SOURCE: The St. Petersburg Times
DATE: Issue #1341 (5), Tuesday, January 22, 2008
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TITLE: Ministry Hints At British Deal
AUTHOR: By Natalya Krainova and Galina Stolyarova
PUBLISHER: Staff Writers
TEXT: The Foreign Ministry hinted Friday that the British Council’s regional offices might be allowed to reopen if Britain resumed cooperation with the Federal Security Service and expressed a willingness to ease visa rules for Russians.
“This will create the circumstances for the resumption of talks” over the status of the British Council’s regional offices, Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Krivtsov said by telephone Friday.
In the meantime, local residents are collecting signatures in an informal gesture of support for the council.
The campaign was launched by a group of students that had used the center’s services and were frustrated by the news of the organization closing. 
“We feel very grateful for all the educational and cultural work that the British Council has been carrying out for us in recent years, and we very much hope that you will be able to resume your operations in the nearest future,” reads an online statement published on the Internet.
The council had planned an extensive cultural program in St. Petersburg for 2008, including the popular annual British Film Festival and British Fashion Days, but following last week’s decision to close its St. Petersburg office, these plans are now hanging in the air, as all preparatory work on them has stopped.
In the statement, the campaign’s organizers emphasized their embarrassment over the actions of the Russian government during the course of the dispute. 
“We apologize for the actions that some of the top officials in Russia have taken against the Council, as well as for the absurd accusations,” reads the letter.
Krivtsov said “everything started” when “[the Britons] refused to hold talks to simplify the visa regime and stopped cooperation with the FSB.”
“After that, talks about the status of the British Council became impossible,” Krivtsov said. “That means conditions have to be created for the resumption of talks.”
A British Embassy spokesman, reached by telephone Friday, said he could not comment on the possibility of Britain accepting Russia’s terms. “We are considering our options,” the embassy spokesman said on customary condition of anonymity.
But in a sign that Britain might not be ready to resume cooperation, Britain’s Mail on Sunday reported that the MI5 security service had helped prepare a list of 34 Russian diplomats who may face expulsion from Britain. The group includes Alexander Sternik, head of the Russian Embassy’s political section, and Andrei Pritsepov, aide to the ambassador, the report said.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed the report, Interfax reported.
Meanwhile, British Ambassador Anthony Brenton said in an interview published Friday that Russia was to blame for the termination of the work between Britain and the FSB.
“After [Russia’s] refusal to extradite Lugovoi, we actually froze links with the FSB,” Brenton said, Kommersant reported. Andrei Lugovoi is Britain’s prime suspect in the radioactive poisoning death of former security services officer Alexander Litvinenko.
“This is a natural reaction,” he said. “All the other links in the sphere [of fighting terrorism] were frozen on Russia’s initiative,” Brenton said.
A faxed request to the FSB for comment went unanswered.
The Kremlin press service said Friday that no one was available for comment. A Kremlin spokesman was unavailable by cell phone.
The British Council, the cultural arm of the British Embassy, suspended operations at its St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg offices earlier in the week, citing security concerns for its staff. Tax officials visited the council’s Russian employees in their homes, and the employees were interviewed by the FSB. Also, the head of the council’s St. Petersburg office was briefly detained on a minor traffic violation and accused of driving while drunk.
The council’s Moscow office remains open.
The Foreign Ministry had ordered the council to close its regional offices by Jan. 1, saying they were operating illegally. Among other things, the ministry said the council could not have its office at the British Consulate in Yekaterinburg.
The council and the British government, which funds the offices, has insisted no law was being broken and defied the ministry’s order.
The British Council said Friday that it would continue its activities across Russia, despite the closure of the two offices. “People in other regions will continue to access information about the U.K. through our British web site,” said a London-based spokesman for the council, who requested anonymity.
He said, however, that the services would not compensate for the work of the two closed regional offices and would not be expanded.
“We suspended the work of our regional offices until we reach an agreement with the Russian government.”
Brenton said the standoff was harming the Russian people but not Britain.
“We concluded that the only victim in this history appears to be Russia, the people of Russia,” he said. “Sharing our cultural and educational technologies benefits Russians and not Britons.
“Thus it’s only you who are losing,” Brenton said.
British newspapers also warned Russia of possible repercussions.
The Guardian said Britain’s possible reaction could include “putting the brakes on Russian membership of the ‘rich countries club,’ the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, pursuing a tough EU line putting strict conditions on Russian energy investments in Europe, and calling for a review of Europe’s support for Russian membership of the World Trade Organization.”
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Lavrov accused Britain of “trying to keep the conflict in the political sphere.”
“We are against politicizing the issue,” Lavrov said. However, the minister admitted that Russia went back on an agreement on foreign cultural centers, which have created legal grounds for the British Council’s work in the regions, in response to what Russia saw as “a series of unfriendly steps by the British government.”
“The steps have included, in particular, suspension of the talks on facilitation of the visa regime with Russia, which is more important than anything else [on that list],” Lavrov stressed.

TITLE: South Stream Deal Signed After a Night Out
AUTHOR: By Anna Smolchenko
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: SOFIA, Bulgaria — President Vladimir Putin on Friday won Bulgaria’s support for a multibillion-dollar pipeline aimed at further strengthening Moscow’s hold on Europe’s energy market.
The outcome of negotiations over South Stream had been unclear until the last minute and might have been influenced by informal talks at a piano bar where Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov took Putin for a night out.
South Stream and seven other deals crowned Putin’s two-day visit to Sofia, designed to cement Bulgaria’s status as one of Russia’s few allies in Eastern Europe.
“Bulgaria has unconditionally become a key link in the European energy chain when it comes to implementing energy projects,” Putin said at a news conference after the signing ceremony Friday.
South Stream, worth 10 billion euros ($14.6 billion), will take 30 billion cubic meters of gas per year under the Black Sea and resurface in Bulgaria before going deeper into central and southern Europe. The project involves Gazprom and Italy’s Eni, whose top executives, Dmitry Medvedev and Paolo Scaroni, attended the ceremony.
The agreement was struck after Putin and Parvanov met for informal talks at a trendy piano bar in the Bulgarian capital late Thursday night.
The leaders discussed South Stream, among other things, a Kremlin spokesman said, adding that the presidents had left it up to their governments to decide on the deal.
Parvanov took Putin to Sinatra, which is said to be one of the Bulgarian leader’s favorite bars, after the two kicked off the Year of Russia in Bulgaria at the Palace of Culture. The presidents arrived at Sinatra at around 11 p.m., and Medvedev and Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev dropped in later, bar staff said.
Located on the ground floor of a nondescript street in central Sofia, the bar features red walls adorned with portraits of American crooner Frank Sinatra. The presidents were accompanied by Bulgaria’s parliamentary speaker, Georgi Pirinsky, singer and State Duma Deputy Iosif Kobzon and Nikolai Rastorguyev, frontman of the rock band Lyube, who is believed to be one of Putin’s favorite singers.
Rastorguyev sang several songs for the presidents, who sat next to each other and spoke together, said Georgi Georgiev, a reporter with the local newspaper 24 Chasa, who was present in the bar Thursday night.
Putin drank only water and left around 12:30 a.m., while Parvanov drank wine and stayed until 2, said Dimitr Dimitrov, a bar manager.
Early Friday, officials said Russian and Bulgarian authorities had agreed on the South Stream deal and would sign the agreements later in the day. Kommersant, citing Deputy Industry and Energy Minister Anatoly Yanovsky, reported Saturday that the talks only finished at 5 a.m., just hours before Putin and Parvanov signed a series of bilateral agreements. Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko said the final version of the agreement was prepared just 15 minutes before the signing, the report said. Minutes before the ceremony, Khristenko and other officials could be seen whispering in a possible attempt to clarify details as they stood just meters from both presidents.
Putin and Parvanov praised the pipeline as a way to ensure energy security in the region, downplaying concerns that it would be a rival to the European-backed Nabucco pipeline and might undermine Europe’s drive to diversify its energy supplies.
In a passionate speech Thursday evening, Parvanov defended Bulgaria’s right as an EU member to cooperate with Russia. “Bulgaria has always suffered from its strategic location, and the time has come to reap the benefits from our geographic position,” he told a packed audience at the Palace of Culture.
When a Bulgarian reporter suggested at Friday’s news conference that South Stream might get stuck in Bulgarian territory if it did not find enough support in Europe, Putin said European countries were fighting to join Russian gas pipeline projects.

TITLE: Cold War Era Chess Legend Bobby Fischer Dies Aged 64
AUTHOR: By Gudjon Helgason
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: REYKJAVIK, Iceland — “Chess,” Bobby Fischer once said, “is life.” It was the chess master’s tragedy that the messy, tawdry details of his life often overshadowed the sublime genius of his game. Fischer, who has died at the age of 64, was a child prodigy, a teenage grandmaster and — before age 30 — a world champion who triumphed in a Cold War showdown with Soviet champion Boris Spassky.
But the last three decades of his life were spent in seclusion, broken periodically by erratic and often anti-Semitic comments and by an absurd legal battle with his homeland, the United States.
“He was the pride and sorrow of chess,” said Raymond Keene, a British grandmaster and chess correspondent for The Times of London. “It’s tragic that such a great man descended into madness and anti-Semitism.”
Fischer died Thursday of kidney failure in Reykjavik after a long illness, friend and spokesman Gardar Sverrisson said Friday.
“A giant of the chess world is gone,” said Fridrik Olafsson, an Icelandic grandmaster and former president of the World Chess Federation.
Noted French chess expert Olivier Tridon: “Bobby Fischer has died at age 64. Like the 64 squares of a chess board.”
In another bit of symmetry, his death occurred in the city where he had his greatest triumph — the historic encounter with Spassky.
Chicago-born and Brooklyn-bred, Fischer moved to Iceland in 2005 in a bid to avoid extradition to the U.S., where he was wanted for playing a 1992 match in Yugoslavia in defiance of international sanctions.
At his peak, Fischer was a figure of mystery and glamour who drew millions of new fans to chess.
Russian former world chess champion Garry Kasparov said Fischer’s ascent of the chess world in the 1960s was “a revolutionary breakthrough” for the game.
“The tragedy is that he left this world too early, and his extravagant life and scandalous statements did not contribute to the popularity of chess,” Kasparov told The Associated Press.
Rival and friend Spassky, reached at his home in France, said in a brief telephone interview that he was “very sorry” to hear of Fischer’s death.
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, president of the World Chess Federation, called Fischer “a phenomenon and an epoch in chess history, and an intellectual giant I would rank next to Newton and Einstein.”
An American chess champion at 14 and a grand master at 15, Fischer vanquished Spassky in 1972 in a series of games in Reykjavik to become the first officially recognized world champion born in the United States.
The Fischer-Spassky match, at the height of the Cold War, took on mythic dimensions as a clash between the world’s two superpowers.
It was a myth Fischer was happy to fuel. “It’s really the free world against the lying, cheating, hypocritical Russians,” he said.
But Fischer’s reputation as a chess genius was eclipsed, in the eyes of many, by his volatility and often bizarre behavior.
He lost his world title in 1975 after refusing to defend it against Anatoly Karpov. He dropped out of competitive chess and largely out of view, spending time in Hungary and the Philippines and emerging occasionally to make outspoken and often outrageous comments.
He praised the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, saying, “I want to see the U.S. wiped out,” and described Jews as “thieving, lying bastards.” Fischer’s mother was Jewish.
In 2004, Fischer was arrested at Japan’s Narita airport for traveling on a revoked U.S. passport. He was threatened with extradition to the United States to face charges of violating sanctions imposed to punish Slobodan Milosevic, then leader of Yugoslavia, by playing a 1992 rematch against Spassky in the country.
Fischer renounced his U.S. citizenship and spent nine months in custody before the dispute was resolved when Iceland — a chess-mad nation of 300,000 — granted him citizenship.
“They talk about the ‘axis of evil,’” Fischer said when he arrived in Iceland. “What about the allies of evil ... the United States, England, Japan, Australia? These are the evildoers.”
In his final years, Fischer railed against the chess establishment, claiming that the outcomes of many top-level chess matches were decided in advance.
Instead, he championed his concept of “Fischerandom,” or random chess, in which pieces are shuffled at the beginning of each match in a bid to reinvigorate the game.
“I don’t play the old chess,” he told reporters when he arrived in Iceland in 2005. “But obviously if I did, I would be the best.”
Born in Chicago on March 9, 1943, Robert James Fischer was a child prodigy, playing competitively from age 8.
Funeral details were not immediately available.

