MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Saturday to include chief of the president’s department for public projects Pavel Zenkovich and Defence Ministry Sergei Shoigu as members of the Russian Victory Organising Commitee.
Under the decree, State Duma lawmaker Oleg Morozov and former defence minister Anatoly Serdyukov have been excluded from the committee.
MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin has made changes in the Council on Russia’s Economic Modernisation and Innovation Development.
In compliance with the decree the Council will involve director-general of the Russian Venture Company Igor Agamirzyan, director-general of the A.L. Mints Russian Radiotechnical Institute Sergei Boyev, chairman of the Federation Council Committee for Economic Policy Andrei Molchanov, Sberbank CIB board member Ruben Vardanian and chief of the presidential department for scientific and educational policy Alexander Khlunov.
MOSCOW — The Russian government on Friday adopted a state program for the development of the national aircraft-building industry. The program, extending till 2025 will get a financial injection of 1.7 trillion rubles.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said “the adoption of a new state program should not be considered as the green light to extra financing not liable to any control.”
The program is estimated at a total of 1.7 trillion rubles, including 1.2 trillion rubles of federal budget money, Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov told a news briefing after the government's meeting on Friday.
MOSCOW — Russia’s State Duma has ratified an intergovernmental agreement between Russia and Belarus on cooperation in the peaceful use or orbital space.
Under provisions of the agreement, “Russia and Belarus will have an opportunity to design joint programs of training the personnel, exchanging specialists, using ground facilities and the system of control over space objects.”
The document spells out the areas where the two sides are going to cooperate. These include exploration of outer space, remote sounding of the Earth, designing of spacecraft and orbital delivery vehicles, designing and manufacturing of equipment linked to activity in space, the setting-up and development of ground infrastructures, the launching of space probes and research satellites, collaboration in the sphere of satellite navigation systems and technologies, space medicine, biology, and protection of orbital environment.
The agreement contains a separate provision on the protection of intellectual rights. It prohibits the transfer of the results of joint activity, including confidential information to third parties.
TYUMEN — Russia’s oil major Rosneft and Norway’s Statoil have signed a declaration on nature conservation and preservation of biological diversity in developing mineral resources of the Arctic continental shelf. Rosneft’s CEO Igor Sechin and Statoil ASA’s CEO Helge Lund put their signatures to the document on Friday, Rosneft’s press-service has said.
The parties will seek to coordinate their activities for preserving the biological diversity of the Arctic, including those in keeping with the recommendations of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the working group for biological diversity of the global oil and gas industry association for environmental and social issues.
The signatories intend to carry out regular monitoring of changes in the natural landscape and Arctic seas and promote international cooperation in accordance with the Arctic environment protection strategy.
MOSCOW — An opposition march in Moscow is planned for December 15. The decision was taken by the Opposition Coordination Council on Saturday.
The planned demonstration is called a "March of Freedom". Council members decided not to hold a rally. Blogger Alexei Navalny is in charge of the preparation. The organizational staff includes Sergei Parkhomenko, Sergei Udaltsov, Sergei Davidis and Vladimir Tor.
MOSCOW — The Opposition Coordination Council is concerned over citizens' poor turnout at demonstrations it organizes. The concern was again expressed in a statement of RPR-PARNAS co-chairman Boris Nemtsov, who said that it was "shameful that only 2,000-3,000 people came" to rallies in defence of so-called political prisoners.
MOSCOW — The Russian Opposition Coordination Council (KSO) failed to adopt political statements at its meeting on Saturday, November 24.
It did not support draft resolutions and appeals to people proposed by nationalists, which condemned the amendments to the Law “On Citizenship of the Russian Federation” submitted to the State Duma in September.
BOGOTA — A visa cancellation agreement between Russia and Ecuador came into force on Saturday. As of now, the two countries’ residents may stay without visas on the territory of another state for up to 90 days during each period of 180 days since the date of the first entry.
In case if residents of Russia or Ecuador want to stay on the territory of another state for more than 90 days or they go there for work, they should get a visa in accordance with legislation of the state where he goes to.
KIEV — Ukraine is prepared to defend its stance on gas contracts with Russia in international courts, Coal and Energy Industry Minister Yuri Boiko told a government-published daily in an interview, published on Friday.
“We shall be acting in accordance with national interests. We are prepared to defend them in London, Paris and Stockholm. Incidentally, the recent litigations between Gazprom and European companies have ended in court victories for European companies,” Boiko said.
VLADIVOSTOK — The corruption scandals at the defence ministry result from lack of public control, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said in an interview with the NTV television channel on Sunday.
The problem of Oboronservis occurred because “the defence ministry has always been a state inside a state.”
YEKATERINBURG — The situation at penitentiary in the Chelyabinsk Region, where prisoners organised a protest action on Saturday, is under control, the regional department of the Federal Penitentiary Service /FPS/ said on Sunday.
“We are conducting checking and find out all the conditions of the incident,” the press service said. “The situation is under control and manageable.”
On November 24, 250 prisoners of the penitentiary number six (the town Kopeisk) demand a looser imprisonment regime, particularly the release of several convicts from the punishment cell, after the latter were brought there for the violations of the prison rules.
MOSCOW — Russian military inspectors will make a monitoring flight over the territory of the United States, the press service of the Russian Defence Ministry told Itar-Tass on Saturday.
LONDON — Shares of the Russian cellular service operator MegaFon are enjoying a high demand among investors in the run-up to the company’s Initial Public Offering in London, The Sunday Telegraph newspaper said in an analysis published in its Internet version.
“The bankers running the initial public offering, the biggest overseas listing in London for more than a year, have received significant demand for the shares available,” the newspaper said.
“Sources indicated that despite heavy demand at the low end of the range for the 15 percent of the company’s shares being sold, a late surge is expected to push the price up to around $22.50 a share, in the middle of the indicated $ 20 to $25-a-share range,” the newspaper said.
The stake being sold is worth between $1.7 billion and $ 2.3 billion, giving a market value of $11 to $14 billion.
BISHKEK — Interior agencies in Kyrgyzstan did not register any serious offenses of law and order during Sunday’s local elections in this landlocked Central Asian country, officials at the Kyrgyzstani Interior Ministry told Itar-Tass.
“Policemen continue watching the situation,” an official said.
Election of deputies to local councils was held in 25 urban areas and 416 villages in Kyrgyzstan and the polling stations were open through to 19:00 hours local time. At this moment, the counting of votes is underway.
“Early data shows that more than 40% of the 2.5 million registered voters took part in the election,” a spokesman for the Central Electoral Commission said.
The commission says the turnout of voters was traditionally low in the capital Bishkek where representatives of 23 political parties had claims to seats in the city hall.
BISHKEK — Kyrgyzstan’s current parliament should work to the end of the term, the republic’s President Almazbek Atambayev said on Sunday.
“Nowadays, some politicians claim it necessary to dismiss the country’s parliament before end of the term,” he said. “I am adamant that the current parliament should work to the end of the term.”
The president said Kyrgyzstan needs stability, and thus it is not important “whether the current parliament is bad or good.” Besides, he said the practice shows that early dismissal of parliament causes unlawful seizure of the power in the country. “We have witnessed it several times, where after dismissal of parliament the power in the country concentrated within one family.”