MOSCOW, October 29 (RIA Novosti) - Yevgeny Primakov, who as Russian prime minister in 1999 turned his plane around en route to Washington when the bombing of Serbia began, celebrated his 80th birthday on Thursday.

Primakov was born on October 29, 1929, in Kiev and grew up in Tbilisi. During his many years of service to the Soviet and Russian states, he has been chief of the intelligence service, the last speaker of the Soviet parliament, Russia's foreign minister and prime minister. He is still carrying out official duties as head of the Russian Chamber of Trade and Industry and a member of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

To mark the occasion, President Dmitry Medvedev awarded Primakov the Order for Service to the Fatherland - First Class, and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia conferred upon him the Order of Saint Blessed Prince Daniil of Moscow - First Class.

"You are one of the leading Orientalists, an outstanding expert in the field of global economy and international relations. Serving in high-level government positions, you attained nationwide respect for your professionalism and ability to defend fairly and in a responsible manner the state's interests in the most difficult conditions," the patriarch said in a statement.

"Heading the Russian Chamber of Trade and Industry, you contribute to the strengthening of Russia's economic sovereignty," he added.

Primakov was a compromise candidate when appointed Russian prime minister in September 1998 after the parliament refused to confirm President Boris Yeltsin's first choice, Viktor Chernomyrdin, but became a popular figure as Yeltsin's presidency began to disintegrate.

With a world view colored by years of proximity to the KGB, he was a staunch defender of Russia's interests internationally, and showed his steel - and not a little flair - in March 1999 when NATO started its bombing campaign against Serbia.

Primakov was flying over the Atlantic on the way to Washington for an official visit, but he ordered the plane to turn around and return to Moscow.

Less than two months later, the increasingly erratic president had replaced Primakov, who was emerging as a possible future president. The presidential bid was abandoned less than two months before Vladimir Putin's election in March 2000, but Primakov quickly became an ally of the new president and was appointed head of the Russian Chamber of Trade and Industry in December 2001.

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MOSCOW, October 30 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday that attempts to justify repressions during the Stalinist regime under the pretext of ultimate state interests were unacceptable.

Speaking in his video blog ahead of the Day commemorating the victims of political repression, which Russia marks on October 30, Medvedev said:

"Millions of people [in the Soviet Union] have died as a result of terror and false accusations...But we are still hearing that these enormous sacrifices could be justified by certain ultimate interests of the state. I am convinced that neither the goals of the development of the country, nor its successes or ambitions should be achieved through human suffering and losses."

"Nothing is more sacred than a human life. And repressions cannot be justified," he said.

The president expressed concern over the fact that the Russian youth have poor knowledge about the tragic events in the country's past, which led to practical extermination of the whole layers of the Russian society.

"It is important to prevent any attempts to vindicate, under the pretext of restoring historical justice, those who destroyed their own people," Medvedev said.

The president believes that the Russian citizens should accept their country's past as it is, and fight the urge to forget its dark moments.

"I am convinced that the memory of our national tragedies is as sacred as the memory of our victories. And it is very important that our young people be able to have an emotional response to one of the most tragic events in the Russian history," Medvedev said.

"Without the knowledge of the complicated and controversial history of our country we often cannot comprehend the causes of problems and difficulties that Russia experiences today," the president said, adding that it is the task of the current generation to pass on the true historical knowledge to the future generations of Russian citizens.

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MOSCOW, October 30 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine is again having difficulty paying for Russian natural gas supplies and the EU is not going to lend Kiev money to solve the problems, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

Moscow briefly shut down supplies via Ukraine's pipeline system at the start of the year during a dispute with Kiev over unpaid debt.

"It seems we are again seeing problems emerge with [Ukraine] paying for energy supplies," Putin said at a meeting with the leadership of the ruling United Russia party.

Putin added that Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko told him by telephone on Friday that President Viktor Yushchenko was blocking payments for Russian gas supplies.

The Russian prime minister said that IMF data showed Ukraine had gold reserves of $27-$28 billion, with a maximum of $12 billion required to cover the payment. He also noted that the European Union had refused to extend any loans to Ukraine to cover its gas purchases.

"The EU has not given Ukraine any money," Putin said. "Ukraine has not received a single cent, not one hryvnia."

Russia supplies around one fifth of Europe's gas via Ukraine. Brussels had announced intentions to take part in the modernization of Ukraine's gas transit system.

Ukraine's state-controlled energy company Naftogaz rejected on Monday reports of gas payment problems, saying it would pay for Russia natural gas supplied in October on time and in full.

A source in Naftogaz on Monday quoted its CEO Oleh Dubyna as saying at a meeting with Gazprom head Alexei Miller last week that it was increasingly difficult for the Ukrainian energy company to make gas payments and it could be problematic for it to pay for natural gas supplied in October.

Yushchenko has repeatedly called for the revision of long-term gas contracts signed by Gazprom and Naftogaz to resolve the January gas dispute. The Ukrainian president said Naftogaz had lost at least $2.5 billion from Russian natural gas transit.

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MOSCOW, October 26 (RIA Novosti) - Construction of the Russian pavilion for the Expo 2010 to be held in Shanghai is going according to schedule, a first deputy mayor of Moscow said.

Expo 2010, whose “Better City, Better Life” theme reflects efforts to improve life in future urban environments, will run from May 1 through October 31. The event is expected to attract 70 million people.

“Our common schedule is to complete major work by March 1,” Yury Roslyak told RIA Novosti on Saturday.

He said a metal basic structure had already been assembled and work was underway to lay utilities.

Roslyak said Chinese workers involved in the construction at the Russian site were working in three shifts and almost without days off for the Russian facility to be on time by April 30.

Russia’s nuclear corporation Rosatom will occupy one of 12 towers at the Russian pavilion, which will resemble a miniature of a town to demonstrate various aspects in the life of a city and its residents.

Speaking at a roundtable devoted to the event in Moscow on Monday, Vladimir Arshinov, a professor at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Philosophy, said “the exhibition will show how Russia sees its future.”

A senior member of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said the event was important for boosting Russia’s self-confidence. “It is important that Russia demonstrate its achievements to the world, as well as its own nationals,” Igor Prudnikov said.

The Russian exposition will feature innovative projects, new technologies and interactive programs covering themes such as the assimilation of different cultures, economic growth, a new model for urban society, and links between cities and nearby areas. 

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MOSCOW, October 23 (RIA Novosti) - Afghan regions controlled by the Northern Alliance serve as a bridgehead for drug-trafficking to Russia, a top Russian drug control official said on Friday.

An estimated 90% of heroin consumed in Russia is trafficked from Afghanistan via Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, and the vast majority of heroin consumed in Europe passes through Russia on its way from Afghanistan, where illegal drug production has reportedly risen 44 times since 2001.

"In the fight against the Taliban, the U.S. has used the Northern Alliance forces, which we are supporting even now," Viktor Ivanov, director of the Federal Drugs Control Service, said at a meeting at the General Staff Academy.

"This, in my view, is a mistake as the Northern Alliance forces were created to support the Najibullah [Afghan leader from 1987-1992] regime, but they betrayed him later, and the Northern Alliance became a bridgehead for sending drugs to Russia," he went on.

Ivanov said the Taliban is a religious component in Afghan society, which consolidates various forces to combat a foreign invasion and does not pose a direct threat to Russia.

The most modern and the best equipped laboratories processing opium poppy into heroin are located in the northern provinces of Afghanistan near the Tajik, Turkmen and Uzbek borders, which are areas of influence of the Northern Alliance.

The real threat comes from drug bosses operating in the north of Afghanistan, "and the coalition forces are not conducting an effective fight against them," the official said.

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan established in 2001, has about 67,000 troops in Afghanistan under a UN mandate to give security support to the Afghan government and stop the flow of drugs from the country.

The UN Security Council has extended by one year, until October 13, 2010, the ISAF mandate, unanimously adopting resolution 1890 drafted by Japan.

Ivanov suggested that Russia should send its own special representative to Afghanistan to monitor the situation in the country and promptly report any problems to the Kremlin.

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MOSCOW, October 20 (RIA Novosti) - The number of people diagnosed with swine flu in Russia has risen to 927, Russia's top sanitary official said.

On October 15, there were 807 confirmed cases of swine flu in Russia. No one has died in Russia of the virus.

"A total of 927 cases have been officially confirmed across Russia, with 557 cases diagnosed among people who traveled abroad," Gennady Onishchenko said.

A number of schools have been temporarily closed in the country over swine flu fears.

On Monday Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed a resolution to allocate 4 billion rubles ($136 million) to buy swine flu vaccines

According to the latest report from the World Health Organization, 399,232 cases of swine flu have been confirmed throughout the world and 4,735 people have died from the virus as of October 11.

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MOSCOW, October 20 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's top prosecutors have contacted Spanish authorities on the request of tycoon Oleg Deripaska, seeking clarification over the mention of his name in a money laundering investigation, a spokeswoman for the prosecutors said.

Deripaska filed the request on September 9, General Prosecutor's Office spokeswoman Marina Gridneva told RIA Novosti.

"As Oleg Deripaska's request has questions relating to Spain's legal authorities, it was sent to the Spanish Ministry of Justice on September 15 for consideration," she said.

Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported on Sunday that Baltasar Garzon, a top Spanish judge, is expected to travel to Moscow in early December to question Deripaska over money laundering by Russian firms.

The oligarch has denied any links to the companies involved in the case.

A representative of Deripaska said in a statement distributed on Sunday: "Some time ago, we found out that Oleg Deripaska's name was mentioned by certain individuals being questioned as part of a court case in Spain. Because of this, Oleg Deripaska sent a request to the Russian General Prosecutor's Office, asking for this information to be clarified, and expressing his willingness to answer any questions."

"In reality, Oleg Deripaska did not and does not have any relation to the companies, including those mentioned in the Spanish press... We believe Spanish authorities' conclusions are erroneous and hope the misunderstanding will be settled in the near future," the statement said.

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BELGRADE, October 20 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will not sign a deal on providing a 1 billion euro ($1.5 bln) loan to Serbia during President Dmitry Medvedev's current visit to Belgrade, a source in the Russian delegation said.

The loan would be used by Serbia cover its budget deficit.

"There were no plans to sign an agreement on providing credit to Serbia during the Russian president's visit to Belgrade," the source told RIA Novosti.

Medvedev arrived in Belgrade earlier in the day to discuss energy cooperation including the South Stream gas pipeline with his Serbian counterpart, Boris Tadic.

He will also hold a meeting with representatives of the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Medvedev's trip to Serbia coincides with celebrations marking the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade from Nazi forces, and is the first visit to the country by a Russian head of state since Vladimir Putin's trip in 2001.

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BELGRADE, October 20 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and Serbia signed on Tuesday agreements on the Serbian leg of the South Stream natural gas pipeline and an underground gas storage facility.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived in Belgrade earlier in the day for talks with his Serbian counterpart, Boris Tadic, focusing on energy cooperation.

The protocol on the South Stream project was signed by the CEOs of Russian energy giant Gazprom and Serbia's state gas company Srbijagas after the presidents' meeting. The companies will establish two joint ventures in which Gazprom will hold 51% and Srbijagas the remaining 49%.

The two companies also agreed to set up a joint venture to develop the Banatski Dvor underground gas storage facility with capacity of 450 million cubic meters.

"While the construction of a transnational gas pipeline will make it possible to diversify Russian natural gas exports and reduce transportation risks, the establishment of an underground gas depot will help streamline hydrocarbon supplies, taking into account seasonal fluctuations," Gazprom's Alexei Miller said.

Miller said Gazprom will invest over 25 million euros ($37 mln in the underground gas storage project.

Later on Tuesday, a decision will be made on a 1 billion euro ($1.5 bln) Russian loan to Serbia, Russian Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu, who heads a bilateral intergovernmental commission, said.

Serbia would use 350 million euros ($523.5 mln) to cover its budget deficit, and spend the remainder on work to be conducted by Russian companies, including on the construction of a metro system in Belgrade.

The Russian leader pledged to continue to support Serbia in defending its territorial integrity, despite other countries' recognition of breakaway Kosovo.

"Russia will continue to render Serbia support in defending its sovereignty and territorial integrity. This support is based on international law," Medvedev told journalists after talks with Tadic.

Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in February 2008.

Medvedev's trip to Serbia coincides with celebrations marking the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade from Nazi forces, and is the first visit to the country by a Russian head of state since Vladimir Putin's trip in 2001.

The Russian leader will also hold a meeting with representatives of the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church later in the day.

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KALUGA, October 20 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin inspected on Tuesday a Volkswagen plant in the Kaluga Region southwest of Moscow.

His visit came on the day that the German automaker launched the assembly of complete knock-down kits, including welding, painting and trimming. Putin arrived at the factory in a Volkswagen car.

He was met by VW CEO Martin Winterkorn and Volkswagen Group Rus general director Dietmar Korzekwa.

Winterkorn said Russia's car market would grow 30% by 2018 from 2008 to make Russia one of the top five car producing countries.

The company is one of sponsors of the 2014 Winter Olympics, due to take place in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi.

"This means we will win the Sochi Olympic Games together," Putin said in German.

"We in Volkswagen are convinced that Russia is a car market of the future. We have already invested over 570 million euros [$850 million] in our Kaluga plant and firmly intend to continue investing in Russia's economy," Volkswagen said earlier in a statement.

