(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 4, 2013) The ongoing events in Egypt confirm that the so-called Arab Spring has led not to democratic renewal but to chaos, says Russian State Duma international affairs committee head Alexei Pushkov. “The events in Egypt show that there can’t be a quick and gentle transition from an authoritarian regime to political democracy. There can’t be […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – July 5, 2013) As turmoil once again grips Egypt, with the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi following days of mass protests in Cairo, one high-ranking Russian official has responded smugly: We told you this would happen. “The Arab Spring has only led to chaos in Egypt and a bloody foreign-backed drama […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, July 4, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated his US counterpart Barack Obama on Independence Day and expressed hope that the two states will eventually overcome their differences and find solutions to many bilateral issues. In his congratulatory telegram, Vladimir Putin noted that Russia and the United States bear a special responsibility for guaranteeing global security […]
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(Pravda.ru – Sergei Vasilenko – July 4, 2013) Nuclear weapons in Russia’s National Security Strategy are traditionally considered a priority. Since the end of the Cold War, the relations between Russia and the United States have undergone a complex transformation, but Russia still considers the strategic balance with the United States a status quo guarantee. During the recent negotiations on […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW. July 3, 2013) Convicts eligible for the economic amnesty, which comes into effect on July 4, will be released in several days because the procedure of releasing convicts under amnesty is held in several stages, spokesperson of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service Kristina Belousova said. “From the day the amnesty comes into effect, head of a correction […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 4, 2013) Transformations in the Russian Academy of Sciences will be evolutionary and take three years. Corresponding members may become academicians in that period, the Academy administration will be abolished, and the Academy’s Agency for Scientific Institutes will manage Academy property and research centers. “There will be no haste; transformations will begin unhurriedly, one or two […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, July 4, 2013) Russians increasingly identify themselves not in ethnic terms but in others, a development that the director of the Moscow Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology says should not lead anyone to conclude in “alarmist” terms that ethnic Russians are “losing their self-identification.” Instead, Valery Tishkov told a Moscow roundtable yesterday, […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, July 5, 2013) A former tax inspector included on a draft version of the Magnitsky List of Russian officials banned from the United States for human rights abuses has become a suspect for Russian investigators looking into a huge tax scam, Kommersant newspaper reported Friday. Olga Tsymai, a former employee of the Federal Tax Service, […]
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(Institute of Modern Russia – imrussia.org – July 2, 2013) In June, former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, co-leader of the Republican Party of RussiaPeople’s Freedom Party (RPRPARNAS), visited the United States. In an interview with IMR Advisor Olga Khvostunova, Kasyanov discussed the opposition’s plans for the new political season and shared his views on the situation in Russia. Recent […]
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(RIA Novosti – July 4, 2013) Yaroslavl mayor Yevgeniy Urlashov has pleaded not guilty to charges of extorting a bribe, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported on 4 July. He made the statement at a court session that had been convened to decide whether to keep him in custody. Urlashov, who belongs to Mikhail Prokhorov’s Civil Platform opposition party, […]
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(RIA Novosti – July 5, 2013) A court in Yaroslavl ruled early on Friday to arrest an opposition politician who won a rare landslide victory against the ruling United Russia party in a mayoral election last year. Yaroslavl Mayor Yevgeny Urlashov was charged along with four of his colleagues on Thursday with extorting a 14 million ruble ($420,000) bribe, investigators […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – July 5, 2013) Investigators officially charged Yaroslavl Mayor Yevgeny Urlashov and a group of his subordinates with attempted bribery Thursday as members of the Kremlin human rights council met to discuss the case, which Urlashov’s supporters say they suspect has been fabricated by his political enemies. But members of the council, generally […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 5, 2013) Former Health and Social Development Minister Tatyana Golikova could be appointed head of the Audit Chamber as early as Friday by President Vladimir Putin, several government sources said, Vedomosti reported Thursday. Golikova, currently a presidential aide, was tipped to replace Sergei Stepashin as soon as a new law prescribing the re-election of […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – July 5, 2013) World Bank and IMF upgraded Russia’s position in national income rating. World Bank has ranked the country 72nd in its gross national income (GNI) per capita rating. Now Russia classifies as a country with a high income level, as follows from the organization’s statement. “The major change for 2013 classification (FY14) […]
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(RIA Novosti – BLAGOVESHCHENSK, Bashkiria, July 3, 2013) As Russian officials put the finishing touches on a new pension plan that would peg Russian citizens’ retirement money to their labor record and wages, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Wednesday that he was pleased to learn his future pension size was more than $2,000 a month. Medvedev calculated his future […]
