Notebook

Promises & Prophets

Putin tries to mend fences

with Beslan mothers

On September 2, the first anniversary of the terrorists’ murderous raid on Beslan, Russian President Vladimir Putin invited the “Beslan mothers” to meet with him in the Kremlin. But, according to their traditions, these women should have commemorated this sad day at their children’s graves, not in Kremlin. 

For some time, therefore, it was not clear if the mothers would show. But in the end, they sent several representatives to Moscow. After all, they wanted to ask the president some unanswered questions, things they knew no one else would ever dare ask. Journalists were present only during the initial meet-and-greet session. What is known of the meeting with the president is only what has been revealed by the participants. 

Chairman of the Beslan Mothers Committee, Susanna Dudiyeva, quoted by Interfax, described the conversation with Putin as “very difficult and tough. The information that the president possesses is incomplete,” she said. Apparently, the president made many promises to the mothers, but there has been no significant change in the course of the investigation, and the women expressed their disappointment. 

Meanwhile, central newspapers and television oddly began to report on the so-called healer Grigory Grabovoy, who promised to raise the Beslan children from the dead. It is not clear whether Grabovoy is a madman or an unashamed charlatan, or both. In an interview on Echo Moskvy radio, he announced that he was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. “I made this statement, because I have known it since childhood,” Grabovoy said. 

At least one journalist, Anton Orekh, of the newspaper Ezhednevny Zhurnal, speculated that the scandal around Grabovoy was created in order to discredit the “mothers of Beslan” – to split their ranks. Journalist Yulia Latynina pointed out in the same issue of the paper that several women who believed Grabovoy’s promises also believed President Putin’s.

 

Princess Ousted

Ukraine restive again

Russia’s neighbor to the west has been at the top of Russian news again lately. On September 8, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko dismissed his prime minister – Yulia Tymoshenko – and her cabinet (including National Security and Defense Council Secretary Petro Poroshenko), explaining, according to Interfax, that the ministers lacked a “team spirit,” that they were in constant conflict.

One day prior to this, participants at an international economic forum in Krynica Gurska, Poland declared Tymoshenko Central and Eastern Europe’s Person of the Year, for her “outstanding and positive contribution to the socio-economic development of the region and for achievements in Ukraine in 2004-2005.”

Tymoshenko, who has been dubbed the “the Princess of the Orange Revolution,” took her dismissal in stride. She did not blame Yushchenko and said she was open to dialog with him (but not his team). Later, she wished the new prime minister, Yuri Yekhanurov, the best of luck. 

There is no doubt that President Yushchenko has, through Tymoshenko’s dismissal, created a powerful rival for the next parliamentary election. Tymoshenko has strong support in Western Ukraine. The Lvov regional organization of the Batkivshchyna party even called on Yushchenko to resign, saying he “betrayed the Ukrainian people and the interests of Maidan.” [Maidan is the name of a prominent square during the popular revolt, which has come to symbolize the revolution.] Others, meanwhile, have accused Tymoshenko of the same betrayal. Clearly, the battle for the spirit of the Orange Revolution is ongoing.

Explaining the situation, Tymoshenko said that her and Yushchenko’s paths drifted apart. “We are going down two parallel paths and represent different forces. These forces will compete,” lenta.ru quoted her as saying. Meanwhile, Tymoshenko spoke warmly of Russia, emphasizing the importance of their partnership, refusing to believe “that, in Russia, our strategic partner, anyone could rejoice at difficulties being currently experienced by Ukraine.”

Certainly Tymoshenko’s dismissal does not mean she will fade from public view. In fact, on October 2 she made a very public appearance as mother-in-law, at the wedding of her daughter to British heavy-metal singer Sean Carr. Noticeably absent was Tymoshenko’s trademark braid.

