SOURCE: The St. Petersburg Times DATE: Issue #1236 (2), Friday, January 12, 2007 ************************************************************************** TITLE: Oil Flow To Europe Restarted AUTHOR: By Dmitry Zhdannikov and Andrei Makhovsky PUBLISHER: Reuters TEXT: MOSCOW/MINSK — Russia restarted the flow of oil through its main oil export pipeline on Thursday after Belarus dropped an oil transit duty imposed last week and agreed to return oil Moscow said it had taken illegally. “Belarus has fully returned 79,000 tonnes of oil. Transneft started to pump oil in the direction of Belarus at 8:22 a.m. Moscow time,” Sergei Grigoryev, vice-president of Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft, told Reuters. “The Druzhba pipeline is working normally.” Russia, the world’s second biggest oil exporter, had closed the Druzhba (‘Friendship’) pipeline, its largest single oil export route, for more than 60 hours, cutting European Union oil supplies by around 1.5 million barrels of oil per day. The shutdown marked the climax of a trade dispute in which Moscow doubled gas export prices to Belarus at the New Year and imposed a crippling crude oil export duty equivalent to 10 percent of the gross domestic product of its western neighbor. Belarus, once Moscow’s most loyal ally, responded by slapping the oil transit duty of $45 per ton on Russian oil piped across its territory, effective from Jan. 1. Transneft said it shut the pipeline when Belarus began siphoning off oil to take payment of the levy in kind, and only agreed to restart the pumps after the missing oil was returned. Oil firms in Hungary and Poland confirmed that volumes through the pipeline — built in the 1960s to tie communist eastern Europe to Soviet energy supplies — were back to normal. Flows were expected to have reached Germany at 0900 GMT, said French oil major Total, which runs the Leuna refinery. Germany, Europe’s largest economy, gets around a fifth of its oil imports via Druzhba. “We would now like to enter into a dialogue with Russia with the goal of putting our energy relations on a reliable, long-term basis,” said German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, whose government has just begun chairing both the European Council and the G8 group of industrial states. Belarus said it resumed pipeline operations late on Wednesday evening, enabling Russia to turn on the taps and calming fears of a major supply shortage. “The chance of serious fall-out for Russian oil producers and their European clients now appears remote,” said Steven Dashevsky, energy analyst at Aton brokerage in Moscow. Dashevsky said no one Russian oil producer was likely to be seriously hit by the stoppage, since the pipeline’s capacity was shared between all the major players. Belarussian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky will hold talks with Russian counterpart Mikhail Fradkov on Thursday. Sidorsky said on Wednesday he expected Russia to lift its own trade restrictions on Belarus. “I think today we will agree a concrete document which we will be able to submit to our heads of state tomorrow,” Sidorsky told Russia’s First Channel television after landing in Moscow. During the dispute Russia also banned sugar imports from Belarus, which normally sells half its annual production of around 770,000 tonnes to Russia. The dispute alarmed the European energy market in a strong echo of Russia’s gas row with Ukraine exactly a year ago, when a pricing row prompted Russian gas monopoly Gazprom to cut gas supplies on its main European export route. Gazprom vehemently defended its conduct, saying it never broke any contractual agreements. Russia has blamed this year’s row on Belarus, with Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko saying the oil shutdown constituted force majeure. Transneft CEO Semyon Vainshtok said the Russian pipeline network had shown its reliability during the Belarus crisis. “Obviously there were some hotheads who thought that with the biggest oil supply route closed, there would be interruptions to our work,” he said in a statement. “But during this whole period we did not limit a single oil worker or a single kilogram of oil sent to the pipeline system.” Analysts expect Russia to seek alternative oil export routes to lessen reliance on Belarus, just as it has begun building a big Baltic Sea gas pipeline to avoid dependency on Ukraine. “The more Russia’s hands and feet are tied by transit countries, the more they have a temptation to be parasites on Russia,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said before the row with Ukraine. TITLE: Warm Weather Doesn’t Worry City Visitors AUTHOR: By Evgenia Ivanova PUBLISHER: Staff Writer TEXT: St. Petersburg’s record-breaking warm spell may have experts worried about global warming and climate change but local businesses and tourists are enjoying the weather — at least for now. Maria Shchegoleva, an administrator at the St. Petersburg International Hostel, which accommodates foreign tourists, says there has been a lighthearted reaction to the subject from guests. “They all laugh and call this winter ‘Brazilian,’” she told the St. Petersburg Times on Thursday. “I can’t say that even those tourists who were dreaming of snow were disappointed. The ones who are more experienced with the proper Russian weather just joke that they probably had confused their planes and landed somewhere else,” she said. “If anything, the tourists consider themselves lucky. The most common reaction is that they are surprised of course, but at least they won’t freeze their hands and feet off while walking around St. Petersburg.” Similar observations were made by the St. Petersburg branch of the tourism industry union, or RST. Although the organization has recently developed the “White Days” initiative to attract tourists to visit the city in winter based on its usual wintry beauty, the RST said business hasn’t been harmed by the weather. “I don’t think the absence of snow in any way concerns the city’s visitors from abroad. For them this weather is more comfortable as they are used to it back home. Now it’s like Paris or Italy,” said RST deputy head Tatyana Demeneva in an interview with The St. Petersburg Times. “It’s not the weather that attracts tourists to come to St. Petersburg in wintertime, but the low cost of hotels and its rich cultural program,” she said. Although the bears at the St. Petersburg zoo may have cause for complaint since they have already been woken from their winter hibernation by the mild conditions, the city’s shipping industry as well as its hoteliers is welcoming the warm weather. “Every year starting from Dec. 1 we introduce a so-called ‘winter mark-up’ due to ice and a pile of port fees and delays associated with it. But because we don’t have the winter but already have the extra-charge, it turns out that we earn more,” Alexander Zhuchkov, import manager for the St. Petersburg office of Delta Shipping Agency, said on Thursday. Patrick Naughter, general manager of the Renaissance St. Petersburg Baltic Hotel, said his business has been largely unaffected. “Although the extended holiday in January has once again affected occupancy levels, with room enquiries for 2007 grinding to a halt from late December until Jan. 10, we believe that the warmer weather conditions have had virtually no impact on our business levels,” he said. Although temperatures reached a high of 8 degress Celsius on Wednesday this week, forecasters are predicting sub-zero temperatures for Friday and Saturday. Snow is forecast for Sunday. Meanwhile across the Northern Hemisphere, ski resorts from Canada to France have laid off workers and shops are axing winter coat prices at the start of what scientists say may be the warmest year on record, Reuters reported on Thursday. “We are in a period of extreme events,” said Achim Steiner, head of the UN Environment Program, noting five months of floods in east Africa and melting Alpine glaciers. “Climate change, whether this is linked to greenhouse gases or not, is real and it’s getting more extreme,” he told Reuters. The United Nations says 2006 was the sixth warmest year worldwide since records began in the 1860s. U.S. government forecasters say 2006 was the warmest in the United States since records began there 112 years ago. And Britain’s Meteorological Office has projected that 2007 will be the warmest worldwide on record, because of global warming and the El Nino weather phenomenon in the Pacific. TITLE: Yabloko Pushes Gazprom Tower Poll AUTHOR: By Galina Stolyarova PUBLISHER: Staff Writer TEXT: A group of local activists led by politicians from the Yabloko opposition party is pushing forward with a plan to launch a city-wide referendum to decide the fate of a 396-meter-tall glass tower that is planned to become national energy monopoly Gazprom’s new headquarters. Immediately branded “the corn on the cob,” the tower, set to be erected near the estuary of Okhta river, has divided the city over its architectural merit.The driving force behind the referendum plan is the local branch of Yabloko but the 29-member group comprises a number of figures not affiliated with the party, including Valery Popov, head of the St. Petersburg Writers’ Union and Vladimir Lisovsky, chairman of the St. Petersburg branch of Russia’s Society for the Preservation of Historical Monuments. The referendum proposal submitted on Dec. 29 is currently