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MOSCOW - Most Russian citizens are enjoying the benefits of stabilization – the main achievement of Vladimir Putin’s first term as President of Russia – and are far from radical thinking.

The All-Russian Center for Public Opinion Studies (VTsIOM) has published an analytical report “Russia on the eve of presidential elections”, the Izvestia newspaper reports. Quoting recent opinion polls, VTsIOM analysts say Russians do not seem to be happy. “They have various opinions about akoya pearl necklace the current situation in the country, the activities of the incumbent President and about Russia’s prospects,” the report says.

Meanwhile, the agenda of Mr. Putin’s second term has already been formulated by Russian citizens. “The number of Russians living below the subsistence level dropped from 25 percent to 20 percent in 2003,” Vladimir Sokolin, head of the State Statistics Committee, said at a news conference on January 28, 2003. “This is a very positive trend, but it is not normal that a fifth of the population of the world’s richest country is indecently poor, even according to official statistics,” he noted.

The conclusion is clear: the fight against poverty will be Mr. Putin’s key priority during his second term as President of Russia.

For Russian citizens, the fight against poverty is more important than economic goals. According to analysts, people do not believe that the problem of poverty and other social problems (access to education, healthcare etc) could be solved through doubling the country’s DGP over the next ten years.

According to the report, people want the state to return to the spheres such as culture, science and education, from which it in fact withdrew in the 1990. Russians hope that the President will fight against drug and alcohol abuse, improve healthcare, education and living standards, and provide affordable housing. They also expect the President to bring law and order to twisted pearl necklace the country and fight against corruption.

While the attitude to the President is overall positive, this does not apply to the country’s authorities as a whole. Two thirds of respondents believe that the Russian authorities are unable to improve the situation in the country, the newspaper concludes.Elections 2004

If there ever was an example of being caught between a rock and a hard place, this is it. In Russia, literally hundreds of smaller domestic newspaper and magazine companies have found themselves trapped between a big-brother state and a giant media monopoly created through the collusion of more than half a dozen global media giants.

The Russia Journal recently completed its third year of publication, a feat many independent Russian publishers find impossible to achieve due to circumstances and market conditions created by a foreign-owned media monopoly - a Dutch company, ironically named Independent Media BV.
After three years of facing bullying, roguish behavior and dirty tricks - during which time we saw the kind of tactics Bolsheviks would use to intimidate their ideological opponents - we finally decided to take this Godzilla head on and called upon the young activist Ministry of Anti-Monopolies of Russian Federation to pearl necklace protect the media market.

Independent Media (IM), which started out as an innocent and idealistic venture some nine years ago, was founded by a communist reporter from the Netherlands, Derk Sauer. It has transformed itself within a decade into a shelter for the world's leading magazine and newspaper publishing houses in Russia and has become a veritable media mammoth by Russian standards. During this time, the company displayed undying loyalty to the corrupt regime of Boris Yeltsin and the oligarchs of his era. In return, it enjoyed enormous advantages, including cash injections from oligarchs and until recently, near-free office space in a state-owned printing press, Pravda.

Misuse of power

Many Russian publishing houses have been forced to close down their publications or suffer huge losses due to the price environment and manipulative conditions created by IM. On the other hand, global giants like Burda, Grunge & Jahr, Conde Nast and Hachette Filipacchi, which could and did sustain huge opportunity costs and losses, eventually carved out niches in this country as well.

The magazine advertising market in Russia, which is only worth approximately $100 million, according to the Russian Association of Advertising Agencies, has literally been divided among five foreign-owned publishing houses. While no Russian publishing company has more than a 5 percent market share, IM controls a whopping 55-60 percent, by most estimates. And it uses this monopoly to bulldoze its way into other people's businesses, mercilessly beating down the prices until the smaller competitors fold or submit.

