Hello,

Russia is busy and at it again. We have watched the roads and have seen more new cars than anytime in my life. We see a lot of new Chevy's and Fords now Nissan tells us how much they made:

"Sales of Japanese Nissan automobiles in Russia rose 29.7 percent between January and November 2008, in comparison with the same period of 2007, to reach 134,677 vehicles, the Russian office of the company announced on Tuesday. November was not a particularly successful month for the company, however. It sold 7218 cars, 31.4 percent less than November 2007. Between January and November, Nissan sold 6970 Infiniti models (the maker’s luxury model), which is up 41.4 percent over last year. In November, it sold 719 Infinitis, an increase of 18 percent over November 2007."

While Nissan has increased its luxury car market by over 41% the Russian Space Agency has extended its contract with NASA so that America can keep flying into space.

"Russia’s Federal Space Agency Roskosmos and the U.S. NASA have inked a modification to the current International Space Station contract for the pre-flight training of the U.S. crew members and the transportation services in 2011 and 2012, according to official webs of Roskosmos and NASA."

Of course all this money from cars and space travel has to be kept somewhere. A bank merger to become one of the largest banks in Russia is happening as of now.

"The biggest holders of MDM Bank and Ursa Bank Sergei Popov and Igor Kim respectively are setting up a united bank holding that will emerge as one of the major private financial holdings in Russia, Interfax reported citing the official statement of both banks."

While banks are heating up and growing we are having a growing heat wave. Moscow is not cold and records for warm temperatures are dropping everyday.

"The temperature in Moscow climbed to 6.6 degrees Celsius (44 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday, breaking a 47-year-old record, the Russian meteorological website www.hmn.ru reported."

Speaking of warming up: Russia, China and the USA refuse to sign a ban for cluster bombs.

"100 countries are meeting in Oslo on Wednesday in a summit aimed at banning cluster bombs. The explosives have been guilty of causing numerous injuries to civilians in many conflicts."

Now that Russia, China and the USA are cluster bomb buddies and plan on using them at any opportunity maybe they should all get together and work on nano-science together. That would make some great science fiction movies come true.

"Russia’s bid to step away from an economy based on producing and exporting energy and metals has moved in several directions. One of them is Rosnano – a state-owned non-profit company that promotes and finances nano-science and nano-technology projects."

So last but far from least is another issue that Russians seem to be working on:

"Sociologists report a drastic change in Russian people’s attitude to representatives of other nationalities. Russians’ sympathies to Georgians, Ukrainians and Americans reduced most of all. The sympathies of the Russian population reduced considerably to those, whom the Russian public opinion blames for the war in South Ossetia, including the USA"

Seems that Russia is having another wonderful week, we did not even touch upon the NATO issues that made the Kremlin happy!

Nor will we at this moment because "NATO called upon Russia on Wednesday to refrain from "Confrontational statements" that could further harm relations between the military alliance and Moscow." :(

We think they mean statements like: "Georgia and Ukraine are unlikely to join NATO within the next two decades, a chief analyst at the Russian Institute for Military and Political Analysis said on Wednesday." :)

So you did not hear about NATO from us! (shhhhhh)

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

Hello,

I was drinking my morning cup of coffee and reading about the project that the Orthodox Church has underway. Three new churches are to be built simultaneously and in one day in the Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian capitals. The remarkable Orthodox project being undertaken in Moscow, Kiev and Minsk marks one thousand and twenty years since the arrival of Christianity in Russia.(Link)

It was said on TV last night that they are using a prefabbed wood block system that will cut the cost by 60%. The cost is estimated at around $50,000 per church. This project is a start toward replacing churches that had been destroyed during the Stalin era.

The Orthodox Church says that it is not the glitter that makes a church but the spiritual hunger that makes a church. So costs will be kept at a minimum. Churches are to be located in areas that are lacking in churches from destruction. The day has not been announced yet for this one day event.

THE JUBILEE OF RUSSIA’S CHRISTENING: For all Orthodox believers of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus July 27th is traditionally a day of remembering the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir.

