SOURCE: The St. Petersburg Times
DATE: Issue #992 (60), Friday, August 6, 2004
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TITLE: Duma Passes Benefits Bill in 30 Minutes
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: As widely expected, the State Duma on Thursday easily passed in a final third reading the Kremlin-backed bill replacing healthcare and transportation benefits for socially vulnerable groups with cash payments.
 
It took deputies less than 30 minutes to approve the bill by a vote of 309-118 with no abstentions and to veto a proposal from a Communist deputy to revisit the benefits issue in November.
 The deputy, Vladimir Grishukov, complained that he and the other lawmakers had not been given enough time to familiarize themselves with the bill before the vote. A total of 91 deputies supported his proposal, while a minimum of 226 were needed to put the issue on the Duma's fall agenda.
 "This bill reinforces the constitutional coup carried out by the first Russian president, Boris Yeltsin, and his backers at the beginning of the '90s," Grishukov said, Interfax reported.
 Opposition and independent deputies have complained that they were given less than 24 hours to scrutinize amendments to the bill before it came up for a second reading Tuesday. 
 They also said they were handed a new, revised version of the bill minutes before debate on the second reading started.
 The nationalist-populist Rodina faction asked on Thursday that the names of deputies who voted for the bill be published for the people to know. 
 Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov, who heads the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, said such a list will be published in the Duma's official Parlamentskaya Gazeta on Friday.
 The legislation is unlikely to encounter any opposition from Federation Council senators, who are to vote on it Sunday.
 Federation Council Deputy Speaker Svetlana Orlova said the vote would not be overshadowed by "any political emotions."
 "We are happy to say that about 70 of our amendments were more or less taken into consideration by the government and the State Duma," Orlova said, Interfax reported.
 The Kremlin, which appoints senators to the council, has warned them to approve the bill or risk losing their seats, a senior Federation Council adviser said in an interview earlier this week. The adviser, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal, also said regional governors have been told not to criticize the bill or face being voted out of office in the next elections.
 Many senators and governors oppose the bill because it requires the often cash-poor regions to make payments to war veterans, the disabled, Chernobyl cleanup workers, Leningrad siege survivors and victims of Stalinist repression.
 The Kremlin has argued that cash payments, which will be divided between the federal and regional governments, will give recipients more money in their pockets and ease the strain on the federal budget.
 Critics fear, however, that the payments will be not enough to cover costs such as medical care and say that regional administrations may not be able to meet their obligations.
 From January, when the legislation is due to come into effect, recipients will be entitled to a basic cash payment of 450 rubles a month ($15) plus other benefits ranging from 650 to 1,550 rubles.
 From January 2006, recipients will be asked to choose between taking the 450 rubles in cash or in the form of a basic package of free medicine and free commuter train rides.

TITLE: Russian Women Discover Better Life in Sweden
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Unlike the beautiful but tragic heroine of the hit Russian movie "Interdevochka" ("International Girl"), Russian women in Sweden today say they have found a better life - despite occasional pangs of homesickness for the life they left behind in Russia.
 
In the 1989 film, the main character, Tanya, is a prostitute who provides foreign tourists with special services in a Leningrad hotel who later meets and marries a Swedish businessman. She moves with him to Sweden dreaming of happiness and security. But once there she never adjusts to life in Sweden, speaks no Swedish, and is completely dependent on her husband's income.
 Modern Russian women who live in Sweden have nothing in common with Tanya. 
 Natalya Goldin, 28, who left for Sweden in 1994, now runs her own art gallery, where she exhibits and sells works by many Swedish artists.
 "Opening the gallery was my dream come true," Goldin said.
 Ten years ago Goldin wanted to emigrate from Russia thanks to a passion for art. She said that Russia was going through dark times in the early 1990s when most people could only think about "how to survive."
 "I knew if I'd stayed in Russia I would only think about what I could live on, and I would forget about art," she said.
 Goldin had originally intended to emigrate to the United States but had a Russian boyfriend who had been living in Sweden since 1987.
 When she arrived in Sweden Goldin spent a year learning Swedish, and later entered the art faculty of the Stockholm State University.
 "The Swedish social program for education helped me a lot, though at the same time the first few years in Sweden were rather hard for me," she said. 
 Goldin said at those times the Swedish immigration service worked very hard tackling marriages between Swedes and Russians made for the purpose of gaining legal status to stay in Sweden rather than romance.
 She said to check if people were really living together the immigration service could call a couple in the early morning and demand an urgent interview. 
 Spouses had to independently answer the same questions about their common activities. If the answers did not coincide there could be serious problems.
 Goldin recalled that there have been definite booms of Russian women emigrating to Sweden. One of them happened when Swedish workers were hired to build the Pribaltiiskaya hotel in St. Petersburg between 1972 and 1978. At that time many workers met Russian women and married them.
 Yelena Darouze, 29, a former model, moved to Sweden from her home city of Moscow five years ago. 
 Darouze said she came to such a decision because she wanted to study abroad and take a break from Moscow. In Moscow Darouze worked in the fashion industry but when she came to Stockholm she went to study photography at the Kulturama college.
 Today Darouze works as a freelance photographer for several Russian and Swedish magazines such as Jalouse, Seasons, and Seventeen.
 Katya, 30, went to live in Sweden in 2000 after having a long-running relationship with her present husband Helal. She asked for her last name not be used in this article.
 "I left my lovely city of St. Petersburg partly because I found love in Stockholm and partly because I was ready for something new in my life," Katya said.
 Katya, who graduated from the department of foreign languages at the St. Petersburg Herzen Pedagogical University, is currently a student of the Law Department at Stockholm University. 
 At the same time she is taking care of her two-year-old son Alexander.
 Goldin, Darouze and Katya have broadly similar views on their new life in Sweden and what it means to leave Russia. 
 Goldin said she never felt any discrimination against Russians in Sweden.
 "[But] when I opened my gallery in 2003 I feared that the fact of me being Russian would be an obstacle to my activities, but it turned to be vice versa, and Swedes came forward to help me," Goldin said.
 Goldin said Sweden is a very attractive country, especially in regards to the social support that the state provides for its citizens.
 "This country provides amazing opportunities for a person who has no rich relatives. Education here is free. Medicine is almost free since everyone is insured. While the social support for mothers and children is probably the best in the world," Goldin said.
 In Sweden, women who give birth to a child have the right to receive 80 percent of their salary for the first 18 months of a child's life.
 Goldin said she is impressed by the politeness and cordiality of Swedes.
 "I really suffered from boorishness in Russia. In Sweden people are taught to respect each other from childhood. Here if you accidentally push someone, that person will even apologize to you for being in your way," she said.
 Goldin said she is also impressed by the ecological consciousness of Swedes.
 "From a very early age children are taught to sort out the garbage, which I still forget to do sometimes," she said, adding that Swedes are really surprised if they see someone litter the street.
 However, Goldin said that despite impressive politeness it's rather hard to make close friends with Swedes.
 "People here seem to be rather alienated from strangers, and therefore they often suffer from loneliness. According to the statistics, 54 percent of Swedes are single," Goldin said.
 She said another problem is lonely elderly people.
 "In Russia it's a rather strong tradition that old parents either live with their children or at least their children take a lot of care of them, while in Sweden those people most often get settled in a home for the elderly and are rarely visited by their relatives," Goldin said.
 Goldin, who broke up with her Russian boyfriend several years ago, is getting married to Swedish man in August. They are expecting a baby.
 Goldin, who had dated a few other Swedish men, said Johan was the first Swedish man of her type.
 "Previously I had problems with Swedish men because they seemed to me too passive to start a relationship, while being a woman from Russia I felt humiliated to initiate a relationship," she said.
 According to Goldin, compared to Russian men, who often prefer to initiate relations with women themselves, Swedish men are very passive.
 "From my Swedish friends I know that most of the time it's a Swedish woman who starts a relationship, while men don't dare to give a sign to a woman that they like her," she said.
 At the same time Goldin said that Swedish men are great life partners.
 "They are trained to share home duties, clean after themselves, and take care of children," she said.
 Darouze, who rents a one room apartment alone, said that Sweden is "a really expensive country."
 "Although the Swedish state has a great social system, one has to work really hard for things like rent. Therefore when I studied in Sweden I needed to work extra," Darouze said.
 Darouze said she really likes Sweden as it is a beautiful country, whose people really take care of it.
 "Most Swedes are really concerned about politics today that means they are not indifferent to the world's problems. I respect the democratic and non-corrupt Swedish state where the individual and his rights are one of the main issues," she said.
 However, in contrast to Goldin's experience, Darouze said that Swedes still don't know enough about Russia, and "still have some prejudice about Russians."
 Darouze said in Sweden she misses Russian warmth, though she said her Swedish friends who went to Russia changed in a positive way after coming back from there.
 Like Goldin, Darouze also said that Swedish men are "often shy, so that women have to take the initiative when they want to meet a man."
 "Another big difference between Russian and Swedish (actually most European men) is that they seldom pay for their women (even wife and husband have separate economy)," she said.
 Darouze said she likes the fact that in Sweden children are not considered to be an obstacle for the parents' social life as can happen in Russia. 
 Darouze says when she now comes back to Russia she is happy to see how St. Petersburg and Moscow have changed for the better, and "have become such metropolitan places and culture centers again."
 Darouze said she has many Swedish friends in Stockholm. She said she didn't notice any big differences between real Russian friends and real Swedish friends, adding the friendship is about "meeting the right people, good people."
 One facet of Swedish life can be amusing from a Russian's point of view, she said, and that is the Swedish drinking culture. "In Sweden one can buy an alcohol only in a special shop and it is really expensive. So when Swedes have a party they bring their own bottle and everyone drinks from his own bottle there," she said.
 Meanwhile Katya said she likes Swedish nature, its clean and pure environment, and its social stability. 
 "As regards to the Swedes, I like their sincerity towards their jobs and serious approach to everything they do." she said.
 However, Katya said she was concerned that currently "Sweden becomes more and more divided into two distinct groups - foreigners and natives."
 Katya said Sweden still has to work to succeed at integrating the two sides.
 Katya said she also finds it difficult that in Sweden "every step in your life should be planned long in advance and people live according to this plan." 
 "There is no chance for spontaneity. This might be good in professional life, but not in everyday life. There should be something adventurous and unexpected. Otherwise life becomes boring," Katya said.
 Citing another drawback of Swedish life, Goldin said she misses communicating "soul to soul" with people, and when she feels desperate for such deep contact she goes to her Russian friends.
 But after living in Sweden for so long, Goldin said when she is back in Russia she gets frustrated by some things - such as poor service in stores.
 Katya concludes there is one major difference between Swedes and Russians. "Swedes are very pragmatic."

