Russia 101111 Basic Political Developments

Russia 101111

Basic Political Developments

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  Constructive relations with RF pay dividends to US - State Dpt - The creation of more constructive relations with Russia has already begun to yield significant dividends to the United States and Europe, US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip H. Gordon said in London on Thursday.
  
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  G-20 Summit in Seoul
  
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    Chinese, Russian presidents meet in Seoul on cooperation
    
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    Extending Kyoto Protocol won't help tackle global warming - Russian G20 delegate
    
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    G20 Seoul summit to approve plan to help poor nations – source
    
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    Russia calls for risk management system based on IMF
    
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    Russia backs gradual removal of credit ratings from regulation instruments
    
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    Russia against U.S. current account limits proposal
    
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    RF concerned some states seeking weaker currency exchange rate
    
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    Russia to voice concern over unilateral economic decisions at G20 - source
    
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    UPDATE 1-Russia frets global economy "unstable"-G20 source
    
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    Russia Asks G-20 to Cut Investment Barriers to Offset Hot Money
    
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    Economy and currency wars on G20 table - "Russia’s position is that we need a more coordinated approach; we don’t want surprises from our partners,” says Russian presidential aide Arkady Dvorkovich. “We want a more intensive policy dialog between Central Banks, Finance Ministries. This can lead to a greater stability on the markets."
    
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    G20 countries should promote small businesses - Medvedev
    
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    G20 should consider state purchase from small businesses – Medvedev
    
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  Medvedev to wind up visit to Seoul, to attend G20 Summit - During the final event of the official visit, the authorities of the South Korean city of Incheon (Chemulpo) will hand over the Varyag cruiser’ s flag to the Russian delegation.
  
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    South Korea returns the Varyag`s flag to Russia
    
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    Varyag cruiser flag transfer symbol of RF-SKorea good relations - “The transfer of the jack from the Varyag cruiser is of special symbolic importance for us, because it is the memory of the unprecedented feat of navy men of the Varyag cruiser, on the one hand, and on the other – it is a symbol of new very good relations that bind Russia and the Republic Korea,” said Medvedev.
    
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    SKorea HHI to build electrical eqt plant near Vladivostok - The South Korean Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) Company will build a plant for the manufacture of electrical engineering equipment near Vladivostok.
    
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  APEC not to take new protectionist measures until the end of 2013 - The ministerial meeting of the leading Pacific Rim countries, including Russia, declared Thursday in favour of avoiding fresh protectionist measures to uphold their economies until the end of 2013, said a joint statement adopted by the Foreign and Economics ministers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum at the meeting that came to a close here earlier in the day.
  
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  Aust signs off on Russia nuclear deal - Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Russian President Dimitry Medvedev have signed off on an agreement to resume uranium sales to Russia.
  
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    Australia Agrees To Supply Uranium To Russian Power Industry - "This brings Australia's bilateral nuclear relationship with Russia into line with the agreements we have in place with other countries, including the U.S., China, Japan and the Republic of Korea."
    
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  Cameron to visit Russia next year as sign of thaw -"I'm very pleased to take up the invitation of a visit to Russia next year," Cameron told reporters after a meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the G20 summit in South Korea.
  Russia, UK's positions 'similar in many respects,' Medvedev says
  
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  Russian double agent 'helped crack' US spy ring
  
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    Russia-U.S. spy scandal caused by intelligence officer betrayal - newspaper
    
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  Putin Brings along New Moscow Mayor to Sofia - Bulgaria's cabinet approved a decision to sign the South Stream project. Yesterday, Bulgaria's PM Borissov and his Russian counterpart once again had a phone talk to specify details of PM Putin's visit to Sofia on Saturday
  
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  Russian Cultural Days to be held in three major cities - Russian Cultural Days will be held in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang from November 14-22, announced by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
  
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  Russian military base in Armenia part of southern military district - Specifically, the Southern military district comprises the North Caucasian military districts, Black Sea and Caspian fleets, as well as the military bases in Armenia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
  
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  CIS Institutions of Higher Education sign Memorandum in Baku
  
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  Putin to visit children’s haematology, oncology, immunology centre - The German company Transumed GmbH Medizintechnik started building the centre in August 2008. The main purpose of Putin’s visit to the centre is to check the status of the project ahead of its commissioning scheduled for June 1, 2011 -- Child Protection Day.
  
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  Governors should not remain in office longer than three terms – Medvedev: The governors of the Russian regions should not hold their positions for longer than three terms, stated President Dmitry Medvedev at a meeting with the staff of the newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
  
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    Medvedev says no plans to raise retirement age in Russia in near futurе - “We have no plans to raise the retirement age in the years to come not because there are no objective reasons for that, but because such decisions require serious discussion and public consensus,” Medvedev said at a meeting with Rossiiskaya Gazeta staff.
    
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    Russia needs fewer universities - Medvedev: "Higher education has been devalued. We have a huge number of higher educational establishments some of which are worth nothing," Medvedev said at a meeting with employees of government daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta on its 20th anniversary.
    
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  Russian govt to consider draft education programme for 2011-2015
  
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  Sobyanin appoints Kalina as Moscow government minister - Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin appointed Isaak Kalina as a Moscow government minister and the head of the Moscow education department, a source in the Moscow Mayor’s Office said on Thursday.
  
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  Satellites to make e-govt available across Russia – Rostelecom: Two K-2 satellites will be used to bring Internet and e-government services to remote Russian regions where laying fibre optic cables would be loss-making, Rostelecom Voce President Andrei Nashchekin said.
  
