from the "USSR not going to believe these prices" dept.

I've always had this odd fascination for all things Russian (and Eastern European). I love reading about that part of the world. I love travelling there (Ukraine next month!). And I'd kinda-sorta like to live there for a spell.

This might be my chance.

The Guardian is reporting that the Russian Army is having a fire sale of sorts. Auctioning off everything from huge tracts of land to some lovely properties. Unfortunately, no former-Soviet republics are for sale. Damn!

The Russian army is to auction off property ranging from mansions to barracks and even whole towns to raise cash to build modern housing for its officers, according to reports.

The daily paper Izvestia said yesterday that more than 20 army properties near Moscow, St Petersburg, Kaliningrad and Vladivostok would be offered to the highest bidders in the first auction on April 8.

Among the properties for sale, Izvestia said, were "fabulous mansions and guest houses, dilapidated garrison towns, unused shooting ranges and vast tracts of neglected land on which no human has set foot for years". The paper claimed that the army occupied more land than the territories of Greece or Austria.

The rest of the story HERE.

Cheers!