(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, December 17, 2013) “Time is working for President Putin and his regime” because the aging of the Russian population means that he can rely on the ever greater share of the population of pensioners, some Moscow experts say, but concomitantly time is working against Russia because it is rapidly driving down the […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber – December 17, 2013) The State Duma will vote Tuesday in a first reading on President Vladimir Putin’s draft bill to grant amnesty to certain categories of prisoners, a piece of legislation that could exonerate high-profile detainees despite what critics say are its narrow criteria. As part of an effort to free space […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, December 17, 2013) Vladimir Putin’s efforts to exploit “the energy” of Russian nationalism and Orthodoxy to shore up his regime strike many as clever and effective, but Rashit Akhmetov points out that they recall those of Nicholas II and may have the same result, undermining both the current Kremlin ruler’s position and […]
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MOSCOW, December 17 (RIA Novosti) Only one percent of Russians are actively interested in politics, according to an opinion poll. Some 26 percent say that they have no interest in politics at all. Another 41 percent describe themselves as “rather uninterested” in politics, the survey by the independent Levada Center found. Only 28 percent of the 1,600 people questioned […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 16 (Interfax) – Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev argued on Friday that it might be simplistic to see current protests in Ukraine as an offensive against Soviet-style policies. “You drew some comparisons and mentioned Ukraine. I’m not sure that all that is happening in Ukraine at the moment can be described as an attack on ‘Sovok,’” Medvedev said […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 16 (Interfax) – Russia will answer symmetrically if the United States expands the so-called Magnitsky List, i.e. the list of Russian officials suspected of human rights abuses and subject to U.S. financial and visa sanctions under the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said. “Decisions on putting more Russian […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Andrei Ilyashenko, special to RBTH – December 16, 2013) Russian diplomacy in 2013 won several important victories and met a few disappointments. With the end of the Cold War far behind us, Russia’s foreign policy concerns in 2013 were largely focused on a “humanitarian” war against Syria and a disarming strike against Iran. […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 16 (Interfax) – Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev believes Ukraine will have to overcome a tectonic fault that threatens the state’s existence as such. “It seems to me that Ukrainian society will have to overcome a tectonic fault that has formed in it. This fault threatens the state’s stability and actually its existence. Surely, we are greatly alarmed […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – KYIV BLOG – December 16, 2013) Some 100,000 protestors rallied on Independence Square (Maidan Nezalezhnosti) in central Kyiv for the third Sunday in a row this weekend, maintaining the pressure on the increasingly embattled President Viktor Yanukovych. They were treated to a speech by US Senator John McCain and a gig by Ukrainian rock […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – December 13, 2013) Chief Executive Officers from Russian companies are generally upbeat about the current state of Russia’s economy, but a large proportion have only moderate expectations for its future development prospects, a study conducted by executive search firm Stanton Chase International found. Over 85 percent of the survey’s participants assessed 2013 as successful, but […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Vladimir Kozlov, special to RBTH – December 16, 2013) In the past year, the Bolshoi Theater has gone through a series of controversies and management changes. What is behind all of the chaos? Just a few years ago, Bolshoi was under public scrutiny because of its major renovation scheme, which went behind schedule […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Eradzh Nidoev – December 13, 2013) It’s 10 a.m. on a Sunday. A thin layer of fog hangs in the air, but I can clearly see the dilapidated concrete building in front of me. It is one of the biggest children’s hospitals in Moscow. I am here to work as an unpaid volunteer. “Do you […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 14 (Interfax) – The leader of Russia’s liberal Yabloko party, Sergei Mitrokhin, has described opposition activist Alexei Navalny as an “oligarchic project.” “Here is an oligarchic project under the tentative name Alexei Navalny. We know that this project is supported by the big interests and money of dissatisfied oligarchs and enjoys latent support from the Russian elite,” Mitrokhin […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber – December 16, 2013) Some of Russia’s most prominent nonsystemic opposition leaders founded the Social Democrats of Russia party on Sunday, marking a first step toward the possible consolidation of the country’s marginal social democratic factions. The announcement comes amid a proliferation of opposition parties, among them former Moscow mayoral candidate Alexei Navalny’s […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, December 16, 2013) Whenever something bad happens in Russia, the last refuge of pro-regime commentators is to suggest that the ruler isn’t in charge and that underlings are to blame: the man in the Kremlin can thus continue to be given credit for anything good that happens but not be held responsible […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Andy Frecka – December 16, 2013) From Murmansk to Magadan, Sochi to Salekhard, and from Kaliningrad to Kamchatka, its tentacles weave a web of hideous destruction. Quietly, on the steppes of Siberia, now whispering over the Urals, then across the Volga. Now coming down your street as you innocently sit in your home. No, I […]
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KYIV. Dec 16 (Interfax) – Ukraine has made a final choice in its foreign policy vector – integration with Europe, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said. “As we are told, the door to the European Union is open for us, same as the door of the Customs Union. That is very good, because we have a choice and we will […]
