SOURCE: The St. Petersburg Times
DATE: Issue #931 (99), Friday, December 26, 2003
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TITLE: Gryzlov Resigns To Lead In Duma
AUTHOR: By Oksana Yablokova
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov resigned Wednesday to take a seat in the new State Duma, where, he said, his pro-Kremlin United Russia party will have 298 seats.
However, Interfax on Thursday quoted a source within the party leadership as saying this number had already grown to 307, after deputies applied join. This would give it a two-thirds majority - the amount needed in the 450-seat Duma to approve changes to the Constitution.
Gryzlov, who will lead United Russia in the Duma and is likely to be named the chamber's speaker, also said at a party congress Wednesday that United Russia will endorse President Vladimir Putin in his bid for re-election in a March election.
His remarks came as opposition parties discussed their election strategies and a group supporting Putin registered his re-election bid with the Central Elections Commission.
The group, the Moscow Judicial Academy, fielded Putin as a presidential candidate in 2000 and the registration Wednesday allows it to start gathering the 2 million signatures required to join the 2004 race.
"During the past four years we saw that he is what we need, and we decided to repeat it," academy rector Oleg Kutafin said in televised remarks.
Putin said last week that he would seek re-election without the support of a political party.
Gryzlov told the congress of some 2,000 delegates gathered in the Rossiya concert hall that the party's goal would be to make sure that Putin wins by a landslide.
"Our candidate in the election is known - he is President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. Our goal is to ensure his resounding victory," Gryzlov said after reading a greeting from Putin.
He added that he had submitted his resignation to Putin, and the president had accepted it.
No one was named to replace Gryzlov as of Thursday evening, but Interfax reported that leading candidates included Deputy Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev and Konstantin Romodanovsky, an FSB officer and member of the Kremlin's powerful siloviki clan who currently heads the ministry's internal directorate.
The party won 120 seats on the party-list vote and 126 seats in single-mandate votes in Dec. 7 Duma elections. Since then, Gryzlov said Tuesday, 52 deputies have joined United Russia, giving the party a total of 298 seats.
Gryzlov did not mention constitutional amendments in his remarks, and it remains unclear whether United Russia will try to modify it to extend Putin's time in office, as some political analysts have suggested. Putin has said he opposes making any such changes to the Constitution.
Gryzlov's speech was briefly interrupted when several unidentified men threw eggs at his head just as he finished thanking Putin for supporting the party during the parliamentary election campaign. Gryzlov sidestepped the eggs with a smile. The men were hustled away. Interfax said they might be members of the radical National Bolshevik Party, which has tossed eggs and mayonnaise at other pro-Kremlin officials.
Across town from the United Russia congress, the two liberal parties that failed to get into the Duma - Yabloko and the Union of Right Forces, or SPS - agreed at a meeting to field joint candidates in elections for regional legislative assemblies in March, senior SPS official Boris Nadezhdin said.
Votes for local legislative assemblies will be held in six regions - including the city of Moscow - on March 14, the same day as the presidential election.
Yabloko and SPS decided Wednesday to put off a discussion about their strategy for the presidential election until next month.
After attempts to select a single presidential candidate failed, Yabloko and SPS will now have to debate whether to boycott the election or call on their supporters to vote against all contenders, Nadezhdin said.
A Yabloko-SPS council is to decide when it meets again Jan. 15, he said.
Meanwhile, Boris Berezovsky's Liberal Russia party nominated former Deputy Ivan Rybkin to run as its presidential candidate Wednesday. The party did not make it into the new Duma.
Rybkin, a political heavyweight in the mid-1990s, was the first State Duma speaker and has served as the head of the advisory Security Council and a deputy prime minister.
Rybkin said he would decide by Jan. 5 whether he would run.
Berezovsky participated in the conference via a video link from London, where he is living after being granted asylum by Britain earlier this year.
At least two other people have declared an interest in running for president - Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov, who heads the small Party of Life, and coffin magnate German Sterligov.
Staff Writers Anatoly Medetsky and Anna Dolgov contributed to this report.
TITLE: Markova To Stand For Duma
AUTHOR: By Vladimir Kovalev
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Former vice governor Anna Markova says she will run for the State Duma in St. Petersburg's electoral district No. 207.
Announcing her intention to introduce to the Duma a new policy toward the regions, she said a lawsuit against her, which was opened by the City Prosecutor's Office, is evidence of a worrying tendency for regional officials to prosecute opponents of administrators backed by the Kremlin.
The lawsuit is based on a complaint filed by Governor Valentina Matviyenko over questions Markova asked in a televised debate during gubernatorial elections.
"Taking into account my independence, patriotism, openness and honesty, I am going to submit papers to run in District No. 207," Markova said Wednesday at a news conference at the Regional Press Institute. "It is interesting for me to run there in particular because the population has already demonstrated its lack of trust in political parties."
She has the support of the New Right Forces fund, which has been set up especially to help her campaign, she said. She refused to name anyone involved in the fund, saying that to do so would lead to persecution of its members.
The next elections in District No. 207 are scheduled to take place March 14 on the same day as presidential elections.
About 24 percent of the district's citizens voted "against all" in Dec. 7 Duma elections, with Irina Rodnina, who was backed by the United Russia gathering only 22 percent, Grigory Tomchin, a candidate for the Union of Right Forces, or SPS, candidate with 17 percent, and Yury Gatchin, standing for the Rodina, or Homeland, party bloc taking 8.7 percent.
The Prosecutor's Office last month initiated a criminal case against Markova after Matviyenko complained that her opponent in the second round of the gubernatorial elections held on Oct. 5 had lied and insulted her during the television debates Oct. 2-3.
Among accusations listed by the governor in her complaint were: Markova "pressuring" the City Charter Court by saying that City Hall's administrative committee that Markova had been heading "was liquidated not without your [Matviyenko's] assistance;" Markova damaged St. Petersburg's image, by saying that Kremlin image makers had "presented it [St. Petersburg] in the media as a criminal capital since 2000;" Markova had accused Matviyenko of buying votes by giving goods to voters by saying "During the election campaign you gave each prisoners five sets [of goods] ... These are votes that were bought ... That is bribery of voters, is this also called a clean campaign with your name? What you do is illegal."
"The case was initiated Nov. 18 and I was called for an interrogation to the Prosecutor's Office only on Dec. 8," Markova said. "This was obviously done to avoid increasing the protest vote in the State Duma elections."
Markova's trial is scheduled to start Friday.
"It seems to me she's got a chance to get into the Duma," said Tatyana Dorutina, head of St. Petersburg League of Voters in a telephone interview Thursday. "She had quite a big gubernatorial election campaign. [The authorities] will use all available administrative resources to stop her because they don't want her to have any chance of winning."
