MOSCOW, May 2 (RIA Novosti) Russia, Estonia confuse historical notions/ Berezovsky accuses former bodyguard of Litvinenko's murder/ Transneft to settle conflict with CPC shareholders/ Yukos's bankruptcy may take longer than planned
Russian Newsweek
Russia, Estonia confuse historical ideas
The Estonian authorities recently reenacted Russia's questionable tactics for dispersing demonstrations, acting with unjustified cruelty in a bid to achieve a dim goal. For Estonia, the dismantling of a Soviet-era monument was a major state goal, whereas Russia's goal was to stop the "orange" danger.
The two countries' mutual anger has been provoked by confusion surrounding historical ideas. Russia, Estonia, and probably the whole of Eastern Europe, still view VE Day as the beginning of Soviet rule on the countries liberated by the Red Army from Nazism.
However, these two historical dates - victory over Nazism and the enforcement of Soviet regimes in the liberated countries - do not coincide temporally or in terms of their historical essence.
Soviet regimes were established in the Baltic countries long before VE Day and a year before Germany attacked the Soviet Union in 1941. In the rest of Eastern Europe, Soviet regimes were established long after the Battle of Berlin in 1945.
Russia does not consider the spread of the Soviet government across Eastern Europe a vital issue, but wants to be remembered as a country that defeated fascism. Therefore, it could offer a compromise.
Historian Leonid Gibiansky said: "Had we asked for forgiveness [for the pro-Soviet revolts], this would have simplified our relations with the Baltic countries and prevented such problems as the one created by the dismantling of the monuments."
Last year, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) denounced "crimes by Communists."
Goran Lindblad, a Swedish member of PACE, claims that the Soviet Union destroyed democratic traditions developed in Europe over centuries. However, he believes that had Russia asked for forgiveness from East European countries, its image could have been improved.
Not everyone shares this view.
Tatyana Volokitina, head of the department on Stalinism in East European countries at the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said: "Even if we asked for forgiveness from Eastern Europe, it would not change anything. Rather, this would be a demonstration of our weakness."
Kommersant
Berezovsky accuses former bodyguard of Litvinenko's murder
Investigator Alexander Otvodov of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office questioned political refugee Boris Berezovsky in London on Friday as part of the former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko murder case. Berezovsky said another former FSB officer, Andrei Lugovoi, could probably have carried out the murder. The Kommersant newspaper published the records of their meeting today.
Before his retirement in 1996, former Mayor Andrei Lugovoi served as a bodyguard for high-ranking officials, then Acting Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar, head of the Presidential Executive Office Sergei Filatov, and Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev. He provided security to Boris Berezovsky, deputy secretary of Russia's Security Council, and at least once accompanied him at talks with Chechen militants. On his retirement, he was appointed head of security at the ORT TV channel, which once belonged to Boris Berezovsky. Later he started his business and founded the Devyaty Val group of security companies.
Berezovsky said Lugovoi's polonium traces stretch across the whole of Europe and even pass through his office. Lugovoi's refusal to travel to London and be interviewed at Scotland Yard reinforces Berezovsky's suspicions, who promised to hire for him the best lawyers.
Businessman Lugovoi, who Berezovsky blames for the Litvinenko murder, would not comment yesterday, saying: "Mr. Berezovsky has nothing new to say, it is just a rehash of his earlier statements; he once again voiced his own version of the case, and I would not comment on that."
Apart from the details of the Litvinenko polonium poisoning, the Prosecutor General's Office tried to get information on Boris Berezovsky's business affairs and his relatives, as well as his contacts with Leonid Nevzlin, a Yukos shareholder, and Yelena Tregubova, a former Kremlin pool reporter, who recently asked British authorities for political asylum. The list of questions included their addresses and telephone numbers.
Vedomosti
Transneft to settle conflict with CPC shareholders
Russia has transferred its stake in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) to Transneft, Russian state oil pipeline operator, for trust management. Government officials hope that the state company will be more effective in protecting the country's interests in the project, although experts have their doubts.
