Russia 110505 Basic Political Developments

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In Chechnya during a special operation three MVD RF troops wounded

http://www.interfax.ru/news.asp?id=188645

May 5 2011 9:40
Rostov-na-Donu/Moskva. May 5. INTERFAX.RU - Three servicemen of internal wax Interior Ministry were injured during clashes with militant groups in the woodland of Urus-Martan district of Chechnya, said the security agencies SKFO.
A group of fighters was discovered about 10 kilometers from the village of Roshni-Chu in the woodland during the prosecution of the bandits opened fire on a military explosive, three of whom were wounded, the spokesman said.

09:59 05/05/2011Russia

Three servicemen injured in armed clash in Chechnya

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c34/136318.html

MOSCOW, May 5 (Itar-Tass) - Three servicemen were injured in an armed clash with gunmen in Chechnya, ITAR-TASS learnt in a telephone conversation with the law enforcement bodies of the republic on Thursday.

According to the source, servicemen of one of units of Interior Troops of the Interior Ministry spotted a group of about 15 gunmen in a mountain forest nine kilometres from the settlement of Shalazhi of the Urus-Martan region at 17.00 Moscow time on Wednesday.

The gunmen offered armed resistance. “During the clash, two contract servicemen and a sapper got injuries and were hospitalized,” a law enforcer said.

“A Mi-24 helicopter fired 40 NAR rockets on the supposed place of staying of the group of gunmen. The area of the special operation was blocked, the operation is going on,” the law enforcer told ITAR-TASS.

Putin Picks 30 Caucasus Projects Worth $5Bln

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/putin-picks-30-caucasus-projects-worth-5bln/436319.html
05 May 2011

By Irina Filatova

The government has selected 30 investment projects worth 145 billion rubles ($5.3 billion) in agriculture, tourism and information technology as part of an ambitious program to develop the North Caucasus through 2025, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Wednesday.

A total of 50 billion rubles in state guarantees will be provided this year to support the investment projects in the restive region, Putin said at a government meeting in Yessentuki in the Stavropol region.

The funds, which will be provided in line with a government decree signed Wednesday, are aimed at lowering the risks for investors taking loans for their projects and stimulating business activity in the region, Putin said.

He also called for federal ministries to advise investors on developing projects to take full advantage of the state guarantees, noting that investors in some parts of the North Caucasus, including Chechnya, face difficulties obtaining the guarantees.

"The Finance Ministry says projects aren't always carried out properly," Putin said. "You know what? You can say anything. If they aren't carried out properly, help them."

He said he also was counting on assistance from Vneshekonombank, which will set up a branch in the region, and the North Caucasus Development Corporation, the state agency that will oversee the 30 investment projects.

The agency also recently chose five "most promising" projects valued at 62 billion rubles and will provide 7 billion rubles of those funds, Putin said. The five projects are a resort in the Stavropol region town of Mineralnye Vody, chemical production in the Stavropol region, an ore deposit in Dagestan, and mountain resorts in Chechnya and Karachayevo-Cherkessiya.

Putin and other ministers did not offer details about the 30 projects approved Wednesday. But Regional Development Minister Viktor Basargin said they were in agriculture, construction, tourism, manufacturing and IT and their implementation would likely start in the second half of this year.

He said they are part of 370 projects approved by his ministry and valued at 1.3 trillion rubles.

The North Caucasus development program was approved in September and involves creating 400,000 new jobs and improving the investment climate in the region to attract investments to sectors like agriculture, energy, construction and tourism.

A total of 337 billion rubles will be set aside in the federal budget to develop the North Caucasus, Basargin said at Wednesday's meeting, adding that 202 billion rubles woud be provided over the next two years.

Meanwhile, analysts said that providing such a windfall of cash to the North Caucasus would guarantee support for the Kremlin in the region.

Providing funds for the North Caucasus is essential to ensure "the loyalty of the local elites" to the Kremlin, especially in light of the presidential election in March 2012, said Alexei Malashenko, an analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Center.

"Most of the money will be thrown to the wind. The situation [in the region] hasn't changed for years, while the money has disappeared," he said.

But attracting investment is crucial for the region, known for its high level of corruption, because it might change the situation for the better, said Nikolai Silayev, a Caucasus expert with the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.

Regional officials will face new tasks and challenges because investors will demand that they improve the quality of their work, he said.

Attacks on Russian tourists in the republic of Kabardino-Balkaria in February raised questions about plans to develop the North Causasus.

Providing for tourists' safety is a priority for developing the region, Putin said at the meeting.

Government to step up support to investors in North Caucasus

http://www.bne.eu/dispatch_text15072

bne
May 5, 2011

The government is to provide close to $2bn this year in guarantees to investors ready to put their cash into the restive North Caucasus and will push state development bank VEB to help it develop an array of projects, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday. The guarantees are part of a federal program to develop the economy in the region in order to fight the terrorism it exports to the rest of Russia, and the government said that it has selected 30 investment worth RUB145bn ($5.3 billion) in agriculture, tourism and IT for the pogrom, which runs to 2025, reports The Moscow Times.

Alongside the calls for a crackdown on militants in the North Caucasus after the twin bombing in the Moscow metro in March 2010, President Dmitry Medvedev was careful to also point out that the poor economics and corruption in the region are largely responsible for attracting recruits to militant groups. Calls for investors to drive development of the tourism industry in the southern republics have been rife, but were met with deadly attacks on a ski resort in Kabardino-Balkaria in February.

The North Caucasus development program was approved in September and involves creating 400,000 new jobs and improving the investment climate in the region to attract investments to sectors like agriculture, energy, construction and tourism. A total of RUB337bn will be set aside in the federal budget to develop the region, Regional Development Minister Viktor Basargin said at Wednesday's meeting, adding that RUB202bn would arrive in the next two years.

Putin called on Wednesday at a meeting in Yessentuki in the Stavropol region for the authorities to step up their support of investors ready to take a punt on the North Caucasus. "The Finance Ministry says projects aren't always carried out properly," Putin said. "You know what? You can say anything. If they aren't carried out properly, help them." He also called for federal ministries to advise investors on developing projects to take full advantage of the state guarantees - difficulties obtaining the guarantees are reported in some parts of the region - and that he is counting on assistance from Vneshekonombank, which will set up a local branch, as well as the North Caucasus Development Corporation.

The agency recently chose five "most promising" projects, valued at RUB62bn, and will provide RUB7bn of the guarantee funds, Putin said. The five projects are a resort in the Stavropol region town of Mineralnye Vody, chemical production in the Stavropol region, an ore deposit in Dagestan, and mountain resorts in Chechnya and Karachayevo-Cherkessiya. It will also oversee the remaining 30 investment projects, on which details were not discussed save for a claim from Basargin that they are in agriculture, construction, tourism, manufacturing and IT and their implementation would likely start in the second half of the year.

Some suggest that the cash the government is throwing at the region to try to develop its economy will simply end up in the pockets of local elites in the highly corrupt republics. Alexei Malashenko, an analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Center said: "Most of the money will be thrown to the wind. The situation hasn't changed for years, while the money has disappeared." However, Nikolai Silayev of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations suggested that regional officials will face new tasks and challenges because investors will demand that they improve the quality of their work.

May 05, 2011 11:33