SOURCE: The St. Petersburg Times DATE: Issue #1490 (52), Friday, July 10, 2009 ************************************************************************** TITLE: British Diplomat Caught In The Act PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: A British diplomat in Russia has resigned after a video allegedly showing him having sex with two prostitutes was posted on the internet, the Press Association reported. James Hudson stood down as deputy consul general in Yekaterinburg in the Urals following the furore about the clip. A link to the film, which lasts four minutes and 18 seconds, was posted on a Russian news website under the title “Adventures of Mr Hudson in Russia”. It shows a portly man wearing glasses enter a room - reportedly a brothel in Yekaterinburg — and sit on a sofa, drinking, and kissing two blonde women who are in their underwear. The video then cuts to explicit scenes of all three having sex. It has been suggested that the film was made by agents from Russia’s FSB - the successor to the KGB - in order to leave Mr Hudson open to blackmail. An unnamed security source told The Sun: “Russian intelligence has a long history of making sex films and taking compromising photos to control people or further its aims. “It is also virtually unthinkable that this could have been widely published online without some sort of tacit official approval.” The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) confirmed that Mr Hudson had resigned but refused to comment on whether it was him in the video. An FCO spokeswoman said: “The FCO expects all its staff to demonstrate high levels of personal and professional integrity and takes all allegations of inappropriate behavior seriously. That said, we are not in a position to confirm or deny the allegations in this story, and we do not generally comment on individual members of staff or individual personnel matters.” TITLE: Analysis: 'Reset' In Relations A Reality? AUTHOR: By Nabi Abdullaev PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: No one expected a major diplomatic breakthrough, an impressive concession or an outburst of inflammatory rhetoric at the U.S.-Russia summit this week in Moscow. And none happened. But the talks will be remembered as the moment when the two countries “reset” relations if both sides muster the political will to build on the agreements — all nonbinding — reached by Presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama. “The ‘reset’ is going on, and we can see that a spirit of dialogue remains with both sides,” said Boris Makarenko, an analyst with the Center for Political Technologies, a Moscow think tank. Perhaps the most concrete achievement of the summit was an agreement under which Russia will allow the transit of U.S. military cargo at no charge over its territory to fight Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, analysts said. As for a treaty to replace START I that cuts the number of nuclear warheads and long-range launchers held by the two countries, the new target range allows Russia to hang onto its current 500 launchers and the United States to feel comfortable with 1,100 launchers, said Alexander Khramchikhin, a researcher with the Institute for Political and Military Analysis. As for aspiring NATO members Georgia and Ukraine, Russia and the United States remain at diametrically opposite positions after the summit, having agreed only to continue discussions without confrontation. Obama acknowledged the failure to find compromise after a breakfast Tuesday with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, saying “on areas where we disagree, like Georgia, I don’t anticipate a meeting of minds anytime soon.” Information is contradictory over whether Obama agreed to respect Russia’s interests in other former Soviet republics. Putin’s aide and former Russian Ambassador to Washington Yury Ushakov said Tuesday that Obama had offered assurances at the breakfast that the United States would take Russia’s interests into account. Several hours later, however, Obama told graduates of the New Economic School in a commencement speech that Moscow does not have “privileged interests” in the former Soviet bloc. On U.S. plans to deploy elements of a missile shield in Europe, Moscow failed to get any commitment that Obama would halt the initiative. Medvedev, however, has touted a clause linking strategic defensive and offensive weapons in the nuclear arms agreement as a foundation for a possible breakthrough. But defense analysts said the clause does not necessarily oblige the United States to abandon its missile defense plans. Also, Obama reiterated at a news conference with Medvedev on Monday that the missile shield was not meant to undermine Russia’s strategic security but only to intercept a possible missile from Iran. For his part, Obama got no promises from Moscow on cooperation in easing the nuclear threat from Iran. The countries agreed to work to create information centers to alert each other of possible missile launches, and this is a good starting point for a new dialogue on security, said Vladimir Yevseyev, a security analyst with the Institute of Global Economy and International Relations at the Russian Academy of Sciences. Optimism that the initiative might bear fruit is undercut by the fact that the creation of similar information centers was discussed at top levels during the presidencies of Boris Yeltsin and Bill Clinton and in the early days of the presidencies of Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush. Another initiative from the Yeltsin era — a top-level bilateral commission — was revived at the Moscow summit. The previous commission was headed in the 1990s by former Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and former U.S. Vice President Albert Gore. This time, the commission will be headed by Obama and Medvedev, apparently to keep Putin and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden away from the formal process of resetting ties, some political analysts suggested. Biden is widely seen as sticking to a harder line in policy regarding U.S.-Russia relations than Obama and Medvedev. TITLE: Calls for Dog Controls Get Backing AUTHOR: By Irina Titova PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: A Just Russia faction in St. Petersburg’s Legislative Assembly is planning to appeal to the Russian State Duma with an initiative to toughen the rules for keeping and breeding of dangerous dogs after a spate of horrific attacks on children in the city. “The issue of dog attacks on people has been already discussed many times. Such stories appear in the media regularly. It’s not clear what else should happen to make federal legislators pay attention to the problem,” Oleg Nilov, head of the group, said, Interfax reported. Nilov said that if a direct prohibition of keeping and breeding combative dogs is not considered to be workable, then Russia should at least regulate the terms under which they are kept. “For instance, we could equate the purchase of such dogs to the purchase of a firearm with all the procedures of collecting permissions and certificates that entails. We could have high taxes for keeping such dogs, impose a huge duty if they are imported from abroad, and offer significant fines for violation of the rules for keeping such dogs,” Nilov said. At the same time, St. Petersburg parents, horrified by two recent dog attacks on children in the city, will appeal to the city’s governor with a request that legislative measures are taken to regulate the keeping of dogs in St. Petersburg, Interfax said. Parents are gathering signatures until July 19 and have publicized the petition on websites popular with local parents. “The aim of our appeal is to attract the attention of the executive and legislative authorities to the problem of keeping pets, especially dogs, and to the importance of developing citywide laws regulating the keeping of pets in St. Petersburg,” the text of the appeal reads. The authors of the letter say that problems have arisen because of loopholes in current legislation and low fines imposed on those who break the laws in question. The parents’ group suggests that the new law should regulate the places prohibited for walking dogs, and introduce taxes for keeping dogs. On June 29, an American Akita dog scalped an 8-year-old girl in the village of Osinovets in Leningrad Oblast. The dog attacked the girl in a children’s playground. The owner of the dog failed to hold on to the animal, which was not wearing a muzzle. The next day a 13-year-old boy was attacked by three African boer-boil dogs near the St. Petersburg suburb of Sestroretsk. The boy was walking along a path