Month: August 2015
NEWSLINK The Calvert Journal: Stars set to boycott Russian radio station
Russia Rewrites Growth Blueprint as Recession Dooms Consumer
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Anna Andrianova – August 19, 2015) [Chart here bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-19/russia-rewrites-blueprint-for-growth-as-recession-dooms-consumer] Russia’s consumer economy, powered for more than a decade by a $2.1 trillion energy windfall, is in agony. The situation is getting worse, according to data released Wednesday by the statistics office in Moscow. Wages adjusted for inflation plummeted 9.2 percent last month from a year earlier […]
» Read moreOil Prices Must Rebound. Here’s Why.
(Oilprice.com – Steve Brown – August 19, 2015) [Charts here http://oilprice.com/Energy/Oil-Prices/Oil-Prices-Must-Rebound-Heres-Why.html] Last week I spotted a very interesting chart that Gregor MacDonald tweeted which showed world oil production over recent years excluding the USA. The chart was pretty flat and that got me wondering about the extent to which the world has come to depend upon Light Tight Oil in […]
» Read moreExiled Ukraine Premier Seeks to Regain Power, Though Not Crimea
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Irina Reznik, Stepan Kravchenko – August 19, 2015) Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, who’s formed a government-in-exile to try to regain power, said his country is ripe for more regime change. Amid economic crisis and conflict in the country’s east, Ukrainians are disillusioned with the pro-European policies of President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy […]
» Read moreState Statistics Show Flat Unemployment, Survey Paints Different Story
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – August 20, 2015) Despite unemployment levels remaining relatively consistent in the first six months of 2015, more Russians are seeing close friends and family members losing their jobs than in January, according to survey data released by a Russian polling center on Tuesday. According to Russian state statistics agency Rosstat, in January the levels of […]
» Read moreKaliningrad election commission confirms Yakunin’s rank as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary
KALININGRAD. Aug 20 (Interfax) – It has been confirmed that Russian Railways (MOEX: RZHD) chief Vladimir Yakunin has the diplomatic rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Kaliningrad regional election commission chief Inessa Vinyavskaya wrote on her Facebook page. “In reply to the commission’s query as part of the verification of the information on V. I. Yakunin, the Russian Presidential Administration […]
» Read moreNew Policy on Commemorating Victims of Repression At Odds With Actions
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – August 20, 2015) The government announced a new policy this week condemning attempts to justify mass Soviet repression, a move that appears to directly contradict official rhetoric and state actions during the last few years. The move shows a lack of unity in the Kremlin on the ideological front, or even the […]
» Read moreHalf of Russians Believe Putin is Poorly Informed of Situation in the Country, Poll Shows
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – August 20, 2015) Over half of Russians think President Vladimir Putin does not receive a complete picture of what is going on in Russia or is being deliberately misled by his entourage, according to a poll released Wednesday by an independent Russian polling center. Fifty-six percent of respondents in the poll conducted by the Levada […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK New York Times: Russia’s Pitch to Vacationers: Crimea Is for Patriots
NEWSLINK Washington Post: Russia’s summer of intrigue: Political trials take center stage.
NEWSLINK The Calvert Journal: Russia bans Reddit pages over drug discussion
NEWSLINK Reuters: Ukraine shifts closer to open war with recent attacks.
NEWSLINK Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: Ukraine Reform Monitor: August 2015
NEWSLINK Calvert Journal: Moscow bus drivers officially required to be polite
NEWSLINK The National Interest/Dmitry Gorenburg: This Is How the Russian Military Plans to Fight Future Wars
Russia is actively seeking out areas of relative strength to compensate for its military’s overall weakness.
» Read moreUKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#163 :: Wednesday Afternoon 19 August 2015
Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#163 Wednesday Afternoon – 19 August 2015 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Support for JRL is provided in […]
» Read moreRUSSIA – Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#162 :: Wednesday Morning 19 August 2015
Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#162 Wednesday Morning – 19 August 2015 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Support for JRL is provided in […]
» Read moreNEWSWATCH Moscow Times/Peter Pomerantsev: West Needs to Up the Ante in Infowar
Writing in The Moscow Times, Peter Pomerantsev addresses the heft of the Kremlin media machine and the U.S. response. The West is finally coming to a belated comprehension of the power of the Kremlin media machine. The Soviet Union is no more, but the Kremlin holds a media hegemony over 142 million citizens of Russia and 93 million residents of […]
» Read moreNEWSWATCH Washington Post: Russia used to have a powerful weapon in its energy sector. Not anymore.
The Washington Post assesses shifts in Russia’s position within the energy sector, and the impact upon Russian coercive pressure on the West. For years, Russia’s ability to choke off energy shipments any time tensions spiked with the West was a potent threat, one that could force much of Europe to shiver during the wintertime. But with energy prices swooning, the […]
» Read moreNEWSWATCH Moscow Times/Chris Weafer: No End in Sight to the Ruble’s Downward Slide
Writing in The Moscow Times, Chris Weafer considers trends in the Russian economy, with a focus on the ruble. … More than anything else the ruble is very much like the single bolt which holds a hang-glider together. If it breaks then the glider will fall to earth and the pilot very likely killed. * * * The reason why the ruble has that critical role is because, […]
» Read moreNEWSWATCH Wall Street Journal: Russians Seek to Soften Impact of Ruble Depreciation. Businesses look for new ways to hedge against further currency volatility.
