Notebook

The Last Bazaar

City shuts down key market;

Workers suffer

In July, the Moscow government suddenly closed Cherkizovsky market, a sprawling bazaar in eastern Moscow. The move was presented as a crackdown on contraband goods and unsanitary working conditions, yet it has unexpectedly resulted in unemployment for tens of thousands of migrant workers, many of them in Russia illegally

Many of the out of work traders protested when their goods were locked inside the shuttered market. A hundred Vietnamese workers attempted to block one of Moscow’s large radial routes, Schyolkovsky shosse, while about a hundred others marched to the public reception office of the President, delivering a long petition.

Cherkizovsky was the largest market in Eastern Europe, and for years functioned as a miniature city, providing work for 45 thousand mi-grants. Chinese newspapers reported that 80 thousand Chinese were somehow dependent on business transacted at Cherkizovsky. Some 200 thousand buyers regularly came to Cherkizovsky from all across Russia to stock their shops. An estimated $12 billion in contraband goods flowed through the market every year, 70 percent of them from China, the Moscow Times reported. Vedomosti newspaper wrote that the real reason for the closure is to cut the supply lines for cheap Chinese products, as a way to aid Russian producers and cut contraband, which comprises half the market in light industry, while contributing no customs fees or taxes to government coffers.

 

Tretyakov Turnover

Venerated Moscow museum

gets new director

Irina Lebedeva, a specialist in avant-garde art, has been appointed the new director of the Tretyakov Gallery. Her predecessor, Valentin Rodionov, was dismissed by Minister of Culture Alexander Avdeyev for having attained the “pension age” of 72. 

Lebedeva’s plans for one of Russia’s most notable museums have not been made public. She did, however, say she hopes to make the museum more financially independent by publishing art books and selling more souvenirs, as well as organizing special exhibitions based on the Tretyakov’s works, most of which are in storage. Lebedeva is the third female to lead a prominent Russian museum. The Kremlin museum complex is overseen by Yelena Gagarina, while Irina Anton-ova heads the Pushkin Gallery. Lebe-deva has worked at the Tretyakov since 1985. In recent years, the Tretyakov Gallery has been accused by some in the art community of being excessively traditionalist and unable to put on significant exhibitions. 

 

Activist Slain

Chechnya human rights activist

gunned down

In July, the prominent human rights worker Natalia Estemirova was murdered for her investigative work in the Chechen Republic. Estemirova worked for the Grozny branch of Memorial and for years has been one of the world’s few windows onto human rights abuses in what has been proclaimed a “secure, peaceful republic.” 

Estemirova had been threatened and verbally abused by Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov in the weeks leading up to her death, said Memorial head Oleg Orlov. “Unfor-tunately, we did not have time to evacuate our employees,” Orlov said. Whether they were obeying a direct order or just aiming to please, Orlov stated publicly, the murder was carried out by Kadyrov’s men.

Kadyrov was, along with Presi-dent Dmitry Medvedev, quick to publically mourn Estemirova’s passing. Kadyrov said he would lead the investigative efforts to find the killers, then phoned Orlov to express his displeasure at the latter’s public accusations of murder. “You have to think of my rights before telling the world that I caused her death,” he said, according to a press-release on the Chechen government website. Kadyrov is reportedly planning to sue Memorial.

This killing, the latest in a string of journalist and human rights activist murders, came barely a week after Barack Obama visited with Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The human rights community has accused Russian leaders of turning a blind eye to atrocities in Kadyrov’s kingdom, in exchange for his loyalty to Moscow.

 

Volga Troubles

Nation’s top carmaker

must restructure or die

Russia’s largest auto maker, AvtoVAZ, has been stamping out Ladas in Tolyatti since the 1960s. But now the company is on the brink of bankruptcy. Over 100,000 factory workers face layoffs, to say nothing of the million or so workers whose companies make parts and provide services for the auto giant. 

Even though AvtoVAZ received some R25 billion in aid from the government, it is still carrying a $53 billion debt, and sales are flagging. The company predicts it will sell about 332,000 cars in 2009, less than in the company’s worst year ever, 1994, when it sold 529,000.

While management is blaming their woes on the international financial crisis, critics say poor management drove the company on the Volga to the brink. Over the last decade, prices for AvtoVAZ cars have increased, while their heavily-polluting, boxy designs have altered little. Ladas, which once ruled Russia’s roads, steadily lost customers to cheaper imports. 

