SOURCE: The St. Petersburg Times
DATE: Issue #1448 (10), Friday, February 13, 2009
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TITLE: Austria Investigated Chechen Leader
AUTHOR: By Nikolaus von Twickel
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW — A Chechen refugee killed in Vienna last month was the key witness in an Austrian criminal investigation into Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov that could have led to Kadyrov’s arrest last year, prosecutors and lawyers said Wednesday.
The revelation fuels speculation that the killing of Umar Israilov, a former bodyguard of Kadyrov, was aimed at silencing a vocal critic of the Chechen leadership. Israilov was gunned down on Jan. 13, just four days after The New York Times informed the Russian government that it was planning to publish a report based on interviews with him implicating Kadyrov of murder and torture.
The case raises new questions about Kadyrov, whom human rights groups have accused of gross human rights violations for years, and threatens to create a headache for the Kremlin, which installed Kadyrov as president after his father, former Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, was assassinated in 2004.
Austrian prosecutors investigated Ramzan Kadyrov on human rights violations last year and sent a final report to the Justice Ministry last fall, said Gerhard Jarosch, a spokesman for prosecutors in Vienna.
Jarosch refused to reveal if charges would be made or if the case would be dropped. 
“The investigation is technically closed, but we have to wait for a formal reply from the ministry,” he said by telephone from Vienna.
He indicated that charges were unlikely, noting that Austrian courts “probably had no competence” in cases where “Chechens torture Chechens in Chechnya.”
Jarosch also confirmed a report in Vienna’s Der Falter magazine that human rights lawyers had unsuccessfully tried to get Kadyrov arrested during the Euro 2008 football championship.
Israilov last year offered information implicating Kadyrov of torture and murder to a team of lawyers in Austria and Germany, who in turn asked Vienna prosecutors to arrest Kadyrov during an expected visit to Austria for the European football championship, the Berlin-based European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights said Wednesday.
“On June 13, we filed a complaint against Ramzan Kadyrov for torture and other cruel abuse. Israilov was the key witness,” the center’s head, Wolfgang Kaleck, said in a statement.
The Russian national football team played against Greece on June 14 in the Austrian city of Salzburg. 
Kaleck said Kadyrov had planned to travel to Salzburg for the match and the lawyers therefore had decided to seek an arrest warrant. But when they contacted Vienna prosecutors late in the day, they were told that the case was not urgent enough.
Jarosch said there were doubts about whether Austrian authorities were within their jurisdiction and whether Kadyrov was protected by immunity.
A senior Austrian prosecutor, Werner Peischl, was quoted by Der Falter as saying that “we cannot arrest a president just because a lawyer wants us to.”
Around the same time as the request for the arrest, Austrian police arrested a Chechen man who claimed that he had been sent by Kadyrov to kill Israilov, Der Falter reported Wednesday, citing police records.
Jarosch said the case of the Chechen man was not pursued because Austrian prosecutors believed and still believe that they lack jurisdiction.
Both Austrian prosecutors and Chechen officials said Kadyrov never traveled to Austria last year. 
“I do not know whether such a visit was ever planned, but I do know that the president did not go,” Timur Aliev, an adviser to Kadyrov, said by telephone from Grozny.
Jarosch said there had been speculation, “but to my knowledge he never came.”
Kadyrov has denied having anything to do with Israilov’s death. He told Rossiiskaya Gazeta in an interview published Tuesday that the murders of Chechens in Europe were committed by the “enemies of Chechnya.” 
Russian regional leaders have no immunity from prosecution. 
Rights activists accused Austrian authorities of turning a blind eye to crimes against humanity and having fatally played down the danger for Israilov. “Only days before he was murdered, police refused to give extra protection for Israilov,” Kaleck said in the statement.
Kaleck was unavailable for comment Wednesday, but Kanil Majchrzak, a fellow lawyer at his center, said Austria had an obligation to act decisively in such cases because the alleged crimes were not being prosecuted in Chechnya.
“Every country must act if there is a relation. In this case, a Chechen living in Austria is such a relation,” Majchrzak said by telephone from Berlin.
He said Israilov’s death was devastating because it was extremely difficult to find witnesses to abuses in Chechnya.
“Not just did he have firsthand evidence, but his case had also been acknowledged by authorities in Austria who granted him political asylum,” Majchrzak said.
An estimated 20,000 Chechens live in Austria, making it home to the largest Chechen refugee population in Europe.
Prosecutors have arrested seven suspects in Israilov’s death, all ethnic Chechens, and five remain in prison, Jarosch said. He said it was not clear whether the killer was among them.

TITLE: City’s Rights Watchdog Backs Police Raid
AUTHOR: By Sergey Chernov
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: The police have the right to check people’s IDs, search and detain them, and take their photographs and fingerprints, claimed city ombudsman Igor Mikhailov on Thursday at a briefing with journalists devoted to a Feb. 6 raid on Arctica nightclub.
To back up his claims, Mikhailov, who is a member of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party led by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, cited the law, but the quote in fact referred to the examination of a crime scene, rather than raids on public venues. 
Fingerprints were indeed mentioned, but the reference was to fingerprints left at a crime scene by a possible criminal, rather than the music fans who had their photographs and fingerprints taken after a mystery law enforcement agency stopped a concert by the folk-metal group Arkona 40 minutes after it had started. 
Four hundred fans who had bought tickets to the concert were held for hours, the last ones only being let go at 2.30 a.m. — seven hours after the gig’s official starting time.
It is still not known what agency was behind the raid, because the raiders, some of whom were wearing ski-masks, did not identify themselves as required by law. No law-enforcement agency has taken responsibility in the days since the raid took place.
Mikhailov said that without photographic evidence, the victims of the raid would not be able to prove that the officers had violated the law. 
A fan who was in Arctica during the raid and who was invited by Rosbalt to the conference said that attempts to take photos were made, but the raiders stopped them and confiscated camera memory cards. In response, Mikhailov said that people should not take valuable items to public events, especially in times of crisis.
Mikhailov’s only criticism of the raid was that the Interior Ministry should have disclosed the reason for it the next day. He described the lack of such a statement as a “certain disrespect” toward people, but explained it as the legacy of the Soviet era.
Mikhailov, who referred to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in America three times during the hour-long conference, claimed that actions like the raid at Arctica take place for the benefit of the public.
“We all watch with pleasure when [the police] check the IDs of migrant workers,” he said. 
“With disgust!” exclaimed one journalist in the audience.
“What you’ve been doing for half an hour is negating the presumption of innocence,” a Rosbalt reporter said. “I won’t comment on that,” Mikhailov replied.
Although Mikhailov said there was “nothing unlawful about an identity check,” independent human rights activists said the raiders’ actions were an abuse of authority.
“Mikhailov should be told to read the Criminal Code, among other things,” Yury Vdovin, co-chairman of the St. Petersburg-based human rights group Citizens’ Watch, said by phone on Thursday.
“Fingerprints can only be taken if a person is suspected of committing a specific crime, if he is detained in connection with this. Mikhailov doesn’t fully understand what an ombudsman is needed for. 
“An ombudsman is needed to defend people from the authorities’ arbitrariness, while he is justifying the authorities’ arbitrariness toward citizens by all means, especially in cases like this.”
Mikhailov was elected to the job of ombudsman, which had been vacant for nine years, by the city parliament — which is heavily dominated by the United Russia party —  in July 2007. 
In interviews and reports about the incident at Arctica, fans complained about being pushed, hit, threatened and not allowed to go to the toilet. According to one witness of the raid who was present at the conference and who only identified himself by his first name, Anatoly, a group of young people who were in Arctica on Feb. 6 are planning to meet on Sunday and are considering taking legal action against the police.

