MOSCOW, April 9 (RIA Novosti) Iran turns nuclear threat into political instrument / FSB accuses foreign NGOs of helping terrorists / Russia to raise its contribution to UN budget / Nord Stream AG wants to simplify pipeline coordination with Sweden / Russian Railways to develop Udokan / Mechel buys third Romanian asset
Vremya Novostei, Gazeta.ru
Iran turns nuclear threat into political instrument
Iran gave an unexpected reply to the international community's pressure to suspend its nuclear program yesterday.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on the occasion of the Nuclear Technology Day in Iran that it was installing 6,000 new uranium-enriching centrifuges and testing a much faster version of the device at its underground nuclear facility in Natanz.
Experts view this as an attempt to play on the nuclear problem, because Iran needs the bomb not so much for the possibility of using it, but for use as a political threat.
Nina Mamedova, deputy head of the Iranian section at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said: "Ahmadinejad's sharp nuclear rhetoric has above all internal political goals. By criticizing the UN Security Council's resolution and reporting the progress of the national nuclear program, the Iranian president is trying to strengthen the unity of the country's conservative forces."
Radzhab Safarov, head of the Center of Modern Iranian Studies in Moscow, said: "The Iranian leadership has not yet made a political decision to develop nuclear technology to weapons-grade level."
"Iran, even if we imagine hypothetically that it has nuclear weapons, will be unable to use them. It cannot launch them at the United States, and the only other target is Israel. But it cannot hit Israel without killing Arabs in Palestine," Safarov told the Internet newspaper Gazeta.ru.
Georgy Mirsky, chief researcher at the Moscow-based Institute of World Economy and International Relations, said: "Iran is moving fast toward creating conditions for the production of a nuclear bomb, which it is unlikely to create because it will be unable to use it against any target. It can drop it on Israel, but millions of Arabs live near it, in Palestine."
"Iran most likely wants to go as far as North Korea, which does not have the bomb but has the capability to create it any day. In this case, Tehran will speak to the world from positions of strength. This is the most likely scenario," Mirsky said.
He believes "the Iranian leaders are cautious of the Untied States, which they argue attacked Iraq but not North Korea, because it almost has the bomb."
According to Mirsky, Iranians "have attained a 3.5% level of uranium enrichment, which is sufficient only for using it for peaceful purposes."
Analysts say Iran can create the nuclear bomb no sooner than in 2015.
Gazeta.ru, RBC Daily
FSB accuses foreign NGOs of helping terrorists
Nikolai Patrushev, head of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), has made yet another resounding statement.
Speaking at a meeting of the National Antiterrorist Committee, he accused foreign non-governmental organizations of assisting terrorists. He said he even had information that certain NGOs were recruiting fighters in Russia.
This is not the first time the Kremlin has blamed things on the West, experts say, explaining the security chief's sensational discoveries by mounting competition between Kremlin officials in the run-up to Dmitry Medvedev's inauguration.
Foreign NGOs aren't new to coming under fire from Russian authorities either. President Vladimir Putin made the first strike by saying some time ago that certain Russian NGOs were financed through foreign intelligence services.
A law was hastily adopted in response to his statement introducing a new procedure for NGO registration - not by the Foreign Ministry, but by a special registration service, which was thus given control over NGOs and the right to initiate financial inspections enlisting the support of tax regulators and police. As a result, thousands of NGOs closed down, unable to cope with the excessive paperwork.
"Patrushev is simply trying to fit into the popular Kremlin trend and blame everything on the West," said political analyst Stanislav Belkovsky.
"But in this particular case, the interest young residents of North Caucasus show in terrorist organizations is rather caused by unemployment and poverty, and only to a lesser extent by the Islamic factor. It isn't wise to blame NGOs for that."
Alexei Makarkin, deputy director general of the Center for Political Technologies, a Moscow think tank, also believes that NGOs have nothing to do with it. He said that top military and security officials all have unstable positions now, and therefore each of them is trying to prove his worth at the post.
"Patrushev decided to demonstrate how serious the situation in the country was and that any personnel reshuffles in the FSB were out of the question," Makarkin concluded.
This opinion was echoed by Lev Ponomarev, the executive director of the national public movement For Human Rights and a member of the Moscow Helsinki Group, who said that the military and security officials feared that their positions might weaken under the new president, and were therefore trying to boost their own value.
Kommersant
Russia to raise its contribution to UN budget
On Wednesday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon began his first official visit to Russia. President Vladimir Putin and President-elect Dmitry Medvedev will try to win his sympathies, promising to contribute more to the UN regular budget.
Ban Ki-moon, who took office on January 1, 2007, has repeatedly caused anxiety in Moscow. The Russian side did not like his stance on the Kosovo issue, or statements that he shared the concerns of Georgian authorities who have repeatedly criticized Russian peacekeepers in Abkhazia.
The UN secretary general recently caused a stir by saying that he loves America.
Moscow has also decided to display generosity in order to win Ban Ki-moon's sympathies. The paper's sources said President-elect Dmitry Medvedev plans to announce Russia's intention to assume greater responsibility for UN activities and to become one of its key sponsors.
Russia, which will contribute just $21 million, or 1.2% of the UN regular budget in 2008-2009, does not even rank among the 15 main UN sponsors, namely, the G7, Spain, China, Mexico, South Korea, the Netherlands, Australia, Switzerland and Brazil. For instance, the United States annually contributes $500 million, or 22% of the regular budget.
A source said Moscow believed it could also pay about $500 million to the UN regular budget.
It is unclear how the sum total will be divided among UN agencies. The Russian Foreign Ministry's international organizations department said the country would continue to pay $21 million until late 2009, and that its share would be recalculated in 2010 in accordance with GDP and other factors.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said there would be no obstacles if Russia decided to pay more, because the share of other countries would then automatically be reduced.
