(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – November 20, 2013) The United States may publish the extended version of the “Magnitsky list” as early as next month, while Europe is expected to pass a similar measure, Hermitage Capital investment fund president and bill supporter William Browder said. The Magnitsky Act, enacted by the U.S. Congress in December 2012 and named after late […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – November 19, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin is frustrated with the slow progress in his anti-corruption drive and struggling to take charge of the situation. Having ignored the problem for over a decade, the president has been forced to finally deal with the problem of graft, as Russia can […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 16 (Interfax) – The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office has dropped its charges against the Foundation for the Development of the Center for the Elaboration and Commercialization of New Technologies (Skolkovo Foundation) after the latter corrected the violations uncovered earlier, the Prosecutor General’s Office said on Saturday. “The management of the non-profit organization Foundation for the Development of the […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Delphine d’Amora – November 15, 2013) President Vladimir Putin has reprimanded officials for discussing government issues in the mass media and suggested that those who oppose government policy had better leave their posts. The president was speaking Thursday at a meeting of the Strategic Initiatives Advisory Board when he was asked about a contentious bill […]
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NOVO-OGARYOVO, November 15 (RIA Novosti) Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to fight corrupt officials regardless of their rank or any other factors that may hinder the effort. “We will in the most serious way … continue eradicating this infection regardless of position or party membership,” Putin said at a meeting of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, which is tasked […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Anna Arutunyan – November 14, 2013) On November 2, President Vladimir Putin signed a controversial law changing Russia’s anti-terrorism legislation, enabling law enforcement authorities to confiscate the property of relatives of anyone who has committed a terror attack. The Moscow News has asked five experts to weigh in on whether the law will work and […]
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(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 203 – Roger McDermott – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – November 12, 2013) Since President Vladimir Putin appointed Sergei Shoigu to be Russia’s defense minister in November 2012, the defense ministry leadership has resorted to Soviet-era “snap inspections” of its Armed Forces to raise combat readiness and gain additional insight into the condition of […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 8 (Interfax) – The attitude of Russians to police has improved lately, the Public Opinion Foundation said. “There has been an improvement of every essential parameter of personal security and police performance during nationwide monitoring; the situation looks better in 2013 than it was throughout the entire period of monitoring since 2009,” the Foundation said in a press […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Anna Arutunyan – November 7, 2013) Common wisdom has it that all of Russia’s ills originate in two simple things: fools and roads. Indeed, one of the biggest factors holding back the country that occupies one-sixth of the world’s landmass may be its transportation arteries – or lack thereof. 1) Some better off on horses […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 1 (Interfax) – It is too soon to talk of radical success in the fight against corruption, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with Reuters. “I think there is movement (on corruption) but it is probably too soon to talk about some kind of strong, radical successes,” Medvedev said in the interview. He said Russia […]
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MOSCOW. Oct 31 (Interfax) – Russia has made progress in the protection of intellectual property, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told the audience at the “Open Innovations” Forum in Moscow on Thursday. “There is one more theme, which, unfortunately, has been very complicated in Russia for a long period. I mean intellectual property. Nevertheless, I think that we have recently taken […]
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(Interfax – October 31, 2013) The materials of the checks carried out by the Prosecutor-General’s Office, which uncovered serious violations regarding the use of budget funds in the Skolkovo innovation foundation, will not cause an immediate launch of criminal cases, privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax reported, quoting an informed source in the law-enforcement structures as saying. No criminal cases expected […]
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MOSCOW, October 30 (RIA Novosti) “Why are you arresting me?” “Isn’t it just easier to give money to the policeman?” “What do you do if the police beat you?” Practice conversations in a special Russian language-learning textbook handed out at an experimental new cultural integration center for migrants focus on topics considered most relevant to guest workers […]
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(Kremlin.ru – October 30, 2013) The Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office spoke with journalists about the results of auditing declarations by civil servants and staff at state corporations, as well as companies with state participation, conducted in 2013. Sergei Ivanov reminded journalists that anticorruption standards apply to all civil servants and officials, certain categories of municipal offices […]
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(Kremlin.ru – October 30, 2013) Vladimir Putin held a meeting of the Presidential Council for Countering Corruption. The main issues on the agenda were implementing state anti-corruption policy, and the effectiveness of recent legislative and administrative measures. PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Good afternoon, colleagues, We are here today to discuss the results of state anti-corruption policy. We have taken […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – October 31, 2013) Fraudulent schemes used during the creation of state-owned innovation hub Skolkovo have created the potential for misspending almost $4 billion in state funds, the Prosecutor General’s Office said Wednesday. “A lack of proper control on the part of Skolkovo Fund management over implementation of the project has prompted uncontrolled […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – October 31, 2013) Some 200 officials, including eight unidentified senior officials, have been fired for “loss of confidence” over information in their income declarations for 2012, Kremlin chief of staff Sergei Ivanov told a meeting of President Vladimir Putin’s anti-corruption council Wednesday. In addition, the official number of corruption crimes decreased this […]
