MOSCOW, February 21 (RIA Novosti) Separatists recognize Kosovo's independence/ West provides glimpse of "new global order" in Kosovo/ People acquiesce in non-obliging authorities - Mikhail Khodorkovsky/ Foreigners to get no more than 10% of strategic companies/ IBM enters Russian IT market/ Chinese-made Su-27s will squeeze Russia out of third-country markets - expert/
Kommersant, Vremya Novostei
Separatists recognize Kosovo's independence
Russia says the European Union is pandering to separatists by recognizing Kosovo's independence. Immediately after the leading Western powers recognized the new state, nearly all the breakaway republics in the CIS issued their own demands for official independence.
Abkhazia and South Ossetia are acting most energetically. They have not been deterred by the cautionary words of Konstantin Kosachyov, head of the Russian parliament's committee on international affairs, who said recently that Russia would never recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia "because this would provoke a very serious crisis in the CIS and affect its relations with NATO, the EU and the United States."
Eduard Kokoity, president of South Ossetia, said in Moscow yesterday: "Some states may start the process of official recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia already this year, and Russia does not need to be the first to do so."
Russia has "a new plan of supporting self-proclaimed republics, which it intends to implement," the Ossetian leader said, adding that the plan provides for "protecting the interests of Russian citizens living in South Ossetia and Abkhazia."
According to unconfirmed reports, Russia could refrain from recognizing the two republics officially but would still develop relations with them as with independent states.
Abkhazia believes that it has the same right to recognition as Kosovo.
Stanislav Lakoba, secretary of Abkhazia's Security Council, said: "This is the moment of truth. What is allowed to one province must be allowed to all others."
Nugzar Ashuba, head of Abkhazia's parliament, said: "We will demand recognition of our independence; we have as many rights as Kosovo."
To help Russia, Abkhazia has suggested a new model for relations between them.
Abkhazian political analyst Astamur Taniya told the popular daily Vremya Novostei that relations between the United States and Taiwan offered a good example.
"A special act of the US Congress allows economic and trade cooperation with Taiwan as well as arms supplies," he said. "This amounts to large-scale cooperation and US patronage. We would like Russia to recognize our independence, but this is impossible, at least in the immediate future."
According to Taniya, "Abkhazia as a state that has proved its right to existence can expect at least a few countries to recognize its independence."
Rossiiskaya Gazeta
West provides glimpse of "new global order" in Kosovo
Konstantin Kosachyov, Chairman of the State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee, has warned that Kosovo's independence may ultimately lead to the breakdown of international law.
Speaking to Rossiiskaya Gazeta, he said the Kosovars had long ago given up the pretence of talks, and accused the architects of Kosovo's independence of deliberately risking reactivating dormant conflicts in order to outline a "new global order."
Kosachyov said those having their own territorial conflicts, had caught a glimpse of their future.
The example of Kosovo's independence aims to persuade the world that stronger nations need not seek the permission of the international community to intervene in any conflict, but can compel the international community to legitimize their goals, regardless of the fact that such legitimization runs counter to the UN and international law, Kosachyov told the paper.
He said the great powers wanted to present the world with a fait accompli and to compel it to recognize the independence of Kosovo.
Many analysts are now trying to portray the situation as a stand-off between Russia and the West, Kosachyov said. He said claims about Russia's supposed slide toward authoritarian rule and a more aggressive foreign policy were quite appropriate in this context.
Supporters of Kosovo's independence claim that the world does not oppose the assertion of a new global order based on undemocratic and unjust principles, and that Russia's opposition is driven simply by nostalgia for a time when it could confront the West, Kosachyov told the paper.
Kosachyov contends that the real conflict is between the West and international law. In contrast, where Russia faces problems - whether political, military or economic - it has opted for legal methods, he said.
Abiding by the law may be riskier than resorting to military force, but such is the mark of truly global nations, Kosachyov concluded.
Novaya Gazeta
People acquiesce in non-obliging authorities - Mikhail Khodorkovsky
The Russian people cannot tackle general tasks without the guiding hand of authority. That was the conclusion drawn by ex-Yukos chief Mikhail Khodorkovsky in an interview with his lawyers. Excerpts from the interview are carried in Novaya Gazeta.
