Russian president-elect Putin refuses to hike domestic gas prices further.

Russia’s president-elect Vladimir Putin has called on state-owned Gazprom to improve its operational efficiency and refused to allow an increase in domestic gas prices above earlier agreed levels, which Gazprom wanted to compensate for a planned increase in its tax burden.

“I understand that the burden [on Gazprom] is to rise, primarily due to an increase in the mineral extraction tax on gas, but [compensation] should be found through a cut in expenses rather than an increase in tariffs,” Putin, who is currently prime minister, said at a governmental meeting Friday to discuss the Russian gas market, according to the meeting’s transcript posted on the government’s web site.

Last week it was revealed that Gazprom had unexpectedly proposed raising domestic gas tariffs by 26.3% starting from October 1, for its industrial customers, to help compensate for the company’s increased tax burden. The proposal was on top of the initial plan for a 15% increase in domestic gas tariffs from July 1.

Natural gas MET rates for Gazprom are to increase to Rb509/1,000 cu m ($16.95/1,000 cu m) in 2012 from Rb237/1,000 cubic meters in 2011, and further to Rb582/1,000 cu m in 2013 and Rb622/1,000 cu m in 2014, in line with changes to the country’s Tax Code approved in November.

At the meeting, held in the town of Kirishi, in Russia’s northwest, Putin said the government would be ready to discuss other ways to support Gazprom but disclosed no details.

Analysts did not rule out that government may agree on additional tax breaks for some of Gazprom’s projects.

“Putin expressed support for the planned Yamal and Shtokman LNG projects, which may indicate some progress in the discussion for Shtokman tax breaks,” analysts with Alfa-Bank said in a note.

The analysts said the general tone of the discussion was more in support of independent gas producers, such as Novatek, and oil companies, whose gas production is set to grow. “We do not believe the occasional aggressive statements made against Gazprom are a signal of further attacks on the company’s domestic gas business, but rather indicate the government’s desire to expand the presence of independents,” the analysts said.

Russia’s biggest oil producer, Rosneft, expects to boost its gas production by 15 Bcm/year to its output by 2014, which would represent a 27% increase from 2011, Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said at the meeting. TNK-BP is to add 9.7 Bcm in the same period, and Novatek will add 7.8 Bcm from last year, Shmatko said. The planned increases require greater guarantees for access to trunk pipelines–which are controlled by Gazprom–for the independents to make the plans possible, Shmatko said.

Shmatko said an increase in gas output to the all-time high of 670 Bcm in 2011 was mainly thanks to independent producers rather than Gazprom. “In particular, Novatek produced over 15.5 Bcm, with the total share of independent producers, including oil companies, amounting to 24% [of the country's gas output],” Shmatko said.

Shmatko also said Gazprom’s inefficiencies had led to issues during peak demand periods this winter.

The gas production and transportation networks faced several peak loads this winter, when gas demand both domestically and abroad jumped amid severely cold temperatures throughout Europe and Russia, particularly in early February, Shmatko said.

At the time, at least eight EU countries said they saw a reduction in Russian gas supplies, with Italy’s Eni, Austria’s OMV and Germany’s E.ON Ruhrgas all pointing to a 30% cut in their supplies.

Shmatko said Gazprom was spearheading a national program to increase capacity of underground gas storage facilities that would allow greater room for maneuver. “A total of 65 Bcm of gas was pumped into storage facilities, which is 9.1 Bcm less than was envisaged by the program,” Shmatko said.

Daily gas take from storage facilities amounted to 647 million cu m, 122 million cu less than envisaged, he added. He didn’t specify a time period.

Gazprom allocated just Rb16 billion for the construction of new gas storage facilities in 2012, which is not enough, Shmatko said, but criticized Gazprom for the slow repair of the existing trunk pipelines.

Alimov launches $50 mln Russian venture fund.

A $50 million venture capital fund is being launched to invest in early-stage Russian internet consumer businesses, seeking to take advantage of an increase in online usage and discretionary spending in the country.

Frontier Ventures has been started up by Dmitry Alimov, who previously ran a venture fund called ru-Net.

It is looking to invest in companies such as online travel, online financial services and mobile applications, according to its website.

“We are working on a few deals and hope to close the first in the first half of this year,” said founder and managing partner Alimov.

“We are targeting three to five deals this year (and are looking to invest) up to $10 million in each,” he told Reuters. Companies would be targeted at a “relatively early stage”.

Alimov said the proportion of truly active internet users in Russia is only 10-15 percent of the population, highlighting potential for significant growth.

Rising borrowing and falling savings in Russia suggest that consumption is set to increase, analysts at Renaissance Capital wrote in a recent research note to clients.

Naomi cited as reason for Russian lover’s divorce.

Naomi Campbell has been dragged into boyfriend Vladimir Doronin’s messy divorce as his estranged wife Ekaterina claims that the supermodel is the reason for the split. Campbell, 41, might be one step closer to marrying the Russian billionaire, but sources close to the couple say that she is devastated because Doronin and Ekaterina had been separated for 10 years before she started dating him in 2008. The 49-year-old property mogul had a seven-year relationship with another woman before he met Campbell, Zee News reports.

“Naomi is pleased that Ekaterina has finally agreed to give Vladimir a divorce, but she is upset she is planning on blaming her for the marriage breakdown. She is no home wrecker,” a leading daily has quoted a friend as saying.

“The truth is that Vladimir had been separated from her for a very long time when he and Naomi got together,” the friend said. Ekaterina has been married to Doronin for 24 years and they have a daughter, Katia, 15. His wife is believed to want a substantial slice of his huge fortune. “It’s a ridiculous affair. Vladimir is married to me and we are still a couple. Naomi is deluding herself if she thinks she can take my husband,” Ekaterina said.

Campbell, who is the face of Doronin’s property company, started dating the tycoon – dubbed the Russian Donald Trump – after meeting him at the Cannes Film Festival. “Vladimir and Naomi are very much in love and are happy together,” a friend said. “But this is going to cause them both a fair amount of stress. It’s ridiculous that Naomi is being dragged into this,” the friend said. Campbell has left the UK to set up home with Doronin in Moscow and is said to be taking lessons in Russian. He gave her Van Cleef black earrings two years ago, but is yet to propose. daily times monitor

Russia set to sell $7bn of bonds.

