Russia 110613

Basic Political Developments Itar-Tass news outlook for Monday, June 13. Russian calendar: Key events for June 11–14

o Jun 13: Russia Day observed, day offo Jun 13: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to visit Uzbekistan, until June

14 o Jun 14: Summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organization to take place in

Kazakhstan’s Astana, until June 15, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to attend

o Jun 15: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to take part in 100th session of International Labor Conference

o Jun 15–18: Chinese President Hu Jintao to visit Russia o Jun 16–18: St Petersburg International Economic Forum to take place

Development of partnership with West requires more critical evaluation of domestic processes – Kosachyov: Head of the State Duma International Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachyov believes that Russia should be more self-critical in evaluating many trends in its domestic policy so that the EU and NATO would recognize Russia as their own.

Iran congratulates Russia on Independence Day - "No doubt that attention of authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Russia to fundamental values of the two countries will pave the way for expansion of bilateral, regional and international relations in all domains," Rahimi said in a message.

Iran, Russia Sign Agreement on Building Satellites - The agreement signed during a recent meeting between Iranian Space Agency officials and Russian Minister of Communications and Mass Media Igor Schegolev focuses on building Iransat satellite. OIC/Russia: Observer’s role strengthens Moscow’s relations with OIC

President going to Russia for thank-you talks - President Mahinda Rajapaksa will leave for Russia on Tuesday to seek both Moscow’s support for Sri Lanka and brief world leaders on key issues facing the country.

China and Russia to cooperate in field of energy - In his written interview broadcast by Kazakhstani and Russian media a head of his upcoming visit to Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Russia during the period between ongoing June 12-20, Chinese president said that China extremely hailed the cooperation with Russia in the field of energy that was considered a part of Russia-China economic and commercial cooperation.

China May Get LNG Cargo From Russia in June, Shipping Data Show Over 100 Russians evacuated from Yemen arrive in Moscow

o Russia evacuates over 170 citizens from Yemen

Russia and China snub UN Syria talks - Russia and China snubbed UN Security Council talks convened to discuss a draft resolution that would condemn Syria’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, UN diplomats said.

Russian Ambassador in Damascus: Russia's Support of Syria Based on Deep-rooted Principles of People's Freedom of Self-Determination

Russia's envoy to Africa to visit Tripoli next week - Margelov said that he would meet with Libyan Prime Minister Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi, Foreign Affairs Minister Abdelati al-Obeidi and "other members of the Cabinet."

o Gaddafi meets with FIDE president Ilyumzhinov in Tripoli. o Kadhafi, son play chess with Russian eccentrico LIBYA: Moammar Kadafi plays chess with visiting World Chess Federation

president Armenia, Azerbaijan Say Closer To Peace Deal - The Azerbaijani Embassy in

Russia issued a virtually identical statement that was cited by Azerbaijani news agencies. Neither side specified the issues that were reportedly agreed upon by Nalbandian and Mammadyarov.

o The New York Times: Presidents' meeting in Kazan - best opportunity to end stalemate over Nagorno Karabakh

o Armenian, Russian, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers meet in Moscowo Azerbaijani, Armenian ministers meet - The draft document containing

the basic principles will be discussed at the next trilateral summit in late June, the embassy said.

More problems than before to top agenda of SCO summit in Astana. - “First, this is the most important political document – the Astana declaration of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization that was developed first of all through efforts of the council of national coordinators and a large group of experts representing different agencies and departments of the SCO member-states,” he said. Another important document to be signed at the summit is the SCO anti-drug strategy. Moreover, a memorandum of the obligations of membership applicants is expected to be signed. Health ministers of the SCO member-states will also sign an agreement that “will give a fresh impetus to cooperation.

President Zardari to seek SCO membership for Pakistan - President Asif Ali Zardari will arrive in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan on Tuesday to attend the 10th summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on June 15.

‘Zardari’s visit to Russia would open new avenues of cooperation’ 3 Kharotabad victims buried in Quetta amid touching scenes Russia restores electric power exports to Belarus in full. - According to the

Belarusian Energy Ministry, the parties managed to coordinate and sign the debt payment schedule, under which Belarus should pay its debt until July 5.

Talks on Russia buying remaining 50pct stake in Beltransgaz should end in June – Diplomat

Rosatom to start building nuclear station in Belarus this fall.

Conflicting attitudes on Russia Independence Day - … the holiday is not popular with everyone. Many Russians see it as commemorating a negative historical event – the day the Soviet Union was dissolved, which lead to unemployment and poverty. Some refuse to mark the occasion. Left-wing protesters in Moscow called for the return of what they see as the real Russia – the former Soviet one.

Moscow police break up protest on national holiday - Russian police detained nearly 30 opposition activists Sunday to prevent them from demonstrating in central Moscow on a national holiday celebrating the country's emergence as an independent state as the Soviet Union crumbled.

Medvedev announces several appointments in Interior Ministry. o Medvedev appoints new Interior Minister of Ingushetia - Russian

President Dmitry Medvedev has appointed Police major general, Alexander Trofimov a new interior minister in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia, Kremlin press service said on Monday.

o Fires Interior Ministry Chiefs in Russia Police Purgeo Personnel changes within the Interior Ministry

Russian Railways CEO Yakunin Term Extended, Interfax Says Russia's Mission Control raises ISS orbit by 19.2 km First Sea Launch rocket after long pause to blast off in late August – early Sept. Monument to Pushkin unveiled at New Library of Alexandria(corr). Forest fires spread on 37,500 hectares in Siberia Only 3 forest fires still burning in Russia’s Far East. Israel assisting to draft tourist security concept for North Caucasus. - Russia and

Israel are forming joint working groups to assist the provision of security of tourists in the North Caucasus. “We will develop a complex security system, from airports to ropeways,” he said.

Russian Counterterrorism Official Killed In North Caucasus Tax official gunned down in Dagestan

o Tax inspection chief killed in Dagestan o Dagestan’s Khasavyurt chief tax officer killed.

Reprisals feared following murder of Russian extremist - THE AUTHORITIES in Russia are on alert for a violent far-right reaction to the murder of Yuri Budanov, a notorious former colonel who became an icon for extreme nationalists.

Catherine Ashton: EU-Russia "absolutely agree" Syria should stop violence and move forward on reform - EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton has given an interview to Interfax on the sidelines of the Russia-EU summit in Nizhny Novgorod in which she speaks about the resumption of talks on the Iranian nuclear program, a draft UN Security Council resolution on Syria and Palestinian-Israeli settlement.

Al Jazeera: Eurasian geopolitics face Astana earthquake - The stakes couldn't be higher. Washington is at a loss, facing regional integration led by Russia and China.

Newsweek: The Kremlin’s Loyal Opposition - Mikhail Prokhorov is the likely leader of a new opposition party in upcoming elections—but Putin isn’t scared.

Tandemology And The Russian Media’s Spin Cycle – OpEd Russia Profile Weekly Experts Panel: Did the Kremlin Signal Khodorkovsky’s

Release? Russia: the race is on - Displays of mutual admiration by Vladimir Putin and

Dimitri Medvedev have sparked a buzz of excitement about next year's presidential election, says Tony Brenton.

Itar-Tass news digest for Monday, June 13 : 1.

National Economic Trends Current Account: Strong Import Growth Triggers Forecast Revision

Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions NLMK Group increases net profit in Q1 Billionaire Russian immigrant buys 20% stake in ‘Haaretz’ Russian power sector: Six myths that delay reform – RenCap Travelport to partner with the Internet Travel Services Association of Russia

Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory) Rosneft names new board chairman Russia’s Rosneft mulls doubling its market value Rosneft: ‘Chevron in Black Sea exit’ - A huge deal between Rosneft and Chevron

to drill in the Black Sea appears to have bitten the dust after the former said the latter is all but assured to pulling out.

The first natural gas will flow in the South Stream pipeline no later than end of 2015-Russia

Bashneft 1Q11 results conference call - commercial production at Trebs and Titov might start in 2014

Gazprom SOCAR has made a statement on Azeri gas transit talks with Gazprom Gazprom Neft wants to start oil production in Venezuela in 2013

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Full Text Articles

Basic Political Developments10:31 13/06/2011ALL NEWS

Itar-Tass news outlook for Monday, June 13.

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/163605.html

13/6 Tass 40

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SITUATION IN LIBYA

BRUSSELS – NATO will deliver a bomb strike on Muammar Gaddafi’s troops on the north-western coast of Libya between Tripoli and Tunisia’s border to protect civilians from the ruling regime, the alliance’s command said.

BEIRUT – Libya’s rebels established control over several districts 50 kilometres of Tripoli, according Al Jazeera broadcaster.

PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN TURKEY

ANKARA – Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party wins third term by wide margin, according to the preliminary results of the parliamentary elections.

CHINESE PRESIDENT’S VISIT TO KAZAKHSTAN

ASTANA – Chinese President Hu Jintao will meet with his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev and Prime Minister Karim Masimov to discuss strategic planning and promising development of bilateral relations.

PALESTINIAN-ISRAELI SETTLEMENT

ROME – Israeli and Italian prime ministers Benjamin Netanyahu and Silvio Berlusconi will discuss problems of the Middle East settlement.

SIBERIA WILDFIRES

KRASNOYARSK – Wildfires in Siberia spread over the area of 37,500 hectares. The most difficult situation is reported in the Krasnoyarsk territory and the Irkutsk region, where the state of emergency has been introduced since June 10.

US-VITENAM

NEW YORK - The U.S. government declassifies Pentagon’s documents 40 years after the war in Vietnam.

IMMUNISATION CONFERENCE

LONDON – The British capital will host an international pledging conference for immunisation that is seeking $3.7 billion for child vaccines in poor countries. The conference is organized by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation.

CULTURE

MOSCOW – British singer Sting will perform in Moscow as a part of his celebrated Symphonicity world tour.

Russian calendar: Key events for June 11–14

http://www.prime-tass.com/news/calendar/_Russian_calendar_Key_events_for_June_11%E2%80%9314/-103/%7B309C6775-E0CE-4371-8849-26CAC0807C26%7D.uif

Jun 13: Russia Day observed, day off

Jun 13: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to visit Uzbekistan, until June 14

Jun 14: Summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organization to take place in Kazakhstan’s Astana, until June 15, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to attend

Jun 15: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to take part in 100th session of International Labor Conference

Jun 15–18: Chinese President Hu Jintao to visit Russia

Jun 16–18: St Petersburg International Economic Forum to take place

June 13, 2011 10:53

Development of partnership with West requires more critical evaluation of domestic processes – Kosachyovhttp://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=251234

MOSCOW. July 13 (Interfax) - Head of the State Duma International Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachyov believes that Russia should be more self-critical in evaluating many trends in its domestic policy so that the EU and NATO would recognize Russia as their own.

"Both the EU and NATO are alliances of kindred spirits where motives of pragmatic benefit have long stopped being the main unifying reason. These are truly alliances of values the adherence to which in deed, not words without the need for outside control or even less so for sanctions is the best password. In 20 years we have failed to become one of them and there was no such objective. However, it should become [an objective], if we

want to return to the most effective part of the world community instead of trying to catch up all the time," Kosachyov wrote in his weblog on Friday.

He recalled that last week saw two important events - the Russia-EU summit in Nizhny Novgorod and a session of the Russia-NATO Council at the level of defense ministers in Brussels.

In Kosachyov's opinion, today "most people ascribe all foreign military exercises to the category of anti-Russian and any foreign criticism of Russia account solely to the intrigues of rivals and other ill-wishers."

He disagreed with the approach and urged politicians to be more self-critical in evaluating the processes taking place in Russia. "Often we simply pretend that we don't notice the foreign reaction to our actions and proudly pass by without allowing ourselves, as it seems to us, to be dragged into unwelcome discussions - these are our internal affairs and we will sort them out ourselves… However, if we want to be together, we will have to discuss our internal affairs and give account too," he said.

Kosachyov said that partnership with the West should not be regarded only as a symbol or tool "but also as a key without which we will be trying to break into all doors, including open ones, in both our own country and abroad."

Ml

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

Iran congratulates Russia on Independence Dayhttp://www.isna.ir/ISNA/NewsView.aspx?ID=News-1786330&Lang=E

Service: Foreign Policy 1390/03/23 06-13-2011 10:52:12 News Code :9003-14235

ISNA - Tehran Service: Foreign Policy

TEHRAN (ISNA)-Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi congratulated Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on anniversary of the country's Independence.

"No doubt that attention of authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Russia to fundamental values of the two countries will pave the way for expansion of bilateral, regional and international relations in all domains," Rahimi said in a message.

On June 12, 1991 the first Congress of People’s Deputies of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic adopted a Declaration on the state sovereignty of Russia, which at that time was still part of the former USSR.

There’s another reason to commemorate this date: the first presidential elections were held in Russia on June 12, 1991.

The holiday instituted in 1992 became a national day in 1994. It was called Independence Day at that time. It was renamed into Russia’s Day in 2002.

End Item

News Code: 9003-14235

Iran, Russia Sign Agreement on Building Satellites http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9003230191

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran and Russia inked an agreement to boost space cooperation, specially in building satellites.

The agreement signed during a recent meeting between Iranian Space Agency officials and Russian Minister of Communications and Mass Media Igor Schegolev focuses on building Iransat satellite.

At the meeting, the Iranian officials requested Russia to boost space cooperation with Tehran and cooperate with Iran in building new generations of satellites and sending astronauts into space.

The two sides also agreed to set up a joint working group to discuss the details of the protocol in biennial meetings.

The Russian official said that Moscow is ready to cooperate with Iran in the area of communications, promising his country will help Iran to manufacture small satellites.

Iran has recently taken wide strides in aerospace. The country sent the first biocapsule of living creatures into space in February, using its home-made Kavoshgar-3 (Explorer-3) carrier.

Iran announced in February that it plans to unveil and send two recently-built satellites into space in the near future.

"Two satellites called Fajr (Dawn) and Rasad (Observation) will be unveiled during the Ten Day Dawn (from February 1-11, marking the victory of the Islamic Revolution in

Iran in 1979) and they will be launched in future," Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi told reporters.

Vahidi referred to the defense ministry's research plans and programs, and said, "We have plans for designing (and producing) numerous satellites."

He also underlined that the defense ministry is seeking to find different applications for the products that it manufactures in such projects to commercialize them.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had also earlier announced that the country plans to send a home-made measurement satellite into orbit in the near future.

"Iran's measurement satellite will be launched into space from an Iranian launch-pad and will have an Iranian exchange station and control station," Iranian president said late 2010.

Ahmadinejad further noted Iran's plans for sending astronauts into space in 2024, and said that the issue had gone under a second study at a cabinet meeting and that the cabinet had decided to implement the plan in 2019, five years earlier than the date envisaged in the original plan.

Omid (hope) was Iran's first research satellite that was designed for gathering information and testing equipment. After orbiting for three months, Omid successfully completed its mission without any problem. It completed more than 700 orbits over seven weeks and reentered the Earth's atmosphere on April 25, 2009.

After launching Omid, Tehran unveiled three new satellites called Tolou, Mesbah II and Navid, respectively. Iran has also unveiled its latest achievements in designing and producing satellite carriers very recently.

A new generation of home-made satellites and a new satellite carrier called Simorgh (Phoenix) were among the latest achievements unveiled by Iran's aerospace industries.

The milk-bottle shaped rocket is equipped to carry a 60-kilogram (132-pound) satellite 500 kilometers (310 miles) into orbit.

The 27-meter (90 foot) tall multi-stage rocket weighs 85 tons and its liquid fuel propulsion system has a thrust of up to 143 tons.

Iran is one of the 24 founding members of the United Nations' Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS), which was set up in 1959.

OIC/Russia: Observer’s role strengthens Moscow’s relations with OIChttp://iina.me/wp_en/?p=1003356

By IINA– June 12, 2011Posted in: World

JEDDAH, 11 Rajab/12 June (IINA)-The first independent contacts between Moscow and the OIC, after its establishment in 1969 took place during the late seventies and early eighties of the last century.

The issue that brought these two entities together was the situation in Afghanistan. The OIC at that time responded positively to Russia’s appeals for assistance in the course of releasing Soviet prisoners of war in Afghanistan as well as the Russian pilots held in captivity in Kandahar.

