SOURCE: The St. Petersburg Times
DATE: Issue #787 (52), Friday, July 19, 2002
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TITLE: Yakovlev Talks Up Another Term
AUTHOR: By Claire Bigg
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: St. Petersburg Governor Valdimir Yakovlev broke his silence on a hot topic Thursday and suggested that he could run for a third term, although the move would require tricky changes to the city's charter.
 
Speaking at the opening of a Russian-Italian investment forum, Yakovlev said he hoped "the population would help me get re-elected for a third term," Interfax reported. The context of the statement was not clear from the report.
 The option of running for a third term opened up for many regional governors after last week's Constitutional Court ruling, which established regional leaders' official first term as the one to which they were elected after October 1999.
 After telling the forum that St. Petersburg would benefit from greater foreign investment, which could create jobs and increase tax revenues, Yakovlev rhetorically asked: "If people are going to live better, why would they need a new governor?" the NewSpb.ru Web site reported.
 But Yakovlev's spokesperson, Svetlana Ivanova, was quick to temper the governor's statement, telling Interfax that no definite decision had been made about his candidacy in the 2004 race, and that Yakovlev's highest priority was to prepare for St. Petersburg's 300th anniversary celebration, coming up next year. Ivanova could not be reached for comment, despite four telephone calls to her office throughout the day.
 Ivanova's statement coincides with the position taken by City Hall immediately after the Constitutional Court's July 9 ruling, when Yakovlev's press service was quoted as saying that "the governor will think about participation in the next elections only once the city's anniversary celebrations are over."
 Many local analysts are convinced that Yakovlev will run a third time.
 "I think that Yakovlev will definately run for a third term, and that he stands a very good chance," said Alexei Musakov, head of the St. Petersburg Center for Regional Development.
 But Musakov added that there are those within the Kremlin who might be interested in jamming the spokes of a Yakovlev attempt at a third term. 
 In order to run a third time, Yakovlev would have to enter amendments into the city charter, which stipulates that the St. Petersburg governor is elegible for two terms only. Changing the charter would require the backing of two-thirds of the legislative assembly, which Yakovlev is at present unlikey to obtain.
 However, a poll conducted between July 10 and 15 in St. Petersburg by the All-Russia Center for Public Opinion Research showed Yakovlev to be the most popular politician on the list of potential candidates. Out of 1,000 respondents, 38.2 percent said they would vote for the incumbent governor, with Audit Chamber head Sergei Stepashin in second place with 14.5 percent. Ten percent of respondents said they were against all candidates and another 11.6 percent could not decide.

TITLE: Putin's Neighbors Without Water
AUTHOR: By Valeria Korchagina
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: OGARYOVO, Central Russia - The Ogaryovo village along the prestigious Rublyovskoye Shosse has not had any cold water since Monday, and residents are furious. Their water supply has been cut off to serve the area's prime customer - President Vladimir Putin.
 
"It's a nightmare. There is no way to flush the toilet or make preserves, I have berries but can't do anything," Lyudmila Medvednikova, 65, snapped angrily Wednesday.
 A few steps outside her rickety house, Medvednikova can see the water tower that is supposed to be sending cold water to her taps, half hidden by a six-meter-high wall surrounding Putin's Novo-Ogaryovo residence.
 The tower has been pumping water for the country's leaders for decades and, since the 1960s, shared part of its supply with the villagers. But a rapid increase in the surrounding population - particularly the development of the elite Usovo residential area - in recent years has proven to be too much for the old pipes to handle.
 As a result, the villagers and rich Russians alike have had little to no water when Putin needs to water his vast lawns or fill his large swimming pool during the summer.
 A Kremlin spokesperson declined to comment.
 Officials for the Barvikha district, which oversees Ogaryovo and Usovo on the western outskirts of Moscow, blamed the posh new cottages for the water problem.
 "Their residents use too much water," an official said. "They keep watering their gardens and lawns and constantly wash the pavement and fences around their buildings."
 Other officials explained that the villages around Putin's residence did not have any water until Soviet leaders agreed to share Novo-Ogaryovo's supplies in the 1960s.
 Everyone seemed to be satisfied until 2000 when Putin made Novo-Ogaryovo his favorite residence and the luxury cottages started springing up nearby. Novo-Ogaryovo is the place where Putin likes to receive foreign dignitaries, and one of his more recent guests there was U.S. President George W. Bush.
 A resident in Usovo, who identified himself as Alexander, complained that his staff were unable to take baths.
 "We have special pumps in our house to increase the water pressure, but in the other house my household staff can't take showers," he said.
 To prove his point, he took a visitor to the servants quarters and turned on a tap. A thin stream of water ran out, frequently broken by the spitting and hissing sounds of empty pipes.
 "When we need to water our garden we take water from our pond," he said.
 Medvednikova's patience, meanwhile, was running low Wednesday.
 "This is horrible," she said. "In the summer there is this water problem, and every winter the sewage leaks and we have a stream of excrement running through our yard. But no one cares."

TITLE: Israeli Citizen Killed In Contract-Style Hit
AUTHOR: By Claire Bigg
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Israeli citizen Eduard Lankin was shot to death Tuesday by an unknown assailant who cut him off as he was driving out of the courtyard at 28 Ulitsa Telezhnaya, jumped out of car, and riddled the driver's-side window of Lankin's car with bullets from an Uzi sub-machine-gun in what prosecutors say was a contract killing.
 
Lankin was hit by 22 bullets - six in the head - and died instantly, the St. Petersburg Prosecutor's Office said on Thursday. Jakob Lankin, the victim's father, was also in the car but suffered no physical injuries. He is presently in hospital suffering from shock.
 Also an Israeli citizen, Jakob Lankin had arrived in St. Petersburg only a few days before to visit his son.
 The two men had been visiting one of Eduard Lankin's friends and were returning to the flat Lankin was renting on Ulitsa Rubinshteina at about 9 p.m. when their vehicle, a Mercedes-320, was cut off by a white Zhiguli. After the assailant finished firing into the Lankin's car, he ran into what an eyewitness described as an "expensive" car, which then sped away from the scene, leaving the white Zhiguli behind.
 "The Zhiguli was purchased one week before the killing, which indicates that this was a contract killing," said Elena Arbinska, a spokesperson for the St. Petersburg Prosecutor's Office in an interview on Thursday.
 Arbinska also said the testimonies given by witnesses indicate that four men took part in the attack. She said that eyewitnesses had been unable to provide any other information about the assailants.
 Officials familiar with the case provided conflicting theories of possible motives behind the murder on Thursday. One possibility is that Lankin's murder was work related, although the details of his professional activities remained sketchy.
 According to the City Prosecutor's Office, Lankin had been working as a computer specialist in a company owned by a friend. The Prosecutor's Office would not release the name of the firm, saying that this would hinder their investigation.
 "We have also been told that Lankin was planning to open a business of his own in St. Petersburg, although this information has yet to be confirmed," Arbinska said. "This could have been a possible motive for his assassination."
 Margarita Obolskaya, consular secretary at the St. Petersburg Representative Office of the Israeli Embassy, said that Lankin worked for Herbalife, a US-based company that produces dietary products.
 Image Land, Herbalife's public-relations agency in Moscow, confirmed this.
 "Eduard Lankin worked as an independent distributor for Herbalife, but probably had other professional activities," said Image Land's Dinara Lizonova in a telephone interview on Wednesday. "We do not think his murder was linked to his activities with Herbalife."
 Interfax quoted sources in the St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast section of the Interior Ministry as saying on Wednesday that the motives behind the murder were of a private nature.
 On Thursday, however, the city Prosecutor's Office rejected this possibility.
 "I doubt very much that personal motives were behind the crime, and the evidence points towards a contract killing," Arbinska said. "There have also been suggestions that the killing was an anti-Semitic act, but the fact that Jakob Lankin was left alive would indicate that this is not the case."
 Although the Interior Ministry first reported that Eduard Lankin was born in Cherkesk, Russia in 1971, the St. Petersburg Prosecutor's Office said on Wednesday that this information was incorrect.
 "Lankin was actually born in Riga in 1974. He moved to Israel with his family in the early 1990s. For the past four years he has had a multi-entry visa for Russia, receiving the most recent one in May 2002," Arbinska said.

TITLE: Court Orders Racist Paper Shut Down
AUTHOR: By Nabi Abdullaev
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - A Moscow court has ordered that a tiny nationalist newspaper be shut down for inciting ethnic hatred with stories denigrating Jews, Asians and people from the Caucasus.
 
The decision was a victory for the Press Ministry, which, for the first time succeeded in banning a publication for breaking the law on mass media by running stories fomenting ethnic conflict. Some observers, however, said the ministry may just have found an easy opportunity to show its ardor for the Kremlin's declared fight against racial hatred.
 The Timiryazevsky district court issued its verdict Wednesday against Russkiye Vedomosti. The four-page newspaper was founded in 1990 and published four times a year with a circulation of 10,000. It took its name from a respected newspaper closed by the Bolsheviks in 1917.
 The Press Ministry's lawyer, Yelena Bunina, said Thursday that a single issue of the newspaper in 2000 had contained more than 100 slurs that broke the law.
 "We are fully satisfied with the court decision," she said.
 She said that the ministry warned the newspaper twice last year, but it had continued to print anti-Semitic and racist stories. The ministry filed suit against the newspaper in November 2001, and court proceedings began in January.
 Russkiye Vedomosti editor Viktor Korchagin slammed the ruling Thursday.
 "I consider it an attempt to put an end to the freedom of the press in Russia and to block the voice of Russian patriots," he said.
 Korchagin, who owns the Moscow-based Vityaz publishing house, conceded that his newspaper was openly anti-Semitic.
 "My paper indeed reported that the Jewish mafia is carrying out a genocide of the Russian people, and called for Jews and people from the Caucasus to be deported," he said.
 He said that the newspaper had been self-supporting and received no financing from nationalist groups.
 Prosecutors have charged Korchagin with inciting ethnic hatred before. In 1993 and 2001, judges closed cases for lack of evidence. In 1995, a court found Korchagin guilty on the same charge, fining him and barring him from publishing for three years. However, he was immediately amnestied under a decree signed by President Boris Yeltsin to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the victory over the Nazis in World War II.
 Alexei Simonov, head of the Glasnost Defense Foundation, a freedom of speech watchdog, said that he considered the content of Russkiye Vedomosti to be illegal and that the ban was certainly not a crackdown on the freedom of the press.
 Vyacheslav Likhachev, a nationalism expert with the Panorama think tank, said that although he personally found Russkiye Vedomosti offensive, the Press Ministry could find a better way to show its zeal against extremist media.
 "There are plenty of nationalist newspapers published monthly and weekly with similar content and a much larger circulation," he said. "Korchagin was just a convenient scapegoat picked for his notoriety in the courts."
 Likhachev suggested that Russkiye Vedomosti was targeted because Korchagin was highly critical of President Vladimir Putin, unlike many other nationalists. In addition, Korchagin lacks an outspoken readership that could protest the shutdown, he said.
 Korchagin said he would not appeal the court's ruling. "I will not amuse them," he said.

TITLE: Bells Ringing After Decades of Silence
AUTHOR: By Steve Gutterman
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: SERGIYEV POSAD, Moscow Region - Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II on Thursday blessed two giant church bells made to replace a pair that were torn down from a tower at one of the country's holiest sites and destroyed 72 years ago under Josef Stalin.
 
The bells - each with President Vladimir Putin's name cast on its side in relief - are to be hoisted up next month into the bell tower outside the Cathedral of the Assumption at Trinity-St. Sergius Monastery in Sergiyev Posad, about 55 kilometers northeast of Moscow.
 In addition to Putin, the bells bear the names of Alexy, the abbot of the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Monastery and its financial manager in old Russian-style lettering along the base, said Hierodeacon Yakov, a monk at the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Monastery.
 He said that Putin was mentioned because the bells were cast under his rule - a tradition, that, he said, goes back centuries to when the name of the ruling tsar was engraved on church bells.
 Yakov also said that it was done to thank Putin for creating a "favorable atmosphere" for religion and the church.
 Putin is a practicing Orthodox Christian and embraced a new national anthem that celebrates Russia as a "holy country" that is "protected by God" - although the tune is the same as the Soviet-era anthem that once praised the atheist Communist Party.
 Dressed in a deep green velvet robe laced with golden thread and a matching crown-like miter, Alexy chanted a blessing and sprinkled the bells with holy water from a big silver cup outside the church as thousands of believers, packed into the sun-drenched square, looked on.
 "In 1930, these bells were cast down ... and broken, and it seemed they would never be restored and placed in the bell tower of Trinity-St. Sergius Monastery again," Alexy said. "But by the grace of God they have been restored, and today we bless these two bells."
 The bells - one weighing 27 tons and the other more than 35 tons - were modeled after two that were destroyed as Stalin's campaign against religion raged. Church bells were smashed in cities and towns across the Soviet Union.
 Yakov said that the bells cost more than $2.2 million to make, all of it donated, much of it coming from the Nuclear Power Ministry. A list of donors posted outside the Assumption Church - underneath photos of the broken bells - includes six nuclear power plants as well as oil companies and banks.
 The bells were poured at Zil, the factory that made the limousines Stalin and other Soviet leaders rode in.
 Church and Zil officials said they are planning a third, even bigger bell to replace one that weighed more than 60 tons. The two bells are to be raised by a 250-ton crane in late August.