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(Interfax – July 3, 2013) The recent laws criminalizing “propaganda” of homosexuality and actions aimed at hurting believers’ feelings have the support of the majority of Russians, privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax reported on 3 July, quoting figures from the latest opinion poll carried out by Levada Centre. Figures on the center’s own website (http://www.levada.ru/) show that 16 per cent […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 5, 2013) The development of Russia’s armed forces should not deprive the national economy and public sector of financial resources, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. “The defense programs should be reasonable and should not be a heavy burden on the country’s economy and public sector,” Putin said at a Russian Security Council meeting dealing with the […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 4, 2013) A veteran Russian human rights defender insisted on Thursday that Russia ditch its law that prescribes “foreign agent” status for foreign-funded Russian nonprofit organizations (NPOs) that are involved in domestic political activities. “I am convinced that this law must be repealed,” Lyudmila Alexeyeva, leader of the Moscow Helsinki Group, told Interfax. She was commenting […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, July 5, 2013) Russia’s prestigious Academy of Sciences, whose members are currently engaged in a fierce battle against government-proposed reforms, found itself under fire yet again Friday when police raided the basement of its Moscow headquarters for illegal immigrants. After receiving a tip-off late Thursday that the basement was being used as a makeshift hostel, […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin – July 5, 2013) David Bowie, Paulo Coelho and Alexander Solzhenitsyn are very different in life and in art, but they have one thing in common. They all traveled on the Trans-Siberian Railroad the iron artery that has brought freight and passengers across the country since it was first completed in 1916. […]
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(Interfax – NOVO-OGARYOVO, near Moscow, July 4, 2013) President Vladimir Putin on Thursday insisted on urgent measures to restart Russia’s stalled economic growth. “Let me stress that the situation in the economy is such that we can’t wait, and spending time on the constant coordination of positions between agencies is also counterproductive. We should act, move forward, make balanced systemic […]
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Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#121 :: 3 July 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. BBC Monitoring: Western public opinion of Putin is improving – […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, July 3, 2013) All Moscow airports must disclose their beneficiary owners as part of a plan to create a unified aviation hub for the capital, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday, in a move that appears to put pressure on Domodedovo airport whose beneficiary owners have refused to reveal themselves. “It is essential that all […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, July 2, 2013) China’s massive investments in Xinjiang combined with its willingness to repress quickly any challenges to its rule there is keeping that still 50 percent Muslim region from become “a Chinese Chechnya,” according to a Russian analyst who has travelled there regularly since 1991. But that does not mean that […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Claire Bigg – July 2, 2013) Every other Russian citizen would not be opposed to Chechnya’s secession from Russia, according to a new poll by the Levada Center, Russia’s top independent polling agency. The study, conducted across Russia and published on July 1, shows that 24 percent of respondents would be “glad” if Chechnya were no […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW,. July 3, 2013) The defense team of Hermitage Capital’s auditor Sergei Magnitsky, who died in a detention facility, said that a guilty verdict within the framework of the trial in absentia of Magnitsky was needed to justify his death. “The trial is needed just for this – to tell the entire world – here, look, the court […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – July 3, 2013) The State Duma is set to vote Wednesday in a first reading on a heavily criticized bill sponsored by the government that would strip the Russian Academy of Sciences of an important source of revenue: the right to lease its premises. On Tuesday, around a thousand researchers held a […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 3, 2013) Bureaucrats should not have the right to appoint directors of academic institutes, President Vladimir Putin said. “I would like to call your attention to a key provision of this draft law [reforming the Academy], i.e. the establishment of an agency managing Academy assets and essentially performing one of its main functions – the appointment […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, July 3, 2013) A government-backed bill on a sweeping overhaul of Russia’s Academy of Sciences was passed in the first reading by the lower house of the federal parliament on Wednesday, despite fierce opposition from the academy’s leadership. The bill proposes handing control over the academy’s vast assets and 434 scholarly institutes to a new […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Jake Rudnitsky – July 3, 2013) A Russian mayor who won a landslide victory against a candidate backed by President Vladimir Putin’s ruling party last year was detained by police on suspicion of demanding a 14 million-ruble ($421,000) kickback. Yaroslavl Mayor Yevgeny Urlashov and two deputies threatened to stop payments to a local businessman for a […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – July 3, 2013) The State Duma on Tuesday passed in the third and final reading the long-awaited economic crimes amnesty bill, which will free several thousand businessmen from the nation’s prisons. But despite the fact that the legislation was supported by all of the Duma parties when it was being prepared, only […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 2, 2013) Russian human rights commissioner Vladimir Lukin said he expected the economic amnesty, declared by the Russian State Duma on Tuesday, to have positive effect. “Any amnesty of not very serious criminals is a positive deed. I welcome this amnesty,” Lukin told Interfax on Tuesday. “Arguments on how wide and deep the amnesty is are […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 2, 2013) Russia’s oldest human rights activist, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group Lyudmila Alexeyeva said she criticized the economic amnesty declared by the Russian State Duma on Tuesday. “The obligation to repay damages undercuts this entire amnesty. This is a fly in the ointment,” Alexeyeva told Interfax on Tuesday. “If a person indeed did steal, […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW. July 3, 2013) Former CIA officer Edward Snowden stays put in the Sheremetyevo Airport transit zone, an airport representative told Interfax. “Passenger Snowden remains in the transit zone. He is unable to board a flight or even leave the transit zone because he has no documents,” the source said.
