Kommersant: Three Russian reporters murdered in Central Africa Republic amid nationwide crime wave

Russia’s Investigative Committee is pressing criminal charges over the murder of three Russian citizens, journalist Okhran Dzhemal, cameraman Kirill Radchenko and director Alexander Rastorguyev, in the Central African Republic made public late on Tuesday, according to Wednesday’s Kommersant. Though Russian criminal legislation permits the initiation and investigation of crimes committed by foreign citizens overseas against Russian citizens, the Committee cannot carry out probes on the territory of another state on its own, but can make requests to local law enforcement bodies there. Experts interviewed by the newspaper assess the situation in the Central African Republic as extremely unstable and the country as crime-ridden. According to Deputy Director of Russia’s Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Dmitry Bondarenko, the case is very typical for the continent. "The country itself is very poor, though very rich in natural resources, including diamonds and uranium," the expert said.

Russia started delivering weapons to the country after its current President Faustin-Archange Touadera took power and contacts between Moscow and the CAR accelerated notably. The issue of weapons supplies to the Central Africa Republic is an "extremely sensitive" topic, which is controlled personally by the country’s military and political leadership, a source employed in that field told Kommersant. Among the reasons for that is not only an unstable environment there, but also challenges faced by Russian negotiators in the process of endorsing the transaction details, he said, adding that Russian experts were forced to seek a special UN Security Council committee’s permission on weapons deliveries amid an embargo under the request of the country’s president. That mission was accomplished. Since it was necessary to supply weapons in a short space of time, a decision was made to supply what was available with the Russian Defense Ministry.

In January-February 2018, about 900 handguns, roughly 5,000 assault rifles and 140 sniper rifles, 840 Kalashnikovs and 300 grenade launchers were delivered to the Central Africa Republic, the paper says. This was sufficient for refitting two army battalions totaling 1,300 people. As Russia’s Foreign Ministry said earlier, the weapons supplies were accompanied by five Russian officers and 170 civilian instructors. A source close to the Russian government told Kommersant that Moscow is furnishing assistance to the country’s new leadership hoping to implement promising projects, primarily in mining. "We have our own interests in the region, and if our efforts help restore peace in the Central Africa Republic we expect reciprocal moves from its government," the source elaborated.

 

Kommersant: Russian engines to keep on sending US Atlas rockets into space

Russia’s engine manufacturer NPO Energomash and the US United Launch Alliance (ULA) have entered into a new contract to supply six RD-180 rocket engines to the United States in 2020, as stated by Energomash’s Chief Executive Officer Igor Arbuzov on Tuesday. The negotiating process was tortuous, Vedomosti daily reports, adding that Russia’s Defense Ministry and Security Council doubted the reasonability of the transaction, while on the American side Congressmen were putting pressure on it. Arbuzov did not reveal the deal’s price tag, because of the requirement by the US side on non-disclosure of its financial details, a source in the space sector told the newspaper. Another source close to Roscosmos added "the precedent itself is important here rather than the cost."

Energomash delivers RD-180 engines for US Atlas III and Atlas V rockets and RD-181 engines for Antares launch vehicles. Moscow and Washington signed the first contract on supplies of 101 RD-180 engines worth almost $1 bln back in 1997. The US also obtained a license for the production of RD-180 engines and their analogues, but has failed so far to get their production up and running. In 2014, the US Congress imposed a ban on the use of RD-180 engines amid a deterioration in relations with Russia but lifted it in 2015. In 2016, the US placed an order with Energomash for an additional 18 RD-180 engines. According to Vedomosti, US-made engines would be able to squeeze out Russian ones no earlier than in 2025, and even 2028 if any difficulties occur.

 

Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Moldova’s mounting population drain may affect elections, politician warns

Every fifth Moldovan respondent to a July survey stated that he or she intended to leave the country within a six-month period, Nezavisimaya Gazeta says. Worse still, most of those leaving the country have no plans to return because of social apathy due to the present authorities’ indolence driving the younger generation to set its sights on Russia, the EU and Israel, Chairman of the National Socialist Party of Moldova Victor Stepanyuk told the paper.

"There are two factors influencing young people’s sentiment - economics and politics - they’re interrelated. Migration accelerated after 2009 when a pro-European collation came into power, which is only represented by the Democratic Party as of today. It has the majority in the parliament, and it rules the government. With those authorities at the helm, $1 bln were stolen from three Moldavian banks that also held the deposits of retirees. These assets were pilfered as well. The population no longer has any hope that the money will be returned," he said, adding that he considers this particular incident was the last straw for most Moldavans who had previously expected changes.

According to the politician, people are now placing their bets on the upcoming parliamentary election and are hoping for a change in power. "However, to do this, it is necessary to allow members of the overseas diaspora to vote. A total of 650,000 citizens of the Republic of Moldova are officially registered as working in Russia. It is believed that another 100,000 are employed in the Russian Federation illegally. President Igor Dodon has recently requested that over 20 voting stations be opened in Russia, through the government is unlikely to approve it," Stepanyuk told Nezavisiamaya, noting that the government is willing to narrow the number of voters by keeping out the overseas diaspora in order to make the election easier to manipulate.

 

Vedomosti: Russian Power Machines to sell turbines worth 171 mln euro to Iran

Turbines for the construction of the Hormozgan power plant in Iran ordered by Russia’s Tekhnopromexport (part of Rostec), will be supplied by Power Machines as reported on the website of the Russian state procurements. The sides plan to sign the contract worth an estimated 171.7 mln euro by the end of the summer, a source with Tekhnopromexport said. He added that it would take a year and a half to start delivering the turbines.

The contract stipulates that the full batch should be delivered within three and a half years, which means that the final lot can be delivered to the Iranian plant in 2024. Meanwhile, AKRA’s Maxim Khudalov, is more optimistic about the turnaround time. "The company’s facilities are sufficient for producing four turbines in two years," he said, adding that the implementation time could have been the pivotal factor for choosing the supplier. The expert does not rule out that the timeframe could be postponed, which he says is "a standard practice for implementation of big energy projects."

 

Izvestia: New environmental fee to be added to tax legislation

A new chapter may appear in Russia’s Tax Code titled ‘Environmental Tax’ that will replace the existing environmental fee, Izvestia writes with reference to a letter by Deputy Finance Minister Ilya Trunin addressed to President of the Center for Strategic Research Pavel Kadochnikov. The decision to include the fee into the Tax Code is part of the efforts to systematize non-tax payments, a source in the Finance Ministry told the newspaper, adding that the move is not going to increase the tax burden on businesses and individuals.

The environmental fee is a payment for using certain goods collected from enterprises that produce and import products, but are not able to utilize them on their own. The rate of the fee is confirmed by a governmental decree for each set of products, with some groups exempt from payments. The Finance Ministry has been assuming efforts to systemize non-tax payments since the beginning of 2017. Initially, the ministry planned to draft a separate law for them, though later it was decided to transfer fees defined as tax-related to the Tax Code.

Alexander Kalinin, President of Opora Rossii, which brings together Russian entrepreneurs, told Izvestia that "a detailed discussion" is imminent regarding the potential transfer. He explained that the move to include payments to the Tax Code points to their tougher regulation, and noted that Russian businessmen have not yet worked out a firm position on the issue. The main goal of reforms for non-tax payments is to complicate their introduction, the publication says. Currently, departments can introduce new fees and adjust them as they wish, whereas the law on non-tax payments will make it possible to do so only through amendments.

 

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