GZT.ru
Quads for paratroopers
Quads, buggies and personal watercraft (PWC like Jet Skis) have been tried out for the first time in divisional drills of airborne troops in the Kostroma Region, their commander Vladimir Shamanov said on Thursday. The results surpassed all expectations: mobile equipment capable of carting a machine gun, a parachute or food rations to a firing position is now being sought as standard gear for special units.
Airborne Troops Commander Lt. Gen. Vladimir Shamanov, who was also the controller of the drills, explained: "We are testing new methods to make army reconnaissance and special-purpose groups more effective."
Together with the tested and purchased hang-gliders, paraplanes and sports clothes, quads will be a new addition to the sports equipment adopted by the Army. Shamanov said it would be nice if regular supplies of such gear started after 2013.
Col. Alexander Cherednik, an official representative of airborne troops, said that the drills involved 10 quads, a home-made buggy as a command vehicle and four PWCs provided by the Emergencies Ministry.
"The advantages of such gear are clear. It is one thing when a paratrooper totes 50 kilos of individual equipment on his back, and quite another when everything rides with him on a quad. One disadvantage is the need for fuel," the representative added.
It is not ruled out that the quads used in the drills came from one of the sports clubs of Russia's Voluntary Society for Cooperation with the Army, Air Force, and Navy (DOSAAF). It is also likely that Georgian quads abandoned in an armed conflict in South Ossetia may have been employed as hostile equipment - they were on view among the captured trophies.
At any rate, if Shamanov's wish for paratroopers to get quads for combat duty is heeded by top officials, they will likely be foreign makes because Russian manufacturers have nothing to boast about yet - things have not moved beyond self-made vehicles and a small-scale assembly effort.
Pavel Popovskikh, a former commander of airborne troops reconnaissance, believes that a quad is less noticeable and speedier than an airborne troops combat vehicle or a truck. So supplies of such equipment could greatly add to the strength of a landing party, particularly a reconnaissance detail. Former airborne troops commander Valery Achalov also believes that quads could come in handy for paratroopers. "They are lightweight and mobile, something the winged infantry needs," the former commander said.
Gazeta.Ru
Fires hit Russian GDP
Russia's GDP will fall 0.7% or 0.8% due to this year's heat wave and drought, according to estimates by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development. Economic growth is not likely to exceed 3.7%.
In 2010, the Russian economy will lose 0.4 to 0.5 percentage points of GDP as a direct result of the heat wave and drought, Deputy Minister for Economic Development Andrei Klepach said. If it were not for the drought, the Russian economy could have grown by 4.4% to 4.7% this year. Now the ministry expects GDP to grow by only 4%, however, this growth may be even less, at 3.6% or 3.8%.
The heat wave and drought had an impact on both agriculture and industry because many industrial facilities had to suspend work due to the abnormally hot weather. According to Deputy Agriculture Minister Alexander Petrikov, agriculture alone lost 32.7 billion rubles due to the drought.
Russia's nominal GDP has been forecast at about 44.8 trillion rubles for 2010, which means that the overall damage caused by the drought could reach 310 to 360 billion rubles, or $10.3 to $12 billion. "July's statistics show that economic growth stagnated," Andrei Klepach said. "In July, before the drought began, there had been a seasonal slowdown in economic growth which largely resulted from a seasonal decline in the construction sector," says Alfa Bank chief economist Natalya Orlova. "The statistics for August are likely to be even gloomier since many industrial facilities either suspended work or introduced shorter working hours."
However, officials expect industrial growth to revive in fall and the Economic Development Ministry estimates that industrial production will grow by 7.6% instead of 2.7% as previously expected. But experts do not share this optimistic view. "The summer slump is likely to have a negative impact on the third quarter results and a certain revival is to be expected only in the fourth quarter of the year. The drought's strongest impact is above all the losses experienced by agriculture. The forecast harvest for this year is now only 60 million tons against 100 million tons last year," says chief analyst at Zerich Group Nikolai Podlevskikh.
"Given that agriculture accounts for about 3% of GDP, the lost harvest may well lead to a 1% fall in GDP," Natalya Orlova concludes. "Any acceleration in economic growth is unlikely to happen in the second half of the year."
Russia will hardly be able to compensate for the dramatic losses of 2009 when GDP fell 7.9%. In addition, price growth is picking up the pace, some experts say. Moreover, inflation risks have surged due to the drought. According to the Economic Development Ministry's estimates, inflation could reach 7% against 8.8% last year.
RBC Daily
Kremlin changes policy toward governors
The Kremlin is changing its policy toward governors. From now on, if a governor fails to build a working relationship with local elites, he will face dismissal. The new model has already been tested on Kaliningrad Region Governor Georgy Boos. The head of the Altai Territory and several other regional leaders may soon face similar sanctions.
A source close to the Presidential Executive Office told RBC Daily that if Governor of the Altai Territory Alexander Karlin fails to settle the high-profile conflict with former Barnaul Mayor Vladimir Kolganov, who was sacked by the governor, he can expect to be fired in the fall. The United Russia party is faced with a similar situation in Volgograd, Murmansk, and Yekaterinburg.
The Barnaul mayor was fired by the governor two weeks ago. The decision has triggered a media war in the region. The mayor filed a lawsuit and the regional members of parliament refused to approve the governor's decision, threatening to resign and quit United Russia.
