Russia 110627

Basic Political Developments ITAR-TASS news digest of June 27: 1.

o MOSCOW - - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will hold a 25th meeting of the Presidential Commission for Modernization and Technological Development to discuss “ecological aspects in the priority trends of modernization” here on Monday.

o MOSCOW - - If Belarus fails to pay for electric power supplies, Inter RAO UES will halt all power supplies to the country, Inter RAO UES CEO Boris Kovalchuk said last Friday.

o IZHEVSK - - Udmurtia will launch the disposal of dud ammunition from the technical premises of the military unit number 86696 in Pugachevo in the Malaya Purga district on Monday. A major fire, which broke out at the 102nd ammunition storage in early June, triggered the ammunition blasts that scattered their pieces several kilometers all around.

o MOSCOW - - A first international Russian-US symposium devoted to innovative technologies in genetics and children’ s epileptology will open here on Monday. The doctors will discuss the treatment of children with the use of advanced medical technologies, including nanotechnological developments for two days.

o KHABAROVSK - - The wildfire area reached 601 hectares in the Russian Far East for the past day.

o MOSCOW - - Shareholders of Russia’s state-run telecommunications operator Rostelecom at its annual general meeting will approve a report upon the results of 2010 and the size of dividend payment and choose a new board of directors.

o MOSCOW - - Russia’s Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on Tuesday insurance fees will be reduced, but no systematic solution has been found yet.

o MOSCOW - - Russia’s government plans to sell its stake in the country’s flag carrier Aeroflot making lower than the controlling one within five years, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin told the annual investor conference of Renaissance Capital on Monday.

o MOSCOW - - Russia’s Emergencies Ministry sends another plane to Vladikavkaz, the capital city of the Russian North Caucasian republic of North Ossetia, to pick up more people injured in an explosion of household gas tank and take them to Moscow for further treatment, a ministry spokesman told Itar-Tass on Monday.

o MAKHACHKALA - - As of the beginning of the year, 100 militants have been destroyed and another 118 detained, two militants have voluntarily laid down their arms in Dagestan during special operations.

o MOSCOW - - Russia’s Emergencies Ministry has sent another plane to Vladikavkaz, the capital city of the Russian North Caucasian republic of North Ossetia, to pick up more people injured in an explosion of household gas tank and take them to Moscow and St. Petersburg for further treatment, a ministry spokesman told Itar-Tass on Monday.

o SUKHUM - - A presidential election campaign starts in the Caucasian republic of Abkhazia from Monday. The elections will be held on August 26.

Syrian opposition leaders in Moscow: growing role of Russian diplomacy - Valdaiclub.com interview with Andrei Baklanov, head of the Federation Council’s foreign affairs department and deputy chairman of the board of the Russian Diplomats Association

Russia’s Envoy to Meet Syrian Human Rights Activists in Moscow - Margelov will meet the group on June 28, he told Bloomberg News in a text message.

Damascus thanks Moscow for resisting international pressure on Syriao Syria thanks RF for counteraction to interference in Syria affairs - Syria “is

grateful to Russia for the counteraction to foreign interference in Syrian domestic affairs,” a member of the regional branch of the Arab Socialist Baath Party Yasser Huria said on Sunday. RF to halt power supply to Belarus, if not repaid debt Mon night.

RF to halt power supply to Belarus, if not repaid debt Mon night. Russia ‘satisfied’ as Shwe Mann visits Moscow - A senior Burmese delegation led

by the powerful House speaker Shwe Mann arrived in Moscow on Saturday for what state media billed a ‘fact finding’ mission to assess Russia’s parliamentary model.

Russian not to extradite Bakiyev’s backers Presidential campaign starts in Abkhazia. Spanish military delegation to talk army reform in Moscow - "The talks'

participants will discuss the development of the military and political situation in the world's crisis regions, exchange the experience of reforming national armed forces and taking part in operations to ensure maritime navigation security and fight piracy," the ministry said in a statement.

Mexican tourism secretary to visit Russia Bulava launches to resume June 28 - source Prokhorov may spend $100 mln on Right Cause campaign - media

o Oligarch calls for private TV in Russia 100 militants killed, another 118 detained in Dagestan in 2011. Militants’ accomplice detained in Kabardino-Balkaria. Russia convicts top spy of exposing 'sleeper' cell in US Russian police to undergo voluntary lie detector tests 22-year-old suspected of blinding aircraft crews detained in Rostov-on-Don Russia may close case against Hermitage Capital CEO - paper RF emergencies ministry to pick up more gas blast victims from N Ossetia. Udmurtia to start disposal of dud ammunition from burnt storage

Wildfires spread on 601 hectares in Russia’s Far East. o Taiga keeps burning in national parks in Buryatia.

Russian Duma Welcomes Moscow Demographic Summit, June 29-30 Russian legislators under fire for proposed abortion restrictions Reuters PRESS DIGEST - Russia - June 27 RIA Russian Press at a Glance, Monday, June 27, 2011 Interfax Moscow press review for June 27, 2011 Clues emerge from Russia’s political fog - By Neil Buckley

National Economic Trends Russia’s Kudrin sees spending growth no more than 4% in 2012–2013 Rouble down vs dollar on sliding oil, flight to safety Russia to reduce insurance fees for companies - Kudrin. Govt to lower its stake in Aeroflot - Kudrin.

o State to sell Aeroflot stake in 3-5 years Russia to continue policy and push reforms after elections Russia plans to sell off strategic industries - Speaking on Monday morning, Kudrin

said: “We are planning to raise about $30 billion in the next three years, but that’s only the first package.

Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions Polymetal, Gazprom, VTB, Rosneft: Russia Equity Preview Russia’s Micex Slides 2nd Day in Three as Crude Drops Below $90 Rostelecom to elect new board of directors at its annual meeting. Major shareholder torpedoes Irkutskenergo's share offering Sberbank to launch ADR program Alrosa to Supply Diamonds Worth $30 Million to Armenia in 2011 RUSSIAN FINANCE MINISTRY PROPOSES PRIVATIZING 10% OF ALROSA Dixy posts revenue growth in 5M

Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory) Cuban, Russian Firms Sign Oil Partnership Agreements - The deals signed

between state-owned Cuba Petroleo and Russian state-controlled Zarubezhneft pertain to an oil deposit near Boca de Jaruco, a fishing village in Mayabeque province, northeast of Havana, the official AIN news agency reported.Rosneft to Buy Fuel Filling Complex in Vnukovo, Vedomosti Says

o Rosneft in talks to buy 50 pct stake in Vnukovo refuelling complex for $600 mln

Tatneft Filling Stations Introduce Energy Efficient and Environment Friendly Technologies

Warnig Said to Join Transneft

Gazprom Russian govt not to sell its stake in Gazprom – presidential aide.

o Gazprom not planned for inclusion in privatization list – Dvorkovich Mr Zubkov not to quit Gazprom board before July Energy cooperation has major growth potential - Gazprom and Japan Oil major NIS first company from Serbia to open representation in Brussels

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Full Text Articles

Basic Political Developments

11:19 27/06/2011ALL NEWS

ITAR-TASS news digest of June 27: 1.

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/173804.html

27/6 Tass 92

MOSCOW - - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will hold a 25th meeting of the Presidential Commission for Modernization and Technological Development to discuss “ecological aspects in the priority trends of modernization” here on Monday.

“The presidential commission will consider technological aspects to improve the ecological situation, those promising technologies, which can be applied to bring down hazardous emissions and to make energy efficiency higher,” aide of the Russian president Dvorkovich said.

MOSCOW - - If Belarus fails to pay for electric power supplies, Inter RAO UES will halt all power supplies to the country, Inter RAO UES CEO Boris Kovalchuk said last Friday.

“If the money transfers are not made by Monday night, we reaffirm that we are ready to halt electric power supplies in Belarus,” Kovalchuk said.

Some part of the debt was already repaid, but the second tranche, which was not made under the deadline (before June 20) last Tuesday, could have triggered the full halt to the power supplies. Finally, the Russian energy company moved the deadline to Monday, June 27.

IZHEVSK - - Udmurtia will launch the disposal of dud ammunition from the technical premises of the military unit number 86696 in Pugachevo in the Malaya Purga district on Monday. A major fire, which broke out at the 102nd ammunition storage in early June, triggered the ammunition blasts that scattered their pieces several kilometers all around.

The ammunition will be destroyed in the blasts at a specially equipped site, the press service of the Udmurtia emergencies department told Itar-Tass on Sunday.

MOSCOW - - A first international Russian-US symposium devoted to innovative technologies in genetics and children’ s epileptology will open here on Monday. The doctors will discuss the treatment of children with the use of advanced medical technologies, including nanotechnological developments for two days.

Seeking to make the quality of medical aid higher for the children with the most severe genetic and nervous system diseases, Russian specialists are planning to share the modern international experience with US colleagues and to use in practice unique medical technologies in epileptology.

KHABAROVSK - - The wildfire area reached 601 hectares in the Russian Far East for the past day.

MOSCOW - - Shareholders of Russia’s state-run telecommunications operator Rostelecom at its annual general meeting will approve a report upon the results of 2010 and the size of dividend payment and choose a new board of directors.

Earlier, Rostelecom’s board of directors recommended to allocate 2.215 million roubles or 64.03 percent of its net profit to increase the company’s own capital and 105,486 roubles or 3.05 percent of its net profit to pay dividends.

At the same time dividends will be paid only under preference shares. For nine months of last year 1.139 million roubles or 32.92 percent of the net profit were earmarked for dividend payment.

MOSCOW - - Russia’s Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on Tuesday insurance fees will be reduced, but no systematic solution has been found yet.

Companies’ insurance fees to the social and pension funds “will be lower, not 34 percent as it had been planned for this year,” he told the 15th annual investor conference of Renaissance Capital on Monday.

“However, we still cannot find a systematic solution, it will be developed within two years.”

He stressed the need for developing such measures to make the pension system stable.

MOSCOW - - Russia’s government plans to sell its stake in the country’s flag carrier Aeroflot making lower than the controlling one within five years, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin told the annual investor conference of Renaissance Capital on Monday.

“Within three-five years we should sell controlling stakes in practically all main companies. The talk is not only about the financial and oil sectors, but also about telecommunications and transport companies beginning from Sovkomflot and Aeroflot,” he said.

Kudrin noted that he was not ready to name how much shares the government will sell in Aeroflot. But most probably Aeroflot will be “in the list of companies, where the government’s stake is lower that 50 plus one share.”

MOSCOW - - Russia’s Emergencies Ministry sends another plane to Vladikavkaz, the capital city of the Russian North Caucasian republic of North Ossetia, to pick up more people injured in an explosion of household gas tank and take them to Moscow for further treatment, a ministry spokesman told Itar-Tass on Monday.

“It is planned that an emergencies ministry airplane will take off from the Ramenskoye airport outside Moscow before noon. The plane equipped with special medical modules will take those who had received the graves injuries from Vladikavkaz to Moscow,” the spokesman said.

MAKHACHKALA - - As of the beginning of the year, 100 militants have been destroyed and another 118 detained, two militants have voluntarily laid down their arms in Dagestan during special operations.

As ITAR-TASS learnt at the Interior Ministry of the republic, “the Dagestanian police has also suffered considerable losses in killed and wounded - - four officers of the Federal Security Service died and another four got injuries, besides one border-guard and one officer of the Investigation Committee also died.

During this period, more than 70 submachine-guns, three machine-guns, 157 pistols of different types, 125 grenades, three suicide-bomber belts, as well as a lot of components for making explosive devices were confiscated from militants.

