Russia 110111 Basic Political Developments

Countering terrorism: Islamabad-Moscow talks on January 24

http://tribune.com.pk/story/102105/countering-terrorism-islamabad-moscow-talks-on-january-24/

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Russia are likely to frame a joint mechanism to counter global terrorism during bilateral talks in Islamabad scheduled to be held on January 24 to 25, an official source told The Express Tribune, adding that the two countries have already agreed to work together in this regard.

The fight against terrorism will be one of the key points in the agenda for the forthcoming talks between Islamabad and Moscow.

A review and progress of joint working groups for close cooperation between the two countries to handle issues pertaining to terrorism will also come under discussion.

The US-led war on terrorism in Afghanistan and the roles of Pakistan and Russia are said to be part of the agenda.

A regional strategy to eliminate terrorism and ensure peace and stability in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asian States will also be the focus of the dialogue.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11^th, 2011.

Meeting on Russian loan to be held in Moscow on January 24

http://www.emg.rs/en/news/serbia/143964.html

11. January 2011. | 07:11

Source: Tanjug

Representatives of the Serbian and the Russian government will confer in Moscow on January 24 over the USD 800 million loan for the Serbian railways, the Serbian Ministry of Infrastructure announced yesterday.

Representatives of the Serbian and the Russian government will confer in Moscow on January 24 over the USD 800 million loan for the Serbian railways, the Serbian Ministry of Infrastructure announced yesterday.

Minister Mrkonjic said that most of the projects should be prepared in keeping with Russian standards by the time the meetings take place.

Following a meeting with Serbian Ambassador to Russia Jelica Kurjak, Mrkonjic said that the projects will be prepared for the expert meeting in keeping with Russia's requirements.

Kurjak informed Mrkonjic about Russia's unchanged interest in the realisation of the loan aimed at Serbian railways, the release notes.

Belarus repaid the loan to Russian Banks

http://www.rbcdaily.ru/2011/01/11/finance/562949979524548

GOOGLE TRANSLATION

10:45 RBC daily
Belarus repaid a syndicated loan banks in Russia amounting to 6 billion rubles. Which she received in December 2009 by placing in December 2010 in the Russian market sovereign bonds at 7 billion Russian rubles.
"In working with the Savings Bank of Russia in December 2009 we entered into a loan agreement. The organizers and the organizers of the loan is placing our bonds in the Russian market. "We" closed "loan bond issue in Russia" - quoted by news agency ITAR-TASS their Speaker in the Belarusian financial circles, who wished to remain anonymous.
According to the source, Minsk repaid as the loan amount and interest thereon. Besides placing sovereign bonds in the Russian market allowed to make payments to the organizers of accommodation, law firms, to pay costs to the stock exchange and depository services. Fund balance - and this is a little more than 700 million Russian rubles - went to Belarus - the speaker said.
Syndicated loan amounting to 6 billion rubles for a term exceeding one year, provided the Finance Ministry of Belarus in December 2009, Sberbank, the state corporation Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs (Vnesheconombank), Gazprombank and Alfa Bank. Agent on the loan was assigned Savings Bank of Russia. The organizers of the placement on the Russian stock market sovereign bonds of Belarus, the Russian currency-denominated, were appointed by Sberbank of Russia, VEB, Gazprombank and Alfa Bank. Belarus posted a Russian 2-year bonds at 8.7% per annum.

Miscues rife before Medvedev's trip to Kunashiri

http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201101100090.html

2011/01/11

The government's decision to replace its ambassador to Russia was a culmination of miscommunications between the prime minister's office and the Foreign Ministry, according to sources close to the matter.

While the formal replacement of Ambassador Masaharu Kono with Chikahito Harada will not likely occur until late spring, insiders view the decision as a virtual dismissal of Kono for his failure to provide adequate information about Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's trip to Kunashiri island on Nov. 1. The island is part of the disputed Northern Territories.

