1. law, govt and politics
2. legal issues
3. human rights

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
САНКТ-ПЕТЕРБУРГ-ТАЙМС
W E D N E SD AY, D E C E M B E R 2 4 , 2014
W W W. S P T I M E S . R U
JULIA REMIZOVA / FOR SPT
N O . 51 (1843)
THE IRONY OF SKATE
Skaters slip and slide on the rink in Pionerskaya Ploschad set up as part of a holiday fair that opened on Dec. 19 and will remain open until Jan. 11. The city officially opened the holiday season on Dec. 20 with the lighting of the tree in Dvortsovaya Ploschad as locals prepare for the upcoming New Year celebrations.
NEWS
NEWS
Will Russia’s
Economic Woes
Hurt Other
Countries?
Facebook Ban
Weakening ruble causes
recession fears. Page 5.
Social media website blocks
pro-Navalny page. Page 3.
FEATURE
How to
Disappear
Forever
The St. Petersburg Times
learns how it’s done.
Page 16.
News
www.sptimes.ru | Wednesday, December 24, 2014
World’s Biggest Clock Unveiled
ALL ABOUT TOWN
Wednesday, Dec. 24
English teachers looking to bring in
the holidays with grammatical correctness are encouraged to attend
the British Book Center’s EFL
Seminar this evening conducted by
Evgeniy Kalashnikov, the British
Council regional teacher trainer.
Register for the event, which begins
at 4:30 p.m. this afternoon, on the
Book Center’s website if you wish
to attend.
Better understand the Christmas
traditions of other countries at the
Good Luck! Language and Tourism
Center’s International Christmas
Party this evening in their office at
118 Naberezhnaya Reki Fontanki.
Master classes, songs and competitions will be held in three different
languages to teach about the most
wonderful time of the year. Register
for the free evening by calling 812
454 0193.
By Irina Titova
T H E S T. P E T E R S B U R G T I M E S
The official presentation of the world’s
biggest clock, which was made at Russia’s oldest watch-making factory Raketa located in St. Petersburg’s suburb
Petrodvorets, was held in the famed
Central Children’s Department Store
in Moscow on Tuesday.
The clock will join the list of the
world’s top five mechanical clocks such
as London’s Big Ben, Moscow’s Kremlin Clock, Prague’s Tower Clock and
Guangzhou’s Clock in China.
FOR SPT
The mirror surface of
the clock creates an
amazing optical effect,
and visitors will see
their reflection change
in the pendulum.
Raketa’s new clock is six to seven
meters in diameter. It has 5,000 parts of
up to four meters in size and a pendulum of 13 meters.
The pendulum’s diameter is three
meters wide and it has a swing time of
seven seconds. Its mirror surface creates an amazing optical effect and visitors to the store will be able to see their
own reflection changing within the
movement of the pendulum.
The weight of the mechanism, which
is made of gold, aluminum, steel, copper and brass, is five tons. The working
mechanism is unique, as there are no
clocks in the world that have gear
wheels of such enormous size, the
press-service of Raketa said.
The manufacturers of the unique
clock hope it will be seen as a work of
art and one of Moscow’s leading
sights.
French businessman Jacques von
Polier, creative director of Raketa, said
the order for the clock that the com-
Raketa’s new clock is six to seven meters in diameter, with a pendulum of 13 meters.
pany received from Gals Development
is very important for the plant.
“All our team is proud of this project, and we hope the clock will be a historic one,” Jacques von Polier said.
The Central Children’s Department
Store, which is currently in its final
stage of reconstruction, is set to reopen next year.
Petrodvorets Watch Factory Raketa was founded by Russian tsar Peter the Great in 1721, although it
didn’t have the name of Raketa at
that time. It is one of the rare watchmaking factories in the world that
produces all the components of its
models, including hair-springs and
escapements.
Kadyrov Names Islamic Militants
Disease That Must Be Destroyed
By Allison Quinn
T H E S T. P E T E R S B U R G T I M E S
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has
described the Islamic militants that
plague his republic as an incurable disease, in comments to the Izvestia newspaper, saying that the only way to deal
with them is to destroy them.
Emphasizing that Chechen authorities have their own house in order,
Kadyrov said the masterminds of a
deadly Dec. 4 terrorist attack on Grozny
were from neighboring Dagestan and
Ingushetia, not Chechnya.
“The number [of remaining terrorists] changed, of course, after we destroyed 20 shaitans [devils]. So about
30 militants now remain. … Now we
have information that those militants
that got into Grozny came through the
border with Ingushetia. We are checking Chechen territory, protecting it, and
this process is practically never-ending.
In the forests and the mountains we
have our fighters working, regularly
carrying out ambushes,” Kadyrov said.
“But what has happened has happened. Maybe we underestimated them
or became too calm, relaxed, and for us
this is a big lesson. We can’t relax as
long as these devils are on the territory
of the Caucasus,” he said.
Fourteen policemen were killed in
the Dec. 4 attack, along with more than
a dozen of the militants. Another 36
people were injured, according to
Kadyrov, who soon took to Instagram
to declare that the family members of
militants should be held liable for failing to stop the attack.
Reports of subsequent arson attacks
on several homes of people with suspected ties to the militants thrust Kadyrov into the spotlight and pitted him
against the republic’s human rights activists, who themselves then suffered an arson attack on their offices in Grozny.
In comments to Izvestia, Kadyrov
repeated earlier claims that the activists who came under attack had been
working for the U.S. State Department
and helping terrorists in order to destabilize Chechnya, saying they “should
be driven out of Russia.”
The outspoken leader also implied
that Chechnya’s neighboring republics
were the real source of the Islamic insurgency in its current iteration.
“Earlier, the danger was on the side
of Chechnya, but now, as it turns out,
we have to look after our neighbors as
well. I think that by using joint efforts
with Dagestan and Ingushetia, we will
be able to manage,” he said.
As for what the interviewer described as the more “liberal” policies
used against terrorists in Dagestan and
Ingushetia, Kadyrov said such practices
as rehabilitating militants could not
work because “they are sick.”
“They can’t be cured, they can only
be destroyed,” Kadyrov said, noting
that there was no need for violence in
Chechnya today because, unlike in the
1990s, it now offers inhabitants peace
and stability. Anyone who seeks violence there, he said, is simply “going
against Islam, his own people and the
law” and will be “severely punished”
for it.
Chechen authorities are generally
known for taking a harder line with
militants than authorities in neighboring Dagestan, where the insurgency is
estimated to be larger and much more
active but authorities have tried
“softer” tactics in the war on terror,
such as a rehabilitation program for insurgents.
The program, which sought to return young men from the insurgency
and reintegrate them into society, was
thought to be relatively successful, but
it was abolished when Kremlin-backed
Ramazan Abdulatipov took the reins
of the republic in January 2013.
Kadyrov also opened up about
what many have described as his “special” relationship with President
Vladimir Putin, a relationship which
saw the president appear to defend
Kadyrov at his recent press conference against journalists critical of
Kadyrov’s policies.
“If I found out that there was someone more devoted to Putin than me, I’d
lose respect for myself,” Kadyrov said
in comments carried by Izvestia.
❖
Thursday, Dec. 25
Make this Christmas a slam-dunk
and check out BC Zenit St. Petersburg take on Nizhny Novgorod this
evening at the Sibur Arena on
Krestovsky Island near the underconstruction Kirov Stadium at 8 p.m.
Tickets are still available on the
club’s website for as little as 200 rubles ($3.30).
Spend your yuletide with Oleg
Basilashvili this evening at the Concert Hall near Finland Station on Arsenalnaya Naberezhnaya 13/1. The
legendary film and stage actor will
chat with fans, tell stories and share
memories of an extensive career that
has earned him acclaim throughout
Russia.
Friday, Dec. 26
Celebrate Boxing Day by boxing in
your opponents on various game
boards during the British Book
Center’s Board Game Evening tonight at 5 p.m. Spread the Christmas
cheer and goodwill by making other
people regret their decision to come
and try to match their intellectual
prowess against yours.
Saturday, Dec. 27
Get cultural and material simultaneously during the free classical music
concert at the Galeria shopping mall
in the heart of the city. Starting at 7
p.m., shoppers and mallrats will be
able to hear the sounds of Tchaikovsky and Strauss softly lilt over the
constant buzz of people bustling from
store to store, trying to get their shopping done before New Year.
Sunday, Dec. 28
Prepare for the holidays at the
“Russian Winter” New Year’s Fair
on Moskovskaya Ploschad, which
concludes today after starting on
Dec. 22. Games and attractions as
well as numerous performances will
be occurring for those looking to
get into the spirit while numerous
vendors will be on hand to make
sure you get something for everyone on your list.
Monday, Dec. 29
Learn how the Swedes celebrate
Christmas, or julen, as they call it in
their land of ice and snow, during
“Swedish Christmas” at the Lermontov Children’s Library this afternoon at 4 p.m. Activities explaining and demonstrating Sweden’s
cultural traditions will be accompanied by traditional dishes and
sweets.
Tuesday, Dec. 30
Today is the final day of the Christmas Market at the Europolis shopping center on Polyustrovsky prospekt. Get cannibalistic with your
sweet tooth by chowing down on
some gingerbread men, or attend
one of the master classes that can
teach you about how to make beautiful, festive decorations for your
tree using only your hands.
Russian Senator: Use
Beets Instead of Lipstick
T H E M O S C OW T I M E S
A Russian senator has advised
women to start using beetroot to
color their lips instead of lipstick to
avoid the high price of imported
cosmetics.
“Well, if you really want to color
you lips — why not beets? They’re
natural, no chemicals will wind up in
your body,” Igor Chernyshev, the
deputy chairman of the Federation
Council’s Social
Policy Committee, told regional
news portal Regions.ru last
week.
“And our
women will look
more beautiful
in lingerie from
a Moscow factory than in
French [underwear],” the lawmaker added.
Chernyshev’s styling tips came in
response to news that small business
association Opora Rossii might ask
authorities to legalize pegging the
price of certain products to foreign
currencies — a move which would
see considerable price hikes in Russia, where inflation is raging due to
this year’s drastic devaluation of the
ruble.
“In such a situation, the less people think about the foreign currency,
the better for them — their health will
be stronger,” Chernyshev was cited as
saying, adding that “in such an unstable situation there is a great risk of
making the people mentally ill.”
In the current conditions, he said,
it is necessary to come up with an alternative solution for companies who
import goods to Russia that aren’t
manufactured
domestically.
Radio station
Govorit Moskva,
or Moscow
Speaks, reported
on Dec. 14 that
certain stores had
begun pricing
goods in foreign
currencies to
avoid losses from
the ruble’s precipitous devaluation of about 40 percent against the U.S. dollar this year.
Alexei Nemeryuk, the head of
the city’s department of trade and
services, denounced the practice,
calling it impermissible and against
the law.
Russia’s Economic Development
Ministry also expressed disapproval
for the move, saying it “confuses consumers” more than anything else.
‘In such a situation,
the less people think
about the foreign
currency, the better
for them,’
Chernyshev said.
2
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The St. Petersburg Times | www.sptimes.ru
B R I E F
TV Channel Backtracks
■ MOSCOW (SPT) — Russia’s stateowned Channel One conceded that
one of its most hair-raising reports
about Ukraine could have been a
“sick fantasy.”
In July, Russia’s most-watched
channel reported that the Ukrainian
army had crucified a 3-year-old boy in
Slovyansk, after the city was recaptured from pro-Russian insurgents.
The story was told on camera by a
woman claiming to have been a refugee from Slovyansk, who demonstrated a suspiciously insecure grasp
on the city’s layout.
The woman’s identity was never
verified, and no independent proof is
available for the story.
President Vladimir Putin was
asked about the story by journalist
Ksenia Sobchak during his press conference last week.
Channel One presenter Irada
Zeinalova conceded during a news
program on Sunday that the channel
had no evidence to back up the story.
But she was unrepentant, accusing
the Ukrainian army of committing
many other comparable atrocities in
Ukraine’s war-torn Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
Bad Kitty
■ MOSCOW (SPT) — A female tiger released into the wild by President
Vladimir Putin in the spring has
adapted to life in Russia, showing no
desire to follow its littermates to
China and instead gorging on wild
swine.
Ilona the Amur tigress has settled
in the Khingansky nature reserve in
the far-eastern Amur region, the reserve said on its website.
Ilona has also killed at least three
times in the past two weeks, with all
the victims being wild piglets. One did
not even have time to wake up, as it
was killed in its sleep.
The territory taken over by the big
cat was previously inhabited by a pack
of wolves who were forced to migrate,
the report said. It was unclear whether
their expulsion was violent.
Ilona is part of a litter of five
parentless cubs found in the taiga two
years ago and nursed at a tiger rehab
center in Russia’s Far East.
Amur tigers — the biggest cats in
the world, along with Bengali tigers
— are an endangered species, with
only 450 estimated remaining.
Oh, Deer
■ MOSCOW (SPT) — Animal rights
activists have been detained after
staging a creative protest in central
Moscow that involved locking themselves in a cage with a reindeer at a
holiday display on Tverskoi Bulvar.
From inside the cage of Rudolph
the reindeer on Sunday, the activists
unfurled banners reading: “We demand that the animals be returned to
normal conditions!” and “Animals
are not decorations, stop abusing
them!”
The reindeer was on display as part
of a Christmas exhibition called
“Magical Forest,” which opened on
Tverskoi Bulvar in mid-December.
Apart from the reindeer, other animals taking part in the holiday display
include geese, roosters, a goat, a sheep
and an owl, Dozhd television reported
late Sunday.
The activists protesting the display
were soon detained and transported
to a police station, where they faced
administrative fines.
The organizer of the holiday event
said in comments carried by the Russian News Service after the incident
that she intended to file a complaint
with police over the activists’ stunt,
since they had allegedly fed the reindeer a carrot.
W
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Wednesday, December 24, 2014
❖3
Facebook Bans Navalny Event Page
By Alexey Eremenko
T H E S T. P E T E R S B U R G T I M E S
Facebook complied with an official request to ban a page in support of Russia’s leading opposition activist, triggering a wave of censorship allegations.
Prosecutors asked a judge on Dec.
19 to jail Alexei Navalny for a decade
on financial charges that his supporters
claim were fabricated in retribution for
his scathing attacks on President Vladimir Putin and his inner circle.
A Facebook page was promptly set
up calling for a rally in Navalny’s support. More than 12,000 people said
they were going as of Dec. 20, Interfax
reported.
However, the Prosecutor General’s
Office was equally prompt in requesting the page to be blocked in Russia.
The ban was enforced on Dec. 20, a
spokesman for the state media and Internet censorship watchdog, Roskomnadzor, told Interfax.
The page called for an “unsanctioned” rally, the spokesman said. Since
last February, websites in Russia have
been able to be blocked for such calls.
The rally was not unsanctioned in
the sense of having been prohibited by
authorities, as the organizers have not
yet applied for a permit, prominent opposition lawyer Artyom Fayzulin wrote
on Facebook on Sunday.
Though Russian censorship law is
technically limited to Russia, the Russian watchdog also demanded that
Ukrainian news website Gordonua.
com kill a story about the rally, by
threatening to ban the site in Russia.
Facebook has so far kept silent on
the issue. A company spokesperson in
BOGOMOLOV.PL / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
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Navalny, left, at a 2013 rally in Moscow. A Facebook page for an upcoming rally in his support was taken down by the website Sunday.
Russia failed to return repeated requests for comment on Sunday.
The social network made a mistake
that is “horrible precedent and bad for
business,” former U.S. ambassador to
Russia Michael McFaul wrote on his
own Facebook page.
Facebook proved to be a crucial instrument in organizing protests during a
wave of revolutions in North Africa and
the Middle East between 2010 and 2012.
However, authorities of affected countries had at the time preferred to block
access to unwanted content themselves
rather than have Facebook do it.
Navalny, a whistleblower who
claims to have uncovered billions of
dollars’ worth of corruption among Putin’s affiliates — though none of it has
been confirmed in courts — emerged
as the leader of large-scale anti-Kremlin protests that swept Moscow between 2011 and 2013.
He has since faced four criminal
cases and three defamation lawsuits,
and is under house arrest, though that
has not stopped his activism.
Another, yet-unblocked Facebook
page for a rally in his support had 14,000
followers as of Sunday afternoon.
Putin Sure of Russian Recovery at News Conference
By Ivan Nechepurenko
T H E S T. P E T E R S B U R G T I M E S
Beaming confidence and exuding a
readiness to deflect blame, President
Vladimir Putin refrained from seizing
the opportunity to announce any
sweeping policy reforms with regard to
Russia’s economic crisis during his annual news conference on Dec. 18.
Hundreds of journalists from across
Russia and around the globe attended
the event, many of whom were relatively
assertive with their questions this year.
In the past, the atmosphere has often been sympathetic, spurring speculation that questions had been selected
in advance. But this year’s reporters
tended to veer between the neutral and
the negative, with Ukraine agency UNIAN’s Roman Tsymbalyuk brazenly
asking: “How many Russian servicemen and units of equipment have you
sent there, and how many of them have
been killed in Ukraine? What would
you as the commander-in-chief say to
the families of the Russian servicemen
and officers killed in Ukraine?”
