Translated material
Fourth issue
**President of the Russian Federation and his administration**
Russian President Vladimir Putin , who is in France, held talks with French President J. Chirac on a number of international and bilateral issues.
**Government of the Russian Federation**
The Government of the Russian Federation instructed the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) to take additional measures of antimonopoly regulation in order to prevent an unreasonable increase in prices for petroleum products.
By the third quarter of 2005, the government of the Russian Federation will prepare proposals for improving tax legislation regarding the mineral extraction tax, taking into account the transition to contractual relations in subsoil use.
**Federal Assembly**
A break has been announced in the work of the State Duma - from March 21 to 27, deputies are leaving for their constituencies. The next meeting of the Duma Council will take place on March 29, and on March 30 there will be a plenary meeting.
**Accounts Chamber**
The Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation sent materials on four cases to the Prosecutor General's Office based on the results of an audit of privatization over the past 10 years, said the head of the control agency S. Stepashin . He explained that in general, over the past ten years, based on the results of privatization, about 40 cases were sent to the Prosecutor General’s Office. S. Stepashin clarified that in April he will present a full report on the results of privatization to the State Duma, and if parliamentarians deem it necessary, the report will be completely transferred to the Prosecutor General's Office.
* * * As the Accounts Chamber clarified, among the violators NPO Geophysics OJSC , are Murmansk Shipping , OJSC Aviastor Company .
**Regional news**
The governor of the Saratov region D. Ayatskov did not rule out that he would come to work in Belarus in the near future. “I am ready to carry out the tasks here that the head of state will set for me, having agreed on them with President Lukashenko,” said D. Ayatskov. At the same time, he refused to specify exactly what position he would work in: “The decision is made by the President of Russia. What decision he will make, you will read in the decree.”
**Political parties and movements**
, Vice-Speaker of the State Duma of the Russian Federation from the United Russia faction, noted that “one cannot exclude the possibility that some political niches will be filled due to the fact that some other political project O. Morozov will grow out of United Russia.” “This will only be possible when it becomes clear that there is no one in this niche.” However, the possibility of some part separating from United Russia is not a question of 2007. In the distant future, “some part of the party will move to the right flank.” However, this is only possible if the current right does not unite in the near future. It is also possible that United Russia will offer its own social democratic alternative. “We are too big a party and, while remaining a party of the political center, today we are forced to solve problems that the left and right political forces cannot solve.”
**Scandals and incidents. Gossip**
The investigation into the assassination attempt on the head of RAO UES A. Chubais is pursuing several versions, including professional, domestic, and also an attempt motivated by revenge, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office reported. “Today, there is one detainee in the case. The necessary investigative actions are being carried out with him. In the interests of the investigation, information about his identity is not disclosed,” said a representative of the Prosecutor General’s Office.
* * * A source in law enforcement agencies reports that one of the colleagues of retired Colonel V. Kvachkov , who is suspected of involvement in the assassination attempt on A. Chubais, has been put on the wanted list .
London's Bow Street Magistrates' Court has refused to extradite two UK-based Yukos employees under . 2003 the Extradition Act Employees of the Yukos Oil Company - N. Chernysheva and D. Maruev - were suspected of fraud and financial fraud, on the basis of which the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation previously appealed to the British authorities with a request for their extradition.
The Tverskoy Court of Moscow satisfied two claims by the president of the INTECO company , E. Baturina, against the Kommersant newspaper . The court found the information disseminated by the publication to be untrue, discrediting the honor and dignity of E. Baturina, and ordered the newspaper’s editors to publish a refutation.
**Resignations and appointments**
Vladimir Nosov has been appointed prosecutor of Kaluga. Senior Justice Adviser Vladimir Ershov has been relieved of his post as prosecutor of the city of Kaluga due to his retirement. The corresponding orders were signed by the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation.
Chairman of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation S. Stepashin signed an order appointing Sergei Shokhin as director of the state scientific institution “State Research Institute for System Analysis of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation,” the information and public relations department of the control agency reported. Previously, S. Shokhin held the position of auditor of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation and resigned these powers.
**Economic News**
A source in the Cabinet of Ministers reports that the Russian government has abandoned the idea of introducing a competitive scheme for selecting sellers of state property. “It was decided to leave the functions of the seller of state property to the Russian Federal Property Fund and its divisions, without using any other mechanisms, be it attracting exchange platforms, investment companies or electronic trading,” the source said. “At the same time, such advantages of the RFBR as professionalism and a developed territorial network were taken into account,” he explained. Also, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and the Russian Federal Property Fund were instructed in the fund’s charter to work out the issue regarding the timing of the transfer by the Federal Property Management Agency of the state blocks of the Russian Federal Property Fund selected for sale. “It is natural that the right to own the packages put up for sale will be transferred to the Russian Federal Property Fund; the question is in what time frame they will be transferred,” the source noted.
The Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation have approved a list of subsoil plots for which auctions will be held in 2005, the press service of the Ministry of Natural Resources reported. According to the list, it is planned to put up for auction 180 subsoil areas with hydrocarbon raw materials, including four objects on the continental shelf, and 38 areas with solid minerals.
* * * The auction for the Udokan copper deposit will take place in November 2005, according to the updated list of subsoil areas for which auctions will be held in 2005. The list was signed by the head of the Ministry of Natural Resources Yu. Trutnev and the head of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade G. Gref .
