SOURCE: The St. Petersburg Times
DATE: Issue #781 (47), Friday, June 28, 2002
**************************************************************************


TITLE: Gazprom, Miller Facing Pressure at Meeting
AUTHOR: By Anna Raff
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - Russia's largest corporation stands at a crossroad, where it will be forced to choose between market-oriented reforms that may expose the company's weak spots, and the status quo that could undermine the country's role as a strategic natural gas supplier.
 
Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller will be mulling over this kaleidoscope of pressures as he addresses Gazprom shareholders at their annual meeting Friday.
 With the explicit support of President Vladimir Putin, Miller and his new management team embarked on a campaign one year ago to return valuable gas fields to Gazprom's balance sheet.
 The success of the campaign - illustrated by the return of petrochemical holding Sibur, Purgaz and Zapsibgazprom - weighed on an alliance formed by foreign investors, new Gazprom management and the government, which owns a 38 percent stake in the gas monopoly.
 But the issue of domestic gas prices threatens to blow this alliance apart as shareholders lobby for higher tariffs that the government is reluctant to provide. Management, which was handpicked by the government but must answer to all shareholders, is caught in the middle.
 "Monopoly behavior can only be changed by force," said Adam Landes, an oil and gas analyst at Renaissance Capital. "Management is unwilling to embrace the process. Federal regulators aren't strong enough. We hope to see management that embraces the liberalization process, or, frankly, a new management."
 Miller fulfilled his mission of cleaning up the business and wrestling out the Communist-era holdovers headed by former CEO Rem Vyakhirev, Landes said. Now, Miller must either step up to new challenges or step down.
 Gas prices still don't cover the costs of production despite a recent 15 percent hike in wholesale tariffs. This market distortion, in effect, subsidizes industrial production, which includes the state electricity monopoly and railways sector and accounts for 90 percent of Russia's gas consumption.
 Gazprom has had to leverage export contracts to Western Europe to make up the difference. Long-term debt stood at 182 billion rubles ($5.9 billion) at the end of 2001, a 3-percent increase from the beginning of the year. If short-term obligations are included, Gazprom's debt figure shoots up to about $10 billion.
 And most of these funds are earmarked for operating costs. The development of new fields, such as the Zapolyarnoye giant brought onstream in October 2001, is becoming less of a possibility. The gas monopoly is focusing its energy on reaching its production goal of 530 billion cubic meters by 2010 and subsequently maintaining that level.
 Inflation fears are fueling the government's unwillingness to hike tariffs to the $40 to $50 per 1,000 cubic meters that is considered the break-even point by Gazprom and other independent producers. Experts have concluded that any real increase in tariffs will happen after the State Duma elections next year and the presidential race in 2004.
 Utility-fee hikes have already proved to be unpopular with thousands of Russians, who in the past months have staged street protests across the country. Households will see another 16 percent increase from Aug. 1.
 Independent producers say they are the logical choice to fill the gap between Gazprom's flat production and Europe's needs, which are expected to double by 2020. But they say they can only do so in a better price environment.
 These producers eager to get on the market, however, overlook a major side effect of price increases, said Gazprom Deputy CEO Yury Komarov.
 "It's difficult to predict demand for gas if tariffs are on the upswing," Komarov said. "A high level might price some consumers out of the market. It will stimulate savings and encourage use of other fuels."
 David Morgan, board chairperson of independent producer Northgas, disagreed.
 "There is no question that people can pay for gas at liberalized prices," Morgan said.
 Independent natural-gas producers are a rare species in the Yamal-Nenets autonomous region. According to the regional administration, 34 are registered, although only a handful of them actually operate. During the past two years, though, their ranks have swelled with the likes of LUKoil, Yukos and other oil majors, who are nudging their way into Russia's regulated gas market.
 They lay no claim to Gazprom's extensive network of gas fields inherited from the Soviet Union. They are ready to develop difficult gas deposits that Gazprom won't touch. They just want one thing: access to its nationwide pipeline network.
 "The investment appeal in Russia's gas market remains low because the question of access prevents dynamic growth for independent producers, who are forced to pay twice as much as Gazprom," Morgan said.
 Gazprom expects to lose $475 million on domestic gas sales in 2002. As compensation, the company is lobbying for a 15 percent increase in the tariffs it can charge independent producers. The Federal Energy Commission is scheduled to consider Gazprom's request in two weeks.
 Closer to the hearts of foreign investors is liberalization of Gazprom's two-tiered share structure. Foreigners are officially prohibited from buying local shares, which also cannot be converted into its American Depositary Receipts. More than a year after Putin demanded liberalization, investors are still waiting.
 They are also anticipating the results of the race between incumbent board member Boris Fyodorov and William Browder, CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, for a seat on Gazprom's board. The winner, if any, will be made known at Friday's shareholders meeting.
 Both advocate for the kind of gas market reform that will increase Gazprom's ability to produce gas and, thus, its valuation.
 If the government puts off reform, "there will be no gas for Russia, no gas for Europe and everything will be done in panic mode," said Landes of Renaissance Capital.

TITLE: Canada Trip Brings $20 Bln Nukes Deal
AUTHOR: By Martin Crutsinger
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: KANANASKIS, Alberta - The world's seven wealthiest countries agreed Thursday to spend $20 billion to help Russia dismantle stockpiled weapons. 
 
President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President George W. Bush sealed the 10-year pact on Russia in one-on-one talks as an economic summit of the world's industrial powers drew to a close. 
 World leaders meeting at a remote Canadian Rockies resort had feared that Russia's old nuclear, biological and chemical weapons stockpiles could fall into terrorist hands. 
 Under the proposal, which was officially announced on Thursday at the leaders' isolated summit site, the United States would spend $1 billion per year for 10 years on the program. Its partners from Europe, Japan and Canada together would contribute a similar amount over the same time, a senior U.S. official said. 
 He spoke shortly after the Putin-Bush meeting ended. The leaders had reached tentative agreement Wednesday on the money issue, but their staffs negotiated late into the night and Thursday morning over Russia's obligations. 
 Russia agreed to provide the G-7 partners access to disposal sites, such as facilities where nuclear submarines are dismantled, the U.S. official said. Mos cow also has ensured adequate auditing and oversight authority to its partners. 
 The agreement, long sought by the United States, is part of a broader campaign to increase cooperation between the United States and Russia on international issues such as nuclear proliferation. Bush and Putin recently agreed to reduce their nuclear stockpiles. 
 The eight heads of state also turned their attention Thursday to Africa and a far-reaching program to provide billions of dollars of assistance to the world's poorest continent. 
 "This continent is too important to allow it to fall into obscurity again," German Chancellor Gerhard Schroe der told German television.
 The G-8 leaders were being joined for the discussions by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the presidents of four African countries - South Af rica, Algeria, Nigeria and Senegal. 
 The countries scored an initial victory on Wednesday when the G-8 agreed to increase support by $1 billion for an initiative launched at the Cologne summit in 1999 to provide debt relief for the world's poorest nations. 
 The African countries were hoping for a commitment that 50 percent of future aid increases would be devoted to their region, but the United States and Japan were raising objections to setting such a specific target. 
 On terrorism, the G-8 produced a new action plan to make airline travel safer and to close what is seen as a major opening for terrorists - inadequate surveillance of thousands of cargo containers that enter ports every day. 
 The G-8 leaders also pondered how to offer assurances to global financial markets, which were sent tumbling Wednesday with WorldCom Inc.'s announcement that it had disguised $3.8 billion of expenses. 
 
 
q
 In a challenge to Bush administration plans for a missile-defense shield, China and Russia on Thursday submitted a joint proposal to the Conference on Disarmament for a new international treaty to ban weapons in outer space - a plan rejected by the United States. 
 
"Outer space is faced with the danger of weaponization and an arms race," said Chinese ambassador Hu Xiaodi, presenting the text to the 66-country body in Geneva. 
 It marked the first time Russia and China had made a joint initiative on the issue, which has long been a priority for Beijing because of its fears that U.S. development of a missile defense will inevitably involve outer space. 
 "We support the urgent adoption today of all measures possible in order to prevent the deployment of weapons in outer space, rather than waste subsequently huge efforts and resources to have it "de-weaponized," said Russian Ambassador Leonid Skotnikov. 


TITLE: Three-Day March Reaches Moscow
AUTHOR: By Angela Charlton
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: MOSCOW - Hundreds of chemists, biologists and nuclear scientists, desperate to support their families and feeling forgotten by Russia's post-Soviet leadership, crowded at the government's headquarters Thursday to plead for better wages and research funding.
 
Anis Gariyev once enjoyed a generous salary and the respect of his neighbors as a chemical engineer at the Pushchino Research Center in Pushchino outside Moscow. Now his 1,500-ruble ($48) monthly salary leaves him among the community's most destitute.
 Going to work sometimes depresses him because several of the offices in his corridor stand empty, abandoned by colleagues who left for more lucrative employment, such as working as a grocery-store cashier.
 Gariyev, 55, and about 40 other scientists and graduate students marched to the Russian White House for three days to reach Thursday's rally from Pushchino, 130 kilometers away.
 "My feet are tired but the trip was worth it," he said. "It's for the future of Russia."
 The scientists, some wearing white lab coats, were joined in their protest by hundreds of Communist supporters carrying red banners. They joined in the criticism of the government for the reduction in spending on science and research since the 1991 Soviet collapse.
 Most of the scientists were middle-aged or older, reflecting the low number of young people joining the profession because of its miserly pay.
 The Soviet Union boasted the largest number of scientists in the world, researchers responsible for the Soviet space program, advances in superconductor research and vaccines - and its vast nuclear, biological and chemical weapons programs.
 But the generous state support for science withered after 1991, prompting many researchers to seek jobs in the private sector or abroad. More than half a million scientists have left Russia since the Soviet Union collapsed, the chairman of the Russian Academy of Sciences' trade unions said last week.
 President Vladimir Putin has made rejuvenating Russia's scientific establishment a priority. In March, he gave a speech urging government scientists to streamline their research, focusing on promising new technologies.
 The speakers at Thursday's rally said the government has only partially followed through on Putin's promises, earmarking just 35 billion rubles ($1.1 billion) instead of the 49.5 billion rubles ($1.5 billion) pledged earlier.

TITLE: Putin Blames Officials for Flood Problems
PUBLISHER: Combined Reports
TEXT: MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that officials had failed to heed storm warnings and to act in time to soften the impact of floods that have killed 77 people and made tens of thousands homeless in southern Russia. 
 
Speaking in Canada on the sidelines of the G8 summit, Putin said too many people had been hurt and that the poor were always the ones to suffer the most. 
 "It seems to me such large-scale [destruction] could have been prevented, because information about such a development in the [weather] situation was known well in advance," he said in remarks broadcast on ORT television. 
 "The local authorities, from my point of view, could have worked on preventive measures more effectively," he said. Putin also said it was paramount to stave off an epidemic of water-borne diseases. 
 Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu said earlier this week that lives had been lost because the southern regions had failed to react quickly enough after a week of torrential rain. 
 A half-hour hail storm on Thursday added to the woes of the southern Kabardino-Balkaria region, with hail stones the size of eggs damaging about 1,150 homes, cutting power and phone lines, and forcing Shoigu to abandon his plane and drive to the flood-hit Stavropol region. 
 Stavropol Governor Alexander Chernogorov declared a day of mourning for Friday in his region, one of the areas to bear the brunt of the flooding, the RIA news agency reported. 
 Emergency Situations Ministry officials put the damage in the nine flood-hit southern regions at 15.9 billion rubles (about $500 million), a serious strain on Russia's limited federal budget. 
 Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, however, said emergency funds had been released by the Finance Ministry and that rebuilding homes and infrastructure should be completed by October, Itar-Tass reported. 
 Weather forecasters are predicting more storms across southern Russia on Friday, raising fears of a new wave of flooding, said Viktor Beltsov, a spokesperson for the Emergency Situations Ministry. 
 Worst affected are Russia's bread-basket grain producing regions of Stavropol and Krasnodar, as well as the Caucasus regions of Karachai-Cherkessia and Dagestan. More than 300,000 people have been affected by the country's worst flooding in a decade, including 87,600 evacuated from inundated homes. In addition, 405 bridges have been swept away, as well as 2,171 kilometers of highway, and 121 factories. 
 More than 60 metric tons of food and medicine supplies have arrived from Moscow and the southern city of Rostov-na-Donu, said Viktor Shkareda, an emergency official with the southern federal district. He said more than 31,000 people have returned to their homes. 
 He said workers have restored most of the federal roads in the region, except for the Trans-Caucasian Highway, which is still under reconstruction. 
 Water-borne diseases from the rotting remains of livestock and swamped water treatment plants pose a major health threat, rescue officials say. 
 Health Ministry officials say some 400,000 people are without safe drinking water, though two emergency water treatment plants have been shipped down to the region, along with supplies of bottled water.
 