Relations continued to develop during the last years of the previous century. However, it was an issue-based relationship. In this period, special emphasis was given to the Chechen problem while developing contacts between Russia and the OIC. Secretaries-General of the OIC Hamid Algabid and Ezeddine Laraki visited Moscow in 1994 and in 1997 respectively. Following these visits an OIC delegation led by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iran K. Harrazi paid a working visit to Russia in December 1999. The delegation was received by then Russian President Vladimir Putin at the end of 2002, for the first time in the history of Russia the post of an ambassador for affairs related to the OIC and other international Islamic organizations was created at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Ambassador at large V.V. Popov was appointed to this post and he held talks for the first time with the OIC Secretary-General Abdelouahed Belkeziz in Jeddah in December 2002. Belkeziz was invited by Russian Foreign Minister I.S. Ivanov to visit the Russian Federation, and he visited Moscow in January 2003 and met with the president of the Federation Council, the foreign minister, a number of muftis, and also representatives of Russian Orthodox Church.

In April 2003, President Putin at a meeting with the mufti of the Muslims of Tajikistan Amonulla Nematzade floated the idea that Russia to a certain extent be considered a part of the Muslim world since about 20 million Muslims live in the country. However, it was only in 2005 that a full-fledged working relationship between Russia and the OIC started to develop.

August 2003 and June 2005 are the two key dates in the history of mutual relations of Russia and the OIC. In August 2003, the then Russian President Putin during his official visit to Malaysia, for the first time, declared that the Russian Federation would like to join the activities of the OIC.

The Russian leader’s initiative received warm response from the Muslim world despite the known criticism of Russia’s actions in Chechnya. Putin received an invitation from

the Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed to take part in the 10th Islamic Summit in Kuala Lumpur in October 2003 as a guest.

Putin attended the opening ceremony of the summit and addressed the leaders of the Muslim world. His seven-minute speech was interrupted four times by applause and has become one of the most significant documents of Russian foreign policy. Through his speech, Putin extended the hand of friendship and cooperation to the Islamic world. He declared “it is obvious that by combining our efforts and those of the countries of the Muslim world — in the sphere of finance, technology and human resource — we can serve as a real factor in the world politics and can have breakthroughs in many trends of the global economy.”

During the 10th Islamic Summit a notable development took place that might not appear to be very significant at that moment, however, later on it had a far-reaching impact on the OIC-Russia relations and to a large extent is responsible for the present warm and close relations between the two. During this summit, personal contacts were established between Putin and Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the incumbent OIC secretary-general. The speech of Putin had a big impact on the OIC delegates.

Ihsanoglu, who was the head of the OIC Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA) based in Istanbul, presented the IRCICA award to the host of the summit —Mahathir Mohamed. After Putin’s speech, Ihsanoglu was one of the first to congratulate Putin on his brilliant speech and elaborated on the importance of establishing direct active relations between the OIC and Russia.

Putin entrusted his ambassador at large for the OIC with the task to establish direct communications with Ihsanoglu. Accordingly, in the beginning of February 2004, Ambassador Popov specially visited Istanbul for the purpose of establishing such communications. As the head of IRCICA, Ihsanoglu also visited Russia, in particular Tatarstan, and became convinced of the spiritual renaissance Russia had been experiencing for around two decades. He then said it was his duty to support the Putin initiative.

The OIC is the second largest organization after the United Nations in terms of its membership that represents and upholds the interest of more than 1.5 billion Muslims all over the world. These facts combined with the traditional bond between Russia and the Muslim world further strengthened Russia’s will to establish formal relations with the OIC. The Russian Foreign Minister S.V. Lavrov dispatched an official letter in May 2004 requesting the OIC to grant Russia observer status in the organization. However, the procedure of getting the observer status at the OIC for Russia was not easy.

Some countries without opposing Russia’s joining the organization still expressed concern that such a precedent may open the door for similar applications on the part of other non-Islamic countries with Muslim minorities.

The year 2005 became the next important landmark in Russia’s relations with the OIC. At the conference of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the OIC member states held in the capital of Yemen — Sanaa at the end of June in 2005, thanks to the efforts of Ihsanoglu to a great extent, observer status in the OIC was unanimously granted to Russia. It became the biggest event in the history of Russia’s relations with the Muslim world. As a matter of fact, a new era was born in the OIC-Russia relations that started to develop rapidly and intensively.

AH/IINA

President going to Russia for thank-you talkshttp://www.sundaytimes.lk/110612/News/nws_05.html

By Anthony David

President Mahinda Rajapaksa will leave for Russia on Tuesday to seek both Moscow’s support for Sri Lanka and brief world leaders on key issues facing the country.

He is scheduled to have one-on-one talks with President Dmitry Medvedev. He will thank the Russian President for the support extended by Russia after the release of the UN Advisory Panel’s report on alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka.

Rajapaksa’s talks with other world leaders will take place when he meets them at the St. Petersburg (former Leningrad) International Economic Forum. The theme of the conference from June 16 to June 18 is the definitive platform on Russian and Emerging Market Economic Environments. It will focus mainly on Russia’s modernization.

External Affairs Ministry sources said yesterday President Rajapaksa would brief President Medvedev on matters arising from the UN Advisory Panel’s report on alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka. He would seek Russia’s support should the matter come up in any international forum in the future, these sources said. Among the world leaders taking part in the St. Petersburg Forum is Chinese President Hu Jintao.

An official statement from the sponsors of the Forum said a large number of Chinese and Asian business leaders from a wide range of industrial sectors were expected to participate.

China and Russia to cooperate in field of energy.  http://en.ljbc.net/online/var_details.php?id=1483

2011-06-12 China’s president, Hu Jintao, said that his country was ready to promote a cooperation with Russia and other countries that produce and consume the energy for the purpose of protecting the stability of global market of energy and for gaining the mutual benefits.

In his written interview broadcast by Kazakhstani and Russian media a head of his upcoming visit to Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Russia during the period between ongoing June 12-20, Chinese president said that China extremely hailed the cooperation with Russia in the field of energy that was considered a part of Russia-China economic and commercial cooperation.

President, Jintao added, “ china contributed to developing the global market of energy and cooperated with relevant countries in recent years, adding,” these activities lead to promote the global supply of energy and stability of global energy market,”.

“ china and Russia mutually managed to overcome the influence of global financial crisis by mutually cooperated trade that reached $ 60 billion in 2010,” said Chena’s president.

Based on the merits of the two countries, China and Russia, “ must play the whole rule for better and rapid progress in field of economic cooperation,”.

“ during recent years the mutual investments rapidly grew through a program of mutual cooperation in all fields with the two countries ratifying in 2009 a plan of Russia-China investment cooperation and the preparatory plan for regional cooperation between northeastern China and the further eastern Russian region and eastern Serbia,” concluded China’s president.

China May Get LNG Cargo From Russia in June, Shipping Data ShowSunday, June 12, 2011

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/06/12/bloomberg1376-LMPSZP0D9L3501-2OLH4KJ2EPM006TR7F2K15LQPI.DTL#ixzz1P8fF038u

June 13 (Bloomberg) -- China may receive a spot cargo of liquefied natural gas from Russia this month, according to ship- tracking data.

China National Offshore Oil Corp.'s Fujian terminal may get the fuel on June 15 on the Neva River, a 145,394 cubic-meter tanker, possibly from the Sakhalin LNG project, according to ship transmissions captured today by AISLive on Bloomberg.

China more than doubled imports of natural gas to 2.6 billion cubic meters in May from a

year earlier, with half of them through a pipeline from Central Asia and the rest in liquid form, the National Development and Reform Commission said on its website, citing preliminary data.

The Fujian LNG terminal has a long-term contract with Indonesia's Tangguh LNG plant to receive the fuel, according to the company's website.

Over 100 Russians evacuated from Yemen arrive in Moscowhttp://en.rian.ru/world/20110613/164591165.html

11:44 13/06/2011

MOSCOW, June 13 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Emergencies Ministry plane with 119 Russians evacuated from Yemen, has landed in Moscow on Monday, the ministry said.

An Il-62, en route from Yemen, with 148 people onboard, including 119 Russian and about 20 CIS citizens, landed in Moscow's Domodedovo airport at 11.05 a.m. Moscow time [07:05 GMT] on Monday, ministry's spokesman told RIA Novosti.

The spokesman said that two Emergencies Ministry's psychologists and medicine workers were accompanying people during the flight.

Anti-government protests against Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been in power for 33 years, have been taking place for nearly five months. The protests have recently escalated to frequent gun battles between Saleh loyalists and hundreds of members of Yemeni opposition tribal groups.

Several hundred people have reportedly been killed in Yemen since February, pushing the country to the brink of a civil war.

Russia has already recalled 14 diplomats and their families from its embassy in Sanaa and general consulate in Aden.

There are about 825 Russians remaining in Yemen.

Russia evacuates over 170 citizens from Yemenhttp://en.rian.ru/russia/20110613/164586554.html01:28 13/06/2011

Two planes dispatched by Russia's Emergencies Ministry have evacuated a total of 175 Russian citizens from Yemen due to escalating violence in the country, the ministry said.

The first plane, an Il-76 carrying 66 people, left Yemeni capital, Sanaa, at 09.25 p.m. Moscow time [17:25 GMT] on Sunday.

"The second plane, an Il-62, took off from Sanaa at 11.40 p.m. Moscow time [19:40 GMT]," a ministry's spokesman told RIA Novosti." The plane is carrying 109 people, including 59 children."

Russia has already recalled 14 diplomats and their families from its embassy in Sanaa and general consulate in Aden.

There are about 825 Russians remaining in Yemen.

Anti-government protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been in power for 33 years, have been taking place for nearly five months. The protests have recently escalated to frequent gun battles between Saleh loyalists and hundreds of members of Yemeni opposition tribal groups.

Several hundred people have reportedly been killed in Yemen since February, pushing the country to the brink of a civil war.

MOSCOW, June 13 (RIA Novosti) 

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Russia and China snub UN Syria talkshttp://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/47181614-950e-11e0-a648-00144feab49a.html#axzz1P8Mz9lHp

Russia and China snubbed UN Security Council talks convened to discuss a draft resolution that would condemn Syria’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, UN diplomats said.

“Russia and China didn’t think it necessary to show up,” a council diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

“It’s a pretty clear message,” another diplomat said.

The European drafters of the resolution convened Saturday’s talks in the hope they could break their deadlock on a draft resolution that would not impose sanctions on Syria but would condemn it for the crackdown and suggest Syrian security forces might be guilty of crimes against humanity.

Diplomats said the meeting produced no changes among the 13 council members attending. Currently, nine members, including Britain, France, Germany and Portugal, plan to vote for it. Russia and China dislike the idea of any council discussion of Syria and have suggested they might use their veto to kill the resolution.

Lebanon, India, Brazil and South Africa have also said they have problems with the text. Resolutions need nine votes in favour and no vetoes from the five permanent council members – Britain, China, France, Russia and the US – in order to be passed.

The US is not sponsoring the resolution but has made clear it supports the text and condemns the violence against the demonstrators. It accused the Syrian government on Saturday of creating a “humanitarian crisis” and called on it to halt its offensive.

“The Syrians are firing into the crowds and they [Russia and China] don’t care,” a Western diplomat told Reuters.

Diplomats said they were especially concerned about reports that Syrian security forces had been using helicopter gunships and firing live ammunition at demonstrators. Ban Ki-moon, UN secretary-general said the use of military force against civilians was unacceptable.

Walid al-Moualem, Syrian foreign minister, told Mr Ban and the Security Council in a letter that if the council approved the European draft resolution, it would only embolden “extremists and terrorists”.

Envoys said the latest draft, submitted to the council on Wednesday by Britain, France, Germany and Portugal, could be put to a vote next week.

Russian Ambassador in Damascus: Russia's Support of Syria Based on Deep-rooted Principles of People's Freedom of Self-Determination

http://www.sana.sy/eng/21/2011/06/12/352255.htm

Jun 12, 2011

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – Russia's Ambassador in Damascus Sergey Kirpichenko affirmed that Russia's stance in support of Syria is based on deep-rooted principles that

emphasize people's freedom of self-determination, non-interference in states' internal affairs, and sovereignty.

This came during a reception at the Russian Embassy in Damascus on Monday on occasion of Russia Day.

Kirpichenko said that the immortal Russian-Syrian friendship mustn't be forgotten during the delicate circumstances taking place in Syria, affirming that Russia is proud of this ongoing relation that continues to expand on bilateral, regional and international levels, stressing that no-one will be allowed to damage the relations between the two countries

"The situation in Syria is delicate… we sympathize with Syria's leadership and people in these circumstances and believe that Syria is facing a new test, and we wish that it will overcome it with honor and strength," he said.

Kirpichenko expressed pride over the Syrian people's affection of Russia, affirming that the feeling is mutual.

The reception was attended by Syrian ministers and officials and heads and representatives of diplomatic missions in Damascus, in addition to representatives of economic, religious, cultural and social activities.

The Russian Federation is witnessing a growing upswing that saw an increase in economic strength and growth rates, with Russia's international political role becoming ever more prominent.

Syria and Russia are bound by solid and remarkable relation, which manifests in the constant coordination regarding regional issues, with both sides affirming commitment to boosting relations on all levels and developing them in all fields, particularly, political, economic, commercial and cultural fields.

The diplomatic relations between Moscow and Damascus, which date back to 1944, remained strong on all levels, particularly in economic cooperation that resulted in many important strategic projects including the Euphrates Dam, two electric power stations, around 2,000 kilometers of railroads, and more.

Within the last ten years, Syrian-Russian relations witnessed considerable development, with mutual visits of high-level officials and the development of bilateral cooperation.

President Bashar al-Assad paid three visits to Russia, the last of which in 2008, which opened new vistas for developing and promoting Syrian-Russian relations. The visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to Syria in May 2010 served to further bolster the strategic partnership and cooperation between the two countries, with both countries continuing to confirm their adherence to international laws, UN charter commitments and international agreements signed by Syria and Russia.

Syrian-Russian commercial relations are governed by many agreements and protocols such as the Trade, Commercial and Technical Cooperation Protocol signed in Damascus in April 15th 1993, and the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement signed in Damascus in September 2000, while the cooperation agreement signed between the Syrian and Russian Chambers of Trade in 2000 provided great opportunities for developing economic and commercial relations.

The two countries have also signed the Syrian-Russian bilateral committee agreement and the mutual announcement on enhancing the friendship and cooperation relations.

In the field of tourism, the agreements signed between the two countries contributed to expanding tourist cooperation and developing the mutual tourist and economic resources which paved the way for Russian investors to establish two tourist resorts on the Syrian coast at a cost of USD 130 million.

Russia provides Syria with oil products, metals, timber, fertilizers and paper. Russia imports food products, vegetables, silks, cotton and fruit from Syria.

The Syrian Union of Trade Chambers also worked on activating the economic relations through establishing trade markets and fairs, in addition to working on signing an agreement to encourage, protect and guarantee investments between the two countries and signing an agreement on facilitating marine and land transportation.

Many Russian experts are working in Syria. The Russian companies provide technical aid in the fields of oil, energy and irrigation.

Cooperation in the fields of training of human staff at the Russian universities and institutions is undergoing, while academic institutes in both countries continue to exchange delegations and experts.

M. Nassr / H. Sabbagh

Russia's envoy to Africa to visit Tripoli next weekhttp://en.rian.ru/russia/20110613/164591502.html

12:12 13/06/2011

MOSCOW, June 13 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's special envoy to Africa, Mikhail Margelov will visit Libyan capital of Tripoli next week

Last week Margelov, who is also the chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the Russian parliament's upper house, was on his visit to Libyan opposition stronghold of Benghazi where he had held talks with the leaders of the Transitional National Council (TNC).

"As for my visit, now we are finishing the talks with Russia's Foreign Ministry about the safe trip to Tripoli. And next week, my visit, assigned by Russian President, will take place," Margelov said.

Margelov said that he would meet with Libyan Prime Minister Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi, Foreign Affairs Minister Abdelati al-Obeidi and "other members of the Cabinet."

The envoy however did not specify on his plans to meet with Libyan strongman, Muammar Gaddafi.

01:26 13/06/2011ALL NEWS

Gaddafi meets with FIDE president Ilyumzhinov in Tripoli.

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/163539.html

13/6 Tass 10

LONDON, June 13 (Itar-Tass) —— Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi met with President of the World Chess Federation FIDE Kirsan Ilyumzhinov in Tripoli, British media reported on Sunday.

The Libyan television has broadcast a video report about the meeting between Gaddafi and Ilyumzhinov. The meeting was reported to be held last Sunday.

Ilyumzhinov and Gaddafi played a game of chess on Sunday, Ilyumzhinov said. According to the FIDE president, Gaddafi told the latter that “he is not going to leave Libya.”

In 2004 Tripoli hosted the World Chess Championship under the FIDE aegis headed by Ilyumzhinov.

