Year: 2008

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Alexiy II, has died, Church officials say.

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Aleksy II, has died. He passed away on Friday morning at his home near Moscow. The Church leader, 79, had been ill in recent years and had undergone several operations. His health reportedly deteriorated after a visit to Kiev in July. In September he underwent a heart operation in a German hospital. A source in the Church said that the Patriarch died of heart failure.

But this didn’t stop him from working. The day before his death Aleksy II held a divine service in the Cathedral of Assumption of the Moscow Kremlin to celebrate the beginning of the Christmas fast. (Link)

Hello,

A few days ago we posted a article about building three Orthodox Churches in one day! We at that time was not sure when they where going to build them.

They built them….

It is a fast forward of the building process and it is neat! Just like the old days when churches and barns were built in a day by everyone in town.

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

RBC, 05.12.2008, Moscow 13:51:54.Inflation reached 0.8 percent in Russia in November and 12.5 percent for the first 11 months of 2008, the Russia’s Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) said in a statement. In 2007, inflation stood at 1.2 percent in November, amounting to 10.6 percent for the first 11 months. Core inflation, which excludes price changes for certain goods prone to administrative and seasonality factors, was 1.1 percent in November 2008 and 12.7 percent from the beginning of the year.

RBC, 05.12.2008, Moscow 13:22:15.The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church is set to hold an emergency meeting today, due to the death of Patriarch Alexy II, the Moscow Patriarchate reported. According to the established procedure, an extraordinary Church Council will be held to elect a new patriarch. The successor to Alexius II will become the 16th Patriarch of All-Russia.

RBC, 05.12.2008, Moscow 12:18:34.Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a bill on the execution of the federal budget in 2007, which was passed by the State Duma on November 19 and the Federation Council on November 26, 2008, the leader’s press office reported today.

RBC, 05.12.2008, Moscow 11:52:01.Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed into law amendments to existing federal legislation on customs tariffs. The document was adopted by the State Duma on November 21 and approved by the Federation Council on November 26, the Russian leader’s press office reported today.

RBC, 05.12.2008, Moscow 11:43:18.The Bank of Russia has decided to further widen the range of ruble’s fluctuations against the basket of two currencies by RUB 0.30 (approx. USD 0.011) at either end, a source in the Central Bank told RBC today.

RBC, 05.12.2008, Moscow 10:50:11.Rosoboronexport is planning to sign a contract for the supply of 80 Mi-17 multirole military and cargo helicopters to India, head of the Russian Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation (FSVTS) Mikhail Dmitriyev said in Delhi, where Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is scheduled to hold talks with India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Mayak radio station reported today.

RBC, 05.12.2008, Moscow 10:30:36.Russia’s monetary base (in the narrow sense of the term) decreased by RUB 132.6bn (approx. USD 4.74bn) to just shy of RUB 4.229 trillion (approx. USD 151.25bn) as of December 1, 2008 from a week earlier, the Bank of Russia’s external and public relations department reported. The figure stood at slightly over RUB 4.361 trillion (approx. USD 155.97bn) on November 24.

RBC, 04.12.2008, Moscow 19:28:28.Russian stocks traded mixed in the afternoon, following this morning’s trend. At midday, stocks inched up amid low trading activity, with leading indices reaching positive territory. Towards the close of business, however, a negative mood took hold of the RTS, with the index falling more than 1 percent below the psychologically important mark of 600 points. At closing, the RTS index was down 0.56 percent at 599.96 points. The MICEX index, however, edged up 0.17 percent today, finishing at 567.94 points.

RBC, 04.12.2008, Moscow 18:27:52.The ideology defined as “right-wing, liberal ideas, economic freedom, human rights, political democracy, and rapprochement with the West” finds support from 14 percent of Russians today, a poll conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) showed. Liberalism is less popular than the nationalist-conservative and the left socialist ideologies, supported by 33 and 24 percent of respondents, respectively. Meanwhile, more than half of Russians (52 percent) have never voted for liberals in elections, and 49 percent do not plan to do so in the next election.

RBC, 04.12.2008, Moscow 17:33:14.For the first time since late September 2008, Russia’s reserves expanded $5bn to $454.9bn as of November 28, 2008. Experts link the slight rise to a $14bn increase in the National Wealth Fund in November. On top of that, a mere $2bn was spent to revaluate the currency. Analysts, however, regard the rise as temporary, predicting that the reserves will continue declining while the ruble remains overvalued. It is quite possible that the government will have to use the entire Reserve Fund to finance budget deficit, which, according to analysts, may widen to $35bn. The National Wealth Fund could be used as a source for investment or support for the pension system, analysts say. Part of the funds has recently been transferred to Vnesheconombank and will be used to purchase securities and extend subordinated loans to Russian banks.