 <i>(Reuters, AP) </i>

TITLE: Stepashin Steps In Over Burenin Case
AUTHOR: Claire Bigg
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: The president of Russia's Federal Audit Chamber, Sergei Stepashin, called on Legislative Assembly Speaker Sergei Tarasov to clear up the current conflict between himself and St. Petersburg Audit Chamber head Dmitry Burenin in a statement made on Thursday.
 
The situation heated up early this week when Tarasov ordered Burenin to appear on Tuesday before a Legislative Assembly board that was to assess his performance in the post.
 After notifying the board on Monday that this would be the case, Burenin didn't appear. He maintains that, under federal law, the position of Audit Chamber president is not liable to such examinations, which are carried out annually for the majority of civil-service positions in the city government.
 Stepashin, who also presides over the Association of Audit Organs of Russia, called on Tarasov to work toward a resolution in the conflict, and proposed that the association carry out a &quot;thorough analysis of the Audit Chamber's activities.&quot; 
 He added that association representatives had already carried out evaluations of &quot;a whole series of regional audit organs,&quot; and that &quot;the results of these evaluations have contributed to a higher degree of efficency in their activities.&quot;
 Burenin, who has filed two complaints against the Legislative Assembly, maintains that Smolny has mismanaged large amounts of funds from the city budget and that it is now trying, with the aid of a number of lawmakers in the assembly, to remove key figures at the Audit Chamber.
 &quot;There are only two possible outcomes from the present situation: either the law is applied and the Audit Chamber can function as it was meant to, or the administration, with the help of some of the deputies, will succeed in dismissing the current Audit Chamber directors ...&quot; he said in an interview on Thursday.
 &quot;The Audit Chamber was set up in 1995. Such an institution takes time to develop, so it has only recently begun to come into its own,&quot; Burenin said. &quot;If Smolny is successful in what it is trying to do, then it will be able to go on operating as it always has - without facing any real constraints.&quot;
 Burenin said he welcomed Stepashin's comments as an opportunity to settle the conflict objectively and to find ways for the Audit Chamber to be monitored more effectively.
 &quot;I would welcome federal representatives and be glad to show them all of the Audit Chamber's findings and the corruption cases we have investigated.&quot;

TITLE: Six Acquitted in Kholodov Case
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: MOSCOW - The Moscow Military District Court on Wednesday acquitted all six defendants in one of the most high-profile murder cases of the past decade - the 1994 killing of Moskovsky Komsomolets reporter Dmitry Kholodov, who was investigating corruption in the highest echelons of the Defense Ministry.
 
The defendants - Colonel Pavel Popovskikh, the former chief of intelligence in the airborne troops; four former officers in the airborne troops, Alexander Soroka, Vladimir Morozov, Konstantin Mirzayants and Konstantin Barkovsky; and Alexander Kapuntsov, the deputy head of a private security firm - were freed in the courtroom. Each had spent 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 years in pre-trial detention.
 Prosecutors had attempted to prove that Popovskikh organized the murder of the young journalist on the orders of then-Defense Minister Pavel Grachev. But the judge, Major General Vladimir Serdyukov, said in the verdict that the evidence was inconclusive.

TITLE: IN BRIEF
TEXT: Money Law Changed
 

MOSCOW (SPT) - The cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal to change currency legislation, in order to allow both foreigners and Russians to take up to $1,500 out of the country without a customs declaration. 
 Currently, Russian citizens are allowed to take up to $500 out of the country without declaring anything, and up to $1,500 without paperwork proving that the funds were legally obtained. Foriegn citizens, however, must present paperwork regardless of the sum - either a customs declaration stamped upon their arrival or a document from a Russian bank certifying a cash withdrawal.
 The proposed amendment, which would give the same rights to Russians and non-Russians, will go to the State Duma for consideration in the fall session, the government press service said.
 Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov said Thursday that the proposal resulted from "numerous complaints from foreign and Russian citizens." His deputy, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, added that the amendment was a first step ahead of a more radical reform of currency regulations.
 
 
Extremism Bill Passed
 

Moscow (SPT) - The State Duma on Thursday passed in the third and final reading the Kremlin-backed anti-extremism bill.
 According to Interfax, the term "extremism" has been defined to include actions by social and religious groups, as well as other organizations; popular action; and action by the mass media to try to change the constitutional system and damage the unity of the Russian Federation. It also includes the organization of illegal armed groups, terrorism and threats to national security.
 Actions related to national, religious or racial issues, as well as inciting violence, are also covered by the bill. In addition, propaganda, publicly displaying nationalist symbols, making contributions to terrorist groups and publishing material of the German Nazi Party and Italy's Fascist Party are all also defined as extremism, Interfax reported.
 
 
Kalugin Sentenced
 

MOSCOW (AP) - The Moscow City Court sentenced former KGB General Oleg Kalugin to 15 years in a maximum-security prison on Wednesday, for passing secrets to the United States during the Cold War.
 Kalugin, who ran the KGB's counterintelligence department from 1973 to 1980, was found guilty of treason for "damaging national security," Interfax and Itar-Tass reported.
 Kalugin, who has lived in the United States since the mid-1990s, refused to return for the trial and called the proceedings an act of revenge by his former colleagues.
 In addition to the prison sentence, Kalugin will be stripped of all his military ranks and honors, news agencies reported. Kalugin's court-appointed lawyer, Yevgeny Baru, said he would appeal the verdict.
 The court threw out one of the charges against Kalugin, related to his testimony at the Florida espionage trial of retired U.S. Army Reserve Colonel George Trofimoff, the reports said. Kalugin testified against Trofimoff, who was convicted last year of spying for the Soviet Union.
 
 
People's Will Arrives
 

St. Petersburg (SPT) - The Legality faction was re-registered as the St. Petersburg's Will faction at a plenary session of the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday.
 The same five deputies from Legality faction - Igor Matveev, Pavel Soltan, Zoya Zaushnikova, Vatanyar Yagya and Andrei Lovyagin - form the renamed faction. 



TITLE: Hotels To Be Given Support by Hostels
AUTHOR: By Angelina Davidova
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: In anticipation of the city's 300th anniversary celebrations, St. Petersburg is in desperate need of another 20,000 hotel beds to cater for the city's coming 300th anniversary celebrations, according to participants in a round table meeting held on the subject this week. The Russian Hostel Association has suggested that a hostel chain may help to solve the crisis and has now proposed a major development program to create more accommodation for visitors to the city. 
 
At a round table discussion, held at the International Press Center for St. Petersburg's 300th Anniversary on Tuesday, Lyudmila Botkina, the deputy head of the city administration's Tourism Department, said that there are not enough hotel beds in St. Petersburg at present. The shortage is not only in three-star hotels, but also in five-star hotels, of which there are currently four in the city. 
 In 2001, 3 million tourists came to visit the city. In 2003, the City administration expects that number to grow to at least 4 million.
 &quot;By May 2003, St. Petersburg will need a minimum of 50,000 hotel beds - it now has only 32,000&quot;, Botkina said.
 Such a high demand for hotel rooms, however, is only expected in May and the summer months. At other times of the year, hotels find themselves close to empty and the administration is now attempting to develop tourism during the off season, she said. 
 There are around 200 hotel-investment projects currently being considered by the St. Petersburg administration. It seems unlikely, however, that many of the plans will be implemented because of the difficulty of finding investors prepared to build new hotels in St. Petersburg.
 Nikolai Travinin, president of the Russian Hostel Association, said that the association had launched a hostel-development program as an alternative to hotel construction. The association members maintain that there is an opportunity to create a chain of ten to twelve hostels in the city with a combined total of 1,000 beds. The Russian Hostel Association has already prepared a number of business plans in connection with the hostel program.
 Travinin said that there are only seven hostels in Russia at present, with three in Moscow, two in St. Petersburg, one in Veliky Novgorod and one in Irkutsk. St. Petersburg hostels have 120 beds, each costing between $10 and $19 per night.
 The Russian Hostel Association plans to hold negotiations with the Department of Tourism in order to attract the 200 investors needed for the development of the hostel sector in St. Petersburg. Travinin said it would take a maximum of between $100,000 and $300,000 to build a new hostel and such a project would pay for itself within two to three years. Investors could also consider renovating old or abandoned buildings. 
 Russian Hostel Association representatives are confident that hostel development will attract greater numbers of young tourists to St. Petersburg. According to the statistics of the Department of Tourism, only 20 percent of incoming tourists are under 30 years of age.
 According to Stephen Caron, president of St. Petersburg's first hostel, &quot;inexpensive hostels will attract those young tourists who are not so concerned about the quality of living, but are more concerned about who their neighbors will be. They do not spend their money on accommodation - they spend their money on experience, cafes, clubs, museums and so on.'

TITLE: Severstal, VFP Battle Over Iron Ore
AUTHOR: By Torrey Clark
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - A battle is raging for control of the Olkon iron-ore plant, which supports the one-company Arctic town of Olenogorsk in the Murmansk region.
 
As in many disputes, the feuding sides - in this case metals giant Severstal and the Your Financial Adviser, or VFP, brokerage - insist that the very future of the plant is at stake.
 Their warning is all too correct: Olkon's open pits will run dry in five to seven years at current rates of mining, and developing new underground mines will cost millions of dollars.
 VFP chairperson Vasily Boiko is accusing Severstal of violating VFP's rights as a minority shareholder, by stripping Olkon of ore and profits and withholding investments. Over the past year, VFP has filed several suits - to have an independent audit and to replace the board's audit committee - after failing to get enough votes at shareholders meetings. None have been successful.
 Severstal is accusing VFP of trying to force Severstal to buy its stake.
 VFP, which owns 31.2 percent in Olkon, claimed control over the plant after electing its representatives to the board of directors at a stormy shareholders meeting last week. Bailiffs interrupted the meeting and presented court orders blocking three Cyprus-registered companies that together hold Severstal's 50.93-percent stake in Olkon from voting.
 Olkon general director Viktor Vasin and the previous board were stripped of their posts, and additional orders forbade the plant's registrar, Partner, from counting ballots at the meeting or making any changes to the shareholder list.
 Andrei Kashubsky, Severstal's representative on Olkon's previous board of directors, declared the meeting over after the bailiffs arrived. But VFP said he had no right to do so and elected its representatives to the board, which appointed 26-year-old VFP employee Vladimir Maslov as Olkon's general director.
 The court orders were based on suits brought by individual shareholders. Neither VFP nor Severstal could explain the basis for the suits. Kashubsky said the suits may have been orchestrated by VFP. Severstal plans to sue Boiko.

TITLE: Duma Delays Reading of Controversial Energy Reforms
AUTHOR: By Alla Startseva
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - The State Duma's decision to postpone the first reading of a raft of energy bills throws a kink in the government's plan to have the legislation ready by next year, Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko said Thursday.
 
The lower house of parliament will consider the bills after the summer break, but enough legislation is already on the agenda for the fall session, Khristenko said. The Duma is also to consider the 2003 federal budget in the fall.
 &quot;It is possible, but a lot more difficult&quot; to have the legislation ready by 2003, Khristenko was quoted by Prime-Tass as saying.
 The bills would provide the legislative base for reforming national power monopoly Unified Energy Systems, which would lead to much needed investment in the sector.
 UES chief Anatoly Chubais was exasperated by the delay. &quot;Russian businesses, governors, the heads of the 56 regional legislatures and the Federation Council support the approval of the bills. But the Duma has not decided yet,&quot; Interfax quoted him as saying.
 The postponement will lead to a delay in badly needed investment to the sector, Chubais said. &quot;The legislation does not yet exist, but the number of investment proposals from foreign and Russian investors has significantly increased,&quot; he said.
 The four centrist fractions that voted to postpone the reading - Unity, Fatherland-All Russia, Russia's Regions and People's Deputy - said they had not properly studied the bills, which were drawn up by the government and Chubais. 
 At a plenary meeting Thursday, the Duma proposed forming a working group with representatives from the government, Duma and Federation Council to work out all variants of the legislation.
 The decision to postpone the reading is due both to the complexity of the reform and to the fact that there are alternative drafts of bills that have not been carefully studied, Deputy Economic Development and Trade Minister Andrei Sharonov said.
 Alternative bills propose preserving state control over the sector, while the Economic Development and Trade Ministry insists on eliminating the government's role in competitive parts of the sector, such as generation.
 The government has proposed maintaining energy tariffs on the federal level, while other bills envision keeping the present two-level control, with the regions also setting tariffs.
 &quot;To reach a compromise at any price is not a way out,&quot; Sharonov said.
 Sharonov said he is afraid the working group may change the concept of the reform. &quot;All this is not about text changes, but the concept,&quot; he said.
 Chubais' political influence did not help him push the bills through - an indicator of the powerful political opposition to the proposed legislation.
 The main opposition to the bills is the presidential administration, and all four Duma fractions that voted to postpone the legislation are pro-Kremlin.
 Presidential economic advisor Andrei Illarionov - a long-time Chubais foe and opponent of his reforms - said this week that the proposed restructuring would have bad consequences. &quot;Not only are investments not increasing in the sector, but what has already been invested into UES is decreasing,&quot; Interfax reported Illarionov as saying.

