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2. ACCORDING TO COMMERSANT DAILY NEWSPAPER (RUSSIAN EDITION) OF JULY 6, 1995, PLATINUM RUSSIA LTD. (USA) AND INFIN (RUSSIA) CREATED JOINTLY A NEW SOFTWARE PRODUCT. THE NEW INTERFACE MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO CHANNEL ACCOUNTING INFORMATION FROM RUSSIAN SOFTWARE PROGRAM "INFIN" TO "MAIN BOOK" MODULE OF PLATINUM, A U.S. SOFTWARE COMPLEX.
3. AT AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE "RUSSIA: NEW ERA IN BUSINESS, FINANCE AND INVESTMENT" YEVGENY YASIN, MINISTER OF ECONOMICS OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION, ANNOUNCED THAT RUSSIA CAN ABSORB USD 10-15 BILLION INVESTMENT ANNUALLY. THIS INFORMATION WAS PUBLISHED IN COMMERSANT DAILY NEWSPAPER (RUSSIAN EDITION) OF JULY 8, 1995. UNFORTUNATELY, IN PRACTICE, ACCORDING TO THE MINISTER, FOREIGN INVESTMENT IS STILL UNDER USD 1 BILLION ANNUALLY.
4. MERISEL-CAT COMPANY REPRESENTING MERISEL, A MAJOR U.S. COMPUTER DISTRIBUTOR IN THE RUSSIAN MARKET, CELEBRATED THE 5TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE COMPANY'S PRESENCE IN RUSSIA. ACCORDING TO COMMERSANT DAILY NEWSPAPER (RUSSIAN EDITION) OF JULY 8, 1995, ONLY BY 1992 THE COMPANY BEGAN A REGULAR DISTRIBUTORSHIP WORK. IN 1993 MERISEL-CAT VOLUME OF SALES REACHED USD 12 MILLION, IN 1994 IT WAS USD 35, THIS YEAR IT IS PLANNED AT USD 70 MILLION, AND THE FORECAST FOR 1998 IS USD 300 MILLION.
MERISEL PLANS TO OPEN A BIG WAREHOUSE IN HOLLAND, WHICH WILL ACCUMULATE PRODUCTS WORTH USD 200 MILLION TO MAKE AN AGGRESSIVE SALES CAMPAIGN IN RUSSIA POSSIBLE. AT PRESENT, THE COMPANY USES A MOSCOW-BASED WAREHOUSE, WHICH HOLDS USD 5 MILLION WORTH OF PRODUCTS.
5. ACCORDING TO INTERFAX (RUSSIAN INFORMATION AGENCY) BUSINESS REPORT N 128 OF JULY 5, 1995, BIOTEKHNOLOGIYA MOSCOW COMPANY IS PLANNING TO LAUNCH PRODUCTION OF VITAL DRUGS IN MOSCOW IN COOPERATION WITH SEVERAL FOREIGN COMPANIES. THE PROJECT WILL COST APPROXIMATELY USD 11 MILLION, MOST OF WHICH WILL BE INVESTED BY FOREIGN PARTNERS: RHONE-POULENC RORER (USA-FRANCE), ELI LILLY (USA) AND FAZIO GROUP (CANADA). VITAS CORPORATION (USA) AND SOLENBURG (USA) WILL ALSO BE INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT.
6. INTERFAX BUSINESS REPORT N 133 OF JULY 12, 1995, ANNOUNCED A SET-UP OF A JOINT VENTURE BY DANISH CONCERN DANDY AND A NOVGOROD (CENTRAL RUSSIA) COMPANY SPEKTR. THE JOINT VENTURE, STIMOROL CHEWING AS, WILL PACKAGE ANNUALLY 5,000 TONS OF STIMOROL CHEWING GUM. THE PROJECT IS BEING FINANCED BY THE DANISH INVESTMENT FUND FOR CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE. THE DANISH COMPANY WILL SUPPLY THE EQUIPMENT, RAW AND PACKAGING MATERIALS AND THE RUSSIANS WILL PROVIDE THE PRODUCTION PREMISES. THE FIRST TRIAL BATCH OF PACKAGED CHEWING GUM SHOULD BE PRODUCED IN 1996.
