MOSCOW, December 23 (RIA Novosti)
Russia could be ideal NATO member/Moscow, Tbilisi discuss normalization of relations/Iran's nuclear appetite grows/Nord Stream to get another minority partner
Izvestia
Russia could be ideal NATO member
Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said in an interview with the Izvestia daily that the global financial crisis would not affect Russia's security projects, but refused to describe them as "ambitious."
The Iskander missiles Moscow intends to deploy in its westernmost Kaliningrad Region in response to the ABM plans for Central Europe will be inexpensive, the official, who had been viewed as Putin's successor, said.
"This tactical missile is several times cheaper than the new-generation Bulava sea-launched intercontinental missile," Ivanov said, adding that the most expensive part of the project is the production and testing of the missile, whereas Iskander was tested last year.
"Russia needs modern mobile, precision tactical missiles with a range of some 300 km (186 miles)," he said. "Look at Russia's borders. The point at issue is not Kaliningrad, and it was not because of Kaliningrad that the missile was created. Simply, when plans to deploy missile defense systems in Europe were announced, we said the following."
"First," Ivanov said, "we don't buy the U.S. explanation that these systems are designed as protection against North Korean and Iranian missiles. This is nonsense. Second, if the ABM systems are not deployed in Europe, we will not deploy the Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad. But this does not mean the Russian Army will not be equipped with these missiles."
Ivanov said he was surprised by the definition of Moscow's security plans as "ambitious."
"Russia's military budget is 30 times smaller than the U.S. military budget," he said. "We are not planning to join the arms race. Our military spending is comparable to the defense spending of the main NATO countries (without the U.S.)."
"I used to say pointedly to our partners in the alliance that Russia would be an ideal NATO member by the ratio of military expenditure to GDP, because NATO members are obliged to spend 2.5%-2.7% of their GDP on defense. We would fit this figure perfectly," Ivanov said.
Kommersant
Moscow, Tbilisi discuss normalization of relations
Russia and Georgia are holding informal talks through intermediaries on ways to normalize relations, the business daily Kommersant reports. One of the intermediaries is Mikhail Khubutiya, head of the Union of Georgians in Russia.
Khubutiya said he had met with Mikheil Saakashvili in Munich on November 21, when the Georgian president attended the opening of an honorary Georgian consulate.
"I wanted to ask him about Georgian refugees in Russia whose visas had expired and who had no place to go," the intermediary said. "We also discussed the possible resumption of air flights and diplomatic relations between Russia and Georgia."
Khubutiya declined to say who had authorized him to mediate in the talks, but said he thought Saakashvili was ready to resume contacts with Moscow.
"He seemed disappointed that Georgia had not been included in the Membership Action Plan for NATO accession, and that Europe had not supported the country as he wanted it to," the head of the Union of Georgians in Russia said. "He clearly sees that dialogue with Russia must be resumed, and Russia would be wise to help him. We are working on the issue; we'll see what comes of it."
Yesterday the press service of the Georgian president did not confirm or deny the fact that Saakashvili and Khubutiya had met.
Russian officials said openly during the August conflict in South Ossetia and after it that the resumption of relations with Georgia was impossible under the present Georgian leadership. Sources in the Kremlin administration said Russian-Georgian relations had no future as long as Saakashvili remained the Georgian president.
"Saakashvili is aware of this too. He definitely knows he will have to vacate his seat early to find a way out of the dead-end," a high-ranking source in the administration of the Russian president said.
Gazeta.ru
Iran's nuclear appetite grows
Iran is ready to build five more nuclear power plants. Russia, which is currently completing the Bushehr nuclear plant, is prepared to go along, although it has received no proposals from Tehran as yet.
On Monday, news broke that Iran is seriously considering building an additional five nuclear reactors in the next five years, on top of the first national plant at Bushehr, said Mohammad Ghannadi, deputy head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization. According to him, in five years' time, Iran is planning to generate 5,000 MW of electricity at nuclear plants.
Currently, Iranian and Russian specialists are completing the construction of Iran's so far only nuclear plant - at Bushehr. Its capacity, when all generating units are in operation, will be 1,000 MW.
Gazeta-ru sources in the nuclear industry consider Ghannadi's remarks to be a declaration of intent rather than a realistic proposal. One of the sources said that the Iranian side prefers to "think aloud." "We do not understand very clearly what Tehran means: is it the construction of new plants, or of additional units at Bushehr," the source said. He declined to comment on Ghannadi's proposal officially.
"A decision is made at the Foreign Ministry and by the president," said a nuclear ministry spokesman. "If political consent for cooperation with Iran is given, business laws take over. In this context, we, or the Rosatom corporation, are ready for negotiations with Tehran."
The political factor in this issue is more important than the economic one. While the Bushehr plant was being constructed, ever louder voices could be heard from the West and Israel that it was unwise for Moscow to pursue such a policy, considering that Tehran's nuclear program has never been transparent. Tel Aviv even meaningfully hinted at a possible preventive Israeli strike against Iranian nuclear facilities unless Iranian authorities cooperated fully with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency).
Vedomosti
Nord Stream to get another minority partner
Russia's gas export monopoly Gazprom has approached French energy holding GdF Suez with a proposal that the company take part in the pipeline construction under the Baltic Sea as a minority partner, a spokesman for the French company said. GdF Suez has not held talks with any other Nord Stream shareholders.
The company is generally interested in a Nord Stream stake, because the projected pipeline will carry natural gas for its consumers in France and Benelux countries, he added. No terms of reference have been discussed yet.
Nord Stream will annually deliver 2.5 billion cu m (80 billion cu f) of gas for GdF Suez once the startup pipeline is commissioned, in addition to the current 10 billion cu m (350 billion cu f).
Gaz de France first showed interest in the project in 2006, even before its merger with Suez, but Gazprom then picked Dutch Gasunie as a third partner.
In any case, the final decision will also depend on the other major shareholders, E. On, BASF and Gasunie, a Gazprom source said. Since the monopoly wants to keep control of the project, the accession of another partner will reduce the stakes of the other shareholders.
The same scheme was used to admit Gasunie: E. On and BASF reduced their shares from 24.5% to 20% each. Gasunie in turn offered Gazprom an option to buy 9% in BBL, a company building a pipeline from the Netherlands to Britain, and said that the deal would cost it 750 million euro, which was mostly a contribution to Nord Stream's share capital.
Under the project financing scheme, Nord Stream shareholders contribute 30% of the project estimate, while the remaining 70% is raised through loans. Nord Stream's current share capital is around 630 million euro, or 8.5% of the total estimate.
Gazprom could still change its mind about keeping the controlling interest in Nord Stream. One of the important parts of its anti-crisis strategy to be considered by its board of directors today is to seek new investment by attracting more partners and reducing stakes in some of its projects. This won't affect the company's Russian assets, but the scheme is quite acceptable for foreign projects, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said adding that specific projects have not been named yet.
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