... the same period of last year and amounted to 5.9 billion rubles ($195 million). Most of that investment was made in Moscow. By the end of the year, SU-155 expects to invest about 38 billion rubles in the construction of 1.3 million square meters of housing. More than half of the projects will be in the Moscow region. In Moscow and Moscow region, the company completed 87 projects with a total area of just under 750,000 square meters in the first quarter. Investment amounted to 4.15 billion rubles...

I lived in a house of silence. My father worked for the KGB, and he was responsible for deciding the fate of many of the men arrested daily — whether they deserved short- or long-term gulag sentences, or even something more lethal...

At an elite gated community in the Moscow region called Angelovo, some residents believe that they are overcharged, some want to form a committee and three of them walk a kilometer from the gate to their house because the family’s relations with management are so frayed. At an elite gated community in the Moscow region called Angelovo, some residents believe that they are overcharged, some want to form a committee and three of them walk a kilometer...

... organizers can make alcoholic beverages available at parties for their corporate clients and sponsors, as long as athletes or members of the official delegation do not participate. Events hosted by Russia will primarily take place in four "hospitality houses," including a Russia Sochi Park house across from Royal Albert Hall near Hyde Park that will house the Olympic committee and Sochi 2014. Bosco, which could operate event space in the Russia Sochi Park house, has said it has not yet decided...

... bureaucratic procedure. Q: Which sectors would be good to invest in here? A: We see a deficit in food services because cafes and restaurants are usually packed in the evening. Construction should be developed, with the city's population growing and a need for housing. The development of the social sector is also crucial. Q: What would you advise an entrepreneur considering a startup in Krasnoyarsk? A: You should work hard and start by learning the legislation relevant to the new business. Today's entrepreneurs...

... Leningrad native Maxim Sokolov, 44, is a near contemporary of Dmitry Medvedev — the prime minister is just three years older. But unlike Medvedev, he is a relative newcomer to the government, only arriving in the White House in 2009 to head the department for industry and infrastructure. gud-estate.ru Sokolov The new transportation minister, Leningrad native Maxim Sokolov, 44, is a near contemporary of Dmitry Medvedev — the prime minister...

... case that has riveted Lithuania for three years and led to three deaths. Thirty-nine protesters were detained as they tried to prevent the police from carrying out a 5-month-old court order saying the mother should regain custody of her daughter from a house where relatives were keeping her. Many Lithuanians in the southern town of Garliava violently opposed the order because they allege the girl's mother, Laimute Stankunaite, is part of a pedophile ring. Protesters had long prevented authorities from...

The media in Russia is "not free," due to the government keeping overall control of the sphere and clamping down on certain news outlets, organization Freedom House said Wednesday in its annual press freedom rankings. The media in Russia is "not free," due to the government keeping overall control of the sphere and clamping down on certain news outlets, organization Freedom House said Wednesday...

... terms as president. The Kremlin confirmed Thursday that Putin had telephoned Obama to say he would not attend the Group of Eight summit in Maryland next week and would send Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in his stead. In a short statement, the White House said Putin explained in the phone conversation Wednesday that he was busy finalizing a new government after his inauguration this week. “Noting his responsibilities to finalize Cabinet appointments in the new Russian government, President...

Beat Film Festival, which presents a range of documentaries on music and contemporary culture from all around the world, opened late Wednesday at the Gorizont movie house. Beat Film Festival, which presents a range of documentaries on music and contemporary culture from all around the world, opened late Wednesday at the Gorizont movie house. One of this year's highlights is Oscar-winning director Kevin McDonald's...

... News Sunday,” referring to the onset of protests across the Arab world. And “our hopes rest on convincing [Russia] to ease out Assad, comparing it to Yemen, which there is no comparison. It’s really just a sad story.” The White House called for Assad’s ouster as recently as Saturday, when it blamed the Syrian government for the deaths of more than 100 people, including 49 children, following peaceful protests. The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting Sunday afternoon...

