Nezavisimaya Gazeta
Moscow introduces night-time dry law
On September 1, 2010 Moscow will introduce a night-time dry law, making sales of alcoholic beverages stronger than 15% between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m illegal. Moscow authorities announced on Wednesday that they would recall licenses to sell alcohol round the clock, held by many shop-owners. The authorities believe this law will help fight alcohol abuse, but experts say it will only lead to an upsurge in illegal alcohol trading.
Pavel Gordiyenko, deputy head of Moscow department for the consumer market and services, said that over 800 shops currently sell spirits and high alcohol content drinks at night.
Earlier this year Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed Russia's anti-alcohol strategy for the period till 2020, according to which the consumption of alcohol in Russia should more than halve in the next 10 years, from an annual 18 liters per capita to 5-8 liters, and the illegal alcohol market should be completely rooted out. To achieve this, the strategy envisages criminal liability for repeated violations in manufacturing and trading alcohol, strict limits on advertising alcohol products, special pricing policies and place-and-time restrictions on alcohol sales.
Yevgeny Bryun, top substance abuse official at the Ministry of Healthcare and Social Development, welcomed this new tougher limit on night-time alcohol sales in Moscow. However, he admitted that this night trade in alcohol may continue illegally. But there is the hope that law enforcement agencies will quickly deal with any violations.
Meanwhile, independent experts unanimously assess this ban on selling alcohol at night as being inefficient, aimed more at generating publicity and making sure things look good on paper. Most experts interviewed by Nezavisimaya Gazeta were certain that these new sales restrictions would have no impact on alcohol consumption. According to the head of the Center for Research into the Federal and Regional Alcohol Markets, Vadim Drobiz, in Russia most alcohol consumption is accounted for by the 30 million "marginal people," who make up 20% of the population. These are people on the fringes of society who ignore formal bans. The ban will only boost the illegal trade in moonshine and cheap vodka, the experts say.
Rossiyskaya gazeta
Water: the new strategic resource?
Analysts are seriously discussing the possibility of wars and conflicts over water resources. Climate change has generated a new term: water security.
The increasing deficiency of potable water sources has caused a dangerous new phenomenon: water migration. In the past year alone, over 20 million people around the world have left regions with ongoing water shortages. Water shortage is a problem in countries bordering on Russia's southern regions. Is Russia threatened by the global water shortage problem? The Russian Security Council has discussed these concerns with leading climate experts.
Over 700 million people around the world consistently experience "water stress" and water shortage, according to UN data. About one-sixth of the planet's population has no access to potable water. Whereas energy security is seen as one of the key global problems today, climate change will certainly make water security the primary concern.
About one-fifth of all global potable water reserves are concentrated in Russia. Yet, Russia is also experiencing problems; problems with the use of water resources. Russia's National Security Strategy Until 2020 includes a section on the potential shortage of water resources. Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said that in 2009, only 38% of Russian cities and towns had stable supplies of potable water, that is, water that meets safety standards. To deal with water use problems, Russia has adopted a Water Use Strategy until 2020.
Analysts believe Russia could become a major player in international water trading. For example, there is a plan to build a canal from Siberia to Central Asia to relieve the growing water crisis in that region. However, no serious economic rationale for the project has been presented, and its economic efficiency remains questionable.
Experts believe that in the near future there will be a growing demand, not for water as a commodity, but for products manufactured with water consuming facilities. Prices of such products will inevitably go up as water deficiency grows. For example, the production of 1 metric ton of nitric acid requires 80-180 cubic meters of fresh water, and cotton fabrics, up to 1,100 cu m.
Russia has undeniable advantages and potential to become a major player on this market. Apart from its vast water resources, Russia has all the other prerequisites for setting up water consuming production facilities. The price of products manufactured by such facilities is bound to grow.
RBC Daily
October elections: an acid test for United Russia
The upcoming October elections in the regions are going to be very interesting. The October 2009 elections drew massive protests from the opposition parties, but United Russia maintained its lead. In March 2010, the situation was reversed: support for the ruling party dropped dramatically (down to 51%, against 62% in last fall's elections), though the party kept its majorities in all legislatures. There were no protests to speak of from the opposition parties. Following these two ballots, analysts are trying to predict a scenario for the upcoming elections.
In elections, United Russia always depends on a mixture of regions going to the polls, and in October 2010 this will be a complex picture. In addition, its ratings, which have tended to fall recently, will have a strong effect. The situation is not looking very favorable for United Russia in those regions slated to vote. In Tuva, the party practically lost the recent elections. The Magadan Region is also "problematic", and even in Novosibirsk, United Russia's record is not very encouraging. Overall, four out of six regions scheduled to elect legislatures are unsympathetic to United Russia. The danger is not that the party will lose its majority, that certainly will not happen, but that it will slide further in the ratings, something which are of exaggerated importance to the authorities. This may well make them jittery and increase their administrative activity.