MOSCOW - - Russia’s Emergencies Ministry has sent another plane to Vladikavkaz, the capital city of the Russian North Caucasian republic of North Ossetia, to pick up more people injured in an explosion of household gas tank and take them to Moscow and St. Petersburg for further treatment, a ministry spokesman told Itar-Tass on Monday.

SUKHUM - - A presidential election campaign starts in the Caucasian republic of Abkhazia from Monday. The elections will be held on August 26.

Under the republican law, candidates for presidency are to be registered with the Central Election Commission within ten days after submission of documents.

Early presidential vote will be held in Abkhazia after its former president, Sergei Bagapsh, died at the age of 62 after a lung surgery.

Currently, Vice president Alexander Ankvab is Abkhazia’ s acting president.

Syrian opposition leaders in Moscow: growing role of Russian diplomacyhttp://en.rian.ru/valdai_op/20110627/164862755.html

11:24 27/06/2011

Andrei Baklanov

Contact between Russian representatives and foreign opposition leaders aims to help conflicting sides find a mutually acceptable compromise.  The Syrian institutes of power that were created several decades ago do not meet modern standards of democracy and efficiency. Unfortunately, there are no conflict and crisis settlement and prevention mechanisms in the Middle East.

Valdaiclub.com interview with Andrei Baklanov, head of the Federation Council’s foreign affairs department and deputy chairman of the board of the Russian Diplomats Association

What is your assessment of the current situation in Syria? Are the media dramatizing it?

I think the situation there will become more complicated. President Bashar Assad has chosen a bad strategy – he is proposing reforms not in a proactive manner, but in response to growing pressure from the opposition.

I think the incumbent President should try to reverse the situation by taking initiative and moving to radical reform, thereby taking the opposition by surprise by its scale and courage.

We have not seen this so far. Personally, I was disappointed by his last address, on June 20, which everyone had been waiting for with great interest.

On the one hand, he outlined key areas of reform – adoption of a new constitution, holding parliamentary elections, and broad dialogue with all segments of the population. This is definitely positive.

On the other hand, that policy statement was not accompanied by any concrete proposals that would be understandable by the people, which is exactly what people are waiting for.

This is a deep and systemic crisis. The Syrian institutes of power that were created several decades ago do not meet modern standards of democracy and efficiency. It will require large-scale action to remedy the situation.

Unless the Syrian authorities review their policies, the consequences for the regime, the country and the region could be very grave.

The UN Security Council is discussing a possible resolution on Syria. Why is Russia so firmly opposed to it? Could it change its stance?

Russia’s attitude is primarily based on a negative assessment of the West's implementation of the Security Council resolution on Libya. We don’t want the international community to continue using the scheme that has been applied to Libya.

How would you evaluate Russia's economic relations with Damascus? Is it possible that Russia’s protection of Syria is based on these relations?

Syria is an old and very important economic partner of Russia in the Middle East. But I believe that in determining its stance on Syria, Russia will rely mostly on other factors, above all its interest in maintaining regional peace and stability. Our priority is international and regional security.

Russia’s only naval base in the Mediterranean is located in Syria. What will happen if the current Syrian regime falls?

I believe that our presence, in whatever form, should be based on the conjunction of interests with the given region’s countries.

The Russian Navy is becoming a major stabilizing force in a number of regions, in terms of combating pirates, for example, and other challenges and threats. Providing assistance to it is objectively the duty for everyone who advocates stronger security regimes and freedom of navigation and trade. I therefore believe that cooperation in this area with respect to Syria will be maintained whatever turn events may take. 

On June 27, a delegation of Syrian opposition leaders will come to Moscow where they will meet with Mikhail Margelov, the President’s special envoy to Africa. What effect could this visit have on settling the political situation in Syria?

I think that contact between Russian representatives and foreign opposition leaders aims to help conflicting sides find a mutually acceptable compromise. However, the Russian and Syrian authorities believe that a clear line must be drawn between the citizens’ legitimate demands to the government and destabilizing extremist and criminal actions.

Here is what I’d like to say about the Russian representatives’ efforts in the Middle East: I am deeply satisfied that the role of Russian diplomacy in the region has been growing. A vivid example is the shuttle diplomacy of Mikhail Margelov, the President’s special envoy to Africa. His efforts have won broad international recognition and have produced a positive effect internationally.

Unfortunately, it must be said that there are no conflict and crisis settlement and

prevention mechanisms in the Middle East.

In connection with this, I’d like to say that during the meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club in Malta in December 2010 I suggested resuming operation of the working group on Middle East security, which was set up in Moscow in January 1992 as part of multilateral peace talks. Many foreign delegates supported my idea.

In the next few days I plan to meet with Mikhail Bogdanov, the newly appointed Deputy Foreign Minister who is responsible for the Foreign Ministry’s Middle Eastern policy. I will remind him about that proposal. I am sure that countries in that region should have a mechanism for the provision of good services for defusing conflicts and crises such as the one in Syria.

Russia’s Envoy to Meet Syrian Human Rights Activists in Moscowhttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-26/russia-s-envoy-to-meet-syrian-human-rights-activists-in-moscow.html

By Henry Meyer and Marina Sysoyeva - Jun 26, 2011 12:33 PM GMT+0200

Russia’s envoy to Africa Mikhail Margelov is to meet a delegation of Syrian human rights activists in Moscow after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Syria’s leadership must be pressured to end its crackdown.

Margelov will meet the group on June 28, he told Bloomberg News in a text message.

The talks are to be held amid the unrest in Syria, where opposition supporters are calling for an end to President Bashar al-Assad’s government. The clashes pushed the number of Syrian refugees in neighboring Turkey to 11,739 on June 24, according to Anatolia news agency that cited the office of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Putin has distanced himself from Assad, saying on June 21 in Paris that Russia has no “special interests” in Syria. "Certainly, it is necessary to pressure leadership of any country, where mass unrest and, all the more, bloodshed take place," he said. "It is necessary to demand from any country’s leadership to use those measures that would not lead to human deaths, and, vice versa, to demand the use of political instruments during solution of domestic issues."

To contact the reporters on this story: Henry Meyer in Moscow at hmeyer4@bloomberg.net; Marina Sysoyeva in Moscow at msysoyeva@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net

RT News line, June 27

Damascus thanks Moscow for resisting international pressure on Syriahttp://rt.com/politics/news-line/2011-06-27/

11:19

Syria is grateful to Russia for opposing international interference in its internal affairs, a senior member of the ruling Arab Socialist Baath Party, Yasser Huria, said after talks with the Russian delegation in Damascus. Syria is set on taking the path of reform, as President Bashar Assad recently vowed to do, Huria assured the Russian diplomats. Russia opposes calls to adopt a resolution condemning the actions of Syria’s authorities, claiming any interference in its domestic affairs is not an option, calling instead for dialogue with the turmoil-stricken country.

01:35 27/06/2011Top News

Syria thanks RF for counteraction to interference in Syria affairs

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c32/173615.html

BEIRUT, June 27 (Itar-Tass) —— Syria “is grateful to Russia for the counteraction to foreign interference in Syrian domestic affairs,” a member of the regional branch of the Arab Socialist Baath Party Yasser Huria said on Sunday. Syria is grateful to Russia for the country’s position on this issue, he noted.

Huria, who chairs the Syrian-Russian Friendship Society, had negotiations with representatives of the Russian-Syrian Friendship Society in Damascus. A well-known Russian politician and the former Soviet Union ambassador in Syria, Alexander Dzasokhov, heads the delegation of the society. The negotiations focused on a major role of the friendship societies to maintain bilateral cooperation in culture, science, education, tourism and economy. Speaker of the Syrian People’s Assembly (parliament) Mahmoud Abrash received Dzasokhov.

“Syria intends to advance on the path of the reforms, which will satisfy the needs of people, will enhance the scope of democratic freedoms and will bring the country to a new stage of development,” Huria said. For his part, Abrash noted that “a national dialogue, which will be launched in the next few days, will contribute to find a way out of the crisis.’

Dzasokhov wished to Syria and the country’s people “to overcome all the difficulties and implement a program of reforms, about which President Bashar al-Assad was reporting in his latest speech.”

01:54 27/06/2011ALL NEWS

RF to halt power supply to Belarus, if not repaid debt Mon night.

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/173617.html

27/6 Tass 5

MOSCOW, June 27 (Itar-Tass) —— If Belarus fails to pay for electric power supplies, Inter RAO UES will halt all power supplies to the country, Inter RAO UES CEO Boris Kovalchuk said last Friday.

“If the money transfers are not made by Monday night, we reaffirm that we are ready to halt electric power supplies in Belarus,” Kovalchuk said.

On Thursday, June 23, Belarusian Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich pledged that the debt will be repaid before June 28. “This week the energy ministers of Russia and Belarus had consultations. They agreed that all the settlements will be made before Tuesday. There are no objective reasons for worries that this will not take place,” Myasnikovich noted.

On June 9, Inter RAO halved the electric power supplies in Belarus from 400-500 MW to 200 MW, because Belenergo failed to pay for these supplies since March and the debt totaled 1.5 billion roubles. Then the sides succeeded to agree that the debt will be repaid in several tranches and electric power supplies will be resumed in the same volume.

Some part of the debt was already repaid, but the second tranche, which was not made under the deadline (before June 20) last Tuesday, could have triggered the full halt to the power supplies. Finally, the Russian energy company moved the deadline to Monday, June 27.

“We have made one more deferment to Belarus until Monday that is the day before which the power supplies are not stopped,” the Inter RAO CEO said.

Monday, 27 June 2011

Russia ‘satisfied’ as Shwe Mann visits Moscowhttp://www.dvb.no/news/russia-%E2%80%98satisfied%E2%80%99-as-shwe-mann-visits-moscow/16303

By DVBPublished: 27 June 2011

A senior Burmese delegation led by the powerful House speaker Shwe Mann arrived in Moscow on Saturday for what state media billed a ‘fact finding’ mission to assess Russia’s parliamentary model.

The trip prompted the Medvedev administration’s first public acknowledgement of the new Burmese government, which came to power in March. A foreign ministry statement at the weekend noted that Russian officials “expressed satisfaction with the program for political reforms … and transition to civilian rule” in Burma.

Also in the delegation were Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin, Deputy Foreign Minister Maung Myint and Vice President Tin Aung Myint Oo. Shwe Mann said on Friday that the visit was part of an attempt to build the capacity of Burmese government officials through “self-study, discussions and workshops”, that included a trip to Cambodia in April.

It is not the first time Shwe Mann has visited Moscow – in 2006, during his tenure as joint chief of staff of the Burmese army, he made a secretive trip there with then Vice-Senior General Maung Aye to bid for assistance in the development of a nuclear reactor and heavy weaponry.

Russia is known to have provided training programmes for Burmese military technicians and scientists, and is a leading arms supplier to Naypyidaw, having in the past provided surface-to-air missiles.

But it is also a leading proponent of the ‘disciplined democracy’ model that Burmese officials have occasionally used to clarify questions about their so-called transition to civilian rule.

The foreign ministry statement talked of “possibilities of intensifying the political dialogue” between the two countries with suggestions that Russia is looking to develop a stronger security presence in Southeast Asia.

“In the context of discussions on the international agenda special attention was paid to the situation in the Asia-Pacific region and coordination of positions on topical problems of the world, above all – to building there a new security architecture based on multilateral approaches to deepening cooperation between Russia and the Association of South-East Asian Nations,” it said.

Russian not to extradite Bakiyev’s backers http://eng.24.kg/community/2011/06/27/18907.html

27/06-2011 09:07, Bishkek – 24.kg news agency “There are no ground to detain Sergei Kostuk and Anna Konstantinova,” these are the conclusions contained in the resolution of Cheremushkinsky Inter-District Prosecutor’s Office of south-western administrative district of Moscow (Russia), which was made, as it became known, as early as June 10, 2011. 24.kg news agency received a response to a request to organs of the prosecutor’s office of the Russian capital to explain how the decision on detainees extradition will be taken.

