Russia's Moskva Missile Cruiser Sets Off To Its Naval Base In Ukraine

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia -- The flagship of the Black Sea fleet, the Moskva missile cruiser, has set off from the port of Vladivostok in Russia's Far East to its home port in Ukraine's Sevastopol, a Navy spokesman said on Wednesday.
The Moskva missile cruiser was participating in Russia's Vostok 2010 military drills jointly with the flagship of the Northern Fleet, the Pyotr Veliky nuclear-powered guided-missile cruiser, and the flagship of the Pacific Fleet, the Varyag guided-missile cruiser.

"After a short rest in Vladivostok, the Moskva set off for the Black Sea to its home base in the port of Sevastopol. It will have to pass across the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans," the spokesman said.

Russia's Black Sea Fleet is stationed in Ukraine's port of Sevastopol under a lease agreement. Moscow and Kiev signed earlier in the year a deal extending the lease on the fleet's base in Sevastopol for 25 years after the current lease expires in 2017.

Vostok-2010 exercises in Siberia and the country's Far East started on June 29 and ended on July 8. They involved 20,000 troops, up to 2,500 pieces of military hardware, 70 warplanes and 30 warships.

During the exercises, warships of the three Russian fleets conducted live firing at naval and aerial drones and practiced combat interoperability and repelling simulated attacks by hostile submarines and aircraft.

Russia holds Vostok strategic command-and-staff drills every two years.

Thailand Army Wants More APCs From Ukraine

BANGKOK, Thailand -- The Thailand army is seeking approval to buy an additional 121 armoured personnel carriers from the Ukraine even though it has yet to receive any of the vehicles it ordered three years ago.
A military source said army chief Anupong Paojinda has decided to spend his forces' leftover funds for this year on 121 APCs from the Ukraine, which has yet to deliver the 96 vehicles ordered in 2007.

The army will seek cabinet approval for a 4.6 billion baht ($143 million) budget to purchase the APCs next week, said the source.

Defence permanent secretary Apichart Penkitti yesterday confirmed the army had already received the ministry's approval for the APCs and that the army had enough of its budget remaining to make the purchase.

Gen Apichart dismissed criticisms that the purchase would cause budgeting problems.

"We're not rushing the deal through. We're working within the budget," he said.

Gen Apichart said the army had supplied the Auditor-General Office with a detailed explanation of the background of the company providing the armoured vehicles.

Three years ago, the army ordered 96 model BTR-3E1 APCs, worth about 4 billion baht ($124 million), from the Ukrainian manufacturer.

However, it has not yet delivered those 96 vehicles to the army due to problems with the vehicles' engines.That purchase was also criticised.

The deal to purchase the APCs was done while Gen Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, head of the coup government's Council for National Security, was the Army chief.

The manufacturer had initially planned to use German engines in the assembly of the vehicles, however the maker of the engines refused to sell them to the Ukrainian company.

The Ukrainian APC manufacturer was forced to switch to US-made engines and therefore still has to complete the assembly of the 96 APCs ordered by the Thai army, said the source.

The source said Gen Anupong wanted to push through the purchase of the additional 121 APCs before he retires in September.

The Office of the Auditor-General had asked the Defence Ministry to reconsider the initial deal.

The Ukranian company that won the bid had allegedly not submitted its documents on time, the office argued, saying also that the APCs were not suitable for combat.

Ukrainian Government May Resell Ammonium Producer Odeskyi For $630 Million

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine may resell VAT Odeskyi Pryportovyi Zavod, its second-biggest ammonia producer, for 5 billion hryvnia ($630 million), said Oleksandr Ryabchenko, the head of the State Property Fund.
Should the government fail to make a final decision on the sale of Odeskyi or state phone company VAT Ukrtelecom by Aug. 15, it will have to be postponed until next year and the state will probably miss its target for state budget revenue from state-asset sales, Ryabchenko said.

“For the time being, the government has not delivered any decision,” said Ryabchenko today at a press conference in Kiev.

The Cabinet aims to raise 6.35 billion hryvnia this year from selling state-run companies, he said, adding that Parliament approved the reduction from 10 billion hryvnia.

The fund tried to sell Odeskyi Pryportovyi, based in Yuzhnyi, Ukraine, at an auction in September last year.

TOV Nortima, a Ukrainian company, won the bid for 99.57 percent of Odeskyi Pryportovyi, offering 5 billion hryvnia, or $594 million at that time.

Two other companies participated in the bidding. Still, the Cabinet of then-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko cancelled the result, saying it was the result of “a conspiracy.”

