Rogozin estimated the reliability of Russian missiles at 99%

Rogozin estimated the reliability of Russian missiles at 99%

The head of "Roscosmos" Dmitry Rogozin believes that Russian missiles are very reliable, and accidents are inevitable with any kind of technology


Speaking in the program “Moscow. Kremlin. Putin ”, Rogozin shared his opinion on the reliability of Russian missiles. According to him, “Soyuz” is a very reliable rocket, ”but there is not a single sample of equipment that has 100% reliability. “The reliability coefficient of a technique is, say, 99 - and some percent more after the comma. These percentages are those cases that occur sooner or later, ”RIAzosino quoted Rogozin as saying.

The head of "Roscosmos" also offered to take into account the fact that the current "Union" - one of the modifications of the rocket, which was created by Sergei Korolev. “The accidents corresponded to the very statistics of the reliability of this rocket,” Rogozin stressed.

Commenting on the Soyuz FG carrier rocket crash in mid-October, the head of Roskosmos noted the fact that the crew had escaped. “Americans in such situations killed people, a large number of people. We did not allow this, ”Rogozin said.

The head of "Roscosmos" stressed that the causes of the accident found and completely eliminated.

On October 11, during the dispatch of cosmonaut Oleg Ovchinin and American astronaut Nick Haig an accident of the Soyuz FG launch vehicle occurred on the ISS. The crew managed to evacuate. Later it turned out that the cause of the accident was the deformation of the separation sensor of the first and second stages of the rocket.

In early December, Rogozin said that Ovchinin and Haig will be sent to the ISS on March 1.

France tried to take hostage Russian gas pipeline

France tried to take hostage Russian gas pipeline

French President Emmanuel Macron is unlikely to go down in history as a great politician, but he definitely deserved a place in history books and books of various records, if only because he is definitely the first and only person who tried to take the underwater gas pipeline hostage.
We are talking about a sharp change in the position of France on the "Nord Stream - 2", which made pretty nervous many observers over the adventures of the Russian project, which is under constant attack by the United States and the European Commission.

Friday passed a vote in the European Council of Ministers, which was supposed to accept or reject the draft amendments to the so-called gas directive of the European Union. These changes, drafted by Romanian diplomats in accordance with the wildest anti-Russian wishes of Washington, Warsaw and Kiev, effectively gave the European Commission the right to block the construction of Nord Stream-2 for political reasons and, in general, would take the gas pipeline itself from German jurisdiction to the EU jurisdiction, which would create quite serious problems for its construction and subsequent operation. Until February 7, no one expected any surprises and difficulties for the Nord Stream - 2 from voting: Germany and several other EU countries spoke out against the draft changes to the "gas directive". And judging by past attempts of this kind (they are trying to introduce changes from 2017), the resistance of countries whose companies participate in the project (that is, Germany, France, Holland and Austria), as well as their allies, would be enough to create " blocking minority. " However, a surprise happened on February 7: the French government sharply changed its position and declared support for the anti-Gazprom directive, despite the fact that its adoption would have caused direct and multi-billion financial damage to the French investor in Nord Stream 2 (that is, Engie, which is not just is the main energy company in France, but is actually controlled by the state). It turns out that the Macron administration was in favor of damaging the interests of France, the French budget and the country's main energy company. Without the French vote, the defenders of Nord Stream 2 would not have been able to organize a “blocking majority” - and a decision against Nord Stream 2 would have been made.
What could be behind such a strange decision of the Elysian Palace?

It is logical to suspect the influence of Washington, but this version has several problems. First, Macron has a very tense relationship with Trump, a sluggish trade war between the European Union and the United States, and Macron himself and the ministers of the French government have repeatedly made extremely harsh statements against the United States. Secondly, the American media, which are usually very well aware of the actions of American diplomacy, could not hide the shock of the "betrayal" of the French president. American diplomats and diplomatic sources did not brag about their successes in the French direction, and Twitter, the main boaster of the planet, Donald Trump, was suspiciously silent. Third, the French could easily explain their behavior by Washington’s pressure, which would have caused a storm of delight in many European and American politicians, but instead representatives of the French authorities lopat something unintelligible about the "need to protect Eastern Europe" and common European interests. In this context, the simplest and most cynical explanation seems to be the most likely: Macron simply blackmailed Merkel and tried to take hostage the most important energy project for Germany as a whole and for the German Chancellor. It is significant that the same version offers readers as the main American business magazine "Forbes".

