Russia 110419 Basic Political Developments

Russia 110419

Basic Political Developments

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  Russian foreign minister to visit 4 Balkan states - During the three-day tour, Lavrov will visit Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Slovenia to discuss the situation in the region, bilateral economic ties and some urgent issues on the global political agenda.
  
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    Moscow queries Montenegro's NATO membership plans - "Our attitude to NATO enlargement is well known and does not depend on political considerations of expediency or the geographic vector," he /Lavrov/ said in an interview with the Montenegrin newspaper Pobeda.
    
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    Russian FM Lavrov to meet with Tadic and Jeremic today - As the Russian Embassy in Belgrade confirmed to the Tanjug news agency, Lavrov and Jeremic will discuss bilateral cooperation and cooperation between the two countries on the international scene, not excluding talks on Kosovo in the context of the recently initiated dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.
    
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    Russian FM to talk economy, Kosovo - As Tanjug was told earlier by the Russian embassy in Belgrade, it is possible that one of the topics of talks will be the agreement on the two countries' strategic partnership, which has been drafted and whose harmonization is underway.
    
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  World Leaders to Attend St Petersburg International Economic Forum 2011 - Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Finnish President Tarja Halonen and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero have confirmed they will take part in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2011 in St. Petersburg on June 16-18, the Russian Economic Development Ministry said on Monday.
  
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  Washington-Moscow News Conference: Suit Filed to Require President Obama to Lift 'Jackson-Vanik' for Russia - A press conference on the suit will be held at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow, Tuesday, April 19, in the offices of Bailey Gary PC (1615 L Street NW Suite 650, Washington), counsel for plaintiffs, with video link to the Interfax news agency in Moscow.  Participants will include the plaintiffs and their attorneys, members of the Russian Duma, and American and Russian experts on U.S.-Russia ties.
  
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  NY Times Moscow reporters get Pulitzer
  
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  Ukrainian Nationalists Picket Russian Embassy In Kyiv - Some 50 Ukrainian nationalists have picketed the Russian Embassy in Kyiv to demand that the rights of ethnic Ukrainians in Russia be respected, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports.
  
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  Tajik-Russian border guard pact expected - Tajikistan and Russia have completed work on a draft agreement governing the presence of Russian border guard advisers and will sign the treaty soon, Tajik Deputy Foreign Minister Nizomiddin Zokhidov said April 18. The present agreement expires this year.
  
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  Russia lifts warning against travel to Japan over disaster - Russia on Monday lifted its advisory against travel to Japan issued after the March 11 earthquake and ensuing nuclear crisis in the country, but urged its nationals to continue refraining from visiting disaster-hit areas in Japan.
  
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  Radioactive cars from Japan found at Nakhodka Port
  
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  Radiation levels normal in Russia's Far East
  
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  AEM deal with UAE's Dodsal for India factory - In a first of sorts, Russia’s Atomenergomash (AEM) strikes a deal with UAE's Dodsal Group to create a manufacturing unit in India in 2013 at a cost of $150 million.
  
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  Russians start questioning Polish witnesses of Smolensk air crash - Three Russian prosecutors, present during the interrogation, had the right to ask him questions, spokesperson of the military prosecutor's office Colonel Zbigniew Rzepa told the PAP news agency.
  
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  Russia-Poland rapprochement against a backdrop of contradictions – by Alexei Fenenko, Leading Research Fellow, Institute of International Security Studies of RAS, Russian Academy of Sciences
  
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  Sargsyan: Armenian-Russian forum to help find new cooperation models
  
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    Armenia-Russia cooperation expands actively- Naryshkin
    
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    President sends greetings to 1st Russia-Armenian regional forum
    
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    Yerevan hosts Armenian-Russian inter-regional forum
    
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    Monument to Russian soldiers to be unveiled in Oshakan
    
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  First batchj-produced Superjet 100 to be handed over to Armenian airline
  
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  Deputy Speaker: Georgia not to change its position regarding Russia's accession into WTO - Georgia's position regarding Russia's accession into the WTO will not change, Georgian First Deputy Speaker Mikheil Machavariani said.
  
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  Georgia demands Russia return Pirosmani's painting - Acting Head of the Russian Federal Culture Agency Viktor Petrakov confirmed that the painting exhibited at the Russian Antiques Salon in Moscow was indeed stolen, but then legally purchased from the artist's family. He said that they have copies of all of the documents.
  
