SOURCE: The St. Petersburg Times DATE: Issue #1610 (71), Friday, September 17, 2010 ************************************************************************** TITLE: Activist Pivovarov Released On Appeal AUTHOR: By Sergey Chernov PUBLISHER: Staff Writer TEXT: A political activist who was sentenced to 14 days in prison Tuesday for participating in an Aug. 31 event defending the right of assembly was abruptly released by an appeals court Thursday. Andrei Pivovarov, the local leader of former prime minister turned oppositional politician Mikhail Kasyanov’s People’s Democratic Union (RNDS) and an organizer of Strategy 31 events in St. Petersburg, was detained at last month’s rally and charged with violation of the regulations governing a public event and failing to obey a policeman’s orders. In Tuesday’s court hearing, which he described as “biased,” Judge Alexei Kuznetsov gave him an unprecedented 14-day sentence and fined him 2,000 rubles ($65). Released after spending less than two days in custody Thursday, Pivovarov said he believes Kuznetsov acted upon orders from the authorities. “I argued with him for around three hours and a half, and I basically proved that the police reports against me weren’t written by the same policemen who detained me; in fact, the people wrote them from other people’s words,” Pivovarov said by phone Thursday. “When [Kuznetsov] ran out of arguments, he lowered his eyes, then raised them and said, ’14 days.’ It was evident that the decision was taken in advance, because they invited the escort into the courtroom at the same time as they invited me. It was clear in advance that I would be arrested and sentenced.” According to Pivovarov, the charges include “resisting policemen,” “shouting slogans” and “disobeying orders.” “I suggested that the policemen who detained be invited to the hearing and the video footage be shown, but the judge wasn’t interested,” he said. Strategy 31’s events in defense of the right of assembly — held on the 31st day of months that have 31 days — have been routinely banned by authorities and dispersed by police, who have arrested scores of people at every rally. In subsequent court hearings, however, the activists have either been acquitted or been given minor fines. The Aug. 31 rally drew an estimated 1,000 people — more than at the previous July 31 event — who held copies of the constitution, shouted slogans and refused to leave for more than two hours, despite detentions and warnings from the police. Pivovarov said that the sentence had been cancelled due to a technicality; Judge Kuznetsov declined Pivovarov’s request to move the hearing to his district court, which the appeals court ruled he had no right to do. Pivovarov believes he was released because of the media coverage of the case and protests that included a four-hour picket near the prison in which he was held in central St. Petersburg on Wednesday. Around 20 people, including members of Yabloko Democratic Party, the United Civil Front, the banned National-Bolshevik Party (NBP) and the Red Youth Vanguard (AKM), stood there with posters that read “Free Andrei Pivovarov.” “I had no doubt that I would be taken back to the prison [after an appeals court hearing Thursday], but I think it’s the public and media campaign in my support that had an effect and I would like to thank everybody who supported me and took part in those events,” Pivovarov said. Kirill Strakhov, a municipality deputy and Yabloko member who picketed in support of Pivovarov Wednesday, said that the original verdict was ordered by the authorities. “The 31 events have become more dynamic, more vital, making people believe that not everything is useless — that’s why the authorities want to hit the organizers as hard as possible to make them decrease their activity,” he said. “There can be no talk of there being any independence of the courts [in Russia], and that’s been the case for a long time now. Nothing is left to chance. The event was on Aug. 31, but the hearing didn’t take place until Sept. 14. For me it’s significant that it happened on President Dmitry Medvedev’s birthday, and I think it was a kind of present to President Medvedev — either from his friends or from his foes.” The Strategy 31 organizing committee said in a statement on Wednesday that City Hall had prepared a list of several of their members, with the goal of increasing police and legal pressure on them. They described the sentence as a “direct political order from the St. Petersburg administration.” Meanwhile, Vadim Boiko, the police officer who was shown beating and harassing people on video and in photographs at the July 31 rally, has been officially charged with “exceeding authority with the use of violence and tactical police gear,” the Prosecutor’s Investigative Committee said in a statement late last week. The offense is punishable with three to ten years in prison. Boiko has pleaded not guilty. Earlier this month, the police’s own internal investigation did not find any violations on the part of the police dispersing the July 31 event. TITLE: Row Between Luzhkov and Medvedev Escalates AUTHOR: By Nikolaus von Twickel PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: MOSCOW — An extraordinary battle between Mayor Yury Luzhkov and President Dmitry Medvedev gathered steam Wednesday as the City Duma issued a motion supporting the mayor, the Kremlin warned that his resignation was imminent, and media reported that more damning television coverage was on its way. City Duma deputies unanimously passed a motion that heavily criticized what they called a campaign to discredit Luzhkov. “These irresponsible and unprofessional reports … do not further the development of democracy,” said the statement, published on the Duma’s web site. All 35 deputies supported the motion, including three Communists, who form the only opposition in the chamber, Interfax reported. On Tuesday, Luzhkov vowed to fight for his political survival after being targeted in an unprecedented campaign on state-controlled television over the weekend. He denied any wrongdoing. But Vedomosti on Wednesday quoted an unidentified Kremlin official as saying a decision to fire Luzhkov had been “made in principle” and could be announced soon. “It is possible that both sides will be given time to cool off, and the operation will be finished within two or three weeks,” the official said. An unidentified government source, however, told the newspaper that the mayor would step down in December. Ekho Moskvy radio quoted an unidentified Kremlin official as saying it was not up to Luzhkov to decide whether he remained in office. “It is the president’s prerogative,” the source said. Speaking to The St. Petersburg Times, a Kremlin spokeswoman confirmed the quotes from the presidential administration. “Yes, these statements are real,” the spokeswoman said, in turn requesting anonymity, citing Kremlin policy. Igor Yurgens, head of the Institute of Contemporary Development, a think tank chaired by Medvedev, said the sole aim of the campaign was to prepare the public for Luzhkov’s ouster. Discontent over the mayor is rising in the capital, Yurgens told reporters Wednesday, Interfax reported. According to the Levada Center, an independent polling agency, Luzhkov’s approval ratings in Moscow slid from 65 percent in 2001 to 36 percent last fall, the last time it conducted a survey on him. Opposition bloggers accused Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin of lacking the courage to fire Luzhkov right away. Putin, who gave a big speech at a United Russia conference in Nizhny Novgorod on Tuesday, has not commented on the affair. Putin chairs United Russia, which was co-founded by Luzhkov. “If Luzhkov prevails, the influence of television channels will be greatly reduced. How then are they going to hype Putin’s plan?” Denis Bilunov, a leader of the Solidarity opposition group, wrote on his blog. But Sergei Markov, a State Duma deputy with United Russia, denied that the Luzhkov affair would have any negative consequences for the country’s ruling tandem. “The [television] campaign is not meant to make Luzhkov resign, just to beat him a little,” Markov said by telephone. Meanwhile, national media reported that the “information war” was just heating up. NTV television is planning a report about his billionaire wife, Yelena Baturina, in its program “Russian Sensations,” Russian Newsweek reported Wednesday on its web site, citing sources in the Ostankino television complex. The Gazprom-owned channel last Friday aired a program accusing Luzhkov and Baturina, who owns the Inteko construction company, of massive corruption. But Prosecutor General Yury Chaika said Wednesday that his agency would not investigate City Hall’s construction sector. Chaika explained that prosecutors had recently investigated the legality of city construction throughout the country. “Moscow was fully checked, and there is no need to do this again,” he said, RIA-Novosti reported. The