Russia, which is rated triple-B by Standard & Poor’s, has not sold dollar-denominated debt since April 2010. The robust price of crude oil, the country’s biggest export, and easing concerns over political instability after Vladimir Putin’s presidential election victory early this month is likely to entice investors.

The Russian government has authority to offer as much as $7bn. Depending on demand and price, it could seek to issue the full amount this week, bankers and investors said. The bond will be split into three parts, maturing in five, 10 and 30 years.

“Investors are currently in a risk on mode and are more concerned by a lack of sovereign supply than [excess] supply,” Robert Whichello, co-head of global debt syndicate at BNP Paribas, one of the banks working on the bond. “This combined with strong fund in flows over the last weeks leaves the market well placed to absorb the Russian supply.”

Bankers will start to take orders on Tuesday, with a view to price and sell the sovereign bond on Wednesday. In addition to BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Troika Dialog and VTB Capital are working on the deal.

Viktor Szabo, a fund manager at Aberdeen Asset Management, said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if Russia borrowed the full amount: “The market’s mood is good, and appetite is there”.

If Russia does sell $7bn it would be the biggest emerging market bond since Industrial & Commercial Bank of China sold $7.8bn of yen-denominated debt in December, according to Dealogic, and one of the largest dollar-denominated bonds on record.

The $5.5bn Russian government bond sold in April carries a coupon of 3.625 per cent and matures in 2015, but the yield has narrowed to near a record low of 2.28 per cent, underlining the strength of demand for emerging market debt.

The yield of JPMorgan’s EMBI Global Diversified Sovereign bond index edged up last week, but is still near the lowest level since November 2010.

Encouraged by investor demand, emerging market governments and companies have sold $247bn of bonds already this year, the strongest start to a year on record, according to Dealogic.

Separately, Russian Railways sold a 25bn roubles bond maturing in 2019 on Monday, to cover partially the cost of infrastructure for the 2014 Winter Olympics and football World Cup in 2018.

Mr Szabo declined to invest in Russian Railways’ debt offering, after the coupon was tightened due to soaring demand, and cautioned that Russian debt still held risks.

“Structurally Russia isn’t a great story,” he said. “As long as oil prices are high then Russia will be a hot topic, but if prices collapse then it would look very vulnerable.”

Canadian company’s deal to process Russian uranium criticized during nuclear summit.

Greece buys Russia oil from Vitol as Iran embargo nears.

Oil trader Vitol sold a cargo of Russian Urals crude to Greek refiner Hellenic Petroleum <HEPr.AT> in a rare tender, traders said on Monday as the country is taking further steps to cut imports of Iranian crude ahead of a EU-wide embargo.

Greece turned to Iran as a supplier of last resort last year despite pressure from Washington and Brussels to end trade as part of a campaign against Tehran’s nuclear program. The West says the nuclear program is for arms, while Iran says it is for energy.

Greece relied on Iran for more than half of its oil imports some months last year after traders and oil majors pulled the plug on supplies and banks refused to provide financing for fear that Athens would default on its debt.

The outlook on Greece has changed after Athens clinched a landmark second bailout program in February although traders said banks were still very wary of dealing with Greece.

“The tender was on open credit terms. So we could not participate as banks are still reluctant to deal with Greece on open credit terms despite all the noise about easing default fears,” said one trader, adding that Hellenic was absent from the market with Urals tenders for many months.

Vitol declined to comment. Hellenic Petroleum officials were unavailable for comment.

Hellenic acknowledged last month it was buying oil from Iran and paying for the shipments later, terms known in industry jargon as open credit terms. But the refiner also said that replacing Iranian oil would be “easy” with supplies from Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Russia.

As pressure on Greece is increasing to cut imports of Iranian oil ahead of July, when a EU embargo comes into force, the tender victory puts Vitol neck and neck with other major traders who are exploring ways how to boost supplies to Greece but minimize financial risks.

Traders told Reuters in February that Swiss-based Totsa, the trading arm of French oil major Total <TOTF.PA>, and trading house Mercuria were in separate negotiations with Hellenic to help it replace Iranian crude.

Glencore <GLEN.L>, a leading Swiss-based commodities trader and one of the few that conducted business with Greece during the debt crisis, may also boost supplies, trading sources said.

Hellenic would pay back the traders with refined products, which could then be sold in Greece or abroad.

Russian stocks headed for their biggest gain in almost two weeks after Deutsche Bank AG said former Yukos Oil Co. billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky has a “50-50” chance of winning an early release and after a report showed German business confidence unexpectedly rose.

The Micex Index (INDEXCF) of 30 shares increased 0.8 percent at 3:55 p.m. in Moscow to 1,555.51, poised for its largest advance since March 14. OAO Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel jumped 1.7 percent, Moscow utility OAO Mosenergo climbed 1.5 percent and state- controlled lender VTB Group added 1.7 percent.

The odds of Khodorkovsky being freed are “significantly higher than anytime in the past,” Yaroslav Lissovolik, Deutsche Bank’s head of research and strategy for Russia, said in a note to clients distributed today. The Kremlin’s human rights council this month urged outgoing President Dmitry Medvedev to pardon Khodorkovsky before Putin’s inauguration, which is scheduled for May 7.

Releasing Khodorkovsky would boost Russian stocks 5 percent to 10 percent, Lissovolik said in the note. He declined to comment further when reached by phone today. The Russian gauge surged as much as 1.6 percent in August 2008 on a report, later retracted, Khodorkovsky had been given parole.

Khodorkovsky was arrested on the tarmac of a Siberian airport in 2003 and sentenced to 13 years in prison after two convictions for fraud, tax evasion and oil embezzlement. Khodorkovsky maintains his innocence, saying the cases against him were retribution for his opposition to Putin.

Review of Verdict

Medvedev ordered a review of guilty verdicts against Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev, giving Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika until April 1 to present his findings, the Kremlin said in a statement March 5.

“The initial knee-jerk would be positive but whether it held would have more to do with the price of oil and data indicators coming out of China,” said Chris Weafer, chief strategist at Troika Dialog, the investment bank owned by Russia’s largest lender OAO Sberbank. Weafer also believes Khodorkovsky has a “50-50” chance of an early release.

European stocks rallied after Germany’s Ifo institute reported its business climate index, based on a survey of 7,000 executives, rose to 109.8 from a revised 109.7 last month. Economists had forecast it to remain unchanged at the initial February reading of 109.6.

