Belarus lowers refinancing rate to eleven percent pa.

MINSK, August 12 (Itar-Tass) -- The National Bank of Belarus lowers
the refinancing rate by 0.5 percent to eleven percent per annum.
"From August 18, the refinancing rate will be lowered by another 0.5
percent to make eleven percent per annum," the bank's press service said.
"The stable economic situation and the low rate inflation processes"
favour the change, the source said. "The level of interest rates for
rouble deposits remains positive, and it is higher than for deposits in
foreign currency."
Belarus lowered the national refinancing rate in July from twelve
percent to 11.5 percent per annum. Over the first six months of the
current year, the National Bank lowered the refinancing rate three times.


.US to insist detained Khorokhorin is extradited from France.
(Adds details)

WASHINGTON, August 12 (Itar-Tass) -- The United States of America will
insist France extradites Vladislav Khorokhorin, who was detained there for
distribution of stolen information on credit cards, the US law enforcement
authorities said on Wednesday. He lives in Moscow, but is a citizen of
Israel and Ukraine, the United States Department of Justice said.
Khorokhorin, who is 27, was detained on August 7 in Nice as he
attempted to fly to Moscow, the source said. The arrest was made at the
request of the American side. On Wednesday, Washington D.C.'s Jury
presented charges of fraud with access information to bank accounts and of
stealing personal data.
Khorokhorin organised a web site to sell data of stolen cards, the
source said. He used the Internet forums to find clients there. The US
started a secret investigation.
The network, organised by the authors of the CarderPlanet, and
Khorokhorin is one of them, is the world's most sophisticated organisation
in the Internet for financial crime, the United States Secret Service
said. This network was involved in most cases of stealing financial
information, which were reported to law enforcement authorities, the
source said.
If extradited, Khorokhorkin may be sentenced in the US to ten years'
imprisonment and a fine of 250,000 dollars.


.APEC summit facilities' construction introduces 18 thousand jobs.

VLADIVOSTOK, August 12 (Itar-Tass) -- The construction of the
facilities for the APEC summit in Vladivostok has introduced over 18,000
jobs, and every second job is taken by a resident of the Maritime
Territory, Governor Sergei Darkin said on Thursday at a meeting on
employment, chaired by Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov.
Over 53,000 new jobs will be offered in the region in the framework of
the federal programme for economic and social development of the Far East
and the Transbaikalia Region to 2013, the governor said.
Current major investment projects in the region have become an
important anti-crisis measure in employment, Darkin said. Over the first
seven months of this year, the unemployment made 2.58 percent. There are
more vacancies than the unemployed in the region, he added.
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a forum for 21 Pacific
countries to cooperate on regional trade and investment liberalisation and
facilitation. APEC's objective is to enhance economic growth and
prosperity in the region and to strengthen the Asia-Pacific community.
Members account for approximately 40% of the world's population,
approximately 54% of the world GDP and about 44% of world trade.

.Tomsk Polytechnic University opens branch in China.

TOMSK, August 12 (Itar-Tass) -- Tomsk national research Polytechnic
University opens a branch in China's Inkou, Lyaonin Province. This will be
the university's first branch in that country. A delegation from Inkou is
expected to come to Tomsk in November to discuss details of the agreement,
the regional press service said.
Tomsk university has experience of international cooperation. It
opened a branch in Prague and a representative office in Cyprus. A
question of opening a branch in Inkou was discussed at the Russian-Chinese
negotiations when a delegation from Tomsk visited China. The meeting
resulted in an agreement on technical cooperation in innovative
development between the administrations of Tomsk and Inkou.
The innovative sector is stated as a priority in the Tomsk Region's
strategy to 2020. The Tomsk Polytechnic University and the city's two
other universities /the state university and the university of management
systems and radio electronics/ were prize winners in the framework of the
Education national project.
Russia's budget has allocated 2.5 billion roubles over three years in
state support for Tomsk universities, which are involved in innovative
educational programmes. The prize-winner universities implement three
models for development - a research university, an academic innovative
university, and an innovative entrepreneurial university. The innovative
activity factor of the Tomsk scientific and educational complex is by
about 1.6 times higher than the average factor in Russia.
Tomsk polytechnic university is the first technical university in
Russia's Asia-Pacific Region. The university's scientists and students
designed Russia's first car, Russobalt, and the first tractor to be
produced in the country. They invented the first in the world magnet
levitation electric road and a turbo-drill for the oil industry, the first
betatron, and the first suction gas engine. Tomsk University is often
called as Siberia's intellectual centre.
Tomsk Polytechnic University was founded in 1896. TPU today is: 21191
students; 1741 foreign students; 4657 teachers (90 professors; 159 Doctors
of Sciences; 442 associate professors; 809 Candidates of Sciences (PhDs)
58 senior researchers); 9 institutes; 10 faculties; 3 research
institutes;113 master programmes in technical, natural and socioeconomic
sciences and humanities. The University scientists have contributed to the
development of nuclear physics, computer and information systems,
electronics and microelectronics, chemistry, chemical engineering,
electrical engineering and geology. TPU cooperates with universities in
the USA, Great Britain, Germany, France and other countries.

-0-kar