Moscow’s air waves are a little quieter today after the BBC ended its live broadcasts in Russia Friday 26 March. The British radio programmes had aired since 1946 and were stopped as part of major BBC spending cutbacks in the face of UK government spending reductions. The Moscow Times carries a lengthy obituary to the BBC programmes that quotes government and industry observers, who praise the Beeb’s role for more than half a century, with some saying it had become part of Russian culture.
The recollections of famous BBC moments include former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev listening to the British broadcasts, the only news to which he then had access, when he was briefly sent to a Black Sea island in 1991 following a short coup. The BBC had played a role in giving Russians another view of the news during the Cold War.
The Russian language BBC web site remains alive and well, however.
Background story on BBC cuts, GenevaLunch
Link to Voice of Russia article
Swedish home furnishings giant Ikea is continuing its June 2009 decision to put a freeze on opening new stores in Russia, outside Moscow, reports the Moscow Times. The newspaper argues that the company’s firm and very public anti-corruption policy is causing headaches for President Dmitry Medvedev’s push to abolish corruption.
Ikea has been waiting for permits for its Samara and Ufa stores. “‘The reason the stores aren’t opening is that Ikea is refusing to pay bribes to safety inspectors,’ said Kirill Kabanov, head of the nongovernmental National Anti-Corruption Committee.”
Medvedev is keen to reduce the foreign perception that Russia has too much corruption, says the Moscow newspaper, in order to increase foreign investment. “At stake is President Dmitry Medvedev’s goal to match the economic growth rates of other Bric nations. With barely more than one-tenth the population of China and India, Russia needs to attract non-energy investors to grow and diversify. Corruption has ‘penetrated all branches of power,’ Medvedev said in a recent interview.”
Among a number of companies threatened, says the Moscow Times, is Swiss-based Nestlé, which was told in 2010 and again this year that it is not meeting Russia’s safety standards.
Libyan crisis brings foreign minister to UNHRC meeting
US Ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe speaking with the press 25 February 2011 during the Special Session of the Human Rights Council on Libya. (photo, US Mission, Eric Bridiers)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are both attending the 16th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva starting Monday and a plenary session of the Conference of Disarmament. Russian media reported Sunday that the Americans and Russians were discussing the possibility of a bilateral meeting between the two on the sidelines of these sessions.
The two met in Munich in early February to exchange the Instruments of Ratification that put the new Start treaty into place.
The situation in the Middle East and in Libya in particular are expected to be the focus of any bilateral meeting, which Itar-Tass reports was initiated by the Americans.
Lavrov will address the UNHRC, the first time a Russian foreign minister will address the council. Itar-Tass reports that “Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich, when commenting on Lavrov’s upcoming trip, said, ‘While in Geneva, Lavrov will hold talks at the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.’” He is reportedly scheduled to meet Swiss President and Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey Tuesday.
The UNHRC last week recommended to the UN General Assembly that Libya be stripped of its membership in the Geneva-based body, for gross abuse of human rights.
Links to other sites: Itar-Tass, Ria Novosti, The Voice of Russia, US Mission in Geneva
Mikhael Gorbachev, the former Soviet leader whose meeting with US President Ronald Reagan in Geneva in 1985 led to the end of the Cold War, has sharply criticized current Russian leaders Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev, calling them conceited for their remarks that they will decide between them who will run for president in 2012.
Putin, who stepped down after two terms and who helped his protege move into the job, is widely expected to run again. But Gorbachev says the Russian people should be deciding this and he is quoted by AP/Moscow Times as saying at a news conference that “It’s not Putin’s business. It must be decided by the nation in the elections, by those who would cast ballots.”
He also called for an investigation following remarks by a court spokesperson who says the judge had a verdict forced on him in the politically hot Khodorkovsky oil company case.
Sunrise: and the time is?
