Russia Beyond the Headlines sets out its list of top news stories for 2012: 1. The presidential election … 2. Medvedev’s Cabinet … 3. United Russia’s new leader … Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev swapped jobs and not only in public office … 4. Strident new laws … 5. Protest actions …
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[Russian birth rate to rise to 1.8 million as New Year rings in – Russia Today – Robert Bridge – December 21, 2012 – http://rt.com/politics/russia-demographics-population-babies-crisis-538/] Pro-Kremlin Russia Today reports on an announcement by Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets that there have been increases in the Russian birthrate: Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets has announced some optimistic news regarding the […]
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[Vladimir Putin gives big news conference in tough debate with journalists – ITAR-TASS – RUSSIAN PRESS REVIEW – December 21, 2012 – http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c142/606821.html] Itar-Tass covers Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent marathon press conference. Putin reportedly claimed he had not read a recent Duma bill banning U.S. adoptions of Russian orphans, and allowed that the Duma was responding emotionally to the […]
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[Russian lawmakers back adoption ban in row with U.S. – Reuters – Alissa de Carbonnel – December 21, 2012 – http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/21/russia-adoptions-idUSL5E8NL4FK20121221] Reuters covers the Duma’s support for a ban on U.S. citizens adopting Russian children, as well as a ban on U.S. nonprofits funding Russian democratization nonprofits, in retaliation for Congressional efforts to hold Russian human rights abusers accountable: Russia’s […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Michael Bohm – Michael Bohm is opinion page editor of The Moscow Times – December 21, 2012) State Duma Deputy Oleg Mikheyev from the Just Russia party came up with an original idea to lift the spirits of people depressed by all of the bad news they face every day from the country’s leading media […]
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MOSCOW, December 21 (RIA Novosti) – The West’s policy of dividing Syrian terrorists into “the bad” and “the not so bad” is dangerous, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday. “Our colleagues at the UN Security Council refuse to condemn terrorist attacks,” he said in an interview with the RT television network. “They say terrorism is bad but at […]
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(Interfax – December 20, 2012) The approval ratings of Russian leaders grew in December after a minor decline in November, Levada Center told Interfax on Thursday. It held a nation-wide poll on Dec. 14-17. The approval rating of President Vladimir Putin stood at 65 percent in December, as against 63 percent in November and 68 percent in September, the sociologists […]
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MOSCOW, December 21 (RIA Novosti) Russian President Vladimir Putin’s first state-of-the-nation address after returning to the Kremlin earlier this year, delivered Wednesday, outlined a broad strategy for domestic development, offering no major policy updates and avoiding foreign policy issues almost entirely. At times, the speech implicitly acknowledged demands articulated by opposition activists over the past year, but it did […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 20 (Interfax) – President Vladimir Putin has accused Russia’s opposition of destructive ambitions and a lack of constructive agenda. “They should have their agenda, their proposals for solutions to problems that face the country. In this sense, I very much expect that, after the law on the freedom of registration of political parties comes out, political struggles will […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Nikolaus von Twickel – December 21, 2012) President Vladimir Putin on Thursday signaled a return to the classic days of his presidency by presiding over a 4 1/2-hour news conference, which at times resembled a call-in show as reporters from the country’s far-flung regions scrambled to pass personal messages to the head of state. The […]
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WASHINGTON, December 20 (By Carl Schreck for RIA Novosti) – US groups financing politically active nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Russia are facing a potentially jarring shake-up of these programs amid Moscow’s escalating clampdown on such funding. The question now is: What are they going to do about it? At least two US taxpayer-funded organizations viewed with suspicion by the Russian […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – December 21, 2012) A local human rights organization has become the first NGO to voluntarily submit an application for being registered as a foreign agent to better understand the practical implementation of the new law regulating activities of nongovernmental organizations that receive foreign funds. Human rights organization Shchit i Mech, or Shield and Sword, registered […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Roland Oliphant – December 20, 2012) 2012 saw the climate-change-fueled dash for the Arctic’s riches dominate the environmental agenda. The