(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – December 13, 2013 – Nikolay Surkov, RBTH) Putin says there’s room for avoiding a confrontation between the European Union and the Eurasian Union. Seeking to ease tensions and move the discussion on Ukraine in a constructive direction, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said Russia is ready to negotiate on any type of customs […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 12 (Interfax) – Initiatives to “de-offshore” the Russian economy, as voiced in President Vladimir Putin’s annual address to the Federal Assembly on Thursday, will make it possible to secure additional budget revenue totaling “tens of billions of rubles,” Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said. “I think it will be tens of billions of rubles,” Siluanov told journalists on Thursday. […]
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(Kennan Institute – wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – Ekaterina Alexeeva – December 12, 2013) Widely regarded as one of the authors of the Constitution, Viktor Sheinis is chief researcher at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations at the Russian Academy of Sciences. He spoke with Ekaterina Alexeeva, Program Manager and Editor, Kennan Moscow Project on the occasion of the Tenth Starovoitova […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 12 (Interfax) – The economic focus of the Russian president’s address to the Federal Assembly derives from the challenges faced by contemporary Russia and some of the presidential ideas will determine the national development vector for the next few years to come, State Duma deputy, United Russia General Council Deputy Secretary Olga Batalina said. “The address was largely […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 12 (Interfax) – One of the leaders of Russia’s Communist Party (KPRF) has slammed President Vladimir Putin for allegedly hyping a “liberal economic model” but credited him with “a desire to pull the political and economic train out of the station called Stagnation.” Ivan Melnikov, KPRF first deputy leader and first deputy chairman of the State Duma, was […]
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(Interfax – December 12, 2013) Russian human rights activists have said that a St Petersburg court has upheld the Prosecutor’s Office’s claim that the antidiscrimination center Memorial is a “foreign agent”, Russian Interfax news agency reported on 12 December. The antidiscrimination center Memorial is a regional office of Russia’s Memorial human rights organization. The antidiscrimination center operates in St Petersburg […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 12 (Interfax) – The State Duma may pass the amnesty bill before December 25, Russian Human Rights Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin told Interfax on Thursday. “We have reached an agreement with the State Duma administration: they hope to pass the draft resolution on the amnesty in the first reading on December 17. It will be possible to speak about […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – December 13, 2013) More than 1,000 members of the Russian elite gathered in the golden halls of the Grand Kremlin Palace on Thursday to listen to the annual presidential address that sets the state’s policy for the coming year. This was an occasion for deputies of the State Duma, governors of the […]
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(Kremlin.ru – December 12, 2013) Complete Russian text here: kremlin.ru/news/19825 Click here for partial transcript in English: russialist.org/transcript-partial-presidential-address-to-the-federal-assembly/ Complete Russian text here: kremlin.ru/news/19825 Video with English translation from eng.kremlin.ru/video/1675 (70 minutes) [featured image is file photo from past event]
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(Kremlin.ru – December 12, 2013) Complete Russian text here: http://kremlin.ru/news/19825 Video – Introduction/Abstract – Text Video with English translation from http://eng.kremlin.ru/video/1675 (70 minutes) Introduction/Abstract from Kremlin.ru Vladimir Putin delivered the annual Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly. In his Address, President Putin outlined the main areas of work, instruments and techniques to achieve Russia’s future development goals. In the portion […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 12 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for introducing legislative guarantees next year for establishing an independent and financially self-sufficient local self-government system in Russia. “I am addressing the All-Russian Local Self-Government Council, municipalities, governors, the Federation Council members and the Russian government: let’s look at all aspects of these problems once again so as to […]
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(RIA Novosti – Fyodor Lukyanov – December 13, 2013) Fyodor Lukyanov is Editor-in-Chief of the Russia in Global Affairs journal, authoritative source of expertise on Russian foreign policy and global developments. In his annual State of the Union this week, President Vladimir Putin for perhaps the first time clearly articulated the philosophy that guides Russia’s leadership conservatism. This is […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – MOSCOW BLOG – December 13, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin gave his state of the nation speech on December 12 where he laid out his plans for the coming year. In a nutshell he called for decentralisation and for the regions to take more responsibility for promoting their local economies. These speeches are important […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber – December 13, 2013) President Vladimir Putin capped off a year of aggressively seeking to fill the government’s coffers by announcing Thursday that the government would begin to tax Russian offshore companies and no longer support foreign-registered enterprises. Praising Russia’s improving business environment, Putin also used his annual Constitution Day speech to highlight […]
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Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#224 :: 12 December 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: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php POLITICS 1. Reuters: Putin admits Russia’s economic woes home-grown. 2. Interfax: Putin: […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – December 12, 2013) Following the Ukrainian government’s failure to retake Kyiv’s central square Maidan from protestors on the night of December 11, riot police withdrew the next day and demonstrators rebuilt biggest and better barricades using bags of packed snow, corrugated steel and iron bars. There is also clearly some last minute horse trading […]