TITLE: Amnesty Appeals Over Yukos Exec
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: MOSCOW — Rights group Amnesty International on Friday urged Russia to provide proper treatment for a jailed Yukos executive who has AIDS and says he could die if he is not moved to a specialized hospital.
Russia has snubbed three requests from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg to move Vasily Aleksanyan, 36, out of his Moscow jail.
Rights campaigners have called Aleksanyan a political prisoner because he is a former vice president of Yukos, whose bosses were jailed after they fell out of favor with the Kremlin.
“Amnesty International is urging the Russian authorities to transfer ... Aleksanyan to a specialized hospital for HIV/AIDS patients where his illness can be treated adequately,” the group said in a statement.

TITLE: German Teen Sent To Siberia
PUBLISHER: Combined Reports
TEXT: A troubled German teen is spending nine months in remote Siberia as part of efforts to turn him away from violence, officials said.
The 16-year-old had been diagnosed as “pathologically aggressive” for behaving violently in school and attacking his mother, said Stefan Becker, head of the youth and social affairs department in the central German town of Giessen.
The teen agreed to take part in a program to send troubled youth to Siberia to reform in “a somewhat unusual measure, even for us,” Becker said.
Youth services are experimenting with so-called “intensive educational experiences abroad” amid bad-tempered debate in Germany over how to tackle youth crime.
The German teen sent to Siberia has been living in the village of Sedelnikovo, some 300 kilometers from Omsk, for six months, accompanied by a Russian-speaking supervisor. He is now attending classes at a nearby school, Becker said.
An official who visited the teen last month to check on his progress reported that “it seems as if [the plan] is working,” he said.
“Siberia is very low on excitement and contacts,” Becker said. “If he doesn't chop wood, his place is cold. If he doesn't get water, he can't wash.”
The partially abandoned village is cut off from the rest of the world and winter temperatures fall as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius.
Buildings in the village have no central heating or water supplies, television, telephone or Internet, RIA-Novosti reported.
The teen's stay in Siberia is costing German taxpayers 150 euros per day, most of which is being used to pay his supervisor's wages, RIA-Novosti said. However, this works out three times cheaper than in Germany, it said.
Becker said he could recall only two similar cases over recent years, but an organization representing youth help groups, AGJ, said some 600 serial offenders from Germany are currently taking part in programs outside the country. Troubled German teens have been sent to Russia in the past as well.
Roland Koch, a senior member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats who is the governor of the state of Hesse, has seized on youth crime in his bid to win re-election in state elections coming up Jan. 27.
Earlier this month, Merkel's party called for tougher action against young criminals. It has challenged the center-left Social Democrats — a coalition partner in the federal government but an opponent in the upcoming state elections — to consider tougher laws that would range from higher sentences to easier expulsion of immigrant offenders.
The Social Democrats have rejected that demand, arguing that it would make more sense to speed up criminal proceedings.

(AP, SPT)

TITLE: Book Written by Computer Hits Shelves
AUTHOR: By Irina Titova
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: A Russian book written by a computer in St. Petersburg is to hit the country’s bookstores at the end of January.
The book, published by the city’s Astrel SPb publishing company, is the work of a computer program, created by a team of IT specialists and language experts.
The 320-page novel, called “True Love,” is a variation on Leo Tolstoy’s 1877 classic “Anna Karenina” but written in the style of Japanese author Haruki Murakami. 
It is based on 17 famous literary works that were uploaded onto the program. Within 72 hours, the computer generated its novel about true love.
Alexander Prokopovich, 39, chief editor of Astrel-SPb, said the idea of using the software shocked his editorial team at first, but then they got carried away with the idea. The experiment seemed interesting, Prokopovich said.
Prokopovich said the style of the book is based on the Russian translation of Japanese writer Murakami. The main characters are Tolstoy’s but “they get into a completely different situation,” he said.
Prokopovich, who didn’t want to fully disclose the plot, said that the book is about “love and faith.”
“In short, the characters find themselves on an uninhabited island. All of them have amnesia. They know who they are, but they don’t remember if they are married or have children, and what relationship they have with each other. In a way they are given a chance to build their relationships anew. The book is about how they make it,” Prokopovich said.
An extract given to The St. Petersburg Times reads:
“Kitty couldn’t fall asleep for a long time. Her nerves were strained as two tight strings, and even a glass of hot wine, that Vronsky made her drink, did not help her. Lying in bed she kept going over and over that monstrous scene at the meadow.” 
The development of the software program for the book took about eight months, but the computer took only three days to “write” the book, Prokopovich said.
“Today publishing houses use different methods of the fastest possible book creation in this or that style meant for this or that readers’ audience.  Our program can help with that work,” Prokopovich said.
“However, the program can never become an author, like PhotoShop can never be Raphael,” Prokopovich said.
Prokopovich said he knew about other experiments and attempts to write fiction by computer, but he suggested that “True Love” was the first really successful book made with the help of software.
The book will cost about 120-130 rubles, Prokopovich said. However, he added that the price will also depend on where it is sold. The first edition will also be sold in Ukraine and Israel.
St. Petersburg author Pavel Krusanov said he was convinced that “no computer can compete with a live author.” However, he said that such software programs “may ease the work for publishers” when replacing some hired writers.
Alexander Mazin, another St. Petersburg writer who writes historical adventure novels, also doubted computers can replace real authors.
“It’s like those attempts to create music with the help of computer. They were not that successful,” Mazin said.
Mazin said the new computer-written book may stoke the “natural curiosity” of readers.

TITLE: Mironov: Putin, Medvedev To Rule Russia Until 2033
AUTHOR: By Christian Lowe
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin and his favored successor Dmitry Medvedev could take turns to run Russia for another quarter of a century, a senior Kremlin ally said in an interview published on Monday.
Sergei Mironov, a Kremlin loyalist and the speaker of the Russian parliament’s upper house, said Putin could become president again after a Medvedev term, serve two terms himself and then hand over once more to Medvedev.
Neither Putin nor Medvedev have indicated they plan to be in government so far in the future, but the fact Mironov is floating the idea suggests Russia’s ruling elite feels firmly entrenched in power and expects to remain there for many years.
“I will gaze a long way into the future,” the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper quoted Mironov as saying. “There could be a variety of scenarios. Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin] could come back in 2012 [as president].”
“I think that by that time we will increase the head of state’s term to five or seven years. If it is seven years and Vladimir Putin is elected to two consecutive terms, he will run the country for 14 years, that is from 2012 to 2026.”
“And in 2026, it could be that Dmitry Anatolyevich [Medvedev] will once again return to the post of president,” Mironov said. If Medvedev serves a single seven-year term from 2026, he would be in office until 2033.
Russia’s constitution bars a president from serving more than two consecutive terms in office but there is no limit on returning to the job after a break.

TITLE: Killer Given Top State Job
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: MOSCOW — An architect who killed a Swiss-based air traffic controller for a plane crash in which his wife and children died was appointed Friday to a senior government post in North Ossetia.
The region’s government approved Vitaly Kaloyev as the region’s deputy construction minister, said Yevgeny Rodionov, the region’s construction minister.
“He didn’t agree to it immediately. We spoke a month ago, and he went back and forth but finally, today, he agreed to it,” Rodionov said on NTV.
Kaloyev, 51, was convicted in Switzerland in October 2005 of killing Peter Nielsen, a Danish controller with Swiss company Skyguide, and was sentenced to 5 1/4 years in prison. He was released in November under an order by Switzerland’s highest court.
Nielsen had been the only person on duty on July 1, 2002, when a Tu-154 operated by Bashkirian Airlines collided with a DHL cargo jet in airspace he had been responsible for over southern Germany. The crash killed 71 people, mostly schoolchildren on a vacation trip to Spain.
Kaloyev was working in Spain at the time, and his wife and two children were on their way to visit him.
He was freed in accordance with Swiss legislation that allows early release of convicted criminals for good behavior.

TITLE: Stocks, Oil Continue To Plunge, Fears Grow
PUBLISHER: Combined Reports
TEXT: MOSCOW — Russian stocks fell for a fifth day on Monday as Lukoil, Surgutneftegaz and Gazprom Neft declined after oil prices sank below $90 a barrel in New York for the first time since Dec. 10.
The ruble-denominated Micex decreased 3.9 percent to 1,718.23 at 11:48 a.m. Monday in Moscow, 29 stocks retreated and one fell. The benchmark has lost 13 percent since its high on Dec. 12. The dollar-denominated RTS Index slid 3.9 percent to 2,075.91 Monday.
Crude oil futures in New York dropped as a slump in Asian stock markets increased speculation about a global recession that would reduce energy demand. Asian stocks fell to a five-month low, and Hong Kong’s benchmark index had the biggest drop since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
 “Nervousness still abounds,” wrote Tom Mundy, a strategist at Renaissance Capital in Moscow, in a note to investors. “Though support to buy back into the market may be growing, the heavy sell-off in the Asian markets on Monday may delay enthusiasm for this for Monday at least.”
Lukoil, Russia’s second-biggest oil producer, dropped 4.8 percent to 1,782.31 rubles on the Micex Stock Exchange. Surgutneftegaz, based in the Siberian city of Surgut, fell 5.1 percent to 26.30 rubles. Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of gas giant Gazprom, declined 5.8 percent to 136.13 rubles.
On Friday a $150 billion rescue plan for the U.S. economy, set out by President George W. Bush, sent shares in the United States into another tailspin, with investors criticizing it as “too little, too late,” as evidence mounts that the U.S. economy is headed for, if not already in, recession.
Among analysts there is a widely held view that many Russian stocks were undervalued — even before the slump — after last year’s lackluster performance against its emerging market peers. The country’s economic outlook, meanwhile, remains robust, underscoring analysts’ confidence that there will be a rebound in the near future. 
“We have a feeling that we are going to witness a powerful bounce in February, as the current irrational selling in global equities is arrested by easing by the Fed and evidence that growth is keeping its ground outside of the U.S.,” Deutsche Bank said in a note.
But if there was a glimmer of hope, it was Polyus Gold. Basking in the glow of soaring gold prices, the miner outperformed the market to rise an impressive 6.6 percent.
Its performance was all the more remarkable given the ongoing shareholder spat between one-time partners Mikhail Prokhorov and Vladimir Potanin. Potanin is fiercely resisting efforts by the board to spin off exploration assets into a separate vehicle.
At Norilsk Nickel, which dived by 9 percent last week, the shoe was on the other foot. 
Prokhorov’s Onexim Group accused Norilsk Nickel’s management Friday of diverting resources to support Potanin, namely via a $1.5 billion deposit it lodged in November with VTB, the state-owned lender that then agreed to lend money to back Potanin’s bid to buy out Prokhorov’s Norilsk stake.

