Russia 110531
Basic Political Developments
· ITAR-TASS news digest of May 31: 1.
o MINSK - - Belarus will not raise prices for socially important goods and services to July 1 of the current year. The prices should remain at the level of May 28, the governmental press service said on Monday.
o MOSCOW - - Implementation of joint projects of Russia and Mongolia, and first of all those in mining, will be on the agenda of a meeting on Tuesday between Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev and Mongolia’s President Tsakhia Elbegdorj.
o MOSCOW - - Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will discuss with teachers problems of russian schools and implementation of education reforms. According to the government’s press service, he will participate in the VI All-Russian pedagogical meeting on Tuesday.
o MOSCOW - - Russia’s State Duma will discuss on Tuesday in the first reading a bill on security of fuel and energy complex’s objects.
o MINSK - - Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will participate in a meeting of Foreign Ministers’ Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation /CSTO/ in Minsk on Tuesday.
o WARSAW - - The Sixth Europe-Russia. Partnership for Modernisation Forum will feature 200 participants from the EU, Russia, neighbouring countries and the USA. They are politicians, parliamentarians, officials, businesses, international and non-governmental organisations, analysts.
o BERLIN - - Germany’s Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Philipp Roesler is coming to Russia on a brief visit.
o NEW YORK - - Russian students got almost half of all medals in team international programming contest in Orlando /Florida/. The competition’s final was on Monday. Out of twelve awards, Russia brings home five, including one gold medal, which was won by students of St. Petersburg’s State University.
o ASHGABAT - - Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov signed on Monday an order on organisation of a National Space Agency to implement scientific achievements in the country’s economy and to establish space activities, the national television reported.
o KIEV - - The Chernobyl alienation zone has received a complex system for radiation monitoring.
o VLADIVOSTOK - - Living in the North and environment are on the agenda of the Northern Forum’s 10th General Assembly, which opens on Tuesday in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province of South Korea.
o MOSCOW - - The State Duma lower house of the Russian parliament on Tuesday will consider early termination of office for Just Russia faction member Yelena Vtorygina, who is giving up her mandate in favor of Just Russia leader Sergei Mironov.
o BARNAUL - - Russia’s natural gas giant Gazprom this year will launch the construction of a gas pipeline branch and a gas distribution station in the Nizhnyaya Kayancha settlement of the Altai Territory. The construction of the station will ensure energy resource supply to the Biryuzovaya Katun tourism-recreational special economic zone (SEZ) and the Sibirskaya Moneta (Siberian Coin) gambling zone.
o MOSCOW - - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev “gave the instructions to Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and Minister of Education and Science Andrei Fursenko to consider a deferment from the military service for people, who reached the military recruitment age and graduated from secondary schools, to grant the right of an attempt to enter higher educational establishments in the year of school graduation and to table their proposals to this effect,” the presidential press service reported on Tuesday.
o MINSK - - Issues connected with the CSTO zone of responsibility are discussed a regular meeting of the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers which opened in Minsk on Tuesday.
o SUKHUM - - Abkhazia is mourning for the late President Sergei Bagapsh. From May 31 to June 2 the republic declared the mourning.
o ASTANA - - Kazakhstan is considering the possibility of prolonging the ban on export of some oil products, Minister of Oil and Gas of the republic Sauat Mynbayev said here on Tuesday.
· Dmitry Medvedev will make a working visit to Italy on June 1 and 2, 2011
o Medvedev to Visit Italy
· Vice Premier of State Council of China Wang Qishan visits Russia, until June 3
· China prepared to reduce prior pricing requirements on Russian oil
· Israel hopes to persuade Russia to stop arms deals with Iran, Syria
· Medvedev begins talks with Mongolia president in Kremlin - The talks of the heads of state are being held at the Grand Kremlin Palace behind closed doors. Aide of the Russian president, Sergei Prikhodko and Russian Minister of Transport Igor Levitin, who heads the bilateral intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation, take part in the talks.
o President of Mongolia Elbegdorj Tsakhia visits Russia, until June 3
o RF, Mongolia presidents to discuss joint projects.
· German Energy Minister to negotiate in Moscow RF energy supplies. - Besides, Roesler will take part in an economic conference, where he will present suggestions from German companies on modernisation of Russia’s infrastructures. In 2010, Germany’s export to Russia grew by 28 percent to 26.4 billion euros.
