SOURCE: The St. Petersburg Times
DATE: Issue #1717 (28), Wednesday, July 11, 2012
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TITLE: City’s Gay Pride Demonstration Derailed by Arrests
AUTHOR: By Sergey Chernov
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: The St. Petersburg authorities thwarted an attempted St. Petersburg Gay Pride rally Saturday, arresting the two organizers who came to Polyustrovsky park in the city’s northwest. The arrests came despite previous appeals to the authorities to allow the rally to go ahead, including a statement from Amnesty International. Four others were detained later the same day during a series of one-man protests near City Hall.
On July 3, City Hall granted a permit for the march and rally to be held in the remote park, which is located more than five kilometers from the nearest metro stations, after rejecting the sites and routes in the center proposed by the organizers, but banned the event two days later and had the organizers charged under the notorious local “gay propaganda” law.
During a press conference Friday, the organizers said they saw the revocation of the authorization as illegal, because the law on public assemblies does not contain any concept of revocation of previously granted authorization. They said they would act according to the previously given permit, while ignoring the revocation.
The two organizers, Yury Gavrikov and Maria Yefremenkova, were arrested and dragged or carried, respectively, to a police van in a demonstratively rough way soon after arriving at the park, while Gavrikov was talking about the permit withdrawal and showing City Hall’s letters to the press, and Yefremenkova was taking out a placard. An anti-gay opponent who grabbed the poster and attempted to run away with it was also detained.
Initially, the organizers had hoped to draw 300 to 400 in the event of an authorized rally, but only a handful of sympathizers showed up at the banned event. A group of young men who had seemingly come to the site with the aim of attacking the protesters was also seen.
The arrests were made 15 minutes before noon, the rally’s scheduled start time. The press and onlookers started to disperse soon after, but police reportedly continued to patrol the park until late.
Amnesty International condemned the ban Friday, demanding that the St. Petersburg government let the rally go ahead as planned, but the international organization was ignored by City Hall.
“This is a moment of truth for the St. Petersburg city authorities: By allowing this weekend’s Pride to go ahead peacefully, they have a chance to show that they do respect human rights, including the right to peaceful assembly, and that they do not discriminate against any members of society,” said Sergei Nikitin, director of the Moscow office of Amnesty International, in a statement.
In an unprecedented move, City Hall withdrew the event’s permit when two of the six organizers, Yury Gavrikov and Sergei Volkov, arrived at City Hall upon being invited there Thursday. City Hall’s Law, Order and Security Committee chair Leonid Bogdanov accused the activists of misinforming the authorities about the nature of the event.  
“We didn’t authorize any parade; we have only one parade — the Victory Day one — and we won’t allow any parodies in our city, that’s what the overall gist of his words was,” Gavrikov said. To the objections that the word “parade” had been used by the press, rather than the organizers, Gavrikov and Volkov were told that they were obliged to “meter out” information they give to the media and control what is published.
According to City Hall, the organizers applied for a public assembly to “draw society and authorities’ attention to violations of civic rights toward [LGBT people].”
“However, according to media reports, the organizers are planning to hold the third St. Petersburg Gay Pride (Parade) on July 7,” the cancellation letter given to the activists by Bogdanov said.
“The given information is perceived by St. Petersburg residents as information directed toward the promotion of sodomy, lesbianism, bisexuality and transgenderism among people including minors, which has been confirmed by complaints to branches of St. Petersburg’s executive authorities and law-enforcement agencies.”
Bogdanov also wrote that “holding a public assembly in the form of a gay pride event is not provided for by the law and was not applied for” by the organizers, who were only authorized to hold a march and a stationary rally.
Gavrikov said that after he and Volkov were given the official rejection letter, police officers started writing reports charging the two activists with violating the law forbidding the “promotion of sodomy, lesbianism, bisexuality and transgenderism to minors.” 
According to Gavrikov, his police report read that he “organized the public distribution of information on the Internet, particularly on the Gayrussia website and in the July 5 issues of newspapers Metro and Nevskoye Vremya, thus damaging the health, moral and spiritual development of minors, with the aim of forming distorted views about the social equality of traditional and non-traditional marital relationships.”
Under the law, the two men face 5,000-ruble ($152) fines.
Legislative Assembly United Russia deputy Vitaly Milonov, who initiated the law banning the “promotion of sodomy, lesbianism, bi-sexuality and transgenderism,” thanked City Governor Georgy Poltavchenko for banning what he called a “gay orgy.” 
“St. Petersburg is a sodomite-free city,” he wrote on Twitter.
Former boxer and United Russia State Duma deputy Nikolai Valuyev applauded the disruption of the rally.
“The triumph of Sodom and Gomorrah in my home city of St. Petersburg did not happen! And I am very happy about that!” Valuyev tweeted Saturday.
Moscow Gay Pride founder Nikolai Alexeyev said last week that he would come to St. Petersburg with a group of Moscow activists to take part in the rally, whether it was sanctioned or not, but eventually refrained from taking part.
According to his postings on Twitter, Alexeyev disagreed with the organizers’ decision to go to Polyustrovsky park, as initially told to by City Hall, rather than holding an unauthorized rally in the city center as in the past two years.
Earlier, annual gay pride events, which were refused permits by the authorities outright, were held at popular tourist spots in the center, near the Hermitage on Palace Square in 2010 and near the Bronze Horseman on Senatskaya Ploshchad in 2011.
Instead, Alexeyev invited the press to City Hall, where a series of one-man protests were held later in the day.
Activists who came from Moscow and other Russian cities started to arrive at City Hall from 2 p.m., protesting the ban. One said he learned about City Hall withdrawing its permit while he was on a train midway from Voronezh, a city located more than 1,200 kilometers from St. Petersburg. 
“I spent my own money to come to an authorized gay pride rally,” he said.
The police arrested three activists, two of whom had rainbow flags and one who had a rainbow painted on his placard reading “We won’t be driven underground anymore,” as well as one young woman as she was giving interviews to journalists. Two other activists who had posters with no rainbow symbols were allowed to leave the scene without being detained.
No reason for the detentions was given. Neither City Hall official Nikolai Strumentov nor a senior police officer present at the site would comment on the arrests.
Gavrikov and Yefremenkova were released Saturday evening, while Alexander Khots, Vasily Volkonsky, Ilmira Shakhraznova and Kirill Kalugin, who were arrested near City Hall, were held in a police precinct for 48 hours until Monday.
All those detained were charged with violating the law on public assemblies and failure to obey police officers’ orders. No charges under the “gay propaganda” law were pressed. The activists’ cases will be heard at their respective local courts.
Last month, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe called on Russia to explain how the country intended to uphold its obligations under human rights law after the adoption of “anti-gay-propaganda” laws in several regions of the country.
Earlier, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the bans on gay pride rallies in Moscow in 2006, 2007 and 2008 were illegal and ordered Russia to pay 29,510 euros ($41,090 at the then exchange rate) for damages and legal costs to Nikolayev in October 2010.
The court ruled that Russia had breached three articles of the European Convention, including the right to freedom of assembly (Article 11), the right to effective legal remedy (Article 13) and the ban on discrimination (Article 14). Russia’s appeal was rejected and the decision came into force in April 2011.

TITLE: Russia’s Representative at UNESCO Slammed By Activists
AUTHOR: By Galina Stolyarova
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: Incompetence and over-compromising were some of the tougher accusations faced by Eleonora Mitrofanova, chairwoman of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee and Russia’s permanent representative in UNESCO, from local historical heritage protection groups as UNESCO’s 36th session came to an end in the city on July 6.
Speaking at the Green Lamp press club earlier this week, Alexander Margolis, co-chairman of the St. Petersburg branch of the Russian Association for the Protection of Monuments (VOOPIK), spoke with frustration about the outcome of the UNESCO discussion, during which the participants skillfully navigated away from sensitive issues such as much-criticized rampant construction patterns in the historical center of St. Petersburg and rejected a new nomination among Russia’s kremlins for the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Local pressure groups had hoped to interest UNESCO experts in looking into the construction of Lakhta Center, the new planned local headquarters for Gazprom that has replaced the controversial Okhta Center project. However, Mitrofanova, who served as the session’s chairperson, avoided delving into the subject on the grounds that Lakhta Center will be located outside the historical center of the city and is therefore not under UNESCO’s jurisdiction.
Similarly, no debate took place concerning the current state of the historical center of St. Petersburg and the potential damage that planned construction projects would cause. The city’s heritage protection activists failed to get the organization’s experts to comment on the situation or examine the lengthy list of historic buildings that have been demolished since former city governor Valentina Matviyenko took office in 2003 and adopted investor-friendly construction policies that resulted in a loss of crumbling historical mansions that the city had neither the resources nor political will to restore.
Mitrofanova distanced herself from the discussion and opted out of a unified approach to the situation, saying that such issues have to be examined on a “case by case” basis and pointing out that not every building located in the historical center has a cultural significance.
“At least Eleonora Mitrofanova was honest enough to admit that she does not really know the city of St. Petersburg,” said Margolis.
Nor did the pressure groups manage to persuade Mitrofanova or any of her counterparts to offer a comment on the recent restoration of the Summer Gardens, which were this spring restored to their historic splendor as conceived in the original plan in the era of Peter the Great. The restoration caused something of a scandal, with a number of local experts criticizing the restoration concept as kitsch and accusing the plan’s ideologists of making the gardens claustrophobic and cluttering them with fake sculptures.
During the course of the session, the delegates had planned to discuss Russia’s report on fulfilling UNESCO’s recommendations regarding the preservation of the historical center of St. Petersburg, which is under the organization’s jurisdiction. Critics say a coherent legal framework that would ensure that the country adheres to UNESCO’s principles of protecting historical heritage sites is lacking in Russia. The report’s review has now been moved to 2014 because the Russian side has failed to finalize it.
No reaction followed an appeal sent to the session by participants of an international forum of non-governmental organizations on the preservation of world heritage sites that was held in St. Petersburg from June 22-24. In the appeal, the delegates drew UNESCO’s attention to Russia’s industrial policies, which threaten dozens of world heritage sites across the country, from the Virgin Komi Forests to Lake Baikal and the Kamchatka Peninsula.
Although Lake Baikal, where the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill continues to operate and dump industrial waste into the waters and where a metals mining facility is planned to be launched, and the Virgin Komi Forests, where a large open-cast gold mine is being planned and illegal logging is rampant, did make it onto the conference’s agenda, the delegates decided against including these sites on the list of endangered areas.
While Margolis branded UNESCO’s attitude as sabotage, Mitrofanova accused local activists of exerting pressure on the organization and using strong language that sends a shock to the international community. She argued that it was not up to UNESCO to dictate to local governments what to do and force its opinion on them. 
After two weeks’ work, UNESCO has reviewed more than 35 proposals of cultural and natural landscape sites nominated for inclusion on the organization’s World Heritage List. 
The proposals included, among others, Lena Pillars nature reserve (Russia), Western Ghats mountains (India), Lakes of Ounianga (Chad), Mediterranean landscapes in Plasencia-Monfrague-Trujillo (Spain), the Margravial Opera House in Bayreuth (Germany), and archeological monuments in Al Zubara (Qatar).

TITLE: Volunteers Open Flood Aid Points
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: Points for gathering humanitarian aid for those who have suffered during the devastating floods in the Krasnodar region opened in St. Petersburg on Monday. 
People can bring new everyday objects, clothes, bedding, toiletries and children’s goods to the social services centers of the city’s districts. Citizens willing to help can also arrange for their donations to be collected, by phoning 370 4407, City Hall said.
Local volunteers have also organized the gathering of humanitarian aid at 20 Dvortsovaya Naberezhnaya and 31 Liteiny Prospekt (entrance from the courtyards). The collection points are open from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. The lists of items needed includes electrical goods such as generators, batteries, canned and instant food, canned baby food and various medicines.

