Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#28 :: Monday, 10 February 2014

Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#28 :: 10 February 2013
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POLITICS

1. Moscow Times: Richard Lourie, 10 Good Things About Putin’s Russia.
2. ITAR-TASS: Russian culture minister pledges to support talented rather than elite artists.
3. www.foreignpolicy.com: Christian Caryl, Snow Blind. When Americans look at Russia, they see what they want to see. And that’s dangerous.
4. Reuters: Olympics-Russia, and Putin, bask in afterglow of Games gold.
5. National Journal: Marina Koren, Why Russians Aren’t Smiling at You in Sochi. The first rule about smiling at Russians is you do not smile at Russians.
6. Moscow Times: John Freeman, Shared Fame and Shame at the Sochi Olympics.
7. Moscow Times: What the Papers Say, Feb. 10.
8. Forbes.com: Mark Adomanis, Why Pussy Riot Failed in One Chart.
9. RIA Novosti: Russia’s Top Satellite Company Drops Liberal Dozhd TV Channel.
10. New York Times: Independent News Station, Feeling Kremlin’s Wrath, Asks ‘Why?’
11. Interfax: Russia oldest rights group cuts staff, salaries – veteran activist.
12. www.russiatoday.com: Navalny caves in to freemasons, renames party.
13. RIA Novosti: Investigators Reopen Case Into Russian Defense Ministry Fraud.
14. Wall Street Journal: Sochi’s Softened State of Security. A Ring of Steel Outside These Games Gives Way to a Softer Security Presence Inside.
15. ITAR-TASS: Scandals around Olympics in the past – Peskov.
16. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Service with a smile: Sochi brings a breath of fresh air. Despite teething troubles over the last week, the Sochi Olympics have already shown that Russia is determined to present a new face to the world. And nowhere is this more evident than in the attitudes of those working in the Olympic hotels.
17. Bloomberg: Leonid Bershidsky, Putin Wins Patriotic Gold in Sochi.
18. Moscow Times: Scott Antel, My Great Sochi Adventure.
19. Channel One TV: Russian minister dismisses reports of surveillance in bathrooms in Sochi.
20. www.russiatoday.com: ‘Fabricated!’ NBC Sochi ‘hack hysteria’ exposed.
21. Reuters: Gay Austrian athlete says fuss over Russia law is exaggerated.
22. www.russiatoday.com: Peter Lavelle, Journalistic malpractice & the dangers of Russia-bashing.
23. Christian Science Monitor: Mark Sappenfield, Are problems at Sochi Olympics being blown out of proportion? The Sochi Olympics have had their problems, but they’ve been nothing out of the ordinary. The unusually strong focus on those problems comes amid heavy scrutiny of Russia as host.
24. Financial Times: Kathrin Hille, Russia seeks to replicate Beijing’s success story.
25. New York Times: ‘Get Lucky,’ Sochi Style.
26. Pravda.ru/Politonline.ru: USA cuts Sochi 2014 Opening Ceremony not to let people see Russia.
27. Los Angeles Times: Village near Sochi despoiled by Winter Olympics. Olympics-related construction took a toll on Akhshtyr’s natural resources, and security measures have restricted villagers’ travel and access to supplies.

ECONOMY

28. Interfax: Russian economy sees rise in demand for highly-skilled scientists – official.
29. Moscow Times/Vedomosti: Shuvalov Reassures on Property Tax Breaks.
30. www.russiatoday.com: Patrick Young, Foreign investors ditching France for Russia.
31. Moscow Times: Winners and Losers in Russia’s Shrinking Car Market.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

32. ITAR-TASS: Russia’s responsibility for peace, security increases – Lavrov.
33. Valdai Discussion Club: Feng Shaolei, President Xi’s Trip to Sochi Presents Far-Reaching Significance.
34. The Voice of Russia: A litany of ‘dormant opportunities’: Russian ambassador urges to keep up US-Russia dialogue.
35. NBCNews.com: Envoy: America ‘Managing’ Difficult U.S-Russian Relations. (Michael McFaul)
36. The Voice of Russia: McFaul is quite conservative and quite different from principles of “reset” – Russian pundit. (Andrei Kortunov)
37. The Voice of Russia: Dialogue between Russia and NATO on missile defense exhausted – Grushko.
38. Interfax-Ukraine: Euromaidan divides Ukraine into two almost equal camps – survey.
39. Business New Europe: Tadeusz Iwanski, COMMENT: Ukraine faces political gridlock with more radical Maidan.
40. AFP: Ukraine’s second ‘revolution’ still looking for its colour.
41. ITAR-TASS: Kiev to bear multimillion losses due to confrontation – expert.
42. ITAR-TASS: Ukraine is sliding towards default, experts say.
43. ITAR-TASS: Russia is not transferring second tranche to Ukraine yet – Siluanov.
44. Carnegie Moscow Center: Dmitri Trenin, Keep Ukraine in One Piece, and at Peace With Itself.
45. Kyiv Post: Will Ritter, A two-state solution for Ukraine?
46. Christian Science Monitor: Can Germany help divided Ukraine find a middle ground? A more assertive Germany may prove best positioned to secure Russian cooperation and help Ukraine accommodate both East and West.
47. The International New York Times: Celestine Bohlen, Awaiting Russia’s Next Move in Ukraine.
48. Paul Goble: Window on Eurasia: Absorbing Ukraine Would Destroy Russia, Moscow Commentator Says. (Yevgeny Ikhlov)
49. The Globalist: Stephan Richter, “F*** the EU:” How Victoria Nuland Stirs the Pot in Ukraine. What really caused the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Europe to speak her mind so clearly?