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yes! my ameritrade not working-
waiting on phone w them now-
much appreciated whiteshadow! thanks.
nice close!
NNRF news from this a.m.
this should hopefully pick up w g-8 meeting
NUCON Makes Presentation of Nuclear Radiation Shielding Technologies to Russian State Enterprises
MOSCOW, Jul 13, 2006 (PRIMEZONE via COMTEX) -- NUCON-RF, Inc. ("NUCON") (Pink Sheets:NNRF) conducted a presentation of its nuclear radiation shielding technologies in Moscow on June 27, 2006 for Russian Federation State agencies, institutes and facilities responsible for nuclear safety.
The technologies presented included the newest acquisitions of NUCON -- FEECOM and BIECOM. FEECOM and BIECOM are new proprietary polymer composite shielding materials with an additive and metal blocker providing new dimensions in radiation safety. Both products have successfully undergone years of testing and have proven to be resistant to both radioactive environmental and corrosion conditions. FEECOM and BIECOM materials, which can be produced in various geometrical forms such as bricks, plates and cast shapes, were demonstrated at the presentation, which was delivered by Dr. Hans Jurgin Engelmann, NUCON's Project Manager for Shielding Materials and Technologies and was supported by the technical staff of NUCON.
The Russian Federation State representatives present included:
The Federal Agency of Nuclear Energy of Russia;
The Dismantling Department of the Federal Agency of Nuclear
Energy of Russia;
The Institute "NIKIET" -- responsible for Nuclear Power
engineering, research and development;
The State concern -- Rosenergoatom; and
The Mining and Chemical Combine ("MCC") of Zheleznogorsk --
nuclear waste disposal and storage.
The following areas were discussed for technical application of the materials: nuclear power plants; emergency control; health facilities; nuclear safety; and space radiation security/shielding.
The State representatives present agreed that the materials are of the greatest interest for their respective agencies and concurred that FEECOM and BIECOM will provide them with an excellent alternative to the older technologies currently employed. NUCON believes that this meeting and product demonstration will result in significant product orders. NUCON will now work with each individual State agency to develop and manufacture the type of applications specified by each agency.
A distinctive feature of these new materials is that their protection and construction properties can be modified in a variety of ways according to customer needs. This allows customers to request product customized specifically for their shielding and construction needs. The new shielding material also surpasses steel in withstanding corrosion attacks and can be used as a construction material. The new shielding materials are not toxic and can be manufactured in an environmentally friendly manner. It also has excellent thermal stability.
FEECOM and BIECOM are physically more flexible than traditional rigid shielding materials. Their mouldable nature (brick, plates, cast containers, etc.) will provide significant numbers of applications for many general shielding devices, in isotope production or for temporary and permanent shielding applications for which NUCON is presently working in cooperation with these and other Russian State enterprises for domestic and foreign projects. FEECOM and BIECOM, in a plaster-like formulation, can also be applied directly to walls. Further information may be found at www.nucon-rf.com.
NUCON is a U.S. chartered corporation with executive and operations offices located in Moscow. NUCON-RF has the capability to provide product, technological and engineering support addressing environmental, wastewater, power quality and radioactive waste challenges. These include compliance, shielding, transport and storage requirements, plant equipment protection, energy efficiency and development of techniques for a broad range of radioactive and toxic wastes. NUCON-RF also has extensive in-house expertise in all aspects of radiological protection and radiological waste management.
now there's the content to match the tech!
i've been here since the .01s. wish i was smart/experienced enough to swing trade as i could have either more than doubled my shares or kept the same amount and profited alot- but xkem has come through with what's been promised and i am expecting in the coming weeks many mainstream media sources will pick up this real life cinderella story that will not only change dramatically the lives of people afflicted w sickle cell anemia, but also reward a few simple and loyal investors .
no need to join a religion:
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article1171389.ece
give the credit to jakuta- he (she?) found it .i just posted the picture. bt agree- it's a great and important image. i think tomorrow though there will be more news than just a rehash of the launch!
