http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/03/14/47351447.html
Mar 14, 2011 04:14 Moscow Time
A rescue tug "Griffon" sailed from Vladivostok Sunday, bound for Japan. The vessel is on a rescue mission to evacuate Russian sailors, shipwrecked on a refrigerator ship cast ashore by a powerful, earthquake-generated tsunami wave.
Of the 15 sailors, 13 people were taken aboard a Japanese fishing vessel, they have no means of getting ashore. Two have been hospitalized. The "Griffon" will take on board the crew members and possibly tow the shipwrecked vessel to Vladivostok.
Two Russian rescue teams leave for Japan
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90777/90853/7318314.html
09:05, March 14, 2011
The Russian Emergencies Ministry on Sunday confirmed two Russian rescue teams have already left for Japan to search the survivors of the devastating quakes and tsunami that have stricken the country.
According to the ministry, an Il-76 plane left Russia's Ramenskoye airfield near Moscow on evening with some 50 rescuers, three relief and rescue vehicles and other necessary equipment, while another Mi-26 helicopter carrying 25 rescuers and rescue vehicles took off at 18:55 Moscow time (1555 GMT) from the city of Khabarovsk in Russia's Far East region.
Earlier on the day, the spokeswoman for the ministry Irina Andrianova said Japan has agreed to accept Russian rescue teams.
According to local reports, this is the first time Russia has offered such assistance to Japan.
On Friday, a massive 9-magnitude earthquake struck off the east coast of Japan's main Honshu Island, which had triggered huge tsunami along Japan's Pacific coast and caused hundreds of deaths and catastrophic damage.
After the quake, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has expressed his condolence to the victims and their families.
Source: Xinhua
IANS
Russia to send rescuers to quake-hit Japan
http://www.sify.com/news/russia-to-send-rescuers-to-quake-hit-japan-news-international-ldohOcfcgih.html
2011-03-14 07:50:00
Moscow, March 14 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Russia will send a team of rescuers to Japan, stricken by the devastating earthquake and tsunami, a spokeswoman for the country's emergencies ministry has said.
Irina Andrianova said Japan had agreed to accept a team of 50 Russian rescuers to join the search for survivors of the disaster.
An Mi-26 helicopter of the Russian emergencies ministry would carry 25 rescuers and a rescue vehicle to Japan.
If Japan asks for additional help, Russia will send more forces, Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu said.
The magnitude 8.9 tremor, which struck the Japan's northeast, was the most powerful ever recorded in the country. It triggered a 10-metre tsunami wave that swept away people, houses and cars.
Last group of 18 Russians to return from quake-hit Japan on Monday
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=16039775&PageNum=0
14.03.2011, 00.54
MOSCOW, March 14 (Itar-Tass) -- The last group of 18 Russian tourists are coming from Japan on Monday, a spokesman for Russia’s Federal Tourism Agency told Itar-Tass.
Early on Monday a Japanese JAL plane will take off from Japan to land at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport at 15:35 Moscow time, Oleg Moiseyev said.
On Sunday, another JAL airplane brought 36 Russians back to Moscow.
He did not rule out however that there might be “individual tourists who have not let know about them selves.” His agency, he said, is trying to find out how many Russian tourists who organized their trips themselves might be staying in Japan. So far, the agency have no information about such people but has pledged to render help to all those who will contact it.
On Saturday, the Russian Foreign Ministry recommended Russians not to travel to Japan.
In the meantime, Russian tour operators have suspended selling tourist vouchers to Japan. As for those who have already paid for their trips to Japan, Moiseyev said, travel companies will return their money in due time. “There should not be problems with compensations, since there are not very many tourists,” he said.
According to the Federal Tourism Agency, about 26,000 Russian tourists visit Japan annually, and about 10,000 make business trips there.
Russians open up homes to Japanese quake victims
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20110314/162991240.html
09:01 14/03/2011
Dozens of residents on Russia's Pacific coast have volunteered to house some of the thousands of Japanese made homeless by a powerful earthquake and tsunami on Friday, a local NGO said.
Thousands were killed when an 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck off the northeast coast of Japan on Friday, sparking a tsunami and several powerful aftershocks.
"We sent an appeal to the Japanese government proposing that Japanese victims of the natural disaster be taken in to Russian families," Vladimir Ostapyuk, Chairman of the regional branch of the Russian Union of Afghan Veterans said.
A hotline was set up on Monday morning for residents to volunteer their homes. The organization has already found 50 host families.