(SPT, Bloomberg)

TITLE: Architects Vie to Develop Apraksin Dvor
AUTHOR: By Yekaterina Dranitsyna
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Chris Wilkinson, an English architect taking part in the competition for the reconstruction of Apraksin Dvor — a dilapidated architectural ensemble in the center of St. Petersburg — presented his project to local experts Monday and called for wider discussion of the concept.
“I expect to work with local architects, in particular with conservation architects. In this project we are trying to retain as many buildings as possible, particularly the buildings on the perimeter,” Wilkinson said at a press conference at Rosbalt news agency Monday.
Wilkinson proposed restoring the existing buildings and removing parking spaces from the nearby streets. Three inner buildings that are not architectural monuments would be demolished according to his plan.
A glass roof over the central passage between the buildings would be created, while using the latest technology Wilkinson plans to create a heated meeting place in the center. Several new buildings would be constructed.
As well as making use of the existing streets, the architect proposes creating a new street from the Fontanka River to the center of the complex and constructing a new bridge with a removable glass roof over the river. 
“Apart from that, no aspect of the external appearance will be changed. The design is flexible. It’s a concept, which needs to be developed,” Wilkinson said.
He stressed the importance of combining different attractions in Apraksin Dvor and making it appeal to visitors. Among examples of the successful reconstruction and preservation of historic ensembles, Wilkinson listed Covent Garden in London, Les Halles in Paris and Soho in New York.
Wilkinson is taking part in the tender for reconstruction in cooperation with Glavstroi-Spb, a company controlled by billionaire Oleg Deripaska. This company is constructing two residential complexes in St. Petersburg — a total area of five million square meters in Konnaya Lakhta and Severnaya Dolina. The company will also take part in the tender for the construction of Orlovsky Tunnel and the Western High-Speed Link-Road.
The tender requires minimum investment of $400 million, while Glavstroi-SPb has suggested investment of $1.15 billion. A considerable part of the investment will be spent on buying out property, including the Lenizdat building on the Fontanka.
The total construction area is over 340,000 square meters, including office and shopping areas, entertainment zones, apartments and a hotel.
“Apraksin Dvor is a place that presents all possible problems. Considering its size, location and architectural importance, it’s a challenge for investors as well as for experts and residents to find a solution,” said Igor Yevtushevsky, managing director of Glavstroi-SPb.
Glavstroi-SPb’s rival in the tender is Renaissance Apraksin Dvor, a firm founded by Moscow developer Shalva Chigirinsky and Swedish development company Ruric AB.
In the tender documents, Renaissance Apraksin Dvor indicated investment of $1.4 billion. The company plans to create an area of about 400,000 square meters without demolishing existing buildings.
The complex would include apartments, office areas, an underground shopping center and parking spaces. The company also plans to reconstruct the Lenizdat building. The architect behind this project is Norman Foster, who is reconstructing New Holland island. Foster has also submitted proposals for the reconstruction of several chapels and a church.
“Both projects are strong. The developers and architects behind these projects are highly reputable and the city and its residents will benefit from the competition between them. Both developers plan to buy the building of Lenizdat — a building of disputable architectural value — and an attractive facade on the Fontanka will improve the ensemble,” said Nikolai Kazansky, director for investment consulting at Colliers International.
The results of the tender will be announced on Jan. 25. Regardless of the result, local experts are concerned about the impact of the project on the architectural environment.
“This territory is a difficult location for reconstruction because it’s in the center of St. Petersburg, next to the architectural ensemble of the Alexandrinsky Theater. The reconstruction of Apraksin Dvor could bring dissonance into the appearance of the city center,” said Vladimir Lisovsky, a member of the St. Petersburg city-planning council and professor at the Repin Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.
He strongly criticized the idea of the glass roof and new bridge proposed by Wilkinson.
“I think that creating a passage, a recreation zone or a garden in the center of this ensemble is rational. But I’m also strongly concerned by the proximity of this complex to Rossi’s architectural ensemble,” said Alexander Margolis, general director of the International Fund for the Preservation of St. Petersburg.
As for the idea of creating a new bridge, Margolis said that the Fontanka embankment is a protected architectural monument in which new developments are prohibited by law.

TITLE: Spa-Hotel Opens Its Doors
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: Finnish hotel group Sokotel opened the city’s first five-star Spa-hotel earlier this month. Holiday Club St. Petersburg, which has 278 rooms, is located on Vasilievsky Island at 2-4 Birzhevoi Pereulok.
Of the hotel’s infrastructure, only the Spanish restaurant Sevilla and the Bridges lobby-bar are currently available for hotel guests, while the spa center and other restaurants should start operating in April, Sokotel said last week in a statement.
The hotel offers 26 time-share apartments for two to six people, as well as standard rooms of 28 square meters and several suites. All of the hotel area is covered by the Wi-Fi network.
For business travelers, the hotel offers a reception room and several fully-equipped conference rooms, which can accommodate up to 350 people.
The hotel is located inside an elite residential and office complex constructed by local company LenSpetsSmu.

TITLE: Kudrin Chooses Replacement
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: MOSCOW — Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin will join a sovereign wealth funds discussion at the Davos forum accompanied by a little-known official while his deputy remains in jail, sources said Friday.
A source at the Finance Ministry said Dmitry Pankin, currently head of the ministry’s state debt department, would travel with Kudrin to Davos and might also soon be promoted to the rank of deputy minister.
Pankin will oversee the split of the $151 billion stabilization fund on Feb. 1 into the Reserve Fund, which will act as an insurance policy to cover any budget deficit caused by a fall in energy prices, and a more growth-oriented subfund called the National Welfare Fund.
He replaced Sergei Storchak, the supervisor of the stabilization fund who was arrested last year and charged with embezzlement of public funds and fraud. Storchak denied the charges.

TITLE: In Brief
TEXT: <b>Meat Plant for Oblast</b>
ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — Atria, a Finnish meat processing company, will open its new plant in Gorelovo, Leningrad Oblast, in September this year, Interfax reported Friday. The company is investing 70 million euros ($102.5 million) into the project.
The plant will produce 90 tons of meat products a day. The Leningrad Oblast government is planning to sign an investment agreement with Atria, according to which the company will receive tax benefits during the pay-back period for the project.

<b>Alcohol Production Up</b>
ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — Production of alcohol in Russia increased by 10 percent last year, Interfax reported Friday.
According to prior estimations by the National Alcohol Association, Russian companies produced 132-132 million decaliters of vodka and liqueurs, 52-53 million decaliters of wine, 21 million decaliters of champagne and sparkling wines and about eight million decaliters of cognac and brandy in 2007.

<b>Syktyvkar Gets Closer</b>
ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — Aeroflot-Nord airline will start regular flights between St. Petersburg and Syktyvkar and between Moscow and Syktyvkar in April this year, Interfax reported Friday.
Aeroflot-Nord is a subsidiary of Aeroflot-Russian Airlines. Last year the company served over one million passengers. 

<b>Investing in Power</b>
ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — Northwest Region Distribution Networks will invest 3.7 billion rubles ($151 million) into the development of power networks in 2008, Interfax reported Friday.
The investment program will be financed by amortization projects, power network connection revenues and profits earned in 2007 and previous years.

<b>Aeronautic Stake Frozen</b>
MOSCOW (Bloomberg) — Russia’s 5 percent stake in European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., the parent company of Airbus, was frozen by a French court, Kommersant reported.
The stake, which is held by state-owned Vnesheconombank, was frozen as part of Geneva-based trading company Noga’s long-running dispute with the Russian government, the Moscow-based newspaper said, citing Noga Antoine Korkmaz.
Noga is seeking to enforce payment for goods it supplied to Russia in exchange for oil shipments in 1991 and 1992 and says the country owes it as much as $800 million, Kommersant said, citing Korkmaz.

<b>Ikea Enters Kazakhstan</b>
MOSCOW (Bloomberg) — Ikea, the world’s largest home-furnishing retailer, plans to invest $500 million opening its first two shopping malls in Kazakhstan as economic growth fuels increased spending in the central Asian country.
Ikea managers including Per Kaufmann, general director for Russia and Ukraine, met Thursday with Kazakh Trade and Industry Minister Galym Orazbakov in Astana, the country’s capital, the ministry said Friday in an e-mailed statement. The retailer plans to spend $250 million on a shopping center in Almaty, the nation’s commercial center, and the same amount on a center in Astana.
VTB Heading for India</b>
MOSCOW (Bloomberg) — VTB Group, Russia’s second-biggest lender, said it received an operating license in India.
State-owned VTB is planning to open a branch in New Delhi on Feb. 12 with a ceremony attended by Russian prime minister Viktor Zubkov and bank chairman Andrei Kostin, the lender said in an e-mailed statement Friday.
VTB in Moscow became Russia’s first bank to open a branch in China this month.

<b>State Promises Payouts</b>
MOSCOW (Bloomberg) — The Russian government will pay 211 billion rubles ($8.6 billion) in additional compensation over the next three years to depositors who lost their savings when the Soviet banking system collapsed in 1991.
Soviet citizens saw their life savings wiped out after the Soviet Union broke apart in late 1991. The hyperinflation that followed — consumer prices soared 2,500 percent in 1992 and 850 percent in 1993 — further eroded purchasing power and rendered money held in bank accounts almost worthless.
The government will spend 56 billion rubles this year to return a portion of lost savings to Soviet-era bank account holders, followed by 70 billion rubles in 2009 and 85 billion rubles in 2010, the Finance Ministry said in a statement posted on its web site.

<b>Sberbank Sale Delayed</b>
MOSCOW (Bloomberg) — Sberbank, Russia’s biggest bank, will delay the sale of global depositary receipts in London to the third quarter of this year, Kommersant reported, citing the bank’s head of planning and strategy, Dmitry Tarasov.
Moscow-based Sberbank had sought to sell shares in London by June, the newspaper said. The lender postponed its plans after “sharp” fluctuations in its share price and turmoil in global financial markets, according to Kommersant.

<b>Naval Plans Slammed</b>
ST. PETERSBURG (Bloomberg) — Russian Chief of General Staff Yury Baluyevsky said the proposed shift of the Navy’s headquarters to St. Petersburg from Moscow is unnecessary, Vedomosti reported, citing his Jan. 19 speech at Moscow’s Academy of Military Sciences.
The Navy will relocate its chief and a group of officers by the end of 2009, the newspaper said, citing unidentified Defense Ministry officials. The move was proposed by Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov last year and backed by the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, the newspaper reported.
Moving the Navy’s headquarters would worsen internal communications and cost almost twice the estimated 26 billion rubles ($1.1 billion), using resources needed to upgrade the country’s fleet, Vedomosti said, citing a Jan. 19 letter to President Vladimir Putin signed by former naval chiefs and commanders.

<b>Gas Transit Fee Debated</b>
MOSCOW (Bloomberg) — Ukraine’s President Viktor Yushchenko wants to keep the transit fee for Russian natural gas unchanged, countering plans by the prime minister to raise it, the president said in an interview with TV channel Inter. 
Should Ukraine increase the fee, Russia will raise the price Ukraine pays for natural gas, Yushchenko said in the interview Sunday.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko, who took office Dec. 18, wants to scrap the country’s natural-gas agreement with Russia, raise transit fees for Russian fuel exports to Europe and drop gas trader RosUkrEnergo AG.