During the event, Putin reiterated
his view that the current economic crisis
— which has seen the ruble plummet
over 45 percent against the U.S. dollar
since January and is expected to spur
inflation to 10 percent by the year’s end
— is only temporary and will end “inevitably” within two years maximum.
With equal aplomb, Putin made
clear his resolve not to cower to the
West, echoing his usual mantra that
NATO and the U.S. provoked Russia,
first by expanding eastward and then
by staging a coup in Kiev in February,
overthrowing Ukraine’s former regime
to advance Western interests.
Don’t Blame Me for Ruble’s Plight
Economy-related issues and the ruble crisis took center stage throughout
the conference. Putin essentially defended his own performance, saying
the government would adopt measures
that had already been proven effective
during the 2008 financial crisis.
He reiterated on several occasions
during the event that the economy is
bound to bounce back, and that the current state of affairs will be behind us
soon, with two years being the worst
case scenario.
But every cloud has its silver lining.
The plummeting price of oil has given
Russia impetus to diversify its economy, something that it hasn’t managed
to do for the past two decades owing to
the fact that oil extraction has traditionally proven more lucrative than
other business endeavors, Putin said.
Putin asserted that Russia’s financial
recovery is linked to the global economy, which he is confident will surge in
the coming years, in turn creating an increased demand for energy resources.
He praised the government’s handling of the crisis thus far, admitting
that some measures — perhaps with
reference to the Central Bank’s interest
rate hike on Monday — could have
been adopted more quickly. He also
said the government must do a better
job tackling spiraling inflation, especially in terms of gasoline and food.
tinue the analogy, sometimes I think
that maybe it would be best if our bear
just sat still. Maybe he should stop
chasing pigs and boars around the taiga
and start picking berries and eating
honey. Maybe then he will be left alone.
But no, he won’t be! Because someone
will always try to chain him up. As soon
as he’s chained they will tear out his
teeth and claws,” he said.
In essence, Russia was forced to
adopt a more assertive stance in the international arena, and was accordingly
driven to revamp its military forces.
IT’S ALL THE WEST’S FAULT
The situation in Ukraine was discussed at length with Putin largely dodging Tsymbalyuk’s question, which assumed the presence of Russian troops
and weapons in Ukraine’s turbulent east.
He expressed his desire to see peace in
Ukraine once again. “I hope that by engaging in dialogue — and we are ready to
assume the role of intermediaries in this
respect — we will succeed in establishing
a direct political dialogue, and by employing such methods and political instruments we will reach a settlement and
restore a single political space,” he said.
He expressed optimism that Ukrainian
President Petro Poroshenko wants peace
as well, noting that Poroshenko isn’t the
only one making decisions in Kiev.
With regard to foreign affairs, Putin’s
message was consistently anti-Western.
He accused the West of attempting to
contain Russia and crush its national
interests.
“After the fall of the Berlin Wall
and the breakup of the Soviet Union,
Russia opened itself to our partners.
What did we see? Direct and fully
fledged support for terrorism in the
North Caucasus. They directly supported terrorism, you understand? Is
that what partners usually do? I won’t
go into details on that, but this is an established fact. And everyone knows
it,” he said, when asked about the economic consequences of Crimea.
More recently, “unprecedented and
clearly orchestrated attempts were
made [by Western journalists] to discredit our efforts to organize and host
the Olympics,” he said.
He compared Russia’s aspiration of
preserving its nationhood to a bear defending his turf. “You see, if we con-
‘In the past, the
atmosphere has been
sympathetic... But this
year’s reporters
tended to be between
neutral and negative.’
LOYALTY AND LOVE
Putin took advantage of the occasion
to reiterate his unwillingness to cover
for his friends at the helms of Russian
regions and state-run companies.
In the aftermath of a 4 Dec. terror
attack on Grozny, Chechen leader
Ramzan Kadyrov vowed that families
of terrorists in the republic would be
deported and their houses would be
razed to the ground. Afterward, activists claimed that a number of homes
were burned to the ground, many with
links to the alleged militants.
Putin said at the news conference
that Kadyrov’s comments had been
“emotional,” adding that the relatives
of terrorists are often aware of their
loved ones’ plans.
Still, the government must check if
any people have been illegally forced
to leave the republic, or if their houses
have been burnt down, Putin said.
He went on to praise one of his
closest allies, Igor Sechin, referring
to him as an “effective manager,”
though noting that he “doesn’t know”
what he earns for running Rosneft.
Sechin won a lawsuit against Russia’s
leading business newspaper Vedomosti in August over an editorial that
implied he had the capacity to unlawfully influence state officials due to
his proximity to President Putin. Earlier Sechin also successfully sued
Forbes Russia and daily newspaper
Komsomolskaya Pravda for referring
to him as Russia’s highest-paid CEO,
and estimating that he earned $50
million annually.
Putin dismissed the possibility of a
palace coup in Russia, saying that he derives his legitimacy from the Russian
people themselves: “There are no palaces in Russia, thus there cannot be a
palace coup.”
The president went on to explain
that there is a fine line between patriotic dissenters who are driven by a love
for their own country, and members of
the “fifth column” who work with other
states’ interests in mind. Putin failed to
provide a modern example to demonstrate his point.
But it wasn’t all stern talk of economic resilience and national pride. On
a surprisingly intimate note, Putin said
that he is in love with someone who
loves him back, and that he remains on
good terms with his ex-wife Lyudmila.
4 ❖ Wednesday, December 24, 2014
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www.sptimes.ru | The St. Petersburg Times
Insurgents Pledge Their
Loyalty to Islamic State
By Allison Quinn
T H E S T. P E T E R S B U R G T I M E S
SSAVOSTYANOV / FLICKR
The leaders of the Caucasus Emirate’s Dagestan network have pledged
their loyalty to the Islamic State — at
once defying the organization’s
leader, putting to bed rumors of the
group’s waning relevance and perhaps spelling disaster for Russia’s security services, which have sought to
stop the spread of radical Islam in the
turbulent republic.
The Dagestan network is the most
active branch within the Caucasus
Emirate, an organization that seeks
to establish an independent Islamic
emirate in Russia’s predominantly
Muslim republics and expel Russian
authorities from the region.
In a video released late Friday,
head of the Dagestan branch Abu
Muhammad and one of the branch’s
top commanders in Makhachkala,
Abu Muhammad Agachaulsky,
took an oath to Islamic State leader
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and called
on all insurgents in the republic to
follow suit.
The pair’s pivot toward the Islamic State flies in the face of the
leader of the Caucasus Emirate,
Aliaskhab Kebekov, who has been
openly critical of Islamic State tactics and famously called for an end
to all violence against civilians. In a
sign that not all of Dagestan’s insurgents support Kebekov’s more
moderate line, Agachaulsky and
Muhammad follow in the footsteps
of Khasavyurt insurgent commander Suleiman Zailanabidov,
who took a vow of allegiance to alBaghdadi in late November.
The news hints at a major rift
within the ranks of Caucasus Emirate fighters, as several leaders have
spoken out against the especially
brutal tactics used by Islamic State
fighters and expressed disapproval
of their actions.
Kebekov made waves this summer by calling on militants to refrain from hurting civilians in attacks, announcing an abolition to
the “black widow” practice that
saw the wives of dead militants
carry out suicide bombings. Such
bombings have been devastating
for ordinary Russians on more than
one occasion, including in both the
Moscow metro bombings of 2010
and last year’s Volgograd attacks.
Whether or not the shift toward
the Islamic State means that more
such attacks are on the horizon depends on how many fighters return
With colder weather rapidly approaching, relief organizations are scrambling to provide necessary goods and services.
Winter Afflicts East Ukraine
By Alexey Eremenko
T H E S T. P E T E R S B U R G T I M E S
“Winter is coming.” The words of
doom from the hit TV series “Game of
Thrones” spell as much danger for wartorn eastern Ukraine as they do for the
fictional land of Westeros, according to
a senior official at the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
People in Ukraine’s Donetsk and
Luhansk regions lack the basic necessities to get them through the cold season, said Pascal Cuttat, a Swiss national
who heads the ICRC regional delegation in Moscow.
“They lack the basic necessities —
tap water, power, heating, hygiene
items,” he told The St. Petersburg
Times in an exclusive interview.
The ICRC, along with the local Red
Cross branches, has helped 10,000 people in the area and 40,000 displaced in
Crimea. Another 13,000 displaced in
southern Russia and Belarus will receive ICRC assistance in the near future, Cuttat said.
But this is nowhere near sufficient:
United Nations figures from mid-December put the number of internally
displaced Ukrainians at 540,000, with
another 560,000 refugees having left
the country.
A pro-Russian insurgency controls
a part of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including several big cities with a
combined prewar population of about
1.8 million.
But the motley crews of rebels have
so far struggled to organize a functioning
government and pay pensions or salaries
— so much so that famine looms.
More than 20 people have starved
to death in the separatist-held zones so
far, former rebel commander Igor
Strelkov claimed in an article for the
Novorossia news agency in December.
Relief efforts remain ongoing: Aside
from the Red Cross, Russia has
mounted 10 humanitarian convoys, and
pro-Kiev Donetsk tycoon Rinat
Akhmetov has also been sending aid.
But those efforts are mired in controversy: Pro-Kiev volunteer fighters,
for example, stopped an Akhmetov
convoy from entering the rebel-held
zone earlier this week.
Delivery of humanitarian aid will
only be allowed in exchange for the release of Ukrainian prisoners of war —
at the rate of two soldiers per truck —
the volunteers said, Akhmetov’s humanitarian fund reported.
And as for the Russian convoys,
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko
said Tuesday that Russia was using
them to ship fuel for rebel tanks, a
claim that official Moscow has denied.
Echoing persistent media allegations, Poroshenko also accused rebel
leaders of looting and hoarding the humanitarian help.
Cuttat said he could not confirm any
looting, but found the insurgency leaders willing to work with the Red Cross
on the relief effort.
The Red Cross examined the first
convoy back in August, confirming that
it only carried relief goods.
But the organization was not involved with subsequent shipments because those convoys were not authorized by official Kiev.
Red Cross withdrew from eastern
Ukraine due to the violence, with one
staffer killed there in October. The organization’s activity in the region resumed just this month, when it finally
seemed like a cease-fire agreed in September was being observed.
The Red Cross has delivered food,
hygiene supplies and medical items,
glass and roofing to repair apartments
damaged by the artillery fire, and even
body bags for the Donetsk morgue.
They have loftier goals, such as
vouchers and even cash donations for
residents, Cuttat said.
“This way they would be able to buy
the necessities and not depend on
someone else deciding what they need
for them,” said the nine-fingered Red
Cross veteran, who has spent the past
23 years working with the Swiss-based
organization.
But the ICRC has allocated only 6.9
million Swiss francs ($7 million) for
Ukraine next year. Even with funds
from the organization’s in-country
branches factored in, this is not enough.
But for the ICRC to contribute to
humanitarian operations — i.e. Russian convoys — all sides need to agree
on technical aspects of this process,
Cuttat said. He declined to predict
when or if that would happen.
“Part of the problem is that sometimes, you mount what you think is a
post-conflict effort, and it turns out to
be an in-between-conflicts effort,” Cuttat said.
“But if the violence does not resume,
the humanitarian emergency may be resolved within months,” he said.
ALEXANDER POPOV / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
ADVERTISING
from Syria, and how well-equipped
they are to bypass security measures, said Georgy Engelhardt, an
independent expert on Islam.
As for Dagestan’s Islamic insurgents who have voiced loyalty to
Islamic State, Engelhardt said,
there will be “some activation on
their part, though not exclusively
against civilians.”
“Major terror attacks against
Muslim civilians are unlikely, but
attacks against non-Muslims are a
different issue,” he said.
Varvara Pakhomenko, an independent expert on the North Caucasus for the International Crisis Group,
agreed that the Dagestani leaders’
vows to al-Baghdadi could result in
“more brutal actions” from fighters in
the North Caucasus, with a “possible
renewal of terrorist actions against the
civilian population.”
“Kebekov, while he doesn’t forbid men in the Caucasus from going
to fight in Syria, speaks very negatively about Islamic State leader alBaghdadi and advises those in the
North Caucasus who have sworn
allegiance to the Islamic State to go
to Syria,” Pakhomenko said.
“Kebekov has more moderate
policies, trying to win over support
from the local population, which
has become especially relevant for
the underground insurgency recently, when there is such a mass
exodus of fighters to Syria,” she
said.
The recent attack in Chechnya
was Kebekov’s policies in action,
she said, with victims limited almost
exclusively to members of law enforcement.
Now, with Dagestan’s top insurgent leaders throwing those more
moderate policies out the window,
the landscape of militant activity in
the republic is expected to drastically change.
“There’s a strong likelihood that
financial support for the Islamic
State will grow on the part of Dagestan’s insurgency,” Pakhomenko
said, a development which would
likely see a spike in the extortion
schemes that militants there are
known for.
Add that to the potential homecoming of militants who’ve gone to
Syria and returned with “significant
battle experience, connections and
more radical views on Islamist ideology,” she said, and the security
services will have their work cut out
for them.
Makhachkala, capital of Dagestan and home to a Caucasus Emirate
network.
Business
www.sptimes.ru | Wednesday, December 24, 2014
❖
5
Will Russia’s Recession Go Beyond its Borders?
As the clouds of recession gather over
Moscow, Russia isn’t the only one preparing for a storm.
Russia’s economic crisis announced
itself to the world last week, when the
collapse of the Russian ruble sent
spasms through currency markets across
Central Asia and Eastern Europe.
Some post-Soviet neighbors have already taken action to insulate themselves. Belarus on Monday temporarily
closed all over-the-counter currency exchanges, adding to a 30 percent commission on purchases of foreign currency
announced last week. Kyrgyzstan has
also closed down private exchange offices in an effort to protect its currency.
Switzerland was the first European
country to act, last week placing a negative interest rate on deposit accounts in
an attempt to protect the Swiss franc’s
exchange rate from capital fleeing Russia and other emerging markets.
Further afield, the European banking system is looking on warily, as some
of its member nations have substantial
Russia exposure.
As low oil prices, Western sanctions
over the crisis in Ukraine and systemic
internal problems push Russia into a
likely recession next year, neighboring
economies will have their own host of
economic difficulties to contend with.
Here are the countries that will feel
the heat of Russia’s economic crisis in
2015.
EURASIAN ECONOMIC
UNION
Two countries stand out for their close
economic and political ties with Russia:
Belarus and Kazakhstan, who earlier this
year signed an agreement to create the
Eurasian Economic Union with Russia.
Although the union is widely viewed
as a power play by Russia, the two postSoviet neighbors have undeniably
strong ties with the Russian economy.
About half of Belarussian GDP is
tied to the Russian economy via trade,
remittances and banking assets, the
European Bank of Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD) said in a report
in September.
According to Belarus’ Foreign Ministry, Russia accounts for more than 40
percent of Belarussian exports and
more than half of its imports.
This high exposure leaves Belarus
vulnerable to declining consumer
spending power in Russia, a weakness
that has already taken its toll.
Belarus last month cut its growth
forecast for 2014 from 2 percent to 0.20.7 percent due to Russia’s economic
downturn, state news agency BelTA
quoted Belarussian Economy Minister
Nikolai Snopkov as saying.
About 10 percent of Kazakhstan’s
GDP is exposed to Russia, according
to the EBRD, but Kazakhstan has
larger concerns.
“The oil price is much more important than Russian performance by itself
[for Kazakhstan],” said Oleg Kuzmin,
economist for Russia and the CIS at
Renaissance Capital.
CAUCASUS AND CENTRAL
ASIA
While Kazakhstan’s $224 billion economy can weather a blow of two from
without, many of its smaller Central
Asian neighbors are not so lucky.
These countries rely heavily on remittances, often via money transfers,
from migrant workers in Russia.
Remittances account for 29 percent
of Kyrgyzstan’s GDP and a full 49 percent of Tajikistan’s, according to the
EBRD. Armenia, Uzbekistan and
Georgia, as well as nearby Moldova,
depend on remittances too.
But as economic activity drops,
there are less jobs to be had, and the
ruble’s fall of more than 40 percent
agains the U.S. dollar this year means
that migrant workers’ wages are now
worth less in their home country.
The outflow of remittances from
Russia to Central Asia shrank in the
first quarter of this year for the first
time since 2009, according to the
EBRD.
The International Monetary Fund
in October forecast that economic
growth in the Caucasus and Central
Asia will slow to 5.5 percent in 2014-15,
down from 6.6 percent in 2013, largely
due to slowing economic growth in
Russia.
Oil importers will be hit particularly
hard, with growth falling from 5.6 percent in 2013 to 4.5 percent next year,
the IMF said.
CENTRAL AND EASTERN
EUROPE
Moving west, formerly Soviet countries
with significant exports to Russia and
Ukraine are the next in line to take a
hit from Russia’s impending recession.
