Notebook

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lood of the century buries Yakut towns 

P

roverbial 100-year floods overcame the town of Lensk, Sakha Republic (Yakutia) this spring. Some 7,000 residents were relocated and 1831 houses were de-stroyed. Initially, experts thought that the entire town of Lensk (population 26,000) would have to be rebuilt from the ground up. But a reevaluation concluded that only the lower districts of the town, where the homes were destroyed, will need to be rebuilt at a higher location. At press-time, telephone lines were partially repaired in Lensk, and water and energy supplies were returning to normal. 

The reason for the flooding was too swift a spring melt, leading to ice jams that clogged the Lena River. Even Yakutsk was seriously threatened as the water level exceeded the critical mark by 0.5 meters. Sukhoi-24 warplanes were brought in to bomb the ice jams, after which the flooding subsided and the water levels gradually decreased.

President Putin toured the remote Siberian region and promised to find federal funds to help rebuild homes destroyed. He also said he was prepared to authorize sales of gold and diamonds from the mineral-rich Sakha republic to help collect the needed funds; such precious minerals belong to the state as a whole. This statement led to a 4% decline in Euro-pean gold prices. 

In Lensk, Putin met with regional authorities and blamed the floods on negligence, saying the river had not been dredged near populated areas in decades. Minister of Emergencies Sergei Shoygu said the scale of destruction in Yakutia is comparable to the consequences of a strong earthquake. Accor-ding to ITAR-TASS, a federal commission has estimated the extent of damage in Sakha at $2.4 bn, while local authorities’ estimates put the figure higher, at $3.9 bn. At press-time the Chairman of the Russian Construction Co-m-mi-ttee Anvar Shamuza-farov told the press R5.65 bn ($200 mn) would be allocated to the recon-struction of Lensk.  

“The world probably cannot be saved, but then it is always possible to save a specific individual.” 

Izvestia quoting the late poet Joseph Brodsky

 in light of the rescue operations in Yakutia.

Internet search wizard turns out to be competitor

A

nton Nosik, 35, is “The Man Who Found it All.” On the internet, that is. Nosik (pictured, above) recently won an online contest sponsored by the internet search portal Yandex (www.yandex.-ru). The contest finals pitted three top internet sleuths (reduced down from 1000 initial contestants) against one another to find the answers to seven difficult questions by search-ing the internet. For example, one question was “What do you call the Stockholm district west of the place where Carlson watched the sunset?” 

Ilya Segalovich of Yandex said that “this ability to search via the internet is a nascent profession. It is also a nascent daily skill — like driving or pealing potatoes or ironing a shirt ... We are witnessing a growth of internet searching in Russia as it becomes increasingly harder to search through thick books at libraries.” 

The contest, which obviously had public relations value for Yandex, was meant to boost awareness of the internet in Russia. The ironic twist is that Nosik recently became president of Rambler (www.rambler.ru), a competitor of Yandex. What is more, Nosik is an internet pioneer Russian Life had selected to profile in our 100 Young Russians series in the next issue.

“Attention: due to growing discontent over roads blocked because Vladimir Putin’s vehicle convey is passing by, from now on the President of Russia will be taking the metro. In light of this, please note that tomorrow the metro will closed from 6 pm until 10 pm.”

Joke currently circulating in Moscow.

“Communists placed their bets on national minorities and on women. And we will place our bets on Russians and on men.”

Vladimir Zhirinovsky. (Argumenty i Fakty)

“NTV has not been an independent TV channel. It has been transmitting the biased politics of its owner, who dove knee-deep into Russian politics. I told them I don’t understand how a mass medium can be independent if it borrowed $1.5 bn from state structures …”

NTV’s new General Director Boris Jordan, 

sharing with Izvestia daily his impressions on 

his recent trip and meetings in America. 

“I don’t think I am guilty of anything, though in my life I am, of course, 

a sinner.” 

