SOURCE: The St. Petersburg Times
DATE: Issue #1431 (95), Friday, December 5, 2008
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TITLE: Prosecutor’s Office Raids Rights Group
AUTHOR: By Galina Stolyarova
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: A group of armed and masked men who claimed to have been sent by the local prosecutor’s office raided the local headquarters of the Memorial human rights group on Thursday, confiscating hard drives from all of the group’s computers.
Tatyana Kosinova, one of the leaders of Memorial, said in a telephone interview later Thursday, that several masked men armed with sticks stormed into her office on 23 Ulitsa Rubinsteina at around 1 p.m. and began searching the premises.
“Staff were confined to their seats and not allowed to communicate,” she said.
A spokesman for the Investigative Committee of the Russian General Prosecutor’s Office said the search was part of an investigation of a criminal case involving the publication of the “Here Comes the Real Candidate,” an article by Konstantin Chernyayev in Novy Peterburg newspaper in June 2007.
The prosecutors allege that the article incited social and ethnic hatred.
Memorial’s staff, however, are not convinced.
“We do not have, and never have had any connection with this newspaper,” Kosinova said. “Besides, I cannot even remotely imagine what could possibly be of any interest to the prosecutor’s office in our headquarters. All our projects — the Gulag museum, the discussion club and historical research — are legal.”
Irina Flige, head of Memorial’s historical wing, which researches political repression in the Soviet era, thinks the raid was an attempt to intimidate the organization, and may pressage its closure.
“The Novy Peterburg link is so far-fetched none of us finds it in the slightest bit believable,” Flige said. “We do not know what the article was about, let alone have any personal involvement with it. This is just an excuse for the authorities to bare their teeth.”
Flige said the investigators seized all the organization’s research material from the past 20 years.
“The files contain our research into the Red Terror [during the Russian Civil War in 1918-1922] and the history of Russia’s Gulag [labor camps],” she said. “Clearly, the authorities have had enough of us.”
Kosinova said she and her staff, as well as Memorial’s lawyer, were denied access to their offices during Thursday’s raid. Staff were not allowed to use their mobile phones or answer the office phones. At around 3.30 p.m. a crew from TV Tsenter television managed to get in but was promptly pushed out with the use of sticks.
Thursday’s raid prompted a group of human rights advocates in Moscow to sign a letter of protest.
Memorial has had a series of stand-offs with security services in recent years. For example, a major scandal occured when Memorial’s volunteers discovered anomimous graves near a shooting range in Toksovo near St. Petersburg in 2003 and carried out their own analysis, concluding that the bodies were victims of Stalin’s purges.
The security services denied the allegation and said that all locations where victims of political repression had been shot had been made public and turned into memorial cemeteries many years ago.
TITLE: Putin: Obama May Ease Russia-U.S. Links
AUTHOR: By Michael Stott
TEXT: MOSCOW — Prime Minister Vladimir Putin predicted Thursday that Russia will weather the global economic crisis with “minimal losses” and he pledged to maintain rises in social spending and avoid a sudden devaluation.
Facing questions about rising inflation, housing problems and job losses in an annual question-and-answer session with the Russian people, a somber Putin blamed the United States for “infecting” leading world economies with the crisis.
But he offered an olive branch to the new administration of President-elect Barack Obama. Russia can see “positive signals” that strained relations might improve after Obama takes office, he said.
In the session, televised live from near the Kremlin, Putin praised NATO for not setting out a firm timetable for the inclusion of Georgia and Ukraine.
There were signs also, he said, that Obama’s team is reconsidering the deployment of an anti-missile system in eastern Europe — something Russia has strongly opposed as a threat to its security.
“We hear that one should build relations with Russia, taking into account its interests,” Putin said. “If these are not just words, if they get transformed into a practical policy, then of course our reaction will be appropriate and our American partners will feel this at once.”
There was no such comfort for neighboring Ukraine, which has angered Moscow by pursuing an aggressively pro-Western foreign policy and failing to pay its large gas bills on time.
Putin ruled out concessions to Kiev on gas prices, saying it is already paying much less than other European countries and threatened to cut off supplies if any Russian gas is siphoned off during transit through Ukraine.
“If our partners do not follow agreements or illegally siphon off our gas from transit pipelines as they did in previous years, then we will be forced to cut deliveries. What else can we do?” he said.
Putin’s first telephoned question came from a man who said he had lost his job along with others in his town and asked how he could survive.
The prime minister said he is confident that the world economy will pick up and revive demand for Russian raw material exports; in the meantime unemployment pay is being increased.
“We intend to deliver on all our plans to increase social allowances,” he added. “We are not going to revise this.”
With speculation continuing about his possible return to the presidency, analysts are watching whether Putin can maintain his popularity in today’s harder times with voters who trusted him during the previous 10 years of economic boom.
“We have good chances to go through this difficult period with minimal losses both for the economy and ordinary people,” Putin said in opening remarks carried live by state television.
Putin instituted the broadcast when he was president and has decided to continue it in his new role. His hand-picked successor as president, Dmitry Medvedev, has given no indication since taking over in May that he plans to hold a similar session.
Russians, fearful of a repeat of the devastating 1998 economic crisis, have been withdrawing roubles from banks and buying dollars, putting pressure on the national currency.
Putin repeated government promises that there would be no sudden, sharp devaluation of the rouble and pledged to use gold and foreign exchange reserves to ensure this.
But he also said the state could take stakes in major Russian companies to help them combat the crisis. Such measures, he added, could be “rather large-scale.”
Viewers and listeners submitted questions to Putin in advance on toll-free phone numbers, by text message or via a special website. There were live television links to questioners in Russia’s regions, including military staff at a submarine-building facility in the Arctic.
TITLE: Donors Few and Far Between as Doctors Appeal for Blood
AUTHOR: By Olga Kalashnikova
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: China witnessed both joy and tragedy in 2008 with the summer Olympic Games in Beijing in August coming just weeks after the Sichuan earthquake in which, it was reported on Nov. 21, as many as 19,000 people died.
In a unique recognition of these two events, Chinese workers of the International Red Cross decided to honor with Olympic-style medals those people who gave blood following the earthquake and recognize the volunteers who had assisted the injured as champions.
The medals were awarded last month, and the recipients included 50 Russians — 20 from St. Petersburg.
But despite this success, blood is in short supply in the city.
In Europe, for every 1000 people there are 40 donors, says Vladimir Krasnyakov, the head physician of the city station for blood transfusion in St. Petersburg at 104 Moskovsky Prospekt and blood stocks need to be maintained at at least 20 donors for every 1000.
According to statistics posted on www.bloodcenters.org, the website of U.S. donation service Blood Centers of the Pacific, every three seconds someone in the world needs a blood transfusion.
“There are always blood stocks at the station for blood transfusions. But there is not enough blood that can be used urgently,” said Krasnyakov.
“The provision of blood depends on the amount of donors. The rarest blood type is the one not on the shelf when it is needed by a patient. Nowadays in St. Petersburg there are 11 donors per 1000 inhabitants,” said Krasnyakov.
According to the data from St. Petersburg’s blood transfusion service, just a few years ago there were only 7 donors per 1000 people, with improved rates of donation attributed to an awarness campaign.
Donating blood is treated with caution by people in St. Petersburg. Everyone understands that it is good and noble that they can do something to save somebody’s life, Krasnyakov said, but most people have an excuse for not donating. Among the reasons for such behavior is a lack of time and fear.
“People do not have enough information about blood donation. In foreign countries almost everyone after his 18th birthday becomes a donor. And he is treated as a respectable person, society considers him a hero, everyone knows that he saved somebody’s life,” Krasnyakov said. “In Russia there is a lack of blood donation propaganda. Pupils should be taught at schools the importance of blood and blood donation.”