TITLE: Judge Throws Out Testimony Backing Yabloko Candidates
AUTHOR: By Galina Stolyarova
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: A judge at the Moskovsky District Court on Wednesday refused to accept testimony from twenty local residents whose signatures backing liberal candidates in the municipal elections scheduled for March 1 had been rejected as being forged or unverifiable.
The judge said that the citizens had no grounds to question the qualifications or judgment of the expert who had declared the signatures unverifiable or forged.
“This outrageous decision has destroyed what little hope I had left for what remains of democratic principles and fair trials in Russia,” said Tatyana Kondratkova, whose signature was declared false. “A human being has fewer rights and gets less respect than the opinion of their signatures expert. I’m bewildered. I’ve now learnt through personal experience that everything we hear every day from the officials about their respect for the Russian Constitution is nothing but hot air.”
Kondratkova and other residents whose testimonies were rejected are preparing an appeal to the City Court, and, if necessary, to the Constitutional Court.
Maxim Reznik, head of the St. Petersburg branch of the democratic party Yabloko said people’s rights are being “blatantly and vigorously abused” in the current election campaign.
To register for a municipal election, a candidate must provide several dozen signatures from supporters living in the district in which they plan to stand for election. The majority of Yabloko candidates have been denied registration as the result of state experts declaring their supporters’ signatures to be forgeries.
“It only takes a word from an expert. There is no required proof or criteria for deeming a signature fake, so absolutely any signature can be declared unusable in this way,” said Reznik.
 Of 100 candidates put forward by the Yabloko party for the municipal elections, only 35 have been officially registered. In the meantime, only 0.8 percent of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party’s candidates have been denied registration for the elections.
“The only plausible explanation for the plight of our candidates is that the district election commissions must have received direct political orders from City Hall to take as many liberals out of the elections as possible,” Reznik said. “We have always been the biggest troublemakers, asking tough questions and protesting against corrupt decisions. The lawlessness that reigns in Russia allows officials to pursue their vendettas against political opponents.”
Activists from the St. Petersburg branch of Yabloko are organizing a protest event on Saturday at 5 p.m. outside the Yunost cinema at Chernaya Rechka metro station to voice their outrage at a wide series of infringements of the rights of the democrat candidates in the current election campaign.
Democrat candidates have been experiencing difficulties in registering for local elections in recent years. Worse, they claim that they have been marginalized and now have to resort to street politics in order to be heard.
In the spring of 2008, Yabloko, the only major political party represented in the Legislative Assembly to oppose City Hall’s policies, was excluded from elections to the assembly amid claims that the local government was silencing its most vocal critic. No liberal candidates are currently represented in the city parliament.

TITLE: Lavrov Open to Transit of Arms for NATO
AUTHOR: By Vladimir Isachenkov
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: MOSCOW — Russia is open to the possibility of letting the United States and NATO ship weaponry across its territory to Afghanistan if the broader relationship between Moscow and the West improves, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday.
Lavrov spoke after U.S. and Russian diplomats discussed logistical details of possible U.S. shipments of nonlethal supplies to Afghanistan via Russia. Moscow has previously allowed nonlethal cargo from European nations to cross its territory and said last week that it would let the United States do the same. The U.S. Embassy said Washington hopes to finalize details of such transit, but there has been no final deal yet.
Asked at a news conference whether Russia could also agree to transit of weapons, Lavrov said “additional steps are also possible.”
“Last April and May, we discussed the possibility of using Russian military cargo planes to deliver supplies to coalition forces with our NATO colleagues,” he said. “Any other agreements are also possible.”
He added that broader cooperation on Afghanistan would be contingent on improvement of Russia-NATO ties.
A delegation led by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Patrick Moon on Wednesday wrapped up two days of talks in Moscow on details of Afghanistan-bound shipments via Russia and other issues related to the war effort.
“Noting the importance of bringing stability to Afghanistan, the two sides agreed to continue cooperation and discussions in the future,” the U.S. Embassy in Moscow said.
Supplying allied forces has become increasingly tenuous as insurgents intensify attacks on supply lines through Pakistan — the primary route for U.S. supplies. Transit routes through Russia and possibly through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan would serve as key alternatives to Pakistan routes.
Adding to the uncertainty is the decision last week by Kyrgyzstan to evict U.S. forces from an air base that is important to U.S. operations in Afghanistan. Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev insisted Wednesday that he made the move for purely economic reasons after repeated appeals to the United States to pay more for rental of the base went unheeded. He said the United States promised $150 million in annual rent in 2006 but that Washington failed to keep its word. The United States now pays $63 million a year.
A parliamentary vote on approving the closure was expected this week, but the bill has been delayed, leading some analysts to suggest that negotiations on a settlement may continue.
At the same news conference, Lavrov and EU officials agreed on the need to speed up the creation of a new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, a framework for political, economic and other ties. 
“The European Union and the Czech presidency are very interested in achieving substantial progress in these negotiations,” said Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency. 
EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said diversification of supply sources and transit routes will be high on the EU’s agenda.

TITLE: Mirax Offers to Build Russia Tower
AUTHOR: By Jessica Bachman
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: MOSCOW — Mirax Group, one of Russia’s top five property developers, said Wednesday that it would approach Mayor Yury Luzhkov with an offer to take the construction of the 612-meter skyscraper Russia Tower off the hands of its cash-strapped developer, Shalva Chigirinksy. 
Mirax owner Sergei Polonsky also told reporters that the company had successfully managed to roll over $317 million in debt, including a $200 million loan from Credit Suisse that came due Monday.  
“Raise your hands if you wanted the news today to be that Mirax was going bankrupt,” Polonosky joked at the beginning of a news conference. 
Polonsky went on to chastise journalists for publishing stories on the crisis-hit real estate sector and for listening to “nonsense” real estate analysts. 
“I am positive that if we got rid of all the analysts and threw them on an island, there would be no more crisis,” he said. 
He said Mirax is also finalizing refinancing negotiations with holders of $180 million in credit-linked notes, a deal that would help the company stave off put options on the notes valid later in the first quarter. 
Banks will be paid a percentage of the total amount due this month, and the rest will be paid over a two-year period under varied interest rates, said Mirax board member Dmitry Lutsenko. 
Polonsky said he was ready to buy Chigirinsky’s stake in the Russia Tower project for $43.5 million, the same price that Chigirinsky cited last week when he offered to sell to Sibir Energy. The energy company, in which Chigirinsky owns a controlling stake, did not agree to buy the tower. 
“We propose to the mayor that the Russia Tower be built according to old plans,” Polonsky said, referring to reports this week that City Hall planned to shave 400 meters off the building. 
“If they can only build 200 meters, we will build the full 612 meters. We have consulted with investors and have an idea about how to go about accomplishing this,” he said. 
Mirax is in the process of completing construction on the Federation Tower skyscraper, located near the Russia Tower site in the Moskva-City business district. 
“This is a very serious announcement. I’m ready to put my money where my mouth is,” Polonsky said. 
The mayor’s office declined comment Wednesday, as did the tower’s British architect, Foster and Partners. Chigirinsky’s development company, Russian Land, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. 
Polonsky said he also would offer Luzhkov a second proposal — to rename the Federation Tower as the Russia Tower. 
“Without the Russia Tower, the Moskva-City project is nothing,” he said. “Considering the administration’s plans to reduce the Russia Tower’s planned height, we ask the mayor to consider giving the branded name ‘Russia’ to the Federation Tower, which is currently the tallest building in the business complex.”

TITLE: American, Russian Satellites Collide
AUTHOR: By Marcia Dunn
TEXT: CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — Scientists are keeping a close eye on orbital debris created when two communications satellites — one American, the other Russian — smashed into each other hundreds of miles above the Earth.
NASA said it will take weeks to determine the full magnitude of the unprecedented crash and whether any other satellites or even the Hubble Space Telescope are threatened.
The collision, which occurred nearly 800 kilometers over Siberia on Tuesday, was the first high-speed impact between two intact spacecraft, NASA officials said.
“We knew this was going to happen eventually,” said Mark Matney, an orbital debris scientist at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
NASA believes any risk to the international space station and its three astronauts is low. It orbits about 435 kilometers below the collision course.
A spokesman for the Russian civilian space agency Roscosmos, Alexander Vorobyev, said on state-controlled Channel I television that “for the international space station, at this time and in the near future, there’s no threat.”
There also should be no danger to the space shuttle set to launch with seven astronauts on Feb. 22, officials said, but that will be re-evaluated in the coming days.
Nicholas Johnson, an orbital debris expert at the Houston space center, said the risk of damage from Tuesday’s collision is greater for the Hubble Space Telescope and Earth-observing satellites, which are in higher orbit and nearer the debris field.
The collision involved an Iridium commercial satellite, which was launched in 1997, and a Russian satellite launched in 1993 and believed to be nonfunctioning. The Russian satellite was out of control, Matney said.
No one has any idea yet how many pieces were generated or how big they might be.
“Right now, they’re definitely counting dozens,” Matney said. “I would suspect that they’ll be counting hundreds when the counting is done.”
There have been four other cases in which space objects have collided accidentally in orbit, NASA said. But those were considered minor and involved parts of spent rockets or small satellites.
At the beginning of this year there were roughly 17,000 pieces of manmade debris orbiting Earth, Johnson said. The items, at least 4 inches in size, are being tracked by the U.S. Space Surveillance Network, which is operated by the military. The network detected the two debris clouds created Tuesday.
Litter in orbit has increased in recent years, in part because of the deliberate breakups of old satellites. It’s gotten so bad that orbital debris is now the biggest threat to a space shuttle in flight, surpassing the dangers of liftoff and return to Earth. NASA is in regular touch with the Space Surveillance Network, to keep the space station a safe distance from any encroaching objects, and shuttles, too, when they’re flying.
“The collisions are going to be becoming more and more important in the coming decades,” Matney said.

