The Moscow Times

Market Matters : Oil Tax Pledge Buoys Markets
Markets surged after the swearing-in of Dmitry Medvedev as president in a pomp-filled ceremony Wednesday and a tax-cutting speech by Vladimir Putin the day after, when he was approved as prime minister.

News

Duma Set but Investors Wait for Next Vote
By Catrina Stewart / Staff Writer Sunday's vote brought no surprises, but March remains a mystery.

Observers Criticize 'Managed Elections'
By David Nowak / Staff Writer International observers criticized the State Duma elections as unfair and undemocratic and accused the Kremlin of abusing its position to buttress a crushing victory for United Russia.

Putin Praises Voters, Himself
By Nabi Abdullaev / Staff Writer President Vladimir Putin thanked voters Monday for supporting the United Russia party in Sunday's State Duma election, while stressing his own central role in the victory.

News in Brief
Kiselyov to Head RTViRights Activist Sentenced

Georgia Will Lift TV Ban
Reuters The Georgian government will lift a ban on opposition television station Imedi, acting President Nino Burjanadze said Monday, a key demand of Georgia's Western allies ahead of a Jan. 5 presidential election.

Scientist Convicted of Selling Secrets
The Moscow Times A Moscow court on Monday convicted the head of a leading rocket and space research center and sentenced him to 11 1/2 years in prison for illegally selling weapons technology to China.

Mine Blast Kills 5 in Ukraine
The Associated Press A new explosion tore through a Ukrainian mine as workers were searching for bodies from the last deadly blast, killing five people and injuring dozens, officials said Monday.

As Duma Deputy, Lugovoi Still Faces Charges
Combined Reports British prosecutors will not drop charges against Andrei Lugovoi for the poisoning death of Alexander Litvinenko after Lugovoi, a former security services officer, was elected Sunday to the State Duma.

Nashi Says U.S. Planning Insurrection
By Mansur Mirovalev / The Associated Press Nashi, the pro-Kremlin youth group, accused the United States of planning to incite ""thieves and traitors"" to seize key public buildings and squares and urged the crowd at a post-election celebration to help thwart the attempt.

Chechnya Boasts Turnout of 99.5%
By Nikolaus von Twickel / Staff Writer Chechnya and other North Caucasus republics reported nearly 100 percent voter turnout and a similarly high percentage of votes going to United Russia in the State Duma elections.

Australia Agrees to Join Kyoto, Making U.S. the Last Straggler
Reuters Australia raised hopes of global action to fight climate change Monday by agreeing to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, isolating the United States at UN-led talks in Bali as the only rich nation not in the pact.

Teddy Bear Teacher Pardoned
The Associated Press A British teacher jailed after she allowed her students to name a teddy bear Muhammad was released Monday, hours after Sudan's president pardoned her, a British Embassy spokesman said.

Voters Reject Chavez's Reforms
Reuters Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez crashed to an unprecedented defeat Monday as Venezuelans narrowly rejected his bid to run for re-election indefinitely and accelerate his socialist revolution.

Pakistan Disqualifies Ex-Premier
Reuters Pakistan's election commission on Monday barred former prime minister and opposition leader Nawaz Sharif from a Jan. 8 general election because of his criminal record.

Business

Turkmens Start Work on Resort
Reuters Turkmenistan's leader inaugurated the construction of a $5 billion tourism complex on the Caspian coast on Monday, his latest gesture to open up the reclusive country to the world.

Implenia, Chigirinsky Form Property Venture
Bloomberg Implenia, Switzerland's largest builder, said Monday that billionaire Shalva Chigirinsky bought a 2.7 percent stake and that a joint venture with the Russian investor's building company was founded to develop Russian property and infrastructure projects.

Profit Triples for Orco
Bloomberg Orco Property Group, a real estate developer that operates in Central and Eastern Europe, said Monday that nine-month profit tripled, bolstered by the earnings of a German unit and new projects in the Czech Republic and Poland.

Kazakhstan Raises Key Interest Rate
Bloomberg Kazakhstan's central bank on Monday raised the key interest rate by 2 percentage points in an effort to curb inflation, which accelerated to its highest in almost eight years last month.

Severstal Profit Falls 18% on Disruption
Bloomberg Severstal on Monday said third-quarter profit fell 18 percent because of disruptions to steel and coal output. The shares declined the most in more than two weeks in London trading.

