Windows to Russia

ID: 09MOSCOW2943
SUBJECT: ALLEGED NUCLEAR SMUGGLING INCIDENT AT THE RUSSIA-KAZAKHSTAN BORDER REF: TELEPHONE CONVERSATION BETWEEN FSN AND RUSSIAN CUSTOMS OFFICER RELAYED TO EXBS ADVISOR Classified By: DCM ERIC RUBIN FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, C, D).

DATE: 2009-12-04 14:02:00
CLASSIFICATION: SECRET
ORIGIN: EMBASSY Moscow
TEXT: S E C R E T MOSCOW 002943

SIPDIS

FOR STATE ISN/WMDT AND PM/ISO/PMAT (24/7)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/04/2019
TAGS: ASEC KCRM KNNP KZ MNUC PARM PINR PTER RS UP
SUBJECT: ALLEGED NUCLEAR SMUGGLING INCIDENT AT THE RUSSIA-KAZAKHSTAN BORDER REF: TELEPHONE CONVERSATION BETWEEN FSN AND RUSSIAN CUSTOMS OFFICER RELAYED TO EXBS ADVISOR Classified By: DCM ERIC RUBIN FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, C, D).

1.(S) BEGIN SUMMARY: Post wishes to alert the Department and Washington agencies per reftel that it has received a report indicating a potential incident of illicit trafficking in nuclear and/or radiological materials. This report came to post,s attention via a telephone conversation between a xxxxxxxxxxxx and the Export Controls and Related Border Security (EXBS) FSN, which was relayed to the EXBS Advisor. Post cautions that details of the alleged incident are very sketchy. END SUMMARY.

2.Details of the alleged incident follow:

LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION OF MATERIAL ALARM AND DETECTION DETAILS

a. (S) EXBS FSN received a telephone call from a xxxxxxxxxxxx on the Russia-Kazakhstan border. xxxxxxxxxxxx. The telephone call was part of a larger conversation between the EXBS FSN and the officer that occurred some time in August 2009. The information was not relayed to the Advisor immediately after it occurred, but some time later. b. (S) The informant told the FSN that during the summer of 2009, RUSSIAN customs officers reported two or three incidents in which unshielded cobalt-60 was detected in railroad passenger cars traveling from Kazakhstan headed for Russia. A large though unspecific number of people were exposed to the cobalt-60 which, while highly radioactive, was not weapons grade. A reportedly one-half to one kilo of the material was seized, although it is not clear whether that was the estimated amount per seizure, or the total amount seized during the two or three incidents. The radioactive materials were discovered at the RUSSIAN border with Kazakhstan, when the radiation portal monitors were set off. c. (S) It is assumed that there was an investigation, but it is not known if there were any arrests or detentions. (Note: RUSSIAN Customs officials do not have arrest authority; the matters would have been referred to either FSB or MVD. End Note) It is not known who sent the materials out or what their intent was. Post will attempt to verify the information through multiple liaison channels but at this point cannot vouch for its veracity. Beyrle

0 12/04/2009 2675 ASEC,KCRM,KNNP,KZ,MNUC,PARM,PINR,PTER,RS,UP ALLEGED NUCLEAR SMUGGLING INCIDENT AT THE RUSSIA-KAZAKHSTAN BORDER

Post wishes to alert the Department and Washington agencies per reftel that it has received a report indicating a potential incident of illicit trafficking in nuclear and/or radiological materials. This report came to post,s attention via a telephone conversation between xxxxxxxxxxxx and the Export Controls and Related Border Security (EXBS) FSN, which was relayed to the EXBS Advisor. Post cautions that details of the alleged incident are very sketchy.

Windows to Russia!

• Russia Tried to Stop the Litvinenko Poisioning But Britian said NO! (windowstorussia.com)
• Russian version of WikiLeaks… (windowstorussia.com)
• Kyiv-Moscow Trains Could Run Without Border Stop… (windowstorussia.com)
• Information on the Status of Russian / American Adoption Proceedings… (windowstorussia.com)
• Russia and the Upcoming Wikileaks Leaks… (windowstorussia.com)
• Is Russia One of the last Islands of Freedom in the World? (windowstorussia.com)
• A Russian Adoption Abuse in America – Again… (windowstorussia.com)

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

On December, 1-3, 2010 Russian-American negotiations on cooperation in the field of international adoption will take place

On December, 1-3st, 2010 in Washington there will pass the next meeting of the Russian and American experts devoted to preparation of the agreement concerning adoption between the Russian Federation and the USA. The Russian delegation at negotiations will be headed by Mrs. Alina Levitskaya, the director of Department of upbringing and socialization of children of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.

