Khodorkovsky guilty

The Yukos two, Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev have been found guilty of theft and money laundering.

"The court has established that Khodorkovsky and Lebedev have appropriated property using their staff positions," Judge Danilkin told the courtroom.

Only a handful of reporters were allowed into the courtroom for the verdict and Danilkin then requested even those few to leave and called off the live broadcast while the rest of the verdict was read out.

The sentences for the two men are not yet known, but both could face up to 7 more years in jail for this set of charges. They have already spent 7 years behind bars for tax evasion, their sentences were due to expire next year.

The court dropped some of the charges as the statute of limitations had expired, but did not embellish any further.

They have been convicted for embezzling 218 tons of oil from Yukos and laundering over 3 billion rubles ($97.5 million) in revenues.

Both Khodorkovsky and Lebedev have maintained their innocence throughout. They claim the trials have been part of a political vendetta against them, something the Kremlin denies.

The case has enjoyed a great deal of media attention and Khodorkovsky has been unrelenting in his criticism of the government and its alleged involvement. He said that a state that destroys its best companies and trusts only the bureaucracy and the special services is a sick state, the BBC reported.

Putin said earlier this month in his annual TV Q&A with the public that “a thief belongs in prison,” which Khodorkovsky’s lead lawyer Vadim Klyuvgant said “removed all doubt about who puts pressure on the court,” adding that his comments would be used in an appeal, should Khodorkovsky be found guilty, Bloomberg reported.

The case has attracted onlookers both at home and abroad, “This trial is considered a test of the rule of law in Russia,” Ulrich Brandenburg, German Ambassador to Russia.

And the prison walls could be closing in around the fallen tycoons, as prosecutors could press a third set of charges against the ex-Yukos executives in the near future, defence lawyers say.

Jobs in Moscow

Becoming Ded Moroz – Russia’s incarnation of Father Christmas – is almost a rite of passage for many aspiring actors, but also a fun way of earning enough for some celebratory champagne.

Anatoly Kiselyov, a professional actor and graduate of the Moscow Arts Theatre has been bringing holiday magic to kids since 1975.

“It is not only good financial help for me, but my cup of tea,” he said.

Working at corporate parties is more profitable but I really love going to see kids. When you come to a kid of 2-5 years old you bring a real fairy tale to a kid – older kids are often sceptical about a man who is in it to make money.”

Starting from December 25 prices for Ded Moroz visit – translated literally as Grandfather Frost – rise steeply from 2,000 roubles to 10,000 roubles on New Year’s Eve.

“The busiest time for us is December 31, but the first week of January we are also busy at yolki (New Year’s parties for kids) and home orders,” said Yana, a call-center operator at Stolichnaya Sluzhba Deda Moroza.

The average salary for Ded Moroz is 26,900 roubles ($900), according to joblist.ru, while his granddaughter Snegurochka (or Snow Maiden) earns 7 per cent less. While the differences raises unseasonable debates about gender inequality, employers say that a potential Father Christmas has to look the part.

“For students of theatre schools, working as Ded Moroz is an inevitable step in their career,” said Alexander Popov of Mediana, a recruitment agency for actors. “But if a guy is not tall and has a very young voice we don’t send him as Ded Moroz as more mature actors will be more suitable for this.” He added that they can give actors 10 to 15 orders a day, but the company take a 30 per cent cut of the fees.

Becoming Ded Moroz – Russia’s incarnation of Father Christmas – is almost a rite of passage for many aspiring actors, but also a fun way of earning enough for some celebratory champagne.

Anatoly Kiselyov, a professional actor and graduate of the Moscow Arts Theatre has been bringing holiday magic to kids since 1975.

“It is not only good financial help for me, but my cup of tea,” he told The Moscow News. “Working at corporate parties is more profitable but I really love going to see kids. When you come to a kid of 2-5 years old you bring a real fairy tale to a kid – older kids are often sceptical about a man who is in it to make money.”

Starting from December 25 prices for Ded Moroz visit – translated literally as Grandfather Frost – rise steeply from 2,000 roubles to 10,000 roubles on New Year’s Eve.

“The busiest time for us is December 31, but the first week of January we are also busy at yolki (New Year’s parties for kids) and home orders,” said Yana, a call-center operator at Stolichnaya Sluzhba Deda Moroza.

The average salary for Ded Moroz is 26,900 roubles ($900), according to joblist.ru, while his granddaughter Snegurochka (or Snow Maiden) earns 7 per cent less. While the differences raises unseasonable debates about gender inequality, employers say that a potential Father Christmas has to look the part.