Deal Near to Resume U.S. Beef
Reuters The United States and Russia have nearly completed a deal to loosen restrictions on beef exports to Russia, a pact U.S. beef producers are counting on to be a key revenue driver, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

Watchdog Slashes Imports of Herring From Norway
By Max Delany / Staff Writer With the holiday season fast approaching, supplies of one of the country's favorite drinking snacks, pickled herring, could be under threat, after Russia slashed the number of Norwegian companies allowed to export the shallow-water delicacy.

Mamut Buys LiveJournal Site
By Tai Adelaja / Staff Writer Alexander Mamut's media firm SUP said Monday that it had acquired LiveJournal, one of the world's most popular blogging and social networking web sites, from Six Apart, its longtime U.S. business partner.

Rosneft Executives Leave Company
Bloomberg Rosneft, the country's biggest oil producer, on Monday said vice president Alexander Sapronov, head of refining and sales, had quit the company.

31 Gas Fields Listed As Strategic
Bloomberg The government has designated 31 natural gas deposits as ""strategic"" for ensuring fuel deliveries to domestic consumers, including a field ExxonMobil had sought off Sakhalin.

New Storchak Investigation Opened
Combined Reports Prosecutors have opened a new criminal investigation into the activities of Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak, who has already been charged with large-scale fraud and trying to embezzle millions of dollars in government funds.

Business in Brief
Tottenham Takeover BidSiemens Wins ContractX5 Readies Ramstore OfferTalks on OECD BeginGolden Telecom Bid$120M in AmnestyGazprom Put at $521BlnVentspils Nafta Posts RecordAbramov Goes to RZDTMK German Joint VentureFrench Luxury Goods Sales

Opinion

Op-Ed Contributor: Buying the Pensioner's Vote
By Ilian Cashu and Mitchell A. Orenstein No Russian politician would risk opposing pension hikes in an election year. During the State Duma campaign, the competition was fierce among all of the parties to become the greatest friend of the country's 38 million pensioners.

Konstantin Sonin: Kremlin Wins a Duma With No Legitimacy
I drafted this column on Sunday before the results of State Duma elections were in, but I do not need to change much after the Central Elections Commission announced their preliminary results on Monday.

Op-Ed Contributor: Voting at the Buffet
By Georgy Bovt Ever since the first elections to the Supreme Soviet in 1937 under the Stalinist Constitution, buffets at polling places have been an integral part of the election process. My earliest recollection of these heavily discounted buffets was in the 1970s, when I accompanied my parents as they ""fulfilled their civic duty"" on election day.

Editorial: Winners Must Make Good on Mandate
Now that United Russia has claimed a landslide victory, it has secured its much-desired mandate -- and the accompanying responsibility to make good on its campaign promise to follow President Vladimir Putin's policies once he leaves office.

City Wise

Chef's Secrets: Sea Bass Fillet Baked With Crab Meat and Quail Egg on White Wine Sauce
A recipe from Andre Martin, the new consultant chef at Le Royal Meridien National Hotel.

Kurils Culinary Concept
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer We won't hand over the islands!"" is the motto of the new restaurant Kurily, named after the archipelago that Russia and Japan have been feuding over since the end of World War II.

Icon: Laika
By James Marson Tatyana Gershkovich Nov. 3 marked the 50th anniversary of the first orbital spaceflight by a living being. On this date in 1957, a dog called Laika was launched into orbit aboard Sputnik 2.

Go Gallery Hopping
By Miriam Elder / Staff Writer How to spend a day doing a circuit of Moscow's most exciting contemporary art exhibits.

Business For Business

The Parity of Cadastral and Market Values of Land Plots in Government Cadastral Appraisals
By Elena Kovalchuk / Head of the department of legal consulting on commercial use of lands, Estimating the value of assets is a worry for owners of practically every company. But the price valuation of land -- an important and fundamental resource -- is often the very foundation or platform for building a business.

Innovations in Land Law on Acquisition of Rights to State and Municipal Land
By Inga Shakhnazarova, / Associate, Salans On Oct. 30, 2007, the new Federal Law No. 212-FZ came into force amending the Federal Law on the Introduction of the Land Code of the Russian Federation, or Introduction Law, and the RF Land Code in regard of the procedure for acquiring rights to state and municipal land.

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