Cooperation documents to be signed after RF-German consultations.

MOSCOW, July 15 (Itar-Tass) - A set of documents on cooperation in a
number of fields will be signed after Russian-German interstate
consultations to be held in Yekaterinburg on July 14-15, Russian
presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko said.
"As a 'visible' result of the 12th round of interstate consultations
it is planned to sign in the presence of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
and German Chancellor Angela Merkel a substantial set of bilateral
documents reflecting the progressive nature of partnership with Germany on
a broad range of issues from the joint training of managers and major
cultural events to joint production of windmills," Prikhodko noted.
In particular, he said, Russian Economic Development Minister Elvira
Nabiullina and her German colleague would sign an intergovernmental
memorandum on managerial personnel training. The Russian culture minister
and the German government's authorised representative are expected to make
joint statements on the preparation, in 2011-2013, of the exhibitions
"Bronze Age - Europe without Borders" and "Russians and Germans: 1000
Years of History, Culture and Art".
In addition, the sides will sign agreements on interaction in the
sphere of physical culture and sports, healthcare, a surety letter on the
implementation of programmes in the sphere of small- and medium-sized
businesses, a memorandum of understanding between the Skolkovo foundation
and Siemens. Two agreements will be signed by and between Siemens and
Russian Railways (RZD) on the creation of a joint venture for the
production, supply and servicing of modern electric trains and on
understanding in the field of cargo sorting.
The Russian president is accompanied on his trip by Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov, Culture Minister Alexander Avdeyev, Health and Social
Development Minister Tatyana Golikova, Interior Minister Rashid
Nurgaliyev, Transport Minister Igor Levitin, Economic Development Minister
Elvira Nabiullina, Education and Science Minister Andrei Fursenko,
Minister of Natural Resources Yuri Trutnev, Industry and Trade Minister
Viktor Khristenko, Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko, presidential aide
Arkady Dvorkovich, and the Russian president's special envoy for
international culture cooperation Mikhail Shvydkoi.

.Medvedev urges parliament to impose bigger penalties for corruption.

MOSCOW, July 15 (Itar-Tass) -- President Dmitry Medvedev has urged the
Federal Assembly to consider the possibility of imposing multiple
penalties for corruption offences.
"Penalties for a corruption offence should match the severity of the
offence, and such offences are mainly grave ones and should entail real
punishment that will create an appropriate atmosphere and deter from new
such offences," Medvedev said at a meeting of the Council of Legislators
on Wednesday, July 14.
At the same time, he said, "We do not want to increase the total
number of prisoners. It is beyond all reasonable limits as it is."
"So apart from imprisonment, which should be used in certain
situations for gross corruption offences, we should go back to the ideas
that we discussed some time ago, including at the meetings of the
Anti-Corruption Council."
"It was proposed to use so-called multiple penalties for corruption
offences. It met a controversial reaction, but I suggest that our
parliament - the Federation Council and the State Duma - think about
this," the president said.
"The idea is to make a person who has committed an corruption offence
pay a fine multiple of the bribe. This may be a very harsh penalty that
will run into millions, dozens or hundreds of millions of roubles and that
will have to be paid over a long period of time. Even if a person remains
at large, he will suffer financially," Medvedev said.

.Clinton to travel to S Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON, July 15 (Itar-Tass) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton will travel to the Republic of Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan July
19-23, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said on Wednesday, July
14.
In Seoul, Secretary Clinton and Secretary of Defence Robert Gates will
join their respective Republic of Korea counterparts, Foreign Minister Yu
Myung-hwan and Minister of National Defense Kim Tae-young, for a 2+2
meeting to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Korean War. Secretary
Clinton and Secretary Gates will also meet with President Lee Myung-bak.
In Vietnam, the Secretary will meet with senior Vietnamese leaders to
discuss key bilateral and regional issues. The Secretary will also attend
a luncheon highlighting the 15th anniversary of the U.S.-Vietnam bilateral
relationship. Later in the day, the Secretary will participate in the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Post Ministerial Conference
and following that she will join the Foreign Ministers of Cambodia, Laos,
Thailand and Vietnam for their second meeting to discuss the Lower Mekong
Initiative. Secretary Clinton will also lead the U.S. delegation to the
17th ASEAN Regional Forum Ministerial in Hanoi