SOURCE: The St. Petersburg Times
DATE: Issue #1022 (89), Friday, November 19, 2004
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TITLE: Putin
 Justifies
 Policies
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin defended his course of political and electoral reforms Thursday, asserting that the changes will streamline public administration and consolidate the country in the face of terrorism without curtailing democracy.
 
Putin spoke with journalists from three national television channels and met with pro-Kremlin State Duma deputies to reiterate his commitment to pursue his reforms, which include scrapping the popular vote for regional leaders, eliminating independent races in Duma elections, and obtaining the right to disband regional legislatures. 
 "I don't think so," Putin said when asked by Rossia anchor Nikolai Svanidze whether the changes would roll back democracy in Russia, according to a transcript of the interview posted on the Kremlin's official web site. 
 Putin, whose second and final term ends in 2008, also said he would refrain from amending the Constitution.
 Putin said he was committed to the development of democracy during the meeting with the Duma's United Russia faction earlier in the day in a clear attempt to respond to recent criticism from the European Union and Washington that the reforms might curtail democracy in Russia.
 During the interview, Putin said the reforms are designed to make Russia "a comfortable country" by eliminating security threats, including the threat of disintegration posed by terrorism.
 "After all, we all know that international terrorists and criminals are not planning tank attacks to capture" Russian cities, Putin said. 
 "But they still have global goals such as setting up their infamous caliphate," he said, referring to the desire of Muslim radicals to unite all Muslim-dominated countries into an Islamic state. 
 "That would mean huge losses of territory for us, mainly in the south, and a possible disintegration of the whole country."
 He added: "The emergence of this threat should prompt us to perfect our government structure, improve its effectiveness, and solve a range of other economic and social problems."
 The president insisted that the reforms will not change the balance of power between federal and regional authorities, even though a bill that the Duma is considering would give him the right to nominate gubernatorial candidates to regional legislatures and disband legislatures that twice refuse to support his picks.
 "These proposals are totally unconnected with any attempt by the head of state to obtain some kind of additional ... power over regional authorities," Putin said.
 In a clear effort to silence his critics, Putin said he would support the return of governors and regional legislature speakers as senators to the Federation Council, but only after his reforms are implemented to "achieve a real unity of bodies in the executive branch." 
 Speakers and governors held seats in the Federation Council until 2000, when a Kremlin-backed bill was passed that replaced them with envoys chosen by regional administrations and legislatures. But with Putin planning to pick governors and United Russia moving to take control of regional legislatures, the Federation Council would hardly become independent of the Kremlin.
 While denying any ambition to expand his power at the expense of governors, Putin did hint at why he is seeking to strengthen control over the regions by expressing concern that some regional administrations have come under the influence of local business clans.
 In describing this negative influence, Putin made his first public comment on the events in Karachayevo-Cherkessia, where a son-in-law of the regional leader has been linked with the murders of his business rivals, triggering off a wave of protests that culminated with the storming of the regional government building this month. 
 "We can see there is in fact a crisis of power that is stemming from criminal events," Putin said of the situation in the North Caucasus republic.
 In an obvious attempt to justify his plan to nominate governors, Putin said that voters in republics with large ethnic groups often base their votes for a leader on his ethnicity while paying less attention to his professional qualities and moral traits. In Karachayevo-Cherkessia, candidates from two dominating ethnic groups faced off in its 1999 election, dividing the republic into two hostile camps for several weeks.
 In addition to striking a balance between regional and national interests, the authorities need to root out corruption in law enforcement agencies and the armed forces, Putin said in the interview.
 "Both the state as a whole and the security forces are unfortunately still suffering from corruption and a lack of effectiveness," he said.
 "There's less of a need to interfere in the economy, both at the bottom ~ hanging around an outdoor market stuffing your pockets with petty cash and liquor - and the top, where the bills run into the hundreds or thousands or millions."
 While outlining his vision of a "comfortable" Russia in the interview, Putin focused more on concrete reforms during his meeting at the Kremlin's Lesnye Dali rest and recreation facility outside Moscow with senior members of United Russia, which hold more than two-thirds of the 450 seats in the Duma. 
 Seeking to justify his plan to end independent Duma races, he said, "The proportional electoral system is necessary to reinforce the role of big and skilled political parties that represent the interests of the citizens and unite them."
 Of the 450 deputies elected to the Duma, 225 are currently elected from party lists and 225 from single-mandate districts.
 To achieve a multiparty system, parties must be formed that are "able to take part in the country political life," Putin said. 
 He acknowledged that it would take "dozens of years" to build a real multiparty system, "but we don't have so much time at our disposal."
 Oleg Kovalyov, chairman of the Duma's Management Committee, called the meeting "very positive."
 "We were given a chance to discuss all of the problems that are important to us, and we got positive feedback from the president," he said by telephone. "This feedback gives us confidence that we are doing the right thing."
 Duma deputy speaker Lyubov Sliska said "the president praised United Russia deputies for their constructive work and for their bravery," Interfax reported.
 She said she found Putin well-informed about all of United Russia's work in the Duma. "People say that the president does not know a lot of things. He knows everything," she said.

TITLE: Fitch Lifts Russia's Rating to Investment Grade
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - Russia's sovereign rating has been raised to investment grade by Fitch Ratings, which said swelling government coffers on the back of high oil prices make the country better able to repay its debt.
 
Fitch on Thursday become the second major credit rating agency to lift Russia to investment grade after Moody's Investors Service upgraded the country's foreign bonds in October 2003.
 Standard & Poor's still rates the country's debt as junk, citing lagging progress on structural reforms and a dependence on natural resources.
 Fitch announced that it has upgraded the country's long-term foreign and local currency ratings by one notch to BBB-, the lowest investment grade on a 10 level scale and the same rating as Kazakhstan, Croatia and Bulgaria.
 "There has been an absolutely remarkable improvement of the country's capacity to service its debt obligations on a timely basis," said Natasha Page, managing director of Fitch Ratings in Moscow.
 Page said higher than expected crude prices - which have swelled foreign exchange reserves and boosted the government's oil windfall fund - played a significant role in making the cut.
 President Vladimir Putin on Thursday told the head of the International Monetary Fund that Russia wants to pay back some of its debt earlier than planned. 
 Being rated investment grade by two major rating agencies will help the country and its companies borrow more cheaply, as it widens the number of investors who can buy Russian debt and boosts confidence in the country's ability to service its debt.
 A six-year boom following the government's default on domestic debt in 1998 has more than doubled the country's gross domestic product in nominal dollar terms, while high prices for oil, gas and metals have driven a massive turnaround in state finances, with record foreign currency reserves and five straight years of budget surpluses.
 Reserves rose to $113.1 billion in the week ending Nov. 12, the Central Bank said Thursday, and officials have forecast growth to reach as high as $120 billion by year end, more than the country's entire foreign debt.
 Reserves totaled just $12.5 billion on the day Putin was appointed acting president on Dec. 31, 1999.
 Page said structural weaknesses remain and that the economy is still too dependent on oil and other commodities. Fitch will look at these factors, as well as progress on reforms, in further rating decisions, she said.
 Investment bankers are flocking to Moscow again, as the country's bazaar of natural resources attracts interest from major multinationals.
 In 1998, when major investors lost billions in the wake of the August default and ruble devaluation, many investors called Russia's debt "radioactive waste" and swore never to return. The country's bonds have since soared.
 The benchmark eurobond, maturing in 2030, rose to a near record Thursday, with a yield of 6.40 percent, lower than the similar maturity bonds of Ford Motor Co. 
 Stocks rose on Fitch's announcement.
 "This is very good news, though it was anticipated" said Matthew Vogel, head of emerging market strategy at Barclays Capital in London. 
 "Russia's credit rating is still about a well-managed oil story rather than a reform-driven story ... With growth looking to decelerate from the heady figures of the past few years, the authorities want to see greater access to external financing for the corporate sector to help boost productivity. And the investment grade rating will help that leveraging process."
 With hardly any borrowing abroad, disciplined debt repayment and an expanding economy, Russia boasts an attractive debt to GDP ratio. 
 Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin now says the fund will total more than $19 billion by year's end and has proposed using the fund for early debt payments. 
 Putin has supported Kudrin in fending off the temptation to spend the money on a whole range of projects.
 Putin has cited Moody's investment rating last year as a sign of recovery from the economic chaos of the '90s.
 But at the time, Moody's decision was criticized by some financiers as ignoring a lack of progress on structural reforms, the legal assault on Yukos and the country's history of default.
 On Thursday Fitch acknowledged the continuing presence of risk.
 Standard & Poor's now is the only major rating agency that hasn't rated Russia as investment grade. 
 "Given the current oil price outlook, continued strengthening of Russia's external balance sheet could provide the basis for a future upgrade of Russia's long-term foreign currency credit rating," said Cynthia Stone, Standard & Poor's managing director for Russia and the CIS.
 "At the same time, there has been disappointing progress in the area of structural reform, including judicial, administrative and financial sector reforms, which Standard & Poor's believes are essential for long-term, robust economic growth."