“Criminal office of Bishkek City Department of Internal Affairs of the KR has put Sergei Vladimirovich Kostuk, born in 1966, native of Odessa city, in federal wanted list for commitment of crimes under article 166 (fraud) of Criminal Code of the KR,” reads the decision of Cheremushkinsky Inter-District Prosecutor’s Office. The message says that: “The inspection found out that Sergei Kostuk is a citizen of the Russian Federation and that’s why cannot be extradited to the KR.”

“Currently Prosecutor General’s Office of the RF is carrying out a number of actions to remove Sergei Vladimirovich Kostuk from federal wanted list. There are no grounds for detention and arrest,” reads the document.

Preobragensky Inter-District Prosecutor’s Office of Moscow city made analogue decision in respect of Anna Konstantinova. On June 15, she was detained at the request of Kyrgyzstan’s militia as “Maxim Bakiyev’s backer.” Information about Anna Konstantinova’s arrest appeared in media.

However, decision of Preobragensky Inter-District Prosecutor’s Office of Moscow city informed that during the check of Russian citizen Anna Konstantinova, it was revealed that on June 15, 2011, she voluntarily came to Preobragensky Department of Internal Affairs and later to prosecutor’s office of the region as she had found out that she was put into international wanted list on the initiative of law enforcement agencies of Kyrgyzstan. Anna Konstantinova is suspected of legalization of criminal proceedings and abuse of office.

The decision of Preobragensky inter-district court reads “there are no grounds for detention.” “Anna Romanovna Konstantinova is a citizen of the Russian Federation and cannot be detained at the territory of the RF.” As a result, inter-district prosecutor made a decision not to detain her and to inform all interested people about it.

Recall, previously, Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) of Kyrgyzstan informed media that several backers of Maxim Bakiyev were detained in Russia and noted that all of them were internationally wanted. And Head of Main Directorate of the Criminal Investigation (GUUR) of MVD Tilek Alibaev reported that “backers of ex-president of Kyrgyzstan Kurmanbek Bakiyev were detained.”

According to him, on June 2, operative GUUR group went to Russia and detained 8 criminals that were in interstate and international wanted list, whereof 3 were suspects in criminal case on events of June 2011 at the south of the country. Talking about Sergei Kostuk, Tilek Alibaev said that “he was Maxim Bakiyev’s financier and could know where Bakiyev’s family transferred it money,” adding that “the question on his extradition is being solve now.”

URL: http://eng.24.kg/community/2011/06/27/18907.html

11:14 27/06/2011ALL NEWS

Presidential campaign starts in Abkhazia.

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/173798.html

27/6 Tass 74

SUKHUM, June 27 (Itar-Tass) —— A presidential election campaign starts in the Caucasian republic of Abkhazia from Monday. The elections will be held on August 26.

Under the republican law, candidates for presidency are to be registered with the Central Election Commission within ten days after submission of documents.

Early presidential vote will be held in Abkhazia after its former president, Sergei Bagapsh, died at the age of 62 after a lung surgery.

Currently, Vice president Alexander Ankvab is Abkhazia’ s acting president.

The Central Election Commission is updating voter lists, said its chairman, Batal Tabagua. He expressed the hope that the campaign will be held in a quiet atmosphere.

The Abkhazian parliament called on all political forces to demonstrate the country’s commitment to commonly recognized democratic principles and human rights. The elections must be held in “the atmosphere of mutual understanding and peace to demonstrate that the republic of Abkhazia is a civilized, law-ruled and democratic state,” the lawmakers said in a statement.

The ruling United Abkhazia party said it will not nominate its candidate, while the opposition association, the Forum of Popular Unity, announced its participation in the presidential race. The Forum of Popular Unity embraces three parties and nine public movements. Apart from these two, there are Communist Party, People’s Party, and the Party of Economic Development.

Spanish military delegation to talk army reform in Moscowhttp://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20110627/164856931.html

01:55 27/06/2011

MOSCOW, June 27 (RIA Novosti)

A military delegation of the Spanish Armed Forces will arrive in Moscow on Monday to discuss army reform and the fight against maritime piracy, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

"The talks' participants will discuss the development of the military and political situation in the world's crisis regions, exchange the experience of reforming national armed forces and taking part in operations to ensure maritime navigation security and fight piracy," the ministry said in a statement.

In line with the reform plan for the Russian Armed Forces, the number of servicemen should be reduced by 17% to 1 million by 2012. The number of officers will be cut by 34% to 220,000 people.

Besides, the reform envisions reorganization of six military districts into four, and raising monetary allowance to officers.

Mexican tourism secretary to visit Russiahttp://en.rian.ru/world/20110627/164859219.html

07:22 27/06/2011

MEXICO CITY, June 27 (RIA Novosti)

Mexican Tourism Secretary Gloria Guevara Manzo is heading to Moscow on Monday, her ministry reported.

"Mexico is interested in attracting a larger number of tourists from Europe, including Russia," the ministry said.

"We propose that our guests vacation at wonderful beaches and inspect over 30 archeological zones connected with the rich history of the ancient Maya and Aztec civilizations," the ministry said.

Over 27,000 Russians visited Mexico in 2010, which is 134% more than in 2009. The number of Russian visitors in the first four months of 2011 exceeded 14,000, the ministry said.

During her visit, Manzo is expected to hold talks with Vitaly Mutko, the Russian sports, tourism and youth policy minister.

Bulava launches to resume June 28 - sourcehttp://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20110626/164850804.html

13:26 26/06/2011

MOSCOW, June 26 (RIA Novosti)

A new test launch of Russia's troubled Bulava missile will be staged on June 28, a Russian Defense Ministry source said on Sunday.

Despite several previous failures, officially blamed on manufacturing defects, the Russian military has insisted that there is no alternative to the Bulava and pledged to continue testing the missile until it is ready for service with the Navy.

"The decision to hold a test launch of the Bulava (SS-NX-30) submarine-launched ballistic missile on June 28 was taken by the State Commission for Flight Testing on Saturday," the source said.

The launch will take place from a standard carrier, the Yuri Dolgoruky nuclear submarine, in the Barents Sea.

Russia is planning to conduct at least four Bulava test launches this year and deploy the missile on its new Borey class strategic submarines.

The Bulava missile carries up to 10 MIRV warheads and has a range of over 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles).

The Russian military expects the Bulava, along with Topol-M land-based ballistic missiles, to become the core of Russia's nuclear triad.

Prokhorov may spend $100 mln on Right Cause campaign - mediahttp://en.rian.ru/business/20110627/164859713.html

08:00 27/06/2011

MOSCOW, June 27 (RIA Novosti)

Mikhail Prokhorov could spend $100 million on the election campaign of his pro-business Right Cause party, Russian online publication The New Times reported on Monday citing sources in the Russian tycoon's entourage.

"The businessman and politician plans to spend $100 million of his own funds on the election campaign of a party that virtually does not exist for the voters today, and collect the same amount from his fellow businessmen," the publication said.

The fellow businessmen could include billionaires Suleiman Kerimov and Alexander Mamut.

There has been no official confirmation of the report.

Prokhorov, the president of private investment fund Onexim Group, is Russia's third richest man with an estimated wealth of $18 billion. He was elected the head of Right Cause at the party congress on Saturday.

Prokhorov owns the New Jersey Nets basketball team.

Parliamentary elections in Russia will be held in December. The New Times said the businessman hopes to receive up to 15% at them.

Oligarch calls for private TV in Russiahttp://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hvmwOvdxyDShbc00ue7ef5vt0x_w?docId=CNG.74d26f8877bc5108e8836ab5bbde3a42.6b1

(AFP) – 44 minutes ago

MOSCOW — Billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, the new leader of a Russian pro-reform party, said on Monday that one of the top three state television channels should be privatised and attacked the Kremlin's governance model.

Speaking in an interview with business daily Vedomosti, Prokhorov, who over the weekend won the leadership of Pravoe Delo (Right Cause), also said he would quit business to focus his energies entirely on politics.

Ranked Russia's second richest man with a reported fortune of $22.7 billion, Prokhorov in May caught Russia by surprise announcing his willingness to head a small pro-

business party and help it win enough of the vote to gain entry to the Russian lower house of parliament, the State Duma, in December polls.

The announcement marked the first foray into politics by a top businessman since the arrest in 2003 of oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who supporters say was punished for daring to finance opposition to strongman Vladimir Putin.

Critics say however the move would have been unimaginable without the blessing from Prime Minister Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev who are keen for Russia to have at least some semblance of competition ahead of parliamentary polls in December followed by a presidential vote three months later.

Prokhorov said in the interview that one of his key proposals would be to make one top television channel private to make news media more diverse and competitive.

"I believe that one of three state television channels should be privatised in the nearest future. So that there appears a television channel expressing a different position," he said.

All top television channels in Russia have become state-controlled after Putin came to power in 1999 using his tight control over the national airwaves to consolidate his grip on power and whittle down the influence of big tycoons.

Prokhorov also said he did not share some of the ruling tandem's views, taking issue with the Kremlin's top-down governance model.

"On some issues I agree with Vladimir Putin, on some with Dmitry Medvedev, on others I do not agree," he said.

"For example, the country's governance model. It should be made different. Then the entire chain -- the tax, budget, social spheres and the rest -- would be at its most efficient."

The tycoon, who owns big stakes in the country's biggest gold producer Polyus Zoloto and UC Rusal, the world's top aluminium producer, said that from now on politics would take priority over business for him.

"Combining politics with business is impossible and unprofessional," he said.

"An internal conflict may happen -- when my programme begins to come into conflict with my asset. In that case an asset would have to be sold."

10:50 27/06/2011ALL NEWS

100 militants killed, another 118 detained in Dagestan in 2011.

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/173774.html

27/6 Tass 70

MAKHACHKALA, June 27 (Itar-Tass) —— As of the beginning of the year, 100 militants have been destroyed and another 118 detained, two militants have voluntarily laid down their arms in Dagestan during special operations.

As ITAR-TASS learnt at the Interior Ministry of the republic, “the Dagestanian police has also suffered considerable losses in killed and wounded - - four officers of the Federal Security Service died and another four got injuries, besides one border-guard and one officer of the Investigation Committee also died.

During this period, more than 70 submachine-guns, three machine-guns, 157 pistols of different types, 125 grenades, three suicide-bomber belts, as well as a lot of components for making explosive devices were confiscated from militants.

Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev is arriving in Dagestan for a working visit on Monday. He will present state and departmental awards to Dagestanian police officers, as well as hold a meeting to consider the results of the latest special operations with the participation of officers of the Interior Ministry and Interior Troops. In particular, the activity of the department in the course of the large-scale operation in the Kizlyar region will be analysed.

11:15 27/06/2011ALL NEWS

Militants’ accomplice detained in Kabardino-Balkaria.

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/173799.html

27/6 Tass 90

NALCHIK, June 27 (Itar-Tass) —— An accomplice of militants was detained in Kabardino-Balkaria, ITAR-TASS learnt at the Joint Information Centre of the republic’s law enforcement bodies on Monday.

“A VAZ-2107 car, which was driven by a 27-year-old resident of the city of Tyrnyauz, an active accomplice of militants who are on the federal wanted list for committing grave crimes, was detained at the 57th kilometre of the federal highway Baksan-Azau,” a representative of the centre said. He added that while examining the detainee, an RGD-1 grenade and 72 cartridges of 5.45-mm calibre were confiscated from him. Investigation is underway.

