MOSCOW, February 18 (RIA Novosti) – The meteorite which fell in Russia’s Urals on Friday is likely to be named Chebarkul after a lake where it fell in and the eponymous city on the lake’s shores, a leading scientist said on Monday. The fragments of the meteorite have been found by scientists in Lake Chebarkul, in the Chelyabinsk Region, late […]
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(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, February 17, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/02/window-on-eurasia-russian-officials.html) Russian officials have ignored a 2004 law requiring them to respond to appeals lodged by demonstrators, but now some protesters and their lawyers are using the courts to force at least some government agencies to respond, a development that some say opens the way to a new […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – February 18, 2013) Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer was allegedly killed while in pre-trial detention in 2009, will go on posthumous trial today in what is going to be Russias most controversial case since the jailing of oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky. The Kremlin has been outraged by the so-called Magnitsky law, passed last year, which […]
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(Kremlin.ru – February 15, 2013) The Kremlin, Moscow Vladimir Putin met at the Kremlin with the Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. Russia is currently chairing the G20. The situation in global finances and the G20 countries’ actions to stimulate global economic growth and restore confidence in financial markets were the main subjects of discussion. The G20 […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Howard Amos – February 18, 2013) The Moscow Exchange began trading its own shares Friday, successfully concluding the largest initial public offering in Russia since the 2008 financial crisis. The bourse, which was formed from the merger of the MICEX Index and the dollar-denominated RTS, sold 15 billion rubles ($500 million) worth of shares, indicating […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, 17 February) The concept of Russia’s foreign policy that was voiced by Vladimir Putin is aimed at using economic diplomacy and applying “soft power” as well as “the democratization of diplomacy”, head of the Federation Council’s International Affairs Committee Mikhail Margelov has said. “This concept reflects the fact that today international economic problems cannot always be resolved […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Irina Filatova – February 18, 2013) The head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development promised Friday that accession to the club of the world’s most economically advanced countries won’t take Russia as long as its entry into the World Trade Organization. “It will not take 17 years,” Angel Gurria told Finance Minister Anton […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Nathan Gray – February 18, 2013) KRASNOYARSK – Sony opened an Internet cafe in Krasnoyarsk last week. The coffee was free, the Internet and the computer use were free, but there were two catches: first, it was only open three days, and second, you had to be registered for the Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum to visit. […]
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MOSCOW. Feb 15 (Interfax) – The United States is associated in the minds of a significant number of Russians with an aggressive foreign policy rather than democracy, and more than half of Russians believe the U.S. is pursuing a policy unfriendly to Russia, the Public Opinion Foundation found based on a public opinion poll it conducted on February 9-10. Asked […]
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MOSCOW. Feb 15 (Interfax) – Moscow calls unrealistic the U.S. idea of unilateral nuclear reductions and refuses to negotiate the issue without a missile defense deal, Kommersant wrote on Friday. The U.S. initiative “does not fit present-day realities”, a source at the Russian General Staff told the newspaper. He described the unilateral disarmament idea as “a political move.” “They use […]
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NOVO-OGARYEVO. Feb 14 (Interfax) – The day former Gazprom (RTS: GAZP) chief Rem Vyakhirev was laid to rest also proved to be grave in terms of the company’s strategic outlook. Russian rivals and officials have been talking seriously about ending the company’s export monopoly, approaching this delicate issue by scrapping the monopoly on LNG exports from offshore fields. Russian producers […]
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(Institute of Modern Russia – www.imrussia.org – February 14, 2013 – click here for original posting) Recent protests in Russia have been studied by scholars from the time they began in December 2011. In the last two weeks, the Harriman Institute held two discussion panels, at which US experts shared their thoughts about the prospects for Russia’s opposition movement. The […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Interfax – interfax.ru – February 14, 2013) After the planned withdrawal of U.S. forces and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) from Afghanistan, this country could become a source of a terrorist threat for Russia and the countries of the region, Army Gen. Anatoly Kulikov, the president of the Club of Commanders, told […]
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(Institute of Modern Russia – www.imrussia.org – Alexander Podrabinek -February 14, 2013 – click here for original posting of article) Despite its unfortunate historical experience, Russia is not destined for despotism. According to author and analyst Alexander Podrabinek, the liberal opposition still has a chance of successprovided it maintains its political identity and appeals to the “man from the street.” Russia’s […]
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MOSCOW. Feb 18 (Interfax) – If South Korean reports on North Korean preparations for the next nuclear test are correct, this would indicate that North Korea want to strike a deal with the United States as an equal and receive a nuclear status similar to that of India, head of the Korean Studies Center at the Russian Academy of Sciences […]
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MOSCOW, February 14 (RIA Novosti) – Federal Security Service (FSB) chief Alexander Bortnikov said on Thursday the United States has increased geopolitical pressure on Russia in 2012. “Last year saw an escalation in geopolitical pressure on Russia on behalf of the United States and its allies, who still regard our state as a rival on the international arena,” he told […]
