Delovoi Vtornik
Russia does not fully approve of NATO policy in Afghanistan
Russia is interested in the success of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, but does not fully approve of their actions, Vladimir Nazarov, deputy head of the Russian Security Council, said in the wake of a visit to Washington.
During his visit, Nazarov held a series of meetings with Department of State and National Security Council officials, including U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke.
Nazarov said Afghanistan was an important area of U.S.-Russian cooperation, adding that the U.S.-Russian military transit agreement was Russia's real contribution, political and financial, to Afghanistan's security. On the whole, Russia supports the U.S.-NATO operation in Afghanistan and wants the coalition forces to succeed, the Russian official emphasized.
Yet, we do not approve of "everything they are doing in Afghanistan," he went on, referring to the United States and its allies. "We would like to see more effective policies, primarily aimed at fighting terrorism and drugs," he said.
Drug trafficking from Afghanistan is raising concern in Russia; but the coalition forces are not focusing on it as much as they should, he said. Their anti-drug efforts should be more professional and involve more special forces and equipment.
This approach would have reduced civilian casualties, which are unacceptably high now. The secret documents on the Afghan war recently publicized by Wikileaks have confirmed Russia's fears. Russian officials have repeatedly warned the international community that regular armed forces are poorly suited for fighting terrorism; Russia has leaned that from experience.
Nazarov also discussed interaction between the Russian and U.S. Security Councils in Washington. This bilateral cooperation is constructive, with both sides being genuinely interested, Nazarov said. It helps boost mutual trust and resolve complicated issues of regional and international security, as well as bilateral relations.
Vedomosti
General Motors revenue drops by two-thirds in Russia
Before its initial public offering, General Motors (GM) published its financial performance in Russia. From July 10, 2009, through year end, the company earned $246 million, or half its January-June profit ($430 million). The company's total 2009 revenue in Russia was one-third of its 2008 earnings ($2 billion). GM sells its Chevrolet, Opel and Cadillac brands in Russia and has one of the largest dealer networks here. GM has an assembly plant near St. Petersburg, and owns a 50% stake in the GM-AvtoVAZ joint venture. By the end of 2009, the company valued its fixed assets in Russia at $118 million.
In 2008 GM's revenue grew 33%, and it increased sales 30% over 2007, selling 338,000 units. Russia was one of the few markets where GM experienced growth that year.
In 2009, GM's sales in Russia decreased 58.3% to 142,000 cars. In the first six months of 2010, it decreased 20.2% year-on-year, to 67,000 cars, despite the 3% growth of the overall Russian new car market. GM remains the second largest auto group in Russia in revenue (after AvtoVAZ), followed by Volkswagen Group, which is catching up. GM's share in Russia fell to 8.3% from 9.4% in the last six months.
In May 2010, James Bovenzi became GM president and managing director in Russia and the CIS. Prior to this, he was GM vice president for global purchasing and supply in the Asian region. The appointment of a person directly involved in production to the leading GM post in Russia means that the company is determined to develop domestic production in Russia.
Russia is in for production growth, VTB Capital analyst Yelena Sakhnova believes, as the demand for GM cars is growing. In July 2010, according to the Association of European Businesses, GM sold 11% more cars in Russia than in the same period last year.
In 2009, the Russian passenger car market decreased 47.4% to 937 billion rubles, according to Ernst & Young automotive industry advisor Ivan Bonchev. In the first half of 2010, it grew 2.4% to 517 billion rubles year-on-year.
The largest international car manufacturers do not disclose their financial performance in Russia. However, most makers recorded a drastic revenue decline in the Russian market in 2009. The revenue of the Ford Motor Company (sells Ford cars produced in Vsevolzhsk) dropped 64.3% to 53.4 billion rubles in 2009. The revenue of the Toyota Motor Corporation (sells Lexus and Toyota cars, some of which are produced in Russia) fell 50% to 83.6 billion rubles. The revenue of Volkswagen Group Rus (assembly plant in Kaluga) fell 17.4% to 82.1 billion rubles.
RBC Daily
Ministry of Economic Development tackles expat issue
Most problems plaguing foreign investors in Russia concern administrative barriers, customs legislation and trade regulation, show the statistics of petitions addressed to the Ministry of Economic Development. Officials are happy: businesspeople are no longer afraid of appealing to them, and promise to deal with abuses of power.
A year ago, the government announced its plan to improve the investment climate in Russia. Now foreign investors can make complaints and suggestions to the Ministry of Economic Development about their investment projects.
The ministry has already received 26 investors' petitions and applications: 11 have been acted on and 15 are under consideration, says the ministry's official website. The statistics show that most issues are connected with administrative barriers, customs legislation, trade regulation and discrimination of foreign companies (16% each).
"The problems also include situations when the company itself or its staff occasionally violate Russian legislation," Sergei Belyakov, director of the department for investment policy and public and private partnership, told RBC Daily.
The ministry has promised to continue working with investors' problems. The situation cannot be reversed overnight, but there is already a set of rules prepared for officials to work with investors, Belyakov said. "The solution of problems will change the attitude of many investors. Investors are no longer afraid to turn to us," he said.