jakuta:post 21762
http://www.nigeriafirst.org/article_6153.shtml
(see he already posted)
24 day moving avg is .048 fwiw
patience here- the news still has not reached the general public by a long shot!
that is pandey on the right
NUCON-RF Acquires Radiation Shielding Technology
MOSCOW, July 10, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- NUCON-RF, Inc. ("NUCON") (Pink Sheets:NNRF) and Dr. Hans-Jurgen Engelmann have entered into an agreement whereby NUCON will acquire a technology for the production of two composite radiation shielding materials: FEECOM and BIECOM.
This new composite shielding material is a polymer with an additive and a metal blocker providing new dimensions in radiation safety. A distinctive feature of this new material is that it is possible to modify its protection and construction properties as required. Another advantage of the new material is that it is more flexible than traditional shielding materials. The new shielding material also surpasses steel in withstanding corrosion attacks and can be modified with the same structural integrity as steel to be used as a construction material. The new shielding materials are not toxic and can be manufactured in an environmentally friendly manner. It also has excellent thermal stability.
The mouldable nature of the new shielding material will provide significant numbers of applications for many general shielding devices such as: syringe shields, glove boxes, electron accelerators, radon generators, in isotope production, or for temporary and permanent shielding applications for which NUCON is presently working in cooperation with Russian State enterprises for domestic and foreign projects. The new shielding material can be moulded into various forms, such as bricks and plates, containers or plaster on fixed walls.
The author of this technology is Dr. Hans-Jurgen Engelmann, PhD. Dr. Engelmann will join NUCON key personnel as "Project Manager for Shielding Materials and Technologies." It is the intent of NUCON to continue to license and develop owned nuclear shielding technologies to support the business mission of NUCON under the supervision of Dr. Engelmann. Dr. Engelmann will report directly to the Chief Executive Officer of NUCON, Academician Valery Lebedev, PhD.
Dr. Engelmann is a recognized expert in shielding materials and has devoted his career since 1965 to this field. He has held many important government positions, the last being the Head and General Division Manager of the "Technology and Development" division of DBE (Deutsche Gesellschaft zum Bau und Betrieb fur Abfallstoffe m.b.H, Peine Germany), and as Deputy Manager of "CASSIOPEE", a government agency responsible for nuclear safety. He previously was employed in the waste management research division of DBE and was occupied with the development and procurement of shielding containers for transport of radioactive waste and design of technical systems of storage and final disposal including planning, layout, and transaction of transport of radioactive waste.
While employed at DBE Dr. Engelmann was responsible for the management of all R & D projects and for international relations of the company. Since the founding of CASSIOPEE (co-operation with ANDRA, France; ONDRAF/NIRAS, Belgium; ENRESA, Spain; NIREX -- United Kingdom; and COVRA, Netherlands) he has been extensively involved in international nuclear projects and in 1993 was deputy manager of CASSIOPEE for supporting eastern European countries and Russia. His responsibilities included the coordination of all operations for the concept development for radioactive waste and spent fuel management, especially for final disposal. He also was responsible for the initiation and coordination of the necessary related operations and the experimental investigations for the transport and emplacement machinery. He was further responsible as project leader for many projects, including R & D projects in Germany and abroad which were funded by international and national donors. His latest projects, completed in 2006, included working for an American and German company writing offers to the European Commission for the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle.
He currently has active membership in the following societies: Member of the Club of Agencies in Europe; Member of the CEG (Contact Expert Group) of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) for supporting Russia; and Member of the German Nuclear Society.
NUCON will establish a sales and marketing office in Lower Saxony (Germany). Dr. Engelmann will head this office. The goals for this marketing office in Western Europe are the development of new modifications of the material; particularly with application for German governmental funding for further R&D. All future know-how and subsequent applications will be the property of NUCON.