The plant is owned jointly by Russian Technologies, Renault, and Troika Dialog. Administrative fees have skyrocketed and the number of vice presidents has jumped from three to 27 during the course of the triumvirate’s ownership. Reported-ly, the company’s managers in Moscow started driving around in Toyota Land Cruisers instead of factory-produced Ladas.

After publishing AvtoVAZ’s 2008 corporate financials, managers said that AvtoVAZ, once a leader of Russian industry, will not likely survive without further state help. 

 

Ballet Battle

Mariinsky gets Putin ultimatum;

Second stage to open in 2010

A six-year struggle to provide the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg with new space (dubbed Mariinka-2 by the media) may be over. The Mariinsky has announced that the new building will be constructed in 2010 by the Canadian architectural firm Diamond and Schmitt Archi-tects and the St. Petersburg de-velo-per KB ViPS. 

The Diamond and Schmitt plan was one of five shortlisted, and was selected by a jury that had placed a high premium on rapid realization and guarantees, fontanka.ru reported. The design has had many critics, who say that the tender was just a show, that the results were decided long ago, and that the proposed building will be out of place amid the historic buildings of Russia’s second capital. 

Efforts to build a second stage for Mariinsky began in 2003, when architect Dominique Perrault won a tender. In 2007, his contract was terminated citing hundreds of technical mistakes. Costs had snowballed and the building’s original design had been changed beyond recognition. Earlier this year, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ordered a new tender and said the new stage must be completed in 2010.

 

Speaker by Day…

Internet comic spoofs

Duma leader

Boris Gryzlov, the leader of the United Russia party, is being spoofed as a comic hero in a mysterious internet cartoon strip Gryzlov Man (gryzlovman.com). In a brilliant graphic take on Russia’s political life (two episodes have so far been published), Gryzlov saves the day when a Moscow gas line ex-plodes and when a policeman goes on a supermarket rampage, both real events which were, according to the strip, orchestrated by the Black Oligarch, a figure clearly inspired by Boris Berezovsky. 

The strip’s author is indicated merely as “unknown team,” the domain is registered in Toronto by contactprivacy.com, and hosted by a popular U.S. service, Tucows. 

Guesswork in the blogosphere has tied the project to Maxim Kononenko, the journalist behind the website Vladimir Vladi-mir--ovich (vladimir.vladimirovich.ru), an on-going collection of mock anecdotes from Putin’s life which is loosely based on real events. Authorship for the art was claimed on livejournal.ru by a 19-year-old blogger nicknamed zashtopic, who said a client approached her with the project, but declined to say who the client is. 

 

Five Shorts go to Venice

A compilation of shorts by Russian directors, called Korotkoye Zamykaniye (“Short Circuit”), will be competing at the Venice Film Festival. Five stories about love were filmed by Pyotr Buslov, Ivan Vyrypayev, Alexei German Jr., Kirill Serebryannikov, and Boris Khlebnikov, all acclaimed young directors. Vyrypayev is best known for his contemporary theatrical projects. 

 

Composing Thrills

Russian-born composer Boris Elkis wrote the 70-minute score to A Perfect Getaway, directed by David Twohy and starring Milla Jovovich, Steve Zahn, Timothy Olyphant. The film was released in the U.S. on August 7.  

 

More than a Kopek

Global retailer Walmart is not giving up on Russia. The giant made a preliminary offer to purchase the Kopeyka chain, Kommersant reported, without providing figures. Kopeyka operates 528 stores in Russia, and was also considering merging with other Russian chains. Kopeyka could cost the American corporation up to $630 million, experts estimated.

 

Tyrsa in the House

Following the success of the TV show House MD in Russia (spreading via the internet after the show was cancelled from broadcast TV), a production studio has started filming a knock-off series about a “Russian Dr. House,” called Dr. Tyrsa, a sports physician who encounters unusual cases. The show is set to start in 2010. The main character is played by Mikhail Porechenkov, an actor known for starring in expensive but forgettable movies, as well as several TV shows about the security services.