The court hearing had been scheduled for yesterday but was postponed once again. The reason for the delay is believed to be the court's inability to decide whose side they should take in the conflict. The source close to the Presidential Executive Office says that Governor Karlin is being actively encouraged to resolve the issue.
Several other governors affiliated with United Russia have tried to fire mayors that had fallen out of favor with them. In Murmansk, the sacked Mayor Sergei Subbotin is continuing his legal action against the governor. Volgograd Mayor Roman Grebennikov was fired under similar circumstances, causing the United Russia federal leadership to intervene.
Conflicts in the regions indicate that the Kremlin's attempts to amend the governor appointment system by extending the list of people who can put forward a governor's candidacy have failed, says Alexander Kynev, regional programs director at the Foundation for Information Policy Development.
The involvement of other people, in addition to the presidential envoys, in the governor appointment process, has only exacerbated the political tension in the regions. As a result, the regional leaders not only have to rely on their lobbyists in the federal center, but also have to take into account the views of the local stakeholders. "The appointed governors do not need to have public opinion support, but they have to take into account the regional elites and those who lobbied their appointment at the top, Kynev says.
Vzglyad
Albania could join South Stream project
Countries neighboring Albania have said they could build an offshoot from the planned South Stream gas pipeline to the Albanian port of Vlore. But analysts think Albania lacks promise as a potential transit country because of its internal political instability.
Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha said without elaborating that neighboring countries could build a branch from the South Stream gas pipeline to Vlore.
Berisha is reportedly on good terms with his Italian counterpart, Silvio Berlusconi, and welcomes Italian companies' involvement in Albanian energy projects.
South Stream is a joint project between Russian energy giant Gazprom and Italy's Eni estimated at 10 billion euros. It will deliver Russian natural gas to Europe through a route charted along the bed of the Black Sea, bypassing Ukraine.
Russia has signed intergovernmental agreements with Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Greece, Slovenia, Croatia and Austria on the implementation of the onshore part of the project.
The European Union is considering a rival project, Nabucco, in order to reduce its dependence on Russian gas. However, Nabucco will not reach Albania or its closest neighbors, Serbia and Montenegro, or Macedonia and Greece.
Europe's main gas pipelines bypass Albania, even though it is favorably located between eastern and western Europe. It could get gas in 2012 from the proposed Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which will transport natural gas from the Caspian and Middle East regions via Greece, Albania, across the Adriatic Sea to Italy and on to Western Europe.
Albania is not vital to the South Stream project, said Alexander Kurdin, an analyst with the Institute for Energy and Finance think tank. It should import gas to ensure better economic development but has no future as a transit country because of its internal political instability. However, the pipeline could cross Albania to help ensure the diversification of gas supply routes.
Viktor Markov, chief analyst at the investment company Zerich Capital Management, said: "The EU's energy policy is based on a simple premise: The more pipelines, the better for consumers because competition between suppliers should push gas prices down."
Therefore, alternative gas pipelines and transportation routes will always be on the agenda.
"Given this policy, transit countries are likely to sign up to several projects simultaneously to make sure they get their fair share of the profits," Markov said.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta
Dmitry Medvedev urges schools to increase focus on patriotic education
Educational institutions across the country are currently preparing for "Lessons in Courage." This class will be taught to tenth and eleventh graders in every school in Russia on September 1 which is Knowledge Day, spokesperson for the Voluntary Society for Cooperation with the Army, Air Force and Navy (DOSAAF) Alina Khorosheva told the newspaper.
Under a new program of preparing young people for military service, she said, these classes will be given each year.
In the past, lessons like this have been organized before military holidays such as Defender of the Fatherland Day or Victory Day. But, as the DOSAAF said, following a request by President Dmitry Medvedev that patriotic education be stepped up, Lessons in Courage will be taught on Knowledge Day.
According to Khorosheva, the DOSAAF resolution and accompanying Ministry of Education and Science directive were dispatched with teaching guides to regional administrators responsible for education over two weeks ago. Veterans, military leaders and famous athletes are expected to be involved in the lessons.
"Educating young people about examples of courage and bravery and instilling in them the readiness to defend their Fatherland is what our general education schools lack. Many veterans from our organization are preparing to appear at these Lessons in Courage, and that is quite right. But the main thing is that these words are followed by deeds, with pre-military training becoming mandatory in every school and with war veterans contributing to it," believes Alexander Kanshin, head of the National Association of Armed Forces' Reserve Officers.
The DOSAAF press service reported that this is exactly how the country's leadership views their objective. Very soon it will sign agreements along these lines with the Ministry of Education and Science and with many public associations of veterans.
"I am categorically opposed to the militarization of education. Making military training compulsory in schools, that is to say, teaching them to be not only courageous, but also aggressive and ready to defend the Fatherland, to engage in combat and to kill, runs counter to the Convention on the Rights of the Child," said Valentina Melnikova, executive secretary of the Union of Soldiers' Mothers Committees.
Lt. Col. (Ret.) Alexander Ovchinnikov, who served in the Army for 30 years, believes that it is not the state's job to cultivate love for the country. According to him, parents and the Church should be responsible for this patriotic education.
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MOSCOW, August 27 (RIA Novosti)
