Russian government officials are asking retailers to give special support to Crimean wine producers in an attempt to help that sector of the peninsula’s economy. On Wednesday representatives of the biggest retail groups working in Russia and major Crimean wine producers had a meeting with Moscow region Governor Andrei Vorobyov, also attended by officials from Moscow and St. Petersburg. The retailers were asked to help the Crimean wine industry by providing special shelves for their wines and organizing wine-tasting sessions in stores. «We are not asking for special treatment, but we would like the retailers to pay attention to the complicated situation we are in,» said Mikhail Shtyrlin, general director of Crimean wine company Legendy Kruma, who attended the meeting with Vorobyov. Last year Russia consumed 25 million bottles of the peninsula’s wine. Shtyrlin also said that Crimean vintners are trying to solve their problems together and are planning to create a Union of Crimean wine producers. This may help the industry in the long term, he added. The X5 retail group, owner of chain stores Pyatyorochka and Perekryostok, said Thursday that the company has not decided yet whether to give special treatment to Crimean wine products. Retail chain Dixy said the firm is open to negotiations with Crimean wine makers and added that the government officials’ requests seem doable. Metro Cash and Carry also said it is ready to discuss giving special attention for Crimean wine.

      Billionaire Deripaska Rescues 10 Stray Dogs From Sochi to U.S.

      THE MOSCOW TIMES

      A charity founded by Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska has brought 10 stray dogs to the U.S. after they were rescued from the streets of Sochi. The six female and four male pooches landed in Washington, D.C., and posed for photographers before being taken to the Washington Animal Rescue League to await their new homes. The charity’s animal shelter in Sochi, PovoDog has been rescuing stray dogs in the city where hundreds of animals have reportedly been killed as the local authorities tried to clear the streets ahead of the Winter Olympics. PovoDog said it has so far rescued more than 200 dogs from Sochi and has found new homes for 50 of them. Many athletes decided to take home some of the animals. U.S. silver medal winner in slopestyle skiing, Gus Kenworthy, adopted three dogs – Mama and pups Mishka and Jake – from Russia. Hockey player Kelli Stack, whose team won the silver, has adopted a dog from a Sochi shelter and named her Shayba. Deripaska, an aluminum magnate and one of the richest men in Russia, has said that he opened up the PovoDog shelter after being reminded of his first pet. «My first dog I found in the street of my village, the tiny village [where I grew up],» Deripaska told the BBC last month. «It was a very close friend for almost five years.»

      Soyuz Successfully Docks at ISS

      THE MOSCOW TIMES

      The Russian Soyuz spacecraft has successfully docked with the International Space Station, or ISS. The three-man Expedition 39 reached the orbital outpost at 3:53 a.m., the Federal Space Agency reported, marking the beginning of a six-month stay in orbit. After running a series of routine checks to ensure that the connection between the spacecraft and the space station was airtight and without leaks, the crew opened the hatch and joined cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin and astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Koichi Wakata, who have been staying at the station since November 2013. The Expedition 39 crew, comprised of cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev and astronaut Steven Swanson, was originally scheduled to dock with the space station on Wednesday morning, the Soyuz navigation computer prevented the vessel from executing a critical burn that would have kicked it up to the 370 kilometer orbit of ISS. A minor problem in the ship’s orientation has been identified as the cause of the problem. In early March Wakata became the first ever Japanese commander of the football-field sized orbiting laboratory, which has been permanently staffed by crews representing 16 nations since the arrival of Expedition 1 in November 2000.

      Russia to set up trading house for products made in jail

      THE MOSCOW TIMES

      Russia’s prison service said Friday that it is creating a trading house to sell wares made by inmates.

      The Federal Penitentiary Service said in a statement that setting up the marketplace to place orders and sell goods will create a link between government agencies and product manufacturers.

      Officials did not disclose in what way revenue from the sale of the products is to be used.

      Sberbank, the country’s largest bank, will provide credit to finance the venture, the penitentiary service said.

      Oleg Korshunov, who heads the prison service’s economic and financial department, says penitentiary inmates produce over 100,000 kinds of goods, ranging from uniforms and shoes to kitchenware and furniture.

      Jail labor is used by governments around the world to profit from the manpower of incarcerated criminals, although the practice has ignited controversy in light of allegations that prisoners are forced to work unreasonably long hours for pitiful wages.

      Inmates being forced to work 17-hour days sewing police uniforms for about 30 rubles ($1) a month.

      The International Center for Prison Studies estimated that there were about 681,000 prisoners in Russian jails in 2013.

      Over 130 Moscow cops fired for drunk driving

      THE MOSCOW TIMES

      Over 130 police officers in Moscow were nabbed while driving drunk last year, officials say.

      In 2013, 131 employees of the Interior Ministry were found to be intoxicated while driving, Moscow’s Interior Ministry chief Anatoly Yakunin was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying on Wednesday.

      All of them have been fired and their immediate supervisors have been disciplined, Yakunin said.

      The measures were part of a stringent new policy against violations within the police, introduced by Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev after he was appointed to his post in spring 2012, the report said.

      Fur coats worth $530,000 stolen from Moscow store

      THE MOSCOW TIMES

      Moscow police said on Thursday that they are looking for somebody who stole fur coats worth a total of 19 million rubles ($530,000) from a clothing store. Police say the perpetrator entered the store’s showroom on Wednesday night by removing a window on the first floor.

      The store is located in a prestigious part of downtown Moscow, at 16 Ulitsa Bolshaya Dmitrovka, according to the police statement.

      That robbery follows on the heels of another major haul from a central Moscow apartment over the weekend, when thieves made away with $500,000 worth of luxury items, including a chinchilla fur coat, jewelry and a Rolex watch.

      Sobyanin opens new metro line in Moscow’s south

      THE MOSCOW TIMES

      Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin officially opened the Butovskaya line of the subway system in the capital’s south on Thursday, connecting the Kaluzhsko-Rizhkskaya line (orange line) with the Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya line (gray line).

      The new sky blue line will give 270,000 residents from Severnoe and Yuzhnoe Butovo more convenient access to Moscow’s rapid transit system.

      Sobyanin said a large transportation hub would be constructed near the Lesoparkovaya station so that people from the area could park their cars and use the metro.

      Construction

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