evergreen close a hotel in thailand thailand this hotel telling us of authority hotels for inspiration and i would print certainly the split in touch with the hotel in touch your room the original a good girl would international. every green little her chill in terms of. the russian president pledges that drastic measures in a bid to create a better investment climate in the country. these centralizing power and stifling corruption goals voiced by me to be safe here at the internet's no economic forum in st petersburg join me and news from now in just a moment for more details. no consent you know catch us congressman say they'll cut funding for the libya campaign unless the president gets the proper constitutional go ahead of the ongoing war obama's in ninety days of action without

sanction runs out this weekend. and the palestinians are out of pocket after israel holds back millions in tax dollars leaving tens of thousands of people without them by some. a very warm welcome to you this is our live from moscow now russia must modernize its economy in the next few years regardless of who is in charge president medvedev to be in outlining the country's direction at the annual some people spoke for and of our top business leaders he also warns that the government's larger role in the economy along with corruption threaten development and must be tackled also using isn't always in the peters workforce and he said hello it all sounds very grand but how does the president actually see modernizing russia happening and tell us one of the obstacles that lie ahead as well. but there are certainly

a lot of obstacles and president medvedev knows that became very clear and has for real with his hometown as president that he thinks modernization is the way to go into the future with russia and he clearly outlined all of the obstacles that the country is facing first must take a listen i had to say about modernization of the whole process and it's called. if a serious choice is not only a major green knew all of outdated elements in the economy but all public institutions used we need we hesitate to say sorry about many bad habits we can focus only on the step by step development question that would be a mistake which we should focus on the following improvement over the investment climate in russia to create new jobs in the regions the creation of police and other security forces treatment of the effectiveness of the jurisdiction system and finally the modernization of government employing modern approaches and the centralizing power. of course one of those bad habits so to say as

the president phrased it he was talking about was corruption it's no secret that corruption is widespread unless of course in many other emerging economies it's widespread as well the president clearly wants to fight it this is the warning we have the russian officials that are corrupt. the noose around the neck of those who practice corruption should be taught and and the whole of russia agrees with this without exception which corruption is very difficult to do with a government should be purged of corruption in a more decisive way for that purpose we should enhance the way those suspected of corruption or dismissed from public service. well joining me now here in st petersburg to speak more about modernization and the challenges that russia is facing especially in terms of the economy is daniel tracepoint he's from u.c.l.a. thanks for being with us i'd like to begin with the president's speech of course

once again we heard the trend of modernization crops in the centralizing the government. one of the detail problems if you could tell us briefly that are hampering this process right well he's touched on some very familiar themes we heard a lot of help from corruption the need for police reform the need for the judiciary and so on for proof that that's fine that this is part of the trial but the problem really has been for mentation many speeches and many programs that failed so it's less clear ground level this has really changed the way that your approach because most of the so russia how do you think those steps could begin to be taken where does it need to start at the lowest level it's the story the whole of the civil tenuously to i think everybody knows the most effective techniques for fighting corruption say proving the effectiveness of the state and that is to introduce more

political competition although. at the same time as increasing freedom of press or sometimes we exaggerate or in the west. the restraints on the president are for some saturated but still to have was genuinely independent of publications television channels which helped tremendously the question is whether the breach if at this point is prepared to take more risks than he has in the past and also of course in cooperation with the prime minister to lead to introduce elements of political competition to media freedom that have become still. sorry russia last ten years another thing i have you written about is that the exaggeration of craps in russia because really in all emerging economies it's a big problem why does wasat take so much stock for it what's the excepts well in the west people look at russia and they always seem to have in mind russia's

nineteenth century history and a very evocative look for a descriptions of corrupt officials gogol's of the fed for other writers and this gives the impression that corruption russia is really something quite unique so impossible to fight effectively that russia is captured by its history my approach is to look at russia here and to other middle income countries. when you do that you very quickly find that all these countries almost all these countries have serious problems with corruption they have problems with their political systems that quality of democracy soft to russia for me seems awfully unique in this respect which doesn't make fighting corruption any more any less essential the president also mentioned that it is expected that by the end of this year russell will finally pass this accession to the deputy a what will this mean for ordinary votes it will really affect them yes i think it will be

