Tag: Politics

Interfax: Putin: direct gubernatorial elections a key political trend but specific features of regions must be taken into account

Population Disaster, Demographics, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
Arm and Torso of Person in Brown Sweater Placing Paper Ballot into Ballot Box

MOSCOW. Nov 20 (Interfax) – Direct elections of governors will remain a key provision of the Russian electoral system, President Vladimir Putin President Vladimir Putin has said. “The right of voters to elect the heads of regions is the main political trend. We will undoubtedly follow it,” he said at a Wednesday meeting with the leaders of nonparliamentary parties in […]

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TRANSCRIPT: [Putin] Meeting with leaders of non-parliamentary parties

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Vladimir Putin Speaking with Flag Behind Him and Microphones in Front

(Kremlin.ru – The Kremlin, Moscow – November 20, 2013) [Complete transcript of meeting in Russian here http://www.kremlin.ru/news/19659] Vladimir Putin met with the leaders of non-parliamentary parties. Taking part in the meeting were representatives of Civic Platform, Communists of Russia, Right Cause, Patriots of Russia, the Republican Party of Russia ­ Party of People’s Freedom, Motherland, Russian Party of Pensioners for […]

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RIA Novosti: Detained Greenpeace Activists Deserve Clemency – Putin

Arctic, Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Environment, Human Rights, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Oil, Gas, Energy, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Polar Map Showing Permafrost Areas, Adapted From NOAA.gov Graphic

MOSCOW, November 21 (RIA Novosti) ­ The Greenpeace activists detained in Russia over a protest at an Arctic oil rig should be granted clemency, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday as 10 of them were released and many others granted bail. When asked to comment on their case at a meeting with Russian writers, publishers, critics and booksellers, Putin said […]

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Interfax: Putin praises “liberalization” of Russian political system

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Vladimir Putin file photo

(Interfax – November 20, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised the liberalization of the Russian political system, the privately owned Russian television channel REN TV reported on 20 Nov on 20 November. Speaking at a meeting with the leaders of parties not represented in the Duma in Moscow, Putin said that although some people complained about the large number […]

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Putin Meets for First Time With Nonparliamentary Opposition

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Vladimir Putin at Valdai Club 2013 Meeting, Adapted from Screenshot of Valdai Club Video at youtube.com

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com –  Natalya Krainova – November 21, 2013) President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday met with leaders of major nonparliamentary parties for the first time in his 13 years in power, to discuss issues that will be addressed in his state-of-the-nation speech to be delivered next month. Participants in the meeting, who included billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov of Civil […]

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Russia Can Escape Crisis Only by Ending Hyper-Centralization, Zubarevich Says

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
File Photo of Car on Road in Siberian Town

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, November 19, 2013) Russia’s regions are overwhelmingly in a deep crisis, the result of a confluence of factors that can be overcome only by ending “hyper-centralization,” restoring budgetary federalism, and somehow reversing the “degradation” and rapacity of the Moscow elite and its faith in gigantist projects, according to Natalya Zubarevich. In a […]

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RIA Novosti: Russian Patriotism Has Declined Under Putin – Poll

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Vladimir Putin file photo

MOSCOW, November 19 (RIA Novosti) ­ The proportion of Russians who consider themselves patriots has dropped by eight percent since President Vladimir Putin first took office 13 years ago, according to a new survey released by the independent Levada Center pollster Tuesday. Sixty-nine percent of respondents professed to be patriots in the poll held at the end of October, down […]

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Who Will Replace Vladimir Putin in 2018?

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Vladimir Putin Sitting at Desk

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Vojtech Bohac – November 19, 2013) Although more than four years remain until the next presidential election, the ground is already taking shape and the first noises have been made about who might enter the 2018 race. But President Vladimir Putin will almost certainly win re-election if he decides that he wants to stay put, […]

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Putin Takes Inputs on Tax Investigation Bill

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Man Placing Stack of Large Bills into Inside Pocket of Suitcoat

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin and Delphine d’Amora – November 18, 2013) While the Kremlin considers possible modifications to a bill that will restore investigators’ power to open tax fraud cases, lobbyists said small businesses and individual entrepreneurs, whose numbers are decreasing, are the ones most threatened by the legislation in its current form. The tempest centers on […]

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The art of Russian politics; Russia’s top politicians­ – including Putin­ – are avid artists, whose paintings and photographs have fetched millions at an annual St. Petersburg charity auction.

Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and St. Basil's file photo

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru –  Dmitriy Romendik, RBTH – November 16, 2013) As the chair of Russia’s Upper Parliament and a former governor of St. Petersburg, Valentina Matvienko, is more than just the country’s most well-known female politician. To some, she is considered the best female artist among all of Russia’s politicians. Matvienko’s oil paintings have become regulars […]

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Interfax: Matviyenko calls for respect of Russian Constitution

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Valentina Matviyenko file photo

MOSCOW. Nov 14 (Interfax) – Russian Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko believes the resources of the Russian Constitution have not been exhausted yet and the issue of changing it should be approached very carefully. “We should treat the Constitution very carefully. We should always remember that this document determines the long-term national development and is far from having exhausted its resources […]

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Putin to give press conference on December 19

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Vladimir Putin at Valdai Club 2013 Meeting, Adapted from Screenshot of Valdai Club Video at youtube.com

MOSCOW. Dec 18 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin will give a press conference at noon on December 19, 2013, the Kremlin press service reported on Monday. The venue of the press conference and the admission procedures will be reported later. The accreditation and briefings department of the press service and information department has begun accreditation procedures for the press […]

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Navalny’s Party Holds Founding Congress for Third Time

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Alexei Navalny Being Grabbed by Police at Protest

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Oleg Sukhov – November 18, 2013) Opposition politician Alexei Navalny formally joined the People’s Alliance party and was elected its leader on Sunday when it held its founding congress. The congress, which was attended by 111 delegates from 48 regions, marked the party’s third attempt to be registered. The People’s Alliance held previous founding congresses […]

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Changing the Russian Constitution Fraught with Dangers, Experts Say

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Russian Constitutional Court file photo

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, November 18, 2013) The Moscow media are full of stories that President Vladimir Putin plans to propose changes in the 1993 Russian Constitution in a message to the Federal Assembly on December 12 and will announce the establishment of a special 90-person Presidential council to consider and draft revisions. But some Russian […]

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Most approved government programs inconsistent with Russia’s budget – auditor

Budget, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Tatiana Golikova file photo

MOSCOW. Nov 14 (Interfax) – The parameters of 40 Russian government programs approved in 2012-2013 are inconsistent with the budget plan for 2014-2016, the chairman of the Audit Chamber, Tatyana Golikova said in an interview published by Rossiyskaya Gazeta on Thursday. “This refers to 40 state programs approved by the government in 2012-2013, which were laid at the foundation of […]

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TRANSCRIPT: [Putin at] Meeting of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives Supervisory Board

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Vladimir Putin at Valdai Club 2013 Meeting, Adapted from Screenshot of Valdai Club Video at youtube.com

(Kremlin.ru – Novo-Ogaryovo, Moscow Region – November 14, 2013) Vladimir Putin chaired a meeting of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI) Supervisory Board. Meeting participants discussed the creation of a good investment climate and the evaluation of new ASI-supported projects. PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Good afternoon, colleagues, Today we are holding our final meeting this year. So I would […]

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Pussy Riot’s Tolokonnikova is in Krasnoyarsk penitentiary – watchdog

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Pussy Riot Members in Courtroom Enclosure, With Man Showing Papers to One While Female Guard Looks On

MOSCOW. Nov 14 (Interfax) – Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, one of the convicted performers of the feminist punk group Pussy Riot, has arrived at a penal colony in Russia’s Krasnoyarsk Territory, a spokesman for the local branch of the Federal Penitentiary Institutions Service (FSIN) told Interfax on Thursday. Her family will be informed of that in due course, he said. “Tolokonnikova’s case […]

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Interfax: Putin denies that revision of tax legislation would be a clampdown on business

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Vladimir Putin at Valdai Club 2013 Meeting, Adapted from Screenshot of Valdai Club Video at youtube.com

MOSCOW. Nov 14 (Interfax) – President Vladimir Putin has ruled out the possibility of restoring the practice where police were authorized to prosecute violators of tax laws. Putin, who was speaking at a meeting of the supervisory board of the Strategic Initiatives Agency, was referring to proposals for changes to the Criminal Code to adjust it to the 2011 liberalization […]

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Kudrin: Putin’s tax crimes bill means “major backward step”

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Alexei Kudrin file photo

MOSCOW. Nov 14 (Interfax) – Former Russian finance minister Alexei Kudrin, today head of the Civil Initiatives Committee, has slammed as a “major backward step” a draft law to bring back the practice where law enforcement agencies could bypass tax authorities in prosecuting suspected tax crimes. “I support those who don’t consider it correct to empower law enforcement authorities to […]

