Category: Russia

I just filled up the Volga and took note of what we are paying per liter. I wanted to figure out at home what that per liter price equates in per gallon amount. Sveta and I just paid 20 rubles per liter and we could have gotten it cheaper by one ruble a few kilometers farther away. Out in the country it is cheaper yet. We find the most expensive fuel as we travel is generally in Moscow. But I have been grumbling because the price has been going up and over the last year I have seen it go up by a few rubles…

So we will use that 20 ruble number per liter. Now this is 80 octane benzine (gasoline). I do not have to burn that high octane stuff and I can save a fortune. I see people with their new foreign cars trying to burn the 80 instead of the 92 and their cars do not do well with the cheap gas. But our Sammy the Russian Volga purrs with 80 octane…

Now lets see how many liters in an American gallon? Google says: 1 US gallon = 3.78541178 liters. So lets round it off to 3.79 to make life easier. We have 3.79 times 20 rubles per liter. That equals 3.79 X 20 = 75.8 rubles per gallon. It takes as of right now today: 28.15 rubles per dollar. So lets divide 75.8 by 28.15 and that equals $2.69 per gallon…

I don’t expect with Russian presidential election season coming in Russia, that price will change a whole lot until after the election. So since that will be in 2012. We have these prices for awhile…

The reason I also bring this up is that I was shocked today after reading an article that: Gas Prices Reach Five Dollars a Gallon in the Nation’s Capital That floored me because I only worry about what I pay in Russia and I was upset about the creeping price of fuel in Russia. After I started to look around the news and saw what is happening in America with gas prices. I will quit complaining. What I found in America and Europe is not good and you all are being taken for a ride. I do not know about Europe but I do know that America has huge reserves of oil and there is no shortage anywhere of any bulk crude oil. Saudi Arabia just pronounced no shortage of oil on the market and Russia has been stating the same thing. There is no shortage of oil…

If it has to do with refineries then America better get its act together…

I know that awhile back in Russia (6 or 7 months ago). Putin told Russia to get the price of gasoline under control or else. (Looks like they did.) How much are you willing to pay when there is plenty of oil around?

I grumble at 20 rubles per liter and drive much less than I would otherwise…

Windows to Russia!

Putin demands Russia join top five world economies in next decade:
Russia must become one of the world’s top five economies in the next 10 years to avoid interference in its affairs, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday…

Russia to double ballistic missiles production from 2013 – Putin:
Russia will double the production of ballistic missile systems from 2013, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said in his annual address to parliament on Wednesday…

Putin says Air Force upgrade a priority for armed forces:
Upgrading the Air Force and air defense systems will be a priority in the development of the Russian armed forces in the near future, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said in his annual address to parliament on Wednesday…

Russia to double Reserve Fund by end of 2011 – Putin:
Russia will double its Reserve Fund to 1.43 trillion rubles ($50 billion) by the end of this year, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said in his annual address to parliament on Wednesday…

Nord Stream’s undersea pipe-laying to finish in Jul 2011 – Putin:
The laying of the undersea section of the Nord Stream pipeline will finish in July, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday in his annual address to parliament…

Defense budget funds should not go abroad – Putin:
The funds of Russia’s defense budget should not be spent abroad, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said in his annual address to parliament on his government’s performance on Wednesday…

Russian govt. to strive for 6% mortgage rate – Putin:
The Russian government will strive to create conditions for 5-6 percent mortgage interest rates, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said during his annual address to parliament on Wednesday…

Russia needs new infrastructure base – Putin:
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called on Wednesday for establishing a new national infrastructure base in the next ten years…

Putin urges creation of 200,000 jobs in single-industry cities by 2015:
Russia will create “at least 200,000 jobs” in one-industry cities by 2015, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday…

Russia to see $60-70 bln in FDI – Putin:
The level of foreign direct investment in Russia should increase to $60-70 billion “in the foreseeable future,” Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday in an annual report on his government’s performance to parliament…

