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benedetticarlo @ 2010-03-10T11:34:00

from February 2010

AND 'RECOVERY

PUBLICATION OF

"EAST NEWS"

http: / / benedetticarlo.livejournal.com /

news from the east

No 2 - March - 2010

Our focus is on Eastern themes, former Soviet Union, China and countries that were introduced into the Comecon, the economic community of the so-called socialist camp

This edition was put online March 10, 2010

The next edition will be released in April 2010

EDITORIAL

Two at the top of Russia. The reality at the core of Russian currently includes, in detail, period this month of March.

It confirms the assudità a duopoly of power at the top of the country. On the one hand, the president Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on the other.

Medvedev (Leningrad September 14, 1965) is a typical post-Soviet era and cynical careerist. E 'on 7 May 2008 he was appointed President of Russia without being attacked or challenged ..

Medvedev has graduated from the Faculty of Law of ' University of Leningrad in 1987 with Ilya Eliseev , Anton Ivanov , Nikolaj Vinničenko and Konstantin Čujčenko , and 1990 a PhD in Private Law from the University. In 1990 he worked for the Soviet oil Municipal Agency of Leningrad. A important place for a career and economics ... Between 1991 and 1999 was professor at the University where he graduated, called the State University of St. Petersburg. From 1991 to 1996 was among the experts of the Committee for External Relations (and here an important place in contact with the world's largest economy) the office of mayor of St. Petersburg .

In November 1993 Medvedev oversaw the legal department Ilim Pulp , a company based in St. Petersburg (and here also contacts with the world economy) . In 1998 was elected member of the Board of Directors of Bratskij LPK paper mill. He worked for Ilim Pulp until 1999.

In November 1999 has become one of the many administrators at the head of St. Petersburg brought State by Vladimir Putin. In December of that year he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the presidential staff. Dmitry Medvedev became one of the politicians closest to President Putin during the elections of 2000 when he was placed in charge of the headquarters of the campaign. From 2000 to 2001 chaired the Board of Gazprom (spawns energy that dominates in the world), which was also part between 2001 and the 2002 . In June of that year he returned to the President, a position held until 2003 , when in the month of October has replaced Aleksander Volosin, becoming chief of presidential staff.

In November 2005 was nominated by Putin's Deputy Prime Minister , President of the Council for the development of priority projects and national president of the Presidium of the Council. Dmitry Medvedev is considered a moderate liberal, pragmatic, but strongly and deeply ambitious careerist.

After being chosen as a candidate for the next Russian presidential elections by the party of former President Putin, " United Russia", has been elected as the successor of the latter, coming into office the May 7 .

For Putin's career, however, is all in the name of his service in the city of the then KGB in East Germany, Dresden. Born in Leningrad the October 7, 1952 Putin graduated in International Law the Faculty of Law of ' Leningrad State University in 1975 . member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , he was drafted at the end of the studies in KGB . During his career as a member and then leader of the organization secret, which lasted from 1975 to 1991, he lived for five years to Dresden in GDR doing delicate missions especially in the field of intelligence to the world economy.

After the collapse of the regime of East Germany, Putin was recalled to the Soviet Union . returned to Leningrad, where, since June 1991, was included in the section of International Affairs' State University, submitted to the Deputy Director Juri Molčanov . In his new position, to strengthen relations with Anatolj Sobčak the then mayor of Leningrad (ambiguous figure of the Soviet period). The future President resigned from the security services on August 20 1991 during the failed coup, supported by the KGB against Gorbach , v .

In the month of May 1990 he was appointed adviser to the mayor of St. Petersburg for international affairs. From June 28 1991 was placed to the direction of Committee for External Relations the city, with the task of promoting international relations and attract foreign investment. And even in this case a total dependence on its economy issues. The committee was also instructed to record foreign companies in St. Petersburg.

the same period in which Putin headed, not even in the organ worked Alexei Miller, the current CEO of Gazprom ( 15 December 1991 - 1996) and a large number of politicians and businessmen. After a year of management, the work of Putin came under scrutiny by a committee the legislative council of the city. In its final report, the court found that the prices charged by the Committee in respect of foreign entrepreneurs were too low and that they had granted licenses for the export of non-ferrous metals (with a value estimated at 93 million dollars) in exchange for food aid that never reached the city. The proposal for the immediate withdrawal of the charge does not sort any effect, however, Putin was head of the Committee for External Relations until 1996 . From 1992 to March 2000 he was also appointed director of St. Petersburg Immobilien und Beteiligungs AG (SPAG), a real estate agency German , came under investigation in Germany for laundering money laundering.

