News From Russia: February 14th, 2009!

RBC, 13.02.2009, Moscow 19:04:16.Russia will submit an environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the Nord Stream project to the Baltic states by March 1, head of the Russian Natural Resources and Ecology Ministry’s environmental protection department Rinat Gizatulin was cited in a ministerial press release as saying during a meeting of the EIA working group.

RBC, 13.02.2009, Moscow 18:56:51.A significant number of joint Russia-Nato programs have been disrupted due to the economic crisis, Russia’s envoy to Nato Dmitry Rogozin told a press conference organized by RBC. The financial crisis has hit a number of nations very hard, and some of them even face bankruptcy, Rogozin noted, adding that these countries were rapidly cutting their military expenses. He explained that “by using this European-Atlantic solidarity, such countries are trying to save on their defense.”

RBC, 13.02.2009, Moscow 16:28:17.Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will discuss preparations for the international conference on the Middle East to be held in Moscow with representatives of Persian Gulf and Middle East states. Lavrov is due to pay a visit to the region on February 15-19, said Alexander Zasypkin, deputy director of the Foreign Ministry’s information and press department.

RBC, 13.02.2009, Moscow 15:42:58.Trade between Russia and Turkey exceeded $32bn in 2008, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced after talks with his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul, who is currently in Russia on his state visit. He specified that according to Russia’s estimates, trade stood at over $34bn. “Our Turkish colleagues were remembering a period when trade amounted to a mere $1bn, which enables us to say that it increased 35 times over the past decade,” Medvedev stressed.

RBC, 13.02.2009, Moscow 14:47:47.Russia tops the list of the 11 largest countries in the world in terms of inflation, with the year-on-year rate at 13.3 percent as of December 2008, the Federal State Statistics Service reported citing the findings of the International Monetary Fund, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and national statistics services published on the Internet in accordance with IMF standards. As such, year-on-year inflation was 9.7 percent in India, 5.9 percent in Brazil, 3.1 percent in Great Britain, 2.2 percent in Italy, 1.2 percent in Canada, 1.1 percent in Germany, 1 percent in France, and 0.4 percent in Japan.

RBC, 13.02.2009, Moscow 10:54:42.Lukoil expects its oil production to reach 90.8m tonnes in 2009, President Vagit Alekperov said on Thursday during a meeting in Kirishi, Leningrad region. He indicated that the increase in output will amount to 2 percent compared to the previous year. Alekperov reiterated that the announced figure was true for production in Russia only and did not include the company’s foreign projects.