The French president was faced with the impossibility of implementing his Napoleonic plans to reform the European Union and transform it into a more centralized structure, in which Paris and Macron personally would play a key role. Macron promoted presidential, well-defined supranational financial structures, and he himself was perceived by many as the main globalist project that showed the whole world that the global establishment found the right answer to populist (ie anti-globalist) political projects - such as Donald Trump, Brexit, and Italian " League and Five Star Movement. In practice, it turned out that instead of turning the French president into an all-European leader and reformer of the EU, as well as the leader of the “global coalition against populists”, he faced a drop in the rating in his homeland and is now forced to put out the political crisis caused by the protests yellow vests. " Macron urgently needs money in order to solve the economic and political problems of France and finance its extremely ambitious plan for reforming the European Union. There is no money in France, and this has been known to everyone for a long time, and institutional investors will not credit Macron search projects, even if he lays down the Elysee Palace and the Eiffel Tower. And Macron himself, as a former high-ranking banker of the structures of the Rothschild family, is well aware of this. He has exactly one way out (which he himself has repeatedly acknowledged) - in order to save France and the European Union, according to his plan, financial support from weaker EU countries should be financed by EU debts, which Germany will guarantee, because otherwise will give. Very few people in Berlin might like the idea in the style of "the French, Italians, Poles and everyone else will spend money borrowed under the guarantees of the German budget and taxpayers." Over the decades spent in the status of an actual American colony, German politicians and taxpayers, of course, have become accustomed to a variety of national humiliations, but that would be too much. That is why Angela Merkel, as Forbes noted, did not support such bold projects and selfish ideas of the French leader. Apparently, the "yellow vests" and economic problems in France, as they say, were cornered against the wall of Emmanuel Macron - and he decided that if you take the Nord Stream 2 hostage, then Germany will still give France money.

Needless to say, this decision caused a shock in the European energy and financial community: no one expected the French president to torpedo a project that would benefit the country and the French company. However, even if the anti-Russian changes to the “gas directive” were adopted, this would not mean blocking the project - since the European Commission would have to “drag” it through the European Parliament before the end of its term in May of this year, and then prove it in the European The Supreme Court that the rules of the "gas directive" can be applied to the "Nord Stream - 2" retroactively, that is, in violation of the fundamental legal principle "the law is not retroactive." Moreover, it should be noted that the legal expertise of the Council of Ministers of Europe has already given a negative opinion on the anti-Russian changes to the "gas directive". However, it did not come to all this, because Angela Merkel personally joined the taming of the obstinate Macron, who resolved the issue in 24 hours: on Friday, on the day of the fateful vote, she made a statement in which she said that Paris " agreed to a compromise. " The final text of the revised “gas directive” is similar to anything other than a compromise, but rather resembles the subtle mockery of German diplomats over their European opponents: all anti-Russian points are left in the document, but all have been made with annotations that entitle the German authorities not to use them and also introduce almost any exceptions to the rules of the directive itself.
The story resembles the situation with the "Nord Stream - 1", which "in the exception mode" already operates at full capacity, despite the protests of the United States, as well as lawsuits from Poland.

Western analysts are wondering whether Macron received something in exchange for this "compromise." Truth we, most likely, will never know. But the most likely answer comes down to the fact that he received a small, rough and visual lecture from the German authorities on the fact that, if necessary, Berlin would simply destroy his political career: for this, Germany does not even need to support "yellow vests", so how it is enough just to prohibit France from violating the pan-European rules to limit the budget deficit, which Macron allowed to “violate as an exception” in order to support the country's economy in a period of political turbulence. Even if pro-American countries of the EU and pro-American officials of the European Commission tried to defend France, Germany would have had enough influence both in the European Commission and in the European Central Bank in order to arrange a financial crisis in France. One hard statement, Merkel, would be enough to provoke the flight of investors from French financial markets, total panic and the massive sale of French government bonds and shares of French companies. Then, of course, French banks would have to be rescued so as not to sink the entire European financial sector, but Angela Merkel would do it in collaboration with another French president. It’s not for nothing that in America they say that they don’t have to annoy their banker, and Germany at the moment is by and large the main and de facto only European Union’s “banker”.
“Nord Stream - 2” will be completed, unless, of course, there is any difficultly predictable political or economic surprise, however, the “Macron case” has already clearly shown that Germany is ready to actively protect this project, and this is a good sign for Russia. gas pipeline, and for the Russian-German relations in general.