The Wall Street Journal covers Russian vulnerability to currency volatility. Under Russian President Vladimir Putin, currency volatility once seemed consigned to the past. Before Russia’s annexation of Crimea last year, the ruble had kept an average range of between 25 and 35 to the dollar for several years. Now the exchange rate hovers around 66 to the dollar. * * […]
» Read moreSimon Saradzhyan: Response to to Dr. Mark Galeotti’s article on Russia Strategy (JRL#152. August 7)
Subject: Response to to Dr. Mark Galeotti’s article on Russia Strategy (JRL#152. August 7) Date: Tue, 18 Aug 2015 23:14:07 +0000 From: Simon Saradzhyan <Simon_Saradzhyan@hks.harvard.edu> Simon Saradzhyan’s Response to Dr. Mark Galeotti’s article on Russia Strategy in Foreign Affairs. [Simon Saradzhyan is assistant director of the U.S.-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism and a fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer […]
» Read morePutin Aide Who Called Shock Rate Cut Sees Pause as Oil Nears $40
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Olga Tanas, Evgenia Pismennaya – August 18, 2015) Andrey Belousov went largely unheeded the last time he forecast a shift in monetary policy. Now President Vladimir Putin’s top economic aide is lending weight to a growing consensus that Russia’s easing cycle is wearing out. The central bank may pause its interest-rate cuts after five decreases this […]
» Read moreRussian Press Digest (19 August 2015)
(opendemocracy.net – EDITORS OF OPENDEMOCRACY RUSSIA) This Wednesday, the Russian press focuses on the departure of Vladimir Yakunin, head of Russian Railways and a close ally of Vladimir Putin. According to business daily Kommersant, Yakunin called his decision to leave ‘a personal one’ during a conversation with Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, Kaliningrad’s election commission is processing Yakunin’s candidacy to become the […]
» Read moreReal incomes in Russia decline 2.0% in July, wages down 9.2% – Rosstat
MOSCOW. Aug 19 (Interfax) – Real disposable incomes in Russia fell 2.0% in July compared with the same month last year, the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) said. They fell 3.5% in June, 6.4% in May, 4% in April, 1.8% in March, 1.6% in February and 0.8% in January. Incomes fell 2.9% in real terms in January-July 2015. They declined […]
» Read moreRussia ready to discuss new CFE treaty with NATO – Foreign Ministry
(Interfax – Moscow, August 18, 2015) Russia is ready for dialogue with NATO on new parameters of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) if the alliance’s proposal answer present-day realities, Mikhail Ulyanov, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department for Arms Control and Nonproliferation, has said. “In principle, we are ready to discuss the parameters of a […]
» Read morePutin Said Ready to Revamp Inner Circle as Ally Yakunin Goes
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Irina Reznik, Ilya Arkhipov, Olga Tanas – August 18, 2015) Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ready to start replacing long-serving allies in his inner circle after the sudden departure of OAO Russian Railways chief Vladimir Yakunin as head of the country’s largest employer. Putin intends to bring in trusted younger people to shake up his team ahead […]
» Read morePutin May Be Tiring of His Cronies
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – August 18, 2015) Vladimir Yakunin seemed eternal: Nothing he could do appeared to undermine his standing in the system President Vladimir Putin has built to run Russia. Yet now he is leaving the top job at the national railroad monopoly, after 10 years of mismanaging it. Putin may be realizing that tough economic […]
» Read moreHigh-level Iranian and Saudi visits to Moscow raise speculation
Recent visits to Moscow by the Iranian and Saudi foreign ministers, alongside talks with representatives of the Syrian opposition, have raised speculation that Russia could be acting as a mediator between Iran and Saudi Arabia as the lifting of sanctions on Tehran leave the situation in the Middle East in a state of flux. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru […]
» Read moreRIA Novosti: Putin says no need to worry about Russian economy
(RIA Novosti – August 18, 2015) Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on Russians not to worry about the country’s economy, because the government is monitoring the situation around the clock, RIA Novosti reported on 18 August. “Everyone is on the job; the government is managing the economy, on a daily and hourly basis. We don’t let anything out of […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK Christian Science Monitor: A return to war in Ukraine? Kiev, rebels trade accusations of buildup.
Both Ukraine’s government and its rebel provinces have rebuilt their militaries, raising the stakes should the latest violence turn into all out combat.
» Read moreNEWSLINK New York Times: Inflation Robs Russians of Buying Power
NEWSLINK Reuters: Rise of new banks helps Kremlin keep Russia’s economy afloat
NEWSLINK Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs/Nicolai Petro: Bringing Ukraine Back Into Focus: How to End the New Cold War and Provide Effective Political Assistance to Ukraine.