The former oligarch said that "he was surprised to discover recently that absolutely incommensurate thinkers agree on one thing: the Russian mentality, people-elite relationships, and the place of secret services in public life typify an occupied, rather than a warring, country."
"Ever since the Tatar-Mongol invasion we have come to accept that authorities owe nothing to the public, make no contract with the people, and collect not taxes for the general good, but as tribute for which they need not account. It is a centuries-old tradition," said Khodorkovsky, who is serving a nine-year term in Eastern Siberia and preparing for a new trial that promises him a new sentence - up to 22 years in jail.
"The result is," Khodorkovsky said, "that the Russian people are not individualistic, but anti-collectivistic, i.e. they are unable and reluctant to join forces to address objectives without the leading reins of authority." In his opinion, "post-industrial economy makes such a model of behavior absolutely non-competitive."
At the same time, citing his personal experience, he said that "in other conditions Russians show themselves as very freedom-loving and enterprising people." That is why, he said, "it is so important to understand that life can be different, that freedom-loving people are not alone and that by joint efforts and unassisted by authority they can achieve success and protect their own and others' rights."
"Today, in the present transparent world of information, a cultural environment, priorities set by people and the customs in public life can alter life within years, not decades or centuries, which we do not have. These may be long years, but it means Russia has hope," the ex-tycoon concluded.
Vedomosti
Foreigners to get no more than 10% of strategic companies
Foreigners will need a permit to purchase a 10% or even a 5%t stake in companies developing major strategic mineral deposits, under a new law currently going through parliament. The final decision on applications for permits will be made by the future prime minister, probably Vladimir Putin. State companies will claim an exemption from the general rule.
The new wording of the draft law "On Foreigners' Access to Strategic Sectors" is being prepared for its second reading in the State Duma on March 19. It differs from the previous draft in that it puts mineral deposits under state regulation, and lists major deposits of oil, gas, diamonds, uranium, platinoids, gold and copper as strategic.
Special, tougher rules have been devised for the mineral resource sector: foreign companies will have to receive a permit for the purchase of more than 5%-10% of the companies operating in this sphere. For other sectors the threshold will be between 25% and 50%.
A Kremlin official said that restrictions would also apply to offshore companies since they are in a foreign jurisdiction. "Those who do not like it should be registered in Russia," he said.
Foreign companies wishing to acquire more than a 10% stake in a strategic company will have to apply to an authorized body for a permit (formerly the government proposed giving these functions to the Federal Anti-Trust Service). Foreign companies with state-owned capital will have to negotiate the purchase of more than 5% of strategic companies. A government commission should issue or refuse a permit within three months (six months in exceptional cases), with the chairman of the commission - the prime minister - having the final say. The criteria for granting or refusing a permit are not specified in the draft law.
A Gazprom manager is convinced that the law should not apply to companies in which the state holds more than 50% of shares.
A spokesman for TNK-BP told this newspaper that private companies are reluctant to comment on the draft law until it is adopted, as the text has been changed so many times. Maxim Finsky, deputy director general of Norilsk Nickel, agrees with him. His position as "a Russian subject" is as follows: the state owns mineral resources and it has the right to set its terms and conditions to the holders of licenses for their development.
The changes are not likely to affect the investment climate in Russia as there are quite a few restrictions in the raw materials sector anyway, said Yevgeny Gavrilenkov, chief economist at the Troika Dialog investment company. According to him, Russia is not suffering from a lack of foreign investment: in 2007 they amounted to $48 billion (up 60% from the 2006 figure). Besides, he pointed out, in the last two to three years more and more investment has gone to other sectors - automobile manufacture, retail trade and the food industry.
Kommersant
IBM enters Russian IT market
IBM is negotiating the acquisition of a stake in a Russian IT company, TatAISenergo.
It was set up to provide information and technological support to Tatenergo, an electricity and heat producer and provider in the republic of Tatarstan, located in the Volga area.
This is the first time a major foreign IT service provider is buying a Russian IT company. Experts say the deal points to investors' growing interest in the Russian IT market, which is expected to reach $4 billion this year.
Alexander Smirnov, director of TatAISenergo, refused to comment on the proposed deal: "We will announce the deal after it is completed."
