No economic amnesty to Russian opposition leader, tycoon yet – ombudsman

Boris Titov file photo

(Interfax – July 23, 2013) Russia’s business ombudsman Boris Titov, who proposed the idea of economic amnesty, has said that it is difficult to grant it now to opposition leader Aleksey Navalnyy and former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovskiy from the legal standpoint. Titov said this at a news conference in Moscow on 23 July, as reported by Russian news agency […]

» Read more

Leading Russian Economist Slams Medvedev’s Move To ‘Police’ State Companies

Empty Boardroom

(RIA Novosti – Moscow, July 22, 2013) Head of research at the Higher School of Economics Yevgeniy Yasin has described the Russian government instruction placing heads of state companies under obligation to account for their income and spending on par with officials as “absolute piffle”. Instead of building these mechanisms, one should continue the course to privatization, the economist has […]

» Read more

First 13 Businessmen Released in Economic Amnesty

Russian Jail File Photo Showing Outer Wall, Windows, Barbed Wire

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, July 23, 2013) ­ The first thirteen businessmen have been set free in Russia as part of an economic amnesty for white-collar criminals that came into effect earlier this month, business ombudsmen Boris Titov said Tuesday. “As of now, 13 people have been released under the amnesty,” Titov told reporters. Eight people have left pre-trial detention […]

» Read more

Universities ignore economy’s demands; Russian institutions produce too many lawyers and economists, not enough IT specialists

Moscow State University

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Lyudmila Nazdracheva, special to RBTH – July 22, 2013) Almost 6 percent of Russian university graduates register at the unemployment office immediately after graduating. Lawyers lead the way in this area. There is also an excess of economists, real estate agents, travel managers, civil engineers, bankers, teachers and psychologists. Russian universities are still […]

» Read more

Navalny Highlights Investors’ Black-Box Conundrum: Russia Credit

File Photo of Alexei Navalny Being Grabbed by Police at Protest

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Ksenia Galouchko & Vladimir Kuznetsov – July 22, 2013) The conviction of Alexey Navalny, a political opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, highlights risks faced by investors as they weigh whether to buy assets in the world’s biggest energy exporter. Russia, which earned about $350 billion from oil and gas exports last year, has a Baa1 […]

» Read more

New Privatization Scheme Unveiled

Empty Boardroom

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin – July 19, 2013) The Federal Property Management Agency is urging banks to give out loans to investors ready to purchase government assets as part of a new scheme to stimulate privatization, which has been slow to take off. The loans provided by the banks will be backed by the privatized companies’ shares, […]

» Read more

Pyotr Ofitserov: The Man Who Stood Beside Navalny To The Bitter End

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Robert Coalson – July 18, 2013) Opposition politician and anticorruption blogger Aleksei Navalny got all the press during the nearly four months of his trial. But he was not alone in the dock, as he took pains to point out during his closing remarks on July 5. “First, I would like to take this opportunity to […]

» Read more

Tanks, Days Off, Abortions: 24 Things Russia Gives the Most Of

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, July 17, 2013) ­ What do these three things have in common: tanks, abortions and instant coffee? They are all things that Russia exports, performs or consumes more than any other nation. Esquire magazine’s Russian-language edition on Monday released a list of 24 things for which Russia is a statistically proven world leader. One standout is […]

» Read more

Russia faces economic costs from Navalny’s conviction

File Photo of Outdoor Electronic Sign with Russian Exchange Data

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – July 19, 2013) The Kremlin was hit with what is like to be a serious of extremely expensive bills following the conviction of opposition blogger Alexei Navalny to five years in jail on corruption charges by a court in Kirov on July 19. Russia’s stock market tanked as the […]

» Read more

Navalny Sentence a Blow to Business

File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Irina Filatova – July 19, 2013) The Russian stock market reacted pessimistically Thursday following the ruling of a regional court that sentenced opposition leader Alexei Navalny to five years in prison for embezzlement. The sentence is widely believed to be another blow to Russia’s image and is likely to result in an a more dramatic […]

» Read more

Navalny’s Co-Defendant: Corrupt Biznes-man or Collateral Damage?