"It also depends on results of her negotiations with [Vyacheslav] Makarov [a colonel at the Aerospace Military Academy], who has got good connections with the local military and who has often been able to influence the way a lot of people vote," she said.
"It would be useful for St. Petersburg to have a representative [in the Duma] who has a different point of view to that of United Russia," she said.
SPS' Tomchin said Markova's constituency will be based on those who voted "against all" on Dec. 7.
"It is her right to run in District No. 207," Tomchin was quoted as saying by ABN news agency Wednesday. "However it seems to me her point of view to counteract, a point of view to fight everything that is done, opposition to everything, to all the authorities and to any positive thing - which is basically what she did in the gubernatorial elections - and it would lead people nowhere."
"It is clear the 'against all' vote influenced her decision to run in District No. 207," he said.
Leonid Kesselman, a political analyst in the sociology department of the Academy of Science, said that despite it being likely that more than 10 candidates will stand in the district, Markova has a good chance of getting the highest number of votes.
"Everything will depend on who will run in the district," he said Thursday in a telephone interview. "This is a district that will attract unsuccessful candidates [in the Duma elections] from throughout the country."
"But [if Markova wins] she won't have any significance [in the parliament]," he added.
On the Oct. 5 gubernatorial elections Markova got 24.18 percent of votes, far behind Matviyenko's mandate which came from 63.16 percent of about a quarter of St. Petersburg's 3.7 million eligible voters.
TITLE: New Exhibition Does Away With Ideology
AUTHOR: By Ali Nassor
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: Organizers of the Museum of the History of St. Petersburg's first permanent exhibition say it marks a shift away from the ideology-dominated historic rhetoric of past exhibits to a more factual and visual approach towards the realities of Russia's imperial capital in a century that dragged the nation into the Bolshevik Revolution.
The exhibition, which covers the years 1830 to 1918, is the brainchild of innovators in the museum's staff. They waged a 14-year battle with old-fashioned decision-makers in higher political establishments outside the museum over what to put in the vacant space in the Commandant House at Peter and Paul Fortress.
Museum director Boris Arakchev said Wednesday it was inevitable that such an exhibition would become a reality as society left Soviet attitudes further and further behind. He declined to name those who had opposed it or the budget of the museum.
But his deputy, Vasily Pankratov, said the ambitious plan to raise the state-subsidized museum to prominence and technological heights closer to those of the State Hermitage Museum was hampered not only by a lack of funding, but also by authorities showing little enthusiasm for it.
"It was formally closed in 1989 for a number of unspecified reasons," he said.
For more than a decade a dispute had raged out of the public eye over how to present the history of the city, he said. Proponents of the Soviet approach - which present life before the Revolution as miserable and dominated by tyranny - had the upper hand with authorities while his embattled group of disciples who belong to a new school of thought that focused on historical realities were on the back foot.
The stand-off meant the Commandant's House was neglected for 14 years; the museum had had to stage sporadic exhibitions of its limited number of collection in a building that needed urgent repairs.
The permanent exhibition occupies the entire second floor and three-quarters of the first floor. The 15 exhibition halls display about 2,000 artifacts.
The museum has bought hundreds of thousands of pieces from individual collectors, which, together with donated items, have swelled the collection to a million items.
A walk into what used to be a part of Peter and Paul's Fortress' administrative building leads one into the world of St. Petersburg of 1830 to that of 1918 Petrograd.
It is a travel into the forgotten reality, technologically infant and culturally virgin Russian past, but expressed in an ultramodern way using the latest technologies that the organizers could afford to install.
The exhibition represents a transformation for the museum. In addition, if Pankratov succeeds, the entire collection will be reproduced on the Internet next year.
Unlike the traditional approach of looking at the history of St. Petersburg through the prism of major events and the lives of prominent personalities, the new exhibition covers daily life of citizens from all strata of society. Artifacts including paintings, handicrafts, photographs and graphics portray St. Petersburgers at work and play and a range of settings from the kitchen to architecture, transport, the business world and the world of the bureaucrat, expressed through official documents and the office equipment that created them.
Other objects of special interest include a 16-millimeter film portraying Nevsky Prospekt, St. Petersburg's main thoroughfare, the earliest model of the Benz-Velo automobile, a Lloyd camera, a Singer & Co. sewing machine and Mercedes and Smith Premier typewriters.
"Even a five-year-old or a 100-year-old babushka will find something of interest to be curious about or at least something new to learn out of these exhibits," Arakchev said, pointing to a miniature five-story wooden house fully furnished with period interiors and miniature tenants.
TITLE: Kremlin Says Foreigners Are
Fighting Troops in Chechnya
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: MOSCOW - In a bid to prove Chechen rebels' links to international terrorism, the Kremlin on Wednesday displayed the passports of an Algerian, three Turks and a German who were among 17 militants killed by Russian special forces.
A spokesman for President Vladimir Putin said the militants were killed Nov. 23 near the Chechen village of Serzhen-Yurt. They included Algerian Mohamed Kadour, Turkish citizens Halim Oz, Mustafa Salli and Naim Dag, and German citizen Thomas Carl Fischer.
At a news conference spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky said federal forces had surrounded the rebel base and killed all militants they found there.
The Kremlin has repeatedly said rebels in Chechnya have close links with al-Qaida and other international terrorist groups.
Yastrzhembsky accused the ex-Soviet republic of Georgia, which borders Chechnya to the south, of serving as a "passageway" for the rebels.
Georgia's acting President Nino Burdzhanadze said she had been informed that the militants killed in Chechnya had Georgian visas. She said Georgian authorities had tightened border controls since the time the visas were issued.
TITLE: Beatle-Funded School Playground Opens
AUTHOR: By Sergey Chernov
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: McCartney gave $5,000 to boarding school No. 38 after his visit to St. Petersburg in May. The school is located at 20/75 Rastannya Ulitsa. The playground is due to open Friday.
McCartney came to the city at the invitation of Anthea Eno, wife of musician Brian Eno, to officially inaugurate the work of a charity, the Menshikov Foundation.
"We actually flew into St. Petersburg," McCartney was quoted recently as saying by Britain's Observer newspaper.
"Anthea has links there, and after Brian did a masterclass at my old school, LIPA, she said I should do a master class there," McCartney said. "So when we started talking about Russia, I told the promoters I wanted to link in Anthea's offer to do a master class and cut the ribbon at an orphanage called the Menshikov Foundation."
McCartney's visit to the city also took in the State Hermitage Museum and the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory, where he was presented with a certificate expressing the conservatory's wish to make him an honorary doctorate - though he has not yet been granted the actual honor.
Vsevolod Gakkel, the head of the local branch of the Menshikov Foundation, said McCartney was impressed by a performance that the boarding school's students gave to him.
The brief concert included his piano piece "A Leaf" performed by student Katya Veselova and "Celebration" from his 1997 classical work "Standing Stone" sung by the school's choir.
