SOURCE: The St. Petersburg Times
DATE: Issue #989 (57), Tuesday, July 27, 2004
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TITLE: City Plan Squares Preservation, Innovation
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: A new plan that aims to reconcile those eager to bring experimental modern architecture into the historical center of St. Petersburg and those who would like the heart of the city to be preserved was proposed Monday.
 
Vladimir Lisovsky, a professor at St. Petersburg's Repin State Institute for Art, Sculpture and Architecture and head of the local branch of the Society for the Preservation of Cultural and Historical Monuments, suggested that the whole city be divided into zones.
 Speaking at a roundtable discussion organized by news agency Rosbalt in which the new chief city architect Alexander Viktorov took part, Lisovsky mooted a diversified system of restrictions specific to each zone.
 This would protect the classical historical center from being ruined and, at the same time, provide opportunities for experimental architects to realize their projects, he said.
 "The idea is that in some zones no construction would be allowed, only reconstruction, and under very strict conditions," Lisovsky said. "In other zones, construction would be possible subject to limitations and specifications." 
 Lisovsky also thinks that the term "historical center" is far too loose for professionals to operate with and should be used only in a literary context.
 In notoriously conservative St. Petersburg, every modern project in its classical center causes a storm of emotions and contrasting opinions. The most recent such example is Dominique Perrault's design of a second performance space for the Mariinsky Theater.
 A string of aspects related to construction in the city center were canvassed at the roundtable, with the key issue being whether a compromise could be found between the traditionalists and admirers of radical architectural solutions.
 Chief architect Viktorov supported Lisovsky's proposal and criticized existing regulations for being too vague to apply to specific sites.
 "Regulations have to be more detailed and varied depending on location," Viktorov said. "Setting out only a height restriction is not really helpful now, when computer modeling can show all the angles and allows us to say whether a new building actually fits into the environment."
 But the proposal wasn't met with unanimous support. Some architects and representatives of the construction industry expressed reservations that long lists of regulations would suppress creativity. 
 Architect Yury Mityurev said architecture is art. 
 "Designers of buildings express their souls in their constructions, and they need to be inspired, rather than made to feel intimidated, " he said. "An object could fit in perfectly according to technical terms, yet stay worthless in aesthetic terms."
 Vasily Sopromadze, president of construction company Corporation C, agreed, warning that censorship always risks killing art. 
 "Censorship is a very dangerous thing for architecture," he said. "The faultfinders would say 'just cut slightly here, expand it a little there and put an extra thing down there.' It doesn't sound like much harm, yet the design ends up completely distorted."
 Sopromadze said beauty should be a major criterion for an architectural design. Applying it would make it easier for the public to judge buildings and would bypass the obstacles created by professional critics operating with measurements and exact categories, he said.
 His approach would be more flexible than that proposed by Lisovsky and would not hamper creativity, he said. 
 "An architect should work on a project with all their heart, and then put it forward at a competition," he said. "If the jury likes it, they'll take it, if not, they'll reject it - it is that simple. In architecture, taste is more important than all those height and length limitations, and taste, as well as beauty, can't be measured."
 Vladimir Popov, head of the St. Petersburg's Union of Architects, urged the professionals to be more attentive to the public's wishes. He is convinced closer contact is needed between the designers, decision makers and the general public. 
 The architect suggests that open discussions be organized around every significant project in the historical center, as was the case with the Mariinsky's second stage. 
 "This project, although accepted, may still survive some alterations but the main point is that the debates around it have shown a clear distinction in public opinion," Popov said. 
 "The older audiences tend to oppose Perrault's innovative design, while the youngsters welcome it with much enthusiasm. We shouldn't ignore the voice of the time. If we don't want our youngsters to flee the city as too conservative, we should be more respectful of their views."
 The city administration representatives agree that a more coherent policy is needed for St. Petersburg to develop naturally, rather than in a contrived, artificial way. Vera Dementyeva, head of the Committee for the Preservation of the Historical Monuments, or KGIOP, said her office has become tougher in confronting violations of architectural restrictions. 
 "Three court cases are underway against construction companies that exceeded height limitations when reconstructing attics," she said. "The cases should present a clear warning to the other firms. The city center is our capital, which we all depend on, in which we spend and which we are in debt to."

TITLE: Tyulpanov Eyes United Russia Boost
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Kremlin loyalist party United Russia is seeking to expand its membership not only by recruiting businesses, but also by mustering support in schools, Legislative Assembly Speaker and newly elected head of the regional branch of the party Vadim Tyulpanov said Saturday. 
 
After 87 of 97 party delegates elected him on Saturday, Tyulpanov said one of his main goals is to increase the number of the party members among the Legislative Assembly deputies and the regional population, local media reported him saying.
 The United Russia faction has only 13 members in the city parliament and the 14,000 members in the city and the Leningrad Oblast are far fewer than what the national council would like to see, he said.
 "The Moscow branch has about 60,000 members ... I believe an acceptable number for St. Petersburg would be 25,000 members," website Fontanka.ru quoted Tyulpanov as saying Monday.
 "For this reason it is possible to set up party branches at a low level and not only at big companies and factories, but also at small organizations such as schools and in municipal districts," he said. "It is necessary to bolster the party's network and its influence."
 Tyulpanov, 40, a former sailor, has been speaker since early last year has been a member of the Legislative Assembly since 1998.
 He replaced former acting vice city governor Alexander Beglov. Beglov left City Hall after Valentina Matviyenko was elected governor in October 2003. He was elected to the State Duma from the United Russia party list and later was appointed head of the financial monitoring department of the presidential administration.
 "United Russia has made significant achievements already and we have to save them," local media quoted Tyulpanov as saying to council members after he was just elected. "We've got to create a space for the party and the country to be successful and I'm sure we can do that."
 One of Tyulpanov's most significant achievements has been his success in taming the Legislative Assembly by stopping it challenging City Hall - making the city parliament almost fully subordinated to Matviyenko's will.
 "For 10 years, the Legislative Assembly was fighting with the executive branch of power and only within the last year under my management have we succeeded to find a common language," he said. "I will also try to find a common language in relations between the party and the executive power." 
 Yury Vdovin, co-head of the city's branch of international human rights organization Citizen's Watch, said Tyulpanov's plans look like an attempt to revive the Soviet system of a centralized ideology.
 "This is a sign of the regeneration of the system that was followed by the CPSU [Communist Party of the Soviet Union]," Vdovin said Monday in a telephone interview.
 "The lower levels of the CPSU were liquidated at factories and companies by a law [in the early 1990s] that said they should not operate under the influence of ideology," he said. "The only way a healthy person can react to news of regeneration of this CPSU practice is to feel sick in the stomach," Vdovin said.
 "This is a very dangerous tendency," he added.
 Tyulpanov's rivals for the leadership of the regional party office were Alexander Benin, a State Duma member and Alexander Belyakov, who was governor of the Leningrad Oblast in the mid 1990s. Both withdrew their candidacy after the Kremlin and Matviyenko supported Tyulpanov, making him the only candidate delegates were able to vote for.
 Political analysts said Monday that Tyulpanov has made the Legislative Assembly toothless; it merely approves bills presented by City Hall.
 "I see that the Legislative Assembly that followed its principles in the past and was in opposition to City Hall, now prints out laws in an even less responsible way than before," Tatyana Dorutina, head of the St. Petersburg League of Voters, said Monday in a telephone interview.
 "It seems to me voters who took part in the State Duma elections were not being very responsible if they voted for United Russia," she added. "It is clear now that the party cares more about its internal problems than the interests of the voters.
 "It is a common problem for all parties," Dorutina said. "Before the last elections, I tried to convince different parties that they'd have to include representatives of public organizations in their lists so that there would be a connection between politicians, businesses and civil society, but I didn't get a reply from anyone."
 Yevgeny Volk, a political analyst at the Heritage Foundation based in Moscow said United Russia is barely visible at the city level before an election campaign of any kind is started on the national or local level. 
 "United Russia is like an American party that was created for election purposes and activates at the times of elections of any kind, whether they are parliamentary or municipal elections," Volk said Monday in a telephone interview.
 "It is hard to draw the line between the party and the executive branch of power when all the administrative resources in the regions are in their hands and when they have full favor from local officials," Volk added.

TITLE: City Girl Gets Gold in World Math Olympiad
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: St. Petersburg schoolgirl Nadezhda Petukhova, 17, was not just the first girl in the Russian team to compete in this year's International Math Olympiad since 1998, she also won a gold medal.
 