TITLE: Police Aim To Improve Safety For Tourists
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: A working group to provide security for foreign tourists visiting St. Petersburg has been set up by the Russian Union of Tourism Industry or RTS, the city police, City Hall's external affairs committee and a range local tourist companies, the police said Thursday.
 
The group aims for closer cooperation between tourist companies, hotel businesses and the police to prevent crimes being committed against foreign visitors in St. Petersburg.
 At the first meeting Thursday the police agreed to set up a direct line between the two new tourist information centers on Palace Square and Sadovaya Ulitsa and police department No. 6, which is responsible for crimes against foreigners. This would enable foreigners wishing to report crimes to visit the tourist centers where staff will be able to assist them contacting the police
 "This way foreign visitors will have the option of getting immediate assistance if something happens to them. An operator would be able call to an officer on duty who in a short period of time can send a police patrol, if necessary, or give an advice what to do," said Sergei Korneyev, head of RTS in a telephone interview Thursday.
 Foreign tourists wishing to report crimes can also contact the police directly. The telephone number for the department handling foreigners is 278 3014. Officers speaking English are on duty in this department.
 The numbers for the tourism centers are 310-2822 and 310-9332, although these are only open from 10 a.m. through 7 p.m each day. 
 "[Tourists] come to us about three times a week with things stolen, such as cameras, for instance. There was a case yesterday when a $900 camera was stolen on Palace Square, so I went to the police with them where a report was filed in Russian," said Yelena Cherepova, an employee of a tourist center located on Palace Square in a telephone interview Thursday.
 It is often important to get a police report to file an insurance claim against lost or stolen property, Cherepova said.
 "Documents [such as passports] are stolen very rarely. As for money, if it's gone, it's gone. Although the police work undercover not much comes of it. The cases [of theft] mostly happen on Palace Square and Kanal Griboyedova," she said.
 The police have also agreed to simplify procedures that foreigners have to follow when they report stolen documents, Korneyev said.
 An information leaflet signed by the police officials at the working group meeting Thursday says that if a foreigner loses his documents he or she should approach any police department in the city that would issue an official form stating that documents are gone. If a passport is stolen the next step for a tourist is to apply to the diplomatic missions of their countries in St. Petersburg. To get new visas to replace stolen ones visitors are advised to approach the organization that issued the original invitation, and the police visa office located near to the place where a foreign citizen is registered. When applying foreign citizens must have two passport photos, the leaflet says. 
 If the passport is replaced the new visa can be issued in not more than 20 working days, the leaflet says. 
 Korneyev said he is very satisfied with the way the police have co-operated with the working group this tourist season.
 "The police met our suggestion of increasing the number of patrols in the central part of St. Petersburg and this has had an effect. The number of crimes, such as small scale theft has dropped recently," Korneyev said.
 "There are cases of pickpockets in museums, like the [State] Hermitage for instance, and the area nearby. But in a megalopolis like St. Petersburg it is impossible to solve this problem," he said.
 Meanwhile the police said a further increase in the number of patrols on city streets should not be expected in the near future "because of the current situation in the Caucasus," with a number of local police sent for temporary duties in Chechnya.
 This does not look as a perfect way to deal with the problem anyway, said Pavel Rayevsky, the city police spokesman in a telephone interview Thursday.
 "I don't know any other country in the world where this problem can have been solved except for countries that for hundreds of years have chopped off the hands of thieves as punishment," Rayevsky said in a telephone interview Thursday.
 "It is not that simple and even Americans can't do anything with pickpockets," he said.
 "Looking at our statistics, St. Petersburg doesn't look any worse than any other European city in relation to crimes committed against foreign tourists. On average it's one hundredth the total number of crimes committed in the city, which is about 46,000 annually," said Rayevsky. 
 There are slightly more than 400 crimes being committed against foreign visitors and this is mainly assaults with no serious physical consequences or robberies, according to the police.
 "Although the number of crimes is relatively small we're quite concerned about it and will definitely propose certain measures, which is one of the aims of the working group," he said.

TITLE: VOX POPULI
TEXT: <i>With the government set to enact a new social services law in which the benefits or privileges - such as free public transport - assigned to certain needy groups, like pensioners, will be replaced by monetary payments or compensation </i><i><strong>Irina Titova </strong></i><i>asked the people of St. Petersburg what they think of the changes.
 Photographs by </i><i><strong>Alexander Belenky.
 </strong></i>

 <strong>
Vadim Lopatnikov, 40, deputy in St. Petersburg's Legislative Assembly:</strong>
 
I think, the change is fair. We've analyzed the situation and figured out that no more than 30 percent of Russian pensioners were in reality using their privileges, while today most Russian citizens will receive a more or less appropriate monetary compensation package.
 A democratic country should move to direct payments, do its best to increase pensions, and pay good salaries to people for their work.
 
 <strong>
Olga Romanova, 55, real estate agent:</strong>
 
I've been thinking a lot about this problem. And I think there should be a different approach to it. Thus, for people who live in big cities privileges are more significant than compensation payments, as in provincial towns money will have more importance.
 Therefore authorities should deal with each city or area individually, and see which way is more appropriate for residents of those territories.
 
 <strong>
Anatoly Samko, 67, pensioner:</strong>
 
This project is complete nonsense because in the conditions of the Russian economy when there is constant inflation, I'm not sure that the compensation will be properly indexed.
 However, whatever the economic situation is, and no matter how the ruble's value changes, privileges always remain the same privileges. I can always travel somewhere or get a voucher to a sanatorium with a discount or for free. That way, it's stable.
 
 <strong>
Sergei Romanovsky, 29, programmer:</strong>
 
If a pensioner is healthy he should receive money. But I don't want to support pensioners' public transport costs. If they have money to pay for their ticket, we, those who don't have privileges, won't have to pay a higher price because of them. Because when I'm on a public transport I see some 20 people who show their pension IDs against one person who pays for a ticket. It actually means that they live in a way at my expense. I remember how elderly women used to go to Sennaya Ploshchad for cheap goods from throughout the city. They crowded the public transport so hard that you could barely get on just so that they could save a couple of rubles going there.
 I think the state shouldn't be paying for babushkas economizing by using free public transport. It's not economically profitable for the state. 
 
 <strong>
Galina Danilina, 81, Siege of Leningrad survivor:
 </strong>
Our government, State Duma, and our president should get to live on the same amount which we have as pensions. They sit there, get such good money, and I'm sorry, they do nothing! I use the privileges of public transport any time I need to go to a doctor or buy medicine. And I don't need that ridiculous compensation!

TITLE: Cyprus Witholds Visa Charges For Tourists
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: In an effort to stem losses of holiday bookings by Russians to Cyprus of up to 25 percent after visa-free travel was abolished this year, Cypriot authorities voiced a plan this week to keep visas free of charge until the end of 2004 and possibly throughout 2005.
 
Cyprus, which joined the European Union in May this year, introduced a visa regime with Russia in January as a condition of EU membership.
 &quot;Sixty percent of visas are issued on the day of application, with the rest produced within 24 hours,&quot; said Alexis Phedonos-Vadet, a consul at the Cypriot Embassy. According to the embassy in Russia, less than 1 percent of Russians are refused the visa. 
 St. Petersburgers obtain their visas through the Cypriot Consulate General, which opened in January this year.
 St. Petersburgers travel to Cyprus less than Muscovites, as many of them prefer quiet resorts in nearby Finland and the Baltic countries.
 According to research by Comcon-St.Petersburg, the five most popular destinations for locals in 2003 were Finland (26.8 percent of foreign travel), Germany in second place (16.8 percent), and Turkey, France and Bulgaria each attracting 9.4 percent.
 But nationwide, the country is a very popular destination. About 140,000 Russians make the trip to the sunny island each year. 
 But, leading Russia tour operators point out, after the introduction of visas the flow of local travelers dropped by 20-25 percent. Irina Ionkina, leading manager on Cyprus of the local &quot;Super Nova&quot; travel agency, said her company is selling almost half as many tours to Cyprus than in the previous year.
 The tendency is even worse in the regions, where it is now near to impossible to get a last minute deal. Arkady Kevorkov, executive director of Moscow-based &quot;Zeus Travel&quot; agency, said her company was forced to suspend some charter flights from Omsk, Ufa, Kazan and even St. Petersburg.

TITLE: Police Say Tenant Ate His Landlady's Dog
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: A Moscow man is in police custody on suspicion of killing and eating his landlady's dog.
 
Police arrested Maxim Kolov, 21, on July 9 after Nina Zotova reported that her tenant had killed her dog Tuzik, a Husky-Collie half-breed.
 Police spokeswoman Yelena Zasimova said that on July 8 Kolov came to visit Zotova, 66, at her apartment in northeast Moscow. Zotova, who rented an apartment to Kolov in the same area, was not home. Only her husband was in, looking after Tuzik.
 When Kolov, who had been drinking heavily, arrived he offered to take Tuzik for a walk, to which Zotova's husband agreed. After strolling with the dog for a while, Kolov decided to visit his friend Denis. When Kolov arrived, Denis, whose last name is not being released, was also drunk, Zasimova said.
 Kolov promptly sent Denis to the store to buy vodka and wait with Tuzik. This is when things turned ugly.
 &quot;The dog apparently wasn't comfortable in the strange surroundings and began barking uncontrollably,&quot; Zasimova said. &quot;Pretty soon Kolov couldn't stand it any more, so he hit the dog over the head with a wrench and killed it.&quot;
 But the gruesome tale didn't end there. Kolov took the dead dog into the bathroom, skinned it and started frying the meat, Zasimova said.
 Kolov put Tuzik's bones, pelt and leash in a plastic bag and threw them in a trashcan not far from Zotova's apartment building, Zasimova said.
 When Denis returned, the meat was cooked and the two friends sat down to drink and snack on the dog meat. 
 Denis had no idea that he was eating Tuzik, Zasimova said, and he did not make the connection between the food that had suddenly appeared and the missing dog.
 &quot;Kolov had cleaned up the blood in the bathroom, so there were no signs that anything bad had happened,&quot; Zasimova said. 
 &quot;And Denis was so drunk that he didn't notice anything or ask any questions.&quot;
 When Zotova returned home that evening and asked her husband where Tuzik was, he informed her that Kolov had taken the dog for a walk and not returned, Zasimova said.
 Zotova searched for Tuzik until 5 a.m., when she came across the plastic bag and saw her pet's leash and remains. She promptly called police, who arrested Kolov later that day at his apartment.
 Zasimova said Kolov could not explain why he killed and ate Tuzik and that he hardly remembers the incident. 
 Kolov faces up to six months in jail for animal cruelty.