city construction department is at the heart of allegations that Luzhkov helped Inteko get lucrative deals. Luzhkov and Baturina also fired a new round of threatened lawsuits against media that repeated the allegations. On Wednesday, London’s Financial Times became the first foreign publication to be targeted. The paper’s Moscow bureau chief Charles Clover confirmed that editors had received a letter from Luzhkov’s lawyers threatening to file a lawsuit for an article published Tuesday that repeated some allegations from the weekend TV reports. Clover said the newspaper had decided to issue an apology. TITLE: Queerfest Claims Under Pressure From City Hall AUTHOR: By Sergey Chernov PUBLISHER: Staff Writer TEXT: The St. Petersburg authorities kicked a gay art exhibition out of the high-status Union of Artists Exhibition Center, where it was scheduled to open Thursday, organizers said Wednesday. City Hall’s culture committee denies any involvement. The Union of Artists Exhibition Center was one of the venues where Queerfest, organized by LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual and Transgender) rights organization Vykhod (Coming Out), was due to be held. Vykhod director Igor Kochetkov said the culture committee put pressure on the venue to cancel the exhibition. “We had two phone conversations with the Exhibition Center’s director, who said he got a call from the culture committee stating categorically that the exhibition shouldn’t be opened,” said Vykhod director Igor Kochetkov. Kochetkov said that in the official cancellation letter the Exhibition Center listed “complaints from certain public organizations and potential visitors” as the grounds for the decision. “It’s not only a breach of the agreement, because the agreement can be broken only by force majeure, but it’s also not clear how there could be complaints if nobody has yet seen the exhibition and we haven’t yet placed the works there,” Kochetkov said. The culture committee press officer Irina Nacharova denied her committee had anything to do with the cancelation. “The culture committee is absolutely loyal to LGBT festivals and events,” she said. “The Union of Artists is an independent public organization, and it’s absolutely their decision what kind of exhibitions to hold, when and what to cancel. “ “The only thing is that the plan was to hold a children’s exhibition and this kind of exhibition at the same time, which is perhaps not quite appropriate. But there weren’t and couldn’t be any bans, because it’s a public organization and it takes its decisions independently.” The Union of Artists Exhibition Hall director Alexander Saikov denied getting a call from the culture committee when spoke on Thursday. “The thing is that we have an exhibition of children’s works in the next room, almost 800 participants, and because the organizers published their information on Internet, people found out about this and started to write complaints to state bodies and us as well demanding not to open this exhibition,” he said. “Later, it turned out that, when we had talks on Aug. 8, we were shown one sort of exhibition materials, but in reality it turned out to be entirely different. If I had known that the content of the exhibition would be like this, we wouldn’t have even planned to hold it, for sure.” However, an employee speaking on the condition of anonymity confirmed Thursday that the ban came from the culture committee. The exhibition and the opening were hastily moved to a new location – the Vegan Club on 50 Ligovsky Prospekt, and journalists were asked not to disclose the site until 6 p.m. Thursday, in case the authorities attempted to shut it down there as well. Queerfest, being held for the second year, has not had any problems before. “It went quietly last year because we consciously played down the fact that it was promoted by an LGBT organization,” organizer Kochetkov said. “This year, the concept of the festival is devoted to equal rights of self-expression for all the people regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. As far as I understand, that’s what caused this pressure.” Queerfest was supported by a number of international figures, including Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit, Belgian-Italian singer Lara Fabian, British author Sarah Waters and U.S. film director John Cameron Mitchell. “I cannot tell you how proud I am to have so many Russian followers, readers and friends. That many of them are gay, lesbian or transgender gives me especial pleasure,” wrote British actor and writer Stephen Fry. “It has not been easy to be out and proud in Russia of late and it takes a very special kind of courage to stand up for yourself in such an atmosphere of enmity and ignorance. I think it is a very Russian quality to be so brave, to have such integrity and such a proper sense of pride and self.” In 2008, the Side by Side gay film festival was thwarted by the St. Petersburg authorities when two film theaters broke their agreements and canceled the events. Queerfest runs through Sept. 25. Check www.queerfest.ru for updates. TITLE: Suspects in Cop Attacks Identified PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: MOSCOW — Astrakhan police have identified and placed on a wanted list three men suspected of a string of assaults on local cops that left three officers dead this summer, Interfax reported Monday. Police did not release the suspects’ names but said two of them are brothers from Kazakhstan, aged 36 and 38, and the third is a 20-year-old ethnic Tatar. All three are residents of the Astrakhan region. The suspects were filmed by surveillance cameras in a city park where they staged their first attack, the report said. Police investigators have also confirmed that the same guns were used in two of the three attacks carried out on police officers. Police are on the lookout for suspects, whose facial composites have been published online. TITLE: Lenta Calls Board Meeting After Fight PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: ST. PETERSBURG — TPG Capital and its partners in Lenta, the Russian superstore chain, plan to hold a board meeting at the end of the month after a shareholder dispute over management and strategy erupted into violence, Bloomberg reported. The U.S. private-equity firm and VTB Capital aim to meet with Svoboda, run by August Meyer, Lenta’s largest shareholder, at a board meeting on Sept. 30, Tim Demchenko, head of private equity at VTB Capital, said Wednesday. If Meyer attends, it “will help us to resolve existing issues and jointly move forward with development,” he said. Meyer said by text message that he had not received a formal notice about the meeting. The power struggle between TPG and Meyer led to violence Tuesday when Jan Dunning, a Dutch national supported by TPG and VTB as chief executive officer of Lenta, used private guards to take control of the retailer’s St. Petersburg headquarters. Dunning and his lawyers had been denied access the previous day. The two sides fought at the door of the office, where windows were broken and at least one combatant used a gas spray on his adversaries, according to video footage broadcast by NTV television. Meyer, who owns 41 percent of the retailer, sought last month to replace Dunning, who had been in the position about a year, with shareholder Sergei Yushchenko. TPG and VTB Capital, which together own 31 percent of Lenta, did not recognize the appointment. Lenta was founded in 1993 as a cash-and-carry store with two checkout desks and now owns 37 stores across Russia and is 11 percent owned by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. TPG said the dispute risks delaying plans to open nine stores next year. Meyer said he wants to expand the chain faster than TPG and VTB. Yushchenko said Wednesday that Dunning had no right to serve as CEO. Yushchenko was named CEO in January 2007, according to the retailer’s web site. He was fired by Lenta’s co-founder the following year and then reinstated. “Under Russian law, the company can lose its CEO under two circumstances: if he dies or by a court order. I am alive and breathing, and there has been no court order,” he said Tuesday on NTV. TITLE: Criticism Flies as Talks On Police Reform End AUTHOR: By Alexandra Odynova PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: MOSCOW — As a public discussion of police reform wound up Wednesday with almost 21,000 comments on a government web site, opposition politicians and human rights advocates declared that the bill needed a complete overhaul. The 11-chapter bill, published in early August on Zakonoproekt2010.ru, is a part of President Dmitry Medvedev’s drive to reform the police force. The chapters that sparked the most debate on the web site concern police officers’ responsibilities and rights, with more than 1,500 and 1,400 comments, respectively, as of Wednesday afternoon. The least popular item, “Work Discipline of the Police,” only had about 50 comments. The bill, which