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Russia
Russia covers Northern Asia, bordering the Arctic
Ocean, between Europe and the North Pacific Ocean. A huge country even though
many former soviet states now have separate autonomy. The capital
city is Moscow, a city without limits and reputed as one of the most expensive cities in
the world, and other European Russian cities are St Petersburg, Volgograd and Rostov-on-Don.
The old communism has been replaced with a new consumer society where
in 1996, the
Russian Health Ministry estimated that the average
consumption of vodka per adult was 38 liters of 100-proof vodka per person a year.
The main holiday season coincides with the warmest months of July and
August when
accommodation is often difficult to get and the attractions
around Moscow are often overrun with visitors. The snow melt begins in
March-April and summer arrives in May with temperatures comfortable into
September when the snow returns from November to March.
In 1996, the Ministry of Internal Affairs estimated that 40 percent
of private businesses, 60 percent of state-owned enterprises, and more
than half of the country’s banks were controlled by organized crime
(Jenson, 1998). Russian organized crime groups have in many ways
replaced the state in providing, employment, protection and security.
The majority of private enterprises are compelled, by force if
necessary, to pay protection of up to 30 percent of their profits to
organized crime”
The economy and employment in eastern Russia is as poor
as in most other parts of Russia. In the Amur Oblast, north of China, the lack
of jobs has caused women to sell their blood to blood banks to earn small sums of money
to buy food and clothing for their children. As in other southern regions, women living in
the countryside are increasingly growing poppy and hemp. (Detail).
Russian Accommodation Guide - . Find great hotel deals from Baikal
Lake to Ekaterinburg, Irkutsk, Kaliningrad, Kazan, Khabarovsk,
Krasnoyarsk, Moscow, Nakhodka, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Perm,
Petrozavodsk, Samara, St. Petersburg, Vladivostok and many other centres.
Emergency Services
FIRE 01
POLICE 02
AMBULANCE 03
EMERGENCY CAR SERVICE 04
Information
TRUNK CALLS 07
INTERNATIONAL CALLS 8-190
MOSCOW MUNICIPAL TELEPHONE SERVICE 09
DIRECTORY ENQUIRIES (MOSCOW) MOSCOW INFORMATION 927-0009
SPEAKING CLOCK 100
SUBSCRIBER SERVICE 975-0030
COACH TIMETABLE ENQUIRIES 468-0400
TAXI 927-0000
Russian Escorts
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