The Moscow Times

Business: RenCap Cuts RTS '08 Target to 2,350
Renaissance Capital on Monday slashed its year-end forecast for the benchmark RTS Index from 3,000 to 2,350 and increased its equity risk premium for the country from 4 percent to 5.5 percent in a sign of continued investor jitters.

News

Path Is Cleared For Talks With EU
By Anna Smolchenko / Staff Writer In a double dose of good news, the European Union agreed Wednesday to start long-delayed partnership talks with Russia, and the next EU president, France, said it was keen to improve relations.

Migrants to Get Metal Homes of Their Own
By Natalya Krainova, Matt Siegel / Staff Writers Moscow approves a plan to house migrant workers in moveable containers, drawing an outcry from ethnic community leaders.

Storchak's Video Plea To Go Home Denied
By Catrina Stewart / Staff Writer A Moscow court denied bail Wednesday to Sergei Storchak, the deputy finance minister who has been held in pretrial detention on corruption charges since November.

Gazprom Sells Its Stake in Izvestia
Reuters, MT Gazprom has sold its majority stake in the Izvestia newspaper to a firm linked to a businessman believed to be a close ally of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

A New Art Lover Shells Out $120M
By Jill Lawless / The Associated Press Two days, two modern art masterpieces, two record-breaking auction prices -- and one buyer: billionaire Roman Abramovich.

Space Agency Says Glitch Cause Found
The Moscow Times The Federal Space Agency said Wednesday that it had identified the technical glitch that caused a Soyuz space capsule to re-enter Earth's atmosphere at an unusually steep angle last month, subjecting crew members to severe G-forces and landing hundreds of kilometers off target.

Developer Accuses Mitrokhin of Extremism
The Moscow Times One of Moscow’s biggest real estate developers has accused an outspoken city lawmaker of extremism after he staged a protest against one of their construction projects.

Exit Poll: Saakashvili's Party Wins Big
Reuters, AP An independent exit poll showed Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s party overwhelmingly winning parliamentary elections Wednesday, but a senior opposition leader claimed victory and protests were expected.

Estonian Trial Angers Moscow
By Nikolaus von Twickel / Staff Writer The trial of a World War II Red Army veteran on charges of genocide in Estonia has drawn angry charges from the Foreign Ministry and promises from State Duma deputies on Wednesday that they will issue a formal condemnation of the case.

Business

U.S. Hits Kiev Over Broken Contract
Reuters The United States on Wednesday criticized Ukraine's decision to break off an energy exploration and extraction contract in the Black Sea with U.S. firm Vanco Energy.

Tatneft Seeks $1.1Bln From Ukraine
By Anatoly Medetsky / Staff Writer The oil firm is claiming compensation for lost revenues in a long-running refinery dispute.

Mail.ru Planning $2Bln London Float
Reuters Internet firm Mail.ru is planning a $2 billion flotation in London this summer and is talking to Citibank, Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse about the deal, Kommersant reported Wednesday.

Russian Railways to Lead Udokan Bid
Bloomberg Russian Railways, Urals Mining and Metals and state-run development bank Vneshekonombank will submit a joint bid in an auction for Udokan, the country's largest untapped copper deposit.

Bombardier Announces Joint Venture
Bloomberg Bombardier, the world's second-largest train maker by sales, said Wednesday that it agreed to design and build locomotives in Russia with railcar maker Transmashholding.

Gap Stores to Open By Holiday Season
By Tai Adelaja / Staff Writer At long last, Russian women won't have to make an extra trip to France, Germany or Japan to dress American.

RZD Eyes Germany's State Rail Operator
By Anton Doroshev / Reuters Russian Railways plans to pick up a Deutsche Bahn stake and hold its own IPO.

Foreign Investment Slumps in Q1
Bloomberg Foreign direct investment into the country fell 42.8 percent in the first quarter as investors avoided emerging markets in the global credit crunch.

Consumer Prices Seen Rising More Than 7% Year to Date
Reuters Consumer prices have risen by more than 7 percent since the start of the year, the government said Wednesday, in what market players said made the annual target unachievable without ruble appreciation.

Opinion

Mysterious Shifts in Chechnya
Like one of those dark mysterious beech forests of the Caucasus, Chechnya still contains many secrets and most of what is going on there is hidden from outside view.

Business in Brief

Business in Brief
Sistema Wants Firm MergerIngosstrakh's $250M PlansFarming Bank's BondsSeverstal Q1 Profit Falls 4%Caspian Pipeline ExpansionGAZ May Need $5BlnFor the Record

A Bar for High Fliers
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Riding the lift up 21 floors to reach Kalina Bar is an enjoyable experience in itself. The glass elevator provides an impressive view across the city -- in fact, the view may be better than from the restaurant itself. But even there, the view is impressive, making the Kalina Bar one of Moscow's top places to gaze out over the city while you eat.

Cabbage of the Sea
By Maria Antonova / Special to The Moscow Times There is a whole array of foods in Russia whose existence can only be justified by the fact that they have a high concentration of vitamins or minerals.

News in Brief
Suspected Killer Faces TrialKazakh Editor ArrestedPrague Backs Missile Deal

Fans Felt Welcome, If a Bit Lost
By Max Delany, Sam Hoben / Staff Writers Despite the expense of the flights from Britain, sky-high hotel rates and more than just the occasional difficulty in finding their way around, most of the fans at Wednesday's game had good things to say about the handling of the event.

Manchester United Edges Chelsea on Penalties
By Robert Millward / The Associated Press Edwin van der Sar saved the 14th penalty of the shootout Wednesday to give Manchester United a 6-5 win over Chelsea after a 1-1 draw in the first all-English Champions League final.

Violence Raises Fresh Concern Over Finals
By Gugulakhe Lourie / Reuters Deadly attacks on foreigners in South African townships may hurt the country's chances of hosting a successful 2010 World Cup, the South African Football Association's chief executive conceded Tuesday.

Mixing East and West in Ukraine
By John Wendle / Staff Writer The west Ukrainian city of Lvov offers a blend of cultural heritage.

The Carpathians
By John Wendle / Special to The Moscow Times Where to Go

No Loyalist Left Behind
I have heard some disparaging remarks about the recent government reshuffle. Some people had expected bigger changes. Although official announcements indicated that up to two-thirds of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's staff were new, those changes were accomplished by simply reshuffling the same old people around.

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