THE WEEK IN REVIEW

This weekend sees a fourday woodland retreat modeled on the pro- Kremlin summer camp at Lake Seliger. But the aims of Yevgeniya Chirikova and her supporting cast of eco-warriors, anti-corruption campaigners and political activists could not be more different.

She, along with blogger Alexei Navalny and controversial rock promoter Artemy Troitsky, are hoping to bring together like-minded groups and individuals concerned about the state of modern Russia for a four-day event in Khimki forest, site of an ongoing battle over the building of a controversial highway to St. Petersburg.

But representatives of Nashi, the pro-Putin group which helped establish Seliger, have claimed that the event shows the lack of imagination among Russia’s opposition.

Anti-Seliger runs from June 17-20.

Petrol protests circle

Kremlin Angry motorists were revving up in the streets outside the Kremlin to protest against rising fuel prices on Thursday afternoon.

A drive-by protest, horns blaring, was scheduled to start at 6 pm, with Sergei Kanayev’s Federation of Automobile Owners of Russia leading the charge.

Kanayev insisted there was no plan to block rush-hour traffic but police warned that the unauthorized rally could lead to accidents and pointed out that horns should only be sounded as a warning to other road users.

Throughout this year petrol prices have risen sharply. For the first week of June, the State Statistics Service recorded a pump price increase of 0.7 per cent.

Billions for Chechnya

Chechnya is hoping for a 500 billion ruble ($18 billion) windfall from the federal government – but questions remain over how the cash will be spent.

The subsidy would transform the republic’s war-torn image, but not everyone is convinced that ambitious plans to put Chechnya top of the quality of life charts will succeed.

At the Independent Institute for Social Policy’s regional program, Natalya Zubaryevich dismissed the idea as “a joke”, pointing out that it would consume 10 per cent of the budget for Russia’s regions.

Beer under threat

Moscow’s shops may be banned from selling beer at night if planned new laws get the go-ahead.

Echoing last year’s ban on off license vodka after dark, campaigners are now urging the state Duma to impose a similar prohibition on less potent tipples.

But deputies are not thought to be intoxicated by the proposal, which has attracted criticism despite passing its first reading in the lower chamber.

Good week for …

High-fliers

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum was the perfect platform for Aerofl ot to show off its latest acquisition.

Russia’s fl ag carrier wheeled out a Sukhoi SuperJet 100 to ferry a group of ministers to the highprofi le event.

Deputy PM Sergei Ivanov, Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina and Deputy Transport Minister Valery Okulov joined Aerofl ot and Sukhoi bosses for the short hop from Moscow to the northern capital, RIA Novosti reported.

Bad week for …

Lifting veggie bans

Despite President Dmitry Medvedev agreeing to lift a ban on European vegetables at the Nizhny Novgorod EU-Russia summit last week, Russia’s agriculture watchdog has slapped a targeted ban on fruit and veg from companies in 14 countries, including fi ve EU states, because of the E.coli epidemic.

“In particular this year deliveries are temporarily banned from 10 German enterprises, five Belgian, two Spanish, one Dutch and one Swedish,” RIA Novosti quoted the watchdog as saying in a statement.