(Senate fight coming over Russian human rights bill – Foreign Policy – Josh Rogin – Nov. 28, 2012 – click here for full article) ForeignPolicy.com covers the U.S. Senate’s handling of the Magnitsky Act and related trade regulation, and the question of whether to broaden its scope to human rights violators world-wide: The Senate is set to do battle over […]
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(Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 9, Issue 217 – Pavel K. Baev – Nov. 28, 2012) A capacity for unleashing targeted repressions is crucial for the survival of authoritarian regimes, and President Vladimir Putin finds it increasingly difficult to demonstrate that he has such a capacityor that he controls it. Health problems keep him confined to […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle – Nov. 29, 2012) There were either 250 participants or about 1,000. They demanded improved conditions or nothing at all. Their protest was plotted by criminal masterminds or it was spontaneous. Almost nothing is clear about last weekend’s revolt at a maximum security prison in the Urals, as official statements, media reports and […]
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(Interfax – 11.29.12) Corruption in Russia remains high, and citizens are worried about it, the Russian Public Opinion Study Center (VTsIOM) told Interfax on Thursday. Seventy-five percent believe that the corruption level is high or even very high. The indicator was the same in 2007-2008, the sociologists said. Sixty percent claimed high corruption in their home towns in 2007. The […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – 11.29.12) Russia ranked dismally in the yearly Rule of Law Index published by the nongovernmental World Justice Project, scoring in the bottom third for each of the ranking’s eight criteria. Russia ranked 92nd out of 97 countries for the extent to which its government’s powers are limited, 92nd for order and security and 71st for […]
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(Rostelecom Is Forever in Debt to the Kremlin – Yulia Latynina – Moscow Times – Nov. 28, 2012 – Yulia Latynina hosts a political talk show on Ekho Moskvy radio – http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/rostelecom-is-forever-in-debt-to-the-kremlin/472094.html) Yulia Latynina comments in a Moscow Times op-ed on alleged corruption and repercussions entangling Rostelecom, Marshall Capital and VTB Bank, yet another Russian scandal ending up in the […]
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[Medvedev wants to sharply toughen responsibility for violation of traffic rules – RUSSIAN PRESS REVIEW – ITAR-TASS – November 26, 2012 – http://www.itar-tass.com/c142/581401.html] ITAR-TASS covers Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s apparently controversial proposal to change the penalties for drunk driving in various locales: Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has proposed to introduce differentiated penalties for drunk driving: for Moscow and […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 22 (Interfax) – The Oboronservice case and the consequent dismissal of Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov are the most high-profile corruption scandals Russia has had lately, sociologists told Interfax on Thursday. Seventy-two percent of Russians know about it, they said. Thirty-three percent of the respondents paid attention to corruptive practices at the Russian Regional Development Ministry and theft of […]
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(Voice of America – James Brooke – November 21, 2012 – James Brooke is VOA Moscow bureau chief, covering Russia and the former USSR) MOSCOW Next week, the United States Senate is to take up the Magnitsky Act, a bill that would ban visas for, and freeze the bank accounts of, about 60 Russian officials believed to have been […]
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(RIA Novosti – November 20, 2012) Russian MPs have put forward various proposals for how Russia should respond to the USA’s “Magnitskiy list”, such as compiling a similar list of US officials or stepping up cooperation with the USA’s opponents, state news agency RIA Novosti reported on 20 November. The House of Representatives of the US Congress approved the “Magnitskiy […]
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WASHINGTON, November 21 (By Carl Schreck for RIA Novosti) – With the Magnitsky Act moving through the US Congress, American lawmakers are making clear their intent to punish Russian officials deemed by Washington to be responsible for human rights abuses. Less clear is who will end up on this blacklistand how. The Magnitsky bill passed Friday by the US House […]
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(Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 9, Issue 213 – Roger McDermott – November 20, 2012) A near catatonic trance descended upon the Russian media in the aftermath of President Vladimir Putin sacking his controversial Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov on November 6, with a preoccupation on issues of corruption and speculation on the fallen minister’s private life. […]
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MOSCOW, November 20 (RIA Novosti) Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin warned on Tuesday of a new clean-out of corruption and crooked officials in the country’s arms industry, following a series of high-profile scandals in the sector. “A clean-out is inevitable,” the deputy prime minister, who is in charge of the defense industry, told Kommersant. “The pitcher goes often […]
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CORRUPTION. There are those who believe that one of the main reasons for Putin’s re-appearance in the President’s chair was that only he has the political muscle to really move on Russia’s widespread problem of corruption, especially corruption at the top. I have always said that we won’t know that the anti-corruption drive is serious until it takes down someone in an office near Putin’s or Medvedev’s. Do we start to see this? The OboronServis case is getting bigger. The case concerns skulduggery with the extensive number of military properties …
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – November 16, 2012) When President Vladimir Putin was asked in an interview last month about anti-corruption lawyer Alexei Navalny, he indicated that he thought opposition leaders had achieved little of substance. “I’m not repudiating anyone, and I don’t want to cheapen the merits of any of the possible leaders of the opposition,” […]
