SOURCE: The St. Petersburg Times DATE: Issue #1687 (49), Wednesday, December 14, 2011 ************************************************************************** TITLE: More Than 10,000 Gather at Biggest Rally in 10 Years AUTHOR: By Sergey Chernov PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: Semi-spontaneous protests against widespread fraud favoring pro-Kremlin party United Russia at the Dec. 4 State Duma and St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly elections resulted in the biggest rally St. Petersburg has seen in the past decade, drawing more than 10,000 on Saturday. Part of the national campaign of protests demanding the annulment of election results because of multiple violations — the largest being a rally in Moscow attended by between 25,000 to 150,000, according to various estimates — the St. Petersburg rally was organized via Vkontakte (the Russian equivalent of Facebook) originally as an unauthorized assembly on Ploshchad Vosstaniya in central St. Petersburg. The Vkontakte group was called “We didn’t elect crooks and thieves,” the “party of crooks and thieves” being a popular name for United Russia coined by Moscow opposition activist Alexei Navalny. During the rally buildup, Vkontakte’s CEO Pavel Durov was summoned to the St. Petersburg Prosecutor’s Office on Friday after he publicly rejected demands by the Federal Security Service to shut down anti-fraud protest groups on his social network, while St. Petersburg Governor Georgy Poltavchenko condemned the protests as foreign interference. “I can’t call what’s happening in our city anything other than a provocation, carefully planned abroad,” Poltavchenko said, speaking on the City Hall-financed Sankt-Peterburg cable TV channel Friday. On the same day, St. Petersburg police chief Mikhail Sukhodolsky warned the public against participating in “unsanctioned protests,” arguing that using massive police force to break up protests results in crime-prone areas being left without police presence. Before Saturday’s sanctioned rally, daily protests near Gostiny Dvor were held from Dec. 4 through Thursday, Dec. 8, resulting in around 630 to 640 arrests in total, according to Memorial human rights group. Tuesday saw the highest number of arrests at 247. Those arrested, many of whom were held for one to two days in police precincts, were charged with violating the rules on holding assemblies and with failure to follow police orders. A number were sentenced to three to 15 days in custody. Fillip Kostenko, sentenced to 15 days, and Viktor Demyanenko, sentenced to 10 days, are holding a hunger strike, Memorial said in an e-mail. Also in custody are Alexander Yashin (13 days), Alexander Martynov (10) as well as Pavel Kushch, Ilya Kostaryov and Dmitry Sharov, whose sentences are unknown. They are expected to be released between Dec. 15 and 21. Human rights groups and the opposition said the arrests were illegal, as they violated the constitution and international agreements that Russia had signed. The Russian law on public assemblies adopted in 2004 requires that organizers submit an application 15 days before a rally is held. Therefore the earliest protest the organizers had time to apply for would have been held on Dec. 18. Preparation for Saturday’s rally was somewhat chaotic, as some groups urged people to meet at other sites, while the eventual site of the standup rally was not named until Friday evening after last-minute negotiations with City Hall were held. The United Civil Front (OGF) local leader Olga Kurnosova, who initiated the talks, said Tuesday that authorization was received in an “unprecedented manner.” “Poltavchenko gave orders to police chief Sukhodolsky to provide all kinds of assistance to those rallying on Pionerskaya Ploshchad,” she said by phone Tuesday. Hundreds, however, gathered at Ploshchad Vosstaniya and marched to Pionerskaya Ploshchad without the police attempting to stop or disperse them, except for a small clash on Nevsky Prospekt that resulted in about 10 arrests. The rally drew a broad range of political groups, from anarchists to nationalists, but it was ordinary citizens enraged by electoral fraud who dominated the event. Many couldn’t get onto the square because of a lack of space and police cordons, and stood in nearby areas and streets, trying to listen to the speeches. In addition to the annulment of the election results, the rally’s demands included change to restrictive election legislation, the registration of all political parties and punishment of Central Election Commission chairman Vladimir Churov. The authorities were given a week until the next rally — to be held at the same place on Dec. 18 — to react to the demands. Yabloko, which won six seats out of the 50 in the Legislative Assembly, added to the chaos surrounding the organization of the rally by sending out a statement Friday evening urging people not to come to what it called an “unauthorized protest” on Ploshchad Vosstaniya, but to come to a “peaceful assembly” near Kazan Cathedral instead. “Provocateurs from the ‘opposition’ and the current authoritarian regime are jointly driving the situation to bloodshed,” Yabloko’s local chair Maxim Reznik wrote. After finding out that City Hall had approved a rally on Pionerskaya Ploshchad, Reznik later encouraged people to go there. Speaking to several dozen at a small rally near Kazan Cathedral, Reznik said that the cancelation of the election results that the “radical opposition” is demanding coincides with the interests of city authorities. Explaining his position by phone Tuesday, he said that the official results of the elections should be corrected and changed to the real results of the voting, rather than cancelled altogether. Reznik said that the opposition had taken “half the seats” in the Legislative Assembly, including Yabloko’s eight seats, A Just Russia’s 12 seats and the Communist Party’s seven seats, as opposed to United Russia and the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia’s 20 and 5 seats, respectively. Yabloko was not allowed to take part in local elections in 2007, when a number of signatures they collected were declared “invalid,” and had been absent from the Legislative Assembly until now. Later Reznik came to Pionerskaya Ploshchad, where the main rally was held, but was not allowed to speak by the organizers, he said. Kurnosova said Tuesday that she, as the organizer, had not been approached by Reznik. Yabloko’s Yuly Rybakov, who did speak at the rally, directed his criticism toward “communist extremists and National Bolsheviks,” rather than to the authorities. He said the radicals would try to engage the non-political young people who attended the rally in their networks. According to the Other Russia party’s local chair Andrei Dmitriyev, the authorities are unlikely to meet the rally’s demands. “People shouldn’t just let off steam, which is obviously the tactic chosen by the authorities,” Dmitriyev said. “It’s smart enough for them. They did not use violence during the rally, and issued a permit to Kurnosova quickly enough. They’re waiting for the wave to calm down and everything to return to normal.” Despite the ultimatum to either hold new elections or face a new wave of protests, Poltavchenko failed to react and the City Election Committee confirmed the election results Monday, he said. “That’s why we should increase protest activity and radicalize these protest activities,” Dmitriyev said. “If rallies on Pionerskaya Ploshchad can’t force Poltavchenko to react, they should move closer to City Hall.” In connection with Saturday’s protests, 45 were detained in central St. Petersburg, the police told Interfax. Twenty-seven were detained on Senatskaya Ploshchad for a flash mob called “The Funeral of Democracy,” during which participants stood with their mouths taped shut, holding candles. TITLE: Zenit Finishes Year on Historic Note AUTHOR: By Daniel Kozin PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: Football season is over, but St. Petersburg fans are celebrating the month-long winter lull as Zenit St. Petersburg ends the year with flying colors, having progressed into the Champions League knock-out stage for the first time in history, while six points clear at the top of the Russian league. Zenit guaranteed its continued participation in the continent’s most prestigious competition in dramatic fashion last Wednesday in Portugal, after hanging on to the 0-0 tie it needed to edge out Porto in the final game of the group stage. The Russian champions were forced to adopt an unfamiliar secondary role on the pitch, as the home team threw its best into attack in a game that it needed, and was widely favored to win. Porto’s last failure to progress at this stage was in 2006 and it has participated in the knockout stages four times since then. The illustrious Portuguese super-club was ultimately thwarted by a resolute Russian defense, with man of the match Zenit goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev pulling a series of crucial saves. Zenit’s historic campaign is set to continue in March, when the team will be one of the 16 top European sides contesting the continental trophy. Possible guests to the Petrovsky stadium include European giants Barcelona, Real Madrid and Chelsea, with the draw