Pavel Borodin shortly after his liberation from US jail, 

in Moscow before flying to Switzerland for interrogation 

on corruption charges. (Argumenty I Fakty)

“Look at what the Turks did to us over the last ten years! They upgraded their hotels at the expense of tourists.” 

Deputy Foreign Minister Ivan Sergeev, 

criticizing the poor shape of Russian tourism 

citing the positive example of Turkey. (Kommersant daily) 

“It’s good they don’t extradite them. We have so many scoundrels and crooks of our own, that we will somehow survive without new ones.” 

Managing Director of Renaissance Capital Yuri Kobaladze, commenting on how most foreign countries refuse to extradite criminals wanted in Russia.  (Kommersant daily)

Inflation in April was 0.8%. Since December 2000, inflation has been 9%. Industrial output grew 5.3% from April 2000 to April 2001. (State Committee on Statistics) ! The number of road deaths nationwide in the first three months of 2001 fell 3.8%, to 4,248, compared with the same period last year. The number of traffic accidents decreased 0.6%, to 23,709. (Moscow Times) ! 53.% of Russians polled said they did not feel Russia is a democratic state; 39.2% say it is. 49,2% say Russia’s media have complete freedom, while 44.3% say this is not the case. (ROMIR) ! 700 of Russia’s judges do not have housing. (Izvestia) ! According to unofficial data, up to 50,000 Russian women have left Russia following recruitment by “agents of the sex industry,” and only 2% of these have returned to Russia. There are some 300 shadow firms recruiting Russian women as “sex slaves.” (Kommersant daily) ! Average per capita income rose to R2,382 ($82.31) in the fourth quarter of 2000. The number of Russians living below the “minimal survival level” was 39.2 mn. ! Over 900,000 foreign visitors came to Moscow in 2000, of which just 280,000 said the purpose of their visit was tourism. (Moskomstat) The city has a  goal of raising this number 5 mn a year by 2010. ! In 1993, 27% of the Russian economy was controlled by crime structures. Today, Russian criminal groups operate in over 58 countries and control over 50% of the Russian economy. (Ekonomika i vremya) ! 45,000 cars are stolen in Russia each year, ranking it fourth in the world. ! The nation’s foreign currency and gold reserves have risen to an all-time high of $33 bn—and increase of 18% since the start of the year. (Central Bank of Russia) ! Russia had a consolidated budget surplus of R69.9 bn ($2.42 bn) in the first quarter of 2001, up from R36.3 bn over the same period last year. (State Committee on Statistics) ! Russia will receive DM830 mn ($362 mn) under a program of compensation payments to former “osterbeiters” deported to Nazi Germany during WWII as slave laborers. ! Bank deposits grew 9.3% in the first quarter of 2001 (State Committee on Statistics) ! The US and Germany accounted for the bulk of foreign investment in Russia from 1992 through April 1, 2001. Total US investments in this period have been $6.446 bn, or 20.2% of all foreign investments. Germany invested $6.038 bn, or 18.9%. (State Committee on Statistics) ! The Dutch firm Mammoet is scheduled to raise the Kursk, the Russian submarine which sank last August, by September 20. (ITAR-TASS) ! The annual capital drain from Russia is between $20-25 bn, said Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov. This far exceeds the volume of credits and humanitarian aid allocated to Russia by different international organizations. Meanwhile, nearly $100 bn was laundered through or in Russia in the last 12 months (UN Office of Drug Control and Crime) ! In Novosibirsk oblast there is one retiree for every 5 non-retired residents. In Novgorod oblast the ratio is 1:3. (Nezavisimaya gazeta) ! During the first five months of this year, Russia’s fishing fleets caught 12% less fish than during the same period last year. (Izvestia) ! 20% of Russians spend 15 or more days in the hospital every year. (ITAR-TASS) ! Reported crimes rose 4.5% during the first five months of this year, versus the same period last year. (ITAR-TASS)

The scandal over the US spy plane forced down in China had an interesting twist, reported at press time. The company that will transport the plan from China to the US is Russia’s Polyot Air Cargo Company.