being reviewed by the St. Petersburg Electoral Commission, and the decision is due before the end of next week. If the commission gives way to the proposal and the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly confirms it corresponds to the law, the activists will start collecting signatures. The law allows them 30 days to collect the signatures of 2 percent of local voters. There are 3.7 million voters in St. Petersburg. Mikhail Amosov, a Yabloko faction lawmaker at the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly, has already accused the Electoral Commission of a bias. “They initially rejected our proposal on ridiculous grounds, claiming that some letters did not match in several people’s names — for instance, Natalya, instead of Natalia,” he said. “To make things worse, when we came to their office for the second time, we found out that another group of activists has just submitted an identical proposal, so we have a doppelganger now. In politics, a doppelganger means that someone is afraid of you.” Lawyer Olga Pokrovskaya said the second grouping may confuse the citizens but is not an obstacle. “Every Russian citizen has the right to encourage a popular vote, and as long as the questions do not contradict the Russian Constitution, and the signatures are correct, there can be as many referendums as you please,” she said. Local architect Dmitry Butyrin, head of the city’s Union of Architects’ Council for the Protection of Architectural Legacy of St. Petersburg, said height limitations — different for every district of the city — are violated blatantly in town. “It is happening more and more often, and the Gazprom building situation is a litmus test for the city,” the architect said. “If we swallow it, more towers will follow shortly. The tower — in its suggested form and location — will alter the famous historic skyline of St. Petersburg. We have nothing against Gazprom but we strongly feel that an alternative location should be found.” The activists suggest including two questions in the referendum. “Do you agree that in order to preserve the unique historical image of St. Petersburg the height of the building of the new Gazprom headquarters at the Okhta river should be limited to 48 meters, as stipulated by the St. Petersburg legislation as of 1 January, 2006?” reads the first question. The second question is more general. It asks citizens whether maximum height limitations must be strictly observed. Gazprom officials talk proudly about the new headquarters. At the ceremony on Dec. 3, when Governor Valentina Matviyenko announced the winning design by British architects RMJM, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller referred to the controversial tower as “a new economic symbol of St. Petersburg.” Matviyenko was even more complimentary in her choice of words. The governor said St. Petersburg “should be happy that the No.1 company in Russia is coming to the city.” But the value of this symbol has been questioned by a number of city cultural figures. “If they build this tower, I think, next time we need to renew the paint on the Hermitage, I won’t have to ask what color to use,” said Mikhail Piotrovsky, director of the State Hermitage Museum, referring to strict building codes that govern the appearance of St. Petersburg’s historic buildings. The press office of Gazprom Neft Invest said the company views the initiative as an attempt to boost Yabloko’s popularity nearing elections to the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly on March 11. “We do not intervene in political battles and discussions and therefore would rather not comment further on the matter,” a Gazprom Neft Invest spokeswoman said. Prominent actor Oleg Basilashvili was emotional in his assessment of the confrontation. “By erecting such a building in the city center, they are spitting right in my face,” the actor said. In December 2006, Amosov and fellow lawmakers Natalya Yevdokimova and Sergei Gulyayev sent a letter of protest to the General Prosecutor’s Office, asking that the legitimacy of the architectural contest held to select the plan for the tower and the deal between the city and Gazprom be investigated. According to the law, the Prosecutor’s Office is obliged to answer a parliamentarian inquiry within a month but no reply has been sent from Russia’s Prosecutor General Yury Chaika or his office. The city government has agreed to spend 60 billion rubles ($2.3 billion) on building the Gazprom City development, which includes the controversial tower, using up to half of the tax revenues that it will receive from the company over the next 10 years. TITLE: Europe ‘Stands United’ On Energy Policy AUTHOR: By Anatoly Medetsky PUBLISHER: Staff Writer TEXT: MOSCOW — Presenting a sweeping new energy policy Wednesday, the European Commission urged member states to stand united before external energy providers such as Russia as a way to ensure the security of supplies and competitive prices. The common policy should seek to lessen dependence on Russia and seek alternative suppliers, commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said in presenting the strategy, titled “An Energy Policy For Europe.” Russia’s standoff with Belarus over oil transit — which has disrupted supplies to five European countries since Monday — was one of the reasons that “have given real meaning for millions of our citizens about our energy independence,” he told reporters in Brussels. “The cut in oil supplies from Russia is unacceptable,” he said, according to a transcript provided by the EC. “The European Union must … actively develop a common external energy policy to increasingly ‘speak with one voice’ with third countries.” The policy plan, however, described relations with Russia as “effective.” An EU priority is to negotiate a new comprehensive agreement with Russia that would include an energy partnership benefiting both sides and create the conditions necessary for new investments, the strategy paper said. On top of Russia, the EU’s energy supplies come from Algeria and member state Norway. Another way to achieve greater energy security would be to foster a more competitive EU energy market, the paper said. TITLE: Key Yukos Man Dies In Flat AUTHOR: By Catherine Belton PUBLISHER: Staff Writer TEXT: MOSCOW — A founding father of the one-time Yukos oil empire, Yury Golubev, has been found dead in his London apartment, former and current Yukos shareholders said Wednesday. Police are investigating the death on Sunday of Golubev, a shareholder in Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s Group Menatep, friends said, but added that they had no immediate cause to think it was suspicious. “I don’t know what happened. He was found dead in his apartment,” said Konstantin Kagalovsky, a former Menatep shareholder and a close friend. “It could have been a heart attack. I don’t think it was anything suspicious.” Police at Scotland Yard declined to comment. The cause of his death was unclear. Golubev, 65, was one of Khodorkovsky’s most long-standing partners and briefly ran Menatep, now known as GML, in the summer of 2003. The handover came after Menatep chairman Platon Lebedev was arrested in July on charges of fraud and tax evasion, the start of a state-run attack that was to smash the nation’s once-biggest oil producer and send its shareholders into jail or exile. Golubev, who was never targeted in the Yukos attack, helped create Yukos as a vertically integrated oil company even before it was privatized by Khodorkovsky’s Menatep. He continued to play a leading role in the company after the takeover, first as head of strategic planning at Yukos Moskva and then as a board member from 2000. Former Yukos vice president Alexander Temerko said Golubev had been the “soul of Yukos” and had continued to fight for its survival until the last. As a high-ranking Soviet-era trade official based in Canada in the 1970s and throughout the ‘80s, he had gained inside knowledge of Western business practices and took the lead in advising Yukos’ early 1990s-era head, Sergei Muravlenko, and later Khodorkovsky, said Alexei Kondaurov, a former KGB general who advised Khodorkovsky on strategy. “He created the company together with Muravlenko,” Kondaurov said. After the takeover, “Khodorkovsky listened to him,” he said. Golubev led negotiations for the proposed 2003 sale of the newly merged YukosSibneft to one of two U.S. oil majors, ExxonMobil and ChevronTexaco, Yukos shareholder and former vice president Alexander Temerko said. In a sign of his importance, he continued negotiations even after Khodorkovsky’s October 2003 arrest effectively torpedoed the sale, Temerko said. Golubev was behind the decision to appoint former Central Bank chief Viktor Gerashchenko to head the Yukos board as a compromise figure in 2004 in a bid to save the company, he said. Information about surviving family members and funeral arrangements was not immediately available. TITLE: Duma Begins New Year on a Populist Note AUTHOR: By Tai Adelaja and Nabi Abdullaev PUBLISHER: Staff Writer TEXT: MOSCOW — State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov on Wednesday called for priority to be given to the 2008-10 budget as well as anti-terrorism and anti-extremism measures, striking a populist tone as he welcomed deputies back for the first session of a year that will include new elections to the chamber. Having spent most of last