Category: Russia

Simply News From Russia… (9/02/2010)


Wheat
So There is Wheat…

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has signed a decree on introducing several exceptions to the temporary ban on grain exports from August 15 to December 31, 2010. According to the document, wheat, meslin, barley, rye, corn, and wheat flour can be exported for the purposes of fulfilling international agreements, ensuring Russian entities’ operations in Spitsbergen and Baikonur (Kazakhstan), and also as part of international humanitarian efforts.

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Gazprom’s net profit under IFRS jumped nearly three times to RUB 336.849bn (approx. USD 10.94bn) in the first half of 2010, the Russian energy holding indicated in an announcement today. Sales revenue climbed 14 percent to RUB 956.816bn (approx. USD 31.07bn). The company’s revenue from gas sales inched up a mere 1 percent to RUB 612.830bn (approx. USD 19.90bn) in January-June 2010 compared to H1 2009. According to Gazprom, the change may be attributed to greater sales in all geographical regions, which were partially balanced out by a decrease in settlement prices denominated in rubles (including excise and customs duties) for gas sales in Europe and former USSR countries.

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The Bank of Russia expects inflation to increase 0.2 percent each week in September, First Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia Alexei Ulyukayev told journalists today. “The price shock resulting from the drought will last for about three to six months, but in September of this year inflation is likely to be just below 0.2 percent each week,” he stated, adding that this year’s inflation would be greater than in the corresponding month of the previous year.

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Moscow sees the U.S. troops’ withdrawal from Iraq as an important event in terms of the latter country’s sovereignty. The Russian Foreign Ministry‘s information and media department indicated that the move would allow the Iraqi people to decide their own destiny without external pressure.

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The existing visa regime between Russia and the EU may hinder the implementation of joint Russian-European projects, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated today. “The new situation sets new goals of harmonizing relations with all partners that can be sources of Russia’s modernization. Russia’s partners, in turn, also need the country’s potential for their own development,” he said during today’s traditional lecture at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO).

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NATO has been hovering “between the past and the future” for far too long, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced today. “We expect our partners in the North-Atlantic alliance to provide us with more specifics,” Lavrov stated today during a traditional lecture at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO). According to the minister, Moscow would like to see the alliance complete its political transformation into a modern organization in the sphere of ensuring security, demonstrate its willingness to participate in a partnership with other players, including Russian, on a parity basis, and fully comply with international laws.

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The Russian government is ready to support a potential deal on the purchase of BP’s assets by Russian companies, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin told journalists in Krasnoyarsk today. He stressed that these matters should be commented on very carefully, since any commentary could influence the market. As reported earlier, the British oil company decided to sell some of its assets and offered its Russian subsidiary, TNK-BP, the chance to buy its production facilities in Venezuela. The company is currently carrying out due diligence for the deal. BP’s selling of assets has been prompted by the oil spill in the Mexican Gulf, which caused a nearly 40-percent drop in BP’s capitalization.

More and Last…

Lukoil has not yet passed a final decision on the buyback of its shares from the American company ConocoPhillips. The Russian oil giant has no intentions of exercising the option for the purchase of 11.61 percent of its shares from its U.S. partner, Vice President Leonid Fedun told journalists on Tuesday. According to him, it is simply not feasible for the company to purchase its shares at an increased price, especially since Lukoil would need these funds to participate in a tender for the development of the Trebs and Titov strategic oilfields.

Windows to Russia!

Russia Today in Spanish in DC…


Russia Today Logo…

Russia’s Russia Today news channel is launching a new  24/7 Spanish broadcast in Washington DC on the first of Sept…

The channel’s  editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan  is sure the new service will enjoy the same demand as the English-language broadcasting launched in 2009.This year it was nominated for the British Broadcast Digital Awards prize .

Now that is an interesting tidbit of news. Who woulda thunk that a Russian news organization would be in Spanish in America…

Hummm, shows how big the Mexican population is getting?

Windows to Russia!

