Medvedev to order state corporations to modernize.

MOSCOW, December 25 (Itar-Tass) -- President Dmitry Medvedev who set
Russian economic modernization as a priority will chair a meeting on
Friday in Gazprom headquarters to urge heads of state corporations and
monopolies to comply with the task.

"The main topic will be the possibility for the participation of
Russian natural monopolies and state companies in the process of
modernizing domestic economy," the Kremlin said.
"We have a very big state sector in our country. Let them tell us what
they are doing with innovations and our priorities, and we shall beat them
to it," Medvedev said earlier.
He estimated state-owned companies account for 40 percent of the
economy.
"We have to engage them in the (modernization) work, as today they
simply stew in their own juice," the president said.
Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina and Gazprom CEO Alexei
Miller are to address the meeting.

.Putin to inspect Sochi-2014 Olympic construction.

MOSCOW, December 25 (Itar-Tass) -- Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will
inspect the construction of Olympic objects for the 2014 Winter Games in
the Black Sea spa of Sochi on Friday.
The government press service said Putin will visit the new airport
terminal that is currently operating in a test regime and will also
inspect the construction of the combined road and rail tunnel linking the
Black Sea coast with the mountains. The tunnel will allow to bring
athletes and spectators to Olympic facilities in 30 minutes and will
considerably decrease the impact on the environment.
Putin will also visit the construction site of the ice hockey and
figure skating stadiums.
The prime minister will start up a new section of Sochi bypass highway
for transit vehicles that will decrease the load on city streets 40
percent.

.Duma to condemn Georgia for ruined monument.


MOSCOW, December 25 (Itar-Tass) -- The Russian State Duma will pass a
statement on Friday urging global condemnation of Georgia for destroying a
monument to Georgians who perished in World War Two fight against the
Nazis. The house will also back the initiative of Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin to re-erect the monument in Moscow.
Georgia exploded the monument in Kutaisi last week saying the site was
necessary for the construction of a new parliament building. A girl and
her mother were killed by the blast.
"Specific concern of the State Duma and of the whole civilized world
and people who treasure the memory of those perished in the fight against
Nazism is caused by the fact that the disgraceful act was committed upon
direct orders of Georgian authorities," said the draft statement obtained
by Tass.
"The Tbilisi regime that loudly declared its adherence to European
values placed itself outside the European civilization and rudely and
cynically defied the memory about the exploit of its own people," the
draft says.
First deputy head of the Duma committee for international affairs
Leonid Slutsky told Tass all factions are ready to support the statement
that will be sent to the United Nations, the European parliament, the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and other international
organizations.
"I believe the statement will be adopted unanimously," he said.
Slutsky said Putin's proposal to re-erect the monument on Poklonnaya
Hill in Moscow which hosts various WW2 monuments "united all strata of
Russian society and is reflected in Duma statement".
The construction of the monument will "promote restoration of friendly
and good neighborly relations between the Russian and Georgian peoples,"
he said.
Georgia exploded the Glory Memorial in Kutaisi on December 19.
The Russian foreign ministry said "Georgian authorities committed an
act of state vandalism that humiliates the feelings of any civilized
person".