News From the Soviet Union
Moscow, the Russian capital remains one of the most expensive cities in the word to live.
According to the latest cost of living survey done by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, Moscow is the most expensive city in Europe in 2001 and 2002, and the second costliest city in the world next to Tokyo, Japan. Osaka is in third place, followed by Hong Kong and Beijing.
In Europe, Moscow, Geneva and London are the costliest
cities. Zurich, St. Petersburg and Oslo are the next most expensive cities in
Europe. In global ranking, Geneva moved up from position 6 to 28th
place last year. And Zurich has risen to position 9 from 32nd place.
New York is the world’s 10th costliest city, with Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami in 22nd, 25th and 27th places respectively. According to analysts, the unexpected rise of Geneva and Zurich is due to the strengthening of the Euro against the Dollar. In addition, the situation was affected by high inflation rates and a global economic downturn.
The survey is based on the comparison of 200 products and services in 144 cities across the globe.
The cheapest areas to live are New Zealand and Australia. Sydney is the only Australian city among the world’s 100 most expensive cities, at position 67. The information is used by the governments and major companies in order to protect the purchasing power of their employees when transferred abroad.
By DAVE SILVER
The former leading symbol of the "poor Soviet Jews", Natan Sharansky, now an Israeli Deputy Prime Minister, who bemoans the ineffectiveness of the so-called Mideast Peace Process. He did that in a May 14th article in the organ of the ruling class, "The Wall Street Journal". He invokes the names of his mentors, Andrei Sakharov and Yuri Orlov, who along with several other Soviet dissidents founded the Helsinki Group in 1976, who were concerned with the basic rights that they called on those civil libertarians like, President Ronald Reagan and the Senator Boeing Scoop Jackson to "reform" that Soviet evil empire.
From the stacked decks of the Madrid Agreement to Oslo One, Camp David photo-ops and Oslo Two, Israel and its mentor US Imperialism saw to it that Tel Aviv regime would retain ultimate military victory over the West Bank and Gaza, would allow the clerical fascist settlers to increase, would not allow the Palestinians in the Diaspora to return to their land, and would have complete control over the water resources and the movement of non-Jews in and out of the Green line, let alone allow a truly sovereign Palestinian State to exist alongside of Israel.
Sharansky and his allies have opted for racist ideology of Zionism and became the precursor for the counter revolutionary "new thinking" which with the enormous aid of Western, primarily US Imperialism since 1917 led to the demise of the Soviet Union and the other People’s democracies. It is therefore not surprising that these pimps for the bourgeoisie would be very silent concerning Israel’s crime and human rights violations from the Sharon direct murders in Sabra and Shatila to rockets and tanks killing Palestinian youth, to aerial bombardment of civilian targets nears Ramallah and other sites, to the Israel CIA the Mossad training of death squads in Latin America and the overthrow of Allende for that war criminal Kissinger, to the serial kicker Baruch Golstein at the Mosque or the military and economic ally of Apartheid South Africa.
The racism and the pro-imperialist stance of the Sharansky clique is fueled by virulent anti-communism.
From The Russian Journal – June 19,2003- Associate Press
A former Russia defense minister accused the United States of trying to dominate Russia and said that former and current Kremlin leaders and military heads had permitted the country to be forced into submission.
"Russia now is an occupied country," retired General Igor Rodionov told an audience of World War II veterans who gathered for a conference on the threat to Russia’s security, marking the Anniversary of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941.
"Our geopolitical enemy has achieved what Hitler wanted to do and could not", Rodionov said in an emotional speech. " Neither our nuclear forces or tank armadas nor the KGB could save us."
Communist lawmaker Viktor Illyukhin issued a similar dark warning of US hostile intentions: "Russia may suffer another tragedy. American pressure is now focused on Russia!" The Russian media have recently spread similar fears of US intrigues against Russia to a much broader audience.
There are predictions by experts in military matters that the US will invade Russia after its aging Soviet-era nuclear missiles are taken of duty before or after 2010.
Despite the opinion polls that the government is sponsoring, to say that the feelings of Russians are pro-USA, the anti-American feeling is gaining momentum, especially after the US attack on Afghanistan and Iraq.
In Moscow and Yaroslav – Ukraine – slogans such as "Putin, you received a free education, what about us?" "We need stipends!" Youth are seen from the Communist Union of Youth.
By SERGEI SKVOTSOV
In the Russian Duma there took place a vote on the question of Censure of the Prime Minister of Russia, Kasionov. In the Duma where the present government has a majority, the representatives of the CPRF and Yabloko parties wanted the vote to be against the regime of Putin as a whole not just of his Prime Minister…. since responsibility for the rule of Russia falls on the shoulders of President Putin, not only on his Prime Minister.
The economic growth has fallen off sharply and over 32 million people are in dire straights of eking out a miserable living. Where is this great growth the Putin government says is going on daily?
