Two young girls sold into slavery for 2,000 dollars

Two 22-year-old girls from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan who have been “prepared” to become prostitutes are now released from slavery in the Russian city of Novosibirsk.

According to the police the criminals were going to sell two 22-year-old girls on July 2. And the most disturbing fact was that the human trafficking was taking place not somewhere on the outskirts of the city, but in the centre of it, not far from the Karl Marx metro station.

Russian women as seen through foreigners’ eyes

Translated by Lena Ksandinova

Pravda.ru

Russian women have always stood out of the crowd. They can put on large sunglasses and a baseball cap, hide blond hair under it, and walk around like you’re some Western tourist, but still someone will come up to you and talk to you in Russian. If you respond in English, they’ll be very surprised, as it’s often thought that Russians don’t know a foreign language. So what do foreigners think about Russians? What can they say about Russian women?

On Spanish and Italian resorts Russian speech already overshadows local dialects. In Turkey and Egypt Russians and Ukrainians have almost superseded Germans and Italians, at least, the latter prefer to rest in hotels with just their countrymen.

For many foreigners Russian women are very attractive. Foreign men often dream to have an affair with a Russian woman; some of them even later convince that the fleeting affair is one of the best memories in their life. Some people, that might have had negative experience with Russian women, on the other hand, are scared of them. Dating sites are full of ads saying that a well-off foreigner is ready to marry a woman form Russia even if she has children.

Read also: Scientists create images of typical Russian man and woman

Russian gene pool degenerates in megalopolises

Russian scientists have finished the first large-scale research of gene pool of the Russian people. The report on the results of the study is expected to be published soon. The report might bring about dramatic consequences both for Russia and the world order.

Letters between liberators: Lincoln and Aleksandr II

Two 19th century figures were separated by continents, but brought together by a common belief in liberty.

The 16th US President Abraham Lincoln and Russian Tsar Alexander II faced similar challenges and shared triumphs. From half a world away the two leaders kept in touch, expressing their passions and policies for a better future of Russia and the United States.

“It was mainly a correspondence between ministers,” says Aleksandr Petrov, a Senior fellow at the Institute of World History in Moscow. He adds that the naval ministries of both countries were trying to find a way to strengthen economic cooperation, military solutions, and to make the world a safer place.

“Aleksander II really believed in a free world…he just abolished serfdom, and two years later Lincoln made his famous speech,” says Petrov.

 

The Gettysburg address is probably now one of the most famous speeches in history:

“Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth
on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and
dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing
whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so
dedicated, can long endure.”

Monument to go up to Soviet-era rock star in St. Petersburg

 

A monument to the late perestroika-era rock star Viktor Tsoi is to be erected in the singer’s hometown of St. Petersburg, the local fontanka.ru news website said on Thursday.

A competition to find a design for the statue is to be announced tomorrow at a news conference organized by the Memory of Viktor Tsoi foundation, set up the singer’s relatives and friends. The idea to erect a statue in honor of the Kino vocalist and guitarist has the support of city authorities.

Tsoi, an ethnic Korean, died in August 1990 at the age of 27 in a car crash in the then-Soviet republic of Latvia.

Maslenitsa: Russia’s taste-fest

 

The tradition of Maslenitsa dates back to pagan times, when Russian folk would bid farewell to winter and welcome spring.

As with many ancient holidays, Maslenitsa (the stress being on the first syllable) has a dual ancestry: pagan and Christian.

On the pagan side, Maslenitsa was celebrated on the vernal equinox day. It marked the welcoming of spring, and was all about the enlivening of nature and bounty of sunny warmth.

On the Christian side, Maslenitsa was the last week before the onset of Lent (fasting which precedes Easter), giving the last chance to bask in worldly delights. Once Lent itself begins, a strictly kept fast excludes meat, fish, dairy products, and eggs. Furthermore, parties, secular music, dancing and other distractions from the spiritual life are also strictly prohibited.

In the eyes of the church Maslenitsa is not just a week of merrymaking, but a whole step-by-step procedure to prepare oneself for a long and exhausting fasting, which, if observed properly, may be a real challenge.

Pagans in town! Russia celebrates Maslenitsa

 

As the traditional week of feasting in Russia, called Maslenitsa, is drawing to a close, celebrations are culminating throughout the country.

Time-rich in customs, Maslenitsa celebrates the end of winter. Initially a pagan rite, it’s been included into Orthodox tradition as a time of preparing for the Great Lent.

On Sunday, people gathered across Russia to enjoy traditional pancakes as well as to participate in a number of activities connected with the Feast, such as fist-fighting, a type of wrestling, and pole-climbing.

 

 

 

 

“Rise Up in Arms, O Russian People!” – Alexander Nevsky reviewed

 

Sergei Eisenstein’s masterpiece of Soviet propaganda, Alexander Nevsky

Like many Americans who grew up in the twilight of the Cold War, my first memories of Sergei Eisenstein’s film Alexander Nevsky come from the Tom Clancy novel Red Storm Rising. In Tom Clancy’s vision of World War III set in the 1980s, the Soviet Union broadcasts the film to stir up the Russian people just before the Red Army tanks start rolling into West Germany.