But fear persists and the belief that the donor can be infected while giving blood has become an urban myth, said Krasnyakov.
“It is theoretically impossible to be infected. Only sterile, disposable equipment is used throughout the donation process, which makes it impossible to contract a disease from donating blood.”
Donors are tested for infections and receive a brief physical. The benefit of a free health check attracts one in five donors, according to statistics. Another benefit is that donors’ employers must give them the day off to donate, and an extra day is added to the donor’s statutory vacation time for each donation. Donors also recieve 850 rubles ($30).
“Blood donation helps people,” said Oksana, a donor at the station for blood transfusion on Moskovsky Prospekt. “And frankly speaking, it is also help for the family. I am a widow and bring up a child alone. Moreover, it is good for your general health as there is a constant renovation of the cells.”
Donors are limited to a maximum of five donations per year.
Russian law does not prohibit foreigners from giving blood but donation centers avoid taking blood from them.
“We are afraid. We do not know what diseases and infections the donor had before. We even do not know all diseases that can be in the native country of the donor. And we cannot provide our stations for blood transfusion with all possible tests for its determination,” said Krasnyakov.
The Russian government has recently allocated 9.5 billion rubles toward improving levels of blood donation and recognizes so-called Honored Donors — people who have given blood over 40 times. There are over 20,000 such donors in Russia.
“One should encourage a feeling of duty and patriotism in children,” said Krasnyakov, who pointed out that the largest group of donors consists of young people who just want to feel needed by society.
“Blood donation is the only opportunity to become a hero, to save somebody’s life.”
TITLE: Poisoning Suspected In Death of Poisoner
AUTHOR: By John Wendle
TEXT: MOSCOW — A convicted murderer who killed at least six people, including his wife and daughter, by poisoning their food has been found dead in a Yaroslavl prison, and officials believe that he may have died from the side effects of the poisons he used on his victims.
A Yaroslavl court in June convicted Vyacheslav Solovyov of six counts of murder and sentenced him to life in prison.
According to reports earlier this year on state-run Rossia television, he added poison to the food and drinks of his victims and observed the fatal effects on their health, sometimes over the course of several months.
Solovyov was discovered dead early Tuesday morning in solitary confinement at Detention Facility No. 1 in Yaroslavl, regional Federal Prison Service spokesman Alexei Pichuyev said Wednesday.
There were no indications of suicide or a violent death, and he likely died from the effects of “his experiments with poisons that he gave to others and was exposed to himself,” Pichuyev said by telephone from Yaroslavl.
An autopsy was to be performed Wednesday evening, Pichuyev said.
Solovyov began trying to invent poisons to test on humans six years ago, Rossia television reported at the time of the trial in April.
Along with six counts of murder, he was also convicted of four attempted poisonings.
Solovyov’s first victim was his wife, Olga, whom he poisoned in December 2003 by adding thallium, a highly toxic element used in rat poisons, to her coffee, according to prosecutors. She fell into a coma and subsequently died.
He went on to kill five other people by poisoning them, including his 14-year-old daughter, Anastasia, who accidentally ate thallium-laced caviar he had hidden in the refrigerator, according to prosecutors.
TITLE: In Brief
TEXT: Cluster Bomb Ban
OSLO (AP) — Nations began signing a treaty banning cluster bombs Wednesday in a move that supporters hope will shame the United States, Russia and China and other non-signers into abandoning the weapons blamed for maiming and killing civilians.
Norway, which began the drive to ban cluster bombs 18 months ago, will be the first to sign, followed by Laos and Lebanon, both hard-hit by the weapons.
“Too many people lost arms and legs,” Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said at the conference.
Washington, Moscow and other non-signers say cluster bombs have legitimate military uses such as repelling advancing troop columns.
TITLE: Solidarity Resorts to Meeting in Secret
AUTHOR: By Galina Stolyarova
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: After more than two weeks of repeatedly failing to find a venue to hold a conference, new democratic movement Solidarity looks set to finally hold the event on Saturday.
The movement, which has some of the most vocal critics of the Kremlin among its members, had been turned down by a string of potential host venues, including the Pulkovskaya and Pribaltiiskaya hotels, which both claimed to be booked on the requested dates.
Olga Kurnosova, the local leader of Garry Kasparov’s United Civil Front, said the venue’s location is being kept secret to prevent the authorities from exerting pressure on the organization that has agreed to play host to the event.
Other venues had turned Solidarity down either after a direct order from the authorities or as a result of fear of official retaliation, Kurnosova said. In one case, Kurnosova’s agreement with the administrators at the Ministry of Atomic Energy’s Professional Advancement Institute lasted less than an hour.
Within minutes of Kurnosova leaving the building she received an apologetic phone call which informed her that the hosting of the conference had been forbidden by the institute’s rector.
“The authorities are clearly going to all lengths to prevent the conference from taking place,” Kurnosova said.
Garry Kasparov, Boris Nemtsov, Nikita Belykh and Ilya Yashin are among the leaders due to take part.
“I must stress that we are going to go ahead and hold the conference even if the current location suddenly becomes unavailable,” Kurnosova said. “If the worst comes to the worst, we can seat the panelists and organize the vote in a small venue and arrange an audio broadcast of the event outside through several loudspeakers.”
It is expected that the gathering will assemble at least 450 delegates to review a program of unification of liberal forces titled “300 Steps To Liberty.”
Democrats have said that unfair political competition, a climate of fear and intimidation created by the state with the use of police violence against civil protests, the political persecution of activists who challenge the government and widespread media censorship are obstacles preventing the creation of a unified opposition.
TITLE: Russia Gloats Over Veto of NATO Plan
PUBLISHER: Combined Reports
TEXT: MOSCOW — Russia’s ambassador to NATO said Wednesday that the alliance’s decision to rule out near-term membership for Ukraine and Georgia shows that the U.S.-led military bloc is shying away from interfering with Russia’s sphere of influence.
NATO foreign ministers, meanwhile, affirmed on Wednesday their support for U.S. plans to install anti-missile defenses in Europe despite Russia’s opposition.
Western European countries led by Germany on Tuesday maintained a veto on membership road maps for the two former Soviet republics and succeeded in lifting a U.S.-driven freeze on NATO’s ties with Russia.
“There is an open split within NATO, and it will widen if NATO tries to expand further,” Dmitry Rogozin, Russia’s ambassador to NATO, said Wednesday in comments on the web site of state-run Vesti-24 television. “The schemes of those who adopted a frozen approach to Russia have been destroyed.”
Russia has called Georgia a tool of U.S. President George W. Bush’s administration, warned that NATO entry would break Ukraine into two ministates and has denounced a planned U.S. missile defense shield in Europe by threatening to deploy missiles in its Baltic Sea enclave, Kaliningrad.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried dismissed the Russian rhetoric as bluster, saying the 26-nation alliance has not handed the Kremlin an effective veto over its future expansion.
“Russia says a great many things along these lines,” Fried told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday. “I have learned, and I think we have all learned, not to take them at complete face value.”
Foreign ministers from all 26 NATO members on Wednesday signed a statement backing the deployment of interceptor missiles in Poland and an advanced radar station in the Czech Republic. The planned U.S. defenses in the two countries will make a “substantial contribution” to protecting allies from the threat of long-range ballistic missiles, the statement said.
Doubts about allied support for the plan were raised last month when French President Nicolas Sarkozy said it would “bring nothing to security ... it would complicate things and would make them move backward.” His statement at a meeting in France with President Dmitry Medvedev appeared to contradict his early support for the missile plans at a NATO summit in April. But in Washington a few days later, the French leader changed tack again, saying the anti-missile shield could “complement” Western defenses against a threat from Iran.