Car production at the Kaluga plant began in the fall of 2007. In 2008 the plant produced over 60,000 cars, and the number exceeded 90,000 as of October 2009.

The plant produces VW Passat, Polo, Jetta, Tiguan, Touareg cars, as well as Skoda Fabia, Octavia, Octavia Tour and Superb cars. In July, it started producing Caddy and Transporter models, and plans to launch a semi-knocked down assembly of Audi A4, A5 and Q5 automobiles.

The Kaluga plant employs over 1,800 people, and the number of employees could reach 3,000 in 2010, when the plant is expected to reach its design capacity of 150,000 cars a year.

Volkwagen Group Rus also said the production of a special car made for the Russian market on the basis of the VW Polo would start in late May, with the car's approximate cost being 440,000 rubles ($15,000).

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BELGRADE, October 20 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev reiterated on Tuesday that Moscow was looking to reset relations with the U.S. and other Western partners, including NATO.

Medvedev arrived in Serbia on Tuesday for the first visit to the country by a Russian head of state since Vladimir Putin's trip in 2001.

"Russia is ready to harmonize relations with the United States and other Western partners, including constructive cooperation with NATO in resolving common tasks," Medvedev, the first foreign leader to address Serbia's parliament, said.

Commenting on Belgrade's European Union ambitions, Medvedev said Moscow had never been against EU expansion.

"We have already established a strategic partnership with the European Union. It is designed to be a pillar of the new Europe. We are not and cannot be against the accession to the EU of new members, including southeast European countries," the Russian leader said.

He also called again for a new pan-European security treaty.

"The drafting and signing of a European security treaty could give a start to the establishment of a common security area in the Euro-Atlantic zone and give equal and safe guarantees to all nations," Medvedev said.

After talks earlier in the day with his Serbian counterpart, Boris Tadic, Medvedev pledged to continue to support Belgrade in defending its territorial integrity.

However, he warned Serbian parliamentarians that no parallels could be drawn between Kosovo's proclamation of independence in February 2008 and last August's war between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia.

Medvedev said Russia was set to render "comprehensive support" to both South Ossetia and another former Georgian republic, Abkhazia, "to help enhance stability in the Caucasus."

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SARAJEVO, October 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Belgrade on October 20 will help deepen Russian-Serbian ties, Serbia's president has said, as quoted by national media.

"This visit will provide an opportunity to strengthen bilateral relations with Russia," Boris Tadic said, adding that Belgrade "valued greatly" Moscow's support over the Kosovo issue.

Moscow supports Belgrade's view that Kosovo is an indivisible part of Serbia.

Medvedev's trip to Serbia, during which he will attend celebrations to mark the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade from Nazi forces, will be the first visit to the country by a Russian head of state since Vladimir Putin visited in 2001.

Tadic also urged greater economic cooperation between the two countries, and stressed the importance of Russia for the Serbian economy.

"Serbia would like to remain Russia's friend even after joining the European Union," he said. Serbia is considering applying for EU membership in the coming months.

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TBILISI, October 17 (RIA Novosti) - A political asylum seeker who was earlier reported to be a producer at a Georgian TV channel has not worked at the company for two years, a source at the Imedi station told RIA Novosti on Saturday.

A spokesman for the security services in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan said earlier on Saturday that Badri Afanasyev had applied for political asylum upon arrival from Azerbaijan at a Dagestani check point on October 15.

Afanasyev, 53, said he had been persecuted in Georgia for his association with late opposition figure and former Imedi owner, Badri Patarkatsishvili. The tycoon died in the U.K. in 2008.

"Afanasyev worked as a producer on a serial at Imedi around two years ago, when Badri Patarkatsishviliwas still alive. After that, as far as I know, he went abroad," the source said.

Shortly before his death of a heart attack near London, Patarkatsishvili handed his controlling stake in the channel to his cousin, Joseph Kay, a U.S. national.

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TOLYATTI, October 17 (RIA Novosti) - Some 700 employees of struggling carmaker AvtoVaz took part in a protest rally in Russia's Volga area city of Tolyatti on Saturday, police said.

The protestors' main demands were the resignation of company management and a salary increase. They also want a return to a full working week from November 1, rather than December 1, as was previously announced.

"The rally passed without incident, and there were no arrests," a police source told RIA Novosti.

The demonstration was organized by independent trade union Unity.

"We have very small salaries," a disgruntled employee said. "Both I and my wife work at AvtoVaz, but we have already been forced to remove our child from nursery school for three months, and we are planning on extending this period. On monthly wages of 7,000 roubles (almost $240), we simply can't afford to pay out 2,000 for nursery costs."

Another protestor said that the company was rumored to be lining up redundancies.

"What else am I going to do?" he commented. "Work as a street sweeper? For one rubbish dump we already have five street sweepers."

A representative of the company's official trade union denied however that mass dismissals were being planned.

Russian Prime Minster Vladimir Putin pledged on October 5 that the government would never allow AvtoVaz to go under.

However, Putin's spokesman confirmed on Thursday media reports that the Industry Ministry had reversed its position on a state rescue, advising the government that a state bailout would be useless. Dmitry Peskov also added though that the letter the report was based on had been written two weeks ago.

"The reports of the mentioned publications are true only to the extent that the Industry and Trade Ministry letter with the summary of its position existed. However, it missed an important fact - this letter was written long ago," he said.

According to the Kommersant newspaper, the report concluded that the car giant was effectively bankrupt and it would be useless to pump money into it. The ministry added that the situation could be remedied only by dismissing as many as 50,000 of the 100,000-strong workforce and proposed spending money on stabilizing the situation on the labor market in the Samara Region, where AvtoVAZ is located.

AvtoVAZ has production capacity of over 800,000 vehicles annually. It has made more than 25 million Lada cars since it was established in 1970 as a joint project with Italian carmaker Fiat. The company currently produces 15 models priced between 150,000 rubles ($4,800) and 350,000 rubles ($11,240).

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MAKHACHKALA, October 17 (RIA Novosti) - A producer at a Georgian television channel is seeking political asylum in Russia, a spokesman for the security service in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan said on Saturday.

Badri Afanasyev applied for political asylum upon arrival from Azerbaijan at a Dagestani check point on October 15, the spokesman said.

Afanasyev, 53, took part in the military conflict between Georgia and its former republic of Abkhazia in 1992-1993 as a special army commander, then worked as a security chief for the governor in western Georgia.

Afanasyev, a producer at Imedi TV, said he had been persecuted for contacts with the Georgian opposition back when Badri Patarkatsishvili, the Imedi owner who died in February 2008, was alive.

The Georgian man's application for political asylum will be considered under Russian law.

Long-standing tensions between Russia and former Soviet republic Georgia turned violent in August 2008 when Georgian forces attacked South Ossetia in an attempt to bring it back under central control. Most residents of the former Georgian republic had had Russian citizenship for many years.

Two weeks after the end of the five-day war, Russia recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.

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MOSCOW, October 17 (RIA Novosti) - President Dmitry Medvedev has vowed Russia's closer cooperation with an alliance of Latin American and Caribbean countries, the Kremlin press service said on Saturday.

In a message to a summit of the ALBA bloc brought by the Russian security chief, Medvedev said Russia was set to develop mutually-advantageous relations with the alliance's members both multilaterally and bilaterally.

The Russian Security Council head, Nikolai Patrushev, is attending the ALBA's seventh summit underway in central Bolivia's Cochabamba.

"I consider my first meeting with the ALBA leaders held in Caracas last November very useful. I think it necessary to consolidate contacts with the forum," the Russian president said in his message.

The ALBA bloc, designed by Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, unites Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Honduras, Dominica, Bolivia, Saint Vincent, and Antigua and Barbuda.

On the first day of the ALBA summit on Friday, the nine leaders agreed to establish a regional currency to ditch the U.S. dollar in local trade. The new currency is expected to be launched early next year.

Britain's Independent newspaper reported earlier this month that Russian officials have held "secret meetings" with Arab states, China and France on ending the use of the U.S. dollar in international oil trading.

The information was dismissed by Russian Finance Alexei Kudrin, who said, however, that the subject was "worth discussing."

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As part of her visit to Russia, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attended the ceremony to unveil the monument to one of the most influential American poets, Walt Whitman, near Moscow State University. Clinton compared him to Alexander Pushkin.

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MOSCOW, October 14 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Culture Ministry has complained to prosecutors about the St. Petersburg authorities' approval of plans for a skyscraper in the city's historic center, a business daily said on Wednesday.

Governor Valentina Matviyenko gave approval for the Gazprom-led project in late September despite the city's historic center being a UNESCO World Heritage site.

According to Kommersant, Russian Culture Minister Alexander Avdeyev submitted a report by Russia's cultural heritage watchdog to a local prosecutor last week, although no details were disclosed at the time. The Roskhrankultura report said it was unlawful to build the 403-meter Okhta business center.

The regulator said the construction of the tower would violate at least two laws, the paper reported.

First, the potential construction site includes a historical monument, the Swedish Nienshants fortress, which is protected under a 2001 law as a special zone in which buildings can be no taller than 40 meters.

The other major violation occurred on September 1 at public hearings on the increase in the height of the Okhta tower to 403 meters from 100 meters. Participants complained about "aggression" on the part of the police and "physical pressure" by "young men" against opponents of the project.

Hundreds of people gathered in St. Petersburg on Saturday to protest against the proposed skyscraper.

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ST. PETERSBURG, October 15 (RIA Novosti) - The city government of St. Petersburg has yet to decide on Gazprom's controversial project to build a skyscraper in the historic center, the governor said on Thursday.

Valentina Matviyenko said that the city authorities have only ruled that if the Okhta business center is to be built, it will not be subject to height restrictions. The tower is planned to be 403-meters (1,322 feet) high.

The potential construction location, within the territory of a UNESCO World Heritage site, includes a historical monument, the Swedish Nienshants fortress, which is protected under a 2001 law as a special zone in which buildings can be no higher than 40 meters.

"The decision on the construction has yet to be made. The project is under development. It must undergo comprehensive state expert evaluations, including a geological one," Matviyenko said.

However, she said: "I don't see any reasons to cancel the project, on the condition that the expert evaluations are successfully completed."

The $2 billion project, sponsored by the Russian energy giant Gazprom, is expected to be fully completed by 2016, with the main tower to be finished by 2012.

Russian Culture Minister Alexander Avdeyev submitted a report penned by Russia's cultural heritage regulator to a St. Petersburg prosecutor last week, complaining against the plans.

Hundreds of people gathered in St. Petersburg on Saturday to protest against the Gazprom tower plans.

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MOSCOW, October 15 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is concerned by U.S. missile defense talks with countries outside NATO, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Thursday.

The statement came following reports on talks between the United States and Ukraine on the possible use of the latter's radars or deployment of a new radar in the ex-Soviet state as part of the American missile defense program.

"We know that the U.S. administration has held discussions with its partners, including outside NATO, since it scrapped the plans [for a missile shield in Europe]," Ryabkov said.

"We are following the situation, and it would be an exaggeration to say that it inspires hope. We are concerned," he said.

Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S., Oleh Shamshur, said earlier on Thursday that discussions on the issue were still at a "preliminary stage."

Ukraine has two major radar stations, in the Crimea and in the western Mukachevo region. Russia rented the stations until February 2008.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Alexander Vershbow recently said the United States was considering Ukraine as a possible site for a radar station as part of its new missile defense configuration in Europe.

According to U.S. magazine Defense News, Vershbow "added Ukraine to the list of possible early warning sites." He said Ukrainian officials "have mentioned" their interest in participating.

Analysts in Russia said a decision to place a radar in Ukraine would deal a blow to relations between Moscow and Washington.

U.S. President Barack Obama in September scrapped plansto deploy a radar in the Czech Republic and interceptor missiles in Poland due to a re-assessment of the threat from Iran. Moscow fiercely opposed the plans as a national security threat. The move was also seen as part of efforts to "reset" ties by the two former Cold War foes.

Moscow welcomed the move, and President Dmitry Medvedev said later that Moscow would drop plans to deploy Iskander-M missiles in Russia's Kaliningrad Region, near NATO-member Poland.

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MOSCOW, October 15 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will meet for talks with the sultan of Brunei, who is currently on an official visit to Moscow, the government press service said.

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah held talks on Thursday with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev focusing on boosting bilateral trade and developing cooperation in the energy sphere.

Moscow is seeking to increase trade with the southeast Asian nation to $50-75 million over the coming three to five years. Last year the figure stood at $0.8 million, mainly resulting from Russian exports. However, analysts have said mutual trade is unlikely to reach $200,000 this year.

Bolkiah arrived in Russia on Monday and has met with officials from Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport for discussions on the possibility of future arms purchases. Bolkiah was given a multimedia presentation of Russian-made air defense systems and shown a Ka-52 attack helicopter in action.

Brunei has a limited military contingent, comprising ground forces, air force and navy, to counter aggression, terrorism and insurgency. The most combat capable force is the Gurkha Reserve Unit, which serves to protect the sultan, the royal family, and oil installations.

The Royal Brunei Armed Forces use a wide range of foreign equipment, mostly from Britain, France and the United States.

Russian media reports said earlier the government is also seeking access to oil and gas prospecting on Brunei's shelf, amid expert forecasts that Brunei's prospected reserves will be depleted in 15-20 years. The oil and gas sector is controlled by a joint venture of Brunei's government and Royal Dutch Shell.

