en-us 1991-2008, Kommersant. Publishing House. http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://www.kommersant.com/ Russia's Daily Online Mon, 08 Dec 2008 23:50:00 +0300 http://www.kommersant.com/pics/logo.gif http://www.kommersant.com/ http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=1090695 News http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=1090695 Mon, 08 Dec 2008 10:39:00 +0300 Russia’s big-name businessman and principal holder of Metalloinvest, Alisher Usmanov, has headed the International Fencing Federation (FIE). Usmanov won the election at FIE Congress past Saturday, having prevailed over FIE’s many-year president Rene Roch. No Russian has ever headed FIE before Usmanov, who pledged to boost financing and make this kind of sport an enthralling sight. http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=1090640 Documents http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=1090640 Mon, 08 Dec 2008 11:06:00 +0300 Russia and Serbia did not sign an agreement on the purchase of the Serbian oil heavyweight NIS by Gazprom last week as expected. However, the sides succeeded, perhaps, in attaining something even greater at their negotiations in Belgrade. A package of energy agreements was agreed upon that, in addition to the NIS deal, includes the construction of a line of the Southern Stream gas pipeline into Serbia and an underground gas reservoir. “Everything has been agreed on and the political decision has been made,” a Serbian source close to the negotiations told Kommersant, which has also discovered that the agreements will be signed on December 17 or 18 in Moscow during the visit of Serbian President Boris Tadic. http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=-13709 News http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=-13709 Mon, 08 Dec 2008 11:36:00 +0300 The late Patriarch Alexiy II of Moscow and All Russia, who died past Friday, had kept a diary, RIA Novosti reported citing the Moscow Patriarchate briefer Vladimir Vigilyansky. Vigilyansky had been very close to Alexiy II in the last four years and lives near the patriarch’s residence in Peredelkino. http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=1090687 Documents http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=1090687 Mon, 08 Dec 2008 12:11:00 +0300 Tomorrow Moscow's Epiphany Cathedral will play host to the funeral of Patriarch Alexy II. The next day the higher church clericals will gather for an emergency synod meeting, where they will schedule a meeting of the national council of bishops, priests, monks and laymen: its delegates will elect the new head of the Russian Orthodox Church. Representatives of the church and expert communities share the view that Metropolitans Kirill and Kliment are the most likely candidates for the highest church post. The Council will choose not only the Patriarch, but also the further course of the church’s development — either conservative or liberal. http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=1090700 News http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=1090700 Mon, 08 Dec 2008 12:34:00 +0300 The inflation was 12.5 percent in Russia from January through November vs. 10.6 percent a year earlier, the country’s statistics authority Rosstat announced December 5. Consumer prices increased 0.8 percent in November vs. 0.9 percent in October. The daily average pace slowed down to 0.0281 percent vs. 0.041 percent in November of 2007. Food prices rose 1.3 percent (15.3 percent from early this year), while nonfoods climbed 0.5 percent (7.8 percent). The prices for paid-up services of the population grew 0.7 percent in November and 14.8 percent from early this year. In annual terms, the inflation slowed down from 14.2 percent in October to 13.8 percent in November. http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=-13710 News http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=-13710 Mon, 08 Dec 2008 13:02:00 +0300 Russia’s government will rescue defense and industrial complex from global turmoil. The package of bailout actions is worth 150 billion rubles and the RF Finance Ministry will submit it to the cabinet this week, Vedomosti reported citing its own sources. http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=-13711 News http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=-13711 Mon, 08 Dec 2008 13:53:00 +0300 The surplus of Russia’s trading balance widened by $62.2 billion on year to $182.8 billion in January through October, the RF Federal Customs Service reported on Monday. http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=-13712 News http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=-13712 Mon, 08 Dec 2008 14:46:00 +0300 Russia’s military are liquidating secret equipment and pyrotechnic devices at Baikonur cosmodrome, Interfax reported. The blasting operations started past week and continued on Monday, December 8. http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=1087324 Documents http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=1087324 Mon, 08 Dec 2008 15:15:00 +0300 All the disagreements over the Russian-Serbian energy agreement are formally purely economic in nature. What is the real value of NIS, Serbia’s largest oil company, and how much should Gazprom invest in its restructuring? Where will the branch of South Stream go and what will its capacity be? When and in what volume will the reservoir at Banatski Dvor be reconstructed? Those are only the biggest questions the Russian and Serbian governments have been arguing about for several years already. Besides them, there are dozens more, maybe hundreds more, points that could be subject to ongoing discussion. http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=-13713 News http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=-13713 Mon, 08 Dec 2008 15:39:00 +0300 Moscow and Tbilisi have agreed with Switzerland that the latter will stand for Russia in Georgia. http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=1090775 News http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=1090775 Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:08:00 +0300 November cost the Russian international reserves fell $28.86 billion, according to the monthly report published by the Central Bank. On December 1, the reserves stood at $455.73 billion, down 5.96 percent from $484.59 billion a month earlier. Beginning Monday, the lower boundary of support for the two-currency basket ($0.55+ˆ0.45) will be 31.60 rubles. It was 31.30 rubles on November 24. December will be a decisive month for the Central Bank’s managed devaluation plan, which was developed for oil prices 20-25 percent higher than the current level below $40 per barrel of Urals ($36 on Friday). http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=1090674 News http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=1090674 Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:36:00 +0300 A new opposition force is about to emerge in Georgia to challenge President Mikheil Saakashvili and the ruling United National Movement. The opposition Republican Party and New Right plan to announce the formation of a bloc, which can demand early parliamentary and presidential elections, says New Right leader David Gamkrelidze. The bloc may be led by Irakly Alasania, who just gave up his post as ambassador to the United Nations. He is one of the most popular politicians in the country. http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=-13715 News http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=-13715 Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:58:00 +0300 Russia has terminated a number of armament projects with Ukraine in the wake of supplies of Ukrainian weapons to Georgia, said Valery Konovalyuk, who heads the Ukrainian parliament’s commission for investigating illegal weapon supplies. http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=1090742 News http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=1090742 Mon, 08 Dec 2008 17:19:00 +0300 Gazprom and four other international energy companies will build Europe’s largest underground natural gas reservoir in The Netherlands at the exhausted Bergermeer field. The project will cost an estimated $1-1.5 billion. The Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. (TAQA), the operator of the project, announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Gazprom Export yesterday. Construction will begin in the second quarter of next year, after the necessary designs are completed and permits are received. TAQA and Gazprom Export will reach a final agreement by that time. http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=-13714 News http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=-13714 Mon, 08 Dec 2008 17:42:00 +0300 The federal supervisor of alcohol turnover in Russia, Gosalkokontrol, will be set into motion in late 2008, said Deputy Agriculture Minister Andrei Slepnev. The president’s decree on Gosalkokontrol creation has been drafted and submitted to the government. http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=1090728 News http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=1090728 Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:00:00 +0300 Demand for advertising will fall 11 percent in 2009, predicts Group M, based on events on November, when all ad deals for next year were placed on hold. According to Group M, the media division of WPP, the world’s largest communications holding, Russian advertisers will cut back their activities in all media except Internet contextual advertising. While total expenditures on advertising in Russia rose 18 percent to 275 billion rubles in 2008, it will fall in 2009 to 244 billion rubles. Group M will publish its report on the coming market within the next few days.