Russia 111115 Basic Political Developments

Russia 111115

Basic Political Developments

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  China peace prize awarded to Russia's Putin - A group of Chinese academics has awarded its version of the Nobel Peace Prize to Vladimir Putin, an organiser said Tuesday, pointing to the Russian Prime Minister as "outstanding in keeping world peace."
  
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  EU to consult with Russia on Syria - From November 17th to the 18th Moscow will host the Permanent Council of Russia-EU partnership. During the meeting Ashton will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
  
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  Libyan delegation in Moscow - A delegation of Libya’s governing National Transitional Council is in Moscow to discuss, among other things, the recent developments in Syria where a decision by the Arab League to suspend the country’s participating has triggered a series of violent attacks on foreign diplomatic missions.
  
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  Russia and Libya to discuss the resumption of work of Russian companies - "I met with the President of the Libyan national oil company, we agreed to initiate contacts between Russian companies and the Libyan national oil company as soon as possible, in terms of assessment of what has been done before, and discuss the conditions under which Russian companies can begin to continue its operations in Libya, "- Shmatko said in an interview to Russia Today.
  
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  Syrian opposition wants to settle conflict without outside interference – SNC: The Syrian opposition wants to settle conflicts without any outside interference, head of the Syrian National Council Burhan Ghalioun said on Tuesday ahead of talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
  
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    Syrian opposition seeks settlement with no foreign interference
    
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    Syrian League relegation as opposition in Moscow - The Syrian opposition is coming to Moscow to persuade Russia to become a mediator and put an end to the ongoing conflict in Syria. The delegation expects to “open a new chapter in Russia-Syria relations” and wants to become the one to achieve that.
    
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    Lavrov to meet in Moscow Syria opposition delegation
    
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  Islamization of Tunisia, Egypt possible – Margelov: "The Egyptian Islamists demanded that the Military Council must not interfere in the drafting of a new constitution. The ruling National Democratic Party was abolished, and the only organized force in the country is the religious Freedom and Justice Party. So a religious trend is possible both in Tunisia and in Egypt," he said.
  
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  Russia-NATO Council's ambassadorial meeting to be held in Brussels - The second issue to be discussed is preparations for a Russia-NATO ministerial meeting to be held in Brussels on Dec. 8. Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov will speak at the ambassadorial meeting and then meet with the leaders of NATO's International Secretariat.
  
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  Russia calls on Britain amid tension over nuclear shield - Mr Rogozin will be visiting a number of Alliance member states to stress that ignoring Russia's position will have ramifications not just for European defence but on a wider field, including co-operation over Iran, Syria and Afghanistan.
  
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  RF, NATO need to understand where they can agree on missile defence – view: Russia and NATO need to understand where they can agree on missile defence, Russian permanent representative to NATO Dmitry Rogozin said ahead of a Russia-NATO Council meeting scheduled for November 15.
  
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  Middle East Quartet urges Israel, PNA to resume direct talks - The next such meeting is scheduled to take place in December.
  
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  Settlements in roubles for RF gas beneficial for Ukraine - Kravchuk
  
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  Russia may cut gas price for Ukraine to $220-230/tcm, local paper says - The daily Ekonomicheskie Izvestia wrote today, citing a source at the presidential office, that Ukraine succeeded in negotiating a lower gas price of $220-230/tcm with Russia. The report said Ukraine in exchange offered Russia undisclosed preferences in privatizing Ukrainian assets.
  
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  EU against Russian gas conglomerate - Russia's Energy Minister Sergey Shmatko said that the Russian delegation plans to express its position on Europe's Third Energy Package, which he maintains has been initiated against Russian suppliers in order to manipulate prices for the Russian gas.
  
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  Russia Seen Close to Ending Air Tax - In a letter to EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht dated Nov. 7, viewed by The Wall Street Journal, Russian Minister of Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina pledged to put into force an agreement struck in 2006 that until recently appeared dead.
  
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  Russian bans German pig imports - A ban on the import of live pigs from Germany is kicking in today. According to international veterinary norms, live animals shall not be given antibiotics 30 days before shipping – a precaution Russian officials say was ignored by  German exporters.
  
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  Runet Europe’s largest - According to market research by Comscore, there are more Internet users in Russia than in any other European country. In September, Russia, now with 50.8m Internet users overtook previous no.1 Germany, with 50.1m.
  
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  Russian envoy seeks to ease concerns about gas pipeline passing N. Korea
  
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  Russia, S. Korea cooperation forum - Scientists, diplomats, politicians, economists and business people from Russia and South Korea have been meeting in Vladivostok to discuss joint projects in public transport, energy, agriculture and fisheries.
  