 

Denikin Rests 

The remains of White Army General Anton Denikin, a leader of the anti-Soviet forces during the Russian Civil War (1917-1922), were flown to Moscow from the United States for reburial. His remains were interred at Donskoy Monastery cemetery on October 3, some 85 years after he fled into exile, the Moscow Times reported. Denikin’s daughter, Marina Denikina, accompanied the coffin. “General Denikin’s last words while dying in an American hospital were, ‘I will not see Russia’s salvation,’” Denikina told reporters upon her arrival at the airport.

Vicious Circle

Economists question 

increased gov’t spending

Recently, President Putin put forward a proposal to spend an extra $4 billion from the federal budget on education, health care, housing and agriculture. Interestingly, the proposal has come up against some resistance... from economists.

According to RIA Novosti, on September 30, several leading economic experts formally expressed concern about the president’s social program to Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov. The economists said that the program could lead to a repetition of the 1998 financial crisis. “The trends that we pointed out may lead to economic upheavals similar to the 1998 [financial crisis], which was detrimental to both government and business,” said Troika Dialog senior analyst Yevgeny Gavrilenkov.

Aside from Gavrilenkov, the letter was signed by 10 analysts from other leading investment companies, including Renaissance Capital, Bank of Moscow and United Financial Group. The experts pointed out that Russia risks getting trapped in a vicious circle: increase in salaries not backed by serious reforms will lead to inflation, which will force the government to increase salaries again, and so on. Instead of increasing budgetary spending, the economists recommended spurring job creation by providing more support to the private sector. 

Projected total revenues of the 2006 federal budget are estimated at around $180 billion.

 

Defense Deal

Institutions to fund

own deferments

As reported previously in Russian Life (July/Aug 2003), the Defense Ministry is grappling with monumental demographic and economic constraints. While deep reform is not in the cards, the conscription system is getting an overhaul.

First, the ministry plans to abolish some 40% of existing deferments. Second, starting January 1, 2008, a conscript’s term of service will be reduced from two years to one. 

The dropping of deferments is, not surprisingly, a touchy issue with students. Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has, on many occasions, promised not to draft students into the army. “No one is going to shave students’ heads,” he said on August 29. “I can give the word of the Minister of Defense. A student of a Russian higher educational establishment – private or state – will not serve while he is a student.” 

Meanwhile, Ivanov will abolish military departments at many institutions of higher learning – where students can take training courses and thereby be released from general army service. Initially, the Defense Ministry planned to retain military departments at select institutions and require the students to serve several years as officers after graduation. But then plans changed. 

Apparently now the Defense Ministry will leave the “academic elite” alone, handing off funding to another ministry. According to Kommersant, just 35 elite institutions will retain their military departments. These few military departments will be financed by the Ministry of  Education and Science. Minister of Science and Education Andrey Fursenko called it a “fair agreement,” although, as lenta.ru reported, he said he was “sorry to see the money go.”

 

Books and Flowers

Seeking beauty

amid plenty

In September, Moscow’s VDNKh Exhibition Center hosted two notable events: a flower exhibition and a book fair. Both were stunning in their own right.

The International Flower Exhibition was a spectacular event: the mass of beauty was overwhelming, perhaps even too much of a good thing. Lyubov Shashkova, editor-in-chief of the magazine Tsvetovodstvo (Floriculture), helped a visitor hone in on the flower she said represents the best in Russian floriculture, the gladiolus. 

At the stand of the Gladioli Regional Moscow Club the famous grower Mikhail Kuznetsov demonstrated his crop. Many hardly looked like gladioli at all. Different varieties look completely unlike one another or like anything else for that matter. The names of the varieties were highly imaginative: “Russian Field,” “Beautiful Alyona,” “Ripe Cherry.”

Kuznetsov explained that Russians and Americans are the world’s leaders in gladioli breeding, but their efforts are applied in different directions. “Americans tend to select enduring, healthy varieties,” Kuznetsov said. “Russians go for beauty. My clients do not ask how strong a variety is, they choose whatever catches their fancy.” According to experts, Kuznetsov’s “Great Princess Elizaveta” is a masterpiece of gladioli breeding.