year making it more difficult for opposition parties to draw support ahead of the elections, scheduled for December, the pro-Kremlin deputies who control the Duma are likely to spend this year trying to outdo one another on who is more pro-presidential, analysts said. In his address to convene the session, Gryzlov called on deputies to focus on passing the budget, which will be considered during the spring session this year for the first time ever. He said this was particularly vital because the draft, due to be submitted to the parliament by the end of April, will determine the budget for 2008 through 2010. He also mentioned the need to continue the legal battle against terrorism and extremism by passing measures calling for harsher punishment in their third readings. Reading the agenda in the Duma, First Deputy Speaker Lyubov Sliska said deputies would consider 45 of what she called “priority” bills during the spring session, of which nine were submitted by President Vladimir Putin and another 26 by the Cabinet. She said the Duma would consider 111 bills in January. The national projects will draw the most attention in the run-up to the election, particularly from the pro-Kremlin United Russia party that dominates the current Duma, said Yury Korgunyuk, a political analyst with the Indem think tank. “There will be a lot of populist activity on the part of United Russia to present plans for the national projects and huge social spending in the budget as its own gift to the people,” he said. The parliament voted Wednesday to invite First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who is overseeing the implementation of the national projects, to deliver a progress report to the chamber on Jan. 24. Addressing more immediate matters, Communist Deputy Nikolai Kharitonov was one of a number of opposition deputies who criticized the handling of relations with Minsk. The deputies accused Putin and his government, which had shut off the flow of oil across Belarus to Europe through the Druzhba pipeline, of backpedaling on promises to bring about a Russia-Belarus union. “We failed our brother,” Kharitonov said. “We are selling out Belarus.” He focused blame in particular on Gazprom, which he said had taken a “big brother” approach instead of trying to strengthen economic ties with Minsk. A proposal by Sergei Baburin, a deputy speaker from the Rodina-People’s Will faction, for joint parliamentary hearings on the situation with Belarus garnered only 117 of the 226 votes needed to pass. In a move that already smacked of populism, deputies passed in a second reading an amendment to legislation that would strip deputies and their colleagues in the Federation Council of the right to carry special license plates on their cars. United Russia Deputy Vladimir Katrenko, who co-sponsored the bill, said it was designed to “create a level playing ground on Russia’s roads between deputies and other Russians.” The legislation is unlikely to lead traffic police to pull senators over more often for driving violations, as their cars often enjoy police escorts. A bill proposed by Communist Deputy Viktor Tyulkin to offer voters the option of selecting “These elections are not democratic” in the upcoming Duma elections received the support of only 93 deputies, Reuters reported. Tyulkin, who said he never expected the measure to pass, said he introduced the bill because changes to election laws have made it “impossible” for poorer parties to compete against those with state backing. TITLE: Police Make Arrests In Kozlov Case AUTHOR: By Henry Meyer PUBLISHER: The Associated Press TEXT: MOSCOW — Police on Thursday detained a suspect who allegedly ordered the killing of a senior government banker, a crime widely seen as connected to the victim’s efforts to clean up Russia’s financial industry. The Prosecutor-General’s Office said the suspect had been taken into custody in a dawn raid but refused to give the person’s name. It described the suspect as the head of a large commercial entity. The first deputy chairman of Russia’s Central Bank, Andrei Kozlov, was shot point-blank in the head as he left a soccer game between bank employees in Moscow on Sept. 13. The slaying shocked the foreign investor community and served as a reminder of persistent lawlessness in Russia, despite seven years of political stability under President Vladimir Putin. Authorities have said it was a contract killing, one of several in recent months. On Oct. 7, investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya, a prominent Kremlin critic, was gunned down in her apartment building. Putin has said he will bring the killers of Kozlov and Politkovskaya to justice. Police arrested three Ukrainian citizens in connection with Kozlov’s killing but said they acted on instructions from a third party who was still at large. Kozlov oversaw a radical cleanup of Russia’s banking sector, closing down dozens of banks suspected of money-laundering. Russian politicians and commentators have aired suspicions that the killing was ordered by criminals under pressure from Kozlov’s campaign. TITLE: New Year Sees Stocks Plunge AUTHOR: By Simon Shuster PUBLISHER: Staff Writer TEXT: MOSCOW — The local markets were given a rude awakening in the first two days of January trading, with Russia’s main index falling 8.1 percent, the biggest and most sudden drop since the market tanked in June last year. Analysts blamed the price of oil, which fell by about 9 percent during the holiday lull. Investors returning to work Tuesday were suddenly hit with two weeks of oil-price corrections. The first thing they did was sell, hacking 6.4 percent off the RTS index Tuesday and another 1.7 percent Wednesday. “It’s a little bit crazy,” Alfa Bank strategist Erik DePoy said. “Our first day back and the market crashes.” Russia’s blue chips led the plunge. LUKoil, Russia’s biggest oil supplier, had 11.7 percent wiped off its share value this week, while Norilsk Nickel, one of last year’s best performers, took a 13.7 percent nosedive Tuesday, recovering 5.5 percent in the next day’s trading. Several factors have been squeezing the oil price, which this week dropped below $55 per barrel, its lowest point since June 2005. The first has been unseasonable warmth in the northeast of the United States, the world’s biggest consumer of oil. Other parts of the country have seen a typically frosty winter, but because New York is a major hub of commodities trading, the sunshine in Central Park has made investors overestimate the drop in demand for heating oil, DePoy said. As consumers burn less oil, stockpiles continue to grow ahead of the U.S. peak driving season, sparking fears that the prices may continue falling well into the year, analysts said. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries also failed to keep its promise of cutting oil supplies by 1.2 million barrels per day by the end of 2006. It has only managed to pare half a million off of its daily output, according to an Alfa Bank report released this week. TITLE: Transas Unveils Plans for New Complex AUTHOR: By Yekaterina Dranitsyna PUBLISHER: Staff Writer TEXT: Local technology company Transas has set an ambitious goal to develop a chain of entertainment complexes across Russia with one of the largest to be located in St. Petersburg, RBC reported Tuesday. Investing $4.5 million into the project the company expects to open a Trans-Force complex in St. Petersburg by 2008. The 3,000 square-meter building, designed in the form of a flying saucer 42 meters in diameter and more than 17 meters high, will house 500 visitors. The complex will be equipped with virtual attractions, projectors and a cylindrical panoramic screen. “The location of the complex is not approved yet,” RBC cited Transas vice-president Nikolai Muzhikov as saying. The company is negotiating for a base near Mega and Ikea shopping centers. Transas plans to construct two similar complexes in Moscow and about five complexes in large Russian cities. Those will be followed by ten smaller complexes capable of serving 200 spectators. Transas expects to invest $1.15 million into each complex, RBC reported. Beside this, 40 complexes for 70 spectators will be opened in large shopping centers, with $350,000 invested in each. By 2010, Transas hopes to operate a total of 284 complexes with a capacity of 70 and 200 visitors each. Transas’ core business is production of navigation equipment, and sail and flight simulators distributed in over 110 countries. In 2006, Transas reported a turnover of $160 million. Trans-Force complexes are constructed according to license agreements with local partners, the company web site says. Transas already operates a Trans-Force complex located on the third story of the Nord shopping center in the north of St. Petersburg. The second city complex for 70 visitors is due to open in February in the city’s Oceanarium. According to Muzhikov’s estimations, a 70-visitor complex could generate annual profit of $200,000, while a 200-visitor complex can make $500,000. According to Becar real estate company, entertainment tenants occupy up to 25 percent of areas in shopping centers. Multiplexes, fitness and bowling centers are the most popular. Billiards clubs, nightclubs, slot machines and videogaming centers are less widespread. Andrei Kosarev, head of consulting department at Knight Frank St. Petersburg, estimated the share of entertainment zones