Notebook

for the leader of a country with one of the world’s highest rates of journalist murders, President Dmitry Medvedev was surprisingly relaxed during a May meeting with Vsevolod Bogdanov, president of the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ). Granted, the two didn’t discuss “sensitive issues” like dead-ended murder investigations or the past eight years of screw-tightening on the press. Yet, the two presidents did amicably conclude that Russian journalists should work harder to uncover corruption – Medvedev’s bugbear. “If such publications were appearing more quickly, the effect desired by the government and the people would also come about more quickly,” Medvedev said, agreeing with Bogdanov that if journalists help expose corruption, the “national projects” (specially targeted economic and social projects) will be more successful.

According to the International Federation of Journalists, 152 journalists have been murdered in Russia since 1994. “There is an evident climate of impunity surrounding the cases where a journalist was killed for his or her professional activities,” the organization wrote in its 2007 Russia report. Most cases remain unsolved. And many of the victims were in fact investigating corruption when they were murdered. “It’s very interesting logic,” wrote Natella Boltyanskaya in Yezhednevny Zhurnal, “Journalists are to fight corruption. Journalists are to die, while the people they are investigating are to get bloated on their illegal earnings and enjoy total impunity.” 

Some recent cases of journalistic persecution include:

• Natalia Morar was investigating campaign funding schemes, and was subsequently declared a “national danger” and barred from entering Russia. 

• The opposition website ingushetiya.ru revealed evidence of massive ballot stuffing in Ingushetia. At the end of May, a Moscow judge ordered the site shuttered, requiring all Russian internet providers to block access to it. The apartment of the website’s lawyer was raided three days after the court decision. 

• The investigation of the 2006 murder of Anna Politkovskaya, who was working on a story about torture and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, has hardly inched closer to resolution.

As if things aren’t tough enough, the Duma is considering changes to current media law. A young deputy and Nashi activist, Robert Shlegel, recently proposed adding intentional libel to the list of actions for which a media outlet can be prosecuted. Under current law, prosecutable activities include publishing state secrets or extremist content. (Since last fall’s passage of a “Law on Extremism,” at least six newspapers and websites have been closed down.)

Proving that libelous information was published intentionally would be difficult, and decisions would therefore be based on arbitrary administrative rulings, said Mikhail Fedotov, former Information Minister and secretary of the RUJ. United Russia, Fedotov told Kommersant newspaper, is “scratching a place where it doesn’t itch,” examining a law that doesn’t need any amendment, and proposing something that can only hinder press freedoms. In fact, such an amendment could hurt efforts to fight corruption, since every official accused of corruption would counterattack with accusations of libel.

Although Shlegel’s amendment was rejected in the Duma, former deputy Vladimir Ryzhkov predicted that the media law will be altered nonetheless. He said that United Russia’s standard tactic – used to amend the laws on political parties and non-commercial organizations – was to initially oppose amendments, then “vote for a draconian law.”

And so it goes. United Russia head Boris Gryzlov recently promised to “seriously work on the media law,” because it is “old and does not correspond to the current situation in Russia.” The new draft, which will be presented in November, he said, should require the media “to evoke the highest feelings in our citizens, spreading optimism.” 

– maria antonova

 

 

