(Interfax – MOSCOW. April 15, 2013) Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov does not see any conditions for the cooperation of the head of state with what is known as the irreconcilable opposition so far. “Largely this depends on the extent to which the irreconcilable opposition will be able to generate a more or less constructive agenda. Unfortunately, so far we […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 15, 2013) Income declarations for 2012 for the president, members of the presidential administration, government officials and Federation Council officials were published on Friday, showing revenues that ranged from hundreds of thousands to hundreds of millions of rubles, and from one to several pieces of real estate. In the overall picture, President Vladimir Putin […]
» Read more
(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, April 13, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/04/window-on-eurasia-alienation-of-russian.html) A major reason for the destruction of the Russian Empire in 1917 and of the Soviet Union in 1991, a Moscow historian says, was “the alienation that existed between the state and the Russian people,” a shortcoming that unfortunately the Russian Federation has not yet overcome with […]
» Read more
(Interfax – MOSCOW. April 15, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev have agreed to have a special meeting with the economic block of the government, members of the Kremlin administration and experts to discuss prospects of the Russian economy amid the global negative tendencies on the world market. Medvedev said at a meeting with Putin at […]
» Read more
(Interfax – April 15, 2013) Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov has said that the information about the foreign funding of non-governmental organizations (NGO) in Russia recently disclosed by President Vladimir Putin is reliable. “There is not the slightest reason to doubt the reliability of the said figures,” Peskov said on a Sunday night current events show on Russia 1 channel. […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 15, 2013) Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Sunday described Vladimir Putin as a “fierce” defender of Russia’s national interests but also a “master of compromise” while commenting on everything from the opposition movement to escalating tensions with the U.S. Peskov’s comments, made on the state-owned Rossia 1 television channel on Sunday night, come amid […]
» Read more
(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, April 15, 2013) President Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov accused the US administration on Monday of demonstrating “conflicting behavior,” but said Moscow was ready to develop and deepen its ties with the US. The official’s comments were made during a visit by US national security advisor Tom Donilon to Moscow. “On the one […]
» Read more
(RFE/RL – rferl.org – April 12, 2013) The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is a private foundation based in Washington, D.C., that provides grants and other support to organizations around the world that promote democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. The NED’s senior director for Europe, Rodger Potocki, recently visited RFE/RL’s broadcast center in Prague and spoke with […]
» Read more
(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, April 14, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/04/window-on-eurasia-battle-of-lists.html) The publication of the Magnitsky List and the Russian response have prompted widespread speculation not only about the secret and supposedly much larger and possibly expandable lists attached to each but about the meaning of this exchange for the future of Russian-American relations. In an article entitled […]
» Read more
(Interfax – MOSCOW. April 12, 2013) Most of the Russian officials added on Friday to the U.S. Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control’s Specially Designated Nationals List (OFAC’s SDN list) under the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012 are no longer working in the positions they occupied when an investigation against Hermitage Capital lawyer […]
» Read more
[check back for updates including active links] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#69 :: 15 April 2013 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org 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 POLITICS 1. ITAR-TASS: Putin’s press […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – April 12, 2013) As Russia’s relationship with Georgia warms up after the new Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili assumed power in Tbilisi, Moscow will host its long awaited Georgian guest, the famous Rustavi ensemble. Rustavi, a folk dance and chorus group, will perform in Russia on Thursday after a 10-year absence. “We […]
» Read more
(RIA Novosti -ST. PETERSBURG, April 12, 2013) Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko lashed out at European politicians at an international conference in St. Petersburg on Friday, claiming Russophobia in the Parliamentary Assembly Council of Europe (PACE) was obstructing Russian-European cooperation and suggesting the EU’s stance on visa requirements and human rights was hypocritical. “Not so long ago, our partners […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Michael Bohm – April 12, 2013) Michael Bohm is opinion page editor of The Moscow Times. State Duma Deputy Alexei Mitrofanov, who heads the Duma committee regulating the media, came up with a new idea two weeks ago to fight the Kremlin’s battle against “insulting speech” aimed at politicians: increase the fines against media outlets […]
» Read more
(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 68 – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – Pavel Felgenhauer – April 11, 2013) Since last March, Russian and international human rights organizations – including such prominent ones as Memorial, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Transparency International and others – have been harassed by Russian law enforcement and tax authorities, had their premises searched all […]
» Read more
(opendemocracy.net – Richard Sakwa – April 10, 2013) Richard Sakwa is professor of Russian and European politics at the University of Kent, England. Among his books are Putin: Russia’s Choice (Routledge, 2nd edition, 2007) and Russian Politics and Society (Routledge, 4th edition, 2008) Alexandr Bastrykin, head of Russia’s influential Investigative Committee, is one of the most powerful individuals in the […]
» Read more