TITLE: Arms Exporters Criticize UK
AUTHOR: By Lyuba Pronina
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - State arms export agency Rosoboronexport on Wednesday criticized Britain for refusing to safeguard Russian jets at the Farnborough Air Show against possible seizure by a Swiss trading company.
 
Russian makers of Sukhoi and MiG fighters have decided to leave their aircraft at home, fearing a repeat of last year's embarrassment at France's Le Bourget air show, where Noga attempted to impound Su-30 and MiG-AT jets.
 "The show will suffer from the loss of the Russian planes," Rosoboronexport Deputy General Director Viktor Komardin told reporters. "I feel sorry for the organizers," he said.
 Without the Su fighters, there will be a significant drop in public interest and returns from the show, Komardin said. "Our fighters are a circus on wings," he added.
 Noga says that the Russian government owes over $60 million from 1990s oil-for-food deliveries. The company has managed to impound a ship and freeze Russian bank accounts. The government successfully appealed both cases.
 Komardin said that Rosoboronexport asked the organizers of the show in June whether the British government would deny requests by Noga to impound Russian property, but got no guarantees.
 The Russian delegation was planning to show Sukhoi's Su-30MK jet and the modernized MiG-29MRCA jet.
 Russian aircraft makers will display aircraft models, posters, helicopter simulators and other materials and will focus on modernizing aircraft delivered earlier to Central and Eastern Europe.
 Lindsey Hart, spokesperson for the Society of British Aerospace Companies, which organizes the show, said that "not having the Russians does not mean that we've got limited aircraft flying in the display."
 Komardin said that the Russian exhibitors will not lose out on valuable export markets.

TITLE: Industry Financing Key Topic at Banking Talks
AUTHOR: By Angelina Davydova
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: The Seventh North-West Banking Conference began in St. Petersburg on Thursday, with the lack of cooperation between the industrial and banking sectors being the key topic of debate. Representatives from the industrial sector blamed the poor performance of bankers, while bankers in turn pointed fingers at the Central Bank.
 
In 2001, Russian banks issued $43 billion in credit, 70 percent of those loans being for short term periods, Vyacheslav Zakharov, vice president of the Russian Banks Association, said. Banks in St. Petersburg issued $8.7 billion in credit, showing a rise on the same figure for the previous year of 30 percent, according to Central Bank statistics.
 The economy, however, is in desperate need of medium and long-term credit resources, according to Lyubov Pavlova, deputy head of the Central Bank's St. Petersburg office. She said that the main reasons for the deficit are the high risks involved in the industrial sector and the low credibility of many of its enterprises.
 Many of the experts taking part in the conference said that, though President Vladimir Putin has called for an annual growth in gross domestic product of 6 percent to 7 percent, the existing banking system is unable to supply the financing resources needed to make that possible. 
 "Although, in the last three years, we've seen stable industrial growth, a fall in the number of unprofitable businesses, salaries rising in real terms - by 25 percent last year - and a 50 percent rise in capital investment, the Russian industrial sector is still very weak and vulnerable," said Vakhtang Kaveshnikov, chairperson of the coordinating council of the Industry and Enterprise Association of the Northwest Region.
 "The main problem is a deficit in current assets - in 2001, banks loaned $83 million in current assets, while total banking assets are $6.5 billion - along with disastrous morale and the physical depreciation of fixed assets, which is reaching 65 percent to 70 percent in the heavy manufacturing sector," Kaveshnikov added.
 According to Kaveshnikov, "If we go on like this, in three years' time we'll have written off 25 percent to 30 percent of assets, and 50 percent in five years' time - that means half of present industrial assets will be worn out." In Kaveshnikov's view, this could be a danger in the run up to joining the WTO: "Foreign industry is breathing down the neck of Russian industry, and foreign capital is breathing down the neck of Russian banks."
 The coordinating council of the Northwest Industry and Enterprise Association suggested that private individuals could provide the answer. At present, private accounts make up only 25 percent to 29 percent of the total amount held by banks. This figure falls to 13 percent if Sberbank accounts are excluded. Association specialists maintain that if the number of individual accounts were to grow, banks would have sufficient credit facilities to provide the much-needed long-term loans. Special guarantees or an insurance program for bank accounts would have to be implemented in order to attract potential private account holders, they said.
 Other solutions proposed at the banking conference included state capital being put into commercial banks. This would be achieved by banking shares being exchanged for state credits, the right for pension funds to be held within the capital of commercial banks and the encouragement of bond emissions by industrial enterprises.
 Nevertheless, Russian bankers were quick to blame the Central Bank for not giving banks sufficient loan support. In 2001, commercial banks issued $43 billion in loans, while the Central Bank only allocated $33 million for refinancing, mostly on overnight terms. At the same time, however, it requires that commercial banks keep $9 billion of their reserves at the Central Bank, Vyacheslav Zakharov said. "The Central Bank is just obsessed with the so-called 'sterilization' of the banking system, and it's going to insist that banks have capitalization of at least five million euros, although I believe that the smaller banks are more stable than the larger banks," he said. 
 "We are being forced to prove to the government that banks are not casinos," complained the vice president of the Russian Banks Association.

TITLE: State Warns Euro Rise May Be Temporary
AUTHOR: By Torrey Clark
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - The government warned dollar-hoarding Russians not to rush exchange points Tuesday as the dollar dipped lower than the euro for the first time in 2 1/2 years.
 
"In any situation, the main thing is to avoid abrupt movements," Alexei Volin, the Cabinet's deputy chief of staff, was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying. "Mass dumping of the dollar would be the greatest mistake now."
 The Central Bank set Wednesday's official ruble rates at 31.48 to the dollar and 31.66 to the euro, pricing the European currency over the greenback for the first time since early 2000.
 With an estimated $50 billion to $70 billion under their mattresses, Russians are believed to hold more dollars in cash than anyone but Americans, and tend to react quickly to any news that could affect the exchange rate.
 Oleg Kuznetsov, head analyst at the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange, said that euro buying has increased gradually in recent weeks as the dollar has drifted down and the vacation season heats up. "Nonetheless, the dollar market remains about 20 times larger than the euro market," he said.
 Economists say that a weaker dollar could actually help the economy. "Overall, it could be positive for Russia," said Peter Westin, economist at investment bank Aton. "Russia's competitiveness could grow by 10 percent to 13 percent."
 Since the economy is so dollarized, the weakening of the dollar has pulled the ruble down with it. As a result, not only has real ruble appreciation against the dollar slowed, but the ruble has depreciated against other foreign currencies. "This puts a lid on euro-zone imports," said Niclas Sundstrom, chief strategist for Citigroup in London.
 The euro zone accounts for about 37 percent of total imports to Russia. About 60 percent of the nation's exports are dollar-denominated natural resources, but they are priced in the global market and thus do not react strongly to exchange-rate movements, Sundstrom said.
 Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said Tuesday that, although dollar-euro parity could cost the country an additional $400 million in debt payments this year, no changes to the budget would be required. Much of the government's roughly $150 billion debt is denominated in euros, including more than half of the $44 billion Paris Club debt and $2 billion in Eurobonds.
 "The government is well hedged against any increase in debt payments," Westin said. The price of gold, which makes up about 10 percent of the Central Bank's $42 billion in international reserves, has increased by about 13 percent this year, and exports have grown as well, which could provide an additional $170 million to the budget, he said.
 Additionally, the government collects export duties denominated in euros, which could generate another $200 million, Westin said.

TITLE: State Council To Promote Coal
AUTHOR: By Torrey Clark
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - The State Council wants coal to have a bigger role in powering the country and will give a report on the industry to President Vladimir Putin in August, a member of the council's working group on the coal industry said Monday.
 
The industry, which appeared to be getting to its feet in 2000 and 2001, was hit hard by an unseasonably warm winter and must repay billions of rubles to the government starting in the third quarter, the coal group's Oleg Misevra, president of MDM-Group's Siberian Coal Energy Co. Baikal-Ugol, or SUEK, said in an interview.
 "The industry is seeing as many positive tendencies as negative," he said. "The negative are mainly connected with the warm winter in 2001-02."
 In the first half of 2002, power stations used just 70 percent of the amount of coal as in the same period the year before, said Sergei Shatirov, a Kemerov region representative to the government and deputy head of the State Council's industrial policy committee, Interfax reported. Falling consumption pulled down production by 16 million tons in the first half of this year, he said.
 Misevra said that, as a result, many coal companies cannot sell all the coal that they produce, and the surplus has caused prices to plunge.
 The State Council group will push for power monopoly Unified Energy Systems to shift away from gas to coal in order to boost demand. 
 "Looking at Russia's energy strategy, it's clear that Russia has to change the ratios in its fuel supply to increase the proportion of coal," said Val Vaninov, vice president of business development at Access Industries, which has extensive holdings in the Kazakh coal sector. "Gas is too valuable to burn."
 Coal can't compete with cheap gas prices dictated by the government.
 The government, however, is not likely to raise prices any time soon and has resisted demands by some trading partners to equalize domestic and export gas prices before acceding to the World Trade Organization.

TITLE: Compromise Reached On New UES Reforms
AUTHOR: By Alla Startseva
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - The government and both houses of parliament agreed to compromise on power reform-legislation Wednesday, with lawmakers accepting the government's blueprint in exchange for a number of conceptual changes.
 
"We are prepared to look at any amendments and honor those that coincide with the government's proposed aims," news agencies quoted Deputy Economic Development and Trade Minister Andrei Sharonov as saying in the State Duma.
 Sharonov, the chief official dealing with the issue for the government, was speaking during the first meeting of the so-called conciliation commission, set up to ease the passage of a raft of energy bills needed to proceed with overhauling the national power grid.
 "In those cases, we are prepared to make concessions on details and formulations," Sharonov said.
 Restructuring national electricity monopoly Unified Energy Systems is a politically sensitive issue, with vested interests vying to influence the future makeup of the sector and regional leaders fearing that deregulation will lead to unpopular price hikes.
 Last month, deputies, despite pressure from UES, decided to postpone debate on the bills until the Duma reconvenes in September and they have had a chance to negotiate amendments.
 Industry watchers said that the decision was due to the complexity of the bills and urgings from the Kremlin to slow down the process.
 "A law is needed that will take into account the interests not just of [UES] managers, but also average people," said Vladimir Pekhtin, the head of the working group and Unity party leader in the Duma. Pekhtin said the whole point of establishing the working group was to avoid "the sad experience of privatization" in the 1990s.
 UES CEO Anatoly Chubais was the architect of the scandalous loans-for-shares privatization scheme in former President Boris Yeltsin's government.
 Lawmakers have already proposed hundreds of amendments to the government's package of bills, some of which are "conceptual" and acceptable to the Cabinet, Sharonov said. 
 "We understand that, otherwise, our bills would have met a very sad fate," he said.
 Federation Council Deputy Speaker Valery Goreglyad, who is on the working group, said on Tuesday that the upper house alone has proposed hundreds of amendments, and that analyzing them is a daunting task.
 "Just thinking about [getting ready] for the first reading of the bills by September is hair-raising," Goreglyad was quoted by Interfax as saying.
 Sergei Chernyavsky, who runs the Center for Energy Problems, and served in a previous working group, urged lawmakers not to be pressured to act too quickly. "I don't understand the timing problem. It would be better to spend another six months working out a very good law than to produce a bad law, which could be very dangerous," he said.

TITLE: State Approves Tourist Plan
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: MOSCOW - The government has approved a three-year tourism development plan aimed at increasing the number of tourists visiting Russia, the government press has announced.
 