Petukhova has just returned from the Olympiad, which was held in Athens on July 9 to 18. 
 She received her gold medal from Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis, who told her: "I'm so glad that you're a girl."
 The overwhelmingly majority of the contestants - 84 countries entered teams of six - were male. Only four students succeeded in answering all 42 questions correctly.
 Petukhova answered most of her questions correctly, and finished in the top 20 rankings for individuals. In the national contest, Russia came third, after China and the United States. 
 Petukhova also brought a living prize home from Athens, a cat she calls Pit that she found in the city.
 Her road to the gold medal was not an easy one. Her schoolteachers didn't understand why she was concentrating on math, even though the school she studied at was associated with the Academy of Sciences and specializes in physics and technology. 
 Her classmate Sasha Safronova said the school had made life difficult for Petukhova.
 "They made her retake all the tests when she returned from All-Russian Olympiad. Petukhova graduated from school with threes in some subjects," she said. "Nadya's victory was no surprise for us. In our class we had seven pupils who won All-Russian Olympiads. We are just sorry that she rarely was at school".
 Petukhova is no stranger to mathematics: her parents and elder brother are mathematicians. 
 "Nobody asked me if I liked it or not," she said. "My parents just submerged me in math." 
 In some ways her preparation for Athens began when Petukhova was in the fifth grade. She entered district, city, and two national mathematical Olympiads and earned a place in the IMO team. 
 At the age of 11 she was part of a special class at the city's school No. 239 that coaches children for math competitions. When she started there were three study groups each of them had 30 pupils. In the end only 10 students graduated from it.
 Other teachers prepare children for the IMO.
 Competitors in the math Olympiad get no state subsidies, but those who compete at national and international level receive 2,000 rubles a month from the Potanin Fund, provided their grades remain high.
 Travel costs have been met by the regional and federal governments, but are more frequently met by competitors' parents, Petukhova said.
 Although the preparation involved a lot of hard work, Petukhova has several interests other than mathematics. She dances, graduated with excellent grades from a musical school, studies languages - English, French and German - and biology. She even thinks she doesn't study all that hard, but relies on her talent and that she is even lazy. 
 "I need to fill my life with something. Math is the thing that I know and do well. It's like a job. I don't feel sorry that I do it. But if there were no math, there would be biology or something else." 
 Her victory at the IMO was not so much a matter of good luck as of planning, Petukhova said.
 "We worked a lot," she said. "It was largely thanks to our teachers Dmitry Rostovsky and Sergei Berlov. I couldn't let them down. And now they can be proud of us. We really have a very powerful team". 
 Petukhova said the IMO was prejudiced against the Russian team. 
 A St. Petersburg team had bad results last year and it was very important to show that Russia deserved its medals. This year Russian team members won four gold medals, one silver and one bronze. 
 Elite mathematics education in Russia is acknowledged around the world and in many cases the non-Russian teams were made up of children whose parents had emigrated from Russia.
 "I felt like I was at in Russia," Petukhova said of the IMO. "Almost every team had Russian participants". 
 Oleg Golberg, who was in the U.S. team, had twice previously competed for Russia, a fact that made many Russian team members uneasy.
 Petukhova's parents are very proud of their daughter and also think that IMO offers their daughter a good chance of getting a mathematics job abroad. 
 However, Nadezhda Petukhova said: "In the meantime I'm here and I don't know what will happen. For me IMO is just another step." 
 She left St. Petersburg on Monday to study at Moscow State University, which invited her to join its mechanic-mathematical department. "They tried to persuade me to stay in St. Petersburg but I chose Moscow. There are more ways to find a good job and to make a career there," she said.
 On Aug. 9, she and two other girls, will leave to compete for Russia in the All-Chinese Women's Math Olympiad hoping to get more honors.

TITLE: Detained Ingush Police Officer Sets Off Suicide Bomb at Station
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - A policeman suspected of helping to stage last month's raids on police headquarters in Ingushetia set off an explosive attached to his leg when called in for questioning over the weekend, killing himself and badly injuring two investigators, Ingush police said Monday. 
 
Mikail Lalakhoyev, 25, was the fourth police officer implicated in a series of coordinated attacks on June 21-22, which left 90 people dead, including 67 from law enforcement agencies and the military. 
 The raids were a devastating blow to federal authorities in the North Caucasus. President Vladimir Putin responded by firing the three generals responsible for the operations of Interior Ministry troops, the Federal Security Service and the military in the region.
 On Saturday morning, Lalakhoyev arrived at Ingush police headquarters to be questioned by the republic's acting first deputy interior minister, Isa Torshkhoyev, and Colonel Yury Plotnikov, a chief investigator with the federal Interior Ministry's unit that tracks down wanted suspects. Plotnikov had gone to Nazran from Moscow to assist with the investigation into the raids.
 Before entering Torshkhoyev's third-floor office, Lalakhoyev handed over his handgun and police ID to the guard. But during questioning, he set off an explosive attached to his right foot, ministry spokeswoman Madina Khadziyeva said Monday.
 Lalakhoyev died instantly, and both Torshkhoyev and Plotnikov were seriously injured.
 


TITLE: Third Bomb In Voronezh
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: A bomb exploded at a bus stop in the city of Voronezh on Monday morning, wounding one person a week after a blast at a bus stop in the same city killed one, security officials said. 
 
Roman Panyevin, a spokesman for the regional Federal Security Service, said the explosion took place at 8:20 a.m., sending bolts and screws flying into five cars that had been passing by. 
 A 30-year-old woman who was a passenger in one of the cars was slightly wounded, he said. 
 The prosecutor's office opened a terrorism investigation into the blast, but there was no immediate indication of who the suspects might be. 
 Panyevin said the circumstances of the blast were identical to an explosion in Voronezh last week. 
 On July 19, a bomb with the explosive equivalent of one kilogram of TNT went off in a waste container near a bus stop in the city 500 kilometers south of Moscow. Another similar blast occurred in February.

TITLE: Seven Candidates on Ballot For Chechnya's Elections
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: MOSCOW - The day after refusing to register Malik Saidullayev, the main challenger to the Kremlin's pick for Chechen president, Chechnya's election committee on Friday announced the final lineup of seven candidates for the Aug. 29 election.
 
Abdul-Kerim Arsakhanov, the chairman of the election committee, said on NTV television that the voters "will have a choice."
 The election was called after Akhmad Kadyrov, who was elected president in October, was killed in a bomb explosion in May. 
 In addition to Alu Alkhanov, the Chechen interior minister who has the nod from Putin, the candidates include Abdula Bugayev, a historian and director of the Chechen branch of the Contemporary Humanities Academy, who finished a distant second to Kadyrov last year with 5.7 percent of the vote. 
 Kadyrov received more than 80 percent of the vote, but there were widespread reports of ballot stuffing. He also had little competition after all other serious candidates were removed from the race. Observers expect this election to be little different.
 "The Russian authorities are apparently not interested in running a free and fair ballot in Chechnya," said Aaron Rhodes, executive director of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, in a statement on Friday. "Rather, much as in 2003, they are seeking to railroad the election of a favored candidate in a one-horse race."
 The other five candidates are Movsar Khamidov, who works in the Federal Security Service; Vakha Visayev, an economist and an adviser to the acting Chechen president; Chechen State Council staff member Mukhumd-Khasan Asakov; and two businessmen, Magomed Aidamirov and Umar Abuyev.
 None is expected to pose a serious challenge to Alkhanov, who is the favorite of both the Kremlin and Kadyrov's clan. His chances further improved after Saidullayev was denied registration Thursday.
 Arsakhanov said Saidullayev, a successful Moscow-based businessman, had failed to fill in his application correctly. 
 Saidullayev accused the Kremlin of once again blocking his attempt to run for Chechen president. He also had tried to run in October.
 Commenting Friday on the decision not to register Saidullayev, Central Election Commission chief Alexander Veshnyakov said only that he found it strange that Saidullayev submitted the deposit for his registration on the very last day and was sloppy in filling out the papers.
 Candidates have a choice of submitting signatures or a cash deposit in support of their candidacy. In the last election, Saidullayev's signatures were ruled invalid.
 Three other candidates were denied registration and two more withdrew their applications, Arsakhanov said.

TITLE: Return Signals Reconciliation
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: MOSCOW - In an opening move to heal the breach between the Russian Orthodox Church at home and abroad, the remains of the last tsarina's sister were flown Sunday from Jerusalem to Russia where they will be displayed in a golden ark in Moscow and throughout the country.
 
Grand Duchess Elizabeth was thrown down a mine shaft by Bolsheviks in 1918 and has been canonized by both the Moscow-based church and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.
 The remains of Elizabeth, an older sister of Tsar Nicholas II's wife Alexandra, were spirited out of Russia through China and later brought to the Mary Magdalene cathedral in Jerusalem, which belongs to the foreign-based church.
 The relics - part of Elizabeth's right hand, according to state-run Rossiya television - were transported in a golden ark that was taken to Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral.
 They will be in Russia for six months. Also returning were the remains of Elizabeth's helper, a nun named Varvara, who was killed with her, the ITAR-Tass news agency said.
 The temporary return of the remains was being carried out by the Russian Orthodox Church with the support of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, the agency said. 
 It came as the two sides take their first steps toward reunification after decades of distrust.
 In a message read during the ceremony at Christ the Savior, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II said he hoped the return of Elizabeth's remains would signal "God's blessing of the process that has started to unify the Russian Orthodox Church," according to ITAR-Tass.
 Alexy didn't attend the ceremony because he has been ordered to rest after suffering heart arrhythmia.

TITLE: IN BRIEF
TEXT: <b>City Streets Reopen
 </b>

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - Several streets in different city districts have been opened after repairs, Interfax reported Friday, quoting City Hall's maintenance committee.
 Among the reopened streets are Shaumyanskaya Prospekt on which the asphalt had been replaced. On Bolshaya Ozyornaya and Zhaka Dyuklo streets work had been competed in stages, leading to the replacement of asphalt on roads and sidewalks. 
 Respublikanskaya Ulitsa and Zayachy Pereulok are expected to be competed soon, the report said.
 
 
<b>Acquitted Sailors Return 
 </b>

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - Two Russian sailors charged with smuggling drugs but who were acquitted July 15 by a California court have returned to the city after spending 3 1/2 years in a U.S. jail, national media reported Saturday.
 Pyotr Shishkovsky and Alexander Shagovik were detained in April 2001 after U.S. customs officers found 10 metric tons of cocaine on the fishing boat Zvyozda Maru, on which they worked, when it docked California.
 The sailors have been in jail in San Diego ever since.
 The sailors flew back to Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport on Friday and then immediately flew to St. Petersburg where they were met by their parents and families. Shagovik's grandson, 5, did not remember his grandfather because he was too young when he saw him last time, reports said.
 
 
<b>Ecological Bicycle Tour
 </b>

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - A bike ride to Finland and Estonia in support of environmental causes has begun in earnest, Interfax reported Saturday. 
 Eleven cyclists started their ride from Palace Square on Saturday and plan to return to St. Petersburg 22 days later after visiting Tallinn and Helsinki, where they will arrive on a ferry from the Estonian capital.
 The cyclists hope their ride will attract the attention of the local population. "And, maybe, there will be more people who would like to use bicycles as environmentally friendly vehicle," Interfax quoted Alexander Fyodorov, head of the Center for Environmental Initiatives, as saying Saturday.
 
