russian-copters-to-intercept-us-blitz_1505287

Published: Wednesday, Feb 9, 2011, 10:07 IST By Nirad Mudur | Place: Bangalore | Agency: DNA

In view of the aggressive marketing of military hardware by Americans to India, Russians are desperate not to be outdone.

Russia is hard selling a range of helicopters and a short-range air defence, using Aero India 2011 as the platform for pushing the sale for India which is keen on this segment of military equipment to replace old systems.

The Indian Army is looking at replacing the existing fleet of indigenously manufactured Cheetah and Chetak helicopters. Both of these are based on Eurocopter Alouette II and III rotary-wing aircraft.

Russia’s state-owned arms manufacturer, Rosboronexport, is banking on its recent deliveries of Mi-17 military transport helicopters to Indian Air Force to further push the sale of a range of choppers. This includes Mi-28NE, the new export version of Night Hunter combat helicopter inducted into the Russian Army in 2009.

The Mi-28NE is in intense competition with the American AH-64D Apache to win the Indian tender for the supply of 22 attack helicopters.

Aero India 2011 will especially witness rivalry between the two as Eurocopter Tiger and Italian Augusta-129 Mangusta (Mongoose) have pulled out of the race for the Indian tender.

Mi-28NE is not the only one; Russia is also pushing the Ka-226T light multi-role helicopter to compete for the Indian Army multi-role helicopter tender, besides the Mi-26T2 which is acclaimed to have the world’s heaviest load-carrying capacity of 20 tonnes.

Also in the race is Eurocopter’s AS550 C3 Fennec, which will look at exploiting the familiarity of the Indian armed forces’ personnel with Cheetah and Chetak choppers which are similar in design to Eurocopter Alouette II and III.

The AS550 C3 Fennec helicopter recently conducted field trials for the Indian armed forces with full mission equipment for surveillance and reconnaissance applications. It has demonstrated landings and lift-offs at the high-altitude Siachen glacier.

Uzbek Military Court Upholds 16-Year Sentence for Russian Corporalhttp://www.eurasianet.org/node/62860

February 8, 2011 - 6:57pm, by Catherine A. Fitzpatrick

Last month, Choihona wrote about Yury Korepanov, a former Soviet corporal who had served for 30 years in Uzbekistan, and was sentenced by a military tribunal January 11 to 16 years of prison in Uzbekistan on charges of treason.

Korepanov, 63, has been in solitary confinement since October 30, when he was pulled from a train bound for Russia at the Uzbek-Kazakh border. The Russian officer had moved from Uzbekistan to Yekaterinburg in Russia in 2003, and was accused of "illegal border-crossing" and passport fraud for obtaining a Shengen (EU) visa. Family members said he had given up Uzbek citizenship and his passport when he had left the country, and "crossing illegally" made no sense given the visa-free travel agreement between Uzbekistan and Russia.

Even if there was some sort of passport irregularity, it's hard to fathom how it could land a Russian 16 years in jail.

An appeal was heard February 3 by a military court and Korepanov's sentence on charges of "unlawful border crossing" and "treason" was upheld, the independent Uzbek news service fergananews.com reported.

It is a mystery as to what this case is really about. Korepanov worked in the Uzbek Ministry of Defense and held the post of head of the military department of the Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization. He retired in 2003 and moved to Russia, changing his Uzbek passport for a Russian one. In Russia, he worked as head of inspection at Vodokanal and as a guard at a district military commissariat. Korepanov had visited his son, who remained in Uzbekistan, once a year, and had not had any problems before last year.

The Just Russia Party sent an inquiry from parliament to the Foreign Ministry about Korepanov, and some party members held a picket outside the Uzbek embassy in Moscow. Russian relatives turned to their State Duma (parliament) member Aleksandr Burkov of Sverdlovsk oblast and the party's leader, Sergei Mironov, to raise Korepanov's case. Burkov and several other party members sent an appeal to the Russian Foreign Ministry, and Burkov also travelled to Tashkent to appeal the case, after which Korepanov's son and lawyer were allowed to visit him. In a press statement, Burkov said releasing the corporal was "a matter of honor".

Uzbekistan has been going through something of a backlash against the visible reminders of the Soviet past, removing World War II statues from the Soviet era and renaming streets once named for Soviet heroes or with Russian or other non-Uzbek names, and felling 100-year-old trees planted by the czar. Last month, authorities demolished a monument to workers from Tashsel'mash, a Soviet cotton combine factory, who had died in the war. Although relatives had continued to bring flowers on Victory Day, May 9, every year, the factory, once the pride of the Soviet Union, went bankrupt.

Maker of stolen Khodorkovsky film probes case's mysterieshttp://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gyFT6rJ7W_uCvUSyPIxVB6mgUXvw?docId=CNG.359417ab5b39e2ba4c7e6d7288592650.261

By Deborah Cole (AFP) – 5 hours ago

BERLIN — The dramatic theft of material from a critical new documentary on jailed Russian former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky has touched off a storm of suspicion days before its world premiere in Berlin.

German director Cyril Tuschi told AFP he aimed to shed light on the puzzling aspects of the ex-Yukos chief's case with his first documentary "Khodorkovsky", which will still screen as planned at the Berlin film festival Monday.

The film paints a nuanced picture of the man at the heart of Russia's most high-profile legal saga in interviews with family members, opponents, fellow travellers and, in the picture's riveting climax, Khodorkovsky himself.

Tuschi depicts the trials as a kind of "clash of the titans" between the country's richest man, before he was stripped of his assets, and its most powerful, then president Vladimir Putin.

The picture begins with an animated sequence dramatising Khodorkovsky's return from a business trip abroad on his private jet in 2003, when masked commandos stormed the plane and hauled him into custody.

"The mystery of why he came back to Russia is the main reason why I made the film," Tuschi, 42, told AFP in an interview the day before the break-in.

"Why would such a rational, clever, logical person make such an illogical mistake with both eyes open? I found this Shakespearean drama -- how someone who had reached such a high point could fall so far -- fascinating."

The picture goes on to explore how Khodorkovsky went from a dyed-in-the-wool student communist with a poster of Lenin on his wall to an oil oligarch and a potential threat to Putin.

"I came to the conclusion that the fact Khodorkovsky was maybe a bit smarter (than Putin) and perhaps better looking -- an absolutely basic macho conflict -- played a major role," Tuschi said, calling the trials "absurdist theatre".

Tuschi, whose great-grandfather was a wealthy businessman in Saint Petersburg, was cautious while filming in Russia.

"I was very German about everything -- I made sure all my applications, visas, papers, registrations were in order all the time to ensure there was never a pretext to give us trouble," he said.

"But while we were Siberia we were followed and, I believe, had our phones tapped."

While he was editing in Bali a few weeks ago, a hard disk with parts of the documentary were stolen from his hotel room.

Last week, burglars stole four computers on which interview out-takes and the finalised version of the film were stored from his Berlin offices, which were also vandalised.

Police said they are investigating the theft, which prompted furious speculation in the German and international press about possible Kremlin involvement.

Tuschi is reportedly now staying with friends for his own safety and has declined to speak with reporters. But he told the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung: "Someone is trying to scare me and I have to say, they have succeeded."

Khodorkovsky, 47, was first detained in 2003, convicted of tax evasion two years later and handed an eight-year sentence. He was jailed for the second time in December on fraud charges and is to stay behind bars until 2017.

His supporters see him as a martyr punished for daring to challenge Putin while Russian authorities insist he is guilty of serious financial crimes.

The latest conviction sparked angry condemnations in the West but Tuschi argues that officials have brought little real pressure to bear because of dependence on Russian energy.

The film comes to a close with a rare on-camera interview with Khodorkovsky, held in a cage-like cell in the courtroom, as a guard counted down the minutes allotted Tuschi by tapping his back with a machine gun.

"I believed that I had to stand up for myself in court," Khodorkovsky says, when asked why he returned to Russia to face trial rather than fleeing abroad. "I also believe in something called justice."

Tuschi said Khodorkovsky appeared driven by a sense of honour.

"I think that is how he manages to stay so strong, so centred, so calm in prison. That impressed me very much," Tuschi told AFP.

"I think if I were in the same situation I would sign anything, say anything to get out."

Medvedev to convene conference focusing on anti-inflation measures

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=15935425&PageNum=0

09.02.2011, 03.15

MOSCOW, February 9 (Itar-Tass) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is to hold a conference here on Wednesday to discuss economic issues, presidential aide Arkady Dvorkovich told Itar-Tass on Tuesday.

"Inflation will be one of the main subjects of discussion at the meeting," Dvorkovich said. Vice-Premier Viktor Zubkov, Federal Anti-Monopoly Service chief Igor Artemyev, and Minister of Agriculture Yelena Skrynnik are expected to take part in the meeting.

Putin and Sechin to discuss the energy sector

http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text14186

UralSibFebruary 9, 2011

Negative sentiment is likely. Today, Prime Minister Vladmir Putin, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin and Energy Minister Ser- gey Shmatko will discuss the 2010 energy sector results. The meeting will take place on the construction site of Southern CHPP, indicating that they will discuss the utilities sector in particular. With the election campaign already started, we expect some popu- list statements that may create negative sentiment on stocks in the sector.

Example of populism. Russia is preparing for parliamentary and presidential elections in 2011 and 2012, respectively, and the government is trying to minimize the pressure of rising tariffs for residential and other electricity consumers. For example, this year, the government unexpectedly introduced tariffs for hydro power plants in Siberia, which resulted in a drop in our projections of 2011E EBITDA of 27% and 5%, respectively, for Irkutskenergo and RusHydro.

OGK-4 and OGK-5 have strong positions to protect value. Our top picks in the sector are OGK-4 and OGK-5, controlled by E.ON and Enel, respectively. We have witnessed that during the financial crisis 2008-09 the top management of Western compa- nies had direct meetings with Putin and Sechin, which allowed them to protect shareholder value in the companies.