5% of companies in Russia pay their employees in U.S. dollars. One year ago, 23% of employers said they paid salaries in dollars. Over 90% of employers pay salaries in rubles, up from 67% last year. 37% of companies offer their employees discounts on company products and services, up from 22% last year. 50% make it possible for employees to have flexible working hours, up from 41%. Average salaries in Moscow increased by 17.7% from April 2007 to April 2008. Average age for an employee in a Moscow firm is 34 years, 38.5 for executives. ¶ The total salary debt to Russian citizens reached R2.575 billion in May, according to RosStat Federal Service. The biggest debt, R904 million, is in Chechnya. ¶ The number of tourists visiting Russia fell 8% in 2007, vs. 2006. RosTurism wants to inject
R3 trillion into tourism industry development in order to increase the flow of foreign tourists from 23 million to 32 million visitors per year, while boosting domestic tourism from 28 to 46 million annually. Tourism presently accounts for 3% of Russia’s economy. Since 1997, the number of foreigners visiting Russia has fallen from 2.5 to
2.2 million people. ¶ There are 249 coins circulating for every Russian citizen. One kopek coins make up 18 percent of this amount, and 5 kopek coins make up 14 percent. In January, there were 6.5 billion kopek coins in Russia. One kopek is worth about 1/20th of a U.S. penny.  ¶  During Putin’s eight years as president, he held on average 145 meetings per year with foreign heads of state. He issued 1,393 foreign-policy-related statements; he participated in 64 summits involving countries from the Commonwealth of Independent States, 17 EU-Russia summits, eight G8 summits, eight meetings of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and addressed three sessions of the UN General Assembly. He made 192 foreign trips to 74 countries. ¶ Seven banks have lost their licenses since the beginning of 2008. Last year, 53 banks had their licenses revoked by the Russian Central Bank. Ten of them tried to appeal the decision, but all lost. ¶ There were some 10,500 legal cases opened in Russia in 2007 that involved charges of corruption. 

 

do not know a single of the Bible’s ten commandments 33% 

 

of these: 27% are Orthodox Christian

60% are non-believers or agnostics

40% are men

28% are women

 

of those who could name at least one, they knew:

Do not kill 56%

Do not steal 52%

Do not commit adultery 25%

Honor thy father and mother 13%

Do not bear false witness 10%

Do not make false idols 8%

Do not covet 7%

Do not take the Lord’s name in vain 3%

Have no other gods before me 2%

Observe the Sabbath 2%

 

of those who are happy: 

18% are happy because everything is well in
their families

11% are happy for their children and grandchildren

6% are happy about their jobs or studies

5% are happy because they and their relatives are in good health

 

main reasons people say they are unhappy:

13% not enough money

6% poor health or old age

2-3% each: loneliness, lack of a good job, doubts about the future, difficult family situation

 

think it’s necessary to work on keeping the Russian language “pure” 78% 

{81% among people with college education}

use profanity 61%

use proverbs 81%

quote literary works, movies, and songs 66%

use local regional dialects 52%

use professional slang or foreign words 43%

 

“Think back to the old times: every face was a mug! Malenkov – a mug. Khrushchev – a mug. Brezhnev
– a mug. A small cue, like moving your jaw, was enough to make people laugh. And these guys? Ordinary people. Leather jackets, jeans. They exercise, they don’t slurp, don’t snore at government meetings. It’s a pity, but there is nothing to write about in the era of stability!”

Standup comic Efim Shifrin (Russky Reporter)

 

“Our response is: ‘Help us understand how kicking them out of the G-8 is going to help the democratic activists inside Russia.’’’ 

Michael McFaul, senior Russia adviser to Barack Obama,
in response to John McCain’s proposal to evict Russia from the G-8. (Bloomberg)

 

“The constitution guarantees every Russian citizen
the right to information, while the Russian Post
takes that right away.”

Duma deputy Boris Reznik, commenting on high postage costs
for major Russian newspapers sent to the provinces. (Izbrannoe)

 

“With this scheme, where he controls neither the government nor the parliament, Medvedev will one day ask: ‘What exactly are my powers?’ And at that moment, [Kremlin hard-liner Igor] Sechin will say, ‘A-ha! I warned you! What did I tell you?’ After that, the situation may develop in an unpredictable way.”

Exiled oligarch Boris Berezovsky (Sobesednik newspaper) 

 

“I swear on my mother’s life, we’re not going to
go to war!”

Georgian ambassador Erosi Kitsmarishvili,
on whether Georgia will attack Abkhazia and South Ossetia. (Regnum)

 

“[The editor of Literaturnaya Gazeta] said to me, ‘Misha, we’re not going to draw Putin any more. The young lad is very sensitive...’ The authorities fear satire and mockery more than anything else. Nothing dents their aura of greatness like satire.”

