Russian Foreign Minister in Town

I guess you'll read about it tomorrow, but the Russian Foreign Minister,

Sergey Lavrov





is in town today for a couple of days. He'll meet Salim bin Mohammed al Riyami, and if he's sensible maybe score some free fishing and snorkeling.

Sergey is a professional diplomat (which I very much prefer to political apparatchiks). And a heavy smoker. Dude, you gotta love the ... ah fuck it! attitude of the Russians...

David Miliband subjected to 'F-word tirade' from Russian foreign minister Lavrov
David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, was allegedly subjected to a tirade of four-letter abuse when he spoke to his Russian counterpart over the country's invasion of Georgia.

The Daily Telegraph can disclose that Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, reacted with fury when Mr Miliband and [sic UD] he spoke on the telephone. Mr Lavrov is said to have objected to being lectured by the British.

It was alleged that such was the repeated use of the "F-word", one insider who has seen the transcript, said it was difficult to draft a readable note of the conversation.

Mr Lavrov said: "Who are you to f------ lecture me?" He also asked Mr Miliband in blunt terms whether he knew anything of Russia's history.

The incident is set to add to pressure on the already strained diplomatic relations between Britain and Russia. [no shit, Sherlock - UD]

Mr Lavrov insisted that he had not sworn at Mr Miliband and accused the Foreign Office of trying to smear his reputation. He said that he was taking the "unusual step" of declassifying and releasing the Russian transcript of the conversation.
...

Excellent. When a professional diplomat tells you to fuck off, you really should start to look inward a little more I suspect. And lets face it, would you want Mr Miliband defending your corner in the big, bad world? Or Someone called Sergei who smokes and has been doing serious diplomacy all his life?



I'll go with the guy on the right. Perhaps not as a son-in-law, but as Foreign Sec? Yep. I want to go drinking with this guy. (I hate this British system of talented amateurs when it comes to important stuff like Foreign affairs)

Discussions here will undoubtedly NOT involve the F word, and will instead be immensely cordial, and will be focused on the situation in the middle east, Israel & Iran, Oman's interests in Kazakhstan and the wider FSU+ perhaps [like Belarus and Bulgaria], and opportunities for mutual trade, investment and cooperation between the two friendly nations undoubtedly [ref recent visit by uber-connected Mayor of Moscow].

My boys in the Foreign Ministry seem awfully keen to give him the super VIP treatment. Hmmmm? Maybe the Russians really want access to a fantastic warm water port?!!? I'm pretty sure a large investment into a place called Duqm would do wonders for Omani-Ruski relations right now...

Just a suggestion Sergei.

Russian bought Oman's Kazak pipeline share

For those who didn't already know, looks like Oman sold its stake in the Kazak pipeline to Russia. Oman had been looking for a buyer around a year ago quite openly.

I understand the deal was assisted by one the other pipeline partners Oman has good relations with...

In the current situation, looks like it was a smart move.

Moscow Times

Russia May Have Bought CPC Stake
31 October 2008ASTANA, Kazakhstan -- Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev told Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Thursday that the two states should jointly buy Oman's share in a major pipeline, only to hear that Russia might have already bought it alone.

"Oman is a shareholder in [Caspian Pipeline Consortium] and we should buy [its stake]. We should take 50 percent each so the others do not do it. It is very important," Nazarbayev told Putin during a meeting in the Kazakh capital of Astana.

The proposal appeared to take Putin by surprise.

"I'm not entirely sure, but it seems to me we have already bought it. I need to check," Putin said.

The CPC owns the 1,580-kilometer long Tengiz-Novorossiisk oil pipeline, which links oil fields in western Kazakhstan and Russia's Black Sea coast. The CPC pipeline pumped 32.6 million tons of oil in 2007.

Russia and Kazakhstan, the two governments with a stake in CPC, have first right of refusal on Oman's 7 percent stake in the consortium, the key export route for Kazakhstan's crude oil.

Oman decided to sell its stake earlier this year, but so far there has been no information on who may have bought it.

