Vladivostok Novosti Company

Issue 147 :: Thursday, August 7, 1997

Social life Babushka nation

by Nick Wadhams 08/30/97 02:18 PM
The first babushka wouldn't stop talking to her cat. Another told me that I couldn't come home after 9 p.m. A third woman's energetic male dog became very friendly with my leg.
Any comments?
 

Arts and Ideas Art spans East, West

by Nonna Chernyakova 08/30/97 02:16 PM
The woman seems to be almost shy when she starts the ritual, but the instinct is stronger than her outward emotions - she becomes the fire herself, and ignites everything around her.
Any comments?
 

Arts and Ideas Circus: help is on its way

by Russell Working 08/30/97 02:16 PM
The Moscow Circus of Parodies has announced it expects gymnasts and panthers to join its program. That's a good thing, because right now, animal and tumbling acts are limited. You can have your photo taken with a monkey that cringes like an abused child every time its keeper shakes her fist. You can send your kid for a ride during intermission on a very male stallion that seems to be enjoying the trot far more than the circumstances call for. And you can watch two rowdy clowns run around like drunks at a New York City policeman's banquet. But the traditional fare of a circus, lions and high wire acts, are missing.
Any comments?
 

Arts and Ideas Surly staff, but the view

by Heidi Brown 08/30/97 02:15 PM
What's good about the new Hyundai Hotel is also what's bad: Walking through the main entrance literally seals off the outside world.
Any comments?
 

Special reports Risky business

by Nick Wadhams 08/30/97 02:14 PM
South Korea could help nudge Primorye into the Pacific Rim economy. But despite investments like Hyundai's new hotel, not everyone thinks Russia is worth the risk.
Any comments?
 

Opinion Sailors must unionize to protect their rights

The Vladivostok News 08/30/97 02:13 PM
"Sailors really should start caring for their own fate," said Pyotr Osichansky, local representative of the International Transport Workers Federation. Dozens of Russian ships are being held in ports all over the world. Crews come home after months or even years of "arrest" in foreign ports, and they bring the remains of colleagues who committed suicide in despair.
Any comments?
 

Opinion City's garbage strike ends in trashy politics

The Vladivostok News 08/30/97 02:13 PM
The city can breathe a sigh of relief that the garbage strike is resolved - for now. For five weeks, heaps of trash clogged streets and alleyways. Vladivostok was fouled not only by trash (and by the rats dining on it), but by malodor recalling a barbecue of rancid food as well-meaning citizens got rid of trash by burning it. It is fitting, though, that such an ugly incident in urban life concluded with more of the trashy politics we have come to expect of our civic leaders.
Any comments?
 

Opinion Military conversion show is unconvincing

The Vladivostok News 08/30/97 02:12 PM
The recent military conversion exhibition in Vladivostok was surely a sign of change afoot: You can't argue that a nuclear submarine factory proffering sausages isn't trying to change its tune. But it did seem that defense companies aren't ready for a true wave of conversion to break away from dependence on military rubles. And although it's easy to apply the "better late than never" truism, 1997 is a fairly late date for manufacturers only to begin thinking about entering new markets.
Any comments?
 

Opinion Solving the "stinking" crisis

by Stan Danysh, University of Alaska Anchorage 08/30/97 02:11 PM
Dump the garbage on city hall steps? Open a fast food outlet for rats? In issue 146, Talk Back was looking for ways to get rid the trash that was piling up around town. But Stan Danysh went beyond mere disposal, to suggest how to keep future garbage pileups from occurring.
Any comments?
 

Business Exhibition helps shipping firms network, Russian style

by Nick Wadhams 08/30/97 02:10 PM
Companies involved in the shipping industry recently learned about international networking at an exhibition that had a distinctly Russian flair.
Any comments?
 

Business Business Chronicle

The Vladivostok News 08/30/97 02:09 PM
Good news: Customs is raking in the rubles Far Eastern customs slightly exceeded its projected revenue intake in the first six months of 1997, collecting 1402 billion rubles ($245.9 million). It sent 20.3 billion rubles ($3.5 million) to the federal budget from the sale of seized goods, and more than 700 billion rubles ($122.8 million) went to customs infrastructure development.
Any comments?
 