The operation to establish the whereabouts of and detain militants is going on in Kabardino-Balkaria. On Sunday, during a special operation in the Elbrus region conducted by officers of the Pskov OMON, a base of militants was destroyed in the mountain-forest locality adjacent to the Kamuk region of the city of Tyrnyauz. One gunman was killed, and another one was detained in the operation.

Jun 27, 2011

Russia convicts top spy of exposing 'sleeper' cell in US http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/World/Story/STIStory_684506.html

MOSCOW - A MOSCOW military court on Monday convicted in absentia former top foreign service agent Alexander Poteyev of betraying 10 'sleeper' spies expelled from the United States last year, Interfax reported.

Prosecutors had demanded a 25-year jail sentence for Poteyev who is believed to be in the United States. There was no immediate information on the court's sentence.

Russian news agencies said Poteyev had until last year served as the deputy head of the US department of Directorate S - a covert operations department involved in placing sleeper agents in foreign countries who try to pass off as locals. -- AFP

Russian police to undergo voluntary lie detector testshttp://en.rian.ru/russia/20110627/164861807.html

10:46 27/06/2011

Russian police officers will be voluntarily checked on lie detectors but the refusal to be tested could spoil their future career in law enforcement, the head of the Russian Interior Ministry's internal affairs division, Lt.-Gen. Yury Draguntsov, said on Monday.

"The polygraph testing is a voluntary thing, and the candidate has the right to refuse, but a refusal can raise questions from the members of the certifying committee and be an indirect reason of the refusal to be hired in the police force," Draguntsov said.

The polygraph testing and the certification of police officers is a part of the ongoing Interior Ministry's police reform that includes changing the name of Russian law enforcers from "militia" to the internationally accepted word "police," and cutting the number of policemen by 20%, while increasing salaries for those who remain.

In an interview with RIA Novosti, Draguntsov also said that every fifth police officer could fail the professional certification since the Interior Ministry's authorities have defamatory information concerning some of them.

"According to preliminary results, at least 15-20 percent of the police heads may fail the certification and be expelled from the police force," Draguntsov said.

He also said that Russian police officers have committed over 50,000 delinquencies in their duties, including 2,000 crimes since the start of the year. Most of the crimes were linked with traffic police officers, migration police as well as investigators and law enforcers keeping public order.

The significant statistics on the police officers' crimes is a result of the Ministry's internal affairs division's work which is aimed at "uncovering latent crimes," Draguntsov told RIA Novosti.

MOSCOW, June 27 (RIA Novosti)

June 27, 2011 11:03

22-year-old suspected of blinding aircraft crews detained in Rostov-on-Donhttp://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=254659

ROSTOV-ON-DON. June 27 (Interfax) - The police have detained a Rostov-on-Don resident born in 1989 on suspicion of blinding jetliner crews with a laser beam, Rostov regional police spokesman Alexei Polyansky told Interfax on Sunday.

"Local residents phoned the police at 2:15 a.m. Moscow time to report that a young man was aiming a laser beam towards the airport from Volkov Street in Rostov-on-Don. A police patrol seized the young man, who was carrying a green laser pointer. He was taken to a police station," Polyansky said.

The police and the Federal Security Service are verifying the possible involvement of the detainee in the blinding of pilots at the Rostov Airport. The crews of four commercial jetliners and a police helicopter have been blinded recently.

te eb

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

Russia may close case against Hermitage Capital CEO - paperhttp://en.rian.ru/russia/20110627/164863421.html

12:06 27/06/2011

MOSCOW, June 27 (RIA Novosti)

A criminal case against the head of the British hedge fund Hermitage Capital, William Browder, accused of tax evasion, may soon be closed, the Russian Kommersant business daily said on Monday.

Kommersant said that the documents on Browder's case were sent to the head police department of Moscow's central administrative district and Browder was removed from the international wanted list.

These changes are believed to be linked with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's order to look into the case against Sergei Magnitsky, Hermitage Capital's lawyer who had died nine months after being placed in pre-trial detention in 2008.

Magnitsky was held on remand in 2008 on tax evasion charges after attempting to defend Hermitage Capital, once Russia's top foreign investor, against the same charges.

Magnitsky  accused Russian tax and Interior Ministry officials of using Hermitage to carry out a $230-million tax fraud. He died aged 37 from acute heart failure after 11 months in a Moscow pre-trial detention facility.

The Russian Investigative Committee has failed to file formal tax evasion charges against Browder because he did not show up for questioning on May 12.

Kommersant said that that Browder's tax evasion case expires at the end of the year and is unlikely to be reviewed before a court.

U.S.-born Browder, who is a British citizen, has been accused by the Russian authorities of underpaying more than two billion rubles ($72 million) in back taxes.

He was once one of the most successful Western portfolio investors in Moscow but was banned from Russia in 2005, ostensibly for national security reasons, and now lives in Britain.

Hermitage Capital's spokesperson told Kommersant that it did not matter whether the case was opened or closed, the main goal is to find and bring to justice all those responsible for Magnitsky's death.

According to the investigation, Hermitage Capital established dummy firms in Russia's Republic of Kalmykia in the late 1990s to trade shares in Russian energy giant Gazprom.

10:34 27/06/2011ALL NEWS

RF emergencies ministry to pick up more gas blast victims from N Ossetia.

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/173762.html

27/6 Tass 73

MOSCOW, June 27 (Itar-Tass) —— Russia’s Emergencies Ministry sends another plane to Vladikavkaz, the capital city of the Russian North Caucasian republic of North Ossetia, to pick up more people injured in an explosion of household gas tank and take them to Moscow for further treatment, a ministry spokesman told Itar-Tass on Monday.

“It is planned that an emergencies ministry airplane will take off from the Ramenskoye airport outside Moscow before noon. The plane equipped with special medical modules will take those who had received the graves injuries from Vladikavkaz to Moscow,” the spokesman said.

On Sunday, twelve people injured in the Vladikavkaz explosion, including four children, were taken from Vladikavkaz to Moscow.

The accident took place at a private house in the centre of Vladikavkaz on Saturday. |A gas tank exploded, when a wedding was being celebrated. Fifty-five people were hurt, among them six children. According to the preliminary results, the explosion resulted from de-pressurization of the gas tank.

04:45 27/06/2011Top News

Udmurtia to start disposal of dud ammunition from burnt storage

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c32/173641.html

IZHEVSK, June 27 (Itar-Tass) —— Udmurtia will launch the disposal of dud ammunition from the technical premises of the military unit number 86696 in Pugachevo in the Malaya Purga district on Monday. A major fire, which broke out at the 102nd

ammunition storage in early June, triggered the ammunition blasts that scattered their pieces several kilometers all around.

The ammunition will be destroyed in the blasts at a specially equipped site, the press service of the Udmurtia emergencies department told Itar-Tass on Sunday.

“Controllable blasts will be made at 10.00, 11.00, 15.00 and 16.00 Moscow time in the workdays. The explosion works do not pose a threat to the life and health of people,” the press service said.

The distance from the ammunition disposal site to the neighboring gas pipeline makes 2,200 meters, 2,400 meters to a residential township of the military unit and 2,900 meters to the closest settlement of Yagan.

The incident at the ammunition storage in Pugachevo occurred overnight to June 3. The flames spread on 18 ammunition depots and about 150 buildings on eight kilometers. A total of 170,000 ammunition were being kept at the military unit, a third of dud ammunition remained at the depots.

Some 28,000 people were evacuated from the blast zone. Some 100 people were injured. A soldier died in the firefighting efforts and two civilians died of heart attacks.

Some 3,000 houses and social facilities were destroyed in the explosions and the blast wave. Most buildings were reconstructed. The damages from the ammunition blasts are estimated at a total of two billion roubles. The Udmurtia authorities promise to finalize all restoration works before the end of summer.

The Izhevsk garrison branch of the Investigation Committee opened a criminal case under Article 349 Part 1 of the Criminal Code for violation of the handling rules with weapons and highly dangerous objects.

Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov proposed to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to fire several high-ranking military officials, including a general, for the blasts at the ammunition storage in Udmurtia. Other culprits in the incident, including Deputy Defence Minister Dmitry Bulgakov, were offered to be reprimanded.

07:26 27/06/2011ALL NEWS

Wildfires spread on 601 hectares in Russia’s Far East.

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/173666.html

27/6 Tass 40

KHABAROVSK, June 27 (Itar-Tass) —— The wildfire area reached 601 hectares in the Russian Far East for the past day.

“Ten fires were reported in Yakutia, the Amur Region and Chukotka by Monday morning. The fires are burning on 97 hectares of forests and 411 hectares of non-forest areas in the Chukotka autonomous area,” a source in the forestry department in the Far Eastern Federal District told Itar-Tass on Monday. No fires were reported in other territories of the federal district.

Some 153 people, seven aircraft and ground machinery were involved in the firefighting efforts on Sunday, a source in the Far Eastern emergencies center said. Eight fires have been put out for the past day.

A special firefighting regime with the restricted access of people in the forests remains in effect for fire preventative measures in 28 municipal entities in Yakutia, the Amur Region, the Primorsky, Khabarovsk and Kamchatka Territories and the Chukotka autonomous area.

Since the start of the fire-prone seasons 1,293 wildfires broke out in the Far East. The fires burnt down over 453,300 hectares of lands, including 342,100 hectares of forests.

05:28 27/06/2011ALL NEWS

Taiga keeps burning in national parks in Buryatia.

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/173642.html

27/6 Tass 37

ULAN-UDE, June 27 (Itar-Tass) —— The taiga keeps burning in the national parks in Buryatia. “Two major fires are raging in the Dzherginsky nature reserve, one of which spread on 1,450 hectares and the second one on 300 hectares. Both fires are burning in the hard-to-reach locality and they were triggered by thunderstorms,” a source in the republican forestry agency told Itar-Tass on Monday.

“A fire cannot be put out in the Baikal national park yet. The careless handling with fire triggered the forest fire. The fire spread on more than 490 hectares,” the source said.

Some 24 forest fires have been reported on more than 3,500 hectares in Buryatia over the past day, the source said. Major fires were localized in two districts. Eight fires were put down on more than 400 hectares.

More than 500 people are involved in the firefighting efforts. The paratroopers specialized in the firefighting were dispatched in five districts. About 80 units of firefighting and heavy machinery are involved in the firefighting operations.

Since the start of the fire-prone season more than 1,000 forest fires have been reported in Buryatia. The forest fires damaged and destroyed 50,000 hectares of taiga.

Russian Duma Welcomes Moscow Demographic Summit, June 29-30http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/russian-duma-welcomes-moscow-demographic-summit-june-29-30-124579158.html

WASHINGTON, June 27, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Russian Duma has officially welcomed delegates to the "Moscow Demographic Summit: The Family and the Future of Humankind," which opens on June 29 at the Russian State Social University.

The letter of support is dated June 22, 2011 and signed by Ye. B. Mizulina, chairwoman of the Duma's Committee on Family, Women and Children Affairs.  It reads:

"Dear Participants of the Moscow Demographic Summit,

We welcome you with all our hearts, we wish success to the work of the Moscow Demographic Summit: Family and the Future of Humankind, and we declare our support for this important international, interfaith and non-partisan congress attended by leading scientists, politicians and business people from various countries, and by professional demographers and public figures. The issues discussed at the Summit – consolidation of the family, raising moral standards, and studying all the factors contributing to a higher birth rate and lower mortality rate – are very important for our times and require close attention of society as a whole."

World Congress of Families Managing Director Larry Jacobs responded: "We are honored by the Duma's support. Chairwoman Mizulina is a champion of the natural family and we look forward to working with her to reverse the disastrous decline of birthrates, in Russia and worldwide."

