MOSCOW, January 22 (RIA Novosti) Kremlin to transfer shelf to Rosneft and Gazprom/Russia, Algeria cooperate in gas and nuclear sectors/Renova, Tenex to mine uranium in Africa/Russia's anti-satellite system languishes while China's thrives /Meat imports from Europe to resume
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Vedomosti
Kremlin to transfer shelf to Rosneft and Gazprom
A conference headed by Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved a proposal to transfer all deposits off the continental shelf to Russian energy giant Gazprom and state-owned oil company Rosneft, mostly to prevent foreigners from buying large stakes them.
A government official said another fundamental decision was to put shelf deposits out to tenders, rather than auctions, the difference being that the price will no longer be the major criterion, while envelopes could remain unopened if a commission finds a bidder's technical and environmental terms optimal.
"That is not surprising," said Valery Nesterov, an analyst with the Troika Dialog brokerage. In 2004, when Exxon and Chevron lost their licenses for Sakhalin III, it became clear that the government was about to establish tough control of shelf deposits.
The government official said the Kremlin's decision could be finalized by amending the laws on mineral resources and on the continental shelf.
It will not be necessary to adopt a new law on mineral resources in the next two years, said Mikhail Subbotin, director of SRP Ekspertiza. Under the bill drafted by the Natural Resources Ministry, the right to develop a field could be obtained only at an auction, while only the court had the right to revoke such licenses.
However, the lower house did not approve the document.
"We would like to adopt the law, but we cannot deprive ourselves of levers, even not very civilized ones," Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov said in November 2005.
In a move to promote state-controlled companies, the government is pushing potential rivals away, and will thereby hinder quality of field development, Subbotin said.
Mechanisms for the transfer of deposits, budgetary benefits and the efficiency of exploration will not be transparent, the federal government official said.
He added that the government could earn at least $7-$8 billion from auctions on large shelf deposits, while tenders will yield no more than $3.5-$4 billion.
Both foreign and Russian companies, such as LUKoil, which has experience on the Baltic Sea and off the northern shelf, will be damaged, said Nesterov.
Vremya Novostei
Russia, Algeria cooperate in gas and nuclear sectors
The two largest suppliers of gas to Europe - Russia and Algeria - continue to play the partnership card in the face of the European Union. Today, Algeria will host a meeting of Gazprom's managing committee and Sonatrach, which will discuss specific proposals on a gas assets swap.
Gazprom offered the Algerian party eight upstream assets, out of which Algeria has chosen four. Now it is working on other asset swaps, said Russian Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko.
Russia and Algeria meet about 40% of Europe's gas demand. It is almost impossible to reduce that share given the two countries' planned export growth.
Asset swaps were also discussed at the top political level by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
So Moscow is obviously trying to reinforce ties between its major existing and potential rivals on the European gas market, because sooner or later the significant Iranian reserves (26.9 trillion cubic meters) will end up on the EU market.
It is possible the coordinated positions of Moscow, Algiers and Tehran will be announced at the next forum of gas exporters, to be held in Qatar in April.
And gas cooperation with Algeria may soon be supplemented with nuclear power generation ties.
At Algeria's initiative, the memorandum signed yesterday was amended with a clause on cooperation in nuclear power generation construction in the country.
"Experts will begin work in the near future," Khristenko said.
Apparently, Washington will not be overly enthusiastic about Russia's new project to export peaceful nuclear power to the Arab world. Moscow, however, views it as an incentive rather than a containing factor.
Kommersant
Renova, Tenex to mine uranium in Africa
Techsnabexport (Tenex), Russia's state-run nuclear exporter, has signed a cooperation agreement with Renova Group to set up joint ventures as part of an investment project to prospect and develop uranium deposits in Africa and Asia.
Renova may receive up to 50% of the shares in the joint ventures, which will prospect for and produce uranium in Africa, and possibly Mongolia.
Experts say the profitability of the new business is 80%, higher than in any other commodities sector.
Mark Buzuk, a Renova partner, said that during the first stage the two companies will operate in South Arica, Namibia and Gabon, where Renova has exploration licenses.
In Asia, their joint venture will develop the uranium deposits at Dornod Aymak and Gurvan Bulag in Mongolia.
Buzuk said the two joint ventures in Africa might be set up in 2007 to produce uranium concentrate. Russia's Federal Nuclear Power Agency (Rosatom) will enrich it.