Russia could receive 40 million foreign tourists per year according to the plan, compared with the current figure of just 7.4 million, or 1 percent of global tourism turnover.
 The plan, prepared by the Economic Development and Trade Ministry, calls for 120 million rubles ($3.8 million) per year to be spent on tourism development.
 The funds for the program will be drawn from federal and regional budgets.
 Russia has already spent $140,000 on promoting tourism over the last year, in contrast to some countries, which spend upward of $40 million, Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov said earlier this year.
 The plan envisages an aggressive advertising and marketing campaign on television and radio stations around the world aimed at changing Russia's negative tourism image.
 Brochures, maps and posters will also be sent to travel agencies and exhibitions worldwide
 Under the plan, visas will become easier to obtain for residents of countries whose citizens are considered unlikely to stay illegally.

TITLE: Corporate Greed in America Pulls Russian Market Down
AUTHOR: By Anna Raff
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - The best-laid plans of Russia's biggest corporations are no match for the machinations of U.S. executives and the toll they are taking on the world economy.
 
Unlike most of the past decade, Russian companies are not suffering from problems of their own making - this time it is the "infectious greed" gripping American business culture, as U.S. Federal Reserve Chairperson Alan Greenspan put it, that is to blame.
 Just as Russia's top companies are finally beginning to embrace the practices of their Western counterparts -introducing corporate governance charters, electing independent directors and revealing beneficial owners - the international exchanges on which they hope to list have plunged to levels not seen in years, led by the string of corporate fraud scandals in the United States that has been running for months.
 That is why few analysts believed LUKoil President Vagit Alekperov when he said earlier this week that the government would offer 6 percent of its stake in the oil giant on the London Stock Exchange on July 31.
 Projected proceeds from the sale are not what they were three months ago, and government coffers may be squeezed even further if officials decide not to issue a sovereign Eurobond this year or next. The government has yet to announce its decision.
 The federal budget, however, is not the only victim: Officials at Tyumen Oil Co., or TNK, say that it is "unlikely" that they will be able to place $500-million worth of Eurobonds, which were delayed due to an auditing mistake, before fall. The majority shareholders at Sibneft and Yukos, Russia's two fastest-growing oil companies, will probably postpone floating more stock, analysts said.
 "I would be surprised to see a Russian issue at this time," said Niclas Sundstrom, Citigroup's chief Russia analyst. "Russian assets, though, do remain significantly undervalued. Their prices would have been much higher had it not been for this global volatility."
 Many emerging-market investors are nervous about Brazil, where a strong showing by an opposition candidate in the polls has inspired a sell-off of stocks, bonds and the Brazilian currency ahead of October's presidential election. Russia has been caught in the contagion despite a strong economy.
 Why do problems in Brazil affect Russia? A common explanation involves the decisions made by managers of emerging-markets funds. If Brazilian stocks tank, as they have during the last several months, many managers are reluctant to crystallize that loss by selling Brazilian assets. Instead, they will look to sell something where they can show a profit. With its rising stock market, Russia is a logical choice.
 And it shows. The Russian Trading System's index has fallen 12 percent since it hit a high of 425.43 on May 20.
 "It's extremely difficult to issue into this market," said Philip Poole, the chief economist for Eastern Europe at ING Barings.
 Poole said that large dealers, most of whom aren't willing to take on more risk, are looking to keep assets that can't be sold quickly off their books. The trading volumes for corporate debt are much lower than those for Russian sovereign bonds, putting Russian companies at a disadvantage at a time when investors are re-examining the balance between risk and yield.
 Despite this prevailing pessimism about the short term, executives at Russian companies remained upbeat about Russia's ability to defy Western markets. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, many Russian entrepreneurs have chosen to emulate the Western model in their business practices. But Western capitalism has revealed its own flaws through a series of recent corporate scandals, in some ways failing those Russian companies who chose to embrace them.
 Consumer-goods company Wimm-Bill-Dann was able to get in before the markets dropped. In February, the stock closed at $22.60 on its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Since then, however, the share price has taken a beating, falling 17 percent.
 Although many companies are being forced to defer their Eurobonds, initial public offerings and secondary offerings, they have already benefited from the process, Sundstrom said.
 "These roadshows give the companies a great opportunity to explain their story to investors," he said. "That shouldn't be underestimated. Those measures act as convenient platforms for some of these companies to advertise internationally."
 Alan Bigman, TNK's head of corporate finance, agreed, saying the two-year process leading up to the Eurobond helped open up a company that was once closed to investors. The oil company was about to place a five-year Eurobond in late May when auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers realized at the last minute it had made a mistake, forcing TNK to call off the placement.
 While the stillborn Eurobond was unfortunate, "it was and is still optional for us," Bigman said. TNK had wanted to use the Eurobond receipts to refinance short-term debt. The interest rate on such a bond has risen since May and issuing one right now wouldn't make much sense. It would also cost TNK tens of millions of dollars more than in May. 
 At some point in the market freefall, analysts say savvy investors will realize that Russia - while it has its own corporate governance problems - isn't directly related to the lack of confidence plaguing the United States.
 "At some point the tide always turns," Poole said.

TITLE: Choosing Between the Sticks and the Carrots
AUTHOR: By Chris Weafer
TEXT: AN increasing share of economic activity in Russia is moving under the control of fewer and more powerful oligarchs, as current economic growth is ever more dependent on commodities, in particular oil.
 
The government, therefore, has a problem in that it has to find a way to boost very significantly investment capital flows into the noncommodity parts of the economy to achieve higher annual GDP-growth rates that can be sustained in order to create a more diversified economy - both in terms of activity and ownership - by the end of the decade.
 If it fails to do so, then Russia will end up as little more than a Venezuela writ large, with a "boom to bust," commodity-dependent economy. Far from realizing the proclaimed goal of integration into the global economy as an equal partner, Russia will be held hostage to the commodity-price cycle and a few very powerful individuals and companies.
 It has also been made very clear by President Vladimir Putin that a very significant element of the solution to this problem lies in the hands of the oligarchs. He has clearly set out the terms of the carrot that will be given for cooperation - an amnesty for repatriated flight capital and a continued forgiving attitude toward how state assets were acquired - and he has hinted strongly at what sticks might be deployed if the oligarchs choose not to participate voluntarily in the next phase of the administration's growth plan.
 This stick would surely come in the form of much more aggressive scrutiny of corporate activities, capital flight and tax audits, which, in many instances, could result in prosecutions, heavy fines and even confiscation of assets.
 In an address to the oligarchs just after being elected president two years ago, Putin made it clear that they had a two-year window to clean up their acts and to start behaving as good corporate citizens. That period has now come to an end.
 Defenders of the oligarch system in Russia liken the development to that of the robber barons in the United States and elsewhere, and therefore view it not just as inevitable but as necessary. This line of argument naively glosses over some very fundamental differences. In no other country did the oligarchs (or their equivalent) not simply sit close to the heart of government but largely displace and usurp it at a time when the largest privatization of state assets in the history of the planet was taking place.
 For example, there is no historical counterpart to the loans-for-shares scheme that transformed mere millionaires into oligarch billionaires in the mid-1990s
 The result of the endgame that we are now entering will either see the emergence of a Korean or Japanese-style "Chaebol" system if the carrot is accepted, with all of the long-term economic risks that this entails, or a period of increased political and investment risk if the government ends up wielding the stick.
 A good way to look at the government's plan for economic reform is to break Putin's likely two terms in office into four two-year periods, with each having a specific objective and each having specific implications for investment and risk.
 The theme of the first period can best be described as the removal of obstacles to future growth and the changing of attitude toward investment. Some of the obstacles removed were economic; e.g. tax reform has clearly broadened the tax-paying base and permanently increased revenues, while pushing for growth in oil production and exports has created an additional safety zone in the budget and reduced vulnerability to oil-price weakness. Other obstacles were people, the removal of Central Bank Chairperson Viktor Gerashchenko and Gazprom CEO Rem Vyakhirev being the most high-profile examples. Over this period, investors were rewarded with strongly rising asset prices. For example, over the three years to the end of June, the RTS gained 188 percent compared to a loss of 24 percent for the average emerging market and a loss of 44 percent for NASDAQ.
 The theme of the next two-year period can be described as one of preparation for future growth. Key obstacles have been removed but the economy is not yet ready to grow at the 6-to-8-percent annual rate being called for. That is still two years away in the third of the two-year periods and, in order for the objectives of that period to be achieved, a sound investment infrastructure has to be put in place. This chiefly means reforming the banking system to create the infrastructure for capital flow, pension reform to create a local source of long-term investment capital, and judicial reform to protect investors and their investments.
 The theme of the third two-year period is seen as implementation, as capital flows increase through the newly created investment infrastructure. Like Putin's first two years in office, this third period is shaping up to have the same high-risk, high-reward characteristics. If successful, then the last of the four periods, covering Putin's final two years in office, should see Russia become more closely integrated into the global economy with significant benefits in the form of substantial long-term investment flows.
 However, it is the achievement of the objectives of the next phase of the economic plan and the future of the oligarchs that are closely linked. More than 50 percent of industrial capital investment is directed towards the fuel sector, and most of this is used to develop production and exports ever faster. So far, this suits the government objective of lessening exposure to oil-price weakness but, rather than wishing to become the new Saudi Arabia (a scenario that several of the oil oligarchs have publicly endorsed), it is clear that the government's objective is for a one-off structural change that will see oil exports raise to between 4.5 million and 5 million barrels per day, and then a substantial shift in capital investment into developing other sectors of the economy.
 A substantial amount of the estimated $160 billion of Russian capital held in foreign bank accounts is under the control of commodity exporters and oligarchs.
 Investment spending in the noncommodity parts of the economy is today at a negligible level and success in increasing this to desired levels will depend on how successful the government is in either persuading, or forcing, the owners and controllers of that capital to take it out of safe foreign bank accounts and to significantly slow down oil-related capital expenditures.
 If the scenario involving four two-year plans is correct, then we should expect there to be increasing debate on the deployment of Russian-owned capital, in parallel with the building of the domestic investment infrastructure, between now and the March 2004 presidential election.
 After that, those in the Kremlin who still harbor ambitions to finally extract a fair price for state assets sold far too cheaply in the early and mid-1990s may yet be given an opportunity to realize those ambitions. The phrase "hydrocarbon windfall tax" might now only be mentioned in hushed tones in government circles but, nonetheless, it cannot have failed to come to the attention of certain oligarchs.
 Whether they choose to heed the warnings will be the subject of intense scrutiny during this next phase of the economic-development plan.
 
 <i>Chris Weafer, head of research at Troika Dialog Investment Bank, contributed this comment to The St. Petersburg Times. </i>

TITLE: Defense's Financial Woes a Smokescreen
AUTHOR: By Pavel Felgenhauer
TEXT: MOSCOW is a deserted town in late July and August. Parliament is closed down for a lengthy recess, top bureaucrats tend to spend as much time at their dachas as possible and foreign diplomats leave to escape the scorching heat and gas fumes of downtown.
 
As August approaches, all serious official business seems to be put off for more pleasant times.
 But behind the scenes there's plenty of action: The federal government's draft budget is currently being finalized and should be presented to parliament by August 15.
 The Kremlin fully controls both chambers of parliament, and the budget proposals the government puts forward are no longer seriously amended. If any ministry or department wants to push through its spending plans, now is the time to make a last concentrated push. The military is the biggest recipient of taxpayer money in Russia, and it is now lobbying frantically to get even more - both concertedly and, in the case of every ministry that has military divisions, individually.
 A long litany of complaints and disclosures regarding the terrible state of the military has been made public recently. Last month, General Anatoly Kvashnin, the chief of General Staff, surprised the nation by announcing that the military is in a &quot;post-critical state&quot; and that it has more or less degraded into a rabble of thieves and crooks. This week an official report was leaked to the press describing the misery and poverty in which the rank and file live.
 The report states that 46 percent of soldiers' families live below the poverty line. In the Interior Ministry and the Federal Border Service, 53 percent and 57 percent of families, respectively, are officially impoverished.
 It turns out that the much-publicized military-personnel pay hike enacted this month did not help much because, at the same time, officers lost a number of tax and utility-payment privileges. Kremlin propaganda has for some time emphasized President Vladimir Putin's role in pushing through the military pay hikes - apparently to increase his popularity in the ranks. It may be that this propaganda will backfire if service personnel start to link their misery to Putin personally.
 The disclosure of depressing information about the state of the military is obviously linked to the current budget-drafting process. But the military is indeed underpaid and underfinanced. The ordinary rank and file and their families spend more than 50 percent of their official income on basic foodstuffs, while those better-off are the crooks who steal and sell military equipment, and those engaging in business activities to the detriment of their service, etc.
 Of course, the generals making these shocking disclosures and masterminding the leaks about the state of the military are not themselves paupers. The top brass is also not simply claiming poverty to get a bigger slice of the national budget pie, as their counterparts in the United States and Europe often do. Russia's generals are playing a much more sinister game: They have successfully managed to sidestep the issue of military reform and substitute it with the problem of defense financing.
 Last week, General Vasily Smirnov announced that it will be impossible to create an all-volunteer military. The experiment to make the 76th airborne division in Pskov all-volunteer has proven to be too expensive, Smirnov told reporters, so the draft should continue indefinitely. Smirnov added: &quot;The draft helps prepare citizens to defend the fatherland and form a reserve for mobilization.&quot;
 Of course, the result of the Pskov experiment has been all too predictable. The military is actively sabotaging any attempts at reform. However, without reform, with millions of soldiers and some 100,000 colonels in active service all told, there will be neither decent pay and service conditions nor a disciplined, modern force.
 It seems the absence of reform and the deepening crisis in the military, which is actively perpetuated and exploited by the selfish top brass, is increasingly a grave political problem for Putin's Kremlin. It's not that the disgruntled military is ripe for mutiny already, but mass protests - secretly supported by the top brass - and a further breakdown of discipline are possible if better men are not put in command soon. The problem is where to find better men within Russia's corrupt military elite?
 