The NATO ministers agreed Tuesday to gradually resume contacts with Moscow, which were frozen after Russian troops poured into Georgia in August. However, they were critical of Moscow’s actions and insisted that the resumption of low-level talks would not mean a return to business as usual for the NATO-Russia Council.
Membership for Georgia and Ukraine “is an utterly American project, which has had a lot of money and effort poured into it,” Konstantin Kosachyov, head of State Duma’s International Affairs Committee, said in comments cited by Vesti.
(Bloomberg, AP)
TITLE: U.S. Businessman Arrested, Charged Over Sex Crimes
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: PHILADELPHIA — A wealthy Russian-born businessman from suburban Philadelphia was charged Wednesday with traveling to orphanages in his native country to molest young girls and hire them out as prostitutes.
Andrew Mogilyansky, 38, of Richboro, was charged with traveling abroad to engage in illegal sexual activity and with committing sex crimes while overseas.
A federal indictment alleges he molested three teenage girls brought to his apartment in St. Petersburg, Russia, from a nearby orphanage in late 2003 and early 2004, then recruited them into an online-based child prostitution business in Moscow that he ran with several other people.
The girls were 13 and 14 years old, acting U.S. Attorney Laurie Magid said.
“The significance of this case is, we want people to fully understand that you cannot just go to another country and think you are out of the reach of law enforcement,” Magid said.
“We deny the allegations, and we look forward to addressing them in court,” said Mogilyansky’s defense attorney, George H. Newman.
Mogilyansky was being held pending a detention hearing due Friday.
Four Russian men have already been convicted in Russia in the case, authorities said.
Magid said Mogilyansky has dual citizenship and that authorities will argue he is a flight risk and should be held until his trial.
According to court documents, Mogilyansky ran several lucrative businesses including a company that distributes fire extinguishing equipment and a car export business. He valued his personal net worth in 2006 at $5.3 million, court papers stated.
He also was listed as chairman and founder on the web site of the International Foundation for Terror Act Victims, which solicits donations for children injured in the school attacks in Beslan, Russia, where more than 330 people died during a hostage standoff in 2004.
TITLE: Sibir Takes a Dive On Investor Bailout
AUTHOR: By Courtney Weaver
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW — An announcement by Sibir Energy on Wednesday that it was taking on an additional $340 million worth of distressed assets owned by major shareholder Shalva Chigirinsky sent the company’s shares plummeting, losing more than half of their value on the London Stock Exchange.
The company said the decision to pick up the assets from Chigirinsky and his partner, Igor Kesayev, would be presented to shareholders at a general meeting on Dec. 18. Chigirinsky and Kesayev were facing margin calls for their 47 percent stake in the company, which already agreed to buy $158.9 million in assets, including Moscow’s Sovietsky Hotel, from the two men in October.
London traders offered an immediate negative reaction to the news, sending the stock down by 57 percent by the close of trading.
Sibir Energy CEO Henry Cameron said in an interview Wednesday evening that the London shares’ performance did not reflect the true value of the company.
“The market shows its view about investing in Russia by being volatile, but that’s the market, not the fundamentals of the company,” Cameron said.
Financial analysts worry, however, about the effect the decision will have on minority shareholders and the future of corporate governance in Russia.
This is the second time in a month that a Russian tycoon has transferred unfavorable assets from one company to another. Billionaire Oleg Potanin performed a maneuver similar to Chigirinsky’s in mid-November, when he sold assets of his Interros holding company to the power generator OGK-3, a subsidiary of Norilsk Nickel, in which he owns a stake.
“It seems to be never ending in how bad it can get,” said Clemens Grafe, chief strategist at UBS. “It’s not the first instance when we’ve seen minority shareholders getting pummeled by the majority shareholder, but it’s the most blatant one.”
Comparing the current situation to 1998, when Russian businessmen transferred assets around in order to keep them out of the hands of Western banks, Grafe said it is alarming that the government is turning a blind eye to the practice today.
“What you really wonder is why the government is allowing this to happen,” Grafe said. “You question to what extent they are in control.”
“Sibir Energy is not the biggest company in the country. And if you don’t see the government reacting to them, you don’t know what’s going to happen when something like this happens to a bigger company,” he added.
“Unfortunately, this is another sign of corporate governance not particularly improving,” said Alexander Burgansky, head of equity research at Renaissance Capital.
While Sibir CEO Cameron admitted that the decision to acquire the assets was an “uncomfortable” one, he said it was necessary to preserve the company’s existing shareholder structure, with Russians in the majority position and foreigners holding minority stakes.
“We understand that we will be criticized for our lack of corporate governance, but we prefer to think that what we’ve demonstrated is decisive management,” he said. “At a time like now, we think that is more important than corporate governance.”
He added that Chigirinsky and Essayer’s 47 percent stake in the company is essential to Sibir Energy’s commercial success in Russia.
“This is a fund vehicle controlled by Russians in which foreign investors have a stake,” Cameron said. “That is the formula; that is the structure.”
Chigirinsky released a statement on the Sibir Energy web site Wednesday expressing his gratitude for the support from company management.
“I am very grateful for the support shown to me by the board and, I hope, the loyal Sibir shareholders, who can be assured that our team will continue to work tirelessly to deliver outstanding returns across the business,” he said.
TITLE: Gazprom Could Borrow from State
PUBLISHER: Combined Reports
TEXT: MOSCOW — Gazprom will invest 920 billion rubles ($33 billion) next year and may borrow from state banks to cover spending, CEO Alexei Miller said.
“We are fully maintaining our plans for 2009 as far as key projects are concerned ...We may attract some funds from the state,” Alexei Miller told reporters in the Arctic city of Ukhta.
The company may turn to the state for funding because the terms are “more attractive” than those for commercial loans, Miller said. The investment program must be approved by the company’s board by the end of December, he said.
In July, Gazprom increased the budget for 2008 by 16 percent to a record 822 billion rubles. In August, Interfax said the figure could be raised by a further 25 percent, citing deputy chief executive Valery Golubev. The company’s press service declined to confirm or deny the report.
A quarter of Gazprom’s investments will go towards developing the isolated Arctic peninsula of Yamal, and that share will grow to a third of all spending in the next two years, Miller said.
Yamal is the company’s key source of future output as production falls at mature deposits in western Siberia. Yamal and eastern Siberia will account for half of Gaprom’s output by 2020.
By 2030, Yamal will produce 360 billion cubic meters annually, twice what Gazprom currently exports.
The company, which supplies Europe with a quarter of its gas needs, regularly revises both its capital expenditure and financial investment needs, sometimes three times a year. It says projects are getting more expensive because of rising prices for construction materials and services.
Gazprom has also regularly revised its needs for long-term financial investments because of aggressive asset acquisitions. Analysts have criticized the company for prioritizing equity deals over capex, which is much needed to increase gas production.
(Reuters, Bloomberg)
TITLE: Merger Will Spawn No. 2 Private Lender
AUTHOR: By Jessica Bachman
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW — Moscow-based MDM Bank and the regional Ursa Bank, Russia’s 13th- and 15th-largest banks, respectively, will merge to become the country’s second-largest privately owned bank, according to a joint statement released Wednesday.
Shareholders at the banks will merge their equity stakes in the new joint holding with 523 billion rubles ($18.7 billion) in assets and 72 billion rubles in capital.
MDM chairman Oleg Vyugin and CEO Igor Kuzin will move into the same positions at the new entity, which has yet to be named. Igor Kim, chairman of the board at Ursa, will move into the CEO post at MDM to oversee the merger.
