The Moscow Times

Market Matters: Struggling Stocks Spur New Record Oil Prices
Oil hit another record of just under $143 as global stocks tumbled last week, with the Dow briefly dipping into bear market territory as investors sought safety in gold, government debt and the Swiss franc.

News

Ivanov Calls for New Nuclear Arms Regime
By David Rising / The Associated Press The United States and Russia should set aside Cold War arms-control treaties and replace them with new, multilateral agreements to combat nuclear proliferation, First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said Sunday at a security conference in Munich.

Putin Sees Lower Taxes, Fewer Bribes
By Anna Smolchenko / Staff Writer With three months left in his presidency, Vladimir Putin on Friday called for tax cuts, a downsizing of bureaucracy and less state involvement in the economy -- reforms that he said should allow Russians to live longer and better.

Speech Suggests Best Is Yet to Come
By Nabi Abdullaev / Staff Writer President Vladimir Putin extolled the successes of his eight years in office in a speech Friday that politicians and analysts said indicated his desire to remain the country's premier political figure for years to come.

Georgia Says It's Prepared to Lift Sanctions on Abkhazia
Reuters Georgia is prepared to lift an economic blockade on its breakaway territory of Abkhazia, the minister leading negotiations with the state's separatist regions said Friday.

In Rare Criticism, Newspaper Scolds Nazarbayev
Reuters A leading Kazakh newspaper criticized President Nursultan Nazarbayev's state of the nation address on Friday, a rare voice of dissent in the Central Asian state's tightly controlled media.

U.S. Disturbed by Iran Nuclear News
Reuters An Iranian rocket launch and reports that Iran is testing an advanced centrifuge are ""deeply disturbing"" and strengthen the case for a third UN sanctions resolution against Tehran, a top U.S. official said Friday.

U.S. Funds Institutes Building Iran Reactor
By Matthew L. Wald / NEW YORK TIMES SERVICE The U.S. Energy Department is subsidizing two Russian nuclear institutes that are building important parts of a reactor in Iran whose construction the United States spent years trying to stop, according to a House of Representatives committee.

Lukin Criticizes the Courts
The Moscow Times Human rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin said his efforts to defend citizens' rights was being hampered by courts that lack independence and that issue poor rulings.

Liberal Opposition Will Meet in Search of Unity
By Natalya Krainova / Staff Writer Representatives of the fractured liberal opposition will meet next month to discuss the creation of a broad liberal alliance and the development of a coordinated political platform, opposition leaders said Friday.

U.S. Pastor to Be Held for 2 Months
By David Nowak / Staff Writer A Moscow court has ordered a U.S. pastor to remain in detention for two months while prosecutors investigate him on suspicion of smuggling ammunition into the country, a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman said Sunday.

Council of Europe to Send Observers
Reuters, AP But the top observer from the council's Parliamentary Assembly says the campaign shows signs of unfairness.

Belgrade Suggests It May Try to Keep Serb Areas in Kosovo
The Associated Press Serbia's minister for Kosovo suggested Saturday that Belgrade would seek to keep control over Serb-populated areas after the predominantly ethnic Albanian province declares independence. Slobodan Samardzic, Serbia's minister for Kosovo, said Friday that Belgrade had information indicating that Kosovo will unilaterally declare independence on Feb. 17.

Fires Blaze in London Landmark
The Associated Press Firefighters dug through the wreckage of London's famous Camden market Sunday, trying to find out what started a large blaze that seriously damaged the market and surrounding buildings.

Obama Sweeps Clinton in 4 Contests
The Associated Press The candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination has his best campaign night so far.

Ivanov Agrees to Global Warming Talks
Reuters Japan and Russia have agreed to start talks on fighting global warming, including possible greenhouse gas emissions trading that would help Tokyo to meet its goals under the Kyoto Protocol, Japanese media reported Sunday.

U.S. Air Force Notes Russia's Spending
LOS ANGELES TIMES The Air Force's top officer has presented a new strategic plan for the service that warns the United States cannot ignore ""ascendant powers"" seeking to challenge U.S. military superiority as it fights low-intensity wars elsewhere.

Students Back British Council
The Associated Press As students demonstrated in St. Petersburg on Friday in support of the British Council, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown renewed his criticism of Moscow's decision to order the council to suspend operations in the city and Yekaterinburg.

Japan Says Bomber Violated Airspace
AP, Reuters NATO, meanwhile, asks Moscow to give advanced warning of military exercises.

Aleksanyan Transferred to Clinic
AP, MT Vasily Aleksanyan, the former Yukos executive suffering from AIDS-related cancer and tuberculosis, has been moved from jail to a specialized clinic, his lawyer and a prison spokesman said.

Business

Lining Up at Turkmenistan's Opening Door
By Lucian Kim / Bloomberg Adem Dogan, a Turkish-born used-car salesman from Leverkusen, Germany, never thought much about chicken farming until he got to Turkmenistan 10 years ago. Then, while visiting a customer who bought secondhand Mercedes sedans for resale in the country, he stumbled across an opportunity he couldn't resist.

