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

Nuclear Deal Reached With U.S.
By Francesca Mereu / Staff Writer Russia and the United States on Tuesday signed a long-awaited agreement on civilian nuclear cooperation that could allow the two countries to expand bilateral nuclear trade.

50,000 British Fans Coming to Town
By Max Delany / Staff Writer In a bid to make it easy for supporters coming for the Champions League final, Russia is allowing them to use their tickets as visas.

Placeholder Premier Bids Farewell to His Cabinet
By Anatoly Medetsky and Tai Adelaja / Staff Writers If his terse summing-up of his 237 days in office for television newscasts was anything to go by, Viktor Zubkov presided over his last Cabinet meeting Tuesday as prime minister much as he had his first.

Fugitive Moose On the Loose
The Moscow Times A moose is on the loose in Moscow, Interfax reported Tuesday. The moose escaped from Losiny Ostrov (or “Moose Island”) national park in eastern Moscow on Monday afternoon and ran across a road before disappearing into streets near Sokolniki park.

$40M Earmarked for Post-Tank Road Work
By Alexander Osipovich / Staff Writer City Hall has earmarked more than $40 million for road repairs in the wake of Friday’s Victory Day parade, which will feature tanks and missiles for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Canceled March Draws Big Crowd
By Matt Siegel / Staff Writer More than 300 OMON and Interior Ministry troops and hundreds of journalists poured onto Chistoprudny Bulvar on Tuesday evening in anticipation of a protest by the Other Russia opposition coalition -- only to discover that the protest had been called off.

Limos, Tanks and Bicycles to Bring Traffic to a Crawl
The Moscow Times City drivers are likely in for a frustrating week, as Dmitry Medvedev’s presidential inauguration Wednesday, Friday’s Victory Day celebrations and a major cycling competition will lead to the closure of major thoroughfares.

Prosecutor Arrested in Appliance Scam Case
By Nabi Abdullaev / Staff Writer A retired senior city prosecutor has been arrested in a multimillion-dollar fraud case that sheds light on the often bitter, opaque rivalries among law enforcement officials.

Yastrzhembsky To Step Down
Reuters Sergei Yastrzhembsky, President Vladimir Putin's chief adviser on relations with the European Union, will leave the Kremlin and will not be included in the new government, Kommersant reported Tuesday.

Russia 'Not Ready' for Tough HIV Measures
By David Nowak / The Associated Press Russia is ""not ready"" to adopt measures that could prevent thousands of people from getting infected with the virus that causes AIDS, the country's chief public health officer said.

Georgians 'Very Close' to War
Combined Reports Georgia is ""very close"" to a war with Russia, a Georgian minister said Tuesday, citing Moscow's decision to send extra troops to the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia.

Research Shows Schiller Not Buried in His Tomb
The Associated Press Who is buried in Friedrich Schiller's tomb? Several people, apparently, but none of them are the famous poet and playwright, according to new research.

Study Finds Key to Smarter Children
By Will Dunham / Reuters A new study provides some of the best evidence to date that breast-feeding can make children smarter, an international team of researchers said Monday.

Hu Jintao Offers Panda Bears, Spurs Protest in Visit to Tokyo
Reuters Chinese President Hu Jintao lauded closer cooperation with Japan -- and offered a pair of pandas as a friendly gesture -- after arriving on Tuesday for a state visit intended to nurture trust between the Asian powers.

Myanmar Death Toll Reaches 22,500
By Aung Hla Tun / Reuters Myanmar's military government raised its death toll from Cyclone Nargis on Tuesday to nearly 22,500 with a further 41,000 missing, nearly all of them from a massive storm surge that swept into the Irrawaddy delta.

EU Sues Italy Over Garbage
The Associated Press The European Union's executive commission began legal action against Italy on Tuesday over the festering garbage collection crisis in Naples.