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(Interfax – November 14, 2012) Russia’s chief auditor has described as “critical” the scale of embezzlement of fund allocated for state procurement, privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax reported on 14 November. “Every year, R1,000bn is embezzled from the funds allocated for state procurement,” Chairman of the Russian Audit Chamber Sergey Stepashin was quoted as saying. The sum is equal to […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 13 (Interfax) – The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office referred a letter to the Interior Ministry after investigating police abuses jointly with regional prosecutors, claiming that police violate the law on administrative offences all across Russia. “Police violate citizens’ rights and the Code of Administrative Offences all across Russia. Police have even started criminal cases against deceased citizens in […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Alina Lobzina – November 14, 2012) Controversial journalist Arkady Mamontov, best known for authoring programs accusing Kremlin-critics of being the servants of Western powers, has prepared his latest round of revelations, this time over the recent embezzlement scandal in the Defense Ministry. The state-owned federal Rossia 1 TV station aired his investigation under the title […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Alina Lobzina – November 14, 2012) An official linked with the case of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in custody awaiting trial, has reportedly come to the attention of investigators in connection with the recent Defense Ministry’s embezzlement scandal. Investigators re-opened a case over illegal VAT recovery, dating back to 2010, when Olga Stepanova headed […]
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(Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 9, Issue 207 – Pavel K. Baev – November 12, 2012) The Russian political class had hardly any time last week to contemplate the consequences of US President Barack Obama’s re-election for a second term or to follow the tense atmosphere at the 18th Communist Party Congress in Beijingit was the […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Anna Arutunyan – November 12, 2012) When Anatoly Serdyukov, reportedly clad in a bathrobe and slippers, opened the door to a police unit raiding his former employee’s apartment, it was the tipping point for Russia’s beleaguered defense minister. But it wasn’t the only reason by far why the catastrophically unpopular defense minister was sacked last […]
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(Russian defence: Reform and be sacked: The firing of Russia’s defence minister may be a setback for military reform – The Economist – November 10, 2012 – http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21566006-firing-russias-defence-minister-may-be-setback-military-reform-reform-and-be-sacked) The Economist covers the sacking of former Russian defense minister Anatoly Serdyukov: “Anatoly Serdyukov, Russia’s defence minister from 2007 until November 6th when President Vladimir Putin fired him, was never much of […]
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(Russia’s Putin fires top general after graft scandal – Reuters – Timothy Heritage – November 9, 2012 – http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/09/us-putin-defence-idUSBRE8A80RC20121109) Reuters covers Russian President Vladimir Putin’s reshuffling of his top military staff, following the replacement of former defense minister Anatoly Serdyukov with Sergei Shoigu: Russian President Vladimir Putin replaced the chief of his military staff on Friday in a reshuffle that […]
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(Interfax – November 8, 2012) Moscow, 8 November: Opposition figure and blogger Aleksey Navalnyy has announced the launch of a new project, called RosZhKKh, for fighting corruption and shortcomings in the work of utilities and municipal services companies. “It is common knowledge that ZhKKh (Russian abbreviation for utilities and municipal services) in Russia is a black hole that sucks in […]
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(Russian defense chief crossed Putin’s political “family” – Reuters – Thomas Grove and Timothy Heritage – November 8, 2012 – http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/08/us-russia-defence-scandal-idUSBRE8A70TG20121108) Reuters covers the sacking of Russian defense minister Anatoly Serdyukov, who allegedly not only offended anti-corruption laws, but also outraged a family close to Putin when he allegedly might have cheated on his wife, who came from that family: […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Howard Amos – November 8, 2012) [think tank report here http://henryjacksonsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/HJS-The-Shuvalov-Affair-Report-4.pdf] A London-based think tank is reigniting the row over allegations of corruption against Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov with the publication of a new report Thursday. The document, produced by the Henry Jackson Society and obtained in advance of its release by The Moscow […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – November 8, 2012) Sergei Shoigu officially took over his new defense minister duties Wednesday, receiving the so-called nuclear briefcase, while prosecutors announced new findings in a corruption case at a ministry agency that led to the ouster of his predecessor, Anatoly Serdyukov. Shoigu, best-known for his long tenure as emergency situations minister, […]
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(Russian defense minister’s sacking suggests political infighting; Anatoly Serdyukov is mired in a corruption scandal, but some experts say that he was driven out by conservatives unhappy with his military reforms – Christian Science Monitor – Fred Weir – November 6, 2012 – http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2012/1106/Russian-defense-minister-s-sacking-suggests-political-infighting-video) The Christian Science Monitor covers Russian President Vladimir Putin’s dismissal of Russian defense minister Anatoly Serdyukov. […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 7 (Interfax) – More than half of Russians – 58% – appreciated President Vladimir Putin’s decision to dismiss Anatoly Serdyukov as defense minister, and nearly half – 49% – approved of Sergei Shoigu’s appointment to the job, the www.superjob.ru web portal found after polling 1,600 Russians on Tuesday. Putin announced Serdyukov’s dismissal at a meeting with Shogu earlier […]