at between 15 percent and 30 percent of retail areas. “Competing for customers, managers and developers of shopping centers increase the share of entertainment facilities that attract additional clients, and increase recognition and loyalty,” Kosarev said. Kosarev sees opening entertainment facilities in separate buildings instead of shopping centers as unprofitable. “Profitability of entertainment facilities is lower than that of shops. However entertainment tenants increase attractiveness and profitability of shopping areas,” he said. In a shopping center, entertainment tenants can occupy the upper story and pay a low rent while constructing a separate building entails considerably higher costs. “You need a very successful idea — which could soon become outdated or copied by competitors — otherwise profitability will decrease,” Kosarev said. Without the cost of land and equipment, Kosarev estimated construction costs at $3 million to $4 million for a building for 500 visitors. Land plots near Mega cost about $1 million. “The complex will be in demand, though economically this project could hardly be so profitable for Transas to replicate it in other cities,” Kosarev said. Igor Gorsky, director for development at Becar Realty Group, was optimistic about Trans-Force’s profitability estimating a five year payback period. “Investment goes mainly in construction and interior equipment. Real estate prices are growing. And this is not such a huge capital that it could not be repaid,” he said. However he saw expanding into regions as a risky venture demanding serious prior marketing research. “Neptun saw the same risks. It was a pioneer project. Nobody could guarantee that people will come to see fish,” Gorsky said of the St. Petersburg aquarium. “This entertainment format is unique. We know slot machines and children’s playgrounds. This is entertainment on another level — for children of five years to 15 years old and adults. The rise of such complexes is a sign of transition to non-standard formats,” Gorsky said. TITLE: In Brief TEXT: Land Rover Sales Up ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — Land Rover increased sales in Russia by 54 percent in 2006 compared to last year, Interfax reported Tuesday. The British carmaker sold 6,299 cars as against 4,080 cars in 2005. The Land Rover Discovery remained the most popular model (2,715 sold), followed by Range Rovers (1,578) and Range Rover Sports (1,226). Seaport Stake ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — Russian Railways has become a shareholder of the Ust-Luga Company, an enterprise developing a seaport in the Leningrad Oblast, Interfax reported Tuesday. Russian Railways acquired 5,272 additional shares (8.5 percent of voting shares) for 184.52 million rubles ($7 million). The Leningrad Oblast government holds 25 percent of shares, the rest is divided between four private companies. Precious Metal IPO ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — The largest Russian producer of silver and the second largest producer of gold, Polimetall, will offer 30 percent of its shares in IPO in February, Interfax reported Tuesday. Experts expect Polimetall to raise up to $500 million estimating its market capitalization at $2.5 billion. Additional shares will account for 16 percent of the authorized capital stock. GDRs and shares will be listed on the London Stock Exchange, the Russian Trading System and the Moscow Interbank Stock Exchange. Nissan Sells Well ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — Nissan sales in Russia accounted for 75,514 cars last year — a 62.4 percent increase on 2005 figures, Interfax reported Tuesday. The most popular models were the Nissan Almera (32,262) and the Nissan Primera (11,161 cars). TITLE: Creating A Personal Bully AUTHOR: By Georgy Bovt TEXT: Imagine you live in an apartment complex with a large courtyard. Your neighbors each have their individual personalities and habits and strong points, and the children play in their own groups: Some are friends with everyone, while there are others with whom some kids refuse to play altogether. There is also a bully whom hardly any of the other kids can stand and most try to ignore. He, on the other hand, spends his time annoying and picking on everyone. Some of the kids tried to punish him by forbidding him to play in the sandbox, but this didn’t help, because our young hooligan enjoyed the protection of one of the adults in the complex. This forbidding adult saw something of himself in the rough kid and regularly defended him — right up to the point that our little hooligan became so sure of himself that he started throwing rocks at his protector’s windows. Our little hoodlum is a perfect analogy for Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, whose opposition to Moscow, which has led to another energy scandal with Europe, is clearly personal in nature. And Moscow, like the man in our story, has created a little monster with its own hands, not expecting he would answer its patronage with such ingratitude. But any hooligan thus protected will eventually decide that he can do whatever he pleases. The Lukashenko phenomenon arose out of Russia’s internal political uncertainty. Many among the elite still feel a sense of guilt over the disintegration of the Soviet Union and had put their hopes in a union between Russia and Belarus. While the project has yet to pan out, Russia continued to play the Lukashenko card, against an obstinate Ukraine and the West, for example. Eventually, it became clear that opposition to the West had become a self-perpetuating leitmotif of Russian foreign policy. Lukashenko was handy here, as he gave voice to some of the things Russian politicians would have liked to have said to Brussels and Washington but were afraid to say themselves. Lukashenko consistently received unreserved — though unscrupulous — support from Moscow. Right up to the end, Russia continued to defend this ally before the European Union, justifying the manipulation of elections, a fixed referendum and the trampling of its constitution. Moscow ignored the brutal methods Lukashenko used against any internal opposition. And the more the West criticized Russia’s own handling of internal opposition, the more Russia’s elite saw something positive in Lukashenko and his methods. It is as if he was the expression of its own pent up desires and hidden agendas. The only thing missing was a personal rapport with President Vladimir Putin, who can’t stand Lukashenko. The personal difficulties at the heart of the relationship were bound eventually to lead to conflict. The Kremlin, increasingly caught up in the big energy game, asked itself why it was giving $5 billion in annual oil and gas subsidies to a country led by a disrespectful boor. So it doubled the gas price and slapped an export duty on its oil exports to Belarus of $180 per ton. Lukashenko, unaccustomed to having his ears boxed publicly by Russia, responded by imposing a transit fee of $45 per ton on Russian oil passing through Belarus to Europe. In this case, Belarus and Russia are more or less the same for Europe. The squabble actually arose about the same time EU members began referring to the “Lukashenkovization” of Russia. Differentiating between good or bad neighbors is not a basis for effective foreign policy. Applying the same standards across the board makes more sense than a form of authoritarian imperialism that depends on the will of the potentate. Georgy Bovt is editor of Profil magazine. TITLE: Partnership Has a Price AUTHOR: By Peter Williams TEXT: If NATO had issued a report card on the state of its strategic partnership with Russia at their November summit in Latvia, the document might have read: “Good effort, but must try much harder.” Given the crises over energy security, the mysterious deaths of Kremlin opponents both at home and abroad, the disagreements over Western intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan and the failure to convene a NATO-Russia Council summit in tandem with the Riga meeting, this report card might seem justified. But NATO decided not to invite Russia, and its absence at such a significant gathering passed almost unmentioned in the media. To some extent, a general mood of pessimism about NATO-Russia relations seems to be unavoidable. But ahead of the 10th anniversary in May of the founding of the Permanent Joint Council this is an ideal time for political leaders to reassess and then reaffirm their commitment this remarkable strategic partnership. First, it is worth asking whether the challenges that created the Permanent Joint Council and then the NATO-Russia Council have been overcome or diminished in importance. Combating the threats from terrorism, extremism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction remains as important and as unresolved as ever. Added to these challenges during the last decade have been the increased focus on countering transnational crime and the need to address energy security and environmental issues. In all these areas, NATO, through its partnerships and relations with other states, continues to demonstrate that it provides a forum of choice during times of political crisis. The NATO-Russia Council is also able to offer a mature hierarchy of political and military councils, committees and working groups that deliver a flexible framework of structures and processes that can be