RBC, 04.12.2008, Moscow 15:45:37.Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin believes that Georgians should decide for themselves what responsibility their politicians should bear for their actions that led to the drastic consequences in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, he said, answering Russians’ questions in a live broadcast on national television and radio. The Georgian leadership unleashed a bloodbath, massacring residents of South Ossetia and wiping out 10 Ossetian villages. Moreover, Russian peacekeepers were attacked and many of them killed. Putin believes this was a crime against the Georgian statehood and people. “Had there been no aggression, Russia would probably still be making efforts to facilitate Georgia’s territorial reintegration. After the aggression, it has become obvious that this was no longer possible,” Putin said.

Hello,

Today I watched a news flash that Putin explained to BBC that he will not return to the presidency before 2012, when presidential position comes up for renewal and only then will he decide if he wants to run at all.

Putin had to bring this up because it seems that everyone and their brother seem to think he is going to make a early return to President. When Medvedev extended the presidential term from four to six years the journalist went crazy over the fact that they were sure that Putin may return to the presidency soon.

Putin stepped down this year after serving two consecutive terms like he was suppose to. Medvedev has had to endure a constant barrage of journalists that never give up on Putin coming back.

Putin said “The next presidential election will take place in 2012… For now, everyone must fulfill his duties in his place,”. (Link)

He spoke about the fact that he had a very effective relationship with Medvedev and that they have worked together for several years.

I think that Putin may not want to be back as President and will be happy as Prime Minister for along time.

So all those that seem to want to see Putin as Russian President again: It will be awhile and could never happen!

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

Hello,

Russia is busy and at it again. We have watched the roads and have seen more new cars than anytime in my life. We see a lot of new Chevy’s and Fords now Nissan tells us how much they made:

“Sales of Japanese Nissan automobiles in Russia rose 29.7 percent between January and November 2008, in comparison with the same period of 2007, to reach 134,677 vehicles, the Russian office of the company announced on Tuesday. November was not a particularly successful month for the company, however. It sold 7218 cars, 31.4 percent less than November 2007. Between January and November, Nissan sold 6970 Infiniti models (the maker’s luxury model), which is up 41.4 percent over last year. In November, it sold 719 Infinitis, an increase of 18 percent over November 2007.”

While Nissan has increased its luxury car market by over 41% the Russian Space Agency has extended its contract with NASA so that America can keep flying into space.

“Russia’s Federal Space Agency Roskosmos and the U.S. NASA have inked a modification to the current International Space Station contract for the pre-flight training of the U.S. crew members and the transportation services in 2011 and 2012, according to official webs of Roskosmos and NASA.”

Of course all this money from cars and space travel has to be kept somewhere. A bank merger to become one of the largest banks in Russia is happening as of now.

“The biggest holders of MDM Bank and Ursa Bank Sergei Popov and Igor Kim respectively are setting up a united bank holding that will emerge as one of the major private financial holdings in Russia, Interfax reported citing the official statement of both banks.”

While banks are heating up and growing we are having a growing heat wave. Moscow is not cold and records for warm temperatures are dropping everyday.

“The temperature in Moscow climbed to 6.6 degrees Celsius (44 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday, breaking a 47-year-old record, the Russian meteorological website www.hmn.ru reported.”

Speaking of warming up: Russia, China and the USA refuse to sign a ban for cluster bombs.

“100 countries are meeting in Oslo on Wednesday in a summit aimed at banning cluster bombs. The explosives have been guilty of causing numerous injuries to civilians in many conflicts.”

Now that Russia, China and the USA are cluster bomb buddies and plan on using them at any opportunity maybe they should all get together and work on nano-science together. That would make some great science fiction movies come true.

“Russia’s bid to step away from an economy based on producing and exporting energy and metals has moved in several directions. One of them is Rosnano – a state-owned non-profit company that promotes and finances nano-science and nano-technology projects.”

So last but far from least is another issue that Russians seem to be working on:

“Sociologists report a drastic change in Russian people’s attitude to representatives of other nationalities. Russians’ sympathies to Georgians, Ukrainians and Americans reduced most of all. The sympathies of the Russian population reduced considerably to those, whom the Russian public opinion blames for the war in South Ossetia, including the USA”

Seems that Russia is having another wonderful week, we did not even touch upon the NATO issues that made the Kremlin happy!

