Economist.com Cities Guide: Moscow Briefing - July 2006

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The other summit

Prior to this year’s G8 summit, held in St Petersburg on July 15th-17th, opposition activists and politicians attended a rival event in Moscow. The “A Different Russia” conference, on July 11th and 12th, was the brainchild of Gary Kasparov, a chess player turned politician, and Andrei Illarionov, a presidential economic adviser turned fierce critic of the Kremlin. They called on leaders of the other G8 nations to note democracy’s retreat in Russia.

The events’ attendees were an eclectic mix. All shared an opposition to the Kremlin and a desire for more freedom in the increasingly state-controlled media, but had little else in common. Doyennes of the human-rights community mingled with admirers of Joseph Stalin in the hot, overcrowded venue. Some criticised this heterogeneity, and two liberal parties, Yabloko and Union of Right Forces, did not attend, claiming they had no wish to be linked with some of the other groups at the conference. But representatives of the British and American governments were on hand, despite the Kremlin’s insistence that their attendance was an “unfriendly act”. Many Russian activists, especially those from the outer regions, reported that state security services pressured them not to travel to Moscow, and at least one opposition member of parliament was mysteriously beaten on his way to the event’s closing day.

Pay up

Moscow finally reached the top of an international ranking in late June, when Mercer Human Resources Consulting named it the world’s most expensive city. Mercer’s survey compared the cost of living for expatriates in 144 cities by assessing the price of housing, food, entertainment and some 200 goods and services. This year Moscow moved from fourth place to replace Tokyo; Seoul was a surprise second, with Tokyo third and Hong Kong fourth. Moscow’s ascent was due mostly to the capital’s soaring property prices. Mercer calculated that a luxury two-bedroom apartment in the city centre costs $3,100 a month, compared with $2,390 in Paris, while the average monthly wage in Moscow is $500. Business hotel rates are also higher in Moscow than anywhere else in the world.

However, Moscow’s long-term expatriates—rather than temporary business visitors—point out that the survey is not without its flaws. Many commodities and services in Moscow can be found for much less than is charged in the top hotels and fancy delicatessens. And residents can save by travelling on Moscow’s efficient, cheap metro system, a practice considered so unlikely by Mercer’s team that they did not even include it as a variable in the city’s rating.

Too darn hot

Like much of Europe, Moscow sweltered in a heat wave in July. After suffering through an unusually cold winter, residents are now roasting in temperatures that often top 33ºC (91°F). The oppressive warmth and humidity have been regularly broken by violent thunderstorms, making many of the city’s streets, with their inadequate gutters, completely impassable for those unwilling to wade through knee-deep waters.

When the sun is shining, Muscovites flock to the city’s various bathing spots, happily ignoring the murky water and detritus that often litters the banks of rivers and lakes. A fondness for open-air swimming is often mixed with a love of shashlik, or grilled meat, and tragically heavy drinking. City authorities reported that a total of 17 people drowned in Moscow's rivers and ponds in the first weekend of the heat wave in late June.

A convenient blight

In Moscow street kiosks are beloved. Unlike the ubiquitous produkti, which sell only food and groceries, kiosks cluster cheerfully on most street corners and offer a range of useful wares (like toilet paper) otherwise found only in supermarkets. However, Moscow authorities have decided that the capital’s image would be improved if all kiosks were abolished except those selling flowers, ice cream and newspapers. On July 4th Iosif Ordzhonikidze, the deputy mayor, said it was imperative to set a deadline for getting rid of the kiosks that “deface the capital”. A plan is already in place to remove the kiosks over the next three years, but deputies have demanded that the deadline be brought forward.

He's a maniac

The case of the “Bitsevsky Maniac”, a murderer who finds his victims in Moscow’s Bitsevsky Park, continues to stymie investigators. On June 15th police arrested Alexander Pichuzhkin for allegedly killing two women near the park. For a few weeks it seemed that the case had been solved: Mr Pichuzhkin confessed to killing more than 60 people since 1992, and in mid-July a police video of Mr Pichuzhkin’s confession was even broadcast on Russia’s NTV channel.
But it soon emerged that police had found two more bodies in the park after Mr Pichuzhkin’s arrest, indicating that he may not be the real Bitsevsky Maniac. If his confession were true, and not just an attention-getting stunt, he would surpass the Rostov Ripper, who killed 53 people between 1978 and 1990, as the most prolific murderer in recent Russian history.

Catch if you can

July 2006

“Proryv”

Open run

The latest in a crop of films about the Russian army, “Proryv” (“Breakthrough”) depicts the bloody events surrounding the death of 85 Russian paratroopers as they defended a hilltop at the start of the second Chechen war in 2000. The Kremlin-funded film offers a series of familiar stereotypes—young, lusty, heroic Russian soldiers pitted against drug-fuelled, extremist separatist fighters. And while many military experts suggest that the defeat was a result of poor planning and limited equipment, its recasting in the film as a tale of bravery and sacrifice says much about Russia’s self-perception.

“Proryv” is playing at the Pyat Zvyozd-Paveletskaya cinema, 25 Ulitsa Bakhrushina, metro Paveletskaya. Also at other cinemas in Moscow.

More from the Moscow cultural calendar