a cio of russia's admission to the bt w t o will not just be about free trade although obviously various will be produced the also give out in facts i think. it's likely to create a sense of great possibility of russia to encourage more western investment in the country especially especially if it's accompanied by serious economic liberalization by shrubs and reforms for the business climate and some of those reforms quite naturally associated with the here and of course that all adds to the push for modernization as well tenuous reason thank you very much from. i fear at the economic forum we will continue our coverage over the rest of today and tomorrow as the world's modern innovators top business executives and world leaders gather to debate the challenges facing the modern world and of course get. much

much more to come over the weekend here on our team from the us and that is what internationally for many. business team is also keeping track of what's coming out of the forum and some people's book we'll have more on the financial world and what it was there in around fifteen minutes time right here see. the u.s. congress is threatening to cut funding for america's military campaign in libya which is a racking up a bill of at least ten million dollars a day but the white house is refusing to ask photographs in an approval of military action which is required by law the president is allowed ninety days before asking permission and that runs out of this weekend parties are gone h.d. can shed some more light on the subject. u.s. lawmakers are saying that president obama has to either stop waging war in libya or ask for congressional approval the lawmakers claim that the military action will violate the nine hundred seventy three war powers resolution if it does not and by friday and they mean this friday ninety days after the intervention began under the

u.s. constitution to wage a long term war the president needs to get authorization from congress and the obama administration will certainly find a way to get around the requirement by referring to his right as commander in chief as well as certain legal speed you know up to this day the administration has refused to say war when it comes to their actions in review they call it kinetic military action but it was written as a result of that kinetic military actions of unions are bombed every day a group of international observers is now in tripoli including a former u.s. congresswoman cynthia mckinney we spoke with her a few days ago she said be heard and they counted eighty nine glassed in just one day those are civilian neighborhoods eighty nine bombs dropped in just one day there is a lot of concern that the voices of those who are clapping that were in tripoli go unnoticed in the international community but here in the uighurs it seems the voices of the majority of americans those who oppose the u.s.

military involvement in libya also go unnoticed by the white house the administration continues to stress the good cause that they pursue in the beer but certainly say the administration also seems to be in denial when it comes to the will of their own people regarding the issue as well as constitutional procedures legal experts say there is not much congressman can do to force the president to comply at least with the u.s. constitution because there are ways to get around ways the obama administration seems to be using extensively most congressmen now criticize president obama for as they say ignoring congress the capitol hill observers say it's mostly political games that the lawmakers are playing to score points by snubbing. president come the day to actually volt the majority of them will vote for more military spending as they always do but there is a small bipartisan group of congressmen ten people who went further than verbal rebuke sent they sued president obama on the grounds that he's violating the

constitution but everybody here knows that the lawsuit is certain to be dismissed on procedural grounds because the u.s. supreme court has determined that members of congress do not have standing to file such suits and this is where it hits a dead end that it makes me wonder whether or not u.s. lawmakers actually have the capacity to effectively represent the people. right there and i still to come for you on the program here when our. woman's world at the bottom of the earth we join a russian filmmaker during her eleven month research expedition in there and thought it good to hear why she's drawn to work in i see isolation. and u.s. judges casting doubt on charges against the alleged russian gun runner calling the prosecutor's evidence against him thin boots accused of smuggling arms to colombian rebels and labeled by the u.s. as terrorists and is currently awaiting trial in new york jail is the lawyers asked the judge to dismiss the charges claiming they don't prove boot knew the arms would

be used against america it was extradited to the u.s. from thailand last year when he was arrested in an american sting operation in march two thousand and eight. all right let's bring you up to date on some other top stories this hour and a top saudi official says yemeni president ali abdullah saleh will not return home so it's not clear where he will stay there was no detail as to whether the decision was taken himself as the government demonstrators demonstrations excuse me have been taking place in yemen for over three months now to force him to quit he flew to saudi arabia for treatment after being wounded in a rocket attack. syrian security forces have expanded their assault deploying tanks into northern towns a violent crackdown on anti-government protesters has already forced over nine thousand to seek refuge in turkey the syrian army's actions against its own people have been denounced by these leader human rights groups say more than fourteen

hundred have been killed since. greece has appointed a new finance minister in a major government reshuffle to try and stave off a catastrophic collapse of the economy it was a trying to force through the deeply unpopular cuts which sparked the violent street protests this week greece needs to secure billions of. euros in a second. they are riots and germany are desperately trying to secure private funds to help out as the major economies struggle to keep them afloat. north korea is accusing seoul of forcing in line of its citizens to stay in the south and warning that it could worsen relations between the two countries but seoul says it won't extradite the group which defected by boat last week saying they have asked to resettle in the south in a thread wary of the north responded angrily when its neighbor refused to send back for fishermen who asked for asylum. but israel has been holding back millions of

