Putin arrives in Perm, to confer with city authorities.

PERM, December 8 (Itar-Tass) - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin arrived here on Monday night. The Head of Government is expected to meet with city authorities.

The Premier is to confer with them about matters concerning aid to the
victims of the night club fire in Perm on the night from December 4 to 5.
Sergei Shoigu, Minister for Emergencies, will take part in the meeting.

.RF, Slovenia Justice ministers sign cooperation program.

LJUBLJANA, December 8 (Itar-Tass) - Alexander Konovalov, Russian
Minister of Justice, and his Slovenian counterpart Ales Zalar signed a
2010-2011 programme for cooperation between the respective agencies of the
two countries at a ceremony here on Monday. The document is a corollary to
the Memorandum on Cooperation, signed by the two Ministries in October
2001.
At the close of the signing ceremony, Konovalov and Zalar expressed
confidence that cooperation between the Justice Ministries of Russia and
Slovenia would grow stronger in future.
The Russian Minister pointed out that the programme includes "specific
areas (of cooperation) that are in the interests of the two countries".
The Slovenian Minister emphasized, for his part, "Under the programme
signed, the sides plant to share experience, specifically that in the
execution of court sentences, especially in cases when the defendant is
not deprived of freedom".
Konovalov pointed out the importance of interaction between the
Justice Ministries of the two countries. "To us, cooperation with the
Slovenian Ministry of Justice is of interest for two reasons. On the one
hand, our two countries are brought together by years-long experience
gained in the sphere of justice. The two countires have Slavonic
mentality, common roots and similar languages. On the other hand,
Slovenia, for several years now, has been a member of the European Union
and enjoys prestige in the international arena," the Russian Minister
stressed.
The Justice Ministers of Russia and Slovenia also discussed the
problem of reform pg the European human rights court, the reform that is
expected to relieve the court and raise the effectiveness of this
European institution.

.Putin lays pink roses at the nightclub fire site in Perm.

PERM, December 8 (Itar-Tass) - In the early hours of Tuesday, Prime
Minister Vladimir Putin visited the site of the Lame Horse night club
where a fire had broken out on the night from December 4 to 5. One hundred
and thirteen people had died in the fire.
The Head of Government laid a bunch of pink roses at the place, where
flowers and were already lying and candles were lit in token of memory and
mourning for the victims of the tragedy.
Putin stood for a while near the improvised memorial that had been set
up by the victims' relatives and next-of-kin. Then Sergei Shoigu, Minister
for Emergencies, and Oleg Chirkunov, Governor of the Perm Territory, also
laid flowers at the extempore memorial. The time was about two a.m. in
Perm but relatives and family members of the victims still stood near the
place of the tragedy.
After that, Shoigu briefed Putin on what had happened. In particular,
the Minister, pointing to the night club building, said there were only
two exits from it, the second one leading into the backyard. "No one knew
in which direction to run. There was an impenetrable wall of smoke,"
Shoigu said.

.Detour of Taishet to open to traffic on Fed highway Baikal.

IRKUTSK, December 8 (Itar-Tass) - A 25-kilometre detour of the city of
Taishet is to open to traffic on the Federal Highway Baikal on Tuesday.
The construction of the circuitous road was launched 15 years ago with
a view to getting around the city proper and its large railway junciton
that links the Trans-Siberian Mainline Railway, the Baikal-Amur Railway,
and the Abakan-Taishet railway line, an official at the Highway management
office has told Itar-Tass.
After an initial 10-km section of the detour came into operation, the
road construction was "frozen". The construction resumed only in 2005. At
first, an eight-kilometre sectsion of the road was turned over to the
customer and then the final seven-kilometre one has been built.
"The opening to traffic of the detour with its grade separations,
overpasses, and other artificial facilities will enable transit motor
vehicles to avoid standing in front of railway crossings while the city
will get rid of noise, dust, and mud," the official pointed out.
A detour of anothetr two cities in the area -- Irkutsk and Shelekhov
-- is to be put into operation next year.
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