Kim described the merger, which is expected to take between 12 and 18 months to complete, as “unprecedented” in size and importance.
“We have the resources necessary: the liquidity of MDM Bank, which is close to $1.5 billion, and Ursa Bank, approximately $1.3 billion, to create a substantial reserve for further development together,” Kim said.
MDM’s majority shareholder, Sergei Popov, said both he and Kim are keen on creating a “leading private Russian bank with significant competitive advantages.”
One of the merger’s main advantages, said Alfa Bank analyst Natalya Orlova, is the coupling of MDM’s experience in corporate banking in the Russian capital with Ursa’s “regional exposure.” Ursa is the country’s largest bank not headquartered in Moscow, with significant retail operations in Siberia, the Urals and the Far East.
But its broad geographic coverage hasn’t sheltered Ursa from the global credit crunch. And banking analysts said Ursa is in a weaker financial position than MDM.
According to analyst Maxim Osadchy, the business model that fueled Ursa’s rapid growth in recent years was almost entirely dependent on Western credit and eurobonds.
TITLE: Environment Ministry Presents Tougher Pollution Laws
AUTHOR: By Maria Antonova
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW — Natural Resources and Environment Minister Yury Trutnev presented a report to the State Duma on Wednesday calling for measures that environmentalists have been requesting for the past eight years.
About 10 million people in Russia live near dangerously toxic sites, Trutnev said, adding that while the economy keeps falling behind other countries in energy and resource efficiency.
The ministry is working on reforming environmental legislation, he said. It is changing the system of government regulation, introducing new methods for environmental insurance and auditing and creating mechanisms to encourage efficiency.
The new legislation will also abolish “temporary” allowances, a loophole that industries have used to pollute air, soil and water above the government-established norms. “Such a system is not effective … and is prone to corruption,” Trutnev said in the report. Legislation that would get rid of temporary allowances and increase fines sixfold has already been submitted to the Cabinet.
The system of government regulation will be changed by the end of next year to include financial incentives and remove administrative barriers. But switching to European standards of pollution control will take at least four years, Trutnev said.
The ministry is also pushing to re-establish the practice of government environmental assessment, which was effectively scrapped after the passage of the new Building Code in 2006. Proposed changes to the Building Code will be introduced in the Duma this month, a source in the ministry said Wednesday on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to comment.
“In general, these are positive intentions,” said Vyacheslav Pankov, director of the Guild of Ecologists, a business association of environmental planning, consulting and engineering companies from across the country. Pollution standards, however, must be re-evaluated carefully, he added.
Moreover, it remains a problem that environmental protection issues are overseen by the ministry in charge of natural resources extraction, he said.
TITLE: Less Can Mean More
AUTHOR: By Vladimir Pinayev
TEXT: With real estate bubbles and toxic mortgages among the root causes of the global financial crisis, it’s no wonder that Russia’s real estate market has been singled out to bear the brunt of the turmoil. As falling prices breed panic for many producers, they are forgetting that less does not always mean worse.
Indeed, there is a pressing need to remind developers, investors and businesses that falling prices were never before a reason to panic, and they shouldn’t be today either. Certainly, prices for commercial real estate — particularly office rents — will continue to decline. But companies that rent office space would be doing themselves a favor by examining these reductions for what they are rather than taking them as an indicator of doom ahead.
Moscow’s market for quality office space will likely see a price correction of 15 to 20 percent. Although companies tend to fear swift price reductions, careful consideration of the market climate shows that this is not always a bad thing. In terms of confidence, the faster the correction happens, the less stress for the market. As we head into the new year, we are expecting vacancy levels to grow as a result of the supply and demand dynamics of converging office space. Although many developers are freezing projects, buildings that are in advanced stages of construction will be completed on schedule in 2009. This means that the supply volumes hitting the market in 2009 will be similar to those in 2008. However, tenants are already revising their expansion plans and demand will continue to decline during the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009. This will mean that take-up will decrease as supply increases in the short term. In the long term, however, just as demand begins to pick up, the supply side will see a lag because of all the developers that opted to postpone projects.
While price corrections present a set of risks, they also offer opportunities for various groups of businesses.
How can a fall in prices and rent rates be a good thing? Even in a crisis, there are always people who come out ahead. Today, many companies are giving in to the psychological pressure coming from the financial markets and are opting to “wait and see.” But given the conditions we are expecting to see in the next several months, now may just be the best time to make a move.
Occupiers and businesses considering plans to expand in Moscow may find themselves in a surprisingly accommodating market in the next six months. As we see a correction of Moscow’s office rents, which have been rated among the highest in the world in the past several years, companies seeking to occupy space in the capital can look forward to additional incentives from developers. If they take advantage of the short period of time in which supply will exceed demand in Moscow’s office market, tenants can benefit from certain perks like more affordable rates, longer rent-free periods and partial compensation for fit-outs. More important, since Moscow still has so few quality office projects, they should move quickly so that they have the best pick of available space while it lasts.
In the short term, investors should look to take advantage of a window of opportunity. Because Russia has relatively few investment-grade properties, investors will see in the first half of 2009 a chance to buy quality projects with more attractive returns than usual. Rather than waiting, they would benefit from snatching up a limited number of good buys while they are still available.
Developers who manage to continue on with their projects and put the focus on concept quality may benefit in the long term from a less competitive market after the financial situation stabilizes. As sale prices go down, developers who respond quickly will win out by efficiently disposing of and getting access to liquidity. But a correction in rental rates will also benefit them by creating safer conditions for tenants, which will mean sustainable incomes in the future.
The Russian economy is in a good position to make a faster recovery than other European markets, given its strong fundamentals and a potential to stabilize in 2009. By taking advantage of low rents in the short term, companies may actually help speed up the recovery. Meanwhile, by the end of next year, take-up will begin to increase, compensating for a half-year lag. As demand starts recovering in the end of 2009, we can expect rent stabilization followed by the start of a general recovery in 2010. By that time, companies that have already gotten into the market can focus on getting ahead.
The real estate sector occupies a special place in Russia’s economy. In the boom period of the past eight years, we have been literally building the country. But, as the latest trends and forecasts show, that job is far from over. The current situation presents not just an opportunity for companies to grow, but a chance to turn the market around. The real estate market’s next cycle will be characterized by more professional players and a new level of project quality.
Vladimir Pinayev is managing director of owner and occupier services, Russia & CIS Jones Lang LaSalle in Moscow.
TITLE: The 2nd Leningrad Affair
AUTHOR: By Boris Kagarlitsky
TEXT: The fact that Saturday’s congress of Russia’s Communist Party was its 13th did not bode well. Superstitious patriots saw in that number something vaguely reminiscent of a Masonic plot — or at least something deeply disturbing to any true Russian Orthodox believer. With these anxieties hanging over them, party members prepared for their latest congress, crossing themselves and lighting extra candles in the church for protection.
But there was another, more serious cause for concern: The St. Petersburg branch of the party was hit with a big scandal.
It seemed that they had chosen the wrong delegates to attend the St. Petersburg congress. And, to make matters worse, they elected Vladimir Fyodorov as their local leader.
The main problem with Fyodorov was that throughout his party career he had not battled fiercely enough against one of the Communists’ main enemies — the Zionist and Masonic conspirators. In addition, he was far too reserved in renouncing Marx.
Although, during the Soviet era, Marx had generally been recognized as one of the “founding fathers” of communism, the post-Soviet Communist Party has taken an active stance of denouncing Marx — mainly because of his Jewish roots.
The leading “patriotic” Communist in St. Petersburg, Yury Belov, received only 40 percent of the vote in the election for head of the local party branch, but he refused to admit defeat.
