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Here’s the news from and about Russia this week.
The New York Times kicked off Sunday with an account of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hard-nosed speech about U.S. foreign policy. Under the headline “Putin Says U.S. Is Undermining Global Stability”, the Times said that Putin accused Washington, among other things, of provoking a new nuclear arms race. The Russian leader also said that the Middle East is more unstable because of U.S. policy in Iraq. It was the harshest speech I’ve seen from a world leader in quite some time. You can read the full text of Putin’s speech in English on the Kremlin’s Web site.
Perhaps to echo the storms that swept through the Midwest and East Coast of the U.S., Moscow had its heaviest snowstorm in two years on Tuesday night. Kommersant said it temporarily shut down the airports. But I’m betting that the snow didn’t register at all with the U.S. families in Moscow to process paperwork to bring their children home.
Also on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported that a Russian court dismissed as “trivial” a criminal case against a principal accused of installing pirated Microsoft software in school computers. Former Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev had published an “open letter” to Bill Gates earlier this month, calling for Microsoft to back down.
Another giant American company is laying other plans for Russia. Mosnews reported that Wal-Mart Stores is looking for a partner to open stores in Russia. I have to say I was surprised to learn that Wal-Mart wasn’t there already.
The Moscow Times said that, according to a new survey in Finans magazine, Russian Aluminum owner Oleg Deripaska is now the richest man in Russia with a $21.2 billion fortune. Personally, I’m going to wait for confirmation by Forbes‘ billionaires list, which is due out in early March. Roman Abramovich was the richest Russian for 2006 according to Forbes.
In philanthropy, Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova was named a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Program and she made a $100,000 donation to the UNDP’s Chernobyl recovery projects. According to Kommersant, the money will be used for a computer center for children and sports facilities.
Those of you planning to see the broadcast of “Eugene Onegin” that I highlighted in this month’s cultural calendar may be interested in the New York Times’ review of the opera. The Times gave a glowing review to the Metropolitan Opera’s production, and said that Russian tenor Dimitri Hvorostovsky “projects charisma naturally, making him perfect for this diffident character.”
And one final piece of news that has nothing to do with Russia, but everything to do with adoption. According to a study published in the American Sociological Review, adoptive parents devote more time and spend more money on their children than other parents. Hooray for us!