 
<b>Historic Flag Returned
 </b>

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - A flag missing since 1920 bearing the coat of arms from the cruiser General Kornilov was handed over to the Central Navy Museum in St. Petersburg by a Greek citizen Vladislav Nelavitsky, Interfax reported Saturday, quoting City Hall's external affairs' committee.
 In April, Nelavitsky approached the Russian Embassy in Greece, offering to hand over the St. Andrew's fleet flag. It was taken from the cruiser in 1920 by his father Yan Nelavitsky when he left the ship located in a naval base in Bizerta, Tunisia after taking part in the evacuation of opponents of the Bolshevik regime from Sevastopol.
 The cruiser was originally named the Ochakov and is famous for participating in the uprising organized by Lieutenant Peter Shmidt in 1905 and in World War I. Later it was renamed Kagul and participated in the World War I battles with German, Turkish and Bulgarian forces.
 
 
<b>Elections Were Invalid
 </b>

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - Legislative Assembly elections in District No. 21 held on Sunday were invalid because of the low turnout, Interfax reported Monday quoting the district election commission.
 Only 13.5 percent of voters took part in the election but a minimum of 20 percent was needed to make it valid.
 Nine candidates participated in the election. A new poll is scheduled to take place within a year. 



TITLE: Labor Strike Halts Sea Port Cargo
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Activity at the St. Petersburg cargo sea port has been paralyzed since early last week due to the conflict between the dockers and the port's largest owner, the Novolipetsk Metallurgical Combine, or NLMC. 
 
Over 1,000 carriages loaded with metals and fertilizers have accumulated at the Novy Port station of the Oktyabrskaya railroad, the railroad office's press secretary Andrei Yadrin said Monday. 
 Only 93 carriages have been unloaded upon arrival, Yadrin said. It is customary to only take in as many carriages as the station can unload, so the port stopped accepting more cargo Monday, he said. The station will soon have no room for the incoming trains, and they will have to be transferred to other stations, which will involve additional costs, Yadrin said.
 The dockers are causing the Oktyabrskaya railroad to be losing 1 million rubles ($34,400) per day, Delovoi Peterburg wrote Monday. Yadrin refused to confirm the figure. 
 The railroad wrote a letter to Governor Valentina Matviyenko on July 19, but received no response, Yadrin said. 
 The dockers complete the daily unload norms stated in their contracts, but refuse to work overtime. 
 Covered by three television channels and multiple news agencies, the strike marks the first example of a &quot;professional,&quot; well-organized struggle of the workers against their trade union, Delovoi Peterburg experts said. The strike became possible because the cargo sea port recently acquired a definite owner with an address, not an off-shore company as before. 
 Delovoi Peterburg reported that an off-shore company Nasdor Anstalt sold its controlling stake in the St. Petersburg Sea Port company to a Danish metallurgical company Jysk Stalindustri, acting on behalf of NLMC in June. On June 22, the controlling stake was passed to the Depository and Clearing Company for nominal holding. The parties involved did not publish the amount of the deal. In Monday's issue Kommersant's Vlast reported the deal to be worth at least $100 million. 
 Besides the controlling stake, NLMC also purchased 81 percent of shares in the port's First, Second and Fourth Stevedoring Companies, which ship exported metal, coal, fertilizers and oil products. Negotiations with the dockers are in progress and should be finished promptly, the port's press service said Friday.
 NLMC is not taking part in the negotiations with the dockers, the company's press secretary Andrei Sidorov told Kommersant on Friday. &quot;We have not yet become the official owners of the St. Petersburg Sea Port. We are still holding talks regarding the purchase of the share package,&quot; Sidorov said.
 The port's other largest shareholders are the city property management committee with 28.79 percent and the former federal property ministry - the ministry of economic development with 20 percent.
 However, Vice-Governor Mikhail Oseyevsky announced last week that the city government is going to sell its shares to NLMC within one year. &quot;The state is a bad owner, and the sooner the state gets rid of its shares, the better,&quot; Oseyevsky said. 
 Starting from the mid-1990s, the main functions of the port were transferred to commercial stevedoring companies, the federal accounting chamber said in the statement published on July 22. While the port's total profits grew from 2.7 billion rubles in 1999 to 5.42 billion rubles in 2003, the state's share of those profits shrank from 31.2 percent to 17.9 percent during the same period, the statement continued. 
 The federal accounting chamber approved of selling the state-owned shares of the St. Petersburg Sea Port company. In order to make the sale possible, however, the port needs to be excluded from the city's list of strategically important enterprises. 
 The city is unlikely to receive more than $4 million for its share package, Kommersant quoted anonymous experts as saying. The former owners of the port transferred the main property into the affiliate stevedoring companies. The new owners, who also bought shares in the stevedoring companies, may be interested simply in the administrative building owned by the state, the experts said. 
 Nikolai Khvoschinsky , the director of Rosmorport, federal agency in charge of sea ports, said it is natural that the workers will try to improve their working conditions every time the owner of a company changes. 
 It is equally natural that the new owners do not want to take all the responsibility upon themselves, he said Monday, but that is inevitable, once they get elected to the board of directors. Besides, Khvoschinsky added, 1,000 carriages accumulate at the port regularly every New Year's Eve. 
 St. Petersburg cargo sea port is the largest transportation outlet in the Northwest. It is located in the delta of the Neva river and connected with the Baltic sea via a 27-mile canal. Navigated year-round, the port is equipped with 49 docks and over 1 million square meters of warehouses.

TITLE: Siemens Strikes Deal For Power Machines
PUBLISHER: Combined Reports
TEXT: Siemens, the world's second-largest maker of turbines, agreed to raise its stake in Power Machines (Siloviye Mashiny), Russia's leading power-equipment company, to exploit growth from Eastern Europe as demand for turbines in the U.S. slows.
 
Siemens, together with Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin's Interros holding, will create a venture owning 71 percent of Siloviye, the Munich-based company said in a statement late Friday. Siemens will hold 50 percent minus one share in the venture and has the right to increase that stake in the next three to five years. During that time, Siemens plans to invest $200 million in Power Machines.
 Interros currently owns a 75 percent stake in Power Machines, while Siemens has 5 percent. 
 The joint venture &quot;has the aim of supporting the strategic development&quot; of Moscow-based Power Machines, Siemens said. The German company will also supply management of the venture.
 On Thursday the Russian government said it fully supported Siemens' bid for Power Machines, a go-ahead the company needed because Power Machines makes military equipment. 
 Power Machines had previously been expected to merge with Russian machinery giant OMZ but received Siemens' offer earlier this month. Raising the stake in Power Machines, which has a market value of about $308 million, helps Siemens expand in Eastern Europe, where faster economic growth is fueling demand for energy equipment. 
 Siemens, which is the biggest seller of cell phones in Russia, generated 778 million euros ($943 million) in revenue from the country last year and employs 1,500 people there. The power division is one of Siemens's biggest earnings contributors.
 The agreement with Interros was reached by Klaus Kleinfeld, who will take over as Siemens chief executive officer when Heinrich von Pierer steps down at the end of January. Kleinfeld, also held talks with members of Russian government to win backing for the plans, Siemens said.
 Power Machines has forecast sales will almost double to $643 million this year. It earned $3.24 million in net income last year under international accounting standards, compared with a $1.38 million loss in 2002.
 Siemens is second to General Electric Co. in the global power- turbine business after expanding the division with purchases including parts of Alstom last year and U.S. Westinghouse Power Generation. 
 <i>

 (Bloomberg, Reuters) </i>

TITLE: Trade Ministry Sexes Up the Export Business
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - Disco lights flashed to the beat of a blaring &quot;Star Wars&quot; soundtrack Friday as the Economic Development and Trade Ministry announced the winners of this year's Best Russian Exporter competition.
 
The little-known helicopter and airplane maker Ulan-Ude Aviation Production Plant took the top prize, &quot;The Most Dynamically Developing Russian Exporter of 2003.&quot; Other big winners included Avtodizel, an automobile and auto parts manufacturer, the winner of the award for the &quot;Best Exporter to CIS Countries.&quot; 
 The awards are designed to help Russia diversify its economy away from natural resources by putting the spotlight on manufacturing success stories, while ignoring oil and gas producers.
 &quot;About 85 percent of exports are raw materials,&quot; said Ilya Tonkonozhenko, the Economic Development and Trade Ministry official whose brief includes organizing these awards.
 &quot;The goal here is the diversification of export.&quot;
 Tonkonozhenko said the competition has been held every year since 1998, but in previous years simply entering was enough for a company to earn some kind of award. That is no longer the case, he said, because the ministry is taking it more seriously than it has in the past. 
 This year, for the first time, dozens of contestants walked away empty-handed, thanks to a new judging system developed by the St. Petersburg Economics and Finance University, Tonkonozhenko added, declining to name the losers.
 The new system evaluates relative performance and business practices, rather than the sheer volume of exports.
 Among the 20 sector winners were brewer Baltika, which won in the alcoholic beverages category, and juice and dairy giant Wimm-Bill-Dann, which walked away with the prepared food title.
 Many of the winners were not so well known, such as the Kazan Optical-Mechanic Factory, for example, which won in the &quot;device making&quot; category, a featured sector in the planned economy of the Soviet Union.

TITLE: TNK to Help City Fund
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: Tyumen Oil company or TNK will give money to the St. Petersburg Development Fund, which is to be established under the agreement signed Monday between Smolny and the Tyumen region administration. 
 