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Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#120 :: 2 July 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: Luc Jones, Russian Reply Is Often Short, Simple […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – July 2, 2013) President Vladimir Putin on Monday reiterated his stance that former U.S. intelligence analyst Edward Snowden needs to choose a country to seek asylum in and leave, amid reports that the American fugitive had officially applied for safe haven in Russia and more than a dozen other countries. In only […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Henry Meyer & Olga Tanas – July 2, 2013) Edward Snowden has withdrawn his Russian asylum request because of the demand that he stop harming U.S. interests by leaking secret documents as countries from Latin America to Europe brushed off his bid for refuge. “Theoretically, Snowden could stay in the Russian Federation, but with one condition […]
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(Kremlin.ru – July 1, 2013) [Excerpt re Snowden] QUESTION: Do you think that Mr Snowden will fly away with one of the delegates from this meeting? VLADIMIR PUTIN: You have to ask the delegates, I don’t know. I want to emphasise (we can never get away from this topic, it seems) that Mr Snowden is not our agent, never was, […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Kristen Blyth – July 1, 2013) Got a headache? Put a cabbage leaf on your head. Toothache? Garlic is your answer. Drinking a shot of vodka will help cure a cold. If you happen to be suffering from an open wound, slap some badger fat on it and your cut will be healed in no […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 1, 2013) Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplain, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Synodal Department for Church and Society, said Russia is moving towards maximum self-reliance and must become the center of global Christianity. “It is not accidental that many see Russia as a defender of Christian ideals and traditional moral values, as a country that provides a real […]
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(RIA Novosti – Natalia Antonova – Natalia Antonova, Acting Editor-in-Chief of The Moscow News – July 2, 2013) Last week, a couple of foreign journalists I know traveled to a small town very far from Moscow in order to explore local culture and possibly write about it. Before they went, they posted an innocent question on a local forum, […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Guennadi Moukine – July 2, 2013) The State Duma has approved the nominations of Sergei Stepashin, Tatyana Golikova and Andrei Makarov as candidates to head the Audit Chamber, leaving it up to President Vladimir Putin to choose one of them or award the position to somebody else by October 1, 2013, news reports said Monday. […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, July 1, 2013) The presidential council for human rights (CHR), having examined the situation with the eviction of members of the movement For Human Rights from their office, has urged the head of state to take measures to protect non-commercial organizations (NGOs) in cases of this kind. “Considering this conflict in the general context of current tasks […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Natalia Antonova, Acting Editor-in-Chief – July 1, 2013) New laws are being adopted at a breakneck pace in Russia – almost as if some sort of legal Apocalypse will soon be upon us, and lawmakers are afraid that they are running out of time. One of the newest bills just signed into law by President […]
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(Moscow News – Anna Arutunyan, Editor and Correspondent at themoscownews.com – July 1, 2013) This article contains information not suitable for readers younger than 18 years of age, according to Russian legislation. I have a very good friend who is convinced that being gay is a curable disease. Or, at least, he was convinced, until we spoke about it. During […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anatoly Medetsky – July 2, 2013) President Vladimir Putin on Monday urged gas-exporting countries to step up joint efforts to deal with challenges that originated in the United States and Europe. He spoke at a conference of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, or GECF, which brought together delegates from such places as Iran, Qatar and […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 2, 2013) Abandoning the basic principles used to draw up long-term gas contracts will in the final analysis undermine the energy security of gas importing countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) summit in Moscow on Monday. He told delegates at the organization’s second meeting that the application of new […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Maria Stambler- June 28, 2013) Few doubts exist as to what needs to rank high on Russia’s economic agenda: growth and competitiveness in a healthy and transparent business climate. The ongoing discussions in the government and the business community revolve around how to achieve them. At the annual economic forum in St. Petersburg on June […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 2, 2013) The Federal Financial Markets Service (FFMS) has for the first time proven a case of insider trading on the Russian market, the head of the regulator, Dmitry Pankin said on his official blog. The case concerns transactions with shares in cosmetics firm Kalina (RTS: KLNA) in the fall of 2011, ahead of the announcement […]
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Subject: Re: Moscow October 1993 From: lsell52354@aol.com (Louis D. Sell) Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2013 In catching up on my reading I saw an exchange of e-mails on the events in Russia in October 1993. At that time I was the acting number 2 at the US Embassy in Moscow, which as those familiar with Moscow know, is only a […]
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