The foundation is a U.K. charity that operates in St. Petersburg to help musically gifted, but deprived children.
TITLE: IN BRIEF
TEXT: Corruption 'Down'
ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - The number of corruption crimes in St. Petersburg was down 40.6 percent this year, Interfax reported the City Prosecutor's Office as saying Wednesday.
A total of 233 crimes against state authorities and the state service, including 222 cases of bribery were recorded in the first 10 months of 2003, Interfax quoted Yevgeny Sharygin, first deputy head of the City Prosecutor's Office, as saying.
Prosecutors have initiated 179 criminal cases and handed 116 of them to the court, he said.
"A worrying fact" was that the prosecutor's office has recorded 1,696 cases of different violations committed by the police with 67 criminal cases initiated against 96 police officers, he said.
181 Laws Passed
ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - The Legislative Assembly passed 181 laws in 2003, Interfax quoted Speaker Vadim Tyulpanov as saying Wednesday.
A total of 103 draft laws were signed by the governor and 50 sent back with no signature. The Legislative Assembly has voted on 21 amended laws and overcome the governor's veto on 22 of them, the report said.
The legislators have also sent 2 statements to the president, one to the Federation Council and another to Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov.
Fewer Disasters
ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - The number of disasters in the Northwest region is down this year with 202 cases registered in the first 11 months compared to 295 disasters recorded in the whole of last year, Interfax reported Wednesday, quoting officials at the Emergency Situations Ministry Northwest region department.
"The number of disasters is constantly dropping," said Alexander Yefremov, head of the regional Emergency Ministry department Wednesday.
The disasters resulted in deaths of 369 people and injuries to 918 people, the report said.
Murders for Money Up
ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - The number of murders committed with a financial motive has grown in 2003, Interfax reported Wednesday, quoting St. Petersburg and Leningrad oblast police.
"What used to be cases of theft and robbery, have in 2003 turned into the slaying of two or more people," Interfax quoted Vladislav Piotrovsky, head of the city criminal police, as saying.
Fifty-one people died as a result of shootings. The biggest number of such crimes had been registered in the Nevsky, Kirovksy and Krasnogvardeisky Districts, he said.
The police have solved 473 killings since January 2003, Piotrovsky said.
Sixty-two percent of such crimes were committed by people under the influence of alcohol and 41 percent were by people facing multiple charges, he said.
Eight businessmen, 10 directors of big companies and 5 people, purported to be members of organized criminal groups had been killed this year, he said.
March Lawmaker Poll
ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - Legislative Assembly elections in District No. 4 will be held at the same time as presidential elections scheduled for March 14, Interfax reported Wednesday.
The elections are scheduled after Yury Savelyev, a Legislative Assembly member of the Communist faction, was elected to the State Duma on the Rodina, or Homeland, party list.
VNITI Sale 'Invalid'
ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - A deal to sell the building that houses defense research institute VNITI that was initiated by Dmitry Zuber, the former general director of the institute's management company, is invalid, Interfax reported Thursday, citing the St. Petersburg Arbitration Court.
Zuber faces criminal charges of abusing his authority when he made the deal. According to an independent examination provided by the institute's share holders, the value of the building is $3.8 million, or six times the price Zuber sold it for.
Oblast Extends Terms
ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - Leningrad Oblast legislators approved two Senators continuing to represent the oblast in the Federation Council, Interfax reported Tuesday.
The oblast's council extended the term of Sergei Vasilyev, head of the Federation Council's financial markets committee.
The deputies also rejected a General Prosecutor's Office protest against an extension of Grigory Naginsky's term.
TITLE: Putin Threatens To Revisit Privatizations
AUTHOR: By Alla Startseva
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday asked big business to help the state resolve the country's social problems and threatened to undo fraudulent privatizations - indicating for the first time that the investigation into Russia's richest man, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, might not be isolated and could spark renationalizations.
Putin, at a meeting with businessmen at the Russian Chamber of Trade and Industry, confirmed earlier statements that the government doesn't plan a massive revision of privatization results but added that he was not referring to those that "did not observe the law."
He didn't name names, but he gave notice to those involved that they had better watch out.
"I keep hearing here and there that the laws were complicated and that it was impossible to observe them. Yes, the laws were complex and knotty, but it was quite possible to respect them," Putin said.
"If five, seven or 10 people broke the law, that doesn't mean others did the same," he said.
"Those who were involved in deliberate fraud" should not enjoy more favorable conditions than those who obeyed the law and "did right," he said. "The latter may not have earned as much money, but now they sleep soundly."
His comments came as a court extended the detention of Russia's richest man, Yukos founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who is accused of fraud and tax evasion in a 1990s privatization.
Putin said big business must help the government solve the country's social problems and that he was looking for ways to raise taxes on oil profits.
"Business cannot and must not avoid resolving social problems," Putin said.
Those problems include the development of small and medium-sized business as well as health issues, the environment and labor rights, he said.
"Our collaboration should become useful for everyone. There is enough work in the social sphere for everyone."
Putin also said the government is considering how to redistribute oil company windfalls and that he wants representatives of the business community to participate in making the decisions.
"One of the mechanisms would be an export duty, another would be a tax on the extraction of natural resources," he said.
However, these mechanisms are "pure anti-corruption" and may be unfair when applied to oil companies working on low-profit wells, he added.
Last week, Putin said the government should tax oilfields based on their individual characteristics rather than through the existing flat-rate system that encourages companies to increase extraction at less-productive wells.
Vedomosti reported Tuesday that some government officials are interpreting Putin's remarks as a direct order and that the Economic Development and Trade Ministry has drafted a new tax aimed at forcing oil companies to boost production by making them pay almost all of their profits into the federal budget.
Yevgeny Primakov, president of the Russian Chamber of Trade and Industry and, like Putin, a former spymaster, supported Putin's call Wednesday, saying politically stability "may become an illusion" if nothing is done to tackle poverty.
"It's a question of life and death for businessmen to have political stability in the country," he said.
The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the lobbying group representing most of the oligarchs, had no immediate comment.
Staff writer Catherine Belton contributed to this report.
TITLE: Khodorkovsky, Lebedev Refused Bail By Courts
AUTHOR: By Simon Ostrovsky
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - Jailed former Yukos chief Mikhail Khodorkovsky will remain in pre-trial detention for another three months, a Moscow court ruled late Tuesday afternoon.
Another court rejected a plea by lawyers for Platon Lebedev, a Yukos cofounder, to release him from jail while he awaits trial on charges of massive fraud.
After two days of start-and-stop hearings, the Basmanny district court ruled in favor of the Prosecutor General's Office, which requested an extension of Khodorkovsky's prison term until March 25.
That date falls almost two weeks after the presidential elections, keeping one of the most vocal opponents of President Vladimir Putin locked away.