TITLE: Zhirinovsky Moots Tunnel to Kaliningrad
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: With one eye on next week's EU-Russia summit, outspoken nationalist politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky called for the construction of a tunnel between Russia and the exclave of Kaliningrad.
 
"We have abandoned an entire region of Russia without legal support," he fumed in the State Duma on Wednesday.
 His proposal was partly in reaction to a requirement that those traveling between Kaliningrad and the rest of Russia must, from Jan. 1 next year, have a foreign passport in order to transit through Lithuania. The former Soviet republic joined the European Union, and restrictions on travel through its territory have since been tightened to comply with EU rules.
 The Kaliningrad region is part of the former German province of East Prussia, which was divided between Russia, Poland and Lithuania after World War II.
 Zhirinovsky urged construction of a 90-kilometer tunnel to the exclave, but did not explain the route it should take, or how, if this was under Lithuania this would relieve Russians of the passport requirement.
 He also called for Kaliningrad citizens to be promptly issued with foreign passports. 
 Analysts said building a tunnel would be costly and expensive to operate.
 Alexei Titkov, a political analyst with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Moscow, called Zhirinovsky's proposal a fresh and interesting idea but described the plan as utopian. 
 "If the tunnel goes through the territory of Lithuania, the project will be killed through horrendous bureaucratic obstacles and fruitless discussion with the EU," Titkov said. "If it is decided to construct it via the Baltic Sea, the costs are going to be too high for Russia to afford it."
 Vladimir Pribylovsky, director of Panorama Research Foundation in Moscow, said the tunnel, if constructed, would involve adsurdly high costs. 
 "I can't estimate what it might cost, but I guess the sums would surpass the costs of constructing the tunnel under the English Channel by about 10 times," he said. "Russia is not going to be able to bear these expenses for at least the next 100 years."
 In the meantime, sales offices at the Kaliningrad Railroad said that from Wednesday they will sell tickets for travel to and from the Kaliningrad region for after Dec. 31 only to passengers holding a valid international passport, Interfax reported. 
 This requirement was agreed to at a Russia-EU summit in Brussels in November 2002.
 The process of issuing tickets to the Kaliningrad region via Lithuania involves ticket operators getting in touch with the Lithuanian embassy by a special code and requesting a travel permit for a particular passenger. The decision is given within 24 hours.
 Kaliningrad governor Vladimir Yegorov said the tightened regime will affect citizens of the Kaliningrad region much less than it will those living in "greater Russia," Interfax reported.
 "Most people using train services between Kaliningrad and other Russian cities via Lithuania are not Kaliningraders," Yegorov said. "The new requirement is certain therefore to result in isolation of the city as fewer people will be willing to visit it."
 Some 410,000 citizens of Kaliningrad, or 45 percent of the city's population, hold international passports, but the proportion of Russians with international passports is much lower.
 Since Lithuania joined the EU, not only passenger transit but cargo transit has become more complicated, with procedures costing money and time. Russia has repeatedly called for an easing of conditions with little response from the EU.
 It is expected that the problems of the Kaliningrad region will be discussed in the Hague, but analysts are pessimistic about the outcome of this discussion. 
 Vladimir Pribylovsky said Russia can expect to be treated politely but is unlikely to win any concessions.
 "Russia is a Third World state, and is treated as such," Pribylovsky said. "If we were as strong as Switzerland, or even Argentina, then our government would have been able to protect our interests. But our leaders have this ridiculous poor-but-proud attitude, and are only good at puffing out their cheeks."
 In Pribylovsky's opinion, the only pressure Russia can bring to bear on the EU, is by manipulating prices on fuel and other energy resources. 
 "Oil prices are going up, and Europe needs affordable gas," he said. "But Russia prefers to use this lever for when it wants Europe to turn a blind eye to anti-democratic reforms, such as the plans to cancel gubernatorial elections. Naturally, you can't use the same tool in two different games." 
 Titkov's forecast is even more downhearted. 
 He said arguments the cards Russia has to play have been put on the table, and they have been played without yielding results.
 "Russia, sadly, is still maintaining the principles of 20th or even 19th century politics of establishing relations directly with powerful European states and ignoring the EU," Titkov said.
 He warned that unless Russia develops a new coherent and efficient policy for dealing with the EU and demonstrates a strong desire for cooperation with it, the country will be left outside the decision-making in European politics.

TITLE: President Promises
 Better Nuke Missiles
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - Russia's defense industry is developing a new nuclear missile system that will be second to none in the world, and the armed forces will have it in their arsenal in the near future, President Vladimir Putin told a meeting of the military top brass Wednesday.
 
"We are not just carrying out research and missile tests of new nuclear missile systems. I am confident that they will be commissioned in the next few years. And no other nuclear power will have such developed systems in the next few years," Putin said at the annual Defense Ministry meeting, attended by hundreds of officers.
 Even though one of the gravest threats Russia faces is international terrorism, the president said, the development of nuclear weapons should still remain a priority for the Defense Ministry. Strategic nuclear weapons can be of little use in fighting terrorist networks. 
 "We understand that other threats will arise if we pay less attention to such components of our defense as the nuclear missile shield," he said, apparently referring to threats from the United States and other nuclear powers.
 Putin did not specify which of the new nuclear systems under development he was referring to.
 The Russian defense industry is developing a mobile version of the Topol-M ICBM; the Bulava, a sea-launched ballistic missile that will also have a land-based version; and a re-entry vehicle that will become a component of a new nuclear missile system, according to reports in the Russian press. 
 The Associated Press reported Wednesday that Russia might also be developing a new heavy multiple-warhead ICBM, but it did not attribute this information to any specific sources. 
 The Bulava and the re-entry vehicle have already been test-fired, while the mobile Topol-M is to be tested by the end of the year, the reports in the Russian press said. All three are reportedly designed to be able to penetrate the National Missile Defense system under development in the United States.
 Given that completion of the Bulava and development of its land variant is still years away, Putin was probably referring to the Topol-M or re-entry vehicle, said Ivan Safranchuk, head of the Moscow office of the Washington-based Center for Defense Information.
 Putin's hint that other nuclear powers could pose a real threat if Russia's nuclear triad is weakened reflects the views of those Russian military planners who believe that nuclear parity with the United States should be a priority, Safranchuk said, but such a threat is not realistic.
 Directly prior to Putin's speech, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov addressed the commanders and proposed establishing a single procurement body under the auspices of the ministry. It would place orders on behalf of all of Russia's nearly a dozen government agencies that have their own troops - commonly referred to as the power agencies.

TITLE: New Reactor Bound for Plant in India
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: St. Petersburg's Izhorskiye Zavody on Thursday shipped a new nuclear reactor body that will be the first power unit of India's Kudankulam nuclear power plant to the city's sea port.
 
Izhorskiye Zavody, which are part of United Machinery Plants (OMZ) holding, signed a contract with India for the construction of two nuclear reactor bodies for Kudankulam's station in 2002. 
 "We were so sure of our partners that we started to produce the first reactor bodies four months before the official contract was signed," said Yevgeny Sergeyev, general director of Izhorskiye Zavody, said at a ceremony sending off the reactor.
 Sergeyev said the reactor was completed six months before deadline.
 The Kudankulam nuclear power plant, which is under construction in the state of Tamilnadu, will supply electricity to four southern Indian states. Russian and Indian specialists are building the plant. 
 Construction started in 2002 under an agreement signed by the Soviet government and India in 1988. The first reactor is to start producing in 2007, the second in 2008. The contract includes the shipment of 21,000 tons of equipment for the station for almost $300 million.
 The second reactor body is to be finished next year.
 Apart from OMZ, several other Russian enterprises are making equipment for the Kundankulam plant. The city's Electrosila plant of the Power Machines Company (PMC) is completing comprehensive tests on a 1,000 megawatt turbo generator for the station. 
 The water-cooled reactor is one of the most modern reactors in Russia and has a good reputation in Russia and abroad, Izhorskiye Zavody's press service said. 
 However, Vladimir Chuprov, coordinator of Greenpeace's energy campaign in Moscow, said such reactors are not completely safe. Similar reactors installed at the Bolokovo Nuclear Power Station in the Saratov region recently had a number of problems, he said.
 Chuprov said European countries and the United States have not been building any new nuclear power stations although Finland is considering constructing one. 
 Many countries do not build new nuclear stations because they do not find them economically profitable and worry that they don't have space to bury nuclear waste, he added.
 "The countries that are interested in new nuclear power stations are Brazil, India and China," Chuprov said. 
 In 2001 and 2002 Izhorskiye Zavody shipped similar reactors for Chinese nuclear power station Tyanvan, he added.
 Russia should pay more attention to developing alternative energy production because it is much safer, can be more economically profitable, and because the Earth will run out of uranium in less than 100 years, Chuprov said.
 It is not possible to use spent nuclear fuel from nuclear power stations for nuclear weapons unless it is refined at a special plant, but spent nuclear fuel can be used for harmful actions, he added.

