Notebook

Justice for All?

Russia's current ban on capital punishment may soon become permanent. Justice Minister Pavel Krashennikov stated that Russia will abolished the death penalty in April of next year, a move the country must make to retain its membership in the Council of Europe. But the government seeks to place the move in the context of wider penal reforms. Management of Russia’s prisons is being transferred from the Interior Ministry to the Justice Ministry and measures are being sought to make penal servitude more humane, like separating juvenile and adult prisoners and substituting fines and public service for jail time. Krashennikov has also announced his intention to ask for amnesty for a huge swath of Russian prisoners -- those convicted of non-violent offenses, or about one-third of all prison inmates. Hopefully, inmates will be quarantined before their release: international medical organizations report that Russian prisons have become an incubator for a new, lethal strain of TB that is drug resistant and carried by some 10-15,000 inmates.

 

Let them Play Chess

Things are going badly in the Kalmyk town of Priyutnoye. Workers are going unpaid. Water supplies have been shut off. And there are insufficient food supplies. Meanwhile, the republic’s reformist young president, Kirsan Ilyuzhinov, is being accused of diverting funds reserved for child allowances to pay for the staging of the “33rd Chess Olympiad,” to be held in Elista, the republic’s capital.

 

Kremlin-jacking

About 20 cars belonging to President Boris Yeltsin's administration were stolen while their drivers were moonlighting as taxi drivers, ITAR-TASS reported. Thieves posing as passengers had the drivers take them to certain locations, where accomplices stole the cars (Audis) at gunpoint, according to Dmitry Ryzhikov, head of the Investigation Directorate of the Moscow Militia Department.

 

Good for?

According to a poll conducted by the Russian Interior Ministry, only half of Russian crime victims turn to the militia for assistance. Of those polled, 37% said they feel militiamen are indifferent, low-cultured people; 35% said the militia was incompetent and unprofessional; 25% said the militia was corrupt; 20% called them bureaucrats; 18% said they feel the militia resorts to force without sufficient justification and 15% said they feel the militia detains people for no reason. Finally, 21% said they would not render assistance to the militia under any circumstances. And yet, 68% of Russians polled live in fear of burglary and 50% fear falling prey to banditry, while an equal number fears serious injury or death at the hands of criminals.

 

Pushkin still tops

No surprise here: Alexander Pushkin is Russian's favorite poet. According to an opinion poll conducted by the All-Russian Center of Public Opinion Studies (VTSIOM), Pushkin, whose bicentennial will be celebrated next year, polled first with 16% naming him as their favorite poet. Sergei Yesenin came second with 13%, Mikhail Lermontov and Alexander Blok came third with 3% each, Marina Tsvetaeva and Anna Akhmatova each got 2% each. 51% of Russians could not name their favorite poet.

 

The Brothers Lebed

General Aleksandr Lebed is Governor of Krasnoyarsk Krai. His brother, Aleksei, is governor of the neighboring Republic of Khakassia, which broke off from Kranoyarsk Krai in 1992. The brothers are looking for ways to bring the two political entities closer together economically and politically. Philosophically, the brothers may already have plenty in common. Brother Aleksei seems to share Alexander's distrust of the media (see RL, Aug/Sep 1998). When Khakassia’s only opposition newspaper was shut down this summer, it was cited as more than a coincidence that this happened soon after the plant that printed the paper (circ. 3000) was transferred from federal to regional rule.

 

Moscow Rules

The influential Kommersant-Daily newspaper has reported that Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has laid the groundwork for a political coalition, to be called “Unity,” that will seek to put him in the Kremlin in 2000. According to Kommersant, Unity will stage country-wide protests this fall, then focus on the December 1999 elections to the State Duma. The coalition, which allegedly includes a range of largely centrist and conservative forces, including the Derzhava movement, the Congress of Russian Communities, the Union of Labor and Popular Power and the Russian All-National Union, will then turn its attention to supporting Luzhkov in his assumed candidacy for the Russian presidency. Luzhkov, needless to say, still has made no explicit public announcement of his intention to run in a race in which he is widely believed to be a front-runner.

