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MOSCOW, November 5 (RIA Novosti)
Obama's victory important for Russia / Russian, Azerbaijani, Armenian presidents sign deal on Nagorny Karabakh / Russia becomes more prominent in Ukrainian power struggle / Russia cuts oil export duties from November 1 / Russia to gain strategic control over CPC / Russian Orthodox Church requests bank-deposit guarantees /

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

Obama's victory important for Russia

The results of the presidential elections in the United States, which have brought Barack Obama to the White House, are extremely important for Russia. The elections were compounded by heavy anti-Russian rhetoric predominant among the U.S. political elite.
Yevgeny Minchenko, director of the International Institute of Political Analysis, said: "Any new U.S. president will be difficult for Russia, above all because the U.S. establishment is now saying the enemy is Russia, not the Islamic world as during Bush's presidency."
Analysts say Obama's policy regarding Russia will focus on Russia's domestic problems, such as political plurality and the freedom of speech.
They also say it was easier to deal with Republicans who are pragmatic by nature, while Obama, although he has no personal reasons to hate Russia, is an unknown entity.
"Russia will have problems with Obama because he is an idealist and often thinks in generalized terms," Minchenko said. "However, it will be easier for Russian President Dmitry Medvedev for age reasons to establish contact with Obama than with John McCain, who is a senior citizen."
Andrei Kokoshin, a member of parliament and the Russian Academy of Sciences who has attended talks with members of several U.S. administrations, said the financial crisis would weigh heavily on Russian-U.S. relations for some time after the new team comes to the White House.
"The agenda of Russian-American relations under the new administration will have a large economic and financial component this time," Kokoshin said.

RBC Daily

Russian, Azerbaijani, Armenian presidents sign deal on Nagorny Karabakh

The Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents signed on Sunday a declaration to resolve the dispute over Nagorny Karabakh, the first ceasefire document over the issue since 1994. The agreement, signed by Dmitry Medvedev, Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan at Meiendorf Castle outside Moscow, does not stipulate any specific obligations for the parties and does not contain any instruments of settling the conflict - yet, it could be called a historic one, with Moscow managing to achieve the almost impossible task of persuading the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents to sign the document.
The Azerbaijani -Armenian conflict over Nagorny Karabakh has been under control of the Minsk group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), co-chaired by Russia, France and the United States, for over 15 years. Despite the lack of any breakthroughs, analysts say the absence of any new conflict in the territory is an achievement in itself. According to Levon Melik-Shakhnazaryan, a political expert at Yerevan's Anania Shirakatsi University of International Relations, avoiding the war is the main aim of the Minsk group's activities. "It is of no interest to OSCE whether or not Nagorny Karabakh gets the status of an independent territory or becomes part of Armenia or Azerbaijan or Sudan - the main target is the absence of war, as the territory is a supplier of energy resources for OSCE members," Melik-Shakhnazaryan emphasized.
This might be the reason Matthew Bryza, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, made an unexpected statement saying he is satisfied with the outcome of Russia's efforts over the issue.
According to Alexei Malashenko, a member of the scientific council of the Moscow Carnegie Center, keeping the conflict over Nagorny Karabakh frozen is actually quite beneficial for all the countries concerned. "Currently, there is no solution which would be equally satisfying for all the sides involved, so holding meetings and signing some unremarkable documents will give the advantageous impression that the issue is being settled," he said.
Meanwhile, the declaration has once again proved Russia to be the key political player in the Caucasus and showed Moscow, not Washington or Paris, as the center for major diplomatic activities to settle the conflict. The country, which has been strengthening its positions in the region, needed yet more evidence of its growing power - and this was brilliantly achieved by signing the Meiendorf Declaration.

