PRESS DIGEST - Russia - July 9
MOSCOW, July 9 (Reuters) - The following are some of the leading stories in Russia's newspapers on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
KOMMERSANT
www.kommersant.ru
- Russia's national flag carrier Aeroflot (AFLT.MM) reported on Wednesday a 2008 net profit of $37 million against $313 million in 2007.
- Russia's Evraz Group (HK1q.L) steel producer has announced an issue of convertible bonds worth $600 million and a $300 million share sale in a bid to avert default risks.
- The authorities of the Samara region have declared a state of emergency due to in connection with severe drought which has seriously damaged or destroyed crops.
- Human rights activists protest at the appointment of deputy chief of the president's staff Vladislav Surkov as a human rights and civil society coordinator within the bilateral Russian-American commission.
VEDOMOSTI
www.vedomosti.ru
- Russia's budget deficit can reach 6.5 percent in 2010 and the finance ministry is already looking for ways to bridge the fiscal gap.
- Metalinvest miner, controlled by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, is in talks with creditors over restructuring its $2.2 billion loans, according to banking sources.
- Russia has signed a deal on selling a dozen of T-90 tanks to Turkmenistan which places the former Soviet republic among five leading importers of Russian arms.
- Russia's finance ministry has cut its inflation forecast for this year to 12-12.5 percent from 13 percent, according to Economy Minister Elvira Nabiullina.
- First Deputy head of Russia's central bank Alexei Ulyukayev has warned local commercial banks against raising their interests rates.
ROSSIISKAYA GAZETA
www.rg.ru
- Russia expects to produce 85 million tonnes of grain this year, down from earlier forecasts of 90 million.
- Russia's industry and trade ministry has initiated a rise to 50 percent from 5 percent in import duties on GPS receivers as part of a state programme to support national satellite system GLONASS.
- The government is preparing a new bill to ensure advantages of local producers over imported pharmaceuticals, Health Minister Tatyana Golikova says in an interview.
- Military officials are worried about fast rising criminality among Russian officers which in 2007 was the highest in the last then years, chief military prosecutor Sergei Fridinsky says in an interview.
NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA
www.ng.ru
- Russia is speculated to be in talks with Kyrgystan on the possibility of opening a Russian military base in the southern town of Osh, the daily says in connection with reports about a recent visit to the ex-Soviet republic by senior Moscow officials.
