Vremya Novostei
Ukraine Prepares for New Elections
Ukraine's outgoing President Leonid Kuchma said yesterday that the situation had deteriorated to such a degree that it was necessary to take radical decisions. "If we genuinely want to preserve peace and accord and develop a rule of law, democratic state ... then let's hold new elections," the president said. Mr. Kuchma added that he would not run for reelection himself.
Vadim Karasev, the head of Ukraine's Institute of Global Strategies, suggested in an interview with Vremya Novostei that the authorities were preparing to regroup for a "new game." They will probably quietly remove Viktor Yanukovich from the epicenter of political struggle. If the Supreme Court does not annul a Central Election Commission (CEC) decision declaring Mr. Yanukovich the winner of the November 21 presidential election (the court is considering the relevant complaint filed by opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko), the CEC will, for example, delay the president's inauguration. If the inauguration ceremony does not take place within 30 days, the elections will be declared invalid. New elections will have to be held, and neither Mr. Yushchenko, nor Mr. Yanukovich will run in them.
Dmitry Vydrin, a political analyst in Kiev, believes the rival clans will hardly nominate new candidates, whereas any new election results will not differ considerably from the previous ones. "Both Yushchenko and Yanukovich have become symbols that are difficult to turn back on," said Mr. Vydrin.
Vyacheslav Nikonov, the head of Russia's Politika Foundation, is positive that Mr. Yanukovich is not the best candidate the authorities could nominate. "A different candidate will have more chances of overcoming Yushchenko," said Mr. Nikonov.
Europe seems to have approved of the idea of holding new elections in Ukraine. Among others it was supported by Javier Solana, the European Union's High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fishcher, and Polish Sejm Speaker Jusef Oleksa.
Gazeta
"Against All" Option on Ballot Papers May Become Senseless
Russia's Constitutional Court has ruled that in the event a leading contender in municipal elections is supported by more voters than the "against all" candidate, the opinion of voters who did not like any of the contenders can be disregarded as if they had not turn up at the polls at all. This means that candidate will not have to secure the support of 50% of all the voters that arrived at the polling stations, but only half of those who voted for the running candidates, not "against all," writes Gazeta.
The ruling was adopted after a complaint filed by Leningrad region residents who challenged the vote counting procedure stipulated in the regional law on the election of deputies.
"Russian Federation constituent entities can determine local election procedures themselves," judge Vladimir Strekozov told the newspaper. "The law adopted in the Leningrad region does not infringe on voters' rights."
Mr. Strekozov said that this did not mean similar provisions could be used with respect to higher-level elections, i.e., those to regional legislatures, the State Duma or the presidency.
However, some experts believe the provisions that do not take into account votes that were cast for "against all" may be adopted with respect to higher-level elections soon. "This may become a serious precedent for adopting similar articles in the laws on parliamentary elections in the regions and even on federal elections," said Vadim Prokhorov, an ex-voting member of the Central Election Commission. "Such provisions will allow the authorities to ignore the opposition's opinion and protest votes."
Vedomosti
Gazprom board to decide on Yuganskneftegaz purchase today
Gazprom has long been seen as the favorite to buy Yuganskneftegaz, but has never admitted an interest in the main Yukos oil-producing subsidiary. Deutsche Bank, a Gazprom consultant, recently proposed that the natural gas monopolist expand output by purchasing Russian oil assets such as Yuganskneftegaz, Sibneft, Zarubezhneft and Surgutneftegaz.
Talking to Vedomosti, an official close to a Gazprom director noted that the board of directors might discuss the possibility of bidding at the Yuganskneftegaz auction at a session today. "The session's official agenda does not include this issue, but the company has informed several representatives that it might be discussed," he said. According to him, Gazprom has even suggested "specific solutions" on how to find the necessary money to officials.
The Gazprom board was to have examined the Yuganskneftegaz purchase yesterday with other Deutsche Bank recommendations. This news came from several sources close to Gazprom, but the company declined to comment officially.
Steven Dashevsky, head of the Aton investment company's analytical department, thinks that the Gazprom board will decide to bid at the forthcoming auction. Other officials have obviously approved this decision, so the board is unlikely to speak its mind on the issue, Mr. Dashevsky noted. One official said that the decision to purchase Yuganskneftegaz might be blocked, if it turns out that it could negatively affect Gazprom's core operations.
For its own part, Yukos has decided to save its main asset without waiting for the Gazprom decision. Talking to Vedomosti, Alexander Shadrin, chief of the Yukos press service, noted that the company had already filed a lawsuit demanding that the court-bailiff service's resolution on auctioning off Yuganskneftegaz be declared null and void. Less significant assets should have been put up for sale first, Mr. Shadrin explained.
Noviye Izvestia
Russian Dollar Back to 2000
The dollar on the Russian market yesterday slipped to a four-year low of 28.15 rubles per dollar. Growing currency sales by the population added to the traditional causes of the fall, putting pressure on the American currency, says Noviye Izvestia.
Interestingly, the new low in Russia came when the dollar was stable on the international money market, remaining virtually unchanged against the euro at $1.329. Trading volumes on MICEX both yesterday and on Friday were a sizeable $2.5 billion. But the Central Bank was markedly absent from the market, which opened the way for traders to be bearish.
The factors contributing to the falling dollar remain the same. Traders point to an increased influx of exporters' hard currency earnings. It takes about three months for oil sales receipts to arrive in Russia. In August, Urals crude was quoted at $32 to $40 per barrel. In October, it was already $40-45 per barrel. Correspondingly, earnings may be expected to rise by 10% to 15%. The trend towards a weaker dollar on the world market is also affecting the dollar's rate in Russia, especially in view of the Central Bank's changed policy of reduced money market regulation.
On top of all that, market players say that clients who take no active part in foreign economic activity, including the population, are converting more dollars. This phenomenon is increasingly gaining in scope. "The population is beginning to sell dollars and buy euros," said MDM Bank's financial markets department chief, Viktor Zhidkov. "There is no trend yet for the population to purchase rubles, but this is a matter for the immediate future."
Kommersant
Rossiya To Change Its Image for Just $800 Million
A competition commission yesterday announced the winner of a tender to reconstruct the Rossiya Hotel: ST-Development. The company offered the least expensive modernization project at a mere $800 million in investment, Kommersant writes.
The Rossiya is the largest hotel in Europe and is situated near the Kremlin. It has 3,070 rooms, and covers an area of 225,000 square meters.
By 2008, a low-rise hotel complex with 2,000 rooms, a cinema and concert hall (56,600 sq m) should emerge on the site. There will also be other structures that, taken with the hotel, will cover 410,000 sq m.
The preliminary date for demolishing the Rossiya is 2006.
Most of the commission members voted for ST Development's project.
Vladimir Resin, head of Moscow's construction authority, said there would be no revising the tender results.
"I am not happy with any of the projects," said Moscow's chief architect Alexander Kuzmin. "None of them can be regarded as a serious architectural design. The winning project will be fundamentally reworked."
Gerhard Gritzner, director-general of Russia's representative office of the Austrian concern BHS that bid in the tender, in his turn said that "next time investors will pause and think about taking part in competitions whose organizers really do welcome serious investments."
Experts do not believe that the $800 million offered by Chigirinsky is enough to pull down the Rossiya and put up something worthwhile in its place. They estimate a de luxe hotel will cost $3,000 dollars per sq m, while Chigirinsky promises to implement the project at $2,000 per sq m.