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Alexey Eremenko, RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, July 18, 2013) ­ This week, a little-known Russian business consultant named Pyotr Ofitserov finally took his eldest daughter on a long-promised visit to Moscow’s famed Tretyakov Gallery. They squeezed in the outing between errands on Tuesday afternoon, as Thursday Ofitserov expects to be jailed for up to five years. “It’s funny how much […]

» Read more

Navalny’s sentence to lead to outflow of young lawyers, businessmen from Russia – Prokhorov

Alexei Navalny file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 18, 2013) The sentence of opposition activist Alexei Navalny is affecting the interests of small and middle-sized businesses and will lead to the outflow of young lawyers and businessmen from Russia, leader of the Civil Platform party Mikhail Prokhorov said. “The sentence passed on Alexei Navalny and Pyotr Ofitserov is not just a sentence to the […]

» Read more

Intel, IBM Feel Putin Pinch as Medvedev Tech Hub Falters

Skolkovo File Photo

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Henry Meyer, Irina Reznik & Jason Corcoran – July 17, 2013) When Russian agents stormed the downtown offices of the Skolkovo technology hub being built near Moscow on April 18, a startled Intel Corp (INTC). executive got caught up in the raid. Dusty Robbins, head of global programs for the world’s largest chipmaker, was forced to […]

» Read more

Putin Foe Navalny Faces Jail as Investors Fret About Selloff

File Photo of Alexei Navalny Being Grabbed by Police at Protest

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Jason Corcoran & Henry Meyer – July 17, 2013) Alexey Navalny faces possible imprisonment tomorrow in the highest-profile case against a critic of President Vladimir Putin since the prosecution of former oil billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky. A judge in Kirov, 900 kilometers (560 miles) northeast of Moscow, will rule on charges that Navalny defrauded state-owned timber company […]

» Read more

B20 publishes White Book of recommendations for G20 leaders

File Photo of Russia-Hosted G20 Banners Outdoors Before Yellow and White Facade of Historic-Looking Building

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 16, 2013) The Business 20 (B20) on Tuesday unveiled its definitive White Book of recommendations for the Group of 20 (G20) leaders, of which Russia is president in 2013. “The recommendations were discussed during the St Petersburg (economic) forum and submitted to (Russian President) Vladimir Putin, and some of them will be presented during the summit […]

» Read more

Chubais sees income drop 42.5 mln rubles in 2012

Anatoly Chubais file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 15, 2013) The income of the CEO of state company Rusnano, Anatoly Chubais fell by 42.5 million rubles to 217.7 million rubles in 2012 from 260.2 million rubles a year earlier. Chubais’ income from his main place of work dropped to 20.55 million rubles from 22.4 million rubles, materials from the state company show. As of […]

» Read more

Russian Mobile Revolution Sparks Fight for Network Orders

iPad file photo

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Adam Ewing, Ilya Khrennikov & Marie Mawad – July 15, 2013) Russian mobile carriers are gearing up for about $13 billion in spending to boost data speeds, creating the next major battleground for network suppliers. Russia is, by land mass, the largest country in the world, making it potentially tremendously lucrative for makers of equipment such […]

» Read more

US, Russian Officials Preview G20 Summit

File Photo of Russia-Hosted G20 Banners Outdoors Before Yellow and White Facade of Historic-Looking Building

(RIA Novosti – WASHINGTON, July 12, 2013) ­ Russia is doing relatively well, but needs a strong global economy to sustain and improve its recent growth, which makes the upcoming Group of 20 (G20) Summit it is hosting in September critically important to the country, Sergey Kislyak, Russia’s ambassador to the United States, told a conference in Washington on Friday […]

» Read more

Corruption halts approx 14% of businesses in Russia – RUIE

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

(Interfax -YEKATERINBURG, July 12, 2013) A third of Russian and foreign investors believe that corruption is an impediment, President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RUIE) Alexander Shokhin said. “Corruption halts approximately 14% of businesses in Russia,” he said at a roundtable, “Investment Climate in Russian Regions through Foreign Investors’ Eyes”, held at the Innoprom 2013 show in […]

» Read more

Interfax: Moscow urges Washington not to extend Magnitsky List

Memorial Flowers and Photo of Sergei Magnitsky

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 12, 2013) The Russian Foreign Ministry has urged Washington to stow plans for an extended Magnitsky List and warned it would react sternly, given the rights abuses the United States is committing globally. “We urged the U.S. administration to demonstrate wisdom and not to take steps that would spoil the atmosphere of bilateral relations,” Russian Foreign […]

