IMF, Moldova to discuss new program of cooperation.

CHISINAU, October 14 (Itar-Tass) - A mission of the International
Monetary Fund arrives in Moldova Wednesday to discuss a new program of
cooperation with this former Soviet republic, the Moldovan government's
press service said.

The previous triennial program of economic growth and poverty
reduction expired in May 2009.
Upon its completion, the IMF experts who made a trip to this country
arrived at troublesome conclusions.
One of their assessments suggests that, given the situation of the
global financial and economic crisis, the real Gross Domestic Product will
fall 9% as a minimum this year.
The experts also pointed out the disconcerting signs of deflation.
The inflow of monies to Moldova, including private remittances, has
shrunk sharply and the country has come to face with an unfolding acute
deficit of external finances, the IMF experts said.
Budget deficit will likely exceed 11% of the GDP by the yearend
Moldovan parliament will have to revise the national budget urgently,
even though the social spending may be kept at the previous level, the
experts said.
IMF mission members, World Bank executives and diplomats from a number
of foreign embassies are going to attend a session of parliament October
19, and government representatives have said this meeting will mark an
important test for Moldova
The country's Acting President and effective Parliament Speaker, Mihai
Gimpu admitted on the Moldovan national radio that the IMF sets forth
rather complicated conditions but cooperation with it may continue only if
the government accepts them.
"Our republic must accept these conditions, since the agreement with
the IMF means a guarantee that other foreign donors will cooperate with
Moldova, too," Gimpu said.
Moldova received privileged loans totaling 118.2 million U.S. dollar.
The monies were allocated to the National Bank for a period of ten years
at the 0.|5% interest and a grace period of to 5.5 years.
Moldova has received 560 million U.S. dollars in loans from the IMF
since it obtained independence at the very beginning of the 1990's.
Outstanding loans total 200 or so million U.S. dollars today.

.US company to lay fiberglass cable btw Cuba, US.

NEW YORK, October 14 (itar-Tass) - A U.S. company will lay the first
fiberglass telecommunications cable between the U.S. and Cuba to help
reduce considerably the cost of fixed-line telephone services between the
two countries and give the Cubans an easier access to the Internet.
TeleCuba Communications Co. based in Miami, Florida, said Tuesday it
has received appropriate permission from the U.S. government to do the
works, but Administration officials have not made any comments on the
company's report so far.
TeleCuba Communications executives claim the fiberglass cable line
will be commissioned in the middle of 2011 and the routing of the cable on
the sea floor will cost 18 million U.S. dollars.
It will be laid along the same route linking Key West in Florida and
Havana's suburb of Cojimar that was used for installing a telephone cable
in the 1950's. The latter line is currently out of operation.
The new 180-kilometers-long cable will have a throughput capacity of 8
to 10 terabit per second, which will make it possible to put through 160
million telephone calls simultaneously.
Earlier, plans for laying a fiberglass communications cable to Cuba
were made public by the Venezuelan government and its installation was
expected before the end of this year.
However, the routing works have not begun yet and, quite apparently,
they are going to be far more complicated, as the route across the sea
floor of the Caribbean has a length of around 1,500 kilometers.
At this moment, Cuba is the only country in the Western hemisphere
that does not have access to the outside world with the aid of fiberglass
communications.
Instead of the cable, Cuban companies use quite expensive satellite
communications.
If TeleCuba's project comes into reality, the fees for telephone calls
will be set forth by the Cuban authorities. Access to the Internet by this
cable will also be placed under Cuba's control.

.Sec Clinton hails Russian airline's plans to buy Boeing jets.

WASHINGTON, October 14 (Itar-Tass) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton, who is visiting Russia, said Tuesday she is delighted over the
plans of the Russian airline Rosavia to purchase Boeing jets in order to
upgrade its fleet.
"We're delighted that a new Russian airline, Rosavia, is actively
considering the acquisition of Boeing aircraft," she said while visiting
the Boeing design center in Moscow.
Clinton called these plans "a shameless pitch for Rosavia".
"The ExIm Bank /U.S. ExportImport Bank - Itar-Tass/ would welcome an
application for financing from Rosavia to support its purchase of Boeing
Aircraft, and I hope that on a future visit I'll see a lot of new
Rosavia-Boeing planes when I land in Moscow" she said.
Clinton indicated that, on the whole, she has encouring feelings about
the future of U.S.-Russian cooperation in technologies.
"I feel so positive about our relationship," she said. "And as I said
earlier with Minister Lavrov, we know this is not easy."
"We know that we've got work to do on both sides but it is models like
this that give me a lot of conviction that we're on the right track,"
Clinton said.
She praised the intensity of operations at Boeing's design center in
Moscow.
"This does illustrate the kind of closer collaboration that we're
seeking to encourage between American companies and Russian companies,
between American experts and Russian experts - in this case engineers -
who are among the very best in the world," Clinton said. "And because they
are now part of this multinational effort, they can produce extraordinary
products
She pointed out what she called "some of the less tangible results of
this partnership".
"The engineers who work here - 1,400 of them - not only to help drive
technological progress, but they promote shared prosperity for each of our
nations, and indeed for the world as a whole," Clinton said.
"The contributions go way beyond building and improving Boeing
aircraft," she went on. "It really fosters collaboration that ranges from
joint ventures, as well as the titanium-focused work that has been done
here."
Clinton said cooperation with the U.S. companies like Boeing opens up
special benefits for the Russian economy as a whole.
"These knowledge-based jobs, particularly in a country like Russia
which has such a highly educated population, and particularly in the
sciences and engineering - science, technology, engineering, mathematics -
it's just a treasure trove of potential for the Russian economy."
"I've heard President Medvedev talk about he would like to see the
Russian economy become more knowledge-based," Clinton said. "The
commodities are a great engine for the economy, but I think he's really
looking to the future when he talks about more knowledge-based jobs like
those that we see here. It do