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MOSCOW, October 30 (RIA Novosti) Russian prosecutors said Wednesday they have exposed major financial irregularities and waste at a center for innovation that has long been the pet project of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. The Prosecutor General’s office said in a statement that spending at the Skolkovo Foundation has become “out of control and extravagant” and that it has […]
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MOSCOW. Oct 30 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said an atmosphere of intolerance of corruption should be created in Russia. “The laws alone, the demands [against corruption] alone are not enough. We need to form an atmosphere of zero tolerance of corruption in society,” Putin told the Council on Corruption Prevention on Wednesday. The president believes there is a […]
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MOSCOW. Oct 23 (Interfax) – Russians believe that the degree of corruption in Russia as a whole remains high with the local authorities being the most corruption-ridden sphere, sociologists tell Interfax. Studies conducted by VTsIOM public opinion center over the years indicate that presently 80% of respondents find the current degree of corruption high while last year the opinion was […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – October 18, 2013) Russian companies have been handed middling ratings in an appraisal of 100 companies from 16 emerging markets released by Transparency International. Including six Russian companies metal giants RusAl, Norilsk Nikel Evraz and Severstal, together with energy majors Gazprom and LUKoil on three separate scores, the survey, which was released on […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, October 17, 2013) New Audit Chamber Chairman Tatiana Golikova says she plans to use her experience as a financier when planning changes to the work of the chamber. “I think there will be changes. If only because I have been professionally engaged in finance all my life and I have my own opinion on what to look […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – October 15, 2013) President Vladimir Putin has submitted to the State Duma a bill that would restore the right of investigators to open tax fraud cases without a request from the tax authorities a move that critics fear could lead to a renewed persecution of business executives, a news report said Tuesday. If approved, […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Jeremy Hodges – October 14, 2013) Hermitage Capital Management founder William Browder won the dismissal of a U.K. libel case filed by a former Russian policeman accused of playing a part in the 2009 death of legal and tax adviser Sergei Magnitsky. Judge Peregrine Simon ruled that the U.K. wasn’t the right jurisdiction for the ex-policeman, […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – September 27, 2013) Russia might have an international reputation as a cauldron of stewing corruption, but people in Moscow appear to be more honest than their counterparts in Zurich and Lisbon. That was the finding of an experiment conducted by Reader’s Digest magazine that saw its reporters drop 192 wallets in 16 cities around the […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – September 24, 2013) EBRD president Suma Chakrabarti acknowledged Tuesday that Russia’s sputtering economy combined with deeply ingrained problems such as corruption and a weak court system were deterring both foreign and domestic investors. But he insisted that the opportunities continued to far outweigh the risks and said the Russian authorities were taking much-needed steps to […]
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(RIA Novosti – Karin Zeitvogel – WASHINGTON, September 18, 2013) Russia has climbed 10 places since 1995 in a global ranking of economic freedom, while the United States has fallen 13 spots over the same period, according to a report from a Canadian public policy think-tank released Wednesday. Russia ranked 101st out of 151 nations, up 10 places from […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky, an Editor and Novelist, is a Bloomberg View contributor – September 17, 2013) If you’ve ever wondered about the size of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s private fortune, allow me to offer a clue: He doesn’t need one. From time to time, Western journalists and bloggers speculate about whether Putin is one of the world’s […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Artem Zagorodnov, RBTH – September 16, 2013) The fight against graft has emerged as a rallying cry for Russia’s nascent opposition, yielding victories in local elections. The Kremlin agrees with its critics about the problem. Analysts hope the business climate stands to benefit. Dmitry Bykov, the charismatic Russian TV host-turned-opposition leader, stepped to […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, September 16, 2013) Almost half of all Russians, 44 percent, agree with opposition leader Alexei Navalny that the ruling United Russia party is made up of “crooks and thieves,” a recent opinion poll showed Monday, a significant increase from two years ago. Navalny, an anti-corruption activist who finished second in Moscow’s recent mayoral election, coined […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, September 12, 2013) Business ombudsman Boris Titov believes the issue of criminal prosecution of businessmen is blown out of proportion, although law enforcement agencies are frequently biased against businessmen. “Statements made in the press sometimes blow the issue out of proportion. Statistically, it’s not 300,000 people who have been prosecuted. A little more than 13,000 people, including […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – September 13, 2013) Rosneft president and Kremlin insider Igor Sechin is facing accusations of corporate misconduct that could be reviewed by the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, or RSPP, within a week, a news report said Friday. Gennady Osorgin, a minority shareholder in the Rosneft-owned TNK-BP Holding, sent a complaint regarding Sechin to RSPP’s […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – MOSCOW BLOG, September 12, 2013) Everyone assumes that the Kremlin cheats when it comes to elections. Did the Kremlin steal the Moscow City election for mayor on September 8 from opposition blogger Alexei Navalny? Ballot stuffing has been par for the course. It is widely accepted that the authorities added about 12% to the […]
