Governor thanks Putin for AvtoVAZ bailout

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NOVOKUIBYSHEVSK, October 29 (Itar-Tass) -- The governor of Samara
region on the Volga, where the main Russian car maker AvtoVAZ is located,
thanked Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Thursday for multi-billion ruble
bailout of the enterprise during economic crisis.
"AvtoVAZ is the cornerstone of the national car industry. (Federal
government) support to AvtoVAZ played a major role in regional economic
recovery in general," Vladimir Artyakov told the prime minister.
This year AvtoVAZ will increase the output to 600 thousand vehicles
and will begin to modernize production, according to the governor.
The economic crisis forced the car maker to radically cut the
workforce. Artyakov said the total number of AvtoVAZ employees in the
region fell from 102 thousand to 70 thousand.
However federal government support helped curtail unemployment, which
is "among the lowest" in the country. "Registered unemployment comprises 2
percent and total unemployment - 4.4 percent," Artyakov said.

.Russia, Ukraine to revise gas prices.

KIEV, October 29 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia and Ukraine agreed to set up a
taskforce and revise prices of Russian gas, according to the Ukrainian
prime minister.
"Russia agreed to create such a taskforce," Nikolai Azarov told the
national TV on Thursday commenting on his Wednesday talks with Russian
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
"The agreement on gas supplies to Ukraine cannot satisfy us. Market
realities have changed, therefore basic price parameters and formula have
to be revised," Azarov said.
He recalled that Ukraine had joined the European Energy Charter and
adopted a law on the gas market. "Thus, the legal field has changed. The
agreement concluded by the previous government no longer corresponds to
the Ukrainian legislation. These realities cannot be ignored," Azarov said.

.Komorowski hopes for dynamic relations with Russia.

WARSAW, October 29 (Itar-Tass) -- Polish President Bronislaw
Komorowski expressed hope at a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov on Thursday that bilateral relations will continue to
dynamically develop.
"Minister Sergei Lavrov stressed the intention of the Russian
president to develop strategic and partnership relations with Poland and:
assured that Russia is open in the investigation of the plane crash near
Smolensk" that killed President Lech Kaczynski, Komorowski's office said.
"Komorowski expressed gratitude for Russian assistance to the
pilgrimage of the relatives of the killed to Smolensk and Katyn on October
10 and the participation of the wife of the Russian president in the
event. Full disclosure of Katyn documents and their transfer to the Polish
side are key for the process of Polish-Russian reconciliation," the office
said.
"Both politicians stressed the significance of public dialogue,
specifically youth exchanges between the countries, and welcomed further
initiatives in the sphere," it added.
On Thursday Lavrov also met Marshal of the Polish Senate Bogdan
Borusewicz to discuss preparations for the upcoming visit of the Russian
president and investigation of Katyn tragedy and the air crash near
Smolensk. Borusewicz expressed hope the crash will be investigated to the
end by experts of both countries.

.England drops Russian FIFA World Cup bid compliant.

LONDON, October 29 (Itar-Tass) -- England decided to drop complaint to
FIFA against rival World Cup 2018 bid hopeful Russia after its Sport
Minister Vitaly Mutko apologized, a spokesperson said on Thursday.
"Mr. Mutko approached England 2018 chairman Geoff Thompson with a
genuine apology in an honorable manner," said the spokesperson for the
England bid. "We, of course, accepted this apology and appreciate the
gesture. We now wish to move on from this matter."
The English bid team submitted a formal complaint to FIFA after Russia
2018 chief executive Alexei Sorokin highlighted London's "high crime rate"
and problems with youth alcohol.
Sorokin's remarks contravened FIFA's rules about the behavior of bid
teams.

.Russian envoy urges single ODIHR monitoring approach.

VIENNA, October 29 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian Ambassador to the OSCE Anvar
Azimov urged the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
(ODIHR) to design a unified approach to election monitoring in various
countries.
Commenting on a report of ODIHR Director Janez Lenarcic Azimov told
the OCSE Permanent Council on Thursday the Office continues to monitor
national elections according to its own rules.
"We believe it is the main reason for the emergence of dual standards
and controversial reaction of member-states to ODIHR conclusions," Azimov
said.
The ambassador said ODIHR specifically scrutinizes elections in
post-Soviet countries and is less attentive to elections in the West.
"In particular, in CIS countries monitoring is going on a wider scale
and the smallest faults are registered, while to the west of Vienna it
remains limited and the reaction to exposed problems is mild," Azimov said
citing OSCE connivance to the problem of over 320 so-called
Russian-speaking non-citizens in Latvia deprived of the right to vote.
The ambassador called on the ODIHR "to jointly design a unified
approach to election monitoring."
"The talk is about drafting a document related to the principles of
international monitoring and the status of international monitors," he
said.
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