Belkomur railway to boost Urals economic growth: railway official.

BEREZNIKI (Perm region), December 21 (Itar-Tass) - The Yaiva-Solikamsk
railway route, launched on Sunday, will become part of the future Belkomur
railway, the president of the Russian Railways company, Vladimir Yakunin
said on Sunday.

The project White Sea-Komi-Urals (Belkomur) will encourage
economic growth in the industrial heart of Russia, the president stressed.
"The project Belkomur does exist. And it will create fundamentally new
possibilities for economic growth in the region," Yakunin said. Russian
Railways President Yakunin started the traffic on the Yaiva-Solikamsk
route in the Perm region on Sunday. The track bypasses the Uralkaliy mine,
which had an accident in 2006. Passenger traffic will start on January 11.
"The new routes operated by Russian Railroads are the best proof of
economic recovery," Yakunin said. He estimated the project at 12.3 billion
roubles and said that the second line would be commissioned in 2010. The
entire route will be ready in 2011.
In the future, the line will be linked to the transcontinental route
from the White Sea to the Urals across the Komi Republic. The route is
included in the Russian railroad transport development strategy.
"Part of cargo flow from the Trans-Siberian Railroad will be
re-directed via Belkomur to northern ports," Perm region governor Oleg
Chirkunov said. "We conduct negotiations with Russian Railways on two
projects. Belkomur, as well as the construction of a railway bypass of
Perm from the south, are part of the Russian railroad development
strategy," he added.
"The new railway route will connect industrial Urals with ports of the
country's North-West," the head of the Federal Agency for Railway
Transport, Gennady Petrakov, said. "It has powerful logistic and terminal
complexes," he added.
The White Sea-Komi-Urals (Belkomur) railway is the project for
connecting the Trans-Siberian Railway with White Sea ports and for cargo
delivery. Its implementation will make it possible to cut the route of
cargoes to these ports by approximately 400 kilometres.

.Council of Europe secretary general visits Moscow.

PARIS, December 21 (Itar-Tass) - Secretary General of the Council of
Europe Thorbjorn Jagland arrives in Moscow on Monday. During his first
official trip as head of the Council of Europe he will meet with the
speakers of the lower and upper houses of Russian parliament, Boris
Gryzlov and Sergei Mironov, as well as with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Russia is one of the main components of the European political
architecture, and it plays a decisive role in maintaining peace and
stability on the continent, Jagland said ahead of the visit.
According to him, Russia's position has a decisive role not only for
the future of the Council of Europe as an organization, but also for the
development of democracy, human rights and supremacy of law in Europe. He
expressed hope that a substantial and constructive dialogue would be held
in Moscow.
Earlier, he told Tass that he would like Moscow to be one of his first
routes in the new office, stressing that he appreciated very much Russia's
contribution to the work of the Council of Europe.
Thorbjorn Jagland expressed an opinion that the formation of a single
Europe is to the good of all states, including Russia, as it contributes
to the development of cooperation on different directions - economic and
social. He expressed satisfaction with efforts of the Russian authorities
towards ratification by Russia of the European Social Charter last June.
He said the ratification of the Charter was an event of paramount
importance for the Council of Europe as well as for Russia. The Charter
ranks in importance with such CE acts as the European Convention on Human
Rights, he stressed.
The visit will take place from December 21 to 23.

.Soyuz TMA-17 blasts off from Baikonur.

BAIKONUR (Kazakhstan), December 21 (Itar-Tass) - The Soyuz TMA-17
spacecraft blasted off from Baikonur at 00:52 a.m. on Monday, Itar-Tass
has reported from Baikonur.
It takes to the ISS Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov, NASA astronaut
Timothy Creamer and astronaut of the Japanese Space Agency JAXA Soichi
Noguchi, who will work in orbit for half-a-year.
The docking with the ISS is scheduled for December 23, at 01:54 Moscow
time, Roskosmos sources said.

.Soyuz put into calculated orbit.

BAIKONUR (Kazakhstan), December 21 (Itar-Tass) - The Russian Soyuz
TMA-17 spacecraft, which blasted off from Baikonur at 00:52 a.m. on
Monday, nine minutes later flew into the calculated orbit and began an
autonomous two-day flight to the ISS, Baikonur sources told Itar-Tass.
It takes to the ISS Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov, NASA astronaut
Timothy Creamer and astronaut of the Japanese Space Agency JAXA Soichi
Noguchi. "All three astronauts feel well," Baikonur sources said.