Cartoonist Mikhail Zlatkovsky, describing the day after
Putin’s inauguration in May 2000 (The Independent, London)

 

“I don’t have my own car right now. I ride in a state car, accompanied by security guards. That’s the rules. But it would be cool to run away somewhere.”

President Dmitry Medvedev, answering children’s questions posed through the website
uznai-presidenta.ru two weeks after his inauguration. (newsru.com)

 

“[Igor Sechin] orchestrated the first case against me out of greed and the second out of cowardice. Exactly how he managed to convince his boss is hard to say. Maybe Putin really thought I was plotting some political coup, which is ridiculous, since at the time I was publicly supporting two opposition parties which at best could have won 15% in parliamentary elections. More likely they didn’t need any reason, just an excuse to raid Yukos, Russia’s most successful oil company.”

Jailed former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky (Sunday Times, London)

How to Live?

Moscow held an architectural biennale for the first time this June, with exhibitions, talks, and seminars at six different venues. The biennale was curated by Bart Goldhorne, editor of Project Russia magazine. The question “Kak zhit?” (How to Live?) was the underlying theme for all exhibits, from interior design of constructivist communes to modern urban planning strategies. 

 

Victory at Any Cost

Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov budgeted 1.44 billion rubles to repair city roads after the May 9th parade and several practice runs that preceded it. The parade, which featured tanks, howitzers, and other military hardware on Red Square, was the first of its kind in Russia since 1990.

 

Moving Memory

Estonian Yuri Liim, a tireless activist against Soviet monuments, has struck again. After renting a crane, he toppled a statue and an obelisk in Tallinn while Estonian TV crews filmed. “This is my sacred duty,” he told journalists. He was charged with theft. Last year, he declared his intention to blow up the Bronze Soldier in downtown Tallinn (a memorial to Soviet soldiers known as “Alyosha” in a well-known song). His plan didn’t work, but the Estonian government relocated the memorial to a suburban cemetery in a move that led to city riots and a massive cyber-assault on Estonia from Russian servers. 

 

Book Space

The Russian State Library will expand into a new building in 5 years. Despite a ban on new construction in central Moscow, Mayor Luzhkov has allowed the development of a new 100 thousand m2 facility, which will be connected to the original library building via a tunnel or bridge. According to library director Victor Fyodorov, the library needs an additional 25 thousand square meters just to have enough storage space under current conditions, Komsomolskaya Pravda reported.

 

Khakamada Leaves Politics

Irina Khakamada has decided to leave politics for other creative pursuits. The former Duma deputy, presidential candidate, and one of the leaders of the Union of Right Forces, is going to work on her third book, head the foundation Our Choice, and adapt her novel to the screen.

 

Boosting Academics

Russian scientists and researchers with “Academic” in their title will see their salaries more than doubled. Previously, academicians received a salary of 20 thousand rubles per month; that will increase to 50 thousand, Vladimir Putin said in a meeting with the president of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

 

Trumped by a Russian

An unknown Russian bought a Palm Beach mansion from Donald Trump for $100 million. Trump has acknowledged that the person who bought the 80,000 ft2 estate was from Russia. “I think what I’ll do is I will demand that he put up the American flag – and the Russian flag can fly right under it,” he told CNBC.

 

Law and Order

Lawyers beat inmates in a traditional chess tournament held in St. Petersburg’s famous Kresty prison. 12 inmates played against their attorneys, losing all games but one, which ended in a tie. Prisoners received books, magazines, cigarettes, and chocolate for their efforts, Interfax reported. 

Maple Leaves Fall

The Russian national team commemorated the 100th anniversary of Russian hockey by bringing home the gold in the World Hockey Championships. The squad, led by head coach Vyacheslav Bykov, unseated host and reigning champ Canada in a dramatic 5-4 final that ended Russia’s 15-year gold medal drought. 