when he met a woman who was walking the three dogs on a long leash but without a muzzle. The woman, who was the governess of the children of the dogs’ owner, failed to restrain the dogs and they attacked the boy. The boy suffered very serious injuries of his legs and arms. He had a 12-hours surgery and was unconscious for several days. St. Petersburg businessman Vladimir Shadrin, who owns the dogs, said in an interview with Fontanka.ru news service that he takes responsibility for the tragedy, and that he is ready to help the boy to recover. “We’ll be helping the boy with everything. Now it’s my life, my responsibility,” Shadrin said. TITLE: Writer Aksyonov Dies at 76 PUBLISHER: The Associated Press TEXT: MOSCOW — Vasily Aksyonov, a prolific writer and one of the last dissidents to be exiled from the Soviet Union, died Monday. He was 76. Aksyonov died at a Moscow hospital where he was being treated after suffering a stroke last year, his widow, Maya, told Ekho Moskvy radio. Aksyonov wrote more than 20 novels during a career that included his forced exile from the Soviet Union in 1980 after he was branded as “anti-Soviet.” His most famous works were “The Burn,” “The Island of Crimea” and “The Moscow Saga,” known in English as “Generations of Winter.” Aksyonov lived in the United States for more than two decades, teaching Russian and Russian literature at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and working for Radio Liberty as a journalist. Born Aug. 20, 1932, in Kazan, Aksyonov was the son of Yevgenia Ginzburg, a prominent journalist. She and his father, a local Communist official, were sent to labor camps in the late 1930s at the height of Josef Stalin’s political purges, and he was placed in an orphanage. At age 16, Aksyonov joined his mother in exile in the remote and frigid Magadan region, home to some of the harshest gulag prison camps, where his views were shaped in an atmosphere of free discussion among the repressed intelligentsia. His mother became known internationally after the publication of her memoir, “Journey into the Whirlwind.” Aksyonov graduated from the Leningrad Medical University in 1956 and worked as a doctor until switching full-time to writing in 1960. His first novel, “The Colleagues,” was published in 1959 in a popular youth magazine, bringing him instant recognition. He soon became one of the informal leaders of the so-called shestidesyatniki — which translates roughly as “the ’60s generation” — young Soviets who resisted the Communist Party’s cultural and ideological restrictions. “It was amazing: We were being brought up robots, but we began to listen to jazz,” Aksyonov said in a 2007 documentary on him. “Aksyonov’s death is the death of an entire era,” prominent writer Viktor Yerofeyev told Itar-Tass. TITLE: Russia, U.S. Join Forces on Murder Investigation AUTHOR: By Alexandra Odynova, Alexander Velikanov PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: MOSCOW — The Prosecutor General’s Office has agreed to join forces with the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the 2004 killing of U.S. journalist Paul Klebnikov in Moscow, prosecutors said Tuesday. Prosecutor General Yury Chaika and Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin met with Klebnikov’s widow, Musa, and brother Peter in Moscow on Tuesday and gave them an update on the current state of affairs surrounding the case. “We need actions — we’ve been waiting for five years already,” said Peter Klebnikov at Christ the Savor Cathedral, where a memorial service marking the fifth anniversary of Paul Klebnikov's murder was held on Tuesday. TITLE: Aeroflot Faces Accusation Of Setting Unfair Prices AUTHOR: By Maria Antonova PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: MOSCOW — The Federal Anti-Monopoly Service on Wednesday accused Aeroflot of illegally inflating its ticket prices on flights between Krasnoyarsk and Norilsk and ordered the carrier to return the excess profit to the federal budget. The Krasnoyarsk branch of the anti-monopoly service said Russia’s flagship airline had been charging passengers 36,000 rubles ($1,130) for a round-trip ticket, or more than twice the legal amount. “The maximum price for air service between Krasnoyarsk and Norilsk, set by the relevant regional body, is 8,500 rubles,” the service said in a statement on its web site. The statement said Aeroflot must pay the difference to the federal budget. The announcement appeared to be the first time the anti-monopoly watchdog has penalized an airline for the fares it charges, and it came the same day that Aeroflot announced an 88 percent fall in 2008 profit. Last week, the Federal Aviation Agency said Aeroflot, the country’s largest airline, had booked just 62.1 percent of its seats in the first five months of the year, putting it in last place among Russia’s 15 carriers. “We will be shifting our ticket prices downward” to help improve occupancy rates, Mikhail Poluboyarinov, Aeroflot’s deputy director for finances, told reporters Wednesday at the release of the financial results. On the Krasnoyarsk-Norilsk route, which typically runs 2.5 hours, the airline may get some help. The Krasnoyarsk branch of the anti-monopoly service said the prices were regulated by the regional ministry of transportation and communications, which has warned Aeroflot to lower its prices — to no apparent affect. Neither the anti-monopoly watchdog in Krasnoyarsk nor the regional transportation ministry could be reached Wednesday. Konstantin Senechkin, head of the anti-monopoly service’s transportation and communications department in Moscow, said he had no information on the regional office’s complaint. Aeroflot declined to comment on the allegation, saying it had not yet received the order. Sergei Obryvalin, Aeroflot deputy director for commerce, said at the briefing, however, that the company’s prices always depend on how much fuel costs at a particular airport. “In Antalya, it’s 16,000 rubles [per ton], while in Sochi it’s 30,000 rubles,” he said. Aeroflot was the only Russian airline flying between Krasnoyarsk and Norilsk this winter after regional carrier KrasAir ceased to exist. S7 only picked up the route in March. On the MICEX, Aeroflot’s shares fell 4.7 percent Wednesday, worse than the broader market’s 2.4 percent drop. TITLE: 100 Block Road Over Closure PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: MOSCOW — Moscow police detained about 20 people on Wednesday when they tried to block a highway to protest the closing of Cherkizovsky Market, Ekho Moskvy radio reported. A crowd of about 100 people who lost their jobs at the sprawling market, Eastern Europe’s largest, moved toward Schyolkovskoye Shosse intending to stop traffic but were barred by the police. Traders also tried to block the highway in eastern Moscow earlier this week. Police were told to close the market on June 29 after federal inspectors found a series of sanitary and storage violations. The closure came after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called for “convictions” in connection to the seizure there last year of about $2 billion in purportedly contraband goods. The market is owned by multimillionaire Telman Ismailov, who was the target of a documentary film aired on state television last month that claimed that billions of dollars have been laundered at Cherkizovsky Market. Mayor Yury Luzhkov said Wednesday that he would help Russian businessmen hit by the closure of the market, while citizens of other countries were on their own. “The Chinese and Vietnamese will have a vacation. We will help only our citizens who lost their shops as a result of Cherkizovsky Market closing,” Luzhkov said, Interfax reported. TITLE: Gang Selling Fake Kremlin IDs Busted AUTHOR: By Nikolaus von Twickel PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: A group of fraudsters, including a U.S. citizen who posed as a member of the presidential administration, has been uncovered in St. Petersburg, law enforcement officials said Wednesday. The group produced forged identity cards and permits and masqueraded as representatives of fictitious high-level organizations such as a “National Projects Fund” and an “Expert Council.” They subsequently won lucrative lobbying contracts from businesses, promising to act as intermediaries at government agencies, Interfax reported, citing the St. Petersburg branch of the Federal Security Service. One of the fraudsters also had a diplomatic passport from the Dominion of Melchizedek, a fictitious state believed to be the creation of U.S. fraudsters. He used the false passport to win exemption from customs checks, news reports said. The gang was uncovered during a “routine check” by migration authorities when the U.S. citizen showed a false card identifying him as a staff member with the presidential administration, the reports said. Details about the check were not available. It was unclear how many members the group had or whether the unidentified U.S. citizen and the false diplomat were the same person. City police confirmed the case Tuesday but refused to discuss any details. Police spokesman Vyacheslav Stepchenko referred all questions to the Federal Security Service, where nobody picked up the phone. The U.S. Embassy had no immediate comment on the case. Pictures from a Federal Security Service handout published on the Fontanka.ru news website showed rows of apparently forged identity cards and car permits for the Interior Ministry and the presidential administration. The documents were mass produced over a period of more than two years in a St. Petersburg printing house that specialized in business cards and calendars, the news reports said. The Dominion of Melchizedek was created in the 1980s by Californian Evan David Pedley and later became infamous for numerous scams and fraud schemes. In a typical example, three Melchizedek “officials” were arrested in the Philippines in 1998 for duping hundreds of Filipinos, Chinese and Bangladeshis into paying up to $3,500 each for Melchizedek travel documents that they were told were “internationally recognized passports,” the Bangkok-based Nation newspaper reported. Some even paid large amounts of money to obtain “government jobs” on a Pacific island that the “Dominion” claimed was within its jurisdiction, the report said. TITLE: In Brief TEXT: Church on New Laws MOSCOW (SPT) — United Russia will discuss bills with the Russian Orthodox Church before they are passed by the State Duma, a senior party official told Interfax on Wednesday. The pro-Kremlin party will present the Duma’s work schedule to the Moscow Patriarchate and discuss with it any bills that the clerics care to comment on, Duma Deputy Andrei Isayev said. United Russia holds 315 of the Duma’s 450 seats. The church is separate from the state under the law. Family Found Dead MOSCOW (SPT) — A senior regional police official was found dead with his wife and two young children in a partly burned car peppered with bullet holes near Rostov-on-Don, RIA-Novosti reported Wednesday. It was not clear what the official, identified as a head of the special police unit SOBR from Nizhny Novgorod, was doing in the area with his family. The report said the children were born in 1998 and 2002. Investigators have determined that a Kalashnikov rifle was used to fire on the car and the attackers then set the vehicle on fire. “But somehow the fire did not spread,” a police spokesman told RIA-Novosti. Police Shooting MOSCOW (SPT) — A police officer shot dead a suspected car thief at around 6 a.m. Wednesday in northern Moscow after the suspect attacked him with a hammer, Interfax reported. Police officers blocked a Toyota Land Cruiser on Ulitsa Yablochkova about 10 minutes after it was reported stolen on Flotskaya Ulitsa, the report said. The driver refused to surrender and attacked the officers with a hammer. An officer fired his Makarov pistol twice in the air but aimed the third time at the suspect’s chest. The suspect died on the spot. Police were attempting to identify the man, who didn’t have identification on him. They also were investigating the officer’s decision to shoot him. Frenchman Dies MOSCOW (SPT) — A 41-year-old Frenchman died after falling out a hotel window in an apparent accident Tuesday, Interfax reported. Police officers arrived at Bolshaya Ukharevskaya Ploshchad on Tuesday morning and found the unidentified man lying in a pool of blood near the Sukharevka hotel, the report said. He was rushed to the hospital, where he died of his injuries later in the day. Police said the man had accidentally fallen out a fourth-floor window at the hotel. Amnesty Criticized MOSCOW (AP) — The Foreign Ministry criticized a recent Amnesty International report on human rights abuses in the North Caucasus as politicized and inflammatory Wednesday. The ministry acknowledged problems in the North Caucasus but said the rights group had selected facts to fit conclusions made in advance. The ministry also suggested the release of Amnesty’s report was timed to whip up criticism of Russia before U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit this week. Deflation Possible MOSCOW (Bloomberg) — The Central Bank said Wednesday that the country might experience deflation next month and inflation may be close to zero in July, Interfax reported, citing Alexei Ulyukayev, a first deputy chairman.   Russia’s inflation rate in the year through Monday was 7.6 percent, compared with 7.4 percent through June 29 and 9 percent in the same period a year earlier, the State Statistics Service said Wednesday. Consumer prices advanced 0.2 percent between June 30 and July 6 after rising 0.2 percent the previous week, the service said. Rusnano-Sitronics MOSCOW (Bloomberg) — State corporation Rusnano and Sitronics agreed to form a joint venture to produce microchips, Vedomosti reported Wednesday. Rusnano will invest $230 million in the venture, which will start production in 2011, newspaper said. RusHydro Share Sale MOSCOW (Bloomberg) — RusHydro said Wednesday that it raised 7.2 billion rubles ($230 million) in a share sale to finance the construction of new power plants. The company sold 7.2 billion new shares for 1 ruble each, or 45 percent of the total offered, it said. The Russian government spent 4.9 billion rubles and the rest were bought by existing minority shareholders, RusHydro said. Open Investment MOSCOW (Bloomberg) — Property developer Open Investments on Wednesday reported an increase of about 5 percent in the value of its assets in 2008 from a year earlier to $3.6 billion. 2008 revenue rose 72 percent from a year earlier to $283 million, the company said. RBC Debt MOSCOW (Bloomberg) — RBC Information Systems reached preliminary agreement “with its major creditors” holding about 50 percent of the company’s debt on restructuring terms, the company said Wednesday. Rosbank Management criticized the plan, saying it may have “negative consequences.” The Moscow-based company holds more than 11 percent of RBC Information’s voting shares, according to a statement. Naftogaz Buys Gas MOSCOW (Bloomberg) — Naftogaz is purchasing about 120 million cubic meters of gas per day this month, compared with 33 million cubic meters in June, a spokesman for the company said Wednesday. Ukraine, which relies on Russia for about 70 percent of its energy needs, is seeking to increase the amount of gas in its underground storage facilities after a dispute with Russia led to a Jan. 1 supply cut that affected Europe. As much as 100 million cubic meters shipped by Gazprom is currently being stored, Marunych said. For the Record Polyus Gold will raise output to 40 tons this year and may pay a first-half dividend, CEO Yevgeny Ivanov said, Vedomosti reported. (Bloomberg) Sales of new cars and light commercial vehicles fell 56 percent in June in comparison with the same month a year earlier, the Association of European Businesses said in an e-mailed statement Wednesday. (Bloomberg) TITLE: Police Raid Sibir Energy Offices as Part of Tax Probe AUTHOR: By Anatoly Medetsky PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: MOSCOW — The fortunes of embattled Sibir Energy co-owner Shalva Chigirinsky went from bad to worse Wednesday as police raids across Moscow exposed a tax investigation into a fuel trading company that he formerly ran. The news broke just two days after a London court froze Chigirinsky’s apartments, a collection of clocks and real estate projects as part of hearings into a lawsuit from VTB bank over an unpaid loan. Sibir also has taken Chigirinsky to court to force him to return money from a controversial deal. On Wednesday, Moscow police raided the offices of Sibir Energy, a London-listed oil producer, and the Moscow Oil Refinery, the companies said in separate statements. Police were looking at documents relating to the Moscow Oil and Gas Company, a fully owned subsidiary of Sibir, Sibir said. Agents looked into the Moscow Oil and Gas Company’s activities in 2006 and the business of its predecessor, the Moscow Oil Company, in 2002 and 2003, Sibir said. Chigirinsky ran both companies. Chigirinsky is reportedly in the United States, and his representatives could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Sibir and the Moscow city government co-owned the Moscow Oil and Gas Company in 2006, a year before Sibir bought out the government’s share. In a