TITLE: American Academics Taken to Court
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: BOSTON - The U.S. Department of Justice has asked a federal judge to order Harvard University and two men accused of mismanaging an economic-reform program in Russia to repay the government $102 million. 


TITLE: Days May be Numbered for Cyprus as Offshore Haven
AUTHOR: By Victoria Lavrentieva
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - Russian companies using Cyprus as an offshore haven may soon have to move onshore to take advantage of the country's lower tax rates.
 
As part of efforts to join the European Union in 2004, the Cypriot parliament is expected to pass a series of tax bills that, among other things, require Cyprus-registered Russian companies to be managed and controlled from the island to take advantage of a double-tax treaty. The treaty, which was approved in 1998, allows Cyprus-registered businesses operating in Russia to pay Cypriot taxes, which are among the lowest in the world.
 &quot;In the past, tax residency was based merely upon incorporation in Cyprus, but this is no longer the case,&quot; said Bill Henry, a tax partner with Ernst &amp; Young's Moscow office.
 According to the draft law, all companies registered in Cyprus will be subject to a new tax rate of 10 percent starting Jan 1, while before, offshores paid 4.25 percent compared with the rate of 29 percent applied to local companies.
 Even after the increase, Cypus will have the lowest income tax in Europe, followed by Ireland's 12.5 percent, and much lower than the 24 percent that is currently applied to Russian citizens or legal entities owning offshore entities.
 &quot;The new rate of 10 percent was approved by the EU, and there is no fixed time period in the law, which means the rate can be applied in the foreseeable future,&quot; said Neophytos Neophytou, a Cyprus-based international tax partner with Ernst &amp; Young.
 The new laws would eliminate or change the ownership structure of thousands of so-called shell companies that are used by Russians to minimize corporate and personal taxes. An estimated 52,000 companies are registered in Cyprus, and about 40 percent of those are believed to be owned by Russians or by foreigners operating in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
 A grandfather clause in the tax law stipulates that companies registered in Cyprus before Dec. 31, 2001, will be taxed at the current rate of 4.25 percent until 2006. Firms that were registered in Cyprus this year will pay 4.25 percent until Jan 1 and 10 percent afterward.
 The new Russian Tax Code will have an even stronger influence on Russian businesses in Cyprus than that country's new tax legislation, said Eduard Niygibaeir, deputy head of the Prospekt brokerage. 
 Cypriot Ambassador to Russia, Caralambos Ioannides, said recently that entry into the EU would not have any negative effects on Russian business interests on the island.
 Ernst &amp; Young's Russian clients have shown no interest in leaving Cyprus, Henry said. &quot;Cyprus is still a very attractive place for doing business with Russia, provided that certain steps are taken now to deal with the changes,&quot; he said.

TITLE: New Legislation for Russian Railways
AUTHOR: By Alla Startseva
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - The State Duma gave initial approval Wednesday to a raft of legislation, paving the way for a three-stage reform of the railroads that will lead to their eventual privatization.
 
Lawmakers passed four bills in the first reading that will lay a legislative foundation for the reform of the giant state-owned monopoly.
 Deputy Railways Minister Anna Belova told the Duma that the legislation was crucial to the government's plans to revamp the railroads.
 &quot;The railroad reform must be carried out with absolutely no mistakes,&quot; Belova said, RIA Novosti reported.
 The government has long been struggling to restructure the loss-making railroads, and the need for the reform is obvious. In overseeing rails, the Railways Ministry is tasked with the contradicting missions of running a $10 billion per year commercial operation that carries 80 percent of the country's cargo, while at the same time acting as a government regulator.
 Such organization has left the railroad system unprofitable and cash-strapped. The ministry estimates that up to 80 percent of train cars and railroad infrastructure is worn out.
 Reform will bring investment while increasing the safety and stability of rail transport, according to the Railways Ministry.
 One bill approved Tuesday, the draft law on rail transport, identifies and gives legal rights to the three key users of the railroad - the customer, the carrier and the infrastructure owner.
 Another bill, the draft law on the rail-transport charter, lays out how carriers should handle cargo and passengers from the start to the end of their trips. It also defines what corresponding services should be offered.
 A third bill contains amendments to the law on natural monopolies that give the state control over just the railroad infrastructure.
 A last bill, the draft law on managing railroad property, provides the framework for the privatization of the railroads. This framework will include the formation of the 100-percent state-owned Russian Railways Co. in its first phase, with it plans for this company to take over the railway system.

TITLE: It Is Time To Fix a National Embarrassment
AUTHOR: By William F. Browder
TEXT: ON June 6, the U.S. Department of Commerce declared Russia a free-market economy. On the surface, that historic judgment seems reasonable. After all, only 12 percent of the country's enterprises are still owned entirely by the state. Government outlays as a percentage of GDP in 2000 stood at just 30 percent, the same as in the United States. Moreover, President Vladimir Putin has cracked down on greedy oligarchs and welcomed foreign trade and investment. Four years after the collapse of the ruble and the economy, investors are flocking back here in droves and the stock market is up some 60 percent in the past 12 months.
 
But there is another test of the character of Russia's economy: the fate of the country's largest company, Gazprom. Monstrously mismanaged, unaccountable to shareholders and politically well connected, Gazprom remains a challenge to the integrity of Russia's free-market economy. Moreover, it poses a challenge to Russian democracy itself, which needs to foster independent public institutions - like independent courts and regulatory agencies - and a private sector that truly respects property and the rights of shareholders.
 Gazprom is not only the country's biggest company, but also one of the largest companies in the world - and its potential boggles the mind. It holds 25 percent of the world's natural-gas reserves, which makes it as big as Saudi Arabia in terms of hydrocarbon holdings and 10 times the size of Exxon Corp., the largest publicly traded oil-and-gas company in the world. Gazprom brings in 20 percent of the country's export income and accounts for 18 percent of tax revenues. Yet the market capitalization of Gazprom is so small that it's a national embarrassment. The company currently has a market value of $25 billion, less than that of smaller firms such as AT&amp;T Wireless or Fox Entertainment.
 When something is cheap, it is usually cheap for a reason. In the case of Gazprom, there are several good reasons. The extremely low valuation of the company is the result of many years of asset stripping and lack of transparency. It is also a reflection of investors' uncertainty about government intentions to clean up the company or free the firm from costly regulations. If Russia cannot get its most valuable company in order, what about the rest of the economy?
 Most of Gazprom's problems predate the Putin regime. First, past managers were allowed by the Kremlin to engage in what can only be called an orgy of stealing. Second, the heavily regulated system of selling gas to consumers - at way below the market price - has hobbled the company's profits. Despite liberalization in other areas, natural-gas prices have remained firmly stuck under state control in a style reminiscent of the Soviet system. Gazprom has been forced to sell its gas to domestic customers for 89 percent less than German companies pay. This unrealistic discount distorts the Russian economy, and hurts Gazprom, which essentially subsidizes other Russian companies (including many grossly inefficient ones) at a cost of about $43 billion a year.
 Finally, harsh and discriminatory ownership restrictions have been imposed on foreigners investing in Gazprom. Any foreign investor willing to buy Gazprom shares has had to pay a huge premium, effectively meaning nearly a 100-percent &quot;penalty&quot; for not being Russian. Rather than pay this discriminatory &quot;tax,&quot; a lot of foreigners investing in Russia have chosen to avoid Gazprom altogether. Foreign investors own only $1 billion of Gazprom stock, which pales beside the $15 billion foreign ownership of Telmex, the Mexican phone company.
 Before Westerners grow smug about the integrity of their own companies and economies (if that's still possible after the recent corporate scandals in the United States), consider this: The esteemed U.S. accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers conveniently failed to mention any of the asset-stripping in its annual reports while working as Gazprom's auditor from 1996 to 2002. Its omissions included billions of dollars' worth of transactions to companies directly owned by family members of Gazprom management.
 Putin entered the Gazprom fray last summer and made headlines in an effort to clean up the mess. He fired Rem Vyakhirev, the asset-stripping CEO, and replaced him with a loyal technocrat, Alexei Miller, who was given a mandate to recover lost assets and improve transparency. Putin also instructed the government to liberalize gas prices, and he set up a commission to change the rules so that foreign investors could buy Gazprom shares without any restrictions. The share price doubled over the next 12 months in anticipation of all the improvements.
 Unfortunately, Putin couldn't micromanage the whole process, and what started out with the best of intentions ended up with mixed results. On the transparency front, it looked promising at first. As my fund filed lawsuits against PwC for false and misleading audits, and the government launched two separate investigations into PwC's auditing at Gazprom, the new Gazprom CEO held a competitive-tender process to select a new auditor for the first time in its history. But hopes dimmed when the board of Gazprom mysteriously chose to rehire PwC, even though the auditing firm whitewashed the past management's misdeeds.
 The asset recovery exercise also started out looking good. After about six months on the job, Miller announced he had recovered two of the seven gas fields that were taken from Gazprom. He also organized the arrest and indictment of several former executives who had been involved in another asset-stripping scheme. However, just as Miller declared victory over two major asset recoveries, three more scams were discovered in Gazprom's gas distribution business. The scams were estimated to cost Gazprom between $1 billion and $2 billion annually.
 On the domestic-subsidy issue, the news has been likewise mixed. After lengthy debates, the government raised domestic natural-gas tariffs 37.5 percent, from $13.30 to $18.30 per thousand cubic meters. This sounds like a decisive step, until you look at how far prices still need to be raised. The 2001 tariff increase narrowed the Russian-German discount from 89 percent to 85 percent. At this pace, it will take six years for domestic gas prices to achieve parity with those in the West.
 The final disappointment came from the commission set up to liberalize foreign ownership of Gazprom shares. The commission started meeting last summer. But instead of eliminating the discriminatory ownership structure for foreigners, commission members ended up quarrelling over how to somehow divert the premium to themselves. Their fight couldn't be resolved, so the commission sent four different proposals to Putin. Each recommended a different recipient of the foreigners' premium through complicated auction procedures, but none backed liberalizing the rules for foreign ownership of Gazprom. The problem remains.
 To guarantee his place in the history books, Putin needs to ensure continued economic growth, and nowhere can he make a bigger contribution than by increasing the value and effectiveness of Gazprom, and making it a model for the rest of the economy. He should revisit his initial to-do list at Gazprom and implement real reform. He should instruct the government, which owns a 38 percent block of Gazprom stock, to use its shareholder votes at the June 28 annual shreholders meeting to fire PwC and bring in a new independent auditor to do a comprehensive forensic audit of the company and identify where theft took place. Next, he should set up a special commission to retrieve all lost assets of Gazprom, regardless of the political connections of the new owners of those assets. Then, he should set a three-year schedule for raising gas prices to market levels. Finally, he should allow free trading of shares, regardless of the nationality of their owners.
 If these steps were taken, I believe the value of Gazprom would rise between five-fold and ten-fold. The value of the government-owned 38 percent stake in Gazprom would also increase to nearly $100 billion, which could help erase much of Russia's sovereign debt burden and open up new channels for investment and growth.
 
 <i>William Browder, CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, contributed this comment to The Washington Post. He is running as a minority shareholder candidate for the board of Gazprom. </i>

TITLE: Service Bill Nothing but Potemkin Reform
AUTHOR: By Pavel Felgenhauer
TEXT: LAST week the State Duma passed in its second - and most important - reading a draft law to allow alternative community service as an option to the draft. Now it is almost certain that it will sail through parliament, be signed into law by President Vladimir Putin and come into force as of January 2004, and then conscientious objectors will legally be able to dodge military service.
 
