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Igor Tabakov / MT
Reflections of Moscow
20 October 2009
The Moscow Times
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1.
Rents for Moscow High-End Realty Third-Highest in World
Rent prices for three-bedroom apartments in Moscow are the third highest in the world behind those of Hong Kong and Tokyo, according to a study published Monday by consulting company ECA International.
2.
State-Run Poll Has Putin Winning Election in First Round
The state-run All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM) predicts presidential candidate Vladimir Putin will win the election in the first round of voting with 58.6 percent of the vote, a press release from the polling agency said Monday.
3.
Hotel National Owners Have Offer to Double Auction Price
The city of Moscow may have been somewhat hasty with the sale of the Hotel National, as the affiliates of the Gutseriyev family's and Mikhail Shishkhanov's Bin Group that bought it in December for $155 million, received an offer to sell it for more than twice that price.
4.
Rainbow Painted on United Russia HQ
A group of gay-rights activists spray-painted a rainbow and the words "We cannot be banned" on the facade of the United Russia party headquarters in Moscow on Sunday evening, to protest a St. Petersburg law that effectively outlaws gay-pride parades and other displays or discussion of gay and lesbian sexual orientations.
5.
Medvedev Supporter Goes Over To Kudrin
An adviser to Dmitry Medvedev said the outgoing Russian president should abandon plans to become prime minister and make way for the man he fired last year as finance minister.
6.
U.S. Signals Rising Interest in Russian Trade
The U.S. Commercial Service has named three new leading areas of business in Russia for American export and investment.
7.
Putin Turns Attention to Military in Manifesto
Equating corruption in the armed forces with high treason, attracting private investors to arms manufacturing and providing better benefits to retired soldiers are some of the concepts Prime Minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin expounded on in his latest article, which was dedicated to military reform.
8.
TV Attorney’s Law Degree Not Real
A lawyer on a popular televised court show has become embroiled in a bribery scandal that exposed him as a fraudulent lawyer and will put him behind bars for two years.
9.
Bitsevsky Metro Station Gets Mayor’s Approval
Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has approved plans to build a metro line under Bitsevsky Park in southern Moscow, despite protests by environmentalists and residents groups alarmed about the impact on the capital's second-largest nature reserve.
10.
Treaty Moves Cyprus Closer to Removal From Blacklist
The Finance Ministry could be closer to removing Cyprus from an official "blacklist" of tax havens that don't meet the ministry's standards for financial disclosure following the State Duma's approval of changes to the tax treaty between Russia and its largest foreign investor.
1.
General Says Russia Could Use Nuclear Weapons to Keep Country Intact
Russia's armed forces would be within their full rights to use nuclear weapons if any threats to the integrity of the country arise, Russian General Staff head Nikolay Makarov said Wednesday.
2.
HIV Prevention Falls Short as Funding Ends
Katya moved to Moscow seven years ago and three years later — when she was pregnant with her first child — discovered she was HIV-positive.
3.
Russian Billionaire Pays Record $88M for New York Apartment
Monaco-based potash tycoon Dmitry Rybolovlyev has bought the priciest piece of residential real estate in New York City, paying $88 million for a Manhattan penthouse.
4.
From South Ossetia to War With Georgia
While the Russian authorities are, for the time being, using kid gloves to deal with the opposition at home, they have not shown the same constraint in South Ossetia.
5.
Skolkovo's MIT Seeks to Stop Brain Drain
"I'm probably not going to move back for a couple of decades," said Yekaterina Paramonova, a third-year undergraduate majoring in nuclear science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, echoing the sentiment of many Russians who have tasted life outside the motherland.
6.
Doubts Nag Prokhorov's Candidacy
"Let's look at the history of human development," he begins. "Somebody always has to be first. That person says, 'We need to develop in this way,' and nobody believes him; they're suspicious of him. Nobody believed Steve Jobs or Bill Gates at first."
7.
Putin's Besieged Fortress
The campaign rhetoric in Russia's presidential election has grown increasingly harsh. This happens in many countries, but the difference with Russia is that "external factors" play a disproportionately greater role in the political process. In most other countries, voters evaluate candidates based on their domestic policies or track records, especially with regard to the economy.
8.
During Debate, Mikhalkov Admits He Would Vote for Opponent
Nikita Mikhalkov, film director and official backer of presidential candidate Vladimir Putin, admitted during a debate that he would vote for his opponent Irina Prokhorova, sister of billionaire presidential candidate Mikhail Prokhorov, if she were on the ballot.
9.
Analysis: Russia Not Immune To Greek Contagion
An HSBC investment report released Friday made a glowing case for Russian equities, ridiculed concerns about political risk ahead of the March 4 election and said macroeconomic support was flowing Moscow's way.
10.
Moskva Hotel Reopens as Mall
A slew of Moscow real estate players unveiled a reconstructed Moskva Hotel on Tuesday, relaunching the premier Soviet hotel as a commercial center with 70 shops, a department store, underground parking and a hotel.
1.
Election Webcam Installation Begins
In a city that was once the cradle of Russian democracy, an unprecedented new campaign kicked off over the weekend to install web cameras in every polling station around the country in an effort to prevent voting fraud.
2.
Feminist Punk Band Become Unlikely Putin Foil
Pussy Riot, a feminist punk collective from Moscow, creates protest through its dissident songs and unsanctioned performances, including a brief unauthorized concert in late January on Red Square.
3.
Putin Plan Targets Population Drop
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin unveiled his plan on social policy Monday, focusing on how Russia will boost its dwindling population amid a demographic crisis that threatens to turn the country into "void space."
4.
Why Putin Is Mad at Me
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin got very angry last Wednesday when he met with the editors-in-chief of Russia's top media outlets.
5.
Putin Stand-In Faces Zhirinovsky Fire
In Tuesday's second presidential debate of the campaign season, firebrand Vladimir Zhirinovsky harangued Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's levelheaded proxy over her patron's refusal to debate and alleged desire to rule for life.
6.
Journalist Booted After Visa Violation
A prominent French writer and journalist has been kicked out of the country on the grounds that she did not have the right to research a book while on a business visa.
7.
Recruiters Say Mother Russia Seeking Talent
Demographics make it a candidate’s market, but foreigners have to offer something unique to find their place.
8.
Pro-Putin Song Is Web Hit
A schmaltzy music video hailing Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as Russia's savior became a hit on the Russian Internet on Tuesday, with many bloggers and YouTube users poking fun at the song's hyperbolic lyrics.
9.
From Protest to Nausea
The history of successive authoritarian regimes in Russia reveals a recurring pattern: They do not die from external blows or domestic insurgencies.
10.
Why Putin Is So Scared of Debates
Putin has always been the ultimate "Teflon president" — but certainly not in the Ronald Reagan sense of the word. Putin's brand of Teflon is clearly made in Russia. Because he wants to avoid uncomfortable questions about his decade-long rule, Putin is once again refusing to participate in presidential debates.
