SOURCE: The St. Petersburg Times
DATE: Issue #1011 (78), Tuesday, October 12, 2004
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TITLE: Governor Assesses First Year
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Governor Valentina Matviyenko's first year in office has been like "building a railway track" on bumpy ground in its efforts to bring St. Petersburg closer to European living standards, she said Friday.
 
The track has gone past the dilapidated yards in the city, past the multi-million dollar debts left by the previous city government and around the communal services reform, which appears to be quite difficult to achieve, Matviyenko said at a briefing.
 "If in three years we can build the railway track, the train will go forward," Matviyenko said.
 The promises made during her election campaign that she has broken, such as halting in-fill construction projects or retaining free public transportation for pensioners went either without a mention or were said to be unaffordable.
 "We have a pie here that has to be cut in such a way that there is enough for everyone," Matviyenko said when she was got into a heated argument with a reporter who accused the governor of not keeping to her election program because free public transportation for pensioners will end next year.
 Changes to communal services are very slow because they are not fit for reform while there are too few private companies that could offer alternatives to the state services, Matviyenko said.
 "Certain legal and economic conditions must be created before new private [servicing] companies can appear," she said.
 "There are only about 15 such companies operating on the market. When the market opens up, this business will expand too," she said, adding that it would take about three years for this to happen. "There is some resistance to the reform, but I am determined to push this through."
 But Vladimir Yeryomenko, a Legislative Assembly lawmaker in the Mariinskaya faction, said Matviyenko has not really understood the complexity of resolving the communal services problem if she says the absence of private companies is the main obstacle.
 "The current policy of converting state communal servicing organizations into joint-stock companies will not solve the problem because the approach to work, the methods and the staff employed there will be the same," Yeryomenko said Monday in a telephone interview Monday. "This should all be changed." 
 "The goal to introduce more private companies on to the local communal services market is absolutely right, but this is not the main thing to do," he said. "The communal infrastructure is worn out, for instance, which is a much bigger problem. It's not the right approach to simply tear out one part of such a complicated system."
 Matviyenko said the rundown condition of the city's communal services is one of the worst inheritances the new government has from the administration of former governor Vladimir Yakovlev.
 "We should ... start taking responsibility for tough and unpopular measures," she said. "If the condition of the engineering infrastructure has reached a critical point we can't just pretend that there's nothing going on."
 During its first months in office, City Hall struggled to pay back $70 million that Yakovlev had loaned from local banks to finance the construction of the Ice Palace stadium and concert hall, Matviyenko said. The city government has finally succeeded in restructuring the debt so that it can be paid off over 15 years, she added. 
 But Legislative Assembly deputies believe this is not a serious problem.
 "I don't think the Ice Palace debt has any serious influence on the city budget," Sergei Gulyayev, a Legislative Assembly lawmaker, said Monday.
 "There are far more serious problems, such as attempts by the federal government to force the city to cover guarantees for a [$280 million] loan to build a new terminal near the Moskovsky train station," he said.
 Matviyenko said the city's poor financial position will keep the city budget in deficit until 2008.
 "Tax reform has been delayed for a long time, so when the tax base becomes stable, revenues entering the budget from taxes will increase," she said.
 Big federal companies, such as Transneft, TNK-BP and other oil companies, shifting their headquarters to St. Petersburg should help the city to increase its budget, Matviyenko said. 
 Vneshtorgbank has agreed to re-register in St. Petersburg in the first quarter of the next year, she added.
 "Nobody has said that the country's capital city should be moved from Moscow to St. Petersburg," she said. "At the same time I believe that shifting some of the capital's functions to our city will influence not only the city's economic development, but create the atmosphere of a capital here."
 Tatyana Dorutina, head of St. Petersburg League of Voters, said Monday that while Matviyenko has tried to take some sensible steps to develop the city economy, she has almost completely lost a contact with the public, 
 "I have a feeling that Matviyenko's government is quite closed to the public compared to Yakovlev's administration, she said in a telephone interview.
 "I remember a conference with high ranking Estonian politicians that we organized right after she took over at City Hall. When we asked her to send a welcoming letter, her head of staff replied, saying 'it would not be in keeping with her dignity' to write such letters.
 "Her staff doesn't understand how important such things are for developing international cooperation," Dorutina said.
 "On the other hand, I'm pleased she's the first woman to take a governor's seat," she added. "If she succeeds in her first term as a governor, she will open the road to politics for women."

TITLE: Why One-Legged Rebel Basayev Is So Hard to Catch
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: GROZNY - Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev remains on the loose even after the Beslan tragedy thanks to old friends, police corruption, and a military that needs him as an excuse to continue the war in Chechnya, former acquaintances and law enforcement officials said.
 
Labeled by the Kremlin as Terrorist No. 2 after the events of Beslan, Basayev has a record bounty of 300 million rubles ($10 million) on his head and is being pursued by commandos of the Chechen police battalion Vostok, which was initially formed to track down rebels hiding in the region's mountains.
 The Federal Security Service, which is also offering $10 million for its top terror suspect, rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov, said last week that it is chasing down leads from Chechens who have come forward since the reward was announced last month.
 "More than 100 reports have been received from local residents, and some of them, officers believe, are of interest to the special services," an official in the FSB's branch in Chechnya said.
 Vostok's commander, former rebel brigade general Sulim Yamadayev, initially promised that Basayev would be found. But in an interview published last week in Gazeta, he said Basayev has shattered his belief that federal troops could have caught him long ago if they had really wanted to. 
 Once he joined in the hunt, he said, he realized that rebels are very skillful at keeping out of sight.
 Nearly a month has passed since the search renewed in earnest, and Basayev, who lost part of a leg on a Russian minefield in 2000, remains on the run. In the meantime, he infuriated the special services even further by publishing a statement on a rebel web site claiming responsibility for Beslan and threatening more terrorist attacks.
 Basayev, as he acknowledged in the statement, has gone from being the powerful military commander of Chechnya's rebel forces to being the leader of a brigade of suicide fighters called Riyadus Salikhiin, or Gardens of the Pious in Arabic. The existence of the brigade came to light when 41 of its members seized Moscow's Dubrovka theater in 2002. The attack left more than 100 hostages and all 41 terrorists dead.
 Basayev, who commanded all rebel military operations under Maskhadov, announced after Dubrovka that he had broken all ties to the rebel government and was only heading Riyadus Salikhiin. 
 The Chechen Interior Ministry believes Basayev's followers are now mostly holed up in the mountainous areas of southern Chechnya. The whereabouts of Basayev himself, however, are unknown.
 Former rebels who fought alongside Basayev said their one-time leader has numerous allies throughout Chechnya, Ingushetia, North Ossetia and other regions in the North Caucasus, and that they are eagerly offering him refuge. 
 "He's kept a lot of old friends in the North Caucasus since the war in Abkhazia," said Ruslan, who asked that his last name not be used for fear of reprisal.
 Basayev commanded a ragtag army called the Confederation of the Mountainous Peoples of the Caucasus during fighting in the Georgian region of Abkhazia in the early 1990s. The army was part of a public organization established in 1991 and aimed at uniting the diverse ethnic groups of the North and South Caucasus regions. 
 Ruslan said he believes Basayev is not hiding in Chechnya all the time but traveling across the North Caucasus, staying with old combat buddies.
 "There were people fighting in Abkhazia from practically all of the nationalities in the North Caucasus," he said. "Basayev, being the deputy defense minister, had contact with all of them and continues to have contacts now."
 What is more, Basayev has retained links within the nominally pro-Moscow structures in Chechnya. For example, Ruslan said, in 2000 Basayev negotiated with Beslan Gantamirov, a veteran Chechen warrior who at that time was head of the Chechen police force supposedly loyal to Moscow. Basayev suggested to Gantamirov that he form a whole unit out of Basayev's fighters - thus reducing the number of rebels and boosting police numbers.
 "Gantamirov refused, firstly because such a thing was practically impossible, and secondly because he didn't think it a good idea to have an entire militant unit not subordinate to him," Ruslan said. "But Gantamirov did promise Basayev that he would accept his people into the police force, and took about six to eight men into every subdivision.
 "For the last four years, these people have been able to make a career in the police force. They understand, of course, that for this they are indebted to Basayev and are obliged help him."
 All this suggests that the lines of division between pro-Moscow Chechens and the rebels are not as clear as the authorities suggest. In further proof of this, pro-Moscow politicians, including slain Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, have acknowledged that rebel leader Maskhadov spent last winter in the western Chechen town of Gudermes, where his whereabouts cannot have been unknown to the authorities.
 Another former rebel, Magomed, said Basayev inspires loyalty in those who meet him and the reward money will probably not lead to his capture.
 But some of Basayev's opponents are not persuaded by this and firmly believe that he is being protected by the authorities. 
 "If they really wanted to take Basayev they would have done it long ago," said Aslanbek Dubzayev, a Chechen OMON officer. "Chechnya is not that big. The federals need him to keep the war going in Chechnya. That's why they forewarn him of any danger."
 Dubzayev said he believes that a 1999 raid by Basayev into Dagestan had been provoked by the security services as a pretext to invade Chechnya and start the second war. 
 "I don't know whether they paid him to do it or just took a gamble, but many people saw how Basayev was accompanied by Russian helicopters when he was given an escape corridor to get out of Dagestan," he said.
 "Somebody is covering Basayev, someone from the military or the GRU," said Pavel Solodovnikov, an FSB captain. The GRU is the military's intelligence agency.
 Speculation about Basayev having ties with the security services first surfaced during the Abkhaz conflict. At the time, the Kremlin supported separatists there, and intelligence officers were reportedly dispatched to help the forces led by Basayev.
 Solodovnikov said corruption is also a big factor in the authorities' failure to catch Basayev.
 "Basayev has access to a great deal of money," he said. "So, let's say, for $1,000 he can easily bribe a checkpoint policeman, who would normally only get 10 rubles from a local Chechen."


TITLE: Top Students Value Their Hard-Won Potanin Scholarships
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Many of the 120 students of St. Petersburg's five leading universities who have just won Vladimir Potanin scholarships, say they want to spend the year-long grant of $70 a month on additional academic activities.
 
"I consider this money an acknowledgement of my achievements," said Pavel Durov, 20, a fourth-year philology student from St. Petersburg State University. 
 "Therefore I can't just spend it on beer. I plan to use the money for developing the university's unofficial web site of www.spbu.org," said Durov, on of 40 winners at his university.
 Potanin, a businessman rated by Forbes magazine this year as Russia's fourth richest man with a personal fortune of $4.9 billion, founded the scholarship in 1999. Potanin, president of Interros holding, one of the owners of Norilsk Nickel and Prof-Media, which has a minority stake in Independent Media - the parent company of The St. Petersburg Times - meant the scholarship for best students of the country's leading universities and military schools.
 According to the Potanin Charity Foundation, which is in charge of the scholarship, the grant aims to invest in the education of future generations of Russians.
 "We invest into advanced students to support their financial and general well-being," said Lyudmila Burashova, spokeswoman for the foundation. 
 This year, 1,330 full-time students of 67 of Russia's leading higher educational state institutions are eligible for the scholarship, meaning that it not only provides financial support to top students but also discovers which of them have the highest potential.
 Yelena Runova, a third-year student in the philology department of SPSU, said she was excited to get the scholarship.
 "For me it's not only financial support but also an honor because this scholarship is given to the most advanced students and it gives me a certain professional rating," she said. "I will spend this money on French courses and probably a trip to Paris."
 Durov said the scholarship contest had two stages.
 On the first day, 350 St. Petersburg State University students who were eligible - they had to have completed two previous semesters with excellent grades - sat an IQ test and did a team competition, which allowed their communication, leadership and creative skills to be assessed.
 Seventy dollars a month is also not all that much for some winners: of those interviewed, all were from St. Petersburg, live with their parents, who financially support them, and also do part-time work. That is why they said they had an opportunity to spend the money on additional academic or cultural activities.
 However, Runova said that for students from other regions, who live in dormitories and don't have much financial support from their parents, the money could be needed for their living expenses.
 From interviews with Russia's advanced students, who have could become the country's leaders of tomorrow, it is clear that modern progressive youth has a wide range of views. 
 They want Russia to raise its living standards, call for the death penalty for terrorists, criticize feminism, politicians and the media and rue the decline in cultural values since the end of the Soviet Union.
 Runova, said Russia should be very tough on terrorists.
 "Terrorists deserve the death penalty, or they should be handed over to the relatives of the people who died at the hands of terrorists," she said.
 Darya Gritsenko, 17, a philosophy student, who prefers wearing a skirt to trousers, said she had been interested in feminism, but is no longer as attracted to it.
 "I think it should still be a man who heads the family," she said. "And I'm irritated by the modern phenomenon when it's OK if a woman supports a family financially."
 She also regretted young people's lack of interest in high culture.
 "Young people are too lazy to go to museums or theaters," she said. "It's probably one of the prices of freedom. It's well known that authoritarian societies often have advanced culture and strict morals. If you give people a choice, they may just not go to museums."
 Durov said today's Russian young people need a value system because the old Soviet value system was broken and nothing came to replace it.
 "People should be oriented to something worthy, let's say to some positive result in their life," Durov said. 
 "For instance, in the United States people are oriented to financial and personal success. Those would also be good goals for Russia."
 Tatyana Leontyeva, 18, a second year journalism student, says she doesn't see how the media can be independent.
 "There cannot be any independent media because it always depends on who owns it," she said. "If it's owned by the state - then it depends on the state. If it's owned by a private company, it still cannot be independent."
 She aspires to have her own television program, but said she would not want to deal with politics but rather with culture.
 Not only do the Potanin scholarship winners this year excel in ideas and opinions, they also have high career aspirations.
 Durov said he wants to have his own company, because he wants to develop something new in high technology.
 "If I was a subordinate I'd have very limited opportunities to implement my developments," he said. "That's why I prefer to be a leader."
 Runova said she is driven by success.
 "My motto is that a person should try out different activities, and that people should be active and do their best to succeed in life, even it they don't have connections, which many say is often one of the main conditions for success."
 Leontyeva said she will use some of her scholarship to buy tickets to performances at the Mariinsky Theater.
 "I'm fond of Mariinsky head Valery Gergiev, who to me demonstrates an ideal of hard work, sacrifice and success, which I also want to have in my life," she said.
 Burashova said for the scholarship program of 2004-2005 the foundation's budget totals $2,255,000. 
 She said the Northwestern universities were the first on the list to select the students. 
 All five St. Petersburg universities eligible for the program - St. Petersburg State University , St. Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance, St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University, St. Petersburg State Herzen Pedagogical University, and St. Petersburg State Pavlov Medical University - have completed selecting scholarship winners.
 Within the next few months a team of assessors will be selecting further students throughout Russia for the Potanin scholarships.