Matvey Taits

Putin to chair conf in St Pete on energy sector tasks for 2011

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=15935490

09.02.2011, 05.10

MOSCOW, February 9 (Itar-Tass) - RF Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is to visit St Petersburg on Wednesday to chair a meeting in the grounds of the Southern Tets-22 power plant to discuss the results of the fuel-and-power sector's operation in 2010 and tasks for 2011.

A government press service official said Vice-Premier Igor Sechin, Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko, officials of a number of ministries and agencies, as well as executives of leading Russian power and engineering companies will take part in the meeting. Those present are to examine the state of affairs and prospects for the development of the main branches of the energy sector of the country (oil and gas, coal mining, and electric power industries).

Within the scope of stay in St Petersburg Putin will hold a teleconference with the participation of Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko and Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov. A report is to be presented during the teleconference about the degree of readiness of facilities intended for the 2013 Student Games in Kazan: a Student Games Village, indoor swimming pool Burevestnik, the Vatan sports complex, the "St Petersburg volleyball center, and a soccer stadium seating 45,000.

Serial blasts rock Russia's Grozny in Chechnyahttp://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-02/09/c_13724478.htm

2011-02-09 17:06:13

MOSCOW, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Grozny, capital city of Russian republic of Chechnya, was rocked in the past 24 hours by a number of explosions, which had wounded at least five people, local media reported on Wednesday.

According to the law enforcement of Chechnya, the latest blast occurred on Kadyrov Avenue in center Grozny's Leninsky district.

"The blast occurred not far from a consumer services center," Interfax news agency reported citing the local law enforcement.

"A team of investigators has rushed to the scene. The circumstances of the incident have not to be determined yet," the source added.

So far, there is no further report on the casualty of the blast.

This was the third explosion in Grozny's Leninsky district in the past 24 hours. The previous two explosions had wounded two people.

Earlier on Wednesday, another explosion hit the Oktyabrsky district of Grozny and wounded three members of the special police task force.

A spokesman for the Russian Investigative Committee's department of Chechnya said the explosion occurred in front of a cafe.

"Preliminary findings indicate that the bomb was planted among sacks with coal," he said.

Violence is common in the North Caucasus republics of Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia with militants frequently mounting attacks targeting police officers and authorities.

Moscow has vowed to bring stability to the region via improving social services and raising pensions and salaries as measures to tackle corruption and terror infiltration.

One person injured in central Grozny explosion

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=15936296

09.02.2011, 11.36

MOSCOW, February 9 (Itar-Tass) - One person was injured in the explosion in central Grozny on Wednesday morning, the republic's law-enforcement bodies told Itar-Tass.

"The explosion occurred at a bus stop near a busy intersection in Akhmat Kadyrov Prospekt (Street). "A florist was injured," a police officer said.

A probe is underway.

Blast heard in Russia's Chechnya – Ifaxhttp://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/09/russia-chechnya-blast-idUSLDE7180CK20110209

MOSCOW | Wed Feb 9, 2011 2:44am EST

MOSCOW Feb 9 (Reuters) - A blast was heard in the centre of the Chechen capital Grozny in Russia's North Caucasus on Wednesday, Interfax news agency reported citing law enforcement sources.

It did not immediately say if there were casualties.

The mainly Muslim North Caucasus are plagued with violence fueled by two separatist wars in Chechnya since the mid-1990s.

(Writing by Amie Ferris-Rotman, editing by Conor Humphries)

GOOGLE TRANSLATION

In Grozny, the third explosion rocked. The number of wounded grows

http://www.pravda.ru/news/accidents/09-02-2011/1066124-vzryv-0/

09.02.2011 | Source: Pravda.Ru In Grozny, the streets near Derbent in the Otyabrski district before the cafe bomb exploded. Injuring three riot police. This is the third explosion in the Chechen capital over the past day. "The blast rocked when a four-story apartment house on the street Derbent approached a group of riot police officers in the Chechen Interior Ministry, which were sent to verify the information on the whereabouts of militants in an apartment house," - said "Gazeta.ru" official representative of the Regional Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia. The incident occurred the night before. On the ground floor of this house is a cafe,

refine Vesti. According to preliminary data, an explosive device was included among the sacks of coal, which stood next to the grill. He was brought into operation remotely at a time when policemen came to the house. Three riot policeman were injured. Arrived on the scene detectives and investigators. Law enforcement officers combed the surrounding streets, but to detain the criminals did not succeed. According to this criminal case under article 317 ("Attempt on the life of a law enforcement officer), article 222 (" Illicit trafficking in weapons and explosives ") and Article 223 (illegal manufacture of weapons and explosives") of the Criminal Code. RBC said that last night in Grozny explosion rocked two more - both in the Leninsky district. Explosive devices were laid out in garbage cans. At the same time bombs were also detonated remotely. Injuring two people - a policeman and a bystander.

Series of bomb blasts rock Chechnya’s Grozny

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=15936087&PageNum=0

09.02.2011, 08.56

GROZNY, February 9 (Itar-Tass) - Four policemen and one local resident were injured in a series of blasts that rocked Chechnya’s capital on Tuesday, the republic’s investigation department told Itar-Tass on Wednesday.

Two explosions with a 15 minute interval took place at 19:00 in Grozny’ s Leninsky district. One policeman and a local resident were injured.

At 19:45 another blast rocked the city’s Oktryabrsky district, when police approached one of the apartment buildings checking the information about the location of a member of illegal armed formations. Three policeman got injuries.

The investigation is underway.

Twin blasts rock Chechen capital http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/02/09/43471543.html

Feb 9, 2011 01:34 Moscow Time

Two explosions rocked the Chechen capital Grozny on Tuesday evening, RIA Novosti reports.

According to preliminary reports, a police officer and a civilian were injured by what officials said were two explosive devices planted near a metal dumpster.

Three policemen wounded in blast in capital of Chechnyahttp://en.rian.ru/russia/20110209/162513232.html02:13 09/02/2011

Three policemen from special task forces were wounded in an explosion late on Tuesday evening in Grozny, the capital of Russia's North Caucasus republic of Chechnya, a spokesman for the local investigative committee said.

"An explosive device went off, when a group of policemen approached a four-storey apartment building on the Derbentskaya street. They wanted to check information about a possible militant hiding in one of the apartments," he said.

The explosive device, he added, could have been hidden among sacks with coal used by cafeteria, situated on the first floor of the building, for cooking purposes.

An investigation is underway, he said.

The Kremlin ended its decade-long antiterrorism campaign against separatists in Chechnya in April 2009, but has since had to intensify the fight against militants as skirmishes and attacks on police and officials have continued in the republic and around it.

GROZNY, February 9 (RIA Novosti)

Police identify seven suspects behind Domodedovo bombinghttp://en.rian.ru/russia/20110209/162516977.html

11:03 09/02/2011

Investigators have identified seven suspects behind a terrorist attack at Russia's busiest airport in late January, a source in law enforcement agencies said on Wednesday.

The powerful blast that ripped through the international arrivals hall of Moscow's Domodedovo Airport on January 24 killed 36 people and injured over 100.

"According to investigators, seven suspects, including a suicide bomber who belonged to the group that prepared and carried out the terror attack, have been indentified," the source said.

"A circle of people who were in contact with the suspects and knew about their intention to commit a terrorist attack, have also been indentified."

Police identified Magomed Yevloyev, a 20-year-old student from the impoverished southern Russian region of Ingushetia, as the suicide bomber on Sunday.

The Kommersant daily reported on Wednesday that Yevloyev's teenage brother and sister have been arrested in connection with the attack.

MOSCOW, February 9 (RIA Novosti)

Moscow airport bomber named, his siblings arrested

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/09/AR2011020900528.html

By SERGEI VENYAVSKYThe Associated Press Wednesday, February 9, 2011; 3:14 AM

ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia -- Russian authorities have named a suspected suicide bomber of Moscow's airport and arrested his teenage brother and sister.

An official with Russia's top investigative agency in the province of Ingushetia said Wednesday that the Jan. 24 bombing of Domodedovo airport was conducted by Magomed Yevloyev, 20. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to publicly discuss the issue.

The official said that on Tuesday a court in Ingushetia ordered the arrest of Yevloyev's 15-year old brother and the 16-year old sister, who are suspected of involvement in the attack.

Officials have previously said that the bomber was a 20-year old man from the Caucasus, but didn't give his name.

Chechen rebel warlord Doku Umarov has claimed responsibility for the attack that killed 36.

Domodedovo terror act suspects arrested in Ingushetia

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=15935876

09.02.2011, 09.46

NAZRAN, February 9 (Itar-Tass) - Three suspected accomplices to terrorists who committed the terror act at the Domodedovo airport on January 24 were arrested in Ingushetia on Wednesday, a source in the Magas city court told Itar-Tass.

Brother and sister of the suspected suicide bomber, Magomed yevloyev – Fatima and Akhmed Yevloyev (1994 and 1988 respectively), and a 23-year-old resident of the village of Ali-Yurt, Umar Aushev, were taken under arrest for two months.

February 09, 2011 10:13

Four Domodedovo Airport bombing suspects detained – sourcehttp://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=220960

MOSCOW. Feb 9 (Interfax) - Four people have been detained on suspicion of masterminding and perpetrating the bombing of Moscow's Domodedovo Airport, and a court has sanctioned the arrests of two of them, an Ingush law enforcement source told Interfax.

"A special operation is under way in the republic to identify possible accomplices in the terrorist attack at Domodedovo. Four people have been detained now, and two of them have been arrested by a court," he said.

3 arrested in Ingushetia on Domodedovo blast implication chargeshttp://english.ruvr.ru/2011/02/09/43482708.html

Feb 9, 2011 10:26 Moscow Time

Three people have been arrested in Ingushetia on charges of implication in the recent Domodedovo airport suicide bombing. The ITAR-TASS quotes a local court as saying that taken in charge for 2 months are a brother and a sister of the suspected suicide bomber Magomed Yelvloyev, namely Ahmed and Fatima Yevloyev, and also a 23-year old Umar Aushev. All three have been arraigned for terrorism, murder, and the illicit purchasing and possession of arms and explosives. The terrorist attack in the Domodedovo airport arrivals hall was

launched on the 24th of last month by a suicide bomber who is believed to have had his explosive device placed in his belt. 36 people died and more than 130 others were injured in the blast.  

