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 MOSCOW — Mikhail Khodorkovsky was convicted Monday of stealing oil from his own company and laundering the proceeds, a verdict likely to keep the oil tycoon who once challenged the power of Vladimir Putin behind bars for several more years.
The unrelenting legal attack on Khodorkovsky, once Russia’s richest man, has come to define the country’s transformation under Putin. The outcome of the second trial exposes how little has changed under President Dmitry Medvedev despite his promises to strengthen the rule of law and make courts an independent branch of government.
Putin, now prime minister, remains the more powerful leader. Any lingering doubt that the verdict would be guilty was dispelled this month when he said Khodorkovsky was a proven criminal who should sit in prison.
Putin, seen as the driving force behind the trial, has not ruled out a return to the presidency in 2012 and appears unwilling to risk the possibility that a freed Khodorkovsky could help unite and lead his political foes.
During … |
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The Strategy 31 rally in defense of the right of assembly due on December 31 will go on despite being banned by City Hall, while those activists who are under investigation will be replaced by their wives or girlfriends, The Other Russia party’s local chair Andrei Dmitriyev said Monday.
Dmitriyev, who has been charged with organizing activities of the …
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Red Shovels, a spontaneously formed people’s movement, is on a mission to rescue the city from its snow siege. As the local authorities struggle to clear the city of snow and ice — without much success and amidst fierce criticism — a group of enthusiastic … |
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MOSCOW — Russians were steadfast in their tastes and political preferences this year, with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and notorious pop star Filipp … |
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MOSCOW — Former intelligence colonel Vladimir Kvachkov, cleared Wednesday of involvement in a high-profile assassination attempt, is back in detention after being held on suspicion of preparing a violent overthrow of the government, Interfax reported.
Law enforcement officers also searched Kvachkov’s … |
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MOSCOW — Prime Minister Vladimir Putin pointed at the Soviet model as an example of how various ethnic groups can have friendly ties, drawing a quick retort Monday from the president in a rare sign of friction between the two leaders.
Putin’s protege and successor as president, Dmitry Medvedev, countered him by saying that the Soviet experience wasn’t exactly a positive one and it can’t be repeated, adding that Russia may learn from the U.S. experience.
The public exchange will likely fuel speculation about tensions between the two leaders as the nation approaches the 2012 presidential election.
Putin and Medvedev have denied any rift between them and said they would decide who would run for president in 2012 so that they don’t compete against each other. Most observers expect that Putin, who remains Russia’s most powerful figure, will reclaim the presidency.
Speaking at a Kremlin meeting focused on ways to assuage ethnic tensions that spilled into the open during riots outside the Kremlin on Dec. 11, Putin said that … |
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ICE MAIDEN
Alexander Belenky / The St. Petersburg Times
Icicles hang down from a New Year’s tree in central Moscow on Sunday. Forecasters are predicting continued snowfall throughout the week, with temperatures reaching lows of minus 14 deg. Celsius. |
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 The city’s new zoo will be built to designs drawn up by French architects on six islands in St. Petersburg’s Yuntolovo district in the Primorsky district, with each island symbolizing a different part of world.
The French architectural studio Beckman-N’Thepe Architects won the international contest for the construction of the new zoo in St. Petersburg …
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PARIS — Russia agreed Friday to buy at least two French assault ships in a deal that would boost Moscow’s deployment abilities — shrugging off opposition from the United States and some of Russia’s neighbors.
It’s one of the largest, if not the largest, … |
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MOSCOW — The Mayor’s Office will redirect funds from road construction to public transportation and “carefully study” allegations of corruption by city … |
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MOSCOW — Russian film director Mikhail Tumanishvili, who was behind one of the biggest Soviet-era blockbusters, died in Moscow on Thursday. He was 75.
News agencies did not report a cause of death, but the director was hospitalized with lung problems … |
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Presley Double
MOSCOW (SPT) — Two former policemen went on trial in Omsk for attempting to torch the car of a district judge, the local … |
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 “The sky is the limit,” believes Peter Katusak-Huzsvar, and it’s something that has largely been proven by his career in the hospitality industry to date.
The general manager of the soon-to-open W St. Petersburg Hotel on Voznesensky Prospekt admits that his rise to senior positions in the industry can … |
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MOSCOW — New Year’s is a traditional time of gift giving, but this year, at least 382 Russian companies will be making donations to charity instead of distributing the usual branded calendars, pens and vintage wines.
“It’s great that we are doing something useful for Russia instead of supporting the Chinese economy and its plastic rabbits,” said one chief executive, who preferred not to be identified.
The “charity instead of business gifts” worldwide initiative was launched by Britain-based Charities Aid Foundation in 2005. In Russia, the scheme has since raised more than 217 million rubles ($7 million) for worthy causes.
Among the big companies involved in the initiative are PricewaterhouseCoopers, Troika Dialog, Alfa Bank, Renova Group and Interfax Group.
“Instead of random gifts, clients and colleagues receive a card or souvenir made by charity,” said Yekaterina Shapochka, the program’s coordinator at PwC.
Some companies do not distribute New Year’s gifts at all. … |
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SNOW STOPS PLAY
Mikhail Voskresensky / Reuters
Tree branches are covered with ice at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport on Sunday. The airport was closed and thousands of Muscovites were left without power after heavy snowfall. |
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MOSCOW — Uralkali, the country’s largest potash miner by market value, officially launched a $7.8 billion friendly takeover of domestic rival Silvinit last week.