 

Russia in Cultured Circles

Russia’s former deputy foreign minister, Alexander Yakovenko, has emerged as a favored candidate for the post of UNESCO director. Russia has offered to pay an extra $12 million to UNESCO’s budget if Yakovenko gets the job, Kommersant reported. Russia currently contributes about $8 million to UNESCO every two years. The election will take place in September. There are nine candidates for the post, including Benita Ferrero-Waldner, European foreign policy commissioner, and Farook Hosni, Egyptian minister of culture. Extra “contributions” are not unheard of in international diplomatic practice, and other countries are likely to make similar offers, said Russia’s former UNESCO envoy, Mikhail Fedotov.

Geek Fest

Russia’s system administrators (those people responsible for keeping company computers, servers and websites running) flocked to Kaluga region for the fourth annual “Sysadmin” festival. Among the events
put on for the four thousand participants
were mouse-throwing, spam battling, speed-assembly of keyboards, and a contest for
the most attractive stuffed figure of a computer lamer.* 

 

Closing Economy

Russia ranked 109 out of 121 in the World Economic Forum’s Global Enabling Trade Report rating the openness of national economies. Russia was rated especially poorly on border administration, where it ranked 113, and on its business regulatory environment, where it was 109th. Its quality of conditions for doing business were ranked 96. Hong Kong, Singapore, and Sweden were seen to have the most open economies. Last year Russia was 103 out of 118.

 

Their Eyes Only

Police officials now have the right to open personal letters and packages, according to a Communications Ministry decree. Post offices will have special rooms set up for police and other law enforcement and drug control departments to inspect correspondence. Human rights groups have decried the measure, saying it violates the privacy of correspondence guarantee in the Russian Constitution, which can only be breached by a court order.

 

$ for Democracy

The US State Department plans to spend at least $29 million to advance democracy and human rights in Russia, said Assistant Secretary Philip Gordon in a statement before the House Armed Services Committee. “Progress requires a sustained commitment to supporting democratic actors,” he said, without elaborating which actors will be receiving American money.

 

 

“As concerns standing with one foot in the past and the other in the future, we have a common expression which is less than literary: We can’t stand up if our legs are splayed apart.”

Vladimir Putin, commenting on Barack Obama’s interpretation
of his leadership style. (RIA Novosti)

 

“We have agreed to that every month we will discuss draft legislation with representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church.”

United Russia deputy secretary Andrei Isayev,
on the party’s tight cooperation with the ROC. (Interfax)

 

“Kudrin is behaving like a typical, unyielding accountant: not giving out money but holding onto it. But accountants should not define economic policy. If we continue this policy, we will become non-competitive.”

Head of the Audit Chamber (and former prime minister) Sergei Stepashin,
on the money supply as dictated by Prime Minister Alexei Kudrin.
Interest rates have reached 22 percent. (New Region agency)

“The oligarchs have accumulated $500 billion in debt… and cannot pay it back. We need to make someone feel a little pain.”

Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, advising the government to take assets from the oligarchs and redistribute them to more effective owners. (Interfax)

 

“Abkhazia will never again be a part of Georgia… this has been ruled out.”

Abkhaz president Sergei Bagapsh, right, in an interview with Ekho Moskvy radio.

 

“The Bolshoi’s management is bureaucratic, everything is controlled by bureaucrats. And, in the end, this led to a situation where the bureaucrats also want to decide artistic questions.”

Bolshoi Theater Artistic Director and Chief Conductor Alexander Vedernikov,
on why he has decided to leave the theater after eight years. (Interfax)

 

“The realities of our life are such that often one needs to turn to the president in Moscow to resolve the issue of constructing a highway underpass.”

President Dmitry Medvedev, ruminating on the power vertical after a Primorye region
resident complained that she could not safely cross the street. (Kommersant)

 

“Perhaps you were all surprised to see that two lovely women are sitting here. I am speaking of Svetlana Khorkina and Marina Zademidkova. You have fit in organically, maybe I should appoint you to be governors?”

President Dmitry Medvedev, speaking to former gymnast Khorkina and Nashi activist Zademidkova at a youth policy meeting. Khorkina is now a Duma deputy
with the United Russia party. (RIA-Novosti)

 

“In general, women live longer. And thank God. Because, thank God, we don’t bury you,
but you bury us.”

