By Dmitry Medvedev, President of the Russian Federation

Russia has taken over the rotating chair of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in 2012 and will host this year’s APEC Leaders’ Week in Vladivostok. For Russia this honour comes with a great sense of responsibility. Just as Russia is an integral part of the vast and forward-reaching Asia-Pacific region, that is crucial for the socio-economic development of Russia, especially Siberia and the Far East. Therefore, one of the country’s top priorities is to promote trade and investment cooperation with Asia-Pacific countries and to actively participate in regional integration.

Top managers of Russian developers and homebuilders discussed a number of questions at the Russia Forum 2012 including regulation, management competitiveness, the market beyond Moscow, the cost of land, investment and the future outlook.

Norway announced an initiative this week to invest about 1 million USD towards a Norwegian-Russian project that will assess the technology needed to develop theuntapped oil fields in the Arctic region, particularly in the Barents Sea. The project has a total funding estimate of about 2.7 million USD over three years and will include partners such as INTSOK, Gazprom, Tschudi Shipping, and others. The group will assess the challenges, gaps in technology, and methods and best practices in order to determine a path forward. According to Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre...

Read the full article at DiploNews here: http://www.diplonews.com/articles/2012/20120203_NorwayRussiaArctic.php

Despite the death of Moldovan man by a Russian peacekeeper at the border on January 1st, the past few months have brought signs of warming relations between Moldova and its largely unrecognized breakaway region, Transnistria. After 6 years of hiatus in the 5+2 format negotiations, Ukraine, Russia, the OSCE, the EU, and the U.S. once again formally met with Moldova and Transnistria in November of 2011. The effort was spearheaded byLithuania, the country holding the OSCE chairmanship. More recently, the Moldovan Prime Minister Vlad Filat and Transnistrian newly elected... For Complete article go to http://www.diplonews.com/articles/2012/20120203_Transnistria.php

The panelists at this session of the Russia Forum 2012 focused mostly on discussing the situation in the EU and the US, as this is the biggest factor of uncertainty making the financial markets nervous.

Anders Aslund, fellow at Peterson Institute for International Economics, kicked off the discussion panel at Russia Forum 2012 in Moscow. He was extremely optimistic on Russia in 2012 (not his usual view), saying that things have never been so good here: the economy is strong, inflation is low, and growth is high. Russia has human capital, and fighting corruption is on the agenda. The country will join the WTO in 2012 and start the process of joining the OECD. Mr Aslund welcomed political instability, which meant more democracy.

Today, February 4, 2012, the Special Day “Investing in Film, TV and New Media” of The Russia Forum 2012 was officially launched. The event is organised through the combined efforts of Sberbank of Russia, Troika Dialog and Cinemotion Group.

The EBRD and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) have agreed to acquire 6.29 per cent and 1.25 per cent stakes respectively in Russia’s MICEX-RTS stock exchange. The investment is part of a long-term strategy to promote the development of local capital markets in Russia and broaden the regional and international appeal of this recently unified exchange.

Sberbank of Russia today announces the creation of a venture fund that uses a strategy of investing in high-tech companies and projects. Starting by investing $100 mln in the venture fund, Sberbank intends to in time increase the volume of investments to $500 mln together with the fund’s international partners. Troika Ventures (the venture arm of Troika Dialog) will manage the fund. Currently the Troika Venture team manages over $100 mln of fund assets.

The father of late Russian security officer Aleksandr Litvinenko says he pursued a smear campaign against the Russian government out of grief, but changed his mind after Aleksandr’s widow revealed his son had been working for British intelligence. After his son died in London from radioactive polonium poisoning in November 2006, Walter Litvinenko was among those who accused Russia of assassinating Aleksandr. But he changed his attitude after his son’s widow Marina revealed that he had been working for British intelligence.