BUNHILL

Adam Smith rules OK. Well at least in Moscow and Kiev he does. Victoria Alexevea, Moscow manager of the Adam Smith Institute, guardian of the free market ideal, is in a state of euphoria. "The most joyful story I have to tell," she gurgles, as she reports on the new line produced by a factory in Arkadi Prospekt, hard by Moscow airport.

Ms A's joy is understandable, for the factory is engaged in melting down its former product, the bronze busts of Lenin that used to be an ubiquitous feature of Russian homes - and replacing them with busts of Mr Smith. The demand did not surprise one observer of the Russian scene: "They do seem to need little icons on their tables," he observed sagely.

After the symbolic success, the real triumph. The entire cabinet of the beleaguered (and broke) republic of Ukraine is coming to London for a two-day conference at the end of May - organised by the Institute.