TITLE: Memorial to Estonian SS Angers Russia
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: The Russian Foreign Ministry has denounced the erecting of a memorial in Estonia to local residents that fought against the Soviet Army in World War II as part of a Nazi SS division, Interfax reported Wednesday quoting government officials.
 
The memorial for soldiers who fought for the country's independence was opened last Sunday in Sinimae in the North-East of Estonia, where the an SS division formed from 70,000 Estonian troops fought the Red Army in 1944. 
 &quot;The remembrance of people whose lives were taken by World War is II is a normal expression of humanism,&quot; Interfax quoted an official Foreign Ministry note as saying.
 &quot;But the problem is that in this case unscrupulous politicians continue playing with historical memories and tragic fates of people that served for the Estonian SS division,&quot; the statement continued.
 The &quot;unscrupulous&quot; politician appeared to be Trivimi Velliste, the Estonian parliament deputy of Pro Patria Union faction who participated in the opening ceremony for the memorial. He said Estonia should force Russia to change its interpretation of the Baltic States' history in the light of the current policy of the Russian Federation in relation to Estonia.
 &quot;What's wrong about [the fact that the soldiers fought for independence] in German and partially in Finnish uniform and with German weapons?&quot; Velliste said in an article published in Postimies Daily last Monday.
 The Russian Foreign Ministry sharply reacted to the words of the Estonian parliamentarian.
 &quot;Speaking politely, and attempting to show that Estonian legionaries never fought for Hitler's Germany and were never on the side of Nazi ideology, does not convince,&quot; the ministry's note said.
 &quot;Any intelligent historian would have thought it questionable that divisions could have existed within the German military and occupation force, which did not fight for Hitler's Germany interests and did not share Nazi ideology,&quot; the note said.
 The memorial was opened following an initiative of the Society of Fighters for the Freedom of Estonia.

TITLE: IN BRIEF
TEXT: <b>Santa in Tax Dodge
 </b>

VOLOGDA (SPT) - Ded Moroz, the Russian equivalent of Santa Claus, has been charged with tax violations, Interfax reported Tuesday quoting the police of Vologodskaya Oblast. 
 A former manager of the Ded Moroz Estate, located in Vologodsdaya Oblast, allegedly collected 1.1 million rubles ($38,000) of taxes from employees of the company from March 1, 2002 until January 1, 2004, but paid to the federal budget only 113,500 rubles ($3.900), Interfax cited the police as saying.
 The Ded Moroz Estate company was set up in February 2002 to run the state supported program "Velikyi Ustyug - Homeland of Ded Moroz" as an attempt to attract tourists in the same way as the Finnish town of Rovaniemi, known as a residence of Santa Claus. 
 
 
<b>Four Injured by Wires
 </b>

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - Four people were injured after wires holding traffic lights in Moskovsky District fell off onto the street, Interfax reported Wednesday quoting local administration sources. On Wednesday afternoon a truck grazed the wires on the crossing of Ordzhenikidze and Lensovyeta streets and hit an advertising poster as a result of a traffic accident, Interfax said. The wires fell on people that were waiting for a green light.
 Three men aged 23, 37 and 67 and a 68-year old woman suffered serious face injuries and were taken to different city hospitals. The woman is in a critical condition, the report said.
 
 
<b>Car Club Donation
 </b>

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - The Burton Owners Club car enthusiasts group will donate money to help renovate the Alexander Blok library after their fundraising rally through Europe, Interfax reported Thursday, quoting officials of Mayakovskya library.
 The upper floors of the library located at 20 Nevsky Prospekt in a building formerly occupied by the Dutch Reform Church, were damaged in a fire in February this year.
 Burton Owners Club representatives, traveling from Amersfoort in the Netherlands in four cars, have already passed through Warsaw, Riga and Tallinn and were due to hand over the money for the renovation on Friday in St. Petersburg, library officials said. The library is scheduled to be renovated by September when the Dutch Community will celebrate its 300 years presence in St. Petersburg. 
 
 
<b>Beer Festival Success
 </b>

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - A beer festival which took place in the city last Saturday had better-than-expected sales, Interfax reported Wednesday quoting officials of City Hall economics committee.
 "Although exact estimations will be made later, it is quite clear that the Baltika brewery sold in one day more beer that in eight days of the same kind of festival in Moscow," Interfax quoted Andrei Rukavishnikov, Baltika marketing director, as saying.
 "The only minus was that there was almost no time to get prepared for the festival," Interfax quoted other brewery representatives as saying.
 Only 34 people were charged with hooliganism in the area of the Central Park for Culture and Entertainment where the festival took place "which is a very small number for an event that gathered more than 150,000 people," Interfax cited the police as saying. 



TITLE: Yukos Gets Account Access, Offers Rospan
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - Yukos shares rallied more than 10 percent on Thursday to 140 rubles due to a decision by bailiffs to let the oil major use its bank accounts for funding operations, bringing gains since a wave of panic selling in late July to 77 percent. 
 
Analysts said the bailiffs' decision was positive for Yukos' operations but also contained a negative factor as it would make it hard for the company to file for bankruptcy. 
 The day before its stock boomed, Yukos said it was ready to sell its stake in Siberian gas producer Rospan International to TNK-BP for $357 million to help pay off its $3.4 billion tax bill.
 In a letter from Yukos' legal department to the chief of the Justice Ministry's Court Marshals Service, Andrei Belyakov, sent a few days ago, the company asked the service to confirm that it has no objections to the sale. 
 Should the confirmation arrive quickly, the proceeds of the sale could be paid to marshals by the end of August, the letter said.
 The ownership of Rospan International, once a Gazprom subsidiary located in Yamal-Nenetsk Autonomous Region, has not been an issue in the state's legal case against Yukos.
 The firm, which controls estimated reserves that include 950 billion cubic meters of gas reserves, 180 million tons of gas condensate and 30 million tons of crude oil, is wholly owned by Cyprus-registered Rospan International Overseas Ltd. The ownership of Rospan International is split between TNK-BP offshore subsidiary Rizben Enterprises Limited, which holds a 44 percent stake, and Yukos' Cyprus-based subsidiary Hedgerow Limited, the letter to Belyakov said.
 A TNK-BP representative on Wednesday confirmed that negotiations were underway for Rizben Enterprises to acquire the 56 percent stake owned by Hedgerow.
 &quot;Of course the finalization of the deal is subject to approval by the relevant Russian authorities,&quot; TNK-BP spokeswoman Marina Dracheva said.
 Belyakov said Wednesday that he was not able to comment on Yukos' request to approve the sale, as the letter had not yet landed on his desk.
 &quot;Give us some time, we have to look into it,&quot; he said by telephone Wednesday evening.
 So far Yukos has paid about 20 billion rubles ($690 million), or about one-fifth of the $3.4 billion tax bill for 2000. 
 However, analysts believe the actions will not help the company in the long run. &quot;The most recent events do not represent any significant change,&quot; said BrokerCreditService brokerage. 
 &quot;Even if we add revenues from the sale of Rospan, it is highly improbable that Yukos would be able to meet the back tax bill deadline. 
 This would lead to a fire-sale of producing assets and the firm's destruction.&quot;

TITLE: Lukoil Deal Set
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: MOSCOW - The government will sell its 7.59 percent stake in Lukoil for a minimum of $1.26 billion, the Federal Property Agency said Wednesday.
 U.S. oil major ConocoPhillips is widely seen as the favorite bidder. Slated to take place by the end of next month, the tender will be the largest privatization of the year. 
 &quot;The sale of this stake will show that Russia is still open for business, despite the so-called Yukos affair,&quot; said Florian Fenner, who manages $170 million in Russian assets at UFG Asset Management.
 Selling its last stake in Lukoil and attracting ConocoPhillips may help the government convince investors that Russia still wants to attract foreign money, despite the bad news created by legal attacks on Yukos and its core shareholders.

TITLE: New Housing Grows, Prices High
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: The city will receive 2 million square meters in new housing this year, but experts believe that is not enough to stabilize prices.
 
&quot;We're close to crossing the 2 million square meters mark this year. Even if we reach 1.95 million, that should be enough,&quot; the city's vice-governor Alexander Vakhmistrov said at a news conference Wednesday. By 2006, the city will be receiving about 2.6 million of square meters of housing per year, and the target for 2008 is 3 million, Vakhmistrov said. &quot;That is if we manage to make the system of land auctions spin up at a good level,&quot; he added. 
 Though the pace of housing price growth has slowed down this summer, prices remain at record highs and only the sufficient supply of housing can stabilize the market in the long run, Vakhmistrov said. The problem of high housing prices can not be solved by an order from the city government, he said.
 &quot;We are satisfied with the first results of the land auctions, even though the land plots were sold close to their nominal price. We were not after high prices. The most important thing is that the process has begun,&quot; Vakhmistrov said.
 Meanwhile, he added, nowhere in the world is the land distributed only though the auction system. Vakhmistrov added that in those cases where the city's social goals will coincide with the commercial goals of the investors, the land will be allocated to those investors directly. 
 One of such land plots was given to a Shanghai company for engineering a construction project in the Sosnovaya Polyana district, worth $1 billion. &quot;If the plot were offered at the auction, there would have been no bids,&quot; Vakhmistrov said.
 However, only a few land plots have been allocated directly, as the city awaits the approval of St. Petersburg's general development plan, to be passed in September at the earliest. 
 Since their start in May, land auctions have not gained much popularity among construction companies, which do not believe the system is working yet. 
 &quot;The investment system in St. Petersburg is hibernating,&quot; said Boris Pugachev, deputy director of the city's union of construction companies, or Soyuzpetrostroy. The new system of distributing city land through auctions is not functioning, because there are no serious offers, he said. 
 &quot;The auction system is not working well because the city was not prepared for this reform,&quot; said Magerram Bekhbudov, president of one of the city's largest construction companies M-Industry. &quot;There are a lot of questions remaining, as we are not sure what we are buying. This is why we think it is better to wait,&quot; Bekhbudov said.
 The switch to the auction system led to a fall in construction rates - M-Industry estimates receiving 120 construction orders from the city this year, Bekhbudov said, compared to 460 in 2003. 
 St. Petersburg's demand for housing is 3 million square meters per year, Bekhbudov said. 
 Prices on housing will stabilize only when the supply meets that mark, he said. And with slowing construction rates, &quot;we will be lucky to reach the level of 1.5 million square meters turn-out two years from now,&quot; Bekhbudov said. 
 Smolny's recently imposed infrastructure fees are another strong factor affecting the nominal housing prices, Bekhbudov said. However, he said, the city's infrastructure does need additional financing, as it is not coping even with the construction rates. 
 What can really help the local infrastructure are substantial investments from energy giants, Bekhbudov said. &quot;I consider extremely meaningful the recent large investments into the city's infrastructure made by Gazprom, UES and Lenenergo for the first time in the past 14 years,&quot; Bekhbudov said. 
 The quarterly overview published by St. Petersburg Realty in July said the new regulations, including the infrastructure fees and the requirement to sell at least 10 percent of the newly built apartments to the city, leave little room for price maneuvers.
 Vakhmistrov does not believe the new regulations affected prices. &quot;The market did not react to the regulations - prices on the existing housing remain higher than on the newly built housing. Besides, the regulations were based on lower estimates than the current market prices,&quot; Vakhmistrov said. &quot;If construction companies lose some of their profits and the city receives that funding instead, the city will benefit,&quot; Vakhmistrov said.
 It is the customers who end up covering all the additional costs, St. Petersburg Realty's overview said.
 