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MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) – A Russian deputy foreign minister has slammed the U.S. State Department for what he argued is too much attention to “routine matters” in Russia’s foreign policy. “It’s surprising that routine matters should be attracting such close attention, including public attention,” Sergei Ryabkov told Interfax on Thursday in comments on a statement by a State Department […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – February 15, 2013) In a sign of the times, Russias statistics agency, Rosstat, is going to add the cost of hooking up to the internet and monthly spending on mobile phone bills to the consumer basket that is used to calculate inflation, amongst other things. The Russian economy is increasingly being driven by consumer […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Brian Whitmore – February 14, 2013) Does anybody remember Skolkovo? What seems like eons ago, back when iPads were still must-have gadgets for the Russian elite, the scientific and technological center was the showcase project in Dmitry Medvedev’s efforts to modernize the country’s economy to make it less dependent on oil and gas. Well Skolkovo is back […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle – February 15, 2013) State Duma Deputy Vladimir Pekhtin asked to be temporarily relieved of his duties as chairman of the Duma’s Credentials and Ethics Commission until the conclusion of a probe into allegations that he failed to declare more than $2 million in property holdings in the U.S. state of Florida. Although […]
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MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded that special services’ interference in business disputes be stopped. “I want to emphasize particularly that being dragged into commercial disputes, putting pressure on business, and creating various artificial obstacles and barriers to the implementation of investment projects is unacceptable,” Putin said at a Federal Security Service (FSB) expanded board […]
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[Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, February 15, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/02/window-on-eurasia-tsipko-asks-which.html] Aleksandr Tsipko, who helped found the Gorbachev Foundation but in recent years has promoted the revival of the traditions and values of pre-1917 Russia, says that his country today faces a most serious question: “Which will die first the Russian state or liberal hatred of it?” […]
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WASHINGTON February 15 (RIA Novosti) “From Russia with Love” takes on a whole new meaning on the recently launched “Happy Vladentine’s Day” blog [http://vladentinesday.tumblr.com], a collection of photos with tongue-in-cheek Valentine’s Day captions that feature Russian President Vladimir Putin. Dubbed “love letters from a global badass,” the site shows imaginary, Putin-themed messages of endearment printed across some of the most […]
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MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) – The right to freedom of speech is inviolable, and no one holds a monopoly on the right to speak on behalf of Russia’s society, President Vladimir Putin said. “Citizens’ constitutional right to freedom of speech is inviolable and unshakeable. However, no one has a right to sow hatred and rock society and the country, thus […]
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(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 28 – Pavel Felgenhauer – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – February 14, 2013) This week, speaking at a meeting of Russia’s top security officialsthe so called “extended collegium” of the Federal Security Service or FSBAlexander Bortnikov, the FSB chief, announced: “Geopolitical pressure on Russia, coming from the United States and its allies who still […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Michael Allen – February 14, 2013) Michael Allen is a Special Assistant in Government Relations and Public Affairs at the National Endowment for Democracy and editor of the Democracy Digest blog. Writing on oDRussia yesterday [JRL#31], Almut Rochowonski argued that Kremlin’s repression of NGOs could work in their favour by encouraging domestic giving. Her mistake was assuming Russian […]
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MOSCOW, February 14 (RIA Novosti) – The infant mortality rate in Russia was 8.7 per 1,000 newborns last year, Health Ministry department chief Yelena Baibarina said on Thursday. “I have cited data from the Russian Federal State Statistics Service. During the 12 months of 2012, infant mortality rate reached 8.7,” she told a congress of pediatricians. Infant mortality in 2011 […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Winning – February 15, 2013) President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called on security service officers to shield Russians from an array of threats, including extremist groups, foreign-funded organizations and cyberattacks. “Any direct or indirect interference in our internal affairs, any form of pressure on Russia, our allies and partners is unacceptable,” Putin told senior […]
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(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 28 – Jamestown Foundation: jamestown.org – Pavel Felgenhauer – February 14, 2013) This week, speaking at a meeting of Russia’s top security officialsthe so called “extended collegium” of the Federal Security Service or FSBAlexander Bortnikov, the FSB chief, announced: “Geopolitical pressure on Russia, coming from the United States and its allies who still consider […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – Galina Starinskaya, special to RBTH- February 14, 2013) CEO Igor Sechin directed massive growth for state-owned Rosneft in 2012, developing international partnerships in offshore projects, a merger with TNK-BP and a move toward direct long-term contracts. If Gazprom loses its monopoly on exports of liquefied natural gas, as Rosneft expects, the latter will […]
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MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) – The Russian Foreign Ministry has explained why Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was unable to promptly discuss the situation following North Korea’s latest nuclear test with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. “I would like to respond to the recent inaccurate remarks of U.S. Department of State spokesperson Victoria Nuland,” ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said at […]
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(Interfax – February 13, 2013) The chairman of the Russian State Duma International Affairs Committee, Aleksey Pushkov, has said that the reset in Russian-US relations has failed to smooth major differences in bilateral ties, Interfax news agency reported on 13 February. During a news conference at the agency’s headquarters in Moscow, he said: “The reset has by and large gained […]