In Russia Grain Speculators Just Plain “Suck”…


Russian Fields Of Grain have been harvested... (Yes we took this picture)

Russia’s president Dmitry Medvedev has ordered the country’s Ministry of Agriculture and Antimonopoly Service to prevent food price fixing…

The president said the country possesses sufficient amounts of grain, when he visited a dairy farm in Orenburg today. He said speculators should be severely punished…

(Well, I would suggest that “should”  be replaced with “must” be severely punished…)

This is a serious issue because certain people like to profit from giving out misinformation. Sveta and I have personally driven the country side and believe me the President is correct. We took lots of pictures of as far as the eye can see wheat fields.  Russia has lots of grain…

I have seen silos full and they have mounds of it covered up outside because they do not have room for it all…

A game has been played and I have responded to several Western and Easter press rejects that have egged the situation on. This game playing has caused a lot of suffering for some areas of Russia. This is a game that never should have been an issue. But was instigated by trashy officials in certain areas that used the fires and drought as a catalyst to induce exorbitant prices…

The price has gone off the scale and stores have sold out due to panic in some rural areas. This is all the while that I have seen full shelves of greska or buckwheat at the store and bread prices are dropping also…

I really feel that the Kremlin needs to make an example of these people and heads should roll…

When you prey on the poor to profit you are just plain gutter trash…

That is all that I am going to say about that…

Windows to Russia!

IBM Super Computer BlueGene will be a Commentator During the 39th World Chess Olympics…


Blue Gene Logo...

Chess lovers dreams will be answered soon by BlueGene the IBM Super Computer. It will be present at the Chess Olympics being held in Russia this year…

MOSCOW, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) — The super computer BlueGene will be a commentator during the 39th World Chess Olympics slated from Sept. 20 to Oct. 3 in Khanty-Mansiisk, Western Siberia.

This is the first time ever a computer takes that job, Itar-Tass news agency reported on Tuesday.

The BlueGene will select 20 most intriguing games of 600, while playing and broadcasting them via Internet.

The computer will comment the games in three languages.

Software for the electronic commentator was written by Russian programmers.

The 39th Chess Olympics will be the largest in number of participants. Around 1,300 chess players from 158 countries and regions are expected at Khanty-Mansiisk.

Looks like this is the chess matches of all chess matches…

Windows to Russia!

Russia: Medvedev Deals with Animals from the West / Putin Deals with Animals from the East!


Today while Medvedev was laying the ground work for the five main points of Russia’s future foreign policy: Putin was running around Russia chasing big Cats……

Medvedev: Outlines Five Main Points of Future Foreign Policy!

The five points, Medvedev said, were:

1. Firstly, the superiority of the fundamental principles of international law.

2. The second point was that the world must be multipolar.

“A uni-polar world is unacceptable,” said Medvedev, adding that Russia could “not accept a world order where all decisions are made by one side, even such a powerful one as the U.S.“

“Such a world is unstable and threatened by conflicts,” he added.

3. Thirdly, he said, Russia does not seek confrontation with any other country.

“Russia is not looking for isolation,” he said. “We will develop, in as much as is possible, friendly ties with Europe, the U.S., and other countries in the world.”

4. Fourthly, Russia will protect the lives of its citizens, “wherever they are.”

5. The fifth point was that Moscow would seek to develop ties in friendly regions. (Link)

Putin Saves Journalists from Tigress!

Vladimir Putin has rescued Russian TV journalists from a tiger attack by tranquilising it with a dart gun. The Prime Minister was visiting Ussuri national park in Russia’s Far East.

The five-year old Amur tiger was trapped by researchers of the Russian Academy of Science.

Vladimir Putin, who is on a working visit to the region, arrived at the reserve on a helicopter. There he met with scientists working on research and preservation of the Amur tiger – one of the rarest predators on the planet. There are only about 450 big cats in Russia.

‘Vesti’ TV channel journalists, who were waiting for the Prime Minister at the site, just five meters away from the animal, didn’t notice that the big cat had freed itself.

They could have been attacked, but Putin reacted quickly and used the dart gun to stop the animal.

Whilst the Amur tigress was sleeping, the premier put a GPS-collar on her neck and, together with scientists, measured her length from nose to tail tip.

Finally, Putin kissed her and said: ‘Good bye!’ (Link)

Interesting, how come Putin gets to have all the fun?

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

French Historian and Political Analyst Emanuel Todd Talks About Russia and Europe…


Listen to the Podcast! >>>>>

Below is transcript of podcast…

Emanuel Todd...

On August 31st, the Izvestia newspaper published an interview by well known French historian and political analyst Emanuel Todd, in which he calls Western Europe’s face-turn to the former republics in the defunct Soviet Union, especially Russia, natural and predictable, saying that the only thing is for Europe to quickly become conscious of this.

