Notebook

Google This!

State nudges Yandex with
national search engine

The Russian government is planning to invest in a “national search engine.” The project will reportedly cost $100 million, will be launched late in 2011, and has already begun wooing developers from Yandex and Rambler, Russia’s top search engines, Vedomosti reported. 

Critics said that the attempt to create a state-owned search engine makes no sense and smacks of an effort by the state to control information available via the internet, which many believe is now the only information channel where open political discussions are possible. 

No name for the search engine has been announced. Meanwhile, Alexander Voloshin, a former head of President Boris Yeltsin’s administration, has joined the board of directors of Yandex, the search engine responsible for over 60 percent of searches on the Russian internet.

Russian Springfield

Oblomovs to riff on
Russian middle class

Russians have been invited to submit ideas for a new cartoon show about “the Oblomov family,”
[bit.ly/cTAmqV] a dysfunctional middle-class family consisting of a blue-bearded father, a blue-haired mother, two trouble-making children and a grandfather. 

The show has been dubbed “the Russian Simpsons” and is being crafted in the St. Petersburg studio of Artur Meisner. According to a description of the future series on the site where ideas can be posted [bit.ly/cTAmqV], “The Oblomovs could be called marginal, but their strangeness is attractive — unlike the overall crudeness that has become the norm in Russian society.” 

Pirates vs. Patriots

Film to focus on 

seized Russian tanker

Central Partnership, the Russian film production and distribution company, will produce a movie based on the story of the hijacking and freeing of Moscow University, the boat that suffered from a pirate attack off the coast of Somalia earlier this year. The film will be called 22 Minutes and will be a “patriotic action movie about friendship and mutual support,” to be based only partly on the real story. 

The tanker was captured in May and freed by a Russian military ship, killing one pirate in the process. Controversy surrounded the rescue when the on-site commanders decided to put the rest of the pirates in a boat and set them adrift in the open sea, because allegedly no law delineated the appropriate punishment for their offense.

Stars & Spouses

Charting Russia’s richest

celebrities and political spouses

Forbes magazine compiled a list of Russia’s wealthiest public figures in July, and Maria Sharapova topped the list with an annual income of $25 million — five times that of runner-up Alla Pugachyova. [bit.ly/b8ZhqA] Of the top ten, four were sports stars, and five were singers. Forbes also included data on the number of Yandex searches associated with each personality, showing that online popularity does not sync with financial success.

Meanwhile, Vedomosti published a list of Russia’s wealthiest women whose husbands hold government posts. Many have vast amounts of land, real estate, and stakes in companies in their names, while they themselves are virtually unknown. [bit.ly/dmqoHC] Yelena Baturina, wife of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, topped the list. She made R30.9 billion last year, while the mayor earned “just” R8 million.

Revenge Move

American investor 

exposes corrupt cops

Once the biggest portfolio investor in Russia, hedge fund Hermitage Capital is waging war against Russian policemen who allegedly used the fund’s subsidiaries to steal $230 million from the state. 

Since first making its charges public, the fund has shuttered its Russian offices and one of its lawyers, Sergei Magnitsky, died in prison due to medical negligence, while Hermitage founder William Browder has been banned from Russia and is purportedly wanted for tax evasion.

Hermitage has allegedly collected portfolios on the activities of the implicated police officers, showing that the officers started buying expensive cars and homes after carrying out the alleged fraud. The portfolios are said to include pictures and videos of the officials in fancy restaurants, and information about foreign trips. Browder is lobbying for imposition of visa sanctions for some 60 Russian officials. [russian-untouchables.com]

Nikita Sideways

Paul Giamatti (who has also played John Adams) will play Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in a new made-for-TV film based on Peter Carlson’s best selling book, K Blows Top. The film is being produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, deadline.com reported. The book (excerpted in Russian Life, Sept/Oct 2009) is about Khrushchev’s two-week-long visit to the United States in 1959. The movie will be released in 2011.

New Day of Note

Russia will now celebrate the end of World War II on September 2, according to an amendment to the list of observed historic dates signed by Dmitry Medvedev. The day will not be a holiday, however.