Magnit, Crude

OAO Magnit, Russia’s largest food retailer by market value, added 0.5 percent to 3,625 rubles. The company, based in Krasnodar, southern Russia, reported last week a 21 percent jump in its net income for 2011 to 12.3 billion rubles ($360 million).

OAO Sberbank (SBER), Russia’s biggest lender, surged 1.6 percent to 98.99 rubles, poised for the highest close in a week ahead of its fourth-quarter earnings release on Wednesday.

“In light of the ongoing rapid expansion in lending, the bank is set to deliver invariably strong core income,” said Leonid Slipchenko, senior analyst at UralSib Financial Corp., who predicts a 15 percent increase in the bank’s income from the prior year.

Oil for May delivery slid 9 cents to $106.78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices rose $1.52 to $106.87 on March 23, the highest close since March 21.

The dollar-measured RTS Index added 1.4 percent to 1,692.26. The ruble strengthened for a second day, appreciating 0.7 percent to 29.08 per dollar.

The Micex is the cheapest of the benchmark indexes for BRIC countries, trading at about 6 times earnings estimated by analysts. That compares with about 9.8 for the Shanghai Composite Index and 15.1 for the BSE India Sensitive Index.

OSM: Plenty of French, Russian music for 2012-2013 season.

Kent Nagano will take a step back to the music of Joseph Haydn next season, while stepping away from the repertoire for which the OSM used to be famous. Many French and Russian classics are part of the 2012-2013 programming announced Monday, but most of this repertoire is assigned to guest conductors.

Russia wants Kudankulam units outside N-liability purview.

Ahead of the BRICS summit in Delhi, Russian Envoy to India Alexander Kadakin on Monday said that agreements for the units III and IV of the Kudankulam Nuclear Plant were “almost ready”. However, he underlined Russia was hoping that the nuclear liability law would not apply to them.

“The agreements are almost initialled. Just some minor issues need to be worked,” he said

“They (KNPP 3&4) are extension of the same project. We understand that if you want same terms of credit, we get same terms of conditions. It would be logical. Nuclear liability is a latter invention,” he added.

Talking to reporters here ahead of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to Delhi for the summit, Kadakin said Russia was expecting India to formally propose another site to it after the proposal for locating a nuclear facility in Haripur in West Bengal was opposed by the Trinamool Congress.

He also said the two heads will look at enhancing the cooperation in civil nuclear energy and this will be one of key issues which will figure in the meeting between Singh and Medvedev.

Stating that the BRICS countries will try to find a common denominator on issues like Syria and Iran, he said: “Alarming trends are developing in International politics, as well, pertaining to situations around Syria and Iran”.

Russia and China are opposed to a regime change in Syria. However, India along with South Africa and Brazil has backed an Arab league-backed resolution.

When asked whether in BRICS summit common positions on Syria and Iran could be expected, Sudhir Vyas, Secretary (economic affairs) in MEA said these issues will be discussed. But he declined to speculate.

Police said they were searching for a taxi driver who let Gorbuntsov out moments before the 7:30 p.m. attack, according to the newspaper.

Coma
Gorbuntsov’s lawyer, Vadim Vedenin, told Reuters his client remained in a medically induced coma to give him a chance to recover, and that doctors were hoping to revive him in about three days.

Vedenin said that Gorbuntsov had been days away from giving evidence to an investigation into the attempted murder of a former business associate, Alexander Antonov, in 2009.

“He was preparing to give evidence on certain people. He has already given it in written form and he was going to do so in official testimony,” Vedenin said by phone, adding that Gorbuntsov had come to London because he feared for his life.

Frantic shouting
London police said on Saturday they were keeping an open mind about the motive of the attack outside the apartment block. A member of the building’s staff, who declined to give his name, said he heard no shots, but ran outside when he heard frantic shouting.

London is home to thousands of Russian business people seeking capital, prestige and, in many cases, a haven from the rough and tumble of their home country’s financial world.

Cash-for-access scandal leaves UK government reeling

Antonov made his career in the nuclear industry, then became its banker as owner of Konversbank, a financial institution founded to serve the nuclear industry about two decades ago.

Antonov said he and Gorbuntsov had disagreed over the terms of a bank sale just before the debt crisis of 2008, but that there had been no acrimony.

“Our relationship is friendly, and it has always been friendly,” he told Reuters. “I have a great personal interest in his testimony.”

The attempt on his life in 2009 was linked in Russia to the 2008 murder in Moscow of Ruslan Yamadayev, a powerful opponent of the Kremlin-backed Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

The two incidents were tried as a single case and three men were convicted. But the person or persons who ordered the murders was never identified, and the case had lain dormant until this year.

Spy case
Diplomatic relations between Russia and Britain have been tested by a series of disputes involving Russian emigres.

Russia has refused to extradite the man suspected of murdering former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko by putting radioactive polonium in his tea in London.

Meanwhile, London courts have refused to extradite men wanted in Russia, including the Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky, a former Kremlin insider turned fierce critic with criminal convictions in Russia.

Berezovsky, who says the charges brought against him in Russia are politically motivated, told Reuters by telephone from London that he did not know Gorbuntsov personally, nor did he know of any Russian criminals hiding out in London.

“One can give differing views, but it is important to understand that … there is no place safer than London from Kremlin bandits or from Russian or international criminals,” he told Reuters. “But that of course is no guarantee they won’t get you.”

Russian catwalk a gloomy affair for autumn/winter

Moscow trendsetters look set for a gloomy and conservative autumn/winter 2012/13 season if Russian Fashion Week has been any judge of the trends for menswear and womenswear.

Models without jewellery, in pale make-up and with simple hair styles strode the runway last week in long dark skirts and dresses, swathed in thick gray sweaters and coats at catwalk shows for some of Russia’s best-known designers.

Designers said the drab colors and austere collections of Fashion Week — which ended on Sunday — reflected the mood of a Russian society that has had a winter of discontent, filled with mass demonstrations in the run-up to and after presidential elections won by Vladimir Putin.

The demonstrations, which began after the December 4 parliamentary election and went on until after the March 4 presidential vote, even led Russian “it” girl, Kseniya Sobchak to exchange her usually loud and extravagant outfits for subdued grey, black and white uniforms.

Designer Julia Nikolayeva presented a “homeless” line, with models, dressed in classic dark blue and black jumpers, classic brown trousers or long skirts, clambering out from underneath newspapers and boxes thrown around a runway covered with artificial snow.