TITLE: Rodina Surprises in Sakhalin
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - The nationalist Rodina party created an upset in Sakhalin on Sunday, coming out ahead of the pro-Kremlin United Russia in elections to the island's regional legislature. United Russia, however, topped the party vote in two other regions, Irkutsk and the republic of Marii-El.
 
The mixed results for United Russia came after its leaders declared their intention of taking control of as many regional legislatures as possible. 
 In Sakhalin, Rodina - standing under the name "Rodina-Sakhalin and the Kurills" - won 20 percent of the party list vote, narrowly ahead of United Russia with 18 percent and the Communists with 16 percent. A total of 11 parties and blocs contested the elections, while 13 percent voted against all.
 The elections in Irkutsk, the republic of Marii-El and Sakhalin were for the first time held according to the new system of electing regional legislatures, under which half of the seats are elected from party lists, with the other half decided by single-mandate contests.
 In the Western Siberian region of Irkutsk, United Russia won 30 percent of the votes, ahead of the Communists with 13 percent. Almost 12 percent of the voters cast their ballots "against all," Interfax reported, citing preliminary results released by regional election officials. Rodina came fourth in the region with 9 percent of the vote.
 Last month in Irkutsk, an unidentified gunman shot and killed two Rodina campaigners, Marina Marakhovskaya and Yan Travinsky. Rodina party leader Dmitry Rogozin called the murders political. 
 In the republic of Marii-El, United Russia won the party vote with 34 percent, ahead of the Communists with 18 percent and the Agrarians with 13 percent. More that 12 percent voted against all.
 President Vladimir Putin last month announced plans to scrap the popular vote for regional leaders in favor of a system under which the president will nominate candidates for approval by regional legislatures.
 United Russia already has factions in two-thirds of the country's 88 legislatures and has a majority of seats in 12.

TITLE: Mariinsky Names Dates for Beslan Concerts
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: The Mariinsky Theater has announced the dates of the first three concerts in series of memorial performances that are to raise funds for the former hostages of Beslan School No. 1.
 
The first will be a gala concert in Paris' Theater Chatelet on Oct. 27, followed by a grand dinner. Organized by the Association Francais des Amis du Theatre du Mariinsky, the performance featuring works by Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky and Shostakovich will be attended by France's top political, business and cultural figures. Bernadette Chirac, wife of the French president, Jacques Chirac, will preside over the gala.
 "Beslan: A Concert for the Future" is the name of the Mariinsky's performance in London's Coliseum on Nov. 7.
 "This concert is part of our efforts to help Ossetian families- the people who survived those horrible days in Beslan," Gergiev said. "Our idea is to support these people both immediately and in long-term cultural rehabilitation over the coming years. Every great name associated with the Mariinsky wants to be there to unite with us and dedicate our performance to this idea."
 Gergiev's initiative has received much support in Britain. The English National Opera has donated the use of the London Coliseum for the concert, while hotel City Inn, Westminster is arranging free accommodation for the entire Mariinsky company during their visit.
 "English National Opera applauds the efforts of Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Theater in this initiative to raise funds in London for the community of Beslan," said ENO's artistic director and chief executive Sean Doran in a statement for the U.K.-based Mariinsky Theater Trust, a co-organizer of the event. "We are proud to support and host this charity event at our newly restored home, the London Coliseum."
 Funds raised from the concert are to be shared equally between the Beslan Lifeline Appeal, organized by the Charities Aid Foundation, and the Mariinsky Theater's new cultural outreach program in the Caucasus, supported by the Mariinsky Theater Trust.
 The hostage crisis in Beslan took 350 lives, and left hundreds of people injured. 
 A native Ossetian, whose family comes from Vladikavkaz, the capital of Ossetia, Valery Gergiev said the concerts in London and Paris mark the beginning of a series of memorial events across the globe, including Vladikavkaz and Beslan. Several further performances are currently being prepared. Later in the season, a charity concert in Rome is scheduled for Dec. 3.

TITLE: IN BRIEF
TEXT: <b>Reactor Shut Down
 </b>

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - The Reactor No. 1 at the Leningrad Nuclear Power Station, or LAES, was shut down when its emergency security system signaled an alarm on Sunday night. 
 The security system went on during one of the tests of the reactor after the block's recent modernization, said Sergei Averyanov, spokesman for LAES, located in Sosnovy Bor outside St. Petersburg. Averyanov said the situation was not dangerous, and the radiation level did not rise.
 Reactor No. 1 is the oldest of four reactors at the plant, is an RBMK-1000 reactor, the same type that caused the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.
 Oleg Bodrov, head of Green World ecological organization, located in Sosnovy Bor, said there were many infringements of procedures when the start up of the reactor began.
 
 
<b>New Terminal
 </b>

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - Projected plans for a new passenger terminal to be built at St. Petersburg's port must be presented to the public by Dec. 1, Interfax reported, quoting the City Hall committee for city construction and architecture Friday.
 "Today we have officially started a competition for a project for a new sea passenger terminal. Participants will have to present their completed projects by Dec. 1 this year," Intermix cited Viktor Polishchuk, head of the committee as saying.
 Five architects, including two specialists from Moscow and three from St. Petersburg have declared their intention to participate in the competition.
 
 
<b>Katyn Museum
 </b>

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - Museums of political repression are planned to be opened in Katyn and Mednoye, Interfax reported Saturday quoting Yevgeny Artyomov, head of the state museum of political history.
 "We will organize museums there that will reflect the history of political repression, but not in Russia in a whole, but in a specific region, where a visitor will have a sense of the place of this tragedy in Russia's history," Interfax cited Artyomov as saying.
 Over 4,500 Polish officers were shot dead at the sites in the Smolensk region in 1940. At the same place 500 Soviet militia were shot dead by fascists.
 "Mednoye, located in Tverskaya Oblast, is less known about than Katyn, but Polish officers were shot there as well," he said.
 
 
<b>Pay or Stay Away
 </b>

MOSCOW (SPT) - London-style "congestion charging" which forced cars to pay to enter the city center would solve traffic jams in such areas in Russia, Interfax reported quoting Irog Levitin, federal minister for transport and communication Monday. 
 "We won't be able to avoid the introduction of such payments in the central parts of major cities. Major cities abroad have already an experience of introducing such payments," Interfax cited Levitin as saying.
 
 
<b>Roma Girl Jury
 </b>

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - A city court has selected a jury to hear the case of a hate crime in which a Roma girl was killed by a group of young people in September of last year, Interfax reported Monday quoting the court.
 The 7-year old girl was killed on Sept. 21, 2003, when a group of alleged skinheads attacked members of the local Tajik Roma community, beating them with chains and sticks and screaming "Russia for Russians." 



TITLE: The Buzz Is That Putin May Stay
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW- The buzz in liberal circles these days is that President Vladimir Putin's far-reaching political reform plans could help him retain power after his second and final term ends in 2008.
 
&quot;It's a general feeling,&quot; said Vladimir Pribylovsky, head of the Panorama think tank. &quot;This reform is a showdown. All masks are dropped.&quot;
 The proposal, which scraps the popular vote for governors and individual races for the State Duma, could be a step toward amending the Constitution to extend Putin's final term from the current four years or to allow him to seek a third term, analysts said. Putin has repeatedly indicated that he will not cling to the presidency after his second term.
 Or Putin could effectively remain the head of state as a powerful prime minister under a weak president. Under this scenario, the president would be a largely ceremonial figure, as in Germany.
 A weak president could be elected by parliament instead of by popular vote and could come from Putin's inner circle, Olga Kryshtanovskaya, head of the Center for the Study of the Elite, which is part of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said at a news conference last week.
 Irina Khakamada, a liberal candidate in March's presidential election, which Putin easily won, warned of a looming &quot;constitutional coup&quot; late last week.
 &quot;I am stating that there will be no more presidential elections in the form that we are all expecting,&quot; she said at a conference dedicated to Putin's reform.
 Yury Korgunyuk, editor of the Partinfo political weekly, said he is leaning toward the scenario of a third presidential term. &quot;The idea that Putin will be re-elected seems increasingly certain to me,&quot; he said. &quot;I don't think there will be any sophisticated schemes. They will just strike the article about the number of terms.&quot;
 The process of amending the Constitution would have to start before the end of November 2006 for the amendment to enter into force in time for the announcement of the date of the next presidential election, analysts said.
 If the 2008 election is scheduled for March, like this year's vote, the Central Elections Commission will announce the date in December 2007. The Kremlin would probably need the 12 months from November 2006 to November 2007 to gather all the approvals required to amend the Constitution, analysts said.
 The Kremlin would have little problem collecting the necessary two-thirds of the vote in the Kremlin-controlled State Duma and three-quarters of the vote in the Federation Council, which is even more compliant than the Duma. But any change of the Constitution also has to be approved by at least two-thirds of the country's 88 regional legislatures, and legislatures have up to one year to consider such amendments.
 The pro-Kremlin United Russia party, which has two-thirds of the seats in the Duma, has said it is seeking a similar majority in regional legislatures.
 Putin has said several times that he opposes the notion of extending his time in office through a constitutional amendment. He said in a speech to campaign aides in February that he felt it was his duty to suggest a successor in the 2008 election. Analysts said, however, that Putin's political reform could indicate a change of heart.
 With Putin effectively being handed the power to hire and fire governors in the reform, the governors could be key in galvanizing support for a constitutional amendment, Pribylovsky said.
 Governors could also ensure that Putin or his chosen successor win the next election by rigging the vote in their regions or by exerting pressure on voters, he said.
 But Pribylovsky cautioned that while many popularly elected governors are now indebted to Putin and his support for their posts, many could turn away if his popularity tumbles.
 Putin's popularity has steadily hovered at about 70 percent with two exceptions-when the Kursk submarine sank in August 2000 and when the Duma passed controversial Kremlin-backed social reforms in July. But both times the drop was only in the single digits.
 A terrorist attack in 2006 could be used as an excuse to start the process of amending the Constitution, Pribylovsky said.
 Putin says his political reform will strengthen the executive chain of command in the face of terrorism and boost the role of parties in political life. Putin announced the plan after the Sept. 1-3 Beslan school seizure, the latest in a series of terrorist attacks that killed more than 430 people since summer.
 The European Union and the United States have criticized the plan as a rollback of democracy.
 Western criticism is the only thing restraining growing authoritarian trends in Kremlin policy, Pribylovsky and Kryshtanovskaya said.
 However, Russia's position as the world's No. 2 oil producer at a time of record oil prices could bolster the Kremlin's confidence, Pribylovsky said.

TITLE: Putin Meets Yanukovych
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin used a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Saturday to express Moscow's close interest in Ukraine's upcoming presidential election.
 
The campaign for Ukraine's Oct. 31 vote to replace outgoing President Leonid Kuchma has been tense, with top candidates Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko running neck and neck.
 Russia &quot;is not indifferent to the choice that the people of Ukraine will make in the presidential election,&quot; Putin told Kuchma, Interfax reported.
 &quot;Ukraine's presidential election is not simply an official, legal act. The Ukrainian people must determine the future development of their country,&quot; Putin was quoted as saying.
 Yanukovych, who has Kuchma's backing, has called for stronger ties with Russia, and Moscow has not been shy about favoring him. Yushchenko advocates stronger ties with the West.
 &quot;A decision must be made about whether the positive tendencies in the development of the Ukrainian economy will be secured. We think that there is progress and it is significant,&quot; Putin said. 
 He emphasized, however, that Russia will respect whatever choice Ukraine makes. State television showed Putin warmly greeting Yanukovych, who accompanied Kuchma to Moscow for the talks. Putin and Kuchma also were expected to endorse efforts on easing travel across their shared border.
 A rally in support of Yanukovych in the Ukrainian capital on Saturday failed to attract the thousands that organizers had promised despite free vodka and porridge. Police said that about 500 people turned out on the mild autumn day, far thinner numbers than the 10,000 that organizers had expected.
 Yushchenko, who sought medical treatment in Austria after claiming he was poisoned, said Saturday he was feeling much better and would likely return to his homeland in a few days.
 Yushchenko told Austrian television he was feeling much better &quot;thanks to the Austrian doctors&quot; treating him at Vienna's private Rudolfinerhaus clinic.

TITLE: FSB Confiscates the Passport Of Reporter on Chechnya
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: A reporter who covered Chechnya for The Associated Press and Radio Liberty for several years was unable to cover its presidential election after the Federal Security Service confiscated his passport four days before the Aug. 29 vote.
 