The Moscow Demographic Summit is also supported by Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, who has observed that the goals of the Summit are: "to defend traditional family values and to analyze the world's demographic problems. Organized by the World Congress of Families, this forum stands up for inviolability of human life, it speaks out against abortions, so-called same sex 'marriages,' euthanasia, drug addiction and alcoholism."

The Summit will include discussions of The Demographic Potential of Russia – The Importance of Pro-Family Public Policy in Russia and the West – Demographic

Indicators of Developed and Developing Nations – The Crisis of Family: Marriage, Abortion and Contraception – The International Population Control Movement – The Economic Impact of Declining Birthrates – Human Capital and Family-Friendly Business Practices – and Population Aging and Ways to Overcome This and Other Demographic Challenges.

Click here for the summit program.

For the website of the Moscow Demographic Summit (in English and Russian) – including registration information – click here (www.worldcongress.ru).

For More Information on World Congress of Families, go to www.worldcongress.org.. To schedule an interview with Larry Jacobs, contact Don Feder at 508-405-1337, dfeder@rcn.com or Lisa Youngblood at 815-964-5819, lisa@worldcongress.org.

 The World Congress of Families (WCF) is an international network of pro-family organizations, scholars, leaders and people of goodwill from more than 60  countries that seek to restore the natural family as the fundamental social unit and the 'seedbed' of civil society (as found in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948).  The WCF was founded in 1997 by Allan Carlson and is a project of The Howard Center for Family, Religion & Society in Rockford, Illinois.  To date, there have been five World Congresses of Families – Prague (1997), Geneva (1999), Mexico City (2004), Warsaw, Poland (2007) and Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2009).  World Congress of Families VI will be held in Madrid, Spain in May 25-27, 2012.

SOURCE World Congress of Families

Back to top

RELATED LINKShttp://www.worldcongress.org

Russian legislators under fire for proposed abortion restrictionshttp://rt.com/news/abortions-russia-restrictions/

Published: 27 June, 2011, 10:09Edited: 27 June, 2011, 10:45

A push by the Russian government to raise childbirth statistics has driven lawmakers to propose a bill limiting a pregnant woman's options for abortion. Critics oppose the initiative saying it is wrong and an ineffective way to deal with the problem.

When she heard she was pregnant again, Elena Semikhina had already been through two caesarian sections and had two healthy sons to make her life complete. Along with her diabetes, the third pregnancy was a huge risk. Now, though, she cannot imagine life without her Sasha.

“I look at my little miracle and cannot even imagine that once I had thoughts about getting rid of him,” she said. “I have never regretted my decision.”

Elena was able to make her choice freely. Had she wanted a termination, nothing would have stood in her way.

Abortion in Russia is available on request up to 12 weeks into the pregnancy, and is permitted at any stage if the pregnancy puts the mother’s life in danger.

The proposed legislation would end free abortions at state clinics and make women wait for a week before the termination to think over their decision. The “morning-after pill”, now available at any pharmacy, would also become prescription-only.

“If we managed to avert at least 20 per cent of abortions annually, we would have a clear increase in birth rates instead of a demographic decline,” said Igor Beloborodov, Director of Demographic Research Institute.

Tatiana Popova, a qualified psychologist working at one of Moscow’s maternity hospitals, says the stress of an unplanned pregnancy often makes women rush into a decision they might later regret.

“My task is not to talk a woman out of abortion, just show her the alternatives, so that she does not end up tormenting herself later with questions like how old the baby would have been now and what he or she would have looked like,” she said.

Experts say the only way forward is to give women the security needed to embark on motherhood.

Single mother Olga Myasnikova found the help she was so desperate for at a Moscow charity, which now provides food for her increased family. 

“My husband left me when I was pregnant,” she said. “I did not have any means to feed the kids I already had, let alone raise another one.”

However, opponents of the proposed legislation believe limiting a woman’s choice breaches her health rights and human rights.

“My body is my business” is just one of their slogans.

“History shows that banning abortions has never led to a baby boom,” one of the activists told RT.

When the Soviet Union outlawed abortions in 1936, the result was an enormous increase in the maternal death rate.

That is what doctors fear most – that restrictions on legal abortions will only push women to find risky backstreet alternatives, even if it threatens their health and life.

Some believe that restricting abortions could lead to more women abandoning their newborn children.

“In Russia 40 per cent of women decide against pregnancy,” said Galina Dikke from the Department of Reproductive Medicine and Surgery. “If a woman is determined not to have children, she will not, and that includes simply abandoning them.”

Abandoned children did not choose to come into this world and be deprived of their basic right for parental love. One day they might find someone to call their family.  However, the issue is whether restricting abortions will lead to more children abandoned after being born against their mothers’ will.

PRESS DIGEST - Russia - June 27http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE75Q06620110627

Mon Jun 27, 2011 6:56am GMT

MOSCOW, June 27 (Reuters) - The following are some of the leading stories in Russia's newspapers on Monday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

KOMMERSANT

www.kommersant.ru

- Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov was elected the head of the new Right Cause party on Saturday and said he was ready to become prime minister, the paper writes.

- Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin has left the boards of the state companies Rosneft (ROSN.MM) and InterRAO <IUES.MM), the daily says.

VEDOMOSTI

www.vedomosti.ru

- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has introduced a draft law that will let political parties get parliament seats if they obtain at least 5 percent of votes, the daily writes.

- The paper runs an interview with Russian billionaire and leader of the Right Cause party Mikhail Prokhorov who says one of the state TV channels should be privatized.

- Russia's No 2 oil company Rosneft (ROSN.MM) plans to acquire 50 percent stake in fuel supply system in Vnukovo airport for $600 million, the daily writes.

NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA

www.ng.ru

- Food prices in Russia boosted 30 percent this May compared to 2010, the daily writes.

- A rally organized by opposition party which was refused registration in the Justice Ministry gathered some 2,000 people last Saturday.

Russian Press at a Glance, Monday, June 27, 2011http://en.rian.ru/papers/20110627/164859916.html

08:13 27/06/2011

POLITICS

Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, who on Saturday seized the reins of the pro-business Right Cause party, plans to make it a second party of power and is ready to become prime minister if he receives a relevant offer.

(Kommersant, Moscow Times, Vedomosti, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)

President Dmitry Medvedev has backed Valentina Matviyenko, the increasingly unpopular St. Petersburg governor, as the new speaker of the Federation Council in what one State Duma deputy called "an exotic but logical" development.

(Moscow Times, Vedomosti)

The United Russia party should not be allowed to form a monopoly on waste processing and recycling, Kremlin economic adviser Arkady Dvorkovich said Friday, even though the party has announced a new project to "dominate" the field over the next few years.

(Moscow Times, Kommersant)

The presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia met in the Russian city of Kazan on Friday but failed to agree a roadmap of the Nagorny Karabakh conflict settlement.

(Kommersant, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development could become one of the largest western investors in the Russian pension system. Experts warn that investment in Russia's pension business is risky.

(Kommersant, Vedomosti)

A Chinese state investment fund is ready to buy 5% in Russia's largest state lender Sberbank.

(Kommersant)

President Dmitry Medvedev instructed deputies to introduce amendments to the law on state purchase contracts, allowing state companies to conceal information.

(Vedomosti)

NUCLEAR POWER

Russia and Ukraine are among seven nations that will join an EU nuclear stress test program to examine whether nuclear power plants can withstand accidents and disasters.

(Moscow Times)

Russia has blocked the publication of a UN report detailing Iran's alleged sanctions violations despite U.S., British and French calls for its release.

(Moscow Times)

DEFENSE

The Pentagon doubted the efficiency of the European missile defense system. The conclusions could force President Barack Obama to revise missile defense deployment plans.

(Kommersant)

RELIGION

Every five minutes, a Christian dies for his/her faith in the world. Christianity is the most persecuted religious group on the planet, say numerous surveys.

(Rossiiskaya Gazeta)

SOCIETY

One of the most high-profile tax evasion cases of recent times against Hermitage Capital chief executive William Browder could soon be dropped.

(Kommersant)

Berlin police have confirmed the arrest of two Russians on suspicion of belonging to a North Caucasus terrorist group, news reports said.

(Moscow Times)

IT

The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs said direct state regulation of prices for national roaming is inadmissible. The statement came as cell phone operators could face the order to make all incoming calls in national roaming free of charge.

(Vedomosti)

Vkontakte, the largest Russian social networking website, is in early discussions with investment banks about a potential initial public offering, said people with knowledge of the talks.

(Moscow Times, Moskovskiye Novosti)

June 27, 2011 10:12

Moscow press review for June 27, 2011http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=254647

MOSCOW. June 27 (Interfax) - The following is a digest of Moscow newspapers published on June 27. Interfax does not accept liability for information in these stories.

VEDOMOSTI:

Rosneft (RTS: ROSN) intends to expand to the aircraft filling market. It is negotiating the acquisition of a stake in the Vnukovo airport fuelling complex. Vedomosti was told that the airport's private shareholders are ready to sell 50% of the complex to Rosneft for $600 million. Four legal entities currently own the infrastructure of the complex. The asset will be transferred to one company shortly and the ins shares will be offered to Rosneft, a Vnukovo employee specified. Presently both the seller and the buyer have hired independent valuators to finalize the price of the asset. The deal is expected to be closed by autumn, the employee said. ("Rosneft going to Vnukovo")

As it promised RusAl has agreed with Western banks on a syndicated loan amounting to $4.75 billion to refinance its debts. Its Board of Directors approved the terms of borrowing, RusAl reports. The loan will be extended for five years and will be paid back quarterly in equal installments starting with the 15th month. The rate will be floating and depend on the correlation of the net debt to the company EBITDA. Now it is below 3.5 - LIBOR + 2.35%. When the correlation drops below 2.5 the margin will be 1.75%. The loan will be supported by guarantees of RusAl affiliates: the Bratsk, Krasnoyarsk, Novokuznetsk and Sayanogorsk plants, Sual, RTI Ltd., RS International and Rusal Marketing. After refinancing its debts RusAl will be able to start paying dividends, its director for capital markets Oleg Mukhamedshin said a few days ago. ("Deripaska's Debts")

Switzerland's Sulzer engineering concern in which Viktor Vekselberg's Renova owns 31.2% has placed five-year bonds for 500 million Swiss francs in Switzerland at 2.25% per annum, the company reports. The money will be used for the purchase of the Swedish pump producer Cardo Flow Solutions from Assa Abloy. The total sum of the deal is 868 million francs ($940 million). It was announced in April and will be closed in H2 but so far the financing pattern had not been disclosed.

