10 June 2004 05:31
Daily Headline News for June 10, 2004
The Moscow Arbitration Court is to hear an appeal on June 18
by the Russian Tax Ministry to uphold part of its tax claim
The following is a digest of headline news as of 5:30 p.m. on June 10, 2004: YUKOS MAY GO BANKRUPT IN 2-3 MONTHS
against Yukos, a source in the court told Interfax.
and seizing assets for subsequent sale, Pepelyaev said.
Commercial creditors in such a situation would be likely to
Yukos lawyer Sergei Pepelyaev told Interfax that on May 25 the court upheld a Tax Ministry claim for 99 billion
rubles, but excluded amounts totaling 400,000 rubles, which allowed the ministry to file an expedited appeal.
"The court set the court hearing of the appeal for June 18, although Yukos has until June 28 to file an
appeal," Pepelyaev said.
Court bailiffs may arrive at Yukos in a few days looking for the funds, that is, start withdrawing funds from company
accounts
demand early repayment of credits, which could push the company into bankruptcy in two to three months," he
said. INTERMEDIARIES NOT NEEDED FOR TALKS WITH GOVT - YUKOS
Russia's agreements with France and Italy on simplifying
visa procedures will help in the talks but the issue "is not a
Yukos does not see any need to invite intermediaries to participate in its negotiations with the government, company
Press Secretary Alexander Shadrin said in response to an offer from Sputnik investment fund President Boris Jordan to
act as a mediator.
Jordan sent a letter to Yukos minority shareholders offering to act as mediator in talks with the authorities on
settling the situation involving the oil company. RUSSIA, EU TO START VISA TALKS SOON - LAVROV
Russia and the European Union will begin negotiations on simplifying visa procedures for the entire area covered by
the EU soon after the EU issues a mandate on holding such negotiations to the European Commission, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference following a government meeting.
The government hopes such a rate of growth will enable
Russia to deal with the issue of poverty, which is one of the
matter that can be solved in one day," Lavrov said. The Russian Cabinet endorsed the agreements on June 9 and
Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov told Lavrov to sign them. They now go to the Russian parliament for ratification.
Richard Wright, head of the European Commission's Moscow office, said that the simplification of visa procedures
will take patience and that borders must first be made secure. ZHUKOV FORECASTS 7%-7.5% GROWTH RATE IN NEXT 4 YRS
The Russian stabilization fund amounted to 198 billion
rubles on June 1, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin told the
Russia's economy will expand at a rate of 7%-7.5% over the next few years, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander
Zhukov said.
most difficult problems facing the country today, he said. FRADKOV SAYS BUDGET REVENUE 8% OVER TARGET IN Q1
The federal budget revenue target in the first quarter has been exceeded by 8%, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail
Fradkov told the government on Thursday. He said that this was due to favorable economic conditions: growth in GDP in
the first quarter amounted to 8%, and real disposable incomes increased 13% year-on- year. KUDRIN SAYS STABILIZATION
FUND AT 198 BLN RUBLES IN JUNE
government on Thursday. PUTIN GIVES JAPANESE PM DRAFT ENERGY COOPERATION PROGRAM
Russian President Vladimir Putin gave Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi a draft long-term program of Russian-
Japanese energy cooperation, which Russia hopes will be completed by Putin's visit to Japan in early 2005, Russian
presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko told the press. TNK-BP CALLS FOR EU INVESTMENT GUARANTEES
The order portfolio at Russia's MiG Aircraft-Building
Corporation has nearly doubled over the past year to $2.6
billion, MiG General Director and General Designer Valery
TNK-BP has called on the European Union to guarantee investments for Russian companies so they can build an export
infrastructure.
Russia does not have the capital needed to build export pipelines at present, TNK-BP Vice-President Sean McCormick
said at a seminar in Moscow titled "The European Union and Russia: Unwilling Neighbors." UES SUGGESTS COMMON
CIS ELECTRICITY MARKET
Russia's Unified Energy System (UES) has suggested forming a common electricity market in the CIS, at a Thursday
meeting of the CIS Electricity Council in Dushanbe. MIG ORDER PORTFOLIO NEARLY DOUBLED IN PAST YEAR
Russia's gold and foreign currency reserves were at $85.6
billion on June 4, up down from $85.4 billion on May 28, the
Toryanin said at a MiG presentation for Duma deputies in Moscow on Thursday.