Yuri Bagrov was notified Sept. 5 that he faces charges of forging a court document to obtain a Russian passport.
 Bagrov said Friday that officers from the FSB's branch in North Ossetia came to his apartment on Aug. 25 with a warrant authorizing them to search for illegal documents, guns and illegal drugs.
 &quot;They went through everything,&quot; Bagrov said by telephone from the North Ossetian capital, Vladikavkaz. &quot;They even searched through my dirty laundry. They ended up confiscating lots of things, including all of my articles, my dictaphone, video and audio cassettes, home computer, birth certificate and university diploma. They even took my wife's personal diary.&quot; 
 He said the FSB officers also took his passport, which left him unable to report about the election and the hostage-taking in nearby Beslan in early September.
 &quot;I've just been stuck at home,&quot; Bagrov said. &quot;I can't go anywhere.&quot;
 His lawyer, Alexander Dzilikhov, said the prosecutor's office of North Ossetia's Iristonsky district has opened a criminal case based on a March 2003 court decision granting Russian citizenship to Bagrov. &quot;They are claiming that the document with the court decision is a forgery,&quot; Dzilikhov said. 
 Bagrov moved to Vladikavkaz from his native Tbilisi, Georgia, with a Soviet passport in 1992. Dzilikhov said Bagrov had no reason to forge the document as he met several criteria to receive citizenship, including a Russian mother and wife, an apartment, and a Russian higher education. The Iristonsky prosecutor's office could not be reached for comment Friday, and a spokesman for the North Ossetian prosecutor's office said he had no information regarding the case.
 Dzilikhov said investigators violated Bagrov's right to be immediately notified about the case. &quot;We received the notification on Oct. 5, and it said the case was opened Sept. 17,&quot; he said.
 Bagrov said he resigned from the AP earlier in the week but did not elaborate. He had worked as an AP stringer for five years. The AP bureau in Moscow declined to comment. 
 Bagrov remains a stringer for U.S. government-funded Radio Liberty. Maria Klein, head of Radio Liberty's Russian news service, was quoted by Kommersant on Friday as saying several of the station's reporters across the country have been facing pressure to resign.
 Soria Blatmann, of Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, said Friday that the organization has not yet spoken with Bagrov but that the passport confiscation was a &quot;strange measure.&quot;
 &quot;Anytime a government takes a passport away from a journalist, it's a bad sign for democracy,&quot; Blatmann said.
 Reporters Without Borders has strongly criticized the authorities over two other journalists failing to reach Beslan to report on the hostage crisis. 
 On Sept. 2, Radio Liberty journalist Andrei Babitsky was detained at Vnukovo Airport, charged with hooliganism after an apparently unprovoked attack on him, and jailed for five days. 
 Novaya Gazeta reporter Anna Politkovskaya fell ill as she traveled to Beslan and had to be hospitalized. She said she was poisoned.

TITLE: Political Parties Saw
 Fortunes Rise, Fall
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - The pro-Kremlin Unity party began raking in millions of dollars in 2001 under a Saddam Hussein-approved oil scheme aimed at currying political favor, a CIA report shows.
 
In the meantime, the Communist and Liberal Democratic parties, which had been profiting from Iraqi oil sales for years, saw their revenues start to dry up and then abruptly end, the report says. An obscure party led by a Chechen woman, meanwhile, steadily collected an estimated $10 million from May 1998 up to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq last year.
 Unity and the Emergency Situations Ministry - both led by Sergei Shoigu - pocketed about $6.8 million from July to November 2001, the report says. By the Iraq war, they had received a total of $14.9 million in profit on the sale of 47.1 million barrels of Iraqi oil.
 The report does not specify how the money was distributed between Unity, which became United Russia, and the Emergency Situations Ministry.
 The Communists made the most money of any party, an estimated $23.26 million on 83.9 million barrels of oil over five years, the report says. Iraq allotted its first oil supplies to companies connected to the Communist Party in 1997 - the same year that Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov visited Baghdad for talks with Hussein.
 Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, or LDPR, also visited Baghdad in 1997, and his party also got its first allotment of oil supplies that year, the report says. LDPR earned a total of $11.6 million on 35.9 million barrels of oil over five years.
 Both the Communists and LDPR stopped getting oil in May 2002. The report says the Communists were allotted oil but failed to take it, while LDPR failed to sign a contract.
 Peace and Unity, which took part in the 1999 and 2003 State Duma elections but never won a seat, received vouchers for a total of 21.8 million barrels. The party was created in 1996 and is headed by Sazhi Umalatova, a Chechen woman. 
 Party representatives could not be located for comment Thursday.
 A Communist Party official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, acknowledged Thursday that the party was involved in the program but said the &quot;revenues were not as high as the CIA report said.&quot;
 &quot;The operation was done through firms. The party took part in it, but indirectly. Only a very few people in the party know about how things worked,&quot; the official said.
 The report says the Communists' allocations were traded by a Russian company called ACTEC, a leading foreign oil lifter in Iraq. The owner of the company could not be confirmed Thursday.
 Other Communists flatly denied the report. &quot;To realize such a program you need to have an economic structure, but the Communist Party to my great regret - and I want to stress this - does not,&quot; Duma Deputy Vladimir Kashin said.
 LDPR also denied the report. &quot;I never took a drop [of oil] or a single dollar from Iraq,&quot; Zhirinovsky said, Interfax reported.
 Interestingly, the report says much of LDPR's oil was passed on to Machinoimport, a foreign economic association within the Economic Development and Trade Ministry. LDPR, which was founded in 1989, is widely believed to have received Kremlin support in the early 1990s to steal votes from the Communists. Zhirinovsky has regularly backed Kremlin initiatives, both from President Boris Yeltsin and President Vladimir Putin.
 Machinoimport first vice president Nikolai Dorofeyev bristled when asked for comment Thursday. &quot;I don't care about reports by the CIA. I have better things to do. That's their problem,&quot; he said, slamming down the phone. 
 Spokespeople at the Emergency Situations Ministry promised to provide a comment and repeatedly asked a reporter to call back. But they did not have a comment ready before leaving the office for the day.
 A senior United Russia deputy said he was unfamiliar with the oil program. &quot;I don't think Unity took part in the program, but I do not know anything about it,&quot; said Oleg Kovalyov, chairman of the Duma's Management Committee.
 Unity was just emerging as a powerful political force when it reportedly hopped onto the Iraqi oil bandwagon in 2001. Its oil vouchers were handled by Emercom, the trading arm of the Emergency Situations Ministry, the report says.
 The report, released Wednesday, says Hussein issued secret vouchers for the purchase of oil to numerous officials and political figures from various countries, mainly Russia, France and China. The oil could then be resold at a profit.
 It says the aim was to win the support of UN Security Council members for an end to UN sanctions imposed after the Gulf War in 1991. Russia, France and China hold three of the council's five permanent seats.
 Russia, together with France and Germany, fiercely opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq last year. Russia, France and China had exerted increasing pressure on the UN to get sanctions on Iraq lifted.
 Years earlier, Hussein managed to muster support among Russian politicians as well. In June 1997, the same month that LDPR allegedly got its first oil, the Duma approved a Zhirinovsky-drafted measure urging the Kremlin to ignore the UN sanctions. The measure died after being rejected by the Federation Council.
 Zhirinovsky visited Iraq frequently and bragged about his close friendship with Hussein. He organized a volunteer force called the Falcons of Zhirinovsky that went to Baghdad to show solidarity during the 1991 Gulf War.
 Zhirinovsky and other LDPR officials flew to Baghdad with a planeload of medical supplies in December 1997, at about the time that LDPR's first consignment of oil ended.
 Zyuganov has visited Baghdad at least twice, in November 1997 and February 2003. On the 1997 visit he told reporters that he was hoping to develop a closer relationship between the Communist Party and Hussein's ruling Baath party.
 The CIA report says Hussein also funneled money to leftist parties in other countries, including Ukraine, Belarus and Slovakia.
 
 <i>
Staff Writers Catherine Belton and Valeria Korchagina contributed to this report. </i>

TITLE: Opposition Seeks Common Ground
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: MOSCOW - United by their resistance to President Vladimir Putin's electoral reform plans, opposition politicians gathered Thursday to discuss ways of countering what they described as a lethal threat to Russia's fragile democracy. 
 
The conference brought together party leaders - from Communists to liberals - in a rare case of the fragmented and weakened opposition finding common ground. 
 Most leaders spoke of a need for closer coordination in opposing Putin's planned changes, and some also called for the creation of a new umbrella group to unite Kremlin opponents. 
 &quot;The Kremlin has launched an attack on civil society in all directions, and we must consolidate all elements of civil society,&quot; liberal State Duma Deputy Vladimir Ryzhkov said at the conference, which was organized by the International Republican Institute and Indem think tanks. 
 Putin last month proposed a series of moves to increase the Kremlin's already overwhelming grip on power, saying strong government was needed in response to recent terrorist attacks, including last month's Beslan school attack.
 He initiated legislation to have governors appointed by the Kremlin, instead of elected, and to end the election of Duma deputies through district races. 
 &quot;They cynically used the tragedy to pursue their interests,&quot; said Sergei Mitrokhin, a senior Yabloko party official. 
 &quot;We must turn to the experience of the dissident movement,&quot; Mitrokhin said, urging liberal parties to focus more on staging street protests. 
 Boris Nadezhdin, a leader in the liberal Union of Right Forces, or SPS, said his party would back Mitrokhin, who is running in a Moscow vote to fill a vacant seat in the State Duma. 
 Irina Khakamada, a former SPS leader, said Yabloko could serve as a core for a new broader opposition party. 
 &quot;Yabloko always has had a strong social platform&quot; that could help rally broader public support, Khakamada said. 
 Nationalist Deputy Sergei Glazyev, who ran in March's presidential vote, said the opposition must focus on staging a nationwide referendum on government economic policies and the electoral reforms - a strategy that could consolidate the opposition and help counter Kremlin moves.

TITLE: Judges Who Have Lost Their Jobs Speak Out
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - A Federation Council bill to give the Kremlin the right to hire and fire judges would become the last nail in the coffin of Russia's already weak judiciary system, said two former senior judges who say they lost their posts after refusing to obey informal orders from the executive branch of government.
 
The bill, which was overwhelmingly approved by Federation Council senators last month, is likely to prompt a number of judges to quit, former Moscow City Court judges Sergei Pashin and Olga Kudeshkina said.
 They said that even now there is little place for honest judges in courtrooms - judges face pressure from their superiors, who are appointed by presidential decree, and are more concerned about keeping their jobs than defending justice.
 If the bill is approved, the judiciary system will be fully under the Kremlin's control, and the Kremlin will be able to get unconstitutional bills passed into law, Pashin said.
 &quot;The judiciary system is already under the Kremlin's influence,&quot; Kudeshkina said. &quot;But if this terrible bill is approved, it means that we will lose any hope of seeing an independent judicial system in Russia, since it will be completely in the hands of the Kremlin.&quot;
 The bill would allow the Kremlin to appoint half of the members of the Supreme Qualification Collegium and the Federation Council to pick the rest. The collegium is the only authority in the country that can fire judges, and it also appoints judges to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Arbitration Court.
 The Supreme Qualification Collegium now consists of 29 members, 18 of whom are judges elected by secret ballot every four years by the All-Russia Congress of Judges, an association of judges. Ten members are public representatives appointed by the Federation Council, while the remaining one is appointed by the president.
 The Federation Council's bill proposes cutting the members of the collegium to 21 people. The judges on the collegium would be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Federation Council, while public representatives would be nominated by the speaker of the Federation Council and approved by the chamber. The president would keep the right to pick his representative.
 The bill allows the president to fire the judges on the collegium with the collegium's consent and the Federation Council to fire the public representatives.
 &quot;This initiative will weaken the foundation of judicial authority and erase the notion of separation of powers,&quot; Pashin said.
 He and Kudeshkina spoke to a reporter after a round table on the judicial reform last week. Many judges are now leaving their posts for better jobs, Pashin said, and &quot;if the bill is approved, there will be more of them leaving the courts.&quot;
 Kudeshkina said judges are under constant pressure from their superiors. &quot;This is not encouraging people to stay,&quot; she said. Kudeshkina said she was disqualified from serving as a judge last year after she refused to rule in favor of prosecutors in the case of Pavel Zaitsev, the Interior Ministry investigator who headed a controversial fraud probe connected to the Tri Kita furniture store.
 Chief judges in Russian courts are appointed by presidential decree after being selected by members of the presidential administration. 
 What's more, Pashin said, chief judges are appointed for six years and their reappointment depends on the presidential administration.
 Chief judges have a central role in the courts' work, as they decide which judge will hear which case. &quot;A chief judge usually gives cases that are important to the powers-that-be to a pliable judge who will rule in the expected way, since he is the one who gets the call from the presidential administration,&quot; Kudeshkina said.
 When Kudeshkina refused to rule in favor of prosecutors in the Tri Kita case, Yegorova took the case away from her - in violation of the law - and gave it to another judge, Kudeshkina said.
 No comment was available from the Moscow City Court.
 In the latest chapter of the three-year case, the Moscow City Court in November handed Zaitsev a two-year suspended sentence after convicting him of abuse of office. Kudeshkina was accused of violating rules of courtroom conduct and disqualified from acting as a judge. 
 Kudeshkina, who first complained about being pressured in December 2003, is appealing her disqualification.
 &quot;This is what happens when chairmen are under the Kremlin's control. But the situation will be even worse if the Kremlin picks the members of the qualification collegium,&quot; she said.
 Pashin said he was dismissed by the Moscow qualification collegium for refusing to rule against a conscript who asked for his constitutional right to do alternative service instead of joining the army. &quot;I was dismissed just because I ruled against the decisions of the powers that be, but I appealed the decision and won,&quot; Pashin said. 
 &quot;But Moscow City Court officials made the situation so unbearable for me that I had to resign,&quot; he said.
 Under judicial rules, judges are dismissed by the local qualification collegia on the recommendation of court chairmen.


TITLE: Women's Club Provides Companionship, Community
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: The St. Petersburg International Women's Club means many different things to its many different members. 
 
