SOURCE: The St. Petersburg Times
DATE: Issue #1073 (39), Friday, May 27, 2005
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TITLE: Kyoto 'Puts Oblast Shale
Jobs at Risk'
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Leningrad Oblast Legislative Assembly deputies are blaming the Kyoto Protocol for putting the livelihoods of some 2,000 oblast miners at stake.
The deputies say Estonia is more interested in selling emission credits it gains by not burning Russian oil shale than it is in selling the electricity generated from the shale.
The protocol, which aims to counter global warming, limits the amount of greenhouse gas that can be emitted, allowing countries that produce less than the limits to sell "emission credits" to countries that exceed them.
Estonian firm Narva Power Plants conceded the Kyoto Protocol played a role in it ceasing to accept Russian oil shale mined in the oblast town of Slantsy from April 1.
But Igor Kond, financial director of Narva Power Plants, said Wednesday in a telephone interview that purchases from Leningradslanets were discontinued because of systematic delays since last year in payments for the electricity it has generated.
Gennady Grudinov, deputy head of the firm Leningradslanets that runs the mines, confirmed that payments had fallen behind, but said Leningradslanets had paid all its debts to Narva Power Plants before April 1.
The Estonian firm continues to burn shale from Estonia.
Slantsy's miners have not worked or been paid for the last two months.
Grudinov said Wednesday in a telephone interview that trade unionists have been trying to keep the miners calm.
Last week the miners picketed the Estonian Consulate General in St. Petersburg, and they have threatened to block or even blow up the highway to Estonia.
"The miners are extremely irritated," Grudinov said.
By law, the miners are due to be paid two-thirds of their wages, but Leningradslanets does not have the money to pay, he added.
For Slantsy, which has a population of 37,000 people, Leningradslanets was the major industry.
On Tuesday, oblast deputies appealed to the European Commission, asking it to intervene urgently in the allocation of emission quotas for greenhouse gases with the EU.
The legislators demanded that either half of Estonia's emission quotas be passed to Russia, or that the Estonian government should resume taking shale from the oblast.
The legislators also made personal written appeals to European Commission President Jose Barroso and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Wednesday a meeting representatives of the Foreign Ministry, the Trade and Economic Development Ministry, and the federal industry and energy agencies decided to form an inter-government commission to work on the issue.
Grudinov said Narva Power Plants sent the electricity it generates from Russian shale to power utility Lenenegro, and Lenenergo then paid Leningradslanets, which recompensed Narva Power Plants. However, sometimes Lenenergo delayed payments to Leningradslanets, which then would arrive overdue in Estonia.
Estonia has also demanded that Russia pay for emission quotas for the burning of its fuel as it is required to do under the Kyoto Protocol, which Russia has ratified.
The oblast legislators said there are no grounds for the request because when the European Commission assigned quotas for Estonia it took into account the amount of Russian fuel burned.
St. Petersburg-based energy expert Gianguido Piani said the difference in the start dates for Kyoto mechanisms has complicated the situation.
The EU, of which Estonia is a member, introduced a quota system on Jan. 1. whereby the plant must pay a 40 euro ($50.10) penalty for each ton of carbon dioxide emitted by the plant over allocated allowances. In 2008, this penalty will rise to 100 euros per ton of carbon dioxide.
For Russia, which is not a EU member, Kyoto mechanisms will begin working in 2008 and only if relevant legislation and control mechanisms are ready. Russia has no penalty system and probably will not have.
Leningradslanets director Grigory Freiman has accused Estonia of having an ulterior motive in ceasing to take shale from Russia.
In an interview printed in Slantsy's newspaper Znamya Truda he said the move was intended to free 1 million tons of CO2 emission quotas that could be sold on the European market, as allowed under European regulations.
He also suggested that strained political relations between Estonia and Russia could be behind the move.
Grudinov in his turn rued that Russia had acceded to the Kyoto Protocol.
"We should have thought over all the consequences of signing the Kyoto Protocol and have resolved all the necessary details [including developing legislation] before doing so," he said.
Grudinov also said Estonia was acting in its economic interest and listed three possible solutions to the impasse.
The first one would imply guarantees of passing Russia's quotas on such emissions to Estonia, but this can be done legally only from 2008. At the moment, Russia can provide only guarantees, but this is complicated by the lack of legislation.
Kond said that such guarantees could be "a possible resolution."
Piani said he considers this the most optimal resolution. Russia has far more CO2 quotas than it needs because of the closure of many heavy industrial plants in the 1990s.
Any constructive solution, which keeps conflicts at a minimum, is welcome, Piani said, adding that workers' needs are at least as important as ecological or economic considerations.
Grudinov said another solution would be for Russia to build its own shale-burning plant.
A tentative agreement on construction of such a plant was signed between South Korea's I-One Corporation and the oblast government in February. The South Korean corporation plans to invest $100 million and the remaining 20 percent required - $28 million - would be added by domestic companies or the regional government.
However, construction of such a plant would take at least three years, Grudinov said, adding that the state could buy the shale from Leningradslanets and store it to sell later.
The third variant, which would be the worst out of three, would be "to close the mines in a civilized way," Grudinov said.
This would mean that the mines should be landscaped, miners offered other jobs, and all essential ecological procedures taken.
Grudinov said the closure of mines could be dangerous for the ecology of the region. If the mines were flooded, phenol would exude from shale and get into underground waterways that could pollute the Gulf of Finland and part of Lake Chudskoye, as well as endanger the health of Slantsy residents.
TITLE: Outage
Ire Hits
Chubais
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - A day after the power outage that hit Moscow and four neighboring regions, electricity chief Anatoly Chubais faced questions from prosecutors about his role in the blackout, and speculation mounted about his future.
The City Prosecutor's Office summoned Chubais for questioning at 4 p.m., but the Unified Energy Systems chief - whom President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday personally blamed for the outage - turned up more than four hours later, after earlier saying that he would "find time" to talk with prosecutors.
"[Dealing with] the prosecutor's office is sacred. You can be sure that we will find time to understand each other without problems," Chubais told reporters Thursday afternoon, Interfax reported.
A spokesman for the City Prosecutor's Office, Sergei Marchenko, said late Thursday that investigators were questioning Chubais about "organizational activities that he oversees," The Associated Press reported.
The summons was part of an investigation into "criminal negligence" opened by the Prosecutor General's Office against UES's management and its Moscow subsidiary, Mosenergo, hours after electricity went out in many parts of Moscow and four neighboring regions.
As the emergency services, UES and Mosenergo spent Thursday completing repairs, the media's focus shifted onto how the outage would affect Chubais's future as head of the national electricity monopoly.
Chubais, 49, one of the country's most experienced and controversial liberal politicians, has served in various capacities under both former President Boris Yeltsin and Putin and has proven almost unsinkable over the last 15 years of his highly visible career.
But Chubais' influence within the Kremlin has been on the wane, particularly since the rout of his party, the liberal Union of Right Forces, in December 2003's State Duma elections, and the increased influence of the siloviki in government.
With Putin moving with unusual haste to blame Chubais for Wednesday's power outage, speculation grew that even if Chubais managed to hang onto his job at UES, he could find his influence within the company and in the political arena seriously undermined.
Several Moscow newspapers came out Thursday with front-page stories on the blackout that speculated about whether Chubais would be fired, or simply left weakened. Chief among reasons why the knives are out for Chubais could well be an ongoing dispute with Moscow City Hall over control of Mosenergo, the papers said.
"The outage ... might cost Chubais his job," Gazeta commented. "At the same time, so far there have not been any dismissals of top officials over major failures in Putin's Russia."
"At least Chubais will have to answer for the fact that it was he who, in 2001, secured the appointment of his trusted associate, Arkady Yevstafyev, to head Mosenergo," the paper wrote.
Yevstafyev, a former public relations executive, hit the headlines during Yeltsin's 1996 reelection campaign, when he and businessmen Sergei Lisovsky were detained leaving the White House late at night carrying a cardboard box filled with $500,000. Soon after Yeltsin's reelection, an inquiry into the incident was dropped.
Izvestia speculated that the outage could spark further conflict between Chubais and Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov over control of the city's power supplies.
Yet despite the clouds gathering over his head, Chubais is unlikely to be ousted from his post, analysts said Thursday.
"The question for ... Putin will be whether Chubais is more dangerous outside UES, or with responsibility on the inside," said Roland Nash, chief strategist at Renaissance Capital investment bank.
"Chubais, while not popular, is perhaps the most politically capable man in Russia not currently employed by the Kremlin. He is therefore not someone to make a political enemy out of when your popularity is in decline, three years before elections," he said.
Chubais' public profile with many Russians is closer to that of public enemy. Throughout the 1990s, Yeltsin often used Chubais as a lightning rod for public discontent over his government's economic policies, but Chubais always seemed to survive relatively unscathed.
"It's all Chubais' fault," Yeltsin said in early 1996 as he fired Chubais from his post of first deputy prime minister, in a phrase that has since entered the national consciousness as one typifying an era of powerful oligarchs enriching themselves while ordinary Russians' living standards plummeted.
"Putin has a problem with ratings, so maybe he has been trying to use Yeltsin's old trick: Fire Chubais, or at least threaten to do that," said Mikhail Delyagin, head of the Institute for Globalization Studies.
Delaygin was skeptical that Chubais would completely lose his grip over UES.
But the power outage could help "the new siloviki oligarchs" to win some control over UES's financial flows through the appointment of a siloviki-friendly official at the company, Delyagin said.
Vladimir Pribylovsky, head of the Panorama think tank, said that despite Putin's harsh comments about Chubais, the president was unlikely to go beyond verbal criticism.
"Firing Chubais now does not fit in with Putin's usual logic - he has always been reluctant to fire officials under pressure - even if both State Duma deputies and Moscow City Hall have been pressing him to do it," Pribylovsky said.
And even were Putin to fire Chubais, the next day he would appoint him as some kind of adviser, Pribylovsky said. Firing Chubais would only serve to further harm Putin's image in the West, which is already tarnished by the Yukos case, he said.
"At the helm of UES, Chubais has been seen in the West as the only remaining standard-bearer of liberalism in Russia," Pribylovsky said.
As electricity supplies to the city and the regions affected Wednesday resumed, businesses and government officials counted the cost of the outage.
By 3 p.m. Mosenergo officials said that electricity had been fully restored across Moscow, and ruled out the possibility of a new outage.
Some state organizations, including Russian Railways Co., or RZD, and the administrations of the affected regions, have threatened to sue electricity companies over damage caused by the outage.
In Moscow, the size of the damage caused by the outage to the city was not available Thursday, but NTV television's evening newscast estimated the cost at about $1 billion.
TITLE: French Language Returning to Favor in St. Petersburg
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: The Russians have always found France irresistible, and nowhere is this Slavo-Gallic love affair more evident than in St. Petersburg. From the outset, when Peter the Great established his westernized capital here on the banks of the Neva, imitation of the French way of life became very much a la mode.
