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“Awaiting miracles rather than flexing muscles” is how Valery Gergiev would like the spirit of the 14th International Tchaikovsky Competition to be perceived.
For the first time in its history, the competition, which saw its local opening Thursday, is being held in two cities at once — pianists and cellists are competing in Moscow, while St. Petersburg is hosting the contests for violinists and vocalists. This innovation comes from Gergiev, the artistic director of the Mariinsky Theater, who is presiding over the competition’s organizing committee and is chairman of the event’s jury.
St. Petersburg has prepared several host venues for the event, including the St. Petersburg Conservatory, the State Academic Cappella, the Mariinsky Theater Concert Hall and the Shostakovich Philharmonic Grand Hall.
The names of the jurors for the prestigious event, which is held once every four years, is impressive, with Gergiev having managed to attract classical musicians of living legend status to the contest. |
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Alexander Belenky / The St. Petersburg Times
U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Beyrle speaks during a session at Lenexpo on Thursday ahead of the official opening of St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday. A raft of deals are expected to be signed as usual at this year’s event, which ends Saturday. |
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The political opposition, preservationists and ecologists have voiced objection to the second incarnation of the planned Gazprom Tower even after the controversial skyscraper project was moved from the Okhta district near the city’s historic center to a remote site in Lakhta on the northwestern outskirts of St. Petersburg.
The planned skyscraper could be disastrous for migratory birds while still affecting the city’s historic skyline, opponents say.
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Bank Robbed
ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — About 1.3 million rubles ($46,000) was stolen from Otkrytie bank in the Admiralteisky district Wednesday.
Four men in masks entered the bank and demanded that staff hand over the cash while threatening them with a knife and what appeared to be a gun, Interfax reported.
The criminals took 1 million rubles and $10,000 before disappearing. There were no security staff present in the bank at the time, and surveillance cameras were only operational after the robbery took place, Interfax reported.
Professor Found Dead
ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — Authorities have begun an investigation after the presumed suicide of a former lecturer at St. |
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 A model of St. Petersburg was unveiled in the city’s Alexandrovsky Park near Gorkovskaya metro station Wednesday.
The miniature St. Petersburg features scale models of St. |
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Finland expects up to 1,500 Ingrians to move to Finland from St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Oblast in the next five years after it retracts some of the stricter requirements of its policy of repatriating Russia’s Ingrian Finns on July 1 this year.
Ingrian Finns will be able to move to Finland after a five-year transition period by July 1 2016, the Finnish immigration service said last week. |
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Nanotechnology Fund
ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — Russia, Korea and Singapore are to set up a joint nanotechnology fund worth a total of $100 million. |
 Yulia Yakusheva,
25, babysitter.
“There is some inconvenience when roads are closed or places are off bounds. But the district does become much cleaner.”
Yevdokia Sotova,
85, pensioner.
“I don’t often go outside, so I don’t feel the impact of the forum. But there are too many cars parked in the yards.”
Dmitry Lebedev,
29, painter and decorator.
“There are more police, and all the local alcoholics and homeless people are moved out of the area. |
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 Hundreds of people are involved in the practical organization of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum to ensure its smooth running. More than 5,000 guests attend the forum, which is expected to provide participants with high quality services — not least security. |
 Working at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) is just the beginning of a range of temporary vacancies for those seeking summer jobs, but recruitment professionals advise job hunters to insist on a contract before getting down to work. |
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Tzelmeg Tzedevin, 22
It’s the third time I’ve worked at the forum, and this year I’m working as a supply manager.
It’s a great way to gain experience in organizing a huge event, interacting with interesting people, developing multitasking and stress resistance skills, and building team spirit. |
All photos from issue.
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St. Petersburg expects to receive more tourists from Asia, Middle East and Africa when Emirates Airline begins daily flights from St. Petersburg to Dubai on November 1.
The all-year-round flights by one of the world’s largest air companies will allow for easy business and tourist trips to the United Arab Emirates, a spokesperson for the Russian Union of Travel Industry said.
In addition, the convenient layover in Dubai airport will give St. Petersburg residents a chance to travel to the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Africa and Pacific islands, said Sergei Korneyev, vice president of the Russian Tourism Industry Union. |
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NANO CITY
Alexander Belenky / The St. Petersburg Times
Guests at the 15th St. Petersburg Economic Forum at the Lenexpo exhibition center examine a Rusnano display Thursday. The official opening of the forum takes place Friday. |
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Gazprom Neft is seeking incentives from the St. Petersburg government to cover the costs of relocating its personnel from Moscow.
The possible savings could be equal to expenditure on the construction of the planned Okhta Center itself.
Gazprom Neft will receive tax benefits from the St. Petersburg administration and will be able to claim compensation for all the expenses involved in relocating the company’s head office from Moscow, the company’s general director, Alexander Dyukov, said at the annual shareholders’ meeting last week.
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 Large segments of the Russian elite, including advisers to both President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, now say that only a more open, democratic political system can move Russia from its current resource model to a more dynamic, less corrupt economy based on innovation. Unfortunately, history offers few examples of elites willingly surrendering their wealth and power simply because it would benefit broader society. |
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 It looks like very few, if any, are happy about the state of pop music in the new century.
Their frustrations come from different corners — the formerly almighty captains of the music industry complain about vanishing sales and profits. |
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 The retail price of cigarettes will more than double by 2014 compared to this year, after the Ministry of Finance proposed raising excise taxes by 40 to 42 percent per year.
The ministry came up with various proposals, including one that would have seen a 100-percent increase some years. The original aim was to bring Russia into line with the average European level of excise taxes on tobacco production by 2015, but Prime Minister Vladimir Putin did not approve the strategy. |
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 Leon Larkin, the new general manager of the Grand Hotel Europe, may have been born in Germany and grown up in Australia, but he says he doesn’t feel like a foreigner in Russia, understands the Russian soul, enjoys the local food and likes the parties. |
 As the Black Sea city of Sochi prepares to host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, the biggest sporting event in Russia since the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics, the whole city is being transformed. The area around Imeretinskaya Bukhta (Bay), south of the center, is the site set for the most radical changes. |
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Issues Archive