MOSCOW, May 25 (RIA Novosti)
Kommersant-Vlast
Economic Ministry: Russia Shouldn't Give In To WTO
Russia should not concede to unfavorable requests from the WTO during accession talks, said Maxim Medvedkov, head of the Russian delegation to the WTO and director of the department of trade talks at the Economic Ministry Maxim Medvedkov, Kommersant-Vlast, a weekly, reported.
"We have intensified the pace of negotiations to the critical limit. It is very important for us to achieve a positive result by December of this year because we cannot drag the negotiation process out forever," he said.
The key issues, including agriculture, still remain unsolved. Part of the debate is over veterinary and phyto-sanitary control. The EU and the United States say some of the control measures Russia uses are not scientifically sound.
Two sides are also trying to hammer out an agreement on the state support of agriculture after Russia's accession.
"So far, it has been a slow process. It's a very complicated issue," Medvedkov said.
WTO officials say state support of agriculture in Russia should remain at the current $3-billion annual allotment, although in the EU the volume of subsidies for agriculture constitutes more than $90 billion per year (50% of the price of any agricultural product in the EU represents state subsidies), more than $59 billion in Japan and more than $48 billion in the United States.
"Therefore, we insist on returning to the level of state support recorded in the mid-1990s, about $10 billion annually," Medvedkov said.
But Russia cannot afford to hold off on joining the WTO much longer, he said.
"The current round of talks on liberalization of global trade is going to end soon. By the time it is over, the 'rich North' is supposed to come to an agreement with the 'poor South' about agricultural subsidies," Medvedkov said.
"After that, Russia will have to negotiate with trade partners on the basis of new WTO rules," he said. "That is why it is in our interests to join the organization earlier than that, preferably by the end of 2005, in order to participate in that round at least during its final stages."
Vremya Novostei
Lukoil To Explore A Giant Deposit In Iraq
Russian oil giant LUKOIL is planning to begin joint exploration of the West Qurna-2 oil deposit in Iraq with U.S. company ConocoPhillips, LUKOIL President Vagit Alekperov announced Tuesday, Vremya Novostei, a daily, reported.
This deposit has estimated recoverable resources (according to Cambridge Energy Research Associates) at 11.3 billion barrels and is in third place in Iraq.
"All conditions have currently been met in Iraq that are needed to start project implementation," Alekperov said. "In the near future, LUKOIL Overseas head Andrei Kuzyaev will fly to Baghdad and at the end of the year I might go there as well."
Alekperov is certain the Iraqi side sees the project's validity and assumes that Baghdad will not demand the revision of existing agreements. He stressed that LUKOIL never closed its office in Baghdad.
Alekperov's confidence could be based on ConocoPhillips' acquisition of a stake in LUKOIL last September, which it plans to increase to 20%. ConocoPhillips joined the West Qurna-2 project after acquiring 17.5% of the stake in the project from LUKOIL, which still has a controlling bloc of shares.
Alekperov told journalists that the American company would participate in the exploration of the Iraqi deposit.
LUKOIL also plans to join efforts with ConocoPhillips on the U.S. market. The Russian company intends to conduct exploration of Venezuelan oil deposits and produce oil that will be supplied later to U.S. refineries that belong to ConocoPhillips. The resulting oil derivatives will be sold at U.S.-based gas stations that belong to LUKOIL, which owns a network of more than 2,000 gas stations in the United States.
LUKOIL will also reduce oil supplies in the East. According to Alekperov, if the company had planned to supply three million tons of oil to China this year, it now is assuming the supply volume will not exceed two million tons.
Alekperov said it is more lucrative today to sell oil and to use refineries in Russia.
Lukoil produced 81.5 million tons of oil and 5.5 billion cubic meters of gas in 2003. According to Energy Intelligence Group, Lukoil was in 20th place among the biggest oil and gas companies of the world as of 2003.
Politichesky Zhurnal
Experts: Russian-Belarussian Union Likely
The Kremlin has given the go-ahead to a unified Russia and Belarus, a political project stuck in controversy for the last decade, the Russian weekly Politichesky Zhurnal reported. Below are Russian analysts' comments on the prospects of unification.
