Month: July 2016

RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-124 :: Tuesday, 5 July 2016

JRL Tables of Contents, Russian News, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#124 Tuesday, 5 July 2016 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org – JRL […]

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Third of Russians Expect Rigged 2016 Duma Elections

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Russian State Duma Building file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 1, 2016) More than a third of Russians believe that the upcoming State Duma elections will not be free and fair, a survey by independent pollster Levada Center revealed Friday. Thirty eight percent of the 1600 respondents believed that the elections would involve slander, pressure on the electorate, ballot tampering, or other forms of […]

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Here’s What Putin Wants From Central Bank as Elections Near

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Central Bank of Russia file photo

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Anna Andrianova, Andre Tartar – July 5, 2016) Helping your president win elections doesn’t have to compromise a central bank’s independence, at least not in Russia. Monetary policy is aligning with politics before Vladimir Putin’s biggest test at the ballot box since he returned to the presidency in 2012. By claiming the upper hand in the […]

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Ukraine’s authoritarian signals

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

Recent unconstitutional legislation is smoothing the way for direct rule in Ukraine – and repeating past mistakes. (opendemocracy.net – MYKHAILO MINAKOV, TYMOFIY MYLOVANOV – July 5, 2016) Mykhailo Minakov is Associate Professor at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and President of the Foundation for Good Politics, Kyiv. He is also director of the Krytyka Institute, and editor-in-chief of the journal Ideology and Politics. […]

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After Initial ‘Painful Reaction,’ Russians ‘Quietly Adapting to Crisis,’ New Survey Finds

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Cash, Calculator, Pen

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, July 5, 2016) Dostoyevsky’s observation that “man is not a pig; he can get used to anything” is being confirmed by the attitudes of Russians about the economic crisis they find themselves in. If their first response was to cry out in pain, now, a new study finds, they “quietly adapting” to […]

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We Are Right, You Are Wrong: Russia’s Response to Brexit

Britain, UK, United Kingdom, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Europe, EU
File Photo of British Parliament Building, Big Ben, Thames, adapted from image at loc.gov

(Kennan Institute – wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – Maxim Trudolyubov – June 29, 2016) Maxim Trudolyubov is a Senior Fellow at the Kennan Institute and the Editor-at-Large of Vedomosti, an independent Russian daily. Mr. Trudolyubov was the editorial page editor of Vedomosti between 2003 and 2015. He has been a contributing opinion writer for The International New York Times since the fall of […]

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A gaffe too far: Russia’s controversial children’s rights ombudsman resigns

Children, Adoptions, Orphans, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Pavel Astakhov file photo, adapted from image at state.gov

Pavel Astakhov, whose tactless and cynical comments made him deeply unpopular with many Russians and who came to international prominence for supporting the law banning foreigners from adopting Russian children, is to leave his post. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – OLEG YEGOROV, RBTH – July 6, 2016) Pavel Astakhov, who has gained notoriety abroad for his active support […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s Baltic outpost digs in for standoff with NATO” [Kaliningrad] – Reuters

Europe, EU, JRL NewsBlog, Military, NATO
Map of Baltics and Environs, Including Kaliningrad

Russia and NATO are each building up their military capability across eastern Europe, spurred by the conflict in Ukraine …. For Russia, a strategic centerpiece is … Kaliningrad … a small piece of Russian territory sandwiched between NATO members Poland and Lithuania, allowing the Kremlin to project its military power into the alliance’s northern flank. … there was ample visible […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Prokhorov’s Onexim says not selling all Russian assets” – Reuters

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, JRL NewsBlog
Mikhail Prokohrov file photo

Onexim Group, owned by tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov, said on Monday a newspaper report suggesting it had decided to sell all its assets in Russia was inaccurate. * * * On Monday, Vedomosti newspaper had reported that Prokhorov was searching for buyers of all his assets in Russia, quoting multiple unnamed sources. Onexim owns stakes in aluminium giant Rusal, potash producer […]

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Putin, Russian Security Council Discuss Baltic Airspace

Baltics, Military
Map of Baltics and Environs, Including Kaliningrad

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – July 5, 2016) Russian President Vladimir Putin has chaired a meeting with the country’s Security Council to discuss possible “confidence-building” steps in the skies over the Baltic region and details in connection with a NATO summit later this week, a presidential spokesman said. Putin also talked with the council’s permanent members about the situation in Syria, […]

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Turkey Signals Cooperation With Russia Against Islamic State