On the instructions of the party’s presidium, a Moscow delegation was dispatched to St. Petersburg to put an end to the latest ideological deviations and breakdown in party discipline.
What was the result? The renegade, “anti-patriotic” faction was immediately purged when it lost its delegates and leader. The event was immediately termed “The Second Leningrad Affair,” referring to Stalin’s purges of that city in the 1940s.
Some party supporters and even functionaries felt the Communist leadership went too far this time. It is one thing when members disseminate “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” on the street or when they invite leaders of the ultranationalist Movement Against Illegal Immigration to May Day celebrations as brothers-in-arms. But it is quite another thing to destroy one of the most important branches of the party.
Communist Party presidium member Boris Kashin spoke for the opposing faction when he said: “Any attempt by the party to impose its decisions from above should be unequivocally condemned. To the credit of most regional party organizations, this unauthorized campaign has failed, although it has managed to damage the party’s authority.” Some regional branches of the Communist Party (in Karelia for example) denounced the actions of the Moscow leadership — not so much on ideological grounds as out of fear that they could set a negative precedent.
Even with all of these problems, the patriots within the St. Petersburg branch of the Communist Party took up a worthwhile cause: convincing the Russian Orthodox Church to canonize Stalin. It’s a shame the Orthodox hierarchy has not given the proper attention to this proposal.
The 13th Communist Party congress ended as any major party event should: Accompanied by enthusiastic applause, Gennady Zyuganov was once again re-elected to the top leadership position. Presidium members who had dared to side with their St. Petersburg renegade colleagues in the dispute were demoted, while Belov’s zeal was rewarded by being appointed to the Central Committee.
Only one question remains unanswered: What will the party leadership do once it has purged all its branch organizations by kicking out every member who disagrees with the party line?
Boris Kagarlitsky is the director of the Institute of Globalization Studies.
TITLE: Artist on the run
AUTHOR: By Sergey Chernov
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Artist and poet Babi Badalov feels that his life is threatened both in his home country Azerbaijan and in Russia because of his politically conscious art and because he is openly gay. Growing nationalism and increasing attacks on people from the former Soviet republics also means that Russia is not entirely safe for someone from Azerbaijan. Badalov thought he had found a new home in Cardiff, Wales, where he had been based since December 2006, but earlier this year the U.K.’s interior ministry denied his application for political asylum.
“[In Britain] I mixed with many people who applied for asylum — Afghans, Iranians, Somalis, people from all over the world. We went to the Refugee Council together, lived at the hotel together. There is such a word used there — ‘chance,’” Badalov said during a recent phone interview.
“You never know what will happen, everybody says it’s all up to ‘chance,’ that it’s a ‘lottery.’ You can have a solid case and still be denied asylum. Some other person can come [to the U.K.] just for the hell of it and receive [asylum].”
Badalov, who was one of the best-known artists in the St. Petersburg independent art scene centered at the Pushkinskaya 10 art squat in the 1990s, recently spent several weeks in the city, en route to Western Europe from Baku, Azerbaijan. While in town, he opened an exhibition of his work called “The Persian Ambassador,” which runs through December 28.
Deported to Azerbaijan from the U.K. on Sept. 20, despite a massive campaign in his defense launched by friends and supporters both in the U.K. and abroad, Badalov had to live covertly in Baku for two days, hiding from brothers who are angered by his homosexuality. His sister had warned him over the phone never to come to the country again.
“It’s not just my relatives. My whole small town is aghast that such a ‘faggot’ comes from our village,” he said.
“I can’t tell you how horrible it is. If I die and there’s a funeral, nobody will come: the mullah won’t come, nobody will read the Koran. [The body of a gay man] is a dirty, foul body. It cannot be touched; it cannot be washed. It must be thrown into a pit, because it’s so shameful. This attitude still exists there.”
As a result of the campaign on his behalf, Azerbaijan Airlines declined to take part in deporting Badalov, but BMI (British Midland Airways) agreed. According to No Borders South Wales, a group fighting against migration control and for freedom of movement for all human beings, BMI CEO Nigel Turner wrote in an e-mail, “I do not have the time or resources to investigate each case myself [and] nor do BMI.”
Sending Badalov to Azerbaijan was also a danger to him as he is known for works criticizing the country’s authoritarian rulers.
“Azerbaijan is one of many countries that wants to be a member of the European Parliament. It wants to be an imitation of Europe, like Russia does, but in reality everything is rotting there, worse than it was in the Soviet Union,” he said.
“I tried to exhibit my work called ‘Mister Musor’ [Mr. Garbage] a few times, where I am standing on a heap of garbage in Lenin’s pose.
“When the Azeri President died, they put his monuments everywhere — on every central street, on every central square — giant, hi-tech posters are everywhere, posters of Heydar Aliyev. The main street in every village is named after Heydar Aliyev, while all the rest are rotting. You walk ten meters [away from the main street] and it’s all sores. People live in shit, eat bones, die of hunger. But when [current President Ilham Aliyev] visits, there’s a monument to his father, and everything is fine. Lenin has been resurrected.”
After two days in hiding in Baku, where he slept in an art gallery, Badalov flew to St. Petersburg on a plane ticket bought over the Internet by a friend in London.
Born in 1959 in Lerik, an Azeri village near the Iranian border, Badalov came to Leningrad (St. Petersburg) in 1980, after serving two years in the Soviet Army.
“As we all knew in Soviet times, St. Petersburg was the cultural capital. So, as a person interested in everything that is new, I decided to go to Petersburg, as many did, to be closer to the modern, progressive world,” he said.
“There I met nonconformist artists and went to their gatherings. But it was scary: I worked as a night guard, as a concrete worker; I had a limitnaya propiska (a limited residence permit) and lived in a creepy workers’ hostel.”
But Badalov recalls the early ‘90s in Petersburg with affection.
“When Russia opened up and the Soviet Union broke down, we became interesting,” he said.
“It was a golden time. There was a need for contemporary art. Western artists started to come, and it became easier to hold exhibitions. That is why my works began to sell, and it became much easier for me as an artist; I had money, a studio, contacts.”
This soon changed, as St. Petersburg became Russia’s “criminal capital.”
“These ‘New Russians’ emerged; it became scary to go out on the street. I got scared and ran from Russia,” said Badalov.
Badalov first moved to Turkey, but could not put down roots there. He then moved back to Azerbaijan, where his life soon became intolerable.
“I was forced to get married and live behind the mask required by my parents and relatives,” he said.
“It was a creepy time. I acted like an actor, always playing some role, controlling myself.”
In 2006, he was invited to do a workshop as part of an international art program for two weeks in Oxford. With a British visa already in hand, he later decided to move to the U.K. for good.
While he is fond of his Russian friends and the Russian language, the country is not mutually welcoming to Badalov. He said he received threats from unknown men in the street, who told him that he should leave.
“I criticized the Russian authorities in some of my poems,” said Badalov, who wrote a poem about Anna Politkovskaya, the Novaya Gazeta journalist and persistent critic of the Kremlin’s politics who was shot to death in Moscow in 2006.
“I read it in Italy; it mentioned Putin and Anna Politkovskaya. I have some other provocative poems, so I am simply afraid to stay in Russia. It’s scary there. Even though I love Russian culture and my best friends live there.
“I was visiting a friend [in Petersburg], and I was horrified when I walked back home. In the West, it is just the opposite; I like to walk at nights there, rather than in the daytime.”
Badalov came up with the idea for the series of collages on display at the “The Persian Ambassador” while struggling for political asylum in Cardiff. That is where he found an old, 21-page album in a charity store. He filled the pages with magazine cutouts, newspaper headlines, his own drawings, and poems written in an odd mixture of languages. The works deliver a strong message about an artist with no home.