But will they really? The new law makes community service highly unattractive: A conscientious objector may have to serve up to 3 1/2 years somewhere in a far-off region of Russia that he will have no say in choosing, assigned a job that may not be to his liking (the assignment could be to do noncombat duties inside military units where a conscientious objector might face severe hazing).
 Also, a conscientious objector is obliged by the law to officially notify the military authorities at least half a year before he turns 18 of his intention to choose the community-service alternative. The military authorities will then have the right to decide whether to allow the applicant to do community service or not, depending on whether they think the draftee's pacifist convictions are real.
 It's clear that there will be no genuine community-service alternative in this country under the new rules. The Defense Ministry will gather the statements of conscientious objectors and then decide how many applications to grant. Today the ministry calls up some 400,000 draftees per year (30 percent of all young men that turn 18 each year). Begining in 2004, it simply plans to allow several hundred young men a year to do community service, and so it can say that the constitutional right to choose is being realized.
 It is obvious that the alternative community-service law is being passed largely to improve Russia's image abroad - as additional proof of our serious intention to join the community of democratic countries. Russia already has a free media that is in fact not free at all; a private banking system that is no more than a cover for money-laundering activities; a stock exchange that does not reflect the real economy; free elections, the results of which are pre-determined by the Kremlin, and so on.
 Potemkin reforms, Potemkin civil rights and Potemkin democracy were often used during Soviet times to fool foreigners. And often the West knowingly took these Potemkin decorations at face value, and today they will surely do the same. If Putin continues to maintain his present pro-Western foreign policy, no one in the West will seriously scrutinize his domestic record. The new bill on community service is ample proof that no serious military reforms will happen anytime soon, but then that's an internal Russian problem, is it not?
 Generals plan to keep a large conscript army and to continue the draft indefinitely. Of course, Putin has announced that the draft should end somewhere after 2010. But to make this happen, the military needs to undergo serious structural reforms.
 The defense budget is today some $10 billion and will hardly exceed $20 billion in the next 10 to 20 years. With such a spending bill, Russia can maintain a more or less well-fed, well-armed and disciplined conventional armed force of no more than half a million people, taking into account the fact that we should also keep a significant nuclear deterrent. Today Russia's military has more than 2 million service personel in active service and also some 700,000 civilian support personnel.
 The per capita militarization of Russia today is in fact higher than that of the Soviet Union in the 1980s. Russia inherited some 80 percent of the Soviet military machine and kept most of it, while inheriting only 50 percent of the Soviet Union's resources, population and natural wealth.
 Over the past decade, the military machine has degraded as a result of inadequate financing, aging equipment, bad food and living conditions, a steady decline in discipline, morale and the professional standards of its commanding officers. The Russian military is the main supplier of munitions and military equipment to Chechen separatists. It was announced this week that terrorists purchased the MON-90 antipersonnel mine that killed and wounded hundreds on May 9, in Kaspiisk, Dagestan, from a Russian military unit.
 Desertions, killings and the hazing of conscripts in Russian units have clearly been on the rise recently. A total breakdown of the military machine is becoming a genuine possibility, while the authorities seem to believe that the forced drafting of unwilling young men is the best cure.
 
 <i>Pavel Felgenhauer is an independent defense analyst. </i>

TITLE: film fest goes out with a bang
AUTHOR: by Sergey Chernov
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: The year's main local film event, the Festival of Festivals, winds up on Saturday, but the last two days are packed with screenings at seven cinemas. The festival does not include a competition but, instead, aims to present a collection of films from Western international film festvials.
 
This year, the festival is celebrating its tenth anniversary, and the promoters threw a grand opening at the Leningrad film theater on Sunday. The event, however, was less than grand and seemed somewhat provincial, with amateur routines by drama students, including an awkward reworking of a Lisa Minnelli and Joel Grey duet from Bob Fosse's &quot;Cabaret&quot; and a poor karaoke rendering of Barbra Streisand's &quot;Woman in Love.&quot;
 The situation was saved by an eccentric speech from maverick U.S. director Bob Rafelson, a guest of the festival, who teetered on the edge of good taste during his performance, which he ended by gulping from a bottle of vodka presented to him by the event's sponsors.
 Incidentally, Rafelson's vodka escapades continued at a press conference the next day, during which he consumed three glasses of the drink while answering questions, and said that he was &quot;drunk&quot; and &quot;f***ed up,&quot; when approached afterward for an interview.
 Launched in 1993, the Festival of Festivals was inspired by the Rotterdam and Toronto international film festivals, both of which then specialized in screening the cream of contemporary European and American cinema, although the Rotterdam festival later added a competition of debut works.
 &quot;Our festival has grown from the festival-of-festivals principle - screening the best films from the past two years,&quot; the event's director, Alexander Mamontov, said this week.
 Despite the event's local importance, the Festival of Festivals is overshadowed in the national media by the year's main national event, the Moscow International Film Festival, which is currently running in the capital.
 For the past two years, the Festival of Festivals has coincided with the Moscow event, a situation that brings certain advantages, allowing the St. Petersburg event to borrow films playing in Moscow, and festival guests, who come primarily to Moscow, but pay a visit to St. Petersburg as well.
 The 69-year-old Rafelson, who is best known for his work with Jack Nicholson, including &quot;Five Easy Pieces&quot; and &quot;The Postman Always Rings Twice,&quot; is being given a retrospective in Moscow, but came to St. Petersburg to take part in the opening of the Festival of Festivals, and for a screening of his 1990 adventure film &quot;Mountains of the Moon,&quot; which is set in Africa and Great Britain in 1854.
 The festival has also welcomed two other high-profile guests, Holly Hunter and Harvey Keitel, both of whom are guests of the Moscow festival and came to St. Petersburg for two days each, with no public events or screenings planned. &quot;They are simply VIP guests at our festival,&quot; said Mamontov.
 However, the St. Petersburg festival has some events that the Moscow festival does not have, including two retrospectives - one dedicated to St. Petersburg, another to German <i>Neu-Welle </i>director Rainer Werner Fassbinder - and a workshop by 15 Canadian filmmakers. 
 The festival's highlights include the most recent works by Joel Coen and Pedro Almodovar, which guarantee packed venues, but some of the films showing David Lynch's &quot;Mullholland Drive&quot; and Tom Tykwer's &quot;Heaven,&quot; for instance, are not sensations, as they have already played on local screens.
 Mamontov is pleased by the fact that more fanatical film lovers take a week off to watch as many films as possible from the event's 100-plus film program, but points out that the festival is not for everybody.
 &quot;People who drop by to the a Festival of Festivals film while idly strolling along Nevsky would hardly take pleasure from watching some of the films,&quot; said Mamontov. &quot;These are films for a prepared viewer and we already have our public, our fans of the Festival of Festivals. We do this festival for true film lovers.&quot;
 
 <i>
See the Festival of Festival's program in Screens. Links: www.filmfest.ru </i>

TITLE: old, young meet at philharmonic
AUTHOR: by Peter Morley and Anastasia Boreiko
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: Vladimir Ashkenazy, arguably the world's foremost interpreter of Rachmaninov's piano music, is coming to the Shostakovich Philharmonic on Friday.
 
However, on this occasion he will not be playing, but conducting a program of works by Rachmaninov - including the First Piano Concerto - and Elgar. The soloist for the concerto is young Czech pianist Lukas Vondracek.
 Ashkenazy was born in Gorky - now Nizhny Novgorod - in 1937, and became one of the Soviet Union's most prominent musicians and a darling of the system, before defecting to the West in 1963, the same year that he won the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. He obtained Icelandic citizenship in 1972.
 Beginning in the 1970s, Ashkenazy became increasingly active as a conductor and has worked, either as principal conductor or as a guest conductor, with nearly all the world's major orchestras. In January 1998, he became principal conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, which has since become one of the world's finest.
 The appearance of Vondracek - who is just 15 - is not coincidental. Ashkenazy personally chose to work with Vondracek, and the pair have appeared with the Czech Philharmonic and other orchestras across Europe and the United States.
 Vondracek, currently a student at Ostrava University, began studying the piano at the age of just two, and gave his first concert as a four-year-old. He has performed the Rachmaninov - a technically hugely demanding piece - previously with Ashkenazy, to wide acclaim. He also plays a solo recital at the Glinka Philharmonic on Sunday evening.
 On Saturday, meanwhile, the Philharmonic plays host to the American-Russian Youth Symphony Orchestra. The result of an impressive diplomatic and artistic campaign, the orchestra, which has brought together some of the most talented young musicians from the two countries, is celebrating its 15th anniversary.
 Formed in 1987, the orchestra has achieved a global reputation and worked with many of the world's top conductors, including Valery Gergiev, Leonard Slatkin and Zubin Mehta.
 Originally created as a diplomatic initiative, the symphony orchestra has given the musicians of both the United States and Russia the opportunity to advance their musical careers, as well as to find out more about each other's cultures.
 The group's current artistic director, Leon Botstein, joined in 1992, and now the musicians are more active than ever. Botstien brings to the orchestra his experience as president of Bard College in New York state and as the artistic director of the American Symphony Orchestra.
 At a press conference on Wednesday, Botstein explained that, as well as the musical experience, one of the greatest advantages for the orchestra's members is that they &quot;get to know someone they would never get to know otherwise.&quot;
 The orchestra has performed in Miami, Asheville, Harrisburg and New York in the United States; Yerevan in Armenia; and, in Russia, in Moscow and Novosibirsk, as well as St. Petersburg. The ninety musicians who make up the orchestra are as geographically diverse as the cities in which the group has played - Botstein stressed that, when choosing the students, the ARYO aims to have a diverse group, from different cities in both countries, and neither country dominating any single section.
 The orchestra's concerts also showcase the extraordinary talent of violinist Mikhail Simonyan, currently a student at the Kertisa Musical Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. With a grant from the &quot;Salon de Virtuosi&quot; organization, this inspirational violinist has had the chance to excel in his instrumental studies. As a result, he had the opportunity to play with the National Symphony Orchestra in 2001 and has a bright future ahead of him.
 Three young St. Petersburgers will be playing in the concert on Saturday. All three - violinist Natalya Sergeyeva, viola player Valentina Borisova and trombonist Alexander Kosyakov - study at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory.

TITLE: chernov's choice
TEXT: Akvarium, </strong>which returned to the city this week after finishing its biggest U.S. tour to date with a concert at Seattle on Monday, is getting ready to please its local fans with what it calls a &quot;Traditional Summer Concert&quot; on Thursday.
 
&quot;It will be what we played in America - [Akvarium's most recent album] 'Sister Chaos,' a number of old songs, probably a few new ones, and many covers, [including] songs by [Zoopark's late frontman] Mike and the others,&quot; said Akvarium's Boris Grebenshchikov by telephone on Thursday.
 The band's recent U.S. tour was record-breaking for a Russian band. &quot;It was three weeks, 11 cities, and we were the first band in Russian history that I know to have crossed the United States by bus,&quot; said Grebenshchikov.
 Akvarium, whose immense back catalogue is now being reissued, visited a local studio last month to record some new material.
 &quot;We'll see what we'll do with it, because we're not in a hurry to release another album,&quot; he said. &quot;But we want to do something big and strange, with an emphasis on [the word] 'strange.'&quot; 
 Tickets cost between 150 and 500 rubles ($4.84 and $16.13). The location is the Lensoviet Palace of Culture. See Gigs for the address.
 The four-date <strong>Stereoleto </strong>(Stereosummer) festival, running from late June to late July, starts on Saturday.
 The festival focuses on less heavy music styles, including funk, Bossa Nova, rare groove, soul, beat, house, disco, lounge and club-pop.
 Each of four nights will be headlined by a well-known foreign act and dedicated to their respective countries. Each night will feature DJ sets, fashion and video shows, and other bonuses. 
 Called &quot;La Dolce Vita,&quot; this week's event is headlined by Italy's Montefiori Cocktail and will feature local DJ Redisco, who specializes in similar styles.
 The location is Molodyozhny Theater on Nab. Reki Fontanki. The events will take place both inside and in the surrounding gardens.
 &quot;It will be an enchanting spectacle,&quot; says promoter Ilya Bortnyuk. &quot;These will be four nights that will turn St. Petersburg into the center of European music.&quot;
 Tickets for Stereoleto cost between 250 and 300 rubles ($8.06 and $9.68). Check www.stereoleto.spb.ru for more information.
 On July 4, the Neva Delta Folk-Blues Festival kicks off. 
 Last year's festival included one open-air concert, in the Yusupovsky Garden, but this year it has expanded, to include concerts in nine towns around the Leningrad Oblast, a 1,729-kilometer motorcycle rally, exhibitions of &quot;blues paintings&quot; and &quot;blues fashion,&quot; and a gala concert at the Peter and Paul Fortress.
 The motorcycle motif will be in high profile throughout the festival, because the Bike Brothers motorcycle club is one of the organizers of the event and the vehicle is seen as most appropriate for blues and rock-and-roll fans.
 After a short opening ceremony, the caravan of bikers and blues musicians will embrark on the first leg of their rally, to Priozersk, where the first concert of the festival will be held. St. Petersburg's gala is scheduled on July 13. Check www.nevadelta.spb.ru.
 