scheduled to take place at a ceremony on Dec. 16. The team’s general director Maxim Mitrofanov marked the importance of the result as a new chapter in the history of the club, noting a “job well done that met our goals… which sets a new bar for the future.” According to him, Zenit’s success has already resulted in generous financial rewards that will help the club prepare for the next stage with new transfers, having achieved “at least 15 million euros (almost $20 million) in prize money just for entering the play-offs.” The team’s success comes in conjunction with a very successful season for Russian teams in European competition, with Moscow rivals CSKA pulling a miraculous 2-1 away win against Inter Milan, making this season’s Champions League play-offs the first with two Russian clubs participating. Lokomotiv Moscow and Rubin Kazan are also set to progress in the Europa League, Europe’s second-tier competition, which would ensure a very exciting spring for Russian fans. Meanwhile, the Russian national team has already qualified for next summer’s EURO competition, to be held in Ukraine and Poland. Its group rivals include the Czech Republic, Poland and Greece, in a very successful draw for the domestic side. TITLE: Prokhorov Plans to Run Against Putin in Election AUTHOR: By Jonathan Earle and Alexander Bratersky PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: MOSCOW — Mikhail Prokhorov, the billionaire and failed State Duma hopeful, said Monday that he would attempt a political comeback by running against Vladimir Putin for president next year. The abrupt announcement, which Prokhorov made to gasps of surprise from seasoned reporters at a news conference, could give an air of legitimacy to the election, which is widely expected to be won by Putin. It also could soothe a middle class increasingly frustrated about its lack of a political voice by giving them a candidate to vote for. Stoking speculation that his presidential bid was orchestrated by the powers that be, Prokhorov refused to elucidate his platform and remained tepid and vague in his criticism of Putin and his United Russia party, which were lambasted by tens of thousands of middle-class protesters on Saturday at the biggest opposition rally in Moscow since 1993. “I’ve made probably the most serious decision of my life: I’m running for president,” Prokhorov said as he opened his snap news conference. His next words were lost on reporters, who whipped out their cell phones and scrambled to get the news out. Elaborating, Prokhorov declared himself a “champion of the middle class” and said he was already working to create a grassroots political party to counter “populist tricks” and promote open dialogue within civil society. But he insisted that he would not campaign as an anti-Putin candidate, saying criticism would not take up more than 10 percent of his campaign. Instead, he said, “I’d love to concentrate on what needs to be done.” He promised to publish his campaign platform after registering as a presidential candidate with the Central Elections Commission. He has until Thursday to file his paperwork, the commission said Monday. After that, Prokhorov will need to collect 2 million signatures to appear on the ballot. Prokhorov said he would run an “original” campaign but cautioned that it would not be a circus, saying, “The time has not come to reveal all secrets.” This will be the second foray in politics for the 46-year-old businessman, who has a fortune of $18 billion according to Forbes. In June, Prokhorov took the helm of the pro-business Right Cause party, but he was ousted in September in a party coup that he said was orchestrated by Kremlin first deputy chief of staff and political mastermind Vladislav Surkov after he proved too independent. Prokhorov said Monday that he has not met with Putin, Surkov or President Dmitry Medvedev since the September events involving Right Cause, which placed last with a dismal 0.6 percent in the State Duma elections on Dec. 4. When asked how he would overcome Surkov’s influence on the political system, Prokhorov said, “I’ve found the most elegant way to beat him — I think I just need to become his boss.” Prokhorov also said he was not afraid of following in the footsteps of billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky, imprisoned since 2003 for what supporters call Putin’s punishment for his political and commercial ambitions. Prokhorov, who as Right Cause leader said he wanted Putin’s job as prime minister, did not elaborate on his lack of fear but conceded that “there’s no fence against ill fortune.” His presidential bid appears to have been influenced by the protests that broke out across the country by middle-class Russians who felt cheated by the Duma elections, which were tarnished by reports of widespread fraud. Mirroring the rhetoric of many protesters, Prokhorov said he was “categorically against revolution.” But he stopped short of including himself among the opposition, saying only that he supported increased civic participation in politics. In reply to a question from a reporter, he said he was ready to work with anyone — including opposition leaders — who supports his campaign platform. Surkov and former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin have also called for a party for the urban middle class. Kudrin, in an interview published Monday in Vedomosti, said he was willing to help create such a party, and he said he has discussed the idea with Prokhorov. Prokhorov said Monday that he and Kudrin share economic views but had not agreed to work together. Several other politicians have announced presidential bids, including A Just Russia leader Sergei Mironov, Liberal Democratic Party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, radical opposition activist Eduard Limonov, and a few public unknowns. Putin, who made no public comment about Prokhorov’s plans, is aware of his bid, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told RIA-Novosti. But in a tacit endorsement, Channel One state television made the announcement the focus of its 6 p.m. news program — a display of attention that the Kremlin’s enemies are usually denied. It also aired snippets of footage filmed during Kudrin’s interview with Vedomosti. Former Right Cause official Leonid Gozman, a staunch backer of Prokhorov during his short-lived stint with the party, was one of the few to express cautious hope about his new bid. But he conceded in a telephone interview that everything would depend on how far Prokhorov would dare to go. “Will he be able to make a real challenge to the Kremlin?” Gozman asked rhetorically. But many observers speculated that Prokhorov had been covertly endorsed by the Kremlin in an effort to find a loyal figure to head the leaderless protest movement that materialized on Bolotnaya Ploshchad. “This is the Kremlin’s answer to Bolotnaya and an attempt to provide an alternative candidate” to Putin, independent analyst Stanislav Belkovsky said. He added by telephone that he expects Prokhorov to appear at a follow-up rally tentatively scheduled for Dec. 24. The Kremlin put forward Prokhorov so that the protesters “choke on sweet saliva,” Belkovsky said in a separate interview with Gazeta.ru. Belkovsky cautioned middle-class protesters against being toyed with and said their motley leaders should distance themselves from Prokhorov. He was echoed by an opposition leader, Sergei Mitrokhin of the Yabloko party, who addressed the Bolotnaya Ploshchad rally. “He is an oligarch and he is part and parcel of today’s regime,” Mitrokhin said. But political analyst Mark Feigin said Prokhorov’s bid amounted to more than just a decoy. “Prokhorov is not just part of the system. He represents the oligarchy, which wants to get rid of Putin,” he said. TITLE: Enemies March Side by Side AUTHOR: Alexandra Odynova PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: MOSCOW — In the hours before Saturday’s rally, fears were voiced that police might detain people who arrived at the initially authorized venue, Ploshchad Revolyutsii, instead of Bolotnaya Ploshchad, which was hastily approved a day before the demonstration. However, no crackdown occurred. Instead, Ploshchad Revolyutsii offered a rare scene: activists of all stripes, including those who usually come to blows at the sight of each other, marching unhappily but peacefully in a sort of “water truce” to an anti-Kremlin rally. “It is a great day in the history of Russia,” environmental and opposition activist Yevgenia Chirikova told reporters as she waited on the platform of the Ploshchad Revolyutsii metro station. Chirikova didn’t get to talk long on the platform. A policeman showed up soon and told television reporters that they couldn’t film in the metro without a special permit. “We live in a law-based society,” the policeman chided them, only to have a pensioner cut him short. “Oh, please, we are years away from that!” the older man said. Chirikova urged reporters to comply with police orders, however, noting that organizers wanted a “peaceful demonstration.” Minutes later, the group moved aboveground to the eponymous plaza, whose name translates as Revolution Square. The name is what likely prompted city authorities to propose the tongue-in-cheek alternative site: the name Bolotnaya Ploshchad comes from the Russian word “boloto,” or swamp, a term widely used to describe apathetic Russian voters. Both groups followed Chirikova and human rights champion Lev Ponomaryov to Bolotnaya, where thousands of people had already gathered. At the far side of Ploshchad Revolyutsii, radical opposition leader Eduard Limonov of The Other Russia was chanting, “Russia without Putin! Russia without Putin!” “It was a compromise made by bourgeois politicians,” shouted Limonov, who was a driving force behind the usually unsanctioned Strategy 31 rallies, which call attention to Article 31 of the Constitution that guarantees freedom of assembly. The Strategy 31 protests, which rarely attracted even several hundred participants, regularly ended in police crackdowns, prompting fears that Ploshchad Revolyutsii would see similar attacks on activists by “cosmonauts,” as riot police are known for their storm trooper-like black helmets. But the crowd began following Chirikova to Bolotnaya along a cordoned-off route, ignoring Limonov, who drove away after it became evident that there would be no crackdown. He did not appear on Bolotnaya Ploshchad.  