MOSCOW, October 4 (RIA Novosti) Russia to freeze conflicts between Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia/ Gazprom taking over raw materials/ Washington puts off Russian RRJ project for a year/ Rosoboronexport CEO to head Russian car-making giant/ Government delivers ultimatum to alcohol producers
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Vremya Novostei
Russia to freeze conflicts between Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia - expert
A senior official said Moscow considered the outcome of Georgia's conflicts with its self-proclaimed autonomous republics, i.e. Abkhazia and South Ossetia, to be even more important for Russia than resolving the dispute over Kosovo is for Europe.
Ambassador Alexander Aksenenok, who served as the Russian Foreign Ministry's special representative for Bosnia and Eastern Slavonia in 1995-1998, said Moscow recognized the principle of territorial integrity and the right to self-determination.
But he said Moscow was letting it be understood that territorial integrity was not absolute and could not be automatically applied to Georgia. This dual position provided Russia with ample maneuvering room, but this is now receding. Russia may eventually face a situation when Abkhazia, Ossetia and Georgia will make it responsible for freezing the conflicts.
Aksenenok said any solution favoring either territorial integrity or secession had both positive and negative aspects. He said the difficult Caucasian ethnic situation implied that any efforts to force Abkhazia and South Ossetia to rejoin Georgia would inevitably create hotbeds of tension in Russia's North Caucasian republics, such as North Ossetia, Adygea, Chechnya, Karachai-Circassia and others. But Moscow should not count on Tbilisi's loyalty if this happens. Just like any state, Russia must defend the interests of its numerous citizens in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, who lack the right to express their will by democratic means either in the former U.S.S.R. or independent Georgia.
Aksenenok said nobody had so far explained to Abkhazia and South Ossetia why Kosovo and Montenegro had the right to secede whereas they could not. People in both self-proclaimed republics are not convinced by the argument that Kosovo is "unique." Even amateur politicians will see the paradox of the actual national-territorial policy if Kosovo is granted de jure independence.
The United States and the European Union are gradually depriving the undesirable "despotic" Serbian regime of part of its territory, said Aksenenok. Although the same group of influential countries supports the acceptable "democratic" Georgian regime, it deprives other nations of the right to secede, he told the paper.
Gazeta.ru
Gazprom taking over raw materials
Russia is signing contracts on natural gas available in the Commonwealth of Independent States in an attempt to protect itself from potential gas shortages. One of the largest recent contracts was the agreement signed by energy giant Gazprom Tuesday on a joint venture with Kazakhstan's state-owned KazMunaiGaz.
The new company will be established at the Orenburg Gas Refinery in the south Urals to refine gas produced at the Karachaganak gas and condensate deposit in Kazakhstan.
"Gazprom is short of gas, and the Orenburg Gas Refinery was short of raw materials," said Yekaterina Kravchenko, an expert of Broker Credit Service. "It has solved the problem by signing an agreement with Kazakhstan, at least for one of its plants."
Kravchenko said Gazprom is trying to sign gas contracts all over the former Soviet Union, competing with European countries.
"All mid-term gas contracts with the CIS are an attempt by Gazprom to assure that it has enough gas in the future," specifically for the North European Gas Pipeline, the analyst said. "The NEGP was designed to rival the Europeans' Nabucco gas pipeline project," Kravchenko said. "They have partially the same providers, notably Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan."
According to the analyst, Gazprom must sign contracts on gas deliveries for the period after 2010, or else the gas balance would change in favor of Europe.
Despite President Vladimir Putin's assurances of pro-European policies, Europe will not stop building its own gas pipeline.
"Putin has eased Europeans' fears, but Europe will anyway continue building the Nabucco pipeline, which will not depend on Russia or pass across its territory," said Natalya Yanakayeva, an analyst with the Center Invest Group. "This is logical, since this is a way to protect Europe from potential gas risks."
Yanakayeva said Gazprom was doing the same by building the NEGP to bypass Ukraine.
Kommersant
Washington puts off Russian RRJ project for a year
The U.S. State Department has denied licenses to Hamilton Sundstrand and B/E Aerospace for the provision of sets of equipment for the Russian Sukhoi SuperJet100 project. The decision is part of American sanctions against Sukhoi.
Experts told the paper this decision could delay the project for a year.
Hamilton Sundstrand was to supply gyroscopes, and B/E Aerospace the engine control computer to Sukhoi Civil Aircraft (CJSC), a subsidiary of the Sukhoi holding. The other seven of the nine American suppliers of component parts to SuperJet100 have received their licenses.
