Main news of July 21

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

RUSSIA

* Two people have been killed in an attack on the Baksan hydropower plant in the southern Russian republic of Kabardino-Balkaria in the North Caucasus

* Finland will back Russia's bid to scrap the visa regime with the European Union, Finnish President Tarja Halonen has said

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has called for Finland and Russia to solve Baltic Sea issues in cooperation

* Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has discussed the Russian-Bulgarian energy cooperation with his Bulgarian counterpart Boiko Borisov in a telephone conversation

 

WORLD

* The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will conduct a series of anti-terror drills on September 9 - 25 in Kazakhstan, the Russian Defense Ministry has said

* Malaysian transportation holding company CRECOM Burj Resources is to buy 50 MS-21 passenger airliners from Russian aircraft producer Irkut in the largest post-Soviet sale of Russia-made new generation planes abroad

* Finland is ready to cooperate with Russia on child protection issues but sees no need to set up bilateral structures on the issue, Finnish President Tarja Halonen has said 

* Greece will extradite Russian gang leader Vladimir Tatarenkov to Russia later on Wednesday, the deputy head of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office extradition department has said

 

EX-SOVIET STATES

* Russia is Kyrgyzstan's major ally and strategic partner that will help the Central Asian republic integrate with Europe, the country's president, Roza Otunbayeva, has said

* Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbayeva has expressed hope that OSCE police consultants to be sent to the republic would help prevent human rights violations that still remain a high concern in the aftermath of June’s riots in the country's south.

 

BUSINESS

* Russia is in talks with foreign customers interested in buying Iskander tactical missile systems, a senior executive at state-controlled arms exporter Rosoboronexport has said

* Russia may increase taxes on natural gas and oil extraction, a Finance Ministry official has said

* Russia may introduce a new scale of nickel export duties in 2011 or earlier, the head of tax and customs at the Russian Finance Ministry has said

* Russia could sign its first contract for the export of Su-35 Flanker-E fighter jets by the end of the year, a deputy head of Russia's state-controlled arms exporter Rosoboronexport has said

* Russia's state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport is preparing to compete for a U.S. tender to supply Mi-17 helicopters to Afghanistan, the company's deputy general director Alexander Mikheyev has said

* Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom has increased gas supplies through the Blue Stream pipeline following an explosion on a pipeline carrying gas from Iran to Turkey

* Russia's Sukhoi Civil Aircraft has clinched deals on as many as 161 Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft since the Farnborough International Air Show kicked off near London on July 19, the company's spokeswoman has said