Governor Valentina Matviyenko said the agreement will help to develop the business relationship between the two regions. 
 &quot;We often go abroad to gain experience, forgetting that we can also learn from Russian regions,&quot; Interfax reported Matviyenko as saying.
 The Development Fund will help to raise capital for the city's reconstruction and development works. 
 Matviyenko noted that Tyumen Oil pursued no other goal in donating the money besides helping the city. 
 She also noted that St. Petersburg will accommodate all companies wishing to conduct business in the city with the best possible conditions. 
 The Governor of Tyumen region Sergei Sobianin said the company will contribute &quot;serious funds that will really help the city.&quot; 
 Matviyenko said other big companies are expected to participate in the Fund before the end of the year.

TITLE: IN BRIEF
TEXT: <b>Oblast Reports Success
 </b>

ST.PETERSBURG (SPT) - The total volume of investments in the Leningrad Oblast has increased by 9 percent from January to May of this year from the same period growth last year, said the oblast's Governor, Valery Serdukov at a news conference last week. 
 By the end of 2004 the total investments in the region may well reach 50 billion rubles ($1.7 billion ), he said.
 Serdukov said that industrial production volumes have grown 14.8 in the first half of the year, as several international companies have began investing in the construction of production facilities in the oblast. 
 Stone wool manufacturer Rockwool and Finland's Nokyan Tyres are already building production plants in the area, with several factories set to open in 2005.
 Meanwhile Korean LG Electronics Inc. is in the process of reaching an agreement with the oblast administration regarding factory construction in the town of Tosno, Interfax reported Serdukov as saying. 
 
 
<b>VTB Affirmed Rating
 </b>

LONDON (Reuters) - Vneshtorgbank, or VTB, had its long-term rating of BB+ affirmed with a stable outlook Friday, credit ratings agency Fitch Ratings said.
 Fitch said the action followed clarification on the background and terms of VTB's acquisition of Guta Bank, which was a casualty of the recent problems in the banking sector.
 Guta Bank's assets on acquisition are anticipated to total less than $900 million, versus consolidated assets at Vneshtorgbank of $11.3 billion at end 2003, Fitch said.
 "Russian accounting regulation balance sheet data on Guta Bank appear to indicate that the bank was solvent upon acquisition by VTB and that its failure was indeed due to its liquidity situation," it said. 



TITLE: Kremlin Stalls on Yukos Offer
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - Kremlin held off answering the proposal put forth last week by a consortium of investors to pay off Yukos debt.
 
The group led by Menatep ally Konstantin Kagalovsky is proposing to pay off up to $10 billion in Yukos tax debts and buy out a majority stake in the company, which is currently frozen as collateral in the state's legal onslaught against Mikhail Khodorkovsky. The bailout proposal was sent on Thursday to President Vladimir Putin, in a letter written on behalf of an unidentified group of investors by George Miller, a consultant whose ties to Kagalovsky date from the August 1991 coup.
 &quot;The group of investors is ready to buy a controlling stake in Yukos and make maximum efforts to stabilize and ensure the development of the oil company,&quot; Miller said in the letter.
 &quot;We are ready to fully cover the debts of Yukos and the loss Khodorkovsky is alleged to have caused the state,&quot; Kagalovsky said by telephone from London.
 He would not say who the main financial backers of the group were, saying only that none of them were Russian. 
 He said his role was mainly organizational, and that he was also ready to participate in financing the deal, but not on a large scale.

TITLE: Moscow Defends Sudan Sales, Nixes Sanctions
PUBLISHER: Combined Reports
TEXT: UNITED NATIONS - Russia on Friday rejected U.S. criticism of its sales of military aircraft to Sudan and moved to block efforts to impose UN sanctions against Khartoum for not doing enough to end atrocities against civilians in Darfur. 
 
At initial Security Council negotiations, Russia, China, Pakistan and Algeria all opposed a U.S.-drafted resolution aimed at keeping the pressure on Khartoum. Envoys at the talks said there was no agreement on a provision demanding that Sudan face unspecified UN sanctions within 30 days if it did not arrest and prosecute Arab militia leaders, called Janjaweed, accused of abusing civilians.
 The 15-month conflict has killed at least 30,000 people, forced villagers into concentration-camp type compounds and left 2 million people without enough food and medicine in Sudan's Western region of Darfur.
 Although there is no outright opposition to the draft and strong support from Europeans, diplomats said Russia, China, Pakistan and Algeria objected to using the word &quot;sanctions,&quot; against Khartoum, preferring only a threat of &quot;further action.&quot;
 The U.S. draft resolution demands Sudan &quot;apprehend and bring to justice.&quot; It expresses the council's &quot;intention to consider further actions, including the imposition of sanctions on the government of Sudan, in the event of noncompliance.&quot;
 Late Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell warned Sudan it could face sanctions if it doesn't move quickly. Both Powell and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan stressed that the Sudanese government can end the 15-month conflict. &quot;The burden for providing security rests fully with the Sudanese government,&quot; Powell told reporters after a meeting with Annan. 
 In Moscow, the Foreign Ministry defended state-owned MiG's early deliveries to Sudan of MiG warplanes, saying the deal for 10 fighters and 2 trainers was signed three years ago and is in no way linked to the upswell of violence in the west of the African country.
 Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko, quoted by Russian news agencies, issued his response a day after a U.S. congressional resolution describing atrocities in western Sudan's Darfur region as &quot;genocide&quot;.
 Yakovenko was quoted as saying that Russia's sale of MiG-29 fighter jets had been completed on the basis of a longstanding contract pre-dating the unrest in Darfur between Arab nomads and non-Arab farmers.
 &quot;At issue here is fulfillment of a contract to supply Russian MiG-29 fighters signed with our Sudanese partners in 2001,&quot; Yakovenko was quoted as saying.
 &quot;The implementation of previously concluded agreements with the Sudanese government to supply military equipment is in no way linked to recent events in and around Sudan.&quot;
 Russia, Yakovenko was quoted as saying, supported international efforts &quot;to normalize the situation in Sudan's Darfur province, end armed clashes and provide immediate, unhindered assistance to civilians&quot;.
 The head of Russia's state-owned aircraft manufacturer MiG, Valery Toryanin, said last week the company had fulfilled its contract to supply 10 MiG-29SE fighters and two MiG-29UB trainers. He said further contracts could follow.
 State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told a briefing in Washington on Thursday that if deliveries were taking place, &quot;the United States would view this with grave concern&quot;.
 He declared Sudan a &quot;state sponsor of terrorism&quot; and said the crisis in Darfur was &quot;cause for strong opposition to any transfers to Sudan.&quot; 
 <i>

 (Reuters, AP) </i>

TITLE: Shipping Giant Hires Fradkov's Son
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov's 26-year-old son has been named the deputy general director of the Far East Shipping Co., or FESCO, Russia's third-largest shipper, Kommersant reported Saturday.
 
Pyotr Fradkov left his post as deputy head of state-owned Vneshekonombank's representative office in New York to develop FESCO's global network, the newspaper quoted the company as saying.
 The younger Fradkov will also oversee new projects at the Vladivostok-based company, including Russkaya Troika, a container transportation joint venture with Russian Railways, the state rail monopoly.
 FESCO and Russian Railways, or RZD, plan to launch Russkaya Troika with $20 million in charter capital by the end of the year to take advantage of the growing role the Trans-Siberian Railway is playing in trade between Asia and Europe. 
 By 2010, Russkaya Troika could be operating as many as 40,000 40-foot containers and 10,000 24-meter platforms, according to RZD president Gennady Fadeyev.
 FESCO's assets, including more than 70 vessels with a combined dead weight of roughly 1 million tons, were worth 4.7 billion rubles ($160 million) as of Jan. 1. It reported 2003 revenues of 10 billion rubles. 
 Last year, FESCO, which delivers the majority of supplies to Chukotka, Kamchatka, Magadan and other desolate regions in the Far North, won a tender to take part in ExxonMobil's $12 billion Sakhalin-1 project, shipping supplies and providing icebreaking services to one of the drilling rigs. 
 A spokesman for Industrial Investors (Promyshlenniye Investory), the holding company that controls FESCO, defended its decision to hire the younger Fradkov and dismissed suggestions that his father's position may have had something to do with it.
 &quot;Despite his youth, Fradkov has the necessary work experience,&quot; the spokesman, Oleg Rumyantsev, told Kommersant. 
 One of Fradkov's main tasks will be overseeing the restructuring of FESCO's network of more than 50 representative offices worldwide, Rumyantsev said, adding that Fradkov is the right man for the job based on his experience working with Vneshekonombank's foreign network.
 Little else is known about Fradkov other than that he reportedly graduated from the prestigious Moscow State Institute of International Relations with a degree in international economics.
 Industrial Investors owns just over 60 percent of FESCO. The federal government owns a 20 percent stake, and the rest belongs to minority investors.

TITLE: Aircraft Maker Order Book Rises to $1.5 Bln
PUBLISHER: Combined Reports
TEXT: MOSCOW - Aircraft maker Sukhoi, keen to make more civil jets, struck deals to sell a total of 77 airplanes to Russian customers last week at the Farnborough Air Show in Great Britain, a company official said Friday.
 
Sukhoi will sell 20 planes to domestic airline UTair, the official said. Adding to deals announced earlier in the week - a 50-jet order from No. 2 domestic carrier Sibir, and a seven-jet order from Russia's postal service, &quot;brings the total number to 77 planes,&quot; said the source, who asked to remain unnamed. &quot;And this means the total sum is now $1.5 billion,&quot; the source said. 
 The agreement to sell 50 jets to Sibir, Russia's fastest-growing airline, is worth more than $1 billion and is the first for its Russian Regional Jet (RRJ) program. 
 RRJ is at the center of Sukhoi's plan to diversify production and make more civil aircraft. Boeing, Ilyushin and Yakovlev are its partners in the project. 
 The jets sell for between $20 million and $25 million each and are expected to hit the market in 2007. 
 UTair is one of the world's biggest helicopter operators and a major United Nations airlift provider. UTair's helicopters are involved in peacekeeping operations ranging from East Timor to Iraq. 
 Sukhoi has said some European carriers - Air France, Lufthansa and Iberia - had already expressed an interest in the project and that there were &quot;interested parties&quot; in Southeast Asia. 
 
