Medvedev acts as "guarantor of the Constituion" - Gryzlov.

BARVIKHA, October 25 (Itar-Tass) - Boris Gryzlov, the chairman of the
High Council of the United Russia party believes that the Russian
president acted as the "guarantor of the Constitution" at a meeting, which
the Russian president had with the leaders of the main parliamentary
factions on Saturday.

"Everybody who took part in today's meeting - be they representatives
of the party of power or opposition parties- arrived at the sole
conclusion formulated by the president that we should consolidate our
efforts to enable the state and economy develop and to make the life of
our citizens more comfortable. All issues that have to deal with the
disagreements of some parties with the results of local elections at some
polling stations should be considered in judicial bodies in compliance
with the applicable law," Gryzlov said on Saturday.
As for proposals to change the schedule of the State Duma work,
Gryzlov said that he had created a commission that would sum up all the
proposals made to this account.
"Parties and deputies should have an opportunity to express their
points of view on urgent problems that are not linked to the agenda of the
Duma plenary meeting," Gryzlov went on to say.
Gryzlov added that he and President Medvedev discussed the demographic
situation in Russia and concluded that it was "unsatisfactory".
Other topics raised at the meeting included the population's health,
struggle against alcoholism and drug addiction and the introduction of
state excise taxes for alcohol and alcoholic products. Gryzlov believes
that state excise taxes will considerably reduce the number of counterfeit
alcoholic drinks sold in shops.
Drug trafficking from Afghanistan was also a subject for discussion.
Gryzlov said that they had asked President Medvedev to raise the question
of drugs production in Afghanistan at the United Nations and declare it a
world problem that has a terrorist nature.


.Russian peacekeepers leave for Sudan as part of regular rotation.

TVER, October 25 (Itar-Tass) - A group of Russian peacekeepers left
for Sudan late on Saturday as part of a regular rotation of a Russian
aviation group that operate under the U.N. mission in Sudan.
Tatyana Fedorchenko, a public relations officer for the commander of
division of military-transport aviation, told Itar-Tass that an Il-76
plane that had left the Migalyovo airfield near Tver for Djouba airfield
in Sudan, carrying 45 servicemen and 15 tons of technical cargo onboard."
The Il-76 plane will collect a group of Russian servicemen who have
finished their long mission in Sudan to airlift them back to Tver.
The Russian peacekeepers had been trained at an air base near Torzhok,
the Tver region. "The aviation group is complete with material supplies
and spare parts necessary for autonomous functioning," Fedorchenko told
Itar-Tass.
The first part of the air group left for Sudan from the Chkalovsky
airfield near Moscow last Monday.
The Russian air group was deployed in Sudan in April 2006. It has 120
air staff and engineers and four Mi-8MTV helicopters re-equipped to meet
the United Nations standards. World-class radars and navigation systems
are installed on them.
Russian helicopter pilots in Sudan transport military observers of the
United Nations mission, escort cargoes and carry out search and rescue
operations.


.Moldova plans to resume credit talks with Russia.

CHISINAU, October 25 (Itar-Tass) - Moldova is planning to resume talks
with Russia on a 150-million-dollar credit, Moldova's Minister of Economy
Valery Lazer told journalists on Saturday after the 36th session of the
CIS Electric Energy Council.
He said that the previous government was wrong when it decided to turn
down Russia's credit offer.
"Next week Moldova will finish working out an anti-crisis plan that
will stabilize and restore its economic growth," Valery Lazer went on to
say. He said that the plan provided for the creation of investment climate
and implementation of various infrastructure projects, including in the
energy sector.
Moldova, which used to export electric energy in Soviet times, has to
import part of its energy now because its energy generation capacities
have deteriorated.
Moldova's minister of economy clarified that at present the republic
could meet from 10 to 12 percent of its demand in electric energy out of
its own resources.
Moldova also plans to increase the carrying capacity of its electric
power lines to ensure the transit of electric energy to Romania and the
Balkans.
Apart from the Russian credit Moldova also hopes to attract the IMF
funds and private investments.

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