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MOSCOW, January 20 (RIA Novosti) Russia, Ukraine settle their gas problems/ Russia to apply sanctions against Georgia's friends/ Gazprom wins stake in Algerian deposit/ Gazprom wins stake in Algerian deposit

Kommersant

Russia, Ukraine settle their gas problems

Russian gas monopoly Gazprom and Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz have signed a long-term natural gas supply and transit contract for 2009-2019.
However, the document was under threat yesterday morning, when Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko recommended that Naftogaz head Oleh Dubyna increase transit tariffs.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Sunday the tariff would remain the same as in 2008, $1.7 per 1,000 cubic meters per 100 kilometers.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who rushed to Moscow yesterday, failed to convince Putin to raise transit tariffs.
Under the agreements hammered out by Putin and Tymoshenko, Ukraine will pay $3-$3.85 billion more than in 2008, but Tymoshenko says Ukraine will save $5 billion thanks to a reduction of the gas price from $360 per 1,000 cu meters in the first quarter to $235-$250 in the remaining nine months of 2009.
Yushchenko's team has continued to criticize the deal.
Bohdan Sokolovsky, the Ukrainian president's energy envoy, said yesterday the average annual gas price for Ukraine with a discount "should be $199, because neighboring Hungary receives gas at $400 with a quarterly reduction to the annual average of $270."
Belarus will pay considerably less for Russian gas this year. Sources at Gazprom Group said the distance to Belarus is shorter and the Belarusian transit tariff is lower. In addition, one of the sources said, Gazprom owns half of Belarus's gas transportation system.
Ukraine has refused to do the same, but Putin and Tymoshenko have agreed to set up a European-Russian gas transportation consortium. The EU is expected to initiate the project, a source with inside knowledge about the talks between the two prime ministers said.
The press services of Gazprom, Naftogaz and the EU declined to make any comment on the issue yesterday.

Vedomosti

Kommersant

Russia to apply sanctions against Georgia's friends

Russia intends to apply sanctions against companies and countries selling arms to Georgia. Tbilisi thinks Moscow is taking a leaf out of Washington's book. Experts warn the step may ricochet.
A decree like this is unprecedented for Russia. The only country that has legislatively tried to ban cooperation between third countries has been the U.S. Russia has always opposed this practice.
The presidential decree will make it impossible to supply Georgia with R195 engines and other parts for Su-25 Frogfoot aircraft. A newly-built plane of this type was last delivered to Georgia's Air Force in the spring of 2008, says Mikhail Barabanov, the science editor of the magazine Eksport Vooruzhenii. Russia could also painfully penalize Ukraine, which supplied weapons to Georgia, by refusing to upgrade its Buk surface-to-air systems and S-300 units, he said.
As for sanctions against Israel, Russia may show more flexibility here, believes Konstantin Makiyenko, an analyst with the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies. A source in the Israeli Foreign Ministry revealed to Vedomosti that Russian troops captured the latest Israeli Spyder anti-aircraft missile system in Georgia. But Israel and Russia have now agreed to exercise mutual restraint in arms deliveries.
"Until recently we have never stopped our plants from fulfilling the orders of Russia's Defense Ministry. But if there is a face-off, we will have to do something," Vladimir Grek, a spokesman for Ukraine's Defense Ministry, told Kommersant.
In the view of Ruslan Pukhov, the director of the Center, Medvedev's decree is unlikely to be addressed at Ukraine or NATO countries, it is rather a signal to Russian officials and businessmen: "It is no secret that the Georgians obtained many items from Russia through semi-official channels. KamAZ trucks, for example and other dual-purpose equipment."
But Pukhov could not comment on why the decree had been made public now, almost six months after the war.

RBC Daily

Gazprom wins stake in Algerian deposit

Gazprom has signed a development contract after winning a hydrocarbon exploration and development tender for the onshore El Assel area, in Algeria's Berkine basin, on December 13.
The Russian gas export monopoly took a 49% stake in the project.
Analysts say Gazprom has not rejected African projects despite major losses it sustained in the gas crisis and is showing confidence in its ability to develop them.
Gazprom plans to invest at least $55million (other reports say $120million) in geological exploration as part of the project (3,083 sq km of 3D seismic data and the drilling of four exploratory wells). The recoverable oil reserves in the El Assel area average 220 million barrels according to estimates.
Pyotr Klyuev, due diligence director at the 2K Audit Business Consultancy, said Algeria, which has huge energy reserves, has held only one international public tender for the exploration and development of its deposits.
Most companies are ready to accept any conditions to be able to operate in Algeria. Even if exploration does not discover commercial reserves at El Assel, the experience of working jointly with Sonatrach promises Gazprom closer cooperation with Algeria's state oil and gas corporation.
Vitaly Gromadin, an analyst at the Arbat Capital investment company, said investors would greet the news as proof of Gazprom's confidence and that it had not abandoned its strategy of winning over the African market, despite losing over $1 billion in revenue in the gas conflict with Ukraine in January 2009.
The Russian gas monopoly may eventually take over a considerable part of the gas sectors of Algeria and Nigeria, and later join the huge Trans-Sahara Gas Pipeline project. If it does, the EU is unlikely to be able to hamper the growth of Gazprom's natural gas deliveries to the continent.

Gazeta.ru

Russians ready to spend as much on cars as Western Europeans

Last year, Russians spent $70 billion on buying cars - an all-time high for the Russian market. Experts believe Russians are ready to spend as much money on cars as people in France, Italy and the United Kingdom.
In 2008, 3.2 million cars were registered in Russia, or 14.3% more than in 2007, calculated experts from the analytical agency Avtostat. The amount spent on buying cars increased even more - by 28.8%, from $54.8 billion to $70.6 billion. Of this total, new foreign makes claimed $56.5 billion. The remaining 14 billion was shared 50:50 between domestic brands (with the Lada accounting for $6.5 billion and others, $830 million) and used foreign cars.
Motorists were most eager to purchase a new foreign model with an average price of $27,200. A foreign car with some mileage was generally bought for $17,000. Russia-made Zhiguli cars were purchased for $10,000.
"In the amount the population is prepared to fork out for a car, Russia is approaching such countries like France, the United Kingdom, and Italy. In Spain, they spend even less on cars than in this country," said Sergei Tselikov, the director of the agency.
In Europe, in terms of cars sold and money spent on their purchase, Russia is second only to Germany - last year, Germany spent $100 billion on car buying, analysts said.
Next year analysts are forecasting a market slump of 30% to 40%. In their opinion, this year's sales will drop to 1.7 million to 2 million, while the import of used foreign cars, with new customs duties introduced, will more than halve, falling to 150,000 to 200,000 vehicles.
"Last year, the average price of cars bought by Russians was $22,000. Exchange rates are currently subject to extreme fluctuation and the only sure thing is that in 2009 the price tag in rubles will grow while dollars will drop," the analyst said.

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