Kommersant

Russia becomes more prominent in Ukrainian power struggle

If Russian television channels broadcasting in independent Ukraine didn't undermined the latter's government in the previous 17 years, why is it so important to shut them down now? Why is it so important to identify right now whether the Ukrainian government sold weaponry to Georgia "at the expense of its own defense capabilities"? The answer could be that the Ukrainian political elite doesn't have the courage to face the upcoming national crisis.
In the coming months, the country may face economic challenges unseen since the early 1990s. It's high time for the government to think about countering the growing popular frustration. Achieving a macroeconomic stabilization, even if the IMF grants Ukraine a $16.5 billion loan, will be a complex task, with some companies destined to collapse and leave their employees jobless.
Before the global financial crisis, inflation in Ukraine was already very high, with food prices growing by over a third in the last year, while the already approved anti-recession measures include freezing the minimum pay. Early next year, Russian gas prices will go up again, while metals, Ukraine's main exports, are likely to go down.
All this is accompanied by growing corruption, making the country rate 134th compared to 107th three years before, according to Transparency International. Most Ukrainians also get by on credit, which would be hard to give up, especially for city residents.
It's not that the political leaders don't understand this. They only have different priorities. Viktor Yushchenko is willing to replace Yulia Tymoshenko at all costs, which the latter is stiffly resisting, and the key opposition player, Viktor Yanukovych, is enjoying the opportunity to relax, while it is not necessary for him to hurry to get into power amid the crisis.
In these circumstances, the Ukrainian electorate shows more wisdom than their leaders. Polls reveal that Ukrainians are definitely against new elections, and are not willing to pay for the political elite's improvidence.

Vedomosti

Russia cuts oil export duties from November 1

Russian oil companies did not get what they wanted: oil export duty has been set at $287.3 per metric ton from November 1, nearly $100 more than the oil companies wanted.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was offered two variants, and he opted for an oil export duty at $287.3 per metric ton (previously $372.2), $205.9 for light petrochemicals ($263.1) and $110.9 for dark petrochemicals ($141.7). Officials taking part in the discussions said it was the Finance Ministry's scenario, while the Economic Development Ministry and oil companies advocated $195.2, $143.8 and $77.5 respectively.
"It is sad," a LUKoil representative said, adding that this promised negative profitability to the oil companies. LUKoil is Russia's largest private oil company.
"We liked the economics ministry's scenario, which was drafted jointly with the oil companies," said an official from Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of energy giant Gazprom.
The difference between the two scenarios is 55 billion rubles ($2 billion) a month, a ministry official who attended the talks said. The oil companies have not received compensations for the losses they sustained in October due to high export duties, said another official.
The oil and petrochemicals export duty effective until November 1 was calculated on the basis of the Urals price of $97 per barrel, which cost $60.15 yesterday.
This is the second time the Russian government has acted contrary to the established procedure for calculating oil export duty every two months after two-month price monitoring. Alexander Sakovich, deputy head of customs payments at the Finance Ministry, said the duty would have been $300 per metric ton from December 1 according to this method.
The principle of calculating the export oil duties may change, said two ministry officials who attended the talks.
According to the government press service, Putin has issued instructions that a new formula should be calculated by December 1 taking into account market prices. The monitoring period can also be changed, "so that companies and the budget would hedge losses from sharp price fluctuations," said an official who attended the discussions.
First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said the oil companies wanted bigger cuts, but added, "We also need to think about filling the federal budget."
Shuvalov said the reduction of the duties would not affect budget revenues, but a ministry official who attended the discussions said the budget would lose at least 50 billion rubles ($1.85 billion).
Denis Borisov, an analyst at the Solid investment company, said oil export profitability would be close to zero with the export duty of $287.3, and negative if oil prices dropped below $60 per barrel. However, oil companies posted super-profits in the first half of the year, when oil cost $147 and the export duty was trying to keep pace with it.
Borisov said a high export duty incentivized refining, because the higher the duty the lower the domestic prices.

