Windows to Russia

Truth for Ossetia has left a new comment on your post “Russia: South Ossetia Traveling To The USA!“:

Thanks for the mention, and for your interest in our visit, Kyle and Svet. For more information or to help the cause of peace in Georgia and South Ossetia, visit truthforossetia.org and helpossetianow.org.

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Give these websites a view and help out if you can! I was working on an article about these sites and then after my last article about South Ossetia going to America, I received this comment above.

As you know we have been a huge supporter of South Ossetia! As many Russians have been. I have a different view point than most Americans because I live in Russia. So I have tried to give all information I could about the war between South Ossetia and Georgia.

The site Truth For Ossetia caught my attention a few days ago. The site is full of photos and stories about what happened. So I just changed my article and posted this….

Take a look at both sites they will give you a different outlook about what happened.

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

Dmitry Medvedev met with former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

The discussions covered various aspects of Russian-American relations in the context of the changes taking place in the United States following the election of Barack Obama as President, and also international issues. (Link)

Hello,

I was drinking my morning cup of coffee and thinking about what South Ossetia is up to. It seems that South Ossetia has sent a delegation to Washington in the USA! This is an attempt to put some faces with the tragedy that was entailed by Georgia in South Ossetia. They hope that their presence will stimulate more awareness of the situation.

Do you think anyone will listen?

A group of peace activists from South Ossetia has arrived in the U.S. capital, Washington DC, to give American politicians their accounts of the August war in the republic. (Link)

According to the preliminary reports it seems that they where listened to by officials in the USA. That is good and South Ossetia now hopes that America can put a little pressure on Georgia to never attempt the destruction that they did last time.

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

RBC, 12.12.2008, Moscow 15:51:03.The Russian Constitution must be a directly applicable law, President Dmitry Medvedev told a conference marking the 15th anniversary of the Russian Constitution. “The most important recent achievement is that any amendments to the Constitution and other laws must be made according to the rules that we have established for ourselves,” the president said. He called the Constitution “the indisputable backbone of the Russian legal system.”

RBC, 12.12.2008, Moscow 15:19:30.According to the truck maker’s General Director Sergei Kogogin, KAMAZ believes that it would be economically senseless to suspend production. He noted that the company had received orders for trucks that are not available at the warehouse. For instance, KAMAZ has orders for 1,800 trucks for December, of which it planned to produce 1,000 trucks and take the remaining 800 from the warehouse.

RBC, 12.12.2008, Moscow 13:59:10.Moscow needs a financial development plan until 2025, the Russian capital’s First Deputy Mayor Yury Roslyak told an international conference today. According to him, a financial plan like this will help project further development for the city’s social, tax, and other spheres, as well as city infrastructure. Roslyak added that the document would help determine when the standard of living in Moscow will reach the same level as any average European country, and pointed out that the plan would play an especially important role amid the financial crisis.

RBC, 12.12.2008, Moscow 13:45:48.The German automotive giant Daimler will get one seat on the Russian truck maker KAMAZ’s Board of Directors, the companies reported.

RBC, 12.12.2008, Moscow 13:34:44.Gazprom and Japan’s Economy, Trade, and Industry Ministry plan to build natural gas processing and chemical facilities at the Sobinsk oil and gas condensate field in the Krasnoyarsk region, the Russian gas monopoly’s press office reported today. The move to allow the project’s joint feasibility study was approved during a meeting of the coordination committee of Gazprom and the Japanese Natural Resource and Energy Agency. The study will be carried out while taking into account a preliminary study held by Japanese companies based on Gazprom’s original data. The parties have signed relevant agreements.

RBC, 12.12.2008, Togliatti 11:50:06.AVTOVAZ plans to float five commercial paper issues worth a total of RUB 5bn (approx. USD 179m), or RUB 1bn (approx. USD 35.8m) each, the Russian car producer said in a statement today. The decision to place the commercial paper was approved by AVTOVAZ’s board of directors. Each issue will consist of 1m securities worth RUB 1,000 (approx. USD 35.8) each, maturing on the 364th day from the beginning of the placement.

RBC, 12.12.2008, Moscow 11:08:17.Russia may reduce oil production to provide support for oil prices, President Dmitry Medvedev said during a meeting on the social and economic development of the Urals Federal District in Kurgan, one of the oldest cities in Siberia. He also did not rule out the possibility of Russia joining OPEC, or other organizations of oil exporters that might be established in the future. Medvedev noted that Russia was ready to coordinate its oil and gas supply policies with other hydrocarbon exporters, including OPEC, adding that representatives of this organization were “rather actively asking Russia” to do so. The president also stressed that it was necessary for the Russian government to consider all possible options, as oil prices directly affected the country’s national interests, its budget, and development. Russia could not be guided by any “abstract criteria” or international organizations’ recommendations while making decisions on such issues, Medvedev stated.