And so Canada failed to break the 20-year curse hanging over host nations of the World. Not since 1986, when the USSR won the title in Moscow, has a home team won the gold. Last year in Moscow, Russia fell to Finland in the semis, earning only a bronze. Then, in this year’s semis, Russia defeated Finland 4-0. In the final, with the game tied 4-4 after three periods, Ilya Kovalchuk scored the winner in the overtime. 

“We have a great team with great players and we believed in each other,” said defender Andrei Markov. 

Russia has not won a world title since 1993, when present head coach Vyacheslav Bykov was team captain. “Finally, this squad is regaining the mentality of winners,” said legendary goalie Vladislav Tretyak, now President of the Russian Hockey Federation. “My teammates – Kharlamov, Fetisov, we had that winning spirit in us, but then Russia lost it for some 15 years. So it’s great to have it back.”

Russia did not drop a single match throughout the event, thanks to its star-studded team including Yevgeny Nabokov (one of the NHL’s best goalies) and Washington Capitals superstar Alexander Ovechkin, to say nothing of Atlanta forward Kovalchuk. 

Immediately after Kovalchuk’s overtime goal, Moscow drivers began honking their horns late into the evening, and fans began a night of celebration. Next year’s Worlds will be played in Switzerland.

 

Advocating Zenit

The Russian soccer club Zenit (St. Petersburg) won their first European title in May at the UEFA Cup finals. Second-half goals from Igor Denisov and Konstantin Zyrianov secured a
2-0 victory over the Glasgow Rangers. 

It was the second UEFA Cup title for a Russian squad, after TsSKA Moscow’s triumph in 2005. In the lead-up to the finals, Zenit demolished a heavily favored Bayern Munich in the semifinals. 

Credit for the win was widely attributed to the efforts of Zenit’s Dutch coach, Dick Advocaat. He assembled a strong team that is also the top pretender to the Russian national title this year. 

Zenit players earned €1 mn each in prize money as a premium for the wins over Bayern Munich in the semis and the Glasgow Rangers in the finals.

 

Do Svidaniya, Vania

As was largely expected, the Russian women’s tennis team beat a decimated U.S. team in the Fed Cup semifinals held in May in Moscow. 

Apparently, the young American side, led by captain Zina Garrison, came to Russia mostly in search of experience, rather than wins. Handicapped by the loss of their three top-ranked players (the Williams sisters and Lindsay Davenport), the U.S. team was down 0-2 after Anna Chakvetadze defeated Vania King and Svetlana Kuznetsova destroyed Fed Cup debutante Ahsha Rolle. 

The next day, Vera Zvonareva sealed Russia’s victory, disposing of King in 3 sets, while the U.S. team won the dead rubbers – the Ahsha Rolle vs. Elena Vesnina singles and the doubles match of Liezel Hubber/Vania King vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova/Elena Vesnina, making the final score a face-saving 2-3. 

Russia is the defending Fed Cup champion and will face Spain in the finals September 13-14. It is unclear if Maria Sharapova will make that trip. She played the opening round against Israel (see front cover photo), then skipped the quarterfinals versus the U.S., to be substituted by Svetlana Kuznetsova. Captain Shamil Tarpishchev said Sharapova will play as agreed, but plans may change. The Fed Cup finals will immediately follow the U.S. Open and observers expect that Spain will request that it be played on clay – a surface where Sharapova has not been strong.

 

A Sea Divided

Russia may depart Ukraine 

after 225 years

Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko wants to eject Russia’s Black Sea Fleet from Sevastopol, on the Crimean peninsula. The president ordered the government to prepare a draft law that will terminate international agreements on the deployment of the fleet in the Crimea after 2017. 

Russia and Ukraine signed a series of bilateral agreements in 1997 that allow the Russian fleet to have a base in Ukraine for 20 years. Under the terms of the agreements, they will be extended automatically for five years unless one of the parties notifies the other at least one year in advance of expiration – i.e. before 2016. Drafting a law to terminate the agreements nine years early, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, “cannot facilitate trust between Russia and Ukraine and can adversely affect the talks on the Black Sea Fleet.”