Russia’s nine time zones will leap forward an hour 27 March when daylight saving time starts in much of Europe, but this year, the Russians will not change back in the autumn. President Dmitry Medvedev 11 February signed a law moving the country an hour east, timewise. Daylight saving time, which has never been very popular in Russia, will no longer be observed, reports the Moscow Times. Medvedev’s move could send a signal to the UK and France, where similar moves have been proposed, but where there is stiff opposition. Scotland in particular has said it does not want the sun to rise at 10:00.
On a brighter note for Britain, LighterLater is proposing double summer time: move the clocks to benefit from daylight saving time, but also permanently move the clocks forward one hour.
WikiLeaks and criticism of Putin appear to be behind it
Luke Harding, the correspondent in Moscow for the British newspaper, the Guardian, was deported by Russian authorities Monday 7 February, without being given an explanation, he says. The reporter returned to Moscow after two months away, but upon arriving at the airport he was “detained in a cell for 45 minutes”, according to Ria Novosti. He was then put on a plane to London and once on the plane he was given back his passport, with his Russian visa cancelled.
Ria Novosti mentions that Harding reported on WikiLeaks cables, publishing at least one that was critical of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, but the information is taken virtually word for word from the Guardian‘s own report. The Russian state news agency also notes, as does the Guardian, that this is the first time since 1989 that a British journalist has been expelled.
The Guardian reports that the British Foreign Office is trying to ascertain, with its Russian counterpart, what lies behind the expulsion, but no explanation has been provided yet:
“Alan Rusbridger, the Guardian editor-in-chief, said: ‘This is clearly a very troubling development with serious implications for press freedom, and it is worrying that the Russian government should now kick out reporters of whom they disapprove. Russia’s treatment of journalists – both domestic and foreign – is a cause of great concern. We are attempting to establish further details, and are in contact with the Foreign Office.’”
The Russian government siad 29 January it has identified the suicide bomber who killed 35 people and injured 180: a 20-year-old man from the Caucasus region. It also issued a photo of Vitaly Razdobudko, 32, who is suspected of being the mastermind behind the blast. He is wanted in connection with a number of other attacks in the recent months. Moscow Times reports that he “is a Russian-born adherent of the fundamentalist Wahhabi branch of Islam, which is popular among terrorists, a law enforcement source told RIA-Novosti.”
Link to Ria Novosti, which carries several new articles on the people behind the bomb, which Russian authorities now say was clearly aimed at foreigners.
The author of a book about being an illegal immigrant in Norway was deported to Moscow Monday, 11 years after she last saw Russia, at the age of 14. Her case has sparked heated debates in Norway over the rights of children who are illegal immigrants, once they are adults, a subject that has repercussions elsewhere in Europe.
The Moscow Times notes that she flew into Sheremetyevo Airport, not Domodedovo, where a bomb exploded Monday, killing and injuring scores. The newspaper carries a lengthy feature about her case.
Maria Amelie, the nom de plume for the author who was born Madina Salamova, was sent back by Norwegian authorities after she became a celebrity. The young woman fled from North Osetia with her family, to Finland, where their request for asylum was not accepted. Norwegian media have carried stories of the family’s possible flight from heavy debts. The daughter learned Norwegian, earned a university degree but lived without papers. Her Norwegian boyfriend, who followed her to Moscow, cannot marry her because she has no papers.
Norwegian officials say she can return with a work permit, since she has been offered a job with a newspaper, but it’s unclear how long this could take, possibly months. Norway’s prime minister told journalists Monday he has no regrets about the decision to deport her.
Links to other sites: Dagbladet (Nor), News and Views from Norway, wikipedia
Muscovites have been shocked by the news of a suicide bomb going off at the city’s largest airport, Domodedovo International Airport, at 16:40 Monday afternoon 24 January. Authorities say a suicide bomber was among a crowd waiting at an arrivals gate, with a bomb the equivalent of 5kg of TNT. Russia’s transport minister has ordered tightening of security at all the country’s airports, effective immediately. According to state news agency Ria Novosti, “Planes from London and Brussels, as well as Greece, Ukraine and Egypt, had landed in the 30 minutes preceding the attack.” A flight from London turned around before landing, after hearing the news, but flights have begun to land again, late in the evening Moscow time.
