MOSCOW, November 22 (RIA Novosti) West sees Kremlin's hand in poisoning of former KGB officer/EU unveils new policy toward Belarus/Officials face a difficult choice: power or money/Russian steel producers' "acquisition mania" shakes global exchanges/LUKoil may buy stake in Czech oil refinery
(RIA Novosti does not accept responsibility for articles in the press)
Kommersant, Moskovsky Komsomolets
West sees Kremlin's hand in poisoning of former KGB officer
The scandal around the poisoning in London of Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB officer and an aide to Russian refugee tycoon Boris Berezovsky, has become international.
Leading European and global newspapers carried hospital photographs of Litvinenko, and wrote that the political refugee was "punished" for criticizing the Kremlin. His case has been termed grave, and entrusted to Scotland Yard's Specialist Crime Directorate.
Scotland Yard has launched an inquiry into the "suspicious poisoning" of the former KGB officer and refused to comment until the end of the investigation.
London-based newspapers reported yesterday, citing Oleg Gordiyevsky, another ex-KGB officer who has found refuge in the West, that on November 1 Litvinenko had tea with two Russian acquaintances. According to The Daily Telegraph, one of them was Andrei Lugovoi, a former KGB officer and ex-chief of security at Russia's ORT television channel.
"I will not make any comments until I meet with representatives of the British Embassy in Moscow and reply their questions to clarify the situation," Lugovoi told business daily Kommersant. "Perhaps later I will tell you what I think of this matter."
Britain's Foreign Office has issued a statement saying that the case of Litvinenko had been discussed with Russian diplomats, but only in the light of its high profile in the press.
Western experts are unofficially saying that Litvinenko is another victim of the Russian security services. Former CIA officer Fritz W. Emart said the poisoning was reminiscent of the KGB.
The Guardian analyzed all the current versions and concluded that the West is ready to believe the worst news about Russia and the worst intentions of Vladimir Putin's administration.
Sergei Ivanov, head of the PR department of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, denies his service's connection to Litvinenko's illness, and said that if the world is talking about the issue, there must be some interest behind it.
Nikolai Leonov, a member of the lower house's Committee on Security and former chief analyst at the KGB's foreign intelligence directorate, said: "The anti-Russian campaign is gathering momentum across the world. Americans never miss a chance to kick Russia. The poisoning scandal will certainly benefit Berezovsky, who is adding fuel into the flames of the scandal to spite Russia for his failure to win political and business fame here."
Garry Kasparov, the leader of the United Civil Front, thinks differently: "The Western public is coming to see that Russia has started a sweeping offensive against the Kremlin's opponents. We still don't know why [investigative journalist Anna] Politkovskaya was killed, but she was killed in Russia. An attempt on Litvinenko's life was made in London, which will seriously investigate it. As for the Kremlin, it does not care for its reputation because the WTO agreement has been signed."
Novye Izvestia
EU unveils new policy toward Belarus
Brussels has unveiled a new draft strategy toward Belarus that links lavish economic promises with basic political recommendations, none of which encroaches on Alexander Lukashenko's regime.
It appears that the Belarusian leader, who was recently dubbed Europe's last dictator, may triumphantly enter the vast EU market, retain power, and get rid of Moscow's tutelage forever.
For example, the EU does not question the results of the latest presidential elections in Belarus, i.e. it does not dispute Lukashenko's legitimacy.
European "bureaucratic" economists have promptly reacted to cooler Russian-Belarusian relations after the latest gas conflict. They have taken the opportunity to remind Lukashenko that higher Russian gas prices will perpetuate inequality between Belarusian and Russian producers and damage plans for the common economic space.
Brussels is hinting that agreements with such an ally are worth little.
"Bureaucratic" politicians have decided that the economic rift between Moscow and Minsk will inevitably cause a military-strategic breach. Minsk may voice unexpected demands in reply to Russian gas pressure tactics and torpedo the bilateral military alliance.
Consequently, Russia would have to establish a new army group in its Smolensk Region.
Brussels would doubtless fully support Lukashenko in case of deeper Russian-Belarusian differences, and if the Union State faces possible disintegration.
Europe would forgive Lukashenko for his "dictatorial" rule and list Belarus among prospective EU members.
This would deprive Russia of its last Eastern European ally.
Ironically, the EU has long tried to convince Moscow to use political and economic leverage to influence Lukashenko's "dictatorial regime."
However, Brussels started playing its own game right after Moscow resorted to sanctions.
Gazeta, Novye Izvestia
Officials face a difficult choice: power or money
President Vladimir Putin will launch a string of new high-profile dismissals and appointments in law enforcement bodies. That was the perceived message of his address at a coordination meeting Tuesday in the Kremlin of heads of law enforcement agencies.
The president said street crime in Russia is on the rise, and anti-graft measures in the law enforcement system must be "more effective". Clearly, those responsible for these negative trends will now be named and punished.
According to the president, the number of registered crimes has increased 12% since the beginning of the year, compared to the same period of last year. The head of state said the fight against corruption in law enforcement bodies, as well as lawmakers' efforts, is not effective enough. Putin believes that "vetting new laws to make sure they pass criminality tests and are not corruption-prone is a must."