Dozens of independent and idealistic Russian publications languish in backwaters, thanks to the muscle of this media monopoly, its "packaging," cross-subsidization and powerful friends in high places. No wonder many newspaper editors go to oligarchs with begging bowls and succumb to printing paid-for stories. The catalogue of the company's business practices, now being looked into by Russian authorities, would make Bill Gates and his Microsoft monopoly blush.

IM did not grow to its current size by publishing soft pornography or competing fiercely and fairly. Price discounts, undercutting, dumping, free distribution, manipulation of ratings and even lying about print runs are all tolerated business practices in Russian media. Readers and journalists alike look the other way as stories are blatantly published by Russian papers in return for "sponsorship" (a term for value-added advertisement devised by IM for its joint-venture newspaper Vedomosti with the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times). In 1999, when I pointed out how a big-five auditing firm was being showered with disproportionate attention by Vedomosti because of its "sponsorship" of the paper - the company was so angered that it refuses to advertise with The Russia Journal or even talk about it to this day. A furniture store that got a front-page splash in IM's Moscow Times three days before the historic presidential elections last year deviated from its stubborn policy of not advertising in print media and placed a curious whole-page advertisement in the Times.

Dirty tricks

When we launched The Russia Journal in 1998, most foreign investors were fleeing the ruble devaluation and default. But that also made printing and operational costs low, making it a good point to enter the market. As for the competition, we considered and positioned everyone from IM's Moscow Times, the daily Moscow Tribune, the alternative fortnightly eXile, the 30-year-old weekly Moscow News and the local market of the Economist, the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal, each of which has had three-figure subscriber numbers in Russia for years.

But the problems we faced, which we consider unfair and, indeed, illegal under Russian and international free-trade laws, came from a different quarter. Our advertisers were being lured away to freshwater pearl earrings the Moscow Times with massive discounts from publications like Playboy, Cosmopolitan and Vedomosti, all of which are published by different companies - Sauer and his Dutch company IM being the only common thread joining them. To our dismay, we, like other Russian publishers, found that no matter what we published, we would be made to compete with predatory discounts from glossy magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Men's Health, Marie Claire, Harper's Bazaar and newspapers like Vedomosti.

As the only emerging English- language newspaper, we became an especially huge irritant to IM because no publisher had really challenged the stereotypes the Moscow Times had created about Russia, which had been the magnet that brought foreign investors to IM. The leftist editor of the newspaper, Matt Bivens, simply went berserk, setting aside all journalistic ethics and even quoting the "CIA-funded, Kremlin-funded" allegations about us, first made by his friends - publishers of the eXile - in his own paper's columns. Our office numbers and my own cell phone number were repeatedly published in the Times under sex classifieds. My staff and I were harassed for days by callers seeking massages and escorts. The Times failed to pull those ads, despite a personal request to the editor. "They have been paid for by the eXile," I was told.

Not satisfied with mud-slinging by the eXile, Bivens then threw the weight of his own reputation at us by advising his readers that The Russia Journal needed no advertisement because it was financed by Kremlin PR-guru Gleb Pavlovsky. He based that conclusion on the fact that Pavlovsky "laughed" when a Times reporter asked him whether he was financing us. As though the dirty tricks, misinformation, switch-selling and advertisement packages designed to smother us were not enough, IM offered subscribers a dozen glossy magazines with their subscriptions to a free newspaper - the Moscow Times - with the aim of killing our subscription. Kiosks - which were happily selling our newspaper for 20 rubles, and pocketing 10 rubles (compared with the 1-2 rubles they pocketed on Vedomosti) - were soon making it clear that their bread and butter was IM magazines like Cosmo and Playboy. They declined to stock our paper. Half a dozen advertisers withdrew from deals with us after receiving phone calls from senior executives at IM. The art of switch-selling through privileged discounts was being perfected against us.

How many struggling Russian newspaper publishers can hold a poolside Playboy party for advertisers, with centerfold models running around dressed in dental floss, to discuss a $100 advertisement in a daily newspaper, with discounts in a dozen glossy magazines thrown in for good measure? Not many, I suspect. Packaging cross-company products with predatory discounts has been made into a standard business practice by this monopoly.