The court ruling came only hours after Putin said people who cheated during the controversial privatization of state assets - through which Khodorkovsky made his fortune - would not be spared the severity of the law.
A Khodorkovsky attorney, Anton Drel, confirmed the court decision.
Khodorkovsky's lawyers said the court had no grounds to keep their client in prison and called the ruling "illegal," citing a number of procedural violations by the court and prosecutors. The Basmanny court, they said, should have released Khodorkovsky on bail.
The lawyers said they would appeal the ruling and threatened to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.
Lawyer Genrikh Padva told Ekho Moskvy radio that prosecutors used an outdated version of the criminal code in quoting the charges against Khodorkovsky. A new version of the code - in force since the beginning of December - is much softer and sentences are shorter, said Padva.
"It should have been much harder for them to convince the court that it is dangerous to society to let him out," he said.
TITLE: Gordeyev: U.S. Beef Banned
AUTHOR: By Alla Startseva
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - Russia imposed a ban on imports of American beef on Wednesday after U.S. veterinary officials confirmed the first case of mad cow disease in the world's largest market.
"We have received official confirmation that in the U.S. state of Washington the first case of mad cow disease was reported," Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyev said.
"In connection with that and in accordance with the law, the veterinary service has decided to temporarily suspend shipments of beef from the United States to Russia," Gordeyev said.
"When we are sure that safety is provided to Russian consumers and to the animals, a new decision will be made."
Gordeyev said it was difficult to tell how long the testing procedures would last but mentioned that resolving a similar situation with Canadian beef imports in May took 2 1/2 months.
Gordeyev said the U.S. beef import suspension would effect neither the domestic market nor meat prices.
American meat accounts for 4 percent of the country's total beef imports, or less than 20,000 tons annually, he said.
Russia's move came after the largest importers of U.S. beef, Japan and South Korea, as well as Thailand, Malaysia, Australia and Taiwan, banned imports on Wednesday.
"This is very bad and very sad news. It may shake the whole world's meat business," said Dmitry Rylko, general director of the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies, or IKAR.
"It won't have a direct effect on Russia, but if the situation in the United States worsens and lasts too long, it may drive up beef prices. And that would also harm Russia," Rylko said.
Russia is the world's No. 3 beef importer. The beef industry saw herds shrink from 57 million head in 1992 to 26.6 million in 2002, of which only 1 percent is beef cattle and the rest dairy cattle, according to the Agriculture Ministry.
TITLE: IN BRIEF
TEXT: Sewage Plant Loan
ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on Tuesday signed a credit agreement with Vodokanal St. Petersburg to fund the completion of the Southwest Sewage Treatment Plant, Interfax reported.
A Vodokanal press release announced that the EBRD will provide a credit line in the amount of 25 million euros to allow contractor Nordvod to implement the project. Vneshtorgbank will underwrite the loan.
The cost of completing the plant is 170 million euros. The additional funding will come from Vodokanal itself, Finnish and Swedish government funds, grants, foreign bank loans and private capital.
The plant will reduce drainage of 330,000 tons of untreated waste water into the city's reservoirs per day and treat 85 percent of the city's waste water.
The project was initiated in 1987 but stalled in 1995 for lack of financing. Completion of the plant is slated for 2004.
$1Bln Investment
ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - Investment in the Leningrad Oblast economy will exceed $1 billion in 2003, Interfax quoted Governor Valery Serdyukov as saying Thursday.
Serdyukov said at a meeting with former regional leaders that investment has remained at the 2001-2002 level.
Nokian Plant in 2004
ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - Nokian Tyres will start construction of a tire plant worth $120 million in the Leningrad Oblast in 2004, Governor Valery Serdyukov said on Thursday.
Interfax quoted Serdyukov as saying that the plant, due to be completed in 2005, will be built in three stages and eventually reach capacity of 6 million tires per year.
Nokian, a Finnish concern, last summer announced intentions to build a plant in Russia.
About 14 percent of tires imported to Russia are Nokian tires. More than 75 percent of Nokian products are sold outside of Finland.
Philip Morris Izhora
ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - Philip Morris plans to invest $296 million in tobacco product manufacture in the Leningrad Oblast, Governor Valery Serdyukov announced Thursday.
The total amount of the Philip Morris Izhora investment program to last through 2005 exceeds $600 million. Production will be expanded to 70 billion cigarettes per year.
Philip Morris Izhora manufactured 40 billion cigarettes last year.
The company also has a plant in Krasnodar.
Philip Morris contributed a total of $900 million in taxes to local and federal budgets in Russia between 2000 and 2002.
Severstal-Rouge Plans
MOSCOW (SPT) - Severstal is drafting an investment program and business plan for 2004 for Rough Industries, the bankrupt American steelmaker acquired by the Cherepovets firm for about $280 million, Interfax reported.
Severstal, located in the Vologda region, plans to invest between $200 million and $300 million in Rouge in the near future, with regular investment projected at between $40 million and $45 million per year.
Before the acquisition, Rouge Industries had losses of $52.3 million in 2002 with sales of $1.1 billion. Total debt at the start of 2003 stood at $573 million.
TITLE: icy reality melts into illusions
AUTHOR: By Matthew Brown
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: A beautiful woman who turns into a flame, the surface of the frozen Neva blowing like leaves of paper, a poet silhouetted in winter twilight whose head is replaced by the moon are just some of the memorable images from "Elle fait fondre la glace" ('She Melts The Ice'), a short film made in St. Petersburg last winter which had its premiere at Dom Kino this month.
The 9-minute film, made by Paris-based American Ron Padova and based on his own poem, mixes live action and computer generated special effects to bring to life a magical meditation on love, death and creativity.
Set to an excerpt from Stravinsky's "Firebird," the film opens in the Summer Garden where a man in black, with letters that spell "poet" on his back (played by Padova), sees the statue of a "muse" (played by Russian model and actress Lyuba Stupakova) come to life. He follows her through snowbound St. Petersburg reciting the poem she inspires as she uses magical powers to alter the environment around her: streetlights come on as she snaps her fingers; church bells ring with her laughter; her crying brings on a rain shower.
The poet and film-maker insists that by using computer generated special effects to create explicit connections between the words of the poem and the images on the screen, the work is not an exercise in symbolism.
"It's straightforward," Padova explained when he was in St. Petersburg to supervise the premiere. "The poet sacrifices himself for his muse and turns literally into an ink stain on the ice." The ice, in turn, literally behaves like blank paper. And in the end the muse literally turns into fire to melt the ice.
There are clear references to Russian cultural archetypes from Stravinsky's firebird (the film uses a 1946 recording made by the Russian composer) to the madman of Gogol's "Diary of a Madman" and, of course, Bulgakov's "Master and Margarita."
"I was also influenced by the 'Slavic' magic realism of Akhmatova and Blok," he said.
Padova is not embarrassed to admit that there was a real-life Russian muse behind the poem, which was written when he first visited St. Petersburg two years ago.