NYT found out about the PDVSA-replacing US deals with Rosneft

NYT found out about the PDVSA-replacing US deals with Rosneft

The Russian oil company, as the newspaper found out, agreed to provide the Venezuelan PDVSA, which was subject to sanctions, with “vital petroleum products”. In exchange, PDVSA provides her with oil, the publication’s sources say.

After the United States imposed sanctions against the Venezuelan state-owned oil and gas company PDVSA (Petróleos de Venezuela S.A.), Rosneft agreed to provide it with “vital petroleum products in exchange for Venezuelan oil”. About this, without specifying the sources of information reported by the American newspaper The New York Times (NYT). Thus, the Russian company “will partially replace the lost [PDVSA due to the sanctions] American supplies,” say two oil traders and two partners of a Venezuelan company who are familiar with this issue, the NYT reports. Such transactions, according to her, allow the PDVSA to continue to function without access to the international banking system.

Before the introduction of sanctions, as the newspaper explains, Venezuela imported about 120,000 barrels of oil and oil products per day from the United States. Venezuelans mixed lighter American oil with their own viscous crude oil so that it can flow through pipelines to ports. US shipments were suspended last week.

At the same time, the publication continues, officials from the Venezuelan oil and gas company notified the partners: "The country provided gasoline supplies until the end of March, preventing [for a while) the inevitable energy crisis caused by US sanctions."

A spokesman for Rosneft, commenting on the information on PDVSA shipments to NYT, said that the company pursues only business interests in Venezuela. He declined to comment on any barter deal with PDVSA.

NYT experts in the field of energy explained to the newspaper that the nature of the global oil market is such that Venezuela will be able to save some oil income, lowering the price and finding alternative customers in Asia. “In the end, there is always someone who does not have crude oil and who buys it in limited quantities,” said former Mosvir and former Latin American asset manager Chevron’s assets in Venezuela and other Latin American countries. However, in his opinion, buyers will go to such transactions only if a “big discount” is made for oil.

Earlier, on February 5, Rosneft’s first vice president in charge of production, Eric Liron, said that the Russian company assesses the situation in Venezuela as “temporary and does not affect Rosneft’s projects (quoted by TASS). According to him, the Russian company does not expect a decline in production in the framework of joint ventures with PDVSA in Venezuela. Assets in Venezuela are an exceptional resource base, Lyron added.

The US authorities imposed sanctions on PDVSA on January 29. On the same day, Washington explained that the United States would block $ 7 billion in company assets, “plus more than $ 11 billion in lost export earnings.” At the same time, the US authorities explained that they would continue to issue temporary licenses that would allow for “some transactions” with PDVSA. The American subsidiary of the Venezuelan state-owned company Citgo Petroleum will also be able to continue working, but only if the money it received will not be sent to PDVSA, but will remain on accounts blocked in the USA.

Later, the American Ministry of Finance called the condition of a possible easing of sanctions. To do this, according to representatives of the agency, control over the state PDVSA should pass to the speaker of the Venezuelan parliament, Juan Guaido, who declared himself president in January.

Petersburg was denied money on the highway

Petersburg was denied money on the highway

The federal center is not ready to allocate money for the construction of the Eastern High-Speed ​​Diameter (VVD) in St. Petersburg. This was announced at a meeting with the participation of the vice-governor of the city, Eduard Batanov, which took place on Friday, February 8. Nevertheless, officials do not abandon plans to build a highway worth 182.8 billion rubles. by the year 2024. It is planned to do this by attracting a private investor, although there are no obvious candidates for participation in the project either.

