OAO RUSSIAN RAILWAYS PRESIDENT TO VISIT VLADIVOSTOK

OAO Russian Railways president Gennady Fadeyev will come to Vladivostok 18 February on a business trip.

It is expected that during his meeting with Primorsky Krai governor Sergei Darkin an agreement will be signed between Russian Railways and the regional administration on cooperation in improving transport services for the general public, said spokesman for the Vladivostok branch of Far Eastern Railways.

Gennady Fadeyev will also meet with managers of Primorsky Krai sea ports and discuss potential for enhancing efficiency of cargo handling operations. - Yulia PROKHOROVA.

VOSTOCHNY PORT ADDS 30% ON JANUARY 2003

Vostochny port's total cargo turnover was 1,274,800 tons in last January, which is a 30% increase on turnover in January 2003.

OAO Vostochny Port handled 1,029,700 tons (+29%), with coal cargoes growing by 15% (up to 860,000 tons), of which 848,300 was exported.

Vostochny's container terminal ZAO VICS increased turnover by 69.7% and handled 21,664 TEU in January (compared with 12,765 TEU a year ago). OOO East Ural Terminal handled 72,700 tons of mineral fertilizer (-3%). OAO AgroKhimVostokExport handled 9,200 tons of timber cargoes (3,000 tons in January 2003). - Yevgeny ITAROV.

DALSVYAZ INSTALLED 11 DIGITAL TELEPHONE STATIONS IN PRIMORYE

OAO Dalsvyaz' branch in Primorsky Krai commissioned 11 digital automatic telephone exchanges of Si-2000 type with a total capacity of 21,964 numbers in 2003.

This makes quality communication services available to outlying communities in Primorsky Krai.

The Si-2000 digital telecommunication complex was engineered by specialists of IskraTel (Slovenia). In addition to standard functions (about 50) of a an automatic digital exchange, Si-2000 provides at the same access to the Internet by commuted, dedicated and DSL lines, operates as an IP-telephony and video telephony outlet.

The station can work with mobile and fixed radio access hardware under DECT and CDMA standards, with equipment for satellite-based telephone channels. Therefore, clients may equip the station with necessary modules and provide a wide range of services in a given territory. - Yury ROGOV.

CHIEF OF GRODEKOVO CUSTOMS OFFICE REMAINS IN CUSTODY

Primorsky Krai court confirmed an earlier writ issued by Pogranichny district judge and left Ruslan Bashko, charged with poaching and misuse of authority when occupying position of Grodekovo customs office chief, in custody.

As spokesman for Primorsky Krai Prosecutor's office informed, court rejected the complaint lodged by Bashko's lawyers and petition on releasing Bashko from custody lodged by Viktor Vuglyar, chief of Far Eastern Customs Authority.

Ruslan Bashko was arrested on 28 October, when a criminal investigation was opened in connection with illegal transfer over the Chinese border of more than 9 million rubles worth of consumer goods shown on papers as construction materials.

When scrutinizing documents confiscated from Grodekovo customs office, investigators uncovered an established channel for illegal import of meat shown on papers as pork fat. Over 6,000 tons of high-quality meat was imported in that manner during 9 months of 2003. - Yevgeny ITAROV.HH]PRIMORSKUGOL YIELDS LICENSES TO S.C.E.C.

As became known to "ZR," Primorskugol coal concern will soon be put out of existence as an independent joint stock company, will all powers coming to the Vladivostok branch of Siberian Coal and Energy Company (SCEC).

This twist did not come unexpected. Serious changes in the local coal producing company were predicted when SCEC bought a stake in it. SCEC actively continues building a vertically integrated structure, and, once all entities in its control are merged into a holding, they will have common stock.

The reissue of Primorskugol's coal producing licenses in SCEC Vladivostok branch's name shows that these plans remain unaltered. According to official sources in Primorsky Krai Natural Resources Office, some licenses have already been passed to the new owner and some are under reissue procedures. During this process, licensing conditions will be slightly modified to address needs of the energy sector.

As "ZR" was assured by Primorsky Krai Natural Resources Office, this will not affect production volume. The region's demand for coal remains unfilled. Of 14 million tons required in 2003, Primorye produced only about 11 million tons.

"ZR" FILE: OAO SCEC is Russia's largest coal concern with branches in Krasnoyarsky Krai, Primorye, Irkutsk Oblast, Chita Oblast, Kemerovo Oblast, Buryatia, Khakasia and on Sakhalin Island. SCEC controls slightly less than 30% of the national power-station coal market.

As "ZR" was informed by spokesman for SCEC, reissue of Primorskugiol's licenses in SCEC's name will allow it to use a new financial and economic model that will redistribute more tax deductions to the region's budget. Practice of intra-corporate deals will be stopped and, as a consequence, subsurface use payments will increase. In addition, the regional budget will receive part of profit tax payable by SCEC itself. Other deductions to Primorye's budget will remain at the same level. - Nadezhda VORONTSOVA.

ROSNEFT-NNP SPEEDS UP IN JANUARY

Rosneft-NakhodkaNefteProduct, an affiliate of NK Rosneft, handled last month 36% more oil products than in January 2003.

