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MOSCOW - Authorities have confiscated 3 tons of illegal black caviar that might pose a health hazard and was headed for the shelves of Moscow supermarkets, police and prosecutors said Thursday. Police have also seized more than 100 kilograms of caviar that had already been sold to Perekryostok and Metro Cash and Carry under the brandname Russkaya Ikra, a major player in the caviar market. |
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MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin used his annual address to lawmakers and the nation Wednesday to reiterate his promise to double the wealth of the nation as a whole and improve the living standards of its individual citizens. |
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A flood of phone calls from investors who would like to buy their own St. Petersburg palace have been received by City Hall's committee for the protection of architectural monuments, authorities said Wednesday. The calls have been coming in ever since Governor Valentina Matviyenko announced last month that crumbling historic monuments owned by the city-government will be sold off to save them from ruin, they said. |
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MOSCOW - Amnesty International said human rights abuses remained rife in Chechnya, police stations and prisons last year, while some progress was made in reducing domestic violence against women. |
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City police arrested 15 Roma women on Monday night and charged them with stealing from tourists on Nevsky Prospekt, Interfax reported Tuesday. All the women appeared to be pregnant, so the police called an ambulance that took all of them to a hospital, the report said, citing police sources. The police action was described as part of Operation Tabor - Tabor means Gypsy Camp - that started last week. |
All photos from issue.
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 Drizzle and fog did not stop St. Petersburg celebrating its 301st birthday Thursday. Government officials and honorary citizens sheltered under their umbrellas during a ceremony at the Peter and Paul Fortress. Governor Valentina Matviyenko had been expected to attend, but didn't show, reportedly due to a meeting with Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov. |
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MOSCOW - Travelers entering or leaving Russia should be prepared for a shock: Next time they cross the border they could well be greeted by polite border guards, who instead of their trademark grimaces and suspicious looks, will wear smiles on their faces. |
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Prosecutor's Aide Fired ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - Viktor Zabelkin, an assistant to the city prosecutor who was this month charged with exceeding his authority for stealing the seals from the City Prosecutor's Office, has been fired, Interfax cited City Prosecutor Nikolai Vinnichenko as saying Thursday. |
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 St. Petersburg-produced goods will soon no longer require separate certification in Moscow. In return, St. Petersburg will help Moscow reach new economic heights, especially in the tourism industry. These are only a few steps in the mutual cooperation planned between the two cities. |
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Intel, the world's No. 1 maker of microchips, has hired some 600 Russian computer specialists, more than doubling its research capacity in the country. |
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Several Italian manufacturers announced plans to get involved in the Lenigrad Oblast development as Vasco Errani, president of the Italian province Emilia-Romania started his three-day visit to the Oblast Thursday. Italian furniture company Natuzzi is in the process of choosing an area for a soft furniture production plant, the regional economic and international relations committee reported. |
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French Port Proposal St. Peterburg (SPT) - The French Havre seaport has proposed a direct route project to the St. Petersburg administration. |
 Depositors of a bank that went bust two years ago are laying claim to billionaire Viktor Vekselberg's eggs. Clients who lost money when Pervyi Gorodskoy Bank (First Municipal Bank) closed its doors in 2002 said Wednesday that a bank belonging to the oil and steel tycoon ended up with $40 million of their assets. |
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MOSCOW - Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov will hold a meeting this week or next on the sale of the state's remaining 7.6 percent stake in oil major Lukoil, Economy Minister German Gref said Thursday. |
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For the fourth year in succession, President Vladimir Putin has given a marvelous state of the nation address. Clear, reform-focused, liberal and structured - the speech contained much of the blueprint for a liberal, market-based Russia. The trouble is, so did all the others. |
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Whoever I talk to these days complains about how cold their apartments are. They say they have to sleep under two blankets, switch on several rings on their cooking stove or spend most of the day in the bathtub just to keep warm. |
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As he began his state of the nation address, President Vladimir Putin said he would make a break from the tradition of discussing macro socio-economic issues and concentrate instead on practical problems of vital importance to "every citizen, every Russian family." He then proceeded to devote more than one-fourth of his speech to the need to provide accessible housing, health care and education, spelling out problems and solutions in considerable detail. |
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Kraftwerk, one of the world's most influential bands - which has had an effect on everybody from David Bowie to Depeche Mode, not to mention today's techno music - will bring its self-described "robot pop" to St. Petersburg for a one-off stadium concert on Tuesday. |
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Some of the brightest of the world's youngest musicians assemble in town this week to take part in "Musical Olympus," a respected and internationally recognized annual festival launched by acclaimed Russian pianist Irina Nikitina in 1995. |
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This weekend's biggest event comes, not very conveniently, on Tuesday. Germany's seminal electronic pop band Kraftwerk will bring its two-hour long show to the city on this day as part of its Tour 2004 in support of their first album of new material for years. |
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The word les means wood or forest in Russian and although the restaurant Lesnoi takes its name from the traffic-choked prospekt where it is located, arborial associations remain. |
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The opening of the "Giotto in Padua" exhibition in the Atrium of Komendantsky House within the Peter and Paul Fortress, which features photographic reproductions of the famous frescos of Scrovegni Chapel (Cappella degli Scrovegni) by the significant Florentine painter Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337), is the inspiration for this walking route. With this marvelous Giotto masterpiece of the Early Renaissance represented in St. Petersburg, it is possible to combine experiencing the Early Renaissance with the High Renaissance, as found in the State Hermitage Museum's collection. Since it's almost impossible to enjoy the myriad wonders of the Hermitage if you visit it without a goal in mind, the Giotto show offers a fruitful theme to explore its rich collection. |
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 The 12th International Festival "The Stars Of The White Nights" opens Sunday to be followed by a 50-day fiesta of distinguished classical music and dance. |
 Screenings of films in their original languages will join the list of St. Petersburg's evening attractions this summer, in a project announced by one of the city's most innovative film theaters, the Mirage Cinema. This should shorten the delays in the premieres of non-Russian films in the city and treat audiences to actors' original performances - usually distorted by dubbing. Starting from June 12, to coincide with the offical birthday of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, the Mirage Cinema will run three original language shows per week. |
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 You've been studying Russian for years, and living in the city for nearly a decade. You watch television, read the newspapers, enjoy evenings with Russian friends and communicate competently with your business partners. |
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One of the rites of passage for foreigners in the United States is hearing one's date say, "I'm going to see a man about a dog." What man? What dog? Why can't he say something straightforward like: ü ÔÓÈo/ooÛ ÚÛo/oo++, ÍÛo/oo++ ^++@, ÔÂ-ÍÓÏ iÓo/ooËÎ (I'm going to the throne room, literally, "I'm going where the tsar went on foot"). |
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Dalai Lama in Britain LONDON (AFP) - He has met him before, and he will meet him again, but British Prime Minister Tony Blair indicated he is not seeking face time with the Dalai Lama on Friday in London. Tibet's spiritual leader in exile will be in the British capital to give a talk around the corner from parliament, before traveling north to Scotland for more lectures over several days. |
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Sex is Good, Players Told ZAGREB (Reuters) - Croatia coach Otto Baric will allow his players to have sex during Euro 2004 in Portugal. "Of course, sex is not forbidden," Baric told Croatian daily Jutarnji List on Thursday. |
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