(RFE/RL – rferl.org – The Daily Vertical: Brian Whitmore – March 7, 2016) We soon may be able to add yet another name to the list of Vladimir Putin’s liberal enablers. Speculation is rampant that longtime human rights activist Ella Pamfilova will replace Vladimir Churov as head of the Russian electoral commission. Putin named the widely respected Pamfilova, who is […]
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Mainstream media in the west and Russia is fixated on the Russian president. Here’s why we’re not. (opendemocracy.net – MAXIM EDWARDS, THOMAS ROWLEY, NATALIA ANTONOVA, MIKHAIL KALUZHSKY – March 4, 2016) Maxim Edwards is Commissioning Editor at oDR. Tom Rowley is lead editor at oDR. Natalia Antonova is Associate Editor at oDR. Mikhail Kaluzhsky is Lead Russian-Language Editor at oDR. […]
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Public support for … Putin to serve another term as president has hit its highest level in four years, a survey by a state-run pollster showed …. Seventy-four percent of Russians would vote to re-elect Putin as president, according to … VTsIOM. Putin dominates state media … and is widely expected to contest the next presidential election in 2018 …. […]
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(Kremlin.ru – February 29, 2016) The head of Gazprom briefed Vladimir Putin on the company’s results in 2015, and discussed, in particular, gas supply figures for the domestic and European markets and the programme for connecting Russia’s regions to the gas network. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Miller, I have several questions to start our discussion, and then we […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Evgenia Pismennaya, Anna Andrianova – February 29, 2016) With Russia mired in the longest recession in two decades, there hasn’t been a lot of good economic news lately. But there’s one indicator that’s looking up, and it’s the one that matters most to Vladimir Putin: His hard-currency reserves. The central bank held $379 billion in foreign […]
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(Kremlin.ru – February 26, 2016) Vladimir Putin took part in a meeting of the Federal Security Service (FSB) board to review the results of the Service’s work in 2015 and set its priority tasks for 2016. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, We are here today to review the results of the Federal Security Service’s work in 2015 and […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Andre Tartar, Anna Andrianova – February 25, 2016) As Russia hunkers down for the second year of recession, most economists say a parliamentary election in September won’t unleash the kind of protests that rattled the country in 2011. There’s a 30 percent chance that economic distress will translate into political unrest, according to the median of […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Brian Whitmore – February 24, 2016) Dmitry Medvedev recently played a telling little head game. When the Russian prime minister said at the Munich Security Conference that Moscow and the West had “slid into a new Cold War,” he essentially created a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don’t situation. “If the West agrees that it is a new Cold War, then […]
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House Armed Services Committee February 10, 2016 Hearing on Understanding and Deterring Russia: U.S. Policies and Strategies Oral remarks of Dr. Fiona Hill Fiona Hill is director of the Center on the United States and Europe and a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution. She is also co-author of the second edition of “Mr. Putin: […]
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Investors who’ve made a fortune in the country say that with oil’s plunge, the ruble’s collapse, and Putin in power, all bets are off (Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Ksenia Galouchko and Henry Meyer – February 23, 2016) [Charts here bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-24/putin-s-oil-despair-drives-lucky-few-investors-toward-the-exits] For a decade, Dmitri Barinov has been following the volatile economy of his homeland from the safe distance of Union […]
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(Kremlin.ru – February 22, 2016) The President made a special address following the adoption of a joint statement by the Russian Federation and the United States of America, as co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), on the cessation of hostilities in Syria. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Friends, I just had a telephone conversation with President of the […]
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(Kremlin.ru – February 20, 2016) Vladimir Putin attended a gala reception at the State Kremlin Palace to mark Defender of the Fatherland Day. The President congratulated veterans and armed forces servicemen and civilian personnel on the upcoming holiday. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Comrades, friends, I would like to congratulate the military and civilian personnel of our armed forces and […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Natalya Golitsyna – February 19, 2016) One of Ramzan Kadyrov’s staunchest critics says the Chechen leader remains one of the most powerful men in Russia despite mounting criticism over his ruthless tactics. According to Akhmed Zakayev, the exiled head of the Chechen separatist government, Kadyrov has accumulated so much clout that Russian President Vladimir Putin himself […]