"Later it struck me that the frozen Neva is like a blank sheet of paper and the city is a place where people write their own story," he said.
Padova, who has spoken French since childhood, moved to Paris ten years ago after he had read Henry Miller's "Black Spring." The film is based on a poem originally written in Frenchby Padova. French, English and Russian versions of the movie have been made.
In preparing to make "She Melts The Ice," Padova was able to catch the attention of Thierry Arbogast, the award-winning cinematographer of the Luc Besson films "Leon" and "The Fifth Element," of Brian De Palma's "Femme Fatale" and of the upcoming "Catwoman" movie with Halle Berry.
Arbogast, who wanted to make the movie "just for fun," managed to secure technical resources to make the film, while TV cultural critic Pierre-Andre Boutange also helped get funding. It was made with a digital camera in St. Petersburg in January 2003, while post-production was completed in France by August.
The film's beautifully-shot images and use of light showcase St. Petersburg's "magical" qualities like few recent films have.
While the film is easy to reproduce and show on a small scale on DVD, said Padova, he had conceived it as a full-sized cinema film. The French General Consul in St. Petersburg Stephane Visconti - interested in cultural exchange during the city's 300th anniversary - helped get funds for the 35mm print of the movie which was shown on the big screen at Dom Kino.
Although Visconti is no relation to the Italian filmaker, Padova notes dryly, this was just one of many moments of "poetic fusion" surrounding the making, and part of the aesthetic, of "She Melts The Ice."
"When we made the film, it had been a cold winter and we were confident we could shoot on the ice safely," Padova said. "But the day after we finished ... it began to melt!"
The film has since been shown at the Hermitage Theater and will have its French premiere at the Russian Cultural Center in Paris on Jan. 17.
TITLE: clubs put on top acts for new year
AUTHOR: By Sergey Chernov
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: As the New Year approaches, the local music clubs think of interesting ways and popular acts to attract the public for their New Year parties - which people traditionally used to hold at their homes, and never out on the town, even as recently as 10 years ago. Here is what some of the clubs are planning for the New Year's Eve.
Red Club, which has hosted probably the best performances on the local club scene in the past year, will attract people with a concert by popular cabaret-tinged band Billy's Band - which has been preparing a special New Year program for the occasion.
The Tom Waits-influenced Billy's Band will focus on Vadim "Billy" Novik's own songs, including some new ones, according to Novik, who spoke by telephone from Moscow this week.
Apart from the recently premiered "Kladbishche Devichyikh Serdets" (Cemetery of Girls' Hearts), Billy's Band will introduce "Otorvyomsya Po-Pitersky" (Having Fun in a St. Petersburg Style) and "Ya Ne Vernus" (I Will Not Return).
"There will be mainly a Russian-language program, with probably only three or four Waits covers," said Novik.
The concert will be followed by a dance party on Red Club's three dance floors - including the second floor's cocktail hall will be dedicated to ever-popular Soviet retro and disco.
Red Club's New Year party will start at 10 p.m. Tickets cost 700 rubles and a reservation (that includes food and drink) costs 3,000 rubles.
The bunker club Griboyedov whose DJ Re-disco has been a huge hit this year with his retro Soviet pop and disco program will devote its New Year party to these styles.
Headed by Re-disco, also known as Denis Medvedev, who combines spinning vinyls at clubs with playing drums with the trash-pop band Selyodka as well as with the duties of one of Griboyedov's art directors, the night will also feature DJs Mono, Korablyov, and Solnechny Veter. Anton Belyankin of the ska band Dva Samaliota will play some hard-rock vinyls.
From 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. the party will be only for those who bought tickets in advance. (A $100 ticket guarantees a seat, plus food and drink.)
Everybody else will be admitted only after 1 a.m. (entrance fee will be 400 rubles). The club will be open until 11 a.m.
Tsinik, the grungy student bar in its the second incarnation since it opened at its new location a year ago, will host punk band Kacheli, which is putting together a special New Year show.
"We'll be playing children's songs, but in a very unusual way - it'll be very funny," said Kacheli's singer and guitarist Lyokha Lysy. He added that there will be also a portion of Kacheli's own material.
The concert is scheduled for 11 p.m. even though Kacheli is not reputed for starting its gigs on time. A seat at a table cost 1,500 rubles (food and drink included). For those without tickets the entrance will be probably free, though they will not be admitted if the place is packed.
Fish Fabrique, famous for introducing Halloween parties to St. Petersburg, is habitually not putting much effort into its New Year party.
With the doors opening at 11 p.m., the club will mainly leave providing the festive mood to the public. The party will be crowned with Chirvontsy, who will take the stage on 2 a.m.
The band, formed by some of the ex-members of the currently mega-popular band Leningrad, is currently a club hit with its blend of rock, urban folk, ska and reggae. Entrance fee will be 400 rubles.
Moloko will host a party featuring both DJs and live acts. Two bands will perform, Iva Nova and dub band Caribace.
In the vein of Caribace, the dance part will be provided by Roots Music Sound System. Its DJs Angryman, Sunshine, Maxim and Slickyman will spin roots, reggae and dub.
Expect Ded Moroz, Snegurochka and all kinds of special events.
The party will start at 10 p.m. and end at 7 p.m. The entrance fee will be 400 rubles.
See club guide (Page iii) for details.
TITLE: chernov's choice
TEXT: Boris Grebenshchikov of the seminal local rock band Akvarium, who turned 50 in November, suffered a bit of overexposure and even a certain loss of street credibility this year - appearing with a pro-President Putin party candidate on state television before the general election earlier this month and accepting honors from the state.
This Sunday, he will appear to be honored by his local counterparts, when the second volume of a tribute album will be launched with a concert at Stary Dom.
Produced by Andrei Tropillo, the producer of illegal home-made albums of the semi-banned Akvarium in the 1980s, the record is called "Zemlya - Nebo" (Earth - Heaven) and includes dozens of bands covering Grebenshchikov's songs.
Though the club's press release for the launch concert lists Tequilajazzz, Vyacheslav Butusov and 5nizza as "guests," there is no guarantee that all these acts will actually perform.
"It tends to be a little chaotic," said the club's spokesperson.
While the lineup of the event is yet to be confirmed, Stary Dom's spokesperson said that Grebenshchikov himself would be definitely present at the concert. Tickets cost between 150 and 300 rubles.
Iva Nova, who failed to provide the copies of its debut CD for its launch concert at Red Club in November, will perform both its old and new songs at Fish Fabrique on Friday. The all-girl folk rock band will also take part in the New Year Party at Moloko on Wednesday. See the article on this page for more of the New Year parties at the city's music clubs.
Dobranotch, one of the most popular local folk bands, will perform - after a hiatus - at Moloko on Jan. 2.