 o
 
 The city's also seeking additional land plots within the city limits.
 The general reconstruction plan provides for a gradual relocation of industrial plants outside the city and the demolition of old housing. 
 This will mean that many plants will no longer be able to draw profits from giving their premises out for rent.
 Soyuzpetrostry's president Magerram Pugachev said the tendency to move industrial territories out of the city is observed all over the world, and it is not an easy process anywhere. 
 The reform is primarily targeted at those plants that experience sales difficulties and occupy areas that are not fit to their production capacity, Pugachev said. 
 However, he added, it will be impossible to move those inefficient plants without allocating sufficient funds from the city budget and attracting large investors. Pugachev said he can not estimate the time the relocation could take.
 Besides the inefficient plants, some successful manufacturers will be forced to leave their current productions sites, located in dynamically developing areas. One example is dairy manufacturer Petmol, located in the proximity of the busy Moskovsky Prospekt.

TITLE: New Transportation Law To Boost Security Levels
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - Concerned about the growing number of terrorist attacks and the vulnerability of transportation, the Transportation Ministry said Tuesday it will draft a security law by year's end that will make all transportation sectors better prepared.
 
&quot;Unfortunately, the transportation sector is very attractive for terrorists, due to long distances and volumes of traffic, and it is impossible to check every passenger 100 percent,&quot; Deputy Transportation Minister Sergei Aristov told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting Tuesday.
 The ministry's figures show that terrorist attacks on transportation have nearly quadrupled since 1997, with 359 attacks registered last year. Overall, transport-related crimes grew 20 percent to over 40,000 in the first half of this year.
 But the current state-supported system of anti-terrorism measures in the transportation sector is not adequate to counter mounting terrorist threats and the country's international obligations, Aristov said.
 The term &quot;transport security&quot; itself is fairly new in national legislation, first appearing in a government resolution in June on the Transportation Ministry's status.
 The term does not feature in the government's strategy for transportation development until 2025 adopted earlier this year. Each sector deals with security issues through separate resolutions and bylaws.
 Aristov said that air transportation is more advanced in ensuring security and already has a draft law prepared on protection of civil aviation from illegal interference.
 Alexander Neradko, head of the Federal Service for Supervision of Transportation, said the state spent about $10 million in 2003 to equip 14 of the country's airports judged most likely to be terrorist targets, a figure that pales into insignificance next to the $10 billion spent last year by the United States on aviation security measures.
 It was not clear Tuesday whether the new security law would require the presence of sky marshals on board aircraft in Russia or on Russian airlines.
 &quot;Armed security on board could be counterproductive,&quot; Neradko said, citing the example of a 1972 accident aboard a Tu-104 flying from Irkutsk to Moscow, when the actions of an armed sky marshal led to an explosion.
 Aeroflot has recently said that it does not consider the reintroduction of sky marshals feasible.
 &quot;It is too early yet to comment on the new law, since we don't know what will be in it,&quot; Aeroflot spokeswoman Irina Dannenberg said. &quot;Our security work is governed by international agreements.&quot;

TITLE: EBRD Loans $161M to City
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development or EBRD loaned Russia $161 million for the economic development of St. Petersburg, the bank said in a press release Wednesday. 
 
The money, loaned for 17 years, will go to finance the city's economic development projects, and the government's co-financing part in the project will amount to $78.7 million, officials said.
 The funding will go toward Smolny's economic and political reforms, as well as the government's efforts aimed at keeping the historical heritage of the city, the press release said.
 The loan is comprised of two parts, one given directly to the city and the other going to the federal government. 
 City's share of $100 million will be received on condition of completing the legislature and economic sector reforms, with the first loan tranche of $40 million to be allocated to the budget by the end of the year, the bank said.
 The federal component of $139.8 million will be available in a form of an investment loan for the reconstruction of the Mariinsky theater, the Hermitage and a number of other well-known city and suburb palaces and museums. Tenders for undertaking the reconstruction works will be conducted promptly. 
 &quot;The loan should spark the reform and business activities in the city, stimulate private investments and strengthen the city budget system,&quot; the EBRD press release said. 
 Meanwhile the investment part will &quot;ensure the improvement of the historical sites' conditions thus increasing the city's attractiveness for foreign investors,&quot; the press release said.

TITLE: IN BRIEF
TEXT: <b>Nukes Cut Output
 </b>

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - Russia's 10 nuclear power plants cut output 3 percent in the first seven months of the year. 
 The cut was due to the reconstruction work that is being carried out on generators near St. Petersburg and Kursk, Interfax said, citing an unidentified official at RosEnergoAtom, the state-owned nuclear power monopoly.
 The country's nuclear power plants produced 80.92 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity from Jan. 1 to July 31, the news service said. July output fell 5.8 percent from a year earlier, to 10.02 billion kilowatt-hours, the news service said.
 Nuclear plants provided about 5 percent of Russia's energy needs last year, according to BP.
 RosEnergoAtom may invest as much as $47 billion to double its nuclear power output by 2020, the Nuclear Energy Ministry said in April.
 
 
<b>$42M Stadium Contract
 </b>

HELSINKI (Bloomberg) - Lemminkaeinen Oyj, a Finnish construction company, said it won an order worth 35 million euros ($42 million) to build an arena for sports events and concerts in Russia.
 The venue, which will seat 10,000, will be built in Kazan, Helsinki-based Lemminkaeinen said in a statement. The contract is being financed by Russian bank Zenit.
 Lemminkaeinen's previous projects in Russia include paving Tyumen airport in Siberia.
 
 
<b>MTS in Uzbekistan
 </b>

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - Largest cellphone operator Mobile TeleSystems, or MTS, completed its purchase of a controlling stake in Uzbekistan's leading cellphone company, which is reportedly owned by the daughter of the Uzbek president.
 Shareholders of Uzdunrobita approved the transfer of a 74 percent stake to MTS, and the transfer was registered with Uzbek authorities, MTS said in a news release.
 MTS said it paid $121 million for the 74 percent stake in Uzdunrobita and has signed an agreement with the existing shareholders to buy the remaining 26 percent within the next three years for at least $37.7 million. "If all options are exercised, MTS will be the sole owner of the company," it said.
 The deal will make Uzbekistan the fourth ex-Soviet market where MTS operates, after Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.
 MTS said Monday that that only 1.5 percent of Uzbeks have cell phones and that the deal "is in line with MTS' strategy of exploiting growth opportunities outside the company's existing markets.
 
 
<b>City Sells Hotel Shares
 </b>

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - Smolny is ready to sell off its stakes in the city hotels. 
 The first auctions will be conducted in September, with city's share packages of Viborgskaya, Kiyevskaya, and Chaika hotels offered for sale on Sept. 7 and the Yuzhny hotel pie auctioned off on the Sept. 22, Fontanka.ru reported.
 The city administration hopes to raise over $4 billion from the open hotel auctions. 
 In most cases, the city owes from 55 percent to 70 percent of the hotel's shares. 



TITLE: Diverse Economy Key to Long-Term Growth
TEXT: Economists have identified a strong, negative empirical link between long-term economic growth and the share of the economy that originates in the natural resources sector. Since World War II, not a single natural resource dependent economy has managed to sustain respectable growth over several decades in average real GDP per capita. Astonishingly, few such economies have seen even positive growth. The evidence, though much disputed, is clear. The causal mechanisms include: vulnerability to fluctuations in the terms of trade; the Dutch disease of an overvalued exchange rate; and various institutional pathologies that are associated with natural resource dependence.
 
