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 A political coalition of liberal opposition forces arrived in St. Petersburg this week with bold plans that include a local version of a Dissenters’ March, scheduled for March 3. The coalition, called Other Russia, held its first public event — a “March of Those Who Disagree,” or Dissenters’ March — in Moscow on Dec. |
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The huge skyscraper that state energy giant Gazprom is planning to build on a site opposite Smolny Cathedral will ruin St. Petersburg’s historic skyline, UNESCO said on Wednesday. |
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TBILISI, Georgia — Georgia has failed to respond in kind to Moscow’s latest steps to improve bilateral relations, Russian Ambassador Vyacheslav Kovalenko said Wednesday. “Relations between our countries have to be based on mutual respect and fair play. |
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In an article headlined “Local Experts Expect Business to Boom,” on page 9 of Tuesday’s issue, it was incorrectly stated that local company Aditum is affiliated to the Swedish company Ruric. |
All photos from issue.
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MOSCOW — A former journalist in the Vladimir region could face a year of prison labor for purportedly insulting the governor in an online forum. The case against Dmitry Tashlykov, now the spokesman for the mayor of Kovrov, is the latest chapter in the government’s fitful effort to regulate cyberspace. |
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MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday called on the Federal Security Service to combat political extremism and racism in the run-up to the State Duma election in December and next year’s presidential contest. |
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Khinsagov Appeal TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — A Georgian court has begun hearing Oleg Khinsagov’s appeal against his conviction for attempted smuggling of highly enriched uranium, the Prosecutor General’s Office announced Wednesday. Georgia announced last week that it had arrested and imprisoned Khinsagov, a Russian citizen, last year for attempting to sell a small amount of weapons-grade uranium to an agent who was posing as a wealthy foreign buyer. |
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MOSCOW — Over 28 million land-line telephone users will be required to switch over to a new pay-per-minute billing system from Thursday, ending years of Soviet-style, mainly symbolic flat-rate tariffs. The outline of the new system is contained in a law on telephone tariffs passed in October 2005 that will allow telephone operators to charge a fixed subscriber fee irrespective of the number of calls made. |
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MOSCOW — The Cabinet on Wednesday gave tentative approval to a long-delayed bill restricting foreign participation across 40 industries that the government deems strategic, including energy and metals. |
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Meat Sums ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — One of Russia’s largest distributors of meat, Meatland Group, increased revenue by 18 percent last year up to 6 billion rubles ($228 million), according to Russian accounting standards, Interfax reported Thursday. EBITDA increased by 97 percent up to 482 million rubles ($18.2 million). According to Meatland data, the company holds an 18 percent share of the meat market in St. Petersburg and four percent in Moscow. Filling Up ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — PTK (Petersburg Fuel Company) invested $30 million into the development of new filling stations last year, almost twice as much as in the previous year, the company said Thursday in a statement. |
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 MOSCOW — Mikhail Prokhorov will resign as chief executive of Norilsk Nickel and divide his assets in holding company Interros with longtime business partner and Interros president Vladimir Potanin, Interros said Wednesday. |
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MOSCOW — A little-known company has registered a natural gas field in east Siberia that could threaten TNK-BP’s neighboring Kovykta flagship project, which already faces accusations of environmental damage and failure to fulfill production licenses. The company, Petromir, estimates that the Angaro-Lunskoye field holds 1. |
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 A comment titled “A World Free of Nuclear Weapons,” published in The Wall Street Journal on Jan. 4, was signed by a bipartisan group of four influential Americans — George Shultz, William Perry, Henry Kissinger and Sam Nunn — not known for utopian thinking, and having special experience in shaping the policies of previous U. |
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For the people of the United States, Jan. 27 became a day of protest against the war in Iraq. Media commentators compared the anti-war demonstrations in Washington with earlier rallies against the Vietnam War. |
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 “We have the feeling that we have made history,” Alexander Borovsky emphatically said at the opening of a spectacular show at the Marble Palace of the State Russian Museum last Thursday. This feast of Russian contemporary art celebrates the fifteen year anniversary of the prominent Moscow gallery run by collector Marat Guelman, and stands testament to its beneficial collaboration with the Contemporary Art Department of the Russian Museum, which Borovsky heads. |
