MOSCOW, August 28 (RIA Novosti) Right-wingers desperate to attract voters / New left coalition finds a sponsor / Sakhalin Energy halts construction on Sakhalin / Loss of status may cost Tekhnopromexport $570 million / Tatneft trades in credit rating for political rating
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Gazeta
Right-wingers desperate to attract voters
The new program of the Union of Right Forces (SPS) is no longer orientated toward small and medium-sized businesses, experts told the paper. And by choosing United Russia, the pro-Kremlin ruling party, as its main opponent, the SPS risks losing influence in the regions.
The right-wing party now addresses people with moderate incomes, using slogans that have been traditionally considered populist, such as calling for a fully professional army, the abolition of top officials' privileges and anti-corruption efforts. The only thesis that stands out is support for labor immigrants, as they are unpopular with Russian voters.
"The SPS is oriented toward very different groups of voters," said Sergei Mikheyev, deputy director general of the Center for Political Technologies. "This means that it is desperately looking for a niche to attract at least some voters." Moreover, some of the party's promises have already been paraded by United Russia and it will be extremely difficult to persuade people to vote for something the ruling party already has on its agenda, he said.
The choice of the pro-Kremlin party as the main opponent was the main reason for the new program, which will be officially presented at an SPS congress on September 19, experts said. "In fact, this is the only political field where the SPS does not have that many rivals yet," said Sergei Markov, director of the Institute of Political Technologies. "At the same time, this is not a purely opposition party, as it does not criticize the president. This is still too risky a step for the right wingers, because [President Vladimir] Putin's ratings are extremely high." Now the party's main goal will be to separate Putin's image from that of United Russia, proving that "he is good, but they are bad," he said.
By opposing United Russia, the SPS risks losing all its influence in regions, where a majority of governors top United Russia's lists at regional parliamentary elections, the experts said. "The right have almost no regional divisions left," Mikheyev said. "Now it will lose what is left. It only has major divisions in Moscow and St. Petersburg."
Nezavisimaya Gazeta
New left coalition finds a sponsor
The legislature of the Nenets Autonomous Area in northern Russia has confirmed as its representative to the upper chamber of parliament billionaire Dmitry Ananyev, who will take up one of the seats that fell vacant following the scandalous sacking of four senators in the spring. Experts told the paper he would be a key player in a new left-leaning coalition being set up around the Russian Party of Life, led by Federation Council speaker Sergei Mironov, and Rodina (Motherland).
Sergei Markov, a political analyst and member of the Public Chamber, said: "It is an attempt to strengthen the Party of Life financially. The Kremlin never seeks money for its projects itself. It just gives the go-ahead to politicians and businessmen, saying: we will look favorably on your alliance. No doubt Mironov has received approval. As preparations for parliamentary elections [in 2007] begin, businessmen compete to invest in politics. That sharply increases the corruption of the Federation Council, because the feeling grows that business lobbyists, rather than political figures, sit in it. Mironov risks having too many sponsors and too little political support."
Yevgeny Yasin, academic supervisor of the Higher School of Economics, said: "More of these billionaires are unlikely to be found. Ananyev, as far as I understand, is supposed to support the idea of merging Mironov's and [Alexander] Babakov's parties. And although Mironov will try to choose his supporters by the same principle, he will have to take account of the interests of local elites. The Kremlin is unlikely to believe the Federation Council will become the bulwark of an opposition party. At best one more [player] may be allowed in, but the rest will be United Russia. In any case, they will be Kremlin loyalists who will play the role given them."
Dmitry Novikov, Russian Communist Party secretary for ideology, said: "The process is undoubtedly connected with party building. On the one hand, a political structure is being financed, and on the other, people with certain political potential in the regions make personal commitments to take part in party development."
In 2006, Forbes magazine evaluated Ananyev's fortune at $1.1 billion and ranked him 41st in the list of Russia's wealthiest men.
Kommersant
Sakhalin Energy halts construction on Sakhalin
Sakhalin Energy (SE), a subsidiary of oil major Shell, which is operating the Sakhalin-2 oil-and-gas project in Russia's Far East, has reportedly put off indefinitely the construction of surface pipelines. According to official information, the company itself has exposed instances where subcontractors were not fulfilling technical plans. However, the move appears to be more a response to claims by the Federal Service for the Oversight of Natural Resources, which has questioned the project's environmental safety. The federal service's claims may be used as an argument in Shell's negotiations with Russia's energy giant Gazprom, which is seeking 25% in SE.
