Windows to Russia

RBC, 06.02.2009, Moscow 15:21:51.Russia expects the United States to provide specific information on the amount and nature of NATO’s non-military cargo that it hopes to transport to Afghanistan through Russia, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with the Vesti TV channel today. Just a few days ago, the United States asked Russia to allow such transportation in accordance with a relevant agreement signed by Russia and NATO in April 2008, Lavrov explained, and Russia “gave consent literally within a day.” As soon as the United States provides the necessary information, he added, Russia will issue permission.

RBC, 06.02.2009, Moscow 15:01:53.In 2008, 34,000 corruption crimes committed by state and municipal officials abusing their position were registered in Russia, Prosecutor General Yury Chaika said during the Interior Ministry’s board meeting on the past year’s results. He added that 32,000 criminal cases involving corruption had been submitted to courts.

RBC, 06.02.2009, Moscow 14:41:42.Passenger car imports to Russia grew 24.5 percent to nearly 1.993m cars in 2008 compared to the previous year and amounted to roughly $30.259bn, the Federal Customs Service reported today. To be more specific, nearly 1.839m cars worth some $29.101bn were imported from countries outside the CIS, and 154,300 cars were imported from the CIS for nearly $1.158bn. At the same time, Russia exported 128,400 cars worth $910.2m in 2008, virtually unchanged from the previous year. The figure included 14,000 cars exported to countries outside the CIS and 114,400 to the CIS, worth $104.2m and $806m, respectively.

RBC, 06.02.2009, Moscow 14:02:20.In the wake of the financial crisis, Russia must improve its control over budget spending, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in his speech at an Interior Ministry board meeting on the results of 2008 today. “There is a lot of money, inflation has increased, and this is exacerbating the criminal situation,” the president said.

RBC, 06.02.2009, Moscow 13:33:43.Russia’s machinery and equipment exports grew 15.06 percent to $20.475bn in 2008 compared to a year earlier, the country’s Federal Customs Service reported. Specifically, exports outside the CIS reached $11.503bn and $8.972bn to the CIS. Meanwhile, machinery and equipment imports to Russia increased 39.14 percent to $136.458bn, including $128.967bn from outside the CIS and $7.491bn from CIS member states.

RBC, 06.02.2009, Moscow 13:28:46.Russia’s international reserves stood at $386.894bn as of February 1, 2009, a 9.4-percent fall from January 1, the Bank of Russia said in a statement today. Specifically, reserve assets in foreign currency amounted to $346.586bn, special drawing rights (SDRs) were little changed at $1m, and Russia’s reserve position in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stood at $1.018bn (down 3.1 percent). Gold included in international reserves exceeded $43.215bn (up 6.4 percent), and other reserve assets $23.823bn (up 4.5 times).

RBC, 06.02.2009, Moscow 11:40:14.In 2008, 3.2m crimes were registered in Russia, President Dmitry Medvedev said during the Interior Ministry’s board meeting as he summed up the past year’s results. He noted that 1.5m of them were economic crimes or those involving infringement on property rights. Among the Interior Ministry’s key priorities, Medvedev cited improving the investigative work required to bring criminals to justice. He reiterated that the perpetrators of 1.5m crimes, including 2,300 murders and murder attempts, were not identified in 2008, attributing it mostly to insufficient investigations.

RBC, 05.02.2009, Moscow 19:26:03.The Russian government does not think it expedient for the government to buy into tier I capital of private banks, Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin stated at a cabinet meeting today. The government, he said, has no intention to buy up shares of privately-owned banks, all the more so as it could impinge on the rights of minority shareholders.

Hello,

This is not the first time that I have mentioned about drivers using the sidewalks as roads. This is common in Russia. These pictures are from my trip in Ukraine but believe me they drive the same in Russia.

The second picture shows that the sidewalk is not for people to walk on, it is for cars to bypass traffic with. This taxi was honking his horn and flashing his lights to get people to move out of his way.

I stood over to the side of everything because I wanted to get pictures. So as I stood there the traffic became heavy on the sidewalk. The gray SUV that you see in the people is trying to back up because another car is ramming its way down the sidewalk.

Next here comes the car that has been honking and weaving amongst the people making the SUV back up.

So as the people stand waiting to cross the road the two cars line up with the people and wait for the crosswalk to change.

This next picture I threw into the pile because (Also same intersection) – This driver was going crazy honking his horn and flashing his lights. The people had a green arrow cross walk but he wanted to kill a few Ukraine’s before lunch and decided to force his way through the people crossing the road. Mind you they had the green and he was illegal. If you expand the picture you will see one guy looking at the car. That car had just bumped him while it was trying to force its way through the people.