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Jason Webley, a singer / songwriter / accordion player from Seattle, is returning to St. Petersburg after a two-year absence. Webley, who last performed in the city in May 2005, is on his annual European tour. |
 The debate about the importance of creating a Contemporary Art Museum in St. Petersburg, in progress since the “cultural capital” prepared to mark its 300th anniversary in 2003, was given a boost last month when Governor Valentina Matviyenko said she supports the idea. The governor, whose own artistic effort “Hedgehog under the Christmas Tree” was sold for $75,000 during a local charity auction in January, said “We have many talented artists, who, unfortunately, do not have the possibility to exhibit their works and sell them. |
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 A young and aspiring English musician studying orchestral conducting with St. Petersburg’s Philharmonic Society aims to bring English classical music to the city with a new festival this year. |
 “Dead Daughters” (“Myortviye Docheri”), a new Russian horror film that tells the story of the ghosts of three little girls, has critics hailing its PR-savvy young director Pavel Ruminov as a Russian M. Night Shyamalan. As in the films of the Hollywood-based, India-born director, “Dead Daughters” is a supernatural thriller in which the ghosts of the three girls, who were drowned by their mother years ago, come back to life in contemporary Moscow, first killing the mother, then any witnesses to the crime, then random people who do something wrong within the next three days. |
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 The Gypsy punk revolution that has already won over the United States and Europe, has made it to Russia at last, if only so far as Moscow. Gogol Bordello, New York’s celebrated underground band which mixes punk rock, Gypsy folk music and cabaret, received rave reviews from the Russian press and bloggers after it made its crazy stage debut in the Russian capital last Sunday. |
 The most expensive Russian film ever is to begin filming next week, with investors hoping to reap large rewards from the project. Eduard Shifrin, the co-owner of Canadian company Midland Group, is to invest $7 million in the production “Inhabited Island,” the new film from director Fyodor Bondarchuk. |
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Oxford 105 Nevsky Prospekt. Tel: 611 1101 Open from 11 a.m. until late All major cards accepted Dinner for two with beer 1,740 rubles ($65) Oxford, a new café/bar/club on Nevsky Prospekt, doesn’t have much in common with the English university town after which it is named. |
 The blockbusters “Volkodav” and “Zhara” have finally left the screens after a month of dominating the multiplexes around the country to make room for a plethora of new Russian films in the next few weeks. Here’s the first big opening: “Konservi” (Canned Meat), a genie that perhaps should’ve been kept in one of those little golden cans abundantly spread all over the movie’s poster. |
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 LONDON — British police have questioned British Prime Minister Tony Blair for a second time in an investigation into political party funding that has cast a shadow over his final months in office. Blair was questioned as a witness at his Downing Street office last Friday, Blair’s spokesman said. The expanding police investigation alarmed politicians in Blair’s Labor Party and risks further tainting the legacy of the party’s most successful leader who is due to step down later this year after a decade in office. |
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 LONDON — French striker Jeremie Aliadiere fired Arsenal to a 3-1 extra-time victory over arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday and a place in next month’s League Cup final against Chelsea. Arsenal, who drew 2-2 in last week’s semi-final, first leg, completed a 5-3 aggregate win after Aliadiere struck on the stroke of halftime in extra time and a Tomas Rosicky shot found its way in off Spurs defender Pascal Chimbonda. |
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BATH, England — Jonny Wilkinson feels his three-year injury nightmare has made him a better player and says he will return for “part two” of his England career with the same physicality that made him the world’s toughest flyhalf. |
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LONDON — Premier League leaders Manchester United outclassed bottom side Watford 4-0 on Wednesday to maintain their six point lead over Chelsea, who beat Blackburn Rovers 3-0. A Cristiano Ronaldo penalty on 20 minutes, a Lloyd Doyley own goal and strikes from Henrik Larsson and Wayne Rooney gave United a comfortable win despite resting several players. Chelsea, now on 54 points, did their bit with Didier Drogba notching his 15th league goal of the season on six minutes when he picked up Frank Lampard’s weighted pass and drilled a left-foot shot into the bottom corner. The impressive Andriy Shevchenko was twice denied but Blackburn also threatened and could easily have grabbed an equaliser against Chelsea’s recently shaky defence. |
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 DUBAI — Ernie Els made a flying start in his bid to claim an unprecedented fourth Dubai Desert Classic trophy, firing a six-under-par 66 in the first round on Thursday. |
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Issues Archive