The government sees economic diversification as a priority and wants to shift the relative tax burden onto the energy sector. The multilaterals' endorsement of this goal is largely rhetorical, however, because key elements of their advice would serve to perpetuate primary-sector dependence. The International Monetary Fund's strong advice that the Central Bank should prioritize inflation reduction and allow stronger ruble appreciation is clearly inimical to increased diversification. Other multilaterals have seconded this call for a shift in monetary policy, most recently the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in its review of the economy published in early July.
 The OECD, a club of 30 wealthy nations including the United States and Britain but not Russia, argues that Russian growth over the medium term will inevitably depend on the natural resources sector and that policymakers should accept this fact. To underpin its case, the OECD downplays the role that high oil prices play in Russia's strong economic recovery. Instead, the OECD emphasizes - in part on the basis of a highly dubious growth-accounting exercise - the role of alleged oil price-insensitive efficiency improvements, especially in the private oil sector. If this were correct, and Russian growth were insensitive to the level of oil prices, then the inevitable decline in international oil prices would have far less of an impact on growth than is usually supposed.
 The OECD accepts that Russian growth is sensitive to changes in oil prices, but argues that growth is not - or is only very weakly - dependent on the level of oil prices. The distinction is not esoteric. It is of fundamental significance for future prospects. For example, Russian growth next year should fall as a result of a likely sharp fall in the average oil price from the high 2004 average. If oil prices more or less stabilize at a permanently lower level, however, there is nothing as such that affects subsequent output growth.
 The OECD accepts that growth is sensitive to the price of oil only at very low price levels that render oil production completely unprofitable. But this relationship operates along a continuum. The empirical link between levels of oil prices and output dynamics in Russia has been extremely strong for the last decade. It is not difficult to trace some of the channels through which oil price levels have most likely affected growth. High oil prices have facilitated improved fiscal policy, which is emphasized by the OECD as a prime source of improved economic performance since 1998, and not merely through the direct effect of oil prices on budget revenue. High prices offset high-risk premiums and encouraged measures to extract more oil from the ground; removed any balance-of-payments constraint on growth; and facilitated sharp reductions in external debt (the OECD itself appeals to recent evidence that links growth to debt/GDP levels). 
 The OECD concludes that high oil prices accounted at most for only one percentage point of the average annual real GDP growth since 2000 of 6.8 percent. It is not clear exactly how the OECD arrives at such a modest estimate. Furthermore, the organization compares the outcome under actual prices since 2000 to estimated outcomes under a $19 long-term average price for Urals Blend, not the much lower $17 average price in the four to five years before 2000 - arguably a more appropriate counterfactual. The Economist Intelligence Unit estimates that the contribution of high oil prices to growth after 2000 was 2 to 3 percentage points, depending on which of the counterfactual price assumptions is used. This is in line with other estimates.
 It would be one thing to argue for a strategy to favor the oil sector if present prices persisted for some time. But prices will fall fairly soon, and since growth is linked to oil price levels, the opportunity cost of a slow rate of diversification is far higher than the OECD allows.
 All the multilaterals agree that Russia needs a prudent fiscal policy, tighter than in other circumstances. The government thus needs to aim for a large fiscal stabilization fund and spurn the temptation to engage in possibly pro-cyclical spending of budgetary receipts even after the fund is filled to the currently targeted level. While the role of fiscal rectitude in Russia's circumstances is obvious, there are some clear trade-offs in an assessment of the balance of risk and potential reward. 
 The OECD points to the serious degradation of human capital: the declining health of the population (a paradox as this is getting worse despite recent growth). One could also add deteriorating education and technological capacity, which will stymie hopes of long-term growth. 
 Thus it is not at all clear that the recommended degree of fiscal tightening, which would preclude heavy spending on health, education and infrastructure, is the best policy. The multilaterals are also ambivalent toward proposed heavier taxation of the natural resources sector combined with tax cuts for other sectors. There are strong warnings that raising the tax burden will endanger the role of the energy sector as the driver of growth.
 Another argument invoked to support a policy that favors the natural resources sector is the threat of a balance-of-payments constraint. Export growth will depend on growth in energy and metals exports over the medium term. Import growth projections depend in part, however, on assumed strong real appreciation. Second, even at much lower oil prices, and assuming only modest export growth, it would be some years before Russia's current account surplus disappears. And it would take even longer for any balance-of-payments crunch to occur, given reduced external debt service and increasing levels of foreign direct investment.
 The OECD notes the political economy implications of resource dependence: the institutional pathologies, such as greater inequality of incomes, corruption and a bias toward rent-seeking over entrepreneurship. 
 The recommendations on how to deal with this are circular - it is said that Russia needs a non-corrupt state apparatus to tax fairly and efficiently - and/or amount to mere exhortation to promote transparency and the rule of law. 
 For the multilaterals diversification is a worthy aim, but one to be postponed for the long term. The government should in the meantime gradually lay some of the groundwork through institutional improvements. Time optimization problems are not recognized, and in key policy areas the advice is skewed to ensure continued natural resource dominance. 
 Long-term growth in Russia will not be achieved on the basis of natural resource dependency. In the context of falling oil prices, medium-term growth will be seriously constrained. The state's present apparent dominance over vested interests may be fleeting. The government should seize the present opportunity to pursue policies that maximize the chances (which are uncertain at best) of diversification: prioritizing the exchange rate in monetary policy; use of oil windfalls to increase spending on health and education; measures to reduce industrial concentration levels; and curbing the power of vested interests in the natural resources sector. 
 Not for the first time during its transition, Russia would be very foolish to follow the multilaterals' advice.
 
 <i>Laza Kekic, director for Central and Eastern Europe at the Economist Intelligence Unit, contributed this comment to The St. Petersburg Times. </i>

TITLE: Social Policy Spells Doom for Generations
TEXT: This fall St. Petersburg's Legislative Assembly will be overloaded with work after the State Duma passes the Kremlin-backed bill replacing healthcare and transportation benefits for socially vulnerable groups with non-indexed cash payments this week. 
 
It appears that such payments, for pensioners all over Russia including 9.5 million people who fought on the home front during World War II, 9.4 million veterans of labor and up to 2 million people repressed by the Soviet regime, will be financed at the expense of regional budgets.
 This means one simple thing: millions of pensioners who live in the 73 regions of Russian Federation which are not able of finance their own social programs, and who only survive by virtue of subsidized services, are bound to face serious problems. 
 St. Petersburg is one of the 16 so-called &quot;donating regions&quot; that transfers money to the federal budget, so at first sight it would seem that there would be no complications.
 But this is just a first impression.
 This is August, less than 6 months before the federal legislation on the payments is scheduled to be introduced, but as yet the city parliament has not received a single notification from City Hall with draft calculations on how much of the 2005 city budget will be earmarked for regional disbursement. 
 In turn this leaves hundreds of thousands of St. Petersburg residents in the dark about what they will get to pay for communal services, medications, and expenses for municipal transport in lieu of the current subsidies, with just five months to go before January 1, 2005.
 There's only one category of pensioners with quite a significant number of people that is in a more or less privileged position - the 250,000 residents who survived the Siege of Leningrad during World War II. Guarantees have been made to this group that each will get 1,100 rubles ($38) from the federal budget every month. 
 It is clear this money is just a drop in the ocean, considering the inflation rate and the planned increase of communal services payments in the city, but at least they can start planning some things now.
 As for other pensioners, students and young families, surviving next year is a daunting prospect thanks to the Kremlin's approach to social policy. 
 This week City Hall said it would cost up to 3 billion rubles ($103 million) for the city budget to finance payments, but did not mention which. Mikhail Oseyevsky, head of the economics committee, said City Hall is talking about payments for employees of the culture sector, students and financial assistance for newborn children.
 Pensioners did not get much of a look in on the list.
 I'm fearful that the in the long run the Kremlin's policy will be reflected in the demographic situation of the country in a drastically negative way. 
 According to a study completed by the State's Statistics Committee on basis of a UN demography forecast for the 21st century, in the worst case scenario Russia's population could shrink to 87.7 million people by 2050 from 145 million today. 
 Russia's young population is already shrinking dramatically, according to a study by the Russian Academy of Science. There were about 30.5 million children and teenagers below 18 years old in 2003. The forecast for 2015 is 22 million and for 2050 is just 10 million.
 With the current system of social benefits for young families in Russia these figures look convincing. 
 Financial assistance to raise children in St. Petersburg amounts to something of a joke - just 70 rubles a month ($2.4) per child. But sometimes City Hall even fails to pay this, as happened in March when the labor and social committee suddenly announced delays in the payments because, it explained helpfully, &quot;additional time was needed to switch the system on to a new structure of the federal financing.&quot;
 If the authorities failed to pay 70 rubles in time, how are they going to deal with hundreds of thousands of pensioners waiting for their money after January next year?
 Imagine, then, what kind of Russia there will be by 2050. There is a big danger that by then it will be a country with a couple of dozen big cities with huge empty areas between them, with abandoned villages and settlements, welcoming passing cars with dark holes where windows used to be in houses standing alone on provincial roads on all the way from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok.

TITLE: mariinsky glitters amid flames
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: The Mariinsky Theater wraps up its 211th season Tuesday, with a performance of Kenneth McMillan's &quot;Manon&quot;. Over the past nine months the company's artistic goals were rather tied to financial challenges. The Mariinsky has been not only putting on new shows, but also rebuilding the sets for the thirty-something productions which were destroyed in a huge fire at one of the theater's warehouses.
 
The season's symbolic opening, Tchaikovsky's &quot;Mazeppa&quot;, the sets of which had gone up in blaze a mere month before the first night, illustrates just how intense a time it has been for the company, trying to keep a balance between repairs, new productions, ongoing repertoire and foreign tours.
 The past year featured slightly fewer premieres than in the previous years, when the Mariinsky was putting forward up to 8-9 new shows annually, but all the most meaningful events did take place.
 Charles Roubaud's rendition of &quot;Samson et Dalila&quot; which premiered in December, with internationally-renowned mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina in one of the title roles, became the Mariinsky's first production designed specifically for the singer.
 Borodina, one of the world's most celebrated Dalilas, brought sobriety, sensuality and thoughtfulness to her interpretation of the part. The singer portrayed a tormented and lyrical heroine, full of sensuous magnetism - essential for the role - yet she added a note of hidden sadness, which traditionally the character doesn't possess. Borodina's major achievement was making Dalila a more complex, sophisticated and human heroine.
 While the singer criticized the show for being too static and cold, she says she was thrilled to perform one of her most famous roles in her musical alma mater. Happily, Borodina has been invited to sing Lyubasha in Rimsky-Korsakov's &quot;The Tsar's Bride&quot;, scheduled to premiere at the Mariinsky this coming winter.
 In April, the much-anticipated premiere of Dmitry Shostakovich's &quot;The Nose&quot;, directed by Yury Alexandrov, became only the third-ever staging in Russia of this Soviet-era opera. 
 With its libretto boasting dozens of characters - consider, for instance, the ten policemen or the eight street cleaners - and a score possessing innovative, rebellious, and sharp timbres, plus vocal parts which include naturalistic imitations of sounds and instant switches from the upper to lower registers, the opera is bound to have slightly chaotic and illogical staging. 
 Alexandrov's work turned out to be slightly too much of hurly-burly as the characters in his rendition ran around more than even the hectic libretto required, yet opera did receive the radical, imaginative approach it requires. The opulent, innovative sets by designer Zinovy Margolin were among the show's major advantages. Both sides and ceiling of the stage served as apartment buildings, while a video showing a cobblestone road was projected against the backdrop. The dynamic, constructive scenery used for singers' exits and entrances appeared as houses or cupboards, one even containing a real, giant overcoat - an obvious nod to another of Gogol's famous works. 
 The production has already provoked much interest both in Russia and abroad. Later this month, the production is traveling to Stockholm as part of the Baltic Sea Festival.
 The main event of the year for the Mariinsky was undoubtedly Dmitry Chernyakov's take on Glinka's &quot;A Life For The Tsar&quot;, which marked the 200th anniversary since the composer's birth, and opened this year's &quot;The Stars of the White Nights&quot; festival in May.
 Chernyakov's designs and concept beautifully wove a link between the ages. In act one, introducing the main characters, 17th century costumes were juxtaposed with 20th century lamps and a bulky white plaster elk as if taken from a Soviet-era public park. Act three showed the Poles crashing into Susanin's house, dressed in black parkas of the kind that Vladimir Putin favors on trips to Siberia. The Susanin family - sorting out a meal with pickles, homemade jams, and other delicacies from the dacha - were given a mid-20th century feel.
 Act two of the opera, however, strikingly contrasted with the visual simplicity of the rest of the work. The Poles watching a series of dance performances provided an arena for a horrendous mish-mash of styles. There was the entrance of classical ballerinas topped with giant, cabaret-style <i>kokoshniki</i> headdresses. Memorable also were the little students from the Vaganova Ballet Academy who danced with guns which approached their own height, and in pairs with towering military officers twice their height.
 The act's gaudy aesthetics worked to unmask the genuine enemy of the peasants: not the invading Poles, but the country's own ruling class, the people in power. However, not all members of the audience, and especially those not strong in allegories, seemed to have gotten the message of the production, and in turn stood to accuse the director of vulgarity.
 The top ballet event, the premiere of three one-act ballets of groundbreaking American choreographer William Forsythe, &quot;Steptext&quot; (1985), &quot;In the Middle Somewhat Elevated&quot; (1988) and &quot;The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude&quot; (1996), was a major triumph for the troupe renowned mostly for its 19th-century classical repertoire. The company performed the abstract works with ease, grace and excitement, visibly thriving in the radical challenges that the ballets presented.
 The choreographer himself sounded content with the outcome. If in an interview with UK's The Guardian in autumn of 2003 he was skepticism personified, accusing the Mariinsky soloists of being too thin and weak, in spring of 2004, after the premiere, he sang their praises.
 &quot;The dancers were fabulous. ... They are the hardest working dancers in the world. I think they deserve every ounce of respect,&quot; Forsythe said. &quot; I think it's a privilege to set these ballets with these dancers.&quot;
 &quot;The Stars of the White Nights&quot; festival, running through the middle of July this year, managed what had been difficult in the past years for Mariinsky's artistic director, Valery Gergiev: to assemble a full pantheon of the company's former and current stars now performing across the globe. And, what is even more encouraging - their homecomings are turning from sporadic appearances into long-term arrangements with the Mariinsky, as, for instance, is the case of &quot;The Tsar's Bride&quot; with Olga Borodina.