As was expected, the vote of condemnation of the government did not get the necessary votes. Even though the vote included the left deputies, this vote also included some deputies from the Putin government side also. So, if the vote was much higher against, them the government would have had to resign. Unfortunately there were even some left deputies who either did not vote or voted for.
It seems that the days of "stabilization" of the Putin regime is coming to an end. Two years ago the censure motion had one quarter less votes then now. The new Duma will not be so calm and browbeaten as it was before. Kremlin is in for a long struggle ahead.
From newspaper in Moscow
Voice of a Communist
Russia is in first place of the world in the growth of billionaires. If only last year (2002) Russia had only 7 billionaires, today there are 17 billionaires.
The first amongst them is (and in 26th place in the world of billionaires) is Mikhail Khodokovsky who inside of one year reached $8. billion dollars.
Following him is Roman Abramovich, the Governor of Chukotka, whose position did not prevent him from accumulating $5.7 billion dollars.
There is Mikhail Friedman and Victor Velselberg who reached $4.3 and $2.5 billions of dollars.
These are followed by Vladimir Potanin at $1.8 billions, Mikhail Prohonov at $$1.6 billions, Vladimir Evtushenkov at $$1.3 billions, Alexei Mordashov at $1.2 billions, Leonid Nevzlin at $1.1 billions, Eugene Shwildrer at $1.1 billions, Vladimir Bogdanov at $1 billion…altogether 17 billionaires from the robbery of Soviet industry and exploitation of the working class. They are tied in with the imperialist designs of US globalization.
They Shall Not Be Forgiven!
Agence France Presse
reported, citing local media, that the authorities warned residents in mid-May
in the southern Ukrainian town of Zaporozhe to avoid getting too close to the
town’s statue of Lenin, after the town’s statue in the main square, is
releasing four time the normal level of radiation. Officials there have so far
been unable to determine why Lenin is giving out such levels of radiation.
COMMENT:
Since the statue of Lenin is a powerful magnet for laying of flowers, paying homage and love, the Ukrainian nationalist authorities had to come up with something else, since the population would not allow the Lenin statue to be demolished. It’s interesting that this statue was erected in the late 1930’s and never gave out "radiation" until now. It seems that Lenin senses that today’s Ukraine is not what it was before.
By GALINA SAVCHENKO
Last November 7, 2002 more than 350 cities and towns celebrated the 85th Anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution with red flags, meetings, concerts and marches. The mass media of Ukraine did not mention this date or events by even one word. They devoted their TV and press time by showing the Jubilee of a Boublik – a thick ring-shaped roll of bread!
On May 9th the Day of Victory and the 58th Anniversary of the defeat of German fascism – which is still on the books as a state holiday – the main square in Kiev was absolutely bare of any decorations or celebrations.
That war for our people was the cruelest, most devastating and a horrendous tragedy in the life of our Motherland. This was a great schooling for the Soviet people. We won that struggle and not only saved out Motherland, but the whole world from fascism.
Today, President Kuchma and his ants are starting a war
against our past history, with Lenin and Stalin, with the aim to completely
degenerate the whole glorious history of the Soviet Union. The tragedy is that
the policy of Kuchma and his cronies is to make certain that all Slavic people
forget their history, customs and language, and be Westernized.
These political outcasts, with absolutely no shame or culture, are selling off the great Soviet nation of Plekhanov, Lenin and Stalin, Belinsky, Glinka, Chernoshevsky, Pushkin, Gorky, Chekhov, Sechenov and Kutuzov to Imperialist United States of America.
You will not succeed, you traitors! We are going to defend our sacred land from all enemies!
Dear readers:
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| Natalia Vitrenko, head of the Progressive Socialist Party |
We had many requests to report on some of the many communist and socialist movements that do exist in Ukraine now. We shall also try to report on each former Soviet Republic and its left parties and movements, in order to give a clear picture of the struggles that are being waged on all fronts.
The unfortunate weak point is that so far there are no real unified actions that will eventually lead to a unified Communist Party in each of the ex republics, as a forerunner to the one Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Below is not a complete list of left-wing parties in Ukraine:
Communist Party of Ukraine, All Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, The Socialist Party of Ukraine, Union of Communists-Bolsheviks, Union of Communist Parties-CPSU and the Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine.
The Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine is headed by Natalia Vitrenko who was a member of the Ukrainian Parliament and her party is active in all regions of Ukraine.
This party was very involved in demonstrations against US and the war against Iraq by US imperialism. There was a delegation to Iraq, headed by Natalia Vitrenko before the invasion. This party is active in organizing women, youth and other peoples organizations. The PSPU is involved in fighting against the present Kuchma regime.
In future issues we try to shall publish a condensed version of each party’s platform. Here we publish some photographs that show some of the actions of the Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine, published in their newspaper "Dosvitni Ogni".
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Vitrenko in Baghdad |
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Demonstration by the PSPU |
Click here to return to the July 2003 index.