President Dmitry Medvedev has postponed his Tuesday flight to Davos, Switzerland, where he was scheduled to speak at the World Economic Forum.
Links to other sites: Ria Novosti, for updates, Reuters
Reuters video
©2010 Chappatte, distributed by Globe Cartoon. More cartoons on Chappatte’s web site. Geneva-based Patrick Chappatte works for the International Herald Tribune, for Geneva newspaper Le Temps, and for NZZ am Sonntag. All cartoons reproduced with permission.
Russia's Lavrov, US's Clinton kick-started the new Start Treaty talks in March 2009 in Geneva
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) -The US Senate has ratified a treatycovering US-Russian nuclear arms and handed the Obama adminstration one of the few foreign policy triumphs in almost two years. The vote 22 December was 71-26 and included 13 Republican senators who joined the entire Democratic caucus.
The treaty governs strategic nuclear weapons between the former Cold War foes and reduces each side to 1,550 nuclear warheads as well as providing verification procedures.
The new treaty replaces one that expired in December 2009 and is the result of a series of talks sparked by a March 2009 Geneva meeting between the two countries’ foreign ministers, Sergey Lavrov and Hillary Clinton. The talks in Geneva in December 2009 were shrouded in secrecy, prompting much media speculation about the likelihood they would indeed result in a treaty.
The ratification of the Start treaty has been portrayed as being much more important in its symbolism than its actual content, say some observers, because it sends a strong signal to other countries that the USA can be relied on. The two countries still have 95 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The question of UNHCR help for what Russia refers to as Georgian refugees in Abkhazia, the break-away Georgian republic, is on the agenda in Geneva 16 December, with the 14th round of talks on security in the Georgia-South Ossettia region underway. Ria Novosti reports that “The former Georgian republic of Abkhazia will press for the UN to register Georgian refugees on its territory at security talks in Geneva, the delegation’s chief Vyacheslav Chirikba said on Wednesday,” noting that Georgia has repeatedly blocked attempts by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to register up to 60,000 refugees in Abkhazia.”
Geneva-based UNHCR in June 2010 published a report on the precarious situation in Abkhazia two years after the war ended. The area was the focus of a new approach to aid and fundraising by UNHCR in 2008, with UNHCR providing basic aid for 45,000 refugees at the time, and seeking to provide more aid.
Italian prime minister says he helped Russia win World Cup bid
Sochi, Russia and Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Russian news agency Ria Novosti reports Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as saying that he is happy with Russia’s decision to not demand visas for European Union visitors to the 2018 World Cup football championship.
Berlusconi told Russian President Dmitry Medvedev after Russia’s win was announced, that he had helped push through the Russian bid, according to the news agency, which says the two spoke Friday.
“‘We would like to create a special atmosphere during the tournament,’ Medvedev said after talks with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Russia’s southern Black Sea resort of Sochi.”
The price of vodka in Russia will go up as of 1 January 2011, Russia’s state alcohol regulator announced. The price for a half-litre bottle of the cheapest grade vodka will go up to 98 roubles ($3.13), an average of 10 percent. The price hikes will go into effect in time for the New Year and Orthodox Christian Christmas season, according to the Moscow Times.
Some higher-priced vodka makers were hoping for a steeper rise to crowd out black market producers. The government is battling rampant alcoholism which is affecting mostly men, and has had to crack down on an advertising campaign that claimed that vodka “helps get rid of colds and headaches” and “alleviates fatigue and bad moods”, reports RIA-Novosti.
The Moscow Times reports that parliamentary committees in Georgia have been meeting to plan ways to “destabilize” the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games, following their failure to convince the Lausanne-based IOC (International Olympic Committee) to move the Games elsewhere because of continuing tensions between Georgia and Russia. “Georgia, which fought a five-day war with Russia after attempting to retake its breakaway province of South Ossetia in 2008, appealed in November that year to the International Olympics Committee to relocate the Olympics from Sochi because of the possibility of conflict in neighboring Abkhazia, another separatist Georgian region. The committee ignored the request,” write the newspaper, which quotes Maxim Agerkov, an analyst with a think tank, as saying that “The only possible option is destabilizing the situation in the region,” and that Georgia could use existing local ethnic conflicts and separatists to influence the situation.