Dr. Engelmann stated, "It is with great pleasure and anticipation that I join with NUCON in the further development of their mission to market products which support nuclear and environmental safety. During my career I have had the pleasure and opportunity to work with Academician Valery Lebedev, PhD, the Chief Executive Officer of NUCON, and have the utmost respect for his judgment and knowledge in the fields of nuclear remediation and the entire nuclear fuel cycle. I believe this relationship has the possibility of securing a prime position for NUCON with Russian Federation State Enterprises, both in their domestic and foreign projects." He stated further that, "... with our new marketing offices in Germany we will have the same possibilities we currently enjoy in Russia to open doors for NUCON at the waste agencies in Western Europe, e.g. ANDRA (France), NIREX UK, ENRESA (Spain), DBE (Germany), COVRA (Netherlands), ONDRAF/NIRAS (Belgium)..."
NUCON is a U.S. chartered corporation with executive and operations offices located in Moscow. NUCON-RF has the capability to provide product, technological and engineering support addressing environmental, wastewater, power quality and radioactive waste challenges. These include compliance, shielding, transport and storage requirements, plant equipment protection, energy efficiency and development of techniques for a broad range of radioactive and toxic wastes. NUCON-RF also has extensive in-house expertise in all aspects of radiological protection and radiological waste management.
Further information on FEECOM and BIECOM may be found at www.nucon-rf.com
Safe Harbor Statement
Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding announcements of financial results, business potentiality and other prospective presentations by NUCON-RF, Inc. Such statements reflect management's current views, are based on certain assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results, events, or performance may differ materially from the above forward-looking statements due to a number of important factors, and will be dependent upon a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, our ability to obtain additional financing that will allow us to continue our current and future operations and whether demand for our products in domestic and international markets will continue to expand. NUCON-RF undertakes no obligation to publicly update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date hereof or to reflect any change in NUCON-RF's expectations with regard to these forward-looking statements or the occurrence of unanticipated events.
CONTACT: Hanover Capital Corporation
(818) 610-2028
Source: PrimeZone (July 10, 2006 - 7:00 AM EDT)
News by QuoteMedia
www.quotemedia.com
LOL! heck i'm not complaining, and if anything is offensive it's WTL's insertion of religion and truth into his blatant manipulation of more naive types like you and me.
front page ny times this a.m.
U.S. to Negotiate Russian Storage of Atomic Waste
Lynsey Addario for The New York Times
By DAVID E. SANGER and JIM RUTENBERG
Published: July 9, 2006
WASHINGTON, July 8 — The Bush administration said Saturday that it would open formal negotiations with Russia on a long-discussed civilian nuclear agreement that would pave the way for Russia to become one of the world's largest repositories of spent nuclear fuel.
President Vladimir V. Putin has been looking to expand the country's role in the multibillion nuclear power business. The United States has traditionally opposed any such arrangement, in part because of concerns about the safety of Russian nuclear facilities, and because the country has helped Iran build its first major nuclear reactor.
But administration officials said that once Mr. Bush endorsed Mr. Putin's proposal last year for Iran to conduct uranium enrichment inside Russia — rather than in Iran, where the administration fears it would be diverted to weapons — it made little sense to bar ordinary civilian nuclear exchanges with Russia.
In announcing the change of course, the White House made it clear that in return, it expected Mr. Putin's cooperation in what promises to be a tense confrontation with Iran on forcing it to give up the enrichment of uranium. Mr. Bush has charged that the enrichment is intended to feed a secret nuclear weapons program. "We have made clear to Russia that for an agreement on peaceful nuke cooperation to go forward, we will need active cooperation in blocking Iran's attempts to obtain nuclear weapons," said Peter Watkins, a White House spokesman.
So far, Russia has backed the United States in its fundamental demands but balked at the imposition of sanctions or the passage of any United Nations Security Council resolution that Mr. Bush could later use as a justification for military action.
The Washington Post first reported the shift on Saturday.