To some, it's a social club, a place to meet other English-speaking women with similar interests; to others it's a support network, providing a wealth of advice for foreign women experiencing the sometimes difficult transition to the Russian culture and lifestyle; and still to others, it serves as a organization raising money for the city's various charitable organizations. 
 But for most, the International Women's Club (IWC) is a combination of all these things and more.
 Founded in Leningrad in 1986, the IWC is a non-profit, volunteer-driven organization comprised of both international and Russian women, which aims to welcome and assist all English-speaking, international women living in St. Petersburg and to foster communication with sister Russian nationals. The current membership is about 100. The majority of members are foreign nationals, but club membership is also open to Russian women married to foreign men and a few select English-speaking Russian women whose memberships are recommended by current members. 
 The club's charter allows Russian women to constitute to 20 percent of the membership, as opposed to the International Women's Club in Moscow, where Russian membership cannot exceed 5 percent. The St. Petersburg IWC is entirely independent and is not affiliated with any other international women's club worldwide. 
 &quot;Transitioning to a new culture, being unable to express yourself in the local language are some of the greatest challenges international women face here,&quot; said Carolyn Coram, President of the IWC. &quot;The language can be a big stress for foreigners because you want to live the independent, intellectual life that you know you are capable of living and when you don't know the language feelings of helplessness abound.&quot; 
 A former elementary school principal from North Carolina, Coram first came to St. Petersburg in 1996. From St. Petersburg she moved again with her husband, Clint Coram, director of engineering services at JTI-Petro, to Geneva, Switzerland, where she served as President of the American International Women's Club. 
 In 2000, the couple returned and Coram joined the executive committee of the IWC first as recording secretary and now in her second year as president. 
 &quot;I have found that the club has enabled me to operate as an intelligent person again - a person capable of finding resources, making decisions and acting accordingly,&quot; she said. &quot;Most of our women, I would say at least 80 percent of our membership, have had professional lives. Many of them have been forced into early retirement and that can be very difficult. This, combined with the lack of Russian language skills, can make a once confident woman feel dependent and inadequate.&quot; 
 One way the IWC helps women settle and start functioning in St. Petersburg is by producing an invaluable, constantly updated resource called the &quot;IWC Tips Book.&quot; Containing loads of useful information on everything from visa support to English-speaking tailors, many grateful members refer to it as their &quot;bible.&quot; 
 &quot;An important aspect of the club is this sharing of resources and information,&quot; Coram says. &quot;It can be extremely frustrating when you first arrive. Where do you buy your groceries? Where do you find a good repairman or a picture framer? The Tips Book and IWC members can help you find solutions.&quot; 
 A native of Budapest, Hungary, IWC Vice President, Csenge Bosse never imagined that she would have to make so many adjustments to the Russian lifestyle when she moved here two years ago. She married her husband, Gerhard Bosse, Resident Manager at Grand Hotel Europe, in St. Petersburg last year. 
 &quot;I was born in a Soviet-bloc country. I studied Russian in school. But I was lost when I first came here,&quot; said Bosse. 
 &quot;My husband and I were living far outside the city. I didn't know anyone there and I had no activities. Finally, we moved to the center and I met [IWC members] Jane Helms and Ariya Leitzke and my whole perspective on the city changed. After joining the club, I'm absolutely looking forward to staying here another year.&quot; 
 In fact, Bosse is writing a book in Hungarian about her unique experiences in St. Petersburg, including the time her husband boarded a downtown trolleybus and sat down next to a live bear and his handler both on their way to the Strelka. &quot;The bear was on his way to work,&quot; she said laughing.
 IWC member Irina Ventsel emigrated from Leningrad to the United States in the mid-70s. After marrying an American journalist whom she met in New York, the two settled down in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. When they both retired in 2000, they decided to return to St. Petersburg. A former speech therapist, Ventsel joined the IWC as a way to establish contact with women in the international community. 
 &quot;I had been living in the United States for the last 25 years, and although I was happy to be back in my native city and reestablish relationships with old friends, it was still important to me to have international, English-speaking friends,&quot; Ventsel said. &quot;The IWC is a great way to meet people.&quot; 
 Ventsel is also one of the most dedicated volunteers in the club and often arranges visits to hospitals and orphanages for other interested women. The IWC holds several fundraising events throughout the year to raise money for social organizations in the city and the Northwest region. 
 Every organization they support is visited and monitored by the chairman of the charity committee Odilia Hoeks-De Ranitz, the wife of Dutch Consul General Eduard Hoeks, to ensure that the club gets a clear sense of the needs of a particular organization and that the funds and/or donated items are put to proper use. The IWC is also home to several special activity groups that meet individually weekly or monthly. Peter's Tea is one of the most popular events. Held every Thursday in a member's home, Peter's Tea is purely a social affair where members get together to meet and greet each other over tea and biscuits. Members and guests pay a small fee that is later donated to charity. 
 Other interest groups include 'International Cuisine' cooking class, arts and crafts, Hermitage and Russian Museum tours, ballet for adults, book club, bridge, and even a painting and drawing class. 
 &quot;The long, gray winter in St. Petersburg causes the greatest difficulties for our members,&quot; Coram said. 
 &quot;So we try to increase the amount of club activities during the harshest months. In January and February, we will be preparing for our annual Spring Fair on April 9.&quot; 
 The IWC is always open to new faces and fresh ideas and members regularly form new groups. As Honorary President, Betty Hughes, the wife of the U.S. Consul General Morris Hughes, said at an open meeting in the Renaissance Hotel in September: &quot;Every woman is unique. This club is for you. Think how you can contribute to it.&quot; 
 
 <i>
For further information, please direct inquiries to iwcsp@hotmail.com </i>

TITLE: City Looks to Cash In on Land Auctions
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: City government has decided to break off an agreement it made with oil major Lukoil to allocate the company land plots for gas stations. The move does not, however, mean Smolny has stopped seeking &quot;strategic agreements&quot; with other large investors as Gazprom, Rosneft, Vneshtorgbank and Moscow hotel industry players look to expand their operations in the city.
 
In April, Lukoil president Vagit Alekperov made an agreement with Governor Valentina Matviyenko to invest over $100 million into gas station construction as long as it was directly allocated 60 gas station plots. The taxation from the investment would have proved lucrative for the city budget.
 &quot;Only fools and the deceased do not change their mind,&quot; said Governor Valentina Matviyenko about Smolny's strategy shift as reported by business daily Delovoi Peterburg. &quot;We've seen how successful the first gas station land auctions turned out to be and decided that 40 more plots will be put up for auction soon,&quot; said Matviyenko. &quot;Lukoil can take part in the sale on par conditions that apply to everybody.&quot;
 At the end of August, the city collected $1.7 million from the sale of the rights to lease three land-plots, and apparently such a juicy take gave the administration a taste for more. &quot;We're happy with the results of the first auction,&quot; admitted Matviyenko.
 Nonetheless, the city urged that it continues to seek &quot;social and strategic cooperation&quot; with large investors in other areas. Gazprom, the country's leading natural gas provider, said it will heavily invest into developing the city's infrastructure in 2005. &quot;The total volume of our investments in St. Petersburg next year will be over 1 billion rubles ($33 million),&quot; said the head of Gazprom's board of directors, Alexei Miller on Friday. 
 Miller said that Gazprom and the city government plan to sign a cooperation agreement for 2005 in November this year. &quot;The key points of the document have already been agreed upon,&quot; said Miller. About 500 million rubles is to be allocated for facilities and pipe lines reconstruction, while the other 500 million will be spent on building new pipe lines in the city and the Oblast. 
 Gazprom's tax payments, however, will hardly bring a considerable addition to a city budget that is expected to top 112 billion rubles next year. &quot;Gazpromregiongaz [the subsidiary Gazprom plans to move to the city] is not a major part of the gas monopoly [Gazprom] and it will control no more than 5 percent of the company's total profits,&quot; said Aton Research analyst Steven Dashevsky. 
 Experts have estimated Gazpromregiongaz's tax contributions at 40 million to 200 million rubles, reported business daily Vedomosti, depending on the cost of the business center the company plans to build and the financial controls it will be allocated from its head offices in Moscow.
 Other Moscow players seeking expansion in the city include Vneshtorgbank, Rosneft and a few hotel chains. 
 Matviyenko said she expects Vneshtorgbank (VTB), the second largest bank in the country, to re-register in St. Petersburg at the beginning of 2005. Though VTB's senior vice president Vasily Titov commented that he believed it too early to talk about the move of the bank's headquarters, other VTB sources said one of the bank's shareholders - the State - will simply re-register it on paper, while leaving the offices where they are - in Moscow. &quot;In two years we will determine our development strategy in the Northwest, &quot; said VTB, currently in the process of purchasing the local Promstroibank. 
 Meanwhile Rosneft, another gas trader, had also announced opening a subsidiary, RN-Trade, in the city. Considering the company's expected merger with Gazprom in a few months, the analysts explain the move as rather a political step than an economic necessity. City administration said RN-Trade's contributions to the city budget will come to $50 million a year, although it is unclear what the company's activity will be like after the merger.
 A further profit source for the city budget is expected to be the sale of hotel shares. Here Moscow companies have also been active, with Metalloinvest Market recently purchasing the Yuzhnaya and Turist hotel packages, and Sintez Development buying a land plot on Nevsky for real-estate development.
 Matviyenko said she expects to collecting an additional 316 million rubles in income and property taxes by 2006.

TITLE: Train Service Berlin-St. Petersburg to Start in '05
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: The Talgo train will come into service along the Berlin-St. Petersburg route in May 2005.
 
The tourist orientated train service will run a Berlin-Kalinningrad-Vilnus-Riga-Tallinn-St. Petersburg route starting May 26 next year, said the Russian Railroads passenger transit department director Oleg Nikitin on Friday.
 The Talgo project was proposed by German railroad professionals during the Fourth International Seminar &quot;Railroads as means to international cultural exchange and tourism,&quot; which took place in St. Petersburg last week. Nikitin said the proposal was found to have great potential and a cooperation agreement was signed by the Russian and German railroad representatives to develop the Berlin-St. Petersburg rail route. 
 Besides the above project, other railroad developments were agreed upon at the seminar, Nikitin said. New border transit points will be opened between Russia and Finland at Svetogorsk-Imatra and Kivijarvi-Vartius, where the existing transit points can not handle current volumes of travelers. The opening of new transit points is especially necessary for the Christmas and New Year periods when the volume of travelers increases, Nikitin said.
 Russian Railroads have developed 120,000 kilometers of new tourist rail routes since the beginning of the year. That is 17 percent higher than last year's number, Nikitin said.
 The route additions were made along the TransSiberian and the Krugobaikal railroads, Russia's Golden Ring, the Moscow-St. Petersburg route, the steam engine route around Lake Ladozhskoye, and a transit trip through Russia to China along the Silk Route.
 &quot;This shows that tourism industry in Russia is growing and it has good potential. We actively work on developing new geographical routes,&quot; said Nikitin.

TITLE: IN BRIEF
TEXT: <b>Cartoon Rights Debated
 </b>

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - Continuing his fight for intellectual property rights to Masyanya cartoon character, the creator Oleg Kuvayev will sue the Muz-TV television channel. "The suit is signed and is currently being edited by lawyers," said Gali Shvedkovskaya, Kuvayev's projects producer to Interfax on Monday.
 "Muz-TV has been informed in writing several times about the necessity to stop the program 'Visiting Masyanya,' since the contract that formed Muz-TV's deal with [defendant] has been found illegal by the Moscow Arbitration Court on May 7," Shvedkovskaya said. She has also said the channel's representatives have insisted on meeting with Kuvayev personally but have postponed the meeting three times already, without giving any explanation.
 Muz-TV's PR director Artyem Korotkov replied: "We have not received a legal complaint from Kuvayev."
 
 
<b>Toyota Plans Car Plant
 </b>

ST PETERSBURG (Interfax) - Japanese Toyota Corp. is holding talks with the authorities of Leningrad Oblast about the possibility of building a car-assembly plant in the locality, reported a government source to Interfax.
 According to the source, the Japanese company is currently studying the area for the best location for the plant in the Leningrad Oblast: "They are looking for a 400 hectare plot." 



TITLE: Yukos Gets a 3-Month Reprieve
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - The Natural Resources Ministry gave Yukos a three-month stay of execution, late last week. The company has three months to rectify tax payments at its core production unit, Yuganskneftegaz, or face losing key production licenses.
 
