The Caspian Sea: a new economic profile

Igor Zonn for RIA Novosti) – The Caspian Sea is becoming a hub of the world’s economy.

Western corporations are increasingly tapping its oil and gas resources and pumping them to the rest of the world. They pump them not only through oil and gas pipelines running through Russia, but also via lines bypassing Russia: Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Baku-Supsa, and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum. This undermines Russia’s monopoly on the transportation of hydrocarbons from this geostrategic area. But its attempts to build a parallel line next to the CPC (Caspian Pipeline Consortium) oil pipeline and a Caspian gas pipeline are mired in bureaucratic red tape.

Who benefits from the shower of petrodollars in Russia?

RIA Novosti political commentator Maxim Krans

The 12th annual World Wealth Report, published the other day by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini, points to a sustained growth in the number and wealth of high-net-worth-individuals (HNWIs) in Russia.

“Russia was also home to one of the world’s 10 fastest-growing HNWI populations, despite growth decelerating from 15.5% in 2006 to 14.4% in 2007,” the report says. The world’s average growth was 6%.

In 2007, the number of wealthy Russians grew by 17,000 to 136,000, or 10% of Russia’s population, largely due to skyrocketing energy prices. Does this mean the living standards of the rest of the people have improved too?

What kind of air-defense system do we need?

RIA Novosti political commentator Andrei Kislyakov) – The discussion amongst highly placed generals in early July of creating a Joint CIS Air-Defense System is good news. However, it would be more appropriate to assess the state of Russia’s air defenses and to choose an optimal system with up-to-date weapons.

In late June, Lieutenant General Anatoly Boyarintsev, commander of the Russian Air Force’s radio engineering troops, announced that air-defense radars had started scanning an additional 480,000 square kilometres of air space in north-eastern Russia during the implementation of the federal target program “Streamlining the Federal Air Space Reconnaissance and Control System in 2007-2010.”

What kind of nuclear forces does Russia need?

RIA Novosti political commentator Andrei Kislyakov

If the Defense Ministry sticks to its plans to devote three-fourths of this year’s booster rocket launches to placing new satellites in orbit, there is hope that our future strategic nuclear missile forces will be not only the sword, but also a strong shield, of our country.

Besides missiles, silos and submarines, modern nuclear weapons systems also depend on a space-based component, comprising telecommunications and early warning satellites. Today, timely and precise information on a nuclear attack and adequate counter-measures are equally necessary for the effective use of strategic missile systems.

Abkhaz leader says Georgia planned to invade Abkhazia in spring

Sergei Bagapsh, the leader of Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia said on Saturday that Georgia had plans to attack and invade the region in April-May this year.

“The plan [developed by Georgia's Defense Ministry] has been obtained by the Abkhaz military intelligence services and clearly demonstrates that Georgia intended to occupy…the entire territory of Abkhazia,” Bagapsh told a news conference in Sukhumi.

Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich quits as Chukotka governor

Roman Abramovich, the Russian billionaire owner of Chelsea FC, has quit as governor of a remote Far East region, the Kremlin press service said on Thursday.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree accepting his resignation, the Kremlin said.

Abramovich’s spokesman said the businessman would continue investing in the region’s development after his resignation.

Medvedev dismisses McCain’s call for Russia to be ousted from G8

Russia’s president has said that United States presidential candidate John McCain’s pledge to seek Russia’s expulsion from the G8 if elected was not a serious statement.

Russia joined the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations in 1997, resulting in the G8. Medvedev will represent Russia for the first time at the forum’s summit in Hokkiado, Japan, on July 7-9.

“As far as I know, recently no one has been saying this. It is perfectly clear that any calls to expel Russia or to pressure Russia are simply not serious,” Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with G8 media on Thursday, in response to a reporter’s question on McCain’s comments.

In October last year, Republican candidate McCain said the G8 should become “a club of leading market democracies: It should include Brazil and India but exclude Russia.” He cited “diminishing political freedoms, a leadership dominated by a clique of former intelligence officers, [and] efforts to bully democratic neighbors” in Russia.

Medvedev said the G8 exists “not because anyone likes or dislikes it, but because it has objectively the largest economies and the most important players in terms of foreign policy.”

Attempts to restrict the group would damage the world order, he said.