TITLE: Udaltsov and Journalists Arrested at Rally
AUTHOR: By Sergey Chernov
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: The authorities arrested national protest leader Sergei Udaltsov and dozens of other people in St. Petersburg on Sunday as anti-Putin protesters gathered to take part in an authorized Farewell to White Nights rally. Two journalists were arrested and charged with “organizing a march.”
About 100 people, including reporters, turned up at around 7 p.m. Sunday at a site near the Oktyabrsky Concert Hall that was initially advertized as the starting point for the march, but was later rejected by City Hall. 
“We applied for a march and stationary rally along the route that we walked along during rallies in the winter, spring and summer, which was a march from Oktyabrsky via Ulitsa Zhukovskogo and then a rally on Konyushennaya Ploshchad,” local activist Olga Kurnosova said this week.
“They [City Hall] rejected the march and authorized only a rally on the Field of Mars, instead of Konyushennaya Ploshchad. Because we’d distributed quite a lot of information about the march starting from Oktyabrsky, of course I didn’t have any choice other than to go to the concert hall to tell people that they should go to the Field of Mars.”
The Left Front’s leader Udaltsov, who came from Moscow to take part in the rally, and Kurnosova were planning to tell people to walk to the Field of Mars where an authorized stationary rally “For Political Reform, Against Repressions” was due to be held, Kurnosova said this week. 
But when Udaltsov started answering questions from reporters and Kurnosova made an announcement, the large group of people that they were standing with was quickly surrounded by OMON special task police. About 15 of the people inside the encircled group — including Udaltsov and Kurnosova — were arrested, put on a police bus and taken to a police precinct.
Reporters Ivan Skirtach of ITAR-TASS news agency and Sergei Kovalchenko of RBK Daily newspaper were detained and charged with failure to obey a police officer’s orders, an offense punishable by up to 15 days in prison, Interfax reported.
The organizers had hoped that the police would not make arrests near Oktyabrsky Concert Hall because of a previous agreement that people would be allowed to walk to the site of the rally and due to the planned presence of two State Duma deputies, Dmitry Gudkov and Ilya Ponomaryov of the Just Russia party, Kurnosova said.
Deputies have the right to meet with voters anywhere, without any authorization.
But Gudkov broke his leg playing football shortly before the event and failed to come to St. Petersburg, while Ponomaryov changed his plans and flew to Krymsk to help deal with the consequences of the devastating flood suffered by the Krasnodar region at the weekend.
“But when we talked to the police, we were told that the presence of the deputies doesn’t change anything and they would detain everybody anyway,” Kurnosova said.
“During a prior meeting with the police, it was agreed that we would be given a chance to announce that the rally would be held on the Field of Mars, but apparently they were given different orders afterwards. Having observed police tricks for years, I can tell for sure that of course they were planning to detain Udaltsov and me all along.”
According to Kurnosova, about another 40 people were arrested when they came to police precinct No. 2, where Udaltsov and the others were being held, after the rally, which passed without incident.
“We’ll see how it stands up in court with the new law [on holding public assemblies],” Kurnosova said. “We are accused of holding a march, but there was no march, no political paraphernalia. If we have no flags or placards and aren’t shouting anything, it can’t be called a march. But here they are attempting to charge people who simply took a few steps toward a pedestrian crossing with holding a ‘march.’”
The police said a total of 33 people were detained. In a statement Sunday, the police said that 13 of them had been detained for attempting to “organize an unsanctioned event” near Oktyabrsky Concert Hall, while 20 were detained near police precinct No. 2 for “not reacting” to police orders to disperse. Kurnosova said this week that about 55 people had been detained.
Those detained were mainly charged with violating the rules on holding public assemblies and disobeying police orders. Many were held at police precincts until Tuesday.

TITLE: IN BRIEF
TEXT: <b>Moms Get Older</b>
ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — Demographic analysts have registered an increase in the average age among women giving birth to their first child, Interfax reported.
The average age of a woman giving birth for the first time in 1999 was 22 years old, while today the average age is 28. There are also more women now giving birth in the so-called “post-reproductive age” up to 49 years old, Alexander Rzhanenkov, head of the city’s Social Policy Committee, said Tuesday.
The birth rate in the city is currently 1.3 times higher than in 1999. Last year, at least 56,900 children were born in St. Petersburg. Ten percent of babies born last year in the city were born to families of foreign migrant workers, accounting for 5,100 children.
Rzhanenkov said experts also registered worse conditions of health in every new generation compared to the previous one.
“The demographic situation is characterized by an increase in the mother’s age, a high birth rate in non-officially registered families, growth of children in migrant families and high death rate of the working-age male population,” Rzhanenkov was cited as saying by Interfax.

<b>American Addition</b>
ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — American Ballet Theater star Marcelo Gomes is to become a guest principal dancer at the city’s Mikhailovsky Theater, the theater announced this week.
Gomes will perform the main role in classical ballets as well as dance in new productions.
The dancer will make his debut on the Mikhailovsky’s stage on the first day of the new season on Sept. 14, when Gomes and Polina Semyonova will dance the main parts in “Giselle.”
“For me, being a native of Brazil who was trained in Paris and the United States, it’s a tremendous honor to be a part of a theater like the Mikhailovsky, which preserves and develops the Russian classical ballet tradition so excellently,” Gomes said.

<b>Anti-WTO Picket</b>
ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — Activists opposing Russia’s entry into the WTO picketed the building of the city’s Constitutional Court on Monday.
“Stop WTO!” and “We’re against WTO,” were some of the slogans on placards displayed.
The court on Monday announced that the protocol on Russia’s entry into the organization had been signed without violating the country’s laws.
“The protocol was signed and approved in a way that doesn’t contradict the state’s constitutional basis,” the ruling said.
State Duma deputies had earlier protested that the protocol did not correspond to the Russian constitution.
The protocol on Russia’s entry into the WTO was signed on Dec. 16, 2011. According to the federal law on international agreements, the document must be ratified. Under the conditions of entry into the WTO, the procedure must be completed by July 23 this year, after which Russia will become a member of the organization.

TITLE: Ministry Acknowledges Flood Mistakes
AUTHOR: By Alexander Bratersky
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: MOSCOW — The Emergency Situations Ministry acknowledged Monday that Krasnodar region residents had not been properly warned of impending flooding and blamed regional authorities, signaling that senior officials would not be faulted for the weekend disaster that killed at least 171 people.
Keeping the blame local, Krasnodar Governor Alexander Tkachyov put the mayor of Krymsk and the head of the Krymsk district, the two areas worst-hit by the flooding, on administrative leave, and federal investigators searched the offices of a local water company in connection with widespread suspicions that a failure at a reservoir it operates had caused the flooding.
Emergency Situations Minister Vladimir Puchkov told a government meeting that a new system would be created to warn people about pending natural disasters after the Krasnodar flooding amid heavy rainfall early Saturday laid bare the flaws of the current system.
“A system to warn the residents was set up,” Puchkov said in televised remarks. “But, unfortunately, not everyone was warned early enough. Mistakes were allowed by local leaders and various services. Not all the population was warned in time.”
The ministry has said that a flood warning was sent to Krasnodar cell phones, but many residents denied receiving the text message. During Soviet times, residents were alerted by warning systems installed in every house, but the system is now obsolete, even though many people continue to pay for it. 
The flooding poses a challenge for the Emergency Situations Ministry after the recent departure of its longtime and charismatic leader, Sergei Shoigu. It is also the first national disaster for President Vladimir Putin after his return to the Kremlin two months ago.
Putin ordered the Emergency Situations Ministry and the Investigative Committee to report to him by Sunday on what had caused the flooding and how the aftermath was handled.
Investigative Committee officials on Monday searched the offices of Yugvodokanal, which is responsible for pumping water from the Neberdzhayevskoye reservoir in the Krasnodar region. Spokesman Vladimir Markin said company managers were also questioned in connection with the tragedy.
Yugvodokanal is controlled by the Yevraziisky Bank, chaired by Stanislav Svetlitsky, who served as a deputy energy minister from 2008 to 2010.
Svetlitsky’s name surfaced in March when he and Anatoly Ballo, a Vneshekonombank deputy chairman, were investigated by the Interior Ministry in connection with the possible embezzlement of a $14 million loan allocated to purchase Yugvodokanal four years ago. The investigation remains ongoing.
Yevraziisky Bank representatives were unavailable to comment Monday, but the bank denied in a statement on its website that the reservoir had caused the tragedy. 
An anonymous Yugvodokanal engineer told LifeNews.ru that the reservoir had not undergone repairs since being built in 1959. 
The bank statement also said the reservoir only flooded its banks hours after the town of Krymsk was already deep in water.
A former Krasnodar governor said he doubted that human error had caused the flooding. “Any attempt to hold a person responsible is absolutely wrong because you can’t predict a disaster like this,” Nikolai Kondratenko, now a Federation Council senator, said by phone. 
But ordinary people and bloggers have been quick to put the blame on the current governor, Tkachyov. The political opposition staged one-man pickets outside the Krasnodar region’s government office in Moscow on Monday, carrying signs with slogans like, “The deaths of the people are on Tkachyov’s conscience.”
Tkachyov, who said the flood was an “unexpected event,” suspended the two local officials and accused them of “an inability to work in critical situations.”
As relief efforts unfolded in Krymsk, the atmosphere remained tense amid reports of looting, and the police appealed to citizens to surrender any guns that they owned. 
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the government would allocate 3.8 billion rubles ($115.5 million) from a reserve fund to construct new housing and compensate flood victims. He said the families of those who died would each receive 1 million rubles ($30,000). 
Postal workers visited homes in Krymsk on Monday, making cash payments of $300 and promising further compensation, Reuters reported.
The flooding has mobilized people across the country to collect donations for Krasnodar residents. 
A visit to a donation point in Moscow on Monday found a room overflowing with bags of clothes, medicine and necessities.
Also, a group of Russian and Belarussian volunteers have joined forces to create an online map of Krymsk to coordinate their work in distributing aid, Interfax reported. 
Ilya Ponomaryov, a State Duma deputy with the A Just Russia party, told Ekho Moskvy radio that 100 volunteers have created a situation room in Krymsk to coordinate efforts. 
About 19,000 people lost all their belongings in the flooding, emergency officials said.
Krasnodar authorities said Tuesday that there is a desperate lack of volunteers in the region after flash flooding swept through the region over the weekend, killing more than 170 people and wrecking local infrastructure.
“Although huge forces of rescuers and equipment are concentrated here, there is an urgent need for workers. To carry out work in difficult field circumstances, it is essential to have physically strong people,” officials said in a statement on the regional administration’s website.
Regional authorities added that additional volunteer groups were soon to be sent to Krymsk, a town of 57,000 that suffered close to 150 casualties, and advised workers to take camping gear, construction tools and personal hygiene items with them.
Authorities now estimate that the flooding, the worst to hit the region in the past 70 years, killed 172 people and caused upward of 4 billion rubles ($121 million) of damage. The death toll stood at 171 people on Monday.
Alexander Kazlikin, regional emergency situations chief, denied Tuesday that authorities could have predicted such extreme water flows in Krymsk, where eyewitnesses spoke of a wall of water moving through the town center.

TITLE: Putin Calls For ‘Soft- Power’ Diplomacy
AUTHOR: By Nikolaus von Twickel
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin has called on diplomats to use more soft-power tactics to improve Russia’s “distorted” image abroad.
Speaking to the Foreign Ministry’s annual assembly of ambassadors on Monday, Putin said that envoys should add new technologies, “so-called ‘soft powers’” to their traditional work methods.
He argued that the country’s image was lopsided — not because of the government’s actions but because of its failure to communicate them correctly.
“So far, we must admit that Russia’s image abroad is by and large not being formed by us. For that reason, it is distorted and does not reflect the real situation in the country and its contribution to global civilization, science and culture,” he said, according to a transcript on the Kremlin’s website.
In an apparent jab at Western policies toward Syria and Libya, Putin argued that Moscow was losing the public relations battle by advocating restraint.
“Those who constantly shoot and carry out missile attacks are the good guys, while those who call for dialogue are getting the blame,” he said.
Putin also knocked the U.S. Congress’ plans to enact sanctions against officials implicated in the death of Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky by saying that this was a reason to be worried.
He said that while Moscow won’t “dramatize” the debate of a bill in the middle of the U.S. presidential election campaign season, “to replace the anti-Soviet Jackson-Vanik amendment with an anti-Russian law … cannot leave us without alarm.”
Some U.S. lawmakers are calling for linking the annulment of the Cold-War-era Jackson-Vanik legislation to the passing of the Magnitsky bill.
Soft-power politics, originally coined by U.S. scholar Joseph Nye, means to project influence by means of cultural initiatives and humanitarian cooperation.
The concept has long been among Putin’s priorities. In 2005, he set up a new department in the presidential administration overseeing foreign cultural relations. The department’s mission was described at the time as increasing Moscow’s influence in the former Soviet Union.
The Kremlin has also founded state-sponsored think tanks in France and the U.S. and overseen a significant expansion of the state media’s foreign reach, including the foundation of RT, the English-language television news channel formerly known as Russia Today.
Analysts have said that Putin’s foreign policy concept, published in February, was weak on soft power, mentioning the concept only once, with regard to its use by foreign-funded NGOs.

