LOCAL NEWS

EURO MP VISITS CITY TO SUPPORT PROTESTERS

Finnish politician Heidi Hautala, who has been referred as the Grand Lady of Finnish Human Rights politics, came to St. Petersburg to support Monday’s rallies in defense of the right of assembly on behalf of the European Parliament, where she chairs the Subcommittee on Human Rights.

‘PRODUCTIVE’ FUNDS FLOWING TO RUSSIA

MOSCOW — Russia rose through the ranks of European countries in which foreign direct investment produced the most jobs and facilities last year, edging up two rungs to fifth place, a survey said Wednesday.

ROMANOV BURIED IN CITY

Grand Duchess Leonida Romanova, who died in Madrid on May 23 aged 95, was buried at the Grand Duke necropolis of the Peter and Paul Fortress on Thursday. Romanova was the oldest and one of the last representatives of the Romanov dynasty, Russia’s last imperial family.

EU TO ‘STUDY’ VISA PROPOSAL, QUICK CHANGES UNLIKELY

MOSCOW — The European Union will “study” a Kremlin proposal on introducing visa-free travel, but no changes to tough border restrictions are planned, a senior diplomat said Wednesday.

ADVERTISEMENTS USING MEDVEDEV’S LIKENESS INVESTIGATED

MOSCOW — Anti-monopoly officials have opened a probe into an advertising campaign in the Kirov region that used images resembling President Dmitry Medvedev to hawk garden supplies and construction equipment.

The company, Stroibat Trading House, has posted at least six different billboards around Kirov and placed television spots on local channels depicting a man who bears a striking resemblance to the president, although with a slightly receding hairline.

WATER TAXIS OFFER WAY TO BEAT TRAFFIC

Water taxis began operating in St. Petersburg on Tuesday.

The water taxis may become an alternative to other forms of public transport, which are subject to traffic jams, and to tourist boats, which are 10 times more expensive.

NATIONAL NEWS

Putin, United Russia Ignore Rally Crackdown

MOSCOW — United Russia has prevented lawmakers from debating police violence at a Moscow opposition rally this week, a Communist State Duma deputy said Thursday.

City police detained more than 150 people at an unsanctioned rally Monday on Triumfalnaya Ploshchad, and about two dozen people claimed that they were beaten or attacked as law enforcement officials tried to break up the event.

LOCAL BUSINESS

FOREIGN INVESTMENT SOARS ON LENDING

Foreign investors contributed $1.1 billion to St. Petersburg’s economy during the first three months of this year — 1.7 times more than during the same period last year.

According to Petrostat, the regional branch of the state-run statistics service, about 88 percent of the foreign capital investment was loans.

VW UNVEILS VEHICLE TAILORED TO RUSSIAN MARKET, ROADS

MOSCOW — Volkswagen said Wednesday that it would start taking orders this week for a new budget car designed exclusively for the Russian market.

The car, based on the German carmaker’s Polo model, will be produced in Volkswagen’s Kaluga factory and its retail price will start at 399,000 rubles ($12,500), Volkswagen board member Ulrich Hackenberg said at a news conference, Interfax reported.

Kimberly-Clark Opens Diaper Plant

MOSCOW — Kimberly-Clark opened its first factory in Russia and Eastern Europe on Wednesday after investing $170 million in what it hopes will be a launchpad for expansion in the region.

The facility, located in Stupino, a small town in the south of the Moscow region, is one of Kimberly-Clark’s largest capital investments in the last two years, Jonathan Tarr, the company’s managing director in Russia, said in a statement.

OPINION

A FAREWELL TO NUCLEAR ARMS

As the recent United Nations and Washington summits have demonstrated, nuclear arms control and disarmament are among the top issues on the world’s political agenda. They are likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. Indeed, 2010 will determine whether U.

WOULD MY FLOTILLA TO KHODORKOVSKY BE SHOT?

Israeli defense forces intercepted a flotilla with humanitarian aid headed for blockaded Gaza, killing at least nine people and causing an international scandal.

CULTURE

WIND IN THE PINES

The biggest exhibition of Korean art that Russia has ever seen opened Tuesday at the State Hermitage Museum.

“Wind in the Pines. 5000 Years of Korean Art” brings to Russia some of the most prized works of art and artifacts from the National Museum of Korea in Seoul, ranging from pots dating back to 3000 BC to early 20th-century drawings on silk.

WORD’S WORTH

Ðîã: horn

Maybe this is a girl thing, but I’ve always been a bit confused by horn imagery and expressions. I get why the horn (ðîã) is a symbol of both masculine strength (visual image) and feminine fertility (it’s hollow).

A NEW PLATFORM FOR MODERN ART

The first private art museum of its kind opened in St. Petersburg on Thursday, housing a permanent collection of exciting contemporary works from Russia’s most prominent avant-garde artists.

Despite its unprepossessing location above a coffee shop and neon sex shop sign opposite the entrance to Vasileostrovskaya metro, Novy Muzei (New Museum) is an extraordinary space dedicated to showcasing some big names in the emerging contemporary art scene.

FIND THE PLUMBER

The recent arrival of Super Mario, a new Italian trattoria located on Maly Prospekt on the Petrograd Side, marks what will hopfully become the long-awaited expansion of good eateries from the historic city center a little further afield.