debate over the high north, the annual nightmare of forest fires and continuing battles between activists and developers over roads, mines and the Sochi Olympics are only likely to intensify next year. Greenpeace activists stormed […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 20 (Interfax) – The Russian government will monitor the implementation of roadmaps to improve the country’s business climate every quarter, Economic Development Minister Andrei Belousov said Thursday at a government session. Five roadmaps were approved and for three of them, including on customs administration, on connection to energy infrastructure and on administration in the construction sector, the deadlines […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 20 (Interfax) – Russia’s disregard of U.S. missile defense deployment may damage the national nuclear missile potential, President Vladimir Putin told a press conference on Thursday. “As we have said before, the creation of such systems by our partners is a threat. It may nullify our nuclear missile potential unless we do something,” he said. The global strategic […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – December 21, 2012) President Vladimir Putin on Thursday signaled that a proposed ban on U.S. adoptions could not come into force for at least a year because of Russia’s obligations under a new agreement. Putin, who was asked about his stance on the ban by several journalists at his annual news conference, […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle – December 21, 2012) Many travelers have pined for home during the holiday season. It’s the lucky exception who, finding himself in company of new friends, realizes that he’s found a home away from home. Kirov native Ivan Chesnokov, 17, was celebrating Thanksgiving Day in Gladewater, Texas, chowing down on turkey and chatting […]
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[Click here for Transcript Part I] (Kremlin.ru – December 20, 2012) Moscow QUESTION: Mr President, I am Alexander Kolesnichenko from Argumenty i Fakty. I am an adoptive parent myself, and regardless of the foreign policy context I considered the amendment passed by the State Duma yesterday to be outrageous, inadequate and, sorry, cannibalistic. The people who have passed this law […]
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Johnson’s Russia List 2012-#226 21 December 2012 davidjohnson@starpower.net A World Security Institute Project JRL homepage: www.russialist.org JRL on Facebook: www.facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: http://russialist.org/funding.php Your source for news and analysis since 1996 In this issue POLITICS 1. Moscow Times: Putin Shows He’s Back in Business. 2. Interfax: Putin accuses opposition of lack of agenda. 3. RIA Novosti: […]
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MOSCOW, December 20 (RIA Novosti) Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated his opposition to military intervention in Syria on Thursday, emotionally citing the volatile situation in Libya as a sign of what would likely happen as a result. Libya “is disintegrating,” Putin said at a major press conference in Moscow, pointing to the fractious groups that have been struggling for […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 19 (Interfax) – Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov thinks that the phrase of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about re-Sovietizing CIS countries is an indication of her incompetence about the processes taking place in the region. “To associate the natural processes that are maturing throughout the former Soviet Union with Sovietization is not to understand practically […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Nikolaus von Twickel – December 20, 2012) President Vladimir Putin will meet with European Union leaders in Brussels on Friday for a pre-Christmas summit, but the mood will hardly be festive. Disputes involving visas, trade and energy have cast a shadow over EU-Russia relations in recent months, giving both sides tough issues to discuss. More […]
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(Alina Lobzina – Moscow News – themoscownews.com – December 19, 2012) The number of Russian Christians came under scrutiny after polls registered dwindling ranks of the faithful. The most surprising finding was that only 41 percent of all Russians say they are members of the Russian Orthodox Church, according to a poll carried out by Sreda, a research service. This […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – David Burghardt – December 20, 2012) Russian President Vladimir Putin said he does not believe that those who participate in mass protests should be sent to prison, but added that anyone who resists police authority should be punished. “I don’t think that participation in a mass protest, even if it was held in breach of […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 20 (Interfax) – President Vladimir Putin disagrees with the claims that he has built an authoritarian system in Russia. “I think we have ensured stability as a mandatory condition of development. I think this is extremely important. Yet I cannot call this system authoritarian; I cannot agree with this thesis,” he told a grand press conference on Thursday. […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – December 22, 2012 – click here to see original article with charts) Overview The world and Russia both passed through the trough of the global crisis in 2012, say investment banks in Moscow, and the question for 2013 is: if the upswing starts, how fast will it go? Going into […]