 <i>Pavel Felgenhauer is an independent defense analyst. </i>

TITLE: electronic mail from Germany
AUTHOR: by Sergey Chernov
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Lali Puna, one of the finest bands on the alternative electronic music scene, makes its local live debut this Friday.
 
Combining pop-song structures, elaborate sound textures and an indie sensibility, the Munich, Germany-based band is fronted by Valerie Trebeljahr, who sings and plays keyboards, and features bassist Markus Acher, drummer Christoph Brandner and keyboard player Florian Zimmer, of Munich bands Notwist, Console and Tied &amp; Tickled Trio.
 The band was put together by Trebeljahr, previously of the band L.B. Page. 
 &quot;It was an all-girl group and it was more into rock,&quot; she said, referring to her former band in a telephone interview last week. &quot;We had two guitars ... but we had the band just two years before it dissolved. And we only recorded one song.&quot;
 When L.B. Page split in 1998, Trebeljahr formed Lali Puna - originally as a solo project. 
 &quot;My idea, in the beginning, was to create pop songs with a techno beat,&quot; she said. &quot;I can't play drums, so I used a drum machine. That was the idea at first, but then it changed and I began to look for other band members. Now it's become something different.&quot;
 There are echoes of Stereolab's sophisticated soundscapes and floating, melodic vocals in Lali Puna's music, and Trebeljahr readily admits the British band's influence on her songs.
 &quot;We've been compared a lot with them, and Stereolab is a very important band for me,&quot; said Trebeljahr, citing Stereolab's 1995 singles collection, &quot;Refried Ectoplasm (Switched On, Vol. 2),&quot; as her favorite record from the band.
 Trebeljahr, 28, was born in Pusan, South Korea, but was adopted by German parents and taken to Germany when she was 1 1/2 years old. She then spent about 10 years in Lisbon, Portugal, with her stepmother. 
 &quot;I grew up with German parents, so my nationality is German ... There's sort of no nationality [about me], and because I lived for a long time in Portugal, there are songs written in Portuguese.&quot;
 Though based in Germany, Lali Puna has no songs in German. &quot;It's very difficult to sing in German because the sound of the language is quite hard, it's not as melodic as English,&quot; Trebeljahr says. 
 Trebeljahr also claims alternative rockers such as New York guitar band Sonic Youth as an influence. 
 &quot;Sonic Youth is an important band for me,&quot; she says. &quot;They have their very own definition of pop - they're unique in their genre,&quot; she said. Her list of influences also includes Pavement and Yo La Tengo, more electronic bands such as Tarwater, as well as Young Marble Giants. 
 But Trebeljahr's tastes alone do not dictate the direction of Lali Puna's music.&quot;The other composer in Lali Puna is Markus, and he's got a more diverse musical background,&quot; she says. 
 Although her current musical projects are mostly electronic, Trebeljahr believes that the future belongs to acoustic music, given current movements in electronic music away from pure electronic sound.
 &quot;I think that electronic music will return to acoustic stuff. I don't listen to very much electronic minimalist stuff - because in some way ... it's not getting to my heart anymore.&quot; 
 <i>

 Lali Puna performs at Red Club this Friday at 11 p.m. Links: www.lalipuna.de </i>

TITLE: a day in the life of a local band
AUTHOR: by Jennifer Davis
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: Last weekend, 18,000 rock fans invaded the quiet city of Joensuu, Finland for the two-day Ilosaarirock Festival. This year's headliners included Suede, Nightwish, the Dropkick Murphys, an obligatory performance by Finnish favorites HIM, and St. Petersburg's own Deadushki and St. Petersburg Ska-Jazz Review.
 
Joensuu is a town in the East of Finland about 500 kilometers North of St. Petersburg. As it was my first &quot;mini-tour&quot; as vocalist for St. Petersburg Ska-Jazz Review, I had no idea what to expect. The festival site contained three stages, including an outdoor stadium, makeshift campsites littered with half-naked, drunken punks, food stands, and t-shirt and jewelry vendors. 
 &quot;Finland is amazing. About 50 percent of the population is punks,&quot; commented Alexei Kanev, the baritone sax player for St. Petersburg Ska-Jazz Review, as a guy wearing a superhero costume and a curly, blonde wig walked by.
 Getting there was our first problem-always a problem for a band consisting of ten members, with a van that seats nine, especially if the tenth member, namely me, wants to bring her boyfriend. We traveled to Joensuu via a taxi service for 35 euros a head. 
 Upon arriving on Friday afternoon, we received our accreditation: blue wristbands that entitled us to a free vegetarian meal, a cleansing swim in the nearby lake (in lieu of a shower) and backstage access. There was no dressing room or place to warm up - so all pre-concert activity centered around our van. I ran out to the hilly lakeside for a &quot;sound of music&quot; moment to warm up my voice only to be chased by a non-English speaking security guard who couldn't understand what I was doing singing on a hill.
 Finally, around 11:00 PM, we went onstage before a large crowd of noisy Finns. 
 &quot;The Finns are very nice and open people and certainly like to have fun. If you think Russians are the heaviest drinkers in the world - you're wrong!&quot; says Denis Kuptsov, the drummer and spokesperson for St. Petersburg Ska-Jazz Review. 
 The St. Petersburg Ska-Jazz Review, composed of members from Spitfire and Markscheider Kunst, is a relatively young band, having previously played only one concert abroad. Spitfire, however, is well-traveled and has played the Ilosaarirock festival twice before. 
 &quot;This year's Ilosaarirock Festival was well-organized as usual. The audience was very enthusiastic and positive,&quot; says Kuptsov.
 Unfortunately, since we were due in Helsinki the day after Ilosaarirock for a gig, we couldn't take advantage of our backstage pass to meet the headlining bands arriving on Saturday. 
 When my boyfriend and I woke up Saturday morning on a friendly Finn's floor, we knew we had a difficult day ahead. The night before, our local hosts had convinced us to hitchhike the 460 kilometers from Joensuu to Helsinki, instead of taking a bus. The band's bass player and designated driver, Andrei Kuraev, dropped us off on the edge of the highway and bid us good luck. We had a good start, making it all the way to Kotka, about 150 kilometers outside of Helsinki, by 3:00 PM. Our drivers were all loquacious, friendly Finns, who said that they hunt &quot;everything that moves,&quot; and eat every little fish they can catch. It was at this point - when we felt the most overconfident - that our luck changed. We were stranded on the hot, dusty highway for over an hour, as cars went by. Running late for a rock concert, delirious from thirst and getting on each other's nerves, we looked like characters in a bad Aerosmith video. Finally, a completely non-English speaking Finn in an air-conditioned Mercedes delivered us safely to Helsinki, after a couple of stilted conversations requiring pantomime reminiscent of a Jim Jarmusch movie. 
 We arrived at the Makasiinit Alahuone club in Helsinki just in time for the sound check. I almost cried with joy as we walked backstage and found a refrigerator stocked with cold beer, juice and water compliments of the house. 
 However, the club had no ventilation system and the midnight concert was as hot as hell. Oddly enough, the club also lacked stage lights, so the overhead lighting was left on the whole time, providing an atmosphere similar to an awkward 7th grade dance in the school gym. Nonetheless, the place was packed with a crowd that sucked up every sound and stayed until the very last chord.
 After the concert ended at 2:00 AM, the entire band drove back to St. Petersburg in order to play the Leningrad/ Spitfire show at Yubileny Sports Palace on Sunday. My boyfriend and I stayed on and were graciously offered accommodation in the staff room of a rock club. As I settled down onto a dirty mattress, surrounded by metal lockers and piles of moldy towels I thought, &quot;This is the life. I can't wait to do it again.&quot;
 <i>Spitfire is on tour in Germany, so the Ska-Jazz Review won't play St. Petersburg until August. Jennifer Davis, however, performs this Sunday at (812)club. See Listings for more information. </i>

TITLE: chernov's choice
TEXT: Leningrad headlined the Podogrev (Warming Up) benefit festival last Sunday, the aim of which was to raise funds for the treatment of Spitfire's ailing trombonist, though the affair wasn't without its drawbacks. By locking fans inside the heated and stuffy stadium, in order to prevent them passing on used tickets to those outside, the festival's organizers weren't helping, but the event more than served its purpose.
 
&quot;We raised money and gathered people,&quot; wrote Spitfire's Denis Kuptsov in an e-mail before leaving for a German club tour earlier this week.
 Charity events will continue this Saturday with the <strong>Ne Chuzhiye Deti </strong>(Not Somebody Else's Children) one-night festival, at the alternative club Poligon. Around 20 local acts, including Buttweizer and Animal Jazz, will play for free to raise money for a children's home. All the proceeds, according to Poligon, whose staff will all be working for free for the day, will be used to buy food and toys.
 <strong>Tequilajazzz </strong>has a taste for establishing little traditions for insiders, perhaps the most popular being the band's annual summer concert at Moloko. 
 The event is usually held on July 20, with the first such concert in the series dating back to 1999. A live &quot;Moloko&quot; album, recorded at a previous summer concert, is also available from the club. 
 It is a rare person who can spend more than 10 minutes in Moloko's packed basement but, then again, Tequilajazzz's hardcore fans can fairly be described as rare. Nevertheless, some do have to run out into the street for the occasional breath of fresh air. 
 Moloko has no plans to take a break over the summer, though some clubs will be interrupting their schedules. <strong>Orlandina </strong>is likely to close for two weeks after the club's three-day alternative-rock festival this weekend, the venue's spokesperson said. He said that the downtime would be used to build a chill-out room on the second floor. &quot;Anyway, all the decent bands have gone away,&quot; he added.
 On the club scene, Par.spb has just announced it will go on vacation in August, after eight months' hard work. Poligon will take a break as well, but will probably hold its annual &quot;extreme&quot; festival, &quot;Banzai,&quot; late in July. 
 <strong>StereoLeto </strong>festival folds this Saturday, with the Stereo International party featuring the young, but much talked of ,Yonderboi.
 <strong>Yonderboi, </strong>whose real name is Laszlo Fogarasi Jr., is one of very few Hungarian artists to have gained any degree of international fame of late. Having grown up in a village 250 kilometers from Budapest, he released his debut album, &quot;Shallow and Profound&quot; (2000), when he was just 19.
 According to Yonderboi's Web site, the artist, who has been labeled the &quot;Jimi Tenor of Hungary,&quot; is influenced by old-school French hip-hop, 1990s trip-hop, soundtracks from Eastern European cartoons, and film noire of the 1960s. Apart from electronics, he uses acoustic instruments such as a vibraphone, accordion, saxophone and guitar. Yonderboi's most beloved possession, though, seems to be a notorious Vermona organ from the former East Germany.
 Yonderboi will be backed by his band Zagar. The event will also feature Hungarian DJ Bootsie and St. Petersburg's own Messer Chups and DJ Lovesky.
 <i>- by Sergey Chernov </i>