In various eras since then, St. Petersburgers have worn French fashions, spoken their language, adored their literature and even sheltered their nobles from the horrors of the French Revolution. And in these heady post-Soviet years of international travel, France still attracts many Russians.
About 250,000 Russians visited France last year, according to the French Consulate-General in St. Petersburg.
"Many Russians' first journey abroad is to Paris," said Princess Vera Obolenskaya, the granddaughter of Russian exiles who has returned to live in St. Petersburg. "It is like a legend to them."
This is no surprise when you consider the many examples of French culture in the history of Russia. It was a French architect, Montferrand, who designed St. Isaac's Cathedral, and there is a Voltaire Library inside the National Library. Tolstoy wrote large passages in "War and Peace" in French, and French was the first language of many aristocrats of the 17th century (so much so that they struggled to speak their native Russian).
These close intercultural ties remained strong until the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, when many Russian nobles flocked to Paris, which the French nobility had fled in 1789.
Obolenskaya's grandparents were among those exiles and passed on stories of pre-revolutionary St. Petersburg to their granddaughter.
"My mother had a French governess, as did many families at that time," she says. "And the old aristocratic families would have holiday homes on the Cote d'Azur."
Given the great tradition of French influence in St. Petersburg, it is no surprise that interest in France, and particularly the language, is undergoing a revival.
This is despite a lack of communication between the two countries during Soviet times, when learning French was no longer seen as important because so few people had the chance to go there.
The most evident sign of this revival are the 21 spetshkoli, or Russan special schools, specializing in the French language in the city.
In addition, there is the Ecole Francaise de Saint Petersbourg, a school run by the AEFE (Agence pour l'Enseignement Francais a l'Etranger), a school that teaches the French curriculum in French to pupils aged two to 10. With 45 students, and that number expected to increase to 70 next year, the school is a clear sign that the old ties between Russia and France are still strong.
The school located on the corner of ulitsas Zhukovskogo and Mayakovskogo has three teachers whose wages are paid by the French government.
The AEFE describes one of its aims as "contributing to the spread of the French language and culture, particularly by welcoming foreign students."
With 35 percent of its roll made up of Russian students, the school seems to be succeeding in this respect. When asked why Russian children are sent to a French-speaking school, headmaster Frederick Faisse explains that usually it is their parents who have a great affection for the country.
"Most of the children have a French-speaking parent who has spent time in France. They want their child to have a link to France too."
Many Russian children join a nursery class at age two or three and stay at the school until the age of seven when they move to a Russian school that specializes in French.
"The school has a technique for teaching young children French very quickly."
The Ecole Francaise caters primarily for French children whose families have moved to Russia, usually because of work. It is a relatively new school, having opened just three years ago because of the demand from the expat community. Some parents work for international corporations, and many French people work in the hotel industry.
Fees vary according to nationality and age and go up to $1030 per trimester.
With intake significantly higher next year, and the introduction of a second nursery class, Faisse says the school's main problem is lack of space.
The Ecole Francaise is also setting up an initiative with the Russian high school No. 171, where half the curriculum will be taught in French and half in Russian. The final high school exam will be a combination of the French and Russian models.
"This will be the first school of its kind in Russia," Faisse said. "Or anywhere in the world."
Faisse came to Russia after being offered the placement by the AEFE. Before that he was headmaster of a primary school in France and spent five years in Helsinki teaching at the Ecole Francaise there.
Similarly, Deborah Grand, who teaches the oldest class, has taught in several foreign countries around the globe. She only arrived in St. Petersburg last August, and says living in Russia is an experience.
"St. Petersburg is a nice city, I like the long avenues and the architecture," she said. "But daily life isn't easy here, the manner and culture of people is very different."
Amongst the students, some have been in the French education system all their life, while others were in Russian schools before joining the Ecole Francaise.
Florian-Richard, 10, has a Russian mother and a French father who works for Air France. He speaks the two languages at home and enjoys learning both.
"Very few people [in the world] speak Russian - it's an advantage," he said.
"I'd like to be a translator."
Emmeline, nine, who is French, has similar views: "Learning languages is very important and useful. When I grow up I want to become an astronaut."
TITLE: Gergiev To
Lead LSO
In Britain
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Valery Gergiev, the indefatigable globe-trotting artistic director of the Mariinsky Theater will succeed Sir Colin Davis as principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, the company announced this week.
The new appoinment will not affect Gergiev's commitment to his musical alma mater.
The 52-year-old maestro is to start a three-year contract on Jan. 1, 2007, with the London orchestra, with which he says he has developed a special relationship. Under the new engagement, Gergiev has committed himself to directing 12 programs each year with the LSO performing in the orchestra's home, the Barbican Center, as well as a major international tour every year, with additional projects in Europe. Davis will be the orchestra's president.
Gergiev, whose conducting schedule is already tightly packed, will retain his main post as artistic and general director of the Mariinsky Theater as well as all the other international commitments. Besides leading the Mariinsky, Gergiev is music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, principal guest conductor at New York's Metropolitan Opera, one of seven guest conductors at the Opera de Paris and a regular with a host of other ensembles.
Gergiev will be the LSO's 15th principal conductor. The Moscow-born conductor of Ossetian origin made his London debut conducting the LSO in May 1988, introducing the violinist Vadim Repin as soloist in the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto and performing and recording for RCA/BMG the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2 with Kissin, the first international recording for both Gergiev and Kissin.
The memories of that concert are still vivid in Gergiev's mind. "I remember with excitement my London debut as a young conductor with two of Russia's extraordinary instrumentalists also making their debuts seventeen years ago this month," the conductor said. "In the meantime, I have led many concerts here with my own orchestra and opera company and I have happily conducted many orchestras around the world, but uniquely I have felt a special relationship developing between the LSO musicians and me."
Gergiev's feelings are shared by the orchestra. Clive Gillinson, LSO's managing director, spoke with fascination about last spring's collaboration featuring performance of all seven Prokofiev Symphonies.
Gillinson said the Prokofiev Symphony cycle with the LSO, which was a central part of the orchestra's Centenary celebrations, convinced the company that "the only place that we wanted to see Valery was at the heart of the LSO's future."
In the 2005/06 season, Gergiev will conduct four different orchestras at the Barbican Center, performing all 15 Shostakovich Symphonies during the composer's centennial celebration. They include the Mariinsky Orchestra, the London Symphony, the Vienna Philharmonic and the Rotterdam Philharmonic.
In 2007, Gergiev will present a series of concerts unveiling the lesser known masterpieces of Russian music that have remained obscure to London audiences. An all-Stravinsky program in March 2007 will feature the cantata The King of the Stars, while programs in May 2007 will include Shostakovich's Age of Gold Suite and Jewish Folk Poetry.
A concert performance of Glinka's Ruslan and Ludmilla Act I, featuring Mariinsky Theater singers, will be a highlight of June 2007.
TITLE: Estonia Urged to Drop Claims
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: TALLINN - Estonia should abandon its territorial claims against Russia, Interfax quoted Estonian President Arnold Ruutel as saying Tuesday.
In an interview with Tallinn-based newspaper Postimees, Ruutel said Estonia should abandon its claim to the Pechora area in the Pskov region and the territory to the east of the river Narva. The land was part of Estonia from 1920 until 1940, when the country was incorporated into the Soviet Union.
Ruutel's comments came less than a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin strongly criticized the territorial claims of the Baltic States.
At a meeting with the editorial staff of Moscow newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, referring to Latvian and Estonian claims to the Pskov region, Putin was reported to have said that, "they are more likely to get the ears from a dead donkey."
Russian-Latvian negotiations over a comprehensive border agreement stalled after Latvia's parliament issued a declaration saying that the border should return to its pre-World War II state. In contrast, on May 18 Estonia and Russia signed a long-awaited treaty fixing their land and sea borders. This treaty now has to be ratified by both countries' parliaments.
Ruutel acknowledged that Estonian opponents of the treaty want the best for their country, and have logical arguments when calling for territorial concessions by Russia. But he added that "such a decision is unrealistic."
TITLE: Stopping City Culture
Drain Taxes Artists
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Veterans of St. Petersburg's arts scene who are developing a strategy to stop the drain of young talent from the city, which claims to be Russia's cultural capital, say there are too few resources to stop top artists from leaving.
Work is in full steam at St. Petersburg's Concept For Culture Development in 2006-2008, and youngsters are at the heart of the document, which is being written by dozens of local artists and aesthetes. The concept is due to be complete by the end of fall.
When leading cultural figures of the city appeared at a joint press-conference at the city's culture committee Thursday they had no encouraging news on the subject.
Nikolai Burov, head of the committee, is a prominent actor. He believes that the key to retaining top talent is improving the quality of life - not encouraging a creative environment.
"People are usually very much emotionally involved with their native cities, and it is only if it really feels hopeless that they would leave there," he said. "Standard is a frightening word for art, but unless artists can maintain a European-standard quality of life, they will go where they can afford to go."
Viktor Novikov, artistic director of the Komissarzhevskaya Drama Theater, put it even more bluntly: money attracts artists, and we don't have it, he said.
"If a theater director is offered $3,000 for a production in a local theater, when a Moscow company pays $30,000, there is nothing we can do to make them stay," he said.
Many of the city's modern art groups have been forced to maintain a vagrant lifestyle for decades. For instance, Anton Adasinsky's dance troupe Derevo is based in Germany and appears only in his native city for sporadic performances.
Boris Eifman's ballet company and the Comic Trust experimental theater troupe spend most of their time touring abroad.
Frustratingly, the artists are aging together with the problem.
"You see a homeless young experimental theater, then years go by, actors' hair turns gray, and the troupe is becoming more traditional than hip, and they are still without a place," said Sergei Shub, director of Baltiisky Dom theater and festival.
Assemble the St. Petersburg culture pantheon, and you will see that the gathering is dominated by people approaching their 60s.
Once suffocating behind the Iron Curtain, the city is now open to the world. Over the past few years, St. Petersburg has seen cutting-edge theater troupes and famous classical orchestras coming in relays, yet its own potential has been draining fast.
The city's arts scene is not nearly as bustling and diverse as in cities like Berlin, Stockholm or Prague. Yes, the city is home to the Mariinsky Theater, Russia's most recognized opera and ballet company, but they can't make the artistic environment singlehandedly.
Novikov feels the state should be more selective in its support for cultural institutions. The limited funds are spread too thinly, he argues. "How many state theaters can a city afford to have? How many apartment museums does it need? Who goes there?" he said. "Sooner or later, we will have to make difficult choices."
TITLE: Khodorkovsky Verdict
Reading Passes 9th Day
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: MOSCOW - Judges read the verdict in oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky's politically charged trial for a ninth day Thursday, going over details of tax evasion charges.