We are so glad to see the strong revival of the Orthodox Church in the old Soviet areas....

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

Hello,

I have written before about Kiev, Ukraine. It is a city that I love but it is also a city that has lots of problems. It seems the main problem is the government of the country or more specifically: The Ukraine President....

KIEV, December 2 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine's president (Viktor Yushchenko) has ordered a high-level group be set up to improve ties with Russia in the face of the ongoing financial crisis, the country's top security official said on Tuesday.

Seems that now as Ukraine finds itself broke and going bankrupt. Ukraine has come to the realization that the America is not going to throw funds their way. It is obvious that America is broke. It is obvious that America is not buying any goods from Ukraine.

Now the Ukraine President looked around and said whoops - I hope that I have not pissed Russia off too much. Viktor Yushchenko is quoted as saying, "Naturally Russia, with trade turnover due to reach some $30 billion this year, is our largest partner, and it must be a partner in finding ways of overcoming the crisis."

Good job President Yushchenko you figured out who buys more Ukraine goods all on your own!

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

RBC, 02.12.2008, Moscow 15:04:50.The Russian judicial system must be made effective enough to reduce the number of lawsuits filed with international courts to a minimum, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told the 7th congress of judges in Moscow today. He did not rule out the possibility that, to achieve this goal, the Russian court system would have to be transformed. The Strasbourg Court and any other international courts cannot, and should not, substitute for Russian courts, the president stressed.

RBC, 02.12.2008, Moscow 14:47:58.Russian President Dmitry Medvedev assured the 7th congress of judges in Moscow that the fundamental problems of Russia's judicial system had been solved. He pointed out that over the last several years, Russia saw the establishment of constitutional relations, economic and administrative court proceedings, and reestablished trial juries.

RBC, 02.12.2008, Moscow 14:38:11.Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev will pay an official visit to India on December 4-6. According to the president's press office, Medvedev will take part in an official ceremony marking the end of the Year of Russia in India on December 5.

RBC, 02.12.2008, Moscow 12:40:07.The Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs (Vnesheconombank) and the Bahrain Development Bank (BDB) have signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation today, the Russian state corporation's press office reported. The document stipulates deeper ties between Russian and Bahraini financial institutions and the joint financing of product and service exports to other countries. The agreement also aims at the development of long-term interests of Russian industrial producers involved in the mechanical engineering, transportation, timber, and construction materials industries.

RBC, 02.12.2008, Moscow 09:58:10.As of December 1, Russia's Reserve Fund totaled RUB 3.661 trillion (USD 131.63bn), and National Wealth Fund amounted to RUB 2.108 trillion (USD 76.38bn), the Russian Finance Ministry said in a statement. The balances of accounts in the Reserve Fund stood at RUB 20bn, USD 63.99bn, EUR 43.81bn, and GBP 7.31bn, while the National Wealth Fund's currency accounts break down as follows: RUB 474.9bn, USD 22.05bn, EUR 15.35bn, GBP 2.62bn, and RUB 365bn on deposits in Vnesheconombank.

RBC, 01.12.2008, Moscow 19:48:42.Transneft will issue long-term ruble bonds to finance the Baltic Pipeline System-2 project. The issue is provided for in today's government's decree to launch the pipeline's design. According to the document, the Energy Ministry, in collaboration with the Economy Ministry, Regional Development Ministry, the Finance Ministry, Russia's Federal Tariff Service and Vnesheconombank, is to work out schemes to finance the pipeline expansion project within three months after receiving a feasibility study from Transneft. In addition, they will devise a financing scheme to revamp the existing pipelines. To this end, the long-term bonds will be placed by private subscription among financial organizations with considerable state-run stakes. In addition, the financing for a branch to Kirishi, a city in the Leningrad region, should be approved within the same period.

