Search Results for: Russian

BY KEITH NUTHALL
RADIO navigation is to be improved in the Gulf of Finland, notably in Russian waters, because of a planned European Bank for Reconstruction and Development-funded project. The Maritime Port Authority of St Petersburg has formally applied for a loan from the bank for a US$5.4 million project to set up three radio towers on the islands of Gogland, Sommers and Skar, part of a regional navigational safety project.…

BY MARK ROWE
THE RUSSIAN government has banned imports of American chicken amid concerns about the number of chemicals used in the US poultry market. American suppliers had commanded a 50 per cent share of the Russian chicken market, estimated at two million tonnes a year.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE NORWEIGAN government is to conduct a three-year review of its subsidised shipping service providing a lifeline for 34 ports from Bergen to Kirkenes, in the far north, near the Russian border. The move follows an agreement struck with the surveillance authority of the European Free Trade Area, (EFTA), which polices the European Economic Area rules by which Norway must abide.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
FATHER Christmas would have been appalled; European Commission officials have been censured for enjoying the hospitality of a Russian game exporter, which they subsequently granted permission to send reindeer meat to the European Union.

Jacob Söderman, the European Ombudsman has played Santa, ruling that these Eurocrats compromised themselves during a fact-finding mission to Russia, by allowing Sweden-based company Norrfrys Ab to lay on lunch, hotel and flight reservations, temporary fax facilities, interpretation services and inspection cars.…

Keith Nuthall
A SET of comprehensive guidelines on the recovery of debts owed to European Union institutions has been adopted by the European Commission, which wants to avoid the unnecessary and expensive writing off of money owed. Debts to Brussels can amount to millions of Euro, and the in-house rules have especially been designed to prevent the recurrence of a case such as the Flechard Russian butter aid scandal, where a tender security of Euro 17.6 million was claimed, but only Euro 3 million was actually paid.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
INCREASING political pressure is being applied on eastern European governments to raise fuel prices, so as to improve their environmental performance and promote investment in energy efficient industries.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe recently addressed the issue, with its Committee on Sustainable Energy and the Committee on Environmental Policy agreeing to produce guidelines on price reform.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has appealed for proposals for EU grants, which would fund technological initiatives boosting the clean and efficient use of solid fuels, notably the use of clean coal technologies by power plants to limit emissions such as carbon dioxide.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has signed an agreement with Russia on space research cooperation. EU research commissioner Phillipe Busquin and Russian space agency director general Youri Koptiev agreed a joint document on the Euro-Russian Space Partnership. The deal focuses on mutual assistance in the development of satellite navigation systems such as Galileo and Glonass, Brussels’ “global monitoring for environment and security” (GMES) initiative and launch services, notably the launch of Soyuz rockets from the European Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has been ordered to conclude wide-ranging research agreements on nuclear energy with the Russian Federation, focusing on general safety within the industry and fusion power generation. Brussels has also been told by EU ministers to strike a deal with Kazakhstan on fusion research.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Bank for Reconstruction and Development is to lend Viking River Cruises US$15 million to acquire three cruise ships to ply the Danube and Volga rivers. The Scandinavian/Dutch owned company is the world’s largest river cruise line with a fleet of 30 ships operating in European and Russian waterways.…