TITLE: Bill on NGOs Questioned
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: Questions are mounting about the definition of “political activities” in a bill that aims to tighten the screws on foreign-funded NGOs after it passed its first reading in the State Duma.
The bill, which 323 of the Duma’s 450 deputies approved on Friday, would require all NGOs that receive funding from abroad and engage in “political activities” to register as “foreign agents,” a term used for Cold War spies.
“If we oppose an environment ministry initiative … or nuclear policy, is that a political activity?” said Alexander Nikitin, chairman of the Bellona environmental advocacy group.
“Of course, we are not vying for power,” Nikitin said by phone Friday. He added that foreign sponsors might discontinue their support if his group were to consider itself “political.”
Opponents maintain that vague wording in the bill would be exploited to crack down on organizations that speak out against the authorities.
If the bill becomes law, applicable NGOs would also need to display the label “foreign agent” on their website and publications, as well as publish a biannual report of their activities and an annual financial audit.
Supporters argue that “foreign agent” is not a disparaging term. In fact, it has been used by the United States to describe entities that represent the interests of foreign powers in a law dating back to 1938.
The drafters of the State Duma bill liken it to the U.S. Foreign Agent Registration Act, which obliges individuals and organizations — both non-govermental and commercial — that represent a foreign power to disclose their activities.
However, “the comparison is misleading,” said Dmitry Shabelnikov, local director of the Global Network for Public Interest Law, or PILnet. 
“The U.S. legislation regulates a very narrow group of entities acting at the order, request or under the direction of a foreign state or entity,” Shabelnikov said by phone.
Unlike the U.S. law, the Russian bill classifies NGOs as “foreign agents” for an indefinite period of time once they receive funding from any foreign source, regardless of what the foreign money is spent on.

TITLE: Russia Suspends Arms to Syria
PUBLISHER: Combined Reports
TEXT: Russia will not deliver fighter planes or other new weapons to Syria while the situation there remains unresolved, the deputy director of a body that supervises the country’s arms trade said Monday, Reuters reported. 
“While the situation in Syria is unstable, there will be no new deliveries of arms there,” Vyacheslav Dzirkaln told journalists at the Farnborough Airshow in Britain, Interfax and RIA-Novosti reported. 
A refusal to send more arms to Syria could signal the strongest move yet by Moscow to distance itself from Syrian President Bashar Assad, whom it has defended in the UN Security Council from harsher sanctions. 
It could also scuttle up to $4 billion of outstanding contracts, including fighter jets and air defense systems that were expected to be delivered this year. 
A spokesman for Dzirkaln’s Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation would not confirm the deputy director’s comments when contacted by telephone. 
Although completely legal, Russia’s arms trade with Syria has fueled concerns that Moscow is supplying Assad with weapons that are being used against protesters taking part in an armed uprising against him. 
President Vladimir Putin has said the arms that his country delivers cannot be used in civil conflicts, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said the supplies are defensive weapons sold in contracts signed long ago. 
But U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said Russian statements that the weapons are unrelated to the violence in Syria are “patently untrue” and Washington has described the delivery of a heavy Russian weapons shipment as “reprehensible.”
Dzirkaln was quoted as saying Russia, one of Syria’s main weapons suppliers, would not be delivering a shipment of 36 Yak-130 fighter planes, a contract for which was reportedly signed at the end of last year. 
“In the current situation talking about deliveries of airplanes to Syria is premature,” he said. 
Meanwhile, Putin said Monday that the Syrian government and opposition groups should be “forced” to start a dialogue. 
Also Monday, a Syrian opposition leader, Michel Kilo, met with Lavrov at the Foreign Ministry. Kilo, who heads the Democratic Forum opposition group, said that he hopes Russia will play a positive role in “finding a peaceful solution to our crisis.” 
Members of another opposition group, the Syrian National Council, are expected in Moscow for talks Wednesday.

TITLE: Court Rules Pussy Riot Suspects to Stay in Jail
AUTHOR: By Jonathan Earle
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: MOSCOW — A Moscow court has refused to free three women accused of performing an anti-Kremlin song in Christ the Savior Cathedral from pre-trial detention, dashing hopes of leniency and rebuking a growing public outcry for their release.
The court upheld the suspects’ detention until July 24, denying their appeal to be set free. Prosecutors have argued that Maria Alyokhina, 24, Yekaterina Samutsevich, 19, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, are flight risks and could commit fresh crimes if let go.
A lawyer for the women said they would continue a hunger strike they began last week after the court gave them until Monday to finish reviewing the 2,800-page court document detailing the hooliganism charges they face.
Hopes of clemency for the women had been high after another lawyer for the trio cited a source in the presidential administration as saying that they would likely be released.
“I think this was a lousy joke. There was no call apparently,” said billionaire Alexander Lebedev, who attended the hearing along with the head of his Novaya Gazeta newspaper, Dmitry Muratov.
The appearance Monday of Lebedev, Muratov and 51 others who have volunteered to guarantee that the women will appear in court if they are released appeared to lend a silver lining to an otherwise grim day for the suspects’ backers, who see the case as politically motivated.
Lebedev told reporters that the only way to correct what he described as a miscarriage of justice was to increase the public outcry for the women’s release.
“Don’t be indifferent. We have no other options at the moment. Sign a petition. You don’t have to take to the streets. … Instead of exchanging meaningless information on VKontakte, take a stand,” he said.
Over 35,000 people have signed an Internet petition calling for the women’s release.
The women’s other official guarantors include writer Lyudmila Ulitskaya and opposition leader Ilya Yashin, as well as actress Chulpan Khamatova and figure skater Yevgeny Plyushchenko, both of whom, unlike the others, supported Vladimir Putin for president.
Equally surprising was the appearance of a letter from actor and Orthodox priest Ivan Okhlobystin urging Patriarch Kirill to support the women’s release.
Heat and humidity compounded signs of emotional exhaustion among the assembled supporters, some of whom welled up with tears as they waved to the suspects, their images beamed into the courtroom via video-link.
The trio offered scathing indictments of the court proceedings, accusing justices and prosecutors of carrying out political orders.
“I believe that my continued arrest is punishment for exercising my constitutional right not to testify. … The Tagansky Court is carrying out a political order. It doesn’t listen to us and always takes the prosecution’s side,” Alyokhina told the court from a cell in another room.
Yekaterina Samutsevich’s lawyer, Violetta Volkova, said the women would not receive justice.
“I’m not at all optimistic that the court will eventually rule in the women’s favor. They will be found guilty, even though there’s no evidence of a crime,” she said.
The trio was detained shortly after four Pussy Riot members wearing masks burst into the cathedral and performed a song called “Mother of God, Cast Putin Out!” No fourth suspect has been detained.
The performance was strongly condemned by state and church officials, who have called on the women to repent. The suspects have denied the charges.
It is now unlikely that the women will be released before July 24, when their detention — already extended twice — will again come up for review. They face up to seven years in prison if convicted.
Amnesty International declared the women prisoners of conscience in April, and last month over 100 prominent cultural figures, including Khamatova and rocker Boris Grebenshchikov, signed an open letter to the Supreme Court calling for the suspects’ release.
The women have filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights.

TITLE: OSCE Calls for Sanctions for Magnitsky Suspects
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: MOSCOW — Lawmakers with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have called for sanctions against Russians implicated in the jail death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, even as one of the key suspects witnessed the vote in person.
“The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly calls on national parliaments to take action to impose visa sanctions and freezes on persons responsible for the false arrest, torture, denial of medical care and death of Sergei Magnitsky,” says the resolution approved Sunday.
Magnitsky was jailed in late 2008 after accusing tax and police officials of embezzling a $230 million tax refund owed to Hermitage Capital. He died in jail in November 2009 shortly after being badly beaten by prison guards, according to an independent Kremlin human rights council investigation.
Last month, Hermitage Capital released a video accusing Interior Ministry investigators Pavel Karpov and Artyom Kuznetsov, who arrested Magnitsky, of having ties to an organized crime syndicate supposedly led by Dmitry Klyuyev, former owner of the Universal Savings Bank.
Klyuyev and an associate attended the session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s annual meeting, held in Monaco on Sunday.
Two members of the Russian delegation gave their badges to the pair and escorted them to the OSCE Convention Center at the Grimaldi Forum, a Hermitage representative said in a statement. The session was open to the public.
One of the forum delegation members who assisted Klyuyev and Pavlov in Monaco was State Duma Deputy Ilya Kostunov of the United Russia party, a former activist in the pro-Kremlin Nashi youth movement, Hermitage said, which provided photos and video of Klyuyev at the session.
The video shows Klyuyev and his associate walking with Gleb Reshetnikov, secretary of the Russian delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, and Semyon Zakhayev, a Parliamentary Assembly staff member, in the conference center. 
Klyuyev denied any ties with Magnitsky in an interview published Monday in Vedomosti. He said the affair was a publicity ploy by Hermitage Capital founder William Browder.
Browder was denied entry into Russia as a security threat in 2005 and currently lives in Britain.
“There was absolutely no connection between me and Magnitsky,” Klyuyev said. “When he was alive, Magnitsky was a bookkeeper and a suspect, while after his death he became an attorney and an anti-corruption activist.”
Meanwhile, Russia’s envoy to the European Union, Vladimir Chizhov, urged governments against “politicizing the situation” with sanctions, RIA-Novosti reported. He added cryptically that a meeting of “high-ranking officials” has been scheduled to “clear up all the remaining questions.” He gave no date for the meeting.

TITLE: Cabinet Warned to Make Do With $411 Bln
AUTHOR: By Anatoly Medetsky
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: MOSCOW — Finance Minister Anton Siluanov on Friday advanced the idea of cutting government-funded jobs in a bid to reduce the growing strain on the federal budget.
He made the proposal as he became alarmingly repetitive in pushing for austerity at a Cabinet meeting that reviewed the first draft of next year’s federal spending, projected at 13.4 trillion rubles ($411 billion).
“We still have the potential to raise the efficiency and productivity of labor in the budget-funded sectors,” he said. “This is what we need to pay attention to first of all.”
Russia’s numbers for employment in the sectors — such as public service, state-funded health care and education — are the biggest worldwide for every 1,000 people, he said.
It was unclear how the Cabinet reacted to the proposal because the broadcast of the meeting ended, as is customary, after the first speaker, Siluanov, ended his report.
While still on camera, Siluanov applied pressure, again and again, to prevent the other ministries from seeking more funding. When the global economy appears to rest on feet of clay, exposure must go down, he said.
“It is, in our view, inadvisable to consider any questions about raising budget spending,” Siluanov said close to the start of his speech.
According to Siluanov, 76 percent of federal spending next year will consist of social and other obligations that must be the last to decline if revenues fall short.
The number is up from 70 percent this year.
It includes defense, security and law enforcement spending, which will account for one-third of the budget’s total next year.
The rest is state investment in roads, bridges and airports.
Russia derives half its revenues from the production and export of oil and gas. Stressing the country’s vulnerability, the oil price has dipped considerably in recent weeks, much below the $115 a barrel that underlies this year’s budget.
Next year’s spending is growing by 642 billion rubles, or 5 percent. When inflation, expected to be 6 percent this year, enters the picture, that growth becomes a decline in real value.
“The first thing I’d like to say is that experts have described next year’s budget as tough,” Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in opening the Cabinet meeting. “And that description is, perhaps, generally substantiated.”
Medvedev appears to have sided with the fiscal hawks in defining the cornerstone of the budget: the oil price assumption. It is $92 a barrel, based on the median level in 2007-11, as the Finance Ministry insisted.
First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov and some other Cabinet members wanted to index this price to inflation.
The budget deficit will be 1.5 percent of gross domestic product next year.
Closing his speech, Siluanov couldn’t help one reiteration.
“The goal today is to reduce budgetary risks,” he said. “I believe that it is inappropriate to hope for any additional allocations.”

TITLE: Green Offices Blossom In Russia
AUTHOR: By Lena Smirnova
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: MOSCOW — When international construction-consulting firm Turner & Townsend first approached Russian companies with offers to make their offices more sustainable, the response consisted of a lot of unenthusiastic looks. 
Now, seven years later, “green offices” have become trendy, with more and more companies vying to get international certification for their sustainability achievements. 
“Sustainability was definitely not an issue in Russia. Why save energy and water in a country that is richly equipped with these resources?” said the company’s senior sustainability consultant, Andreas Roessler. “Today, sustainable development is part of Russian politics.” 
The total number of green offices in Russia is difficult to estimate because there is no single certification standard in the country. Each company picks its own program to follow to obtain the coveted status. 
About 80 institutions across Russia, including corporate and state clients, are working with Greenpeace to make their offices greener. 
The organization doesn’t hand out its own certifications because it doesn’t have enough resources to monitor offices for compliance, said Yulia Pronina, director of the Green Office Project at the organization. 
Cushman & Wakefield is one of the latest companies to attain green office status. The real estate agency announced last week that the developer Hines had certified its Moscow office as green. 
To get this title, the office had to install recycling containers, outfit sinks with water-saving devices and buy energy-efficient computers and printers. 
“The green office status helps the company’s image,” Pronina said. “It is important for the company to show that it is ecologically conscious. Even in Russia, this trend is developing.” 
The green office status is not only good for the company image but also helps shrink its utility bills. 
Turner & Townsend’s outfitting of Siemens’ Moscow office made it the first workplace in Russia to receive the LEED international standard for building sustainability. Siemens representatives estimate that the office now uses 36 percent less water and 46 percent less energy. 
Although the savings in a sustainable office are impressive, the initial costs can stifle budding enthusiasm. 
Remodeling light fixture systems in a big office of 45 employees will cost around 200,000 rubles ($6,100), according to Greenpeace estimates. 

