Russia 090504
Basic Political Developments
· N. Korea Nuclear Blast Was as Powerful as Hiroshima, Russia Says
· Russia Says UN Meeting On NKorea Set For 2000 GMT Monday-Reports
· Russia confirms N.Korea nuclear test, voices concern – 2
· Russian Defence Ministry confirmed that North Korea conducted a nuclear test
· UN Security Council to discuss N.Korea test – Tass
· RT: North Korea carries out nuclear test
· Russia voices 'concern' over NKorea nuclear test
· Russia says DPRK's nuclear test "evokes concern"
· Lavrov in Beirut in Biden's Footsteps: Support Stability, Free and Transparent Polls
· Lieberman gives Russians pass for meet with Meshal
· Syria says MiG deal with Russia still on
· Report: Israel to expedite UAV production for Russia
· Russian army chief to visit India today - General Vladimir Boldyrev, the Commander-in-Chief of Russian Land Forces, will be in New Delhi today, where he will discuss joint cooperation in mountain-warfare training and will tour Indian military facilities in Siachin, Igor Konashenkov, the Commander's aide was quoted as saying by ITAR-TASS.
· IAF drops Russia from $1 bn deal - Russia is set to lose a billion dollar (Rs 48,000 crore) defence deal for midair refuellers, signalling a break in its over 50-year-old monopoly as India’s preferred military supplier.
· Russia to lose mid-air refueller deal with India: report
· MiG Corporation modernizes fighter jets for Bulgaria
· Armenia: Yerevan Buying Russian Arms At CSTO Discount
· Russia denies trespass into Georgia by motorboat, helicopter
· Russian embassy in Tallinn sends note on war monument being vandalized
· Russian destroyer prevents Somali pirate attack on cargo vessel
· Soyuz blast-off preparation in full swing - Engineers are going through the final checks on the latest Soyuz spacecraft, due to blast off in three days, taking three members to create the first six-person crew on the International Space Station.
· No health threat to Russian infected with swine flu – Onishchenko
· Russia confirms second A/H1N1 flu case
· Second swine flu patient in Russia - The resident of the Kaluga region returned from the Dominican Republic on May 18 but only sought medical assistance two days later after his temperature began to rise.
· May 28: Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to visit Belarus
· Lukashenko Critical Ahead of Putin Visit - Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko criticized Russia on Friday for failing to carry out decisions on integrating the two states a week before Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is due to visit.
· Europe-Russia Economic Forum: Romania hosts Europe-Russia economic forum, an event chaired by President Traian Basescu. (To May 27)
· NATO Parliamentary Assembly discusses Alliance role in High North - Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre told the NATO Parliamentary Assembly that the alliance should increase its role in the High North. Deputy Minister of Defence Espen Barth Eide believes this should be done in cooperation with Russia.
· MT: No Kremlin Guarantee of Gas to EU
· Putin warns outsiders over Ukraine - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned the West on Sunday not to meddle in relations between Russia and Ukraine, according to remarks cited by state-run news agencies.
· Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch to visit Turkey - In July Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Cyril will visit Turkey, Turkish CİHAN news agency reported.
· Moscow Fumes at OSCE's Choice of a Russian: "Vadim Zhdanovich is a very experienced elections expert who has for many years worked at the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights," ODIHR spokesman Jens-Hagen EschenbКcher told The Moscow Times.
· Russian Orthodox Consecrate Parish in Rome - The Vatican described a solemn ceremony on Sunday for the consecration of the first parish of the Moscow Patriarchate in Rome as a sign of further thawing of relations with the Russian Orthodox Church.
· Bomb near Russian gas pipeline defused - The Interior Ministry of the Russian North Caucasus Republic of Daghestan said Sunday an explosive device found near a gas pipeline has been found and defused.
· Large arms cache found in Chechnya - Police have found a large cache of weapons hidden in a forest in Russia's troubled North Caucasus republic of Chechnya, a local police source said on Sunday.
· Armed clash between police officers and militants occurred in Ingushetia; militant destroyed
· Gunman killed in S.Russia shootout - One gunman was killed in a clash with police on Monday morning in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia, a local police spokesman said.
· Military Action Underway Across the Northeast Caucasus
· Rebels killed in Chechnya, 15 others arrested in Ingushetia: report
· Polish citizen, who is a correspondent of the Polish TV company, was beaten up in Moscow
· Polish reporter badly beaten in Moscow road rage attack
· Constitutional Court Reform Passed - The State Duma on Friday passed in a third and final reading a Kremlin-drafted bill that would tighten control over the selection of the Constitutional Court's president and double the length of the judge's term.