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Olga Tanas & Scott Rose – April 12, 2013) Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov and his wife, the second-biggest earners among families of Cabinet members, plan to move their assets under Russian jurisdiction to comply with new restrictions. Shuvalov and his wife Olga are planning to shift their foreign holdings, Alexander Machevsky, a spokesman […]
» Read more
(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 11, 2013) Russian state officials, reporting their income and expenses exceeding joint income of their families for three years, will have to declare foreign bank accounts and securities kept not only in foreign banks but in banks of the Customs Union and the CIS as well, aide of the Russian State Presidential Legal Directorate, Valentin Mikhailov, […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Winning – April 12, 2013) Russian society is disillusioned with the wayward anti-Kremlin protest movement, and the center-left Just Russia party will not pander to self-proclaimed opposition leaders, the party’s chairman said Thursday. “An atmosphere of disillusionment predominates in society today, not only disillusionment with the ruling regime but also with the so-called protest […]
» Read more
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Georgy Bovt, special to RBTH – April 12, 2013) Georgy Bovt is a prominent Russian columnist and political expert. The Russian anti-corruption campaign gains momentum. Will the Russian public be in favor of even stronger measures? Russia’s anti-corruption campaign looks like an attempt to “nationalize” the state elite by increasing their stakes […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 12, 2013) It’s official: This past winter will down in history as one of the snowiest ever. An astounding 3 meters, 29 centimeters of snow fell on Moscow, more than double the average of 1.5 meters, Deputy Mayor Pyotr Biryukov said Friday. The snowfall hit another record on Feb. 12, when 30 centimeters of […]
» Read more
(opendemocracy.net – Sergei Guriev – April 11, 2013) Sergei Guriev is a Morgan Stanley Professor of Economics and a Rector at the New Economic School (NES) in Moscow. Russia’s Byzantine system of government has long been a rich subject for study. Could it change? Might it suddenly have to? Possibly, but there are so many vested interests and the upheaval […]
» Read more
(Interfax – April 12, 2013) More Russians are seeing results of the official anti-corruption campaign, the Interfax news agency reported on 12 April, citing an opinion poll carried out by national pro-Kremlin pollster VTsIOM. However, according to a detailed breakdown of poll results posted on at http://wciom.ru/index.php?id=459&uid=113912, the number of people who said that a lot is being done to […]
» Read more
(Interfax – MOSCOW. April 12, 2013) Capital outflow from funds investing in Russian stocks was at its highest in the last half year in the week of April 4-10, totaling $393 million, compared to $68 million the previous week, according to Emerging Portfolio Fund Research (EPFR) data. From the beginning of this year to April 10, total outflow from funds […]
» Read more
(Interfax – GENEVA. April 12, 2013) The G8 foreign ministers managed to reach consensus on Iran, North Korea’s nuclear issue and other international topics regardless of their initial differences. “Of course, the positions differed considerably initially, but common sense and good will lead to formulating common approaches in line with the necessity to search for political and diplomatic solutions without […]
» Read more
(Interfax – MOSCOW. April 12, 2013) Deputy Economic Development Minister Andrei Klepach officially unveiled his ministry’s new 2013 forecasts for the Russian economy on Thursday. The reduction of the GDP growth forecast was anticipated, but the scale of the decrease, by 1.2 percentage points to 2.4%, came as a surprise. In its December forecast, the Economic Development Ministry projected that […]
» Read more
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Ilya Arkhipov – April 12, 2013) Russia’s building a system to neutralize space weapons as it prepares to send a man to Mars and build a permanent moon base, President Vladimir Putin and members of his government said. Russia will have the technical means by 2030 to counteract threats from space by other countries, Deputy Prime […]
» Read more
(RIA Novosti, MOSCOW, April 12, 2013) Russian election watchdog Golos (Vote, or Voice) has been given notice to vacate its office in Moscow with no explanation, the non-governmental organization’s deputy director Grigory Melkonyants told RIA Novosti on Friday. “Our rental contract is still valid, but the new lessor has informed us they are breaking the contract ahead of its […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 12, 2013) The Kremlin was bracing for the release late Friday of a U.S. blacklist of more than 100 Russians that could include Investigative Committee chief Alexander Bastrykin and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. At the same time, the authorities were preparing to release their own blacklist with an equal number of U.S. citizens. Washington […]
» Read more
(Russia Beyond the Headlines/Interfax – www.rbth.ru – Viktor Onuchko, Interfax – April 11, 2013) Ahead of the Russia-NATO Council meeting scheduled to take place in late April, Russia’s ambassador to Afghanistan talks about the efforts of the international community and the Afghan government to pull that country out of its 12-year war. A meeting of the Russia-NATO Council at the […]
» Read more
[check back for updates including active links] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#68 :: 12 April 2013 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org 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 POLITICS 1. Moscow Times: Over […]
» Read more
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – Ekaterina Zabrovskaya, Yelena Kim, RBTH – April 10, 2013) Regardles of the fact that Russian pundits are concerned by growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula, most argue that a full-scale war will not break out. Although the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs has advised diplomatic missions to leave the country by April […]
» Read more
(Interfax – April 11, 2013) Middle East conflicts are advantageous to those who would like the region to have smaller and less influential countries, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with the RTVI channel. “This may be advantageous to many. For instance, those who want the region to have less influential countries. Those who want these countries […]
» Read more
