Russian Press at a Glance, Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Monday’s blast in Russia’s largest airport, which left more than 30 people dead and some 100 injured, was on the front pages of Russian newspapers on Tuesday.

“It seems that the authorities fell into the same trap again - while stepping up anti-terrorism efforts in the North Caucasus they forget that a bomb may go off in any Russian region.”
(Nezavisimaya Gazeta)

“After the terrorist attack in Domodedovo, President Dmitry Medvedev questioned proper enforcement of transport security laws.”
(Rossiiskaya Gazeta)

“Yesterday, after visiting Domodedovo shortly after the blast, our correspondent found out that there were no complex [security] measures at all. Entrance checks by metal detectors and X-rays began only after the terrorist attack. But it resulted in such lines that many forced their way in without being checked. All in all, nothing prevented another terrorist to blow up his suicide belt in the crowd in Domodedovo again.”
(Kommersant)

“Investigators had linked the men to two suspected female suicide bombers, one of whom died in a largely unnoticed blast in a Moscow sports club on December 31. No one but the woman died in the explosion. The second woman, a 24-year-old native of Chechnya, was arrested earlier this month in Volgograd on suspicion of illegally transporting explosives.”
(The Moscow Times)

“As far as terrorist activity statistics is concerned, Russia is approaching countries like Iraq. Though there is still a long way to go to be compared with Iraq or Afghanistan, our terrorist attack death toll nears those of Thailand, Colombia and Sudan (according to annual reports by the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center)”
(Vedomosti)

POLITICS

After meeting Russia’s permanent envoy to NATO, President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia will have to deploy a nuclear missile grouping on its western borders if NATO rejects Russia’s proposals on building a European missile defense system. The unusually harsh statement is apparently due to the fact, that discussions on the issue between NATO members have taken the wrong turn, as Kommersant found out
(Kommersant)

ECONOMY

The Russian industrial sector posted an 8.2% growth in 2010. The trend is to continue this year, and may compensate for the recession of the crisis period quite soon, but the growth rate will slow down significantly
(Vedomosti)

OIL & GAS

Gazprom CEO and board chairman Alexei Miller, whose job contract expires in May, is likely to stay for a third term
(Vedomosti)

The unprecedented deal between the Russian and British oil giants Rosneft and BP, who set up a joint venture to develop oil and gas fields in the Russian Arctic, leaves a question: Are specialists necessary for the ambitious project available on the Russian labor market?
(Vedomosti)

Russia's largest private oil company LUKoil became the second Russian company which received permission from Ukraine to develop oil and gas fields on the country’s Black Sea shelf. Though some issues remain, LUKoil is most likely to start its Ukrainian projects even before Gazprom, experts say
(Nezavisimaya Gazeta)

VEHICLES & ENGINEERING

Mazda plans to begin assembling its cars in Primorye, the region's government announced, making it the first foreign car manufacturer to start a production facility after the crisis
(The Moscow Times)

REAL ESTATE

Gazprom, who had to drop plans to build a 400-meter skyscraper in St. Petersburg’s historic center, announced that it would sell the plot of land where the construction was planned
(Vedomosti, Kommersant, Nezavisimaya Gazeta)

BANKING & FINANCE

The government wants the country’s smallest banks to raise their capital to at least 300 million rubles, or $10 million, by 2015 and is looking to increase competition among lenders, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said.
(The Moscow Times)

CONSUMER

Chocolate makers all over the world expect prices to rise as a ban was imposed on exports from Cote d'Ivoire, the world’s largest cocoa producer
(Vedomosti)

DEFENSE

French President Nicolas Sarkozy will visit the STX shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France, and along with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin will attend the ceremony to sign an intergovernmental agreement to build two Mistral-class helicopter carriers jointly
(Vedomosti, Nezavisimaya Gazeta)

SOCIETY

Russian investigators said Monday they had dropped charges against Yevgeny Chichvarkin, the former CEO of cell phone retailer Euroset. Russia had sought his extradition on charges of kidnapping and blackmail since he fled to Britain in 2008. Chichvarkin, however, is still reluctant to return to Russia as he fears that smuggling charges could be brought against him as part of a 2005 criminal case
(Kommersant, The Moscow Times, Nezavisimaya Gazeta)

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