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko denied that the Ukraine is questioning or failing to comply with the 1997 agreements. “There is absolutely no reason for any aggravation [of relations],” she said.

Yushchenko first expressed his intent on this question back in 2005. Ukraine seeks to join NATO, and it is quite conceivable that the Black Sea Fleet’s eviction after a 225-year residency may be followed in short order by the presence of NATO ships. The base at Sevastopol was first established by Pyotr Potyomkin during the reign of Catherine the Great.

In anticipation of such moves, last year the Russian Black Sea Fleet began building a new base in Novorossiysk.

Sukhoi Airborne

Russia constructs a 

new civilian airplane

The long-awaited Sukhoi Superjet-100 (SSJ) finally stretched its wings on a maiden flight in Komsomolsk-na-Amure. The jet is the first civilian jet developed in Russia since the breakup of the Soviet Union. 

The SSJ boasts a projected life in service of 70,000 hours – longer than any other Russian plane. But before the plane can be cleared for take-off, it must undergo 600 hours of flight testing in Zhukovsky, the aviation town in Moscow region. 

Sukhoi already has 98 orders for the SSJ from Aeroflot, Transaero, and several smaller airlines, Bloomberg reported. The mid-sized airliner will cost $29 million and carry 75-95 passengers. Designed to replace mid-range Soviet era jets (Tupolev-134 and Yakovlev-42), the plane is being positioned to compete with regional jets produced by Canada’s Bombardier and Brazil’s Embraer. 

Ironically, while the SSJ is touted as the plane that will resurrect Russian aviation, most of the engineering was done by foreign companies like Boeing, Snecma Moteurs and about 40 other suppliers. But even that could not quash enthusiasts’ excitement. “I‘m so happy that I’m speechless,” said test pilot Alexander Yablontsev. “I’ve finally done something masculine after all these years.” Journalists were not allowed to witness SSJ’s first test flight.

 

Indy vs. the Reds

New Indiana Jones film
evokes Cold War memories

Members of the St. Petersburg Communist Party feel the new Indiana Jones movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, will encourage anti-Soviet attitudes among Russian youth and give them inaccurate ideas about Soviet foreign policy in the 1950s. “Our soldiers are portrayed as caricatures, while the American superhero cynically destroys them,” the party wrote in a statement to RIA News agency. “We are deeply offended by Spielberg’s blockbuster, which is a disgusting Cold War belch.” In the movie, set in 1957, Cate Blanchett affects an over-the-top Russian accent in her role as the evil Russian spy, Irina Spalko. 

St. Petersburg Communist Party chief Sergei Malinkovich told the Reuters news agency the movie was “rubbish.” He said Russian teenagers would be “completely unaware of what happened in 1957… They will go to the cinema and will be sure that, in 1957, we made trouble for the United States and almost started a nuclear war. It’s rubbish... In 1957 the communists did not run with crystal skulls throughout the U.S.”

 

The Big Beet?

Moscow climbs to

the top of the heap

Moscow’s budget for 2008 is equal to the budget of New York City in 2007, according to city council representatives. The budget of the Russian capital is R1.2 trillion (about $50 billion), while budget expenditures for all of Russia are about R6.6 trillion. The 2008 budget surplus in Moscow is estimated at R998 billion. In 2001, this figure was only about R117 billion. 

New York budget expenditures in 2007 amounted to $43 billion. While New York gets most of its budget revenues from property taxes, Moscow earns most of its take from business income taxes.

 

Bilan Top of Pops

Becomes first-ever Russian 

to win Eurovision

Russian pop star Dima Bilan won first place in the popular Eurovision Song Contest, held this year in Belgrade, Serbia. The contest has been broadcast since 1956, and Russia has participated since 1994. 

This was the first time a Russian artist took first place in the telephone voting system which tabulates calls from live show viewers in 43 different countries. A multinational effort, Bilan’s song was written by American producer Jim Beanz and rapper Timbaland, while the performance included appearances by Olympic skater Evgeni Pluschenko and Hungarian violinist Edvin Marton. 