(RIA Novosti – WASHINGTON, April 10, 2013) U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday proposed boosting funding for the Energy Department to modernize the nation’s existing nuclear weapons in what analysts say is part of a bargain he struck with Republican lawmakers to secure their support for the New START deal with Russia to reduce nuclear stockpiles. In his federal […]
» Read more
(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, April 11, 2013) Russia likes the Georgian government’s pragmatism and is ready to expand ties with the South Caucasus country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said. “The pragmatism with which Bidzina Ivanishvili’s government addresses [bilateral] relations appeals to us,” Lavrov told Russian television channel RTVi. “We are ready to expand not only trade… but also […]
» Read more
(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 11, 2013) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has branded the U.S. Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act as a manifestation of “the Russophobia that is traditionally present” in U.S. Congress. One of the architects of the Magnitsky act was Hermitage Capital investment fund chief executive William Browder, who “illegally hoarded a large fortune in the […]
» Read more
(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 11, 2013) Moscow can see no obstacle to Russia and the United States abolishing the entry visa regime in travel between them, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. “As far back as two years ago, (Russian President) Vladimir Putin proposed that we do not limit ourselves to loosening the visa regime but that we move […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle – April 11, 2013) Concerns about participants’ safety, health and well-being are behind record visa refusal rates for Russian university students applying to work and travel in the United States this summer, a senior State Department official told an audience at the American Center in Moscow on Wednesday. Tara Sonenshine, the State Department’s […]
» Read more
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Elena Shipilova, RBTH – April 11, 2013) America seeks an explanation of why Russia’s foreign trade regulations clash with WTO rules. Since 2012, Russia has been operating under both the WTO and the Customs Union. The U.S. is now seeking official clarification on how the two regimes work with each other. Russian officials […]
» Read more
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Artem Zagorodnov, RBTH – April 10, 2013) As entrepreneurs begin to reap benefits from a top-down war against corruption, its long-term effects on the business climate remain uncertain. Russia’s staggering annual $300 billion corruption market (according to the government’s own figures) permeates nearly every aspect of life, from registering a business to obtaining […]
» Read more
(RIA Novosti – ULAN-UDE, April 11, 2013) The Kremlin favors the idea of adopting a law protecting the religious feelings of Russian citizens, the Russian presidential spokesman said Thursday. Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, passed the bill in the first reading on Tuesday. “The Kremlin supports the idea of the law, and the wording of the […]
» Read more
(RIA Novosti – Alexey Eremenko – MOSCOW, April 11, 2013) The list of suspects in the controversial investigation into last year’s riots at an anti-Kremlin rally in Moscow is much longer than previously announced, an opposition website said on Thursday. The Investigative Committee currently has 86 suspects in addition to the 26 people already arrested, charged or convicted over […]
» Read more
(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 10, 2013) A number of non-governmental organizations (NGO) performing the functions of a foreign agent are obstructing their inspections and refusing to comply with legitimate demands by supervisory and controlling bodies, the Prosecutor General’s Office said. “It should be emphasized that some organizations receiving financing from abroad, despite inspectors’ legitimate demands, are actively obstructing the ongoing […]
» Read more
(Voice of America – James Brooke – April 11, 2013) A foreign correspondent who has reported from five continents, Brooke, known universally as Jim, is the Voice of America bureau chief for Russia and former Soviet Union countries. From his base in Moscow, Jim roams Russia and Russia’s southern neighbors. In the aftermath of the 2008 Russia-Georgia war, Russia recognized […]
» Read more
(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 10, 2103) Corrupt businessmen and officials may take advantage of social discontent for resisting anti-corruption efforts of the authorities, National Anti-Corruption Committee Chairman, member of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights Kirill Kabanov told a Wednesday press conference in Moscow. “I think there are fears that certain negative processes may […]
» Read more
(RIA Novosti – Moscow, April 10, 2013) Law-enforcement methods are becoming ineffective in prevention of terrorism, especially when it comes to propaganda in the internet, therefore all forces must be concentrated on meticulous work with the internet audience, adviser to the chairman of the National Antiterrorist Committee and member of the Public Council under the FSB reserve Lt-Gen Andrey Przhezdomskiy […]
» Read more
(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, April 11, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/04/window-on-eurasia-russia-needs-radical.html) Mikhail Gorbachev’s call for a new perestroika has sparked a discussion which rests on the idea that “if the medicine (perestroika) would kill the cancer patient (Russia in its current state), then it is necessary to put up with the cancer as long as possible,” according to […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – April 11, 2013) The number 303 stood Wednesday on a digital clock on Manezh Square that counts down the days to the 2014 Sochi Olympics, and President Vladimir Putin is watching it closely as the government races to make the final preparations for the Games. But that clock may be counting down […]
» Read more
(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, April 11, 2103) A majority of Russians do not want Vladimir Putin to run for president again in 2018 when his third term ends, according to a new survey. A total of 55 percent of Russians want a completely new leader, while 22 percent said they would like Putin to be reelected to the post […]
» Read more
[check back for updates including active links] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#67 :: 11 April 2013 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org 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 POLITICS 1. RIA Novosti: Most […]
» Read more