Housing and High Wages Will Stop Russian ‘Brain Drain’ – Russian Official

Artist's Conception of Nanotechnology Components

MOSCOW, April 2 (RIA Novosti) – New housing incentives and high wages will help prevent young Russian scientists from leaving the country, a Russian official said Wednesday during a meeting of young scientists in Siberia. “I think that we should create better conditions so that our young scientists are motivated to build their career here in the country. And by […]

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25% of Russians Think Government Is Corrupt, Poll Says

Cropped File Photo of Two Men in Business Suits Shaking Hands and Passing Cash

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 2, 2014) One in four Russians think that the current government is corrupt and self-serving, while about one in eight have nothing bad to say whatsoever about the administration, a recent poll indicates. The most common complaint of the government, selected by 41 percent of those questioned, is its perceived inability to deal with […]

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Russia Presses Ukraine on Nationalists Amid NATO Talks

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – James G. Neuger, Gopal Ratnam and Henry Meyer – April 2, 2014) Russia pressed Ukraine to disarm nationalists it says are oppressing its compatriots there as NATO looked to bolster European security as the alliance’s Cold-War foe massed troops on Ukraine’s border. The presence of as many as 40,000 soldiers along Ukraine’s eastern frontier is fueling […]

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Bill to Toughen Law on Rallies Raises Concerns

Russian State Duma Building file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Oleg Sukhov – April 2, 2014) United Russia deputy Alexander Sidyakin late Monday submitted to the State Duma a bill introducing prison terms for repeat violations of a law on public rallies, stirring fears among analysts of a crackdown on the opposition. The move coincided with an effort by prosecutors to block all blogs being […]

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RIA Novosti: Geopolitics Poses Risks to Russian Financial Stability – Bank of Russia

Elvira Nabiullina file photo

MOSCOW, April 2 (RIA Novosti) – A review of ratings of Russian borrowers and the threat of their exclusion from international capital markets may affect Russia’s financial stability, the head of the Central Bank of Russia said Wednesday. “The geopolitical risks are large, especially if our banks and companies run into limitations on refinancing in Western markets, and a review […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE: Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: 2014-#73 :: Wednesday, 2 April 2014

St. Basil's file photo

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#73 :: 2 April 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support […]

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Sex, lies, intrigue and everything you wanted to know about Russian corporate culture

Empty Boardroom

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Dan Pototsky, RBTH – March 31, 2014) RBTH has collected data from the largest Russian recruiting companies, spoken with employees of a range of corporations with different outlooks and made a list of the main distinctions of Russian corporate culture. Note on Russian office culture: The idea that corporate culture in Russia appeared […]

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Interfax: Seven die in hate crimes in Russia in 2014 – rights defenders

Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

MOSCOW. April 1 (Interfax) – Seven people died in hate crimes in Russia in 2014, the Sova human rights center told Interfax on Tuesday. “At least 29 people have been injured in racially motivated attacks since the beginning of this year. Seven people died,” the rights defenders said. Sova recorded attacks in nine regions – Moscow, the Moscow region, St. […]

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The 20 Russian News Outlets You Need To Read Before They Get The Axe

Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Daisy Sindelar – April 1, 2014) A pro-Kremlin political news site says it has developed a computer algorithm to determine which media outlets are the most anti-Russian. The politonline.ru website, part of the Pravda.ru media holding, says it has created a special system that vets media content for suggestive words and phrasing that cast the Russian […]

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Dozhd Gets 50-Day Lifeline After Telethon

Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – April 1, 2014) Independent television channel Dozhd has extended its operation for at least 50 days in a fundraising campaign launched to save the channel after major cable networks refused to air it. The money was collected during a week-long telethon from March 24 to 30 that sold yearly subscriptions to Dozhd, […]

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Human Rights Council concerned about battle against independent journalism in Russia

Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

(Interfax – March 31, 2014) The Russian Presidential Human Rights Council urges taking the professional community’s opinions into account when making decisions on closing mass media outlets. “These offensives against independent mass media outlets are characterized with the fact that owners or administrative people are leaving the legal field and operate on general notions of morality, interpreting them in their […]

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Russia must remain true to “traditional values” – Kremlin chief-of-staff

File Photo of Sergei Ivanov, adapted from defense.gov image

(Interfax – Moscow, March 31, 2014) Sergey Ivanov, head of the Kremlin administration, is stressing the importance and relevance of Russia drawing up a state cultural policy: the scenario in Ukraine, which led to the abandoning of traditional values and a division of society provoked from abroad, must not be allowed. “The latest events in Ukraine show just how grave […]

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Interfax: Most Russians like alcohol, vodka is top preference – sociologists

Shelf of Alcoholic Beverages with Red and White Tape Across It

(Interfax – April 1, 2014) Some 68 percent of Russians drink alcohol from time to time, and vodka, sparking wine and beer top the preference list, the Public Opinion Foundation said. Men (75 percent) like drinking more than women (68 percent). Twenty-one percent of respondents said they never drank alcohol and 10 percent stopped drinking, 4 percent of them did […]

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Interfax: Putin pledges to deal with issue of Crimean Tatars’ rehabilitation

