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The apparently unregulated construction of new buildings in already built up areas is bothering not only Russians living in St. Petersburg suburbs, but also foreign citizens who have made roots in the city center and hoped that the pleasant surroundings would remain as they were. |
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MOSCOW - The world's longest winter car race sets out Wednesday from a lighthouse on the Kola Bay near Murmansk, as 72 cars attempt to drive across the country in a gold rush. |
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Lithuanian president Valdas Adamkus is likely to turn down Moscow's invitation to attend celebrations in Moscow on May 9 of the 60th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany, Lithuanian television reported Friday quoting its sources within the state's administration. |
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New Hotel for Peterhof ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - A four-star hotel will be built in the center of St. Petersburg suburb of Peterhof. The new 94-room hotel will be built near the Olginsky Pond, close to the Peter and Paul Cathedral, Interfax quoted Lyudmila Travina, spokeswoman for the Petrodvorets district as saying Friday. |
All photos from issue.
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Unidentified intruders attacked a security guard at the scientific center of human rights organization Memorial on Ulitsa Rubinshteina and robbed the office on Friday night. The robbers knocked the guard, Immanuil Polyakov, on the head so that he lost consciousness. |
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Cellist and philanthropist Mstislav Rostropovich launched a book of the previously unpublished diaries of Tsarina Maria Fyodorovna on Monday. The musician purchased the original diaries, dating back to the years 1914 and 1923, which were discovered only a few years ago, and donated them to the publishing house Vagrius, which printed them. |
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St. Petersburg divers on Sunday found the body of State Duma deputy Kirill Ragozin, who fell through ice in the Gulf of Finland on his snowmobile on Jan. 29. The body was found under ice 100 meters away from the spot where Ragozin drowned, near the village of Podborovye in the Leningrad Oblast, the Leningrad Oblast Emergency Situation service said Monday. |
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MOSCOW - Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has added his voice to those criticizing President Vladimir Putin's policies, lambasting the government's bungled benefits reform and warning that efforts to strengthen the president's power base are curbing democratic freedoms. |
 GOLUBKINO, Moscow Region - In this village south of Moscow, everyone knows the thin man in the Wellington boots. When he walks by, the children of the village nod and say "Hello, Ray" in a cheery if uncanny Irish accent. He is Raymond O'Brien, 54, or Ray to everyone in Golubkino, a village of about 150 people 70 kilometers south of Moscow, where he lives with his family and an eclectic collection of horses. |
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New anti-terror measures being considered after the Beslan school tragedy are misguided and will prove ineffective in preventing future attacks, but they will help shield the Kremlin and the Federal Security Service from public backlash after the next attack, defense experts said. |
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MOSCOW - A British businessman whose company installs raised floors has been charged with violating Russian patent laws and could face up to five years in prison if found guilty. He has been ordered to remain in Russia pending a resolution of the case. |
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MOSCOW - The latest effort by leading liberals to form a united front against President Vladimir Putin ended without agreement, with liberal parties Yabloko and the Union of Right Forces, or SPS, rejecting a proposal to set up a new party. |
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MOSCOW - Human rights activists last Wednesday accused the federal government of turning a blind eye to the abduction of hundreds of civilians in Chechnya by federal troops and Chechen forces under the command of Chechen First Deputy Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov. |
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MOSCOW - Authorities are planning to deport Yuri Bagrov, a Radio Liberty and former Associated Press reporter from the North Caucasus, in what his colleagues believe is retaliation for his independent coverage of the Chechen war. |
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Agents Not in Jail MOSCOW (AP) - Two agents who were sent back to Russia after being convicted of killing Chechen rebel leader Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev in Qatar are not in prison, the Justice Ministry said. "As of today, we do not have them in our institutions," Yury Kalinin, head of the Justice Ministry's penal department, said in comments broadcast on NTV television Wednesday night. |
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When Norilsk Nickel privatized, turning the former state-owned giant into a private corporation, the way the city of Norilsk and the factory interacted began to change. In early 2004, the revolutionary idea that the city should exist independently of the factory resounded throughout Norilsk. |
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St. Petersburg-based PromStroiBank, or the Industrial and Construction Bank St. Petersburg, has received a $90 million loan from almost two dozen other banks, the bank announced late last week. |
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International agency Fitch Ratings assigned a national rating of AA with a positive outlook to the city of St. Petersburg on Friday. "The rating reflects the city's enhanced revenue generating capacity as well as its diversified and dynamic local economy," said the rating agency's press statement. |
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Communal Tax Up ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - The beginning of the year saw an average 25 percent to 29 percent rise in communal services fees, Interfax reported the head of Northwestern regional development Vladimir Yakovlev as saying Monday. |
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Confiscation Legal MOSCOW (Bloomberg) - Russia's Constitutional Court ruled that it's legal to confiscate profits made through transactions aimed at evading taxes, Interfax reported. Such profits can be confiscated in full, Interfax reported, citing the court. The ruling sets up a mechanism for possible nationalization of domestic companies, Interfax reported, citing experts, including Vadim Zaripov, an analyst at law firm Pepeliaev, Goltsbat and Partners. Australian Nod to Rusal MOSCOW (Bloomberg) - Russian Aluminium, the world's third-largest aluminum producer, said Australian regulators approved the planned purchase of a stake in Queensland Alumina Ltd. |
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 St. Petersburg residents are by far more satisfied with their mobile communication providers than with the banks and insurance companies operating in the city. |
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Mobile phone retail chain Svyaznoi has said it will more than double its store numbers nationwide, and introduce about 20 new high-end Svyaznoi 3 shops, with several in St. Petersburg, before the end of the year. By 2006 the company aims to boost its market share - currently about 8 percent - to 16 percent, eventually reaching a market-leading 25 percent, Maxin Nogotkov, president of Maxus, which owns the Svyaznoi brand, said Saturday at a Stockholm School of Economics seminar in St. |
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Although the latest in mobile phone capabilities - 3G, third generation technology - has been in the U.S. and Europe for some time, the Russian market will greet it no sooner than mid 2006, government officials predict. |
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The audience consisted mainly of general directors, CEOs, marketing managers and people who generally work in the higher echelons of companies. They gathered on a Saturday evening for a seminar as part of a business education program to listen to "How to Build Business Success in Russia (and to maintain it). |
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President Vladimir Putin recently gave a touching rationale for the new Public Chamber, stating, People have the right to make sure their voice is heard. The 10-page document approved by the State Duma in its second reading last Friday specifies the essentials of this new creation, outlining its mission, organization and responsibilities. |
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The provision of medicine to beneficiaries is of great concern. Media reports in January and February show that medicine has not been supplied to pharmacies on time, or that the full range of medicines has not been provided or that the amounts are too little. |
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'You had to attack civilians, the people, women, children, innocent people, unknown people far removed from any political game. The reason was quite simple: to force ... the public to turn to the state to ask for greater security. This was the essence of Operation Gladio, a decades-long covert campaign of terrorism and deceit directed by the intelligence services of the West - against their own populations. |
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Spain Backs EU Accord BRUSSELS (AFP) - EU leaders hailed Spain's overwhelming "yes" to the bloc's constitution, but admitted the low turnout was worrying while analysts stressed the huge challenges ahead in votes in other EU states. The European Union's executive arm reiterated that the Spanish referendum si should give a boost to campaigns in a string of other countries due to hold ballots over the next 18 months. |
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Pole Vault Record BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) - Yelena Isinbayeva set her second world record for the women's pole vault in a week and became the first woman to clear 16 feet indoors last week when she took the mark to 4. |
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Issues Archive