<b>Pension Rises Possible</b>
MOSCOW (Bloomberg) — The Russian government may earn more revenue for the budget than previously planned this year and use it to raise pensions and salaries, Interfax reported.
Revenue may exceed estimates by 324.9 billion rubles this year ($13.11 billion) as the economy expands faster than previously forecast, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said during a Cabinet meeting in Moscow on Monday, according to Interfax. 
The government may spend 343.3 billion rubles more than planned on increasing pensions and salaries of government workers, using the extra revenue and the money the government saved on debt payments, Kudrin said, the news agency reported. 

<b>Crude Hits Month Low</b>
MOSCOW (Bloomberg) — Crude oil fell to a one-month low as stock markets tumbled in Asia and Europe on concern the U.S. will lead a global economic slowdown.
Oil, down more than 11 percent from its $100.09 a barrel record on Jan. 3, led a decline across commodities markets as gold and copper also fell. The MSCI World Index slipped 1.6 percent Monday. Slower growth may cut demand for energy and metals.
“The market is concerned about a recession,” Thina Saltvedt, an analyst at Nordea Bank AB in Oslo, said Monday in a telephone interview. “You will see an effect on demand in the first half of the year.”

TITLE: Phone Firms To Merge
AUTHOR: By Lyubov Pronina
PUBLISHER: Bloomberg
TEXT: MOSCOW — VimpelCom, Russia’s second-largest mobile-phone company, started its offer to buy Nasdaq-listed Golden Telecom Inc. for $4.3 billion to create Russia’s first integrated mobile and fixed-line provider.
VimpelCom will pay $105 a share for all of Golden Telecom, the Moscow-based company said in a statement Friday. The tender offer will expire on Feb. 15 unless extended, VimpelCom said.
The deal will give VimpelCom about 400,000 new broadband Internet customers and a foothold in fixed-line phone services. The company, whose biggest shareholders are Norway’s Telenor ASA and billionaire Mikhail Fridman’s Alfa Group, said in December it will take two to six months to complete the purchase.
“We are aware that the offer has been made,” Anna Ivanova-Galitsina, a spokeswoman in Moscow for Telenor, said in a telephone interview. “The offer will be reviewed by the management and communicated to the Telenor board.”
Telenor, Norway’s largest phone company, owns 18.4 percent of Golden Telecom and 29.9 percent of VimpelCom. Altimo, a technology unit of Alfa Group, holds 26.6 percent.

TITLE: Local Presence Weak at Nordic Travel Fair
AUTHOR: By Nikita Savoyarov
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: The largest Nordic travel fair, Matka, held at the Helsinki Fair Center from Jan. 17-20, hosted more than 1000 exhibitors this year from nearly 80 different countries.
The theme of the fair this year was “individuality,” which is becoming an increasingly important factor in the competitive world of travel. Individuality is sought by all travelers, and today’s wide range of available options makes it possible to realize individual solutions for everybody.
Finland’s Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, Dr. Paavo Väyrynen, highlighted the influence of globalization in tourism in his speech during the Opening Session. 
“Globalization is increasing travel all over the world as people and businesses think and act globally. Globalization is improving the standards of living in many developing countries, giving people the economic resources to travel and see the world,” Väyrynen said.
He added that developing countries should be given assistance in developing their tourism industry in a sustainable way. However, he also went on to warn about the global limits of growth, saying carbon emissions should be limited.
“Air traffic is not the worst cause of carbon emissions, but it is growing fast. For that reason the EU has decided to include air traffic in the carbon trading system, and increased taxes on air travel are planned,” he said. However, Väyrynen expressed confidence that tourism would continue to grow.
“Higher flight prices are certainly going to change the relative competitiveness of different forms of tourism and different destinations. Domestic markets, for example, might have a better competitive edge,” he said.
The weather this year in the Nordic countries — a winter without snow (even in Lapland) and temperatures above zero in January, whether caused by global warming or not — has provoked an intensive search by Finns for a decent place to ski. 
Finland is also aiming to market its services more efficiently with the use of slogans. Last year the Finland Promotion Board chose a selection of key words and attributes to describe Finland. The four words are Creative, Credible, Contrast and Cool. 
“As you all know, this is what we are, creative and credible. And we have strong contrasts, especially between the four seasons. And we are cool: our weather is not too hot and our country is nice and trendy — ‘cool’ as the younger generation would say,” explained Väyrynen.
St. Petersburg’s presence this year was weak compared to previous years with its display situated in a “forgotten corner” of the room.
The Tourist Information Center was the main exhibitor, joined by different travel companies and hotels, among which mini-hotels visibly dominated. This year’s display attracted fewer visitors than before.  
Merja Jokela, Secretary of the Finnish-Russian Society in charge of culture issues, who has lengthy experience in this field, especially in St. Petersburg, suggested an explanation for the decrease in visitors to the St. Petersburg stand.
 “What is represented here now consists mostly of mini-hotels — it is like a St. Petersburg brand. But it is not enough for Finnish tourists,” Jokela said. 
“They need more culture to be represented, for example, information on the Tolstoy jubilee, big concerts with famous artists, international football matches accompanied by clear instructions on how to purchase tickets. There was also very weak representation from the Russian regions other than the North-West,” she added.
The most attractive stand was organized by Karelia.

TITLE: Retail Giant Wal-Mart Eyes Growing Russian Market
AUTHOR: By Maria Ermakova
PUBLISHER: Bloomberg
TEXT: MOSCOW — Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, may expand into Russia within the next two years to capitalize on a swelling economy and a dearth of competitors, UBS AG analysts said.
Wal-Mart may follow its past practice of using a joint venture or acquisition to enter the market, UBS analysts including Neil Currie and Svetlana Sukhanova said Thursday in a research report. The bank has a “buy” recommendation on the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company’s stock.
The economy in Russia, the world’s biggest crude-oil and natural-gas exporter, is expanding for a 10th year in a row. Supermarkets and superstores generate less than a third of retail sales, UBS said. The bank cautioned that a takeover of a local company such as X5 Retail Group or Dixy Group would be expensive because surging sales have made their shares pricey.
“We do not see a need for an immediate rush into Russia in the next 12 months, as growth in that market has caused valuations to be at premiums,” UBS said. “If an opportunity presents itself, the market attractions are strong enough for Wal-Mart to act sooner if necessary.”
Russia was singled out as a potential market in October by H. Lee Scott, Wal-Mart’s chief executive officer, in spite of a reputation for corruption. The country is “a growing consumer nation,” he said.
Open markets and independent grocers generate most Russian retail sales, according to UBS. The country’s $145 billion food-retailing industry accounts for almost half of total spending and will expand on average by 17 percent annually through 2010 as rising incomes boost demand for better food, the bank said.
Wal-Mart may team with a local partner to open Russian stores, Juan Figuereo, vice president for international mergers and acquisitions, said last February. The company was among potential partners with which X5, Russia’s largest supermarket company, would consider allying in a joint venture if it were to seek to expand in Russia, CEO Lev Khasis said in March.
Joining with X5 “would be a positive catalyst and provide new strategic and supply opportunities,” UBS said. The Russian grocer has about 750 of its own outlets and around 625 more run under franchise and also is developing a superstore chain.
X5 stock trades at 46 times estimated 2007 earnings, data compiled by Bloomberg shows, and Dixy changes hands at 54.3 times, compared with Wal-Mart’s multiple of 15.5 times profit estimates. X5 shares have more than doubled since they were first sold to investors in May 2005, boosting the company’s market value to $7.14 billion.
Russia’s economy probably grew 7.6 percent in 2007, the Economy Ministry said last month, beating a prior forecast and speeding up from the year-earlier 6.7 percent pace. Auto sales in the country may rise 13 percent this year and overtake deliveries in the U.K., an industry group said this week.
Moscow and St. Petersburg are drawing more expansion interest from retailers than any other cities in the world, according to the 2007 International Retailers’ Survey. Paris-based Carrefour SA, Europe’s biggest company in the industry, plans to open its first Russian stores this year.

TITLE: New Power Plant Opens in Tajikistan
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: SANGTUDA, Tajikistan — Tajikistan, its utilities paralyzed by the coldest winter in decades, on Sunday opened a new Russian-built power plant hailed by the authorities as a step toward solving an energy crisis. 
Millions of Tajiks were struggling to survive without heating and electricity in their homes as temperatures plunged to below minus 20 degrees Celsius. 
Tajik President Imomali Rakhmon, speaking at the opening ceremony of the Sangtuda-1 hydroelectric power plant, said additional electricity capacity would help avoid such crises in the future. 
“This year’s winter has proved the necessity of solving Tajikistan’s energy problems as quickly as possible,” he said during the Soviet-style ceremony, its site festooned with flags and portraits of Rakhmon and President Vladimir Putin. 
Its infrastructure ruined in a 1990s civil war, Tajikistan has long experienced power shortages in winter months when temperatures usually stay above minus 5 C. This winter’s bitter cold caught the authorities off guard, forcing the government to resort to daily rations of electricity, water and gas. 
But with its daily production capacity of 2.4 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, Sangtuda-1 is too small to make any immediate change. By comparison, the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, where electricity is rationed to just a few hours a day, consumes about 10 million kilowatt-hours of electricity daily. 
The $500 million plant, its construction financed by United Energy System, is due to reach full capacity of 2.7 million kilowatt-hours later this year. 
The lack of central heating and electricity rations are fueling discontent. Dushanbe residents said heating was working only in the center of the city and that no electricity at night made it impossible to use electric heating devices to keep apartments warm.

TITLE: Kellogg Tightens Its Control of Market
AUTHOR: By Tai Adelaja
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW — Kellogg announced Thursday that it had purchased United Bakers Group, the country’s biggest breakfast cereal maker, to take almost complete control of the local market.
United Bakers’ products, marketed primarily under the Yantar and Lyubyatovo brands, are very popular, and the company said it had a market share of 90 percent. Kellogg’s share is miniscule.
Both companies were tight-lipped about the terms of the deal, but Kellogg said it would have no impact on its 2008 operating profit.
Kellogg chief David Mackay described the acquisition as “an exciting strategic development for Kellogg.
“Consistent with our strategy, we continue to pursue the right kind of opportunities to grow our business,” he said in a statement.
The deal gives Kellogg its first plants in Russia — a total of six scattered across the country — as well as a large sales and distribution network. 
Kellogg is coming to the right place at the right time because consumers have just started shifting en masse toward light-and-fast meals for breakfast, said Andrei Nikitin, a retail analyst with UralSib bank.
“Power-advertising by the likes of Kellogg and a new business culture have weaned Russians from their traditional breakfast meals, such as kasha,” Nikitin said.
“Many Russians now favor fast breakfast meals such as Kellogg Corn Flakes and Rice Krispies, in part because of strong advertisement by big companies with huge budgets like Kellogg,” he said.
Rice Krispies are not widely available in Russia, although Special K, Corn Flakes and Frosties can be found on many Moscow store shelves. 
“This is fertile soil for Kellogg, and the trend will accelerate,” Nikitin said.
With the buy, Kellogg will make considerable savings on import tax, which had increased prices for its products, said Andrei Verkholantsev, consumer analyst with Antanta Capital Investment.
“Kellogg could leverage the synergy and economics of scale accruing from the deal to emerge as the single largest player in Russia,” he said.
Yevgeny Okulich-Kazarin, general director of United Bakers, called Thursday’s deal a reward for the company’s hard work. “This is an opportunity for United Bakers to further grow the business,” Okulich-Kazarin said in an e-mail.
Voronezh-based United Bakers, a closely held company, posted net sales of about $100 million in 2007. Like Kellogg, it also produces biscuits.
The company was founded in 2002 with an initial investment from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Eagle Urals Fund, a regional venture fund managed by the Dutch company Eagle Venture Partners, acquired the company in 2004 and immediately invited in new investors. Alfa Capital Partners took over in 2005 and a year later sold control to International Moscow Bank.

