Vedomosti
Vote padding alleged in recent elections
The opposition has rejected the results of regional elections held across Russia on March 13, accusing the authorities of falsifying the figures.
According to observers from the A Just Russia party, 238 people voted for United Russia, 77 for the KPRF, 41 for A Just Russia, 84 for the LDPR and 8 for Patriots of Russia at Constituency No. 472 in the Ust-Vym District of the Komi Republic when they went to the polls to elect city council deputies. These figures are recorded in official records approved after the votes were counted. But the official results issued by the state election system show an entirely different picture: United Russia got 415 votes, KPRF only 17, and the remaining parties got just one vote each. As a result, United Russia’s percentage rose from 52.3% to 91%.
“In this constituency, A Just Russia supporters were robbed of 95% of the votes,” protested Oleg Mikheyev, who runs the party headquarters. He said the party was stripped of its votes in this way at at least one other constituency. A Just Russia has filed complaints with the republic’s election committee and is determined to challenge the results.
Currently, returns reported by observers and in official records are being compared in several other regions and early findings are pointing to similar discrepancies in Nizhny Novgorod, Mikheyev said.Complaints have been received, and are being followed up, said Natalya Makarova, head of the republic’s election commission staff.
Andrei Samodelkin, head of the United Russia executive committee in Komi, says that the party has no intention of meddling in the work of the territorial election commission. He puts the complaints from A Just Russia down to the fact that it has a strong following at Ust-Vym and the defeat there is particularly painful for them.
“It often happens that territorial commissions refuse to accept the records submitted by a constituency commission because their figures do not tally,” he explains. “Everything has to be counted all over again. And while commission members sit and wait for the chairman to come back from the territorial commission with endorsed records, observers are usually long gone by then and take no part in updating the figures.”
The direct misreporting of election returns in final statements is one of the crudest forms of falsifying election results, says Andrei Buzin, a leading expert at the Golos association, which monitor’s elections. As a rule, it is used when more subtle manipulation methods, such as offering canvassing advantages to a rival or denial of registration, fail to have an effect.
The worse the ruling party’s showing, the greater the temptation for vote padding, says political analyst Mikhail Tulsky. At the current elections, he notes, United Russia won 40% of votes in most regions, while in the Komi Republic the figure is 50.5%.
Kommersant
Rosneft-CNPC conflict threatens Russia’s largest oil supply deal
Conflict has flared between Russia’s Rosneft and the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) over the price of Russian oil supplied under the 2009 contract, a source close to Rosneft said.
The dispute, which could go to court unless resolved at corporate level, jeopardizes a major intergovernmental oil deal signed in February 2009 when China agreed to lend $25 billion to Rosneft and pipeline monopoly Transneft in exchange for long-term oil supplies. Rosneft used the funds to refinance debt and fund its investment program, while Transneft completed the pipeline link to China and used the remaining cash for current operations.
Rosneft believes China unilaterally cut the price of the crude supplied, causing the state oil producer a shortfall of $40 million in January, the source said. Russia supplied 1.25 million tons of crude to China in January under the contract.
The 20-year contract includes a pricing formula which the partners have not disclosed. However, it is estimated that China is paying $60 per barrel for Russian crude, while lower-quality Urals oil traded at $111.3 on Thursday.
The price China has to pay includes the oil transportation fee via the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline, about $63 per metric ton to the Kozmino terminal. Yet, the Chinese company believes it should be charged less because the oil is only shipped as far as Skovorodino where the link to China branches off. The partners clashed over the issue even before the contract was signed, a source added.
Rosneft and CNPC have been trying to resolve the conflict since last week. Rosneft president Eduard Khudainatov confirmed they were in talks. If they fail to come to terms over the next month, the two governments may have to intervene. The issue may even be raised during President Dmitry Medvedev’s talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao during the upcoming BRIC summit.
Rosneft said it is prepared to see the issue go to court. Any dispute arising under its contract with CNPC would be resolved in London, a source close to the company said.
Both CNPC and Transneft declined to comment on the conflict. Rosneft’s PR office assured the media that “company policy is to follow established procedure to resolve any operational issues that might arise.”
Valery Nesterov from Troika Dialog said the conflict was a mere technicality in the partners’ relations because both Rosneft and CNPC are equally interested in stable oil supplies. The ESPO branch carrying oil to China has already been built and, more importantly, the Chinese company made a considerable financial contribution to its construction, so any disruption to supplies would not be in China’s interests. He also said that China planned to raise oil imports via ESPO to 30 million tons, buying part of that volume at the Kozmino terminal.
Alexei Kokin from Uralsib said China could save over $460 million a year if it wins the case, but Russia is unlikely to agree to that.
Izvestia
Russian Orthodox Church to be built near Eiffel Tower
The winners of an architectural competition to design the main Russian Orthodox church in Paris and a Russian Orthodox religious and cultural center on the Quai Branly have been announced. A jury voted for a joint project comprising Russian and French architects.
At a news conference at the Russian Embassy, Vladimir Kozhin, head of the Administrative Directorate of the Russian President, announced the final outcome of the international competition on behalf of the jury. Ten candidates made it through to the final round. Starting on December 10, the jury comprised of 15 Russian and French experts carefully examined their designs. It was a difficult task to find a design that incorporated Russian stylistic elements into the existing urban architecture of central Paris.
The Russian diaspora, the French public, and even the Internet community were invited to discuss models of the proposed churches, which were exhibited at the Embassy. Both countries’ leaders also reviewed the designs and voiced their preferences. Deliberations came to a close yesterday when a Russian-French project by the Manuel Nunez-Yanowsky Society of Architects and Developers (France) and Moscow's Arch Group was declared the winner. A jubilant Manuel Nunez-Yanowsky unveiled his model, displaying it for the assembled media. His version of the Orthodox complex fuses a traditional multi-spired Russian church with a sleek glass design enveloping almost the entire structure, except for the five onion-shaped domes on top. The design’s modern technological solutions include solar panels built into the transparent glass roof.
Kozhin said that the winning architects will start work on the project on March 19, but could not say when construction is slated to end. On-site work is planned to start early next year.
A glass dome design from Vilmot and Partners (France) and Mosproyekt-2 (Russia) was the runner-up. The third place went to French architect Frederic Borel, who proposed to build a church shaped like snow-white flower petals.
“The main disputes in the deliberations were between the supporters of revolutionary forms unrelated to the Orthodox tradition, and those who preferred more conventional concepts inherent in Russian church-building,” said head of the diplomatic mission of the Moscow Patriarchate and jury member Archbishop Mark of Yegoryevsk. “The latter won out. In my opinion, the winning project excels at blending Russian architectural tradition with modern design and technology. Since our religious and cultural center should be popular with visitors, the sight recognition of the Russian architectural ensemble plays an important role. The church and churchyard have every chance of becoming a Paris landmark.”
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