adapted to almost any situation or problem. The alliance’s chain of command also provides the backbone for multinational operations in the Balkans, the Mediterranean and Afghanistan. NATO forces and their coalition colleagues continue to provide security and ensure a welcome return to peace and sustainable development in numerous regions beyond the territory of member states. Having met NATO’s demanding pre-deployment standards, Russian naval units joined the allied maritime surveillance flotilla in the Mediterranean in September for the first time. Other areas where substantial and demonstrable progress has been made are in the field of military cooperation including submarine search and rescue, air defense and airspace coordination, and the safe transportation of nuclear warheads. Some other military projects have achieved little so far; unfortunately, one of these is the Russian peacekeeping brigade in Samara that is intended to be interoperable with allied forces. So how can the report card be improved in 2007? First and foremost, the political will that created and has sustained the NATO-Russia strategic partnership will need to be reaffirmed at the highest political level at a meeting in or around May. The NATO-Russia Council’s successes must be trumpeted and new, daring projects need to be launched that can capture imaginations on main streets in Vancouver, Valencia, Verona, Volgograd and Vladivostok. One issue that continues to cry out for constructive engagement by NATO, Russia and its allies in the Collective Security Treaty Organization is close coordination of air and ground force operations to counter terrorism and transnational crime in Central Asia and northern Afghanistan. U.S.-led coalition troops and Russian-led forces, for example, have operated from separate, neighboring air bases in the region, both ostensibly to counter the same threats but without any degree of genuine cooperation. It will take courage to change this political and military culture of noncooperation, but aiming for interoperability can only improve the effectiveness of these operations and save the lives of soldiers and civilians both there and, indirectly, in the countries taking part. Inevitably, the success of NATO-Russia cooperation will depend on the resources — human, logistical and financial — that are devoted to it. Talk of achieving military interoperability is cheap, but delivering personnel who speak a common operating language (which must be English in this context), are trained in the same doctrine and operational procedures, and use equipment that can dovetail with that used by their multinational colleagues will be expensive. Political will, structures and projects mean little without resources. Over the first decade of the special relationship between NATO and Russia, the resources committed for the execution of NATO-Russia Council policies and plans have been far below those suggested by the political rhetoric. In May, pessimists will likely see the NATO-Russia Council glass after its first 10 years as half empty, and will look for the project to be put on the back burner as irrelevant when the NATO-Russia relationship appears to be stuck in a rut. Optimists, on the other hand, will see the glass as at least half full, believing that, with the necessary political support and commitment of resources, those structures and programs already in place can deliver ever closer NATO-Russia cooperation over the decade ahead. Major General Peter Williams was the first head of the NATO Military Liaison Mission in Moscow, from 2002 to 2005. TITLE: No Future In Cheap Gas TEXT: The comparisons were inevitable: two disputes with former Soviet republics that disrupted energy supplies to Europe in January. Both disputes — with Belarus this month and Ukraine last January — had their roots in a Russian demand for more money for natural gas. In both cases, Gazprom called for an immediate jump to European prices, the customer countered with a much lower offer, and the sides ultimately settled on a number in between. If Belarus is lucky, it will continue to follow Ukraine’s lead. Despite forecasts of economic doom as a result of its higher gas price, Ukraine posted impressive gross domestic product growth of about 7 percent for 2006, and forecasts are for 6 percent this year. Ukraine managed this by rationalizing its use of and reducing its dependency on national gas. The steel industry, Ukraine’s major source of exports, led the way by investing in furnaces that burn pulverized coal, which is cheaper. Whether higher prices for Belarus — the deal reached on New Year’s Eve calls for an increase from $47 to $100 per 1,000 cubic meters — will foster the same kind of rationalization remains to be seen. The differences between the structure of its exports and those of Ukraine make a direct comparison difficult. But at the most basic level, an economy kept afloat only by supplies of cheap Russian energy does not offer much in the way of prospects for the future. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko realized this, and has maintained throughout his time in office that a gradual increase to European prices was the only way for the country to develop truly competitive industries. The strongest opponent of the price increase, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshchenko, was ultimately fired. In much the same way, President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that Russia’s economy has to reduce its dependency on energy resources. Russia’s agreement with the European Union over WTO accession also calls for a gradual approach to raising gas prices, mandating a doubling of those paid by domestic industries by 2010. Kiev seems to see the wisdom of eliminating its economic dependence on cheap Russian gas. Russia appears to be aware of the danger inherent in its own dependency. Perhaps the ultimate result of the battle with Belarus will be Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko getting the point too. And that would truly be ironic. Putin and Lukashenko could emerge as the unwitting initiators of much-needed economic reforms in Belarus. This comment first appeared in The Moscow Times. TITLE: Dragon slayer AUTHOR: By Leo Mourzenko PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: Contrary to public opinion, it’s every critic’s delight to write a positive review. It’s twice the fun if you kick off the year on a high note; and it’s three times the pleasure when, after a streak of disappointments, the local movie industry provides you with an example that not all is rotten in the state of Russian movies and a home-made fantasy epic beats an imported one. In a heroic battle between the dragon-driven kid-friendly “Eragon” from Hollywood and the slightly more serious and seriously more graphic Russian film “Volkodav” (“Wolfhound”), the latter definitely dominates the field. The main reason perhaps lies in their original sources. “Eragon” was written by a nerdy college student who subconsciously based his bestseller on every nerdy college student’s bible: “Star Wars.” The naive storyline and shallowness of its characters are a direct result of ripping off a dubious original work. Maria Semenova’s book on which “Volkodav” is based is the fruit of a more serious approach. She creates a fantasy world which derives from “The Lord of the Rings” but is notably enriched by the elements of pseudo-Slavic mythology. Some places, where Semenova’s imagination took her too far, were leveled by the scriptwriters, which might offend the hardcore fans of the book but definitely did the movie good. For instance, instead of the title character’s leap into the great cosmos in the end, the viewer receives a more traditional and gratifying ending. Eragon is a 15-year-old handsome youth (Ed Speleers) who finds a dragon, learns to manipulate his newly-found force from an old knight (Jeremy Irons) and saves a pretty princess (Sienna Guillory) from a dark lord (John Malkovich). Volkodav (Alexander Bukharov) also protects a pretty princess (Oksana Akinshina) from a dark lord who, by a strange coincidence happens to wear a scary mask and speak in low gloomy voice. Volkodav’s journey however is more thorny and thrilling than that of Eragon. A former slave, Volkodav rises to the position of the princess’ bodyguard by the strength of his arms and his strategic talents. He takes up the mission of escorting the princess to her remote fiancée, who she has never seen, while the dark lord wants her dead. Unbeatable on the battlefield, Volkodav can only be defeated by the backstabbing plotting of the princess’ cousin. Volkodav as a character is the first Russian action hero in the first nationally affirmative blockbuster. “Eragon” has, unsurprisingly, superior visual effects. The CGI dragon Saphira is indeed quite stunning. More loveable than King Kong but equally technically impressive the dragon is a standout in an otherwise uninteresting movie. Knowing where to look for trouble, the director of “Volkodav” Nikolai Lebedev obviously spent quite a deal of time planning action sequences to compensate for mediocre effects. However, sword clashes aside, the most surprising moments are some of his directorial achievements. A three-way split sequence of the princess being blessed for the road, the dark lord sacrificing a calf and Volkodav’s friends packing up is among the film’s finest moments. If “Eragon” lacked substance and some scenes were artificially prolonged to take up screen time, “Volkodav” has a storyline so packed that the producers couldn’t fit it all in. There’s a whole bunch of characters that are there for no good reason at all. There’s even a whole sequence of saving a woman with a baby from a swamp tribe that lasts for more than 15 minutes but doesn’t go anywhere. Both the woman and the baby join the group but their presence there seems pointless. So do the characters Volkodav saves throughout the first half of the movie: there’s a girl, a curly-haired guy and a blind guy. If the blind guy proves himself useful by healing everyone around him, the first two are there just for fun: the more the merrier. It is possible the creators thought they were sticking to the book but in this rightful zeal they missed something very important: in the original, Volkodav barely talks. Here he’s quite a chatterbox and what’s worse, quite a stupid one. There may be an explanation but there’s no excuse for dialogue, especially in the beginning, so idiotic that you can’t help but want the characters to fight, sing or kiss all the time, just as long as they don’t talk. However, “Volkodav” leaves a positive impression mainly because the creators knew exactly what they were doing and ended up with a competitive entertainment for all almost audiences. Just don’t take your kids to it, it’s too gory; children will enjoy “Eragon.” By the time they enter PG-13 age group there probably will be “Volkodav 2” which hopefully will be even better. TITLE: Chernov’s choice AUTHOR: By Sergey Chernov TEXT: Maina, a new club launched late last year, will probably improve its repertoire now that former Platforma art director Denis Rubin is taking the job of Maina’s art director on Feb. 1. Although Maina is far from the center, it boasts arguably the finest PA system in town and has huge potential as a live concert venue, Rubin said. Rubin, who said he is looking for a new location for Platforma, the once-leading club that closed last year after more than two years of hosting some of the best Russian and international acts to appear in the city, announced that the first concert he will promote at Maina will be by Brazzaville, the Barcelona-based band formed by singer/guitarist David Brown, Beck’s former saxophone player, who moved from Los Angeles to Spain in 2003. Brazzaville, which strangely has a successful career in Russia with its entire catalogue released by the Moscow-based label Soyuz, will perform at Maina on Feb. 2. Meanwhile, all interesting things happen in Moscow, rather than in St. Petersburg. With new club B1 Maximum opening in November, more international acts head to the capital than ever. Starsailor, an indie-rock band from the north of England and hailed as Britain’s Best New Band when it released its first single, “Fever,” in February 2001, will perform at B1 Maximum on Thursday, while two other British bands, Maximo Park and Art Brut, will perform there on Jan. 25. They will be followed by Gogol Bordello, the acclaimed New York-based band formed by Ukrainian emigre Eugene Hutz, on Jan. 28. Tindersticks frontman Stuart A. Staples, who has performed under his own name for the past couple of years, will appear twice at Moscow’s club Ikra, on Jan. 23 and 24. Staples, now on tour in support of his second album, “Leaving Songs,” will be backed by the five-member band. For local events, see gigs. TITLE: Seasonal variations AUTHOR: By Andrei Vorobei PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: Blue follows white, green takes after blue, yellow is close on the heels of green, white beats yellow and so on, or alternatively, snow is followed by flowers and blue sky, rain takes the place of sun and later gives way to snow and so forth. This puerile and simplified scheme is what lies behind the mega show at the Benois Wing of the Russian Museum: “Four Seasons. Landscape in Russia. 18th–20th centuries.” The organizers claim that “the exhibition traces the development of Russian landscape painting.” Theoretically, the show traces an engaging and controversial story of the genre that emerged in the last decades of the 18th century, by degrees enlarging its following, before becoming dominant at the end of the 19th century. To begin, with landscape painting in Russia predominantly consisted of Italian imitations, but in the middle of the century painters turned to native surroundings and decades later conducted plein air, Impressionist and Post-Impressionist experiments, mirroring the European course of events. There are dozens of prominent Russian names on show: the idealistic Grigory Soroka, the decorative Arkhip Kuindgi, the experimental Valentin Serov, the lyrical Isaak Levitan, the juicy Boris Kustodiyev, the symbolic Viktor Borisov-Musatov, the avant-garde Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin and Kazimir Malevich and such socialist realist icons as Arkady Plastov, along with a range of such masterpieces as Natalya Goncharova’s “Hoar Frost” (1910-11) and Mikhail Larionov’s “Acacias in Spring” (1904), among others. But the show doesn’t trace the promised “development” of the genre, from, say, the realistic Alexei Savrasov to the almost abstract Konstantin Korovin. On the contrary the show mixes them and many others of different times, importance and visual language, bluntly following the conventional division of a year into spring, summer, autumn and winter; that is, snow joins snow, rain stands together with rain, yellow with yellow, green with green, regardless of names, styles or subjects. Russian monasteries and city roofs, Ivan Shishkin’s forests next to Soviet bus stops — don’t look for any refined concept, just enjoy the pure lottery of the selection. Perhaps the curators were driven by the simple and understandable desire to call to order what lies outside the museum’s walls, bearing in mind all these current meteorological deviations, washing out the lines between the months and seasons. Our biological memory naively doesn’t want to put up with it: rain and +10 deg C in the middle of January seems unnatural to Russians for whom there is strong need for snow and ice in winter. Next to the images in the show, the museum hammers home the point with 3-D digital snow, birds, rain, thunderstorms, lightning and the piano soundtrack of Tchaikovsky’s “Four Seasons.” Perhaps after a couple decades of global warming such oil paintings and technological tricks (always clumsy next to nature) will be the only evidence of four seasons in a year. “Four Seasons” runs through end of January at the Benois Wing of the Russian Museum. Www.rusmuseum.ru TITLE: Slavic abundance AUTHOR: By Angelina Davydova PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: Khutor Vodograi, meaning Village Waterfall in Ukrainian, is a new restaurant recently opened on Karavannaya, right next to the trendy hang-out Korova. As soon as you enter the large well-lit room, you are met by a cheerful Ukrainian girl in national dress, waving her skirt and addressing guests in Ukrainian. This may leave visitors perplexed and uncertain whether to answer in Russian, or also in mock-Ukrainian. The restaurant is amazingly large — two floors with five halls and a huge tree growing from the depth of the cloak-room. “Is it natural?,” we asked our waitress, the half-dancing Yelena. “No,” she smiled. The staff remained in an absolutely positive mood, dancing and chatting, while being extremely effective. The dishes were brought quickly and the waitstaff were ready to make recommendations. However, not all the advice should be followed. Our waitress tried to talk us out of a pie made from buckwheat pancakes with liver, onions and sour cream, (180 rubles, $6.80) while I couldn’t resist the desire to try it. My attempt was rewarded — the pie turned out to be both delicious and light, which one might not quite expect from Ukrainian cuisine. We found something healthy even among the famous sausages, lard and samogon (home-made vodka). You can’t completely avoid the last two — one should try samogon or various nastoiki (liqueurs). The buckthorn liqueur (120 rubles, $4.50 per shot) is a very mild and flavorsome drink, liked by both men and women, as our waitress put it. In spite of its soft flavor, one should admit that these Ukrainian liqueurs can blow your head off, so take care. My companion tried the home-brewed Vodograi (125 rubles, $4.70 for 0.25 liter) and also Ukrainian samogon (120 rubles, $4.50 per shot) which were mild and pure. The buckwheat pancake pie was ideal with a side order of sauerkraut with oil and cranberries (110 rubles, $4.18). Another starter we tried was stuffed carp (190 rubles, $7.22), a rather light, yet filling fish dish. As for the main course, I couldn’t resist the temptation of the famous Ukrainian sausage (mixed beef with pork, 470 rubles, $17.80), which arrived steaming hot on a frying-pan with a garnish of vegetables and forest mushrooms. Stewed rabbit with vegetables and potatoes (430 rubles, $15.90), is another option. The atmosphere of the restaurant brings to mind Gogol’s world mixed with the never-ending holiday season of southern Slavic folk. One can get to hear live Ukrainian music, or a collection of recorded songs that praise the abundance of Ukrainian lands and its people. Unlike most new trendy restaurants in St. Petersburg, Khutor Vodograi is heavily populated with middle-age people and visitors with children, who quite like trying various sweet vareniki (dumplings with sweet or sour fillings) or galushki (another sort of dumpling). The end of the evening turned out to be exciting. The same girl in national dress offered a free shot of yet another sweet liqueur, with an apple or sushka (not to be mixed up with sushi, sushka is a traditional Russian biscuit), wishing you good evening. This is just what you need before going out to the Russian winter, even if is abnormally warm and snowless this year. TITLE: Bush Unveils New Troop Plans for Iraq AUTHOR: By Anne Gearan PUBLISHER: The Associated Press TEXT: WASHINGTON — President Bush’s new approach to the Iraq war depends for success on another new approach, from an Iraqi leader who has failed U.S. expectations at every turn. