In Russia there are 4 million illegal migrant workers - FMS chief.

MOSCOW, September 11 (Itar-Tass) -- In Russia there are 4 million
illegal migrants, the head of the Federal Migration Service (FMS)
Konstantin Romodanovsky said this week. "We now employ about 5 million
foreign nationals. One million work legally and 4 million others are in
the shadow sector. They are present hear legally, but violate the rules of
labor activity," he said.
According to the FMS chief, in January-August more than 10 million
foreigners entered the country. They crossed the border 15 million times.
"Half of the foreign nationals present in Russia are Ukrainians - 1.5
million, 1.2 million are from Uzbekistan, almost 800,000, from Tajikistan
and 385,000 from Kyrgyzstan," Romodanovsky.

.International car marathon to follow route of Russia's first 1910
race.

MOSCOW, September 11 (Itar-Tass) -- An international car marathon,
scheduled to start in St. Petersburg on Monday, September 13, will follow
the route of Russia's first motor race of 1910 for the prize of Emperor
Nicholas II. The organizer of the jubilee event is the gas giant Gazprom.
Itar-Tass is its information sponsor. The motorcade is to arrive in Kiev
on September 18.
The rallye is to be held in order to promote good-neighborly relations
between the two countries. During the rally spectators in the cities along
the route - Novgorod, Tver, Kaluga, Bryansk and Chernigov - will be able
to learn more about the history of the domestic automobile industry," the
authors of the idea said. Among the cars involved in the race are the
latest products of the domestic car industry, and some vintage vehicles of
the 1920s-1970s. Part of the race will be held in the real competition
mode, with performing artists, journalists, and show business celebrities
taking part. The winners will be named by a professional team of judges.
At the end of the century ХIХ self-propelled carriages powered with
the internal combustion engine in Russia were known under different names
- "self-running cart", "horseless carriage" or just "motor". A little
later they began to be called automobiles. The first "motor" in Russia
appeared in the Black Sea port of Odessa. In autumn 1891 it was brought
there by ship from Marseille by the editor-in-chief of The Odessa Page
daily, Vasily Navrotsky. According to some sources, it was a
Panhard-Levassor, manufactured in France under license from Daimler. Other
sources claim that it was a German Benz. In 1894 that firm, which had
became the largest manufacturer of automotive vehicles in the world,
exported its first vehicle to Russia. The car was brought to Moscow. From
1895, several Benz cars were running about St. Petersburg and some other
cities of the Russian Empire. All those cars were privately owned.
In 1896, in St. Petersburg, a retired lieutenant of the Navy turned
owner of a gas engines factory, Ye. A. Yakovlev, and carriage manufacturer
P.A. Freze built the first Russian car.
On October 11, 1898 the Volkhonskoye highway near St. Petersburg saw
Russia's first "race of motors", which featured six light French tricycles
Clement and one German-built automobile Benz. Pavel Belyaev on a tricycle
Clement covered a distance of 39 miles along a snow-covered slippery road
in 1 hour, 33 minutes and 36 seconds, showing an average speed of 27.3
kilometers per hour.
In subsequent years, automotive events around St. Petersburg, and
later in the vicinity of Moscow, were held regularly. The last race on
Volkhonskoye highway near St. Petersburg was held in 1905. The outbreak of
the Russian-Japanese War of 1904-1905 and the subsequent riots, revolution
and economic crisis led to a complete paralysis of the automotive sports
activities in the Russian Empire.
In 1907, the country's economy started to boom. The number of cars
began to increase and races were resumed. In May 1907, St. Petersburg
hosted the first international automobile exhibition. On this occasion,
the Russian Automobile Society organized a grandiose international motor
race from Moscow to St. Petersburg. The following year, during the second
International Automobile Exhibition in Moscow, the Russian Automobile
Society once again held an international race Petersburg - Moscow.
The summer of 1909 witnessed a very significant event - the main
competition of the sports season, the international road test of cars on
the route St. Petersburg - Pskov - Riga - St. Petersburg 1,100 miles long.
The competitions were organized by the St. Petersburg Automobile Club in
cooperation with the Russian Automobile Society and with the support from
the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Railways. That event may be
deservedly called the first Russian rallye, for it became the country's
first large-scale multi-day motor race held in several stages.
Domestically produced cars - Lessner and Russo-Balt - participated in it
for the first time.
The official site of the 2010 car marathon www.autoprobeg1910.ru
carries more detailed information.

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