The Moscow Times

Market Matters: As Conflict Ends, Markets on Road to Recovery
After tumbling to its lowest point in almost two years on Tuesday, Russia's MICEX Index began to slowly claw its way back over the rest of the week, suggesting a possible end to the volatility that has plagued the country's markets since tensions erupted between Russia and Georgia on Aug. 8.

News

Good News for Small London Crowd
By Anna Smolchenko / Staff Writer Speaker after speaker tried to outdo one another in praising Russia on Monday as an annual economic forum in London sought to get back on its feet following last year's no-show by Russian government officials and many business leaders.

U.S. Race Advisers Sound Off on Russia
By Matt Siegel / Staff Writer Senator John McCain has called President Vladimir Putin’s Russia revanchist and suggested that it be expelled from the G8.

Moscow's Disabled Stuck in a Separate World
By Svetlana Osadchuk / Staff Writer Every morning, Vadim Voyevodin performed the same ritual: Bending over almost parallel to the ground, he lifted the baby onto his back, slung a towel around his son and knotted the edges around his chest.

U.S. Pastor Given 3 Years for Smuggling
By Natalya Krainova / Staff Writer A Moscow court Monday convicted a U.S. pastor of smuggling a box of ammunition into the country and sentenced him to more than three years in prison.

South Korean Describes Scary Return
By David Nowak / Staff Writer South Korea's first astronaut said Monday she was ""really scared"" when the Russian space capsule she was in made an unexpectedly steep descent to Earth over the weekend.

Hamas Tells Carter It's Open to Living in Peace With Israel
The Associated Press Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said Monday that Hamas -- the Islamic militant group known for its suicide bombings and rocket attacks on Israel -- is prepared to accept the Jewish state's right to ""live as a neighbor next door in peace.""

Bank of England Lends Out $100Bln
Reuters The Bank of England moved to ease the effects of a credit crunch on Britain's banking system on Monday by offering to swap secure government bonds for riskier mortgage debt.

Death Toll Rises to 85 in Somalia
Reuters The death-toll from battles between Islamist-led insurgents and allied Ethiopian-Somali troops rose to 85 on Monday, leaving corpses on the streets and deepening the Horn of Africa nation's humanitarian crisis.

Bishop Deposes Paraguayan Dynasty
The Associated Press The world's longest-ruling political party is about to lose its six-decade grasp on power in Paraguay after a former Roman Catholic bishop won the country's presidential election.

UN Pushes Disclosure in Iran
Reuters The UN atomic watchdog's top investigator on Monday began talks with Iranian officials, pressing them to explain Western intelligence that suggests Iran had covertly studied how to design nuclear bombs.

Georgia Says Russian Jet Downed Drone
Reuters Georgia on Monday accused a Russian air force jet of violating its airspace and shooting down an unmanned reconnaissance plane, but Moscow called the allegation nonsense.

Soviet Union Survives Online
By Mansur Mirovalev / The Associated Press The Soviet Union may be in the dustbin of history, but there's one place the socialist utopia lives on: cyberspace.

Putin Wins the Other Nobel Prize
By James Kilner / Reuters President Vladimir Putin has won a Nobel prize.

Tabloid Web Site Back Up After Scandal
The Moscow Times The web site of a Russian tabloid reappeared Monday, three days after suspending operations following the publication of a story claiming that President Vladimir Putin had left his wife to marry a 24-year-old former Olympic gymnast.

Soviet-Era Plutonium Reactor Shut Down
Combined Reports Russia said Monday that it had closed a weapons-grade plutonium reactor as part of a deal with the United States to reduce the risk of proliferation from Cold War-era nuclear bomb plants.

Business

Peter Hambro Will Pay First Dividend
By Eric Onstad / Reuters Peter Hambro Mining, Russia’s second-largest gold miner, surprised shareholders Monday by announcing its first dividend as it posted a 20 percent increase in 2007 profit on higher output and prices.

NLMK's 2007 Profit Increases by 9%
By Robin Paxton / Reuters Novolipetsk Steel on Monday posted an expected 9 percent increase in net profit that ranked it the country’s most profitable steelmaker in 2007, as high prices and cost cutting outweighed a small drop in output.

Pankin Says Funds to Go Abroad
Reuters Russia should keep investing its oil and gas revenues abroad rather than trying to use them to prop up domestic growth, Deputy Finance Minister Dmitry Pankin said Monday.

Barclays Exec Wants to Build On Acquisition of Expobank
Combined Reports Barclays wants to build on the recent acquisition of Russian retail and commercial bank Expobank, the chairman of the British bank’s investment banking arm said Monday.

RusAl Says Last Striking Mine Reopened
Bloomberg United Company RusAl said Monday that it had resumed work at the last of the five pits at its bauxite mining operations in the Sverdlovsk region that were affected by a strike.

Top Investigator in Storchak Case Fired
Reuters The investigator who was leading the high-profile embezzlement case against Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak was fired Monday.

Russia to Propose Gas OPEC Charter
The Moscow Times Russian proposals to create a “gas OPEC” will come under scrutiny at a meeting of officials from gas-producing countries in Tehran next week, Kommersant reported Monday.