Links to other sites: The Voice of Russia, Pravda
Afghanistan’s troubled history of recent decades, with internal fighting, an invasion by Russia in 1979 and later, Nato troops in the country, served 20 November as the focus of a historic agreement between Nato countries and Russia. The Nato-Soviet military foes of the Cold War saw their world change in 1985 with the Reagan-Gorbachev summit in Geneva, but Saturday Nato and Russia agreed in writing that they are not enemies.
Top government officials from the 28 Nato (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) nations and Russia met for the third time as the Nato-Russia Council (NRC) during a key Nato meeting in Portugal 19-20 November. The NRC made a number of important decisions, Nato announced late Saturday, but Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen summed up the NRC meetings with a different focus:”We have agreed, together, on which security challenges Nato nations and Russia actually face today. What’s most significant is what’s not on the list: each other. The Nato nations and Russia have, today, agreed, in writing, that while we face many security challenges, we pose no threat to each other. That, alone, draws a clear line between the past and the future of Nato-Russia relations.”
The agreements reached include, according to Nato statements, reconfirming a shared “determination to assist in the stabilization of Afghanistan and the whole region. In this context, they welcomed broadened transit arrangements through Russian territory for non-lethal ISAF goods, moved to expand the counter-narcotics training and decided to task a development of an NRC Helicopter Maintenance Trust Fund in 2011.”
Broader security issues were part of the agreements:
- “They also endorsed the first ever Joint Review of 21st Century Common Security Challenges, outlining shared views of Russia and Allies on key security questions and ways to address them through practical cooperation
- “They agreed on a joint ballistic missile threat assessment and decided to resume Theatre Missile Defence Cooperation. Moreover, they tasked a development of a comprehensive Joint Analysis of the future framework for broader missile defence cooperation.”
The NRC discussions also covered cooperation on counter-terrorism, and the fight against piracy, according to Nato’s web site.
The USA has strongly condemned the “heinous” attack 6 November on Kommersant reporter Oleg Kashin, in which two men savagely beat the reporter with an iron bar. Kashin is in hospital in an induced coma suffering from a fractured skull, with jaw and finger injuries; there reports he has had fingers amputated. US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told journalists in Washington, that “journalists around the world must feel free to do their jobs without fear of intimidation or physical violence.” No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, although various theories have been put forward, according to Ria-Novosti.
Russian President Dmitri Medvedev said hours after the attack that “whoever is responsible for this crime will be punished, regardless of their position”, and he is asking the state prosecutor’s office to take the case under their “special control”.
Kashin was a political reporter for the well-respected Kommersant newspaper and had had run-ins with youth groups tied to the Kremlin. Two other reporters were attacked in Russia over the weekend in separate incidents, according to the Washington Post. Reporters without Borders, a group that monitors press freedom around the world, puts Russia in 140th place out of 178 countries in its press freedom index.
Links to other sites: Bloomberg, Voice of America
India will jointly produce 250-300 advanced stealth fighter planes for the Indian air force with Russia’s Sukhoi Company in a deal worth up to $30 billion, the Indian Defense Minister, A.K. Antony announced 7 October. The Russian government will also supply 45 multi-role transport planes. India is set to spend $80bn on modernizing its defense capabilities over the next five years.
Links to other sites: Asia Times Online, Nasdaq, Times Of India
The White House has hailed the announcement by Russia that it would halt the sale of the S-300 air defense missile system to Iran, in compliance with the fourth round of sanctions on Iran by the UN Security Council. Russian President Dmitri Medvedev announced the measure 22 September on his website saying it was “dictated by a complicated military and political situation in the region and support of the United Nations sanctions against Iran.”
Russia has always claimed that the missile sale, which was years in the making, was not covered by UN sanctions.
