Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#235 :: 31 December 2013

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Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#233 :: 27 December 2013
E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net
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POLITICS

1. RIA Novosti: Putin Makes 2 New Year’s Speeches for 2014.
2. ITAR-TASS: Putin congratulates Russians on New Year.
3. Kremlin.ru: New Year’s Address to the Nation.
4. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Russian New Year’s celebration: It’s all in the numbers. New Year celebrations are popular all over the world, but in Russia they are the main national holiday. The festivities last for at least eight days, and sometimes as many as 20.
5. Forbes.com: Mark Adomanis, 7 Reasons That Russia Is Not The Soviet Union.
6. Reuters: Putin vows to annihilate “terrorists” after suicide bombings.
7. www.russiatoday.com: ‘We should have asked Father Frost for life’: Volgograd in grief after terrorist attacks.
8. New York Times: Bomb Attacks in Russia Echo Threats by Chechen Insurgent.
9. Wall Street Journal: Russia Blasts Put Spotlight on Dagestan. Small Group of Islamist Fighters Have Expanded Their Fight, Experts Say.
10. Interfax: Terrorists cannot be called humans, deserve no mercy – head of Caucasus Muslim Board.
11. Interfax: Attempts to hold nationalist rallies due to terrorist attacks in Volgograd are unacceptable – Federation Council .
12. Interfax: Russia’s enemy are seeking introduction death penalty in Russia – Lukin.
13. Dozhd TV: Russian pundits question Moscow’s North Caucasus policy.
14. Moskovsky Komsomolets: Russian Experts View Volgograd Bombing, Urge Antiterrorist Measures.
15. Izvestia: Commentator Urges Tough Response To Volgograd Bombing, Predicts More Pre-Sochi Terrorist Acts. (Kirill Benediktov)
16. Bloomberg: Russia Bombings Raise Specter of Olympics Terrorist Attacks.
17. Valdai Discussion Club: Terrorists Have an Obvious Interest in Disrupting Sochi Olympics. (interview with Anatol Lieven)
18. Paul Goble: Window on Eurasia: Putin’s Counter-Terrorism Strategy Designed to Protect State Not People, Soldatov Says.
19. Economist.com: Terrorism in Russia. A threat made real.
20. Wall Street Journal editorial: The Volgograd Bombings. Russia is still vulnerable to terrorism 14 years after Putin took power.
21. Washington Post editorial: Terrorism must not be allowed to mar the Sochi Games.
22. Spiked: Brendan O’Neill, The dangers of demonising Russia. The bombings in Volgograd show how foolish it is to politicise the Sochi Games.
23. Interfax: RPR-PARNAS party may split because of internal disagreements – statement.
24. Moscow News: Major Russian news agency to be headed by Simonyan.
25. New York Times: Russian Tycoon Is Free, but His Money Is Still Tied Up. (Khodorkovsky)
26. Quartz: How Russia’s once-richest man hid his last $170 million from Vladimir Putin.
27. ITAR-TASS: Moscow Theological Academy fires popular theologian for ‘flamboyant publications’
28. RIA Novosti: Russian Village Reformer Granted Parole.
29. Dozhd TV: Pussy Riot member says young people denied voice in Putin’s Russia
30 Dozhd TV: Russia’s Pussy Riot ready for dialogue, cooperation with church on human rights.
31. Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia: Eliot Borenstein, Pussy Riot vs. Ksenia Sobchak, Round Two.
32. The Voice of Russia: What was 2013 like for Russian Armed Forces?
33. Reuters: Trapped ship passengers set to ring in New Year in Antarctic ice.
34. Interfax: Investigators asked to look into Moscow Art Theater production of An Ideal Husband.
35. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Russia’s key cultural events of 2013. Russia’s cultural life saw several high-profile management reshuffles, new festivals, thought-provoking popular films and the growth of new venues in 2013.
36. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Open Ending: Russia’s literary scene in 2013. Russia’s most memorable books and literary events of 2013 examine the passage of history. The year’s three most acclaimed novels are explorations of the country’s past and future, while literary projects focus on preserving cultural heritage and the fate of Russian literature.

ECONOMY

37. Interfax: Private consumption accounts for 49.4% of Q3 GDP – Rosstat
38. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Stanislav Tkachenko, Searching Russia’s economic past for secrets of growth. Stagnation in the Russian economy in 2013 prompts economists and historians to look back at some lessons of the past.
39. Interfax: YEAR IN REVIEW: Gazprom Export achievements, penalties.
40. Paul Goble: Window on Eurasia: Could Water Replace Oil and Gas as Russia’s Main Export?

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

41. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation: Russia Sets Volgograd Attacks In Context of International Terrorist Threat.
42. Moscow Times: World Leaders Rally Behind Russia After Volgograd Attacks.
43. Interfax: Preparations for Russia’s G8 presidency will give priority to search for solutions to key intl issues.
44. ITAR-TASS: Putin’s New Year note to Obama: “Striving for constructive co-operation”
45. Russia Direct: Russia as seen by US experts: An end or a new beginning? Russia Direct presents the latest in its series of monthly roundups from U.S.-based think tanks focused on Russia and Eurasia.
46. Interfax: Russian-American program to retrieve spent nuclear fuel prolonged to 2024.
47. ITAR-TASS: Considerable progress reached at Iran-P5+1 talks in Geneva, source says.
48. www.russiatoday.com: Ships return to dock as Syria chemical weapons deadline missed.
49. Bloomberg: Putin Tells Ukraine Leader He Expects Progress in Ties.
50. ITAR-TASS: Azarov: Ukraine’s financial stability obvious after deals with Russia.
51. Interfax: Half of Ukrainians do not support protests in Kyiv – poll.
52. Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Russian Newspaper Examines Current State of Ukrainian Protests.
53. RIA Novosti: Lenin Statue Toppled, Reinstated in Ukraine.
54. ITAR-TASS: President: Georgia to continue policy to normalise relations with Russia.
55. New York Times: Vladimir Lorchenkov, Moldova, the 51st State?