Debut designer Maroussia Zaytseva presented a minimalist 1960s dress in cold colours worn by models with wet hair and white eye-brows. Her show was based on a story about a plane’s emergency landing, and the models played the survivors emerging from the freezing water as zombies.

“I created the sketches around the time when planes were falling here, ships were sinking, and everything was so awful,” the short-haired 17-year-old Zaytseva, dressed in a long black skirt and a black T-shirt under a leather jacket she pulled off one of her models, told journalists after her show.

“At those moments you start realizing that everything is very fragile. But in my story, everyone survived, because I think there has to be hope.”

Last summer, a Russian ship named the Bulgaria sank in the Volga River, killing more than 100 people. Two planes crashed around the same time — one killing more than 40 people in Petrozavodsk in northwest Russia in June, and another killing the entire Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey team at the airport near Yaroslavl in western Russia in September.

Even the most extravagant Russian style guru, Slava Zaytsev, Maroussia’s grandfather, who celebrated 50 years in fashion last week, chose to switch from his signature bright fluffy dresses, often ornamented in traditional Russian style, to

gray business suits and simple silk or velvet evening dresses for women and checked cashmere suits for men this year.

“Classics are always good taste, they are always comfortable, always suitable,” Zaytsev said about his collection, inspired by Paul Poiret, the French designer credited with freeing women from corsets at the beginning of the last century.

He called his collection “super-modern, clear, viable, classical, with many prêt-a-porter costumes,” which he said he made mostly at the request of his customers.

“I’m not interested in surprising anyone anymore after 50 years in fashion, I just want to make good quality clothes,” he said, leaving innovation up to his successors – his son Yegor Zaytsev, granddaughter Maroussia, as well as the many students featured during Fashion Week.

The themes of protector and warrior — a strong man — ruled the menswear collections, in an effort to appeal more to the tastes of local men than the wider world.

Leonid Alexeev gave the one show dedicated entirely to menswear, offering a seven-minute run of tidy looks with black-and-white suits — many in glossy leather — topped off with jaunty gray sports hats.

“We (Russian designers of menswear) are slowly opening up the secret of a Russian man’s soul – the heavy, complicated soul, but at the same time a vmerery interesting one,” Alexeev told Reuters.

Although the runway trends contradicted street style in Moscow, where more men are out in tight trousers, scarves, colourful sunglasses and refined leather bags, conservatism will inevitably take over the men’s world, Alexeev said.

“Brutality is in demand with local men,” he said. “They like to be harsh, they don’t like to seem fashionable.”

Russia says Annan offers last chance for Syria

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned Syria that Kofi Annan represented the last chance for avoiding a civil war and offered the UN-Arab League envoy Moscow’s full support.

Medvedev’s stark message to Moscow’s traditional ally Sunday came only hours after US President Barack Obama announced plans to send “non-lethal” aid to the Syrian rebels and as new waves of violence swept the battle-scarred country.

Dozens were killed in fighting on Sunday as the Syrian army pressed its assault on protest hubs, with at least 18 civilians among the dead, according to activists and monitors.

Russia has been facing mounting Western and Arab calls to step up pressure and stop delivering arms to President Bashar al-Assad’s regime after a year of violence that the opposition says has claimed more than 9,100 lives.

Moscow on Wednesday backed a non-binding Security Council statement after vetoing two previous resolutions — but only after making sure the text contained no implicit threat of further action should Assad fail to comply.

Medvedev’s comments on Sunday appeared to be aimed at Assad.

“This may be the last chance for Syria to avoid a protracted and bloody civil war,” Medvedev told Annan at a meeting in Moscow before the Russian leader’s departure for a summit in Seoul.

“We will be offering you our full support at any level at which we have a say,” said Medvedev.

“We very much hope that your efforts have a positive outcome.”

Annan replied that he expected Russia to play an “active” role in making sure that both sides followed the points of the UN Security Council-backed initiative.

The UN-Arab League envoy is expected in China on Tuesday to shore up backing for his efforts from the two UN Security Council members that have blocked previous efforts to condemn Assad’s regime.

China has also expressed support for Annan’s mission amid signs of quickly waning support for Assad from his traditional friends.

The UN Security Council-backed peace plan requires Assad to pull back his forces from protest cities and provide immediate humanitarian access to the thousands of civilians trapped inside.

It makes no explicit demands on the opposition and calls for a gradual transition to a more representative government. Assad’s role in the new set-up is left undefined.

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov wrote on Twitter after the Annan meeting that “the (Syrian) authorities appear to be ready to carry this out”.

Moscow has in recent weeks tried to play down its sway over Assad, accusing him of “making a lot of mistakes” and noting that he often refused to listen to Russia’s suggestions on ending the crisis.

Western powers have also doubted Assad’s desire to negotiate — the Syrian leader has shown few signs of complying with Annan’s peace plan. They have been calling for him to go since last year.

The Arab League’s secretary general Nabil al-Arabi however said he did not expect a call for Assad’s resignation to come up at the group’s annual summit in Iraq later this month.

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev’s Middle East envoy visited Algiers Sunday for talks with Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci ahead of the summit.

Although Algeria is thought to have close ties with Damascus, it backed the League’s decision to suspend the country last November.

Pressure on Assad mounted considerably when Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan emerged from extended talks in Seoul to announce their decision to back the delivery of non-combat supplies to the opposition.

Russia’s foreign ministry immediately objected that such support was “unacceptable”.

The move was nevertheless expected to be backed formally at a “Friends of Syria” meeting scheduled for April 1 in Istanbul.

Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood said a meeting of Syrian opposition factions in Istanbul this week, ahead of next Sunday’s gathering, would unify most of the dissident groups, who thus far have been unable to present a common front.

“Ninety percent of the opposition parties will be united by April 1, under the umbrella of Syrian National Council,” the Islamist group’s leader Mohammad Riad Al Shaqfa told reporters.

In Syria Sunday, another 30 died in the fighting, including at least 18 civilians. Monitors and activists reported violence stretching from the outskirts of Damascus to Syria’s northern border with Turkey.

The Local Coordination Committees (LCC) reported “heavy shelling of Khaldiyeh, Hamidiyeh and Old Homs neighbourhoods by the regime’s army,” with explosions shaking the whole of Syria’s flashpoint central city.

