Moscow hails Afghan parliament election returns - Foreign Ministry.

MOSCOW, November 27 (Itar-Tass) -- Moscow has reacted positively to
the announcement on November 24 of the returns from elections to the lower
house of parliament of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Russian
Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
"The difficulties that arose during the counting of votes have been
overcome," the ministry said. "We reaffirm our support for the formation
in Afghanistan of a parliament of national unity, which would, in
cooperation with the president of the IRA, help solve the problems facing
Afghanistan, issues related primarily to military-political stability in
the country, and its socio-economic recovery and further dynamic
development."
"We express the Russian side's commitment to the deepening of
cooperation with the supreme legislative body of Afghanistan and the
comprehensive strengthening of inter-parliamentary relations between our
countries," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The independent election commission two months after the elections
announced on Wednesday the names of the winners who would take the 249
seats in the lower house of parliament. The election commission annulled
the votes cast for and disqualified 24 deputies who had already entered
parliament according to preliminary results.
Final election results were to become known back on October 30, but in
view of numerous violations it took the Complaints Commission several
weeks to probe into suspicions of vote rigging and of pressures on the
provincial officials.

.About 30,000 Russian scientists work abroad - FMS chief.

MOSCOW, November 27 (Itar-Tass) -- About 30 thousand Russian
scientists are employed outside Russia, the head of the Federal Migration
Service (FMS), Konstantin Romodanovsky, told the Federation Council this
week.
"The current strength of the Russian scientific diaspora abroad,
according to expert estimates, is about 30 thousand," he said. "This is
equivalent to the most active part of the Russian Academy of Sciences."
Romodanovsky said that in drawing highly qualified specialists into
the country attention should be focused on internationally recognized
Russian professionals abroad.
As for foreign experts, this year work permits have been issued to
more than 17 thousand skilled and highly qualified specialists, the head
of the FMS said. This, in particular, concerns the representatives of such
leading companies as Nokia, Siemens, Microsoft, Volkswagen, Shell, Societe
Generale, and Goldman Sachs. Romodanovsky explained that, according to
Economic Development Ministry estimates, the country for its modernization
breakthrough needs to bring in 40-60 thousand skilled professionals
annually. "So we must double or triple the number of specialists, compared
with the amount drawn this year," the head of the migration service said.

.Russia's production of cars to exceed 3 mln a year.

NABEREZHNYIE CHELNY, November 27 (Itar-Tass) -- By 2020, Russia's
domestic production of cars will exceed 3.1 million a year, Deputy Prime
Minister Sergei Ivanov said at a meeting of general and chief designers
and leading scientists and specialists from high-tech sectors of the
economy at the head office of the KAMAZ truck manufacturer in Naberezhnyie
Chelny this week.
"The output of commercial vehicles by 2020 will reach 280 thousand, of
buses, 35 thousand, and of light commercial vehicles, 280 thousand,"
Ivanov said. The share of added value in the automobile industry will
increase four-fold from the current 492 billion rubles to 2.2 trillion
rubles. This will greatly expand tax revenues to the budgets of all levels.
These basic figures, according to Ivanov, are contained in the
automobile industry's development strategy until 2020, approved at a
Cabinet meeting and authorized by the minister of industry and trade.

-0-str