Year: 2008

RBC, 24.07.2008, Moscow 12:59:50.Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s proposal that Russia set up a military base in Venezuela, combined with information released this week on the possible deployment of Russian bombers in Cuba, may provoke an overly negative reaction from the US, the RBC Daily newspaper reported today. Washington may fail to understand the intricacies of Moscow’s diplomatic game, in which Russia seeks to receive an additional trump card in an attempt to decide in its favor the issue of the deployment of US missile shield elements in Eastern Europe.

RBC: Russia’s gold and foreign exchange reserves stood at $588.3 billion as of July 18, 2008, $10 billion, or 1.7 percent, more than a week before.

Over the previous two weeks, the reserves rose by $14.8 billion. From June 27 to July 18, they increased by $24.8 billion, or 4.4 percent.

The fast rise could be due both to the dollar’s depreciation against the euro and the Central Bank’s increased acquisition of foreign currency on Russia’s forex market, bringing the reserves to their highest level ever recorded.

From July 1, 2008, the Central Bank started assessing foreign securities in the reserves based on their market value. Earlier, the assessment was based on amortized value (purchase price plus interest). In doing this, the Central Bank has brought its reserve valuation system in line with international standards.

Currently, China has the largest gold and foreign currency reserves in the world, largely thanks to its huge trade surplus, fed by its growing exports to the United States.

Gold and foreign currency reserves are highly liquid financial assets controlled by the Central Bank and the Finance Ministry. They consist of monetary gold, special drawing rights, the reserve position in the International Monetary Fund, and foreign currency.
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RBC: Russia has responded to Washington’s plans to deploy a missile defense system in Eastern Europe. Russian bombers have landed in Cuba, Izvestia newspaper reported citing a source with Russia’s Defense Ministry. The planes made reconnaissance flights and inspected local airfield infrastructure. The return of Russian bombers to Cuba stirred panic in Washington.

Meanwhile, Russian defense officials believe that Tu-160 and Tu-95 strategic bombers could easily be sent not only to Cuba, but also to other locations in Latin America. Apparently, the move is Moscow’s response to the planned US missile shield in Eastern Europe.

The source stressed that reconnaissance flights did not mean that Russian strategic bombers flew to Venezuela and other countries in the region; a visit to an airfield by a transport aircraft is enough to get acquainted with an area.

The news unnerved US officials. Gen. Norton Schwartz, nominated for Chief of the Air Force, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Russia would be crossing “a red line” if it were to use Cuba as a refueling base for nuclear-capable bombers.

Responding to this warning, Gen. Anatoly Kornukov, former Russian Air Force Commander, said Russian bombers could use foreign airfields, including in Cuba, if governments did not object to this. “Though located very close to the US, they will present no danger whatsoever, just like the US missile defense system in the Czech Republic,” he was quoted as saying by Echo of Moscow radio.

Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro on Wednesday said Cuba did not have to explain or “ask forgiveness” about reports that Russia might use the Caribbean island as a refueling base for its bombers.

In August 2007, Russia made a decision to resume regular strategic flights to parts of the world remote from Russia, including US shores, and such flights require refueling bases along the way.

According to some reports, the Tu-160 and Tu-95 bombers have recently been modernized to carry the Kh-555, Russia’s new conventionally armed air-launched cruise missile with a flight range of over 3,500 km. It is believed that the Kh-555 cannot be intercepted by any existing defense missile system, nor by the missile shield developed by the United States.

RBC, 24.07.2008, Moscow 17:11:41.MegaFon has upgraded its capital investment forecast for 2008 from $1.7bn to $2bn, the Russian mobile service provider said in a statement today. Roughly $250m – $300m of this sum is to be invested in the construction of 3G networks. In 2007, the company invested more than $100m for that purpose.