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BEIJING, October 16 (RIA Novosti) - Rescuers in China's mountainous northwest Xinjiang province are searching for a group of seven Russian tourists who have not been seen for a month, the Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.

The search was launched on Tuesday after a report that one of the tourists is ill, the agency said. The group has not been traced so far, with search efforts complicated by poor weather, mountainous terrain and the lack of roads in the area.

The agency said the interpreter accompanying the Russians returned to the province's center Urumchi on September 15. The group is believed to be in an unpopulated area near the Kunlun Mountains.

The Kunlun is one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending more than 3,000 km. It runs westward along the northern part of the Tibetan plateau to form the border range of northern Tibet.

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MOSCOW, October 12 (RIA Novosti) - Russian and foreign investigators have agreed on a unified approach to probing the July seizure of the Arctic Sea dry cargo ship and its crew, a spokesman for Russian investigators said on Monday.

The Finnish-owned, Maltese-flagged cargo ship manned by a Russian crew and listed as carrying lumber from Russia to Algeria, was reportedly boarded by a group of eight men on July 24. Officials later said it had disappeared in the Atlantic. It was freed off Cape Verde on August 16 by a Russian warship.

Vladimir Markin said that during a series of meetings in Helsinki from October 7 to 9, investigators swapped information gathered since the probe started.

On October 8, Russian prosecutors confirmed that the Arctic Sea was anchored off Gibraltar.

The ship has been the focus of media speculation, with some reports saying it was carrying Russian S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Iran or Syria. Moscow has denied the reports.

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MOSCOW, October 12 (RIA Novosti) - Russia could open a trade mission in Abkhazia in early 2010, a senior Russian Economic Development Ministry official said Monday.

Sergei Chernyshev, director of the ministry's department for economic cooperation with the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States, told journalists that the Russian and Abkhaz economics ministries agreed to set up trade missions last week at a forum in Sukhumi, the capital of the former Georgian republic.

"It'll take a certain amount of time to form a staff for it [the Russian trade mission]. I think at the beginning of next year. We won't delay," he said.

Russia recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, another former Georgian republic, after the end of a five-day war with Georgia in August 2008.

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MOSCOW, October 13 (RIA Novosti) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said ahead of a meeting with Russia's foreign minister on Tuesday that progress has been made in bilateral ties, and that the sides expect productive talks.

The top U.S. diplomat will meet with Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, and later with President Dmitry Medvedev.

Speaking to reporters with Lavrov, she said the talks would focus on "important matters we are working on globally."

Since the "reset" in relations with Russia, following the tensions of recent years, "we're moving forward which I greatly welcome," she said.

Lavrov said: "We have prepared for this meeting for a long time, but I think that the work carried out by our ministry will allow us to productively hold the first round of strategic talks through the commission set up by our presidents."

"We will be able to discuss key international issues, as well as the bilateral agenda. I expect fruitful discussions," he said.

Among the key issues on the agenda are arms reduction and Iran's nuclear program.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Russia's Dmitry Medvedev agreed in July in Moscow on the outline of a deal to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-1), which expires on December 5.

The United States has been seeking Russia's support in international efforts to pressure Iran to end its nuclear energy program, which Western powers suspect is a cover for a weapons program.

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WORLD

* India and the United States launched on Monday large-scale military exercises, India's Defense Ministry said

* The leader of the opposition Party of Regions is leading public opinion polls in Ukraine ahead of presidential election scheduled for January 17, 2010, the UNIAN news agency reported

* A Sudanese court on Monday upheld death sentences for four Islamists convicted of murdering a U.S. diplomat and his driver in January 2008

* Americans Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson have jointly won the 2009 Nobel prize for economics, the Nobel Committee announced

* North Korea has launched five short-range missiles into the East Sea, South Korea's news agency Yonhap reported on Monday, citing a government source

* France's Liberation newspaper has published the findings of a report claiming that spent fuel from French power plants is being stored at an open-air site in Russia

* At least 28 people were killed and more than 40 injured in a suicide bomb attack in northwest Pakistan's Malakand region on Monday, the Press Trust of India reported

* Kyrgyzstan has suspended the operations of Boeing passenger planes by national airlines due to a series of recent engine failures, the country's Civil Aviation Department said

* India on Monday successfully test fired two nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missiles, state television reported, citing defense officials

RUSSIA

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday the results of Sunday's regional polls were a testimony to the "moral and legal" authority of the ruling United Russia party

* Russia's Strategic Missile Forces will launch five intercontinental ballistic missiles by the end of 2009, the SMF commander said

* Russia could open a trade mission in Abkhazia in early 2010, a senior Russian Economic Development Ministry official said

* Russian and foreign investigators have agreed on a unified approach to probing the July seizure of the Arctic Sea dry cargo ship and its crew, a spokesman for Russian investigators said

* Russia's arbitration court upheld on Monday tax claims worth 230 million rubles ($7.4 million) against Lufthansa, rejecting the German airline's appeal of an earlier ruling

* With almost 90% of votes counted in the elections to the Moscow City Duma, just two parties look set to pass the 7% threshold to receive seats in the assembly, election officials said

BUSINESS

* Russian-Chinese investment energy company, a subsidiary of the Hong Kong-registered RusEnergy Investment Group, has bought 51% of Russia's Suntarneftegaz, a Chinese newspaper said

* Russia has extended by 10 months increased import duties on new and used foreign cars and trucks, which sparked mass protests across the country in December, a government daily said

* A mission from the International Monetary Fund arrives in Ukraine on Monday for a 12-day working visit, the Ukrainian Finance Ministry said

MOSCOW, October 12 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is planning to orbit three Glonass navigation satellites on October 29 following their launch cancellation in September, the Federal Space Agency Roscosmos said on Monday.

The planned September 25 launch of Glonass satellites from the Bikonur space center in Kazakhstan has been moved back by over a month due to a technical defect in one of the satellites.

"This launch is in our plans. The expected date is October 29," a Roscosmos official told RIA Novosti.

Roscosmos's head, Anatoly Perminov, earlier reiterated that all six satellites required to complete the Glonass satellite grouping would be launched by the end of 2009.

Glonass - the Global Navigation Satellite System - is the Russian equivalent of the U.S. Global Positioning System, or GPS, and is designed for both military and civilian uses. Both systems allow users to determine their positions to within a few meters.

The 18 satellites the system requires for continuous navigation services covering the entire territory of the Russian Federation are currently in orbit, and the six due to go up in two launches this year would bring numbers up to the 24 needed to provide services worldwide.

The launch of another three Glonass satellites has been scheduled for December 4 also from the Baikonur space center.

A total of 9.9 billion rubles ($360 million at the current exchange rate) was allocated for Glonass from the federal budget in 2007, and 4.7 billion rubles ($170 million) in 2006.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed an order on September 12, 2008, providing an additional $2.6 billion to develop the system.

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CHITA, October 13 (RIA Novosti) - Police in an east Siberian town have found a over 1,000 artillery shells hoarded by a local resident in his vegetable garden, the Zabaikalsky Territory's police department said.

The 30-year-old unemployed resident of Nerchinsk gathered the explosives after a military ammunition storehouse outside the town caught fire in 2001. The shells had been dispersed over a 20 km radius by explosions during the fire, a police spokesman said.

The arsenal also includes mines, grenades and other explosive material. The man told police he had gathered the ammunition to sell it as metal scrap.

"The vegetable garden which has been turned into an ammunition store is now under police guard. Sappers will soon assess the level of danger posed by the artillery shells and their exact number," the spokesman said.

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BEIJING, October 11 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and China have confirmed readiness to boost cooperation in energy industry, including gas and coal mining, a source in the Russian delegation said Sunday.

At the fifth round of Russian-Chinese energy talks in China's capital Beijing on Sunday, Russia was represented by Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, and China by deputy premier Wang Qishan.

The source said the sides exchanged roadmaps on gas cooperation and discussed the agreement on Russian gas supplies to China between energy giant Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), to be signed in Beijing during Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's visit October 13-14.

A memorandum on Russian-Chinese cooperation in the natural gas sphere was signed in June, during Chinese President Hu Jintao's official visit to Russia.

In April, during the fourth round of the Russian-Chinese energy talks in Beijing, the two countries signed an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the oil sphere, which will be in force for the next 23 years.

In October 2008, Russia and China reached an agreement to build a Chinese leg of the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) oil pipeline, which is designed to pump up to 1.6 million barrels of crude per day from Siberia to Russia's Far East and to energy-hungry China and the Asia-Pacific region. The construction is underway and is expected to be completed by late 2010.

Russia and China are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), founded in 2001, together with ex-Soviet Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

A meeting of the SCO Council of heads of government will take place in Beijing on October 14. Russia's Putin will attend.

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MISSION CONTROL (Korolyov, Moscow Region), October 11 (RIA Novosti) - The launch of a Progress space freighter to the International Space Station planned for late 2009 has been postponed until 2010, the Russian rocket and space corporation Energia said on Sunday.

"We planned the launches of four piloted Soyuz spacecrafts and six Progress carrier rockets for this year, including one space freighter whose launch late this year we have postponed until next year. We operate the ISS economically and supplies for cosmonauts at the station are sufficient," Energia President Vitaly Lopota said.

Lopota said the analysis of freight cargo flows showed that one of the planned launches could be rescheduled for a later period.

Progress-series freighters have been the backbone of the Russian space cargo fleet for decades. In addition to their main mission as cargo spacecraft, they are used to adjust the ISS orbit and conduct scientific experiments.

Russia's last Progress space freighter with an analogue control system was "buried" in a "spaceship cemetery" in the southern Pacific on September 27 after it fulfilled its mission flight to the world's sole orbiter.

The new generation of Progress vehicles is digitally controlled.

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MOSCOW, October 11 (RIA Novosti) - Polls open on Sunday for about 30 million Russians to vote in regional elections.

Elections to local authorities are being held in 76 Russian regions, including the North Caucasus republics of Chechnya and Ingushetia, which are due to hold their first municipal elections.

Among other regions going to the polls are Moscow, the Republic of Mari El in the Volga region and the central Tula Region. Mayors will be chosen in the Chechen capital, Grozny, Ingush capital, Magas, southern Russian city of Astrakhan and Far Eastern city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.

A total of 90,000 candidates have been registered to run in the election. The Central Election Commission earlier refused to give any forecasts on the turnout but said the election campaign had been calm with almost no serious violations reported.

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov pledged on Friday that 99% of Chechen voters would go to the polls on Sunday.

More than 75,000 police and over 3,000 interior troops have been involved in security measures during Sunday's elections across the country.

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MOSCOW, October 11 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Sunday identified priorities for the domestic economy's modernization, with energy efficiency, information technology, civilian nuclear energy and pharmaceuticals outlined as target areas.

In an interview with the Russian state-owned TV Channel One aired on Sunday, Medvedev said it was important to stimulate these areas to make the Russian economy rely not only on oil and gas but also on high technologies.

"I have formulated top five priorities... They include energy efficiency because we waste too much energy; information products, both ground- and space-based; nuclear energy, which has always been our trump card and can change life for the better, and pharmaceuticals as we must produce our own medicinal drugs qualitatively and at affordable prices," Medvedev said.

Medvedev said that it was also necessary to modernize other sectors of the domestic economy.

"Of course, we must deal with the modernization of our social sphere and political system. We are now reforming the pension system. A whole range of new social laws are coming into force. Next year, large funds have been set aside to finance the pension system," Medvedev said.

Medvedev said that the Russian economy could be modernized within 10-15 years.

"Maybe ten to fifteen years is quite a foreseeable horizon, beyond which we should see already a new economy. An economy that is able to compete with the world's largest economies," Medvedev said.

Medvedev said that the global financial crisis had hit the Russian economy harder than expected but the government's prompt anti-crisis measures helped the country avoid the worst-case scenario.

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MOSCOW, October 11 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian and Armenian presidents will discuss trade and military cooperation, prospects of energy projects and interaction in regional organizations in Moscow on Monday, a Kremlin source said Sunday.

Serzh Sargsyan will visit the Russian capital on an invitation from Dmitry Medvedev on October 12.

"Regular confidential political dialogue at the highest level gives dynamics to the Russian-Armenian partnership," the Kremlin source said, adding that despite the global financial crisis, Russia retains the positions of Armenia's leading foreign economic partner.

In January-August this year bilateral trade totaled $428.2 million - a 20.2% drop against the same period in 2008, but successful implementation of joint priority investment projects continues.

Medvedev and Sargsyan met Friday during a summit of the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States in the capital of Moldova, with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev also taking part in the meeting chiefly dedicated to discussions of the Nagorny Karabakh issue.

Nagorny Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan with a largely Armenian population, has been a source of conflict between the former Soviet republics since the late 1980s. The province has its own government and is de facto independent.