The Council of Europe has recognized Novgorod region for its political and economic achievements. Novgorod has the third highest level of foreign investment per capita in Russia, trailing only Moscow and St. Petersburg. Just eight European cities and regions have been so recognized in 2001, Novgorod being the only Russian locality.

The Perm Zoo hopes to face down serious operating deficits with an Adopt an Animal program, Zvezda newspaper reported. Individuals and organizations can adopt an animal by agreeing to pay for its food—a lion costs 10 thousand rubles ($344) a month to feed, a land turtle, just 60 rubles. The local branch of the Unity political party has adopted the bear “Timka”—a bear is the party’s symbol. And some grade school students have adopted two hedgehogs.

St. Petersburg entrepreneur Dmitry Perevyazkin aims to clean up on President Vladimir Putin’s popularity. He has compiled a book with over 100 jokes about Putin and printed 5000 copies to be sold in suburban trains. Perevyazkin, who is a member of the liberal Yabloko faction, said he didn’t have any problems printing the book. “I just did some market research and chose the publishing house offering the best terms,” he told the Moscow Times. 

For the first time in over 10 years of tumultuous economic reforms, it appears that Russians again believe in the “radiant future.” In a poll published by Izvestia, 42% said they feel the economic situation of their country and the life of simple people will improve in 4-5 years. Another 24% believe things won’t get any worse. Only 16% are pessimistic. Optimists prevailed in all age categories, leading Izvestia to quip that the nation has begun a slide into euphoria.

Yuri Krivonogov has a problem. He is the spitting image of his region’s governor, Ulyanovsk Governor Vladimir Shamanov. This helps out when it comes to dealing with the traffic police—he is never stopped, even when he breaks the law. But the resemblance also means he is often stopped on the street by other citizens, who want to complain about what “his” government is or is not doing.

Thieves have stolen the samovar that Joseph Stalin used to make tea in the Kremlin. The theft occurred during crowded Victory Day (May 9) tours of the museum to Stalin in his hometown of Gori, Georgia. The samovar was one of the most valuable exhibits at the museum.

Aerospace designer Alexei Tupolev (son of the still more famous designer Andrei Tupolev) died on May 19. He was 76. Tupolev worked for over 50 years at the design bureau his father created, heading it after his father’s death. Between 1958 and 1963, he developed six rockets, three of which, the Tu-121, Tu-141 and Tu-143, were used by the Soviet Army. In 1963, Tupolev headed a team that developed the Tupolev-144, the world’s first supersonic passenger aircraft (finished two months prior to the Concorde). The Tu-144 was first flown in 1968, but two fatal crashes—at the Le Bourger air show in France, and near the Russian town of Yegorievsk—halted plans for the plane’s manufacture. Tupolev also designed the Tu-160 strategic bomber (still in use) and the Tu-204 passenger aircraft.

The Kremlin may rehabilitate members of Russia’s Provisional Government, which was formed in March 1917 after the forced abdication of Tsar Nicholas II. Alexander Yakovlev, chair of the Presidential Commission for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Political Repression, said that a review of provisional government Ministers’ cases would be complete by October, at which point a resolution would be submitted to the Prosecutor General’s office, which makes any final decision. The Provisional Government was deposed in a coup by the Bolsheviks in October 1917, and many of its members were executed. 

Russia may have a way to profit from its economic decline of the 1990s. Under the recently signed Kyoto Protocol, signatories agreed to reduce overall CO2 emissions to 93% of their 1990 levels by 2012. Given the slide in industrial output in Russia since 1990, the country’s pollution output is already well below the Kyoto targets, and shows little chance of recovering so signicantly by 2009, when the Protocol takes effect. As a result, a Energy Ministry official said, Russia may be able to sell 2 bn tons of CO2 quotas between 2008 and 2012 for between $10-40 bn per year.  

