Ukrainian president to make one-day visit to Belarus.

MINSK, April 29 (Itar-Tass) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich
will make a one-day visit to Belarus on Thursday, the Ukrainian Embassy
said.
In a telephone conversation in early March, the presidents of the two
countries agreed on a meeting to discuss a range of bilateral issues, as
well as interaction within the integration associations of the post-Soviet
space.
On April 26, the upper chamber of the Belarussian parliament ratified
the intergovernmental agreement with Ukraine on the state border, signed
in May 1997.
The senators also ratified the inter-governmental Belarussia-Ukrainian
agreement on visa-free travel and mutual handover of convicts.
Belarussian Deputy Minister of Economics Anatoly Filonov said ahead of
Yanukovich's visit that a Belarussian-Ukrainian intergovernmental
agreement on transit of Venezuelan oil had been prepared.
The document will regulate the transit of Venezuelan oil through
Ukraine to Mozyr refinery. At present, the parties are discussing several
logistics plans to supply oil from Ukraine's port of Odessa.
Filonov also said Venezuelan oil would be used to produce petroleum
products and their subsequent export to Ukraine.


.Putin promises industrial waste clean-up in Arctic region.

MOSCOW, April 29 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
is planning to clear the Arctic region of industrial and toxic waste. The
government press service and the Russian Geographical Society reported
that the prime minister familiarized himself with the current ecological
condition of the region during his trip to Franz Joseph Land Archipelago,
where he took part in the work of a scientific expedition from the
Severtsev Institute of Ecology and Evolution.
"Some 40,000 to 60,000 tons of fuel and lubricants are "stored" here,
the Arctic region needs a thorough clean-up," Putin said after inspecting
rows upon rows of barrels frozen into the ground of Severnaya Bay. It used
to accommodate the ships that brought supplies for the military and
civilians, but at present, it is a dumpsite for toxic waste sprawling on
some 100 hectares.
Scientists estimate that up to 250,000 barrels containing 40,000 to
60,000 tons of petroleum products were abandoned on the archipelago. On
top of it, there are some 1 million empty barrels and various equipment,
which became unattended after the breakup of the USSR: planes, radars,
vehicles and structures.
"Military cuts have left the dump site as we see now," Putin said
noting that the level of contamination exceeds the admissible norms by six
times.
Businesses should join the cleanup project. "This should be
private-state partnership. Yet it is the state that must make the first
moves: it has to determine the specifics and scope of problems and decide
on the recycling method. It must be done in the near future," Putin said.
In his opinion, Russia "has to come to terms with its neighbors over
how we'll cooperate in the Artic region and protect its environment."
"Nature is vulnerable here. If temperatures rise by three to four
degrees, the problems we see now will aggravate," he warned.
The prime minister said Russia's geopolitical and profound interests
are linked with the Arctic region.
It is here that Russia's security and defense capability is ensured;
its fleet's bases are situated in Arctic latitudes, the routes of
long-range aviation patrols run through it, and there are economic
interests in the region and mining. Stockman, one of the largest gas
fields in the world, is just 300 kilometers from here, Putin said.
After inspecting the Bay, Vladimir Putin visited the northernmost
outpost Nagurskaya. It was opened in 1981 to protect the state border
around the archipelago, and comprised several structures. In 2008, it
commissioned a new compound that included a residential building, a
garage, a power generation facility, a fuel and lubricants depot, and
water supply and sewage networks. Recently, Russia built a St.Nicholas
church there.
The modern border outpost ensures the safety of shipping along the
northern seaway and protects Russia's economic interests. Large fields of
oil, gas, diamonds and other minerals were found in the area. Border
guards also combat poachers killing white bears, whose migration routes
run through Franz Joseph Land.
Putin inspected several structures of the outpost, called in on the
commander and had his photo taken together with outpost servicemen.
It was the first visit to Nagurskaya by a high-placed official since
September 2008, when Nikolai Patrushev, who was director of the Federal
Security Service at the time, chaired a visiting session there.
Putin watched a joint drill of the Federal Security Service and the
Emergency Situations Ministry which was held in harsh Arctic conditions
for the first time.
Under the scenario, rescuers had to provide assistance to air crash
victims. An airmobile hospital and its personnel were put on the ground.
The prime minister inspected a fully equipped 24-bed hospital, including
the resuscitation ward and a mild cases ward.
Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu the hospital had proved
quite effective during the relief effort in the quake-hit Haiti.
-0-myz