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Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mi ro nov announced plans to submit a draft law that would secure for St. Petersburg reimbursement for the costs it incurs in its role as Russia's second capital. If the bill becomes law, it could mean an additional several hundred million dollars annually for the local budget. Mironov's draft, which is currently undergoing legal expertise in the Federation Council's legal commission, does not envision the transfer of state agencies or ministries to St. Petersburg. "There is no discussion of moving any ministries to St. Petersburg," said Lyud mila Fomicheva, Mironov's spokes person, in an interview last week. |
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 MOSCOW - Cheburashka, the Soviet-era book and cartoon character who could be considered Russia's answer to Mickey Mouse, has unexpectedly and somewhat belatedly hit the big time in Japan - but any celebrations have been marred by a legal battle over the proceeds. |
All photos from issue.
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MOSCOW - The revamped upper house of parliament is to kick into action this week with a varied bunch of newly tapped senators - including hard-nosed businessmen, regional leaders and former cabinet ministers. Analysts say the new delegates, 177 in all, will work hard to lobby the interests of the groups that backed their appointments, but most agreed that, when it comes to passing key legislation, the chamber is unlikely to defy the political will of the Kremlin. "The Federation Council is even more controllable than the State Du ma," said Nikita Tyukov of the Center for Political Information. Kremlin-connected political analyst Sergei Markov agreed that, in most cases, the senators would be compliant. |
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 MOSCOW - The Foreign Ministry slammed U.S. diplomats in the Far East port of Vladivostok for taking part in protests to demand the release of journalist Grigory Pasko, news agencies reported Monday. |
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Emergency Landing MOSCOW (AP) - A Russian airliner flying from Germany to Siberia made an emergency landing Monday and ran off the runway, landing in large snowdrifts. Pilots of the Tupolev-204 aircraft operated by Sibir Airlines realized they might miss the landing strip in the western Siberian city of Omsk due to heavy crosswinds but made the landing anyway because the airliner was low on fuel, said Oleg Shulmin, spokesperson for the airline. The plane ran 435 meters off the runway, but no one was hurt because large snowdrifts surrounding the airport softened the landing. The plane can carry up to 176 passengers. The flight, which originated in Frankfurt, had been scheduled to fly to another Siberian airport, in Novosibirsk, but the airport there denied it permission to land because of rough weather, Shulmin said. |
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 WASHINGTON - Auditors say a handful of Americans working in Moscow on a high-profile U.S. aid project showered more than $1 million on themselves in the form of taxpayer-funded fine dining, tennis games, golf-club memberships, vacations to warmer climes and tickets to the theater and the symphony. |
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The United States on Thursday accused Moscow of using "overwhelming force" in its battle with Muslim rebels in Chechnya, ending a post-Sept. 11 trend of avoiding criticizing Russia's campaign there. The sharp words came a day after Moscow announced results of one its bloodiest crackdowns in the secessionist province for a year, saying it had killed 92 rebels in a month. |
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MOSCOW - An ally of President Vladimir Putin will reportedly take over the No. 2 spot in the powerful Railways Ministry, a move that would strengthen the hand of the so-called St. Petersburg clan as it continues to usurp key posts from Yelstin-era holdovers. |
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Politically connected upstart cellular operator Megafon, the nation's third-largest provider, has beaten bigger rivals Vimpelcom and Mobile Telesystems in a race to secure the right to operate in all seven of the nation's so-called "super regions. |
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MOSCOW - Swedish-based media group Modern Times Group AB said Monday it is buying a 36.3 percent stake in StoryFirst Communications Inc., a U.S. media-investment group that owns 75 percent of the STS television network and six radio stations across Russia. |
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Russia, Poland Trade MOSCOW (SPT) - Trade volume between Russia and Poland was more than $5.6 billion in 2001, compared with $5.5 billion in 2000, Interfax reported the Economic Development and Trade Ministry as saying. |
 While the foreign-investment climate in Russia has shown positive signs over the last few years, most of the focus has been on money flowing into the two main cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg. In the first part of a four-part series on investment in the regions, staff writer Yevgenia Borisova investigates the state of affairs in the Rostov region. |
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SINCE 1994, Russia's reformers have been calling every year "one more lost year for reforms." 2001, however, is particularly deserving of this title. This was the year in which hopes were crushed and Russia's economic boom - which provided GDP growth of 19. |
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IT is said that the way you see in the New Year sets the tone for the rest of that year. Whether this is true or not, the events that have been unfolding in Argentina should serve as a serious warning to the world's governments and financial elite. |
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THE adoption of Part III of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation introduced several important changes in the sphere of international private law that will affect the business of those foreign companies that are doing business in Russia or trading with Russian partners. |
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FOR both Russia and the United States, war followed terrorist attacks that claimed civilian lives and exacted heavy social costs. The attacks upon New York and Washington occurred exactly two years and one week after the first of four Russian apartment buildings exploded. |
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JUST five weeks after becoming the third-ranking politician in the country, Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov has unveiled his first gift to his native city - in the form of a draft law that would provide reimbursement from the federal budget for costs St. |
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LAST week, Sergei Mi ro nov, the new speaker of the Federation Council, stated that he thinks the recent verdict against navy journalist Grigory Pasko was incorrect. |
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Tomb Raiders It was the night after Christmas on Florida's eastern shore. A tepid rain was falling as a couple of county lawmen pushed up the garage door at a ranch house on Sugar Pine Drive, just outside Boca Raton. They stood back for a minute to let the fumes spill out, a few remaining shreds of the poison cloud that had done its work hours ago. |
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Cabinet Steps Down AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - In a surprise move, Jordan's prime minister and his entire cabinet resigned on Monday, the second such shuffle since late October, government officials said. Ali Abul-Ragheb tendered his resignation to King Abdullah II, and a new cabinet was expected to be formed later in the day, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. |
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A Little Too Late BOSTON, Massachussetts (Reuters) - The Boston Red Sox rejected a late, $740-million bid for the team Sunday and reconfirmed an earlier agreement to accept a $700-million offer from a group led by Florida finan cier John Henry. |
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