TITLE: Four Policemen Killed in Ingushetia
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: NAZRAN —  Four policemen and at least two suspected rebels were killed on Thursday when a residential building exploded during a police raid in the violence-plagued region of Ingushetia, officials said.
The two-storey building in Nazran, around 1,500 kilometers south of Moscow, exploded when special forces officers forced entry to detain a group of suspected rebels, a police officer at the scene said.
“Three special forces officers died at the scene and another died later in hospital,” the officer said.
The bodies of three suspected rebels were later pulled from the rubble, an investigator said on condition of anonymity.
“They were suicide bombers who the police were looking for,” he said. Interfax news agency quoted Ingushetia’s general prosecutor Yuri Turygin as saying four police and two rebels had been confirmed dead.
Attacks by Islamic rebels against government officials and security forces have plagued Ingushetia, one of Russia’s poorest regions, for years.
The government says rebels are financed from abroad and seek to destabilise the North Caucasus region, scene of two separatist wars in Chechnya since the early 1990s.
Critics of the government say corruption, heavy-handed behaviour by the authorities and high unemployment are the main reasons behind the instability and violence.
The stand-off began when police who arrived to check the building early on Thursday were fired on from a window, the police officer said. The building was quickly surrounded and special forces attempted to storm it two hours later.
“Two armoured personnel carriers arrived and they began to fire,” said Sulumbek, 54, an eyewitness told Reuters. “Then there was a huge explosion which threw me to one side.”
Interfax news agency quoted local leader Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, who lives nearby, as saying explosives equivalent to one tonne of TNT destroyed the building and damaged neighbouring properties.
Residents say violence has decreased since Yevkurov replaced highly unpopular secret police officer Murat Zyazikov as the region’s leader in October.

TITLE: Report: Migrants Face Serious Abuses
AUTHOR: By Alexandra Odynova
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW — Migrant construction workers are routinely exploited by employers and harassed by the police, and the economic crisis will probably make their lives worse, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Tuesday.
The Federal Migration Service conceded that there were “certain problems” but said migrants also had the option of not working in Russia.
Russia is home to one of the world’s largest migrant populations, second only to the United States, according to the World Bank. More than 40 percent of the country’s 4 million to 9 million migrant workers are employed in construction. 
The exploitation of migrant workers became widespread as Russia posted phenomenal economic growth over the past eight years, said a co-author of the report, Maria Lisitsyna. 
Russian employers often do not give labor contracts to the migrant workers and confiscate their passports, forcing them to work without wages, the report says. Without identification papers and a labor contract, a worker cannot receive medical treatment after an accident. Vladimir V., a 27-year-old welder from Kyrgyzstan, told HRW that his employer refused to call a doctor when he fell on a nail from two meters, piercing his abdomen.
The Federal Labor and Employment Service registered 1,076 fatal accidents on construction sites in 2007. Many such accidents are never investigated. 
Most migrant workers at Russian construction sites are from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and other former Soviet states that have a visa-free regime with Russia. They come looking for jobs that they can’t find in their homeland. 
“If a migrant worker agrees to work in such conditions [as mentioned in the report], it is his own problem. It’s his own choice,” Federal Migration Service spokesman Konstantin Poltoranin said.
He also said the migration service did not expect a drop in migrants this spring and was preparing video presentations for them explaining their rights. 
Workers told HRW they are often beaten by the police and sometimes forced to work on police stations and other buildings without pay. Dastan D., a resident of Kyrgyzstan, said the police had forced him to do work for them or their friends under threats of physical harm. 
The report — titled “‘Are You Happy to Cheat Us?’ Exploitation of Migrant Construction Workers in Russia” — is based on 146 interviews with migrant workers who worked in 49 Russian cities and towns from 2006 to 2008. 
The report sees an increasing risk of exploitation and says migrants are vulnerable to violence from unemployed Russians. Construction sites have laid off workers, and Russians fear jobless migrants will contribute to an increase in crime, Lisitsyna said.
“The crisis will spark xenophobia and anti-migration sentiment and violence in society — not from skinhead groups but ordinary men in the street,” said Galina Kozhevnikova of Sova Center, a non-governmental organization that tracks racist violence and is not connected with the HRW report.
Human rights activists accuse President Dmitry Medvedev of fueling xenophobia. “While the labor market is eliminating jobs for migrant workers, illegal employment crime will possibly increase,” he said last week.

TITLE: Kadyrov Invites Exile Back To Chechnya
AUTHOR: By Nabi Abdullaev
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW — Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov said he is in talks with senior Chechen separatist Akhmed Zakayev about Zakayev’s possible return to the restive republic following years living in exile in London.
Zakayev, a former foreign minister and deputy prime minister in the Chechen separatist government, has received political asylum in Britain, which refuses to extradite him to Russia, where prosecutors have charged him with terrorism.
“Zakayev wants to return, I talked to him,” Kadyrov told Rossiiskaya Gazeta in an interview published Tuesday. “I told him the longer you stay there, the longer special services and other forces will use you against Russia.”
Zakayev, a trained stage actor, is “no warrior” and could work in theater management should he return to Chechnya, Kadyrov said.
Zakayev had no immediate comment about the report.
Hundreds of Chechens have fled the republic to Western Europe over the past decade. Last month, a Chechen political refugee in Austria who attempted to sue Kadyrov in the European Court of Human Rights was gunned down in broad daylight on the streets of Vienna.

TITLE: Medvedev Trails in Internet Rankings
AUTHOR: By Natalya Krainova
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW — President Dmitry Medvedev may be the most powerful man in the country, but it appears to be a different story in the Russian blogosphere — at least for now.
Medvedev’s video blog, Blog.Kremlin.ru, was ranked No. 429 on Tuesday in a blog power rating maintained by Russian-language search engine Yandex, which ranks blogs according to several factors, including the number of users who posted links to a given blog.
The president’s blog, launched in October, was well ahead of Liberal Democratic Party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky’s blog (No. 1,084) but trailed that of liberal politician Nikita Belykh (No. 403), whom Medvedev tapped last year to become governor of the Kirov region.
Of the more than 6 million blogs tracked by Yandex, Medvedev’s was ranked No. 293,326 according to the number of subscribers.

TITLE: Hotels Facing Fine for Price Fixing Named
AUTHOR: By Yelena Dombrova and Yulia Shmidt
PUBLISHER: Vedomosti
TEXT: The regional division of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has named the hotels facing fines for increasing their prices during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
The FAS has ruled that the law which forbids companies to conspire or act to limit competition was violated in June by 11 local hotels: the Grand Hotel Europe, Taleon Imperial Hotel, Topaz Hotel, Hotel Kempinski Moika 22, Corinthia Nevskij Palace Hotel, Radisson SAS, Novotel St. Petersburg Center, Park Inn Pribaltiiskaya, Park Inn Pulkovskaya, Ambassador and Marco Polo.
They will receive written notification informing them that it is against the law to conspire and act to fix or artificially hold prices during state and city events, according to the FAS’ web site.
The St. Petersburg Economic Forum, which was held from June 6 to 8, 2008, attracted about 10,000 guests. From June 4 to 10, the hotels increased their room rates by 80 to 100 percent, said Oleg Kolomiichenko, head of the St. Petersburg division of the FAS. The Grand Hotel Europe increased its prices by several times. Forum participants told Vedomosti that from June 5 to 9, the hotel charged 220,000 rubles ($6,330) for a junior suite, and 380,000 rubles ($10,940) for a presidential suite. The Park Inn Pribaltiiskaya doubled its prices during the forum, a hotel source reported.
The investigation was begun at the request of St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko, and an administrative case was opened to investigate whether the law had been broken, said Kolomiichenko. 
He said that the FAS would reach a decision on the violation of the law preventing competition within 10 days. The next stage is an administrative procedure regarding the violation of article 14.32 of the Administrative Violations Code, during which the commission will determine the size of the fine. For legal entities, the article stipulates fines of one percent to 15 percent of the revenue made from the good or service for which the law was violated.
Kolomiichenko said that a fine would be issued in any event. “The hotels will have to provide us with information about their prices for this June, when the Petersburg Economic Forum will be held,” he said. “If their prices correspond to those of the season, then the size of the fine will be lower.”
In accordance with market practices all over the world, during periods of increased demand, hotel prices increase, said Yulia Pashkovskaya, a manager at the Grand Hotel Europe. She said that despite the increase in room rates, the hotel had an occupancy rate of 100 percent on June 6 and 7. Those who reserved a room in advance were able to do so at a lower rate, she added.
Increasing prices during high season and during events is a standard practice used by hotels all around the world, said Irina Lim, deputy director of West Bridge Hotel, which owns Novotel St. Petersburg.
Natalia Belik, PR director at the Corinthia Nevskij Palace hotel and Sandra Dimitrovich, director of corporate communications and PR at the Rezidor Hotel Group which manages the Park Inn hotels and the Radisson, did not wish to comment on the situation before receiving the official document from the FAS. Representatives of the Ambassador, Topaz, Marco Polo, Kempinski Moika 22 and Taleon Imperial declined to comment.
Pashkovskaya denied that the price increases were the result of a conspiracy. Dariush Futoma, head of sales and marketing at the Park Inn Pribaltiiskaya, also said that there had been no premeditated plan to increase prices at Park Inn hotels in St. Petersburg during the forum. The prices quoted to organizers were in keeping with the season and the hotel’s occupancy rate, he said.
In peak season, the price of a room can grow by 50 to 100 percent, said Alexei Musakin, a member of the council of the Russian Hospitality Association. It would be difficult to prove that there had been a conspiracy, he added, but the FAS initiative is bound to have an effect on hotel pricing policies.
The FAS decision is contentious, since it rests on the organization’s own conclusion, and there is little legal evidence, said Yegor Noskov, managing partner at Duvernois Legal law firm. According to him, the hotels have a high chance of appealing the verdict in an arbitration court.