Bilan competed in last year’s show, but lost to a heavy-metal band from Finland. 

The win was quickly labeled political by many commentators, both domestic and foreign. “Georgia, Moldova, and the rest would just like to keep their big neighbor sweet, and a few Eurovision points might be seen as a cheap way of achieving that,” wrote The Independent. Die Welt seethed: “As in past years, the ‘Eastern European Mafia’ at the Song Contest is stirring our blood... Russia won thanks to considerable help from its neighbors.” 

In Russia, bloggers posted voting maps demonstrating that ex-Soviet republics mostly voted in Russia’s favor, giving it 12 and 10 points, Eurovision’s equivalents of first and second place. Even the Baltic states, who are politically at odds with Russia over the past few years, overwhelmingly supported Bilan: all three gave him 12 points.

Russian audiences cheered while both Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin congratulated Bilan on the win, saying it’s “yet another triumph for Russia,” following other recent successes in soccer and ice hockey, Interfax reported. Ukraine and Greece trailed Russia in second and third place.

 

RuNet Goes Public

Russian internet bubble inflating

Yandex, Russia’s biggest internet company, has announced plans to going public on Nasdaq this fall. The search engine and web portal plans to raise $1.5-2 billion in the IPO, mandating Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and Renaissance Capital as organizers of the deal, Reuters reported. The company was founded in 2000 by Arkady Volozh (selected as one of Russian Life’s 100 Young Russians to Watch in 2001) and Ilya Segalovich. The original owners own about 30 percent of Yandex. 

The email service mail.ru is also going to list shares, but on the London Stock Exchange. According to TNS Gallup, the internet portal was the most frequented website in Russia during March, with 5.85 million daily visitors. Yandex came in second with 5.56 million. However, Gallup did not take into account non-Russian internet users. 

Although ownership of mail.ru is not public knowledge, about 33 percent is controlled by the South African holding company, Naspers Ltd. Mail.ru’s profits reached $40 million in 2007. Experts say the company could raise $2 billion in the deal, likely in the fourth quarter of the year.

 

Romanov Remains

Research confirms killings

90 years later

Two skeletons found in Sverdlovsk region a year ago were determined to belong to Grand Duchess Maria and Crown Prince Alexei of the Romanov family. All seven members of the family and their four servants were shot to death on July 17th, 1918. When the bodies of Nicholas II, his wife, and three of the children were initially exhumed in 1991, two bodies were missing. 

After the grave was found last year, Russian scientists postulated that the bodies belonged to Maria and Alexei. They took the remains to the U.S., where DNA researchers confirmed the initial findings, comparing against data obtained when the original family remains were verified in the late 1990s. All of the Romanov children died on the same day, together with their parents. “We found the whole family,” Sverdlovsk region governor Eduard Rossel told Interfax.

Additional finds in the grave bolstered the scientists’ conclusion. These included high-quality silver dental fillings and three bullets shot from 1900 and 1903 Brownings, gazeta.ru wrote. Needless to say, even these conclusive findings will probably not put to rest the various hopeful and romantic theories that one of the children (e.g. Alexei or Anastasia) escaped their tragic fate.

 

Gryzlov’s Fanfare

United Russia head shows 

his lyrical side

Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov, head of the United Russia Party and an ardent ally of Vladimir Putin, has written a march, Russia, Forward! Our Time has Come! 

Gryzlov, who is famous for a 2005 quip that “the Duma is not the place for political discussion,” wrote both the lyrics and the music, while the band Nasha Tema performs it. Created as an “ode to Russian soccer,” it was intended to motivate players before the Euro-2008 in June (which Russia lost to Spain). Gryzlov reportedly plans to record another disk to morally support the Russian team. The emotionally-charged lyrics begin:

 

We go out on the field

To play our part

In scoring a goal

 

…and end triumphantly with:

 

Russia, forward!

Our time has come!

Russia, forward!

Victory awaits!”