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(Moscow Times – Dec. 20, 2012 – themoscowtimes.com/news/article/putin-pictured-in-hell-on-the-economist-cover/473430.html) The cartoon’s accompanying article, which is presented as a travel guide, says the quickest way to hell is by constantly committing major sins without giving in to feelings of remorse. President Vladimir Putin was pictured in hell on the cover of The Economist‘s last issue for 2012, floating along in a fiery […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 20 (Interfax) – Corruption is customary for Russia but the government still has to combat it, President Vladimir Putin told a Thursday press conference. “Speaking of the anti-corruption fight; this is one of our problems and a customary one,” he said. Putin told reporters a historical anecdote: Peter the Great ordered Prosecutor General Pavel Yaguzhinsky to execute thieves […]
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[Click here for Transcript Part II] [Fuller Russian transcript and video here http://kremlin.ru/news/17173] (Kremlin.ru – December 20, 2012) Moscow Vladimir Putin’s news conference took place at the World Trade Centre on Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment. Over 1,000 Russian and 200 foreign journalists were accredited to cover the news conference. Channel One, Rossiya-1 and Rossiya-24 TV channels and Radio Mayak, Vesti FM and […]
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Johnson’s Russia List 2012-#225 20 December 2012 davidjohnson@starpower.net A World Security Institute Project JRL homepage: www.russialist.org JRL on Facebook: www.facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: http://russialist.org/funding.php Your source for news and analysis since 1996 In this issue POLITICS 1. Interfax: Putin defines himself as democrat demanding order, observation of laws. 2. ITAR-TASS: Putin favours direct elections of governors, in […]
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MOSCOW, December 19 (RIA Novosti) – Leading opposition figures joined students protesting against the inclusion of their university on Russia’s notorious “list of inefficient colleges” on Tuesday evening. Leftist opposition figure Sergei Udaltsov and two State Duma lawmakers from the A Just Russia party, Ilya Ponomaryov and Dmitry Gudkov, visited students, who began their sit-in in a lecture hall of […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Nikolaus von Twickel – December 19, 2012) As the State Duma considers a bill countering the U.S. Magnitsky Act, a group of lawmakers is threatening to add a provision that would massively increase pressure on nongovernmental organizations they believe to be meddling in domestic politics. The deputies support amendments that would enable authorities to close […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle – December 19, 2012) A growing chorus of senior government officials and ordinary citizens have publicly denounced a ban on U.S. adoptions proposed by pro-Kremlin State Duma deputies. The criticism, including from two Cabinet ministers and the president’s human rights ombudsman, seemed to jeopardize the measure, which has been widely condemned by human […]
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MOSCOW, December 19 (RIA Novosti) A controversial amendment that would ban US citizens from adopting Russian children passed in a second reading in the State Duma on Wednesday. The draft law retaliates for enactment of the Magnitsky Act in the US, which imposes visa bans and asset freezes on Russian officials deemed guilty of human rights abuses. The amendment […]
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(Interfax – December 19, 2012) The differences between Russia and the European Union in negotiations on a new basic agreement are not insurmountable, Russian Ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov told Russian reporters in Brussels. “The EU, and it is not hiding this, would like to go further in relations with Russia than the package of conditions on which Russia […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, 18 December) State support for agriculture will double as part of the new state programme covering the 2013-2020 period. “Whereas under the existing state programme (for 2008-2012 – Interfax) we have been giving agriculture R100bn (3.25bn dollars at the current rate of exchange) a year on average, in the period until 2020 the mean figure of federal […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Evgeniya Chaykovskaya – December 19, 2012) Russia’s Federal Tariff Services asked the government to raise tariffs for heating (by 11.5 percent instead of 9.5 percent proposed by the Economic Development Ministry) and water supply (11-13 percent instead of 5-6 percent). If their wish is granted, households will face a 15 percent increase in utility payments, […]
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MOSCOW, December 19 (RIA Novosti) Russia’s unfavorable investment climate is a major factor behind huge capital flight from the country in recent years, Central Bank Chairman Sergei Ignatyev said on Wednesday. The Central Bank has carried out a comparative research of capital outflows in other countries to understand why capital is leaving Russia on such a large scale, the […]