It is hard to judge flowers, not being an expert. Books are different. Every reader is an expert in their own way. Though the mass of books at the 18th International Book Fair was almost as disorienting as the mass of flowers, a visitor soon figures out how to find the gladioli. 

Hanging around the huge booths of leading publishing houses is a waste of time. For example, publisher AST – a behemoth on the Russian market – offers thousands of books. But they are mass productions where one is more apt to find cheap paper, awful translations, misprints and other side effects of a colossal production line. 

The smaller publishers are much more fun. They clearly cherish and groom each book to ultimate perfection. Ukrainian children’s books published by A-BA-BA-GA-LA-MA-GA (the name doesn’t mean anything in either Russian or Ukrainian) boast mesmerizing illustrations by Vladislav Yerko and other talented Ukrainian artists. The Harry Potter series, Alice in Wonderland, Hans Christian Andersen’s Snow Queen – all are beautifully illustrated. For those unable to learn Ukrainian, the same editions are offered in Russian. 

Two Fewer

New Siberian region

created from three

At the end of September, the Duma gave its final approval to the creation of Krasnoyarsk Krai, to be fully formed on January 1, 2006. The new administrative division will be created from the unification of the present Krasnoyarsk Krai with the Taymyr (Dolgano-Nenetsky) and Evenk Autonomous Okrugs, which were previously constituent parts of the krai. The move was approved by the Federation Council in October and, when signed by President Putin, will take effect with the New Year. The unified region has just under 3 million residents, all but about 60,000 are in the current Krasnoyarsk Krai.

Russia previously had 89 administrative divisions. This will reduce that number to 87.

 

All Clear?

Minister gets a

Bolshevik slap

On September 12, Russian Minister of Education and Science Andrey Fursenko was suddenly slapped in the face by an unknown girl during his joint press conference with German Minister of Education and Research Edelgard Bulmahn. When Fursenko asked the girl to explain herself, she said merely, “this is my civil position.” 

Later, lenta.ru reported that the National Bolshevik Party (NBP) Press Secretary Aleksandr Averin claimed the girl was an NBP activist. It was her protest against the state of science and education in Russia, Averin said. At the same press conference, NBP disseminated leaflets which termed Fursenko “an enemy of teachers and friend of pogromists.” The NBP literature cited as “proof” Fursenko’s presence at a congress of the pro-Kremlin Nashi youth organization. Nashi members recently attacked attendees at an NBP meeting. 

 

After Death Do We Unite

After prolonged negotiations, two political parties – the Union of Rightist Forces  and Yabloko – have agreed to unite and run together in Moscow’s December parliamentary elections. The two liberal parties have had plenty of disagreements, and, even with this union, their popularity is not high.  Journalist Leonid Radzikhovsky, quipped that the union was a “posthumous marriage.”

 

Taganrog’s scandal

A painting worth some $400,000 was stolen from the vaults of the Taganrog Art Museum. According to Interfax, the 19th century canvas “Going to the Market in the Morning,” by Genrikh Semiradsky (1845-1902) was discovered missing in early September, during an inventory taking. The painting was last seen in 1996, when a museum catalogue was being compiled. A criminal case has been opened. Semiradsky was a professor at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, worked in Munich and Rome, and for most of his life lived in Italy. 

 

It’s Official

“Three months ago, I had doubts,” said Mikhail Kasyanov, “now I don’t.” Thus did Kasyanov declare that he will be a candidate for the Russian presidency in 2008, during an interview with Echo Moskvy radio. Kasyanov, who formerly held the post of prime minister, said that the economic and social situation in the country has gone from bad to worse. 

 

Yeltsin’s Spill

On September 7, former Russian President Boris Yeltsin, 74, fell and broke his hip while on vacation in Sardinia. According to Interfax, after visiting a local hospital, Yeltsin was flown to Moscow on his private jet, hospitalized and underwent an operation. The operation “went in a quite satisfactory and normal way,” said the hospital’s chief administrator. 