The remaining part of the sum (360 million francs) will be assigned from the concern's own resources, said a representative of Rotek, the Renova division in charge of Sulzer. Sulzer has the money - at the end of 2010 it had 668.1 million francs ($710.11 million) in money assets and their equivalents given combined debts in the amount of 128 million francs ($136.1 million). ("Millions for Pumps")

KOMMERSANT

Vice Premier Igor Sechin has left all the Boards of Directors of state corporations that he used to head. Two weeks ago he did not attend the annual shareholder meeting of Rosneft. Neither did he say farewell to shareholders of Inter RAO UES (RTS: IRAO). The minority shareholders were very upset and came up with an unexpected demand that next year the company management hand them with a pillow, blanket or at least a box of tea instead of the annual report. So far in addition to small dividends shareholders have succeeded in receiving only food coupons from Inter RAO. (p. 1 "Inter RAO feeds Shareholders")

EBRD may become a major Western investor in the Russian pension system. It is considering entering the capital of the European Pension Fund that started operating on the market of mandatory pension insurance last year. If the decision is made, it will be the first EBRD project on the pension market after the crisis. However, investment in the Russian pension business contains high political risks, analysts say by way of warning. (p. 8 "EBRD starts thinking of Pensions")

August Meyer, owning 40.6% in Lenta hypermarket chain, and the consortium of U.S. TPG and VTB Capital, owning 30.8% of the network, have almost settled their corporate conflict. The funds agreed to buy a little over of 20% from Mr. Meyer's stake while

EBRD, already owning 11% wants to buy about 10% from him. Meyer says he finally succeeded in getting a full price. (p. 7 "Lenta close to Resolution")

Kommersant has learned that structures of Mikhail Gutseriyev and Mikhail Shishkhanov are acquiring Kaluzhsky shopping mall with floorspace of 57,000 m2 in Moscow's Profsoyuznaya [Trade Union] street. Its price is estimated at $150 million to $230 million. It is the biggest deal on the Moscow market of shopping real estate in three years, consultants claim. (p. 9 "Mikhail Gutseriyev makes it for Trade Union Leadership")

ml

Please respect FT.com's ts&cs and copyright policy which allow you to: share links; copy content for personal use; & redistribute limited extracts. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights or use this link to reference the article - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4192921c-a00f-11e0-a115-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz1QSSGq3PZ

June 26, 2011 5:33 pm

Clues emerge from Russia’s political fog

By Neil Buckley

Last week was an intriguing one for Kremlinologists. Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s president, told the Financial Times he wanted to see liberal parties in parliament – then the authorities barred a leading liberal opposition party from the coming elections. He proposed rolling back some policies of his predecessor, Vladimir Putin – then Mr Putin called this “our joint programme”.

Amid the coded and sometimes contradictory signals, the central question that has been unsettling investors – whether Mr Putin or Mr Medvedev will be president after elections next year – remains unresolved. But at least an outline is emerging of how December’s parliamentary elections and the presidential poll next March could play out.

One conclusion is that, whatever the differences between the two men, there is no serious rift. After Mr Medvedev proposed liberalising, over time, Russia’s Kremlin-dominated economy, Mr Putin said he always intended that the centralisation he led during his presidency should not last for ever.

This may suggest both men have now agreed reforms are needed to modernise Russia’s creaking economy, even if they differ on details and pace. It may also be a sign that Mr Medvedev’s programme is less boldly liberal than he makes it sound.

In the political sphere, in particular, the leadership indeed seems to be planning to introduce more competition, but in a limited and highly controlled way. It is tweaking its famous “managed democracy”, which now consists of four parties broadly “approved” by the Kremlin, by introducing a party of the centre-right.

On one side, the main pro-Kremlin party United Russia, which dominates parliament with two-thirds of seats, is shifting from centrist to centre-left. Mr Putin, United Russia’s president but not actually a card-carrying member, has been shifting leftwards too – addressing the International Labour Organisation this month and doing photo-opportunities in hospitals.

Mr Putin has shored up United Russia, meanwhile, after its poll ratings sagged below 50 per cent, by forming around it a “popular front” designed to broaden its appeal.

Simultaneously, however, the Kremlin has been building up a new, pro-market, centre-right party, Right Cause, around the remnants of a 1990s-era liberal party. It clearly intends to mobilise its resources to propel this party into the parliament.

At its helm it has installed Mikhail Prokhorov, named Russia’s third richest man by Forbes magazine, who was unanimously elected Right Cause’s leader at a congress on Saturday.

Some people close to Mr Medvedev have voiced support. Arkady Dvorkovich, the president’s economic adviser, tweeted this weekend that many of Mr Prokhorov’s views were “close to mine”.

Last week’s justice ministry decision to refuse registration to a liberal party acting outside the Kremlin-approved sphere seemed designed to ensure it could not take votes away from this Kremlin-backed project.

Similarly, Mr Medvedev moved to lower voting share thresholds to allow smaller parties to get into parliament, but not until 2016.

This December’s poll seems set, therefore, to return not one but two Kremlin-backed parties sharing 60 per cent or so of the vote. One Russian political analyst suggests the two could then even form an alliance or coalition.

In this scenario, Right Cause would be a reformist party appealing to business and the urban middle class. United Russia would pledge social protection for the masses that they lacked last time Russia undertook pro-market reforms in the 1990s.

An even more intriguing theory is that, depending on how successful Right Cause is in the election, Mr Medvedev might then associate himself with it, or even make it his political base. Olga Kryshtanovskaya, a Russian political specialist, notes his recent comments have been close to those of Right Cause.

Asked by the newspaper Moscow News if this could happen, Mr Medvedev suggested “sooner or later” he would indeed head a party, though declined to say which.

Analysts suggest that various permutations might then be possible. Mr Putin could stand for president again as United Russia’s candidate, and designate Mr Medvedev prime minister with a specific modernising mandate. Or Mr Putin could endorse Mr Medvedev to stand as the two parties’ joint presidential candidate.

Yet the Right Cause plan poses a big question. It is not clear whether Russia’s middle classes, who pollsters have found are getting disgruntled with the current system, will be any happier with two Kremlin-backed parties running things than with one. Neither is it clear whether they might start demanding competition that is a little more genuine than that envisaged by the Kremlin.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2011. You may share using our article tools.Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.

National Economic Trends

Russia’s Kudrin sees spending growth no more than 4% in 2012–2013http://www.prime-tass.com/news/_Russias_Kudrin_sees_spending_growth_no_more_than_4_in_2012%E2%80%932013/0/%7B74B5B16F-F40C-46F9-90C3-5A1DE29793A8%7D.uif

ROME, Jun 27 (PRIME) -- Russia’s Finance Ministry projects federal budget spending to grow by no more than 4% in real terms in 2012–2013, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on June 24.

Russia’s government spending amounted to 3.842 trillion rubles in January–May, the Finance Ministry said earlier in June.

In early June, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed into law amendments to revise the federal budget’s income and spending for 2011, under which total federal budget expenditures were increased by 363.9 billion rubles to 11.023 trillion rubles.

(28.1655 rubles – U.S. $1)

End

27.06.2011 12:09

27 Jun, 2011, 12.34PM IST,Reuters

Rouble down vs dollar on sliding oil, flight to safetyhttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/forex/rouble-down-vs-dollar-on-sliding-oil-flight-to-safety/articleshow/9011121.cms

MOSCOW: The Russian rouble lost 0.6 percent against the dollar at opening on Monday, pushed down by fall in oil prices and continued worries about Greece's financial problems.

At 0615 GMT, the rouble traded at 28.34 versus the greenback , with investors damping the rouble for the safety of the American currency.

Markets across the globe remain jittery after the International Energy Agency (IEA) decided last week to release extra 60 million barrels of oil to spur economic activity.

And growing concerns of a messy end to Greece's debt woes add to the gloomy short-term outlook.

Brent slipped below $104 per barrel on Monday , extending last week's losses .

"After last week's surprise action by the IEA (to release stock oil) and the slight downgrade of the U.S. growth forecasts by the U.S Fed, the oil price is also at a critical juncture," Chris Weafer, a strategist in Moscow said.

"Sentiment rather than supply-demand is now the key driver of the oil price."

The rouble remains extremely susceptible to changes in crude prices, Russia's main exports. Revenues from oil and gas products make up 40 percent of the state's annual budget.

Investors are also damping riskier assets - and Russia's rouble still falls into this category - ahead of the vote on Tuesday by the Greek parliament an austerity package.

The result will impact the euro-dollar market and affect the rouble trade later for the rest of the week, analysts say.

The Russian currency firmed 0.2 percent on the day against the euro to trade at 40.06 .

Versus the euro-dollar basket the central bank uses to guide the rouble's nominal exchange rate, the rouble weakened 0.2 percent to 33.61

"The basket is gaining -- cheaper oil and unresolved Greece's issues will keep pushing it upwards, offsetting current tax payments," said Andrei Mishko, a trader with Nomos-Bank, adding the rouble can slid against the basket to as much as 33.70.

Exporters are due to pay Monday and Tuesday a series of taxes, including excise, income and mineral extraction liabilities, which could drain as much as 350 billion roubles ($12.37 billion) - 450 billion roubles out of the market.

09:51 27/06/2011ALL NEWS

Russia to reduce insurance fees for companies - Kudrin.

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/173730.html

27/6 Tass 72

MOSCOW, June 27 (Itar-Tass) — Russia’s Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on Tuesday insurance fees will be reduced, but no systematic solution has been found yet.

Companies’ insurance fees to the social and pension funds “will be lower, not 34 percent as it had been planned for this year,” he told the 15th annual investor conference of Renaissance Capital on Monday.

“However, we still cannot find a systematic solution, it will be developed within two years.”

He stressed the need for developing such measures to make the pension system stable.

“This task has no easy solution,” Kudrin said.

He reiterated the recent initiative of President Dmitry Medvedev who chose “one of the scenarios” and submitted a proposal for cutting insurance fees.

“It’s good when the state recognizes its mistakes,” the minister said.

10:17 27/06/2011ALL NEWS

Govt to lower its stake in Aeroflot - Kudrin.

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/173746.html

27/6 Tass 75

MOSCOW, June 27 (Itar-Tass) — Russia’s government plans to sell its stake in the country’s flag carrier Aeroflot making lower than the controlling one within five years, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin told the annual investor conference of Renaissance Capital on Monday.

“Within three-five years we should sell controlling stakes in practically all main companies. The talk is not only about the financial and oil sectors, but also about telecommunications and transport companies beginning from Sovkomflot and Aeroflot,” he said.

Kudrin noted that he was not ready to name how much shares the government will sell in Aeroflot. But most probably Aeroflot will be “in the list of companies, where the government’s stake is lower that 50 plus one share.”

“Different companies will have different stakes put on sale,” the minister said adding the main criteria will be the need to maintain national security through control over strategic companies.

State to sell Aeroflot stake in 3-5 yearshttp://en.rian.ru/business/20110627/164862354.html

11:05 27/06/2011

MOSCOW, June 27 (RIA Novosti)

The Russian government plans to include its stake in Russia's largest airline Aeroflot in a wider privatization list and may sell a controlling stake in it in three to five years, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on Monday.

"Most likely, this will be Aeroflot," Kudrin said in response to a question about the Russian companies that would be included in the broader privatization list.

The state intends to sell controlling stakes in all key companies in the financial, oil, telecommunications and transport sectors in the next three to five years, Kudrin said.

"These measures will help improve corporate governance and channel private investment into development," Kudrin said.

Russia intends to make a shift towards private initiative and private investment in the next ten years, Kudrin said.

"The state will invest less in companies as the focus will be on private investment," Kudrin said.

The Russian government's revenues from the sale of the first package of state assets could hit $30 billion in the next three years while proceeds from the second tranche will be 25-50 percent higher, Kudrin said.

In the next few months the Russian government will prepare a new package of state assets for privatization to include companies currently operating in strategic sectors of the Russian economy, Kudrin added.

Russia to continue policy and push reforms after electionshttp://en.rian.ru/russia/20110627/164861321.html

10:19 27/06/2011

MOSCOW, June 27 (RIA Novosti)

Russia will continue the same course of economic policy and give additional impetus to economic reform after the elections, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on Monday.

“I’m sure that [after] the elections will happen, all that remains is the necessity for continuity of policy and an addition to the existing drive in the conduct of economic reform,” Kudrin said at a finance conference.

One of the main challenges for the government is improving the investment climate, he said.

“Now, either the political parties or the government, which will be formed in May, absolutely must address this question,” Kudrin said.

Elections to the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, will take place in December, followed by presidential elections in March 2012.