In 1994 Putin was appointed deputy to the supplementary elections of the city of St. Petersburg. From 1995 until June of 1997 he led the pro-government delegation of the city in political party " Our Home is Russia "during this same period was also head of the publishing group of the newspaper Vedomosti Sankt-Peterburgskie.

In 1996 Anatoly Sobchak - very disheartened by the majority of the population - lost the election of the city of St. Petersburg in favor of his rival Vladimir Yakovlev. The future Russian president was then called to Moscow in June 1996, became chief executive of the Department of the Presidential Property Management (a position that will until 1998), employed by Pavel Borodin. Occupy this position until March 1997. On March 26, 1997 President Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (formerly known in political circles as an inveterate alcoholic) appointed him Deputy Chief of Presidential Staff, a position he occupied until May 1998.

On June 27, 1997 Putin received his MA in economics, the first postgraduate degree , the St. Petersburg Mining Institute in a report entitled "The strategic planning of regional resources under the formation of market relations " .

According to Clifford, G. Gaddy, a Brookings Institute fellow, 16 of 20 pages that open a key section of Putin's work were copied word for word from a study of the administration, "The Strategic Planning and Policy, written by Professor William King of United States and David Cleland. The study was published in Russian by a KGB institute near the beginning of the 90s.

The 25 May 1998 Putin was named "First Deputy Chief of Presidential Staff for regions, (replacing Viktoriya Mitin) and July 15 of that year became President of the Commission for the preparation of the agreements on the limitation of power to the regions" (which replaces Sergei Shachrai). After the arrival of Putin, the committee has not completed such arrangements, even during the mandate it had already been concluded Shakhray 46.

On July 25, 1998 Yeltsin appointed Vladimir Putin Head of FSB (one of the agencies that succeeded the KGB ) contribution it will until the 'August 1999. He became a permanent member of the Security Council of the Russian Federation on 1 October 1998 and his manager March 29, 1999. In April 1999, Putin and Interior Minister Sergei Stepašin held a press conference in which television showed a video representing a naked man very similar to the procurator general of the Russia, Juri Skuratov in bed with two young women. Putin claimed that expert analysis of the FSB, the man was just and that the orgy Skuratov had been organized by wealthy Russian criminals. Skuratov had been in the past opponent of President Yeltsin and denounced the corruption of his government.

So far the "careers" of two people who hold and vie for power. And so the laudatores of the scheme are forced every day to balance - how to information - the two figures. And if the TV Medvedev inaugurated a nursery now Putin is visiting a farm. If Putin visited a hospital that is now a Medvedev meets with the university. And so on. Every day and on every newscast. And so it was also during this month of March 2010.

COMPANY '

"Evgeny Albaz, director of The New Time". journalist and professor of political science. He worked in the drafting of Izvestia and then - from 1986 to 1992 - in the drafting of "Moskovskie Novosti". And 'gone then - from 1993 to 2000 - a committee of the President of Russia. It is engaged in the trial of the CPSU. Author of various works (including "The Jewish Question"). He teaches in various American universities. It currently stands with a purely pro-Israeli positions, pro-American, anti-Soviet and anti . Collaborates actively in the radio "Echo of Moscow", which is open to pro-Israeli outlook.

books, articles, essays

"From Stalingrad to Berlin" . The Russian publisher "Eksmo" has in recent months by the General Valentin Varennikov entitled "From Stalingrad to Berlin." Memoir which describes the most important stages of the Great Patriotic War that saw the top of the staff Varennikov

Varennikov, was one of the best-known representatives dell'oltranzismo " nostalgic "in Russia, a man who has never accepted the slightest compromise with the new power instituted in the country after the end of the USSR in 1991 and has even tried - paying in person - in every way to combat it. Varennikov, born in 1923, fought in World War II, from Stalingrad to Berlin, his career took him later in the central roles in the armed forces of the USSR in the second half of the century, with important positions of command in Angola, Ethiopia in Syria and then to Afghanistan, where he held the post of representative of the Government of the USSR during the years of war against Islamic militants. During his long career he obtained the honor of Hero of the Soviet Union and the Knights of Glory. In 1991, when he held the post of Deputy Chief of General Staff, Varennikov assumed an important role in the Gkcp, the "Emergency Committee " who staged a coup against President Mikhail Gorbachev. Defeated, he was arrested and remained in prison until 1994, when he was granted amnesty, but proudly rejected the general amnesty asking instead to be tried - and in the process, the following year, in fact, was acquitted and rirpristinato in grade, but since then his duties have always been very marginal. In the same 1995 he was elected deputy to the Duma in the lists of the Communist Party, and remained MP until 2007.

ECONOMICS

A year of deep red. President Dmitri Medvedev himself has admitted as much: 2009 was the toughest year for the Russian economy after the crash of 1998. The data made official today, after all, leave no room for doubt, as the gross domestic product fell by 7.9%. Added to this is a rough macro-economic situation. The budget deficit reached almost 7% of GDP, the inflation rate is over 9%, unemployment is around 8%.