Bitter political enemies marched together behind Chirikova under many different flags. There was the black, yellow and white “imperial” flag of the nationalists, the Jolly Roger of the unregistered Pirate Party and the red-and-black flag of leftist activists. Chants sounded along party lines, ranging from “Go, Russians!” and “Stop Feeding the Caucasus” to “Freedom, Equality, Communism!” Marchers booed one another’s slogans. But they nonetheless marched along side by side, representing the whole of Russia’s political spectrum — an event unheard of in modern history. Stone-faced policemen lined up by the hundreds along the 3-kilometer walk between the two squares, watching the procession. Some nationalists shouted out to them, “Come on guys, join us.” But that was to no avail. Media reports said more than 50,000 police officers were deployed in Moscow on Saturday. Unlike during rallies on Monday and Tuesday, however, no mass detentions were reported. At last the two rallies merged into one, and it truly resembled the 30,000-member event promised by the organizers’ Facebook page. People thronged on three nearby bridges and on the riverbank opposite the rally location, undeterred by a stiff December wind from the river and wet snow. Many in the crowd wore white ribbons or carried white flowers to symbolize the rally’s peaceful nature. A couple of flares were fired over the nationalists’ flags, melting in the chilly gray sky above the throng’s heads. The Bolotnaya crowd was regularly roused into angry chants targeting Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Central Elections Commission head Vladimir Churov, and the Kremlin. The event also offered a wide variety of political posters, many of them ironic and some ironically obscene. The perhaps most laconic one read simply: “The Tsar Is a Fraud.” Vladimir Tirkov, a 46-year-old engineer, said he was a frequent participant in opposition demonstrations, but “this is the first time I’ve seen so many people.” TITLE: Protest Called Amazing — What’s Next? AUTHOR: By Alexandra Odynova PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: MOSCOW — Saturday’s rally in Moscow marked an “amazing,” even unprecedented, event for modern Russia. Yet though euphoria was palpable in the air, it came with a tinge of pessimism, fueled by the simple question: “What’s next?” Some linked the bluesy feeling to poor work by rally organizers. But many analysts and rally-goers interviewed by The St. Petersburg Times said the real problem was that the Kremlin can ignore criticism unless the still-amorphous mass of protesters coalesces into a solid political movement. Indeed, President Dmitry Medvedev said Sunday that he disagreed with the demands voiced by the tens of thousands of protesters who rallied against alleged violations in the State Duma elections. “I disagree with all slogans and statements made at the rally,” Medvedev wrote on his Facebook account, triggering a wave of angry, obscenity-laden blog and Facebook posts. “Nevertheless, I have ordered a check into all reports about violations at polling stations,” Medvedev said. He did not elaborate. Other comments from the Kremlin and its allies were more elusive. Vladimir Putin, prime minister and the presidential candidate of the ruling United Russia party, maintained his usual silence. His spokesman Dmitry Peskov said only, “We are hearing what is being said, and we will continue to listen to it.” He was echoed by United Russia, which according to final election results won with 49.3 percent in the Duma vote. “The protesters’ … point of view is very important and will be heard by the media, the state and society,” party boss Andrei Isayev said Saturday, RIA-Novosti reported. He did not provide further details. The Central Elections Commission refused to revise the final vote results, with its official Nikolai Konkin insisting Sunday that this could only be done through the courts, Interfax said. Protesters at Bolotnaya Ploshchad are bound to be disappointed with this apathetic reaction, given that their ire was directed at Putin, commission head Vladimir Churov and United Russia, dubbed by opponents as “the party of crooks and thieves.” Rally-goers described the event as “great” and “awesome” to St. Petersburg Times reporters. Former Central Bank first deputy chairman Sergei Aleksashenko, who attended the rally, described it as “amazing” on his LiveJournal blog on Sunday. Organizers were equally ecstatic. “I’m happy,” opposition politician Boris Nemtsov wrote on his blog. “We couldn’t have even dreamed about this a week ago.” But skeptics also noted that the organizers had little experience in staging public events of this size. The rally was plagued with logistical problems, including the stage being placed in a hard-to-see area and the back rows of the crowd stretched along the riverbanks could hardly see or hear the speakers. “This was the biggest rally that I have ever seen in Russia, even bigger than those I witnessed in the ‘90s,” said Boris Kagarlitsky, director of the Institute of Globalization Studies and Social Movements and a St. Petersburg Times columnist, who attended the demonstration. “But at the same time, it was the worst-organized one.” “I wonder how no stampedes broke out there,” he said, noting that no pre-allotted spots had been set aside for the movements and parties that flocked to Bolotnaya Ploshchad, each under their own banners, only to get mixed up on-site. Several rally participants expressed hope for change, but by and large their expectations appeared low. Dmitry Pushelin, a 23-year-old student, said he was attending a political rally for the first time, seeking to express his desire for a rerun of the elections, but he did not expect that any time soon. “Nothing will change, Putin will become president,” he said. “However, step by step, civil society is growing. This is a very civilized demonstration. The middle class is growing, and they will become more powerful.” The rally was also not much of a political victory “because there was the feeling that the Kremlin, including Putin, had blessed it,” said Alexei Mukhin, an analyst with the Center for Political Information. The demonstration was sanctioned by the authorities, and police did not intervene. “Besides, General Frost did his job,” Mukhin said, referring to the chilly weather that made many people leave prematurely and huddle in nearby cafes. The temperature only sank to about minus 2 degrees Celsius on Saturday, which means that colder times lie ahead and that people will be even more reluctant to attend any follow-up rallies planned for December, Mukhin said. Kagarlitsky agreed, saying the discontent would fade as the elections recede in time and New Year’s festivities draw near. “Fewer and fewer people will attend unless some new trouble erupts, like an economic crisis,” Kagarlitsky said. “Then the [public] drive will grow again.” Intern Justin Varilek contributed to this report. TITLE: State Media Plays Down City Rallies AUTHOR: By Alexandra Odynova PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: MOSCOW — Much to the surprise of observers and regular Russian television viewers, state-run channels gave substantial coverage to Saturday’s anti-government rallies in Moscow and other cities — even if they still managed to present the protests as insignificant, apolitical events. All three top channels included coverage about the rallies in their evening reports and highlighted them on their Sunday analytical news shows, but their tone varied substantially from that of foreign media. Russian reports pictured the rallies as specifically anti-fraud protests advocating fair elections, while completely ignoring the chants of “Putin must go!” by the thousands of attendees. In fact, the only mention of the authorities at all were comments from President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin calling the protests “a normal phenomenon” of a democratic society. Prime-time anchorman Pyotr Tolstoi of Channel One said Sunday that “the rally can be hardly called political” and “people just wanted to voice their position.” The report that followed