What the Russian papers say

MOSCOW, November 11 (RIA Novosti) Former Soviet republics hit by non-freedom virus/Russia's ruling tandem reshuffles roles - analysts/ Failed Opel deal may be contested in court/Medics unsure about swine flu threat

Vedomosti

Former Soviet republics hit by non-freedom virus

The Berlin Wall fell 20 years ago, but it remains unclear whether it really ceased to exist, or whether its advocates are searching for a new site for it between the East and the West, a Russian politician says.

Vladimir Milov, a former Russian deputy energy minister, says the ideas of freedom triumphed in Eastern Europe quite quickly, because the few decades of socialism there did not ban private property and individual enterprise, so that people in these countries have not lost the spirit of self-respect and enterprise while politicians received a highly effective impetus - the possibility of joining the European Union.

The situation in the former Soviet republics, excluding the Baltic countries, was quite different, Milov says. While democratic institutions celebrated victory in East European countries in the 1990s, an Asian type of creeping authoritarianism was spreading through the former Soviet republics, eventually taking a firm hold in Central Asia, the South Caucasus and Belarus. Russia succumbed to the virus in the early 21st century.

The ideals of freedom have so far failed to win the post-Soviet states, with the exception of the Baltic countries. Non-freedom, confrontation between democracy and order and discipline, and authoritarian rule are still widespread in the post-Soviet space.

The situation is dramatic even in Ukraine and Georgia, although they have made substantial progress in the last few years. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili disperses opposition demonstrations and closes media outlets that dare to criticize his government, while Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko tries to postpone presidential elections because of the flu epidemics.

The post-Soviet countries are suffering from the grave disease of non-freedom just as they did 20 years ago. The struggle is underway there for the choice of development models, for marking a new site for a wall that will divide freedom and non-freedom. The frontline of that war ran through all the recent acute conflicts, including the "cold war" with Ukraine, the all-out war with Georgia, and the war of police against the opposition in Russia.

The fall of the Berlin Wall could mark the beginning of a new era but only marked a minor victory in one of the numerous battles in the global war for freedom, which is far from over.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

Russia's ruling tandem reshuffles roles - analysts

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin no longer advertises his meetings with the parliamentary opposition in the run-up to passing the federal budget.

In the middle of next week, the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, will examine the 2010 federal budget in a second reading, without discussing it with Putin.

The paper's sources and analysts say the ruling tandem has reshuffled their roles, that the prime minister has ceded the status of a non-partisan leader to President Dmitry Medvedev, and that he now focuses on the pro-Kremlin United Russia party.

Putin, who no longer wants to maintain the reputation of a non-partisan prime minister, now poses as a parliamentary-majority leader who is only interested in United Russia.

A source close to the Kremlin said Putin could join United Russia a year from now or earlier, and that he would completely link himself with the pro-Kremlin party.

A source in the Presidential Executive Office said the tandem's roles had changed, and that the head of state was now supposed to deal with the opposition.

Analysts say Putin could run on a United Russia ticket during the 2011 parliamentary elections, and that the party could subsequently nominate its own presidential candidate.

"Putin is using the instruments he needs. What he needs is a party for accomplishing specific objectives. Medvedev is conducting dialogue with broad social strata, other parties and the opposition. The prime minister is not supposed to court political rivals. Putin is staking additional claims, so that no one would even think of moving them," said Yevgeny Minchenko, director of the International Institute of Political Analysis.

Rostislav Turovsky, a political science professor at Moscow State University, said Medvedev now addressed multi-partisan issues, and that Putin was voluntarily ceding this role to him because he saw no need for negotiating with other organizations.

According to Turovsky, Putin has moved in the direction of a German-style political system that would formalize his status as a parliamentary-majority leader.

Turovsky said Putin saw himself as a partisan prime minister or a partisan president.

Kommersant

Failed Opel deal may be contested in court

Sberbank and the Canadian company Magna may take General Motors to court over the collapse of the deal to sell a 55% stake in German Opel. While Sberbank could contest the refusal to conclude the deal, Magna might demand reimbursement for 100 million euros in preparation costs. Experts do not believe, however, any real claims will be made.

It took Sberbank a week to formulate its attitude toward the failed Opel deal. GM's board of directors cancelled the sale last Tuesday, drawing comment from every quarter - ranging from GM and the Opel trade union to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin - but not from the bank. Government sources, however, said that even if Sberbank wanted to dispute the abandonment of the deal in court, Russian authorities would not support it.

According to Andrei Zelenin, partner at Lidings law firm, a lot depends on how the parties framed their memorandum of intent, and whether it stipulated compensation for the failure of one of the parties to honor the deal. The statement issued by Sberbank and Magna looks more like a public relations move, and actual legal proceedings are unlikely, Zelenin believes. Besides, he says, Magna said it is ready to cooperate with GM further, including in Russia, despite its unexpected decision not to sell Opel.

Mikhail Pak of Aton brokerage does not believe that Sberbank and Magna will sue GM and thinks their statements "are face-saving efforts."

Rather than the sale of Opel, analysts suggest the main goal of GM-Magna talks could be an attempt to lobby the European Union for a restructuring plan - in particular to obtain state funding.

Magna Co-Chief Executive Officer Siegfried Wolf yesterday stressed that GM's Opel restructuring plan mimics Magna's plan, but its implementation will require only 3 billion euros, not 4.5 billion euros.

Previously, IHS Global Insight analysts said EU authorities would have to agree to state funding for Opel under GM's plan: the U.S. administration will never allow the corporation to invest its own money in Opel's development (due to GM's $10 billion bailout).

Russian industry will not suffer from the defunct Opel deal, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said yesterday.

Gazeta

Medics unsure about swine flu threat

Swine flu fears are being deliberately fanned by the manufacturers of the vaccine and medicines, the Russian Society of Evidence-Based Medicine Specialists said Tuesday.

Savely Bashchinsky, vice president of the Society, said the process was initiated by the World Health Organization (WHO), which removed the phrase "dangerous infection" from the definition of pandemic. Now it says that a disease must be widespread on several continents to be considered a pandemic.

Bashchinsky also said that medicines that have not been tested clinically are sold in some countries because of the WHO's policy. He said New York doctors had launched legal action over the A/H1N1 vaccination claiming the health dangers of vaccination were incalculably larger than its possible benefits.

Medical specialists say that the current swine flu death rate is considerably lower than the death toll of the seasonal influenza.

Alexander Saversky, chairman of the League for Protection of Patients' Rights, said so far there are 4,000 swine flu patients in Russia, whereas the annual seasonal influenza usually hits between 27 million and 40 million people.

Professor Vasily Vlasov of the Russian Society of Evidence-Based Medicine Specialists said the publicity is benefiting mostly medicine producers and flu researchers, who are often closely connected with vaccine manufacturers, which points to a conflict of interests.

There is urgent demand for many medicines, some of them highly toxic. Specialists say the Russian government has ordered an excessive number of swine flu vaccines, and Saversky is urging people to sue the medical authorities for mandatory vaccination.

Medical specialists warn that those who get A/H1N1 vaccination can became severely ill or even die.

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