PayPal to Russify

PayPal, the world’s largest electronic payment system, is planning to bring its business to Russia. It will work with local partners like WebMoney and Yandex.Dengi, Vedomosti reported. Although PayPal accounts are available to Russians, such accounts are currently severely limited in functionality, making it impossible for Russian users to sell items through eBay, for example. While eBay launched a Russian website this year, it has been unable to expand due to such constraints.

Friending Kadyrov

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov became the latest in a string of government officials to launch his own blog on LiveJournal. The account ya-kadyrov.livejournal.com is being kept by Kadyrov, with no help from anyone, his spokesman told slon.ru. “He is thinking about Twitter,” the spokesman added. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s Twitter account gained enormous popularity within just a few days of his registering it.

Prof Honored

William Taubman, Amherst College professor of political science and Pulitzer laureate (for his biography of Nikita Khrushchev), received one of Russia’s top civilian honors in June, the Order of Friendship. Taubman (right), received the order from Andrey K. Yushmanov, consul general of the Russian Federation in New York.

Mascot Design Open

The design for the mascot of the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games will be chosen through a national contest launched September 1. 

Any Russian citizen is eligible, with the jury selecting the design and sending it to professional artists for finalization. Three years before the Olympics, the jury will submit the best designs to a nationwide online vote, said Dmitry Chernyshenko, head of the Sochi Organizing Committee.

Selling Modernization

The Kremlin retained the American PR agency Ketchum to create the promotional website modernrussia.com. The site publicizes President Dmitry Medvedev’s economic “modernization” campaign. The site’s target audience is foreign investors that could help the Russian government develop the economy at a time when the federal budget is increasingly tapped out. The site features news and interviews and is linked to social media.

Key Rights Advisor Resigns

Ella Panfilova, a human rights activist who headed President Medvedev’s Council for Human Rights Issues, resigned her post in July without offering any public explanation. Panfilova has repeatedly clashed with the pro-Kremlin movement Nashi, and has sided against recent legislative initiatives to toughen anti-terrorist laws that expand the powers of the security services.

mover and shaker

“I am sorry that my criticism led to a decline in market
capitalization by 20 percent. But [head of the board of Mechel] Igor Vladimirovich [Zyuzin] has done everything
and is acting correctly both with regard to their customers and the law.” 

Vladimir Putin, recalling a 2008 market moving incident where his biting
criticism of the metals company crashed the Russian stock market. (RIA Novosti)

Deal Koval-chucked

The NHL rejected Ilya Kovalchuk’s 17-year, $102 million contract with the New Jersey Devils signed July 20. The contract was alleged to contain a ruse attempting to circumvent the league’s salary cap, by adding five years at a lower salary ($550,000) at its end, when Kovalchuk, 27, would be 44 years old, a pensioner’s age for most hockey players. “Kovalchuk is no Gordy Howe,” wrote Russian sportswriter Ivan Latypov. 

Kovalchuk is the NHL’s top scorer, with 338 career goals since he joined the league.

Top Pie  

Russian boxer Dmitry Pirog seized the middleweight WBO boxing title with a victory over American Daniel Jacobs on July 31. 

Pirog (Russian for “pie”), virtually unknown in the United States and a 3:1 underdog coming into the fight, nonetheless had an undefeated 17-0 record with 14 KOs. Jacobs became his fifteenth when Pirog landed a huge overhand right in the fifth round, knocking Jacobs flat. Pirog had connected solidly with his right in the second round, sending Jacobs to the ropes, and was leading on points before the KO. 

“After the second round, I knew I was good,” Pirog said after the fight. “I hurt him in the second and I knew I could come back and do it again... Danny was a dangerous fighter and punched quickly and sharply. So I had to be cautious, but I didn’t feel much from him.” 

The performance stunned the Las Vegas crowd, which had booed Pirog at the start of the fight (rooting for the “golden boy” and local favorite), but they quickly came around to Pirog after he floored Jacobs. This is the 11th time a Russian boxer has captured a world championship title in professional boxing. Russia lost its grip on the heavyweight title when Nikolay Valuyev lost his WBA title bout last fall.

