How Russians Live
February, 2008

Collectivism Versus Individualism
A comparison of the Russian education system and its western counterparts, and how the Russian model is changing.

Press Release – European University
There are no teaching activities in the University due to the suspension of the license.

Students Spread Their Wings
The number of Russians receiving an education abroad has grown significantly over the last few years, with English language programs being the most popular courses.

Russia’s Elite Urges Putin to Re-Open British Council Offices
Russia’s graduates of Britain’s universities have addressed President Vladimir Putin, requesting him to revive the British Council’s offices in the country.

In Russia, Corruption Plagues the Higher-Education System
Cramped conditions are common in Russian dormitories. But just three feet outside Svetlana's window, a block of new, upscale apartments adds insult to injury. Students call the building "the president's dorm" because it will soon be occupied by the university president, Yevgeny Koposov, and other top administrators.

Inspectors Cite 52 Violations As Cause Of University Closure
Red tape is smothering civil rights and common sense in the dramatically escalating conflict between the European University and the city’s Fire Safety Inspectorate, critics say.

Medvedev’s Teacher To Head University
Kropachyov, a law professor who taught Medvedev and is said to be a confidant of Putin, has been appointed acting head of the University and is almost certain to be confirmed as full-time rector at an election on May 21.

Job shift for British Council's Lenskaya
Former Russian education official and British Council executive Elena Lenskaya has taken on a new role as head of development at the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences, a move that comes at a time of growing political strains between Russia and Britain.

Students presumed clean of drugs
Russian students will be relieved to hear that plans by the Federal Narcotics Control Service to have them all compulsorily tested for drug addiction have been shelved. The FNCS came up with the idea last month, noting there were nearly 30,000 known addicts among Moscow's student population of 1.2 million and arguing that it was important to monitor the health of young people likely to go into "responsible professions".

Skolkovo Moscow School of Management
"Today most of the MBA programmes are designed for students who will work in developed countries," says Mr Vardanian, but "now the world is changing [and] more people work in emerging markets...The challenge for us is to find the right model to teach them how to be successful in these countries."

Lev E. Dobriansky, 89; Professor and Foe of Communism
Dr. Dobriansky was the author in 1959 of the Captive Nations Week Resolution, celebrated annually by Congress and the White House for nearly five decades.

Demographics
The population is still shrinking, but less now

Russia's population down 0.17% in 2007 to 142 mln
The statistics service said that last year the mortality rate in Russia declined 4% compared to 2006, reaching some 2 million deaths, while the birth rate grew 8.3%.

The forgotten cities of Russia's north
Today's eastern Russia hobbles because of decisions made decades ago, by Soviet planners who built cities in places where no one would choose to live.

Muscovites count the cost of Valentine's Day
Back in the coffee shop, Katya and Sasha aren't thinking about babies just yet although they reckon they'll move in together soon and Katya makes it clear that if she were to become pregnant, she is against abortion and would like to keep the child.

For Voters, Basic Comforts Of Home Still An Illusion
Russians are, on the whole, more inclined to take to the streets over social issues than over politics.

From Crisis to Baby Boom
Russia witnesses its highest birth rate in 25 years.

Russia Ranked the Third in Convicts Number 
As of early this year, the number of prisoners was the greatest in detention facilities of the United States.

Health
Drinking and Healthcare still problematic

Russia's Health and Demographic Situation (PDF)
This issue of the Russian Analytical Digest addresses the health and demographic crisis of Russia. Specifically, it discusses the ongoing battle between the tobacco industry and public health and examines an anti-smoking law. It also evaluates the link between alcohol and violence and other related issues such as poisoning and the related cultural context.

Cancer Advocacy Group Launches in Russia
An estimated two million Russians suffer from cancer.

Russians Still Drinking Much, But Deaths From Surrogates Fewer
19,000 or so people died of alcohol poisoning from January through November 2007 versus the 28,000 thousand who died for the same reason from January through the yearend in 2006 and 40,000 in 2005.

Russian health-care system badly ailing
Health care is supposed to be free in Russia, but Russians know that every hospital has its under-the-table price list.

Half of Russia's Public Water Supply Unfit for Human Consumption
Half of Russia’s tap water does not meet basic health standards, a shortcoming that cuts decades off the lives of that country’s population, according to participants in last week's Duma debate on a new federal program that seeks to address it.

Xenophobia

Nationalism, xenophobia "a time bomb" under Russia's sovereignty
" Belligerent nationalism, xenophobia, appeals to violence and ethnic hatred have always been and will always be a time bomb under our sovereignty," Putin said.

City to Remain Hotspot of Xenophobia
Two new human rights reports released this week argue that the numbers of hate crimes in Russia seem set to increase in the near future.

Russians Won’t Tolerate the Gays
Most Russians are clearly intolerant to the gays, signaled the poll of Levada-Center, which results were reported today, February 5, 2008.

Human Rights Report Unsettling
The Sova human rights center issued its annual report on nationalism and xenophobia in Russian society yesterday.

Labor and Wealth

Monthly Salary in Russia Averages $550 in 2007
Personal incomes in Russia went up 10 percent in real terms, the national Statistics Agency said Tuesday reporting the first economic results of 2007. Average monthly salary went up 27 percent last year to 13,518 rubles.

Russia’s middle class to grow fast
Russia’s Economy Ministry expects the country’s middle class to make up 50-52 percent of the population by 2020.