RBC, 11.12.2008, Moscow 18:40:55.Russia and the United States will hold another round of talks over the missile defense issue in Moscow on December 15, the Russian Foreign Ministry told RBC. The meeting is to be attended by U.S. experts and representatives of the U.S. State Department.

Hello,

I was drinking my morning cup of coffee and came across this interesting tidbit of information: This information came from Экспресс газета (Express Gazeta). The Gazeta Express, is a Kosovo newspaper published in Pristina by MediaWorks.

Smoking may be bad for you but in Russia the tobacco plants are the key to a cure for cancer.

The cost of one dose of such medications as mabtera, herceptin or avastin makes up about $2,800. A patient would have to pay over $100,000 for one year of treatment. There were incidents when cancer patients had to sell their property to be able to take the course and stay alive. What is worse, there is no universal remedy for cancer. Such medications have to be made individually for each patient. The process may last for up to six months. To crown it all, the use of animal cells may not be safe – a patient can be infected with other deadly viruses.

Russian scientists paid attention to plants, for they make the endless and cheap source of protein on the planet. Herbs do not contain any infections which could be dangerous to humans. Their biggest advantage is speed. Researchers made herbs use all of their resources to produce a required substance very quickly.

The healing tobacco plantation is located at the Moscow-based Institute for Physiochemical Biology named after A.N. Belozersky.

It seems that while smoking tobacco may cause cancer, the tobacco plant that we smoke can help cure cancer cheaply and safely. Russia has developed this unique approach because cost is such a factor. Sometimes a different approach is what it takes to make something work.

Lets hope that this is an approach that will work out to be successful.

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

Hello,

Russia seems to be getting ready to have several rallies, sanctioned or not sanctioned. It seems that this time of the year the groups like to express there dissatisfaction about the way Russia is run. The problem is that to hold a rally in Russia you must be properly sanctioned just like in the most of the free world. So when a group messes up their application or does not even turn a application in they always hold their rally anyway and then the fun starts.

Russian March’ organizers to hold sanctioned rally in Moscow
from RIA Novosti
Moscow authorities have allowed the organizers of the “Russian March” to hold a rally in central Moscow on December 12, a deputy head of the mayor’s press service said on Wednesday.

Russian opposition to go ahead with unauthorized March of Dissent
from RIA Novosti
The Other Russia opposition coalition is planning to hold an unsanctioned protest march in Moscow on December 14 after failing to receive permission for the rally, an opposition leader said on Wednesday. (These are the ones who will get in trouble)

While the protesters are stomping around downtown Moscow this weekend the South Ossetian leader is spilling the beans so to speak on Saakashvili:

S.Ossetian leader says Georgia tried to win him over with $20 mln
from RIA Novosti
The president of the separatist province attacked by Georgia in August has told a Russian newspaper that Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili tried several years ago to win his loyalty with a large bribe.

Then all over the news is the fact that the USA is so concerned that Russia had a police raid on the Memorial office
from RIA Novosti
The U.S. State Department has expressed serious concern over a police search of the St. Petersburg offices of the Memorial human rights organization.

I guess that source of information leak to the USA has been stopped and America is not happy. Of course America never raids any organization…..

It seems Latvia has a real problem with people who speak Russian in their country. The fact is 94 per cent of the Latvian population can speak Russian! Oops!

Want to speak your native tongue – pay!
from Russiatoday.ru
Latvia has proposed doubling a fine for using the Russian language in the workplace. Now, speaking Russian in Latvian offices could cost you one hundred U.S. dollars.

Of course that seems to be an issue in most of the ex Soviet countries. Ukraine is having a real problem with the very same thing.

But last but not least the scandal of the century is all over Russia and the man (Obama) has not even got into office yet.

Did governor try to sell Obama’s Senate seat?
from Russiatoday.ru
A US state governor has been arrested on charges that he tried to sell the position left vacant by president-elect Barack Obama. Investigators say they have evidence suggesting Rod Blagojevich tried to make money by using his position to appoint Obama’s replacement in the Senate.

This is how far the news has gotten to the Russian people about this issue. The rest will come out: The fact that Obama aids were involved, the fact that this has more to do with Bank Of America then corruption, the implications are flying that Obama is scared by this incident and so on and so on and so on…. (Face it people, Corruption is Government in America, that is not why he was arrested.)

