>The last I had read in the press stated that the original agreement
>between Russian government and the Foundation called for a 50/50 split of
>profits.  Speculations were that the Russian share has been upped to 65%.

It looks like the Russians have learned what we here in the States have
become pretty good at.   Cashing in on our history.  Sadly, though, they
went about it in a rather underhanded way, misusing their diplomatic
immunity, and jeopardiuzing the collection in the process.  Russia has
ignored so much of her pre-revolutionary past that Russians were not aware
that there's a marketing quality to history.  I call it "heritage
capitalism."  Don't knock it.  It keeps our museums open.

Cheers,
HBC

*****************************************
Henry B. Crawford        Curator of History
[log in to unmask]     Museum of Texas Tech University
806/742-2442           Box 43191
FAX 742-1136             Lubbock, TX  79409-3191
               WEBSITE: http://www.ttu.edu/~museum
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