TITLE: Overland Express Postponed
AUTHOR: By Irina Titova
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: St. Petersburg’s Overland Express project has been delayed as a result of the global economic crisis and impossibility of securing loans, City Hall announced this week.  Initially, construction of the project was planned to begin this year, but the results of the tender for its construction are only to be announced in May or June, while the contract with the winner is to be signed in 2010.
Construction of the Overland Express is also slated to begin in 2010, said Maxim Sokolov, head of the city’s Investment and Strategic Projects Committee, the local news portal Fontanka.ru reported.
The tender for the construction was announced in December 2007.  The Japanese company Mitsui passed the first stage of the tender along with four consortiums: Strelna-Express, which includes Bombardier and Vinci; Yuzhny Express (Astom, Bouygues Construction, Transdev and Mostotryad 19); Northern Capital Express (Bazovy Element, VTB, Siemens and Strabag); and a consortium that includes Anasldo Transporti, Skoda, ATM, Milan and Soares da Costa Grupo.
The winner of the tender must invest 50 percent of the total cost of the project into its realization.  Investment in the first section of the express line, which will connect the Congress Palace in Strelna to Obukhovo railway station, is estimated at 29 billion rubles ($820 million).
The express will also pass through Obukhovo and Kupchino metro stations and cross the city’s railway line in three places. The 22 trains will each have a capacity of 520 passengers, and should depart at three-minute intervals.
According to the plan, the overland express will connect six districts of the city — the Petrodvortsovy, Krasnoselsky, Kirovsky, Moskovsky, Frunzensky and Nevsky districts — with railway stations.  There are also plans to build an express line in the direction of Pulkovo-1 and Pulkovo-2 airports.

TITLE: More Local Projects Delayed
AUTHOR: By Paul Abelsky
PUBLISHER: Bloomberg
TEXT: St. Petersburg will delay $13 billion of infrastructure projects that have attracted bids from companies including Alstom, Siemens and Oleg Deripaska’s Basic Element as the credit crisis deters private investors.
The municipal government postponed the selection of the winning bid for a 33 billion-ruble ($924 million) tram network by six months to June, and the system may not become operational until 2014, Maxim Sokolov, the head of city’s committee on investments and strategic projects, told reporters on Tuesday.
Other ventures facing delays include the completion of a $10 billion highway, known as the Western High-Speed Diameter, the 26.4 billion-ruble Orlov tunnel for automobiles and a planned 26.4 billion-ruble upgrade of Pulkovo airport.
“Credit institutions are shut right now,” Yury Molchanov, deputy governor of St. Petersburg, said Tuesday. He said none of the projects have been canceled.
Private investments in Russian infrastructure may plunge 66 percent to $11.5 billion this year in Russia, Renaissance Capital said in a Feb. 3 report. St. Petersburg has sought to offer concessions to rebuild and operate the city’s roads and transport hubs in an attempt to upgrade crumbling infrastructure.
Five bidders, including groups led by Alstom, Bombardier and Siemens, were chosen in May to submit offers on building the 30-kilometer (18.6-mile) tram network. Singapore’s Changi Airports International and Basic Element holding company were among the companies bidding for the right to operate Pulkovo airport.
Municipal and federal funds will be used in the next two years to finance the construction of the Western High-Speed Diameter, Molchanov said. Deripaska’s Basic Element won the tender to build the road last June in partnership with Strabag of Austria and France’s Bouygues.
Plans called for private investors to finance half of the 48.9-kilometer highway that will link the city’s districts with Russia’s national road network.
St. Petersburg will pay three billion rubles for construction expenses this year, while six billion will come from the federal budget, Molchanov said.

TITLE: In Brief
TEXT: <b>Ilim Eyes Gatchina</b>
MOSCOW (Bloomberg) — Ilim Group, Russia’s biggest pulp and paper producer, plans to build an $805 million (28 billion-ruble) commercial and residential development near St. Petersburg, Vedomosti said, citing government officials.
Ilim Chairman Zakhar Smushkin Smushkin has 435 hectares of land in the Gatchina region on which he plans to build warehouses, offices and residential housing, Vedomosti said. He will finance the first stage of the project himself, the newspaper reported.

<b>Billionaires Lose 66%</b>
MOSCOW (Bloomberg) — Russia’s 10 richest people saw their wealth drop by 66 percent in the past year to a combined $75.9 billion as the global financial crisis pushed down the value of their holdings.
The billionaire at the bottom of the list is now worth $4.5 billion, compared with $15 billion for TNK-BP shareholder German Khan a year ago, the state run Vesti-24 channel said on its web site Thursday, citing a list compiled by Finans magazine.

TITLE: Reset Nuclear Arms Negotiations Now
AUTHOR: By Daryl G. Kimball
TEXT: The Cold War ended nearly two decades ago, yet U.S. and Russian nuclear doctrines and capabilities remain largely unchanged. Washington and Moscow are no longer enemies, yet today each country still deploys at least 2,200 strategic nuclear weapons, many of which are primed for a quick launch to deter a surprise attack by the other. 
To be sure, arms control agreements have reduced excess nuclear stockpiles and provided greater predictability and stability. The landmark 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, slashed each nation’s strategic warhead deployments from about 10,000 to less than 6,000, and it limited each country to no more than 1,600 strategic delivery systems.
Since then, however, U.S. and Russian leaders have missed opportunities to achieve deeper, irreversible cuts in warhead, missile and bomber stockpiles. The 2002 Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty, or SORT, calls for no more than 1,700 to 2,200 deployed strategic warheads by 2012. But the agreement expires the same day that the warhead limit takes effect. Unlike START, SORT does not require the elimination of excess missiles and bombers. Worse still, it failed to establish new verification mechanisms, relying instead on those contained in START, which is due to expire on Dec. 5. 
Without START’s far-reaching verification system, neither side would be able to confidently predict the size and location of the other’s nuclear forces, adding another dangerous irritant to strained U.S.-Russian relations.
Renewed progress on U.S.-Russian nuclear disarmament is long overdue. As President Barack Obama said in his news conference on Monday, “It is important for us to restart the conversation about how we can start reducing our nuclear arsenals in an effective way so that we then have the standing to go to other countries and start stitching back together the nonproliferation treaties that frankly have been weakened over the last several years.” On the Russian side, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday that Russia is “ready to go further on the path of reductions and limitations.” 
Both sides are clearly interested in doing more than merely extending the 18-year-old START. Russia has shown interest in deeper reductions, perhaps 1,500 strategic warheads or fewer on each side, along with lower ceilings on the number of strategic delivery systems. This would help maintain the numerical parity and save Russia the expense of extending the service life of some aging missile systems. 
The Obama administration has said it “will seek deep, verifiable reductions in all U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons — whether deployed or nondeployed, strategic or nonstrategic. As a first step, we will seek a legally binding agreement to replace START.” Obama officials have also said that “ending the Cold War practice of keeping nuclear weapons ready for launch on a moment’s notice should also be a priority.”
According to some recent media reports, Obama has already decided seek cuts to 1,000 warheads. In reality, with the new president in office less than a month and a new nuclear policy review just beginning, decisions about how low to go, whether to limit warheads or delivery systems and how to verify the pact have not been made.
Public statements suggest that Obama’s team will at the very least likely pursue reductions in deployed strategic warheads beyond the lower end of the SORT limit (1,700) by 2012. That would be a step forward. But deeper reductions — to 1,000 total warheads or less in the coming years — are possible and prudent if each side is bold and visionary.
Massive arsenals that are capable of annihilating entire nations within an hour are more of a liability than an asset because they breed mistrust and worst-case assumptions among other states. They also perpetuate the risk of an accidental or unauthorized launch. It is estimated that no other country possesses more than 300 nuclear warheads.
In the coming weeks, Russian and U.S. negotiators will likely pursue further cuts through a combination of approaches, including lower limits on the number of their strategic delivery systems and verifiably reducing the number of warheads allowed on each missile or bomber. A streamlined system of START-style data exchanges and on-site inspections, plus new deployed warhead monitoring techniques, could give each side sufficient confidence that neither could quickly build up its forces. 
For the talks to succeed, each side must adjust their earlier positions. Russia should be more willing to support more intrusive warhead monitoring and verification approaches, and it should agree to data exchanges on nonstrategic nuclear weapons, which remain unregulated by any treaty.
The United States will need to consider retiring some of its modern submarine and missile forces and undertake an expensive retrofitting of re-entry vehicles to limit the number of warheads they can deliver. 
If an agreement cannot be reached by December, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has suggested that “a mutually acceptable means should be found to give the negotiators more time without allowing key measures, including essential monitoring and verification provisions, to lapse.”
Restarting the U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control process could dramatically reduce the number of nuclear weapons, improve global cooperation to help meet other nuclear threats and help repair U.S.-Russian relations. The time to begin is now.