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WORLD

* Greece's Socialist opposition party PASOK won Sunday's parliamentary election in the Mediterranean country gaining 43.3% of the vote and will be able to form a one-party government, early results indicated

* The suicide or killing of former Japanese finance minister Shoichi Nakagawa, found dead in his home on Sunday, is unlikely, police said after an autopsy

* Eight U.S. soldiers were killed in an attack by the radical Islamic Taliban group in eastern Afghanistan, the press office of the NATO-led coalition forces said

* Inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will inspect Iran's new uranium facility in the second half of October, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog said

* Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in North Korea on a three-day official visit on Sunday, Xinhua said

* A confidential report by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said that Iran had had enough information to produce a nuclear bomb, the New York Times reported

* Rescue teams from 17 countries, including Russia, have arrived at the Indonesian island of Sumatra to help deal with the aftermath of Wednesday's quake

* Over 67% of voters in Ireland have casted their ballot in favor of the Lisbon Treaty setting out rules for decision-making in the European Union, according to official results of the country's second referendum

RUSSIA

* An A320 of Russia's flagship air carrier Aeroflot with 120 passengers on board bound from Prague to Moscow made a forced landing Sunday in Minsk, no one was injured, Aeroflot said

* The ex-head of Russia's now defunct state electricity monopoly said on Sunday that the findings by the industrial safety watchdog fully reflected technical causes of a recent disaster at the country's largest hydropower plant

BUSINESS

* The Russian and Icelandic delegations have failed to reach an agreement on a loan to Iceland but consultations will continue, the Russian finance minister said

* Russia could borrow from $2 billion to $4 billion from the World Bank next year to ease the effects of the economic crisis, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said

MOSCOW, October 5 (RIA Novosti) - Wives of four Russian sailors kept on board the Arctic Sea ship, which was hijacked in the Atlantic in July, have asked Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to authorize their immediate return home.

"An investigation commission finished its work on September 16, but our husbands still remain on board the ship. It has been 49 days since the ship was freed by the Russian Navy, but they have not been replaced, although the replacement crew is ready," Sovfracht, a Russian maritime journal, quoted an open letter to Putin written by the women.

The Finnish-owned, Maltese-flagged cargo ship manned by a Russian crew and listed as carrying lumber from Russia to Algeria, was reportedly boardered by a group of eight men on July 24. Officials later said it had disappeared in the Atlantic. It was freed off Cape Verde on August 16 by a Russian warship.

"The current destination of the cargo ship is unknown. Our husbands need emergency medical and psychological assistance...," the wives said in the letter, asking for Putin's help in the return of their husbands.

According to the most recent reports, the vessel, with the captain and three crew members on board, is now heading to the Mediterranean Sea, being convoyed by Russia's Ladny frigate.

The other 11 crew members and eight suspected hijackers were flown to Moscow in late August to be questioned by the Russian authorities. The sailors have reportedly now returned home to the northern Russian city of Arkhangelsk, while the hijackers have been arrested and charged with piracy and kidnapping.

The Arctic Sea has been the focus of media speculation, with some reports saying it was carrying Russian S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Iran or Syria.

Russian investigators said they had not found any compromising cargo on board.

The ship was originally expected to dock at the port of Las Palmas, the capital of Spain's Canary Islands, to be handed over to Malta on September 18. However, the Maltese authorities unexpectedly refused to take part in the handover of the ship, and the vessel remained anchored 25 kilometers offshore until September 24.

According to the letter, the wives of the four sailors have been informed by Russian investigators that their husbands will be sent home after a probe and some formal procedures have been finalized.

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MOSCOW, October 5 (RIA Novosti) - The number of people diagnosed with swine flu in Russia has risen to 570, Russia's top sanitary official said on Monday.

"A total of 570 cases have been officially confirmed across Russia, with 491 cases diagnosed among people who traveled abroad," Gennady Onishchenko said.

He also dismissed reports that several schools in Moscow had been closed because of the spread of swine flu, or A/H1N1 virus.

"No schools were closed in Moscow, only a few classes, and only because of the spread of the seasonal flu," the official said, adding that a total of 41 classes had been closed.

According to the latest report from the World Health Organization, 340,000 cases of swine flu have been confirmed throughout the world and 4,100 people have died from the virus as of September 27.

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MOSCOW, October 5 (RIA Novosti) - A "special form" of relations with Russia is anticipated when Austria chairs the UN Security Council in November, Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger said on Monday.

Spindelegger is in Moscow to meet with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, for preparations for a visit to Russia by Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann in late October-early November. The two diplomats will also discuss bilateral relations and international issues, including international security and the Iranian nuclear program.

"I'm glad we have the opportunity to discuss Austria's chairing the Security Council because we are anticipating a special form of relations with Russia," Spindelegger said during a meeting with Lavrov.

Russia's top diplomat also welcomed high-level talks on bilateral cooperation with Austria.

"We value the upcoming ability to discuss bilateral relations and our cooperation in European and international relations, especially since Austria will chair the UN Security Council in November," Lavrov said.

The presidency of the UN Security Council is held for a month on an alphabetically rotating list of its members. The current head is Vietnam.

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ISTANBUL, October 5 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is ready to extend a loan to Serbia and is considering the possibility of granting a loan to Bulgaria, the Russian finance minister said on Monday.

Alexei Kudrin said Serbia had asked for 1 billion euros, including 350 million to cover its budget deficit and the rest for investment programs.

Kudrin said Russia had yet to decide on a 3.8 billion euro loan for Bulgaria, requested last year.

Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said Belgrade "anticipates a positive answer" from Moscow on its request for financial aid ahead of President Dmitry Medvedev's October 20 visit to the country.

Medvedev will arrive in Serbia to celebrate the 65th anniversary of Belgrade's liberation from the Nazis.

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ORENBURG, October 2 (RIA Novosti) - Russian customs officials in the southern Urals city of Orenburg on Friday morning arrested two drug mules from Tajikistan with 225 capsules of heroin in their stomachs, a spokeswoman said.

"Orenburg customs officials identified two suspicious citizens of Tajikistan who arrived on a Dushanbe-Orenburg flight," Oksana Shabalina said. "A personal search was carried out as a result of which it was determined that there were alien objects in their stomachs."

She said one of the detainees was found to have 115 capsules of heroin in his stomach, while the other had 110. The capsules contained a total of 702 grams of heroin.

The men could face 12 years in prison if convicted of drug trafficking.

The former Soviet Central Asian states are major drug suppliers to Russia, where heroin addiction has risen rapidly in recent years.

According to estimates, about 90% of heroin consumed in Russia is trafficked from Afghanistan via Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. And the vast majority of heroin consumed in Europe passes through Russia on its way from Afghanistan, where illegal drug production has reportedly risen more than 40 times since 2001.

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MOSCOW, October 2 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is arriving in Abkhazia on a two-day visit Friday to discuss the latest round of Geneva discussions on the situation in the Caucasus and meet with the Russian military.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said prior to the visit that Lavrov is scheduled to hold talks with Abkhaz President Sergei Bagapsh and Sergei Shamba, the foreign minister of the former Georgian republic.

They will discuss the seventh round of talks between representatives of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Georgia, Russia, the United States, the EU and OSCE on the situation in the South Caucasus held in Geneva on September 17.

"The participation by Abkhazia, on an equal basis, with Russia and Western partners in Geneva discussions, as well as in joint mechanisms to prevent incidents in border areas and react to them, vividly confirms that Sukhumi's opinion should be further taken into account when considering the region's vitally important issues," Nesterenko said.

Lavrov will also meet with the command of the 7th Russian base and the Russian Federal Security Service border department for Abkhazia.

Russia recognized the independence of the former Georgian republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia last August after a five-day war with Georgia over the latter, which was attacked by Tbilisi in an attempt to bring it back under central control.

Under mutual assistance treaties signed last November, Russia pledged to help South Ossetia and Abkhazia protect their borders. Moscow promised significant financial support to rebuild the republics, which had been de facto independent since the early 1990s.

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MOSCOW, September 30 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's missile-defense proposals, including the joint use of its radar facilities, are still on the table, a presidential press secretary said on Wednesday.

Natalya Timakova said these proposals referred in particular to the use of the Gabala and Armavir radar stations, in Azerbaijan and Russia's Krasnodar Territory, respectively.

"If the U.S. and European sides show interest in them, we will cooperate along these lines," she said.

Moscow offered the use of the radar stations as alternatives to now-scrapped U.S. plans for a missile shield in Central Europe, but Washington had said they could be used as "supplements," if at all.

The chief of the U.S. missile defense agency said the radar site in Azerbaijan is too close to Iran to serve as an adequate replacement for the proposed facility in the Czech Republic.

The United States has not revisited Russia's proposals since President Barack Obama announced on September 17 that Washington would not deploy missile-defense elements in the Czech Republic and Poland due to a re-assessment of the threat from Iran.

NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Monday that the Western alliance and Russia should consider linking their missile defense systems, an idea in general welcomed by Russia.

PresidentDmitry Medvedev has said Russia is ready to continue missile defense cooperation with the U.S. and Europe, praising the recent U.S. decisions on missile defense as "sensible."

According to the Obama administration's new plan, land-based missile-defense shields will not be implemented before 2015. Sea-based defenses will be operating in the Mediterranean up to 2015.

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MOSCOW, October 1 (RIA Novosti) - Russia expects good relations with the new Moldovan leadership, but its position on the country's possible accession to NATO remains unchanged, a presidential press secretary said.

The new Moldovan leadership has openly supported unification with Romania and closer ties with the West.

"I expect constructive and neighborly relations with the new Moldovan leadership, we have the necessary background," Natalya Timakova said, expressing hope that positive tendencies in bilateral relations would continue.

"We respect any choice of Moldovan people," she added

She said, however, that Russia had clearly expressed its position on NATO's eastern expansion and "was not going to change its stance in this respect."

Moldovan Prime Minister Vladimir Filat said on Tuesday that his country needed a transition period "to convince the people about the need of joining NATO, and to change the perception of NATO as a hostile bloc, which has been created under the influence of Russian media."

Alexander Kuzhba, Moldova's envoy to the United Nations, said earlier in the day that the new government would demand the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from its breakaway region of Transdnestr.

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MOSCOW, September 30 (RIA Novosti) - The Moscow City Court on Wednesday upheld the arrest of an Estonian national suspected of involvement in the seizure of the Arctic Sea merchant vessel in July, a court spokesperson said.

Anna Usachyova said the court had dismissed an appeal from Yevgeny Mironov, who was remanded in custody on piracy and kidnapping charges following a ruling by a Moscow borough court.

The Arctic Sea, a Maltese-flagged and Russian-crewed vessel, listed as carrying lumber from Russia to Algeria, was reportedly boarded by a group of eight men on July 24.Officials later said it had disappeared in the Atlantic. It was freed off Cape Verde on August 16 by Russia's Ladny frigate.

The eight men accused of involvement in the disappearance of the ship - Estonian, Latvian and Russian nationals - have denied charges of piracy and kidnapping, insisting that they were environmentalists who requested assistance from the Maltese-flagged Arctic Sea after their vessel got into trouble.

The ship has been the focus of media speculation, with some reports speculating it was carrying Russian S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Iran or Syria. Moscow has denied the reports.

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MOSCOW, September 30 (RIA Novosti) - Russia reiterated on Wednesday that it expected Iran to cooperate fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over its nuclear program.

Russia, which has traditionally supported Iran in the long-running dispute, voiced concern at last week's G20 summit in Pittsburgh over the revelation of a second Iranian enrichment site, and urged Tehran to provide reassurances over its nuclear program.

"The situation has not changed since Pittsburgh," presidential spokeswoman Natalia Timakova told journalists.

She also said that Russia was expecting "the same as everyone else" from Iran. "Full cooperation with the IAEA, the fulfillment of all its international obligations and complete information about its nuclear program."

Western powers suspect Iran of attempting to build nuclear weapons. Tehran says its nuclear program is aimed at generating peaceful civilian energy.

The U.S. and Britain have refused to rule out military action against the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program.

As tensions grow, Iran's national media said on Monday the country had test launched the longest-range missile in its arsenal, a Sajjil surface-to-surface missile with a range of up to 2,000-2,500 kilometers, capable of striking Israel and parts of Europe.

The Iran Six negotiating group of Russia, Britain, China, France, Germany and the U.S. is set to hold talks with Tehran on Thursday.

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MOSCOW, September 30 (RIA Novosti) - Inflation in Russia could be below 11% in 2009, the Central Bank chief said on Wednesday.

"Inflation is highly likely to be below 11% or even lower," Sergei Ignatyev said.

Russia posted 13.3% inflation last year.

The State Statistics Service announced on Wednesday that Russia would register zero inflation in September for the second consecutive month, a situation not seen in Russia for several years.

The Central Bank announced on Tuesday that following a slowdown in consumer price growth it was cutting its key lending rate by 0.5 percentage points to 10% per annum, the lowest rate since Russia's transition to a free market.

Analysts say the move, which came into effect on Wednesday, is intended to bring down interest rates on loans granted to the real sector to help domestic business amid the ongoing economic crisis.

The Russian government approved on September 23 a draft of guidelines for the country's monetary policy in 2010-2012, stipulating measures to cut inflation to 9-10% in 2010, 7-8% in 2011 and 5-7% in 2012.

High inflation has beset Russia since the country started its transition to a market economy in the early 1990s, hindering the development of domestic business and much-needed foreign investment.

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SIMFEROPOL, September 30 (RIA Novosti) - One of the first Soviet cosmonauts, who orbited the Earth barely a year after Yuri Gagarin's historic first spaceflight, died in the southern Crimean city of Hurzuf on Wednesday, a Ukrainian official said.

"Pavel Popovich died on Wednesday morning in his flat in Hurzuf," said Alla Goreva, spokeswoman for the speaker of the Crimean parliament.

