Currently, a French meteorological office is located on that territory, but already next year the meteorologists will be forced to relocate to the outskirts of Paris. It isn’t due to their luxurious lifestyle that the French authorities have begun selling state properties. They need funds to cover the budget deficit. State officials stress that in the five years of implementing such methods the country was able to earn €3 billion.

Why does Russia need land in Paris? The reason is that the French capital, which has a significant Russian-speaking population, to this day does not have a Russian Orthodox Church. The Church of Three Saints, located on rue Petel, which is under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate's diocese of Korsun, is essentially a small family chapel which could not accommodate all those wanting to attend the church on a feast day. Thus, part of the potential flock of the Russian Orthodox Church automatically migrates to the beautiful Aleksandr Nevsky Cathedral, which at one time was a Russian church but after the revolution became subordinated to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

In 2007, Patriarch of all-Russia Aleksey visited France, and in his conversation with President Nikolas Sarkozy suggested he would like to build a full-fledged ROC temple in Paris. The French president supported the idea and promised to help. The Elysee Palace kept its promise, and a cathedral of the Korsun diocese will be laid out on the land that has been purchased by the Office of Presidential Affairs of Russia. Another issue that will have to be worked out deals with how long it will take to coordinate the project with the city center as well as the construction schedule. After all, Russian templar stylistics will have to be incorporated into the existing architectural context near the Eiffel Tower.

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The orange legacy

According to various estimates, in 2009 Ukraine’s economy fell by 14-15%. The national currency, the hryvna, depreciated by 42% against the dollar in September 2008, nearly setting a world record; only the rate of the Venezuelan bolivar suffered a greater fall. Even the fact that in 2009 Ukraine’s stock market increased by more than 90% is hardly encouraging to Ukrainians (index PFTS).

The main blow to the economy was the fall of prices for Ukraine’s steel and chemical exports, the result of which was a sharp fall in budget revenues and weakening of the banking system. Meanwhile, due to political instability, the only source of foreign financing that Ukraine has today, IMF loans, was frozen. A tranche in the amount of $16.4 billion, which had already been approved, was stopped due to the fact that the parliament failed to adopt a budget for 2010 prescribing articles for the reduction of spending.

The last among equals

“Of all the countries on the territory of the CIS, Ukraine’s economy suffered most,” Pavel Nefidov, general director of the Financial and Banking Council of the CIS, told Gazeta. “In order to prevent further deterioration, a number of emergency measures will need to be taken.”

The first step that the new president will need to take in resolving the pressing crisis-related problems is to establish a relationship with the IMF; and then, in a calmer mode, with Russia, says Nefidov. This will give the presidential administration more room to maneuver in the domestic economic sphere.

In the mid-term, the country’s economy needs an inflow of capital. Nefidov hopes that the transitional “period of uncertainty” will end in the middle of the year, and by that time, the country will achieve a new level of investment attractiveness.

Unfeasible promises

One of the main problems which Yanukovich – who has already served as the country’s prime minister twice (2002-2005 and 2006-2007) and “almost” won the election in 2004 – will have to resolve has to do with the social promises which were generously handed out by the candidates during the election campaign.

“Ukraine’s financial system cannot handle all the promises that were made,” noted Dmitry Abzalov, a leading expert at the Center for Political Trends. Ukraine’s economy is reeling, and the currency and financial markets are on the same track. Ukraine several times injected money to strengthen the hryvna, but against the background of low metal prices in Europe and difficulties with the national economy, it will not be able to sustain itself at the current level for much longer, believes the expert.

Social projects which had been promised by Yanukovich, such as jobs for the youth and housing for public sector employees will be implemented no earlier than 2011, and only under the condition that, by that time, the economy “warms up,”, notes the Ukrainian newspaper Segodnya. The implementation of his promises to reduce taxes will also have to be put on hold until the economy experiences growth.

Kiev and Moscow: a chance for friendship?

Another problem that Yanukovich will be forced to tackle deals with stimulation of demand for Ukrainian goods, notes Abzalov. To resolve this issue, prices of gas purchased by Ukraine must be lowered; after all, the cost of exports depends on energy prices.

So, it is not surprising that not long before the election Yanukovich said that he will revise gas agreements with Russia which were negotiated by Timoshenko and which he were disadvantageous for Ukraine. He believes that the best way to negotiate lower prices is by returning to the idea of a consortium and reconstruction and operation of Ukraine’s gas transport system. The head of the Party of Regions has many times stated that he plans to hold negotiations with Gazprom on the revision of gas supply contracts.

