Kamchatka government to assist homeless victims of wildfires.

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, August 8 (Itar-Tass) -- The staff of the
Kamchatka Region's government will transfer their daily wages in aid to
victims of wildfires in Russia, the region's governmental press service
said.
The regional government addressed everyone to follow suit.
Earlier, the government of the neighbouring Sakhalin Regions made a
similar decision.
Kamchatka is one of the most outstanding volcanic regions in the
world, with many active volcanoes. The interplay of the volcanoes and
glaciers forms a dynamic landscape of great beauty. The region is known
for the world's largest variety of salmon fish and exceptional
concentrations of sea otter, brown bear and Stiller's sea eagle.


.Baikal economic forum to discuss transport infrastructures.

IRKUTSK, August 8 (Itar-Tass) -- Development of the Europe - Russia -
Asia-Pacific Region transport infrastructures will be a key topic of a
specialised conference in the framework of the Baikal international
economic forum due in Irkutsk on September 6-9.
There will be three main parts of the discussions. The first one is
the formation of multi-modal logistics complexes in Russia's Asian part.
The Berlin-Brandenburg logistics centre and the Munich airport will make
presentations in this part of the forum.
Russia's Railroads Company /RZD/ is constructing a major
transport-reloading hub worth 1.5 billion roubles, which will include a
warehouse of 3,400 square metres, special storage places for large cargo,
a parking, and an administrative building. The project will make it
possible to unite all formality procedures in one place.
The second part will be devoted to construction and modernization of
railway infrastructures. Investments in the East-Siberian railways, which
are 3,000 kilometres long, have exceeded ten billion roubles already. The
money will be used to reconstruct the tunnels, bridges, railway stations,
and to buy new carriages.
The third part of the programme will cover the development of pipeline
transport in the Asia - Pacific Region. The first part of the pipeline
East Siberia - Pacific Ocean has gone operational. It opened access to the
Russia-China border and a new specialized sea port in the Maritime
Territory. Russia's Gazprom Company has formed a so-called Eastern
Programme to construct a network of pipelines, including trans-border ones.
"Russia's transit potential in the Europe - Asia-Pacific system in
huge, and it should be used to the utmost," the forum's press service said.


.Columbia's new leaders for development of relations with Russia.

BOGOTA, August 8 (Itar-Tass) -- Columbia's leaders headed by the newly
inaugurated President Juan Manuel Santos are ready to develop relations
with Russia, Russia's Deputy Justice Minister Vasiliy Likhachev said on
Sunday.
Likhachev was invited to the inauguration ceremony to Bogota.
"Over my conversations with Columbia's counterparts, they assured me
that Russia will be one of the priorities for the new leaders of the
country," he said. "Santos is interested in paying a visit to Russia some
time in future to meet Russia's leaders."
"Latin America should not be a bone of contention between the USA and
Russia," he continued. "Quite the opposite - it is necessary to work our
resources and possibilities to bring closer our positions for further
integration of Latin American countries into the international community,"
"Columbia has big experience in counteracting illegal turnover of
narcotics and it could make its input into the efforts of Russia, the US
and EU in fighting the drug flow from Afghanistan and into strengthening
the space of international anti-drug cooperation," he said.
"Bogota is interested in developing relations with Russia, including
those in the framework of the existing intergovernmental commission,"
Likhachev said. "We have realistic potential to activate cooperation in
trade, the economy, energy and higher education."
He commented on the Yair Klein case, saying that "Russia has fulfilled
its obligations in the framework of the Interpol, and a few days earlier
sent a note to the European Court for Human Rights."
"We hope the Court will approve of the extradition of Klein to
Columbia," he said and noted that the Columbian side should work more
actively with the European Court for Human Rights.

-0-kar