Police arrest teenage siblings of suspected Domodedovo bomber - paperhttp://en.rian.ru/russia/20110209/162516042.html

Police have arrested the teenage brother and sister of a man suspected of bombing Russia's busiest airport in late January, the Kommersant daily said on Wednesday.

The powerful blast that ripped through the international arrivals hall of Moscow's Domodedovo Airport on January 24 killed 36 people and injured over 100.

Police identified Magomed Yevloyev, a 20-year-old student from the impoverished southern Russian region of Ingushetia, as the suicide bomber on Sunday.

Magomed's sister Fatima, 16, and brother Akhmed, 15, were taken to a regional court in Ingushetia on Tuesday, along with a friend of Magomed's, Adam Ganizhev, Kommersant said.

The three suspects were arrested on Monday on suspicion of helping Magomed to carry out the attack.

Mugomed left home in September to join Islamist terrorist forces and has not been seen since.

MOSCOW, February 9 (RIA Novosti)

Moscow Airport Bombing Victim Says State Abandoned Him http://www.rferl.org/content/moscow_bomb_victim/2301995.html

February 09, 2011 ST. PETERSBURG -- A Russian man injured during the suicide-bomb attack at Moscow's Domodedovo airport two weeks ago says the government failed to fulfill its promises to him, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.

Denis Zhulyev of St. Petersburg claims he was released from a Moscow hospital before his wounds had healed. He said he still has at least five bomb fragments in his body that doctors said they could not remove without causing nerve and other damage.

Zhulyev added that he has a chronic headache and that many of his broken bones have not healed. He said he needs up to three months to recover from his injuries.

Zhulyev claimed he was discharged from the hospital so he could be classified him as someone who sustained "light" injuries as opposed to "medium" injuries, which would entitle him to some 500,000 rubles ($17,000) in compensation.

He said this classification is illogical considering his injuries.

Nataliya Yevdokimova of the Human Rights Defense Center in St. Petersburg told RFE/RL that in the beginning officials in St. Petersburg helped Zhulyev's parents, paying for their round-trip flight to Moscow to visit their son in the hospital. But since then the authorities' assistance has diminished.

"It's typical campaigning," said Yevdokimova. "To begin with, they promise everything and then it all falls through. It's been like this with everything that has to do with various cataclysms [in Russia]. That's our mentality."

The January 24 suicide bombing at Domodedovo airport killed 36 and injured dozens of others.

Bangkok-bound Boeing 757 crash-lands in Novosibirskhttp://english.ruvr.ru/2011/02/09/43476971.html

Feb 9, 2011 09:35 Moscow Time

A Boeing-757 passenger airliner that took off from Kemerovo earlier today to fly to Bangkok has been compelled to crash-land in another Siberian city Novosibirsk.

None of the 228 people on board is reported injured.

The landing gear failed to be retracted during the takeoff, so the crew decided to crash-land, but burnt out the fuel first.

The airliner has been replaced with another one, so the passengers could resume their flight.

Passenger airliner makes emergency landing in Siberia

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20110209/162515048.html

07:07 09/02/2011

A passenger airliner with 228 people on board en route from the Russian east Siberian city of Kemerovo to Bangkok made an emergency landing in Novosibirsk on Wednesday morning, a spokesman for the Tolmachyovo airport said.

"The plane landed at 9:27 local time, everything is normal," the spokesman said.

Crew of the Boeing-757 requested an emergency landing at the Novosibirsk airport Tolmachyovo due to a problem with the landing gear, which failed to retract after the plane took off from Kemerovo at 5:45 a.m. local time.

A spokesman for the Kemerovo Region authorities said earlier that "the crew of the plane informed Moscow [about the incident] and decided to make an emergency landing having burnt fuel before that."

KEMEROVO, February 9 (RIA Novosti)

Protest In Eastern Russia Over Utility Price Hikeshttp://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=48187&t=Protest+In+Eastern+Russia+Over+Utility+Price+Hikes

Protests were held on February 8 in southeastern Russia against increases in utility costs.Tuesday, February 08, 2011By RFE/RL     

IRKUTSK -- Protests were held on February 8 in southeastern Russia against increases in utility costs, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.

The "separate" demonstrations, which were organized by the Communist Party, were held in the city of Irkutsk by activists from the town of Angarsk. Dozens of protesters held single-person protests in front of the Irkutsk Oblast government building.

If protesters are spaced out far enough from each other then the demonstrations do not require the advance approval of local authorities.

The protesters demanded that local authorities curb the recent rises in utility fees, which have nearly doubled.

Angarsk citizens have for several months been holding similar protest actions without any result.

Irkutsk regional authorities have launched an investigation into the activities of the Angarsk town administration to determine the reasons for the abrupt rise in utility fees.

Murder suspect's video stokes ethnic tensionshttp://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/murder-suspects-video-stokes-ethnic-tensions-2208630.html

By Shaun Walker in Moscow

Wednesday, 9 February 2011

A Dagestani man wanted by police for the murder of a Moscow football fan has released a video accusing Russian society of being racist and its political leaders of stoking up ethnic tensions.

Ramazan Utarbiyev, who is in hiding from police, is implicated in the murder of Yegor Sviridov, a 28-year-old Spartak Moscow football fan, last December, which led to ethnic riots in Moscow. With memories of the riots still fresh and the added tension of further terror threats after last month's suicide bomb attack at the city's Domodedovo Airport, there are worries that Moscow's ethnic melting pot could soon bubble over into chaos.

The North Caucasus region of Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan is volatile and mainly Islamic. Russian authorities are struggling to keep control and terrorist attacks are frequent. Doku Umarov – the leader of the region's rebels who this week claimed responsibility for the airport bomb – wants to create an Islamic "Emirate" in the Caucasus, ruled by sharia law.

However, his rhetoric is often much more specifically targeted: Umarov focuses on corruption and police brutality, and on Russian attitudes towards people from the Caucasus who live in Moscow, many of whom are economic migrants. He vowed that attacks would take place against "people who attack Caucasians on the order of Putin and his pack of dogs".

Yet many ethnic Russians are angry over what they see as the "aggressive" behaviour of immigrants from the North Caucasus, and point to the fact that many organised-crime groups in the capital are allegedly run by Chechens and others from the region. The terror attacks only add to the anger.

Mr Utarbiyev is wanted by police for his part in an altercation that left Mr Sviridov dead from gunshot wounds. Mr Utarbiyev and his friends were arrested by police but later released. This caused outrage among fan groups, who claimed that the men had paid off police. Protests in December turned into terrifying mob violence, with gangs of young Russian nationalists picking out anyone of non-Russian appearance and setting upon them with fists and knives.

In his recording, which was on a disc anonymously delivered to a newspaper in Dagestan, Mr Utarbiyev says the media and politicians have lied about the case, and that he and his friends were the victims of a racist attack and acted only in self defence. He does not, however, explain how Mr Sviridov suffered several gunshot wounds.

After the incident, police reviewed video evidence and decided Mr Utarbiyev and his friends were innocent, he claims in the video. It was only after "lies" had been spread that his friends were re-arrested and he decided to go into hiding. He accused Russian television and politicians of exploiting the incident, and said that if he and his friends had died, nobody would have taken any notice.

Russia's President, Dmitry Medvedev, has criticised police for releasing the men, while the Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, laid flowers at Mr Sviridov's grave and gave warning that migrants to Moscow should try harder to fit in with local customs. Rights watchdogs say such statements may inflame nationalist passions, while Russian nationalist leaders have said that the Kremlin is too soft on migrants and have called for further street action.

Mr Utarbiyev, who says in the video that his father fought for the Soviet Union in the Second World War, explained he had expected Moscow to be a friendly city where people respected each other. "From the first day, I found people's attitudes to me were hateful... It was dangerous to walk alone around Moscow," he says in the video.

Moscow seems vulnerable both to terrorist attacks and ethnic unrest. "All residents of our country need to realise that we will have to live under the threat of terror for a long time to come," Vladimir Vasilyev, the head of the Russian parliament's security committee, said yesterday.

Meanwhile nationalist leaders have called on ethnic Russians to arm themselves, saying that leaving the house without a weapon is "irresponsible".

Reports also surfaced yesterday that three natives of the North Caucasus had been arrested over the attack at Domodedovo Airport. The Life News website reported that two of those arrested were relatives of the suicide bomber, who is believed to have been a 20-year old from Ingushetia called Magomed Yevloyev. It was also announced a number of high-ranking officials from the FSB security service have been fired after the attack.

Russia's internal problems

Russia's North Caucasus, a region of mountains and steppe on the country's southern border, has a history of ethnic and clan feuding and rebellion against Russian rule since Tsarist times.

The rebellion by Chechens inhabiting the northern slopes of the Caucasus mountains began in the 1990s as a largely ethnic nationalist movement, fired by a sense of injustice over the transportation of Chechens to Central Asia, with enormous loss of life, by Josef Stalin in the 1940s. Chechnya declared independence in 1991 as the Soviet Union collapsed, and there have been two wars with Russian forces since 1994. Officially, Russia ended its "counter-terrorism operation" in Chechnya in April 2009. But violence intensified in neighbouring Dagestan and Ingushetia, where clan rivalries overlap with criminal gangs and Islamist militancy.

Russian and pro-Moscow Chechen politicians said many commanders in the region had been killed by 2007 and the losses had broken the back of the resistance. Resistance websites and recent attacks tell a different story. Reuters

Sudden Death of Ethnic Minority Champion in Dagestan Raises Suspicions

http://georgiandaily.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20995&Itemid=132

February 08, 2011

Valery Dzutsev

On February 5, it came to light that Magomed Gamzatov, the outspoken leader of the Didoi (aka Tsez) minority in Dagestan, died under suspicious circumstances. The Didoi people and Gamzatov made headlines in Russia in December 2010, when they requested protection from the Georgian government to support and promote their ethnic identity.

The Didoi live in southwestern Dagestan, in the mountainous territory bordering Georgia. While the group is habitually assigned the Avar ethnic identity, the largest ethnicity in Dagestan, the Didoi oppose it and maintain their own distinctness separate from the Avars (www.kavkaz-uzel.ru, February 5).