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  Some foreign states fail to execute Russian legal aid requests - top investigator: "Such a situation can be observed with our requests forwarded, for example, to the British Virgin Islands, Gibraltar, the Republic of Cyprus, the Isle of Man and a number of other states," he said.
  
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  Bout's defense appeals his trial in the United States - Lawyers for alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, held in a U.S. prison on conspiracy charges, have lodged an appeal on the illegality of their client's prosecution in the United States.
  
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  Yury Dolgoruky to be ready for Bulava trials by start of navigation season - Sevmash
  
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  Kucherena and Resnik to certificate MUP - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has included in the committee on recertification MUP members of the Public Chamber.
  
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  Kommersant: the brother of Maryam Sharipova killed in Dagestan
  
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    Militants killed in Dagestan are being identified
    
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  Two militants destroyed near Makhachkala
  
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    2 militants killed in Dagestan
    
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    2 militants killed in Makhachkala suburb
    
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  Russian police kills 7 militants in North Caucasus region - In Chechnya, local law enforcement agents conducted a special operation near the district of Shatoi and killed three militants, the reports cited Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov as saying.
  
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  RUR 1 billion to be invested into the energy producing infrastructure objects in Dagestan South
  
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  Duma to back bill protecting children's right in divorce
  
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  Prosecutors to appeal verdict in trial of Jehovah's Witnesses leader
  
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  Court rejects complaint against prosecution of Bank of Moscow first vice president
  
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  Diplomat from Kuwait went missing in Moscow - the third secretary of embassy Alokaab Saleh Mohammed disappeared on the night of April 17.
  
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  Forest fire hazard level raised in Russia’s Far Eastern Primorye
  
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  Over 8,000 people left without electricity in central Russia
  
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  Reuters PRESS DIGEST - Russia - April 19
  
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    www.kommersant.ru
    
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    Russian tycoon Alisher Usmanov says in an interview that his Metalloinvest steel and mining group and Norilsk Nickel (GMKN.MM) will "sooner or later" become a joint holding company to lead in the global production of nickel, palladium, platinum and iron ore.
    
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    After three years of investigation into alleged charges of tax evasion by businessman Vladimir Nekrasov and his partner Sergei Shnaider, prosecutors have decided to drop all accusations and close the case for lack of evidence.
    
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    As a result of the investigation Nekrasov, the former owner of Arbat-Prestige cosmetics retailer, lost his business worth $1.5 billion, the daily says.
    
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    www.vedomosti.ru
    
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    The Finance Ministry will use an oil price of between $120 and $122 per barrel while calculating Russia's 2012-2014 budget. This could ensure more budget spending on social needs during 2012 presidential campaign, the daily says.
    
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    Nekrasov, former owner of Arbat-Prestige, has no plans to claim compensation for his lost business, the daily says. Arbat-Prestige was one of the leaders in Russian cosmetics with a network of 90 retailers across Russia.
    
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    www.izvestia.ru
    
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    Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev supports the approval of a law which will allow testing of schoolchildren for drug addiction.
    
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    Russia's Navy will take part in international military training operations in the Baltic sea in June together with NATO representatives from 13 states, the daily reports.
    
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    www.ng.ru
    
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    Russia's ruling United Russia party will decline any discussions regarding a possible candidate for the next presidential election but will take into consideration the opinion of party leader, Vladimir Putin, the daily says citing party senior official Boris Gryzlov.
    
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    www.rg.ru
    
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    Head of Russia's jails Alexander Reimer arrived on Monday to the Siberian prison camp where former YUKOS chief Mikhail Khodorkovsky spent most of his term.
    
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    Reimer will take part in an investigation into one of the biggest protests carried out in a Russian prisons in which inmates set fire to cells and other premises last Sunday.
    
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  RIA Russian Press at a Glance, Tuesday, April 19, 2011
  
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  Israel gives boost to Abkhazian economy - Tbilisi seems shocked by what is happening Yury Simonyan
  
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  Russia Welcomes Capitalism…Again - The Kremlin is rediscovering capitalism. In the process, it seeks to lobby market institutions towards a more emerging nations-friendly approach to managing the global economy after the 2008 credit crisis nearly bankrupted the poster children of free markets: the US and UK.