Medvedev to discuss domestic situation with party leaders.

MOSCOW, April 1 (Itar-Tass) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will
hold a traditional meeting with leaders of the country's parliamentary
parties on Thursday.
Among the invitees are the chairman of United Russia's Supreme
Council, State Duma speaker Boris Gryzlov, Just Russia leader and
Federation Council speaker Sergei Mironov and leaders of the Communist
Party and the Liberal Democratic Party - Gennady Zyuganov and Vladimir
Zhirinovsky.
The discussion will begin from analyzing the country's situation
following the blasts in the Moscow metro and Dagestan that killed dozens
of people.


.Russia increases oil export duties.

MOSCOW, April 1 (Itar-Tass) - Russia will increase oil export duties
from $253.6 per tonne to $268.9 per tonne on Thursday.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed the relevant decree.
Export duties for light petroleum products will grow from $183.2 per
tonne to $193.5 per tonne and for dark petroleum products - from $98.7 per
tonne to $104.2 per tonne.
At the same time a zero duty for oil exports from 22 fields in Eastern
Siberia will remain unchanged in April.
The government introduced a zero export duty on December 1, 2009.
Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said this mechanism should be applied
for the whole period of intensive exploration of the region. However, he
did not rule out an opportunity for imposing duties for oil export from
certain fields in Eastern Siberia. The Finance Ministry also insists on
this measure.
Earlier, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said the Ministry continues to
study expediency of extending zero duties for these fields.
The Ministry "is actively studying economic efficiency of these
fields," he said stressing that zero duties will be scrapped at those
fields that can turn profit-making and competitive even without them.



.Students to donate blood for Moscow terror act victims.

MOSCOW, April 1 (Itar-Tass) - Students from the North Caucasus will
hold a blood donation action No to Terror in Moscow on Thursday to
remember those killed in the Moscow metro terror acts, the chairman of the
union of student associations of Moscow, Kantemir Khurtayev, told
Itar-Tass on Wednesday.
"Our task is to help victims and thus express our support for them,"
he said.
The action is organized by the union of student associations of Moscow
in cooperation with the foundation of Karachai-Balkar youth Elbrusoid and
the union of Vainakh youth.
"Students from different Russian regions and countries, who study in
Moscow, simply could not stay indifferent to the tragedy in the Moscow
metro," Khurtayev said. "After the blasts ripped through the metro
stations, we received many phone calls from students of different
nationalities who asked how to help victims of terror acts. Our union
decided that the best way to help is to donate blood."
The Russian Congress of the Peoples of the Caucasus will take an
active part in this action.
The action will take place at the blood transfusion station of the
Sklifosovsky research institute from 8:30 to 11:30 Moscow time on Thursday.



.Draft law on cross-border cooperation submitted to Duma.

MOSCOW, April 1 (Itar-Tass) - A draft law on cross-border cooperation
in Russia was submitted to the State Duma on Wednesday.
It was initiated by parliamentarians and senators of the Federal
Assembly, including Alexei Ostrovsky, the head of the Duma committee for
CIS affairs, and Konstantin Kosachev, the head of the Duma committee for
international affairs.
Russia has the longest state border stretching over 61,000 km and
running across sixteen other countries, therefore "we need a special law
that will regulate social and economic activities of the federal, regional
and local authorities in border territories," Kosachev said earlier.
He stressed that cross border cooperation actively develops in
different areas.
"There is the whole range of issues that are related to the quality of
life of Russian citizens in border territories and that we have to jointly
resolve with our neighbors. Among these issues are environment, subsoil
use, transport, emergency situations, medical assistance, interaction of
law enforcement agencies and trade," the parliamentarian said.
However, Kosachev noted that the potential of cross-border cooperation
remains untapped.
"It is enough to say that 70 percent of the border regions register
lower foreign trade turnover as compared to that reported in the country
in general," he said that these problems are more tangible on the border
with CIS member-states, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Georgia.

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