Mikhail Barshchevsky, left, state representative to the Supreme Court. (Itogi)

 

russians who

consider drug use a “big” or “very big” problem: 97%

have relatives or friends who use or have used non-medicinal drugs: 18%

     … do not : 79%

 

have tried drugs: 5%

 

    … have not: 92%

 

think overcoming a drug addiction can be done without outside help: 17%

    … think it’s unlikely: 73%

 

 

are very proud of Russia’s

   history: 58.6%

   culture: 54.0%

   scientific achievements: 52.5%

   armed forces: 26.9%

   global influence: 16.3%

   democracy: 5.9%

 

 

feel Vladimir Putin’s greatest achieve­ment over the past decade has been

   increase in economic well-being, salaries and pensions: 22%

   economic development of Russia: 17%

   increase in optimism and hope: 9%

   a stable political situation: 8%

  no achievements: 8%

 

consider his least successful actions to be

   fighting corruption and bribery: 35%

   limiting power of the oligarchs: 23%

   fighting crime: 19%

 

 

 

think that the levels of thievery and corruption are higher under Putin than under Yeltsin: 27%

      …are lower: 19%

     …are about the same: 45%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

have started second jobs during the economic crisis: 11%

   …of whom work more than 20 hours on their second job: 21%

are not looking for additional work: 34%

 

consider the greatest threat to the environment to be

   garbage: 51%

   cutting down forests: 37%

   transportation: 37%

   industry: 35%

   radioactive waste: 28%

   nuclear power plants: 19%

   oil and gas extraction: 10%

 

expect to see environmental pollution in their town in the next 2-3 years: 35%

do not: 43%

 

The Russian federal budget will be about R6.5 trillion in 2010. This is 5.5% higher than expected budget revenue for 2009, and represents an increase less than the rate of inflation. GDP is expected to fall by 6.5% in 2009.

 

The Moscow government has reduced the number of migrant workers it will allow in 2010 from 392 thousand to 250 thousand. This is less than a fifth of the total 1.38 million permits requested by Moscow businesses. In 2008, the Ministry of Health gave out 3.4 million guest worker permits for all of Russia, and all were given out by summer.

 

Russia’s population will decrease to 116 million and its share of the population in the CIS will drop from 51% in 2010 to 45% in 2050. In 2010, less than 30% of the population in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine will be under 25, versus 60% for Tajikistan.

 

In the first six months of this year, car imports dropped 71%, but a higher proportion of imported cars were new: up to 97% from 80% previously. Top import brands preferred by Russians were Nissan, Chevrolet, and Toyota.

 

Russian oil reserves were estimated at 83 billion barrels on January 1, 2009. Thus, according to one accounting, Russia today has 78.5 billion barrels in its reserves (and falling), enough to last for about 22 years. (see link in sources for a countdown ticker)

 

Consumer spending declined from 71.7% to 62.1% of earnings in June, year on year, while savings doubled to 17.9%. On average, Russians have been spending 72.1% of their earnings over the past 10 years. Discretionary spending on eating out and on non-food items have been hardest hit. Restaurants sales declined 11% in the second quarter and consumer goods fell 9.2%. The last time these figures declined was 10 years ago.

 

Writer Vasily Aksyonov, one of Russia’s literary expats of the 1970s and 80s, died on July 6 in Moscow. He was 76. The author of some 20 novels, Aksyonov was born in Kazan to parents who were prominent communists. They were arrested and sent to labor camps in 1937, when he was just five. Aksyonov (himself arrested as a child of “enemies of the people”) grew up in orphanages before joining his mother, Yevgenia Ginzburg, who went on to become an important author of labor camp literature, in Magadan. Aksyonov was trained as a doctor, but only worked in the profession for four years before turning to literature. He latched onto the emerging youth culture after Stalin’s death and became famous as a “youth novelist.” Yet he soon ran into trouble with the KGB, and after his third novel, Burn, was published in Italy in 1980, he and his wife emigrated to the U.S. and their Soviet citizchistienship was stripped. For many years Aksyonov taught Russian literature at U.S. universities. He was part of a group of Soviet writers on the East Coast, along with Sergei Dovlatov, Boris Yefimov, Yevgeny Rein, and others. He publicly supported Yeltsin in 1993 and participated in public life in Russia. His masterful 1994 novel, Generations of Winter, was turned into a successful TV miniseries in 2004. Also in 2004, he moved to France, subsequently dividing his time between Biarritz and Moscow. He received the Russian Booker prize in 2004.