TITLE: Outrage at Zhirinovsky Plan
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: Democratic politicians in St. Petersburg are outraged at plans by LDPR party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, to lay flowers on the grave of assassinated liberal State Duma Deputy Galina Starovoitova's grave during his visit to the city on Friday when he will testify at the trial of those accused of murdering Starovoitova.
 
The accused have links to LDPR. In summer, one defendant testified that the killing was ordered by former LDPR Duma LDPR Deputy Mikhail Glushchenko, who is at large.
 Yabloko said the nationalist Zhirinovsky's actions would be like President Vladimir Putin, a former KGB officer, laying flowers on the grave of human rights advocate Andrei Sakharov, whom the KGB hounded.
 "This is cynicism and this cynicism is typical of Zhirinovsky," said Maxim Reznik, head of the city branch of Yabloko. "Starovoitova was killed six years ago and in all these years Zhirinovsky has never been noticed paying his respects at her grave," he said. "He does this only now, after he is called to court to testify as a witness."
 The LDPR could not be reached for comment Thursday.

TITLE: IN BRIEF
TEXT: <b>Call for More Deputies
 </b>

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - Federation Council speaker Sergei Mironov has proposed increasing the number of Legislative Assembly deputies from the 50 to 100, Interfax reported Wednesday.
 Mironov suggested 50 lawmakers could be elected as single mandate deputies and another 50 according to party lists, the report said.
 Deputies elected on party lists should form not less than a half of a regional parliament, according to the federal election law.
 "A local legislative branch [of government] must decide this on its own," Mironov told city lawmakers. 
 
 
<b>Painting Stolen
 </b>

ST. PETERBURG (SPT) - A painting belonging to artist Vladimir Shagin was stolen from an exhibition of independent art in the Manezh, Interfax reported Wednesday quoting the city police.
 The painting "1001 night of Shakherizada" disappeared on Tuesday afternoon during a round table that was taking place as a part of the festival of independent art.
 Someone took the painting from the wall and brought it outside despite guards being on duty at the entrance.
 
<b>Businessman Killed
 </b>

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - Killers dressed in police uniforms murdered a St. Petersburg businessman Monday.
 Three men dressed as police shot businessman Oleg Novikov as he was getting out of a car, and fled, Interfax reported Tuesday.
 Later, police located a Gazel in which they found a Kalashnikov gun, a pistol, a fake gun and police uniforms.
 St. Petersburg police said the killing could be a contract murder. Novikov was connected to to one of the city's criminal groups.
 
<b>Syrian Student Murder
 </b>

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - The city's Kuibyshev district federal court started hearings Tuesday on the murder of a Syrian student of the St. Petersburg Electric Technical University.
 On trial is Valentin Bulanov, charged with beating Abd Al Kader Badawie, 21, and pushing him in the path of an oncoming metro train, Interfax reported.
 On March 13 this year fans of the city's Zenit soccer team beat up Badawie and Syrian companions inside the Nevsky Prospekt metro station. 
 Bulanov partially admitted his guilt. He said he pushed the victim, but not with the intention of killing him.
 



TITLE: Boeing Flies $2.5 Billion Into Russia's Lap
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - Boeing has pledged to invest $2.5 billion into the Russian aerospace industry over the next five years, Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko said Wednesday.
 
With the signing of two agreements, Boeing is inviting Russian companies to participate in the design and production of its next-generation aircraft, the 7E7 Dreamliner.
 &quot;We are very pleased to expand our relationship,&quot; Boeing CEO Harry Stonecipher told Khristenko at a signing ceremony Wednesday.
 The Dreamliner is a family of planes that will carry 200 to 300 passengers on routes up to 16,000 kilometers. Boeing is counting on the project, scheduled for mass production in 2008, to recover its position as the world's leading manufacturer of commercial aircraft.
 Under a memorandum signed with Khristenko, Boeing is inviting Russian research institutes, engineers, design bureaus and software companies to contribute to the development and testing of components for the Dreamliner.
 A second agreement was signed Wednesday with Vladislav Tetyukhin, head of the titanium-maker Verkhnaya Salda Metallurgical Production Association, or VSMPO. The deal provides for a significant increase in titanium purchases by Boeing once the jet enters service.
 &quot;This will make us Boeing's No. 1 titanium supplier as of 2008, ahead of U.S. companies TIMET and RMI Titanium,&quot; Tetyukhin said on the sidelines of the presentation.
 &quot;Also, we are shifting away from just supplying raw materials to delivering finished parts, including landing gear and pylons,&quot; he said.
 Tetyukhin said his company has already approached 12 domestic aviation plants to take part in component production.
 VSMPO accounts for more than 30 percent of Boeing's titanium supplies and more than 60 percent for rival Airbus.
 Neither side put a price tag on the agreement.
 But the total investment by Boeing will reach at least $2.5 billion in the next five years, Khristenko said, adding that a considerable part of this sum will go to domestic research institutes and design bureaus.
 Asked whether Boeing in return expects Russia to buy more planes or the government to slash high import duties on foreign jets, Stonecipher said: &quot;We wish that was true but it isn't!&quot;
 Boeing has invested more than $1 billion in Russian programs since 1992, including a Boeing engineering center in Moscow, cooperation on the Sea Launch satellite project, and the international space station. But the U.S. aerospace giant was upstaged in 2002 when Aeroflot opted for jets from Airbus to renew its fleet.
 A total of 106 Boeing-made jets are operated in the CIS, accounting for 77 percent of all Western jets flying in the region, including 39 planes in Russia.
 Top Boeing officials have said they would like to sell more aircraft to Russia, and hosted an Aeroflot delegation in October for a 7E7 presentation.
 Both Western producers and domestic carriers have appealed to the government to lift import duties which, together with the value-added tax, increase the price of a foreign jet by 40 percent.
 Asked whether duties may be slashed soon, Khristenko just laughed.
 He said his ministry had briefed Boeing on its strategy to develop the domestic aviation industry, which was submitted to the Cabinet on Wednesday.
 In October, Yury Koptev, head of the ministry's defense industry department, said the strategy called for annual government investments of $1.7 billion to revive the aviation industry.
 &quot;Boeing is not being altruistic, so we don't have to be, either,&quot; Koptev said Wednesday.

TITLE: LUKoil Readies to Exploit Japan and China Energy Markets
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - Top oil producer LUKoil said earlier this week it is preparing to ship crude directly to China and Japan by rail and ship, opening up vast new markets for the energy giant.
 
LUKoil deputy CEO Leonid Fedun said deliveries could start as soon as the government and national rail monopoly Russian Railways, or RZD, agrees to reduce transport tariffs to make the new export routes economically viable.
 Fedun said LUKoil could ship up to 15 million tons (109 million barrels) per year to Asia's two biggest economies if a tariff agreement is reached, Interfax reported. During President Vladimir Putin's trip to Beijing last month, Russia agreed to boost oil exports by rail to China to 10 million tons in 2005 and 15 million tons in 2006.
 The move would be welcomed by energy-starved China, the world's largest oil importer after the United States. LUKoil's rival Yukos accounted for nearly all Russian oil shipments to China before a liquidity squeeze forced it to close down the route in September.
 Yukos agreed to supply state-owned China National Petroleum Corp., or CNPC, with 3.86 million tons of oil this year, but managed only 2.85 million tons before abandoning the route after its bank accounts were frozen as part of the government's efforts to extract $18 billion in back taxes and fines from the company.
 The stoppage irritated Beijing, which asked the Kremlin to find a substitute supplier. LUKoil, however, would not say whether Yukos' problems inspired the company's decision to target China.
 RZD, too, appears eager to find an alternative supplier to replace lost revenues. &quot;It would be good for all parties involved,&quot; an RZD spokeswoman said Tuesday.

TITLE: Foreign Investment in City Rises
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: The volume of foreign investment in the city is expected to reach $900 million by the year's end, the head of economic development committee said at a government meeting Tuesday.
 
