Russian Life and Media

[mendeleyev]

The Mendeleyev Journal family will be doing some FSU vacationing so reports will be sparse in the remainder of August however the President will meet with Ukrainian President Yanukovich in Sochi on 11 August and then travel to Kazakhstan where he will oversee meetings of the Collective Security Organization in Astana on 12 August.

This week President Medvedev is putting the finishing touches on agreements regarding what the Russians call “integrated” military bases in the breakaway regions of Georgia, the Republic of South Ossetia and the Republic of Republic of Abkhazia. Russia will have full military bases on both territories and integrate training of local troops alongside Russian troops. Both treaties have been submitted to the Russian Federation Duma for ratification.

It's just a reduced schedule and we will report on breaking and urgent events.

[mendeleyev]

From the Mendeleyev Journal:

Look out Russia, Ukraine is stalling on joining the new Customs union which includes Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan but is quietly on a fast track to a customs union with Georgia.

That's right, Georgia, a country not exactly in Russia's good graces at the present. This could get interesting as Moscow cannot be pleased with the cozy relationship developing between Tbilisi and Kyiv, all the while Ukraine continues to stall on Moscow's invitation to join the customs union with Russia.

Earlier this month representatives from the Revenue Service of the Georgian Ministry of Finance and from Ukrainian Customs Service met to sign working documents of their intention to work together in making it easier for business and commerce to flow between the two countries. Representatives of the Georgian-Ukrainian Business Club and the Chamber of Commerce of Georgia were on hand to witness the signing.

The first group of individuals who will benefit from the relaxed customs protocols will be Georgian and Ukrainian businessmen according to Jaba Ebanoidze who is head of the Georgian Revenue Service. Igor Kaletnik, head of Ukraine's Customs Service expressed that the free travel and exchange of information and technology would be good for both countries.


(Tbilisi photo: Gia Gvilava)

[mendeleyev]

One of the largest light shows in the world took place at the "Day of Moscow" celebration and you can see more about it here: http://russianreport.wordpress.com/2011/09/08/moscow-day-864/

[mendeleyev]

What will Russia do to improve domestic airline safety in the wake of the Yaroslavl hockey team crash? http://russianreport.wordpress.com/2011/09/12/what-will-russia-do-to-improve-domestic-airline-safety/

[BC]

Good stuff Mendy!

Thanks and keep it coming.

[mendeleyev]

Thank you, BC!

[mendeleyev]

From the Mendeleyev Journal:


(Moscow) Six long years is how long it has been since a British leader visited Moscow and Monday's long overdue visit between the two countries produced moments of candor and humour as Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and British Prime Minister David Cameron looked for a reset of Russian-British relations. Mr. Cameron was in Russia on an official visit at Mr. Medvedev’s invitation with both sides hoping to secure crucial new trade and warmer ties despite the difficulties remaining over five years after the poisoning death of a Kremlin critic in London.

Kremlin Press Conference with British PM David Cameron (left) and Russian Federation President Dmitry Medvedev (right).
(photo: Presidential Press Service)

The last visit of a British leader to Russia was during the G8 Summit in Saint Petersburg in 2006 by then-Prime Minister Tony Blair. Blair had previously visited Moscow in 2005.

During the meetings Mr. Medvedev stressed the importance of working together as both countries will soon be hosting the Olympic Games. He remarked that Russians are pleased with the the unveiling of a monument to Yuri Gagarin in London as part of the Russian-British Year of Space.

Talks between the two leaders took place in the historic Kremlin Grand Palace. (photo: Presidential Press Service)

President Medvedev and Prime Minister Cameron signed a number of documents following their talks, including a declaration on a knowledge-based partnership for modernization between the two countries and both adopted a joint statement on developing areas of cultural cooperation.

President Medvedev (left) and Prime Minister Cameron (right) shake hands after signing documents of economic cooperation at the Kremlin.
(photo: Presidential Press Service)

The 2006 poisoning death of dissident ex-Russian security agent Alexander Litvinenko in London had soured relations between Russia and the UK with Litvinenko's accusation that Russia's Vladimir Putin had authorized his killing.

Russia has repeatedly refused requests from London for the extradition of  ex-KGB agent Andrei Lugovoi, chief suspect in the case. Near the of their joint press conference Mr. Cameron was asked if the British were dropping the Litvinenko matter in order to secure investment from Russia. The Prime Minister answered by saying, "...this issue hasn’t been parked.  The fact is that the two governments don’t agree.  We don’t agree with each other about this issue and it’s an important issue to the United Kingdom.  I’m not downplaying it in any way.  William Hague spoke to Litvinenko’s widow before coming to Russia.  It remains an issue between Britain and Russia, and we haven’t changed our position about that and the Russians haven’t changed their position.  But I don’t think that means that we freeze the entire relationship.


