Russia 100611
Basic Political Developments
· RIA: Newly elected Japanese PM set to improve relations with Russia - "I will actively work to solve the main problem [in Russian-Japanese relations] - the territorial dispute and signing of a peace agreement [with Russia]," Kan said during his keynote speech to the Japanese parliament.
· RIA: Medvedev to discuss missile defense during U.S. visit - "This [the U.S. missile defense plans in Europe] will be one of the topics for discussion; we have high expectations of this summit," Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with Russia's Kommersant daily.
· Xinhua: Russia to abide by UN resolution over S-300 supplies to Iran - Russia will adhere "strictly" to the resolution by UN Security Council over the delivery of S-300 air defense systems to Iran, said Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov Friday.
· RIA: Russia calls on Israel to join non-proliferation treaty - "We are convinced that this [Israel's joining the NPT] will contribute to strengthening the non-proliferation regime of nuclear weapons and to creating a zone free of weapons of mass destruction and delivery vehicles in the Middle East, enhancing peace and stability in the region and worldwide," Russia's envoy to the IAEA, Grigory Berdennikov, said.
· RIA: Russian-Iranian S-300 missile deal not against UN resolution — U.S.
· RIA: Russia not to abolish visas for EU citizens unilaterally – Lavrov: "We prefer to be guided by the principle of reciprocity in international relations," Lavrov said in an interview with Russian business daily Kommersant, which was published on Friday.
· PUTIN IN FRANCE
o VOR: Vladimir Putin to meet Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac in Paris
o RFE/RL: Putin Meeting French Leadership - Putin's talks with the French leadership were expected to focus on cooperation in the energy, space and aviation sectors, as well as efforts by Moscow to acquire a French Mistral-class assault ship containing sophisticated technology.
o AP: France should press Putin on rights - Amnesty International says France should not only be looking at its pocketbook while Putin is in town, but also raising concerns about abuse of those who criticize authorities in Russia, notably in and around Chechnya.
o VOR: Putin, Fillon meet in Paris
o AFP: Putin visits France amid warship row
o Itar-Tass: Putin to open in Paris Russia national exhibition
o Bloomberg: Russian $12 Billion European Arms Spree May Benefit DCNS, Iveco
· RBC: Russian, Belarusian leaders to discuss Customs Union's functioning
· Itar-Tass: Medvedev, Lukashenko to discuss Customs Union, bilateral issues - During his stay in Moscow Lukashenko is also planned to meet with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and visit the All-Russian Research Institute of Electromechanics with the A.G. Iosifyan Plant where the work on the creation of a Belarusian satellite for the Earth’s remote sensing is coming to an end. It is planned to launch the satellite simultaneously with the Russian satellites Canopus-V by the Soyuz-FG rocket carrier. The two satellites will form the base of the Russian-Belarusian space group for the Earth’s remote sensing.
· Charter97: Kremlin: Lukashenka won't get cheap gas - Before Lukashenka's meeting with Medvdedev, sources in the Kremlin told to Russian media that Belarus must pay debts for gas.
· Telegraf.by: Gazprom Does Not Need Beltransgaz on Account of Belarus' Debt, the Kremlin - On the eve of Dmitry Medvedev and his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, meeting, sources in the Russian presidential administration stated that Belarus should pay the debt for gas in the amount of 192.3 million dollars and pay for its supply at current prices. Gazprom does not intend to acquire a controlling stake of Beltransgaz on the account of debt payment, stressed in the Kremlin.
· SCO SUMMIT
o VOR: SCO to send observers to Kyrgyzstan
o VOR: SCO summit gets under way in Tashkent
o AFP: Shanghai group meets for expansion without Ahmadinejad
o France24: Shanghai group set to deny membership to Iran
o Nezavisimaya/Russia Today: SCO sets a barrier for Ahmadinejad
o RIA: Russian, Kazakh leaders discuss customs union problems, cooperation
o Xinhua: Chinese president calls for enhancing ties with Russia, Tajikistan
o Daily Times: Zardari, Medvedev discuss bilateral ties, regional situation
o Russia Today: Russia to discuss security and war on drugs with Shanghai partners
· Barentsobserver: Fish industry skeptical to Barents delineation deal - The fish industry in Murmansk fears that the Russian-Norwegian deal on the delineation of the Barents Sea will deprive Russian fishermen of vital fishing grounds in the area.