The key objective facing the ministry is to solve the investors' problems related to abuses at the federal level. On the other hand, it is necessary to prove to the investors that the federal center is not interested in putting pressure on them. "The attitude to investors has changed, and they no longer feel the pressure of the federal center they used to," Belyakov said.
Market players see positive shifts in the investment climate. The main recent development has been in migration legislation. Since July 1, foreign and Russian companies have experienced a considerable easing of rules. Now they will have no difficulty in recruiting highly skilled specialists for company jobs. Companies fill many leading positions with expat personnel. This process took a long time before the new standards were adopted.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta
Abkhazia won't give beaches back to Russia
A rift is brewing in Russian-Abkhaz relations over property rights issues involving apartments, houses, resort hotels and even beaches in Abkhazia owned by Russian nationals. The deals date back to a time when Abkhazia was struggling for independence. Now that the republic has finally broken away from Georgia, it will not recognize the contracts which place all of its seaside property and resort facilities in Russian hands.
The Abkhaz news agency Apsnypress yesterday circulated a statement by the country's Prime Minister Sergei Shamba that the Abkhaz government has turned down Russia's proposal regarding the property rights of Russian citizens living in Abkhazia.
According to Shamba, the Russian Foreign Ministry had issued a concept for a joint Russian-Abkhaz commission on the restitution of property rights of Russian citizens in the Republic of Abkhazia. The document had no registration number or cover letter, and was therefore turned down without consideration, Shamba said.
His statement was in fact provoked by local media reports which said that this concept, if approved, would run counter to Abkhazia's national interests. If the Russians' property rights are confirmed, thousands of Georgian refugees, who fled Abkhazia in the 1990s during an armed conflict, could apply for the restitution of their rights to abandoned homes as well.
The Russian Foreign Ministry information department said Moscow had sent official letters to Abkhazia, along with reports on property being confiscated from Russian nationals and the list of victims of this policy. A draft concept of restitution of Russian citizens' property rights has also been sent.
However, according to a source in the Abkhaz government, this issue involves not only apartments claimed by Russians living in Abkhazia, but also resort facilities acquired earlier by Russian nationals living in Russia.
Sergei Shamba told a news conference in Sukhumi on Monday that his government was not refusing to consider restitution issues. "We are looking at issues involving the restitution of real property to Russian citizens. However, these complicated issues cannot be resolved quickly because Russian citizens are not necessarily ethnic Russians. Many of them are former residents of Abkhazia of Georgian birth, including those who fought against the Abkhaz people during the Georgia-Abkhazia conflict. These people should be banned from the republic," he said, adding that a special commission is considering each restitution request separately.
Vzglyad
Turkey no longer considers Russia a threat
Political analyst Fyodor Lukyanov commented on Ankara's decision to exclude Russia from the list of countries that pose a threat to Turkey. In the meantime, Turkey is rapidly drawing closer to Russia, while further distancing itself from the United States.
Turkey has announced its intention to exclude Russia from the list of countries posing a threat to its national security. It is expected that the decision will be taken at the regular session of Turkey's National Security Council in October. Until recently, Russia, along with Greece, Iraq, and Iran, has been listed in the "Red Book" of countries posing a threat to Turkey. Following the decision, Russia will be treated as a country with which Turkey can build partner relations.
In an interview to Vzglyad, political analyst and chief editor of Russia in Global Affairs magazine Fyodor Lukyanov explained the drastic changes in the foreign policy of the former Ottoman Empire, known for its centuries-long rivalry with Russia.
Two factors are driving the turnabout in Turkish foreign policy, Fyodor Lukyanov believes. First, in recent years, bilateral relations between Russia and Turkey have been on the rise. The two countries have been expanding economic ties and actively discussing energy projects. Notwithstanding certain problems, Russia is a very important partner for Turkey, not only in bilateral relations, but also as part of the overall Turkish strategy to become a major transit state controlling the flow of energy resources to southeastern Europe.
On the other hand, Turkey has made significant adjustments to its foreign policy in recent years. While previously, the relationship with Washington was of primary importance to Ankara, currently it is becoming a much more independent player in international politics. This does not mean that Turkey is breaking off ties with the United States; this course of action is not a viable option. But Turkey has been more independent in its actions and decisions recently than ever before.
Turkey's active involvement in the South Caucasus (and Turkey clearly wants to play a major role in the region) is acceptable to Russia for the time being. But given the centuries of Russian-Turkish rivalry in the Caucasus, the interests of the two countries have potential to collide.
In its desire to become a major energy transit country in the Middle East, Turkey is interested in cooperating with Russia on the South Stream and Blue Stream projects. At the same time, however, Ankara is not willing to give up the Nabucco project, which is competing with Russian energy projects.
While balancing between competing projects may be in Turkey's interests, such a policy will sooner or later run into conflict with Russia's interests. In fact, to a certain extent, this is already happening, as, despite repeated promises, Turkey has not yet signed the documents to formally join the South Stream project. This means that the final agreement on the issue has not been reached yet.
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MOSCOW, August 24 (RIA Novosti)