 

Outbreak

In mid-September, over 1,000 persons in Nizhny Novgorod were stricken with Hepatitis-A. The cause, announced later by the Volga-Urals Emergency Situation Center, was a sewage line break that contaminated drinking water supplies. The break occurred during maintenance of the Novo-Sormovskie water purification facilities. Massive vaccinations were launched, along with water chlorination, and a criminal investigation has been opened. 

 

Kazakh First

Meiramkul Kozhagulova will be the first woman to run for president in Kazakhstan. Kozhagulova, 43, is currently unemployed and lives in Aktyubinsk. She filed her application with the Central Election Commission and became the eighth candidate for the Kazakh presidency, which will be held in December. 

 

“It is particularly important to improve social conditions for our citizens in 2007, when elections get underway.”

Sergei Mironov, Speaker of RF Parliament. (Ekho Moskvy)

 

“How can I shake hands with the  President’s team, if their hands are always busy... stealing!”

Yulia Timoshenko, Ex-Prime Minister of Ukraine. (lenta.ru)

 

“Nelson Mandela spent a quarter century in prison and went on to become the president of South Africa.
So nine years for Khodorkovsky - that’s nothing.”

Vyacheslav Igrunov, Director of the Institute of 

Humanitarian Political Studies. (Itogi)

 

“We just found out about [Dmitry] Ayatskov’s
appointment as ambassador to Belarus. When I heard,
I fell off the couch.”

Gennady Zyuganov, KPRF leader, on the appointment of the embattled

 governor of Saratov province to an ambassadorship. (Itogi)

 

“We will work with all outcasts, including skinheads and even Satanists.” 

Duma Deputy Yevgeny Balashov, head of the Motherland youth organization, which joined with leftist youth organizations to form “Lom,” 

which means “crowbar.” (polit.ru)

 

“Of course, the Russian President has clearly indicated his position relative to the Constitution. But there are situations, when, for the good of the people, you have to look beyond yourself.”

Leonid Markelov, President of the Mari El republic, 

on extending President Putin’s term. (Itogi)

 

“As soon as Rodina caught a whiff of the possibility of getting money from an oligarch, they were ready to go in any direction, ‘left’ or ‘right’... [Dmitry] Rogozin twitched like a war horse after the sounding of a regimental horn.”

Andrei Isayev, chairman of the Duma Commission 

for Labor and Social Policy. (Itogi)

 

“When many people praise me, I start to get lazy. Thank God, my parents are healthy and hearty. After I hear cries of ‘Bravo!’ and ‘Genius!’ from the hall, they call their little son onto the carpet and explain why everything was ‘not quite right’ and why, in the larger scheme of things, it was not good enough.” 

Pianist Denis Matsuev. (Itogi)

 

 CULTURAL REFERENCE

In Russian the word коса means both “braid” and “scythe,” offering, in Tymoshenko’s case, a wonderful double-meaning, especially when she is called “the one with the kosa.” 

 

 JARGON WATCH

Military enlistment offices call someone who tries to avoid conscription an уклонист. Enlistment officers are ruthless and inventive in chasing down uklonists: they call them up and impersonate girls, friends and relatives – anything to lure the boys out “into the open” under false pretexts. A bit like psychological war training, if you will.

 

Russians infected by hepatitis B virus: 300,000+

Russians who use the Internet at least once a month: 13% 

The amount Moscow Region plans to spend on construction of a theme park: R60 billion 

Increase in Russian oil production over the last nine months: 2.4%

Shadow economy in Russia as a percent of total economy: 40% 

Russians who do not trust banks and keep their money at home: 70% 

Young Russians avoiding conscription: 15,000 

Draft goal of military enlistment offices this fall: 140,900 

Copies of Russian editions of Harry Potter series sold in Russia: 300 million+

Movies in which 70-year-old Russian-Armenian actor Armen Jigarkhanian has acted: 200+ 