Business

TNK-BP Wins Court Decision
Reuters A Moscow arbitration court on Tuesday upheld a lower court's ruling to refund TNK-BP 9.7 billion rubles ($408 million) it paid as value-added tax in 2006, the company said Tuesday.

Railway Union Plans 2nd, Bigger Strike
By Nadia Popova / Staff Writer An independent railway workers union said Tuesday that it would go on strike later this month if its members’ salaries were not doubled, raising the possibility that millions of commuter train passengers around the country will face delays and cancellations.

AvtoVAZ Wants Parts Duty Dropped
Bloomberg AvtoVAZ and partner Renault are lobbying the government to eliminate tariffs on imported car parts, Vedomosti reported Tuesday, citing unidentified officials at the Economic Development and Trade Ministry.

Raw Sugar Import Tariff to Fall in June
Reuters The import tariff on raw cane sugar will fall to $140 per ton in June after the expiry of a $220 per ton seasonal tariff, the Economic Development and Trade Ministry said Tuesday.

French Court Unfreezes Russian Assets
Reuters A French court has fully lifted a freeze on the Russian Central Bank’s accounts with French commercial banks, frozen as part of a suit by Swiss trading firm Noga, a lawyer said Tuesday.

Banker Says Ruble Won't Appreciate
Reuters The Central Bank dismissed on Tuesday speculation among major banks of a ruble revaluation as the talk of irrational investors. Konstantin Korishchenko, a Central Bank deputy chairman, criticized commercial banks that have advised their clients to go long on the ruble in anticipation of a currency revaluation.

Cabinet Approves Range of Price Hikes
Reuters The Cabinet on Tuesday cleared double-digit price rises for gas, power and railway services for this year and the next three years, ignoring inflation fears and public discontent.

Mordashov Board Ally at TUI Under Threat
Reuters Pressure mounted on TUI on Tuesday to ax its supervisory board chief after Norwegian shipping tycoon John Fredriksen said he would not take a seat on the board if JЯrgen Krumnow did not quit.

Plan to Foil Cybersquatters Backed
By Tai Adelaja / Staff Writer The Cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal by the Economic Development and Trade Ministry to eliminate the link between registration of brands and Internet domain names, making it easier for companies in Russia to defend themselves against cybersquatters.

Business in Brief
Trutnev's Trouble OfficialsSUEK Borrows $800MOGK-5's Full-Year ResultsX5 Investors Snap Up StockAlcohol and Cigarette TaxesLocal VW Chief May LeaveFor the Record

Opinion

Op-Ed Contributor: Warning Shot From Russia?
By Anne Applebaum Before it happened, nobody imagined that the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo would set off World War I. Before the ""shot heard round the world"" was fired, I doubt that 18th-century Concord expected to go down in history as the place where the American Revolution began.

Op-Ed Contributor: No Softer Than Putin
By Rose Gottemoeller Dmitry Medvedev is being inaugurated as president at a fascinating time. For one thing, so many of his colleagues in the world leadership are moving up, down or out. Among the Group of Eight countries alone, the trend is remarkable.

Yulia Latynina: How to Invent Enemies and a Strong Russia
Who is Mr. Putin? Until 2003, he was a leader who could have made Russia a truly great country if he followed through on his liberal economic program.

City Wise

Ask the Chef
Andrei Petrusevich is head chef at Tsvet Nochi restaurant.

Falafel Feast at Feniks
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer When entering the recently opened Lebanese restaurant Feniks, the first thing that strikes you is the security, which is formidable.

Likbez: Smoke-Free Cafes
There are already several cafes and restaurants in Moscow that have banned smoking altogether.

Consumer News

Limits On Lighting Up
By Svetlana Osadchuk / Staff Writer New laws under consideration in the State Duma may restrict smoking in public places.

Stop Playing With Fire In Abkhazia
The ""frozen conflict"" between Georgia and Abkhazia is glowing red-hot again. Until recently, Georgia on one side and Abkhazia and its not-so-tacit patron, Russia, on the other had constrained themselves to belligerent rhetoric.

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