Preliminary costing

According to Eduard Batanov, the design and estimate documentation is being developed for three sections of the road - from the WHSD to Vitebsky Avenue, from Vitebsky Avenue to Soyuzny Avenue with the crossing over the Neva River and the third - from Soyuzny Avenue to the Ring Road. The average cost of the first and third section will be 90 rubles, the second - 120 rubles. Traffic intensity on the highway, as calculated by the city authorities, will be at least 230 thousand vehicles per day.

According to Batanov, the cost of maintaining the IRR will not exceed 1 billion rubles. per year, while the annual revenue due to the toll on the highway will reach 8.65 billion rubles.

In addition to the cost of building the VVD, according to Batanov, the city will need 51.5 billion to build 11 junctions, which will connect the latitudinal highway to the street road networks. “These are our city commitments to adjoin the city system,” the official explained.

Federation will not help

The project is planned to be implemented on the principle of public-private partnership. Half of the funds must make private investors. About 80 billion rubles. will provide the state.

“Within the framework of PPP, we hope for federal funding in the state unit. After we receive an answer from you and understand the costs of the city and the private sector, we will be able to start developing the project, ”said Eduard Batanov, addressing the Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation, Evgeny Dietrich, who was present at the meeting.

However, it became clear from the minister’s response that there was no need to rely on federal assistance, since there are already several approved projects in the queue for federal funding. “I will tell you so - hope for the federation, but don’t make it yourself. If the project is good, it pays back, then I would take it and start working with it myself. In St. Petersburg, there are many experts on the design of paid highways. I think that you will manage without federal co-financing, I am afraid that you will wait for him for a very long time, ”the minister advised.

As for private investors, there are still no clear candidates for participation in the project. According to Batanov, Vnesheconombank shows interest in the project, but the final decision has not yet been made.

Not enough money

Alexander Beglov, acting Governor of the city, spoke about the need to attract federal funds to solve the infrastructure problems of St. Petersburg. “We have accumulated a whole range of problems, the solution of which requires the efforts of both regional and federal authorities. The road network does not correspond today to the level of automobilization. There are not enough high-speed and continuous traffic in the city, ”said the mayor.

According to Beglov, 48.5 billion rubles are needed to implement projects for the development of transport infrastructure. Of these, about 30 billion rubles. pay the city budget, 18 billion rubles. Smolny expects to receive from the federal budget. As Alexander Beglov told, he sent a corresponding appeal to the government of the country.

Money is needed for the repair of existing and construction of new interchanges and roads. Among the most important tasks are the reconstruction of the M-10 highway (7 billion rubles), the A-180 Narva on the section from the Ligovo railway station to Krasnoe Selo (3.1 billion rubles), the reconstruction of Ropsha highway (3.5 billion rub.), sections of Prospect Engels (1.4 billion rub.), construction of an overpass in the alignment of Yunnatov Street (3.2 billion rub.).

The media reported on the CEC claims to Poroshenko's declaration

The media reported on the CEC claims to Poroshenko's declaration

In the documents that the head of Ukraine submitted for registration at the elections, the inspectors of the CEC found inconsistencies. Poroshenko, according to their data, did not declare his tourist vessel and incorrectly indicated the data in a number of sections.

Petro Poroshenko (Photo: Petr Sivkov / TASS)

Experts of the Ukrainian Central Election Commission (CEC) found several errors in the declaration, which the current President of the Republic, Petro Poroshenko, filed for registration as a candidate in the elections. About this, with reference to the documents that were at the disposal of the editors, the publication reports Strana.ua. The results of the CEC verification it published on its website.

According to them, the experts' claims arose to five points of the declaration of the head of state, namely “Real estate objects”, “Vehicles”, “Corporate rights”, “Legal entities whose ultimate beneficiary is the subject or members of his family” and “Income including gifts. "

In particular, according to the inspectors, Poroshenko did not indicate in the document a tourist vessel of 2005, which, according to the Ship's Book of Ukraine, he has. Also, the declaration does not mention the 1875-meter plot of land registered for Poroshenko’s spouse Marina, experts noted, explaining that there is information about him in the State Land Cadastre.