Russian Naval Vessel in Ukrainian Port

NOVO-OGARYOVO. April 1 (Interfax) – President Vladimir Putin said that the issue of Crimean Tatars’ rehabilitation would be given due attention and that he could meet with activists of Crimea’s Tatar community. Earlier, President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, urged Putin to have the Law on the Rehabilitation of the Peoples that Suffered from Political Reprisals applied to the Crimean Tatars. […]

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RIA Novosti: Russia’s Economic Ties with Ukraine Depend on Non-Aligned Status – Russian Foreign Ministry

Russian Foreign Ministry Building Tower file photo

MOSCOW, April 1 (RIA Novosti) – The development of closer ties, including economic cooperation, between Moscow and Kiev will depend on Ukraine’s commitment to maintaining a non-aligned status, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. “Kiev needs to understand that further prospects for the development of Russian-Ukrainian cooperation, including in the economic sphere, will greatly depend on the actions that Ukraine […]

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RIA Novosti: Crimea Has Defeated Cold War Thinking – Experts

Russian Naval Vessel in Ukrainian Port

MOSCOW, April 1 (RIA Novosti), Daria Chernyshova – The Crimean situation has put an end to Cold War stereotypes, a Russian political expert believes. “Crimea joining Russia renders [Cold War thinking] obsolete. The peninsula’s position provides control over the Black Sea and Ukraine,” said Kirill Koktysh, a political scientist at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. The real US […]

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RIA Novosti: EU Should Avoid Economic Sanctions Against Russia – Senior EU Official

EU Map

BRUSSELS, April 1 (RIA Novosti) – The European Union should refrain from introducing broad economic sanctions against Russia if the situation around Ukraine does not deteriorate, European Commission Vice President Olli Rehn said Tuesday. “No sensible European would want to see economic sanctions or any other escalation to the crisis. And in case Russia will not escalate the crisis, then […]

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RIA Novosti: Ukrainian Election Haste Might Lead To New Maidan – Experts

Ukraine Map and Flag

MOSCOW, March 31 (RIA Novosti), Daria Chernyshova – New Maidan might erupt if Kiev rushes for elections, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Sergey Zheleznyak said at the press conference at RIA Novosti on Monday. “Attempts to rush a political campaign are doomed to fail as anyone elected now will be unfavored by the majority of Ukrainians. That will lead […]

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Interfax: Russia hopes for “transparent” election in Ukraine – deputy foreign minister

Russian Foreign Ministry Building Tower file photo

(Interfax, Moscow, March 31, 2014) Moscow hopes that the presidential election in Ukraine will be open and transparent, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigoriy Karasin has said. “Naturally, we have questions. We want the carrying out a constitutional reform that would take into account the opinions of the regions to be a priority after all. The success of any election depends […]

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RIA Novosti Factbox: Leading Ukrainian Presidential Candidates

Maidan Square file photo

MOSCOW, April 1 (RIA Novosti) – The Ukrainian parliament has called for early presidential elections on May 25 following the unconstitutional ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych in February amid violent street protests. At least two dozen candidates have announced their intention to run in the race, a motley crew of businessmen, politicians and radical right-wing activists. Four of the most […]

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After Crimea: A new era for Russian diplomacy?

File Photo of John Kerry and Sergei Lavrov at Separte Podiums, Kerry with a Visible Earpiece; Adapted from Photo at state.gov

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Dmitry Babich, special to RBTH – March 31, 2014) As tensions ease, economic rapprochement with Europe will increase but security comes first for Moscow, discovers Voice of Russia political analyst Dmitry Babich Following last Sunday’s talks between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry in Paris, which while […]

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Interfax: Ukraine leaders’ plans to recruit foreign mercenaries evidence of lack of popular support – Russian Foreign Ministry

Russian Foreign Ministry Building Tower file photo

MOSCOW. March 31 (Interfax) – Media reports claiming that the Ukrainian leadership wants to recruit personnel from private foreign military companies “in order to maintain law and order” may suggest that the Kyiv regime wants to suppress civil protest and discontent, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. “Anyway, one can state that in the absence of support from the Ukrainian population, […]

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Interfax: Russia expects West, rights organizations to react to Ukrainian bill on preventive detentions

Ukraine Map and Flag

MOSCOW. April 1 (Interfax) – Russia is waiting for the West to react to the bill on preventive detentions of persons suspected of plotting crimes against national security, submitted to the Ukrainian parliament. “The Russian side is waiting for its Western partners – the ‘staunch’ advocates of democratic reform, including in the post-Soviet space – to respond to the Ukrainian […]

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Interfax: Motorized infantry battalion returns home after training in Rostov region – Russian Defense Ministry

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

MOSCOW. March 31 (Interfax) – A battalion of the Central Military District’s 15th separate motorized infantry brigade is retuning to its home base from the Kadamovsky training ground in the Rostov region. “The battalion has completed a field mission to the Kadamovsky training ground in the Rostov region and is returning to its home base in the Samara region,” the […]

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Interfax: U.S. to continue search for Ukraine resolution with UN, EU, OSCE, Russia – diplomat