made the event look as if people had gathered to call for fair elections and nothing else. Reports made scant mention of organizers. Tolstoi said people were brought together by “unregistered parties and movements” without elaborating. Maybe for the first time in years, opposition leaders like Boris Nemtsov, Vladimir Ryzhkov and Eduard Limonov appeared on state television. The reports, however, omitted that prominent ex-NTV anchorman Leonid Parfyonov called for press freedom at the rally. The coverage stood in stark contrast to how earlier manifestations of public rancor were handled. The mass protest at Chistiye Prudy the day after the contested State Duma elections — resulting in hundreds of arrests, including those of journalists — was widely ignored by the top television channels. Channel One, Rossia and NTV did later show brief clips from the rally. But even those reliably pro-Kremlin mastodons were unable to turn a blind eye to Saturday’s event. On Saturday, Kommersant daily reported that NTV news anchorman Alexei Pivovarov had refused to host the evening broadcast that day unless the channel covered the multicity protests. An NTV spokesperson later denied the report to RIA-Novosti, but an NTV reporter, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to The St. Petersburg Times that the conflict did indeed take place. In the days prior to the elections, NTV sparked outrage for a one-sided report heavily critical of Golos, the only independent elections watchdog in the country, depicting it as a Western-sponsored organization aimed at shaking political stability in Russia. The other two big national TV stations, Channel One and Rossia, did not have a visible presence during the rally at Bolotnaya Ploshchad. The only sign of them was a reporter spotted carrying a lightweight camera bearing a tiny “Rossia” logo. The NTV crew member said both channels had sent individual “mobile reporters” instead of full-fledged crews. “They’re afraid of being harassed,” he said on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak to the media. TITLE: Exam Had Political Message PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: MOSCOW — The last-minute test thousands of Russian children were suddenly required to take on the day of the biggest anti-government rallies in years contained political messages, revealed examples from some exams that have appeared on the Internet. “I had no doubt that United Russia would win,” read one of the examples that was posted on LiveJournal, according to Newsru.com. Another example asked students to correct a mistake in a sentence that read: “By following the law, we serve the nation.” Officials announced Friday that students had to take the mandatory test on Saturday, the same day tens of thousands gathered in Moscow’s Bolotnaya Ploshchad to protest alleged vote-rigging and United Russia rule. Teachers complained that the main purpose of the test was to prevent students from participating in the rally, according to numerous media reports. TITLE: 2 Students Accept Putin’s China Prize PUBLISHER: The Associated Press TEXT: BEIJING — Two Russian exchange students have accepted a Chinese peace prize on behalf of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who was honored for enhancing Russia’s status and crushing anti-government forces in Chechnya, the prize organizers said. The Confucius Peace Prize was hastily launched last year as an alternative to the Nobel Peace Prize, which had just honored imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo. The 2011 prize ceremony took place Friday, a day before this year’s Nobel Prize was awarded in Oslo, Norway, to three women for their “non-violent struggle” for women’s safety and for women’s rights to participate in peace-building work. The Confucius Peace Prize organization announced last month that Putin had been chosen to receive this year’s award, saying that during his 2000-08 tenure as president, Putin “brought remarkable enhancement to the military might and political status of Russia.” It also cited Putin’s crushing of anti-government forces in Chechnya. TITLE: ‘Opposition’ Parties Should Boycott Duma AUTHOR: By Vladimir Ryzhkov TEXT: As it is clear to almost everyone, the State Duma elections results were fabricated. The question now is: Will the Kremlin-approved “opposition” parties finally oppose the ruling regime? Authoritative and independent elections observers, including Alexander Kynev and Dmitry Oreshkin, estimate that United Russia falsely inflated its results by an average of 15 percentage points to 17 percentage points — and in Moscow, by 20 percentage points. That means the party of power actually received about 33 percent to 35 percent of the vote on average and as little as 20 percent to 25 percent in the largest cities. The 49 percent that United Russia supposedly received will give the “party of crooks and thieves” a majority number of seats in the Duma, and this will enable the party to control all Duma committees and pass all federal laws, including the federal budget and legal codes, without consulting with the other three parties. The leaders of the other three parties that made it into the Duma  — Gennady Zyuganov of the Communist Party, Sergei Mironov of A Just Russia and Vladimir Zhirinovsky of the Liberal Democratic Party — declared that the elections had been marred by unprecedented fraud and violations, calling them the dirtiest elections in Russian history. But the only thing they demanded was that President Dmitry Medvedev and Central Elections Commission head Vladimir Churov investigate the violations and bring the perpetrators to justice. Those parties are now filing hundreds of complaints and appeals with the courts and elections committees. But this a useless exercise given the country’s weak and pliable court system and the Kremlin’s terrible record on conducting internal investigations. Yabloko leader Grigory Yavlinsky called on the three minority parties to reject their own mandates to protest the rigged elections. Yavlinsky also called for new parliamentary elections with new rules and regulations to crack down on ballot-stuffing and other methods used to rig the vote. What’s more, Yavlinsky said additional parties, including those denied registration on trumped-up charges, should be allowed to run. Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev chimed in, arguing that the results of these elections be thrown out and new, free elections be held. Meanwhile, the Kremlin is actively working on damage control. For example, more than 60,000 police and Interior Ministry troops were deployed to deal with large-scale protest rallies, and more peaceful demonstrators have been detained than at any other time in post-Soviet history. The special services have been intimidating ordinary citizens, and the police have been conducting “anti-terrorist exercises” in the regions. Denial-of-service attacks against independent Internet sites and social networks continue. According to media reports, the Kremlin asked its three pocket parties to refrain from participating in demonstrations against election fraud. (The few party members who did appear at some of the protests attended in a private capacity only.) This “opposition on a leash” is more than willing to cooperate with the authorities and, in exchange, has been bargaining hard for additional authority in the Duma. The Communist Party, for example, has its sights on the powerful agriculture committee. Some party leaders are hoping to take away from the deal ministry posts in Medvedev’s so-called “big government” if he, indeed, becomes prime minister. If the three minority parties were truly oppositional, they would be protesting the widespread election fraud by refusing to take part in the new Duma, starting with the first session on Dec. 21. They would refuse to elect the new Duma speaker and deputy speaker and committee heads, and they would demand that the results be thrown out at thousands of polling stations and that a recount be conducted. In short, if the three parties took these measures, United Russia’s simple majority would, by default, become a simple minority in just two or three weeks. After that, they could elect their own Duma speaker and committee heads without interference. But more important, they would be free to turn their campaign promises into real action. This includes reinstituting the direct election of governors and mayors, lowering the barrier required for parties to qualify for elections, creating a system of parliamentary control over elected officials, and introducing radical anti-corruption measures. If there was a vote recount, the three parties would secure a majority in the Duma and receive a true mandate from those who voted for them. This popular mandate would enable the Communist Party, the Liberal Democratic Party and A Just Russia to finally shake off their image as Kremlin puppets. To declare that the elections were falsified, the three minority parties must be courageous and step up to the plate. They should boycott the Duma entirely until these demands are met. If they fail to do this, they will only legitimize Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and United Russia and the theft of millions of their votes. If they don’t do this, these