CJSC spokesmen claimed spreading sanctions spearheaded at the Sukhoi holding to their company was unjustified, because Sukhoi was the majority but not the only shareholder of CJSC. The sanctions could infringe on the rights of Italian Finmeccanica SpA, which intends to buy a blocking stake in CJSC by the end of 2006.
CJSC director general Viktor Subbotin said: "The problems of the two [American] companies will not affect the project. We can wait until the end of the year for the companies to settle the license issue with the State Department. If they fail, we will sign contracts with other suppliers who participated in the tender."
But market players believe this is not the case. "A U.S.-made gyroscope can be replaced with equipment made in Europe or Russia; its adjustment will not take long," said a representative of an aircraft manufacturing company on condition of anonymity. "But failure to receive engine control computers will be critical, for each such system is designed for an individual engine, and it will take some other company from several months to a year to create it."
"CJSC did not disclose information about the tenders and their participants, but I think it will take some time to replace suppliers of even a small amount of equipment," said Maxim Pyadushkin, editor of Russia/CIS Observer. "This may put off the maiden flight of the Sukhoi SuperJet100."
Vedomosti
Rosoboronexport CEO to head Russian car-making giant
Responsibility for development of the Russian carmaker AvtoVAZ will now rest with a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, Rosoboronexport chief executive Sergei Chemezov. Within the next two or three weeks he will head the carmaker's board of directors, said his two acquaintances. The incumbent chairman, Vladimir Artyakov, will head AvtoVAZ's management company and act as director general.
Chemezov, 54, has spent half of his life working for state-owned companies or government agencies, such as Sovintersport, Promexport (a predecessor of Rosoboronexport); in 1996-1999 he headed the presidential office's foreign economic relations department. At that time he was subordinated to Putin, and since then the two men have been close friends, say Chemezov's acquaintances.
In 2000, Chemezov became head of Rosoboronexport, and in the past twelve months he has presided over the transformation of the state mediator in the weapons trade into an industrial holding. Recently, the company has bought into titanium producer VSMPO-Avisma. It is also believed to be buying the KamAZ truck producer's stock.
Rosoboronexport representatives have been managing AvtoVAZ for almost a year, but none of the management's big promises has come true yet. The company has not drafted a project worth financing from the investment fund, it has failed to find a strategic partner and has not launched the construction of the promised second plant in Tolyatti with an annual capacity of 450,000 cars.
"So far, there has been a feeling that there is anarchy at AvtoVAZ, there has been no logic in the moves of its management," said Tatyana Kapustina, analyst with the Aton brokerage. The main goal of the new managers is to develop a clear strategy and to draft an investment program to receive financing from the budget, and Chemezov has all necessary resources to achieve it, the expert said.
People close to the Russian president are responsible for several large companies: First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev chairs Gazprom's board of directors, while the gas giant's CEO is Alexei Miller; deputy head of the Kremlin administration Igor Sechin is chairman of the oil company Rosneft, whose CEO is Sergei Bogdanchikov.
It remains to be seen whether the new duo will be successful: businessmen acquainted with Chemezov refused to discuss his business qualities even on condition of anonymity.
Gazeta
Government delivers ultimatum to alcohol producers
A high-ranking official recently announced the terms on which problems of the alcohol industry can be resolved. A source in the industry said it was an ultimatum. Companies that accept the new game rules will be allowed to continue operating, whereas others are threatened with mass inspections, whose outcome is easy to predict.
There are thee major demands. The business community is advised to "forget" about losses incurred by the unsuccessful reform of the industry, to stop criticizing the authorities and to play an active role in the government's four national projects.
"I am not sure if these were common terms for all market players," said head of a large importing company. "I believe this was a specific proposal for a specific company." However, several large players on the alcohol market confirmed the information.
Legitimized requisitions and imposed sponsorship of government projects are nothing new for the beverages industry. Even before the new law on ethyl alcohol sales came into force, all alcohol companies had had to be accredited with regional authorities. In Moscow this cost $4,000, heads of local companies told the paper. It was not a bribe, but "voluntary" participation in a project. "Officials are always asking us to take part in a project," said a Moscow businessman. "So if they now tell us to finance the Affordable Housing project, we will have to."
"The lawlessness on the market shows the great fear of the authorities," said Vladimir Yegorov, deputy director general of the Nizhny Novgorod sparkling wines plant. "Although I have not had to take part in national projects yet, I believe what my colleagues say."