While young Russians still learn about Prince Alexander Nevsky in school, many of them are probably familiar with this name because of Russia’s own version of Arnold Schwarzenegger, the actorand star of popular action flicks like Moscow Heat. (Excerpt from Mr. Nevsky’s Russia Today TV interview aired in January 2007, spoken in his best Ah-nuld accent: “I didn’t want to play Russian bad guys in Hollywood. I wanted to play a Russian action hero. I say let the Polish and Czech actors play Russian bad guys in Hollywood movies.”)

Today happens to be the 765th anniversary of the climactic battle on the frozen Lake Peipus depicted in the film. Two questions a modern viewer might ask are: has this example of historic propaganda from Josef Stalin’s favorite director aged well? And does it present any themes relevant to post-Soviet Russia?

 

Moscow: Valenki Boots

 

James Hill for The New York Times

In Russia, a land of cruel winters and even more unforgiving strong drink, legends of homemade hangover cures are treated with an air of great seriousness. Peter the Great is rumored to have favored a steaming bowl of cabbage soup and a walk around the palace in a pair of his favorite valenki — thick wool boots long popular in the wilds of the Russian countryside for their supposedly restorative properties.

 

These days, valenki are making a stylish comeback in Russia’s capital, with Moscow’s young and fashionable wearing them out in the city’s cafes and nightclubs. Some of the most popular are made by Olga Chernikova, an accidental designer who began making valenki as a hobby five years ago, when she returned to Russia after spending several years in Nigeria.

Now she produces a few hundred pairs of the boots a year, which she makes by hand at her apartment in downtown Moscow, and her first collection, at Russian Fashion Weekin 2007, sold out in a few days.

“At first, a lot of people think that they’re something for the village or the collective farm,” Ms. Chernikova said of the boots. “But why shouldn’t we remember that we’re Russians? The Scottish have their kilts, and we have our valenki.”

Her cramped, four-room apartment, just steps from the Belorussky train station, doubles as both a workshop and showroom, with dozens of pairs of valenki in varying stages of completion scattered around on shelves and on the floor. Ms. Chernikova has help from her uncle, who supplies the wool from his village about 280 miles from Moscow, and from her mother, who sits at the kitchen table and knits patterns on the boots.

A pair of Ms. Chernikova’s plain boots in grey felt sells for 2,000 rubles (about $70, at 29 rubles to the dollar), and more intricate designs, like a pair stitched with the 1960s-era insignia of the Soviet Navy, cost from 2,000 rubles and up.

“They’re great for when your legs are tired and dragging,” Ms. Chernikova said, as she slid her feet into a pair of cream-colored boots that came to just below the knee. Many clients, she said, have developed something of a dependency on the wool boots and their supposed healing powers. Ms. Chernikova said she couldn’t sit down to eat at the dinner table without a pair of valenki on her feet. “My body needs them, you could say,” she said.

Ms. Chernikova’s wool valenki are sold in clothing boutiques throughout Moscow, and by appointment at her apartment near the Belorussky train station; rusvalenki@list.ru.

Rubin win first Russian Premier League title

Rubin FC won their first Russian Premier League title after beating Moscow Region side Saturn 2-1 on Sunday.

The victory means that Rubin are now 10 points clear of second-placed side CSKA Moscow, with only three games left before the end of the Russian championship.

The title goes to the republic of Tatarstan in the year that the club marks its 50th anniversary.

Rubin’s win means that now it is the third time, after Alania Vladikavkaz in 1995 and Zenit St. Petersburg last year, that a team from outside Moscow has won the Russian championship.

For the first time this year, the top three teams in the Russian Premier League will qualify for the 2009-2010 Champions League. The top two clubs will go straight into the group stages, with the third-placed team starting in the second qualifying round. The fourth- and fifth-placed teams will enter the UEFA Cup, while the bottom two sides are relegated.

Russia’s Isinbayeva nominated for European Athlete of the Year

Russia’s 2004 and 2008 Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva has been nominated for the 2008 Waterford Crystal European Athlete of the Year Trophy.

The 26-year-old Russian, who has broken the world pole vault record 24 times, most recently at the Olympic Games in Beijing, won the trophy in 2005 after becoming the first woman to clear 5 meters while setting a total of nine world records that year alone.

The trophy was introduced in 1993 by the European Athletics Association and is awarded based on the results of public voting.

This year, a total of 39 athletes have been nominated for the award, 19 in the men’s category and 20 for the women’s prize.

Medvedev says Russia should develop tourism

Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev urged the country on Friday to develop tourism. He was speaking during a meeting with the mayors of the so-called Golden Ring towns around Moscow.
“The historical wealth of our cultural heritage is a truly grandiose resource for developing tourism,” Medvedev said.