So Russia is the same: Just Russia!

Oh by the way it finally got cold, the temperature dropped below freezing. Yea – it feels good outside and all that mud is freezing.

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

Hello,

A few months ago I wrote several articles about the Ukraine cargo ship Faina, that pirates had captured near Somalia! The ship was loaded with military hardware including 33 Tanks! It seems that Ukraine has been shipping for some time a lot of military weapons to multiples of destinations. The issue is not whether they should ship arms legally all over the world but whether the military could afford to sell it, did they sell illegally and that the money went to line the President of Ukraine’s pocket.

“Ukraine’s government has been accused of illegally trading in arms by its own parliamentary commission. An inquiry was launched to investigate whether laws were broken in the selling of weapons to Georgia. The head of the commission says President Viktor Yushchenko forced officials into damaging Ukraine’s own interests.” (Link)

It seems that President Viktor Yushchenko has been a bad President like so many around the world are this day and age. I mean: what good is it to become President if you can not become a billionaire? (Right?)

The Ukraine parliament has instigated a investigation into the allegations and it seems that the results are not looking very good. The Ukraine military is in shambles and has almost ceased to function, yet they sold 2.5 billion dollars worth of military hardware and only 200 million dollars got to the military. (Oops!)

Also from this investigation has surfaced the fact that Ukraine operated some of the rocket systems that were used to shell South Ossetia. This has become more fact than fiction now.

The fact is: Russian Rosoboronexport Company was offering to modernize Ukraine military production lines. It would have created better weaponry and also stimulated more jobs at our weapon factories. But when Russia learned that Kiev secretly sold arms to Georgia and fired the rockets that killed thousands, it reversed its once in a life time offer!

Meanwhile, the cargo ship Faina with Ukrainian weapons on-board is still being held by Somali pirates. Some sources claim part of the shipment wasn’t headed to Kenya, but to Southern Sudan, which is subject to an arms embargo. If this is proven correct, Kiev should face a serious international scandal.

Looks like it is time for a new President in Ukraine….. (Link)

Ukrainian Prime Minister, Yulia Timoshenko might want the job!

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

Hello,

I pulled out some more pictures of Israel and decided to post them. These came from my little Rekam camera and I almost forgot I took them on our recent trip for a visa to Russia. Most of them are from while we took a walk around the block from where Misha and Chelita live.

Svet and I just talked about missing Israel and thinking about when we will go back….

Hope you enjoyed the pictures of Israel, just follow these links and find more pictures of The Israel Trip… Link Link Link Link Link Link Link From Windows to Russia!

So lots of pictures on Israel.

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

RBC, 08.12.2008, Moscow 17:55:43.The oil supply swap scheme agreed upon by TNK-BP, Rosneft, and Transneft will enable the companies to save up to $50m per year, TNK-BP’s Vice President Jonathan Kollek told a briefing today. He reiterated that the contract signed by the companies provided for annual supplies of 13m tonnes of oil up until 2015. He also added that the agreement allowed Rosneft to meet its obligations to China without the construction of a pipeline.

RBC, 08.12.2008, Chisinau 17:08:02.The Moldova government has revised budget parameters, increasing the estimated budget deficit by $38.1m, or five times, to $47.7m. Corresponding amendments to the bill on the republic’s budget were approved during an extraordinary cabinet meeting. Similarly, the budget’s revenue and expenditure figures were also revised, a source in the government told RBC today. The amendments provide for a 3.8-percent rise in revenue to almost $1.450bn, as well as a 6.4-percent increase in expenditures to nearly $1.548bn.

RBC, 08.12.2008, Moscow 16:22:11.Transneft and CNPC (Chinese National Petroleum Corporation), along with China Development Bank, are gearing up to resume talks on the extension of a loan to the Russian pipeline giant, chief of Transneft’s press office Igor Dyomin told RBC today. He pointed out that negotiations with China’s representatives had never actually stopped, but were simply conducted less actively. With this in mind, the parties are expected to resume active talks on Wednesday, Dyomin noted.

RBC, 08.12.2008, Moscow 15:42:00.A lack of proper control over the use of R&D results not only leads to federal budget losses, but also creates conditions for an unauthorized exchange of technology with other countries and a loss of Russia’s advantages in high tech industries, said Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov at a meeting of a government commission for exports control. At the same time, however, he noted that exports control should not hinder the promotion of Russian high tech products on global markets. In this area, a flexible policy based on public-private partnership is necessary, Ivanov stressed. He added that the government, which invested huge amounts in R&D, particularly in military and dual-purpose technologies, as well as those intended for security purposes, had the right to expect certain economic benefits from such investments.