· Desperate Russians won't turn up their nose at expired food - Trafficking in spoiled food, a familiar racket during the chaotic collapse of the Soviet Union, is making a comeback in both markets and wholesale Internet shopping. A semi-underground enterprise, it is difficult to trace. But consumer groups, shoppers and anecdotal evidence all indicate its ascendance.
National Economic Trends
· Unemployment in Russia Rises, Retail Sales Slide
· Foreign direct investment in Russia plummets 43% to $3.2 bln in Q1
· Foreign investment falls 30% in 1Q09
· Russian domestic demand grows m o m in April
· Economic data for April show continuing deterioration in trends
· Russian retail sales declined 5.3% in April
Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions
· Siemens Eyes Russian Nuclear Revival - More than 20 years after Chernobyl, Russia is racing back into nuclear energy. Germany's Siemens hopes to profit from helping build dozens of new reactors
· Sberbank Wants 35% Of Opel in $981M Bid
· Turkish firm leaves its mark on Olympics - Turkey’s Hazinedaroğlu Construction Group is building the new Winter Olympics facilities in Sochi, Russia. Despite the negative effects of the global crisis on Russia, the Turkish firm continues its business as usual, Chairman Turan Hazinedaroğlu says
· FACTBOX-Russian steelmakers and their bond covenants
· Severstal proposes to make cash offer - High River: Reuters reported that Canada's High River Gold Mines Ltd said that Russian steelmaker Severstal has proposed to make a cash offer of 18 Canadian cents a share to its minority shareholders
· Severstal launches tender offer for High River Gold
· Boguchan project facing delays as RusHydro gets Rusal exit prompt
· RZD may lose RUB 100 billion this year
· Russian freight volume dips in January to April
· Grand development of Murmansk Transport Hub
· Russia seeks cooperation with Norway in fishery modernization
· Russian investment firm offers Facebook $200 million
· Russian Regional telcom players could lose frequencies
· Wait is over as Moscow prepares for 3G
· VEB expects some of its lenders to default
· Sberbank to lengthen consumer loan terms
· Sibirskiy Cement: Building on an expected recovery
Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)
· 1% Fall in Oil Exports - Russia plans a 1 percent decrease in daily shipments of Urals and Siberian Light crude from six Baltic and Black Sea ports in June.
Finance Ministry plans to introduce annual indexation of gas extraction tax from January
· IEA Head: Russia-Ukraine Spats Spark Gas Supply Rethink
· FACTBOX-The latest Russian-Ukrainian gas issues
· Thirteen states, among them Russia, signed energy efficiency deal in Rome
· Buying Russian Stocks on Oil Is ‘Leap of Faith,’ UralSib Says
· UPDATE: Russian Energy Min Sees Russia Oil Output Stable In 09
· Tycoon Vekselberg may be interim TNK-BP CEO –paper
· TNK-BP CEO Search Intensifies
· TNK-BP Completed the Ryazan Refinery Overhaul
· Rosneft to Build $14 Billion Refinery in Far East to Process Crude Oil from ESPO Pipeline
Gazprom
· Committee to Pay Gazprom - Gazprom may be paid for gas supplies to Eastern Europe in the 1990s after the government sets up a special committee this week to resolve the matter, Kommersant said, citing unidentified government officials.
· Russia Gazprom output may fall 18 pct in 2009-report
· Gazprom deputy CEO on production, Argus on capex
· Gazprom won't delay Shtokman over crisis
· Gazprom Neft Increases Stake in Sibir Energy to 27.5%
· Gazprom Neft may be in talks to acquire control of Sibir Energy
· Gazprom, Slovenia sign 15-year gas supply agreement
· CNN: Why does Russian energy giant Gazprom wield such power?
------Full Text Articles
Basic Political Developments
N. Korea Nuclear Blast Was as Powerful as Hiroshima, Russia Says
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aYcMY_hDWu8w
By Torrey Clark
May 25 (Bloomberg) -- The nuclear device North Korea detonated today was about as powerful as the bomb the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War II, according to Russian estimates.
The North Korean explosion had an explosive yield of between 10 kilotons and 20 kilotons, said Alexander Drobyshevsky, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry, on state television. The blast occurred about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the northern city of Kilchu, near the borders with China and Russia, Drobyshevsky said.
The “Little Boy” bomb the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 had a yield of 15 kilotons, according to the U.S. Federation of American Scientists. The “Fat Man” bomb dropped on Nagasaki had a yield of 21-23 kilotons, according to the research group. A kiloton is an explosive force equal to 1,000 metric tons of TNT.
