MOSCOW, September 28 (RIA Novosti)
Novye Izvestia
Nezavisimaya Gazeta
WHAT PRESIDENT TOLD RUSSIANS
Vladimir Putin yesterday answered questions put to him by the population in a live call-in show on federal TV channels. He promised the people an exceptionally radiant future. Below experts comment on the president's replies.
Alexander Konovalov, president of the Institute for Strategic Assessment and Analysis, says: "The president focused overwhelmingly on domestic issues. Very little was said about foreign policy. On the whole, things discussed were socially-oriented and perhaps that is not accidental, because questions are usually selected. Everything was done to support the president's latest initiatives."
Stanislav Belkovsky, director of the Institute of National Strategy, says: "I failed to hear anything new in the president's words. Putin said he was not going to stay for a third term, because his time as president expires in 2008. He told of the sops he would give to the people: 200 billion rubles ($7 billion, or _5.83 billion) this year. But the Kremlin set-up poorly knows history. Such sops stimulate revolutionary sentiments, not the other way round. Thus, for example, the revolution in Ukraine occurred when the economy was growing, and so were wages and pensions."
Alexei Makarkin, deputy general director of the Center for Political Technologies, says: "The Kremlin has lately been banking on public appearances of the president who 'gives away presents' to doctors, teachers, servicemen and scientists. The president's high rating guarantees his words are noted and society shows greater trust in him than when ministers or deputies act as benefactors.
"The president told mainly nice things, what his audience expected him to say. Significantly enough, 'big' political issues took secondary place in his talk with the people. Gone are the days when everyone was keenly interested in problems of the world revolution or alignment of forces at the top. Now the most important things are personal affairs, family life, work and future prospects."
Gazeta
WHAT POLITICIANS WANT ASK PRESIDENT PUTIN
Prominent Russian politicians would like to ask President Vladimir Putin a number of questions.
Valery ZUBOV, State Duma deputy and political council member of the Republican Party of Russia:
Firstly, I want to ask him about our economic strategy. What can we do in the situation when we have increasing amounts of money while the production structure continues to deteriorate? Secondly, I want to know whether the system for appointing regional governors designed to fight terrorism has justified itself.
Boris NEMTSOV, federal council member of the SPS (Union of Right Forces):
Why has the parliamentary commission failed to publish its report on the Beslan hostage crisis? People still have not been informed that tanks and flame-throwers were used against terrorists inside the school. The Beslan tragedy brings to light the secretive nature of Putin's policies and the impunity of his inner circle.
Yevgeny YASIN, research director of the Higher School of Economics:
I would like to ask about his motives for implementing the political reform. What has been achieved as a result of the governor appointment system and the party ticket vote? The latter will allegedly help political parties to assert themselves. But this argument does not sound convincing. The Kremlin will coordinate all party tickets, making a mockery of elections. How can Putin justify depriving people of the main elements of democracy? The president does not respond to such questions. And people ask completely different questions because most of them are convinced that the president is doing everything right.
Oleg KOVALEV, chairman of the State Duma regulations committee, United Russia:
I have no questions for the president. I understand his line completely. What I do have is a suggesting. I would like the president to submit a number of bills that would ensure greater Duma control over the government's activities. Notably, this concerns price regulation of oil derivatives and an oil taxation reform.
Izvestia
RESTRICTIONS ON GAZPROM TO BE LIFTED BEFORE YEAR'S END
The Russian authorities did their best yesterday to send shares of Gazprom, Russia's biggest company, soaring.
To begin with, Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko told a summit of the Eurasian Economic Community (EuroAsEC) of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan in Dushanbe that the government took a principled decision to liberalize the concern's stock. "This is a natural step culminating all previous moves," Khristenko emphasized. He said the liberalization decision would be formalized before the end of the year.
Investors have been waiting for the liberalization of Gazprom shares for years. Currently their market is split into an external and a domestic part: inside the country the company's shares are sold normally, while abroad it is ADRs (American Depository Receipts for Russian-traded securities). Besides, foreign owners are forbidden by the law to possess more than 20% of them, while in Russia trading in the concern's stock is allowed only on a few exchanges. Liberalization presupposes the lifting of all these restrictions.
