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

Arms Chief in Race to Grab Assets
By Max Delany / Staff Writer With his balding head and benign air, Sergei Chemezov seems more like a small-town shopkeeper than the man in charge of one of the world's largest arms exporters.

U.S. Fails to Break Missile Defense Impasse
By Nikolaus von Twickel / Staff Writer Despite an improvement in atmosphere over previous meetings, Washington and Moscow are unable to reach agreement.

Rice Invites Yavlinsky, Not Kasparov, to Talks
Combined Reports U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who has accused the Kremlin of harassing the political opposition, met some leading liberals on Tuesday but did not see the Kremlin's most strident critics.

Spitzer's Replacement Begins Term With Affair Disclosure
The Associated Press Just hours after he received a standing ovation from lawmakers chanting his name, New York's newly sworn governor was answering questions about straying from his own marriage.

U.S. Cuts Key Rate by 3/4 Point
Reuters The Federal Reserve slashed a key U.S. interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point on Tuesday, a substantial cut, but smaller than many in financial markets had expected, as part of an effort to hold off a deep recession and financial meltdown.

Dalai Lama Threatens to Step Down
The Associated Press The Dalai Lama threatened on Tuesday to step down as leader of Tibet's government-in-exile if violence committed by Tibetans in his homeland spirals out of control.

NATO Puts Foot Down in Kosovo
Reuters NATO placed the Kosovo town of Mitrovica under de facto military law on Tuesday after riots by a hostile Serb population killed one UN policeman and forced the pullout of UN personnel.

Borodin's Former Lawyer Arrested in Belarus
The Associated Press The arrest of a U.S. lawyer in Belarus last week remained shrouded in mystery Tuesday as local authorities declined to provide any information on his detention.

Medvedev Appeals for Open Debate
Reuters President-elect Dmitry Medvedev urged experts outside the Kremlin to stimulate public debate about the economic and social challenges facing the country.

Super Spy Agency in the Works
By Matt Siegel / Staff Writer The government is close to creating a centralized body along the lines of the FBI in the United States, as part of a major restructuring of the investigative departments of multiple state security and law enforcement agencies, a report said Tuesday.

Duma Losers Scramble to Pay Debts
By Natalya Krainova / Staff Writer Parties that failed to garner at least 3 percent in December's State Duma elections are scrambling to pay off debts to the federal budget, largely for television ads during the campaign.

Business

Golden Says Profit Jumped 78% in 2007
Bloomberg Golden Telecom, a fixed-line telephone and Internet services provider taken over by VimpelCom, said profit jumped 78 percent last year on increased traffic.

Markets Up as U.S. Rebounds
Bloomberg Russian markets rose Tuesday as their U.S. counterparts rebounded strongly on positive results from two major banks and the expectation of the Federal Reserve slashing interest rates.

Czech Spies to Counter Energy Threat
Reuters The Czech government wants the country's intelligence service to recruit more spies this year because of Russia's growing energy muscle, according to an Interior Ministry document.

Cargo Carrier Predicts Sales Will Rise
Bloomberg Volga-Dnepr, the world's largest hauler of oversized cargo for clients ranging from rock stars to armies, predicted on Tuesday that sales would rise to a record on global demand for large shipments.

Defense Ministry Approves 3G Tests
The Moscow Times The country's three biggest mobile operators -- Mobile TeleSystems, VimpelCom and MegaFon -- moved a step closer to deploying third-generation technology in Moscow, after the Defense Ministry approved network tests.

Somali Pirates Free Boat Set for Sakhalin
Bloomberg Pirates on Tuesday released a tugboat that was captured off the coast of Somalia last month as it sailed from St. Petersburg to Gazprom's Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project in the Far East.

Renaissance Equity Fund Raises $660M
By Catrina Stewart / Staff Writer Renaissance Group said Tuesday that it had raised $660 million for its first private equity fund, as investors sought greater exposure to Russia amid the turmoil on global financial markets.

Kazakhs See Gas Export Prices Rising by 70%
Reuters State energy company KazMunaiGaz said Tuesday that its gas export prices were likely to rise by as much as 70 percent from 2009 as part of a wider plan by Central Asian producers to charge Russia more for their supplies.