When asked a similar question the Russian President was more blunt in his reply stating, "I think we all need to learn to respect each other’s legal traditions and foundations. If my memory serves me correctly, article 61 of the Russian Constitution states plainly that a Russian citizen cannot be extradited or handed over to a foreign country for trial or investigation. No matter what happens, we will not do this, and we all need to understand and respect this.   We have plenty of questions of our own regarding the way particular decisions are implemented in Britain, say. But we do not make a fuss about it. The point I am stressing is that we need to show respect for each other’s legal systems, and on the question of extraditing our own citizens, no matter who is involved, the answer is always going to be the same: it is not possible.

The Kremlin Grand Palace Regiment greeted UK Prime Minister David Cameron (left) on his September 12 Moscow visit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (right).
(photo: Presidential Press Service)

Mr. Cameron later met with Russian counterpart, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Monday during his visit. Mr. Putin expressed his view that trade between the nations was "developing very successfully".

[Daveman]

Good stuff Mendy!

Thanks and keep it coming.

+1


I enjoy reading all your posts here, Mendy, and especially so these from your journal.   You are a wealth of information.


Thank you very much!
Dave

[mendeleyev]

Thanks, Daveman!

[acctBill]

Mendeleyev I don't know how familiar you are with the Russian community in the UK but most Russians in the UK believe that Putin was involved in Alexander Litvinenko's death.  As for the British politicians, Litvinenko's death will continue to be a thorn in British-Russian relations for years to come.

Cameron may be all smiles with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during his visit and there may be some minor trade deals signed but it will be years before tensions ease.  I also really don't think that Medvedev or Putin worry too much what any British PM thinks of Russia.  It's a minor issue to the Russian government so why put much effort into solving it. 

[mendeleyev]

Bill, I'm sure that most folks across the pond believe the same. I think you are right in that the government is not interested in solving it too. If Medvedev is given the opportunity to continue moving Russia forward (bringing Cameron to Moscow was his idea and the invitation was only coolly received by Putin) then perhaps neighbors like you can help bring Russia into a more civil society. Medvedev is trying to plot a modest but enduring course, easing the country away from the rigid Putin era without making enemies of very powerful hard-liners. It is his only way to do so successfully.

[mendeleyev]

It dates back to 1730 as a dance troupe and has stood more than 100 years in the present location.

Follow the Mendeleyev Journal with the reopening of Moscow's "State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater of Russia." Better known as the Большой театр (Bolshoi Theatre) and after 6 long years of not so smooth renovations, the Bolshoi will reopen in 5 weeks on 28 October featuring President Dmitry Medvedev and Svetlana Medvedeva as hosts. The opening performance will be the premiere of Glinka’s opera “Ruslan and Lyudmila.”


Mendeleyev Journal photo feature of the Bolshoi reopening: http://russianreport.wordpress.com/2011/09/20/bolshoi-theatre-to-reopen-on-28-october/

[clancyhound]

 

[mendeleyev]

Clancyhound, thanks. I know that you had a wonderful time with your lady not that long ago at the Bolshoi in the temporary theatre "New Stage." It would be so cool to take her again after all the renovations are complete and see the finishing touches!

[clancyhound]

I hope to return soon to see the remodeled Bolshoi. 

Although this time - I find a new hotel, the Metropol, not so good.

[mendeleyev]

Wow, so bad after renovations? It is supposed to be one of the best.

[mendeleyev]

Ever receive one of those postcards that reads--

"Weather is here...wish you were beautiful."      


This is an early autumn photo that I took at Царицыно парк (Tsartsino Park) recently. As you can see, autumn in Moscow truly is beautiful.


Also, enjoy the tour!  http://www.tsaritsyno.net/ru/

[mendeleyev]

From today's Mendeleyev Journal:

While certainly justified, you'd think that somebody is running for president. First President Dmitry Medvedev announced that police and military salaries would be increased by an average of 30% next year. Funding would come from the general fund.


Russian "Policia" patrol on Red Square. (photo: Mendeleyev Journal)

Yesterday (Wednesday) the Cabinet approved a doubling of salaries, the funds to come from an increased tax on Gazprom's gas extraction operations, handing over to the government another 150 billion rubles in to cover the increases. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that increased gas prices justified the increase and that Gazprom (managed by the Kremlin) could produce the funding.

Nothing like doubling pay of an important and visible part of Russian society just in time for the upcoming parliamentary elections and then next year's president elections.