Daryl G. Kimball is executive director of the independent Arms Control Association in Washington and publisher of the monthly journal Arms Control Today.

TITLE: Getting Outswindled by a Swindler
AUTHOR: By Yulia Latynina
TEXT: The Russia-Ukraine gas war officially ended in Moscow on Jan. 19, when Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed a 10-year agreement. But there was a strange epilogue when Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko demanded shortly thereafter that the agreement be annulled. 
Tymoshenko pushed very hard to include a clause eliminating the role of the controversial intermediary RosUkrEnergo. If Yushchenko gets his way, RosUkrEnergo will be the big winner.
As soon as it became known that Yushchenko was considering annulling Tymoshenko’s agreement, there were media reports that Russia’s prosecutor general had placed the nominal owners of RosUkrEnergo, Dmitry Firtash and Ivan Fursin, on a criminal wanted list. The official reason was their alleged ties to Semyon Mogilevich, who is also wanted by the FBI on charges of fraud and racketeering. In all fairness, it’s hard to believe that there is “secret most-wanted list” from the Prosecutor General’s Office; these announcements are always made public. But then again, there have always been lots of secrets coming out of Moscow, such as the secret terms for gas exports. And don’t forget the secret Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
Yushchenko’s political opponents constantly accused him of having close ties to RosUkrEnergo. But Putin controls the Russian gas business with an iron hand, and Mogilevich, who is suspected of being a co-partner in RosUkrEnergo, did not live in Kiev but in the upscale Rublyovka neighborhood of Moscow until he was arrested in January 2008 on tax evasion charges.
Let’s suppose that Mogilevich approached the Kremlin in 2002, offering his services as a middleman to ensure that gas deliveries to Europe via Ukraine went smoothly. And let’s assume the Kremlin hired him in this capacity. 
Let’s also assume that in 2006, two years after Yushchenko was elected president, Mogilevich (or his authorized representatives) told the Kremlin that he had Yushchenko in his back pocket.
Now let’s assume that Mogilevich spent a lot of money buying up shares in Ukrainian companies and then presented the bill to Moscow, labeling it as “Yushchenko’s cut.” This made Kremlin officials extremely angry because they believed that Yushchenko was personally profiting from the deals, while they got no cut at all. Naturally, Yushchenko was not aware he was being “paid” all of this time.
Russia’s criminal proceedings against Mogilevich began after RosUkrEnergo bought the Astrakhan gas field. That deal was later annulled and Mogilevich was arrested. You can certainly understand why the Kremlin would be upset. After all, it had apparently recruited RosUkrEnergo’s owners to help expand Russia’s influence in Ukraine — mainly, to buy up Ukrainian companies, politicians and political parties on the cheap. But as it turns out, the money was used by RosUkrEnergo to purchase the Astrakhan gas field that Gazprom had its own sights on.
Let’s suppose that this classic influence-peddling scam collapsed once it became clear that the intermediary had accumulated a gigantic sum of money with which it was attempting to buy Russian energy assets and conduct its own political games in Ukraine. It also ground to a halt when Tymoshenko became prime minister, because the middlemen could never have struck a deal with her. 
It seems to me that the Kremlin leaders tried to mix foreign policy with a secret plan to buy another country’s president, while trying to add money to their foreign bank accounts. It’s no surprise that in the end, they got what they deserved, having been duped big time by a world-renowned swindler.

Yulia Latynina hosts a political talk show on Ekho Moskvy radio.

TITLE: Lenin lives
AUTHOR: By Alec Luhn
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: Depictions of Vladimir Lenin have ranged from a red giant pointing the way for Lilliputian proles to a fake Sprite poster with the slogan, “Don’t let yourself dry up” printed above the Bolshevik leader’s mummified body.
Now visitors can find these examples and a host of other images spanning the spectrum between propaganda and parody under one roof. A new exhibition at St. Petersburg’s State Museum of Political History of Russia, “Lenin from A to Z,” includes portraits, sculptures, political posters and miscellaneous objects depicting the founder of the Soviet state.  The exhibition, which caters to foreign visitors with English translations of display texts, opened Jan. 27, the anniversary of the day Petrograd was renamed Leningrad in 1924.
Lenin remains the only supreme leader whose image never vanished from Soviet iconography.  Depictions of him were ubiquitous in Soviet life, and today his likeness lives in numerous public monuments around Russia and the former Soviet Union. Local Lenin monuments can be found at, among other places, Finland Station, House of the Soviets on Moskovsky Prospekt and the Smolny Institute.
“The image of the leader was important as part of the ideology,” said museum research associate Alexei Boiko, who created the exhibition.  “The images changed with the [political] dialogue.”
The earliest image on display is an 1897 sketch of Lenin in exile in Siberia, which depicts the future leader in an intimate, humanistic manner.  A revolution-era cartoon treats Lenin’s short stature with comedic panache.  But the images created after Lenin’s death in 1924 display a change in tone, as his depiction attains greater physical size and symbolic weight.  
The shift in this time period corresponds to the idealization of the leader, Boiko said, citing a slogan found in the exhibition that describes Lenin as the “most humane human.”  
“We depicted Lenin for a very long time, but in real life, few saw him,” Boiko explained.  “The images replicated each other like photocopies.”
“Lenin from A to Z” comprises the first installment of a four-part project at the museum titled “Images of Soviet Leaders,” which spans a time period beginning with Lenin and ending with Boris Yeltsin, the first president of post-Soviet Russia.  
Illustrating problems caused by the strong influence the leader’s personality has traditionally exercised on the country, the project aims to re-conceive the past, according to the program.  “Images of Soviet Leaders” will also support the museum’s primary goal of “contributing to the formation of political culture in Russian society.”
Boiko emphasized that the project is more artistic than political, seeking only to “create anew” the history of Soviet leaders through the lens of art.  Despite the project’s tagline — “Reality. Utopia. Criticism.” — the exhibitions don’t criticize anyone, he said.  
“We are interested in how it was in pictures,” he said.
“[The exhibit] will appeal to those interested in the art of the Soviet Union; these are classics of Soviet art,” he said.  
All the pieces are originals, he added, assembled either from the museum’s collection or from modern artists.   A few of the most famous items include Lenin’s death mask, Isaak Brodsky’s painting “Lenin at Smolny,” and the model for Vasily Kozlov’s monument to Lenin at Smolny.
All the same, the project is relevant beyond the sphere of aesthetic beauty, since many questions and misunderstandings linger on from the Soviet era, Boiko said.
 “Much of the younger generation know almost nothing [about Soviet history],” he explained.  “Older generations saw these images when they were made, but all the same, questions remain, complicated questions.”
An abstract statue of Lenin created for the exhibition by the local artistic collective 33 Plus 1 has already inspired a small amount of controversy.  The loosely-formed, neon-colored statue, titled “New Orator,” references Lenin with its sweeping hand gesture and its position on the balcony of the former Kshesinskaya mansion that houses the museum’s collection. It was from this balcony, the mansion having been appropriated by the Bolsheviks for their headquarters, that Lenin delivered his speeches to the public.  
One woman complained that the statue was disrespectful to Lenin and ruined the view of the nearby Neva River, prompting curators to place a placard beneath the balcony Tuesday morning explaining that the installation was a work of artistic expression, according to museum employee Maria Larionova.  By Tuesday afternoon, someone had taken the placard.
Boiko and Larionova expect more controversy when the second exhibition of the project cycle, which features images of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, opens March 20.
“Lenin is already far back; he’s part of history,” Larionova explained.  “Stalin is still relevant today.  The U.S.S.R. was created by Stalin … but Stalin’s legacy is still controversial.”
Boyko indicated the possibility of a similar exhibition in the future, one that could cause an even bigger uproar: images of Vladimir Putin.  He noted that ample material exists in the form of Putin T-shirts, hats and the paraphernalia of the Kremlin-backed youth group Nashi.

“Lenin A to Z” runs through March 13 at the Museum of Political History of Russia, 2-4 Ulitsa Kuibysheva, M: Gorkovskaya (currently closed) or Sportivnaya.  See Museums Listings for more information.