Gazprom Strikes Bolivia Gas Deal
Bloomberg Gazprom said Tuesday that it had signed an accord to explore for gas in Bolivia, as the South American country looks to foreign companies to help build up the energy industry.

Georgia to Start Flights Next Week
Combined Reports The Transportation Ministry agreed on Tuesday to restore air travel between Russia and Georgia, which has been suspended for 1 1/2 years amid tensions between the ex-Soviet neighbors.

Telecoms, Internet May Escape Curbs
By Tai Adelaja / Staff Writer In an apparent about-face, a State Duma committee on Tuesday signaled that it could exclude telecoms firms, Internet providers and small power distribution grids from a bill that would limit foreign participation in strategic sectors.

Business in Brief

Business in Brief
Ivanov Backs 12% VATFunds Frozen in KazakhstanSberbank '07 Profit Up 33%Gazprom May Have to ShareTelecominvest Chief ResignsLeak Kills LUKoil WorkerHousing Fund DepositsDuties on Mineral FertilizersAcron's $1.7Bln for FieldRosneft Tax ProposalFor the Record

The Return of Soviet Dissidents
By Leon Aron Earlier this month, the American Enterprise Institute hosted a panel discussion with leading members of the opposition in Russia -- Boris Nemtsov; Vladimir Ryzhkov; Oleg Buklemishev, the deputy manager of Mikhail Kasyanov's presidential campaign; and Vladimir Kara-Murza, the manager of Vladimir Bukovsky's presidential bid.

Likbez: Feed the Fandomat
The strange blue reverse vending machines first appeared on the streets of Moscow in 2004. Today, their number has increased from 300 to 2,600.

Looking for Green Space
By Maria Antonova / Staff Writer Although increasing in popularity, recycling is still a challenge in Moscow.

300,000 Ruble Hospital Bill Tips Off Police to Beria Hoax
The Moscow Times Had he gotten away with it, Igor Bely would have been remembered as the head of the Soviet Union's most covert security agency, whose feats included saving the world from nuclear obliteration and killing feared state police chief Lavrenty Beria.

Ask the Chef
Tim Freeman of the United States is head chef at Soho Rooms.

Toys and More at Bufet
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer After an absence of several years, Bufet has reopened in a new location. Its new incarnation is a pleasantly eclectic trio of lounge rooms that seems popular among comfortably well-off families.

Fairy Tales of Glorious Battles in Chechnya
By Yulia Latynina Here is the latest scandal to hit Chechnya: A Komsomolskaya Pravda journalist, while on a visit to Grozny for a football game, took a drive down the street that was renamed just last month for the 84th Paratroopers Squadron

News in Brief
Youth Leader Faces EvictionAbkhazia's Plane Claim

Good Policies Should Make Good Neighbors
By Fyodor Lukyanov At his first news conference following his election victory, President-elect Dmitry Medvedev touched upon only one foreign relations topic.

Community Bulletin Board

Community Bulletin Board
How to Submit Items Community Bulletin Board is published every Tuesday. Please submit notices of up to 40 words by noon Thursday. E-mail community@imedia.ru , call +7 (495) 234-3223 or fax +7 (495) 232-6529. On the occassion of its 30th anniversary, the IWC Moscow will hold its next General Meeting as a Women's Conference on the 27th of March at the Library of Foreign Literature, Nololoyamskaya St.1 from 09.30am to 6pm. For more info, see www.iwcmoscow.ru . The Humanitarian Program Support invites companies to participate in the Charity Curling Cup on Sat., May 31, 2008 to commemorate International Children's Day. The Charity Curling Cup will feature participants from corporate teams of both Russian and foreign companies. HPS is a non-profit organization and all money raised will be used for rehabilitation programs for children with disabilities. For more information please contact Natalia Yakovleva at tel. 798-3066 or by e-mail at yakovleva@fpgp.ru or visit www.fpgp.ru .

MT News

The March 2008 issue of ""Jobs and Careers""
The Moscow Times In the Spring issue of Jobs and Careers, the two deans of Skolkovo Business School go head to head to explain just how they'll go about fostering a new generation of entrepreneurs.

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