Kadhafi, son play chess with Russian eccentrichttp://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gGGCre_LwkeststuLjOXkeLLq8Bg?docId=CNG.cd4577a43425ef99e756265e3cb55023.da1

(AFP) – 8 hours ago

MOSCOW — President of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) Kirsan Ilyumzhinov said Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi told him over a game of chess in Tripoli he had no plans to stand down or leave his country.

As fighting between Kadhafi's forces and Libyan insurgents raged across western Libya, the Russian eccentric who once claimed he hosted extraterrestrials, also sat down for a game of chess with Kadhafi's eldest son Muhammad and the two played the Sicilian defense, Russia's Interfax news agency said.

"The meeting [with Moamer Kadhafi] lasted around two hours, we played some chess with Kadhafi," Ilyumzhinov, who is on a visit to Tripoli in his capacity as FIDE president, told Interfax.

"Kadhafi stated that he is not going to leave Libya, stressing that it is his motherland and a land where his children and grandchildren died. He also said that he does not understand which post he needs to step down from."

"I am neither premier nor president nor king. I do not hold any post in Libya and therefore I have no position which I should give up," Ilyumzhinov quoted Kadhafi as telling him.

Ilyumzhinov, who also met with foreign and education ministers, said he saw a lot of destruction in Tripoli.

He expressed his condolences to Kadhafi over the death of his son and grandchildren and said he was shown a house hit by five bombs where the leader's family members died.

Ilyumzhinov was the head of Russia's Buddhist region of Kalmykia between 1993 and 2010. He famously claimed that he had met aliens on the balcony of his apartment in Moscow, prompting demands to explain his behaviour.

The West is involved in the bombing campaign against Kadhafi's forces, a conflict Russia has offered to mediate. The Kremlin's special representative to Africa, Mikhail Margelov, visited rebels in Libya's east this week and is now preparing a trip to Tripoli.

Margelov said he would be ready to meet with Kadhafi but had not so far received any such orders from the Kremlin, which has repeatedly called on the Libyan leader to stand down for the sake of peace of the country.

LIBYA: Moammar Kadafi plays chess with visiting World Chess Federation presidenthttp://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2011/06/moammar-kadafi-libya-russia-kirsan-ilyumzhinov-chess-rebels-bomb.html

Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi, besieged by rebels and Western-led bombing runs, took time Sunday to play some chess with Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, president of the World Chess Federation, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported.

Kadafi told Ilyumzhinov that he had no intention of stepping down as leader of Libya, Interfax said.

“I am neither premier nor president nor king,” Interfax quoted Kadafi as saying during the meeting. “I do not hold any post in Libya and therefore I have no position that I should give up.”

Kadafi, referred to simply as “the Leader,” indeed has no official position in the Libyan government. However, he has wielded near-supreme power for more than 40 years in the North African nation.

The chess federation chief, who is touring African states, said he also played chess with Kadafi’s son, Muhammad, who heads the national Olympic Committee, Interfax reported. The two used the Sicilian defense, he said.

Like Kadafi, Ilyumzhinov is somewhat of an eccentric. The multi-millionaire businessman made headlines in Russia after saying he had been abducted by aliens from the balcony of his Moscow apartment.

Meantime, the Algerian Foreign Ministry issue a denial Sunday of reports that Kadafi had fled there.

— Patrick J. McDonnell in Tripoli

June 13, 2011

Armenia, Azerbaijan Say Closer To Peace Deal http://www.rferl.org/content/armenia_azerbaijan_nagorno-karabakh/24233093.html

YEREVAN -- Armenia and Azerbaijan have reported significant progress toward the resolution of the dispute over the breakaway Azerbaijani region of Nagorno-Karabakh

following a meeting of their foreign ministers in Moscow, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports.

The meeting on June 11 was hosted and mediated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in preparation for the upcoming Armenian-Azerbaijan summit that international mediators hope will result in a framework peace agreement on Karabakh.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry said Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian and his Azerbaijani counterpart, Elmar Mammadyarov, narrowed their governments' differences on "a number of key issues of the basic principles of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict."

The ministry statement said that the document on the basic principles "will be discussed at the trilateral summit to be held at the end of June [in Russia]."

The Azerbaijani Embassy in Russia issued a virtually identical statement that was cited by Azerbaijani news agencies. Neither side specified the issues that were reportedly agreed upon by Nalbandian and Mammadyarov.

The two ministers met in Moscow just days after U.S., Russian, and French diplomats co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group ended another tour of the conflict zone. The co-chairs' talks in Baku, Stepanakert, and Yerevan, in turn, followed a joint statement on the Karabakh dispute issued by the U.S., Russian, and French presidents.

The three leaders urged Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to finalize the basic principles drafted by the three mediating powers at their next meeting, due to be hosted by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Tatarstan on June 25.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stressed the importance of that statement by the three presidents as he ended an official visit to Slovenia on June 11. He told journalists that conditions are ripe for achieving a breakthrough in the Karabakh negotiations.

Azerbaijani media report that Aliyev also said the mediators' current peace proposals are "the last chance" to settle the conflict peacefully.

The New York Times: Presidents' meeting in Kazan - best opportunity to end stalemate over Nagorno Karabakhhttp://en.trend.az/news/karabakh/1890389.html

13.06.2011 11:04

Azerbaijan, Baku, June 13 / Trend, E.Tariverdiyeva /

A presidential-level meeting scheduled for June 25 is the best opportunity in years to end the stalemate over the territory of Nagorno Karabakh, analysts believe, The New York Times reported. The momentum has been driven in large part by President Dmitri A. Medvedev, who has invested his time and prestige in resolving the dispute, the article says."Russia’s goal for the late-June meeting in Kazan, Russia, is to persuade the sides to agree to the set of "basic principles" negotiated more than five years ago, said Aleksandr K. Lukashevich, a spokesman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry. He said international mediators - Russia, France and the United States - had clearly expressed the urgency of a deal," the article says.The foreign ministers made no statements after the meeting on Saturday, but on Friday, a top aide to Azerbaijan’s president said there were "great expectations" for the talks in Kazan. Statements from Armenia have been more circumspect, though the country’s foreign minister said on Thursday that "it will be possible to achieve the expected progress if Azerbaijan also gives its consent," The New York Times reported.The framework agreement outlined in the basic principles would allow the return of thousands of Azeris displaced during a six-year war over the territory, which ended with a cease-fire in 1994, and Armenia’s president must persuade his people that ethnic Armenians living there will not be in danger, said Thomas de Waal, a Caucasus specialist at the Carnegie Endowment in Washington.The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994.The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.

Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at trend@trend.az

Armenian, Russian, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers meet in Moscowhttp://www.aysor.am/en/news/2011/06/13/meeting-mfa/

The Foreign Ministers of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan, Edward Nalbandian, Sergey Lavrov and Elmar Mammadyarov had a working meeting in Moscow on June 11.

During the discussion, the sides managed to bring their positions closer on a range of key issues of the basic principles on the Nagorno Karabakh settlement. The tripartite summit due later this month is expected to focus on the mentioned draft document.

TODAY, 10:26

Aysor.am

Azerbaijani, Armenian ministers meethttp://news.az/articles/politics/38269

Mon 13 June 2011 04:45 GMT | 6:45 Local Time

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has hosted a meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers in Moscow.

During the meeting on Saturday, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov managed to bring their positions closer on a number of key issues over the basic principles on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, AzerTAj reported, citing Azerbaijan's embassy in Russia.

The draft document containing the basic principles will be discussed at the next trilateral summit in late June, the embassy said.

The Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents are to hold a summit mediated by the Russian president in Kazan on 25 June.

In recent weeks, the presidents of the countries seeking to mediate a settlement to the conflict (Russia, the USA and France) and the mediators themselves have urged the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents to reach agreement on the basic principles that will form a basis of the conflict settlement.

The basic principles include Armenia's return of the territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani control, the return of internally displaced people to their homes, an interim status for Karabakh providing guarantees of security and self-governance and the future determination of the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh through a legally binding expression of will.

12:03 13/06/2011ALL NEWS

More problems than before to top agenda of SCO summit in Astana.

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/163646.html

13/6 Tass 45

ASTANA, June 13 (Itar-Tass) — Leaders of the member-states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will meet in Astana on June 15 to discuss a wider range of issues than ever before, SCO director-general Muratbek Imanaliyev said on Monday.

“Presidents will discuss problems related to trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation among the countries,” he said after the meeting between Kazakh Foreign Minister Yerzhan Kazykhanov and national coordinators of the SCO member-states.

“I am deeply confident that our leaders will put forward interesting and useful ideas and recommendations. They will also focus on security issues, and the context and scope of discussions in this sector will be rather extensive. I would say that there will a wider range of problems on the agenda than ever before,” he said.

Imanaliyev named the fundamental documents that should be signed at the summit.

“First, this is the most important political document – the Astana declaration of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization that was developed first of all through efforts of the council of national coordinators and a large group of experts representing different agencies and departments of the SCO member-states,” he said.

Another important document to be signed at the summit is the SCO anti-drug strategy. “I will make a reference to the UN report that assesses the world drug situation and it is absolutely clear for SCO member-states that now we should expand and intensify our work on this track,” he said.

Moreover, a memorandum of the obligations of membership applicants is expected to be signed.

“This document will continue our juridical and political efforts that were launched in Tashkent after a decree on membership applicants was signed. The process of expanding our organization is not easy and everything is not as simple as it may seem. But we are taking maximum efforts first of all to strengthen an international legal and political groundwork for accepting new members to our organization,” the SCO director-general said.

Health ministers of the SCO member-states will also sign an agreement that “will give a fresh impetus to cooperation.” “The talk is not only about health ministries, but also concrete medical institutions and prevention organizations of SCO member-states,” he said.

Imanaliyev expressed confidence that “the summit in Astana will be a success.” He especially noted that “Kazakhstan’s SCO presidency receives broad media coverage.”

President Zardari to seek SCO membership for Pakistan

http://app.com.pk/en_/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=142040&Itemid=2

ISLAMABAD, Jun 13 (APP): President Asif Ali Zardari will arrive in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan on Tuesday to attend the 10th summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on June 15.President Zardari will address the summit as SCO leaders will take up issues related to regional and global peace and security and cooperation in economic development. The leaders will devise a joint strategy in tackling challenges of terrorism, extremism, organized crime and narcotics.Pakistan has status of an observer in SCO and President Zardari will be seeking his country’s full membership of the regional organization.  According to Foreign Office Spokesperson Tehmina Janjua, the SCO summit will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the founding of the organization.In a statement, the Foreign Office Spokesperson said, “President Asif Ali Zardari’s participation signals the importance Pakistan attaches to the SCO and our keen interest in working the regional development agenda which includes building commerce and trade facilities, banking cooperation, energy transaction and corporate sector interactions.”SCO founded in 2001 in Shanghai comprises member states of China, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.  India, Pakistan, Iran and Mongolia have observer status, while Belarus and Sri lanka are ranked as dialogue partners. Mongolia received observer status in 2001 while Pakistan, India and Iran became observers in 2002 and Belarus and Sri Lanka were granted dialogue partner status in 2009.President Zardari is expected to hold bilateral meetings with leaders of the SCO on the sidelines of the summit.Pakistan, Iran and India have applied for the full membership of the regional grouping and that has been discussed within the organization.In a media interaction early this month, SCO Secretary-General Muratbek Sansyzbayevich Imanaliev said the SCO leadership will begin talks with Pakistan, India and Iran for their full membership after a memorandum is expected to be passed at the summit on June 15.He said, “the summit will pass a memorandum on the obligations of membership applicants, after which we can start negotiations with the nations applying to join the SCO.”  The SCO is an open organization as defined in its charter, he said, noting that it is willing to cooperate with “organizations and nations that hold the same opinions as us.” Afghanistan’s application for observer status is being studied and will also be discussed at the upcoming summit. The SCO has become an important factor in the region and is pursuing various institutional mechanisms to ensure regional security and stability.According to SCO Secretary General, the SCO summit will approve an anti-drugs strategy for 2011 to 2016 to tackle this major threat to peace and prosperity in the region. The SCO has been successful in its management of security issues especially in non-traditional areas, such as drug trafficking. The Astana summit will witness the signing of a cooperative agreement on healthcare and

explore areas for increased economic cooperation.The theme of this month’s summit in Astana is building consensus and consolidating solidarity, and the leaders of the SCO member states will map out a blueprint for the organization for the next decade.An expert on SCO affairs is of the view that keeping in mind the fast evolving international situation, the member states have realized that only by staying true to the “Shanghai Spirit” and promoting the development of the SCO can they cope with the new challenges and continue to increase shared prosperity.The “Shanghai Spirit” advocates mutual trust, mutual benefits, equality, respect for cultural diversity and common development.The SCO is an intergovernmental international organization and its member states cover an area of over 30 million square kilometres with population of about 1.5 billion.

‘Zardari’s visit to Russia would open new avenues of cooperation’http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=97307

Salahuddin Haider

KARACHI— The Senate chairman, Faooq H Naik and the Russian Consul General in Karachi Andrey V.Demidov feel confident that the recent visit to Moscow by President Zardari would open new avenues of cooperation for the benefit of the people of two countries.

It was timely and remarkable visit by the President, after many, many years since the last Pakistani head of state or government been to that country.The President had fruitful talks and signed a number of agreements and MoUs which could bring immense benefits to Pakistan and bring the two countries together, said the Senate chief.

The Russian diplomat was equally optimistic and happy at the Pakistani President visit to his country. He said Russia would be ready to help Pakistan meet its economic requirements.This was a timely visit and may prove historic, he said.

The occasion, national day of the Russian Federation, was attended by a huge gathering. including top diplomats, the newly arriving deputy high commissioner of UK Francis Campbell, USA consul general William J Martin, the consulate generals of many other countries, VIPs, elite businessmen, and leading journalists.

The evening turned out to be a memorable one, despite the humid summer,and showed that the past annoyance of the Pakistanis when former USSR aided India in Bangla Desh war against Pakistan, has now been erased from memory.Pakistan and Russia are now ready and keen to write a new chapter in their relationship. Russia wants to help expand Pakistan Steel, the parent industry which it completed in the 70s and which now needs overhaul and lot of expansion to meet the country’s needs of steel and its various products.

3 Kharotabad victims buried in Quetta amid touching sceneshttp://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=97367

Parents say they can’t afford to take back bodies homeQuetta—Touching scenes were witnessed when bodies of Kharotabad victims, a Tajik national, his Russian wife and newly born daughters, were taken to Western Bypass of Quetta city for funeral prayers and burial at Jabul-e-Noor graveyard on Sunday.

The grieved father and mother of Tajik national Nauman kept weeping throughout the burial process of the three bodies and the father brought mud of his country along to put it in the grave as a sign that his son was sleeping in the mud of his country. People present consoled the grieved couple and condoled with them over the killing of their loved ones.

The burial arrangements were made by Al-Khidmat Foundation while the Nimaz-e-Janaza was led by former Provincial Amir of Jamaat-e-Islami Maulana Abdul Haq Hashmi which was participated by thousands of citizens as a show of solidarity. Participants of the Nimaz-e-Janaza showered flower petals at the dead bodies and offered Fateha. The Kharotabad incident took place on 17th May when five Tajiks and Chechens were brutally murdered by FC firing as they approached it for security. Mother of the Tajik national was crying as the bodies wee being laid into the graves and lady workers of Jamaat-e-Islami were consoling her. Earlier when the bodies were taken from Bolan Medical Complex to Jabul-e-Noor graveyard, thousands of people showered flower petals at them. People were deeply moved when they saw the condition of the parents of the killed.

The Tajik parents of the deceased said that they were very poor and unable to take back the dead bodies to their country. They said they reached Quetta with the help of their embassy. To a question, they said they have brought the mud of their country to put it in the grave and feel some satisfaction that their dear ones were lying in the mud of their land. Prime Minister’s Advisor for Human Rights Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar met the parents of Nauman and Tajik Charge d’Affaires and assured that those behind the murder would be brought to justice. On the other hand, National Assembly Committee formed to investigate the matter met in the Chief Minister House. The committee was briefed by Inspector General, FC and Inspector General Police Balochistan about the incident. The committee while expressing its sorrow over the incident, expressed its determination to bring the culprits to justice. Witnesses said the bodies had decomposed because there were no arrangements in the Bolan Medical Complex to keep them in cold storage. — INP

11:01 13/06/2011ALL NEWS

Russia restores electric power exports to Belarus in full.

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/163618.html

13/6 Tass 46

MINSK, June 13 (Itar-Tass) — Russia’s electric power company Inter RAO UES has restored electric power supplies to Belarus in full, an official at the Belarusian Energy Ministry told Itar-Tass on Monday.

