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

Pro-Kremlin Youth Say U.S. Must Pay
Reuters Members of a pro-Kremlin youth group demonstrated outside the U.S. Consulate in Vladivostok on Monday to support Alexander Kashin, a local man paralyzed in an accident involving a U.S. diplomat's car.

Church Abroad Leader Dies at 80
By Matt Siegel / Staff Writer Metropolitan Laurus, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, died on Sunday in Jordanville, New York. The head of the semi-autonomous branch of the Russian Orthodox Church was 80 years old.

Bush's Letter Puts Putin in a Good Mood
By Nikolaus von Twickel and Anna Smolchenko / Staff Writers President Vladimir Putin said Monday that he saw a chance for an improvement in relations with the United States as a result of a letter he received from U.S. President George W. Bush.

Markets Hit by Bear Stearns Collapse
By Catrina Stewart / Staff Writer Russian stock markets racked up hefty losses Monday as an 11th-hour deal to save U.S. investment bank Bear Stearns from bankruptcy sparked fears of further bad news to come.

Investigator Arrives at Kasyanov Office With Signature Queries
The Moscow Times Former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov's office was visited by an investigator from Khabarovsk last week in what a senior official with his political movement said was part of a campaign by the authorities to discredit the opposition leader.

'Thais Pressured Bout to Fly to U.S.'
Reuters, AP A lawyer for the suspected arms dealer says his client had to physically resist an attempt to put him on a plane shortly after his arrest.

Teenager Stabbed to Death in Gang Attack
By David Nowak / Staff Writer A teenager has been stabbed to death in an attack possibly organized by Spartak Moscow football fans on the Internet.

China Defends Crackdown on Violent Tibetan Protests
Reuters China said Monday that it had shown great restraint in the face of violent protests by Tibetans, which it said were orchestrated by followers of the Dalai Lama seeking to wreck the Beijing Olympics in August.

Cheney Visit Marks Invasion of Iraq
The Associated Press U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, marking five years since the U.S. invasion of Iraq with an overnight stay in the war-torn nation, warned on Monday against large drawdowns of U.S. troops that could jeopardize recent security gains.

Pope Changes Controversial Prayer
Reuters Pope Benedict has approved a conciliatory statement for Jews upset by a Good Friday prayer that many see as a call for their conversion, Catholic and Jewish sources said Monday.

Stearns Sale Sends Markets Tumbling
Reuters A fire sale of Bear Stearns stunned Wall Street and pummeled global financial stocks on Monday on fears that few banks are safe from deepening market turmoil.

95 Hurt as Kosovar Serbs Attack UN
The Associated Press Untied Nations police stormed a courthouse in northern Kosovo on Monday to remove Serb protesters occupying the building, sparking clashes that injured dozens of peacekeepers and demonstrators.

Business

Paradise For Rich Is Hell for Villagers
By Svetlana Osadchuk / Staff Writer The first dead dog was a friendly red mutt named Ryzhukha. She did not belong to anyone, but everyone in the village liked her and fed her.

Business in Brief
Rosneft Repays $5.6BlnGruzdev Plans Equity FundPrivate Reserves ManagersSistema Sells Motors StakeGazprom Neft Port FacilitiesIndustrial Production GrowsSberbank Raises Retail RatesCapital Outflow Until JuneMorgan Stanley Kiev OfficeGazprom Plans Bourse

Evraz, TMK Each Seek $2Bln Loans
Bloomberg Evraz Group, a steelmaker part-owned by billionaire Roman Abramovich, and pipe maker TMK are seeking to raise $2 billion each to finance the purchase of assets from SSAB, Interfax reported, citing unidentified bankers.

VTB Exec Calls for Bank Aid
By Gleb Bryanski / Reuters The Russian banking sector is facing a slowdown due to the global credit crunch, and authorities should use the oil windfall to support it or face an economic downturn, a prominent banker said late Sunday.

LSR Snaps Up Urals Concrete Maker
Reuters LSR Group will buy a 87 percent stake in a reinforced concrete maker in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg for 57 million euros ($89.93 million), it said Monday.

Severstal Misses Forecast on Earnings Amid Rising Costs
Bloomberg Severstal, the country's largest steelmaker, dropped the most in six months on Monday in Moscow trading, after earnings missed analyst estimates and production costs increased.

Unimilk Plans to Hold IPO in 2009
Reuters Unimilk, the country's second-largest dairy company, plans to hold an initial public offering in 2009, its general director said Monday.

Ex-Volgotanker Exec Detained in Germany
By Max Delany / Staff Writer Samara prosecutors are seeking the extradition of U.S. citizen Ilya Katsnelson.

Economy Ministry Urges 12% VAT
By Darya Korsunskaya / Reuters The Economic Development and Trade Ministry has proposed to cut the value-added tax to 12 percent to 13 percent from the current 18 percent from 2009 as a measure to boost growth in nonenergy sectors of the economy.