On December 15, 2010 Georgia’s parliamentary committee on Diaspora and Caucasus issues revealed it had been approached by a Didoi representative requesting that the Didoi people enter into “the jurisdiction of Georgia” (www.civil.ge, December 15, 2010). In televised comments, Gamzatov told the

Georgian parliament and media about the Russian government’s attempts to suppress their ethnic identity. To support his claim, Gamzatov provided the signatures of 14,000 Didoi people who wanted to be transferred along with their land from Russia to Georgia. According to the Georgian parliament’s committee for Diaspora and Caucasus issues, no territorial issues were discussed; instead, the committee focused on issues related to culture, where Georgian linguists could be of assistance. According to historians, the Didoi people tried to join Georgia at the time of the first Georgian republic, which existed briefly after the Russian empire collapsed in 1917 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b2qmJNmr68).

It later turned out that the 14,000 Didoi signatories did not request their transfer to Georgia directly, but they did authorize their representative, Magomed Gamzatov, to negotiate with relevant parties to resolve their “social and political” issues. In August 2010, Gamzatov visited Moscow and tried to influence the Russian authorities to no avail, so he then turned to Georgia. At a major gathering on January 4, the Didoi supported Gamzatov and demanded that they be given the status of an ethnicity separate from the Avars. Ethnic activists expected to receive government support and representation in the government as a result of official recognition of their independent ethnicity. According to various estimates, the Didoi number between 15,000 to 30,000 in Dagestan (www.kavkaz-uzel.ru, January 6).

The news about the Didoi request to leave Russia came as another embarrassment for the Russian government, casting it as a power that oppresses small peoples of the North Caucasus. Georgia, gradually is becoming a regional rival of Russia in North Caucasus affairs, moved to exploit this, apparently causing an even higher degree of resentment among Russian officials.

Several days before his death, Gamzatov told the Kavkazsky Uzel (Caucasian Knot) website that the local authorities had banned him from visiting his ethnic Didoi kin in the mountains. Later Gamzatov, who had no known health issues, was found dead at his own building site with vomit stains on his shirt. Gamzatov’s relatives immediately accused the security services of poisoning him (www.kavkaz-uzel.ru, February 5).

Dagestan has been known for political killings and an overall high rate of violence for many years. In 2010, according to Kavkazsky Uzel’s count, 685 people, including civilians, government officials, insurgents and policemen, were killed or injured in attacks. The republic experienced five suicide attacks, 112 bomb explosions, at least 128 armed clashes between insurgents and security forces. The attacks in 2010 claimed lives of 78 civilians, including a nine year old child; 124 law enforcement servicemen; and 176 suspected insurgents. Aside from that, law enforcement bodies are suspected of having continued the practice of kidnapping suspected insurgents. Eighteen people disappeared in Dagestan in 2010. Five of them were later found dead, while four returned to their homes and the rest remain missing (www.kavkaz-uzel.ru, January 13).

The Dagestani opposition newspaper Chernovik came up with a simple but plausible explanation for the high levels of violence in the republic. According to the paper, rampant poverty is responsible for increasing levels of volatility in Dagestan. The combination of a low average income and high housing prices in the republic made it all but impossible for many young Dagestanis to aspire to own a home of their own. Adding up the average income and subtracting the minimum living wage from it, the paper figured out that it would take 13 years of savings to enable an average Dagestani to buy a standard home of 18 square meters. That is longer than any of Dagestan’s neighbors in the North Caucasus or even Moscow, with its high housing prices. The same average ratio for Russia as a whole is seven years. Kabardino-Balkaria came closest to Dagestan in the North Caucasus, with its ratio equal to 10 years of savings (www.chernovik.net, February 4).

These calculations are not absolutely accurate. For example, they do not take into account the shadow economy in Dagestan, which is one of the biggest in the North Caucasus and Russia. However, these figures at the same time do have some validity. In addition, the study reflects a growing perception in society of the strong correlation between poverty and the propensity for violence.

Source: http://www.jamestown.org/programs/edm/

Russian police detain suspected killer of world boxing championhttp://en.rian.ru/russia/20110209/162516558.html

Police in Russia's southern republic of North Ossetia have detained the suspected killer of youth world boxing champion Khteag Kozayev.

Kozayev was shot several times at the Mirage nightclub in the North Ossetian capital of Vladikavkaz on June 13, 2010.

Local police reported on the same day that they had identified 28-year-old Soslan Abayev as the suspected murderer.

"Abayev managed to hide from investigators," local police said in a statement. "Last August, the republic's criminal police almost tracked him down in Moscow, but he suddenly disappeared again."

Abayev was detained in the southern Rostov Region, where he was hiding at a friend's house, police said. The date of the arrest was not reported.

MOSCOW, February 9 (RIA Novosti)

Rapes, Hate Crimes Rising in Moscow http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/rapes-hate-crimes-rising-in-moscow/430642.html

09 February 2011The Moscow Times

The crime rate in Moscow decreased year on year in 2010, but figures for both rapes and hate crimes grew, and the average size of a bribe extorted by officials in the capital was 20 times larger than nationwide, the Investigative Committee said Tuesday.

An average bribe in the city amounts to 600,000 rubles ($20,000), compared with 30,000 rubles elsewhere in Russia, Vadim Yakovenko, senior investigator at the committee’s Moscow branch, said at a news conference, Interfax reported.

The statistics are based on crimes investigated by the committee, he said. More than 500 graft cases have been forwarded to courts in 2010, Yakovenko said. The total number of crimes in Moscow dropped 12 percent to some 186,000, he said. Some 12,000 of them were committed by non-Muscovites, he added.

The figure for murders decreased 8 percent to 582, the investigator said.

The situation was worse with extremism-related crimes, the number of which grew one-third over the year, reaching 105. The number of extremism-motivated murders increased 50 percent, Yakovenko said.

There were also 382 rapes registered last year, Yakovenko said, the RAPSI judicial news agency reported. That figure is 38 percent higher than last year, he said.

Official statistics were called into question in an extensive study by a research group at the General Prosecutor’s Office Academy last month.

The 840-page study claimed that only about one in 10 crimes nationwide was registered, the crime rate was growing at 2.4 percent over the last decade, and officials failed to take into account 126,000 possible murders in 2009 alone.

Yabloko Activists Detained In Moscow To Face Trial http://www.rferl.org/content/yabloko_protest/2302068.html

February 09, 2011

MOSCOW – Members of the Russian opposition Yabloko party's youth branch were detained February 8 while picketing the Central Election Commission office in Moscow, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.

The activists were protesting the authorities’ refusal to register Yabloko representatives for upcoming elections in the Stavropol and Tambov regions.

Yabloko's press service told RFE/RL that Central Election Commission security service officers detained the activists and handed them over to police. They were held for three hours before being released.

The activists were told they have been charged with the illegal organization of a public protest and their trial is scheduled for February 15.

Russian Press at a Glance, Wednesday, February 9, 2011http://en.rian.ru/papers/20110209/162515857.html

09:18 09/02/2011

POLITICS

Russia expelled The Guardian Moscow correspondent Luke Harding for violating regulations governing the work of foreign correspondents in the country(Kommersant, Nezavisimaya Gazeta)

A number of senior Russian intelligence service officials have been fired for failing to prevent a deadly bomb attack on Moscow's busiest airport on January 24 (Rossiiskaya Gazeta)

Gennady Kurzenkov was removed as head of the Russian Federal Transportation Inspection Service as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin continued to mete out retribution for security failures leading up to the January 24 suicide bombing at Domodedovo Airport (The Moscow Times, Kommersant)

President of Russia's North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Yevkurov says parents of militants should bear responsibility for their children

(Rossiiskaya Gazeta)

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

Royal Dutch Shell may offer Gazprom assets in Asia in exchange for a deal to expand Russia's only liquefied gas export plant, part of talks on a wider global alliance (The Moscow Times)

DEFENSE

Col.-Gen. Nikolai Rogozhkin, Commander of the Russian Interior Ministry's Internal Troops, discusses anti-terrorism measures and Russia's police reforms in an exclusive interview (Rossiiskaya Gazeta)

CRIME

Russian police have arrested two suspects in connection with a suicide attack on Moscow's busiest airport last month (Kommersant, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)

WORLD

China invests more money into the Russian Far East than the Russian authorities (Nezavisimaya Gazeta)

SOCIETY

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia will not switch to daylight saving time on the last Sunday of October 2011. The country has been putting the clocks back in fall since 1981 (Kommersant, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)

Airlines are still paying compensation to passengers who were stranded at Moscow airports during an ice storm in late December (Vedomosti)

SPORTS

The Russian national football team will take on the Iranian side in an away friendly match on Wednesday as part of the team's preparations for the 2012 Euro Cup qualifiers. It will be the first game for the Russian team this year (Rossiiskaya Gazeta)

President of the Russian Tennis Federation Shamil Tarpishchev says the Russian women's team has a good chance of winning the semifinals of the 2011 Federation Cup (Rossiiskaya Gazeta)

The Guardian, Harding and the British obsession with the Cold Warhttp://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/09-02-2011/116827-luke_harding-0/

09.02.2011  

Luke Harding was not "expelled" from Russia, neither was his visa annulled. He was prevented from entering the country because he had not fulfilled the legal requirements applying to him, and every other foreign journalist. So what? As usual, however, the British press takes up the story...and it's Russia bashing time!

As I pointed out before, the British media, spearheaded by the British Bullshit Corporation, Sky Wey-Hey! (Raspberry) Whoops-a-daisy! News and the troupe of guttersnipes posing as journalists, who make a living shaping public opinion with a carefully managed mish-mash of hogwash, balderdash and poppycock, collectively have a "thing" about Russia.

This "thing" is quite easy to describe. It is the desire to perpetuate the Cold War, serving one purpose only: to increase the image and identity of a hostile "them" to justify the "us". In Russia's case, she is sufficiently large and powerful to be a perfect "them", and just as gloom and doom stories pour out of Africa in the same fetid, gutter TV media resources and sewer press, Russia is a constant source of negative images, ranging from vapid lies about "corruption", idiotic and totally unfounded references to a "mafia state" and blatant slander and libel against the legitimately elected authorities.