On June 9, Russia cut its electric power exports to Belarus almost by half – from 400-500 MW to 200 MW over Belarus’ 1.5 billion rouble debt.

On June 10, the Belarusian delegation led by Belenergo director-general Alexei Shirma arrived in Moscow to discuss with Inter RAO UES a schedule for paying debts for Russia’s electric power supplies.

According to the Belarusian Energy Ministry, the parties managed to coordinate and sign the debt payment schedule, under which Belarus should pay its debt until July 5.

They also agreed that Inter RAO UES will restore electric power exports to Belarus at 00:00 on June 13.

Talks on Russia buying remaining 50pct stake in Beltransgaz should end in June – Diplomathttp://www.steelguru.com/russian_news/Talks_on_Russia_buying_remaining_50pct_stake_in_Beltransgaz_should_end_in_June_-_Diplomat/209450.html

Monday, 13 Jun 2011Interfax reported that Russian Ambassador to Belarus Mr Alexander Surikov is confident that negotiations between Moscow and Minsk on selling the remaining 50% stake in the Belarusian gas transportation monopoly Beltransgaz to Russia will be completed at the end of June.

Mr Surikov said "I think they will end in June.”

He said that Russia does not tie the talks on buying Beltransgaz to the transition to equally profitable prices starting from 2015.

He added that "The first issue is the purchase of Beltransgaz and the second issue, not related to this and is gradual transition to equally profitable prices."

He also said Russia does not question Beltransgaz valuation

(Sourced from Interfax)

12.06.2011 12:10

Rosatom to start building nuclear station in Belarus this fall.  

http://www.tvr.by/eng/economics.asp?id=49586

It was stated today by Head of the State Nuclear Energy Corporation Sergey Kirienko at the International Nuclear Forum in Moscow.

By Pavel Tukhto: The previous summit G8 in Deauville, the today's nuclear forum in Moscow, the forthcoming IAEA session in Vienna. After 'Fukushima' the main topic is common world standards for maintenance and building safety of nuclear stations. In actual fact, atomic engineering development pattern is being created now for next decades. (Bernard Bigo, Chair of the Commissariat for Atomic Energy of France) (Stephen Chu, Minister of Energy of the USA) Steady and safe atomic engineering development is possible only with international cooperation and switch to new technologies. In Moscow Head of Rosatom Sergey Kirienko has stated that the project of the Belarusian atomic power station meets all the 'post-Fukushima' requirements. Works on foundation pit construction will begin this fall. The Russian concern promises to build the first block by 2017, the second one - by 2018. According to Kirienko, the price formula has been already determined and the credit contract will be signed in the near future. (Sergey Kirienko, General Director of the Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation (Russia) And according to experts, if the common world standards of atomic power station safety are accepted, it will remove many transboundary claims and speculation. (Alexander Glukhov, Head of 'Atomstroyexport' (Russia)

Conflicting attitudes on Russia Independence Dayhttp://www.euronews.net/2011/06/12/conflicting-attitudes-on-russia-independence-day/

12/06 17:44 CET

June 12 is Russia Day – a national holiday celebrating the anniversary of the Russian Federation becoming a sovereign state in 1990. The national holiday itself was declared two years later by then President, Boris Yeltsin, and is also known as the country’s Independence Day. As it has fallen on a Sunday this year, Monday will also be a public holiday.

To mark the event, President Dmitry Medvedev gave national awards to prominent Russian writers, scientists and humanitarian workers. These awards are part of the annual celebrations.

However, the holiday is not popular with everyone. Many Russians see it as commemorating a negative historical event – the day the Soviet Union was dissolved, which lead to unemployment and poverty. Some refuse to mark the occasion. Left-wing protesters in Moscow called for the return of what they see as the real Russia – the former Soviet one.

Copyright © 2011 euronews

Associated Press

Moscow police break up protest on national holidayhttp://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/06/12/general-eu-russia-holiday_8512557.html

By LYNN BERRY , 06.12.11, 12:41 PM EDT

MOSCOW -- Russian police detained nearly 30 opposition activists Sunday to prevent them from demonstrating in central Moscow on a national holiday celebrating the country's emergence as an independent state as the Soviet Union crumbled.

This year the holiday, now called Russia Day, came exactly 20 years after Boris Yeltsin was first elected president of Russia when it was still part of the Soviet Union.

Tens of thousands of people, most of them members of pro-Kremlin youth groups bused in from provincial towns, were expected on Red Square for a pop concert and fireworks display in the evening. Crowds gathered throughout the day.

Police, who were out in force to prevent any unrest, moved quickly to break up a demonstration by a variety of opposition groups. An Associated Press reporter saw protesters put into buses and driven away. Police said 28 were detained and later released.

Opposition leader Sergei Udaltsov, one of the first to be detained, said his activists from the Left Front "believe that in 20 years Russia hasn't become a free democratic country."

The June 12 holiday traces its history to events that were intended to put Russia on the path to becoming a democracy. On that date in 1990, the legislature of the Russian Soviet republic declared the sovereignty of Russia, which intensified the struggle for power between Yeltsin and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

One year later, Yeltsin was elected to the newly create post of president of Russia. Many consider that election more democratic than any held before or since.

The June 12 holiday, originally called Independence Day after the fall of the Soviet Union in late 1991, was given its current name in 2002 when Vladimir Putin was president. Polls show that few Russians today know the origins of their national day.

Putin's chosen successor, President Dmitry Medvedev, spoke about the significance of the holiday as he handed out state awards during a Kremlin ceremony.

"Let me remind you that then, already 21 years ago, many things happened in our country for the first time," Medvedev said. "Russia for the first time in full voice declared that it would adhere to the principles of democracy."

Under Putin and Medvedev, who were photographed clinking champagne glasses after the Kremlin ceremony, many of the democratic achievements of the 1990s have been rolled back.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

10:47 13/06/2011ALL NEWS

Medvedev announces several appointments in Interior Ministry.

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/163615.html

13/6 Tass 42

MOSCOW, June 13 (Itar-Tass) — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree to make several appointments in the Inter Ministry’s departments in Chechnya,

Ingushetia, the Far East Federal District and the Kirov region, the Kremlin press service said on Monday.

Medvedev appoints new Interior Minister of Ingushetiahttp://en.rian.ru/russia/20110613/164590579.html10:39 13/06/2011

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has appointed Police major general, Alexander Trofimov a new interior minister in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia, Kremlin press service said on Monday.

Viktor Pogolov, who previously headed Ingush Interior Ministry, was appointed a police chief in the central Russia's Kirov region.

The newly-appointed Ingush police chief had been the first deputy interior minister in another Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan since 2009.

In response to growing criticism, Medvedev ordered a large-scale reform of the police department in December 2009, including cuts in officer numbers and the increase of salaries.

MOSCOW, June 13 (RIA Novosti)

Medvedev Fires Interior Ministry Chiefs in Russia Police Purgehttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-11/medvedev-fires-interior-ministry-chiefs-in-russia-police-purge.html

By Lyubov Pronina - Jun 11, 2011 1:23 PM GMT+0200

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev fired Alexei Anichin, a deputy interior minister allegedly linked to the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.

Medvedev also fired Yevgeny Shkolov, another deputy interior minister, and replaced Vladislav Piotrovsky head of St. Petersburg police, the Kremlin said on its website today.

The Russian leader has dismissed dozens of generals from the ministry this year as part of his campaign against corruption. New legislation governing police, including a more stringent code of conduct, came into force March 1.

Magnitsky, a 37-year-old lawyer advising Hermitage Capital Management Ltd., died after almost a year in pre-trial detention. During that period he said he was abused and denied medical treatment to force him to drop fraud allegations against Russian officials.

The European Parliament on Dec. 16 urged the European Union to consider a visa ban on 60 Russian officials including Anichin, allegedly linked to Magnitsky’s death in a Moscow prison in November 2009. Anchin was also the head of the Interior Ministry’s investigative committee.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lyubov Pronina in Moscow at lpronina@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Brad Cook at bcook7@bloomberg.net

Personnel changes within the Interior Ministryhttp://eng.kremlin.ru/news/2376

June 11, 2011, 10:00

The President signed an executive order relieving Lieutenant General of Militia Vladislav Piotrovsky from his position as head of the Main Interior Ministry Department for St Petersburg and Leningrad Region.

Dmitry Medvedev signed an executive order relieving Colonel General of Militia Mikhail Sukhodolsky from his position as first deputy Interior Minister of the Russian Federation.

By another executive order the President conferred on Mikhail Sukhodolsky the rank of Police Colonel General and appointed him head of the Main Interior Ministry Department for St Petersburg and Leningrad Region.

Dmitry Medvedev signed an executive order relieving Evgeny Shkolov from his position as deputy Interior Minister of the Russian Federation.

Lieutenant General of Justice Alexei Anichin was relived of his position as deputy Interior Minister of the Russian Federation and head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation Interior Ministry by executive order.

The President appointed Sergei Gerasimov deputy Interior Minister of the Russian Federation, relieving him from his previous position.

By executive order, the President conferred the special rank of Police Colonel General on Colonel General of Militia Viktor Kiryanov and appointed him deputy Interior Minister of the Russian Federation, relieving him from his previous position.

By executive order Dmitry Medvedev conferred the special rank of Police Colonel General on Colonel General of Militia Alexander Smirnov and appointed him deputy Interior Minister of the Russian Federation, relieving him from his previous position.

By executive order, the President conferred the special rank of Police Major General on Major General of Militia Sergei Bulavin and appointed him Secretary of State and deputy Interior Minister, relieving him from his previous position.

Dmitri Medvedev appointed Police Lieutenant General Igor Aleshin deputy Interior Minister of the Russian Federation, relieving him from his previous position.

The President appointed Police Lieutenant General Valery Kozhokar deputy Interior Minister of the Russian Federation and head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation Interior Ministry, relieving him from his previous position.

By executive order Dmitry Medvedev appointed Police Lieutenant General Alexander Gorovoi first deputy Interior Minister of the Russian Federation, relieving him from his previous position.

Russian Railways CEO Yakunin Term Extended, Interfax Sayshttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-11/russian-railways-ceo-yakunin-term-extended-interfax-says.html

By Lyubov Pronina - Jun 11, 2011 4:58 PM GMT+0200

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin yesterday extended the term of Vladimir Yakunin as chief executive officer of OAO Russian Railways, the country’s rail monopoly, for another four years, Interfax reported today.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lyubov Pronina in Moscow at lpronina@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Brad Cook at bcook7@bloomberg.net.

Russia's Mission Control raises ISS orbit by 19.2 kmhttp://en.rian.ru/world/20110613/164588797.html

Russia's Mission Control has adjusted the orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) by raising it 19.2 kilometers (11.9 miles) to 364.6 km (226.5 miles), a spokesman for the Mission Control said.

Europe's ATV-2 Johannes Kepler, which docked with the ISS on February 24, fired its engines twice on Sunday night for a total of one hour and 16 minutes to move the station to the desired working orbit.

"The adjustment was carried out with the help of thrusters of Europe's ATV-2 Johannes Kepler space freighter," the spokesman said.

The ATV-2 is scheduled to undock from the orbital station on June 21 and burn up as it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere, disposing of unneeded items from the space station.

The current ISS crew comprises Russian cosmonauts Sergei Volkov, Andrey Borisenko and Alexander Samokutyaev, NASA's astronauts Mike Fossum and Ronald Garan, and Japan's astronaut Satoshi Furukawa.

MOSCOW, June 13 (RIA Novosti)

22:00 12/06/2011ALL NEWS

First Sea Launch rocket after long pause to blast off in late August – early Sept.

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/163499.html

12/6 Tass 114a

BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan, June 12 (Itar-Tass) —— The first Sea Launch rocket after a long pause will blast off in late August – early September, Energia Aerospace Corporation President Vitaly Lopota said.

“The launch window is between the last days of August and the first days of September,” he said.

It was planned to make two launches from a floating platform in the Pacific Ocean this year, but one of them was moved to Baikonur, Lopota said. “We will launch one rocket from Baikonur, because the rocket for an Intelsat satellite is not ready. We will allot the rocket meant for the December liftoff of Sea Launch to help our Intelsat partners. The satellite will be carried to space in late September,” he said.

The U.S. Boeing, the Russian Energia, the Norwegian Kvaerner and the Ukrainian Yuzhnoye Design Bureau and Yuzhmash Plant formed Sea Launch in 1995. This is the world’ s first project of commercial launches of space rockets from the sea.

The company was reorganized last year, and Russia’s Energia Overseas Ltd, a subsidiary of the Energia Corporation, acquired 95% in Sea Launch. Boeing has 3%, and the Norwegian shipbuilder Aker Solutions has 2%.

07:04 13/06/2011ALL NEWS

Monument to Pushkin unveiled at New Library of Alexandria(corr).

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/163569.html

(Corrected the name of museum in the third paragraph)

13/6 Tass 1a

ALEXANDRIA, June 13 (Itar-Tass) —— The monument to Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799-1837) was unveiled at the New Library of Alexandria (the New Bibliotheca Alexandrina) Sunday on the occasion of the 212 birthday anniversary of the great Russian poet celebrated on June 6. The unveiling ceremony of the monument launched the Days of Russian Culture, which will last in Alexandria until June 16.

“The monument was presented by the author (Russian sculptor Grigory Pototsky – Itar-Tass) four years ago and was standing on the territory of the Egyptian Embassy in Moscow all this time,” the director of the Center for Humanitarian Cooperation Tatiana Bogdanova, who is the chief organizer of this cultural event, told Itar-Tass. “From now on the monument will be standing in Alexandria in the gallery of great personalities – writers, poets, artists and etc. This is exactly its proper place here, moreover, it is Alexandria, he is Alexander,” she underlined.

Apart from the monument, which Pototsky gifted to the Egyptian people, the writers from Russia and Egypt will have round table meetings for five days of the forum. The Days of Russian Culture will also feature various exhibitions, including that of an art photographer Lyudmila Zinchenko, a film festival, including the movie Red Fountains produced by the Moscow-based International Cultural Innovations Fund (a Short Film nominee at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011), several lectures, which Chief Curator of the State Museum of A.S. Pushkin Yelena Usova will deliver. Various concerts, book exhibitions, poetic contests, at which Egyptian students specializing in Russian literature and language will recite some pieces of Pushkin, are also on the agenda of the Days of Russian Culture.

This is a special moment that shows how strong Russian-Egyptian relations are and that reflects the future of these relations, Ambassador Hagar Islambouly, which is the head of the External Relations Sector of the New Library of Alexandria, told Itar-Tass. The peoples of Russia and Egypt are very close, particularly in terms of culture, she said. Since the most important thing is that the relations in the world are built up not only between the governments, but also between the nations, she noted.

The monument is cast of bronze and weighs 240 kilograms. The author sculpted it and brought to Egypt at his own expense. “The whole world is an exhibition floor for me. I erected 65 monuments in 35 countries. Through Pushkin, Solzhenitsyn, Tolstoy, Rachmaninov and other great Russian personalities, which I immortalized in sculpture, I am seeking to bring Russian culture to other countries,” Pototsky pointed out.

The then Egyptian ambassador in Moscow Rauf Saad offered the sculptor an idea of a monument to Pushkin in Egypt. “It took years to put this idea in practice, but finally I have brought the monument here myself,” the sculptor remarked.

In December 2011 during the Days of Egyptian Culture in Moscow a monument to a Nobel Prize winning Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz will be unveiled in the Russian capital on the occasion of his birthday centenary.

07:43 13/06/2011Top News

Forest fires spread on 37,500 hectares in Siberia

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c32/163574.html

KRASNOYARSK, June 13 (Itar-Tass) —— The number of forest fires has reduced by 23 fires in Siberia over the past day. However, the forest fire area went up 2,444 hectares. Some 206 fires are raging on 37,512.7 hectares. Some 54 of 206 fires were localized on 9,534.4 hectares.

The most complicated forest fire situation persists in the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Irkutsk Region, where an emergency had been declared since June 10, a source in the Siberian regional emergencies center told Itar-Tass on Monday. Some 24 major fires are raging there on 28,186 hectares. Some 18 major fires spread on the forests in four districts in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Six major fires are burning down the forests in four districts in the Irkutsk Region. No fire threat for the settlements exists.

“The firefighting task force has been reinforced up to 2,629 people and 320 units of machinery in the Irkutsk Region and 3,887 people and 316 units of machinery in the Krasnoyarsk Territory over the past day. The aggregate firefighting task force in these two federal constituents makes 6,516 people and 636 units of machinery,” the source said.