 <i>- by Sergey Chernov </i>

TITLE: living a life of luxury at brunch
AUTHOR: by Peter Morley
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: When I was at university, Sunday brunch was something usually along the lines of a traditional English &quot;fry-up&quot; - a fried breakfast of eggs, beans, sausages, bacon, bread and so on, plus whatever else happened to be in the fridge and not too far past its expiry date, all cooked in artery-hardening amounts of grease.
 
It was with some curiosity, then, that I headed to the Grand Hotel Europe in the company of my former flatmate early on Sunday afternoon to sample the brunch there. For a brunch to be worth 50 bucks, I thought, it would have to have ostrich eggs, hand-fried in the finest, cold-pressed, extra virgin olive oil, the best hand-cured ... anyway, you get the idea.
 It turns out I was mistaken. Brunch at the Grand Hotel Europe is a refined, relaxed - and, importantly, grease-free - way of spending a lazy early Sunday afternoon, and worth every cent of the seemingly extortionate price.
 On entering the Europe restaurant, we were met by a smiling server, who found us a table, despite the fact that we had not made a reservation. A few seconds after we sat down, a solicitous, tuxedo-clad server approached and offered us champagne.
 This was just the start. The service, as one would expect from such an illustrious St. Petersburg institution as the Grand Hotel Europe, was impeccable throughout - discreet, thoughtful and striking just the right balance between friendliness and over-familiarity. Glasses were refilled at the right moment, cutlery and crockery removed without fuss, and all questions helpfully answered.
 The basic format for the brunch is very simple. The left hand side of the room - which, somewhat disappointingly, looks a bit like a cross between a school hall and an art gallery - is taken up by tables, on which is laid out a mind-boggling variety of different dishes, to which diners help themselves. (The presentation is, of course, faultless.)
 During the course of the just under four hours we spent there, the two of us managed to sample a pretty representative selection of what was on offer. The problem is that there is not enough room to do justice to it all here, but I can say that, with a few exceptions, it was all superb.
 Both of us decided to be unadventurous to start out, and helped ourselves to a few <i>bliny, </i>with caviar for my flatmate, smoked salmon and sturgeon for me, and chopped onions and <i>smetana</i> for both of us. Strike one for luxury, I thought as I lingered over the delectable sturgeon, wishing that it was possible to eat like this every day.
 The next couple of hours blended into one long blur of marvels. Particular highlights for me were the astonishing blue cheese, the eggplant-wrapped feta cheese that simply melted in my mouth, the potato gratin and the almond-fried vegetables. My companion, judging from her reactions, enjoyed nearly everything she had, and had particular fun working out the correct way to eat unshelled seafood. We also both loved the ice cream with which we finished off, and regretted that we didn't have room for more.
 We found it highly amusing that, among all the luxuries on offer, there should also be a <i>shaverma </i>stall<i>. </i>Yes, street culture has even invaded the Grand Hotel Europe, although the shaverma, according to my companion, was a cut above the ones available by Primorskaya metro station.
 A couple of things did not hit the spot. My companion had some tagliatelle in a smetana-based sauce that was bland, although she did say that it was her fault for not being daring enough in her choice of ingredients for the sauce (the dish is prepared while you wait). Also, one of the shellfish on offer tasted merely like a mouthful of salt water, and a cake my flatmate sampled was also fairly uninteresting. These gripes, however, were minuscule in the overall context.
 I had also feared that the brunch would be an excuse for New Russians to flash money around and be generally obnoxious, but, in the event, this was not the case.
 When it finally got around to nearly 4 p.m., we regretfully said farewell to the brunch, and staggered out into the rude sunlight, so full we could barely move.
 While digesting on Ploshchad Isskustv, I thought back to brunches at university, and came to the conclusion that your student days may be, as some people say, the best days of your life, but not when it comes to a proper brunch.
 
 <i>
Grand Hotel Europe brunch. Every Sunday, noon to 4 p.m., Europe restaurant. $50 per person, including all food and drinks. Credit cards accepted. Reservations advised. </i>

TITLE: future of ballet on display
AUTHOR: by Igor Stupnikov
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: The Fifth International Vaganova-Prix Ballet Competition opened at the Russian Academy of Ballet on June 19, and concluded with a gala concert by the competition's prize-winners and other participants at the Mussorgsky Theater on Wednesday.
 
The competition was a week of hard work for the competitors, the jury and the academy's administrative staff. The day before the opening, a service was held in the academy's church, and Father Andrei, the church's senior priest, wished all the participants and their teachers success and strength - both in body and in mind - for the forthcoming marathon of ballet.
 It was rumored that many of the young dancers in attendance prayed to Terpsichore, the Greek muse of dance, who has long been said to ensure to the successes and victories of those whoe dedicate their lives to dance, crowning some with the laurel wreaths of victory, while leaving others backstage in the shadows.
 The competition opened in the hall of the academy's museum, packed with young dancers, teachers, jury members, journalists and guests at the competition, from Russia and abroad. &quot;Hymn to the Great City,&quot; the finale of Gliere's ballet &quot;The Bronze Horseman,&quot; rang out triumphantly. Jury members Natalya Makarova, Altynai Asylmuratova and Natatlya Dudinskaya all made appearances and were met with stormy rounds of applause.
 In their speecehes, the members of the jury spoke about the importance of the competition. Natalya Makarova expressed concern that, with the development of technical mastery in ballet, the artistic interpretation of forms is losing its value and its impact on spectators.
 Makarova, who appears on the world's most prestigious stages, said that only the system developed by Russia's most famous teachers, Aggripina Vaganova - after whom the academy is named - is capable of turning mechanical movement into miracles of artistry.
 The draw took place on the same day. All of the young dancers anxiously approached the crystal urn containing the competitors' numbers - the order in which the numbers were picked out would determine the program of the festival. There were relieved sighs from competitors on learning that the &quot;unlucky&quot; number 13 had already been removed from the urn.
 This year's competition introduced three new prizes: the Konstantin Sergeyev prize, named after the renowned dancer, in the pairs competition; the Inna Zubkovskaya prize, also named after the dancer, for elegance, inspiration and beauty; and the &quot;Hope of Russia&quot; prize, to be awarded to a young dancer demonstrating extraordinary technical mastery, individuality, and a striking acting personality.
 After the voting, the jury awarded the prizes. First prizes, along with $3,000, were awarded to Polina Semionova, from Moscow, and Mikhail Lobukhin, from St. Petersburg.
 Second prizes, along with $1,000, went to St. Petersburg dancers Yevgenia Obraztsova, Olesya Novikova and Vladimir Shklyarov; Nanami Terai, from Japan, and Yevgeny Lagunov, from Ukraine.
 Third prizes, along with $700, went to Yekaterina Krysanova and Anastasia Stashkevich, of Moscow; Alina Somova, Pavel Moskvito and Grigory Popov of St. Petersburg; and Massimo Garon, from Italy.
 After the results of the voting were announced, the members of the jury wished the young victors - the lucky chosen few of Terpsichore - good health, success and good luck on the difficult path of a ballet artist.

TITLE: swinging after all these years
AUTHOR: by Jennifer Davis
TEXT: SPECIAL TO THE ST. PETERSBURG TIMES
 Gennady Golshtein, who has taught saxophone in the jazz department at the Mussorgsky School of Music since its inception in the mid-seventies, has instructed everyone from Russia's greatest jazz export, Igor Butman, to local ska enthusiasts Alexei Kanev of Marsheider Kunst and Grigory Zontov of Spitfire. 
 
&quot;All of the best saxophone players in St. Petersburg have studied under Gennady Golshtein,&quot; says David Goloshchokin, the director of the Jazz Philharmonic Hall. &quot;You only have to look at his band, Saxophones of St. Petersburg, to find the stars of tomorrow.&quot;
 Golshtein's project, &quot;Doomed To Be Happy,&quot; starring the Saxophones of St. Petersburg, comprised mainly of his students, is featured regularly at the Jazz Philharmonic Hall. The program also stars Goloshchokin on vibraphone, Vladimir Lytkin on piano, Stanislav Streltsov on drums, Yana Radion on vocals and Golshtein himself, on clarinet.
 &quot;The first set features my quintet performing melodies I have written in the American swing tradition,&quot; says Golshtein about the project. &quot;The second set features the original inspiration for my songs - jazz standards from the thirties and forties performed by my big band, Saxophones of St. Petersburg.&quot;
 Golshtein, dressed like a sleek big-band leader in a forties-era suit and tie, introduces every song by reading a translation of the lyrics for the audience. He asked an American friend, Elizabeth Davis, to write all of the lyrics for his original songs to &quot;ensure authentic American speech.&quot; Yana Radion, who considers herself primarily a Latin-jazz singer, had to work hard on her pronunciation and phrasing in order to cultivate the quintessential swing era sound she now evokes, a style reminiscent of early Lena Horne and Helen Forest. 
 &quot;Before I met Golshtein, I knew nothing about swing,&quot; Radion says. &quot;In the five years that we have worked together, I have grown tremendously as a musician.&quot; 
 Golshtein, who has played jazz for over forty years, graduated from the Mussorgsky School of Music with a teaching degree, having never formally studied any instrument or composition. In the sixties, he joined the seminal Weinstein Orchestra, a well-known Leningrad dance band that is famous for having spawned other local jazz figures, such as trombonist Alexei Kannunikov, and saxophonist Oleg Kuvaitsev. Golshtein was then invited to play in a jazz quintet on national radio in Moscow. 
 &quot;For six years we played serious jazz music on the radio,&quot; recalls Golshtein. &quot;It was a strange time and many critics don't know about this period. They assume we played pop songs.&quot; 
 It wasn't until the chairperson of the Radio Committee ended up in the hospital for a long stretch, listening to the radio while recuperating, that he realized the volume of American music that Golshtein and his band were playing. The show was immediately cancelled because the Soviet government considered American music to be ideologically dangerous.
 Disillusioned with Moscow and the jazz scene, Golshtein returned to Leningrad and begin studying viola, flute and music from the Renaissance. He spent the next fifteen years playing early music with a local group, with whom he toured Italy, Germany and the United States. The group disbanded in the early nineties. During this period, the Mussorgsky School of Music invited him to teach saxophone in their newly-formed jazz department.
 &quot;Once the 'early music' ended, I had a surge of nostalgia for the music I listened to as a child, old jazz orchestras like Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw. I started to write beautiful melodies.&quot;
 Saxophones of St. Petersburg was formed in 1998, bringing together young students and the city's most celebrated saxophonists. 
 &quot;I decided to bring all of the saxophone players at Mussorgsky and some of my former students together for a concert celebrating a friend's anniversary,&quot; explains Golshtein. &quot;The audience enjoyed it. The saxophonists enjoyed it. At the time, I didn't have much hope for the project to continue, although I kept writing arrangements.&quot;
 As for the future, Golshtein has no definite plans. &quot;I have no idea what is coming next. I never expected to write all of those melodies and I am still trying to write them. I never envisioned that I would have this fantastic band, the Saxophones of St. Petersburg. I have what I have and I'm trying to enjoy it.&quot;
 
 <i>
Gennady Golshtein's program, &quot;Doomed To Be Happy,&quot; at the Jazz Philharmonic Hall, Wednesday, at 7:00 PM.
 
 Jennifer Davis is a writer and vocalist who frequently performs with Leningrad Dixieland, the Alexei Kannunikov Jazz Band and the St. Petersburg Ska-Jazz Review. </i>

TITLE: italy's influence at the mariinsky
AUTHOR: by Larisa Doctorow
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: One of the successes at the Mariinsky Theater's &quot;Stars of the White Nights&quot; festival this year has been the three concerts given by its Youth Philharmonic Orchestra. The orchestra was accorded the honor of playing Rachmaninov's &quot;The Bells&quot; at Smolny Cathedral on the summer solstice and, with another all-Ravhmaninov program, packed the Shostakovich Philharmonic on Tuesday.
 
