Notebook

Briefs

Inflation millionaires

According to Russian State Statistics Committee figures for December 1995, almost 25% of Russians are now millionaires, meaning that they earn at least a million rubles per month. At the current exchange rate, however, this is only about $200. Meanwhile the average salary is R710,000 ($150), and the subsistence wage R327,000 ($75). Twenty percent of Russians (28.9 mn) still live below the poverty line, down from 33% last January. Just five years ago, before price liberalization and inflation, salaries of a few hundred rubles were the norm. The Associated Press.

Winner take all

The jury presiding over the nationwide contest to design bells for Moscow’s fast-rising Christ the Savior Cathedral has placed an extraordinary condition on competitors: among the finalists, all but the ultimate winner’s bells will be destroyed. The requirement was meant to inspire greatness, but some Russian TV commentators called the clause barbaric, citing the grim history of St. Basil’s Cathedral on Red Square. Legend has it that Tsar Ivan the Terrible ordered his men to blind the church’s architects, Barma and Postnik, so that they could never create a comparable structure.

President, birthday boy, and crusader

Russian President Boris Yeltsin turned 65 in February, with a day of modest celebration and congratulations from close colleagues. Patriarch Alexei II presented the President with a miniature bronze statue of Prince Vladimir, Christianizer of the ancient kingdom of Kievan Rus. Alexei flatteringly compared the President to Vladimir, thanking him for his work in support of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Can you tell me how to get...

America’s much loved children’s educational program ‘Sesame Street’ is bound for Russia. Program creator Children’s Television Workshop has joined forces with Russian advertising agency Video Art to produce Ulitsa Sezam, as it is to be called. They plan to have the show on the air by September. Russian broadcasts will feature favorite characters like Cookie Monster and Kermit the Frog, along with new home-grown characters like Zeliboba, a fairytale creature resembling Big Bird. Action will take place not on Sesame Street itself, but in a traditional Russian dvor (courtyard), built in a studio at the Ostankino TV Center. The Moscow Times.

Briefs

Malchyk, your documents!

In response to Chechnya-inspired terrorism and escalating crime against children, school parents’ committees in Moscow have developed a plan to bolster student security during the school day. The plan calls for the introduction of a pass system in Russian schools, whereby each child would carry a card with vital identifying information. So far, only a few schools have adopted the plan. Moskovsky Komsomolets.

Bad blood

A man claiming to be the grandson of Russia’s last Tsar is likely to enter the race for the Russian Presidency this June. At his recent Moscow press conference, 53-year-old ‘Grand Duke Nicholas’ explained how the Tsarevich Alexis, presumed executed with his family by the Bolsheviks in 1917, had actually escaped to live an obscure provincial life until his death in 1965. His claim is based on the fact that the body of Alexis was never found. To buttress his assertions, Nicholas claimed to have inherited the Tsarevich’s well-publicized hemophilia, though he somehow ‘got well’ at the age of 40. The Associated Press.

An Olympian task

ST. PETERSBURG — Mayor Anatoly Sobchak has launched his city’s bid for the 2004 Olympic Games. Ten other cities are in the running, including current favorites Cape Town, Athens and Rome. The city’s leadership sees the Games as a means to raise St. Petersburg out of economic crisis. In 1994, St. Petersburg hosted the Goodwill Games with similar hopes for an economic bonanza. Though the effort  produced some notable infrastructure improvements, disorganization and lack of interest resulted in a net loss to the city of nearly $120,000.

Laudable steps

Moscow’s world famous Bolshoy Theater paid tribute in January to Igor Moiseyev, founder of Russia’s most famous folk-dancing ensemble, on his 90th birthday. For 59 years, the Moiseyev Ensemble has taken its dynamic interpretations of traditional Russian dances to all corners of the globe. The gala evening featured performances by both the Ensemble and the Bolshoy troupe, with President Yeltsin presiding over dedications at the interval. For a finale, the sprightly Moiseyev danced the tango. The Moscow Times.