Russia, Italy set to restore trade volumes to pre-crisis levels.

MOSCOW, July 7 (Itar-Tass) - Russia and Italy hope to restore
bilateral trade volumes, which dropped considerably during the crisis, to
40 billion dollars already this year.
"Our task is to restore the trade volumes to 40 billion dollars
already in 2010," Kudrin told journalists after the work of the 11th
session of the Russian-Italian Council for economic, industrial and
monetary-financial cooperation.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said, in turn, that the
restoration of trade to its pre-crisis volumes was a vital economic task
for the partners in the next few months.
"We confirmed a rise in all spheres of interaction, including
tourism," the Italian foreign minister went on to say. He added that
tourist exchanges between the two countries had grown by 40% in the first
four months of 2010 compared to 2009.
Frattini said that the Russian and Italian governments had decided to
set up a joint working group for modernization.
"The president of Russia pays great attention to this issue, including
in relations with the European Union. We would like to give an impetus to
cooperation in this direction on a bilateral basis," the Italian foreign
minister said.
Frattini told journalists that Italy would give full political support
for Russia's bid to join the WTO and the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD). Besides, he also expressed confidence
that Russia and the European Union would mange to achieve considerable
progress in further liberalization of the visa regime.

. Kadyrov promises to imprison or destroy remaining militants.

KISLOVODSK, Southern Russia, July 7 (Itar-Tass) - Chechen President
Ramzan Kadyrov knows the names of all the militants who are still
operating in the republic and has promised either to kill or throw them to
jail.
Kadyrov told Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at a meeting on Tuesday
that there were 70 militants operating in Chechnya. Asked to comment how
those militants could affect the plans of the Chechen leadership to
rebuild the Chechen Republic, Kadyrov answered that they had had no
influence even when there were tens of thousands of them in the Caucasus.
He said that everybody in the republic knew the remaining militants by
name. "We know their relatives and those with whom they are in contact.
At present, we are going ahead with operations to destroy them. We've
recently killed a militant named Yasir. He had terrorized the residents of
the Chechen Republic since 1996," Kadyrov went on to say.
'Today the situation is such that the militants can hardly find
something to eat. I am saying that because I've talked to one of the
recently detained insurgents," the Chechen president said, adding that
ordinary Chechens were not supporting the militants any longer and they
have no place to live and have nothing to eat.
"Our clergymen are agitating against them. They explain the real state
of things to the younger generation. Over the past six months not a single
person in Chechnya has gone to the mountains. It's a very good indicator
because the Chechen people is coming to understand every other day that it
was the enemies of Russia and our people, the enemies of Islam who imposed
that war on us. That is why we will either destroy these devils or throw
them to jail," Kadyrov promised.

. President Bagaph to address Abkhazian parliament.

SUKHUM, Abkhazia, July 7 (Itar-Tass) - Abkhazia's President Sergei
Bagapsh will on Wednesday deliver the annual address to the People's
Assembly (parliament) on the situation in the country and the guidelines
of the internal and external policy.
The president's spokesperson Kristian Bzhaniya told journalists that
the address would focus on the socio-economic situation in the republic,
the state of public health and social welfare.
"Special attention will be paid to development of physical culture and
sport and struggle against drug addiction, which is a great social evil,"
Bzhaniya stressed.
He said that the president would assess his work with parliament on a
number of legislative acts and the nature of cooperation with deputies in
the sphere of lawmaking.
"The head of state believes that it's important to cooperate not only
with state structures but also with public organizations, parties and
movements who have their own views on the country's development but who
are ready to constructive cooperation with the authorities in search for
the best way of the country's development," Bzhaniya emphasized.

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