Tag Archives: Moscow

Moscow’s new mayor makes vague promises about…well, we’re not sure

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Moscow’s mayor-to-be (we’d say mayor-elect, but then again, he’s not being elected) Sergey Semyonovich Sobyanin has promised to take on those nagging problems of corruption and traffic in the lead up to his confirmation hearing in front of the Moscow City Duma this Thursday. Of course, a coronation confirmation it will be as even the two Communist deputies planning to vote against Sobyanin’s confirmation have said they feel Sobyanin is disposed for a ‘constructive dialog’ with them and that their vote is against the political system in the country, not against him personally. The other thirty-two members of the City Duma are United Russia members (Sobyanin is a member of the party’s upper council) with a third KPRF member currently in the hospital, according to the Gazeta.ru story. The vote, therefore, will be nothing but a rubber stamp on the decision, announced Friday to appoint Sobyanin as the next mayor of Moscow. Continue reading →

The end of an era on the Moscow River?

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Where might Peter be going?

Official Prediction Checklist re. Firing of Yuri Luzhkov

Replacement will be someone amenable to the Kremlin: are we even wasting a prediction on this?

Nothing will change in the way Moscow is run: who really knows at this point

They will get rid of the Peter the Great statue in the Moscow River: Finally, a prediction Biznesslanch can get behind.

Yes, that’s right. The speculation in Moscow is that the monstrosity marring the iconically  gorgeous Moscow skyline could be dismantled and moved elsewhere, according to Russian media reports. No matter what else happens in Moscow with a new mayor, there will be at least be one positive step towards improving the capital should this happen. The statue, to understate the case, is ugly. In fact, in the interest of full disclosure, I will admit that the very visceral reaction the monument provoked in me cannot be tastefully recounted on these pages. It is, in summary, my least favorite piece of public art in the world. Continue reading →