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LAHTI, Finland — President Vladimir Putin on Friday defended his government's tough stance on Georgia and dodged EU leaders' demands that he commit to a legally binding energy charter that would guarantee better access to Russia's oil and gas fields.The 25 European Union leaders, meeting with Putin over dinner following a one-day summit on energy, also grilled the president over the recent killing of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, an apparent execution-style slaying that EU leaders raised as an example of slipping human rights in Russia.
Putin called her death "a brutal murder" and pledged to hunt down her killers, diplomats said. |
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Yves Herman / Reuters
President Vladimir Putin holds a joint news conference with Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen and European Commission President Jose Barroso in Lahti on Friday. |
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MOSCOW — U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Saturday delivered a symbolic rebuke to Russia over shrinking press freedoms even as she courted President Vladimir Putin for help in punishing Iran for its nuclear program.Rice also discussed sanctions on North Korea following its nuclear test and urged both Russia and Georgia to reduce the tension between their countries.
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Within days of the funeral of Vyacheslav Revzin, St. Petersburg's chief children's narcologist, another high-ranking local drugs expert was found dead.Ivan Shvets, head of Narcology District Clinic No.2, was discovered by the police on Saturday after allegedly hanging himself. |
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St. Petersburg's television channel STO is likely to change its policy following the resignation on Friday of the channel's head, Viktoria Korkhina, its general producer, Andrei Maksimkov, and its financial director, Ilya Krylov. |
All photos from issue.
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MOSCOW — Ultranationalists donning heavy boots and knit caps stormed one of the city's best known art galleries Saturday, beating owner Marat Gelman and destroying paintings by the Georgian-born artist Alexander Dzhikia.The attack on the Guelman Gallery, on Ulitsa Malaya Polyanka, took place around noon. |
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ROME — A Russian film based on Shakespeare's "Hamlet" won top prize at Rome's first international film festival on Saturday."Playing the Victim" by Kirill Serebrennikov, a critically acclaimed theater director, was named best film among the 16 movies in the competition. |
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MOSCOW — More than 300,000 questions for President Vladimir Putin were submitted within the first 24 hours of phone lines opening for his annual televised question-and-answer marathon, organizers said Sunday.The organizers' web site, President-line.ru, said a total of 305,735 queries had been submitted by 10 a. |
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MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin's comment about rape charges filed against the Israeli president was a joke, the meaning of which had been lost in translation, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday. |
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The State Duma has approved the first reading of part IV of the Civil Code, consolidating the norms of intellectual property protection previously regulated by special laws.From January 2008, the Civil Code will come into force, abolishing all other laws on intellectual property. |
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One of the latest companies to reregister itself in the city, the Vneshtorgbank Group, reported a 294.5 percent increase in net profits for the first-half of 2006. |
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MOSCOW — LUKoil said Friday, a week after being threatened by a government agency with losing 19 licenses for environmental violations, that it had yet to receive any official warning.