“For students of theatre schools, working as Ded Moroz is an inevitable step in their career,” said Alexander Popov of Mediana, a recruitment agency for actors. “But if a guy is not tall and has a very young voice we don’t send him as Ded Moroz as more mature actors will be more suitable for this.” He added that they can give actors 10 to 15 orders a day, but the company take a 30 per cent cut of the fees.

The end of the crisis has see more festive fellows recruited for corporate parties.

“Compared to last year the number of vacancies has increased by 24 per cent, and by 41 per cent compared to the crisis of the 2008 New Year,” said Timur Iosebashvili, head of the joblist.ru recruitment portal.

One party can bring in 30,000 roubles for just three hours’ work, but require professional event organising and often special stunts.

In a departure from the tradition of squeezing down the chimney, professional climbers come in through windows. “We have professional climbers working as Ded Moroz – they charge 15,000 roubles for a half hour show,” said Yana of Stolichnaya Sluzhba Deda Moroza.

Even for the best behaved kids there have been reports of Ded Moroz failing to appear for New Year.

Some agencies ask for prepayment at the office online or at a pay terminal, and then don’t send an actor before disappearing in January.

“In the Father Frost business a contract should be signed properly to avoid argument and set some obligations for both sides,” said Oleg Frolov, a lawyer from the Consumers Rights Watchdog Organisation.

Employers say that actors playing Ded Moroz have been known to overdo the Christmas brandy, but those that get drunk are sacked.

Ded Moroz has seen a change of appearance in recent years from blue to red, making him look more like Father Christmas. And although Coca-Cola is credited with inventing the “red" Santa Claus image, it existed before its famous ad campaign.

Ukrainian Orphans Arrive In Alabama Hoping For Families, Better Life

BILLINGSLEY, USA -- The chil­dren run around in new paja­mas, learning the English words for butter, cheese and tea, writing on a dry-erase board and some playing "fut­bol."
They are Ukrainian or­phans, ages 6 to 15, and ener­gized on just an hour or two of sleep. But it's a new day in a new country with new hopes, dreams and wishes.

The 10 children -- four boys and six girls -- came to cen­tral Alabama from orphan­ages in the Kiev region of Ukraine. They arrived about 5 a.m. Friday and by 10 a.m. were already learning to say "hello," "dog" and, in 55-degree weather, "hot."

It has taken three years for the trip to become a reality for the Millbrook-based Bridges of Faith Internation­al. The organization, which has done mission work in Ukraine since 1995, spon­sored the trip for the 10 Ukrainian orphans at a total cost of $65,000 -- which paid for travel, legal costs and all documentation.

The money was collected door to door, and from church to church.

"Many of the kids have not seen a functioning family," said the Rev. Tom Benz with Bridges of Faith. "We want them to become Christians, yes, but we need them to find families.

"We are not an adoption agency," Benz stressed. "Our task is to bring kids here and let families meet them. If families are interested, an adoption facilitator takes over the business side."

The children will stay at BridgeStone Prayer and Re­treat Center, a ministry of Bridges of Faith Internation­al, until they fly back to the Ukraine on Jan. 16.

Families interested in meeting the children -- families from Kentucky, Alabama and Cali­fornia have been in contact with Benz -- will have that opportunity.

There is Sasha Bidyak, 12, who, through translator Val­ery Dashevky, said he very much wants to have a mother and father.

"All the children, they do," Bidyak said. "And I do not."

Bidyak has lived in an or­phanage since he was 8 years old, after both his parents died from being "hard drink­ers. Especially my mom, she was a harder drinker."

In Bidyak's room at the Centerpoint building -- the 12-bedroom, four-bath re­treat center (funded solely through Centerpoint Church in Prattville) -- hang his life's belongings: a jacket, hat, backpack and one change of clothes.

Most of the children ar­rived in the United States with only one bag -- whether it was a backpack or a plastic sack. Some didn't have a change of clothes. Toiletry items were donated to them and placed in their rooms.

Around the main living and dining area, packs of Goldfish crackers sit on a ta­ble. One pack is open and al­most full. A bowl holds four green apples. One apple is partially eaten and had been placed back in the bowl. Rai­sin bread sits on a plate.

"Often, kids in Ukrainian orphanages are abandoned," Benz said. "I see in the eyes of these children potential to be wonderful if just given the chance. Every time we are (in Ukraine), I can't cope with the ways their lives would turn out."

That includes the lives of Irina and Olga Przhepolska, ages 10 and 15.