· AFP: S.Korea, Russia probe rocket failure - South Korean and Russian experts launched an investigation Friday after the fiery failure of the Asian country's latest rocket launch, which some researchers blamed on inadequate testing.
· Itar-Tass: Two schooners flying Cambodia flag detained near Sakhalin
· Russia Today: Russian police find and destroy cop-killing gang
· Russia profile: Poppy Diplomacy - Russia Has Launched a Publicity Offensive to Bring Attention to the Threat of the Afghan Heroin Trade, but There’s a Long Way to Go to Consensus
· BBC: Russia's drive to improve its image - Russia, unhappy with its image abroad, has taken a fresh public relations approach to present a better view of itself and attract foreign investment.
· Bloomberg: Putin 'Trust' Rating Falls to Four-Year Low, Russian Poll Shows
· RIA: Public trust in Medvedev, Putin drops 10%
· VOR: Press review
o Today the printed media are focused on the ongoing summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, or SCO, in Tashkent.
o According to the Izvestia daily, the United States supports Russia’s joining the World Trade Organization and is drafting proposals for Moscow’s joining the WTO.
o The Gazeta publication quotes the ITAR-TASS news agency as reporting that Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko has told journalists that the UN Security Council resolution on Iran does not apply to air-defence systems, with the exception of shoulder-fired missiles
o According to the Noviye Izvestia daily, a largest German-Russian festival has got under way in Berlin.
o The Moskovsky Komsomolets daily wonders what will prove the most striking difference of the world football championships, kicking off in South Africa, from the previous ones.
· Reuters: PRESS DIGEST - Russia - June 11
o Russia's Supreme Court has adopted a decree which effectively bans jailing people who commit economic crimes while running their own businesses, the daily says.
o Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom (GAZP.MM) has lowered its 2010 production plan by more that 10 billion cubic metres due to falling global demand for gas, the daily reports.
o The daily runs an interview with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the upcoming meeting of Russian and U.S presidents.
o 100,000 university professors may lose their jobs by 2015 due to falling student numbers as a result of low birth rates in the 1990s, the paper writes.
o Fifty-three percent of Russians trust President Dmitry Medvedev and 61 percent trust Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, a fall of 7 percent and 6 percent, respectively, the paper reports, citing a poll by the Public Opinion Foundation.
o Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin on Thursday criticized Moscow's Mayor Yuri Luzhkov for not maintaining the city's road network, the paper reports.
o Russian President Dmitry Medvedev plans to build a ski resort in the North Caucasus at a cost of 450 billion roubles ($14.26 billion) to increase the flow of tourists to the region by 5-10 million people per year, the daily says.
o Russian car maker Avtovaz (AVAZ.MM) will receive 10 billion roubles ($316.9 million) from the government to restructure its debt by the end of the year, the daily writes.
o The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled that Russia has violated the rights of members of the Jehovah's Witnesses community in Moscow, the daily writes.
o Russia's gold and foreign currency reserves grew by 2.7 billion roubles ($85.55 million) to 458.2 billion ($14.52 billion) in a week from May 28 to June 4, the daily says.
o Around 3,000 Russian soldiers and officers died and 12,000 were injured during service in the North Caucasus since 1988, the paper writes.
National Economic Trends
· Reuters: Russian rouble up on oil, profit-taking caps gains
· Bloomberg: Russian Bank-Deposit Growth May Reach Record, Kommersant Says
· Moscow Times: Surprise Tax Inflows Prompt 3% Hike in Federal Spending
· Moscow Times: Russia to Drive Regional Recovery
· Bne: Russia the driver for Europe's economic recovery - Russia will play a key role in Europe's recovery as one of the few engines of growth on the continent in the near term, the World Bank said on June 10 in a report.
Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions
· Bloomberg: Gazprom, Magnitogorsk, Rosneft, Severstal: Russia Stock Preview
· DJ: Russia Funds See Second Straight Week Of Inflows
· Bloomberg: Boeing May Help Russia Make Biggest Cargo Jet, Kommersant Says
· Interfax: MMK net profit down 57% to $94 mln in Q1
· Reuters: UPDATE 1-Russia's MMK beats Q1 profit forecasts
· Moscow Times: Kerimov May Finalize Outlines of Purchase in Uralkali
Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)
· News.az: Russia overtakes Saudi Arabia as world oil production leader
· Bne: Russia now world's leading oil producer - Russia has overtaken Saudi Arabia to become the world's biggest producer of oil, Kommersant reported on Thursday. However, at the same time, the country was toppled from its leading role in gas production.