Medvedev said that Russia earned 833 billion rubles ($35.6 billion) from tourism last year, and that the tourist industry employed over one million people nationwide.

Many tourists, especially from Western countries, are put off trips to Russia by visa requirements.

Москва отметит День государственного флага концертами в парках

Концерты и другие праздничные программы, посвященные Дню государственного флага России, пройдут в пятницу в московских парках, сообщил РИА Новости источник в комитете общественных связей столицы.

По его словам, праздничные мероприятия пройдут во всех парках, скверах, спортивных комплексах, на окружных площадках Москвы. В частности, днем в Парке ЦПКиО им. Горького состоится программа “Флаг нашей доблести и славы”, а в парке Сокольники пройдет программа “Моя родина – Россия”.

“Согласно распоряжению правительства Москвы на всех административных зданиях и жилых домах города будут вывешены флаги Российской Федерации, а до 9.00 23 августа они будут демонтированы”, – сказал сотрудник комитета.

По его словам, во всех подмосковных оздоровительных детских лагерях в пятницу также пройдут различные концертные программы и развивающие игры, посвященные Дню государственного флага.
День государственного флага в современной России отмечают 22 августа. Государственным флагом принято считать полотнище из белой, синей и алой полос. Впервые бело-сине-красный флаг был утвержден указом Петра Первого в 1705 году, но официальный статус приобрел в 1896 году. В 1918 году триколор был заменен на революционное красное знамя. Снова флаг России появился 22 августа 1991 года.

Park in south Russia gets Amsterdam-inspired breast sculpture

A Russian sculptor inspired by a visit to Amsterdam’s notorious red-light district has created a bas-relief sculpture of a woman’s breasts, now on display in a south Russian town, local authorities said.

The sculpture, lying on a one-meter-high plinth in a park in the town of Bataysk, near Rostov-on-Don, features a pair of breasts being fondled by a man’s hand.

A spokeswoman for the Bataysk administration told RIA Novosti that the sculptor, Anatoly Sknarin, “saw a similar composition in Amsterdam” on a paving slab in the red-light district and decided to emulate the work in his home town.

She said the sculpture’s base will be soon plastered and painted, and will display a suggestive message in verse, encouraging men to touch the breasts to “improve their manly strength” and “stay young forever.”

Use Russian alphabet online: Medvedev

The Russian President says it’s important that the Russian Cyrillic alphabet is used on the internet. Dmitry Medvedev wants urgent action to ensure that domain names on the web are assigned in Cyrillic.
The President made his comments at the Russian Press World Congress in Moscow on Wednesday.

“We should do everything possible to get domain names assigned in Cyrillic characters in the future. This is a serious matter,” he said. He said that it would be symbolic for the Russian language and the Cyrillic alphabet. “Every technical possibility to strengthen the Russian-language should be used,” Medvedev said.

“We will create different products and spread them in different ways for this purpose.” Digital TV and the move from print media to electronic media are among such products, he added.

Meanwhile, there’s been a lot of discussion in the media and among Russian bloggers about the move to have Cyrillic domains on the internet.

According to the Russian famous computer designer, Artemiy Lebedev, Cyrillic domains can lead to confusion in the internet community. Apart from the fact that some Cyrillic letters look similar to Latin ones, these domains can be used only by users with a Cyrillic keyboard layout.

Pushkin celebrated around the world

Russia is celebrating the 209th anniversary of the birth of the poet Aleksandr Pushkin.

He is often considered the country’s greatest ever poet. His legacy endures around the world, with around 270 monuments to his literary genius standing in cities throughout the globe.

In Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, there was a festive atmosphere around Pushkin’s statue. Traditional music was played to accompany readings of his poetry. The Russian Embassy helped put the event together, to commemorate a poet who “beautified the world like flowers,” said a representative of the Foreign Ministry.

A bust of the writer stands proudly in a park in central Chisinau, the capital of Moldova. By midday it was already covered in roses and tulips, brought by local schoolchildren. Each child read out a few verses of his poetry – with some trying to outdo each other by seeing who could recite the most by heart. A museum dedicated to the writer, and a nearby estate where he briefly lived, threw open their doors to the public for the day.

Siberian villagers adopt 47 kids

The residents of a remote Siberian village have adopted 47 orphans in a bid to keep their community alive. For about 30 years Barkhatovo had been slowly dying. Local children left in droves for a better life in the big cities.

 

But things began to change when local woman Tatyana Fadushina came up with an idea to beat her loneliness. She adopted an 11-year-old boy from an orphanage. 

It was a great success. So, a year later another child came to live under the same roof.  Six more followed, until Tatyana became the mother of eight children. 

Her friends saw the benefits of having young people around and began to follow her example. Nina Krasnova adopted six kids and Lidya Bondareva gave shelter to another four.  Now the village of Barkhatovo is full of life and hope.  It’s become famous in the Topkinsky district, where other villages are starting to adopt orphans.