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  Up to 100,000 domains can be registered in RF zone by yearend
  
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  Over 11 mln Muscovites take part in national population census - A total of 95 percent of Moscow’s population, or 11.7 million people, took part in the national population census held on October 14-25, 2010.
  
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  Russia joins executive board of UN Women
  
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  ICJU head calls for journalist congress after attack on Russian reporter
  
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  Investigators to renew journalist attack case
  
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  ‘Mandela Moment’ Awaits Russia in Yukos Trial: Julian Rimmer - The jury is out, or at least it would be if there was one. Fascinated or appalled, Russia and the world await the verdict in the latest trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former owner of Yukos Oil Co. His fate now lies in the hands of Judge Viktor Danilkin.
  
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  Russia’s legal mire - All that makes the lack of progress on legal reforms – in spite of the pledges of both Mr Medvedev and, earlier, Mr Putin (who promised a “dictatorship of laws”) – perplexing. The likely conviction of former Yukos chief Mikhail Khodorkovsky next month on new embezzlement charges, described even by former senior officials as absurd, is proof of that. Yet the rule of law is not an abstract value. Until Russians – not just journalists but all citizens – start feeling a bit safer, investors will never feel entirely safe either.
  
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  Blood money rejected in 'golden gun' assassination - The family of the murdered Chechen warlord Sulim Yamadayev will not seek blood money or take any legal action against the two men convicted of involvement in the assassination, a court was told yesterday.
  
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  Russian Press at a Glance, Thursday, November 11, 2010
  
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    This summer's Russian-U.S. spy scandal was the result of betrayal by a Russian intelligence officer. Investigative reporting.(Kommersant)
    
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    President Dmitry Medvedev will hold an Internet conference with Russians.(Nezavisimaya Gazeta)
    
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    Right Cause, which styles itself as a liberal opposition party, has become the first party to officially support President Dmitry Medvedev's candidacy for a second term in 2012. Party co-founder Georgy Bovt said Wednesday that the decision reflects the country's political reality.(Moscow Times)
    
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    The Republican Party that won last week's midterm elections to the U.S. Congress will block any initiatives from President Barack Obama. This could not only freeze the healthcare reform but also fold Obama's policy of "resetting" relations with Russia.(Kommersant)
    
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    Russian phone retailer Euroset is preparing for an IPO in London, three investment bankers and one company manager said. The IPO could be held at the London Stock Exchange in 2011 and involve some 30% of the company's stock. The final decision will be made by November 20.(Vedomosti)
    
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    British lighting equipment producer Abacus has announced plans to build a plant in St. Petersburg next year. Abacus is "looking at how we can support the Winter Olympics in Sochi," said Andrew Morris Richardson, chairman of the board of Abacus Russia and a board member of British Abacus.(Moscow Times)
    
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    English could become the only language for communication between traffic controllers and pilots for non-military Russian flights, said Alexander Neradko, head of the Federal Air Transportation Agency. Currently, both Russian and English are used for radio communication at the country's international airports, while the rest only use Russian.(Moscow Times)
    
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    Russia hopes to join the World Trade Organization next year, presidential aide Arkady Dvorkovich said.(Vedomosti, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
    
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    The European Union plans to spend €1 trillion ($1.4 trillion) on diversification of energy supplies by 2020. The EU's energy strategy could strip Russia of part of its sales market but experts say the EU has little chance of implementing it.(Vedomosti)
    
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    City Hall's website crashed Wednesday after Mayor Sergei Sobyanin published his long-awaited plan to fight Moscow's notorious traffic jams. The plan in particular proposes barring trucks from the city during daylight hours. Experts say this will only result in shortages of goods and price hikes.(Moscow Times, Vremya Novostei, Vedomosti)
    
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    The Investigative Committee's top department was assigned on Wednesday to handle the case of the attack on Kommersant reporter Oleg Kashin, who remains in a drug-induced coma, as suspects singled out by the media denied involvement.(Vedomosti, Kommersant, Moscow Times, Nezavisimaya Gazeta)
    
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    Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has banned parents from paying for efforts to repair and equip schools because there is a special federal target program to deal with the issue.(Kommersant)
    
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    Bulgaria's Cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposed joint venture with Russian energy giant Gazprom to run the Bulgarian section of the planned South Stream pipeline that will run across the Black Sea. The agreement envisions a 50-50 partnership between Gazprom and Bulgarian Energy Holding and is to be signed during Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's visit to Sofia on Saturday.(Vremya Novostei, Moscow Times)
    
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    Gazprom's sales to South Korea should pull even with supplies to major European buyers like France by 2017 as the Russian gas export monopoly turns its attention toward burgeoning Asian markets, Gazprom chief Alexei Miller said Wednesday.(Moscow Times, Vremya Novostei)
    
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    Registration of ordinary users in the Cyrillic Internet domain (.рф) will start at midday Thursday.(Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
    
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  Third man suspected of role in Krasnodar mass murder detained – source
  
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  Spy Sandal Version 2.0 - For Countries of Georgia’s Size with Enemies the Size of Russia, Soft Power Swipes Like a Well-Timed Spy Bust Are a Useful Weapon
  
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  EU to have another stab at forming untied energy front - …despite many tough words, Russia has picked off targets at its leisure, with several individual EU members signed up to help build more infrastructure linking Europe to Russian energy suppliers, despite the bloc having an official strategy to reduce its dependence on Moscow.
  
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  Winner takes all? - For now, Moscow is trying to gain the upper hand by fast-tracking construction of the Kaliningrad facility, the Baltic Nuclear Power Plant. ..The facility will probably become another carrot that Moscow can dangle before Minsk as the two countries quarrel over everything from oil prices to a customs union.