TITLE: Megadeals Mark H1 Real Estate Market
AUTHOR: By Rachel Nielsen
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: MOSCOW — Buyers continue to show eagerness to snap up fancy offices, hotels and malls in Russia, and though commercial real estate investment won’t reach last year’s historic high, it could surpass $6 billion, analysts say.
This year’s level of investment, which is measured in purchases of buildings by other real estate players, is already more than $2 billion, according to various estimates.
Jones Lang LaSalle puts the amount for the first half of 2012 at $2.4 billion, while fellow real estate consultancy Knight Frank Russia & CIS said the deals closed in the first six months equal $3 billion. 
Including the $1.1 billion sale of St. Petersburg’s Galeria shopping complex — a deal that was supposed to close in January, Bloomberg reported at the time — Cushman & Wakefield gives the first-half figure as $4.18 billion. 
This year’s big transactions include Russian real estate investor O1 Properties’ purchase of Ducat Place III, the Class A office tower at 6 Ulitsa Gasheka, from U.S. developer Hines for about $370 million, said Tom Devonshire-Griffin, head of capital markets for Jones Lang LaSalle Russia and CIS. 
Immofinanz Group bought a 50 percent stake in Zolotoi Vavilon, or Golden Babylon, a 450-store shopping center in Moscow, for more than $500 million, according to information from Cushman and Knight Frank.
Also among the deals is Bin Group’s purchase of the Summit office complex on Tverskaya Ulitsa and other properties for about $980 million, according to Jones Lang LaSalle.
Despite the hefty figures, deal volume so far this year has been substantially lower — perhaps by nearly half — compared with the volume in the first six months of 2011. 
Investment transactions tapered off in the first quarter because of European debt malaise, a respite after year-end deal-making, and a wait-and-see attitude among Russian buyers because of the March presidential election.
International investors weren’t deterred, Devonshire-Griffin said, because “they want to see stability.” Barring a change in government or tax policies, they take the approach that politics “is what it is” here, he said.
Views differed on the liquidity needed for major investments.
“We do have the availability of finance, which is key to Russian deals,” Devonshire-Griffin said, given that they are typically huge transactions that require the parties to seek out loans. 
Russia’s VTB, Sberbank and Alfa Bank are the most active lenders, he said. Foreign institutions Raiffeisen, UniCredit and Aareal Bank are also engaged in the market.
Alexei Filimonov, general director of real estate adviser Astera, called project financing “more like mythology than reality.” He did point to Sberbank and VTB as relatively active lenders. 
Compared with last year’s $7.5 billion in overall investment, excluding the Galeria deal, this year’s haul is expected to be about $5 billion, said Olga Yasko, regional director for analysis and market research at Knight Frank Russia and CIS. 
Somewhat higher is the 2012 estimate from Jones Lang LaSalle, which is $6.5 billion.
“We will get very close to last year’s volume,” said Alexander Zinkovsky, a senior research analyst at Cushman. The firm expects investment volume to be $7 billion.
“There is demand, and there is supply,” Zinkovsky said. 
He said investors are seeking Class A and Class B offices, Class A warehouse space with modern technologies and shopping centers with a mall concept and interior design.
Many analysts said Europe’s debt crisis has weighed down the market. 
“The significant factor in investment is the general economic situation in both Russia and in the world at large,” Yasko said. “Further development [of the market] will depend greatly on the resolution of the European Union situation.”

TITLE: Minister: WTO Entry May Cost $13 Billion
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: Joining the World Trade Organization could cost Russia as much as 445 billion rubles ($13.49 billion) in direct losses in 2013 and 2014, the country’s top economic official said Tuesday.
Economic Development Minister Andrei Belousov told State Duma deputies that cutting import tariffs after WTO accession could result in losses of 188 billion rubles in 2013 and 257 billion rubles in 2014, Interfax reported.
Belousov spoke as the Duma was considering a bill to ratify WTO membership. Russia received an official invitation to join the global trade rules club in December after almost two decades of drawn-out negotiations.
Up to 50 Communist deputies gathered outside the Duma building’s main entrance early Tuesday morning to protest the bill, which they said would spell doom for Russia’s economy, Interfax reported.
But Belousov argued that losses from WTO entry would be mitigated by the boost in trade that freer access to world markets would provide.
“We believe that the real losses will be significantly lower as a result of the growth in trade and, accordingly, increases in the tax base,” Belousov said.

TITLE: Expect a Showdown With the Kremlin in the Fall
AUTHOR: By Vladimir Ryzhkov
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: This is the last working week for the State Duma before it adjourns for its six-week summer break. Politicians are hurrying to put the last finishing touches on President Vladimir Putin’s policy of tightening the screws on the opposition and nongovernmental organizations — a campaign that has intensified significantly after Putin was inaugurated on May 7.
Last week, for example, United Russia members Alexander Khinshtein and Pavel Krasheninnikov introduced an amendment that would make defamation a criminal offense punishable by a maximum fine of 500,000 rubles ($15,200) or up to five years in prison. Less than a year ago, then-President Dmitry Medvedev had removed this very article from the Criminal Code, making defamation punishable by a fine of only 3,000 rubles ($90). This removal was part of Medvedev’s efforts to liberalize and “humanize” some of the more outrageous leftovers from the Soviet period that remained in the code. But now, the authorities will have a virtual carte blanche to use libel and slander charges to intimidate and prosecute human rights activists, opposition figures and journalists.
United Russia deputies, led by the party’s leader, Prime Minister Medvedev, are turning back the clock and reversing several of Medvedev’s own reforms of the Criminal Code. They plan to renew the persecution of prominent dissenters who dare to criticize the authorities. Medvedev has remained silent on the subject, but it seems that nobody cares much about his opinion anymore. 
Neither has Medvedev spoken out against the new law on rallies that was passed in early June restricting the constitutional right of Russians to protest. This law includes punitive measures against those using the Internet to organize protests. These repressive measures would have been unthinkable just a year ago, when Medvedev was president.
Another important feature of Putin’s new regime is the way it has formed a close political union between the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church. Patriarch Kirill, who was elected with active support from the Kremlin, himself openly supports the leadership’s authoritarian domestic policies.
One vivid example of this holy union is the trial against suspected members of the Pussy Riot group, who were arrested and have been held in jail for months over what is essentially a minor disorderly conduct offense. The accused could face up to seven years in prison. The hasty, biased and highly politicized trial has been marked by numerous procedural violations. The prosecutors’ indictment even cites violations of Orthodox Church rules and practices, which is outrageous for a country whose Article 14 of the Constitution clearly states that the government is secular. In this sense, the trial against Pussy Riot differs little from Sharia courts in the North Caucasus.
The new regime has also opened yet another front on its war against dissenters — against nongovernmental organizations. Since Russian businesses do not support NGOs because they fear government reprisals, and since legislation does not encourage this form of charitable giving, nearly all funding for Russian NGOs comes from abroad. Under such conditions, foreign funding is the only way that thousands of NGOs in Russia can fulfill their function of charity, protecting and defending fundamental human rights and building a civil society. They are the only organizations in the country that, among other things, monitor elections, protect the environment, defend innocent political prisoners and reveal cases of corruption and other abuses by government officials. It is no surprise that most top officials find these NGOs a heavy nuisance, while some consider them a direct threat to their livelihood.
The new bill, which will likely be passed this week before the Duma recess, will deliver a crushing blow to NGOs. First, they will all be stigmatized as “foreign agents,” a term that is unquestionably synonymous with “foreign spy” in Russian. The legislation burdens NGOs that receive foreign funding with onerous reporting requirements and inspections. This burden will prove unmanageable for many NGOs, forcing them to shut down operations in Russia. Third, key personnel in NGOs charged with failure to comply with these rules could face severe fines of up to 3 million rubles ($91,000) or three years in prison.
This is the most ruthless attack the authorities have waged against NGOs in the 20 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The Duma has set another disturbing precedent in its crackdown against dissent. The Kremlin has become more intolerant of the few brave deputies who have been active in the protest movement against the Putin regime, including Just Russia Deputies Dmitry Gudkov and Ilya Ponomaryov. Right now, the authorities are trying to set a precedent by filing charges against a low-level deputy, Vladimir Bessonov from the Communist Party. Last week, the Duma partially stripped Bessonov’s immunity, clearing the way for criminal charges against him for allegedly striking a police officer during a December protest. This will be the first time that a deputy has been stripped of his immunity and charged as a result of his political activities. In true chekhist tradition, the authorities are starting with a minor figure, Bessonov, to set the stage for likely criminal proceedings against the most vocal leaders of the opposition in the Duma, Gudkov and Ponomaryov, perhaps on trumped-up charges that they have organized or incited “mass riots.”
Amid this unprecedented crackdown, it is no surprise that the protest mood has remained strong, according to recent polls by the Levada Center. Pouring fuel on the fire, the authorities raised utilities prices, tariffs and excise taxes on July 1. Higher prices and the Kremlin’s repressive measures against dissent will mean only one thing: an even sharper confrontation between the people and the Putin regime starting in September.

<i>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.</i>

TITLE: FROM A SAFE DISTANCE: Why Sochi Is a Terrible Choice for the Olympics
AUTHOR: By Alexei Bayer
TEXT: On June 27, Moskovsky Komsomolets published an article about a Russian man who, while skiing, found an iPhone that someone had lost and took it to the local police station. For his trouble, he was arrested, beaten and put on trial after spending four months in pretrial detention.
Tales of police brutality, incompetence and venality of courts and long sentences for the innocent no longer elicit surprise or outrage in Russia. What’s significant about this case is that it took place in Sochi, the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics. The man was skiing at the future Alpine venue Krasnaya Polyana. In his prison diary, he alleges that the police, prosecutors and judges run a criminal organization that extorts money and steals businesses from innocent people by keeping them in jail until they pay up.
Moskovsky Komsomolets is a Russian version of an English tabloid: sensationalist, gossipy and not very reliable. Not surprisingly, its version of events is disputed, and the authorities counter that the arrested man had a criminal record and used the phone for two weeks before being taken into custody. This is part of the problem. The allegations are very serious, they cast a shadow on Sochi law enforcement, and the authorities have promised to look into them. But judging by past experience, there is little chance that an independent investigation will be carried out and that the truth will be convincingly established.
Even if in this instance the police are innocent, it doesn’t change the reality of corruption and lawlessness surrounding the Olympics. There have been accusations against Sochi policemen and prosecutors in the past. Earlier this year, a case came to light involving former Judge Dmitry Novikov, who was allegedly tortured by police after he had publicly revealed corruption in the Sochi court system. In April, the International Anti-Corruption Committee, formed in London by Russian human rights campaigners and exiled businessmen, published a list of corrupt Russian officials that contained a number of names from Sochi.
The Sochi Olympics is an exemplary Russian government project. It is a huge white elephant set in a completely unsuitable location — a summer resort with little infrastructure for winter sports — and the recent devastating floods in the Krasnodar region are another reminder of this.
Corruption is endemic in Russia, and almost everything the government undertakes involves stealing and misallocation of funds. Cost overruns are massive. The original $8.5 billion budget may balloon to over $35 billion, making it more costly than the three previous Winter Olympics combined. Misappropriating these enormous sums of public and quasi-public money involves a vast network of corrupt officials at every level in both the Sochi municipal and the Krasnodar region governments.
The problem with these networks is that they act completely independently of the central government. A successful Olympics in Sochi is a matter of honor for President Vladimir Putin, who has been the chief lobbyist for the project from the beginning. But Putin can’t control the mafia state that has flourished on his watch. Over the 18 months remaining until the Olympics, bezpredel, the Russian word for complete lawlessness, will only get worse. 
The International Olympic Committee should have thought twice before it awarded the Olympics to Sochi five years ago. It must now take partial blame if the lawlessness that we are currently seeing continues into the games — if, for example, a fan is arrested and beaten in police custody during the Sochi games, or if a police officer acts as a lookout for thieves and murderers of visitors to the games.