The accomplishment - and existence - of the orchestra is largely due to Gianandrea Noseda, the young Italian who has been its musical director and principal conductor since its foundation, and to a conversation he had with Mariinsky Artistic Director Valery Gergiev.
 During the auditions for places in the theater's orchestra in fall 1999, Gergiev, was heard to say, &quot;It is such a pity to let all of these talented musicians go because there is not enough room in our orchestra.&quot; Noseda, then the theater's principal guest conductor, replied, &quot;We can create another orchestra.&quot;
 On Dec. 1 of that same year, the newly formed Youth Philharmonic Orchestra gave its first concert, with Noseda conducting. Since then, the Youth Philharmonic Orchestra has become an important part in the life of the theater's community. The orchestra participates in opera performances, and regularly goes on concert tours abroad. Its tour of Japan last May was so successful that it has been invited back for 2004. 
 The orchestra has 62 members, some of whom are as young as 19. Most are in their final year at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory. Auditions for new members are held annually and, once safely on board, the new recruits are gradually introduced to the Mariinsky's repertoire.
 Noseda, who studied at the Verdi Conservatory in Milan, has won awards at international competitions in France and Italy. His first acquaintance with the Mariinsky was in 1994 and, since 1997, he has been closely tied to St. Petersburg.
 Before this week's concert at the Philharmonic, Noseda spoke to The St. Petersburg Times.
 
q:How do you compare working with a young orchestra as opposed to working with seasoned musicians? What do you give? What do you get back? Is it more rewarding or more frustrating?
 a:The problem is time. Young musicians need more rehearsal time. With them I need five or six rehearsals instead of two. Of course, the quality of the main Mariinsky orchestra, which is one of the best in the world, is much higher, but, sometimes, we come close to matching them. With this orchestra you have to pay attention to every small detail. But it can become a very good orchestra. They are motivated and it's easy for me to inspire them.
 
When I have [main orchestra] musicians who have played Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony 100 times or more, to my 20 times conducting it, and who know it better than me, it is harder to persuade them to play it the 101st time as if it is a world premiere. With the young musicians that is easier. In this sense it is very rewarding for me to work with them.
 
q:What are the plans for the future? To eventually have two full orchestras?
 a:I will call it an achievement if we turn out young musicians fit for the main orchestra. I think this is their future. We want to give them strong training. Maestro Gergiev also conducts them. In Japan he conducted one concert. 
 q:If you compare the quality of this orchestra with foreign orchestras - for example the Rotterdam, where you also work - how would you describe the quality?
 a:It is like the difference between driving a Ferrari and a Volkswagen. But, if you work hard, eventually you get a very good performance from a Volkswagen.
 q:Do you have in mind some special program that you want to perform with the orchestra? 
 a:Absolutely. It's &quot;Le Sacre de Printemps&quot; [the original French title of Stravinsky's &quot;The Rite of Spring.] It's very useful for young musicians. It has energy, changes of mood, of rhythm. It's cruel, pagan and romantic. I am planning it for next season. Usually I do [the programming] together with Maestro Gergiev. Sometimes he says about a piece: &quot;It's too early,&quot; or, &quot;It's ready for this season.&quot;
 q:Should a conductor be a dictator?
 a:Absolutely not. He should be a bit like a father. He should be serious, but friendly. To be a conductor is a big responsibility. I like musicians. I love music. We create art together and, when I work, I don't want to be distracted. 
 q:How much time do you spend in the Mariinsky?
 a:I spend more time here than in Italy. My year is divided like this: three months here, three months in England - starting next September, I become the music director of the BBC orchestra in Manchester [the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, where Noseda succeeds Yan Pascal Tortelier]. One month in Italy. One month in Rotterdam, where I am the principal guest conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic. Then there are tours with the Mariinsky, such as last March, when we staged [Prokofiev's opera] &quot;War and Peace&quot; in the Metropolitan [Opera House, New York]. I am very diversified. I love to do everything: operas, ballets, concerts.
 q:How did you come here, and when?
 a:The first time I came to Saint Petersburg was in 1994, at Maestro Gergiev's invitation. It was tough. I did not know a soul. It was February with minus 24 degree [celsius] temperatures daily. I lived in the Hotel Sovietskaya, a twenty-minute walk to the theater, and that was where I spent my days. I participated in the rehearsals, saw and heard all the shows three times over. But I could not find a restaurant and the only meal I had daily was in the theater canteen - a cheese sandwich. That and an apple from the kilo of apples I brought with me from Italy. I did not speak a word of Russian and in ten days I lost six kilos. Until one day I met an Italian who was married to a Russian. He invited me to dinner and he cooked spaghetti. I ate a lot.
 
Then I went back to Italy. I am not a masochist. I don't like to suffer. But I could not forget the theater and its magic. I felt it was magic, something special here. I felt here like a child when he is given his favorite toy. Then the theater went to America, and Valery Gergiev invited me to go along to do rehearsals. I did. In 1996 they toured Italy and [Gergiev] was supposed to conduct two concerts, but he could not do it. He said to me: &quot;If you want, you can conduct.&quot;
 I asked him about the program and it turned out that it included the Sixth Symphony by Tchaikovsky. I was scared. He reassured me that I would have three rehearsals. So I did it. After that, he called me and invited to come to the Mariinsky and stage [Mozart's opera] &quot;Cosi fan tutti.&quot; Later on, &quot;Cosi fan tutti&quot; was replaced by [Mozart's opera] &quot;The Marriage of Figaro.&quot; It does not matter. Here I am.
 
q:What did it give you as a musician, as a person, being here in Russia, in St. Petersburg, at the Mariinsky Theater?
 a:First, I have learned to appreciate different cultures. Russia's culture is huge. Now I think I understand it. I live like a Russian, in the theater hotel, not in the Astoria Hotel or the Grand Hotel Europe. I live like an artist invited by the theater and I like the feeling. I am not a tourist. I belong to the theater.
 
Then I like Russian people. For me they are like Italians from the south, which I love. Very emotional, very open, very expressive. I feel it in the manner the musicians perform, sometimes with tears in their eyes. I am emotional myself. I see feelings here go deeper. I see that I can express my emotions and be understood. I can make music with emotions. I like my relations with people. They are open and sincere. After I pronounced my first words in Russian, <i>&quot;Dobry den&quot;</i> [&quot;Good day&quot;], the people opened up and accepted me eagerly. I think that being here makes of me a better man.

TITLE: concerts access all areas
AUTHOR: by Peter Morley
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: The State Russian Museum and St. Isaac's Cathedral are playing host to two series of concerts this summer.
 
&quot;Under the Vaults of St. Isaac's&quot; is a groundbreaking step, as the cathedral has never before been used as a concert venue. &quot;A Russian Collection of Music,&quot; which happens in the Mikhailovsky Garden and the Russian Museum's Marble Hall, aims to revive the traditions of summer open-air concerts, and to start a regular series of concerts in the Marble Hall.
 &quot;A Russian Collection of Music&quot; opens in the Mikhailovsky Garden on Friday, with a program of excerpts from operas by Russian composers. For the occasion, the orchestra of Moscow's Bolshoi Theater will be joined by soloists from the theater and the chorus of the Mussorgsky Theater.
 The following day, a 13-hour music marathon takes over the garden, beginning at 11 a.m. The formal concerts begin at noon, with the Admiralty Naval Orchestra playing festive and military music. At 3:30, the Governor's Symphony Orchestra takes over, with a program of favorite tunes from films. After this is the Classica Symphony Orchestra playing well-known waltzes and popular classics, and the day winds up with two hours of jazz, starting at 10 p.m., from the Jazz Bank project and Leningrad Dixieland.
 Saturday is also the last day that the Mikhailovsky Garden will be open to the public, before closing for an overhauling in preparation for the 300th anniversary. The concerts move into the Marble Hall of the Russian Museum, with the Terem Quartet playing Monday.
 According to Vladimir Gusev, the director of the Russian Museum, the concerts are a return to a traditional use of the Mikhailovsky Garden and the Marble Palace. At a press conference on Wednesday, Gusev elaborated, explaining that Tchaikovsky, for example, studied at the music school that was housed in the Marble Palace in the 19th century, giving his first concerts there. Balls and other musical events were traditionally held in the gardens during the summer for St. Petersburg's elite.
 Unlike many Western countries, Russia does not have a tradition of using its churches and cathedrals as arts venues. Whereas Western churches are often used for performances, Russian churches have, by and large, been kept for their original, religious purpose.
 According to Valery Matviyenko, the general director of St. Petersburg's International Cultural Center, the idea of using St. Isaac's dates from 1985, when, despite the opening-up of Russian society, it was held up by the traditionalist mindset of the cathedral's administration.
 Matviyenko recalls putting the idea to the cathedral's then-director, only to be told, &quot;As long as I live, this will never happen.&quot; The idea was dropped but, after a recent change of administration at the cathedral, has been revived.
 The cathedral's new director, Nikolai Nagorsky, stresses the unique suitability of St. Isaac's as a concert space, and says that none of the other churches under his direction, such as St. Samson's Cathedral or the Church on the Spilled Blood offer the same space or acoustic potential as St. Isaac's. He also said that, in order not to offend traditionalist church-goers, the organizers sought - and received - the personal blessing of St. Petersburg Metropolitan Vladimir for the project.
 The concerts will be performed by the St. Petersburg Chamber Choir - which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year - and its conductor Nikolai Kornev, who is also the choir's founder.
 Although this is the first year the series has been held - Matviyenko admits that &quot;we are just trying it out this year&quot; - the organizers are setting their sights high. Five hundred seats are available for each concert. After that, people wishing to attend will have to stand. Tickets will cost 150 rubles ($4.84) for a standing place and 500 rubles ($16.13) for a seat.
 There should be no shortage of space: As Nagorsky says, &quot;St. Isaac's can hold about 14,000 people, so we don't think that tickets are going to run out.&quot;
 The organizers of both series are using this year as a &quot;dress rehearsal,&quot; as the Russian Museum's Gusev put it, for the city's 300th anniversary celebrations next year. The Russian Museum is planning an expanded series of events for the occasion, and the organizers of the St. Isaac's concert are hoping to mount a series of 40 to 50 concerts next summer, including performances by choirs from both Russia and abroad.
 
 <i>
&quot;Russian Collection of Music&quot; runs through July 9. &quot;Under the Vaults of St. Isaac's&quot; runs through July 20. See Stages. </i>

TITLE: french invade peter and paul
AUTHOR: by Claire Bigg
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: St. Petersburg has been called a &quot;little Paris,&quot; and the traditional friendship between the cities has left many traces on the northern capital throughout its almost 300-year history. 
 
For a month, the Peter and Paul fortress is hosting &quot;French St. Petersburg,&quot; a photo exhibition held on the roof of the Naryshkin Bastion displaying 50 photos of French-related places in the city, with a sweeping view of the Neva and the Hermitage Embankment as a backdrop. 
 The exhibition is part of the City Museum Foundation's year-long project, &quot;A Window on ... ,&quot; which illustrates the cultural, historical and architectural influence of seven different European countries in St. Petersburg.
 The 50 photos currently on display were selected from 760 works submitted by 54 photographers in a competition held in preparation for the exhibition. The exhibition was organized by the Museum of the History of St. Petersburg, the French Consulate and the French Alliance association in St. Petersburg, as well as the City Museum Foundation.
 &quot;On the eve of its 300th anniversary, we would like more than ever to show that St. Petersburg is a very French city, bearing the traces of numerous French masters. The French tradition has continued to our day, as we continue to be present in the city,&quot; said Alexander Kelchevsky, the French Consul General in St. Petersburg, at the opening of the exhibition on Friday.
 The photos, for the most part, focus on the city trademarks that were created by French architects and sculptors. St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Alexander Column, by Auguste de Montferrand, and the Bronze Horseman, by Etienne Falconet, inspired a whole series of different photographic interpretations. The winning photo, a negative print entitled &quot;Phosphorescent Alexander Column,&quot; shows the column on Palace Square shining with an eerie white glow against a black sky. 
 The fact that the exhibition will still be running on July 14 - Bastille Day, France's biggest national holiday - is not accidental. &quot;When I was told about the project by the City Museum Foundation, I accepted immediately, but only with the condition that 'A Window on French St. Petersburg' would be displayed on Bastille Day,&quot; Kelchevsky said. 
 The winners of the competition, who are mostly from St. Petersburg, seemed thrilled to have works at the exhibition, and happily trotted onto the improvized stage to receive their prizes at the opening ceremony. &quot;I am so happy to have been chosen for this exhibition,&quot; said one. &quot;There are so many other consulates in St. Petersburg that we hope our work will be in demand again.&quot;
 The French will be replaced by the British on July 25, and the exhibition cycle will culminate with an exhibition of all the winning photos from all seven countries on May 27, 2003, St. Petersburg's 300th anniversary.

TITLE: moscow contest leaves doubts
AUTHOR: by Raymond Stults
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: MOSCOW - Listening to the top prize winners at the closing ceremony of the 12th International Tchaikovsky Competition on Sunday did not do much either to enhance or, as has been the case in the recent past, to tarnish the competition's reputation.
 
