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

Doctors Hit the Rails to Plug Medical Gaps
By Kevin O'Flynn / Staff Writer There is a line to board the train at Yemtsa, an isolated village in the far north, and a crowd of people stand in the thick mud below the door.

Kudrin Deputy Faces Fraud Charges
By Miriam Elder / Staff Writer Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak will be charged by next week with attempting to embezzle $43.4 million from the federal budget, the Investigative Committee said Monday.

Death Toll Reaches 80 in Ukraine Blast
By Sergei Chuzavkov / The Associated Press Hopes dimmed Monday as rescuers battled a raging fire and fallen rock in search of 20 miners who were buried deep inside a coal mine in eastern Ukraine following a powerful methane blast that killed at least 80.

Pakistan Judges Back Musharraf Re-Election
By Kamran Haider / Reuters Pakistan's Supreme Court, packed with government-friendly judges since President Pervez Musharraf's imposition of emergency rule, dismissed on Monday the main challenges to his re-election last month.

Cyclone Death Toll Tops 3,000
By Anis Ahmed / Reuters Four days after super cyclone Sidr killed more than 3,000 people in Bangladesh, rescuers struggled Monday to reach isolated areas along the country's coast to give aid to millions of survivors.

Olmert Agrees to Release of Prisoners Ahead of Summit
Reuters Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sought wide Arab support on Monday for a U.S.-led peace conference by agreeing to release 441 Palestinian prisoners and reaffirming a pledge not to build new Jewish settlements.

Monitoring Invitations Will Go to Different Observers
The Moscow Times Russia will increase the number of invitations to monitors from the Parliamentary Assemblies of the European Council, the OSCE and CIS, Konstantin Kosachyov, head of the Duma's international affairs committee said Monday.

5,000 to Attend Gathering for Putin
By David Nowak / Staff Writer At least 5,000 supporters of President Vladimir Putin will attend a demonstration in his honor at Luzhniki Stadium on Wednesday, said Pavel Astakhov, the lawyer-cum-celebrity who leads the nascent ""For Putin"" movement, on Monday.

Putin Hosts Church on Anniversary
By Anna Smolchenko / Staff Writer During a celebration of the re-establishment of the Moscow Patriarchate, the president urges the Orthodox to go to the polls.

Toiletmobile Headed for Seoul
By Kevin O'Flynn / Staff Writer Somewhere east of Yekaterinburg, a man is driving a toilet to Seoul. ""Toilet culture is a part of national culture,"" Alexei Maksunov, deputy head of the Russian Toilet Union, said by telephone Monday -- World Toilet Day -- while driving a clunky Oka car outfitted with a toilet.

Deal Sealed to Dispose of Plutonium Stocks
By H. Josef Hebert / The Associated Press U.S. and Russian officials have reached an agreement on how to dispose safely of 34 tons of Russian weapons-grade plutonium, overcoming a major hurdle in a joint nuclear-nonproliferation effort that at times has been close to falling apart.

Business

Oil Firms Ordered to Supply Fuel
Bloomberg The Federal Anti-Monopoly Service ordered the country's five largest energy companies, including state-run Gazprom and Rosneft, to ensure fuel deliveries to independent retailers after supplies dropped last month.

Severstal Extends Bid For Celtic
Bloomberg Severstal said Monday that it had extended its offer for gold and molybdenum miner Celtic Resources Holdings as it builds up a precious metals business that may later be spun off.

Amur Boosts Copper, Nickel Resources
Reuters London-listed Amur Minerals has boosted nickel resources by 34 percent at its flagship metals project in the Far East after extensive drilling that also added 31 percent to its copper resources.

Iran Seeks 30 Tu-204s for $1Bln
Reuters Iran has started talks to buy 30 Tupolev passenger aircraft worth more than $1 billion, a source with knowledge of the deal said Monday.