IBM's Russian office said they never comment on unfinished transactions, and other sources cannot say how big a stake IBM wants to buy in TatAISenergo, which they assess at $30-$40 million.
"IBM considered buying the IT company co-founded by Yukos, which was its main customer, in 2002-2003," said a manager of a Moscow-based IT firm. "They did not publicize their plans, and were shocked when the oil company was declared bankrupt."
Sergei Golovin, deputy director general for marketing at the NVision Group, a Russian system integrator set up in 2001, said that according to IDC, a global market intelligence and advisory firm, and the League of Independent IT Experts (Linex), the Russian IT market amounted to almost $3 billion in 2006 and has been growing by more than 20% a year.
Players on the IT market say that together with a stake in TatAISenergo IBM will acquire the right to service Tatenergo's information infrastructure.
Grigory Sizonenko, president of IVK, a major Russian system integrator with law enforcement departments as its permanent clients, said: "We can assume that one of the deal's terms is the supply of IMB equipment to the company and its promotion [in Russia]."
The director for development at Cominfo Consulting, a Moscow-based company which provides consulting services to info-communication firms, said it would be highly risky to invest in a company that works in a narrow vertically structured market and has only one client.
Alexander Malis, head of telecommunication holding company Corbina Telecom, said IBM might run personnel risks in Tatarstan.
"The practice of acquisition of system integrators shows that such companies' main asset is their personnel," Malis said. "It often happens that after receiving payment the seller lures away his former personnel to its IT department or subsidiary. As a result, the buyer gets the furniture, the PCs and the office, but not the company's business."
Vedomosti
Chinese-made Su-27s will squeeze Russia out of third-country markets - expert
Russian defense experts believe that China has assembled a copy of the Su-27 (Flanker), but they hope that it is not yet ready for mass production.
Since 1992, Russia has supplied 76 Su-27SKs to China, selling a license to manufacture another 200 planes in 1995. Since 1996, these have been built under the name J-11 in Shenyang, using Russian components. By 2003, Russia had delivered 95 assembly kits for the J-11, but China refused to sign a contract for the remaining 105. The percentage of Chinese parts in the J-11 increased, although the Al-31F engine and avionics were still imported from Russia.
Richard Fisher, an analyst at the U.S. Center for Security Policy, said in 2003 that an all-Chinese J-11 was under development and would take China 10 years to complete. The Chinese did better.
"A breakthrough in engine technology has helped to increase the share of Chinese parts and technologies from 70-75% to over 90%," said Andrei Plotnikov, Rosoboronexport's representative in China, in an article in the magazine Problemy Dalnego Vostoka. The Chinese aviation holding AVIC-I officially completed work on the WS-10 Taihang engine with characteristics close to those of the AL-31F in 2006.
Rosoboronexport declined to comment. The Chinese Embassy in Russia and China's National Defense Science, Technology and Industry Commission also refused to elaborate on the copied aircraft.
A top manager of the Russian aviation holding said several J-11s had been assembled with Russian components, but at the moment mass production is not an issue.
According to a staff member of the aero engine design bureau, the WS-10 is not good enough for serial manufacture. In 2007, the Chinese concluded a new contract for the delivery of 54 AL-31FN engine (a version of the AL-31F) and are now discussing the purchase of an improved AL-31F-M, he said.
The Su-27 (Flanker) and the Su-30 (Flanker-C), developed on its basis, make up the core of arms exports, said Konstantin Makiyenko, an analyst at the Center for the Analysis of Strategies and Technologies. In 2007, the supply of combat aircraft and equipment gave Rosoboronexport 50% of its export earnings ($6.2 billion). If the Chinese start mass producing the Su-27, they will easily squeeze Russia out of third-country markets, because it is very difficult to prove a copyright violation on such sophisticated equipment, Makiyenko said.
China has long been producing licensed and non-licensed equivalents of Soviet aircraft. Its J-6 and J-7 fighters are based on the MiG-19 and MiG-21, its bomber H-6, on the Tu-16, and its transport aircraft Y-5, Y-7 and Y-8 are imitations of the An-2, An-24 and An-12.
RIA Novosti is not responsible for the content of outside sources.