TITLE: the word's worth
TEXT: <i>Lukashenko's Great Eggs of Wisdom</i> 
 Lukashenko’s Great Eggs of Wisdom Ever since Viktor Chernomyrdin left the Moscow spotlight, following Russian politics just hasn’t been as much linguistic fun: President Vladimir Putin’s occasionally salty expressions just can’t match the glory of Chernomyrdin’s malapropisms. The Belarussians are luckier, language-wise, at least — they’ve got Alexander Lukashenko, who continues to rule the country with an iron fist and a rubber tongue.
 For starters, he has a rather interesting take on world progress. While most of Russia’s political leaders are striving for Russia to be a “normal, civilized country” (íîðìàëüíàÿ, öèâèëèçîâàííàÿ ñòðàíà), in Belarus Lukashenko declares: ß ñâî¸ ãîñóäàðñòâî çà öèâèëèçîâàííûì ìèðîì íå ïîâåäó (I won’t let my government follow the civilized world). In fact, to that end, Lukashenko says: Ðàäè ñîõðàíåíèÿ ñïîêîéñòâèÿ â ñòðàíå ÿ ãîòîâ ïîæåðòâîâàòü ñîáñòâåííûì ðàçóìîì! (For the sake of maintaining peace in the country, I’m ready to sacrifice my own wits!) It’s handy to know that in Russian, ðàçóì means “senses,” “intelligence” or “reason” — it is the part of human intelligence (óì) that is responsible for logic, as opposed to creativity (òâîð÷åñòâî). For all you literature lovers out there, it’s the “sense” part in the Russian translation of Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility” (Ðàçóì è ÷óâñòâà).
 Lukashenko is known for his double-entendres — unintentional, one would hope. “Óíèêàëüíîñòü ñèòóàöèè â Áåëîðóññèè ñîñòîèò â òîì, ÷òî ÿ íèêîìó íè÷åãî íå îáÿçàí (the situation in Belarus is unique in that I don’t have any obligations before anyone). We think he means, “I’m not indebted to anyone,” “I’m an independent figure,” but it could also mean, “I don’t have an obligation to do anything for anyone.” This is the kind of statement that gets Lukashenko in trouble with the EU, where they think that presidents actually do have a few obligations to their people.
 He might not have obligations, but he does have dreams for his nation. In a classic Chernomyrdin-like malapropism, Lukashenko announced: ß îáåùàþ, ÷òî ê Íîâîìó ãîäó ó êàæäîãî áåëîðóñà íà ñòîëå áóäóò íîðìàëüíûå ÷åëîâå÷åñêèå ÿéöà (I promise that by New Year’s on every table of every Belarussian citizen, there will be normal, human eggs). 
 “Human eggs?” It sounds like he was aiming for something like “a chicken in every pot” — except for the fact that ÿéöà (eggs) in Russian, in the context of humans, are “the family jewels.” Not exactly what one wishes to see on a holiday serving plate ...
 We know about Lukashenko’s life on the collective farm from many statements. One has an interesting connotation: ß ðàáîòàë â äåðåâíå è æèë ñ ìóæèêàìè (I worked in the countryside and lived with men). Maybe this is why we never see his wife.
 Lukashenko is still pushing for a union with Russia, but he has his standards: ß ñ æóëèêàìè, â òîì ÷èñëå è ñ Ðîññèåé, àêöèîíèðîâàòüñÿ íå áóäó (I’m not going to take part in any auctions with crooks, including with Russia). 
 After all, he is a man of principle: ß íà ýòîé çåìëå ðîäèëñÿ, ÿ çäåñü è óìðó. ×åãî áû ìíå ýòî íè ñòîèëî. (I was born on this land, and here I’ll die. No matter what it takes.)
 You’ve got to admire his determination. 
 
 <i>Sergey Chernov is on vacation.</i>

TITLE: a meaty cut above the daily grind
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: For many Americans, the name - The Meatgrinder - may conjure up visions of some cowboy-style eatery in the badlands of Texas, where your 36 ounce T-bone steak is free if you can eat it in one sitting. Likewise for the obligatory 42 ounces of moonshine served with every meal.
 
In a Russian context, the name seems a little less grotesque. This Meatgrinder is hip, with a modern feel and a trendy atmosphere.
 Billed as a novelty, the new caf&eacute; on Malaya Morskaya is a recycled, perhaps revamped version of what's already been done in Moscow by the Russian chain Yelki Palki.
 Yelki Palki, located just adjacent to Pushkin Square on Tverskaya Street, Moscow's main thoroughfare, is done in the style of Mongolian barbecue and features the same giant, flat, round grill that The Meatgrinder has here. Only Yelki Palki is self-serviced, whereas at the Meatgrinder, a server assembles the bowl at the direction of the diner. And there's a wide variety of meats to choose from, ranging from turkey to venison.
 So, get in line, explain exactly how to arrange the eggplant, mushrooms, onions, peppers, etc., then watch as the server tosses everything together. Choose a type or several types of meat - including mutton and hunting sausage - and then add spices. A bowl of any variety costs 150 rubles.
 &quot;I could make my meat as spicy as I like,&quot; one diner said. She was particularly happy with the variety of spices and liked the fact that she could share the generous portion with her friend. She also pointed out that The Meatgrinder caters to quite a specific taste.
 &quot;The number of dishes is quite limited. For example, there is only meat and a salad bar,&quot; she said. &quot;It's quite specific.&quot;
 For those who have no idea where to begin or how to go about concocting a meal, the servers are friendly, helpful and ready with suggestions. If spicing a dish sounds like a frightening task, the server will carefully select a combination of spices to compliment the dish, then spice it up with a little flare. An impressive flick of the wrist adds just the right amount of flavor and fun.
 Once the bowl has been cooked, choose a sauce to garnish your meal. For one, the curry sauce is delicious. It tastes less like curry sauce and more like what most 24-hour shaverma stands drizzle on their meat. There are also chutney and soy sauces available. The soy sauce served tends to be rather average, with no hidden surprises, but is pleasantly less salty than most varieties out there.
 For vegetarians, or those in search of a lighter lunch-time fare, The Meatgrinder offers a salad bar (50 rubles) to satisfy one's inner rabbit. There isn't lettuce, but two varieties of cabbage on which to build salads are on hand.
 There are plenty of side-dishes like green and black olives, radishes, tomatoes, cucumbers, mixed peppers, corn and the usual gratuitous salad bar assortment of canned or pickled goods. 
 Salad dressing is available in two variants: pink and white. Pink appears to be something like Thousand Island, minus the pickle pieces. The white dressing is an interesting cross between ranch dressing and Greek tzatziki sauce, a really pleasant accompaniment to the cabbage and veggies.
 The soup is another option at The Meatgrinder that is great for a light lunch: good value at 40 rubles, and varied from day to day. The creamy soups tend to be the best. They're thick and tasty, but not heavy and rich, a great balance when it comes to cooking soup just right. And considering St. Petersburg is a city known for its foul weather, a bowl of soup at The Meatgrinder is sure to warm you on a cold and rainy day. The soup bowl is more cup-sized, so recommended is a tag-team combination with the salad bar to amass to a light lunch.
 The Meatgrinder is a big place, comprising of one giant room and a small side room. It's usually filled with young to middle-aged professionals working in the vicinity of St. Isaac's Square or tourists who point and grunt, trying to explain what they want, while the server smiles patiently and answers &quot;chicken?&quot; in English. 
 It's always busy, but tables free up pretty quickly. The meats are labeled in both English and Russian. They're displayed raw, so those with aversions to raw meat should tell their dining companions to order for them and reserve a window seat to people-watch on Malaya Morskaya Street.
 This dining spot is worth a try for lunch, and is far enough from Nevsky Prospect to elude its suffocation from over-crowding, but close enough to it to be conveniently located and easy to find. 
 It's a fun choice for a lunch break with colleagues or a casual dinner with a friend.
 While the idea may not be original and it may not be as varied or innovative as the Yelki Palki in Moscow (no Mongolian hats or costumes here), The Meatgrinder is a fun diversion from the norm and tempting enough to become a regular haunt, especially for meat lovers.
 
