In Brief
Russia Gets Sub Order MOSCOW (Bloomberg) — Russia received a $1.8 billion order to build six submarines for Vietnam, Kommersant reported. The Kilo 636 subs were originally intended for Venezuela and will be built by St. Petersburg-based Admiralteyskiye Verfi, a subsidiary of state-owned United Shipbuilding Corp., the Russian newspaper reported, citing two unidentified people at government arms trader Rosoboronexport. Rosoboronexport broke a contract with Venezuela to supply the submarines after the April 18 meeting of the South American country’s president, Hugo Chavez, with U.S. President Barack Obama, Kommersant reported. Hyundai Needs Loan SEOUL (Bloomberg) — Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s largest automaker, said it may borrow about 250 million euros ($319 million) to build a plant in Russia. The Seoul-based automaker is in talks with banks for the loans, Hyundai said in an email Monday, without giving details including the names of the banks. Hyundai in June last year began to build a 330-million-euro factory in St. Petersburg to become the top car producer in Europe’s fastest-growing major auto market. Local Breguet Store MOSCOW (Bloomberg) — Swatch Group plans to open Breguet outlets in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg to add to its 30 Swatch boutiques in Russia, Vedomosti reported, citing Chairman Nicolas Hayek. Sales in Russia are three times higher than local sales of the company’s nearest competitor, Hayek told the newspaper. AvtoVAZ Plans Bargain ST. PETERSBURG (Bloomberg) — Russian automaker AvtoVAZ plans to build a passenger car priced at less than 200,000 rubles ($5,990), Vedomosti reported, citing two company managers it didn’t name. The company is spending as much as $100 million to develop the model, which is based on the Lada Kalina sedan, and needs government funds to begin production, the newspaper said. Togliatti, Russia-based AvtoVAZ expects to start selling the new model in two years, according to Vedomosti. Medvedev Wants Bonds MOSCOW (Bloomberg) — Russia is prepared to buy International Monetary Fund bonds if the Washington-based lender decides to sell them, RIA Novosti reported, citing a Kremlin statement. President Dmitry Medvedev told the central bank to come up with proposals for participating in the possible sale, the state-run news service said Monday. Pipeline to China Started MOSCOW (Bloomberg) — Transneft began welding Russia’s first oil pipeline to China on Monday, Interfax reported from a ceremony in Skovorodino, where the state company’s East Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipe currently ends. China will make “all efforts” to ensure the link is completed by the end of 2010, the news service said, citing China National Petroleum Corp. Vice President Wang Dongjin. Transneft will finish building pumping stations on the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline by the end of this year, Interfax reported, citing Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin. Fewer Migrant Workers MOSCOW (SPT) — The number of migrant workers arriving in Russia dropped by 27 percent in the first quarter of 2009, while the number of crimes committed by migrants grew by 3.8 percent, Federal Migration Service chief Konstantin Romodanovsky said Friday. “Declarations about a crisis-related growth in the number of illegal migrants in Russia are baseless,” Romodanovsky told Interfax. Romodanovsky also defended the migrants, calling the growth in crimes “insignificant” and saying migrants “as a rule” are “decent” people. (MT) Custody Deal After Kidnap MOSCOW (SPT) — The French father of a 3-year-old girl kidnapped by her Russian mother last month has agreed to joint custody, Interfax reported. The girl, Elise Andre, will live six months with her father in France and six months with her mother in Russia under the terms of the agreement expected to be signed this week by lawyers representing the divorced parents, the report said. But the mother, Irina Belenkaya, who is being held by Hungarian police as a court considers extraditing her to France to face kidnapping charges, still wants complete custody rights, telling Vesti-24 television that the agreement “wasn’t the right decision.” Hotel Collection ST PETERSBURG (SPT) — The Rocco Forte Collection, an international hotel company that owns the Hotel Astoria and manages the Angleterre Hotel in St. Petersburg, will open a hotel in the Czech Republic and a resort in Sicily in May, the company announced. Rocco Forte will open the Augustine, a 101-room hotel in the center of Prague, on May 14 and the Verdura, a 203-room golf and spa resort, on the Sicilian coast on May 29. According to company press releases, both destinations are currently accepting bookings. The collection, which was founded in 1996, will own a total of 13 hotels all over Europe with the opening of the two new properties. The company acquired the historic Hotel Astoria in 1997 by buying a 25.5 percent share. Prices at the Verdura start at 350 euros ($460) a night in the low season and 720 euros ($945) a night in the high season. The Augustine is currently offering rooms for 370 euros ($485) a night. Signs of Georgian Violence? TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — After two weeks of nonviolent rallies against President Mikheil Saakashvili, signs emerged Friday that protesters might be expecting things to get physical. Television footage — including from channels that cover opposition activities — showed several wooden sticks and at least one baseball bat being distributed to protesters. Reports in the Georgian and Russian media said the distribution of potential weapons was wider. Some opposition leaders denied that weapons were being handed around, calling it a setup by Georgian authorities looking for an excuse to violently disperse the crowds. Others, however, said they needed sticks to defend themselves. Armenia Remembers War YEREVAN, Armenia (Reuters) — Armenians flooded to a monument above Yerevan on Friday and laid flowers in remembrance of the World War I killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks, even as the country looks to a historic accord with Turkey. The neighbors announced late Wednesday that they had agreed on a road map to normalize ties after a century of hostility that traces its roots to the 1915 mass killing and deportation of Armenians, a crime Armenia says was genocide. Canada, Ukraine Eye Energy KIEV (Reuters) — Canada’s governor general, Michaelle Jean, called on Saturday for intensified energy cooperation with Ukraine, including in the nuclear sphere, to help it achieve energy self-sufficiency. Jean also said it was up to Canada and other industrial nations to help Ukraine find permanent solutions to the dire consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, which occurred 23 years ago on Sunday.
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