TITLE: Mitvol’s Resignation Rejected
AUTHOR: By Nabi Abdullaev and Catrina Stewart
PUBLISHER: Staff Writers
TEXT: MOSCOW — Oleg Mitvol, the state environmental inspector who led aggressive campaigns against foreign energy companies, abruptly resigned Friday to protest the possible appointment of a new head to his agency.
But Natural Resources Minister Yury Trutnev refused to accept the resignation, and Mitvol remains in his position as deputy head of the Federal Service for the Inspection of Natural Resources Use.
The back-and-forth appears to be part of a struggle for control of the powerful agency, which has the power to grant and revoke licenses from oil and gas companies working in Russia.
Mitvol said Sunday that he had submitted his resignation after he learned that Vladimir Kirillov, former first deputy governor of the Leningrad region, would take over as head of the environmental agency.
“I don’t know him personally, but I have read information published in the media,” he said by telephone, pointing to a report by Greenpeace Russia.
Greenpeace Russia circulated a statement Friday that accused Kirillov of illegally approving private construction projects in environmentally protected areas of the Leningrad region when he was a deputy governor there in the late 1990s.
Kirillov could not be reached for comment.
Mitvol said he had not told anyone about his decision to resign and criticized the release of his letter to Trutnev as a provocation. Interfax and Itar-Tass obtained a copy of the letter Friday.
“It was a provocation by those who want me to leave my post, because with my departure some interested people will get the chance to launder a lot of money,” Mitvol told Gazeta.ru on Friday. He did not elaborate on the issue Sunday.
But he said he had had a lengthy talk with Trutnev, who had expressed satisfaction with his work and asked him to stay.
A Natural Resources Ministry spokeswoman, Anna Khitrova, said she had heard speculation about Kirillov’s pending appointment but could not confirm it.
The environmental agency’s head and Mitvol’s immediate supervisor, Sergei Sai, tendered his resignation in late December, complaining of a lack of control over his staff, including Mitvol. 
Sai said Friday that his resignation letter had yet to be approved by Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov. He also said he knew nothing of Mitvol’s resignation.
Mitvol, who has worked at the agency since 2004, welcomed the news of Sai’s resignation when it emerged earlier this month, and he vowed to press on with his checks of possible environment violations by foreign and private Russian energy companies. His previous inspections threatened to strip Shell, ExxonMobil and TNK-BP of key licenses, and the companies were only cleared after they ceded control over lucrative gas and oil fields to the state-owned Gazprom and Rosneft.
In late 2006, Sai asked Trutnev to investigate Mitvol’s activities, only to be reprimanded himself for not being zealous enough as an administrator.
RIA-Novosti, citing sources in the Cabinet, reported Friday that Kirillov would soon replace Sai.
It was not clear whether Mitvol’s attempt to resign would have any effect on Kirillov’s possible appointment.
Alexei Mukhin, an analyst with the Center for Political Information, said both Sai’s and Mitvol’s resignations were driven by Gazprom and Rosneft lobbyists in the government who wanted to replace the feuding, controversial but very influential team with less notorious figures.
Mitvol was too outspoken about Sai’s resignation and too bluntly tried to promote himself for the position, and that is why the Kremlin has tapped someone else to head the agency, said Tatyana Stanovaya, an analyst with the Center for Political Technologies. “He is bluffing now, but it will not work,” she said.
Officials in the Moscow offices of two international oil companies targeted by Mitvol’s investigations refused to comment on Friday’s developments.
“Well, his resignation letter has not been signed yet,” Mukhin said.

TITLE: Gazprom’s Expansion
TEXT: The following outlines Gazprom’s tactics in East Europe.
Bulgaria
• Gazprom supplies all of the Balkan country’s natural gas and transports gas through its territory to Greece and Turkey.
President Vladimir Putin on Friday secured Bulgarian participation in the 10 billion euro ($14.66 billion) South Stream gas pipeline. The project, proposed by Italy’s Eni as well as Gazprom, is Moscow’s challenge to a rival Nabucco plan to pipe Central Asian gas to the European Union and reduce the bloc’s reliance on Russian energy.
• Gazprom is also interested in buying a stake in Bulgaria’s state gas monopoly Bulgargaz if the government goes ahead with plans to list a minority stake on the bourse. 
• Gazprom is reportedly interested in acquiring the Sofia heating utility plant.
• Bulgaria has picked Atomstroiexport, controlled by Gazprom, to build a new 4 billion euro power plant, Belene.
Czech Republic
• Czech natural gas firm Vemex has signed a deal with Gazprom unit Gazexport on gas deliveries to the Czech Republic that bypass the former Czech monopoly.
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
• Gazprom wants to build gas storage in the Baltic states, but it is seeking alternative pipeline routes to avoid dependence on traditional transit states.
In particular, it wants to build a pipeline under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, which would bypass Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as Poland and Belarus. The planned pipeline is to be built by a consortium, Nord Stream, majority-owned by Gazprom and including Germany’s BASF and E.On.
Greece
• Putin said last month that Greece wanted to double imports of Russian gas after 2016. He said Greece supported Gazprom’s plans to build South Stream.
Hungary
• Under a deal announced on July 13, 2006, Gazprom gained stakes in Hungarian gas and power companies in return for giving Germany’s E.On a share in the Siberian Yuzhno-Russkoye field.
• Gazprom and Hungary’s MOL have formed a company to study the proposed extension of the Blue Stream gas pipeline, which takes Russian gas to northern Turkey.
Serbia
• In December, Russia proposed to Belgrade a controversial energy pact that would potentially see Serbia included in Gazprom’s South Stream gas pipeline. In return, Gazprom would get a 51 percent stake in Serb oil monopoly NIS for 400 million euros. 
Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica backed the offer Friday. Analysts say his support is meant to reward Russia for backing Serbia’s efforts to block the independence of Kosovo.
Slovakia
• Gazprom owns 49 percent of gas network SPP together with Ruhrgas and Gaz de France.
Turkey
• Gazprom supplies three quarters of Turkey’s gas via southern Europe and by a pipeline under the Black Sea, which it jointly owns with Eni.
• Gazprom wants to buy Turkish gas distribution firms, seeks direct deals with Turkish utilities and aims to transit gas to Israel.
<i>— Reuters</i>

TITLE: Serbian Prime Minister Backs South Stream Pact
AUTHOR: By Ellie Tzortzi
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: BELGRADE — Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica on Friday publicly backed a Russian offer of an energy pact that could see Serbia included in the South Stream pipeline in return for Gazprom getting a stake in Serb oil monopoly NIS. 
The plan, first discussed in December, has caused a rift inside Serbia’s fragile coalition. Those who oppose it say the 400 million euros ($586 million) that Gazprom offered for 51 percent of NIS was nowhere near enough. 
Analysts say the pact is largely politically motivated due to Russian support of Serbia over its breakaway Kosovo province. 
“The main goal of the government is to secure the economic future and growth of Serbia,” Kostunica said in a statement to the local media. 
“That’s why I am convinced the Serbian and Russian governments will reach an agreement on strategic cooperation in the energy sector, and everything is going in the right direction,” he said. 
Serbian sources speaking on condition of anonymity said an agreement to the Russian proposal was by no means a done deal and would involve major political horse-trading. 
But Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller, speaking in Sofia where he was accompanying President Vladimir Putin in a visit that secured Bulgarian participation in South Stream, sounded very assured of Belgrade’s agreement. 
“[Since Friday] talks with the Serbian party have been completed and the draft inter-government agreement is ready,” Miller told reporters. 
South Stream, a 10 billion euro joint project by Gazprom and Italy’s Eni, will carry gas under the Black Sea and through Bulgaria, to eventually reach Italy. 
Belgrade, which gets some 90 percent of its gas supply from Russia, hopes having the pipeline branch into Serbian territory will mean cheaper power, resulting in faster economic growth. 
If other Balkan countries join, Serbia would also earn transit taxes to the tune of $200 million a year. Critics of the deal say that aside from setting a bargain price for NIS, the energy pact does not guarantee Serbia the status of a transit country, and the pipeline could end up being a blind alley for purely domestic use. 
They warn that Serbian acceptance of the offer could be the economic payback for Moscow’s political support in the issue of the breakaway Kosovo province. Russia has backed Serbia’s quest to block the Western-backed independence drive of the territory. 
The partial sale of NIS, one of the most eagerly anticipated privatizations in Serbia, was first discussed in 2005 but has been delayed by political infighting over the size and price of the stake that will be put up for sale. 
Mostly regional companies such as MOL, OMV and Hellenic Petroleum have expressed interest.

TITLE: From the Depths of Moscow
AUTHOR: By Megan K. Stack
TEXT: The old woman’s back was so hunched she couldn’t get her chin off her chest. Wrapped in layers of ratty sweaters, she stood meekly against a tile wall, one hand extended. 
Elderly people are everywhere in the metro tunnels beneath Moscow, begging for pocket change. Still, looking at her, I felt a stab of melancholy. 
Then four mean-looking teenagers in scarred leather jackets rushed past her. They muttered to one another, turned back and surrounded her. 
My stomach clenched in panic. But then I realized what I was seeing. These kids, who slouched and stank of cigarettes and beer, were digging furiously through their pockets, handing the old woman every coin they could scrape together. 
Since moving to Moscow seven months ago, I’ve been schooled in the stark realities of Russian society by daily rides to language classes and the office on the metro. The vast sprawl of tracks and tunnels seems to offer a direct line into Moscow’s soul — a place of faded elegance and hopeless cynicism, debauchery and destitution, barely contained brutality and touches of kindness. 
It’s potent stuff, and some days I just don’t have the stomach for it. I have to force myself to walk into the station, and spend the whole commute staring at my shoes, afraid of what I’ll see if I let my eyes rove. 
But there is something in these halls that tells a story about Russia itself, a monument to communist days, when underground palaces, glittering in chandeliers, decked in mosaics and frescoes and Stalin-era sculpture, were built for the common commuters. 
Now they are shabby and cramped, the bulbs burning out in the chandeliers, the halls a miserable jam of too many frazzled bodies. Up above, wild Moscow rages along, lawless and mad, cold and rich. Down below, the trains are roaring through the dark, miss this one and the next will be right behind it. 
The metro is where you’ll find the people who are just scraping by in the shadow of oil wealth, and the ones who have already fallen through the cracks. It’s the haunt of stray dogs and lovesick teenagers, homeless alcoholics and wounded veterans, tourists and bone-weary commuters. 
The sight of a stray dog startled me early one morning. He was limping confusedly on three legs in the tangle of the turnstiles. His front paw dangled. It appeared to be split in two, dripping blood, as if somebody had stomped on it. He was glancing around desperately, as though he was looking for help. 
Hundreds of commuters clogged the station, but nobody stopped for the dog. An old man bent down over him for a moment, then hurried along. I was on the other side of the turnstile, fumbling for my card. When I looked up again the dog had melted into the forest of legs. 
I peered around, but I couldn’t see him anywhere. I stared at the rows and rows of students, workers, pensioners — an anonymous mob, stolid and stone-faced. 
Somewhere in this vast Soviet building, a creature was suffering, but I’d never find him. And if I did, then what? He was too big to carry. I didn’t know how to find a vet. 
I thought about the dog all day. I told my Russian teacher about him, and she gave me an incredulous look from between blackened lashes, sparkling lids. “But the people you see on the metro have horrible problems,” she reproached me. 
“I know,” I said. She was right, but I couldn’t help it. I was embarrassed. 
Still, I looked for the dog on the way home. I didn’t see him. I walked back to my apartment slowly, trying to get the memory of his crushed paw out of my mind, the hopeful, wounded way he’d looked up at the indifferent passengers. The dog was haunting me. When I finally got home, I sat on the couch and cried. 
When I first got to Moscow, it was the heat of summer, and the press of bodies on the metro almost turned me into a teetotaler. I couldn’t bear the stink of the drunks on the trains, sweating out vodka, their clammy skin clinging to mine like plastic. Empty bottles of beer rolled and clattered underfoot. 
Then I’d see young men spring gallantly to their feet to offer their seats to old women, or the way Russians buried their noses in books as the trains screamed through the tunnels, and decide it wasn’t such a bad place after all. 
But I couldn’t get over the cold faces of all those strangers. One day I complained to my Russian teacher: “I never saw any place in the world where people are so gloomy. It takes me an hour to get from home to here, and I didn’t see a single person smile the whole way. Not one!” 
“Do people in other countries go around smiling?” she asked skeptically. 
“Well, yes,” I said. 
“In Iraq? In Iraq they smile?” She was determined to break me, to get to the truth. 
“Yes,” I said. “Iraqis smile a lot.” 
“That,” she said with a sneer, “is very strange.” 
One day I was riding out to the university for a Russian class. It was around noon on a Saturday, and the city was shaking itself out of sleep as a few early snowflakes skittered down from the steely sky. The metro car was almost empty. 
I sat staring at a young woman across the way. She must have been up all night. Her hair had been styled, she looked delicate and well dressed, her boots and bag were expensive. Her head sagged on her neck, as if she were nodding on heroin. Her eyes, heavy with last night’s makeup, drooped shut. Her chin dropped to her chest. 
She crashed onto the floor, and the jolt woke her long enough for her to haul herself back onto the bench, where she promptly fell back into her dreams. The stout young mother at her side scooped up her little boy and moved across the aisle, lips set in disapproval. 
The young woman fell onto the floor again, this time landing on the feet of the old man at her side. He shook his foot free, irritably. She resumed her place on the bench. 
By now everybody in the carriage was staring at the girl, but impassively. A pair of tough-looking men were watching her like wolves. I felt nervous for her. Anybody could have scooped her off the subway car, taken her away, done anything. Who had abandoned her here? How long had she been rattling through the tunnels, waiting to sober up? I glanced at the men again. They were whispering to each other, laughing a little, running their eyes over her slumped body. 
Then my stop came up, so I stood and got off. In the end, I was just another face in the crowd, watching, and then moving along. 