Ukraine Map and Flag

ASTANA. Apr 1 (Interfax) – The only way to resolve the Ukrainian crisis lies through diplomacy and defusing of military tensions in the region, United States Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Desai Biswal said. Today the world is watching the events in Ukraine with great concern. The U.S. and the international community advocate the […]

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The Ukrainian crisis as an opportunity

Ukraine Map and Flag

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Fyodor Lukyanov, special to RBTH – March 31, 2014) The Ukrainian crisis is far from over. However, no sober dialogue is taking place. Yet it is high time to consider all the circumstances quietly, in order to minimise the risks, says political expert Fyodor Lukyanov. Fyodor Lukyanov is chairman of the Council for […]

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RIA Novosti: Ukraine’s Loss of Territorial Integrity Resulted From Internal Processes – Russia

Russian Foreign Ministry Building Tower file photo

MOSCOW, April 1 (RIA Novosti) – Ukraine’s loss of territorial integrity was a result of internal processes, not interference from Russia, which never violated its obligations under a 1994 agreement on respecting Ukrainian borders, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. “The current Kiev ‘government,’ which came to power in the wake of an unconstitutional coup, carried out policies, especially in […]

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RIA Novosti: Ukraine Follows ‘Arab Spring’ Scenario – Russian Defense Minister

Sergei Shoigu file photo

KHUJAND, Tajikistan, April 1 (RIA Novosti) – A scenario similar to the Arab Spring has unfolded in crisis-hit Ukraine during and after the events leading up to the ouster of the country’s president in February, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday. “With great sorrow, I noted that a scenario similar to the Arab Spring was used in that country,” […]

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Ukraine to Disarm Illegally Armed Groups After Kiev Shooting

Ukraine Map and Flag

KIEV, April 1 (RIA Novosti) – Ukraine’s parliament has ordered the immediate disarming of illegally armed groups in the country following a fatal shooting Monday on the city’s main square believed to have involved a political activist of the Right Sector movement. “In line with the extreme sociopolitical situation in the country, the escalation of crime and systematic provocations from […]

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Ukraine NATO Membership Is Denied as Germany Seeks Easing

NATO meeting file photo

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Patrick Donahue – April 1, 2014) Germany’s top diplomat said Ukraine won’t join NATO and urged Russia to move troops away from the Ukrainian border, saying it would be a “small signal” that the crisis is easing. Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his French and Polish counterparts, Laurent Fabius and Radoslaw Sikorski, said the European Union […]

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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Assessing the Russian Military Threat to Eastern Ukraine

Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 11, Issue 61 – Roger McDermott – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – April 1, 2014) Since late February, Russia’s Armed Forces have engaged in multiple military exercises, several snap inspections to test combat readiness, as well as an apparent “build-up” close to Ukraine’s eastern border. While President Vladimir Putin has remained largely quiet concerning these developments, […]

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Russia and the United States Negotiate the Future of Ukraine

File Photo of John Kerry and Sergei Lavrov at Separte Podiums, Kerry with a Visible Earpiece; Adapted from Photo at state.gov

(Stratfor.com – George Friedman – April 1, 2014) During the Cold War, U.S. secretaries of state and Soviet foreign ministers routinely negotiated the outcome of crises and the fate of countries. It has been a long time since such talks have occurred, but last week a feeling of deja vu overcame me. Americans and Russians negotiated over everyone’s head to […]

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Russian Duma ready to talk to Ukrainian parliament – ruling party MP

Russian State Duma Building file photo

Moscow, 31 March: The State Duma is ready for dialogue with the Ukrainian Supreme Council on various issues in order to bring their positions closer, including on the subject of the upcoming presidential election in Ukraine, member of the State Duma Committee for Security and Countering Corruption Nikolay Kovalev (One Russia parliamentary party) has said. “When 70 people in the […]

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After Crimea, Russians Say They Want Alaska Back

Alaska Pipeline file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 1, 2014) A mere four kilometers separate Russia’s Big Diomede Island from Alaska’s Little Diomede Island in the Bering Strait. This boundary between two feuding powers – known as the “Ice Curtain” during the Cold War – is likely the only place from which former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin could really see Russia. But […]

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Russia to Privatize Additional 431 Companies Through 2016

Empty Boardroom

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 1, 2014) The Cabinet approved a plan to privatize an additional 431 companies through 2016, according to a document published on the government’s website Monday. About 20 percent of Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port, the Russian Lottery, and multiple scientific-research, construction, and agricultural facilities are up for sale, in addition to regional airports, shipping companies […]

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Crimea to be designated a special economic zone

Russian Naval Vessel in Ukrainian Port

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Maria Karnaukh, special to RBTH  – April 1, 2014) The Russian Federation’s newest subject is likely to be designated a special economic zone. A preferential tax regime, state investment and the development of existing sectors should eliminate Crimea’s dependency on subsidies and turn it into a net contributor. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE: Johnson’s Russia List contents with links :: 2014-#72 :: Tuesday, 1 April 2014

St. Basil's file photo

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#72 :: 1 April 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support […]

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