related development, the Moscow Oil Refinery said Wednesday that police raided its premises and seized documents about “certain organizations” that were dated 2006. A source close to the company said the organization in question was the Moscow Oil and Gas Company, Vedomosti reported on its web site. Sibir has a 50-50 joint venture with Gazprom Neft to run the Moscow Oil Refinery. Sibir spokesman Nikolai Frolov declined further comment Wednesday. A call to the Moscow Oil Refinery went?unanswered Wednesday afternoon. Sibir is not the target of the police investigation, the company said. The raids were linked to purported tax evasion by the Moscow Oil and Gas Company and its predecessor, police sources told Interfax. The companies are suspected of illegally reducing their tax bills by more than 600 million rubles, police said. In one case, the Moscow Oil and Gas Company is believed to have used a series of front companies on paper to sell fuel to electricity generator Mosenergo in 2006, thus inflating its nontaxable costs, police said. A Moscow police spokeswoman declined comment. The news is a further setback for Chigirinsky, whom London’s High Court of Justice on Monday prohibited from dealing with his assets. The court decision acted on a complaint from VTB that the businessman hadn’t paid back 3.1 billion rubles of a loan, court records show. The court order, made without a notice to the defendant, froze his London mansion, a villa in southern France and a collection of timepieces, including Faberge. It also bans him from selling or reducing the value of real estate projects such as the Old Sovetskaya Hotel and Russia Tower in Moscow, the luxury retail arcade Passage in St. Petersburg and the Krasnaya Polyana Olympic Center in Sochi. The court will consider the injunction again on July 17. VTB said the loan repayment deadline expired June 30. TITLE: PepsiCo Opens Plant, Promises $1 Bln AUTHOR: By Nadia Popova PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: DOMODEDOVO, Moscow Region — Soft drink and snack maker PepsiCo opened its eighth plant in Russia on Wednesday amid promises to invest another $1 billion in the next few years — including to educate potato farmers. The opening ceremony, attended by PepsiCo chairwoman Indra Nooyi, Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina and U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, was at a facility PepsiCo expects to become the largest in Europe in three to four years. The company said the plant will produce “simple pleasures” that Russians can afford, in good times and bad. “The Domodedovo plant will initially only produce Lipton Ice Tea, which remains popular in Russia despite the crisis,” Mike White, head of PepsiCo International, said in an interview. “Lipton Ice Tea is a priority for us in Russia now.” PepsiCo also said it would introduce new products in Russia over the next two to three years and planned to buy 65 percent more potatoes by 2013. Thousands of bottles of Pepsi, 7UP, fruit-flavored Mirinda and all kinds of Lipton Ice Tea were piled several meters high around the improvised stage where the ceremony was held. Conveyor belts were running throughout the opening. Locke was enthusiastic in his praise for the plant and its products, saying he “grew up on Pepsi” and that he keeps his refrigerator stocked with it. The endorsement couldn’t be more timely for the company’s Russia operations, which have seen demand falling for PepsiCo soft drinks and juices. “We saw a drop in sales of premium brands, like Ya juice, in the fourth quarter,” Alexei Mekhonoshin, the head of Pepsi Bottling Group in Russia, said on the sidelines of the ceremony. The company is PepsiCo’s largest bottler. “We reacted by increasing production of the cheaper brands, like the Privet juice, and by producing more small bottles,” White said. “Pepsi offers simple pleasures,” he said. “Some people can’t afford to buy a car now, but we offer something that anyone can buy. … And we’re working out a strategy for the next two to three years to offer some new products each year.” The $180 million Domodedovo plant, with a planned capacity of 2.1 billion liters per year, will produce Lipton on two production lines this year. It will gradually add another five lines to produce carbonated beverages and its Aqua Minerale water. Pepsi makes soft drinks at six plants in Russia, including at Domodedovo. It has one facility making snacks, such as Lays potato chips and Cheetos, and it produces juices such as Ya, Privet and Tropicana at the Lebedyanksy plant it bought last year. The company has said it will invest $1 billion in Russia in the next three years, including to finish construction this year of a second snacks plant. PepsiCo will develop its distribution network in Russia and the CIS and boost its support for Russian farmers, PepsiCo Europe president Zein Abdalla said after the ceremony. TITLE: Obama Bungles Putin’s Title (Again) at Breakfast AUTHOR: By Anatoly Medetsky PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: MOSCOW — U.S. President Barack Obama inadvertently misspoke Vladimir Putin’s title during his first meeting with the prime minister Tuesday, a second slip of the tongue in as many days that indicates he remains uncomfortable with who is who in the ruling tandem of Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev. The two leaders, however, appeared to hit it off over a breakfast of eggs, smoked beluga, black caviar, olady with cranberry jam, quail-stuffed pelmeni, tea brewed in a samovar, cherry kisel and homemade ice cream for dessert. The meal, which was scheduled to last 90 minutes, stretched on for more than two hours. The leaders spoke broadly about how they can “avoid the mistakes made in the past eight years,” with Putin characteristically peppering the conversation with a few of his earthy jokes, his aide Yury Ushakov said. Photos of the meeting showed Putin, Obama and their aides laughing over the breakfast on a terrace outside Putin’s Novo-Ogaryovo residence near Moscow. Before they retreated for closed-door talks over the meal, Putin greeted Obama by saying relations between the countries have been bumpy. “There were quite gray, mundane days and even confrontations,” Putin said. “It is with your name that we link our hopes for the development of Russian-U.S. relations.” When Obama replied, he misspoke Putin’s title. “I am aware of not only extraordinary work that you’ve done on behalf of the Russian people in your previous role as prime minister … er … as president, but in you present role as prime minister,” he said. “We think there’s an excellent opportunity to put U.S.-Russian relations on much stronger footing,” he added. “We may not end up agreeing on everything, but we can have a tone of mutual respect and consultation that will serve the American people and the Russian people.” At a news conference with Medvedev on Monday evening, Obama described Putin as president before correcting himself. “I suspect when I speak to President … er … Prime Minister Putin tomorrow, he will say the same thing,” Obama said when talking about Russia’s objections to a planned U.S. missile shield in Europe. Later Tuesday, Obama bungled Putin’s title again, referring to him as “President Putin” in an interview with NBC television. He sought to downplay the mistakes. “I don’t think it’s Freudian,” Obama said. “He used to be president.” He told Fox News Channel that he had found Putin to be “tough, smart, shrewd, very unsentimental, very pragmatic.” “And on areas where we disagree, like Georgia, I don’t anticipate a meeting of the minds anytime soon,” he said. Putin later told reporters: “The conversation was very good natured and substantial. We had many common points in many areas.” Putin, however, won no promises from Obama on the missile shield, a major irritant in ties, but was told about the potential to work together more to prevent Iran from making a nuclear bomb, said Ushakov, a Cabinet deputy chief of staff and former ambassador to the United States. Obama said he was happy about the joint efforts to restrain North Korea’s nuclear program. Ushakov said Obama offered assurances that the United States would take into account Russia’s interests in former Soviet republics, including concerns about Georgia and Ukraine, which are aspiring to join NATO. Russia fought a brief war with Georgia in August over its separatist region South Ossetia, whose residents hold Russian passports. Russia and Ukraine have uneasy ties over gas trade and transit. Putin said Ukraine was an important partner for Russia, stressing that it was home to 17 million Russians, which is more than a third of Ukraine’s