They don't know where their father lives, and their Polish mother died a year ago from kidney problems. The girls don't discuss being adopted, Dashevky said, but even if the group of 10 doesn't talk about it, they know that is why they are in America.

"There's not the same in­terest in adoption in Ukraine," Benz said. "Here, there are people on a waiting list to adopt children. In East­ern Europe, kids are ready and available."

"Here, we give them a great camp experience, teach them English, share Christ and incubate adoption. These kids, especially at school age, the chance for adoption plummets. That's why we bring them here ... we call them the forgotten kids."

What Bridges of Faith wants to do, Benz said, is de­velop a broader sense of sup­port for bringing the orphans to Alabama. While it took three years to get the first group flown over, he wants to do this four to six times each year.

Still, he said one of the most heartbreaking things is when one is packing up and the others tell (Dashevky), "Will you find a family for me?"

"We hope that every single one emphatically experi­ences God and also finds a 'forever home' with a great family," Benz said.

Ukraine's Ex-Interior Minister Detained By Security Police

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's security police detained on Sunday former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko and took him to a pre-trial detention center, his spokeswoman said citing his lawyer.
Yuriy Lutsenko has been taken to a pre-trial detention center of Ukraine's security service," Inna Kisil said. She earlier said Lutsenko was held by around ten Ukraine's security police agents on Sunday.

Lutsenko is accused of embezzling government funds and abusing power. He also faces charges of overpaying his driver and awarding him ranks.

Earlier this week, the former Ukrainian first deputy justice minister in Yulia Tymoshenko's government, Yevgeny Korniychuk, was detained after being questioned over the case involving Ukraine's state gas monopoly Naftogaz.

Criminal cases have also been initiated against several other Tymoshenko government officials.

Tymoshenko herself has been summoned to the Prosecutor General's Office for questioning several times over the past few weeks. Last week, a criminal case was initiated against the opposition leader over abuse of power.

Tymoshenko is believed to have spent government money intended for ecological programs to pay pensions.

Ukraine's Tymoshenko Faces New Charges Over Misuse Of State Funds

KIEV, Ukraine -- New charges related to misuse of government funds may be brought against Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine's former prime minister and current opposition leader, Ukraine's Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka said on Friday.
Tymoshenko already faces trial on accusations of spending money intended for ecological projects to pay pensions.

Besides this, the opposition leader is also suspected in buying 1,000 ambulances at an excessive price, Pshonka told journalists in Kiev.

Tymoshenko has not yet been officially charged in the second case, he added.

Tymoshenko has long been at odds with the current president, Viktor Yanukovych, to whom she narrowly lost February's presidential elections.

Tymoshenko was prime minister under the previous presidency of Viktor Yushchenko, but moved to opposition after her government was dissolved in March following the elections.

Tymoshenko supporters accuse the Yanukovych government of pursuing "pro-Russian" policies and betraying Ukraine's own interests and claim that a "campaign" against their leader is aimed at wiping out opposition.

Restoring The Soviet Union: Putin's Customs Union

MOSCOW, Russia -- The bear is still in the woods and it is waking up from its 20 year hibernation, as a "new" free-trade zone agreement sets itself to restore the Soviet Union.
On December 16, 2010, Reuters reported on what could be described as the resurrection of the former Soviet Union, through the invitation of the Ukraine to join the post-Soviet free-trade zone, or Customs Union, between Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.

According to the report, "Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin encouraged Ukraine on Thursday to join Moscow-driven efforts to integrate the economies of the biggest post-Soviet republics into one trading bloc."

Since the election of Victor Yanukovich, as President of Ukraine, in February 2010, the Ukrainian government has increased its ties with Moscow, having signed the Kharkov Agreements, in April 2010, which extended the Russian Navy's lease to use the Sevastopol naval base until at least 2042.

President Yanukovich also mothballed Ukraine's prior proposal to join NATO, much to the relief and pleasure of Russia. These pro-Kremlin moves should come as no surprise to those aware of Yanukovich's political affiliations.

Although elected as an independent, Yanukovich received the support of Ukraine's Party of Regions, a pro-Russia party aligned with Russia's ruling United Russia Party and the Communist Party of China.

During his run for Prime Minister in 2006, Yanukovich has also received the support and nomination from the Party of Regions, Socialist Party, and the Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU), which remains supportive of him.

The CPU recently expressed its public support of President Yanukovich's desire to sign the Customs Union Treaty, stating that "Ukraine must return to the traditional neighbors and allies with whom we share not only a common history, and economics," according to the CPU website (in Russian).