 

Muscovites celebrate Russia’s victory at World Hockey Championship in Canada

 

 

Russian pavilion opens for first time at Cannes festival

The first ever Russian pavilion is due to open at the prestigious Cannes film festival as Russia celebrates one hundred years of film production.

The 61st Cannes film festival opened on Wednesday evening in the French resort town of the same name and will continue until May 25.

A series of events, including a seminar entitled “Russia as a film-making location,” and a master class by respected Russian director Sergei Bodrov, as well as presentations of the country’s national film studios are scheduled for the Russian pavilion, located in the center of the festival’s international village.

“We expect that foreign film distributors interested in showing Russian films will visit the pavilion,” said Grigori Gevorkyan, general director of SovExportFilm.

One of the key events on Friday night will be a concert dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Russian film-making, and the 50th anniversary of Mikhail Kalatozov’s “The Cranes Are Flying,” victory in the Palme d’Or (Golden Palm) category at Cannes.

This year 22 films are in contention for the Golden Palm, the festival’s main award. There are, however, no Russian films among those vying for the prize.

In 2007, the Russian films “Alexandra” by Alexander Sokurov and “Banishment” by Andrei Zvyagintsev were nominated for the Golden Palm.

Govt. gives $177 mln for Pushkin art museum restoration

The Russian government will allocate over 4.2 billion rubles ($177 million) to restore the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, president-elect Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday.

Speaking at a meeting of the board of trustees of Moscow’s largest museum of European art, Medvedev said: “The funds have been earmarked. The amount of money exceeds 4.2 billion rubles. This is the base sum.”

Media reports earlier said $380 million would be allocated from the federal budget for the museum’s reconstruction and modernization. Reports also said reconstruction programs tended to cost twice as much as the sum initially quoted, as was the case with the Bolshoi and Mariinsky theaters in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

The classical collections of Botticelli, Rembrandt, Magnasco, Guardi, Rubens, Fayum portraits, as well as the pharaohs, and antique replicas will be closed to the public from 2009 until 2012, when the museum will celebrate its 100-year anniversary.

The museum will be turned into a major complex comprising two exhibition centers, a library, a larger repository, archives, a modern 600-seat concert hall, an office building and an underground parking lot all linked by underground passages to accommodate cafes and souvenir stores. Its total area is planned to be increased fourfold.

Irina Antonova, who has run the museum since 1962, said after the meeting that the board of trustees would be headed by the economics minister, Elvira Nabiullina. She will replace Medvedev, who will be sworn in as president on May 7.

Pressing for the reconstruction, Antonova earlier said the condition of parts of the museum building was putting the art collection in danger.

“The main museum building is beautiful, but it is decaying and needs modernization,” she said.

Award-winning British architect Lord Norman Foster, known for his futuristic style, was earlier reported to be leading the program to modernize and expand the museum complex.

The museum is expected to rent some of its premises to private investors after the restoration work.

 

Water, lights, music and action! Fountain season starts

Summer is in the air in Moscow, with 300 hundred fountains being switched on in the capital.

 

The main ceremony took place in the restored museum and park at Tsaritsino, home to one of the capital’s biggest fountains. Moscow’s Mayor, Yury Luzhkov, switched on a new light and musical fountain.

The sparkling jets were accompanied by Tchaikovsky‘s famous Flower Waltz from the Nutcracker ballet.

Muscovites will be able to enjoy the fountain season till October.

 

Russian name Ivanov is Estonia’s most common surname

One in every 200 Estonians has the Russian name Ivanov, making it the ex-Soviet Baltic country’s most common surname, weekly newspaper Eesti Ekspress reported on Thursday.

A total of 6,789 Estonian residents have the name, which is followed in the list by the Estonian name Tamm (5,241). The Russian names Smirnov and Vasilyev are also high up the ranking (3,402 and 3,153, respectively).

The surname Ivanov comes from the first name Ivan, a Biblical name with its equivalents in dozens of other languages – John in English, Jean in French, Juan in Spanish.

Prominent Russian politicians named Ivanov include a first deputy premier (Sergei), and the head of the Security Council (Igor).

The name Ivan Ivanov (along with Ivan Petrov) is used in Russia as the archetypal common name, for example on specimen copies for form-filling, similar to the name John Smith in English-speaking countries.

Ethnic Russians account for about 30% of Estonia’s 1.34 million population. Many have “non-citizen” status, which denies them a national passport and other rights, and prevents them from voting.

U.S. baby death threatens Russian adoption – Stop adoption of Russian babies !

An American couple, who adopted a Russian baby who then died, are facing murder and child abuse charges. The 14-month-old’s skull was fractured. Another Russian child, 3-year-old Kolya, who was in the care of Fyodor and Kimberly Emelyantsev was found to be exhausted and dehydrated.