(Disabled Persons) Equality at Work
An embarrassed Vladimir Putin told the assembly: "Shame on us. The policies of the past made it impossible to integrate the disabled into society, even in the smallest ways. We need to make a complete overhaul of our attitudes and approaches."

Work Force Shortage to Affect GDP
The number of economically active population reached 75.3 million past year in Russia. The employment growth that drove down unemployment indicator to unusually low level, accounted for a third of economy’s advance.

Economic Growth Favors the Rich
Despite that the portion of the population with incomes of less than 3500 rubles per month, which was 23.3 percent in 2005, dropped from 16.1 percent in 2006 and to 11 percent in 2007.

Prices for Moscow Flats Hit All Records 
The prices for flats in Moscow manifest skyrocketing growth.

The East is Ready
"If you happen to be talking to Putin," says Sergei, "tell him this. Let him travel along this highway that he accepted as finished, whenever it was. There simply is no road."

Religion
Revival and Intolerance Continue...

Nationalists Obsess Over Medvedev's Roots
In December, the month Putin backed Medvedev as his successor, the Yandex search engine got 4,699 queries on "Medvedev Jew" after receiving only six in November.

Orthodox Church unholy alliance with Putin
In an unusual move, Alexei II, the Church's patriarch, has endorsed deputy prime minister Dmitry Medvedev ahead of next week's presidential election.

Russian Jews Outraged By 'Revision' Of WWII Outcomes
They say that Estonia is erecting monuments to SS hangmen.

NGOs
Revival and Intolerance Continue...

Russia Denies Entry Visas To Three HRW Members Over False Info
The Foreign Ministry said Roth and two other officials had applied for tourist visas, yet planned to meet with non-governmental groups and journalists during their trip to Russia.

Choking on Bureaucracy
A new HRW report on the state of civil society activism in Russia.

Presidential human rights council plans voluntary dissolution after March 2
It is President [Vladimir Putin] who engaged us in this activity, and we will leave with him. We will see what will be then.

Russia Center to Study Western Democracy
Now the Kremlin is trying to turn the tables on the West, setting up a think tank its founders say will expose the flaws of Western democracies.

Russian profs to lecture West on democracy
A Russian foundation devoted to democracy and human rights is setting up shop in the United States.

Journalism
Blogs prosper; State run TV still most popular

Journalist In Trouble For Piece On Putin
A Perm journalist has been questioned by local prosecutors and may face criminal charges after he penned an article identifying what he characterized as positive similarities between President Vladimir Putin and Adolf Hitler.

A Dangerous Profession
Russia Ranks Below Afghanistan, Sudan, and Tajikistan on Freedom of the Press.

Russian Receives Asylum in Ukraine
Russian journalist Alexander Kosvintsev has received political asylum in Ukraine after that his is the target of persecution from the authorities.

Possible Closure of Russian Union of Journalists HQ Delayed
The Russian Emergencies Ministry's main directorate for Moscow has withdrawn its request for a court to suspend work at the office of the Russian Union of Journalists for 90 days in connection with breaches of fire safety at the office's premises.

Top 5 Russia Blogs
Here, in no particular order, is my selection of the Top 5 Russia Blogs - the most influential, the most interesting and sometimes the most controversial Russia blogs out there.

Six New Russian Blogs
Several more interesting blogs on Russia. Views from Sweeds, Spaniards, and more.

The News That Doesn't Get Reported
Although there is virtually no media coverage on these high-profile killings, we are bombarded almost every day with information about an entirely different topic — the strengthening of Putin’s power vertical, the increase in law and order and the way Putin has returned stability to the country after a decade of lawlessness, corruption and chaos.

Russian TV overwhelmingly covers Putin's favorite
The report from the Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations said that First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev got fully half of the time devoted

Russia: Broadcast Blues
Russians like their television news. But it’s all good, all the time.

Arts and Sports
Oscar Nominations for Russian Language Films

Lost But Not Forgotten
As the international debate over stolen art continues, a new online catalogue documents Russia's cultural losses after World War II.

Russian cinema reviving its grand old traditions with three Oscar nominations
The Russians are coming to Hollywood this year, with more Oscar nominations than at any time in this cinema-obsessed nation's history.

Not Chosen for Oscar
The comments of Russia’s Channel 1 that covered the ceremony were philosophical – our films are much more significant the absence of any awards notwithstanding and the Academy makes mistakes sometimes.

The Andrei Sakharov Musuem Facing Closure
Named for the rights activist and famous for controversial art, the museum faces a lack of funds and donors.

Kremlin rocks to Deep Purple
Gazprom chairman Medvedev, who is also the Kremlin's candidate in Russia's presidential election next month, has told interviewers Deep Purple is his favorite band.

Writer Vasily Aksenov in Critical Condition
He was diagnosed with heart arrhythmia last year. His last book, Rare Earth Elements, was publish last year.

Gazprom Funds, Forms Russian Rival to National Hockey League
Gazprom, Russia’s natural-gas exporter, will help fund and form an international hockey league to rival North America’s National Hockey League.

Searching for the Soviet Sherlock
Though Igor Maslennikov's masterful TV movie versions of the Sherlock Holmes-Dr. Watson tales can be tracked down on VHS, they cry out for a Collector's Edition DVD box set.

Bolshoi Theater confirms Artistic Director Ratmansky will quit in 2009
He will remain the main guest choreographer of the Bolshoi Theater.

Charlie Wilson's War Will Not Come to Russia
The Hollywood film Charlie Wilson's War, which has been nominated for four Academy Awards, will not be shown in Russia.