She did not elaborate on the cause of the cosmonaut's death.

Popovich, who would have celebrated his 79th birthday in October, became the sixth man to orbit the Earth as pilot of the Vostok-4 spaceship on August 12-15, 1962. His second and final spaceflight took place on July 3-19, 1974, when he commanded the Soyuz-14 spacecraft.

Popovich received several state awards, including two Hero of the Soviet Union Gold Star medals, two Orders of Lenin, an Order of Friendship of Peoples and an Order of the Red Star. A mountain range in Antarctica and a Mars-crossing asteroid are named after the cosmonaut.

Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova told Ekho Moskvy radio that Popovich would probably be buried at Moscow's Troyekurovskoe cemetery.

"Pavel was a wonderful person and a professional cosmonaut, devoted to his work, and he was also a good friend," said Tereshkova, who became the first woman in space a year after Popovich's first flight.

"It is a great loss both for us and for cosmonautics," she added.

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BRUSSELS, September 30 (RIA Novosti) - The EU-commissioned report on the Russia-Georgia war in August 2008 has put the blame on Tbilisi for starting the conflict, Russia's ambassador to the European Union said on Wednesday.

"Who started it? The report gives an unequivocal answer," Vladimir Chizhov said, adding he would send the report, which was released on Wednesday, to Moscow for an official statement.

The report was commissioned by the Council of the European Union, and compiled by Swiss diplomat Heidi Tagliavini, along with 30 European military, legal and history specialists. The experts were to investigate the causes of the conflict.

Georgian officials said the report blamed Russia for escalating the conflict.

The five-day war broke out on August 7, 2008, when Georgia attacked South Ossetia in an attempt to regain control over the region. Russian troops repelled the assault briefly pushing further into Georgia.

Russia pulled back from Georgia, but built up its military presence in Ossetia and the other former Georgian republic of Abkhazia, where its peacekeepers have been stationed since post-Soviet conflicts in the 1990s. Russia later recognized both regions as independent states.

Tbilisi severed diplomatic ties with Moscow following its recognition of the breakaway regions, which it considers occupied territories. Only Nicaragua and Venezuela have followed Russia's suit in recognizing the republics.

Tagliavini presented the document to the Russian and Georgian envoys, the EU, OSCE and UN. Chizhov said the report would be posted on a special website later on Wednesday.

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TIRASPOL, September 25 (RIA Novosti) - Lawmakers from Georgia's two former republics will meet with counterparts from Moldova's breakaway Transdnestr next Tuesday in Abkhazia, the Transdnestrian parliamentary speaker said on Friday.

The legislators from Transdnestr, South Ossetia and Abkhazia will hold a session of their Council of the Interparliamentary Assembly, Anatoly Kaminsky said. He did not provide further details of the meeting, to be held in Abkhazia's capital, Sukhumi.

The assembly was created in the summer of 2006, following the signing of a cooperation agreement between the three republics.

Transdnestr recognizes the two ex-Georgian republics as sovereign states. However, no countries have recognized Transdnestr's independence from Moldova.

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MOSCOW, September 26 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's foreign minister has held discussions with the Palestinian leader in New York on plans for holding a Mideast peace conference in Moscow, the Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

Sergei Lavrov met with Mahmoud Abbas on Friday, after the Palestinian leader addressed the United Nations General Assembly, urging Israel to halt all settlement activity in the West Bank.

"The sides agreed on the inadmissibility of settlement expansion and other unilateral actions relating to issues of final [Palestinian] status," the ministry said in a statement.

Lavrov highlighted the need to unite the Palestinian people on terms acceptable to the international community, in order to create a viable state peacefully existing alongside Israel.

The diplomat also "expressed the willingness of Russia, along with other members of the Quartet of international mediators and all interested parties, to use all means available to achieve these goals, including the holding of an international conference on the Middle East in Moscow."

"Practical issues of Russian-Palestinian relations were also touched on," the statement said.

Abbas is now in Havana for talks with Cuban President Raul Castro.

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MOSCOW, September 26 (RIA Novosti) - There are no obstacles to the creation of a Customs Union between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, a Russian first deputy prime minister said on Saturday.

Igor Shuvalov told the Mir TV channel that the three former Soviet republics had worked hard to adopt a series of international agreements.

"We have worked very constructively and have unified over 90% tariffs with Belarus," he said.

"As for Kazakhstan, we had to carry out a great amount of work, as we only had agreements on 50% of tariffs. We worked a lot on the other half of the tariffs and we have now finished this work," he said.

He also said that a Customs Code would be presented for approval to the heads of the three states in November.

"In general, there is nothing in the way of the creation of a Customs Union," he said.

Shuvalov said on Friday that the three states would seek to join the World Trade Organization at the same time and on equal terms as members of the Customs Union.

"Our goal is joining the WTO simultaneously and on equal terms," he said following a meeting of the Eurasian Economic Community's Integration Committee.

Russia is the world's only major economy outside the WTO. President Dmitry Medvedev recently blamed Washington for blocking its accession to the global trade body.

Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan agreed in early June to form a Customs bloc and seek joint accession to the WTO. Unified Customs regulations are due to come into effect at the start of 2010.

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YALTA, September 26 (RIA Novosti) - The global economic crisis will push Moscow and Kiev towards closer cooperation, the former Russian ambassador to Ukraine said on Saturday.

"Today, like never before, we need to combine our efforts," Viktor Chernomyrdin, who is also a former prime minister, said. "It will be easier for us to come out of the crisis together."

"We have the technology to move into any market together," he added.

Speaking in Ukraine's Yalta at a European strategy forum, Chernomyrdin, currently a presidential advisor on economic relations with CIS member states, also said that the Russian and Ukrainian people continued to have much in common.

"We lived, live and will live in a brotherly fashion. No one will knock us off that path," he said.

70-year-old Chernomyrdin was dismissed as Russian envoy to Ukraine in early June after eight years in the post. During his time in Kiev, he witnessed a dramatic deterioration in relations between the former Soviet republics.

Ties between Russia and Ukraine have been strained in recent years, as Ukraine's pro-Western leaders have sought to join NATO and the European Union. Moscow and Kiev have also been embroiled in bitter disputes over natural gas supplies.

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MOSCOW, September 26 (RIA Novosti) - Unknown assailants shot dead a local administration official and his son on Saturday evening in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Chechnya, a spokesman for investigators told RIA Novosti.

Ali Artamov, the top official in eastern Chechnya's Stary Achkhoi, and his 19-year-old son, who was working as security for his father, were killed by two gunmen as they were returning from work by car.

The official died immediately of his injuries and his son died on the way to hospital.

A search for the killers is underway.

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MAKHACHKALA, September 26 (RIA Novosti) - Memorial services were held in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan on Saturday to commemorate the victims of 1999 militant attacks led by the late, notorious Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev.

Militants headed by Basayev and Saudi-born Ibn Al-Khattab attacked Dagestan in August-September 1999. Hundreds of people were killed in the subsequent fighting, a precursor to the Second Chechen War.

"Every one of us lost a person close to us or a relative and these losses will never be forgotten," the head of the Novy Kyakhulay District announced at a memorial ceremony. "We will always remember those who gave their lives to defend their land for the sake of the unity and integrity of Dagestan and Russia."

Novy Kyakhulay bore the brunt of an incursion in September 1999 into the republic, with local volunteers joining federal forces to repel militants.

A memorial service was also held in the Botlikhsky District, which came under attack in August 1999.

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MOSCOW, September 27 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's last space freighter with an analogue control system will reenter the Earth's atmosphere on Sunday before plunging into a "spaceship cemetery" in the southern Pacific, the Russian Mission Control said.

The Progress M-67 cargo spaceship, which arrived at the International Space Station on July 29, bringing 2.5 tons of supplies, including fuel, water and various equipment, successfully undocked from the world's sole orbiter on September 21.

During its automatic flight, the craft was used as an orbital laboratory to conduct a series of geophysical experiments under the Plasma-Progress program.

Progress-series freighters have been the backbone of the Russian space cargo fleet for decades. In addition to their main mission as cargo spacecraft, they are used to adjust the ISS orbit and conduct scientific experiments.

The new generation of Progress vehicles is digitally controlled.

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MOSCOW, September 24 (RIA Novosti) - Russia protested on Thursday a decision by the Polish parliament to condemn the Soviet "invasion" of Poland in 1939.

The lower house of Poland's parliament adopted on Wednesday a resolution condemning the entry of Soviet troops into Eastern Poland in September 1939 as "an act of aggression."

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the resolution "seriously harms the development of normal bilateral relations."

"We can only regret that Poland's supreme legislature, touching upon quite a sensitive issue concerning the sentiments of both Polish and Russian citizens, as well as Ukrainians and Belarusians, does so with a biased and politicized approach," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Polish resolution refers to Soviet troops' entry into western parts of what are now Ukraine and Belarus, and at the time had been under Polish control since the end of the 1919-1921 Polish-Soviet War.

The Soviet Union said the deployment of troops was meant to protect Ukrainians and Belarusians, as the Polish government had fled the country in the face of the German attack and could no longer guarantee the security of its own citizens.

Last week, Russia's NATO envoy, Dmitry Rogozin, accused the Polish leadership of Russophobic sentiments in its views on the outbreak of the Second World War.

"The Polish version is a lie and the attitude of the Polish leadership is provocative," he said.

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PITTSBURG, September 25 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday Moscow will build good and friendly relations with Georgia, but he has no plans to establish dialogue with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.

"These [Russian-Georgian] relations will be good, warm, based on hundreds of years of friendship," Medvedev told students and professors from the University of Pittsburgh.

"I personally will not deal with president Saakashvili because he committed a crime against his own people, and the people of South Ossetia," he added.

Russia and Georgia were involved in a five-day war last August after Tbilisi launched a military offensive on its former region of South Ossetia.

Moscow recognized S. Ossetia and another Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia as independent states on August 26 last year.

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PITTSBURGH, September 25 (RIA Novosti) - Revision of U.S. missile shield plans was not made as a concession to Russia but was dictated by Washington's interests, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday.

U.S. President Barack Obama announced last Thursday that Washington would not deploy a radar system in the Czech Republic and a missile base in Poland due to a re-assessment of the threat from Iran. Moscow fiercely opposed the Europe-based missile defense plans as a national security threat.

"This decision, which was dictated by his [Obama's] vision of the protection of U.S. interests. It is not a pro-Russian decision, but it is important that Barack Obama listened and analyzed what I said...This means that we are learning how to hear each other," Medvedev told students and professors from the University of Pittsburgh.

He also called Obama's revised missile defense plans "a courageous decision."

"To change plans made by the previous administration on the issue of foreign rather that domestic policy is not a simple decision. I attempted to put myself in his [Obama's] shoes and realized that it was a tough decision to make," the Russian president said.

The White House said in its Fact Sheet on U.S. Missile Defense Policy released September 17 that two major developments had led to the revision of the U.S. strategy in Europe: the increasing threat from Iran's short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, rather than intercontinental ballistic missiles, and the significant advances in the U.S. missile defense capabilities in recent years.

Under the new four-phase missile shield plan until 2020, the U.S. will initially deploy warships equipped with Aegis Weapons System and SM-3 interceptor missiles in the Mediterranean and the North Sea.

Medvedev pointed out at the recent improvement in relations between Moscow and Washington, but said they had potential for further development.

"I would want them to become better than they are today, although they have certainly improved compared to the past," he said.

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PITTSBURGH, September 25 (RIA Novosti) - New sanctions against Iran will be possible only after all other means of international pressure have been exhausted, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday.

"Iran has the right to develop a nuclear program for civilian purposes but not to create nuclear weapons...Sanctions is not the best way to deal successfully with Iran, but if we run out of all other options, we could launch sanctions based on international law," Medvedev said in an address to students and professors at the University of Pennsylvania.

Iran has been under international pressure to halt uranium enrichment, used in both electricity generation and weapons production. Tehran has repeatedly rejected the demand, insisting it is pursuing a purely civilian program. Several Western powers have called for harsher sanctions against Tehran if it does not agree to halt uranium enrichment.

"I believe that together with the U.S. and other countries we must continue offering positive incentives to Iran so that the country would have a chance to conduct research in the sphere of nuclear energy, and at the same time we must pressure Tehran to make all its [nuclear] programs transparent instead of being a cause of concern for the Middle East and the whole world," the Russian president said.

"But if we fail to achieve this, we will certainly change the tone," Medvedev added.

Iran, which has already defied three sets of international sanctions, has agreed to meet with the Iran Six mediators, comprising Russia, the United States, China, Britain, France and Germany on October 1 to discuss its nuclear program.

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PITTSBURGH, September 25 (RIA Novosti) - Members of the Group of Twenty richest nations (G20) practically agreed on the outline of the future global financial system even before the start of the summit in Pittsburgh, the Russian president said on Friday.

The G20 summit on September 24-25 focuses on steps to overcome the global economic crisis.

"We will most likely have some closure on this issue already here in Pittsburgh. Many positions which deal with the future outline of the global financial system, including the long-disputed and complex issues of quotas distribution for different countries, have been practically agreed upon," Medvedev said in an address to students and professors at the University of Pennsylvania.

He said the creation of a new global financial system will be a joint and coordinated decision which brings optimism about future approach toward tackling global economic crises.