Right from the beginning, in fact, Russia has always been the target of interference, insolence and agents provocateurs. At the beginning of last century they did not stop until they created the Civil War, then shortly afterwards, the same powers that sat back gleefully watching from the sidelines were happy to see the USSR sacrificing 26 million of its souls, inflicting 90 per cent of the Wehrmacht's casualties while defeating Fascism and freeing Europe from a horrific racist and xenophobic Nazi tyranny.

What was the thank-you message? The Cold War, years of skulduggery, trillions of dollars spent trying to sabotage Moscow's policies at home and abroad as Russia selflessly liberated millions from imperialism, building roads and hospitals and schools and hospitals half-way across the world. For the Russians - ask them - the Cold War ended in 1991 and the nation moved on.

Not so for many in the West, apparently, where what is practised is not what is preached. And this is the context of the silly little pawn, Luke Harding and his silly little story about being expelled from Russia. Perhaps he needed the hype to perpetuate his existence.

As usual, Harding had focused his time in Russia on finding negative stories slightly more puerile than the "Ten-breasted alien rapes politician in underground toilet" type of story - unfounded and libellous allegations and insinuations ranging

from the sublime - about Vladimir Putin's private matters, to the ridiculous - nonsensical claims that Russia is a "mafia State".

No mention of the fact that the Russian Prime Minister enjoys popularity rates which shame most western politicians, no mention of the fact that he was democratically elected twice by vast majorities in free and fair elections and no mention of the fact that Russia is a State in which the rule of law - and that includes abiding by international law, not deriding the UNO and launching illegal attacks on sovereign states - is the cornerstone of society.

And what was Luke Harding doing in Russia? Was he visiting businesses, reporting on the excellent investment opportunities, was he reporting on the Government's wise handling of the economy, guaranteeing growth and reducing the social effects of the global economic crisis, was he reporting on the many ecological groups working to save endangered species in Siberia?

Why no, he was hanging around the Caucasus, poking his nose around in Ingushetia, of all places, and then interviewing the Daguestani father of that demented sow Mariam Sharipova who murdered 26 innocent civilians on the Moscow Metro in March 2010. The most puerile accusation of all was an attempt to link the Kremlin (at the time when Vladimir Putin was President) with the killing of Aleksandr Litvinenko, when there is firstly not a shred of evidence to back the accusation up, secondly it is clear that Litvinenko had been involved in shady deals with even shadier Caucasus characters and thirdly, when there was a total absence of any motive.

Then, according to the Guardian, Harding leaves Russia for two months and travels back there with a visa in a passport. What visa? Where and when was it issued and by whom? And why was it cancelled? These are all questions for which a serious journalist - or newspaper - waits to find out the facts before reporting. Not so the Guardian.

This...newspaper...states its journalist was expelled from Russia. How, if he was turned away before he had entered? It says he was not given a reason for the refusal to allow him into Russia but then states that his visa was annulled. It then claims that the visa decision was taken at a "very high level", so we can infer from this that the same (thousands of) decisions at British ports and airports and railway stations come from where? Number 10? And by the way who gives asylum to Chechen terrorists?

In fact, the reason why Luke Harding was denied entry is perfectly straightforward and would have been taken at the lowest level of passport control officers. The reason was that he violated a series of rules which apply not to Luke Harding and the Guardian newspaper, but to all foreign journalists, rules which have applied since they were adopted not last month, but back in 1994. Nineteen ninety-four.

The Russian foreign ministry confirms that his visa was not annulled. It expired. It expired last Autumn and was extended upon his request until May. Harding should have known, as a professional journalist, that he had to acquire a new press accreditation card before he left Russia last November. The procedure is simple. According to the Foreign Ministry: "If Harding is still interested in working in Russia until his entry visa expires, he needs to have accreditation issues settled with the Russian Foreign Ministry's press and information department."

So he was not denied entry because his visa was annulled, neither was he expelled for being an undesirable, a trouble maker, an upstart and an agent provocateur looking for trouble to stir up, even though he repeatedly visited a security zone with a counter terrorism regime ongoing. And how low in the dustbin his scrabbling - and that of his newspaper's dirt-digging muck-raking editors - had become, that the Guardian was reduced to claiming that his Wikileaks "revelations" were to cause a furore in Moscow - after Moscow has said time and again that it could not care less about Wikileaks.

Once again we have a case of denigration, scare-mongering and hypocrisy. After all, close members of my own family have allegedly been called aside upon entry into the USA and asked questions about any connection to Pravda.Ru simply because they bore the same surname as myself and were asked whether they shared the same political viewpoints.

As for me, I have been working with Pravda.Ru for over a decade, have never once had a single editorial directive placed over me, have never been told by anyone not to write anything, have never been the subject of any type of censorship whatsoever from the authorities and have been left to write freely about politics, religion, sport, the environment, finance, international relations, humour, history, traditions, social interest stories, terrorist attacks, you name it.

I never felt the desire to consort with terrorists, to share the bed with the underworld or cavort with criminals. These are the people who get into trouble, in Russia, England or Burkina Faso.

As for Harding, next time follow the rules like everyone else.

Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey

Pravda.Ru

From Russia with love! Moscow millionaire expresses interest in buying cash-strapped Pompey http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1354964/Portsmouth-hold-talks-Russian-millionaire.html

By Sportsmail Reporter Last updated at 1:21 AM on 9th February 2011

Portsmouth could become the latest club to have Russian owners after holding takeover talks with a wealthy Moscow banker.

Millionaire Vladimir Antonov is heading up consortium Convers Sport Initiative (CSI) who are bidding to take control at Fratton Park.

CSI, linked with Ferrari Russia and the Spartak Moscow ice hockey team, failed with a bid to buy Pompey's south coast rivals Bournemouth last year.

Co-owner Chris Asker said: 'We have held talks with Portsmouth FC.'

In 2007 Antonov was named as one of Russia's 200th wealthiest businessman and is a majority shareholder in a Lithuanian bank.

Antonov added: 'If we do acquire control of a football club, we will dedicate our collective knowledge, skills, contacts and appropriate resources to make the chosen football club successful. 'This will always be our priority. 

The news is a welcome surprise for Portsmouth fans, who took to the streets before Saturday's 1-1 draw with Derby to protest against current owner Hong Kong businessman Balram Chainrai.

Russian Scientists: Apophis Asteroid Could Destroy Earth in April 2036http://news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20110208/us_ac/7810384_russian_scientists_apophis_asteroid_could_destroy_earth_in_april2036

Meaghan Ringwelski Meaghan Ringwelski – Tue Feb 8, 5:36 pm ETContribute content like this. Start here.

It seems like apocalyptic predictions concerning large asteroids crop up every year or two. In 2011, the latest scare involves an asteroid that has been in the limelight before: Apophis. In a Jan. 26 report that was issued by Russian scientists, a new prediction concerning the asteroid's possible collision with the Earth was featured. The report has renewed concerns among people around the world about the possibility of the end of life as everyone knows it. However, NASA scientists quickly downplayed the Russian report. While they admit it is theoretically possible for the asteroid to hit the planet, they note that the odds are microscopic; in fact, they put the odds at 1 in 250,000, which should put the minds of most people at ease.

In 2004, NASA scientists created a stir when they announced that Apophis, a 900-foot asteroid, could hit Earth. Shortly thereafter, however, those same scientists

backtracked and stated that the possibilities were beyond remote. The recent report out of Russia claims that the odds are high once again, thanks to a tiny gravitational keyhole. If Russian scientists' predictions are correct, Apophis could slip through the keyhole -- which is permanently placed -- around April 2029. From there, it will make "landfall" with Earth on April 13, 2036. Not surprisingly, NASA has already conducted a great deal of research concerning Apophis. While they note the asteroid will pass closely around 2012 and 2013, they do not believe it will slip through the keyhole -- which is barely larger -- and hit the planet.

In the event Apophis ends up posing a more serious threat, NASA has the technology to be proactive about the situation. On July 4, 2005, NASA used Deep Impact to impact the Tempel 1 comet. The same type of technology could be used to send Apophis veering off of its intended course. Considering the fact several pairs of eyes are watching the asteroid, everyday citizens should feel safe and secure enough. Additional observations will be even easier to make when Apophis makes its close pass by the planet near the end of the year 2012.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Join the Yahoo! Contributor Network to start publishing your own articles.

National Economic Trends

Russian calendar: Key events for February 9

Finance Ministry to offer 35 billion rubles worth of OFZ-PD 25076 fixed-rate government bond issueFinance Ministry to offer 25 billion rubles worth of OFZ-PD 25078 fixed-rate government bond issuehttp://www.prime-tass.com/news/calendar/_Russian_calendar_Key_events_for_February_9/-103/%7B0C6FF07B-ECE9-4100-B7FE-01654F7AFDB9%7D.uif

Ministry of Finance to target cut-off yield http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text14186

Renaissance Capital February 9, 2011

On Tuesday (8 February), the short-term end of the NDF curve dropped 8-10 bpts and the longer end of the XCCY swap rate curve declined 15-20 bpts, implying that the NDF-XCCY curve bull-flattened. The decline in NDF-XCCY swap rates seen in the past few days supported the domestic bond market environment. Today, the Ministry of Finance (Minfin) will offer OFZ 25078 (maturing in

February 2013) instead of OFZ 50001 (maturing in November 2011). Two-year bond auction volumes were increased to RUB35bn from RUB5bn.We believe that Minfin does not need to borrow for less than a year, since budget spending will always be skewed towards the year-end. Therefore, Minfin will not spend this money until November-December and OFZ 50001 is the least convenient because the bond matures in November, exactly at the time when Minfin experiences a lack of financing. Moreover, Minfin will also auction three-year OFZ 25076 in the amount of RUB25bn. Depending on market demand, Minfin may increase the bond allocation de-facto, attempting to target cut-off yields rather than auction volume. Paper guidance was set at 6.40-6.45% for two-year bonds and at 7.0-7.10% for three- year paper, with an extremely small premium (up to 2 bpts) to the secondary market. The OFZ auction will likely be a success due to:

• Correspondent accounts and commercial banks' deposits together reached RUB1.5trn, so an environment of excessive liquidity will support demand for local sovereign papers.

