MOSCOW – The operation to lift the Bulgaria boat that sank in the Volga River continues.
MOSCOW – Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will chair a regular meeting of the Governmental Commission on Control over Foreign Investments in the Russian Federation. The Commission is to consider 13 applications filed by foreign investors from Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Cyprus, and the United States on deals in various spheres.
MOSCOW — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meets with his Libyan counterpart Abdul Ati al-Obeidi to discuss settlement of the situation in Libya.
RABAT – Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said on Tuesday he will not bow under the pressure of NATO air strikes and the rebellion against him, saying his loyalists would recapture lost territory.
BEIRUT – Syrian troops and militiamen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad killed at least ten people in attacks in the city of Homs on Tuesday.
VOLGOGRAD — First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov will make a working trip to Volgograd Region, where he will take a final decision as to whether he will place himself at the head of the regional list of United Russia party members at State Duma elections.
MOSCOW – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov leaves here for Indonesia on Wednesday to take part in ministerial meetings within the scope of Russia-ASEAN and East Asia summits (EAS) machinery, due to be held on Bali Island from July 21 to 22.
HANOI – Foreign Ministers of the ASEAN member states meet on Bali to focus on the regional integration.
BEIJING – China opened officially its part of the Bolshoi Ussuriysky Island on the Amur River for tourist trips.
LONDON – House of Commons Speaker John Bercow said that the session may be extended in connection with the News Of The World phone hacking scandal. Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to make a statement in the parliament.
PARIS – France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy and Germany’ s Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel will hold a working meeting in Berlin on the eve of the EU summit to coordinate positions over the situation in the euro zone.
OMSK – Omsk will host the Soviet cinema festival dedicated to the 110th anniversary of Igor Ilyinsky.
YEKATERINBURG – An exhibition devoted to the history of the Urals’ stone-cutting, lapidary and jewelry arts opens in Yekaterinburg.
SAMARA – Russia’s biggest carmaker AVTOVAZ marks its 45th jubilee.
MOSCOW – Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia is to arrive in Saransk, the capital of the Republic of Mordovia, for a pastoral visit.
KALUGA – The third international youth camp Dialogue will open at the cultural and educational tourist centre Etnomir in the Borovsk district of the Kaluga Region.
Itar-Tass news digest for Wednesday, July 20 : 1.
MOSCOW — The operation to fix the first two of the four wide metal slings under the hull of the sunken Bulgaria boat to lift her to the surface has been launched, spokesman for the operational headquarters for lifting the vessel Timur Khikmatov told Itar-Tass. “At 08:00, Moscow time, the operation to fix the two slings under the stern of the Bulgaria ship was started,” he said. “Preparations for fixing two more slings under the fore body continue.”
MOSCOW – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev adopted amendments to several laws envisaging the creation of a unified federal database on the activity of corporate entities, the Kremlin press service said.
MOSCOW — Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will chair a regular meeting of the Governmental Commission for Control over Foreign Investments in the Russian Federation on Wednesday. The Commission is to consider 13 applications filed by foreign investors from Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Cyprus, and the United States on deals in the areas of petrochemistry, transport infrastructure, mineral development, telecommunications and manufacturing of specialized equipment.
MOSCOW — Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov meets with his Libyan counterpart Abdul Ati al-Obeidi here on Wednesday. "Lavrov's meeting with the Secretary of the General People's Committee for Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation will be held at the request of the Libyan side," an official at the Russian Foreign Ministry has told Itar-Tass.
VOLGOGRAD — First Vice-Premier Viktor Zubkov will make a working trip to Volgograd Region, where he will take a final decision as to whether he will place himself at the head of the regional list of United Russia party (URP) members at State Duma elections. While in Volgograd, Zubkov is expected to meet the authors of the application and hold a series of consultations with representatives of industrial, transport, and social welfare enterprises, as well as and those of the agricultural sector and the timber industry.
MOSCOW — Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov leaves here for Indonesia on Wednesday to take part in ministerial meetings within the scope of Russia-ASEAN and East Asia summits (EAS) machinery, due to be held on Bali Island from July 21 to 22. Main attention will be devoted to problems concerning non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, including a nuclear-free zone in Southeast Asia, as well as counteraction to international terrorism, the nuclear problem on the Korean Peninsula, and the situation in the Middle East and North Africa.
MOSCOW — Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia is to arrive in Saransk, the capital of the Republic of Mordovia, on Wednesday for a pastoral visit. This will be the Patriarch's first arrival in Mordovia, the land of his childhood years, in his capacity as Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC).
SAMARA — The AVTOVAZ car factory, a major automaker of Russia, marks its 45th jubilee on Wednesday. Nowadays, AVTOVAZ is one of the largest automakers of Europe. AVTOVAZ share on Russia's car market is over 25 percent.