is to replace a 1991 law on the police, is supposed to provide a complete list of the rights and responsibilities of the police, whose activities are currently regulated by hundreds of amendments and bylaws to the main law. Medvedev also proposed to replace the Bolshevik-era name for the force, “militia,” with “police.” It was unclear Wednesday whether he planned to proceed with this change, which would cost several hundred million rubles. Medvedev promised in August to revise the draft, taking the public’s opinions into consideration before submitting the bill to the State Duma, which is expected to happen this fall. The pledge was reiterated Monday by Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev. But some human rights advocates and lawmakers said they planned to draft alternative bills from scratch. One version will be prepared by the president’s own human rights council, which discussed the draft at a meeting Tuesday. “The current version is so bad that we decided that it would be easier to rewrite it than adjust it,” Yelena Panfilova, a member of the council and director of Transparency International’s Russia office, told The Moscow Times. The Yabloko party said in a statement that its legal experts would continue working on their own alternative bill, which is based on the Kremlin’s but already has about 150 amendments, including increased public supervision for police and more rights for detainees. Yabloko said detainees should be guaranteed acceptable detention conditions and the right to make a telephone call after being arrested, something that Medvedev’s draft denied them. Medvedev has said the bill should close all loopholes for potential abuse of power by police, who are notoriously violent and corrupt. The bill in its present form would also step up the centralization of the police force, making it more dependent on the federal authorities and less on the local citizens it is supposed to serve. In an indication that even top officials lack complete unity on police reform, Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov called on Wednesday for the introduction of popular elections for district police officers, a measure that the Kremlin did not see fit to include in its draft. Such elections “shouldn’t be a carbon copy of sheriff elections in America,” Konovalov said, Itar-Tass reported. But, he added, “People should themselves select those who protect them.” TITLE: Children’s Film Festival Opens AUTHOR: By Irina Titova PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: The first Children’s Charity Cinema Festival began in St. Petersburg on Thursday, and will last through Thursday. Over the coming week, the city’s Cinema House (Dom Kino) and the Voskhod, Druzhba, Tchaika and Zanevsky cinemas will be screening charity movie performances for children from orphanages, large families and foster families, as well as school children and those with disabilities. At the festival, the children will see old Russian movies and cartoons, as well as movies focusing on the Second World War. Renowned St. Petersburg actors will also hold master classes for children. At Dom Kino, the festival will hold an animated film contest. A jury of adults and children will judge the animated works. The charity fund Rasprav Krylya, a partner of the festival, is also organizing actors’ tours to the orphanages of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast. Dmitry Meskhiyev, head of St. Petersburg’s Filmmaker’s Union, said the opening of the festival “was a significant event for the city.” “I hope we’ll be having it every year now,” Meskhiyev said at the press conference on Thursday. Svetlana Agapitova, children’s ombudsman in St. Petersburg, said that the children of St. Petersburg’s orphanages live quite well, but that their schedule does not normally include good children’s movies. “For that reason, I think this festival should be a good opportunity for them to add those movies into their lives,” Agapitova said. At the same time, Meskhiyev said that, in recent decades, Russia has hardly produced any new movies for children and teenagers. “Those movies can be expensive and often cover their costs, so it’s hard to finance them. The state should pay attention to this problem and sponsor efforts to provide the country’s children with good movies,” Meskhiyev said. More information about the festival’s program can be found at: http://www.kino-may.ru/novosti/sankt-peterburgskiy-detskiy-blagotvoritelyny-kinofestivaly/ TITLE: Prosecturs Call for Surprise Inspections of Top NGOS AUTHOR: By Alexey Eremenko and Alexandra Taranova PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: MOSCOW — Leading human rights groups said Tuesday that prosecutors have initiated a hasty series of in-depth checks of their papers ahead of October elections. The checks, ordered by Moscow prosecutors, are targeting Moscow Helsinki Group; Golos, an independent elections watchdog; the Center for the Development of Democracy and Human Rights; and the Russian branch of Transparency International, among others. The prosecutors’ requests, mostly sent out late Monday and Tuesday, ask the groups to provide organizational and financial documents as well as other paperwork. Some organizations have refused to comply, citing errors in the requests, one of which failed to properly spell the name of Transparency International, Interfax reported. But most groups presented what paperwork they could collect on short notice. Golos deputy head Grigory Melkonyants said the Basmanny District Prosecutor’s Office on Monday asked for the papers to be presented by midday. District prosecutors planned to forward the papers to the City Prosecutor’s Office, he said. “This was not exactly a sensible deadline, but we sent them everything that was required,” Melkonyants told The Moscow Times. Daniil Meshcheryakov of the Moscow Helsinki Group said its request arrived by fax at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday. “At 11 a.m., our accountant took the papers we managed to prepare to the prosecutors, who asked for an explanation about why the list of documents was incomplete, inquired about her role in our organization and demanded to have the remaining paperwork provided by tomorrow,” he said Tuesday. The checks are supposed to examine how amendments to legislation on nongovernmental organizations passed in recent years are being implemented, the City Prosecutor’s Office said on its web site Tuesday. A spokesman refused to elaborate when reached by telephone. A 2005 law stepped up state control over nongovernmental organizations and increased the amount of bureaucratic red tape that they have to deal with. The Kremlin-backed bill was criticized by both the United States and the European Union. Rights defenders were unconvinced by prosecutors’ explanations Tuesday, calling them an excuse for a crackdown. But they could not say what exactly had prompted the checks. “All this is a massive assault on all nongovernmental organizations — all those that get foreign financing,” Golos head Lilia Shibanova said, Interfax reported. “The request looks bizarre in this form. Everything could be done on a voluntary basis,” Melkonyants said. Regional elections will be held in hundreds of locales next month. TITLE: Potanin, Prokhorov Conclude Splitting Up of Property AUTHOR: By Oksana Gavshina and Alexandra Terentyeva PUBLISHER: Vedomosti TEXT: MOSCOW — Former partners Mikhail Prokhorov and Vladimir Potanin have eliminated the trust Folletina Trading and divided up their last joint business, developer Open Investments, ending their lengthy asset split and Russia’s highest-profile corporate conflict in years. The businessmen agreed Friday to terminate their joint trust, Potanin’s Interros and Prokhorov’s Onexim Group said in a statement. Spokespeople for both companies said the statement referred to Folletina Trading. The former partners’ jointly held personal assets and obligations to each other were handed to the trust in 2008, an Interros spokesperson said. Neither side has disclosed the list of assets involved. The trust’s only known assets are Prokhorov’s house and his apartment on Pozharsky Pereulok in downtown Moscow. The total value of Folletina Trading’s holdings a year ago was $1.88 billion, and it was managed by Potanin’s close associate Andrei Klishas. Potanin and Prokhorov had started talks on dividing the trust several times but were unable to agree on the terms. Additionally, companies controlled by Potanin will sell all their shares in Open Investments, or OPIN, to Prokhorov, Interros and Onexim said. That would boost Prokhorov’s stake in the developer to 72 percent, from 32 percent. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Potanin’s stake in the company was worth $206 million based on Friday’s close on the RTS. The agreement does not include any penalties for nonfulfillment, said a source close to one of the sides of the deal. Prokhorov will gain control over a number of real estate projects through OPIN, including the OPIN Plaza business center (90,000 square meters); the residential communities of Pestovo, Martemyanovo and Pavlovo; the Raikin Art, Culture and Leisure Center (75,000 square meters); more than 1,000 hectares of land in Moscow and the surrounding region; and Canadian construction firm Viceroy Homes. Onexim is very pleased that it received control over OPIN, the company said. “We’re planning to use this company as the foundation for a powerful development business,” an Onexim spokesperson said. But OPIN sold many of its most interesting projects to companies close to Interros a year ago. They included Bolshoye Zavidovo, Lukino, the Pavlovo Podvorye mall, the Meyerhold business center, the hotel Novotel Moscow Centre and several plots of land in the Yaroslavl region. The Interros spokesperson said the cash it received went toward paying down and restructuring bank debt. Last week, Potanin announced the creation of his own real estate holding, ProfEstate, which would include the former OPIN assets. The conflict between Prokhorov and Potanin became public in January 2007, immediately after Prokhorov was detained in Courchevel. Interros — at the time the partners’ joint holding — announced that its owners would split their assets. That was also when it became known that Prokhorov would step down as CEO of Norilsk Nickel. It was initially understood that Potanin would buy out his partner’s blocking stake in Norilsk, giving him a controlling stake in the world’s largest nickel producer. That deal never went through, however, and the actual asset split only began a year later. Negotiations broke down amid flaring passions and an increasingly tense standoff between Potanin and Prokhorov. They began with small assets. Potanin bought Prokhorov’s 50 percent stake in KM Invest, which included all their joint assets except Norilsk Nickel and Polyus Gold. Prokhorov received 27.5 percent in Open Investments, 91 percent of insurer Soglasiye, Rosbank’s management company and a number of geological exploration assets. At the time, they also created Folletina Trading. The first phase of the so-called divorce, it seemed, ended in a draw. Prokhorov received more cash, about $4.8 billion, while Potanin was left with more assets. At the time, Forbes estimated Prokhorov’s fortune at $22.6 billion, compared with Potanin’s $22.4 billion, which put them in fifth and sixth place on the magazine’s list of Russian billionaires. But Potanin had created a significant foundation for his future plans, which revolved around his certainty that Prokhorov would sell him his 25 percent plus two shares in Norilsk. Ownership of the nickel miner became the most dramatic part of the partners’ split after Prokhorov agreed to sell the stake to Oleg Deripaska’s United Company RusAl for $4.5 billion and 14 percent of the aluminum giant. Potanin was furious, believing that he should have received the stake. Prokhorov hosted what he called his Divorce Party to celebrate the deal, inviting staff from his own group, Onexim, and officials from Interros, including Potanin. No one from Interros attended. But Prokhorov did attend Interros’ 20th anniversary celebration this spring. He only agreed to come after lengthy persuasion, one of the guests at the party told Vedomosti. Prokhorov’s strategy turned out to be the correct one. When the crisis hit in fall 2008, not only was he free of debt — his pockets were stuffed with cash. Last year, Forbes estimated his fortune at $9.5 billion, putting him at the top of the list of Russian billionaires. Potanin, with an estimated $2.1 billion, was only 19th. The subsequent, slow recovery of the market did not significantly alter their relative situations, although the gap in their fortunes closed significantly. This year, Prokhorov’s wealth was estimated at $13.4 billion, putting him in 2nd place in Russia, compared with Potanin’s $10.3 billion and 7th place. That said, RusAl’s shares have fallen by 30 percent since its January initial public offering. The company is still deep in debt and unable to pay dividends in the coming years. Polyus is wrapped up in a war with the former owners of KazakhGold, and now the deal with them is in danger of falling apart. But not all is well at Norilsk Nickel, either. Potanin and Deripaska have been unable to agree on management of the company, and their opposition is in danger of becoming a serious conflict. TITLE: Deripaska Brings in Magna’s Co-CEO for Basic Element AUTHOR: By Irina Filatova PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: MOSCOW — The rebounding domestic car industry will get a seasoned international executive after Siegfried Wolf, co-chief executive of Canadian auto parts maker Magna International, announced Monday that he will resign to take a new position at billionaire Oleg Deripaska’s Basic Element holding. Wolf will be appointed board chairman at Russian Machines, Basic Element’s automotive division, where he will be in charge of strategic business development. Russian Machines CEO Alexander Filatov said Wolf has unique experience “building a … profitable and innovative company.” “Such a person should bring new drive to the company’s long-term development,” he told The Moscow Times. Magna’s board of directors accepted Wolf’s resignation, which is effective from Nov. 15, the company said in a statement. Deripaska invested $1.5 billion in Magna in 2007. Donald Walker, who co-headed Magna together with Wolf, will become the company’s sole CEO, the statement said. “When Oleg Deripaska recently approached us for permission for Basic Element to make an offer to Sigi, we made it clear that the decision should ultimately rest with Sigi,” said Frank Stronach, chairman of Magna’s board of directors, referring to Wolf’s nickname. “Magna’s decentralized culture and operating principles ensure that our success is not dependent on any one person,” he said in the statement. “We respect the choice Sigi has made and wish him success in pursuing this new challenge.” Wolf, who has worked at Magna for 16 years, joined Magna International’s board of directors in 1999. He became the company’s co-CEO in 2005. He is also a member of the board of directors at a number of European companies, including Strabag, Verbund and Siemens Austria. He was an avid supporter of the failed bid by Magna International’s consortium with Sberbank and Russian carmaker GAZ to buy General Motors’ German unit Opel in 2009. Wolf is currently a member of the board of directors at GAZ Group, which is owned by Basic Element. He is also a member of the board of directors at the holding’s development unit Glavstroi. As board chairman of Russian Machines, Wolf will be in charge of commercial and passenger car manufacturing, auto parts manufacturing, aircraft and railway industry, and manufacturing of road construction equipment, Basic Element said on its web site Monday. Filatov added that he would work “in tandem” with Wolf. “I will be in charge of operations management. He will be in charge of long and difficult strategic projects,” he said. Filatov said Wolf would help raise Russian Machines’ competitiveness versus foreign carmakers. “This involves new products. These new products, as well as the resulting modernization of our plants, are impossible without foreign partnerships,” Filatov said. Wolf’s tasks in the company will include help in forming alliances with global manufacturers, he said declining to provide the companies’ names. Wolf will now be in charge of Basic Element’s development assets, the holding said in the statement, without elaborating. A spokesman for Basic Element declined to comment on Monday. Filatov said this might relate to the intensity of the work awaiting Wolf. “The amount of time he will spend on the car industry and the development sector will sharply increase. It will be a full-time job,” he said. Deripaska said he was happy with Wolf’s appointment. “I’m glad that Siegfried Wolf has become part of our team. During the long time of partnership with him I’ve seen the results in using new technologies, modern standards of doing business and increasing capacity, which he helped us to achieve,” he said in the statement, adding that Wolf would strengthen the holding’s business. Analysts said Wolf might make management of Russian Machines more effective and commercially oriented. A breakthrough in Russian Machines’ level of technology is unlikely, but “Wolf may help to optimize the company’s operations by offering a progressive business strategy,” said Andrei Rozhkov, a transportation analyst at Metropol. “He may make the company’s management more pragmatic and, for example, increase the share of vehicles for the mass market instead of focusing on supplying the state,” he said by telephone. Rozhkov also added that Wolf could help GAZ find an international partner to launch passenger car manufacturing using GAZ facilities. In that way GAZ could strengthen its position on the