Ukraine’s state property fund plans to sell its 50 percent plus one share stake in VAT Dniproenergo, the country’s biggest electricity producer, or VAT Zakhidnenergo, another energy producer, in which the government controls 70 percent, in the fourth quarter of this year, said Ryabchenko.

Ryabchenko also said the fund has submitted a five-year program to the government. Under the program, Ukraine may receive between 50 billion hryvnia to 70 billion hryvnia in proceeds from state-asset sales through 2014, Ryabchenko said.

The government has to approve the program, which later should be approved by Parliament, he added.

Russian Patriarch Begins 9-Day Visit To Ukraine

MOSCOW, Russia -- Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill will make a nine-day pastoral trip to neighboring Ukraine on July 20 in line with a new tradition launched last year to make annual visits.
"Ukraine is very close to my heart for many reasons", Patriarch Kirill told Ukrainian media, adding that "quite positive" changes have occurred in Ukraine over recent months.

"It is these changes in the Ukrainian social life that I would like to see for myself", Patriarch Kirill said.

His first stop will be in Odessa in southern Ukraine.

Patriarch Kirill will then spend July 24 and 25 in Ukraine's third largest city, Dnepropetrovsk, and on the evening of July 25, he will travel to the capital Kiev where he will return to Moscow from.

The visit is no ordinary visit as the Patriarch is going to meet his congregation, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, head of the Russian Orthodox Church's Synodal Department for Church and Society Relations, said before the Patriarch's visit.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Orthodox Church in Ukraine split.

The Moscow Patriarchate still controls most parishes but the Kiev Patriarchate has managed to attract a large number of followers.

Justice suffers in the heat

A trial in Vladivostok was abandoned on Tuesday, as the seriously ill defendant was brought into the courtroom unconscious and was subsequently unable to answer questions.

“My client is suffering from chronic cardiac disease and needs treatment,” lawyer Oleg Kuchin said, adding that doctors had recently examined the man.

“However, the paramedic at the pre-trial detention centre was of a different opinion and considered that my client was capable of taking part in a trial.” A court spokesman confirmed that “the accused was lying unconscious in the dock.”

Court employees told local media that the man may have exaggerated the seriousness of his condition to avoid legal proceedings.

Another capital for Another Russia

Following in the footsteps of Peter the Great, opposition politician Eduard Limonov is planning to shift Russia's capital away from Moscow.

But while the Tsar wanted to make St. Petersburg a window to the west, Limonov hopes his purpose-built Siberian city will open new routes to the Orient.

The plan was unveiled on Tuesday when Limonov published his new party manifesto in Rossiiskaya Gazeta.

The programme explains that “the necessary move of enormous historical meaning” will balance Russia’s geographical, economic, infrastructure and political tilt towards Europe.

They argue that the project will create millions work places, new infrastructure and will increase the population of Siberia and improve ties between the Russian Far East and its European metropolis. It will also stop China’s expansion, says the programme.

“There have been calls to move the capital to Siberia before,” Eduard Limonov said. “A Member of Parliament from Novosibirsk Region suggested moving it to Novosibirsk in the State Duma in the 90s; Luzhkov expressed an idea to move the capital in 2007. These suggestions are constantly raised,” he said.

Besides, he argues that building a city from scratch is not that difficult, as proved by Kazakhstan, who “built Astana from scratch and they are very happy, and they have a much smaller population.”

As for the location of the new capital, Limonov said that “the developers will find a suitable place for the city.”

Limonov’s reference to Kazakhstan’s positive experience is supported by those who witnessed the move.

Vladlen Lyssenker, an employee of Moskommertsbank in Moscow was living in Almaty when Kazakhstan moved its capital from Almaty to Astana.

“There it was done right, not least for the threat of earthquakes,” he told The Moscow News. “There had always been one developed city in Kazakhstan – Almaty, then suddenly there were two – Almaty and Astana.”

“I did not feel the difference, and it did not become worse,” he said. “Almaty went on developing. It remained the financial centre – all the financial authorities, the national bank, all the banks’ headquarters remained there. So did the cultural life. Almaty did not lose one bit.”

However, Lyssenker thinks that Russia is a different matter. “Moving the capital away from Moscow is an unreal fantasy in Russia. All the communication leads to Moscow. In Siberia in order to move from one region to another you have to go through Moscow,” he said.

Some opposition figures also see the idea as strange for various reasons.

Sergei Mitrokhin, the leader of Yabloko opposition party disagrees with the necessity of the move.

