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MOSCOW/MINSK — Russia restarted the flow of oil through its main oil export pipeline on Thursday after Belarus dropped an oil transit duty imposed last week and agreed to return oil Moscow said it had taken illegally. “Belarus has fully returned 79,000 tonnes of oil. Transneft started to pump oil in the direction of Belarus at 8:22 a.m. Moscow time,” Sergei Grigoryev, vice-president of Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft, told Reuters. “The Druzhba pipeline is working normally.” Russia, the world’s second biggest oil exporter, had closed the Druzhba (‘Friendship’) pipeline, its largest single oil export route, for more than 60 hours, cutting European Union oil supplies by around 1. |
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Alexander Demianchuk / Reuters
The warm weather led to St. Petersburg experiencing its 302nd flood on Wednesday as the normally-frozen Neva River rose more than two meters above its normal level. |
 St. Petersburg’s record-breaking warm spell may have experts worried about global warming and climate change but local businesses and tourists are enjoying the weather — at least for now. Maria Shchegoleva, an administrator at the St. Petersburg International Hostel, which accommodates foreign tourists, says there has been a lighthearted reaction to the subject from guests.
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A group of local activists led by politicians from the Yabloko opposition party is pushing forward with a plan to launch a city-wide referendum to decide the fate of a 396-meter-tall glass tower that is planned to become national energy monopoly Gazprom’s new headquarters. Immediately branded “the corn on the cob,” the tower, set to be erected near the estuary of Okhta river, has divided the city over its architectural merit. |
All photos from issue.
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MOSCOW — Presenting a sweeping new energy policy Wednesday, the European Commission urged member states to stand united before external energy providers such as Russia as a way to ensure the security of supplies and competitive prices. The common policy should seek to lessen dependence on Russia and seek alternative suppliers, commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said in presenting the strategy, titled “An Energy Policy For Europe.” Russia’s standoff with Belarus over oil transit — which has disrupted supplies to five European countries since Monday — was one of the reasons that “have given real meaning for millions of our citizens about our energy independence,” he told reporters in Brussels. “The cut in oil supplies from Russia is unacceptable,” he said, according to a transcript provided by the EC. |
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Oksana Yushko & Kieran Doherty / Reuters
Chess pieces carved from ice in Pushkin Square in Moscow (top) and in Trafalgar Square (bottom) in London on Thursday. A chess game was played via satellite. |
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MOSCOW — A founding father of the one-time Yukos oil empire, Yury Golubev, has been found dead in his London apartment, former and current Yukos shareholders said Wednesday. Police are investigating the death on Sunday of Golubev, a shareholder in Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s Group Menatep, friends said, but added that they had no immediate cause to think it was suspicious.
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MOSCOW — State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov on Wednesday called for priority to be given to the 2008-10 budget as well as anti-terrorism and anti-extremism measures, striking a populist tone as he welcomed deputies back for the first session of a year that will include new elections to the chamber. Having spent most of last year making it more difficult for opposition parties to draw support ahead of the elections, scheduled for December, the pro-Kremlin deputies who control the Duma are likely to spend this year trying to outdo one another on who is more pro-presidential, analysts said. |
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MOSCOW — The local markets were given a rude awakening in the first two days of January trading, with Russia’s main index falling 8.1 percent, the biggest and most sudden drop since the market tanked in June last year. Analysts blamed the price of oil, which fell by about 9 percent during the holiday lull. |
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Local technology company Transas has set an ambitious goal to develop a chain of entertainment complexes across Russia with one of the largest to be located in St. |
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Land Rover Sales Up ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — Land Rover increased sales in Russia by 54 percent in 2006 compared to last year, Interfax reported Tuesday. The British carmaker sold 6,299 cars as against 4,080 cars in 2005. The Land Rover Discovery remained the most popular model (2,715 sold), followed by Range Rovers (1,578) and Range Rover Sports (1,226). |
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Imagine you live in an apartment complex with a large courtyard. Your neighbors each have their individual personalities and habits and strong points, and the children play in their own groups: Some are friends with everyone, while there are others with whom some kids refuse to play altogether. There is also a bully whom hardly any of the other kids can stand and most try to ignore. He, on the other hand, spends his time annoying and picking on everyone. Some of the kids tried to punish him by forbidding him to play in the sandbox, but this didn’t help, because our young hooligan enjoyed the protection of one of the adults in the complex. |
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If NATO had issued a report card on the state of its strategic partnership with Russia at their November summit in Latvia, the document might have read: “Good effort, but must try much harder.” Given the crises over energy security, the mysterious deaths of Kremlin opponents both at home and abroad, the disagreements over Western intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan and the failure to convene a NATO-Russia Council summit in tandem with the Riga meeting, this report card might seem justified.
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The comparisons were inevitable: two disputes with former Soviet republics that disrupted energy supplies to Europe in January. Both disputes — with Belarus this month and Ukraine last January — had their roots in a Russian demand for more money for natural gas. In both cases, Gazprom called for an immediate jump to European prices, the customer countered with a much lower offer, and the sides ultimately settled on a number in between. |
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 Contrary to public opinion, it’s every critic’s delight to write a positive review. It’s twice the fun if you kick off the year on a high note; and it’s three times the pleasure when, after a streak of disappointments, the local movie industry provides you with an example that not all is rotten in the state of Russian movies and a home-made fantasy epic beats an imported one. |
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Maina, a new club launched late last year, will probably improve its repertoire now that former Platforma art director Denis Rubin is taking the job of Maina’s art director on Feb. |
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Blue follows white, green takes after blue, yellow is close on the heels of green, white beats yellow and so on, or alternatively, snow is followed by flowers and blue sky, rain takes the place of sun and later gives way to snow and so forth. This puerile and simplified scheme is what lies behind the mega show at the Benois Wing of the Russian Museum: “Four Seasons. |
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Khutor Vodograi, meaning Village Waterfall in Ukrainian, is a new restaurant recently opened on Karavannaya, right next to the trendy hang-out Korova. As soon as you enter the large well-lit room, you are met by a cheerful Ukrainian girl in national dress, waving her skirt and addressing guests in Ukrainian. |
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 MELBOURNE — A day after gusting winds almost threw him off course, Roger Federer declared he enjoyed battling through the tough conditions as he booked his place in the Kooyong Classic final. The world number one needed three tiebreak sets to squeeze past wily Czech Radek Stepanek in his opening match but was back on cruise control on Thursday with a 6-3 7-6 win over 2005 Australian Open champion Marat Safin. |
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SYDNEY — American James Blake remained on course to defend his Sydney International title with an impressive 6-1 6-4 over Russian teenager Yevgeny Korolev on Thursday. |
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LONDON — Speculation over Jose Mourinho’s stay at Stamford Bridge looks certain to increase after their charismatic manager said his personal future was not important for Chelsea. Speaking after his champions drew 1-1 with fourth division Wycombe Wanderers in the League Cup semi-finals, Mourinho also hinted he was at odds with the club’s board — who he said would not be spending in the January transfer window. |
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CHICAGO — As Chicago competes for a chance to bid for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, a new organization will try to build on the city’s reputation as a sports town by working to bring amateur and international events to the city. |
Temp: -2°C moderate or heavy snow showers
Issues Archive