"As of today, neither the company itself, nor its Komi subsidiary has had any official warnings as a result of Mitvol's trip," said Igor Zaikin, head of LUKoil's department for industrial safety and ecology on Friday. |
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Nordea ProfitnSTOCKHOLM (Bloomberg) — Nordea, the biggest Nordic lender by market value, may see third-quarter profit rise after it booked a gain from selling a stake in a Russian bank and lending increased. |
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MOSCOW — Several government officials are being investigated on suspicion of handing over classified documents to TNK-BP, prosecutors said Friday."The disclosure of these materials could be used for purposes contrary to the strategic interests of the state in the energy sector and could have a negative impact on its prospects, the strengthening of its position on international markets and on the energy and economic security of the country," the Prosecutor General's Office said on its web site. |
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Roman SpanMOSCOW (Bloomberg) — Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich flew to Iceland for talks with President Ragnar Grimmson on producing geothermal power in Russia's Far East, Interfax said. |
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MOSCOW — There is one moment that stands out in Andrew Park's memory: the time when, as a teenager, he got a lesson from a baker on making the perfect loaf.That lesson, taught more than 30 years ago, still has practical value for the Scotsman with big, tattooed arms and a typically Scottish sense of humor. |
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MOSCOW — Authorities are investigating tax payments of a venture half-owned by Royal Dutch Shell, the oil firm said Friday, adding to the pressure it is facing in its Sakhalin-2 project. |
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LONDON — Russia's Severstal said it planned to raise up to $1.7 billion by listing up to 15 percent of its shares in London as it prepares to pursue major acquisitions in the consolidating steel industry.Alexei Mordashov, Russia's seventh-richest man, told Reuters on Monday that his shareholding in Severstal would fall below 80 percent but no lower than 75 percent from his current 90 percent after the share offering in November. |
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Europeans of a nervous disposition should probably avoid going into bookshops on their next visit to the United States. If they venture inside, they might come across an array of titles with a bloodcurdlingly bleak view of their continent's future. |
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After two decades of relative calm on world energy markets, recent years have come as an unpleasant surprise for political elites in most countries. Rapid rises in oil and natural gas prices, accompanied by significant fluctuations and irregularities in energy supplies and tensions on petroleum-product markets have turned energy security into a hot political topic. |
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KABUL — Fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has used the holiest Muslim holiday of the year to warn that his men will intensify their fighting in Afghanistan to "surprising" levels to drive out foreign forces.In a lengthy message to Afghans for Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, Omar also urged NATO to withdraw its almost 20,000 troops and stop sacrificing soldiers for the United States, adding the nation stood with him. |
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PANAMA CITY — Panamanians overwhelmingly backed a plan on Sunday to give their famous 92-year-old canal its biggest-ever overhaul, an ambitious project the government hopes will help lift the country out of poverty. |
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DETROIT — The Detroit Tigers roared back in the World Series with a 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday, squaring the best-of-seven championship at 1-1 thanks to a brilliant performance by Kenny Rogers and a 10-hit attack.The Tigers warmed the Comerica Park crowd of 42,533 with a club-record tying homer by Craig Monroe, three hits from Carlos Guillen and another inspired display by veteran left-hander Rogers on a chilly night in Detroit. |
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SAO PAULO — Renault's Fernando Alonso took his second successive Formula One title on Sunday, finishing runner-up in a Brazilian Grand Prix won by Ferrari's local favorite Felipe Massa. |
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Its principles can be found in offices and workplaces all over the world. The sciences of anatomy, biomechanics, demographics, physiology, and human psychology are all to a certain extent integrated under its banner. Now even Russian industry is realizing that the scientific discipline of ergonomics can raise labor productivity and ultimately increase profits. |
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Is it a question of companies not knowing what they’re missing? Or does the very idea imply a degradation of workers’ rights?
Over the last few years outsourcing has become a trendy word in Russia. |
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St. Petersburg’s banking market is undergoing something of a retail boom. More and more banks are opening retail facilities with an eye on becoming universal financial institutions.
Banks have a particular interest in consumer credits, something still not widely developed in Russia, and they are trying their best to offer various types of credit. |
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As the shortage in qualified personnel continues, salaries for even the most basic staff keep rising.
If the local labor market remains favorable for employees, employers will find themselves competing for a limited number of qualified professionals. |
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A lack of qualified specialists is still proving the bane of city managers, especially in the hi-tech industry. More and more companies are targeting students with training programs and internships. But the challenge then remains to keep this newly-equipped potential within the company. |
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A selection of thoughtful professionals from a variety of businesses were asked for their tips on giving an employee the sack with the minimum of fuss. |
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“The idea of a team is very important. If people feel part of a team, they get pleasure from their work,” said Anna Sagaida, chief consultant and head of Top Hunt International Selection Office in St. Petersburg.
Today every manager is expected to build a united team. |
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Despite Western governments’ attempts to render immigration as difficult as possible, many educated Russians have found a way through into Fortress Europe — we look at their attempts and find out why in the end they’ll most likely return to the Motherland. |
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Issues Archive