passenger car market, he said. GAZ said earlier this month that it planned to reach an agreement with German carmaker Volkswagen on contract assembly of VW models at its Nizhny Novgorod plant by late September. Magna said it would benefit from Wolf’s appointment in Russia because it would strengthen the company’s future relations with Basic Element and aid Magna’s growth “in the recovering Russian automotive market.” Car sales in Russia are slated to increase by 15 percent this year compared with 2009. TITLE: Citizenship Hurdle For Svyazinvest Candidate AUTHOR: By Anastasia Golitsyna and Timofei Dzyadko PUBLISHER: Vedomosti TEXT: MOSCOW — President Dmitry Medvedev’s university classmate Vadim Semyonov, whom the Communications and Press Ministry has nominated to become CEO of Svyazinvest, has dual citizenship, which could complicate a job that requires Russian security clearance. Semyonov has both Russian and Canadian citizenship, a fact he has never hidden, executives who know the businessman told Vedomosti. As chief executive of state-run Svyazinvest, a strategic company, Semyonov would need to be given access to state secrets. Semyonov declined to comment on the matter. Mobile TeleSystems faced a similar problem in June when it sought to appoint Konstantin Markov as chief executive of its MGTS subsidiary. Markov also had dual Russian and Canadian citizenship, and MGTS — like Svyazinvest — is listed as a strategic company whose management gets access to state secrets. Markov was ultimately not appointed. “Individuals who have dual citizenship … are granted access to state secrets under the rules for state officials and Russian citizens. These individuals are allowed access to information marked as “secret” only after the Federal Security Service has conducted a check,” reads government order No. 1003, passed in 1998. Markov did not pass the check, sources close to MGTS’s shareholders said. A spokesperson for the Communications and Press Ministry was unable to say whether the dual citizenship would complicate the appointment. Semyonov has said he went through checks with the intelligence services back when he joined state-run Rostelecom. In a worst case scenario, Svyazinvest could divide responsibilities so that matters involving state secrets could be decided by one of Semyonov’s deputies, a Russian intelligence official said. TNK-BP, BP’s Russian joint venture, did just that when it had difficulties with foreign executives working in Russia, said Ilya Rachkov, a partner at the Noerr law firm. Semyonov and Medvedev both graduated from Leningrad State University in 1987 with degrees in jurisprudence. Semyonov has worked at Rostelecom since 2009, and since August he has been vice president for legal affairs and corporate development. From 1999 to 2003, according to his official biography, Semyonov “provided legal guidance for a series of key deals in the consolidation of mobile phone companies,” after which he worked as MegaFon’s top lawyer for six years. A source in a company that used to work with Semyonov said that until 2003, he worked in Danish businessman Jeffrey Galmond’s law firm, J.P. Galmond & Co. Semyonov confirmed his employment there. Galmond had said he was the owner of 26.6 percent of MegaFon, but in May 2006, a court in Zurich ruled that Galmond was holding at least 8 percent in the interests of “proposed Witness No. 7.” TITLE: The Bell Tolls for Luzhkov PUBLISHER: Vedomosti TEXT: If President Dmitry Medvedev or one of his assistants were to call Mayor Yury Luzhkov in for a talk, the conversation might begin with the words, “Yury Mikhailovich, ask not for whom the bell tolls.” On Friday and Sunday, the bells were tolling quite loudly for Luzhkov from multiple sources — first from NTV television, which aired the prime-time program “Delo v Kepke” (or “The Cap Affair,” referring to Luzhkov’s trademark flat cap) containing serious corruption allegations against the mayor and his wife, Yelena Baturina. This was followed by anti-Luzhkov stories on the Sunday weekly news roundup programs on Channel One and Rossia-24. The NTV program, however, was not an example of freedom of the press or widespread voter discontent with the mayor. The program relied on information that was already well known among politically active Internet users and the liberal opposition — including much from opposition leader Boris Nemtsov’s book, “Luzhkov. Results,” which was published a year earlier. Various corruption allegations in the Mayor’s Office had been batted around for the past 10 years. But until Friday, state-controlled television had ignored the allegations against Luzhkov. Since the government has control of the top three television networks, it is obvious that no one else could have given the order to air such an aggressive campaign aimed at discrediting such an important political figure. (The Luzhkov television discreditation campaign comes only two months after a similar attack against Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, when NTV aired “Krestny Batka.”) The question that everyone is asking is: Which member of the ruling tandem is upset with the Moscow mayor? The dominant theory is that Medvedev is unhappy with Luzhkov, while Prime Minister Vladimir Putin remains satisfied with him. Since Medvedev and Putin always confer about major questions concerning the country — and the question of who is running Russia’s most influential and wealthiest city is certainly a matter of federal importance — it would appear that the two could not come to any agreement over Luzhkov. Medvedev has the constitutional authority to fire the mayor and would love to do so, it would seem, but Putin is not willing to back this initiative. Thus, Medvedev had only one option available: Organize a television campaign airing some of Luzhkov’s dirtiest laundry for the whole country to see. The intention was not to convince Putin that Luzhkov needs to be removed, but to sway public opinion against Luzhkov, thereby making it politically awkward for Putin — and, by extension, United Russia — to continue defending him. As strange as it might sound, perhaps the anti-Luzhkov campaign represents the first signs of political competition that we have seen since Putin gained power in 2000. Some members of the ruling elite are appealing to public opinion to help instigate the removal of a political heavyweight, arguably the most important regional leader in the country. Could it be an example of an important step toward developing Russia’s “young and imperfect” democracy , as Medvedev described it  in his speech in Yaroslavl on Friday? The problem, however, is that Luzhkov has denied all allegations against him as a vicious smear campaign and flatly refuses to step down. If Luzhkov does, in fact, survive the attacks — and there may be more to come — and avoids both dismissal and criminal investigations, Medvedev and  the Kremlin will end up looking very bad. The other theory is that both Putin and Medvedev have it in for Luzhkov — not because they are in the slightest concerned with the allegations of corruption against the mayor but because Luzhkov had the gall to speak publicly about some of the disagreements between the two members of the ruling tandem. The Kremlin perceived that as an attempt to drive a wedge between Putin and Medvedev. According to this theory, the tandem agreed that the political and economic fallout of firing Luzhkov  would be excessively high, but at the same time he should be taught a strict lesson for speaking out against the tandem. That lesson very well may mean that Luzhkov will be forced to renegotiate the conditions of his grip on power. It is clear that the complete carte blanche that he has used and abused for so many years will become a thing of the past. But the larger question that remains is: Will Luzhkov end up paying a much heavier price for his misdeeds? This comment appeared as an editorial in Vedomosti. TITLE: The Internet Ends TV’s Monopoly AUTHOR: By Yulia Latynina TEXT: Long before Vladimir Putin established a monopoly on natural resources, the economy and parliament, he established a monopoly on television in the early 2000s. This laid the foundation for Putin to take control of everything else several years later. Although the seizure of the three largest television networks did not lead to the complete collapse of media freedom, Putin was able to establish a monopoly over the process of generating news. Six years ago, news was defined as whatever was shown on television. Anything not on television was not news. Now the situation has changed. The Internet is becoming a generator of news. For example, recall when Putin’s driver hit and killed a 5-year-old boy in 1997. This incident did not become news either then or at the start of Putin’s rule. Compare this with the February accident involving LUKoil vice president Anatoly Barkov. His Mercedes, reportedly driving in the wrong lane to avoid traffic, collided head-on with an oncoming car