TITLE: Chernov’s choice
TEXT: The Kremlin reacted unusually nervously this week to interviews given by the ABBA tribute band <b>Bjorn Again</b> to the British press about playing a private concert for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. 
First, pro-Kremlin web sites dismissed The Times of London and The Telegraph, the two broadsheet newspapers that reported the party in question, as “tabloids.” Their main argument was that Putin can afford better things than a mere tribute band.
Then the Kremlin’s spokesman offered some more arguments. Dmitry Peskov said: “I don’t know who comprised their audience, but Vladimir Putin was not one of them. He was actually working in his office that Thursday evening, meeting members of the Cabinet.”
Moreover, in a letter to The Times, Peskov claimed that “Mr. Putin is more of a Beatles fan than an ABBA one, as you can see if you read the interview by Andrew Lloyd Webber with Mr. Putin on our website.” 
It is true that Putin received Paul McCartney in the Kremlin when the ex-Beatle first came to Moscow in 2003. In exchange, McCartney played “Hey Jude” solely to Putin, perhaps adding some humanity to the image of the then-president in the eyes of the Western public. 
But he was also entertained by Smokie, which was described as his “favorite band,” at a New Year party in the Kremlin in 2004 and did not express any objections.
Meanwhile, Bjorn Again is due to perform in Moscow this weekend. Their concert is scheduled to take place at Rai Club on Saturday. Hopefully, they won’t find themselves in trouble.
Closer to home, the unscrupulous advertizing campaign for Monday’s concert by <b>Over The Rainbow</b>, a band recently formed by four ex-members of Rainbow plus the son of the founder, is reaching new levels. 
D&D, the agency that deals with the press for the EM promoter, sent out an information letter in which the band is called simply ”<i>Rainbow</i>.” But if you open the Word attachment — something few journalists may do due to their professional laziness — the band’s name is... ”<i>Rainbow Over the</i>.” 
The idea, it appears, is to spell the band’s name as “Rainbow” in local listings in an attempt to sell more tickets. The band’s management insists it has nothing to do with the local campaign. 
“All materials that we have sent out from the band’s management office refer to the band as ‘Over The Rainbow,’” wrote Lisa Walker, assistant to Over The Rainbow’s management, in a letter to The St. Petersburg Times.
“‘Over The Rainbow’ is the official name of the band. This logo was sent to the promoter.”
Check out <b>PTVP</b> (Glavclub) and <b>Kris Roe</b> (Sochi) on Friday, <b>Girls Against Boys</b> (A2), <b>Les Touffes Kretiennes</b> (The Place) and <b>The Frozen Orchestra</b> (GEZ-21) on Thursday.
<i>— By Sergey Chernov</i>

TITLE: Museum rhythms
AUTHOR: By Katya Panfyorova
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: The sixth International Hermitage Music Festival organized by the State Hermitage Museum and the Hermitage Music Academy opens on Sunday, during which the Hermitage Theater and St. Petersburg Cappella Hall will host world famous musicians performing everything from classical music to jazz, from ethnic experimental music to opera. 
“Hermitage Music is created in accordance with the spatial organization of the museum,” said Artyom Gridnyov, one of the festival’s organizers. “The diversity of musical genres, epochs and styles reflects the character of the Hermitage Museum’s visual collection.” 
The Hermitage Festival, which is sponsored by Heineken Russia, “aims to foster cultural and spiritual contact between people by preserving and resurrecting the heritage of classical music,” according to its organizers. 
“The Hermitage Music Academy intends to revive the traditions of the so-called Hermitages that were popular during the reign of Catherine the Great and which took place in the halls of the Winter Palace and in the Hermitage Theater,” said the festival’s organizers. 
 The artistic director of the festival is the composer Sergei Yevtushenko.
The opening day of the festival, Feb. 15, will have a Norwegian flavor, featuring Edvard Grieg’s much-loved Peer Gynt suites, as well as contemporary Norwegian music performed by the Bodo Sinfonietta chamber orchestra.
Wednesday will see a violin recital of works by Vivaldi, Schumann and Brahms performed by Lisa Jacobs from the Netherlands.  
The traditional jazz evening at the Hermitage Festival is titled “Brazil All Stars” and will take place on Thursday, featuring a Brazilian group alongside American saxophonist David Sanchez. 
Astor Piazzolla, who founded the Nuevo Tango styles will perform on Friday.
The ethno-jazz project Simpler Than Simple will perform on Saturday, featuring the eminent Russian music and folklore collector Sergei Starostin experimenting with a drummer from Moldova. 
Their music is spontaneous and simple and reflects ethnical identity through the use of traditional instruments such as the gusli, a member of the zither family.  
The festival will close on Sunday with Belcanto opera singing by young Italian vocalists who will perform popular overtures and airs by Donizetti, Rossini, Bellini, Puccini and Verdi.

TITLE: Cafe culture
AUTHOR: By Tobin Auber
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Now we know that the crisis really has hit: Ginza Project, the people behind the wallet-challenging Ginza, Jelsomino and the recently opened Tsar — all favorites with St. Petersburg’s well-heeled set — has opened a reasonably priced cafe. They even managed to cause mild tremors of consternation in the local press when they announced that the average bill would be just 500 rubles — a mere $14. 
Ginza? Just 500 rubles? That’s close to what you’d pay for a coffee at some of its other eateries, where the local glitterati go to see and to be seen. And, more specifically, to be seen nonchalantly settling the sort of bill that would have the rest of us breaking out in a sweat.
Well, first the bad news — the 500 ruble per person limit is wildly optimistic. And the good news — you’ll only be straying over that limit because there’s so much here to tempt you. 
The cafe gets off to a very good start with its location at the back of the Kazan Cathedral, and the design makes the most of the view, opening up the window apertures to a maximum and creating a very light interior. 
There are two rooms, with a mouthwatering deli counter in the first. As our very polite and accomplished waiter seated us, I struggled to put a label on the design style. My dining partner, however, a professional interior designer, informed me that the style is “somewhere between eclectic, fusion and vintage.”
Quite. What that actually means to the rest of us is that they’ve been out to the shops and bought a load of odds and ends, many of them antique, that look nice together. And, of course, some of the plaster has been removed, or fallen off, from some of the walls to reveal the brickwork. And all the paintwork is in those warm, distressed, cozy, “lived in” tones that avoid any glossy finishes. Along with the aforementioned vast windows, it all works perfectly.
On the menu you’ll find cold starters, soups, sandwiches and hot appetizers for 200 to 300 rubles ($5.50 to $8.30), the hot appetizers comprising a series of curry and wok dishes. 
We tried the tuna, bacon and teriyaki (230 rubles, $6.50) and smoked turkey, Emmental cheese and tomatoes on focaccio bread (230 rubles, $6.50) sandwiches. They could have been larger, especially the tuna option, but otherwise this is a genuine step forward for the local culinary scene — truly great sandwiches. The bread was lightly toasted to perfection and the ingredients were wonderfully fresh and packed with taste. In view of the prevalent snobbery about sandwiches on these shores, this is a massive achievement. 
The seafood soup (190 rubles, $5.30) was also excellent — thick and creamy, albeit with quite a powerful aftertaste that wouldn’t suit everyone — and the warm salad with chicken liver, oyster mushrooms and pine nuts (250 rubles, $7) was in the same league, with equally fresh ingredients and no shortage of taste. 
After this range of excellent starters, the meat lasagna (which looked very tempting through the glass of the deli counter when we came in; 330 rubles, $9.20) did well on the freshness front, but somewhat missed out in the richness of flavor stakes. The other main courses, ranging from 300 to 600 rubles ($8.30 to $16.60), appear to be worthy of further investigation.