Russia’s stock market reaches $1.1trln – Putin:
The capitalization of Russia’s stock market has exceeded $1.1 trillion, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said in his annual address to parliament on Wednesday…

U.S. debt rating downgrade harms world economy – Putin:
The recent U.S. debt downgrade by a leading debt ratings agency is harmful for the global economy, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said during his annual address to parliament on Wednesday…

Lawmakers cast critical eye over Putin ahead of parliament address:
Opposition parties criticized Russia’s powerful Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in comments to the press ahead of his annual address to parliament on Wednesday…

Windows to Russia!

In Russia the term bifocal is known, but the availability is lacking of such glasses. Sveta just picked up my new glasses and that is what I am contemplating today over that wonderful cup of coffee…

When you get older, you one day realize that father time has been sneaking up on you. So now I have a set of glasses that compensate for what age takes away from us…

But in Russia getting those bifocals is not an easy process. In America I just would go to the local pharmacy chain store and find a whole rack of reading glasses. They would have bifocals there also. I found a pair of bifocal sunglasses before I left America years ago, but they are no good inside the flat…

Russia has access to lots of reading glasses but not bifocals. They look at you like you are nuts and bifocals are a very special order form the eye doctor. Other words, “What the heck do you need bifocals for?”

Well I wanted bifocals because that is what makes me happy and comfortable. But that really is not a good enough reason in Russia, except to my sweetie of course and she helped me get bifocals in Russia… 🙂

So we went to the eye doctor and got my eyes checked then went to an eyeglass place and I got fitted for glasses. It took a week and I had my bifocals. But not without the eyeglass place trying to sell me twenty different variations on my glasses. They said I should have no line bifocals, anti-glare bifocals, gradient bifocals and so on and so on and so on…

Actually everything was acceptable until we got to the price. At 5900 rubles ($200) I balked and really questioned the sanity of Russian eyeglass places. But these were prescription type glasses and the Luca brand frames and in Russia this was a special type of glasses and that means, “You pay out the nose for special…” I said no way but Sveta evidently thought that overriding my decision was in order in this situation and went and ordered them anyway…

So I now sit here and type on the computer and I can actually see the keyboard plus the computer screen as clear as can be. I guess Sveta was right, I needed them, whether I think they were too expensive or not…

That is why Sveta is my Sweetie…

Windows to Russia!

The lower house of the Russian parliament on Tuesday approved a bill increasing fines for bribes by up to 100 times the amount of the bribe given or accepted.

The offer or promise of mediation in bribe-taking, including the physical handing over of the bribe, carries a fine of 25,000 to 500 million rubles ($880 to $18 million) combined with a work ban of up to three years.

Over 60% of people convicted of bribery in 2010 received a bribe of under 25,000 rubles with about 3% convicted of accepting a bribe between 150,000 rubles ($5,000) to 1 million rubles ($33,000), according to presidential envoy to the State Duma Garry Minkh.

The bill provides for custodial sentence as an alternative to a fine, which has led critics to argue the new law is open to interpretation and could lead to abuses.

They have also suggested that the size of bribes might grow as a result.

President Dmitry Medvedev’s anti-corruption drive has so far yielded few practical results.

The number of corruption-related crimes involving top government officials and large bribes increased 100% in 2010 year-on-year, Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev said in January.

The Berlin-based non-governmental anti-corruption organization Transparency International has persistently rated Russia as one of the most corrupt nations in the world. In the 2009 Corruption Perception Index, Russia was ranked 146 out of 180 countries, with a ranking below countries like Togo, Pakistan and Libya.

Windows to Russia!