A spokesman for Mr. Putin declined to comment. But Sergei G. Novikov, a spokesman for Russia's Atomic Energy Agency, said in a telephone interview that Russia and the United States had been talking about the subject in recent months.
He added that he did not expect that an agreement would be signed during the Group of 8 summit meeting in St. Petersburg next weekend, but rather that Mr. Bush and Mr. Putin might issue a vaguely worded statement on increased nuclear cooperation, and then instruct their governments to work on an agreement that might lift the current restrictions. The United States has similar deals with a variety of nations, including China.
If such a statement is issued, Mr. Novikov said, negotiations on the details would probably take at least several months. "I would rather not talk about any expectations, so as not to experience any frustration should they not come true," he said.
For Mr. Bush, an accord could help solve two problems: where to send a growing stockpile of waste from nuclear fuel that originated in the United States, and how to keep Russia on board in pressuring Iran to give up its uranium enrichment programs.
Under American law, the United States retains control over nuclear fuel, and nuclear waste, made from uranium that originated in the United States. As a result it has barred South Korea, Taiwan and other states that bought American fuel from transferring it to Russia, which changed its laws several years ago to enter the multibillion dollar business of storing nuclear waste. The proposed agreement does not appear to be intended to allow storage in Russia of waste from reactors in the United States.
But a negotiation would also help provide Mr. Putin with an economic incentive for giving up nuclear aid to Iran, which has long been one of the Bush administration's objectives. On Friday, in Chicago, Mr. Bush alluded to the difficulty in getting Russia and China to join in sanctions against Iran or North Korea.
"You know, some nations are more comfortable with sanctions than other nations, and part of the issue we face in some of these countries is that they've got economic interests," Mr. Bush told reporters.
In two previous trips to St. Petersburg as president, Mr. Bush tried to persuade Mr. Putin to give up a lucrative contract to supply the reactors to Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant. But Russia resisted, and eventually Mr. Bush accepted a deal in which any nuclear fuel Russia sells to Iran would have to be returned to Russia after use, so that plutonium could not be removed from the waste for military use.
Congress would have the right to review any agreement. But since the administration just concluded an accord with India, which requires a more intensive nuclear review, administration officials said they thought Russia would win approval.
so if someone questions you they are also anti-christian?!! lmfao- a messianic manipulator no less. just keep the info flowing and leave out the rest of your bs.
here's that post from pennypickers by 5-HMF
PostPosted: Sat Jul 08, 2006 6:20 pm Post subject: WHERES THE CELEBRATION??? Reply with quote
I HOPE EVERYONE CAN SEE NOW, THAT ALL THE SICKLE CELL FOUNDATIONS & CHARITIES ARE FAKE FRONTS FOR,OWNED, & RUN BY OUR DEAR FRIENDS AT BRISTOL-MEYER-SQUIBB..IF THEY WERE GENUINE THEY WOULD BE MUCH CELEBRATION AT THESE VENUES OVER THE APPROVAL OF NICOSAN & A "CURE" FOR SCD[ FOR GODS SAKE] & AS YOU CAN SEE THERE IS NARY A PEEP..NOTHING...THERE IS NO JOY IN SCD CHARITYLAND[HARD TO BELEVE HUMAN BEINGS CAN BE SO CALLOUS & FAKE.. MONEY RULES EVERYTHING,TOO BAD, BUT IT'S TRUE] SCD FOUNDATIONLAND & ESPECIALLY AT BMS LAND THIS WEEKEND, NEXT WEEKEND OR ANY OTHER WEEKEND "UNLESS'[THE KEY WORD] BMS GETS NICOSAN ...XECHEM & NICOSAN HAVE RUINED EVERYTHING..STOLEN THE SHOW.."BIGTIME". THE APPROVAL OF NICOSAN THREATENS TO DESTROY A $300-$400 MILLION A YEAR BMS/ST. JUDES[ST.JUDES HUGE PARTNER BELIEVE ME] HYDROXYUREA SCD CHEMO TREATMENT PARTY..A SHOW THAT WILL SOON BE ENDING WITH A NICOSAN CURTAIN CALL.BUT ALAS! THERE IS THAT WORD..."UNLESS" THERE IS A RATHER RELATIVELY SIMPLE SOLUTION TO THIS SMALL PROBLEM WE HAVE HERE ...IT BE CALLED BMS PURCHASES XECHEM ..WHALAAH!!!! CONTINUE HYDROXYUREA POISONING OF CHILDREN & ADULTS ALIKE IN AMERICA & ALSO TREAT AFRICANS WITH NICOSAN & GAIN TREMENDOUS PROFITS FROM BOTH [& GAIN GOOD GRACES OF BLACK AMERICANS & BLACKS AROUND THE WORLD ON PUBLIC RELATION SIDE] .. UNTIL THE FDA APPROVES NICOSAN, WHICH WOULD HAPPEN IN VERY SHORT ORDER IF BMS HELD THE RIVER CARD FOR NICOSAN.SO AGAIN "IF"[ITS JUST A MATTER OF WHEN IMO] THERE IS GOING TO BE A BUYOUT IT WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY,ABSOLUTELY BE BMS.THE WALLMASTER MAY HAVE NAILED THIS ONE.FOLKS.. COULD BE AS SOON AS THIS MONDAY,JULY 12..I SAY UNEQUIVALENTLY YES IT WILL....THINK ABOUT WHAT I'VE SAID HERE & YOU START TO SEE THAT BMS HAS NO OTHER CHOICE.. IMHO
Last edited by 5-HMF on Sat Jul 08, 2006 6:47 pm; edited 1 time in total
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i have him on ignore as well yet he still manages to annoy infuriate and disrupt countless boards i go to. can he be tossed from ihub completely?
calls to larry- talked to larry- larry -larry...
i've talked to larry and he was a dick. couldn't tell me if we were trading in frankfurt or not- he was also watching level 2 (too) closely- said he wasn't gonna hold my hand ( as the price was plummeting) i originally bought at 03, doubled at 01, and sold a little over 02 for miniscule profit. recently bought back a small amount at 0065.seems to me this is not the real deal at all but doesn't mean we won't have price pops along the way.
seems to me like way true life IS larry or some insider or manipulator- 145 posts just on this board?! let's do share counts?! let's not call the ta again. come on. careful here.
here weeeee go!
Obasanjo restates focus on better economy
From Emeka Anuforo, Abuja
PRESIDENT Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday reiterated the commitment of his government to foster an economy that is technology-driven, private sector-led and knowledge-based.
The President spoke when he commissioned the hi-tech food preservation facility, Gamma Irradiation Facility and launched the drug, NICOSAN, developed locally for the management of sickle cell diseases.
Developed by scientists at the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, Idu, Abuja, the product is a non-toxic, natural herbal drug,
composed of extracts from local plants.
The drug is now being produced by Xechem Pharmaceuticals Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of Xechem International Incorporated based in New Jersey, United States of America (U.S.A) and produced within the premises of Sheda Science and Technology Complex.
From the assessment of the Chief Executive Officer of Xechem International, Dr. Ramesh Pandey, Nigeria stands to earn a yearly income of over $150 million from exporting the drug to the international community.
The Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Turner Isoun said at the ceremony that the drug, which had gone through various levels of certification at the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) had been granted an Orphan Drug status by the Food and Drug Administration of the United States of America (U.S.-FDA). This, he said, had given it further credibility and international acceptability for the
management of sickle cell disease.
Obasanjo, who could not hide his joy at the facilities, noted that the government had not lost focus of its vision of re-engineering the science and technology sector to make Nigeria a key participant and stakeholder in the application of new and emerging technologies.