Opinion

Avoiding Military Reforms
The word ""military reform"" sends terrible chills down the spines of military officers because it could mean that their alternative sources of income in the shadow economy will dry up or, even worse, that they will lose their jobs outright.

Between the Lines

A Perilous Tale of 2 Lions and Lots of Jackals
The Times of London ran an article last week quoting computer programmer Sergei Shpilkin as saying more than one-third of the votes cast for Dmitry Medvedev during the presidential election may have been falsified.

Business in Brief
Pichugin in Nevzlin Case5 Bids for TGK-11Inflation at 2 1/2-Year PeakRussian Helicopters IPOCoca-Cola Passes on BaikalFord to Add 1,500 JobsFor the Record

Cold but Profitable
Imagine a huge and diverse country bordering the European Union yet spanning 11 time zones -- one with a developing and dynamic market, an annual growth rate of about 7 percent over the last eight years and a growing and increasingly affluent middle class.

High Time to Weaken Gazprom's Grip on EU
If the European Union needed a new warning of Russia's efforts to strengthen its grip on the continent's gas supplies, it has come in the shape of President Vladimir Putin's trip to Libya.

Getting Ready for Easter
By Svetlana Osadchuk / Staff Writer Russian Easter traditions are a mixture of religious and folk beliefs.

How to... Dye Red Easter Eggs
In a stainless saucepan, place the skins of 15 onions and 2 tablespoons of white vinegar in 4 1/2 cups of water and bring to a boil.

Chef's Secrets: Nicoise Salad With Fresh Tuna
A recipe from Yankel Schein, concept chef at Filimonova & Yankel fish house.

Cozy Comforts at Mari's
By Nathan Toohey / Staff Writer Mari Vanna has arrived in Moscow. The Ginza Project team, the restaurateurs behind a diverse range of restaurants including Prado Cafe, Sorry Babushka and the Yaposha sushi-bar chain, have brought their Mari Vanna cafe concept down from St. Petersburg.

A Disturbing Story of Leaks and Fantasies
We may never know what exactly prompted the relatively unknown daily tabloid Moskovsky Korrespondent to publish a salacious article claiming that President Vladimir Putin had left his wife and planned to marry Alina Kabayeva, a 24-year-old former Olympic champion in rhythmic gymnastics.

News in Brief
Soldiers Claim Cop AttackNew Metro Stations to OpenDrunk Men Plane in MidairAstrakhan House Stolen

Marketing Florida Condos to Moscow's Elite
By Anatoly Medetsky / Staff Writer At Bon, a hedonistic-themed Moscow restaurant created by legendary designer Phillipe Starck, an audience of well-heeled Russians dined in semi-darkness amid fairy lights and ornamental hammer and sickles, crowns and hearts.

Survey Finds London Homes Priciest
By Simon Packard / Bloomberg London is the world's most expensive place in which to buy a home, followed by Monaco and St. Jean Cap Ferrat in southern France, an annual global survey by real estate consultant Knight Frank showed.

Legal Setback in Fight Against Okhta Center
By Galina Stolyarova / Staff Writer The campaign by opposition party Yabloko against the construction of the Okhta Center -- formerly known as the Gazprom Tower -- suffered another setback Wednesday when the St. Petersburg City Court threw out a suit claiming that its funding scheme is illegitimate.

Open Investments Profit Rises 50%
Reuters Property developer Open Investments has reported a rise of around 50 percent in net profits to $86 million in 2007 and said the value of its assets doubled to $3.5 billion.

Developer to Invest Billions in St. Pete
By Yekaterina Dranitsyna / Staff Writer Hungarian property developer TriGranit Development has announced that it will invest $2 billion to $3 billion into new premises in St. Petersburg, including the construction of a shopping and exhibition complex.

Community Bulletin Board

Community Bulletin Board
How to Submit Items Community Bulletin Board is published every Tuesday. Please submit notices of up to 40 words by noon Thursday. E-mail community@imedia.ru , call +7 (495) 234-3223 or fax +7 (495) 232-6529. All Australian and New Zealand citizens are invited to the ANZAC DAY DAWN SERVICE to be held on April 25 at 6:00 a.m. at the residence of the Australian ambassador, 3 Prechistenskaya Embankment, M: Park Kultury. The service will be followed by a breakfast. Please RSVP to tel. 232-3285, 232-3291, 956-6070 or email victoria.ivanova@dfat.gov.au . You must bring identification with you. The Cervantes Institute and the ART STUDIO of Moscow invite you to an exhibition of the work of Genoveva Fernandez, Juana Domingo, Sarah Watterson and Martina Ananostou titled ""Miradas"" at ARTPLAY. The show opened April 19 and will run for two weeks. For more information, visit www.artplay.ru . Scottish country dance classes take place on Thursdays at 8 p.m. at 13 Malaya Pigorovskaya, M. Frunzenskaya.

« to older

Features

Services

Tools

MT news

Testimonials

Sponsored links

News

Business

Opinion

Between the Lines

Community Bulletin Board

Currency Exchange

Weather

Hurdles Ahead.

Most Popular Stories.

Archive

Columnists