In the northwest province of Idlib, regime troops reportedly killed seven civilians, including three children, in the town of Saraqeb and in Kaframim village, where they torched the houses of dozens of fleeing rebels.

Another five civilians were killed in the northern city of Hama, while the LCC reported three troops and six mutinous soldiers killed in the southern town of Nawa.

Human Rights Watch said that regime forces had resorted to using civilians as human shields to protect themselves from attacks by rebel fighters.

Russian PM Vladimir Putin to visit Israel in June

Israel is expected to be Putin’s second foreign destination after he is inaugurated on May 7.

Russian President-elect Vladimir Putin wants to visit Israel in June, and has expressed interest in unveiling a monument in Netanya honoring Jewish Red Army soldiers who fought in World War II, a senior Israeli official told Haaretz on Monday.

There have been no talks about specific arrangements because Putin has yet to be inaugurated, the source said. After he is sworn in on May 7, Israel is expected to begin preparing for his visit, the date of which will be formally announced, the official said.

Israel is expected to be Putin’s second foreign destination after he is inaugurated on May 7. Putin is due to travel to the United States on May 20 to attend the G8 summit, where he is slated to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama.

Since Putin was elected president earlier this month, senior Russian officials have made several requests to the Foreign Ministry regarding Putin’s interest in visiting Israel.

The Russian ambassador to Israel, Sergei Yakovlev, and Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Mikhail Bogdanov, are among those who have made such requests. Other requests were brought directly to Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Putin earlier this month to congratulate him on winning the presidential election. Netanayhu’s aides issued a statement saying the two discussed the Middle East situation and the Iranian nuclear program.

Netanyahu invited Putin to visit Israel and received an invitation from him to visit Moscow.

Netanyahu met with Putin in Moscow in February 2010, and the two announced they would set up a monument in Netanya to commemorate Jewish soldiers who served in the Red Army during World War II. The monument, designed by three Russian artists in the shape of a labyrinth, is about to be completed and Putin would like to unveil it, the Israeli official said.

Putin last visited Israel in April 2005, when Ariel Sharon was prime minister. The highly irregular visit took place on Passover, with only three weeks’ notice. Israel lobbied unsuccessfully to get the visit postponed.

In January 2011 Russian President Dmitri Medvedev was scheduled to visit Israel, but the visit was canceled because of a Foreign Ministry workers’ strike here. Medvedev, who was visiting the Middle East, did pay a visit to Jericho, where he met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Putin won more than 60 percent of the votes in the Russian presidential election of March 5. Like the Russian parliamentary elections a few weeks earlier, the presidential election was marred by claims of voter fraud and problems at the polling stations. Mass anti-Putin rallies took place in Moscow.

Several reports by international organizations found rampant fraud in the Russian parliamentary elections, which Putin’s party won. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed concern over the way the election was conducted.

A few days after the parliamentary election, Putin met with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in Moscow. Lieberman said after the meeting that the Israeli observers posted in several polling stations in Russia deemed the elections “fair, free and democratic.”

US, Russia agree NK’s rocket launch would violate UN resolutions.

U.S. President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, agreed Monday that a North Korean long-range rocket launch, if carried out, would be a breach of U.N. Security Council resolutions that prohibit Pyongyang from being involved in ballistic missile activities.
At a meeting on the sidelines of a nuclear security summit in Seoul, the leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to diplomatic solutions to issues involving North Korea, Iran and Syria.
“And with respect to North Korea, we are going to be both sending messages to North Korea that they should not go forward with this missile launch, which would violate existing U.N. Security Council resolutions,” Obama said after a bilateral summit with Medvedev. “And our hope is that we can resolve these issues diplomatically.”
North Korea is subject to U.N. sanctions imposed after its nuclear and long-range missile tests in 2009. North Korea is banned from any launch using ballistic-missile technology.
The U.S. will apparently need Russia’s cooperation in dealing with North Korea, especially if it launches a rocket in mid-April as it announced. Russia, along with China, has often sought to water down tough sanctions on Pyongyang sought by the U.S. and its allies.
The outgoing Russian leader said he discussed “all main issues” with Obama, but did not elaborate.
“We also spoke about the situation in the Middle East. We touched upon the Iranian nuclear program, the North Korean nuclear program, other sensitive issues — Afghanistan cooperation,” he said.
A senior White House official, meanwhile, told reporters later Obama and Medvedev agreed that any provocative act by North Korea would only deepen its isolation.
“On North Korea, the two leaders, again, agreed that the proposed missile launch that the North Koreans have indicated they are going to pursue would be in violation of existing U.N. Security Council resolutions,” said Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser for strategic communications.
Obama made clear, he added, that “the new leadership in North Korea has to understand that only by abandoning this type of provocative behavior will they gain the respect of the international community and the future that their people deserve. And I think there’s agreement that provocative acts like this will only increase North Korea’s isolation going forward.”
Regarding Iran, meanwhile, Obama and Medvedev expressed support for negotiations led by the so-called P5 plus one, which refers to the standing members of the Security Council and Germany.
The process, expected to resume soon, offers an opportunity to “resolve diplomatically the critical issue of ensuring that Iran is abiding by its international obligations, that will allow it to rejoin the community of nations, and have peaceful uses of nuclear energy while not developing nuclear weapons,” Obama said.
The leaders also backed former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s efforts to help end a year-long bloody conflict in Syria.
“I told (the) U.S. president we believe that his mission is very good and we hope that he will be able to reach good results, and to somewhat appease, at least initially, the situation, and would help to establish communication between various public groups and forces that exist in Syria,” Medvedev said.
He said Moscow and Washington still have time to iron out differences on NATO’s plan for a missile defense system in Europe.
The U.S. says it is needed to counter Iran’s missile threats, but Russia is concerned that it could be used against Russia.
“Of course, we also spoke about the missile defense. I believe we still have time…time hasn’t run out,” Medvedev said. “Now, in my view, time has come for discussions between technical aspects and, of course, we remain at our own positions. But I believe we still have time to agree on a balanced solution.”

Obama tells Russia’s Medvedev more flexibility after election.

President Barack Obama was caught on camera on Monday assuring outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that he will have “more flexibility” to deal with contentious issues like missile defense after the U.S. presidential election.