Megan K. Stack is a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, where this comment appeared.

TITLE: Sweet 16
AUTHOR: By Richard Lourie
TEXT: Some anniversaries go unmarked and are all the more significant for that. Maybe it was the excitement when President Vladimir Putin named First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as his successor, while Putin was named Time magazine’s Person of the Year. At the same time, the 16th anniversary of the collapse of the Soviet Union on Dec. 25 was neither mourned nor celebrated by public or pundits.
So what does that tell us? That the Soviet Union belongs to another century and that its resurgence, unlike Russia’s, is entirely out of the question. Soviet elements persist in the current society and mentality and will for some time, just as elements of tsarist Russia persisted in Soviet times and persist to this day. Forming a realistic picture of today’s Russia means being able to identify the Soviet elements still at work without imposing a neo-Soviet paradigm on the present situation.
The trickier question — one that can be asked by foreigners but answered only by Russians themselves — is whether the Soviet phase was consigned to the proverbial dustbin of history a little too fast and whether Russia may have benefited from a more formal process of de-Sovietification.
One of the reasons Russia has still not assumed a clear and definite new identity is because it has not worked out a sufficiently clear and definite view of its Soviet past. Perhaps one way to begin the needed discussion on that subject would be to propose making Dec. 25 a national holiday — Fall of the U.S.S.R. Day. And if so, should it be a day of jubilation or sorrow, shame or pride?
Coincidentally, it was on Dec. 25 that the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, launching a long, losing war that drained the country of blood, treasure and confidence. The war was the beginning of the Soviet decline that would culminate a dozen years later to the day. Germany had a similar problem: The fall of the Berlin Wall coinciding with the date of Kristallnacht. But why not remember both — the criminal folly and the deliverance?
But there are also simpler reasons that Dec. 25 went unmarked and unremarked this year. There are times when the immediate future seems an open field of possibilities and not a wall on which reruns are screened. Russia is releasing decades of pent-up energy — the pleasures of being free to make money, to travel, to live as one sees fit. Whatever Medvedev’s actual powers and responsibilities will be, he does seem the right face for a young Russia flexing its muscles and feeling its oats.
The fact that 16 years have passed since the fall of the Soviet Union means a generation of Russians born in post-Soviet times is now turning 16. Many will begin having their first serious dreams of what to do with their life after school. It was at that age that Putin, fed on Soviet films and books about KGB derring-do, decided to become a spy. “What amazed me most of all was how one man’s efforts could achieve what whole armies could not,” Putin said in his book “First Person.” “One spy could decide the fate of thousands of people.”
And just as Putin was turning 16, his country invaded Czechoslovakia, which was attempting to reform its system and create “socialism with a human face.” It would be the Soviet Union’s similar attempts at reform under Mikhail Gorbachev that would destroy the system and open up all sorts of incredible possibilities, including that an obscure former KGB officer could end up as president.
We know what Putin was dreaming of then, but what about Russian 16-year-olds now? Are all their heads just crammed with brand names, statistics and Internet pixels, or is there one who dreams of changing “the fate of thousands”?

Richard Lourie is the author of “A Hatred for Tulips” and “Sakharov: A Biography.”

TITLE: Gaza Suffers as Israel Stops Fuel Supplies
AUTHOR: By Ibrahim Barzak
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Gaza City awoke Monday to shuttered bread shops and gas stations, prompting fears of a humanitarian crisis as Israel pressed ahead with efforts to stop Palestinian rocket fire, refusing to reopen crossings or allow in crucial fuel supplies.
Children marched through dark streets holding candles, an angry Hamas TV announcer shouted at the camera “We are being killed, we are starving!” and Palestinian leaders issued emotional pleas for national unity. Israel accused Gaza’s Hamas rulers of fabricating a crisis to gain world sympathy.
Electricity officials shut down Gaza’s only power plant just before 8 p.m. Sunday, Gaza Energy Authority head Kanan Obeid said.
Health Ministry official Moaiya Hassanain warned the fuel cutoff would cause a health catastrophe. “We have the choice to either cut electricity on babies in the maternity ward or heart surgery patients or stop operating rooms,” he said.
Gaza bakeries stopped operating because of the blockade, bakers said, because they had neither power nor flour. Residents of the impoverished strip, which has a population of some 1.5 million, typically rely on fresh pita bread as a main part of their diet.
In addition to the fuel it receives from Israel to power its electrical plant, Gaza gets about 70 percent of its electricity directly from Israel — and that has not been stopped, Israeli officials said.
The power plant supplies most of the remaining electricity, and Israeli officials acknowledged that the fuel used to supply it has been stopped.
Israeli Defense Ministry spokesman Shlomo Dror said Israel would “do everything” to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
But Dror suggested that the crossings would not be opened in the coming days, saying that a reduction of rocket attacks this week was not enough to bring about the lifting of the blockade. The army said five rockets were fired on Sunday, down from 53 in the two previous days.
“If we open the crossings again tomorrow there will be rockets that fall again on Israel,” Dror said. “They don’t want to recognize Israel and want to destroy Israel, that’s their problem. They shouldn’t expect that we will help them destroy us.”
Dror and other Israeli officials charged that Hamas was creating a false crisis and could resume the electricity if it wanted.
Hamas claimed that five people had died at hospitals because of the power outage. However, health officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were contradicting the official line, denied the claim.
Israel has been trying to find a way to stop the rocket fire into its southern communities. The barrages have virtually paralyzed life there since a spike in fighting last week that followed an Israeli anti-rocket operation in Gaza.
Israel sealed all crossings into Gaza last week in response to the fighting, cutting off fuel, food and medicine.
Several weeks ago Israel reduced the fuel supply as a pressure tactic. Gazans said Monday that they were eating less meat and dairy products since they had no power for refrigerators. The price of meat has doubled in 10 days.
Late Sunday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas appealed to Israel to lift the blockade, said Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh. Abbas effectively rules only the West Bank after Hamas expelled his forces from Gaza last June.
Abbas renewed peace talks with Israel after a U.S. peace conference in November. On Monday, some Palestinians urged Abbas to break them off.
“We ask the Palestinian Authority to halt negotiations, and demand that (Israel) lift the embargo on Gaza as a condition of returning to negotiations,” Palestinian lawmaker Mustafa Barghouti told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Negotiators for Abbas’ government will raise the Gaza situation in the next session, but Abbas does not want to pull out of the talks because of what’s happening in Gaza, said Nabil Shaath, Abbas’ representative in Egypt.

TITLE: Hewitt Out But Federer Lives to Fight On
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: MELBOURNE — A despondent Lleyton Hewitt admitted that he had been beaten by the better man after his Australian Open dreams were ended by third seed Novak Djokovic on Monday.
Home favourite Hewitt, runner-up in 2005, was beaten 7-5 6-3 6-3 by the Serbian, who overcame an early bout of nerves to run out a convincing winner.
It was the first time since 2000 that Hewitt had been beaten in straight sets at his home grand slam event and the 26-year-old said he lost fair and square.
“He was too good tonight,” Hewitt told reporters. “He’s shown in big matches and over best-of-five sets in the big tournaments that he is the worthy world number three at the moment.
“And he’s a lot better player than he was 12 months ago, I think, when he lost to Roger [Federer] here last year. He’s got a great all-court game.
Hewitt’s previous match, against Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, finished at 4.33am on Sunday morning, leaving him little time to recover and prepare to play Djokovic.
But though the former world number one admitted that his body clock had been affected, he did not use fatigue as an excuse.
“I didn’t feel too bad,” he said. “But probably not quite as sharp as I would have liked to be.
“I felt ready when I had to go on the court. I started pretty well. As the match went on, maybe I lost that sharpness a little bit. But I was ready to go 7:30pm tonight when we went out to play.”
Hewitt led 4-2 in the first set before Djokovic hit back and the Australian admitted the opening set was crucial to the result.
“I was up 4-2 and had a break point in that game,” he said. “He came up with some good shots and big serves to get out of that game.
“Obviously, I would have had a lot better chance if I had consolidated and won that first set.”
In the women’s draw, Venus Williams and Ana Ivanovic thundered into the Australian Open quarterfinals, while Federer overcome his second stern test of the tournament to reach the last eight.
Wimbledon champion Venus and fourth seed Ivanovic made light work of their opposition, but Federer was again made to fight hard to defend his title.
Pushed to five sets on Saturday, he prevailed 6-4 7-6 6-3 against 13th seed Tomas Berdych but did not have things his own way.
“He was playing better [than me] in the second set, honestly,” Federer said in a courtside interview.
“He got an early lead, then played well in the breaker. In the end, maybe he made a wrong shot selection. It’s unfortunate for him, but jeez, it’s good for me to win in straight sets.”
Next up for the world number one is James Blake who reached his first grand slam quarter-final outside the United States with a solid 6-3 6-4 6-4 victory over Croatia’s Marin Cilic.
Djokovic’s fellow Serb Ivanovic booked her quarterfinal with Venus by ousting Caroline Wozniacki 6-1 7-6.
The world number three has not lost a set during the tournament and is relishing the prospect of playing the Wimbledon champion.
“She’s definitely a tough opponent. Last two grand slams I lost to her. Exactly the time for some revenge,” she smiled.
“It will be important for me to serve well, and, yeah, stay in the court and don’t give her too much.”
Williams battled into the quarters with a 6-4 6-4 victory over talented Polish qualifier Marta Domachowska.
Agnieszka Radwanska became the first Polish woman to reach a grand slam quarter-final when she came from a set and 3-0 down to beat an ailing Nadia Petrova.
Russian 14th seed Petrova led 6-1 3-0 but a groin strain hampered her movement in the third set and Radwanska stormed back to win 1-6 7-5 6-0 and set up a clash with ninth seed Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia.
“I was losing 6-1, 3-0 and I was thinking, ‘what am I doing wrong?’” Radwanska told reporters. “It was so quick and she was using the wind very well, and I wasn’t.
“Then I started to play, try to do something else. It was very long games and I won the second set. It was so close.”
The 18-year-old Radwanska is the youngest of the eight quarterfinalists.
Slovak Hantuchova recovered from a slow start to beat Russian Maria Kirilenko 1-6 6-4 6-4.

