IN BRIEF

Published: October 31, 2012 (Issue # 1733)

Would-Be Emigrants

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — The proportion of Russians willing to move abroad permanently has grown in the last four years from 17 percent in 2008 to 22 percent this year, Interfax reported, referring to Levada Center research.

The majority of those willing to emigrate are men (27 percent), respondents from 18 to 24 years old (41 percent), people with higher education (24 percent), and residents of Moscow and rural areas (25 percent).

Meanwhile the majority of the respondents (74 percent) are not considering moving abroad. Most of them are women (78 percent), people older than 55 (83 percent) and respondents with a low income (80 percent).

However, only one respondent in ten said they could speak a foreign language more or less fluently.

Romanov Remains

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — Mikhail Fedotov, head of the presidential council on human rights, has appealed to St. Petersburg Governor Georgy Poltavchenko with a request to solve the issue of financing archeological excavations at the Peter and Paul Fortress, where the remains of the Romanov grand dukes may be buried, Interfax reported.

Fedotov said some days ago that he had appealed to Poltavchenko, asking for help with financing the digging near the fortress’s Golovkin bastion, where a grave dating to 1917-1919 and containing the remains of 112 people has been found. At present only about 30 percent of the site has been excavated, he said.

Fedotov said the excavations should be financed from the city budget, since the fortress is a city museum.

The Romanov grand dukes were executed in the Peter and Paul Fortress in 1917 and 1918. However, the exact location of their burial is still unknown.

Halloween in Russia

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — Most Russians know about Halloween, but only one in every ten of them is planning to celebrate the holiday, Interfax reported, referring to sociologists at the Levada Center.

The research indicated that this year, 9 percent of Russians plan to celebrate Halloween, 3 percent more than last year.

Halloween is celebrated on the night of Oct. 31. The roots of the holiday go back to the pre-Christian epoch when the lands of Ireland, Northern France and England were inhabited by Celts. Their year consisted of summer and winter, and the transition from summer to winter was marked on Oct. 31.

On the night of Nov. 1, according to legend, the portal between the world of the living and dead opened, and people put out the fires in their houses and donned animal heads and skins in order to ward off roaming evil spirits.

Vessel Virgin

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — The Admiralteiskiye Verfi shipyard launched a new rescue ship named the Igor Belousov on Tuesday, Interfax reported.

The main purpose of the ship, whose keel was laid on Dec. 24, 2005, is the emergency rescue of submarine crews, but it can also be used for scientific and research activities, as well as rescuing navy pilots who have got into trouble.

One of the ship’s major tasks is performing searches for and investigating navy vessels in distress, but it can also operate as part of international navy rescue groups.

After undergoing essential tests, the ship is to be presented to the Russian navy in 2014.

New Appointment

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — City Governor Georgy Poltavchenko has appointed Irina Babyuk the new head of the city’s Investment and Strategic Projects Committee.

Babyuk has worked on the committee since 2009 as vice chairwoman. The former head of the committee, Alexei Chichkanov, left the city administration this spring.