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MOSCOW, December 18 (RIA Novosti) Russian nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), cash-strapped due to a recent restrictive law on foreign funding, may get much needed support from an organization led by former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, he said on Tuesday. “There’s currently a shortage of support foundations in Russia, and we’re filling that niche,” Kudrin said about his Civic Initiatives Committee. […]
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(Interfax – December 18, 2012) No Russian non-government organizations have registered as “foreign agents” nearly a month after being required to do so under a new law, Interfax news agency reported on 18 December. The Ministry of Justice has added a section to its website with the rules for the register, an application form and the register itself. “We’re awaiting […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – December 19, 2012) A bill that could once again abolish direct gubernatorial elections, which were reinstated this year, was submitted to the State Duma on Tuesday by members of the majority United Russia party. Popular elections of governors were discontinued following the Beslan school hostage crisis in 2004, when Vladimir Putin, early […]
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MOSCOW, December 18 (RIA Novosti) – Moscow’s top psychiatrist backed on Tuesday a recent bid to legislate human emotion by imposing a limit on “negative information” in the media, starting with Apocalypse rumors. Reports about the upcoming doomsday and other soul-crushing news breed hopelessness and increase depression and suicide rates, said Boris Tsygankov, who supervises psychiatric help at the city’s […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Irina Filatova – December 19, 2012) Former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin on Tuesday castigated Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s Cabinet as inefficient, but he rejected speculation that he would come back to the government in the near future. Despite praising Medvedev’s personal contribution to the 18-year process of Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization during […]
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Johnson’s Russia List 2012-#224 19 December 1012 davidjohnson@starpower.net A World Security Institute Project JRL homepage: www.russialist.org JRL on Facebook: www.facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: http://russialist.org/funding.php Your source for news and analysis since 1996 POLITICS 1. Moscow Times: Kudrin Lashes Out at Medvedev’s Cabinet. 2. ITAR-TASS: Struggle against corruption seems to be easing – analysts. 3. Vedomosti editorial: CORRUPTION […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Tai Adelaja – Dec. 17, 2012) Suddenly, a new scramble for Africa is gaining momentum. The saving grace this time around is that the BRICS states (Brazil, Russia, India, China and since 2011, South Africa) are leading the charge. The Chinese have long dug in their heels, spending billions of dollars to boost economies and […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle and Howard Amos – Dec. 18, 2012) State Duma deputies stepped up Russia’s retaliatory response to the so-called Magnitsky Act on Monday by introducing a measure that would ban U.S. citizens from adopting Russian orphans. The move was roundly condemned by children’s rights advocates, who warned that a blanket ban on U.S. adoptions […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Anastasia Matveyeva, Moskovskiye Novosti – Dec. 17, 2012) Market participants are recognizing that the Federal Tax Service has started to work more efficiently, according to statistics presented at a tax summit at RIA Novosti’s press center. “In 2000, 1,350,000 tax inspections of corporate entities were carried out, and the average level of additional charges was […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Irina Filatova – Dec. 18, 2012) The real size of capital outflow last year was actually half as much as reported, and only reached about $40 billion, with the figure having no correlation to the investment climate, according to a survey released Monday. Some components considered by the Central Bank, such as cash leaving the […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 18 (Interfax) – Anti-western rhetoric has stopped the establishment of an International Financial Center (IFC) in Russia, former finance minister and now chairman of the Civil Initiatives Committee, Alexei Kudrin, said. Instead of dialogue between the authorities and the public, legislation is being passed that is hitting protestors. One myth is the assertion that almost all civil activity […]
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MOSCOW, December 18 (RIA Novosti) Former Russian finance minister Alexei Kudrin on Tuesday slammed the authorities for allowing “creeping de-privatization” of the economy despite the government’s commitment to sell state-run companies in order to raise their efficiency and lure much-needed foreign investment. “Despite the declared goals of privatization, we are witnessing creeping de-privatization,” Kudrin said at a press conference […]
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