.Energy and regional matters to dominate Erdogan visit.

ANKARA, January 12 (Itar-Tass) - Energy and regional matters will be
the focus of attention during the forthcoming two-day working visit of
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Moscow.

The Office of the Turkish Head of Government announced on Tuesday that
the sides "will discuss possibilities for a further development of
bilateral cooperation based on the traditions of goodneigbourliness and
versatile partnership".
Erdogan will arrive in Russia at the invitation of Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin. In view of this, the Turkish Premier's Office recalled.
"In the previous periods an atmosphere of close and friendly cooperation
developed between the two leaders, who had a large number of meetings".
The latest talks between Putin and Erdogan were held in Ankara within
the scope of the Russian Premier's working visit on August 6, 2009. At
that time the sides focused on cooperation in the energy sphere,
specifically in that in implementing projects for the transportation of
energy resources, such as the South Stream, Blue Stream-2 gas pipelines,
and a Samsung-Ceyhan oil pipeline".
Erdogan is also planning to touch upon such subjects as an extension
of contracts for the purchase of Russian natural gas received through the
western corridor via Ukraine and Bulgaria. Agreements to that effect
expire in 2011, and Turkey, local media point out, intends to adjust terms
of contracts in matters concerning the cost of fuel and conditions for its
receipt and sale.
The Cihan news agency also reports that the Turkish Head of Government
intends to touch upon such subject as a settlement of the conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh. Talks on the problem are also expected to deal with
Russia's efforts to establish a productive dialogue between Azerbaijan and
Armenia, and Ankara's steps in this respect.

.Moldova, EU to begin talks on signing new cooop'n accord.

CHISINAU, January 12 (Itar-Tass) - The Republic of Moldova and the
European Union (EU) begin official talks here on Tuesday on the signing of
a new agreement on cooperation, a republican government official has told
journalists.
Benita Ferrero-Waldner, EU Commissioner for Trade and European
Neighbourhood Policy, speaking earlier, confirmed that the first phase of
talks with Moldova under the Eastern Partnership programme would begin in
Chisinau immediately after the Christmas holidays. She said the European
Commission would send a top-level group of consultants on political
aspects to Chisinau to assist the authorities of the republic in effecting
reforms with a view to expediting the process of Moldova's political
association and economic integration with the EU.
The European Commissioner also said the EU prepares to assign 26.5
million euros to Moldova in the short and medium term to make up a budget
deficit, as well as $4 million for the exercise of democratic norms and
standards.
Moldova's Premier Vlad Filat said Monday that an EU mission is
expected to visit Chisinau in February to usher in talks on the
liberalization of visa formalities between Moldova and the EU.
The Premier expressed hope that "due to substantial support" from
Brussels, the government would succeed in "achieving a visa-free regime
for the citizens of the republic in the EU within an unprecedentedly short
period of time". As an example he cited Serbia which, he said, had
"managed to resolve this problem within 18-odd months".
Ferrero-Waldner, when speaking in response to journalists' questions
about the possibility of granting a visa-free regime to Moldovan citizens
by the EU, acknowledged that the process would be a long one. In so doing
she expressed confidence that Moldovan citizens would be able freely to
travel about the EU territory in several years' time.

.Vladivostok cityfolk to decide on monument to writer.

VLADIVOSTOK, January 12 (Itar-Tass) - Vladivostok cityfolk, in an
electronic vote, are to choose which of prominent Russian writers will be
commemorated in bronze.
Within a month beginning on Tuesday, all those who wish it can cast a
vote for one of six writers whose names are associated with the maritime
territory. The idea of erecting a monument was suggested at the end of
autumn last year by the Far Eastern branch of the Russian World
foundation, an official at the city department for culture has told
Itar-Tass.
The suggested candidacies are as follows: Vladimir Arsenyev, prominent
traveler, explorer of the Ussurian taiga, who was buried in Vladivostok
and who authored the famous book Dersu Uzala; poet Nikolai Assev, who
worked with local city newspapers from 1917 to 1922; Ivan Goncharov, the
author of the novel The Frigate Pallada (Frigate Pallas), a noted Russian
diplomat; Mikhail Prishvin, who stayed in Vladivostok for several months
in 1931 and later on wrote the stories Ginseng, the Deer-Flower, and Blue
Foxes; Alexander Fadeyev, who began his literary career in Primorye, and
Anton Chekhov, who stayed in the city for several days before travelling
to Sakhalin Island.
Only two monuments to Russian poets -- Alexander Pushkin and Osip
Mandelshtam -- have been erected in Vladivostok by now.
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