MOSCOW, February 18 (RIA Novosti)
Russia benefiting from Kosovo independence/ Washington set to relocate Kyrgyz air base/ Kremlin plans reshuffle of top government officials/ Oil firms to get $25 bln Chinese loan for long-term deliveries
Kommersant
Russia benefiting from Kosovo independence
Kosovo is not yet a fully independent state, even though it has its own flag, emblem, anthem, and even an army. However despite its partial independence, declared a year ago, many states, including Russia, have benefited from it.
The West mostly benefited from the political aspect. The U.S. and its allies ensured the declaration of Kosovo's independence in February 2008. Moreover, no major ethnic clashes have been recorded there since then, which is another argument in favor of those who said independence was the only way to defuse tension in the Balkans.
Russia's gains are both political and economic. Moscow claimed from the beginning of talks on the province that the formula for Kosovo should be universal, that is, applicable to other similar conflicts, above all in the post-Soviet space.
When Kosovo declared its independence and the leading Western countries followed by recognizing it, Russia said that it had created a precedent allowing it to change its policy regarding Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
In August 2008, Moscow recognized their independence in accordance with the formula applied in Kosovo.
Thanks to Kosovo, Russia has also benefited economically.
It fought against the province's independence, but never crossed the line into open confrontation with the West.
This has helped Russia to strengthen relations with Serbia and to sign a block of economic agreements with the Balkan state in December 2008. They stipulate the acquisition of Serbia's largest state-owned oil company NIS by Russia's Gazprom, the construction of the South Stream pipeline and an underground gas storage facility in the republic.
When the Serbian opponents of these agreements accused the government of selling NIS to Russia for peanuts, the political authorities replied that Russia had helped them to fight for Kosovo.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta
Washington set to relocate Kyrgyz air base
On Tuesday, Gen. David Petraeus, the current commander, U.S. Central Command, met with Uzbek leaders in Tashkent to discuss cargo transits to Afghanistan and the possible relocation of the Manas Air Base from Kyrgyzstan.
On Wednesday, Gen. Petraeus and U.S. Rear Adm. Mark Harnichek, director of strategy policy programs & logistics at U.S. Transportation Command (Transcom), will discuss the same issues in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan.
On February 19, at a plenary meeting the Kyrgyz Parliament will discuss the revocation of the Kyrgyz-U.S. agreement on establishing the Manas Air Base. The United States has repeatedly said it needs the base, although not at any price.
Dr. Rafik Saifulin, an adviser to Uzbek President Islam Karimov, said the cargo-transit issue would be tackled comprehensively, and railroad transits prioritized.
The U.S. Armed Forces have started forming a humanitarian freight train earmarked for Afghanistan in Latvia. The train will travel to Afghanistan via Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan within the next few days.
"This issue is being discussed in Tashkent," Dr. Saifulin told the paper.
Dr. Saifulin said Uzbekistan had not prioritized the deployment of a U.S. air base. "Water resources are the main issue today. Tashkent is now concerned about Russia's stand on building hydropower plants in neighboring states because this would seriously influence the regional water and energy balance. This is why Tashkent has reacted coldly to President Dmitry Medvedev's decision to subsidize construction of a Kyrgyz hydropower plant," he told the paper.
Professor Azamat Temirkulov, a political analyst at the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek, said Uzbekistan maintained military cooperation with the United States, had allowed Washington to deploy an air base on its territory and was implementing a foreign policy independently of Moscow.
"If the United States makes an attractive offer, Tashkent will accept it," Temirkulov told the paper.
Tajikistan is also ready to more closely cooperate with the United States and NATO. Harnichek is scheduled to arrive in Dushanbe today.
Vedomosti
Kremlin plans reshuffle of top government officials
The Kremlin has published a list of the top 100 candidates for government positions. It took the Presidential Executive Office nearly six months to compile the list, as they were trying to solve the complicated problem of replenishing the country's ruling elite currently stale because of a lack of political competition.
If there was competition, at least some of the administrative appointments would have been made by voters. Regular elections would have provided for the regular rotation of different teams.
However, government staff is currently selected by mysterious HR professionals. The presidential team's candidate pool is created through ratings supplied by 172 anonymous experts. They are never identified, to avoid lobbyist pressure. They rate "representatives of federal and regional government bodies, business leaders, public activists and church officials."
The list contains truly prominent and respected individuals from different spheres, which means the initiative is good. On the other hand, the procedure still boils down to authoritarian appointment, which means a candidate's professional qualifications aren't the only criteria in the selection procedure.
The lucky ones included in the pool acquire additional influence and some security for the future: given the vertical structure of government, and the growing government regulation of the economy, one's inclusion in the list is not only a privilege, but also a sign that top officials are perfectly satisfied with the candidate's performance.
This new network of candidates, now also on a published list, is a big step forward from the former covert Kremlin personnel policy. But the inclusion must put certain political obligations on a candidate.
This is in fact a vicious circle. One can only fulfill their managerial and administrative skills in government agencies, state companies or companies approved by the government. It is almost impossible to imagine a similar list of managers submitted by the opposition, as they are unlikely to list as many as 100 candidates of the same level and influence. There are very few people who value their political views above professional fulfillment. Most active and ambitious people are interested in career growth, and therefore prefer to avoid conflict with the ruling regime.
Vremya Novostei/Kommersant
Oil firms to get $25 bln Chinese loan for long-term deliveries
Two Russian oil majors, Rosneft and Transneft, will receive from the Development Bank of China one of the biggest loan deals in Russia's history - $25 billion at 5% p.a. spread over a 20-year period in exchange for guaranteed supplies of Russian oil - at 15 million metric tons annually for the next 20 years.
The Chinese side, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin or official representatives from Rosneft and Transneft declined to make any comment on the deal, and there is no information on the price agreed for the oil supplies. However, it appears the price is the key issue for deliveries over such a long period. After all, Rosneft has already walked into the Chinese trap once. In 2004, it concluded a similar agreement: a loan backed by oil deliveries. When world prices increased markedly, the Russian company tried to negotiate with Beijing to modify the deal but only got short change. The present agreement is being concluded at a time when world prices are relatively low, and the likelihood of trouble from China described as a "buyer's market" is high.
Troika Dialog analyst Valery Nesterov believes the deal is profitable for China. "The country will be guaranteed oil supplies, enabling it to diversify its imports. Chinese imports from Gulf countries where the situation is far from stable make up 80%. So such nations like China and Japan try to buy oil and gas from Russia."
Under the new agreement, oil will be shipped to China through the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline (ESPO) currently under construction and scheduled to go on stream in December. Transneft will use the borrowed funds to build an ESPO branch to China, the company said.
Rosneft will use the money to refinance its debt, said a source familiar with the company's plans. According to the source, the company is to pay $8 billion in 2009, of which $6 billion will come from China, and the rest, from its own resources. Another $8 billion will be invested this year in Rosneft's development.
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