Central and Eastern Europe could
lose 0.3 to 1 percent of GDP growth
next year due to slowing growth in
Russia, macroeconomic research com-
Russia Struggles to Control
Mortgage Interest Rates
T H E S T. P E T E R S B U R G T I M E S
Russian authorities are mobilizing to
clamp down on spiraling mortgage
costs as a looming recession erodes real
wages and threatens to hammer homebuyers.
Following the Central Bank’s bid to
strengthen the flagging ruble by hiking
the interest rate 7.5 percent earlier this
month, rates on home loans have risen
between 12 and 13 percent to an average of from 15 to 16 percent, Maxim
Morozov, managing partner of real estate firm M9 Development, told the
Vedomosti newspaper.
Russia’s biggest lender Sberbank
said Monday that it would charge interest of 14.5 to 16 percent on mortgages
from Dec. 22, the Interfax news agency
reported.
The market-wide increases translate
to a 25 percent rise in loan repayments
at a time when real wages are being
squeezed by rising inflation and a rapid
devaluation of the Russian ruble, which
has fallen 40 percent against the U.S.
dollar since January.
If the regulator keeps rates high,
mortgage interest rates will likely rise to
18-20 percent, online newspaper Gazeta.
ru cited the managing partner of Intermark Savills as saying last week.
Russia’s Housing Ministry on Monday called on regional authorities to
find ways to shield citizens from increased costs and suggested creating a
state-run “development institute” to
funnel money into housing construction and mortgage lending, according
to news agency RIA Novosti.
Last week President Vladimir Putin
asked banks not to raise rates and said
the government should help mortgage
lenders. Russian lawmakers have said
they would introduce legislation to
protect ordinary Russians from steep
rate hikes.
Every third property in Russia is
bought with a mortgage, according to
the Housing Ministry.
Russia’s economic woes are likely to cause problems far beyond its own borders, especially in Belarus and Central Asia.
pany Capital Economics said in a report late last week.
The Baltic states — which comprise
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — are
particularly vulnerable, as is Poland.
The Baltics all send between 10 and 20
percent of their merchandise exports to
Russia, while Poland sells more than 5
percent of its exports there, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) reported.
“A Russian recession could, in a bad
scenario, cause growth in the Baltics to
slow from around 2-3 percent to around
1 percent. … It’s a significant headwind,
but not a disaster,” Capital Economics
analyst William Jackson told The St. Petersburg Times. Both Poland and the
Baltics are buffered by strong domestic
demand and, in Poland’s case, exports
to Germany, Jackson said.
in the Russian banking system would
transfer to Europe and trampoline
from there to the world economy.
Several European banks, such as
France’s Societe Generale, Italy’s UniCredit and Austria’s Raiffeisen, have
significant Russia exposure. But so far,
although these individual banks have
seen their share prices fall, there has
been little transfer to their countries’
real economies, according to the EIU.
In short, Russia’s slowdown will have
its victims regionally, but on a global
scale economists expect the blowback
to be contained. Russia makes up just
2.7 percent of world GDP and about 1.7
percent of world trade, according to
Capital Economics.
EUROPE AND BEYOND
Europe’s ties with Russia are nothing
to sniff at. The European Union is Russia’s biggest source of foreign direct investment and biggest trade partner,
with 336 billion euros ($412 billion) of
trade in 2012.
As the Russian economy grinds to a
halt, Western companies with Russia
exposure are scaling back business or
cutting down on planned investments,
Reuters reported last week.
On a global scale, the biggest hypothetical threat emanating from Moscow is the possibility that a meltdown
Former Minister Predicts Economic Woe
By Ivan Nechepurenko
T H E S T. P E T E R S B U R G T I M E S
Alexei Kudrin, former finance minister
and one of President Vladimir Putin’s
closest allies, predicted that the Russian economy will contract for the next
two years and offered his own plan on
how to alleviate the crisis at a news
conference in Moscow on Monday.
Kudrin, who served as finance minister from 2000 to 2011, steered clear of
announcing any political ambitions but
sharply criticized the government of
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
“If oil prices go up to $80 per barrel,
then GDP [gross domestic product]
will go down by 2 percent or more next
year. If the price stays at $60 per barrel,
the economy will contract by at least 4
percent,” he said.
For the first time since Putin came
to power at the end of 1999, Russians
will face a drop in their standards of
living, according to Kudrin.
“People’s real incomes will go down
by 2-5 percent,” he said.
Inflation will have already reached
9.4 percent by the year’s end, according
to Russia’s state statistical service Rosstat, and inflation is likely to reach 15
percent next year, Kudrin predicted.
Worse yet, Russia’s credit rating will be
downgraded to junk, he said.
Russia will import 40 percent less
foreign goods, which will contribute to
the ruble’s stabilization. Russia’s currency, which has depreciated by at least
40 percent this year, will likely stabilize
at the beginning of 2015 at its current
levels, according to Kudrin.
While warning of tough times
ahead, Kudrin — who previously
YEVGENY RAZUMNY / VEDOMOSTI
T H E S T. P E T E R S B U R G T I M E S
ALEXANDER BELENKY / FOR SPT
By Delphine d’Amora
Ex-Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin.
worked with Putin in the St. Petersburg city administration — refrained
from offering any direct criticism of
the president, saying instead that he
“understands the challenges that Russia is facing now, but he [Putin] probably does not have the full information yet.”
During his annual news conference
last week, Putin radiated confidence,
saying that Russia would overcome the
economic storm in two years’ time in
the worst-case scenario.
At the same time, Kudrin criticized
the prime minister’s Cabinet for not
taking the measures to fight the crisis
“swiftly enough.”
Kudrin quit the government over a
public argument with then-President
Medvedev in 2011. During an interview
with journalists in Washington at the
time, Kudrin said he did not want to
work under Medvedev after it was announced that Putin and Medvedev
would be swapping jobs after the 2012
presidential election.
The comment enraged Medvedev,
who suggested that Kudrin should resign.
Since then, experts and pundits
have speculated that Kudrin, who now
leads the Civic Initiatives Committee, a
think tank and nongovernment advocacy group, might replace Medvedev as
Russia’s prime minister.
One of the long-time leaders of the
Russian opposition, Grigory Yavkinsky, went so far as to advocate Kudrin’s
candidacy for the post of prime minister this December.
Kudrin has repeatedly dismissed
such rumors, focusing instead on offering his own recovery plan for Russia’s
economy at Thursday’s conference.
Russia must find a way to compromise with Western nations in order to
shake off the effects of the sanctions,
Kudrin said.
“Our partners within the BRICS nations are able to maintain their countries’ sovereignty without cutting themselves off from the outside world,” he
said, apparently referring to a comment
Putin had made earlier saying that the
economic storm is the price Russia has
to pay for its independence as a nation.
Russia also has to improve the
structure of its budget, Kudrin said,
spending more on health care, education and infrastructure.
Most of all, Russia has to shake off
its oil dependency by dramatically improving the investment climate, he said.
“Russia needs to say that $75 per
barrel is OK for us and we will learn
how to make an effective economy
with it, or even with $60 per barrel. We
must not go back to the old way,”
Kudrin said.
Opinion
www.sptimes.ru | Wednesday, December 24, 2014
❖
6
The Upsides to Russia’s Ruble Collapse
By Chris Weafer
Such a major collapse in most other countries
would have led to a run on the banks and social
unrest. I worked in Bangkok in 1997 when the
Baht fell — or was pushed — off a cliff and some
banks closed as people took to the streets. The
relative strength of Russia’s balance sheet and fiscal position would certainly be much worse today
had the government had to use more of its savings
to stave off social unrest and a bank sector crisis.
Britain’s wartime Prime Minister Winston
Churchill famously remarked that the United
States is a country “which can be relied on to do
the right thing after it has exhausted all other possibilities.” That comment is also applicable to Russia. Crisis can, and often is, a catalyst for change.
Unfortunately the last crisis, in 2008-09, did
not last long enough to produce any meaningful
changes or reforms. This one will certainly have
that longevity and will provide the opportunity
for a more serious effort to push reforms. The evidence of actions taken, and not taken this year is
encouraging that Putin is more focused on even-
I
n early December, President Vladimir Putin
delivered his annual address to the Federal Assembly. I believe anybody reading this column
would have been able to shorten that speech to
just one or two words; awful or really awful (I’m being polite). It has certainly been the worst year for
the ruble since 1998 and also the worst for investors
and businesses over the past 15 years.
Not because of the scale of the stock market or
economic collapse — the second half of 2008 was
much worse for the former and 2009 worse for the
latter — but because of the reasons for the collapse
and the uncertainty over what happens next. In 2009
the issue was a relatively straightforward economic
problem. As we head into 2015 it is the geo-political
overhang, which causes the greater concern.
One of the reasons why 2014 has been such a
bad year for the markets and the economy is because the foundations upon which the economy
and asset valuations are supported were already
in a weakened state well before the events of this
year piled on the pressure. I have written several
times about the specific reasons for the decline in
the economy through 2013, i.e. from 3.4 percent
growth in 2012 to only 1.3 percent last year.
The summary point is that the country had
lived too long on hydrocarbon export revenues,
which totaled $3 trillion since 2000, without any
serious effort to reform the economy and simply
ran out of time. To be exact, it ran out of growth
drivers as the consumer retrenched and capital
investment fell.
So 2014 was always going to be a difficult year
and, in anticipation of that, this is why the stock
market and ruble both fell in 2013. They fell
harder in January and February even though the
oil price held close to $110 per barrel and ahead
of the Crimea referendum.
Investor sentiment and business confidence is
also a big factor in how an economy and markets
behave. In that respect, 2014 was probably the
worst year ever for Russia, certainly if one counts
the number of international magazine covers
which variously demonized Putin or predicted the
destruction of the economy and the imminent arrival of a color revolution.
By the time we got to the Crimea vote in midMarch the extraordinarily disproportionate coverage coming up to the start of the Winter Olympics had firmly set the tone. Moving on to headlines that claimed Russia was about to invade
former Soviet states was effortless.
The financial sector sanctions which, in combination with the falling oil price, collapsed the ruble not just past a few proverbial lines in the sand
but as a bulldozer through whole sand dunes.
That also seemed almost inevitable in a year when
nothing seemed to be in Russia’s favor.
But actually that is not quite correct. There
were a few bright spots and although the light at
the end of the tunnel is no more than a flickering
candle buffeted by a breeze, the light is still there.
‘The ruble collapse has not
been all bad... the ruble
collapse has fully protected
federal budget revenues
this year and allowed for
modest surplus.’
The ruble collapse has not been all bad. True the
weaker currency is a big part of the reason why
inflation will likely hit 12 to 13 percent in the first
half of next year and why interest rates will inevitably climb higher before, possibly, starting to roll
back next summer. But the ruble collapse has fully
protected federal budget revenues this year and
allowed for modest surplus while spending has
risen by more than 10 percent.
C
O
M
The weak ruble, along with Russia’s self-imposed ban on food imports in August and on some
meats from earlier in the year, has also helped
boost demand for domestic sourced goods. That of
course is only a limited positive as Russia makes
relatively few consumer products and even where
it does, a big portion of the parts are imported.
The other positive from the ruble collapse is
the way people have reacted — they hardly did.
M
E
N
tually getting back on an investment-led growth
track than in expanding the confrontation beyond
the serious stage already reached.
Through his clear statements and the actions of
the government, Putin has made it clear that there is
a very distinct line between political rhetoric and the
wish, actually need, to remain open for all sources of
business and investment. If that were not the case,
McDonald’s on Pushkin Square would not have reopened, Russian bank cards would not work abroad
and the Hong Kong flight from Frankfurt would already be several hours longer.
There have also been more visible positives
this year. Who knew that Russians understood
irony? Recall the closing ceremony at the Sochi
games which made fun of the failure to light all of
the Olympic rings during the opening ceremony?
The games were also grudgingly accepted as being a success by those who predicted either a security or administrative nightmare.
The Sochi Grand Prix also raised many eyebrows — it seems few people realized there are
palm trees in Russia. The summer was also great,
being warmer and seemingly longer than usual,
albeit now a fast fading memory.
Every crisis is bad but not all crises leave a bad
legacy. Sometimes a crisis is useful to shake things
up. But that’s for next fall … or next winter … or
the one after that.
T
Kiev Needs Outside Pressure for Reform
By Robert Orttung
E
xternal pressure is the best way to
reduce corruption. However, since
Ukraine has no realistic prospect of
joining the European Union in the
near future, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko had to find a substitute if he hoped
to reduce his country’s extensive graft. Accordingly, he appointed three prominent foreigners to his Cabinet.
The new members are Economy Minister
Aivaras Abromavicius (Lithuania), Finance
Minister Natalia Jaresko (United States) and
Health Minister Aleksandr Kvitashvili (Georgia). They have promised radical reform.
External influence is important because it
reduces the uncertainty and debate over what
institutions are needed to reform the economy
and reduce corruption opportunities. The necessary reforms are dictated from outside and
have to be accepted by all-powerful domestic
groups, so there is little room for internal backtracking.
Countries that are not under external pressure to reform often end up stuck in a situation
where no change is likely because bureaucrats
and citizens alike expect the bribing culture to
continue. The consequence is that people have
low expectations for achieving a different way of
living.
Placing the foreigners into the Cabinet
should break these patterns. At the highest
level, it signals to both bureaucrats and citizens
that previous expectations will not stand. In the
effort to change overall expectations, Ukraine’s
unusual personnel policy will complement the
efforts to arrest the most egregious bribe-takers
and educational initiatives aimed at weaning the
population away from relying on graft.
To be effective against entrenched bureaucrats, the foreigners need to stimulate a response
from below in the form of direct action by members of civil society. Ukrainians have already
demonstrated their drive to put their country on
a new track. Similar passion has produced measurable results in other contexts.
In India, a civil society movement known as
the 5th Pillar successfully changed expectations
among bureaucrats and ordinary citizens. Citizens gave a “zero-rupee” note made by 5th Pillar to corrupt officials instead of a bribe in order
to signal to officials that people will not pay
bribes and to inform them about the organization and its mission. Officials were often shocked
to receive such strong pushback and performed
the necessary services without a bribe.
As the movement caught on, some officials
even began to place the zero-rupee notes in their
window to demonstrate their adherence to the
group’s principles.
Beyond these efforts, 5th Pillar also conducts
educational workshops for secondary school
and university students aimed at changing their
expectations about corruption. The 5th Pillar
organization believes the key to eliminating
such illicit activities is ensuring that younger
generations do not participate in corruption
within the bureaucracy or expect officials to
seek bribes.
Ukraine may achieve similar results through
the potent cocktail of President Poroshenko’s
recent Cabinet appointees, the government’s
new reform plans, and a popular push to reduce
corruption.
Combining the pressure from above exerted
by the newly formed government and the
strong popular will from below should establish
compelling incentives for bureaucrats and citizens to change the way that they interact with
each other. Ukraine’s relatively open press and
history of free elections will augment the impact of these reforms.
Of course, it is too soon to tell what the ultimate result will be, but by bringing foreigners
into his government, Poroshenko has made a
realistic step toward adopting meaningful reforms.
O
www.sptimes.ru
P
I
N
I
O
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Wednesday, December 24, 2014
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7
Ignoring ‘Cold War II’ Won’t Make It Go Away
By Pyotr Romanov
O
f course, we could split hairs and ask:
Are we on the brink of a new Cold
War? Has a second Cold War already
started? Did the first Cold War ever
end? In my opinion, that is not the main point.
The simple fact that we are even asking such questions is far more important because it means that,
regardless of which answer you choose, the situation has gotten bad for absolutely everyone.
However, it seems that some people still don’t
realize the seriousness of the situation. A Russian
friend who relocated to London a few years ago
responded to a comment I made on Facebook
concerning the start of the Cold War. With selfsatisfied irony he wrote: “To be honest, the West
does not really care much about Russia.”
How strange! Of course, it is very possible that
his British neighbors and friends are too preoc-
‘Ordinary citizens remain
calm because of the simple
fact that they typically do
not know the full picture —
nor do they try to know it.
It is easier to live that way.’
cupied with their house, lawn, car, children, dentist, etc. to worry about a Cold War with Russia.
But what will happen tomorrow when the average Westerner finally realizes that his whole life
— his house, children, car and even his dentist —
is under threat? What thoughts will run through
his head when he comes to understand that the
politicians he elected behaved in such an unfriendly way toward Russia that the Russian politicians elected by the people of this country made
equally unfriendly moves in response? And that
everything simply went downhill from there?
Things are not all black yet, but the world has
clearly entered a sort of twilight state. In fact, some
observers argue that a new Cold War could turn
out to be more hazardous than the first. One such
expert is Stephen F. Cohen, who wrote in The Nation that “This Cold War — its epicenter on Russia’s borders; undertaken amid inflammatory
American, Russian and Ukrainian media misinformation; and unfolding without the stabilizing practices that prevented disasters during the preceding
Cold War — may be even more perilous.”