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MOSCOW, December 11 (RIA Novosti) Most Russians think that Ukraine would be better off if the two countries formed closer ties, according to a new poll published Tuesday. Just 6 percent believe that Ukraine will gain from forming closer links with the West, while 36 percent are convinced that Russia will suffer harm if its neighbor makes such a […]
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KYIV. Dec 12 (Interfax) – Ukrainian opposition members are not going to engage in any dialogue with the authorities until their conditions are met, Svoboda (Freedom) opposition party leader Oleh Tyahnybok said. “There can be no negotiations with these authorities until all of our demands are fulfilled and special operations units are withdrawn from Kyiv,” Tyahnybok said at a press […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 11 (Interfax) – Americans continue to conceive of Russia in the context of the Cold War and communism, and Russians mostly associate the United States with aggression and the dollar, specialists from the Romir Holding, which held a joint poll with the U.S. Leger Market Research in the fall, told Interfax on Wednesday. A thousand city residents older […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 12 (Interfax) – The agreements of the Sextet and Tehran on the Iranian nuclear program call into question if there is any sense of the missile shield in Europe being created by NATO, head of the Russian State Duma committee on foreign affairs Alexei Pushkov said. “[Russian President Vladimir] Putin has put the question correctly: the issue of […]
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MOSCOW, December 12 (RIA Novosti) President Vladimir Putin warned Thursday against foreign powers seeking to secure a military advantage over Russia and said any attempts to destroy the existing global strategic balance would be futile. Speaking in his annual State of the Nation address, Putin dismissed arguments that the proposed European missile shield is defensive only and described it […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Olga Fedina, special to RBTH – December 12, 2013) The author of the acclaimed novel “The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years,” would have been 85 years old on Dec. 12. When I was finishing school in the late 1980s, in the anarchic and utopian times of perestroika, I remember discussing in […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, December 12, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plans to re-integrate the former Soviet space not only will fail because integration presupposes “a unity of culture, economics and culture rather than seeking to seize the most territory” but will undermine the possibilities for Russia’s own development, according to Vladislav Inozemtsev. In an article […]
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ST. PETERSBURG. Dec 12 (Interfax) – International terrorism, extremism and crime may jeopardize the Russian constitutional system, Russian Constitutional Court Chairman Valery Zorkin said. “The constitution’s anniversary should inspire all people who are not indifferent to holding a profound discussion of any possible threats to the constitutional system of our country. This is the question of international terrorism, extremism and […]
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(Kremlin.ru – December 10, 2013) Vladimir Putin met with Russian human rights activists, representatives of several non-governmental and non-profit human rights organisations, as well as the human rights commissioners from Russia’s federal districts. The meeting took place on Human Rights Day, which is celebrated on December 10. PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Good afternoon, colleagues, My day today is in […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – December 12, 2013) President Vladimir Putin touched upon the burning topic of illegal migration and Russia’s relations with former Soviet republics during his State of the Nation address on Thursday. Control over illegal migration will be tightened, yet ties with neighboring countries will be strengthened, Putin said. He proposed creating barriers for […]
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MOSCOW, December 12 (RIA Novosti) Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that civil society should be more actively engaged in decision-making by government and parliament, but that NGOs should not be motivated by politically biased positions. All bills should be submitted to public review before reaching the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, Putin told a gathering of […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 12 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin is certain that new political parties that won local elections recently will offer stiff competition to the political old-timers. “We are interested in seeing well-trained, purposeful, and professional people ready to responsibly perform their duties coming to government bodies through election mechanisms,” Putin said in an annual address to the Federal […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 12 (Interfax) – Russia will be a leader but will not lecture other states on how they should live, President Vladimir Putin said. “We will aspire to be a leader by protecting international law and insisting upon respect for national sovereignty, independence and uniqueness of peoples,” Putin said in his address presented to the Federal Assembly on Thursday. […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 12 (Interfax) – Former Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin agrees with President Vladimir Putin that the reasons for the economic slowdown in Russia are internal, rather than external in nature. “The president absolutely correctly noted that the reasons for our economic stagnation are internal,” Kudrin wrote on Twitter on Thursday. He also agreed with the view Putin stated […]
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(Interfax – December 11, 2013) The leader of the opposition UDAR party, Vitaliy Klitschko, has said that the cabinet and President Viktor Yanukovych must step down, the Interfax Ukraine news agency reported at 0134 gmt on 11 December. “After all this, I’m convinced that we must demand not only the resignation of government, but of the president, too,” Klitschko was […]
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(Moscow News – moscownews.com – Anna Arutunyan – December 11, 2013) With thousands still protesting in Kiev’s streets after Ukraine suspended plans to sign a trade association agreement with the European Union, beleaguered Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych is still mulling whom to side with for closer economic cooperation – Russia or Europe. Here are six things Russian President Vladimir Putin […]