A troy ounce of gold has for the first time exceeded $1500 dollars at the Hong Kong Exchange. Investors are turning to gold and silver as an alternative currency amid fears of an increase in the US state debt and the weakening of the dollar. Here in Russia we watch the gold make a slow but steady climb up the ladder. It is not a wild ride like we have seen in the past but a slow but impossibly steady rise that is ignored by almost everyone…

But in Russia and China they are hording gold as fast as they can. It seems that the warning signs are being ignored by the West except for the ones you all try to call crackpots. In the East it is seriously buy gold, then buy some more. In the East a crackpot is one who does not buy gold and silver. Also they do not believe in gold stocks or papers. It must be real gold and in your hand. For if it is not in your hand then it is not worth more than the paper it is printed on, in times of issues…

I remember in 2006 that Russia was silently stocking gold and silver. (Link) I remember in 2008 that Russian billionaires were moving into gold. (Link) I remember that in 2009 that Russia expressed a desire for gold to become a backing for world currency. (Link) I remember that Russia is increasing her gold reserves at a tremendous pace. (Link)…

All this time Russia, China, India and many many other countries are silently exchanging moderate amounts of worthless paper we call money, for gold and silver. They are doing this at a controlled pace and hoping to accomplish a change over in their holdings of foreign currencies before the world finances crash again. This is not well publicized and when it becomes publicized it will be too late…

I know that the holdings that Russia has of dollars is much less than a few years ago. The sting that happened when Americas finances crashed hurt Russia and she has decided to put a huge buffer between America and Russia this time…

Looks like we may get to see if Russia is better prepared than last time because things are looking real bad around the world as America and Europe struggle with debt that is only imaginable in horror stories and fairy tales…

Windows to Russia!

If it is from Siberia it has to be true – right? I could care less if this is real or not but when I find things about UFOs I just have to post it…

About a month ago this story was floated in the airwaves on a major UFO event that occurred in the region of Irkutsk in Russia’s Siberia. It was explained off as a most likely fake. But several hundred villagers say they saw a huge object, glowing pink and blue, hurtle towards Earth before loudly impacting the ground in a wooded area . The event received widespread coverage in Russia and was reported by Russia’s Inter-fax. An enormous team of Russian government officials, including military personal, secret service agents and science ministry officials made their way to the UFO crash site within hours of the event occurring. Now it seems a video has been leaked onto YouTube showing a dead Alien (see the video below), found in the Republic of Buryatia, not far from the site of the UFO crash…

Is the alien found in this video from that crash? Did it manage to leave the crash site only to die as a result of Russia’s harsh conditions and its injuries? I do happen to remember news about the sightings a month ago. The Russians blogs were lit up with posts…

Warning: the below video possibly contains graphic images…

What seems to be a tiny dead alien is becoming a YouTube sensation. It has gone over a million hits and climbing…

As I said whether it is real or not, is not the point…

But you have to say there has been some interesting stories come out of Siberia. It may have to do with the fact that they are frozen year around and have to do something to keep them busy…

I would say finding dead aliens would qualify as staying busy…

Lets hope they (aliens) don’t come to get their buddies body…

Windows to Russia!

Boza and I just finished a walk. We found our first garden area with bulbs coming up. I knew that flowers had to be at least starting to grow but it has been such a mud bath that we have not been able to get anywhere but the sidewalks. Today Boza and I could walk around behind the buildings in the yards without sinking to our knees… 🙂

Yippy – We found flowers growing…

Now it feels like Spring, even though it was -2 below Celsius last night…

Windows to Russia!

PS: The real faint red spot in the upper right corner is a person cleaning their garden. Many people fence off a small garden area in Moscow. (Or at least try, they usually can get away with it…)

Moscow city authorities are looking for investors to build a Disneyland-like park in the Russian capital, a city government official said on Monday.

“We are constantly in talks with companies that would be interested in such an ambitious project,” Sergei Cheremin, head of the city government’s foreign trade department, said.

Negotiations are ongoing with a number of large European and Russian financial institutions and banks because the project’s implementation “will require the creation of an international consortium,” he added.

Russian investors are showing significant interest in such a project, Cheremin said.