In the wake of the Cold War, the liberal public opinion in Europe inexplicably remained silent and dormant, but politicians are more realistic. Germany has been quicker to establish mutually advantageous ties with Russia, particularly because of Russia’s vast natural resources and Germany’s need to sell its industrial goods. Besides, Germany needs stability in Eastern Europe for its own dynamic growth. Speaking strictly, if Berlin and Moscow can hit it off, the rest of Europe will fall in line, said Mr. Todd.

France remains a key partner of Russia, and the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy who came to power in 2007, does not mince words in criticizing Russia, but always manages to bring back their bilateral relations to their traditional level- like a true pragmatist. Both sides are now thinking about strategic partnership, said Todd.Unfortunately, relations with Russia are being constructed by European states according to the American script because of NATO and similar organizations, the aim being to isolate Russia from the rest of Europe.

The U.S is deeply worried that Russia is no l onger viewed as a threat in Europe and America is busy throwing wedges into the Russo-European worksThe problem of Europe is the lack of independent geopolitical strategy and foreign policy concept, said Todd European partners of Russia are convinced that it poses no threat, but still can’t reexamine the country’s place and role in international affairs from the European point of view, Russia’s role in the 20th century is more positive than negative. It did not attack Western Europe, but instead halted the Nazis, said Todd.

What does Emanuel Todd think about the CIS? A similar tendency to what happened in the 90s, when the Soviet Union broke up, while Western Europe transformed into the European Union- the EU is taking place in Western and Eastern Europe. Now, European integration is stagnating while republics in the former Soviet Union are cooperating ever more closely. The integration in the CIS is an objective geopolitical reality, said Todd.It is now widely realized that a complete break in ties between Ukraine and Russia could have led to a collapse of the first. Kiev wants political independence, but it cannot survive without economic integration with its Northern neighbour.

Mr. Todd believes that the Georgian episode was a turning point for the CIS. Russia behaved like a regional leader in the conflict, he said comparing a hypothetical war of intervention against Georgia with France deciding to fight against Monaco. The most important thing is that the August , 2008 events demonstrated the geopolitical absence in the region of the US, said Todd.

Emanuel Todd gained prominence in 1970 when he predicted the collapse of the Soviet Union. His latest book called “After the Empire” in which he said that the U.S was gradually becoming a problem for the rest of the world, has become a best seller.

Windows to Russia!

Russia Starts The New School Year With Blessings…


Christ the Savior Cathedral Moscow after recon...
Cathedral of Christ the Savior…

The Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Kirill held a prayer service at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, dedicated to the beginning of the new academic year.

The service drew over 5,000 schoolchildren, students, their parents and teachers.

This is a tradition to start the school year on the right track with God…

I think that is not such a bad idea because we all need as much help as we can in this world. 🙂

Windows to Russia!

Moscow Hosts The 23rd International Book Fair…


More than 200,000 books from 60 countries will go on display at the 23rd Moscow International Book Fair opening on September 1. Organizers introduced a novelty – the International Parlor is designed to advance Russian book sales abroad.

Vladimir Grigoryev, deputy head of the Press and Mass Communications Agency and chairman of the fair’s organizing committee, explains: We invited leading Western and Eastern experts, who command great authority in the book industry. We are expecting the editor-in-chief of the most popular book digest weekly in New York, and the director of the London Book Fair. We want to focus our publishers’ attention on the need to advance Russian authors to foreign markets, and the markets are ready for that.

Regrettably, the process is being hampered by a lack of quality translations. With this in mind, organizers moved to convene the 1st International Translators Congress that will bring together 75 translators from 25 countries.Books from Belarus will receive special prominence during the upcoming book show with Belarus being the guest of honor at this year’s event.

Vladimir Grigoryev: Belarus will present its book industry, publishers and book novelties. It is no secret that many Moscow publishers use Belarusian printing facilities and that books released in Moscow can also be bought in Belarus. An agreement between the Russian and Belarusian Book Chambers will be signed during the Moscow event.

Belarus will showcase unique books, among them facsimile editions of the Gospel of Slutsk and the Gospel of Polotsk. There will be large displays of books from Latin America, China and France.

Visitors will be able to meet with writer Valentin Rasputin who will unveil his new selection of short stories. Poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko will read select poems from his new book, and painter and sculptor Mikhail Shemyakin will be there to sign up a two-tome album, the fullest catalog of his artworks published so far.

