Month: January 2008

Hello,

I was drinking my morning cup of coffee and realized that Christmas still has one more time to be celebrated!

On the 7th of January, (in Russia) it is a Religious Holiday for Christmas….(Click: read more for the rest of the article.)
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“Christmas is NOT celebrated in Russia on January 7th. It is celebrated on December 25th. Of course, the follow up question would be “When is December 25th?”

Pre-revolutionary Russia used the Julian calendar universally, i.e. for government, personal purposes and church purposes. When the Soviet government changed to the Gregorian calendar, the Russian Orthodox Church did not make the change. They continued using the Julian calendar, which is (currently) 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar.

Since Christmas is a religious holiday, it was not celebrated as a Soviet state holiday (focus during the Soviet era was on New Year). As a religious holiday, it continued to be celebrated in churches and in homes, privately, on December 25 – but, the December 25 used by the Church. Even with the fall of the Soviet Union, the Church still uses the Julian calendar.

Think of it this way: Go to Moscow. Buy a newspaper on January 7. Look at the date – sure enough, it will say January 7. Walk into a Russian Orthodox church, carrying that newspaper. As soon as you enter the church, it is, for all practical purposes, December 25. (No, the newspaper will not change the printed date). Any announcements, bulletins, Gospel readings etc. will reflect that today is December 25. Turn around, walk out of the church and, as soon as you exit, it is January 7.

It should be plain to see, but this also means that the date for celebrating Russian Christmas is not connected to January 6 as Epiphany, as Julian January 6 falls on Gregorian January 19, which is Russian Epiphany (usually called “Theophany” in the Russian Church).”
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So, I have found it very interesting in Russia! The past has created a managerie out of the Winter Holiday Season!

That is why I love Russia!

Kyle & Svet
http://kylekeeton.com/2007/12/russia-holidays-are-far-from-over.html

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At least 5,000 Russian citizens to celebrate Orthodox Christmas in Israel

MOSCOW. Jan 4 (Interfax) – Five thousand Russian pilgrims will celebrate Orthodox Christmas in the Holy Land in Israel this year – three times more than in 2007, Yury Minulin, the director general of the Radonezh travel company, has announced.

Radonezh organizes pilgrimage tours in Russia and abroad.

“These figures are based on the assessment of the flights from Moscow to Tel Aviv sold by Russia’s Transaero and Sibir (S7) and Israel’s El Al airlines,” Minulin said in an interview with the Interfax-Tourism portal.

In all, these companies are expected to fly between 12,000 and 15,000 Russian travelers to Israel by January 6, half of them tourists and those who intend to see relative. The other passengers are pilgrims and business people, he said. sd
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Kyle

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Hello,

Svet and I love to drive, but the normal drive is like this.(Video)

It really does take 3 to 6 hours to get out of Moscow!

Reminds me of the traffic that I endured in the USA! Do you travel in traffic like this everyday?

We thought you might like to see some Moscow traffic!

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

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RBC, 03.01.2008, Moscow 10:25:16.Urals Energy Plc. has announced that Morgan Stanley Securities Limited, which acted as the manager of the leading Russian independent oil company’s private share offering, has exercised its over-allotment option. Morgan Stanley purchased 1,643 shares, or nearly 5 percent of the offering. Urals Energy Plc placed 32,857m shares worth a total of GBR65.6m (USD132m) worth of shares on December 5, according to the company’s statement.

RBC, 03.01.2008, Moscow 11:32:06.HydroOGK is planning to rebrand in late January – early February 2008, the Russian power generation company said in a statement today. The company did not specify, which name the consolidated company would use. However, RusHydro was among the proposed names.As reported earlier, HydroOGK is undergoing restructuring in the form of consolidation with electric power plants and is scheduled to start operating as a unified company on January 9. Its shares are projected to be listed on Russian stock exchanges in April 2008. The company’s GDR program is to start in March 2008….(Click: read more)

RBC, 03.01.2008, Moscow 11:42:48.The Moscow government’s 2008 program provides for the construction of some 5.3m square meters of real estate in Moscow. About 1m square meters of housing are projected to be built in the center of the city, including 675,000 square meters of commercial building and 325,000 square meters of housing.Some 4.8m square meters of residential buildings were introduced in 2007.

RBC, 03.01.2008, Moscow 12:42:14.Some 28 hotels are to be opened in Moscow in 2008, the Moscow city government’s representative told RBC today. Vladimir Resin, Deputy Mayor of Moscow signed a decree to this effect. According to the document, 21 hotels are projected to be opened in the center of the city, and the total amount of hotel rooms is anticipated to exceed 5,200.About 3.5m people come to Moscow annually and the figure is estimated to reach 5m in 2010 and 20m in 2025. More than half of tourists coming to Moscow are Russian citizens.

RBC, 03.01.2008, Tbilisi 13:43:56.Georgia’s presidential candidate Badri Patarkatsishvili released a statement today confirming his decision to run for President in the elections scheduled for January 5, 2008. Earlier, Patarkatsishvili’s campaign headquarters had been considering filing a refusal to take part in the elections on behalf of Badri Patarkatsishvili on January 4.

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Hello,

This is Putins farewell 2007 & looking forward to 2008 Speech!

Kyle & Svet
comments always welcome.

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“We not only restored our territorial integrity but also we felt united. These years we worked together in order to preserve our country and turn it into a modern, free and strong state, which may be convenient and comfortable for citizens’ life,” he said in a 5-minute speech broadcasted midnight on Monday.

“We see that Russia has been strengthening every year. We see that our economy is growing and new opportunities are opening for the people,” he said while a celebration was going on at the Red Square.

“Let us wish each other new success and raise our glasses to the health and happiness of our relatives and to those we love and take care of most of all, and to whom we give our warmth and to whom we will be close,” he said.

“Let your longest dreams to come true,” the Russian head of state said, receiving applause, cheers and the New Year bell rings on the square.

Putin has pledged to step down after next March’s presidential election. He has backed First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev to become his successor.

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Happy New Years,

Kyle & Svet