KHABAROVSK — The Republic of Yakutia in the Far East remains a problem area from the viewpoint of efforts to grapple with forest fires. By Wednesday morning, 21 forest fires are still raging in the republic on an area of over 8,600 hectares, an official at the forestry department for the Far Eastern Federal District has told Itar-Tass.
BEIJING — China opened officially its part of the Bolshoi Ussuriisky Island on the Amur River for tourist trips. The first group of 150 tourists from China arrived on the island on Wednesday morning, the Xinhua news agency reported. The island was divided between Russia and China after the complete border demarcation between the countries under the treaty in 2008.
DUSHANBE — A strong earthquake rocked residents of several regions in Tajikistan at midnight on Wednesday. The earthquake measured 6.2 points jolted north-eastern Tajikistan on the border with Kyrgyzstan, a source in the Dushanbe seismological station told Itar-Tass on Wednesday. The tremors made many residents in the Tajik capital leave their houses despite the nighttime. Meanwhile, no reports were made about the damages to the republican emergencies committee.
WASHINGTON — An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 occurred at the border between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan on Tuesday at 23: 35, Moscow time, the US Geological Service reported. The epicenter of the earth jolts was 42 km south-west of the Uzbek city of Ferghana, the administrative center of the region of the same name, while the focus of the temblor was at a depth of 9.2 km. There has been no word about any victims or damage.
LONDON — Fitch Ratings has raised long-term credit rating of Russia’s Alfa-Bank to BB +. The corresponding report was released on global markets on Tuesday. The agency set the credit outlook of Alfa-Bank to “stable.”
ST. PETERSBURG — The products of a new harvest, an attracting smell of fruit, honey and fresh bread will reign at the international agrarian and industrial show Agrorus-2011 in St. Petersburg on August 22-28.
KRASNOYARSK — The firemen have put out 18 fires on 1,017 hectares in Siberia’s forests over the past day. However, another 22 forest fires on 1,013 hectares keep burning, a source in the regional emergencies centre told Itar-Tass on Wednesday. The hardest fire situation has emerged in the Kezhem district in north-eastern Krasnoyarsk Territory. Some 12 taiga fires on 812 hectares were reported there. The local authorities have announced an emergency.
VORONEZH — A set of bells, recreated for installation in the bell tower of the Kronstadt Nautical Cathedral, has been sent out from here to St Petersburg on Wednesday. The bells were cast by the bellmakers of the Voronezh-based bell casting plant Vera.
ST PETERSBURG — The Symphony Orchestra of St Petersburg Cappella leaves for Germany on Wednesday for a guest tour under the direction of its chief conductor, People's Artiste if Russia Alexander Chernushenko. The Orchestra will take part in festivities marking the 50th jubilee of twinned-city contacts between St Petersburg and Dresden.
KALUGA — The third international youth camp Dialogue will open at the cultural and educational tourist centre Etnomir in the Borovsk district of the Kaluga Region on Wednesday.
Panetta, Serdyukov discuss missile shield
Russia, US defence ministers discuss international security - Serdyukov congratulated the U.S. counterpart on his appointment to the post, a ministry report said. The ministers discussed international security issues, including the situation in Afghanistan, as well as military cooperation of the two agencies.
Medvedev may meet with Ukrainian president on July 31 in Sevastopol - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev may visit Ukraine on July 31 and have a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych in Sevastopol, the Sevastopol city council’s press service reported Tuesday.
Leading Russian law firm enters Ukraine - Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners of Russia has announced its merger with Magisters, the law firm that had once advised then-Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on natural gas contacts with Russia.
Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan starts out for Moscow - Supposedly, the head of the Kyrgyz Government will meet with his counterpart Vladimir Putin. Probably, they will speak about POL export to Kyrgyzstan: as it is known the republic experiences sharp shortage of AI-92 and AI-95 fuel for the past few days.
Russian deputy foreign minister to meet with Kyrgyz president on July 22. - “A working visit of State Secretary – Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin to the Republic of Kyrgyzstan is due on July 22 for political consultations with Foreign Minister Ruslan Kazakbayev. Grigory Karasin will also meet with Kyrgyz President Rosa Otunbayeva,” the source said.
RF-South Ossetia commission discusses investment program. - South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity and Russian Minister for Regional Development Viktor Basargin took part in its session in Tskhinval.
Lavrov to leave for Indonesia Wed to attend ministerial meetings.
Mediator Russia hosts top Kadhafi diplomat - Foreign Minister Abdelati al-Obeidi will be the highest-ranking Gadhafi official to visit Moscow since the conflict with the rebels erupted and is expected to hold talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
Lavrov to meet his Libyan counterpart in Moscow Wed..