By permission of Source: Read More at Voice of Russia.

Windows to Russia!

Internet in our Russian Village…


Cell phone icon
Modem…

I read an article from “American Russia Observations” called “My Rocky Russian Road to a Better Internet Connection”

Sveta and I have needed to be able to use our laptop whenever or where ever we can on the internet. We knew that we could get it done by buying a special modem that plugged in to the USB, but that seemed like a waste for our situation. I needed something that I could use in Ukraine, Russia, the Village and or any place I could get a Sim card and use in in my cell phone. Because that is the only way to get internet 500 to 1000 km from nowhere in Russia…

I read the above article and Robert MacDonald the author of the article gave me some food for thought. 🙂

While he was not happy with using a cell phone for a modem. It struck me that a cell phone as a modem might be the answer for me. If you remember a while back we bought two new cell phones for Sveta and I. They happened to be the Chinese Clone Phones… (The best cell phones we have ever had!)

So we decided to see if one of the phones worked with the laptop as a modem. After a little bit of finagling and getting straight in our heads the order of procedures . Sveta and I convinced “Windows 7″ to talk to our cheap Chinese Phone and Walla Walla Bing Bang – We had Internet. These phones being dual Sim card phones allow us to have the best of both worlds. I use a Beeline card for talking and a Megafon card for internet…

The key to this whole transaction (besides the lack of ability by me…) was finding the drivers for allowing “Windows 7” to accept the phone as a modem. This was not easy because the drivers for XP and Vista just did not do the job and I finally found a set of drivers for another Chinese Phone that promised they could work on many different Chinese Phones and it was compatible with “Windows 7″…

Well! It was almost a match but then I decided to rewrite some of the code in the driver and again Walla Walla Bing Bang it worked…

Now we had a speed issue that Robert had mentioned in his article. I solved that by restructuring the software in the cell phone. (Nice way to say I hacked the phone…) That solved the speed issue and now it runs at a nice dial up speed just like in the big ol city. Still not fast but acceptable for doing what we need to do…

Sveta and I can now buy a Sim card from any area or place and as long as that card supports GPRS we can be up and running in a matter of a few clicks.

Read Roberts article on his dealings with internet in a village. He has much more detail and gives many options that are available. He also gives a good explanation of the wonderful (good and bad) customer service that you receive in Russia…

Windows to Russia!

Some Simple News From Russia (8/31/2010)…


Four major types of nuclear testing: 1. atmosp...
4 Ways To Test Nuclear Devices…

Lets look at something that got the Kremlin worked up: “Unidentified attackers have thrown two petrol bombs at the Russian embassy in Minsk, Belarus.” Now that caused a little bit of an uproar…

Then speaking of burning up: Russia broke 22 records for hottest weather this summer but Meteorologists forecast that September will bring abnormally cold and rainy weather in the Russian capital as the first frosts are due to hit Moscow before the actual end of summer…

Then it seems that Putin was at the opening of the Siberian Chinese – Russian gas line. But it look like Vietnam wants a piece of the action also:  Vietnamese oil and gas group PetroVietnam may take part in the Eastern Gas Program, Russia’s energy giant Gazprom said on Tuesday after talks between the two companies. This is pointing to the future of the gas business in the world. The West is slowly losing out on new supplies…

Then once again Putin has words of wisdom to tell us all: “In a few years, we will begin to gradually raise customs tariffs,” Putin said. “We are not, after all, members of the WTO and [we] can afford it.” , he added as he talked about raising import taxes on foreign cars imported into Russia. I think that is a smart move to push up the demand for cars produced in Russia by Russian factories…

We also missed an anniversary: August 29 in 1949 the Soviet Union carried out its first nuclear bomb test, at 7 a.m. at the Semipalatinsk test site…

Now in a sad issue another adoption scandal in America over Russian adopted children: Russia calls for an early signing of an adoption agreement with the United States in the wake of the recent reports about the abuse of Russian children from their adoptive American parents, Edelvina and Steven Leshinski. The Russian Foreign Ministry and Prosecutor-General are taking measures to probe into the incident and keep the situation under control. Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko comments…

Looks like a never ending issue with adopted children in America from Russia and America is still dragging her feet on rules and regulations to help protect these kids.

America is balking at working out a deal for some reason…

Hummm…

Windows to Russia!