The Moscow Times

Market Matters : Markets Rise as Cabinet Settles In
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's strong backing for aggressive oil tax cuts in the near future provided Russian stock markets with a long-awaited catalyst to push the RTS to a record high last week.

News

Meet the First Lady in Waiting
By Svetlana Osadchuk and Kevin O'Flynn / Staff Writers As world attention falls on Dmitry Medvedev, the spotlight has flickered and fallen on everything around him -- including his wife, Svetlana, who seems certain to succeed Lyudmila Putina.

Medvedev Offers Putin a New Job
By Nabi Abdullaev / Staff Writer Dmitry Medvedev, endorsed by President Vladimir Putin as his preferred successor, asked Putin on Tuesday to become prime minister in his future government in order to ensure continuity.

News in Brief
Dagestani Judge MurderedAzeri Iranian Spying Case

Colleagues Blame Police for Other Russia Activist's Death
The Moscow Times Yury Chervochkin, an activist with the Other Russia opposition coalition, died in a hospital on Monday of injuries his colleagues say he sustained when attacked by police.

Bird Flu Kills 35,000 Rostov Chickens
The Moscow Times A bird flu outbreak has killed 35,000 chickens at a Rostov region poultry farm, the Emergency Situations Ministry said Tuesday.

Medvedev In St. Pete Group
The Moscow Times Dmitry Medvedev belongs to a group nicknamed the St. Pete jurists, whose members have been elevated to various federal positions since Vladimir Putin became president in 2000.

Tymoshenko Loses by One Vote
Combined Reports Ukraine's parliament on Tuesday failed to approve Yulia Tymoshenko as prime minister in a vote that her supporters immediately charged was technically flawed.

Total Bill for Duma Campaign: $83M
The Moscow Times Political parties spent a total of 3.4 billion rubles, or $83 million, in the State Duma elections campaign, the Central Elections Commission said Tuesday.

Attack Puts N. Korean Laborers in Hospital
By Carl Schreck / Staff Writer A group of young men wielding pipes and sticks attacked a group of North Korean laborers in the Moscow region, leaving four of the migrant workers hospitalized, authorities said Tuesday.

Western Take on Medvedev Measured
By Nikolaus von Twickel / Staff Writer While the Western reaction Tuesday to the naming of Dmitry Medvedev as President Vladimir Putin's chosen successor was mostly reserved on the surface, there were signs that the choice was cause for hope in some European circles.

Cuba Says It Will Sign Rights Agreement, Arrests Protesters
The Associated Press Cuba said Monday that it would sign an international agreement on civil and political rights while a few blocks away government supporters shoved and shouted down activists calling for improved human rights on the communist island.

47 Dead in Bombing Of Algerian Capital
By Lamine Chikhi / Reuters At least 47 people were killed when two car bombs exploded in upscale districts of Algiers on Tuesday, a security source said, in the bloodiest attack since the 1990s on the capital of the OPEC member state.

Railroad Forges Links Between Koreas
The Associated Press North and South Korea began regular cargo train service across their heavily armed border Tuesday for the first time in more than a half-century, in another symbolic step toward reconciliation.

Gaza Strike Sets Scene For Talks
The Associated Press Israeli tanks and bulldozers backed by attack aircraft moved into the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, killing four militants in the widest operation in the territory since Hamas forces wrested control in June.

Business

State Budget Surplus Is Down 14%
By Maria Levitov / Bloomberg The government's budget surplus probably shrank 14 percent in November as the state transferred money to new funds intended to make the economy less dependent on energy sales.

Nord Stream's Warnig Quit Dresdner
Bloomberg Nord Stream executive Matthias Warnig, who opened Dresdner Bank's Russian business in 1991 and confirmed last year that he had worked for the East German Stasi, left the bank in the summer, Financial Times Deutschland said Tuesday, citing the company.

Navy Disrupts Access to Statoil Fields
Reuters Norwegian oil and gas producer StatoilHydro has suspended helicopter flights to some of its main fields in the North Sea due to Russian Navy exercises in nearby international waters, the company said Tuesday.

Evraz Buys Up Ukraine Steel and Iron Factories
Reuters Evraz Group, the country's largest steelmaker by domestic volume, on Tuesday agreed to acquire Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk Iron and Steel Works plus a separate iron-ore complex and three coking plants.

Siemens Head Office Searched
By Catrina Stewart / Staff Writer Investigators have searched the Moscow offices of engineering and telecoms giant Siemens in connection with corruption charges against one of its Yekaterinburg-based employees.

Central Bank Hopes to Start Converting Oil Fund Cash
Reuters The Central Bank hopes to receive the government's approval to start exchanging rubles from the $144 billion oil stabilization fund into foreign currency on the forex market, a official at the bank said Tuesday.

Putin Plays Down the State's Role
Combined Reports Russia is not going to build state capitalism with giant, government-controlled corporations holding sway over the economy, President Vladimir Putin told business leaders Tuesday.

Costa, Rosinter Plan Coffee Shops
By Max Delany / Staff Writer Leading British coffee shop chain Costa Coffee is set to open in Russia early next year, after parent company Whitbread announced that it had signed a joint venture with restaurant group Rosinter on Tuesday.

Business in Brief
Mechel Net Rises 90%Transneft Seeks 20% HikeOfficer to Head Gazflot50% More Gas TradingHighland Shares Sold36.6 Plans $65M HospitalTrade Surplus Falls 13%Conversbank Into Fast CarsIntel, Comstar WiMax DealImedi TV to Return to AirKazakh Pipe Nearly DoneVimpelCom 3G in UkraineUkraine Power Price HikeUkraine Refinery Goes Light

Opinion

Yulia Latynina: Keeping Medvedev on a Short Leash
Keeping Medvedev on a Short Leash Russia's presidential election was held Monday. President Vladimir Putin voted for First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to become the new president.

Caught in the Crosshairs of the U.S. Dollar
By Martin Gilman Once again, Russia is in the crosshairs of U.S. policy. Rather that an intentionally Russia-wary position, it results from a 21st-century form of ""benign neglect"" by Washington -- a term last widely used to describe the attitude of U.S. Treasury Secretary John Connally regarding the plight of the dollar in 1971.

City Wise

Wild Rice Can Be Tame
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer The concept behind Diky Ris certainly looks like a winner. Besides the usual sushi, there's a good range of Chinese; the menu even stretches to include a little Southeast Asian and some original creations.

Treasure Hunt: Christmas and New Year's Trees
By James Marson Christmas or New Year's tree bazaars are set to open throughout Moscow on Dec. 20. Russian yolki are not expected to cost much more than last year, starting at around 400 rubles a meter.

Finders, Keepers
By Maria Antonova / Staff Writer Where to go in search of lost documents and other belongings.

Ask the Chef
Matthew Cooper is the new executive chef at Yar.

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