• For two- and three-year OFZs, the spread to the NDF-XCCY curve remains at 70-75 bpts, which is an attractive level compared with other local sovereign papers.

• Yesterday Minfin placed approximately RUB80bn in commercial banks' deposits at 4.7% until July. We disagree that this decision conflicts with the previous CBR decision to increase required reserve ratios which withdrew RUB60bn from the banking system. First, the CBR decision is restrictive to future speculative capital inflows rather than anti-inflationary action. Second, Minfin does not want to make borrowings more problematic, especially during tax periods. Indeed, this is consistent with CBR priorities which rule out unnecessary liquidity tightening. Furthermore, loosening is unlikely to happen as domestic sovereign activity is so high.

Anton Nikitin

Russia n will have about 15 mln tonnes in grain reserves by July 1 - Grain Union http://www.blackseagrain.net/about-ukragroconsult/news-bsg/russian-will-have-about-15-mln-tonnes-in-grain-reserves-by-july-1-grain-union

Carry-over grain reserves in Russia will weigh in at about 15 million tonnes on July 1 of this year, head of the country's Grain Union Arkady Zlochevsky predicts.

"Resources in the country are sufficient, and carry-over reserves will be more than 15 million tonnes," Zlochevsky told the press on Monday.

The basis for his projections, he said, is that last year's actual harvest came to more than the officially announced 60.9 million tonnes. "Production was at least three million tonnes larger, that is private grain," he said. Furthermore, many regions, including those hard-hit by last summer's extended drought, varied in the amount of grain cleaned and dried, "which is very strange for the past season," he said. It should have been substantially less, he said.

Carry-over grain inventory came to 26.4 million tonnes on July 1 last year, not counting 2.2 million tonnes of new-harvest grain that been harvested prior to that date. That meant when Russia imposed its ban on grain exports August 15, the country had been able to export roughly 4 million tonnes of grain and had about 86 million tonnes. Russia will require an estimated 70 million tonnes this year.

"There are traditional losses, but this year more expensive grain is being well protected, and there will be no major losses," Zlochevsky said. "Two and a half million tonnes of grain was lost last year, and this year there will be no more than a few hundred tonnes." Carry-over inventory could top 15 million tonnes. "But its distribution will be uneven and most of it will be concentrated in the south," he said.

"As the situation develops further, much will depend on how well the spring planting goes," Zlochevsky said. The main issue is "businesses being sufficiently credited," he said. And the decision to extended credits has yet to be made, since that was figured only for half a year and not for three years as planned, he said. "Businesses will already need to pay off credits in April, and the prolongation period needs to be extended." He said. The government resolution issued as "up to three years" ought to have been "to three years," he said, "although it should have been signed for three years." The prolongation procedure itself takes almost half a year," he added.

Banks the Agriculture Ministry has met with have said they are ready to meet agricultural producers halfway, Zlochevsky said.

The fact that producers may not have enough money to keep enough machinery in operation for the spring planting could complicate things," he said. "In general, though, there is hope we'll be able to plant at the proper time, and the calculation we'll get 85 million tonnes of grain if the weather is normal is completely realistic," he said.

world-grain

Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions

Electricity consumption down 0.3% y-o-y in January http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text14186

Troika DialogFebruary 9, 2011

Russian electricity consumption remained almost flat y-o-y in January, the System Operator reported on Monday, down a slight 0.3% to 99.6 TWh after posting 2.0% growth in December. The insignificant reduction was due to warmer weather in January 2011 (up 4 degrees Celsius versus January 2010). The North Caucasus IES posted the highest consumption growth of 2.1%. Production in the country also dropped 0.3% during the month, driven mainly by a 1.9% production decrease at thermal plants, while hydro and nuclear power output was up 2.4% and 4.0%, respectively.

The average free-market electricity price last month was R963/MWh ($32.1/MWh) in the Europe and Urals price zone (up 9.6% m-o-m in rubles) and R560/MWh ($18.7/MWh) in Siberia (up 2.0%). Notably, free-market prices in Siberia reached a three-year high on January 25 of R670/MWh (up 39.1% y-o-y), while the previous high was R666/MWh in July 2010. Our 2011 forecasts for the two price zones are R943/MWh and R524/MWh, respectively. The share of electricity market liberalization reached 100% on January 1, 2011 (applicable to industry). Households, which account for circa 15-20% of total electricity consumption, will be buying at regulated tariffs for another three years, we believe.

Russia’s Ashinskiy sees increased steel output in Januaryhttp://www.steelorbis.com/steel-news/latest-news/russias-ashinskiy-sees-increased-steel-output-in-january-581770.htm

Tuesday, 08 February 2011 09:47:24 (GMT+2)

In the first month of 2011, Russian steel producer Ashinskiy Metallurgical Works registered an increase of 20.7 percent year on year in the value of its steel product output, to about Ruble 1.185 billion (about $40.5 million), exceeding its target by almost 12 percent.

In January, Ashinskiy produced 52,400 mt of steel, including 52,022 mt of slabs. In addition the steelmaker produced 48,291 mt of rolled steel products in the month in question.

Ashinskiy's Janaury sales of steel plates increased by 3.2 percent year on year to 45,300 mt. Of this figure, 38,361 mt of plates were delivered to the Russian domestic market - up 26 percent year on year, about 3,568 mt were exported to non-CIS countries, with more than 1,000 mt were delivered to CIS countries.

Russian pipe market could grow 7pct to 10pct in 2011 - Mr Alexander ShiryayevWednesday, 09 Feb 2011http://www.steelguru.com/russian_news/Russian_pipe_market_could_grow_7pct_to_10pct_in_2011_-_Mr_Alexander_Shiryayev/190052.html

Interfax citing Mr Alexander Shiryayev the general director of TMK as saying that Russia steel pipe market could grow 7% to 10% in 2011.

Mr Shiryayev said "The pipe market grew rapidly in 2010. We forecast it will grow a little more slowly in 2011 by 7% to 10%. He said the market growth this year would be driven "mainly by the development of hydrocarbon transportation projects."

He also said that due to the expected growth on the pipe market, TMK was planning a substantial increase in production volumes compared with 2010 when it sold just under 4 million tonnes of pipe.

This year investment budget is similar to last year with funds earmarked to finish building the electric furnace at the Taganrog plant, to begin building a new mill at the Seversky works among other projects.

TMK signals higher margins, possible resumption of dividend payments in 2011 http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text14186

Renaissance CapitalFebruary 9, 2011

Event: Yesterday (8 February), Bloomberg published details of a telephone interview with TMK's vice president for strategy, Vladimir Shmatovich, indicating that the company may resume dividend payments in 2011, as it sees the EBITDA margin rising this year, from about 17% in 2010. "Over the course of the year, the company plans to fully pass on raw-material inflation to our customers," said Shmatovich. TMK has raised prices for industrial pipes and oil and gas pipes by 10%, and its US unit, TMK IPSCO, boosted charges twice in January, by a total of about 15%. The capacity load at TMK's US mills exceeds 80%. "It doesn't make sense to hold a secondary offering now, when TMK's global potential hasn't yet been fully unfolded and the share price is quite low," added Shmatovich. "However, the North American unit generates roughly a third of TMK's revenue, making the US an important capital market for the company."

Action: The news is positive for TMK, in our view.

Rationale: Last month's price hikes look encouraging and should dispel any speculation about the inability of Russian pipe producers to transfer cost pressure to oil majors. TMK IPSCO is continuing to generate solid cash flow, and drilling activity in the US is accelerating MoM. The US rig count reached 1,739 this week, which is 404 more than during the corresponding period of 2009. The comments on possible dividend payments in 2011 may also support the stock, and the comments about a secondary offering clearly reduce the potential risk of dilution over the medium term.

Boris Krasnojenov

New rescue package to save Lucchinihttp://www.steelorbis.com/steel-news/latest-news/new-rescue-package-to-save-lucchini-581763.htm

Tuesday, 08 February 2011 09:37:32 (GMT+2)

According to a report published in the Italian newspaper Il Sole24Ore, after negotiations that lasted several months Russian tycoon Alexei Mordashov has signed an agreement with creditor banks in order to save the €770 million-indebted Italian steel company Lucchini which was acquired by Mordashov-owned Russian steelmaker Severstal in 2005. During a meeting held in Moscow on February 2, the creditor banks in question (i.e., BNP Paribas, Intesa SanPaolo, MPS and UniCredit) and Mordashov decided to restructure Lucchini's debts on a long-term basis. In addition, as long as Lucchini manages to sell some power plants located in France, the banks will provide Lucchini with a new €50 million loan in order to ensure it has the necessary working capital.

It is reported that the solution satisfies both Lucchini and the banks. Mr. Mordashov was not willing to invest more funds in the steelmaker, which he does not consider as a strategic asset anymore and which has been put up for sale. Meanwhile, the banks neither wanted to be assigned shares in Lucchini nor did they want to wait for the sale of the company in order to receive the money they are owed.

February 09, 2011 10:58

Sberbank buys stake in company that owns Mosmetrostroyhttp://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=220973

MOSCOW. Feb 9 (Interfax) - Sberbank Investment, a subsidiary of Sberbank Russia (RTS: SBER), has acquired a stake in Tsentrstroy LLC, which is the owner of Moscow underground builder Mosmetrostroy, the bank said in a statement.

The bank did not disclose the size of the stake it acquired.

02/09 10:37   RUSSIA WILL LIMIT VTB PRIVATIZATION TO 10% STAKE IN 2011 – SOURCEhttp://www.interfax.com/news.asp

Russia's Polyus Gold plans London listing in summerhttp://af.reuters.com/article/metalsNews/idAFLDE7180AU20110209

Wed Feb 9, 2011 8:02am GMT

MOSCOW Feb 9 (Reuters) - Russia's largest gold miner Polyus Gold (PLZL.MM: Quote) will list shares in London this summer, its main owner and chief executive Mikhail Prokhorov said late on Tuesday.