A bit later another piece of good news reached the market. This time from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said that Russia's oil and gas reserves were underestimated and actually were "greater than we think". On the back of these statements the volume of trade on the Russian market reached its historical maximum.
The front-runners were securities of oil and gas companies, with deals on Sibneft shares leading the field. Their price in the Russian Trading System rose by 9.9% and on the Moscow Inter-Bank Currency Exchange (MICEX), by 15.59%.
In the view of Andrei Gromadin, MDM-Bank analyst, Sibneft shares could well have gone up on rumors about the clinching of a Gazprom deal to purchase the company. "Rumors are rife on the stock exchange that documents finalizing the deal have been signed," the analyst says.
Vremya Novostei
RUSSIA SET TO BUILD NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT
Gennady BULYCHEV, director of the Center of Modern Korean Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences
Alexander Rumyantsev, head of the Federal Atomic Energy Agency, recently confirmed Russia's readiness to build a nuclear power plant in North Korea.
This is a major stumbling block because the United States and South Korea oppose construction of any light-water reactor until Pyongyang terminates its nuclear program.
A group of Western experts on the Far Eastern power industry published their report on September 21. This document says that two Russian water-cooled and water-moderated reactors are the best option.
Concerned parties have to decide whether North Korea can develop its own nuclear power industry. After that, Pyongyang would be able to choose between South Korean, Chinese and Russian reactors. The US Congress will never allow the White House Administration to sell a reactor to North Korea. Nor will France or Canada agree to build their reactors there.
There are some obvious advantages to the Russian project. Firstly, Moscow and Pyongyang still abide by the 1985 nuclear power plant (NPP) construction agreement. Secondly, Russian light-water reactors are much cheaper than their foreign equivalents. Thirdly, Russia could open a long-term credit line for this purpose. And, finally, it would become possible to solve important technological problems by merging Russian and North Korean power grids. Experts claim that the latter will not cope with peak loads because of its low capacity.
The United States may reject the idea of building a North Korean NPP. Consequently, Russia could construct an NPP in its Primorye (Maritime) Territory. That NPP would be owned and operated by North Korea. This scenario would ensure compliance with IAEA regulations, making it possible to dispose of spent nuclear fuel. Nuclear control issues would be settled also. Russian specialists would indeed find it easier to assist their North Korean counterparts in operating the station.
Biznes
MICROSOFT CAN OVERWHELM RUSSIAN PIRATES ONLY BY CUTTING SOFTWARE PRICES
In the last financial year, Microsoft software sales in Russia increased 48% reaching $150 million. The company concedes results could have been better but for pervasive Russian piracy. Russian market analysts believe Microsoft can undercut the pirates only by reducing prices for its products.
The company claims that the share of bootleg Microsoft software sold in Russia is still high - 60%. Moreover, studies undertaken by IDC consultancy reveal that Russian software piracy generally exceeds 87%.
"Given a 25% annual growth in the market, Microsoft's Russian sales could well have been higher," believes Mikhail Novikov, IDC marketing manager. (The software giant's global sales rose 8%, amounting to $39.70 billion.) But he thinks the company can cope with piracy only with state support.
"There must be professional anti-piracy agencies," believes Mikhail Meshchankin, spokesman for software developer ABBYY Rossia. He says the piracy problem derives above all from the pricing policies of software producers. To give an example, on the computer games market the piracy levels went down appreciably when the companies began selling authorized copies at a sensible price - 100 to 200 rubles ($7) a disk.
"To reduce piracy Western companies need to cut prices in local markets," Valery Makarov, general director of Internet Gaming Entertainment, says with conviction. "Many find it beyond their means to pay $65 for an operating system for their home computer."
He is echoed by Bely Veter marketing director Maxim Zakhir: "Most of the unlicensed software is installed on home machines." In his view, it's absolutely impossible to persuade the ordinary user to pay $65 instead of 150 rubles ($5.25).