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(Interfax – December 16, 2013) Major foreign business has been recently concerned mostly about the psychological and political aspects in Russia, not with the business climate itself, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said on Monday when speaking at the conference “100 Steps Towards Favorable Investment Climates. Achievements and New Challenges” organized by the Vedomosti newspaper. “I have recently […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – December 16, 2013) Affordable housing remains a dream for most Russian families, whose average monthly income is not enough for a mortgage to buy even a half of a two-bedroom apartment, according to research conducted by Finexpertiza consulting firm. A survey by the Public Opinion Foundation, showed that a two-bedroom apartment is the “Russian dream,” […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 13 (Interfax) – Russians are certain that foreign security services are spying in their home country and support the proportionate actions of domestic security services on a global scale. Two-thirds of Russians (66%) believe that domestic security services should collect intelligence information in other countries: tap conversations, read correspondence and obtain classified materials. Ten percent say this is […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Graham Stack in Kyiv – December 16, 2013) As mass anti-government and pro-EU protests move into their third week in Ukraine, vox pop and opinion polls show the continued high motivation of protestors, but also the stubborn resistance of the east-west geographical fault line that shapes Ukrainian politics. December 15 saw another large crowd […]
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MOSCOW, December 14 (RIA Novosti) The number of Russian speakers worldwide has declined by about 120 million people in the past 20 years, a senior Russian government official said Friday. Measures to boost the popularity of Russian have been insufficient to reverse this decline, according to Benjamin Kaganov, deputy minister of education and science. He told a conference in […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin – December 16, 2013) The era of the brash New Russian has ended. Neither heavy gold chains nor massive Rolex watches enthrall the Russian consumer as they did at the dawn of capitalism in the 1990s, although quality is preferred and people are willing to pay for it, according to a survey released […]
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(Kremlin.ru – December 12, 2013) Finally, we need to speed up the adoption of laws that would enable Russian universities to actively develop distance learning, which would also be aimed above all at our compatriots abroad and at the CIS countries. As we improve professional education, we must remember that the labour market is becoming more flexible and people need […]
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(Interfax – December 16, 2013) Russia has not yet managed to achieve a radical breakthrough on the issue of improving its business climate, the Russian president’s aide on economic issues, Andrei Belousov believes. “The euphoria from the nearly 20 percent advancement in the Doing Business rating passed about three hours after we found out the results,” Belousov said on Monday […]
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(Voice of America – James Brooke -December 14, 2013) James Brooke is VOA Moscow bureau chief, covering Russia and the former USSR. KYIV – To understand what is happening in Kyiv today, remember that Ukraine has a larger landmass in Europe than France, the largest nation of the European Union. From East to West, Ukraine is longer than Italy, […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 16 (Interfax) – Moscow is already taking disciplinary measures in relation to the Russian diplomats accused in the U.S. of unlawfully receiving Medicaid benefits to cover the pregnancy and childbirth costs, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “This is a disciplinary offence, because, by being insincere in filing applications and citing inaccurate figures to receive some benefits, they […]
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MOSCOW, December 16 (RIA Novosti) Russia confirmed Monday that it has deployed tactical ballistic missiles near its borders with NATO but said the move did not violate international agreements. Bild newspaper in Germany reported over the weekend that Russia had “quietly” moved 10 Iskander-M (SS-26 Stone) missile systems into its Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad and along its border with […]
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Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#225 :: 13 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. Russia Beyond the Headlines/Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Russians have grown angrier and […]
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(Institute of Modern Russia – imrussia.org – Ekaterina Mishina – December 12, 2013) December 12 marks the 20th anniversary of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. According to some estimates, over $600,000 were spent on pompous celebration activities. Meanwhile, as IMR legal expert Ekaterina Mishina notes, the constitution has begun to be treated as a fetish, while its real content […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 12 (Interfax) – Ineffective federal programs might be discontinued, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said at a cabinet meeting devoted to the performance of these programs over the first nine months of the year. “We need to either radically change the situation with the programs of close them down. We’ll reach a decision on this by the end […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 12 (Interfax) – Companies with Russian assets that are registered in foreign jurisdictions have to pay taxes according to Russian law, while at the same time will receiving no government support, state contracts, or VEB credits, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. “As nothing [has been done about this] in this sphere [‘de-offshoring’ the economy] this year, I […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – December 13, 2013) Senior managers at state companies can review proposed key performance indicators, or KPIs, for the quality of their work, which have been published on the website of the Federal Property Management Agency, a news report said Thursday. President Vladimir Putin authorized the development of KPIs for senior managers of state companies during […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alexandra Kulikova, special to RBTH – December 12, 2013) In early December Adam Smith Conferences held the 20th anniversary Russian Banking Forum in London aimed at looking at what the future holds for Russia’s banks. The timing of the Russian Banking Forum this year was perfect to have a feel of the expert […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 12 (Interfax) – A senior Russian lawmaker has praised what, according to President Vladimir Putin, is the “conservative” nature of Russia’s foreign policy. “Not to correct or deny but to continue history is the slogan of modern conservatism, a rational ideology that is appropriate for addressing tasks posed by circumstances,” Mikhail Margelov, head of the Federation Council’s International […]
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(RIA Novosti – December 12, 2013) Russian experts interviewed by the RIA Novosti news agency believe that by speaking about possible sanctions against Ukraine, the USA is trying to make Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych more compliant, the agency reported on 12 December. Spokesperson for the US Department of State Jen Psaki has said that the US authorities are considering possible […]
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(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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