The Utah couple was arrested on March 7, the day their adopted Russian son Nikolay died.

Investigators say the 14-month-old died from a skull fracture that resulted from blunt-force trauma. An autopsy revealed Nicoli was also bruised on his face and body.

Fyodor Emelyantsev – a Russian Citizen – was jailed on suspicion of abusing the couple’s other adopted Russian son.

Fyodor’s brother rejects the child abuse allegations, saying the boys had Down’s syndrome and had been treated delicately.

Flawed system at work?

The Emelyantsev had adopted the Russian boys independently rather than using a U.S. adoption agency accredited by the Russian Federation.

Critics say independent adoptions are less secure, sometimes bypassing parental background checks and periodic home visits.

For the estimated 600,000 orphans in Russia, the international adoption system could breathe new life into the quest of prospective parents without children.

But experts say the procedure can take years, numerous trips to Russia, and cost up to 50,000 dollars.

Svetlana Bocharova of Moscow’s Right for Family Project says this unfortunate incident is not an indictment of the system.

”In 10 years the Americans have adopted about 70 000 children. Only 14 death cases reported within this time. In Russia about 3,000 children die from family violence. But mass media covers American death cases more,” she said.

Russian officials are now demanding changes in federal law to better protect Russian orphans adopted by foreign families.

 

Catch a trains from Vienna to Beijing… via Siberia

Russian, Slovak and Austrian companies could soon be joining forces to build a railroad linking Central Europe with Russia’s Trans Siberian line. It is one of several ideas set to be tabled during Prime Minister Zubkov’s visit to Bratislava.

Energy remains the main focus of Russian-Slovak economic relations. The country buys 90 per cent of its fuel from Russia.

During his visit to Bratislava, Russia’s Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov confirmed plans to renew the existing gas contracts with Slovakia that expire this year.

In turn, Bratislava wants to buy back a stake in its oil transport network.

”We have confirmed a political willingness to continue long-term deliveries of gas and oil to Slovakia. The Slovakian side has shown its readiness and desire to buy back 49% of the Transpetrol company,” Slovak Prime Minister, Robert Fico, said.

The stake was bought by Yukos in 2002 and now Slovakia will have to pay $US 220 million to buy it back. But experts don’t rule out the possibility that it could later be sold on to Gazprom’s oil subsidiary.

Slovakia also wants Russian expertise in nuclear energy production. The head of Russian nuclear corporation, Rosatom, Sergey Kirienko, has traveled to Bratislava with an offer to upgrade existing nuclear facilities.

Russia is already involved in modernising two blocks at Slovakia’s Mokovec nuclear plant, and aims to build two more in the country’s central region.

Russia’s other ambitious project is to connect Russia with Austria by a single rail artery, which will also pass through Slovak territory.

It’s estimated that the project will cost around 4.3 billion euros and the construction is expected to start in 2010.

 

Russian ‘miracle babies’ get new home – Demografic boom in Russia !

A Russian family with quintuplets have had their first look at an apartment in the centre of Moscow, given to them for free by local authorities. The five girls were born in November but due to complications the delivery took place in a British clinic.

 

For Varvara it’s a juggling act of nappies, bottles and baby food.

“Of course it’s hard for them – they have to share everything between the five! She wants to go in her mother’s lap but there’s already someone there!” Varvara says.

29-year-old music teacher Varvara had been taking a fertility drug before she found herself expecting five.

Russian doctors warned that not all babies would survive unless some were aborted. But for the religious couple it was against their faith. That’s why they chose to seek treatment at a hospital in Britain specialising in multiple births and found funding from anonymous Russian benefactors.

Last November the 5 girls – Liza, Sasha, Tanya, Nadya and Varya – were delivered by caesarian section 14 weeks prematurely and spent months in intensive care. 

In Moscow, relatives have been eagerly awaiting their arrival with piles of diapers, baby clothes and booties. 

But the happy family were in for another surprise. Moscow’s deputy mayor handed over the keys to a four-roomed city apartment, a gift from a government thankful for the demographic boost.

Russia’s image abroad soars: poll

The way people across the world view Russia has grown significantly more positive over the past year, according to a survey published on the BBC web-site.

The poll, part of a regular survey of world opinion, interviewed more than 17,000 people in 34 countries.Among countries polled in both 2007 and 2008, positive views of Russia have risen from 29% to 37% and negative views have fallen from 40% to 34%.

Olympic flame arrives in St Petersburg

 

The Olympic flame has arrived Russia’s northern capital, St. Petersburg. It was delivered on a special flight from Istanbul which landed at 3am local time.

Officials and journalists turned out to welcome the Olympic symbol despite the early hour.
  
A torch relay will start on Saturday morning with eighty runners taking part. They will cover a distance of over twenty kilometres with parts of the city blocked-off to traffic.

Shot-putter and javelin thrower Galina Zybina, who triumphed in the Olympics of 1952, has been given the honour of carrying the flame first.