The President said: "Today's activities also further confirm my strong belief that the frontiers of development are within the reach of any determined and committed society that takes science and technology seriously with the determination to uplift
its citizenry to a state of prosperity."
He stressed that the essence of the reform in the sector had been to improve the performance of the sector, make it more proactive to the country's national needs and enhance its efficiency in service delivery.
Stressing that the Gamma Irradiation Facility would transform food preservation in the country and make certain agricultural products available all year round, he described the facility as "a high priority project with significant commercial undertones."
Already, the President has approved the privatisation of the Gamma Irradiation Facility in the next three years. This is to enable private sector operators tap into the facility and make it yield the enormous economic dividends for which it was set up.
Expressing immense joy at the production of the sickle cell drug in country, Obasanjo lamented that persons afflicted with sickle cell disease suffer crises which could result in damage to the kidneys, lungs, bones, eyes and the central nervous system.
The Gamma Irradiation Facility is an important multipurpose facility with diversified applications, which according to the Minister of Science finds ready applications in the preservation of food and agricultural products, pest control, healthcare
delivery, packaging and improvement of mechanical properties of materials such as rubber latex plastics and electrical cable, among others.
Officials of the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Agency told reporters that the facility had gone through various levels of assessment and had acquired five of the agency's licences within the last one year.
Speaking on the facility, Isoun said: "The multipurpose Gamma Irradiation Plant has a large production hall. It is the most modern commercial irradiation plant in Africa, and one of the most modern of its type in the world characterised by the
state-of-the art technology. Its irradiation source is a 340k Cobalt-60 source. The facility will be managed in collaboration with other technical partners, who have acquired vast experience in the management of similar facilities."
Discussions are also said to be on-going with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna to designate the facility as a regional Centre of Excellence in Food Irradiation.
remove him from all boards
touch 61 and bounce!
was that bs?
have they got the sleeves rolled up again?! all about.LOL
added at .o62
12 day is .06
glassy called it again! hit 11 day at .066 and promptly turned around- wish i had had funds for more.
maybe he got bumped!
XKEM-i think sell on news over today and still lots to grow here-
(i'm in all but my initial invstmt)
http://www.businessdayonline.com/?c=44&a=7409
Obasanjo to commission sickle cell drug factory today
A local factory that would immediately commence the production of NICOSAN- an anti-sickling drug, will be commissioned today by President Olusegun Obsanjo.
Ayodele Coker, Director General of SHESTCO who disclosed this in Abuja yesterday explained that NICONSAN is a drug first developed by the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) for the management of sickle cell disease.
He said that NICOSAN consists of a mixture of extracts from four tropical plants, some of which are cultivated and found in the wild both within and outside Nigeria Coker stressed that all necessary precautions had been taken to ensure safety of the products as well as continuity in the production.
According to him, the Gamma irradiation facility is to be used for food preservation, sterilisation of pharmaceutical and medical devices, as well as polymerisation and other industrial applications.
Cker said that "the drug, to be used in the treatment of sickle cell diseases, is being produced by a pharmaceutical company-Xechem-Nigeria and has been tested locally and international at Philadelphia Children’s Hospital in the United States."
The drug which Coker said has been approved by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) is also been recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the treatment of sickle cell diseases .
Coker explained that the Gamma Irradation facility is for food security and preservation of agricultural products which will cut down the loss from waste of harvested crops experienced annually stressing "more than 55% of our harvested crops are wasted thus the need for the facility and we want to cut down on this loss".
"WE are confident this will help in the reduction of prices of foodstuffs all year round. With the Gamma Irradiation Facility, you can delay the ripening period period, retain freshness and admittance of exported agriculture products in the markets. Products that go through the facility will be 100% safe for human consumption as there is no room for error.
what will it take for this to move??!!
Ken Lay dead !!??!!