Ordinary citizens remain calm because of the
simple fact that they typically do not know the
full picture — nor do they try to know it. It is
easier to live that way. Just the same, it is time to
wake up and recognize what is happening. This
is no Hollywood blockbuster unfolding outside
our windows, but a force majeure of international proportions. True, it is not the first that
the world has experienced, but knowing what
hardships previous conflicts have brought to
mankind should motivate us to try to prevent
any more from occurring.
In fact, the world began living under the real
threat of nuclear war long before the Cuban Missile Crisis, although that confrontation was one of
the most dangerous moments of the first Cold
War. And fortunately for mankind, sensible politicians always emerged who could put a stop to the
ambitions of the warmongers.
Former U.S. General and President Dwight D.
Eisenhower knew firsthand the horrors of war —
unlike the hawks in his administration. When he
grew tired of their frequent calls to use nuclear
weapons against the Soviet Union, Eisenhower resorted to black humor, once quipping: “You can’t
have this kind of war. There just aren’t enough bulldozers to scrape the bodies off the streets.” Later,
then-U.S. President John F. Kennedy had to fight
his own battles against Washington hawks. Where
is the guarantee that today’s generation of nanopoliticians will exhibit the same good sense?
Of course, both sides in the Cold War had their
own share of reckless adventurists. Take, for example, Soviet Marshal Rodion Malinovsky, who,
in the heat of the Cuban Missile Crisis, gave orders to Rear Admiral Leonid Rybalko — who
C
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M
commanded four Soviet submarines, each carrying nuclear-tipped torpedoes — that, in the event
of a U.S. naval attack, the individual submarine
commanders could launch the weapons at their
own discretion.
The following true story provides evidence of
the danger inherent in such situations. On Oct. 27,
1962, when the U.S.-Russian crisis was already
quieting down, one of those four Soviet submarines carrying nuclear-tipped torpedoes — the
B-059, commanded by Valentin Savitsky — slowly
rose to the surface as the crew of the nearby
U.S.S. Cony, a destroyer, looked on in interest.
Then more U.S. naval vessels cruised into
range, one even greeting the Russians with a jazz
band. The U.S. soldiers asked if they could help
the Russians in some way. Savitsky initially declined any assistance, but said the next day that he
would be obliged to them for some cigarettes and
fresh bread. As they grew closer still, the Russian
and U.S. servicemen even began tying a cable
bridge between their vessels.
For several hours the U.S. cruiser and Soviet
submarine remained on friendly terms in close
M
E
N
proximity. Everything was relaxed and peaceful
until, sometime after nightfall, a U.S. plane appeared out of nowhere and dropped several incendiary devices without warning, apparently to
provide light to better photograph the sub.
By the time the eyes of the U.S. officers
aboard the destroyer readjusted to the darkness,
they saw to their horror that the Soviet submarine was now pointing its nose and torpedo tubes
directly at them. The commander of the Cony
rushed to apologize to Savitsky for the idiotic
airplane pilot.
Today’s generation owes a debt of gratitude to
Savitsky for not losing his nerve in such a tense
situation. What if he had panicked and fired his
torpedoes?
Now my friend tells me that Westerners do not
care much about Russia. Well, it would make
more sense if both Westerners and Russians woke
up and faced the mounting threat. Otherwise,
they risk waking up to a truly unimaginable disaster later.
Pyotr Romanov is a journalist and historian.
T
Putin’s Options Are Narrowing Down
By John Lough
W
hat made President Vladimir Putin
decide to annex Crimea continues
to defy easy analysis. It is still unclear why exactly he chose to take
this radical step, particularly when Moscow retained powerful levers of influence for keeping
Ukraine weak and disorientated.
Putin himself has offered different explanations for why he felt forced to act. These range
from countering the threat posed by Ukraine’s
new leaders to Russian speakers in Crimea to
preventing NATO from taking over Russia’s naval base at Sevastopol, and most recently, the
novel argument that Crimea has “sacred meaning” for Russians.
It is difficult to fathom why Putin is advancing
different rationales for his action beyond the fact
that he needs to provide Russian audiences with
arguments that carry greater weight in response
to the increasing hardships they are facing.
While Putin and his advisers calculated correctly that Russia could easily wrest Crimea
from Kiev’s control, they appear to have gravely
underestimated the consequences. An easy tactical victory has triggered the prospect of longterm confrontation with the West that spells potential strategic disaster.
First, the annexation of Crimea has done incalculable damage to Russia’s position in
Ukraine. To an unprecedented extent, it has
consolidated Ukraine on an anti-Russian basis.
Far from dissuading Ukrainians to drop the idea
of putting the country on to a European path of
development, it has redoubled their efforts.
Second, the Novorossia project, which was
aimed at breaking Kiev’s grip on the country, failed
to take off. It has left Russia with the responsibility
of propping up separatist entities in southeast
Ukraine that bring no obvious value beyond inflicting economic damage on the rest of Ukraine.
Third, Western countries have so far shown a
surprising level of resolve to dissuade Russia
from further destabilizing Ukraine. It was difficult to imagine after the annexation of Crimea
that European Union countries would find the
collective political will to impose meaningful
sanctions measures on Russia. These are contributing to serious economic problems, and there is
a real danger that a decline in living standards will
feed dissatisfaction with Putin’s policies.
Fourth, Russia’s actions have reactivated
NATO’s core mission of collective defense. After
two largely fruitless decades of trying to develop
a security partnership with Moscow, NATO countries are going back to the drawing board to reconfigure their security and defense policies.
Fifth, Russia’s assault on Kiev has unnerved
other countries on its periphery, notably Kazakhstan, and has highlighted Moscow’s unpredictable behavior toward close partners despite
treaty-based relations of alliance. This reduced
level of trust will compromise Moscow’s efforts
to develop the Eurasian Union as a platform for
promoting Russia’s global influence.
Sixth, in an effort to rebalance relations with the
West, Russia is deepening its ties with China on
terms that appear more advantageous to Beijing
than Moscow. Mortgaging Russia’s future to its
eastern neighbor hardly looks like the action of a
country that claims to be challenging the Westernled international system to protect its sovereignty.
The most logical course open to Putin will be
to escalate the conflict with the West in the hope
of fracturing its newfound resilience before it
consolidates further. This escalation could involve
testing NATO’s cohesion without resorting to
military aggression. Given the narrowing policy
options open to Putin in Ukraine, Western countries should steel themselves for the next stage
of the crisis. The irreconcilable pressures that
Putin faces have created a situation that is beyond his control and is likely to encourage Russia further down the road of confrontation.
John Lough is an associate fellow with the Russia
& Eurasia Program at Chatham House.
Arts&Culture
www.sptimes.ru | Wednesday, December 24, 2014
city tales
th e wo rd ’ s wo rth
The 900 days, 70 Years Later
‘C’ Is for Crimea;
‘G’ Is for Googlik
By Gus Peters
T H E S T. P E T E R S B U R G T I M E S
A
remember spending a very hungry evening with an old boy from the Radio
Committee. He nearly drove me crazy
— he would talk all evening about
Kant and Hegel.”
The city would suffer from two
more winters during the siege but
both paled in comparison to the horrors of the first one. The city was unprepared for the German invasion
and the local Communist Party was
unwilling to admit just how woefully
inept preparations were for the possibility of a prolonged siege. The seceding winters were more merciful
because of the huge number of deaths
in the first one, when it was so cold
that water pipes burst, leaving people
no clean water to drink, and food was
so scarce that cottonseed and flax
seed became dietary staples.
So as you sit down to enjoy New
Year and Christmas either in the
comfort of your apartment with family or amidst the throngs stung by icy
winds in Palace Square, remember
that it wasn’t always like this. That it
took an untold amount of anguish,
suffering, blood and tears for the city
to survive to this day. If you’re looking for something to toast at midnight, toast to the future, but don’t
forget to toast to the past.
By Michele A. Berdy
Слова года 2014: words of the year
2014
T
DEROR.AVI / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
s the holiday season gets
underway and Christmas trees pop up in the
city’s squares and lights
are strung across the
streets, it’s easy to forget the terrible
things the people of Leningrad suffered during the 872-day blockade
from 1941 to 1944. While families this
year celebrate the incoming year and
outgoing one by gorging themselves
on mayonnaise-laden salads and all
things pickled, this same time 73 years
ago the inhabitants of Leningrad were
barely surviving what would turn out
to be one of the coldest winters in recorded history.
It is estimated that 53,000 people
died in December 1941 alone. The
ground was so cold that bodies could
not be buried and they instead amassed
in various places throughout the city.
Pets and stray animals disappeared altogether as people ate anything they could
to survive another day, although the city
zoo’s prize hippopotamus was spared,
fed on an ever dwindling supply of hay.
Police records released years after the
end of the blockade showed that 2,000
people were arrested for cannibalism.
Alexander Werth, a British journalist, interviewed survivors after the war
and the stories they told gave a vivid
account of the horrors of every day life.
Anna Andrievna, then the manager of
the Astoria Hotel, simply told Werth,
“You don’t know what it was like.
“You just stepped over corpses in
the street and on the stairs… Terrible
things used to happen. Some people
went quite insane with hunger. And the
practice of hiding the dead somewhere
in the house and using their ration
cards was very common indeed.”
Dmitri Likhachev, a survivor, remembered how “In time of famine
people revealed themselves stripped
of all trumpery. Some turned out
marvelous, incomparable heroes.
Others — scoundrels, villains, murderers, cannibals. There were no half
measures.”
One staff officer in the Red Army
recounted his memories of the 900
days, as the blockade is referred to in
Harrison Salisbury’s famous account of
the siege. “I don’t think I ever saw a
person smile,” he recollected. “It was
frightful. And yet there was a kind of
inner discipline that made people carry
on. A new code of manners was
evolved by the hungry people. They
carefully avoided talking about food. I
he people have spoken.
OK, maybe not all the
people, but the few hundred who vote on Russia’s слова года (words of
the year) have cast their ballots.
And the winner is: крымнаш
(ourcrimea).
Крым наш (Our Crimea) and
Крым — наш! (Crimea is ours!) are
ways of expressing that idea that an
area of land belongs to us. But
крымнаш — one word, lower case
— is a thing, a meme, a mindset —
everything connected with what
some Russian speakers think was
the rightful return of Crimea and
what other Russian speakers think
was its shameful annexation. Most
of the time it is used by the latter
folks about the former folks.
Пусть он в крымнаш едет (literally, “Let him go to ourcrimea”) could
be deciphered as “If he thinks Crimea
is so great and we had a right to it, despite the world’s denunciation and
sanctions — let him go there for his
vacation.” Unspoken subtext: I’ll take
Venice — or St. Petersburg.
Sometimes крымнаш is even declined as if it were a masculine noun:
Великое событие у русских после
крымнаша! (It’s a great event for Russians after “ourcrimea”!) Or it can be
used to describe someone with Russian imperialist leanings: Он стал совсем крымнаш. (He’s turned into one
of the “Crimea Is Ours” people.)
And there is some lovely Russian wordplay in which the syllables
get reversed into нам крыш (trouble
for us). Уже начали понимать, что
не крымнаш, а намкрыш. (People are
starting to get that it’s not “Our
Crimea” but “Our can of worms.”)
Not surprisingly, most of the
nominated and winning words of
the year were connected with politics in 2014. They are not very
cheering, but often very insightful.
Take the nomination тотальгия
❖
(totalgia), nostalgia for some aspects — sometimes imagined or romanticized, sometimes not — of the
totalitarian past. Or демодернизация (demodernization), a process in
which, in the words of project curator Mikhail Epshtein, “захлопывается окно, прорубленное Петром в
Европу” (the window to Europe cut
through by Peter the Great is being
slammed shut).
New additions to keep an eye on
next year are психократия (psychocratia, a political regime that rules
by whipping up hysteria) and шизофашизм (schizofascism, a near-hysterical, purportedly anti-fascist position that conceals mercantile interests and a fascist mentality).
There was also a run on prefixed
patriotism. You’ve heard of урапатриотизм (jingoistic patriotism),
haven’t you? Now there’s увыпатриотизм (alas-patriotism: patriotism mixed with sorrow); угупатриотизм (yup-patriotism, patriotism out of habit); бла-блапатриотизм (bla-bla-patriotism, declarative patriotism without substance); чур-патриотизм (keep awaypatriotism, patriotism mixed with xenophobia); цыц-патриотизм (shutup-patriotism, patriotism shouted to
drown out any opposing views).
And a personal favorite: ленинопад (a Leninfall, that is, the tearing
down of Lenin monuments on a
mass scale in Ukraine).
Witty and quite wonderful is гуглик (googlik), one mention on the
Internet, a kopek in the currency of
web fame. Also, amusingly, for webusers is осетить (to publish something on сеть — Internet) and осетенеть (to be obsessed with the Internet). The neologism of the year was
another web-based notion, the punning банный день — not a day when
you go to the баня (bath house), but a
day when you ban (банить) everyone
you don’t like on Facebook.
But it wasn’t all politics and Internet. There’s a new kind of selfie in
town — вселфи — me and my friends,
that is, me and все-все-все. Now that’s
a good way to end the year.
It is estimated that 53,000 people died in December 1941. The ground was so cold that bodies could not be buried.
THE DISH
ë‡ÌÍÚ-èÂÚÂ·Û„ í‡ÈÏÒ
Chabrets: Waiting for Andrei
Chaikhana “Chabrets”
388 32 22
161 Moskovsky Pr.
Open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 a.m.
Meal for one (without alcohol) 1,760 rub.
($32.60)
By Simon Knapper
T H E S T. P E T E R S B U R G T I M E S
H
aving lost my wife to
Ikea queues and the
general fluster of crisis
damage limitation, I
found myself on a
snowy Moskovsky Prospect alone, en
route to the Chaikhana “Chabrets”
(thyme) — a stylized central and
Middle Eastern tea house/restaurant
specializing in Uzbek cuisine.
Whereas an original chaikhana is a
place to slake ones thirst and find re-
spite from the sweltering temperatures
of the Asian landmass, on entering
Chabrets from the frost I was hit by the
fierce heat of the enclosed veranda. I
was seated and, fearing for my already
thinning hair, I immediately asked the
waitress to turn off the hanging bar
heater above the table.
I was not out of place being alone,
as many of the diners were portly single
males with phones glued to their ears.
On the large table next to me stood a
figurine of a jovial chap in Uzbek traditional dress with a painted sign around
his neck reading “Reserved for our esteemed guest Andrei.”
For a starter, the waitress recommended the Shurpa Po Tashkentskii
(290 rub., $5.35), a clear soup of lamb
on the bone (from the broad-tail)
with vegetables. The soup was fairly
run of the mill — oily and heavy on
the parsley, but the lamb was surprisingly succulent and tasty.
For the main course I opted for the
Pork Shashlyk (420 rub., $7.70), having
seen them being served to a fellow
diner. They were well presented, two
skewers served on a bed of lavash (flat
bread) and herbs. I ordered a side dish
of Grilled Vegetables (230 rub., $4.20)
to go with them. They were served
promptly and were exceptionally good,
the best shashlyk I’ve eaten indoors
and well complemented by the ajika, a
hot spicy dip with which they came.
The grilled vegetables were passable
but prompted me to make a note that
in many restaurants here, grilled
doesn’t necessarily mean less oily.
From the dessert menu the Poppy
Tart (250 rub. $4.60) jumped out at
me, and I ordered that with the
Raspberry Tea (420 rub., $7.75). The
Poppy tart was really more of a
cake, made with nuts and honey.
The cake itself was delicious but
served in a bland, whitish sauce that
I couldn’t identify for the life of me
and, pending the lab report, will remain a mystery. The tea was fantastic — viscous with boiled raspberry
and sugar syrup, and tangy from
sliced lime and ginger, though I
nearly fell off my chair when the bill
came and I realized that it cost as
much as the main course.
I settled up and, feeling warm and
full, stepped out onto the white pavements of snow covered Moskovsky
Prospekt, the red display of the neighboring exchange bureau bringing me
back to the new economic reality of
what the press are now terming
“Black December.” Andrei never
showed up.
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A
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T
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&
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Wednesday, December 24, 2014
❖
9
Stupido After All These Years
Head of Finnish indie record company looks back on 25 years of promoting the country’s most innovative acts.
By Sergey Chernov
started to spread that we were also
putting out records, the bands who
knew us began to ask us, “Hey, do you
have a record label? Could you also
put our single out on your label?”
And we thought, “Well, maybe.” After we put out five or six singles we
realized: we probably HAVE a record
label, so we better start a company to
run it. First we had the Fucking World,
Waltari (quite a few people still know
Waltari), and then we had Little Mary
Mixup, which was an all-girl band. We
started with Estonian records in 1989,
and the first Finnish record came out
in 1990.
