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Press review: Ukraine set to halt Nord Stream 2 and Iran ignores demands to leave Syria

Top stories in the Russian press on Tuesday, June 19

 

Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Ukraine tries to form EU group to counter Nord Stream 2

Kiev announced creating a group within the European Union aimed to block construction of the Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream 2, according to Nezavisimaya Gazeta. Ukraine also hopes to hold negotiations with Germany and has invited the country to participate in the international consortium for managing the gas transport system of Ukraine, but only if Germany gives up on the Russian pipeline. Experts interviewed by the newspaper are skeptical about Ukraine’s initiative.

Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko wrote on Monday on his social media pages that Ukraine is currently creating a group within the European Union to stop implementation of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. According to him, the country is in active negotiations with Germany. Poroshenko said he would not disclose all the tools that the group would use to halt the pipeline construction, but said he generally hopes that it could be stopped. According to Nezavisimaya Gazeta, the new group might receive support from the United States.

"I do not know any EU instruments for creating a group on a particular topic by a non-member country," Head of the Center for Ukrainian Studies, Institute of Europe RAS, Viktor Mironenko told the newspaper. The expert considers Poroshenko's statement as political rhetoric. "Apparently, this is a case of thinking aloud and a clear desire to use tensions within the European Union regarding the pipeline construction," Mironenko said.

"A pro-Ukrainian group in the EU can hardly be organized on a formal basis," leading expert at the National Energy Security Fund Stanislav Mitrokhovich told the newspaper, adding that Ukraine itself is not part of the EU and has no instruments of influence on its policy.

"The position of Germany, interested in the pipeline construction, is very strong in the European Union Council, which prevents the European Commission from extending the EU gas directive to the project, thereby effectively defending it. The European Commission will not be able to do much harm to the Nord Stream 2 construction without consent of the EU Council," Mitrokhovich added.

 

Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Iran ignores Russia's demands for Syria

Forces loyal to Iran ignored the demands of the United States, Russia and Israel to leave southern Syria, Nezavisimaya Gazeta wrote. A large-scale offensive in the areas that were formally part of the southern de-escalation zone is expected from the government army of Syria and pro-Iranian groups in the near future, Jerusalem Post reported earlier citing sources in the Syrian opposition. Thus, according to reports, Shia militia and Hezbollah militants are gathering near the occupied Golan Heights, preparing to oust moderate opposition from the southern provinces of Syria.

According to Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Russia discusses the fate of the southern regions not only with Israel, but also with Jordan, Iran and the United States. "There are bilateral contacts with Jordan, the United States, Iran, representatives of the legitimate government of Damascus, and the Israeli side, because they also have their own specific concerns. And with the opposition, of course," according to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and North Africa Mikhail Bogdanov. It seems that Russia is adamantly opposed to preservation of formations loyal to the Iran in this de-escalation zone, the newspaper wrote.

The expert community believes that the problem in southern Syria threatens to recur in other regions. "The absence of agreements between the leaders of the main countries participating in the negotiations on the south-west of Syria would mean that arrangements might be repeatedly broken, for example, in talks about the east of the country," expert at the Russian International Affairs Council Anton Mardasov told Nezavisimaya Gazeta.

"If the main outcome of the meeting between Putin and Trump in Vietnam on November 2017 is in jeopardy, it means that there will hardly be an agreement on the east. From the very beginning it was clear that withdrawing the groups in one way or another associated with Iran would be very difficult due to Bashar Assad’s large deficit in human resources. Someone must participate in the offensive on the southern provinces. Therefore, despite the agreements, everybody will be there. It is clear that this gives the United States and Israel green light for strikes. In turn, this is not very good for Russia - it shows that it cannot influence the Iranians in Syria," the expert added.

 

Kommersant: Moscow wants to supply Yerevan with Su-30SM combat aircraft before 2024

Shortly before the power changed in Armenia, the country’s Ministry of Defense postponed purchasing Russian multifunctional fighter aircraft Sukhoi Su-30SM before 2024, Kommersant wrote. The contract, implying deliveries of at least one squadron to the Armenian Air Force, was signed in 2012, but never came into force due to the customer’s financial difficulties. According to the newspaper, Russia expects to implement the agreement with the new leadership of Armenia.

According to military expert Leonid Nersisyan, negotiations on Yerevan's purchase of a number of Su-30SM "are in a fairly advanced stage," the contract is expected to be signed within the next one or two years. The Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation and Rosoboronexport, however, told Kommersant they have no available information on the matter.

