Putin to attend meetings of CIS heads of government in St Petersburg

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MOSCOW, November 19 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin on Friday will arrive in St. Petersburg to attend meetings of the
Council of CIS Heads of Government, the Eurasian Economic Community's
Interstate Council and the Supreme Body of the Customs Union, the press
service of the Russian government reported.
The meeting of the Council of CIS Heads of Government will round up
Russia's year of chairmanship in the CIS. The meeting's agenda includes 22
draft documents geared towards closer cooperation among the CIS countries
in the areas of economics, security, and the humanities.
Among such documents is a draft agreement on a free trade zone that is
to supersede more than 100 current agreements and to remove a number of
barriers in mutual trade. The agreement is expected to be ready for
signing by CIS heads of government in the first six months of the next
year.
The meeting will also discuss a draft CIS interstate target program of
innovation cooperation till 2020.
The meeting is expected to approve a roadmap of top-priority
cooperation measures in the area of the humanities for 2011-2012. The
document is based on the fact that the year 2011 has been announced in the
CIS as the Year of Historic and Cultural Heritage, and the year 2012 - the
Year of Sports and Healthy Lifestyle.
The meeting of the EurAsEC heads of government will approve measures
to implement priority areas of the EurAsEC development for 2011-2013 and
further on. It will also discuss a draft law regulating EurAsEC Court
procedures.
EurAsEC prime ministers will also adopt a plan of steps to implement
the EurAsEC food security concept.
On the same day, the EurAsEC Interstate Council will have its regular
meeting in the capacity of the Supreme Body of the Customs Union of
Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. The meeting is expected to take a decision
on enforcing four documents that will form the Customs Union's legal base.
It is also expected to sign an agreement on the use of protective,
antidumping and compensation measures.

.Border unit, police building come under gun fire in Dagestan.

MAKHACHKALA, November 19 (Itar-Tass) -- A border unit of the Russian
Federal Security Service and the local police building came under grenade
and gun fire in the Khunzakh district of Russia's North Caucasian republic
of Dagestan overnight to Friday, a spokesman for the republican interior
ministry told Itar-Tass.
According to the spokesman, the incident occurred at about 00:30 a.m.
Moscow time. Luckily, no one was hurt but the shooting caused fire at one
of the border unit's buildings. The fire was extinguished instantly.

.Slovenian president to visit Russia's city of Samara.

SAMARA, November 19 (Itar-Tass) -- Slovenian President Danilo Turk on
Friday will come to the Russian city of Samara as part of his official
visit to Russia.
While in Samara, Turk will meet with governor of the Samara region
Vladimir Artyakov, attend a Russian-Slovenian business conference, plant
trees in the Alley of Cooperation, and visit Slovenia's consulate and a
local cancer centre, a source in the regional government told Itar-Tass.
A source in the Togliatti mayor's office told Itar-Tass that some
members of the Slovenian delegation headed by Slovenian Minister of
Economic Affairs Darja Radic will visit the city of Togliatti to meet with
the city's officials. The minister will be accompanied by representatives
from Slovenian-based companies specializing in the manufacture of car
components and those active in the area of recreational tourism. The city
officials will hold a presentation of the city's socio-economic
development concept. The Slovenian delegation will also visit production
facilities of Russia's biggest car manufacturer AvtoVAZ.
According to customs statistics, the Samara region exports to Slovenia
organic chemical compounds and other chemicals. Imports from Slovenia
include tanning and colouring agents, plastics and plastic items.
In May 2007, Slovenia was the first European state to open a consulate
in Samara. Slovenia's third consulate in Russia, it was timed to mark the
15th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Russia and Slovenia.
Samara will be the ultimate destination within Turk's visit to Russia
after he visited Moscow and St. Petersburg. Late on Friday, the Slovenian
president will take off from the Samara airport for Ljubljana.
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