(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Nona Mchedlishvili – June 17, 2013) How do you make a secret disappear? That’s the question Georgian officials and activists are mulling as they consider a stash of legally dubious phone and video recordings made by the Interior Ministry, mainly under the rule of President Mikheil Saakashvili. The current Interior Minister Irakli Garibashvili has pledged to […]
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(RIA Novosti – WASHINGTON, June 19, 2013) Russian technology start-ups that were selected as finalists in a prestigious US business development competition might not be able to take part in the months-long contest because of visa problems, the head of an investment company that is co-sponsoring the event said Thursday. Four teams of two Russians from start-ups developing apps […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Lena Smirnova – June 21, 2013) With the coveted title of Russia’s biggest shopping mall operator, Ikea Shopping Centres leads in a market that is expected to become Europe’s second largest in the next 18 months. It recently celebrated its 10th anniversary and is making big plans for the future. The milestone closes a decade […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – St. PETERSBURG, June 21, 2013) The government’s initiative to attract 25 billion rubles ($781 million) of investment to the Far East by 2025 will fail if the business climate for private investors does not improve, businessmen and state officials said Thursday at a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum dedicated […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – June 21, 2013) Opposition lawmakers and businessmen said at a panel Thursday that Russia had lost billions of dollars due to cuts in import tariffs after its accession to the World Trade Organization. The panel was attended by groups lobbying the interests of the engineering, agriculture and clothing industries but was ignored […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – June 21, 2013 – themoscowtimes.com/news/article/live-blog-spief-2013-day-2/482039.html) It’s day two of the 17th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the annual conference dedicated to economic and business issues that draws several thousand political and business leaders, leading scientists, and public figures from around the world. President Vladimir Putin will open a plenary session at 3 p.m. that will […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Nathan Gray – ST. PETERSBURG, June 21, 2013) Russia’s government was rushing in where investors feared to tread and used the St. Petersburg Economic Forum as a rallying call for aggressive spending in the country’s regions. Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East have especially attracted attention in recent years in terms of the […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova and Alexander Panin – June 21, 2013) Russian Railways chief Vladimir Yakunin on Thursday attributed rumors of his voluntary resignation to a fight for control over large-scale projects of his company. But experts said Yakunin may have angered regional authorities by receiving huge subsidies for his agency and failing to significantly improve railway […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 20, 2013) Russian State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin believes it is important that society should understand that the legislation on NGOs is not restrictive in nature and the state is interested in increasing the number of NGOs and their unimpeded work. “As for NGOs, it is, of course, important that society should understand that the law […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – June 21, 2013) Vladimir Putin took the stage to speak at last year’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum as president for a third time, having been inaugurated a month before, but facing perhaps the fiercest political opposition in his 12 years as Russia’s top leader. Despite the ongoing street protests, Putin focused […]
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(Kremlin.ru – St Petersburg, June 20, 2013) The meeting took place on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. Excerpts from transcript of meeting with the Business G20 PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Ladies and gentlemen, It’s very good to see you all. I am happy to welcome the B20 participants to St Petersburg, on the first day […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 20, 2013) The Moscow City Court has failed to select the jury for the investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya murder trial. A court representative told Interfax the Thursday attempt to form the panel of jurors was unsuccessful. A lawyer for the defendants said the majority of candidates refused to become jurors. “Everybody asked for withdrawal for various […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Artem Zagorodnov, RBTH – June 21, 2013) Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined several radically liberal economic reforms. In a move equally symbolic and practically important, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that a much-touted amnesty for businesspeople had been approved by his office and will be […]
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(Interfax -ST. PETERSBURG, June 20, 2013) It would be feasible to introduce a progressive income tax scale in Russia in 2018, when the current political cycle ends, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov told reporters on the sidelines of the St Petersburg Economic Forum. “It would probably make sense to make the transition to different taxation for personal income from […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – June 21, 2013) ST. PETERSBURG Russia might be closer to the U.S. than Moldova and Armenia geographically, but the two countries are too often a world apart when it comes to maintaining close contacts, a senior Russian official said Thursday. Mikhail Margelov, chairman of the Federation Council’s International Affairs Committee, complained […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW. June 20, 2013) Russia will thoroughly examine U.S. President Barack Obama’s proposals on more radical cuts of nuclear weapons, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said. “We will coordinate our reasons with our objectives in ensuring our national security and strengthening peace. Analysis will be interdepartmental and will take some time,” Ryabkov said in an interview published […]
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(RIA Novosti – ST. PETERSBURG, June 20, 2013) The Russian government’s plans to weaken the ruble in a bid to stimulate faltering economic growth is unlikely to yield results, Central Bank First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said on Thursday. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov on Monday said the government is looking for measures to stimulate economic growth in Russia, including […]