RBC, 08.12.2008, Moscow 15:32:27.Gazprom expects its foreign currency revenue from natural gas exports to non-CIS countries to amount to $64bn in 2008, the Russian energy holding’s spokesman Dmitry Semyonov said during today’s Russian oil and gas congress. He pointed out that exports to non-CIS countries would exceed 160bn cubic meters of natural gas in 2008. Meanwhile, the average export price for gas stood at $400 per 1,000 cubic meters.

RBC, 08.12.2008, Moscow 13:47:25.The Bank of Moscow plans to approach Vnesheconombank for a subordinated loan of RUB 10bn (approx. USD 356m). In addition, the bank said in a statement, it could also ask for money to refinance its external debt (roughly USD 1bn) in 2009.

RBC, 08.12.2008, Moscow 12:35:02.Russia’s natural gas exports grew 9.1 percent to 147.5bn cubic meters between January and October 2008 against the same period of the previous year, the Federal Customs Service reported today. Similarly, Russia’s revenue from gas exports jumped 69.2 percent to $55.02bn. Exports to countries outside the CIS rose 10.8 percent to 134.1bn cubic meters, whereas exports to the CIS shrank 5.6 percent to $13.4bn cubic meters.

RBC, 08.12.2008, Moscow 11:51:13.In January-October 2008, Russia decreased its oil exports by 7.44 percent to 184.543m tonnes compared to the same period a year earlier, Russia’s Federal Customs Service reported. Meanwhile, oil export revenues rose 51.2 percent to $136.7bn. Oil exports to countries outside the CIS dropped almost 8 percent to 170.2m tonnes, while revenues grew 50.8 percent to $128.26bn. Exports to the CIS inched down 0.11 percent to just shy of 14.38m tonnes of oil, while revenues jumped 57.1 percent to over $8.443bn.

RBC, 08.12.2008, Moscow 10:37:35.The postponement of loan payments in 2009 will not be free for individuals, Deputy PM and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin told journalists following a government meeting on economic issues. Although debt delays are to be paid for, he added, people will be able to choose a payment schedule that is convenient for them. The minister explained that the terms of payment deferral for people who had lost a job or part of their income would be similar to those for the postponement of mortgage loans. He stressed, however, that the terms of debt restructuring would be determined separately.

RBC, 05.12.2008, Moscow 19:30:01.During today’s meeting of OSCE foreign ministers in Helsinki, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in South Ossetia connected with Georgia’s suspension of natural gas supplies to the region.

Hello,

These last few days while drinking my cup of coffee I had to stop and think about our friends (Roberto and Lydia) in Panama. (I read their blog all the time, The Silver People Chronicle). The issue is in my mind because their blog is about the Panama canal and the Russians have a Warship going through the canal for the first time since 1944!

A Russian warship is passing through the Panama Canal in Central America for the first time since 1944. The Admiral Chabanenko is on its way back to Russia after participating in military exercises with Venezuela’s Navy in the Caribbean.

The ship will stay in Panama for five days to take onboard supplies before heading to the Pacific Ocean.

It marks a return to the region of Russian naval vessels.

In 1944 four Soviet submarines passed through the canal. (Link)

This video is about the historic situation and Russia feels pretty good about going where the past forbid….

So after checking out the Russian Warship video go take a peek at Roberto and Lydias blog. It is a good read. (Link)

Update to the article:

Lydia from The Silver People Chronicle passed on in a comment:

Rev. Marvia Lawes who lives and works in Colon did, however, get a “choice spot” on Lake Gatun and she has a rather fascinating account of her impression when she saw it. You can read it at her blog Marvia’s Panama Journal.

You saw a real Russian warship? Yup. And not on TV either. I already hear the disbelief in the voice of my friends when I recount for them my latest adventure in Panama.

A Tweet from a friend tipped me off with a news alert that a Russian warship, the Admiral Chabanenko 650 would be passing through the Panama Canal on Friday December 5, 2008. This is the first time since 1944 at the time of World War II, that a Russian warship would make this voyage through the Canal. It sounded like something worth seeing.

I learnt from my sources that the Russian destroyer was scheduled to arrive in Colon Panama to transit Gatun Locks at around 17:40 pm on Friday. So my next move was to find someone to accompany me to the choice spot I got in order to take some photos to share with you. Well let me just say, adventures never quite go as planned, do they?

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.