TITLE: stuck in the middle with you
AUTHOR: by Shawna Gamache
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: Such an institution seems rare in Russia - the land of &quot;Leninist Legacy&quot; and &quot;Eurostandard&quot; does not lend itself easily to self-control. Maybe that's why I'm so happy here, and maybe that's why I'm so depressed. After lunch yesterday, for once, in &quot;Peter's City,&quot; I found myself happy taking the middle road home.
 The James Cook Pub and Cafe is located in a courtyard just behind the Church of the Savior, and its entry - slightly vainglorious in its massive facade and billowing flags - gives way to a divergence. Here, the institution becomes two, with the breezy and light cafe to your left, and the warm, mahogany-hued pub to your right. We went for the latter, knowing that the meal might give way to desserts and coffee across the hall.
 The pub houses about 14 dark- wood tables, accompanied by attractive cherry-wood and red velveteen seats, and is fronted by a massive bar housing every alcoholic beverage under the sun, and a pretty good selection of beers on tap, including well-known German malts and English stouts. The walls are tastefully cluttered with prints, photos, and pub-related memorabilia. 
 We chose the business lunch without much debate, an excellent deal at 150 rubles ($4.83). James Cook's business lunch actually comes with the promise of free alcohol for those who desire it. For the free drink, one can imbibe either soda, coffee, tea, mineral water, beer or wine. The lunch also comes with a trip to the salad bar, a choice between three soups, and between three mains. 
 We headed over to the salad bar and were delighted to find a tray of fresh vegetables (tomatoes, cucumbers, Chinese cabbage and bell peppers), alongside three salads, one featuring potatoes, mayonnaise and fish, one a classic Russian Vinaigrette, and the other an interesting mix of shredded cucumber, egg and noodles. We piled our plates high, dipped into the delicious salads with the fresh bread provided and decided, in a moment of giddy fervor, that, since the meal had been so cheap, we'd top it off with some inordinately expensive drinks. Luckily, at James Cook these are easy to find on the menu, and we seized upon the Oxygen Cocktails section, choosing the &quot;Sportman,&quot; a mix of apple, orange and banana juice, and the &quot;Pink Fantasy,&quot; a mix of pineapple, banana, and orange juice, each 150 rubles ($4.83). 
 Though I can't report whether the Cocktails provided the promised immune-enhancement, I can say that, while they were good enough, they weren't nearly what one might expect of a five-dollar-shake. Our soups came immediately after: I had gone for the cream and green pea, and my dining companion the borscht. Both were warm, bland and filling. There were no terrifying &quot;I have something really yucky in my mouth&quot; moments, and no orgasmic cries of satisfaction. It was just soup, after all.
 The mains came after a slightly prolonged wait. I had ordered the Vegetable Ragout and my companion the Pike-perch po-rysskiy (fried on a bed of cheese-smothered potato quarters). Both were on the smallish side, but flavorful. We sat and gabbed, spanning time as the food disappeared. Neither of us had found time to think much about the food, and this allowed us to expound all of our energy on each other. 
 Having reaped all of the free benefits of the business lunch, we decided to retire to the cafe for cappuccinos and cheesecake. Seated atop sophisticated wicker chairs with a tight olive weave, we chatted over a bouquet of fresh-smelling flowers. Encased in warm terra-cotta brick and crisp white walls, we drank our tiny - but sprinkled with freshly ground chocolate- cappuccinos (60 rubles, $1.94), which, while hardly dry, were warm and strong enough. Underneath a vaulted roof and gilded steel lighting fixtures, we enjoyed urbane but generously-sliced cheesecake (90 rubles, $2.90). Mostly, we talked. The food provided pleasant nourishment as back-beat to our conversation.
 In its temperance, James Cook provides a crucial lesson: Man can survive on peaks and valleys alone, but walking the middle ground occasionally brings life into focus. I suppose I'm growing up already.
 
 <i>
James Cook Pub and Cafe, 2 Shvedskiy Pereulok. Tel 312-3200. Open daily from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m., Fridays and Saturdays until 4 a.m. Credit Cards Accepted. Lunch for two with desserts and Oxygen Cockails, 900 rubles ($29). </i>

TITLE: valaam: centuries of rest for the weary
AUTHOR: by Larisa Doctorow
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Among the most popular inland waterway routes from St Petersburg is the trip to the monastery island of Valaam, 220 kilometers to the northeast, in Lake Ladoga.
 
The islands of the Valaam archipelago have fjord-like shores covered with forests. In the 19th century, Russian writers and artists were drawn to Valaam for its exquisite natural beauty. In 1866 Tchaikovsky lived on Valaam for several weeks and wrote his Second Symphony looking out at its lush forests and still water.
 Poets said that the islands possessed the best views in Russia, and students of the St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts spent summers there. The landscape artist Shishkin was among those who celebrated the archipelago in well known canvasses that now hang in the State Russian Museum and Tretyakov Gallery. 
 This pristine glory may seem exaggerated to today's jaded tourists. But when you sit on a sun-lit terrace on Valaam island some fifty meters above granite rock, and look out at the grace and tranquility of the chapel of the Ascension with its white-washed walls and intense lapis lazuli cupola, set against a background of birch trees and silver firs; when you listen to the gentle lapping of the waves and laments of sea-gulls, you will surely agree with the Russian poets and artists of a simpler age.
 The journey to Valaam begins on the 74 kilometer stretch of the Neva from St. Petersburg river port up to its source in Lake Ladoga. The approach to the lake is marked by a magnificent suspension bridge, the only crossing of the river north of the city. 
 Ladoga is the biggest and also deepest fresh-water lake in Europe, 233 meters at its deepest point. Upon embarking on this vast expanse of water, you lose sight of land for hours and have a sensation of being out at sea.
 Valaam is the largest of fifty islands comprising the eponymous archipelago, measuring 28 square kilometers. It is known for a microclimate that is explained by the granite base on which it sits. The stone accumulates warmth all summer and then emits heat in the autumn and winter. Accordingly, the local seasons are several months out of sync with the calendar. Winters are very late and mild, but there is snow on the ground from late January until April. 
 Apart from the splendid scenery, religious interest contributes greatly to the attraction of Valaam - and always has. According to church records, two holy fathers, Saints Sergey and Germain, came to the Valaam archipelago from southeast Europe in the tenth century - even before the conversion of Kievan Rus - to prosthletize the pagan Karelian tribes who worshipped the god Vaal. To strengthen the local population's new Christian beliefs, Sergey and Germain commissioned a monastery, the Transfiguration of the Saviour.
 The monastery eventually became the outpost for territory dominated by Novgorod, and was caught up in the centuries-long struggle between Slavs and Swedes for control of the lucrative trade route connecting the Scandinavian north and Byzantium.
 Between the 12th and 15th centuries, the monks fought 82 battles with the Swedes. The buildings of the monastery were burned down innumerable times. One conflict wreaked particularly savage destruction at the beginning of the 17th century ended the monastery's existence for 100 years. Then, like the legendary Phoenix, the monastery was resurrected from its ashes under Peter the Great as the surrounding area was taken over by the Russian state.
 In the 19th century, the monastic community achieved rare prosperity and fame, which made it a magnet for pilgrims from across the Russian Empire.
 Through laborious effort, the monks transformed the inhospitable barren rocks, that lacked natural topsoil, into an oasis of prosperity. They dug canals to connect the numerous inland lakes, brought soil from the mainland, and planted orchards and vegetable gardens. Their mastery won them awards at international expositions. They built fisheries and dairy farms, engaged in horse-breeding, and established brickworks and stone quarries that served their own needs as well as those of the capitol.
 Religious tourism grew to such proportions at the end of the 19th century that the Transfiguration of our Saviour Cathedral became too small to accommodate all of the pilgrims and clergy. It was demolished to make way for the larger structure, accommodating 4000 parishioners, that stands there today. 
 In the early 20th century, Valaam had more than 2, 000 monks residing in a number of different orders, each one with its own rules and varying degree of asceticism. 
 The island had a hotel for well-to-do visitors. About 700 tourists arrived each year from abroad. The tsarist family honoured the monastery with ceremonial visits and gifts.
 This golden age came to an abrupt end in 1917. The monastery suddenly found itself on the Finnish side of the border, with all contacts with Russia cut off. During the interwar years, the number of monks dwindled to a few hundred. But the Valaam monastery was spared the tragic fate of the Russian clergy after the revolution.
 At the start of Russo-Finnish war in 1939, Soviet planes bombed the monastery and destroyed many buildings. In February 1940, under the cover of night, the monks were evacuated to Finland. Travelling along the frozen lake, they and their 150 cartloads of possessions safely reached the Finnish lines. The survivors founded the New Valaam monastery, which exists to this day on Lake Pappinieme in Northern Finland. The last living monk from that exodus died in 1973 at the age of 107.
 The history of Valaam over the half century following the war was grim. First it was turned into a convalescent house for Russia's most severely injured war veterans. Six hundred soldiers were brought here and stayed till their deaths. Then it was turned into a tourist complex where people from Leningrad came in large groups to have a good time. Many of the surviving wooden chapels burnt down due to negligence.
 With the advent of Perestroika, and the revival of the Russian Orthodox Church, efforts were made to establish the monastery of Valaam anew. On December 13, 1989 the first monks returned to Valaam after more than seventy years.
 The monastery was re-inaugurated by the Russian Orthodox Church in a mass celebrated by Patriarch Alexy II. Pilgrims and tourists also returned. 
 Every summer volunteers flock here to help with the restoration work. The results of these restoration efforts are seen everywhere. The churches, chapels, and hermitages are being returned to life. The island is gradually turning into a marvelous historic, spiritual and cultural monument- again. 
 There are now 160 monks living permanently on the island, in addition to the local population of 500. While monks are busy with their monastic life, the locals fish, smoke their catch and sell it to the tourists. 
 The return journey from St Petersburg takes two nights and permits a full day of sightseeing on the island. Depending on the travel agency, a cruise package costs about $100 per person with full board. Nearly every travel agency in St Petersburg offers reservations on these popular trips. A comfortable fleet of passenger ships built in East Germany during Soviet times plies routes on the inland waterways of the region. They offer single and double cabins, often with air-conditioning, and provide simple, but adequate, meals as well as a satisfactory selection of foreign wines and liquors in addition to the traditional vodkas, all at attractive prices.
 The cruise ships release tourists for a day of well-organized sightseeing conducted by professionals under license from the monastery. Sturdy walking shoes are recommended, since the morning and afternoon excursions each require between three and fiver kilometers of hiking. At one chapel, there is a demonstration of Russian choral singing including the Valaam tradition of 'a capella.' Women should bring headscarves and wear long skirts or trousers when visiting the churches and chapels.
 Although Lake Ladoga is generally too cold for comfortable bathing, Valaam's inner lakes are warm and swimmable during summer and there is sufficient free time in the schedule to allow this.
 Motorboats are available for short trips around the island at negotiable prices. Sailing season runs from May through November.

TITLE: bathing is best done in budapest
AUTHOR: by Genine Babakian
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: There are a million and one reasons to go to Budapest. Some go for the spectacular architecture. Others go for the music, an evening cruise along the Danube, or a weekend of wine tasting. And one must not underestimate the gastronomic lure of the city - the countless ways in which goose liver alone is creatively presented in Budapest is enough to titillate any gourmand's taste buds.
 