parties will once again prove that they are the Kremlin’s junior partners and United Russia’s satellites. They will also betray the hopes of millions of people who placed their trust in them. Vladimir Ryzhkov, a State Duma deputy from 1993 to 2007, hosts a political talk show on Ekho Moskvy radio and is a co-founder of the opposition Party of People’s Freedom. TITLE: between the lines: Russia’s Media More Accurate Than in the West AUTHOR: By Alexei Pankin TEXT: I spoke with about 100 pleasant young people last week at the monthly meeting that Russian Reporter magazine editors and journalists hold with readers. Some of the young people had posted election reports on the magazine’s web site. Some had volunteered as election observers and many had taken part in the protest demonstrations on Dec. 5 and 6. They were upset not only with the authorities’ falsification of the results, but also with the television coverage. “Why,” they asked, “did the cameras capture the pro-Kremlin Nashi youth without showing those of us who were demonstrating nearby?” Ironically, on about the same day, a U.S. colleague sent me a Fox News report supposedly showing demonstrators in Moscow — complete with street fighting, flaming barricades and palm trees in the background — with the snide comment, “Has the climate warmed up in Moscow?” State-controlled television enjoyed explaining that the clip had really depicted demonstrations in Greece. And another colleague from London who lived in Russia for many years wrote to me saying: “You won’t believe it, but the British television and newspapers report that Boris Nemtsov is the main leader of the entire opposition and that he supposedly enjoys the support of tens of millions of Russians, although I know that even his wife wouldn’t vote for him.” But what changed my perspective was a book that I recently bought, “The Phony Litvinenko Murder” by William Dunkerley. That tome was released in late November on the fifth anniversary of the poisoning death in London of former Federal Security Service agent Alexander Litvinenko. Dunkerley is an authority on Russian media, and, in particular, he has been a featured speaker at the congress of the International Federation of Journalists. Dunkerley apparently read everything about the Litvinenko case published in both reputable and mass-market British publications, and much of what had been published about it in the United States. He came to the following conclusion: “The basic media storyline is that Litvinenko was a Russian spy who became a dissident and defected to the West, turned into a sharp critic of President Vladimir Putin and was murdered in an effort to silence him. That may be all true. But maybe it’s not true. I still haven’t found reliable information that supports the storyline. The media coverage of the Litvinenko case has been a fantasy adventure.” What’s more, Dunkerley focused on the fact that five years after the event, the British coroner only reported Litvinenko’s death, without classifying it as a homicide or identifying a cause. But in light of current events, a retrospective of the way the U.S. and British media have viewed important episodes of modern Russian history tells more. From their viewpoint, President Boris Yeltsin’s anti-constitutional decision in 1993 to have tanks fire on the parliament building looked instead like a rebellion by lawmakers against a legitimate government. Georgia’s attack against South Ossetia in August 2008 was seen as Russian aggression. Yeltsin himself, loathed by many Russians, is portrayed as a great democrat and then-President and now Prime Minister Vladimir Putin — who enjoyed unprecedented popularity for many years — was depicted as a tyrant. Thus, we have two opposite universes: the reality of life in Russia, and that life as it is portrayed by the West. It seems to me that Russian television, for all of its state censorship and control, comes closer to capturing the reality than the so-called objective Western media. Alexei Pankin is editor of WAN-IFRA-GIPP Magazine for publishing-business professionals. TITLE: Fresh start for Foreigners’ Club AUTHOR: By Galina Stolyarova PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: Anthony William Gear, the longstanding general manager of The Old Customs House restaurant, is reviving the Foreigners’ Club, a social community of expats that he initially established in 1996, shortly after his arrival in St. Petersburg. The relaunch evening is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 15 with a dinner at the Russian Empire restaurant.  Snobs are not welcome: The Foreigners’ Club is not the sort of place where people should head for the sole purpose of showing off their new mink coats, according to Gear. In other words, club membership is not synonymous with a certain social status, and a fat bank account does not guarantee anyone a place. After the club was originally established in 1996, Gear ran it for about five years, and then stopped as he felt that the foreign community in town was beginning to disperse, and there were many other organizations, such as St. Petersburg International Business Association (SPIBA), the American Chamber of Commerce and others. Although these organizations still exist, Gear has decided to resurrect his brainchild. “After all, my club is more social, more fun, it is a different kind of thing,” he said. “Foreigners could meet in local bars or at parties, but nobody is getting all these foreigners together, I thought,” he said. “It could be fun, I thought, to get them all to meet up.” Originally an East-Londoner, with 18 years in St. Petersburg under his belt, Gear calls himself an adopted Russian. During these 18 years, he says he has never had the slightest desire to move to the more dynamic and prosperous Moscow or return to the cultural melting pot of London. “I am an old Eastender: Football on Saturdays, partying on Fridays, going to posh pubs, that sort of thing,” he said. “I love the culture of Russia. I did think at some stage that I would never go to a ballet — that’s for funny people! — but when I went to the ballet I really enjoyed it. I love the fact that despite being such a cultural place, St. Petersburg is still a working city.” “How to become a member of the club? Come and see me,” invites Gear with a disarming smile. Since 1996, the foreign community in St. Petersburg has changed dramatically. “When I was working at the Grand Hotel Europe [as head of the restaurant service] in 1993, there were something like 11 or 12 foreigners there; eventually most of those positions were taken over by Russians, and quite rightly so,” Gear recalls. Members of the original club were exclusively foreigners. This time round, Russian members are also welcome, subject to approval by Gear: This is a closed club. In reviving the club, Gear is not completely starting from scratch. Quite a few of the original members of the club remain in St. Petersburg, and were delighted, according to Gear, when he came up with the idea of resurrecting the club. These people will make up the core of the new club. “Because some of the members are Consuls-general or CEOs of local offices of international corporations, the members will be rotating all the time,” Gear said. “The majority of the members are businesspeople, but not necessarily hardcore businesspeople. We also have a small proportion of those who work for the government.” Gear plans to make the club as informal as possible: It is very loosely structured, there is no charter or guest speakers, no entrance fees or obligatory monthly contributions. It is all about fun and socializing. Membership as such will be fluid: Members will be invited to meet up about once a month, with the main venue being the host’s pet project, The Old Customs House restaurant. Gear is making a conscious effort to set his club apart from stilted social gatherings such as formal dinners and balls and to create a relaxed and friendly environment in which foreigners feel at home. “At parties, we see that very few people can dance; not many people speak any foreign language, and it is hard to find smart and opinionated company,” said one Englishman working at a senior position in a large Russian company. “It would be nice to be part of a social club where people speak the same language as you — not so much in linguistic terms, but in terms of values.” Gear also hopes to attract Muscovites to his club with the promise of networking opportunities at a laid-back dinner among hand-picked company in some of the finest restaurants of the northern capital. TITLE: The demise of St. Petersburg AUTHOR: By Tatyana Sochiva PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: Images of disaster have always been morbidly popular, but recently this theme seems to have become especially topical due to the Mayan Doomsday Prophecy, which predicts the end of the world in December 2012. In connection with St. Petersburg, the concept of the catastrophe theory takes on a deep mystical significance: In Russian culture and particularly literature, Petersburg is a city of mystery and one with a mission. Through literature, predicted devastation has become part of the city’s mythology — an aspect that is currently being explored at the Name Gallery. Alexander Dashevsky’s project “The Demise of Petersburg” brings together the works of five modern artists from the northern capital: Ilya Gaponov, Valery Grikovsky, Vitaly Pushnitsky, Andrei Rudyev and the mastermind behind the exhibit, Dashevsky himself. The exhibit features different interpretations of the apocalypse through various materials, styles and traditions developed by the artists. Pushnitsky, for example, in “Little People” depicts literary heroes from St. Petersburg literature who are overwhelmed and exhausted by these very texts. In the black and white picture “The Mind’s Dream,” he depicts the death of the city as the result of exhaustion from the overwhelming burden of Classicism. Gaponov, on the other hand, reinterprets a biblical image frequently portrayed in Renaissance painting. In his work “Sebastian’s Night,” protruding lines that resemble pins draw a similarity between St. Sebastian, pierced by arrows, and “classical” St. Petersburg, which is currently suffering from modern construction and renovation. According to Grikovsky, creator of the work “Something Has Happened,” Petersburg is dying as a social and intellectual environment. In his ink drawing, Grikovsky depicts a crowd of people simply staring at the sky and making calls on their cell phones. The artist reportedly saw a similar scene during the few minutes immediately following a terrorist attack in Vladikavkaz. Visitors to the local exhibition can feel the artist’s bitter impression of alienation and the loss of unified values. The only work refering to the protests against electoral fraud currently taking place around the country is “I’ll be back,” a piece by Rudyev. The artist has made a paper memorial plaque commemorating a future visit by Putin to St. Petersburg. The content and style of the inscription hint at a social upheaval. Curator Dashevsky has worked with video art for the exhibition, creating three short films that in different ways narrate the story of the fragility of modern St. Petersburg. “The Demise of Petersburg” runs from Dec. 8 through Jan. 28 at the Name Gallery, 33 Nab. Kanala Griboyedova. M. Nevsky Prospekt. Tel. 571 5517. http://namegallery.ru. TITLE: Winds of change AUTHOR: By Sergey Chernov PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: Mikhail Borzykin, the frontman of Televizor — the St. Petersburg band that has been performing protest rock songs since the perestroika days of 1987 — spoke and sang one of his Putin-era songs during Saturday’s rally against electoral fraud, which turned out to be the city’s biggest-scale demonstration in the past few years, bringing together more than 10,000. “I can say without a doubt that the awakening of civil society is happening as new groups of people — totally non-political — have started to participate in political events,” he said after the rally. “Everybody has been waiting for this for a long time, but the first signs of this have appeared, thank God. People are unhappy about the very element of deception and are aware of who is responsible for this deception. They have no illusions left about Putin and Medvedev’s innocence. The electoral fraud has become obvious to everyone.” Borzykin said the Kremlin’s spin doctors have also made a mistake by giving the leaders too much exposure, thus making people tired of them, especially against the background of broadly available evidence of fraud. “A lot of things have happened during the past five years, but people seemed not to have realized that the leaders of the state were directly behind those facts,” he said. “They tried to explain it with local excesses and evil municipal policemen, but now the [power] vertical has become clear, everybody has it on their minds and, of course, it leads back to this pair. People didn’t dare make this last connection, but now they have made it. Complete with the United Russia party, it now looks like a nice Christmas tree — the Christmas tree of crooks and thieves.” Borzykin sees the statements of officials — including St. Petersburg Governor Georgy Poltavchenko — who traced people’s dissatisfaction over the fraud to the “hand of the West” as a blunder by the Kremlin’s alleged grey cardinal Vladislav Surkov. “This is Surkov’s biggest failure, I’d call it the end of a spy,” he said. “There could be nothing more stupid and insulting at the same time to an honest citizen who is indignant about his or her vote being stolen than to accuse them of being an agent of Western secret services. When it comes from the representatives of billionaire circles, it looks especially cynical, and of course people have reacted to this.” Borzykin’s song — which he sang at the rally to a pre-recorded instrumental background — was called “Nail Down the Cellar.” Comparing Putin’s Russia to the Soviet Union, it referred to “Orthodox Christian Chekists,” the group of KGB officers who came to power in Russia after President Boris Yeltsin resigned in 1999. Prophetically, Poltavchenko, who was appointed as the city’s governor in August, comes from the KGB and FSB security services and positions himself as an ardent Orthodox Christian believer. Before performing the song, Borzykin referred to the statements about the alleged involvement of Western intelligence in the protests. If we are the agents of the Western secret services and are paid by the West, he said ironically, then Putin and Poltavchenko are perhaps the agents of the Martian FSB and should return to Mars. “After Poltavchenko’s statement, his rating, which has not had time to rise, became negative,” Borzykin said. “They wanted to survive on this blend of Orthodox Christianity, cheap patriotism and the idea of autocracy, the Tsar’s vertical — an improbable hybrid that simply can’t exist, because it’s all built on myths. It went bankrupt because the people see that this ideology is preached by people who manage to enrich themselves personally to an incredible degree.” Just before the Dec. 4 State Duma elections, the St. Petersburg branch of United Russia proposed punishments for promoting homosexuality and pedophilia, which Borzykin sees as a failed attempt to re-channel people’s anger at the authorities. “It’s amazing; every television channel was fighting [the promotion of] sodomy and pedophilia; it looks like they have nothing else with which to divert the attention of the public,” he said. “They choose things that have no relevance for the life of the country. Such a system inevitably starts to eat itself. It’s organized in such a way that it can’t function without hysteria. Its foundation starts to fall apart because of them blowing hot and cold and starting to look for enemies where there have never been any enemies at all.” Many videos and reports documented manipulations concerning votes in favor of United Russia by members of election commissions, including an incident in which the head of a commission in St. Petersburg ran away with a plastic bag full of ballots. “It was a madhouse, they were sure of their impunity; perhaps it was because they were convinced that they would go unpunished for it that they went to extreme measures. There are very many school teachers and school directors among them; it’s incredible that these people will continue to teach children after that. It’s completely immoral.” Speaking at the St. Petersburg rally, Moscow music journalist and promoter Artyom Troitsky called on rock musicians, specifically Akvarium’s Boris Grebenshchikov and Leningrad’s Sergei Shnurov, to speak out against the electoral fraud. Both were absent from the rally. “There are more and more people who understand what’s going on [among rock musicians] — even among those who were praising Putin three years ago. I know this from inside sources,” Borzykin said. “Perhaps soon we’ll hear whole albums of protest from those who even recently pledged eternal love to Putin and his system. It’s very amusing that it’s happening, and it’s good, even if it’s difficult to believe in the sincerity of such an outburst.” Borzykin is filled with enthusiasm about ordinary people who are not involved in politics coming to protest both in Moscow and St. Petersburg. “People feel that they steal from us and insult us at the same time — this combination provoked indignation, even esthetically,” he said. “For instance, there were some bank clerks at the rally who were very afraid. My friend even spoke to them. They were afraid of being noticed because they would be fired instantly, even though they were from a small private bank. They said, ‘We are not against United Russia, we are only for fair elections.’ Plenty of new faces have emerged. There were young students who came to express their indignation at being treated like this. There were representatives of every social group present, it’s very symptomatic.” According to Borzykin, the rallies held across Russia on Saturday showed that nonpartisan protest is becoming dominant. “You don’t have to belong to a political organization to bring the authorities down a peg or two,” he said. “When anarchists stand next to nationalists and shout ‘Putin is a thief’ all together, this is absolutely the right situation for now.” Borzykin said that he boycotted the national State Duma elections but voted for the Yabloko Democratic Party in the local elections. Borzykin, one of the few Russian rock musicians who has been active in opposing the Kremlin since Putin came to power, said Saturday’s rallies gave him new hope. “It was a very inspirational day for me, I found a new source of hope and felt a new burst of energy,” he said. “I didn’t feel that society would be roused so quickly. The sacred treatment of Putin and his entire crew is no longer possible. I think there’s no turning back.” TITLE: the word’s worth: How To Deal With Riot Cops AUTHOR: By Michele A. Berdy TEXT: Âñåãî äîáðîãî: All the best A non-Russian friend happened to visit during one of the demonstrations this week. This misfortune made him realize two things. First, it’s really scary to walk out of an apartment building smack into a division of cops armed to the teeth and in full riot gear. And second: This communication event is not covered adequately in Russian textbooks. Çäðàâñòâóéòå! Êàê âû ïîæèâàåòå? (Hello! How are you?) really doesn’t cut it. If you find yourself in the seriously wrong place at the definitely wrong time, here is a short cultural and linguistic guide to making it home safe and sound. 1. Âåæëèâîñòü, âåæëèâîñòü è åù¸ ðàç âåæëèâîñòü! (Be polite no matter what!) Take your hands out of your pockets. Stop fiddling with your cell phone. When addressed, use the âû form (polite form) in your response even if asked, “Êàêîãî õðåíà çäåñü äåëàåøü?” (What the hell are you up to?) 2. Remember: Ëåñòü íå áûâàåò ãðóáîé (flattery will get you everywhere; literally. “flattery is never too obvious”). Address everyone in uniform as Ãîñïîäèí Ïîëêîâíèê! (Mr. Colonel!) even if he’s a pimply kid just out of grade school. 3. Explain why you are there in simple phrases that are easy to say and understand. ß òóò æèâó (I live here). ß èäó íà ðàáîòó (I’m going to work). ß ïðîñòî ø¸ë ê ìåòðî (I was just heading to the metro station). 4. It’s not advisable to immediately identify yourself as a foreigner and demand to see a consular officer. That suggests you are up to no good. When asked, say with an exaggerated accent: ß — ñòóäåíò (I’m a student). ß – àìåðèêàíñêèé /àíãëèéñêèé ñîòðóäíèê ìåæäóíàðîäíîé îðãàíèçàöèè (I’m an American /English employee of an international organization). 5. If you are hauled off to the police buses before you have a chance to utter a word, íå ñîïðîòèâëÿéñÿ (Don’t resist). They don’t like that. 6. Just in case, bone/polish up on the Russian for various body parts and organs so that you can say — politely — Íå ïèíàéòå ïî ïî÷êàì, ïîæàëóéñòà! (Please don’t kick my kidneys!) 7. At the precinct, state one sentence clearly, calmly and repeatedly: ß íè÷åãî íå ñêàæó èëè ïîäïèøó áåç êîíñóëà ìîåãî ïîñîëüñòâà (I won’t say or sign anything without a consular officer from my embassy). With that simple phrase, you have just become a major headache for the police. At this point, they are likely to ask: Åñòü ó âàñ ïðåòåíçèè ê íàì? (Do you have any complaints about your treatment?) Your answer is: Íåò! (No!) Then you shake the man’s hand and say: Âñåãî äîáðîãî! (Have a nice day!) Michele A. Berdy, a Moscow-based translator and interpreter, is author of “The Russian Word’s Worth (Glas), a collection of her columns. TITLE: THE DISH: Traiton Beach AUTHOR: By Elizabeth Rattey PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: A day at the beach At first glance — and second for that matter — Traiton Beach looks very much closed, to the shock and dismay of any hungry would-be diner. But turning the corner and straying away from the Fontanka embankment where the restaurant windows are completely closed either by full-length metal shutters or banners announcing its opening in October, Traiton Beach’s main entrance is very much open and the kitchen up and running. The restaurant’s décor and atmosphere is true to the beach and resort theme — so much so that the entryway with fluffy white robes lying on a bench next to an area where you can see a swimming pool below makes you think you’ve signed up for a day at the spa, not lunch. The pool and robes are for guests if they so desire to get out of their street clothes and relax, or even take a dip. The restaurant itself consists of several rooms all simply decorated and with a neutral color scheme reminiscent of the beach. There is no natural light, as screensaver-like images of the beach completely cover the windows. The air-conditioning is also quite strong, but functions as a sea-like breeze ruffling through the leaves of the green plants that stand throughout the dining room. Guests have the choice of sitting on black and beige couches — which are not so comfortable for eating at, but great for sitting back and smoking hookah (between 600 and 1,400 rubles, $19-44) or snuggling — or wooden chairs for those more concerned with their posture, as well as private booths big enough to seat a large party and that can be made even more private by closing the curtains. Although the restaurant was almost completely empty — it was, after all, a Monday afternoon — it still felt busy and alive, perhaps due to the lounge music pumping in the background, of the kind usually found in the chill-out room of a club. The substantial menu includes Russian classics such as solyanka soup and cutlets, as well as various fish dishes (400-800 rubles, $12.60-25.20) and a large sushi selection, with the average roll costing around 300 rubles ($9.50). There are also various European, Mediterranean and Thai dishes. Traiton Beach also offers a business lunch deal (strictly Russian dishes) for 290 rubles ($9). Homemade deliciously crispy bread was brought out with balls of garlic herb butter and a refreshing smoked salmon hors d’oeuvre with lemon — both complimentary. Starters ordered were chebureki — three thin pastries filled with ground lamb and deep-fried — for 200 rubles ($6.30) and maybe a little too greasy, even for a fried dish, and a refreshing ripe tomato and mozzarella salad with thinly sliced red onion and basil sauce (450 rubles, $14), beautifully garnished with fresh basil and capers. After a complimentary palette cleanser of grape sorbet came the entrees. Grilled tuna was cooked to an ideal medium-rare and served with what was seemingly some type of cheese sauce with onion and creamy potatoes au gratin (650 rubles, $20.50). The only complaint was the lack of a fresh vegetable — maybe even just a tomato or two — to offset the heaviness of the dish. The half an herb-roasted chicken with potato wedges (400 rubles, $12.60) was incredibly moist and the wedges artfully seasoned with garlic and salt. Halved cherry tomatoes complimented the sweet yet vinegary sauce. All portions throughout the meal were generous to say the least, and by the end were left unfinished in efforts to avoid a food coma. Considering the impressive food, presentation and option to go swimming and lounge around in a robe, the prices are very reasonable, but with alcohol could be very damaging, with bottles of wine ranging from 1,200 to 7,900 rubles ($38-250). Service was friendly and prompt and the server proved knowledgeable about the menu and attentive but not overbearing. The restaurant seems aimed at those who like to frequent swanky beach bars, or perhaps simply anyone trying to escape St. Petersburg’s often dreary weather and eat some good food on the beach without having to deal with all those pesky seagulls and sand. TITLE: Entrepreneur Attracts Tourists With Travel Magazine AUTHOR: By Galina Stolyarova PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: It was a chance meeting in France that led 23-year-old Petersburger Yana Nelaton to begin a new life in the Caribbean island paradise of St. Barth. “I was studying at St. Petersburg State University, and my mother and I were visiting Paris. The receptionist at the hotel didn’t speak English. A man came over to help us — my future husband — and that’s how we met. A year later I moved to St. Barth to be with him.” The move also brought a new career: Nelaton is now the editor and owner of Unique St. Barth, a magazine aimed at the well-heeled and wealthy Russians that have become frequent guests on the island, which is famed for attracting oligarchs and celebrities with its exclusivity, beaches and top-notch social scene. With an area of just 21 square kilometers and a population of around 9,000, St. Barth, or Saint-Barthelemy to give it its full name, has been dubbed by Vanity Fair as America’s “St. Tropez without the jet lag” — an island of luxury hotels and villas and a place for the mega-wealthy, such as Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, to moor up their super-yachts during the party season, which is about to begin. Russian oligarchs have played a key part in developing that reputation, with billionaire and would-be presidential candidate Mikhail Prokhorov alleged to have “opened up” the island to the Russian market, and Roman Abramovich having begun a tradition of throwing lavish New Year parties by his villa on Gouverneur Beach (acts at previous events have included Prince, Beyonce, Gwen Stefani and Black Eyed Peas). “There are more and more Russians coming here every year,” says Nelaton, who now permanently resides on the island. “After Abramovich bought land on Gouverneur Beach in 2009 there was a big jump, with about 400 people coming for the New Year’s celebrations that year — that’s not including those who came on