 <i>
(Reuters, SPT) </i>

TITLE: IN BRIEF
TEXT: <b>J.P. Morgan Raps Putin 
 </b>

LONDON (Bloomberg) - President Vladimir Putin's administration has lost its direction, with the government disregarding the concerns of foreign investors, J.P. Morgan Chase said in a research report Friday. "The government has shown respect for neither minority shareholders in Yukos nor the opinion of the local and international investor communities in moving to force a rapid sale of Yukos' most valuable asset," said the report by Michael Marrese, head of sovereign strategy for emerging Europe at J.P. Morgan in London. "The government's commitment to attract high-quality foreign direct investment seems to have become even weaker." Putin said last month that it was not in Russia's interest to bankrupt Yukos. He has not commented on the company since.
 
 
<b>Vekselberg Eyes Africa 
 </b>

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Oil-to-metals giant Renova, controlled by billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, extended its global reach on Friday by setting up a company in South Africa to invest in mining projects. The move follows metals firm Norilsk Nickel's purchase in March of 20 percent in South Africa's Gold Fields-the world's No. 4 gold company-for $1.16 billion. "Renova has set up a subsidiary in South Africa, Renova Investments Ltd., whose aim is to choose promising investment projects in the mining and metals industries," Renova said in a statement. "The aim is to explore and develop new mines as well as set up companies with high-quality production." Vasily Verbin, Renova's spokesman, said there were still no concrete projects in the pipeline. "It's too early to say," he said. Renova, set up just months before the Soviet collapse in 1991, is an investment house controlling Russia's second-biggest aluminum producer, SUAL.
 
 
<b>Oil Tariff Debate
 </b>

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Economic Development and Trade Ministry will propose lowering oil product export tariffs, on condition that companies use the money saved to invest in production, a customs official said Friday.
 The protective measures committee has set product duties at 65 percent of those on crude for two months from August, cutting the ratio from a previous 90 percent. Crude oil duty will rise to $69.90 per ton.
 "We agreed that the period [these tariffs will be in force] will be two months, and in September we will make our proposals for duties to the year end and for next year," said the official, Alexei Kaulbars.
 He did not indicate by how much officials would propose cutting duties. 



TITLE: Travel Executive Paves Way to New Horizons
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: For theater buff and travel executive, American Steven Caron, Russia has become home, after his thirst for adventure and aspirations to become an actor brought him to the country 14 years ago.
 
Caron is co-founder and president of St. Petersburg-based Sindbad Travel International, a youth and student travel agency, which has established itself as one of the leading companies in the industry throughout the world since its start nine years ago, five years after Caron first came to Russia. 
 His first impressions of Russia are still vividly imprinted in his mind: &quot;It was dark, you know nothing was lit back then so it just had this real dark, eerie, ominous feeling and so it was a total adventure. For me it felt like walking into some spy novel.&quot; 
 A California native, Caron was born in 1967 and spent most of his youth in the States focusing on the performing arts. He received a Bachelor's degree of Fine Arts in Theater from the University of Southern California in 1989, with a minor in business. 
 After a summer spent studying at Oxford under Russian acting teachers Oleg Tabakov and Alexander Kalyagin from the Moscow Art Theater, Caron's thirst for adventure drove him to come to Russia for the first time in the spring of 1990. He was invited to Moscow by Tabakov's studio in order to gain exposure to theater life in Russia. 
 Overcoming hesitations, Caron quickly fell in love with the Russian people and it soon became clear that Russia was somewhere he would consider calling home. In 1990, Caron enrolled in the Russian language program at Leningrad State University. 
 After a year and a half of studying Russian, Caron chose to embark on a different adventure and along with Nikolai Travenin and Oleg Dzanagov, friends from his theater crowd, he opened the first hostel in Russia in St. Petersburg during the summer of 1992. 
 As a young backpacker himself, Caron wanted to provide somewhere for his friends and other young travelers to stay in Russia. But he was looking to provide more than just a cheap place to spend the night. 
 &quot;The hostel is not about comfort, it's about the people who are staying at the hostel, it's about that backpacker community, that's what people are really going to hostels for,&quot; Caron said. 
 The original registration documents for the hostel were signed by none other than Vladimir Putin. Putin was at that time working to oversee all companies establishing themselves as joint ventures.
 After opening the hostel, Caron and his partners were working to get airline tickets and make travel arrangements for their clients, so it only seemed logical to expand into a travel agency and in 1995 Sindbad Travel International was born. 
 &quot;From the very beginning we were doing our best to be a Western company in a Russian environment,&quot; Caron said about his approach to achieving success as a small business in Russia. 
 Although Caron had no business experience in the West to speak of, he did have an innate Western work ethic. The most important factor for him is the people involved. &quot;I had very good Russian partners that were trustful and loyal and honest. One of the key things is partners,&quot; Caron said about his colleagues. 
 James Beatty, general director of Emerging Markets Group and a fellow expat who has known Caron for about 9 years, emphasized the importance Caron puts on his relationships with his colleagues. &quot;He's one of the guys that always gets the expat group together. He keeps everyone in touch with each other.&quot;
 By segueing into a travel company, Caron helped to open doors for students wishing to travel to Russia that for a long time had been locked, or rather dead-bolted. &quot;It's about creating the mentality in young people that they can see the world. They can travel abroad. They can be part of the international community ... understanding that they are part of something bigger.&quot; Caron said.
 One of the ways that Caron made it easier for young people to travel to Russia was by promoting the ISIC or International Student Identity Card in the Northwest region. The ISIC card allows students to receive discounts all over the world on everything from ice cream to insurance. 
 Caron said that doing business in Russia has its &quot;flavor&quot;, but over the years it has gotten easier. He tries to make the company's intentions clear to his employees by telling them that &quot;it's not about servicing someone, it's about being in service to someone and serving them.&quot; The two concepts are very different for Russians, he said. 
 Caron, along with his partner at Sindbad Rashid Velemeyev, have experienced much success as a small business in St. Petersburg. Matthew Murray, Chairman of the Center for Business Ethics and Corporate Governance in St. Petersburg, recently commented on Caron's success: &quot;Steven and his Russian partners have built a values-based business in St. Petersburg, which has raised the profile of the city and improved the investment climate. Unlike westerners who are here to exploit, his personal commitment to Russia is genuine, long-term and unique.&quot; 
 Caron and his partners' commitment have led to top awards from British Airways, Amadeus, and Lufthansa. Sindbad recently partnered with Lufthansa City Center in order to separate its corporate division from the rest of the company.
 Over the last few years Caron's job has evolved as Sindbad expanded and today he finds himself in quite a different role than when he first began his business. &quot;It's different, I'm starting to feel like an executive as opposed to a young backpacker or businessman,&quot; Caron said.
 It's been several years since Caron abandoned the pursuit of seeing his name in the limelight, but the final curtain has yet to close. Caron participates in the Russian/American Musical Theatre Festival held in St. Petersburg every spring and sponsored by the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center and the US Consulate. &quot;That's how I appease my theatrical and creative cravings,&quot; Caron said. 
 Throughout his life it has been the people along the way who have influenced Caron the most and no matter where he is in the world he never loses touch with them. &quot;He never forgets a birthday,&quot; Beatty said of Caron. &quot;You'll get this e-mail saying so-and-so's birthday is on Tuesday, don't forget to send him an e-mail.&quot; 
 For Caron, an adventurous journey to a far-off place has transpired into real life and although he didn't know exactly where he was going when he took off, he believes the grass is pretty green where he has landed. 
 &quot;When I was young it was for the sake of the adventure. Over the course of 14 years I've seen three or four economic and financial crises in the country, and regardless of all that it's always just been so much more interesting than I could have possibly found in the States doing something similar.&quot;

TITLE: Dresdner to Trade Russian Stock
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - The list of global financial giants that do not trade Russian stocks is about to get one shorter. 
 Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, the securities unit of Germany's Allianz, Europe's largest insurer, said Friday it plans to start buying and selling shares in Russian companies next month. 
 
