Russian Press - Behind the Headlines, August 18

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Russian Press - Behind the Headlines - Sputnik International
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Ukraine forces Gazprom to reconsider gas prices \ Vladimir Putin visits MAKS-2011 air show \ Russians miss the primaries

Moskovsky Komsomolets

Ukraine forces Gazprom to reconsider gas prices

Gazprom will have to compromise on Ukraine’s natural gas bill because Ukraine’s pipes are Russia’s only option for distributing gas to the lucrative European market.

Although the two countries’ leaders failed to reach an agreement in Sochi, analysts do not believe either country is willing to stir up tensions. Ukraine has firmly rejected the “Belarusian scenario,” which involved taking over the Belarusian gas transport company while applying an “integrative decrease adjustment” to the cost of Russian gas. Ukraine simply will not give up control of its key asset: the Russia to Europe gas pipeline system. Russia is faced with a difficult choice because it currently has no alternative routes for gas supply to this region.

Ukraine also avoided joining the Customs Union or agreeing to merge the assets of Gazprom and Naftogaz.

Former Naftogaz spokesman Valentyn Zemlyansky believes Ukraine will not stop short of petitioning the Stockholm Arbitration Tribunal for a revision to its gas contract with Russia. The oil market has been inconsistent since the beginning of the year. Oil price fluctuations are good enough grounds for Ukraine to contest its contract with Gazprom in an international court, he said, adding that international arbitration is the last thing Russia needs right now. European Corporate lawsuits have already knocked the value of Gazprom stock down.

Ukraine currently enjoys a 30 percent discount on the contract price of Russian gas, although it is limited to $100 per 1,000 cu m. With this discount, Ukraine’s gas bill could reach $400 per 1,000 cu m in the fourth quarter of 2011. At the same time, Germany’s bill is almost the same, while logically, it should be higher due to higher transportation costs, given the respective geographic positions of Germany and Ukraine. This is motivation enough for Ukraine to demand a 30-40 percent cost reduction relative to Germany’s price.

Germany, in turn, is also making noise about a price reduction based on the growing competition in the European gas market.


Nezavisimaya Gazeta

Vladimir Putin visits MAKS-2011 air show

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited MAKS-2011, the tenth MAKS aerospace exhibition, being held this week. About 800 companies from 40 countries showed up to present aircraft and weapons at Zhukovsky Airfield near Moscow. Overall, $10-billion worth of contracts are expected to be signed.

Indeed, on opening day, Indonesia’s Sky Aviation signed a $380-million contract to buy 12 Sukhoi Superjet-100s for delivery in 2015. Nevertheless, in the almost two decades of existence, MAKS has failed to gain the status of Farnborough or Le Bourget, where the world’s aircraft manufacturers prefer to show off their new products.

Perhaps the single most important event at MAKS-2011 so far has been yesterday’s demonstration flight of Russia’s fifth generation T-50 jetfighter. This is the Russian defense industry’s latest piece of hi-tech hardware. Unlike the general public, Putin was given the opportunity to inspect the aircraft up close, presumably in an effort to prove to him that hundreds of millions of federal budget rubles have not been wasted.

Putin also visited other air show exhibits – Russia’s Superjet 100, the An-158 – a joint project between the Russian and Ukrainian aircraft industries, the European Airbus A380, and the American Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

During his visit, Putin confirmed that a world-class aircraft industry cluster would be created in Zhukovsky.

“We need a powerful intellectual development center,” Putin said. “We have decided to build a national center for aviation here in Zhukovsky, which will include leading research institutions, design offices, institutes and experimental plants.”

Putin added that the proposed facility would become the hub of Russia’s aircraft industry and would include all the necessary social and transportation infrastructure. He said he hopes that the new headquarters of Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation and other national aviation center facilities would be operational by the time the MAKS-2013 show starts.

Putin also set the bar for the Russian space industry in a speech yesterday. He said that Russia is among the top four spenders on space exploration and research programs to study the solar system. He said that the Russian aerospace industry is an absolute strategic priority and that the state will continue to support it.

“Despite the familiar difficulties in both the Russian and global economies during the downturn, we have not cut a single aerospace program,” Putin said. “Everything has been funded consistently and in full.”

Some experts are very critical of MAKS-2011.

“In terms of the space industry, this air show has nothing but mock-ups,” said Andrei Kislyakov, an independent expert on the space industry and weapons. “The T-50 is fundamentally flawed. The plane is, in a sense, empty. It has no new engine, avionics or weapons.”

Kislyakov doesn’t think MAKS could be compared with Farnborough or Le Bourget. According to him, MAKS is incapable of competing with those air shows, one of the reasons being that Le Bourget is held the same years as MAKS, diverting a considerable number of participants.


Kommersant

Russians miss the primaries

A top United Russia official on Wednesday described the party’s primaries as “the main political event of the summer.” But a survey conducted by the VTsIOM pollster found 93 percent of Russians were unaware of them, although the party persists in calling them a “popular show.” The People’s Front is not pleased, either.

Sergei Neverov, acting secretary of United Russia’s general council presidium, said on Wednesday: “The scale of the primaries has exceeded our boldest expectations.” He added, “United Russia has fulfilled its goal of defeating political apathy. People have put off their vacations to take part.”

Meanwhile, the poll conducted on August 6-7 by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) tells a different story. It shows that only three percent of those questioned knew what the primaries were about. Fourteen percent “have heard something about it but do not know the details.” As many as 79 percent have heard nothing about them.

What is more, the findings revealed that 93% of Russians do not understand what primaries are at all. Only 3 percent of respondents knew that they were conducted to choose candidates for the party’s ticket. Another 2 percent defined primaries as pre-elections and 1 percent believe they are the elections.

Despite this, Neverov is confident the United Russia primaries were “the main political event of the summer” and a “great success.” The party leadership does not seem concerned about 116 complaints registered during the primaries.

When Viktor Ishayev, the presidential envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District, spoke of doctored results in the Khabarovsk Territory, Neverov said that Ishayev had failed to read the rules on primaries. He said voters can move from one polling station to another and this is not a violation or rigging. He said candidate checklists can also be issued to voters on whom to support. This is not forbidden either, he added.

Deputy Prime Minister Vyacheslav Volodin, head of the People’s Front headquarters, also criticized the primaries during a United Russia conference call on Wednesday.

Regional party bosses got a dressing-down for “sneaking” people from the Forbes list onto the party ticket.

“If you have problems with money, write to Neverov, he will consider your application and cough up some cash,” a sarcastic Volodin was quoted as saying. Nor is he happy about the way the primaries were reported in the media. In his view, public opinion leaders and ordinary people should have been given publicity, not governors or party executives.

The party list, to be approved by a United Russia conference on September 23-24, will be drawn up by the Front’s federal coordination council. Regional lists approved by local conventions must be submitted to the center in Moscow by September 17. But party leader Vladimir Putin has the right to add or strike off candidates at will.

Some of those who ran in the primaries but failed to make it to the list will be offered “party posts.”

RIA Novosti is not responsible for the content of outside sources.

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