Russian girls Marianne Grin of Russia secretly took out her four children from Italy to Russia, saving them from their sadistic father. The Italian authorities not only failed to protect the children from the constant abuse, but on the contrary, gave full custody to their father. The situation is complicated by the fact that he is an American lawyer working in a large international company. Today Russian girls Marianne seriously fears for her family. Employees of the U.S. Consulate in St. Petersburg have already attempted an intrusion into her apartment.

Russian girls Marianne’s parents moved to the U.S. when she was 15 years old. The girl successfully graduated from high school and enrolled at the prestigious Harvard University, where she earned his doctorate in law. She met her husband while working in a law office in Manhattan. Soon after the wedding, he invited her to move to Italy, where he has previously worked.

“I did not want to leave, because my career was progressing well. But my husband was very persistent. The only advantage of the move was the proximity of Italy to Russia, with which I never broke ties. All my children have Russian citizenship. Almost every summer we went with them to St. Petersburg, where I still have close family,” says Russian girls Marianne.

Russian girls Marianne had hoped that after a couple of years they would return to the States. As it turned out, her husband settled in Italy for a long time. As a lawyer, he represented the interests of large U.S. companies. “I was surprised that my husband preferred to stay in a small Italian town. Typically, the company’s employees with branches nearly all over the world often move because of career considerations. He did not seem interested,” says Russian girls Marianne.

A few years later it became clear that their family life was failing. The husband frequently disappeared from the house without warning. Soon he moved to another apartment. According to Russian girls Marianne, she was fine with this situation: “I understood that our feelings have cooled down long time ago. He wanted freedom – he got it. I was busy raising children.” But as it turned out, her husband wanted not just freedom – he also had to protect himself from possible financial claims of the wife in the future.

“He once told me that he has filed an action against me,” says hot Russian women Marianne. Interestingly, it was not about a divorce. According to the statement, the husband accused the wife of “psychological abuse” towards their children. “Violence” was manifested in the fact that children were forced to learn to play violin and speak foreign languages. Outraged by this “cultural tortures,” the father insisted that the court limited the mother’s rights for the children. According to Marianne, this unusual move was made by her husband so he would not have to pay child support in case of a divorce.

Since then, the life of this successful hot Russian women has changed drastically.Hot Russian women was assigned at least five social workers, one of which practically settled at her home. All of them had to watch how well the mother treated the children to determine whether the children’s psyche was threatened by her behavior.

However, despite her husband’s connection to the local courts, he was not successful at quickly depriving the mother of her parental rights. “And then his evil, vindictive nature manifested itself in all its glory. He began to abuse me and the children,” says hot Russian women Marianne. One day her husband hit her against the wall with such force that the woman partially lost sight in one of her eyes. On another occasion, he broke his eldest son’s arm and tried to strangle him. In response to the children’s stories about physical abuse, a police spokesman advised the social authorities to send the children to a boarding school.

Naturally, once in such an unexpected situation, the hot Russian women tried to defend herself and sued her husband for causing harm to the health of children. The prosecutor has opened two criminal cases – traumatic brain injury in two children and malicious failure to pay child support. Yet, the local social authorities nevertheless decided to give custody to the father.

This was said to be a temporarily measure – for the duration of the divorce of Russian women Marianne and her husband. Yet, in Italy, such cases can drag on for 5 or 7 years. All this time the interim decision of the judge cannot be appealed in higher courts. As a result the “temporary” solution could well become permanent for quite a long period of time. This situation continued in the family of Russian women Marianne Grin for three years.

Several times the woman tried to seek help from the local U.S. consulate, asking them to protect her from her abusive husband, Together with her eldest son, whose arm was broken by his father, she came to a meeting with the consul where the boy described in detail the behavior of his father. In response, they were told that the consulate did not have the necessary authority to influence the situation.

The result in the Russian Consulate was more positive – the Russian Foreign Ministry sent an official request regarding this case to their colleagues in Italy. Yet, as expected, the response received indicated that the local judiciary was independent and does not allow interference in its affairs.

The relationships between the father and children during this time have deteriorated and the children complained of daily beatings. The eldest son, now 14 years old, stated categorically that he was not going to live with his father. In response, the latter asked the local authorities to send his son to a psychiatric hospital because of his “strange” decision.
“Under the American law there is no statute of limitations for crimes committed against children. A few years later as an adult the son may very well go to the United States and file a claim  in a court against the father. The least the father will get will be the loss of his law license, because the laws on violence against children in America are very strict,” says Russian women Marianne. However, if he timely sends the boy to a psychiatric hospital, he can claim his insanity and thereby protect himself.

Russian woman escapes from her US sadistic husband

“In late August I was told in court that if my son would not voluntarily go live with his father, he will be taken into a closed institution, and I will be completely deprived of my parental rights. I could not let this happen because I was not sure of the safety of my child,” says Marianne. Then the woman decided to take a desperate step and secretly took all four children to Russia – just one day before the execution of the threat.

However, it soon became clear that the husband will try to get to her there as well. Last Friday Marianne’s apartment in St. Petersburg was visited by the employees of the U.S. Consulate. They practically forced their entry and conducted an illegal search of the apartment. Of course, Marianne and children were not there as the apartment has been rented out for a long time. The frightened residents were urged to provide the address of the woman. Fortunately, they simply did not know.

The official representative of Marianne Grin sent a letter to U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Baeyrli, where he requested to provide copies of the documents of the staff who illegally invaded the apartment of Mrs. Grin for prosecution. The letter emphasized that within the last three years the officials of the American diplomatic service in Italy showed no interest in the fate of children and their mother who repeatedly asked them for help. In addition, the consulate employees have all the contacts of Marianne, and if necessary, they could have contacted her.

At the moment, Marianne Grin intends to appeal to Russian authorities about abuse against her and her children, as well as the threats to life and health. As pointed out by Marianne, her conflict with her husband is not personal – she is moved by quite understandable and natural desire to protect her children: “We have no economic disputes. My husband already took everything – from the apartment to the car and savings. Child support is not paid, since in Italy it is not punishable. I do not have any financial requests, as all the property is registered in the name of other people.”

Russian army cold and sick in haute couture uniforms

The autumn military conscription started in Russia on October 1. As many as 140,000 young men will be called up for military service this year. This is nearly 100,000 men fewer than was drafted in spring. Officials with Russia’s Defense Ministry say that the reduction of the number of conscripts is connected with the growing number of contract servicemen. At the same time, representatives of Russia’s General Staff said that over 200,000 people dodge army service in the country.