 

Free at Last

In an important, but little-noticed ruling, the Russian Supreme Court upheld Russians’ right to live anywhere they please (ruled earlier this year by the Constitutional Court), bringing an effective end to local propiska systems. The ruling was announced in the case of Lipetsk resident Andrei Inozemtsev, who was refused long-term residency in Moscow by the Interior Ministry. During the appeal process, the Moscow City Court encouraged Inozemtsev (whose last name, ironically, means “one not from here”) to sidestep the issue by taking “other steps,” such as marrying a Muscovite. But Inozemtsev pressed on and won his case. The Interior Ministry has since announced that it has codified the legal change mandated by the Constitutional Court.

 

Prophets Picked

Painting of the walls and cupolas of the resurrected Christ the Savior Cathedral was to begin this fall, ITAR-TASS news agency reported. The artistic jury has approved the images of the prophets Moses and Noah, as proposed by people's artist Victor Spare (see photo). The five by two meter paintings will decorate the inside of the cupolas of the cathedral. But the recent financial crisis may throw this scheme off the rails. In early September, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov said there is no money left to pay for further work on the cathedral.

 

New Coin

The bank of Russia is to coin a R3 silver coin dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Russian museum (see story on pp. ??). The announcement was made when the ruble was worth $0.15, yet by press time the ruble had fallen to almost $0.05.

 

Tsarist Award Returns

Jewelers form Yaroslavl began working on the first four copies of the newly-endorsed Order of Andrei Pervozvanny (see photo), which will become the highest state award of Russia. Established by Peter the Great in 1698, the Order of Andrei Pervozvanny existed until 1917, after which it was replaced along with other tsarist awards by Soviet ones. A decree of the president of July 1, 1998 (coinciding with the awards' 300th anniversary), resurrected the award and placed it in status higher even than the prestigious Hero of Russia. Under the decree, the award is to be given for "exclusive merits contributing to the prosperity and glory of Russia." The award can also be given to heads of foreign states for outstanding merit toward Russia. People's Artist Yevgeny Ukhtalyov designed the award, which features a crucified St. Andrei in the center. St. Andrei (Andrew) is the patron saint of Russia and Scotland and, according to legend, was one of Christ's first apostles and the first missionary to the Dnieper and Ilmen regions, and was crucified in Greece on a crooked cross, as depicted on both the new and old Order.

 

Musical Innovator Dies

Alfred Shnitke, the world-famous Russian composer, died this August in Hamburg of a stroke. Shnitke had been bedridden in recent years after a previous stroke, but nevertheless continued working on his music until his death. Shnitke's music was performed by all the world's great musicians  and wrote music in all genres -- from chamber music to opera, ballets and symphonic concertos. Like Beethoven, he wrote 9 symphonies. His ballets were staged in Munich and Hamburg. Shnitke, considered here to be a representative of the true Russian intelligentsia, was German by origin; he was born in the town of Engels, not far from Saratov in the then Republic of Volga Germans (see Russian Life, June/July 1998). A stroke of luck allowed his family to avoid the WWII deportation of Volga Germans. Considered a musical innovator, he enjoyed his long-deserved fame in Russia much too late. In Soviet times, many famous musicians were forbidden from playing his music by apparatchiks from different cultural agencies. According to long-standing tradition, Shnitke was buried at Novodevichy monastery in Moscow, among the pantheon of other members of Russia's creative intelligentsia.

 

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SPORT BRIEFS

 

Yak-15 to Lead

Legendary Soviet hockey player Alexander Yakushev was appointed the new coach of the Russian national hockey team. The 51-year old Yakushev takes over from Vladimir Yurzinov, who led Russia to a silver medal at the Nagano Olympics. Yakushev was nicknamed Yak-15 (in reference to the famous Soviet fighter) for his speed and power on ice; he also wore the number 15. Yakushev won 7 world and 2 Olympic titles and became famous after the 1972 NHL-USSR hockey series. Yakushev becomes Russia's sixth head coach in seven years. The last time Russia won a gold in international play was in 1993, under coach Boris Mikhailov -- from CSKA -- another participant of the legendary 1972 series.

