Kommersant, Vremya Novostei
Nazarbayev urges Putin to run for a third term
The results of parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan provide a good opportunity to discuss the democratic election system in Russia, where parliament cannot consist of representatives of only one party.
President Nursultan Nazarbayev's Nur Otan party won 88% of votes in a parliamentary election held in the Central Asian country Saturday, with all other parties falling short of the 7% threshold required to enter parliament.
Under Russian election law, at least two parties winning more than an aggregate 60% of the vote must be represented in the lower house (State Duma).
If only one party overcomes the 7% threshold (even if it wins more than 60% of the vote), the party that gains the next largest number of votes but falls short of 7% will be granted seats in parliament.
If the aggregate vote received by the parties that overcome the threshold falls short of 60%, several outsiders could be given seats so as to increase the share to the required 60%.
Four years ago, the law stipulated the presence of three parties holding at least 50% of the vote. If the Russian election system continues its progress to broader democracy, the law could be revised in time for the 2011 elections to allow one party to be granted seats in parliament, provided it wins at least 70% of the vote.
Two days before the election in Kazakhstan, Nazarbayev said in an interview with the Vesti television news channel that Vladimir Putin should agree to remain in the Kremlin for a third term.
"I don't see why the Russian president should complete his service and leave," he said. According to him, it does not matter what "people overseas and in Europe" say on the issue. "Whatever they say, the president must do what is best for his people and the state. Nothing else matters," Nazarbayev said.
Vladimir Churov, chairman of the Russian Central Election Commission, told the popular daily Vremya Novostei on Saturday, while the parliamentary election was being held in Kazakhstan, about Nazarbayev's advice to Putin: "Nazarbayev is a politician of international standing whose words should be carefully considered."
Gazeta, Nezavisimaya Gazeta
Vintage bombers bear witness to Russia's return to world scene
During a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) military exercise near Chelyabinsk in the south Urals, Vladimir Putin made another important statement, saying Russia was resuming regular flights by Russian strategic aircraft.
While recent bomber flights towards Britain caused an outcry in Europe, Putin's latest statement has been received with pointed coolness. Evidently the West felt it got carried away with its propaganda on Russia's military might.
French newspaper Le Monde reminds its readers that Tu-95 Bear bombers were adopted for service back in 1979, and their current use is evidence of the decline of Russia's strategic aviation inherited from the Soviet Union.
Alexander Konovalov, president of the Institute for Strategic Assessments, agrees. According to him, strategic aviation has always been a weak point with the Soviet Union and Russia, and it is strange to now consider it a strong point.
However, Gleb Pavlovsky, president of the Effective Policy Foundation, has warmly greeted the resumption of Russian strategic flights: "By abandoning them in 1992, Russia created a vacuum which the United States at once filled. This is part of a policy of wise restriction and deterrence to one-sided American military strength. It is absolutely absurd that American armed forces, particularly the air force, should be present practically in any spot of the world as a constant factor. No one is asking why, they have got used to it as a part of the world order, as one gets used to a police presence in the streets. But a police force belongs to one state."
Russia, which according to the political analyst bears its share of responsibility for the creation of a unilateral world in the early 1990s, is sending a very important message, saying that "there is not a single unipolar device in the world even theoretically, while military strategic pluralism exists even in the air."
Major General (Ret) Pavel Zolotarev, deputy director of the U.S. and Canada Institute, said: "troops, depending on their role, must be able to carry out both tactical and strategic missions regardless of the real political situation. And to reproach them for doing this is politically incorrect, to say the least."
Vedomosti
Aeroflot successfully haggles with Airbus and Boeing
Airbus and Boeing have granted substantial discounts to Russian flagship carrier Aeroflot. The Russian company will pay $2.906 billion for 22 Boeing 747 Dreamliners and $2.904 billion for 22 long-haul A350 XWB planes, compared to the price tag of around $7 billion for the package.
Aeroflot haggled over price for two years; it has got what it wanted, but supplies will now begin later than initially planned.
Discounts range from 15% to 20%, said a source with connections in Aeroflot, adding that other companies, notably AirFrance and Lufthansa, get smaller discounts.
According to the source, the negotiated price ($5.81 billion) also includes the servicing of deposits, bank guarantees, and the like, but not customs duties and value added tax, which make up nearly 40% of the aircraft's cost.
The first Airbus A350 XWB is to be delivered in 2014, and the last plane of the batch in 2019. The delivery period for Dreamliners is 2014-2016.
Aeroflot will start looking for an easy loan in 2012, according to a top manager of the air carrier. It will consider offers from both foreign and Russian banks.
Yevgeny Shago, an analyst with the investment bank Trust, said Aeroflot's current debt portfolio is small, with a net debt of $558.4 million and EBITDA of $474.2 million. EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) should at least double by the time the first planes start arriving, freeing enough funds for payments under contracts with Airbus and Boeing.
Boris Rybak, director general of the Infomost consultancy, said the 15%-20% discount was huge, especially since it is the sellers who set the tune now that there is a shortage of planes and long lines of buyers.
He said Aeroflot was given the discounts because they negotiated with two suppliers simultaneously, fuelling competition between them. Besides, the two companies view Aeroflot as key to the Russian air carriage market.
However, Aeroflot lost time bargaining for the discounts, so the planes it started negotiating in 2005 will be delivered at least four years later than planned.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta
Gazprom's top managers to receive "gift" worth a billion rubles
Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom has announced plans to buy back its shares worth one billion rubles (around $39 million) that might be used as bonus payments to the company's top managers.
The sum named by Gazprom cannot affect the price of its shares. However, some analysts believe the gas giant may cut dividends in the future and increase spending to support the share price.
One billion rubles will pay for about 0.015% of Gazprom's shares. "The company's shares have not risen for a long time. With the company's capitalization at $260 billion, the repurchase of its shares to the sum of one billion rubles will not affect the share price, and even if it does, the effect will be negligible," said Yevgeny Gavrilenkov, chief economist with the Troika Dialog brokerage.
As to the company's decision to use its shares bought on the market for implementing the top management's option program, the expert says the company has the right to encourage its employees in whatever way it chooses.
"There is nothing shameful about this," he said philosophically, adding that the decision of the board of directors will take effect only when approved by the government.
Bonuses paid to the companies' managers in the form of shares, not cash, have long been used all over the world, and the Russian companies are not an exception.
In the opinion of analysts, Gazprom even lags behind other Russian companies in the size of its bonus payments. Meanwhile, the practice of high bonus payments has been criticized in the United States and Europe of late. For this reason, the board of directors of General Motors endorsed new rules for the company's managers at the end of last year whereby the company may demand the return of paid bonuses in cases where violations are uncovered.
Also at the end of last year, Deutsche Bank's CEO agreed under pressure to pay a penalty of 3.2 million euros ($4.3 million) in compensation for excessively high bonuses paid to him previously. Nevertheless, about 90% of the 500 major companies included in the list of the Standard&Poors rating agency currently use share repurchase options to encourage managers.
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