As Rosneft-NNP spokesperson Natalia Popravko informs, turnover in January totaled 525,000 tons.

"ZR" FILE: Rosneft-NNP has a charter capital of 22,596,000 rubles split into 847,350 ordinary shares and 282,450 preferred shares with a face value of 20 rubles. Main shareholders are NK Rosneft - 38% (51% of voting shares0, ZAO Depositary & Clearing Company (nominal holder) - 38.43%.

Rosneft-NNP, Russian Far East's largest oil terminal, reloaded 433,900 tons of oil products from rail to ocean carriers for export (+36.8% on January 2003) and 65,600 tons for the domestic market (+13.9%). - Olga DOBROLYUBOVA.

DALSVYAZ' BONDS BRING INCOME TO INVESTORS

OAO Dalsvyaz floated a 3-year bond offering for 1 billion rubles on 19 November.

Bonds were floated at their face value of 1,000 rubles. Interest on these bonds will be paid once in half a year at an annual rate of 14.5% in the first year, 15% in the second year and 13% in the third year. Bonds have been available over the counter at the Moscow Inter-bank Currency Exchange since 29 December 2003.

As spokesman for Dalsvyaz informs, 129 bond transactions for a total of 755,854,626.8 rubles were executed from late December 2003 through January 2004.

732,349 bonds or 73% of the offering were sold in the over-the-counter market. 76 transactions were concluded in the open market, 42 - through bargaining and 11 - in REPO status.

Average weighted price in open market transactions was 106.8% of face value, in RPS transactions - 104.6% of face value. Turnover was 58.9 million rubles in open market transactions and about 542.97 million in RPS transactions. As of late January, market price for Dalsvyaz' bonds was 108% of face value.

Therefore, investors who bought Dalsvyaz' bonds through initial offering earned 3% to 8% during 2.5 months due to rise in their market value, which equals 15% to 38% in yearly terms. In addition, accrued coupon income exceeded 3% during same period. - Yulia PROKHOROVA.

THREE AIRLINES ON KAMCHATKA WILL MERGE

As officials from Kamchatka Civil Aviation Department informed Vostok-Media news agency, three local airlines may merge into one company.

Preparations for this merger are foremost priority for the department. It is expected that roughly in a year Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Air, Koryak Avia and Khalaktyrskiye Airlines will be a single enterprise. In that manner, Koryak Avia will avoid bankruptcy and Khalaktyrskiye Airlines be able to resume flights after the Ministry of Transport revoked its license in last autumn. A technical and economic substantiation for the upcoming restructuring is to be completed by 15 March. - Yury ROGOV.

DALSVYAZ DEVELOPS SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS IN AMUR OBLAST

OAO Dalsvyaz completed part of its project to set up an intra-zonal satellite communication net based on VSAT technology in Amur Oblast. This project exceeding $118,000 is handled jointly with OAO SAT-TEL and included in the federal target-specific programme "Social and Economic Development of Amur Oblast through Year 2005."

Dalsvyaz installed, tested and put into trial operation four channels on two land-based satellite communication stations MTZS-A in Blagoveshchensk and Ekimchan. As Dalsvyaz informed the news agency Vostok-Media, its specialists are currently troubleshooting and setting up hardware. The service will officially open for business in late March - early April 2004.

Digital satellite channels will provideadvanced, reliable and quality communication services for outlying communities in Amur Oblast and partly solve communication problems in areas inhabited by indigenous tribes. - Yury ROGOV.

PRIMORYE PROSECUTORS STATE ABOUT 11,000 LAW VIOLATIONS IN 2003

Primorsky Krai Prosecutor's Office had a collegium session to sum up statistics for 2003. Prosecutors stated about 11,000 law violations, including over 700 unlawful legal acts, which showed that quality of legal acts being adopted in Primorye remains low.

As spokesman for regional prosecutor's office informed, investigation was completed over 1,797 criminal cases. Rate of murders solved was 81.2%. Failure to report or register crimes was strictly punished, with 25 criminal cases opened. 17 cases were sent to court. The region's law enforcement agencies sent to court a total of over 1,400 economic crime cases.

Primorsky Krai court examines an embezzlement case, in which a group of officials from a sanitarium and the regional social insurance fund received bribes for a total more than $10,000. Another trial is for fraud committed by a manager of realty agency Business Dom, who inflicted a total loss of more than 3.5 million rubles to about 20 people who had got no apartments and lost their monies. More than $150,000 was embezzled by a defendant who imported cars from Japan and used falsified privileges.

One more case at trial in Primorsky Krai court is theft of over 8 million rubles worth of steelwork from a defense plant in Bolshoi Kamen. That steelwork was a strategic reserve for mobilization purposes. In their efforts to enforce corruption, Primorye prosecutors uncovered 117 facts of bribery. Primorye environmental prosecutors sent to court 19 criminal cases, with damage compensations totaling about 5 million rubles. Of more than 27,500 complaints submitted to prosecutors by individuals in 2003, each one in five was accepted as valid claim and action taken to guilty parties. - Yury ROGOV.