RBC, 01.12.2008, Moscow 15:59:09.The current price level of Russian company shares is "an ugly and unfair phenomenon," Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said at the opening of today's Presidium meeting. He noted that the fall had primarily resulted from trading decisions made abroad, which were hardly based on the actual state of affairs. As a result, the market capitalization of companies is much lower than their real value, Putin maintained, adding that there were even cases when Russian companies' market value was lower than the amount of funds on their accounts. He added that, while the Russian leadership did not plan to limit foreign activities on domestic markets, the creation of a wide class of Russian investors was still among its priorities.

RBC, 01.12.2008, Moscow 14:59:15.The Bank of Russia has extended another loan worth RUB 65.9bn (approx. USD 2.39bn) to rehabilitate 10 different banks, Deputy PM and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin told a Presidium meeting today. He explained that the money would be lent to regionally important banks. The minister added that the banks would be able to recover and continue their activities. He noted, however, that there were difficulties with other banks, whose licenses were now being revoked by the Central Bank. Kudrin stressed that these banks were not significant for federal or regional financial markets, adding that the Deposit Insurance Agency would be involved at once in case of such banks.

Hello,

Yesterday once again was a interesting day in the world. I spent yesterday cleaning house and ignoring the blogs. I was drinking my cup of coffee in between loads of laundry and came across a news flash that America might be in a recession. I laughed and thought to myself, "America is in a recession and has been for a long time!" I went on about my business. Later an article came out that stated 7 economic advisers have gotten together and proclaimed "America in Recession and has been in recession since December of 2007!"........ (OMG)

Then the world financial systems did a systematic melt down, over news that we all knew was true and we all knew about along time ago. It was hard to convince me that America was not in a recession when Japan and Europe have (already a month ago) excepted that they are in recession.

The American Wall street nose dived 680 points on Monday over this tidbit of news (that we all knew anyway). The Asian markets are slip sliding away, the European markets are gurgling at he surface as they sink and last but not least the Russian stock market has sank and just bounces along merrily at the silt laden bottom of the Financial ocean.

I have something to say about Wall Street: Close It! Shut The Doors!

The world has pumped trillions of dollars to salvage Wall Streets all over the globe. Governments have injected trillions of dollars of funds that should have gone to help the world become a better place. What do you see, as the result of all this money being infused into failing businesses and banks? What do you see, as a huge portion of humans in the world are starving? What do you see, as we struggle all over the world to fund cancer research and aids cures? What do you see, as Wall Street gets trillions of dollars but the home owners are setting record numbers of defaults, bankruptcies and homelessness. What do you see?

I see the money lining the Rich peoples pockets. I see a failure of governments to put the money where it would help the most. I see the money going down a huge Money Hole with no bottom.....

I have owned several businesses in my lifetime. I have failed and also been very successful at these businesses. I failed because I messed up and made bad decisions, I succeeded because I worked hard and made the right decisions.

What ever happened to running a business with in its means? We as people are told to live with in our means.

If you have a business and sell 1,000,000 x $1.00 thingamajigs = $1,000,000. You operate your business with in that million dollars. (No more than a million dollars but any less is profit.)

What I really see, is that Recession is the old word for the American economy. What you will see sometime next year, is the new word Depression!

But then that really is not a new word is it? We all know that a depression is going on now.

I bet the stock-market would really crash on the Big D word!

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

Barack Obama is being asked to authorize the reconstruction of the White House – but not the one which serves as the presidential residence in Washington. The call has come from custodians of an exact replica in a remote area of Ukraine. (Read More)

Hummmmm...

Kyle & Svet

On his way back from Havana to Moscow Dmitry Medvedev talked about his impressions of his visits to Latin American countries (Peru, Brazil, Venezuela, Cuba).

Hello,

We decided to get signed and registered on to the Russian Presidents web site. So we get to have a heads up on what he is up to. We received this video and decided to embedded this video that he made on his way back to Russia.

We found it interesting that he uses an Apple Laptop computer. Nice jet he travels on also. :)

He gives a good explanation of what he thinks is important in his trip and what will be accomplished from his trip.

Just thought it would be interesting and there are sub-titles in English.

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.