MOSCOW, April 25 (RIA Novosti) Poland to lift veto on EU-Russia partnership talks/ Russia does not need peace treaty with Japan/ United Russia simplifies Putin's future work/ Norway's Aker Yards set to build huge Russian shipyard/ TNK-BP's Russian shareholders deny selling stakes/ RusAl could merge with Norilsk Nickel and Metalloinvest
Gazeta.ru
Poland to lift veto on EU-Russia partnership talks
Poland said it agreed to Russia and the European Union signing a new Partnership and Cooperation agreement. Earlier, Warsaw used its right of veto because of the tensions with Moscow over meat imports and the Energy Charter, still unsigned because of Russia's conflicts with Ukraine and Georgia.
Analysts, however, do not believe that new partnership agreement is such a pressing issue for Russia.
Timofei Bordachev, director of the Center for Comprehensive European and Global Studies at the Moscow-based Higher School of Economics, said Warsaw's decision did not make a big difference to Russia.
"Russia does not have a problem with not being able to extend its agreement with the EU. If there are differences preventing the sides to do it, we can take our time," he commented. He also sounded rather skeptical about the [Polish] foreign minister's statement about [Poland's] willingness to lift the veto.
Fyodor Lukyanov, editor-in-chief of the Russia in Global Affairs magazine, holds the opposite view.
"The Polish government's statements reflect its true position. They simply do not have good reasons to block further talks between Russia and the EU," he said.
On the other hand, the political analyst agreed with Bordachev that Russia could still be using the old 1994 agreement. "The only problem is, half of its clauses aren't observed," he added.
Lukyanov added that other European nations had tensions with Russia, too. Lithuania, for example, has threatened to block the Russia-EU talks to try to make Russia resume oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline. The demand is still under discussion.
According to the expert, by vetoing the talks "Warsaw was not so much fighting Russia as trying to earn itself some respect in Europe." "It has effectively got what it wanted. Its status became higher even though [Lech] Kaczynski and his government have become extremely unpopular in Europe," Lukyanov said.
Moskovsky Komsomolets
Russia does not need peace treaty with Japan
Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has cancelled his visits to Berlin, Paris and London, planned for late April and early May, for internal political reasons. But he is to arrive in Moscow today, before the inauguration of the new Russian president.
This testifies to the importance of Japan's relations with Russia and a desire to use the interim period to analyze the situation in Russia.
"The main task now is to establish personal ties. No agreements will be signed" during the visit, said a source in the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
He said Fukuda would meet with President Vladimir Putin and president-elect Dmitry Medvedev.
They will discuss a broad range of issues, from climate change to security in the Far East, but above all the territorial dispute over the South Kurils.
According to analysts, the settlement of the dispute is hindered by national pride and state prestige, rather than by economic and strategic reasons. This is why Russia does not want to give up the islands it won in 1945, while Tokyo insists that it must have the islands, called the Northern Territories in Japan.
Viktor Pavlyatenko, head of the Japan Center at the Far East Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said: "There is no sense in signing the peace treaty on Japan's conditions. It could have been signed 50 years ago, because peace treaties are signed to settle postwar controversies. But the war between the Soviet Union and Japan was officially declared over in 1956, and the sides resumed their diplomatic and consular relations and settled the problem of POWs. The Soviet Union agreed that Japan should become a member of the UN - and it was admitted to the organization immediately afterwards. The two countries also settled trade and fishing problems."
"Since they also needed to settle the issue of the border, Nikita Khrushchev proposed giving two Kuril islands to Japan if it forced the United States to leave Okinawa," he said.
"However, Washington hinted that it would not leave Okinawa if Japan accepted the two islands, and Tokyo rejected the 'gift.'"
In other words, "there is no sense in signing the peace treaty now, especially since Japan has no peace treaties with China or Korea. Why run ahead of Asia to sign a peace treaty on Japan's conditions?"
Vedomosti, Gazeta.ru
United Russia simplifies Putin's future work
The pro-Kremlin United Russia party has submitted to parliament a bill to transfer over 500 functions, out of a total of 3,000, from the government to federal executive authorities. Most of these are minor but unpleasant roles that would not contribute to the image of Vladimir Putin as prime minister.
Experts say this will greatly simplify Putin's work as head of the cabinet.
Amendments are to be made to 150 laws, including the law on mineral resources, on nature reserves, on state regulation of tariffs, on the state marketing of alcohol, and on court bailiffs.
Vladimir Pligin, chairman of the parliamentary committee on constitutional legislation and a co-author of the bill, said the government should not be overburdened with purely technical functions. The removal of some functions from it will not affect the standards of control, but would streamline the vertical system of power.
The government has too many functions, said a source on the team of a deputy prime minister. The prime minister signs a large number of resolutions that in fact need only the signature of a relevant minister.
It sometimes takes six months to coordinate a resolution, said Alexei Volin, former deputy chief of the government staff.
Analysts say the bill will allow Putin not to sign documents stipulating unpopular measures and thus deny responsibility for their results.
Political analyst Dmitry Badovsky said the bill is part of the effort to change the cabinet to suit Putin as a political prime minister, so that he and his deputies will act mainly as coordinators.
Alexei Makarkin, deputy director of the Center of Political Technologies, said: "A political prime minister - and this is what Putin will be - wants to keep political functions and get rid of routine."
"Moreover, he may establish a new post in the cabinet, a deputy prime minister for security and law enforcement, so that the prime minister will be able to influence these sectors," Makarkin said.
Kommersant
Norway's Aker Yards set to build huge Russian shipyard
Aker Yards ASA, an international shipbuilding group focusing on sophisticated vessels, could help build a huge shipyard worth $1 billion in north-western Russia.