At the same time, Yanukovich is promoting the idea of a gas consortium that is to be interpreted by Russia rather than by Brussels, notes Abzalov. Yanukovich hopes that by allowing Russia to enter Ukraine’s transport system, the latter will be able to obtain cheaper gas.

However, it is not yet clear as to whether or not Gazprom will agree to revise the contracts. Judging by the fact that last week Austria’s Centragas, which together with Gazprom owns gas trader RosUkrEnergo (RUE), began proceedings against the Government of Ukraine in arbitrary court, that is not something that the Russian gas monopoly wants to do. Remember that Centragas is accusing Naftogaz of Ukraine of expropriation of 11 billion cubic meters of gas from RUE in January 2009.

Who is there to lean on?

However, this does not mean that Russia has nothing to offer to Yanukovich. Ukraine and Russia could intensify their industrial cooperation in the defense, aircraft building, transport, and transport engineering industries, noted Abzalov. He notes that normalization of relations between the two countries could neutralize the serious downfall that Ukraine’s economy had experienced in 2007-2009.

In order to actively pursue his policies, Yanukovich will have to seek allies from the countries’ financial and industrial groups. There are great chances for agreeing with industry groups in eastern Ukraine, while it will be much harder to find a common ground with some of the banking groups that have supported Yushchenko, says Abzalov.

“Judging by the groups of influence that support Yanukovich, he will firstly address the downturn in the steel industry,” suggested Abzalov. The expert believes that, at the same time, redistribution of property may be possible; some oil refineries, he says, may have new owners.

In order to implement these measures, the new president will need to have political support. The non-uniform composition of the parliament will be a challenge for the new president, predicts The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) noting that Yanukovich’s Party of Regions does not have a majority in Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada.

Yanukovich is supported by the country’s wealthiest citizen, Rinat Ahmetov, and other influential businessmen, notes the Financial Times. This gave his rival, Timoshenko, the opportunity to label her opponent as someone who “protects the interests of oligarchs and criminals.”

Investors will monitor

“Investors will closely monitor the development of situation in Ukraine,” warns the WSJ. Any surge in political instability may divert private capital investors’ interests in the country’s economy for a long time.

Late last week, the international rating company Fitch Ratings noted the importance of resolving the situation in Ukraine’s banking sector. This needs to become the priority for the new authorities in 2010, note the agency’s experts. Today, Ukrainian banks’ ratings are limited by a level B sovereign rating, which could be lowered in case of a further steady deterioration of sovereign creditworthiness and main macroeconomic indicators, noted Fitch.

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This story resembles a good mystery novel – a story that is complicated, bloody, has a potential for many outcomes and numerous plot lines that include businessmen, large sums of money, expensive cars, casinos, policemen and beautiful women. However, there is no sense in explaining all the details, but the gist of the story is as follows.

Everything began when a person suddenly went missing in Moscow, Varuzhan D. His father issued a missing person report, and police and prosecutors began their search for Varuzhan. Soon, his traces were found: the last time he had been seen was in Irina S.’s apartment, from which he had never left. The apartment owner’s close friend, 26-year-old Dmitry Tikhonov, was arrested and charged with murder.

The investigators’ version of events heavily relied on the open-hearted confession from Irina S. According to her, Dmitry Tikhonov was at her house when Varuzhan D. came over to her apartment. The new guest allegedly owed the hostess $7,500, and it had been expected that he would bring the money when he came. However, he did not, and rudely replied to the request to issue a promissory note.

Dmitry, who witnessed the argument, stood up for the hostess. The men began to fight, and Tikhonov killed the debtor with a kitchen knife. Then, he carried the body to the bathroom where he dismembered it, placed the pieces into plastic trash bags, and hid them on the balcony. Eventually, he carried them out of the house and buried them somewhere. Meanwhile, Irina candidly confessed and tearfully repented that she did not immediately report to the police about the incident because she was extremely frightened.

Experts ascertained that the murder and dismemberment of the body did take place in Irina’s apartment – washed out blood stains, the knife and a hammer, which also had blood stains, were found. It was also confirmed that that fateful evening, Tikhonov and Varuzhan were in fact in Irina’s apartment. Moreover, music CDs which previously belonged to Varuzhan were found in Dmitry’s possession.