Links to other sites: Bloomberg, New York Times, RIA Novosti
The price of buckwheat is soaring in Moscow as crop shortages due to the 2010 summer drought and fires hit supplies. The normal harvest of 1 million tons looks set to drop to 600,000. Prices have already doubled in some stores and a 10 percent increase across the board for retailers looks likely. Buckwheat is a staple in the Russian diet. Russia has suspended grain exports to the end of the year due to the worst drought in more than a century.
Meanwhile, in Denmark, heavy rains have been taking their toll on the wheat crop.
Links to other sites: Forexyard, Moscow Times
Video, 14 August 2010 “very extreme rain” in Copenhagen
Russia’s forest fires are a world-wide eco disaster, UN says
Russian forest fires 2010
Raging fires burn on in Russia
Switzerland and Russia (GenevaLunch) – A United Nations team assessing the situation in Russia says further funding is going to be needed to tackle the devastation caused by ravaging forest fires. The UN team is calling the situation a “world-wide ecological disaster,” and its end may not be near.
According to the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations (Emercom) on 10 August, 247 new fires were ignited, while 239 were put out.
An additional 557 “islands of fire” continue to be active, including 25 peat fires spread over an area of 174,000 hectares.
In total, over 26,000 fires have appeared since the beginning of the 2010 fire season.
Swiss federal authorities announced they have provided the Russian government with equipment and protective clothing worth CHF500,000, while a four-person assessment and medical team has been working in Moscow since 10 August.
According to the statement, the team “is organising the delivery of the fire-fighting equipment, and together with Russian doctors is looking at ways of caring for burn victims in provincial hospitals.”
Equipment is badly needed by firefighters in Russia
Over 165,000 people are involved in firefighting operations in Russia
The Russian government has started to rely more and more in foreign aid as Russian personnel has been stretched out thin.
According to the Russian government’s latest report, 394 people and 10 aircrafts belonging to third countries are engaged in firefighting operations.
The severe drought and high temperatures have contributed to the catastrophe, but according to an expert on Russian environmental issues, it is human intervention that has magnified the problem.
All pictures ©Emercom (click to enlarge)
Forest fire on 10 August 2010
Wildfires sweeping through several parts of Russia may be “out of control”, authorities concede, after initially denying several media reports about the damage they are causing: 175,000 hectares have been destroyed, with 47,000 of that in the 24 hours from Monday to Tuesday, a military base southeast of Moscow has reportedly suffered $670 million in damage including the destruction of a hangar and aircraft. A nuclear centre, the town of Sarov in the Nizhny Novgorod region, is very close to one of the fire areas.
Forty people have died, according to official figures, and some 3,000 people have lost their homes.
The Moscow Times reports that “‘Over the weekend, the number of fires has doubled in some places and quadrupled elsewhere,’ Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu said, adding that some were ‘out of control’.”
The hot, dry weather that has encouraged the fires to spread is expected to continue well into next week.
Links to other sites: Moscow Times, Press Association
At least 20 people, including three firefighters, have died in a deadly forest fire that destroyed several villages in Russia.
Over 200,000 acres have burned in recent weeks as consequence of a severe drought and record high temperatures.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited the smoldering ruins where more than 300 houses were burned to the ground. According to the Associated Press, Putin promised the residents that “before winter, each house will be restored.”
The heat, highly unusual in Northern Europe, is expected to ease in the coming days, but the smog from the peat bogs could be around for weeks.
Additional sources: BBC, Yahoo/AP News
News out of Russia today, 15 July: 1,200 people in Russia are reported to have drowned, most of them drunk at the time, while trying to escape from the heat, according to CNN: “Vadim Seryogin, a department head at Russia’s Emergencies Ministry, told reporters Wednesday that 49 people, including two children, had drowned in the last day. More than 1,200 total have drowned, 223 of them between July 5 and July 12. ‘The majority of those drowned were drunk,’ Seryogin said. “The children died because adults simply did not look after them.’”
