JRL E-Mail Newsletter Table of Contents :: Johnson’s Russia List 2013-#7 – 10 January 2013

Map of Russia

Johnson’s Russia List
2013-#7
10 January 2013
davidjohnson@starpower.net
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In this issue

POLITICS

1. Financial Times: Sergey Aleksashenko, Hello 2013: will Putin finally get serious on reform?
2. ITAR-TASS: Opinions clash again over ban on adoptions of Russian children in US.
3. ITAR-TASS: Depardieu’s Russian citizenship triggers mixed comments.
4. RFE/RL: Depardieu’s One-Day Passport Irks Russians Who Have Waited Years For Citizenship.
5. ITAR-TASS: RUSSIAN PRESS REVIEW. The vote threshold for election blocs will be higher than for the parties.
6. www.russiatoday.com: ‘Socialism is the future’ ­ Russian Communist leader.
7. ITAR-TASS: RUSSIAN PRESS REVIEW. Moscow authorities approve this year’s first protest action of opposition.
8. Kommersant: OPPOSITION AND ORPHANS. The Anti-Rascal March will take place in Moscow and St.Petersburg on January 13.
9. ITAR-TASS: Sokolniki Park assigns venue for Moscow “hyde park”
10. Moscow News: State Duma to review calls for dissolution.
11. ITAR-TASS: Member of parliament dismisses signature campaign for Duma disbandment as PR act.
12. ITAR-TASS: The Investigative Committee is ready to consider dropping robbery case against Opposition activist. (Leonid Razvozzhayev)
13. Vedomosti: Swiss Prosecutors Investigate Magnitsky Case.
14. Interfax: U.S. to have to reckon with ‘Putin factor’ till 2018 – analyst.
15. Paul Goble: Window on Eurasia: Putin Playing Regions against the Capital to Maintain Himself in Power, Oreshkin Says.
16. Forbes.com: Mark Adomanis, No, Really Masha Gessen Doesn’t Disdain Opposition Journalism.
17. The Voice of Russia: All eyes on Russia as the country prepares for major international sports events in 2013.
18. The Daily Telegraph (UK): Russia facing no access to space for first time since Cold War. Russia could find itself without access to space for the first time since space travel began if a property row with neighboring Kazakhstan goes unresolved.
19. Interfax: Moon to be primary target of space research in next few decades – expert.
20. Interfax: Space debris concentration close to critical – expert.

ECONOMY

21. RIA Novosti: Russia’s Economy Still ‘Mostly Unfree’ – Index.
22. Interfax: People should be allowed to make economic decisions – Russian church.
23. Interfax: YEAR IN REVIEW: Russian stock market shows modest results in 2012.
24. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Russian banks battle for capital. Experts expect a decrease in the banking sector’s capital, a worsening quality of consumer loans, an increase in interest rates, and stricter supervision by the Bank of Russia.
25. www.opendemocracy.net: Andrei Zaostrovtsev, Russia: an Oprichnik economy.
26. Interfax: YEAR IN REVIEW: Unexpected peace turns Norilsk Nickel into milking cow.
27. RIA Novosti: China-Russia Trade Up 11% to $88 Bln in 2012.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

28. Washington Post: Russia to wait a year on adoption law.
29. www.russiatoday.com: Russia-US adoption agreement valid till 2014 ­- Putin’s spokesman.
30. RIA Novosti: Russian Orphan Adoption ‘Appeal’ Sparks Furor.
31. RIA Novosti: Cooperation with Russia to Continue Despite Adoptions Ban -US.
32. Russia Beyond the Headlines: What stands behind anti-Americanism in Russia?
33. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Eugene Ivanov, US-Russia relations enter a new Ice Age. After ending 2012 at a particularly low point, U.S.-Russian relations seem unlikely to improve under Russia’s new foreign policy concept.
34. www.russiatoday.com: ‘Take Syrian president’s ideas into account’ – Moscow.
35. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Mark Galeotti, Russia continues pragmatic stance on Syria. Although President Vladimir Putin says that his “position is not to back Assad and his regime in power at any price,” few in the West are willing to believe him. Mark Galeotti, Professor of Global Affairs at New York University, tries to answer the question if the Russians are really desperate to keep Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in power.
36. RIA Novosti: Fyodor Lukyanov, Another Year with Bashar al-Assad.
37. New York Times: Robert Zaretsky, A Frenchman Dreams of Russia.
38. New York Times: Vadim Nikitin, Depardieu and the New Capitalism.
39. Vestnik Kavkaza: “The Central Asian countries have problems with Russia, but they can be solved.” (interview with Vladimir Yevseyev)
40. Kommersant: WITH A NEARLY CLEAN SLATE. An update on Georgia.
41. AP: Georgia: 1 million people sign petition calling for President Saakashvili’s resignation.

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