Most observers say what the judges have read so far guarantees that the court will find the billionaire guilty on charges that also include fraud and embezzlement when it delivers its final verdict and sentence.
Observers say Khodorkovsky's funding of political opposition parties in the run-up to parliamentary elections in 2003 led to his dramatic gunpoint arrest in October of that year. President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly contended, however, that the case is a just probe into a robber baron and his dubiously acquired riches.
The court's summation of evidence and testimony has focused on the alleged failure of Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev to obey a court decision in connection with the privatization of a major fertilizer component-maker.
On Thursday, the judges read an assessment of the personal tax evasion charges against Lebedev and moved on to corporate tax evasion charges before adjourning for the day. Those focus on allegations that the oil company Khodorkovsky founded, Yukos, illegally used onshore tax havens and promissory notes to pay tax bills.
Prosecutors have asked for Khodorkovsky and Lebedev to each be sentenced to 10 years in prison.
In the defendants' cage, Khodorkovsky doodled on a pad while Lebedev did crossword puzzles. There were free seats in the courtroom, which up to this week had been crowded with spectators including the defendants' families and journalists. Khodorkovsky's parents Boris and Marina were in the courtroom Thursday.
Outside the court, dozens of pro- and anti-Khodorkovsky demonstrators rallied across the street from one another. "The future lies with Khodorkovsky," read one banner; "Khodorkovsky: Your money smells of blood," read another.
Robert Amsterdam, a member of Khodorkovsky's international law team, cautioned against predicting when that final verdict would come. He told the small group of journalists who showed up at Thursday's session that the court might move quickly if it sees little media interest.
"In one minute, you won't know what happened and you'll be out of there," he said outside the Meshchansky court.
The trial has raised questions about rule of law in Russia, while the partial nationalization of Khodorkovsky's Yukos oil company against a disputed $28 billion back tax bill has spooked investors and shaken business executives' faith in property rights.
TITLE: Ire Awaited Over Phone Fees
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - Moscow fixed-line operator MGTS is bracing for an avalanche of consumer complaints this summer when it starts charging for calls from land lines to cell phones.
The "calling party pays" system, customary in Europe, will go into effect on July 1, according to a government decree signed last week. That means Russians, used to calling mobiles from their home phones for free, will suddenly have to pay.
"We expect a larger burden will be placed on our customer service staff," MGTS spokesman Anatoly Vereshchagin said. The firm has more than 4 million clients, many of whom are likely to be confused by the arrival of new charges.
Consumer rights activists are enraged by the new rate plan, especially since mobile operators are unlikely to immediately stop charging clients for incoming calls.
Phone operators counter that the change will bring Russia in line with common practice in Europe. "There is no reason for the new charges," said Pyotr Shelishch, head of Russia's Union of Consumers.
The consumer advocacy group plans to file a complaint with the General Prosecutor's Office in the near future, Shelishch said, because the decree violates an individual's legally anchored right to choose between per-minute and fixed charges for local telephone service.
Deputy IT and Communications Minister Boris Antonyuk on Wednesday defended the measure, saying it will lead to a more equitable distribution of revenues in the telecommunications industry, Interfax reported.
Currently, mobile operators pay fixed-line operators for calls made from cellphones to landlines - but there are no charges in the reverse direction, said Pavel Nefyodov, spokesman for No.1 mobile company Mobile TeleSystems.
The Federal Tariffs Service will determine the size of the charges, which may range from 50 kopeks to 20 kopeks per minute, Antonyuk told Ekho Moskvy Wednesday, RIA- Novosti reported.
TITLE: Plan for Ski Resort at Toksovo
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: The presidential property department intends to build a $50-million sport and downhill skiing complex at Toksovo in the Leningrad Oblast, Kommersant reported Tuesday.
The complex will cover a 167.6-hectare site on the eastern bank of the Kurgolovskoye lake owned by the Lesgaft Sport Academy. The idea was first proposed by six-time Olympic ski race champion Lyubov Yegorova in 2000, the report said.
The complex will include a ski stadium with areas for shooting and biathlons, several ski jumps, including one 90 meters high, a sledge course and an ice rink. In summer the complex could partially be used for other sports such as mountain-biking, the report said.
A 200 to 300 room hotel, a cottage settlement and a car parking lot of 1,800 vehicles, and artificial snow-making equipment are foreseen in the project that is intended to become an arena for international sport competitions, the report said.
Kommersant said that the development will be financed in the same way as the Konstantinovsky Palace - through voluntary donations by large corporations.
TITLE: DaimlerChrysler May Hasten Factory Plans
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - DaimlerChrysler intends to build Mercedes Benz models in St. Petersburg by the end of the year, the Kremlin said late Monday, citing the chairman of the German-U.S. auto giant.
"I am hoping that the first Mercedes will come off the assembly line this fall," Juergen Schrempp told President Vladimir Putin, according to a transcript on the Kremlin web site.
Schrempp gave no more details, and Putin was quoted as saying that negotiations were in the final stages.
While media have reported that Mercedes was eyeing Russia, analysts expressed surprise at the speed with which Schrempp wants to forge ahead.
As the government opens the home market, foreign carmakers are rushing in. Only last month, Toyota announced the construction of a new plant in St. Petersburg.
The remarks by Schrempp came on the heels of a Daimler advisory board meeting in Moscow last weekend.
A spokesman for Daimler in Stuttgart, Germany, confirmed the company's plans to assemble Mercedes in Russia but declined to provide any details, saying only that St. Petersburg was under consideration.
More information should be available during the city's annual economic forum next month, said a St. Petersburg city official.
Gerhard Hilgert, head of Daimler in Russia, said that the Moscow region is also under consideration, and that the firm may enter a partnership with a domestic company to assemble models including the Jeep and Chrysler brands, Interfax reported.
Hilgert also said the company was interested in Russian-made components, the agency reported.
Schrempp's announcement was mostly surprising because of the timeframe he gave.
"I am at a loss," said Vyacheslav Smolyaninov, an automotive analyst with UralSib.
There is no time to build a plant that could produce cars by the fall, he said, adding that in St. Petersburg there are virtually no carmakers with which to enter into a partnership.
Ford opened its own plant in St. Petersburg in 2002.
But Denis Nushtayev, an analyst with Metropol consultancy, said the time frame was achievable if Daimler builds cars from semi-knocked-down kits, which do not require a fully fledged plant.
The company will most likely start with C-class and E-class models, the two most popular Mercedes models in Russia, Nushtayev said. Of the 4,029 passenger Mercedes cars sold in Russia last year, 1,185 were C-class and 1,262 E-class.
Nushtayev suggested that a blessing from Putin should now give the project additional impetus.
"Our Putin is a big friend of the German people," he said. "I believe the president took [the project] under his personal control."
Media reported last month that the German-based carmaker was prepared to sink $100 million into a factory near St. Petersburg.
TITLE: Hotel Says Expansion Underway
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: A two-story shopping mall, a business center, 105 hotel rooms and large conference facilities are to appear next to the city's Corinthia Nevskij Palace Hotel in the heart of St. Petersburg by June 2007.
International Hotel Investments, the owner of the Corinthia Nevskij Palace Hotel, announced Wednesday the details of the expansion project the company has planned since it first purchased the hotel in 2002.
"We have completed the relocation of the residents in the buildings adjoining Corinthia to new apartments and completed project discussions with the authorities," said Alfred Pizani, the director of the IHI group at a reception marking the project launch.
Real estate experts estimate IHI's investments will top 40 million euros ($50 million). However, the company said it has no concrete figures as of yet.
"The budget estimate will be prepared in two to three weeks from now by [Russian consulting firm] Savant, which is advising IHI on the project," said Pizani in a later interview.
The first subcontracting and development tenders will be held in September, Pizani said. The construction is planned to be finished by the summer of 2007, however, the real project timing might be affected by the climate, as "the severity of Russian winters" may make it difficult to carry out construction works, he said.
IHI will have to rebuild buildings No. 55 and 59 on Nevsky Prospekt, which adjoin the Corinthia hotel, from scratch.
"We've already been warned by the city's demolition team that the buildings are dangerous for passersby in the dilapidated shape they are now, and we are working closely with the city authorities to remove the problem," Pizani said.
The buildings will be torn down and then rebuilt, their facades appearing as exact replicas of the historic 19th century architecture.
A local real estate agency said the construction of Nevsky 59, where an additional 105 hotel rooms, reception, dining and large conference areas will be located will cost IHI 26.6 million euros. Nevsky 55, which will accommodate the shopping mall on the two ground floors and a business center in the floors above, will cost 14 million euros to develop, it said, claiming anonymity due to involvement in the project.
Alexander Prokhorenko, head of the city's external relations and tourism committee, said IHI's project would rejuvenate the central part of Nevsky Prospekt. "Tourism to St. Petersburg is as important as gas and oil resources to some of Russia's other regions, and the level of partnership IHI brings to the city shows the potential we have to develop as a tourism center," he said.
IHI said a number of leading international architecture, engineering and project management firms are assisting it on the project, including ARUP, Aukett Fitzroy Robinson and Savant.
TITLE: A Reform to End All Elections
TEXT: The second election reform under President Vladimir Putin is practically complete. The president has signed the new law on electing State Duma deputies. And a new set of amendments to a long list of laws related to elections has begun to move through the Duma.
The essence of this reform is to distance citizens from real participation in the electoral process and, more broadly, from any kind of governmental decision-making. It will further reduce the amount of the feedback the authorities get from the people, and it will lead to the further centralization of the political system.
The first set of reforms a few years ago brought about the wholesale revision of election legislation in order to increase the Kremlin's control over the electoral process. Now, the authorities have changed more than procedure. They have dismantled whole sections of the electoral system. The public no longer elects governors or - in the majority of instances - mayors, and there are no more single-mandate districts for the Duma.
A party now has to win at least 7 percent to make it into the Duma, and parties cannot form electoral blocs. Along with last year's changes to the law on political parties - which raised the minimum number of members to 50,000 and requires parties to have organizations in at least half of the country's regions - this change will allow the authorities to disqualify almost any political party on completely legal grounds. It has also become nearly impossible to hold a referendum, unless the government supports it.
The institution of election observers has suffered a particular heavy blow. Now, only observers from the parties participating in an election are allowed to watch the polls. Independent observers are not allowed at all. The Kremlin learned its lesson from recent color revolutions and has tightened its control over elections at all levels, when it does not get rid of them altogether.
The so-called technical improvements the authorities are making to the electoral system fall into two categories. First, the Kremlin is making it easier to disqualify undesirable candidates and parties using biased courts and election commissions beholden to the center. An example of this is the increasingly strict approach to the signatures needed to register a candidate. This was one of the ways the authorities got rid of candidates in the past, but now it has become even easier.