Middle East, North Africa, Military, NATO, Terrorism, Turkey
Turkey and Environs Satellite Image

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Selcan Hacaoglu, Firat Kozok – July 4, 2016) Turkey may cooperate with Russia in fighting Islamic State, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Monday, just days after the countries agreed to work to repair strained ties. Cavusoglu denied signaling in an interview Sunday that Turkey may let Russia use southern Incirlik air base for operations in Syria. […]

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RBTH: Moscow and Washington consider expanding cooperation in Syria

Middle East, North Africa, Military, Syria
Syria Map

U.S. President Barack Obama made an offer to Russia to begin joint combat operations against the Al-Nusra Front militants. Some Russian experts believe that this overture has been made in order to strengthen the Democrat Party’s position in the presidential election race. Yet this step also could have positive implications for Moscow. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – NIKOLAI […]

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Russian Oil Exports Set for Record as Europe Competition Grows

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Europe, EU, Oil, Gas, Energy
Oil Well file photo

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Stephen Bierman and Dina Khrennikova – July 3, 2016) Russian crude exports are on track to set a record this year, which is intensifying competition in Europe as Iran boosts shipments to the region. Exports rose 4.9 percent to 5.55 million barrels a day in the first half of the year from the same period in […]

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NEWSLINK RBTH: “Russia’s strict new anti-terror laws: What is the debate about? A new package of “anti-terrorist” laws adopted by the State Duma on the last day of the legislative season has the potential to affect many areas of the lives of ordinary Russians. What do lawmakers hope to achieve with the new legislation and why has it been criticized?”

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
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RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-123 :: Monday, 4 July 2016

JRL Tables of Contents, Russian News, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#123 Monday, 4 July 2016 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org – JRL […]

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TRANSCRIPT: [Putin] Press statements and answers to journalists’ questions following Russian-Finnish talks (excerpt)

Finland, Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

(Kremlin.ru – July 1, 2016) President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Indeed, we had a very thorough discussion in narrow format. Hopefully, we will continue our talks with the participation of our respective delegations in the expanded format in the same business-like manner. I reiterate that we consider Finland our priority partner. Our relationship is based […]

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Billionaire Tycoon Prokhorov to Sell All Russian Assets

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Mikhail Prokohrov file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 4, 2016) Billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov is to sell all of his Russian assets, the Vedomosti business daily reported Monday. Prokhorov’s ONEXIM investment group has various assets in mining, finance, energetics, development and the media. Its larger assets include a 20 percent stake at Russian company Uralkali, the world’s largest producer of potassium, and a […]

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TRANSCRIPT: [Putin at] Meeting of Russian Federation ambassadors and permanent envoys

Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
foreign-ministry-200

(Kremlin.ru – June 30, 2016) Vladimir Putin addressed the eighth meeting of Russian Federation ambassadors and permanent envoys at the Russian Foreign Ministry. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Colleagues, it is a pleasure to greet you all at this traditional gathering at the Foreign Ministry. Let me start by thanking the Foreign Ministry’s heads and staff and everyone working in […]

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Ukrainian Question Divides Orthodox World

Religion, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Church Domes with Crosses file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ola Cichowlas – July 1, 2016) It took over 1,000 years to gather the religious leaders of the many Eastern Orthodox churches in one place, and still, when it happened, not everyone was in attendance. The week-long Holy Great Council, in the pipeline for 55 years, was supposed to bring together all the congregations of […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-122 :: Friday, 1 July 2016

JRL Tables of Contents, Russian News, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#122 Friday, 1 July 2016 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org – JRL […]

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TRANSCRIPT: [Putin at] Meeting with Alexei Repik, President of Delovaya Rossiya national public organisation

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Cash, Calculator, Pen

(Kremlin.ru – June 30, 2016) Vladimir Putin discussed with Delovaya Rossiya President Alexei Repik the results of the union’s activity over the past 15 years and ways of improving the business climate in Russia. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, Mr Repik. This year marks 15 years since Delovaya Rossiya was founded. A great deal has been accomplished during […]

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RBTH: St. Petersburg State University researchers battle corruption

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Education, Academia
Cropped File Photo of Two Men in Business Suits Shaking Hands and Passing Cash

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Gleb Fedorov, RBTH – June 29, 2016) After studying more than 36,000 regional laws and regulations, researchers from St. Petersburg State University (SPbU) have found vague words and terminology that could be misused by corrupt officials. One of the most well-known sayings in Russia is “the law is like a horse harness, it […]

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