Among other torch carriers is the first woman cosmonaut in space, Valentina Tereshkova, the former economics minister, German Gref, and the China’s ambassador to Russia, Liu Guchang.

After St Petersburg, the Olympic flame will travel to London as it continues its journey around the globe in the build-up to the Beijing Games in August.

Russia and Ireland united by more than just St. Patrick’s Day

Narine Prazyan for RIA Novosti         On March 17, people in every part of the world celebrate the Irish national holiday – St. Patrick’s Day. Legend has it that in the fifth century AD St. Patrick brought Christianity to Ireland and abolished pagan traditions. He is considered to be Ireland’s patron saint, and is a symbol of the Irish on a par with the shamrock and the harp.         His name is associated with many legends. One of them has it that he explained the notion of the Holy Trinity by showing a three-leaf clover to the people. He is also credited with introducing the alphabet in Ireland, and ridding the Emerald Isle of snakes.         St. Patrick’s Day is a mixture of Christian and pagan traditions. One of its main symbols is a Leprechaun – a faerie who is often dressed as a shoemaker, with a crooked hat and a leather apron.This holiday is widely celebrated not only in Ireland, but also in the UK, the United States, Canada, Argentina, Germany, Denmark, Mexico and even in far-away Australia. Picturesque parades are held on this day almost everywhere with Irish folk bands and dancers. By tradition, everybody wears green.         In Ireland, large-scale festivities are held on St. Patrick’s Day in more than 30 cities. In the United States, parades take place in all the major cities, including America’s most Irish city, Boston, as well as in New York, where the first parade was organized in 1762, and in Chicago, where even the local river is dyed green – the Irish national color.         St. Patrick’s Day has been celebrated in Russia for several years now. This year, the holiday was preceded by the Festival of Irish Culture, during which prominent performers of Celtic music and dances staged concerts. On March 16, the now traditional parade was held in New Arbat Street. On March 17, a statue of the famous Irish author James Joyce was unveiled in the Russian State Library of Foreign Literature. The ceremony was attended by the Ambassador of the Republic of Ireland to Russia Justin Harman. James Joyce is one of the most prominent figures in 20th century literature; he is considered to be one of the founders of modernism, on a par with Kafka and Proust. Almost all of his books have been translated into Russian, including the controversial novel Ulysses, as well as his semi-autobiographical novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and the short story collection Dubliners.         When asked by RIA Novosti why St. Patrick has become so popular in Russia, the Irish Consul in Russia Peter O’Connor said: “St. Patrick’s Day is a national holiday of Ireland, but it is in no way an exclusively Irish event – as we say in Ireland, ‘On this day everybody is Irish.’”The consul also explained the holiday’s popularity by the stunning success of the first parade in Moscow in 1992, and by what he described as Ireland’s “modern role as an exciting global hub for entertainment and business.”         Luckily, Russia and Ireland are united not only by the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, but also by close and fruitful cooperation in many fields.         Bilateral business contacts are developing dynamically. Brands such as Guinness and Bailey’s Irish Cream have long become popular and numerous Irish pubs like the Shamrock Bar, Rosie O’Grady’s, Sally O’Brian’s, Dublin and Belfast are never empty.”In the business sphere, Irish business people continue to prosper in Russia in a wide number of fields… Russian business in Ireland is growing as well, due to the unique investment opportunity of Ireland’s booming economy, and also due to the large number of Russian-speaking immigrants who live and work in Ireland,” said Peter O’Connor.Big Irish companies are increasingly interested in cooperation with Russia owing to its improved economic and investment climate.           Russian-Irish humanitarian cooperation has great prospects. Last January, Russia and Ireland signed an agreement on cooperation in culture, science and education in 2008-2010. Mr. O’Connor told RIA Novosti: “The most promising area of cultural cooperation is perhaps in the area of new media, particularly photography and film. An Irish film festival is planned to be held in Moscow on May 28-June 1, and a range of photography exhibitions will be brought to the Russian regions in 2008-2010.         “Russian-Irish political relations are also stable, which bodes well for the further development of mutually advantageous cooperation in all directions. It is encouraging that the Irish are gradually ceasing to look at Russia through the prism of obsolete stereotypes. They not only consider Russia a major investor in their economy, but are also actively working in the Russian market, fully aware of its huge potential and importance.