private planes or by yacht. In the following year, that figure had already gone up to 1,000 from Russia, according to the numbers of the St. Barthelemy tourist office.” Nelaton believes that the island still has a long way to go in attracting Russian guests, however, and her launch of a magazine for Russian readers should go a long way to achieving that. “There is still a great deal to be done. My husband’s business was already focused on providing services to Russians, and it just seemed obvious to me that creating a magazine would provide the right information to potential clients on that market.” Nelaton’s husband Jean Luc, originally from Provence in France, immediately took to St. Barth while visiting as a tourist, even buying a car-rental business on the very first day that he arrived on the island. Seeing that increasing numbers of Russians were traveling to the island, he opened a travel agency providing full concierge services to its clients, specifically aimed at the Russian market. When Yana joined him on the island, she began working with her husband at the agency, which operates a round-the-clock service on the island as well as an office in Moscow. “We give clients everything they need on the island: We arrange a villa rental or hotel booking for them, we do their shopping, we do all the little details, right down to turning cars round in the car park so that they’re pointing the right way in the morning when they want to drive off,” says Yana Nelaton. “A lot of people think that the service is all about answering all manner of glamorous requests, like iced champagne on the beach at 3 a.m. We do get requests like that, but many of our guests from Russia are families with children, and the requests that we get are a lot more down-to-earth: Organizing beach trips for the kids, getting them involved in sports and so on.” While working on the island, Nelaton studied as an external student at St. Petersburg State University, graduating as a public relations specialist in 2011. Launching a magazine devoted to the island seemed a natural development, combining her studies and her work on St. Barth, Nelaton says. The second issue of Unique St. Barth was published in early September, featuring a range of articles on what the island has to offer, and interviews with regular visitors, such as perennial “it-girl” Ksenia Sobchak. “Originally, I just wanted to do a brochure about the hotels and villas on the island, but I quickly realized that a magazine would have much more to offer,” Nelaton says. “There are no sales taxes on St. Barth, so the island has a lot of luxury boutiques and stores featuring global brands — they make up the bulk of our advertisers. Those advertisers, in turn, know that we’re getting our magazine to people in Russia who are likely to visit, and are likely to spend when they arrive — half of the copies are distributed in Moscow in mid-November just before the season begins.” Ruslan Chernobayev, publisher of Unique St. Barth and owner of Fine Street, one of the five biggest publishing houses in St. Petersburg, believes that despite the fact that the magazine is Nelaton’s first project and was created while she was still studying at university, she has already traversed a sharp learning curve, and the magazine has good prospects for the future. “We’ve published magazines in the tourist segment before,” says Chernobayev, “but this has been different. Yana has put together an excellent team and she has a lot of energy and faith in her own abilities — that’s what’s made the magazine a success. She’s thought through the content on every single page, and for a publisher that’s an ideal situation.” TITLE: ‘Russian’ Writer Born in U.S. Shares Thoughts on Russian Readers AUTHOR: By Michele A. Berdy PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times TEXT: MOSCOW — On most days, author Michael Cunningham sits in his studio in lower Manhattan and writes. On a good day, he says he writes several pages; on a bad day, he forces himself to write at least one sentence. Fortunately for his readers, most of his days go well. He has written six novels, including “The Hours,” which in 1999 was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Literature and the PEN/Faulkner Award, a book about Provincetown, Massachusetts, and several screenplays. Although he has traveled widely, he had never been to Moscow. That changed in late November, when he was invited by the U.S. State Department’s Speaker Program and Corpus Books, the publisher of his works in Russian, including his most recent novel, “By Nightfall.” He had a packed program of meetings with his Russian readers, but still found time to visit with an old friend, St. Petersburg Times columnist Michele A. Berdy, to talk about the duties of a novelist, the uniqueness of Russian readers, and his surprisingly controversial private life. Q: How did you imagine Moscow before you came here? A: The current American idea about Moscow is that it is some hybrid of Tokyo and the Wild West, that it is incredibly prosperous and has as many Pradas as we have delicatessens in New York City, and that gangsters are driving their Mercedes on the sidewalks, shooting at random pedestrians. Q: When your friends in the U.S. ask you about Moscow, what are you going to tell them? A: That the vitality of the city is palpable even from a moving cab. That it is inspired and chaotic and full of energy. It’s full of greed and life and fear and all the qualities that animate the great cities: New York, Tokyo, maybe Berlin, London. There is a fabulous combination of hope and discouragement and incredible materialism. Food, beautiful clothes, beautiful stuff. Will it end tomorrow? Maybe, so we better grab it while we can. I’ve been staying at the Ritz-Carlton, which is full of more men in suits who are clearly doing some kind of damage to the world than in any other place I’ve been. … I’m not so drawn to the more benign places in the world. I like Zurich and Copenhagen. But I prefer a place like Moscow where there is so much going on. There are so many schemes and plans and old women hobbling along looking for change dropped on the sidewalk alongside 25-year-old women wearing — on a Sunday afternoon — $25,000 worth of clothes. Q: Your works are informed by much-loved British and American writers and set in specific time periods in America, and yet you have passionate Russian readers. How and why do your novels work in Russia? A: What I do is more emotional, more earnest, more psychological than a lot of what is fashionable in America right now. A lot of American books are wry and ironic and satirical. It’s something that I get criticized for in America, but it seems that that’s a quality that works very well for Russian readers. I may be a Russian writer born accidentally in America. Q: What questions have Russian readers asked you? A: Russians ask questions unlike questions I have encountered anywhere else. One man asked me, “What is the meaning of life?” No one has ever asked me that question before. A woman asked me, “What are your dreams?” I started to talk about my aspirations. She said, “No, I want to know what you dream about at night” — which seemed a very personal question in a room with 150 other people. Russians want to pose the big questions. Q: Was your homosexuality an issue here in a way that it wasn’t in other places? A: I really hadn’t been in a country that is still so fixated on the gay question. In most places, including in the U.S., it’s agreed that the rights of gay people are a given. I’m not even talked about as a “gay writer.” I’m considered a writer who is gay and white and American and tall with brown eyes and flat feet — this is all part of what I bring to my view of the world, which is reflected in my novels. One of the duties of the novelist is to try to see the world, on the one hand, in toto, and on the other hand, to bring to that world what the world may have shown you because you are black, because you are a woman, or because you are gay. For quite some time the gay thing has been a non-issue. I can’t think of the last time a journalist or a member of the audience in another country wanted to know about the gay stuff. But it has not failed to come up in any conversation in Russia. I mean no offense to the Russian people when I say that I am a little bit mystified that a country this advanced, a country of such sophistication, and such high culture and such high thought is still struggling with the question of whether or not gay people are sort of strange and icky and unsuitable to be presented in society. Q: Did you have the sense that there were people in the audience who were thinking, “Thank God someone is saying this”? A: People actually said that to me: “Thank God you are saying this.” On a television show I talked openly about being gay and expressed my hope that people who hate gay people can find a way to stop hating gay people — not just for the sake of gay people, but for their own sake. I cannot imagine that it’s good for anybody to sit in a parlor thinking: I hate people who are unlike me. People have expressed to me what felt like undue appreciation for what felt to me like a perfectly simple and obvious statement. Q: Do you want to come back? A: I would come back to Russia tomorrow.