Russia 090310 Basic Political Developments Russia, Hungary pms to discuss energy coop'n, gas issues

Russia 090310

Basic Political Developments

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  Russia, Hungary PMs to discuss energy coop'n, gas issues
  
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  Hungarian PM to discuss trade, energy in Moscow
  
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  Baghdad to ask Moscow to write off remainder of debt - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki is to ask Russia to write off the remainder of the country's debt to Moscow during a visit to the Russian capital in April, an Iraqi government spokesman said on Tuesday.
  
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  European Parliament voices terms of agreement with Russia
  
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  EU Seeks Gas Accords With Ex-Soviet States, Commissioner Says - “Gas should flow even as problem arises,” said Benita Ferrero-Waldner, European Commissioner for external relations in a presentation today in London. “We need partners whose governments’ honor contracts.”
  
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  German vote a turning point on Russia and its energy - When Germany votes on Sept. 27, the choices could include a government with fewer ambiguities about where it stands on Russia and a plan for taking a less dependent path on energy supply.
  
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  Diplomat: Latvia, Russia agree to continue political dialogue despite difference on Georgia
  
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  Russia accepts olive branch to restore relations with NATO
  
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  NATO's U-Turn On Russia Bound To Be Seen As An Embarrassment
  
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  Russia protests foreign intervention in resolving Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: Foreign Minister Lavrov - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks in an interview with news agencies in Azerbaijan
  
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  Russian office under Swiss Embassy in Georgia begins to issue visas
  
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  Russian Military Investigators Arrived in Akhalgori
  
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  Talks on aircraft carrier intensify - Sevmash General Director Nikolay Kalistratov today again meets with Indian defence authorities for negotiations over the takeover terms of the “Admiral Gorshkov”, by the Indians called “Vikramaditia”, the Sevmash informs in a press release.
  
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  Russia signals entry into space arms race - Russia is working on a form of technology that would enable it to target satellites in space, says a source familiar with the program.
  
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  Norway lets Russian ship go free
  
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  A joint Norwegian-Russian crime plan - Head of police in the Norwegian border town of Kirkenes wants Norwegian and Russian police authorities to jointly elaborate a plan on cross-border crime prevention and crime investigation.
  
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  Kiriyenko Sees Prices Rising - Rosatom chief Sergei Kiriyenko, who presides over one of the biggest players on the world atomic market, forecast that spot uranium prices would increase slowly in 2009.
  
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  Uranium field on Kola Peninsula of federal importance
  
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  Shipload of spent radioactive fuel from Gremikha arrives Murmansk
  
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  Bashkir president to fulfill duties until term in office expires –spokesman
  
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  Two explosions rock south Russia's Daghestan, no injuries
  
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  President to chair anti-corruption council meeting
  
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  National Projects Moved to Back Seat - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has disbanded the Cabinet department responsible for the four national projects, seen as Dmitry Medvedev's springboard to the presidency.
  Medvedev says personnel reserve should not become Soviet-style
  
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  Rally against disbandment of Russian GRU 67th Separate special-task brigade held in Siberian city
  
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  Putin Unveils Investment - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told a government meeting in St. Petersburg that state would invest a total of 1.1 trillion rubles ($30.9 billion) this year, including 800 billion rubles on construction and 300 billion rubles on high-tech industries.
  
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  Putin Pledges Support for Shipbuilders
  
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  No nationalization in Russia - Medvedev's economic aide Dvorkovich
  
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  Moscow gov't to subsidize food suppliers
  
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  Medvedev signs decree on financing of New Jerusalem Monastery renovation.
  
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  Ethnic violence in Russia: A scourge flares anew - Rights activists fear economic downturn will fan flames against migrant workers
  

National Economic Trends

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  Gov't to consider budget code amendments - The Russian government will consider amendments to the Budget Code today regarding federal budget restrictions. On March 3, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told a cabinet meeting on economic issues that it was high time to think of ways to cut budget deficit for 2010 and after.
  
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  No New Mortgage Funds in '09 Budget
  
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  Crisis comes just in time for Russia - "This crisis came just in time for Russia," says Christopher Granville, the founder of consultancy Trusted Sources. The international crisis has hurt Russia badly, but the damage it could have done if the meltdown came a year later would have been far worse, he argues.
  

Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions

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  Russian Power Organizations Expand Through Agreements with European Companies - Russia is continuing to expand beyond its own energy boundaries through agreements with European companies. In a recent move, the Spanish firm Iberdrola SA (Bilbao) signed an agreement with the Russian organization Inter RAO UES (Moscow) to jointly investigate opportunities for expansion in the power sectors of the Russian Federation, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the European Union and Latin America. At the same time, the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom (Moscow) and Siemens AG (Munich, Germany) have signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a joint venture entity in the nuclear-energy sector.
  
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  OGK-6 posts plunge in annual net profit
  
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  Standard, Troika to Buy Troubled Assets - Troika Dialog, Moscow's oldest investment bank, is seeking to acquire "troubled" Russian assets together with Standard Bank Group, Troika founder and chairman Ruben Vardanyan said in an interview Friday.
  
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  Prominvest Gets New CEO - State-run Vneshekonombank, which holds a controlling stake in Prominvestbank, has appointed Viktor Bashkirov as chief executive office of the Ukrainian lender, chairman Vladimir Dmitriyev said, Kommersant-Ukraine said.
  
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  Sberbank Gets Sibir Shares
  
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  Alfa-Bank seeks freeze on car maker GAZ accounts
  
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  RusAl Gets Reprieve With Debt Repayment Accord - United Company RusAl, an aluminum producer controlled by billionaire Oleg Deripaska, agreed to stop debt repayments for two months as it tries to renegotiate $7.4 billion of borrowings from foreign banks.
  
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  Russia's diamonds up for grabs - Russian diamond mines have long been the object of a tug-of-war between federal government interests in Moscow and the far eastern region of Sakha (Yakutia). Now, though not for the first time, the Moscow candidate to run Alrosa, the state-owned diamond miner, is facing a challenge for his job from the president of the region.
  
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  Hambro Sees Output Up
  
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  KIT Finance Sues S7
  
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  Bunge buys Russian wheat for Brazil, May delivery
  
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  Russian Drugmakers More Likely to Merge, Goldman Sachs Says
  
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  Studio Borrowing to Expand - Russian World Studios, billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov's film production company, wants to borrow about $150 million to expand its St. Petersburg movie studio.
  
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  Komi oil spill - 2,000 cubic meters of oil might have leaked out from a pipeline owned by Lukoil-Komi.
  
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  Russia to establish natural park in Baltic borderlands
  
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  Eco-groups call for hunt on high profile poachers - Wild life activists in Russia are calling on the government to punish officials who they claim were poaching rare animals in Siberia. The practice only came to light after a helicopter carrying the hunters crashed.