“We have more pressing issues at the moment that require money, like mass construction of housing and providing free land for the people,” he advized. “Moving the capital to Siberia is originally a more costly enterprise. It will be more expensive for transport, communication, for the people to travel to the capital,” he said.

Mitrokhin also doubts the choice of the location. “Despite the fact that the Russian East is much bigger than the Russian West, it is also much more scarcely populated,” he said.

However, Mitrokhin does not think that such whimsical comments can discredit the opposition. “There is different opposition. It discredits the opposition that makes such suggestions,” he said.

In the recent history there have been repeated calls to move the capital. Different cities were named, like St Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Sochi. The latter was suggested by Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev.

“Moscow will be the economic capital, Piter – the cultural capital, and Sochi – the administrative [capital],” he told Profil magazine in April, 2009.

“People from Piter’s KGB will get tanned, breathe sea and mountain air, will stop being so sombre and aggressive, will become fit, and maybe even release Khodorkovsky and Lebedev,” the oligarch said then.

While Petersburg is the most famous ex-Russian capital it is not alone. For a brief period the northern town of Vologda became the so-called “diplomatic capital” in 1918 amid the uncertainties of civil war and revolution.

The Middle Ages saw several cities vying for the honour of being Russia’s capital, including Vladimir, Suzdal, Pskov and Veliki Novgorod.

Russia revving up to host first-ever Grand Prix

MOSCOW: Russia could host its first ever Forumla 1 Grand Prix in 2012 – but there’s confusion over where it will happen.

At Sunday’s Moscow City Racing show, the pre-race interest focused on the prospect of bringing Monte Carlo-style street racing to the Russian capital in an official capacity, building on the massive success of three years of staged shows around the Kremlin walls.

City Hall’s Vladimir Makarov said there were advanced plans for a 4,420 metre route through the city centre, allowing for speeds of up to 320 kph, with German design guru Hermann Tilke creating what would be the fastest urban circuit together.

And Derk Sauer, the director of Moscow City Racing, believes that the dream of a Russian Grand Prix is close to seeing the chequered flag.

“We’re getting closer,” he told journalists before Sunday’s event. “This country deserves F1, and F1 deserves Russia.

“It’s not done yet, but we’re getting closer every year.”

This plan would seem to push Tilke’s proposed Podmoskovye track into the pit lane for good. Although impressive designs were drawn up for the site at Volokolamsk in 2008, little concrete progress has been made and a glamourous circuit through the centre of Moscow would be a far bigger draw for F1.

Even the notoriously poor state of Russia’s roads won’t be an obstacle, according to current World Champion Jenson Button.

Speaking at the Moscow City Racing event, he said the roads he’d seen in Moscow had been “pretty smooth” – albeit from the back of a chauffeur-driven Mercedes S-Class.

“Driving an F1 car around streets is a different experience,” he added. “Circuits designed for racing are very smooth and the cars sit very low on them. Here we have to raise the cars, like we do in Monaco, Singapore and Valencia, but you always feel a few little bumps.

“The excitement of racing in the streets is completely different from racing at a prepared circuit.”

But there could be competition from Sochi, with F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone reportedly telling the Independent newspaper in Britain that the Black Sea resort is the more likely venue for Russia’s racing debut.

True to his traditions, the shortest Mr Big in world sport rallied against the diminutive payments received from certain long-established venues – notably Monaco, long regarded as Grand Prix’s glamour card – and suggested the rights to hold one of the 20 races each year would be sold off to the highest bidder.

With a massive influx of funding into Sochi ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics, that could make them a serious rival to the capital.

While it now seems likely that Russia will be on the starting grid in a couple of years, the fate of Russia’s only racer, Vitaly Petrov, is less clear.

In his debut season at Renault the “Vyborg Rocket” has failed to take off, managing a meagre six points in his first 10 races.

The noises coming from Renault boss Eric Bouiller suggest that although Petrov is “the best prospect in the paddock” he still has some way to go.

“It’s literally in his own hands,” Bouiller said, according to pitpass.com. “He’s clearly lacking the consistency to get the points he deserves.”

Petrov himself was in Moscow to take part in the City Racing event and said: “I’m a newbie this year and we have to understand that [team mate] Robert Kubica has been in Formula 1 for five years.

“It’s hard for me to make a real challenge to Jensen and other racers who’ve been here for years. I’ve had a lot to learn.

“There have been some positives and some negatives but I’m looking forward and expecting some innovations in the car.

“As for next year, that’s all in hand and the talks will be held later.”