President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the transfer of a 24% state-owned stake in joint stock ventures CPC-R and CPC-K to Transneft for trust management. This is being done "to enhance management efficiency," the Kremlin press service reported. The Industry and Energy Ministry proposed the measure fully certain that Transneft would protect state interests better than government officials.
Russia's relations with CPC shareholders are not simple. In 1996, the CPC shareholders signed an agreement to expand the pipeline capacity to 67 million metric tons a year. However, Russia is blocking this decision demanding that interest payments on loans granted to CPC be reduced from 14% to 10.5% and oil transportation tariffs increased from $29 to $38 per metric ton. An official from the Russian Industry and Energy Ministry complained that high interest paid on loans borrowed from CPC private shareholders leads to losses and to the actual non-payment of taxes by the consortium.
A CPC spokesman said those issues had not been discussed at a CPC shareholders' meeting held in late March. The situation is complicated and the problem is still unresolved, a Chevron spokesman admitted. He declined to comment on Russia's decision. Ian MacDonald, president of Chevron Neftegas Inc representing Chevron in Russia, warned earlier that the transfer of the stake to Transneft would lead to a situation that could be regarded as an obvious conflict of interests.
"Their opinion of our competition is wrong: we supply Russian oil, and the CPC Kazakh oil to the south," said Transneft's vice president Sergei Grigoryev.
"Transneft will hardly help Russia to resolve the conflict with CPC shareholders," said Valery Nesterov, an analyst with Troika-Dialog, Russia's largest independent investment company. He warned that the CPC expansion should not be delayed, with Kazakhstan having many opportunities to redistribute export flows and the CPC needing oil to fill the Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline.
Kommersant
Yukos's bankruptcy may take longer than planned
The Yukos routine bankruptcy, once the darling of the Russian oil market, has been broken by its first scandal.
Cyprus-based Rekha Holdings Ltd. has not been permitted to participate in the tender held to sell a 2% stake in the Bank of Khanty-Mansiysk, although the Cypriot company has made a 32.7 million rubles ($1.27 million) down payment.
Rekha Holdings, which is part of the Renaissance Capital investment company, could contest the outcome of the tender through the courts, which could draw out the Yukos's bankruptcy proceedings.
A source with ties in the Russian Federal Property Fund (RFFI) said the Cypriot company was denied access because it had not provided a copy of its balance sheet with a relevant date stamped by the tax authorities. Providing a copy is one of the mandatory conditions, but it only concerns Russian companies.
As of January 1, 2007, the Bank of Khanty-Mansiysk was ranked 29th among Russian banks in terms of owner equity (7.6 billion rubles, or $295.89 million) and 27th in terms of net assets (64.7 billion rubles, or $2.52 billion). The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Finance Corporation are expected to buy into the bank soon (they have decided to buy 12.5% plus one share each).
Lawyers said Rekha Holdings could contest the decision to deny its access to the tender in a court.
Igor Serebryakov, senior lawyer with Egorov, Puginsky, Afanasiev & Partners, said: "The [Cypriot] company has complied with all requirements stipulated for participation in a tender, in particular making the down payment, and therefore should have been allowed to participate."
Eduard Rebgun, Yukos's bankruptcy receiver, said tenders were not one of his responsibilities and therefore he would not interfere in the current scandal.
"This is the prerogative of the RFFI, which organizes and holds tenders by contract," he said. "I don't see anything dramatic in the possibility of a suit. If the company wins it, a new tender can be held."
According to experts, legal actions would be brought against the bankruptcy receiver.
Alexander Kolesnikov, the bankruptcy receiver of Promeximbank, said: "Under the law on bankruptcy, it is the bankruptcy receiver and not the RFFI who is responsible for tenders." He said receivership could not be considered completed until all litigation was over.
"If a suit is filed to consider the outcome of the Yukos's tender invalid, this could seriously prolong the bankruptcy procedure," Kolesnikov said.
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