Second, the Kremlin is trying to get rid of all ways that voters can have a direct effect on elections, whether it is voting with their feet and staying away from the polls or voting "against all." It is merely a matter of time before they eliminate the "against all" option, but even now, though it will still appear on ballots, it no longer functions as it once did.
There are three main myths surrounding election reform. The first is that this reform has a direct connection to the troublesome presidential election in 2008 and that reform will kick in immediately before. The next myth is that election reform will increase the Kremlin's control over political life and make democracy more manageable. Finally, the third myth is that the Kremlin is flexible and will adjust its plans as it goes, including possibly restoring certain democratic elements that had previously been eliminated.
Yet election reform will have an immediate effect, not only on gubernatorial and mayoral elections and on referendums, all of which have been practically outlawed, but also on the seemingly distant State Duma elections coming up in 2007. The elimination of single-mandate districts will radically shift the loyalties of current deputies who are hoping for re-election in these districts. They will not depend on their governor or constituents to get a Duma seat. They depend on the Kremlin. Refusing to allow smaller parties to form blocs is also a profoundly significant move. These blocs did very well against United Russia in regional legislative elections.
One would think that managed democracy had thus become even more manageable and even less democratic. The Kremlin seems to think that elections are only good for the opposition and that the fewer options available on the ballot, the better. Undoubtedly, democracy is not perfect, and direct election, as one of its most important institutions, is no exception. However, Winston Churchill's famous assertion that democracy was still better than anything humanity has managed to come up with applies not just to humanity in general, but also to the leaders in the Kremlin. They have done more than block all the possibilities for opposition members to take part in government decision-making. They have also plugged up all the outlets for the public to let off steam. The Kremlin is turning the political system into a pressure cooker. At the same time, the authorities continue to dismantle the last traces of the system that protects the public from the corrupt and incompetent. They keep turning up the heat underneath the cooker by instituting badly planned and badly executed reforms with unpredictable consequences.
The re-democratization myth springs from a recent statement by the president that it may be appropriate to adjust the system of appointing regional leaders by allowing the parties that won regional legislative elections to nominate candidates for governor. The president also called for broader rights for Duma factions.
These elements of so-called political liberalism that the president included in his annual state of the nation address are made utterly pointless by the election reform on one hand, and on the other, without election reform they would not have been brought up by Putin. In other words, first the Kremlin will build a fence keeping undesirables out of the Duma and regional legislatures, and only then will the government volunteer to expand the rights of those who are already on the inside.
This would all be rather amusing, if it were not so terribly dangerous.
The president's approval rating continues to fall, and this is the only basis of political stability at the moment. It is a matter of life and death that the authorities increase the flexibility and stability of the political system by decentralizing and re-federalizing it. The government needs to re-establish communication with the public and break the giant monolith of the power vertical into three flexibly connected "power horizontals" at the federal, regional and local levels.
The Kremlin also needs to open Russia's legislatures to the political opposition at all levels in order to send the energy of social protest flowing into parliamentary channels. It needs to shore up the democratic institutions that have been undermined by five years of the Putin regime. These institutions include the representative branch of government and the electoral process. Otherwise, the risk that the political system will collapse completely will become too great.
However, the Kremlin continues to roll mindlessly in precisely the opposite direction. Russia's leaders keep throwing up new barriers barring opposition parties from the Duma. They have turned the elections that remain into a farce.
Nikolai Petrov is scholar in residence at the Carnegie Moscow Center. He contributed this comment to The St. Petersburg Times.
TITLE: Joining Forces in Central Asia
TEXT: After Sept. 11, 2001, the Kremlin had to accept the deployment of U.S. and NATO forces in Central Asia and Afghanistan. Russian nationalists mourned the decline of Moscow's influence in Russia's backyard, but fear of an Islamic radical threat has outweighed their dislike of the West. The current regimes in Central Asia may be authoritarian and corrupt, but they are secular. The governments in Russia, in China, in the West and to some extent in Iran believe that these secular regimes are an important firewall to stop the spread of aggressive Sunni Islam.
In March, an insurrection originating in the Fergana Valley toppled the government of President Askar Akayev in Kyrgyzstan. This month, another insurrection in the same region on the Uzbek side of the border in Andijan was suppressed with heavy civilian casualties. The Uzbek authorities say that 169 civilians perished in Andijan during the uprising. Some Uzbek opposition sources say the number of dead is 745. Up to 2,000 are reported to have been wounded. Eyewitnesses say that Uzbek troops used 14.5 millimeter APC guns to shoot at the crowd in Andijan. At close range these shells can cause death from shock when hitting any part of the victim's body.
The local police forces and an army brigade based in town failed to contain the revolt. Eventually, Uzbek special forces staffed with contract solders were deployed to quell the uprising.
Uzbekistan has a population of over 25 million, but its armed forces are relatively small: about 50,000 men in the Army and an additional 20,000 in the Interior Ministry forces. Conscripts staff most Army divisions, while several special forces and airborne units are all volunteer. These crack forces managed to crush the antigovernment protests in Andijan, but it is clear that the Karimov regime does not have enough battle-ready troops to keep an increasingly restless population under control.
Uzbekistan has the potential to be a wealthy country. Self-sufficient in natural gas and oil, it is a major producer of uranium, gold, copper and other metals. Nonetheless, since the collapse of communism, poverty has been growing, while the nation's riches have been commandeered by the Karimov family.
The regime has never hesitated to use brute force to suppress political opposition and control economic activity. During the 1990s, the authorities, to keep hard currency from leaving the country, ordered antipersonnel landmines to be laid on the Uzbek borders to stop private retail traders from importing unauthorized consumer goods. Lots of cattle and herders have been maimed or killed in these minefields.
The majority of the population genuinely hates the regime and its eventual collapse is a predictable event. A bloody and chaotic disintegration of authority in Uzbekistan may bring radical Islamists to power and destabilize the entire region.
Central Asia, and first and foremost Kazakhstan, has long been the main testing grounds of new, major weapons systems. The main Russian space launch center Baikonur in southern Kazakhstan is only around 100 kilometers north of the Uzbek border. All Russian manned space launches to the international space station blast off from Baikonur. A disruption of these launches could kill the space station project.
Stability in Central Asia is essential to Moscow and Washington, but neither has the capability to act unilaterally. Some 120,000 of Russia's best troops are tied down in the North Caucasus, while the U.S. Army is bogged down in Iraq. Only a joint international NATO-Russian task force, like the one deployed in Bosnia in the 1990s, could supervise an orderly dismantlement of Central Asia's dictatorships.
Unlike Iraq or Afghanistan, the people of Central Asia welcomed the arrival of NATO troops after Sept. 11. There is no anti-Russian hostility in the region. A joint operation is feasible and should be implemented before the flames are fanned sky-high.
Pavel Felgenhauer is an independent defense analyst based in Moscow.
TITLE: Starry, starry nights
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: The Stars of the White Nights festival, established by Mariinsky Theater artistic director Valery Gergiev, is sweeping the city, again bringing a tangible Baltic note to the city.
This year's event, starting Friday with Dmitry Chernyakov's rendition of Richard Wagner's "Tristan and Isolde," (see page xi) stretches to the middle of July and features an array of Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian musicians.
"I consider the Baltic theme to be very bright, engaging, resonant and interesting, considering the rich cultural diversity of the Baltic region, which encompasses Scandinavian countries, Finland, Germany, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Russia," Gergiev said.
The Finnish National Opera brings Einojuhani Rautavaara's mystical opera "Rasputin" to the city. It will be performed on Tuesday as part of the "Viva la Baltica" series.
"I became interested in this strange and many-faceted historical figure because of the ambivalence in him and his environment," the composer says of the opera. "Rasputin was at once a true prophet, a highly religious and ascetic man, and a terrible sinner who led a life of debauchery and carousing. These negative and positive elements are blended in the opera."
The opera doesn't pretend to be realistic and thrives on a mystical note. It takes place during the last months of Tsar Nicholas II's reign during the Bolshevik Revolution. The composer wrote the libretto himself. Apart from Rasputin and the tsar, the main characters feature tsarina Alexandra Fyodorovna, her friend Anna Vyrubova, count Felix Yusupov, Irina Yusupova, Vladimir Purishkevich and Sergei Iliodor.
The three and a half hour long opera premiered in Helsinki in September 2003 featuring Matti Salminen as Rasputin, Jorma Hynninen as Nicholas II and was conducted by Mikko Franck.
Seventy-six-year-old Rautavaara, one of the most highly acclaimed Nordic composers, had been considering an opera about Rasputin as early as the early 1990s, but it was not until he came across Eduard Radzinski's Rasputin biography that he was able to begin the work.
Rautavaara's most celebrated and frequently performed works include: "Cantus Arcticus," a choral piece, where the sounds of arctic birds are heard in the background; double-bass concerto "Angel of Dusk"; the orchestral work "Angels and Visitations"; the choral work "Vigilia" and a violin concerto. Rautavaara himself recorded some of the bird material for "Cantus Arcticus" on the Liminka marshland in Finland.
Rautavaara's romantic operas often have a distinct mystical flavor and tend to explore relations between talent and madness. His operas "Vincent," and "Aleksis Kivi," as well as "Rasputin," are cases in point.
The festival's biggest international star this year was going to be the renowned French actor Gerard Depardieu, a friend of Valery Gergiev.
Depardieu was due to make three appearances in symphonic concerts by reading Beethoven's letters (Saturday), taking the role of the narrator in Sergei Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf" (Sunday) and Stravinsky's "Oedipus Rex" (Monday) but his name disappeared from the posters less than two weeks before the performances. The Mariinsky press service said the actor canceled his visit owing to a health problem.
No other festival in Russia - and few around the world - can think of inviting the pantheon of star acts that Gergiev's festival typically assembles. Over the festival's history, the list of participants of undoubtable international star status has included tenor Placido Domingo, bass Paata Burchuladze, conductor Riccardo Muti and his orchestra of Milan's La Scala Opera House, Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, pianist Alfred Brendel, the New York City Ballet, the Royal Ballet from London's Covent Garden and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
Gergiev's international connections help: In addition to his duties at the Mariinsky, Gergiev is principal conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, principal guest conductor at New York's Metropolitan Opera, one of seven guest conductors at Opera de Paris and a regular with a host of other ensembles.
Gergiev has this week announced his appointment as principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra.
This year's Stars of the White Nights also features arguably Poland's most famous orchestra Sinfonietta Cracovia on June 17, when the musicians will perform works by Penderecki, Lutoslawski and Bacewich followed by a joint performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 with the Mariinsky Symphony Orchestra.
A former string ensemble that grew to meet increasing repertoire demands, Sinfonietta Cracovia was established in 1990 by a group of young musicians affiliated with the Krakow Academy of Music.