XKEM .09! drug launch/approval imminent
Resurgent Russia prepares for convertible rouble
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/97c20938-07d5-11db-9067-0000779e2340.html
By Neil Buckley in Moscow
Published: June 30 2006 03:00 | Last updated: June 30 2006 03:00
Memories of Russia's default on $40bn of domestic debt eight years ago, when people queued outside banks to withdraw roubles that were plummeting in value, have barely faded from the national psyche.
Yet, remarkably, with coffers swollen by oil selling at $70 a barrel, Russia will tomorrow lift all currency controls on the rouble and make it fully convertible. Everyone will be able to move roubles freely out of and into the country, foreign and offshore investors will be able to open rouble bank accounts, and restrictions on rouble fixed-income investments will disappear.
ADVERTISEMENT
It is a highly political and symbolic step. Brought forward by six months from the original deadline, it comes two weeks before Russia hosts the Group of Eight summit in St Petersburg, and days after the country reached agreement to pay off, ahead of time, its remaining $22bn (€17.5bn, £12.2bn) debt to the Paris Club of creditor nations.
The move will announce "that Russia is a serious global player," says Al Breach, research director at UBS in Moscow. "It has now graduated to being a normal, if not developed, at least upwardly developing, country."
Russia is saying "it is stable, it is open, and ready for money coming in".
The lifting of currency controls is also part of a campaign to burnish the rouble's once shattered image and challenge the dollar's supremacy - an economic parallel to Moscow's efforts to counterbalanceUS dominance in foreign policy.
Senior officials including President Vladimir Putin have even called for the rouble to become a reserve currency, to the surprise of international investors.
Russia's lower house of parliament has given preliminary approval to a bill slapping instant fines - their size not yet determined - on ministers and senior officials who quote figures in dollars that could be quoted in roubles. It would also stiffen fines on businesses displaying prices in foreign currencies, as many started to do during the hyperinflation in the 1990s that followed Russia's initial liberal reforms.
"The rouble is on the move," quipped Vladimir Zhirinovsky, veteran ultra-nationalist leader in the Russian parliament. "Next stop, Berlin."
But rouble convertibility has strong fiscal underpinnings and big economic consequences. It is backed by $250bn in foreign exchange reserves and $70bn in a stabilisation fund stuffed with windfall oil tax revenues.
While the Putin administration's political record is under scrutiny ahead of the G8 summit - and rising oil and gas prices have been a massive stroke of luck - economists say its fiscal management has been exemplary.
The expected mushrooming of rouble bond, credit and debt markets should in turn help Russia move to the next stage of economic regeneration. It is shifting from recovery - improving productivity of existing industrial capacity - to investment-led growth through developing new capacity.
By enabling companies, and state and quasi-state entities, to fund investment in roubles, development of the domestic capital market could help Russia start renewing its decrepit infrastructure.
Convertibility should also enable Moscow to shift in two or three years from a monetary policy based on exchange rate management to an interest-rate managed policy, in line with most developed countries. That was previously impossible since lack of confidence in the rouble made the dollar the main instrument of Russia's capital markets.
As always there are significant risks. Big inflows of funds could lead to an overheating economy or stoke inflation that, at close to double figures, Russia is still struggling to contain.
Analysts, however, note that the Russian authorities have scope to let the rouble, already up 4 per cent year-on-year against a basket of international currencies, appreciate further to offset the inflationary pressure. But a stronger rouble will make exports more expensive, increasing the pressure on Russian manufacturers already struggling to maintain competitiveness, even if their borrowing costs should be cut by convertibility.
As Deutsche UFG, another Moscow investment bank, points out, the reform also ups the stakes for Russia's economic policy makers: if they make a mess of things, mobile capital could desert the country en masse.
And yet, with the rouble rising and the ability before long to take roubles abroad and change them therefor local currency, convertibility could lead to afinal important switch. Russians, many of whom have long favoured salaries in dollars, may start demanding that their employers once again pay them in humble roubles.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
alright already! LOL- got in at .046
80 stingray, thanks for posting those links!
picked up some at 0088 !!
xlpi chart