The conscripts of the new draft will experience the results of the reform of the Russian Armed Forces. Special attention in the reform will be paid to the conscripts who already have children. The young fathers will be sent for military service in the regions of their residence.

The reform does not cancel the previous outfits for the soldiers – the “glamorous uniforms” by well-known fashion designer Valentin Yudashkin. Specialists say that Yudashkin’s uniforms can be good only in southern territories of the country. It took the designer a lot of time to create the uniforms. They were subsequently tested at military units and military schools of ground, airborne and interior troops.

The Victory Parade on Moscow’s Red Square this year showed that the new uniforms differed from the old ones considerably. There are no patch pockets on shirts and coats. The crowns on forage caps became two centimeters shorter, which made them look like the caps from the 1930s. The general’s forage cap became a copy of Marshall Zhukov’s headwear. The boots became sharp-nosed.

The designers of the uniform said that the clothes were made with the use of nanotechnologies. They also assured that the uniforms became much more comfortable, lighter and warmer. However, it appears that the statements from the designers of the uniforms are not true to fact. This became clear during the winter period. The majority of soldiers clad in Yudashkin’s uniforms said that the clothes were very cold.

Hundreds of soldiers came down with flu in many military units because of the new uniforms. In the town of Yugra, for example, hundreds military men were hospitalized with pneumonia and kidney failure.

The military jacket of the new type has a very short collar, which does not protect the neck from the wind. High lace-up boots are comfortable, but the feet get cold and sweaty in them in winter time.

The fabric used in the production of the new uniforms is not so strong as the materials used for the uniform of the previous generation. Buttons fall off in a couple of weeks, colors bleed…Many soldiers say that the new clothes are very easy to break.

The hook-and-loops used for pockets and shoulder straps are very uncomfortable too. They quickly loose the sticky properties. Young soldiers are forced to sow the shoulder straps on. The positioning of the shoulder straps makes it impossible to identify the rank of a military man from the back.

The price tag is also important. The new uniforms are two or even three times more expensive than the old outfits. Defense officials explain this with the use of state-of-the-art technologies, modern materials and progressive solutions used in production.

It is worthy of note that Russia’s Interior Ministry has decided to refuse from the services of the well-known fashion designer. Mikhail Sukhodolsky, First Deputy Interior Minister, said in January 2010 that Russian policemen would be dressed in Yudashkin’s uniforms. Each new set of clothes would cost 34,000 rubles, which is twice as expensive as now.

The ministry rejected the information a year later. It became known that the new uniform for Russian police officers would look like post-war uniforms. The officers will have reflective “Police” signs on the chest and on the back. The radio sets and handcuffs pockets will also become more comfortable.

The uniform of any organization represents the face of this organization. Brands are not important here at all. Common sense is what matters.

Foreign countries owe $68.968 billion to Russia as of January 1, 2006. A big part of this amount has already been written off. Russia forgave the following debts during the recent eleven years. Vietnam and Ethiopia – $10 and $4 billion in 2010. Laos and Mongolia – $0.7 and $11 billion in 2003. Syria and Ethiopia – $10 and $1 billion in 2005. Algeria – $4.7 billion in 2006. Afghanistan – $11 billion in 2007. Libya – $4.5 billion in 2008. Iraq – $8 billion in 2009. And finally, North Korea – $11 billion in 2011.

This totals $76 billion. It appears that Russia is so rich that we, unlike the West, can afford doing such things. These are not all the details that reflect Russia’s indiscriminate forgiveness. It is not ruled out that the same may happen to Cuba’s debt – $19.5 billion.

Many of those countries are rich with natural resources. However, what did Russia get from such countries as Iraq in return? A handful of highly unprofitable offers and that was it.

Appendix 59 to Budget-2007 said that the Russian government was entitled to write off the debts to 13 poorest countries (Guyana in Latin America and 12 African countries – Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea, Guinea-Bisau, Mozambique, Zambia, Madagascar, Tanzania, Benin, San Tome and Principle Island, Burundi and Chad) which made up the total of nearly one billion dollars.

The majority of those countries are rich with oil, uranium, copper, etc. However, Russia received no good contracts for those resources instead. This may only lead to negative consequences for Russia because the country suffers considerable financial losses.

Many countries of the former USSR (Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Belarus, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Moldova) owed Russia $3.294 billion in the beginning of 2006.

Is Russia wealthy enough indeed to refuse from tens of billions of dollars? Russia’s internal state debt increased from 778.5 to 875.4 billion rubles. The line in the document about household deposit compensation was left unfilled: the amount of this debt has not been evaluated officially yet.

Russian official say that debts hamper the development of commercial and economic ties between countries. One may have an official approach to this problem. The debt and the pressure from a creditor may only boost the development of those ties. Many developing states are rich with natural resources, so they could successfully repay their debts with those resources. If they could not, then they would have to repay their debt plus interest to Russia, as international laws stipulate. France was waiting for a hundred years for the debts of tsarist Russia to be repaid. Why couldn’t Paris just write those debts off during the Soviet era?

The French strongly refused to forgive the tsarist debt. The legal entity in the face of tsarist Russia, which borrowed money from France, stopped its existence. The USSR, which replaced tsarist Russia, refused to even say a word about it. The French could have written off the debt after the collapse of the Soviet Union. However, Russia fully repaid the tsarist debt to France.

Nowadays, it seems that Russia is ready to write off the debts of all of its debtors. “What can you have from such a poor country as North Korea?” skeptics may say. We would like to remind everyone here that the news about the debt forgiveness to North Korea was announced simultaneously with Russia’s agreement to lease  200,000 hectares of land to North Korea  in the Amur region. The price is astonishing: 50 rubles ($2) per hectare. To crown it all, Russia will deliver the humanitarian aid of 50,000 tons of wheat to Pyongyang in August-September of this year.

World prices on wheat made up $267 per ton in July of this year. It just so happens that Russia is spending $13.35 million on the humanitarian aid to Kim Jong-il. Russia could use this to gain access to North Korean non-ferrous metals. However, there is nothing to prove that Russia is going to receive anything in return.

Russia pays its debts and forgives billions to other countries

Russia has completely repaid the debt of $185.7 million to Europe’s largest creditor – Croatia. Moscow is expected to fully repay its debt to the countries of former Yugoslavia (Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina) before 2016.