Until recently, only Japan's Mitsui could be Tenex's private partner in the production of uranium concentrate at the Elkon deposit in Yakutia (Eastern Siberia). Mitsui had a 25% stake in the joint venture.
Analysts say the interest in this sector is justified, as spot prices of uranium oxide went up almost 700% in the past four years, from $10-12 per pound in 2003 to $72 in 2006.
"Prices will grow to $90-100 per pound within three or four years," said Mikhail Stiskin, an analyst with the Troika Dialog brokerage.
Alexander Kotikov of the UBS investment company said prices are growing fast because the amount of uranium stored in warehouses is running out and production is lagging behind global demand.
Uranium production in Russia amounted to 3,200 metric tons in 2006, whereas domestic demand (and international obligations) totaled 15,000 metric tons.
According to the Russian Institute of Mineral Resources, the country's uranium demand will nearly double to 28,000 metric tons annually by 2020.
Analysts cannot forecast the profitability of the African ventures, saying only that they will operate in "uranium-rich countries." Stiskin said South Africa and Namibia rank fourth and fifth in global uranium reserves, respectively.
Techsnabexport, which operates on the world market under the Tenex brand, is one of the world's largest suppliers of nuclear fuel cycle products and services, and has subsidiaries in Germany, South Korea and Japan.
Renova Group is a stakeholder and strategic investor in leading Russian stand-alone and holding companies in the metallurgical, oil, machine engineering, mining, chemical, construction, housing, utilities and financial sectors.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta
Russia's anti-satellite system languishes while China's thrives
Ten days after China fired a ballistic missile to destroy one of its own aging weather satellites that was scheduled to be retired, Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said he considered the reports to be false.
"The rumors are exaggerated," Ivanov said Friday, but added that that is a good thing. "Russia has opposed and will continue to oppose any militarization of outer space," he said.
"That is a very cautious statement," Colonel General Volter Krasovsky, former commander of the Russian Anti-Ballistic Missile and Space Defense Force, told the paper. It either demonstrated Ivanov's incompetence, or that he has once again not been informed in time.
China would not have had much difficulty knocking down the satellite. "This was not a hard thing to do, because the satellite's orbit was known to Beijing," he said.
China has conducted three unsuccessful ABM launches to date. A Russian Defense Ministry expert said the United States has successfully launched several low-orbit MIRVed missiles and hit them with missile interceptors.
But it is unlikely that the United States has destroyed its own satellites, he said.
A Russian Defense Ministry source said that if reports on the successful Chinese launch prove to be true, then it is a nasty surprise for everyone, and means that China has once again proved it is a very serious space power with an effective ABM system.
The Soviet Union operated its own ABM systems.
"Our ABM system, which evolved between 1962 and 1970, scored considerable successes, effectively destroying several space targets, but has now fallen into disrepair," Krasovsky told the paper.
Gazeta.ru
Meat imports from Europe to resume
Meat imports to Russia from Bulgaria, Romania and Poland will resume soon. The European Union is so interested in cooperating that it has accepted the Russian Federal Agency for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Control's terms, and will provide special guarantees on the quality of meat from these countries.
In the past, the EU did not even want to discuss providing separate certificates for "problematic" countries. Now, however, European officials have endorsed the introduction of special quality control measures for imports to Russia.
"EU countries are so interested in supplying Russia that they sent us letters asking for special inspections," said the Agency's press secretary Alexei Alekseyenko. "Inspections will be carried out in two areas - consumer safety and agricultural safety - to prevent imports of an infection."
The exact dates for the resumption of deliveries will depend on how soon the countries will be ready to receive Russian inspectors.
If meat imports from Bulgaria and Romania resume, meat prices in Russia will remain the same, experts told the paper.
Larisa Dorogova, an analyst with the Institute of the Agricultural Market Development, said: "Meat imports from Bulgaria and Romania have been banned since 2000, and nothing awful has happened so far. These countries are not among Russia's key suppliers. If supply is resumed soon, the Russian market is unlikely to feel any serious changes."
Imports from Poland are of much greater importance for Russia. Polish meat was banned a year ago.
As the country was an important supplier of pork and livestock, resumption of Polish imports could push prices in Russia down, Dorogova said.
However, everything will depend on the volume of imports, because "pig breeding is actively developing in Russia and prices are gradually stabilizing," she said.