The ruling appears to give the oil major breathing room and likely puts a temporary halt on any attempt to reduce the value of Yugansk, which produces more than 60 percent of Yukos' oil. 
 &quot;The revocation of licenses is possible only in three months and only if the company does not correct the violations,&quot; Natural Resources Minister Yury Trutnev said Friday, media reported.
 The Justice Ministry is aiming to sell Yugansk to settle Yukos' mushrooming back tax bills of more than $8 billion. 
 Yukos has been teetering on the verge of insolvency for months, as tax authorities have tried to extract $3.4 billion in back taxes and penalties for 2000 and $4.1 billion for 2001. Also added to the total bill last week was a demand for Yugansk to pay off $951 million for 2002. The production unit's 2001 records are also being investigated.
 &quot;I believe there can't be any withdrawal because it is illegal to withdraw licenses without prior warning and without giving a chance to rectify breaches within the next three months,&quot; Trutnev told reporters at an economic forum in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
 The Natural Resources Ministry reviewed Yugansk's production licenses on Friday at the request of the Federal Tax Service. 
 With Yukos' bank accounts frozen and minimal cash available to maintain operations, Yugansk has been unable to pay current tax bills in recent months - a violation of production license agreements that gives sufficient grounds for them to be revoked. 
 Depriving Yugansk of its production licenses would slash its value tenfold, giving a chance for domestic companies to grab the asset cheaply. 
 Investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein has valued Yugansk, with its licenses in place, at between $15.7 billion and $17.4 billion, Yukos board chairman Viktor Gerashchenko said at an economic forum in Washington last week, news agencies reported. 
 Dresdner had not confirmed the valuation by Sunday evening, but Gerashchenko's figures were broadly in line with earlier leaks of Yugansk's valuation, as well as analysts' estimates that it is worth about $16 billion.
 At this price Yugansk is out of reach for any Russian bidder, although its price is a secondary issue, Gerashchenko said.
 &quot;There is not a single Russian company that could afford to buy Yuganskneftegaz for even $10 billion, and the government does not want to give it up to a Western company,&quot; Gerashchenko said.
 A Yukos spokesman last week said that the government had asked Dresdner to provide valuations for 25 percent, 50 percent and 75 percent of Yugansk, with a view to possibly selling off the production unit in chunks.
 The yearlong legal onslaught against Yukos is widely seen as part of a struggle between the Kremlin and Group Menatep, whose founder, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, is on trial on separate charges of large-scale fraud and tax evasion. 
 Gerashchenko said Yukos has paid $3 billion toward its back tax bills and would be able to pay another $500 million in October. He also said that Yukos, the country's biggest oil exporter, could pay up to $10 billion in back tax bills by July 2006 if given the time to do so.
 Analysts agree that with tax probes into Yukos for 2002 and 2003, the final bill could easily reach $10 billion. The chances of Yukos being allowed the extra time, however, appear to be slim. 
 The company has said it sent about 50 proposals to the government, offering a variety of options to settle the tax problems. 
 No response has yet been received, the company has said.
 Gerashchenko also hinted that the government could be obstructing the resumption of Yukos crude supplies to China. Yukos said last month that it would have to suspend exports to the Chinese National Petroleum Corporation, due to a lack of funds to pay for crude transportation and export duties. 
 The Chinese company said it was ready in principle to front the transportation costs, in return for a reduced price on the crude.
 Gerashchenko said the Chinese government &quot;asked the Russian Embassy in Beijing [to solve the problem], which asked the Foreign Ministry in Moscow, which asked the Economic Development and Trade Ministry, but there was no answer.&quot; 
 Yukos earlier said it would have to cut exports to CNPC by about 1 million tons over the next three months, due to insolvency problems.
 It was also unclear Sunday whether, at the end of the three-month grace period given to Yugansk to correct its license violations, Yukos would be able to keep the production unit and Yugansk would retain its right to pump oil. 
 The company remains cut off from most of its revenues due to an accounts freeze.
 &quot;We certainly accept that failure to pay taxes is a violation of the license agreement. But we would like to note that the tax debt occurred as a result of the arrest of the unit's accounts,&quot; Yukos spokesman Alexander Shadrin said Sunday.
 &quot;Undoubtedly, if the accounts are unblocked, Yuganskneftegaz will pay all its taxes and hence correct all the violations,&quot; he said.
 Yukos on Friday confirmed that it would return a 57.7 percent stake in Sibneft as part of the unwinding of an abortive merger between the two companies. Sibneft's core shareholders called off the merger after Khodorkovsky's arrest on Oct. 25 last year. 
 Yukos said in a statement Friday that it would continue its legal attempts to return its stake in Sibneft in which it still owns a total of 35 percent.

TITLE: Cargo Volumes to Increase On TransSiberian Route
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Russian Railways on Friday gave final approval to a project that will offer cargo shippers a shorter route between Asia and Europe and boost container volumes on the underused Trans-Siberian Railroad.
 
The board of the state-owned rail monopoly approved the creation of a $16 million tie-up with Vladivostok-based Far Eastern Shipping Co., or FESCO, to begin hauling 150,000 containers per year starting in January.
 &quot;Today the board armed us with an innovative decision that allows for a breakthrough in container shipments,&quot; Gennady Fadeyev, president of Russian Railways, or RZD, said in a statement.
 The 50-50 venture, Russkaya Troika, will target shippers now sending their cargoes between Europe and Asia via the Indian Ocean and the Suez Canal.
 Cargo shipments on the Europe-Asia route are booming, and Fadeyev said Russkaya Troika is well positioned to grab a significant chunk of the business. The company will undercut the prices oceangoing vessels charge by 13 percent, while delivering goods more than twice as quickly - in just two weeks instead of 35 days to 40 days, he said.
 &quot;The agent, sea, forwarder, rail and agent again make a huge chain. All this will be eliminated and it will be just one shipper on a gigantic 15,000-kilometer strip,&quot; Fadeyev said.
 Fadeyev said the company is planning to move 300,000 20-foot containers per year via the Trans-Siberian within five years. He said the venture will borrow $45.4 million to fund operations and use its profits to build up its rolling stock.
 The venture has already ordered 10 ships from companies in China, Poland and Japan that will ferry goods between Vladivostok and ports in 15 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
 &quot;We are very enthusiastic about this project. The container market is underdeveloped in Russia,&quot; FESCO general director Yevgeny Ambrosov said in a recent interview.

TITLE: IN BRIEF
TEXT: <b>Drug-Named Ice Cream
 </b>

ROSTOV-ON-DON (AP) - Whatever happened to chocolate, vanilla and strawberry? 
 A court in southern Russia has banned the sale of Ukrainian ice cream that hit the shelves under names alluding to drugs, such as Your Hemp Dose and Poppy Fun, a regional drug control official said Friday. 
 Narcotics officers in the city of Rostov-on-Don filed suit after noticing the ice cream in kiosks. A district court ordered the product removed from all shops and other points of sale in the region, said Larisa Maslova, spokeswoman for the Rostov region drug control department. 
 Tests revealed no illegal substances in the ice cream, but authorities said "psycholinguistic and narco-psychological research" confirmed the ice cream's labels could "create and support an interest in narcotic drugs made from hemp and opium poppies," Itar-Tass reported.
 
 
<b>EBRD Mulls $1.3Bln 
 </b>

WASHINGTON (Bloomberg) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the largest investor in Eastern Europe, may invest as much as $1.3 billion in Russia next year as the nation moves ahead with reforms, president Jean Lemierre said.
 The EBRD may invest in banking, general industry, agriculture and the automotive industry, Lemierre said in an interview during a conference in Washington. The EBRD will invest about $1 billion this year, he said.
 
<b>Thailand Snubs Sukhoi
 </b>

BANGKOK, Thailand (Reuters) - Thailand has picked Swedish/British JAS 39 Gripen fighters over Sukhoi Su-30s to replace its aging fleet of 16 U.S.-made F-5 fighters, a deal that could be worth $230 million, Air Chief Marshal Kongsak Wantana said Friday.
 Kongsak said the air force decided against Sukhoi Su-30s because Thailand has never used Russian warplanes. Vedomosti said in August that Thailand wanted to buy at least six Sukhoi Su-30s worth $200 million. 
 The Swedish government announced plans to visit Thailand to discuss a deal that could see Thailand's agricultural resources tapped as part payment for the jets. Kongsak said the jets would be sold at a "friendly" price on a government-to-government contract and would cost about $14 million each, putting the bill at $230 million. 
 
 
<b>Car Sales Boom
 </b>

MOSCOW (Bloomberg) - Ford, the second-largest U.S. automaker, and Toyota, Asia's largest carmaker, said their sales in Russia increased as economic growth boosted demand.
 Ford's Russian sales in the third quarter increased 86 percent from a year earlier, to 10,019 cars, the company said on its web site. Toyota sales, including Lexus cars, rose 40.7 percent to 11,876 in the quarter, according to the company's web site.
 Ford said it plans to sell 40,000 cars in Russia this year, after selling 26,593 cars from January through September. Toyota said its sales in Russia increased 86.8 percent in January-September from a year earlier, to 32,913 cars. It did not give a Russian sales target for 2004.
 
 
<b>Smolensky Loses Cash
 </b>

LONDON (Bloomberg) - TVR Engineering, a closely held British maker of sports cars that was bought by Nikolai Smolensky in July, reported an annual loss after the collapse of an unidentified engine parts supplier left Pound3 million ($5.35 million) worth of cars unsold, The Daily Telegraph reported Friday, citing documents filed at Companies House.
 TVR had a pre-tax loss of Pound833,011 ($1.5 million) for the year ended Dec. 31, compared with a profit of Pound392,413 in the same period a year earlier. 



TITLE: Baltic Sea Region to Develop via Integration
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: Innovation and competitiveness are the two main priorities for Baltic Sea region development, Uffe Ellemann-Jensen, the former Danish foreign minister and the chairman of Baltic Development Forum said as his concluding remarks at the 6th Baltic Development Summit.
 The summit took place in Hamburg last month, and aimed at presenting reports on the conditions of the Baltic Sea region, on competitiveness and new enterprises in the area, and looked to promote further cooperation between the participating countries.
 
The Baltic Development Forum summit - an annual conference held in one of the cities of the Baltic Sea region (Riga last year, Stockholm next year) - gathers the region's leading figures from politics, business, academia, research, and media, and acts as a communication platform for future integration and cooperation in the area.
 Along with the communicative function, there are a number of reports and research projects being presented each year which reflect the current state of the region, its problems, prospects and challenges. 
 One of the projects - &quot;State of the region report 2004: an assessment of competitiveness in the Baltic Sea Region&quot; - was developed by Vinnova (a Swedish Agency for innovation systems), Stockholm School of Economics and Harvard Business School. It can be seen as one of the most important analytical reports, providing data and research on the region.
 According to Per Eriksson, the general director of Vinnova, the economy is becoming more knowledge-based and global. At the same time, &quot;European Union has set a goal to become the world's most dynamic knowledge-based economy,&quot; and, within it, &quot;the Baltic Sea region, has the potential to become the region with the most dynamic growth in the EU&quot;.
 One of the key prerequisites for regional growth is R&amp;D innovation. Erikssoon stressed that R&amp;D must be strongly linked to business needs, and technology cooperation has to shift from the Public-Private Partnership model (public organization and private business working in tandem) to a Public-Private-University Partnership model - thus, bringing scientific research into business.
 As mentioned in many of the sessions and panel discussions, the Baltic Sea region is entering a new era. 
 Many new trade and organizational ties are being formed, while &quot;reality as regards to benefits raises demand for deeper cooperation&quot;. 
 Nonetheless, a &quot;new era requires a new strategy&quot;. As an economical body, the region has the advantage of having high labor utilization (employees per capita and hours worked per employee are the highest out of all the EU regions). However, there is a disadvantage: low domestic purchasing power - the lowest of all the EU regions. In other words, the Baltic Sea region is a very expensive region to live in.
 Because Russia is part of the Baltic Sea region, it's considered an equal partner for development and cooperation in many ways, although the country is still falling behind in a number of economic indicators. For example, although the Baltic Sea region reported the highest prosperity growth of the four European regions, outperforming EU-15 and EU-25 in terms of real GDP growth, Russia has the lowest GDP per capita (slightly over $5000 per year).
 This is despite the fact that its growth is one of the fastest in the region.
 Compared to the average country in the region, Russia is responsible for only 37 percent of the area's prosperity (Nordic Countries - 154 percent, Germany - 150 percent, the Baltic countries and Poland - 53 percent each). At the same time, in terms of scientific publication relative to real GDP, Russia rates quite high (among the top few in the region), but this status is gradually falling (3-4 percent down per year).
 While the Baltic Sea region leads its European peer regions on the World Economic Forum's overall Business Competitiveness Index (Baltic Sea Region ranks sixth, with Finland first, Sweden third, Denmark fourth, the UK ninth, Central Europe - 21st, Iberian Peninsula - 27th), Russia comes in only at 63.
 Interestingly, the Baltic region's business environment benefits from strong physical infrastructure, a skilled labor force, low levels of corruption, strong clusters, tough regulations and companies competing on innovation and uniqueness. Its key weaknesses include low levels of local rivalry, high taxes, a high level of distortive subsidies, bureaucracy, and some signs of weakness in the education system. Russia, on the other hand, faces quite other weaknesses and enjoys different benefits.
 One of the main reasons for Russia's low competitiveness, as seen by the researchers, is its low spending on Research and Development (R&amp;D) both by the state and by businesses.This also leads to the country receiving the lowest innovative capacity ranking (Russia is 39th, whereas Finland comes first, with Germany second).
 The overall conclusion on this is that &quot;Russia stands out with an extreme imbalance between the availability of scientists on the one hand and the lack of a strong innovation policy on the other&quot;.
 Although there is no single solution to all of Russia's economical problems (especially since they are often linked to the country's political situation), the Forum did demonstrate how Russia can come to play a greater role in European integration: namely, through greater integration within the Baltic Sea region.
 The question is, however, to what extent will Russia allow this integration? In other words, will it give up some part of its economic sovereignty for the sake of regional cooperation, provided there is a strong need for this? At the moment, that is the question neither politicians nor businesspeople in Russia seem to be able to answer.

TITLE: Mes Amis, Introducing a True Russian Princess
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Princess Vera Obolensky oozes French charm yet enthralls with Russian spirituality. The director of the St. Petersburg branch of French travel company CGTT Voyages speaks fluent Russian but with a subtle French accent.
 