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Putin Blasts Officials Over Discussing Disagreement in Public

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and Moscow Environs Aerial View

(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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Interfax: Putin reminds officials of ethics of talking to media

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Vladimir Putin Sitting at Desk

NOVO-OGARYOVO, near Moscow. Nov 14 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned it is unacceptable for senior government figures to discuss a planned decision with the media before it has been discussed in government. At a meeting of the supervisory board of the Strategic Initiatives Agency on Thursday, the president of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sergei […]

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RIA Novosti: Putin Vows to Eradicate Corruption Regardless of Rank

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Cropped File Photo of Two Men in Business Suits Shaking Hands and Passing Cash

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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Interfax: Most Russians see no need to participate in protest rallies – poll

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Moscow Protest file photo

MOSCOW. Nov 14 (Interfax) – The protest potential of Russian citizens dropped considerably in the past eight years and they are more eager to participate in large-scale demonstrations against falling living standards than in those advocating political issues, a poll showed. In 2005 a total of 23% were ready to engage in protest rallies, while only 17% are ready now, […]

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Interfax: Socio-cultural split in Russia can be overcome – Constitution Court Chairman

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Russian Constitutional Court file photo

MOSCOW. Nov 14 (Interfax) – Public accord in Russia is attainable and its legal grounds are the basis of the Russian Constitution, which has considerable potential for legal reforms, Russian Constitution Court Chairman Valery Zorkin said. A number of research publications emerged in the field of Russian social science in the recent years and they allow that Russia has a […]

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Pravda.ru: “Can Russia collapse and fall under Western control?”

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Race, Ethnic, Extremism, Xenophobia, Russia & the West, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Russian Duma Building

(Pravda.ru – Anton Kulikov – November 12, 2013) The Russian State Duma deputies proposed an introduction of the “Separatist Propaganda” article in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and establishing a prison sentence of three to six years for said propaganda. So far this is only a draft bill, and its future is unclear. The document was proposed for […]

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Fewer Russians willing to join protests than eight years ago – poll

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Moscow Winter Protest

(Interfax – Moscow, November 13, 2013) Russian citizens’ protest potential has significantly declined over the last eight years, and their willingness to take part in mass protests against falling living standards is higher than [their willingness to take part in protests] with political demands, sociologists have found. In 2005, the proportion of respondents willing to take part in protests was […]

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Head of Presidential Administration outlines demands on domestic policy

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and Moscow Environs Aerial View

(Interfax – November 13, 2013) The head of the Presidential Administration of Russia, Sergey Ivanov, on 13 November addressed a meeting with deputy governors who are in charge of internal policy issues. He criticized the regional and local authorities for not sorting out petty local problems so people have to turn to the federal authorities for help, told regional authorities […]

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Kudrin’s proposals to reform law enforcement structures to meet serious resistance – political expert

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Alexei Kudrin file photo

MOSCOW. Nov 11 (Interfax) – The concept to reform the law enforcement authorities drafted with the participation of the Committee of Civil Initiatives, headed by former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, is interesting but will meet serious resistance, the Center for Political Technologies First Vice President Alexei Makarkin said. “I think that the concept itself is quite adequate. I suppose that […]

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Ruling United Russia party replaces its disgraced ideology chief

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Duma Session file photo

(Interfax – Moscow, November 13, 2013) The issues of ideology in the United Russia party will be now overseen by deputy secretary of the party’s general council and a deputy speaker of the State Duma, Sergey Zheleznyak, instead of Andrey Isayev. “By the decision of the presidium of the general council, which met today, our commission for preparing party cadres, […]

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Interfax: Kremlin top official calls for fair, legitimate elections in Russia

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Arm and Torso of Person in Brown Sweater Placing Paper Ballot into Ballot Box

(Interfax – November 13, 2013) The first deputy head of the Russian presidential administration, Vyacheslav Volodin, has called for fair and legitimate elections in Russian provinces and warned regional administrations against creating “artificial competition,” the privately-owned Interfax news agency reported on 13 November. Volodin was speaking at a session with regional deputy governors. “In the realm of politics, anything that […]

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Will Russians React to Kremlin’s Unprecedented Prediction of Stagnation Ahead?