Nor will we at this moment because “NATO called upon Russia on Wednesday to refrain from “Confrontational statements” that could further harm relations between the military alliance and Moscow.” 🙁

We think they mean statements like: “Georgia and Ukraine are unlikely to join NATO within the next two decades, a chief analyst at the Russian Institute for Military and Political Analysis said on Wednesday.” 🙂

So you did not hear about NATO from us! (shhhhhh)

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

Hello,

I was drinking my morning cup of coffee and reading about the project that the Orthodox Church has underway. Three new churches are to be built simultaneously and in one day in the Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian capitals. The remarkable Orthodox project being undertaken in Moscow, Kiev and Minsk marks one thousand and twenty years since the arrival of Christianity in Russia.(Link)

It was said on TV last night that they are using a prefabbed wood block system that will cut the cost by 60%. The cost is estimated at around $50,000 per church. This project is a start toward replacing churches that had been destroyed during the Stalin era.

The Orthodox Church says that it is not the glitter that makes a church but the spiritual hunger that makes a church. So costs will be kept at a minimum. Churches are to be located in areas that are lacking in churches from destruction. The day has not been announced yet for this one day event.

THE JUBILEE OF RUSSIA’S CHRISTENING: For all Orthodox believers of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus July 27th is traditionally a day of remembering the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir.

We are so glad to see the strong revival of the Orthodox Church in the old Soviet areas….

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

Hello,

I have written before about Kiev, Ukraine. It is a city that I love but it is also a city that has lots of problems. It seems the main problem is the government of the country or more specifically: The Ukraine President….

KIEV, December 2 (RIA Novosti) – Ukraine’s president (Viktor Yushchenko) has ordered a high-level group be set up to improve ties with Russia in the face of the ongoing financial crisis, the country’s top security official said on Tuesday.

Seems that now as Ukraine finds itself broke and going bankrupt. Ukraine has come to the realization that the America is not going to throw funds their way. It is obvious that America is broke. It is obvious that America is not buying any goods from Ukraine.

Now the Ukraine President looked around and said whoops – I hope that I have not pissed Russia off too much. Viktor Yushchenko is quoted as saying, “Naturally Russia, with trade turnover due to reach some $30 billion this year, is our largest partner, and it must be a partner in finding ways of overcoming the crisis.”

Good job President Yushchenko you figured out who buys more Ukraine goods all on your own!

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

Update: Russia has announced if Ukraine is serious that Russia will give Ukraine a chance. Russia said that they are there for Ukraine and that Ukraine needs to realize where the reality is.

Cool….

RBC, 02.12.2008, Moscow 15:04:50.The Russian judicial system must be made effective enough to reduce the number of lawsuits filed with international courts to a minimum, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told the 7th congress of judges in Moscow today. He did not rule out the possibility that, to achieve this goal, the Russian court system would have to be transformed. The Strasbourg Court and any other international courts cannot, and should not, substitute for Russian courts, the president stressed.

RBC, 02.12.2008, Moscow 14:47:58.Russian President Dmitry Medvedev assured the 7th congress of judges in Moscow that the fundamental problems of Russia’s judicial system had been solved. He pointed out that over the last several years, Russia saw the establishment of constitutional relations, economic and administrative court proceedings, and reestablished trial juries.

RBC, 02.12.2008, Moscow 14:38:11.Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev will pay an official visit to India on December 4-6. According to the president’s press office, Medvedev will take part in an official ceremony marking the end of the Year of Russia in India on December 5.

RBC, 02.12.2008, Moscow 12:40:07.The Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs (Vnesheconombank) and the Bahrain Development Bank (BDB) have signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation today, the Russian state corporation’s press office reported. The document stipulates deeper ties between Russian and Bahraini financial institutions and the joint financing of product and service exports to other countries. The agreement also aims at the development of long-term interests of Russian industrial producers involved in the mechanical engineering, transportation, timber, and construction materials industries.

RBC, 02.12.2008, Moscow 09:58:10.As of December 1, Russia’s Reserve Fund totaled RUB 3.661 trillion (USD 131.63bn), and National Wealth Fund amounted to RUB 2.108 trillion (USD 76.38bn), the Russian Finance Ministry said in a statement. The balances of accounts in the Reserve Fund stood at RUB 20bn, USD 63.99bn, EUR 43.81bn, and GBP 7.31bn, while the National Wealth Fund’s currency accounts break down as follows: RUB 474.9bn, USD 22.05bn, EUR 15.35bn, GBP 2.62bn, and RUB 365bn on deposits in Vnesheconombank.