T H E S T. P E T E R S B U R G T I M E S
H
SERGEY CHERNOV / SPT
elsinki-based Joose Berglund is the man behind
one of Finland’s leading
independent record
companies, Stupido Records, which he founded with Jorma
Ristilä in 1989 as Stupido Twins, originally to release Estonian punk. Since
then Stupido has expanded to include
a record shop, a mail order service and
a publishing company. The label’s first
record, “Tere Perestoika” by the articulate Estonian punk band J.M.K.E.
soared to the Top 10 in Finland in 1989,
being followed by the band’s debut album, “Külmale Maale” later that year
Over the years, it has released hundreds of albums of a wide range of music, from indie rock to alternative
metal, including such acts as Waltari,
Pelle Miljoona, Eläkeläiset and Aino
Venna. At the recent Music & Media
awards, Berglund received a special
prize for discovering exciting punk and
independent music from Finland over
the past 25 years.
The St. Petersburg Times spoke to
Berglund in Tampere, Finland soon after the awards ceremony.
Joose Berglund at Tallinn Music Week on March 28. Stupido records first began when he met Estonian Villu Tamme.
Q: How did you manage to bring them
to Finland eventually?
Q: The album came with lyrics in Estonian and a translation into Finnish
and English. Was it Tamme’s wish to
be understood outside Estonia?
A: Well, I guess it was my idea to
include those translations, but I think
that Villu had the same view that it was
important for people to know what he
is singing about. Not too many people
understand the Estonian language. We
Finns understand it partially, but not
all of it.
A: Because they could not get visas,
I had a friend who worked for the youth
organization of the Finnish Communist
party, and he asked the first secretary of
the party to write an invite. They had a
big party celebrating 200 years of the
French Revolution, so this secretary of
the Communist party invited Villu over
and sent the invite to the Estonian Communist party, and then the J.M.K.E.
guys were asked to come to the KGB,
where they were told that “our Finnish
Communist friends want to have you
over. This time we’ll give you permission to travel to Finland and play those
songs, but remember: your relatives will
stay in Estonia!”
Q: “Tere Perestroika” was quite critical of Soviet policies, wasn’t it?
A: It was mostly ironic, in a way.
Q: Actually, their whole album, “Külmale maale” (To the Cold Country) –
with the name referring to deportations of Estonians to Siberia – was
pretty anti-Soviet. Tamme sang that
perestroika would end and repressions
would follow. He did not believe in
Gorbachev’s glasnost/perestroika
campaign.
A: Not really. But, you know, those
songs were written during the 1980s.
Quite a few of those songs were written even before the start of perestroika,
so they are kind of a timeline of 1980s
Estonia.
SERGEY CHERNOV / SPT
Q: I heard that the idea of Stupido
Record was somehow connected with
a Billy Bragg concert in Tallinn. Can
you tell us about this?
A: Yeah, it’s true. Back then I was
also a journalist, so when Billy Bragg
went to Russia for the first time, I
wanted to go with them and make a
story about their trip to Russia. They
went to Moscow and Tallinn. That was
in November 1987. It was my first time
in Estonia, not my first time in Russia;
I had been in Russia before but never
in Estonia. And on that trip I happened
to meet Villu Tamme (the frontman of
the Estonian punk band J.M.K.E.) and
made friends with him, and later on we
invited Villu over to come to Finland
to play a show, but he didn’t get the
[Soviet exit] visas, because Estonia was
part of the Soviet Union, and the Soviet authorities said they were a bad
example of Soviet youth and couldn’t
get visas. But we had a show set up, a
club reserved, equipment rented, so we
took a Finnish band to play there and
decided to give all the money away to
Estonian youth. But we couldn’t just
put the money in an envelope and send
it to Estonia, so we had to invent something else. We had tapes of those
J.M.K.E. songs and we decided to
release a 7” single, which was “Tere
Perestroika,” which turned out to be a
hit.
Villu Tamme of J.M.K.E. performs at
Tallinn Music Week on March 26.
Q: And it probably was Estonia’s most
important album from that era, wasn’t
it?
A: This year, Eesti Ekspress, the
leading cultural newspaper in Estonia
had a vote on the most important album to come out of Estonia, and “Külmale maale” won.
Q: What happened next?
A: Simultaneously with “Tere Perestroika,” we released a single by another Estonian band called Babach.
The single was called “Russkaya
Vodka” (Russian Vodka) and was also
political. Babach was a four-piece
band, but two of those guys became
later on quite famous in Estonia. [Vocalist and guitarist] Hendrik Sal-Saller
is still a leading rock singer in Estonia,
and the guitarist Mihkel Raud is an author and TV personality as well as a
musician. That single was not a really
big hit in Finland and Estonia, but as I
said later those guys got famous. The
third band we released from Estonia
was [indie pop band] Röövel Ööbik.
Q: So at one time you only released
Estonian music?
A: Yes, in the beginning. But then
again, people knew us as DJs and guys
putting on gigs, but when the word
Q: What releases by Stupido Records
are you especially proud of, or were
especially important or memorable,
apart from J.M.K.E.?
A: I guess I should say the first album by Eläkeläiset, as we had such a
long relationship with them. Also the
very successful 2012 debut albums by
both Pää Kii and Aino Venna showed
that we are still able to find and nurture new talent.
Q: How did you select bands for the
label?
A: We took bands we personally
liked and thought that other people
might like and which were in some way
important to release. Nowadays it’s
also very much after my personal
taste.
Q: Speaking about your personal
taste, how would you define it?
A: I grew up with punk rock. But
we are not just a punk rock label. Some
people say that we could have been
probably more successful if we had
stuck to punk rock like Epitaph or
Burning Heart Records have been doing, but I don’t want to be so shortsighted. I release everything that could
come under the “indie” umbrella,
whether it’s indie pop, electronica,
punk or whatever. No matter what the
genre is as long as the music is cool.
Q: What is your view of the current
Finnish music scene? What are your
most interesting recent discoveries?
A: The current scene is quite thriving with loads of independent talent
and good labels like us, Soliti and
Gaea.
The major labels seem to have lost
totally interest in the indie scene which
gives us more room to act.
I am eagerly waiting for the second
album by Pää Kii, but also what the ska
veterans the Valkyrians have to offer
on their fourth record. From other labels it’s exciting to see how the debuts
by Hopeajärvi and Have You Ever
Seen the Jane Fonda Aerobic VHS?
will turn out.
Education & JobOpportunities
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
advertising section
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job vacancies advertised
in The St. Petersburg Times
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Food&Drink
www.sptimes.ru | Wednesday, December 24, 2014
❖
10
Cook Your Way Out of the Crisis
This Christmas, we’ve lined up a five course dinner that’s simple to make and easy on your ruble-stashed wallet.
T
he rapid devaluation of the
ruble means more people
are having to postpone expensive holidays abroad in
favor of entertaining at
home. But the dreary economic forecast
shouldn’t mean foregoing Christmas entirely—quite the contrary: Russians are
famous for their lavish dinner parties. So
we’ve lined up a five-course Christmas
dinner with a Russian twist.
THE MENU
Garlic Toasts (гренки с чесноком)
Blini with Caviar and Sour Cream
(блины с икрой и сметаной)
Salmon Coulibiac (кулебяка с лососем)
Honey Cake (медовый кекс)
Sbiten (сбитень)
APPETIZERS
Garlic Toasts (гренки с чесноком)
Garlic toast, or grenki, are classic Russian bar food: cheap, filling, and good
with beer. Many families also like to
make these toasts at home as a way of
using up stale slices of Borodinsky bread.
If beer is not on the Christmas menu, you
might like to try these as appetizers with
your Christmas cocktails, or with wine or
champagne, as you see fit.
Ingredients:
1 small Borodinsky bread loaf
4-6 tbsp vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
For the sauce:
¼ cup (60g) sour cream
¼ cup (60g) mayonnaise
1 clove garlic, chopped finely
Pinch of salt
1. Preheat the oven to around 300°F
(150°C).
2. Make 5 thick slices of bread, then
cut each slice into long strips and place
in a large bowl. Put the garlic in the
bowl and add enough oil to coat the
bread without making it soggy.
3. Lay the unbaked garlic toasts
onto a baking tray, while making sure
they don’t overlap. Bake them in the
oven for around 10 minutes, stirring
after about 5 minutes.
4. While the toasts are in the oven,
mix together the ingredients for your
sauce: sour cream, mayonnaise, garlic
and salt.
Blini with Caviar and Sour Cream
(блины с икрой и сметаной)
There is nothing more Russian than
blini. With only slight modifications,
these classic Russian pancakes are the
perfect addition to every meal: at breakfast try adding sweet toppings, such as
honey, jam, or condensed milk, and for
lunch or dinner you might try adding
savory caviar, as suggested here.
Ingredients:
2 cups (475ml) milk
2 eggs
pinch of salt
1 tbsp sugar
POLLY BARKS / FOR SPT
T H E S T. P E T E R S B U R G T I M E S
Salmon coulibiac. This pie feeds six people with just one fish fillet!
¼ tsp baking soda
2 cups (250g) flour
2 tbsp vegetable oil
½ cup (120ml) boiling water
¼ cup (70g) butter
1. Beat together the milk and eggs with
a strong whisk. Stir in the salt and
sugar, then add the baking soda. Mix
well. Slowly stir in the flour, then add
the vegetable oil.
2. Slowly add the boiling water until
you have a very runny batter, then set
aside for around 20 minutes.
3. Put a pat of butter in a small frying pan and heat the pan over medium
heat. You’ll know the pan is hot enough
when the butter starts to sizzle slightly.
Pour one ladle of batter into the pan
and tilt until the batter coats the bottom. The blini should be very thin.
4. Let each pancake cook for about
90 seconds, then flip and let cook for
another minute. Repeat with the remaining batter, adding more butter after every third pancake.
5. Put the blini onto a plate and
keep them warm with a clean towel on
top. Serve with red caviar and sour
cream, and champagne on the side.
MAIN
Salmon Coulibiac (кулебяка
с лососем)
Salmon might not seem like the most
budget-friendly food at the moment,
but keep in mind that this pie contains
only one fish fillet and feeds six people
as a main dish. Don’t feel limited to the
more expensive лосось (wild salmon).
Сёмга (Atlantic salmon) and горбуша
(humpback salmon) will work well too.
And if you’re put off by the thought
of making your own puff pastry, storebought dough is perfectly fine.
Tip: Much of this recipe can be
made ahead of time. In fact, the whole
pie can be made in advance and refrigerated, covered in plastic wrap or foil,
for a couple of days before reheating.
Ingredients:
4 eggs
2 ½ tbsp (30g) butter
1 fillet of salmon, approximately 250g
½ red onion, chopped
1 cup (200g) rice
1 ½ cup (400ml) vegetable or fish stock,
or water
¼ tsp cinnamon
1 bay leaf
Juice of ½ lemon
Pinch of coriander
1 egg, for glazing
1 package pre-made puff pastry
Dill, for garnish
ADVERTISING
By Sarah Crowther
1. First, hard boil the eggs (around 10
minutes), then rinse under cold water
and set aside.
2. Next, make the rice. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over mediumlow heat and cook the onion until soft,
around 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir
to coat in butter, then add the stock.
Turn the heat up and bring to a boil,
then reduce the temperature and cook
until tender, around 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, bake the salmon fillet
in the oven for around 15 minutes. You
will know when it’s done because the
fish will be flaky, with uniform color.
4. Now all you have to do is assemble the coulibiac. The puff pastry will
likely come in two separate squares.
Take both squares and roll out until
they are each about the length and
width of a standard magazine. Set one
piece aside. Laying one piece flat on a
baking tray, take about ¾ of the rice
and put it in the middle of the dough,
leaving a border of a few centimeters
on all sides.
5. Flake the salmon and place it on
top of the rice.
6. Take the hard-boiled eggs, peel
and slice them, then place on top of the
salmon. Top with the remaining rice.
7. Preheat your oven to 220°C
(425°F).
8. Now take your remaining sheet of
puff pastry and place it on top of the pie.
Seal all of the edges, using the egg glaze
as “glue.” If you want to get creative, cut
thin strips from all sides of the pastry and
cross them over the top, making a kind
of lattice pattern.
9. Brush the top with the remaining
beaten egg and put the coulibiac in the
oven for around 20 minutes. Then reduce the oven temperature to 180°C
(350°F) and cook for another 20 minutes, making sure the top doesn’t burn.
Leave to cool.
DESSERT
Honey Cake (медовый кекс)
This one-bowl cake is as sweet and spicy
as gingerbread, and even easier to make.
It is perfect after a heavy Christmas
meal, or with the following day’s breakfast alongside a cup of strong tea.
There is a lot of honey in this cake, so
be sure to choose a kind you like; buckwheat honey is particularly delicious.
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups (190g) flour
½ tbsp baking powder
½ tbsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 pinch each ground cloves and allspice
½ cup (120ml) vegetable oil
½ cup (120ml) honey
¼ cup (60ml) sour cream
1 cup (200g) sugar
½ tsp vanilla sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
½ cup (120ml) tea, cooled
1 tbsp lemon juice
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C)
and grease a loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the
flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt
and spices. Gently add the oil, honey,
sour cream, sugars, eggs, tea and lemon
juice. With a wooden spoon, stir everything together until it is just mixed.
3. Spoon the batter into the prepared
pan and bake for around 45 minutes.
The cake is done when the top springs
back when touched lightly. Let cool
slightly before removing from the pan.
TO DRINK
Sbiten (сбитень)
Sbiten is a lovely spiced honey drink, perfect for cold winter days and anyone feeling under the weather. It is also extremely
easy, and uses ingredients you likely already have at home. Be prepared— it’s
very sweet. And full disclosure: this recipe comes from the most unlikely of
places— Interfax news agency.
Ingredients:
4 cups (1 liter) of water
2 bay leaves
½ cup (200 grams) honey
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp each ginger and nutmeg
1 small pinch of cloves
1 lemon, for garnish
Boil the water and let cool slightly. Add
the honey and boil for 20 minutes, then
add the bay leaves and spices and heat
for 5 more minutes. Strain and add
lemon slices.
С наступающим!
HOW TO USE THE LISTINGS:
Dates and times are correct at the
time of publication, but last-minute changes are not infrequent,
so it’s best to check by contacting
the venue. COMPLETE LISTINGS can
be found at www.sptimes.ru.
Unless otherwise stated, stage
events start at 7 p.m. All stage
shows and films are in Russian
unless noted.
STAGES
DAILY SHOW! Folk Show
Feel Yourself Russian! Two hours of traditional
Russian songs and dance. Nikolayevsky
Palace, 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. www.folkshow.ru
wednesday, december 24
Symphony Music Glinka, Rimsky-Korsakov,
Tchaikovsky. St. Petersburg Symphony
Orchestra. Conductor Ivan Kozhuharov
(Bulgaria). Shostakovich Philharmonic, Main
Hall, 8 p.m.
saturday, december 27
ballet
Le Carnaval. Marguerite and Armand.
Two one-act ballets choregraphed by Frederick
Ashton and Michel Fokine set to music by Liszt
and Schuman. Starring Ulyana Lopatkina and
Yana Selina. Mariinsky Theater, 7:30 p.m.
The Nutcracker Choreographer Nacho
Duato’s humourous reimagining of
Tchaikovsky’s classic. Conductor Pavel
Klinichev. Mikhailovsky Theater, 1 a.m., 7 p.m.
The Nutcracker Tchaikovsky’s holiday classic
based on the tale by Hoffmann.
Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory.
opera
PREMIERE! The Golden Cockerel RimskyKorsakov ‘s opera based on a tale by
Alexander Pushkin. Mariinsky II, 12 p.m.
Carmen Concert performance of Georges
Bizet’s opera. Starring Olga Borodina. Conductor
Valery Gergiev. Mariinsky II, 7:30 p.m.
ballet
The Nutcracker Choreographer Nacho
Duato’s humourous reimagining of
Tchaikovsky’s classic. Conductor Valentin
Bogdanov. Mikhailovsky Theater.
concert
Piano Music Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff,
Scriabin, Stravinsky, Prokofiev. Mariinsky
Concert Hall, 3 p.m., 8 p.m.
I
S
T
I
N
G
S
Khovanshchina Mussorgsky’s historical
drama about the years just before Peter the
Great became a tsar. Starring Olga Borodina
as Marfa. Conductor Valery Gergiev.
Mariinsky Theater, 6 p.m.
Cio Cio San Puccini’s tragic opera about an
American soldier who leaves his Japanese wife.
Director Yury Alexandrov. St. Petersburg Opera.
concert
Piano Music Beethoven, Ravel, Rachmaninoff.
Pavel Raikerus Mariinsky Concert Hall.
Vocal Music Rimsky-Korsakov,
Rachmaninoff, Schoenberg, R. Strauss,
Brahms. Galina Sidorenko (mezzo-soprano).
Shostakovich Philharmonic, Small Hall.
Choral Music Carl Orff’s ‘Carmina Burana.’
Capella Choir and Symphony Orchestra.
Conductor Vladislav Chernushenko. Capella.
thursday, december 25
ballet
The Nutcracker Tchaikovsky’s holiday classic
based on the tale by Hoffmann. Starring
Oxana Skorik. Conductor Gavriel Heine.