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(Interfax – Novo-Ogarevo, September 9, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that it is necessary, while defending human rights and freedoms in the North Caucasus, not to ignore sweeping accusations of allegedly widespread violations of human rights in the region. “Attempts by foreign states to use the existing problems in the North Caucasus to the detriment of Russia should be […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, September 6, 2013) A number of high-ranking Russian officials have provided false information in their income declarations, the head of the presidential administration said Friday. “I would like to avoid naming names, but we have some concrete results concerning exposed facts of officials providing false information,” Sergei Ivanov said on the sidelines of the G20 […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – August 29, 2013) Mikhail Fedotov, head of the Presidential Council for Human Rights, has proposed introducing a broader amnesty for economic crimes in addition to the one that began in July, Kommersant reported Wednesday. He said the amnesty should be prepared for the 20th anniversary of the Russian Constitution in December. Fedotov said the first […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – August 21, 2013) With Moscow about to vote for a new mayor this September, opposition blogger and candidate for the job Alexei Navalny is doing what he does best: exposing the sweet little earners that come from being well connected. In this case it is Anna Sobyanina, the daughter of Moscow’s incumbent mayor, Sergei […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – August 19, 2013) Military investigators have decided not to open criminal a case that could have seen former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov charged with abusing his position to misappropriate government funds, a news report said Monday The allegations have only deepened the haze of suspicion surrounding Serdyukov, who was fired by President Vladimir Putin in […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – August 15, 2013) The Audit Chamber has found gross violations in the processes through which authorities award state orders of 1 billion rubles ($30 million) or more. More than 70 percent of the contracts, as calculated by their quantity and value, were finalized in a “gray area,” the Chamber said on its website Thursday. There […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Marina Obrazkova, RBTH – August 14, 2013) All is fair in love and war – and in the Moscow mayoral race. As Navalny deals with accusations of receiving campaign funding from abroad, Sobyanin’s properties are the target of the opposition. The first major scandals of the Moscow mayoral campaign have erupted. The Prosecutor […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Irina Filatova – August 13, 2013) A seven-story apartment complex on a quiet Moscow street just a five minute walk from the Cabinet building is widely known as the White House, not only thanks to the color of its facade. The house is reportedly home to high-profile government officials inhabiting vast apartments valued at millions […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, August 12, 2013) The Kremlin’s centralized control over executive power in Russia facilitates graft, the majority of respondents in a new nationwide poll released Monday said. Forty-one percent of respondents in a new poll by independent Levada Center say that the “power vertical” which brings regional and municipal authorities under the federal government’s close control […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Anna Arutunyan – August 5, 2013) Every few years, the specter of Russian nationalism rears its head, sending people who think they understand a thing or two about this country screaming in horror in all directions. The reason, I think, is that in Western democracies, “nationalism” is understood as a chauvinistic sense of supremacy that […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, August 5, 2013) Four environmental activists in southern Russia have been given lengthy jail terms for extorting money from a real estate developer, though they denied the accusations, Russian media reported. Four employees of the Gelendzhik Human Rights Center in the Krasnodar Region were given jail terms of between eight and 13 years in a […]
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(Interfax – SELIGER, Tver region, Aug 2, 2013) The main problems in Russia are corruption, low incomes of citizens and insufficient infrastructure development, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. “The first issue and first problem is the fight against corruption, which is eating our society and state system. The second issue – and all this is interrelated – is low incomes […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, August 2. 2013) The Russian government appeared to renew its support for the Skolkovo innovation hub Thursday as Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev told the Cabinet that the embattled project would be included in a state program and receive 502 billion rubles ($15.2 billion) of funding through 2020. The brainchild of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, July 30, 2013) While the number of bribes being offered in Russia rose 30 percent in the first six months of this year, the number of bribes accepted was down 6.5 percent, a top prosecutor said Tuesday, questioning the objectivity of those figures. Such figures could be related to the desire of regional prosecutors to […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 27, 2013) Opacity of the Russian judicial system and corruption may influence investors’ decisions to enter the Russian market, European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) President Henri Malosse said. “Today investors indeed may feel some trepidation for reasons that are linked to the reliability of the Russian judicial system, as well as for reasons of corruption,” […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, July 25, 2013) The percentage of Russians who say it is acceptable to tell white lies has almost doubled since the fall of the Soviet Union, according to a poll on Russian morals released Thursday by the Levada Center. Just 33 percent of those surveyed in 1992 said that they considered lying for a good […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – July 25, 2013) Corruption in Russia has helped drive up interest rates on loans to the point where it’s choking off economic growth. “Rates are high now and that makes it hard to do business,” Garegin Tosunyan, head of the Russian Association of Banks, said at the St Petersburg […]
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