Russian Newsweek: "Letters to www.runewsweek.ru"
"Toppled regime": an official end to the counterterrorist operation in Chechnya.
Moderator of the forum is Artyom Vernidub.
Tony Stephans, student:
A Georgian acquaintance of mine told me that Mr Kadyrov is guilty of killing many people. "So his days are numbered," he concluded. I think that Putin's regime guarantees Kadyrov's safety. He can do whatever he likes in his republic as long as Mr Putin is in power. Putin himself seems to proceed on the basis that "It is better to deal with a predictable bandit in power than an unpredictable one".
Maxim Avels, Moscow:
Chechnya was and remains a money-laundering zone. Mr Kadyrov feels that it is his fief. The authorities are stuck with him up to their ears. The Government has declared more than once that this former terrorist would lift Chechnya like nobody else, so it would be embarrassing to admit that he is a bad guy. In that case Mr Putin would have to admit that he had been very wrong. Mr Kadyrov is aware of that. That is why he is inventing ever new laws and new rules for his kingdom. He is a butcher and has always been one.
Nikita, 26, businessman:
It has to be remembered that in the first Chechen war Mr Kadyrov was fighting on the side of Dudayev. It is unlikely that he has changed. What is happening in Chechnya today is, I think, the concentration of forces and money around a single person. The future is hard to predict.
Joker:
The lifting of the counterterrorist operation regime is only the beginning. The Chechen authorities will go on asking for more. Mr Kadyrov will soon command an authority similar to that of Dudayev and then the worst can happen.
Reaction to Prime Minister Putin's report to the Duma:
Moderator of the forum is Artyom Vernidub
Yevgeny, a student from Kostroma:
I wonder how Mr Putin felt when addressing the deputies. Was he aware that it was another token action or did he really feel that his speech was important? Honestly, I had the impression that it was another attempt to pull the wool over people's eyes. Mr Putin said nothing new and nothing surprising. The way the event is presented in the news shows that the main aim is to calm people down because they are more and more afraid of the crisis, are talking about it all the time and are increasingly becoming aware of the grave situation in which the country finds itself.
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"A servant of two masters": Alexander Lukashenko tries to rescue the economy of Belarus
Moderator of the forum is Leonid Ragozin
Artyom:
Lukashenko is cunning, but I have a question: he will get a lot of loans but how is he going to pay them back? Honestly, I don't like the way he is wooing Russia, he behaves like a child: you didn't give me a loan, I'll get back at you. And he switches off Russian TV channels. Isn't that a wicked way to behave?
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"Russia will bail out AvtoVAZ"
Moderator of the forum is Igor Ivanov
Vladimir Bobylyov, St Petersburg:
If you ask me, many domestic producers are themselves to blame for the situation. Why does GAZ produce Siber priced 500,000 roubles instead of producing its usual Volgas at the price of 250,000-300,000? I don't think many people would like to buy a Siber because it has some shortcomings. Try to drive a Siber on a dirt road with bumps. It will break down in no time and the gearbox will wear out quickly. Nothing like the fairly tall Volgas with a manual gearbox.
Sergei:
There is one other good way to encourage people to buy a car. And that is abolishing a 13% tax when selling it on. For instance, I have a car, I have owned it for two years, and of course when I buy a new one I will sell my old one. If a person has owned a car for less than three years, he automatically has to declare the sale and to collect all the documents on its purchase and sale. It is a headache. The measure was introduced to discourage natural persons from importing used foreign cars into Russia in order to sell them on. Now that measure is irrelevant because the custom duties have achieved their aim. Let us then cancel this rule and then perhaps it could do something to stimulate demand.
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Cancer
The first Russian gene therapy for cancer to have clinical tests
Moderator of the forum is Nikita Maksimov
Trefle, Moscow:
I pray for the scientists who develop and test vaccines and drugs. I pray for the people who devote their lives to it. I don't care what research is funded, I believe that perhaps in a hundred years' time it will be possible to prevent and cure cancer.