TITLE: Jerusalem Launches Satellite
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: JERUSALEM, Israel — Israel launched an advanced spy satellite Monday that will be able to track events in Iran, the country it considers its top foe, even at night and in cloudy weather, defense officials said.
The TECSAR satellite is of particular importance for Israel because it can be used to keep tabs on Iran’s nuclear program, which the U.S. and Israel fear is a cover for pursuing nuclear weapons, they said.
The satellite, developed by Israel Aerospace Industries, operates with a special radar system, allowing it to view much more than existing Ofek satellites that use cameras, the officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press.
Israel has backed U.S. efforts to get the international community to intensify sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program. Iran insists its program is for power generation.
The company confirmed the satellite launching in a statement.
“The TECSAR is the first satellite of its kind developed in Israel and ranks among the world’s most advanced space systems,” the statement said.
The satellite includes an advanced imaging system based on synthetic aperture radar, or SAR, technology, the statement said.
The development and launching cost tens of millions of dollars, the officials said. Within two weeks it will be possible to view pictures from the device, the officials said.

TITLE: NY Giants, Patriots In Super Bowl
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: NEW YORK — The New England Patriots will face one more challenge in their bid for a perfect season: a Super Bowl meeting with the surprising New York Giants.
The Patriots, winners of 18 consecutive games this season, and the underdog Giants won conference championships on Sunday to advance to the February 3 Super Bowl in Arizona.
New England turned back the San Diego Chargers 21-12 a few hours before the Giants surprised the Green Bay Packers 23-20 on Lawrence Tynes’s 47-yard field goal in overtime.
The victories set up a rematch of a December regular-season meeting in which the Patriots rallied from a 12-point deficit to beat the Giants 38-35.
Should the Patriots win the Super Bowl, they would join the 1972 Miami Dolphins as the only NFL teams to complete a season undefeated. The Dolphins went 14-0.
The victory over the Chargers, however, did not come easily.
New England quarterback Tom Brady needed to overcome a slow start and some errant passing in windy conditions to secure the win against an injury-depleted San Diego side.
A pair of second-quarter touchdown drives and a fourth-quarter TD strike to Wes Welker helped Brady make up for three stunning interceptions.
Laurence Maroney rushed for 122 yards as New England relied on a running game to move the ball and grind out the clock after taking a 14-9 lead at half-time.
“I think the difference was the players,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said after the game.
“These guys played great. They played great all year and played great today.”
San Diego, led by a gutsy performance by injured quarterback Philip Rivers and without running back LaDainian Tomlinson, failed to fully capitalize on a number of drives deep into Pats territory.
The Chargers settled for field goals of 32, 23, 40 and 24 yards by Nate Kaeding after three drives, two of them in the first half, stalled inside the nine-yard line.
The Giants needed overtime and a third chance for Tynes to claim their win over the favored Packers on the frozen turf of Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Tynes missed two field-goal attempts in the final seven minutes that would have won the game — including a routine 36-yarder with no regulation time left.
However, he redeemed himself in overtime, converting from 47 yards after the Giants Corey Webster intercepted a Brett Favre pass.
“I just wanted to get out of the cold,” said Tynes, who raced off the field as the ball sailed though the uprights.
“I think I was inside before it went through.”
New York quarterback Eli Manning completed 21-of-40 passes for 254 yards in directing the win.
Favre passed for two touchdowns, the second giving Green Bay a 17-13 lead in the third quarter, but was hurt by two interceptions.

TITLE: U.S. Says Iran Continues To Support Iraqi Shiite Fighters
AUTHOR: Kim Gamel
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: BAGHDAD, Iraq — The U.S. military worried Sunday about “mixed messages” from Iran, listing a dramatic drop in Iranian-made weapons reaching Iraq but no reduction in the training and financing of Shiite militants.
The report card further muddles U.S.-Iranian relations, as Washington ratchets up its anti-Tehran rhetoric in the shadow of a recent intelligence report that the Islamic Republic halted a nuclear weapons program four years ago.
A second suicide bombing in two days, meanwhile, killed six people in Anbar province, birthplace of the Sunni movement against al-Qaida in Iraq that has been a major factor in a recent downturn in nationwide violence.
The apparent target near Fallujah was a U.S.-backed Sunni tribal sheik who escaped harm, but the bombing reflected the difficulty in routing insurgents led by al-Qaida in Iraq even in areas where the military has made major gains.
Rear Admiral Gregory Smith, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, said attacks using powerful Iranian-made bombs known as explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, have fallen off in recent days after a sharp but brief increase in the first half of the month.
Late last year, the military said the flow of EFPs into Iraq had slowed, but General David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander, said last week that attacks with the weapons had risen by a factor of two or three in the first half of this month.
Smith said the increase fell off again last week.
“The number of signature weapons that had come from Iran and had been used against coalition and Iraqi forces are down dramatically except for this short uptick in the EFPs in the early part of January,” Smith said at a news conference.
“There was an increase, we don’t know why precisely,” he added. “There was an increase clearly of that weapon and now they’ve returned to normal levels.”
Smith said the U.S. is trying to understand the various ways in which Iran exerts influence inside Iraq, including the training and financial support of  militias, as well as the smuggling of weapons.
“We don’t think that the level of training has been reduced at all. We don’t believe that the level of financing has been reduced. It’s uncertain again what is happening in Iran that’s leading to that occurrence.”
The remarks were the latest in the verbal sparring between the two rival countries.

TITLE: Golden Start For Host Ghana As Nation’s Cup Gets Going
AUTHOR: By Mark Gleeson
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: ACCRA, Ghana — Sulley Muntari struck a wonder goal in the final minute to give hosts Ghana a 2-1 win over Guinea in the opening match of the African Nations Cup on Sunday.
Ghana hit the woodwork three times, took the lead 10 minutes into the second half but in then end had to rely on a 25-metre bullet from Muntari to grab all three points at the Ohene Djan stadium.
The home side, whose best efforts came in the first half, held their lead for just 10 minutes before Guinea scored an equaliser and then threatened to spoil the home party in the final stages.
But Muntari delivered a goal following a forceful run just when the 45,000-sellout crowd seemed to be settling for a disappointing draw.
Ghana began brightly and Junior Agogo hit the post with a forceful header after 20 minutes.
Eight minutes later midfielder Michael Essien headed against the same post from a corner and in the 40th minute a snap effort from Muntari also cannoned back off the post.
The opening goal came from the penalty spot when Oumar Kalabane brought down Agogo and Seychelles referee Eddy Maillet pointed to the spot. Asamoah Gyan belted the spot kick high into the net.
Kalabane then made up for his error by grabbing the equaliser 10 minutes later from a corner, his header hitting the underside of the bar before bouncing in off Ghana goalkeeper Richard Kingson’s shoulder.
Guinea could have snatched a win had Eric Addo not blocked Ismael Bangoura’s late shot while Ghana substitute Dede Ayew’s first touch of the ball was superbly saved by Kemoko Camara.
Morocco were due to meet Namibia in the other Group A match in Accra on Monday while the much anticipated meeting between Ivory Coast and Nigeriawas also set to take place.

TITLE: Al-Qaida Puts Questionnaire Online
AUTHOR: Lee Keath
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: CAIRO, Egypt — Sympathizers submitted hundreds of questions to al-Qaida deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri’s “online interview” before a recent deadline. Among them: Why hasn’t al-Qaida attacked the U.S. again, why isn’t it attacking the Israelis and when will it be more active in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria?
So far, there have been no answers.
Al-Qaida’s media arm, Al-Sahab, announced in December that al-Zawahri would take questions from the public posted on Islamic militant Web sites and would respond “as soon as possible.”
More than 900 entries — many with multiple questions — were posted on the main Islamist Web site until the cutoff date of Jan. 16. After the deadline, the questions disappeared from the site, and no answers have yet appeared.
One thing is clear from the questions: self-proclaimed al-Qaida supporters are as much in the dark about the terror network’s operations and intentions as Western analysts and intelligence agencies.
Some of those posting questions sound worried: Does al-Qaida have a long-term strategy?
One, allegedly a former Arab al-Qaida fighter in Iraq, complained about Iraqi fighters discriminating against non-Iraqi mujahedeen.
Others wanted advice: Should followers be focusing their jihad, or holy war, against Arab regimes, or against Americans?
Like many in the West, the questioners appear uncertain whether al-Qaida’s central leadership directly controls the multiple, small militant groups around the Mideast that work in its name, or whether those groups operate on their own.
Journalists also were invited to send questions, and a few of the entries are labeled with the names of European and Asian newspapers. Diaa Rashwan, an Egyptian security expert in Cairo, also suggested some questions were probably submitted by intelligence agents looking for clues to al-Qaida’s thinking, but there was no way to verify that.
The vast majority of questioners, identified only by their computer usernames, appear to be supporters of al-Qaida or the jihadi cause, often expressing praise for “our beloved sheik” and “the lion of jihad, Sheik Osama.”
Many appear frustrated that al-Qaida is not doing more.
“When will we see the men of al-Qaida waging holy war in Palestine? Because frankly our situation has become very bad,” writes one, with the username “Seeking the Path.” “As for al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia,” he asks, “are there efforts to revive jihadi action there after the blows that hurt us?”
Another, signed “Osama the Lion,” asks: “Why doesn’t al-Qaida open a front in Egypt, where there are wide opportunities and fertile ground for drawing in mujahedeen?”
Another, called “Knight of Islam,” asks, “We are awaiting a strike against American soil. Why has that not been done? Why are the Jews in the world not struck?”
In videos over the past years, al-Zawahri has repeatedly spoken of opening new fronts against all those lands — but little has occurred. Saudi Arabia has waged a fierce crackdown that has killed or captured many in al-Qaida’s branch there. In 2005, al-Zawahri announced the formation of a branch in his homeland, Egypt, but nothing has been heard of it, although Egypt has suffered terror attacks.
In his videos, al-Zawahri always depicts al-Qaida as moving steadily toward victory — something none of the questioners directly challenges. But they seem in need of reassurance, pressing for more specifics about al-Qaida’s plans than al-Zawahri normally gives.
“I think they (al-Qaida’s leaders) were aware (that) ... everyone was no longer buying into the propaganda about how great they are,” said Jeremy Binnie of Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Center. “This was put forward as a propaganda exercise and to make it look like they are responding to these concerns.”