“I’ve remained a victim of languages, no language sticks to me. I can’t express myself in any language. When I was born, I spoke a local tribal language, close to Persian. When I went to school, it was Azeri; then it was Russian, now it is English. That is where this paranoia comes from — Cyrillic characters changing into Latin characters, English into Russian. It is a way of showing my emotions; it contains a bit of politics and a bit of philosophy.”
Thomas Campbell, the exhibition’s curator, described Babi as an “iconic figure” for the St. Petersburg alternative art scene for his vision, incredible productivity, and willingness to join other artists’ projects.
“The album pages that we’re showing at the Freud Museum are just a small part of his Cardiff period, which also includes a whole army of dolls that Babi fashioned from junk he found on the street and in thrift shops,” wrote Campbell in an e-mail interview this week.
“The ‘visual poems’ (Babi’s term) in ‘The Persian Ambassador’ are also ‘junk art,’ but in this case the junk is the bits of language, discourse, and images that all of us wade through every day, but few of us are capable of transforming into poetry, into art. Babi’s junk art, however, isn’t typical junk art, which I usually find depressing.
“Instead, the collages in the show are incredibly witty, precise analyses of the contemporary moment and Babi’s own predicament, which is also everyone else’s predicament — perpetual homelessness. For Babi, this is also reflected in his constant traveling between and among languages —Azeri, Russian, English, Talish (his ‘mother’ tongue, literally), what-have-you. Again, this stuff could be turned into dull art, but Babi’s skills as an artist and poet, and his unflagging punk energy make it all immediately appealing, fun, and affecting.
“The Museum and Babi found an ideal way of exhibiting the album pages that really involves the viewer. They’re pretty irresistible and engaging.”
Babi Badalov, “The Persian Ambassador.” Freud Museum of Dreams, 18A Bolshoi Prospekt (Petrograd Side), M: Sportivnaya, Tel: 456-2290.
http://babibadalov.wordpress.com, www.freud.ru
TITLE: Return of a crooner
AUTHOR: By Sergey Chernov
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: When Jay-Jay Johanson came to Russia for the first time in 2003, the Swedish crooner was backed by two men extracting loud electronic beats from two Apple laptops.
Having recently returned to his early, jazz-influenced style as heard on his new, seventh studio album “Self-Portrait,” sees “Antenna,” the 2002 electronic album he was touring in support of at that time, as a deviation from his main course.
“Today I would call ‘Antenna’ and [the 2005 album] ‘Rush’ side projects, [because] it’s not the way I make my albums generally,” said Johanson in a recent email interview, adding that he wanted to try different ways of arranging and producing his songs and let somebody else than himself produce the album. He said he had grown bored working with the same band on his first three albums.
“I even had plans to release these two albums under another name. There are some tracks on both these records that I’m proud of. Like ‘Cookie,’ ‘Tomorrow’ and ‘Rush.’ But as albums I call them side projects. [Last year’s] ‘The Long Term [Physical Effects Are Not Yet Known’] and ‘Self-Portrait’ are the natural follow-ups to ‘Whiskey,’ ‘Tattoo’ and ‘Poison.’”
Johanson finds that the jazz-influenced arrangements and production fits his singing style and his type of writing.
“These are also arrangements where I trust my musicians’ capability to improvise and their will to experiment with acoustic instruments,” he said.
“I adore the accidents that occur. The noises that contrast the stable piano, etc.”
It was jazz, specifically Chet Baker, that inspired Johanson to become a singer.
“Chet... hmm. I saw him live in 1984. It was marvelous,” said Johanson. “I had never appreciated jazz before that moment. But seeing that sensitive man, shy, almost see-through, showing his weakness made such an effect on me. And it made me believe that I could also be an artist one day.”
Describing Baker and David Sylvian as “my two childhood heroes,” Johanson also cited Brian Eno, Riuchi Sakamoto as well as his later favorites, Nick Drake, Joni Mitchell, Lou Reed, John Cale, Nico, Tim Hardin and Linda Perhacs.
“But these artists are not important to me as a creator,” he said.“I used to be inspired, but now I try to create from my own source, straight from the heart. And from my diary.”
Now Johanson attributes his stripped-down 2003 performance to the difficulty he had encountered trying to take “Antenna,” recorded with assistance from German electronica experimentalists Funkstorung, to stage.
“Antenna was trouble to transform into a live show,” he said. “That’s why no instruments were played at the time. And I had to focus on some sort of visuals.
“Now it’s, as it used to be before and after ‘Antenna,’ focusing on great musicians and hopefully good songwriting. We are the same people on stage as in the recording studio which helps to move the songs on stage.”
Jay-Jay Johanson performs at Glavclub, 2 Kremenchugskaya, M: Ploshchad Aleksandra Nevskogo/Ploshchad Vosstaniya, Tel: 905-7555, at 8 p.m. on Saturday.
www.myspace.com/jayjayjohanson
TITLE: Warm welcome
AUTHOR: By Magdalena Georgieva
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: In Greece it is called a taverna; in Slovakia it is a krcma; in Bulgaria a mehana. Russia also has its variation of this Eastern European bistro offering inexpensive but authentic national cuisine served in a simple and warm ambiance.
Brynza Cheburechnaya is one place to experience this hospitality. The restaurant is open 24 hours and is easy to find on Moskovky Prospekt as it is colorfully lit against a gloomy background of neighboring buildings.
The cozy atmosphere inside is somewhat spoiled by the presence of unsuitable interior elements. The orange and red vertical curtain blinds and Roman style columns covered with newsprint seem randomly chosen for the wooden decor and brick walls. A wooden staircase leads to the second floor where visitors can see the neon colors of the heating system crawling on the restaurant’s white ceiling.
This slight interior dissonance shouldn’t bother guests who have brought their appetites. Although in Russian only and lacking a large selection of dishes, the menu provides accurate photographs alongside the affordable prices.
The appetizer section includes six types of chebureki (the Tartar name for burek, a type of baked or fried stuffed pastry, popular around the Mediterranian Sea, Slavic nations, the Balkans and in the former Ottoman Empire) priced from 65 to 85 rubles ($2-$3). House specialty Cheburek Firmenniy Brynza (65 rubles, $2) is a moon-shaped pie, filled and covered with homemade brynza (salty sheep’s milk cheese) and Gouda.
Thanks to the quick service, appetizers won’t take more than five minutes to arrive with silverware laid in a wicker basket. A specialty among the six types of traditional salads is the Snow White Brynza (95 rubles, $3.50), which consists of fresh lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives and red onion rings. Although well spiced with the salty, soft flavor of the cheese, the salad remains soaked in oil that covers the bottom of the earth-brown plate.
The choice of soups is also not very rich with only four options. The Russian classic meat soup solyanka (135 rubles, $4.80) includes pork and Bavarian sausage, as well as fresh mushrooms, capers, carrots and sour cream. Lemon wedges in the warm clay pot add a subtle bitter flavor and a natural touch.
The choice of main courses is limited to only five, which are, portion-wise and aesthetically, identical to their menu pictures. Chicken tabaka (199 rubles, $7.10) grilled with garlic and pepper, is served on a rectangular wooden board with french fries and marinated onions on the side. The crispy chicken pieces can be dipped in the salsa sauce included with the meal.
Another substantial main course is the 400 grams of tsyplyonka, grilled chicken pieces, served in a clay pot with potatoes, garlic, onion and spices (124 rubles, $4.40).
The fine aftertaste and fruity aroma of the semi-sweet red house wine complements both dishes. The waitress will serve the red wine in a tall glass carafe and will be careful not to leave the glasses empty.