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has failed to deliver the unified government or additional troops he promised. And he’s protected his own political footing at the expense of his American sponsors’ goals. Bush announced plans Wednesday to increase U.S. forces and expand a war that most Americans oppose or want to see end quickly. Although Bush acknowledged failure or disappointment on several fronts in Iraq, he pointed no fingers directly at al-Maliki. Instead, Bush outlined what he said is an Iraqi commitment to deploy new troops and commanders across Baghdad to boost security and build trust. “This is a strong commitment,” Bush said. “But for it to succeed, our commanders say the Iraqis will need our help.” Justifying the addition of 21,500 U.S. troops, Bush also acknowledged the extent to which he needs al-Maliki and the other way around. Stepping back now “would force a collapse of the Iraqi government” and could mean U.S. troops staying even longer, he said. Selling the strategy ahead of Bush’s speech, White House counselor Dan Bartlett acknowledged that U.S. forces in Baghdad “sometimes were handcuffed by political interference by the Iraqi leadership.” That must and will change, he said. “The Iraqis have to step up,” Bartlett said. Bush and his advisers have said much the same thing for months, without much to show for it. Despite pledges from al-Maliki’s Shiite-led government for greater cooperation, al-Maliki has stumbled politically while the country fell deeper into chaos and distrust. And he failed to provide promised Iraqi troops last summer as part of a security crackdown in Baghdad that has produced few results. Bush has repeatedly endorsed al-Maliki as a patriot and a strong leader. But at home, al-Maliki is increasingly seen as a partisan Shiite politically beholden to the anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. This time, Bush is apparently banking on al-Maliki’s personal assurances, including in a lengthy private conversation last week. Al-Maliki reportedly told Bush he will not stand in the way of a military push against sectarian militias, including al-Sadr’s powerful Mahdi Army that undergirds his political support. Shiite militias are blamed for the widespread killings of Sunnis that have pushed the country close to civil war. Al-Maliki also promised that the rules of engagement for U.S. forces will change, and that he will provide additional troops and money to fight violence and speed reconstruction. The White House points to benchmarks for Iraqi performance built in to the new plan, but Bush spoke of no specific penalties for the al-Maliki government if it cannot or will not perform. Al-Maliki knows he risks losing support both from Americans and Iraqis if he fails, and that is enough, Bush suggested. Al-Maliki rejected similar U.S. demands for benchmarks and a crackdown on militias late last year, leading to a serious breach between Baghdad and Washington. A leaked internal memo in which White House national security adviser Stephen Hadley cast doubt on al-Maliki’s sincerity and abilities did not help. The disappointments began almost as soon as al-Maliki took office last spring as Washington’s brightest hope for fresh traction in Iraq. Al-Maliki’s U.S.-backed plan to quiet the spiraling violence in Baghdad fell apart almost as soon as it began, and he has failed to tick off other items on the Bush administration’s to do list, such as rally squabbling politicians behind a workable plan to share Iraq’s oil wealth across sectarian divides. The year ended with al-Maliki rejecting a request from the U.S. ambassador in Baghdad for a delay of up to two weeks in the execution of former Sunni leader Saddam Hussein. Washington did not want the hanging to take place on the day that Sunni celebrations began for Eid al-Adha, a major Muslim festival. The hanging drew outrage, and Bush’s disgust, after a video appeared on the Internet that showed Saddam being taunted with chants of “Muqtada!” in his final moments. Al-Sadr’s support was crucial to al-Maliki’s election, and although relations between the two men have since become strained the prime minister has resisted using Iraqi forces in any offensive against the cleric. At the same time, the Iraqi government has given U.S. forces a free hand against Sunni militants. On Saturday, al-Maliki had announced a new drive to rid Baghdad of sectarian fighters. The move was seen as his attempt to put an Iraqi stamp on a U.S. troop increase he had previously rebuffed. Hours before Bush’s speech, al-Maliki told Shiite militiamen to surrender their arms or face an all-out assault by U.S.-backed Iraqi forces, senior Iraqi officials said. “Muqtada al-Sadr has about 30 members in parliament,” observed Kennedy School of Government research fellow Gregory Aftandilian, a former Middle East analyst at the State Department. “It’s still unclear to me whether Maliki is really going to order his troops to crack down on a militia (controlled by) a part of his political base.” TITLE: Federer Finds Place in Final in Koonyong AUTHOR: By Pritha Sarkar PUBLISHER: Reuters TEXT: MELBOURNE — A day after gusting winds almost threw him off course, Roger Federer declared he enjoyed battling through the tough conditions as he booked his place in the Kooyong Classic final. The world number one needed three tiebreak sets to squeeze past wily Czech Radek Stepanek in his opening match but was back on cruise control on Thursday with a 6-3 7-6 win over 2005 Australian Open champion Marat Safin. “It’s always a bit swirly winds out here at Kooyong,” said the Swiss, who is aiming to add a third Melbourne Park trophy to his collection following his wins in 2004 and 2006. “I was warming up on Rod Laver (Arena in Melbourne Park) today, no wind, and then I come here and Marat said he only practiced 15 minutes because he got fed up with the wind. “But I’ve really started to enjoy also playing with the challenge of the wind, because I used to hate it. “Now I kind of like it sometimes because the rallies are different, it’s not always spin and everything, it makes a difference, it’s the right shot at the right time, and I’ve really been able to do well.” Victory over Safin was sweet revenge for the Swiss in only their second meeting since the epic Australian Open semi-final of 2005, when the Russian came back from match point down to defeat Federer 9-7 in the fifth set and went on to win the title. A single break was sufficient for the Swiss maestro to clinch the opening set but Safin broke in game six of the second before serving for the set at 5-3. But Federer broke back and then leveled before storming through the tiebreak, winning it 7-2 to complete victory in 65 minutes. “I didn’t know exactly what to expect today against Marat, I didn’t know how he was playing,” said Federer, who will meet either Andy Roddick or Andy Murray in Saturday’s final. “I was expecting a really tough match because yesterday I was struggling with the rhythm and everything. “But I came out and played really well, didn’t make many unforced errors in the wind and everything, and could hang with him from the baseline and varied my game well. “So I’m really happy the way I played.” The Australian Open starts on Monday. TITLE: 150 Killed In Fighting In Afghanistan AUTHOR: By Jason Straziuso PUBLISHER: The Associated Press TEXT: KABUL, Afghanistan — As many as 150 insurgents were killed in a battle in eastern Afghanistan after two large groups of fighters crossed the border from Pakistan, NATO said Thursday. The fighters were attacked with ground fire and airstrikes, NATO said. Gen. Murad Ali, the Afghan army regional deputy corps commander, said the insurgents had traveled into Paktika province with several trucks of ammunition. A NATO statement said “initial battle damage estimates” indicated that as many as 150 fighters were killed. Ali said more than 50 fighters were killed late Wednesday and early Thursday. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, the spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, estimated the toll at 80. It was not clear why there was such a disparity in the estimates. Independent confirmation of the death toll at the remote battle site was not immediately possible. Dr. Muhammad Hanif, who claims to speak for the Taliban, said in a text message to an Associated Press reporter in Pakistan that the figure of 150 dead was “a complete lie.” “The Americans want to boost morale of their troops while making such claims,” the message to The Associated Press read. Azimi said one Pakistani fighter was wounded and captured. Rocket-propelled grenade launchers and machine guns were also recovered, he said. Taliban militants last year launched a record number of attacks, and an estimated 4,000 people died in insurgency-related violence, the bloodiest year since the U.S.