Medvedev to present State awards to outstanding persons.

MOSCOW, December 28 (Itar-Tass) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
will present State awards to outstanding persons of this country. This
year's last award-presentation ceremony is to take place in the Catherine
Hall of the Kremlin here on Monday.

As tradition has it, the Head of State in person presents awards to
the best of the best -- military men, scientists, artistes, teachers, and
physicians. This year saw four such ceremonies.
In 2009 Medvedev established yet another "rewarding" tradition -- the
presentation of the Order of Parental Glory to families with many
children. The Order was instituted in 2008 by one of the first decrees
issued by the current President. Fifteen families have already received
the award from the Head of State.
State awards of the Russian Federation *RF) are the supreme form of
encouragement of citizens for outstanding services in the defence of the
Fatherland, State development, in the economy, science, culture, the arts,
upbringing, education, the protection of health, life, and rights of the
citizens, and in charitable activities.
Listed as State awards are, for example, the title of Hero of the
Russian Federation, orders, medals, insignia, and honourable distinctions
of the RF. It is the President who issues decrees on the institution of
and decoration with State awards.

.Russia, Japan FMs to discuss coop'n, territorial issue Mon.

MOSCOW, December 28 (Itar-Tass) - The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of
the Russian Federation (RF) and Japan, Sergei Lavrov and Katsuya Okada,
meet here on Monday to discuss the advancement of bilateral cooperation
and prospects for a settlement of the territorial problem. Japan's Foreign
Minister, who arrived in Moscow on Sunday, is making his first visit to
the RF since the Democratic Parry of Japan (DPJ) rise to power in Tokyo
and the commencement of the work of the DPJ-formed government.
The Foreign Ministers of the two countries are to discuss a wide range
of matters, among which the peace treaty issue remains the principal one.
The second-important subject of discussion during the upcoming meeting
will be the fixing of a timeframe for and an agenda of a possible trip by
Japan's Premier Yukio Hatoyama to the RF.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said the
forthcoming discussion will focus on "the development of
trade-and-economic relations, investment, scientific and technical
cooperation and the stimulation of more active contacts between the
regions of the RF and Japan". The Foreign ministers are to compare their
positions on a timetable for contacts at various levels for the incoming
year.
Nesterenko pointed out, "We expect an in-depth and trust-based
discussion of ways to give greater scope to the two countries' cooperation
in the international arena, primarily in matters concerning an effective
response to the mounting global and regional challenges and threats". In
particular, Lavrov and Okada are to touch upon the situation concerning
the nuclear problem on the Korean Peninsula and difficulties in the
process of normalizing the situation in Afghanistan.
RF Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin told a news conference at
Itar-Tass on the eve of Okada's visit that Moscow "expects real practical
results of efforts to advance Russo-Japanese interaction".
Nesterenko also reaffirmed that the two countries are currently "in a
position to deepen mutual understanding and reach accords".

.First tanker calls at Kozmino oil port in Primorye.

VLADIVOSTOK, December 28 (Itar-Tass) - The first tanker, the Moskovsky
Universitet (Moscow University), with a deadweight of 100,000 tonnes, has
already arrived at the Kozmino oil port, which is the end point of the
Eastern Siberia--Pacific Ocean (ESPO) oil pipeline transportation system,
an official at the port's press service has told Itar-Tass.
Work to build an oil port in Kozmino Bay was launched last year. Over
a short period of time, workers built a 430-metre-long oil jetty, two
piers,161 and 170 metres long, for the moorage of tankers, 17 km of
technological pipelines, about 250 km of cable communication lines, a
booster pumping station, units monitoring the amount and quality of oil, a
unit for the storage of oil specimens, an accumulation reservoir of
effluents, a seawater intake pumping station, a chamber controlling cutoff
valves, and nine navigation leading beacons located on the shore to
determine the position of a ship, and other facilities.
Workers have also consolidated 495 metres of the shoreline, built a
ship passage station, a firefighting network, and installed 20 searchlight
pylons.
Five hundred 100,000-tonne supertankers are to call at the port every
year. A petrochemical plant to process 20 million tonnes of oil annually
is to be built near Nakhodka along with a power station to provide the
enterprises and the city with electric power.
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