Born in Paris to &eacute;migr&eacute; aristocrats, Obolensky spent most of her life there until a move to St. Petersburg 8 years ago when she accepted an invitation to run the local office of French travel agency CGTT Voyages.
 Obolensky first came to the Soviet Union at the age of 26 on a business trip. 
 &quot;Everything was gloomy and gray - buildings, shops, clothes, people's faces; apart from blood red posters advertising questionable benefits of the Soviet way of life,&quot; she remembers. 
 &quot;When I think back, what comes to mind are horrendous hotels and scandals with tourists... I wasn't really enjoying these trips because they were too fixed, I had very little liberty in choosing where to go and what to see. A few times, secretly, I was able to escape, call my friends from a street telephone booth - never from a hotel! - and go see them.&quot;
 Although she describes the reforms in the country as spontaneous and drifting, Obolensky sees many positive changes and is optimistic about the future. 
 &quot;It is most encouraging to see that many Russian people are still strong, intelligent and good-hearted despite all the turbulence the country has been through,&quot; she says. &quot;But of course, all that boorishness and selfishness, which I believe is the legacy of 80 years of Communism, is still there. The drivers easily run over people, the nouveaux riches behave as if their money is a good enough excuse for them to act as they please.&quot;
 &quot;Of course, you can't compare French and Russian societies, simply because civil society in Russia hasn't yet been formed, she explains. But what can you expect after 80 years of the continual destruction of democratic values? 
 &quot;Sad to say but these days some descendants of Russian noble families are only nominally noble; nothing in their behavior suggests aristocratic background,&quot; Obolensky says, adding that there are those that do not understand the true value of nobility. In her opinion, being a Russian aristocrat requires responsibility, a kind heart and dedication. 
 It was on one of Obolensky's visits to Russia that she met her current husband, St. Petersburg violinist and artist Valentin Afanasyev, a nobleman in his own right. It was quite symbolic that they first saw each other at the first session of the Russian Nobles' Assembly in Moscow in 1992.
 One year later, they married in Preobrazhensky Cathedral. It was the first official wedding between members of the nobility in the town since the Bolshevik Revolution. 
 &quot;Even if there were such weddings in the Soviet years, it was done in secret as people were forced to hide their identity,&quot; Obolensky said.
 There were many reasons for her move to St. Petersburg 8 years ago. Her Russian husband, a native of the city, is more comfortable here, her ancestors are from here, and running a business in Russia during the transitional period seemed like a challenge that Obolensky wanted to face.
 Irina Arsentyeva, an incoming tourism manager with CGTT, has known Obolensky for 6 years.
 &quot;She is a wonderful person, who I adore and admire,&quot; Arsentyeva said. &quot;Vera is hugely charming, and she is always surrounded by the most interesting people. Her environment both at work and at home is carefully, almost artfully, arranged.&quot;
 The gracious, petite Obolensky is, in some senses, a work of art herself. Her refined features betray aristocratic origins of the 34th generation of the Obolensky family since the Ryurik dynasty (which ended in mid 16th century).
 The atmosphere in CGTT can be described as a rare combination of relaxed friendliness and efficient discipline. There is a genuine respect for its director Obolensky, the person, and the aristocrat Princess Vera. &quot;I never hide my origin because it is an integral part of my identity,&quot; she said. 
 &quot;But what really frustrates me is the manner in which some people - and unfortunately it happens very often - ask me when they hear my last name: 'Oh, are you from those, errh, what are they called, the aristos?'&quot;
 As a boss, Obolensky has a talent for choosing the right person for the right job, believes Arsentyeva. Recruitment can't be difficult for Obolensky who wins conversation companions with her open and friendly attitude. 
 &quot;She is very kind, amiable and charming... a true princess!&quot; Arsentyeva comments. &quot;She never really emphasizes her title, and I never saw her telling anyone... but everyone in the office has gotten to know about it eventually. When we ask her about her family or life in Paris, Vera is very keen to talk.&quot;
 &quot;I want to live here,&quot; Obolensky's eyes warm up as she smiles at one of her family's former properties, an ornate, cream-colored 19th century mansion on Mytninskaya Naberezhnaya. 
 Overlooking the State Hermitage Museum in the Winter Palace, the building offers a stunning view of St. Petersburg.
 Obolensky reacted with outrage to a recent proposal by St Petersburg's governor, Valentina Matviyenko, to sell some of the city's crumbling state-owned palaces, estates and mansions to private interests. 
 Her grandparents had been fortunate enough to escape Russia shortly after the Revolution.
 &quot;My grandparents were rescued by their own peasants, who warned them about the Bolsheviks' raid on their estate,&quot; the princess recalls. &quot;Dressed in peasant clothes, my family members ran away and subsequently fled the country.&quot;
 &quot;Descendants of some former owners of these places are still alive, and naturally they are all penniless having been completely robbed by the Bolsheviks,&quot; she adds with an unwittingly indignant shrug. 
 &quot;Forcing them to compete with new Russians at auctions for the right to regain what was unfairly taken from them is very unfair.&quot;
 Obolensky's feelings, however, are not widely shared in Russia, where generation after generation has been treated unfairly by the state. 
 &quot;Restitution in Russia is not going to work for one simple reason: almost every family in the country has suffered from the state in one form or another,&quot; said Mikhail Amosov, head of the Town Planning Commission of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly. &quot;[After the Bolshevik Revolution] the country went through the war, mass repression, ethnic discrimination and much more. If everyone can't be compensated, then it would be unfair to do justice just to one category of people.&quot;
 But Obolensky is not a person who is easily disheartened. 
 &quot;I strongly believe that we should at least be able to supervise the further use of these buildings,&quot; she said. &quot;We have a personal connection and the moral right to decide on this issue, and we will fight on.&quot;

TITLE: Businesses Venture to Ask for $10 Million Investments
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Investments ranging from $500,000 to $10 million were sought out by small and medium-sized Russian businesses gathered from 25 regions of the country at the Fifth Annual Russian Venture Fair held in St. Petersburg last week.
 
Attended by representatives of various investment funds, accounting and legal consultants, and government officials, the fair showcased 70 companies with innovative projects in the aerospace technology, biotechnology, IT and other hi-tech fields considered by experts to be 'the new Klondike' in the venture or high-risk investment world.
 &quot;I believe Russia has much more to offer in terms of its know-how and technical skills in these fields than China or India, but it has problems selling its ideas,&quot; said Alexander Grispos, investment manager at the Russian Technology Fund. He also acted as one of the judges for the contests between companies ran by the fair.
 Investors looked for strong management, competitor advantages on the global market, and the company's growth potential. Russian scientific potential has been attracting attention since the country opened its laboratories to the world after 70 years of isolated work unknown on the global markets.
 &quot;The West knows the [Russian chemist] Mendeleyev's school of scientific theories, but [he had] lots of followers whose theories remained unknown until 10 years ago,&quot; said Professor Victor Kartsev, CEO of Interbioscreen or IBS whose company won the Best Company grand-prix award.
 With 100 staff members and 3,000 freelance mathematicians, physicists and chemists working from Vladivosotk to Kaliningrad, IBS develops computer technology that maps the effectiveness of various chemical compositions against such diseases as AIDS, cancer, diabetes and tuberculosis, and increases the chances of finding the right combination.
 &quot;Out of 100,000 combinations only one sells as a successful pharmaceutical drug, and that is after seven to twelve years research and up to $1 billion spent on development. Our technology really eases the process,&quot; said Kartsev. 
 &quot;[Pharmaceutical giant] Pfizer got an unprecedented $2.7 billion profit from its drug Viagra. The industry has great opportunities,&quot; he said about the expected product profit.
 While Kartsev is speaking his phone rings. &quot;[Switzerland's major drug company] Hoffman Larouche just called to set up a meeting,&quot; says a gleaming Kartsev after returning from the phone call a few minutes later. &quot;I love St. Petersburg, but now it looks like we don't have time to stay,&quot; he pronounces, a big grin spreading across his red face.
 A dynamic atmosphere filled Manezh exhibition hall, where the fair was held. In booths, dining areas and conference halls people were exchanging numbers, setting up impromptu meetings and passing information on to each other in low, hushed voices. 
 The investors were represented by domestic and international investment fund top management, and the leading specialists of investment banks and governmental structures - such as European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the United States Civilian Research and Development Fund (CRDF). 
 The mix of investors, however, did meet with some criticism from the participating companies. Attracting more multi-national companies, such as Pfizer, that have venture groups specializing in innovative technology, and inviting more industry-specific investors would have been helpful, said Kartsev, echoing other company directors.
 In their turn, investors cited some company shortcomings. &quot;To large Western funds that are well-experienced in the venture industry, some of the companies' plans for strategic business development were unconvincing or even lacking,&quot; said financial adviser Yevgeny Yevdokimov, another judge at the fair.
 The strategy of accessing the company's target market and the correct valuation of that market needed to be better presented by domestic venture companies, said Yevdokimov. 
 Other investor judges cited intellectual property protection and better marketing of ideas as areas for improvement. In general, however, they said these were problems experienced by the innovative technology companies everywhere, and not specific to Russia. 
 &quot;Similar [start-up] American firms often have the same problems of representation,&quot; said Yevgeny Zaitsev, director of U.S.-based Asset Management Company (AMC).
 &quot;Venture industry investors know the specifics of the market they are dealing with, and they do not approach it with any discount for the country,&quot; said Igor Gladkikh, the coordinating director of Russian Venture Capital Association (RVCA), which organized the fair. 
 For the Russian venture industry as a whole, such feedback reads as a noticeable improvement on five years ago, when the first venture fair was held. &quot;Back then, many of us could not tell the difference between the words 'investment' and 'innovation,'&quot; said the director of RVCA, Albina Nikkonen. 
 Founded in 1997, RVCA has been working on promoting Russia's bulging venture capital field: namely, teaching companies business-savvy and channeling investors towards promising ventures. 
 The association has also been continuing to clear up the massive gray area of legislative and bureaucratic traps surrounding the venture investment field in Russia, a country that had no investment culture or infrastructure until just a few years ago. 
 As an example, to get the permission to invest into a company in the mid 90s, a fund had to collect a fist-thick bilingual documents package for submission to the Central Bank, which would then take about nine months to respond.
 Originally formed by 11 EBRD-backed regional funds, the 10-year old industry has been growing, slowly but surely. 
 In 2004, the total industry capitalization reached $3.1 billion, with investors contributing over $2.4 billion to 353 Russian venture companies, according to RCA statistics. 
 Attending the fair, Education and Science Minister Andrei Fursenko said: &quot;Russia's venture industry is on the verge of a 'new wave' of growth in the number of financial organizations that are specifically targeting investments in the innovative sector. Organizations that already invest in venture companies will be looking to expand their portfolios.
 &quot;Venture capital acts as a catalyst for new business development and often leads to substantial improvements in the traditional sectors of the economy,&quot; said Fursenko.
 This met with agreement from the presidential representative for the north-west region, Ilya Klebanov, and city officials.
 Although the Russian venture investment industry, especially in terms of the legal situation surrounding it, has not yet reached European levels, it has been getting small but consistent support from the government. A decree signed by the then Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in December 1999, &quot;The Main Directions for High-Risk (Venture) Investments 2000-2005&quot;, officially accepted the word &quot;venture&quot; into the Russian vocabulary and outlined ways of supporting the industry in the future.
 &quot;The government made its small, independent step,&quot; said Nikkonen. Considering the enthusiasm that prevailed at the fair, one expects that factors such as lack of business plans or marketing skills will disappear with time.

TITLE: The Power Vertical Is Built on Sand
TEXT: Instead of the &quot;dictatorship of the law&quot; we were promised during the post-Yeltsin hangover, we are witnessing the formation of a &quot;dictatorship of mediocrity,&quot; a symbiosis of liberal fundamentalists and siloviki as simple as the gastrointestinal tract that is digesting Russia's petrodollars and the country along with them.
 
The liberal fundamentalists minimize the state's duties, eliminate the last remnants of socialism and curb inflation by cutting social programs for the needy and handing the savings over to business.
 In so doing, they finance not increased production-though high oil prices mean that some money goes toward this end as well-so much as the voracious appetites of the most powerful siloviki, the so-called power oligarchs. As a result, business functions as a middleman, diverting resources from the population to the ruling bureaucracy, rather than as an engine of economic growth. Like any middleman, business takes care of itself in the process, leading to justified criticism that distracts attention away from the organizers of the whole process.
 The democratic facade left over from the 1990s only gets in the way. Citizens are still allowed to voice their displeasure at the ballot box, and they use this power to install the most inconvenient characters in power. Appointed officials have to go through the expensive and not always predictable election process, which consumes time and energy and serves as an irritating reminder that the power of the regime is not absolute. What's worse, money is diverted from representatives of the ruling bureaucracy to candidates who don't realize that they don't stand a chance.
 The Kremlin now intends to remove these inefficiencies at one stroke by bringing the form of the political system into line with its content and by simplifying the decision-making process to reflect its true nature. Authoritarianism is casting off the remaining trappings of democracy.
 It's true that the degradation of society renders democratic procedures ineffective, as they give power to the justifiably embittered lumpen. In Russia today, modernization can only be authoritarian.
 But modernization requires responsible leadership, and the current rulers of Russia, the liberal fundamentalists and power oligarchs, acquired power as the result of plunder and destruction. They rose to the top by plundering and destroying more successfully than their competitors. The power oligarchy defeated its rivals in the business elite thanks to its more successful privatization of the state-the institutions that possess a monopoly not on the distribution of money and property but on the use of state-sanctioned violence.
 The ruling oligarchy controls a portion of the state management structure in order not to serve the common good but to satisfy its own corporate ambitions and to enrich itself. Hence its personnel policy is based not on professional qualifications but the old-boy network and an obsession with loyalty. Casting off the trappings of democracy will free these principles to evolve to their logical conclusion.
 What this means for a management system we can already see in the business world, and there is no reason to assume that the objective laws of management do not apply to the ruling bureaucracy.
 The bureaucracy has already made a classic managerial mistake, one that proved fatal for Mikhail Khodorkovsky: ignoring the psychological and political consequences of one's innovations.
 Making governors dependent on the Kremlin, rather than on the voters in their regions, will make it harder for them to work with local elites and could throw a wrench in the entire system of regional government-not to mention the president's intention to increase the governors' influence over local elites.
 Requiring regional legislatures to confirm the Kremlin's appointees provides a forum for protest from the regional elites, especially when you consider that the Kremlin doesn't control a significant number of these legislatures. And such protests are extremely likely, especially since the Kremlin's reforms would strip regional elites, and most importantly medium-sized businesses, of influence.
 The system now being created is fundamentally out of step with the West and constitutes an obvious retreat from democracy, which the bureaucracy views merely as a collection of formal procedures. As the system is implemented, Russia will be driven into increased ideological conflict with the developed world. The West could begin to put pressure on Russia early in U.S. President George W. Bush's second term. This could potentially turn President Vladimir Putin into an outcast along the lines of Slobodan Milosevic.
 By severing all channels for public feedback, the state risks making ever more dangerous mistakes. The lack of glasnost means that feuds within the ruling bureaucracy will escalate, and the introduction of ever more destructive tactics will go unpunished.
 For these reasons, the political system now under construction is extremely unstable. Even if world oil prices remain high, the system will fall out of balance within three years, most likely during the next &quot;election&quot; cycle in 2007-08. In the absence of a responsible elite capable of authoritarian modernization, this systemic crisis could destroy Russia.
 