Russian Formula 1 fans will turn their eyes on the Kremlin Sunday 18 July, when “Jensen Button and Russia’s first Formula One driver, Vitaly Petrov, speed around the Kremlin on Sunday at the Bavaria Moscow City Racing, now an annual race around the center of Moscow” reports the Moscow Times.
And Russians are warming up to the 25 July visit to Moscow by “beauty and mother of six” Angelina Jolie’s to promote her new movie “Salt” about a CIA agent accused of spying for Russia, timely given the talk about town in Moscow about Russians spying in the US, says Ria Novosti.
©2010 Chappatte, distributed by Globe Cartoon. More cartoons on Chappatte’s web site. Geneva-based Patrick Chappatte works for the International Herald Tribune, for Geneva newspaper Le Temps, and for NZZ am Sonntag. All cartoons reproduced with permission.
Four convicted spies, Russian citizens accused of working for western governments, have been pardoned by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, and 10 Russians are being deported from the US, in a spy swap deal that ends a short-lived nouveau Cold War scare which at times has verged on the farcical. The 10 Russians admitted to spying in a New York court and are being put on a plane, but it’s unclear where they are headed, with speculation rife that they will be part of a swap in Vienna. Their real names were read out in court. One of them, who grew up in Peru, is being sent there, reports Ria Novosti. The convicted spies in Moscow may or may not be leaving Russia, with information fuzzy about a link between the 10 spies in the US and the Moscow prisoners’ requests for pardons.
Links to other sites: Aljazeera, BBC, NPR, Ria Novosti, Xinhua
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) – The UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) in Geneva is sending emergency aid teams to 75,000 Uzbeks who have crossed the border from Kyrgyzstan into Uzbekistan since Friday.
“We have agreed with the Uzbek government to support their efforts and assist tens of thousands, mostly women and children seeking safety in Uzbekistan,” notes UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres. The UNHCR emergency team includes experts on operations, field officers and logistics. It is scheduled to deploy immediately, the organization says in a news release Monday afternoon. The UNHCR is also preparing an airlift from its emergency stockpile in Dubai.
The refugees continue to flee from violence, including men on the loose with hatchets, as ethnic unrest in the area flairs. Georgia’s minister for re-integration, Temur Iakobashvili, called the violence Russian-inspired “ethnic cleansing” of Uzbeks, according to Civil.Ge, a Georgian news media. Aljazeera’s reporter on the border says the fleeing Uzbeks are making claims that are difficult to substantiate, that Kyrgystan’s military are joining in some of the attacks. The country’s interim leader, Roza Otunbayeva, in place since early April, says an outside third party is needed to calm the situation and that she has contacted Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to ask for help.
Al Jazeera video
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Customers of Swiss who are flying to Shanghai or Hong Kong this summer will notice that the flight takes longer, and the usual view of vast stretches of Russia is no longer there: the airline has been told it cannot fly over Russian air space. No explanation is being provided by the airline, which Sunday confirmed to TSR television a report published by NZZ am Sonntag, that the fly-around to the south has been taking place since March. TSR hints that it may be the result of Russia demanding a higher tax to fly over its territory.
Toll could go much higher
Explosions in a Siberian mine in Russia late Saturday and early Sunday have taken the lives of at least 43 people, according to Russian authorities, but another 47 are still missing. Hopes are “dimming” for their survival, says national news agency Ria Novosti. Nineteen of the dead were rescue workers who arrived on the scene after the first blast, but were caught by the second. More than 70 people were injured by the blasts near the town of Mezhdurechensk in the Kemerovo Region
Links to other sites: Ria Novosti, Xinhua
The Crucible, Sheffield, England (GenevaLunch) - The finals of the snooker World Championships in Sheffield feature Scotsman Grame Dott against Australian Neil Robertson, who is the first finalist from outside of the British and Irish islands since 1980.
Their match has been pushed into the background by a match-fixing scandal involving current champion John Higgins being set up by the News of the World, a popular British Sunday paper, 2 May. Their journalists posed as Ukrainean businessmen in Kiev to persuade Higgins to deliberately lose some frames in future matches.