According to Mrs. Levitskaya, “there are bases to hope that the talks will allow to remove the remained issues and thereby ensuring the prompt signing of the agreement“.

The subject of discussion will be several items of the draft agreement on which the Russian side had been stated remarks. In particular, according to the Russian experts, it is required to specify procedures for the recognition decision on adoption in the accepting state, for receiving by the adopted child the citizenship of this state, the organization monitoring the cases of conversion of adopted children.

On April, 20, consultations on signature of agreement on adoption between the Russian Federation and the United States will take place

Information report on question of return of an under age citizen of the Russian Federation

Russia and France plan to sign a cooperation agreement in the field of adoption in 2010

I am waiting for updates from this point on all the proceedings. So I realize this is two months old. But it is the latest information that I can come up with. It has become silent on the adoption issue since the latest abuse case that has come forward… Kyle

Windows to Russia!

• http://eng.mon.gov.ru/press/release/4233/
• Adoption and Childbirth in Russia in a Changing Pattern… (windowstorussia.com)
• A Russian Adoption Abuse in America – Again… (windowstorussia.com)
• Americans Are Getting to Adopt From Russia Again… (windowstorussia.com)
• In Russia We Will Be Civilized! (windowstorussia.com)

President Dmitry Medvedev has arrived in Yekaterinburg where he is set to attend the opening ceremony of a monument to former Russian head of state Boris Yeltsin, who today would have turned 80 years old. Sculptor Georgy Frangulyan says the monument comprises several pieces of marble weighing 15 tons each and stands at around 10 meters tall. Frangulyan noted that the monument’s dynamic composition symbolises Yeltsin’s energy. Read More >>> Source: Voice of Russia.

What I am not sure about on this particular occasion: Medvedev has made a few statements about Yeltsin and that Russia should embrace the real value of reforms made by Russia’s first president Boris Yeltsin…

Has Medvedev stepped right or wrong in his endorsement of a man that is either loved or hated equally?

I know what my wife says about him (Yeltsin) and she don’t like him… 🙂

I guess time will see…

Windows to Russia!

• Yeltsin laid foundations of modern Russia – Medvedev (rt.com)
• Boris Yeltsin: What’s in a name? (rt.com)
• Yeltsin: epitome of 1990s Russia remembered (rt.com)
• Human rights “immediate” issue for society – Medvedev (rt.com)
• Rehabilitating Yeltsin (bbc.co.uk)
• Statue of Yeltsin to be unveiled (bbc.co.uk)
• Yeltsin was fond of protocol, order and would never be late – former head of protocol (rt.com)

Hello,

I was drinking my morning cup of coffee & thinking about one of the highest Googled keywords we have on Windows to Russia.

Average Wages: Several times everyday someone comes to Windows to Russia to see what Russians make in wages. (Not Much, but getting better.)

So this article will give you a better idea about wages in Russia. If you think you would come here to get rich, probably will not happen. If you come to Russia to have fun, that will happen!
———————————————————-
Salary Research Shows Wages Increasing

By Yekaterina Dranitsyna

Staff Writer

Most private companies in St. Petersburg — 95 percent — increased staff salaries in 2007, according to the latest salary and remuneration survey issued by Avanta Personnel recruiting company, and more than 90 percent of local companies plan to raise wages this year.

During the last year, the average salary increase in the city was 12-13 percent, while the maximum increase was reported at 30 percent. In 2008, private companies in St. Petersburg will increase salaries by 10-12 percent on average, while the maximum increase is again planned at 30 percent, Avanta Personnel reported.

“The gap between salary rates in Moscow and St. Petersburg is narrowing. In St. Petersburg the average salary is 84 percent of that in Moscow. In Vladivostok, which holds the third place in Russia, the salaries are just 55 percent of Moscow’s level,” said Anna Yegorova, head of Labour Market Research at Avanta Personnel.

Yegorova indicated that the main factors that influenced last year’s increase were the personal achievements of employees and the labor market situation, though company performance and inflation also affected salary levels.

In the survey, Avanta Personnel analyzed data concerning the HR policies of over 43,500 employers and salaries of over 27,400 employees from 92 international and Russian companies. Half of these companies were foreign, 40 percent Russian and 11 percent joint ventures.

