Issue #1533 (95), Tuesday, December 8, 2009
 

TOP STORIES

FORMER COP VISITS CITY TO CAMPAIGN FOR REFORM

Alexei Dymovsky, the police officer who was fired and sued after he spoke out against police corruption in his YouTube address to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin last month, announced the creation of a grass-roots movement for police reform in St. Petersburg ...

 

FIREWORKS BANNED AFTER FIRE KILLS 113

MOSCOW — Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu banned fireworks at many New Year’s festivities and President Dmitry Medvedev ordered a review of ...

BURNS VICTIMS FLOWN TO ST. PETERSBURG FOR TREATMENT

At least 28 people who were seriously injured in the deadly fire at a Perm nightclub on Friday remained in two St. Petersburg hospitals Monday.

The injured people were taken from Perm to St. Petersburg on two special planes during the weekend. Almost ...

 

NEGOTIATORS PRESS ON DESPITE PACT REACHING EXPIRY DATE

MOSCOW — President Barack Obama will receive the Nobel Peace Prize this week without achieving a key step toward his vision of a nuclear-free world, which ...


 

NEWS

OLIGARCH PROKHOROV OFFERS TO SPONSOR AVRORA CRUISER

As the country’s Defense Ministry decides the fate of the legendary Avrora Cruiser, billionaire tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov has offered to become a patron of the historic vessel if it is handed over to the St. Petersburg government.

The Avrora is currently ...

 

NEVSKY EXPRESS CARS REPLACED

Russian Railways, or RZD, replaced all of the 61-4192-model passenger carriages previously used on the Nevsky Express train for carriages of another design ...

DAGESTANI COURT OVERTURNS OCT. 11 ELECTION

In a highly unusual decision, a Dagestani court has overturned the results of a mayoral election in the city of Derbent, making a repeat of the vote a real possibility.

The ruling, made late last week by the Derbent City Court, also sends a strong message ...

 

NEW MARIINSKY LABEL SCOOPS NOMINATIONS

The first two classical recordings released by the newly founded Mariinsky label this year have been nominated for five prestigious Grammy awards.

The ...

MK LOSES WEB SITE IN MYSTERY ATTACK

MOSCOW — Unidentified hackers destroyed the web site of Moskovsky Komsomolets in a mysterious attack, said editors for the popular national tabloid.

A virus coming from a server based in South Korea “erased” the contents of the web site in 10 minutes, ...

 

TIKHONOV, ‘SHTIRLITZ’ ACTOR DIES AGED 81

MOSCOW — Film actor Vyacheslav Tikhonov, known for his roles as the Soviet spy Shtirlitz and a Russian prince in War and Peace, died Friday. He was 81.

Tikhonov ...

 

BUSINESS

BORDER TOWN BUSINESS CONTINUES TO GROW

Despite the global economic crisis, Russian entrepreneurial activity in Finnish border territories, close to St. Petersburg, continues to develop steadily.

The Kotka-Hamina region, Lappeenranta, Lapland and other Finnish territories close to the Russian ...

 

IN BRIEF

MTS Relents On Fines

MOSCOW (Bloomberg) — Mobile TeleSystems will cut the size of penalties for subscribers who don’t make regular calls ...

GM PLANT INSTATES WEEKLY ‘CLEANING DAY’

St. Petersburg’s General Motors plant is shutting down one day a week to avoid overproduction.

The local GM plant stopped its conveyer last Thursday and announced a “non-production day,” a company representative said. Employees were on site at the time, ...

 

BELARUS OFFERS REASSURANCE OVER CUSTOMS UNION

MOSCOW — Belarus on Friday downplayed fears that a new customs union with Russia and Kazakhstan will lead to widespread duty hikes but said an agreement ...

MINISTRY PROPOSAL COULD HALVE GOVERNORS’ SALARIES

MOSCOW — A Finance Ministry proposal could cut by half the salaries of some regional governors, as the federal government tightens control over the regions while trying to rein in excess spending.

The proposed legislation, which could come into force ...

 

DUMA MULLS AD BAN ON HISTORIC OBJECTS

The State Duma is considering a bill that would ban advertisements from historic buildings. If the law is passed, the center of St. Petersburg will be ...

OOO DEADLINE EXTENDED

MOSCOW — The State Duma is planning to extend indefinitely on Wednesday the deadline for about 90 percent of the country’s companies to reregister their incorporation papers, a requirement that caused “gigantic” lines and “fistfights” outside government ...

 

MEDVEDEV AGREES ON RAFT OF DEALS IN ITALY

MOSCOW — President Dmitry Medvedev made his third trip to Italy this year on Thursday, discussing energy and politics with Italian Prime Minister Silvio ...

KD Avia Managers Arrested Over Collapse

MOSCOW — Two senior KD Avia managers have been arrested on suspicion of driving the Kaliningrad-based airline to bankruptcy, investigators said. 

KD Avia chairman Sergei Grishchenko and executive manager Leonid Itskov face charges of abuse of office and the deliberate bankruptcy of a company, the Interior ...

 

OPINION

NABOKOV’S MANUSCRIPTS DON’T BURN

There is, of course, pure fiction by Vladimir Nabokov — “The Gift,” “Lolita” and “Ada.” His novels were biographical and nonbiographical at the same time. He never wrote about politics, yet he did. Then there is his own fiction of his own writing and ...

 

IN SEARCH OF A RUSSIAN ATATURK

Russia has found a great way to be complacent about its deficiencies. No matter how extraordinary or hair-raising events are in Russia, parallels can be ...

 

WORLD

China Closes More Video Sharing Sites

SHANGHAI — Chinese regulators have closed down hundreds of video sharing websites in a new push to control Internet content, reports said Monday.

Several well-known websites were either closed down or ordered to delete all links to downloaded films or TV series in the past week, the China Business News ...

 

CULTURE

Double Date Tour of Russia Begins Whitney’s Comeback

MOSCOW — Multiple Grammy award-winner Whitney Houston starts her worldwide comeback in Moscow on Wednesday, followed by a concert at the Ice Palace in St. Petersburg on Saturday.

Houston’s Russian concerts will serve as a rehearsal for the pop diva’s World Tour, which starts in Japan in February 2010.

The ...