Senior Russian, Irish diplomats note intensive political dialogue.

DUBLIN, October 2 (Itar-Tass) -- The political dialogue between Russia and Ireland has gained intensity and broadened the scope of practical bilateral cooperation, including that in trade and the economy, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov told Itar-Tass in an interview after Friday's consultations in Dublin with the Secretary-General of Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs David Cooney and Political Director David Donohue.

"The negotiators discussed in detail bilateral cooperation prospects
with a special emphasis on the implementation of agreements reached during
the visit Irish President Mary McAleese paid to Russia last September,"
Titov said. "Ireland sees this event in our relations as a landmark on the
way of creating a qualitatively new foundation for promoting cooperation
between our countries."
As the timetable of further international contacts was previewed,
preparations were discussed for a visit by Ireland's Foreign Minister
Michael Martin to Russia, scheduled for the end of the year, and a meeting
of the Russian-Irish Intergovernmental Committee on Business Cooperation
Development, due in Moscow in the first half of 2011.
The negotiations produced a concrete result in the cultural sphere. It
was agreed to prepare for signature in the near future a Program for
Cooperation between Russia and Ireland in the field of science, culture
and education for 2011-2013. The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister also
expressed satisfaction with the atmosphere of the dialogue with the Irish
side and the expansion of areas of mutual agreement on a number of
European and regional issues. The latter is of particular importance in
view of the forthcoming presidencies of Ireland of the OSCE in 2012 and of
the EU in 2013.

.Russian FM advises US legislators to gauge effects of Magnitsky Act.

MOSCOW, October 2 (Itar-Tass) -- Moscow has responded with
"bewilderment and regret" to the initiative by some members of the US
Congress to take sanctions against Russian officials who had been involved
in the Magnitsky affair. The Russian Foreign Ministry's department of the
press and information issued this commentary in response to recent media
reports about the Justice for Sergei Magnitsky Act, submitted to the U.S.
Congress.
"This initiative is not only dissonant with the current level of
cooperation between our countries and evoking memories of 'cold war'
times, but also goes beyond the basic standards of decency," the Foreign
Ministry said.
"The plight of Sergei Magnitsky was really a tragedy, regardless of
the charges against him," the statement runs. "The circumstances under
which he died have become a matter of serious investigation."
Moscow believes "it is just inappropriate to convert the affair into a
political show."
"Such games by U.S. lawmakers certainly do not faciliate the serach
for truth, but most certainly they inject a strong irritant into our
relationship," the Foreign Ministry said in the commentary. "A blow is
dealt against bilateral cooperation between law enforcement agencies along
such important tracks as struggle against international organized crime,
terrorism, drugs trafficking and other modern threats."
"The authors of the act should weigh once again the consequences of
their steps," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Sergei Magnitsky, 37, died in prison on November 16, 2009 seven days
after he was formally charged with organizing and assisting tax evasion by
a legal entity on a large scale. According to preliminary information his
death was due to heart failure. Upon his death, Moscow's Investigation
Department of the PGO Investigation Committee opened a criminal case over
negligence and failure to render medical asisstancer to a patient and
ordered a forensic examination.

.Russia's airlines to carry over 50 mln passengers 2010 - forecast.

MOSCOW, October 2 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia's Ministry of Transport
forecasts that in 2010 the civil aviation sector will carry over 50
million passengers, Transport Minister Igor Levitin said this week.
"In January-August 2010 the civil aviation sector showed a 28-percent
growth in contrast to the same period last year," he said.
"International traffic is growing, too - 18 million passengers, plus
20 million traveling inside the country. The aggregate is 38 million,"
said Levitin.
He also said that freight traffic had grown by 38 percent.
"This shows the potential of Russia as a transit country," he
believes. Levitin added that the new runway at the airport of Novosibirsk
has now opened an opportunity for transit from Europe to Asia.
Traffic from the Far East to the European part of Russia has been
growing.
"As at September 25, 311 thousand clients booked tickets at subsidized
rates," said Levitin, noting that last year there were 316 thousand such
tickets.
"For the civil aviation industry 2008 was the most successful year (49
million passengers), and we hope that this year the figure will be
exceeded," Levitin said.

.Russian govt allocates 5 bln rbls to support mono-industrial towns.

MOSCOW, October 2 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
this week signed a government resolution to allocate an additional 4.6
billion rubles to subsidize individual territories of the Russian
Federation to help them support mono-industrial towns. Putin declared the
measure at a meeting of the government's presidium.
As Deputy Prime Minister, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin explained,
"this will support will be funneled into single-industry towns under
approved development and employment support projects."
"Support for mono-industrial towns is important and relevant, because
first of all it is a crisis management measure," Deputy Finance Minister
Anton Siluanov said earlier. We provide support in several ways: direct
donations to Russia's territories and budget loans."
"When the crisis began, the mono-industrial towns were the
hardest-hit, so the government paid closer attention to these
municipalities," said Siluanov. He promised that "this issue will continue
to be monitored."

-0-str