Mosenergo Set to Float Shares
Reuters The board of Moscow utility Mosenergo has decided to prepare for the sale of global depositary receipts representing shares now owned by the state, a source close to the company said Monday.

Finns Sees Compromise on Wood Duty
Reuters Finland's Foreign Ministry said Monday that the European Commission was expecting a compromise proposal from Russia on wood export duties soon.

Sibir Sues Millhouse Over Fields
By Anatoly Medetsky / Staff Writer An affiliate of the energy firm is seeking billions of dollars in a lawsuit against Roman Abramovich.

World Bank Urges Action on Inflation
By Tai Adelaja / Staff Writer Russia must control inflation and allow for appreciation of the ruble if it wishes to see its robust economic performance stay on course, the World Bank said in a report released Monday.

Business in Brief

Business in Brief
2 Eni Execs to Gazprom NeftAnnual Inflation Hits 9.7%Possible Wheat Export BanGrain Price Curb OpposedComstar Purchases DTNDiesel Export Pipe to BalticsCEP Seeks Cash for DrillingAreva, Russia to PartnerAirUnion May Join AllianceMordashov Owns TUI StakeUnitel License Under ThreatComstar Forecasts RevenueUkraine Investments UpCyprus Buys AvtoZAZBank

For Putin, Anti-Democracy
By Nikolai Petrov The State Duma election campaign will reach its end next week. Looking back, the entire process has been little more than a struggle among various pro-Putin candidates vying for Duma seats.

What to Do: Finnish Fun
By Anna Tsvetkova For many Russians, the Finnish character is summed up in a joke: Two Finns come to visit their father in a village.

Let's Dance
By Katya Nazarova / Special to The Moscow Times If waltzing at a wedding makes you weak at the knees, social dance classes could be the solution.

Ask the Chef
Sergei Poletayev is head chef at Homemadecafe.

Shimmer and Shine
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer After a hard day scouring the enormous Yevropeisky shopping center's fashion boutiques, a girl needs to unwind and refuel -- and that's where the recently opened Blesk aims to please.

News in Brief
Khodorkovsky WelcomeTehran Urged to CooperateKarimov Registered to Run

Teorema Seeks $500M in London Listing
Reuters Teorema Holding, the parent company of the real estate developer Teorema, said Wednesday it planned an IPO of Global Depositary Receipts on the London Stock Exchange.

Paradise Living Gets City Hall Approval
The Moscow Times City Hall has given the go ahead to an eye-catching $750 million residential project on the banks of the Moscow River, leading development firm Mirax Group, the company behind the project, announced earlier this month.

Irish Investor Braves Bureaucratic Hitches
By Max Delany / Staff Writer Ireland's wealthiest man is turning his attention from a traditional manufacturing economy to cash in on emerging markets.

Widows Wary About Eastern Europe
Reuters The real estate arm of Scottish Widows Investment Partnership, or SWIP, plans to launch its debut far eastern fund in 2008 and has temporarily ruled out investment in eastern Europe, its new property head said.

Nazarbayev Not Concerned by Slowdown
Reuters Kazakhstan's economy is not threatened by a global credit crunch and a construction slowdown may put growth on a more sustainable path, President Nursultan Nazarbayev said Thursday.

City Set to Build 200 Skyscrapers
The Moscow Times Moscow's landscape is set to change even more dramatically over the next few years after the city government announced plans to build around 200 new skyscrapers in the capital by 2015.

Agency Delays Mortgage Bond Issue
Reuters The Federal Mortgage Lending Agency said last week that it would wait until state-run development institutions were able to invest in mortgage-backed securities before going ahead with a new 10 billion ruble ($408 million) issue.

St. Pete Approves 3 Projects
The Moscow Times City government said last week that it had approved a plan to develop three strategic areas.

Truly Strange Duma Elections
By Konstantin Sonin The Duma elections are very strange. They had seemed to be nothing more than a formality to re-elect members of a senseless and useless lower house of parliament.

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