"I hope that with this approach we will be able to foresee and may be even prevent in the future the events like the harsh crisis that has hit the global economy and national economies," Medvedev said.

The Russian leader said the discussions on this issue started at a G20 April summit in London, and suggested that the decisions, which were taken at that time, had contributed to the improvement of the global economy.

Prior to his trip to the U.S. to attend the G20 summit, Medvedev warned that it was too early to speak about an end to the current global economic crisis and urged the G20 to quickly make practical steps in the reform of the global financial system.

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VLADIVOSTOK, September 24 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian tanker has come under pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden, a Primorye Shipping Company spokesman said on Thursday.

He did not say when the attack took place or provide any more details, saying an official report would soon be posted on the company's website.

According to some reports, the Alexandra tanker, with 19 Russian crewmembers onboard, was attacked on Saturday, but the vessel took evasive action and prevented the assailants from boarding it.

Warships on patrol nearby swiftly responded to the tanker's distress call and the pirates were forced to retreat.

Around 35 warships from the navies of 16 countries are currently deployed on key trade routes in the Gulf of Aden to counter frequent attacks by pirates based in Somalia, which has no functioning government.

There have been around 150 pirate attacks on commercial vessels in the region since the beginning of the year, with over 40 ships captured and at least 270 personnel taken hostage.

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NEW YORK, September 23 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will meet with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama in Singapore on the sidelines of an APEC summit in November, a Kremlin aide said.

Sergei Prikhodko also said on Wednesday that Medvedev had held meetings with Hu and Hatoyama during the UN General Assembly to discuss bilateral and international issues.

On Friday, Prikhodko confirmed that Medvedev would pay a visit to Singapore in mid-November.

"The visit to Singapore will coincide with his participation in the APEC [Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation] summit," he said.

The summit will be held on November 8-15.

Russia has regularly participated in the APEC summits since 1999. APEC comprises Australia, Brunei, Vietnam, Indonesia, Canada, China, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Russia, South Korea, Singapore, the United States, Hong Kong, Thailand, the Philippines, Chile, Japan, and Taiwan.

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MOSCOW, September 22 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's state defense order will rise 8% in 2010 year-on-year to 1.1 trillion rubles ($36 billion), Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Tuesday.

Defense orders in 2009 are expected to amount to 1 trillion rubles ($33 bln), with 332 billion ($10.9 bln) being spent on purchases and maintenance of military equipment.

Ivanov earlier said that Russia would spend 470 billion rubles ($15.5 bln) on arms, equipment and maintenance of its Armed Forces in 2010.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin earlier identified the priorities for the financing of the Armed Forces as "Maintenance and development of the nuclear capability and missile and space defense forces, providing troops with modern offensive weapons, as well as command and control, communication and intelligence systems, and strengthening military infrastructure in key strategic sectors."

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MOSCOW, September 22 (RIA Novosti) - At least five police officers were injured when their vehicle came under mortar attack in the southern Russian republic of Ingushetia, police said on Tuesday.

The incident occurred on Monday afternoon in the republic's largest city of Nazran.

"As a result of the blast, five police officers, including two brothers, were injured and later hospitalized," the spokesman said.

Attacks on troops, police and other officials have been reported almost daily in Ingushetia and Russia's other North Caucasus republics in recent months.

On August 17, Ingushetia was hit by a suicide bombing which killed at least 20 police officers.

Ingush President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov survived a suicide car bomb attack on his motorcade in June.

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BERN, September 21 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev urged Switzerland on Monday to take a more active role in global efforts to tackle the ongoing economic slump.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz, Medvedev said although not part of the G20, "Switzerland is a major international financial hub and should have a more active role in discussions on acute issues concerned with solving the crisis and creating a new financial architecture."

His statement comes days before a summit of the world's 20 developed and developing nations in Pittsburg, the U.S., to discuss more steps to safeguard the global financial system and close gaps in regulation across the world to deter a new crisis.

Switzerland is a neutral country. It was one of the last to join the UN and is only a member of the European Free Trade Association and part of the Schengen Agreement.

Medvedev also said Russia could ask the Swiss authorities for data on Russians' bank accounts in Switzerland, and the two countries were working to amend relevant agreements. He said it was routine practice and a country's right "to check whether taxes are paid or not."

He also said Russia was seeking preferences for its investments in the country.

An unidentified Kremlin official complained earlier of discrimination against Russian investors in Switzerland citing a probe against billionaire Viktor Vekselberg.

Vekselberg is suspected of violating stock exchange disclosure requirements after he built up his stake in Sulzer engineering firm. He owns 31% in Sulzer through his investment vehicle Renova. The businessman denied any wrongdoing in the deal.

Medvedev is on a two-day state visit to Switzerland, the first official trip to the country by a Russian leader.

Russia and Switzerland signed four agreements on Monday, including on simplifying visa regulations and readmission.

On Tuesday, Medvedev is expected to visit central Switzerland for a monument to legendary Russian general Alexander Suvorov, who never lost a battle, and is also known for leading his army through the snow-capped Swiss Alps in a strategic retreat from overwhelming French troops in 1799.

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BERN, September 21 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev expressed his gratitude to Switzerland for its role in mediating between Moscow and Tbilisi on Monday during a two-day official visit to Bern.

Switzerland has represented Russia's interests in Georgia and Georgia's interests in Russia following a five-day war between Moscow and Tbilisiover South Ossetia. Georgia cut diplomatic ties when Russia recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another former Georgian republic.

"Switzerland has always been and will always be an influential foreign policy partner and we value the mediation efforts the Swiss Confederation has offered in settling the consequences of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict and are thankful to our Swiss partners for extending their services in mediation," Medvedev said during a press conference after meeting with Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz.

Medvedev said he also believes that when Switzerland takes the chair in the European Council that it will serve as "a strengthening of democracy and civil society."

Switzerland also represents the United States in issues dealing with Cuba and Iran.

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WASHINGTON, September 20 (RIA Novosti) - U.S. President Barack Obama praised Russia's readiness for deeper missile defense cooperation but said the U.S. decision to adjust its European missile shield plan was not caused by Russia's attitude.

"If the by-product of it is that the Russians feel a little less paranoid and are now willing to work more effectively with us to deal with threats like ballistic missiles from Iran or nuclear development in Iran, then that's a bonus," Obama told the Face the Nation show on CBS aired on Sunday.

"The Russians don't make determinations about what our defense posture is. We have made a decision about what will be best to protect the American people as well as our troops in Europe and our allies," he said.

Obama announced Thursday that Washington was dropping its previous plans to deploy elements of a missile shield in the Czech Republic and Poland. The U.S. new plan contains a "phased, adaptive approach" to missile defense in Europe.

The Bush administration sought to deploy an omni-directional radar in the Czech Republic and interceptor missiles in Poland as defense against potential strikes from Iran. Russia has consistently opposed the plans as a threat to its security and the strategic balance of forces in Europe.

The White House said in its Fact Sheet on U.S. Missile Defense Policy released September 17 that two major developments had led to the revision of the U.S. strategy in Europe: the increasing threat from Iran's short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, rather than intercontinental ballistic missiles, and the significant advances in the U.S. missile defense capabilities in recent years.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has praised the U.S. move to adjust its missile shield plans as "a responsible approach" toward the Moscow-Washington dialogue.

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed Saturday that Russia is set to scrap plans to deploy missiles near Poland after the U.S. shelved its nuclear missile shield plans for Europe.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in an article published in The New York Times on Sunday that Obama's proposed shift in America's plans in Europe is no concession to Russia.

"Those who say we are scrapping missile defense in Europe are either misinformed or misrepresenting what we are doing. This shift has even been distorted as some sort of concession to Russia, which has fiercely opposed the old plan," Gates said.

"Russia's attitude and possible reaction played no part in my recommendation to the president on this issue," he said.

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MOSCOW, September 20 (RIA Novosti) - Israel will not strike Iran, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said.

Medvedev said in an interview with CNN aired Sunday that Israeli President Shimon Peres, when on a visit to the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi in August to discuss Russia's arms deals with Iran, told him: "Israel is not going to make any strikes on Iran, we are a peaceful country."

Medvedev said Russia supplies purely defensive armaments to Iran. "Our task is not to strengthen Iran and weaken Israel or vice versa, but [to establish] a normal, quiet situation in the Middle East," he said.

Asked what could happen should Israel nevertheless make a strike, Medvedev said: "This is the worst thing that could be imagined... This would be the most unwise development of events. But my Israeli colleagues told me they are not going to act like this, and I trust them."

Peres said in August that Russia could review its plans to deliver advanced air defense systems to Iran.

"President [Dmitry] Medvedev gave a promise he will reconsider the sales of S-300s because it affects the delicate balance which exists in the Middle East," Peres said during his visit to Sochi.

Russia has until recently delayed the implementation of a 2007 deal with Iran on the supply of S-300s. The contract is worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Israel and the United States have been making proactive diplomatic efforts to influence Russia to drop the plans. They suspect the Islamic Republic of secretly seeking to build nuclear weapons, and have refused to rule out a military strike on its nuclear facilities.

Russian officials said in March that Iran had not yet received any missiles, but Moscow reaffirmed its commitment to fulfill the contract. Medvedev earlier said some payments under the contract had already been made.

S-300s are considered one of the world's most effective all-altitude regional air defense systems, comparable in performance to the U.S. MIM-104 Patriot system.

The latest version of the S-300 family is the S-300PMU2 Favorit, which has a range of up to 195 kilometers (about 120 miles) and can intercept aircraft and ballistic missiles at altitudes from 10 meters to 27 kilometers.

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ROSTOV-ON-DON, September 20 (RIA Novosti) - Ingush President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov condemned on Sunday the assassination of a prominent Muslim cleric in southern Russia and said his killers will be found and punished.

Ismail Bostanov, deputy chairman of the Muslim Board of Karachayevo-Circassia and Stavropol, was killed early on Sunday in an attack on his car at a filling station in the town of Cherkessk in Russia's North Caucasus Republic of Karachayevo-Circassia.

"We mourn his death together with his relatives and all peoples of Karachayevo-Circassia. I am certain that his killers will face a just and severe punishment," said Yevkurov, who has recently recovered from injuries sustained in an attempt on his life in June.

"He [Bostanov] was highly respected in the Caucasus. He made a great contribution to peace process in the Caucasus, to the development and spread of Islam," the Ingush president said.

Bostanov served as deputy chairman of the Muslim Board of Karachayevo-Circassia and Stavropol for over 20 years and as rector of the Islamic Institute in Karachayevo-Circassia for more than 10 years.

He was well known for his uncompromising struggle against reactionary Wahhabism and extremism.

Bostanov survived an attempt on his life in December 2006, when a group of masked assassins stormed his house, shot and knifed him, and beat his wif

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MOSCOW, September 21 (RIA Novosti) - The first swine flu death has been registered in Russia, the Vesti television said on Monday citing a leading Russian virology expert.

The first victim is a female medic who has recently returned from Bulgaria. Her condition steadily deteriorated over a period of two weeks and she tested positive a day before she died.

"Upon receiving her samples, we immediately diagnosed her with swine flu but could not take any measures because she died the next day," Vesti quoted academician Dmitry Lvov, director of the Moscow-based Institute of Virology, as saying.

The expert did not specify the date of the death, but said the spread of swine flu in Russia was inevitable and unstoppable.

"It is already among us. In my estimate, there are tens of thousands of infected [in Russia]. I can not prove it right now, but I will have the proof in a couple of weeks," Lvov said.

Meanwhile, Russia's chief sanitary official Gennady Onishchenko said last week a total of 372 cases of A/H1N1 infection, also known as swine flu, were registered in Russia as of September 16. He never mentioned deaths from swine flu infection in the country.

World Health Organization report said last Friday more than 4,000 people have died from swine flu worldwide, with the total number of officially confirmed cases reaching 295,000.

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MOSCOW, September 21 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Progress M-67 cargo spacecraft will undock on Monday from the International Space Station (IS to become a temporary space lab before being "buried" in the Pacific Ocean, Mission Control said.

Progress M-67, the last Russian cargo spacecraft with analogue control system, arrived at the orbital station on July 29, bringing 2.5 tons of supplies to the ISS, including fuel, water, and various equipment.

During its ensuing automatic flight, to last until September 27, the craft will be used as an orbital laboratory to conduct a series of geophysical experiments under the Plasma-Progress program.

It will then reenter the Earth's atmosphere before plunging into a "spaceship cemetery" in the southern Pacific.

Progress-series freighters have been the backbone of the Russian space cargo fleet for decades. In addition to their main mission as cargo spacecraft, they were used for adjusting the ISS orbit and conducting scientific experiments.

The new generation of Progress vehicles is digitally controlled.

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MOSCOW, September 21 (RIA Novosti) - The first Russian patrol boat has arrived in Abkhazia to protect the maritime borders of the former Georgian republic which has been recognized by Russia as an independent state, the Vesti television reported.

The Novorossiysk vessel is part of a Russian coastal guard division which will be based at the Abkhazian port of Ochamchira. The division is expected to have up to 10 Sobol class and Mangust class patrol boats.

Georgia seized the Panama-flagged Buket tanker and its cargo of gasoline and diesel fuel for Abkhazia last month as it sailed from Turkey to the tiny republic on the Black Sea.