MIG has also decided to resume the fifth generation multi- role tactical fighter program, said Andrei Karasev, Deputy
Designer General and First Deputy Director General of MIG's Engineering Center. CONTRACTS WORTH $700 MILLION SIGNED
AT RUSSIA-CHINA INVESTMENT FORUM
Conference (OIC) in Istanbul on June 15-16 as a guest of the
Turkish government, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a
A Russian-Chinese investment forum ended in Khabarovsk on Thursday with the signing of 12 contracts and agreements
worth a total of about $700 million, a source in the press service for the presidential envoy in the Far East told
Interfax on Thursday. RUSSIA'S GOLD, FOREX RESERVES WERE AT $85.6 BLN ON JUNE 4
Central Bank said in a press release Thursday. RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER TO ATTEND OIC SUMMIT
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will take part in the 31st ministerial session of the Organization of the
Islamic
statement. COURT ACQUITS DEFENDANTS IN KHOLODOV'S MURDER
The Moscow District Military Court has acquitted all six defendants in the murder of Moskovsky Komsomolets reporter
Dmitry Kholodov, who was killed on October 17, 1994, when an improvised explosive device planted in a briefcase went
off.
of involvement in the bombing at the Dynamo stadium in the
Chechen capital, Grozny, on May 9, which killed six people,
Chief Justice Yevgeny Zubov said he did not find convincing the investigators' argument that the motive was
Kholodov's possession of information on a planned military operation in Chechnya in 1994 and former Airborne Forces
reconnaissance division chief Col. Pavel Popovskikh's desire to prevent the information from reaching the
press.
The Prosecutor General's Office on Friday will appeal the acquittal, Public Prosecutor Irina Alyoshina said. TWO
SUSPECTS IN KADYROV'S MURDER DETAINED
Investigative authorities have detained two people suspected
including Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov and State Council Chairman Khusein Isayev, Russian Deputy Prosecutor
General Sergei Fridinsky told Interfax on Thursday.
He did not disclose the names of the suspects, saying only that they are Chechen residents aged 22 and 28. The
detainees have confessed, but the investigation continues, he said. SIX PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES REGISTERED IN
CHECHNYA
Six people have applied for registration as candidates in the Chechen presidential race, said Buvaisari Arsakhanov,
deputy head of the Chechen Elections Commission.
The candidates include lawyer Adam Edilov; Professor Sultan Aiskhanov, a doctor; Malik Saidullayev, a businessman
from Moscow; Mariyet Gorchkhanova, an official with the Urus-Martan regional administration; Vakhit Visayev, an adviser
to the president of Chechnya; and Marat Zainalabidov, a resident of Rostov-on-Don, who was nominated by the Liberal
Democratic Party of Russia. In addition, signatures are being collected in Chechnya in support of United Russia
party's candidate, State Duma member Ruslan Yamadayev.
The Chechen elections commission has received 60.702 million rubles from Chechnya's budget for the presidential
elections, commission chairman Abdul-Kerim Arsakhanov told Interfax. GUNS TO BE BOUGHT OFF IN CHECHNYA
Residents of Chechnya will be invited to surrender firearms for cash, an official in the regional headquarters for
anti- terrorist operations the North Caucasus told Interfax on Thursday.
The Chechen government has passed an ordinance under which 5,000 rubles will be paid for every pistol, 20,000 rubles
for sniper rifles and slightly less for assault rifles, Col. Ilya Shabalkin, spokesman for the headquarters, told
Interfax on Thursday. People who surrender arms will not be prosecuted. CIS AND THE BALTICS ESTONIAN GOVT. INSTRUCTED TO
DECIDE ON CLAIMS AGAINST RUSSIA
The Estonian government is to work out a position by January 1, 2005 on making claims to compensate damage suffered
by the country as a part of the USSR, an Interfax correspondent reported from the parliament meeting hall on Wednesday
evening.
A state commission concluded that the presence of the Soviet army alone inflicted some $4 billion worth of damage,
and killed or forced from the country about 180,000 citizens, or about 17.5%- 18% of the population, commission chairman
Vello Salo said. U.S. LEADING INVESTOR IN KAZAKHSTAN - PRIME MINISTER
The United States is the leading investor in Kazakhstan, with its investments exceeding $9 billion over the past
decade, Kazakh Prime Minister Danial Akhmetov said at a Thursday meeting with U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Kyle
McSlarrow.
Kazakh-U.S. trade exceeded $600 million in 2003, Akhmetov said. COUNCIL OF EUROPE REPRESENTATIVE PRAISES DEVELOPMENTS
IN GEORGIA
Developments in Georgia, including the recent elections being held close to European standards, the peace settlement
in Ajaria and anti-corruption measures, are positive, Jean Louis Laurent, head of an information mission under the
Council of Europe Secretariat visiting Tbilisi, said on Thursday.
The delegation is to make a report to the Council of Europe on the results of the mission.
[Interfax] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