Vedomosti
Nord Stream AG wants to simplify pipeline coordination with Sweden
Nord Stream AG, the operator of the Nord Stream gas pipeline project, has given up the idea of building a service platform near the Swedish coast. The company's representatives say that this will not increase the time of pipe-laying across the Baltic seabed, but make the process of pipeline route coordination with Sweden simpler.
On April 8, Nord Stream AG announced that it had withdrawn its application to build a service platform in the middle of the gas pipeline route northeast of the Island of Gotland in the Swedish economic zone.
However, Nord Stream continued to seek maintenance solutions for the pipeline without a service platform. The pipeline maintenance will be carried out through the deployment of intelligent pipeline inspection gauges ("pigs"), which will be able to travel the entire length of the pipeline, the company's press release reads.
According to Irina Vasilyeva of Nord Stream AG, the technology was worked out by General Electric and Holland's Rosen. It was applied to the Langeled gas pipeline linking the Norwegian shelf of the North Sea to Great Britain and being as long as Nord Stream.
By saving money on the platform, the company will spend more on the introduction of the pipeline maintenance technology. This will not increase the construction timeframe, but will tangibly simplify the coordination of the pipeline route with the Swedish government, she said.
The Nord Stream gas pipeline is to be laid across the Baltic seabed from Vyborg in Russia to Greifswald in Germany through Russian territorial waters, the economic zones of Finland, Sweden and Denmark, and the territorial waters and economic zone of Germany.
"This is a good decision," said Valery Nesterov, an analyst at Troika Dialog. The Swedes feared that the platform would be used by the Russian intelligence agencies, and it was important to dispel their fears."
In his opinion, the Nord Stream partners will now have to build a more powerful compressor station on the Russian coast, but this will not make the project much more expensive.
Kommersant
Russian Railways to develop Udokan
Russian Railways (RZD) is setting up a consortium to develop Udokan, the world's third largest copper deposit, the paper reported. The consortium will also include Vneshekonombank and the Urals Mining and Metals Company.
The mineral resource licensing agency, Rosnedra, plans to announce tender results on Udokan, in Chelyabinsk Region, on July 17. The winner will be awarded a license to mine copper and byproducts for 20 years under certain conditions. It will be given five and a half years to start the commercial production of copper by building the first stage with output of five million metric tons of ore a year. In another eighteen months the company is to reach target capacity of 33 million tons of ore a year. And lastly, in seven and a half years the winner must complete and commission in Udokan a metals plant with output of 200,000 tons of refined and unrefined copper a year.
The Ministry for Natural Resources estimates project costs, including the construction of a copper melting plant, at $1.6 billion.
The Udokan deposit accounts for 15% of world resources. As of January 1, 2008, its reserves under the B+C1 category were 14.4 million tons of copper (with copper content of 1.56%), 7,300 tons of silver and 1.9 tons of gold.
RZD President Vladimir Yakunin said yesterday that his company was setting up a consortium for the Udokan tender with Vneshekonombank and the Urals mining and metals plant, with RZD and VEB having a combined 51%. The UMMP will be the project operator. "RZD is planning to stay in the consortium until it recoups its investments," Yakunin said. He does not foresee any serious rivals.
Norilsk Nickel said: "the company is potentially interested in Udokan-type fields, but a decision is always based on economic sense." Whether or not Norilsk will join forces with Rostekhnologii, Russian Technology Corporation, is anybody's guess. But Rostekhnologii declined to comment.
Alexei Morozov, UBS head of research, believes that Norilsk is in a position to bid on its own or together with its partners, BHP or Rio Tinto, which it has invited to develop new deposits in Russia.
Vladimir Zhukov, senior analyst with Lehman Brothers, said he considered Norilsk Nickel the favorite. As general contractors for follow-up exploration they are the best informed, have had time to examine the field in detail, and have funds and partners." He added that copper is a metal where Norilsk can build up its market share without fear of caps being imposed by anti-monopoly bodies.
Vedomosti
Mechel buys third Romanian asset
Mechel, a leading Russian mining and metals company, has purchased a 100% stake in Romania's Ductil Steel. Experts say the metal producer has chosen Romania for its expansion into Europe.
Ductil Steel has two production facilities in Romania, the Ductil Steel Buzau plant, which produces carbon and low-alloyed rolled steel and wire products, and the Otelu Rosu plant, which produces steel and billets for rolling, including for the Buzau plant.
Mechel, which unites producers of coal, iron ore, nickel, steel, rolled products and hardware, and markets its products domestically and internationally, will use the new asset to streamline production. It has two other facilities in Romania - Mechel Targoviste and Mechel Campia Turzii - which produce rolled steel for engineering, construction and pipe manufacturing.
Dmitry Smolin, an analyst at the Uralsib financial corporation, said Mechel would use Romania as a bridgehead for its European expansion. According to him, it bought Ductil Steel at $650 per metric ton of output, compared to the global price in metals sector merger and acquisition deals of up to $1,000.
For example, Novolipetsk Steel bought the Maxi Group at $1,250 per metric ton of output, Smolin said.
UBS analyst Alexei Morozov said Mechel's new acquisition was a major achievement, because few metallurgical assets are up for sale now.
This is why Mechel has bought the small Romanian assets, even though they are unlikely to greatly improve its production figures, Smolin said.
Ductil Steel's capacity is only 5% of Mechel's total capacity, he said, adding that Mechel's other Romanian assets were unprofitable when it bought them, and it had to draft a special program for their rehabilitation and invest heavily to make them profitable.
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