<i>Alexei Bayer, a native Muscovite, is a New York-based economist.</i>

TITLE: Legacy of a Soviet childhood
AUTHOR: By Sergey Chernov
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: Regina Spektor, the Moscow-born, New York-based singer songwriter, returns to Russia for the first time since she emigrated to perform in St. Petersburg and Moscow this week. 
“I’m really, really happy to be coming, I’m very excited,” the 32-year-old Spektor said of her upcoming Russian concerts in a recent phone interview with The St. Petersburg Times from New York. 
Now on tour in support of her sixth album, “What We Saw from the Cheap Seats,” Spektor, who is greeted with an impressive response elsewhere, sounded unsure about her fame in her country of birth.
“I don’t know for sure if there are people who know about me or not,” she said.
“It seems some people know of me. But I don’t know if it’s true, I have no idea, because I know that they don’t play me on the radio or show me on television. I guess you know me because you follow music. Probably you know me from the Internet, right?”
In anticipation of her visit to Russia, Spektor released a Russian-language version of “Don’t Leave Me (Ne me quitte pas),” her second single from the new album, which she introduced on her Facebook page as a gift to her fans in Russia, signing the message “Reginka” — the Russian diminutive version of her first name.
Spektor, who prefers to speak Russian with Russian journalists, sounded surprised when her third album “Soviet Kitsch,” originally self-released in 2003, was mentioned during the interview. Even though it was included in NME’s list of the 100 greatest albums of the decade, she believes that it is not that well-known.
“Many people in America don’t know ‘Soviet Kitsch,’” she said.
“Most know me for my later records, for [the 2006 album] ‘Begin to Hope’, so it’s really nice to hear, thanks very much.”
While speaking, Spektor frequently uses “we” when talking about both Russia and the U.S.
Born in Moscow in 1980 into a musical Russian Jewish family to a photographer and amateur violinist father and a music professor mother, Spektor learned to play classical piano there before she left the Soviet Union with her family in 1989 during perestroika under Gorbachev.
“I have a lot of memories: I was almost ten, so I remember very many things,” Spektor said. 
“I loved my life there, I had a very good childhood. I’ve always been very close to Russian culture and remain close. My parents brought a large number of Russian books and records with them, communicated in Russian at home, and Russian humor, food and everything remained a large part of my life. So it stayed with me. You could say my childhood was more connected to being in Russia with my parents than to American food, for example.
“Of course it was a difficult change for me, but if you have good parents and you’re with them, you’re fine everywhere and everything is interesting. They made everything interesting for me. It was great when we were on holiday in Estonia, it was great when we went to school in Moscow, it was great learning music. And traveling to Vienna and Italy and then to America was great. Being in New York was great. They made everything really good for me. I’ve always felt a lot of love and attention, and that’s the most important thing for a child. Everything else is secondary.”
Spektor said her exposure to Soviet ideology was minimal due to the early age at which she emigrated, and due to her parents’ interests. When Soviet collectivism was mentioned during the interview, she asked what it was.
“We planted a vegetable garden when I was in kindergarten,” the singer said.
“I was still a little Octobrist [a youth organization for children between seven and nine years of age]; I didn’t even finish second grade [in Russia], that’s why I don’t remember… I do remember that we learned poems about Uncle Lenin and stuff like that, but in my family we paid more attention to poets, classical music, Pushkin and culture than Komsomol [Young Communist Union], the party or things like that.”
On the cover of “Soviet Kitsch” — which featured classic Spektor songs such as “Ode to Divorce,” “Us” and “Ghost of Corporate Future” — she was pictured in a Soviet naval cap drinking from a bottle against a backdrop of Russian nesting dolls.
“I came up with this title because it’s true that when you’re growing up, especially when you’re a teenager in New York, you always feel that you’re a little different, especially if you’re an immigrant,” she said.
“It’s true for any immigrant; you feel the same whether you’re from Mexico, Puerto Rico or Spain. But what was especially interesting with being from Russia was that we had had the Cold War between us and America. And just as there was propaganda in the Soviet Union, there was a lot of propaganda on the other side as well. And people were really scared of Russia, and there were all kinds of stereotypes. And when I came into this culture, I didn’t know where all that came from. But it came from exactly where it came from [in the Soviet Union] — from propaganda.”
Spektor said that with the cover and the album title, she wanted to confront those stereotypes.
“When I grew up and people found out that I was from Russia, they would immediately start saying certain things,” she said.
“Not everybody, but the average, not very educated person would start saying something about vodka and Communism and things like that. And I got so tired of it when I was growing up, because it always seemed a little bit funny and a little bit sad. That’s why when I was making that record, I wanted to make an ironic statement: ‘Look, that may be how the Soviet idea appears to you, but inside, if you listen to it, that’s how it sounds.’”
“But on the whole I feel that a large part of my personality stems from the fact that I am from Russia, that I am an immigrant, that I understand the language and can read literature in the original as well as the fact that I grew up listening to [Russian] singer-songwriters. Of course, that’s a huge part of me. And it has had a great influence on me, just as my music is influenced by the fact that I grew up in New York, in the Bronx, just as my music is influenced by the fact that I studied classical piano, and didn’t just teach myself to play. When you play Chopin, Mozart and Bach that much, the music enters you and simply becomes part of you.
“And of course the fact that I am Jewish has also entered my music in a big way. I am sort of a mixture, a mongrel; I took a little from everywhere, mixed it up and am trying to express myself somehow.” 
Spektor first paid homage to her Russian literary heritage in 2006 when she added an excerpt from Boris Pasternak’s 1913 poem “February. Take ink and weep” in Russian to her English-language song “Apres Moi,” released on her breakthrough album “Begin to Hope.”
This April, Spektor went further, releasing a two-track record of songs by the late iconic Russian author, poet and singer-songwriter Bulat Okudzhava. “The Prayer of Francois Villon” (Molitva Fransua Viiona) and “Old Jacket” (Stary Pidzhak) were put out as a 7” limited-edition vinyl, “Regina Spektor Sings Bulat Okudzhava,” on Sire record label. The songs were also included on “What We Saw from the Cheap Seats” as bonus tracks.
Spektor is reputed to be outspoken about certain political issues. Last year, she supported the Occupy Wall Street protests, when — despite hundreds of arrests made in New York — the mainstream U.S. media either ignored them or dismissed the issue as a fringe movement. She said, however, that she had reservations about mixing art and politics.
“I have two different feelings about musicians and actors and activism,” she said.
“On one hand, I have a lot of very strong opinions on many, many topics, just as very many people involved in art have. On the whole, art is an expression of your opinions. Even if you write something that goes against your opinion, it sort of passes through you. You’re a filter.
“When we had elections, I supported Obama very firmly, and when certain things were happening in Israel, I supported Israel. Nobody wrote about or showed the Occupy movement, and they wanted to show it as though it was only a bunch of hooligans. We have a lot of propaganda on the news, too. Even when the war in Iraq was about to start, I went to protests and there were 100,000 people, and they still didn’t show it.
“That is me as a person. But there is also the me who creates art, and I am not necessarily sure that the best thing for my art is to be so vocally political, because doing so would mean using my songs, for which I have great respect. I love that they are not concrete, that they’re sort of in a world of their own, regardless of time and country, and exist in some other emotional space, where anyone — whatever their political leanings and whatever country they’re from — can relate to them, join this art and feel something of their own.
“Sometimes I feel that as a person I should step aside from the microphone when delivering some of my opinions. Because the songs are not anchored in time, and my opinions are always changing. Sometimes I follow something really closely, and sometimes it becomes too difficult for me and I get too sad emotionally, so I stop following the news altogether. Sometimes five months may pass and I don’t follow the news or read anything on the Internet or in the papers, nothing. I just leave this world and throw myself into creating art and making soup.
“That’s why it’s difficult for me to be a sort of spokesperson, because at some times I come close to it and at other times I move away from it. That’s why my statements on political issues are not quite consistent. That might be wrong, but it’s where I am as a person. Sometimes I have strength for it, and sometimes I don’t. In that sense, I am not a revolutionary. I am more interested in things that are timeless and more global than specific issues.”

<i>Regina Spektor will perform as part of Stereoleto: Stereo Day music festival on Saturday, July 14 in the Kirov Central Park of Culture and Recreation (TsPKiO), 
Yelagin Island. Metro Krestovsky Ostrov / Staraya Derevnya.</i>

TITLE: Communist chic
AUTHOR: By Galina Stolyarova
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: The style and dress of some of the greatest Soviet fashionistas is the focus of a new display at the Sheremetyev Palace. Titled “Fashion Behind the Iron Curtain. From the Wardrobe of Soviet Stars,” the exhibit showcases more than 100 dresses and 200 accessories from the private collection of fashion historian Alexander Vasiliev that once belonged to the cream of the crop of Soviet bohemians such as film stars Klara Luchko, Lyudmila Gurchenko and Natalya Fateyeva, ballerinas Galina Ulanova and Maya Plissetskaya, as well as socialite Galina Brezhneva, the daughter of the U.S.S.R. leader Leonid Brezhnev.
Almost every dress in Vasiliev’s vast collection, which has taken more than 25 years to assemble, tells a story no less colorful than the item itself.
“Red Bomb” is the nickname that the Soviet film star Klara Luchko earned in the French press after appearing in a voluptuous red strapless dress at the Cannes International Film Festival in 1962. The ultra-sexy item reigns supreme at the display in the classical Sheremetyev Palace. 
Russian classical ballet legend Maya Plissetskaya became a style sensation in Europe after her photographs appeared in Vogue magazine, and the dancer became the face of a Pierre Cardin advertizing campaign in France. The iconic designer presented Plissetskaya with two dresses, including the famous multi-colored “rainbow dress,” which is now part of Vasiliev’s treasure trove.
“In my collection I also have a Chanel suit that Coco Chanel herself gave to Plissetskaya after the great ballerina gave her models a master class in walking on the podium,” Vasiliev said.
There is far more to the display than a mere assembly of couture items than once belonged to actresses who became Soviet household names. The exhibit essentially traces the evolution and peculiarities of Soviet fashion over the course of the pre-World War II years to Gorbachev’s perestroika.
“Throughout the Soviet era, fashion was oppressed by the authorities and adored by millions of women who used it as an instrument of self-expression and as a tool to become more attractive,” Vasiliev said. “This exhibit was conceived as a virtual ode to femininity and women’s desire to remain beautiful, whatever the circumstances and the hardships.”
Vasiliev believes that Soviet style icons are exciting to explore because everything was for real: These stars were genuine. “Most 20th-century film stars knew no botox, no silicone, no photoshop, and their naturalness is actually hugely exciting,” he said.
The famous Christian Dior “New Look” silhouettes that swept the world as soon as they appeared in 1947 only arrived in the U.S.S.R. almost a decade later. Soviet actress Lyudmila Gurchenko wore a “New Look” dress in Eldar Ryazanov’s 1956 comedy film “Karnavalnaya Noch” (Carnival Night), which made her famous overnight. Symbolically, carnival eventually became a keyword to defining Gurchenko’s own eccentric dress sense, with tight waists, exaggerated shoulders, excessively decorated dresses and shiny fabrics.
Politics affects fashion directly in many different ways. In the Soviet Union, the authorities imposed a climate of equality, which resulted in a faceless fashion industry that produced styles that killed personality rather than highlighting it.
And yet, fashion did exist in the U.S.S.R. Because Western European designer labels such as Salvatore Ferragamo or Yves Saint Laurent were not available in the Soviet Union, and shops offered no variety from domestic producers, women resorted to sewing their own dresses. Soviet women used whatever fabric and resources were available. In such a climate of ingenuity, a used priest’s robe could be successfully transformed into an evening dress.
Between the first and second world wars, women used cat fur to decorate their dresses — and it was not only the preserve of the poor. Theater actresses and wives of members of the political elite were known to have possessed such dresses. Maria Andreyeva, wife of the writer Maxim Gorky, had just such a dress trimmed with cat fur. 
During the years of shortages, a piece of fabric became an object of fierce competition. A good seamstress was a precious acquaintance, and film stars were constantly hunting for them.
For Plissetskaya, admittedly, her emphatically theatrical, somewhat eccentric style of dress admittedly became a form of protest.
“My dress style, which evoked associations with the costumes that I wore on stage, was a conscious rebellion, my protest,” Plissetskaya used to say. “It was a provocation, a challenge that I threw to the Soviet system. It made the bureaucrats suspicious; they would often look at me, apparently trying to figure out what the trick was.”
Nikita Khrushchev once even openly reprimanded Plissetskaya for “showing off her wealth” through her expensive, lavish, richly decorated dresses.
Many Russian women give up on their appearance once they have children, and when they reach the age of a grandmother, it is considered almost a sin to invest in fashion items.
Vasiliev made a point of stressing that age and style are not antagonists. 
“As Marlene Dietrich used to say, if a woman has failed to become a beauty by the age of 35, it means she is a fool,” he said. “You have time to experiment, to try things out, to search for an image, for different ways of self-expression. To be a success, you need to find an image that corresponds to your inner self and what you yourself find appealing — this will ensure that you have an audience who appreciates it.”
Vasiliev is looking to expand his collection, which already boasts more than 1,000 pieces, by getting his hands on the dresses of some contemporary fashionistas. The number one style icon on his list is filmmaker and actress Renata Litvinova, the fashion historian said.
The exhibit at the Sheremetyev Palace is part of the Fashion Museum project sponsored by Aurora Fashion Week. Vasiliev lamented the absence of a permanent fashion museum in Russia. 
“Sadly, viewing fashion as an art is not widespread here,” he said. “Rather, fashion is still perceived by most people as a frivolous if not vain interest, and often as a waste of money, too.”

