Russia seeks end of conflict in Syria Sep 9, 2011 12:31 Moscow Time Russia maintains contacts with a maximum number of political forces in Syria with a view to end the current political crisis in Syria, Russia’s presidential envoy to Africa Mikhail Margelov said. As he met with a delegation of Syrian opposition leaders in Moscow, Margelov said that Russia is concerned about the situation in Syria, as Syria is a key Middle East nation and Russia’s long and reliable partner. Margelov reaffirmed Russia’s determination to exert every effort to secure the end of bloodshed in Syria. President Medvedev said in a Euronews program earlier that Russia is interested in securing political dialogue in Syria and will do whatever it can to prevent the developments from following the Libyan scenario. Report: Syria opposition says dialogue at dead end Associated Press 2011-09-09 04:15 PM n news agencies have cited a Syrian opposition delegation saying that the prospects of dialogue with the Syrian regime are bleak. RIA-Novosti and ITAR-Tass quoted Ammar Qurabi, head of the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria, as saying Friday that the opposition is prepared to talk with the government but that authorities have responded only with bloodletting. The U.N. says 2,200 people have been killed since the Syrian uprising began in March, inspired by the pro-democracy revolutions sweeping the Arab world. has resisted a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that would impose an arms embargo and other sanctions on Syria.
“All of Medvedev’s talk [about modernising Russia’s infrastructure] hasn’t really brought results. If anything, the situation has deteriorated due to spreading corruption and the increased inefficiency of state institutions.” The Financial Times Limited 2011. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web. Russian Airplane Crash Clouds Putin Goal of Building World-Class Economy Q By Paul Abelsky - Sep 9, 2011 7:19 AM GMT+0200 Russian Prime Minister ’s goal of turning the economy into one of the top five in the world may be threatened by mounting unease over the country’s transport infrastructure. The Sept. 7 crash that killed all but two of the 45 passengers aboard an 18-year-old Russian-made Yakovlev-42 plane was the fifth jet airliner accident in the country in the past year, bringing the number of casualties to 99, according to data compiled by researcher Ascend Worldwide Ltd. Other transport accidents included a July 10 shipwreck that killed 119 people. The catastrophes highlight the failure to overhaul infrastructure in the world’s largest country as the government seeks to modernize the economy and remake Moscow into a global financial hub to reduce dependence on energy exports. “The number of deadly accidents rules out coincidence and points to fundamental problems with ageing infrastructure and the rule of law,” Lilit Gevorgyan, a analyst at IHS Global Insight, said by e-mail. “This is certainly casting a shadow on aspiring to become a world class economy.” The age of Russia’s domestically manufactured single-aisle aircraft fleet is between 25 and 30 years, while the U.S. fleet averages around 13 years, according Ascend, a London-based aviation consultant company. Ascend fleet figures show a need for at least 400 new commercial passenger aircraft in Russia, said George Ferguson, senior aerospace and defense analyst for Bloomberg Industries. ‘More Difficulties’ Airline fleet renewal “is required at smaller carriers further afield that will have more difficulties securing bank loans or leasing commitments,” Ferguson said of Russia’s commercial aviation industry.
The country has also been given a negative on , which put Russia in 154th place, tied with Kenya, on a list that goes from least to most corrupt. At on Sept. 8, President Dmitry Medvedev acknowledged that Russia remained haunted by its Soviet past. “We tried to create a society without the rich in the past,” he said. “That experiment led to stagnation, poverty and disintegration of the country.” His conclusion? “Inviolability of private property must be guaranteed.” National Economic Trends 09/09 12:31 ECON MINISTRY: PRIVATIZE UP TO 15% OF ROSNEFT, 10% OF VTB, STOCK IN RUSHYDRO, FGC UES, SOVCOMFLOT IN 09/09 12:28 RULES SETTING LOWEST STATE-CO DIVIDENDS AT 25% OF NET PROFIT TO STAY IN 2012-2014 - ECON MINISTRY 09/09 12:27 RZD PRIVATIZATION NOW SLATED TO START IN 2014 - ECON MINISTRY 09/09 12:26 RUSSIAN FEDERAL BUDGET REVENUE FROM 2012 PRIVATIZATION - 300 BLN RUBLES, IN 2013 - 380 BLN, IN 2014 - 475 BLN - ECON MINISTRY SEPTEMBER 9, 2011, 3:07 A.M. ET Russia Econ Min "Worst Case" Scenario Sees 30% RUB Drop In 2012-Paper
Q: What do you miss least? Moscow traffic. Read more: The Moscow Times Yandex Figures Out How to Get Paid for Music Service 09 September 2011 By has found a way to make its legal music service profitable and bring greater returns to copyright owners, the company said. Yandex.Music, which holds more than 2.3 million tracks, will now be monetized by placing a multimedia ad on the service's site beginning this week. Unlike other music portals, Yandex is exploring the possibility of paying copyright owners based on ad viewership rather than the sale of content, which the company said is a more profitable alternative. "We are confident that in our conditions, the ads will provide copyright owners greater profits than the sale of content," said Alexei Tretyakov, Yandex's commercial director. The banner, which covers a third of the Yandex.Music site, gives advertisers the option of displaying text, photos, video and flash files to promote their products. Yandex paid copyright owners before, but its representatives declined to disclose how much more the owners will be paid now that the company is selling ad space. "For most of the existing agreements with copyright owners, we are planning to start paying the owners their share from the ad sales already in the current contract year," Yandex's press office wrote in an e-mailed statement to The Moscow Times. But the managers of other music portals doubt whether the Yandex venture will be very profitable. "It doesn't look like they'll be able to make a lot of money off it. Their catalog [of music] is very large, so it's unlikely that one banner will cover the cost," said Dmitry Kurkin, deputy editor-in-chief of the free music portal Zvuki.ru.