Although the restaurant offers black bread and lavash (white flatbread) that can be purchased separately for 15 rubles, the eatery lacks an aromatic homemade pita bread to go with its simple traditional meals. The “summer-savory” scent from the chebureki however, reminds one that they are an excellent alternative to bread.
For dessert, visitors can choose medovik, honey cake layered with whipped cream and covered with strawberry syrup (55 rubles, $2), or standard vanilla or chocolate ice-cream (78 rubles, $3).
Brynza can’t brag about its rich food assortment, or perfect interior arrangement but it can definitely boast about its high quality food, affordable prices and hospitality. It evokes the same spirit of authenticity and warmth common to many traditional Eastern European restaurants.
TITLE: Objects of desire
AUTHOR: By Elmira Alieva
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: A hundred examples of classic Italian Post-War commercial design from the Olivetti typewriter to the Vespa scooter are on show at the Loft Project “Etzahi” art center in an exhibition organized in association with Milan’s Triennale Design Museum.
“How often, using one object or another in your everyday life, do you think about the person who created it?” ask the organizers of the exhibition. “The actual people and the object’s history stand behind everything around us.”
The exhibition intends to illustrate the research, design and experimentation carried out by Italian designers and companies in the last half a century.
“These objects are symbols of the historical era in which they were produced and used. They make it easier for people unfamiliar with the history and culture of Italy to understand the changes that have taken place,” Silvana Annicchiarico, director of the Triennale Design Museum writes in the exhibition catalogue.
The exposition includes everyday familiar objects including armchairs, mirrors, lamps, cups, and sofas. But special attention is given to several typewriters — items that have become artifacts of an extinct culture. The Olivetti Valentine typewriter, designed by Ettore Sottsass and Perry A. King in 1968, is well-known as a plastic pop-art icon, expressing “goodbye” to the bulky cast-iron housings of old typewriters and “hello” to the new mobility of a light plastic casing.
Another design classic is the Vespa scooter, first produced in 1946 by the Piaggio aircraft factory when its normal business was restricted by the Allies after victory over Italy in World War II. The Vespa became a symbol of the Post-War period, a legend, especially after the 1952 Hollywood movie “Roman Holiday,” in which Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck were pictured riding the scooter.
All of the exhibits are ordered chronologically to acquaint the visitor with large periods of modern Italian history. Every object is supplied with a technical description and several photos to show how it was used.
“There are so many practical things that I would like to have. Look at that lamps, containers, chairs and tables. They are masterpieces of recent history,” said one of the visitors of the exhibition. “I wish I could lie down on one of the sofas here or to sit in the Feltri chair made from a mattress,” said another visitor.
The exhibition is located on the second floor of the Loft Project “Etazhi” gallery, a multifunctional space that consolidates contemporary art galleries, Backstage gallery and boutique, LoftWineBar, a hostel and what claims to be the only organic vegetarian restaurant in Russia — The Green Room Cafe.
100 Objects of Italian Design, Loft Project “Etazhi,” 74 Ligovsky Prospekt, through February 28. Tel. 611 0166. www.100objects.ru, www.loftprojectetagi.ru.
TITLE: Screening Germany
AUTHOR: By Ezekiel Pfeifer
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: If you list the themes examined at this year’s German Film Festival, it reads somewhat like a series of words and phrases produced by foreigners playing word association with the country’s name: World War II, militarism, Black Forest, communism, fascism and Turks are all there.
Thankfully, for those who have had their fill of German stereotypes, these are not the only themes covered by the more than a dozen films at the seventh edition of the annual festival.
As always, the event is designed to expose Russian audiences to a diverse range of contemporary German films, many of which are being shown in multiple cities around the world on a circuit of year-end German-film events.
The lineup shifts slightly with each international transfer, and the main event in St. Petersburg, which begins Saturday at Dom Kino and runs all week, is no exception. “Die Welle” (in Russian: “Eksperiment 2”), about the dark turn taken by a schoolteacher’s experiment in teaching the history of fascism, will make its Russian debut when it opens the festival on Saturday. Although set in modern-day Germany, the disturbing phenomenon it details is based on real events that took place in a high school at the wealthy northern Californian enclave of Palo Alto.
Screenwriter Dennis Gansel and actress Jennifer Ulrich are slated to appear in person to discuss the movie.
From there, the pictures on the docket delve into topics not quite so controversial, although no less peculiar.
“Eye to Eye: All About German Film” is an ambitious project featuring interviews with 10 contemporary German filmmakers about their favorite movies. The film includes five cinematic essays that explore such themes as Berlin in film and cinema under the Nazis, and six different image montages, including ones of kisses, screams and smoking, all of which are taken from some of the close to 250 movies referenced in this film of surprisingly reasonable duration, coming in at 105 minutes.
For a comedic interlude, catch the oddball picture “Family Rules” after boning up on film trivia with “Eye to Eye.” Without giving away too much, “Rules” sees a grandmother abducted, a group of strangers locked up in an abandoned building and a man longing for a family life. Meanwhile, “Cherry Blossoms — Hanami,” is about a German man who finds existential meaning on a trip to Japan.
Also on show will be a collection of short films of some of the most promising young filmmakers from Germany called “Next Generation 2008,” which includes titles such as “My Robot Father,” “Frequency Morphogenesis” and “About Love, Hate and the Other One.”
www.goethe.de, www.domkino.spb.ru
TITLE: Mumbai Attacks Raise Stakes for Pakistan, India
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: ISLAMABAD — U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in Islamabad on Thursday that Pakistan gave assurances that it would root out terrorism and round up anyone connected to last week’s attack in the Indian city of Mumbai.
Rice said the fight against terrorism is a “global struggle” in a news conference at the end of a brief visit to Pakistan aimed at curbing tensions between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbors.
In a delicate balancing act, Rice met Indian leaders a day earlier in New Delhi, where she called for restraint. Rice said she had reasonable and responsible discussions in both capitals.
The sophistication of the attacks that killed 171 people, including six Americans, in India’s commercial capital was alarming and all sides have to work together to stop this kind of attack from happening again, she said.
“Everybody wants to prevent further attacks,” Rice told a news conference at a military airfield before departing.
“Pakistan, the Pakistani leadership, understands the importance of doing that, particularly in rooting out terrorism and rounding up whoever perpetrated this attack,” she said.
India and U.S. officials have blamed groups based within Pakistani territory for the attack, but no accusations have been leveled at the Pakistani state or its agencies.
President Asif Ali Zardari told Rice he had asked India to see this as a chance to work together rather than be at odds with one another, saying: “I intend to do everything in my power.”
“The government will not only assist in investigations but also take strong action against any Pakistani elements found involved in the attack,” a statement quoted Zardari as saying.
“Pakistan is determined to ensure that its territory is not used for any act of terrorism,” Zardari said.
The prime suspect for the slaughter in Mumbai is Lashkar-e-Taiba, a jihadi organization fighting Indian rule in Kashmir that also has al Qaeda links, and which, analysts say, has had ties with Pakistani intelligence in the past.
Before meeting Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, the leaders of an eight-month-old civilian government in Islamabad, Rice first met army chief General Ashfaq Kayani at army headquarters in nearby Rawalpindi.
Traffic was blocked and no people were in sight aside from security personnel lining roadsides as Rice’s motorcade passed through two cities living under constant threat of attacks by militants linked to the Taliban and al Qaeda.
How much leverage the United States — particularly the outgoing Bush administration — has over Pakistan is debatable. Withholding financial or military support could add to instability in the Muslim state.
The country is in the midst of a fragile transition to democracy after more than eight years of rule under former army chief Pervez Musharraf. And analysts say the new government does not have full control over the army’s affairs.