Kommersant

Vedomosti

Russia to gain strategic control over CPC

Russia has increased its stake in the only privately owned pipeline in the country, Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), to 31%. It bought out a 7% stake from another state shareholder, Oman. The blocking share gives Russia a decisive voting right on all matters relating to the project.
The CPC is a privately owned pipeline passing across Russia from Tenghiz in Kazakhstan to Novorossiisk. In 2007, it transported 32.6 million metric tons of oil. Its shareholders as of June 30 were: Russia (24%), Kazakhstan (19%) and Oman (7%), with the remaining 50% held by private companies (Chevron, Exxon, BP and others). All shareholders equally own two companies: the CPC-K (the pipeline operator on Kazakh soil) and the CPC-R (on Russian soil).
It was with Oman that Russia made the deal, Transneft said on Saturday. (Transneft administers Russia's stake in the CPC.) The first man to say last Thursday the deal was possibly clinched was Prime Minister Vladimir Putin during his meeting with President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan (another CPC shareholder). Transneft confirmed the fact but declined to give details, including the price.
A government order is being prepared to hand over the shares for entrusted management to Transneft, said a source close to the Energy Ministry.
The Federal Agency for State Property Management (Rosimushchestvo) has purchased two companies: Oman CPC (which holds 7% of CPC shares) and Oman CPC Investment (the consortium's lender), said a source close to CPC shareholders. The pipe's construction was financed by shareholders in the form of loans. Their sum is $2.2 billion, with Oman's share being $154 million.
Oman decided to sell its share in the project at the start of the year. It gave first refusal to Russia and Kazakhstan. If they had turned it down, Hungary's MOL would have claimed the stake. But Russia accepted the offer, agreeing to buy all 7% for $700 million - the price bid by the Hungarians for the asset.
But the final price is half of the one discussed previously - $350 million, says a source familiar with the progress of the deal. The deal is not yet closed, the source said, it needs final approval from the government of Kazakhstan because in the summer Kazakhstan's cabinet of ministers approved a list of strategic facilities, which included the CPC-K.
Oman's stake will enable Russia to increase its presence on the CPC board of directors to seven members (there are 22 in all). In addition, the Russian share in the project will be greater than the blocking one, said RusEnergy analyst Mikhail Krutikhin. Since most questions are decided by 75% of shareholder votes, Russia can control strategic decisions, a source close to the CPC said as early as last summer.
Vladimir Milov, president of the Institute of Energy Policy, said that the state had long sought control of the CPC, because it is the only large privately owned oil pipeline crossing Russia.

RBC Daily

Russian Orthodox Church requests bank-deposit guarantees

The global financial crisis has also affected the Russian Orthodox Church. Sources of the RBC Daily influential business newspaper said Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia had written to President Dmitry Medvedev and asked him to facilitate the Church's stable financial standing in the new financial situation.
Apart from individuals, the bank-deposit insurance system should cover Russian Orthodox Church accounts, including settlement accounts, the letter said. The Church also expects the government to reduce its utilities bills and exempt its legal entities from property tax payments.
Alexy II justified his proposal by the fact that church organizations were not engaged in business activity and they were mostly financed through donations.
The patriarch's deputy spokesman Mikhail Moiseyev said the Church had the right to request state guarantees. "The Church, which is a non-profit organization, faces the same risks as commercial companies because its assets are also deposited at credit institutions," Moiseyev told the paper.
"Unlike commercial firms, religious organizations are unable to use risk-reduction mechanisms, including deposit insurance, in times of crisis," Moiseyev said.
He said church organizations, primarily parishes, monasteries and convents, would be unable to cope with possible problems without the required state guarantees.
In his letter, Alexy II asked the government to issue an interest-free loan to the Moscow Patriarchate "for minimizing the negative consequences of financial instability."
The letter said both sides would coordinate loan volumes and terms at a later date.
A source in the government said the president had read the patriarch's letter and had ordered all the concerned departments to draft their proposals.
The Deposit Insurance Agency said some national deposit insurance systems covered self-employed businessmen and non-government organizations, including charities.
An agency spokesman said he did not know whether such norms applied to foreign church organizations, but that the agency had discussed the possibility of insuring church bank deposits and planned to do so in the future.

RIA Novosti is not responsible for the content of outside sources.

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