I went for the baths.
 To be fair, I knew that, once there, I'd take pleasure from all that Budapest has to offer: the scenic views over the Danube from Castle Hill, the strolling violinists serving up hearty helpings of gypsy music, a visit to the market to stock up on embroidered linens and the trendy cafes along Andrassy Utca, the tree-lined main drag in the heart of Buda. 
 I also liked the idea of going to two cities in one: Buda and Pest - two distinct cities divided by the Danube that joined to form one city in 1873. 
 But when my former banya buddy called to recommend that we meet for a weekend in Budapest, I thought only of the dozens of natural springs peppering the city. A spa weekend in one of the most beautiful capitals in Europe. Who could say no?
 Our Hungarian bathing odyssey began at the Danubius Hotel Gellert, a mammoth Art Nouveau complex nestled between the Danube and the foot of Gellert Hill. The hill (and the hotel, for that matter) were named after St. Gellert - a martyr thrown off the peak to his death some 1,000 years ago for preaching Christianity to some local pagans. 
 Our experience at the Gellert was infinitely more pleasant. We had a spacious double room overlooking the river, complete with bathrobes and intriguing instructions enabling us to navigate the bathing facilities and make use of the Gellert Spa. Donning my bathrobe and holding the paper in the palm of my hand, I felt like a character in a turn-of-the-century spy novel. Written in English and German, the instructions began:
 &quot;The baths open at 6:00 a.m. Larger numbers of tourists may also come in from outside. Go down in your bathing suit and robe. No one will stop you.&quot;
 Indeed, no one did stop us as we passed the main desk on our way to explore the territory and map out a bathing strategy. We found the men's and women's thermal baths, where visitors lounged upon underwater benches in pools of hot spring water. Between the two gender-separated thermal baths is an indoor swimming pool where bathers in shower caps swim in leisurely circles. An even larger pool with a well-timed wave machine is in the outdoor lounging area, as is a thermal bath where the two sexes are allowed to mingle.
 Our instructions led us to the women's thermal baths, where the staff greeted us with &quot;decency covers&quot; - apron-like pieces of cloth that made us look anything but decent - and repeated offers for a full-body massage. Having been a regular at a very strict banya in Moscow, where the mistresses of steam feel free to chastise their fellow bathers for any breach in protocol, I was paralyzed with uncertainty: Do we enter the thermal baths before or after the steam room? When do we hit the swimming pool? And how, exactly, are we supposed to put on these decency covers?
 But my worries, it appeared, were unfounded. At the Gellert, at least, the thermal baths were an as-you-like-it kind of ritual. Steam when you like, swim when you like, hop back and forth between the 36- and 38-degree baths at whim. In fact, the only hard and fast rule I observed during my weekend at the Gellert was the shower cap in the swimming pool rule. &quot;This is one that is cast in stone,&quot; I thought, witnessing a whistling attendant order a man - who was balder than most babies - to don the head cover.
 While the Gellert baths are among the most famous in Budapest, they are not the only gig in town. The city has some 50 baths to choose from, ranging from the ancient springs that have been used for nearly 2000 years to other more modern baths in business for merely a century. Among the latter are the Szechenyi Baths inside the City Park - a sprawling complex at the end of Andrassy Utca. To enter the park, visitors must pass through the imposing Hero's Square, where a massive statue of the Archangel Gabriel presides over representations of Hungarian leaders. 
 For a more eastern flavor, head to the Kiraly baths. These Turkish baths date back to the 16th century and the waters - a calcium-hydrogen-magnesium-carbonate cocktail - are said to work wonders on bad backs. The Danubius Thermal Hotel on Margaret Island, the green strip of land nestled between Buda and Pest, also welcomes weekend visitors and day guests to the spa. In contrast to the Art Nouveau style of the Gellert, the Thermal Hotel spa has a more modern flavor. And if you are looking for a quiet afternoon escape from the bustle of Pest, Margaret Island is a delightful place to stroll and people-watch.
 Though you might find it hard to coax yourself from the languid hours spent at the spas, there is much more to do in Budapest than just bathe. Even if you have no time to visit the National Gallery housed inside the Buda Palace on top of Castle Hill, it is worth a ride up the funicular to explore the narrow streets of this district and visit the imposing Matyas Templom Cathedral, located on the main square of the Buda Hills. On a sunny day, you can look out across the Danube and get a fine view of the Chain Bridge - the first to link Buda and Pest - and the neo-gothic Hungarian Parliament.
 It would certainly be a crime to miss the Basilica - the city' s largest cathedral - located on the other side of the Danube in the busy heart of Pest. The Basilica is a short walk from the Opera Theater that was once headed by Gustav Mahler. Visitors are allowed to step inside and marvel at the gold-leaf interior, but it is far more enjoyable to take in a performance. Evening opera and ballet performances start at 7 p.m. and tickets are available (sometimes right up to curtain time) at the box office. The theater is located at 22 Andrassy Utca, Pest's most beautiful boulevard. The street is also home to a growing number of chic cafes and dining establishments, making it the perfect location for a post-theater dinner.
 <strong>

 Where to Stay: </strong>A luxury double room at the Danubius Hotel Gellert (1 Gellert Ter., Tel. 36-1-385-2200) with a river view costs 190 euros ($191) per night. A buffet breakfast and use of the thermal baths and swimming pool are included. Single rooms and more modest doubles are also available. A more intimate and modest choice is the 24-room Kalvin House (6 Gonczy P. Utca. Tel. 36-1-430-0833), a turn-of-the-century hotel just one kilometer from Pest's city center. Singles start at 50 euros, and doubles at 65.
 <strong>
 Where to Eat: </strong>If you like candlelight, Gypsy music and a generous sampling of Hungarian wine, then try Szazeves, one of the city' s oldest restaurants, located at 2 Barnabas Utca (Tel. 266-5240). 
 

 <strong>
How to Get There: </strong>Pulkovo offers four flights a week from St. Petersburg to Budapest. Call Pulkovo (104-34-35) for details.

TITLE: a fleshy tribute to the good life
AUTHOR: by Aliona Bocharova
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: The exhibition &quot;Revealing the Human Body Un-tanned,&quot; by Dima Mishenin and Andrey Chezhin, at The Nabokov Museum until July 26, may well contribute to a discussion about the essence of contemporary art. The exhibition is part of the local annual artistic event &quot;Contemporary Art in the Traditional Museum&quot; initiated by The PRO ARTE Institute.
 
The exhibition comprises ten digital photos of a beautiful young woman basking in the sun, and ten fragments of her arrogant monologue, crowning a floor covered with a layer of sand tread by barefooted patrons. The opening of the exhibition was a bold, yet inspired and tasteful blend of contemporary art and advertising - a huge screen with an online broadcast of a pedicure procedure from the adjacent gallery, and a beach video with half-naked girls changing in dressing-huts, and women in bikinis serving orange juice. 
 &quot;I consider myself a magician, whose mission is to dissolve the border between art and advertising,&quot; Dima Mishenin says. &quot;I believe that someone producing tasty juice, and good quality hi-fi technology, or someone skilled to do a pedicure, can be called a contemporary artist as well&quot;. Dima Mishenin, the ideologist of &quot;The Doping-Pong Comics&quot; group, started as a comic-maker and alternative commercial artist. Now the Doping-Pong comics can be found both in museum space and glossy magazines, and are a mix of digital contemporary art and unique advertising of undeniable artistic value.
 One would think that Chezhin, a well-established Petersburg photographer, known for his black-and-white works - absurd, grotesque and surreal - would hardly fit in with such company. However, this exhibition is the third joint project that Chezhin and Mishenin have successfully brought together. &quot;Our co-operation has been very enjoyable and fruitful so far,&quot; notes Chezhin. &quot;Dima is a very unpredictable artist - the projects that he offers always differ and I do enjoy working in various manners, although, of course, I must confess that it was quite a stretch for me to allow my photos to be digitally altered.&quot;
 The Easy, frivolous mood of the exhibition, sexual energy of the visual images, and tension of the texts combine to tell a story of an intensely erotic memory from Mishenin's childhood. &quot;As a 6- or 7-year old boy I spent summers on the Black Sea with my parents. Along the seashore there were always a number of dumb guys selling pocket calendars with top models in bikinis. They pulled down straps of their panties so one could see a small piece of the un-tanned body.&quot; 
 &quot;Those were innocent photos, far from pornography, but as a child I was truly amused and aroused. What doubled my excitement was my strong belief that these beautiful women were married to these clownish sellers.&quot;
 &quot; I drew a picture of this idyllic life on the beach: men come home and these ladies cook dinner for them, and then, together, they make photos that they later sell on the shore and thus earn money. These childish erotic memories cannot be compared to any sexual experience that I had later.&quot;
 Indeed, the un-tanned body parts demonstrated at the exhibition - pale strips on the wrist, fingers and toes from wearing a watch and rings - can evoke sexual fantasies, but do not have much to do with the rough sexuality of a naked body. Their innocence is set off by a funny story shared by Olya, or Olaf, the model depicted in the photos. &quot;When we worked on the project, it was quite cold outside and there was no natural sun, so I went to the tanning booth. I wore a bikini and the other supposed un-tanned parts were covered with a plaster!&quot;
 Dmitry Milkov, a board member of The Nabokov apartment museum and deputy director of the PRO-ARTE Institute, said of the project, &quot;I believe that Nabokov himself would have liked the exhibition. Perhaps [the exhibition] would shock an ordinary viewer, however, it has nothing to do with the platitude or bad taste that Nabokov hated so much. Moreover, the untanned body parts demonstrated are very erotic, but it is not about innocence. In their nakedness, one can find both sexual aggression and almost childish tenderness. Visual images and texts fascinate and frighten at the same time. And fascinate again.&quot;
 However, the exhibition is not only about the artist's desire for the un-tanned body. As the exhibition unfolds, the texts grow in aggression and fatality - starting from innocent delightful descriptions to farewell warnings &quot;The Higher Truth will follow closely by your steps. Happy repressions, you, the future morgue dwellers!&quot; It is a demonstration, a visual manifesto of a way of life for a new generation of &quot;the lazy and joyful,&quot; intelligent and idle nothing-doers. &quot;I believe it is the only proper way to live - enjoy being yourself, do nothing, produce nothing except from beauty,&quot; Mishenin explains. &quot;Unfortunately I cannot lead such a way of life - for the simple reason that there should be someone to propagandise its benefits.&quot;

TITLE: bring in the old with the new
AUTHOR: by Andrei Vorobei
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: Two weeks have already passed since the &quot;Contemporary Art in a Traditional Museum Festival&quot; appeared, comprising 13 works by up and coming contemporary artists displayed in the city's most traditional - and sometimes least-visited - museums. 
 
The opening of the Festival, which came with the presentation of the &quot;Antarctica for Sale&quot; can best be described as quaint. Though Antarctica is un-owned and, according to inter-governmental agreements, it can only be used for scientific purposes, it is also regarded as a tasty morsel by many states. Thus, the performance included the symbolic eating of a large cake in the shape of Antarctica by representatives of different countries, and other visitors. Guests complained that the penguins were slightly bitter. With the Russian State Museum of the Arctic and Antarctic as the location for the exhibit, visitors could also see works by the young artists of the PRO ARTE Institute. Though the works demonstrated flair, they were somewhat overawed by the richly heavy nature of the museum's own collections, with which they were forced to compete. 
 Just up the road, at the Dostoevsky Memorial Museum, a stiumulating work entitled &quot;The Echo Territory&quot; by the Kaliningrad-based artist Dmitry Bulatov was being displayed. Bulatov is probably best remembered for representing Russia at the Russian Contemporary Art Exhibition at the MAK Museum in Vienna in 2002, where he appeared in a military tank shouting into a megaphone in his interactive performance &lt;&lt;Davai!&gt;&gt; (&lt;&lt;Come on!&gt;&gt;). 
 Here, Bulatov claimed that he wished &quot;to represent the international sound-poetry collection of the end of the 20th century in the light of existential and maximally personified gesture.&quot; To this end, the exhibition includes an audio-poetry archive, featuring 110 poets from 22 countries, and a video montage of the last hours of the life of Japanese writer and poet Yukio Mishima, including excerpts from Paul Schrader's feature film &quot;Mishima&quot; and archived footage of the poet's speech to Japanese soldiers before committing suicide. The leitmotif of &quot;The Echo Territory&quot; project was a famous quote from Mishima: &quot;Language is a true fascist, for the essence of fascism is not in forbidding, but in forcing one to say something ...&quot; 
 Another Kaliningrad-based artist, Yuri Vasiliev, presented his laconic and somewhat obvious metaphor, &quot;Russian Red,&quot; in the Kuinji Apartment Museum where birches - a perennial, stereotypical image of Russia - stood in blood. Vasiliev claimed that the performance had originally been undertaken in a Smolensk forest.
 More intriguing, perhaps, was the metaphor presented at the State Museum of Russian Political History, where the artist Leonid Rusnak played with the concept of political leader as lawgiver of styles. The exhibition was interestingly accomplished through the use of a video installation projected from a derelict car symbolizing &quot;The March of Time.&quot; The artist explores the phenomenon of political power and draws a parallel between the change of political regimes and the change of fashion labels - Yeltsin as &quot;Guess&quot; and Putin as &quot;Boss,&quot; for example. The guest book, where visitors left their impressions of the exhibition, makes for interesting reading. 
 The next two projects in the festival were, for many, the most successfully designed and styled in terms of their interaction with the museums that played host to them, creating new meanings and ideas. One was carried out by the Dustmen art group at the Alexandrinsky Theater Museum. They displayed theatrical dust collected from stages and backstage areas of well known areas, making it the focus of their exhibition. According to the artists &quot;The dust collected in the theaters, preserves in it the power of the stage when the great masters create their eternal chef-d'oeuvres.&quot; At the same time, the exhibition points toward the problem of modern art, which has inherited the refusal of cultural tradition from the 20th century, as well as reflections on traditional cultural fetishes. 
 The second of the two &quot;hits&quot; was by the New York-based-artist Barbara Bloom, who exhibited at the Nabokov Apartment Museum. In her work, &quot;Never Odd or Even&quot;, butterflies are the centerpiece - &quot;beautiful, fragile, and elusive insects that have been caught and prepared for scientific study.&quot; The butterflies are juxtaposed with other objects - photographs that are folded, pinned and labeled like insect specimens, and presented in case-like frames. The photographs depict the &quot;most beautiful and most horrific examples of symmetry.&quot; Miniaturized formal gardens, Palladian architecture, grand squares whose symmetrical structure of balance and harmony are shown next to Nazi architecture, such as Albert Speer's Reichskanzler or the Haus der Kunst in Munich by P.L. Troost, and Stalinist architecture, where &quot;order is equated with power and submission.&quot; According to the art biography of Barbara Bloom: &quot;She traveled the world to seek beauty.&quot;
 <i>The Festival runs until July 31.</i>