Meanwhile, four unmanned aircraft are planned to use for a reconnaissance mission of the fire situation in the Kezhem district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory on Monday.

07:12 13/06/2011ALL NEWS

Only 3 forest fires still burning in Russia’s Far East.

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/163570.html

13/6 Tass 27

KHABAROVSK, June 13 (Itar-Tass) —— Only three forest fires are still burning on a total of 83.5 hectares in Russia’s Far East, a source in the forestry department in the Far Eastern Federal District told Itar-Tass on Monday.

By Monday morning a taiga fire was reported on 70 hectares and was localized in Yakutia. Two minor fires on 13.5 hectares, one of which broke out on Sunday, are burning in Chukotka.

21:17 12/06/2011ALL NEWS

Israel assisting to draft tourist security concept for North Caucasus.

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/163492.html

12/6 Tass 140a

MOSCOW, June 12 (Itar-Tass) —— Israeli specialists are assisting the drafting of a multi-level systemic concept of the security of North Caucasian resort clusters, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the North Caucasian Resorts State Corporation Akhmed Bilalov told Itar-Tass on Friday.

“We will analyze the experience of the Israeli state in the provision of security and will adopt the best techniques,” he said.

“Israel, which actually lives in a state of war and has a population of seven million, receives about 3.5 million tourists each year. Certainly, we will borrow the experience of their security agents and technical experience,” he said. “Our specialists saw that aircraft in Israel are filming everything, up to the balls children are playing with.”

“The level of their security system is so high that they provide maximal protection under the most difficult conditions,” Bilalov noted.

Russia and Israel are forming joint working groups to assist the provision of security of tourists in the North Caucasus. “We will develop a complex security system, from airports to ropeways,” he said.

Russia is also studying the Israeli experience of resort development, he said. “We plan to create a certain number of jobs in the North Caucasus [in particular, in building hotels], which will improve the local situation,” he said.

“The crime rate [in the North Caucasus] is smaller than that in other places [such as Moscow or St. Petersburg], but crimes committed here are violent and high profile,” he remarked. “Crime and terrorism in the Caucasus are problems that must be resolved for implementing the [tourist cluster] project,” he said.

“We must make residents of the Caucasus realize that they are responsible for a positive image of the region and guaranteed security of tourists meets their interests,” he said.

“In this case, people will prevent negative incidents. They will understand that otherwise all of them – taxi drivers, shop assistants, tour guides and cafe owners – will lose jobs. The security of tourists is a token of the prosperity of their families,” Bilalov said.

The construction of five alpine skiing resorts in the North Caucasus – Matlas in Dagestan, Mamison in North Ossetia, Arkhyz in Karachayevo-Cherkessia, Lagonaki in the Krasnodar territory and Adygeya and Elbrus in Kabardino-Balkaria – is a priority project of the federal authorities. The North Caucasian Resorts State Corporation was formed for implementing the project, and Vice-President of the Russian Olympic Committee Akhmed Bilalov was put in charge. The investments may exceed 450 billion rubles within ten years. France and Austria joined the project in May-June 2011.

Russian Counterterrorism Official Killed In North Caucasus http://www.rferl.org/content/top_russian_counterterrorism_official_killed_north_caucasus/24232382.html

June 12, 2011 Officials say a regional Russian counterterrorism official has been killed and one officer wounded during a shootout in the North Caucasus.

Officials say Khasan Bogatyryov, deputy head of the regional interior ministry's antiextremism department, was killed in the town of Baksan in the fractious Kabardino-Balkaria area.

Islamic militants frequently clash with Russian forces over control over the area.

The incident is under investigation.

compiled from local and international agency reports

Tax official gunned down in Dagestanhttp://english.ruvr.ru/2011/06/13/51639141.html

Jun 13, 2011 00:10 Moscow Time

The head of a local federal tax service in Khasavyurt in Dagestan was shot dead outside his house on Sunday. According to a senior Investigative Agency official, unknown assailants opened fire on the car, which carried Yakub Nutsalov and his bodyguard.

Nutsalov later died of his wounds and the bodyguard is in hospital.  Police and troops are looking for the attackers.

RT News line, June 13

Tax inspection chief killed in Dagestan http://rt.com/news/line/2011-06-13/#id12097

00:52

Yakub Nutsalov, the head of tax inspection in Khasavyurt in the southern Russian republic of Dagestan, was killed late on Sunday. Attackers allegedly fire rounds into Nutsalov’s car, killing him immediately. Nutsalov’s guard was hospitalized with injuries. The criminals allegedly escaped in a Lada Priora car. Police are currently investigating the crime.

00:29 13/06/2011ALL NEWS

Dagestan’s Khasavyurt chief tax officer killed.

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/163533.html

13/6 Tass 142a

MAKHACHKALA, June 13 (Itar-Tass) —— The chief officer of the Khasavyurt tax service Yakub Nutsalov was killed in the city on Sunday.

“The murder was committed at about 9.40 p.m. Moscow time on Sunday at a house, where Nutsalov lived,” a spokesman for the Dagestani branch of the Investigation Committee told Itar-Tass. “According to preliminary reports, unidentified killers fired at a car, in which a senior tax officer and his bodyguard were driving,” the spokesman said.

Nutsalov died of wounds instantaneously, his bodyguard was hospitalized with wounds.

A team of detectives is working at the murder scene. The search for the killers is underway.

The Irish Times - Monday, June 13, 2011

Reprisals feared following murder of Russian extremisthttp://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2011/0613/1224298811129.html

DANIEL McLAUGHLIN

THE AUTHORITIES in Russia are on alert for a violent far-right reaction to the murder of Yuri Budanov, a notorious former colonel who became an icon for extreme nationalists.

Mr Budanov was shot four times in the head in central Moscow on Friday, in an attack that far-right groups immediately blamed on Chechens.

The police claimed the killing could be a “provocation” intended to ignite smouldering ethnic tension in Russia.

Mr Budanov was convicted in 2003 of having brutally murdered teenager Elza Kungayeva during a tour of duty in war-torn Chechnya, after being cleared of the killing in a previous trial.

He was granted early release from jail in 2009 due to good behaviour, to the fury of Ms Kungayeva’s family and many others, who saw him as the embodiment of the brutal methods used by the Kremlin to crush Chechnya’s rebels.

He was hailed as a hero, however, by some soldiers and officials and by ultra-nationalist groups that have grown in number and prominence in recent years, and which often target people from the mostly-Muslim Caucasus republics.

Extra patrols and riot police were deployed around Moscow after Mr Budanov was gunned down.

Investigators sought to prevent potential reprisals against people from the Caucasus by saying that eyewitnesses had described the getaway driver as being of typically Slavic appearance.

Heightened security measures were put in place around Manezh Square next to the Kremlin where, six months ago, thousands of nationalists rioted in a furious response to the alleged murder of a football fan by a youth from the Caucasus.

A number of well-known leaders of nationalist and football fan groups gathered again on the square following Mr Budanov’s murder.

The police prevented large crowds from forming, and the security services were on guard for potential trouble during yesterday’s annual Russia Day events.

Football fans and soldiers were among those who placed flowers and other tributes at the place where Mr Budanov was killed.

Many of these people are expected to attend his funeral this week.

Last month, an ultra-nationalist was convicted of the murder in 2009 of lawyer Stanislav Markelov, who was campaigning against Mr Budanov’s early release from jail.

June 10, 2011

Catherine Ashton: EU-Russia "absolutely agree" Syria should stop violence and move forward on reformhttp://www.interfax.com/interview.asp?id=251061

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton has given an interview to Interfax on the sidelines of the Russia-EU summit in Nizhny Novgorod in which she speaks about the resumption of talks on the Iranian nuclear program, a draft UN Security Council resolution on Syria and Palestinian-Israeli settlement.

Question: What are the prospects for resuming negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program? Does the EU share Russia‘s approach that the international community should develop step-by-step action plan for Tehran and move towards relieving the tensions or do you support tougher sanctions on Iran?Answer: First of all its really nice to be here. It‘s the my first visit, and I had a wonderful experience of going on the river Volga last night on a boat. I‘d like to thank every one here for welcoming so nicely and how much we appreciate that.Iran is a very important issue on which we work closely with Russia. And I want to pay tribute to the approach that Russia has taken in collaborating in what we call the E3+3. That is just the way of describing: France, Britain, Germany, Russia, China and the U.S., six countries working together. We are taking a common approach in our negotiations which is to put forward proposals to Iran that would build confidence in what they say is

the desire to have a civil nuclear program and would enable [] inspections to take place and enable us to move forward. And we are all united in that. And that approach is on the table. I hope that Iran will decide to come back to the table and pick up the different elements, the different parts of that or put their own on the table, so that we can go forward together. And indeed being here with Foreign Minister Lavrov and President Medvedev we‘ve talked about how important it is that we stand together on that.Q.: Do you think the situation in Syria could follow the Libyan scenario. Do you support the idea that the UN Security Council should pass a tougher resolution in Syria, which Russia opposes?A.: Well, what we‘re clear about is that the situation in Syria is very serious. A lot of people have been killed. It‘s important when we are in a position that innocent are dying that the UN Security Council looks at this very seriously. There is a resolution put forward by EU members, I support them doing that. That‘s a very different resolution to the resolution non Libya, and I do hope that Russia would approach it in that spirit. I have no doubt of the commitment from President Medvedev and from Foreign Minister Lavrov from today to try and engage with Syria to stop violence and move forward on reform. On that we absolutely agreed.Q.: Will the EU support the proclamation of Palestine‘s independence at the UN General Assembly session in September? Are you aware when the next ministerial meeting of the Quartet on the Middle East settlement could take place?

A.: I‘ve just written to ask that we have a Quartet meeting. You are completely right to raise the Quartet as very important, and potentially offering the way forward to get talks moving, because in the end it‘s the negotiated settlement between the Palestinians and the Israelis is going to lead to lasting peace that we all want to see. It will be for members of the UN, individual countries to make their decisions in September. But what I‘m engaged in is trying to find the way that we get the talks moving, because that‘s actually going to be the solution in the end.

Eurasian geopolitics face Astana earthquake http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/06/201161171726322565.html

Asian regional power seeks to counter US-NATO military strategy and gain control of energy flows into Europe and beyond.

Pepe Escobar Last Modified: 12 Jun 2011 09:59

The stakes couldn't be higher. Washington is at a loss, facing regional integration led by Russia and China.  

On Wednesday, June 15, by all means, don't take your eyes off Astana, Kazakhstan's capital. The day may turn out to be the ultimate turning point as geopolitical tectonic plates clash in the New Great Game in Eurasia.

Astana will on Wednesday host the annual meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) - composed of China, Russia, and four Central Asian "stans", Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

What's more, the SCO is about to admit India and Pakistan as full members - and Afghanistan as an observer.

Instant translation: a geopolitical checkmate by Russia/China on the post-American world. The message, in a nutshell: Dear Washington, forget about getting embedded in Asia. The reaction: Washington elites freaking out, big time.

Washington's recent flurry of chessboard moves were interpreted in selected circles in Moscow and Beijing as concerted pre-emption. Such moves included:

The UN-sanctioned/Africom/NATO "humanitarian" intervention in Libya The threat of a "humanitarian" intervention in Syria The revival of the Bush administration's obsession in deploying a US missile

defence system in Eastern Europe The no-holds barred expansion of NATO from Northern Africa to Central Asia

(spanning that famous, Pentagon-named "arc of instability")

Not to mention the serial invasions - via drone war or targeted assassination - of Pakistan's territory and sovereignty.

Reset remixed

Whether or not Washington pays lip service to a "reset" of US/Russia relations, Moscow has interpreted all these moves, both at the periphery and the center of Eurasia, as torpedoing - by all means necessary - the role of Russia as a top global energy exporter.

Moscow's strategy is to boost the SCO as a solid counterpunch not only to NATO but also to the US' designs on Central Asian energy.

Moscow and Beijing see NATO for what it is - essentially the weaponised European arm of the Pentagon. Thus Beijing's official policy of "soft reverse containment" of the US rush in Eurasia - with "all-weather ally" Pakistan as a key peon.

For its part, Washington registers India essentially as the key Asia-Pacific labourer in a strategy of Chinese containment.   

For Moscow as much as Beijing, a central Asia that is not subject to the winds of change of the Great 2011 Arab Revolt implies a politically and economically stable Pakistan - even as Moscow still enjoys a "privileged" strategic partnership with New Delhi.

That's where a crucial trip by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari to Russia in mid-May fits in.

Zardari discussed not only terrorism and drug smuggling with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev but also Gazprom's detailed, possible involvement in a crucial pipelineistan chapter; the eternally plagued TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) pipeline - which, it should always be stressed, has been the key issue at play in Afghanistan since the mid-1990s.  

Incidentally, Russia-Pakistan bilateral projects are way more ambitious than US-Pakistan projects.

Equally crucial has been a pre-SCO meeting working trip by Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmay Rasoul last month to Beijing - openly defying a US "ban". India has invested over $1.5 million in Afghanistan. Yet China has invested over $3 billion - including the huge Aynak Copper Mine project.

At a recent lecture at Pakistan's National Defense University, US ambassador Husain Haqqani, asked the audience whether the biggest threat to the country was internal, India, or the US. The US "won" by a large majority.

Compare that with the US neocon view - which is the same as the Pentagon's - according to which "victory" against the Taliban in Afghanistan means NATO waging an air war on Pakistan as well. 

When Islamabad looks at the Russian/Chinese charm offensive and compares it with the ultra-fractured relationship with Washington, no wonder what stands out is an essentially Punjabi fear of a hidden US agenda: a determination to balkanise Pakistan.

Apart from Pakistan itself, the other key victim of such a scenario would be China - as in the competing Iran-Pakistan pipeline that would transit fuel to the crucial, Chinese-built Arabian Sea port of Gwadar being definitely killed.    

For the SCO, a potential Pakistani balkanisation - a crossroads in Eurasia of Southwest, Central and South Asia (Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Western China) - would represent the ultimate nightmare.

We are all Afghans now

Of course there is a huge wall of mistrust between New Delhi and Beijing - which may be alleviated over time by closer contacts inside the BRICS group of emerging powers (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). But the problem is not only the Russian political elite, but that the Indian political elite have also still have not developed a strategic vision of BRICS in the post-US world.

And this while imperial Washington - occasional help from David Cameron's beleaguered Britain and neo-Napoleonic Sarkozy's France notwithstanding - seems to be running out of ideas to counteract real strategic competitors Russia and China.

As facts on the ground go, Moscow and Beijing have been deeply alarmed by the NATO war on Libya, the threat of an intervention in Syria, the absolutely free pass for repression in Bahrain, and the Washington obsession on remaining in Iraq at all costs.

But instead of the Arab world, their counterattack has been focused closer to home, in Eurasia - "the world's heartland", as conceptualised by the (imperial British) father of geopolitics Halford Mackinder (1861-1947).

That's where the SCO concept for a stable Afghanistan fits in.

The SCO's long-term plan is to increase Islamabad's strategic autonomy so it may become immune to relentless Washington pressure/humiliation/violation of sovereignty. And getting Pakistan into the SCO is a sterling mechanism for both Moscow and Beijing to "force" Islamabad to fine-tune its stance towards Afghanistan.

Both Moscow and Beijing also want Afghanistan - like Pakistan - to become a crossroads of rail, roads and pipelines from across the Indian Ocean and Eurasia. That explains Beijing using the privileged Sino-Pak axis to "seduce" Kabul and, within the SCO, investing in "all-weather" strategic partnerships all across the board.

Moscow has also found the SCO immensely helpful. What Washington really wanted all along in Central Asia was for virtually unlimited gas from Turkmenistan to flow to Western Europe - via the also eternally plagued Nabucco pipeline - and thus cut off Gazprom's grip on Europe's energy.

With TAPI becoming viable with Gazprom's help, Moscow will be able to "reward" Pakistan with transit rights and India with much-needed gas. And on top of it, Turkmen gas won't compete with Russian gas in the European market.

The South Yolotan gas field in Turkmenistan - with 3,500 square kilometers - is the second largest in the world. This means gas, gas, gas until the 23rd century for China, India and Pakistan. And Turkmenistan can even export what's left.

So welcome to the much-vaunted "SCO energy club". And the winner is, once again, former Russian President Vladimir Putin, who came up with this idea way back in 2005.

If the SCO is instrumental in pulling this off - and that's still a major "if" - it would be a monster fact on the ground towards the Asian Energy Security Grid, a concept of pan-Asian integration I have been lectured about by energy experts since the early 2000s.  

All aboard on the new silk road

Beijing has clearly identified Afghanistan-Pakistan - after the Obama-sanctioned extension - as a dangerous regional war. Beijing had to act not only in the geopolitical arena but because its economy is also at stake.

