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

Market Maturing Toward Tasteful Luxury
By Max Delany / Staff Writer Outside the Ritz-Carlton, as a flurry of snow turned Tverskaya Ulitsa to mud, a young man tried to sell a fake designer watch to passers-by for 1,000 rubles.

Strikes Going Up With Cost of Living
By Tai Adelaja / Staff Writer Sergei Guzev, a train driver from the Vladimir region, said he had always been against the idea of going on strike -- until rising inflation made it difficult for him to meet basic family expenses.

Russian Election Observers Sidelined
By Natalya Krainova / Staff Writer Golos, a group with the country's only independent election observers, says it is the target of a politically motivated attack.

Churov Rejects Vote Complaints
By Andrew McChesney / Staff Writer The country's top election official dismissed complaints that governors and thousands of other state-paid workers have been told to round up votes for United Russia, and said cell phones would help ensure the fairness of Sunday's State Duma elections.

Kyrgyz Leader Fires Prime Minister
Reuters Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev fired his prime minister on Wednesday in a move condemned by the opposition as an attempt to tighten his grasp on power ahead of snap parliamentary elections.

Ex-Georgian Defense Minister Placed Under Arrest in Berlin
The Associated Press Former Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili has been arrested in Germany at Georgia's request, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Putin Says 'Forced' to Repeat Warnings
By Oleg Shchedrov / Reuters President Vladimir Putin, who steps down next year, said Wednesday that he would not allow foreign powers to upset Russia's stability in the wake of two crucial polls that will decide the country's future.

Nashi Spinoff Operating Exit Polls
By David Nowak / Staff Writer Up to 20,000 activists from Nashi Vybory, a spinoff from the pro-Kremlin youth movement Nashi, will conduct exit polls nationwide during Sunday's State Duma vote.

Karpov Barred From Seeing Kasparov
Combined Reports Former world chess champion Anatoly Karpov was turned away when he tried to visit and offer moral support to his old rival, Garry Kasparov, currently in detention for his role in an anti-Kremlin protest Saturday.

President's TV Address to Be Aired Thursday
By Nabi Abdullaev / Staff Writer In a speech taped last week, Putin focuses on why he decided to lead the United Russia federal list for the State Duma elections.

Business

Gazprom to Build Gas Storage Unit
Bloomberg Gazprom, the world's biggest natural gas exporter, plans to build Europe's largest storage facility for the fuel to supply a new pipeline under the Baltic Sea.

Turkmens to Start Building Pipeline to Russia This Year
Reuters Turkmenistan will start building a new gas pipeline to Russia as soon as this year after Moscow agreed to pay more for exports through an existing route, Turkmen state media reported Wednesday.

Ukraine May Raise Transit Fee
By Natalya Zinets / Reuters Ukraine told Russia on Wednesday that it could charge more for Russian gas transit to Europe if Moscow imposed steep gas price increases, raising the prospect of another gas dispute between the two countries.

Volkswagen Opens Kaluga Factory
By Chad Thomas and Denis Maternovsky / Bloomberg Volkswagen, Europe's largest carmaker, opened a factory in Russia on Wednesday as it seeks to triple its share of the country's market over the next three years and joins rivals Ford and Renault in beginning production in one of the fastest growing car markets.

Gazprom Eyes More Exports
Bloomberg Gazprom may increase gas supply to Europe by as much as 25 percent by 2020.

Sberbank Approves Gref as New Head
By Catrina Stewart / Staff Writer Sberbank's board of directors overwhelmingly voted in German Gref, the former economic development and trade minister, as the state-owned bank's new president Wednesday.

Kudrin Says Arrest Is Hurting Debt Talks
By Miriam Elder / Staff Writer Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin warned on Wednesday that the arrest of his deputy Sergei Storchak on embezzlement charges was starting to harm the ministry's activities.

Business in Brief

Business in Brief
Oil Fund to Rise to $157BlnSUEK May Be Worth $8BlnGazprom Neft's $2Bln Loan$17Bln Technologies SalesRusAl to Build Foil PlantUrals Energy Reserves UpTransCreditBank Gets LoanNaspers Raises Mail.ru StakeEnel in Asset Swap TalksBelarus Plans Eurobond SaleUrals Hits 8-Week LowMegaFon to Use Nokia Tech36.6 Posts 9-Month LossInflation to Follow $100 Oil

20 Years After a Revolution by Culture
By Leon Aron Twenty years after Mikhail Gorbachev initiated glasnost, it is clear that, like every fateful ""tipping point"" in human history, the change has furnished enough material for scholars to plumb for many years. It may be too early to appreciate what glasnost has contributed, its depth, its passions and, yes, even its significance.

Ask the Chef
Peter-Paul Speckert of Switzerland is the head chef at Sorry, Babushka and Prado Cafe.

Dumplings in Demand
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer The pelmennaya genre has been changing rapidly over the last several years.

News in Brief
Kasyanov NegotiationsNext Mideast Talks in RussiaThe eXile Now in Russian

Couch Surfing
By John Wendle / Staff Writer A global group of travelers offers a cheap way to explore the world and to see foreign countries from a local perspective.

Trumped by Traffic Jams
By Georgy Bovt None of my friends knows what to do about the upcoming State Duma elections. Some think that it would be wrong to vote for United Russia since it has turned the campaign into a Soviet-style farce.

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