The company is one of the world's largest shipbuilders, turning out ocean liners, ferries, merchant, offshore and specialized vessels at 18 yards in Brazil, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Romania and Vietnam. A year ago, Moscow announced plans to build a huge shipyard for manufacturing civilian vessels with deadweight of 100,000 to 150,000 metric tons.
Aker Yards is negotiating with two other prospective contractors, members of a private-state partnership, namely Rossiya Bank subsidiaries, controlling the Vyborg Shipyard, and Summa Capital, managing the Primorsk seaport in the Kaliningrad Region together with the largest national oil producing and refining company Gazprom Neft.
The government, which backs the project, must choose the best contractor. A source in the Industry and Energy Ministry said state support would go to a company able to offer the best feasibility study and to reach an agreement with customers.
In late March, Aker Yards sold a 70% stake in its merchant vessels division to Russian state-run investment company FLC West, a subsidiary of the leasing company FLC, for 292 million euros.
A source in the shipbuilding industry said Summa Capital had proposed that Russia's state-controlled United Ship-Building Corporation (USBC) join the project, and that both companies negotiate specific parameters and respective stakes this week.
"The Vyborg Shipyard and the shareholders of the North Shipyard in St. Petersburg did not make a similar offer to us," a source in the USBC told the paper.
USBC officials declined to comment on the issue.
In August 2007, energy giant Gazprom ordered two ocean-going drilling platforms worth 59 million rubles ($2.4 billion) for the Shtokman gas condensate deposit in the Barents Sea at the Vyborg Shipyard.
In early April, the Vyborg Shipyard and Russia's largest shipping company Sovkomflot signed a contract for building liquefied-gas carriers, chemical tankers, semi-submerged platforms and oil rigs.
Konstantin Makiyenko, deputy director at the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, said administrative and lobby groups would play a larger role than specific projects.
A top shipyard manager familiar with both projects said the Summa project was less detailed than the Vyborg Shipyard, and that its political deal with the USBC could not bring in contracts today.
Vedomosti
TNK-BP's Russian shareholders deny selling stakes
Russian shareholders of the TNK-BP holding - Alfa Group, Access Industries and Renova (AAR consortium) - said that they had never negotiated the sale of their shares in the company. Their joint statement calls speculation and rumors on the planned sale "groundless and untrue."
On April 24, a source close to the Gazprom management told Vedomosti that the gas monopoly decided to buy a controlling stake in TNK-BP and even named the price - $20 billion.
Information on Gazprom's interest in AAR's stake in TNK-BP first appeared in September 2006. Two top managers of Gazprom said then that the monopoly conducted informal talks with TNK-BP's Russian shareholders.
A while later, Alexander Ryazanov, ex-president of Gazprom's oil-producing arm Gazprom Neft, confirmed that the monopoly was interested in a stake in TNK-BP. Since then, information about Gazprom's plans with regard to TNK-BP has surfaced from time to time.
However, Viktor Vekselberg, Renova's main beneficiary, said in January 2008 that Gazprom had not made any offers to buy AAR's stake in TNK-BP and that there was no sense in selling it for less than the estimated price of $60 billion.
On April 24, TNK-BP's shares rose 11.43% on the RTS (implying market capitalization of $30.7 billion). Analysts at the Troika Dialog investment company say in their report that the price named by the source in Gazprom would mean a premium on the fair price of TNK-BP, with the price-to-profit ratio being 6.2 to 4.9.
Pavel Kushnir, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, assesses TNK-BP at $40 billion on the basis of free money flows, but he would not advise the purchase of control in TNK-BP this year: Gazprom's gas production is falling, so it should better tackle that problem.
Kommersant
RusAl could merge with Norilsk Nickel and Metalloinvest
United Company Russian Aluminum (UC RusAl) has completed the transaction to buy 25% plus one share in metals giant Norilsk Nickel from billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov.
The terms of the deal have been changed, so that Prokhorov will receive not 11%, but 14% of RusAl shares plus over $7 billion, half of it now and the rest within 12 months.
RusAl managers intend to merge their company with Norilsk Nickel within a year.
However, the metal giant's co-owner, Vladimir Potanin, who yesterday discussed his plans with President Vladimir Putin, wants Norilsk Nickel to merge with Metalloinvest, a leading Russian mining and ferrous metals company owned by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov.
As a result of the deal, Oleg Deripaska's Basic Element holds about 56.7% in RusAl, Viktor Vekselberg and his partners 18.9%, and Swiss trader Glencore about 10.3%.
As Basic Element is worth $41-$46 billion, Prokhorov's 14% stake in RusAl costs $5.74-$6.44 billion and the total sum of the deal is over $13 billion.
RusAl plans to start preparations for a merger as soon as it gains access to Norilsk Nickel's management. It is worried that some managers remain loyal to Potanin, who controls between 25% and 30% of the metal company's shares.
Seeking protection from RusAl's offensive, they started talks on a merger with Metalloinvest in March, and hoped to agree the format for the deal by early May.
Yesterday Potanin met with Putin, reportedly to discuss the international projects of his company, the financial holding Interros.
Kirill Chuiko, an analyst at the Uralsib investment company, said: "I think they discussed a compromise variant stipulating the consolidation of the three companies."
The owners of Norilsk Nickel and market players cannot forecast what turn the development will take.
Alexander Bulygin, head of RusAl, is skeptical about the possibility of consolidating the three companies. He said first RusAl should merge with Norilsk Nickel, and the united company would then consider a merger with an iron ore supplier.
Metalloinvest officials are remaining aloof, saying that the possibility of a merger would depend on decisions of a majority of the two companies' shareholders and the market value of the companies.
However, RusAl and Metalloinvest are private companies and so have not been officially assessed.
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