population, Ushakov said. “Putin offered some arguments that, I think, allowed Obama to have a better grasp of the situation,” said Ushakov, who took part in the talks. On Georgia, Putin laid out Moscow’s view that strong U.S. support for the country played a role in Tbilisi’s decision to try to retake South Ossetia, Ushakov said. The leaders did not discuss Russia’s recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Georgia’s other separatist region, as independent states following the war, he said. Putin and Obama agreed to meet again at a later time, Ushakov said. In a light moment before breakfast, Obama thanked Putin for providing good weather for their meeting. Dark clouds and rain greeted Obama when he arrived in Moscow on Monday. “I also want to thank the prime minister for arranging very nice weather in Moscow,” Obama said, looking outside the window as Putin showed him where they would have breakfast. Their first meeting took place days after Obama accused Putin of having one foot in Cold War ways of doing business and the other foot in the present. Putin responded by saying Russians couldn’t stand that awkwardly. The subject surfaced over breakfast, with the Russian side now accusing the United States of using Cold War thinking. Ushakov said the American side now realized that it was wrong for the U.S. administration to keep “one foot … in the swamp of stereotypes and dogmas” of the past. Obama remarked at a meeting with Medvedev later Tuesday that the two Russian leaders shared very similar views. In an interview Saturday, Obama had called Medvedev “progressive.” Alexandra Odynova contributed to this report. TITLE: President Speaks of U.S. Humility to Opposition AUTHOR: By Nikolaus von Twickel PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: MOSCOW — U.S. President Barack Obama told opposition and civic society representatives Tuesday that Americans and Russians must learn from each other and that it was important for him to show humility. “I think in the past there’s been a tendency for the United States to lecture rather than to listen,” Obama said during a round-table discussion with eight handpicked opposition politicians that lasted almost 90 minutes in the Ritz Carlton hotel. “[To] not simply tolerate dissenting voices but also to respect and recognize [them]” helped solidify the U.S. government “during some very difficult times,” he said, according to a transcript published on the White House’s web site. Boris Nemtsov, co-head of the Solidarity movement, told Obama that “resetting” the opposition’s relations with the Kremlin was complicated. “For America’s leadership, free speech and democracy are basic values, but for ours it is censorship and the total monopoly of power,” Nemtsov told Interfax after the meeting. Ilya Ponomaryov, a State Duma deputy for the Just Russia party, said Obama reinforced his opinion that he was a socialist-leaning president. “A lot of what he said was very people-orientated, and it was clear that he receives a lot of his ideas from grassroots. I and many of my comrades share his ideas,” he told The St. Petersburg Times. Ponomaryov, a former Communitst youth activist who last year switched to the pro-Kremlin socialist A Just Russia, added that he used the meeting to criticize traditional U.S. policy toward the country’s opposition. “They limited themselves to right-wing liberals who compromised the concept of democracy and freedom,” he said. Other round-table participants were Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, former chess champion Garry Kasparov, Yabloko leader Sergei Mitrokhin, former Duma Deputy Vladimir Ryzhkov and Leonid Gozman, leaders of Right Cause, another Kremlin-sponsored opposition party. Earlier Tuesday, Obama made a brief appearance at a civic forum organized by the New Eurasia Foundation, a U.S.-sponsored think tank, where he seemed to praise the Kremlin’s recent move to soften the country’s NGO law. “I welcome the steps that President [Dmitry] Medvedev has taken so that civil society groups can play a more active role on behalf of the Russian people,” Obama said, according to an official White House transcript. Oleg Orlov, head of the human rights organization Memorial, said Obama had rightly praised civil society’s overall role, but his assessment of the situation in Russia was a little unrealistic. “This was a bit optimistic and looking through rose-colored glasses,” he said. Nicolai Petro, a political science professor at the University of Rhode Island, said that while Obama’s talk of humility was refreshing, his real challenge lay in shaping the details of the coming U.S. policy toward Moscow. “I fear that his rhetoric will suffer from the wiles of his advisers,” Petro said by telephone from Kingston, Rhode Island. He said the declared goal of the Obama administration to make the mutual relationship productive “inevitably puts human rights and democracy on the sidelines.” TITLE: U.S. First Lady Tours Nursing School PUBLISHER: Combined Reports TEXT: MOSCOW — U.S. first lady Michelle Obama took time away from her husband’s public diplomacy, summit speeches and protocol meetings Tuesday to visit a school for orphans and a nurse training college. At St. Dmitry Primary School, where around 160 children, many of them orphans, study, Obama was met by around two dozen students at a second-grade classroom, where she listened to them read several poems in English and sing a Russian folk song. Two of the children gave her homemade presents, and a girl in a wheelchair then asked Obama in Russian if she had any children. The first lady responded through a translator that she has two daughters — Malia and Sasha — who she said remained behind in the hotel with their grandmother. “Those children have wonderful souls,” she said. “We will pray for you and them. I hope you will pray for us. I’m saying this on behalf of my country.” Later Obama went on a tour of the complex’s St. Dmitry Cathedral and met with several dozen nursing students at the St. Dmitry Nursing College of Sisters of Mercy, established in 1992. “It’s very important for us that you are doing a lot of charity. You have scored a record in fundraising and attracting volunteers,” the church’s chief priest, Arkady Shatov, told Obama. After listening to the nursing students speak about their work in HIV and AIDS treatment projects, she said: “The education of the broader public is just as important as taking care of the patients.” She was also given a nesting doll — dressed as a nurse. Svetlana Arzamastseva, director of nursing college, later called Obama “a very beautiful person, an openhearted person” and noted Obama’s experience developing volunteers and fundraising for the University of Chicago Medical Center. Later Obama and her daughters accompanied President Dmitry Medvedev’s wife, Svetlana, to the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater, Interfax reported.  (AP, SPT) TITLE: Home-grown diva AUTHOR: By Larisa Doctorow PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: The tickets were snapped up a long time ago; invitations and free passes were hotly contested even in the final minutes before the curtain rose. On Tuesday, an evening dedicated to the 70th birthday of Russian mezzo-soprano Yelena Obraztsova was a multicultural homage featuring ballet performances, opera arias, jazz and piano recitals, and even excerpts from films. The venue for the show, the Mikhailovsky Theater, is where Obratzova currently serves as artistic director. Congratulatory speeches and presentations of state and city awards to the singer punctuated four hours of entertainment by Russian celebrities including dancers Farukh Ruzimatov, also an artistic director of the Mikhailovsky, pianist Denis Matsuev, jazz saxophonist Igor Butman and pop and jazz singer Larisa Dolina. The opera diva needed no introduction to a St. Petersburg audience which for many years has savored her work in the city and beyond. “I am 70 this year,” Obraztsova said in comments posted on www. mikhailovsky.ru. “I was born in Leningrad, lived through the Siege [during World War II] and studied here, both in school and at the conservatoire.” When she first appeared on stage, the public noted with astonishment her rich, deep voice and her modern manner of singing in which there was no room for tremolos typical of Slavic vocalists of an older generation. As a student of the Leningrad Conservatoire in 1962, Obraztsova was invited to perform in a Bolshoi Theater production of “Boris Godunov” in Moscow. A recital in the Salle Pleyel, Paris, introduced the singer to the opera houses of Europe and the world. Her insatiable passion and love for the vocal art led her