&quot;We are showing commitment to a market with very good growth potential,&quot; said Carsten Stork, who runs Dresdner's Eastern and Emerging Europe department. 
 &quot;We identified good revenue potential after a feasibility study and we received requests from clients and potential clients,&quot; Stork said by telephone from Frankfurt. 
 Dresdner, which has been advising companies in Moscow for more than a decade, said the move into stocks would give its clients more opportunities to capitalize on Russia's unprecedented economic boom. 
 &quot;The aim is to be as strong in this region on the equities side as we are in fixed-income and currency trading, where Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein already has an excellent and established Russia and Emerging Europe franchise,&quot; said David Wenman, global head of Dresdner's equity pro-ducts. 
 &quot;Our new Russia offering represents an important first step in extending our product into the wider Emerging and Eastern Europe market, where it makes absolute sense for us to be an active player.&quot; 
 The announcement comes almost six years after securities firms got burned when the government decided to default on $40 billion of domestic debt and devalue the ruble. 
 In August 1998, brokerages were left holding virtually worthless Russian treasury bills as a wave of volatility spread across world markets and billions of dollars in trades unraveled. 
 Since then, however, Russian stocks and bonds have benefited from the longest economic boom since the fall of the Soviet Union, spurring the pace of mergers and acquisitions and attracting some of the largest financial houses in Europe and the United States. 
 Last month, for example, Citigroup, the world's largest financial services company, said it planned to open a stock sales, trading and research office in Moscow, while rival Morgan Stanley, the No. 2 U.S. brokerage, said it would apply for licenses to trade local bonds, stocks and currency instruments. 
 Merrill Lynch, the largest brokerage by capital, said in February that it would open a Moscow office and do the same. 
 Swiss bank UBS and Germany's Deutsche, respectively Europe's largest and third-largest banks by assets, already have equity holdings in Russian companies, as does Dresdner's parent company, Allianz, which owns 45 percent of Russia's fourth-biggest insurer, Rosno. 
 Dresdner said it would trade stocks on Russia's biggest bourse, the MICEX, as well as proxy stocks in Russian companies traded in London and Frankfurt. 
 The bank is also applying for a license to trade derivatives, a financial security like an option or future, whose value is derived in part from the value of a different security. 
 Dresdner said it had already hired several people to work its Russian desks at its offices in London and Frankfurt, from where trades on the MICEX will be done initially. 
 &quot;[Dresdner's announcement] signifies that despite the Yukos circus, international investors see value in the Russian market,&quot; said Eric Kraus, chief strategist at Sovlink Securities. 
 After hitting an all-time high in April, the MICEX index of leading stocks has fallen by a quarter on concerns that the government may bankrupt Yukos or sell off the oil company's assets to pay tax bills, eroding the value of minority shareholders' shares. 
 More than $24 billion has been wiped from Yukos' market capitalization since Mikhail Khodorkovsky, then the company's chief executive, was arrested in Siberia in October. 
 &quot;Despite some serious shortfalls in the political, corporate government and judicial fronts, Russia has possibly the best macroeconomic indicators on Earth and one of the cheapest stock markets,&quot; said Kraus, who was hired to head the fixed income department at Dresdner's Moscow office in August 1998.

TITLE: RTS Declines on Yukos, Volga
PUBLISHER: rosbusinessconsulting
TEXT: MOSCOW - The RTS stock index declined by 4.48 percent to the level of 565.77 points during the period from July 19 to July 23. 
 
The RTS Stock Exchange press office reported the decline was led by Yukos, whose ruble-denominates shares were suspended by the MICEX exchange on Monday after slumping 18 percent to their lowest level since December 2001, the Volga Hydroelectric Power Plant, which dropped by 20.87 percent to $0.0455, and Tatneft, which decreased by 9.84 percent to $1.1.
 The leaders of growth on the market were Buryatzoloto, which rose by 18.52 percent to $16, preferred shares in Sberbank, which grew by 2.34 percent to $4.9, and common shares in Slavneft-Megionneftegaz, which increased by 1.88 percent to $16.3.

TITLE: Russia Must Step Up the Battle Against HIV/AIDS
TEXT: The AIDS epidemic in Russia has entered a dangerous and decisive stage. Most experts agree that about 1 million Russians are living with HIV today, and there are strong signs that Russia's AIDS epidemic is moving into the general population. The number of HIV-positive mothers is skyrocketing along with the number of HIV-positive babies, many of whom are abandoned at birth. The growth rate of other sexually transmitted infections is accelerating among young heterosexuals, a sure sign that they are putting themselves at risk for HIV. Most HIV-positive Russians have no idea they are living with the virus. 
 
If these trends continue, the HIV epidemic will quickly spin out of control. Within two years the total number of HIV-positive Russians could reach approximately 1.5 million, or more than 2 percent of the adult population, a level generally regarded as a tipping point for the epidemic. In fact, Transatlantic Partners Against AIDS recently issued a report suggesting that some 1.5 million Russians are already infected.
 Because most new infections occur among young people just entering the workforce, the medium- and long-term impact on the economy could be severe. Businesses can do much more to implement worker education programs that will help employees stay healthy, protect the rights of HIV-positive employees and help parents talk with their kids about safe sex.
 The strength of the armed forces, already struggling with conscription, retention and readiness problems, will also be jeopardized because HIV-positive conscripts are prohibited from serving, and active-duty soldiers who become HIV-positive and who are discovered are discharged. As a result, long and already porous borders will become even less secure than they are today, providing traffickers of people and drugs easier access to Russian markets. Russia's ability to participate in international peacekeeping efforts could be put at risk if it lacks the human resources to maintain stability and security inside its own borders.
 To be successful, a new strategy to fight AIDS in Russia must include the following elements. First, recent investments by the World Bank, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and other donors must be joined by a meaningful increase in spending from the federal budget. Spurred by high economic growth, the general level of federal expenditure is on the rise. This means that more than ever, Russia can now afford to channel more resources into fighting AIDS. Yet the Health and Social Development Ministry's HIV/AIDS department remains woefully underfunded and understaffed. 
 Second, the federal AIDS law should be implemented in full, especially those articles that ensure the rights of HIV-positive citizens. Experience elsewhere has shown unequivocally that repressive policies only drive the virus underground, where it spreads undetected and with impunity.
 Third, Russia must immediately begin negotiations to reduce the price of anti-retroviral medicines. Today, the annual cost for treatment in Russia is at least $10,000. This figure can be reduced by 70 percent or more. Reliable, sustained access to treatment is not only the only way we know how to extend the lives of HIV-positive people today, but by keeping viral loads suppressed these medications also reduce the chance of HIV spreading from one person to another. My discussions with leaders in the pharmaceutical industry confirm that price reductions are entirely realistic now. There is no need - or excuse - for delay.
 Fourth, Russia must engage in a massive education campaign so that today's young people stay healthy. A recent study suggests that over half of Moscow residents have inaccurate views about HIV transmission. Even more striking, more than 45 percent of Muscovites would support programs to isolate HIV-infected persons from the rest of society. Fighting misinformation and prejudice requires straightforward talk about safe sex and harm-reduction methods, all of which challenge traditional Russian precepts about social behavior. For the sake of the next generation of Russians, however, honesty and openness about risks and ways to minimize them are simply not optional.
 Fighting AIDS is a long-term prospect. A vaccine is still 25 years away, according to experts from the U.S. National Institutes of Health. The Russian government thus will need to include an integrated strategy of prevention, treatment, care and support into its longterm plans for economic and social development. Increased political leadership is essential. A recent initiative to create a special working group in the State Duma is a step in the right direction. An AIDS policy coordinator appointed by the president and wielding real authority would be a welcome addition to the policy community.
 AIDS in Russia presents special challenges. Yet to date, the government has failed to publicly recognize these challenges or present an adequate response strategy. Given the growing security, economic and human implications of this virus for Russia, denial is no longer a viable option. It is time for the government to meet its AIDS challenge with its own serious commitment to improve the lives of those already infected and prevent the further spread of the disease. 
 While fighting AIDS in Russia remains primarily the responsibility of the national government, international help is available. Early July saw a visit to Moscow by Richard Feachem, executive director of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Feachem announced two major grants that could dramatically improve Russia's ability to fight its surging AIDS epidemic. These grants will represent the single largest investment in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Russia, supplementing important investments from USAID, the European Commission, the British government's Department for International Development and other international donors. The World Bank and Russia have recently agreed on a loan of $150 million, $50 million of which is reserved for fighting HIV/AIDS. 
 These commitments are desperately needed, but they should not substitute for domestic investments by the government to fight the HIV epidemic, which has now become the fastest-growing in the world. In order to be effective, international support must be met by serious investments in political and financial support by the government to slow the rate of infection, care for those who already have the virus, and support programs that aim to reduce stigma and discrimination.
 
 <i>John E. Tedstrom is president of Transatlantic Partners Against AIDS. Prior to founding TPAA in 2003, he served as director for Russian, Ukrainian and Eurasian Affairs at the U.S. National Security Council and then as vice president of the EastWest Institute. He contributed this comment to The St. Petersburg Times. </i>

TITLE: Concept for Development Correct, But Will Face Resistance
TEXT: The main merit of the concept for the General Plan for the Development of St. Petersburg up to 2025 is that its authors have made a valiant attempt to overcome the chronic inability of previous city administrations to ensure efficient use of land.
 
The 70-volume concept defines the basic provisions of the future General Plan, which should be completed by July 1, 2005. One of the highest priorities of the General Plan is &quot;the reorientation of town planning activity toward converting existing uses.&quot; 
 What is meant by this is a re-examination of the structure of land use in St. Petersburg with the aim of freeing up ineffectively used areas that are now used by enterprises such as factories, military departments, car firms, and railroad infrastructure. Such uses are inappropriate for central districts, and they are to be converted to business and residential areas. 
 Moreover, the authors of the concept consider activity of this kind &quot;a distinctive feature of the current stage of town-planning activity in St. Petersburg.&quot; They maintain that &quot;in the next 10 to15 years, the quantity of property resources in St. Petersburg will grow by no less than a third as a result of conversion of use.&quot;
 In the last 18 months, I have said many times that inefficient use of city land is the main problem for St. Petersburg's socio-economic development. The failure to solve this problem gives rise to the most diverse, negative consequences, above all, to a shortage of building sites that can be used for business and housing in the central districts and those close to the center. The consequences of this shortage include high housing prices and abuses in the system of land allocation. 
 The reason for this is the passivity of Smolny, which does not recognize that its inaction has allowed the whole system to become distorted. Moreover, several heads of key committees have an insufficient understanding of the seriousness of the problem. The chairman of the construction committee, Yevgeny Yatsyshin, announced in an interview with Expert North-West (which will be published in the next issue): &quot;The last governor assumed that the city should grow internally, but we reached a limit here a long time ago. Now it's time to expand, and if we succeed in ensuring the preparation of new land, then there won't be any problems in the development of the city.&quot;
 Meanwhile many specialists, both independent, for instance, the Leontieff Center, and those within the structures of the administration itself, talk about such a strategy being unreasonable, since it suggests a costly stretching of communications and considerable inconvenience for the people living a long way from the city center.
 They propose as an alternative the development of the 30 percent to 40 percent of the inefficiently used land in districts just outside the center. Judging by the text of the concept of the General Plan, its developers, Petersburgsky NIPIgrad, led by academician Valentin Nazarov, prefer the second, consolidating strategy. 
 The first. strategy - expansion - has only one advantage: the simplicity of its fulfilment. This, however, is simplicity of the technical kind. From a financial point of view it is actually the most complicated strategy. At the same time, officials do not have to exert themselves too much by writing a concept for freeing up inefficiently used land, developing economic instruments for business, or attracting developers for the development of areas of land in decline. 
 Evidently, this is precisely why the construction committee prefers to develop housing in the city's outlying districts. 
 Unfortunately, the St. Petersburg administration's inability to promote efficient land use is a chronic flaw of our government. It seems that all administrations have suffered from this flaw. It happened under former mayor Anatoly Sobchak when a program for the withdrawal of industrial firms from the city center was developed but then remained on paper. It happened under his successor, Vladimir Yakovlev. 
 This also happened under the Soviet government. At the end of the 1940s, specialists spoke of the urgent need to rebuild bombed-out factories not on their former sites in the center, but in the outlying districts. But the government of this time also preferred simple solutions to tackling the problems of the industrial zone: it preferred to rebuild the factories on the former sites. This bureaucratic laziness is what we are now trying to disentangle. 
 Nevertheless, some hope remains. The progressive concept of the General Plan has been ratified by Governor Valentina Matviyenko's government, and this means that the plan will originate from the consolidating strategy. Since the General Plan will be drawn up according to city law, it will be more difficult for bureaucrats to sabotage it than before. 
 Moreover, Matviyenko gave a public dressing-down to Yury Rakov, deputy head of the committee for economic development, industrial policy and trade, for the unacceptable passivity of the committee in fulfilling its task of preparing the project for the removal of factories from the city center. One would hope that Matviyenko will not back down. 
 