According to violin player Mitya Khramtsov, Dobranotch's sound has changed due to the band's two new members - accordion player Andrei Sapkevich and drummer Ussama, who joined the band earlier this year.
Sapkevich grew up in Moldova and hence boasts good knowledge of Moldovan and Romanian folk. Before joining Dobranotch he played with both gypsy and Russian folk bands.
"[Lebanese-born drummer] Ussama keeps drawing us in the direction of Arab music," said Khramtsov.
"We don't understand [the music], but he plays some rhythms and something comes out of it. He even brought a belly dancer to our concert at Red Club."
Griboyedov, the popular bunker club, has swapped Ground Level, its tradional Monday deep-house parties for something unusual for a dance club.
Since the start of December Anton Belyankin, one of Griboyedov's art director and bassist of the ska band Dva Samaliota has been promoting "Heavy Mondays" - parties entirely devoted to all kinds of rock music, from 1950s rock and roll to punk and heavy metal.
"We want to promote rock in our city," said Belyankin, who performs at his parties under the moniker DJ Mirny Atom ("Peaceful Atom," an ironic reference to a Soviet propaganda cliche) .
Belyankin, who boasts a huge collection of rock vinyls, complains that you cannot hear genuine Western rock on local radio except on Radio ROKS and no-one is bothered to promote rock parties.
"They used to play rock at discos in the 1970s [in Russia]," he said.
- By Sergey Chernov
TITLE: sherbet fizzes with turkish delight
AUTHOR: By Joseph James Crescente III
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: Babies are usually loud, rough around the edges, and altogether sloppy. This is often true of new restaurants too. Not so for Sherbet, a new Turkish-influenced restaurant and club that opened a few weeks ago about seven minutes walk from Ploshchad Vosstaniya. I stopped by before I planned to eat there to check the address and was frightened I might be dining at another posh, overpriced French restaurant. The interior was sleek and no menu was posted - often a sign of ridiculously expensive fusion dishes and a pretentious atmosphere. But, this was not what I found later.
My companion and I were greeted instantly by our server, who helped us with our coats. We were seated in our chosen location, an intimate table at the window. The snow was falling, the people sliding on the ice, yet we were safe in a warm and lively world. Sherbet's atmosphere is quirky, friendly and alive. It almost feels like there's a party going on. In fact there are parties with different DJs every Friday and Saturday, according to our server. The waiter at the next table was frequently seen dancing to the house staple, Turkish pop. Couches line the walls, and a banquet room is in the back.
We started off with a couple of half-liter Bochkarov beers (70 rubles; $2.39) while we studied the curious menu. Having never been to Turkey, most of the items were unfamiliar. We chose three appetizers. The cheese plate (110 rubles; $3.76) was layered with four dairy delights: Edam, Brie, Blue Cheese, and a Russian variety. Served with a garnish of grapes and walnuts, it was simple but tasty. Next came spiced eggplant salad with vegetables (90 rubles; $3.07), known in Russian as "spicy fire." Our server warned us that it was very hot, but it was actually quite mild. It was delicious and in addition to the eggplant contained chilis, onions, tomatoes, and coriander. This was followed by Dolma (120 rubles; $4.10), a Turkish dish I had tried before. The minced lamb and onion wrapped in grape leaves, and drenched in blue cheese sauce, didn't disappoint. Perhaps it was a little too saucy, but there was plenty left over to dip our fresh bread in (40 rubles; $1.36.)
My companion, a strict vegetarian, was not able to select anything off of the proper dinner menu, but she made do with the kefir-based Dovga soup (110 rubles; $3.76). It was creamy, warm and mixed with herbs. She complimented this with two side dishes, rice sprinkled with olive oil and sesame seeds, and roasted vegetables (60 rubles; $2.05 each). She enjoyed the rice, an often bland staple, describing it as "fluffy and wonderful" and rather enjoyed the vegetables, a combination of summer squash, green peppers and tomatoes. While she was munching away, I sank my teeth into Chicken Sultan-Style (180 rubles; $6.15). Nearly boneless yet bone shaped, it was a tender and moist entree, topped with sesame seeds and stuffed with apple. It was surrounded by dried fruit, fresh basil, and pomegranate seeds. For a garnish I had lemon tinged baked potatoes (60 rubles; $2.05), which were served correctly.
With no room for dessert, yet without will power to resist, we indulged. First came quince with pomegranate seeds, mint, walnuts, cinnamon and vanilla ice cream, an unusual and delectable combination (60 rubles; $2.05). This was followed up with a creamy cinnamon pumpkin cheese cake, which was, in the words of my companion "one of the nicest desserts I've ever had." I had a frothy cappucino (60 rubles; $2.05) and my companion an espresso (50 rubles; $1.70). I also had a fresh apple juice (90 rubles; $3.07).
After having dined at a very overpriced restaurant recently, it was such a relief to see prices with a human face. Indeed, the most expensive item on the menu is 210 rubles ($7.17). The menu is broad and varied, although nearly everything has a Turkish twist to it. I wasn't conscious that it was a Turkish restaurant until about half way through the meal. This was a relief, since most ethnic restaurants these days try so hard to seem authentic. This place didn't have to; it was more comfortable being itself, and the result is a self-assured, casual and slick eatery.
The staff is cool, calm and collected, attentive and friendly. Our server made great recommendations and made us feel extremely welcome. He made the odd mistake, but we were so relaxed that it was impossible to get angry. If Middle Eastern pop, Christmas trees, wire mesh lamps, and wall-to-wall mirrored restrooms are your cup of Turkish coffee, then make this your next destination for a meal - and a party!
Sherbet, 26 Vosstaniya Ul. Tel: 272 7613. Open Sunday to Thursday from 12 p.m. until 12 a.m.; Friday and Saturday until 2 a.m. Menu in Russian only. Credit cards not accepted. Dinner for two with alcohol: 1,350 rubles ($46.15).
TITLE: festival highlights russia-u.s. ties
AUTHOR: By Galina Stolyarova
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: St. Petersburg's top winter cultural event, the International Arts Square Festival, which begins this week, has a novel theme in its fifth year to help anyone beat the cold weather blues. Kicking off on Sunday, this year's festival, which runs until Jan. 7 is devoted to musical parallels and contacts between Russia and America.
Launched by Yury Temirkanov, the renowned artistic director and principal conductor of the St. Petersburg Shostakovich Philharmonic, in 1999 the festival has already become the city's flagship winter cultural event. This time, maestro Temirkanov, who is also artistic director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, has invited a number of U.S. musicians to perform at Philharmonic, which is located on the corner of Ploshchad Iskusstv ('Arts Square') and Mikhailovskaya Ulitsa.
According to festival director Kathleen Charla, the central event of the festival is a performance by the Morgan State University Choir from Maryland, which will present an All-Gershwin Concert at the Philharmonic on Jan. 6. Accompanied by the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Temirkanov, the choir will perform pieces from "Porgy and Bess," "Rhapsody in Blue" and "An American in Paris."
