Medvedev to launch Customs union with Belarus, Kazakhstan.

MOSCOW, November 27 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
is leaving for Belarus on Friday to adopt the final documents for the
start-up of the Customs Union with Belarus and Kazakhstan from 2010.
Summit host Alexander Lukashenko described the event as "truly
historical, which we prepared for a long time."

"The presidents of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia will sign a package
of documents on the start-up of the Customs Union of the troika of
countries from January 1, 2010 and completion of all the necessary
procedures by July 1, 2011," a high-ranking Kremlin official told Tass.
The heads of state are to consider a total of 15 documents, including
the appointment of the Customs Union Commission head. At present Russia's
economist Sergei Glazyev chairs the commission, which decisions will be
directly applied in member-countries.
"The creation of an efficient mechanism of implementing Commission
decisions at the national level is of major significance," the Kremlin
official said.
Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan jointly have a population of 180
million and account for 83 percent of the economic potential of the former
Soviet Union. Their economies are expected to grow due to the lifting of
customs borders between them.
Secretary General of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) Tair
Mansurov said a single customs tariff will be approved from January 1,
2010 and a treaty on the customs code will be signed.
"Everything we do, including harmonization of domestic laws and
lifting of administrative and customs barriers will allow each country to
raise GDP by some 15 percent by 2015, which will total some 400 billion
dollars," Mansurov estimated.
Other EurAsEC member-countries (Tajikistan and Kirgizia) are expected
to gradually join the Customs Union. Kirgizia, a WTO member, has already
applied.
"We are ready to join the Customs Union, but we are WTO member and
there are certain terms, which our experts are working on," Kirgiz
President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said, adding accession to the Customs Union is
a matter of time.
"I am sure Kirgizia will join us," Lukashenko commented.
The EurAsEC summit will be also held in Minsk to discuss joint
measures to fight the global economic crisis. The presidents will consider
the creation of a joint Anti-crisis fund and EurAsEC high technology
center.
"The Russian Federation has earmarked up to 24.5 billion rubles as a
contribution to the Anti-crisis fund," the Kremlin official said, adding
the fund and the center "have to ease the negative influence of global
economic processes and resolve the tasks of post-crisis development on the
basis of modern technologies and innovations."
The presidents of all the five EurAsEC member-states will participate,
as well as Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia, which has the status of observer.

.House arrest bracelets successfully tested in Russia.

MOSCOW, November 27 (Itar-Tass) -- Test of Israeli-made house arrest
bracelets in a Russian region were successful in general, but exposed some
problems that will be taken into account by domestic producers.
Tests in Voronezh region involved 228 volunteers from among
conditionally convicted people, Svetlana Bobrova from the regional
penitentiary service told Tass on Thursday.
She said 154 participants committed various violations and bracelets
were deliberately or unintentionally damaged 32 times.
Bobrova said the main reason was the fragile strap. "It will be taken
into account while designing the bracelets for domestic production in Perm
region," she added.
Penitentiary officers received 42 alarm signals and 34 participants in
the experiment were reprimanded, while 14 convicts had their probation
terms extended. Four conditionally sentenced people were jailed, while 18
received an early parole.
"The use of the bracelets may be expanded to other regions next year,"
Bobrova said.

.Alain Delon to sing in Russia.

MOSCOW, November 27 (Itar-Tass) -- Famous French film actor Alain
Delon will sing in Russia on Friday at the Discotheque-'80s musical
festival, which organizers said was his long-cherished dream.
"The legendary French actor wanted to sing on a Russian stage for long
and today he will appear in Olympiisky complex together with charming
Stella Gianni. They will sing famous Paroles, Paroles," festival producer
Yuri Kostin said.
Russian-born Stella dreamed of being a pianist, but damaged her hand
in a car accident. She then graduated as a journalist and worked at the
Yunost radio station in Moscow. In the '90s she moved to France. She
performs the songs by Russian composers Vyacheslav Dobrynin, Maxim
Dunayevsky, Raimond Pauls and her own songs.


.Russia, Thailand resume bilateral panel work.

BANGKOK, November 27 (Itar-Tass) -- The intergovernmental commission
for trade, economic, scientific, technical, and cultural cooperation
between Russia and Thailand will meet on Friday after a seven-year break.
Minister-Counselor of the Russian embassy to Thailand Mikhail Baranov
told Tass important documents will be signed, including a joint action
plan to promote cooperation in 2010-2014.
"The document is valuable because it is a rare type of partnership for
Thailand from the point of view of diplomatic practice," he said. Besides,
the parties plan to sign an agreement on banking cooperation.
Bilateral trade turnover reached record four billion dollars in 2008
and the parties are working to preserve and improve the indicator, Baranov
said.
The commission is co-chaired by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei
Sobyanin and Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya.
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