TITLE: top honors from placido domingo
TEXT: Anna Kikadze, the young mezzo from the Mariinsky Academy of Young Singers, is among the laureates of the Placido Domingo Vocal Competition, held recently in Paris 
 
The 'Operalia' Competition was founded by Placido Domingo in 1993 to help talented young singers launch their careers. In keeping with tradition, the competition took place in the Chatelet Theater in Paris from the 16th to the 22nd of June.
 Before being admitted to the first round of the competition - which contains three rounds in all - aspiring contestants had to present audio tapes of the pieces that they were planning to perform. Altogether, 550 entries were presented to the jury for consideration. Of these, 40 young singers were invited to compete. Among them were three contestants from The Mariinsky Academy of Young Singers: Ilia Bannik, Anna Kiknadze and Tatiana Mazur.
 In the end, Anna Kiknadze came home with the 'Zarzuela prize' awarded to the best performers of traditional Spanish operetta music. Placido Domingo included this genre of music in the program as an extra incentive to those contestants who wanted to try their luck performing this specific genre. The award is dedicated to the memory of his parents who were well known performers of zarzuela. 
 Anna spoke to <strong>Larisa Doctorow</strong> about her experience at the Operalia upon returning from Paris.
 
 
q: How did you decide to compete in the Zarzuela category of the competition?
 a: There were two awards in the category of Zarzuela, one for a man and the other for a woman, but it was not required that we participate. I had prepared a program of four arias. After I decided to enter this category, our concertmaster, and the artistic director of the academy, Larisa Gergieva, looked at my proposed program and suggested: &quot;Why not try to do something from Ximenes' operas?' She found the scores. That is how I became the winner of this competition within a competition.
 

 
q: What are your impressions of the contest? Was it difficult?
 a: Certainly, but, at the same time, rewarding. In the third round when we performed with the orchestra, Placido Domingo himself was the conductor. That was unforgettable. We also had rehearsals with the orchestra, and it was moving to see him trying to help and to encourage all the contestants. The Jury, of over 15 members, consisted of directors of opera theaters, and international opera performers. Placido Domingo did not vote because, as I understood, he could not bring himself to eliminate anyone. After each round he told us: &quot;Remember that you are all winners, because you are participating in such a prestigious contest. And it is not so important whether you get the first prize.&quot;
 
After our orchestral rehearsal, he proposed that I work again on separate pieces and sat down at the piano to accompany me. It was a dream come true to sing alone with an orchestra conducted by him!
 
 
q: How did your singing career begin?
 a:I was born and grew up in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. When I was a fourth-year student at the local conservatory, I was named as a soloist to the Opera and Ballet Theater in Tbilisi. One of my first roles was [that of] Carmen in Bizet's opera. Later, when I heard about the Mariinsky Academy of Young Singers, I decided to try my luck and came to St Petersburg. It was in the autumn of 2000. At the auditions, I sang the fortune-telling scene from &quot;Carmen,&quot; among other things, and I was accepted. From that moment on, my life changed. So much has happened in these past two years. In the autumn of that same year, I participated in the Rimsky-Korsakov vocal competition here in St Petersburg and was awarded the special prize for musicality.
 
Later, I participated in the Moniuszko Competition in Warsaw, and won third prize. And then I went to England to take part in the BBC contest in Wales. There were three singers from the Mariinsky Academy. I represented Georgia; Vladimir Moroz was there for Belorus and Katya Semenchuk, for Russia. After my participation in that contest, which was broadcast live on TV, I was approached by one of the agencies, which offered me the role of Olga in Tchaikovsky's &quot;Eugene Onegin.&quot; As a result, I performed in the Austrian city of Graz last fall. And, in last year's White Nights Festival, I participated alongside other members of our Academy when we performed Rossini's &quot;Voyage to Rheims&quot; under the direction of Yury Bashmet.
 
 
q:What was the most exciting moment of your artistic life last year? 
 a:Our Academy did a concert version of Saint-Saens' &quot;Samson and Delilah&quot; where I sang the role of Delilah, and our vocal teacher, Graer Chanedanian, was Samson. It was very exciting. We performed the piece on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater and Leonid Korchmar was conducting. 
 

 
q:How would you describe your relations with conductors? Are they like teachers to you, or strict fathers, or colleagues?
 a:Mostly we work with Leonid Korchmar. We rarely work with Valery Gergiev. Korchmar is closely associated with the Academy. He always includes our students in his stagings. As he says, he likes the way we sing. We also performed Richard Strauss's &quot;Ariadne auf Naxos&quot; with him, as well as &quot;Dido and Aeneas&quot; by Purcell. These were all concert performances.
 q:Is there a difference for you between singing in concerts and participating in staged operas? 
 a:Of course. Costumes and scenery create a special atmosphere and help to better show the character. The stage is an altogether different world. But singing in a concert brings you into better contact with the audience, because [the choir] stands in front of the audience, sing and do not interact with one another.
 
 
 
q:In addition to all these performances, you continue to take classes. Isn't this sometimes too tiring?
 a:It's true that our whole life is the theater. But that is our favorite occupation, our dream profession, so it should not be tiring. Sometimes, waiting for my turn in the wings and getting very nervous, I ask myself: &quot;Why have I chosen this profession that requires so much?&quot; But after the show, when I hear people applauding, I tell myself: &quot;Thank God that I have chosen this profession, that brings [me] so much satisfaction.&quot;
 

 
q:In the Soviet past, tremolo or warbling voices were pretty typical of the Russian school. That was not appreciated in the West. Has this [relic of the past] been cleared away by training?
 a:Tremolo is not encouraged in our Academy. Our professors teach us to sing naturally, not forcing the voices, the way we speak. They teach us the European manner of singing. We work a lot at the details, nuance, and phrasing. They also advice us not to rush. The voice develops gradually and, if you rush, you can damage it.
 
 
 
q:What are your plans for the coming months? Vacations? Going to Georgia to visit your family?
 a:I would like to, because I haven't seen my family for two years. In July I will perform the role of Cherubino in &quot;The Marriage of Figaro.&quot; It will be my first appearance as a soloist in the Mariinsky. And then I will start preparing for the Rimsky-Korsakov Competition. This competition has a difficult program, because the contestants have to perform both 19th century romances and modern works ... [allowing us to] demonstrate our knowledge of different styles.
 
 
 
q:Participating in such contests enlarges your repertoire, doesn't it?
 a:Of course. It is our exam, the test of our artistic abilities and of our stamina.
 

 
q:What roles would you like to perform?
 a:I love the role of Carmen. 
 

 
q:Why this one particularly?
 a:Because she embodies everything, all the emotions. She can be frivolous, teasing, cunning, playful, serious, tragic, and challenging. In Tbilisi, stage director Robert Sturua made her restrained. When I have performed arias from the opera they sound different depending upon my mood. We all change with our moods.
 
 
 
q:How did the Tbilisi theater take your departure?
 a:They let me go with great regret, but understood that it was better for me to come to the Mariinsky.

TITLE: new swan lake preened to a shine
AUTHOR: by Anastasia Boreiko
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: The lights go out, quiet coughs from the anticipating audience resonate in the auditorium, the director lightly taps his stand, and the performance begins at the Rimsky-Korsakov State Opera and Ballet Theatre. 
 
The second ballet season is underway with classical performances that captivate every member of the audience. Choreographed by the talented and highly respected Professor Nikita Dolgushin, the theater is currently performing &quot;Giselle&quot; and &quot;Swan Lake.&quot;
 The theater itself creates in ideal atmosphere for revisiting the classical past. Upon entering the theater, one is immediately struck by the quiet sounds of violins in the background, which set the mood for an enchanted evening of cultural reawakening.
 In this city, everything has a story, and the theater is no exception. The State Opera and Ballet Theatre, located on Teatralnaya Ploshad, opened in 1783, and was originally a grand theatre designed to entertain the nobility of the city until 1811 when it burned down and was restored in 1818. After the completion of remodeling in 1836, the theater served another 54 years until repair was inevitable. In 1920, the theater was turned into a conservatory, then named after A. Glazynova. Only in 1991 did the theater return to serve its original purpose, and two of the world's most popular ballets are being performed at the theater this season.
 
 The Rimsky-Korsakov State Opera and Ballet Theatre is an appropriate setting for two of the most dramatic ballets. Dolgushin explained that, although both &quot;Giselle&quot; and &quot;Swan Lake&quot; belong to the world cannon of ballets, only a small part of their original choreography is known. 
 
&quot;The audience sees both ballets as symbols of classical theater,&quot; described Dolgushin, but many are mistaken about the true history of the ballets. 
 In &quot;Swan Lake,&quot; for example, there are certain established choreographic moves, yet much was left to Dolgushin to design for himself.
 &quot;Swan Lake's&quot; original choreography is largely unknown and that which is regarded as the classical choreography is actually Lev Ivanov's 1895 adaptation. Dolgushin chose to take the path less traveled and express his own unique and captivating choreographic approach in the performance.
 In the first scene, Dolgushin uses blue and silver tones in order to create a medieval setting while introducing the concept of romanticism. The colors also symbolize the lake around which the whole performance revolves. 
 This highly intellectual and intricate approach, along with extraordinary choreography, creates a magical spectacle for all audiences.
 At the same time, in the fourth scene, Dolgushin chooses to use the original music intended by Tchaikovsky instead of the version used in most theaters from the 1895 adaptation. Dolgushin incorporates his years of experience to create unique choreography and setting, while also incorporating many traditional aspects that are lost in other performances.
 It is Dolgushin's approach to ballet, which sets the performance in the historical State Opera and Ballet Theaterapart from other performances. &quot;I would like my troop give one hundred percent,&quot; said Dolgushin, and the dancers truly do give their all. 
 
 <i>Both &quot;Giselle&quot; and &quot;Swan Lake&quot; will appear regularly at the the Rimsky-Korsakov State Opera and Ballet Theater, entertaining audiences with extraordinary design and choreography through August. See Listings for more information. </i>

TITLE: Greece Detains Nov. 17 Terrorist Suspect
AUTHOR: By Elena Becatoros
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: ATHENS, Greece - Police on Thursday were interrogating a man believed to be a leader of November 17, Europe's most elusive terrorist organization.
 
Authorities did not officially identify the elderly man, snatched by police special forces from a passenger hydrofoil leaving the eastern Aegean island of Lipsi on Wednesday, and flown to Athens by helicopter.
 Police officials and state-run Greek media said he appeared to be named Alexandros Giotopoulos, 63, who presented himself as a university professor.
 The police officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that they believed the man may be one of the founders of the rabidly anti-American terrorist group, which has eluded arrest for 27 years.
 The capture of a senior November 17 figure would be a major breakthrough for the Greek police, who had failed to make any arrests since the group first appeared in 1975 with the assassination of Richard Welch, the CIA's station chief in Athens.
 November 17 has claimed responsibility for 22 killings and dozens of bomb and rocket attacks since then. It has killed four American officials, two Turkish diplomats and Greek entrepreneurs and politicians. Its last victim was British defense attache Brigadier Stephen Saunders, shot dead in June 2000.
 A manhunt for its members was launched after an abortive bomb attack on June 29 in which the alleged attacker, Savas Xiros, was seriously injured.
 That incident and the detention of Xiros in hospital led police to two Athens apartments used to store November 17 weapons.
 Authorities have identified one of the handguns found there as the weapon used to kill seven November 17 victims, including Saunders.
 Police are seeking another man believed to be a key member.
 Residents on the island of Lipsi said that the man detained by anti-terrorist police had been visiting the area for the past 15 to 20 years under a different name. He is reportedly married to a French woman.
 Authorities also raided an Athens apartment believed to belong to the couple, removing a typewriter, a computer and numerous documents, neighbors said.
 Police sources said that the man was believed to have been active in the Paris-based student opposition to the military dictatorship which ruled Greece between 1967 and 1974, and now lives in France and in Greece.
 American, British and Greek authorities have for years suspected that November 17 had a French connection, and that its leaders may have had their ideological roots in the leftist movements that fueled France's May 1968 student revolt. November 17 took responsibility for Welch's killing in a letter delivered to a French newspaper in Paris.
 Its founders are believed to be a small group in their 60's who shared common ties in the left-wing resistance to the dictatorship. Blending extreme left-wing politics with nationalism, the group is named for the day of a 1973 student uprising against the military dictatorship that ruled Greece from 1967-74.