to perform most of the mezzo soprano roles in the Russian and world repertoires. During her long and distinguished career, Obraztsova performed under the baton of the world’s leading conductors including Claudio Abbado and Herbert von Karajan. She regularly sang with each of the “Three Tenors,” Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras. The director Franco Zeffirelli produced a film version of Mascagni’s opera “Cavalleria Rusticana” in 1982 in which Obraztsova performed the leading part of Lola, bringing her art to millions. She also performed the title role of “Carmen” with Domingo in a television production directed by Zeferelli in 1978. Marking her 70th birthday, Obraztsova said: “I celebrated 45 years of my career in Moscow but for my birthday I decided to celebrate in my home-town at my beloved Mikhailovsky Theater.” Time has not slowed the pace of Obraztsova’s travels and artistic endeavors. Today she devotes most of her time to her educational duties, preparing young soloists for the life of a professional singer in her own Cultural Center in St. Petersburg where both Russian and foreign singers are enrolled. They are given a chance to participate in concerts and to train for new roles with which they will launch their career in opera. Mikhailovsky Theater director Vladimir Kekhman underlined Obraztsova’s importance for the theater and for the Russian music landscape, when he said on Tuesday that “Yelena Vasilyevna embodies Russian musical culture in her capacity as a great singer, teacher and coach, helping to educate a new generation of Russian singers.” The great singer still appears regularly on stage at the theater playing the Countess in Tchaikovsky’s “Queen of Spades,” a role she first sang decades ago. Tuesday’s birthday celebrations were concluded by the Mikhailovsky chorus and opera company performing “Happy Birthday” with all their might as they followed the lead of guest soloist Kekhman. TITLE: Chernov’s choice TEXT: Correcting last week’s errors, Morrissey was reported to have thrown two sweaty shirts into the crowd at the recent concert to St. Petersburg, not one. The mustache of Nick Cave is not that new, as he has reportedly been sporting it for a couple of years, although he did not have it when he last came to the city in the late 1990s. Thanks to a reader for these corrections. And, according to the publisher of an upcoming book of poetry by Alexei Nikonov of punk band PTVP, or Posledniye Tanki v Parizhe (Last Tanks in Paris), the book’s designer did not destroy its semi-finished layout, as reported last week, but just stopped working on it after “losing interest” because of a recent scandal that had shaken the anarchist community involving Nikonov and anarchist writer Vlad Tupikin. Meanwhile, it appears the notorious incident at last month’s PTVP concert at Zoccolo, described by Tupikin, who blamed Nikonov for attacking him and some fans, was not exactly as he presented. While Tupikin said that Nikonov attacked him deliberately with a microphone stand to break his camera’s lens, an eyewitness, who stood near the stage during the incident, published a totally different account. It turned out that it was not the anarchist writer who Nikonov was aiming for, but a man who stood next to the stage — and masturbated openly during several songs — until the singer got angry and swung at him with the microphone stand, according to a comment left by a user called “arbdesign” on Tupikin’s blog on Livejournal.com. The two girls “beaten into semi-unconscious state” and “driven away in an ambulance” did not exist and sound like Nikonov’s typically dark-humored retort to the writer. “arbdesign” wrote that there was one girl who got a slight scratch from the stand and was pretty much satisfied by Nikonov’s apologies. There is also a comment from the girl herself who reported that she was “safe and sound.” Strange things are going on at underground concerts, and no less strange are the reactions they sometimes excite. PTVP will perform at Mod to celebrate Bastille Day on Tuesday. As stadium rockers DDT prepares to play its first local club concert, its frontman Yury Shevchuk expressed once again his oppositional views and hopes for the next generation this week. “They are enough to break the neck of the bureaucracy and press the ‘reset’ button for this country,” he said on Ekho Moskvy radio on Wednesday in a nod to U.S. President Barack Obama’s desire to “reset” U.S.-Russia relations. “I don’t like saying that we’re against [anything in principle],” said Shevchuk, who participated in Dissenters’ March protest in St. Petersburg last year. “We’re for good, humane politics, we’re for honest citizens.” DDT will play at Glavclub on Monday. — By Sergey Chernov TITLE: Seasons in the sun AUTHOR: By Galina Stolyarova PUBLISHER: Staff Writer TEXT: Concerts taking place this week as part of ongoing festivals make the next few days an important highlight in St. Petersburg’s classical music calendar. At the height of the White Nights season, the State Hermitage Museum continues a beautiful tradition of holding open-air concerts in its newly restored New Hermitage courtyard and other associated venues. The Ninth International “Music of the Greater Hermitage” festival kicked off on Thursday, July 9, with a recital, Blues For Four, that brought together prominent jazz musicians from St. Petersburg, Moscow, New York and Helsinki. The festival’s next concert will introduce Myhta, an unusual jazz group from Sweden, to St. Petersburg. Key to the band is their multienthicity: the musicians come from Sweden, India and Cuba and play ethno-jazz, “a fusion of Nordic ice and Nordic spice” as they themselves put it. Cool Scandinavian folk tunes absorb an exotic flavour when tastefully blended with with Latin American rhythms and traditional jazz improvisations. During the 30 years of its history, Myhta has evolved from an average jazz band into a unique and creative musical ensemble thriving in experimentalism and exploring World Music in its tremendous variety. The group has performed more than 400 times and traveled extensively around the globe. The musicians will take the stage at the State St. Petersburg Academic Cappella on Saturday, marking the ensemble’s Russian debut. Monday sees a rare performance by one of Russia’s most acclaimed baritones, Mariinsky Theater soloist Vassily Gerello, who will sing Neapolitan songs alongside the Orchestrino Armonia under the baton of Alexander Chernobayev. The baritone — a welcome guest at the Opera Bastille, La Scala, the Metropolitan, and other acclaimed operatic venues — wasn’t always in love with opera. As a child growing up in a small Ukrainian village near Chernovtsy, Gerello won his neighbors’ admiration with vigorous and lively performances of chastushki (folk and popular songs), only later switching his attention to classical music when, at seventeen, he heard the recordings of Enrico Caruso. Garello has since been totally faithful to the classics and Italian and Russian classical arias form the core of his repertoire today. Meanwhile, on Friday, the Grand Waltz International Music Festival begins in the Pavlovsk Rose Pavillion, restoring a 19th century tradition, whereby some of Russia and Western Europe’s finest artists performed there and Pavlovsk was proud of its unofficial status as the country’s summertime music capital. The Grand Waltz Festival, now in its eighth rendition, takes inspiration from Pavlovsk’s connection with the King of Waltzes, the Austrian Romantic composer Johann Strauss. Strauss conducted a number of the concerts in the palace complex, played the violin during the summer performances and even composed some new music during his time in Russia. In total, Strauss spent eleven summer seasons in Pavlovsk, between 1853 and 1865. Each year, the Grand Waltz Festival offers eleven classical concerts that feature a substantial slice of Strauss’ music. The festival’s concerts do not formally copy the 19th century Strauss seasons but rather serve to promote the sort of chamber music recitals that were launched by Strauss nearly 200 years ago. Among this year’s participants are Vienna Opera soloists soprano Marcella Cerno and tenor Herwig Pecoraro, prominent Austrian conductor Peter Gut, internationally renowned Russian pianists Vladimir Mishchuk and Peter Laul, cellist Sergei Roldugin, soprano Yelena Mirtova and conductors Vladimir Ziva, Alexander Kantorov, Alexei Karabanov and Dmitry Khokhlov. Hosting the concerts, apart from Pavlovsk’s Rose Pavillion, will be the Hermitage Theater, the Catherine Palace at Tsarskoye Selo and Peterhof’s Grand Palace. The event closes on July 20. One of the festival’s