It is worthy of note that Russia continues to repay its debts to foreign countries at the time when it writes off the debts of foreign countries to Russia. It would be enough to remember how Germany made Russia pay $30 billion of debt, including $6 billion to the former GDR. One can witness the same situation with all of Russia’s allies on the left block.

Judging upon the report, which the Russian government submitted to the State Duma, Russia’s public debt as of January 1, 2005 totaled $53.909 billion.  The debt had been reduced to $30.806 billion by January 1, 2006.

The debt to the countries of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance dropped from $2.6926 to $2.106 billion during that time. The list included Russia’s debt to the Czech Republic in the amount of $100 million, which was fully repaid in 2007, and the debt to Romania – $200 million.

As of May 1, 2011, Russia’s foreign debt was evaluated at $38.832.8 billion. The lion’s share of this amount (29.82 billion) is the debt on European bonds. Russia continues to borrow funds during the times of the ongoing crisis, but no one is going to forgive Russia’s debts.

On April 22, 2010, Russia started making borrowings on foreign markets again, after a break of 12 years. It goes about the amount of $5.5 billion (two tranches of Eurobonds). However, it appears that Russia is so wealthy that it can afford to bid farewell to tens of billions of dollars.

The Russian culture, according to Tori Historians, can be divided into several periods: The Ancient Russian Culture covering the periods 989-1480; The Russian Culture of the 19th Century from 1801 to 1914; and the Russian culture of the 20th century. The latter is subdivided into other categories such as the Silver Age of Russian Literature, Silver Age of Russian Poetry (Russian Avant Garde), Constructivism (Culture of Communist Enthusiasm), Russian Emigrant Culture and the Stalinist and Post-Stalinist periods.

Ancient Russian Culture

This was the period when the Byzantine Empire influenced Russian culture. During this time, cathedrals were constructed in the country but despite this, paganism was still practiced especially in rebel communities. This was also the same period when the Roman-dominated Russia became closer to other European countries. This also opened doors to writing traditions in Russia.

The Russian Culture of the 19th Century

During this time, the Upper Classes of Russian society began speaking the French language. In fact, some even considered it as their primary language. This led to problems especially during Napoleon Bonaparte’s invasion.

The closeness of Russia with other European countries was still seen in the 19TH Century Russian Culture. Russia’s artistic community showed similarities with contemporary European art. Russians became more artistic and patterned their approaches with what were common in other European countries. But, Russian culture grew from more than just being dependent on what Europe can offer to appreciate more of what artists see around them. Naturalism became clearly visible during this era.

Pirouettes launch Russian cultural invasion

Dancers from the Bolshoi Ballet on stage at the Beaulieu Theatre in Lausanne this week are the advance party of a veritable Russian cultural invasion in 2011.

Since the idea of a Festival of Russian Culture in Switzerland was officially welcomed by the two countries’ presidents in Sochi last year, preparations have been underway to create a diverse and stimulating programme.
“We hope the public in Switzerland really appreciate it,” a Russian embassy spokesman told swissinfo.ch. “Everybody interested in Russian culture will find something they like here.”

For music lovers, there will be concerts by well-known Russian soloists and ensembles, as well as concerts of Russian composers in Lausanne, Lucerne and Zurich.

There will also be the participation of Russian musicians in the Thun GAIA Chamber Music Festival and the Montreux Jazz Festival to look forward to.

The Bolshoi’s opening night performance of Giselle in Lausanne on Thursday will be attended by Russian Culture Minister Alexander Avdeyev, officially the man behind the festival as well as Swiss Interior Minister Didier Burkhalter.

Diplomatic anniversary

“We have put a very rich programme together under the auspices of the Russian culture ministry,” the embassy spokesman said.

The festival marks the resumption of diplomatic relations between Russia and Switzerland 65 years ago, following the end of the Second World War. It was officially launched on Thursday by the two ministers during a meeting in Bern to discuss cultural matters.

Of course there is already a very lively Russian cultural scene in Switzerland, as Nadia Sikorsky, editor of the online Russian-language newspaper Nasha Gazeta.ch, points out.

“The idea was to assemble under one roof the very numerous Russian cultural activities and naturally this incites the organisers to do more,” Sikorsky told swissinfo.ch.

Swiss premieres

Unlike the Year of Russian Culture in France last year which was state-funded and on a much larger scale, the Swiss festival has been completely financed by private sponsors.

The estimated 6,000 to 9,000 Russians based in Switzerland, including some of the sponsors, will have the opportunity to enjoy some cultural gems from back home.

The Nadja Brykina Gallery in Zurich, which specialises in non-conformist art from the Soviet Union, is running a series of exhibitions as part of the festival this year, beginning with an unusual collection of carved wooden icons by contemporary Russian artists Inessa and Rashid Azbukhanov.

“We have collectors in Switzerland of the work of this husband and wife team but this is the first time their work has been exhibited here,” Anna Brouver of the gallery told swissinfo.ch.

The other participating galleries include the Barbarian Art gallery in Zurich, the Museum of Payerne, with an exhibition of Inuit art, and Ascona’s Museum of Modern Art.

Russia’s literary heritage is represented with a Dostoyevsky reading as part of the Montreux Jazz Festival, an exhibition on Solzhenitsyn’s work in Geneva and a performance of Chekhov’s The Seagull in Lausanne.

Russian Hill, a residential neighborhood with pockets of restaurants and shops, feels a bit more visitor-friendly than its more formal neighbor, Nob Hill. The views are also just as dazzling.

The neighborhood got its name when gold rushers found seven Cyrillic-inscribed gravestones at the top of the Russian Hill. Consensus on the identity of the Russian men buried there — they were reputed to be anything from sailors to fur trappers — was never reached, the gravestones disappeared in the late 1800s and the Russian influence has long since dissipated.

Charming restaurants and small businesses cluster on leafy Hyde Street between Jackson and Union Streets, and Polk Street is crowded with unusual boutiques, antique shops, trendy restaurants and night spots. A mini French quarter has sprung up around Polk and Green, where you’ll find a great bistro, a traditional café-boulangerie, a French antiques store, and several French-influenced gift and home décor shops.

The center of Russian Hill is accessible by the Hyde-Powell cable car and two Muni buses, the 41 (weekday rush hour only) and the 45. The 19 runs along Polk Street, stopping frequently from Ghirardelli Square to the Tenderloin.