... "Any decision should be considered, so to speak, through green policy," she said, RIA-Novosti reported Thursday. Matviyenko said the idea was one of several proposals being considered as part of an effort to improve the efficiency of the upper house. Environmentalists welcomed the idea. "I'd rather that it were in the State Duma, because by the time a bill reaches the upper house a lot of work has already gone into it, and it is harder to change. But such a procedure at the Federation...

The regal inauguration of President Vladimir Putin last Monday offered a creepy scene: Putin's motorcade traveled along dead-quiet, deserted streets from the White House to the Kremlin, while on nearby Moscow streets ordinary citizens were being beaten by police truncheons. The scene was distinctly Orwellian. The regal inauguration of President Vladimir Putin last Monday offered a creepy scene:...

... reporter Kevin O’Flynn from inside a police van: 7:18 p.m., Putin Signs More Than Dozen Orders Within Hours of Taking Office: Newly sworn-in President Vladimir Putin has signed more than a dozen decrees on topics ranging from demographic policy and housing issues to the defense industry and economic policy. Most of the orders give specific deadlines for work to be done by the next government, expected to be led by former President Dmitry Medvedev. Many of the instructions appear to be aimed at carrying...

... Mon. listing.) Theater of Nations. 7 p.m. Testosterone: (See Fri. listing.) Pushkin Theater affiliate. 7 p.m. The Cripple of Inishmaan (Kaleka s Inishmana): Sergei Fedotov’s staging of Martin McDonagh’s play. Taganka Theater. 7 p.m. The House (Dom): Sergei Puskepalis directs Yevgeny Grishkovets’ play about money and friendship, material and spiritual values. Chekhov Moscow Art Theater small stage. 7 p.m. New The Suitcase Packers (Na Chemodanakh): Hanoch Levin’s comedy with...

Today we are facing an evident trend followed by almost all large companies: They seek to minimize their spending, irrevocably resulting in the reduction of expenses for employees' housing and a corresponding decrease of average demand budgets. This trend has led to the influx of young specialists without families. Thus the largest portion of requests is now concentrated in the segment of two-room apartments. In contrast, the demand...

... from his Chinese contemporaries, Mao said. His time with alternative thinkers, such as Allen Ginsberg and the Chinese writers Gu Cheng and Bei Dao offer hints at why Ai became the artist- advocate he is today. Olga Sviblova, the director of the Moscow House of Photography, cites "Profile of Duchamp, Sunflower Seeds (1983)" as an example of how the ties of Ai's early days in New York played out in his later art. The photograph is of a coat hanger, reformed in the profile of Duchamp's face...

... runner-up with 100 blue lights. The presidential administration and the Cabinet will have 20 and 28 of these cars, respectively. The other executive branches, including governors, will also enjoy the privilege. The State Duma, the parliament's lower house, will have eight such cars, and the Federation Council, the upper house, five. Putin promised to tighten the screws on the flashing blue lights during a meeting with his supporters on Feb. 7 in response to complaints. “It's quite difficult...

... their jobs earlier this month, ending a four-year constellation in which the youthful Medvedev held the presidency and was formally superior to his mentor Putin, who ran the Cabinet. But several key officials earlier moved from the Kremlin to the White House and vice versa in December, in what was seen as paving the way for the two leaders’ job swap. On Tuesday, the Kremlin confirmed former Deputy Prime Ministers Sergei Ivanov and Vyacheslav Volodin as chief of staff and first deputy chief of...

... little black ones to the big red ones because they struck me as being more, well, refined, than the brute reds), horny toads, lizards, tarantulas and butterflies. These fascinating creatures were among the only living things within a couple miles of our house. Now, we had a neighbor down the road, a wonderful man by the name of Ellsworth Sylvester. His wife Agnes was my teacher in fifth grade and I loved her dearly, too. But I'm using Ellsworth today as my tenuous link to the Russian-born painter Nicolai...