By January 2008, the average monthly income was reported at 31,090 rubles ($1,261) for office managers, 21,520 rubles ($873) for secretaries, 11,375 rubles ($461) for office cleaners, 28,713 rubles ($1,165) for HR managers, 42,828 rubles ($1,738) for shift managers, 23,502 rubles ($953) for production operators, 26,782 rubles ($1,087) for mechanics and 25,506 rubles ($1,035) for forklift truck drivers.

Average salaries in other categories included:

Unskilled workers: 19,726 rubles ($800)

Financial analysts: 32,280 rubles ($1,310)

Accountants: 22,513 rubles

($913)

Sales representatives: 33,322 rubles ($1,352)

Merchandisers: 18,610 rubles ($755)

Software engineers: 45,684 rubles ($1,854)

IT specialists: 29,290 rubles ($1,188)

Besides the basic salary, 66 percent of the survey participants paid performance-based bonuses (12-20 percent of the annual base salary), 47 percent paid bonuses on the occasion of the anniversary of the company or date an employee started to work there, or other one-off bonuses at the management’s discretion, and 37 percent paid guaranteed bonuses either monthly or once or twice a year.

In sales departments, average sales commissions amount to 40-50 percent of the base salary.

The most common benefits provided by employers in St. Petersburg include medical insurance (78 percent of companies) and lunch benefits (73 percent).

Depending on their position, employees could be awarded other privileges. Top-managers are provided with a company car in 57 percent of companies, managers in 29 percent, and sales personnel in 20-35 percent.

Over 90 percent of companies cover their employees’ cell phone expenses, over 80 percent cover business trip expenses and 95 percent provide training programs for employees.

The average annual turnover in personnel at St. Petersburg companies is 14 percent, according to Avanta Personnel.
———————————————————-
The real problem is once you leave Moscow you can see that wages drop fast. The smaller the town the less money you make. Once you get to the villages wages are non existent.

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

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For Months now I have done a lot of thinking over many cups of coffee about comments. I have never achieved a balance on Windows to Russia. It is either comment crazy or no comments at all. So as I drink my coffee this morning and realize that I dealt with thousands and thousands of caught spam. I dealt with multiples of hate, death and destruction comments. I had a handful of decent comments. I had a bunch of cut and paste, slam the world, USA, Israel, Russia and much more comments. I had a sleaze of porn comments that got around the filters. I had hours of work just to get a handful of good comments out of the pile of crap. (See the paradox?)

If I allowed comments to run unmoderated and just post as they are presented. I would have an average of 1200 comments a day. But when these comments sell Viagra, porn, hate, love, home windows, basement repair, clothes, hats, boots, t-shirts and hundreds of other items. What good are they?

I myself very rarely leave comments anywhere in the blogging world. When I do, I mean what I say. I have just a handful of blogs to follow and they are what interest me. So I will leave a comment for them as I read their articles. I follow major news sites and see sometimes a 100,000+ comments left on an article. I realized the stupidity when I see many times the first comment left says, “I am first commenter!” Then you realize it is just a game…

Windows to Russia on any given day has 2000+ readers. That swells to many more, half the time. This number is excluded from the thousands of hits I get by spam bots, search bots and such. So for a Russian blog we are busy and I want it to stay that way. But I also realize that statistics point to the fact that less than half, of one half, of one percent of the real readers ever comment. A non blogging reader just does not comment very often. I read many articles that say 10 to 15 percent or more of your readers will comment. I will tell you, “No they do not.” Well maybe that is high percent is true if you play games yourself by commenting all over the blog world then you will get a return comment as a favor. (Is that really a comment?) Even if they try to act intelligent and leave a good comment they are still just there because they want a link.  In the blogging world they all want to link to a high PR blog or site. Hence we leave comments that really have no meaning just to leave a link to our site. All in the glory and grace of the Almighty Google God… 🙁

I track and have been tracking statistics for years now. Windows to Russia has exceeded 4,000,000+ actual hits and that is climbing rapidly. I do not game Alexa, Google Page Rank or any other form of trying to play with my SEO. I also have Google ad-sense now but that is a futile effort at best on my part…

So I have reached a decision after many months of fighting with all forms of comments. I have tired of spending hours everyday sifting through thousands of comments. This is a time consuming process that takes away from the main issue. Posting to “Windows to Russia…”

