Russia 110505 Basic Political Developments

Magnitsky case discussed at Russia-EU human rights consultations

http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=241615
BRUSSELS. May 5 (Interfax) - The European Union delegation to Russia-EU human rights consultations in Brussels raised the Magnitsky case question.

"We gave some explanations based on the information from our law enforcers, including the Investigations Committee. The investigation continues; it is not over yet. Certain progress has been made. So, the impression that nothing is being done is erroneous," Russian delegation head, Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry Department for Humanitarian Cooperation and Human Rights Oleg Malginov told Interfax.

The probe into the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky at the pretrial detention center of the Butyrskaya prison in 2009 continues, and investigation details are not disclosed.

"Our partners know that certain investigative procedures are being done and facts reported by the Western media, human rights activists and public representatives are being verified," he said.

"The sides also discussed the work of the Public Commission, which was entrusted with the investigation of the [Magnitsky] case by the president," he said.

"As far as I know, the Commission has not completed its work, but a report to the president may be made in May," he said.

"We told the partners that there were a number of theories. The Investigations Committee must verify theories and find evidence, and that is not easy. Judging by the documents we have, the work is in progress. It is difficult to say how much certain facts may be proven. That is not our area. But we told the partners that claims everything had allegedly been forgotten and neglected were wrong," he said.

Russia-EU human rights consultations have been held twice a year since 2005.

Russia may order arrest of Hermitage Capital CEO - paper

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20110505/163865438.html

The Russian Investigative Committee may soon order the arrest of Hermitage Capital head William Browder amid a controversial tax case that led to the death in custody of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky 2009, the Kommersant daily reported on Thursday.

On Wednesday a Moscow court ordered the arrest in absentia of Ivan Cherkasov, the former head of Hermitage Capital's Moscow office. The British Investment Fund is accused of underpaying some 2 billion rubles ($72 million) in taxes in 2006.

Browder, once one of the most successful western investors in Moscow, was expelled from Russia in 2005 for national security reasons. Both he and Cherkasov are now living in Britain.

Kommersant said Russia would seek the extradition of both defendants and would prosecute them in absentia if Britain refused.

Magnitsky was jailed in 2008 after being charged with tax evasion linked to his defense of Hermitage Capital.

The lawyer accused Russian tax and Interior Ministry officials of using documents seized form Hermitage's subsidiaries to register their own people as owners and directors and file a tax claim for $230 million.

He died aged 37 from acute heart failure after 11 months in a Moscow pre-trial detention facility.

Magnitsky was kept in appalling conditions and was refused crucial medical treatment in what Hermitage says was an effort to coerce him to admit his role in its alleged tax evasion.

MOSCOW, May 5 (RIA Novosti) 

Gunmen raid money collector, steal $1.3 million in Siberia

http://rt.com/news/line/
RT News line, May 5

Unidentified armed men attacked a car which was delivering pensions in Irkutsk area of Russia’s Baikal Region, killing the driver and making of with some US$1.3 million. Three masked criminals armed with pistols and rifles stopped the car owned by the Russian National Post Service on Thursday. After the shootout, the driver was killed and two other security men were found tied up. A special alert has been declared in the region to track the attackers.

Russian Press at a Glance, Thursday, May 5, 2011

http://en.rian.ru/papers/20110505/163863672.html
08:36 05/05/2011

A brief look at what is in the Russian papers today

POLITICS

The St. Petersburg branch of Russia's ruling United Russia party has notified Sergei Mironov that a procedure to dismiss him as head of the upper house of parliament had been launched (Kommersant, Izvestia)

The Kremlin has asked the United States for legal guarantees that a planned U.S. missile defense base in Romania will not target Russia's strategic nuclear forces

(Kommersant)

Russia is to adopt on Thursday a color code system to measure the threat of terrorism in the country at any given time. A high threat will be marked with red, medium with yellow, and low with blue

(Rossiiskaya Gazeta)

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

The Russian 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 volatile North Caucasus region through 2025

(Kommersant, Moscow Times)

A Moscow court has issued an international arrest warrant for former Bank of Moscow head Andrei Borodin and his deputy Dmitry Akulinin. Both fled Russia for Britain after a dispute with state-controlled VTB bank

(Vedomosti, Moscow Times)

Russian aircraft industry regulator Rosaviatsiya has asked Russian air companies to shift all their charter flights to night time

(Kommersant, Vedomosti, Izvestia)

OIL & GAS

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov spoke out on Wednesday against the division of the Caspian Sea shelf into national sectors and said Russia would exclusively use zero liquid discharge technology for the production of oil and gas in the region

(Rossiiskaya Gazeta)

Russia may introduce new taxation rules for oil exports. Higher global oil prices would lead to lower taxation of exported crude oil, but higher taxation of exported oil derivatives (Kommersant, Vedomosti)

Russia's Finance Ministry wants to raise mineral tax on natural gas and return to gas export duties, forcing energy giant Gazprom to contribute an additional 150 billion rubles ($5.5 billion) a year to the state budget

(Kommersant, Moscow News)

Russian gas giant Gazprom has lost about 8.7% of its value in the past two days

(Vedomosti)

WORLD

U.S. President Barack Obama's public opinion ratings have reached an all-time high after a successful operation to eliminate al Qaeda boss Osama bin Laden

(Vedomosti)

SOCIETY

Almost 100% of Russians do not believe that state officials declare all their incomes and property for taxation purposes

(Kommersant)

Moscow may soon build filling stations for electric cars. Experts believe the authorities should first experiment with hybrid models

(Izvestia)

Russian lawmakers want to make studying traffic rules a compulsory subject at high schools (Izvestia)

CRIME

Russian investigators have launched a new criminal investigation into four former senior prosecutors who are suspected of helping organizers of illegal gambling

(Vedomosti)

In an escalation of a legal battle between Hermitage Capital and Russia's Interior Ministry, a Moscow court ordered the arrest of one of the firm's partners, and the case's investigator said Hermitage founder Bill Browder had been placed on an international wanted list

(Moscow Times, Vedomosti, Izvestia)

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a law that raises fines for giving or taking bribes to up to 100 times the amount of the bribe. The maximum fine is 500 million rubles ($18.3 million)

(Rossiiskaya Gazeta)