To contact the reporter on this story: Torrey Clark in Moscow at
Last Updated: May 25, 2009 03:24 EDT
Russia Says UN Meeting On NKorea Set For 2000 GMT Monday-Reports
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=200905250304dowjonesdjonline000071&title=russia-says-un-meeting-on-nkorea-set-for-2000-gmt-monday-reports
MOSCOW (AFP)--The U.N. Security Council will meet Monday at 2000 GMT to discuss North Korea's nuclear blast, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, quoted by Russian news agencies.
Russia confirms N.Korea nuclear test, voices concern – 2
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20090525/155081541.html
11:5925/05/2009
(Recasts, adds details, U.S. and UN response in paras 3-4, 10-15)
MOSCOW, May 25 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Defense Ministry confirmed on Monday that North Korea had conducted a nuclear test, and said it would closely monitor the situation.
North Korea announced earlier in the day it had conducted a successful underground nuclear test explosion "as part of the measures to bolster its nuclear deterrent for self-defense."
The ministry's spokesman Col. Alexander Drobyshevsky said: "The test was carried out 80 kilometers (50 miles) to the northwest of the town of Kilchu. The nuclear device had a yield of between 10 and 20 kilotons [of TNT equivalent]."
"We are currently monitoring the situation," he added.
The Russian Foreign Ministry earlier voiced concern over the reclusive communist state's announcement of its second nuclear test. Pyongyang withdrew from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 2003 and conducted its first nuclear test explosion in October 2006.
"The information on North Korea's nuclear test is a cause of concern, but before we draw any final conclusions it should be thoroughly verified," the ministry's press service said in a statement.
Geological survey agencies around the world said they had detected a 4.7-magnitude tremor in the area where the blast is believed to have taken place.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that after Monday's nuclear explosion, Pyongyang test-fired a ground-to-air missile with a range of 80 miles (130 kilometers) from its northeastern Musudan-ri launch site.
The Russian permanent mission to the UN said the Security Council would convene for emergency consultations at 16.00 EDT (20.00 GMT) on Monday and could decide to hold an emergency meeting on the issue.
U.S. President Barack Obama issued a statement saying North Korea's nuclear and missile tests were a "matter of grave concern to all nations" and called for an immediate response from the international community.
"North Korea's attempts to develop nuclear weapons, as well as its ballistic missile program, constitute a threat to international peace and security," the president said.
Obama said Washington would work through the U.N. Security Council and the six-party talks format on North Korea's denuclearization, involving North and South Korea, Russia, Japan, China and the United States, to address the issue.
The six-nation talks were launched in 2003 after Pyongyang withdrew from the NPT Treaty.
Under deals reached in 2007, the North began disabling a nuclear reactor and other facilities at Yongbyon under international supervision, in exchange for economic aid and political incentives.
However, in December last year, a round of six-nation talks ended in deadlock over a U.S. demand that nuclear inspectors be allowed to take samples out of the country from North Korean facilities for further analysis.
The reclusive communist regime had been threatening for several weeks to resume work at its Yongbyon nuclear facility, which produces weapons-grade plutonium, after withdrawing from six-nation talks. The move came in response to international condemnation of an April 5 rocket launch, which Pyongyang said was carrying a communications satellite.
North Korea had also said it would conduct further nuclear tests and rocket launches to ensure its security and defense capability.
Russian Defence Ministry confirmed that North Korea conducted a nuclear test
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=13973145&PageNum=0
MOSCOW, May 25 (Itar-Tass) - The Russian Defence Ministry has confirmed that North Korea conduced a nuclear test in the northeast of the country early on Monday.
“Yes, indeed, our national facilities fixed the fact of a nuclear test in North Korea. Now we are analysing data on the test. The power of the nuclear explosion is being specified,” a ministry source told Tass.
UN Security Council to discuss N.Korea test – Tass
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSLP628400
Mon May 25, 2009 2:15am EDT
· Russian officials studying reports of North Korean test
· Japan reported to have asked for Security Council meeting
(Adds quotes and details)
MOSCOW, May 25 (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council would meet on Monday to discuss North Korea's nuclear test, Russia's U.N. ambassador Vitaly Churkin was quoted as saying by Itar-Tass news agency.
Russian officials told Reuters they were studying reports of the test.
Moscow currently holds the rotating monthly presidency of the Security Council.
"Japan made a request to the president of the Security Council that they hold a Security Council meeting on North Korea," said a diplomatic source, asking not to be identified.
The source said Security Council talks might be held later on Monday, although that was tentative. (Reporting by Conor Humphries)