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, November 14, 2013) In an editorial today, Moscow’s “Nezavisimaya gazeta” asks what may be the key question about Russian social and political life in the next few years or more: will Russians react to the Kremlin’s unprecedented prediction that the country potentially faces decades of stagnation as a result of the government’s […]

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Lawmakers Approve Bill to Merge Top Courts

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime
Russian Duma Building

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Oleg Sukhov and Ivan Nechepurenko – November 13, 2013) The State Duma on Tuesday approved in the first reading a bill seeking to merge the Supreme Arbitration Court into the Supreme Court, as the former warned that the move could signal the end of the entire arbitration court system. Arbitration courts, which hear commercial disputes, […]

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Interfax: Putin isn’t fussed about Forbes’ declaring him world’s most powerful person

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Vladimir Putin Sitting at Desk

MOSCOW. Nov 12 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has played down the fact that Forbes’ magazine has declared him the world’s most powerful person. “I’m grateful to the experts at Forbes, but this is what I think of it: one is always uneasy about it because it’s restrictive somewhat, it may put restrictions on your decision making,” Putin told […]

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Interfax: Russians happy with life, zest for protest actions on decline – research

Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Map of Western CIS/FSU and European Environs

MOSCOW. Nov 12 (Interfax) – Most Russians are happy; nearly two-thirds of them are making plans several months in advance and the number of potential protesters is now minimal, the leading domestic sociological centers said. The Russian Public Opinion Study Center (VTsIOM), the Public Opinion Foundation and the GfK-Rus Institute for Market Research presented the “Russia Surprises” survey on Tuesday. […]

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Interfax: Public Chamber wants certain websites to be checked for xenophobic propaganda

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Race, Ethnic, Extremism, Xenophobia
File Image of Stylized Eye Surrounded by Binary Code

MOSCOW. Nov 11 (Interfax) – Secretary of the Russian Public Chamber Yevgeny Velikhov has asked head of the federal communications, information technology and mass media oversight service Roskomnadzor Alexander Zharov to check several websites suspected of engaging in the propaganda of xenophobia and racial hatred. The websites in question are “Sputnik i Pogrom” and “Pravoviye Novosti”, according to Velikhov’ letter […]

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Former Finance Minister Kudrin Proposes Major Reform of Law Enforcement

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Alexei Kudrin file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Delphine d’Amora – November 12, 2013) Former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin will present a proposal Monday to completely restructure Russia’s law enforcement system through the creation of independent municipal, regional and federal authorities. The reforms were formulated by The Institute for the Rule of Law at the European University in St. Petersburg and anti-corruption NGO […]

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Russian Bureaucrats Should Take Constitution Exam – Top Lawmaker

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and St. Basil's

MOSCOW, November 12 (RIA Novosti) ­ The speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament said in an op-ed published Tuesday that the country’s politicians are too ignorant about the Constitution and that civil servants should be made to pass an exam on it before they can enter government service. “[The Constitution] has ceased to be required reading for many politicians […]

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Putin Says Forbes’ Most Powerful Person Title Has Made Him ‘Cautious’

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Vladimir Putin Sitting at Desk

MOSCOW, November 12 (RIA Novosti) ­ Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that being labeled the world’s most powerful person by Forbes magazine this year has made him “more cautious,” his first-ever public comment on the issue. “I appreciate Forbes experts’ opinion, but I personally believe that, first, it always makes you cautious because it limits you a little bit […]

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Zhirinovsky Comments Trigger Outcry Across North Caucasus

Chechnya, Dagestan, North Caucasus, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Race, Ethnic, Extremism, Xenophobia
Vladimir Zhirinovsky file photo

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Liz Fuller – November 6, 2013) Not for the first time, the chairman of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) and Russian State Duma deputy speaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky has incurred the wrath of North Caucasus officials by making disparaging remarks about the region. Speaking on a TV talk show late last month,  Zhirinovsky advocated  […]

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Interfax: Prosecutor’s office cannot suspend proceedings of civil cases regarding several NGOs

Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and St. Basil's file photo

MOSCOW. Nov 7 (Interfax) – The Prosecutor General’s Office cannot satisfy the request of the presidential Human Rights Council to suspend probes of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). A letter from Deputy Prosecutor General Vladimir Malinovsky to head of the council Mikhail Fedotov says Russian law does not give prosecutors such rights. “Proceedings in a concrete case can be suspended pursuant to […]

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Putin Moves to Re-Establish Nationalities Ministry He Abolished in 2001