· Lavrov to participate in CSTO meeting in Minsk.
o Meeting of Council of CSTO FMs opens in Minsk
· Ukraine and Russia come back on world grain market
o Ukraine and Russia come back on the world grain market - You can become acquainted with the current status and prospects of grain markets in Ukraine and Russia in the nearest time - in the period of work of the tenth international conference Grain Forum – 2011, to be held in Yalta on June 23-24 (hotel Palmira Palace).
· Russia joins NATO in submarine rescue drills - A task force form the Russian Black Sea Fleet, led by diesel submarine Alrosa, is taking part in NATO naval drills off the coast of Spain, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
· Russia delivers another batch of naval fighters to India - Russia delivers another batch of naval fighters to India
· Russia snubs India; cancels navy, army war games Russia has snubbed India in the recent months by cancelling two important bilateral war games, usually held under a well-established arrangement, a senior official said on Monday. The move has raised eyebrows in the Indian defence establishment.
· EU-Russia joint space on agenda of forum in Warsaw.
· Tighten Kenya-Russia trade links - Two events last week, relating to Africa, show that Moscow is making effort to recover geopolitical standing. First, scholars and diplomats on Africa from North America, Western Europe, Africa, and Russia itself met to discuss “Africa in the Changing World Development Paradigm.” Second, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, on Africa Day, committed Russia “to expanding fruitful relations with African countries”. The conference venue was at the Institute for African Studies, roughly 30 minutes walking distance to the Kremlin.
· Russia destroys over half of its chemical weapons resources
· Georgian TV journalists without accreditation detained in Moscow
· Correspondent of Russian TV channel Dozhd deported from Belarus.
· Russia allocates $3 M to support Kyrgyz public servants in 2010
· Will Moscow turn red light on for Kokoity?- by Levan Kiknadze
· Mir subs to inspect Lake Geneva
· Russia wins international programming contest in USA
· Medvedev instructs to consider military deferment for graduates
· Forest fire area in Yakutia decreases 5 times over week
· Youth moved out of blast-rocked Bashkir town
· Police seize grenade launchers from Moscow region resident
· Three servicemen injured in blast in Chechnya
· Police officer killed in Kabardino-Balkaria
· Terrorist hideout found in Dagestan
· Seven powerful bombs found in Russia's Dagestan
· Russia's Tatarstan warns of radical Islam 'threat'
· Closure of an important Islamic centre. Moscow seeks control of Islam
· European Court: Khodorkovsky's Rights Violated
o Human rights activists have slim hope for Khodorkovsky release
o Khodorkovsky may file for parole, experts note TV attitude change
o Khodorkovsky, Lebedev ask for parole
· Joseph Brodsky monument opens in Moscow
· Sochi-2014 organizing committee sign coop agreement with Tatarstan.
· State Duma to consider giving mandate to Sergei Mironov.
· Vladimir Putin announces massive Russian road-building programme
· Vladimir Putin claims Dominique Strauss-Khan is the victim of a conspiracy to force him out
· Itar-Tass news outlook for Tuesday, May 31.
· Reuters PRESS DIGEST - Russia - May 31
· RIA Russian Press at a Glance, Tuesday, May 31, 2011
· Interfax Moscow press review for May 31, 2011
· New ambassador can improve Russian-US relations - And commenting on this will be our guest Dr. Alexey Arbatov, the Head of the Center for International Security of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
o Resetting the US ambassador - By Viktor Bulavin
o Obama’s top Russian advisor slated for ambassadorial position
· Right Turn on Red - Prokhorov’s Goal to Make the Right Cause into the Second Influential Party in Russia Is Intriguing but Unlikely to Succeed
· Impudence and Impunity - Russia’s Investment Climate Becomes Murkier as Entrenched State Officials Resist the Fight Against Corruption
· To Moscow, via Harlem - by James Brooke
· Russia is still tobacco-friendly - By Polina Potapova
National Economic Trends
· Russia not to make more foreign borrowings in 2011
· Russian Central Bank chairman sees grain exports as only risk of inflation
· Grain Ban Will Be Lifted in a Month
· Central bank surprises with a rate hike
· Russia’s Central Bank Signals Interest-Rate Pause After Surprise Increase
Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions
· Russian markets -- Factors to Watch on May 31
· Sberbank doubles net profit in Q1
o Sberbank Q1 net profit 86.8 bln roubles, beats fcast
o Sberbank Advances to Two-Week High After Profit Beats Estimates
· VTB takes over Bank of Moscow Asset Management Company
· Norilsk to resume Arctic shipments after seasonal halt
· Mostotrest May Build Road With Austria’s Kapsch, Kommersant Says
· UPDATE 1-InterRAO swings to 2010 net profit of 290 mln euros
· ASI Makes Its First Exit From Russia
· PPF Group plans IPO of Home Credit in Russia
· Another potential bidder for Raspadskaya Coal emerges
· Vedomosti reports PIK founders selling their stakes in the company
· GAZ enters into more JVs: Terex and Fritzmeier next in line
· Political risk downs Domodedovo IPO?
· Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory) Russia Raises June Oil Duty to 3-Year High, Extends Gasoline Tax
· St Pete’s Gas Forum opens on Tuesday - St. Petersburg’s Gas Forum-2011 will feature over 100 companies from Russia and twelve foreign countries, including Bulgaria, Belarus, Hungary, Germany, Italy, Poland, France and Ukraine.
· Indian consortium bids for Yamal LNG-Novatek stake
· TNK-BP Said To Be Interest In ConocoPhillips Vietnam Assets
· Nord Stream pipeline moves another step closer to completion
Gazprom
· Gazprom urges govt to keep subsoil tax unchanged
· Gazprom Neft strikes cooperation deal with Schlumberger
o Gazprom Neft, Schlumberger Sign Cooperation Agreement
· European gas drop woes for Gazprom - European gas consumption is falling and creating serious problems for Gazprom, a senior executive at the state-controlled gas export monopoly told a parliamentary hearing today.
o Europe gas use falling, Gazprom exec tells Duma
· Why Russia’s Gazprom is a Buy - What makes Gazprom a buy is its position in the natural gas market, its massive reserves, and regional demand for the only clean burning fossil fuel around.
· Gazprom to begin gas supply service installation in Altai Krai.
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Basic Political Developments
11:2731/05/2011ALL NEWS
ITAR-TASS news digest of May 31: 1.
http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/154231.html
31/5 Tass 111
MINSK - - Belarus will not raise prices for socially important goods and services to July 1 of the current year. The prices should remain at the level of May 28, the governmental press service said on Monday.
The list of such goods and services was put together in late April. For example it includes 14 names of food goods: bread, meat /beef and pork/, milk, powdered milk mixes and tinned meat for children, sugar, several cereals, potato, etc.
Now the government has added several more positions to the list, including fish, cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes, apples, bananas, lemons, oranges, coffee, tea, salt, detergents. The government allows the Ministry of Economy to use “temporary price regulations for 90 days.”
MOSCOW - - Implementation of joint projects of Russia and Mongolia, and first of all those in mining, will be on the agenda of a meeting on Tuesday between Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev and Mongolia’s President Tsakhia Elbegdorj.
MOSCOW - - Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will discuss with teachers problems of russian schools and implementation of education reforms. According to the government’s press service, he will participate in the VI All-Russian pedagogical meeting on Tuesday.
“The plenary session, where Putin will speak, will become a platform for discussions with the professional community of problems the schools are facing, and implementation of education reforms,” the press service said.
MOSCOW - - Russia’s State Duma will discuss on Tuesday in the first reading a bill on security of fuel and energy complex’s objects.
The document lists basic approaches to protection of at objects of fuel and energy complex, with the exception for nuclear energy, from illegal actions, including acts of terror. The bill states authorities of state power and rights and responsibilities of owners.
MINSK - - Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will participate in a meeting of Foreign Ministers’ Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation /CSTO/ in Minsk on Tuesday.
“The agenda covers cooperation in the framework of the CSTO,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said. “Participants will discuss information of secretary general on state and future of international situation and its influence on security of the member states.”
WARSAW - - The Sixth Europe-Russia. Partnership for Modernisation Forum will feature 200 participants from the EU, Russia, neighbouring countries and the USA. They are politicians, parliamentarians, officials, businesses, international and non-governmental organisations, analysts.