"Maestro Temirkanov already performed with these musicians in Baltimore and was fascinated," Charla said. "This gospel choir is one of the best of its kind in the United States."
On Jan. 7, the choir will be back on stage for a unaccompanied recital featuring folk songs, spirituals and popular melodies from American musicals conducted by Nathan Carter, the artistic director of the choir.
Commenting on the importance of the American theme in this year's festival, Temirkanov said the idea came to his mind in the spring of this year, when, on his suggestion, Baltimore hosted a festival of Russian art on the occasion of the St. Petersburg's 300th anniversary. "When I proposed such a festival to the authorities in Baltimore, I wasn't hoping for much. I really saw it as a symbolic gesture," Temirkanov said. "But then forty-three organizations supported it, and the event was grandiose. I felt I wanted to say thank you to the American people and their country, too."
Temirkanov also confessed to liking Broadway musicals and expressed regret that one has yet to be staged in St. Petersburg. "I take every opportunity to see a good Broadway musical because they do wonders there, and I love them," Temirkanov said. "But financially such a project is far too heavy a burden for any Russian organization at the moment. And I am really sorry about that."
The festival opens with virtouso violinist Sarah Chang performing Shostakovich's Violin concerto No. 1 on Dec. 28, with Temirkanov conducting the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra.
Born in Philadelphia, Chang first held a violin at the age of four. Four years later, she was noticed by Zubin Mehta and Riccardo Mutti, and was invited to perform with the Philadelphia Symphony and New York Symphony. Now 21, Chang has performed on the world's greatest stages, including at the Berlin Philharmonic and in Carnegie Hall, and has an exclusive contract with EMI Classics.
For Chang and most other guests the performances will be their debuts in the city. Every year Temirkanov uses the festival to introduce up-and-coming young talent to St. Petersburg audiences.
In previous years, these talents have included Chinese pianist Lang Lang and Kazakh conductor Alan Buribayev. This year, it will be U.S. violinist Stefan Jackiw. On Tuesday, Dec. 30 the Shostakovich Philharmonic will host a performance by Jakiw accompanied by the St. Petersburg Academic Symphony Orchestra under the baton of U.S. conductor Daniel Hege with a program featuring Bernstein's Divertissement, Samuel Barber's violin concerto, Aaron Copland's "Appalachian Spring" and Gershwin's "An American in Paris."
On New Year's Eve, according to Arts Square tradition, Temirkanov is organizing a luxurious ball in Yusupov Palace. In keeping with another tradition, the festival's faithful partner the State Russian Museum - which is located on the other side of Plashchad Iskusstv - is holding an extensive exhibition, this year of works by early 20th century Russian painter Boris Kustodiyev.
"This exhibition will be a genuine discovery to visitors," said Russian Museum director Vladimir Gusev. "Festive and informal, cosy and cheerful, harmonious and absurd, smart and naive ... all so typical of Russian life, as the artist used to say."
Gusev does admit there is a lack of an obvious, if any, connection between the festival's American theme and the Kustodiyev exhibition. But the director explains it by technical difficulties. "Both the museum and the festival have to plan big events well in advance, and by the time when we had to have our plans for certain, the American theme hadn't become an issue," Gusev said. "We do think that Kustodiyev is a safe and winning choice because his art is so multi-faceted in showing the Russian spirit: Kustodiyev shows you the parade, enlighetened and ceremonial Russia, and its humble and naive, simple yet crafty provinces."
On Jan. 2, the Marble Palace of the State Russian Museum will host a musical and literary evening devoted to the poetry and music of Russian and American authors from modern era. Also, as part of the festival, on Jan. 3 at the Alexandrinsky Theater, St. Petersburg choreographer Boris Eifman presents his new musical "Who's Who" set to tunes by Sergei Rakhmaninov, Duke Ellington, Dave Brubeck and Samuel Barber.
TITLE: Fifth International Arts Square Winter Festival
TEXT: Dec. 28 Festival opening reception. The Grand Hotel Europe
t Dec. 28 Opening of the festival: St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra with Maestro Yuri Temirkanov conducting. Sarah Chang, Soloist. Shostakovich Violin Concerto, No. 1. Dvorzak, Symphony
No. 9. Grand Hall of the Shostakovich Philharmonic.
t Dec. 29 Yuri Bashmet conducting and performing with the "Moscow Soloists". Guest Soloist, Wu Man, pipa player. Toru Takemitsu, Three fragments form the music to the films "Jose Torres", "Black Rain", "Face of Another". Lou Harrison, Concerto for pipa with string orchestra. B. Britten, Lachrymae Opus 48a. F. Shubert, G. Mahler, "Der Tod und das Madchen". Grand Hall of the Shostakovich Philharmonic.
t Dec 29. Gala Reception to mark the opening of the Boris Kustodiyev exhibition. The State Russian Museum.
t Dec. 29 through Feb. 28 Exhibition of the works of prominent Russian artist Boris Kustodiyev (1878-1927). Marking the 125th anniversary of Kustodiyev's birth, 300 works of all genres are on show including two panel portraits, "Peter the Great" and "Alexander I", that are exhibited for the first time. Sketches of the murals for Moscow's Kazan railway station, a reattributed portrait of M. Heilik, drawings from the collection of the Russian National Library and many other well-known works from more than 20 museums and private collections from Russia and abroad are also on show. The State Russian Museum.
t Dec. 30 St. Petersburg Symphonic Orchestra with Daniel Hege, American guest Conductor. Stefan Jackiw, Soloist.
Barber Violin Concerto. The music of Leonard Bernstein. Grand Hall of the Shostakovich Philharmonic.
t Dec. 31 New Year's Eve concert with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Nikolai Alexeyev conducting.
