| The leaders of Russia, Germany and France paid tribute to resort diplomacy Yesterday, at his Bocharov Ruchey residence in Sochi, Vladimir Putin nevertheless met with German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and French President Jacques Chirac. Although Mr Chirac was a day late due to the French hostage crisis in Iraq. Although for each of the leaders of the three countries, internal problems are now more important than foreign policy ones.
Russia, France and Germany last year unanimously opposed the US invasion of Iraq, believing the war could lead to a surge in extremism in the region. Now these fears have been fully confirmed. Mr Chirac was even forced to postpone his visit to Russia for a day due to the capture of two French journalists by Muslim extremists in Iraq. True, France became the first country to which Islamic terrorists began to make demands that were not related to the Iraq war itself, and actually interfered in its internal affairs.
Vladimir Putin confirmed during the meeting that Russia is concerned not only about the war in Iraq, but also about Iran’s nuclear program, and is also “categorically against the expansion of the club of nuclear states, including by including Iran in it.” At the same time, Russia will continue to cooperate with Iran in many areas “transparently and persistently.” As you know, Russia is accused of technological assistance to Iran’s nuclear program, but this is done by the United States, not France and Germany.
However, the leaders of Germany and France were more concerned about the continuity of oil supplies to the world market. Vladimir Putin assured them that “all Russian companies, without exception, will continue to increase oil production and exports to world markets.” This is true: Russian oil holdings plan to increase production by 6-20% by the end of this year. The statement by the Russian head of state was very encouraging to German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who stressed that Russia's decision to increase oil production and exports is "very important."
In addition, according to assistant to the Russian President Sergei Prikhodko, the topic of the situation of the Russian-speaking population in Latvia and Estonia was raised at the negotiations. It is noteworthy that the topic of compliance with European standards in relation to national minorities in the Baltic countries was raised, according to Mr. Prikhodko, “not by the Russian side, but by our guests.”
After the official part, the heads of state spoke to reporters. True, they spoke little about the content of their “no-ties” negotiations. The French President, for example, thanked Gerhard Schröder and Vladimir Putin “for their unconditional support” for France’s position during the Iraq hostage crisis and declined to comment further.
According to the Russian president, “the terrorist threat, despite the increasingly systematic and persistent efforts of the international community, is not getting smaller.” Vladimir Putin said: “The latest events in Iraq and other regions of the world confirm that this threat concerns almost all countries of the world. To effectively counter it, we must join forces.” For Russia, he said, “the connection between destructive elements in Chechnya and international terrorism” was once again confirmed, since one of the organizations associated with al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the explosions on Russian planes that occurred on August 24. The President also said yesterday that a final conclusion on the causes of the plane crashes has not yet been made and Russian special services will continue to clarify all the circumstances of the tragedy. It is clear that in the current situation, Russia’s involvement in the international anti-terrorist coalition is practically its only trump card in foreign policy and the opportunity to receive indulgence from the West in domestic policy.
The heads of France and Germany - which was very important for Putin - approved the presidential elections in Chechnya. Jacques Chirac assured his Russian friend that Paris “has no grounds to challenge the results of the presidential elections in Chechnya,” and Gerhard Schröder expressed hope that the new president of Chechnya “will become an interlocutor of those who contribute to the political solution” of the Chechen problem.
The Russian president believes that the elections in Chechnya were held “in strict accordance with Russian and Chechen laws” and reaffirmed the conscious choice of the Chechen people in favor of development within Russia. Putin claims that he “did not hear a single serious person who observed the elections and could question their results.” The President thus made an important caveat, because "serious" people from those who did not "observe the elections" on the spot - State Department press secretary Richard Boucher cannot be called "not serious" - questioned their results. And numerous observers, including from Muslim countries, “did not record any serious violations during the voting.” According to the Russian leader, “no one can force people to the polling stations” by force “by the collar and by the hair.”
In general, the heads of the three states parted yesterday satisfied with each other and their contribution to the “favorable development of the international situation.” After all, as French President Jacques Chirac rightly noted, despite “different assessments,” the troika “always comes to a common opinion,” which, of course, contributes to “stability throughout the world.”
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YUKOS intended to produce 90 million tons of oil this year, which is 11.4% more than last year. The company expected to become the leader of the Russian oil industry in terms of volumes of raw materials produced, finally overtaking its long-time rival LUKOIL. However, the development of the tax case adjusted the company's plans. Just a week ago, the holding reported that the need to pay the state $3.4 billion forced YUKOS to reconsider its business plan and reduce capital investments by $700 million. The result will be a reduction in planned production from 90 to 86 million tons, which is 6% more than last year.
LUKOIL's production in 2003 amounted to 81.5 million tons of oil, and this year it plans to increase this figure by 6-7%, to 86.2-87 million tons, “depending on the availability of accessible and efficient transport capacities” . In the first half of the year, the company produced 42.15 million tons of oil, which is 8.4% more than in the first half of 2003.
Sibneft's production growth rate is much higher. Last year it produced 31.45 million tons of oil, increasing the volume of raw materials received by 19.4% compared to 2002. This year the company plans to maintain production growth at 20%, which will give a final result of almost 38 million tons of oil.
In 2003, TNK-BP increased production by 13.8%, bringing it to 63.8 million tons. Based on the results of the first quarter, it was announced that “the production volumes of TNK-BP, excluding Slavneft, are in line with plans and provide a target annual growth rate of 12%.”
State-owned Rosneft produced 19.6 million tons of oil in 2003. This year, production growth is planned at 12-13%, up to 22 million tons of oil.
Surgutneftegaz produced 54 million tons of oil in 2003, which is 10% more than in 2002. Oil production for the seven months of this year by the holding reached 33.9 million tons compared to 30.6 million tons for the same period in 2003. Thus, the increase in oil production was about 10.6%.
In total, about 415 million tons of oil were produced in Russia last year. It is expected that this year this figure will reach 450 million tons, that is, production growth for the industry as a whole will be about 10%. Igor GLANIN, Sochi, |
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