A Sino-Pak axis getting closer to Afghanistan spells out a crucial chapter of the much-taunted Silk Road revival - massive Chinese investment in a network of roads, pipelines and electric grids.  

All those who travelled in the region have marvelled at the Wakhan corridor that links Northeastern Afghanistan to Western China. Fabled Kashgar is only a few hours away from the Wakhan.

For all its usually deplorable treatment of Uighurs, Beijing is investing tens of billion of dollars to turn its far west into a special economic zone (SEZ), geared towards Central and South Asia. Kashgar is being remixed to its former Silk Road glory, as a key crossroads to Pakistan (via the Karakoram Highway), Afghanistan and Central Asia.

There's no way the Pentagon's war on terror-based Full Spectrum Dominance doctrine can compete with that integrated vision.

By surveying the chessboard, this is what the SCO has concluded. Washington won't stabilise Afghanistan; the SCO has a better shot. No regional player wants eternal US military bases in Afghanistan - as the Pentagon, according to Full Spectrum Dominance, ardently desires.

Moscow is sure that Washington will stop at nothing to seduce the Central Asian "stans" into bypassing the Russian pipeline network.

And, sooner rather than later, NATO may be monopolised to "secure" pipelines that eventually bypass Russia (this was always a Bush administration wet dream).

Yan Xuetong, director of the Institute of International Studies at Tsinghua University, couldn't be more precise: "The purpose of establishing the SCO is to challenge the American strategic intention of extending its military breach to Central Asia."

Via the SCO, Beijing and Moscow are now ready to smash the myth of NATO as a security umbrella in Eurasia. At the same time, China harmonises with India in their eagerness to stabilise both Afghanistan and Pakistan, and thus deflate the myth of a war on terror-based US "Great Central Asia" strategy.

The ball - and what a ball - is now somewhere across the Potomac.

Pepe Escobar is the roving correspondent for the Asia Times. His latest book is Obama Does Globalistan (Nimble Books, 2009). He may be reached at pepeasia@yahoo.com

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.

The Kremlin’s Loyal Oppositionhttp://www.newsweek.com/2011/06/12/oligarch-mikhail-prokhorov-set-to-head-new-party.html#

Mikhail Prokhorov is the likely leader of a new opposition party in upcoming elections—but Putin isn’t scared.

If you’re a Russian billionaire and want to stay that way, funding an opposition party usually figures high on the nyet-to-do list. The last oligarch to dabble in politics, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, got sent to a Siberian labor camp in 2003 and will likely be there till 2017. So why would Mikhail Prokhorov—metals magnate and owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team—announce that he’s stepping in to lead a new center-right party called Right Cause? Has Russia’s third-richest man suddenly developed a death wish?

In fact, Prokhorov has been handpicked by President Dmitry Medvedev as a safe straw man to lead a opposition party that will lightly criticize the Kremlin but avoid any real dissent.

Prokhorov himself doesn’t put it quite that way. The mogul has coyly promised that if he wins the race for Right Cause’s chairmanship, the party will be reformist, pro-industry, and pro-Medvedev. Unsurprising, since the idea of building the formerly independent Right Cause into a loyal opposition is Medvedev’s pet project.

The idea is to create an alternative to United Russia, the giant “party of power” headed by Vladimir Putin that dominates the Duma. But while Right Cause will be an alternative, it will hardly be any real challenge to Putin’s party. Both Medvedev and Prokhorov have predicted that the new party will come in second to United Russia in December’s parliamentary elections. In Russia’s “managed democracy,” electoral predictions made by the Kremlin have a habit of coming true. Meanwhile, genuine opposition parties, like the one headed by former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, probably won’t make a dent, thanks to problems with registering candidates, getting access to media, and widespread ballot-fixing.

Prokhorov might not be an obvious choice to head a political party. He’s tall, gangly, and painfully shy; he wears gray suits with gray ties, and at parties (the social kind) he stands in the corner muttering to aides. The 46-year-old bachelor also has a slightly checkered past: in 2007 he was arrested by French police investigating prostitution rings at the Alpine ski resort of Courchevel (he was later released without charge). Still, the oligarch has two things it takes to be successful in Russian politics: the Kremlin’s blessing, and plenty of spare billions to lavish on the project—Forbes lists him as the world’s 39th-richest man, with $18 billion to his name.

For the Kremlin, the idea of a stalking-horse party isn’t new. But Medvedev’s backing makes Right Cause different from earlier pseudo–opposition parties. For one, the new

party was cooked up not by Putin’s hacks but by a cabal of top Boris Yeltsin–era liberals, starting with Yeltsin’s former chief of staff, Alexander Voloshin (who groomed Putin for power back in 1998), and Yeltsin’s daughter and son-in-law. The people they summoned to brainstorm Right Cause were also not the usual dim political hacks but some of Russia’s best and brightest: the editor of Forbes Russia, Maxim Kashulinsky, for instance, and Yevgeny Kaspersky, of antivirus fame. Prokhorov, for all his personal nerdiness, is ideally placed to recruit Russia’s liberal intelligentsia to the cause. His Snob magazine and website, made famous in London and New York by its Russian-language campaign, have become the primary discussion forums of Russia’s chattering classes. Prokhorov’s sister also runs the country’s leading avant-garde book publisher and literary journal.

According to a working draft of Right Cause’s concept obtained by NEWSWEEK, the party’s “target audience is, or aspires to be, educated and urban. They respect themselves and demand respect from others.” Self-respecting they may be, but any new party must have the blessing of Putin if it’s to get off the ground. Immediately after an April 28 meeting between Medvedev and Prokhorov where the latter was tapped for his new role, the oligarch headed to Putin for approval and instructions, according to one of Right Cause’s founders. Thanks to Prokhorov, some of Russia’s top minds will be involved in December’s election race, making for some lively debates. But there’s no doubt that Putin owns all the horses.

Tandemology And The Russian Media’s Spin Cycle – OpEdhttp://www.eurasiareview.com/tandemology-and-the-russian-medias-spin-cycle-oped-13062011/

Written by: Robert Amsterdam

June 13, 2011

Oh, the excitement and intrigue of Russian politics in election season … high-powered advisers are getting canned, officials demoted, fake parties are dissolved and replaced with different fake parties, while famous oligarchs are disappointingly flipped and flopped.  All of it is so elaborately constructed to give a sense of motion and progress toward change, providing the media with a narrative for months of the will-he-won’t-he, Putin-or-Medvedev, tandemology stories.  But are we already seeing some exhaustion with the rehashed plot?  Is the Kool-Aid running low, as more and more people begin opening their eyes to the profound disappointment of predetermined outcomes that is the hallmark of this hybrid authoritarian model?

Of course it is fair to acknowledge that a large part of the Russian public has willingly accepted Putin’s bargain of rights exchanged for economic growth without complaint, but there has always been a public tension and panic of barely concealed instability – a force that has become more difficult to control and manage with the approach of elections. 

Most recently, the great myth of stability has been punctured by increasingly obvious foot-dragging in Moscow, as various small projects ordered by the government have ground to a halt, inhibited by unsure and unwilling ministers and lower officials.

But overall, it seems like the biggest challenge for the Russian leadership is how to keep things interesting as the boredom sets in.  We recently came across this blog posting, translated below, from Stas_Kucher, which elaborates on some of his impressions of the end of Medvedev’s political career, and the profound disappointment of watching a political system without any kind of real public participation.  The spin cycle evidently isn’t working for him.

Medvedev has run out of steam. Or has he?There is a feeling that Medvedev, speaking in old hippy slang, has ‘checked-out’. That he is finished as President. That he’s ‘burnt-out’. If in the foreseeable future, Vladimir Putin’s participation in the presidential elections is officially announced, and only his, we could even boldly name the expiry date of Medvedev’s effective presidency as 18 May 2011 – the famous first, and possibly last, of his press-conferences as somebody actively fulfilling the role of Head of State.

It would be symbolic: it turned out that the last serious question posed to him was by our correspondent Yuri Matsumoto. Medvedev answered him honestly, saying what he thought. Then, in order not to end up talking about Khodorkovsky, he spoke about the Russian language and about reindeer hunting… and that was it, nothing further “presidential” has been heard from him since. You understand what I’m saying.

Naturally, we can recall Boris Yeltsin’s time. It happened that for weeks, this guy didn’t appear in public and didn’t make any announcements. But now is not that time, and Medvedev is in great shape and doesn’t drink at all.

In the meantime, newsworthy pretexts for brilliant Presidential speeches are pouring in. Libya. The National Front and its large membership. The emergence of the ” Right Cause”. New wildfires, finally!

Somebody will reproach me : Wait, what about the meeting with the linguists yesterday,on the birthday of “our everything”. That is, Pushkin. I agree. Responding to the words of the political analyst Vyacheslav Nikonov that it would be good to coordinate the targeted programme ‘Russian Language’ “directly from the Kremlin”, Dimitry Medvedev said that Russia has, and I quote, “a completely out-dated, inadequate management system, which should be changed. Because, when all initiatives are only coming from within the Kremlin, it shows that the system itself is not sustainable”.

That is in fact an absolutely sensational comment. Had it been said two years ago, it would have been taken as a revolutionary call to action. Saying the same thing at the May 18th press conference would have inflamed [people's passions.]

If you caught that word, that’s right. Precisely “inflame”. This statement is lost now: its not in the headers of news sites; not on the front pages of newspapers or in ‘Der Spiegel’

news programmes. And thats telling. Two years ago, Medvedev’s statements “inflamed [passions]‘, creating the image of the president as a symbol of change. Today, his words don’t ‘burn’ – no, there is the feeling that the President has extinguished himself and his image. Like an actor, who has ‘played’ his role and understands that it’s time for him to leave the stage. More than likely, the decision on Medvedev has already been made. And not made by him.

Of course, its one of those times, when I really want to be wrong. Its painfully boring living in a country where everything is so crudely predictable.

About the author:

Robert Amsterdam

Robert Amsterdam is an international lawyer and founding partner of the law firm Amsterdam & Peroff. The articles originally appeared at the Robert Amsterdam: Perspectives on Global Politics and Business website.

Russia Profile Weekly Experts Panel: Did the Kremlin Signal Khodorkovsky’s Release?http://russiaprofile.org/experts_panel/38338.html

Introduced by Vladimir Frolov Russia Profile 06/10/2011

Contributors: Bruce Bean, Vladimir Belaeff, Ira Straus

Last week there emerged some tentative signs that the Kremlin may be seriously considering an early release from prison of former Yukos owners Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev. Both men have filed their parole papers with a local Moscow District Court and Lebedev has even received a positive behavior report from the chief warden of his detention center. Are Russia's political stars aligned for Khodorkovsky and Lebedev's early release from prison? Is the release imminent? If so, what kind of impact it would have on Russian politics? Does Khodorkovsky have a future in Russian politics and, if so, in what role?

Even though neither of them admitted their guilt and appealed their latest verdict, legal grounds exist for their parole, both having served more than a half of their 13-year prison term.

Last week the Gazprom-owned NTV channel aired a balanced interview with Khodorkovsky, while a former prosecutor in the Yukos case in 2003 and now a senior member of the United Russian party Vadim Kolesnikov said in an interview that he wanted to see Khodorkovsky and Lebedev free so that they could contribute positively to Russia’s development.

It seems as if both President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin may be looking for ways to disabuse themselves of the political costs that the continued incarceration of both men presents to their decision on the presidential transition of 2012. Last month at a press conference, president Medvedev said that Khodorkovsky, were he released from prison, would pose no danger to society.

Political risks for Putin and Medvedev are minimal. The European Court on Human Rights has just dismissed Khodorkovsky's plea that his arrest in 2003 was politically motivated. Even though the two men have not admitted their guilt, they would be released on parole as convicted criminals, not political prisoners of conscience. The release on parole makes them ineligible for running in an election. Moreover, the conditions of the parole are likely to restrict their active involvement in politics and media exposure.

For Medvedev, the release of the two prisoners would help underline his independent role and strengthen his center-piece agenda of judicial reform and creating a more business-friendly climate in Russia. Were he to run for president in 2012, he would no longer have a political albatross around his neck that kept reminding everyone of his dependency on his senior tandem partner.

For Putin, releasing Khodorkovsky and Lebedev now could be equally appealing. Firstly, this would send a powerful signal at home and abroad that Putin's return to the Kremlin, were he to opt for it, would be nothing to fear. In an instant, it would defang his liberal and Western critics and would allow him to enter the presidential race without the political baggage of his earlier rule and win new friends in the West.

Since this would be a purely legal decision taken on Medvedev's watch, Putin would save face and incur no political cost. He could also at any moment, were this to start paying politically, disavow the release as Medvedev's pandering to the oligarchs, liberals and the West.

It is also possible that failure to act on the heightened expectations for Khodorkovsky's release after these signals from the Kremlin would likely result in more political costs than the release itself, as it would signal weakness and fear.

Are Russia's political stars well aligned for Khodorkovsky and Lebedev's early release from prison? Is the release imminent? If so, what kind of impact it would have on Russian politics? Would this be a joint decision by the tandem, or is Medvedev more likely to overrule Putin, were he to object to Khodorkovsky's release? Is it possible that only Lebedev would be released, while Khodorkovsky would remain in jail? What would the reaction in the West be were the release to actually happen? Does Khodorkovsky have a future in Russian politics and in what role?

Professor Bruce W. Bean, Director, MSU  LL M Program, Michigan State University College of Law, Past Chairmanь ABA Russian-Eurasian Law Committee

While I have regularly been accused of being delusionally optimistic about Russia’s future, I doubt there are many heightened expectations for the imminent parole of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev.  For certain, more than 99 percent of Russians do not care. Only a small number of dreamers could actually “expect” parole for these two, whom prime minister Putin has repeatedly called criminals.

There are, however, definite signs of an official change in approach to these “criminals,” who have been twice convicted on nonsensical charges relating to Yukos. The recent indications of a possible, long-overdue change in approach include three items: the recent “fair and balanced” Khodorkovsky interview on NTV, president Medvedev’s observation that Khodorkovsky, if released, would not be a threat to Russia, and the open, public nature of the most recent “trial.” The fact that the public could sit in the courtroom with the judge and the defendants in their glassed-in aquarium-like cage is a huge, positive change from the 500 or so police officers who kept the public 100 meters away from the courthouse in June 2005.

Do these developments warrant optimism? Perhaps a little. Does it mean that Putin has finally become a liberal democrat? Hardly. Whatever happens, prime minister Putin will maintain the consistent position he has taken since Platon Lebedev’s arrest in July 2003: “This is a matter for the legal system.” Of course, this should be the case. Wouldn’t it be great if Russians ultimately have reason to believe that Russia’s judges are no longer fettered to the phones. No Russian can rightly come to this conclusion for at least another generation.

President Medvedev’s statement that Mikhail Khodorkovsky is not a threat to society is not only true but, more subtly, reflects the fact that as a convicted parolee Khodorkovsky cannot himself run for office. The only plausible domestic political impact will be that Khodorkovsky will continue to speak his mind about his vision for Russia. Since he has done this from his prison cell in Chita and in Moscow, there is little reason to expect that he would change if paroled. Platon Lebedev, on the other hand, has never uttered a political statement and is likely to be very much less involved in Russian political discourse than even many U.S. Congressmen and women who know they can say any stupid thing with impunity, so long as it is about Russia.

It is with regret that I note that we must dismiss any thought that the parole of these men, after nearly eight years in prison, will do anything to burnish Russia’s international image. The deaths of Sergei Magnitsky, Anna Politkovskaya and others, the continuing abuse of successful businessmen in Russia and the virulent dislike of Vladimir Putin, that “former KGB spy,” evident in the media, will produce only a triumphant “I told you so” in the international press.

With nothing to gain internationally or domestically, why would the Putin-Medvedev tandem allow the administrative authorities to parole Lebedev and Khodorkovsky. It will not be out of guilt or sympathy. But we should recall that the Khodorkovsky-Lebedev tandem was surprisingly productive in turning Yukos into a world class integrated oil

company in just a few years. Turning them loose to work within Russia’s economy could bring Russia, and therefore the Putin-Medvedev tandem, some genuine benefits. For instance, Skolkovo is supposed to become Russia’s Silicon Valley. Khodorkovsky was funding computer training in many Russian schools in the 1990s. He might well have something to contribute to the development of Skolkovo. And Intel is probably wondering when their chips will ever catch up with the speed and capacity of Lebedev’s brain.

Certainly Russia can benefit from the parole of both Lebedev and Khodorkovsky. Let’s hope the Medvedv-Putin tandem ultimately agrees.