Symphonic favorites. Grand Hall of the Shostakovich Philharmonic.
t Dec. 31 Maestro Temirkanov's New Year's Eve Ball. The ball, an annual tradition for the International Winter Festival Arts Square, includes an intimate concert in the palace's private theatre, a sumptuous dinner, entertainment, dancing and a spectacular fireworks display in the courtyard. Yusupov Palace.
t Jan. 2 Musical/Literary evening: "Love for all Seasons", a program devoted to the music and poetry of Russia and America. The theme of human passions as reflected in music from Glinka to Knaifel, from Ives to Copland and in poetry from Pushkin to Brodsky and Dickenson to Frost. With the Xenia Ensemble. Small Hall of the Shostakovich Philharmonic.
t Jan 3. Premiere: Boris Eifman's St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre performing the new ballet "Who's Who". St. Petersburg Mussorgsky State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre.
t Jan 4. St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra with Maestro Yuri Temirkanov. Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Soloist. Mahler, "Kindertotenlieder". Tchaikovsky, Symphony No 4. Grand Hall of the Shostakovich Philharmonic.
t Jan. 5 Piano Recital by John Lill. Beethoven. Sonata, No. 21. Barber. Sonata, Opus 26. Chopin, Ballade, No. 4, Opus 52. Prokofiev, Sonata, No. 8, Opus 84. Small Hall of the Shostakovich Philharmonic.
t Jan. 6 St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra with Maestro Yuri Temirkanov. All Gershwin Concert, featuring the Morgan State University Choir (Baltimore, U.S.A.), directed by Dr. Nathan Carter. Selections from "Porgy and Bess." Fazil Say, Soloist. "Rhapsody in Blue." Grand Hall of the Shostakovich Philharmonic.
t Jan. 7 Close of the festival: Recital by the Morgan State University Choir (Baltimore, U.S.A.). Folk songs, spirituals and show tunes. Grand Hall of the Shostakovich Philharmonic.
t Jan. 7 Closing reception of the festival. Foyer of the Grand Hall of the Shostakovich Philharmonic.
More information available at:
www.artsquarewinterfest.ru
TITLE: Rodriguez Trade Called Off At Last Minute
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: ARLINGTON, Texas - The trade talks began in private right after the World Series.
Alex Rodriguez confirmed the day he won his first American League Most Valuable Player award that the Texas Rangers had talked to him about a deal.
Now after nearly two months of discussions, the proposed trade of $20 million-a-year players is off the table. For now, baseball's two highest-paid players are staying put: Rodriguez in Texas and outfielder Manny Ramirez in Boston.
Texas owner Tom Hicks said on Tuesday - his deadline to resolve the issue - that the deal was too complicated to complete. The Rangers now plan for Rodriguez to remain their shortstop next season, the fourth of his record $252 million, 10-year contract.
Hicks and Red Sox owner John Henry talked twice Tuesday, their first conversation in four days. And they finally agreed - that they were done talking about the proposed trade.
"We both recognized there was too big a gulf to bridge,'' Hicks said. "Neither one of us thought it would take the public profile it did, or get as complex as it did."
Asked if there were last-minute negotiations or compromises on the Rangers' part in an effort to complete the deal, Hicks said, "Not really.''
"We mainly made sure that we communicated what each team's position was,'' he said. "As the decision-makers, it was important for us to talk to each other.''
Rodriguez told The Fort Worth Star-Telegram in its Wednesday edition that it had been a challenging process he just wanted to end.
"Basically, I'm glad it's over, and I'm just proud to work with an owner like Tom Hicks,'' Rodriguez was quoted as telling the newspaper. "We went through the process hand-in-hand. Now, we're going to work together to get the Texas Rangers headed in the right direction. I'll do my part on the baseball field, and he'll do his part.''
Hicks insisted that the deadline was final. He even sent a letter to season-ticket holders Tuesday pledging that next season's team would be built around Rodriguez. The Rangers have finished last in the AL West four straight seasons.
Henry, Red Sox chairman Tom Werner, president Larry Lucchino and general manager Theo Epstein issued a joint statement Tuesday saying "no further discussions regarding this transaction are planned.''
Rodriguez's agent, Scott Boras, also agreed that the deal was dead and that the player's relationship with Hicks was still good.
"He learned about his owner, I think their relationship is a good one,'' Boras said. "In the end, there was a real question about what the level of Boston's interest level was.''
Had Rodriguez gone to Boston, the Red Sox presumably would have traded longtime shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, possibly to the Chicago White Sox.
The collapse of the deal was fine with new Boston manager Terry Francona.
"I've been looking forward to Manny and Nomar being with us, so nothing has changed for me,'' he said.
Rodriguez and Ramirez agreed to their big contracts on the same day, three years ago during the winter meetings in Dallas. To gauge if there was interest in Ramirez, Boston placed him on irrevocable waivers following the World Series, but he went unclaimed.
"Manny is focused on continuing his career with the Red Sox,'' said his agent, Jeff Moorad. "I have said all along that Manny would be happy in either instance.''
Ramirez has five years and $97.5 million left on his $160 million, eight-year deal.
During negotiations last week, the players' association said the final seven years and $179 million left on Rodriguez's agreement could be restructured but not reduced. A proposal by the Red Sox to cut $28 million to $30 million was rejected.
The players' association said it would approve a change that would lower the contract by $12 million to $13 million in exchange for Rodriguez getting the right to use Boston's logo and trademarks in marketing deals. In addition, he'd be able to become a free agent after the 2005 season.
But Lucchino proclaimed the trade "dead,'' blaming the union for not approving the steeper reduction.
Reliever Jay Powell is glad Rodriguez is staying in Texas.
"He's one of the most respected guys in the clubhouse, and we were hoping he would stick around,'' Powell said. "I don't know anybody in the clubhousethat wants to see Alex leave.''
TITLE: Sprewell Fined For Cursing
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: NEW YORK - Minnesota's Latrell Sprewell was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Wednesday for cursing at New York Knicks chairman James Dolan and screaming at the team's bench during the Timberwolves' 98-92 win Tuesday night.
The penalty was issued by NBA senior vice president Stu Jackson.
Sprewell, who was traded to Minnesota and scored 31 points in his return to New York, turned to Dolan and unleashed a stream of curses after his 3-pointer gave Minnesota a 94-89 lead with 1:14 left.
Referee Dan Crawford came over and warned Sprewell to stop during the ensuing timeout, but Sprewell kept it up anyway and directed his next rant at the Knicks' bench. The tirade earned him a technical foul.
Sprewell began screaming at Dolan during the first quarter, the first expletive-filled harangue making Dolan blush. Sprewell turned and shouted at Dolan several more times during the course of the game. Dolan eventually smiled at the taunts.
"All the little games he's been playing this year, I let him do the talking earlier. I'm just glad I could do the talking now,'' Sprewell said after the game.
Isiah Thomas, the Knicks' new team president, was upset the Knicks didn't try to stop Sprewell's behavior during the game.
"All I know is, something happened in our house last night that I hope won't happen again,'' Thomas said Wednesday at the Knicks' practice facility in Greenburgh, N.Y.
Thomas also said that the struggling Knicks need to increase their intensity.
"I would say right now, we're down,'' he said. "And sometimes people kick you when you're down. We have to stand up, and we will stand up.''
Also on Wednesday, Peja Stojakovic of the Sacramento Kings was suspended for one game by the NBA for making improper contact with a game official.
Stojakovic, who scored a career-high 41 points in the Kings' 114-97 victory over Memphis Tuesday night's game, brushed official Bernie Fryer with 1:17 remaining in the second period and received a technical foul.
"I overreacted on that,'' Stojakovic said. "I apologized to him at halftime.''
Stojakovic missed the Kings' game on Christmas Day against the Dallas Mavericks.