SOCHI. Sept 17 (Interfax) – Russia’s Economic Development Ministry is somewhat more optimistic about the outlook for the oil market than the Central Bank in its baseline scenario, which assumes an oil price of $50 per barrel in the next three years. “Our hypothesis is that it might be a little higher, but this is absolutely not crucial,” Economic Development […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – September 17, 2015) Russians are becoming less interested in what is happening in neighboring Ukraine amid reports of decreased military activity in the country, state-run pollster VTsIOM reported in a survey published Wednesday. According to the poll, 71 percent of Russians are currently following events in Ukraine, including 25 percent of respondents who say they […]
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(Interfax – September 17, 2015) It is NATO that ought to take the first step towards resuming constructive dialogue between military officials of Russia and the alliance, Moscow’s Permanent Representative to NATO Alexander Grushko has said. “Signals have recently been heard from different ‘corners’ in NATO that it would be a good idea to revive Russia-NATO contacts at the military […]
» Read more[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#181 Thursday – 17 September 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 […]
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(Paul Goble – Staunton, September 17, 2015) When Vladimir Putin first appeared on the Russian political Olympus, people asked “Who is Mr. Putin?” In the years since that time, they have continued to ask because the Kremlin leader has changed fundamentally at least three times, a reflection of the situation he has found himself in and his own agendas. Now, […]
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Russia, already facing recession and falling oil prices, prepares for the possibility that Western sanctions may remain in place for years to come. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – David Miller, Jared Feldschreiber, special to RBTH – September 17, 2015) Russia is girding itself for the possibility of a long haul under Western economic sanctions, as officials in Moscow […]
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(Interfax – September 16, 2015) The well-known Russian impersonator who claimed he tricked Elton John into thinking that President Vladimir Putin had phoned him to discuss LGBT rights should apologize to the singer, Putin’s spokesman said on 16 September, in remarks reported by privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax. Asked whether Vladimir Krasnov, better known as Vovan, should apologize to the […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Lottie Millington in London – September 17, 2015) [Charts here http://www.bne.eu/content/story/bnechart-corruption-putins-biggest-failing-finds-poll] Corruption is Vladimir Putin’s biggest presidential failing, according to a survey by Russia’s independent Levada Center. According to the survey respondents, some of Putin’s biggest failures were dealing with the “fight against corruption and bribery”, and improving “relations between Russia and the West”. […]
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The Kiev Post covers Sept. 16 remarks by Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk addressing multiple challenges facing Ukraine, including a goal of European integration in the face of Russian opposition. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk hardly left anyone out during a televised government meeting on Sept. 16. He charged at Russia, parliament, government coalition partners, local authorities and the customs […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Natasha Doff, Daryna Krasnolutska – September 16, 2015) Ukraine’s government has stepped up last-minute lobbying because of growing concern that lawmakers won’t back an accord to restructure $18 billion of foreign debt. Government officials have met with ruling and opposition parties before a vote Thursday that’s supposed to give final approval to the debt deal, according […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Vitaly Dudin – September 16, 2015) Vitaly Dudin is a legal analyst at Ukraine’s Center for Social and Labor Research, which was created in 2013 as an independent not-for-profit institution dedicated to the analysis of socio-economic problems, collective protests, labour relations and conflicts. 265 votes ‘for’. Three people dead. This is how most of us will remember Ukraine’s […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Sergei Kuznetsov in Kyiv – September 14, 2015) With the approach of winter, the government in Kyiv is trying to muster funds to stockpile Russian natural gas ahead of the heating season and secure an affordable gas purchase price under a new “winter package”. Meanwhile, one of its chief bargaining chips and money-earners seems […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Pete Baumgartner – PRAGUE, September 15, 2015) The U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) says there is a very important lesson for former Soviet republics to have learned from the devastating conflict in eastern Ukraine: Don’t be too reliant on Russia. “Having [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin as your only friend […]
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The conflict in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea has brought the Kremlin and Russia’s ultra-nationalists closer together. Recent prosecutions show that their ideas still have the government worried. (opendemocracy.net – Vyacheslav Koslov – September 15, 2015) Vyacheslav Kozlov is a journalist for daily newspaper Kommersant. He writes on international relations, nationalism, extremism, narco-politics, the Russian opposition and the problems […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – September 15, 2015) [Charts here bne.eu/content/story/foot-traffic-russias-leading-shopping-malls-tumbles] Foot traffic at Russia’s leading malls is collapsing because of the grinding crisis that has seen real incomes fall the first time in a decade and a half, according to the most accurate index measuring Russians’ shopping habits. Moscow boasts some of the […]
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SOCHI. Sept 16 (Interfax) – Because financial markets have largely priced in the effect of a potential rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve, Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev does not expect any major shocks if the U.S. Fed does approve a rate hike. “It seems to me that for the most part the markets have included the rate hike […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Oleg Krasnov, RBTH – September 16, 2015) A new book published in Russia called “Mikhail Piotrovsky” consists of an interview with the renowned director of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, who is an authoritative Middle East and Arabic scholar. RBTH has selected 10 quotes on world culture and heritage from the […]
» Read more[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#180 Wednesday – 16 September 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 […]
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A different approach is needed, one that goes to the heart of the problem by creating a new security architecture for central Europe that all can accept.