On Sunday, the Russian emergencies ministry sent rescue aircraft and equipment to help search for the thousands of people still missing after Friday's disaster.
VLADIVOSTOK, March 14 (RIA Novosti)
Putin Orders Gas for Crisis-Hit Japan
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/putin-orders-gas-for-crisis-hit-japan/432448.html
14 March 2011
By Olga Razumovskaya
Two tankers with liquefied natural gas and a planeload of blankets may be what it takes to start easing Russian-Japanese hostilities over a 65-year island dispute.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ordered extra energy shipments for Japan and the Emergency Situations Ministry prepared a plane with humanitarian aid after a powerful 9.0-magnitude earthquake rocked the island nation Friday at 8:46 a.m. Moscow time, provoking a tsunami, an explosion at a nuclear power plant and as many as 10,000 deaths in one region alone.
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Sunday that the country was facing its most serious challenge since World War II.
"This is the toughest crisis in Japan's 65 years of postwar history," Kan said in televised remarks. "I'm convinced that we can overcome the crisis."
Japan asked Russia to increase energy supplies after the nuclear power station Fukushima Daiichi north of Tokyo was damaged by the massive earthquake, and Moscow is ready to help, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin told Putin at a meeting Saturday.
"Japan is our neighbor, our friendly neighbor, and despite various problems we have to be reliable partners," Putin said in remarks shown on state television.
Putin asked state-owned gas monopoly Gazprom to consider increasing shipments of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, to Japan, where 30 percent of electricity is provided through nuclear energy and which is the world's biggest LNG buyer with 59.5 million cubic meters a day.
"We are looking for ways to divert two tankers that are en route under other contracts toward Japan for supplies in April and May," Sechin told Putin. "They are two 100,000-metric-ton vessels."
On Sunday morning, a Sakhalin-2 tanker with 19,500 cubic meters of LNG left Sakhalin island for Hiroshima, where it will dock Tuesday. Another tanker with 100,000 cubic meters of LNG will leave for Japan on Monday, Interfax reported.
But both tankers will be delivering LNG under existing contracts, the report said, meaning that no tankers have yet been diverted and that the additional shipments as per Putin's instructions have not begun.
In addition to LNG shipments, Mechel and SUEK will consider boosting coal supplies by 3 million to 4 million tons, Sechin said.
Japan also accepted Russia's offer for humanitarian aid on Sunday after earlier welcoming similar assistance from 69 other countries.
An Il-76 with about 50 people on board, three rescue vehicles and special equipment will leave shortly for Japan, where the team be able to work autonomously for two weeks, the Emergency Situations Ministry said on its web site Sunday.
Russia is "ready to offer Japan all possible aid to cope with the aftermath of this tragedy," President Dmitry Medvedev said in a statement in which he offered his condolences.
Ordinary people also shared Japan's grief, laying flowers outside the Japanese Embassy in Moscow.
The Japanese government thanked the Russians for their support.
"Russians are constantly expressing to me their condolences and showing their solidarity, which warms my heart," Masaharu Kono, Japanese ambassador to Russia, said in a statement faxed to The Moscow Times late Sunday.
The Russian government also mobilized its efforts in the Far East, evacuating some 11,000 residents from coastal areas before the tsunami hit Friday, the Emergency Situations Ministry said. No injuries were reported, and most people had returned to their homes by Sunday.
Tsunami warnings were also issued to 76 fishing ships in the area Friday, Itar-Tass said.
When the immediate danger of the earthquake and tsunami passed, the country's top doctor, Gennady Onishchenko, offered assurances that radiation in the Far East was within the normal range and that local residents had nothing to worry about.
Japanese officials also said radiation levels around the quake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant were close to normal Sunday.
The official death toll from the quake and tsunami is 1,351, although officials warned it could soar because as many as 10,000 people are feared killed in the northeastern Miyagi region alone.
Onishchenko was quick to dismiss any comparisons to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine that led to one of the biggest nuclear accidents in history.
"The damaged reactor in Fukushima is weaker in capacity than the Chernobyl one, and even in the worst-case scenario this gives us hope," he said, Interfax reported.
Onishchenko, however, expressed concern that many Japanese nuclear power plants are located along the coastline and on landfill. "After the incident, obviously, Japan will have to change its concept for developing civilian nuclear power," he said.
Environmentalists said Russia itself could learn from Japan because of its interest in building floating nuclear power stations, one of which has already been launched in the quake-prone Far East. Moreover, Russia was on the brink of an incident similar to Japan’s current situation in 1993 when the energy supply to the Kola nuclear power plant in northwestern Russia got cut off because of stormy winds.
