GM directors remain undecided over future buyer of Opel.

LONDON, August 22 (Itar-Tass) -- The board of directors of the US
automotive giant General Motors at its meeting in Detroit on Friday
remained undecided on a future buyer of the company's European division,
incorporating Germany's car maker Opel and Britain's Vauxhall, British
government sources said Friday.

The GM leadership is to go ahead with consultations next week with the
two contenders - Canada's Magna International, in which Russian capital is
present, and the Belgian holding company RHJ International.
Simultaneously there will be another round of talks between GM and the
German government, which is to have a final say in the Opel deal.
According to information available in London, General Motors wants
Magna to pay for Opel plants more than it has been prepared so far.

.Chubais assassination attempt case to be retried.

MOSCOW, August 22 (Itar-Tass) -- The Moscow Region's unit of the
Prosecutor-General's Office Investigation Department has said the case of
the assassination attempt against the former CEO of the now partitioned
national energy monopoly UES of Russia, Anatoly Chubais, will be retried.
"The special investigations department has completed the investigation
of Ivan Mironov, Vladimir Kvachkov, Robert Yashin and Alexander Naidenov,
accused of an attempt on the life of the former chief executive officer of
the UES of Russia, Anatoly Chubais," the PGO IC office for the Moscow
Region said. "The conducted investigation established that Mironov,
Kvachkov, Yashin and Naidenov, acting out of hatred towards Anatoly
Chubais as UES of Russia CEO and on the basis of extremist views created
an organized group for the purpose of committing a terrorist attack and an
attempt on the life of the plaintiff, who in the past was a state official
holding senor posts and also participated in public activities."
On March 17, 2005 there was a roadside explosion and a firearms attack
against the UES of Russia CEO's motorcade on a forest road in the
Odintsovo district of the Moscow Region. The investigation says that "the
defendants, having prior knowledge about the route and time of the
plaintiff's movements, had been waiting for him near the Mitkovo road
under a pre-drafted plan. As the plaintiff's limousine approached, they
set off an explosive device of 11.5 kilograms of TNT, and then opened fire
with a Kalashnikov automatic rifle on Anatoly Chubais's car and the
vehicle carrying bodyguards."
The investigators have interpreted the defendants' actions under part
3 of article 30, part 2 of Article 105 (attempted murder), part 2 of
article 167 (deliberate destruction of or damage to property), part 3 of
article 222 (illegal acquisition, keeping, transportation and carrying of
firearms and explosive devices), part 3 of article 223 (illegal making of
weapons), and article 277 of the Russian Criminal Code (attempt on the
life of a state or public figure).
The Moscow Region's prosecutor has endorsed the bill of indictment.
The criminal case will be handed over to a court of law for consideration
on the merits soon.
Previously, the Chubais assassination attempt case was heard in the
Moscow Region's Court. On June 5, 2008 the jurors acquitted the defendants
- Colonel Vladimir Kvachkov, of the military intelligence service GRU
(retired), and two former paratroopers, Alexander Naidenov and Robert
Yashin. All were instantly released from custody in the courtroom. On
August 26, 2008 the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation overturned the
sentence and ordered a retrial.
The fourth defendant involved in the case, Ivan Mironov, was detained
in December 2006. On October 13 last year the Moscow Region Court returned
the Chubais assassination case to the Prosecutor-General's Office for its
merger with that of Ivan Mironov.

.Watchdog to speed up safety inspections of RusHydro.

MOSCOW, August 22 (Itar-Tass) -- The federal service for ecological,
technological and atomic supervision (Rostekhnadzor) has moved to August
the safety rules compliance inspections of the company RusHydro and its
divisions, the watchdog's press-service told Itar-Tass, adding that the
order to this effect had been signed by its acting chief, Nikolai Kutyin.
"In connection with the accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya Hydro on
August 17 and the purpose of preventing similar emergencies at other hydro
power generating facilities Rostekhnadzor has moved the routine checks of
security compliance at the facilities of the RusHydro company from
September to August," the watchdog said.
The central office of the company that owns practically all of Russia'
s hydropower facilities will be held on September 15 through October 14,
and its divisions, from August 20 to September 15.
Earlier, Rostekhnadoz declared the beginning of "on-line inspections
of hydrotechnical facilities on the Yenisei River in connection with the
accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya Hydro."
A special commission is looking into "the preparedness of the
hydrotechnical facilities on the Yenisei River downstream from the
Sayano-Shushenskaya Hydro for operation in emergency conditions following
the accident."
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told the Cabinet's presidium on Thursday
to conduct a fundamental inspection of all strategic and crucial
facilities and establish an algorithm of their systematic upgrading and
control of their technical conditions.
"The recent tragic events at the Sayano-Shushenskaya Hydro graphically
demonstrated how much we are to do for ensuring the reliability of
hydrotechnical facilities," he said.
Also, the prime minister demanded "qualitative improvement in the
technological discipline in industry and other branches of the economy."