Russia has a 24 percent stake in CPC and Kazakhstan owns 19 percent. The rest belongs to private shareholders: Chevron, BP, Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil, LUKoil and Rosneft.

In September, BP also expressed interest in selling its stake in CPC if it failed to agree with the government on terms for expanding the line.

Of the shareholders, only BP has not agreed to the expansion terms demanded by Russia. (Reuters, MT)

The Russians are in town for a holiday, and ahem, 'business' Comrad

In what I interpret as a sign of the sort of increased wasta the Russians have these days, the Mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, actually got an audience with HM.

OK, it sounds like HM just stopped by and said hello, but still something very indicative of the sort of political power this guy has back home. He is far more than just an ordinary Mayor. And ordinary Mayors don't generally get to meet HM.

Putin & Luzhkov

Mr. Luzhkov is certainly a pretty interesting guy. Mayor of Moscow since 1992, he managed to escape being too close to Yeltsin, and he certainly knows a thing or two about improving the efficiency of a hopeless socialist bureaucracy (see his San Jose University profile). I hope the Omani representatives do learn a thing or two from him about how changing people's incentives effect behaviour and how to get things done. But perhaps not so much on how the extensive system of corruption and kick-backs seems to work very very well in Moscow... (see this biography)

Times of Oman

HM gives audience to Moscow mayor
ONA Monday, October 27, 2008
MANAH — His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said gave an audience to Yuri Luzhkov, mayor of Moscow, yesterday at Hisn Al Shomoukh in the wilayat of Manah.

They discussed aspects of cooperation between the Sultanate and the Russian Federation, in addition to matters of common concern.

The audience was attended by Sayyid Ali bin Hamoud Al Busaidi, minister of the Diwan of Royal Court; Sergey Ivanov, Russian Federation ambassador to the Sultanate, and the delegation accompanying the guest.

They then went on to have a pow-wow with the Governor for Muscat and the Wali of Seeb et al, so Oman's representatives dropped down to the regional level as one would expect, and they discussed urban issues, undoubtably including opportunities for contracts, etc. But it sounds more like an excuse for a bit of a tax-payer funded holiday from the Mayor, and a search for foreign investment with few strings attached (hotel investments anyone?).

Funny how visits of this type tend not to happen too much in say June or July...

Luzhkov these days is a big supporter of the Putin-style Russian nationalism, and a non-smoking tee-total conservative. He banned the Moscow Gay Pride Parade (calling it 'Satanic'), supported the Russian seperatists in South Ossetia, and has acted against minorities, and I'm sure he's not a very big fan of Islam. You'll see the web is full of accusations of some pretty serious (and successful) nest feathering on his part, especially from massive construction projects and real estate deals, eg: see NYTimes, so he'll probably feel quite at home here in Muscat!

I'd certainly be wanting some serious forensic accountants to keep a very close eye on any investments involving Mr Mayor if it was somebody else 'investing' my money... Are there any bright, young, entrepreneurial Omani out there who speak Russian? You may want to drop your CV by the Muscat Governer's office - see the last line in the exerpt below!

Sultanate, Russia to strengthen cooperation
ONA Monday, October 27, 2008
MUSCAT — An official session of talks was held between Oman and Russia here yesterday.

The Omani side at the meeting was led by Sayyid Al Mutassim bin Hamoud Al Busaidi, minister of state and governor of Muscat; and the Russian side was led by Yuri Luzhkov, mayor of Moscow.

At the outset of the meeting, Mutassim welcomed the guest and his accompanying delegation wishing them a good stay in the Sultanate. He reviewed the growing relations between the two countries, thanks to the support and directives of both countries’ leaderships.

On his turn, the mayor expressed his delight on visiting the Sultanate and being able to acquaint himself with the development witnessed by the Sultanate, its historical landmarks, expressing his country’s keenness to develop its relations with the Sultanate in political, economic and cultural fields. The talk also covered a number of topics related to cooperation between the governorate of Muscat and Moscow, in terms of exchanging expertise and coordination in related fields. The mayor invited Mutassim to visit Russia and he accepted the invitation. ....