Mark Urnov, president of the Ekspertiza foundation:
"The project of a united Russian and Belarussian state loosens soil for a new state system extending the terms of office of incumbent leaders. This is a 2008-oriented project [in 2008, Russian President Vladimir Putin's term limit will expire]. To implement it, however, an agreement between Vladimir Putin and [Belarussian President] Alexander Lukashenko is needed since the latter will hardly keep a high profile in a union state. Lukashenko faces certain problems in domestic, as well as foreign policy, since Putin cannot determine a successor. This could drive the presidents towards a deal.
"Moreover, most Russians will surely approve a merger with Belarus. The people just aren't thinking about how it will affect Russia financially."
Pavel Borodin, state secretary of the Union State of Russia and Belarus:
"A recent series of meetings between the Russian and Belarussian presidents has demonstrated not only our approval of, but also our overwhelming support for, interstate integration into a united country. Issues like a united currency, union property and united customs services are likely to be resolved before the year is out."
Sergei Markov, Director of the Institute for Political Studies:
"Relations between Russia and Belarus have been much stimulated lately by processes outside both of these states. Now there is a threat of an anti-Russian regime coming to power in Belarus to involve the country into an anti-Russian coalition and block Russia.
"This gave a new impetus to the integration of the two countries, clearly seen in a raised union budget and recent work on a united currency. If Lukashenko's dealings with Putin result in securing a place for the Belarussian elite in a new state, Russia and Belarus will definitely become a unified state. The decision may have been made already."
Noviye Izvestia
Russians Want Government To Address Morality
The majority of Russian citizens, 79%, say Russian society's morality has degraded in recent years and think only government intervention can improve the situation, according to the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM), Noviye Izvestia reported.
Only 7% of the 1,600 polled on the change in the country's moral climate said the shift was positive.
A third of respondents, 36%, said drug addiction, alcoholism and smoking were the worst offenses. A fourth, 26%, spoke of "people's indifference to each other" and another fourth, 25%, said lies, hypocrisy and meanness were to blame.
An overwhelming majority, 93% are positive that the task of rectifying societal norms is of national importance and should be handled on the government level.
Sergei Ivanenko, deputy chairman of the Yabloko democratic party, says that the state should start improving its own morals to begin with.
"If at least two dozens people with impeccable reputations appear in authoritative ranks, then we will be able to speak of reviving moral principles among citizens," he said.
Ivanenko said the only way to rectify the government is "to hold honest parliamentary elections in 2007 and 2011."
Alexei Ostrovsky, member of the LDPR faction, argues that it is necessary to "drastically restrict vociferous democracy, whose excess leads to all social evils."
Yelena Kondakova of the United Russia ruling party says "the morality of a society is characterized by its financial position...thus, we will be able to speak of moral revival only after the economy is recovered."
Rossiiskaya Gazeta
Telescope To Revolutionize Space Exploration
Russian scientists have tested a mock-up of a unique telescope called Radioastron that could revolutionize space exploration, Rossiiskaya Gazeta, a pro-governmental daily, reported.
America's Hubble Space Telescope is almost "blind" in comparison to Radioastron because its resolution exceeds Hubble's by nearly one million times.
Hubble operates in the optical mode, but Radioastron uses radio waves. Each telescope therefore has its own astronomic applications. Not a single other telescope can provide such high-resolution images of space objects in the Milkyway or elsewhere. Radioastron's resolution exceeds that of the human eye 20 million times over.
"Our telescope's antenna has a diameter of just ten meters. In real life, its dimensions equal the distance between the Earth and the Moon," said Nikolai Kardashev, a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and project co-manager.
Once in orbit, Radioastron will observe space objects in conjunction with ground telescopes. They will form a vast observation system measuring 350,000 km in diameter. Its resolving power far exceeds that of single telescopes.
The new observatory will monitor black holes that absorb matter, but that do not emit light. It will also watch high-density neutron stars. Radioastron will also try to solve the black-matter riddle. Visible stars and planets account for only 5% of the universe's mass. The remainder of the universe remains unknown.
The new super-telescope will also study terrestrial phenomena. It will analyze Earth's gravitational field and complete a three-dimensional model. This will ensure high-precision navigation. It will also observe continental drifts.