Classical music giants such as Krzysztof Penderecki, Christoph Eschenbach, Rudolf Buchbinder, Barry Douglas, Jan Krenz, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Boris Pergamenschikow, Tabea Zimmermann, Grigori Zhislin, and Irene Grafenauer, have all worked with the Sinfonietta.
The Estonian-born conductor Neemi Jarvi will be leading Norwegian opera soloists in a concert performance of Edvard Grieg's opera "Peer Gynt" on June 22.
All three representatives of the renowned Estonian musical dynasty - conductors Neemi, Paavo and Christian Jarvi - are taking part in the festival. During a concert on June 25, they will take to the stage in a concert called "Jarvi Gala: The Bridge Over The Gulf Of Finland" alongside the Mariinsky Symphony Orchestra with a program of works by Stravinsky, Estonian composer Eduard Tubin and Sibelius.
The Baltic reference, in fact, blows in from the north. The Finnish-born conductor and composer Esa-Pekka Salonen, who is currently musical director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, came up with the idea of a Baltic Sea Festival a little over two years ago.
The classical music festival with an environmental bent, aimed at drawing attention to the plight of arguably the most polluted sea in the world, the Baltic Sea Festival was established in August 2003 in Stockholm, and Gergiev, a close friend of Salonen, has since been its co-organizer.
Manfred Honeck, artistic director of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and another key figure of the Baltic Sea Festival, is traveling to St. Petersburg with his distinguished musicians for a concert on June 20. The orchestra will perform Beethoven's Eighth and Ninth Symphonies.
Also on June 25, soloists from the Mariinsky Academy For Young Singers present a concert of vocal works of Grieg and Sibelius.
Gergiev is conducting at least 19 times during the festival. After an exhausting first weekend, the indefatiguable maestro heads to Moscow. For the first time in its history, the Russian capital will see a full version of Wagner's famous tetralogy "Der Ring Des Nibelungen," which the Mariinsky is performing there from Tuesday through Saturday (June 4).
Gergiev conducts at home again on June 15, when the Mariinsky presents a concert version of Tchaikovsky's "Iolanta" in the "Forgotten Masterpieces" series.
The next opera in the series is Alexander Dargomyzhsky's "The Stone Guest," which will be sung in concert version on June 11, conducted by Tugan Sokhiev.
Most of the Mariinsky's brightest performers, who are now living and perfoming abroad, are coming to their alma mater this month. Mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina gives a solo recital on June 9, while tenor Vladimir Galuzin appears in Tchaikovsky's "The Queen Of Spades" on June 23 and then in Puccini's "Turandot" on June 28. Soprano Anna Netrebko will sing Gilda, one of her most successful roles in the Mariinsky's new interpretation of Verdi's "Rigoletto" on July 2.
In June, look for the two peformances of Swedish choreographer Mats Ek's version of "Carmen" and a playful, circus-style opera called "A Sort Of" by Warsaw's National Opera and the Bolshoi Theater on June 16 and 17.
As for choreography, ballet audiences also will be offered two performances of Moscow's Bolshoi Theater Ballet: the company shows Declan Donnellan's "Romeo and Juliet" on July 5, followed by an evening of Leonid Myasin's ballets on July 6.
The public will also have a good chance to observe the Mariinsky's top dancers performing nearly the entire regular repertoire. Ulyana Lopatkina is honored with her own gala on June 24 - in true Whites Nights style, the show starts as 10 p.m.
The company's eternal favorite "Swan Lake" is shown three times (June 6, July 12 and 15), and its nearest rival "La Bayadere" is performed on June 3 and July 1.
"Giselle" can be seen on June 26, while "Don Quixote" is scheduled for June 25 and July 16.
In addition to the Mariinsky, other venues for the event will be the courtyard of the State Hermitage Museum, where the company's orchestra will play Berlioz's Requiem on July 1, and the Cathedral of Saviour on the Spilt Blood, where the Mariinsky choir will sing on Saturday.
Following a successful recent tradition of performances in castles, fortresses and monasteries, the Mariinsky is planning a performance of "Iolanta" in Vyborg Castle on June 27, and a subsequent performance of the same work in Ivangorod, a small town on the Russian side of the Russian-Estonian border.
For more information, see listings and visit the Mariinsky Theater web site at www.mariinsky.ru
TITLE: CHERNOV'S CHOICE
TEXT: The White Stripes will play two Russian concerts next month, in Moscow on June 26 and in St. Petersburg on June 27. Unfortunately, the Detroit duo, one of the most interesting bands to come into the limelight in the past few years, will peform at Manezh Kadetskogo Korpusa, which proved unequipped for a live concert by Franz Ferdinand last week. See article, page xi.
As Brian Eno announced in an interview with The St. Petersburg Times earlier this month, his forthcoming album will appear in Russia before its official international release.
Called "Another Day on Earth," the album is Eno's first solo song-based work in decades. It is due on the previously unheard-of local label Assotsiatsiya Almaznykh Setei on June 6. The international release will follow on Rykodisk/Hannibal on June 14.
Eno, who came to Russia early this week for two shows with singer Rachid Taha, will present the album to the press and a "selected public" at the Russian Museum's Marble Palace on Saturday.
Seattle-based troubadour Jason Webley, who enjoys a cult following in Russia for his frenzied shows with vegetables and puppets, returns to the city to perform two very diverse concerts.
"I do a lot of different music, and usually when I come to Russia, we focus on crazier, louder stuff, and I play with a band the whole time, when actually most of the time when I play in the United States, I actually play solo," said Webley, speaking by phone from Moscow this week.
Webley said the first show will be based on quiet songs, but that the second will be " the usual craziness, but a bit more focused on tomatoes this time."
Starting his "Tomato Tour Europe 2005" in Moscow this week, Jason said he has no album to promote.
"There's no new album. I've been touring, I've some new songs. My new idea that I've done in the United States is called Camp Tomato. I just began this last month, and it's sort of a club for fans of my music, where we play games and things.
"We play Tomato Raid, an outdoor game I made up. You got hundreds of tomatoes and everyone gets very messy. That's quite fun." Webley will play at Platforma on Saturday and Sunday.
Datshcha, the in-crowd bar run by German expat Anna-Christin Albers and Dva Samaliota's bass player Anton Belyankin, will celebrate its first anniversary on Saturday.
Since it opened, the bar has changed the local club scene drastically, drawing musicians, artists and DJs from other joints. What is good about Datshcha is is its music, from jazz to punk, with such DJs as Schwester, Ska Messer and Freakadelka. No techno or house is tolerated.
Cellist Seva Gakkel will join Alexei Winer for a rare concert at Platforma on Tuesday. Gakkel, a member of the classic lineup of Akvarium, did not play with Winer, since he managed his groundbreaking TaMtAm club and played with Winer's band Wine in the mid-1990s.
- By Sergey Chernov
TITLE: A tale of two Georgians
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: Metekhi 3 Belinskogo Tel. 272 3361
Dinner for two with wine 642 rubles ($23) Menu in Russian and English. Lagidze 3 Belinskogo. Tel. 579 1104 Dinner for two with wine 775 rubles ($27) Menu in Russian only. Ulitsa Belinskogo, connecting the Fontanka and Liteiny Prospekt, though rather short, is quite rich in cafes, bars and restaurants. One can find almost everything there - a beer bar, a nice French restaurant, a cheap shaverma place, an inexpensive wine restaurant, and two small, cosy and very simple Georgian restaurants.
The eternal pair seem to have existed in the area for ages, and even now that one of them has gone through a period of extensive renovation, the spirit of the cafes could still only be removed with a wreckers ball and their replacement with a new hotel or business center.
Metekhi and Lagidze used to be two look-a-like Georgian places with cheap but good-quality hearty food and cheap local wine, predominantly Georgian staffs and early closing hours.
Lagidze has gone through a period of massive renovation and, now, instead of looking like a local zabegalovka, it gives the impression of being newly-built but trying to look traditionally Georgian (or Mediterranian) with partly gray-washed, partly brick walls, large, crude tables and chairs, and large low windows overlooking curious pedestrians on the street. Even if this place doesn't look authentic, it is cosy and friendly. My only criticism would be the background music - mostly tasteless Russian pop, during our meal.
Metekhi, on the contrary, has Georgian folk music (or at least something that sounds like it), much less design, and more of an old, almost Soviet feel to it with walls of an undefined color, small low windows with some stained glass, and dim lighting.
The staff in both places is of just the right quantity and quality: The young girl in Lagidze and the middle-aged woman in Metekhi were relaxed, laid-back, but helpful.
An interesting detail about the latter is that the menu which they bring (in English, with pictures and descriptions of dishes) says nothing about prices!
The prices are written on a separate board, attached to the bar. If you're curious, you should stand up and take a look. Otherwise, believe the waitress and look at what she's writing. Another interesting detail is that most of the prices are have kopek fractions - an extinct specification these days.
Most of the dishes we tried are certainly worth recommending.
Satsivi (chicken in nut-garlic sauce: 101 rubles, $3.60) and kharcho soup (98 rubles, $3.50) in Metekhi, and stuffed eggplant (150 rubles, $5.35) and even the dull-sounding pork with mushrooms (which is really good in fact, with amazingly tender and juicy pieces of pork and mushrooms) also 150 rubles ($5.35).
Solaynka (not the usual Russian soup but the traditional Georgian beef in spicy tomato and onion sauce) is hearty and filling in both restaurants (130 rubles, $4.64, at Lagidze, and 173 rubles, $6.17, at Metekhi), and the famous Georgian cheesy bread khachapuri (100 rubles, $3.51 in both places for a portion for two) can also be recommended in both.
Don't forget to try the wine - a glass of Georgian Tsinandali will cost you 82.50 rubles ($2.94) and a glass of Saperavi is 90 rubles ($3.20) at Metekhi, and a glass of homemade wine at Lagidze is 60 rubles ($2.14).
So if you find yourself wandering round the Fontanka and the area near the circus with an empty stomach and a taste for hearty but spicy food along with good wine, Metekhi or Lagidze are certainly an option to consider. Although the latter one will certainly appeal more to those paying attention to the quality of service and the efforts spent on design, both will provide visitors with a homey and warm reception.
TITLE: Moscow bound
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: Unlike in St. Petersburg, where there are no regular art sales at all, Moscow holds at least two large annual international contemporary art fairs. One of them, spring Moscow Art Fair, opened Tuesday at the Central House of Artists. The current, ninth fair, attracts more than 50 galleries, thousands of art lovers, and dozens of curators, art critics and collectors. St. Petersburg is represented by three leading commercial galleries - the Marina Gisich Gallery, the D137 Gallery and the Dmitry Semenov Gallery.
Art Moscow usually offers quite an extensive non-commercial program alongside the sale of atworks with exhibitions, screenings, a series of lectures, presentations, and so on. One such non-commercial event at the current fair is the Piterskiye project initiated by the prominent Moscow gallery owner Marat Gelman.