[mendeleyev]

There is no doubt in my mind that the direction of Russia under Putin will be very different that the past 4 years. That seems clear already with this story via the Mendeleyev Journal:

A report in the Moscow News online newspaper says that in some regions authorities are pulling election advertising for Opposition parties from media outlets for the upcoming DUMA (parliament) elections in December. Government sponsored advertising for the ruling United Russia party remains on the air, however.

The city of St. Petersburg, Kursk region and Perm region are taking the opposition off the state controlled TV airwaves as DUMA elections draw near. With only two months left to go before Russia goes to the polls to choose its State Duma the TV authorities say there is no persuading left to do.

“I am convinced that all the attempts of parties other than [ruling] United Russia to do so disrupt the comfortable mindset of young people, our main viewers,” Elena Andreyeva, general director of Perm region TV channel VETTA, told Kommersant.

Read more here.

[mendeleyev]

From the Mendeleyev Journal:

It was billed as an anti-corruption trial of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia (Julia) Tymoshenko. In truth it was a circus and a joke. In the end, despite all the feigned concern about Tymoshenko's alleged theft of gas funds, the truth is that the trial will serve two very political ends:

1- With a 7 year sentence, Ukrainian President Yanukovich is assured that the popular Tymoshenko won't be running against him for president anytime soon. That was at least half the reason for this disgusting display of a Soviet show trial.

2- Look for Yanukovich to quickly go public with the so-called illegal contract theme in his drive to negotiate a new gas deal. He may actually get his way because of timing issues but Russia's Putin is a master negotiator and never gives without taking something away. Ukraine will eventually get some relief on gas, but will pay dearly in other ways.




Just in case you wondered, Russia's Prime Minister Putin isn't happy with the verdict and while he is no Yulia Tymoshenko fan, still he is offended that the contract approved by a full vote of the Ukrainian Rada (where is their prosecution?!), and signed into law by both presidents of Ukraine and Russia, is now dishonestly being termed as illegal by Yanukovich.

So here is what will happen:
- Russian president Medvedev has already scheduled a meeting with Yanukovich for next Tuesday. (When daddy calls, baby answers the phone.) I'd advice Yanukovich to carry extra vaseline and a soft pillow. His "behind" will be sore for weeks afterward.

- At some point Putin will demand some form of justice for Ms. Tymoshenko. Traveling in China, Mr. Putin expressed anger at the verdict and reminded Ukraine that the contracts were in “full compliance” with both Russian and Ukrainian law. He has a point. Mr. Yanukovich isn't that bright but neither is he as dumb as most think, so it will be interesting to see how the verdict plays out over the long term.

[mendeleyev]

From today's Mendeleyev Journal:

President Medvedev began the month by introducing legislation to ban those convicted of or prosecuted for crimes related to extremism from working with children. The draft law was submitted to the State Duma as the Federal Law On Amendments to Article 221 of the Federal Law On State Registration of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs and Articles 331 and 3511 of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation.


The new law will prohibit adults who have been convicted of felons from working with children and young people. The ban applies to employment in education and welfare of minors, employment in recreation activities, healthcare, social protection & social services, sport, culture and arts.


During the week the President also chaired a meeting of the Council for the Financial Market Development at the VTB Bank headquarters in the Moscow City Business Centre. The meeting discussed the current state of the financial markets and way to arrest corruption and improve the country’s investment climate.

President Medvedev pictured with employees of the Krasnodar LUKOIL Kubanenergo Thermal Power Station.

As a part of the anti-corruption theme Mr. Medvedev is touring key areas of Russia and this week the President's trip to Russia's Krasnodar Territory afforded Mr. Medvedev the opportunity to meet with United Russia party members in the Southern Federal District and to take part in the launch of the renovated Krasnodar Thermal Power Station operated by LUKOIL.

While in the Krasnodar region Mr. Medvedev was the guest of honour for the finals of the President's Cup rowing regatta.

At nearby Korenovsk, Mr Medvedev visited the 393rd Sebastopol military airbase and then toured a new residential area built for the servicemen and families of the Southern Military District.

At Korenovsk, Mr Medvedev visited the 393rd Sebastopol military airbase.

Mr. Medvedev will also focus on implementing needed reforms in the housing and utilities sector and raising the efficiency of the state purchasing system as it relates to housing and utilities.


(photos: Presidential Press Service/Mendeleyev Journal)

[mendeleyev]

In the Monday early edition of the Mendeleyev Journal we explore the question of what will happen to all the old Russian Orthodox churches and monasteries?

That is an expression of real concern because some of these buildings are of great historical and architectural importance and it is a shame to see them in a state of decay.