Mariinsky Theater.
Swan Lake Tchaikovsky’s magical three-act
ballet about love and deception. RimskyKorsakov Conservatory.
opera
PREMIERE! The Golden Cockerel Nikolai
Rimsky-Korsakov ‘s opera based on the tale by
Alexander Pushkin. Conductor Valery Gergiev.
Mariinsky II, 7:30 p.m.
concert
Piano Music Scarlatti, Messiaen, Musorgsky,
Ligeti, Retinsky. Antonii Baryshevskyi
(Ukraine). Mariinsky Concert Hall, 8 p.m.
Symphony Music Mozart, Mahler. St.
Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Christian
Blackshaw (U.K.). Conductor Yuri Temirkanov.
Shostakovich Philharmonic, Main Hall, 8 p.m.
Chamber Music Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, Bach,
Beethoven and others. Horn Orchestra of
Russia. Shostakovich Philharmonic, Small Hall.
sunday, december 28
ballet
Carmen Suite. Le Jeune Homme et la Mort.
Alberto Alonso’s and Roland Petit’s ballets set to
the music of Bach and Bizet – Shchedrin.
Starring Anastasia Kolegova. Mariinsky II.
The Nutcracker Tchaikovsky’s holiday classic
based on the tale by Hoffmann. Vaganova
Academy of Russian Ballet. Conductor Gavriel
Heine. Mariinsky Theater, 7:30 p.m.
The Nutcracker Tchaikovsky’s holiday classic
based on the tale by Hoffmann. RimskyKorsakov Conservatory.
opera
The Tale of Tsar Saltan Rimsky-Korsakov’s
opera based on Pushkin’s tale about a tsar’s
lost son, who becomes king of a magical land.
Mariinsky Theater, 11:30 a.m.
La Boheme Arnaud Bernard stages Puccini’s
opera set in the Latin Quarter of Paris, tracing
the interwoven romances of a painter, musician
and philosopher. Mikhailovsky Theater.
concert
Piano Music Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev,
Khachaturian, Shostakovich. Alexander
Yakovlev, Sofia Bugayan, Anna Vinnitskaya.
Mariinsky Concert Hall, 3 p.m.
Symphony Music Franck, Ravel. The
Mariinsky Orchestra. Nicholas Angelich (U.S.)
and Mira Yevtich (Serbia). Conductor Valery
Gergiev. Mariinsky Concert Hall, 8 p.m.
Organ Music Bach, Handel, Purcell and
others. Daniel Zaretsky and the Russian Early
Music Ensemble. Shostakovich Philharmonic,
Main Hall, 8 p.m.
Cello Music Brahms. Alexander Knyazev.
Shostakovich Philharmonic, Small Hall.
monday, december 29
ballet
Jewels Ballet in three parts set to music by
Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky, choreographed by
George Balanchine. Starring Alina Somova,
Anastasia Kolegova, Yana Selina. Conductor
Christian Knapp. Mariinsky II.
11
Christmas Eve Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera
based on a short story from Gogol’s ‘Evenings
on a Farm Near Dikanka.’ Starring Olga
Savova , Gennady Bezzubenkov, Yekaterina
Solovyova. Conductor Pavel Petrenko.
Mariinsky Theater, 6 p.m.
concert
Symphony Music Weber, Grieg,
Mendelssohn. St. Petersburg Philharmonic
Orchestra. Conductor Pavel Bubelnikov.
Shostakovich Philharmonic, Main Hall, 8 p.m.
Vocal Music Glinka, Dargomyzhsky, Bizet,
AlbÈniz. Nadezda Khadzheva (mezzo-soprano).
Shostakovich Philharmonic, Small Hall.
tuesday, december 30
ballet
The Nutcracker Tchaikovsky’s holiday classic
based on the tale by Hoffmann. Vaganova
Academy of Russian Ballet. Conductor Gavriel
Heine. Mariinsky Theater, 7:30 p.m.
The Nutcracker Choreographer Nacho
Duato’s humurous reimagining of
Tchaikovsky’s classic. Starring Angelina
Vorontsova. Conductor Pavel Bubelnikov.
Mikhailovsky Theater.
Tosca Puccini’s powerful three-act opera about
love, death, jealousy, murder and suicide. Starring
Tatiana Serjan, Marcelo Alvarez and Yevgeny
Nikitin. Conductor Valery Gergiev. Mariinsky II
The avant-garde jazz trio of pianist Andrei Kondakov (c), double bass player
Vladimir Volkov (l) and trumpeter Vyacheslav Gaivoronsky (r) will perform
their classical-inspired set, “Bilingua,” at Cappella on Friday, Dec. 26.
Ivan. Fish Fabrique Nouvelle, 53 Ligovsky
Prospekt. Tel. 764 4857. 8 p.m.
Helen Bledsoe / Alexei Lapin / Vladimir
Shostak Improvised, experimental. GEZ-21,
53 Ligovsky Prospekt. Tel. 764 5258. 8 p.m.
Alisa Rock. Kosmonavt, 24 Bronnitskaya Ul.
Tel. 922 1300. 8 p.m.
Simba Vibration Afro rock. Mod,
7 Naberezhnaya Kanala Griboyedova.
Tel. 712 0734. 7 p.m.
Vector Five World music. Yashchik Club,
50 korp. 13 Ligovsky Prospekt.
Tel. 964 9637. 8 p.m.
Pop Punk Christmas Party Bzik, Svoboda
Vazhneye Mody, Shokoladny Tort, Aim the
Weekend. Zoccolo 2.0, 50 korpus 3 Ligovsky
Prospekt. Tel. 945 4305. 7 p.m.
concert
Symphony Music R. Strauss, Kalman, Lehar,
Offenbach. St. Petersburg Symphony
Orchestra. Svetlana Monchak (soprano).
Conductor Vladimir Altschuler. Shostakovich
Philharmonic, Main Hall.
GIGS
wednesday, december 24
rock, etc.
jazz & blues
Naadya Indie pop. Birja Bar, 4 Birzhevoi
Pereulok. Tel. 925 8806. 8 p.m.
Intonema: KickGuitarSin1 Run, Oleg
Makarov, Alexander Markvart. GEZ-21,
53 Ligovsky Prospekt. Tel. 764 5258. 8 p.m.
Svetlo / Nanka Pop rock. VinyllaSky,
81 Ligovsky Prospekt. Tel. 764 6344. 8 p.m.
Nick Chernikov Band / Way Out /
Badmonkey Rock. Zoccolo 2.0, 50 korpus 3
Ligovsky Prospekt. Tel. 945 4305. 7 p.m.
Leningrad Dixieland Band Jazz dancing.
Jazz Philharmonic Hall, 27 Zagorodny
Prospekt. Tel. 764 8565, 764 9843.
7 p.m.
Oleg Nasonov Project Neoclassical, jazz,
world music. JFC Jazz Club, 33 Shpalernaya
Ul. Tel. 272 9850. 8 p.m.
jazz & blues
rock, etc.
David Goloshchyokin Band Jazz. Jazz
Philharmonic Hall, 27 Zagorodny Prospekt.
Tel. 764 8565, 764 9843. 7 p.m.
Trumpets Summit Valery Ponomaryov and
Ivan Vasilyev. Mainstream. JFC Jazz Club,
33 Shpalernaya Ul. Tel. 272 9850. 8 p.m.
Homie Hip-hop. Backstage, 113 Ligovsky
Prospekt. Tel: 958 3888. 6 p.m.
Shon / Kiskin Zhar / Pawspaws / Ruidos
& Gu Indie rock. Dada (new location),
109 korp. 3 Moskovsky Prospekt.
Tel. +7 950 010 4320. 7 p.m.
Soyuz Kosmicheskogo Avangarda /
Gramm Avant-garde jazz, experimental jazz
punk. Fish Fabrique, 53 Ligovsky Prospekt.
Tel. 764 4857. 9 p.m.
Razbitaye Sertsa Patsana / Akute Postpunk, alternative rock. Fish Fabrique Nouvelle,
53 Ligovsky Prospekt. Tel. 764 4857. 7 p.m.
Recipes of Eternity 6 Rajfajh, Alexei Borisov
andn Bogdan Pravda, Dark Voice of Angelique,
Glasberg, Opus Daemoni. GEZ-21, 53 Ligovsky
Prospekt. Tel. 764 5258. 8 p.m.
Rebel Dolls / Scarlet Jack / Rusty
Sharks Rockabilly. Griboyedov,
2A Voronezhskaya Ul. Tel. 764 4355,
973 7273. 8 p.m.
Morning Tea With Constables Indie rock.
VinyllaSky, 81 Ligovsky Prospekt.
Tel. 764 6344. 7 p.m.
Leonid Novikov Acoustic. Yashchik Club,
50 korp. 13 Ligovsky Prospekt.
Tel. 964 9637. 8 p.m.
Angel NeBes Alternative rock. Zoccolo 2.0,
50 korpus 3 Ligovsky Prospekt.
Tel. 945 4305. 7 p.m.
friday, december 26
thursday, december 25
rock, etc.
Snimu v Kino Pop rock. Backstage,
113 Ligovsky Prospekt. Tel: 958 3888. 7 p.m.
Labirintum / Vyshe Kryshi / Bereg Yalty
Indie rock, alternative rock. Dada (new
location), 109 korp. 3 Moskovsky Prospekt.
Tel. +7 950 010 4320. 7:30 p.m.
Electrosila Festival Equipage, Regine
Ollsenn, Gravitones, Konfekty, Sashiny Slyozy,
friday, december 26
ballet
The Nutcracker Tchaikovsky’s holiday classic
based on the tale by Hoffmann. Performance
by the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet.
Conductor Gavriel Heine. Mariinsky Theater,
7:30 p.m.
opera
PREMIERE! The Golden Cockerel Nikolai
Rimsky-Korsakov ‘s opera based on the tale by
Alexander Pushkin. Conductor Valery Gergiev.
Mariinsky II.
Don Giovanni Mozart’s colorful opera directed
by Yuri Alexandrov. St. Petersburg Opera.
Iolanta One of Tchaikovsky’s most lyrical and
poetic operas, based on the play ‘King Rene’s
Daughter’ by the Danish poet Henrik Hertz.
Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory.
jazz & blues
Elvira Trafova and Pyotr Kornev Band
Music from films, shows and musicals. Jazz
Philharmonic Hall, 27 Zagorodny Prospekt.
Tel. 764 8565, 764 9843. 7 p.m.
Ruslan Khain Band Mainstream. JFC Jazz
Club, 33 Shpalernaya Ul. Tel. 272 9850.
8 p.m.
saturday, december 27
concert
rock, etc.
Moscow-based indie pop singer Naadia, who came to fame locally after
appearing at Stereoleto music festival in July, will perform at Birja Bar on
Wednesday, Dec. 24.
FOR SPT
Chamber Music Dvorak, Tchaikovsky.
Mariinsky Stradivarius Ensemble. Conductor
Lorenz Nasturica-Herschcowici (Romania).
Mariinsky Concert Hall, 6 p.m.
Piano Music Bach, Schubert, Liszt,
Tchaikovsky. Boris Berezovsky. Mariinsky
Concert Hall, 8 p.m.
❖
opera
opera
opera
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
The Nutcracker Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet
based on the story by Hoffmann. RimskyKorsakov Conservatory.
FOR SPT
L
www.sptimes.ru
Mojento Hip-hop, funk, pop rock. Birja Bar,
4 Birzhevoi Pereulok. Tel. 925 8806. 8 p.m.
Ognelet Alternative rock. Dada (new
location), 109 korp. 3 Moskovsky Prospekt.
Tel. +7 950 010 4320. 8 p.m.
Separty Disco, pop pock. Fish Fabrique,
53 Ligovsky Prospekt. Tel. 764 4857. 9 p.m.
Gold Electronica. Fish Fabrique Nouvelle,
53 Ligovsky Prospekt. Tel. 764 4857. 9 p.m.
Kshatriy / Ogni Videny Lucid Dream
Organization / Lunar Abyss /
Hattifnatter Experimental. GEZ-21,
53 Ligovsky Prospekt. Tel. 764 5258. 8 p.m.
Tsiolkovskaya / Zhvaka Galz / Gramm
Indie rock, experimental. Griboyedov,
2A Voronezhskaya Ul. Tel. 764 4355,
973 7273. 8 p.m.
Alina Orlova Indie pop. Kosmonavt,
24 Bronnitskaya Ul. Tel. 922 1300. 8 p.m.
Messer Chups Horror folk. More, 20 Malaya
Morskaya Ul. Tel: 957 0820. 8 p.m.
Cheekbones Indie electronica. VinyllaSky,
81 Ligovsky Prospekt. Tel. 764 6344. 8 p.m.
Liza Small Hip-hop. Yashchik Club, 50 korp.
13 Ligovsky Prospekt. Tel. 964 9637. 8 p.m.
City Rats Punk rock. Zoccolo 2.0, 50 korpus
3 Ligovsky Prospekt. Tel. 945 4305. 7 p.m.
jazz & blues
Fyodor Kuvaitsev Jazz Band Jazz dancing.
Jazz Philharmonic Hall, 27 Zagorodny
Prospekt. Tel. 764 8565, 764 9843. 7 p.m.
Maxim Nekrasov and Her Band Harmonica
night. Jazz Philharmonic Hall (Ellington Hall),
27 Zagorodny Prospekt. Tel. 764 8565,
764 9843. 8 p.m.
Camaradas Latin. JFC Jazz Club,
33 Shpalernaya Ul. Tel. 272 9850. 8 p.m.
sunday, december 28
rock, etc.
Electro-Year Party Cold Distance, Toyz Day,
Kseile Rogve, Deimos Mode. Dada (new
location), 109 korp. 3 Moskovsky Prospekt.
Tel. +7 950 010 4320. 6 p.m.
Radiomaniac / Crusiate_Sister Post-rock,
alternative rock. Fish Fabrique Nouvelle,
53 Ligovsky Prospekt. Tel. 764 4857. 9 p.m.
Kantsler Gi and Bregan D’Ert Folk rock.
Mod, 7 Nab. Kanala Griboyedova. Tel. 712
0734. 8 p.m.
Styopa Sobolev and Odna Lyubov Pop
rock. VinyllaSky, 81 Ligovsky Prospekt.
Tel. 764 6344. 8 p.m.
Otto Dix Dark wave. Zal Ozhidaniya,
118 Nab. Obvodnogo Kanala.
Tel. 333 1069. 8 p.m.
Rap Trap New Year D. Masta, Oly, Sekta23,
Mary S’N’B. Zoccolo 2.0, 50 korpus 3
Ligovsky Prospekt. Tel. 945 4305. 7 p.m.
jazz & blues
Alexander Latin Band Jazz dancing. Jazz
Philharmonic Hall, 27 Zagorodny Prospekt.
Tel. 764 8565, 764 9843. 7 p.m.
Chizhik Jazz Quartet Crossover jazz.
JFC Jazz Club, 33 Shpalernaya Ul.
Tel. 272 9850. 8 p.m.
monday, december 29
rock, etc.
Tikkey A. Shelyen Folk rock. Backstage,
113 Ligovsky Prospekt. Tel: 958 3888. 7 p.m.
jazz & blues
Big Blues Revival Jazz dancing.
Jazz Philharmonic Hall, 27 Zagorodny
Prospekt. Tel. 764 8565, 764 9843. 7 p.m.
Anna Chaikovskaya and Friends Vocal
jazz. JFC Jazz Club, 33 Shpalernaya Ul.
Tel. 272 9850. 8 p.m.
❖
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
tuesday, december 30
rock, etc.
SunSay Acoustic. Zal Ozhidaniya,
118 Nab. Obvodnogo Kanala.
Tel. 333 1069. 8 p.m.
jazz & blues
David Goloshchyokin and His Band Jazz
violin and organ night. Jazz Philharmonic Hall,
27 Zagorodny Prospekt. Tel. 764 8565,
764 9843. 7 p.m.
Jerry Kim Band Modern jazz, original
compositions. JFC Jazz Club, 33 Shpalernaya
Ul. Tel. 272 9850. 8 p.m.
MUSEUMS
ARTILLERY MUSEUM
(Military Historical Museum of Artillery and
Engineers) 7 Alexandrovsky Park,
M: Gorkovskaya. Tel. 232 0296, 610 3301.
Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Closed last Thursday of each month.
Samurai: 47 Ronin. More than a thousand
rare exhibits from private collections from
around the world take visitors on a journey to
Japan through one of the country’s most
incredible legends. Through Jan. 30, 2015.
ALEXANDER BLOK APARTMENT MUSEUM
57 Ul. Dekabristov, M: Sadovaya, Sennaya
Ploshchad. Tel. 713 8631. Daily, 11 a.m. to
6 p.m. Closed Wednesday.
The Kublitsky-Piotukh Family. This
exhibition includes personal belongings,
family portraits photos, letters and documents
dedicated to several concurrent anniversaries
for the renowned relatives of poet Alexander
Blok. Through March 24, 2015.