The meeting focused on the results of St. Petersburg's socio-economic development from January to September. Rising foreign interest was one of the few positive tendencies reported by the committee for economic policy, trade and development (CEPTD). 
 Over the past six months foreign investment in the city totaled $411.3 million, a 39 percent growth on this period in 2003, said head of CEPTD, Vladimir Blank, when speaking to the city officials. However, the amount does not fully reflect actual foreign involvement in the city. A considerable portion of the investments is the returned funds of local companies registered offshore, said Blank.
 Last year Cypriot investment was the third largest, following Holland and the United States. Cyprus has kept its position as one of the largest investors in the city this year. &quot;In general the real growth in interest in the city is coming from large companies,&quot; said Blank, as reported by business daily Kommersant.
 Among the most considerable contributions to the city development (and budget) are the new construction projects undertaken by Elqotec, Pepsi and Gillette, said Blank.
 City international business association said the companies' involvement was partially due to the 'green light' given by administration to their projects.
 Meanwhile, total investment in the city decreased by a quarter. Industrial production slowed, and the level of new residential real estate came short of the 2 million square-meter goal set by the Governor Valentina Matviyenko.
 The CEPTD report attributed these factors to the saturation of the city's retail and real-estate markets. &quot;Economic growth rate has exceeded the inflation rate over the nine-month period, and that is the main factor marking a positive situation in the city,&quot; said Blank.
 The growth of foreign presence in St. Petersburg has been definitely facilitated by the administration this year, said the deputy director of St. Petersburg International Business Association (SPIBA), Natalya Kudryavtseva.
 &quot;Although Elqoteq and Pepsi have nursed expansion plans for a long time, the paperwork associated with getting the necessary permissions - which used to take up to two years - was taxing their resources. Now obtaining the 'go-ahead' is done in record-setting times,&quot; said Kudryavtseva.
 Pepsi got the permission to proceed with additional construction in a half a year - a period the company calls a record. &quot;The administration has a goal [of doubling GDP] and they are adopting the strategy that will allow them to reach it, by focusing on attracting investments quicker from large companies, &quot; said Kudryavtseva.
 Overall, there has come to be a marked difference in Smolny's attitude toward international investors. The administration's focus on attracting large foreign companies may, however, have neglected domestic firms.
 &quot;For smaller Russian companies St. Petersburg is not such an attractive destination: it is expensive. For many businesses that do not need highly qualified personnel, the Leningrad Oblast, which tries to work with both international and domestic investors is much more attractive,&quot; said Maxim Balanyov of the St. Petersburg Foundation for Small and Medium Business Development.
 The city hopes a new law determining the formation of land price will help attract both foreign and domestic investors. Already passed by the administration and to be presented to the Assembly in the near future, the new land price law should lower costs threefold.
 Officials hope it'll lead to mass buying of land now rented by city developers.

TITLE: City Budget 2005 Prioritizes Construction and Welfare
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: The Legislative Assembly passed the city budget for 2005 with 113.3 billion rubles ($3.95 billion) of income and 122 billion rubles ($4.25 billion) of expenditure on Wednesday.
 
The budget shows the city government considers the main priorities for the next year as construction and renovation, support of people with low incomes, and well as financing celebrations marking 60 years since the end of World War II.
 Governor Valentina Matviyenko referred to the planned deficit of 8.7 billion rubles ($303 million) as a temporary occurrence that will be liquidated by 2008.
 &quot;We have already cut city debt by 18 percent and our work on it has been judged by western experts as one of the most successful in Eastern Europe,&quot; Matviyenko said at the end of October, when presenting the draft of budget to the assembly.
 &quot;There are objective reasons for the deficit,&quot; she added. &quot;[City Hall] is preparing to sell its stakes in the biggest hotels and this money will be transferred to cover the deficit.&quot;
 While in most of the European countries small business are among the main contributors to city budgets, in St. Petersburg it is federal-scale companies operating in energy and fuel sector that are the biggest taxpayers.
 One of the biggest budget donors in 2005 will be LUKoil, which is scheduled to pay 4 billion rubes ($139 million) in taxes to the city, according to an agreement signed by the oil giant with City Hall on Wednesday.
 &quot;It is determined by the protocol that the oil company LUKoil will direct all of its forces to develop the activity of its sister companies registered in St. Petersburg and will provide in 2005 tax obligations for St. Petersburg budget of 4 billion rubles,&quot; City Hall's press service said in a statement Wednesday.
 LUKoil's relationship with City Hall has been under scrutiny after Matviyenko said the firm could take over a sumptuous palace and would get 60 sites for gas stations without having to compete for the sites in a tender.
 This year Assembly deputies tried to end a City Hall practice of transferring relatively small amounts of money to support small business, saying such an approach leads to corruption.
 &quot;Every year it is not clear where this money goes,&quot; Kovalyov said. &quot;Small business doesn't need financial assistance from City Hall. It needs City Hall to let them rent space and to create conditions in which they can earn the money themselves.&quot;
 The deputy could not say how much money City Hall allocated for small business support this year.
 &quot;The 2005 budget is balanced,&quot; Matviyenko said. &quot;It is socially just and at the same time we have significantly increased spending on capital works [renovation].&quot;
 Spending on capital works and construction has been increased by 508.4 million rubles ($18 million), compared to the last budget. At 33 billion rubles ($1.15 billion), it represents 27 percent of the budget. 
 City Hall has allocated about $2 million on developing designs for the western high-speed highway beside the Gulf of Finland, to the west of the city.
 Boris Vishnevsky, a member of the Yabloko faction, criticized this expenditure. &quot;This is not the first time we see money being transferred for the planning of different projects before [authorities] have found out if they will be able to get the finance to complete the project,&quot; he said Monday in a telephone interview. &quot;In this case, it is likely that there will be no [financing].&quot; 
 Vishnevsky said his biggest concern is over the 500 million rubles allocated to compensate public transport firms. 
 &quot;There will be no such thing as free transportation starting Jan. 1 and besides the cost of the transportation will be increased from 7 to 10 rubles,&quot; Vishnevsky said. &quot;And this money is not for purchasing new transport. It is specified as compensation.&quot;
 SPS faction lawmaker Alexei Kovalyov said he will file a lawsuit against City Hall for abolishing free transportation for pensioners.
 &quot;There are 1.3 million pensioners in the city and they will get just half the money next year that the budget was paying transportation firms as compensation,&quot; Kovalyov said Thursday in a telephone interview.
 The Federation Council will this year allocate St. Petersburg several additional billions of rubles. The move follows extra federal budget funds achieved through high world oil prices, Interfax reported Wednesday.
 The city will get 700 million rubles for payments to disabled people, 905.7 million to reform communal housing services, and 300 million rubles to renovate the State Historical Archive. The city's Cardiology Institute will get 80 million rubles.

TITLE: IN BRIEF
TEXT: <b>For the record:
 </b>

City administration's announced sale of its share packages in six city hotels, valued by international auditing companies at a total of $79 million, will start from early February next year.
 Hotels Oktyabrskaya and Moskva will be auctioned off February 9-10, said city administration.
 Meanwhile, the co-owners of hotels Pribaltiiskaya, Pulkovskaya, Astoria and Deson Ladoga will most likely use their right to buy out the share packages before the start of auctions, Vedemosti reported.
 Market players judge the hotel packages the most interesting city assets in the hotelier field since they make up almost a third of the mid-price city accommodation, apart from Astoria - a luxury-class hotel.
 
 n The city's Hertzen University has announced the launch of "Ten minutes of creative crazyness", a project aiming at helping young people pursue managerial careers in social fields. These are fields that need the most professional management, the university's press office said. 



TITLE: In Defense of the Lowly Kiosk
TEXT: City Hall has started a fight against kiosks in St. Petersburg, refusing to extend agreements with traders who operate in public places, such as bus stops or at train stations. 
 
The authorities say terrorists could misuse kiosks and that the kiosks should therefore disappear from the city's streets once and for all.
 In recent times, the government has been justifying its most unpopular actions by saying that the moves are made to prevent terrorism. This is the case with the recent initiative of President Vladimir Putin to abolish gubernatorial elections and Governor Valentina Matviyenko's idea of shutting down outlets where cigarettes and beer are sold.
 Both moves seem to me far from having any connection to terrorism.
 It is unlikely that implementing them will make people feel safer.
 A simple example of how ineffective and unproductive such initiatives are is what happened at the beginning of the 1990s when City Hall decided to get rid of all rubbish bins in the city center after a bomb exploded in a rubbish bin outside Gostiny Dvor.
 It seems removing the bins was in imitation of the London subway system that had eliminated rubbish bins to prevent them being used for terrorist attacks.
 But for St. Petersburg, as for any other big city, tackling terrorism with such methods is stupid. It did not take long before Nevsky Prospekt and all the streets around it were covered by cigarette butts, empty bottles, paper and empty cardboard drink containers. 
 Many people started thinking untidiness was a feature of Russian behavior. Maybe it is, but any behavior develops in conditions that facilitate it. One of the main reasons why this was a feature of citizens' behavior in Russia, and in St. Petersburg in particular, is because there were no suitable places to get rid of trash.
 This was proved very clearly just a few months before St. Petersburg's 300th anniversary celebrations last year, when City Hall installed many rubbish bins along Nevsky Prospekt. Only a blind person wouldn't have noticed that after this the street immediately became much cleaner. 
 My only regret was that the rubbish bins were provided only along the city's main street. I still can't find a single rubbish bin between St. Isaac's Square and Nevsky Prospekt.
 As for kiosks, like many people, I don't like them. Kiosks often attract groups of alcoholics and various idiots. But despite this, a kiosk is an inevitable part of development of the market economy and of the retail trade in particular. 
 The development scheme is quite simple. <br> A person opens a kiosk as their first business, then earns enough money to invest in a larger trading outlet, and then, if the business is set up seriously and goes successfully, makes it into a good retail store. 
 The results of this scheme are visible around many metro stations in St. Petersburg suburban areas, which were packed with ugly kiosks in the 1990s, but now are surrounded with more or less fine looking trade pavilions.
 I accept that it is a responsibility of City Hall to make sure that shopping occurs in acceptable conditions, and that trade areas look nice and clean. 
 It is quite correct to levy hefty fines on businesses that make a mess around outlets and City Hall is entitled to have a lot of say on these issues.
 What is unacceptable is for the authorities to follow a fashion - in this case justifying their moves as being against terrorism. If City Hall's logic on how to deal with kiosks is extended to other aspects of city life, the authorities should shut down all stores and train stations. They should stop buses, streetcars and the metro running.
 Why? Because public places and transport are the areas targeted by terrorists. So, following City Hall's logic to its illogical conclusion, walking should be banned and people should stay home to be safe.

