Vietnam calls for urgent Russian investigation into murder

The investigation into the murder of a Vietnamese student last week in Moscow by Russian agencies should be treated as a matter of urgency, Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung said Monday.

"We condemn this barbarous act," he said of Tang Quoc Binh's killing on Friday night.

Dung called for the Russian government to ensure the security of Vietnamese students and other foreigners living there.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Moscow, meanwhile, together with Binh's family and Russian authorities, is preparing for the repatriation of his body, Dung added.

Binh, 21, died early Saturday after being stabbed at a Moscow's subway station.

Local media reported the attackers could have been Russian skinheads. In 2006, 17 skinheads were acquitted of a fatal stabbing of another 20-year-old Vietnamese student, Vu Anh Tuan.

The Russian police have started investigating the murder of two foreigners in Moscow, including Binh, local news agency Ria Novosti reported on Sunday.

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Missing Russian diver’s body found in Nha Trang

The body of a Russian tourist was found in the central Vietnam province of Khanh Hoa on Saturday morning, five days after he went missing while scuba diving.

Twenty-seven-year-old Daniil Repjev’s body was discovered some 800 meters to the southeast of Mun Islet at Nha Trang Bay by fisherman Nguyen Van Sao.

On Monday Repjev and ten other tourists took a diving tour around Mun Islet held by the Nha Trang Town-based Rua Lan Dai Duong (Ocean Diving Turtle) Company.

However, after the trip finished, the Russian man jumped off the boat of his own will without wearing diving suit and went missing, according to the company.

The company said that they had cooperated with local agencies in looking for him, but he was nowhere to be found.

Repjev’s body will now be sent back to Russia after all necessary procedures are completed.

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Russian beauties charmed by Vietnamese people, food

Three Russian beauties who completed a four-day charity visit to Vietnam on Monday said they were most impressed by the people and the cuisine.
Miss Russia 2010 Irina Antonenko was accompanied by Evgenia Eusebia and Tamara Zhukova, who were among the top ten finalists in the Miss Russia pageant this year.
During their stay, they participated in several activities including cultural exchange, fashion shoots, cooking shows and charity campaigns.
After leaving Vietnam, the Russian beauties will fly to Singapore, the next stop on their Asia charity tour funded by Russian Standard International.
After finishing the tour, Antonenko will focus on preparing for the Miss Universe pageant to be held in August.

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Russian president to visit Vietnam

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will make an official trip to Vietnam and attend an ASEAN summit in late October.

Vietnam’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Gia Khiem Friday met with Russia’s First Deputy Foreign Minister A.I. Denisov in Hanoi to discuss preparations for the events.

Also that day the Russia delegation, led by Denisov, engaged in an annual diplomatic dialogue concerning national defense, and security affairs.

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Japan, Russia to build Vietnam’s first nuclear power plants

Vietnam will cooperate with Russia and Japan in establishing the country’s first two nuclear power plants in the central province of Ninh Thuan.

Under an agreement signed by the state-owned Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) and Russia’s Rosatom Nuclear Energy State Corporation Sunday, the first one will begin operations in 2020.

The agreement was witnessed by Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev, on a two-day official visit to Vietnam starting Saturday.

Also Sunday the two leaders witnessed other agreements in different fields, including cooperation in energy.

They agreed to increase trade between the two countries to US$3 billion in 2012 and $10 billion in 2020 via various solutions like setting up a free trade zone.

Trade between Vietnam and Russia in the first eight months this year reached $1.17 billion.

In the meantime, at a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan in Hanoi Sunday, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said Vietnam has chosen Japan as its partner in building the country’s second nuclear power plant.

Kan made a two-day visit to Vietnam last weekend.
Vietnam will also cooperate with Japan in developing the country’s rare earth industry, Dung said.

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Russian culture headed to Vietnam

Russian cultural days will be held in Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City from November 14 to 22, 2010 as part of a cooperative, two-year cultural exchange between the two countries.
The program will include Russian photo exhibitions which will be displayed at 29 Hang Bai Street, Hanoi starting November 14, 2010.
Two Russian films will be screened at the National Cinema Center (Hanoi), HCMC’s Thang Long Cinema and Le Do Cinema in Da Nang.
In addition, 75 Russian artists from Berezka (which means “birch tree” in Russian), Youth and Classical Troupe Arts, will meet with local students from National Music Institute and perform together as part of a Master-class program.
The event, which was first held in Vietnam in 2007, was co-organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Russia’s Ministry of Culture; and the Department of International Cooperation.

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Russian investor postpones $200 mln resort project

The central province of Khanh Hoa has approved in principle a proposal by Russian group Mirax that it further delays a US$200-million resort project that was licensed in 2008.
Mirax has asked for permission to extend the deadline for its Mirax Cam Ranh Resort project, the Dau Tu (Investment) Newspaper reported Wednesday. 
The company was given three years to finish its project when it received its investment license in 2008.
However, the project was delayed because of the global financial crisis. Construction is now scheduled to start in the first quarter of next year.
The project includes a five-star hotel and 100 luxury villas. Site clearance and land compensation procedures have been completed.
Some provinces in Vietnam have taken strong action against delayed real estate and tourism projects this year.
The central province of Quang Nam has just canceled a $4.15 billion resort project while the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau this year revoked another $200 million real estate project.

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