side projects has been a plan to restore the original “Pavlovsk Music Station,” which was several hundred meters from today’s railway station. The director of the Pavlovsk Park Museum, Nikolai Tretyakov, has in mind is constructing a small railway along which a reduced scale train will run to add a touch of whimsy to this charming musical event. TITLE: City Hosts Baltic Tall Ships Regatta AUTHOR: By Matt Brown PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: The arrival in St. Petersburg on Thursday morning of the Russian vessel “Mir” — moored on Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment — heralded the second stage of this summer’s Tall Ships’ Races in the Baltic. The highlight of the event will be Sunday’s regatta along the River Neva featuring dozens of sailing ships, and a ceremony on the Spit of Vasilievsky Island with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin giving out the prizes. At the time this newspaper went to press some 126 vessels were registered to take part in the series of races from Poland to St. Petersburg and on to Finland and Lithuania. The Tall Ships’ Races offers a chance for young people to learn teamwork and crewmanship, said Corinne Hitching of Sail Training International, the registered charity that organized this year’s races between Baltic ports, including, from Thursday, St. Petersburg. “Sail Training International’s purpose is the development and education of young people — regardless of nationality, culture, religion, gender or social background — through the sail training experience,” said Hitching. The term “tall ship” is commonly used to define a large, traditionally rigged vessel, and, despite the name, the ships are divided into classes by virtue of length. “A ‘Tall Ship’ is not necessarily one of the glamorous square-riggers,” said Hitching. “Entry is open to any monohull sailing vessel of more than 9.14 meters (waterline length), provided that at least 50 percent of the crew are aged between 15 and 25 years and that the vessel meets Sail Training International’s safety equipment requirements.” This year’s Tall Ships’ Races includes 23 Class A ships – square-rigged vessels that are more than 120 feet (36.5 meters) in length. However, tall ships of all classes are taking part and promise to form a magnificent spectacle on the River Neva this weekend. The biggest contingent is from Poland, with 35 vessels, followed by ships from Russia with 22 vessels and Finland with 16. There are also 12 from the United Kingdom, nine from the Netherlands and seven from Germany. Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden are also represented. At least a dozen ships in the fleet are racing for the first time. The fleet left the port of Gdynia in Poland on Monday after a successful five-day festival. “More than 100 ships, some of the largest in the world including the Russian square-riggers ‘Mir,’ ‘Sedov,’ and ‘Dar Mlodziezy,’ the ‘Christian Radich’ from Norway, and the British Barque ‘Lord Nelson’ were moored ‘nose-to-tail’ in the harbor and in the docklands area during the run-up to the festival which meant spectators were able to really to take in the fascinating tall ships experience and chat to the crew,” Hitchings said. “The fantastic weather, which seemed to arrive with the ships, was also a contributing factor to the event’s success.” The first race from Gdynia took the fleet up into the Gulf of Finland and on to St. Petersburg. From St. Petersburg the fleet will sail through the Finnish archipelago, stopping wherever they can — the Estonian or Finnish coasts or the ?land Islands — toward Turku. The start for the second race to Klaipeda, Lithuania, will be held the day after the fleet leaves Turku on July 26 in order to give the vessels time to thread their way back out through the archipelago toward the small Finnish island of Uto. Although the Baltic Sea is generally benign at this time of year, captains will nonetheless need to work their crews and sail tactically in order to make the most of the two race legs if they want to be in with a chance of winning their class. Competition within classes is fierce and old rivalries amongst skippers will no doubt be renewed. “The aim of The Tall Ships’ Races is to bring together the ships that offer sail training experiences in friendly competition, providing a true adventure for those who take part,” said Hitchings. “At the same time it allows millions to gaze at the glamorous and lofty ships, some of which date from the dawn of the last century. Ships from just over 9 meters long to over 100 meters long race against each other, with a time correction factor being applied to allow them to compete on an even footing.” For the young crew members, many of whom have never been to sea before, the Tall Ships’ Races are often a life changing experience as they learn about themselves, new cultures and make new friends — the essence of what sail training is all about. The Tall Ships’ Races, organised by Sail Training International and supported by the city of Antwerp, is a spectacular and stimulating sight, whether in port or out at sea. “We hope you will enjoy visiting the fleet whilst they are alongside. If you haven’t already, perhaps you will consider taking part in the event in a future year or perhaps send a young person to experience the voyage of a lifetime for themselves,” said Hitchings. In addition to the support sponsorship from Antwerp, the Russian shipping company SOVCOMFLOT will also be a presenting partner for the race series as well as a support sponsor for St. Petersburg. SOVCOMFLOT is Russia’s largest shipping company operating 119 vessels specializing in energy shipping. With its base in St. Petersburg, it is looking forward to supporting the city in delivering a memorable sail-training event and also to being involved in the support provided by the other host ports. The company already has strong links with sail training. As part of its training program, all trainee sailors undertake at least one voyage on “Mir.” The Tall Ships Races are held every summer in European waters. Each year between 70 and 150 vessels from 15-20 countries, crewed by some 5-6,000 young people from over 30 countries worldwide, take part in this unique event that combines four days of activities in each port with racing or cruising-in-company between ports. TITLE: A Dream Of An Event AUTHOR: By Galina Stolyarova PUBLISHER: Staff Writer TEXT: The idea of the Tall Ships’ Races came to a seaman during a dream. Bernard Morgan, a retired solicitor from London was dreaming about a “Brotherhood of the Sea,” a dedicated community of young seamen engaging in a friendly competition. The idea was first raised in a public discussion in 1953 and was then envisaged as an international race for sail training ships, with crews drawn from sea cadets and young seamen still in the process of training. Morgan’s idea enjoyed a warm welcome. He was lucky to find for the project an influential supporter and benefactor in Dr. Pedro Theotynio Pereira, the Portuguese Ambassador to the U.K. at the time, who appreciated the diplomatic potential of the international sea contest and felt the race would boost and improve relations between participating countries. Morgan and Pereira were quick to find widespread support for the race. The patrons of the project included, at the launch stage, Britain’s Earl Mountbatten, the First Sea Lord, and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth II’s husband. The first race took place in July 1956 starting in U.K.’s Torbay and finishing in Lisbon, Portugal. Only twenty ships participated in the first competition, which was held in two classes: under and over 100 tons. The contest was originally meant to be a one-off affair but its huge success, international resonance and extremely positive media coverage prompted the organizers to plan another one for 1958 with the aim of turning the event into a biannual race in the future. The plan worked fine. The race formed the foundation of the prestigious international competition that the Tall Ships’ Race is today. St. Petersburg is playing host to the Tall Ships’ Races for the second time in the competition’s history. The city first received the contest in 1996. Every year, the race brings together between 50 and 120 vessels. The route is always different. The race is typically divided into stages and connects four seaports. Host cities for each race are established by a compicated selection process at least three years in advance. Governor Valentina Matviyenko signed a contract with the race’s organizers when St. Petersburg was selected as a host city for the 2009 event back in March of 2007. In