TITLE: CHERNOV'S CHOICE
TEXT: Sergei Shnurov's new song, I Am Free (Ya Svoboden), has been released on a multi-media CD intended to support the jailed businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky, according to the Internet publication Dni.ru.
 The song, a rapping ode to freedom, does not mention Khodorkovsky, who is considered one of the most influential opponents to President Vladimir Putin, but Shnurov has been quoted as saying that he was inspired by his visit to a labor camp in Mordovia, and by an article allegedy written by Khodorkovsky in prison which was published in business daily Vedomosti.
 In Shnurov's trademark, cynical manner, the entire chorus has been sampled from a hit by the Moscow-based popular heavy-rock act Kipelov which is also called &quot;I Am Free.&quot;
 Shnurov is now on a tour of North America with his band Leningrad and was not available for comment, but in a recent interview with The St. Petersburg Times the big-mouthed singer was critical of what he called &quot;Putin's Russia,&quot; adding that even he is not immune from self-censorship.
 The mp3 of the song can be downloaded from Dni.ru at www.dni.ru/music/snd.mpg.
 <strong>Zdob Si Zdub,</strong> Moldova's leading rock band, will perform a rare St. Petersburg concert at Stary Dom on Thursday.
 The band, which started as a punk act but has adopted more of a Balkan folk sound over the years, is promoting its new album, &quot;450 Sheep&quot; with shows here and in Moscow.
 &quot;The album '450 Sheep' is both eclectic and conceptual. There is no place for pseudo-folk music in it,&quot; says the band's official website.
 &quot;The album was created using a diachronic approach - it is a mixture of rough guitar sound, scratches and hip-hop and archaic folk music. The Zdubs turned to the authentic music of Romanian <i>lautars</i> (gypsy musicians) and filled the album with a mystic atmosphere and sacred meaning.&quot;
 An authentic Moldovan gypsy band called <strong>Yagalo </strong>is featured on two of the album's tracks: the old folk song &quot;Cuculet&quot; (Cuckoo); and the Romanian version of Zdub Si Zdub's own &quot;Everybody in the Casa Mare.&quot;
 The bunker club <strong>Griboyedov</strong> has announced that it will change official starting times for concerts from 10 p.m. to 8 p.m. as part of its new, live music-friendly policy. Starting in December, concerts will start earlier to allow two bands to play on one evening. Opening acts will start first, followed by headliners at 10 p.m. or 10:30 p.m.
 &quot;It seems that some people like to go home by metro so [now] they will be able to catch it after the [first] concert,&quot; said art director Mikhail Sindalovsky.
 He added that Griboyedov's team is seeking sponsorship from businesses in order to be able to host bigger names. The entrance fee to the club has recently risen to 200 rubles for events.
 The folk band <strong>Dobranotch</strong> will play at Red Club in Sunday, while garage/1960s-style rhythm-and-blues band <strong>Chufella Marzufella </strong>will appear at Griboyedov on Wednesday.
 
 <i>
- By Sergey Chernov </i>

TITLE: Comic visitors
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: A Finnish comic book artist whose parents were forced out of the border town of Vyborg when it was absorbed into the Soviet Union as a result of World War II, has published a new book which takes a twisted look at the complex historical relationship between Russia and one of its closest neighbors.
 
An exhibition coinciding with the Russian-language release of &quot;Russia: A Field Guide&quot; ('Rossiya: Opisaniye Marshrutov') by Heikki Paakkanen, opened last week at the Borey Art Gallery on Liteiny Prospekt and runs through Nov. 28. 
 &quot;Finnish-Russian relations are very long, curly, twisted, and traumatic,&quot; Paakkanen said at the opening of the exhibition. 
 The comic book relates the adventures of two Finnish characters, described by their creator as &quot;idiot heroes,&quot; as they journey from Finland to Moscow to return a mysterious machine called a &quot;Pravdamat&quot; - a Cold War &quot;truth machine&quot; that is no longer required in the current period of post-Soviet harmony.
 &quot;The characters debate [Finnish-Russian] history,&quot; Paakkanen said. &quot;I don't wish to get pretentious about it, but the more you know about history, the more you'll get out of my story. It's a basic history of Finnish-Russian relations.&quot;
 The exhibition, which features original artwork from the comic alongside early pencil layouts, is small, but likely to encourage most visitors to read the book (which can be purchased in the gallery book shop). 
 A full-size replica of the Pravdamat, which resembles a giant, primitive computer the size of a small car, is the centerpiece of the Borey Gallery exhibition. 
 Paakkanen, a flamboyant figure, teased his audience by refusing to let on that the monstrous machine might be his own creation. 
 &quot;According to my information, this kind of machine was used in Finland and other countries to test your pro- or anti-Soviet attitudes. I don't know if it's an icon or a horrible, monstrous relic of those sad times - I'm only the artist.&quot;
 Although &quot;Russia: A Field Guide&quot; is packed with humor and satirical observations, Paakkanen realizes he is dealing with a potentially volatile subject.
 &quot;Is this politically correct? No! It's totally incorrect. But it's balanced on both sides, and only a fool would say, 'Hey, I'm really angry about this...' I've seen more joking here about the collapse of the Soviet Union than elsewhere. I mean the Russians have a right to do that. The only problem with my system is the attitude that only a Jew can make Jewish jokes, or only a Russian can make jokes about himself. When a foreigner comes to make jokes about Russians, that's inappropriate. But I trust in tolerance.&quot;
 On their way to Moscow, the book's two heroes encounter various manifestations of Russian culture, even stopping in St. Petersburg, where they have a liquid lunch with an eccentric local and a brush with famous characters from the city's past. 
 It isn't the first outing for Paakanen's characters, as he explains: &quot;The same heroes have made these modest observations in Finland, France and Sweden. They go there, loaded with attitudes, they travel, and they see the country, in this case, Russia.&quot;
 Asked about his personal relationship with Russia, Paakkanen describes it as &quot;as traumatic as the book is.&quot;
 &quot;My parents are from Vyborg. My family belonged to the evacuees of the Second World War. I was born in 1948, just after the war, so I was fed with war stories. I am very interested in history. I think you can see this in the book. It has a special meaning for me to go through Vyborg.&quot;
 Finnish consul general in St. Petersburg Kauko Jamsen sees the exhibition and book as positive for Finnish-Russian relations. &quot;Its good to have this kind of exhibition to get Finns and Russians closer on this very sensitive theme,&quot; said Jamsen. 
 &quot;More than 400,000 Finns had to leave their homes [in present-day Russia] after World War II. They live in Finland and they have organizations and demand the return of those territories. It's an ongoing discussion. But the majority of Finns don't support radical measures. They think it's history... We are such close neighbors and have such close cooperation today. More than 1.5 million Russians come to Finland and we welcome them.&quot;
 Paakkanen is more ambivalent in his analysis. 
 &quot;In a kind of poll I saw [in newspaper Ilta-Sanomat], 62 percent of Finns said they disliked Russians,&quot; he said. &quot;But sociologists studied why and found that there were different reasons for that high percentage, mostly, of course it's that huge tradition of being in the neighborhood. It's been traumatic, but you know, Finnish people hate Swedes too. I can't remember the percentage, but when it comes to ice hockey, we'd like to kill them.&quot;
 Nevertheless, perhaps unwittingly, Paakkanen remains an optimist at heart.
 &quot;My heroes are extremes,&quot; he said. &quot;They are based on the heroes of Aladdin's magic lamp. The lamp holder happens to be a young idealist and the genie of the lamp happens to be this drunken old war hero. The funny thing is that when I read a [newspaper] story about my book, I wondered, 'Am I getting soft?' because the journalist or editor pointed out that these characters are as extreme as you could imagine, but they have a strong bond and have to get along. According to this journalist, my message is to 'try to get along.'&quot;
 But Paakkanen disavows this humanistic &quot;soft&quot; interpretation.
 &quot;It was shocking to me because I didn't intend to give advice to anyone. In a funny way [I asked myself] hey, 'Am I teaching peace and harmony?'&quot;
 Paakkanen answers himself: &quot;Well, why not?&quot;

TITLE: Rising stars Jury president Vladimir Atlantov (c) announces winners at the Mariinsky Theater.
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: The sixteen finalists of The Sixth International Rimsky-Korsakov competition for young opera singers, which concluded last weekend, are set to fill their diaries with international engagements, and very soon.
 