<i>“Fashion Behind the Iron Curtain. From the Wardrobe of Soviet Stars” runs through Sept. 16 at the Sheremetyev Palace, 34 Nab. Reki Fontanki. Tel. 272 4441. M. Nevsky Prospekt/Mayakovskaya.</i>

TITLE: the word’s worth: Why police and potatoes wear jackets
AUTHOR: By Michele A. Berdy
TEXT: Ìóíäèð: jacket (of sorts)

Confession: I know virtually nothing about any service or profession that requires uniforms and absolutely nothing about uniforms themselves.
On the street, I can’t even tell a lowly ó÷àñòêîâûé (beat cop) from a ìàéîð (major), and I can never remember if a êàïèòàí (captain) is higher or lower than a ëåéòåíàíò (lieutenant). I can’t help it. When I was growing up, Barbie had Beach Ken, Business Ken and Prom Ken, but no Marine or SWAT Ken. Only boys played with G.I. Joe.
Given my deprived and gender-stereotyped childhood, it’s no wonder that Russian words for various uniforms and their parts give me a hard time. On the other hand, my Barbie was studying languages in her Dream House, so when uniforms intersect with figures of speech, I’m interested.
There’s an interesting figure of speech connected with ïîãîíû (epaulettes). ×åëîâåê â ïîãîíàõ (literally “a man in epaulettes”) is an example of metonymy — that is, a term for one thing used to describe something related. In this case, the epaulettes signal “an officer” or someone retired but still connected with a branch of service. The vividly expressive îáîðîòåíü â ïîãîíàõ (literally “werewolf in epaulettes”) is a metaphorical expression for a bent cop.
Another word rich in rhetorical devices is ìóíäèð (uniform, often full-dress or formal). Ìóíäèð is a fine example of synecdoche — that is, a figure of speech in which a part is used to mean the whole. So although ìóíäèð is the jacket of a uniform, it is often used to refer to the whole thing: Âåòåðàíû äîñòàâàëè èç øêàôîâ ñâîè âîåííûå ìóíäèðû, íàäåâàëè îðäåíà, ìåäàëè è øëè íà òîðæåñòâà (Veterans pulled their military uniforms out of the closet, put on their insignias and medals and attended the festivities).&#8239;
In the Russia of old, ìóíäèð could also refer to civil dress uniforms, including ïðèäâîðíûé (court-dress) and ñòóäåí÷åñêèé ìóíäèð (school uniform).
And then ìóíäèð can also be a stand-in — synecdoche alert — for the profession or position that its wearer represents. ×åñòü ìóíäèðà (literally “the honor of the uniform”) refers to the reputation or prestige of an organization. Sometimes the phrase is used seriously: Îí îïîçîðèë ÷åñòü ìóíäèðà (He is a discredit to his position). In other cases, the phrase is used disdainfully to refer to saving face — or other parts of the anatomy — through cover-ups, lies or very creative crisis management. Êîìïàíèÿ îáâèíèëà ïðîêóðàòóðó â “òîïîðíîé ïðîïàãàíäå”, íåîáõîäèìîé åé, ÷òîáû ñïàñòè ÷åñòü ìóíäèðà (The company accused the prosecutor’s office of issuing ham-fisted propaganda to save their own skin).
Ìóíäèð is also a metaphor used to describe potato skins. Êàðòîøêà â ìóíäèðå is a potato baked or boiled in its jacket, which is just like the English expression. In English, a jacket can refer to the outer cover of a number of things, like books, records or even bullets, although I don’t know why potatoes have jackets while other vegetables and fruits have peels. But I can’t find any evidence that Russian jacket potatoes came from their English counterparts. Some armchair etymologists theorize that hungry Russian soldiers roasted their potatoes over the fire without peeling them, and then joked that they were â ìóíäèðå (in their jackets). I suppose that’s possible, but I can’t believe that hungry Russian peasants didn’t do the same long before them, potato peelers not being a common kitchen utensil in 17th-century Russian villages.&#8239;
Barbie’s Dream House was very useful for language study.

<i>Michele A. Berdy, a Moscow-based translator and interpreter, is author of “The Russian Word’s Worth” (Glas), 
a collection of her columns.</i>

TITLE: Photo anthropologist
AUTHOR: By Christopher Brennan
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: American photographer Christopher Makos’ previous trip to Russia was 10 years ago when he flew in on Calvin Klein’s private jet along with the designer and a suitcase of underwear that the designer gave away.
This time, the photographer — known for his work with Andy Warhol — flew in with his photographic partner Paul Solberg for two talks in Moscow and St. Petersburg last month.
Makos took photos of Warhol in the 1970s and 1980s and the pop art genius was the main subject of the talks at the Strelka Institute with Alyona Doletskaya, the former Vogue editor who is now in charge of Interview Russia, a version of the magazine founded by Warhol.
“I know you are here because of my Andy Warhol connection, but I’m so into the moment,” said Makos at the talk.
Currently, Makos and Solberg use the name The Hilton Brothers for their photo partnership. The pair met in 2004 and started working together on trips abroad. Their work, such as in their most recent book “Tyrants and Lederhosen,” is often made of diptychs, with the different photographers’ shots in juxtaposition to each other.
He joked with the audience, telling one young man that to succeed as an artist in New York he would have to “wear tighter shirts,” and urging the entire crowd to immediately begin collaborating with the people next to them.
“One of the reasons I thought it would be interesting to be part of the Hilton Brothers with Paul is because for quite a while I was so associated with the Warhol thing. And I wanted to sort of disappear and be somebody else,” said Makos, although he still uses Warhol images in his Hilton Brothers work too.
In the series “Andy Dandy,” Makos’ photographs of Andy Warhol in various wigs are shown side by side in one work with Solberg’s flower photographs.
The photos were taken in 1981 and Warhold is supposed to have said: “I’m not trying to look beautiful like Elizabeth Taylor, I’m trying to show what it feels like to be beautiful like Elizabeth Taylor.”
Makos and Solberg have traveled to China, Italy, Jordan, Spain, Sweden, and Vietnam working as a duo, or as Makos says, a “photographic anthropologist.”
“Eighty percent of the time we have a similar thought about either the shape, the form, or the comment it makes. … There’s no recipe. It’s just intuitive,” Solberg said. “Right now, there obviously is no Factory anymore. We are two people instead of one as Andy Warhol was, but it’s sort of a modern-day Factory, an idea about collaboration, mixing ideas, and merging ideas into one.”

<i>See http://www.thehiltonbrothers.com/ for more on the photographic duo.</i>

TITLE: 5 Free Things to Do In Mighty Moscow
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: The Russian capital’s hotel prices are exorbitant enough to make an oligarch cry, but the city has some fine free sights that may dry up a tourist’s tears.

<b>Lenin Mausoleum</b>
Two decades after the Soviet Union died, a visit to the mummy-under-glass of its founder is more about creepy kitsch than political pilgrimage, but still a potent view into the totalitarian psyche. Open 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday and Saturday-Sunday. Entrance is free, but bags, cameras and phones must be checked for a fee. To make this a true freebie, go with a companion who can hold your gear.

<b>Winzavod</b>
This former winery on a careworn industrial street has been turned into Moscow’s modern art nexus. A dozen galleries, including that of internationally known art impresario Marat Guelman, an array of modish shops and a cafe draw the young and stylish on weekends — a way to get to this crowd without paying a cover charge at a club. Take a map; though it’s near the Kursky railway terminal, the neighborhood is confusing and the street’s name, Chetverty Syromyatnichesky Pereulok, is a tongue-twister

<b>Yauza Valley</b>
No one comes to Moscow to get close to nature, but if you need to get away from its dirt and din, a walk through the wetlands of the Yauza River, a tributary of the Moscow River, is a pastoral idyll. Well-maintained paths and boardwalks lead through marshes and woods, past a 350-year-old country church, ending at a former nobleman’s estate. The 21st century may seem a bit jarring when the three-kilometer walk is over. The trail starts a couple of blocks from the Babushkinskaya metro stop.

<b>Silver Island</b>
Although tourists jam the Izmailovsky souvenir market’s ersatz tsarist-era buildings, few venture to the real thing right next door. This island in a small manmade lake was a royal estate when Peter the Great was a boy and contains a soaring church with peculiar peacock-eye friezes and a fearsome three-story structure dating to his time (he died in 1725), along with a sprawling 19th century ensemble. Peter learned to sail here and credited it as the beginning of his drive to make Russia a great naval power. The island is visible from the market area, but the buildings are hidden by thick trees, so coming upon them feels like discovering a lost village.

<b>All-Russia Exhibition Center</b>
Larger than the country of Monaco, this complex originally built to laud Soviet achievements features Stalinist Gothic architecture, exuberant fountains, a Vostok rocket like the one that put the first man into orbit, and usually a few thousand Russians strolling, flirting and scarfing down shish kebabs and beer.
Some of the massive pavilions that once housed Communist propaganda exhibits have been given over to capitalism, filled with warrens of tiny kiosks selling everything from medical devices to luminescent panties; others are falling into picturesque disrepair.
It’s a vivid summary of the Soviet Union’s ambitions and disintegration, especially the onetime space exploration building, now selling gardening supplies, where a giant, ghostly portrait of Yury Gagarin watches over sellers of petunia seedlings. Take the metro to VDNKh and follow the crowd.

TITLE: in the spotlight: Kirkorov’s ever-expanding brood
AUTHOR: By Anna Malpas
TEXT: In December, flamboyant pop star Filipp Kirkorov announced that he had become a father, with a daughter born from a surrogate mother. Last week, he said that he now has a son as well — from a different surrogate mother.
Kirkorov revealed the news at a concert in Bulgaria, just a tiny bit upstaged by Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ announcing their divorce the same day.
He also gave some details to television host Andrei Malakhov, the godfather of his daughter Alla-Viktoria. Kirkorov told him he had seen the baby via Skype and that he did not have a name yet but it would have to begin with M because that was the will of pop diva Alla Pugachyova, his ex-wife.
Writing in the StarHit magazine he edits, Malakhov explained that Pugachyova is fond of men’s names beginning with M because of her grandfather Mikhail, another ex-husband Mikolas and her current husband Maxim Galkin. Evidently, she does not feel the same about ex-husbands whose names begin with F, but Kirkorov seems blissfully unaware of the snub. The new baby will be curled up in the nursery next to his sister named after Pugachyova and Kirkorov’s late mother.
Malakhov excitedly pointed out that Kirkorov has evened the score with Latin pop star Ricky Martin, another celebrity single dad, with two kids each. In case Martin was keeping score.
Express Gazeta even reported that Kirkorov was going to name the son after Martin — with an M. He may be called Martin-Kristo, it reported, citing Bulgarian media, with Kristo being a Bulgarian name, reflecting Kirkorov’s roots as the son of a Bulgarian singer.
Sadly, there have been few further details — maybe because Kirkorov has been reticent on Twitter lately after his bust-up with rapper Timati in which he tried to teach the young upstart some manners.
This Friday will be Ksenia Sobchak’s last episode as co-host of Dom-2 reality show on TNT, something of an end of an era, even if she has been phoning in her appearances for some time now.
She always reflects the times, and it seems that celebrities have become rather austere lately, busily signing protest letters and saying daring things about Vladimir Putin.
But there are exceptions, such as one of the singers in the VIA Gra girl group, Albina Dzhanabayeva, who is suing Malakhov’s StarHit magazine for making insinuations about her breasts.
Rapsi legal news agency reported dryly that Dzhanabayeva was asking for 6 million rubles in compensation after the magazine “unlawfully interfered in her personal life and also made insulting statements about her.”
LifeNews.ru filled in the blanks, saying that Dzhanabayeva was offended by the magazine alleging that “at the dawn of her career in VIA Gra her bust was not voluptuous enough and she used push-up bras to hide this.”
The magazine went onto hint that in its opinion, she had since gone up two sizes with breast implants, LifeNews.ru wrote.
It also cited Malakhov as saying: “Let Albina try to prove that she didn’t have cosmetic surgery. You need only to compare her photographs before her career in VIA Gra and after her career began.” And no doubt lawyers are poring over them as we speak.
Russian-born Dzhanabayeva joined the Ukrainian group VIA Gra in 2004, making her a veteran on its ever-changing lineup with the only constants being long hair, long legs and come hither looks. She previously worked as a back-up singer for pop star Valery Meladze, whose brother Konstantin is VIA Gra’s producer.