Having established that the crime was solved, investigators handed the case documents to the court. Tikhanov’s protests that he did not kill anyone and that when he left Irina’s apartment Varuzhan was alive and well were not acknowledged. Dmitry was sentenced to eight years in prison, and has served three years of the term.

But, there were many questions in this story that remained unanswered. The main ambiguity was the time that it took to commit the crime. Security cameras, which were installed by the building’s entrance, showed that Tikhonov and Varuzhan did not spend more than 25 minutes in the apartment. Then, Tikhonov left. That is, in about 20 minutes’ time, he had managed to get into an argument, into a fight, kill a person, dismember his body and place its pieces into bags. Even for the mythical Jack the Ripper, this would be too fast.

An expert pathologist, who had been subpoenaed to come to court, argued that it is physically impossible to accomplish all this in such a short time period. Meanwhile, the same video recordings are evidence to Irina’s exiting the building the following day and carrying a clearly heavy bag – one that resembles the bags carried by “suitcase traders.”

Doubtful judges called for a retrial, which took place in the Gagarinsky District Court of Moscow. And in order to dot all the “i’s” and cross all the “t’s”, an expert polygraph examiner was called to the stand. The judges selected an independent specialist, Igor Nesterenko. He is certified by the Institute of Criminology of the FSB to conduct psycho-physiological examinations – strictly in accordance with Art. 13 of the Law “On State Judicial Expert Activities in the Russian Federation.”

Two of the main actors in this case were to be subjected to a polygraph examination – witness Irina S. and the accused (and already once-before convicted) Dmitry Tikhonov.

What is important is that this examination is absolutely voluntary. Moreover, on the eve of this procedure the person who is to be examined is able to familiarize himself with the questions that will be asked by the polygraph examiner. In other words, the “patient” has time to carefully prepare: to think of everything, and if necessary, to rethink some events and prepare the answers in advance.

No unexpected “guiding” questions – as the ones usually posed by detectives, investigators, and journalists – are provisioned. And, in order to fully protect oneself from possible setbacks or fraud, the entire polygraph testing process, including the polygraph data, is recorded on video. These recordings are then compared by judicial experts with the polygraph examiner’s findings. In the Gagarinsky Court, this entire process not only became transparent for experts, but visible to the public.

It is a mistake to think that an experienced polygraph examiner could be fooled. The examinee could be a fantastic actor, have a perfect command of his mimics and emotions, but he is unable to control his body’s physiological processes. When a person is lying, the heartbeat changes, the person perspires differently, his muscles tremble and pupils dilate. Many other body processes change, and even with inhuman willpower, they cannot be controlled – especially if the questions are posed by a highly experienced psychologist.

Judges of the Gagarinsky District Court of Moscow did not have any doubts that they would receive complete answers to their questions. The accused did not doubt that either. And, while Dmitry Tikhonov willingly answered all the questions the best way he could, Irina S.,cut the session short, just as she was being asked about the details of the murder: did she hold the knife in her hands, did she stab the victim, did she dismember the body?

The polygraph results impartially showed that Dmitry Tikhonov did not kill or dismember anyone. This was all done by Irina S., who slandered Dmitry to mislead the investigation.

The court was able to determine the motive of the crime. Irina really needed the money to open a beauty salon in Moscow. She was planning to obtain the insufficient funds by selling a BMW 525, which belonged to Varuzhan D. She asked Dmitry Tikhonov to move the car from one parking place to another, and told him that she had bought the “beamer.” Dmitry, who did not know about the murder, agreed. Dmitry asked the car’s new owner to borrow some music CDs that he found in the car, and she agreed to let him copy the music. Hence, the evidence was formed compromising Tikhonv’s position.

The Gagarinsky Court sentenced Irina S. to eight and a half years in prison. The Moscow State Court in the order of cassation oversight, approved the sentence, leaving it unchanged.

The Gagrinsky Court of Moscow case proved that polygraphs are needed by detectives, investigators, and lawyers. After all, lie detectors could not only help in convicting criminals and exposing corrupt individuals, but also acquit the innocent, protect a person from libel, mistreatment by the police and miscarriage of justice.

Rossiyskaya Gazeta report:

According to some expert findings, nearly 100,000 wrongly accused prisoners are serving their time in Russia – the number is equal to the population of a medium-sized city.

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