Poor communication between the prime minister's office and the Foreign Ministry was the main reason for the confused response by the government in its Russian diplomacy, the sources said.

On Oct. 29, reports in both Japan and Russia said Medvedev would visit Kunashiri within a few days.

However, a high-ranking Foreign Ministry official said at the time: "Although I read those reports, we do not have any information. In any event, he will not go. I would be very surprised if he did go."

That was the same day Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara were in Hanoi with their hands full, trying to obtain information about why Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao suddenly canceled a planned meeting with Kan.

Medvedev flew into Hanoi on Oct. 30, but no one in the Japanese delegation felt it important to contact someone on the Russian side, according to a high-ranking Foreign Ministry official.

In fact, no Foreign Ministry official in charge of Russian affairs was part of the Japanese delegation.

Based on information that preparations were being made at that time for a Medvedev visit to Kunashiri, Kono and his staff at the Japanese Embassy in Moscow on Oct. 29 sent a diplomatic cable to Tokyo, which said, "There is the possibility of a visit to the Northern Territories."

A Foreign Ministry official said that such important information would as a matter of course be passed on to the prime minister's office. But the consensus within the ministry is that no one in the prime minister's office paid attention to the cable because they were too busy dealing with China.

"It's possible that the information presented to the prime minister's office was of a nature that would not lead someone who isn't a diplomatic professional to understand it meant Medvedev would likely go," a high-ranking ministry official said.

Those working in the prime minister's office recall asking the Foreign Ministry on Oct. 31 if Medvedev would go or not. A ministry official replied that the Russian president would not go.

At a Nov. 1 news conference several hours after Medvedev landed on Kunashiri, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku said the government never received any "solid information" about the visit until the very end.

A government source said, "The prime minister, chief Cabinet secretary and foreign minister were embarrassed" by the lack of information.

Kono was recalled to Japan, but it appears he did not help his case.

One government source said Kono only talked about the domestic Russian political situation surrounding the presidential election in explaining why Medvedev made the visit.

After returning to Moscow, Kono also told reporters that a meeting would likely be held between Kan and Medvedev on the sidelines of the November Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Yokohama. The comment angered senior government officials because the timing of the meeting had not been finalized.

A Foreign Ministry official also said government officials wanted unfiltered information, not selected ministry analyses, reflecting a pledge by the Democratic Party of Japan to have politicians take the initiative on policy decisions.

Unfortunately, there have been fewer opportunities for the Foreign Ministry to brief government officials since the DPJ took control of government.

That contributed to the overall lack of communication behind the slow response of the government to Medvedev's visit to Kunashiri.

At the same time, Russia, in the words of a Foreign Ministry official, wanted to give "shock treatment" to the DPJ government, which Moscow views as using a confusing two-track channel to convey Tokyo's intentions.

Since the DPJ took over in September 2009, Russia has vacillated between great expectations and disappointment about progress on the territorial issue because of what government officials were saying.

In building up expectations, then Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told Medvedev in a September 2009 meeting that he wanted his generation to resolve the territorial issue. Then Lower House member Muneo Suzuki, who has long been involved in Russian matters, also pushed for a return first of two of the four islands in the Northern Territories as a flexible approach to achieve a breakthrough.

At the same time, then Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and Maehara, who was state minister in charge of the Northern Territories at the time, made comments that led to Russian disappointment because they sounded so uncompromising.

Maehara, in particular, said in October 2009 that the Northern Territories were being "illegally occupied" by Russia.

The inconsistency of the Japanese stance toward Russia led to confusion among Russian government officials and likely contributed to the decision to have Medvedev visit Kunashiri, according to Foreign Ministry sources.

The government decision to name Harada as the new ambassador to Russia is intended to show it wants to improve its diplomacy with Moscow.

Harada is considered one of the top Russian experts at the Foreign Ministry, but he has always taken a less flexible position of demanding that the four northern islands be returned in a single package.

(This article was written by Junko Takahashi and Hideki Soejima.)