and left two women dead. This scandal became news only because millions of Russians read about it on the Internet. In addition, there were several opportunities for Russian Internet users to see an uncensored, unorchestrated version of the real Putin. The first example was the PR stunt with the yellow Lada Kalina. If Putin had driven the Lada from Khabarovsk to Chita two years ago, that would have been news, and all of the sarcastic remarks — whether in the press or on the Internet — about the lack of decent roads in Russia, the traffic police hiding in the bushes and the three spare Kalinas tailing along would have been nothing more than commentary. News always carries greater weight than commentary. But now, an amateur video uploaded onto the Internet mocked Putin’s motorcade of several dozen foreign cars and three spare Ladas — in case the one he was driving broke down. That video qualified as full-fledged news, not commentary. Though the number of Internet users is much lower than the number who watch state-controlled television, the Internet is beginning to have an impact on what information is available to Russians. The second example involved the public anger at Putin for the government’s failure to respond to this summer’s wildfires. If Putin had visited the burned-out villages in the Ryazan region two years ago, the public would only have seen a carefully orchestrated report on state television of their concerned national leader touring the area and discussing the problem with locals. That would have been the only news available, and all comments regarding the government’s slowness in putting out the fires would have only been inconsequential commentary. But now the situation has changed. Somebody posted a video on YouTube showing how the angry villagers greeted Putin with shouts of “The government should resign!” and “You did nothing to help!” That definitely qualifies as news. The Internet has now become a source of news, and it is being provided by eyewitnesses and victims of accidents and government abuse, not professional journalists. The Internet has become the leading opposition force. Many forms of media exist apart from television, but they do not generate news. Putin tried his best to establish a monopoly on television, thereby giving it a monopoly on producing news. But the growth of the Internet in Russia has put an end to that monopoly. In the near future, we will see whether the Internet destroys Putin or whether Putin destroys the Internet. Yulia Latynina hosts a political talk show on Ekho Moskvy radio. TITLE: Strung out AUTHOR: By Chris Gordon PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: Think of a string quartet and the image that usually springs to mind is that of a rather staid group of musicians dressed in black and charged with an elegant concentration. Not so with ETHEL — an unusual string quartet from New York City which will be making an appearance in St. Petersburg on Sept. 25. More rock-and-roll than Rachmaninov, the group eschews the traditional fare of most string quartets in favor of a more contemporary repertoire. Formed in 1998, ETHEL comprises Juilliard alumni Cornelius Dufallo (violin), Ralph Farris (viola), Dorothy Lawson (cello) and Mary Rowell (violin). Focusing on adventurous music of the past 40 years, they often perform the work of their contemporaries with a special concentration on music composed during the past 15 years. Their repertoire includes compositions by the quartet members themselves as well as work by John Zorn, Steve Reich, Mark Stewart and Philip Glass. Keeping it real, ETHEL have performed with musicians as diverse as Joe Jackson, Todd Rundgren and Loudon Wainwright III. And, as often as they appear as a quartet, they are just as likely to be found onstage with other musicians playing instruments as diverse as Hawaiian guitar and clarinet, or backing The Who’s Roger Daltry or Sheryl Crow. The catalog of venues which have hosted their unique brand of high-octane chamber music is impressive and includes the Sydney Opera House, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and the Venice Biennale. Since ETHEL’s primary concern is to demonstrate the vitality of contemporary composers and, in the process, bring a whole new generation into the concert hall, using a format that has been around since the 18th century seems to be asking for trouble. But by taking a leaf from Kronos Quartet’s book and upping the ante with every available means — from the electronic to the dramatic — the group adopts a take-no-prisoners approach that focuses less on the classical ideas of perfection than on a more immediate connection with the audience. And it seems to be working. It is precisely this bravura that has earned them fans around the world. That is not to say they are anything less than fully committed to the most faithful rendition of whatever work they are playing. With ETHEL, passion counts for a lot and is never sacrificed to precision, making for a very heady listening experience. Acclaimed as America’s premier postclassical string quartet, ETHEL brings a fierce intensity to contemporary concert music by questioning the boundaries between performer and audience, tradition and technology. In addition to all that fire, they also embrace a buoyant sense of humor that probably makes the more scowling guardians of academia blanche as much as, if not more than, their rather unconventional use of amplified sound — a significant break with tradition. Another break with established norms is the way in which they present themselves. Photos of the group are more likely to show the members furiously sawing away at their instruments or posed like rock-stars than ensconced behind their instruments in the warm mahogany glow of an ivory tower. There is no better example of this approach than the cover of their eponymous debut recording. Featuring a drawing of the quartet’s logo — a heart emblazoned with the name ETHEL — tattooed on a beefy bicep, it is as good a metaphor as any for the muscular and sometimes wildly ferocious way in which way they sink their chops into whatever music they play. This, then, could be the perfect introduction for young listeners — or those with less developed classical concert going habits — to a whole new sonic landscape. They are sure to be delighted by the distinct lack of even a whiff of the classical concert hall here; just rollicking, old-fashioned enjoyment of some music that blows the roof off. And for an art form that’s usually associated with old dears wearing too much powder, that’s no mean feat. ETHEL will perform a free concert on the 25th of September at the Popova Central Museum of Communications, 4 Potchtamptsky Pereulok, beginning at 7 pm. TITLE: Word’s worth AUTHOR: By Michele A. Berdy TEXT: Íè îäèí: not one, no one, not a single one Among the many things I get wrong in Russian, properly using íè and íå (not) is right up there at the top of the list. In spoken language, I can get away with a vowel sound somewhere between the short “å” of íå and the long “è” of íè and pretend that any perceived incorrect usage is actually just my unfortunate accent. But these adolescent tricks don’t work on the printed page. And so I’ve been struggling to understand when to use íè and íå. I think I’ve almost got it. Íè is used in some standard expressions that are fairly easy to memorize. The rest of the time, íè is íå with an attitude. Let’s start with the so-called easy stuff. Íè is used in “neither nor” expressions, such as íè æèâ íè ì¸ðòâ (neither dead nor alive); íè ðûáà íè ìÿñî (neither fish nor foul); íè òî íè ñ¸ (neither this nor that), íè ñ òîãî íè ñ ñåãî (all of a sudden, literally “neither due to this nor that”). ß íè çà, íè ïðîòèâ. (I’m not for it or against it.) Íè õëåáà, íè çðåëèù íàðîä íå ïîëó÷èë. (The people got neither bread nor circuses.) Íè makes an appearance as a stronger version of íå in a few standard adamant commands, such as: Íè ñ ìåñòà! (Don’t move an inch, -literally “not from that spot”). When you use the words îäèí (one) or åäèíûé (a single), or when they are implied, you should use íè and not íå. Îíà íè ðàçó íå ïîçâîíèëà. (She didn’t call even once.) Ó ìåíÿ â êàðìàíå íå áûëî íè ðóáëÿ. (I didn’t have a single ruble in my pocket.) Íè îäèí ÷åëîâåê íå ïðèø¸ë íà âå÷åðèíêó. (Not a single person came to the party.) Here you need to listen or read carefully to distinguish between íè and íå, since the phrase íå îäèí ÷åëîâåê ïðèø¸ë íà âå÷åðèíêó means the opposite: Many people (that is, “not just one person”) came to the party. Then there are the confusing cases involving íè when it looks like nobody and nothing, but it’s actually anybody and anything. When íè is used with pronouns and adverbs like êòî (who), ÷òî (what), êàêîé (which), êàê (how), êóäà (where) and ñêîëüêî (how much), it magically turns things into their opposites. Êòî íè ïðèä¸ò, ìàìà áåæèò ñòàâèòü ñàìîâàð. (No matter who comes, my mother runs to put on the samovar.) Ãäå áû îí íè ïîÿâèëñÿ, âñþäó