 

One Shot Short

Russia came just two points shy of winning the gold medal at the World Championship of Basketball in Greece, losing to the Yugoslavs 64-62. Given the current financial crisis faced by Russian sports in general and basketball in particular, observers called the second place in Athens a huge success. In the quarterfinals, Russia upset its former basketball ally -- Lithuania -- and in the semifinals beat the American team 66-64. Sergei Belov, coach of the Russian team (who is also a 1972 Olympic champion and a member of the World Basketball Hall of Fame), urged national sponsors and oligarchs to follow the example of UNEXIMBANK and invest in basketball (UNEXIMBANK is the new financial sponsor of the CSKA club). Russia has made it to every final of the basketball World Championship since 1974 (winning a gold in 1974 against the Yugoslavs and in 1982 against the US).

 

Farewell to a winner

Vyacheslav Fetisov, the legendary 40-year-old Russian hockey star who won numerous world and Olympic titles for the Soviet Union in the late 1970s and 1980s, played his farewell match in the annual Spartak Club finals. Fetisov led the Russian All Star Team, consisting of the best Russian NHL players, to a 3-1 victory over Russian Metallurg in the finals.

Nine years ago, Fetisov, after turning 31, went to play in the NHL. This was considered a bold move at the time. Fetisov had been playing for the Red Army Club CSKA and had quarreled with his coach, Viktor Tikhonov, about leaving. Fetisov had to get the approval of Defense Minister Dmitri Yazov (who later took part in the 1991 coup attempt) to retire from the army and leave CSKA. As a Russian pioneer in the NHL, Fetisov went through many trials and tribulations. Most recently, he was the only one of his teammates to survive a car accident unscathed.

Fetisov played first for the New Jersey Devils and then for the Detroit Red Wings, helping the latter to win two straight Stanley Cup titles. He will now go on to coach the Devils. Fetisov recently found courage to say thank you to his ex-coach Tikhonov, with whom he has been at odds since his departure from CSKA. He also promised to help CSKA out of its financial crisis and to revive the former fame of this legendary club. Fetisov's fantastic career is described in his book Overtime.

 

Rebuilding

Ukrainian-born Anatoly Byshovest has been selected as the new coach of the Russian national soccer team. He beat out Mikhail Gershkovich (the interim coach) and signed a four-year contract in July to become Russia's fourth national manager since 1994. Byshovets, who was one of the stars of the USSR team -- he scored 4 goals in the 1970 world championship, helped Russia beat the Brazilians in the finals of the 1988 Olympics. His appointment was widely supported by Russian sports fans. After Russia's failure to qualify for the final of the 1998 World Soccer championship in Paris, President Yeltsin made a public statement in which he promised state support to national soccer. Yet Byshovest is faced with a tall order: to revive the national team and qualify for the Euro-2000 soccer championship. But Byshovest has stated on several occasions that real goal was to prepare his team for the 2002 World Championships. The reborn national team, made up of young Russians and veterans playing abroad, lost its first friendly match to Sweden 1-0. The team faced Ukraine on Sept. 5 in its first European championship qualifier. Ukraine is a very strong rival and so is Russia's other rival within the qualifying group: France, gold medalist of the 1998 World Soccer championship.

 

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TRAVEL BRIEFS

 

Travel Russia

Four years from now, Russia may host up to 45.9 mn foreign visitors per year, ranking it as the world's third largest tourist center (just after France and Spain). This according to the British publishing house Euromonitor which, prior to the current financial crisis, said that Russia boasts the swiftest growth in popularity among international tourist. According to Euromonitor, the number of foreign visitors to Russia grew 217% from 1993-1998. Last year, some 21.9 mn foreign travelers visited Russia (ranking it fifth in the world), with 18% of these (i.e. 3.9 mn) "pure" tourists. Last year tourist spent $6 bn in Russia (compared to $32.9 bn in Spain and $31.3 bn in France or $27.9 in Italy. Thus, Euromonitor's prognosis indicates a further 109.9 % increase in foreign visitors. Russia has become the fastest growing major tourist market, Euromonitor observed, "notwithstanding the high criminality rate, the low level of service and accommodation and bureaucratic hurdles in getting a visa." Russia's own figures on tourism are more modest than Euromonitor's. Goskomstat tallied only 17 mn foreign visitors to Russia last year, of whom 3 mn were tourists. Experts at VAO Intourist estimate annual growth in tourism at 20%, which is still not bad. Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov prognosis is closer to that given by Euromonitor. The mayor said he believes that, by the year 2010, Moscow alone will host up to 40 mn tourists a year.