Several top managers in the aviation industry told Kommersant that the Armenian military started showing interest in the Su-30SM in 2010 because of the need to update its Air Force fleet based on Soviet aircraft, with most of it in need of capital repair and modernization. Moreover, approximately in 2012, Moscow and Yerevan signed a contract, under which conditions Armenia would receive at least 12 fighters for several years, which did not come into force due to Armenia’s financial difficulties of the customer, the newspaper wrote.

According to Kommersant, the parties returned to the topic of Su-30SM procurement a few months before the revolution in Armenia, leading to the government reshuffle. It was at this meeting that representatives of the Armenian Defense Ministry told the Russian negotiators that the purchase of the previously contracted aircraft was postponed for six years until 2024. According to Kommersant sources in the military-technical cooperation sphere, there were no active contacts between the specialists of the two countries after the change of power. However, there were already certain signals for the expansion of military-technical cooperation. Moscow expects to proceed with the implementation of the contract as soon as possible - this is necessary to load the Irkutsk Aviation Plant before 2022, the newspaper wrote.

 

Izvestia: Incarcerated Russian pilot says his transfer to another prison has no grounds

Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, serving a 20-year sentence in the Fort Dix Correctional Institution in New Jersey, in an interview with Izvestia said there were no grounds for his transfer to the prison in the city of Danbury, Connecticut.

According to the newspaper, Yaroshenko was transferred to the correctional institution with reduced security requirements in Danbury, designed to contain more than 1,400 prisoners, both men and women.

"There was no reason for my transfer. It was not a coincidence, but a planned action. It all started with constant pressure from the officers at the Fort Dix prison," he told the newspaper.

According to the Russian pilot, in Fort Dix he was sent to the disciplinary cell because of a "false report" from the officers. "Everything was done to get rid of me. Until the last day I fought to stay in New Jersey, wrote letters, including to Fort-Dix director. It was unsuccessful," Yaroshenko said.

Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian civilian pilot was arrested in Liberia in May 2010 and later was secretly hauled off to the United States. In April 2011, a jury found him guilty of conspiring to smuggle drugs into the United States. Yaroshenko was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He pled innocent and condemned his arrest as a staged provocation. Yaroshenko’s defense team noted that seven years after his arrest, all the legal mechanisms for his return have already been tried and tested.

 

Kommersant: Russian officials discuss new version of duty on all foreign Internet purchases

The Russian government has another plan to reduce the duty-free threshold for purchases of goods from foreign online stores, Kommersant wrote. According to it, the reduction from 1,000 euro to 500 euro per month is postponed for half a year, until January 1, 2019. So far, there are no precise estimates of the cost of buying goods abroad for Russians, however the average receipt for goods from China now is below even 100 euro, which makes European and American online shops and their customers the main victims of the proposed measure.

According to the newspaper, the Russian Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Communications are currently discussing a new version of a phased reduction of the duty-free threshold for goods from foreign online stores. A source familiar with the discussion told Kommersant that in addition to postponing lowering the threshold to 500 euro to early 2019, starting from July 1, 2019, the threshold can reach 100 euro per parcel in the absence of monthly restrictions. A federal official confirmed to the newspaper that this option is indeed under discussion, "along with a number of others", but so far there is no final solution.

China accounted for around 90% of the Russian online retail market volume in 2017. At the same time, more than 90% of orders on the Chinese site AliExpress are cheaper than 100 euro, Co-founder of Data Insight research agency Boris Ovchinnikov told the newspaper. According to him, reducing the threshold to 100 euro can affect it because of possible bureaucratic problems at customs, as "millions of parcels can get stuck in anticipation of evidence that they are cheaper than 100 euro".

General Director of eBay Russia Ilya Kretov is convinced that lowering the threshold for duty-free import will lead to a decline in consumer activity. In his opinion, both the final cost of imported goods and the emotional barrier for cross-border purchases will grow. "This not only puts Russian consumers in more adverse conditions than neighboring countries, but also increases administration costs and creates uncontrolled gray import zones in the member countries of the EAEU," Kretov told Kommersant.

Currently, parcels from foreign online stores with a value of up to 1,000 euro and weight of up to 31 kg can be admitted for duty-free imports to Russia. If the value or weight exceeds the parameters, a 30% duty is required.

 

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