· Moscow Times: Oil Tax Discount in Cards? - The government may impose a discounted tax rate on exports of east Siberian crude on July 1, while cutting the duty on crude oil exports as much as 16 percent after international oil prices declined.
· VTB Capital: Export duty for East Siberia fields in July might be USD 9.5/bbl
· Reuters: RPT-Med Crude-Urals quiet, seen topped out in Med - Urals NWE bid up to dated minus 75 cents, no interest; Urals MED unseen, said fair at dated minus 45 cents; Russian July monthly export duty projected to fall
· Oil and Gas Eurasia: Irkutsk Oil Company and Marubeni Ink Cooperation Memorandum
· Oil and Gas Eurasia: SIBUR Net Profits Rise 20.6 Percent on Asset Sales
· Oil and Gas Eurasia: TNK-BP Discovers New Oil Reservoir in Sorochinskneft Licensed Area
· Moscow News: Is Russia BP’s ace in the hole?
· FT: BP's Russian misadventure may be useful experience
Gazprom
· Reuters: UPDATE 2-Gazprom to sign South Stream deal with EDF next week
· Reuters: Gazprom, Naftogaz merger still being discussed-Azarov
· Barentsobserver: Gazprom to invest 14 billion RUB in production program
· FT: Gazprom resists pressure to alter its contracts
· Times: Gazprom boss joins calls for BP blowout inquiry
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Basic Political Developments
RIA: Newly elected Japanese PM set to improve relations with Russia
http://en.rian.ru/world/20100611/159385037.html
10:44 11/06/2010
Newly elected Japanese Prime-Minister Naoto Kan pledged on Friday to improve economic and political ties with Russia as well as settle territorial disputes.
"I will actively work to solve the main problem [in Russian-Japanese relations] - the territorial dispute and signing of a peace agreement [with Russia]," Kan said during his keynote speech to the Japanese parliament.
Tokyo's claims over the four islands off northeast Japan, which were annexed by the Soviet Union after World War II, have so far prevented Russia and Japan from signing a formal peace treaty to end World War II hostilities.
Kan's comments are taken almost directly form the keynote speech of his predecessor, Yukio Hatoyama, who resigned earlier in June, which shows his commitment to continue the foreign policy agenda of the previous government.
Hatoyama stepped down in early June following a series of scandals involving the misappropriation of political funds by high-ranking Japanese officials.
TOKYO, June 11 (RIA Novosti Novosti)
RIA: Medvedev to discuss missile defense during U.S. visit
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20100611/159384972.html
10:41 11/06/2010
Russia President Dmitry Medvedev will discuss the controversial issue of missile defense with the U.S. leadership during his upcoming visit to the United States, the Russian foreign minister said.
Relations between Russia and the United States have warmed since Medvedev and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama announced last year a new policy of resetting bilateral ties and overcoming Cold-war era set-backs.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev plans to visit the United States in June to boost Russian-U.S. cooperation in various spheres, including trade and the high-tech industry.
"This [the U.S. missile defense plans in Europe] will be one of the topics for discussion; we have high expectations of this summit," Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with Russia's Kommersant daily.
"We have not yet agreed on this [missile defense] issue and we are trying to clarify how the agreements reached by the two presidents...correlate with the actions taken unilaterally by Washington," Lavrov said, adding that the Obama administration had not coordinated its missile defense plans with Russia.
Although Obama suspended last September plans by the Bush administration to deploy missile-defense elements in the Czech Republic and Poland, Washington has not given up on its European missile shield initiative.
The United States opened in May a temporary military base near the northern Polish town of Morag, 80 km (50 miles) from the border of Russia's Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad, in accordance with an agreement negotiated under former President George Bush in 2008.
U.S. troops will be deployed to train Polish forces at the site until 2012, when the base is expected to become permanent. Moscow has expressed concern over the base's proximity to the Russian border and suggested that it be moved to a different location.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that the deployment did not enhance regional security and cooperation.
The United States is also in talks with Bulgaria and Romania on deploying elements of the U.S. missile shield on their territories from 2015.
Russia believes the deployment of anti-missile weapons near its borders undermines the existing balance of forces and threatens its national security.
MOSCOW, June 11 (RIA Novosti)
Xinhua: Russia to abide by UN resolution over S-300 supplies to Iran
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-06/11/c_13345538.htm