I just thought that I would pass these pictures on. I am so glad I got my camera phone…

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.
http://kylekeeton.com/2008/10/russia-i-really-wanna-say-goodbuy-to.html
http://kylekeeton.com/2007/12/moscow-cross-walks-are-deadly.html

Hello,

Grab a cup of coffee and do some serious reading. The Western Press has ignored this but I am here to tell you that this is a serious matter. That Military Base that America is upset about is going to be the new home to the East NATO?

CSTO news conference (Part 1)

CSTO news conference (Part 2)

CSTO – a NATO for the East?

CSTO’s rapid-reaction force will be equal of NATO’s – Medvedev

I am not going to write and make much in the way of comments about this other than the fact that the Western Governments does not take the CSTO serious. But on this side of the world the CSTO is going to be serious and the West will be caught off guard.

I wrote an article sometime back and I noticed that the CSTO was going to become the new security organization…

http://kylekeeton.com/2008/03/russia-new-card-game-cold-war-ii.html

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

Hello,

I was drinking my wonderful cup of Russian Coffee and working on a new project for the website. We have finally gotten a good player and streaming set up to receive “Russia Today 24 Hour News Television”.

The Web TV player is located above. Just click on the play button. Unless it auto starts and that is causing me problems. I have all the commands but it seems to do what it wants. 🙂

Update: The player starts automatically and all you have to do is click the volume control if you desire sound. This is the only way I could get it to work in both Firefox and Internet Explorer.

If you are using Linux operating system you will just see a big Grey square, sorry unless you figure out how to get Windows Media Player 9 or higher installed you can not see it.

Repeat it requires Windows operating system and you have to have Windows Media Player 9 or higher!

Repeat if the TV Channel is not working please ensure that you have installed Windows Media Player 9+ or a higher version.

Other details

I hope that you all enjoy this addition to Windows to Russia!

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

Hello,

This meeting of Medvedev and Kurmanbek resulted in an interesting combination of events. Earlier in the week it was rumored that Kyrgyzstan was going to raise the rent on an American Military Air Base in Kyrgyzstan. Looks like that was just the forerunner to the real happenings. The contract for this American Military Base is over and America needs this base for much more efficient coverage of Afghanistan. Like a fly time of 1 and a half hours compared to 7 and a half hours to send jet fighters into Afghanistan.

So this meeting below:
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February 3, 2009
19:50

News
THE KREMLIN, MOSCOW.Dmitry Medvedev held talks with President of Kyrgyzstan Kurmanbek Bakiyev.

Within the framework of the Russian-Kyrgyz talks, agreements were signed on non-repayable financial aid by Russia to Kyrgyzstan, on providing a government loan to Kyrgyzstan, and on amortizing part of the government debt through material means and writing off the rest of Kyrgyzstan’s debt to Russia.

An intergovernmental agreement was also signed on constructing the Kambaratinskaya hydroelectric power station. Furthermore, the presidents signed a memorandum on mutual understanding regarding the development of economic and credit and financial cooperation between the two countries.

After the talks, Dmitry Medvedev and Kurmanbek Bakiyev answered questions by the press.
print
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Resulted in this happening:

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MOSCOW, February 3 (RIA Novosti) – Kyrgyzstan will demand the closure of a U.S. military base on its territory, used to support anti terrorism operations in neighboring Afghanistan, the Central Asian state’s president said on Tuesday.

Kurmanbek Bakiyev is on a two-day visit in Moscow, where he also secured deals to write off Kyrgyzstan’s $180 million debt and to receive a $2 billion discounted loan and $150 million in financial aid from Russia.

“The Kyrgyz government has taken a decision to terminate the rent of the base,” Bakiyev told a news conference after talks with Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev, citing Washington’s refusal to discuss a higher rent and reluctance to address the 2006 killing by a U.S. officer of a Kyrgyz man in an incident at the base.

“If we fail to ensure our citizens’ security, unresolved problems will cause legitimate public discontent,” Bakiyev said.

New U.S. President Barack Obama has announced plans to considerably increase troops in Afghanistan. The U.S. airbase was set up in 2001 as a transit point for NATO supplies to the international coalition in Afghanistan and now houses more than 1,000 military personnel. (Link)
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This is what Medvedev has been busy doing while Putin has been at the Davos: Medvedev has been working with multiple heads of states such as Castro in Cuba, Karimov of Uzbekistan, Bakiyev of Kyrgyzstan and Lukashenko of Belarus.