CDA MPs question RWE Gazprom deal - Christian Democrat MPs have asked economic affairs minister Maxime Verhagen to explain the implications of a possible deal between RWE and Gazprom, which could give the Russian state firm partial control of six Dutch power stations.
Chinese shipbuilders build 75,000-t ship for FESCO.
China opens its part of Bolshoi Ussuriisky Island for tourism.
Putin to chair meeting of govt commission for control over foreign investments. - The commission will consider 13 applications lodged by foreign investments from Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Cyprus and the United States in the areas of petrochemistry, transport infrastructure, mineral development, telecommunications and manufacturing of specialized equipment, the government press service said on Tuesday.
RF govt panel to consider 13 applications from foreign investors.
Russian defense industry trade unions ask Medvedev to outlaw purchase of armaments abroad
Viktor Zubkov to travel to Volgograd region Wed. - First Vice-Premier Viktor Zubkov will make a working trip to Volgograd Region, where he will take a final decision as to whether he will place himself at the head of the regional list of United Russia party (URP) members at State Duma elections.
Contaminated meat from Paraguay found in Vladivostok - Nearly 100 tons of beef from Paraguay, infected with dangerous bacteria, have been found by specialists in the port of Vladivostok, Far East.
Roo industry wants Russian market
Russian businessman shot dead in Colombia
Wildfires rage in Siberia, summer camp evacuated
18 forest fires on more than 1,000 ha put out in Siberia.
Forest fires still raging in Yakutia.
Khimki forest on fire (Part 2)
Patriarch Kirill to make pastoral visit to Mordovia.
Russia arrests ex-nuclear official 'for stealing research' - Yevgeny Yevstratov, who served as deputy general director of the Rosatom state nuclear corporation, oversaw a group that received some 50 million rubles ($1.7 million) in nuclear safety research assistance. "However, instead of doing their own research, the corporation's employees downloaded scientific material off the Internet and pretended this was their own know-how," an unnamed nuclear official told Russian news agencies.
Rosatom ex-deputy chief detained on budget embezzlement suspicion.
Mayor of second biggest city in AltaiTer resigns. - On July 13 the Biysk Vostochny District Court ruled Mosiyevsky guilty of abuse of office in ten episodes. The indictment says that the Biysk mayor made entrepreneurs make voluntary contributions to the city treasury for a permission to entrepreneurial activities. The court gave a suspended three-year sentence to the ex-Biysk mayor.
Suspects in 2010 south Russia power plant blasts to go trial
Reuters PRESS DIGEST - Russia - July 20
Russian election monitors which work with the Central Election Commission said on Tuesday they did not need international observers at the upcoming December parliamentary election.
Russia's tycoon Oleg Deripaska has sold a 4.5 percent stake in his En+ to investment bank VTB Capital (VTBR.MM: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to pay back his debts to the state.
Russia could make off-shore companies operating on its territory declare their beneficiaries.
Novatek independent gas producer is interested in acquiring a 51 percent stake in Nortgas, Novatel's head of the board of directors Leonid Mikhelson says in an interview.
The government is said to be considering the possibility of privatisation of Rostelecom long-distance telecoms.
Russia's alcohol producer "Russian Standard" is close to signing a deal with India's United Spirits.
Shareholders of the international Domodedovo airport prefer staying in the shadow to avoid raiders' attacks, according to the head of the board of directors of the company Dmitry Kamenshchik.
Russia's Defence Ministry could buy 40 Sukhoi-30MK fighters, according to Irkut aircraft manufacturer.
The total area hit by forest fires in Russia has reached 1.2 million hectares which is twice as much as last year, according to officials.
RIA Russian Press at a Glance, Wednesday, July 20, 2011
ITAR-TASS Russian press review.
UPDATE 2-Russia offers Germany gas, rare earths to nudge China - Medvedev and Merkel discuss raw materials deal; Russia says has vast rare earths deposits; Moscow eyes German power market after nuclear exit
Medvedev signals to voters from Germany - The uncertainty of the political future reduces the importance of the presidential initiatives By Aleksandra Samarina
Putin's Plan - Lauren Goodrich at Stratfor.com has written a well-reasoned piece that argues the former. I have been meaning to blog it for a couple weeks now (it came out on July 5 and is well worth a read), not least of all because it largely mirrors my understanding of the current political dynamic.
A Lezginka dance department - The government will set up a structure to work with ethnic communities By Olga Bolotova
A Russian tour de force - By Courtney Weaver
China Moves Into Russia's Zone - Former Soviet Union - James Brooke | Minsk
Why is Obama giving Libya to the Russians? - By John Bolton A Near Miss - As Police Search for Culprits on Vandalism Charges, Darkei Shalom Resists Toughening Security Despite Repeated Attacks
Lebedev Interested in News of the World
Formula 1 occupies the Kremlin -Ilya Sobolev, Rossiyskaya Gazeta