Russia plans to sell off strategic industrieshttp://themoscownews.com/politics/20110627/188787552.html

by Andy Potts at 27/06/2011 10:26

Russia wants to rake in $30 billion in the first phase of its privatization program – and could push that figure to an extra $45 billion with the second stage.

In the next three years the government is proposing a large-scale sell-off, but Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin is adamant that this is only the start, RIA Novosti reported.

And he expects to see many so-called “strategic industries” added to the shopping list in due course.

Speaking on Monday morning, Kudrin said: “We are planning to raise about $30 billion in the next three years, but that’s only the first package.

“In the next package it will be more, about 25 to 50 per cent depending on our assessment.”

 

Changing strategies

Among the companies set to go up for sale, national flag carrier Aeroflot was picked out as the “most likely” by Kudrin.

And he added that over the next three to five years the authorities should pull out of several “strategic areas”, relinquishing control of several industries previously seen as too important to leave to market forces.

“The state should withdraw from almost all the key controlling companies,” Kudrin said. “We are talking about the financial sector, and oil, as well as telecoms and the transport sector, starting with [shipping fleet] Sovkomflot and Aeroflot.”

 

Oil tax reviewed

Kudrin also promised to reach a decision on new oil export duty rules expected to apply next month.

While there will be no substantial changes to the switch to a new tariff which is set to increase rates for light and dark petroleum the minister said the government would try to resolve any problems faced by traders before the end of July.

Russia has revised export tariffs on petrol products in the wake of fuel price rises and subsequent protests in Moscow and elsewhere in Russia.

Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions

Polymetal, Gazprom, VTB, Rosneft: Russia Equity Previewhttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-26/polymetal-gazprom-vtb-rosneft-russia-equity-preview.html

By Marina Sysoyeva - Jun 26, 2011 10:01 PM GMT+0200

The following companies may be active in Russian trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses and share prices are from the previous close.

The 30-stock Micex Index (INDEXCF) rose 1.6 percent to 1,633.99. The dollar-denominated RTS Index climbed 1.5 percent to 1,857.04.

OAO Polymetal (PMTL RX): OAO Polymetal plans to list on the London Stock Exchange with a value of about 5 billion pounds ($8 billion), the Sunday Telegraph reported yesterday. Company spokesman Andrey Abashin declined to comment. Polymetal gained 1 percent to 543.7 rubles in Moscow on June 24.

OAO Gazprom (GAZP RX): Ukraine’s government said it should be getting twice what it’s currently paid to allow Russia to pipe natural gas across its territory to Europe. Russia’s state natural gas export monopoly rose 1.6 percent to 199.24 rubles.

OAO VTB (VTBR RM): Assicurazioni Generali SpA and VTB Group are likely to sign an accord to form a venture for selling insurance in Russia by early August, La Stampa reported on June 25. The partnership aims to capture an 8 percent share of a $20 billion market, according to the report. VTB closed 0.8 percent higher at 0.08225 rubles.

OAO Rosneft (ROSN RX): Russia expects no serious impact from the International Energy Agency’s decision to release some of its emergency oil stockpiles, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said. Rosneft rose 1 percent to 231.3 rubles in Moscow.

To contact the reporter on this story: Marina Sysoyeva in Moscow msysoyeva@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net

Russia’s Micex Slides 2nd Day in Three as Crude Drops Below $90http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-27/russia-s-micex-slides-2nd-day-in-three-as-crude-drops-below-90.html

By Jason Corcoran - Jun 27, 2011 9:27 AM GMT+0200

Russia’s Micex Index fell for the second day in three after oil slid below $90 as the International Energy Agency said it’s prepared to release more stockpiles, hurting the outlook for producers.

The 30-stock Micex dropped 0.5 percent to 1,625.42 by 10:59 a.m. in Moscow. Oil producers OAO Gazprom Neft and OAO Lukoil slipped 1.3 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively. OAO Uralkali (URKA), the country’s largest potash producer, decreased 1 percent. The dollar-denominated RTS Index lost 0.4 percent to 1,849.6.

Crude, Russia’s main export earner, declined as much as $1.34 to $89.82 a barrel in New York after the International Energy Agency said it’s prepared to take further steps to stabilize prices after a June 23 pledge to inject 2 million barrels a day for 30 days.

“A decline in oil prices may continue through November -- that means additional currency risk for ruble-denominated investments,” Elena Matrosova, a Moscow-based economist at BDO International, a financial adviser that lists the central bank among its clients, said in a telephone interview. “It’s not exactly the right time for investments in Russian equities.”

-- With assistance by Halia Pavliva in New York Editors: Alex Nicholson, Linda Shen

To contact the reporter on this story: Jason Corcoran at Jcorcoran13@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at gserkin@bloomberg.net

Rostelecom to elect new board of directors at its annual meeting.

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/173680.html

27/6 Tass 11

MOSCOW, June 27 (Itar-Tass) — Shareholders of Russia’s state-run telecommunications operator Rostelecom at its annual general meeting will approve a report upon the results of 2010 and the size of dividend payment and choose a new board of directors.

Earlier, Rostelecom’s board of directors recommended to allocate 2.215 million roubles or 64.03 percent of its net profit to increase the company’s own capital and 105,486 roubles or 3.05 percent of its net profit to pay dividends.

At the same time dividends will be paid only under preference shares. For nine months of last year 1.139 million roubles or 32.92 percent of the net profit were earmarked for dividend payment.

According to the telecommunications operator, there are sixteen candidates, including Communications Minister Igor Shchegolev, among candidates for seats in the new board of directors.

The current board of directors includes eleven members.

Rostelecom’s participation in the LTE union of mobile networks operators and credit relations with Svyaz-Bank will be also high on the agenda of the annual general meeting.

The government owns a controlling stake in Rostelecom after a merger with interregional operators of Svyazinvest was completed on April 1. It controls through Svyazinvest, the Deposit Insurance Agency and Vnesheconombank 53.2 percent of the company’s ordinary shares.

Major shareholder torpedoes Irkutskenergo's share offering

http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20110627114007.shtml

      RBC, 27.06.2011, Moscow 11:40:07.Inter RAO UES has blocked the additional share offering of Irkutskenergo, RBC Daily reported today.

      The management of Irkutskenergo insisted on upsizing its share capital by nearly 25% to finance the construction of the Ust-Kut thermal power plant in the Irkutsk Region. Inter RAO UES, which controls 40% of Irkutskenergo, voted against the offering.

      The reason for the transaction laid out by the management was not convincing, Inter RAO UES CEO Boris Kovalchuk said. The shares cannot be sold at less than RUB 25.33 (approx. USD 0.9) per share, which is the price Inter RAO UES paid for its stake to the Federal State Property Management Agency.

      Irkutskenergo could take out loans and offer bonds to finance the power plant's construction, the company's CEO Yevgeny Fyodorov said after the offering was rejected.

Sberbank to launch ADR program

http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20110627105742.shtml

      RBC, 27.06.2011, Moscow 10:57:42.Sberbank is expected to launch an American Depositary Receipt (ADR) program today. It has selected the Bank of New York Mellon as the depositary for the program.

      The Federal Service for Financial Markets cleared the bank to offer abroad 5.40bn ordinary shares, or no more than 25% of its total share capital on June 15. As reported earlier, Sberbank plans to launch the ADR program on the London Stock Exchange. It could offer 3-4% of share capital at the initial stage.

Alrosa to Supply Diamonds Worth $30 Million to Armenia in 2011 26.06.11, 12:08 / World

http://www.israelidiamond.co.il/english/News.aspx?boneId=918&objid=9420

Russia's government-owned diamond producer, Alrosa, will supply $30 million worth of diamonds to Armenia in 2011 under the terms of an agreement recently signed by Russian and Armenian governments, Armenian Economy Minister Tigran Davtyan has announced.  The Panarmenian.net news website reports that Alrosa has expanded its cooperation with Armenia diamond manufacturers, increasing its number of Armenian partners to 12.  By the end of Q1 2011, Armenia had imported rough diamonds with a total value of $6.8 million.

RUSSIAN FINANCE MINISTRY PROPOSES PRIVATIZING 10% OF ALROSA

http://www.diamondintelligence.com/magazine/magazine.aspx?id=9647

26 June 2011

Russia's finance ministry has proposed to privatize 10 percent of Alrosa in 2012-2013, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin. Such proposals will reportedly be referred to the government by August 1.

Kudrin told Interfax that a substantial stake in Alrosa should not be sold in the next three years. "The market needs to warm to this, the asset needs to be enhanced, its capitalization increased, and it needs to be sold at peak price," he said, as quoted by the news source.

Privatization proposals are still being discussed by the government and the authorities of Yakutia, where the diamond conglomerate is based, Kudrin said.

Russia's federal government owns a 51 percent stake in Alrosa while the Yakutian government holds a 32 percent share. Eight regional districts of Yakutia own 8 percent of the miner and individuals and corporate bodies own the remaining 9 percent.

Dixy posts revenue growth in 5M

http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20110627110805.shtml

      RBC, 27.06.2011, Moscow 11:08:05.Dixy Group's revenue rose 26.2% year-on-year to $1.09bn in January-May, the grocery retail chain said in a statement today.

      Dixy Group managed 690 stores as of May 31 in the Central, Northwest and Urals federal districts. The selling space of the group's stores totaled 234,192 square meters as of May 31.

Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)

27.06.2011

Cuban, Russian Firms Sign Oil Partnership Agreementshttp://www.oilandgaseurasia.com/news/p/0/news/11788

Cuba and Russia have signed three economic association contracts here for oil exploration and production, official media reported.

The deals signed between state-owned Cuba Petroleo and Russian state-controlled Zarubezhneft pertain to an oil deposit near Boca de Jaruco, a fishing village in Mayabeque province, northeast of Havana, the official AIN news agency reported.

Cupet director Raul Felipe del Prado hailed the significance of this accord for the island’s economy and said it is a “milestone” in the partnership between Cupet and the Russian firm, which are planning other business deals.

He said the goal is to recover and increase production in that coastal region and predicted that the use of new technology there will produce “good results.”

For his part, Zarubezhneft director Nikolay Grigonievich said the partnership is “beneficial” and he is hopeful the exploration methods will help boost oil recovery efficiency.

Russian Ambassador to Cuba Mijail Kaminin said Zarubezhneft came to Cuba “to stay and continue cooperating with Cupet for the good of both countries.”

The Russian firm opened an operations office in Havana a year ago with an eye to boosting output of oil and associated gas over the coming years.

Earlier agreements the Russian firm signed with Cuban authorities allow it to operate for 25 years in blocks located in the Cuban provinces of Matanzas, Sancti Spiritus, Villa Clara and Ciego de Avila.

Cuba opened its energy industry to foreign investment in 1991, since which time international companies have invested more than $2.8 billion in oil exploration and production.

Cuba’s most promising oil region is the Exclusive Economic Zone, located in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico and estimated to hold up to 9 billion barrels of petroleum.

The EEZ covers some 112,000 sq. kilometers (43,240 sq. miles) and is divided into 59 blocks of 2,000 sq. kilometers (772 sq. miles) each, 22 of which have been awarded to foreign companies such as Spain’s Repsol-YPF, Venezuela’s PDVSA and Vietnam’s PetroVietnam.

According to official figures, the island also has awarded eight onshore oil blocks to Cupet and five more to foreign companies.

Cuban oil production is estimated to have stabilized over the past seven years at some 21 million barrels annually.

Copyright 2011, Latin American Herald Tribune. All rights reserved.