Medvedev has also pushed through a very important agreement to the State Duma for ratification the Agreement on Operational Deployment, Use and Support of the Central Asian Collective Security Region Collective Rapid Reaction Force.

The agreement was signed on June 23, 2006, at the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) summit in Minsk. The CSTO member states are Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Rumor is that they will use the Military Base that the USA has 6 months to leave. (Ouch)

I also have heard a rumor that Medvedev has put a big hurt on Europe’s interesting excuse for a pipeline, Nabucco pipeline! Now Europe with cold hard facts staring them in the face have begun the thinking process that maybe Russia should help us build the pipeline in view of what Ukraine did to Europe. That way they at least will have gas to fill the pipeline with. As it is the pipeline is just 3,300 kilometers(2,050 mi)of empty tube! Russia’a Blue Stream Pipeline could boost the Nabucco pipeline into reality.

Medvedev has been a busy President…

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

PS:

America is jumping up and down over the Military Base Closing, main stream news has the article now. 🙂 Ouch!

US base closure may alter Afghan plans

Russia’s WBA Heavyweight Champion Nikolai Valuev has opened a professional boxing school in his hometown of St. Petersburg, the boxer’s website said on Tuesday.

Russia and Belarus will step up efforts to create a customs union and a common economic space, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday.

The European parliament wants Russia to join the Nabucco pipeline project, planned to pump gas from Central Asia to Europe, a European diplomatic source said on Tuesday.

The Russian and Kyrgyzstan presidents, Dmitry Medvedev and Kurmanbek Bakiyev, are expected to discuss on Tuesday settlement of Kyrgyzstan’s debt to Russia and a further loan to the impoverished Central Asian state.

Russia’s most wanted footballer, Andrey Arshavin, has signed a contract with Arsenal, which will keep him at the North London club until 2012. The English Premier League must confirm the deal before it becomes official.

A seven-year-old boy who died defending his elder sister from a rapist has been honored with an Order of Courage medal. Evgeny Tabakov’s mother picked up the award for her dead son.

The fate of a US airbase in Kyrgyzstan hangs in the balance. The Americans have been told they’ll have to clear out if they don’t pay more.

The number of unemployed people in Russia has grown by 94,000 (6 per cent) in the past week. Official figures released on Tuesday show that 1,642,000 are currently out of a job and looking for work.

Hello,

The power of music and art is the soul of any nation and Russia has never lost that thought.

My wife and I have many times gone to free concerts in Moscow. Concerts of professional level and quality! We always donate, but that is never a necessity. Watching this video reminds me of the concerts we have gone to and watched. Music touches the soul…

Russians have soul!

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

The Official Russian Temperature Chart:

+50° Fahrenheit (10° C)
Russians plant gardens.

+35° Fahrenheit (1.6° C)
Russians drive with the windows down

+32° Fahrenheit (0 ° C)
Russian water gets thicker.

0° Fahrenheit (-17.9° C)
Russians have the last cookout of the season.

-60° Fahrenheit (-51° C)
Time to play chess inside.

-100° Fahrenheit (-73° C)
Russians pull down their ear flaps.

-173° Fahrenheit (-114° C)
Ethyl alcohol Freezes and Russians get frustrated when they can’t thaw the vodka.

-460° Fahrenheit (-273° C)
Absolute zero; all atomic motion stops that is when Russians start admitting that it is “cold, eh?”

-500° Fahrenheit (-295° C)
Hell freezes over and it is time to go Ice Fishing.
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Hello,

Last night at around 2 am in the morning Svet and I took the dog for a walk. It was -25 °C or -13 °F. Yes that is right it was cold even for this big bear from America. It gave me the realization that my coat that I was wearing was at its limit for comfort.

Now Boza who is a Russian bred dog from a village thought the weather was just right. He runs around as happy as can be and never complains about the cold. He just likes to go out and play no matter what the temperature is.

One thing about this temperature is that you really do not want to take a deep breath very fast. The air you breath out turns to snow and ice crystals instantly and it is really neat. Svet told me last night that children under the age of 9 or 10 stay home from school when the temperature gets below -25 °C in the daytime! Kids in Moscow walk to school so it makes sense to me.

“There is a cold front across Moscow, with falling temperatures. The temperature in some parts of Russia will sink to -48C, or even -50C. Some of the weather experts say there is worse to come. They predict -38C for Moscow by the weekend. (I do not believe that it will get that cold) Now that is really cool! I mean, well you know, what I mean. 🙂

Looks like our car will be sitting a week or so. I started her up and the super cold oil found a weak spot and sprung a leak. I tried to work on her today but it is just too cold to play under the hood of the car unless it is an emergency. The car is in a good spot and safe, so she will just sit until the weather warms up. (sometime in 🙂 May)

My remedies for cold in Russia is extra kisses and hugs always warm things up!