åãî óçíàþò. (Wherever he showed up, everyone knew him.) The really tricky stuff is the usage of íè that is an “intense negation.” This drives Russian school children — and foreigners — crazy. Here’s an example: Äàéòå ìíå ðóêîïèñü. Êëÿíóñü, ÿ íå èçìåíþ â íåé íè ñëîâà. (Give me the manuscript. I swear I won’t change a single word.) And here’s a poetic excerpt: Íè îäíà çâåçäà íå îçàðÿëà òðóäíûé ïóòü. (Not a single star illuminated his difficult path.) My rule of thumb is: If you can use the phrase “not a single” in English, go for íè in Russian. And if you’re not sure? Ask native Russian speakers. And wait while they look it up. Michele A. Berdy is a Moscow-based translator and interpreter. A collection of her columns, “The Russian Word’s Worth,” will be released by Glas this month. TITLE: In the Spotlight: Doctoring Folk Healers AUTHOR: By Anna Malpas PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: Earlier this month, the popular folk healer and host of Russia’s crankiest television show, Gennady Malakhov, mysteriously disappeared, just as he was supposed to film his show, “Malakhov Plus.” The show, where Malakhov offers cures involving honey, household plants and urine in his trademark country-bumpkin style, runs every morning on Channel One. The state channel has attracted criticism for giving credence to dubious healing methods — in one nasty episode, a boy was told that his health problems were because of a curse on his mother. Malakhov has written more than 100 books, including “How to Cure the 200 Most-Common Illnesses.” A balding, unglamorous man, he speaks with a strong regional accent and has the ungrammatical catchphrase, “Dobrogo Zdorovitsa,” or good health. His faithful audience of middle-aged women brings along notebooks to the studio to record every word of wisdom. Channel One raised the alarm after Malakhov failed to turn up to film his show last Friday and did not answer any of his telephone numbers. The GZT.ru web site reported that several fake Malakhovs had phoned the channel to give their excuses, including one who said he had been on a drinking binge for the last 48 hours. A colleague at Channel One, host Andrei Malakhov, gave an incredibly bitchy explanation to GZT.ru. “I think it’s all a good advertising campaign for the folk healer,” he said. “I know 100 percent where to find him because I know the situation from the inside. He is at his dacha near Sergiyev Posad with his lover.” Gennady Malakhov, who is married with two children, is planning a show for another channel, Andrei Malakhov added. It was Lifenews.ru that finally tracked Malakhov down at his country house in the Rostov region and posted a video of an interview on Wednesday. The healer said he had run away from the show because of the tiring schedule, which he called a “colossal burden.” “Television has just worn me out,” he said. Lifenews.ru wrote that Malakhov had gone to ground so meticulously that the phone cable to the house had been cut. Channel One responded by saying he would have to pay a fine of 1.5 million to 2 million rubles ($49,000 to $65,000) for breaching his contract. Malakhov hinted to Lifenews.ru that there was another reason for his decision to quit: his two new co-hosts, who are medical doctors. Malakhov’s previous co-host, actress Yelena Proklova, who beamed approval for all his tips, was replaced this summer with doctors in a reported attempt to boost ratings. Channel One itself hinted at Malakhov’s opposition. In a recent sketch on its parody show “Big Difference,” it showed him furiously comparing the appearance of a medical doctor on his show to the Nazi invasion of 1941. Komsomolskaya Pravda suggested this week that Malakhov disliked his folksy tips being sneered at by pesky medical types. “The wild preacher of the miraculous powers of garlic and radishes found himself hosting a new version of the show surrounded by doctors,” it sympathized, tongue-in-cheek. “He — the height of folk wisdom — was forced, on his own show, to listen to these college-educated types.” A viewer called Mila shared the concern on Channel One’s web site. The doctors are taking all the fun out of the show by telling the guests to get medical treatment, she complained. And given the nastiness of most Russian clinics, I can see her point. “When they call the ladies who come on the show ‘patients’ suffering from obesity or hair loss, they scare everyone — not just the guests, but the viewers,” Mila wrote. “It’s a pity because it’s practically the only show on television with a positive message,” she added. TITLE: Life is sweet AUTHOR: By Galina Stolyarova PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: The Russian spelling of this enchanting new cafe points guests in the direction of the composer of “Carmen,” one of the world’s most popular operas, yet the interiors appear to have no connection with Georges Bizet whatsoever. The key is that the cafe’s title dish is merengue, which is spelt in Russian as “beze”. Why the cafe’s management decided to confuse visitors is anyone’s guess, but the truth is that the recently opened Bizet is a marvelous new arrival on the local gastronomic scene. Furnished in greenish and creamy pastel colours, this cafe has a spacious, homey feel, with cuddly, puffy rabbits and teddy bears sitting on high shelves, a bird’s cage on the window sill, and a counter desk decorated with a large and chunky vintage radio, made entirely of marzipan. When we entered Bizet on a Sunday afternoon, we found a lively atmosphere, with the place packed with a predominantly youngish, chatty crowd, some toying with their notebooks: the cafe has a free Wi-Fi connection. At one of the back tables we spotted one of Russia’s finest ballerinas with her young daughter, who was enyoing a large cup of strawberry and red currant jelly. The dancer star herself was sitting with her back to us and a long way away, so we couldn’t exactly take notes on her order. Nevertheless, ever eagle-eyed, we saw a small cake being deposited in front of the performer, which testifies against the myth that ballerinas don’t eat desserts, if they eat at all. Predictably, the signature desserts here are gorgeous, airy merengues. A generous portion of tiny, mini-versions of the dish are served complimentary with hot drinks. The Pavlova merengue (120 rubles, $4) reigns supreme on the menue. The divine-looking dessert, stuffed with mascarpone and fresh fruit, melts gorgeously in your mouth. Another indisputable hit is the Bizet cake (120 rubles, $4) — a crispy, hard merengue with chopped almonds and decorated with fresh raspberries. The sweet attractions on offer are vast. Try light and puffy orange and chocolate cakes (35 rubles, $1.2) or glamorous hand-made cupcakes decorated with colourful and jolly marzipan ornamentation (100 rubles, $3.4). Another tempting option that we absolutely could not resist was “pelsinnik” (90 rubles, $3), a winning combination of rich chocolate biscuit and zesty orange cream, made with fresh peel and orange juice. Bizet does not serve main courses but boasts an appetizing choice of soups, from Finnish fish-soup (240 rubles, $6) to spinach creme soup (220 rubles, $5.7) to onion soup (220 rubles, $5.7). There is also a selection of about ten salads — primarily the standard choices of Caesar salad, Greek salad and Prawns and Ruccola salad, which means you have a safe bet here if you happen to be generally hungry. Most of the guests, however, flock here for the divine merengues, which they voraciously consume by the dozen, and the atmosphere that makes many of the guests linger for hours. TITLE: Seven Civilians Killed in U.S.-Iraqi Raid AUTHOR: By Azhar Shalal PUBLISHER: Agence France Presse TEXT: FALLUJAH, Iraq — Seven civilians were among 18 people killed in Iraq on Wednesday, shot dead as US and Iraqi troops tried to nab a top Al-Qaeda leader in Fallujah, sparking public anger in the former rebel base. Two Iraqi soldiers were also killed in the firefight west of Baghdad, while a roadside bomb in northern Iraq claimed the lives of nine other troops traveling home on leave. The latest violence comes two weeks after Washington declared an official end to combat operations here, and with no new government having formed since elections in March. The early morning shootout in Fallujah — long a base for Sunni Arab rebels who waged attacks against US forces and the Iraqi government -- left nine people dead overall. Major General Baha Hussein al-Karkhi, police chief for Anbar province, where Fallujah is located, said, “a joint force from Baghdad was ordered to raid a terrorist’s house in Jbeil (central Fallujah). And Major Rob Phillips, a US Army press officer, said the raid had been conducted to catch a “senior AQI (Al-Qaeda in Iraq) leader.” He could not say whether the individual targeted had been killed, captured or had escaped. Karkhi said seven civilians were killed and four wounded, and that two Iraqi soldiers also died. Others sources gave different tolls. Phillips said six people were killed, while Fallujah police director Brigadier General Faisal al-Essawi and the city’s media chief Mohammed Fathi put the death toll at eight civilians. Essawi said of the eight killed were two women and two children, while the other four included a former colonel in the Iraqi army during the rule of now executed dictator Saddam Hussein. The raid sparked public anger in Fallujah, with the municipal council labelling it a “provocation”. “This brutal operation is an act of provocation against the population of Fallujah and the city’s security forces,” said a statement issued by the council and read out by council member Ahmed al-Dulaimi. It called for an investigation into the shootings, and declared three days of mourning. A vehicle ban was imposed on Fallujah, and the area that was raided was cordoned off by security forces. A US Army press officer, Major Bryan Woods, said an inquiry would be started into the shootings. Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the main northern city of Mosul, nine Iraqi soldiers were killed when the minibus they were traveling in was struck by a roadside bomb. Another six were wounded, a police official said. All were members of the Iraqi Third Division and were headed home on leave. Mosul and surrounding Nineveh province remain among the most violent areas of Iraq, even as attacks in the rest of the country have dropped off after peaking in 2006 and 2007 during a brutal sectarian war. US forces said combat operations in Iraq had concluded at the end of August but nearly 50,000 soldiers remain in the country with a mission to train Iraqi soldiers and police, and conduct joint counter-terror operations. They are also allowed to fire in self-defense. Since the September 1 declaration, US troops have shot at insurgents in Baghdad and restive Diyala province, north of the capital, and two American soldiers were killed by an Iraqi comrade after a row on an Iraqi base. Violence appears to have risen again in recent months, with July and August recording two of the highest monthly death tolls since 2008, according to Iraqi government figures. TITLE: France Adopts Ban On Face Veil AUTHOR: By Frederic Dumoulin PUBLISHER: Agence France Presse TEXT: PARIS — The French parliament passed a law Tuesday prohibiting wearing a full-face veil in public, meaning a ban will come into force early next year if it is not overturned by senior judges. The Senate passed the bill by 246 votes to one and, having already cleared the lower house in July, the bill will now be reviewed by the Constitutional Council, which has a month to confirm its legality. The text makes no mention of Islam, but President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government promoted the law as a means to protect women from being forced to wear Muslim full-face veils such as the burqa or the niqab. Once in force, the law provides for a six-month period of “education” to explain to women already wearing a face veil that they face arrest and a fine if they continue to do so in any public space. A woman who chooses to defy the ban will receive a fine of 150 Euros ($ 195) or a course of citizenship lessons. A man who forces a woman to go veiled will be fined 30,000 Euros and serve a jail term. “This is not about security or religion, but respecting our republican principles,” Justice Minister Michele Alliot-Marie declared before the vote. “France, land of secularism, guarantees respect for all religions (but) hiding the face under a face-covering veil is against public social order, whether it is forced or voluntary,” she said. Some other European countries are mulling similar bans, but critics of the law in its proposed form believe it is too broadly framed and that it will eventually be overturned as unconstitutional and discriminatory. Two senior lawmakers from Sarkozy’s UMP ruling party said the new law should go before the Constitutional Council to ensure that it is in full conformity with France’s constitution. “This law has been the subject of long and complex debates on the essential principles that form the basis of our republican pact,” Bernard Accoyer and Gerard Larcher said in a statement. The vote comes when some of France’s other policies — especially a drive to round up and expel Roma Gypsies — have led to accusation of racism, and the tough new law is expected to draw further criticism from rights groups. The policy also has the rare distinction of being condemned in advance by leaders of both the United States and Al-Qaeda. TITLE: Landmine Blasts Kills 10 on Bus in Turkey AUTHOR: By Mahmut Bozarslan PUBLISHER: Agence France Presse TEXT: DIYARBAKIR, Turkey — A landmine believed to have been planted by Kurdish rebels blew up a minibus in southeast Turkey on Thursday, killing 10 people in one of the bloodiest attacks on civilians in recent years. The vehicle was carrying Kurdish villagers to Hakkari city when it hit the mine near Gecitli, a remote village in Hakkari province, on the border with Iraq and Iran, a local security source said on condition of anonymity. The bodies were badly mutilated in the blast, which left three people wounded, among them a 15-month-old baby. Television footage showed the red van, reduced to a charred tangle of metal, lying on a road snaking among barren hills as a military helicopter landed and villagers converged at the scene. The security forces were to scour the area for more explosives, the source said. Immediate suspicions for the blast fell on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been fighting for self-rule in the country’s mainly Kurdish southeast since 1984. If confirmed as a work of the rebels, the blast would be the bloodiest PKK attack on civilians since July 2008 when two near-simultaneous bomb explosions claimed 17 lives in a residential area in Istanbul. In January the same year, a car bomb intended at a military vehicle killed six people, among them five teenagers on their way to school, in downtown Diyarbakir, the main city of the Kurdish-majority southeast. Thursday’s blast comes during a truce that the PKK announced between Aug. 13 and Sept. 20 that covered the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and a referendum on constitutional changes held on Sept. 12. Kurdish activists have called on Ankara to make a gesture of good will to the rebels that would cajole them into extending the truce and pave the way for a peaceful solution of the 26-year conflict. In remarks published in the Spanish daily El Mundo last week, senior PKK leader Murat Karayilan warned that full-scale fighting could resume if Ankara continued its “attacks and detentions of Kurds”. Karayilan also said that the rebels would lay down arms if Turkey adopted a system of regional autonomy similar to that in Spain. Turkey’s main Kurdish political movement, the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), has also adopted the demand for autonomy. Heeding a BDP call, a large part of the Kurdish electorate boycotted a referendum on constitutional changes at the weekend on grounds that none of the amendments addressed the Kurdish problem. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government last year announced a plan to increase Kurdish rights and liberties in a bid to pressure the PKK into abandoning arms. But it has said it will not take any steps that would jeopardize the country’s territorial unity. The plan has since ran into trouble amid increasing public anger over a series of deadly PKK attacks against security forces since last year. The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the international community, took up arms for self-rule in the Kurdish-majority southeast in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed around 45,000 lives. TITLE: Pope Warns Over Secularism On Visit to U.K. PUBLISHER: Agence France Presse TEXT: EDINBURGH — Pope Benedict XVI urged Britain Thursday to maintain its respect for religious traditions and warned against “aggressive forms of secularism” in his first speech of an historic state visit. “Today, the United Kingdom strives to be a modern and multicultural society,” the pope said at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, where he flew in earlier at the start of his four-day trip to Scotland and England. “In this challenging enterprise, may it always maintain its respect for those traditional values and cultural expressions that more aggressive forms of secularism no longer value or even tolerate. “Let it not obscure the Christian foundation that underpins its freedoms.” One of the pope’s aides, Cardinal Walter Kasper, caused controversy on the eve of the state visit by condemning what he dubbed “an aggressive neo-atheism” that has spread in England, in an interview with a German magazine. He also described Britain as a “Third World country”, prompting the head of Catholics in England and Wales, Archbishop of Westminster Vincent, to defend the multicultural communities here.