The situation began to deteriorate about a year and a half ago, following the international financial crisis and in connection with the conflict in Georgia, and had literally devastating effects on the Russian economy. A dozen small banks were closed, Industrial production has dropped significantly, many companies have had to use state aid or borrow from banks to stay afloat, tens of thousands of people lost their jobs and as many saw their salaries greatly reduced. Now the situation is slowly improving, but the blow was hard.

In light of the high and constant growth rates recorded in Moscow in the past ten years, it is a sequence of drug data, especially if you compare the impact of the international crisis on the Russian economy that recorded in other emerging countries such as China, India and Poland, where growth has been only a slowdown. In fact, the explanation is quite simple: after the transition to capitalism, Russia has not been able to create a balanced economic system and continued to rely almost exclusively on the exploitation and export of natural resources of their own rich territory. Oil, but also, metals and coal.

In this way, the country depends on the fluctuation of international trade in raw materials and the rest of the world when it buys less, the system goes haywire. The recovery that the Kremlin would like arrivals in 2010 will depend mainly on the expected increase in oil prices and a strategy for industrial development. One would expect more from a country that aspires to play a role in weight in the global economy.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Sweden. Prime Minister of Sweden Fredrik Reinfeldt aa visiting Moscow, has reviewed the status of the Swedish-Russian relations in the political and economic. It is met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, the head of the government Vladimir Putin. Within the thematic focus of the international parties dedicated to the interaction region of the Baltic Sea, North Europe and the Arctic.

Croatia . On 2 March 2010, the Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor met Vladimir Putin in Moscow. At the end of the two countries announced they have reached an agreement cooperation in technical, scientific and tourism. Kosor also expressed its intention to double its gas imports from Russia and participate in the construction of South Stream gas pipeline which would transport gas from Russia to Europe across the Black Sea to the Croatian Prime Minister also discussed with Putin the ability to use the terminal to export the Croatian Omisalj Russian oil. It is therefore becoming increasingly clear that the

Russia seeks to establish relations with Croatia on energy for its strategic location on the Adriatic. The EU, meanwhile, is pushing for the construction of a regasification terminal liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Omisalj, which supplies central Europe and would be less important to Russian gas for the region. Russia is also courting Zagreb to prevent the project is successful, promising big gains on the transit of Russian oil terminal of Omisalj in Croatia, and a long-term partnership between the two countries with the participation in the project South Stream.

Meanwhile it is known that the Russian Central seeking alternative energy, given the experience of how dependence on Moscow makes them vulnerable to the possibility of unilateral cuts to supplies, and LNG is a viable alternative. The areas where infrastructure could be built to supply LNG Middle Europe: the Baltic Sea, whose waters are, however, under Russian control, the Adriatic and the Aegean. Greece currently has no capital to invest in building infrastructure, so the EU has focused on Croatia.

The construction of a regasification terminal in Croatia, which would be operated by OMV (Austria) and Total (France), expected to cost 600 to 800 million euro. The plant, a capacity of 15 million cubic meters per year (four times the current consumption of Croatia) it should be interesting on the island of Kirk - where there is also the terminal of Omisalj - and start operating in 2014.

Moscow will undoubtedly make a counter-very flattering to get Zagreb to withdraw from the project. Russia has offered favorable prices to Croatia on supplies from the South Stream gas pipeline, but who knows when it will really be achieved.

Economically interesting is the Russian proposal to reverse the flow of oil passing through the terminal Omisalj - which flows to central Europe - to ensure that Croatia will not use it to import but to export Russian oil to the Adriatic Sea and Western Europe. This would provide a useful in Zagreb on the transit of oil, without any new investment. Croatia give up the LNG terminal project in the Russian offer, please?

Hungary. The airline Malev, which went hand in Russia in 2007, returns to the Hungarian state property on the basis of an intergovernmental agreement between Moscow and Budapest. This was announced by Finance Minister, Peter Oszko. The national airline was sold in 2007 Hungarians to the Russian company Air Bridge, owned by oligarchs Boris Abramovic. Air Bridge in 2009, went bankrupt, and the shares of the bank rose Malev Vneseconombank (VEB) did not want to manage the company in continuing loss. To save it, the Hungarian government had to put 25 billion forints (about 100 million euro) in the form of capital increase as a result becoming the new owner 95%. But the story is not over: the Malev, after the European Commission's ok, it needs billions more in funding to continue flying. A restructuring of the company, with at least one third of the actual dismissal of 3,000, it seems inevitable according to experts. Meanwhile, the conservative opposition Fidesz in Hungary strongly attacked the government for privatization failure, suggesting a yield of''account''after the elections in April.