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(Interfax – November 6, 2012) Russian political experts have disagreed whether President Putin’s decision to sack Defence Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov and appoint Sergey Shoygu, governor of Moscow Region and former emergencies minister, in his place will lead to changes in military reform and major reshuffles in the top brass of the Russian Armed Forces. At the same time, most experts […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova and Roland Oliphant – November 7, 2012) President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday fired Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov in connection with a corruption scandal and appointed Moscow Governor Sergei Shoigu in his place. Putin informed Serdyukov and Shoigu, a longtime ally who only became governor in May after serving 18 years as emergency situations […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – November 7, 2012) On November 6, President Vladimir Putin sacked Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, who is accused of stealing $95m. We have been waiting for this. It’s the first time the Kremlin’s revitalized anti-corruption drive has reached into the inner circle. The sacking appears significant and already has the international press asking if […]
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(Putin dismisses defense minister after scandal – Reuters – Thomas Grove – November 6, 2012 – http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/06/us-russia-defence-idUSBRE8A50A820121106) Reuters covers Russian President Vladimir Putin’s sacking of defense minister Anatoly Serdyukov after a multi-million dollar corruption scandal. Putin replaced Serdyukov with former emergencies minister Sergei Shoigu, who has enjoyed a strong public approval rating: Putin’s announcement made at a meeting with Shoigu […]
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(Defense chief firing key step in Russia’s military reform experts – Russia Today – November 6, 2012 – http://rt.com/politics/serdyukov-defense-shoigu-minister-061/) Kremlin-backed media source Russia Today reports on the replacement of Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov with former Emergencies Ministry chief Sergey Shoigu: President Vladimir Putin sacked Serdyukov after his ministry was drawn into a major scandal over alleged selling off […]
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(Interfax – November 6, 2012) The dismissal of Russian Defence Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov has been welcomed by senior figures in the Duma and the Federation Council, media sources reported. Serdyukov’s critics pointed to the way the military are being reorganized and to a fraud scandal that has recently erupted at the ministry. They contrasted this to the record of his […]
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(Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 9, Issue 200 – Pavel Felgenhauer – November 2, 2012) Last week, the public standing of one of President Vladimir Putin’s most powerful cohorts — Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov — was seriously undermined when Russia’s Investigation Committee (Slyedstvenny Kommitet RossyeSKR) publicly accused the defense ministry-controlled holding company “Oboronservis” of corruption and […]
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(Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 9, Issue 197 – Pavel K. Baev – October 29, 2012) The Moscow rumor about President Vladimir Putin’s health problems appears well-informed and confirmed by several cancellations of long-scheduled visits and by the postponement of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, but it is remarkable how little […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – October 25, 2012) Boris Titov would eschew the title “Russia’s Corruption Tsar”, but if he achieves half of what he is setting out to do, then that is what he will become. Appointed Russia’s new ombudsman for business by President Vladimir Putin in July, Titov’s job is to try […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Scott Rose – October 16, 2012) Russia needs a better business climate to bolster economic growth and win an upgrade of its investment-grade credit rating, according to Standard & Poor’s. The government must deal with “structural impediments” to growth by fighting corruption, scaling back the state’s role in the economy and improving the judiciary, while moving […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Howard Amos – October 12, 2012) Vladimir Ashurkov Education 1989-1993 Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology 1994-1996 Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania Work Experience 1993-1994 PepsiCo Holding, financial analyst 1997-1999 Renaissance Capital, investment banking department 1999-2001 Saint Petersburg Sea Port, financial director 2001-2003 National Container Co., president 2003-2004 TransCare logistics […]
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RFE/RL – Tom Balmforth – October 11, 2012 MOSCOW — Ever wanted to see an interactive map of all the bribes that change hands in Russia? Well, soon you may be able to, thanks to a new smartphone application released for free download by a group of entrepreneur activists. “Bribr,” a smartphone app designed by a team of 20 volunteer […]
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(Interfax – October 9, 2012) The development of land relations in Russia is being obstructed by corrupt officials, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. “Arbitrariness and corruption of officials is hampering and obstructing proper development of land relations in Russia, and, as a result, this slows down the country’s progress on the whole,” Putin said at a session of the Russian […]
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Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Howard Amos and Irina Filatova – October 3, 2012 Signaling the start a long-awaited overhaul at Gazprom, President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday called for corruption to be eliminated at the state-controlled gas giant and said its business model should be improved. Gazprom has been criticized for years by minority investors who believe their lucrative shares […]
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Why I Lost My Right To Speak in the Duma – Ilya Ponomaryov- Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – October 1, 2012 – click here to read full text of original article Ilya Ponomaryov is a State Duma deputy with A Just Russia. Ilya Ponomaryov writes in his Moscow Times op-ed about being banned from speaking in the Russian State Duma […]
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