 <i>Vladimir Gryaznevich is a political analys. with Expert Severo-Zapad magazine. His comment was first broadcast. on Ekho Moskvy in St. Petersburg on Friday. </i>

TITLE: Chris Floyd's Global Eye
TEXT: <b>Hard Reign
</b> The dictator walked into the prison courtyard, his entourage of government officials and foreign bodyguards scurrying around him. A crowd of policemen had gathered there to hear the Leader speak. Under the blinding fury of the desert sun, he ordered them to strike without mercy at the enemies of the state - and to fear no retribution should their zealotry devour the innocent with the guilty. He would shield them from the law, he said.
 
Then the entourage came upon seven prisoners, bound and blindfolded, lined up against a wall. These are terrorists, the interior minister declared. &quot;They should be killed on the spot!&quot; The Leader nodded, his great jowled face set in a grim mask. &quot;They deserve worse than death,&quot; he said, before pulling the pistol from his belt. He shot each man in the head, moving down the line quickly, efficiently, with the practised motions of an old assassin. In a moment, six lay dead on the burning dust; the seventh, who'd struggled against his bonds in the tumult, fell mortally wounded beside them.
 &quot;God be praised!&quot; cried the interior minister, as the Leader's bodyguards tossed the dead men into the back of a pickup truck. Within hours, the story had spread through the capital: A hard man was now in charge; the iron hand had come again. The bodies were buried in the desert wastes near the torture center of Abu Ghraib.
 That's how ex-Baathist enforcer and CIA-backed terrorist leader Iyad Allawi began the process of &quot;legitimizing&quot; his rule over the Iraqi people, the Sydney Morning Herald reported this month. Three weeks after the American conquerors placed the unelected Allawi in charge of the interim government - and scant days before Bush viceroy Paul Bremer made his hugger-mugger handover of sham sovereignty to a clique of American-appointed factotums - Allawi blew the brains out of the chained men at Baghdad's Al-Almariyah security center.
 The mass murder was confirmed by eyewitnesses, interviewed independently by veteran reporter Paul McGeough. He found the sources, separately, on his own - they weren't thrown in his way by intriguers from the factotums' savage infighting over power and loot. Indeed, far from condemning the summary execution of the untried prisoners, the eyewitnesses heartily approved of the killings - which were also seen by at least four U.S. Special Forces troops from Allawi's personal bodyguard.
 Although Allawi and his American keepers shrugged off the charges, the paper's chain of evidence for the story is considerably stronger than the fantasies and fabrications used by the Christian Coalition of Bush and Blair to con their nations into a war of aggression. In recent days, their &quot;case&quot; for war has been ripped to shreds by panels of Establishment worthies in both the U.S. and Britain - albeit with copious amounts of butt-covering waffle and partisan PR. But the actual facts buried underneath the high-toned harrumphing leave no doubt that both leaders deliberately and willingly manipulated the caveat-laden assessments of their intelligence services in order to whip up a war fever based on &quot;threats&quot; that they knew were wildly exaggerated or non-existent. 
 And why did they do this? So they could install someone exactly like Allawi into power in Iraq: a Saddam-like thug, a hitman willing to slaughter his own people, a useful tool for creating a pliable client state, and for establishing a permanent military presence to &quot;project dominance&quot; over the world's dwindling oil reserves and vital supply lines. None of this is a secret: Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, Don Rumsfeld, the Bushes and their minions have been talking about it openly for more than a decade. As we've often reported here, their group, Project for the New American Century, published a virtual blueprint of Bush's imperial foreign policy back in September 2000 - even mentioning the possibility of a &quot;new Pearl Harbor&quot; that could &quot;catalyze&quot; the American public into backing the group's far-reaching ambitions. 
 A linchpin of the plan was the military takeover of Iraq - even if Saddam was no longer in power, as the PNAC document cheerfully admitted. 
 All that was required was a murderous stooge to keep the locals screwed down tight - and to provide a figleaf of &quot;sovereignty&quot; for the propaganda aimed at the rubes back in the Homeland. Allawi was made to measure for the part. He began his career as a gun-toting assassin for the Baath Party, the New Yorker reports, helping Saddam's bloody rise to power. Allawi then went to London, where he acted as Saddam's spy - and enforcer - on Iraqis living abroad. For reasons yet unclear, the two thugs had a falling out - or perhaps Allawi got a better offer from British intelligence. 
 At any rate, he was London's man until 1991, when the CIA made it a threesome, bankrolling his terrorist operations in Iraq. Allawi's bombs killed dozens of civilians - but were curiously ineffective at hampering the operations of his former Baathist blood brother. He was also one of the chief purveyors of phony WMD baloney in the run-up to war, along with his cousin and rival, Ahmad Chalabi, the Pentagon-backed fraudster whom Allawi pipped at the post to seize the flunky's crown.
 Now Allawi sits on Saddam's throne, supported by the same men who once backed the jailed tyrant: Cheney, Wolfowitz, Colin Powell, the Bushes. He's establishing a new &quot;Security Directorate,&quot; drawing from the poisoned well of Saddam's evil Mukhabarat. And just like Saddam, Allawi is &quot;legitimizing&quot; his position as top &quot;hard man&quot; with hands-on murder. The brutal comedy goes on, with the same players, the same dead pieties masking the same brutal ambitions, and the same, never-changing results: ruin, rage and death.
 
 <i>
For annotational references, see Opinion at www.sptimesrussia.com </i>

TITLE: Democrats' Hope Rests on Kerry
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: BOSTON, Massachusetts - Bill Clinton had the spotlight on Day One of John Kerry's convention, as the soon-to-be Democratic presidential nominee cast for votes in Florida. Amid tight security, convention delegates readied for an evening of speeches with a day of parties.
 
The prime-time speech by Clinton, the last Democrat to occupy the White House, was to cap a first night of the convention focused on Kerry's stated vision for America: a strong economy, a growing middle class, affordable health care and a beefed-up military.
 The former president dismissed any idea he might overshadow Kerry.
 &quot;I feel good about the way he relates to voters,&quot; Clinton said Sunday. As for himself: &quot;I'm going to give a talk and get out of town.&quot;
 Kerry was visiting the Kennedy Space Center in the key state of Florida on Monday to talk about affordable health care. He popped into Boston for a brief surprise appearance Sunday night at the Yankees-Red Sox game, throwing out the first pitch.
 &quot;It's great to be back in Boston for a game like this,&quot; Kerry said after the Red Sox won, 9-6. He will make a grand entrance at the convention Wednesday, the day before he accepts the party's presidential nomination.
 Clinton's wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, was to introduce the former president, after speakers including New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, former president Carter and former vice president Al Gore.
 But security was the immediate worry. This year's convention is the first since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and police and military authorities had already revved up.
 But despite the precautions and the terrorism threat, the convention's message was relentlessly upbeat, underscoring the unity behind Kerry as the man Democrats hope will deny Bush a second term.
 No platform fight loomed, and the relative lack of President Bush-bashing was a strategy conceived in part because of polls indicating Kerry's Democratic base is already solidly behind him. The relatively small portion of undecided voters instead wants to hear more about him and his plans.
 &quot;This is going to be the most harmonious convention we've had in years,&quot; Richardson, the convention chairman, said Sunday.
 In keeping with tradition, Bush is spending the next several days out of the public eye at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

TITLE: IN BRIEF
TEXT: <b>Hussein Prison Poetry
 </b>

LONDON (Reuters) - Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is passing his time in solitary confinement by reading the Koran, writing poetry, gardening and snacking on cookies and muffins, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported on Monday.
 Iraq's human rights minister Bakhtiar Amin said Saddam's health was "generally good" but he was being treated for high blood pressure and had suffered a chronic prostate infection.
 "One of the poems is about George Bush, but I had no time to read it," said Amin.
 
 
<b>Piracy At Decade High
 </b>

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Pirates killed 30 seafarers worldwide in the first six months of the year - the highest toll in more than a decade - and governments need to boost patrols in dangerous regions to curb the violence, a maritime group said Sunday.
 The 30 killings compared to 16 during the same period last year, the British-based International Maritime Bureau said in a report released by its Piracy Watch Center in Kuala Lumpur.
 The casualty figures were the highest for the first half of any year since at least 1993, when the IMB began keeping records.
 Fifteen deaths occurred in Nigerian waters, where pirates armed with automatic weapons have launched 13 attacks so far this year on commercial ships and passenger ferries plying the coast. Most of the other fatalities were in Indonesia, Vietnam, Bangladesh and the Philippines.
 