Unfortunately, these elections will again feature one of the main flaws of Russian voting practice - the so-called system of "faces". To compensate for their low prestige, the parties and the legislative branch put popular names who are not going to sit in parliament at the top of their tickets. Nothing like this goes on in the rest of the world; candidates who win elections do not tend to just give up their mandates. It emerges that those who go through are winning thanks to well-known politicians, athletes and so on. The party's standing suffers as a result.
The wildfire situation will no doubt sway Russians' electoral behavior. But by October the assessments will be calmer and more pragmatic. The attitude to the authorities will no longer be so emotional, and will be based on hard facts: did they do everything in their power to prevent these fires or to minimize the damage? Something similar happened in Russia during the crisis. At that time, Russians watched to see whether or not the authorities were trying to help them. The party's regional credibility slipped, but the electoral judgment was based on reality. So it is largely how the government handled the fires that will determine the outcome of elections this fall.
GZT.RU
Russia to guarantee Armenian security until 2044
During his official visit to Armenia on August 19, President Dmitry Medvedev is expected to sign a protocol extending the presence of the Russian military base in Gyumri until 2044. Both states will benefit from the extension. Russia will retain a powerful foothold in the Caucasus at no cost, and Armenia will be secured from its neighbors' attempts to resolve the Nagorno Karabakh conflict by force.
Medvedev will pay an official visit to Armenia, arriving in Yerevan on Thursday. As part of the visit, the parties will sign a protocol to extend the presence of Russia's 102nd Military Base near Gyumri, northern Armenia,.
Medvedev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan will sign amendments to the bilateral agreement, extending the presence of Russian troops in Armenia for another 24 years. The current agreement was signed in 1995 for a period of 25 years; the base included the troops of the former Transcaucasus Military District. Under the amended agreement, Russian troops will stay in Armenia until 2044.
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan said the amendments will clarify the mission of the base. The new wording of the agreement stipulates that the Russian military base, together with the Armenian armed forces, will not only protect Russia's interests, but will also ensure Armenia's security. To this end, Russia will supply Armenia with weapons and modern military equipment.
The extension is extremely beneficial for Russia, believes Alexander Khramchikhin, head of the analytical department at the Institute for Political and Military Analysis. "We are not paying any rent for the base, which is the largest of all our foreign bases."
Armenian politicians have welcomed the extension. Secretary of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia Eduard Sharmazanov told local media that extending the presence of the base will help maintain the regional balance of power.
The base in Gyumri is effective by its very existence, Khramchikhin says. It binds Armenia to Russia and prevents Turkey from supporting Azerbaijan in its attempts to solve the Nagorno Karabakh conflict by force. The latter aspect has particular significance, considering the constant saber rattling from Baku, which increased the country's military budget by $500 mln in 2010.
However, there is an understanding in Armenia that Russia also views Azerbaijan as an ally. Moscow also maintains a military base in Azerbaijan, where it rents the Gabala Radar Station. The latter protects against intercontinental ballistic missile strikes and provides constant space monitoring.
But in its relations with Yerevan and Baku, the Kremlin is trying to maintain the existing military and political balance in the region.
Vzglyad
Russia's ground forces to revamp anti-aircraft weaponry
The army's ground forces are preparing a major overhaul of their anti-aircraft arm, which has had no new weapons in 16 years.
The anti-aircraft arm, which is part of the ground forces, is in for a capital refit - both in numbers and in quality, Major-General Mikhail Krush, head of army air defenses, said on Wednesday. The existing inventory has a huge potential for an upgrade to bring it in line with current threats and challenges.
The general added that the purpose of upgrading is to improve concealment and cut the time required for fire preparations. More types of targets will be available, kill range increased, and protected areas expanded.
He said the time needed for deploying a strategic weapon must not exceed 3 to 5 minutes, and for tactical weapons, not more than 1 minute.
Krush said the upgrade is essential because the troops have received little in the way of new arms in the past 16 years and most of their weapons were developed in the 1980s or 1990s.
As early as this year, the S-300V surface-to-air missile system and a variety of surface-to-air guided missiles and tactical rockets will receive 50-100 percent performance upgrades. Currently, the troops are taking delivery of upgraded Buk-M2 missile systems capable of engaging, at battalion strength, between 6 and 24 air targets. Next year a new modified Tor-M2U surface-to-air missile system will be delivered. The general said the system can home in on up to four air targets simultaneously.
Organizationally, the anti-aircraft troops are part of the ground forces. Their mission is to protect army formations and facilities outside the fighting zone against strikes by hostile air attacks.
But the same missions are fulfilled by anti-aircraft troops in the air force. It may be recalled that on August 14 Colonel-General Alexander Zelin, the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, reported that they are to be rearmed as well. Units and formations covering Moscow and the central industrial region will be equipped with new weapons, including the S-400 and, in the future, the S-500 surface-to-air missile systems.
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MOSCOW, August 19 (RIA Novosti)