Free media

IM's behavior is the single most disruptive factor in the Russian print-media market today. There can be no free media in Russia unless the federal and regional governments stop trying to finance and control it and until it becomes commercially viable. And it cannot be commercially viable as long as this media giant uses the collective wherewithal of its newspapers, magazines, Internet portals, conferences, business directories, wine charts, PR sessions and exhibitions to suffocate any sprouts of competition.

Even more galling is the fact that international media companies like Hearst, Dow Jones, Pearson, VNU, Rodale and Emap, which compete in every market around the world, have ganged up with IM only in Russia, allowing it to stamp out market competitiveness and smaller companies.
Russia has laws, and they tend to be fairly modern when it comes to akoya pearl necklace market principles. Foreign companies must learn to abide by them. Smaller media companies have the right to survive and publish freely - free of government or monopoly intimidation. We are hoping that right will be protected.

MOSCOW - A convoy evacuating the Russian ambassador and other diplomats from Iraq came under fire on Sunday, wounding at least three people and fueling questions over who was responsible for the incident, which came as Moscow and Washington seek to ensure relations will not be ruined by the war.

The U.S. and Iraqi ambassadors were immediately called to akoya pearl necklace the Russian Foreign Ministry, but Russia did not indicate whether it believed coalition or Iraqi forces were responsible. U.S. Central Command said initial field reports indicated the incident took place in Iraqi-controlled territory and that no coalition forces were in the area.

The convoy was fired upon as it headed out of Baghdad toward the Syrian border, the Foreign Ministry said. Spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said four or five of the 23 people in the convoy were wounded and one was operated on, but that their injuries were not life-threatening. "We cannot say now who fired on the column," he said.

A journalist who was in the convoy said it was caught in a crossfire while passing heavily armed Iraqi positions near the city's outskirts. Alexander Minakov of state-run Rossiya television said that the Iraqi positions came under heavy fire from what he said were American forces, and that the two sides also exchanged automatic weapons fire.

"We couldn't raise our heads for about half an hour," he said.

Minakov, speaking to Rossiya from Iraq's border with Jordan, where he and other journalists from the convoy traveled after the incident, said three diplomats were wounded, including one with a serious stomach wound, and two others were lightly injured. He said it was possible that the convoy was hit by shots fired by both coalition and Iraqi forces.

However, Minakov said it appeared the U.S. forces opened fire first and that it was unclear why they would fire on Iraqi positions with the Russians close by, since the United States had been aware of the evacuation plans in advance. He also said bullet holes in a vehicle matched the caliber of bullets from an American M-16.

Minakov said a bullet hit the windshield of the vehicle Ambassador Vladimir Titorenko was traveling in and passed between him and the driver. Yakovenko said the ambassador was not injured but had some scratches.

When the shooting let up, the Russians bandaged the injured on the spot and prepared to move the eight-vehicle convoy further when a large American armored column passed in front of them, Minakov said. "We came up to them waving white rags to attract their attention," hoping for help, he said, but the column moved on.

Minakov's account differed from that of an unnamed source who earlier told the Interfax news agency that came after the first exchange of fire, a car sent ahead toward a column of jeeps with a flag to freshwater pearl earrings explain who was in the convoy and what it was doing was fired upon.

The Foreign Ministry urgently called in the U.S. and Iraqi ambassadors and asked them to take all measures necessary to guarantee Russian citizens' safety in Iraq, to investigate the attack and punish those responsible.

Leaving the ministry, U.S. Ambassador Alexander Vershbow confirmed the United States had been aware of the planned evacuation in advance and said that it was unclear who fired on the convoy.

Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told The Associated Press the Russian convoy had safely passed coalition ground troops before it was attacked "out in more open territory" west of Baghdad. "Somewhere after they got out past our main forces they were attacked. We don't know by whom or by how many," Pace said.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell called Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and expressed deep regret. State Department spokeswoman Jo-Anne Prokopowicz confirmed the two discussed the incident but would not comment on what Powell said.