TITLE: Missile Man Gets Huge Majority in Indian Election
AUTHOR: By Laurinda Keys
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: NEW DELHI, India - A missile scientist, who advocates nuclear weapons as a war deterrent, was elected India's ceremonial president on Thursday.
 
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam won 89.58 percent of the votes cast on Tuesday by 4,896 members of the national Parliament and the state legislatures, according to the Parliament Presidential Election Cell, which supervised the balloting.
 The only other candidate was Lakshmi Sehgal, a woman proposed by the leftist parties.
 Kalam, 70, told reporters on Thursday that the alleviation of poverty and development of rural areas are important issues for India.
 &quot;India has to be transformed into a developed nation ... a prosperous nation, and a healthy nation, with a value system,&quot; Kalam said.
 He also said that his scientific career prepared him for politics. Kalam helped develop missiles to carry nuclear weapons and rockets to launch satellites.
 &quot;Unless political decisions are taken, the satellite won't be in orbit, the missile won't reach its target, the nuclear weapon won't be there,&quot; Kalam said.
 With gray, shoulder-length hair and a wardrobe of short-sleeved shirts and flip-flop sandals, Kalam is expected to bring more informality to the 340-room presidential palace.
 He will be sworn in as India's 12th president on July 25, replacing Kocheril R. Narayanan, who completed a five-year term.
 Kalam, an advocate of scientific education for children, has insisted that his presidency would not signal warlike intentions from India.
 Instead, it would show the world that &quot;technology is going to be used for development of the nation.&quot;
 Born Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam on Oct. 15, 1931, he began his early education at a village school in the southern port of Rameshwaram. He later received a degree in aeronautical engineering.
 For many Indians, Kalam's rise - from humble beginnings as the son of an illiterate boat worker in Tamil Nadu state to the top of India's scientific and political establishments - symbolizes the strength of India's democracy.
 Critics, however, worry that he does not have enough political experience to handle India's chaotic and fractured system.
 Though the office is largely ceremonial, the president can play a crucial role. If Parliament is deadlocked, where his verdict would be final, he can call elections or decide which party gets the chance to form a government.
 Although born to Muslim parents, Kalam does not describe himself as Muslim. He reads Hindu scriptures each day and is a vegetarian.
 When asked about who would act as his first lady, the unmarried Kalam waved his hands and said, &quot;No, no, I'm a <i>brahmacharya</i>.&quot; The Hindu word means someone who has given up worldly pleasures, including sex and marriage.

TITLE: IN BRIEF
TEXT: <b>Spanish Armada 
 </b>

EL YOUNECH, Morocco (AP) - Spanish special forces, backed by helicopters and warships, stormed the disputed islet of Perejil at dawn on Thursday, taking its six occupying Moroccan soldiers prisoner in a bloodless operation to restore Spanish rule.
 The Moroccan foreign minister, Mohamed Benaissa, saw the Spanish action as "comparable to an act of war," and King Mohamed VI said in a statement that Spain "wants to use this issue and transform a political difference into a military conflict."
 But Spanish soldiers who took part in the victorious armada felt jubilation. "When I saw the Spanish flag go up, I almost wept," said a 23-year-old. A comrade, 22, added, "We all feel really proud."
 Hailing the action as "a clear case of legitimate defense" in a speech to legislators in Madrid, Defense Minister Federico Trillo said, "Spain was attacked by force in a very sensitive part of its geography."
 It was unclear how such a description could be applied to Perejil - a barren half-mile-wide rock, uninhabited, except for a few goats, its name meaning parsley in Spanish.
 
 
<b>U.S. Iraq Policy
 </b>

WASHINGTON (NYT) - Concerned that the United States is rushing headlong toward a full-scale military confrontation with Iraq, many Congressional Democrats and a growing number of Republicans are urging the administration of President George W. Bush to provide a public accounting of its plans.
 The Democratic-controlled Senate Foreign Relations Committee plans to hold hearings on Iraq before leaving for the summer recess in early August, and the Republican-controlled House International Relations Committee intends to do the same in late August or September, Congressional officials said on Thursday.
 
 
<b>IRA Apology
 </b>

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) - The citizens of Northern Ireland agonized Wednesday over the Irish Republican Army's apology for killing several hundred civilians and its failure to extend the same gesture for slain soldiers and police officers.
 IRA veterans said that Tuesday's unprecedented statement demonstrated that commanders of the secretive organization want their self-declared war to be seen as finished, not merely on hold.
 But moderate politicians, Protestant and Catholic alike, complained that the IRA statement drew an immoral and self-serving distinction between "legitimate" and "innocent" targets.
 "This is another step along that path towards eventually saying "Yes, the war against the British state in Ireland is over.' And we didn't win. It is significant and painful," said Tommy McKearney, a former IRA member who had three brothers killed in the conflict.
 
 
<b>Suicide Blasts
 </b>

TEL AVIV (AP) - Two Palestinian suicide bombers killed three people in Tel Aviv on Thursday night, a day after a West Bank bus ambush that took eight Israeli lives. The attacks have shattered a period of calm that began nearly a month ago when Israeli troops took over the West Bank.
 The renewed attacks shook the faith of Israelis in the government's tactics and brought angry responses from officials.
 "Palestinian terrorists," said David Baker, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, "seem to have an insatiable appetite for spilling Israeli blood and will do so at every opportunity." 



TITLE: Feud Over Body of Baseball Legend May Be Put On Ice
AUTHOR: By Mike Schneider
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: INVERNESS, Florida - Ted Williams' final wish was to have his body frozen, and the two youngest children of the baseball great say they have the authority to make sure it's granted.
 
John Henry Williams and Claudia Williams stated their beliefs in a court filing on Wednesday. It was in response to their father's will, which said that he wanted to be cremated and have his ashes spread at sea. But the executor of the 1996 will said Williams changed his mind about what should be done with his remains.
 Williams died on July 5. He was 83.
 The two Williams children also said that the Florida court where the will was filed does not have jurisdiction over their father's body because it is no longer there. The body has been moved to the Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Arizona so it can be cryogenically frozen.
 A judge could decide whether Williams wanted to be frozen or cremated because of the conflicting accounts of his intentions.
 But the two children also asked the judge on Wednesday for a second chance to work out an agreement privately with their half sister, Bobby-Jo Williams Ferrell, who wants the body cremated.
 They asked a judge to order a mandatory mediation session with Ferrell in order to avoid a public showdown in court.
 &quot;John Henry and Claudia feel strongly that the disposition of their father's body is a private matter,&quot; their attorney, Robert Goldman, said in the motion.
 The children of the former Boston Red Sox slugger already have tried mediation, negotiating for hours Monday, but they were unable to reach a compromise.
 Ferrell's attorney, Richard Fitzpatrick, said an agreement is possible.
 &quot;There's middle ground everywhere,&quot; Fitzpatrick said. &quot;Now this is a very difficult case to find that - I agree with that - but I'm not about to say there's no possibility that there couldn't be any middle ground.&quot;

TITLE: SPORTS WATCH
TEXT: <b>Andrei To Arrive
 </b>

ST PETERSBURG (Reuters) - Andre Agassi is to make his first appearance at the St Petersburg Open later this year, tournament organizers said on Thursday.
 "We're pleased to welcome such a great player as Andre Agassi to a tournament which already boasts many top-level players," said marketing director Kirill Petrov.
 "His acceptance to come here is further proof that we're moving in the right direction to make the event even better."
 The 32-year-old American has won seven grand-slam titles.
 The annual ATP event, which is now in its eighth year, enjoys a strong following, with home favorites Marat Safin and Yevgeny Kafelnikov making regular appearances.
 The tournament, to be held from October 21 to 27, has also increased the prize money from $800,000 to $1 million.
 
 
<b>Stevie Y on Ice
 </b>

DETROIT, Michigan (Reuters) - The Detroit Red Wings will open defense of their Stanley Cup title without captain Steve Yzerman, who is scheduled to undergo knee surgery next month.
 Veteran center Yzerman battled through the entire NHL post-season with a damaged right knee, yet finished second in playoff scoring with six goals and 17 assists.
 He is expected to undergo surgery in the first week of August and be out of the Red Wings lineup until January, according to reports on Thursday in the Detroit News.
 The 37-year-old center injured his knee last January and then aggravated it while helping Canada to gold at the Salt Lake City Olympics.
 
 
<b>Everton Looks East
 </b>

LIVERPOOL, England (Reuters) - Everton has announced the loan signing of China's World Cup defender Li Weifeng, together with a new sponsorship deal with a Chinese manufacturer of mobile phones.
 Everton has agreed to a 12-month loan contract with 24-year-old Li and a two-year sponsorship deal with the China Kejian Company, the club said on its official Website.
 "We are absolutely delighted to be entering into this arrangement with a company which shares our belief in the virtues of professionalism and progressive thinking," said club chairperson Philip Carter.
 Everton said the deal with Kejian, whose name will be on the front of the club's shirts next season, was the first between a European football club and a Chinese company.
 As part of the sponsorship deal with Kejian, Everton have agreed a range of initiatives designed to raise awareness of the club in the Far East and to help the development of Chinese football at grass-roots level.
 
 
<b>Limited Access
 </b>

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's Football Federation (FIGC), responding to tough new immigration laws, has put a temporary block on the number of non-European Union players Italian soccer clubs can sign.
 Serie A and B clubs will be allowed to register only one non-EU player during the transfer window, which ends on August 31, FIGC said on its Website on Wednesday.
 After the end of August, a complete block will be introduced for Serie A and B clubs. Serie C clubs, on the other hand, are not allowed to register any non-EU players from Wednesday.
 The limit is a temporary measure introduced after parliament passed tough new restrictions on immigration earlier this month. The FIGC said it would remain in place while the body works out exactly how the new laws affect football.
 Once it has established exactly what the new law means for the number of foreign players a soccer team can have, the FIGC said it would decide whether to lift the non-EU player limits.
 The majority of Serie A and Serie B teams have large numbers of foreign players and there is currently no ban on the number of non-EU players they can field.
 There were 341 foreign players in Serie A and B last season, compared to 66 during the 1995-96 season.
 
 
<b>Big Shoes To Fill
 </b>

DETROIT, Michigan (Reuters) - The Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings named long-time assistant coach Dave Lewis on Wednesday as their replacement for Scotty Bowman behind the bench.
 Bowman's understudy at Detroit for nine years, Lewis will have big shoes to fill when he takes over a team that has captured three of the last six NHL championships.
 Bowman - who announced his retirement minutes after the Red Wings beat the Carolina Hurricanes in game five to win the title - leaves the sport as the NHL's most successful coach, having drank from the Stanley Cup a record nine times.
 "I just felt Dave (Lewis) was the man for our hockey club," said Detroit general manager Ken Holland.
 "He knows our team. He knows our players."
 The 49-year-old Lewis has spent his entire coaching career in Detroit after joining the team in 1987.
 
 
<b>Grand Price for Rio
 </b>

LEEDS, England (Reuters) - Leeds United has told Manchester United or any other club interested in signing Rio Ferdinand that the England defender will stay at Elland Road if no acceptable bid is received.
 "We had amicable and constructive talks," chairperson Peter Ridsdale said in a statement after his meeting with the unsettled Ferdinand on Thursday.
 "Leeds United have not received a bid from any club that would come anywhere near meeting the valuation we put on a player we believe to be the world's best defender," Ridsdale added on the Leeds Website.
 "Rio has assured me that, if the position remains as it is, he will give his full commitment as a player and captain to Leeds."
 Manchester United want to sign the player valued at 30 million pounds ($46.9 million), who has four years of his Leeds contract to run.
 Ridsdale suggested on Wednesday that the Old Trafford club had made an initial, "derisory" bid for Ferdinand, reported by British newspapers to be around 20 million pounds ($31.4 million).
 But United is expected to return with another offer.
 
 
<b>Billups Moves Again
 </b>

AUBURN HILLS, Michigan - Free agent Chauncey Billups joined his sixth team in as many years on Wednesday when he signed with the Detroit Pistons.
 The 25-year-old guard, who averaged 11.9 points and a career-high 5.5 assists for the Minnesota Timberwolves last season, signed a multi-year contract. Financial terms were not disclosed.