I am lucky Svet agrees…

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

Hello,

Just some pictures of Ukraine. I spent most of my time in areas that I could not take pictures but when I could I took some shots of the scenery as I walked from office to office. The scenery in Ukraine is almost like Russia. So I am as comfortable in Kiev as in Moscow.

Picture above: This is new Flats (Apartments) in Kiev! Compare to Soviet era below.

The Soviet era flats above are located just across the street from the new Flats in the first picture.

The Picture above was cops that stopped the ones who did not stop for the cop below! 🙂

Below: One lone Ice Fisherman! Looks cold …

Below: These wires believe it or not were alive. If you touched several of them together the light pole lit up. Of course I being curious had to play with them!

Below: I loved my walks in Kiev!

Below: Inside Kiev Train Station – It is like this 24 hours a day!

Below: Kiev 24 hour McDonald’s at the train station – Always very busy!

Below: Singing for Money and they were very very good!

Below: My Birthday Champagne from the Hotel!

Below: The Lobby of the Hotel and Svetlana!

Below: A Cafe at the Train Station not very busy considering thousands of people an hour go through the station!

That is it for now. I just thought that I would show you some parts of Kiev that you may have never seen. I have some more pictures but that is another story so stay tuned for a couple of more Kiev, Ukraine posts. 🙂

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

RBC, 30.01.2009, Moscow 18:34:58.The Russia-Belarus Union State’s leadership believes that the union’s anti-crisis plan will prevent the Russian and Belarusian economies from slipping below the 2008 level, Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky said during a meeting of the alliance’s council of ministers in Moscow today. He stressed that the plan enabled the union’s GDP not only to remain at the same level, but also possibly even grow a bit. The draft plan for minimizing the effects of the global financial turmoil is the main item on the council of ministers’ meeting agenda, Sidorsky stated, adding that the parties had agreed on almost the entire document. “We are close to signing the document,” the Belarusian PM concluded.

RBC, 30.01.2009, Moscow 18:04:08.The Communist Party of Russia questions the government’s ability to get the country through the economic crisis, Yury Maslyukov, chairman of the State Duma industry committee, concluded on behalf of the party’s faction after the ministers’ meeting with MPs. He said that Russia had wasted the time it could use to diversify its economy, and it could only hope now that the ongoing crisis would be over within three years’ time. He also noted that fighting inflation with monetary measures was not a productive solution for the economy, as it only resulted in the high value of money and diverted some money into speculative transactions.

RBC, 30.01.2009, Moscow 15:00:40.The Central Bank has sold all its securities of the troubled U.S. mortgage agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the bank’s Chairman Sergei Ignatyev told journalists in the Russian State Duma today. “We have sold everything, earned some money, and lost nothing,” he stated.

RBC, 30.01.2009, Moscow 14:45:58.The Central Bank does not rule out the possibility of a new wave of the crisis erupting in the banking sector, the bank’s Chairman Sergei Ignatyev told the Russian State Duma today. He noted that although such a risk was unlikely in the near term, it was still fairly possible in the foreseeable future.

RBC, 30.01.2009, Moscow 13:40:48.Given the current ruble exchange rate, Russia’s exports may exceed imports by more than $20bn, chairman of the Bank of Russia Sergei Ignatyev said at the State Duma today. He reiterated that the Central Bank had set the upper end of the basket of two currencies, the dollar and the euro, at RUB 41, or roughly at 36 RUB/USD. At the same time, the actual ruble exchange rate against the dollar is estimated to be lower than RUB 41, he stated.

RBC, 30.01.2009, Moscow 12:57:18.Expert estimates show that the crisis will last for three years, with 2009 regarded as the hardest of those three, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov told the State Duma today. With this in mind, the economy should be restructured and the reserves Russia has accumulated over time should be used reasonably, Shuvalov stressed. He warned deputies against Russia’s loyalty to its old economic structure until the end of the crisis, while its G8 partners are upgrading their economies and learning lessons from the meltdown.

RBC, 29.01.2009, Moscow 19:31:49.The government may be involved in bailouts of bad debts subject to certain conditions, head of the Federal Financial Markets Service Vladimir Milovidov said during a meeting with members of the National Association of Pension Funds. He explained that the government could buy out some defaulted bonds if it is proven that the situation arose out of objective reasons, and not through the issuer or underwriter’s blunders or deliberate actions.