"The events in Japan must become a good lesson for Russia," said Vladimir Slivyak, co-chairman of Ecodefense, an environmental group. "The lesson is the following: Nuclear power in principle cannot be safe, and new projects, like the floating nuclear power station in the Far East and grounded power stations in seismically dangerous zones only increase the risks borne by the nuclear industry."
As the world's third-largest economy, Japan can deal with the aftermath of the earthquake on its own, experts believe, but given the gravity of the situation, it is best for its people that it does not.
Japan's decision to reach out to Moscow and accept offered aid illustrates the humaneness of both sides despite seriously strained political ties, said Alexander Losyukov, a former Russian ambassador to Japan.
"When your neighbor is in trouble like that, regardless of your political beliefs, you reach out to him and offer help," Losyukov told The Moscow Times.
"I am also glad that [Japan] had wisdom enough to accept the helping hand," he said.
Relations have sunk to near post-World War II lows amid a territorial dispute over four islands that the Soviet Union seized from Japan near the end of the war. The largely unpopulated islands, which suffered no damage in the quake and tsunami, are called the southern Kurils by the Russian side and the Northern Territories by the Japanese and lie as close as 10 kilometers from Japan.
Tokyo, which wants the islands back, has made the resolution of the dispute a priority in recent months, but it reacted angrily when Medvedev visited the islands in November and the Russian military spoke just days ago of fortifying its presence there.
While it remains to be seen whether the tragedy will lead to a mending of fences, at least one Russian politician has made an unusual proposal on how both sides could help each other in the tough, upcoming days. Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the eccentric leader of the Liberal Democratic Party who is known for his pro-Russian territorial views, suggested that displaced Japanese be moved to the sparsely populated Russian Far East.
"In this case we are not dividing anything, no islands," he said in a statement on the party's web site Sunday. "We are offering [them a chance] to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe.
"Let them go to the unoccupied lands, build and support themselves. They will not impede the locals, and Russia will only win if such hard-working people join us."
14 March 2011, 12:07
Russia's participation in aid to Japan will help reconcile two nations, Patriarch Kirill hopes
http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=8277
Moscow, March 14, Interfax - Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia on Saturday expressed sympathy with Japan over the powerful earthquakes and tsunami that have hit the country.
"What has happened in Japan is an enormous tragedy. It's unclear how many people have died. But what we can see in televised news is terrifying. Behind all those pictures is a real tragedy for ordinary people," the Patriarch told reporters in Moscow.
When such calamities occur, "we must all help each other, solidarity between people must be the decisive factor in dealing with these dreadful circumstances," he said.
"God grant that the participation of Russia, among others, in helping Japan should help bring about conciliation between our peoples. We must be together in sorrow so that, in times of peace as well, we are able to peacefully interact and support each other," the Patriarch said.
Aftermath of the Japan earthquake: Implications for the CIS ferrous and carbon sector
http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text14455
Renaissance Capital
March 14, 2011
Event: Steel Business Briefing (SBB) has reported that Japan's most powerful earthquake in more than 300 years could damage 15-20mn tpa of steelmaking capacity across the country. Sumitomo officially confirmed the idling of the 5mn tpa Kashima steel mill, which is near the epicentre. According to SBB, Nippon Steel's and JFE Steel's facilities could also be affected. SBB confirms that large iron ore and coking coal storage yards were damaged by the tsunami that resulted from the quake. Japan is the second-largest steel producer in the world: in 2010, its crude steel output was 110mnt and steel exports reached a record high of 43.4mnt (+26% YoY).
Action: The news is neutral for Mechel and positive for Evraz, in our view.
Rationale: The massive earthquake has created so much confusion and devastation that it is impossible to work with anything more than rough estimates at this juncture. Japan accounts for approximately 6-7% and 14-16% of Russia's coking coal and thermal coal export volumes, respectively. The accidents at Japanese nuclear power facilities appear to us to be bullish for Russian thermal coal exporters (Kuzbassrazrezugol, SUEK and Mechel). The idling of 15-20mn tpa of steelmaking capacity translates into 8-10mn tpa less coking coal consumption (3-4% of global seaborne coking coal volumes). The actual impact on the coking coal market will depend on when Japanese steel operations are restarted and on the coking coal inventories destroyed by the tsunami. Around one-third of Russia's steel exports go to Asia. Taking into account Japan's role as a steel exporter in Asia, companies benefiting from diminished competition in the region in the near term may draw investors' attention. In Russia's case, we think Evraz will benefit: Evraz sold 32% of total 1H10 steel volumes to Asia.