Every past Tchaikovsky Competition has provoked controversy, and each of the last three, in 1990, 1994 and 1998 - the competition is held only every four years - managed to produce something that could justly be called a scandal. As to controversy, this year's competition proved no exception. Whether any of its results could be called scandalous, and serve to further diminish the competition's prestige, particularly outside of Russia, only time will tell.
 The best results came in the violin and cello contests. While neither category produced a potential superstar - a fact reflected in the jury's unusual decision not to award a first prize - the second-prize winners displayed an abundance of fine talent in their third and final rounds, which wrapped up on Friday.
 On Sunday, the co-recipients of second prize in violin, Japan's Tamaki Kawakubo, 22, and China's Chen Xi, 17, combined to give a worthy performance of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, the first with a suave opening movement, the second in an impassioned account of movements two and three.
 Kawakubo, like two of the other violin finalists, happens to be a pupil of Zakhar Bron, formerly of Novosibirsk, now of Cologne, Germany, and a teacher of near-legendary status. Bron sat on this year's violin jury and provided some of the competition's most memorable moments, as he was seen, with head and hands in constant motion, throwing cues to his pupils on stage, who, apart from Kawakubo, placed fifth and shared sixth place.
 Also appearing on Sunday, from the cello contest, was German second-prize winner Johannes Moser, 23, playing with elegance and assurance as soloist in Tchaikovsky's &quot;Rococo Variations.&quot;
 Germany walked away with most of the top cello honors. In addition to Moser's win, Claudius Popp, 20, tied for third, and Danjulo Ishizaka, 23 took fourth place. All three are taught by Soviet-trained, former Tchaikovsky Competition first-prize winners, all of whom also sit on this year's jury: Moser and Popp are students of David Geringas, and Ishizaka is a student of Boris Pergamenshchikov.
 The predominance of jury members' students among the violin and cello winners will undoubtedly raise eyebrows. However, unlike so many of the competition's past instrumental contests, this year's running could hardly be criticized for favoring players from Russia or the former Soviet Union. No instrumentalist from the CIS countries came out at the top of their category, and, of the 20 prizes on offer to pianists, violinists and cellists, six went to Asians, five to Western Europeans and one to an American.
 Balanced against the generally good results in violin and cello were those from the piano category, whose results normally lend the competition prestige and respect. Perhaps the best talent available simply failed to apply this year, or was somehow missed at the application stage. Perhaps, as some close observers seem to believe, the jury curiously passed over the best of this year's players in selecting finalists from the second round. Or perhaps this was simply a non-vintage year for pianists.
 Whatever the case, the final round in piano produced no one of the caliber of Boris Berezovsky or Nikolai Lugansky, winners in 1990 and 1994, respectfully, or Freddy Kempf, who placed third in 1998, much less such renowned prior winners as Van Cliburn, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Mikhail Pletnev.
 The impression left Sunday by first-prize laureate Ayako Uehara, 21, from Japan, was thoroughly depressing, providing the audience with a loud and mechanical account of the first movement of Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto, made all the more uningratiating by the over-bright sounds of her Yamaha piano. Also far from top-notch - although the fault here lies not with Uehara but with the organizers of the competition - was the ham-handed accompaniment provided by Mark Gorenshtein and his Russian Symphony Orchestra.
 If scandal is to be found, it probably lies here, in the piano contest. The judges passed over the clear second-round favorite among the audience - and even his fellow contestants - Moscow Conservatory graduate Alexei Volodin.
 It could clearly be heard in Sunday's sampling, and from the the opinions of experts who heard it all, that Uehara had little in the way of competition in the final, except perhaps from Russian Alexei Nabyulin, who came in second.
 As in the recent past, the vocal contest stood above the rest, dominated by singers from the former Soviet Union, including Aytalina Afanasyeva, 32, a mezzo-soprano at the Mariinsky Theater's Academy of Young Singers, who took top honors in the women's competition, and inherently biased toward those with Russian as a mother tongue. The 12 finalists were a cut above those of four years ago, but, among them, only bass Mikhail Kazakov, 25, the first-prize winner on the male side, seemed a vocalist destined for a major career.
 The vocal competition is also open to question. More than half of the 92 contestants came from Russia, and all but a handful were drawn from the other countries of the former Soviet Union, China, Japan and South Korea. Not a single entry came from Western Europe or the Americas. Former Metropolitan Opera star Marina Arroyo, a member of the vocal jury, dismissed the contention that none of the tapes received from Western European and American applicants was up to the competition's standards. Instead, Arroyo cited the expense of coming to Moscow, and a reluctance to travel after the events of Sept. 11, as factors possibly inhibiting applications.
 In any event, given the high proportion of required singing in the Russian language, the vocal contest inevitably favors those with native or near-native diction. And so it turned out this time, with five of the eight winners coming from Russia and one from Slovakia.
 In the future, if the Tchaikovsky Competition wishes to regain the status it once had, or even maintain what is left of its prestige, its organizers must surely make greater efforts to attract the best of the world's young musical talent, especially those from the West, whose number was notably low at this year's competition. On a practical note, something must be done about the translations in the programs. This year's translation was a complete disgrace and, added to that, most of the names of foreign musicians mentioned in the introduction suffered some sort of misspelling.

TITLE: Israelis Continue Hebron Incursion
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: JERUSALEM - Israel's army called for a surrender Thursday from Palestinians holed up under fire for a third day, threatening to overrun the battered Hebron government complex.
 
The Israeli military said that 150 people have surrendered since early Tuesday during short breaks in heavy machine-gun fire from the ground and helicopter gunships above. About 40 people, including at least 15 wanted men, remained inside Thursday, the military said.
 Brigadeer General Ron Kitrey told Israel Army Radio that some of those gunmen who came out had unsucessfully disguised themselves as Palestinian police officers. Four Palestinians have been killed so far, fleeing the compound.
 Hebron became Tuesday the seventh of the eight main West Bank towns and cities to come under the tight grip of the Israeli military, which re-entered the Palestinian territory last week after two Jerusalem bombings that killed 26 Israelis. At least 700,000 Palestinians are now confined to their homes. 
 Also on Thursday, Israeli soldiers shot a 17-year-old Palestinian when he fired a pistol at an Israeli tank in the Balata refugee camp in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, according to witnesses and the army.
 And in Nablus, about 20 Palestinian police surrendered at a prison compound after Israeli tanks and armored personnel carriers surrounded it. The police officers were ordered to remove their clothes - a way of checking for concealed weapons - then were handcuffed, Palestinian witnesses said.

TITLE: WORLD WATCH
TEXT: Kashmir Market Blast
 

SRINAGAR, India (AP) - Suspected Islamic militants hurled a grenade into a crowded market in the Indian state of Jammu-Kashmir on Thursday, injuring at least 25 people, police said.
 The attack took place in the town of Anantnag, 35 miles south of Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu-Kashmir. Twenty civilians and five paramilitary soldiers were among the injured. 
 
 
Greek Jet Missing
 

ATHENS (AP) - A Greek fighter jet with two pilots on board disappeared Thursday over the Aegean Sea, and the defense ministry said it had launched an air and sea search for the aircraft.
 The F-4 fighter took off on a training mission Thursday from the central Greek city of Larissa, but disappeared from radar while flying near the islands of Skyros and Evia, about 85 kilometers northeast of Athens.
 
 
Deadly Bus Crash
 

DIJON, France (AP) - A bus carrying Scottish students crashed in eastern France early Thursday, killing one teen-ager and injuring 25 others, officials said.
 The bus toppled over in the pre-dawn hours as its driver attempted to turn near the Bierre-les-Semur highway interchange, 190 kilometers southeast of Paris, officials said.
 Ten people were seriously injured and were rushed to nearby hospitals. The bus was carrying 51 people, including 43 students from Scotland's Largs Academy, en route to Spain, officials said. 



TITLE: Hewitt Restores Sanity After Seeds Crash
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: WIMBLEDON, England - A day after three of the tournament's biggest names were beaten, top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt restored some order to the men's draw at Wimbledon on Thursday, moving into the third round in straight sets.
 
But the calm didn't last.
 Fifth-seeded Kim Clijsters, Hewitt's girlfriend, became the biggest upset victim of the women's draw so far, losing 7-6, 6-2, to No. 48 Elena Likhovtseva of Russia.
 In another surprise on the men's side, 98th-ranked Jeff Morrison, of the United States, beat ninth-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 7-5, 7-6, on Centre Court.
 The 23-year-old Morrison got into the tournament as a &quot;lucky loser,&quot; after Germany's Tommy Haas withdrew when his parents were seriously injured in a motorcycle accident in Florida.
 With Ferrero out, six of the top-10 seeded players have been eliminated in the first two rounds.
 With Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Marat Safin eliminated Wednesday, Hewitt underlined his favorite's status by beating 165th-ranked French qualifier Gregory Carraz 6-4, 7-6, 6-2 on Court 1.
 Pumping his fists and displaying his typical feisty style, the Australian withstood a spirited challenge to record his second consecutive straight-set win, in just over two hours.
 Adapting his hard-hitting baseline game to grass, Hewitt had only 13 unforced errors, 20 fewer than Carraz. He also served 11 aces, including four in a row near the end of the third set.
 The match turned in the second-set tiebreaker when Hewitt overcame a 5-2 deficit and won five straight points. Carraz missed an easy smash at 5-4 and had an apparent ace called out on the next point.
 With Hewitt through to the third round, No. 4 Tim Henman of Britain - the next-highest remaining seeded player - was set to face Australian qualifier Scott Draper later on Centre Court.
 Morrison lit up Centre Court with his athletic serve-and-volley game, spiky haircut and animated expressions, often smiling broadly and pumping himself up.
 Ferrero, a Spanish clay-court specialist playing in only his second Wimbledon, often found himself on the defensive against the lanky American.
 Morrison did show some signs of nerves. Up 5-1 in the second set, he squandered two set points and allowed Ferrero to get back to 5-5. But he broke for 6-5 and served out the set at love, finishing with an ace.
 At 3-3 in the third set, Ferrero saved four break points and two more at 4-4. In the tiebreaker, Morrison went down 4-1 but ran off five straight points to go up 6-4. He double-faulted on his first match point but converted on Ferrero's serve on the next point.
 Morrison, of Huntington, West Virginia, is playing in only his second Grand Slam tournament. He lost in the first round at the 1999 U.S. Open as a wild card.
 In women's play, Clijsters struggled throughout against Likhovtseva and committed a succession of unforced errors.
 Likhovtseva, who took Clijsters to three sets at the Italian Open in May, saved two set points at 5-4 in the first set. Clijsters went up 5-2 in the tiebreaker, but the Russian won five straight points to take the set.
 In the second set, Clijsters found it even more difficult to keep the ball in play. Although she broke back after dropping serve at 1-2, she was broken again for 2-4 and allowed Likhovtseva to break her again for the match.
 No. 6 Justine Henin of Belgium moved into the third round with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Denise Chladkova of the Czech Republic. Henin lost to Venus Williams in last year's final.
 In an early men's match, 18-year-old Croatian qualifier Mario Ancic - who beat seventh-seeded Roger Federer in the opening round - was beaten 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 by Jan Vacek.
 In one of the most extraordinary days at the All England Club, seven-time champion Sampras, 1992 winner Agassi and No. 2-seeded Safin all lost Wednesday - throwing the tournament wide open.
 Safin, the 2000 U.S. Open champion and current leader in the 2000 ATP Champions Race, was the first to go. The Russian had an 27-centimeter height advantage over 63rd-ranked Olivier Rochus, but the 165-centimer Belgian outhustled him on Centre Court and won 6-2, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6.
 Next went sixth-seeded Sampras, who dug himself into a two-set hole and fell 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4 to 145th-ranked George Bastl on Court 2 - becoming the latest high-profile casualty of the &quot;graveyard of champions.&quot;
 It was the earliest Wimbledon exit in 11 years for Sampras, considered history's greatest grass-court player. The loss came against a player who only got into the draw as a &quot;lucky loser&quot; following the injury withdrawal of Felix Mantilla.
 Then, No. 3 Agassi was swept in straight sets on Centre Court 6-4, 7-6, 6-2 by 67th-ranked Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand.
 By the time the day was over, landmarks had been set.
 Sampras and Agassi - the greatest U.S. players of their generation - had never both lost so early at a Grand Slam tournament other than at the French Open.
 For the first time in the Open era, at least five of the top-eight seeded men's players have been eliminated before the third round - No. 7 Roger Federer and No. 8 Thomas Johansson lost Tuesday.