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TULA. Dec 12 (Interfax) – Russia will not give the North Pole to countries, which have claimed their rights to it, polar explorer, Federation Council member Artur Chilingarov said. “We will not give the North Pole to anyone. Canada’s claims for the North Pole are nothing but an ambition,” he said at a Tula meeting dedicated to the Constitution Day […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Yulia Ponomareva, RBTH – December 12, 2013) Russia intends to deploy a military force on its northern coast to engage in the fight for control over promising oil and gas reserves in the Arctic Ocean. Russia will send a military force to be set up in the Artic next year in order to […]
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Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#223 :: 10 December 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: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php POLITICS 1. Moscow Times: Putin Shuts State News Agency RIA Novosti. 2. […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 9 (Interfax) – State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin has noted the importance of the stability of the Russian constitution and the delicate attitude of Russian society and the authorities towards it. “The stability of the Russian constitution is of special importance for our country,” Naryshkin said at a joint meeting of two houses of the Russian Federal Assembly […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Claire Bigg – December 9, 2013) Russia’s state-run television channels are not known for their impartiality. Their coverage of the massive pro-European protests that have engulfed Ukraine is no exception, analysts say. Russian state television has been churning out what critics describe as misleading, at times downright odd reports since protests erupted almost two weeks ago […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 9 (Interfax) – The economic amnesty declared in Russia has been applied to almost 1,500 people already, Russian business commissioner Boris Titov said. “As of today, a total of 1,479 people have been amnestied,” Titov said during a conference in Moscow on Monday. The possibilities of the amnesty are not exhausted yet, Titov said. “We are not completing […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 9 (Interfax) – Household waste is the biggest environmental danger in the eyes of 58% of Russians. Half of the respondents polled by the Russian Public Opinion Study Center (VTsIOM) put the blame on transportation vehicles and 49% criticized industrial waste. Litter and household waste equally bother people in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities with a population […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 9 (Interfax) – The Russian Ministry of Economic Development says it considers it wrong to give unrealistically upbeat forecasts, Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev told journalists in Moscow on Monday. Ulyukayev was commenting on a statement by presidential aide on economic issues Andrei Belousov that the Economic Development Ministry and Finance Ministry are not looking for additional reserves […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 9 (Interfax) – Russia will stop issuing domestic passports in 2017-2018 and replace them with plastic cards, head of the Federal Migration Service (FMS) Konstantin Romodanovsky has said. “We will launch the cards in 2016,” he said during a lecture at Moscow State University on Friday. “We would want to launch wide-scale use of the document as of […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 9 (Interfax) – Xenophobia and national intolerance are growing in Russia, Russian Federal Migration Service Chief Konstantin Romodanovsky said. “Unfortunately, more cases of intolerance and xenophobia can be observed, which eventually leads to an escalation of inter-ethnic disputes,” Romodanovsky said at a meeting held by Russian human rights commissioner Vladimir Lukin in Moscow on Monday. Many foreigners are […]
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(Oilprice.com – Daniel J. Graeber – December 7, 2013) President of Russian energy company Rosneft, Igor Sechin, said he was eager to unlock the shale oil potential in the Samara region of western Russia. With forecasts warning the U.S. shale phenomenon won’t last, Russia could be moving its pawns into play. Sechin met Friday with Helge Lund, chief executive officer […]
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(opendemocracy.net – December 9, 2013 – David Marples) David Marples is Distinguished University Professor in the Department of History and Classics, University of Alberta, Canada. Author of 13 books, he is also President of the North American Association for Belarusian Studies. The current conflict in Ukraine tends to cast the country’s future choices in terms of membership of either the […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – December 10, 2013) A big day faces Ukraine December 10 as EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton holds talks with all sides in an attempt to find “a way out of the political crisis”, while President Viktor Yanukovych will meet his three predecessors – Leonid Kravchuk, Leonid Kuchma and Viktor Yushchenko. Tensions spiked in […]
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WASHINGTON, December 9 (By Carl Schreck for RIA Novosti) The United States and Russia face a potential renewed blacklist war as a deadline looms this week for Washington to report on controversial sanctions against alleged Russian rights abusers. The US administration has until Saturday to submit to Congress its inaugural annual report on any additions to the so-called “Magnitsky […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Daisy Sindelar – December 10, 2013) A popular clip circulating on the Internet shows just how much a journalist can change in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. In 1999, as Putin was coming to power, Dmitry Kiselyov was a promising television broadcaster with strong opinions about the difference between journalism and propaganda. “A journalist cannot be separated from […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber – December 10, 2013) Dmitry Kiselyov, the ultraconservative television host who was appointed Monday to head a new global news service on the base of RIA Novosti, said Tuesday that parts of the news agency would be preserved and that its staff would remain “in demand.” Kiselyov also said he would meet soon […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber – December 10, 2013) President Vladimir Putin on Monday issued a decree ordering the liquidation of RIA Novosti, the massive state-owned news agency, and mandated the creation of a new global news agency to be headed by an aggressively pro-Kremlin television host. In its own article about the news, RIA Novosti’s English-language service […]
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Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#222 :: 9 December 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: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php POLITICS 1. Bloomberg: Russia Backs Off Ukraine Union After Lenin Statue Falls. […]
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