September of that year City Hall started preparations for the respected event. “The race is gorgeous as it assembles the finest tall ships from the entire planet, and it changes the city panorama completely, plunging the viewers into at atmosphere of Peter the Great’s St. Petersburg,” said Anatoly Konstantinov, deputy rector of the St. Petersburg State Marine Technical University, in an interview with the Voice of Russia.”It is a fantastic show which one only gets to see in exceptional cases. We are incredibly fortunate to have a chance to have this experience.” TITLE: Transport TEXT: The city's Transport Committee has announced that as a result of the Tall Ships' race Baltic-2009: * From 8 p.m. on Thursday until midnight on Saturday traffic on the Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment between lines 8 and 22 of Vasilievsky Island will be limited. * From midnight on Saturday until midnight on Tuesday all forms of traffic on the Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment between lines 8 and 22 of Vasilievsky Island will be stopped. * From 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. on Sunday all forms of transport will be stopped on Birzhevaya Ploshchad, Universitetskaya Naberezhnaya, Ploshchad Trezini and the Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment. TITLE: Program of Events The Tall Ships’ Races Baltic —2009 TEXT: FRIDAY (10.07.2009) 10. a.m.-11 p.m. – Arrival of the regatta fleet Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment SATURDAY (11.07.2009) 1 p.m.–1.30 p.m. – Opening ceremony of the St. Petersburg Stage of the regatta (Main Stage) Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment, opposite Building No. 15 Midday–1 p.m.– Pop concert Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment 1.30 p.m.-4.30 p.m. Opening ceremony of the IV International College Marine Festival, music concert (Main Stage) Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment 1 p.m.-3 p.m. – Baltic Star Children's Music Festival (Small Stage) Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment 3 p.m.-4 p.m.– Artistic performances (Small Stage) Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment 10 a.m.–5.30 p.m. – Tourist program for participants. Museums of St. Petersburg Midday–4.30 p.m. – Sports program for participants Peter and Paul Fortress 4.30 p.m.-8.30 p.m. – "Jazz Over the Baltics" performance by jazz bands for participants and visitors (Main Stage) Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment 8.30 p.m.–11 p.m. – Pop concert (Main Stage) Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment 4 p.m.-11 p.m. – Baltic Beat dance contest for youth hip-hop bands (Small Stage) Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment 9 p.m.-10.30 p.m. – City bus tour for participants (for TSR crews only) 7 p.m.–10.30 p.m. – Captains’ Dinner Marble Palace (for TSR crews only) 8 p.m. – 11 p.m. – Pop music concert for youth  (Main Stage) Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment SUNDAY (12.07.2009) 10 a.m.–2 p.m. – Sailing yachts competitions. Sports program for participants Peter and Paul Fortress 10 a.m.–3.30 p.m. –Tourist program for participants. Museums of St.Petersburg Midday–3 p.m. – Children's pop groups performance on marine themes (Small stage) Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment 3 p.m–11 p.m. – Alternative music concert (Small Stage) 3.30 p.m.–6 p.m. – Crews' Parade along the Neva Embankment. Prize-giving ceremony for winners of the first leg of the regatta Spit of Vasilievsky Island Midday–11 p.m. – Pop concert (Main Stage) Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment 9 p.m.–10.30 p.m. – City bus tour for participants. (for TSR crews only) 7 p.m.–Midnight – Crews Party Peter and Paul Fortress MONDAY (13.07.2009) 10 a.m.–3.30 p.m. – Tourist program for participants Museums of St.Petersburg 3 p.m.–4.30 p.m. – Captains' briefing, the State Mining University (Vasilyevsky Island, 21st line, Building 2) Midday–11 p.m. – "Russian Culture Party" for participants and visitors (Main Stage) Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment Midday–11 p.m. –Folk groups performance (Small Stage) Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment 9 p.m.–10.30 p.m. – City Bus Tour for participants (for TSR crews only) 6.30 p.m.-11 p.m. – Afterguard Party Hall of Cadet Corps 11 p.m. – Fireworks in honor of the end of the St. Petersburg Stage Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment TUESDAY (14.07.2009) 3 p.m.–5 p.m. – Sailing from piers, Sails Parade Berths, Gulf of Finland TITLE: Going nuts AUTHOR: By Matt Brown PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: The first thing to say about this brand-new, top-notch, all-out effort at a high quality restaurant, new on the city’s dining scene, is that the food it serves is great. Great service. Great presentation. Great flavors. It’s all smiles when the main courses are served, piping hot, perfectly timed, and discretely served. Fulsome, white cloth napkins arrive on laps as if by magic. If you can sense the word “but” arriving, your senses are well-attuned. But the “but” that is coming is a subtle one and should be taken as merely a mild rebuke to Kashtany: after all, the place only opened on July 5, less than a week before the issue of the newspaper you hold in your hands was printed. Hot off the press, newspapers smell of ink and sweat. And, Kashtany, a French/Italian place hot on the dining scene, smells of fresh paint and newly planed wood. This combination is certain to soften as big people, big cigars and big money permeate its three newly decked dining rooms. So the “but” that arrives is only a “however” — a bruschetta starter, topped with salmon flakes on a bed of variegated salad leaves (180 rubles, $5.50), had great subtle tastes; however, it was sparse. A magnificent prawn cocktail starter, ten large, fleshy, freshly peeled prawns served on Chinese leaves, doused in handmade mayonnaise and topped with attractive “prawn” foam (340 rubles, $10.50) was, by contrast, enormous and addictive: however, the salad garnish it came with was a bit limp and bitter. Kashtany — “Chestnuts” in its less melodious English rendering — can be located by its large mauve double-doors up some stone steps in the building next to central St. Petersburg’s so-called “wedding palace,” where civil marriage ceremonies take place with relentless industrial vigour most days of the year. Trace the discarded champagne bottles, stretch-limos and giddy young people in ill-fitting party clothes along Angliiskaya Naberezhnaya — the English Embankment — from the Bronze Horseman, and you’ll soon hit Kashtany. Inside the restaurant, the mood is calm. The “chestnuts” theme is lightly done, only appearing as a leaf motif on the menus. Stained wood panels line the lower third of the walls; above a cream and coffee mottled paint effect is employed on the unevenly plastered walls. Stripped planks of light birch form the floor. Tables are draped in crisp white linen, while chairs are plushly upholstered in beige canvas, and, in some cases, crude cloth with faux old-fashioned stencils ­— as if to say that coffee beans were once transported in sacks made from it. Later, the lush scent of real coffee (130 rubles, $4) would blunt the new smells of fresh restaurant. No worries. The food’s the thing at Kashtany. After the starters, the chef sent along a classic amuse bouche of orange sorbet — perfect to cool down a steamy afternoon. And then, the main courses. Poached gefilte fish patties were offered by the waitress as a substitute for a cod fillet: she said the first choice would be too small. The recommended dish (430 rubles, $13.50) comprised five juicy and satisfying quenelles of minced white fish and onion, hedged with a piping of mashed potato. Meanwhile, the other main event really hit the mark. It was a fifteen centimeter-long roll of braised beef, spinach and shrimps, wrapped in pastry and cut into steaming roulettes, and served on a sensational marbled pool of cream and gravy (650 rubles, $20.50). This dish was great, with no “ifs” or “buts.” Delicate chandeliers light the scene if you are unlucky enough not to be seated next to a window. If you are afforded that pleasure you will be able to feast on the steely sweep of the River Neva and drink in the sight of the Russian Academy of Arts, one of the city’s most pleasing 18th century landmarks, on the other side. The maitre d’, and the coat-check guy, will be happy to point out these sights as Kashtany goes forward in its putative journey toward greatness. It should soon shed the shadow of “but” and really take on its true shape.