The word "Piterskiye" means "residents of St. Petersburg." Given the current fashion for Petersburgers in Russia's political elite (President Vladimir Putin, Finance Ministry officials Alexei Kudrin and German Gref, presidential advisor Andrei Illarionov, oligarch Anatoly Chubais), calling the show "Piterskiye" is, in a playful sense, more politically meaningful than artistic.
"Piterskiye are everywhere now," said Gelman at the opening of the show, clearly thinking of the Kremlin. "Piterskiye," then, has curious connotations. But actually the hint falls flat.
According to Marina Koldobskaya, the St. Petersburg curator of the project, the task of "Piterskiye" is simply to represent St. Petersburg's art scene in Moscow.
"I think the St. Petersburg art scene is unclear and obscure for Muscovites; they know only a few names," Koldobskaya told The St. Petersburg Times.
Muscovite Gelman made one characteristic reference to the project at the opening, saying "'Piterskiye' is a sort of review of the St. Petersburg art scene after the time of Timur Novikov."
Novikov, who died in 2002, was a leader of the Neo-Academism art movement, with which the St. Petersburg art scene of the '90s is often associated.
"After the death of Timur Novikov there is the opinion that St. Petersburg is in the hands of only the Neo-Academicists, decadents and aesthetes," Koldobskaya said. "It wasn't completely correct during Timur's time and, definitely, this is not the case now. In my opinion, now Neo-Academism occupies quite an insignificant place in St. Petersburg."
Now, without its main figure, Novikov, the St. Petersburg art scene is more heterogeneous.
"Piterskiye" features 17 living Petersburg artists of different generations. It includes such veterans of the scene and already internationally acknowledged artists as Vladislav Mamyshev-Monroe, O & A Florensky, Sergei Bugayev-Afrika, Tsaplya and Gliukly. They are mixed up with successful and established mid-career artists like Vitaly Pushnitsky and Dmitry Shubin. If this selection seems safe with the curators collecting almost all the significant names, the selection of newcomers is quite disputable and fragmentary. It is represented by such different artists as the mediocre graduate of the Pro Arte Institute Ilya Trushevsky (although the Institute has had more significant recent graduates such as Tantyana Goloviznina) and the bewitching primitive painter Oleg Khvostov.
Among the fresh and interesting artworks at the display is Vitaly Pushnitsky's poetic installation "Untitled." Another one is Mamyshev-Monroe's amusing photo-series, in which the artist drags up in the role of St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko. Possibly the most piterskiye of the lot are Olga and Alexander Florensky, who present a series called "The Proposals for the Topographical Object."
However, in artistic terms, as the exhibition shows, there is no strong reason to bunch St. Petersburg artists together. They are perfectly enmeshed into the Moscow contemporary art mainstream, which is now synonymous with Russian contemporary art. There is no serious artistic opposition to Moscow art.
As Gelman put it: "The main attraction of the 'Piterskiye' exhibition is its Moscowness."
Piterskiye at the Moscow Art Fair runs through May 29 at the Central House of Artists in Moscow. www.expopark.ru
TITLE: Retro trash
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: Zhmurki," a new film from Alexei Balabanov, is perhaps the first Russian trash film about those "who survived the '90s." Think Quentin Tarantino meets Guy Ritchie in Nizhny Novgorod.
Unfortunately, the film lacks the jokes and little gimmicks of those directors, and that's why, even with its all-star cast, "Zhmurki" is no masterpiece. The film is unlikely to have any significant influence and is instantly forgettable.
The name of the film, "Zhmurki," is the Russian word for Blind Man's Bluff, the children's game where someone blindfolded tries to catch other people. The name only makes sense at the end of the film when the main characters, gangsters, shoot other gangsters one by one, as if in a game. But a near-pun on zhmurki in Russian is zhmurik, meaning corpse. Any set-up or storyline before we get to the inevitable scenes of corpses is a superfluous sequence of killings, tortures and gang's fights.
Two gangsters (played by Alexei Panin and Dmitry Dyuzhev), who work for the local mafia boss (Nikita Mikhalkov in a blond wig), fight over a suitcase of heroin with competing gangs, a local police officer, neighbors, and almost everyone else they meet on the way.
The funniest part of film (which is described as a "criminal comedy" by the producers) is the endless shedding of dozens of liters of blood (more than 50 liters of "blood" were used during the first days of the shooting of the film).
At one point, a medical student and a punk try to perform an operation on one gangster's stomach using his studybook as a guideline.
In the meantime, Balabanov has managed to collect one of the biggest team of famous Russian actors assembled.
Other stars in the film include Sergei Makovetsky, Viktor Sukhorukov, Andrei Merzlinkin, and even the celeb Renata Litvinova, first playing a waitress in a local bar and later a secretary to the "new politicians" the gangsters become after they have concluded the heroin job. Most of the actors play cameo roles and get killed off, and none of the characters has enough time to win the viewer's sympathy.
Balabanov has traveled a strange route to get to this "criminal comedy." He is well known for his two his "Brother" films which, on the one hand, reflected and documented the degradation of Russian society in the 1990s, but on the other, contributed, through their immense success, to that same process. Balabanov actually began his career with art-house films, including "The Castle" (1994) and "About People and Monsters" (1998). Later on, after "Brother 2" in 2000, he directed "War" in 2002 about the consequences of the Chechen war and the unfinished film project "River" (2001-2002) about the life of Yakut people, the shooting of which stopped because of the death of the actress playing the main role.
Having tried himself in various genres, Balabanov has persisted in creating films that form opinions and generate discussion.
With "Zhmurki," however, this won't happen.
The '90s are over, and the epoch of remembering them - with praise or anger - is also disappearing.
"Zhmurki" is running in the Avrora cinema, and in all other cinemas from June 2.
TITLE: The gig went pop
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: This is the third band in the history of rock music after The Beatles and Nirvana," raves Franz Ferdinand's official site quoting Russian music critic Artyom Troitsky. According to the site, the concerts in St. Petersburg and Moscow last week were yet another triumph for Britain's top pop band.
Nevertheless, concertgoers who spoke to The St. Petersburg Times about the band's local show had reservations.
"I am in two minds about it," said musician and journalist Alexander Senin.
"It was a real rock concert, it was packed, everybody jumped like crazy, and knew all the lyrics by heart at that. [Singer Alex Kapranos] could stop at any moment, and the public kept on singing in English, which is something I saw for the first time in my life. What I did not like was that they can't play their instruments."
Most of those questioned, both musicians and non-musicians, seem to agree that Franz Ferdinand's performance, which drew about 2,500 people, was poor.
"It was somewhat weak for the No. 1 band in the world. Actually it was so bad that it was even funny," said Denis Kuptsov, the drummer with local bands Leningrad, Spitfire and the St. Petersburg Ska-Jazz Review.
"They play their instruments very poorly. I saw that the band is very weak, that they haven't played very much in their lives, and if they have played much, then I don't know what it was they were playing.
"I understand that they have a very good PR campaign, well-thought-out and well-funded. Everything is done so brilliantly that even the leading Western magazines claim, unanimously, that this is the No. 1 band. I don't see them as the No. 1 band. Even The Strokes are better, even if they are also derivative."
Kuptsov said that Franz Ferdinand lacked originality.
"I felt deja vu. It was like the [1980s Russian bands] Kino and Alisa, or the early Cure and Joy Division. Some songs were not bad, but, honestly speaking, there's a million bands, say, in Sweden, who play similar music, and many of them play better. By the way, I liked [the opening act] Multfilmy better."
Mikhail Sindalovsky, the drummer for the local band Dva Samaliota, disagreed.
"I liked the band a lot, they have drive, even if I can't say they are virtuoso players. It seems that they like Talking Heads, my favorite band, and there are influences of New Order and The Cure, which is nice," he said.
"What I didn't like was the hype surrounding them. It's not justified, but it's contemporary showbiz, good PR. It's all understandable."
However, Sindalovsky admitted that he left after the first 20 minutes. "As a musician, I'm used to being on the other side of the stage," he said. During their stay in St. Petersburg, Franz Ferdinand had two lengthy rehearsals at Dva Samaliota's recording studio.
Although the show was said to be aimed at 20-year-olds, Sanya, 23, a DJ, sounded disappointed.
"The band didn't excite me. It was strictly as it was on the album, straightforward and dumb. It lacked spark. I didn't like the new songs because they have the same bits of Slade and similar bands from the old times. It's so familiar that it doesn't impress me."
Sanya said he was also unhappy with the entire organization of the concert: having to spend over an hour standing in line to get into the venue, an ineffective and slow bar which ran out of beer almost immediately and having the local pop-rock band Multfilmy as a surprise opening act. Multfilmy's unannounced support slot even turned some away.
"I came to the show but decided not to go inside, I was scared away by Multfilmy and all this glamorous ugliness outside," said Irina, 25, a manager.
"I haven't been to concerts for 18 months, then I came and ... there is the same old Multfilmy, again. So we sold our tickets and went to a pub. In 40 minutes we were joined by some people who'd been to the show."
Daniel Lurie, editor of the local edition of listings magazine Afisha, suggested that the overall atmosphere might have affected perceptions.
"It looked a lot like a school disco," he said. "The closer to the stage, the more teenagers full of beer there were. It was simply unpleasant," said Lurie.
"In Moscow, they had a club concert and a stadium festival appearance, which could have been the best solution. What we got was neither fish nor fowl."
Lurie said he was unhappy about the sound quality. "I thought the sound was not very good," he said. "It was very flat. When there's a melody in a song, it's OK, but when they do some guitar rock, it becomes chaos instead of music. You simply can't hear it well."
The venue, Manezh Kadetskogo Korpusa, a concrete rectangle formerly used as a riding-school, is indeed infamous as one of the worst concert halls in the city.
"It's absolutely bad," said Kuptsov. "First, it has horrible ventilation, people just couldn't breathe. I heard that many even fainted.
"As to the sound, the acoustics don't meet any standards; the draped windows, poor sound reflection, the ceiling and the walls are not muffled properly," said Kuptsov. "This building is just not designed for rock concerts."
Many in the audience did not stay until the end of the show.
"I got bored after three songs," said Kuptsov. "Franz Ferdinand is one of the bands whose melodies you cannot remember. If they claim to be a hit-making pop band, then they should have memorable hits, at least. They have none.
"It was all very raw, I even felt deceived. They just don't sound well together. How can it be? The band arrives to the city and goes to Dva Samaliota's studio to rehearse. Does it mean they didn't get prepared for the tour?"
Senin said the popularity of Franz Ferdinand would not last long.
"They are just guys who got lucky ... If in three years they part quietly and peacefully and each of them goes to live into his own castle in Scotland, nobody will regret it much," he said.
