Ukrainian presidential candidates blames 'orange forces' for failures.

DONETSK, February 3 (Itar-Tass) - Forces that stood behind the
so-called 'orange revolution' at the end of 2004 have failed to fulfill
the promises they churned out back then at mass rallies on Kiev's
Independence Square, presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovich said at a
meeting with supporters Tuesday.

In 2004, the protests staged by the 'pro-democratic forces of the
orange revolution' led to a revision of initial results of the
presidential election where Yanukovich, the then Prime Minister of
Ukraine, won by a narrow margin over the incumbent outgoing President,
Viktor Yushchenko.
"Was there anything bad in the slogans that were shouted out on the
Maidan /Independence Square/ in 2004?" he asked with a somewhat rhetorical
note. "I was in the epicenter of events then and I realized only too well
that I'd be left with nothing to do but to join forces with them and to
work towards implementing their decisions if they fulfilled everything
/they promised/."
The real problem for the 'orange parties' today is that they did not
fulfill a single promise made back then or at the elections of 2006 and
2007 likewise, Yanukovich said.

.Russian Church Synod choir to give first solo concert in Moscow.

MOSCOW, February 3 (Itar-Tass) - Choir of the Russian Orthodox Church
Synod that has been restored by Moscow Patriarchate to popularize the
age-old traditions of majestic Russian Church signing style is expected to
give the first solo concert Wednesday in Moscow State University's home
church of St Tatiana located in a stone's throw from Red Square and the
Kremlin.
The Patriarchate restored the choir on an analogy with the famous
collective that the Synod had before the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.
"The new synodal choir has 80 choristers and is composed of two
separate choirs -- the one based at St Nicholas's Church, which is part of
the Tretyakov Arts Gallery compound, and the Church of Consolation of all
the Afflicted on Bolshaya Ordynka Street that boasts keeping alive the old
tradition of performing the religious chants and hymns," Alexei Puzakov,
the conductor of the combined choir said.
Quite noteworthy, the choirs that sang in the church on Bolshaya
Ordynka Street were recorded on LP discs even at the height of Soviet-era
state-sponsored revolutionary atheism in the mid-1960's.
They especially excelled in performing the liturgical music by
Tchaikovsky, who was a parishioner of that church during his early career
as a professor at Moscow Conservatory. Crowds of people who quite often
espoused the atheistic worldview would come there during the Soviet times
to hear Tchaikovsky's hymns and chants that could practically never be
heard anywhere else otherwise.
The newly restored Synod choir made the first stage appearance in
Moscow Conservatory's Grand Hall together with the Tchaikovsky Grand
Symphony Orchestra under the baton of maestro Vladimir Fedoseyev January
19, the day on which the Russian Orthodox Church marks the feast of
Epiphany.
In the first solo appearance in St Tatiana's Church, the choir will
perform Serge Rakhmaninov's Vespers.
As for the regular church services, the Synod choir appears in the
Church of Consolation of all the Afflicted Sundays and on the days on
major Orthodox Christian feasts.
The choir is preparing a range of concerts it hopes to give in spring
under the yet working title of 'The Three Romes', which implies the First
Rome as the capital of the Roman Empire, Constantinople as the Second Rome
and the center of the Byzantine Empire, and Moscow as the Third Rome.
The concept of this program is called upon to make the audience recall
the succession of Christian cultural routes
"March 25, we'll perform in the Hall of Church Conventions of the
Cathedral of the Savior in Moscow, March 26, in the St Irene's Church in
Istanbul, and May 20, in Vatican City," Alexei Puzakov said.
The Synod choir was set up at the beginning of the 18th century but
its stardom period fell on the second half of the 19th century when it saw
a whole line of remarkable musicians in the capacity of conductors. It was
also then that secular composers, including Sergei Taneyev and Pavel
Chesnokov began writing special spiritual scores for this choir.
The collective was disbanded after the Revolution of October 1917.

.Chavez praises setting up of Venezuelan-Russian oil JV.

CARACAS, February 3 (Itar-Tass) - Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez on
Tuesday praised the agreement on setting up a Venezuelan-Russian
joint-venture for developing a large oilfield in the Orinoco River basin
that the two sides signed in Moscow Monday.
The oilfield is part of the Junin-6 block of deposits.
According to Chavez, investment in the project will stand at $ 18
billion. It embraces the Venezuelan state oil corporation Petroleos de
Venezuela and the Russian National Oil Consortium including Gazprom Neft,
Rosneft, LUKOIL, TNK-BP, and Surgutneftegaz.
The Junin-6 block of oilfields covers an area of 447.7 square
kilometers and its explored and certified reserves stand at 52 billion
barrels of crude, Chavez said at a public ceremony devoted to the 11th
anniversary of the government he stands at the head of.
Petroleos de Venezuela has a 60% stake in the JV and the Russian
National Oil Consortium, a 40% stake.
The Orinoco River oil belt has the resources of heavy and super-heavy
crude oil standing at an estimated 235 billion barrels, which makes this
oil reserve the largest in the world, Chavez said.
He indicated that the setting up of the Venezuelan-Russian JV and the
Russian investment in the Junin-6 project refutes the political
opposition's claims the national economy does not have any foreign
investment, Chavez said.
In line with the Venezuelan legislation the Russian consortium will
also pay a bonus for the right to produce oil.
Chavez also recalled that an agreement pertaining to the Junin-5 block
of deposits was signed with the Italian energy corporation ENI last week.
Investment in this project, also a large-scale one, is due to reach $ 9.7
billion.
-0-kle


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