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(RIA Novosti – Maria Young – WASHINGTON, June 19, 2013) Nearly a dozen long-lost, rarely seen Soviet films and scores of screenplays that were never produced about the persecution of Jews during World War II have been revived to offer decades-old evidence of a side of the Holocaust few people recognize today. From the dusty archives of Moscow and […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 20, 2013) The hunt is on to find those behind hoax claims that the CEO of Russia’s railroad monopoly had been dismissed, which caused a flurry of confusion in the Russian media. On Wednesday evening, Russian news outlets received a press statement saying that Vladimir Yakunin had been dismissed as head of Russian Railways […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Brian Whitmore – June 19, 2013) [Video here: rferl.org/content/navalny-game-russia-opposition-moscow-trial/25022010.html] Aleksei Navalny may be on the ropes, but at the same time he’s also on something of a roll. The on-the-ropes part was in full display in Kirov on June 18 when Judge Sergei Blinov flat-out refused to allow Navalny to call any defense witnesses in his […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, June 19, 2013) Strikingly low levels of inter-personal trust among Russians, the result of the experiences of Soviet times, explain both their xenophobic reactions to immigrants and their high rates of support for Russian leaders because “distrust in institutions is transformed into trust in the president and prime minister,” according to a […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Guennadi Moukine – June 20, 2013) The State Duma has approved a list of people nominated by political parties for auditor positions at the Audit Chamber but postponed nomination of the head until later in the year, Vedomosti reported Thursday. There were reports that former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin may be one of the nominees, […]
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(Interfax – VILLAGE OF LISTVYANKA, Irkutsk region, June 19, 2013) The number of people who criticize the environmental situation in their localities increased in the past eight years, Konstantin Abramov, deputy general director of the All-Russia Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM), said. During a meeting between Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and representatives of the export community on environmental issues, […]
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(Moscow TImes – themoscowtimes.com – Anatoly Medetsky – June 20, 2013) St. Petersburg is drawing scores of business leaders to a forum where they are hoping to get the latest tips on the course that the government and major companies might take. Opening Thursday at the exhibition center LenExpo, the three-day event will host President Vladimir Putin for a keynote […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW. June 19, 2013) Optimism prevails in Russian society, and 76% are more or less happy with their life. Only 8% have not adjusted to contemporary conditions, Levada Center told Interfax on Wednesday, quoting a nation-wide poll of late May. A quarter of the respondents claimed “their life was stable and there had been no major changes for […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 20, 2013) The birth rate in Russia grew 30 percent since 2007, Russian Minister of Labor and Social Protection Maxim Topilin said on Wednesday. In his interview with the Ekho Moskvy radio station, the minister attributed the trend in part to the introduction of the so-called “maternity capital” on January 1, 2007. “During this period, […]
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(Moscow Times – June 20, 2013 – themoscowtimes.com/news/article/live-blog-spief-2013-day-1/481995.html) The 17th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), set to host several thousand economic experts, business managers and political leaders, opened Thursday morning with the first session at 9:45 a.m. The forum this year focuses on finding ways to build a new global economy. Today’s discussion topics include maintaining the growth in […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 20, 2013) Fictitious import contracts with entities from Customs Union member states Belarus and Kazakhstan accounted for 40 percent of Russia’s net capital outflow last year, business daily Vedomosti reported on Thursday citing Central Bank data. About $10 billion could have been laundered through fake imports schemes via Kazakhstan, the Central Bank said in a […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Guennadi Moukine – June 20, 2013) Hovercraft, bionic arms, space tourism and nuclear laptop batteries may all be products of the future to be created and brought to market by Skolkovo, the business education and technology center taking shape on the outskirts of Moscow. Despite a bumpy start that has included typical Russian corruption scandals, […]
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(RIA Novosti – Moscow, June 19, 2013) The results of the G8 summit, which was held on Monday and Tuesday (17-18 June) in the Northern Irish resort of Lough Erne, despite the absence of global agreements, are generally positive, primarily thanks to the fact that it was possible to avert a serious rift between Russia and the seven remaining members […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 19, 2013) The leak of personal data requested by U.S. security services will be discussed at bilateral meetings of Russia and the United States, Russian Foreign Ministry Representative for Human Rights Konstantin Dolgov said. “We have questions to ask the United States and these issues will not be overlooked in bilateral contacts with the U.S. This […]
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(RIA Novosti – ST. PETERSBURG, June 20, 2013) Russia-US strategic nuclear arms cuts cannot be pursued without also addressing missile defense systems, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday. Strategic stability is affected by the role of defense systems, in particular “the US plans to build non-nuclear weapons” which will be “far more effective than the existing strategic nuclear arms,” he […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 19, 2013) Russia will not agree to negotiations with the U.S. on reducing tactical nuclear weapons, Sergei Rogov, the director of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of U.S. and Canada Studies, said at a press conference in Moscow on Wednesday. “I believe Russia will not agree to negotiations on tactical nuclear weapons for a number […]