TITLE: Wagner love
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: With Richard Wagner's "Tristan Und Isolde" opening at the Mariinsky Theater on Friday, the company's repertoire now has its eighth opera by the composer - matching the number of Wagner works the Mariinsky performed before the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917.
Wagner was no stranger to St. Petersburg. The composer chose St. Petersburg for the first performance of the Prelude and Liebestod of "Tristan und Isolde," and the city was picked to host his "Der Ring des Nibelungen" in 1907.
Before the start of World War I, when German music was forbidden in Russia, the Mariinsky's repertoire featured eight works by Wagner - a quarter of its playbill.
With the arrival of "Tristan und Isolde," the Mariinsky's artistic director Valery Gergiev looks set to repeat the achievement.
The company already performs "Parsifal," "Der Fliegende Hollander," "Lohengrin" and the complete tetralogy "Der Ring des Nibelungen" comprising "Das Rheingold," "Die Walkure," "Siegfried" and "Gotterdammerung."
Over the course of the 20th century Wagner fell in and out of favor with Russia's rulers.
Vladimir Lenin, the first Soviet leader, admired the vision of art for the people that Wagner had promoted, but he also happened to like the sound of his music. Siegfried's funeral march was played at the memorial concert after Lenin's death in 1924.
Joseph Stalin, Lenin's successor, was a Wagnerian enemy, and his era changed all that reverence, making Wagner's name taboo. This was mainly because German dictator Adolf Hitler was known to have a craving for Wagner's music. The composer's works accompanied the German army during World War II. So, when the German army lost the Battle of Stalingrad, radio stations played the funeral march from Wagner's "Twilight of the Gods." Predictably, the composer's works were pitilessly expelled from the repertoire of Russian theaters under pressure from Stalin's ideological machine.
The only exception to this tendency was also of a political nature. In 1940, Sergei Eisenstein was asked to stage "Die Walkure" at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. The staging was meant to be a welcoming gesture to the notorious Molotov-Ribbentrop pact.
But not only the Soviets attempted to connect Wagner's philosophy with Hitler's ideas. Robert Gutman, the Wagner biographer, once claimed "Parsifal" has racial purity as its subject matter, and that Wagner meditates on how the Aryan race can be restored in the opera. Put shortly, "Parsifal" was Hitler's blueprint, the expert concluded.
It wasn't until perestroika that Wagner's works found their way back to Russian audiences. The man to thank is Gergiev, whose passion for Wagner resulted in nurturing a new breed of Wagnerian singers in St. Petersburg.
The renowned conductor has trained an array of deeply Wagnerian voices including basses Viktor Chernomortsev and Yevgeny Nikitin and mezzo-sopranos Olga Sergeyeva and Larisa Gogolevskaya.
Based on the legend of Tristan and Isolda, the opera is widely considered to be the forerunner of musical modernism. The composer wrote the libretto to the opera, which was first performed in Munich in 1865.
Some critics say that the entire work is an attempt to resolve the tension set established in the first eight bars. Richard Strauss was said to describe the work's final cadence as the most beautifully orchestrated in the history of music.
The story begins in a ship's cabin, and the sea is a recurring subject in the opera, emphasized by a penetrating use of strings.
Isolde, princess of Ireland, is taken to Cornwall, to be married to Marke, the King of Cornwall. Tristan, whose name means sadness, received his name after his mother died during childbirth. Isolde plots to kill Tristan, who is escorting her to her wedding. She despises him because Tristan, whose wounds she once nursed, killed her fiance Morold in a battle for the independence of Cornwall. Isolde asks her maidservant Brangane to prepare a potion that will cause death, but she deceives Isolde and brews a love-potion instead.
The magic drink works, and the two fall in love. The romance is evolving when the ship reaches Cornwall, but the beloved are spied on by Marke's man Melot, who wounds Tristan. Tended by Kurwenal, he survives just until Isolde comes, then falls and dies. Isolde, who feels Tristan is calling to her from the 'dead of night' wills her death soon afterwards.
The Mariinsky's new production will be staged by young, aspiring and award-winning director Dmitry Chernyakov, responsible for the company's renditions of Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Legend Of The Invisible City Of Kitezh" (2003) and Glinka's "A Life For the Tsar" (2004).
Chernyakov prefers a metaphoric, image-rich language largely admired by the critics but less-prepared audiences sometimes find it difficult to interpret his allusions.
Chernyakov, who has maintained a policy of closed doors throughout the rehearsal process, banning any relevant photographs to be printed or videos recorded, speaks reluctantly about his new work.
"Many directors hace tried to tell this story through some kind of ritual, while others defensively opted for an ironic approach," Chernyakov said. "I am creating a less sophisticated work, showing this drama through the prism of ideas, concepts and physical objects that ring a bell with modern audiences."
TITLE: Lake placid
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: PUUMALA, Eastern Finland - The lake district of southeast Finland, at once so close and so far from St. Petersburg, is a land of many tales.
At the center of the region is Lake Saimaa, actually a dazzling myriad of deep, clean fjords, gullies and inland seas lapping against numberless granite islands cloaked in forest. Hidden in its tranquil byways are the echoes of tales that are both ancient and modern - and all fascinating.
The small town of Puumala, 65 kilometers from Imatra on the Russian border, lies at the heart of the Saimaa lake system. It nestles beneath the impressive span of the 37-meter high, 781-meter long Saimaa Bridge over a waterway that connects north and south parts of the lake. The area is dotted with logging and paper making enterprises that use ships to take cargo from Saimaa, through the Saimaa Canal (which passes through Russia) to the Baltic Sea and markets beyond.
But the presence of human industry barely makes a scratch on the pristine landscape. It's been that way for a very long time.
ROCK ON
In 1911, Jean Sibelius, the composer of the romantic national tone-poem Finlandia, is said to have discovered a marking on one of the countless rock faces which rise from Saimaa's still waters. It seemed to represent a fisherman's net.
Since then dozens of mysterious markings showing men, elk and boats have been found. Scientists have dated the images, made faintly on cliff faces often only accessible by boat in summer or skis in winter, to the Neolithic age some 5000 years ago. More are discovered each year as archeologists unravel the secrets of the enigmatic stone age civilization which made them.
The simple paintings have inspired renowned goldsmith Kulta-Seppo to create a range of pendants, earrings, and other jewelry representing the wobbly stick figures. In his Puumala workshop, Seppo fashions the delicate designs from silver and bronze, and is happy to receive visitors.
The goldsmith explains that he is also the only craftsman in Finland authorized to make the special jewelry that adorns a variety of Finnish national costumes. Each of the clasps, necklaces and brooches, often worth many hundreds of dollars, represent different clans, he says.
From Seppo's workshop it is just a few steps to Puumala's harbor front, which in summer, decked out with tables, chairs and parasols, adds a southern European flavor to the town.
In a nearby park is a small statue of the Saimaa seal, a rare freshwater mammal with a population of less than 300 individuals. The adorable animal is protected by Finland's rigorous environmental laws (overfishing in the lake in the past is partly to blame for its decline) which also mean Saimaa's waters are pure enough to drink. The region is becoming increasingly popular as a holiday spot as the Baltic Sea becomes polluted by Russian industry.
The Seal Park and children's playground is under the Saimaa Bridge and it is possible to take an elevator to the top and survey the town (there's also a small cafe there).
Looking east and west over the calm water of the Saimaa strait, it is easy to forget that until 1917 Finland was ruled from St. Petersburg and was a part of the Russian Empire. But near Puumala's large honey-colored wooden church, overlooking the town of just 3,000 inhabitants, is a poignant reminder.
In the beautifully kept churchyard lies the grave of Maria Shpak-Benois, a poor Russian orphan who married into the Benois family of Silver Age artists and aesthetes of St. Petersburg. A painter of promise herself (whose moody self-portrait is held by Moscow's Tretyakov Gallery today), Shpak-Benois died in Puumala of pneumonia in 1891 at just 21 years old. It is thought that the change in climate from a recent trip to Egypt weakened the artist.
It wasn't uncommon in the 19th century for Russia's upper crust to take vacations in the Saimaa lakeland, prized then, as now, for its stunning natural beauty, forest pursuits like mushrooming and hunting, and abundant opportunities to go boating and fishing.
WINDS OF WAR
In the turbulent 20th century it was nature itself which helped Finland maintain its independence through two notorious wars (the Winter War of 1939-40 and the Continuation War of 1941-44) in which Finland twice fought the U.S.S.R. (Firstly repelling an unprovoked attack, and secondly as part of the larger canvas of World War II in which Finland was allied with Germany.) Straight rows of boulders in shallow creeks by the road are not the standing stones of some ancient civilization, but anti-Soviet tank traps meant to maul caterpillar tracks.
Along the length of the Finnish border - but particularly in the Saimaa where the regional capital Mikkeli, 72 kilometers west of Puumala, was the wartime headquarters -defenses can still be seen.
In Puumala there are several bunkers standing, one of which is preserved as a monument. Inside its subterranean, submarine-like interior - latterly used as a scout hut - a sense of tension and menace hangs in the air. It is even possible to test the sights of a machine gun.
In Mikkeli, the army headquarters buildings are now museums and the town's role as the hub of operations through three wars (including the Lapland War in 1944-45 when German forces were driven out) is explained under the watchful presence of Carl Gustav Mannerheim, Marshal of Finland. The wartime giant, later president of Finland, who died in 1951, is immortalized in bronze in a striding pose on Mikkeli's market square.
His office, and the seat of planning through Finland's six years of wars, is a spartan room in the corner of a former school featuring a symbolic giant stuffed owl on a shelf. In a logistics room, captured Russian maps paper a wall, while other displays tell the story of the wars from the military and civilian points of view. (Headquarters Museum, Paamajankuja 1-3. Tel: +358 15 194 2427. Admission: 4 euros).
More engaging perhaps, certainly for children, is the recreated Communications Center across the street. Deep inside a specially quarried cave in Naisvuori Hill are a series of cramped, paneled rooms filled with rudimentary telecommunications and encoding devices. (Communications Center Lokki, Naisvuori. Tel: +358 15 194 2429. Admission. 1.5 euros). The center, code named Lokki ("Seagull") was used from 1941 until the army headquarters were relocated from Mikkeli at the end of World War II.
PEACE AND PEACEFUL
The scenic route back to Puumala from Mikkeli grants spectacular views of the region's elemental beauty in which flinty waterways reflect a billion trees and an endless sky. On this remarkably empty road, undulating through lake and hill, you will find the charming settlement of Sahanlahti, a few kilometers outside Puumala on the Saimaa shore.
In the late 19th century, the center of the settlement was a sawmill (using a natural waterfall for power) that was the birthplace of the celebrated author Elsa Heporauta (1883-1960).
The mill has now gone - although parts of the stone building are still visible - but the wooden house next to it is now the centerpiece of the exquisite Sahanlahti hotel comprising lakeside cottages.
