LOCAL NEWS

DOVGY FOUND GUILTY AFTER TRAFFIC POLICE STOP JUROR

MOSCOW — Former senior investigator Dmitry Dovgy might have left the court a free man Wednesday if juror No. 10 hadn’t been stopped by the traffic police on her way to the courthouse.

Dovgy — a former top official with the Investigative Committee whose legal troubles are believed to be part of a bitter power struggle between political clans — was convicted of bribery and abuse of office by a split jury in the Moscow City Court.

Dovgy looked down at his notes without expression as the jury announced its verdict.

“Dmitry Dovgy was prepared for such an outcome,” his lawyer Yury Bagrayev said in a sad voice outside the courtroom.

The trial started with a delay Wednesday morning because one of the jurors did not arrive in time.

ST. PETERSBURG PLAYS HOST TO NAVAL SALON

More than 350 firms from 28 countries have been participating in the Fourth International Naval Salon that opened in St. Petersburg this Wednesday, and is set to run through Sunday 28th.

FESTIVAL OF FESTIVALS BRINGS INDIAN TOUCH TO CITY'S SCREENS

The Festival of Festivals, as the St. Petersburg International Film Festival is known, opened earlier this week, bringing together old and new in a cinematic combination that will entertain film fans through Sunday.

The harmony of past and present was exemplified at Tuesday’s opening ceremony, which began with a Charlie Chaplin silent film, continued with Gene Kelly in the title scene from the 1952 musical “Singin’ in the Rain” (set during Hollywood’s transition from silent films to sound), and concluded with French director Fran?ois Ozon’s new, dramatic attempt at magical realism, “Ricky.

109 CASINOS TO SHUT, OVER 10,000 LOSE JOBS

All 109 of St. Petersburg’s casinos will be closed starting July 1 as a ban on gambling comes into force, leaving over 10,000 employees without work.

According to estimates from City Hall, 10,000 to 12,000 people in St.

AUDI STEPS UP A GEAR ON PETROGRAD SIDE

Audi opened its biggest dealership in Russia, Audi Center Petrogradsky, in St. Petersburg on Thursday.

The new car showroom opened in the city center next to the company’s previous premises, Rus Auto, at Prospekt Medikov 8.

The showroom covers 11,000 square meters, making it four times bigger than the previous center.

KADYROV PROMISES TO AVENGE CAR BOMBING

MOSCOW — Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov vowed revenge Wednesday for the assassination attempt against President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, who was badly injured in a car bombing this week.

Ex-Senator Tried on 12 Murder Charges

MOSCOW — A former Federation Council senator went on trial this week on murder charges that he has linked to his refusal to sell a mansion near Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s residence.

Former Bashkortostan Senator Igor Izmestyev and 12 co-defendants are accused of forming a criminal group that killed 12 people, plotted to kill several others and carried out other criminal offenses including bribery and banditry, Interfax reported.

NATIONAL NEWS

HSBC OPENS FIRST PETERSBURG BRANCH

HSBC opened its first local branch on Wednesday.

Stuart Lawson, chief executive officer of HSBC in Russia, said the bank already had an office for corporate bank services in St. Petersburg.

“Today we are further expanding our investment in the city with the launch of our retail banking,” Lawson said at the opening ceremony on Wednesday.

EUROPEAN WATCHDOG LASHES OUT AT COURTS

MOSCOW — Russia’s court system came under attack from Europe’s top human rights watchdog on Tuesday for “politically motivated abuses” that it said have especially victimized two companies, Yukos and the Hermitage Fund.

CHURCH CALLS ON DEBTORS TO REPAY OR FACE HELL

MOSCOW — Court marshals are putting their faith in the Russian Orthodox Church to ease their workload as a growing number of people default on debts amid the economic crisis.

The Federal Court Marshals Service and the Moscow Patriarchate have signed an agreement under which priests will denounce the failure to repay debts as a sin in sermons and during private meetings with debtors organized by court marshals, the court marshals service said Wednesday.

IN BRIEF

Entrepreneur Center

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — A center for entrepreneurs has opened in St. Petersburg as part of a city program to promote small- and medium-sized businesses, Interfax reported Monday.

OPINION

Preparing for Round 2 of War With Georgia

Peacekeepers deployed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe must leave Georgia by June 30 after Russia vetoed on June 15 all attempts to keep their mission in force. That is about the same time General Nikolai Makarov, commander of Russia’s forces in the war with Georgia in August and the commander of the “Caucasus 2009” military exercises planned for June 29 to July 6, announced that “Georgia is brandishing its weapons and is preparing to solve its territorial problems in any way it sees fit.

CULTURE

LOST CENTURY OF ITALIAN ART MAKES RUSSIAN DEBUT

A spectacular display of 20th-century Italian art from several private collections in Tuscany opened Monday at the city’s Manezh Exhibition Hall. Totaling 535 artworks, the exhibition, according to its curators, is the world’s largest itinerant exhibition of modern Italian art.

CHERNOV’S CHOICE

After years of rumors and abortive attempts to bring Morrissey to Russia, the Smiths’ former frontman looks set to arrive, at last. Morrissey’s first Russian concerts are sandwiched between dates in Finland and Estonia.

Retro refuge

With the constant buzzing of cafes and swarming crowds along Nevsky Prospekt, it sometimes seems impossible to get away from the ostentatious terraces hording St. Petersburg’s most famous street. But App?tite Caf? on Canal Griboedova, just a few steps away from busy Nevsky, proves that being located in the center does not necessarily entail clamor, even on a Saturday evening.