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Life for foreign tourists could become easier by the end of next year, if the city backs new tourism committee proposals, a city official said Wednesday. The committee’s 2006-2010 program for boosting incoming tourism, based on research by independent American consultants, Boston Consulting Group, or BCG, will “turn the city into a recognizable product that we are able to market,” said Sergei Khudyakov, deputy director of City Tourist Information Center. “Now the implementation of BCG’s advice is simply a question of budget,” Khudyakov said at a roundtable organized by the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce. |
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Alexander Belenky / The St. Petersburg Times
A view of the wastewater treatment plant opened Thursday by President Vladimir Putin, Finnish President Tarja Halonen and Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson. |
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Russian submarines are aging, state funding is drying up, accidents are getting more frequent and the consequent death toll is rising, but a group of high-ranking St. Petersburg submariners say the main cause of the naval disasters that haunt the country is fear. The statements were made during a conference on the safety of the Russian submarine fleet on Tuesday at the Regional Press Institute.
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All photos from issue.
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MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin will host a televised call-in show in a few days, and he is expected to use the event to readdress speculation that he might stay for a third term and to tout a multibillion-dollar boost to social spending. “The presidential administration is sorting out the last details for the call-in show and will then set a date for it,” a Kremlin spokeswoman said Wednesday, speaking on customary condition of anonymity. |
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VIENNA — A European Union drive to haul Iran before the UN Security Council over its nuclear plans was in jeopardy on Wednesday following stiff opposition from Russia. |
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Drop in Birth Rate ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) – The birth rate is falling in the city, Pavel Krotin, chief surgeon at the Uventa medical center said in a report for the city’s Labor and Social Policy Committee, Interfax reported. Krotin said that this came after a rise in the birthrate in 2003-2004. “Fewer children are being born because the women giving birth now were themselves born during a demographic decline,” Krotin said. |
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St. Petersburg power monopoly Lenenergo said Wednesday it will accelerate its investment program as soon as the company’s reorganization is complete. The company expects higher profits to complement the greater investments, because the finances would allow Lenenergo to “increase [the percentage of] power the monopoly generates and hence decrease [the reliance on] outside energy buying,” the company said in a statement. |
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Komatsu, Japan’s No. 1 manufacturer of construction equipment, said on Tuesday that it was planning to set up a production facility in Russia. “Komatsu Ltd. |
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St. Petersburg hopes to increase its spending and earnings by 20 percent in 2006, according to the proposed city budget figures announced this week. Spending has been earmarked at 153.2 billion rubles ($5.4 billion) and earnings at 144.3 billion rubles ($5. |
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Dockers End Strike ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — A group of the city’s dockers will sign a collective agreement with the St. Petersburg Sea Port to end the workers’ strike by the end of this month, Alexander Moiseyenko, head of the Dockers’ Union, said Wednesday, Interfax reported. |
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Britain’s most Russia-focused gold companies offered a mixed picture of their first-half performance Thursday, with one saying pre-tax profit almost doubled and the other swinging to a loss. Highland Gold Mining, which has spearheaded foreign investment in Russian gold, reported a net loss of $6. |
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Russia, which has long guarded its ailing aerospace industry with high duties on foreign planes, may ease import restrictions on certain Boeing and Airbus models, government officials said Thursday. |
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Berezovsky Risks Riga MOSCOW (Bloomberg) — Russian millionaire-in-exile Boris Berezovsky arrived Wednesday Latvia to push an educational project run by U.S. President George W. Bush’s brother, RIA Novosti reported. Berezovsky, wanted by Russia on fraud charges, said he is one of the shareholders of Ignite! Inc. |
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Back in New York after a whirlwind eight days in Moscow and St. Petersburg, I tried to sort out my impressions. I had gone to Russia with a simple question — how bad were things getting? But simple questions never have easy answers. And this time there were some additional complications. |
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A year ago President Vladimir Putin abolished gubernatorial elections. Let’s take a look at what we were promised and what results we have actually got. |
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 “God save Putin and his generation,/ God save Putin from our contempt/ Putin is the power, it dictates the laws/ Putin is you, Putin is millions,” sang Alexei Nikonov of the local punk band PTVP at the “Red Concert” on Sunday. The gig was put together by PTVP with two other underground acts, S. |
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Moscow’s Maly Drama Theater, which is performing on tour in St. Petersburg this week, is a rare theatrical company which nurtures Russian theatrical traditions without becoming dull and old-fashioned. |
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Moloko, one of the city's best underground rock clubs, is being forced to vacate its current premises after a long legal struggle with KUGI (the City Property Committee) in October. The club's management wants to make its last month a memorable one with concerts by some Moloko stalwarts including the groups Tequilajazzz and Markscheider Kunst. |
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BERLIN — Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s Social Democrats and Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats meet Thursday for the first time since inconclusive elections to try resolve disputes over who should run Germany. Burning issues blocking a “grand coalition” between the two sides are Schroeder’s insistence on remaining chancellor despite being edged by the Christian Democrats (CDU) at the polls and Merkel’s refusal to do a deal without getting the top post. |
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Iraq Attacks Continue UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Iraq expects insurgents to step up attempts to disrupt next month’s constitutional referendum and believes the next three months are critical for the country’s future as a democratic nation, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Wednesday. |
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BEIJING — World No. 1 Maria Sharapova produced a lackluster 6-0 5-7 6-2 victory over Israel’s Shahar Peer on Thursday to reach the China Open quarter-finals. By contrast, Wimbledon champion Venus Williams blew past Spaniard Nuria Llagostera Vives 6-3 6-1 in the evening session despite an injury scare over her left knee. |
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RIO DE JANEIRO — Cruz Azul coach Ruben Omar Romano, who was finally freed after a two-month kidnap ordeal on Wednesday, was the latest footballing victim of a Latin American scourge. |
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Issues Archive