JRL NEWSWATCH: “Regional Elections Rundown” – Bear Market Brief (Sept. 28, 2018)

Russia Regions Map

“Moscow’s political control over regional governments is slipping, opening the door for local elites to gain greater control …. [including] greater de facto control over natural resources, creating opportunities for external investment but … increasing corruption risks …. [T]rend[s] [are] rooted in a sustained decline in living standards … also prompt[ing] unprecedented protest activity and a more confrontational … ‘systemic’ opposition …. United Russia (UR) suffered a series of setbacks in September’s local elections, revealing the growing scale of popular disillusionment with the Kremlin primarily due to falling living standards. If these trends continue, Putin’s centralised ‘vertical of power’, in which governors are effectively his direct subordinates, will no longer be viable. … creat[ing] a more pluralistic one in which power is … more diffuse among the regions. …”

Click here for: “Regional Elections Rundown” – Bear Market Brief (Sept. 28, 2018)

 

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