In an attempt to discredit right-wing nationalistic opposition to the Customs Union, the CPU went on to liken it to the European Union, stating:

Take, for example, EU countries, which are already EU delegate its functions: to elect a general president, adopt a common constitution, etc. In this case, the Europeans are not afraid of losing their sovereignty. Therefore, the Communists believe that the Customs Union - a common approach on our way out of economic crisis.

The importance of the Ukraine was best summarized by Soviet General-Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev who, in August 1991, told a Ukrainian journalist: "there can be no Union without Ukraine."

This view has even been accepted by the Communist Party of Bolivia, which stated: "Of all of the Soviet republics, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, was without a doubt, the most important from all points of view."

When asked whether Ukraine and Russia should reunite, Putin replied: "In the last 15 years we have seen the first real steps towards integration and the creation of a new union between our three states: Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus."

This new Customs Union is characterized as one based on free trade and a common currency, much like the old Soviet Union, of which Putin has described its fall as constituting "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century."

In discussing the Customs Union, Putin reiterated his lament of the fall of the Soviet Union saying, "He who doesn't regret the collapse of the Soviet Union has no heart, but he who wants it restored in the original has no brains."

Putin's words are suggestive of resurrecting the Soviet Union not as it exactly was originally, but rather in the establishment of a new larger Soviet Union, built on economic integration and free trade.

The Customs Union agreement, between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, was first approved by the lower chamber of the Russian State Duma on September 24, 2010 and signed by the respected heads of state on December 9, 2010.

According to the 17-document agreement signed between the presidents of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, on December 9, the Customs Union is to go into effect on January 1, 2012.

"Free flow of goods, services and people and the absence of customs checks — all these will be provided by the union. All in all it's a new quality of living," said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev upon signing the agreement.

Although supported by both Ukrainian President Yanukovich and the CPU, it remains to be seen whether Ukraine will heed the advice of Putin and join the Customs Union.

Communist Vietnam has also expressed an interest to join the Customs Union, which fits in perfectly with Putin's vision of establishing a new Soviet Union that is unlike "the original." Such an integrated economic union would rival the European Union.

20 Trillion Roubles for Rearmament

In addition to the economic revival of the Soviet Union, last week also marked what may be seen as the end to Russia's weakened military. According to the Global Times, on December 6, 2010, Putin announced that Russia would be "allocating very serious, significant funds for the re-armament program. I am even scared to pronounce this figure: 20 trillion roubles."

As Putin addressed a crowd of top military brass and reporters, at the Sevmash naval shipyard, located in the northern town of Severodvinsk, by the White Sea, he declared the revitalization of the Russian military: "We need to finally move beyond the years during which the army and the navy were seriously under-financed."

The "honeymoon," if there ever was one, between the West and Russia, appears to have come to a close as Russia expands to economically integrate with Belarus, Kazakhstan, and now inviting Ukraine.

This, coupled with the announcement to drastically refund Russia's armed forces, seems to fit with the theory elaborated by important Soviet KGB defector Anatoliy Golitsyn in his book New Lies for Old, which asserts that the alleged fall of the Soviet Union was actually a deception to deceive the West. He also predicted that it would re-emerge.

The recent WikiLeaks release of State Department cables that reveal Russian active measures in Tajikistan, its support of Islamic Terrorism, involvement in the Russian and Israeli Mafias, as well as the recently uncovered espionage operation in London are all indicative of the fact that Russia remains at odds with the United States and the West.

The new Customs Union further validates the case that the Kremlin has long since been deceiving the West to believe that it is an ally when in fact its strategic actions suggest otherwise.

Ukraine Investigates Another Tymoshenko Minister

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's prosecutor-general has launched a criminal investigation into former Deputy Justice Minister Yevhen Korniychuk, accusing him of abuse of power while in office, Ukrainian Service reports.

Yuriy Boychenko, a spokesman for the Prosecutor-General's Office,informed that Korniychuk was detained, questioned, and sent to a pretrial detention center on December 22.

He declined to give any further details regarding the case.

Korniychuk's press secretary, Khrystyna Shandrenko, said that currently it was not possible contact Korniychuk.

Meanwhile, parliament deputy Vasyl Onopenko said he believed Korniychuk's arrest to be politically motivated.

Onopenko said that Korniychuk's case might be a part of what he called authorities' attack against current opposition leader and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and her party members.

Tymoshenko was charged earlier this week with abuse of power during the years she served as prime minister, 2007 to 2010.

Two former members of her government, former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko and former Economy Minister Bohdan Danylyshyn, are also under investigati