Ira Straus, U.S. Coordinator, Committee on Russia in NATO, Washington, DC

Releasing Khodorkovsky is the right thing to do, for domestic reasons and not international ones, but it would be a huge political risk for Medvedev. It would open him up to wildly popular attacks from Putin. It'd be hard for Putin to resist the temptation to deliver Medvedev a knockout blow. Medvedev's comment is a trial balloon, to test the public’s reaction – and Putin's reaction.

His comment on the potential release – that it wouldn't hurt Russia – is, in its wording and logic, a personal appeal to Putin. An appeal to put aside the populist demagogy and, using one of Putin's own slogans from his better days, to "do no harm."

Harm is obviously done to Russia by Khodorkovsky's continued imprisonment. Harm to business. Harm to investment. Harm to the legal system -- and to anyone's belief in the honesty of the system. Last -- and least, compared to all this other harm -- it also does harm to relations with the West.

Of course, the nationalists would jump on this last point and treat it as the only point. They would attack a release as a concession to the West. They would be helped in this by the Western media – what we might call the "Media West," which, being also the Audible West, tends to get mistaken in Russia for the West per se.

The “Media West” has hyped the case in a way that not only exaggerates, but manages to answer Putin's dishonesties with its own, e.g. pretending that Khodorkovsky was jailed for funding the democrats. In fact his own spokesman says he did that with Putin's support, and that he was jailed for funding also the communists. The shunting of the communists and ultra-nationalists out of their formerly joint hegemony in Parliament was Putin's proudest achievement as a centrist, making possible a working relationship with Parliament – an achievement for freedom and for stability that, for a while, the democrats and the West appreciated; but the “Media West” has put it out of mind. At the time, it was not a light thing for Khodorkovsky to challenge this achievement; it made it a lot easier for Putin to convince himself that Khodorkovsky was a threat to Russia's stability. That era has long since passed; today even Putin might be ready to believe that his release would do no harm.

For years, the “Media West” has had a symbiotic relation with its enemy-designate, Putin. They despise each other; they thrive on each other. The “Media West” seems to find this much more comfortable than its relation with Boris Yeltsin. It heaped contempt on Yeltsin, too, but he didn't reciprocate the favor.

The “Media West” has long demanded Khodorkovsky's release, ranking this demand far above the major Western interests with Russia. It is the least appropriate, most self-defeating thing to be putting in a language of demand. The Washington Post, for example, has long since named this demand as the test the West should use for Russia – the litmus test of Medvedev's democratic pretensions, and the criterion for good relations with Russia. It is no such thing in reality, but Russians cannot help but have heard how the “Media West” has been treating it that way. It is a courageous politician who would risk doing the right thing, when it would mean appearing to have backed down in the face of this Western pressure.

No matter what Putin says at this stage, he could easily fly off the wheel if Khodorkovsky was actually released, and make a wildly popular appeal to mass prejudice on the matter.

The only guarantee against this would be for Putin to take public co-responsibility for the release and its justification. A dreamer might think Putin could not only do this, but could take the opportunity at the same time to reconcile with the formulations of his former chief ideologist Vladislav Surkov, i.e. use the release as a step toward making good on the promises they made together years ago. After all, Surkov has simply stuck to Putin's original doctrine about authoritarianism being a transitional stage toward a viable democracy, a stage that would be defined by time-limited tasks and replaced by other state imperatives in the next stage, rather than kept around to rot.

The original Putin had two sides, policy-moderate and power-hardliner. Surkov rationalized their reconciliation, conveniently putting that off into the future, but not too far off. After Beslan, the hardliner came to predominate in Putin, increasingly scorning his old self. In appointing Medvedev as his legal successor in a tandem, Putin split his personality, like Jekyll and Hyde: he gave his old Jekyll-self the formal top position, while giving himself the Hyde-power role. Medvedev inherited, as the junior partner, the original duality of the Putinist rationale; those who took the rationale seriously went with him. If Hyde wants to scrap Jekyll and go on in the future as Hyde pure and simple, then he doesn't need either Medvedev or Surkov. Or does he still have a trace of Jekyll left in him?

In the story, Hyde decides he doesn't need Jekyll anymore and won't let Jekyll ever come back. But in eliminating Jekyll, Hyde seals his own fate. He loses his retreat persona, the one in whose body he could hide after his crimes. In a matter of hours, he too is dead.

Vladimir Belaeff, Global Society Institute, Inc., San Francisco, CA

If one looks beyond a narrow band of Western media and their partners inside Russia, one will note that l’affaire Khodorkovsky is of little interest to the global community at

large. As in other similar situations, this spectacle plays like a small group of self-involved people talking to themselves about a subject that interests them alone.

Khodorkovsky et alia convicted in his case have enjoyed a public trial, with a full panoply of legal defense, recourse to the entire apparatus of appeals, and a very friendly press. The sentences are remarkably light, if one compares similar convictions in the West. Even those who constantly write apologias for Khodorkovsky in such media as The New York Times, admit that at the time of imputed crimes he behaved in ways, which would not be acceptable in the West. Therefore, the apologists prefer to claim a presumed political undertone of the prosecution per se.

As if a person accused of serious breaches of commercial law can be excused because the prosecution is allegedly “politically motivated” (no proof of this is provided.) This defense ploy in high-profile criminal cases has been used many times, including in New York City.

The apologists’ case would be stronger if there was some evidence that Khodorkovsky indeed was a “competitor of Putin” before his arrest. In the many years of PR for Khodorkovsky his apologists have not been able to produce any significant and convincing evidence that their protégé was indeed active in Russian public politics to any degree that would make him a “political threat.” Please note that not all interactions with politicians or elected officials are ipso facto “political activities.” The conviction of Jack Abramoff et alia in the United States is a recent and fitting example.

The situation of Khodorkovsky is of concern to a limited number of people. Their unproven claims and emotions are not legal evidence. Furthermore, the administration of justice is not a popularity contest. The fundamental issue is whether justice is served by the conviction and incarceration of Khodorkovsky and his collaborators.

Russia suffers from generally recognized “legalistic nihilism.” This is a legacy of decades of Soviet arbitrary “telephone justice,” where people with influence and party connections were immune from prosecution for even the grossest criminal offences. Russia’s reformers face a huge task of establishing general respect for the judicial system.

Any kind of even remotest appearance of favoritism to a very rich individual, who is supported by the generally despised Western media, will convince Russians that “telephone justice” continues to rule. Even now, with access to media and the Internet, Khodorkovsky enjoys much gentler treatment than many high-profile accused in the United States, some of whom end up doing hard time in Rikers Island even before conviction. Russian citizens are aware of this.

Putin and Medvedev are both in the executive branch of government – for them to even remotely appear to influence the judiciary branch would not only be illegal, but also very bad PR. One expects this is understood in the Kremlin.

Khodorkovsky and his colleagues received mild sentences, compared to analogous cases

in the West. Their treatment has not appeared extreme. Their early release on parole will not yield significant gains for any politician of stature in Russia, and may undermine the efforts to combat legalistic nihilism there.

These are the rational equations of the situation. Time will tell whether sentiments or reason prevail in this matter.

Russia: the race is on http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/8571630/Russia-the-race-is-on.html

Displays of mutual admiration by Vladimir Putin and Dimitri Medvedev have sparked a buzz of excitement about next year's presidential election, says Tony Brenton.

By Tony Brenton

9:28PM BST 12 Jun 2011

In the sunshine of a Moscow summer, the two men pictured cycling through a park on the outskirts of the capital at the weekend looked for all the world like a couple of pals on an informal bike ride. Later, they played badminton together, again principally for the benefit of the media. But for Dimitri Medvedev, the Russian president, and Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, this stage-managed public engagement belied the tensions building behind the scenes at the Kremlin. It also added – perhaps deliberately – to the buzz of growing excitement among Russia-watchers. For, after almost disappearing from the front pages, her politics are interesting once more.

We can only speculate about the topic of conversation between Russia's two most powerful politicians during their ride in the park. But the big question they need to resolve, and soon, is this: who will be the "official" candidate – and inevitable winner – in the 2012 presidential election, now less than 10 months away? Will the incumbent Medvedev, aged just 45, run again? Or will Putin, now 58, who held the presidency before his protege, move back into the Kremlin? Or is it conceivable (as some excitable commentators have suggested) that Russia might even have a real election in which they run against each other?

Despite official efforts to depict their relationship as carefree and friendly, there have been growing signs of strain in the Putin/Medvedev "tandem" that has ruled since 2008. That was the year Putin, after his two constitutionally permitted terms, stepped down as president and in his place nominated Medvedev, who was accordingly elected. Putin himself became prime minister and head of the ruling party, remaining the most powerful man in Russia. While Medvedev had a certain limited freedom of action, all the really big

decisions continued to depend on Putin, and the vast majority of key jobs, including in Medvedev's own office, remained occupied by Putin's nominees.

This is not an unfamiliar arrangement in Russia (under Soviet communism, after all, the real power lay in the party, not the government) and did not produce the rancorous gridlock that many predicted. Medvedev spoke up regularly for liberal causes, such as strengthening the rule of law and investigating the more glaring abuses in the way Russia is governed. But, in reality, little changed: corruption and targeted repression rolled on apace (most notably with the incarceration for nakedly political reasons of opposition oligarch Mikhael Khodorkovsky).

Putin and Medvedev nevertheless remained close, guided Russia through the 2008-09 economic shock, and maintained a striking level of public popularity. As the election approaches, however, the apparent divergences between the two men have grown wider. There was clear public disagreement on Russia's attitude to the Western intervention in Libya (Putin sharply critical, Medvedev more accommodating). Medvedev abruptly required a number of Putin's close associates to surrender top jobs in state companies. And Medvedev has underlined his discomfort with the current suffocating style of Russian governance by worrying publicly about a return to zastoi – the stagnation of the Brezhnev years. Just last week, Medvedev criticised the centralisation of power during his predecessor's time in office.

Is there, then, the real prospect of a Putin/Medvedev breakdown; or is this just the latest act in the public show which, as so often in Russia, conceals what is really going on underneath? In order to get a feel for what is happening, it is worth recalling the atmosphere surrounding Russia's last transfer of power in 2007 as the end of Putin's term as president approached. In the Kremlin and the powerful security agencies, strong factions lined up committed either to getting Putin to stay on, or to back one or other of his possible successors. On the surface, it looked like a smooth process during which Putin thoughtfully reflected on his options, but beneath this orderly veneer were all the signs of a violent power struggle. This saw the abrupt sacking of the public prosecutor (a politically pivotal role in Russia); a wholesale governmental reshuffle; a series of authoritative articles referring to "internecine feuds" in the security agencies; the arrest of a key deputy minister; and a series of unprecedented public attacks on Putin for corruption. It was only when, in December 2007, Putin settled on Medvedev to succeed him that all of this died away and the establishment fell in behind their leader's choice.

While this time around the squabbling has so far been better contained, it is likely that tensions are running just as high. The Russian system is both tribal and Darwinian. It really matters for your professional advancement, wealth and, sometimes, your personal security, to be on the right side. It seems likely, too, that the outcome will be similar. Medvedev in his recent actions has set out his liberal stall; but everyone agrees that it is with Putin that the choice lies. He is a cautious man. He will not rush into a decision which, once announced, will temporarily paralyse government as everyone recalibrates their career prospects. Inevitably, there will be losers who will need to be conciliated or controlled.

However, once the decision is taken, whether to resume the presidency himself, renominate Medvedev, or perhaps choose a third person entirely, he can be reasonably confident that the establishment will once again fall into line. The inside circle may feud among themselves but they are far too closely bound up and know each other's affairs far too well to risk a major fragmentation. Those who leave the tent end up paying a heavy, immediate and visible price: Moscow's recently sacked mayor, once a key insider, now has allegations of corruption swirling round his head. Moreover, the last time the establishment really split – in August 1991 – the upshot was the collapse of the Soviet Union.

So who will it be? Even Putin may not yet know. The gossip in Moscow is that he has decided to run again himself. Maybe. But last time round the question of who would succeed him was kept open, not least by official rumour, until the very last moment. So I would not put my shirt on it. Putin likes to surprise his public.

The pity of all this is that, as everyone listens for the latest whisper from the Kremlin or waits for the next somewhat contrived photo-opportunity, no one is much asking what is best for Russia. The country faces huge problems: its population is falling, capital is fleeing, and corruption is at an all-time high. Government is too often predatory and incompetent. Public cynicism about the prevailing order is manifest in the declining support for the ruling party – which is generally known as "the party of thieves and swindlers". Grass roots campaigns are being staged against particular acts of public malfeasance. And there is growing popularity for figures such as Alexei Navalny, who exposes corruption on the internet and who, with depressing predictability, now finds himself under official investigation.

Russia relies too much on oil and gas and not enough on the skill of its people. While the country is over the worst of the recession and the economy is growing again, Medvedev is right to argue that, in the absence of massive reform, Russia faces long-term stagnation and growing international irrelevance. Genuine democracy compels countries to face up to their problems and thereby deliver the change of course that is sometimes needed for a people to rediscover their hidden energies. It would be nice to think that on their bike ride, Russia's two leaders were putting the interests of their country before their own.

Sir Anthony Brenton was UK ambassador to Moscow from 2004 to 2008.

12:00 13/06/2011ALL NEWS

Itar-Tass news digest for Monday, June 13 : 1.

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/163645.html

13/6 Tass 49

MOSCOW — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree to make several appointments in the Inter Ministry’s departments in Chechnya, Ingushetia, the Far East federal district and the Kirov region, the Kremlin press service said on Monday.

ROME — President Dmitry Medvedev sent a message of greetings to the participants and guests of the Constellation of Russia festival, which was held in the Italian capital on Sunday evening in the attendance of Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno and Italian top officials. “It is symbolic that right on this day, when Russia celebrates its national holiday, Italians acquainted with the diversity of the culture of our country, watched the performances of famous art companies, which represent Russian multinational culture,” the president said in the message.

MOSCOW – President Dmitry Medvedev has submitted to the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, for ratification an agreement on the common principles and rules of competition, signed in Moscow on December 9, 2010, the Kremlin press service said. The drafting of the agreement is envisaged by the decision of the Interstate Council of the Eurasian Economic Community (the upper structure of the Customs Union) at the level of the heads of state, and the decision of the Customs Union’s commission.

ASTANA — Chinese President Hu Jintao will meet with Kazakh top officials here on Monday to discuss a broad range of bilateral cooperation during his 7th official visit to the republic. On Monday afternoon, Hu Jintao is to have negotiations with Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev and is to meet with Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry reported.

MINSK — Russia’s Inter RAO UES company has fully restored electricity supplies to Belarus, the Belarusian Energy Ministry’s official told Itar-Tass on Monday. On June 9, Russia almost halved its electricity exports to Belarus due to Belarus’ debt. On June 10, the Belarusian delegation arrived in Moscow to discuss with Inter RAO UES a debt payment schedule. According to the Belarusian Energy Ministry, the parties managed to coordinate and sign the debt payment schedule, under which Belarus should pay its debt until July 5.

MAKHACHKALA — Chief officer of the Khasavyurt tax service Yakub Nutsalov was killed in the city on Sunday. “The murder was committed at about 9.40 p.m. Moscow time on Sunday at a house, where Nutsalov lived,” a spokesman for the Dagestani branch of the Investigation Committee told Itar-Tass.

MOSCOW — The first group of Russian citizens arrived in Moscow from Yemen onboard of the Russian Emergencies Ministry’s plane, the Ministry’s press service told Itar-Tass on Monday. “An Il-62 plane landed at 10:55 Moscow time at the Domodedovo airport on Monday. There were 148 people onboard, including 60 Russian citizens,” the source said. “The rest are citizens of the CIS states who decided to leave Yemen.”

MOSCOW — The second EMERCOM airplane, which is carrying Russian evacuees, left Yemen for Moscow. The Ilyushin Il-62 airplane, which took off at 11.20 p.m. Moscow time on Sunday from Yemen, is carrying 109 people, a source in the information department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations told Itar-Tass. “59 of them are children,” the source said.

LONDON — Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi met with President of the World Chess Federation FIDE Kirsan Ilyumzhinov in Tripoli, British media reported on Sunday. The Libyan television has broadcast a video report about the meeting between Gaddafi and Ilyumzhinov. The meeting was reported to be held last Sunday. Ilyumzhinov and Gaddafi played a game of chess on Sunday, Ilyumzhinov said. According to the FIDE president, Gaddafi told the latter that “he is not going to leave Libya.”