So I have gone to Google and used its Friend-connect system. Google is very anti-spam and will help curtail tons of spam in that fact alone. The WordPress comment system is a spam magnet and I do not like that. In fact every comment system that I have used internal or external has been a spam magnet with WordPress. The spammers are better than the controllers and they get by almost anything…

So all the old comments are still there. Except the WordPress comment box has been removed. In its place is now the Google Friend-connect system. So now you must sign up and you still will be moderated. I will also put a CAPTCHA in place if need be. To stop spam that is still getting through…

Other words if you are human and you really have something to say. If you are not here just to leave a link. Then we want you to express it. At that point I can give attention to a real comment and maybe something constructive will come out of it…

Comments became a deficit and a hindrance…

Windows to Russia!

• I Personally Simply Hate Spam Comments… (windowstorussia.com)
• Coffee and The Spam King Country… (windowstorussia.com)
• Ukraine posting from McDonalds… (windowstorussia.com)
• Coffee and Gone is 2010 and Hello 2011… (windowstorussia.com)
• Drugs – A Big Problem in Russia For The Children… (windowstorussia.com)
• Back Home in Russia – Safe and Sound… (windowstorussia.com)
• Learn Some Russian Words: From Svet! (windowstorussia.com)
• Miracles Do Happen With Google… (Sitelinks) (windowstorussia.com)
• Come to Russia you can Read Some of the Signs! (windowstorussia.com)

Windows to Russia!

• Where’s The Gold? The 13 Countries That Control The World’s Supply (huffingtonpost.com)
• 3Rd Reason Why We Hold Gold (socyberty.com)
• Russia Plans to Buy 100 Tons of Gold a Year (online.wsj.com)
• What is Russia Up To… (01/19/2011) (windowstorussia.com)
• The 13 Countries That Control the World’s Gold (247wallst.com)
• PBOC adviser calls on the US to sell some of its Gold reserves (forexlive.com)
• Windows To Russia Mobile… (windowstorussia.com)
• Back Home in Russia – Safe and Sound… (windowstorussia.com)
• What is a Doctor Paid in Russia… (windowstorussia.com)
• Is Russia One of the last Islands of Freedom in the World? (windowstorussia.com)

I was sitting here thinking about the trip I just made over a good cup of coffee. It is really amazing how bad the coffee can be when you have to buy it from a machine. I tried several cups of train station coffee this trip and found that while it was chocked full of caffeine. They forgot to keep the flavor and it was more like mud than coffee. My grandpa use to say, “That coffee could take the varnish off the furniture…”

So running on coffee (?) for several days, does not help my health and it takes me several days to recover once I am home. It is a fun but rough trip…

This week I will update the visa situation in Ukraine. There has been several changes and that caused me a few problems. Nothing that I could not deal with but if you know ahead of time it is easy to change your patterns for. So a new Ukraine visa post is in the works, to cover new said issues…

I also struggled to get any mobile posting done. The system that I had was flawed (as always) and even though it worked at home. It crashed on the road.  I had to do some research at the motel to discover new ways to post from my mobile phone. I finally came upon a application for my android phone called, “WordPress in Your Pocket“. It was the answer to my issues and as you can see I was able to finally get several articles posted. They were just test posts but it worked and made me feel better after all the failures…

There was something cool about sitting in a McDonald’s and eating a cheeseburger and posting to the blog… (I know, I am weird!)

One last thing for this post. I found out on this trip why America is the worst country but is also the greatest and most wonderful country. On a overnight train like the one to Kiev you find that you are a captive of the train and conversations are necessary just to curtail the boredom. So I was talking to a Yuri. (Always a Yuri on a train!) He was expressing about why America was a terrible country and all that stuff. I listened to him and discovered that he was born in Ukraine during the Soviet era and had lived in America for three years after the fall of the Soviet Empire. He was very well educated and fluent in several languages. So he had knowledge’s that extended beyond just western propaganda in his thoughts…

We were joined in conversation by a quiet Briton (Charles) that agreed with Yuri on most of his thoughts. So I was out numbered right off the start.  But after all was said about how America needs to grow up and get her act together. That America is just a semblance of Democracy. That freedoms in America are a facade. Other words politically, morally and structurally, America sucks… 🙁

There was an interesting kicker to the whole conversation. It was about why America is the greatest Country and that these wonderful items override the bad…

