Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#223 :: Tuesday, 10 December 2013

Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#223 :: 10 December 2013
E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net
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POLITICS

1. Moscow Times: Putin Shuts State News Agency RIA Novosti.
2. ITAR-TASS: RIA Novosti news agency to be dissolved for sake of saving state funds. Russian Press Review.
3. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, Kremlin spin: Does media overhaul herald new propaganda push?
4. Moscow Times: RIA Novosti Staff to Remain ‘In Demand’ at New Agency.
5. Ekho Moskvy News Agency: Russian news agency revamp condemned as return to Soviet-style media.
6. Moscow Times: Georgy Bovt, The Kremlin’s New Chief Propagandist.
7. RFE/RL: In Choosing Kiselyov, Media Critics Say Putin Opts For Personal Propagandist. (DJ: I would observe that Kiselyov was a hero of the pro-US Yelstin regime. Times change.)
8. Moscow Times: What the Papers Say, Dec. 10, 2013.
9. ITAR-TASS: Constitution anniversary amnesty in Russia to release 25,000 from jail.
10. Reuters: Russia amnesty could free Pussy Riot, benefit Greenpeace activists.
11. ITAR-TASS: Pussy Riot protesters, Greenpeace activists to be released. Russian Press Review.
12. Svobodnaya Pressa: Analysts View Putin’s Declining Popularity Ratings.
13. Kommersant: Kremlin Consults With Governors Over 2014 Elections; Kirov Head Belykh’s Chances Seen as Good.
14. Interfax: Naryshkin declares importance of constitution’s stability.
15. Carnegie Moscow Center: Lilia Shevtsova, The Russian Constitution As a Foundation of Personalized Power.
16. Interfax: Xenophobia, national intolerance grow in Russia – Federal Migration Service chief.
17. Moscow Times: Alexander Golts, Shoigu’s Crafty Numbers Game.
18. Interfax: Russia will start issuing plastic IDs in 2016, phase out passports in 2017-2018.
19. ITAR-TASS: Exhibition devoted to writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn opens in Moscow.

ECONOMY

20. Wall Street Journal: IMF Cuts Russia Growth Forecast.
21. Interfax: Ulyukayev says wrong to give overly optimistic forecasts.
22. www.russiatoday.com: Russia pivots towards industry, not reliant on oil – Medvedev.
23. Interfax: Russians call waste dumps, litter worst ecological problem – poll.
24. Interfax: Economic amnesty applied to almost 1,500 people already – commissioner Titov.
25. Business New Europe: Ben Aris, Russia narrowly escapes another banking crisis.
26. Moscow Times: Paul Goncharoff, Russia Is a Great Place to Register Your Business.
27. Moscow Times: James Beadle, A Tough Road Ahead for Emerging Markets
28. Newsweek.com: Anna Nemtsova, Inside Russia, Detroits Proliferate.
29. Oilprice.com: Russia Readies to Take Shale Oil Lead.
30. Reuters: Russia Says South Stream Pipeline Agreements Trump EU Rules.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

31. Vedomosti: Russia’s International Status Seen Dependent on Domestic Economic Development. (Sergei Karaganov)
32. AP: Ukraine’s east still backs closer ties with Russia.
33. Reuters: Ukraine’s Yanukovich sees no alternative to close trade ties with Moscow.
34. Business New Europe: Tensions spike in Kyiv on fears of govt crackdown.
35. Reuters: Ukraine protesters hold firm as US, EU step up diplomacy.
36. ITAR-TASS: Majority of protesters in Kiev do not object to rapprochement with Russia.
37. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Sergei Markedonov, Ukraine’s EU dreams is not a guarantee of democracy. The West has made “partnerships” with other post-Soviet countries such as Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, but none of them can be considered true democracies.
38. VTsIOM: Most Russians think ties with Ukraine negative, poll suggests.
39. Business New Europe: Chris Weafer, Ukraine trying to balancing default risk with opportunity.
40. Financial Times: Oligarchs hold key to Yanukovich’s grip on power.
41. Forbes.com: Mark Adomanis, Ukraine’s Crisis Won’t End Anytime Soon.
42. www.opendemocracy.net: David Marples, Ukraine’s choices.
43. Washington Post editorial: Ukraine’s protests should end with a negotiated settlement.
44. RFE/RL: Ukraine’s ‘Euromaidan’ Through The Lens Of Russian Television.
45. www.russiatoday.com: From Russian invasion to colored Statue of Liberty: Hoaxes fuel Ukrainian protest.
46. RIA Novosti: New Battle Looms in US-Russian ‘War of Blacklists‘
47. AP: Putin Vows to Beef up Arctic Military Presence.
48. Paul Goble: Window on Eurasia: De-Russianization Accelerating Across Central Asia.