The London listing is a long-planned move to facilitate a merger with KazakhGold (KZGq.L: Quote).

Prokhorov, who took over as chief executive last year, told reporters he would stay on until he had completed two tasks: the London float and the sale of a strategic stake in the company that would put the company in the global top 5 gold miners. (Reporting by Melissa Akin; editing by Maria Kiselyova)

Polyus Gold plans LSE premium listing

http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20110209121534.shtml

      RBC, 09.02.2011, Moscow 12:15:34.Major Russian gold producer Polyus Gold expects to obtain a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) sometime in June-August of this year, the company's co-owner and CEO Mikhail Prokhorov announced today.

      In order to get the premium listing, Polyus Gold has to increase its free float to 25 percent, from around 17 percent currently, Prokhorov said. He explained that this would be done through the sale of 5.6 percent of the company's quasi-treasury shares.

      After it gets the premium listing, Polyus Gold plans to merge with one of the top five global gold mining companies, Prokhorov said, without specifying the company's name.

Investors choke on first bite at Russian IPO apple http://www.bne.eu/storyf2507/Investors_choke_on_first_bite_at_Russian_IPO_apple

Tim Gosling in Moscow February 8, 2011

A vital week for Russian IPOs got off to a terrible start on February 7. After a mostly barren year for Russian IPOs in 2010, coking coal and pig-iron producer Koks was intending to continue recent attempts to satisfy pent-up demand for Russia stocks with a listing in Moscow and London, but pulled the deal at the last moment, citing "poor market conditions."

In Russia, that translates as investors baulking at the price of the offer – something that's becoming especially common for commodity stocks. As such, the news will have three other companies set to float this week on tenterhooks.

Koks has no great need for cash; the proceeds of the listing were set to go to the owner personally, but other companies that have announced plans to list in the first half of this year - HMS Hydraulic, ChelPipe and Nord Gold - will now be extremely nervous. According to Reuters, the books on HMS Hydraulic's $652m offer were no more than 75% covered.

Some $4bn worth of new shares were floated last year, the bulk of it in the final quarter as liquidity and risk appetite rose, and a stream of announcements followed on its heels. Analysts suggest there will be around $8bn worth of stock made available via IPOs in 2011 ($10bn including secondary share offerings), although that's still far off the peak of $36bn issued in 2007 when oil prices averaged $72.32, according to Morgan Stanley.

Renaissance Capital's head of equity capital markets for Russia, Arie Kravtchin, says that if all the plans to list mentioned by Russia's hydropower producers, gold miners, pipe makers and state-run banks come to fruition, they could raise as much as $30bn – although that includes $20bn via the government's huge privatisation programme. "There is plenty of liquidity on the market to meet this large pipeline," Kravtchin says. "Investors will find the cash if it's an interesting deal at the right price."

Optimism on the outlook for IPOs this year has been rising since the Russia stock market began to rally at the end of last year. While global emerging markets (GEMs) were the hot item for portfolio investors in 2010, Russia got largely passed over. By the start of this year, commentators were saying GEMs were over priced and predicted a correction,

but Russia's shares have soared, as it remains the last big GEM with significant upside to its valuations.

In addition, a combination of strong economic growth in India and China, plus the tsunami of cash unleashed by the US Federal Reserve in another round of quantitative easing in November to the tune of $600m, are expected to combine to keep commodity prices high; oil prices have already broken the $100-per-barrel mark in January and will almost certainly come in above the average of $75 the Kremlin's budget forecasts. Kravtchin says as long as oil and metal prices remain high, investor sentiment will be boosted and equity sales could return to their pre-crisis peak.

Mixed bag in 2010

However, sentiment was hit from the off with Koks, first out of the gate, falling at the first fence.

Right now, it looks like an action replay of last year. The few floats that did get away in 2010 were a mixed bag. Through the first nine months of the year, many were pulled as investors demanded higher discounts than owners were ready to offer. Most that did go through proved the market right, with the likes of Rusal, Russian Sea and Protek tanking immediately on the secondary market.

However, many of those stocks recovered to trade above their issue prices late last year as risk appetite rose alongside liquidity. At the same time, the IPO pipeline cranked back open, and the roaring success of internet group mail.ru's float - and to a lesser extent retailer O'key – in November persuaded many others that the time was right to jump aboard the bandwagon.

Those results illustrated that whilst investors are very enthusiastic to invest in domestic themes, they're far more wary when it comes to the more traditional resources and commodity sectors. For instance, metals company IRC was forced to slash its offer by 50% in October as it went through at the very bottom of its initial price range.

The similarity with the opening salvo in 2011 is eerie, as Siberia-based Koks announced on February 4 that it was putting its $500m float on the backburner. Analysts told Reuters that the offer was overvalued, and expect Nord Gold's forthcoming float to be forced lower than the announced price, if it is to go ahead at all.

It's an old story, that sees investors twice shy, despite the pent-up demand for Russian stocks, of a track record that goes back well beyond last year of high-priced IPOs performing poorly after listing.

A source close to the Koks flotation told the newswire that while tensions in Egypt had hit investor appetite during the book-building process, the firm had received enough orders for all the shares on offer, excluding the over-allotment option. Concern over how the issue would trade in the after-market, however, and the fact the firm did not need to

raise money - most of the proceeds were due to go to tycoon Boris Zubityskiy and his two sons – resulted in it being pulled. Koks was not willing to cut the price, the source said, and was worried that reducing the size of the float would hit liquidity.

That's a luxury others may not have, however. HMS Hydraulic appears willing to accept that investors will buy - but only with a significant discount - and reportedly is likely to price its offer at the lower end of its $9.25 to $12 range. Management have also decided to forego a $15m bonus it was originally set to collect on completion, as the idea wouldn't wash with investors.

Sibirsky Cement continues to seek EUR 50mn from Italcementi http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text14186

VTB CapitalFebruary 9, 2011

News: According to Vedomosti, Sibirsky Cement's controlling shareholder continues to seek the return of a EUR 50mn from Italcementi's subsidiary Ciments Francais through the courts. The amount represents the advance payment made by Sibirsky Cement within a deal to acquire Turkish assets in 2008, but the money was lost following the Russian company's decision to withdraw from the deal in late 2008.

Our View: The parties have been in the Russian and international courts over this issue since Sibirsky Cement's decision to terminate the deal. We note that this advance payment was written off to expenses in the company's 2008 accounts. Therefore, even if Sibirsky Cement were to fail in its attempt to get the amount back, that would be neutral for the stock, in our view. However, were the company to be able to recover this amount, it could become a source of additional upside.

Vladimir Bespalov

Acron invites VEB to join its potash project http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text14186

VTB CapitalFebruary 9, 2011

News: According to Vedomosti, Acron has made an offer to the Bank of Development (VEB) to join its potash project and get a significant stake in it, in exchange for investments.

Our View: It would welcome, were Acron to find a partner to share the risks within its potash project. However, we doubt that VEB will join it and still believe that Acron's potash project could become NPV-negative, while the required capex might well exceed the company's estimate of USD 1.5bn. Given the uncertainty around the project, we continue to keep it outside our Acron model and see the latest proposal as neutral for the stock.

We are reiterating our Hold recommendation on Acron as we see little fundamental upside at current levels.

Elena Sakhnova

Magnit eyeing expansion in Moscow and St. Petersburg http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text14186

Alfa BankFebruary 9, 2011

According to RBC Daily, Magnit is planning to expand in Moscow and St. Petersburg through M&A and by purchasing real estate. According to real estate brokers, the company may open up to 50 convenience stores in St. Petersburg this year. Currently, the company operates ~7 stores in the Moscow region and ~19 stores in the St. Petersburg region.

The planned openings in these cities would not add significantly to Magnit's top line, in our view. Nevertheless, we view this as a sign that competition in the food retail space is intensifying, especially for X5 Retail Group and Dixy stores in these regions.

Abramovich firm sells part stake in Russia state tvhttp://www.forexpros.com/news/general-news/abramovich-firm-sells-part-stake-in-russia-state-tv-193359

2011-02-09 08:47:17 GMT (Reuters)

* New owner said to have ties with Russian PM

* Deal reported to have been done for $150 million

MOSCOW, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Millhouse Capital, the investment company of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, said on Wednesday it has sold a 25 percent stake in the country's main state-run television channel to the National Media Group.

The price of the sale of the stake in Channel One was not disclosed, but business daily Kommersant reported the group paid Milhouse $150 million.

Before the deal, the Abramovich-owned company had 49 percent of Channel One, a spokesman for Millhouse told Reuters.

National Media Group is controlled by Yury Kovalchuk, who, Russian media say, has close ties with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

The state owns 51 percent of Channel One, Russia's most popular broadcaster.

The assets of National Media Group, founded in 2008, include two second-tier national television stations, Ren-TV and Fifth channel, which is the St. Petersburg TV broadcasting company. It also owns daily national paper Izvestia. (Writing by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Matthew Jones)

For the Record http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/for-the-record/430660.html

09 February 2011

GAZ dealerships sold 3,965 cars and light commercial vehicles in January, up 36 percent year on year, the Association of European Businesses' automobile manufacturers committee said in a statement Tuesday. (Interfax)

Steel-pipe producer TMK raised prices by 10 percent last month and may resume dividend payments following a return to profit last year, senior vice president Vladimir Shmatovich said Tuesday, adding that the company's U.S. unit, TMK IPSCO, boosted charges by about 15 percent in January. (Bloomberg)

Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)

Gov't issues license for Trebs, Titov oil fields to Bashneft

http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20110209110447.shtml

      RBC, 09.02.2011, Moscow 11:04:47.The Russian government has issued a license to oil company Bashneft to develop Trebs and Titov strategic oil fields,

according to a decree signed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The license has been extended for 25 years, including five years of geological exploration.