“The sky was gray and rain was falling,
and trains were leaving for the
battlefield” First editions of poetry novels,
articles and almanacs dedicated to WWI by
St. Petersburg poets and writers. Photographs
and posters from numerous charity events
organized by Russian intelligentsia to support
soldiers. Through May 26, 2015.
DOSTOEVSKY APARTMENT MUSEUM
5/2 Kuznechny Pereulok, M: Vladimirskaya.
Tel. 571 4031. Daily, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed
Monday and the last Wednesday of each
month. www.md.spb.ru.
Witness: Pavel Adelgeim. This exhibition
traces the biography of one of Russia’s most
revered priests, who spearheaded the
restoration of post-Soviet religious life while at
the same time criticizing the Orthodox Church’s
alignment with the Kremlin and publicly
supporting Pussy Riot. Through Jan. 19. 2015.
HISTORY OF ST. PETERSBURG MUSEUM
PETER & PAUL FORTRESS
M: Gorkovskaya. Tel. 230 6431. Daily, 11 a.m.
to 7 p.m. (6 p.m. Tuesday). Closed Wednesday.
www.spbmuseum.ru.
Permanent Collection. The St. Peter and
Paul Cathedral, housing the graves of most of
the Romanov dynasty; History of the Mint;
Museum of Old Petersburg; and more. Exhibits
are housed in various locations in the Peter
and Paul Fortress.
The History of the Trubetsky Bastion
Prison 1872-1921: The Peter and Paul
L
Fortress was Imperial St. Petersburg’s main
jail and this exhibition tells the story of the
famous revolutionaries and opponents of the
Tsar who were imprisoned there.
The Peter and Paul Cathedral and the
Great Princely Necropolis of the House
of Romanov: The story of the last resting
place of the Romanov Dynasty from Peter the
Great to Nicholas II, who was finally reinterred
here in 1998.
Balls Glittering and Raucous This
exhibition explores the history of St.
Petersburg’s celebrated balls and presents
dozens of items connected with the revelry,
from fans and luxurious dresses to posters
and menus. Through Sept. 13, 2015.
St Petersburg in 19th Century German
Photographs. More than 80 rare photographs
made by German photographers who visited or
lived in St. Petersburg, including portraits of
royalty and politicians, city views and important
civic events. Through January 15 2015.
Argutinsky-Dolgorukov Collection.
Diplomat, art historian and patron, collector
Vladimir Nikolaevich Argutinsky-Dolgorukov
presented more than 600 items to the museum
at the beginning of 20th century which will be
displayed together for the first time. The
collection includes drawings, watercolors, maps
and paintings connected with the history of St.
Petersburg. Through March 15, 2015.
NEW! Arno Maasik: Orthodox Churches
and Chapels in Estonia. More than 100
photographs show old, new, ruined and
restored Orthodox places of worship scattered
across Estonia made by the famous Estonian
photographer and architect Arno Maasik.
Through Feb., 2015.
HISTORY OF ST. PETERSBURG MUSEUM:
RUMYANTSEV MANSION
44 Angliiskaya Nab. M: Vasileostrovskaya,
Nevsky Prospekt. Tel. 571 7544. Daily, 11 a.m.
to 6 p.m. (5 p.m. Tuesday). Closed Wednesday
and the last Tuesday of each month.
www.spbmuseum.ru
Portraits from the 19th Century. Painting.
The artistic styles of the era are reflected in
the depictions of famous figures. Through Feb.
10, 2015
St. Petersburg Diary. More than 200 items
including photographs, documents, uniforms,
personal items covers the period from the
beginning of WWI to March, 1918, when
Soviet Russia signed a peace treaty with
Germany ending its participation in the war.
Through Apr. 12, 2015.
MILITARY MEDICINE MUSEUM
2 Lazaretny Pereulok. M: Pushkinskaya.
Tel. 315 5358, 315 7287. Daily, 11 a.m. to
6 p.m., (10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday). Closed
Sunday.
Soldiers of a Forgotten War: World War I
Medicine. Exhibition. Medical achievements
from 1914-1918. Through Dec. 31.
STATE HERMITAGE MUSEUM
1 Palace Square. M: Nevsky Prospekt.
Tel. 571 3420, 571 3465. Daily, 10.30 a.m. to
6 p.m. (9 p.m. Wednesday). Closed Monday.
www.hermitagemuseum.org
Permanent Collection. Three million items
in six buildings along the Neva and around
Palace Square. Unless otherwise stated,
temporary exhibitions are displayed in the
Winter Palace, the museum’s main building.
ADVERTISING
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NIKOLAY SHESTAKOV / SPT
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AT THE NIKOLAEVSKY PALACE
4 Ploshchad Truda, St. Petersburg
Tel.: +7 (812) 312-55-00, 312-88-58
www.folkshow.ru
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Francis Bacon and the Art of the Past. Paintings by one of the 20th century’s leading artists hang alongside masterpieces from the
museum collection in this landmark exhibition now showing at the General Staff Building of the State Hermitage.
Her Imperial Majesty’s Hermitage. The
exhibition tells the story of how the Hermitage
collection, one of the finest in 18th-century
Europe, was built using the museum’s first
guidebook from 1794 as the foundation for
the show. Through May 10, 2015.
NEW! Expeditions: Archaeology in the
Hermitage. Finds from recent archaeological
expeditions to different the regions of Russia,
Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan,
Kazakhstan and Italy, including Neolithic and
Medieval discoveries from Europe and Asia.
Through March 29, 2015.
Stone and Metal in Contemporary Art.
Local artists explore the use of precious and
semiprecious stones in different styles, from
those referencing classic 19th century
techniques to surprising contemporary styles.
Through March 8, 2015.
NEW! Inspired by the Hermitage. An
exhibition of porcelain including painted
plaques, vases, table services, porcelain
figurines and multi-part installations made at
the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory to mark
the 250th anniversary of the Hermitage. Dec.
24 through March 23, 2015.
STATE HERMITAGE MUSEUM: GENERAL
STAFF BUILDING
6 Palace Square. M: Nevsky Prospekt,
Admiralteyskaya. Tel. 571 3420, 571 3465.
Daily, 10.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. (9 p.m.
Wednesday). Closed Monday.
www.hermitagemuseum.org
Dada and Surrealism. The exhibition is
organized in collaboration with the Drawn from
the collection of the Israel Museum, the
exhibition includes work by Duchamp, Magritte
and Man Ray as well as other leading lights of
the Surrealist movement. Through Feb. 15,
2015.
Gifts from America: 1948-2013. 74 works
in diverse media presented to the museum in
celebration of its 250th Anniversary cover the
major movements and leading voices in the
field of international Post-War decorative art.
Through March 8, 2015.
Gifts from East and West to the Imperial
Court over 300 Years. Precious metal
works, porcelain, arms, coins, tapestries,
books, exotic objects and works of fine art
Presented to the Imperial court serve as an
alternative history of Russia in this exhibition.
Through March 8, 2015.
Francis Bacon and the Art of the Past. See
photo. Through March 8, 2015.
Marijke van Warmerdam: Time is
Ticking.. Four short videos from 2010
created as part of van Warmerdam’s ëLife’
cycle are shown alongside her tapestry works.
Through Feb. 1, 2015.
ADVERTISING
FOLK SHOW
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STATE RUSSIAN MUSEUM
2 Inzhenernaya Ul. M: Nevsky Prospekt.
Tel. 314 3448, 595 4248. Open 10 a.m. to 6
p.m. (5 p.m. Monday). 1 p.m. to 9 p.m on
Thursdays. Closed Tuesday.
www.rusmuseum.ru/eng
Permanent Collection. The world’s finest
and most extensive collection of works by
Russian artists, from 12th-century icons to
some of the latest movements in contemporary
art exhibited in the Mikhailovsky Palace and in
associated buildings listed below.
NEW! Monuments of Russian IconPainting and Ecclesiastical Art. About
600 works illustrate the key phases in the
building of the museum’s collection of
ecclesiastical between 1897 and 1914.
Through Feb., 2015.
Alexander Samokhvalov: 1894-1971.
The first exhibition in 40 years of the work of
one Soviet Russia’s most prominent artists is
dedicated to the 120th anniversary
of his birth and showcases the various
mediums in which he worked: oil painting,
graphics, sculpture, porcelain and
architectural renderings.
Through March 2015.
STATE RUSSIAN MUSEUM: MARBLE
PALACE
5/1 Millionnaya Ul. M: Nevsky Prospekt.
Tel. 312 9196. Open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (5 p.m.
Monday). 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursdays.
Closed Tuesday.
NEW! Third Photobiennale of
Contemporary Photography. Including 319
photographers ó both established and
emerging ó from 53 cities and towns across
Russia, the Photobiennale offers a forum to
discover and debate the latest tendencies in
photographic art. Through Feb. 2015.
NEW! Eduard Gudzenko. Around 70
paintings and graphic works by Ukrainian
painter Eduard Gudzenko are grouped by
theme to show the artists key interests:
portraits, industrial landscapes, the world of
theater and folklore, landscapes and still lifes.
Through Jan., 2015.
STATE RUSSIAN MUSEUM: STROGANOV
PALACE
17 Nevsky Prospekt. Tel. 571 2360. Open
10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (5 p.m. Monday). 1 p.m. to 9
p.m on Thursdays. Closed Tuesday. A branch
of the State Russian Museum.
NEW! Vladimir Sevostyanov. This
exhibition includes more than 70 landscapes,
still lives and portraits by Sevostyanov drawn
from private collections, including the artist’s
own. Through Jan., 2015.
GALLERIES
ARTISTS UNION OF RUSSIA EXHIBITION
CENTER
38 Bolshaya Morskaya Ul. Tel. 314 3060.
12 p.m. to 7 p.m. —losed Monday.
www.spb-uniart.ru
NEW! Mikhail Devyatov. The paintings on
view by the renowned Soviet artist, professor
at the Art academy and restorer include his
famous ëOctober Wind,’ for which he received
an award at the Brussels International Fair in
1957. Through Jan. 11, 2015.
ERARTA MUSEUM
2, 29th Line, V.O. M: Vasileostrovskaya.
Tel. 324 0809. 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Closed
Tuesday. www.erarta.com
Yugra Period. Paintings, sculptures, graphics,
photography and video art by contemporary
artists from Russia’s Yugra region (Western
Siberia and the Northern Urals) and other parts
of the country. Through Jan. 19, 2015.
Maria Agureeva: Garden of
Compromises. Featuring 17 works, many
exhibited for the first time, the exhibition also
includes work from the artist’s projects ‘Those
women that spoil our infinite’ and ‘Faster!
Higher! Stronger! Commodification.’ Through
Jan. 19, 2015.
PUSHKINSKAYA 10 ART CENTER
53 Ligovsky Prospekt. Tel. 764 5371. Open
Wed to Sun, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. www.p-10.ru
Museum of Non-Conformist Art.
The Door.
GEZ-21. Outbuilding B, 3rd floor.
Tel. 764 5258. Daily, 3 p.m. to midnight.
Kino-FOT-703. Office 703. Tel. 764 5353.
St. Petersburg Archive and Library of
Independent Art. Tel. 272 8222. Monday
and Saturday, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
ROSPHOTO STATE CENTER OF
PHOTOGRAPHY
35 Bolshaya Morskaya Ul. Tel. 314 6184.
Daily 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. www.rosfoto.org
Tove Jansson: To Live, to Dream, to Fly.
Photographs taken by Finnish author Tove
Jansson’s close friend, photographer Carl Gustaf
Hagstrom, and her brother, Per Olov Jansson,
document the life of the creator of the beloved
Moomin characters. Through Jan. 25, 2015.
NEW! Theo Frey. Swiss photographer Theo
Frey is among the definitive representatives of
straight photography who, with his incisive social
and political stance, created documentary
images that tread the line between reportage
and high art. Through Feb. 15, 2015.
SCREENS
Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him
(2014, U.S.) Ned Benson’s drama starring
Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy and Isabelle
Huppert. Angleterre (in English), Avrora,
Mirage Cinema.
Foreign Body (Obce cialo) (2014, ItalyRussia-Poland) Krzysztof Zanussi’s drama
starring Riccardo Leonelli, Agnieszka
Grochowska and Agata Buzek. Angleterre (in
English, Italian, Polish and Russian with
Russian subtitles).
Hector and the Search for Happiness
(2014, U.K.-Germany-Canada- South Africa)
Peter Chelsom’s adventure comedy starring
Simon Pegg, Rosamund Pike and Toni Collette.
Angleterre (in English, French and German),
Dom Kino.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
(2014, New Zealand-U.S.) Peter Jackson’s
fantasy starring Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman
and Orlando Bloom. Avrora, Mirage Cinema,
Velikan Park.
Interstellar (2014, U.S.) Christopher Nolan’s
sci-fi mystery adventure starring Matthew
McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica
Chastain and Michael Caine. Mirage Cinema.
Magic in the Moonlight (2014, U.S.) Woody
Allen’s romantic comedy starring Emma Stone,
Colin Firth and Marcia Gay Harden. Angleterre
(in English with Russian subtitles), Avrora.
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Zhdanovskaya Embankment. Brand new
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Nevsky Prospect. Author's design 3-room
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APARTMENT FOR SALE
12 Dvortsovaya Embankment. Unique
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3rd floor. Total area 100 sq.m. Rooms:
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Oil paintings (original work
by Russian modern artists
and copies made from the
famous masterpieces), dolls
Your choice for:
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paintmart-art.ru
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Also: strategic career coaching.
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Private tour-guide. +7 (921) 942 78 02.
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Wednesday, December 24, 2014
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Different types of massage. Tel.: +7 (965)
787 56 09. Eva
Information pavilions:
• Pulkovo airports (1 and 2)
• Marine Facade (Seaport)
• Palace Square
• St Isaac’s Square
• Rastrelli Square
• Alexandrovsky Park
• Vosstaniya Square
Free tourist information service.
14/52 Sadovaya street,
St. Petersburg, Russia, 191023,
37 Sadovaya street,
St. Petersburg, Russia, 190031
Tel.: +7 (812) 310-28-22; 310-22-31;
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DiningGuide
MEDITERRANEAN
Côté Jardin
Hotel Novotel St. Petersburg Centre
3a Ulitsa Mayakovskogo
Tel.: +7 (812) 335-11-88,
fax: +7 (812) 335-11-80
www.accorhotels.com/5679
Celebrate New Year at the best
French address in town! Treat yourself
to our festive buffet spread of French
and International specialties. This year
we prepared a Great Entertainment
Program — during the New Year’s night
our guests will be entertained by show
ballet, Father Frost and his snowmen,
amazing wandering dolls of Monsieur
Pejo, guests from outer space. More
surprises to come: get fun with our
carnival battle with firecrackers and
confetti or make the best balloon gift at
our master class. An Italian fairytale
starring Princesse Brambilla will bring a
true magic to New Year’s Eve night. Our
DJ will be sure the guests get played
their favorite songs. The price of New
Year dinner is 8500 rubles, beverages
included. 50% discount for 3-12 years
old children. Paid-for tickets are nonrefundable.
We welcome you on our all-inclusive
Business Lunch Buffet in our
restaurant Côté Jardin — Monday to
Friday, midday to 4 pm. Enjoy our
mouthwatering salads bar, daily soup,
favorite appetizers, main dish
specialties, and indulgent homemade
desserts counter. The price is 790 RUB
per person inclusive of mineral water,
tea and coffee.
Besides cozy lobby bar and delicounter with homemade fresh pastries
Novotel offers our business guests 11
modern fully equipped meeting rooms
with bespoke catering and conference
solutions for any of your business
meetings and seminars — free parking
for our hotel guests.
Open daily for à la carte from 06:30—
22:45, breakfast 06:30—10:00, buffet
business lunch 12:00—16:00. Major
credit cards are accepted..
$$
ITALIAN
Restaurant Da Albertone
23 Millionnaya Ul.
Tel.: +7 (812) 315-86-73, 962-08-29.
A popular Italian restaurant, located
close to the Hermitage and with a
summer terrace. Its open kitchen, run
by head chef Luca Pellino and souschef Tiziano Valente, offers homemade
pasta, sausages, desserts and ice-
cream. A supervised kids’ playroom
and kids menu is also avaliable.
Japanese dishes can be ordered from
the adjacent “Sushi Lounge.”
Open Sun-Thurs 11 a.m. – 11 p.m., FriSat until 1 a.m.
Delivery service available.
$$
JAMIE’S ITALIAN
2 Konyushennaya Ploshchad
Tel.: +7 (812) 600-25-70
http://ginza.ru/
Jamie’s Italian is an international chain
of Italian family restaurants, where the
dishes are prepared according to
Jamie Oliver’s recipes, and the highest
standards of quality are observed.
It’s a lively family restaurant with the
typical Italian food that is served in
Italy every day. Little guests are always
welcome here. Kids’ room & menu.
On Thursdays and Wednesday there
are cooking classes for adults.
The average bill comes to 1,500
rubles. Wi-Fi.