 

Russia’s foreign policy under Vladimir Putin: achievements and failures

        Achievements:1. Russia regained its status as a leading world power. Economic revival and stable economic growth have increased Russia’s international prestige. Some countries like Russia and other countries don’t; some are helping it to spread its influence and others are resisting it. Its views now carry far more weight in the international arena than they did in the 1990s, when Moscow’s opinion on international crises was generally ignored.This goal has been achieved without a substantial increase in nuclear or other capacities, or not only due to such increases. Russia’s increased importance as an exporter of oil and gas also played a role, along with the inclusion of Russia in the group of the most rapidly developing emerging economies (the BRIC, comprising Brazil, Russia, India and China). One more important factor was the rehabilitation of the “sick man of Europe,” which many people did not expect to see.2. Restoration of Russians’ self-confidence. A nation’s well-being is a key element of its coexistence with other nations and a crucial goal of its foreign policy. Today all Russians, whether at home or abroad, from ambassadors to tourists, feel that they are citizens of a large, strong, growing and respected state.In the 1990s, it was said that Russia was governed from Spaso House, the U.S. ambassadorial residence in Moscow. Today every Russian and foreigner knows that Moscow may disagree with Washington, or other capitals, on foreign or domestic issues, and uphold its stance without facing negative consequences. Few states can do this now.3. Resistance to the wave of color revolutions in neighboring states. When manipulations of public opinion during elections brought anti-Russian regimes to power in neighboring states, some people thought that this would provoke the dissolution of the CIS and an economic and political crisis in Russia. They were disappointed.A failed “tulip revolution” in Kyrgyzstan, accompanied by chaos and pogroms in the capital, frightened the local political elites and population but strengthened Russia’s stance in Central Asia. The color revolutions in Ukraine and Georgia lost their appeal following subsequent negative events there. Russia’s foreign policy emerged as the victor in these crises because it reacted calmly to them, proving that sometimes it is better to do nothing.4. Preservation of integration mechanisms (CIS, CSTO, etc.) and establishment of new ones (SCO). Russia’s policy towards the former Soviet states during the 1990s was unsustainable and bound to change, as became evident at the beginning of Vladimir Putin’s first presidential term. The only question was what policy would replace it. It became clear over the last eight years that the majority of post-Soviet states need some CIS functions and mechanisms, and so they are being reformed.At the same time, the military union of several CIS states – the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) – was preserved, and Russia is changing the post-Soviet policy of supplying cheap energy to political allies. It is developing new relations with Kazakhstan and a new model of international cooperation in Central Asia, which involves not only the former Soviet states in the region but also China (the Shanghai Cooperation Organization).Foreign policy in the post-Soviet space is being increasingly split into a Western and a Central Asian policy, which are quite separate and, therefore, more realistic.5. Restoration of lost positions in traditional zones of influence (Vietnam, the Middle East, India, China) and development of ties with new partners (Latin American countries). In the 1990s, Russia’s foreign policy lost its global reach. Partner relations established in the Soviet era were broken and foreign trade shrank, while pro-market reforms in Russia put trade in the hands of private business, for the first time in decades.The Russian authorities in the 1990s did not have a clearly defined view of economic and political goals in different parts of the world. The situation changed under Putin, with state-controlled and private businesses establishing ties in nearly all countries, supported by a special policy of promoting their interests.Failures:1. Inability to become the top partner of close neighbors such as China and India. Russia’s economy was not strong enough to become the leading influence even in countries that would have welcomed this. The era of unions formed for political reasons is over, and the ability of business to become a competitive leader in foreign markets is now crucial.Russian business has neither the experience nor the resources for attaining this goal. Russia is not the top partner for any of its main economic partners (such as Germany and China, as well as the CIS, notably Kazakhstan). At best, it is one of their 10 largest partners. This has weakened Russia’s ties, including political ones, with these states.2. Inability to become a global leader in lifestyle, culture and arts. This is not only a failure of Russian foreign policy. We must admit that Russia today cannot do what the Soviet Union did in the sphere of winning hearts and minds abroad. The territory in which the Russian-language is spoken is shrinking, and the prestige of Russian culture and arts abroad is declining.In this sphere Russia’s foreign policy (or rather, related sectors) is lagging far behind many other countries, which have a multitude of technologies to promote their cultures beyond their national borders.3. Inability to elaborate an effective policy of relations with the Russian diaspora abroad. New ideas appeared in that sphere in the early 1980s, but to this day the millions of Russians living abroad have not become drivers of Russia’s development in economic and other spheres, unlike the Chinese and Indian diasporas.4. Loss of influence in Georgia and Ukraine. Moscow proved unable to mobilize the seemingly huge resources of goodwill in neighboring states, including those with a large ethnic Russian population. Moreover, it has taken actions that worsened the position of its supporters in those countries, and the situation was further complicated by the successful actions of its opponents. It apparently caught the “American disease” – an over zealous feeling of righteousness and renewed strength. A stark example is sanctions against Georgia, which infuriated Georgians, even those who were dissatisfied with their government’s policies.5. Defeat on the market for military-technical cooperation (Algeria, India). During the 1990s, this sphere of international cooperation kept afloat nearly half of Russia’s foreign policy, notably its relations with countries with which trade was lagging, such as China. It was seen as the core of a new model for foreign trade based on the export of technologies rather than raw materials.The volume of military exports increased in the early 2000s, but other arms suppliers also stepped up competition. However, this cannot be said to be the only reason that buyers of Russian-made weapons and equipment often refuse to take delivery of them and complain of unjustified delays.The never-ending reforms in the sector have not brought the desired goal of improving the prestige of Russian-made weapons any closer.