Boris Krasnojenov
03/14 11:54 MEDVEDEV BANS ENTRY TO RUSSIA AND TRANSIT OF GADDAFI'S FAMILY AND ENTOURAGE - DECREE
03/14 11:54 MEDVEDEV BANS FINANCIAL OPERATIONS OF GADDAFI FAMILY ON RUSSIAN TERRITORY
http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=228333
http://www.interfax.ru/news.asp?id=181150
Medvedev Bans Financial Operations of Gaddafi Family On Russian Territory
March 14, 2011 11:57 and
Moscow. March 14. INTERFAX.RU - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree that prohibits the leader of the Libyan Revolution Muammar Gaddafi and his family financial transactions in the Russian Federation.
In accordance with the decree on the list of persons banned of financial transactions, or financial operations with assets and economic resources available in the Russian Federation are: Muammar Gaddafi, his daughter Aisha, and his sons Hannibal and Khamis.
14 March 2011, 10:15
Mideast opposition not planning to introduce Sharia laws – Lavrov
http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=8276
Moscow, March 14, Interfax - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that Islamists are unlikely to come to power as a result of revolutions in a number of Middle Eastern countries.
"I would not dramatize the situation: the experience shows that Islam and democracy are quite compatible," he said on the Channel 3 television.
"The driving forces of the events both in Libya and in Egypt were mainly educated young people. The current opposition slogans consist in the change of power, in the succession of power based on democratic principles and not the introduction of the Sharia laws," Lavrov added.
He also said he was not inclined to liken the current events in the Middle East and North Africa to the "color revolutions" in the former Soviet republics.
"The domestic factor played a bigger role in the Middle East than in the post-Soviet territories," the minister said.
14 March 2011, 10:12
Islamists jeopardize interreligious peace in Russia - Patriarch Kirill
http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=8275
Moscow, March 14, Interfax - Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has expressed fears over the threat of radical Islamism existing in Russia.
"We have not had any religious wars in a thousand years. We have always lived together but everyone observed their customs and preserved their traditions. (...) We are still living in the inertia of this tradition which unfortunately is now exposed to a greater risk from radical fundamentalist Islamic groups," the Patriarch said at a meeting with the global leadership group of the World Economic Forum in Moscow on Saturday.
These groups "come to Russia and teach their followers a different style of relationship with non-Muslims," he said.
"I thank God that today an absolute majority of Muslims in Russia continue the tradition of co-existence that has existed in our country for hundreds of years. We are making every effort to preserve this tradition," the Russian Church leader said.
Russia has an Interreligious Council that discusses problems "shared by people of various religious: legislation, social issues and many others," he said.
"If the religious thinking gets radicalized, then inter-religious relations explode. Religious leaders, governments and authorities are faced with an enormous task here," Patriarch Kirill said.
"We perceive with gratefulness what our fathers and forefathers believed in and how they built interreligious relations, and we would like to continue this tradition because it proved its viability," he said.
"People preserve their cultural and religious values but they respect and help one another in their interaction. Today the religious factor is being used by "the evil will" of certain individuals "for political purposes," the Patriarch said.
Lavrov, Rosenthal to discuss Russian-Dutch innovative cooperation
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=16039760&PageNum=0
14.03.2011, 01.17
MOSCOW, March 14 (Itar-Tass) - Russian and Dutch foreign ministers Sergei Lavrov and Uri Rosenthal will meet in Moscow to discuss stronger economic and innovative cooperation and the Middle East situation.
“The ministers will focus on the bilateral agenda and cooperation in the Russia-EU format, within the framework of the Russia-NATO Council and in international organizations – the UN, OSCE and the Council of Europe,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.
The two diplomats are expected to exchange opinions on weapon restriction, non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the fight against international terrorism and crime.
Lavrov and Rosenthal will sign a program of actions for 2011-2013 that envisions the strengthening of bilateral cooperation in most different areas, including the preparation for the Year of Russia in the Netherlands and the Year of the Netherlands in Russia in 2013.
According to experts, the Netherlands is one of the biggest, most active and promising strategic economic and investment partners of Russia. Last year the two countries’ trade comprised around 48 billion U.S. dollars. In 2002-2010 the investments increased by more than 10 times to 43.3 billion U.S. dollars, of them 15.7 billion U.S. dollars are direct investments.