Wheat Price May Fall on Bigger Russian Crop
Bloomberg Wheat may fall on higher grain production in Russia and a slump in other commodities amid tumult on Wall Street.

MMK Net Profit Rises on High Prices
Reuters Net profit at Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works, the country's third-largest steelmaker, increased 24.3 percent to $1.77 billion last year after it sold more steel at higher prices, the company said Monday.

Putin Calls for Ruble Vigilance
Reuters President Vladimir Putin urged his government and the Central Bank on Monday to keep a close eye on ruble appreciation as the dollar continues to plummet against world currencies.

IT Firm to Withdraw AIM Listing
By Tai Adelaja / Staff Writer Asbis Enterprises, a hardware and software distributor, said Monday that it would begin delisting from the London Alternative Investment Market on Tuesday, becoming the first Russian-owned company to leave the exchange voluntarily.

Real Estate Agency Changes Approved
The Moscow Times President Vladimir Putin has affirmed the structure and responsibilities of the Federal Agency for Registering Real Estate, the Kremlin said in a statement, Interfax reported last week.

Gribanovo Residents Won't Be in the Rough
By John Wendle / Staff Writer The development is slated for completion in 2014 and could be worth as much as $1 billion.

Opinion

Konstantin Sonin: The Price of Trust
Investment bankers usually start speaking about trust when they begin to sense that investors are losing trust in them. During good economic times, they talk about new financial instruments for lowering overall risk. In bad times, though, they warn that if their firm goes bankrupt, the entire financial system will collapse. Then the taxpayers are asked to bail them out simply because the bankers miscalculated their financial risk. Since there is some truth to the rule that a financial giant's bankruptcy can trigger a chain reaction with serious, broad repercussions for the economy, the government often agrees to step in and help. The authorities use public funds to avert a financial collapse and then introduce legislation to expand the market regulators' influence.

Of Mayors and Interlopers
By Nikolai Petrov With Dmitry Medvedev's triumph in the presidential election grabbing the spotlight, elections for regional leaders went almost entirely unnoticed, despite the fact that elections were held simultaneously for legislative assemblies in 11 regions and a large number of municipalities and mayors as well.

Op-Ed Contributor: Echoes of Tiananmen Heard in Tibet Protests
The Wall Street Journal The last time Beijing cracked down on Tibet, it was 1989 -- the year of the Tiananmen Square massacre, and Hu Jintao, the current Chinese president, ran the province. Today, violent scenes are playing out again in Tibet. It's a reminder that despite China's economic liberalization and some political opening, the authoritarian instincts of the country's leadership haven't changed.

Moscow's Sinking Ship
By Alexei Bayer In a sign that the U.S. economy is starting to tank, I find myself discussing economics with people who ordinarily shun such subjects.

Sports

Subdued Start to Zenit Title Defense
Reuters Zenit St. Petersburg began the defense of its Russian title with a dour 0-0 draw against last year's runner-up Spartak Moscow on Sunday.

City Wise

Sightseeing in Tashkent
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer The first thing that strikes you upon entering Cafe Tashkent is a large mural of the cafe's namesake completely covering one long wall. Even more striking, however, is that the mural of Tashkent does not paint a rosy-hued representation of the Central Asian city. It's a surprisingly honest, if rather pastel, cityscape complete with Soviet city blocks and modern buildings. In this respect, Cafe Tashkent is refreshing in that it is not some Ali-Baba themed clich?, but rather a quite modern take on an Uzbek eatery, especially given its rather non-central east Moscow location. There are still enough divans and cushions to provide for some relaxed reclining, however.

Sea Bass Salad
A recipe from chef Muzafar Mukhiddinov of Jolly Dog Pub

Some Shoes Are Hard to Fill
By Lara McCoy Roslof Treasure Hunt

Russian Students Head to Europe
By Natalia Vasilyeva / Special to The Moscow Times Continental Europe is becoming an increasingly popular destination for Russian students.

Business For Business

Due Diligence of Commercial Real Estate Objects in Russia
By Sergey Markov Before acquiring any asset, an investor often needs to define the legal risks that such a transaction can cause.

Transfer-Pricing Legislation -- When Will It Be Amended?
By Henrik Hansen Transfer-pricing reform has been on the government's agenda for the past few years, and a number of bills have been presented to the public. One even made it to the State Duma. Despite this, no amendments have yet been made to the existing rules in Articles 20 and 40 of the Tax Code.

The Impact of EU Competition Law on Russian Business
By Joseph Hainz and Jorg Karenfort The growing economic interaction between Russia and the European Union effectuates the increasing importance of EU competition law for Russian companies.

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 U.S. Taxpayer Assistance Program. The U.S. Embassy will host a representative of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on March 21, 24 and 25 who will be available to answer questions concerning tax returns. To schedule an appointment, please contact American Citizen Services, U.S. Embassy, Moscow, 21 Novinsky Bulvar, Tel. 728-5577, M. Barrikadnaya. Moscow School 309 for Handicapped Children seeks donations for their psychological development program.

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