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(By Carl Schreck for RIA Novosti – WASHINGTON, June 19, 2013) US President Barack Obama’s desire to pursue nuclear arms cuts with Russia offers fertile ground for cooperation with Moscow but is above all about securing an enduring security legacy, a range of experts said Wednesday. “The nuclear issue itself is a special interest of Obama’s he’s deeply […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, June 18, 2013) Andrey Kazantsev, the director of the Analytic Center of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Moscow Institute for the Study of International Relations (MGIMO), says that the borders of the countries of the Central Asian region are likely to change over the next century and that this prospect should worry Russian […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – June 19, 2013) VIENNA Diplomats at a conference organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe all agreed Tuesday that international organizations were vital in helping to overcome the Cold War spirit that still besets relations across the East-West divide, but they were unable to provide any clear answers […]
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(Interfax – LOUGH ERNE, June 18, 2013) Only independent and serious expert analysis can establish the truth about the Syrian government’s alleged use of chemical weapons. Empty claims cannot be accepted, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. “We cannot agree with unilateral arguments and empty claims that the Syrian government uses chemical weapons. We need to draw the most […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 18, 2013) Chairman of the State Duma’s International Affairs Committee Alexei Pushkov of the United Russia faction said Russia and China’s position on the Syrian settlement marks an important stage in global politics. “Russia and China’s common position on Syria is seen in the West as a disappointing misunderstanding. But in fact, it marks the beginning […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Anna Arutunyan – June 19, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin bristled over claims that he alone was opposing seven world leaders over how to deal with the Syria conflict during the G8 Summit this week in Northern Ireland. Asked by a reporter if he felt “lonely,” Putin said: “Of course not. That’s absolutely not true. […]
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(Interfax – June 18, 2013) The United States has overtaken Georgia as the state Russians consider the most hostile to their country even though positive overall perceptions of the US continue to outweigh the negative, according to a new opinion poll reported by the Russian news agency Interfax. Asked to list the top five countries they regard as being “most […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – June 19, 2013) The Finance Ministry has proposed using a state guarantee fund to increase support for promising small- and medium-sized businesses, Vedomosti reported Wednesday. The proposals were prepared in response to the order made by President Vladimir Putin a week ago to stimulate business activity. This year the ministry has allocated 20 billion rubles […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 19, 2013) Shell companies have illegally funneled 760 billion rubles ($25 billion) from Russia in the past three years, outgoing Central Bank chief Sergei Ignatyev said on Wednesday, Vedomosti business paper reported. Ignatyev who is leaving his post next week after serving three consecutive terms, made the statement in a report to the Russian parliament […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Sergey Khazov – June 18, 2013) Sergey Khazov is a New Times journalist and a writer based in Moscow. What is life like for gay men and women in Russia? Sergey Khazov looks at the country’s gay infrastructure, and discovers a very fragmented picture. Until a couple of years ago homosexuality was, if not a forbidden topic (it […]
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(RIA Novosti – June 14, 2013 – Article also appeared at http://en.ria.ru/society/20130614/181666437/Under-16-An-Interactive-Documentary-on-Teen-Motherhood.html) “Under 16: Monologues on Teen Motherhood” is RIA Novosti’s first web documentary. Its title reflects the central story line: All of the girls featured in the film became pregnant under the age of 16, but chose to keep their babies. The viewer can navigate freely, from character to […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 19, 2013) The judicial department of the Russian Supreme Court has published statistics of punishments for corruption in 2012, Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported on Wednesday. “A total of 6,014 people were convicted for corruption in 2012,” Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported. According to the paper, some one-third of these people were convicted for giving bribes. “It is equally illegal […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 18, 2013) Russia has seen both the number of young people in the country and their share in the total population decline steadily in recent years, an Education Ministry official said on Tuesday. “According to the Federal State Statistics Service, in 2012 there were 31.6 million people in the 15-29 age group making up […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, June 18, 2013) Russian Justice Minister Aleksandr Konovalov has not ruled out that the register of non-commercial organizations – (serving as) “foreign agents” will never contain a single entry because there is no legal mechanism to forcibly register NGOs as such. “In accordance with the law, there is a chance that the list of these foreign agents […]
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(RIA Novosti – Kirov, June 18, 2013) Judge Sergey Blinov refused on Tuesday (18 June) the request of the defence that 13 witnesses, including an auditor and several experts, be summoned to court in at the Kirovles (Kirov Timber) trial, a RIA Novosti correspondent has reported from Kirov’s Leninskiy court. On Monday, defence lawyer Svetlana Davydova submitted a request for […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 19, 2013) Russian prosecutors have charged opposition activist Leonid Razvozzhayev with plotting mass riots during a demonstration in Moscow last May, his lawyer Dmitry Agranovsky told RAPSI on Wednesday. Razvozzhayev, who had previously been accused by investigators of attempting mass disturbances, has been now formally charged with having organized riots, followed by violence, property destruction, […]
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(RIA Novosti – LOUGH ERNE, June 19, 2013) The next G8 summit will take place in the southern Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi in June 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Tuesday. “The Group of Eight summit I have invited my counterparts to will be held on June 4-5, 2014, in Sochi,” Putin told journalists after a G8 summit […]
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