IN BRIEF

Published: August 29, 2012 (Issue # 1724)

Narodny Store Closed

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — St. Petersburg’s Krasnogvardeisky district court ruled that the city’s Narodny supermarket should be closed for a period of 15 days after it was found to have violated sanitation and migration laws, the city prosecutor said last week, Interfax reported.

Numerous inspections at the supermarket found systematic violations of sanitary and epidemiological legislation, as well as migration and labor legislation, the prosecutor’s report said.

Narodny, known for its low prices, has repeatedly come under fire from the authorities. On June 28, police detained 56 people there for violating migration legislation. One of those people is suspected of the illegal possession of drugs. A previous case resulted in the store having to remove fake alcohol from sale. The officials also found poor quality products in the store, Interfax reported.

Ice-Breaker Ordered

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — Atomflot, the state company that maintains the world’s only fleet of nuclear powered icebreakers, signed an agreement with St. Petersburg’s Baltiisky shipbuilding plant Baltiisky Zavod last week on the construction of a lead atomic ice-breaker, Interfax reported.

The cost of the project is expected to be 36.9 billion rubles ($1.15 billion).The ice-breaker, which will have a capacity of 60 megawatts, is to be built by Dec. 30, 2017 and may be given the name ‘Arktika,’ the news agency reported.

The new atomic ice-breaker will differ from previous generation ships in its ballast system, which will allow it to change its keel depth in order for it to operate both along the Northern Sea Route shipping lane and in the rivers of the Arctic region.

Baltiisky Zavod specializes in the construction of both atomic and diesel powered ice-breakers and ice class ships.

Fornication on Nevsky

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — City police have opened an investigation after a video was posted on YouTube showing a man and a woman having sex on St. Petersburg’s main thoroughfare, Nevsky Prospekt.

The couple had sex intermittently for about 20 minutes in front of the Mertens House building that houses the Zara department store early Sunday morning. Despite the time — it was about 5 a.m. — the sight caused a traffic jam on Nevsky Prospekt as many passing cars stopped to watch and record the spectacle. The pair paid no attention to anyone around them.

A 13-minute video of the action was posted on Sunday, and by Tuesday about 200,000 people had watched it. After that the administration of the hosting service deleted the video, Fontanka reported.

The video also contained a running commentary from the witnesses who were filming it. After the end of the sex show several passersby asked the man who had taken part in the sex act what was going on. He was with several other men.

“We’re celebrating a birthday, we’re having a party,” the men said by way of explanation, Fontanka reported.

The woman left the scene after having sex and walked toward Gostiny Dvor department store, swaying.