dollars of palestinians money leaving thousands of people without any wages tax revenue that's supposed to be passed back to the palestinian people but since hamas and fatah political parties are reconciled the payments have stopped the policy has been meeting with some of those who are suffering at the shop and. guards the palestinian ministry of finance his job is to check everything that comes into this building but he has no control over what goes out least of all his salary which is paid by the ministry and sometimes comes long overdue my salary comes later it's like my life starts i simply cannot do anything i have a wife and four children to feed and when i don't get paid on time it makes lots of problems for me and my family. i want to leave the ministry gets its money from the israeli government it comes in the form of customs and tax treaties or telaprevir spin collecting on goods arriving at israeli ports and destined for palestinians

the arrangements in one thousand nine hundred three as part of the oslo accord giving television control of the international borders between israel and the palestinian territories with the money transferred each month to the palestinian ministry of finance which uses it to pay wages except now we're talking about seven hundred five million. pigs can be some hundred fifty pounds or. one of the military they were freed the situation itself palestinians fear their tell of of could again choose to withhold text many like it did last month israelis argue they have every right to do so if they suspect the money could be used for buying weapons the salaries to the hamas terrorists paid for the same old idled world to finals these terrorist. palestinians insist the money's for ordinary workers it is. sore because of one it's a punishment but on the other it's a punishment it's

a collective punishment that would mainly weaken the moderate elements with a good understanding of society and play into the hands of the extremists the relationship between hamas and fattah is a turbulent one both groups are trying hard to work together ahead of september's planned to ration of statehood no doubt israel will be working even harder to thwart them should it feel its interests are threatened policy or r.t. amana. i know israel's other big worry is one that concerns the rest of the world as well as we report at r.t. dot com the new head of al qaeda through the renewed threats for both israel and the united states a terrorism expert tells us online how the world still needs to stay on. also dossie dot com feeding the fishes in a totally new to the way why the scientists right here is a is bearing all for polluted whales.

if. you're with us here live from moscow it's good to have you with us now to work in some of the world's harshest conditions you need to man up and knockin around in the case of one and arctic worker it's bringing an essential woman's touch to the tough life thomas has been to major. as a filmmaker ogust if an overt likes the penguins and seals but for her antarctica is about something much greater still that. even though it seems like this is a naked land naked stones and equips have been special snow like anna snow but what happens inside of you when you are here for the whole year and there are moved from all other external factors is there a valuable experience. staying through an antarctic winter is serious business and

so every member of a winter team has a specific purpose and they rely on each other to make it through boulder is one of only a few women to have ever been allowed to be a part of this experience. and that up on our team was a big bonus for us as the first time such an intelligent young woman with such high professional objectives has been on the wind scene since stephanie made her existence heck last year of course there were some difficulties and attractive girls with fifteen men. so it wasn't difficult because the national. in winter had building a house and gave her a true rare opportunity to experience and document life here in antarctica now she's working to expand on her project and find an audience for her work it's just that because the minute right now i am putting the finishing touches to the second part of the film the first one is already finished it's cold weather in the winter the second part will probably be called this season and it will feature of them

terror to summer and i want that. to debut her documentary olga invited some special guests the same antarctic winter team who are the subject of her film the fact that makes her slightly nervous you know she watches louis i love and respect them they're close and dear to me and they have such huge background knowledge they know people in the film they know their winter season firsthand they have been through this themselves. and as for the thoughts of the. those who have seen the film approaching it again this film makes a big impression on you there may be some shows that expose unprofessional characters by a couple of members of our team but to show that the way it was just showed of the way she saw it a little spectacular. a unique look into a world that is inaccessible to most in and tried to push on thomas. you can follow more of a short discoveries in the world's coldest continent with his videos and blog at

r.t. dot com. within a month. in one of the most extreme environments on the planet this is antarctica and people have to be aware that they are far away from civilization sean thomas discovers what makes antarctica so special and attractive for many the wildlife in antarctica. and from the. expedition to the bottom of the earth. and making it the most of moscow in just a few minutes before the next one up it on the economic forum it is but that's coming your way in just about.

