Kommersant
Yak and Tu airliners to be grounded for life
Recent air crashes by Russian airliners have led the authorities to plan a drastic reduction in the transportation market. The campaign to cut the number of airlines is already under way: at the next meeting of the Federal Agency for Air Transport commission, small carriers will lose charter flight rights and will be ousted from regional routes with subsidies granted to larger companies. Passenger traffic will fall by 40%, and only Aeroflot, Transaero, UTair and Siberia will be left.
On Sunday, President Dmitry Medvedev approved measures “to discontinue the operation of air carriers incapable of ensuring flight safety.” The idea is to cut the number of airlines to five or seven. The government is to draft relevant proposals by November 20.
But, as Kommersant has learned, the authorities have already launched the measures to make the cuts. A high-ranking official in the industry told the paper that the government is drafting subsidies for air carriage from Russian cities with populations in excess of one million. But talks are being held only with the major airlines.
Sergei Gavrilov, deputy chairman of the State Duma’s transport committee, says that “air fares will be subsidized along the same lines as flights to the Far East and Siberia.” Last year, the government allocated 2.5 billion rubles to subsidize 50% of air tickets sold to students, teachers and retirees on these flights.
Until recently, small carriers operating three to five aircraft have performed the bulk of regional flights as their operation is unprofitable for large carriers.
Now it is planned to close not only the regional but also the charter market for small carriers. The Transport Ministry has already recommended issuing winter charter access rights only to large airlines. A Kommersant source said that air carriers that have the largest number of outdated Soviet aircraft, such as the Yak-40, Yak-42, Tu-134, Tu-154B, An-24 and An-26, will not be granted the rights. “Of course, we should look after our own companies, but if they are unable ‘to hype themselves up,’ then we must purchase aircraft abroad,” said Dmitry Medvedev on September 8, 2011.
Another obstacle to clear is a decision to equip all aircraft with collision warning systems. According to the Transport Ministry, installing these systems on old planes is irrational. So about 200 of such aircraft will be taken out of service. That is almost one-third of all passenger jets currently operating in Russia.
New federal aviation rules will also enter into effect on January 1. They stipulate that only airlines with five aircraft will be allowed to make flights on three routes and airlines with more than ten planes of the same type on more than three routes.
“The departure of [small] airlines from the market may do serious damage to the aviation industry,” believes Alexei Sinitsky, editor-in-chief of the Aviatransportnoye Obozrenie (Air Transport Review) magazine. “These measures have nothing to do with flight safety.”
Izvestia
Actor Ivan Okhlobystin proclaims ‘new empire’
Thirty thousand Russians paid between 200 and 2,500 rubles to listen to Doctrine 77 presented at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow by Ivan Okhlobystin, an actor and former Orthodox priest.
Okhlobystin spoke more than the planned 77 minutes to the public, which was probably attracted to the show by his bid to run for president in 2012. He has been compared to Hitler (who else could speak about a future empire for two hours?), although he described himself as a buffoon. But most agree that he is off his rocker.
Dressed in a white overcoat and standing atop a white pyramid, the actor spoke about war, saying that Russians are genetically programmed to make perfect fighters, and about love and sacrifice as the foundations of a new empire. He said Russians should get together only in church to pray and on the battlefield to fight.
“We are still the only power preventing a clash between the West and the East,” rain-drenched Okhlobystin said as he set out the mission of a new Russian Empire. In his view, Russians can be either heroes or saints, but never anything in between.
He read his address from a written text, crumpling the pages after he was through and throwing them into the crowd, with the exception of those pages that contained the names of Orthodox saints. Few people, be they priests or secular speakers, dare tell a large group of people: “Salvation lies only in the Orthodox Church. There can be no cowardly excuses of the illusory alternatives of personal choice.” He also said that Russians “as a nation will be erased from the face of the earth, which is normal. This fits the plan. The saints warned us about it. Our task is to win and disappear.”
Okhlobystin plans to start winning with the 2012 presidential elections. “I know that many think this is crazy, and they are right,” he said at Luzhniki.
He did not encourage the audience to support him – a potential candidate must collect two million signatures to be able to run for the post. But it is a feat in itself to gather thousands of people, most of them young, and tell them about a fairytale empire where women will raise children while men will fight. “Parents will tell tales about us and our time to their children born in the empire,” he said.
After listening to the new oracle, the future heroes went home, lining up at the entrance to the subway without causing a stampede, most of them silently, which may be the biggest achievement of Ivan Okhlobystin’s show.
Novaya Gazeta
Small town protesters appeal to Danish queen as last resort
Local activists picketed Rockwool Plant near Moscow in the hope of meeting Queen of Denmark Margrethe II and complaining about violations of human rights. The royal convoy drove past without stopping.
Queen Margrethe II planned to visit Denmark’s Rockwool insulation plant in Zheleznodorozhny, seven miles southeast of Moscow, during her four-day official visit to Russia, in addition to overseeing important business deals and enjoying the sights.
Two hours before her expected arrival, local residents gathered outside the plant determined to give the queen a letter to draw attention to their town’s problems such as corruption, pollution and violation of human rights. It seems that desperation has driven the people to seek the protection of a foreign head of state against abuses by the local authorities.
“This town is plagued by human rights abuse, nepotism and corruption,” said local activist Georgy Udaltsov. “Mayor Yevgeny Zhirkov has nothing to show after eight years in office except a demolished maternity hospital and a desperate shortage of preschool facilities, while local businesses are controlled by his family and friends. Those who protest get silenced, either by verbal threats or physical attacks. I was beaten three times. All our complaints to government institutions, the police and the courts end up in the town hall and vanish there.”
Many activists were intimidated by threats before the queen’s arrival and backed out of protesting.
Several dozen people still gathered to meet the queen carrying posters “We are being murdered” and “Save us, Queen!” The police immediately seized the posters but did not detain anyone. Instead, a woman came up to the picket telling them she worked at the Danish Embassy and asked to give her the letter stating their grievances.
The protesters only agreed to hand over a copy, which was the right thing to do: the organizers were later told at the embassy that the woman was not one of their employees.
The rally participants became enthusiastic as the queen’s convoy appeared. However, their enthusiasm was short-lived: Margrethe II drove right past them. All they accomplished was to meet with a Danish reporter accompanying the queen, who agreed to bring their appeal to her attention.
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