START to give impetus to talks between nuclear countries - view.

GENEVA, June 4 (Itar-Tass) -- The new Strategic Arms Limitation
Treaty, signed by the presidents of Russia and the U.S.A. in April, fills
the world with hope that nuclear-free future is possible. It also gives an
impetus to negotiations between nuclear countries, both official and
non-official ones, the participants in a Conference on Disarmament said.
Russia's head of security and disarmament department of the Foreign
Ministry, Anatoly Antonov, and the US Assistant Secretary of State Rose
Gottemoeller spoke at the plenary session of the only multilateral forum
in the world dealing with control over arms, disarmament and
non-proliferation. They answered questions on the new treaty. It were
Antonov and Gottemoeller who headed the delegations to the talks on the
new agreement.
Antonov said, that the arms reduction plans are very ambitious and
would require billions.
"Disarmament for Russia, like, I believe, it is for the US, too, is
more expensive than gaining arms," he said.
The political decision is in place already, he said, and Russia "will
fulfil all obligations under the treaty."
He highlighted the importance of adopting the treaty by the
parliaments of the two countries.
"We managed to finalise the talks within one year against 8-9 years
that we needed earlier," Germany's permanent representative at the
Conference on Disarmament, Helmut Hoffmann, said. "This makes it possible
for us to hope that in future we shall approach the nuclear-free world."


.Russian cars to join Beijing-Paris retro cars rally.

BARNAUL, June 4 (Itar-Tass) -- The Beijing-Paris 2010 retro cars rally
will start from the capital of China, and a part of the route will cross
Russia's Altai Territory and the Altai Republic, the chairman of the Altai
Federation of Automobile Sports, Sergei Pospelov, said.
"The rally will cross Russia's territory on September 22-23," he said.
"From China the drivers will go to Mongolia, then to Russia and Kazakhstan
/via Altai/, to Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan towards Turkey where they will
take a ferry to Europe."
116 cars and one motorcycle will take part in the competition. The
Mercedes made in 1904 will be the oldest car in the rally, the youngest
vehicle is 70 years old. Bentley, Itala, Rolls Royce and Laconda models
will be presented to the public. The participation in the rally is highly
prestigious, and the participants pay 35,000 euro as a participation fee.
It will be for the first time in the history of the rally, that
Russian cars will join the show.
"By the courtesy of the rally committee, Russian cars shall be able to
go together with the participants as they cross the Russian territory,"
Pospelov said.
Russian Volga and Pobeda cars produced around 1960s will show
themselves.
"They will have to work hard, because every day they will have to
cross 600 kilometres," Pospelov explained.
The previous rally was in 2007 and it was devoted to the 100th
anniversary of a similar rally which started in Beijing on May 17, 1907
and covered over 13,000 kilometres to Paris. At that time the route went
across Russia's almost all territory - the Siberia, Urals and further on
towards Moscow and St. Petersburg. This time the drivers will have to try
a more complicated route - experienced travellers know how unpredictable
and dangerous Asian roads are.
This year's event is organised by the UK's Endurance Rally
Association. The participants will have to cover 15,000 kilometres within
37 days.
Volga is an automobile brand that originated in the Soviet Union to
replace the venerated Pobeda in 1956. Volga cars were traditionally used
as taxi cabs, road police interceptors, and ambulances.
Pobeda /Victory/ was a passenger car produced in the Soviet Union from
1946 to 1958.


.Irkutsk should be more attractive for living there - Putin.

MOSCOW, June 4 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
said that the renovation of Irkutsk's historical heritage objects should
be done simultaneously with the organisation of modern infrastructures in
the city.
"This /keeping the historic look/ should be done together with
experts," he said over the meeting with the Governor of the Irkutsk
Region, Dmitry Mezentsev. "But at the same time, it is necessary to
develop modern infrastructures to make the city attractive for living
there."
It is planned to preserve 14 federal monuments in the city, the
governor said. The old building of the XIX century will be reconstructed
according to the original sketches. The historical centre of the city
consists of old wooden buildings, and the reconstruction there will be
done on the basis of partnership between the businesses and the local
government.
By September next year, the region will finalise the programme to
repair the roads in the region.
The governor touched upon the social and economic development of the
region.
The regional revenues should grow by 1.5 billion roubles against the
similar period of the previous year, he said.
Mezentsev spoke about the situation with fires in the forests and said
that within one day the fire department managed to reduce the fires by 30
percent.
"We hope that the coming rains will improve the situation," he added.

-0-kar


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