how welcome to business here and. thanks for watching we start with one of the most important russian economic events of the year st petersburg international economic forum. this is the of st petersburg has always been called russia's window to europe will be an art form on the way it has become the window to the whole world. treasure house the details on the second day of the fam. here in st petersburg president medvedev wrapped up his speech at the st petersburg international economic forum in the focus of his entire speech was basically modernisation talking about making russia a modern place to do business and improve the investment climate here in the country he said you focused on the success of the i.p.o.'s like jaan decks and mailed out

rupe talking about how russian i.c. companies can make it happen and also focused on it the ten billion dollars state backed private equity fund that has been established and visions of that expanding a government sale of thirty billion dollars in state assets something that he says needs to be done in order to improve the economic climate he says russia does face some challenges there is too much regulation need to root out corruption and need for private business to dominate the russian economy and the role of the state should be to make a suitable environment for business to be fostered and established here in russia now to talk more about all this i'm joined by peter lukian now from al's capital to give us some more perspective on this thank you very much for being with us if so how would you rate russia's id industry right now what do you think could be done to strengthen it will the industry itself is very it's only you know by

a number of estimates are ten years old in terms of the environment of software development so forth so in terms of strengthening it it's it's a tremendous strides already but it is we always focus in silicon valley it's a lot about management in addition to education so really that's those are the two areas where russia can strengthen itself you know like better highlighted in his speech he said mailed out rwanda a successful russian i.p.o. as do you think that there could be repeats of that do you think we could see more absolutely i think so there's really sort of russia's interesting in two ways in that it's a large enough internal market that there are opportunities here domestically but as well there is tremendous. technical talent that allows companies to be globally competitive and be able to say compete in other international markets now your firm does have a strong interest in russia skolkovo project what kind of projects and results do you think we can see from that one general when

a government spoke of style and innovation in developing capital it's great for that to happen and so we're very supportive of what is the skolkovo idea is i think there's still a lot of implementation to happen but the main ideas that have businesses start getting a company creation happen and have won trainers understand that there are tremendous opportunities out there and that they can be the next volition go out there and make make it happen now there is a wide spectrum of i.t. in russia but do you think there is any gap that needs to be filled in terms of russia's i t sector well again it goes back to manage but i think there's tremendous technical talent here and what we've seen over the during the ninety's were people who are had technical talent sort of grew up over time became good managers because they went into other industries and now you see that those people start coming back into i.t. but i think there's still a gap in terms of product development talent marketing and sales skills and that's where some of the business schools here locally as well as internationally can help

and in terms of criteria what do you look for in investing in russia. it's just all about people same in silicon valley we look at you know quality people and they're certainly very strong. people here people skills and we continue here to see fantastic opportunities where we actually saw our way you know several years ago it was sort of a trickle in terms of the deal flow and now we're seeing you know two to three you know companies per day coming to us looking for funding very good thanks very much for your insight you know with jennifer capital that's it from here for st petersburg for now stay with us throughout the day our team. now is to stay with the news. st petersburg thorold the russian oil company was near says it plans to select unused to choose your partner to develop the ox itself this year rosner have had been planning to jointly develop the yacht with b.p. but the deal collapsed as another of these russian partners they are opposed to agreement despite this b.p.

says its relationship with a remains solid. not successful in reaching the very center of commercial conditions there were acceptable to all of the companies involved i think the concept of a strategic partnership for peace was good for russia good for. the energy markets. good for all of the companies in. russia's major financial cooperation systemd is set for and for energetic and jet expansion the company is planning to spend five billion dollars to buy businesses ranging from agriculture to chemicals c o a systemic some more than outlines the cornerstones of structure. the expression strategy very simple we have to return the cost of that which if you use the course or whatever to which in our case the gold fifteen percent so that's the kind of return we're expecting and though we have to do whatever it takes in

terms of for investing in new projects some tables to existing assets to deliver this kind of return our two key markets are russia is a primary market for ninety percent of our investment is concentrated and also india just because global markets the discipline to build those up the markets we're going to be looking for to us are both expanding the existing businesses that we operate in and also new projects. now let's look at how the markets are performing all prices have continued to fall this after the major losses of two days ago the uncertainty of the commodities market is a reflection of investors fears that greece's debt troubles are far from all front european stocks are back from early losses but the markets are unstable due to fears that the future fears about greece's situation. that the researcher has put across the eurozone and continues to rattle investor confidence the tax has

climbed to more than half a percentage in the park this hour footsie is flat to positive here in russia markets continue to trade in the red the sound would be our test of the sundowner the music's almost been one percent in the red investors wary of the damaging effects of greece's. economic costs. that sold the business for this i will be back with more from the st petersburg economic forum in just under an hour's time.

see.