Russia's GDP may grow by over 3 prc in 2010 - deputy minister.

MOSCOW, November 14 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia's gross domestic product may
grow by 3-3.5 percent in 2010, Deputy Minister of Economic Development
Andrei Klepach said.
He said, however, that this would be possible if the price of oil
stays around 70 U.S. dollars per barrel.

"This year's official forecast that underlies all budget projections
is that GDP will grow by 1.6 percent. If pointed out in the explanatory
notes that if the price of oil is higher, i.e. about 68-70 U.S. dollars,
the growth may exceed 3 percent and reach 3.2 or 3.5 percent," Klepach
told the Vesti television channel on Friday.
Since "the current price is at that level, I think GDP will grow by
more than 1.6 percent," he added.

.Lithuanian secret service suspected of tapping journalists' telephones

VILNIUS, November 14 (Itar-Tass) -- Lithuanian's secret service is
suspected of tapping journalists' telephone.
Seimas Speaker Irena Degutiene officially asked the parliamentary
commission for control over operational activities to investigate the
matter.
"I think the commission must react to such public statements. The
commission should press for objective information and give a clear answer"
yes or no," she said on Friday.
Non-governmental Civil Society Institute Director Darius Kuolys said
earlier that the secret service was tapping jopunrlaists' telephone
conversations. He claimed that this had begun after the death of a
Lithuanian security service officer in Belarus in 2006. Investigators said
it was an accident. But not all agreed with that conclusion.
According to Koulys, the secret service tapped telephone conversations
of the journalists who investigated the matter and continue to do so.

.Two dead, 8 injured, 11 missing after Navy arms depot explosion in
Ulyanovsk.

MOSCOW, November 14 (Itar-Tass) -- Eight people were injured as a
result of an explosion at a Navy arms depot in Ulyanovsk on Friday, the
Emergencies Ministry told Itar-Tass.
"Eight people have been admitted to hospitals," the ministry said.
The regional governor's press service said, however, that four people
were in hospital. "The others refused to be hospitalised. All of them have
bruises," it said.
One of the injured persons is in critical condition.
Eleven people are missing. They might have been close to the place of
the explosion, the governor's aide Sergei Davydov said, adding that these
include both military personnel and civilians.
He said they might as well be staying with their relatives.
Earlier, the governor's press service reported that 43 people had been
rescued. "According to the crisis management centre, 43 military personnel
have been rescued at the scene of the explosion. They were led out of the
bomb shelter after the fire had been partly localised," the press service
said.
Another ten were hospitalised, including two in critical condition.
Defence Ministry acting chief spokesman Alexei Kuznetsov said earlier
that two people - both army servicemen from a fire-fighting unit -- had
died while trying to contain the fire.
Meanwhile, the intensity of explosions at the Ulyanovsk Navy depot has
decreased to one in 30-40 minutes.
"The fire is contained and will not spread to other warehouses," the
head of the Emergencies Ministry's task force working on the ground said.
Officials from the Main Military Prosecutor's Office will visit
Ulyanovsk to probe into the causes of the accident.
A total of 970 people were evacuated from the hazardous area, a source
at the Ulyanovsk regional department of the Emergencies Ministry told
Itar-Tass.
Twenty-seven buildings, a school and a kindergarten are located in the
direct proximity to the area on fire, the source said. "Two schools can
each accommodate 450 evacuees, and another 200 people may be accommodated
at the Venets and Oktyabrskaya hotels. The military technical school's
dormitory is another accommodation option," he said.
The regional governor's press office said earlier that 1,700 tenants
had been evacuated.
"A total of 237 people with almost 80 pieces of machinery are clearing
up the place after the accident," the source said.
The Russian Emergencies Ministry said it might send two planes with
robots and medical modules to Ulyanovsk.
Robots may help put down the depot fire, First Deputy Emergencies
Minister Ruslan Tsalikov said at the National Crisis Management Centre in
Moscow.
"I have ordered the robots to be prepared. If there is no change, the
robots will be brought to the fire scene," he said.

.Fire at Navy arms depot in Ulyanovsk extinguished.

ULYANOVSK, November 14 (Itar-Tass) -- The fire at the Navy arms depot
in Ulyanovsk has been extinguished.
The head of the special service of the regional branch of the
Emergencies Ministry, Yelena Sikharulidze, told Itar-Tass that the fire
had been put out at 00:30 Moscow time.
The fire was caused by an explosion that occurred during the disposal
of ammunition at the Navy arms depot on Friday. Authorities cut off gas
and heat supplies to the arms depot and the adjacent buildings in order to
avoid other emergencies.
-0-zak/