» Read more

Russian state support system under WTO to be ready in several months – Dvorkovich

WTO Logo

(Interfax – YEKATERINBURG, July 11, 2013) Russia’s system for providing state support in the context of the WTO, which the nation joined last year, will fall into place in the next few months, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said. “In general, it seems to me this system will line up in a few months, and both domestic and foreign producers […]

» Read more

U.S. Hotels Investing Heavily in Russia

Cash, Calculator, Pen

(RIA Novosti – Maria Young -WASHINGTON, July 11, 2013) ­ American travelers to Moscow, St. Petersburg and elsewhere in Russia may find themselves in familiar surroundings, thanks to a surge in US hotel chains opening across the country. “Russia is one of our three top priority markets, because travel to and from Russia is growing fast. We see it as […]

» Read more

Rights commissioner denounces Magnitsky’s postmortem conviction

Memorial Flowers and Photo of Sergei Magnitsky

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 11, 2013) Russian Human Rights Commissioner Vladimir Lukin has denounced the postmortem conviction of late Hermitage Capital auditor Sergei Magnitsky by Moscow’s Tverskoi Court. “I object to trying people post mortem. There is an element of some ancient pagan mentality in this,” Lukin told Interfax on Thursday. “Then let’s arrange the trial of Ivan the Terrible […]

» Read more

Hermitage Capital blasts Magnitsky’s posthumous conviction

Memorial Flowers and Photo of Sergei Magnitsky

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 11, 2013) British investment fund Hermitage Capital has attacked Thursday’s posthumous conviction of its lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and in absentia conviction of its chief executive William Browder. “This trial reflects the authorities’ disrespect for fundamental international legal values and personal rights and freedoms,” Hermitage said in a statement made available to Interfax. Moscow’s Tverskoi Court convicted […]

» Read more

Russia’s Medvedev hopes Obama, Biden visits will boost economic ties

File Photo of Barack Hussein Obama and Dmitry Medvedev with Flags, Shaking Hands

(Interfax – July 11, 2013) Russian Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev has said he hopes the upcoming visits of US President Barack Obama and US Vice-President Joe Biden to Russia will strengthen Russian-US economic ties. He was speaking at the Innoprom industrial trade fair in Yekaterinburg on 11 July, as reported by Russian privately-owned Interfax news agency. “I hope that the […]

» Read more

Rotenberg denies his friend Putin helps him run his business

File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 10, 2013) Russian oligarch Arkady Rotenberg has denied that Russian President Vladimir Putin, who he has known for a long time, helps him solve his business problems. “Vladimir Vladimirovich and I started training in sambo wrestling when I was a little over 13 and he a little over 12. Our acquaintance goes back to that time, […]

» Read more

For $50 Million You Too Can Enter Putin Moscow Playhouse

Vladimir Putin file photo

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Stepan Kravchenko, Evgenia Pismennaya & Irina Reznik – July 10, 2013) Josef Stalin built a massive luxury apartment compound across the river from the Kremlin to both reward and spy on his closest comrades. The one Vladimir Putin built for his clique is smaller and harder to find. Tucked among a warren of Soviet-era structures about […]

» Read more

Medvedev calls on business to work more closely with government

Dmitry Medvedev file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 10, 2013) Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has called on Russian business to more closely work with the government in conditions of a complex economic situation in the country and changes in the world model for economic growth. “For the state and for business it is important not to waste time and to act in conjunction, […]

» Read more

Rising Financial Literacy among Russians is a State Priority

Cash, Calculator, Pen

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Irina Filatova – July 10, 2013) The name Lyonya Golubkov is well-known to many Russians from the 1990s television advertising campaign that encouraged millions of people to put their money into MMM, a vast financial pyramid whose subsequent collapse caused devastating losses. Choosing investment instruments is still a problem for most Russians as the financial […]

» Read more

Russian privatisation programme in complete disarray

Empty Boardroom

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – July 10, 2013) Russia’s privatisation programme fell into complete disarray on July 9 after the state-owned shipping giant Sovcomflot announced it would float a 25% stake on the New York Stock Exchange later this year. The decision to launch an IPO on the US exchange comes only a few months after Russian President Vladimir […]