 <i>Mikhail Delyagin, head of the Modernization Institute and chairman of the Rodina party's policy committee, contributed this comment to The St. Petersburg Times. </i>

TITLE: A Nasty Surprise Awakening Those Entitled to Privileges
TEXT: What can St. Petersburgers entitled to privileges expect next year when the federal reform, known as the monetization of privileges, comes into force?
 
The St. Petersburg government has introduced to the Legislative Assembly a draft law on the matter for its 2005 budget. The draft gives a rough idea of how much each privilege will be financed by the city and federal budgets and how much cash that will involve.
 This is a very broad theme, because there are many categories of people entitled to privileges and everybody is in a slightly different position. Therefore I will limit myself to the main conclusions of an analysis conducted by Expert Severo-Zapad magazine.
 A rough estimate shows that all privileges are about to be cut by half. That means that the money that St. Petersburgers will receive will allow them on average to pay for about half the services which they receive for free at the moment. If someone has, let us say, a 50-percent discount on some service, then that discount will be reduced to 25 percent.
 Some privileges will continue to be natural ones. For instance, people entitled to privileges determined at the federal level (invalids and war veterans, survivors of the Siege of Leningrad, sickness beneficiaries, child invalids and so on), will receive the right to use a so-called &quot;social package.&quot; That will mean that they will be able to continue to obtain free medicine, therapeutic courses at sanatoriums and health camps and will be able to use suburban trains at no charge. All the other privileges that they receive will be reduced by half. We should note that all free privileges, apart from those three that are part of the social package, will be eliminated.
 One of the most numerous of the above-mentioned categories of people entitled to privileges are group 2 invalids. St. Petersburg has about half a million of them. They will receive about 550 rubles a month in cash. That sum will be just enough to cover their transport expenses (a monthly pass for all forms of city transport costs 430 rubles) and a 50-percent discount on telephone rental (85 rubles out of the current 170 rubles). And that is at prices as of Oct. 1 2004. What the fees will be next year is anyone's guess. All remaining privileges, such as buses to the countryside, a free annual railway journey and others, will not be covered by this money. A simple calculation reveals that group 2 invalids will be worse off by 150 rubles to 200 rubles a month. And statements by officials that not all invalids use transport are unrealistic: group 2 invalids count as &quot;fit for work&quot; and are treated the same as fully able people.
 As for group 3 invalids, who will get a cash payout of 350 rubles, that will not be enough even to cover city transport. Not to mention the about 281,000 ordinary St. Petersburg pensioners, who are not classified as entitled to privileges, but who are currently able to travel on city transport at no charge. The proposal is to pay them 180 rubles - at a time when, I repeat, the monthly pass costs 430 rubles.
 Nonetheless, the supply of free dental protheses to all those entitled to privileges will continue, regardless of whether they are federal or local. Moreover, the cash for privileges program has not yet dealt with payments for household services. The law also does not cover the huge number of so-called &quot;professional privileges,&quot; which mainly apply to state employees - deputies, ministers, military personnel, law enforcement officers, judges and customs officers etc.
 Of course, one feels sorry for those who have had the privileges revoked but it should be recognized that the privileges serve as a faulty tool of social policy. Citizens grow to consider the freebies as natural and they fall into a false and dangerous illusion - that certain services are naturally free. However, the authorities are confronted with having to subsidize the producers of the services and that creates a &quot;black hole' in their budgets. The providers become negligent from having regular state orders: the quality of the services suffers. And that's if the budget is a good one; if it is a small budget the providers face chronic funding shortfalls and the administrators use this as a way of highlighting social problems.
 Paying cash for privileges breaks this faulty tool. It sheds light on the true state of affairs. And it seems that the emperor has no clothes - the social policies of the authorities in many regions are illusionary. Many nominal privileges are already not provided and those that are are primarily financed at the expense of the provider. These will be eliminated because the money allocated for them will not cover the costs.
 The transparency of the new system of privileges will be an undoubted achievement of the reform. However, a serious inadequacy of it is that it will mean keeping privileges for formal categories, irrespective of an individuals' material situation. For that reason, especially for state employees, many of the privileges, which are presented as discounts, have the character of being perks. They don't narrow social differences, but rather make them larger.
 A modern social policy will be in place when the people who get privileges are the least well off. And they will not go to individuals but to households, just like in the developed countries. Because it is households who are at the core of society - their material well-being determines the quality of life of the population. The financial health of households should be addressed by a tax policy. The way to do that would be to study the structure of households in St. Petersburg and their true financial situation.
 
 <i>Vladimir Gryaznevich is a political analyst with Expert Severo-Zapad magazine. His comment was first broadcast on Ekho Moskvy in St. Petersburg on Friday. </i>

TITLE: Christopher Reeve Dies at 52
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: BEDFORD, New York - Christopher Reeve, the star of the &quot;Superman&quot; movies whose near-fatal riding accident nine years ago turned him into a worldwide advocate for spinal cord research, died Sunday of heart failure, his publicist said. He was 52.
 
Reeve fell into a coma Saturday after going into cardiac arrest while at his New York home, his publicist, Wesley Combs said by telephone from Washington, D.C., on Sunday night. His family was at his side at the time of death.
 Reeve was being treated at Northern Westchester Hospital for a pressure wound, a common complication for people living with paralysis. In the past week, the wound had become severely infected, resulting in a serious systemic infection.
 &quot;On behalf of my entire family, I want to thank Northern Westchester Hospital for the excellent care they provided to my husband,&quot; Dana Reeve, Christopher's wife, said in a statement. &quot;I also want to thank his personal staff of nurses and aides, as well as the millions of fans from around the world who have supported and loved my husband over the years.&quot;
 Reeve broke his neck in May 1995 when he was thrown from his horse during an equestrian competition in Culpeper, Virginia.
 Enduring months of therapy to allow him to breathe for longer and longer periods without a respirator, Reeve emerged to lobby Congress for better insurance protection against catastrophic injury and to move an Academy Award audience to tears with a call for more films about social issues.
 &quot;Hollywood needs to do more,&quot; he said in the March 1996 Oscar awards appearance. &quot;Let's continue to take risks. Let's tackle the issues. In many ways our film community can do it better than anyone else. There is no challenge, artistic or otherwise, that we can't meet.&quot;
 He returned to directing, and even returned to acting in a 1998 production of &quot;Rear Window,&quot; a modern update of the Hitchcock thriller about a man in a wheelchair who becomes convinced a neighbor has been murdered. Reeve won a Screen Actors Guild award for best actor.
 &quot;I was worried that only acting with my voice and my face, I might not be able to communicate effectively enough to tell the story,&quot; Reeve said. &quot;But I was surprised to find that if I really concentrated, and just let the thoughts happen, that they would read on my face. With so many close-ups, I knew that my every thought would count.&quot;
 In 2000, Reeve was able to move his index finger, and a specialized workout regimen made his legs and arms stronger. He also regained sensation in other parts of his body. He had vowed to walk again.
 &quot;I refuse to allow a disability to determine how I live my life. I don't mean to be reckless, but setting a goal that seems a bit daunting actually is very helpful toward recovery,&quot; Reeve said.
 His athletic, 6-foot-4-inch frame and love of adventure made him a natural, if largely unknown, choice for the title role in the first &quot;Superman&quot; movie in 1978. He insisted on performing his own stunts.
 Although he reprised the role three times, Reeve often worried about being typecast as an action hero.
 &quot;Look, I've flown, I've become evil, loved, stopped and turned the world backward, I've faced my peers, I've befriended children and small animals and I've rescued cats from trees,&quot; Reeve told the Los Angeles Times in 1983. &quot;What else is there left for Superman to do that hasn't been done?&quot;

TITLE: Norwegian, U.S. Nobel Winners
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: STOCKHOLM, Sweden - An American and a Norwegian won the 2004 Nobel prize in economics Monday for their work in determining the driving force behind business cycles worldwide.
 
Finn Kydland, 60, of Norway, teaches at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and the University of California at Santa Barbara.
 Edward Prescott, 63 - the fifth American to receive the economics award since 2000 - teaches at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, and serves as an adviser to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
 The pair received Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for their work that showed that driving forces behind business cycle fluctuations and the design of economic policy are key areas in macroeconomic research.
 Kydland and Prescott made fundamental contributions to macroeconomic analysis and the practice of monetary and fiscal policy in many countries. 
 Kenyan environmental activist Wangari Maathai won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for her work as leader of the Green Belt Movement.


TITLE: Bush, Kerry Exchange Criticism Across U.S.
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: ELYRIA, Ohio - President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry, their animosity stirred by a contentious second debate, lit into each other over Iraq, jobs and debate performance in critical battleground states.
 
Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards made back-to-back appearances on all five television network Sunday interview shows, while surrogates for both sides made the rounds through the weekend.
 Kerry &quot;doesn't pass the credibility test,&quot; Bush asserted Saturday, while the Massachusetts senator claimed that the nation's choice &quot;could really not have been more clear than it was last night.&quot; Instant polls did not give either Bush or Kerry a clear edge in Friday's wide-ranging debate in St. Louis before an audience of uncommitted voters, depicting either a tie or a slight edge for Kerry.
 But Republicans were heartened by what they saw as a steadier, more focused and aggressive performance by the president than in the first debate.
 Bush and Kerry ventured into each other's &quot;must win&quot; states, Bush campaigning in Iowa and Minnesota and Kerry in Ohio and Florida.
 Democrat Al Gore won both Minnesota and Iowa in 2000, but polls show the race to be extremely close this year. Bush won Ohio and Florida in 2000, and GOP strategists are hard pressed to see a Bush victory without carrying those two states, with their combined total of 47 electoral votes.
 Both candidates sharply critiqued the other's debate performance.
 &quot;The reason I thought he was making all those scowling faces was because he saw the latest job numbers,&quot; Kerry told about 10,000 people at a rally in northeastern Ohio. At another point, Kerry joked that he was &quot;a little worried ... I thought the president was going to attack [moderator] Charlie Gibson.&quot;
 Kerry advisers said he plans intense attacks in the coming days over domestic issues, including job losses, rising health care costs, and stem-cell research, in the run-up to Wednesday's concluding debate in Tempe, Ariz.
 In Davie, Florida., Kerry criticized Bush for saying in the debate that he won't allow prescription imports from Canada because the drugs might really be from the Third World.
 Bush, speaking to more than 7,000 supporters at a Waterloo, Iowa, baseball field, declared himself the winner of the debate and ridiculed Kerry.
 &quot;With a straight face, he said, 'I had only one position on Iraq.' I could barely contain myself. He must think we've been on another planet,&quot; Bush said.

TITLE: British Hostage Bigley Killed
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: BAGHDAD, Iraq - A videotape of the beheading of British hostage Kenneth Bigley appeared Sunday on an Islamist web site, showing the civil engineer pleading that he wanted &quot;to live a simple life&quot; moments before he was decapitated.
 
The nearly five-minute tape appeared two days after Bigley's family said it had proof that the 62-year-old civil engineer from Liverpool was dead. The body has not been found.
 The tape showed Bigley, dressed in an orange prison-style jump suit and seated in front of seven armed, hooded men. Behind them was a banner of the Tawhid and Jihad group, the extremist organization that has claimed responsibility for numerous suicide attacks and beheadings of Westerners.
 Bigley made a brief statement, saying &quot;I am not a difficult person. I am a simple man who wants to live a simple life.&quot; 
 In London, The Sunday Times reported that Bigley briefly fled his kidnappers by car on Wednesday after British intelligence helped bribe two captors. 


TITLE: Kabul Commission to Probe Fraud Charges
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan election officials agreed Sunday to create an independent commission to probe opposition charges of fraud in this nation's first-ever presidential poll, while ballot-boxes stuffed with the aspirations of the people of this war-ravaged land started to stack up in counting centers.
 
International officials met privately in an effort to end a boycott of the ballot by opponents of U.S.-backed interim President Hamid Karzai, a heavy favorite to win.
 Tallying of the votes had initially been expected to start Sunday, but with ballot boxes coming in from some remote areas on mules, U.N. officials said the process wouldn't start for three to four days. Final results are not expected until around Oct. 30.
 A day after all 15 challengers announced they would boycott the election's outcome, two backed off, saying they wanted a commission to rule on whether the voting was fair and indicating they would accept its decision.
 A few hours later, their demand appeared to have been met.
 &quot;There is going to be an independent commission made to investigate it,&quot; electoral director Farooq Wardak said. &quot;There could be mistakes; we are just human beings. My colleagues might have made a mistake.&quot;
 There was no immediate reaction from the challengers, but a senior Western official said many of the 15 had decided to back down and support the investigative team, which would consist of about three foreign election experts.
 The opposition complaint is focused on allegations that the supposedly indelible ink used to mark voters' thumbs in some polling stations could be rubbed off, allowing some people to vote more than once.
 International election observers said the complaint did not justify calling for the vote to be nullified. The U.S. International Republican Institute accused the challengers of trying to make up excuses for why they were likely to lose.

TITLE: Beckham Scores Against Wales, But Injured in Tackle
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: LONDON - David Beckham shrugged off his poor Real Madrid form with a spectacular long-range strike as England outplayed Wales 2-0 in World Cup qualifying action on Saturday. 
 