RBC, 01.12.2008, Moscow 19:48:42.Transneft will issue long-term ruble bonds to finance the Baltic Pipeline System-2 project. The issue is provided for in today’s government’s decree to launch the pipeline’s design. According to the document, the Energy Ministry, in collaboration with the Economy Ministry, Regional Development Ministry, the Finance Ministry, Russia’s Federal Tariff Service and Vnesheconombank, is to work out schemes to finance the pipeline expansion project within three months after receiving a feasibility study from Transneft. In addition, they will devise a financing scheme to revamp the existing pipelines. To this end, the long-term bonds will be placed by private subscription among financial organizations with considerable state-run stakes. In addition, the financing for a branch to Kirishi, a city in the Leningrad region, should be approved within the same period.

RBC, 01.12.2008, Moscow 15:59:09.The current price level of Russian company shares is “an ugly and unfair phenomenon,” Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said at the opening of today’s Presidium meeting. He noted that the fall had primarily resulted from trading decisions made abroad, which were hardly based on the actual state of affairs. As a result, the market capitalization of companies is much lower than their real value, Putin maintained, adding that there were even cases when Russian companies’ market value was lower than the amount of funds on their accounts. He added that, while the Russian leadership did not plan to limit foreign activities on domestic markets, the creation of a wide class of Russian investors was still among its priorities.

RBC, 01.12.2008, Moscow 14:59:15.The Bank of Russia has extended another loan worth RUB 65.9bn (approx. USD 2.39bn) to rehabilitate 10 different banks, Deputy PM and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin told a Presidium meeting today. He explained that the money would be lent to regionally important banks. The minister added that the banks would be able to recover and continue their activities. He noted, however, that there were difficulties with other banks, whose licenses were now being revoked by the Central Bank. Kudrin stressed that these banks were not significant for federal or regional financial markets, adding that the Deposit Insurance Agency would be involved at once in case of such banks.

Hello,

Yesterday once again was a interesting day in the world. I spent yesterday cleaning house and ignoring the blogs. I was drinking my cup of coffee in between loads of laundry and came across a news flash that America might be in a recession. I laughed and thought to myself, “America is in a recession and has been for a long time!” I went on about my business. Later an article came out that stated 7 economic advisers have gotten together and proclaimed “America in Recession and has been in recession since December of 2007!”…….. (OMG)

Then the world financial systems did a systematic melt down, over news that we all knew was true and we all knew about along time ago. It was hard to convince me that America was not in a recession when Japan and Europe have (already a month ago) excepted that they are in recession.

The American Wall street nose dived 680 points on Monday over this tidbit of news (that we all knew anyway). The Asian markets are slip sliding away, the European markets are gurgling at he surface as they sink and last but not least the Russian stock market has sank and just bounces along merrily at the silt laden bottom of the Financial ocean.

I have something to say about Wall Street: Close It! Shut The Doors!

The world has pumped trillions of dollars to salvage Wall Streets all over the globe. Governments have injected trillions of dollars of funds that should have gone to help the world become a better place. What do you see, as the result of all this money being infused into failing businesses and banks? What do you see, as a huge portion of humans in the world are starving? What do you see, as we struggle all over the world to fund cancer research and aids cures? What do you see, as Wall Street gets trillions of dollars but the home owners are setting record numbers of defaults, bankruptcies and homelessness. What do you see?

I see the money lining the Rich peoples pockets. I see a failure of governments to put the money where it would help the most. I see the money going down a huge Money Hole with no bottom…..

I have owned several businesses in my lifetime. I have failed and also been very successful at these businesses. I failed because I messed up and made bad decisions, I succeeded because I worked hard and made the right decisions.

What ever happened to running a business with in its means? We as people are told to live with in our means.

If you have a business and sell 1,000,000 x $1.00 thingamajigs = $1,000,000. You operate your business with in that million dollars. (No more than a million dollars but any less is profit.)

What I really see, is that Recession is the old word for the American economy. What you will see sometime next year, is the new word Depression!

But then that really is not a new word is it? We all know that a depression is going on now.

I bet the stock-market would really crash on the Big D word!

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

Barack Obama is being asked to authorize the reconstruction of the White House – but not the one which serves as the presidential residence in Washington. The call has come from custodians of an exact replica in a remote area of Ukraine. (Read More)

Hummmmm…

Kyle & Svet