<b>PMs Turn to UN
 </b>

LONDON (Reuters) - Forty British parliamentarians have asked UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to seek the opinion of the UN's International Court of Justice on the legality of the Iraq war, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported Monday.
 The cross-party group, which had written a letter to Annan dated July 20, believes Prime Minister Tony Blair's government breached the UN's charter when it joined the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. The letter asked for an "advisory opinion" from the court in the Hague.
 "Lots of people have concerns about the legitimacy of the war and it seems we do need to have clarification on this," said Alan Simpson, an MP from Blair's own ruling Labour party, who is leading the group.
 
 
<b>Aussies Ignore Terrorists
 </b>

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia will ignore threats of attack by a group saying it is the European wing of al-Qaida and blamed Spain and the Philippines for fuelling the threats by giving in to terrorists and withdrawing troops from Iraq.
 The Islamic Tawhid Group said in a statement it would attack Italy and Australia with "columns of rigged cars" if they did not withdraw their troops from Iraq.
 "We are still investigating the authenticity of that body, but we will not take any notice of threats of that kind," Prime Minister John Howard, a close ally of U.S. President George W. Bush, told reporters in Sydney on Monday. 



TITLE: Armstrong: Joy of Cycling Helped Win
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: PARIS - Rediscovering the joy of cycling was as important as winning a record sixth straight Tour de France title to Lance Armstrong. 
 
Pumping his fists and chasing stage wins with the enthusiasm of a first-year rider, Armstrong was exuberant and daring throughout the grueling three-week race. On Sunday, the Texan completed his record-setting ride in cycling's showcase event, sipping champagne while in the saddle during the final stage. 
 &quot;This year, I had the motivation of a rookie,&quot; Armstrong said. 
 Sunday's final ride into Paris along the tree-lined Champs-Elysees was a lap of honor for Armstrong. Even Jan Ullrich, his chief adversary in previous years who had his worst finish this Tour, gulped down a glass offered by Armstrong's team manager through his car window. 
 While the 32-year-old Armstrong was clearly delighted eclipsing five-time champions Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil, Miguel Indurain and Bernard Hinault, he expressed a greater thrill in renewing his passion for cycling. 
 &quot;It's as if I was with my five friends and we were 13 years old, and we all had new bikes and we said: 'OK, we're going to race from here to there,'&quot; he said. &quot;And you want to beat your friends more than anything. You're sprinting and you're attacking. It was like that for me.&quot; 
 Eight years ago, Armstrong was given less than a 50 percent chance of overcoming testicular cancer that spread to his lungs and brain. He astonished everyone - including himself - by winning his first Tour in 1999. 
 He called it &quot;a complete shock and surprise,&quot; adding that he never thought he'd win &quot;a second one or a third one or however many.&quot; 
 He had a burning desire to keep winning. 
 This was Armstrong's finest Tour. He dominated in the Pyrenees and the Alps, and won five solo stages and a team time-trial with his U.S. Postal Service squad. Only one rider, Ivan Basso of Italy, could keep up with him. 
 &quot;I was surprised that some of the rivals were not better,&quot; Armstrong said. &quot;Some of them just completely disappeared.&quot;
 Armstrong shook Basso for good in Wednesday's trying time trial up L'Alpe d'Huez. 
 The Texan also settled a score, convincingly beating Ullrich in both time trials - a crucial psychological lift for Armstrong after the German beat him by more than 90 seconds in the first clock race in 2003. 
 Ullrich, although improving late in the Tour, could not keep up. The 1997 champion and five-time runner-up - including three times to Armstrong - didn't even make the podium. He finished a distant fourth, 8 minutes, 50 seconds behind his nemesis. 
 Although longtime rivals, Ullrich and Armstrong are noble adversaries. 
 &quot;I have an enormous respect for the way Lance rides,&quot; Ullrich said. 
 Andreas Kloden, Ullrich's T-Mobile teammate took second overall, 6:19 back, while Basso was third, 6:40 off the pace. Armstrong's former U.S. Postal teammates, Tyler Hamilton and Roberto Heras, pulled out, as did Spaniard Iban Mayo. Early crashes hindered bids by Mayo and Hamilton to topple the Texan. 
 Belgian rider Tom Boonen won Sunday's prestigious final sprint on the Champs-Elysees, with Armstrong safely behind in the pack. 
 Robbie McEwen of Australia won the green jersey, his second, as the Tour's best sprinter. Richard Virenque of France won a record seventh spotted jersey, awarded for picking up points on the Tour's many mountain climbs. Vladimir Karpets of Russia wore the white jersey as best young rider. 
 Armstrong still hasn't decided whether he'll compete next year. 
 &quot;I don't know what I'll do next summer. I suspect I'll be here. It's too big of a race. My only hesitance is I think the people and the event perhaps need a change, new faces, a new winner,&quot; he said. &quot;If I'm here, I race to win.&quot; 
 Armstrong says he's interested in trying other races - the Tour of Italy, Classics, and beating the one-hour cycling world record held by Britain's Chris Boardman.

TITLE: Depleted Brazil Overcomes Argentina in Penalty Kicks
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: LIMA, Peru - Even without most of its top players, Brazil won its first South American soccer championship since 1999. 
 
Adriano scored the tying goal three minutes into second-half injury time, and the World Cup champions beat Argentina 4-2 on penalty kicks after a 2-2 tie Sunday in the final of the Copa America. 
 &quot;We never thought it would be easy,&quot; Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said. &quot;Argentina came with all these experienced players, but our team proved they are capable of overcoming any difficulties.&quot;
 While both nations were missing many regular starters, Brazil brought along almost no veterans. 
 Cristian Gonzalez converted a penalty kick in the 20th minute after Luisao brought down Luis Gonzalez in the penalty area, but Luisao tied the score when he headed in Alex's free kick one minute into first-half injury time.
 Argentina, seeking its first title since 1993, took a 2-1 lead with in the 88th minute on Cesar Delgado's goal. Adriano then tied it with his tournament-high seventh goal. 
 &quot;I can't explain how I'm feeling right now,&quot; Adriano said. &quot;This is definitely the greatest moment in my career.&quot;
 There was a brawl between the teams at the end of regulation, with Argentina players unhappy with taunts from Brazil's bench. Referee Carlos Amarilla of Paraguay requested riot police to separate the sides. 
 &quot;They shouldn't have celebrated ahead of time,&quot; Parreira said. 
 The sides immediately went to the shootout without overtime, and Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar dived to his right to block Argentina's opening shot. Gabriel Heinze then put Argentina's second shot over the crossbar. 
 Adriano, Edu, Diego and Juan converted penalty kicks for Brazil, which has won three of the last four titles and seven overall. Cristian Gonzalez and Juan Pablo Sorin converted penalty kicks for Argentina. 
 &quot;Argentina always pressured and sought ways to win just as it did through the tourney. Unfortunately, what happened is what happened,&quot;Argentina coach Marcelo Bielsa said.

TITLE: Isinbayeva Sets World Record
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: BIRMINGHAM, England - Yelena Isinbayeva reclaimed the pole vault world record Sunday at the Norwich Union International meet, and world champion Kim Collins led from start to finish in the 100 meters. 
 
Russia's Isinbayeva cleared 16 feet, 1/2-inch, breaking the previous mark of 16 feet, set by Svetlana Feofanova on July 4 at Iraklion, Greece. Feofanova had bettered Isinbayeva's record of 15-11 3/4 , set June 27 in England. 
 &quot;It's crazy, it's amazing, it's fantastic,&quot; a giggling Isinbayeva said. &quot;England is a lucky country for me.&quot;
 Feofanova, Isinbayeva and Stacy Dragila have taken turns breaking the standards in the women's pole vault the last couple of years - and the trio will vie for gold at the Athens Olympics next month. Isinbayeva set the new mark in cool, breezy conditions at the outdoor Alexander Stadium. She won a $50,000 bonus. 
 &quot;At the beginning it was difficult, it was cold and the wind was blowing the pole away,&quot; she said. &quot;I don't know how I managed to keep my concentration.&quot; 
 Collins won the 100 in 10.10 seconds. After congratulating his fellow racers, the St. Kitts and Nevis runner walked the length of the stadium waving to fans and signing autographs. 
 &quot;It was an important race to win mainly because everyone wants to win their pre-Olympic competitions and lay down a marker,&quot; Collins said. &quot;I have restricted my racing this year because I want to come fresh and ready when it really counts. I have been training hard and I really expected to win. I anticipated a fast time, but right now the time does not really matter.&quot; 
 Britain's Mark Lewis-Francis was second with 10.27, followed by Americans John Capel in 10.28 and Leonard Scott in 10.30. 
 World champion Allen Johnson won the 110 hurdles in 13.25. 
 &quot;I thought that was far faster than the clock said,&quot; he said. 
 In other events, Jamaica's Michael Blackwood won the 400 in 46.08, followed by Britain's Timothy Benjamin in 46.34, and American Derrick Brew in 46.35. 
 &quot;I came out here to try and get my race together for the Summer Olympics, and with the weather conditions like this I am happy I came away with the win,&quot; Blackwood said. 
 American-born Malachi Davis, who made Britain's Olympic team after less than a month with British citizenship, finished sixth with 46.84. 
 Also, Asafa Powell won the 200, Dwight Phillips won the long jump, Aleen Bailey won the women's 100 in a personal-best 11.04, Erin Gilreath won the women's hammer throw, Allison Beckford won the women's 400, and Kelly Holmes won the women's 800.