Heporauta is remembered by a copper plaque on the side of the charming building, now the hotel's excellent restaurant with terraces overlooking the lake, but the novelist has left a greater legacy than that.
In 1935, Heporauta formed a group of progressive Finnish women to find a way of celebrating the centenary of the first printed edition of the Finnish national saga, the Kalevala - and particularly its strong mythic women such as Louhi, mistress of the north. To raise funds for a statue, replicas of ancient jewelry found in Finland were made and sold. But before enough money for a statue was raised, the Winter War broke out and the Association of Finnish Women turned its attention to charitable causes.
However, Kalevala jewelry had proved a hit, and in 1941 a company was formed to make and market it, with some money channeled back into the charitable foundation. More than 60 years later Kalevala still offers its distinctive Nordic jewelry all over Europe.
From this year, bringing one of Puumala's most fascinating tales full circle, the jewelry will be on sale at the Sahanlahti hotel, the birthplace of one its creators.
The St. Petersburg Times was a guest of Puumala Tourist Information services (Keskustie 5, PL 20, 52201 Puumala. Tel: +358 15 755 7286).
TITLE: IN BRIEF
TEXT: Fleeing Bride Indicted
LAWRENCEVILLE, Georgia (AP) - The bride-to-be who skipped town just days before her lavish wedding was indicted Wednesday on charges she told police a phony story about being kidnapped and sexually assaulted.
Jennifer Wilbanks, 32, was charged with making a false statement and making a false police report. She could get up to six years behind bars and $11,000 in fines if convicted.
India, Pakistan Talk
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (Reuters) - Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan began talks Thursday to settle two bitter border disputes, including their military standoff on the Siachen Glacier, the world's highest battlefield.
A ceasefire has been in place across the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, including Siachen, since November 2003.
Several thousand soldiers have died on the Siachen Glacier, a battle zone standing between 5,400 meters and 6,600 meters up the mountains of northern Kashmir.
The Siachen talks will be followed by another two days of talks on demarcation of Sir Creek, a marshy estuary opening on to the Arabian Sea.
Shrine Causes Splits
TOKYO (Reuters) - Tokyo's Yasukuni shrine is at the center of a spat between Japan and China, triggered this week after China's vice premier Wu Yi canceled a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi over the issue of his visits there.
Sixty years after their nation's World War Two defeat, ordinary Japanese still don't seem to agree on the shrine - dedicated to the nation's 2.5 million war dead - and indeed about the war itself.
The shrine is seen by China and North and South Korea, all invaded by imperial Japan before World War II, as a symbol of Japan's militaristic past.
U.S. Won't Block Iran
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said it would not block Iran's application to join the World Trade Organization due to come before the WTO General Council on Thursday, as part of a nuclear-related deal between Tehran and key European states, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday.
"We're not going to block it, in support of the diplomacy of our European friends ... That is the plan," an official said on condition of anonymity.
The United States, in a policy shift last March designed to bolster EU-Tehran negotiations, offered Iran economic incentives to abandon its suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons.
Schroeder Plans Bid
BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said on Tuesday he favored a personality-driven election campaign - a U.S.-style charisma contest that might distract from the economic gloom threatening to unseat him.
His opponent is expected to be Angela Merkel, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) chief who hopes to be Germany's first woman chancellor. Analysts say Schroeder has a mountain to climb if he is to win a third term.
A poll for ARD television, released on Monday, put support for Schroeder's SPD-Greens coalition on 37 percent, with 53 percent for Merkel's conservatives and the Free Democrats (FDP), their most likely coalition partner.
TITLE: Henin-Hardenne, Coria Safely Advance in Paris
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: PARIS - Justine Henin-Hardenne served poorly, required treatment from a trainer and still won in straight sets Thursday at the French Open.
The tournament favorite and 2003 champion overcame eight double faults and advanced to the third round by beating Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-1 6-4.
After taking a 5-0 lead, Henin-Hardenne requested treatment during the changeover and grimaced as she stretched her back with help from a trainer. The injury may have contributed to the serving woes of Henin-Hardenne, who made only 45 percent of her first serves and was broken three times in the second set.
She double-faulted nine times in a three-set, opening-round win over Conchita Martinez.
Henin-Hardenne's ailment is the latest in a series. She returned in March from a seven-month layoff due to a blood virus and knee injury, but despite rust and concerns about her stamina, she's 22-1 since returning and has won 19 consecutive matches, all on clay.
Her only loss this year was at Key Biscayne to Maria Sharapova, a potential opponent in the quarterfinals.
No. 7-seeded Nadia Petrova also reached the third round, beating Frenchwoman Severine Beltrame 6-1 6-3.
In men's play, 2004 runner-up Guillermo Coria, seeded eighth, won when 18-year-old qualifier Novak Djokovic retired with an injury trailing 4-6 6-2 3-2.
On the warmest day of the tournament, with temperatures headed into the 80s, Henin-Hardenne played the first match on Court Suzanne Lenglen and raced to a quick lead. One game she won despite three double faults and a blown overhead.
Seeded 10th, Henin-Hardenne volleyed well and showed no sign of back trouble during baseline rallies, and she benefited from Ruano Pascual's erratic groundstrokes. The Belgian saved some of her best serving for the final game, closing out the victory at love.
On the men's side, Richard Gasquet of France was due to play fellow 18-year-old Rafael Nadal of Spain on Friday in the most anticipated match of the first week.
If the home-court advantage makes the difference, Gasquet will win. If experience makes the difference, Nadal will win - he's 15 days older than Gasquet.
"It will be interesting to see who is going to win that," said top-ranked Roger Federer, who might meet the winner in the semifinals. "They're up and coming, and now they face each other."
Nadal is the left-hander from Mallorca with the toreador trousers, five tournament titles already this year and a 19-match winning streak. Playing at Roland Garros for the first time, he has been touted as Federer's most formidable obstacle to the title.
Outside of Paris, Gasquet is less heavily hyped. The stylish right-hander from the south of France has thick legs, small feet, a sweet backhand and an obvious affection for clay as he skids about. He won the Roland Garros junior title in 2002, nearly upset Federer at Monte Carlo last month and has climbed from 94th in the rankings to 31st since the start of this year.
"I think is a nice match, no?" said Nadal, whose English is slightly less polished than his groundstrokes.
Both youngsters advanced with easy wins Wednesday. Gasquet, seeded 30th, beat Peter Wessels 6-3 7-6 (1) 6-1. Next on center court came the No. 4-seeded Nadal, who defeated Xavier Malisse 6-2 6-2 6-4.
They'll be back on the same stage for their showdown, with Nadal hoping to silence a stadium of partisan Parisians.
"I play in Davis Cup, and I think is similar, no?" Nadal said. "It's going to be his fans out there. It's also pressure [for Gasquet], and you've got to overcome that pressure when you're playing in front of your own public."
Few figure Gasquet is ready to become the first Frenchman to win Roland Garros since Yannick Noah in 1983. But he's one of only two players to beat Federer this year (Marat Safin is the other), and in the ensuing round he lost a close match to Nadal, 6-7 (6) 6-4 6-3.
Gasquet came away impressed by the Spaniard.
"Thank God there's only one Nadal, because otherwise it would be difficult to play on the circuit," Gasquet said. "I don't know if there has ever been somebody as good as him in teenagers."
TITLE: Phoenix Suns Fizzling in Playoffs
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: PHOENIX, Arizona - The Phoenix Suns don't want to hear it. Right now, they couldn't care less that the agonizing way they've lost the first two games of the Western Conference finals might one day make them a better playoff team.
But coach Mike D'Antoni understands. He knows how tough, and how rare, it is for an NBA team to come out of nowhere and make it all the way to the finals. He realizes there are lessons to be learned along the way, like all those disappointments Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls had before they finally broke through.
"A lot of times," D'Antoni said, "you have to sample the waters before you jump in."
The playoff-novice Suns got this far by sweeping Memphis, a franchise that's never won a playoff game, then needing six games to get past Dallas, a strong team but one that's still finding its identity. Now they're up against the San Antonio Spurs, and it's like going from the kiddie pool to the deep end.
Phoenix has played great, yet it hasn't been good enough. Despite taking decent leads into the fourth quarter of both games, then making half their shots the rest of the way, the Suns have been caught from behind by a Spurs club filled with former NBA champions.
It hasn't just been a rite of passage. It's been more like hazing.
The Spurs have shot better than 70 percent in the final period, making clutch plays and preventing the Suns from doing the same. It's earned them a commanding 2-0 lead with the series headed to San Antonio.
"They're a veteran team," lamented Suns star Amare Stoudemire. "They've been there, done that."
It's called experience, and the Spurs are loaded with it.
The biggest shots in their 111-108 victory in Game 2 on Tuesday night came from Robert Horry and Manu Ginobili. Horry has won five championships, the most among active players. Ginobili has one, plus played for titles in Italy and internationally for Argentina's national team.
San Antonio also got fourth-quarter boosts from Tim Duncan, the MVP of both NBA Finals he's been in, and Tony Parker, a starter on a championship team two years ago when he was just 21.
Among Phoenix's regulars, only MVP Steve Nash and Jim Jackson have been to the conference finals. Neither has made it to the NBA Finals.
"We're doing a really good job finishing games this series," Duncan said. "That's through having guys like Rob and Tony who have been through it ... We understand that we want to get a good possession every time."
How's this for taking quality shots: The Spurs made 16 of 22 in the final period of Game 1, turning a six-point deficit into a seven-point win. In Game 2, they trailed by five, then made 12 of 17 to win by three - even though the Suns hit 52 percent in the fourth quarter and 56 percent for the game, tops against San Antonio this postseason.
"At some point, you have to say they deserved to win," Nash said. "Our guys, I thought, handled themselves well, we just didn't make the plays that they made ... We just have to stay positive and hungry and go out there and give ourselves a chance again."
Both teams were off Wednesday, the first of a three-day break before Game 3 on Saturday night in San Antonio.
The layoff should help everyone. Duncan is playing on two sore ankles, and Nash seemingly has been going on fumes considering the roadrunner-like pace he's played at lately. He was out for only two minutes in Game 2 and he spent them on his back.
Help could be on the way.
Phoenix guard Joe Johnson, who could defend Parker and run the offense while Nash rests, was expected to go through his first full practice on Thursday since breaking a bone near his left eye on May 11. If all goes well the next few days, he might even start Saturday night.
The Suns have to win that game or Game 4 on Monday night just to bring the series back to Phoenix. To reach the finals, they must win four of five, including at least two in San Antonio, where the Spurs have won 43 of 47 games this season.
Phoenix, however, did win a league-best 31 road games and four of five so far this postseason.
"There's no one in this locker room that doesn't think we can't go to San Antonio and win," D'Antoni said. "We can do it."
History says they won't. No team has ever won the conference finals or NBA Finals after losing Games 1 and 2 at home.