Putin to prepare Customs Union start-up.

ST. PETERSBURG, May 21 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin will on Friday prepare the startup of the Customs Union with Belarus
and Kazakhstan that is to be launched on July 1.
Putin will chair a meeting of the EurAsEC Interstate Council, which is
the supreme body of the Customs Union, and the Council of the heads of
government of the CIS.
The Russian government press service said 18 agreements have to be
signed and come into force simultaneously with the Customs Union Code.
Another 20 documents are being drafted to create the legal basis for
the next stage of integration - Common Economic Space.
Participants are expected to sign a protocol that will lift customs
control on the borders between Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.
On Thursday first deputy prime ministers of Customs Union
member-states met behind close doors to discuss 27 issues on the agenda
and prepare the Friday meeting of the heads of government. Russian First
Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov participated.
They discussed adjustments to the unified customs tariff and
amendments to national laws in compliance with the common Customs Code.
The rules of technical, sanitary, veterinary and phytosanitary control
were also discussed, as well as anti-dumping, protective and compensation
issues.


.Russia, Bangladesh to sign framework NPP deal.

MOSCOW, May 21 (Itar-Tass) -- Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Dipu Moni
will meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Friday to discuss
cooperation in nuclear power engineering and sign a framework agreement
on the Russian construction of the first nuclear power plant in the
country.
The Russian Rosatom State Corporation and the Bangladesh Atomic Energy
Commission signed a memorandum in May 2009 to build two reactors of
1000-megawatt each in northwestern Ruppur area.
Bangladeshi Foreign Secretary Majarul Quayes said Moni plans to sign
in Moscow a framework agreement on cooperation in the field of peaceful
atomic energy.
The framework agreement will be followed by detailed discussion of
financial and technical aspects of the construction project.
"The visit of the foreign minister to Russia will provide a new
dimension to bilateral relations and will be a preparatory stage for the
visit to Moscow by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina this year," Quayes said.

.SCO to discuss Kirgizia, Afghanistan.

MOSCOW, May 21 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
is leaving for Tashkent on Friday to participate in the ministerial
meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) that will discuss
the situation in Kirgizia and Afghanistan.
"Priority attention will be devoted to the situation in Kirgizia,"
foreign ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said.
"The situation in the country, which is one of the SCO founders, is of
major significance for stability in Central Asia. It is planned to discuss
measures of SCO support to Kirgiz partners," he said.
"Taking into account the significance that SCO member-states attribute
to the fight against terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime, the
whole complex of issues related to the situation in Afghanistan will be
discussed. It is planned to discuss coordination between SCO member-states
in the context of preparations of the international conference on
Afghanistan in Kabul in July 2010," Nesterenko said.
The ministerial meeting will take place on Saturday and will be
chaired by Uzbekistan.

.Russian tycoon appoints president to oversee New Jersey Nets.

NEW YORK, May 21 (Itar-Tass) -- The Onexim Group of Russian
billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov appointed Irina Pavlova as president of the
company that will oversee the New Jersey Nets which the tycoon bought this
month.
Onexim Group announced on Thursday that Pavlova, who was the first
Russian employee for Google, will be the NBA team owner's representative
in the New York area.
"She will establish the company's office and cooperate closely with
the Nets management to ensure they have everything they need to build a
championship team," Onexim said in a statement.
Pavlova, who lived in Moscow and Washington as a child, will be "a
perfect bridge between Russia and the United States," it said.
Pavlova will coordinate the development project in Brooklyn that is to
become the Nets' new home. The long-delayed arena is expected to open in
2012. Prokhorov, who is the richest Russian man, agreed to buy 80 percent
of the Nets and 45 percent of the arena project from developer Bruce
Ratner last year. He promised to revive the last-place Nets.
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