Percent of voters in New York City who are Russian-American: 6%

Russian-Americans in the US: 5.7 million

Persons in Russia who use narcotics: 6 million

Gov’t spending on AIDs programs in 2005 & 2006, respectively: R150 million; R3.1 billion

Number of military transport aircraft China will purchase from Russia: 40

Russia’s ranking (out of 127) on international economic freedom index: 115

Number of Russian soldiers who died in 2005 (through August): 662

... number which committed suicide: 182

... number which died in vehicular accidents: 183

... number which died in other types of accidents: 175

... combat deaths in Chechnya: 74

... killed by fellow soldiers: 14

Expected revenues in 2006 Russian government budget: R5.46 trillion

... expected spending: R4.27 trillion

Projected Russian inflation in 2006: 7-8.5%

Russians who:

 

are satisfied with the present 

educational system 18%

... are not 50%

... feel it is so-so 22%

are not sure 10%

 

feel that entering a higher educational establishment requires:

knowledge 13%

connections 13%

money 69%

not sure 5%

 

feel for the army:

anxiety 28%

shame 24%

empathy 20%

respect 9%

fear 9%

nothing in particular 5%

pride 3%

are not sure 2%

 

feel the army can defend them 52%

don’t think so 38%

are not sure 10%

 

would like Russia and Ukraine to 

unite into one country 71%

would not 24%

 

feel the most prestigious occupation is:

lawyer/judge 29%

director/manager 17%

doctor/pharmacist 16%

banker/bank employee 16%

economist/financier 15%

businessman 9%

minister/state official 8%

computer programmer 7%

accountant/auditor 6%

show business 6%

 

use a bank credit/debit card 15%

 

have one family car 21%

have two family cars 1%

have no car 78%

 

feel that authorities can protect them from

terrorist attacks 30%

 

trust most as a source of information:

national TV stations 44%

none 18%

the Internet 5%

regional TV stations 3%

national newspapers 3%

 

live in the US and disapprove of 

US President Bush’s performance 68%

 

feel the most positive aspect of Russian

national character is:

kindness and honesty 41%

nobleness and decency 26%

 

overheard first person

Woman serving at a metro escalator: 

“Comrades, go up the broken escalator! 

Get your hearts in shape!

Overheard in the transfer between Kuznetsky Most and Lubyanka stations.

 

Cashier 1: “They always hated each other, geez, from day one. Playing dirty tricks on each other, and saying such filthy things, for whatever reason. Not a fight for survival, but to the death. And now you see they have both lost. Just look how it has ended up.”

Cashier 2: “And who started it?”

Cashier 1: “Apparently, Rosneft... But Sibneft held its own!”

Overheard at the department store Pyaterochka, Yartsevskaya street.

 

Two schoolgirls huddled together like a couple of crows. 

One is examining her watch, the other is sleepily staring into her pocket mirror.

Girl 1 (very impatiently): What are you so consumed with? You look just fine. 

Girl 2 (grimacing): Oh, damn you! I look 20...

Overheard on Marshal Rokossovskovo boulevard.

 

Middle-aged woman: 

“...no, well, in general it went quite well. The music was totally amazing! I just sat and was blown away... and my little Rita just loved it! Now I just have to go get tickets to see Romeo and Juliet. My little Rita wants to go too, but I said to her, “Naw, it’s too soon for you to go to such ....er... works ... er... of, well, a contemporary and complicated type...”

Overheard in an exchange point on Pushkin Square.

 

Blue-eyed 12-year-old boy: 

“My uncle didn’t used to know how to whistle. And so he would always bring along a bugle to soccer matches. And, as soon as someone next to him started yelling “CSKA! CSKA!” uncle would whomp-whomp ‘em on the head!! But now he has learned how to whistle.”

Overheard in a bus.

 

These conversations and monologues were reputedly heard on the streets of Moscow and then recorded online. We translated them from the website: 

www.livejournal.com/community/overheardmsk/

 

Victory in France

In front of a capacity crowd at France’s Roland Garros stadium, which continually broke out in renditions of La Marseillaise – the French national anthem – the Russian women’s tennis team on September 18 won the 2005 Fed Cup.  