The Russian company Para-digma-Ru has announced the release of an audio version of the novel The Master & Margarita on audiocassettes and CDs. It features the voices of over 100 famous Russian actors, including Alla Demidova, Veniamin Smekh-ov, Lyudmila Kasatkina, Igor Kostolevsky and many others. Detailed information is available at the website: www.paradigmaru.ru. An American company, Lexicon Bridge (www.lexiconbridge.com), also features an abridged reading of the novel by Veniamin Smekhov (who played Woland in the famous Taganka presentation).

Russia needs $7 bn to clean up radioactive waste pollution in the country. The solution? Import more waste, of course. On June 7, the Russian Duma passed a bill calling for importation and storage of nuclear waste that could reportedly earn the country $2 bn a year. 

The remains of Tsarina Maria Fyodorovna, the Danish-born princess who was the mother of Nicholas II, will be reburied in St. Petersburg sometime next year, the AP reported. Born in 1847 in Copenhagen as Danish Princess Dagmar (daughter of King Christian IX), she became Tsarina Maria Fedorovna upon marrying Tsar Alexander III in 1866. The couple had six children. After the Bolshevik Revolution, Maria fled St. Peters-burg and sought shelter on the Black Sea. Two years later, she boarded a British navy vessel headed to Britain, and later returned to Denmark. She died in 1928 at her home north of Copenhagen with no knowledge about the fate of her family. The reinterrment ceremony will likely take place sometime next year. Russian Heritage Council spokes--man Georgy Vilinbakhov told the Interfax agency that the tsarina had wanted to be buried next to her husband in the Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral. Alexander III died in 1894 and a tomb alongside his had been reserved for Maria Fyodorovna. The remains of Nicholas II and his family were buried in the Cathedral in 1998. 

Russian sculptor Ernst Neiz-vestny (see Russian Life, June 1996) has been commissioned to create a monument to Russian vodka. The monument will be situated in Uglich,  a town which, incidently, two years ago opened a museum called “The Library of Russian Vodka,” where visitors can take home a few “books” (vodkas) to “read” (drink) after sampling different brands for free. Uglich is a small town (population 40,000) just west of Yaroslavl. It is also one of the oldest Russian towns, with mention being made of it as early as the middle of the 10th century. Folk legend has it that the town’s name is derived from the Russian phrase, tut zhgli ugli (“here they burned coals”), which is quite appropriate, as charcoal  is an essential element in the filtering of fine vodka. 

Oksana Fyodorova, Miss Russia 2001, would seem to have a Presidential Seal of Approval. Not only is the 23-year-old from St. Petersburg, President Vladimir Putin’s home city. But she also comes from the “organs”: she is a senior lieutenant in the Interior Ministry (MVD). Recently, she was awarded the Gold Medal of the St. Petersburg University of MVD. The gold medal was awarded because of her training at the faculty for managers of the Interior Ministry’s city and district organs. Fyodorova intends to continue her professional education and is working on her dissertation on civil legislation regulating the activities of private security agencies. 

The Shape of Things to Come: Russia’s Population Pyramids

Russia’s population crisis is truly grave. Declining birth and life expectancy rates, brought on by economic dysfunction, alcoholism, environmental factors and the collapse of the social safety net, are leading to annual six-digit declines in the Russian population. 

These charts, derived from US Census Data, show the alarming nature of this crisis. Each bar of the chart represents a five-year age grouping of the population, and thus graphically depicts the composition of the population at any point in time. These “Population Pyramid” charts are based on actual 1989 and 1999 data, and projected data for 2009, based on current trends.

A “healthy” Population Pyramid is just what the name suggests, a population distributed in a way so that the numbers decrease with each step up in age grouping. The 1989 chart shows a relatively healthy pyramid, whereas in 1999 the dramatic decreases in the youngest age groupings signal a demographic crisis in the making. 

Current forecasts are that Russia’s population will dip below 140 million in 2018. What can reverse this trend? For starters: a rising birth 

rate, decreased vodka consumption and patching the social safety net.

