Yushchenko proposes to set up special economic zone in Crimea

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KIEV, December 24 (Itar-Tass) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko
has proposed to create in the Crimea a special economic zone. He made this
statement at a regional forum of the Congress of Ukrainian Intellectuals
in Simferopol on Wednesday.
The president demonstrated to the meeting a decree by which he
instructed the cabinet of ministers to prepare within a month a draft law
on the introduction of "an economic regime different from the general" in
the territory of the peninsula.
"This special economic regime should envisage new budget, fiscal,
economic and investment motives of conduct for economic entities and the
power. It also should be applied to such spheres as healthcare, tourism,
the agrarian complex, defence industry and others," Yushchenko noted.
According to him, this regime should be in effect for at least 20
years. Yushchenko noted that his decision "is demonstration of
peculiarities of the Crime and its unique mission, including economic."
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.Yushchenko urges parliament to settle election financing issue.

KIEV, December 24 (Itar-Tass) - The problem with the financing of the
Ukrainian presidential election should be settled at an extraordinary
session of the country's parliament, believes Ukrainian President Viktor
Yushchenko.
"Wee live in a parliamentary state, so the issue of any financing is
exclusively within the competence of the prime minister and parliamentary
coalition and, without doubt, an extraordinary session," Yushchenko said.
In his view, the parliament's extraordinary session could settle the
issue of "the approval of separate budgetary financing of the presidential
election." Without such a decision there is no possibility to finance the
forthcoming election, Yushchenko stressed.
On Wednesday, deputies of the Ukrainian parliament went on New Year
holidays ahead of time. The next meeting of the Verkhovna Rada is planned
for January 19, 2010. The country's presidential election (first round) is
to be held on January 17. This election will be Ukraine's fifth
presidential election since declaring independence from the Soviet Union
in 1991.
The President of Ukraine is elected by the citizens of Ukraine for a
five-year term, on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage, by
secret ballot. One and the same person shall not be the President of
Ukraine for more than two consecutive terms.
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.RF Defence Min not to refuse from Bulava sea-launched missile.

MOSCOW, December 24 (Itar-Tass) - The Russian Defence Ministry does
not intend to refuse from the adoption for service in the army of the
intercontinental ballistic missile Bulava, despite the fact that several
it launches sere unsuccessful, RF Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said
in an interview published by the Rossiiskaya Gazeta daily on Thursday.
Answering a question is the Bulava problems have affected the keel
laying of the fourth nuclear-powered submarine of the 955 Borei project
that was planned for December 22, the minister said, "The keel laying will
be held and we will definitely not refuse from Bulava."
"What is the cause of unsuccessful launches? I think that, actually,
there are many causes, also the unpreparedness of the production
facilities for doing everything precisely," believes Serdyukov. "The
labour discipline issue has also had its effect here. Somebody is trying
to replace materials with some other, this also entails mass of
consequences. In general, there is a whole can of worms there and the
problems are settled, unfortunately, not so quickly as we would want," he
added. "Nevertheless, I think that the missile will fly," the RF defence
minister is certain.
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.Russia Proton rocket to orbit US telecom satellite Dec 29.

WASHINGTON, December 24 (Itar-Tass) - Russia's Proton rocket is to
place on a near-earth orbit on December 29 a telecommunications spacecraft
for the major US satellite television - DirecTV, International Launch
Services (ILS) the majority stake in which belongs to Russia's Khrunichev
State Space Research and production Centre, reported on Wednesday. The
launch will be carried out from the Baikonur cosmodrome.
The DirecTV-12 satellite is one of the heaviest geostationary
spacecraft, its mass is about 6 tonnes. It is to ensure transmission of
digital HDTV signal on the US mainland, Alaska and the Hawaii. Its service
life is 15 years.
The DIRECTV 12 next-generation satellite will play an important role
in extending DIRECTV's content leadership position in the pay TV industry.
When it becomes operational in the first half of next year, it will expand
DIRECTV's HD capacity by 50 percent to more than 200 national channels and
enable DIRECTV to deliver 1,500 local HD and digital channels and more
advanced services for its customers nationwide. The powerful
131-transponder payload integrates 32 active and 12 spare TWTAs (Traveling
Wave Tube Amplifiers) at Ka-band for national service and 55 active and 15
spare TWTAs for spot beams. The payload is powered by a gallium arsenide
solar array that spans more than 48 metres. DIRECTV 12 will receive and
transmit programming throughout the United States with two large Ka-band
reflectors, each measuring 2.8 meters in diameter and nine other Ka-band
reflectors.
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