Russia, Ukraine pres to discuss energy, high-tech cooperation

MOSCOW, October 4 (Itar-Tass) - Presidents of Russia and Ukraine
Dmitry Medvedev and Viktor Yanukovich will meet in Gelendzhik on Monday to
discuss energy and high-tech cooperation, Medvedev's aide Sergei Prikhodko
said on Friday. The Russian leader will go to Gelendzhik for one day.
"The first Russian-Ukrainian inter-regional economic forum will be
held in Gelendzhik," Prikhodko said. He reminded reporters that the
presidents had agreed "on holding such forums on a regular basis at a
meeting with the leaders of border regions in Kharkov on April 21".
"They will focus on economy, energy, transport and ecology as primary
areas of Russia-Ukraine cooperation," he said. Aircraft building and space
exploration will also be on the agenda, Prikhodko added.
"It is not planned to raise the gas problem at the meeting, as it is
being handled by the government and Gazprom," Prikhodko said. "While
discussing energy issues, the presidents will concentrate on enhanced
political support to interaction in atomic energy industry," he stressed.
That will be the ninth meeting of Medvedev and Yanukovich since March
2010, Prikhodko said. "We view this meeting as another step in preparation
for the November 26 meeting of the Russia-Ukraine Interstate Commission,"
he said.
Prikhodko said that regions' leaders are expected to discuss at the
forum the development of trade in the border regions, joint use of
trans-border waters, their ecology, the development of transport
infrastructure and innovation development.
Besides, the governors will be able to exchange experience in
connection with Ukraine's preparations to host Euro 2012 and Russia's
preparations to host Sochi Olympic Games in 2014.
A number of documents will be signed at the forum, such as a program
of interregional and border cooperation for the period of 2011-2015, a
protocol of cooperation between Russian and Ukrainian Unions of
Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, and a cooperation agreement between the
Russian Krasnodar territory and the Ukrainian Zaporozhye region.
"Political instability in Ukraine and the world financial turmoil
complicated interregional relations in 2009, and trade dipped by over
50%," Prikhodko said. "The latest drastic improvement of bilateral
relations, restored friendship and strategic partnership, gave a
significant boost to trade and economic relations this year."
"In January-July 2010 trade between Russia and Ukraine almost doubled
as compared with the same period last year," reaching $18.99 billion,
Prikhodko said.
The Russian-Ukrainian state border goes through five Russian and five
Ukrainian regions. The border is 2,245 kilometers long. The share of 20
Russian regions in overall trade with Ukraine amounted to 89.5% in the
first half of this year, including 37.8% for Moscow, 10.7% for the
Belgorod region and 7.8% for the Tyumen region.
Head of the Russian presidential administration Sergei Naryshkin,
presidential aides Sergei Prikhodko and Alexander Abramov, Regional
Development Minister Viktor Basargin, Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko,
Transport Minister Igor Levitin, Economic Development Minister Elvira
Nabiullina, Border Service head Vladimir Pronichev, Federal Migration
Service head Konstantin Romodanovsky, Federal Customs Service head Andrei
Belyaninov, Federal Border Services Agency head Dmitry Bezdelov and heads
of Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar territory, Bryansk,
Voronezh, Kursk, Leningrad, Lipetsk and Sverdlovsk regions will be
accompanying Medvedev on his trip.

.Moldova CEC begins registering parties for parliamentary election.

CHISINAU, October 4 (Itar-Tass) - Moldova's Central Electoral
Commission (CEC) begins on Monday registering parties for participation in
an early parliamentary election scheduled for November 28, CEC sources
said on Monday.
The deadline for submitting documents is 30 days ahead of the
election. Right after the registration, the parties and independent
candidates may begin an election campaign.
The upcoming election in Moldova will be already the third in the past
two years. Deputies still fail to elect the head of state, who must get 61
out of 101 votes. Changes in the balance of political forces have not
influenced the situation. Earlier, Communist deputies voted for the
president, while the opposition boycotted them. After an early election in
July 2009 the roles have changed, but the result is still the same.
In order to get out of the crisis liberal parties, which united into
the Alliance For European Integration, initiated a referendum to return to
the nation-wide presidential election, but it failed because of the low
turnout.
The ruling coalition has lowered the vote threshold for the parties
from five to four percent ahead of the upcoming election and has once
again allowed electoral blocs, although the parties of the alliance intend
to participate in the election separately.
The proportional system of distributing deputy mandates for the
parties failing to get into the parliament has also been abolished. Now
the parity principle will be used - the mandates will be distributed among
the factions equally irrespective of the number of obtained votes.