Lady cosmonaut criticizes crooked pol

Flap Over Gref's Peterhof Wedding
http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2004/05/14/013.html
By Kevin O'Flynn
Staff Writer

It probably sounded like the perfect wedding: A ceremony in an
18th-century palace, followed by a cruise along the Neva, fireworks and a
party on an island nearby.

For Communist State Duma Deputy and former cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya,
the wedding of Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref and
his bride Yana last month was neither romantic nor a fairy tale.

And that wasn't just because she wasn't invited.

Instead, Savitskaya insisted, it was the epitome of arrogance from a
politician she suspects used his position to gain access to a state
treasure and lavished an unknown sum on the day's festivities, estimated
by one observer to have cost in the region of $500,000. The wedding was
held at the Grand Palace in St Petersburg, followed by a boat cruise to a
reception on an island.

Coming from a woman whose father's influence got her
picked as a cosmonaut, that's arrogance for you!



"Revision" wrote in message
...
Flap Over Gref's Peterhof Wedding
http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2004/05/14/013.html
By Kevin O'Flynn
Staff Writer

It probably sounded like the perfect wedding: A ceremony in an
18th-century palace, followed by a cruise along the Neva, fireworks and a
party on an island nearby.

For Communist State Duma Deputy and former cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya,
the wedding of Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref and
his bride Yana last month was neither romantic nor a fairy tale.

And that wasn't just because she wasn't invited.

Instead, Savitskaya insisted, it was the epitome of arrogance from a
politician she suspects used his position to gain access to a state
treasure and lavished an unknown sum on the day's festivities, estimated
by one observer to have cost in the region of $500,000. The wedding was
held at the Grand Palace in St Petersburg, followed by a boat cruise to a
reception on an island.

"JimO" wrote in message
...
Coming from a woman whose father's influence got her
picked as a cosmonaut, that's arrogance for you!

More irony than something that's made of iron