Pavel Grachev, Uralkali’s chief executive, said in a statement that the merger is a “critical step toward the creation of a leader in the global potash sector.”
The combination of the two companies …
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MOSCOW — The Bank of Moscow last week described critical statements about the bank by VTB’s top executives as a ploy to seek a lower acquisition price.
VTB, the country’s second-largest lender, has said it wants to buy control of the Bank of Moscow in … |
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MOSCOW — A company linked to businessman Valery Abramson won the bidding to buy a Moscow subway builder that could benefit from a planned increase in spending … |
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Sibur Stake Bought
MOSCOW (SPT) — Leonid Mikhelson, a billionaire shareholder and CEO of gas producer Novatek, bought 25 percent of Sibur Holding, the country’s largest petrochemical producer, and may buy the remaining shares, Bloomberg.
Mirakl, … |
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MOSCOW — Turkish developer Enka has reconsidered its plan to quit the retail business in Russia and is once again developing the CityStore chain so that … |
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MOSCOW — The $4.2 billion television advertising market is entering the new year with two more players to comply with antitrust rules, but industry powerhouse Video International will dominate the business at least for the near future.
Video International, which will have to cede part of the market so … |
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There was nothing unexpected about the racially motivated rioting and attacks that took place in Moscow and other cities during December. But many people are still shocked by the image of Russian youth giving Nazi salutes against the backdrop of the Kremlin wall and by reports of an angry, blood-thirsty mob sweeping through metro cars and beating dark-skinned passengers.
The rioters had no political agenda or ideology other than their hatred for non-Russians. Even the most demagogic of the mobs did not chant a single slogan calling for social or political change.
The fact that both sides turned out in large numbers in several cities within a very short span of time creates the strong impression that their actions were coordinated in advance.
Regardless of whether there was a screenwriter behind the rioting, the scenario that is playing out suggests only one possible ending: the collapse and destruction of Russia.
The logic of Russian fascists has always stood in sharp contrast … |
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POTTED PERFECTION
Alexander Belenky / The St. Petersburg Times
Porcelain currently on display at the Corinthia St. Petersburg Hotel as part of the personal exhibition by Sergei Sokolov of the Imperial Porcelain Factory. |
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When Russian leaders review the country’s economic development in 2010, they can only be disappointed. There were no great economic disasters, but Russia has clearly underperformed its peers.
Until 2008, the favorite Russian measuring mark was other BRIC countries, but that is no longer so. In 2009, Russia did worse than all other Group of 20 countries …
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The recent ultranationalist rampage in downtown Moscow was made possible by ineffective law enforcement and ethnic policies that could prove devastating for the multiethnic Russian state.
Organizers tried to justify the Manezh Square rally as a protest … |
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 Against tough political odds, the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama has squared the circle on a number of long-running domestic and international …
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Сочельник: the night before Christmas
Unless you have been buried under the usual horrendous pre-holiday work load or sleeping on the floor of a snowed-in European airport, you know that this week saw a rare coincidence of cosmic phenomena: полнолуние (full moon) combined with лунное затмение (lunar … |
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 MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — Dozens of armed men attacked the church, dragging the pastor out of his home and shooting him to death. Two young men from the choir rehearsing for a late-night carol service also were slain.
The group of about 30 attackers armed … |
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TALLINN, Estonia — Despite a hellish year for the euro, the tiny Baltic nation of Estonia will be joining the single currency club as the champagne corks … |
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TOKYO — Japan has been overtaken by China as the world’s No. 2 economy. Its flagship company, Toyota, recalled more than 10 million vehicles in an embarrassing safety crisis. Its fourth prime minister resigned in three years, and the government remains … |
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DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan — Suspected U.S. missiles struck two vehicles in a Taliban stronghold on Pakistan’s side of the border with Afghanistan on Monday, … |
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 Last week, Alina Kabayeva, the Olympic rhythmic gymnast who is now a Duma deputy, poses on the cover of Russian Vogue in a gold dress, prompting speculation about Vogue’s sudden interest in rhythmic gymnastics and plenty of mean comments about the use of Photoshop to squeeze her voluptuous figure into a model-sized dress.
Kabayeva, 27, comes from Uzbekistan and won an Olympic gold at Athens in 2004. She became something of a sex symbol, with her cheery matryoshka-doll face and curvier figure than is usual in the sport. She joined United Russia and became a Duma deputy in 2007, joining fellow ex-gymnast Svetlana Khorkina. She also has a television show where she interviews sports figures.
She has been at the center of media speculation ever since 2008 when Moskovsky Korrespondent, an obscure newspaper owned by Alexander Lebedev, an opponent of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, wrote that she and Putin were about to get married. The newspaper closed down soon afterward but the story took on a new lease of life last year when Kabayeva was rumored to have given birth to a … |
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PLAY FOR TODAY
Alexander Belenky / The St. Petersburg Times
An image from “The Ingenious Delusions Depot,” a recent production by the AXE theater group at the Erarta Museum. The group’s next production, titled “Gloria Transit,” opens on Jan. 7. |
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 The official in the airport took the passport and boarding card, checked it with a well-honed perfunctoriness and handed it back, clearing the passenger to move on to customs control. And then she handed over a business card.
Not hers, but Oleg Mikhailovich’s.
The card said, “Wish to buy or take part in sale of my stable business of gold mining by open … |
