LOCAL NEWS

CITY HALL WANTS LICENSING AFTER TOURIST DIES

City Hall demanded all vehicles carrying tourists be licencensed after a 69-year-old German woman died and 19 German and Dutch tourists were injured in a collision near St. Petersburg last week.

Officials on Friday held an urgent meeting in response to the incident and urged reform of the system of licensing for passenger transport operators.

ICEBREAKER IN CITY YARD BURNS AGAIN

A nuclear-powered icebreaker 50 Let Pobedy, or 50th anniversary of Victory, under construction at St. Petersburg shipbuilder Baltiisky Zavod caught fire Friday.

NATIONAL NEWS

NEW VIOLENCE FOR HAZING CASE SAILORS

Seven St. Petersburg navy recruits, who won a court case against hazing in Kronshdat less than two months ago, were involved in another brutal accident this month, within a week after their relocation to Baltiisk in the Kaliningrad region.

St. Petersburg lawyer Yelena Filonova, who represented the sailors during the previous case said Monday the latest incident, which resulted in several of the sailors being hospitalized with heavy bruises, appears to be a vendetta for putting the Navy to shame by voicing complaints against hazing.

ALTAI LEADER DIES IN CRASH

MOSCOW — The Kremlin envoy for Siberia has taken personal charge of the investigation into the death of Mikhail Yevdokimov, a comedian who was elected governor of the Siberian region of Altai last year, his office said Monday.

OLIGARCH TO BACK SOCCER PLANS

City Hall has announced an $18.7 million plan to overhaul the city’s soccer infrastructure, with multi-billionaire Roman Abramovich heading a list of private investors.

The plan, to be implemented between 2006 and 2009, includes the construction of 64 new fields, complete with all-weather surfaces, modern equipment and 100 new soccer coaches.

IN BRIEF

Putin Daughters Enroll

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — President Vladimir Putin’s two daughters have both been admitted to St. Petersburg State University, where their father once studied, national newspapers reported last week.

LOCAL BUSINESS

ALCAN WILL WRAP UP RUSSIAN CIGARETTES

One of the world leaders in packaging Alcan Inc. has signed a $30 million investment agreement with the St. Petersburg government, the committee for economic development, industrial policy and trade reported Friday.

Vice-governor Mikhail Oseyevsky said the plant will be launched next year creating 120 new working places.

RUSSIAN POST TO BUY 900 NEW CARRIAGES

The state-owned postal service Pochta Rossii has ordered more than 900 new railway carriages from St. Petersburg carriage maker Vagonmash as part of a 90-billion ruble ($3.

TIME-CONSCIOUS CONSUMERS DISCOVER E-COMMERCE

As Russians become more technology conscious and the number of Internet users steadily increases, IT companies and banks are offering convenient and quick ways to pay for goods and services.

They say everyone can benefit from IT-based cooperation. The only problem is to convince skeptics and promote new services to conservatives.

PORTRAIT OF THE AVERAGE MOBILE USER SHOWS A YOUNG, WELL-OFF EDUCATED MAN

The number of mobile telephone connections in Russia’s two capitals already exceeds the size of the population in Moscow and St. Petersburg and the number of new subscriptions shows no sign of drying up with the monthly tallies still impressive.

WEALTHY BANKERS TURN PROPERTY INVESTORS

Bankers Vladimir Kogan and David Traktovenko, who sold majority shares in Promstroibank (PSB) to Vneshtorgbank (VTB) earlier this year, seem to have found a new way of investing their money — town-building.

Ranked as St. Petersburg’s No.1 and No. 2 richest men by Finans magazine, Kogan and Traktovenko have increased their wealth by allowing VTB to acquire a 76-percent stake in St.

POLL: RUSSIANS REMAIN WARY OF LOANS, MORTGAGES

MOSCOW — Despite an urgent need among many Russians for improved housing conditions, half of the country’s population says it would not turn to a bank for a mortgage, an opinion survey found.

STOCKS

IN BRIEF

Gazprom Grows in U.S.

LONDON (Bloomberg) — Gazprom has agreed to buy liquefied gas from U.K.- based gas producer BG Group to make its first delivery to the U.S., as Gazprom tries to expand in North America.

“With this first LNG cargo delivery into the United States, Gazprom has taken the first step towards becoming a leading LNG supply, shipping, and marketing company,” the company said Monday.

OPINION

A REAL LEADER DOES NOT REMAIN SILENT

Vladimir Putin’s silence during last weekend’s rescue operation to save the seven men on the mini-submarine Priz revealed the hidden weakness of an administration obsessed with projecting strength.

All day Friday and Saturday, as naval officials gave uncertain and conflicting accounts of conditions inside the vessel and of efforts to free it, and suspicions grew that, as with the Kursk, it was already too late, there was no word from Putin.

EXODUS TO THE LEFT

The new party sprang from the Party of Democratic Socialism, which was most successful in eastern Germany and won some surprising electoral victories in the early 1990s.

LIKE THE CENSORS OF OLD

Back in the dark old days of the Soviet Union, foreign journalists in Moscow led pretty ridiculous lives. They lived in hotels and, later, in special closed compounds. They were required to use interpreters, drivers and office staff supplied by the Soviets — and, generally speaking, employed by the KGB.

TAX CODE TO ENTER THE NEXT EVOLUTION

The tax law is heading closer to clarity, finally beginning to answer some questions businesses have puzzled over for quite some time. Several changes and amendments to the tax legislation were adopted on June 6.

Change: The Ideal Scenario

Until the end of July, it seemed that various state agencies were to blame for all of Alfa Group’s problems: either the tax men were slapping Alfa with a bill for another billion in back taxes, or the prosecutors were hinting at a possible investigation, or “well-wishers” were planting compromising material about the company (though this could well have been someone’s personal initiative).