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MOSCOW — The government on Thursday decided to increase spending by 3 percent this year because the recovering economy and expensive oil are generating bigger tax revenues than planned. Spending will swell by 325.5 billion rubles ($10.3 billion) under the amendments to this year’s budget approved by the Cabinet, making it the second consecutive year that revenues have beat expectations in the wake of the 2008 meltdown. The government will sink almost half of the money into the Pension Fund to cover a shortfall caused by a huge increase in retirement payments, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said. Most of the remaining cash will buy apartments for World War II veterans and military officers, he said. |
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LITTLE AND LARGE
Alexander Belenky / The St. Petersburg Times
Two boys pose for a photograph having climbed onto the Atlantes on the New Hermitage building on Millionnaya Ulitsa on Monday.
The St. Petersburg Times will be published on both Thursday and Friday this week during the St. Petersburg Economic Forum. |
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MOSCOW — Even as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin denied that a personality cult has grown around him, news broke Thursday that St. Petersburg children were being encouraged to pray that God bless Putin and shield him from “demoniacal temptation.” St. Petersburg’s Suvorov Military College presented printed Orthodox prayers to talented local children aged 8 to 14 who were invited to an International Children’s Day event at Tavrichesky Palace on June 1, Yelena Sakhno, who helped organize the event, said Thursday.
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MOSCOW — A Latvian has been sentenced to seven years in prison for hijacking the Arctic Sea ship last year, and he accused the former head of Estonia’s intelligence service of organizing the operation. The defendant and convicted leader of the hijacking, Dmitry Savins, told a Moscow court that Eerik Niiles Kross, a former Estonian official, businessman and historian, was hard-pressed for money and orchestrated the hijack expecting to receive a $1. |
All photos from issue.
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MOSCOW — New UN sanctions prevent Russia from delivering S-300 air-defense missiles to Iran, said a Kremlin official, in a reversal of the position announced by the Foreign Ministry, Reuters reported. A UN Security Council resolution passed Wednesday bans Iran from developing ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, investing in nuclear-related activities and buying certain types of heavy weapons. The Kremlin official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Friday that the S-300 falls under these sanctions. The UN resolution does not specifically prohibit Russia from supplying the S-300, a U. |
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STREET ART
Alexander Belenky / The St. Petersburg Times
Visitors to the city from Moscow admire statues on Millionnaya Ulitsa, close to Palace Square, on Monday. Forecasters are predicting rain and cloudy weather for most of the week. |
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The State Duma has approved in a first reading a bill that would allow the Federal Security Service to issue warnings to people or organizations deemed at risk of committing crimes in the future. Not complying with directives in the warning would be a punishable offense, the ruling United Russia party said on its web site. The bill also introduces fines and short-term arrests for people who ignore demands made by FSB officials or hinder them while on duty.
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MOSCOW — A Moscow court has sentenced a lawyer to 3 1/2 years in prison for stealing $6 million and 7 million euros ($8.5 million) in cash from an elderly Novosibirsk couple who inherited the money from their son, Interfax reported. Yevgeny Skoblikov was convicted of staging a fake robbery in his rented apartment in Moscow, where he was keeping the money for the couple, in October. |
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Traffic During Forum ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — Traffic and parking restrictions will be in place in the city center for the duration of the Economic Forum from Thursday to Saturday this week. |
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 The industrial production index in St. Petersburg exceeded 100 percent for the second month in a row in May, but experts warn it is too soon to start talking about sustainable growth. From January to April, the industrial production index was 104.7 percent in St. Petersburg and 105.6 percent in the Leningrad Oblast. Russian industry as a whole grew 6.9 percent. In St. Petersburg, the highest increase was seen in the production of vehicles and equipment, which grew by 1.9 times. This is primarily connected with the growth of automobile production, said Sergei Fiveisky, first deputy chairman of the Committee for Economic Development, Industrial Policy and Trade. |
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BALL BOYS
Alexander Belenky / The St. Petersburg Times
Roman Abramovich (l), First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov (c) and player Andrei Arshavin holding a ball in Johannesburg on Thursday. Russia is bidding to host the World Cup 2018. |
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Senator Sergei Pugachyov’s United Industrial Corporation will sell Severnaya Verf and Baltiisky Zavod to the state-run United Shipbuilding Corporation to raise funds for Mezhprombank, which Fitch Ratings said could have trouble paying off 200 million euros ($241 million) in eurobonds. Mezhprombank, also known as the International Industrial Bank, had its outlook cut at Fitch Ratings from “stable” to “negative” on Wednesday on concerns that it will be unable to repay 200 million euros in bonds due July 6.
