Russia Reform Monitor: No. 1562

May 24:

Speaking at Beijing’s Tsinghua University, Chinese President Hu Jintao’s alma mater, President Dmitry Medvedev has rejected what he said was opposition to Russian-Chinese cooperation. “Some don’t like such strategic cooperation between our countries, but we understand that this cooperation serves the interests of our people, and we will strengthen it, regardless of whether others like it or not,” the Associated Press quotes Medvedev as saying, apparently referring to the United States. “Russian-Chinese relations are one of the most important factors of maintaining stability in modern conditions.” Medvedev did not mention the U.S. by name and said the Russian-Chinese alliance “is not directed against any other nation” but “aimed at maintaining a global balance.”

NEWSru.com reports that 44 Russian servicemen died in April from crimes and accidents. According to Russia’s Defense Ministry, 19 servicemen committed suicide, 19 died from accidents (including road accidents), five were victims of reckless homicide and one died from hazing, NEWSru.com reports. A total of 135 Russian servicemen have died from crimes and accidents since the start of the year.


May 25:

Kremlin administration head Sergei Naryshkin has indicated in an interview with NTV television that penalties for corruption may be toughened. According to RIA Novosti, Naryshkin, who was named by President Medvedev to head the presidium of the new Anti-Corruption Council and charged with presenting a national anti-corruption plan within a month, refused to comment on whether the penalties will include confiscating the property of officials charged with corruption.


May 26:

United Nations investigators have concluded that a Russian fighter shot down an unarmed, unmanned plane in Georgian airspace last month and said the action undercut a ceasefire in the separatist region of Abkhazia, Bloomberg News reports. “This is the first time that a body like the UN has openly and clearly pointed out that it was the Russian Federation that shot down the drone,” President Mikheil Saakashvili told reporters in Tbilisi. “Obviously this now needs some international reaction. It’s clear that the current situation cannot go on and something needs to be done to prevent further aggression by Russia.” Russia insists none of its aircraft flew over Georgia on the day in question.

Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Shatalov has said that the Russian cabinet’s presidium, a special body Prime Minister Vladimir Putin set up earlier this month that includes over half the cabinet’s ministers, has approved bills aimed at lowering taxes for some categories of taxpayers starting in 2009, Strana.ru reports. The bills envisage, among other things, lowering taxes on oil producers, increasing tax deductions for citizens with children and permitting entrepreneurs to report to the tax inspectorate one time a year instead of the current four times a year.


May 27:

Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin has sought to quell fears about stagnating oil production, telling Reuters that the Russian oil sector’s top priorities are maintaining output and exploring for more oil. “Developing the industry is the key goal,” Sechin told the news agency in his first interview with foreign media. “It includes maintaining production and exploring the mineral resources base. It is very important for the state, it is key.” Sechin is also chairman of state-controlled Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil company.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has been named chairman of the council of ministers of the Russian-Belarus union, Grani.ru reports. A corresponding resolution was signed by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who holds the post of chairman of the union’s Supreme State Council. As the Associated Press notes, Russia and Belarus signed an agreement in 1996 that envisaged close political, economic and military ties, but efforts to achieve a full merger have foundered.