7. ACCORDING TO INTERFAX BUSINESS REPORT N 136 OF JULY 17, 1995, PEPSI-COLA INTERNATIONAL PLANS TO INCREASE SALES IN RUSSIA BY INTRODUCING NEW PRODUCTS AND FINDING MORE RUSSIAN PARTNERS TO BOTTLE DRINKS. NEIL BAINTON, MARKETING DIRECTOR AT THE COMPANY'S MOSCOW OFFICE, TOLD INTERFAX THAT OVER 20 FACTORIES WERE BOTTLING PEPSI DRINKS IN RUSSIA, MANY OF THEM AS FAR FROM MOSCOW AS NOVOROSSIISK, KRASNOYARSK AND OCHAKOVO.
8. ACCORDING TO VLADIMIR DENISSOV, DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF INTERNAVIGATSIYA, AN INTERSTATE COMMITTEE, OVER 10,000 RUSSIAN TRANSPORT COMPANIES ARE WILLING TO BUY SATELLITE NAVIGATION SYSTEMS. ACCORDING TO INTERFAX BUSINESS REPORT N 136 OF JULY 17, 1995, VLADIMIR DENISSOV TOLD INTERFAX THAT RUSSIA ACCOUNTED FOR ONLY 1 PERCENT OF SALES OF SATELLITE NAVIGATION SYSTEMS IN THE WORLD. HE COMMENTED THAT "GLONASS" AND "GPS-NAVSTAR", THE MAIN RUSSIAN MANUFACTURERS OF THE SYSTEMS CAPABLE OF LOCATING PRECISELY VEHICLES, SHIPS AND AIRCRAFT ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, HAD NOT RECEIVED TECHNICAL CERTIFICATES FOR USE IN RUSSIA YET.
9. AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY INTENDS TO INCREASE ITS PRESENCE IN RUSSIA BY WIDENING ITS SERVICE NETWORK, REPORTED COMMERSANT DAILY NEWSPAPER (RUSSIAN EDITION) OF JULY 12, 1995. THIS PLAN CONCERNS, IN THE FIRST PLACE, MOSCOW, WHERE AMERICAN EXPRESS CARDS ARE USED MORE ACTIVELY THAN IN OTHER REGIONS. AT PRESENT THERE ARE MORE THAN 1500 AMERICAN EXPRESS SERVICE CENTERS AROUND RUSSIA.
10. ACCORDING TO COMMERSANT WEEKLY MAGAZINE N 26 OF JULY 18, 1995, THE GOVERNMENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION HAS ALMOST APPROVED A RESOLUTION FEATURING A LIST OF JOINT STOCK COMPANIES (JSC) WHICH ARE NOT ALLOWED FOR PRIVATIZATION. THE LIST INCLUDES 269 JSC'S IN THE DEFENCE INDUSTRY, 27 JSC IN THE CHEMICAL AND OIL INDUSTRIES, 6 METALLURGICAL COMPANIES, 97 AGRICULTURAL ENTERPRISES AND 1019 FUEL AND ENERGY ENTERPRISES. DISPUTES HAVE NOT CONCLUDED YET OVER 23 TRANSPORTATION ENTERPRISES, INCLUDING MAJOR PORTS AND SHIPPING COMPANIES.
AT THE SAME TIME, THE GOVERNMENT IS PLANNING TO PUBLISH A LIST OF 5300 COMPANIES TO BE SOLD OFF EARLIER THAN IT WAS ORIGINALLY INTENDED.
11. ACCORDING TO COMMERSANT DAILY NEWSPAPER (RUSSIAN EDITION) OF JULY 28, 1995, U.S. FIRMS AERIAL IMAGES, CENTRAL TRADING SYSTEMS AND LAMBDA TECH INTERNATIONAL SIGNED A CONTRACT WITH RUSSIAN FIRM "SOVINFORMSPUTNIK" TO BUY PICTURES OF THE SOUTH EAST OF THE UNITED STATED TAKEN FROM THE SPACE. U.S. FIRMS WILL USE THE PICTURES TO PRODUCE MAPS AND PLANS. THE COST OF THE CONTACT IS NOT BEING DISCLOSED. IT IS PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE, THOUGH, THAT THE COST ALSO INCLUDES PAYMENTS OF THE EXPENSES OF THE RUSSIAN MILITARY AND SPACE FORCES FOR LAUNCHING A SPIN-2 SPUTNIK IN FEBRUARY 1996.