A confrontation between the South Asian rivals would undercut efforts to bring stability to Afghanistan and defeat al Qaeda.
Pakistani security officials have said they could feel compelled to abandon the campaign against Islamist militancy and take forces away from the Afghan border, where they are fighting al Qaeda and Taliban militants and move them to the Indian border if tension increases.
Speaking in New Delhi, Rice said she had gone to India to express U.S. solidarity and empathy with the Indian people.
She also made clear that India should show restraint to avoid fuelling tensions between the neighbours, who have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947.
“This is the time for everybody to cooperate,” she told a news conference with Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
Mukherjee had harsh words for Pakistan.
“I informed Dr. Rice there is no doubt that the terrorist attacks in Mumbai were perpetrated by individuals who came from Pakistan and whose controllers are in Pakistan,” he said.
The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen had visited Islamabad a day before Rice. The two met for breakfast in New Delhi to compare notes.
In a thinly veiled reference to Kashmir separatists suspected of carrying out the attack on Mumbai, Mullen also encouraged Pakistan to act against jihadi groups everywhere, not just in regions bordering Afghanistan, where Pakistani forces have been fighting tribal militants, the Taliban and al Qaeda.
TITLE: Obama Promises Diverse Government
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: WASHINGTON — Barack Obama, soon to be the first black U.S. president, is on the road to making good his pledge to have a Cabinet and White House staff that are among most diverse ever, although some supporters are asking him to go even further. He added to the minority representation at the top of his administration Wednesday when he named New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, a Hispanic, as Commerce Secretary.
But some Latinos are grumbling it is not enough after all the support they gave him in the campaign, and gays and Asian-Americans are pushing for some representation in remaining Cabinet announcements. But overall Obama is allaying some early concerns that a black president wouldn’t need to put so much importance on the diversity of those working under him.
“The question was: Because he’s black, how much pressure would he feel to be more traditional with appointments?” said Jamal Simmons, a Democratic consultant who worked with the Obama campaign. “The leadership of the campaign in the beginning wasn’t very diverse, so there were questions about that. But I don’t hear those questions any more.”
In Obama’s seven Cabinet announcements so far, white men are the minority with two nominations — Timothy Geithner at Treasury and Robert Gates at Defense. Three are women — Janet Napolitano at Homeland Security, Susan Rice as United Nations ambassador and Hillary Rodham Clinton at State.
With Clinton set to replace Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of State Madeline Albright was jokingly asked at an appearance this week whether there will ever be a male secretary of state again. There probably will be “someday,” she told her audience of business executives at the Fortune 500 Forum.
The United Nations ambassador is not a Cabinet position under President George Bush, but it was under former President Bill Clinton and Obama said it will be in his administration. His nominee, Susan Rice, is black, as is attorney general nominee Eric Holder.
Bush and Clinton also made a point of diversity in their Cabinets when they moved into the White House. Bush’s first Cabinet had four women, two Asian-Americans, two blacks and one Hispanic. Clinton, who promised to appoint a Cabinet that “looks like America,” had three women, two Hispanics and four blacks when he first took office.
Latino groups applauded the selection of Richardson, although some were disappointed that the Mexican-American governor was not chosen for secretary of state after Obama interviewed him for the job. A reporter from Spanish-language television network Telemundo asked Obama to respond to Hispanics’ concerns that there aren’t more Latinos advising him and that Richardson got the “consolation prize.”
Obama responded that he’s only appointed about half the Cabinet so far and when he’s done, “I think people are going to say, this is one of the most diverse Cabinets and White House staffs of all time.”
Obama transition head John Podesta has been meeting with Hispanic groups and listening to their suggestions for other Latinos who could be considered for high-level administration positions. Democratic officials say Representative Xavier Becerra is the leading contender to be U.S. trade representative.
Latinos are the largest minority group in the country, comprising 15 percent of the U.S. population, and helped Obama win in key battleground states such as New Mexico and Florida.
“I definitely don’t think we should characterize it as a consolation prize, but it’s not enough,” said Brent Wilkes, executive director of League of United Latin American Citizens.
Wilkes said the Richardson pick gets the Obama team on its way to mollifying some of the concerns raised “and if you trust what the transition team is saying, Latino leaders should be pleased” after all nominations are made. “And we do trust them,” Wilkes said.
Floyd Mori, chair of the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, said with blacks and Hispanics chosen for the Cabinet, “what is missing now is an Asian-American.” He said, given Obama’s upbringing in Hawaii and his understanding of their community, they are optimistic he will appoint at least one.
Joe Solmonese, president of the gay rights group Human Rights Campaign, sent a letter to Obama this week asking him to name labor leader Mary Beth Maxwell, a lesbian, as labor secretary. Solmonese said that he did not believe there had been an openly gay Cabinet member before, but he’s confident that will change with Obama.
TITLE: Ill King Deepens Thai Crisis
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: BANGKOK, Thailand — Thailand’s ailing king failed to deliver his traditional speech to the nation Thursday on the eve of his 81st birthday because of ill health — a stunning development that is likely to deepen the country’s political paralysis.
Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn went on national radio to inform Thais that his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world’s longest-reigning monarch, was unable to deliver the speech “because he was a little sick.”
The king’s ill health is likely to fuel worries not only about the monarchy’s future but also about how Thailand, which is just recovering from a weeklong seizure of its two main airports by anti-government activists, will resolve its political crisis.
Many Thais were eagerly awaiting the king’s speech, hoping he would give the country guidance on how to end its increasingly bitter political divisions.
The speech is usually delivered in front of senior government officials and other guests representing different sectors of society. It is broadcast live on national radio and later on television.
But after a one-hour delay, the radio announced that Vajiralongkorn would take the king’s place at the function. The prince spoke for only three minutes to inform the nation of his father’s condition.
“The king has said to thank (you) for the wishes given out of loyalty. He wants to return the good wishes. He wants everyone to have strong mental and physical health to perform their duties for the public,” Vajiralongkorn said.
It is the first time in memory that the king, who has reigned since 1946, has not delivered the speech.
Last year, the king was hospitalized for more than three weeks for symptoms of a stroke and a colon infection. He also has a history of heart trouble and underwent surgery in 2006 for a spinal problem.
Immediately after the crown prince’s short address, his sister, Princess Sirindorn, spoke to the nation to say the king was suffering from bronchitis and inflammation of the esophagus.
TITLE: Zimbabwe Declares Cholera Emergency
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: HARARE — Zimbabwe has declared a cholera outbreak that has killed more than 560 people a national emergency and has appealed for help from donors to deal with the crisis, state media said on Thursday.
Economic meltdown in Zimbabwe, isolated by Western countries under President Robert Mugabe’s rule, has left the health system ill-prepared to cope with an epidemic that it would once have been able to prevent or treat easily.
“Our central hospitals are literally not functioning. Our staff is demotivated and we need your support to ensure that they start coming to work and our health system is revived,” Health Minister David Parirenyatwa was quoted as saying in an appeal to donors.
Parirenyatwa said Zimbabwe needs medicines and medical equipment, as well as food for patients and for child supplementary feeding programs, according to the state-run Herald newspaper.
“The emergency appeal will help us reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with the current socio-economic environment by December 2009,” Parirenyatwa said.
The United Nations humanitarian office estimates the death toll from a deadly cholera outbreak at 565 people, with the capital Harare the worst affected region.
Zimbabwe’s health sector is collapsing with not enough money to pay for essential resources and doctors and nurses often striking over pay. The water system is in disarray, forcing residents to drink from contaminated wells and streams.
Any hopes of rescuing Zimbabwe from economic collapse are on hold because of a deadlock between Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai over how to implement a power-sharing agreement.