TITLE: Olympic Organizers Deny People Have Died Building ‘Bird’s Nest’
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: BEIJING — Beijing organizers on Monday denied a report that 10 workers had died during the construction of the showpiece stadium for the 2008 Olympics, which start in 200 days.
A British newspaper reported on Sunday that China had covered up the accidental deaths of at least 10 workers since construction of the $400-million National Stadium, nicknamed the Bird’s Nest, began in 2003.
“The report by the Sunday Times that 10 people have died in the construction of the National Stadium is not true,” said Sun Weide, spokesman for the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG).
Sun referred questions as to whether there had been any fatalities on the site of the National Stadium to the 2008 Construction Office. No one at that office was available for comment.
“At the moment construction has been going well and according to plan,” Sun added. “The Beijing municipality and BOCOG attach great importance to safety in the construction of the venues.”
The 91,000-seater stadium is the only one of the 36 Olympic venues in China not completed by the end of last year and is scheduled for completion by the end of March.
It will host the opening and closing ceremonies as well as athletics and soccer at the August 8-24 Games.
Sunday’s report said the “conservative estimate” of 10 deaths “was reached by comparing numerous accounts of witnesses who worked at the site in different periods.”
The stadium earned its nickname because of the interwoven steel trusses that encase the concrete bowl of the arena. The design means many of the construction crew often have to work at great heights.

TITLE: Saakashvili Sworn In After Divisive Election
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: TBILISI, Georgia — Mikhail Saakashvili was sworn in to a second presidential term Sunday, pledging to mend fences with Russia, push Georgia closer to the West and bring prosperity to the ex-Soviet republic troubled by a divisive election that opponents claim was rigged.
After taking the oath of office in an elaborate ceremony outside parliament in the center of the Georgian capital, the 40-year-old, U.S.-educated lawyer reached out to opposition leaders and called for unity.
“Our strength is in our unity. We must unite and build our country together,” Saakashvili told the thousands who gathered for the ceremony. “We are going down different paths, but we have a common direction.”
The event was followed by a military parade along the main boulevard that featured heavy weaponry and soldiers carrying not Russian-made Kalashnikov rifles but U.S.-made weapons — a sign of Saakashvili’s intention to pull the ex-Soviet nation further from Moscow’s orbit toward the United States and the West.
Saakashvili spoke outside the parliament building, flanked by dozens of guests, including Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The United States sent a midlevel official — Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez.
In his speech, Saakashvili renewed calls to repair ties between Moscow and Tbilisi — ties strained by border disputes and increasing American influence.
“Four years ago, we extended a hand of friendship and cooperation to Russia. Today, I want to repeat that offer,” he said.
The Georgian leader won more than 53 percent of the Jan. 5 vote, according to official results. The opposition claims fraud pushed him over the 50 percent threshold for an outright victory and wants a runoff with opposition candidate Levan Gachechiladze, who officially won about 25 percent.
Hundreds of opposition activists gathered at a site away from the inauguration ceremony, pressing their demand for a new vote.
On the eve of the inauguration, a U.S. diplomat met with government and opposition representatives and said both should work to improve democracy in the Caucasus Mountains nation. U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew J. Bryza said the government and its opponents should concentrate on ensuring a free and fair parliamentary election this spring.
While his words implied criticism of the government, they also suggested the opposition should accept Saakashvili’s re-election, stressing the importance of a “culture of democracy” in the region.
Saakashvili called the election a year ahead of schedule after ordering a violent crackdown on opposition protesters in November, moves aimed to maintain his grip on power and stave off a mounting opposition challenge.
International observers expressed serious concerns about the vote but said it met most of Georgia’s democratic commitments, and President Bush has congratulated Saakashvili on his victory.
Russia, whose relations with Georgia are badly strained, said that the election campaign could “hardly be called free and fair,” but President Vladimir Putin has also congratulated Saakashvili.

TITLE: Nationalist Leads in Serbia Poll
AUTHOR: By Ellie Tzortzi
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: BELGRADE, Serbia — Serbia faces a showdown next month between a nationalist who leans towards Russia and a liberal favoring the West in a presidential election run-off.
Both candidates oppose independence for the breakaway province of Kosovo, expected to be declared soon after the second round vote, with the backing of the West.
Nationalist Tomislav Nikolic took 39.6 percent of votes in the first round on Sunday in a field of nine candidates, ahead of 35.5 percent for pro-Western President Boris Tadic.
The two men will compete in a Feb. 3 run-off, foreshadowing a repeat of the 2004 race, which Tadic won with 53.2 percent.
Analysts said Sunday’s 61 percent turnout — strong by Serb standards and the highest since the fall of Slobodan Milosevic in 2000 — showed how seriously people took the vote. Turnout could be even higher in February.
The second-round will require a “maximum mobilization by both candidates,” analyst Zoran Stojiljkovic told Belgrade daily Danas. “We can expect a tight race and a decision in photo-finish, with Tadic having only a slight lead.”
Tadic said Serbs must return to the polls in force on Feb. 3 “to show that Serbia is absolutely not giving up its European course, the path it started on in 2000.”
He warns of dark days if Nikolic wins and in effect has the backing of the EU, which on Monday said it was “confident that Serbia will continue to pursue its European course.”
Nikolic denies accusations of isolationism and warmongering.
He is lukewarm towards European Union membership and argues that Serbia can steer a middle course between the 27-member bloc and Russia, Serbia’s only ally in seeking to block the independence demanded by Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian majority.
“Serbia voted today for both Europe and Russia,” he told state broadcaster RTS. “The road to Russia is at this moment more open, and I’ll open the road to the European Union.”
Serbia was not a close ally of Russia in the days of the Soviet Union, but Moscow’s backing over Kosovo has reinvigorated feelings of Slavic brotherhood against the West.
To win the second round, the candidates must also attract third party votes with promises of higher living standards and jobs, as well as promising to keep the breakaway province, seen by Serbs as their historic heartland.
Tadic strongly backs joining the EU, despite most EU members and Washington planning to recognize Kosovo within months.
Many Serbs feel the country has paid enough for its role in the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s and most want EU membership. The question is whether their resentment is greater than the allure of EU-fostered economic development.
In the run-off, analysts think supporters of pro-Western candidate Cedomir Jovanovic will vote for Tadic, while Nikolic would pick up roughly the same share of the vote from Milutin Mrkonjic, candidate of Milosevic’s once-mighty Socialist Party.
Political analyst Milan Nikolic said the outcome might be in the hands of nationalist Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, the backer of third-placed candidate Velimir Ilic.
Kostunica is Tadic’s partner in Serbia’s fragile coalition government, favoring a hard line against the EU over Kosovo and is keen on closer political and economic ties with Moscow.
“Kostunica is again in a position to decide the fate of the country,” Milan Nikolic said.

TITLE: U.S. Democrats Abroad May Vote in Primaries on Internet
AUTHOR: By Jessica Bernstein-Wax
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: MEXICO CITY, Mexico — This year, for the first time, expatriate Democrats can cast their ballots on the Internet in a presidential primary for people living outside the United States.
Democrats Abroad, an official branch of the party representing overseas voters, will hold its first global presidential preference primary from Feb. 5 to 12, with ex-pats selecting the candidate of their choice by Internet as well as fax, mail and in-person at polling places in more than 100 countries.
Democrats Abroad is particularly proud of the online voting option — which provides a new alternative to the usual process of voting from overseas, a system made difficult by complicated voter registration paperwork, early deadlines and unreliable foreign mail service.
“The online system is incredibly secure: That was one of our biggest goals,” said Lindsey Reynolds, executive director of Democrats Abroad. “And it does allow access to folks who ordinarily wouldn’t get to participate.”
U.S. citizens wanting to vote online must join Democrats Abroad before Feb. 1 and indicate their preference to vote by Internet instead of in the local primaries wherever they last lived in the United States. They must promise not to vote twice for president, but can still participate in non-presidential local elections.
Members get a personal identification number from Everyone Counts Inc., the San Diego-based company running the online election. They can then use the number to log in and cast their ballots.
Twenty-two delegates, who according to party rules get half a vote each for a total of 11, will represent their votes at the August Democratic National Convention. That’s more than U.S. territories get, but fewer than the least populous states, Wyoming and Alaska, which get 18 delegate votes each.

TITLE: Britain Begins European Treaty Ratification
PUBLISHER: Agence France Presse
TEXT: LONDON — The government has braced Monday for the start of a bruising battle to ratify a controversial new European treaty, dismissing demands for a referendum likely to reject the pact.
The country’s notoriously difficult relationship with the European Union will come under the spotlight over the next month and a half as MPs debate the Lisbon Treaty, which replaced the defunct EU constitution.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown could face a first vote on the treaty — which must be ratified by all 27 EU states to come into force — as early as Monday evening, depending on how proceedings progress.
While an immediate defeat is unlikely, observers suggest later votes could test the ruling Labour Party’s working majority of 67 in the 646-member House of Commons, as some of its own lawmakers side with opposition Tories.
Critics want Brown to make good on a pledge by his predecessor Tony Blair to hold a referendum on the constitution, made shortly before it was rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005.
But Brown argues that the Lisbon Treaty, signed by EU leaders last month, is fundamentally different from the constitution.
Pro-referendum campaigners say he is simply scared that notoriously eurosceptic Britons will reject it. A poll by the Financial Times in October showed 51 percent of Britons against the treaty, and only 17 percent for.
“MPs of all parties must today keep their pledge to voters — and Mr. Brown must resolve never to try and dodge these major decisions again,” said the biggest-selling daily the Sun, part of a strongly eurosceptic press.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband was to set out the government’s case in the House of Commons Monday afternoon.
But his case was not helped by a lawmakers’ report at the weekend, which said the new treaty was substantially the same as the doomed EU constitution.
“We conclude that there is no material difference between the provisions on foreign affairs in the constitutional treaty which the government made subject to approval in a referendum and those in the Lisbon Treaty on which a referendum is being denied,” said the Foreign Affairs Committee report Sunday.
That view echoed earlier findings by the House of Commons’ European Scrutiny Committee that the treaty and the constitution were “substantially equivalent.”
Miliband insisted the Lisbon Treaty does not require a referendum, since Britain secured concessions in four “red line” policy areas in negotiating the new pact following the demise of the constitution.
“Obviously ... parliament will have to decide. But I don’t believe that this treaty meets the bar of fundamental constitutional reform that should be the basis of having a referendum,” he told the BBC Sunday.
Brown is widely seen as more eurosceptic than Blair, whom he succeeded in June, although opposition Tories still claim he has surrendered Britain’s sovereignty to Europe.
The British leader raised eyebrows by arriving late for a grand ceremony to sign the new EU treaty in Lisbon last month with what many regarded as a flimsy excuse — he had to appear before a committee of MPs.
On Monday Brown was again absent, this time on his way back from a trip to China and India, suggesting he views their mounting economic power as far more important than finalising Europe’s institutional future.

TITLE: More Killed in Kenyan Crisis
AUTHOR: By Michelle Faul
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: NAIROBI, Kenya — Several people were beaten and hacked to death with machetes in a Nairobi slum Sunday in renewed ethnic fighting over Kenya’s disputed election, residents said.
Elsewhere, police managed to quell more than two days of fierce fighting around a Catholic monastery that killed 22 people and left 200 homes burned in the Rift Valley, 190 miles northwest of the capital Nairobi, officials said.
The re-election of President Mwai Kibaki has tapped into a well of resentments that resurfaces regularly at election time in Kenya. But never before has it been so prolonged or taken so many lives.
A government commission says more than 600 people have been killed in violence that erupted after the Dec. 27 election, which opposition leader Raila Odinga accused Kibaki of stealing.
Odinga has called for another “peaceful protest” on Thursday.