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It’s not as odd as you’d think. A centuries-old imperial conquest, along with an unusual route to Norway, may lead Syria’s migrants to wash up on Russia’s shores
» Read more[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#179 Tuesday – 15 September 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 […]
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(Stratfor.com – Reva Bhalla – September 15, 2015) Mother Russia can be quite generous when it comes to her collection of statelets. In the early 1990s, when a broken Russia had no choice but to suck in her borders, a severely distracted Kremlin still found the time and money to promote and sponsor the fledgling breakaway territories of South Ossetia […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – September 15, 2015) Thirteen percent of Russians would like to move abroad, while 17 percent of Muscovites would like to do so, a poll revealed Monday. Almost half of those who want to leave Russia for good – 38 percent – are young people between the ages of 18 and 24, research by the state-run […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – September 14, 2015) It’s been just under a quarter of a century since the fall of the Soviet Union and in that time a relatively small group of men have become fabulously wealthy in the rough and tumble of Russia’s “wild capitalism”. As most of Russia’s tycoons are approaching […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – September 15, 2015) Investigators have opened a criminal case against a group of radical Orthodox activists who attacked Moscow’s Manezh exhibition center last month. The suspected attackers from the ultra-conservative group “God’s Will” could face criminal prosecution for the “destruction or damage of cultural property,” Interior Ministry spokesman Andrei Galiakberov was cited […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jordan Reed – September 15, 2015) The Russian Internet giant Yandex put its literary research hat on to conduct a far-reaching survey into the habits of Russians who search for poets and their works online. After analyzing the 37 million Yandex searches related to poetry over the period of one year, April 2014 to March […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – September 15, 2015) St. Petersburg State University has become the first Russian institution to enter the top 50 of a Financial Times global ranking of business schools. The English-language Masters in Management program at St. Petersburg State University’s Graduate School of Management placed 46th in the survey, up from 56th last year and 65th in […]
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[featured image is file photo] “Russian pride will not allow Moscow to join a U.S.-led coalition, but we should be able to work in parallel, coordinating air strikes and other actions for maximum effect in degrading ISIS.”
» Read moreJohnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#178 Monday – 14 September 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 part […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – September 14, 2015) Multiple violations were registered by independent elections watchdogs during Sunday’s regional elections across Russia, and in the most drastic development, the office of an observers’ organization was raided by police who said they had reason to believe it was a murder scene. The Central Elections Commission (CEC) said it […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Marina Denysenko – September 11, 2015) Marina Denysenko is a journalist with experience reporting in Ukraine and the UK. In 2004, she reported Ukraine’s Orange Revolution for the BBC World Service. In 2014, she directed London’s Ukrainian Investment Summit, and is currently researching Ukraine’s institutional response to the challenges of the information war for the Legatum Institute. ‘The […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alexey Timofeychev, RBTH – September 14, 2015) Russia has proposed extending the mandate of the UN mission on chemical weapons in Syria to Iraq, where it claims ISIS militants may be behind production. However, some media see this as Moscow diverting attention from the actions of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and delaying a […]
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MOSCOW. Sept 14 (Interfax) – The movement Golos, which campaigns for voters’ rights, said in commenting on the outcome of the unified voting day that the elections in Russia had taken place with numerous violations, and that use of administrative technologies had been involved. “Bearing in mind the outcome of the public monitoring of the September 13 elections, we believe […]
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TBILISI. Sept 14 (Interfax) – Georgia did not coordinate with Moscow its association agreement with the European Union, Special Envoy of the Georgian Prime Minister for Relations with Russia Zurab Abashidze has said. “What is more, representatives of the Russian administration said they would not hinder Georgia’s signing of that document,” he told the Georgian newspaper Kviris Palitra in an […]
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TOMSK. Sept 14 (Interfax) – Four United Russia candidates failed to win district head elections in the Tomsk Region, the party’s Tomsk regional secretary Sergei Ilyinykh told an Interfax press conference on Monday. “United Russia candidates won in six districts; independents won in four – Bakchar, Krivosheino, Zyryansky and Alexandrovsky,” he said. There are several reasons why the party’s election […]
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