Hello,

As you remember on Wednesdays we publish Stories from Soviet Childhood – my generation was brought up reading the stories, and generation of our parents was brought up on them and we tried to bring up our children by reading them good children book. Today we are finishing a story by Nikolay Nosov “The pistol”. If you did not read the first part please click at the little picture. To the right —->

The Pistol

(Part 2)

At that moment steps were heard outside and the door-bell rang. Marina and Ira ran to open the door. Sasha [boy’s name] poked his head into the passage and hissed after them: “Don’t let him in!”
But Marina [girls’s name] had already opened the door. Sure enough, there on the threshold stood a militiaman [policeman]. The brass buttons on his uniform fairly shone. Sasha dropped on to his hands and knees and crawled under the sofa.

“Is this Apartment No. 6?” he heard the militiaman ask.
“No,” said Ira. “This is No. 1, No. 6 is in the house next door. The one on the right.”
“Thanks,” said the militiaman.

Sasha heaved a sigh of relief and was about to climb out from under the sofa when the militiaman asked:
“By the way, is there a boy called Sasha in this flat?”
“Yes,” said Ira [girl’s name].
“He’s the one I want,” said the militiaman and walked straight into the room.

When the girls came in they saw that Sasha had disappeared. Marina peeped under the sofa but Sasha shook his head violently and signed to her not to give him away.

“Well, and where is that Sasha of yours?” asked the militiaman.
By this time the girls were a little frightened too and they didn’t know what to say.
Finally Marina said: “He . . . er, he isn’t home just now. He … er, he went out to play.”
“What do you want him for?” asked Ira. “Do you know anything about him?”
“I know all sorts of things,” said the militiaman. “I know that his name is Sasha. I also know that he had a brand-new toy pistol and that now he hasn’t got it.”

“He knows everything!” thought Sasha in horror.
He was so nervous that his nose began to itch and before he could stop himself he sneezed.

“Who’s that?” asked the militiaman in surprise.
“That’s our dog,” Marina said hastily.
“What is he doing under the sofa?”
“Oh, he always sleeps under the sofa,” Marina went on.
“Indeed? And what is his name?”
“Er .. . Bobik,” said Marina, turning red as a beet-root.
“Bobik! Bobik! Hallo there, Bobik!” called the militiaman and whistled. “Why doesn’t he come out, I wonder?” He whistled again. “Doesn’t want to. Funny dog. What breed did you say he was?”
“Er … he’s … er….” Marina couldn’t for the life of her remember the name of a single breed. “He’s a … what do you call it. A very good breed. . . , Oh, yes, a Doberman pinscher.”
“That’s a fine breed,” said the militiaman with a broad smile. “I know that breed very well. They have long hair all over their faces.”

He bent down and peered under the sofa. Sasha stared back at him, his eyes round with fright. The militiaman whistled again, this time with amazement.
“So that’s your Doberman pinscher! Hey there, young man, what are you doing under the sofa? Come out. You’re caught anyway.”

“I shan’t come out,” cried Sasha.
“Why not?”
“Because you’ll take me to the militia station.”
“What for?”
“For that old woman.”
“What old woman?”
“The one I frightened with my pistol.”
The militiaman raised his eyebrows. “Whatever is he talking about?”
“He was outside playing with his pistol and an old woman was passing just as he fired and she took fright,” Ira explained.

“This must be his property then?” said the militiaman, producing a shiny new pistol from his pocket.
“That’s his!” said Ira. “Marina and I bought it for him and he lost it. Where did you find it?”
“In the back yard near your door. Now what do you mean by frightening old women with a pistol, young man?” said the militiaman, bending down to Sasha who was still crouching under the sofa.

“I didn’t mean to.”
“You’re not telling the truth. I can see by your eyes. If you tell me the truth, I’ll give you back your pistol.”
“And you won’t take me to the militia station?”
“No.”

“I didn’t mean to scare her. I only wanted to see whether she would be scared or not.”
“Now that isn’t nice at all, young man. I really ought to lock you up for that, but since I promised, I won’t. But if I catch you doing anything like that again…. Come now, get out from under there and I’ll give you your pistol.”
“No, I’ll come out when you’ve gone.”
“You are a funny one,” laughed the militiaman. “All right, I’m going.”

He laid the pistol on the table and went out. Marina showed him to the door. Sasha climbed out from under the sofa, snatched up his beloved pistol and hugged it.