NEWSLINK Belarus Digest/David Marples, Uladzimir Padhol: “Lukashenka’s 2015 Election Strategy”
NEWSLINK Kyiv Post: Mobilization wave comes up 13,000 men short. Experts blamed a fall in patriotism in Ukraine for the failure of the sixth mobilization
NEWSLINK The Times (UK)/Mark Franchetti: “The last days of an oligarch” (Boris Berezovsky)
NEWSLINK Financial Times/ John Thornhill: Fear Vladimir Putin’s weakness not his strength/ It would be rash to equate the president with Russia and declare new cold war.
NEWSLINK Atlantic Council/Brian Mefford: Ukraine’s Fall Elections Matter More Than You Think
UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#161 :: Tuesday Afternoon 18 August 2015
Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#161 Tuesday Afternoon – 18 August 2015 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Support for JRL is provided in […]
» Read moreUkrainians Will Need a Generation to Overcome Trauma from Russian War, Émigré Psychotherapist Says
(Paul Goble – Staunton, August 18, 2015) Madlen Rozenblum, an émigré psychotherapist who has been helping Ukrainians with Skype consultations and training sessions, says that Ukrainians are going to need a generation or even more to overcome the traumas inflicted on them by Russian aggression there. While different Ukrainians have experienced the trauma of war differently, she told Novy Region […]
» Read moreRussia continues to increase investments in U.S. Treasuries
(Interfax – August 18, 2015) Russia increased its investments in U.S. Treasury bonds in June by $1.4 billion, just as it did in May, according to data from the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve System, published on Aug. 18. At the end of June, the volume of Russian-owned U.S. Treasury bonds stood at $72 billion. Russia is currently 19th […]
» Read moreResponse to Gordon Hahn’s post [JRL#159; Re: Pew Poll on Russia, Putin, Global Image]
Subject: Response to Gordon Hahn’s post [JRL#159] Date: Mon, 17 Aug 2015 12:07:07 -0400 From: Steve Shabad <steve.shabad@verizon.net> I find Gordon Hahn’s criticism of the WaPo report on the Pew poll about Russia and Vladimir Putin, while technically correct on some points, erroneous in its thrust and misguided. He makes a series of highly objectionable points, and misses the forest […]
» Read moreRussian Press Digest (17 August 2015)
(opendemocracy.net – EDITORS OF OPENDEMOCRACY RUSSIA) This Monday, the Russian press reports on the import ban on foreign medicines, Rosneft’s taxes, and an attack by Orthodox activists on a Moscow sculpture exhibition. Kommersant opens with an article on new plans to ban imports of a range of medical products. Several large NGOs, including Vera and Podari zhizn, involved in medical […]
» Read moreRe: Think Tanks and U.S.-Russian Confrontation
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 2015 1 From: Robert Legvold <rhl1@columbia.edu> Subject: re think tanks and US-Russian confrontation [Robert Legvold is Marshall D. Shulman Professor Emeritus in the Department of Political Science at Columbia University, where he specialized in the international relations of the post-Soviet states. He was Director of The Harriman Institute, Columbia University, from 1986 to 1992. Prior to […]
» Read moreUkraine Says Separatist Attacks Ease for First Time in Week
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Volodymyr Verbyany, Aliaksandr Kudrytski – August 18, 2015) Ukraine said attacks by pro-Russian insurgents in its easternmost regions abated for the first time in eight days, allaying concern that a six-month-old peace accord is unraveling. Ukrainian officials said they saw a drop in the use of heavy weaponry and reported no new civilian deaths overnight after […]
» Read moreDagestan: Living on the front line of Russia’s fight against terror
For several years already, Russia’s southernmost republic Dagestan has been the epicenter of terrorist activity in the country, with state law-enforcement agencies and special services engaged in a continuous struggle to identify and neutralize terror cells. However, as RBTH reports, these anti-terrorist units do not always use the most humane methods, which inevitably complicates the lives of local residents. (Russia […]
» Read moreOrganizations Host Special Sporting Events for Kids with Special Needs
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexandra Tyan – August 18, 2015) On Saturday, the organization Sports Dream and Gorky Park hosted a special table-tennis training session for kids with Down syndrome and their families. From 11:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m., 10 children with Down syndrome and their families had an opportunity to attend one-on-one training sessions with professional table-tennis coaches. […]
» Read moreRussia’s surprisingly stingy sovereign wealth fund
As disputes over budget spending intensify, the stability of NWF suggests fiscal conservatives in government can still fight their corner. (Business New Europe – bne.eu – Alex Nice, analyst at The Economist Intelligence Unit – August 18, 2015) [Charts here http://www.bne.eu/content/story/insiders-russias-surprisingly-stingy-sovereign-wealth-fund] Since the EU and US imposed sanctions on Russia’s banking, defence and energy sectors in mid-2014, there has been speculation […]
» Read more