Last year, Russia won the Fed Cup for the first time ever, in a hard-won match at home, also against France. Then, Anastasia Myskina was a standout, along with Svetlana Kuznetsova. But this year Myskina was in the shadows, having lost both her singles matches. So leadership fell on the shoulders of Yelena Dementieva, who (perhaps because she speaks French?) was applauded by French fans almost as loudly as their own idols. 

Dementieva beat both Mary Pierce and Amelie Mauresmo. “I had nothing to lose,” said Dementieva. “I was tired in that third set, but getting up 3-0 gave me the confidence that I could win the match. I think it was one of the best matches I’ve played this year.” 

The match could have been decided in Myskina’s singles battle against Pierce, had Myskina won, but Pierce forged an inspired comeback, setting the stage for a doubles showdown that was a virtual repeat of last year. 

The last-minute pairing of Dementieva with Dinara Safina downed Mauresmo and Pierce 6:4 1:6, 6:3 in fading light after nearly two hours of play. Dementieva was nonetheless humble: “I am not the heroine. The team won, not any individual,” she said. “Although Anastasia lost today, if she hadn’t beaten Venus Williams in the semifinal, we may not have been here. It’s my third Fed Cup Final, but the first time that I have won, so I am really happy.” 

Spiked by Italy

Even though it reached the finals without dropping a match, Russia lost to Italy in the finals at the Men’s European Volleyball Championship in September, losing two matches to three. “We are disappointed, but we must accept the result as it is,” commented Zoran Gajic, the new Serb head coach of the Russian team. “After all, it’s only a game.” The loss was all the more disappointing to the team, given that Russia had beaten Italy 3:1 in the qualifying A-group match. In the finals, Russia’s best scorer was Semen Poltavsky, who had 30 points, while Alessandro Fei booked 15. 

Isinbayeva repeats

World and Olympic champions Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) and Yelena Isinbayeva (Russia) were named the men’s and women’s 2005 Athletes of the Year at the spectacular 2005 World Athletics Gala at Monte Carlo’s Fairmont Hotel. Both Bekele and Isinbayeva, who both won the titles in 2004, have had exemplary years, with triumphs stretching from the indoor season to August’s World Championships in Helsinki. In Helsinki, both 23-year-olds took gold medals in their respective events, the men’s 10,000m and women’s pole vault. Besides her well-deserved world title, Isinbayeva’s female Athlete of the Year award is also due to her extraordinary feat of setting four world indoor pole vault records in the winter and five outdoor world records this summer.

Run Across Russia

You think a marathon is long? How about a run from Vladivostok to St. Petersburg – 11,000 kilometers? The Great Russian Race, effected between May 28 and September 8 by British and Russian runners and sponsored by Old Spice, spanned the entire breadth of the world’s largest country. 

The route was divided into 15 relay sectors of 700-750 km each, with each sector covered by four teams of six, over six days. Teams ran together and each runner had to run 20k each day (roughly a half-marathon) for six days straight.

As race organizers noted, with typical British understatement: “On most sectors of the Race conditions will be tough: coping with unfamiliar and difficult circumstances is part of the challenge presented by the Race.”

The race was organized to raise money for underprivileged children in Russia and to give charity events such as this a good name in Russia, where  charity is too often associated with skimming operations. For more on the event and to read delightful participant accounts, visit the event website: theworldrace.com

 

Mr. Russian Universe

In October, Sergei Ogorodnikov became the first Russian ever to win the top title in international bodybuilding: Mr. Universe.  A native of Ufa, Ogorodnikov has been on the bodybuilding tour for several years. In fact, from 2001-2003, he placed second overall in the mens’ professional category, and in 2000 won first place in the men’s amateur category.

There are several Russians – both men and women – in the top ranks of this sport, including up-and-comer Alexander Fedorov, known to some as “the Russian Bear,” who recently took second place in the Russian Grand Prix competition.