 

Why does Russia need energy alliance?

          RIA Novosti commentator Tatyana Sinitsyna           Two major state-owned Russian companies building energy projects – Atomstroyexport and Technopromexport – have agreed to develop strategic partnership and establish a joint venture.Atomstroyexport will have the controlling interest – 51%. The new joint venture will build energy facilities and operate them both in Russia and abroad.The gist of this ambitious step is pragmatic. The memo on cooperation, adopted by the partners on February 19, reads: “It is necessary to create a major national player in order to strengthen each other’s positions in the market.”The new joint venture will allow Russia to enhance its status abroad and at home. This is required by the logic of economic progress.Building alliances is one of the most effective ways of using economic resources. In France, for example, the following three companies have set up an alliance – AREVA (nuclear plants construction), SUEZ (nuclear plants operation), and the oil company Total, which operates in the Saudi market. Having united, they are keeping their positions in the region and supporting their partnership’s reputation.The Russian energy alliance is borrowing from foreign experience. It will proceed from common interests and offer comprehensive solutions, while profile specialists will carry out projects. Atomstroyexport can share with Technopromexport technologies for building thermal power plants; in turn, it can borrow from the experience of its partners in new markets.Having consolidated the available resources (finances, engineering, management, and international experience), the new player is going to be active both at home and abroad. But what are the chances of the two companies? What are their assets?Atomstroyexport is implementing foreign contracts for the construction of nuclear power plants. It is the world’s only company simultaneously building five energy units abroad (in India, Iran, and Bulgaria). In 2007, it commissioned two energy units of the Tianwan nuclear plant in China.Technopromexport is also well known. Its specialty is construction of energy facilities. It is Russia’s biggest engineering plant specializing in turn-key projects of any level and type – thermal, steam-gas, gas-turbine, geothermal, diesel, and hydroelectric plants, power transmission lines, and boosters.The alliance between the two companies has been produced by the effective operation of the nuclear industrial sector in the last two years. The military component of Russia’s nuclear industry has always been immune to interference – everyone understands the measure of responsibility. But in the civilian nuclear industry many plants were privatized. By now, Russia has re-established government control over it.The new alliance is a product of its modernization. Its tremendous potential will make Russia more confident in the foreign markets. Today, Russian experts are conducting negotiations on the construction of nuclear power plants with 20 countries. Some of them are closer than others to the conduct of a tender for economic, moral, or legal reasons. Russia can choose its construction sites and partners.Next-door neighbors are high on the list of priorities – Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. Turkey, Egypt, and Morocco are interested in cooperation.But the Chinese are again the closest partners. As a result of effective cooperation, China received in 2007 two powerful VVER-100 megawatt units (water-water power reactor) for the Tianwan nuclear power plant. Now Russia and China have signed a contract for the construction of a third and fourth units.India has recently signed a memo with Russia on the building of new reactors in Kudankulam. Tehran has long been hinting that if it dares increase the number of its nuclear power plants, it will choose Russian projects. 

PUTIN SAYS EUROPE, OSCE CANNOT DICTATE TERMS TO RUSSIA

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that his country will not allow anyone to dictate terms to it, but that it will honor its international commitments in full.Putin, who is to step down as Russian president after the March 2 presidential elections, was referring to a recent row with the OSCE over monitors for the polls. He is currently holding his last annual news conference as head of state in the Kremlin.

Commenting on last week’s refusal by the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) to monitor Russia’s upcoming presidential polls, the president said, “We will not allow anyone to dictate any terms to us, but we will honor every commitment… This is the fundamental principle of international law.”

He also accused the monitor, whose abbreviated name in Russian, BDIPCh, he said sounded jarring, of lacking transparent rules, “They send 16 people to one country, and 20 to another, or find it possible not to send any at all to some countries.”"Let them teach their own wives to make soup,” he added, utilizing a traditional Russian saying.

Russia’s Central Election Commission initially invited ODIHR observers to arrive in Russia from February 27-28, but agreed after two weeks of negotiations to increase the observer numbers to 75, allowing the bulk of them to arrive on February 20.

However, the ODIHR insisted on sending at least 50 of its observers to Russia on February 15, five days before the date proposed by Moscow, in order to more effectively monitor the election campaign. It also threatened to boycott the election if its conditions were not met.

Putin reminded the journalists present that while Moscow considered a reform of the OSCE necessary it would continue to fulfill its obligations within the framework of the European organization.”We fulfill them entirely, and I want to underline this, so that representatives of both the Russian and European press are aware of this,” said the president.

He went on to say that it was not stipulated in the ODIHR documents exactly how many observers Russia was supposed to invite and for what term. He said however that Russia had invited 100 OSCE observers to the elections and was ready to provide them with all the necessary conditions for their work.