Belorussian counter-tenor Yury Minenko, a finalist, is being seriously considered for the role of Ziebel in a forthcoming staging of Gounoud's &quot;Faust&quot; at the Vienna State Opera, Ioan Holender, the company's director and a member of the contest's jury, said.
 &quot;Usually the role is sung by a mezzo-soprano, so inviting a counter-tenor would be a departure from tradition. But it is not impossible, and the singer is definitely worth a look,&quot; Holender said. &quot;Minenko demonstrated a rare beautiful timbre, a captivating stage presence and strong technique. He was born to perform baroque music.&quot;
 Holender also praised soprano Olga Shurshina of the Mariinsky Academy for Young Singers, who took the first prize, but said he can't immediately think of a role for her.
 The festival's international element has increased year after year. This year the jury featured Vienna State Opera director Holender, director of Askonas Holt international artist management agency Mark Hildrew, Bulgarian soprano Ghena Dimitrova and Estonian bass Matti Palm.
 The internationally known tenor and St. Petersburg native, Vladimir Atlantov, who was awarded the title of Kammerzinger of the Vienna State Opera in 1987 and now lives in Austria, was the president of the jury.
 Over 150 participants from Russia, Lithuania, Armenia, Germany, Norway, Finland, Japan, China, New Zealand, Israel, Poland, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Estonia and Ukraine competed for prizes at this year's event.
 In line with the contest's name, the lion's share of the program is devoted to Russian music and Rimsky-Korsakov's <i>ouvre</i> in particular, but the contestants are also required to perform Italian, French and German pieces.
 &quot;It is as easy for foreign participants to perform the Russian repertoire as it is for Russians to sing German, Italian and French arias,&quot; Atlantov said. In his opinion, the festival is gaining greater recongition abroad thanks to its reputation as a springboard for new talents. 
 &quot;Young singers see who emerged [from this event] and got noticed ... they want to get noticed too,&quot; Atlantov said. &quot;Amending the program, trying to placate foreign participants and make it easier for them would make no sense. The competition's name is the best promotion it can get, better than any bending-over-backwards would be.&quot;
 Hildrew said his agency is not ready to offer an immediate contract to this year's winners but added that engagements are only a matter of time. 
 &quot;They are very young - still in their early 20s,&quot; Hildrew said. &quot;I have been representing [world famous baritone] Dmitry Khvorostovsky for fifteen years, but he was 28 years old when I started working with him.&quot;
 The Askonas Holt agency already represents a number of Mariinsky singers who first showed promise in previous Rimsky-Korsakov contests, including soprano Anna Netrebko, bass Yevgeny Nikitin, mezzo-soprano Yekaterina Semenchuk, tenor Daniil Shtoda and baritone Vassily Gerello.
 In Atlantov's opinion, the participants' young age is an advantage. 
 &quot;Performers start their careers much earlier these days,&quot; he said. &quot;It used to be that singers would graduate from a conservatory and get their first roles around the age of 30, but now you see 23- and 24-year olds doing brilliantly. Not only do they possess the necessary skills but they bring youthful vigor to their interpretations of characters.&quot; Dimitrova, who pointed out before the competition that she will be looking for &quot;big voices,&quot; has noticed several talented mezzo-sopranos, and is planning a trip back to St. Petersburg to give them a series of master classes.
 &quot;I have encountered some beautiful voices,&quot; she said, &quot;but they need to be taught how to breathe properly and definitely work on their Italian vowels which sound very Russian.&quot;

TITLE: The hostel option
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: You've told all your out of town friends and relatives that St. Petersburg is a happening place and a veritable must-see travel destination. Suddenly they agree. <i>Ochen khorosho!</i>
 
But your place is rather small and getting them a room at the Grand Hotel Europe is out of the question. What can you do?
 Think youth hostels. They specialize in budget travel accommodation for people of all ages.
 St. Petersburg now boasts more than a dozen of them. In fact, the desire to provide lodging for visitors who prefer backpacks and public transportation to suitcases and tour buses is stronger than ever. Three new places with budget beds have opened since last year, two youth hostel associations are vying for dominance, and a few small hotels have jumped on the bandwagon as well.
 That's good news for intrepid independent travelers. Unfortunately, they're most likely unaware of their good fortune because phonebooks, government tourist industry officials and guidebooks all fail to adequately describe the wealth of possibilities presently available.
 The 2004 edition of the St. Petersburg Yellow Pages has a category for hostels, but it is intended for student dormitories. Youth hostels are lumped in with hotels, and even then only a handful are mentioned.
 The St. Petersburg Tourist Information Center at Palace Square doesn't maintain an up-to-date list of youth hostels that can be handed out to visitors. 
 And there are no fliers or brochures available there either.
 The major English language guidebooks for St. Petersburg published by Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, and Time Out can be as much as five years out of date. 
 So not only are their hostel listings woefully incomplete, but their maps are similarly of little value to visitors searching for their hostel.
 To further complicate matters, a few youth hostels are currently known as hotels, and another has signs that proclaim &quot;Bed and Breakfast&quot; in English. According to Filipp Mechanov, the former manager of Prima Sport Hotel, who studied hotel management at university, the problem is that most Russians are simply unclear on the concept of youth hostels.
 All of these difficulties will no doubt eventually be resolved. In the meantime, the Internet is the most effective way to locate youth hostels in St. Petersburg, compare prices, and book a bed.
 Many hostels have their own websites while others use online middlemen like HostelWorld.com. Igor Karadeniz, hostel manager of Hostel Zimmer Freie, said that 80 to 90 percent of the hostel's reservations are made online. Other hostels reported similar numbers.
 Russian guests at small hotels often share a bathroom. Hostel &quot;Na Muchnom,&quot; which was established about 12 years ago, has 38 rooms, but only three of these have private bathrooms.
 &quot;By western standards it's a hostel,&quot; said Sergei Morev the manager. So a few years ago they began marketing themselves on the Internet as the St. Petersburg Traveller Hostel. 
 In order to attract both Russian and foreign guests they now use both names.
 Hostel &quot;Metro Tour&quot; has a similar history. In their case, 18 months ago management replaced the entire front desk staff with new employees who could speak English - the <i>lingua franca</i> of the global tourist industry.
 Youth hostels are easily distinguished from budget hotels by the communal nature of their facilities, and their youthful clientele. 
 Note, though, that here in St. Petersburg there is no age limit. Another key distinction is that at a youth hostel you book a bed, while at a budget hotel you reserve a room.
 Long Russian winters and the fact that most university students travel primarily during the summer mean that St. Petersburg's hostels are busiest from late April to early October. During these months it's best to book ahead. Rates for hostels in the historic center range from $15 to $24.50 a night in high season and from $10 to $15 in low season. 
 Youth hostels strive to attract groups as well as individuals. Four times a year Hostel &quot;Metro Tour&quot; hosts a busload of Russian schoolchildren. Sleep Cheap often has groups from VodkaTrain, a popular offering from an Australian-based adventure travel company that shepherds people across Russia on the Trans-Siberian Railway. 
 VodkaTrain trips are limited to 15 people; hostels are used to keep costs low.
 Besides a clean bed, breakfast and a hot shower, hostels typically provide a variety of additional services. The purpose of these is twofold: they help insure that guests have a pleasant stay and they help bolster the bottom line.
 The St. Petersburg International Hostel and the St. Petersburg Traveller Hostel both have travel agents on site. 
 This allows guests a convenient way to arrange trips to Tallinn, Helsinki and Moscow.
 Prima Sport Hotel runs a souvenir stand in the summer complete with matryoshka dolls and will open a sauna early next year.
 A number of hostels have washing machines. These are especially appreciated by guests who have just completed a journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway.
 Walking tours, Internet access, airport transfers, bottled water and city maps are also frequently available.
 There are two kinds of youth hostels - those that belong to the International Youth Hostel Federation and independents. 
 The IYHF is a global not-for-profit organization that represents over 4000 hostels in 80 countries. In St. Petersburg six youth hostels claim membership in the IYHF.
 One of the IYHF's primary goals is to facilitate a greater knowledge of and respect for the cultural values of communities throughout the world. They excel at providing an environment where young people can meet informally and share experiences. Hostels that are affiliated with them display a blue triangle sign.
 Normally, the IYHF recognizes just one youth hostel association per country. However, Russia has two: the Russian Youth Hostel Association and the Youth Hostels Association of Russia. Both are located in St. Petersburg, but unfortunately there is no communication between them.
 The United Kingdom has three different youth hostel associations: one for England and Wales, a second for Scotland, and a third for Northern Ireland. Belgium due to its Flemish- and French-speaking populations, likewise has two. 
 But in Russia there is no comparable justification. Instead, having two rival organizations needlessly complicates efforts to increase the number of hostels in Russia affiliated with the IYHF, and is a headache for the established networks of IYHF hostels in nearby countries.
 Ari Aalto, the Secretary General of the Finnish Youth Hostel Association, has good relations with both Russian youth hostel associations. However, he acknowledged that efforts by the IYHF to solve the cooperation problems between these two organizations have so far not been promising.
 Foreigners wishing to visit Russia must obtain a visa. This in turn requires a letter of invitation. Then, upon arrival, everyone must register with the police. Helping guests complete all these tasks in a timely manner is a business necessity for Russia's tourist industry.
 Despite this cumbersome system tourism to Russia has been steadily increasing. 
 Since catering to foreigners - even budget minded ones - is potentially lucrative, various entrepreneurs have quietly expanded the number of budget accommodations available in St. Petersburg. Prima Sport Hotel was opened in May 2003, Sleep Cheap in August 2003, and Hostel &quot;All Seasons&quot; in January 2004.
 What's the downside? Well, people in your room sometimes mumble in foreign languages while they sleep; others snore rather loudly. 
 Hostels in can also present a golden opportunity for light-fingered guests and staff alike. (Be sure to keep valuables such as cameras, mobile phones and disc players secure.) Then, too, there are those who feel compelled to share the complex underwear rotation schemes they have devised to avoid doing laundry.
 But so what? Travel is meant to be an adventure, and youth hostels provide a unique opportunity to learn first hand about the everyday cares and concerns of people from around the world.
 Given the opportunity, your next guest will no doubt positively jump at the chance to see you, explore St. Petersburg, and rub elbows with the global smorgasbord of visitors who clamber through the city each year. Who could resist such a troika of unparalleled delights?
 