* * * The Sukhoi Log gold deposit was not included in the list of subsoil areas for which auctions will be held in 2005. At the same time, the document notes that changes and additions may be made to the list during the year.
The head of the Ministry of Economic Development G. Gref , speaking at a briefing following the meeting of the Russian-Finnish intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation, noted that
...the growth of industrial production in the Russian Federation, cleared of seasonal and calendar components, in February 2005, according to the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, amounted to 0.2% compared to January. He explained that we are talking about indicators of industrial production growth, cleared of seasonal and calendar factors. According to him, “this is a small increase in industrial production.”
...under an optimistic scenario, inflation in the Russian Federation in 2005 may remain within 8.5%, but most likely it will be in the range of 8.5-10%. "Everything will depend on the summer months." At the same time, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, together with the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, submitted a proposal to the government to curb inflation. This package of measures includes proposals on antimonopoly policy and tariff regulation, etc. The Ministry of Economic Development and Trade is also considering proposals to reduce duties on beef and pork imported in excess of quotas.
...Next week the Ministry of Economic Development will submit to the government an adjusted forecast of the main macroeconomic indicators for 2005, which is associated with a clarification of the oil price forecast. The minister also noted that by next Wednesday his department plans to submit to the government two main versions of the scenario conditions for the socio-economic development of the Russian Federation for 2005-2008, which are necessary for preparing the budget for the next year and for developing a three-year financial plan.
Stable business rules and predictability of regulation and enforcement are the most important conditions for achieving the goals of the financial market development strategy prepared by the Federal Service for Financial Markets (FSFM), says the text of the strategy, which was submitted to the Russian government. As the document emphasizes, creating a favorable investment climate is a complex task in which all government bodies must participate. “Creating an atmosphere of trust requires mutual efforts of business and government. The state requires, first of all, a clear formulation of the national goals of economic policy and ways to achieve them, clear and understandable to all participants in the “rules of the game” in the economic space,” the strategy notes. At the same time, business requires an awareness of the benefits of a synchronized rejection of uncivilized forms of doing business through the adoption of standards and mutual agreements within associations and self-regulatory organizations on current issues, such as the rejection of odious schemes for optimizing tax payments, bribery of law enforcement and supervisory authorities and officials.
**Banking news**
The Board of Directors of the World Bank (WB) will make a decision on the candidacy of P. Wolfowitz for the post of President of the Bank by the end of March, the WB said in a statement. Currently, the managing directors of the World Bank who are members of the Board of Directors are holding consultations with the leadership of their countries on this candidacy.
**Company news**
The first meeting of the joint general working group OJSC Gazprom of and the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), created in accordance with the decision of the joint coordinating committee of the two companies to conduct practical work on the implementation of the strategic cooperation agreement, took place. During the meeting, the parties agreed on the group's work plan for 2005. To intensify information exchange between the two companies and in accordance with the agreement on strategic cooperation, the co-chairs of the coordinating committee - Deputy Chairman of the Board of Gazprom A. Ananenkov and Senior Vice President of CNPC Ch. Jiping - signed a confidentiality agreement.
**Event announcement**
March 19
- Russian President V. Putin will visit Ukraine on a working visit, during which negotiations with Ukrainian President V. Yushchenko and meetings with other representatives of the Ukrainian leadership are planned.
- a conference of the Moscow city branch of the Russian Party of Life will take place .
March 20
- elections to the legislative assemblies of the Voronezh, Ryazan and Vladimir regions will be held.
- a number of municipal elections will be held in the Chelyabinsk region, including mayors of cities such as Chelyabinsk and Magnitogorsk.
- elections of deputies to the City Duma of Novocherkassk (Rostov region) and Yekaterinburg will be held.
March 21
- a press conference will be held by the Chairman of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation S. Stepashin on the topic “The Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation as a body of state financial control.”
- a press conference will be held by the head of the Russian Party of Life S. Mironov , the head of the Russian Party of Self-Government of Workers L. Chakhmakhchyan and the leader of the Political Party " SLON " V. Igrunov , dedicated to the signing of agreements on political unions.
- a round table meeting will be held on the topic “United Actions for Freedom and Justice,” in which State Duma deputies S. Glazyev , V. Ryzhkov , O. Shein and others will take part.
- The 3rd All-Russian Energy Forum “Russian Fuel and Energy Complex in the 21st Century” opens at the State Kremlin Palace.
**Birthdays**
March 19 - Gaidar Egor Timurovich (1956), director of the Institute for the Economy in Transition, was born.
- born Leontyev Valery Yakovlevich (1949), Russian pop singer, People's Artist of Russia.
- born Makhachev Gadzhi Nukhievich (1951), first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Affairs of Public Associations and Religious Organizations.
- (1950), Russian singer, People's Artist of Russia, was born 55 years ago Nadezhda Georgievna Babkina .
March 20 - Alexander Semenovich Davydov (1932), deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Affairs of Public Associations and Religious Organizations, was born.
March 21 - 55 years ago , Sergei Viktorovich Lavrov (1950), Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, was born.
- Alexander Vasilievich Savelyev (1954), Chairman of the Board of OJSC Bank St. Petersburg, was born.
- born Oleg Vasilyevich Shein (1972), Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Labor and Social Policy.
Read about further developments in the next issue of the Monitor on Monday at 10 o’clock.