 

Still not Saved

An unknown Russian company -- Aroma Investments -- outbid the heavily-favored British hotelier Rocco Forte for a 35 % stake in St. Petersburg's famous Astoria hotel, offering just 0.25 % more than the British. The news came as a shock to city Governor Vladimir Yakovlev, who ordered a report into the winning bidder which was reportedly registered just 13 days before the bids for the tender were closed. The company stated at its founding that it had a zero balance sheet -- no assets, no liabilities. Observers note that the Russian winner might have had insider information as to the sum Rocco Forte was going to offer. For now, the hotel is in limbo.

 

Bye-bye Intourist

The Moscow city government has decided to tear down and rebuild the monstrous Intourist hotel on Tverskaya street from the ground up. City representatives noted that the 23-story building does not fit with the architecture of Tverskaya street. The hotel's construction was originally spearheaded by none other than Nikita Khrushchev who, upon seeing America's skyscrapers, decided to build something similar in Moscow. The new (five star) hotel will have no more than 12-stories.

 

Smart Metro

By January 1, 2000 the Moscow metro will no longer have controllers. Instead of the different passes and over 70 types of different documents giving city dwellers the right to a free ride, city authorities plan to introduce a contact-free smart-card with a special electronic micro-processor. A smart-card for 3 months will cost roughly $40, while an annual one will cost some $200, or roughly the equivalent of the average monthly salary in Russia. Pensioners in Moscow, who enjoyed free metro access under a decree of Mayor Luzhkov, will receive a special smart-card. A portion of the current tokens (zhetony) will be withdrawn from circulation in the near future and partly replaced with smart-cards.

 

Expensive Metro

Meanwhile, during the current financial crisis, the cost of Moscow metro rides was raised again. The 5 kopek price of the metro was an icon of the Soviet era and many Muscovites date the collapse of the economy with various price increases of the metro. According to Noviye Izvestia, here is when the increases took place:

April 1991: 15 kopeks

March 1, 1992: 50 kopeks

October 15, 1993: 30 rubles

June 23, 1994: 150 rubles

December 1, 1994: 250 rubles

December 20, 1995: 400 rubles

January 20, 1995: 600 rubles

July 21, 1995: 800 rubles

September 20, 1995: 1000 rubles

December 21, 1995: 1500 rubles

July 11, 1997: 2000 rubles (changed to 2 rubles with re-denomination, January 1, 1998)

September 1, 1998: 3 rubles

 

Moscow Hilton ...

A Moscow Hilton will be built by the year 2000 on Nikitsky boulevard. The building will be an exact replica of the house which was there at the turn of the century (with just 6 floors and a garret). Needless to say, the five-star hotel will have 312 rooms (with 55 suites). Construction costs are estimated at $50 mn, part of which will be allocated by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

 

... St. Petersburg Karelia

The Russian owners of St. Petersburg's Karelia hotel put up $10 mn from their own funds to upgrade the hotel to European standards. The developer will be the Russian-Swedish JV Yedinaya Torgovaya Sistema (Unified Trade System).

 

Welcome to Russia!

"Foreigners, pay your taxes if you crossed the Russian border!" This is the headline on the leaflet now being given to each foreigner arriving after passed through passport control point at Sheremetevo-2 airport. The leaflet says that, if a traveler stays in Russia for 183 days or more during the year, he "should submit a tax declaration to the local Tax Inspection office and pay income tax on income received both in Russia and abroad. If you stay in Russia less than 183 days per year you should only pay tax on income received in Russia."