Kramnik to battle for humankind

R

ussian Chess Grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik (see Russian Life Jan/Feb 2001) won the prestigious Oscar prize in chess for the first time in his career. The Chess Oscar is awarded by the Russian magazine “64-Chess review” and is based on polls conducted among 326 journalists from 58 countries. Kramnik received far many more votes than India’s Vishwanathan Anand or his compatriot Garry Kasparov, who were ranked second and third, respectively. 

Meanwhile the Brain Games group which organized the Kasparov-Kramnik match last year announced that Kramnik had signed a contract to play against the chess computer software Deep Fritz, trying to take revenge on behalf of humanity for the loss suffered by Kasparov against Deep Blue in 1997. 

The match, sponsored by the Emir of Bahrain Yousuf Shiravi, will take place in Bahrain October 14-30. If he beats the computer, Kramnik will get a $1 mn purse. He will receive $800,000 if the match ends in a draw and $200,000 if he loses. This new “man vs. computer” match is expected to draw even more attention than the Kasparov-Deep Blue match, and Brain Games is placing its bets on Internet coverage of the match (in the last hours of Kasparov’s match, a website covering the event received 22 mn visits). 

Deep Fritz is the most advanced chess software available. The brainchild of Dutchman Franz Morsch and German Mathias Feist, it has already beaten virtually all the world’s leading chess players, including Kasparov, Anand and Alexei Shirov. 

Marat Safin received the Laureus World Sport Award for “Best Novice 2000.” Yet Safin did not attend the award ceremony in Monaco as he was playing Pete Sampras at the ATP World Team Championship in Dusseldorf (Germany). “My business is to play tennis. Let other people get prizes,” Safin reportedly said. Safin went on to beat Sampras 7-6, 7-5. After teammate Yevgeny Kafelnikov defeated Jean-Michael Gambill 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, Russia won the doubles match as well, beating the US 3-0. The duo then defeated Argentina to enter the finals, only to lose to Australia 1-2. Meanwhile at June’s French Open in Paris, only 17-year old Lina Krasnorutskaya had a strong showing, advancing to the quarterfinals before being defeated.

At the world ice hockey championship held in Germany last May, Russia was left without a medal for the 8th time in a row, after coach Boris Mikhailov’s team was defeated in the quarterfinals 4-3 by Sweden. The team did better than last year, when they placed 11th; this year they claimed 8th place. First place went to the Czech Republic, which beat Finland in the finals. It was the third straight gold for the Czech team.

The change of generation which usually follows any Olympic Games hasn’t spared the Russian National Team in Greco-Roman wrestling. At the recent Euro-pean Championship in Istanbul, Russia felt dearly the absence of 12-time European Champion (and three time Olympic Champion) Alexander Karelin. As a result, Russian wrestlers brought home only two gold medals and failed to win the first place in team rankings (taken by Turkey). Many Russian wrestlers skipped the Istanbul event, but Russian coaches hope to get them all to attend September’s World Champion-ship’s in New York. 

Russian baseball pitcher Oleg Korneev (see Russian Life, May/June 2000) was signed in June by the Seattle Mariners. The 6-foot-7, 200 pound 19-year-old throws at over 91 mph and could rise to the majors in 2-3 years.

An Almost Sure Thing

After Vladimir Besschastnykh’s spectacular diving head shot gave Russia a hard-won 1-0 away victory over Yugoslavia on April 26, local soccer fans were optimistic that Russia would secure a berth in World Championship-2002 series. 

Then Russia hosted the Yugoslav team in Moscow on June 2, hopeful for a decisive finish. But the game ended in a colorless draw. 

Despite this, Russia still had a shot at the long-sought-after Championship slot, which would be guaranteed if it won first place in its qualifying group. The matter was all but decided June 6, when Russia beat Luxembourg 2-1 playing away. 

Now Russia has a comfortable lead (17 pts) over its immediate rival Slovenia (13 pts). The only way the Russian team would not get its berth in the Championship would be to lose twice in a row to Slovenia in coming weeks.