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Superjets Set to Arrive MOSCOW (Bloomberg) — Sukhoi Co. will supply the first three of its SuperJet passenger airplanes this year as Russia seeks to challenge Airbus and Boeing in the mid-range market, Chief Executive Officer Mikhail Pogosyan. |
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MOSCOW — A rebound in Russia’s economy will be among the main drivers of economic recovery in Europe and Central Asia this year, the World Bank said Thursday. |
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MOSCOW — A replacement for the shuttered Cherkizovsky Market may appear in the Moscow region as plans are being made for a $600 million, multipurpose wholesale center — possibly the biggest in Russia. A 130-hectare plot of land near the Korobovo village in the Leninsky district will house a multipurpose complex, said Sergei Sanakoyev, chairman of the management board of the Russian-Chinese Center for Trade and Economic Cooperation, which is a strategic partner in the project. |
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MOSCOW — An entrepreneur and legislator from the Rostov region will be appointed vice president of Olimpstroi, and one of his main duties will be overseeing hotel construction. |
 OSH, Kyrgyzstan — President Dmitry Medvedev met with central Asian representatives Monday in a bid to stem unrest in Kyrgyzstan as neighboring Uzbekistan said the bloodshed is organized and aimed at provoking ethnic tensions. Human rights groups called on the Kremlin to send peace-keeping troops as the official death toll climbed to 117 with about 1,500 people injured, Interfax reported. |
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 When Yury Shevchuk, a rock musician and outspoken Kremlin critic, met with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin two weeks ago, it was truly a historic event. After all, we have waited 10 years for this precious moment — when Putin would finally go one-on-one with a real critic of his regime. |
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When initial reports appeared in the media that a new bill had been introduced that would alter the way the state regulates education, the arts and social services, many people refused to believe that it would actually be passed. |
 Last week was full of bad news for Russian sexpots. A woman who claims to own Russia’s largest silicon breasts, Iren Ferrari, had a deflation incident midflight between Moscow and Zurich, Express Gazeta reported. Ferrari, whose name is as fake as her assets, felt a painful sensation after hitting the seat in front during turbulence, she told EG. |
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As Russians start to wind down for the summer and their attention turns to relaxing at the dacha, little do they realize that their country’s economy is seemingly shifting beneath their feet. |
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 The celebrated Cirque du Soleil is carousing into town for two months of performances of one of its most recent productions, “Corteo,” inspired by the death and funeral of a clown. The shows start on June 26 at a venue created specially for the show just outside the Peterburgsky Sports and Concert Complex and will run through August 8. |
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 MOSCOW — When Nikolai Maslov, 29, decided to start his own taxi service, he knew he’d need a niche to compete with Moscow’s unruly swarms of private cabs and the few large companies that dominate the official market. Moskovskaya Troika, the company he launched just two months ago, has already built a dedicated following among the city’s Russian Orthodox. |
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 JOHANNESBURG — FIFA on Monday ruled out a ban on the vuvuzela horns which have been driving some players and broadcasters mad at the World Cup, as the makers revealed they had designed a toned-down version. After the chairman of the tournament’s South African organising committee said he would consider a ban on the tuneless trumpets, football’s governing body issued a swift rebuttal at a daily press briefing. |
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SYDNEY — Australian pundits and former Socceroos lined up Monday to sink the boot into the national team following their 4-0 humiliation by Germany in Durban. |
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South Korean players have fast adapted to conditions in South Africa, with their use of oxygen masks paying dividends and more great exploits expected in the World Cup finals. The ‘Taeguk Warriors’ powered to a convincing 2-0 win over Euro 2004 champions Greece in their World Cup opener, and now Diego Maradona’s Argentina await them in Johannesburg on Thursday. |
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Issues Archive