“Hurrah, my dear darling pistol. So you’ve come back to me after all. But how did the militiaman know my name, I wonder?”

“You wrote it yourself on the handle,” said Ira.
Just then Marina came back. She pounced on Sasha at once.
“You naughty boy! When I think of all the lies I had to tell that militiaman because of you I could nearly die with shame. The next time you get into a scrape like that, don’t expect me to protect you.”

“I shan’t get into any more scrapes,” said Sasha. “I’ll never frighten anyone again.”

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Previous stories:

ZIS

Cucumbers

THE CRUCIAN CARP

Mishka’s Porridge
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Best wishes and next Wednesday we will continue reading Stories from Soviet Childhood!

Svet

comments always welcome

Seems we have a pattern?

Hello,

I was drinking my morning cup of coffee and the issue of Condoleezza Rice keeps coming up. Looks like she is the new mouth for the USA.

Her latest threat was yesterday, it was printed that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gave Iran a two week deadline to curb its nuclear program…..

Rice wants “serious answer” from Iran

SHANNON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Iran on Monday that it faced more sanctions if it defied a two-week deadline to agree to curb its nuclear program.

Well Rice did not have to wait long for her threat to be answered…..

Iran’s president vows no retreat in nuclear row

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran will not “retreat one iota” over its disputed nuclear program, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday.

Condoleezza Rice got a serious answer. Now what is she going to do?

Go To War?

Kyle & Svet

Hello,

I printed a post not long ago about Russia: “Beware Russia is Growing While You Look The Other Way!” So while everyone is still worried about mole hills, Russia is building Mountains!
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BARVIKHA (Moscow Region), July 22 (RIA Novosti) – Russian energy companies have signed cooperation agreements with Venezuela’s state oil and gas company as part of an official visit by the South American country’s president to Russia.

Anglo-Russian oil venture TNK-BP and Venezuela’s PDVSA agreed on the joint exploration of the Ayacucho-2 area in the Orinoco oil belt in Venezuela. Russian state-run energy giant Gazprom signed a deal with the Venezuelan company on the appraisal and certification of the Ayacucho-3 oil fields.

LUKoil and PDVSA signed a memorandum of understanding and an agreement on joint exploration in the Junin-3 area, also in the Orinoco belt.

The documents were signed in the presence of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Venezuelan leader, Hugo Chavez.

Chavez told the Russian leader: “We are happy to be here, and this is an excellent opportunity to promote and improve our relations and open up new horizons.”

Medvedev said the Russian-Venezuelan talks would give “another powerful impetus” to bilateral relations.
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Looks like Russia Growing! What with major input into Africa, South America, China & many more. Russia is starting to prove that they are serious about their new Democracy. I am starting to understand that Russia looks at the world allot different than America…..

And it is not all Bad!

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

Hello,

While drinking my morning cup of coffee, I was thinking about some of the blogs that we read all the time.

The Silver People Chronicle: A blog about the history of the Panama Canal!

clarkspicks.com: A blog about classic music videos, you do not want to miss them!

Diary From England: A blog about life in England!

TESSELLAR > Blog: A blog about Architecture!

De Rebus Antiquis Et Novis: You want some Russian history?

My life in Bergen, a photoblog: A blog about Norway!

Пётр: A blog about what ever Peter wants to write about! Peter is a Russian in St. Pete.

ROTUS: We do not know what this blog is about! We just like going there and picking on the owner, Clark! 🙂

We read them because we like them.

Kyle & Svet

U.S. Outpaced Russia in June Inflation

from Kommersant

Russia says Zimbabwe talks show sanctions are not needed

RBC, 22.07.2008, Moscow 12:59:22.Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez has called for an expansion of Russian-Venezuelan relations in the oil industry, as well as for further military and technical cooperation, the Mayak radio station reported today. The two countries must become strategic partners in these areas, Chavez noted following his arrival in Moscow. Such a policy will guarantee Venezuela’s sovereignty, which is being threatened by the US, Chavez said. The Venezuelan President is set to hold talks with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev today. Military, technical, and economic bilateral relations are expected to be the key issues at the meeting.