TITLE: THE DISH: Clean Plates Society
AUTHOR: By Ciara Bartlam
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: <b>Hipster hub</b>
Being hip in St. Petersburg is easy: All you need are oversized specs, burgundy pants, a fittingly funky playlist, and, of course, the right venue. With a host of modish caf&#233;s and restaurants popping up all over the city, St. Petersburg is fast beginning to trend as a hipster city. In less than 18 months, it’s gained Mishka bar and PirO.G.I on the Fontanka, 22:13 on Konyushennaya Ploshchad, and Rada & K on Gorokhovaya Ulitsa, to name but a few. A new addition to this ever-extending list is Obshchestvo Chistykh Tarelok (Clean Plates Society), on the same street as Rada & K and Zoom, two well-established hipster hubs.
Reasonably priced with no-frills food and relaxed atmospheres to match, it’s no wonder that these latter two cafes are popular among young Petersburgers — so popular in fact that it is almost impossible to get a table at either during peak feeding times, which inevitably only leads to long lines, hunger pains and the exhaustion that comes after half an hour of mentally urging people to stop enjoying themselves, eat up, end that riveting conversation and get out so that you can be seated before the kitchen closes.
Luckily for people looking to eat out on Gorokhovaya Ulitsa, there is now another option, created by the owners of Mishka bar. With the same chilled atmosphere as Zoom, and an interior that only differs from an Ikea showroom in that the central feature is a bar, not a bed, Clean Plates Society offers an immediately comfortable environment adorned with lampshades and smiling faces. Guests are greeted warmly and invited to complimentary bread and water — already a nice touch. 
The menu offers a range of dishes from teriyaki chicken (260 rubles, $7.90) to kebab (240 rubles, $7.30), includes a good vegetarian selection, and is certainly not a weight on the wallet. At first glance, the choice available does look like an awkward mix, but all it seems to say is that difference is welcome. The menu comprises an array of dishes catering to every taste, which, judging by the variation between guests in age and style is no bad thing. 
The veal bruschetta (170 rubles, $5) is an Italian favorite made into a beer snack. It was simple, flavorsome (if a bit heavy on the cheese) and totally unexpected. The Camembert salad (280 rubles, $8.50) was a more impressive start, however. Fresh apples, warm potatoes, smooth cheese and a sweet cowberry sauce coupled with a portion as big as any entr&#233;e made this dish an immediate winner.   
The salmon (280 rubles, $8.50) and chicken breast (250 rubles, $7.60), both served with a choice of rice or vegetables, are just right for a warm summer’s day. The dishes were perfectly balanced and light, and the mango sauce served with the chicken was another item to add to the list of pleasant surprises. 
However, one thing that became apparent during the main course was that we had inadvertently begun to live out the neighboring couple’s relationship crisis because the tables were just too close together. For a party not opposed to people-watching, it was something of an intrigue to start with, but the novelty soon wore off. Worse still, conversation on our own table became limited when faced with the prospect of being overheard, plus there’s an added issue: Having a stranger’s derriere on your table as they wriggle out to the toilet is just not nice. On the upside, the restaurant, probably due to its compact size, is non-smoking everywhere except the bar, so at least that’s one problem that guests don’t have to face.
Overall, the dining experience at Clean Plates Society is a pleasant one. The room is light and airy and the atmosphere inviting. It is a fresh face on the ever-growing hipster scene and a good option for anybody looking for decent food at a reasonable price and a trendy environment in which to enjoy it.

TITLE: The Legendary Soul of Russia
AUTHOR: By Lena Smirnova
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: KOSTROMA — There is a rock in Kostroma with the inscription, “Walk forward, and you’ll walk into a fairy tale.” For the traveler heading into the city, the inscription lives up to its promise. 
The story of Kostroma is a mixture of legend and reality, and even the locals are not always able to separate the two. Father Frost’s granddaughter, Snow Maiden, calls Kostroma her home. Ivan Susanin’s heroic life ended tragically in the marshes near the city, and miracle-making icons hang in its churches, resilient to the test of time and the onslaught of Soviet forces. 
Tsars have historically come to show their respect to Kostroma, and the city still readily opens its doors to visitors, whether they are royal or not. Friendly and welcoming, the people of Kostroma pride themselves on their ample hospitality. 
It is no coincidence that the city brands itself as the soul of Russia. 
The Ipatyev Monastery is at the heart of Kostroma, standing with the same authority as it did in 1613 when Mikhail Romanov, who lived here with his mother, a nun, agreed to become the first ruler of the Romanov dynasty.
Kostroma will celebrate 400 years of the Romanovs next year. Memoirs and old photographs show that the city was never forgotten by the royal family, but that each Russian ruler was moved to visit the cradle of their dynasty.
And yet, it is not a tsar but a common peasant who is the main local celebrity. 
Kostroma has streets, squares, monuments, restaurants, sanatoriums and even tourist walks named after Ivan Susanin. The peasant became a folk hero for diverting a detachment of Polish and Lithuanian soldiers who had wanted to seize Mikhail Romanov. The diversion was successful, but in the end the soldiers tortured Susanin and later chopped him into pieces. 
Mikhail Romanov freed Susanin’s descendants from all taxes and duties in gratitude for his sacrifice. Later, tsars continued to honor this promise, and even today some in the city are finding it hard to let go of the privileged status. Kostroma’s former mayor claimed to be a descendant of Susanin. 
The Romanov heritage is ever present in the current branding of the city, but Kostroma also bears the scars of the Soviet period. It is a city that is stretched between two epochs, local guide Vitaly Burmistrov said. 
Many of Kostroma’s churches were blown up during 1930s anti-religion campaigns. The city’s kremlin was destroyed in 1934, and the central Susanin Square was renamed Revolution Square. 
Perhaps the most remarkable in this post-revolutionary makeover is the story of the massive monument to Vladimir Lenin, located on the banks of the Volga. The monument was originally designed to be a tribute to the Romanov dynasty, with 26 sculptures of tsars and notable historical figures positioned around the base. The seven-meter-high base was laid down in 1913 as the dynasty was celebrating its 300-year anniversary. Nicholas II and other members of the royal family took part in the ceremony. 
But the 1917 Revolution shattered the dynasty, and Lenin was symbolically hoisted onto the top of the structure in 1928, where he stands now at an impressive 15 meters above the ground. 
Kostroma has since become a key production center, with machine building, woodworking, textile and food factories operating within or near its boundaries. The city produces a large share of the total jewelry made in Russia and is nationally known for its branded cheese. 
Through all these changes, Kostroma managed to keep attracting new guests and even residents. 
Soviet poet and satirist Demyan Bedny wrote the following lines after leaving Kostroma: “Kostroma is a city — a smile. Jokes aside, what if I do take off forever from Moscow to Kostroma.” 

<b>What to do if you have two hours</b>
A short stay in Kostroma is best satiated by a sizzling excursion through the sites close to the “frying pan,” the city’s main square. The square, which is officially named after Ivan Susanin, has been given the “frying pan” moniker because it heats up so much in the warmer days that city residents practically boil on it while waiting for their buses to come. 
Standing on the “frying pan” provides a good view of the city’s unique road map. The city center is laid out in the shape of a woman’s hand fan, with seven radial streets branching out from Susanin Square. According to legend, Kostroma officials asked Catherine II how the city plan should look, and the empress replied simply by opening her hand fan. 
The fire tower (1/2 Ulitsa Simanovskogo; +7 4942-31-68-37) is the main attraction on Susanin Square. The tower was completed in 1827 and until recently housed the regional fire department. It is now possible to visit the tower and look at firefighting artifacts displayed in its museum. 
A walk through the center of Kostroma also provides a chance to see the city’s old trade rows (4 Sovietskaya Ploshchad, 1 Ulitsa Molochnaya Gora, Ploshchad Susanina) and get a taste of what the city was like when it was a major destination for merchants. The rows are in working order and filled with locally made delicacies. 
Although they are slightly out of the way from the city center, any Kostroma visitor is unofficially obligated to go to at least one of the key monasteries. The Ipatyev Monastery (1 Ulitsa Prosveshcheniya; +7 4942-31-75-91) is where Mikhail Romanov took his first steps as a ruler of Russia and is a good choice for history enthusiasts. 
The Theophany Convent (26 Ulitsa Simanovskogo; +7 4942-31-83-94) is known as the location of the ancient Feodorovskaya Icon of God’s Mother, which is believed to have miracle-making powers. 

<b>What to do if you have two days</b>
A longer stay in Kostroma gives visitors an opportunity to get to the soul of the city that calls itself the soul of Russia. Keeping in tune with the locals’ relaxed lifestyle, take the time to rest in the Ostrovsky Pavilion (Ulitsa Chaikovskogo). Playwright Alexander Ostrovsky used to come to this spot to sit in the original wooden pavilion and has mentioned the place in his diaries and letters. “The view from this pavilion up and down the Volga is such that we have never seen,” Ostrovsky wrote. 
The open-air museum of wooden architecture, Kostromskaya Sloboda (1a Ulitsa Prosveshcheniya; +7 4942-37-38-72; kmtn.ru/~kossloboda), offers another pathway to the heart of the city. At the center of the architectural display is the wooden church that is considered to be one of the oldest wooden buildings in the country. The museum includes another 28 architectural landmarks and offers interactive excursions and master classes in traditional Russian crafts. 
In the summer months, lucky visitors to Kostromskaya Sloboda will be able to catch one of the performances by its amateur actor troupe. The youth group performs a dynamic play about the legends related to the Kostroma land, including scenes about Snow Maiden’s love woes and Susanin’s final minutes of life. 
“We are using the sky, the water, the earth as our stage. It is very important to us to keep this theater alive,” park moderator Lyubov Mikhailenko said on the actors’ willingness to work for purely symbolic salaries just to promote the message of the play. 

<b>What to do with the family</b>
Whether it is winter or summer, children will enjoy a visit to the Snow Maiden’s fairy-tale mansion (38 Lagernaya Ulitsa; +7 4942-42-66-42; teremsnegurochki.ru). Kids will get to meet all of the mansion’s residents during an interactive excursion, which includes puppet shows and games. In the meantime, adults can slip away into the mansion’s ice room to look at ice sculptures and sample drinks from shot glasses made out of ice. 
The Kostroma Elk Farm (Village Sumarokovo; +7 4942-35-94-33; moosefarm.ru) is another popular destination for those traveling with children. The farm houses over 40 elk and is Russia’s only stable production point for elk milk, which has multiple medicinal properties, including the healing of ulcers. 
There are no physical barriers around the elk in many parts of the farm so visitors can pet and feed them. Carrots are readily supplied by the tour guides, but the elk also don’t mind getting chocolate candy and pastries. 

<b>Nightlife</b> 
The Kostroma State Drama Theater named after Alexander Ostrovsky (9 Prospekt Mira; +7 4942-51-47-31; kostromadrama.ru) will celebrate 205 years in 2013 and is one of the oldest Russian theaters. Members of the Moscow imperial theater troupe were evacuated to Kostroma in 1812 to save them from Napoleon’s forces — a story that sets a fitting tone for the theater’s dramatic repertoire. 

<b>Where to eat</b> 
Slavyansky Restaurant (1 Ulitsa Molochnaya Gora; +7 4942-31-54-60; sf-vl.ru) serves traditional Russian cuisine in a fittingly Russian interior. The restaurant has a VIP lounge that sits 12 guests as well as its own moonshine machine. A meal of cabbage soup, stuffed rabbit with barley and blini served with jam and honey will cost around 600 rubles ($18). 
Restaurant Metelitsa (See Snegurochka Hotel in Where to Stay) keeps a countdown of days left until the New Year, but even if the number is over a 100, guests get to celebrate the holiday anytime they wish. The restaurant is part of the Snow Maiden mansion complex, so fairy-tale characters are regular guests. A pumpkin puree soup, tuna salad and fried potatoes with mushrooms cost about 330 rubles. 
The cafe Horns and Hooves (2 Sovietskaya Ulitsa; +7 4942-31-52-40) lets you dine in the company of the beloved characters from “12 Chairs” and “The Little Golden Calf.” Statues of the main characters are seated near the windows and visitors will enjoy taking pictures with them as much as eating their meal. A business lunch, which includes a salad, main dish, a nonalcoholic drink and bread, will cost 160 rubles. Separate meat dishes are more elaborate, but generally, all are under 300 rubles. 
Don’t forget to sample some authentic Kostromskoi cheese when you are in the city. Production of this type of cheese started 130 years ago. Other local delicacies include black salt and elk milk. 

<b>Where to stay</b>
For a comfortably familiar stay, head to Azimut Hotel (40 Magistralnaya Ulitsa; + 7 4942-39-05-05; azimuthotels.ru/hotels/kostroma). The hotel is part of the fastest-growing Russian chain, which also has locations in major Russian and some Western European cities. The hotel in Kostroma is styled in the best Russian traditions and includes a banya complex as well as a log house restaurant. Standard two-bed suites cost 3,250 rubles per night.
Another good option for a business stay is the aptly named Business Hotel (24 Ulitsa 1 Maya; +7 4942-47-12-12; biz-hotel.ru), which is located close to Kostroma’s city center. The hotel has welcomed a slew of Russian celebrities, including Larisa Dolina, Valery Leontyev and Kristina Orbakaite. A standard business suite costs 2,800 rubles. 
Snow Maiden, the best hostess in the city, also has a hotel, which is a good choice for thematic stays. The Snegurochka Hotel (38/13 Lagernaya Ulitsa; +7 4942-42-32-01; hotel-snegurochka.ru) stands next to the mansion — a convenient location for Grandfather Frost, who comes to visit his fairy-tale granddaughter several times a year. The hotel even has a specially decorated Father Frost suite, where the New Year’s matron always stays during his visits. The suite costs 2,200 rubles per night. A luxury suite in the hotel costs 5,500 per night. 