Rosneft to Buy Fuel Filling Complex in Vnukovo, Vedomosti Sayshttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-27/rosneft-to-buy-fuel-filling-complex-in-vnukovo-vedomosti-says.html

By Yuliya Fedorinova - Jun 27, 2011 5:49 AM GMT+0200

OAO Rosneft may buy a 50 percent stake in the fuel-filling complex of Vnukovo airport in Moscow, Vedomosti reported today, citing an unidentified Vnukovo employee.

The state-owned oil company may pay as much as $600 million for the stake, Moscow-based newspaper said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Yuliya Fedorinova in Moscow at yfedorinova@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Torrey Clark at tclark8@bloomberg.net

Rosneft in talks to buy 50 pct stake in Vnukovo refuelling complex for $600 mlnhttp://en.rian.ru/business/20110627/164863261.html

11:54 27/06/2011

MOSCOW, June 27 (RIA Novosti)

State-controlled oil giant Rosneft is negotiating acquisition of a 50 percent stake in the refueling complex at Moscow's Vnukovo airport for $600 million, Vedomosti business daily said on Monday.

A source close to Rosneft confirmed to Vedomosti that the oil company was holding negotiations on the issue but declined to give any details about the price or the size of the share package, the paper said.

The refueling complex is owned by four companies but soon all the assets will be assigned to one company whose shares will be offered to Rosneft, a Vnukovo employee told the paper.

The seller and the buyer have now hired independent valuators to set the asset's final price while the deal is expected to be closed in the fall, the paper said.

Vnukovo is home to the Vnukovo-3 terminal, Russia's largest dedicated business jet facility and the government's own VIP air transport wing.

Rosneft's competitors have stronger positions on the Russian refueling market. Rosneft currently owns only one refueling complex in the Ulan Bator airport in Mongolia, while LUKoil, the country's largest privately- run oil company, has acquired several refueling complexes in Russia since 2004.

Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of energy giant Gazprom, is currently building a refueling complex at Moscow Sheremetyevo international airport with the participation of the airport's management. The complex was initially expected to be launched in the first quarter of 2011, but the launch date was later shifted to the beginning of 2012. The company also owns refueling complexes in several other airports across Russia.

Russian oil companies significantly intensified their work on the jet refueling market in 2008 as intermediaries' prices were from 20 to 50 percent higher than fuel producers' prices, Yelena Sakhnova, an analyst with VTB Capital, told Vedomosti.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin urged the Federal Antimonopoly Service to break the monopoly position of  traders at airports and has called on airlines to sign direct contracts with oil firms.

27.06.2011

Tatneft Filling Stations Introduce Energy Efficient and Environment Friendly Technologieshttp://www.oilandgaseurasia.com/news/p/0/news/11790

Introducing technologies for collecting and recycling of secondary material resources and energy-efficient technologies has allowed OOO "Tatneft AZS-Center to win in the annual Republican contest "ECOleader". By the end of 2010 more than 200 applications from enterprises and organizations were submitted for participation in the contest.

The main criteria in evaluating the materials submitted by the companies were relevancy, complexity and importance of addressing challenges in the area of environmental protection and environmental management, as well as practically implemented approaches to their solution; innovational nature and originality of the idea; clarity of describing the results of the practical solutions implementation.

The activity of "Tatneft - AZS Centre" is aimed at implementing the "Strategy of development of filling stations retail network till 2012". The Company was operating 266 facilities by the beginning of 2011. 16 filling stations were commissioned during 2010; design and survey works were started at the other eight sites. In 2010 OOO "Tatneft - AZS Center" sold 840,321 tons of oil and gas products.

OOO "Tatneft AZS Center" is part of TATNEFT Group of companies within a block of crude oil and petroleum products sale. The Company provides transportation, storage, wholesale and retail sale of oil and gas products in the Volga-Urals region and is one of the leaders in this market segment. One of the distinct activities of the Company is shipping major wholesales (including export shipments) of gas products produced by OAO TATNEFT.

Quality control of petroleum products is carried out using modern equipment and advanced technologies. The quality control system applied is multistage. To verify compliance with the quality of petroleum products sold "Tatneft AZS Center" participates in a filling stations voluntary certification system.

Copyright 2011, Tatneft. All rights reserved.

Warnig Said to Join Transneft http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/warnig-said-to-join-transneft/439523.html

27 June 2011

Matthias Warnig, managing director of the Nord Stream pipeline project, will be nominated for the board of oil pipeline operator Transneft, said a person with knowledge of the matter.

The Federal Property Fund, which controls Transneft's voting shares, is preparing documents necessary for him to join the board, the person said.

Warnig told Vedomosti in 2006 that he worked as an agent for Stasi, the state security service of East Germany, until 1989. The comments were confirmed by a Nord Stream spokesman. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin served as KGB officer in East Germany during the same period. Warnig said he met Putin in St. Petersburg in 1991.

(Bloomberg)

Gazprom

12:00 27/06/2011ALL NEWS

Russian govt not to sell its stake in Gazprom – presidential aide.

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/173837.html

27/6 Tass 82

MOSCOW, June 27 (Itar-Tass) —— The Russian government will not sell its stake in the national gas utility Gazprom in the next few years, Russian president’s aide Arkady Dvorkovich said on Monday.

“So far, Gazprom is not on the agenda,” he said, commenting on the government’s privatisation plans.

According to Dvorkovich, because of “the big infrastructure component” in Gazprom’s activity it is not expedient to sell the gas monopolist. “There is no need to do so,” he said.

“From the point of view of efficiency and expediency in the sectors, which have competition and many investors, there is no need for the state to hold a stake in companies. There is no point in it, so it [the government stake] is to be diminished and even brought to a zero. But in those sectors, which have less or no competition – I mean infrastructure and anything connected with the military security of the state – state

control cannot be seen as a serious obstacle for investments, it can be in place for years, and even for ever in certain companies,” he noted.

June 27, 2011 11:54

Gazprom not planned for inclusion in privatization list – Dvorkovichhttp://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=254679

MOSCOW. June 27 (Interfax) - The Russian government does not plan to privatize Gazprom (RTS: GAZP), president aide Arkady Dvorkovich told journalists.

"There has been no discussion about Gazprom. Gazprom has a large infrastructure component. I don't think there will be any rush here," Dvorkovich said.

Commenting on the expanded privatization program, Dvorkovich said that for the most part the expanded program changes the size of the stakes that will be offered in companies already on the list. "I have in mind Rosneft (RTS: ROSN), VTB (RTS: VTBR) and others," he said, adding that he did would not go into detail.

The state does not need controlling stakes in competitive companies, he said. The state's stake in such companies and industries will be privatized more aggressively, with the state's participation ultimately declining to zero. "Where there is no competition, I mean infrastructure, everything connected with the state's defense security, state control is not a serious hindrance to operations, to investment. It might remain for a long time, perhaps forever," he said.

The government is to submit a revised privatization schedule before August 1. Speaking of specific companies, he said Transneft (RTS: TRNF) would be privatized in the amount announced previously. "I don't think there will be an expansion here. That is also an infrastructure company, in which preferred shares circulate on the market. Some kind of movement is possible, but there is no talk of the state surrendering control," he said.

RTS$#&: AFLT, GAZP, ROSN, TRNF, VTBR

jh

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

Mr Zubkov not to quit Gazprom board before Julyhttp://www.steelguru.com/russian_news/Mr_Zubkov_not_to_quit_Gazprom_board_before_July/211716.html

Monday, 27 Jun 2011Interfax reported that Mr Viktor Zubkov Russian First Deputy Prime Minister does not intend to stand down as chairman of the board of directors at Gazprom before July 1.

Mr Zubkov said "No, Gazprom is a special case."

Mr Zubkov said he would quit the boards of directors at Russian Agriculture Bank, RusAgroLeasing and RusSpirtprom all of which he chairs on June 30.

Mr Zubkov is quitting these boards in line with instructions by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to remove government officials from the boards of state owned companies. Profile ministers and deputy prime ministers are supposed to stand down by July 1 and highly placed bureaucrats and members of the presidential administration by October 1.

Mr Zubkov said that with respect to Gazprom a decision would be reached later and not now.

(Sourced from Interfax)

Energy cooperation has major growth potential - Gazprom and Japanhttp://www.steelguru.com/russian_news/Energy_cooperation_has_major_growth_potential_-_Gazprom_and_Japan/211598.html

Sunday, 26 Jun 2011Interfax quoted Gazprom and Japan say energy cooperation major growth potential.

The Russian gas giant said in a press release following a meeting between its chief executive, Mr Alexei Miller and the Japanese ambassador to Russia, Mr Chikahito Harada that the Sakhalin 2 project was a symbol of success in Russian-Japanese cooperation.

They also discussed the Sakhalin 3 project noting a major potential for the development of energy cooperation in the short term.

Mr Miller and Mr Harada also discussed the joint feasibility study on the options for natural gas export as well as the gas chemical and gas processing projects near Vladivostok. It was announced to the Japanese party that the Sakhalin Khabarovsk Vladivostok gas pipeline with the nominal throughput capacity of 30 billion cubic meters would be commissioned in September and the Chayanda Khabarovsk Vladivostok project would be started in 2012.

Gazprom said special attention was paid to additional liquefied natural gas supplies to Japan by Gazprom from the Sakhalin 2 project and the company portfolio already carried out this year and planned for the coming months.

Japan imports all of its gas in the form of LNG of which it is the world biggest importer.

(Sourced from Interfax)

Oil major NIS first company from Serbia to open representation in Brussels http://www.emg.rs/en/news/serbia/158767.html

27. June 2011. | 08:47

Source: Emg.rs

The festive launch ceremony was hosted by the top management of NIS and its main shareholders, including Minister of Foreign Affairs Vuk Jeremic on behalf of Serbian government and permanent representative of Russian Federation to the EU Vladimir Chizhov.

Last week in Brussels, NIS celebrated the opening of its corporate representation to the European Union.

The festive launch ceremony was hosted by the top management of NIS and its main shareholders, including Minister of Foreign Affairs Vuk Jeremic on behalf of Serbian government and permanent representative of Russian Federation to the EU Vladimir Chizhov.

The event gathered officials from EU institutions as well as peers and stakeholders. NIS is the first company from Serbia to open a permanent business representation in Brussels.

Mr. Kirill Kravchenko, CEO of NIS, said: ”The EU is of strategic importance for the economic development of Serbia. This is why NIS and its main shareholders – the Serbian government and Gazprom Neft – are keen to initiate a permanent dialogue between the Serbian oil and gas sector and the European institutions.

NIS supports the economic integration and political accession of Serbia to the EU and has realised enormous investments in order to adapt its facilities to EU standards – for example by modernising its refinery in Pancevo.

In addition, NIS already has the institutional European investors. This year the company has started realization of the projects in EU countries – Romania and Hungary-, our first step as a contribution to the development of the EU economy. By entering the EU market we create jobs, revenues, develop technology and partnerships with the largest European companies. Our new representation in Brussels will help us to complement this process through a constructive dialogue with EU decision-makers.”

The opening of a representation in Brussels is a part of NIS’ business strategy to reach a leading position in the oil and gas sector of the region by applying EU standards and the most advanced technologies in its business operations. NIS representatives in Brussels will follow relevant EU legislation and contribute to Europe’s debate in the field of energy, emission abatement and the protection of the environment.

Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said on June 23, at the opening of an Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS) branch office in Brussels, that it was natural for companies wanting to be leaders in Serbia to be represented in the seat of the European Union, where "Europe's energy policy will be shaped in the upcoming years."

"Serbia wants to join the EU, this is our government's strategic priority, so it is natural that companies who aspire to be number one in Serbia are represented here," said Jeremic at a reception in the Sofitel hotel in Brussels attended by EU officials, business representatives and diplomats.