-led coalition ousted the Taliban regime in late 2001. The fight in the Bermel district of Paktika province is the first major engagement of 2007 and appeared to be the largest battle since a multi-day operation killed more than 500 suspected Taliban fighters in the Panjwayi district of Kandahar province in September. NATO did not say how it estimated that 150 fighters were killed. In early December, NATO said it had killed 70-80 fighters in the southern province of Helmand but days later said that only seven to eight were killed. Meanwhile, NATO forces called in airstrikes on Taliban positions during a clash in the village of Gereshk in Helmand province on Wednesday, said Ghulam Nabi Mulahkhail, a local police chief. Among those killed was a local Taliban group commander identified as Mullah Faqir Mohammad, the police official said. One Afghan soldier was wounded and evacuated to a NATO medical facility, the alliance said in a statement. Troops recovered weapons and ammunition in the militant compound, the statement said. In Pakistan, Gen. David Richards, senior commander of NATO’s 32,000 troops in Afghanistan, said after his meeting Thursday with top Pakistan and Afghan army commanders in Islamabad that “we are confident that this conflict is winnable.” “There are problems … but we are confident that we can deal with them,” he said, referring to the cross-border insurgency by the Taliban. He compared the porous Pakistani-Afghan border with the problems British troops faced in Northern Ireland with the IRA before the Good Friday peace accord of 1998. TITLE: Blake Looks Set to Defend Sydney Title PUBLISHER: Reuters TEXT: SYDNEY — American James Blake remained on course to defend his Sydney International title with an impressive 6-1 6-4 over Russian teenager Yevgeny Korolev on Thursday. The world number four showed off his full range of shots to book his place in the semi-finals with a routine win over the cousin of former tour professional Anna Kournikova. Korolev only got into the tournament as a lucky loser when Dmitry Tursunov injured his wrist in practice but came from behind to win his first two matches before coming unstuck against Blake. The American was impressed by Korolev and grateful to wrap up victory in straight sets and save his energy for Melbourne. “It was great to win in under an hour, because he’s a great talent and I know he’s got a big future,” the American said. “I definitely feel like I’m a better player than I was last year. “I haven’t had a long match yet to push me, but I’m not complaining about that. These short ones are just great for me.” TITLE: UN Supports Plans For Forces In Somalia AUTHOR: By Edith Lederer PUBLISHER: The Associated Press TEXT: UNITED NATIONS – The UN Security Council said it backs the speedy deployment of African troops to Somalia and strongly urges a dialogue among all political players, in addition to the delivery of humanitarian aid to the country. Russia’s UN Ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, the current council president, told reporters after a closed-door meeting Wednesday that members regard Somalia as “a high priority matter” and are concerned about instability, security, and the humanitarian situation. “They expressed their support for the plan to send a humanitarian assessment mission to the border between Somalia and Kenya and spoke of the importance of adequate humanitarian support for Somalia,” he said. “They supported inclusive political dialogue among various political forces in Somalia. They favor speedy deployment of IGASOM,” a new force to be set up by the African Union and a seven-nation regional group.By Edith Lederer The Associated Press UNITED NATIONS – The UN Security Council said it backs the speedy deployment of African troops to Somalia and strongly urges a dialogue among all political players, in addition to the delivery of humanitarian aid to the country. Russia’s UN Ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, the current council president, told reporters after a closed-door meeting Wednesday that members regard Somalia as “a high priority matter” and are concerned about instability, security, and the humanitarian situation. “They expressed their support for the plan to send a humanitarian assessment mission to the border between Somalia and Kenya and spoke of the importance of adequate humanitarian support for Somalia,” he said. “They supported inclusive political dialogue among various political forces in Somalia. They favor speedy deployment of IGASOM,” a new force to be set up by the African Union and a seven-nation regional group. TITLE: Mourinho Stokes Fires Of Speculation at Chelsea FC AUTHOR: By Trevor Huggins PUBLISHER: Reuters TEXT: LONDON — Speculation over Jose Mourinho’s stay at Stamford Bridge looks certain to increase after their charismatic manager said his personal future was not important for Chelsea. Speaking after his champions drew 1-1 with fourth division Wycombe Wanderers in the League Cup semi-finals, Mourinho also hinted he was at odds with the club’s board — who he said would not be spending in the January transfer window. By their own high standards, Chelsea’s expensively-assembled side are clearly going through a lean spell. The Cup first leg result on Wednesday, due in part to absentees, followed a Premier League run of three draws that have left them six points behind leaders Manchester United. However, the situation is hardly calamitous. As Mourinho pointed out, Chelsea are close to a place in the League Cup final, they have reached the Champions League last 16, the FA Cup fourth round and are second in the league table. “I think Chelsea are in a good position,” Mourinho told Sky Sports. “And that’s the way I’ve worked all my career — that I’m not important, the club is important.” Underlining his point, he added: “My future is not important, the important thing is Chelsea.” His comments show a modesty not usually associated with the Portuguese coach, who has previously basked in being the “special one”. They are also strikingly at odds with some basic facts. Before Mourinho’s arrival in the wake of his 2004 Champions League final triumph with Porto, Chelsea had not won the league since way back in 1955. Mourinho won it in his first season, along with the League Cup, and retained the league title in emphatic style last term. This season’s race is far from over, despite United’s edge. Along with transforming the club’s results, Mourinho has also helped players to reach another level, notably midfielders Frank Lampard and Joe Cole, the latter now an England regular. His skipper, John Terry, has gone on to become England captain and the central defender’s absence with a back injury has played a big part in Chelsea’s recent dip in form. Though his side are stretched, Mourinho indicated that Chelsea would not be spending this month, saying: “I do not have to tell you the reason. They are club reasons. “This is our situation at the moment. I hear nobody is coming in, and if nobody is coming in, nobody can leave. I cannot let a player go, even if he is a player I think should go, because we are very short of options and numbers. “It is not choice — it is not my club. I am just the manager.” Mourinho is no stranger to controversy and he surprised many last April by saying after his team had lifted the league title that he had considered leaving. “This is the worst club in the world to manage,” he said after his side had beaten United 3-0 at Stamford Bridge. “You can achieve, you can win, but it’s never enough.” TITLE: New Body to Boost Chicago’s Olympic Bid PUBLISHER: Reuters TEXT: CHICAGO — As Chicago competes for a chance to bid for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, a new organization will try to build on the city’s reputation as a sports town by working to bring amateur and international events to the city. An exhibition wrestling match next month between the U.S. and Russia will be the first major event hosted by the new World Sport Chicago organization. Mayor Richard M. Daley said the new group is not a belated attempt by Chicago to embrace amateur sports as it tries to convince the U.S. Olympic Committee to pick it over Los Angeles as the American bid city to host the 2016 games. Los Angeles already has a similar organization. The USOC’s candidate city must be submitted to the International Olympic Committee on Sept. 15. The host city will be chosen in 2009. Patrick Ryan, head of Chicago’s Olympic movement, said World Sport Chicago was created with the goal of showcasing the city’s ability to host amateur sporting events, not to compete with Los Angeles. “I think that that’s just a natural development as we embrace the whole concept of bringing the 2016 Olympics here,” Ryan said, noting it’s typical for a would-be bid city to demonstrate it can host amateur events. Ryan said the new organization, which will be privately funded and has an initial budget of $500,000, will continue even if Chicago doesn’t host the games. “It’s a statement that Chicago is a great sports city and that amateur sports are something that we believe in for our youth and for our citizens to participate in,” Ryan said.