The 1,572 km oil and gas pipelines should connect Sakhalin-2 deposits on the island's northeastern shelf with an LNG plant and an export oil terminal being built in southern Sakhalin. So far, 1,410 km of the pipelines have been laid.
Last week, the federal service completed a survey to ensure that onshore oil and gas pipelines comply with construction norms and rules. The results have not yet been published. However, back in early August, Oleg Mitvol, the federal service's deputy head, said he was aware that SE had failed to take all necessary measures to prevent possible damage to some parts of the pipeline from mud-flows.
Gazprom is benefiting from the federal service's surveillance of Sakhalin-2. Last year, the company launched negotiations with Shell to receive 25% in the project, and potential claims could reduce the price of the asset. If the threat is realized, SE will pay multi-billion penalties to counterparties, since the gas to be produced by the plant has already been contracted.
Since most conclusions of the federal service have so far been accompanied with recommendations, to be implemented by the time the project is put into service, it seems that there may be political reasons for complaints about Sakhalin-2. In particular, the federal service issued 26 recommendations for LUKoil's project to develop the Kravtsovskoye deposit in 2003, 97 for the construction of the Baltic pipeline in 1999, and 88 for the Caspian pipeline network. None of the projects have been halted due to the federal service's claims, and all the three are now successfully operating.
Vedomosti
Loss of status may cost Tekhnopromexport $570 million
Russian power equipment exporter Tekhnopromexport, which became a joint stock company last February, may lose a $450 million contract plus another $120 million. The Indian Thermal Power Corporation, which in March 2005 placed an order with the then federal state unitary enterprise Tekhnopromexport to build the Barh thermal power station, now refuses to confirm the contract and is demanding state guarantees from the contractor.
"They refuse to acknowledge our new legal status until we grant government guarantees," said company director general Sergei Molozhavy. For this reason Tekhnopromexport cannot conclude a deal with the Taganrog boiler plant and other equipment suppliers, while 10,000 metric tons of metal structures are lying unshipped in the port.
The worst of the director's fears is that the Indian company may blame the break of the contract on the company and claim $120 million in damages under a guarantee provided by Vneshtorgbank (VTB).
Those who planned the privatization of Tekhnopromexport failed to take into account the snags involved in rights transfers, said Viktor Pleskachevsky, head of the State Duma's property committee. He cites Vneshekonombank as an organization deliberately keeping the designation VEB of the USSR in its founding documents to avoid falling into such traps.
Albert Yeganyan, Vegas-Lex managing partner, sees the solution of the conflict in Stockholm arbitration. If the contract does not stipulate state guarantees or so-called control-keeping conditions for the principal shareholder, then the Indian company is in the wrong, said David Goldberg, head of SJ Berwin international arbitration group. In his view, NTPC has the right to challenge the change in the legal status of the Russian company in the contract only with serious grounds, which must be proved in court.
A government source said if the situation becomes critical the Finance Ministry would secure a state guarantee from Roseximbank.
Tekhnopromexport builds power projects on a turn-key principle - from conceptual design to modernization and repairs. At the beginning of the year the company's order book stood at $2.2 billion, 2005 earnings (minus VAT) totaled 11 billion rubles ($410.45 million), and net profit hit 670 million rubles ($25.75 million).
Vremya Novostei
Tatneft trades in credit rating for political rating
International rating agency Standard & Poor's withdrew on Friday its 'B-' rating on Tatneft, an oil company based in the Russian Volga republic of Tatarstan. The news did not come as a surprise, but it was the first such move against a large Russian company. Tatneft seems not to have been interested in keeping its rating, as it did not react to the agency's numerous warnings. The company ceased long ago to care about its market capitalization and to show interest in the international debt market.
In the early 2000s, the Tatarstan government was keen on boosting Tatneft's capitalization. Now, however, it is focused on preserving current production levels and receiving various privileges from the federal government. With regard to the latter, Tatneft, which lobbied the law on mineral extraction tax differentiation, and claimed federal status for the Nizhnekamsk refining complex, has been very successful in its aims.
However, its internationally-listed stock, which requires a certain transparency, has become a burden. Last June, Tatneft announced its intention to transfer its stock from the New York Stock Exchange to London. It did not conceal the reason: the NYSE has extremely tough rules, which require significant spending on registering the shares with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said in a statement.
The market's response to the rating withdrawal was calm. By Friday's close, Tatneft shares gained 0.9%, while the average growth posted by oil papers was about 0.6%. Market players say Tatneft has never been seen as a public company, and assessments of its stock depend more on relations between its main shareholder and the federal government, which have so far been very good. As far as delays in submitting financial accounts are concerned, everyone except for S&P has already grown accustomed to them.
