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

Security and a NATO Deal for Putin
By Simon Saradzhyan / Staff Writer Abandoning his bellicose rhetoric, President Vladimir Putin will seek to initiate a meaningful dialogue on security and to sign a political declaration with the NATO-Russia Council during this week's NATO summit.

Brenton's Successor Not New To Russia
By David Nowak / Staff Writer Britain on Friday named a career diplomat with extensive experience in Eastern Europe as its next ambassador to Russia.

An Instant Remedy for a Deficit of Churches
By Alexander Osipovich / Staff Writer In recent years, Russians have gotten used to a wide array of easy-to-make products, such as instant borshch, instant noodles and instant blini mix. Now, a group of Orthodox businessmen wants to add another item to the list: instant churches.

Putin Tipped to Join Party At United Russia Congress
The Moscow Times President Vladimir Putin plans to become the official leader of United Russia and will announce his decision to join the party at its congress next month, sources said, Nezavisimaya Gazeta reported Friday.

Police Seek Killer of Journalist
By Natalya Krainova / Staff Writer Prosecutors said Friday that they were hunting for the man who killed journalist Anna Politkovskaya and that a court had granted their request to keep another suspect in the killing in custody until August.

7 Women Leave Doomsday Cult's Cave
Reuters Seven female members of a doomsday cult have come out of the cave where they have been awaiting the end of the world, but 28 people were still underground Sunday.

Tajiks Hold 3 in Death Of Reporter
Combined Reports Police arrested three suspects in Tajikistan on Saturday over the murder of television journalist Ilyas Shurpayev, who was found strangled in his Moscow apartment a week earlier.

Police Search Berlin Lake, Gardens for Missing Artist
The Associated Press Police in Berlin began an intensive search Friday, dragging a lake and combing gardens with sniffer dogs, in the hope of finding a Russian artist who disappeared a week ago.

Number of Ill Swimmers Swells to 224
The Moscow Times The number of people injured after swimming at a St. Petersburg water park now stands at 224, up from 75 confirmed earlier, RIA-Novosti reported Friday.

12 Injured at Wedding
The Associated Press Police say 12 people were wounded at a wedding in Chechnya when a guest threw a hand grenade. The blast took place Saturday in the village of Sari-Chu.

Bush Begins a Long Farewell on the World Stage
By Terence Hunt / The Associated Press The U.S. president leaves on Monday for a trip that will include stops in Ukraine, Romania and Russia.

N. Korea Issues South Threat of Destruction
The Associated Press North Korea threatened South Korea with destruction Sunday after Seoul's top military officer said his country would consider attacking the communist nation if it tried to carry out a nuclear attack.

Al-Sadr Calls Gunmen Off Streets
The Associated Press Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said Sunday that he was pulling his fighters off the streets nationwide and called on the government to stop raids against his followers and free them from prison.

Border Checks Lifted for Latest 9 to Join Schengen
Reuters Border checks will be lifted at airports on Sunday for travelers flying between the nine countries that joined Europe's border-free Schengen area last year and the rest of the border-free zone.

Heathrow Buried in 15,000 Pieces of Luggage
Reuters British Airways drafted in extra staff on Sunday to shift 15,000 items of baggage built up since the disastrous opening of its showcase terminal at London's Heathrow Airport.

Food Prices Soaring Around The World
By Katherine Corcoran / The Associated Press Rising petroleum prices and demand for meat and dairy in rapidly developing countries are increasing the cost of all major foods in most countries. No relief is expected for at least 10 years.

U.S. President Backs Ukraine And Georgia
Reuters Ukraine and Georgia should be given a ""clear prospect"" of joining NATO, U.S. President George W. Bush said in an interview to be published Monday.

Bucharest Cleans Up For NATO
Reuters From sealing off streets and lining up snipers to catching stray dogs, Romania has beefed up security in the capital, Bucharest, for this week's NATO summit of world leaders.

Kiev Wins Warsaw's Support on NATO
The Associated Press The struggle over Ukraine's bid to join NATO has intensified, with Poland voicing its support for Kiev and thousands of Ukrainians rallying against NATO.

Saakashvili Courts Abkhazia
Combined Reports Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili offered a power-sharing deal to the breakaway Abkhazia region on Friday, days before NATO members meet to consider Georgia's membership.

U.S. Sees Progress on Missile Defense
The Associated Press U.S. negotiators said they had made progress in drafting a document with Russian counterparts that would lay out areas of agreement that could include a deal on the divisive U.S. missile defense plans.

Bakiyev Says His Health Is Good After German Tests
Reuters Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev returned from more than three weeks in Germany saying he had undergone medical treatment but was in good health.

Georgia's Ex-Defense Minister Handed 11-Year Jail Sentence
Reuters A court in Georgia has found the country's former defense minister and opposition politician, Irakly Okruashvili, guilty of corruption and jailed him for 11 years in absentia.