The project should be located on a plot of at least 100 hectares near the city’s outer ring road, he added.

Hummm, Interesting! But could it be open enough during the year to be profitable? With 6 to 7 months of snow and Winter…

Windows to Russia!

This video and interview follow my thoughts pretty close. Russia Today does an interview with Alan J. Kuperman, a professor at the University of Texas argued there is simply no evidence Qaddafi was targeting civilians, therefore there is no possibility Obama could have had evidence or reason to enter Libya and begin a military intervention…

“Civilians are caught in the middle,” he said. “We didn’t stop a bloodbath but we (West) are prolonging and perpetuating the suffering of civilians in Libya.”

He argued that Qaddafi is targeting rebel fighters. There was never a bloodbath of civilians at the hands of Qaddafi…

“We knew that if we wanted – if we waited one more day, Benghazi, a city nearly the size of Charlotte, could suffer a massacre that would have reverberated across the region and stained the conscience of the world,” Obama said in a speech…

“If Qaddafi were trying to massacre civilians there would be thousands killed, not a couple hundred killed,” Kuperman remarked…

Qaddafi said he would show no mercy to rebels, he did not speak about civilians. He even said rebel fighters who laid down their arms and surrendered would receive mercy, explained Kuperman…

“He made clear would not target civilians,” he said. “Obama exaggerated the threat.”

The Libya issue is a huge fabricated lie by the West…

The one thing that has come out about this situation on this side of the world is that more civilians have been been killed by and because of the coalition, than Qaddafi caused…

“A lie told often enough becomes truth!” – credited to Vladimir Lenin…
“Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it!” – credited to Adolf Hitler…

Windows to Russia!

Over the next two weeks. I will be doing 3 or 4 articles on Propane and our car here in Russia. I will get pictures together and as much information as I can remember about the interesting issues that I ran into with propane and reinstalling the system on our car. If you remember we bought our Volga with a dual fuel system. It had both benzine (gasoline) and propane. But due to some technical issues at the motor vehicle place. I ended up having to temporarily remove the propane. The propane was legal after all, it all had to do with a combination of the VIN number on the car and the nice gentleman who was our inspector, who decided to make our life interesting and fun…

Here is a link to that article for those of you who are new to Windows to Russia… (Running Propane (LPG) in our Volga Wagon!)

What is propane? Propane is a product of the refining natural gas and crude oil. Around 3% to 4% of a barrel of oil is produced as propane as a by product. Propane vaporizes at around -44 degrees F. or around -42 C. (That is the temperature that Celsius and Fahrenheit meet in the cold range.) Because it vaporizes at such a temperature, that causes it to mixes with air at ease. Gasoline is liquid at room temperature where as propane is a gas. Other words propane is naturally a vapor as it enters the engine and gasoline has to be atomized by the carburetor or injectors as it enters the engine. It is easier to drive your car on propane and no carburetor or fuel injection needed…

Propane is also an extremely clean fuel. The motor oil virtually never gets fouled which increases engine life. Another plus is propane is very high octane of between 100 and 110. This allows some serious advancing of timing and in my case allows me to gain back any slight power loss by using propane…

Another big factor for Sveta and I as we travel is that propane is available throughout the world. Russia has propane stations everywhere…

Propane: Will not go bad like gasoline will, Burns very clean is not harmful to soil or water, Requires low maintenance, Easy to install (carburetor versions), Very safe, Cheaper than gasoline, Rates at 100-110 octane, Automatically compensates for altitude, and Prolongs engine life. These are just some of the reasons to burn propane…

Now in the next week I will take some pictures of the components of my propane system and try to give some more information on what does what, on our Volga…

A surprise will be the propane tank. It is very interesting…

Windows to Russia!

Part 2 (http://windowstorussia.com/driving-on-propane-lpg-in-russia%E2%80%A6-part-2.html)

Part 3 (http://windowstorussia.com/driving-on-propane-lpg-in-russia-part-3.html)