<b>Conversation starters</b>
Kostroma is one of the most sung-about Russian cities. Along with songs that use traditional Russian instruments and melodies, Kostroma can boast that there is a rock album written about it. Boris Grebenshchikov’s band Aquarium released the album called “Kostroma Mon Amour” in 1994. 
Yet the most provocative of all these songs is the one that the popular 1970s band VIA Plamya wrote about the city. “Sporit Vologda and Sporit Kostroma” talks of two long-distance lovers who cannot help but debate which of their hometowns is better instead of focusing on their date. The question doesn’t get answered at the end of the song, so it would be considerate to ask Kostroma residents to make another pitch in favor of their city. 

<b>Culture tips</b>
Kostroma is often described as a “sleepy city.” Ever since Susanin’s fiery — and fateful — heroic act, Kostroma residents have preferred a quieter, peaceful lifestyle. They stayed true to this motto even during World War II. While partisan movements raged in neighboring Ivanovo, the level-headed Kostromichi preferred to support the war effort through zealous production work.
“People lead a very calm style of life,” local guide Vitaly Burmistrov said. “They don’t revolt.”
Abstinence from physical confrontations has gone well for the city. Though it did not shine as a partisan center, Kostroma still managed to get 29 residents honored as heroes of the Soviet Union. Respecting this calm lifestyle will be key to getting along with the local hosts. 

<b>How to get there</b>
Kostroma is best reached from St. Petersburg by train from the Moscow railway station, with tickets ranging from 1,825 rubles ($55) to 3,877 rubles ($118).
<hr />
<b>Kostroma</b>
Population: 268,742
Main industries: Energy, engineering, metalworking, electronics, wood processing, textiles
Founded in 1152
Interesting fact: The nationwide outpouring of grief over Vladimir Lenin’s death in 1924 moved some Kostroma residents to pass resolutions to rename the city as Lenin-on-the-Volga or Ilyich. The proposals were ultimately turned down — for which current city residents are overwhelmingly grateful. 

Helpful contacts: 
• Yury Zhurin, mayor 
(+7 4942-45-05-05; 
duma-kostroma.ru), 
• Zoya Yudicheva, acting head of the city administration 
(+7 4942-31-50-48; 
gradkostroma.ru); 
• Dmitry Uryadnikov, director of the city’s economics department 
(+7 4942-31-41-08; 
fku@admgor.kostroma.net); 
• Yury Pastukhov, director of the investment department in the Kostroma region 
(+7 4942-62-05-06; 
dep-economy44.ru)

Sister cities: Ochamchira, Abkhazia; Durham, Britain; Samokov, Bulgaria; Hyvinkaa, Finland; Dole, France; Aachen, Germany; Berane, Montenegro; Cetinje, Montenegro; Piotrkow Trybunalski, Poland; Rivne, Poland; Durham, North Carolina, U.S. 
<b>Major Businesses</b> 
• Kostroma generally has good roads, but if something in your car does break, Motordetal 
(105 Moskovskaya Ulitsa; 
+7 4942-62-84-05; motordetal.ru) is the place to turn. Motordetal is the largest enterprise in the former Soviet Union that specializes in the production of cylindrical auto components. The company recently also started producing its own line of filters and filter accessories. 
• The distinctive dome cap of the Svyatoi Istochnik bottled water is ever-present in stores throughout Russia and other CIS countries, but its roots lie deep in Kostroma. The water, which is produced 
by IDS Borjomi International 
(5 1st Derbenyovsky Pereulok, Moscow; +7 495-660-7312; 
sv-ist.ru), is drawn from a Kostroma source that formed during the ice age and has a unique system of natural filters. Svyatoi Istochnik also holds the distinction of being the first bottled water in Russia, entering the market in 1994. 
• The Kostromskoi Jewelry Factory (27 2nd Volzhskaya Ulitsa; 
+7 4942-34-72-92; kouz.ru) 
is one of the major jewelry factories in Russia and a recipient of multiple industry awards. Together with Krasnoselsky Jewelry, which is also located in the Kostroma region, the factory produces half of Russia’s gold and a quarter of its silver jewelry.
<hr />
<b>Yury Zhurin</b>,
Mayor

Q: What attracts tourists and businesspeople to Kostroma? 
A: Kostroma has the unique atmosphere of a city whose history spans centuries and that upholds the traditions of a trade center. The people also are known for their hospitality.
Q: How do the city authorities support investors, particularly foreigners? 
A: Local authorities maintain constant control of the investment climate. This is a strategic issue. An investment board was created to work on this issue. Together with the regional authorities, the board considers projects and supports them throughout all their phases. Such support is necessary to remove the barriers that may emerge as a result of the current system of approvals, which is still fairly complicated.
Q: Which sectors have the most investment potential? 
A: The textile, jewelry, woodworking and machine-building sectors.
Q: What is your favorite place in the city? 
A: I like the waterfront and the center of the city. We have gotten these places into shape in recent years. Now, not only tourists but also Kostroma residents themselves like to walk there with their families.

TITLE: Americans Held After Jet-Skiing the Bering Strait
AUTHOR: By Ken Martinez
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: MOSCOW — Six Americans who crossed the Bering Strait on jet skis as part of a television reality show are being held by Chukotka authorities for purportedly lacking valid travel documents.
“We want to leave. They won’t let us leave,” expedition leader Steven Moll said in a video posted on YouTube.
“They’re trying to take us around town and show us museums and other little things, but all we really want to do is get some fuel and head back to the United States,” a frustrated-sounding Moll said. “This is ridiculous. This is Third-World [expletive]. But we’re safe, and hopefully we’ll be home in the United States soon.”  
The jet ski crew was detained on the first leg of a nearly 10,000-kilometer journey from Nome, Alaska to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, via Russia. But after arriving at the Chukotka coast Friday, the men were greeted at the shoreline by tanks and armed guards, Moll’s wife, Annette, told the Sacramento Bee newspaper in Monday’s issue. 
The men have been able to communicate through several text messages, videos and phone calls, saying they were in good health but being shuffled from building to building in the Chukotka town of Lavrentiya.
“He sounds scared,” Moll’s wife was quoted as saying. “I know he’s trying to make us not so worried here because it’s been such an emotional time. But I can tell he’s kind of scared.” 
The jet ski expedition had crossed the strait while filming a reality series called “Dangerous Waters,” founded and produced by Moll. 
The group made a successful 7,250-kilometer journey from Seattle across the strait to Russia last year for a first-season trip that hasn’t been broadcast yet, according to the show’s Facebook page. 
With that experience, it was able to attract additional sponsors and mount the more ambitious trek to Vietnam.  
Attempts to contact Moll and his team via Facebook were unsuccessful Monday. 
Moll’s wife said that the men were being kept in a “gymlike area” and had been allowed to keep their phones, but that authorities had taken their documents. The men said a guard has been stationed to protect their jet skis, and they have been allowed to check on them and make repairs. But they are being kept under close watch and cannot leave. 
“The weather is great to cross the Bering Strait again. The whole crew is nervous about crossing the Bering Strait again, because that’s a body of water that can just kill you,” Moll said in the video message, which is dated Saturday.
The group sounded more upbeat in a handful of Twitter messages after their detention Friday.
“Russian Military is helping the team at this point, we are being finger printed and charged with entering a military facility. All good,” one tweet said.
The last tweet was dated Sunday.
Annette Moll said her husband was waiting to appear before a judge and could face prosecution or fines.  
She added that she was suspicious about authorities’ claims that the men did not have the proper documentation, saying they had taken extra precautions for the trip, though it is unclear whether the men were aware that special permission is required in addition to a Russian visa to enter the Chukotka region.
Chukotka officials could not be immediately reached for comment late Monday afternoon Moscow time, which is early Tuesday in the Far East region.
The State Department said it is aware of the situation and is monitoring it, the Sacramento Bee reported.
Moll is not the first adventurer to find himself in trouble in Chukotka. In 2006, a Chukotka court ruled to deport British adventurer Karl Bushby and his American travel companion for violating border regulations after they walked across the frozen Bering Strait from the United States. 
Bushby was later allowed back into Russia to attempt to complete his multi-year mission to walk around the world, though he still has not completed the journey.
In some cases, deportees can be barred from re-entering the country for five years.

TITLE: Food Quality Questioned at Economic Forum
AUTHOR: By Galina Stolyarova
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: Food sales trends and eating habits may sound like an unlikely item for discussion at an international economic conference, but according to Ferran Adria, the world-renowned Catalan chef whose revolutionary approach to cooking gained his restaurant E Bulli on the Costa Brava the title of the most sought after restaurant on the planet, it is a highly topical subject.
Speaking at the Innovation in Food debate at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum last month, Adria argued that food was perhaps one of the thorniest topics of the summit. 
“Food is a strategic matter — everything we do on a daily basis is dependent on food, and not simply because we need to eat to be able to move and think,” he said. “Many of the most important industries are linked in some way to food production or food consumption.
“There are seven billion people on this planet, and two billion of them are starving,” Adria said. “Everyone claims they want the best food available, but the truth is that there are very few rich people. Most people have to make ends meet with around $1,000 per month. I do agree that organic chicken is wonderful but I cannot campaign among ordinary people to buy it because it costs $40 per kilogram, which is beyond most customers’ reach. The goal is not to make Dom Perignon champagne available to everyone — that is not realistic — but to make your average wine from the local supermarket of a decent quality.”
In Russia, the issue is at present far more simple: There just has to be enough food for everyone, said Ilya Shestakov, deputy Agriculture Minister.
“The number one task for the Russian government now is to create fair conditions for the country’s farmers, to ensure equality in entering the market and to build storage facilities accessible for all players on the market,” he said. 
“Russian farmers do not use genetically modified ingredients, and what the country’s customers want most is food that is free of such ingredients. Indeed, it is unfair that the stores in Russia are still stocked with foreign goods that are full of dangerous stuff.”
At the same time, Shestakov admitted that Russia had made a mistake when it changed the system of quality control on food products that existed in the Soviet Union and featured detailed state standards and requirements for all products. 
“We replaced it with a very basic system of so-called technical regulations in an effort to avoid bureaucracy, but ended up with a system that allows a vast flow of poor quality goods to enter the market on perfectly justified grounds,” he said.
Consumers not only in Russia but globally are becoming increasingly aware and concerned about the use of genetically modified ingredients. A positive trend is that this has forced retailers and large food production companies to set their sights on local farmers, who produce more expensive but better quality products.
Zein Abdalla, the chief executive officer for Pepsico Europe, which is responsible for popular Russian brands such as Domik V Derevne, Chudo, Fruktovy Sad and BioMax, said the company has made it a priority to rely on local resources as much as possible.
“When we started in Russia, we had to import almost all products, but now we feel safe using local companies,” he said. “It is now crucially important for us to get involved in production, to work with chefs to develop new flavors.
“We have grown to realize that we now need to aggregate several small local producers to be able to ensure we get the best ingredients,” Abdalla added.
Vadim Lapin, co-owner of Ginza Project restaurant group, which unites some of the city’s most successful restaurants, including Mansarda, Francesco and Moskva, said that clients are becoming more demanding and often express an interest in the origins of the ingredients of dishes.
“Diners often want to know not only the country of origin of, say, salmon or beef, they ask if they are getting a farm-grown or wild salmon, if the beef is likely to contain any hormones, and if the pastures are located in a clean area free from industrial pollution,” Lapin said.
Russian farmers have become more active recently in reaching out to consumers and creating opportunities for local residents to order food online. Online shops, which have been becoming increasingly popular, help farmers not only to get exposure but also to significantly cut costs, as the farmers do not have to deal with retailers and markets.
In the meantime, Sergei Yakhnyuk, deputy governor of the Leningrad Oblast, is lobbying for the creation of a “Made in the Leningrad Oblast” brand that would both unite the most reliable local farmers and promote their produce.
“The goal is to give locals the best and most varied choice and provide exposure to farmers who produce high quality dairy products, meat, fruit and vegetables,” Yakhnyuk said. 
As the official stressed, the existing food distribution system is flawed: Farmers have to pay so-called “bonuses” to hypermarkets to get them interested in buying their products. The practice is seen as nothing short of legalized bribery by the farmers.
“In local food retail, the share of hypermarkets nears 80 percent, and the bonuses practice makes it extremely difficult for farmers to stay afloat, let alone make a profit and develop,” Yakhnyuk said.
The St. Petersburg Union of Food Producers supported the idea of creating a “Made in the Leningrad Oblast” brand.
“With Russia joining the Word Trade Organization, it is especially important to support domestic producers, especially regional farmers, and inform locals about quality food products that are made in the city and its surrounding region,” said Igor Podlipentsev, vice president of the St. Petersburg Union of Food Producers. 
According to Podlipentsev, almost 60 percent of food products sold in Russia today are imported.
“It is not uncommon for retailers to go for the easiest option of relying on cheap imported goods, which are often of questionable quality,” the expert said. 
“The price appears to be the key issue, and this approach harms both Russian consumers and Russian farmers.”