Business

EU Optimistic on Partnership Talks
By Marcin Grajewski / Reuters The European Union should be ready to start negotiations on a new strategic partnership with a resurgent Russia at a June summit in Siberia, EU officials said Friday.

RusAl Shuts Mine Amid Labor Spat
The Moscow Times United Company RusAl on Friday ordered the closing of all five pits at its North Ural Bauxite Mine in the Sverdlovsk region amid reports that a strike at one pit could be spreading, RIA-Novosti reported.

Procter & Gamble Unit Faces Back Tax Claim on Royalties
The Moscow Times Tax authorities hit Procter & Gamble's unit in Russia with a back tax claim of $28.5 million, chiefly over its royalties to the U.S.-based parent company, Kommersant reported Friday.

Investor Warned on RosUkrEnergo Bid
Reuters Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has advised a Ukrainian billionaire to abandon plans to buy a 50 percent stake in RosUkrEnergo, saying the gas intermediary has no future.

Tesco Said to Be Planning Stores
By Maria Ermakova and Denis Maternovsky / Bloomberg Tesco, Britain's largest supermarket chain, plans to open its first Russian stores as wages and consumer spending surge, three real estate advisers who have held talks with the retailer in the country said.

Possible Oil Tax Cut Gives Markets a Lift
By Catrina Stewart / Staff Writer While TNK-BP's troubles may have been grabbing the wrong sort of headlines, last week's key economic news came from Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, who proposed a $4.2 billion cut in annual oil taxes from next year, an eagerly awaited move that provided an overdue boost for oil stocks.

Investigator in Storchak Case To Face Own Internal Inquiry
Reuters The investigator leading the case against Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak, who was arrested on attempted embezzlement charges in November, is himself facing a probe, national media reported Saturday.

Tymoshenko Touts Economic Gains
By Maria Danilova / The Associated Press Yulia Tymoshenko said Friday that economic growth and more government revenues were clear successes during her first 100 days as Ukraine's prime minister, but observers warn that spiraling inflation and uncertainty over Russian gas imports threaten to undo her achievements.

TGK-11 Asset Ruling Postponed Until May
By Nadia Popova / Staff Writer Analysts say the move may help Rosneft regain a blocking stake in the asset or buy up TGK-11.

GM Says GAZ Interested in Stake in Italian Engine Firm
Bloomberg General Motors on Friday said GAZ, the auto company owned by billionaire Oleg Deripaska, could become its partner in an Italian diesel engine manufacturer.

Equity Investors See Chance in Kazakhstan
Reuters The credit crunch that has slowed down Kazakhstan's stellar economic growth and raised concerns about the stability of its financial system has also created good opportunities for equity investors, bankers say.

Nazarbayev Shuns 'Latin American' Example
By Maria Golovnina and Michael Stott / Reuters Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said in an interview Friday that he had no intention of following an example set by some Latin American states and nationalizing his country's booming energy sector.

Business in Brief
WBD Profit Up 18%GDP Growth at 8.2%Ruukki Invites VTB ExecTiman May Resume TradingSUEK to Borrow $800MRogachyov on New X5 IssueFor the Record

Opinion

Op-Ed Contributor: A Little Respect for Medvedev
By Philip Stephens There are hopes in the United States and Europe that President-elect Dmitry Medvedev could foreshadow a fresh start.

Richard Lourie: The Next Collapse Will Be Russia's Last
Though the Constitution does not say it in so many words, the main task of the Russian president is to keep the country from falling apart.

Americans Are Not Stoopid
By Mark H. Teeter Various Russian commentators expressed irritation or dismay earlier this month when a Pew Research Center survey indicated that a majority of U.S. citizens could not name the province that had just proclaimed independence from Serbia.

Opposing an Election With Open-Air Chess
By Matthew Collin A cluster of women stands obstinately in front of the police line, clapping, whooping and belting out a ragged rendition of the Armenian national anthem.

City Wise

Doing Rounds With a Clown
By Natalya Krainova / Staff Writer Konstantin Sedov gave up a legal career to show kids that laughter is the best medicine.

Restaurant News
By Nathan Toohey Gastropub Prostiye Veshchi in conjunction with the Norwegian Seafood Export Council and restaurant critic Alexei Zimin are gearing up to kick off a week of herring.

Great Grilled Goods
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer La Parrilla is an Argentinean restaurant in a city that has very few such eateries. What's more, it's hardly a typical steakhouse.

What to Do: Sell Your Books Online
By Maria Antonova A new web site makes it easy to buy and sell used books online. Gojaba.com, an online marketplace, was created by Canadian company AbeBooks.com.

Crime Watch

Zimbabwe Opposition Claims Early Lead
The Associated Press Zimbabwe's main opposition party on Sunday claimed an early lead in elections, including in a rural stronghold of President Robert Mugabe, in an apparent effort to thwart any attempt to rig the vote count.

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