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

Arbat Prestige Boss Arrested for Taxes
By Natalya Krainova / Staff Writer Vladimir Nekrasov, owner of leading cosmetics retailer Arbat Prestige, was placed under arrest Thursday on suspicion of large-scale tax evasion.

Russia's Economy Looks Good From Davos
By Andrew McChesney / Staff Writer With the rumblings of a global recession providing the backdrop, some big financial players prefer what they see here.

Boom in Weddings Is Packing Palaces
By Alexander Osipovich / Staff Writer Love is in the air. And it's causing problems for the Moscow city government. As the wealth and population of the Russian capital have grown, so has the number of weddings: More than 78,000 couples tied the knot in 2006, an increase of 15 percent compared with 2000.

Suspected Crime Boss Mogilevich Arrested With Arbat Prestige Owner
By Nikolaus von Twickel and Natalya Krainova / Staff Writers Police have arrested Semyon Mogilevich, a suspected organized crime boss wanted by the FBI, officials and his lawyer said Friday.

Kozlov Case Sent to Court
Reuters, MT The case against banker Alexei Frenkel and others accused of organizing the killing of Central Bank first deputy chairman Andrei Kozlov was sent to court Thursday, the Prosecutor General's Office said in a statement.

University Buys IBM Computer
Reuters The Moscow State University has bought one of the world's most powerful supercomputers, the first time that such sophisticated technology has been exported to the former Soviet Union, maker IBM said Thursday.

Lithuania Imprisons Suspected IRA Dissidents
The Associated Press A Lithuanian court has ordered two suspected Irish Republican Army dissidents to be imprisoned without charge after police allegedly caught one of them trying to buy explosives from an undercover officer.

Kadyrov Criticizes Personality Cult
Reuters Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov has called for a toning down of a personality cult blossoming around him and told people to take down his portraits from public places.

Belarus Oppositionist Granted Early Release
AP, Reuters A Belarussian opposition leader whose imprisonment was condemned by the United States and the European Union has been released two months before the end of his sentence.

Kazakh Film Aims for Oscar
By Maria Golovnina / Reuters The Kazakh-financed film nominated for best foreign film at this year's Oscars is a welcome creative boost to this Central Asian country that was so heavily lampooned by the hit ""Borat"" movie.

Armenian Student Stabbed to Death
The Moscow Times The Armenian victim of a knife attack in northern Moscow on Wednesday died of his wounds in a hospital early Thursday, police said. Passers-by found the 20-year-old student at Moscow State Automobile and Road Technical University lying beside Bolshaya Akademicheskaya Ulitsa at about 9:20 p.m., Northern Administrative District police spokeswoman Yekaterina Malyugina said.

Medvedev Sticks to Civil Society Theme
Reuters Russia needs a strong state, but it should also have a vigorous civil society to hold authorities accountable, first deputy prime minister and presidential front-runner Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday.

Saakashvili to Shuffle Cabinet
The Associated Press Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said Thursday that Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili will be replaced as part of a major government reshuffle.

EU President Wants Dialogue on Arms Treaty
The Associated Press The Slovenian presidency of the European Union on Thursday urged Russia to continue with ""effective dialogue"" on a key European arms-control treaty that limits the deployment of tanks, aircraft and other heavy weapons across the continent.

Rogozin Says Set to Work With NATO
By Nikolaus von Twickel / Staff Writer Russia's new representative to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, offered a trademark nationalist farewell Thursday before heading to Brussels -- but stressed that he was prepared to work constructively with the alliance.

Little Chance Left of Kasyanov Candidacy
By David Nowak / Staff Writer The Central Elections Commission said Thursday that former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov should not be registered as a candidate for the March 2 presidential election because of invalid documentation.

Prodi Warns Senate of 'Power Vacuum' Risk
By Robin Pomeroy and Stephen Brown / Reuters Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi told the Italian Senate on Thursday that if it forces him to resign with an expected no-confidence vote, a “power vacuum” will leave Italy’s economy vulnerable to a global slowdown.

U.S. Border Patrol Has a Long History in the Saddle
By Tim Gaynor / Reuters Since the 1920s, U.S. mounted agents have chased smugglers and illegal immigrants along the Mexican border.

Clinton Campaign Pushing Obama as Favorite
The Associated Press Former President Bill Clinton's comments appear aimed at limiting the damage from a possible loss in South Carolina.

Palestinians Blast Open Egyptian Border
Reuters Israel wants to cut its links with the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip after militants blasted open the territory's border with Egypt in defiance of an Israeli blockade, Israel's deputy defense minister said Thursday.

SocGen Nabs Trader For Bilking $7.1Bln
By Emma Vandore / The Associated Press French bank Societe Generale said Thursday that it had uncovered a 4.9 billion euro ($7.1 billion) fraud -- one of biggest in history-- by a single futures trader whose scheme of fictitious transactions was discovered as stock markets began to stumble in recent days.

Business

Gas Cartel Could Be Formed in June
Bloomberg Russia is considering an Iranian proposal to set up an OPEC-style cartel that would include the world's largest natural gas producers, Kommersant reported Thursday.

State Rejects Chinese Bid for TNK-BP Unit
Reuters Russia has rejected a bid by China Oilfield Services to buy a unit of TNK-BP, felling what would have been the Chinese company's first acquisition abroad at the final hurdle and sending its shares 12 percent lower.

Kudrin's New Deputy
The Moscow Times Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov appointed Dmitry Pankin as deputy finance minister to take over the responsibilities of jailed Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak, the government press service said Thursday.

Swiss Approve Noga Funds Freeze
The Associated Press Geneva prosecutors acted within the law when they froze funds belonging to the Russian Central Bank at the behest of a Swiss firm, the country's Supreme Court said Thursday.

Markets End Losing Streak
Bloomberg Russian stocks climbed for the first time in eight days as the MICEX Index snapped its longest losing streak in three years.

Fishing Chief Plans Caviar Monopoly
By Guy Faulconbridge / Reuters The government hopes to save the sturgeon from extinction by setting up a state caviar monopoly and stiffening punishments for poachers, its top fisheries official said Thursday.

Kudrin Gets Job to Curb Inflation
Reuters The government on Thursday assigned Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin to set up a body to combat inflation as it seeks tools other than ruble appreciation to rein in price rises, which soared again in January.

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Vekselberg Seeks PremiumPeugeot Plans Kaluga DealLenenergo Powering ToyotaUES Stands By Sales GoalRZD, North Korea ProjectDevelopment Bank LoansRosneft to Upgrade TuapseLehman Gets Russia LicenseLUKoil Unit Settles SuitForex Reserves at $478BlnFor the Record

Wrong Way to Fight Against Political Foes
The harassment this week of campaign workers trying to get Mikhail Kasyanov registered for the March 2 presidential election is a clear, a well-coordinated effort designed either to discredit the former prime minister or force him out of the race altogether.

News in Brief
Latvians Name DiplomatMilitary Officers Fired OnKyrgyz Street Protest PlansNazarbayev Shuffles CircleAdamov Could Get 9 Years

MT News

Sweden's TV8 interviewed Moscow Times editor Andrew McChesney.
The Moscow Times Sweden's TV8 interviewed Moscow Times editor Andrew McChesney about the Russian economy and the upcoming president election during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The interview was broadcast on TV8's news program late last week.

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