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(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, February 17, 2016) In an interview with Tomsk television, Mariya Snegovaya points to ten reasons why in her view the Putin system may not be nearly as “sustainable” as many now think given that the fall in oil prices has not led to an immediate effort to over throw the Kremlin leader. […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Olga Tanas – February 18, 2016) [Charts here bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-17/the-one-shock-sidestepped-by-russia-is-catching-up-with-putin] Russia’s longest recession in two decades is proving a test too far for the labor market. After deflecting pressure in 2015 with salary reductions, part-time work and unpaid vacations, companies are increasingly opting to cut jobs as the economy enters its second year of contraction. As Russia’s […]
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(Kremlin.ru – February 15, 2016) The agenda included dialogue between business and the authorities and issues the business community is discussing currently and will examine further at the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) annual congress. President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Alexander Shokhin: Mr President, let me start by thanking you for our regular meetings. […]
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MOSCOW. Feb 16 (Interfax) – President Vladimir Putin has declared an imperfection of the jury mechanism in Russia and has proposed to bring jury trials to the level of district courts. “Obviously, the existent jury forming system is far from being perfect. Actually, why do we have to have twelve jurors, not 20 or 25 or ten or seven? There […]
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(Kremlin.ru – February 16, 2016) The President took part in the national conference of court chairmen of various levels, as well as heads of military and commercial courts. The conference is dedicated to ways of enhancing law and order, improving the business climate, protecting the rights of citizens and analysing the judiciary reform. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – February 11, 2016) If elections were held in Russia next weekend, Vladimir Putin would be re-elected president and the same political parties would be elected to the State Duma, the Kommersant newspaper reported Wednesday, citing the results of a recent poll. The survey carried out by the independent Levada Center pollster revealed that 53 percent […]
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(RFE/RL News Analysis – rferl.org – Steve Gutterman – February 11, 2016) With the Russian patriarch and prime minister both holding big meetings abroad, this weekend presents a chance for President Vladimir Putin to soothe a world still stunned by Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine and dismayed by its bombing campaign in Syria. Russian Orthodox Church chief Kirill holds historic talks […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Matthew Bodner – February 4, 2016) On Feb. 2, Turkish President Recep Erdogan urgently sought an audience with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. The Turkish ambassador in Moscow relayed the message, but has, it seems, yet to receive a response. It was the second time Erdogan has been rebuffed by Putin following Turkey’s downing of […]
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(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, February 4, 2016) Vladimir Putin is talking about the disintegration of the Soviet Union in order to promote among Russians that their country is at risk of the same fate, an idea that as it gains currency will drive off the political agenda all other issues, including the failures of the current […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – February 1, 2016) A senior U.S. lawmaker says revelations about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s wealth will be “destabilizing” to his rule as the Russian population becomes increasingly aware of them. U.S. Senator Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Voice Of America on February 1 that the Russian people “are beginning […]
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(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, February 3, 2016) In a recent book review essay in the New York Review of Books, military historian Max Hastings cites a passage from Nicholas Stargardt’s “The German War” (Basic Books, 2015) to explain why Germans continued to “close ranks around Hitler” even after it became obvious that their country was going […]
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(Kremlin.ru – February 3, 2016) Vladimir Putin met with the core group of the Leaders Club, an informal association of small and medium business owners from various economic sectors. The Leaders Club was established in February 2012 and is engaged primarily in having businesspeople provide independent evaluations of conditions for doing business in Russia’s regions and the quality of state […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Ilya Arkhipov and Andrey Biryukov – February 2, 2016) President Vladimir Putin will allow foreign investors to bid for stakes in some of Russia’s largest companies as the government prepares its most ambitious asset-sale program in years to close a widening budget gap. “Russia was and remains open for foreign investment and Russia is interested in […]
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