Business New tax code a mixed bag

Andrew Chapman and Claire Newman 08/30/97 02:08 PM
Russia's new tax code, currently awaiting debate before a now-vacationing State Duma, may come into effect in January 1998. Employers, however, can reduce assignment costs by taking steps before that date.
Any comments?
 

Business Arms dealers sell new wares

by Nick Wadhams 08/30/97 02:07 PM
With one exhibition over and three more scheduled this year, krai officials are hoping to wake Primorye defense companies from their post-Soviet advertising slumber.
Any comments?
 

Business Russian union suspended from international group

by Nonna Chernyakova 08/30/97 02:06 PM
The International Transport Workers Federation suspended the Water Transport Workers' Trade Union of Russia July 18 for failing to comply with the federation's codes of conduct.
Any comments?
 

Business Local firm to sell zinc

by Nick Wadhams 08/30/97 02:05 PM
Krai semi-precious metal manufacturer DalPolyMetall will resume selling its lead and zinc concentrate abroad after a three-month standstill, thanks to a decree signed last week by President Yeltsin.
Any comments?
 

Special reports News in Brief

The Vladivostok News 08/30/97 02:03 PM
Committee orders shooting of park's bears Two young Himalayan bears were legally shot and killed in their cage in a city park in mid-July. Misha and Masha, popular with young children, had been living in dirty, cramped quarters for two years in Mingorodok Park after a poacher shot their mother. The federal environmental protection committee ordered the shooting after ruling that the bears were a danger to humans and that their living conditions were intolerable.
Any comments?
 

Social life Health chief quits, cites "crisis"

by Heidi Brown 08/30/97 02:03 PM
Vladivostok's public health situation has reached a critical level, the city's public health director said July 31 at a press conference announcing that he and his 40-member department were resigning.
Any comments?
 

Social life Phew! Trash strike over

by Heidi Brown 08/30/97 02:02 PM
Vladivostok's striking trash collection company went back to work Aug. 5, following a promise from Governor Yevgeny Nazdratenko to pay at least six months of back wages in the next 10 days. The garbage company, SpetsAvtoKhyaistvo, stopped work July 1 after Vladivostok Mayor Victor Cherepkov refused to sign a contract, disputing how much the city should pay for SAK's services.
Any comments?
 

Special reports Political gimmicks on the garbage heap

The Vladivostok News 08/30/97 02:01 PM
After Governor Yevgeny Nazdratenko ended the garbage strike by paying some back wages, Mayor Victor Cherepkov issued an angry response. The statement alludes to krai plans to discredit the mayor and bring down his political rating, which the Federal Security Bureau uncovered in a raid on a krai policy office in June.
Any comments?
 

Arts and Ideas City waits for "Godot"

by Heidi Brown 08/30/97 02:00 PM
American theater director Mark Williams visited Vladivostok the last week of July to cast Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot" for the Chamber Theater.
Any comments?
 

Environment Oil sickens dolphins

by Russell Working 08/30/97 01:59 PM
Lada and Akhan, two polar dolphins, swim through a floating pen littered with popcorn, candy wrappers and a stick from an ice cream bar - and coated with a sheen of rainbow-colored oil.
Any comments?
 

Special reports Cossacks granted federal status

by Anatoly Medetsky 08/30/97 01:57 PM
Cossacks from around Primorye and Kamchatka recently received formal permission to become a part of the federal administration under a decree from President Yeltsin.
Any comments?
 

Social life Rat hotels

The Vladivostok News 08/30/97 01:55 PM
Here are the buildings deemed most in need of rat extermination (they are not numbered in order of importance). Hospitals and clinics are listed first, followed by schools, then city-owned housing. The city has set aside an emergency fund of 110 million rubles ($19,298) to kill rodents at these buildings. The extermination should clear out the rodents for two months.
Any comments?
 

Social life Rat overpopulation in city

The Vladivostok News 08/30/97 01:55 PM
The following is a letter from the city's chief sanitary physician to Mayor Victor Cherepkov. For a list of the city's most rat-infested sites, see below.
Any comments?
 

Social life Rat population swells

by Russell Working 08/30/97 01:53 PM
Cuts in city funding to exterminate rats have caused an explosion of the disease-bearing pests in homes, schools and hospitals this year.
1 comment
 
Issue 147
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