In addition, in the item "Real Estate”, according to experts, the president indicated in the ownership of two apartments of 134 square meters. m and 62 square meters. m, as well as suburban area of 344 square meters. m (the latter, according to the document, belongs to Marina Poroshenko). All this property, as the CEC inspectors found out, is missing in other property registers of Ukraine.

Also, “due to the short time allotted for verification,” the experts could not fully verify Poroshenko’s claims regarding the companies in which he indicated himself as the ultimate beneficiary (mostly confectionery companies). And to that part of the information that they had time to look at, they, according to the final document, also had questions. In particular, Poroshenko called himself a beneficiary of the Admiralteyskaya Financial-Insurance Company. In the corresponding registry, such data is not available, according to the document of the Central Election Commission.

In addition, inspectors found violations in the paragraph “Incomes, including gifts”. The President of Ukraine indicated in it 172 thousand UAH (423 thousand rubles), which he received from the sale of property, including securities (the source of income, according to the document, is Igor Anatolyevich Mozol). However, this information is not recorded in the State Register of individuals, found out by the CEC, that is, from this amount, Poroshenko explains, Poroshenko did not pay taxes.

Diplomats warned about hundreds of spies from Russia and China in Brussels

Diplomats warned about hundreds of spies from Russia and China in Brussels

About 250 Chinese and 200 Russian spies work in the capital of the European Union, diplomats warned. They were warned against negotiations in some institutions located in the EU quarter

Yves Herman / Reuters

The internal security service of the European External Relations Service warned diplomats and military workers in Brussels that there are about 250 Chinese and 200 Russian spies in the capital of Belgium. Reports about it Die Welt with reference to one of diplomats.

“Diplomats, according to their own data, were warned about entering certain institutions in the European Union quarter, including the popular steakhouse and cafe within walking distance of the main building of the European Commission and the EEAS office building,” the article says.

According to the internal security service, Chinese and Russian intelligence services work in Brussels, primarily in the embassies or trade missions of their home countries.

Earlier in the number of agents in the capital of the European Union, Russia was in the lead, the newspaper notes.

In Brussels, it is also not a secret that attaches who accompany third-country diplomats at receptions at embassies are often undercover agents. In particular, in addition to Russian and Chinese, American and Moroccan agents must work in Brussels. ”

In November 2018, the British Analytical Center Henry Jackson Society (HSJ) presented a report on the threat from Russian intelligence. As experts have noticed, the three main structures of intelligence and counterintelligence in Russia - the FSB, the General Directorate of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces (formerly GRU) and the SVR - are stepping up their activities in British territory.

Then the Henry Jackson Society estimated that there are about 200 residents of the Russian special services in the kingdom who oversee more than 500 agents. In addition, Russian intelligence services receive information from expats living in Britain, experts decided.

Friend with senator Arashukov, the general asked to remove him from office
Major General of Justice Kazbek Bulatov, First Deputy Head of the Directorate for the Investigation Committee of Russia for Karachay-Cherkessia, filed a report on his removal from office. Information confirmed "Lente.ru" in the Investigative Committee of Russia.

Source: RIA "News"

The report is addressed to the head of department, Alexander Bastrykin.

"He remains an employee of the UK, but ceases to hold office," - clarified in the UK. Now the report of the general is under consideration. The question of the future fate of Bulatov.

The general filed a report immediately after his visit to the headquarters of the TFR in Moscow, where he gave explanations about his friendly relations with a member of the Federation Council from the KCR, Rauf Arashukov, who was arrested on charges of two murders. During the survey, Bulatov confirmed that he was friends with the senator, but not contrary to the interests of the service.

The relatives of the victims told about Arashukov’s close friendship with high-ranking security officials of the republic. According to them, thanks to this friendship, the senator for many years avoided bringing to criminal responsibility for involvement in the killings. Bulatov and Arashukov went to restaurants together, the general was at the senator’s birthday party, along with other distinguished guests.

Bulatov was appointed deputy head of the TFR KChR in 2007.

Arashukova was detained on January 30 right in the upper house of the parliament and accused of murdering the deputy head of the youth movement "Adyghe-Khase" Aslan Zhukov and adviser to the president of the KChR Fral Shebzukhov