» Read more

Some 10,000 White-Collar Criminals to Qualify for Amnesty

Russian Jail File Photo Showing Outer Wall, Windows, Barbed Wire

(RIA Novosti – NOVO-OGARYOVO, July 9, 2013) ­ Up to 10,000 first-time violators of financial laws should qualify for amnesty, Russia’s chief prosecutor said Tuesday. “A very large number of businesspeople” have been exempted from criminal liability or given milder penalties, or released from custody, as part of the “humanizing” legislation, Prosecutor General Yury Chaika told President Vladimir Putin. It […]

» Read more

Navalny’s day in court: politics and protection

File Photo of Alexei Navalny Being Grabbed by Police at Protest

(Moscow News – Anna Arutunyan, Editor & Correspondent at themoscownews.com – July 8, 2013) With the verdict in opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s trial scheduled for July 18, the bets are on: will he get six years in jail like the prosecutors asked? Or a suspended sentence? What’s interesting about this question is that the answer has very little to do […]

» Read more

Love more important than career for most Russians – poll

File Photo of Crowd of Russians with One Waving Russian Flag

(Interfax – MOSCOW. July 6, 2013) Mutual and happy love contributes to career growth, in the view of 62% of Russians interviewed by the www.superjob.ru web portal in the run-up to Day of Family, Love and Faithfulness. At the same time, 10% of those polled believe these feelings only obstruct career growth and 16% do not see any relation between […]

» Read more

First businessmen to be released under amnesty in several days

Russian Jail File Photo Showing Outer Wall, Windows, Barbed Wire

(Interfax – MOSCOW. July 3, 2013) Convicts eligible for the economic amnesty, which comes into effect on July 4, will be released in several days because the procedure of releasing convicts under amnesty is held in several stages, spokesperson of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service Kristina Belousova said. “From the day the amnesty comes into effect, head of a correction […]

» Read more

Putin Calls on Moscow Airports to Reveal Owners’ Identities

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, July 3, 2013) ­ All Moscow airports must disclose their beneficiary owners as part of a plan to create a unified aviation hub for the capital, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday, in a move that appears to put pressure on Domodedovo airport whose beneficiary owners have refused to reveal themselves. “It is essential that all […]

» Read more

Lawyer of Magnitsky’s relatives says trial of deceased auditor illegal

Memorial Flowers and Photo of Sergei Magnitsky

(Interfax – MOSCOW,. July 3, 2013) The defense team of Hermitage Capital’s auditor Sergei Magnitsky, who died in a detention facility, said that a guilty verdict within the framework of the trial in absentia of Magnitsky was needed to justify his death. “The trial is needed just for this – to tell the entire world – here, look, the court […]

» Read more

Business Amnesty Bill Approved

Russian Jail File Photo Showing Outer Wall, Windows, Barbed Wire

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – July 3, 2013) The State Duma on Tuesday passed in the third and final reading the long-awaited economic crimes amnesty bill, which will free several thousand businessmen from the nation’s prisons. But despite the fact that the legislation was supported by all of the Duma parties when it was being prepared, only […]

» Read more

Ombudsman Lukin welcomes economic amnesty, says too early to evaluate it

Vladimir Lukin file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 2, 2013) Russian human rights commissioner Vladimir Lukin said he expected the economic amnesty, declared by the Russian State Duma on Tuesday, to have positive effect. “Any amnesty of not very serious criminals is a positive deed. I welcome this amnesty,” Lukin told Interfax on Tuesday. “Arguments on how wide and deep the amnesty is are […]

» Read more

Human rights activist Alexeyeva skeptical of declared economical amnesty

Lyudmila Alekseyeva file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 2, 2013) Russia’s oldest human rights activist, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group Lyudmila Alexeyeva said she criticized the economic amnesty declared by the Russian State Duma on Tuesday. “The obligation to repay damages undercuts this entire amnesty. This is a fly in the ointment,” Alexeyeva told Interfax on Tuesday. “If a person indeed did steal, […]

» Read more

Summary: Putin urges retention of basic principles in long-term gas contracts

File Photo of Blue Flame from Natural Gas

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 2, 2013) Abandoning the basic principles used to draw up long-term gas contracts will in the final analysis undermine the energy security of gas importing countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) summit in Moscow on Monday. He told delegates at the organization’s second meeting that the application of new […]

