|
Reputed Crime Boss Sentenced To 14 Years
MOSCOW — Reputed St. Petersburg crime boss Vladimir Barsukov was sentenced to 14 years in prison late last Thursday after being convicted of fraud and money laundering during a high-profile trial. St. Petersburg’s Kuibyshevsky District Court, whose staff moved to the Moscow City Court for the trial out of fear for the safety of the participants, ruled that Barsukov and seven co-defendants were guilty of money laundering and organizing the illegal takeover of companies and property in St. Petersburg between July 2005 and June 2006. Prosecutors had asked the court to sentence Barsukov to 15 1/2 years in a maximum-security prison and to fine him 1 million rubles ($34,880). The court on Thursday also ordered Barsukov to pay the 1 million ruble fine. Barsukov, who has maintained his innocence, is believed to have led the powerful Tambov crime group in St. Petersburg in the 1990s. He was arrested at his country home outside St. Petersburg in August 2007 by dozens of OMON police ... |
 |
| Performers herald the unveiling of the Treugolnik (Triangle) arts center on Friday. The new arts venue is housed in the former Red Triangle Factory on the Obvodny Canal, and plans to host film showings, theater performances, festivals and exhibitions as well as a hostel and cafe. |
Russia Dashes Iran’s Nuclear Reactor Hopes
MOSCOW — Moscow on Monday dashed Iranian hopes that a Russian-built nuclear reactor will be switched on this year, a blow to Tehran amid persistent tension over its nuclear program. Officials in Russia and Iran had previously announced plans to switch on the reactor at the southern port of Bushehr this ... |
Green Victory as Nuclear Waste Shipments are Halted
Environmentalists from the international pressure group Greenpeace are trumpeting their biggest success in years after German-Dutch company URENCO announced on Monday that it is ending the practice of sending spent nuclear fuel to Russia for reprocessing and storage. Radioactive loads on board foreign ships had been arriving at the port of St. Petersburg every month for a decade to be sent by rail to factories in Siberia and the Urals. Environmentalists feared that transporting such loads through the city presented a major threat to public health and environmental security. In 1999, they failed in their attempts to have the importing of spent nuclear fuel from abroad into Russia banned. In December 2000, the State Duma voted overwhelmingly to adopt the practice of importing irradiated fuel from other countries. Supporters of the project then said that the money the business would raise would be used to develop Russia’s nuclear industry, as well as improve its safety record ... |