Delivery service available.
$$
FRENCH / MOLECULAR
Old Customs House
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
advertising section
INTERNATIONAL
The haute cuisine restaurant “Old
Customs House” is located in the
center of St. Petersburg, on the spit of
Vasilievsky Island.
Perfection in every detail is the
foundation of the flawless service
and the feeling of comfort that we
create for all our guests.
The old brick arches, the fine wooden
furniture and the historic
engravings on the walls create the
unique style of the “Old Customs”
House haute cuisine restaurant.
Despite the roughness of the
interiors, there is an atmosphere of
intimacy and comfort at the
restaurant. And the dishes of French,
auteur and molecular cuisine
made from the highest-quality fresh
ingredients will amaze even the
fussiest gourmets.
Come and appreciate one of the oldest
haute cuisine restaurants in
Petersburg.
Palkin
Tequila-Boom
Corinthia Hotel St Petersburg
57 Nevsky Prospekt
Café Vienna is a daily dining restaurant
with international specialty dishes and
offers wine from around the world.
Also available is a wide selection of tea
blends and coffees along with
speciality cakes from the hotel’s pastry
chef.
Open daily from 10 a.m. to midnight.
$$
KARAOKE BAR
Jelsomino
5/29 Poltavskaya Ulitsa.
Tel: +7 (812) 703-57-96
VIP reservations: +7 (812) 999-96-96
Open from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Amazing sound, modern visuals,
karaoke menu and professional vocal
equipment.
A fancy place to party for the famous
and beautiful. Appearances by
Russian stars and others in show
business. Everything here is in good
taste, fun and beautiful.
New menu! New interior, the latest
technology and a statement in
fashion.
New year night “Hot snow” - we are
waiting for you at 01.00!
1 Tamozhny per.
Tel: 327-89-80, 320-21-20
MEXICAN
Café Vienna
$$$
BRASSERIE
Palm
Belgian brasserie
Tel. (812) 571-81-51
29 B. Konyushennaya Ul.
vk.com/palmbrasserie
facebook.com/palmbrasserie
Palm brasserie is just 20 paces from
Nevsky Prospekt, right in the center of
Petersburg. We always offer our guests
fresh mussels, prepared according to
classic and original receipes, dishes of
European cuisine, freshly-baked
waffels, and over 80 types of Belgian
beer. Only at our restaurant can you
find exclusive beers from Palm
brewery. The brasserie accepts cash
and credit cards, and offers free
parking and business lunches.
47 Nevsky Prospekt.
Tel.: (812) 703-53-71,
www.palkin.ru
Open: noon to 11.30 p.m.
PALKIN restaurant is located in
the very heart of St. Petersburg.
Our constant search for new
flavors, by painstakingly
researching through old cook
books, and strict standards
regarding the use of
ingredients, make Palkin one of
the few places in the world
where diners can enjoy the
finest dishes of aristocratic
Russian cuisine in the elegant
atmosphere of an upscale
establishment. An extensive
wine collection is also on offer.
The opulent interiors include an
open fireplace. Smoking area
available.
57/127 Voznesensky Prospekt
Tel.: +7 (812) 310-15-34 or 050.
www.tequilaboom.ru
We invite you to visit TEQUILA-BOOM
restaurant — the finest Mexican
restaurant in Russia!
Our head chef will prepare a
delectable array of Mexican cuisine
for you: Fajitas Mixto, Burrito, Gringa,
flat cakes and steaks, while our
barman will mix cocktails, such as
Strawberry Margarita, Mexican flag,
Mojito and Caipriina. From noon to 4
p.m.
Monday to Friday a business lunch
(290 rubles) is available at the
restaurant.
Every evening we have live music, and
on Fridays and Saturdays there is a
show program featuring the city’s best
musicians and Latin American
dancers.
We will be pleased to see you!
$$$
Russian Empire
$$
RUSSIAN
Shokoladnitsa
Hotline +8 (800) 100 3360
www.shoko.ru
Shokoladnitsa is the largest chain of
coffee houses in Russia, and
embodies the unsurpassed hospitality
of the Russian soul.
In St. Petersburg, there are 30 cozy
cafés with individual design, but the
overall theme of warmth and
hospitality await you every day, and at
some of them, 24 hours a day. The
many Shokoladnitsa cafés are
located close to the main attractions
of the city and the culture of the
world - the Kazan Cathedral and the
Hermitage, Gostiny Dvor, and many
others.
With its convenient location and
extremely healthy cuisine using only
natural ingredients, Shokoladnitsa is
the best place for a delicious
breakfast with coffee or a hearty
lunch of three courses.
For breakfast and lunch there is a
special menu, with prices around 40%
lower than in the main menu!
We wait for you every day for a cup of
aromatic coffee and a slice of the most
delicious cake in Russia!
17 Nevsky Prospekt,
Stroganoff Palace.
Tel: 571-24-09
The restaurant palace “Russian
Empire” is one of the most convenient
places for holding business meetings
at the highest – imperial – level.
Russian Empire is located in the very
heart of Petersburg, the palace of
Count Stroganoff, and has convenient
and spacious parking. The Russian
haute cuisine served at the restaurant
and the luxurious atmosphere of the
palace will dazzle even the fussiest
gourmets.
You can always discuss the most
important issues in the secret rooms of
Count Stroganoff, where many
business agreements and decisions
have been made.
From 24 December 2014 to 15
January 2015, we invite you to
celebrate Christmas at Russian
Empire. An exquisite menu and
pleasant compliments from our chef
await you.
To advertise,
please call 325 6080
Find more information
on our website
WWW.SPTIMES.RU
$
– Banquet hall;
– Breakfast;
– Children’s room;
– Credit cards accepted;
– Dancefloor;
– Live music;
– Home delivery;
Average price of a two-course meal with an alcoholic beverage: $ – 500 to 1,000 rubles; $$ – 1,000 to 1,500 rubles; $$$ – more than 1,500 rubles
– Non-smoking area;
– Parking;
– Wi-Fi zone.
Feature
www.sptimes.ru | Wednesday, December 24, 2014
❖
16
How to Disappear in the Internet Age
By Alexey Eremenko
From there I would know what cities
you have traveled to and I would contact
the hotels that would be in your financial
bracket. I would simply call and say,
“Hello, I stayed in your hotel but lost my
bill, can we take a few minutes and go
over the charges.” Not everyone will provide me with the information I request,
but I keep calling until I locate the person
who will provide me with the information. When I have that person, I ask for a
copy of calls made from the hotel room
and request they fax over my IP history.
The fax is a public fax machine, and I pay
a college student to pick up the fax and
fax it to another location.
These are simple examples, but this
is how information is extracted. The
fine art of lying!
T H E . S T. P E T E R S B U R G T I M E S
Q: What is your modus operandi?
A: I search for all online and offline
information about my client. The information I can delete, I delete, if I cannot,
I try to deviate the information, change
Frank to Hank. I utilize offline and online social media to create misinformation to make it appear my client disappeared to Minsk but in reality is in St.
Petersburg. I teach my client how to become a virtual entity and exist with no
connections to anything physical.
Q: How many clients do you have, and
what countries do they come from?
A: The majority of my work comes
from Europe, and the top countries at
present are Germany, Switzerland,
Russia and Italy.
Q: How many are from Russia and
the former U.S.S.R., and what kind of
people apply to you from this region?
A: I have worked with about 10
Russian clients in the past two years.
All of them are extremely wealthy and
were interested in creating extreme
FOR SPT
E
ver wanted to just vanish, to
abandon everything and
start your life from scratch?
Well, there is a man who can
make that happen — though he
charges eight times the average annual
salary in Russia.
Since 2001, the New York-born
Frank Ahearn has been making a living
helping people who need to disappear
or conceal some part of their lives — a
pretty tall order in a globalized, digitalized world.
The list includes plenty of Russian clients, said Ahearn, who describes himself
as “a privacy expert who disappears people who have extreme privacy needs.”
The description may evoke visions of
mobsters dreaming of a peaceful retirement or accountants on the run with
corporate fortunes, but Ahearn insists
his job is not to aid and abet criminals.
There are plenty of people interested
in “skip making” — as the disappearing
act is called — for legitimate reasons,
including stalking victims and rich people who want privacy for their families.
And the job is not easy to pull off in
a modern country, including Russia,
where the state-of-the-art electronic
surveillance system SORM-3 is being
introduced to outcry from privacy defenders, who say the system is so allencompassing and free of public control that it would make Edward
Snowden’s blood run cold.
In an interview with The St. Petersburg Times, Ahearn avoided speaking
about the chances of taking on the
state-run SORM-3, but said he has a lot
to offer private individuals.
Ahearn attributes his professional
success to the “fine art of lying,” butmaintains he works exclusively on the
right side of the law. He says he quit
his earlier job as a “skip tracer” for
British tabloids when new legislation
began to shrink the legal operating
arena for that, edging practitioners
ever closer to lawbreaking.
Now he charges a minimum of 40,000
euros ($50,000) per disappearance, and
his book, “How to Disappear,” co-written with Eileen Horan, scaled the lower
reaches of The New York Times bestseller list in September.
Only a fraction of the people who
think they need “skip making” really
do, Ahearn said. The St. Petersburg
Times spoke to him about those people, his business in Russia, ways of obtaining phone and credit card records,
and why he should be trusted at all.
Frank Ahearn, who says he wears sunglasses “always”, offers to make clients disappear for a minimum of $50,000.
privacy measures or creating disinformation that combats negative information about them.
Q: What kinds of problems do your
Russian ex-U.S.S.R. clients tend to
have?
A: I would say privacy is No. 1. The
new breed of wealth combined with online information has made the wealthy
and their families potential targets in
abduction and financial scams.
Someone who is worth 10 billion
euros does not want their child connected to them on the Internet.
Therefore, with select clients I make
sure that no one can ever connect the
family to the billionaire, be it via Facebook or other social media. For example, if the client’s son is named
Alexey Eremenko, I will build hundreds of online profiles using that
name. This way, the client’s son’s information is buried between 200
Alexey Eremenkos who live in all
parts of the world.
Q: Are there any aspects of your work
specific to your Russia-related operations, compared with the rest of the
world? Is anything harder to pull off,
or easier?
A: There is nothing harder to pull off
with Russian clients. The work and methods are usually similar. Getting Russian
business clients to trust me is always the
challenge. My methods of solution are at
times bizarre and sometimes bold, and
trust me, [they are] not an easy sell. I dislike wearing suits, I have long hair and a
goatee, I always wear my sunglasses and
I specialize in deception.
Q: What kind of Russia-related job
would you never take on (e.g. hiding
someone from the security services, or
helping the mafia or Islamists)?
A: I would never work with someone who has murdered his wife and is
now in hiding. Nor would I ever work
with a group looking to inflict harm on
a culture or society. However, some
wealthy clients may have done questionable things in “Country A” but it is
not against the law in “Country B.” I
make sure that “Country A” does not
send someone to abduct them.
Q: How much do you charge the Russians you work with?
A: It depends on the work. It usually starts in the range of 40,000 euros
and can reach about 100,000 euros.
Q: Can you give any particularly colorful examples of Russia-related jobs/
clients (no names, of course)?
A: If anything, I would say the Russian clients have been the most exciting,
and at times [it] seemed like a spy novel.
One such client is extremely concerned
about his privacy, and his primary concern is keeping his wife and children’s
identity a secret. I never know when he
is going to contact me and I will get a
call to be in Paris the next day and check
into “X hotel.” In the hotel are laptops,
prepaid phones and other tools. He then
provides me with three or four translators, and I teach them how to create online deception to protect his whereabouts, the schools his children go to
and his wife’s information. When we are
finished he sends a lawyer of his to the
hotel suite and we destroy the laptop
and cell phones by soaking them in a
certain type of liquid.
Or a different case. Without my client’s knowledge, his son went to an African country and bribed his way to a minister’s office. His plan was to undercut
“Company X,” which provided the same
service as his father’s company. This $300
million contract provides services for the
public. What the son did not know was
that the minister he was trying to bribe
was taking bribes from “Company X.” In
addition, his father and the owner of
“Company X” were bitter rivals. The son
left the country right before the police
came to arrest him for bribery.
One night in Ibiza, the son was at a
restaurant when several men began
threatening him but avoided a fight. A
few weeks later in Belgrade, the same
situation happened and nearly became
physical. A few weeks later in a different city the same thing happened, and
one of the men involved was from the
Ibiza confrontation. It was obvious the
son was being stalked.
My job was to figure out how the
predators were able to locate the son in
different cities. My first action was to
look into how his travel was booked,
but I was unable to locate any breach. I
then figured out that one of the son’s
friends who traveled with him posted
on Instagram and Twitter. He posted
photos where they were hanging out
and such.
After taking down the social posting
of the traveling, things got quiet. However, a few weeks later, the son was
physically attacked in a different city.
The client knew “Mr. X” all too well
and knew this attack was only the start
of the troubles. I disappeared the son,
and he will never be located.
Q: How many people who want to disappear really need to? Do they disappear forever if they do?
A: I would say only a small number.
Sometimes people believe that disappearing will solve all their problems, but that is
not true. I try to work with clients to solve
their problems and only disappear [them]
if there is no other resolution.
For some people who are the victim
of stalkers or other forms of violence, I
suggest they consider disappearing forever or until their predator dies.
Q: Your job deals a lot with stalkers
who use the credit card or phone information of the people they are stalking.
How do they access this information?
A: Good question. In society today,
people tend to view privacy and information as an online issue. I say privacy
goes beyond the computer screen.
When hunting down a person you
always look for the information they
left behind. Credit card charges, airline
records and phone records.
Phone records are a big downfall for
people seeking privacy or disappearing. The problem is they have already
created a footprint before realizing
they want or need to disappear. They
may have used their phone to call a real
estate broker in Nice, a lawyer in Belgrade or hotel in Belize.Obtaining and
extracting information can be rather
easy for a social engineer such as myself. Most countries have maybe 10 major mobile carriers, 15 major utility carriers and 15 major cable TV carriers.
If someone hired me to find a person
in Russia, I would locate a college student and instruct them to call every one
of the phone, utility and cable TV companies and pose as you. He would explain that he had an alcohol problem
and may owe money on an old account.
Once we located the companies where
you had accounts, I would call and ask
to speak with an English-speaking person if they have one. I would explain
that I am being audited and need copies
of my phone records. Some companies
will fax copies of the records, others will
read off each phone call you made on
every bill. All you need to do is ask!
If I wanted to know where you have
traveled to, I would contact every airline
and pose as you, asking for a history of my
frequent flier account. If you have one, I
will easily obtain your travel history.
Q: You mention that you employ other
people— lawyers, students to make
calls. In general, how many minions
do you use, and in what capacity?
A: I do not employ them as employees, but I utilize them when there is a
language barrier, and rarely use the
same person twice. I need to make sure
they never know what type of work I
am doing, therefore when I locate
someone I use a service like Odesk.
com, which is a third-party outsourcing
company. I never contact them as
Frank M. Ahearn. I utilize an alias
from a consulting company and request
they do temporary work.
Q: Has anyone ever tried to use you to
get to your clients?
A: I have been contacted by people
who think I disappeared their husband
or something but nothing beyond that.
Q: What do you enjoy most in this line
of work? And least?
A: The traveling and meeting clients
is the best part of my business. They
are fascinating people who live amazing lives, and I get to step into that life
for a short period and it is cool.
I do not like it when lawyers get involved. They tend to think too conservatively and are afraid to take chances
when it comes to resolving issues.
Q: Your work is reminiscent of Winston “The Wolf” Wolfe, the “cleaner”
character from the movie “Pulp Fiction,” in that both you and actor Harvey Keitel’s character do, in essence,
simple things to achieve extraordinary
results in privacy-related situations.
How do you feel about the comparison
— are there any other fictional characters with whom you feel an affinity?
A: I see myself as a specialist or a
hired gun who enters a situation to resolve what appears to be unresolvable.
I do not find what I do all that extraordinary, I just do what I do and make
sure it is done to the best of my abilities. Unlike Mr. Wolfe, I avoid dead
bodies and hit men.
Q: You said this business will not last
forever. Why?
A: When I am involved in the work, it
consumes me. I live and breathe that
piece of work. Did I do this right, did I
leave a footprint here, what if this, what if
that, etc. — it takes its toll on the mind. I
want to write books for a living and open
a bookstore/cafe in Lisbon or Paris.
Q: If you’re so good at lying, how can
we believe you when you say you can
pull off this disappearing act?
A: It is like falling in love: You have
to take a chance. … I have spent a lifetime hunting people all over the world.
My primary expertise is hunting and
deceiving people. I know what predators search for when they are in the
hunt, and I know the deception I need.
Учредитель и издатель – ООО «Нева Медиа». Главный редактор – Турикова Т.В. Адрес учредителя, издателя и редакции: 190000, СПб, Конногвардейский бульвар, 4, 7 подъезд, 3-й этаж. Свидетельство о регистрации средства массовой информации ПИ № ФС2-8918 от 30 ноября 2007 года, выдано Управлением Федеральной
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