Just southeast of Red Square, Moscow, 2011 (Photo copyright: The Mendeleyev Journal)

At first glance one might expect this scene to be from some forgotten outpost in a Russian or Ukrainian village. It may surprise you however that this scene is less than 2 minutes from the Kremlin, off the southern end of Red Square just southeast of "Saint Basil's" Cathedral.

“Architectural monuments of all eras are under threat. Nothing is sacrosanct,” says Marcus Binney, President of SAVE Europe's Heritage, who explains that “Moscow is in danger of becoming an ersatz city, which makes a mockery of Moscow's great past.”

The SAVE Europe group says that more than a thousand Moscow buildings, hundreds of them of historic and architectural importance, have been destroyed in the last five years, approximately 200 of them with monument status.


Most of us had grown up with the thought that the Communists had destroyed thousands of church buildings across the Soviet Union. It was true, they seemed bent on devastation of anything tied to the old way of life and often that made easy targets of churches and monumental buildings . If you think there are loads of ancient church buildings now in the former Soviet Union, imagine how the place must have looked prior to 1918!


Many great churches and historical buildings were converted into warehouses, offices, apartments and museums. Today some of those properties are being returned to the original owners. Old Believers, Ukrainian Catholics and Orthodox bodies are benefiting from this return. For many of these groups however the return is merely symbolic because the buildings, most in fine shape when confiscated, are in serious decay and in need of extensive renovations to be rescued.


A few of the more popular buildings receive state funding; a good example is the Kazan Cathedral on Red Square, the first church to be rebuilt after the fall of the Soviet empire. Others, like the Cathedral of the Intercession (known in the West as "Saint Basil's") on Red Square remain the property of the state as a museum. Others, like the rebuilding of Russia's main cathedral, the Church of Christ the Saviour, have been restored primarily by funding from private donations.

 

Moscow, 2011 (Photo copyright: The Mendeleyev Journal)

So take another good look because some of these treasures just may not be around in the future.

[mendeleyev]

Mid afternoon when taken, but darkness comes early in autumn; standing on Red Square with St Basil's Cathedral unseen here but at my left. This is the most famous of the 20 Kremlin towers, the Спасская башня (Spasskaya or "Savior Tower") with the 4 synchronized clocks, one on each side. Built 1491--perhaps you can see the icon of the Saviour below the clock just above the archway. The Communists took the icon down but it has been restored.

Spasskaya (Saviour) Tower, Moscow Kremlin. (photo copyright: The Mendeleyev Journal)

Click on the photo once and it will expand. Click it again and it should be really large at that point. The small left tower: Tsarskaya (Tsar's) tower built first just as a platform so Ivan the Terrible could watch executions on Red Square. Later the platform was made into the smallest of the towers in 1690. It is also the "newest" of the Kremlin towers.

That big round stone (white/gray) circular raised platform just in front of us is the Lobnoye Mesto (Place of Skulls) on which public executions were carried out in the days of the Tsars according to some historians. Others historians however say no, it was a place for public announcements and not for executions.

[mendeleyev]

Today the Mendeleyev Journal is asking whether China is shifting the focus of future investments to somewhere closer to home, like their next door neighbor, Russia?

If you wondered where the Chinese will focus much of their investments next, here is the answer: Russia. The news from last week's visit to China by Prime Minister Putin is highlighted by the announcement that China will ramp up investment in Russia, including building and operating it's own strategic assets on Russian soil.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao following bilateral talks in China.

During the Putin visit, China committed to the creation of a $1 billion joint state fund designed to inject capital into the Russian economy. Experts say that the fund would be equal to the entire sum of all Chinese investments in Russia since the breakup of the Soviet Union.

This is in addition to the Chinese financing for construction of a new gas-fired power plant in Yaroslavl last month. Chinese corporation Huadian will control 51 percent of the project and Russian energy company TGK-2 will operate the plant.

As reported earlier this year in the Moscow Times, China will provide financing and share ownership of multiple power stations in Siberia, a joint project with Russia's private EuroSibEnergo. When completed the stations will generate electricity for consumption both in Russia and China.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met on 11 October with his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao in China.

Experts point out that this is part of a master plan by President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin to expand Russia's industrial base in an effort to ease reliance on gas, oil and other natural resources as the primarily engine for economic stability and growth.

According to the Moscow Times the State Statistics Service says that current Chinese investment in Russia totals around $1.1 billion.
 

[acctBill]

Mendeleyev I can't really see Putin allowing significant investments in Russia by China in the long term.  Russia has nationalized many projects involving foreign companies over the years. 

The big difference with Chinese companies is that most large Chinese companies are state owned, for example Huadian is a state-owned power generation enterprise.  Is Putin really going to allow the Chinese government to control a significant portion of the Russian energy sector? I really don't see that happening.