» Read more

Moscow business conference explores competitiveness

Empty Boardroom

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Maria Stambler- June 28, 2013) Few doubts exist as to what needs to rank high on Russia’s economic agenda: growth and competitiveness in a healthy and transparent business climate. The ongoing discussions in the government and the business community revolve around how to achieve them. At the annual economic forum in St. Petersburg on June […]

» Read more

Russian regulator proves first case of insider trading

File Photo of Man Placing Stack of Large Bills into Inside Pocket of Suitcoat

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 2, 2013) The Federal Financial Markets Service (FFMS) has for the first time proven a case of insider trading on the Russian market, the head of the regulator, Dmitry Pankin said on his official blog. The case concerns transactions with shares in cosmetics firm Kalina (RTS: KLNA) in the fall of 2011, ahead of the announcement […]

» Read more

Turkey could become biggest Russian gas importer before long – Miller

File Photo of Blue Flame from Natural Gas

(Interfax, MOSCOW, June 28, 2013) Turkey could become the biggest importer of Russian gas before very long, overtaking Germany, Gazprom (RTS: GAZP) CEO Alexei Miller told reporters. “Turkey wants to buy more of our gas as its needs grow and possibly due to a shortfall from other suppliers. The growth could be 20% in the near future on top of […]

» Read more

Over quarter of Russians convinced nothing can be achieved with strikes – poll

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 27, 2013) The faith of Russian citizens in the efficiency of going on strike has decreased – the number of those considering strikes as the only way to resolve issues has gone down in the past years, while the number of skeptics grew considerably, a poll showed. In 1989 17% respondents considered strikes to be the […]

» Read more

Lobbying hampering privatization in Russia – Medvedev

Empty Boardroom

MOSCOW. June 27 (Interfax) – The chronic non-fulfillment of privatization plans in Russia is related not just to the market situation but to lobbying also, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said at Thursday’s Cabinet meeting, which discussed a truncated version of the privatization program. “Let’s be honest, this also has something to do with the energy of lobbying by selected […]

» Read more

The disappearing entrepreneur

Cash, Calculator, Pen

(opendemocracy.net – Mikhail Loginov – June 27, 2013) Mikhail Loginov is a journalist and novelist based in St Petersburg. He is the author of the recently published bestselling political thriller “Battle for Kremlin”. Russia’s small businesses are officially disappearing. Perestroika was supposed to give everyone the chance to be his own boss. Things, however, turned out rather differently.  Mikhail Loginov […]

» Read more

Jailed businessmen await amnesty or pardon?

Russian Jail File Photo Showing Outer Wall, Windows, Barbed Wire

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Marina Obrazkova, special to RBTH – June 26, 2013) The Russian president’s unexpected initiative may set back preparation of the law. The economic amnesty decree is almost ready, according to members of the lower house of Russia’s Federal Assembly. The State Duma deputies hope to get the bill passed by July 5. Yet, […]

» Read more

State to Keep Rosneft and RusHydro in New Privatization Plan

Alexei Ulyukayev file photo

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 27, 2013) ­ Russian oil giant Rosneft, hydropower holding company RusHydro and the nation’s second-largest lender VTB Bank are among assets that should stay under state control, Economics Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said on Thursday after presenting the government’s new privatization plan for 2014-2016. “Proceeding from the current state of world markets and problems with the […]

» Read more

Russia Scales Down Asset Sales as Medvedev Bemoans Delays

Empty Boardroom

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Scott Rose & Olga Tanas – June 27, 2013) Russia will raise a third less than previously estimated from asset sales in the next three years, downsizing the program as Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev criticized the lobbying that’s putting a brake on plans. Revenue from asset sales will bring the budget about 630 billion rubles ($19 […]

» Read more

Moscow Blog: The Kremlin’s PR incompetence

File Photo of St. Petersburg Economy Forum Outdoor Banners and Building Facade

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris – June 26, 2013) Russia has just hosted its premier investment summit, the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on June 20-22, which is supposed to showcase the country and attract badly needed foreign investment. Instead, thanks to the Kremlin’s typically moronic handling of its PR, it only managed to make Russia […]

» Read more
1 15 16 17 18 19 22