Moscow and Amsterdam implement large-scale projects, mainly those in energy. Phillips’ energy saving and energy efficiency technologies are being applied in pilot projects aimed at developing infrastructure facilities in Rostov-on-Don, southern Russia, and poultry farms of Russia’ s company Evrodon.
The two countries step up cooperation in innovations, bioenergy, agriculture, transport, medicine and pharmaceutics. Dutch companies are active to join the creation of Russia’s innovation hub Skolkovo.
The two ministers also touched upon issues on the international agenda such the Middle East and North Africa, Iran’s problem and the situation in Afghanistan.
Sergei Lavrov to Paris for G8 ministerial to discuss Libya events
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=16040545&PageNum=0
14.03.2011, 11.28
MOSCOW, March 14 (Itar-Tass) - Group of Eight ministerial meeting (Russia, the United States, Canada, France, Britain, Germany, Italy and Japan) will be opened in Paris on Monday by a conversation at the Elysee Palace with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and a working lunch hosted by the country’s foreign minister. The central theme of the two-day discussions are to be events in the Middle East and in North Africa.
All the G8 high guests will arrive in the French capital. The Japanese foreign minister, despite the devastating natural disaster that struck several Japanese cities, on Sunday made a decision not to cancel his trip to Europe, but only cut the programme. Takeaki Matsumoto will personally thank the colleagues for their willingness to provide assistance to Japan in overcoming the consequences of the strongest earthquake and express determination of his country to cope with any difficulties. Matsumoto’s bilateral meeting, in particular, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, is planned “on the sidelines” of the Paris meeting.
Upon arrival in Paris, the foreign ministers of eight states will proceed without delay to discussing the situation in Libya. During a working lunch the parties will be able to explain and clarify each other’s positions. At a plenary meeting in the French Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, March 15, the talks’ participants will try to develop a common approach to these circumstances.
The possibility of military interference in the situation in Libya remains a controversial, and perhaps the most sensitive issue. Russia opposes such a scenario and insists that it is the prerogative of the UN Security Council. Moscow also notes if proposals are submitted to the UN Security Council proposals on closing the airspace over Libya, the sides will have to carefully examine the issue, to obtain detailed information about how the authors conceive taking such actions in practice, which of the states would be ready to act as a volunteer to ensure the no-fly zones regime, which means will be applied, and what rules of engagement will be used. Civilian population has suffered more than once within the framework of no-fly zones that had been introduced in other countries in the past, recalls Sergei Lavrov, and this aspect should be taken into account. The most important thing now, according to the Russian foreign minister, is to get an independent and objective assessment of what is happening in Libya.
The Group of Eight at its meeting also plans to examine in detail the plans to provide humanitarian assistance to the region’s population and the related relief measures.
From the “hot’ topics the foreign ministers will proceed to the important ones. In particular, they will discuss issues of disarmament. They will discuss the fulfilment of the final decisions of last year’s Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Russian and the United States expect a positive response of the partners to ratification of the new START Treaty by them. Moscow is also ready the G8 a number of measures on the subject of non-proliferation.
The meeting participants will certainly exchange views on the situation around the nuclear programmes of Iran and North Korea. The parties will analyse the progress of the Action Plan on combating terrorism and organised crime, adopted at last year’s summit of the Group of Eight in Muskoka. The agenda of the discussions also includes the issue of combating drug trafficking.
The meeting of the G8 foreign ministers is traditionally a key link in the chain of events to prepare the political agenda of the G8 leaders’ meeting. Their summit will be held at Deauville at the end of May. The results of the discussions of the foreign ministers will be recorded in a statement of the chairman.
It is no secret that the Group of Eight is going through a stage of substantial transformation. A considerable part of the economic problems is now being considered within the Group of Twenty. However, the G8 still maintains its role as an important mechanism for collective search for solutions to the most pressing political problems.
The Group of Eight is a forum, created by France in 1975, for governments of six countries in the world: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1976, Canada joined the group (thus creating the G7). In 1997, the group added Russia thus becoming the G8. In addition, the European Union is represented within the G8, but cannot host or chair. G8 can refer to the member states or to the annual summit meeting of the G8 heads of government. The former term, G6, is now frequently applied to the six most populous countries within the European Union. G8 ministers also meet throughout the year, such as the G7/8 finance ministers (who meet four times a year), G8 foreign ministers, or G8 environment ministers.
Each calendar year, the responsibility of hosting the G8 rotates through the member states in the following order: France, United States, United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Canada. The holder of the presidency sets the agenda, hosts the summit for that year, and determines which ministerial meetings will take place.
Share with your friends: | 