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(RIA Novosti – February 13, 2013) Russia will not agree to the ousting of Syrian President Bashar al-Asad, chairman of the State Duma Committee for International Affairs Aleksey Pushkov said at a news conference in Moscow on 13 February. He also pointed out that Russia’s position on Syria remained the same, while the West’s position was shifting in recognition of […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Rachel Nielsen – Februry 14, 2013) He has had long discussions with Microsoft founder Bill Gates, sits on the Skolkovo Foundation’s board of trustees with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and presidential aide Elvira Nabiullina and heads a company investing $1 billion of federal money into next-generation technology startups. These weighty responsibilities are the most recent […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.com – February 14, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin called for an end to the long Soviet-era habit of classifying geological data as a state secret. As part of the new look Russia-can-do Inc, that he hopes will bring in more investment, the president said the information on the size and location of the countrys natural […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – Februry 14, 2013) Hours after the International Olympic Committee’s Tuesday decision to remove wrestling from the Summer Games after 2016, Russia threw its full weight behind a campaign to bring the sport back. Russian Olympic Committee chief Alexander Zhukov a State Duma Vice Speaker and the country’s top Olympic official […]
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MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) – The accessibility of information about the activities of Russian financial institutions does not yet meet world standards, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said. At a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the prime minister demanded that measures be taken to eliminate this shortcoming. “We need to meet the level of world standards in terms of the accessibility, quality […]
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(Interfax – February 13, 2013) In mid-February Russia starts hosting the first G20 meetings of its presidency. The most challenging economic problems the world is facing today are on the agenda. Russia, to which Mexico passed the G20 presidency in December, is beginning to host the first meetings of the Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. They […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, February 14, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/02/window-on-eurasia-young-russian.html) Many observers were outraged by a Russian official’s suggestion that journalism students should be taught to be prepared to write what their future bosses want them to, a survey of younger Russian journalists finds that many of them are struggling with this as they balance journalist ethics […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Almut Rochowanski – February 13, 2013) Almut Rochowanski is a co-founder and coordinator of Chechnya Advocacy Network, a US-based NGO. Russian NGOs have traditionally looked abroad for their funding, and are dismayed at recent legislation setting up new barriers to this practice. Almut Rochowanski argues, however, that this should be seen as a challenge to increase the involvement […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – February 14, 2013) Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told students at the Siberian Federal University on Thursday that the key to success in love is persistence. When asked how to be successful in dating by a student, Medvedev immediately responded with, “That’s the spirit!” before revealing that he has “had many experiences, as any human being […]
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(Interfax – February 14, 2013) Russia has not yet received proposals from the United States regarding further mutual reductions of nuclear arsenals, but it is willing to examine them once it receives them, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said. “We have not yet received specific proposals on further reductions of our strategic nuclear arsenals. If such proposals come, we […]
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MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) – The State Duma International Affairs Committee has branded the Global Zero idea as utopian. “I view the Nuclear Zero as pure propaganda and a romantic idea,” Committee Chairman Alexei Pushkov told a Wednesday press conference at Interfax. “It may help certain reduction of redundant nuclear stocks of the Americans and us,” he said. “In my […]
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KAZAN. Feb 13 (Interfax) – Over 50,000 corruption-related crimes were committed in Russia last year, and around 7,000 people were convicted for them, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said. “These figures show that despite all implemented measures, corruption is one of the most burning issues, moreover, it has penetrated all spheres of social life in Russia: authorities, housing services and […]
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MOSCOW, February 14 (RIA Novosti) Nothing can stop or slow down the reintegration of the post-Soviet space, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday. “We’ve heard some recent nervous and outspoken remarks regarding integration in the post-Soviet space. Let’s put them down to the emotional rhetoric of these politicians,” Putin said at a meeting of FSB (Federal Security Service) […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – February 14, 2013) The writing is on the wall for Gazprom’s long-held monopoly over Russia’s gas business. State-owned oil major Rosneft fired the latest volley in the growing assault on the gas giant’s priviledged position by calling for an end to Gazprom’s export monopoly on liquefied natural gas (LNG) on February 13. Rosneft chief […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle – February 14, 2013) President Barack Obama’s pledge to pursue new cuts to the U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals appeared to be under way Wednesday, with the State Department’s arms control chief in Moscow amid talk of a visit later this month by another high-level official. The State Department has been tight-lipped about […]
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WASHINGTON, February 14 (By Maria Young for RIA Novosti) – Russia’s ban of adoptions by US parents was enacted solely with the welfare of Russian children in mind, Moscow’s top envoy to Washington said this week, despite widespread perception among Americans that it was a retaliatory political act. Speaking in an interview with RIA Novosti, Ambassador Sergei Kislyak lamented an […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – February 14, 2013) Russia sold twice as many weapons abroad in 2012 as in the previous year. It now has a portfolio of $37 billion in foreign orders and continues to sell anti-aircraft systems to Syria, a senior arms trade executive told reporters Wednesday. Although India is still the country’s No. 1 […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – Lucia Bellinello, RBTH – February 12, 2013) A few hours after Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation, Russia was already thinking about building relations with his successor. It had not happened for nearly 600 years. On February 11, 2013 Pope Benedict XVI (Ratzinger) announced his resignation in Latin to the Vatican. “I have […]
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