Davis Team Sinks

Russia’s men’s tennis squad fell to a number 4 ranking following a loss in the quarterfinals and Zone Group ties of the Davis Cup. 

Argentina ended Russia’s 15-year long winning streak at home when David Nalbandian won the decisive fifth rubber against Mikhail Youzhny in straight sets. Nalbandian “played beyond superlatives,” said Russian coach Shamil Tarpishchev.  Argentina’s captain, Tito Vazquez, was jubilant: “We are very happy for the team and for Argentina. We were complete underdogs coming into this tie and it was a difficult match, but somehow we managed to win the three points and are now in the semifinals.” 

The last time Russia lost at home was in 1995, to a U.S. team led by Pete Sampras. Argentina will travel to France for the semifinals in September.

Athletic Feat

Russia dominated the European Athletics Championships this summer in Barcelona, taking first place in the overall medal count (24), including 10 golds, 6 silver and 8 bronze. 

Standout golds were Yulia Zarudneva (3000m steeplechase) and Natalia Antyukh (400m hurdle race). In the 400m sprint, the winners podium was all Russian: Tatyana Firova (gold), Kseniya  Ustalova (silver) and Antonina Krivoshapka (bronze). On the final day both the Russian men’s and women’s relay teams won gold in the 4x400m relay, and Russian marathoners Natalya Yulamanova and Dmitry Safronov finished with silver and gold in the women’s and men’s races. 

“I met with them. We talked about life. We sang not to
karaoke, but to live music. We sang Where Does
the Homeland Begin?”

Vladimir Putin (left), on meeting the 10 spies who were expelled from the U.S. in July,
and welcoming them with Mark Bernes’ famous patriotic song. (RIA Novosti)

“This thing – hazing (dedovshchina) — does not exist as a system in the army, only in the tiniest manifestations… [Serving in the army] is extremely useful.”

Mayor of Moscow Yury Luzhkov, on the benefits of using even young men who are not
physically qualified to serve in the army, and of inviting young women to serve. (RIA Novosti)

“In our situation – in a 21st century police state, it is best to ‘stupidly’ go out to the same square [to protest]. That will lead us to victory. Working with ‘worker cells’ is pointless today; the revolutionary proletariat has disappeared from the face of the earth. I have been in politics for 17 years and I know the subject well. Labor unions are as afraid of opposition politicians as they are of fire, and are as weak as mosquitoes in the spring.”

Eduard Limonov (left), who has registered a new party, Other Russia,
on how to best bring about a political change. (Lenta.Ru)

“When it comes to modernization, Alexei Leonidovich, I would tear off your ears along with your head if I were president.”

Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, criticizing Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin’s
anti-crisis measures in the Duma. (RBK Daily)

“Clearly, nobody is happy with the way the war on
corruption is going – not our citizens, who believe corruption to be one of our main problems, one of our country’s greatest challenges; not the state, not government
officials; not the corrupt individuals themselves.

Dmitry Medvedev (left), admitting his war on corruption is not going well. (Forbes)

“I’ve never used the word ‘siesta.’ In fact it is an obscenity for me. I was only talking about making lunch breaks longer.”

Russia’s top health official, Gennady Onishenko, who was ridiculed
after advising the government to introduce measures helping Russians cope
with an unusually long heatwave this summer. (RIA Novosti)

“I fly in a helicopter. [You] should also buy helicopters, instead of cars – then you don’t need roads.”

Moscow region governor Boris Gromov (left) giving tips on traffic-avoidance
after road construction on a bridge near Moscow resulted in hundreds of people
missing flights at Sheremetyevo airport, due to blocked roads. (RIA Novosti)

“Shame... regret and hope that this whole affair was instigated merely to extract money from him. Maybe it will end there. It’s a story much like the story with Michael Jackson.”

Baritone Dmitry Khvorostovsky, on classical music colleague Mikhail Pletnev,
who was accused of child molestation in Thailand. (Sobesednik)