JRL E-Mail Newsletter Table of Contents :: Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#88 :: 16 May 2013

Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#88 :: 16 May 2013
E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net
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POLITICS

1. RIA Novosti: Moscow Weather Sets Another Temperature Record.
2. Interfax: Independent pollster reports falls in Putin, government, ruling party ratings.
3. BBC Monitoring: Russians appreciate Putin’s stability – Kremlin think tank.
4. ITAR-TASS: Russian Press Review. Sociologists divided over Putin’s rating.
5. ITAR-TASS: Putin’s high rating in Moscow – cold shower for protesting movement – political experts.
6. Moscow Times: Putin Gets Helicopter Landing Pad at Kremlin.
7. BBC Monitoring: Polls show decline in protest sentiments in Moscow – Russian TV.
8. Interfax: Media exaggerate protest tendencies in Russia – Public Opinion Foundation president.
9. Moscow News: Anna Arutunyan, Sacred beliefs. The painful legacy of WWII is made up of questions that cannot be answered.
10. Moscow Times/BBC Monitoring: What the Papers Say, May 16, 2013.
11. BBC Monitoring: Putin opposes restricting Russian citizens’ access to country’s government.
12. RIA Novosti: Most Russian Regions to Opt for Governor Polls – Putin.
13. ITAR-TASS: High-placed Kremlin administration officials are not resigning after foreign assets ban comes into effect.
14. Paul Goble: Window on Eurasia: Putin’s Regime Resembles Brezhnev’s but Russian Society isn’t Soviet Anymore, Gudkov Says.
15. Gazeta.ru: Putin Said to Have Effectively Supplanted Government following Deputy PM Surkov’s Departure. (Rustem Falyakhov)
16. Moscow Times: Georgy Bovt, After Surkov.
17. RIA Novosti: Russia: No NGOs Have Registered As ‘Foreign Agents’
18. Interfax: Golos vote-monitoring association may be suspended if not registered as foreign agent – official.
19. ITAR-TASS: Russian Press Review. State Duma explains to Europe why NGO law is so useful.
20. Moscow Times: Witness in Navalny Trial Backs Prosecutors’ Allegations.
21. Interfax: Senior Russian investigations official warns of dangers posed by social media.
22. Interfax: Russian analysts: immigrants, guest workers fertile ground for radical Islamism.
23. Interfax: Khodorkovsky, Lebedev unlikely to be released under amnesty for economic crimes – source.

ECONOMY

24. Interfax: Russia will improve investment climate, introduce innovations in any scenario – Medvedev.
25. Bloomberg: Putin Said to Face Rift on Central Bank Role in Economy Plan.
26. CNBC.com: Russia’s Economy Could Be Next Big Underperformer.
27. Interfax: Russia should close gap between high consumption, low production efficiency – minister.
28. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Skolkovo Foundation switches hands. Former Minister of Education and current Presidential aide, Andrei Fursenko, has been appointed to replace Deputy Prime Minister Vladislav Surkov as supervisor.
29. Interfax: Russian high-profile innovations centre insists it does not fund opposition.
30. Interfax: Russia could join OECD in two years if politics do not get in way, official says.
31. Forbes.com: Mark Adomanis, Real Estate Development In Moscow! What Will Those Crazy Russians Think of Next?

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

32. Interfax: Russian PM against revising international laws; praises European integration.
33. Russia Beyond the Headlines/Expert magazine: Sergei Manukov, Global politics: In search of the world’s new policeman. A global power vacuum has emerged on the planet in recent years. The United States has grown tired of its role as the world’s policeman and Europe clearly has too much on its plate. The search for a new world leader inevitably leads to Asia, but the continent has problems of its own.
34. RIA Novosti: CIA Agent Was Nabbed by Russian He Sought to Recruit – FSB.
35. ITAR-TASS: Espionage on beaten track: Moscow, Washington downplay scandal involving 3rd secretary of US Embassy.
36. Reuters: Putin targets Russian audience in handling of spy saga.
37. New York Times: Despite Focus on Spectacle, Russia Hints Spy Case Won’t Disrupt U.S. Ties.
38. www.russiatoday.com: Presidential post: Putin’s response to Obama letter to be ‘mailed’ soon.
39. Interfax: Kremlin: Obama’s desire for closer cooperation with Russia unknown in lower tiers of govt.
40. Interfax: Obama proposes exchanging info on missile defense in letter to Putin – newspaper.
41. Moskovskiye Novosti: Moscow Should Show Willingness To Cooperate in Response to US Reset Attempts.
42. Reuters: Russia wary of attacks by rebels returning from Syria.
43. Moscow Times: Alexander Golts, Alone Against the Taliban.
44. Interfax: Georgia intends to return lost territories peacefully – Ivanishvili.

LONG ITEMS

45. RBK: Part 1 of Navalnyy Interview on Election Plans, Surkov, Accusations Against Oppositionists.
45. RBK: Part 2 of Aleksey Navalnyy Interview on Kirov Trial, Fighting Corruption, Reform Agenda.