Yuri had said that he gained 30 kilos in America and when he came back to Ukraine he lost all that weight he had gained. He said that food was just so plentiful and cheap, that you found yourself and others just eating all the time. Every business meeting had food and more food. Portions are huge at the restaurants, etc etc etc. The biggest thing to him was the donut shops. He could not control himself over Dunkin donuts… 🙂

{I myself, have lost 20 kilos now after leaving America and that part of his conversation I had to agree with. To much excess food in America…}

So Yuri and the Charles made it clear that America is the greatest country in the world because, you have unlimited cups of coffee refills, unlimited cups of hot or cold tea refills, cheap buffets with unlimited food refills, unlimited Coke-Cola refills and donut shops everywhere. (Does Britain have unlimited food items like America?) There was a couple more things and they all had to do with food… 🙂

Who would have thunk? Dunkin Donuts makes America great…

Sometimes my train conversations amaze me…

Windows to Russia!

• Going To Ukraine and get a Visa to Russia… (windowstorussia.com)
• Sveta Drinks Tea and I Drink Coffee… (windowstorussia.com)
• Emails and Coffee… (windowstorussia.com)
• Come to Russia you can Read Some of the Signs! (windowstorussia.com)
• In Ukraine and trying to post… (windowstorussia.com)
• Coffee and Pondering in Russia… (windowstorussia.com)
• Coffee and Russian Smile Realizations… (windowstorussia.com)
• The Chicken Never Leaves the News in Russia… (windowstorussia.com)
• American’s Nose into Ukraine’s Election… (windowstorussia.com)
• Riots and Teenagers in Russia… (windowstorussia.com)
• Coffee and Our Volga… (windowstorussia.com)
• From Russia: Ukraine Has Changed! (windowstorussia.com)
• Ukraine posting from McDonalds… (windowstorussia.com)
• Ukraine Was Beautiful and Fun… (windowstorussia.com)
• Russia Says, “The Western World needs to Mind their own Business, both at Home and on the International Arena”… (windowstorussia.com)
• Windows To Russia Mobile… (windowstorussia.com)
• Windows to Russia will be in Kiev, Ukraine… (windowstorussia.com)
• From Russia: Ukraine Plays more Games With Europe’s Freezing Citizens! (windowstorussia.com)

It was a dreary day and snowing like crazy. I decided while waiting for my evening train back to Moscow, to take a walk. I snapped a few pictures and they came out OK. Not great, but it gives you an idea of the Kiev train station…

While Moscow has multiples of train stations including one called the Kiev station. Kiev only has one train station and it is huge…

I say that it has a new end and an old end to the building. The inside pictures are of the old end and the outside pictures are of the new end. The old end is twice as busy as the new end…

I threw a picture of the church across the street for good measure…

Related articles

• Going To Ukraine and get a Visa to Russia… (windowstorussia.com)
• Back Home in Russia – Safe and Sound… (windowstorussia.com)
• Windows to Russia will be in Kiev, Ukraine… (windowstorussia.com)
• In Ukraine and trying to post… (windowstorussia.com)
• From Russia: Ukraine Has Changed! (windowstorussia.com)
• Ukraine Was Beautiful and Fun… (windowstorussia.com)
• Kyiv-Moscow Trains Could Run Without Border Stop… (windowstorussia.com)

Some interesting news while I was in Kiev this time: For over two months now (and some are saying 5 months) in Kiev. The mayor has not been seen. The TV news at the hotel reported that he left Ukraine this past November to celebrate his 59th birthday in France and never came back…

I wonder if he has been paid the whole time?

Interesting…

Windows to Russia!

• Ukraine’s capital troubled as its mayor goes missing (rt.com)
• Ukraine Was Beautiful and Fun… (windowstorussia.com)
• From Russia: Ukraine Has Changed! (windowstorussia.com)
• Going To Ukraine and get a Visa to Russia… (windowstorussia.com)
• In Ukraine and trying to post… (windowstorussia.com)
• Windows to Russia will be in Kiev, Ukraine… (windowstorussia.com)
• The Kiev, Ukraine Train Station… (windowstorussia.com)

I finally found a system that allowed me to mobile post. As I sit eating a hamburger I am typing this. So I realize this is not much but it is a start….

My first three attempts at mobile posting failed…

Lets hope this works. I was able to approve some comments and delete some comments that wished my death…

I have some interesting stories to tell when I get back…

Windows to Russia!

“Posted from Mobile”