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MOSCOW — President Dmitry Medvedev has warned the ruling United Russia party that the country risks falling into stagnation without more political competition, the second such call from the Kremlin in a week. In a video posted to his blog late Tuesday, Medvedev said that under his leadership over the past two years, the political system has slowly reformed toward cleaner elections and greater inclusion of small parties. All political parties, including United Russia, hailed Medvedev’s assessment of the political situation on Wednesday, though opposition groups and analysts said the president had not done enough to modernize the political system. “If the opposition hasn’t the slightest chance of winning in an honest fight, it degrades and turns marginal,” Medvedev said. |
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SNOW PATROL
Alexander Demianchuk / Reuters
Children walk during heavy snowfall in central St. Petersburg on Thursday. The first proper snow of the season hit the city Tuesday, and more is forecast for the next few days, with temperatures set to drop as low as -14 on Monday. Wednesday, Dec 1. is the first official day of winter. |
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MOSCOW — Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin proposed creating a reserve fund of proceeds from privatization, interest from which could be used to plug budget gaps, during a finance forum Wednesday. The minister also announced a potential major deal between VTB and Bank of Moscow. Speaking at the Financial Forum of Russia, organized by Vedomosti, Kudrin premiered the reserve fund idea, in the context of a trend in international finance, on the heels of the recent economic crisis.
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Members of the art group responsible for drawing a giant penis on Liteiny Bridge in the summer and overturning several police cars in downtown St. Petersburg in September have been charged with criminal mischief. The charges were issued Wednesday against the imprisoned members of the Voina (War) art group, famed for its daring, controversial artistic stunts, which generally have political or social content, while their lawyers appealed pretrial detention. |
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St. Petersburg has the most housing per citizen in Russia, Fontanka.ru web site reported this week. There is an average of 24 square meters of accommodation per city resident, higher than the Russian average (20. |
All photos from issue.
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The head of the woman murdered Monday at St. Petersburg Pavlov State Medical University was found Tuesday, Fontanka.ru web site reported Wednesday, citing the press office of the city’s investigative department. Two men walking along the Admirala Lazareva embankment saw a human head floating in the river at about 6 p.m. Tuesday. Police officers and specialists who arrived at the scene retrieved the head from the water. It has been submitted for expert analysis, but the police are confident that it is the head they had been looking for for the last two days. Local news wires reported earlier this week that a 27-year-old Chinese citizen came to the administration building of the Leningrad Oblast and said he had committed a murder. |
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 Leonardo DiCaprio braved an aviation gauntlet to get to a summit devoted to saving the world’s tigers, donating $1 million to the cause and earning high praise from Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. |
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Farm Worker Killed ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — A 46-year-old man was killed by a landslide during work being carried out at the Lesosovetsky state farm in the Pushkin district, Interfax reported Tuesday, citing the Emergency Situations Ministry headquarters in St. Petersburg. The worker was buried by earth in the landslide, and was dead when emergency services located him. City’s Population Grows ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — The population of St. Petersburg increased by 16,800 in the first nine months of the year to 4,617,100 people, Fontanka.ru web site reported Tuesday, citing the Petrostat statistics service. The number of births per 1,000 people in the city grew by 7 percent compared to the same period last year, while according to Petrostat, the mortality rate increased by 2 percent, making the current mortality rate 1. |
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 The International Tiger Summit held this week in St. Petersburg approved a wide-ranging program with the goal of doubling the world’s tiger population in the wild by 2022, backed by governments of the 13 countries that still have tiger populations: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam and Russia. |
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Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia and China had progressed in the negotiations on supplies of natural gas, though a final pricing agreement is not expected until next year. “The talks between Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation on the prospects of supplies of Russian natural gas to China are going successfully,” Putin told reporters after a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Wen Jiabao. |
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MOSCOW — The U.K. Business Secretary Vince Cable arrived in Moscow on Wednesday for a three-day visit that will include talks with Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin in what is being billed as Britain’s biggest-ever trade mission to Russia. |
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 The giant new retail center Galeria in the center of St. Petersburg opened its doors to its first customers Thursday. Galeria’s location on Ligovsky Prospekt was originally set to house a railway complex of high-speed lines. For this purpose, two historic buildings were demolished in the 90s. |
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Prime Minister Vladimir Putin took part in the groundbreaking ceremony for Pulkovo Airport’s new terminal Wednesday. The new terminal is set to make the airport into the biggest airport in the Baltic region and an international hub. |
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 Earlier this year, a group led by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, which included myself, issued a report on a new strategic concept called “NATO 2020.” The report recommended that NATO open its doors to new members while seeking a more constructive relationship with Russia. |
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The Russian educational system has many problems but only one real enemy. It would take hours to list all of the problems but only a moment to name the No. |
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 At a concert at Tantsy premiering their new album in St. Petersburg last month, Barto did not have a single retail copy of their new CD — instead, they were handing away self-made CDRs. The Moscow-St. Petersburg electro-punk band’s CD print run was delayed by their label when one of the songs found itself under investigation by the anti-extremism Center E, which was busy finding “signs of extremism” in its lyrics. The song, called “Ready” (Gotov), is a story of love, to some extent influenced by Bonnie and Clyde, according to singer Maria Lyubicheva. |
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/ For The St. Petersburg Times
Korea National Ballet will perform its rendition of Boris Eifman’s ‘Tchaikovsky’ at the Alexandriinsky Theater on Friday. |
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×åñòü èìåþ: I have the honor of; goodbye A while back, when everyone was debating the fate of Mayor Yury Luzhkov, I remembered a phrase in Luzhkov’s letter to President Dmitry Medvedev. The letter, posted online, ended with: ×åñòü èìåþ (literally, “I have honor”). Some Russian speakers thought it was a polite closing. Others thought it was meant as an insult.
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 This weekend sees a duo of notable charity events taking place in the city, with a master class on sculpting the fabled Murano glass being given for foster children by an Italian master on Saturday, and the St. Petersburg International Women’s Club annual Winter Charity Bazaar taking place Sunday at the Astoria Hotel. |
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It’s Rule Britannia in more than just name at 99 Pounds, the new English pub/restaurant on Ulitsa Marata. The Russians’ perception of their beloved misty Albion is in evidence in the open umbrella light fittings, while the lamps are crowned with furry “Beefeater” helmets. |
Temp: -1°C clear 
Issues Archive