Russia 110422 Basic Political Developments
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Russia: Fools and Roadshttp://barentsnova.com/node/1007 Apr 22 2011 There is no agreement of opinion for the origin of the popular saying: "there are two problems in Russia - fools and roads". Yet most people agree on that and add that poor-quality roads come as a consequence of the first problem. However, Russian Transport Minister dares to break the established pattern: asphalt on the roads is to be replaced by concrete. Russia does not produce asphalt of proper quality, admits Igor Levitin to Rossia 24, then Russia should either improve the quality of bitumen or take up cement concrete for road construction. Concrete roads are cheaper. Stepping away from traditional bitumen will significantly curtail construction costs, says Nikita Krichevsky, Dr.of Economics and chairman of Opora Rossii expert council, to Izvestia: The most expensive part of the road is the base layer. Using reinforced concrete plates as the base material will decrease the costs by 8 times, he says. Nonetheless, some experts doubt the success of new construction material. Asphalt solution is a funds cornucopia for construction slackers who steadily get their "pork" money from different state-owned appropriations. The road repair seems to be a non-stop process revived after each winter period. In 2011, Russia is to repair 5,500 km of federal roads. According to the analysis of World Bank, roads repair in Russia is quite a wasteful business: $27,000-$55,000 for 1 km of the road surface. In comparison to that, Finland (the country of alike climate conditions) spends a bit over $9,000 per 1 km. Trying to find the cause of this costs discrepancy, the bank's experts suggested that "factors contributing to high costs of maintaining roads in Russia are likely to come from insufficient competition in the road industry, as well as leakage of funds and corruption". PRESS DIGEST - Russia - Apr 22http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE73L03E20110422 Fri Apr 22, 2011 7:25am GMT MOSCOW, April 22 (Reuters) - The following are some of the leading stories in Russia's newspapers on Friday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. KOMMERSANT www.kommersant.ru - Officials in Russia's Penza region swap cars for scooters and bicycles in an attempt to evaluate the condition of local roads, the paper writes. - Cameras and infrared sensors will be installed in forests across Russia to prevent deadly forest fires, the paper says. VEDOMOSTI www.vedomosti.ru - Popularity ratings of the Russian ruling tandem and main political party United Russia dropped to its lowest level in two years, the paper reports. - Russian oil company Bashneft (BANE.RTS) violated a number of licence agreements for oil production in southwestern Bashkortostan region, according to regional accounting chamber, the paper says. NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA www.ng.ru - Russia's Finance Minister said political competition in Russia is necessary for economic development, the paper writes. TRUD
www.trud.ru - The number of Russians planning trips abroad has risen due to better economic conditions while the prices for the most popular vacation spot rise, the daily reports. KOMSOMOLSKAYA PRAVDA www.kp.ru - The paper runs an interview with Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin who says 60,000 trees died in Moscow during the ice rain this winter.
In his state-of-the-nation address on Thursday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko blamed a recent deadly terrorist attack on the Minsk metro on external forces aiming to “dictate their will to the Belarusian people,” denouncing superfluous “democracy” and promising to eradicate the “fifth column” in the country. (Kommersant, Nezavisimaya Gazeta) Approval ratings of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his pro-Kremlin United Russia party have dropped to their lowest levels in two years, two Russian pollsters said. (Vedomosti) The United States will allocate $90 million for democratic reforms in Georgia, the U.S. ambassador to the South Caucasus country said. Georgian opposition leader Nino Burdzhanadze said the West had finally begun treating Tbilisi “adequately.” Giorgi Baramidze, the Georgian deputy prime minister and minister for Euro-Atlantic integration, explained why it is important for Georgia to join NATO.
Obama’s decision to replace outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates with current CIA Director Leon Panetta was motivated by Leon’s ability to implement harsh financial policies, experts said. The new defense secretary will face a challenge of cutting the Pentagon’s expenditures by $400 billion while continuing operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. (Kommersant) Nikolai Denin, the governor of the Western Russian city of Bryansk, and his wife have increased their land holdings over the past year - to 8,400 hectares in 2010 from 11.6 hectares in 2009. (Vedomosti) ECONOMY High oil and gas prices are no longer boosting the development of the Russian economy, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said during a meeting of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs on Thursday. The minister again called for the development of political competition in Russia, which he said would allow drawing up an effective economic strategy. (Nezavisimaya Gazeta) The Russian government has approved amendments to Russia’s 2011 budget. The country’s expenses are likely to exceed previous estimates by 418.4 billion rubles ($14.9 billion). Inflation in Russia has been estimated to stand at 6.5-7.5 percent this year, but experts say it may reach 8.7 percent. (Vedomosti) BUSINESS Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met on Thursday with Russian oligarchs - members of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs - and promised them to consider the lowering of fiscal charges. (Kommersant) The Russian government discussed on Thursday the indexation of taxes for natural monopolies in 2012-2014. The increase in taxes may be 1.5-3 times less then previous estimates. (Vedomosti) The Russian Human Rights Council has begun looking into the case of Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former head of oil company Yukos, serving 14 years in prison for embezzling oil from Yukos and laundering over 3 billion rubles ($97.5 million) in revenues. (Nezavisimaya Gazeta) Switzerland has opened a money-laundering probe against a former Russian tax official at the request of British investment company Hermitage Capital Management Ltd. (Kommersant, Vedomosti) U.S. investor Stephen Lynch, known for buying a subsidiary of Russian energy company Yukos during the company’s bankruptcy procedure, is in talks on the purchase of a stake in Russia’s Lenta hypermarket network. (Kommersant) Shareholders in Bank of Moscow elected former VTB employee Mikhail Kuzovlev as the bank's president on Thursday, ending a dramatic fight for control over the capital's lender. (Kommersant) CRIME The son of software tycoon Yevgeny Kaspersky has been kidnapped in Moscow. Ivan Kaspersky, 20, is believed to be being held for a 3 million euro ransom. (Kommersant, Izvestia, Moskovskiye Novosti) Directory: gifiles -> attach attach -> British Forces – Akrioti, Greece Griffin Fighter Squadron (84 Squadron raf) MoD announced possible Typhoon and Tornado arrivals to the base France attach -> Russia 110204 Basic Political Developments attach -> Unclassified//for official use only attach -> Adaptability Sustainment attach -> Pop-up 1 ("C" Chechnya) Header Text: Emir of the Caucasus Emirate Doku Umarov Image attach -> Russia and Islam are not Separate attach -> Chapter 13: The Northern Caucasus attach -> Russia 100209 Basic Political Developments attach -> The evolution attach -> The devolution Download 275.17 Kb. Share with your friends:
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