TITLE: Draft Sees NBA Gain A Foreign Flavor
AUTHOR: By Chris Sheridan
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: NEW YORK - There was a distinct foreign flavor to Wednesday night's NBA draft, with a record 17 international players chosen among the 57 picks.
 
Several trades were made, too, although many of them were minor ones. The biggest deal sent Antonio McDyess and the rights to the 25th pick, Frank Williams of Illinois, to New York for Marcus Camby, Mark Jackson and the rights to the seventh overall pick, &quot;Nene&quot; Hilario of Brazil.
 Yao Ming, at 226 centimeters the tallest player in the draft, was selected first overall, after being cleared by the Chinese national federation to play in the NBA only hours earlier.
 It marked the first time a foreign player who did not play college ball in the United States went No. 1 in the draft.
 &quot;Now there are many challenges ahead. I'm looking forward to taking on all the NBA centers, though I know it won't be an easy task,&quot; the 22-year-old Yao said.
 Jay Williams, a junior guard from Duke who was the national player of the year, went second to the Chicago Bulls. Mike Dunleavy of Duke went third to the Golden State Warriors, and newly hired Nashville Grizzlies president Jerry West made his first personnel move for the team by choosing Drew Gooden of Kansas, a 205-centimeter junior power forward and first-team All-America selection.
 Denver, choosing fifth, selected center Nikoloz Tskitishvili, of Benetton Treviso in Italy. Dajuan Wagner of Memphis went sixth to the Cleveland Cavaliers, a clear signal the trade talk surrounding Andre Miller - the NBA assists leader last season - was legitimate.
 This year's draft had no shortage of trade talk, with several teams trying to acquire one of the veterans - including McDyess, Miller and Baron Davis - whose names had been prominently mentioned in trade rumors throughout the day.
 Cleveland has told Miller it does not want to offer him a contract extension for another year, and several teams have been contacting the Cavs to make offers - notably the Los Angeles Clippers.
 Davis has made it known to the Hornets he does not plan to stay with the team past the 2002-03 season. A trade sending Davis to the Clippers reportedly fell through.
 The Knicks, with their highest pick in 15 years, selected the 211-centimeter Hilario - a rebounding and shot-blocking specialist who remains under contract to a professional team in Rio de Janeiro - and were showered with boos and a chant of &quot;Fire Layden&quot; - a reference to Knicks president Scott Layden.
 Less than an hour later, though, the word was out that the Knicks were getting McDyess. The fans never relented, though, unleashing an obscene chant when Layden appeared on the giant TV screen to announce the deal.
 &quot;McDyess was a big component in the trade for us. You can tell by the size of the deal what we thought of him,&quot; Layden said. &quot;We knew the No. 7 pick was attractive, and we knew we could use it to make the team better.&quot;
 Chris Wilcox of Maryland went eighth to the Clippers, and the Phoenix Suns selected Amare Stoudemire, of Cypress Creek High School in Orlando, Florida, with the ninth pick.
 That allowed the Miami Heat, a team desperate for a scorer, to select Connecticut sophomore Butler with the 10th pick.
 Yao did not attend the draft at Madison Square Garden, staying in Beijing for training with his national team. He shared high-fives and handshakes with his family as commissioner David Stern announced the pick.
 &quot;This is a new start in my basketball and life career,&quot; Yao said, through an interpreter.
 &quot;There will be a new challenge for me. I am confident I will learn from the NBA and improve myself,&quot; he added.

TITLE: Stage Set for Brazil, Germany Finally To Meet at World Cup
AUTHOR: By Ronald Blum
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: YOKOHAMA, Japan - What a time and place for the first World Cup meeting between Brazil and Germany - in the final, for the trophy, with all the world watching.
 
&quot;We have been looking for this game for so many years in Brazil,&quot; said Carlos Alberto Parreira, who coached his country to the 1994 title.
 &quot;I would say that the hierarchy has been restored by this Germany-Brazil final,&quot; he added.
 Brazil has won four World Cup titles and Germany three. Of the 12 World Cup finals since World War II, 11 have included one of those two countries, with Argentina's 1978 victory over the Netherlands the only exception.
 But, strangely, they've avoided each other in soccer's showcase. 
 &quot;Both teams have a great tradition,&quot; Brazilian forward Rivaldo said.
 &quot;If Brazil wants to be champions, we have to respect Germany. Not fear them, respect them,&quot; he said.
 Germany won its semifinal, 1-0 over co-host South Korea on Tuesday in Seoul. Brazil did its part a night later, defeating Turkey 1-0 in Saitama to match the Germans of 1982, 1986 and 1990 as the only country to make the final three straight times.
 &quot;Brazil is the best you can get,&quot; said Oliver Kahn, Germany's goalkeeper. &quot;Individually, they have world-class players at every position. But the sum of best individuals doesn't necessarily make the best team, and I think we can beat them.&quot;
 My gut feeling tells me that we are going to be the world champions, but I can't explain why,&quot; he added.
 Franz Beckenbauer, who coached Germany to its last title in 1990, predicted Kahn could decide the final.
 &quot;He is the greatest and best goalkeeper in the world, so it will be very, very difficult for Ronaldo or Rivaldo to beat him,&quot; Beckenbauer said.
 It's an unlikely time for the teams' first World Cup meeting. Both countries struggled in qualifying and were considered by some long shots even to reach the quarterfinals.
 Brazil was just 9-6-3 in qualifying - unheard of mediocrity in the land of samba soccer - getting in only with a victory over lowly Venezuela in its final game. Germany needed to beat Ukraine in a playoff to make it.
 &quot;Nobody really expected us to even go to the round of 16,&quot; Germany coach Rudi Voeller said.
 Brazil won the title in 1958, 1962, 1970 and 1994, earning praise much of the time for its stylish attacks.
 West Germany captured the championship in 1954, 1974 and 1990, sometimes criticized for its lack of imagination - and ability to flop in front of officials to gain unwarranted penalty kicks.
 There's little doubt which style most fans prefer to watch. At its best, Brazilian soccer is a painter's palette. At its worst, German soccer is a wrecking ball, shattering opponents with brute strength and bland-but-effective relentlessness.
 &quot;Despite the criticisms that were leveled at us because of the lack of style, lack of flair, in actual fact we implemented the coach's instructions,&quot; Germany's Michael Ballack said after the semifinal win.
 Ballack, who scored the only goals in the quarterfinal against the United States and in the semifinal, will miss Sunday's game while serving a suspension for getting two yellow cards.
 Brazil seems supremely confident going into the game.
 &quot;It will be a match between the most attacking team and the most defensive team, who has only given away one goal,&quot; Brazil's Roberto Carlos said. &quot;The game will focus on the defensive tactics.&quot;
 In the past decade, the nations have met five times, with Brazil going 3-1-1.
 The Brazilians won 3-1 at home in 1992, tied 3-3 at Washington's RFK Stadium the following year, and Germany won 2-1 at home in 1993.
 Brazil won 2-1 in a 1998 game in Germany, then routed an under-strength German team 4-0 in Mexico at the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup, with Ronaldinho scoring on a penalty kick. The midfielder returns for Sunday's final after serving a one-game suspension.
 Overall, Brazil leads the series 11-3-4, outscoring the Germans 34-18. On neutral soil, Brazil is 2-0-1.
 &quot;The final against Germany will be relatively easy for them,&quot; Turkey coach Senol Gunes predicted.

TITLE: Hasek Puts His Career on Ice After Winning Final Honor
AUTHOR: By Larry Lage
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: DETROIT - Dominik Hasek, one of the most accomplished goaltenders in history, will retire to the Czech Republic as a Stanley Cup champion.
 
&quot;The Dominator&quot; made the announcement on Tuesday, nearly two weeks after topping off an impressive resume with the elusive title at the end of a one-season stop with the Detroit Red Wings.
 &quot;Winning the Cup has been everything I could ever ask for,&quot; Hasek said. &quot;After 21 years of playing professional hockey at the highest level, I do not feel that I have enough fire in me to compete at the level that I expect of myself.&quot;
 The announcement by the 37-year-old likely Hall of Famer follows that of coach Scotty Bowman, who retired the night the Red Wings won the Cup.
 &quot;He left from the top, and I can say the same thing,&quot; Hasek said. &quot;It's a dream of many athletes.&quot;
 It will be tough for Detroit to replace Hasek, but possible candidates include Toronto's Curtis Joseph, who becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1 if he doesn't re-sign with the Maple Leafs.
 Other high-profile goalies who could be unrestricted free agents are Boston's Byron Dafoe, the New York Rangers' Mike Richter and Dallas' Ed Belfour. The Stars have said they will not re-sign Belfour.
 Hasek sought a trade to Detroit because he wasn't satisfied with his six Vezina Trophies as the NHL's best goalie, two Hart Trophies as the league's MVP, and a gold medal with the Olympic champion Czech Republic at the 1998 Nagano Games.
 &quot;It was the best decision I made throughout my hockey career,&quot; Hasek said. &quot;I am and will be a Red Wing forever.&quot;
 Hasek led the NHL with 41 wins during the regular season, then said he was nervous before the playoffs because of the cup-or-bust expectations in Detroit. After a shaky start, he recorded six shutouts - two more than any goalie ever in the playoffs.

TITLE: SPORTS WATCH
TEXT: Scolari To Go?
 

YOKOHAMA, Japan (Reuters) - Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has said he will be unemployed on Monday - even if his team lifts the World Cup against Germany in the final the day before.
 Scolari said there had been no change to the original agreement, made with the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) when he took over one year ago, under which he would coach the four-time world champion until the end of the 2002 World Cup.
 "My stint with the Brazil team finishes on Sunday when we finish the job we had agreed with the president [of the CBF]," he told reporters on Thursday.
 "After all this, I want to go home and get away from everything. On Monday, I will be unemployed," he said.
 Scolari, who became Brazil's fourth coach in a year when he took over with the team at one of the lowest ebbs in their history, would not give any clues as to whether he would stay on after the World Cup.
 "I want seven days away from football and afterwards let's see what happens in my life," he said.
 
 
English Bed Mania
 

TOKYO (Reuters) - The remote hotel where the England squad stayed during the tournament has been inundated with calls from Japanese fans, most of them wanting to sleep in the bed vacated by captain David Beckham.
 "We are getting around 80 calls a day along those lines," said a spokesperson for the Westin Awaji Island Resort on the small island of Awaji, some 435 kilometers southwest of Tokyo and near the city of Kobe.
 Die-hard fans, many of whom waited around the hotel for hours to catch a glimpse of the players during their month in Japan, may never know if they get into the right bed.
 "We don't reveal which player was staying in which room for privacy reasons. We would do the same for any customer," the spokesperson said.
 Guests will get a chance to try Beckham's favourite dish - cucumber sushi - and to have their feet massaged by the woman who worked on the footballer's hallowed feet.
 "I thought his feet would be tired, but he had good circulation because he exercises and the soles of his feet were pink," the masseuse told a local television news programme.
 Local government officials are hoping to attract tourists to the area by setting up statues of Beckham, striker Michael Owen and coach Sven-Goran Eriksson in the tiny town of Tsuna, where the team practised.
 
 
O'Leary Quits
 

LONDON (Reuters) - Leeds United manager David O'Leary has left the club, a spokesperson said Thursday.
 Earlier on Thursday, Leeds chairperson Peter Ridsdale said O'Leary's departure from the club had been "by mutual consent."
 "After four successful years, the pressures of some of the off field incidents have resulted in both the company and Mr. O'Leary agreeing that it would be of mutual benefit for a change of manager," Ridsdale said.
 Ridsdale made the surprise announcement in a statement issued through the London stock exchange where the club is listed as Leeds United plc.
 "It is hoped that an announcement regarding a successor can be made in the next few weeks," he said. "Leeds United would like to place on record its thanks for David's enormous contribution over the last four years."
 The Irishman is known to have been unhappy that Leeds should consider selling England defender Rio Ferdinand to Manchester United, who have reportedly bid 35 million pounds ($53.4 million).
 
 
Collina Gets the Whistle
 

YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) - Pierluigi Collina, the Italian referee known for his bald head and consistent officiating, will be in charge of the World Cup final between Brazil and Germany.
 The Italian financial consultant recently appeared in an advertisement for German sportswear manufacturer Adidas, but FIFA president Sepp Blatter said that has no effect on FIFA's decision to appoint Collina as referee for the finals. Adidas is one of the organization's sponsors and provides equipment for referees at the World Cup.
 Saad Mane of Kuwait was selected as referee for the third-place game Saturday between South Korea and Turkey in Daegu, South Korea.