2 Generator Sales Approved
Reuters The government's markets regulator said Friday that it had registered the share sales of power producers OGK-1 and TGK-10, officially marking the start of the placings.

Aging Nuclear Plant Has Town on Edge
By Patrick Lannin and Nerijus Adomaitis / Reuters When Lithuania's sole nuclear power station closes next year, European Union officials will sigh with relief, but nearby residents are already fretting over the future of their town.

Power Supplier Deal Challenged in Court
By Pratima Desai and Simon Shuster / Reuters A Jersey-based fund said it had filed a lawsuit in Moscow against Russian firm KIT for refusing to buy out minority shareholders of the power supply company it came to control in March.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Visits, Hoping for Debt Reduction
MT, AP The potential deal may be intended to help companies win contracts in Iraq.

Mechel Considering $4Bln IPO on Frankfurt Exchange
Reuters, Bloomberg Steelmaker Mechel is believed to be considering listing its mining division in Frankfurt in an initial public offering that could raise around $4 billion.

Kudrin Counters Bank Bailout Talk
By Catrina Stewart / Staff Writer Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin on Friday sought to downplay assurances by other government officials that the state would step in to shore up domestic banks as a spate of loans come up for repayment.

Russia's Role in G8 Seen Growing Gradually
MT, Reuters The finance minister also warns against limits on foreign investment.

Turkmenistan Ends Major Gasoline Subsidy
AP, MT Turkmenistan's government announced an end Saturday to heavily subsidized gasoline prices in the energy rich Central Asian nation, prompting long lines at gasoline stations across the country.

Miller Looks for Hungarian Support
Bloomberg, Reuters Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller held talks Friday with Hungarian Finance Minister Janos Veres in Moscow as the gas exporter seeks partners for a new pipeline to Central Europe.

Polish Pipeline Plea Ignored
By Gabriela Baczynska and Chris Baldwin / Reuters Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Friday that he had failed to talk Russia out of its plan to build a gas pipeline to Germany bypassing his nation.

Kiev, Gazprom Race to End Debt Dispute
By Anatoly Medetsky / Staff Writer European governments looked on over the weekend as Moscow and Kiev prepared to untangle their latest dispute over natural gas after Gazprom threatened on Friday to reduce shipments of the fuel starting Tuesday.

Opinion

Prudent Policy for Kosovo
By Ruth Wedgwood Small events in the Balkans have a way of getting out of hand, as Emperor Franz Joseph might once have remarked.

In Gazprom's Vice
By Zeyno Baran and Robert A. Smith It's now been more than two years since Russia cut off gas supplies to Ukraine. It is threatening to do so again this week.

City Wise

English Language Evenings
What to Do

Journey From Quito to Moscow
By James Marson / Staff Writer Ambassador Chavez reflects on the road to the embassy and what he's learned from Russia -- to push past the difficulties and passionately pursue goals.

Business in Brief

Business in Brief
Chemezov Wants Air StakeMedvedev's Pipeline RequestItera Execs Flock to RussneftFrench-Kazakh CooperationFebruary Inflation LowerAbramov's $4Bln FundBaltic Port Doubles CargoCapital Inflow EstimateLower Trade Surplus FigureSwedes Get Drilling PermitGazprom Drops Baltic PlantFor the Record

Business Needs to Play a Role in Fighting HIV
By Daniel Kashnitsky Russian business leaders are very aware of the negative role that alcohol and drug abuse play on the workplace, but the potential threat that HIV poses to the strength of the private sector is not as high on the corporate agenda. It should be.

Lucky No. 7 at Thai-Thai
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Its seems that just about every Moscow sushi bar these days has a few Thai dishes on the menu, or at least a coconut-milk soup. But Thai restaurants are still not all that common in this city, so it's good news when a new one does open that offers full range of Thai dishes.

Restaurant News
By Nathan Toohey

Time for More Than Just Pretty Words
In his 50-minute televised speech Friday, President Vladimir Putin offered a comprehensive overview of the achievements of eight years in office and the challenges he wants his successor to tackle.

U.S. Election With a Dash of Bolshevism
By Alexei Bayer It is sometimes striking how the United States is beginning to resemble the late, unlamented Soviet Union in so many ways.

News in Brief
Tver Activist Stuck in ClinicEx-Spy Frightened in U.K.Gas Explosion Hits KievAfghans Get Turkmen Aid

Djokovic Retirement Bails Out Russia
By Gennady Fyodorov / Reuters Russia beat Serbia in the Davis Cup when an ill Novak Djokovic retired from his match against Nikolai Davydenko, handing the home team an unassailable 3-1 lead in their first-round tie Sunday, before Serbia's Viktor Troicki beat Dmitry Tursunov 7-6, 4-6, 6-3 in the dead fifth rubber.

Market Matters

Rosneft Debt Worries Push Markets Down
By Catrina Stewart / Staff Writer Headwinds from global markets continued to buffet Russian stocks in a volatile week of trading.

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