RBC, 22.07.2008, Moscow 11:42:37.The Russian environmental watchdog Rostekhnadzor together with the pipeline giant Transneft’s management, and representatives of the academic community and ecological organizations have completed their assessment of the observance of environmental law in the designs for the second stretch of the Eastern Siberia – Pacific Ocean (ESPO-2) pipeline system. At a field meeting in Vladivostok, the city near which the second phase of the ESPO pipeline will be built, it has been found that the project’s design work was being carried out in complete compliance with environmental legislation, Rostekhnadzor’s press office reported.

RBC, 22.07.2008, Moscow 09:31:17.Russia has finalized its comments to the draft report of the working group for Russia’s accession to the WTO. As reported earlier, another round of consultations concerning Russia’s ascension to the WTO was held in Geneva from July 15 to 19. During the consultations, the Russian side met with a number of WTO members to settle particular issues touched upon in the draft working group report. After the talks, all the documents including Russia’s comments were filed to the WTO Secretariat to be incorporated into a new version of the report. In addition, Russia held informal consultations with concerned countries regarding Russia’s veterinary and phytosanitary measures, and export duty discussions were continued with EU member states.

RBC, 21.07.2008, Moscow 18:13:23.The rise in Russia’s sovereign rating is expected to make it easier for Russian companies to secure loans globally, and it will increase their capitalization, Alexei Kudrin, the Deputy PM and Finance Minister, said today, commenting on Moody’s recent decision to upgrade Russia’s rating from Baa2 to Baa1. Therefore, all three of the world’s leading agencies have ranked Russia fairly high, Kudrin noted, referring to Moody’s, Fitch Ratings, and Standard & Poor’s. The Minister noted that Russia has yet to climb another seven steps to achieve the highest rating possible, whereas it has already risen nine steps over the past few years. Kudrin reiterated that Moody’s decision was attributed to a favorable situation regarding Russia’s debt liabilities, as well as to the continuity of President Dmitry Medvedev’s policies.

RBC, 21.07.2008, Moscow 11:36:47.Retail sales grew 15.2 percent to just shy of RUB 6.237 trillion (approx. USD 268.95bn) in the first half of 2008 compared to the same period a year earlier, Russia’s Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) reported. In June, retail sales increased 13.8 percent to over RUB 1.128 trillion (approx. USD 48.64bn).

RBC, 21.07.2008, Moscow 15:27:46.The Russian government’s external debt, including that of the former Soviet Union which was acknowledged by Russia, decreased 8.6 percent to $41bn in the first half of 2008 compared to $44.9bn as of January 1, 2008, Russia’s Finance Ministry said in a report today. Debt to member states of the Paris Club fell 16 percent to $1.5bn as of July 1, while non-Paris Club debt shrank 9 percent to $2bn.

While the United Nations Security Council hears arguments from Georgia and Russia about the violation of Georgian airspace, on the territory of the breakaway republic of South Ossetia people die on the streets as a result of shelling, allegedly from over the Georgian border.

Now you know why Russia is involved. If Russia was not involved Georgia would have already attacked.

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

Hello,

I watched a heavyweight bought Saturday night. It was live on Russian TV. (The fight was live but one of the fighters was not!)

I have seen some poor fights in my time & this ranks in the top 10 worst fights…..

Russia’s Povetkin KOs American Bull

What I saw during the fight was one of two things: The America (Sykes) was either so out of shape and had a fragile glass jaw, or he threw the fight. (Took a dive!) Either way It was a joke and the Russian fighter (Povetkin) knew it. When the fight was over Povetkin walked to his corner with a look of total disgust on his face and shaking his head as if to say: “I do not believe this bull!” The America fighter never got glassy eyed nor confused looking at any point. He just fell down or (slipped). The referee even called them slips. They reran the knock out punches maybe a dozen times. I never saw a blow land.

Povetkin was a very unhappy Russian because he was there to fight, instead he got a lesson on how to take a dive!

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.