 <i>
The Meatgringer, Malaya Morskaya Ulitsa, 11. Tel: 117-13-43. Total cost for a two person meal: 440 rubles. </i>

TITLE: erotic museum 'remembers' rasputin
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: An Erotic Museum in the middle of St. Petersburg? The metal plaque with the admittedly artistic, yet nonetheless raunchy logo of a 19th century professor-type and three naked ladies inter-linking their limbs at splendid angles, certainly causes a double-take as one strolls along Furshtatskaya Ulitsa. Yet, it is apparently a sign of the times.
 
For years, the Moscow mausoleum had chosen to preserve the country's great communist leader, Vladimir Lenin, doused in a balsam solution. Now, in a St. Petersburg prostatology clinic, which doubles up as Russia's first and only Erotic Museum, it is the genitalia of the great mythic healer (also drunk and disreputable debaucher) Grigory Rasputin, that is being preserved inside a jar.
 This pickled member is just one of the 10,000 toys, statues, and figurines representing human private parts in the collection of Dr. Igor Knyazkin, the head doctor and originator of the Prostatology Center and its Erotic Museum. During the five years of the museums' existence, the collection has grown so substantial that only a tenth of it is on display at the clinic.
 &quot;The goal was not to shock anybody,&quot; explains Head of Research at the clinic, Dr. Gleb Gurko. &quot;Men and women who come to us are gloomy and embarrassed. To have to come to a doctor has already made them feel uncomfortable. Then they arrive, they see these cheerful exhibits and their mood lightens. When they start to tell the doctor about their ailment they are already at ease and it is much simpler to get the problems understood and sorted.&quot;
 Strolling around, it is unclear where the clinic ends and the museum begins, so opulently are the corridors, shelves, and walls adorned with tantalizing images. Even the toilet's decor, as well as wall mirrors, includes &quot;Toilet.Cam&quot; posters depicting all the titillation a mind may desire to see in a cubicle.
 With such a palette for the inquiring mind, how does a patient remember what brought them here?
 &quot;Oh, our staff are very professional,&quot; comments Gurko, as a smiling nurse in a short white uniform dress walks by. &quot;But, generally, many of our patients show a positive interest in the exhibits, asking questions about them, where they are from, and so on. Some people also ask if they too can donate something to the collection, postcards or some figurine or toy that they appropriated on their travels.&quot;
 Although feedback from patients and the museum's visitors have been overwhelmingly positive, there have been extreme cases.
 &quot;Some people have got this idea from the Rasputin exhibit that I am a penis collector of some kind,&quot; sighs Dr. Knyazkin. &quot;I get phone calls from people asking how much I would pay them if they cut their own member off for the museum. In one horrific case, a man offered me the dissected penis of his dog.&quot;
 Dr. Knyazkin strongly resists any portrayal of him or his museum as perverted, or even as pure titillation. Instead he wishes society was more honest when dealing with intimate and sexual matters. It would, he feels, eliminate the awkwardness, double standards and hypocrisy surrounding the human body today.
 &quot;In Russia, there is still such an ignorance about the topic,&quot; says Dr. Knyazkin. &quot;Once, a pensioner arrived and tried to smash open the jar with the phallus of Rasputin in it. He was full of rage, shouting that it should be destroyed, burnt, that it was <i>unholy </i>to keep such a thing.
 &quot;But, when I was in Novgorod, a priest took me to the basement levels of a church. He showed me a collection of jars. What was inside them? The private parts of saints associated with the church! 
 They are still being kept there. And what about the bodily remains of saints the Catholic Church specifies for worship?&quot;
 Coincidentally, many of the visitors to the museum and clinic take an interest in Rasputin's' jar display and believe that certain powers of the supposedly skillful lover are transferred to them. Dr. Gurko refutes this as fostering a kind of idolatry at the clinic:
 &quot;It's not like we tell people to go and rub Rasputin's jar, and it'll bring you great fertility, or anything like that. It's just that every person needs something to believe in - in order to live more peacefully.&quot;
 And for future presentation?
 &quot;I have been offered to take part in a private auction for a jewelry box, staged by Christi's in London,&quot; says Dr. Knyazkin. &quot;The contents are supposed to be the private parts of Joan d'Arc.&quot;
 Laughing loudly, he adds: &quot;I know, I can't believe it myself.&quot;
 <i>
 
The clinic, currently located at 47/11 Furshtatskaya Ulitsa, plans to transfer the display to a museum in the near future. For now, entrance is free for patients, or for casual visitors who purchase something from the clinic's pharmacy.
 </i>

TITLE: Paraguay Mourns 400 Killed in Market
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: ASUNCION, Paraguay - A forensic team that included U.S. experts examined the charred interior of a Paraguayan supermarket Wednesday to determine the cause of a weekend blaze that killed more than 400 people, many of whom were trapped inside by locked doors. 
 
As the specialists took burn samples from the building, Interior Minister Orlando Fiorott said the investigation &quot;clearly points&quot; to an accidental gas leak that ignited. He said that it didn't look as if Sunday's blaze had been intentionally set, but cautioned that the findings were preliminary. 
 The death toll was revised to 426 on Wednesday, down from 464 a day earlier; 520 people remained hospitalized with burns and other injuries. The attorney general's office said 153 were reported missing. 
 Officials charged a co-owner of the supermarket and four others with manslaughter Tuesday after a security guard said he was ordered to lock the doors to prevent people from stealing. 
 Officials have said they were checking reports that an exploding gas canister could have started the flames, which forced a floor to collapse, crushing cars and burning many bodies beyond recognition. 
 President Nicanor Duarte has called for a swift and thorough investigation into the tragedy at the Ycua Bolanos supermarket, food court and parking garage in suburban Asuncion, the Paraguayan capital. 
 The charges came after chief investigator Edgar Sanchez said a security guard testified he was told via radio to lock the doors when the fire began. Sanchez said the guard didn't know who gave the order. 
 Meanwhile, Paraguayans continued to mourn their dead. 
 Outside a nightclub near the supermarket that became a makeshift morgue, school-age children held a vigil and lit candles to remember the victims. 
 &quot;One of my best friends was killed in the fire and I miss her terribly,&quot; said 12-year-old Ana Benitez. &quot;She sat next to me in class and it's going to be painful when school resumes and I see that empty chair next to me.&quot;
 Paraguayan officials said they've begun reviewing leading shopping centers in the capital and their emergency preparations. 
 Angel Villalba, the president of the Paraguayan Association of Supermarkets, told a radio station that initial findings have been alarming. 
 &quot;Almost none of them have emergency exits,&quot; he said.

TITLE: Banks Robbed As Bush, Kerry Campaign
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: DAVENPORT, Iowa - Three banks were robbed while U.S. President George Bush and Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry were speaking just blocks away from one another Wednesday morning, it emerged Thursday. 
 
The Ralston Credit Union was robbed at 10:45 a.m., shortly after the president began speaking at LeClaire Park in this eastern Iowa town, said Davenport police Capt. David Struckman. 
 The next robbery, at First National Bank, happened at 11:23 a.m., followed by another at 11:45 a.m. at Southeast National Bank, said Struckman, who also served as the department's liaison to the U.S. Secret Service during the visits from the two political leaders. 
 Kerry had begun his economic forum at River Center at 10 a.m. 
 No one was injured in the robberies. Authorities weren't releasing details on what weapons may have been used or how much money was taken. 
 &quot;I'm sure they were counting on the fact that we were short-handed, but we weren't,&quot; said Struckman, adding that the patrol was at normal levels. 
 Struckman said authorities had a suspect for the first robbery in custody. He said a description of a suspect for the second robbery doesn't match the first. 
 Struckman said he doesn't think the robberies are related, but cautioned that the investigation was continuing. 
 Davenport Police Lieutenant Don Gano said a package left unattended in downtown Davenport for a half-hour raised concerns it was a bomb, &quot;but it turned out to be nothing.&quot; 
 &quot;As far as I know, everything went OK,&quot; he said of the dual visits.

TITLE: Twins With Fused Skulls Separated After Surgery
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: NEW YORK - Two-year-old twins from the Philippines born with the tops of their heads fused together were &quot;strong and stable&quot; after being separated in a marathon operation that stretched into early Thursday. 
 
Surgeons, nurses and technicians applauded in the operating room after Carl and Clarence Aguirre were surgically separated at 10:32 p.m. Wednesday, said Steve Osborne, a spokesman for the Children's Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center. 
 The operation was completed around 3:15 a.m. Thursday, more than 17 hours after it began, Osborne said. Dr. David Staffenberg, the boys' plastic surgeon, said the boys were &quot;strong and stable.&quot; 
 Several hours after the operation, the boys remained sedated and unconscious in the pediatric intensive care unit, with &quot;vital signs fine, no apparent problems,&quot; Osborne said. 
 Staffenberg delivered the news of the separation to the twins' mother, Arlene Aguirre, in a private waiting area. He got on his knees, took Aguirre's hands and said &quot;You're now the mother of two boys,&quot; said hospital spokeswoman Pamela Adkins. 
 Aguirre burst into tears, she said. Doctors teased apart abutting portions of the boys' brains after completing an incision around their skull, and the twins' head-to-head operating tables were then slightly pulled apart, said Osborne. 
 Reconstruction of the boys' skulls, a major project, is to be left for later. 
 The separation was the culmination of a gradual surgical approach that lasted 10 months, a departure from the more common marathon operations that have separated other conjoined twins. 
 It is likely to be months before the twins' conditions can be fully assessed, their doctors said. In the past, separation was considered a success if both twins simply survived. But Montefiore's goal for the Aguirre boys, who have never been able to sit up, stand straight or look at each other's face, was &quot;viable, independent lives.&quot; 
 Over four major surgeries since October, the boys' separate-but-touching brains were gently pushed apart and the tangle of blood vessels they shared were cut and divided. 
 Between surgeries, the boys were given time to heal and to adapt to their rerouted circulation systems. Originally, veins near Clarence's brain were doing much of the circulation work for both boys, but scans showed dormant veins on Carl's side had &quot;plumped up&quot; and begun working in response to the surgery, lead surgeon Dr. James Goodrich said last week. 
 Arlene Aguirre and her mother, Evelyn Aguirre, were at the hospital throughout the operation, getting occasional updates from the doctors.

TITLE: Sharapova on Winning Form in Canada
PUBLISHER: Combined Reports
TEXT: TORONTO, Canada - Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova had little difficulty in her first match at the $1.3 million Montreal Cup on Wednesday, downing Kristina Brandi of Puerto Rico 6-1 6-4. 
 