+ extremism could destabilize the entire region of Central Europe: it is the warning issued by participants at an international conference on xenophobia and the progress of the far right, organized in Budapest by the Foundation of the global society (near George Soros). The sociologist Janos Ladanyi, an expert on Roma issues, stressed that in the last 20 years 1.5 million people have lost their jobs in Hungary, especially ethnic Roma without professional training, concentrated in some regions of the country . It is no longer in their case of unemployment, but the total exclusion from the labor market in the face of complete inactivity of governments to solve the problem. The Roma issue fueling extremism: the losers of the change and the crisis often adhere to the extreme right, while the winners riding populist themes such as the order in society. According to sociologist Andras Toth, today the internet has become a means of organization for promoting extremism extremist gatherings of fans of football, fans of rock nationalist, neo-Nazis and other extremists. According to conference participants, there is a risk of further progress of the extremist party Jobbik in the forthcoming elections in April, and the electoral success of Jobbik could galvanize extremists in neighboring countries. Immigration - was also noted - reinforces racism in western Europe and east to the contrasts between ethnic Hungarians, Slovaks, Romanians and the problem Roma could destabilize the region, putting at risk''democracy.''

Poland . Poland will host a battery of Patriot missiles U.S. and American soldiers since the beginning of April. He wrote the news agency PAP "The Ministry of Defence expects the first phase of the station battery is made Patriot air defense in the town of Morag in April," it said.

The Patriot is part of an agreement between Poland and the U.S. signed last December to upgrade the air defense of NATO members, after Washington's decision last September to remove the missile shield the Bush era, with installations in Poland and the Czech Republic

Russia has repeatedly expressed against the stationing of NATO missiles in former Soviet bloc countries and said it will strengthen its naval bases along the border from Poland to its Baltic enclave Kaliningrad.

Iskander tactical missiles in Kaliningrad will be installed only if Moscow feels directly threatened.

Georgia . Tblisi's government adopted on 27 January 2010, a "national strategy for cooperation with the Occupied Territories and Osssetia Abakazia of the South." And the term "occupied" says it all. Georgia does not recognize the sovereignty of those territories that Russia intends to win back "peacefully". The Georgian Times reports a proclamation of the Minister of Reintegration national Temour Iakobachvili that leaves no room for doubt: "We do not accept that the fate of these people (of Abkhazia and Ossetia, ed) depend on the strength Russian occupation. " The Georgian intentions will be translated into an action plan to be adopted by June 30, 2010.

Meanwhile in Moscow, who will not stand by and watch, has already spent 3.25 billion dollars to South Ossetia and Abkhazia is not for reconstruction projects or investments, as would be expected. But to convince the international community to recognize the independence of the two provinces, self-proclaimed in 2008 and never ratified by any country except Russia.

Kosovo. Two years after the unilateral declaration of independence, 10 years after the end of the war between Belgrade and the militia of ethnic Albanians, Kosovo has a future economic and political? The self-proclaimed republic is experiencing several problems, though the situation is explosive.

"The independence has not solved anything - says Jean-Michel de Walle Free University of Brussels -. Who thought that problems would be overcome automatically, almost magically, the Court finds that all the questions remain. They are no longer serious than before, but they are all still there. "

Since the end of the war with Serbia, Kosovo has received EUR 4 billion of financial aid. At the time of its independence, Pristina claimed that they could get away with its mineral resources and its young people, but poverty, crime and corruption reign.

About two million inhabitants, 40 percent are unemployed. The average per capita annual income is just € 1760. And now they want Western donors cut aid. "From the outset - De Walle said - you knew that Independent Kosovo would be an economic challenge. It has no natural resources or industry or agriculture efficient. E 'therefore a poor country, without adequate infrastructure.

The problems are aggravated by the lack of a competent administration and adequate political elites, economic and social, capable of launching a real political project for this country. "

Independence is not therefore been achieved in the economic field, but even in that of public safety. Ten thousand men of the KFOR and the European Union 2 000 police officers are constantly present in the fight against organized crime and to cool the tensions between the Albanian majority and Serb minority. The latter does not recognize Kosovo's institutions. It now expects an important ruling of the International Court of Justice.

"Until there is an answer to the question of the legality of the proclamation of independence - de Walle says - it will be difficult to move forward. I think that for Serbia, even with a democratic government and pro European, Kosovo's independence is something that will absolutely unacceptable. "

Se la sentenza, non vincolante, della Corte internazionale di giustizia, sarà favorevole a Pristina, le autorità serbe e kosovare potranno di nuovo riunirsi intorno a un tavolo per un negoziato. E in quella sede sarà deciso l’avvenire del Kosovo.