Tbilisi considers Abkhazia and its waters part of Georgian territory, and has declared any unauthorized maritime shipments of goods to be illegal.

In response, Abkhaz Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba said in early September that Abkhazia was ready to resort to force as President Sergei Bagapsh had given the order "to open fire on Georgian ships if they continue their acts of piracy."

Russia recognized Abkhazia and another former Georgian republic of South Ossetia last August after a five-day war with Georgia over the latter, which was attacked by Tbilisi in an attempt to bring it back under central control.

Under mutual assistance treaties signed last November, Russia pledged to help Abkhazia and South Ossetia protect their borders, and the signatories granted each other the right to set up military bases in their respective territories.

Russia's Defense Ministry has said it plans to open a base in Gudauta, in the west of Abkhazia, and staff it with at least 1,500 personnel by the end of this year.

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OCHI, September 18 (RIA Novosti) - The creation of several global reserve currencies would not harm the interests of the United States, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

Speaking at an annual investment forum in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi, the prime minister said the imbalance of money supply in the United States compared with the rest of the global economy was one reason for the current financial crisis.

"There is only one solution — a long-term agreement on common rules of conduct or on several global reserve currencies. To my mind this poses no threat to the U.S. economy, which would only benefit from it in the future," Putin said.

A Kremlin aide predicted on Tuesday the establishment of five or six currency unions based on new reserve currencies within the next 10 years.

Arkady Dvorkovich said talks were currently being held to establish currency alliances in the Middle East, Asia and Latin America.

A UN Conference on Trade and Development report released in early September said the dollar's role in international trade should be reduced by establishing a new currency to protect emerging markets from the "confidence game" of financial speculation.

It said UN member states should agree on a global reserve bank to issue the currency and to monitor the national exchange rates of its members.

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MOSCOW, September 18 (RIA Novosti) - The total number of registered HIV cases in Russia since 1987 has reached half a million, Russia's chief sanitary official said on Friday.

In an interview with Ekho Moskvy radio, Gennady Onishchenko said that initially the number of people registered as HIV-positive in Russia ran at 40,000-42,000 people annually.

"The annual figures later dropped to some 36,000 registered cases, but last year's figures showed 40,000 again," he said, adding that intravenous drug use is still the main method of transmitting the virus.

According to the State Statics Service, Russia's population stood at 141.9 million people in the first half of 2009.

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BRUSSELS, September 18 (RIA Novosti) -- Linking the U.S., NATO and Russia missile-defense systems is a feasible proposal, Russia's envoy to the North Atlantic alliance said on Friday.

NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen said earlier in the day that the Western alliance and Russia should consider linking their defensive missile systems.

"Given political will, such technical matters can be successfully resolved," Dmitry Rogozin said.

He said Russia was ready to team up with the West in developing a "road map" for a European missile defense architecture.

He cited a joint NATO-Russia Theater Missile Defense Computer Assisted Exercise under the aegis of the NATO-Russia Council (January 2008) as an example of such cooperation.

Speaking at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace conference, Rasmussen invited Russia to work with the blocon a joint assessment of security challenges, adding that NATO, the U.S. and Russia had shared interests in working to prevent the proliferation of intercontinental ballistic missile technology.

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VELIKY NOVGOROD, September 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has congratulated Russia's northwest city of Veliky Novgorod with its 1,150th anniversary.

"This is not just a load of numbers, although many believe in the magic of numbers, but an occasion to take stock, look to the future, to feel proud for the place, where you live," Medvedev said at a meeting with Sergei Mitin, the governor of the Veliky Novgorod Region.

The president wished the governor luck in developing the city and the region further, "to open new facilities and create new jobs."

"Any anniversary is of value, but only if it has benefits for the people," Medvedev said.

On Friday the Russian president toured the city that is set to celebrate its anniversary over the weekend and visited the city's Veliky Novgorod Kremlin, participated in a bell blessing at St. Sophia's Cathedral and visited other historic sites.

The first historical mention of Veliky Novgorod was in 859 AD. City chronicles say that by 862 AD it was already a stop on the trading route between the Baltics and Byzantium.

About 160,000 tourists visit the city every year, with the number increasing by 8-10% annually.

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MOSCOW, September 18 (RIA Novosti) - In its perception of Russia, the West has yet to completely get rid of its "Cold War" stereotypes, the Russian president said on Friday.

In an interview with Swiss media ahead of his visit to Switzerland September 21-22, Dmitry Medvedev said they were still "looking at Russia through the gunsight."

He said such perceptions were based on hangovers from the past.

Medvedev also said, not surprisingly, many Western countries were viewed rather critically in Russia.

"Many people in our country feel humiliated by such attitudes."

On relations with the United States, the Russian president said Russia would pay more attention to U.S. concerns, but that did not mean a "simplistic compromise" or "crude tradeoffs."

He said the U.S. decision to shelve missile defense plans for Central Europe was "a positive signal," but the latest U.S. proposals required serious consideration and there could be "no simple give and take" there.

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MOSCOW, September 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday that the popular portrayal of him and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin a "young liberal lawyer" and KGB "spy" is incorrect as they both have a lot in common in reality.

Speaking to Swiss media before his official visit to Switzerland on September 21-22, Medvedev said that he and Putin have the same educational background majoring in law and both graduated from the Leningrad State University.

"That is why it is wrong when we are portrayed in different colors with one as a 'young liberal lawyer' and the other as a 'spy,' because in reality we have the same perception of many things in life," he said.

Commenting on Putin's statement that they are "of the same blood," Medvedev told journalists that it was simply a figure of speech, although they do share the same blood group.

When asked last week whether he would be running for the presidency in 2012, Putin told the Valdai Discussion Club that he would reach an agreement with Medvedev "because we are of the same blood and of the same political outlook."

Medvedev also said that the ruling political party United Russia, led by Putin, is a party just like any other in Russia with no specific privileges.

"I believe the fact that we have such a strong political force does not hinder the development of democracy, but on the contrary provides for the development of a party system," he said.

Other parties must be developing as well, Medvedev said, and the competition between them should contribute to the development of a political system.

"I believe that in the future we will have a system where several parties will compete on equal footing and a permanent basis. We shouldn't create an artificial situation," he added.

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MOSCOW, September 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) is being blocked by a number of countries, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday in an interview with Swiss media ahead of his visit to Bern.

Medvedev, who is expected to travel to Switzerland on September 21-22, accused the United States of blocking Moscow's WTO membership earlier this week.

"We wanted and still want to join the WTO. The fact that we are not in the WTO is a problem for the WTO itself and a number of countries blocking [our accession]," Medvedev said.

Russia is the world's only major economy not to be a member of the global trade body. Consent from all 153 WTO members is necessary for a state to join the organization.

He reiterated that Russia could become a member either in a customs union with Kazakhstan and Belarus, who have been seeking joint accession since June, or independently.

Commenting on the latter scenario, Medvedev said Russia would agree positions with both the ex-Soviet states, but each country "will enter [the WTO] at a different pace."

To date, Russia has completed mandatory bilateral negotiations with 60 countries, but has yet to synchronize positions on several issues, including agriculture, export duties for timber, and regulations of some state-controlled companies.

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MOSCOW, September 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev supports the solving of complex international issues on a multi-party level but does not believe the G20 format is universal.

Medvedev's statement came during a televised interview on Friday with Swiss correspondents before his upcoming visit to Switzerland September 21-22.

"The G8, regardless of how it is respected, has shown that it is incapable of dealing with the [global financial] crisis alone," Medvedev said.

He said because of the shortcomings of the G8, the new G20 format was created, but the Russian leader questioned whether this arrangement was inclusive and universal.

"It is unlikely because not all issues can be discussed by the 20 most important countries," he said, answering his own question.

When asked if Russia supported Switzerland's inclusion in the G20 talks, Medvedev said Switzerland should have a place in an international format because it is one of the world's leading financial centers.

"Switzerland is not just a beautiful mountainous country, and not just a country with an interesting history, but a serious financial center. I personally believe that we need to find formats for cooperation today that will allow us to solve problems," he said.

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SOCHI, September 19 (RIA Novosti) -Russia's Sberbank CEO reaffirmed on Saturday that the state bank's deal with Austrian-Canadian parts supplier Magna to buy a stake in Opel was about car technology exports to Russia.

"Our participation in the deal is over technology imports," German Gref told reporters on the sidelines of an international investment forum in the Black Sea resort Sochi, which is to host the 2014 winter Olympics. "If they do not take place, we are wasting our time."

The Magna-Sberbank consortium will own a 55% stake in Opel on a parity basis, and the German carmaker will control 10% with GM retaining 35%. The new owners are set to leave the Opel plants in Germany intact, but plan to close two European production sites, including one in Belgium.

Asked whether bankrupt IzhAvto and GAZ Group could be chosen to assemble Opel vehicles, Gref said that Sberbank and Magna experts are now carrying out an audit of Russian facilities, including those "facing difficulties."

Gref said a plan of investment in Russia's car industry would be approved after a visit to Moscow by Magna officials due next week.

Magna co-CEO Siegfried Wolf said on Monday Opel would invest $874 million in the Russian car industry. He said $248 million would be spent on a program to develop the General Motors plant in St.Petersburg.

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Zita and Gita Rezakhanov, the two former Siamese twins from Kyrgyzstan who were surgically separated in Moscow in 2003, have returned to the Russian capital where they will be fitted with new prosthetics. This trip will probably decide their future. Both girls decided to become doctors, while taking a walk in Moscow.

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MOSCOW, September 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's NATO envoy has cautioned against "childish euphoria" over recent Washington's decision to scrap plans for a missile shield in Central Europe.

U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Thursday that Washington was dropping its previous plans to deploy elements of a missile shield in the Czech Republic and Poland because the Iran threat is perceived in a different way.

"We are already hearing voices in the West...that it is a huge concession to Russia. But I wouldn't want us to become overwhelmed with some kind of childish euphoria," Dmitry Rogozin said in an interview with the Vesti television late on Thursday.

The diplomat said Washington had simply corrected its own mistake and had chosen a more flexible and efficient approach to its global missile shield allegedly aimed against the ballistic missile threat from Iran.

The Bush administration sought to deploy an omni-directional radar in the Czech Republic and interceptor missiles in Poland as defense against potential strikes from Iran. Russia has consistently opposed the plans as a threat to its security and the strategic balance of forces in Europe.

Under the new four-phase missile shield plan until 2020, the U.S. will initially deploy warships equipped with Aegis Weapons System and SM-3 interceptor missiles in the Mediterranean and the North Sea.

Rogozin said Russia should not be overly optimistic about this move because the ships with missile defense systems could be quickly redeployed anywhere in the world, including near the Russian coast.

The diplomat's statements are in contrast with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev remarks regarding Obama's announcement.

"We value the responsible approach of the U.S. president to our agreement [on revision of missile defense plans]. I am ready to continue our dialogue," Medvedev earlier said.

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SOCHI, September 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Sberbank and Austrian-Canadian car parts maker Magna will select Russian enterprises to assemble Opel vehicles after carrying out a full audit, the state savings bank's CEO said on Thursday.

German Gref said he did not rule out including Russia's largest carmaker, AvtoVAZ, in their plans.

The GM board approved the U.S. auto giant's sale of Opel to Sberbank and Magna last week, and the deal is expected to go through next month. Russian automaker Gaz is expected to eventually take over Sberbank's shares.

"We absolutely can collaborate with AvtoVAZ in the production of car parts," Gref told journalists at an economic forum in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi. "Cooperation is completely possible."

Graf noted that Sberbank was interested "in the stabilization of situation at AvtoVAZ," which is a client of bank.

He said the head of Magna would arrive in Moscow next week to discuss their joint plans.

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MOSCOW, September 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has launched a Proton-M heavy carrier rocket with the Nimiq 5 telecommunications satellite on board from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan, the Federal Space Agency Roscosmos said.

The launch of a Proton rocket was carried out at 23:19 Moscow time (19:19 GMT) on Thursday.

Telesat Canada signed a contract with International Launch Services (IL in 2007 for the launch of Nimiq 5 by an ILS Proton-M rocket with a Breeze booster.

ILS, owned by the Khrunichev Center, RSC Energia and U.S. firm Space Transport Inc., provides spacecraft launch services for Proton-M heavy carrier rockets.

Nimiq 5 is the fifth satellite in the grouping of Canadian geostationary telecommunications satellites owned by Telesat and used by satellite television provider Bell TV.

The satellite has 32 Ku-band transponders and is expected to become operational in 2010 to provide a wide range of high-definition and specialty television services to Bell TV and Dish Network subscribers in Canada and the United States.

Nimiq 5 has been built by Space Systems/Loral on the LS1300 platform, and has a service life of 15 years.

Earlier on Thursday, Russia launched a Soyuz 2.1b rocket with the Meteor-M domestic meteorological satellite and five mini-satellites, after two days of delays due to poor weather and technical problems.

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MOSCOW, September 17 (RIA Novosti) - State-controlled electricity generator RusHydro will issue new shares to raise funds for the restoration of the Siberian hydropower plant hit by a fatal accident a month ago, a Russian deputy prime minister said Thursday.

"At least 40 billion rubles [$1.3 billion] is needed to restore the plant. RusHydro could issue stocks for 20 billion rubles [$659 million] to attract funds for this purpose," Igor Sechin said.