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Race, Ethnic, Extremism, Xenophobia
Migrant Workers file photo

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble, Staunton, November 6, 2013) Apparently operating on the principle that if there is a problem, there should be a government structure responsible for it, President Vladimir Putin is moving to recreate in fact if not in name a ministry to oversee the Russian Federation’s increasingly intense nationality problems. But for the same reasons that […]

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Gays who decide to move abroad will have hard time – State Duma

Europe, EU, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
EU Map

(Interfax – November 6, 2013) The State Duma has criticized the statement made by the Dutch foreign minister on the readiness of the Netherlands to provide asylum to Russian homosexuals. “Such statements are bad propaganda against the Russian Federation. I don’t see anything else in that,” Yelena Afanasyeva, deputy chairman of the State Duma committee on labor, social policy and […]

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Business Leaders Ask Putin to Review Tax Case Authority

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Russian Duma Building

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Delphine d’Amora – November 7, 2013) Prominent members of the business community have sent an appeal to President Vladimir Putin asking for a reevaluation of amendments to the Criminal Code, which Putin himself submitted to the State Duma on Oct. 11, Vedomosti reported Thursday. The amendments would authorize investigators to open tax cases at their […]

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Putin Tells Zhirinovsky to ‘Tone it Down’

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Race, Ethnic, Extremism, Xenophobia
Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – November 7, 2013) President Vladimir Putin has urged Liberal Democratic Party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky to show more restraint in his speeches, most likely in reference to the lawmaker’s recent remarks about the North Caucasus that provoked outrage in the region. Zhirinovsky said during a television show last month that the North Caucasus should be surrounded […]

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Russia Beyond the Headlines: Putin tops Forbes power ranking thanks to a lack of strong rivals

Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Vladimir Putin at Valdai Club 2013 Meeting, Adapted from Screenshot of Valdai Club Video at youtube.com

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Yevgeny Shestakov, International Affairs Editor at Rossiyskaya Gazeta, special to RBTH – November 7, 2013) There are a number of reasons why the U.S. edition of Forbes magazine nominated Russian President Vladimir Putin as the most powerful person in 2013. It is difficult to gauge the accuracy of those experts who say Putin’s […]

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Interfax: Russians recognize need for political opposition but don’t believe in it coming to power – poll

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Arm and Torso of Person in Brown Sweater Placing Paper Ballot into Ballot Box

(Interfax – November 7, 2013) In the last eight years the opinion of Russians about the place and role of the opposition in the world today has changed, studies of VTsIOM public opinion center indicate. The share of Russians believing that the objective of opposition forces is to work out their own course and come to power has grown from […]

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A memorial day few Russians want to remember

Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, History, Soviet Union, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Prison in Russia with Wall, Barbed Wire, Guard Tower

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Julia Reed in Moscow – November 7, 2013) “Who was killed in your family?” A man in a beret in his early 60s asked me as he joined the long queue of people. We were both attending the annual recital of the names of the victims of political repressions in Russia by the Solovetsky […]

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TRANSCRIPT: [Putin] Meeting with heads of constitutional law faculties

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Russian Constitutional Court file photo

(Kremlin.ru – November 7, 2013) Faculty members and researchers from more than 20 universities and institutes attended the meeting, held ahead of the 20th anniversary of the Russian Constitution. PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Good afternoon, friends. We are holding this meeting in the run-up to the 20th anniversary of the adoption of Russia’s Constitution. I will not lecture you […]

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Ex-MP Glushchenko will be charged with Galina Starovoitova’s murder – lawyer

Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Russian Duma Building

ST. PETERSBURG. Nov 7 (Interfax) – Investigators are preparing to charge former Russian parliamentarian Mikhail Glushchenko with masterminding the assassination of State Duma member Galina Starovoitova in 1998, Glushchenko’s lawyer Alexander Afanasyev told Interfax on Thursday. “Both defense lawyers representing Mikhail Ivanovich [Glushchenko] were officially notified that at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow he will be charged under Part 3 of Article […]

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Investigative Committee Seeks to Formalize Criminality of Tax Avoidance

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Cash, Calculator, Pen

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – November 6, 2013) The Investigative Committee has developed a bill criminalizing tax optimization transactions, Vedomosti reported Wednesday. The proposed bill is set to amend the Tax Code by introducing definitions for “imaginary” and “fictitious” financial transactions. These terms refer to transactions which business either did not complete, or have completed, but fudged the description and […]

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