However, fourth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva and eight-seeded compatriot Nadia Petrova were second-round upset victims on the third full day of competition at the event. 
 The 17-year-old Sharapova, the first Russian player to win Wimbledon, was challenged briefly in the second set but was able to quickly recover and put the match away with her dominating backhand and solid groundstrokes. 
 &quot;She definitely picked up her game in the second set,&quot; the sixth-seeded Sharapova said. 
 &quot;I never expect to play my best tennis in my first match, but I did everything I had to do to win.&quot; 
 Dementieva became the first major upset victim of the week, losing to Argentina's Gisela Dulko 6-1 6-4. 
 Dulko, 19, is a WTA rookie who already has pulled off several upsets. 
 &quot;I played well from the baseline and served pretty well,&quot; Dulko said. 
 &quot;So that was the key to the match. She's the highest ranked player I've ever beat.&quot;
 Dulko beat 47-year-old former world No. 1 Martina Navratilova at both the French Open and Wimbledon this year and also defeated Jelena Dokic at the All-England club. 
 Petrova was also knocked out of the tournament, dropping a 6-4 6-7 7-5 decision to fellow Russian Elena Likhovtseva. 
 Third-seeded Anastasia Myskina, the French Open champion, moved on with an easy 6-0 6-4 win over Arantxa Parra Santonja of Spain.
 In other matches, ninth-seeded Paola Suarez of Argentina beat Serbian Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 6-2; 13th-seeded Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria defeated Martina Sucha of Slovakia 6-3, 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 and No. 14 Elena Bovina of Russia beat Lilia Osterloh 7-6 (7), 6-4. Columbia's Fabiola Zuluaga, seeded 16th, lost 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 to Tatiana Golovin of France.
 o
 
 MASON, Ohio - Andy Roddick didn't know if it was the best shot he ever hit, or the luckiest. Either way, it set the stage for his second-round victory Wednesday over Nicolas Kiefer at the Tennis Masters Cincinnati tournament. 
 In an evening match delayed at the start and interrupted twice by rain, Andre Agassi rallied after a second-set lapse to beat Thomas Johansson <br> 6-1, 3-6, 6-1. 
 Agassi said he was re-energized by the stalwart fans who stayed through two rain delays in the second set. 
 &quot;When you see the excitement of people who have persevered, it gets your juices going,'' Agassi said. 
 Roddick beat Kiefer for the third time in three weeks, this time 6-4, 6-4. His offbeat but brilliant passing shot evened the score at 30 in game seven, and he won the next two points for the service break he needed to take the opening set. 
 When Roddick went to the net after an extended exchange of baseline shots, Kiefer lifted a lob over his head. Roddick sprinted back to the baseline, whirled and got his racket on the ball just before it hit the court. 
 When his shot down the line skipped out of the reach of Kiefer's forehand, Roddick raised both hands, palms up, to the crowd in a gesture that could only mean, &quot;How did I do that?'' 
 Roddick said he could only laugh at his good fortune when he saw the replay. 
 &quot;It was going to go between my legs, but I couldn't get there in time. So I just flailed at it, and I figured if I was going to flail at it, I might as well hit it hard,'' Roddick said. &quot;I didn't really see it ... but I saw people clapping, so I figured it went in. 
 &quot;It was probably the best shot I ever hit, or the luckiest. It felt pretty cool, but I didn't realize it was that drastic.'' 
 Earlier, Lleyton Hewitt beat unseeded Gustavo Kuerten, and Carlos Moya beat Ivan Ljubicic in the $2.5 million event after persistent, heavy rains delayed the start of the morning matches for more than four hours. 
 Tenth-seeded Hewitt broke Kuerten's serve in the second game and cruised through the first set. Kuerten prolonged the second set by breaking Hewitt to make it 5-3, but both held serve thereafter, and the Australian won 6-3, 6-4. 
 Fourth-seeded Moya beat Ljubicic 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the first match after the rain delay. 
 &quot;I had never beaten him on hardcourt, so I didn't know what to expect,'' said Moya, who came in 0-2 against Ljubicic on this surface but 2-0 on clay. 
 &quot;The court is really fast, and he served really well,'' Moya said. &quot;My serve wasn't really good for this match.'' 
 The win gave Moya, who won this tournament in 2002, at least 50 match victories three years in a row. Still, he was not happy with his play in the first two rounds because he lost the first set in each. But he said his desire to win is greater than ever.

TITLE: Rugby Gets Professional Profile
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: In the world of rugby union, Georgia dominates the CIS and Krasnoyarsk is the capital of Russia. 
 
This balance of power may not last forever, however, if the Moscow rugby establishment has its way.
 The Rugby Union of Russia is working on emerging from the shadow of Georgia - which the national team hasn't beaten in a decade - by building up the profile and professionalism of the Russian game. 
 Officials also hope that possible recognition of rugby by the International Olympic Committee will bring a significant increase in funding from the state to allow the country to match its clout in other Olympic sports. 
 Meanwhile, Moscow's expatriate rugby community has been using its resources to raise the profile of the game in the capital - drafting some of rugby's biggest names to help out.
 Currently, if not in decline, the Russian national team could be said to be languishing in the doldrums of mediocrity.
 The team reached a low point during the last World Cup, when the Russian team sat out the competition over a disagreement about players' grandparents. The still hotly disputed spat with the International Rugby Board cost Russia its place when it was disqualified on the grounds that three South African-born players were not proved to be eligible; Russian officials claimed that all have Russian grandparents.
 Funding is so poor that professional players from Moscow are forced to spend days on trains to play games in Siberian cities such as Krasnoyarsk. The teams then spend several weeks playing a series of games before taking the grueling return journey.
 There is, however, hope that the Russian game can be brought to a new level both in terms of financing and professionalism.
 On the field, the national sevens side recently qualified for the World Cup in Hong Kong next March, while the 15-a-side team is the current holder of the Superpowers Cup, having beaten China, the United States and Japan in the inaugural tournament last year.
 It is in the youth sides, however, that hope of long-term revival lies, and clubs are starting to realize this.
 &quot;Clubs are now punished if they don't have a youth program,&quot; said Dmitry Afinogenov, the international liaison officer of the Rugby Union of Russia.
 He said much can still be achieved through the ongoing revision of the game's structure to allow players to start the game young and be taken on early.
 In the vanguard of this is the pairing of Alexander Alexeyenko - coach of the promising Under-21 side - and the technical development director, Igor Mironov, a former international who played 10 years of club rugby in France.
 With the clubs and the federation taking a more professional approach to player development, Afinogenov agrees that the player base needs to be increased significantly.
 &quot;At present, outside of the three big Moscow clubs, the three Siberian clubs and a few other clubs in cities like Rostov and Taganrog, it's only played in one or two schools and at some universities,&quot; he said, &quot;which really isn't enough.&quot;
 One perennial problem is funding for rugby in a country dominated by other sports. While the sport remains outside the Olympic fold, funding from the state will be scarce. This leaves the union heavily reliant on the IRB and, to an even greater extent, private sponsorship.
 In Moscow, one tack being taken by the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce is to promote the game within the city's business community as a means to promote contacts between Russian and British businesses.
 In doing so, they have used their resources and contacts to raise the profile of the sport in the city.
 In July, the organization pulled off a coup in bringing three of the biggest names in modern rugby to the capital to spread the word and share their views on how the game can develop.
 All Blacks captain Sean Fitzpatrick, Wales' Ieuan Evans and England captain Will Carling spent three days in Moscow to promote the chamber's annual corporate rugby sevens event.
 In an interview, Carling suggested that Moscow would benefit from becoming a venue on the international sevens circuit. 
 &quot;Guys would love to come here. It would be great and would raise the profile of the game for sure,&quot; he said. 
 Carling reckons the Russians have the raw talent to become a force in the game. 
 &quot;They're big, powerful guys; athletic as well,&quot; he said. 
 He noted, however, that technical levels are quickly rising in the game, with the advent of greater professionalism.
 Fitzpatrick, for his part, emphasized the need for aggressive marketing to the young.
 &quot;We really need to make a big effort to get out there and spread the word,&quot; he said. &quot;It won't just happen by itself.&quot;
 Getting people interested is not a problem, however, in Moscow's Siberian rival, Krasnoyarsk.
 International matches in the city can attract crowds of 20,000, while local derbies can draw 10,000 spectators - a gate that would put many professional English clubs to shame.

TITLE: Tight-Lipped Cowboys Throw Out Quarterback
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: OXNARD, California - Quincy Carter became the Cowboys' starting quarterback three years ago after veteran Tony Banks was unexpectedly cut during training camp. His time in Dallas stunningly ended in a similar way. 
 
In a virtually unexplained move Wednesday, Dallas cut the player who began camp just four days earlier as the No. 1 quarterback. Carter started every game last season, when the Cowboys won 10 games and made the playoffs in coach Bill Parcells' first year. 
 &quot;Sometimes things happen and you have to alter what you're going to do,'' Parcells said. &quot;We've put our bets down and the wheel's spinning, so we're not looking back.'' 
 Carter was a rookie in 2001 when he became Troy Aikman's successor after Banks was cut. This time, 40-year-old Vinny Testaverde takes over as the starter. 
 Parcells and owner Jerry Jones were vague about why they released Carter, the team's opening-game starter during each of his three seasons and the player Parcells said this week had &quot;a leg up'' in the quarterback competition. 
 Jones wouldn't specifically answer questions about reports that Carter failed a drug test or say if the move was based on non-football issues. 
 &quot;We've made a decision to move in a different direction,'' Jones said. &quot;We're not going to get in a lot of detail on the process. 
 &quot;I think that we should leave it at it just was not a difficult decision, and not get into a definition of what it was about.'' 
 The NFL had no comment. 
 ESPN.com, FoxSports.com and CBSSportsLine.com, all citing unidentified league sources, reported Carter failed a drug test. FoxSports.com identified the drug as cocaine. 
 &quot;I'm shocked. I'm at a loss for words,'' Carter told The Dallas Morning News. &quot;The one thing I know and the people who have been around me all my life know is that cocaine has never been an issue for me. It never will be. And it's disturbing that a rumor like that would come out. ... That cocaine rumor is ridiculous.'' 
 Carter's agent, Eugene Parker, did not return phone messages. 
 Soon after being informed of the decision by Parcells and Jones early Wednesday morning, Carter left camp wearing a gray hooded Cowboys sweatshirt. 
 Testaverde reunited with Parcells this summer in hopes of being a starter again. It looks like he will be when the Cowboys open the season September 12 at Minnesota.