However, it wasn't a perfect day for the England captain, who wound up with a suspension and a broken rib. 
 Beckham scored his team's second goal at Old Trafford, but suffered a hairline rib fracture after on a tackle by Welsh defender Ben Thatcher. He's certain to miss Wednesday's Group 6 game at Baku, Azerbaijan, and will be examined next week by Real Madrid. 
 &quot;He scored a great goal, not many players can strike the ball like that but he is one of them,&quot; England striker Wayne Rooney said. &quot;He's our captain, our leader and a great player, but whoever comes in to will do a good job.&quot; 
 Interestingly, Beckham drew a yellow card minutes after the injury for a tackle on Thatcher. It was his second yellow card of the qualifying tournament, which also disqualified him from the Azerbaijan match. 
 England leads Group 6 with seven points. Poland moved into second place with six points, winning 3-1 over Austria in Vienna. The Poles have scored six goals in their last two games, both away from home. 
 In key results: Slovenia upset Italy 1-0 in Group 5, France and Ireland drew 0-0 in Group 4, tiny Liechtenstein drew 2-2 with Euro 2004 runner-up Portugal in Group 3, and Spain defeated Belgium 2-0 in Group 7. 
 Among the 23 European qualifying games for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the Czech Republic bounced back from a 2-0 loss to the Netherlands by beating Romania 1-0 to slow the Romanians' quick start in Group 1. Finland beat Armenia 3-1 to draw even on nine points with Romania. 
 In the other group game, the Netherlands was held to a 2-2 draw at Macedonia. Both teams have four points. 
 In Group 2, Turkey and Ukraine share the lead with five points. Ukraine drew with European champion Greece 1-1, and Turkey hammered Kazakhstan 4-1. Denmark moved in a point behind the leaders with a 2-0 victory at Albania. 
 One of the day's shocks came in Group 3 where tiny Liechtenstein drew 2-2 with Portugal, which was the runner-up three months ago in Euro 2004. Slovakia leads the group with 10 points after a 4-1 win over Latvia. Portugal is second with seven. 
 In Group 4, France and Ireland played a 0-0 draw in Paris with both teams improving to five points. Switzerland also improved to five with a 2-2 draw at Israel. 
 Italy, after winning its first two games in Group 5, was upset 1-0 on Saturday at Slovenia on Bostjan Cesar's goal in the 82nd. Italy and Slovenia each have seven points to lead the group. 
 Norway and Belarus each picked up wins to reach four points. Belarus defeated Moldova 4-0, and Norway won 1-0 at Scotland on Steffen Iversen's penalty. 
 Scotland is winless after two home games with German coach Berti Vogts on the ropes. The German, who led his homeland to a Euro '96 triumph at Wembley, said he didn't expect to be fired. 
 &quot;Ask the question to my president [Scottish Football Association president John McBeth] not me,&quot; he said. &quot;My only target is the 2006 finals and I do not expect to be sacked.&quot; 
 In Group 7, Spain defeated Belgium 2-0 on second-half goals by Raul and Alberto Luque. The victory moves Spain on top with Lithuania. The two play Wednesday in Lithuania. In a group game between bitter Balkan rivals, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia-Montenegro played a 0-0 draw under intense security in Sarajevo. 
 In Group 8, Croatia settled for a 2-2 draw with Bulgaria but still kept the lead with seven points. Sweden improved to six points, beating Hungary 3-0. Tail-end teams Malta and Iceland drew 0-0. 


TITLE: Patriots Record 19th Straight Win
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: FOXBORO, Massachusetts - Bill Belichick let a rare smile crease his face before reminding his New England Patriots what their record winning streak meant. 
&quot;He said, 'Congratulations on the streak, great job. Now we've got to think about Seattle,'&quot; safety Rodney Harrison said. 
 At least their dour coach, who downplayed the streak all season, gave the Patriots some time to savor their NFL record 19th straight win, 24-10 over the winless Miami Dolphins on Sunday, before they start preparing for their next game against the Seahawks. 
 &quot;It doesn't mean anything right now because we are still in the middle of the season,&quot; cornerback Ty Law said in a very quiet locker room. &quot;The fruit will taste a little bit sweeter if we can give ourselves an opportunity to play for another championship.&quot; 
 The Patriots (4-0) won with two touchdown passes by Tom Brady, who had his worst statistical start as a pro, and two turnovers by offensively inept Miami. 
 The Dolphins trailed 24-10 before reaching the New England 1-yard line on their last series. But quarterback Jay Fiedler hurt his ribs and back on a 12-yard sack and, two plays later, A.J. Feeley suffered a concussion as he threw a fourth-down incompletion and was hit by Rosevelt Colvin. 
 This Miami team is nothing like the one that no longer shares the record with five other teams. That one went 17-0 in 1972 and won its opener in 1973. 
 &quot;As a player, you don't think about what [the Patriots] are doing,&quot; Miami defensive end Jason Taylor said. &quot;We've got our own things to worry about.&quot;
 The Dolphins fell to 0-5, matching their worst start as an expansion team in 1966, when they won their sixth game. New England, which can match its franchise best 5-0 start next Sunday, had shared the 18-game record with Chicago in 1933-34 and again in 1941-42; Miami in 1972-73; San Francisco in 1989-90; and Denver in 1997-98. 
 &quot;They're some great teams and it's nice to be a part of that,&quot; linebacker Tedy Bruschi said, but &quot;during the season the only milestone that teams want is the Super Bowl.&quot; 
 The Dolphins' problems began before the game when placekicker Olindo Mare left the field on a cart with an injured right calf. They continued until the end when Fiedler and Feeley were hurt. 
 &quot;We felt good about moving the ball,&quot; said Fiedler, who had X-rays and didn't know if he would play next week, &quot;but you look on the scoreboard and you only see 10 points.&quot;
 Miami added to its NFL-high 14 turnovers and scored just one touchdown to add to its total of two in the first four games. Only its defense, strong all year, kept the game somewhat competitive. 
 The Patriots played without injured receivers Deion Branch and Troy Brown, and another one, Bethel Johnson, was inactive. But they led 10-0 on Brady's 1-yard pass to Daniel Graham in the first quarter and Adam Vinatieri's 40-yard field goal early in the second. 
 Still, Brady finished at 7-for-19 for 76 yards and an interception. 
 &quot;We didn't do the things we set out to do,&quot; tackle Matt Light said of the offense. &quot;Defense helped us out a lot.&quot;
 Miami cut that to 10-7 when Fielder threw a 10-yard pass to Chris Chambers. 
 Then a strange play - punter Matt Turk's failed run for a first down - gave the Patriots the ball at the Dolphins 46. Six plays later, Brady hit David Givens for a 5-yard score 36 seconds before halftime. 
 &quot;He said the snap was a little bit high, but you need to kick the ball,&quot; coach Dave Wannstedt said of Turk. &quot;I don't think anyone was rushing him.&quot;
 Fiedler's fumble on the first series of the third quarter led to Rabih Abdullah's 1-yard touchdown run, making it 24-7. 
 Rookie kick returner Wes Welker, Mare's replacement who missed his only extra-point kick in college, added a 29-yard field goal that made it 24-10 late in the quarter. 
 &quot;I played soccer since I was about 4, so that really helped a lot,&quot; Welker said. 
 Miami needed Mare when, with a fourth-and-11 at the New England 21, the Dolphins had to go for a first down and Fiedler threw an incompletion in the end zone with 10:01 left. 
 If the Patriots beat Seattle, they'll tie the mark of 17 consecutive regular-season wins by the Bears in 1933-34. And if they beat the New York Jets the following Sunday, they'll break that record, too. 
 But the players weren't thinking about that - not when Belichick actually acknowledged the 19-game record by shaking their hands on the sideline. 
 &quot;He rarely celebrates anything,&quot; Harrison said, &quot;and to lead a team to 19 victories in a row is something to be proud of.&quot;

TITLE: City-Born Businessman Funds New Midland F1 Race Team
PUBLISHER: Combined Reports
TEXT: TORONTO - Russia stepped closer to a starring role in Formula One on Friday with the announcement of a new team backed by a St. Petersburg-born businessman to compete from 2006. 
 
But while the cars will be built by Italian manufacturer Dallara, frequent winners of the landmark Indy 500 in the United States, the backers of Midland F1 are unfamiliar faces new to motorsport. 
 Few people in Formula One, with the exception of the sport's commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone, have heard of 36-year-old Russian-born businessman Alexander Shnaider. 
 His privately owned Midland Group is little known even to ordinary Russians. A company statement said the chairman and co-founder was a naturalized Canadian citizen, who moved to the West as a child. 
 The venture is likely to cost his company at least $100 million a year, not including the $48 million bond that any new team has to lodge with the sport's governing body, but he accepted that. 
 &quot;Midland is prepared to fund the development of the team entirely, but our unique position will help us attract sponsors,&quot; said Shnaider. &quot;Of course the team will have a Russian flavor,&quot; he said.
 Shnaider said he hopes to hire F1's first Russian driver and help land a grand prix for the country. 
 &quot;I do hope eventually there will be a Grand Prix in Russia,&quot; he said. &quot;It's a large market with a growing middle class and a lot of international companies are looking at it as a future market.&quot; 
 He said there are Russian drivers in development series in Europe and &quot;if we find one with a bright future, we'll take him as a test driver.&quot; 
 &quot;Russia would get very positive exposure from staging a Formula One race and it would be a pleasure for me to be instrumental in making that happen,&quot; he added. 
 Shnaider's move will inevitably draw comparisons with Roman Abramovich, the Russian billionaire who has plowed more than $450 million into football through his purchase of English Premier League club Chelsea. 
 Abramovich, 37, has however steered clear of a direct involvement in Formula One, despite being a guest of Ecclestone at grands prix. 
 The sport, fuelled by an incessant thirst for money, has been making overtures to Russia since the post-Soviet era made overnight billionaires of businessmen able to acquire state companies on the cheap. 
 Speculation that a Formula One racetrack could be constructed in Russia heightened in 2001. Ecclestone was courted by Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov while St. Petersburg businessman Alexander Berezhnoy, head of Pulkovskoye Koltso, or &quot;Pulkovo Ring&quot; company, announced plans to build a racetrack south of St. Petersburg near Pulkovo Airport. 
 At the time both cities planned to be added to Grand Prix circuit in 2003 or 2004, but neither project materialized.
 This year Bahrain and Shanghai hosted Formula One races on newly-built racetracks. 
 Britain has not hosted a F1 Grand Prix since the first world championship race in 1950. <i>(SPT, Reuters, AP) </i>

TITLE: Sharapova Claims Back-to-Back Japan Titles
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: TOKYO - Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova overpowered American Mashona Washington 6-0, 6-1 on Saturday to claim back-to-back Japan Open titles before a typhoon forced play to be suspended.
 
Top seeded Sharapova used her booming serve and solid groundstrokes to dominate the unseeded American.
 &quot;I served very well,&quot; said Sharapova. &quot;I knew I had to dictate the pace this time and was able to do that a lot better than the last time we played.&quot;
 The previous time the two players met, Washington defeated Sharapova, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 in the second round of August's Pilot Pen tournament at New Haven.
 Sharapova, who broke through at the Japan Open last year to win her career first WTA singles title, is tremendously popular in Japan. A capacity crowd showed up at Ariake despite heavy rain from the approaching typhoon.
 It was Sharapova's second win in less than a week after the 17-year-old Russian won Sunday's Korea Open final.
 Washington, playing in her first WTA final, took Saturday's loss in her stride.
 &quot;I couldn't play my normal aggressive game,&quot; said Washington. &quot;Maria is a good player, but she doesn't have any 'Oh my god' shots, she just played very well and I didn't have any opportunity to get in the game. It was my first final so I'm not disappointed.&quot; 
 On Sunday, Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic rallied to beat America's Taylor Dent, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 to win the men's final. 
 Fifth-seeded Novak capitalized on a series of unforced errors from Dent to claim his sixth career singles title. 
 &quot;We both started out nervously,&quot; said Novak. &quot;But I was able to relax as the match went on and picked up some confidence in the second and third sets.&quot; 
 In the third set, Novak broke Dent's serve to go up 3-1 and then finished off the hard-hitting American in a match that lasted 1 hour and 45 minutes at Ariake Colosseum. 
 Novak, who defeated top seeded Lleyton Hewitt in Saturday's semifinals, said the win over the pre-tournament favorite gave him a huge boost heading into the final. 
 &quot;I felt great the whole week,&quot; said Novak. &quot;I beat some very good players here.&quot;

TITLE: Scotsman Gallacher Heads Off Field Of Talents in Dunhill Links Tourney
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: ST. ANDREWS, Scotland - Stephen Gallacher won for the first time on the European tour, beating Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell on the first playoff hole Sunday at the Dunhill Links Championship. 
 
Gallacher, a Scotsman, earned the milestone victory at St. Andrews, the home of golf, in his 188th European tour event. He had twice finished second. 
 &quot;I've been knocking on the door with everyone telling me to do it, so that to actually go out and do it brings me so much pleasure,&quot; he said. &quot;Hopefully, now I can go out and win again.&quot; 
 Gallacher and McDowell totaled 269 in regulation to finish a shot ahead of European Ryder Cup players Ian Poulter (69) and Luke Donald (71). Two more Englishmen followed at 272 - defending champion Lee Westwood (67) and David Howell (71). Ernie Els (70) and Fred Couples (69) were at 274. 
 Top-ranked Vijay Singh finished with a 2-under-par 70 for 277. 
 &quot;I actually played quite nicely,&quot; he said. &quot;I didn't make many putts. It was hard to make putts in the cold out there. You try to force yourself when you're so far behind.&quot;
 Gallacher made a winning 4-foot birdie putt after McDowell hit a second shot into a creek that runs across the front of the green on the first hole of the Old Course. 
 Gallacher closed with a 67 in a round highlighted by a stretch of six birdies in 10 holes, starting with a 25-foot downhill putt on the fourth. McDowell, who matched a course record with a 62 in the first round, carded a 68. 
 &quot;He played great golf and it is a great victory here at home in Scotland,&quot; McDowell said. &quot;For his first victory, this was the place to do it.&quot;