TBILISI — A presentation of the collection of short stories and poems entitled “June 22”, which is dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) that is marked in Russia as the Day of Memory and Sorrow, will be held here on Monday. The book was published at the initiative and under the support of the international cultural and educational union Russian Club, which operates in the Georgian capital.

ALEXANDRIA — The monument to Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799-1837) was unveiled at the New Library of Alexandria (the New Bibliotheca Alexandrina) Sunday on the occasion of the 212 birthday anniversary of the great Russian poet celebrated on June 6. The unveiling ceremony of the monument launched the Days of Russian Culture, which will last in Alexandria until June 16.

KHABAROVSK — Only three forest fires are still burning on a total of 83.5 hectares in Russia’s Far East, a source in the forestry department in the Far Eastern Federal District told Itar-Tass on Monday. Up to date, a taiga fire was reported on 70 hectares and was localized in Yakutia. Two minor fires on 13.5 hectares, one of which broke out on Sunday, are burning in Chukotka.

KRASNOYARSK — The number of forest fires has reduced by 23 fires in Siberia over the past day. However, the forest fire area went up 2,444 hectares. Some 206 fires are raging on 37,512.7 hectares. Some 54 of 206 fires were localized on 9,534.4 hectares. The most complicated forest fire situation persists in the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Irkutsk Region, where an emergency had been declared since June 10, a source in the Siberian regional emergencies center told Itar-Tass on Monday.

LOS ANGELES — Fort Ross – the former Russian outpost and first Russian settlement in California – will be opened for public as a museum seven days per week as of July 1. This will help to begin thorough preparation for commemoration of the bicentennial of the founding of the Ross Colony in 2012, Sarah Sweedler, president of the non-profit Fort Ross Interpretive Association, told Itar-Tass.

/Itar-Tass

National Economic Trends

Current Account: Strong Import Growth Triggers Forecast Revision http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text15800

Alfa BankJune 9, 2011

We upgrade our 2011 import growth forecast from 35% to 40% y/y on the back of non-CIS import growth of 49% y/y in May. More rapid import growth implies that the current account breakeven will increase to $80/bbl, which we believe threatens the capital account. Thus, the YTD capital outflow of $35bn is highly unlikely to improve and we expect it to total $50bn for FY11. We see these trends as a threat to our RUB29/$ YE forecast; however, we leave this forecast unchanged for the moment, as the budget policy is keeping liquidity tight.

Non-CIS import growth reported at 49% y/y in May, 48% y/y in 5M11Despite the slowdown in economic growth from 4.1% in 1Q11 to 3.3% y/y in April, imports are continuing to accelerate. Non-CIS imports grew 46% y/y in 1Q11, increasing to 49% y/y in May. Around 70% of May's import growth was related to manufacturing goods and equipment, mainly consumer-related.

Capital outflow amounted to $5bnThe capital account also failed to meet our positive expectations. While we had forecast an improvement in 2Q11, it already totaled $12.8bn in April-May. The capital outflow therefore totals $34.7bn YTD, similar to the FY10 capital outflow of $35.3bn. Even our 2Q11 outflow forecast of $15bn is now too optimistic and we believe $20bn is a more realistic target.

Monetary supply grew only 0.2% YTD, interest rates elevated5M11 capital outflow has offset around two-thirds of the current account surplus, causing CBR reserves to decline for the first time this year in May. As a result, monetary supply has grown only 0.2% YTD and the annual rate declined to 25% y/y in April from 31% in January.

We revise our current account forecast on rapid import growthAs non- CIS imports grew 48% y/y in 5M11, we adjust our previous full-year import growth forecast of 35% y/y. Even though we still believe part of the import growth may reflect capital outflow, it will impact negatively on the current account. Under our new 40% y/y import growth forecast, which now looks more plausible, and $105/bbl oil price assumption, we expect the current account surplus to reach $75bn in 2011 instead of our previous target of $90bn.

New forecast implies current account breakeven at $80/bblWe previously forecast the current account breakeven at $75/bbl, the highest ever level for Russia. Our new import growth assumption indicates that the breakeven level is more likely to increase to $80/bbl. We are concerned that this deterioration may impact negatively on capital flows in 2H11.

Capital outflow expected at $50bn in 2011Even though the CBR recently guided for a capital outflow of $30-35bn this year, we believe it is very unlikely given that YTD outflow is already at that level. In addition to the risk of an increased tax burden, the deterioration of the current account may also have a negative impact on capital flows. We therefore forecast an outflow of $50bn for the full year.

We reiterate our RUB29/$ forecast, but see significant risksThe negative trends in the current and capital accounts are a significant risk for our RUB29/$ forecast. However, the tight budget policy is keeping monetary supply virtually flat YTD and interbank interest rates continue to increase gradually, making our YE forecast possible.

Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions

NLMK Group increases net profit in Q1 http://www.steelorbis.com/steel-news/latest-news/nlmk-group-increases-net-profit-in-q1-606000.htm

Monday, 13 June 2011 10:48:55 (GMT+2)

In its financial results according to US GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) for Q1 of the current year, Russian steelmaker NLMK Group increased its net profit by 198 percent compared to the same period last year, to $392 million. In Q1 this year, the company's sales revenues increased by 39 percent year on year and reached $2.359 billion on the back of improved market conditions. At the same time, tight cost control pushed up EBIDTA by 51 percent year on year. The EBIDTA margin improved by two percentage points to 25 percent.

NLMK Group expects sales to rise to 3 million mt in Q2 and its sales structure to improve with a higher share of high value-added products.

Billionaire Russian immigrant buys 20% stake in ‘Haaretz’ http://www.jpost.com/Business/BusinessNews/Article.aspx?id=224740

By LIOR AVERBACH/ GLOBES  06/13/2011 04:17

Former Russian oil tycoon Leonid Nevzlin has purchased major stake in Israeli newspaper for NIS 700 million. Former Russian oil tycoon Leonid Nevzlin, convicted in absentia of murder in Russia in what he termed a show trial, has bought a 20 percent stake in Israel’s Haaretz newspaper, the left-wing daily said on Sunday.

According to a report in Haaretz, the acquisition was worth NIS 700 million.

Publisher and majority owner Amos Schocken said in a statement that the new investment follows year-long talks, and added: “All the funds will go into the company, and Nevzlin will join the firm’s board of directors. After the investment, the Schocken family will hold a 60% stake and the publishing company DuMont Schauberg of Cologne, Germany, will hold 20%.”Nevzlin said, “I am happy to join Haaretz. I am convinced that together with the newspaper’s board of directors, we will continue to march forward, with additional investment in the core of the newspaper and also in the digital platform, all for the benefit of the readers and advertisers.”

Nevzlin immigrated in 2003 to Israel, which has turned down a Russian request to extradite him and questioned the validity of evidence against him.

He was once a major shareholder in the now-defunct Yukos business empire and a close adviser to its chief, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was jailed in 2003 for 13 years after falling foul of the Kremlin under then- President Vladimir Putin.

Nevzlin currently serves as chairman of the board of trustees at Beit Hatfutsot, the Museum of the Jewish Diaspora.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Russian power sector: Six myths that delay reform http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text15800

Renaissance Capital June 10, 2011

Rhetoric misleading for investorsPoliticians are of course entitled to choose and present information to meet their professional goals, but they rarely provide the dispassionate, rigorous analysis needed by investors. Indeed, what may be judged sound political rhetoric - not least because politicians may genuinely believe it to be true - can often prove misleading for investors. We judge such a situation has arisen with respect to arguments being used by the Russian government to justify its decision to replace long-planned electricity price liberalisation with imposed tariff ceilings. We have analysed some of these arguments and conclude that they do not withstand closer examination.

Household bills the lowest in EuropeAn oft-repeated claim is that Russian households cannot afford to pay the real cost of the electricity they consume. Household tariffs are maintained at low levels, with SMEs paying a large portion of the subsidy in the form of uplifts to their tariffs. President Dmitry Medvedev failed to mention this when he chose to use tariffs paid by SMEs to illustrate how Russian tariffs were approaching European levels. Neither have we heard any politician mention that a typical Russian household's electricity bill represents just over 1% of disposable income - the lowest level in Europe and around one-eighth of the level at which the World Bank and the WHO define a household as even beginning to experience electricity poverty.

State funding: An expensive optionA further, unremarked paradox is that at the same time as ministers are claiming that the Russian economy and society cannot afford higher electricity tariffs, the federal state budget is buying up primary share issues of power sector companies, with the proceeds purportedly needed to plug gaps in funding for the overdue renewal of the sector's creaking asset base. While this may be consistent with the government's practice of retaining control over an exceptionally high proportion of the nation's economic wealth, it is hideously expensive for the average Russian citizen, whose typical 25% marginal cost of capital is perhaps four times that of an efficient public shareholder company.

No substantive barriers to reformWe suggest that all of this - and our exposure in this report of what we see as other myths - is actually good news for sector shareholders. In our view, there is nothing more to the government's tariff smoothing policy than short-term political populism. We see no alternative to the government reverting to its previous, economically rational policy as soon as the presidential election has been decided.

Travelport to partner with the Internet Travel Services Association of Russia

http://www.traveldailynews.com/pages/show_page/43789-Travelport-to-partner-with-the-Internet-Travel-Services-Association-of-Russia

Monday, June 13, 2011

Travelport, the business services provider to the global travel industry, has signed a partnership agreement with the emerging Russian Internet Travel Services Association (ITSA) which will see both parties collaborating to promote growth and provide support to the online travel industry in Russia.

Founded last year and chaired by longstanding travel industry professional Vadim Zelensky, the aim of the association is to establish a unified forum where agencies selling online travel can benefit from negotiated rates and a range of support services. In a region where the online travel industry constitutes 3-5% of flight sales, thought leaders are predicting this figure to double in 2012, supported by leading technology solutions such as those provided by Travelport.

The new partnership will equip members, at present consisting of five of Russia’s leading online agencies, with direct access to Travelport’s range of travel technology solutions and advice from the growing local team. With online tools such as Galileo Web Services and Travelport Universal API, agencies can integrate their booking interface with the Galileo system.

Maria Yakushkina commented on the partnership “This cooperation between ITSA and Travelport supports our established strategy to invest in the travel industry across Russia, particularly within online travel. We are fully committed to working with business and leisure agencies to help drive efficiencies and increase revenues.”

Vadim Zelensky, chairman of ITSA, stated: “There is huge growth potential within the online travel arena in Russia and through partnerships with industry leaders like Travelport, we can ensure that we are best placed to promote the development of the industry. Our member agencies benefit not only from access to leading distribution solutions, but also reliable travel technology consultation services and we look forward to drawing insight from Travelport’s expertise in this sector”.

Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)

Rosneft names new board chairmanhttp://www.kyivpost.com/news/russia/detail/106516/

3 days ago at 19:43 | Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's top oil company Rosneft has appointed a new chairman of the board after Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin stepped down as part of President Dmitry Medvedev's purge of senior officials from state companies.

Russian news agencies reported that the Rosneft board's deputy chair Alexander Nekipelov, a boardmember since 2006, was elected to the top position at the company's annual general meeeting on Friday.

Sechin, Russia's energy czar, stepped down in April after Medvedev announced officials shouldn't serve on the boards of state companies, a move to improve the investment climate.

Read more: http://www.kyivpost.com/news/russia/detail/106516/#ixzz1P8CjQSEH

Russia’s Rosneft mulls doubling its market valuehttp://english.ruvr.ru/2011/06/12/51633585.html

Chupina MariaJun 12, 2011 19:42 Moscow Time

As quoted on the LSE, Russia’s Rosneft is worth nearly 100 billion American dollars. It says it may be worth at least two times as much in five year’s time.

Head of the National Energy Security Foundation Dr Konstantin Simonov believes the target figure is quite realistic:

"Indeed, Rosneft leads all other oil and gas PLCs in terms of proven reserves. Moreover, it is planning structural reforms and bold expansion into new geographic areas."

"The company is to be sold off to private investors, which spells a sharp growth in its market valuation. It is also expanding into the High Arctic with projects to tap huge deposits of oil and gas on the Arctic Shelf. In this field, it is second to none."

After acquiring a 50-percent stake in Germany’s Ruhr Oel, Rosneft is going to buy into the retail fuel sector in Germany. It is also considering plans to pump oil and refined oil products to Asian countries including China. For all this, a top-notch international management team is in the offing.

This year alone, the company’s outlay on long-term investment is to top 20 billion American dollars.

Rosneft: ‘Chevron in Black Sea exit’

http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article261244.ece

A huge deal between Rosneft and Chevron to drill in the Black Sea appears to have bitten the dust after the former said the latter is all but assured to pulling out.

Eoin O'Cinneide & news wires  10 June 2011 16:05 GMT

The deal between the US supermajor and the Russian energy giant had appeared to be on the rocks as early as March.

Today, Rosneft chief executive, Eduard Khudainatov, appeared to spell the death knell for the deal. Reuters quoted the executive as saying: "It's obvious that they will exit”.

The news wire did not mention the name of the project on which the partners are working but referred to the likely end of a $1 billion deal.

In June last year Chevron and Rosneft signed an agreement to jointly explore and develop the Val Shatskogo (Skatsky Ridge) field on Russia's Black Sea deep-water shelf. The agreement was then the biggest energy deal in Russia involving a foreign major this year.

The two parties were to throw in a combined $1 billion investment with overall investment in the project set to top $32 billion if it went ahead. Chevron was to finance initial exploration activities, including seismic surveys and exploration drilling and take a 30% stake in return.

In March it was reported that the pair was looking at whether or not to press ahead with the deal after disagreements on the choice of a project contractor, where the joint venture should be domiciled, and on the jurisdiction of arbitration for any business disputes.

Today’s admission from Khudainatov does not spell the end of the relationship between Chevron and Rosneft, however, the chief executive continuing: "But Chevron will remain our partner and wants to continue working on offshore projects with us”.

Published: 10 June 2011 16:05 GMT  | Last updated: 10 June 2011 17:03 GMT

The first natural gas will flow in the South Stream pipeline no later than end of 2015-Russiahttp://www.balkans.com/open-news.php?uniquenumber=108319

Novinite - 11.06.2011

The first natural gas will flow in the South Stream pipeline no later than end of 2015, stated Russian Ambassador to Bulgaria Yuriy Isakov. In an interview for the Bulgarian National Radio, Isakov expressed optimism on all joint energy projects Bulgaria and Russia are discussing. "At present all countries participating in South Stream, including Bulgaria, have agreed to the terms and we will have the project companies created in all of them by the end of 2011," said the Russian envoy.

Bashneft 1Q11 results conference call - commercial production at Trebs and Titov might start in 2014 http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text15800

VTB CapitalJune 10, 2011

News: Bashneft has held a conference call to comment on its 1Q11 results. The company reiterated its 2011 production target at around 15mmtn (110mmbbl), and noted that it intends to maintain this level for a number of years. Talking about the Trebs and Titov development, company President Alexander Korsik said that commercial production would probably to start in 2014. Answering a question about the possible sale of the stake in Bashneft to ONGC, Korsik said that if it happened in 2011, it would be closer to the end of the year.

Our View: In 5mo11, Bashneft produced 6.2mmtn of crude. Given this and the growth in well flows at new wells (according to the company's 1Q11 presentation), we believe Bashneft could achieve its 2011 production target. This would imply its 2011 crude production rising 6% YoY, which would be a record growth rate among Russian public oil companies. While we do not expect the company to continue its strong organic growth over the next 2-3 years, after the launch of the Trebs and Titov fields we expect the growth story to continue. We remain positive on the stock, with the main risk being an increase in the tax burden on the Russian downstream sector.

Gazprom

SOCAR has made a statement on Azeri gas transit talks with Gazpromhttp://abc.az/eng/news_11_06_2011_54994.html

Baku, Fineko/abc.az. The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) has commented on the issue of negotiations with Russian monopoly Gazprom about transit of Azeri gas through the Russian territory.

Theoretically, this transit may be needed very soon.

The story is disseminated only on condition of close subscription. Please, if you are interested, contact with marketing service of Fineko news agency.

11.06.2011 12:32

Gazprom Neft wants to start oil production in Venezuela in 2013http://www.steelguru.com/russian_news/Gazprom_Neft_wants_to_start_oil_production_in_Venezuela_in_2013/209341.html

Sunday, 12 Jun 2011RIA Novosti citing Mr Alexander Dyukov CEO of Russia Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of state controlled energy giant Gazprom as saying that the company wants to start oil production at the Junin-6 block in the oil-rich Orinoco River belt in Venezuela in 2013.

He said that "We are discussing a possible launch of early production in 2013 with the Venezuelans, adding that Gazprom Neft planned to make exploratory drillings at the deposit in 2011.”

(Sourced from RIA Novosti)