TITLE: Russia Coach Hiddink to Take On Chelsea
AUTHOR: By Bob Bensch
PUBLISHER: Bloomberg
TEXT: LONDON — Guus Hiddink will take over as Chelsea coach for the rest of the season, while remaining in charge of the Russian national soccer team.
Hiddink, who replaces the fired Luiz Felipe Scolari, will meet the Chelsea players later this week, the west London club said in an emailed statement on Wednesday.
Roman Abramovich, Chelsea’s Russian billionaire owner, made the move for the Dutchman after dismissing Scolari on Monday.
The Blues have won just two of their past six Premier League matches to fall into fourth place behind Manchester United, Liverpool and Aston Villa. They were booed off the field following a 0-0 home draw with Hull on Saturday.
Hiddink, 62, said on Wednesday that Abramovich’s strong relationship with the Russian Football Union was the reason for his taking the job.
“He does a lot for Russian football and then he asks for help. That’s why I am doing it,” Hiddink told Radio 538 in the Netherlands. “If it had been something else, I wouldn’t have done it.”
The Russian soccer body has said it has no problem with Hiddink holding both jobs as long as his priority is managing Russia. It said it didn’t believe such a situation would hurt the nation’s chances of qualifying for the World Cup in South Africa next year.
Hiddink told the radio station he doesn’t see his Chelsea appointment turning into a long-term deal because of Russia’s qualifying schedule later this year. Russia resumes World Cup duty on March 28 against Azerbaijan and follows that with a game in Liechtenstein four days later.
Hiddink is Chelsea’s third manager since Jose Mourinho left in September 2007. He’s coached at clubs including PSV Eindhoven, Valencia and Real Madrid, and worked at international level with the Netherlands, South Korea, Australia and Russia.
Hiddink’s last spell as a club coach ended at PSV in 2006. He was juggling jobs there too, leading Australia to the World Cup for a first time in 32 years at the same time. He took charge of Russia after the 2006 World Cup and two years later took the squad to the European Championship semifinals.
Abramovich had lured Scolari, who coached his native Brazil to victory at the 2002 World Cup, with the aim of winning the Champions League. He succeeded Avram Grant, who was fired in May after Chelsea finished second in the Premier League and lost the final of Europe’s elite tournament to Manchester United on penalties.
Hiddink won the European Cup, the predecessor to the Champions League, in 1988 during his first stint at PSV.
Chelsea has struggled at home this season, with just six victories in 13 league matches. It had a record 86-match unbeaten league run at Stamford Bridge ended by Liverpool in October.
The Blues are also winless in five matches against Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal, the other members of the so-called Big Four of the Premier League.

TITLE: Tornado Strikes In Oklahoma, 9 Killed
AUTHOR: By Tim Talley
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: LONE GROVE, Oklahoma — Standing in a field of debris where mobile homes once stood, Sue Rose wondered how a half-mile wide tornado could ravage nearly everything in sight and take so many lives but spare hers.
“I don’t know how I made it,” said Rose, who rode out Tuesday’s storm in a trailer at the Bar K Mobile Home Park with family members.
“I tried to keep the kids calm. We just prayed,” she said, fighting back tears Wednesday.
Rose’s home was heavily damaged and dozens more were destroyed after a tornado with winds estimated at 170 mph ripped through Lone Grove just after dark Tuesday night.
Search and rescue crews were expected on Thursday to resume the task of sifting through scattered bricks and beams to find any remaining victims.
The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management reported eight deaths early Wednesday and Carter County Sheriff Ken Grace said a man who was injured in the storm and transferred to a Dallas hospital died later in the day.
“The majority of the deaths appeared to be blunt force trauma to the head,” said Cherokee Ballard, a spokeswoman for the state medical examiner’s office.
President Barack Obama spoke to Gov. Brad Henry and Oklahoma Sens. Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn and “passed along his condolences and best wishes to the victims,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano also offered Henry “any and all support” to help rebuild infrastructure destroyed by the storm, as well as support to those who lost their homes.
Most of the deaths occurred in the mobile home park, where no tornado shelter was available for residents to take refuge. In one case, a victim was found underneath a pickup truck the tornado had lifted and dropped on him.
There also were miraculous tales of survival. People who were huddling in a closet grabbed a woman after the tornado blew part of the roof off and threatened to carry her away. Rescuers found another woman injured but alive under an overturned mobile home.
Firefighters methodically searched each damaged or destroyed structure in Lone Grove on Wednesday, spray-painting a large X on homes after inspection and allowing residents to go in and check for belongings.
Ginger Byrne got to look for cherished possessions in a pile of rubble that used to be her mobile home. The tornado picked it up and dropped it about 100 feet north of where it had stood.
“I found my Bible, my mother’s ring,” Byrne said. “It’s just stuff. I have memories in my heart.”
It may take months, even years, before the community of about 4,600 fully recovers, but Henry said state residents have “become very good at responding to disaster.”
“Oklahomans have gone through this kind of disaster before,” he said. “We know what we are doing. We will rebuild.”

TITLE: Obama’s Plan Leaves Critics Unimpressed
AUTHOR: By Andrew Taylor
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: WASHINGTON — Economic stimulus legislation at the heart of President Barack Obama’s recovery plan is on track for final votes in the House and Senate after a dizzying final round of bargaining that yielded agreement on tax cuts and spending totaling $789 billion.
Obama, who has campaigned energetically for the legislation, welcomed the agreement, saying it would “save or create more than 3.5 million jobs and get our economy back on track.”
The $500-per-worker credit for lower- and middle-income taxpayers that Obama outlined during his presidential campaign was scaled back to $400 during bargaining by the Democratic-controlled Congress and White House. Couples would receive $800 instead of $1,000. Over two years, that move would pump about $25 billion less into the economy than had been previously planned.
Officials estimated it would mean about $13 a week more in people’s paychecks when withholding tables are adjusted in late spring. Critics say that’s unlikely to do much to boost consumption.
Millions of people receiving Social Security benefits would get a one-time payment of $250 under the agreement, along with veterans receiving pensions, and poor people receiving Supplemental Security Income payments.
An additional $46 billion would go to transportation projects such as highway, bridge and mass transit construction; many lawmakers wanted more.
The House could vote on the bill as early as Thursday, though Friday seemed more likely. The Senate would follow, but its schedule is less certain.
The Obama plan offers a 60 percent subsidy to help unemployed people pay health insurance premiums under the COBRA program and divvies up $87 billion among the states to help them with their Medicaid costs for the next two years. It provides $19 billion to modernize health information technology systems, even though such funding will create few jobs right away.
To tamp down costs, several tax provisions were dropped or sharply cut back. A provision popular with Republicans and the big business lobby that would have awarded about $54 billion to money-losing businesses over the next two years was instead limited to small businesses, greatly reducing its cost.
A $15,000 tax credit for anybody buying a home over the next year was dropped; instead, first-time homebuyers could claim an $8,000 credit for homes bought by the end of August. Car buyers could deduct the sales tax they paid on a new car but not the interest on their car loans.
But nothing could shake negotiators from insisting on including $70 billion to shelter middle- to upper-income taxpayers from the alternative minimum tax, originally passed a generation ago to make sure the super-rich didn’t avoid taxes.
The move is aimed at easing headaches that would follow if Congress passed it later in the year — rather than creating jobs. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that provision will have relatively little impact on the economy.
In late-stage talks, Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., pressed for $8 billion to construct high-speed rail lines, quadrupling the amount in the bill that passed the Senate on Tuesday.
Reid’s office issued a statement noting that a proposed Los Angeles-to-Las Vegas rail might get a big chunk of the money.
Scaling back the bill to levels lower than either the $838 billion Senate measure or the original $820 billion House-passed measure caused grumbling among liberal Democrats, who described the cutbacks as a concession to the moderates, particularly Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who are feeling heat from constituents for supporting the bill.
Specter played an active role, however, in making sure $10 billion for the National Institutes of Health, a pet priority, wasn’t cut back.
After final agreements were sealed Wednesday afternoon, staff aides worked into the night drafting and double-checking in hopes of officially unveiling the measure Thursday.

TITLE: Williams, Jankovic Win At Paris Open
PUBLISHER: Agence France Presse
TEXT: PARIS — Serena Williams began her third stint as world number one with a straightforward 6-1, 6-4 victory over Czech left-hander Iveta Benesova in the first round of the WTA Paris Open on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Jelena Jankovic, the woman Williams replaced at the top of the world rankings, bounced back from her fourth-round exit at the Australian Open with a hard-fought 7-5, 7-6 (7/2) win against feisty Italian Francesca Schiavone.
“I was okay. I wasn’t great, but I was so glad to win,” Williams, the newly crowned Australian Open champion, said after her match.
“This was a little better than Australia, because I didn’t play well in my first two rounds there.”
The American made an uncertain start, double-faulting twice and having to save two break points in her opening service game, before breaking Benesova in the third game and running away with the first set in just 19 minutes.
Benesova, the world number 34, broke her opponent in the first game of the second set when Williams put a forehand into the tramlines at 30-40, but the top seed fought back from 40-0 down in the next game to break back immediately.
Williams was then forced to save a break point in the third game as Benesova found her rhythm with some incisive groundstrokes, but the 10-time Grand Slam-winner eventually secured the match-winning break of serve in game 10.
“She raised her game and I made some key errors on some key points,” Williams said.
“But then I was able to get a little confidence and that’s pretty much what happened.”
Jankovic and Schiavone matched each other stride for stride in the opening set of their first round encounter before the Serbian number two seed broke in the 12th game to take a 1-0 lead.
The players exchanged breaks twice in the second set, with Jankovic then saving a set point at 5-4 down before taking the tie-break 7-2.
“She gave me a tough time and she’s always a tough player to play against”, Jankovic said.
“This is what I need right now, to play these matches and get my confidence back. Because when I get into my rhythm, I become really dangerous.”
France’s Amelie Mauresmo enjoyed swift revenge for her Fed Cup defeat at the hands of Italy’s Sara Errani by crushing the 21-year-old 6-2, 6-0 in their first round meeting.
Errani beat the former world number one in straight sets on Sunday in the fourth match of Italy’s 5-0 Fed Cup World Group triumph, but Mauresmo secured early breaks in both sets here en route to an emphatic win.
“We were all very disappointed with the loss at the weekend,” Mauresmo said.