He said that the August accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya plant, which claimed 75 lives, was caused, among other things, by poor technical control by the plant's management.

"I think that it is too early to say that there was one specific reason for this accident. [Russian industry safety watchdog] Rostekhnadzor will carry out additional investigations and report back on the causes in 10 days," said Sechin, who heads a governmental commission on the incident.

The plant was wrecked by a water surge on August 17. Full reconstruction of the plant in the Siberian republic of Khakasia is expected to take five years.

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MOSCOW, September 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday that Russia valued U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to scrap plans for a missile shield in Central Europe.

Obama announced earlier Thursday that Washington was dropping its previous plans to deploy elements of a missile shield in the Czech Republic and Poland.

Medvedev said that Russia "noted President Obama's announcement on the adjustment of the U.S.'s approach to the issue of missile defense."

"We value the responsible approach of the U.S. president to our agreement. I am ready to continue our dialogue," Medvedev said.

The Russian and U.S. leaders had discussed the issue during Obama's visit to Moscow in July and during their first meeting in London at the start of April.

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MOSCOW, September 17 (RIA Novosti) - Tourist arrivals in Moscow for the first half of the year decreased by 18.6% year-on-year to 1.579 million people, a tourism committee representative said on Thursday.

"According to the Russian border service of the Federal Security Service, tourist arrivals through Moscow airports decreased by 18.6% year-on-year and is about 1.579 million people," Grigory Antyufeyev said.

He added that around 4 million tourists visited Moscow last year, and said he expected the situation to get better soon.

"We expect an improvement by the fourth quarter of this year and the first one of 2010. How much it will improve I can not say, but there will be an increase. We are planning to host up to 5 million foreign tourists in 2010," the committee head said.

Antyufeyev said that due to the much larger falls in other economic activities, the drop in tourist numbers is not that noticeable.

"The average drop in the Russian economy in some cases reached 70%," he said.

He also said that despite the recession Moscow continues to participate in international tourist exhibitions, including in London, Milan, Madrid, Berlin, Chicago and other cities.

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MOSCOW, September 17 (RIA Novosti) - A Polish resolution that calls Soviet actions in Poland in 1939 "genocide" will do nothing to benefit bilateral ties, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

The document, stating that the deployment of Soviet troops in eastern Poland in 1939 "had traits of genocide," will be adopted by the Polish parliament without a vote or debate on September 23.

"Such an attitude would probably not benefit our bilateral relations" Andrei Nesterenko said.

On September 17, 1939, Soviet troops entered western parts of Ukraine and Belarus that had been under Polish control since the end of the 1919-1921 Polish-Soviet War.

The Soviet Union said the move was to protect Ukrainians and Belarusians as the Polish government had fled the country in the face of the German attack and could no longer guarantee the security of its own citizens.

Among other episodes that could be classified as genocide, the document mentions the Katyn massacre, in which several thousand Polish POWs were executed in western Russia's Katyn forest in 1940.

Russia's NATO envoy, Dmitry Rogozin, accused the Polish leadership of Russophobic sentiments.

"The Polish version [of the 1939 events] is a lie and the attitude of the Polish leadership is provocative," Rogozin said, adding that Poland "continues to surprise Russia and other European capitals."

"However, this is now a headache for NATO and the European Union, where the Poles act in an extremely destructive and destabilizing manner," he said.

The Russian diplomat added that by accusing Russia of genocide, Poland risks being accused of genocide against the Russian people during the Time of Troubles in the early 17th century, when Polish forces ransacked Moscow.

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MOSCOW, September 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Foreign Ministry called media reports that the United States could have changed its anti-missile plans for Central Europe in exchange for a certain deal with Russia "guesswork."

U.S. President Barack Obama said Thursday the U.S. will adjust its anti-missile plans because the Iran threat is perceived in a different way.

The Bush administration sought to deploy a radar station in the Czech Republic as part of an anti-missile system, along with an interceptor missile base in Poland, to defend against potential strikes from Iran. Russia has opposed to the plans viewing them as a threat to the strategic balance of forces in Europe.

Russian ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko told journalists that after Russia established contacts with the new U.S. administration, certain media carried reports that "we are kind of agreeing on a certain missile defense deal."

"I can say this does not correspond to our policy, our approach to resolving any problems, in relations with any countries, however complicated and sensitive. That's why all this is guesswork," he said.

Col. Gen. Leonid Ivashov, the president of the Russian Academy of Geopolitical Problems, said the U.S. could use military satellites and aircraft carrying laser weapons instead of the radar and interceptor missile base.

He said the U.S. decision to cancel the previous plans was "a political maneuver."

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MOSCOW, September 17 (RIA Novosti) - The GAZ Group, Russia's largest manufacturer of light commercial vehicles, plans to dismiss 14,000 employees by the end of 2009, a Healthcare and Social Development Ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

A GAZ spokesman did not confirm the report, however.

The ministry's spokesman said the cuts would be made in the majority of the group's companies. Almost 5,500 people have already been made redundant by GAZ.

The layoffs are expected to be carried out in stages throughout the year. People that have been laid off will get receive assistance such as retraining or state support for those who want to start up their own business.

Russian Health and Social Development Minister Tatyana Golikova said Russia's flagship air carrier Aeroflot planned to dismiss 2,215 employees by the end of the year.

The airline, which currently employs 15,000, said on Wednesday another 4,000 could be made redundant if passenger volumes continued to fall.

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MOSCOW, September 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's relations with Japan are likely to improve under the country's new prime minister, a Russian academic said on Wednesday.

Former opposition leader Yukio Hatoyama was voted in as prime minster at a special session in parliament on Wednesday, ending half a century of almost continual conservative rule.

"I think the new premier — the grandson of [former prime minister] Ichiro Hatoyama — will try to continue the family tradition and significantly improve relations between Russia and Japan. All the more since he is no stranger to Russia, and knows it better than any previous Japanese premiers," Valery Kistanov, who heads the Japanese Research Center at the Russian Academy of Sciences' Far East Institute, told RIA Novosti.

However, he said Hatoyama's pledge to make swift progress on the key dispute between the countries, over the Kuril Islands, may be overly optimistic.

The four southern islands of the chain to the northeast of Japan were annexed by the Soviet Union after World War II. Tokyo's continued claim over the islands has so far prevented Russia and Japan from signing a formal World War II peace treaty.

"He has promised to achieve progress on the 'territorial issue', within a very short period, from six months to one year, but I think he is a little optimistic. I think this is a complex long-term problem," Kistanov said.

"But if the new premier manages to improve the atmosphere, which has deteriorated in our bilateral relations, this will be an achievement. I think he understands that the territorial problem must not be made the cornerstone of our relations."

Hatoyama, 62, who leads the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), won a landslide victory in last month's general election on promises to reverse the country's economic decline and cut taxes and bureaucracy.

The Russian academic said: "The Cabinet will have to work hard to justify these hopes...The Japanese people are patient, and understand that all problems cannot be solved in a short time, but just how patient they are, time will tell."

The new premier's first task will to formally appoint a new Cabinet. The premier has named former DPJ leader Katsuya Okada for the post of foreign minister, and party secretary general Hirohisa Fujii is expected to become finance chief.

Until the election, Taro Aso's Liberal Democratic Party had maintained virtually unbroken power in Japan since 1955, apart from a 10-month break in 1993.

Hatoyama has led the DPJ for 11 years. He was previously an assistant professor at Tokyo Institute of Technology, and holds an engineering PhD from Stanford University.

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MOSCOW, September 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will hold talks in Moscow on Thursday with Liechtenstein Prince-Regent Alois, who is currently on a visit to Russia.

A Kremlin source said that the heads of states are expected "to discuss issues of trade and economic and cultural cooperation, perspectives for the development of interaction in the spheres of financial monitoring and taxation."

"The talks will focus on coordination of two countries' positions in international affairs, particularly on concluding a possible agreement to form a free trade zone between Russia and the European Free Trade Association [EFTA]," the source said.

Trade between Russia and Liechtenstein totaled some $65 million in 2008, which was an 11% drop against the previous year.

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MOSCOW, September 17 (RIA Novosti) - The first repaired generator at Russia's largest hydropower plant, hit by a fatal accident one month ago, will be operational by the beginning of April 2010, a source familiar with the repair plans said.

Full reconstruction of the Sayano-Shushenskaya plant in Siberia's Khakasia Republic is expected to take five years. The plant was wrecked by a water surge on August 17, which claimed 75 lives.

"In line with the plan for the restoration of the station, the launch of the first repaired hydroelectric unit — number six — will take place in the first quarter of 2010, by April. The second to be launched will be unit number five, in the second quarter of 2010," the source told RIA Novosti.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that the station needs to be completely rebuilt. Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said the reconstruction program in 2010 would be financed from only extra-budgetary sources.

Russia's industrial safety watchdog said on Monday that the power station accident was caused by failures in safety and working procedures.

State-controlled RusHydro, which owns the station, has said it will replace all damaged generating units by 2014.

Russia's crumbling infrastructure, underfunded since the 1990s, has often been the cause of such deadly industrial accidents.

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MOSCOW, September 17 (RIA Novosti) - A Kremlin economic adviser warned on Thursday that the financial crisis in Russia and abroad may deteriorate further, despite recent signs of a recovery.

The country's GDP rose slightly in August for the first time since the onset of the recession last year.

"We understand that the risks are still high, and as yet the growth trend is not stable. It is too early to sit back. Uncertainty and risks are very high, both for this year and next year, so there are no grounds to say that we are experiencing stable growth," Arkady Dvorkovich told a RIA Novosti news conference.

"This applies to any other country," he added.

He said that so far growth has been ensured by injections of government funds, and that neither the global nor the Russian economic models have changed.

He said statements by government officials, including First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, who reported on the government's anti-crisis measures to the State Duma on Wednesday, reflected signs of stabilization that have been seen on the financial markets, and in industrial growth and GDP since June.

"Some sectors have shown a revival, and we are seeing positive industrial growth... Taking into account all anti-crisis measures, we think the prospects for the rest of 2009 are quite favorable, quite positive," Shuvalov said.

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MOSCOW, September 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will avoid a second wave of the economic crisis if the global economy remains stable, the finance minister said on Thursday.

"If there is not a second wave globally, we will not have one either," Alexei Kudrin told the upper house of parliament.

He said Russia's financial system was now relatively stable, with 150 billion rubles ($5 billion) set aside for additional capitalization of the banking system in 2009.

However, a Russian presidential aide said earlier in the day that there are no grounds to say that Russia has survived the worst of the crisis and that economic growth is stable.

The country's GDP reported slight growth for the first time in August after falling for almost a year. Arkady Dvorkovich said the risks "are still high and as yet there are no signs of stable growth."

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MOSCOW, September 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russia welcomes reports of a U.S. decision to abandon its missile defense plans for Central Europe, and is waiting for official confirmation on the issue, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

"We are waiting for the reports to be confirmed. Such a development would be in line with the interests of our relations with the United States," a ministry press officer told RIA Novosti.

Russia's Vesti news channel cited Czech media earlier on Thursday as saying that President Barack Obama told Czech Premier Jan Fischer on the telephone late last night that Washington is abandoning the Bush administration's plans for an anti-missile radar in the country.

Czech officials confirmed the telephone conversation, the reports said. Prague is expected to issue a statement on the matter later on Thursday.

Also on Thursday, The Wall Street Journal cited sources close to the issue as saying the U.S. government will shelve plans for the radar on Czech soil, as well as an interceptor missile base in Poland. The planned anti-missile system has been fiercely opposed by Moscow.

The Czech news agency CTK said a U.S. delegation led by Ellen Tauscher, under secretary of state for arms control and international security, will arrive in Prague for talks later today. The diplomat's visit to Prague follows a trip to Warsaw.

The WSJ said the U.S. decision to scrap the plans are based on an assessment that Iran's long-range missile program has not progressed as rapidly as previously estimated, reducing the threat to the U.S. and Europe's major cities.

Moscow views the planned anti-missile system as a national security threat, upsetting the strategic balance of forces.

The paper cited current and former U.S. officials as saying that the administration is expected to leave open the option of restarting the Polish and Czech system if Iran makes advances in its long-range missiles in the future.

The decision, a major reversal from the line aggressively pursued by the George W. Bush administration, is seen by many critics as a gesture to win Russian cooperation with U.S.-led efforts to impose new sanctions on Iran if it does not abandon its nuclear program, the paper said.

The move is also likely to raise concerns in Europe, where officials have been alarmed by the White House's effort to "reset" ties with Moscow, the WSJ said.

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Wedding of Olympic champion Evgenie Pljushchenko and the producer (singer Dima Bilan) of Yana Rudkovskaya

BEIJING, September 16 (RIA Novosti) - Two Russian vessels belonging to the Arctic Shipping Company have been released by Chinese authorities after the firm began to pay back money owed for repairs, a Russian diplomat in Shanghai said on Wednesday.

The Vasily Yan cargo ship and the Professor Voskresensky vessel have been undergoing repairs in the port of Shanghai since last September.

The 21 crew members on board the two ships, who have not been paid since April 2009, earlier appealed to the Russian president and prosecutor general for assistance.

"The debts are being paid off now, and so the ships have been released and their crews will finally be able to return home," Anton Gorelov, a deputy consul of the Russian consulate general in Shanghai, said.

The Vasily Yan will be sold for scrap to pay off the company's debts, he added.

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