 <i>
Useful links:
 
 International Youth Hostel Federation
 www.HIHostels.com
 
 Russian Youth Hostel Association
 www.hostelling-russia.ru
 
 Youth Hostels Association of Russia
 www.russia-hostelling.ru </i>

TITLE: APEC Ministers Mull
 Trade as Protests Rage
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: SANTIAGO, Chile - Ministers from nations facing the Pacific Ocean discussed stronger economic ties and the elimination of trade barriers against a backdrop of street clashes between anti-globalization protesters and Chilean police. 
 
The top officials representing 21 economies at the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit stressed their commitment Wednesday to World Trade Organization negotiations aimed at sealing a treaty that would cut trade barriers around the globe and boost the planet's economy. 
 &quot;The mood is very upbeat and very positive as far as the WTO is concerned,'' said Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaile. 
 Vaile made the comments just after the United States and Australia settled last-minute differences over a free trade deal, announcing an agreement to take effect in January 2005 that would add billions of dollars in new trade benefits for both nations. 
 But demonstrators who believe free trade benefits only rich nations took to the streets and protested, despite being pushed back repeatedly by Chilean police spraying tear gas from jeeps and blasts of water from military-style trucks. 
 The protesters, also upset by President George W. Bush's upcoming weekend visit to the APEC conference, were knocked to the ground as they fled, pedestrians ran for cover and businesses shut their doors. 
 But the crowd of mostly university students managed to regroup, shutting down traffic and yelling, &quot;Get out of here, Bush,'' and &quot;We don't want to be an American colony.'' 
 The protests ended after several hours and did not interrupt the high-level talks taking place at a convention center several kilometers from the Chilean capital's downtown area. 
 There were no reports of injuries from the clashes on the streets of Santiago, but police detained nearly 400 protesters and took them away in buses. 
 Among those detained and later released was Rodrigo Soto, who heads Amnesty International's Chile office. 
 Outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in Santiago late Wednesday night to meet with APEC ministers. Bush is to meet with other APEC leaders, including Chinese Premier Hu Jintao and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, at the summit this weekend after the ministers conclude their discussions. 
 Several bilateral meetings between leaders are planned. Hu and Koizumi were expected to meet one-on-one, according to Kyodo News agency, which cited government sources. 
 Ties between Japan and China have been strained by the incursion of a Chinese nuclear submarine into Japanese waters last week. Bush is expected to bring up North Korea during the summit, urging other leaders involved in multinational talks to persuade the reclusive nation to abandon its nuclear ambitions. 
 Bush administration officials also are expected to press China to change its currency practices. 
 For more than a year, the Bush administration has been pressuring China to stop linking its currency at a fixed rate to the U.S. dollar, which American manufacturers contend has resulted in the Chinese currency being undervalued by as much as 40 percent. 
 That gives Chinese products a big competitive advantage against American goods. 
 The Chinese have said they want to move to a more flexible currency system but cannot until they make reforms to the country's financial system. 
 They have given no timetable for when they believe they will be ready to allow their currency's value to be set by market forces. 
 APEC's members are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.

TITLE: Lewinsky Scandal Features 
 In Bill Clinton's Library
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas - Former U.S. president Bill Clinton's presidential library, opening Thursday, covers Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky in a single display that portrays the White House scandals as a &quot;fight for power&quot; and an exercise in the &quot;politics of persecution.&quot; 
 
&quot;We had to show this was a systematic attempt by Republican leaders to de-legitimize Bill Clinton and the administration,&quot; said former Clinton adviser Bruce Lindsey, who worked with the ex-president through much of the exhibit-design process. 
 The nation's second presidential impeachment is dealt with along with other scandals in an 2.4-meter-by 1.8-meter alcove titled &quot;The Fight for Power.&quot; 
 &quot;His supporters will say, 'Oh, why did you give this so much space?'&quot; library director David Alsobrook said as reporters received advance tours Wednesday. &quot;But his detractors will come up and say, 'Dave, where is the blue dress?'&quot; 
 In contrast, Clinton asked specifically for a double alcove on his diplomatic efforts in Northern Ireland, the Balkans and the Middle East, according to exhibit designer Ralph Appelbaum. 
 Advisers presented computer mock-ups of exhibits to Clinton for approval. A group of the president's speechwriters drafted the text. 
 The scandal exhibit is split into sections called &quot;Politics of Persecution&quot; and &quot;A New Culture of Confrontation.&quot; 
 Another highlight is the only full-scale replica of the Oval Office in a presidential library. Administration officials took thousands of photographs of the office to re-create the placement of every statue, photo and award. 
 Clinton's wife Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton also has her own alcove, dedicated to programs she ran as first lady. 
 After a tour of exhibits and a reception, Clinton, his wife and daughter Chelsea greeted a crowd of more than 1,000.

TITLE: U.S. Allies Put Hopes on Rice
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: WASHINGTON - U.S. allies and critics expressed hope Tuesday that Condoleeza Rice, as Washington's new face to the world, may find solutions to festering problems in the Middle East. But some worried U.S foreign policy would harden. 
 
As U.S. President George W. Bush's national security adviser, the blunt Rice was considered more conservative and hawkish than the man she is tapped to replace, Colin Powell, who has been widely praised for his diplomacy. 
 &quot;The departure of Colin Powell from the State Department ... raises concerns the United States will toughen its foreign policy,&quot; the liberal Athens daily Vima said in a front-page commentary. 
 Some in Kuwait, a major ally of Washington in the Gulf since a U.S.-led coalition liberated it in 1991 from a seven-month Iraqi occupation, said a harder line may be a good thing. 
 &quot;It will increase the U.S. policy's determination and drive to finish what it started such as [pushing for] democratic reform, and building a new Iraq,&quot; said former Kuwaiti Oil Minister Ali al-Baghli. 
 Rice also has good relations with the Israeli leadership, he noted, and with Palestinian leader &quot;Yasser Arafat gone, and moderate and realistic leaders hopefully taking over, we hope that the American administration decides to solve that issue.&quot; 
 Mideast writer-analyst Sameer Atallah warned of &quot;a tougher stance by Washington on all issues&quot; because Bush's administration is losing the voice of Powell, who was more moderate.