There are numerous individuals whose activities need prosecutors' attention in Russia, the president said. "I wish to reiterate: power and money should not go together," Putin said, addressing either his audience, or many millions of bureaucrats.
"If you want to make money, go into business. If you want to serve the state and fulfill yourself in civil service, live on state-provided pay. Let us together work to make it higher."
"I think measures to combat corruption and unlawful irregularities will be stepped up," said lawyer Anatoly Kucherena, a Public Chamber member who attended the meeting. However, skeptics around him who wished to remain anonymous indicated that power like any commodity can be converted into money, and while there is demand for services, corruption is inevitable.
Therefore, "if it is to be controlled, we must have transparent administration - this is the only chance for corruption to go down by three-digit percentages."
The Tuesday meeting was held against the background of a flaring corruption scandal involving the management of the Federal Mandatory Health Insurance Fund. Two more high-ranking fund executives were dismissed Tuesday. The head of the fund and some of his deputies were arrested.
"This is the first instance in my memory that a huge structure with a large turnover has been prodded," said independent State Duma deputy Vladimir Ryzhkov. According to him, "corruption permeates the whole state, and today we saw pricked only one of hundreds of structures plundering state funds."
Biznes
Russian steel producers' "acquisition mania" shakes global exchanges
A powerful influx of Russian steel producers, who are ready to overpay for any foreign assets, has stirred an unhealthy rush on global stock exchanges. As prices of steel companies' shares are on the up, investors keep wondering what the first acquisition by a Russian steel producer will be.
Following a number of loud statements on the consolidation in the steel sector, share prices of global steel corporations started to climb on the London and New York stock exchanges, as rumors about the start of Russia's grandiose expansion to the West began to spread.
According to Dealogic, since early 2006 the number of announced mergers and acquisitions has reached a record $3.46 trillion globally. Analysts believe that this "acquisition mania" is spurred on by the fact that companies possess large sums and can afford loans, and also by the race for resources in the energy sector.
On Tuesday the EU's anti-trust bodies allowed Russian steel producer NLMK to buy stakes in Duferco Participations, while the rumors that US Steel is eyeing Severstal have pushed the American company's share price up to $72.75. US Steel could be the first target in Russia's expansion to the West, and its acquisition would be an honor for Alexei Mordashov, who failed to merge with Arcelor last spring.
Experts describe the market fever with share prices as quite reasonable. "The takeover of Oregon Steel Mills by Evraz Group [Russia's metals holding] evidenced that Russian companies are ready to pay a sizeable bonus to enter the U.S. steel market," said Alexei Pavlov, chief analyst with the VIKA brokerage. "The deal set new price margins for the shares of U.S. steel companies, and speculators hurried to take advantage of it."
Despite foreign analysts' speculations, Russian experts believe it is too early to speak of an overall Russian expansion to the West. Natalia Kocheshkova, an analyst with the Finam brokerage, believes such conclusions can only concern Severstal [Russia's second-largest steel producer], Evraz and Metalloinvest [a massive holding].
"[Vladimir] Lisin [head of the NLMK board] and [Viktor] Rashnikov [head of the board of the Magnitogorsk metallurgical company] are not ready for mergers or takeovers, as they will find it hard to yield control of a company they have long been eyeing," the expert said.
Vedomosti
LUKoil may buy stake in Czech oil refinery
ConocoPhillips intends to sell a stake in Ceska Rafinerska, the largest oil refinery in the Czech Republic. Yesterday, Unipetrol Group, Rafinerska's major shareholder, announced that it would like to buy the stake, but fears that it may be first offered to Russian oil company LUKoil.
In 2005, Ceska Rafinerska refined 7.1 million metric tons of oil. Czech Unipetrol owns 51% in the oil refinery, and Royal Dutch Shell, Eni and ConocoPhillips control a 16.3% stake in it each. Poland's PKN Orlen owns 62.99% of Unipetrol shares.
ConocoPhillips first announced its plans to sell the stake in Ceska Rafinerska in early November. Then ConocoPhillips CEO described LUKoil as the sole potential buyer. Now ConocoPhillips controls 19% in LUKoil.
Yesterday, Unipetrol said it is considering buying the stake from Conoco. Under a contract between Rafinerska's shareholders, before selling his stake a shareholder should offer it to the other shareholders. A Unipetrol official said the company reaffirmed its interest in ConocoPhillips' stakes on purpose, when rumors started to spread in the Swedish press that Conoco may sell it to LUKoil.
The Russian oil company wanted to buy a stake in Czech oil refineries from ConocoPhillips in September. Then a LUKoil official said a lot of progress had been made during negotiations. However, a source in ConocoPhillips confirmed that LUKoil is eyeing ConocoPhillips' assets in the Czech Republic.
Mikhail Zak, chief analyst with the Veles Capital brokerage, estimated ConocoPhillips' stake in Ceska Rafinerska at some $350 mln and said LUKoil has lately been striking deals to buy entire oil refineries and gas stations to control them independently of other shareholders. Zak said the 16% stake in Rafinerska "does not matter much" to the Russian company, which will not fight for it, the more so as Rafinerska's majority shareholders themselves would like to buy it.
In 2003, LUKoil bought an oil terminal in Rotterdam to supply its own oil to Europe, and later the same year the company bought 79% in a large network of Beopetrol gas stations, which it had been developing, from the Serbian government.