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  CIS defense ministers to meet in Kazakhstan - The 61st meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) will be held in Almaty on Nov.17, the Kazakh Defense Ministry reported.
  
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  Malaysia plans to buy 18 Russian fighter jets - The Malaysian defense ministry plans to buy 18 Russian Su-30MKM fighters fit to carry Russian-Indian BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, the Izvestia daily said on Tuesday.
  
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  A new twist in Russian-Tajik row - The Tajik law enforcement authorities have opened a criminal case against the head of the Rolkan airlines Sergey Poluyanov
  
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  Tajik prosecutors want pilots’ sentences mitigated
  
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  Russian, Georgian businessmen create joint council - A joint council involving local businessmen and entrepreneurs from Russia will be launched in Georgia on Nov.18.
  
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  Georgia’s arming at variance with settlement appeals - Abkhazi
  
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  Eduard Kokoity, President of South Ossetia: “A female president? That’s not an option. The Caucasus is still the Caucasus…” - ­That is how the current head of the republic commented on former Education Minister Alla Dzhioeva’s “preliminary” victory in the first round of the presidential election in a live Komsomolskaya Pravda radio broadcast. 
  
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  President Medvedev Opens Rail Link to Resource-Rich Yakutsk
  
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    Medvedev pledges to expand railway service across Russia
    
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    Russia's inflation at 7 percent this year – Medvedev
    
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    Medvedev suggests granting mortgage loans against state guarantees
    
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    United Russia should stop being modest – Medvedev
    
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  The Kremlin denied any involvement of Surkov in the development of programs of Medvedev
  
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  RF authorities, ODIHR observers develop constructive coop. - Elections to the lower house of Russia’s parliament are scheduled for Sunday, December 4. At the present time, 40 long-term observers from the mission are already working in Russian regions. Another 160 experts will arrive in Russia just before the elections; their duties will include control over the voting process and vote counting.
  
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  Russia’s electoral body sees ‘violations’ by PACE mission
  
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  Sweden hosting Caucasian terrorist site - The Swedish authorities have not yet complied with the UN Security Council's decision to terminate the activities of the extremist website "Kavkaz-Center" said Russia's permanent representative to the UN Vitaly Churkin on Monday.
  
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  Russian Mufti Council supports formation of Islamic social network
  
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    Islamic Leaders From CIS Countries Meet In Moscow
    
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  Sochi Olympics will be cleaned up of unwanted human rights activists and journalists
  
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  Russian cargo ship with 11 crew missing - A Russian cargo ship with a crew of 11 lost radio contact on Tuesday in the White Sea in bad weather, prompting the launch of a rescue operation, the Interfax news agency reported.
  
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  Soyuz successful launch important stage for ISS program - NASA
  
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  Moscow ex-mayor's son sells advertising business
  
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    Moscow ex-mayor interrogated over misappropriation
    
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  Russian Baltic exclave to set up schools for foster parents
  
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  Russian Press at a Glance, Tuesday, November 15, 2011
  
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  Medvedev's privatisation programme runs off the rails - There were several big surprises at the privatisation auction of Russia's biggest rail cargo company First Cargo Company (FCC) on October 28, the biggest sell-off this year. The first was how fast the bidding was over. The second was how small the premium paid was over the minimum starting price. The third was that Russia's richest man Vladimir Lisin won instead of Kremlin insider Gennady Timchenko, who had been widely tipped to walk away with the company.
  
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  The Kaliningrad gun is also the target - ­Resuscitation of the Kaliningrad Special Defense District is inevitable 
  
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  WWF Russia seeks foster parents for 500 polar bears
  
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  Out of politics. Out of competition. - ­There was once a campaign slogan – can’t recall whose campaign created it.  
  It unwittingly comes to mind, when looking at the State Duma election campaign. Somehow, not really having started, it is already in its final stages – the elections are less than three weeks away… By Leonid Radzikhovsky, political scientist
  
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  Russia’s radical new left - by Konstantin von Eggert
  
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  Russians are leaving the country in droves - Some chafe at life under Vladimir Putin's rule, but for many others, economic limitations are the prime motivator. Experts say the numbers have reached demographically dangerous levels.
  
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  Rosatom firm on expansion plan - “There was a risk that world demand [for nuclear reactors] would collapse after Fukushima,” Sergei Kirienko, the president of Rosatom, said last week. “Competition has become much tougher... But we have doubled our order book.”