The Moscow Times

The Crisis: Electricity Providers Face Bankruptcy
Electricity suppliers across the country are cracking down as the number of delinquent private and corporate customers surges, as the dilapidated industry is mired in debt linked to unpaid consumer bills and the multibillion-dollar investment programs that investors signed onto during the privatization of Unified Energy System, which wrapped up just weeks before the financial crisis struck.

News

2-Hour Break Turns Markets Around
By Jessica Bachman / Special to The Moscow Times Trading on the country’s stock exchanges was suspended for two hours on Tuesday morning in an attempt by the federal market regulator to prevent Monday’s nightmare trading in the United States from sparking an equal freefall for Russian indexes.

Energy Firms Hit As Credit Dries Up
By Anatoly Medetsky / Staff Writer In the fallout from the global financial crisis, rising lending rates and a liquidity crunch are forcing some of the country’s energy companies to reduce their projected investment spending.

Medvedev Soldiers On in Corruption Battle
By Anna Smolchenko / Staff Writer Despite the recent conflict with Georgia, his attention remains focused on the problem of graft, the president says.

Suicide Bomber Fails In Nazran Attack Bid
By Nabi Abdullaev / Staff Writer A suicide bomber on Tuesday attacked the motorcade of Ingush Interior Minister Musa Medov, whom the local opposition has accused of the murder of its leader in August.

Grateful Abkhazia Thanks Russia on Its National Day
Reuters Georgia’s breakaway province of Abkhazia proclaimed President Dmitry Medvedev a hero Tuesday as the region celebrated its first national day since Moscow recognized it as an independent state.

No Immediate Access to Georgia Zone for EU
By Margarita Antidze, Matt Robinson / Reuters The Russian military said Tuesday that European Union cease-fire monitors would not have immediate access to its ""security zone"" inside Georgia, drawing accusations from Tbilisi that it was stalling a promised troop pullback.

Anti-Extremism Agency Proposed
By Natalya Krainova / Staff Writer The Prosecutor General’s Office on Tuesday proposed creating a separate law enforcement agency to battle extremism.

Somali Pirates Deny Shootout Report
By Mohamed Olad Hassan / The Associated Press Pirates holding a Ukrainian ship laden with tanks and weapons claimed Tuesday that they were celebrating the Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr despite being surrounded by U.S. warships and helicopters. They also denied a report of a shootout aboard the seized ship.

VimpelCom Seeks Approval for Yevroset Stake
By Nadia Popova / Staff Writer VimpelCom chief executive Alexander Izosimov said in an interview late Tuesday that the company filed a request to the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service to buy a stake in Yevroset.

Body Calls for 'Enhanced Monitoring'
Combined Reports The head of Europe’s top human rights organization on Tuesday called for monitoring of both Georgia and Russia following their conflict in August to ensure they live up to promises to uphold democratic values and human rights.

News in Brief
Lukashenko Defends VoteU.S. Stalling Pact: Lavrov

Business

Brokers May Face More Control
Reuters The Central Bank’s regulatory reach should extend to investment firms, a top official said.

Fitch Report Dampens PIK's Gains
Combined Reports PIK rose as much as 19 percent Tuesday in London after posting strong results, but it lost most of the gains after Fitch said Russian property developers were likely to be among the worst hit by a deteriorating financing environment.

Equity Firms Less Optimistic
Reuters Private equity firms are less optimistic about Russia than last year but still see opportunities, as the credit crunch leaves companies with few other financing options, a survey showed Tuesday.

RZD Will Invest $63Bln in Far East
Bloomberg Russian Railways, the monopoly that operates the world’s longest rail network, said Tuesday that it would invest about 1.6 trillion rubles ($63 billion) to improve service in the country’s Far East federal district.

Gazprom Nears Libya Gas Asset Deal
The Moscow Times Gazprom is set to cement its entry into the Libyan oil and gas market this month by finalizing an agreement with Italian energy giant Eni as part of a broader asset swap, both companies said.

Polyus Board Approves KazakhGold Buy
Combined Reports Onexim Group, a major shareholder in Polyus Gold, said Tuesday that the miner's board approved the acquisition of a controlling stake in Kazakhstan's largest gold miner, KazakhGold, and that billionaire Suleiman Kerimov would bid for a stake in Polyus.

Eurocement Cutting Back as Prices Plummet
Reuters Eurocement, the country’s largest cement maker, said Tuesday that it was cutting back production and manpower at most of its factories as prices are set to fall another 10 percent by the end of November.

Renaissance Group Chief Predicts Increase in M&A
Reuters The financial crisis will spur mergers and acquisitions in Russia as many businessmen have accumulated enough cash to buy troubled assets, Renaissance Group chief executive Stephen Jennings was quoted as saying Tuesday.

Business in Brief
Kudrin Gets 7th DeputyRosatom to Spend $82BlnYevroset Exec ArrestedGAZ Plans $287M PlantSistema Starts Work in IndiaRusAl Wins LUKoil RulingFor the Record

Opinion

Yevgeny Kiselyov: Why Russians Put Stalin at the Top of the List
On Sunday, state-controlled television station Rossia will air the first program in a new series titled ""The Name of Russia.""

Yulia Latynina: A Blood Feud Made to Order
Like many others, I was shocked when news agencies first announced last Wednesday that Sulim Yamadayev, the former commander of Chechnya's Vostok Battalion, had been murdered in Moscow.

Taking the Elephant Out of the Room
Using the country's financial reserves to boost liquidity in the financial system is a very sensible use of money in this period of extreme uncertainty and risk.

City Wise

Museum With a One Track Mind
By Peter Slezkine / Special to The Moscow Times On summer evenings, Moscow's central metro stations are packed with camera-touting tourists and stick-waving guides who treat the metro as a museum and use their ticket as an entrance fee.

Community Bulletin Board

Community Bulletin Board
To Our Readers The Moscow Times welcomes letters to the editor. Letters for publication should be signed and bear the signatory's address and telephone number. Letters to the editor should be sent by fax to (7-495) 232-6529, by e-mail to oped@imedia.ru, or by post. The Moscow Times reserves the right to edit letters. Email the Opinion Page Editor NEW ZEALAND NATIONALS AND PERMANENT RESIDENTS: New Zealand is holding a general election on Saturday, Nov. 8. Overseas voting starts on Wednesday, Oct. 22. Please refer to the embassy's web site www.nzembassy.com/russia for further information. The NEW ENGLISH COMMUNICATION CLUB (NECC) meets twice a week at COFEMAX. Here you can make new international and local contacts and share your culture and language over food and drinks. Meetings are Thursdays from 8:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. and Sundays from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at 3 Novoslobodskaya Ul. For more information, contact George at 8-916-331-6862 or visit www.comclub.ru ATTENTION U.S. CITIZENS! The U.S.

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