 

Lyudmila Zykina, one of Russia’s most iconic singers, died on July 1 at the age of 80. A performer of folk songs and romances, she was the favorite of factory workers, the party elite (reputedly, she was Leonid Brezhnev’s favorite singer), and composers alike (Shostakovich called her “not just a brilliant interpreter, but a coauthor”). Born into a working family, she labored in a series of grueling jobs during World War II before being selected from among thousands to sing in the Pyatnitsky Choir. She later became a soloist and sold some six million albums. She received the Lenin Prize, the Order of Lenin, and the appellation People’s Artist of the USSR. An asteroid has also been named for her. She was buried in Novodevichy Cemetery.

Russians Fault   

Against all odds, Israel beat Russia 4-1 in the Davis Cup quarterfinals of men’s tennis, held July in Tel-Aviv. While stronger on paper, Russia proved weaker on the court. Israel took a surprise 2-–0 lead in the opening singles after 210th-ranked Harel Levy ridiculed Igor Andreev 6–4, 6–2, 4–6, 6–2 and top Israeli player Dudi Sela defeated Mikhail Youzhny. 

To add insult to injury, the Israeli team finished Russia off when Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich beat Igor Kunitsyn and Marat Safin in a thrilling five-setter (6–3, 6–4, 6–7, 4–6, 6–4). “Everybody has dreams, but there are some you don’t allow yourself to have, and beating Russia 3–0 was just like that... but we have done it,” Reuters quoted Erlich as saying after the match. Prior to the tie, a self-assured Safin quipped that Israel had gotten lucky in reaching the quarterfinals. After the defeat, the Russian team slipped from Number 1 in Davis Cup rankings to 3rd place. Israel will play Spain in September for a spot in the final against the winner of Croatia and the Czech Republic.

Synchro Ishchenko

Russia’s gracious synchronous swimmer Natalia Ishchenko shone at the 10th FINA World Champion-ships in Rome (Italy), held July 17-August 2. Teaming up with Svetlana Romashina, she walked away with gold in the duet free finale. The Russian tandem tallied 98.833 points out of a possible 100 for the win, with 49.5 points from technical merit and 49.333 points from artistic impression. Earlier, Ishchenko proved she is the best on the planet at her sport, gleaning two individual golds: one in the solo free finale and the other in solo technical synchronized swimming. This was followed by yet another gold, in the group free program. Thus did Russia’s synchronous swimmers win six out of seven golds on offer, a new record at worlds.

Rugby exploit

In July, Russia’s rugby squad staged a remarkable second half comeback to beat France 26–19 in the final, to win the European Sevens Championship at the AWD-Arena in Hanover. 

Russia trailed France 19–0 at halftime, but, playing with heart and enthusiasm, the young team came from behind and scored the winning try seconds before the final whistle. “We gave all we had in the second period to have no regrets,” said Russian captain Alexander Yanyushkin. “We did not want to let the score go and finally we won this competition. I am really proud of this team.” 

The win is especially welcome since Russia is bidding for the right to host the Sevens World Cup in 2013, in Moscow. Rugby sevens is a variant of rugby in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches. The game originated in Melrose, Scotland, and the Melrose Sevens is still played annually. There have been proposals for sevens to be included in the Olympic Games (it has been in the Commonwealth Games since 1998). The IOC is due to take a decision on the issue this coming fall. 

Soccer Drain 

The star-studded English soccer club Chelsea (owned by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich) has signed Russian player Yuri Zhirkov from Moscow’s Red Army Club (CSKA), in a deal reportedly worth £18 million. The 25-year-old left back, who has played 28 times for Russia, distinguished himself during Euro 2008 when the national team reached the semifinals. Zhirkov, who can also play in midfield, signed a three-year deal with Chelsea. 

During his time with CSKA Moscow, Zhirkov helped the Russian club win the UEFA Cup, scoring the second goal in the 3-1 win over the Portuguese club, Sporting Lisbon. The transfer is a big loss for CSKA, but very profitable financially. Two other Russian soccer stars have joined English clubs: Spartak (Moscow) striker Roman Pavlyuchenko, 26, who has been capped 22 times by Russia and scored nine goals, joined Totten-ham, while Andrei Arshavin from Zenith (St. Petersburg) joined Arsenal.