The APEC Russia 2012 summit will be the 24th annual gathering of APEC leaders. Leaders from the member economies will meet on Russky Island, off the coast of Vladivostok, Russia in 2012.
The summit on Russky Island will see the resort, catering and entertainment facilities, in addition to the renovation and upgrading of Vladivostok International Airport.
Two giant cable-stayed bridges are currently under construction in preparation for the summit, namely the Zolotoy Rog bridge over the Zolotoy Rog bay in the downtown, and Russky Island Bridge from mainland to Russky Island (which will become the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world upon completion). The new campus of Far Eastern Federal University will be completed on Russky Island by 2012.
At APEC Vietnam 2006 in Hanoi, Russia put forward a proposal to host the 2012 summit. Originally, Patrokl Bay (southern part of Vladivostok) was suggested as the site to hold the summit. The original plan was to build a palace to host the actual summit, and a number of five-star hotels for visitors. After the summit, the palace would be converted into a wedding palace, its conference centre into the Opera, and the hotels into residential buildings. The original estimate for development costs was in the excess of 382 billion rubles, and included money the city felt was necessary to bring infrastructure such as the sewage system, roads, bridges, and water pipes to up-to-date condition. German Gref, then-Minister of Economics and Trade, who visited Vladivostok in December 2006 to ascertain the city's readiness to hold the summit, promptly dismissed this plan, stating that the cost estimate was overblown, that he was not responsible for solving the city problems, and further accused the Vladivostok administration of unprofessionalism.
Russia i/ˈrʌʃə/ or /ˈrʊʃə/ (Russian: Россия, tr. Rossiya; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijə] ( listen)), also officially known as the Russian Federation (Russian: Российская Федерация, tr. Rossiyskaya Federatsiya; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijskəjə fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨjə] ( listen)), is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (both via Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It also has maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, and the US state of Alaska by the Bering Strait. At 17,075,400 square kilometres (6,592,800 sq mi), Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than one eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area. Russia is also the eighth most populous nation with 143 million people. It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning nine time zones and incorporating a wide range of environments and landforms. Russia has the world's largest reserves of mineral and energy resources and is the largest producer of oil and natural gas globally. Russia has the world's largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's fresh water.
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (Russian: Влади́мир Влади́мирович Пу́тин; IPA: [vɫɐˈdʲimʲɪr vɫɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvʲɪtɕ ˈputʲɪn] ( listen); born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician who has been the President of Russia since 7 May 2012. Putin previously served as President from 2000 to 2008 and as Prime Minister of Russia from 1999 to 2000, and again from 2008 to 2012. Putin also serves as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when president Boris Yeltsin resigned in a surprising move. Putin won the 2000 presidential election; in 2004 he was re-elected for a second term lasting until 7 May 2008.
Because of constitutionally mandated term limits, Putin was ineligible to run for a third consecutive presidential term. After his successor Dmitry Medvedev won the 2008 presidential election, Putin was nominated by Medvedev to be Russia's Prime Minister; Putin took office on 8 May 2008 and a period of so-called "tandemocracy" followed. In September 2011, Putin and Medvedev agreed he should seek a third, non-consecutive term in the 2012 presidential election, which he won in the first round on 4 March 2012.
Chandran Nair may refer to:
Peter J. Lavelle is host of CrossTalk, a television program of the Russia-based, publicly fundedEnglish language satellite channel RT. Lavelle, from California and now based in Moscow, is the network's key political commentator. Prior to CrossTalk, Peter Lavelle hosted at RT's “IMHO” In My Humble Opinion and “In Context.” Both programs were a quarter of an hour long and aired on weekends. At one point in time, "In Context" ran as a half-hour program covering current events with Lavelle's opinions.
Lavelle did his doctoral studies in European history from the University of California, Davis (1992–1995) and a Fulbright scholar doing research in Poland (1993–1995). He has been living in Eastern Europe and Russia for over 25 years.[citation needed] Before becoming a television commentator and television host, Peter Lavelle wrote and was published in mainly in the following publications.[citation needed] He has worked for or contributed to Asia Times Online, The Moscow Times, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, National Public Radio (NPR), United Press International, In The National Interest, The Moscow News and the American monthly journal Current History. Lavelle was also the author of "Untimely Thoughts", an electronic newsletter.