Russia and Ukraine sign gas, loan and trade agreements; European Commission has said that there are no prospects of talks with Yanukovich; Duma ratifies Russia-Kazakhstan agreement on creation of a joint air defence system;
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    • (DECEMBER 16-22)

    According to reports, Russia has agreed to lower the price of natural gas it supplies to Ukraine, apart from giving it a multi billion loan package. In a meeting between President Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart in Moscow on December 17, it was announced that Russia will sell gas to Ukraine for US$ 268.5 per 1,000 cubic meters which is below the current level of more than US$ 400. Russia will buy US$ 15 billion in Ukrainian Eurobonds which will provide liquidity to Ukraine and help overcome its looming balance of payments crisis. Ukraine’s Roshen Confectionery will also be allowed to resume its exports to Russia. 1

    According to reports, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has said that the Commission does not foresee any grounds for continuing talks on signing an association agreement with the incumbent Ukrainian leadership in the current situation. 2

    Reports noted that Russia’s lower house of parliament, Duma, has ratified an agreement between Russia and Kazakhstan to create a joint air defence system. The agreement was signed in Astana on January 30, 2013. 3

    According to reports, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, after a meeting with his Polish counterpart in Warsaw on December 19, has said that Russia and Poland will look to strengthen their bilateral economic cooperation, including examining synergies of cooperation in joint ventures in advanced technology and SMEs. They have also agreed to continue developing and improvement of cooperation in the framework of the UN, OSCE, at the European Council in the framework of relations between Russia and the European Union, as well as to raise effectiveness and trust in the framework of the Russia-NATO Council. 4

    Reports noted that the United States has decided to avoid expanding its ‘Magnitsky’ blacklist of Russian officials declared personae non gratae on the suspicion of human rights abuse and corruption. The Magnitsky list is a list of 18 Russian officials, none of them high-ranking, who have been declared personae non gratae in the US according to a so-called Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act, which was adopted by the Congress in December 2012. The people mentioned in the Magnitsky list are denied entry to the US. Besides, their assets in the US, if they have any, have to be frozen. 5

    According to reports, Russian presidential special envoy for the Middle East, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov has met with Syrian opposition leader Qadri Jamil to discuss preparations for the Geneva II Peace Conference. 6

    Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Russia will provide warships to escort vessels carrying Syrian chemical weapons. 7

    Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has met with the Iranian Ambassador in Moscow Mehdi Sanaei on December 16 in Moscow to discuss Tehran’s nuclear program, in the backdrop of Geneva talks between Iran and P5 and the visit to Tehran by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on December 11. 8

    Rosneft Head Igor Sechin has said that the company plans to raise oil production by one million tonnes in 2014. The production for 2013 is projected to be 207 million tonnes. 9

    According to reports, President Vladimir Putin has ratified free trade agreements with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The deals were signed in 2012. 10

    Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned against attempts to whip up tensions over the deployment of Iskander missiles in Russia’s Kaliningrad region. He stated that the deployment does not run counter to international agreements. 11

    The State Duma has passed amendments to the Criminal Code, which calls for imprisonment for up to five years for calls to split Russia. They will come into force on May 9, 2014. 12

    President Vladimir Putin has said that his government will allocate 834 billion rubles (US$ 25.29 billion) for basic scientific research programme until 2020. This is part of Russia’s long-term basic scientific research program. He also stated that talks are underway to reform the Russian Academy of Sciences. 13

    The Kremlin has announced that news agency RIA Novosti and the state-owned Voice of Russia radio will be merged into a new media conglomerate called Rossiya Segodnya. The order will be implemented within the next 3 months. 14

    In other developments, according to reports, former CEO of the oil corporation YUKOS, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was released from jail in Russia on December 20 after serving a term of more than ten years, has said that he will not engage in politics or claim a return of the assets he once had in YUKOS. He also confirmed that the authorities did not put forward ‘recognition of guilt’ as a precondition for his release from jail. 15

    Reports noted that Russia's new agency for attracting investments to the regions (RAPIR) will be established before yearend. RAPIR will be registered as an autonomous non-commercial organization and is a single-window service for foreign investors. In the opinion of the Agency founders, RAPIR will be of use to medium-sized businesses that come up with projects valued from $5 million. 16

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