Foreigners are also warned that they should inform the local tax inspectorate if they rent property (i.e. apartments) from someone in Russia. Those found guilty of non-compliance with Russian tax regulations, the leaflet warns, will be subject to administrative, financial and criminal responsibility (from fines, up to a three-year prison term). Foreigners are also recommended to ask for a receipt when buying goods, to encourage retailers' compliance with tax regulations. While the tax laws stated are in keeping with Russian law and most bilateral taxation agreements, there are questions whether this is the best way to greet newly arriving tourists or business people, with bold threats that are extremely hard to enforce.

 

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FACTS

There are some 30,000 homeless Russians in Moscow; the capital’s social services can provide help to just 1500.

In July, unemployment in Russia rose to 8.3 million and real income vs. one year ago was down 9%. Yet Russian Central Bank Chairman Sergei Dubinin said that inflation for all of 1998 will be just under 10%

Just 8% of Russians polled said the defeat of the 1991 coup and ensuing fall of the USSR allowed the country’s democratic forces to “put an end to communist rule.” 46% said it was just another episode in the struggle for power, while 31% called the event “tragic” and said it has had “catastrophic consequences for Russia and its people.”

Meanwhile, in a poll in early September, 66% of Russians said President Yeltsin should step down early.

A July government decree will put 100,000 state employees out of work by year's end, including some 20% of workers in both the Transport Ministry and the State Statistics Committee  The Federal Tax Service will reportedly see a 15% cut.

Russia’s grain harvest this year is expected to drop by nearly 30%, to just 65 million tons. The main reason is drought, which has parched some 40 million hectares. Add to this fuel and machinery shortages (just 40% of the country’s harvesters are said to be in working condition).

In a recent poll, 22% of Russians said they treat drunks with compassion, while 21% find drunks despicable and irritating.

In the first six months of this year, 34.2 million dcl of vodka and hard liquor were produced in Russia. During that same period, it is estimated, some 89 million decaliters of bootleg vodka was sold in Russia.

Just 18.5% of Russia’s professional soldiers said they can live on their pay alone. The rest must moonlight or rely on relatives to get by. Still, over half (55%) said they will continue to serve.

Karelia, one of the most beautiful places in Russia, has a bit of a rat problem -- the capital of the republic, Petrozavodsk, counts seven rats per city dweller.

Moscow's birth rate climbed 40% vs. 1991. As of June 1, 1998, the estimated population of  Russia was 146.6 mn, but the death rate still exceeds the birth rate by 1.6 times. 71.4 mn Russians, or 48% of the population, is considered "economically active," though 6.5 mn of these, about 9%, are currently jobless.

5500 criminal investigations are launched each year in Russia against corrupt apparatchiks. Last year, 47 employees of the state prosecutor's office and 2000 militia officers faced criminal charges. Meanwhile, data revealed at a recent conference on the history of corruption in Russia stated that small businesses in Russian spend $500 mn a month on bribes and Russia lost 50 bn rubles last year to corrupt bureaucrats.

 

Sources: Moscow's Commission on Vagrancy Prevention; ITAR-TASS; All-Russia Center for Public Opinion; Interfax; Trud; Itogi; Vremya; Izvestia; Goskomstat.

 

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QUOTES

 

"Interest in Russia is and has always been based on fear."

Russian émigré writer Dmitry Savitsky currently living in France.

 

"But I did grow up among plants and animals."

Alexander Lukashenko.

 

"If I quit before my tenure expires, you will all get in a fight and the whole country will get in a fight."

President Boris Yeltsin

 

"I will not dissolve the Duma if they behave themselves."

President Boris Yeltsin, September 1, 1998.

 

"We already had a coalition government in Russia, whose head then fled, disguised in women's clothing."

Saratov Governor Dmitry Ayatskov

 

"Leave to us our love and, down there, in the US or France, feel free to engage in sex."

Leader of Working Russia movement, Viktor Anpilov.

 

"It is strange to swap somebody who did nothing in five months for somebody who did nothing in five years," liberal deputy Vladimir Lukin said.

 

Sources: Kapital, Noviye Izvestia, Agence France Presse, Reuters