FC speaker calls for ousting online gambling.

MOSCOW, August 15 (Itar-Tass) - Russia's Federation Council speaker
Sergei Mironov believes that the government will lose the fight against
the gambling business, if it does not take the Internet space under its
control.

"The gambling business stubbornly does not want to take the place it
had been given. After the official closure of casinos and gambling outlets
a real boom of gambling systems began in the Internet," he told reporters.
The speaker believes that virtual casinos are much more dangerous than
one-armed bandits that recently were spread nationwide. "Several months
ago there were 400,000 gambling machines in Russia. It is impossible to
allow million of home and office computers to turn into online gambling
tools," he said.
"I will not exaggerate if I say that the whole story with restricting
the gambling business is a test of strength for our government. If we reel
back or turn a blind eye on the gambling business' attempts to leak
through all possible gaps - all those achievements in strengthening the
statehood that we've been proud of recently will not be worth a tuppence,"
Mironov said.
He expressed confidence that "the government will stand this test,"
which is proved by a decisive steps taken against poker.
"Our next task is to oust the gambling business from the Internet. Law
enforcement agencies that are fighting cybercrimes should poll their
efforts against this," Mironov said.



.Russia's flour produces urge state support for big flour mills.

MOSCOW, August 15 (Itar-Tass) - Russia's flour producers urge a state
support for big flour mills, the Russian Union of Flour Mills and Cereals
Plants said in a statement on Friday.
The Union's management believes that the source of such support can be
"nationalization of oil companies and railways." "This will allow to
create a resource base of support for loss-making enterprises in the flour
industry."
The Union's chief, Arkady Gurevich, said at present, according to the
official estimates Russia's flour mills are operational only by 46
percent." As a result flour producers should stake on lower quality of
flour, which affects human health.
In case of the government's refusal to stretch a helping hand, flour
producers warn of growing prices on bread even against the backdrop of
this year's lower prices on grain.
Earlier, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs made a
report on components of the bread pricing chain, where the flour industry
accounts for only 6 percent, while profitability of flour mills in the
first six months of this year comprised 10 percent.
"There are no grounds for raising bread prices," the president of the
Russian Grain Union, Arkady Zlochevsky, told Itar-Tass. "On the contrary,
prices have to be reduced."
He expressed confidence that this is possible taking into account
tumbling prices on all bread pricing components, including transport
expenses, rent, grain and oil that is used in bread-making.


.RF-Venezuelan intergovernmental commission to meet in St Pete.
.RF-Venezuelan intergovernmental commission to meet in St Pete.

ST PETERSBURG, August 15 (Itar-Tass) - The Russian-Venezuelan
intergovernmental commission will discuss on Saturday prospects for
cooperation in energy, manufacturing and fishing.
The commission's sixth meeting will be held at St Petersburg's
Constantine Palace and will be co-chaired by Russian Vice-Premier Igor
Sechin and Venezuelan Vice-President Ramon Carrizales. The commission's
co-chairs arrived in St Petersburg on Thursday and have already held
several consultations on economic cooperation.
The meeting is expected to end with signing a range of bilateral
documents on basic areas of bilateral cooperation.
The talks of the two countries' politicians in St Petersburg will be a
final stage of the preparation for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez' visit
to Russia scheduled for September.