      On December 2, 2010, the federal agency for mineral resources recommended that the government issue the license to Bashneft, which was only bidder admitted to the tender. Bashneft offered to pay RUB 18.476bn (approx. USD 632m) for the license with the starting price set at RUB 18.171bn (approx. USD 621m)

Matra Petroleum set for new £1.55 mln funding http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/25357/matra-petroleum-set-for-new-155-mln-funding--25357.html

Wednesday, February 09, 2011 by Jamie Ashcroft

Matra Petroleum (LON:MTA)  plans to raise £1.55 million through a placing of 50 million new shares at 3.1 pence each.

The new capital will help it finalise its development plans for the Sokolovskoe field in Russia, near the border with Kazakhstan.  Sokolovskoe has recoverable contingent resources (C2) of 15.1 million barrels.

"With the issue of the Competent Person's Report and the Production Licence in 2010 we have made substantial progress towards the development of the Sokolovskoe Field,” managing director Peter Hind said.

“With initial production expected shortly the funds will allow us to finalise development plans and to increase our efforts to find suitable opportunities to grow the company further."

The company’s largest shareholder Delek International, who already owns just under 30 percent, will subscribe for 14.5 million shares as part of the placing.

The placing is priced at 13.8 percent premium to yesterday’s close.

BP's TNK-BP partner says say no talks on stake salehttp://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/02/09/russia-tnk-bp-idUKLDE7180GD20110209

Wed Feb 9, 2011 8:27am GMT

(Corrects to delete superfluous editing credit in signoff)

MOSCOW Feb 9 (Reuters) - The consortium of local shareholders who own half of Russia's No. 3 oil producer, TNK-BP (TNBP.MM), are not discussing the sale of their stake, consortium partner Mikhail Fridman told Interfax on Wednesday.

Fridman said no negotiations were under way, the Russian news agency said.

British major BP (BP.L) owns the other half of the company.

Last week state-controlled oil major Rosneft (ROSN.MM), which recently tied up with BP to form a separate Arctic joint venture, denied rumours that it was in talks to buy out the shareholder consortium partners in TNK-BP. (Writing by Jessica Bachman)

Conoco Sells LUKoil Shares http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/conoco-sells-lukoil-shares/430659.html

09 February 2011

ConocoPhillips completed the sale of its remaining 2 percent holding in LUKoil, the latter company said in a statement Tuesday.

Conoco, which once held as much as 20 percent of LUKoil, had reduced its stake in the Russian company to 2 percent at the end of last year. Conoco sold its stake to repay debt and buy back shares. Conoco and LUKoil remain partners in the Naryanmarneftegas oil production venture in the Timan Pechora region.

(Bloomberg)

China's demand for gas to drive Russian exportshttp://www.financeasia.com/News/247467,chinas-demand-for-gas-to-drive-russian-exports.aspx

Russian LNG exporters are optimistic that China will tap into their resources.By Rupert Walker | 9 February 2011

China and the rest of emerging Asia need energy resources to fuel their rapid growth. Increasingly, too, they are targeting cleaner energy. According to most of the participants in a discussion at Troika Dialog’s Russia Forum, held in Moscow

last week, Russia can be a major supplier of a precious commodity that will suit them well -- gas.

Fatih Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency, pointed out that by the end of 2011, the liquid natural gas (LNG) import capacity of China and India will be the same as that of Western Europe. Yet, both nations only started importing LNG in a serious way five years ago.

Russian energy company Gazprom estimates that China’s demand will reach 400 billion cubic metres (bcm) by 2020. Marina Surzhenko, head of LNG export directorate at LLC Gazprom Export, noted that, coincidently, at the end of last year, the Chinese authorities produced the same estimate.

Mark Gyetvay, CFO at Novatek, Russia’s largest independent gas producer, reckons that even this estimate is conservative. In his view, LNG could comprise as much as 20% of China’s energy sources, rather than the consensus forecast of 8% to 10%. Russia, as a low-cost producer, should be perfectly placed to reap the hard currency rewards.

But, Christof Ruehl, group chief economist at BP, played down the lofty predictions, arguing that the implications of the demand growth in emerging markets is not as great as most other panalists make it out to be. Although about 80% of new gas consumption will be in emerging economies, especially China, gas as a source of energy is starting from a low base, making up only 4% of their energy mix. He estimates that about 75% of the new demand in emerging economies will come from Asia, and of that proportion, three-quarters will come from China.

Yet, despite China’s rising consumption over the next decade, per capita use will remain below South Korea, Malaysia and other richer Asian countries. Ruehl also argued that China will want to restrict imports to reduce its energy dependency, and will ramp up its efforts to develop new technologies, in part to replace fossil fuels (such as coal).

Tatiana Mitrova, head of the Centre for International Energy Market Studies at the Energy Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, took a more phlegmatic and less assertive stance, balancing the bullishness of Gazprom and Novatek with the circumspection of BP.

“It’s up to the Chinese authorities how much LNG the country will import, so that means Russian companies need to be flexible and plan for several scenarios, factoring in a range of between 250bcm and 400bcm,” Mitrova said.

Besides, Russia won’t have it all its own way, argued Tim Lambert, vice-president of Wood Mackenzie's Energy Consulting Group. There are other sources of supply that are increasing, for instance from Australia and Brazil.

Equally important, China’s own natural gas reserves are rapidly being developed and tapped. Simply, the supply-side has responded to the pick-up in demand, so the future will be a highly competitive market.

It’s a challenging environment for both suppliers and consumers. Volume and price will be key determinants – as will governments.

“Energy uncertainties in the world today are unprecedented, not least because of confused signals from government policies,” said Birol.

For instance, governments have failed to make climate change resolutions legally binding, and more specifically, China hasn’t yet given a clear signal about how it intends to meet its energy needs. What China decides will have implications for everyone as it increases its per capita consumption.

According to Surzhenko, China is a favoured client. Its government is pragmatic and can focus on the long-term because there are no elections to worry about. China also has the cash to pay for its insatiable appetite.

“One government is simply more important than any other,” concluded Birol.

Shell to join Russia's haremhttp://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text14186

bneFebruary 9, 2011

Not so long ago, the idea of jumping into bed with the Kremlin would have given global energy majors nightmares, but now they're queuing up. Royal Dutch Shell looks set to be the third in a month or so to strike a deal swapping international exposure for a piece of the action in Russia.

Following January deals which saw BP and Exxon Mobil each team up with Rosneft, Shell and Gazprom are in negotiation to swap assets as a step towards a wider global alliance, reports Bloomberg. The international company is thought to be offering assets in the Asia Pacific region in order to tempt Gazprom into agreeing to raise production at the pair's Sakhalin 2 JV, with the added possibility of gaining further reserves in the area.

The talks follow an agreement in November to expand cooperation between Europe's largest oil company and Russia's gas export monopoly. Shell Chief Executive Officer Peter Voser and Gazprom's Alexei Miller have set deadlines for the negotiations, one person said, without elaborating.

Gazprom will target areas of "strategic interest," which may include the Asia-Pacific region and LNG projects, one person said. The list of possible assets in

exchange for Sakhalin expansions hasn't been finalized, sources told the news agency.

In addition to the talks on Sakhalin, the two companies are exchanging data on oil fields in west Siberia, where they run the Salym Petroleum venture, two people said. The November accord covered possible oil and gas projects in west Siberia, Russia's Far East and abroad, as well as European refining and retail.

Vera Surzhenko, a spokeswoman at Shell in Moscow, said the companies are "considering opportunities" and declined to name any assets outside Russia that they may consider. Within Russia, Shell and Gazprom are looking at new projects on the basis of existing assets, she said, declining to elaborate. Sergei Kupriyanov, a Gazprom spokesman, declined to comment.

The potential deal cements the return of international companies to join with the Russian state. All three of the companies involved in deals so far this year have had their fingers burnt in the last decade. In particular, they lost control of assets in 2006-07 as Russia pressured them to cede projects as national champions Gazprom and Rosneft were built up.

There's many reasons why they're now ready to return. In the first place, the terms of the deals are very different compared with previous ones - which were inked during the 1990s when Russia and its energy industry were in a far weaker position. BP and Exxon Mobil's January agreements see Rosneft maintaining control - making a sudden about face by the Kremlin down the line far less likely.

The temptation for the companies to take another risk on Russia is clear - the country's huge reserves. Russia meanwhile needs the expertise that the international companies can offer, with the bulk of its new fields now moving offshore. That was a driving principle behind Rosneft's tie-up with BP to explore large Arctic deposits. Russia also lacks experience with LNG, which given the lack of infrastructure linking it to energy-hungry China, is a strategic segment for Gazprom.

At the same time, now that the twin national champions have been built into such solid beasts, the obvious move for them is to expand internationally. However, due to heavy state ownership and widespread mistrust of Russia in general, gaining access to overseas assets has proved tricky to say the least. Exposure via international partners is a far easier route.

The one issue that all these deals expose is the lack of FDI in other sectors. President Dmitry Medvedev's modernization drive is specifically designed to reduce the country's reliance on oil & gas, and FDI has been identified as a cornerstone. However, thus far, landmark deals outside energy remain restricted to Pepsi's purchase of Will-Bill-Dann late last year.

Gazprom

Gazprom Neft Completes R30 Bln Bond Salehttp://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text14186

Troika Dialog - press releaseFebruary 8, 2011

On February 8, Gazprom Neft reported successful placement of series 08, 09, 10 bonds with total value of R30 bln. The placement is one of the largest in the history of the corporate ruble bond market.

Maturity on the series 08 bonds totals 5 years, and the terms of the placement stipulate no option to acquire securities prior to maturity. Maturity on the series 09 and 10 bonds totals 10 years. Under the series 09 issuance, five years from the placement date investors will be sent an option to acquire securities prior to maturity, while series 10 bondholders will be offered the same option seven years after the date of placement.

Gazprom Neft elected a book building process for the bond offering. Participants in the sale included both Russian and foreign investors.

Following receipt of all investor bids, the coupon rate on the series 08-09 bonds was set at 8.5%, the series 10 bonds at 8.9%.

Proceeds from the sale will be put toward general corporate purposes.

Organizers of the sale: Gazprombank, Sberbank of Russia, Troika Dialog and Globexbank.

Co-underwriter of the sale: National Standard.

Technical underwriter and agent for placement of the issue: Gazprombank.