TITLE: Utah Jazz Breaks Lakers’ Winning Streak
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: SALT LAKE CITY — Deron Williams had 31 points and 11 assists and the Utah Jazz snapped the Los Angeles Lakers’ seven-game winning streak with a 113-109 victory Wednesday night.
Mehmet Okur scored 22 points, CJ Miles had 17 and Ronnie Brewer added 16 to give the injury-plagued Jazz their fourth win in the last five games.
Kobe Bryant scored 37 points and Lamar Odom had 19 points and 19 rebounds, but the Lakers allowed the Jazz to shoot a season-high 58.6 percent.
The Jazz didn’t score from the field and made 2-for-8 from the line in a nearly four-minute stretch in the fourth quarter to give the Lakers a last gasp.
Odom and Bryant combined for 10 points and Bryant’s 3-pointer gave the Lakers their first lead of the fourth quarter, 105-104, at the 1:36 mark.
Sandwiched around Bryant’s steal and layup, Paul Millsap made a three-point play for Utah and Okur hit a three-pointer to put Utah up, 110-107.
Williams made 3-of-6 free throws in the last 25 seconds while Derek Fisher missed two 3-point attempts and Bryant misfired once to clinch the Jazz win.
The Lakers had closed the gap to 91-90, but Brewer sparked the Jazz with a series of scintillating plays. His reverse dunk started a 10-2 run that featured a steal, a block and another dunk over Bryant to give Utah a 101-92 lead with 5:59 to play. But Brewer missed four consecutive foul shots to open the door for L.A.
Williams has averaged 31 points in his last five games and is showing that he is finally healthy after missing 13 of Utah’s first 15 games with a sprained ankle and later suffering from swelling in the knee.
He made 12-of-17 shots and his 11th assist was a Okur’s 3-pointer with 42.8 seconds left.
After Williams drove the lane for a basket in the third quarter, Bryant switched to guard the Utah point guard. But Williams promptly drove past him for a layup and a foul. On the next possession, Williams got Bryant going backward and then hit a pull-up jumper. Utah led 80-73 with 2:55 left in the period.
The Jazz often double-teamed Bryant and eliminated any easy drives to the basket. Gambling to leave his teammates open on the perimeter paid off for Utah as Los Angeles went 5-of-19 from beyond the arc.
The last time the Lakers played in Salt Lake City they beat the Jazz in Game 6 of the 2008 Western Conference semifinals to win that physical series, 4-2, and this game turned very chippy as well.
Neither team led by more than nine points and the Lakers, though they boast best road record (18-6) in the NBA, seemed tired at times in playing seventh away from home in eight games.
The Jazz shot 62.5 percent over the first two periods and still trailed 63-61 at the half as the Lakers outrebounded Utah, 22-13.
Bryant got a technical foul from official John Goble midway through the third quarter. Bryant felt he was fouled while shooting an air ball under heavy pressure. Jazz guard Brevin Knight missed his second game with a left quadriceps contusion but the Jazz may get Andrei Kirilenko (ankle) and Carlos Boozer (knee) back in action after the All-Star break.

TITLE: Tsunami      Warning Follows Indonesia Quake
AUTHOR: By Niniek Karmini
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: JAKARTA, Indonesia — A powerful earthquake off eastern Indonesia briefly triggered a tsunami warning Thursday, causing a stampede of residents to higher ground. Hundreds of buildings were damaged and at least 42 people injured, some seriously.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the shallow, 7.2-magnitude quake struck off Sulawesi island’s coast at around 1.34 a.m., shaking people from their sleep. It was followed by dozens of aftershocks, the strongest measuring 6.2.
The Talaud island chain, in waters just south of the Philippines, felt the quake most intensely, said Rustam Pakaya, a government crisis center official, adding that Melonguane and Kabaruan were the towns hardest hit.
Nearly 500 buildings were damaged, including several schools, hospitals and churches, he said. Of the 42 people receiving medical care, 10 suffered serious injuries. Thousands of others were seeking refugee in shelters.
The quake briefly triggered a tsunami warning delivered over mobile loudspeakers and by radio and television. It was lifted about an hour later, however, after the threat had passed.
“We were so afraid,” said Damian Geruh, a Melonguane resident. “We ran to a nearby hill. I saw others climbing trees.”

TITLE: Security High in Kabul for New U.S. Envoy
AUTHOR: By Heidi Vogt
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: KABUL — Heavily armed government troops thronged the streets of Afghanistan’s capital Thursday, stepping up security before the arrival of the new U.S. envoy a day after Taliban attacks showed how easily the city’s defenses can be breached.
Richard Holbrooke, President Barack Obama’s recently appointed envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, was expected later in the day for his first trip to the country. Security would have already been high for such a visit, but Holbrooke arrives following one of the Taliban’s most audacious attacks on the capital.
In the east, meanwhile, a suicide bomber Thursday blew himself up outside a police station in Sharan, the capital of Paktika province, killing an officer and wounding 10 others, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
The Taliban regularly target Afghan and foreign troops with suicide and roadside attacks, and other violent incidents have already spiked this year.
On Wednesday, Taliban militants killed 20 people in a coordinated assault on three government buildings. Armed with guns, grenades and suicide vests, they stormed through barricades at the Justice Ministry in the heart of Kabul and a corrections department building to the north.
One attacker was killed before he could force his way into a third building, the Education Ministry.
The Taliban claimed responsibility soon after the assault began.
The attack served as a reminder of the challenges facing Obama as he increases America’s focus — and troop levels — in Afghanistan. The new administration has promised up to 30,000 new troops. Holbrooke is helping the Obama administration chart a new strategy to beat Taliban insurgencies in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Under rain and snow, troops armed with heavy machine guns swarmed street intersections in Kabul on Thursday, checking drivers’ papers and searching cars.
“Security measures have been increased 100 percent, particularly at the gates of Kabul,” said Abdul Gafar Pacha, the head of the police criminal investigation unit.
All eight attackers died in Wednesday’s assaults, bringing the death toll to 28. Another 57 people were wounded, according to the Interior Ministry.
Amrullah Saleh, the head of Afghanistan’s intelligence service, said the attackers sent text messages to a militant leader in Pakistan before the attack.
Afghanistan has accused militants based in Pakistan’s lawless tribal areas or Pakistan’s spy service of being behind several major attacks in Kabul, including the bombing of the Indian Embassy last July, an assassination attempt against President Hamid Karzai in April and an assault on the luxury Serena Hotel in January 2008.

TITLE: USOC Offers Assistance To Disgraced Phelps
AUTHOR: By Eddie Pells
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: The U.S. Olympic Committee is offering Michael Phelps a refresher course in good behavior. CEO Jim Scherr said Wednesday he’d like to have a face-to-face meeting with the star of the Beijing Olympics, and spokesman Darryl Seibel said the federation was sending Phelps a letter offering its assistance.
Phelps, winner of eight gold medals in Beijing, has apologized after a photo surfaced showing him smoking from a marijuana pipe at party. The USOC wants to help Phelps avoid a repeat.
“Based on this occurrence, we at the USOC, as we said in an earlier statement, are exceptionally disappointed in him, as he is in himself,” Scherr said during a conference call that was set to preview the 2010 Winter Olympics, but also included several mentions of Phelps. “We’ll follow up and have a direct conversation with him and people close to him.”
The USOC can’t do much to penalize him. Anti-doping rules don’t call for sanctions against athletes who test positive for marijuana when they’re not competing. And the USOC’s code of conduct doesn’t apply to athletes once the games are over.

TITLE: Rival Israeli Parties Court Coalition Partners
AUTHOR: By Amy Tiebel
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: JERUSALEM — Israel’s new coalition government — whether led by hard-line Benjamin Netanyahu or his moderate rival Tzipi Livni — is likely to take a tough line on two burning issues: Hamas and Iran.
As the two began courting potential coalition partners Wednesday, two scenarios took shape: a narrow alliance of hawks who would stall peacemaking with the Palestinians, or a broad power-sharing government that would give Israel a more moderate face and greater international support.
With only a few thousand votes by soldiers still to be counted, Livni’s Kadima Party had one more seat in parliament than Netanyahu’s Likud. But Netanyahu’s natural allies on the right have a clear majority of 65 in the 120-seat parliament, giving him the edge in forming a coalition.
President Shimon Peres will consult all 12 parties in the new parliament next week before choosing either Netanyahu or Livni to try to form a government — a process likely to take weeks if not months.