After the shooting, the convoy traveled to the Iraqi city of Fallujah, 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Baghdad, and Yakovenko said they would likely set out for Syria again Monday morning. Minakov said the wounded were treated at a hospital in Fallujah, which he said was under full Iraqi control.

The incident came four days after Russia protested what it said were American airstrikes on the Baghdad neighborhood where the Russian Embassy is located. Most of the embassy staff had left earlier, but some had stayed until Sunday and a smaller group still remains.

The incident also came as U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice arrived in Moscow for discussions on deepening U.S.-Russian cooperation.

Russia firmly opposes the war, but pearl necklace President Vladimir Putin has adopted a softer tone toward the United States in recent days, saying a U.S. defeat would not be in Russia's interests and pledging continued cooperation with Washington on arms control, the fight against terrorism and other issues.

MOSCOW - A senior Russian diplomat said Monday that the security situation in Afghanistan had worsened and could lead to Taliban holdovers regaining power in the country.

"There remains a potential danger that the same old forces will return to power in Afghanistan and ... spread their ideology beyond the borders of the country," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov said, according to potato pearl the Interfax news agency.

Zamir Kabulov, Russia's special envoy for Afghanistan, said that Afghan extremists had "noticeably stepped up their subversive activities over the past six months," and he noted a sharp increase in Afghan drug production, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.

"There is a favorable situation in Afghanistan for Taliban fighters and their supporters as well as for sympathizers of Osama bin Laden to try to stage a comeback," Kabulov was quoted as saying.

Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah is scheduled to arrive in Russia on Friday. Losyukov said the talks would focus on security issues and efforts to hunt down the remaining groups of Taliban and al-Qaida fighters still present in Afghanistan.

"The forces have been regrouping lately," Losyukov said. "The U.S. military operating in Afghanistan faces this as terrorist acts are conducted against them. Therefore, there still remains a need for the presence of international security forces in Afghanistan."

Losyukov also said it was necessary to twisted pearl necklace extend the international coalition forces' activities beyond the Afghan capital.

Russia has strongly supported the U.S.-led anti-terror operation in Afghanistan and also provided military aid to the opposition alliance fighting the Taliban. Following the Taliban's defeat, Moscow has been eager to develop close ties with the new Afghan government and pledged to help rebuild Afghanistan's shattered industry and set up a modern military.

MOSCOW - A senior Russian diplomat warned Thursday against putting pressure on Iran to sign an additional protocol allowing for closer inspections of its nuclear facilities, but added that Moscow continued to urge Tehran to take the step. "I don't want to make a prediction, but we continue to actively call on Iran to pearl strand join this protocol," Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov said, according to the Interfax news agency. But he warned, "Iran should be given time to think and make a decision." Russia has repeatedly said that by signing the additional protocol with the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran could eliminate international concerns that it is trying to develop a nuclear program. Iran insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful means only and that it respects its commitments under the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. Meanwhile, Losyukov said that he expected Russia to sign an agreement with Iran soon that would allow shipment of uranium to an Iranian nuclear power plant. The agreement covers the return of the spent fuel to pearl strand wholesale Russia for reprocessing and disposal, a mandatory Kremlin demand before the shipments will begin, according to Russian officials. "I have no doubt that such an agreement will be signed in the near future," Losyukov was quoted by Interfax as saying. On Wednesday, Russian Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev suggested the agreement could be signed by the end of July, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported. Plutonium for use in nuclear weapons can be derived from spent fuel rods, and the Russian demand is aimed at assuring other countries that Iran would not be able to obtain fissile material for weapons. Russia is helping Iran construct a 1,000-megawatt, light-water reactor nuclear plant in the southern port city of Bushehr, in a US$800 million deal that has been a major irritant in relations between Moscow and Washington.