TITLE: IN BRIEF
TEXT: <b>Hostage Hassan 'Dead'
 </b>

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - British-Iraqi aid worker Margaret Hassan has probably been killed by kidnappers, her family has said after a video apparently showing her being shot in the head was sent to an Arab television station.
 "There is a video of Margaret which appears to show her murder," Tahsin Hassan said in Baghdad, where his Dublin-born wife had lived for some 30 years.
 "She has probably been murdered," British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said after experts had reviewed the tape sent to Al Jazeera television. There was an element of doubt, he added.
 
 
<b>A Female Empress
 </b>

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's ruling party is eyeing an overhaul of the post-war constitution to allow the military to use force in international missions and let a woman ascend the throne. 
 The ruling Liberal Democratic Party plans to decide on the changes next month and announce a final draft in November 2005, the Yomiuri Shimbun said, citing party sources. 
 It would mark the first revision of the pacifist 1947 constitution imposed by the United States at the end of World War II, in which Japan renounced war and the right to maintain a military.
 
 
<b>Polanski 'Denied Justice'
 </b>

LONDON (AP) - A lawyer for filmmaker Roman Polanski said Wednesday that he was being denied justice because he is not allowed to sue a magazine for defamation in a British court while remaining in France. 
 The Polish-born director, who has lived in France since fleeing child-sex charges in the United States in 1978, is seeking to sue Vanity Fair magazine over a 2002 article that accused him of seducing a woman while on the way to the funeral of his murdered wife. 
 Polanski, 71, wants to testify by video link because he fears being deported to the United States, with which Britain has an extradition treaty. 
 
 
<b>Iran Missile Plans 
 </b>

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - The United States has intelligence indicating Iran is trying to fit missiles to carry nuclear weapons, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said. 
 Powell partially confirmed claims by an Iranian opposition group that Tehran is deceiving the United Nations and is attempting to secretly continue activities meant to give it atomic arms by next year. 
 "I have seen intelligence which would corroborate what this dissident group is saying," Powell told reporters Wednesday as he traveled to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Santiago. "And it should be of concern to all parties." 
 Pressed by reporters on the intelligence reports, Powell said the intelligence indicates that Iran "had been actively working on delivery systems" capable of carrying a nuclear weapon.
 
 
<b>Fox Hunting Ban Soon
 </b>

LONDON (Reuters) - A ban on fox hunting with dogs is expected to be forced through parliament today after a final defiant stand by peers.
 The House of Lords rejected the bill on Wednesday but the government is now likely to use the Parliament Act - a rarely used device to carry the will of the elected chamber - to force a ban in England and Wales into law.
 It is likely to come into effect in February after peers also dismissed a government bid to delay it for 18 months. 



TITLE: Lakers Supreme Team in L.A.
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: LOS ANGELES, California - The Lakers still rule Los Angeles - at least for now. 
 
Kobe Bryant had 23 points, six rebounds and a season-high 11 assists, Chucky Atkins scored 12 of his 17 points in the first 6 1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter, and the Lakers beat the Los Angeles Clippers 103-89 Wednesday night. 
 With Shaquille O'Neal gone and Bryant surrounded by a whole new team, the crosstown rivalry appears a lot more even than in past years. But the Lakers remained on top in the first meeting this season. 
 &quot;For me, it's old hat,&quot; Bryant said. 
 The Lakers are 18-3 against the Clippers at Staples Center since the arena opened five years ago, and have a 27-3 record in the last 30 games between the teams. 
 The Lakers took command by outscoring the Clippers 24-7 for a 95-78 lead with 5:43 left. Bryant highlighted the run with a soaring dunk after an alley-oop pass from Atkins with 6:50 to play, bringing the Staples Center fans to their feet. 
 Corey Maggette scored seven points in a row for the Clippers to make it interesting, but Bryant got the next four to make it 99-85. 
 Chris Mihm scored 15 points, Caron Butler added 14, Brian Cook had 12, and Lamar Odom 11 for the Lakers (5-4). 
 &quot;We knew they wanted to come out and get us,&quot; said Cook, a second-year player who mostly sat on the bench as a rookie. &quot;We've got a big target on our back. We came out and showed them what's up.&quot; 
 There are nine newcomers on the Lakers' roster this season. Cook is one of six returnees. 
 &quot;With everybody we had last year, there was only one ball to go around,&quot; Cook said. &quot;Everybody had their egos. Everybody gets along this year. We know that we have to work every day to get better.&quot; 
 Asked about Bryant, Cook said: &quot;I think he's more involved with the players, talking to them, even hanging out with them a little bit. You can tell he wants to be the leader of this team.&quot;
 Maggette finished with 24 points. Bobby Simmons had 23 points and eight rebounds, Elton Brand added 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Chris Wilcox had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Clippers (5-4). 
 &quot;We weren't as sharp tonight defensively,&quot; Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. &quot;We let Mihm catch the ball way too deep a lot of times. We had some miscues on our coverages on some of the pick-and-roll stuff and let their guys get to our rim, which we hadn't been doing. There's no excuses for it. We just didn't play well.&quot;
 Bryant didn't appear bothered by a sore left foot diagnosed last week as plantar fasciitis. He sat out practice Monday and Tuesday, but wound up playing 45 minutes, including all 24 in the second half. 
 &quot;Sometimes it hurts and sometimes it doesn't. It's pretty sore right now,&quot; he acknowledged afterward. 
 Simmons scored 12 points in the first eight minutes of the third quarter, making six shots without a miss, to spark a 20-12 run that put the Clippers up 66-65. 
 The Lakers went ahead for good by scoring nine straight points to finish the third period and start the fourth for an 80-71 lead. 
 &quot;We felt we could win this game and we let it get away,&quot; Maggette said. &quot;If you look at the stats, it looks pretty even all the way around except for the free throws. We attacked the rim, but we didn't get the calls.&quot; 
 The Lakers shot 20-of-24 from the foul line to 9-of-11 for the Clippers. 
 Bryant had seven points and eight assists in the first half, which ended with the Lakers leading 53-46. He assisted on 3-pointers from the left corner in the final seconds of the first and second quarters - the first by Luke Walton, the second by Butler. 
 The Lakers led 29-24 after the opening period despite allowing the Clippers to grab 11 offensive rebounds while getting just one themselves. Mihm had 12 points in the quarter, but got only three after that - all late in the third period.

TITLE: SPORTS WATCH
TEXT: <b>Racial Slurs Disappoint
 </b>

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Tony Blair was "very disappointed" by the racial abuse of England's black players during Wednesday's soccer international against Spain in Madrid. 
 "The prime minister like everyone in the country was very disappointed with what happened last night in Spain," his spokeswoman told reporters. 
 "He believes racism has no part to play in sport or in any other matter." 
 Sections of the crowd at the Bernabeu stadium made monkey noises whenever Ashley Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips touched the ball in England's bad-tempered 1-0 defeat. 
 Britain's sports minister Richard Caborn is to write to Spanish and international soccer authorties in protest. 
 "We have made great progress in kicking racism out of football here," Blair's aide said. 
 
 
<b>Kafelnikov's Next Move
 </b>

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Marat Safin wished fellow Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov good luck in his new career on Tuesday, adding that the former world number one was going to need it.
 Kafelnikov, 30, announced earlier this week he was giving up tennis to become a professional poker player.
 Safin said that his move into poker could prove more risky than one of those spectacular between-the-legs tennis shots.
 "Good luck in this one because these kind of things, they can cost you a lot of money," Safin told reporters after opening his account at the Masters Cup with a 6-1 6-4 demolition of Argentina's Guillermo Coria. "But, from what I heard, he won a tournament and he made 330,000 euros ($428,300), so basically that's not bad."
 
 
<b>Cameroon Coach Goes
 </b>

YAOUNDE (Reuters) - Cameroon have sacked coach Winfried Schaefer following his team's disappointing performance in a 3-0 defeat away to Germany on Wednesday. 
 Youth and Sports Minister Siegfried David Etame Massoma said Schaefer, in charge since late 2001, had been fired for "failing to produce good results."
 However, Schaefer said Thursday that he had not been informed he was out of a job. 
 
 
<b>Greek Sprinters 
 </b>

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Greek sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou and their coach were charged Thursday with avoiding a drug test on the eve of the Athens Olympics and faking a motorcycle accident hours later. 
 Chief prosecutor Dimitris Papangelopoulos, announcing the results of a two-month investigation, issued charges against the two athletes and coach Christos Tzekos. The coach was also charged with illegally importing and selling banned substances. 
 
 
<b>China Eliminated
 </b>

BEIJING (Reuters) - China awoke on Thursday to headlines proclaiming the death of soccer in the country after the national team's shock World Cup qualifying exit. 
 China's 7-0 rout of Hong Kong in Guangzhou on Wednesday was not enough to prevent Kuwait advancing to next year's final round of 2006 Asian qualifiers after the Gulf side beat Malaysia 6-1.