MOSCOW. Jan 9 (Interfax) – The Russian stock market gave investors hopes for good profits early on in 2012 but ended up at the rear of global financial flows demonstrating rather modest results. The overall global situation was also certainly far from ideal, but, despite all the European debt troubles, the uncertainty surrounding the U.S. presidential elections and the fiscal […]
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MOSCOW. Jan 9 (Interfax) – Officials and businessmen need to win people’s confidence back, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, the head of the synodal department on liaison between the church and society, said. “Many people now feel alienation from decisions made in the economic sphere. Decisions are made by a limited circle of people. Our president has called the privatization unfair. This […]
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MOSCOW, January 10 (RIA Novosti) Russia’s economy is among the least free in the world, according to an index published on Thursday. Russia took 139th position out of 177 countries on the 2013 Index of Economic Freedom, published by the Heritage Foundation think tank and the Wall Street Journal. The showing represented a slight improvement from 2012 for Russia, […]
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(Dmitry Travin – www.opendemocracy.net – January 7, 2013) Dmitry Travin is Research Director at the European University in St. Petersburg’s Centre of Modernization Studies. The first eight years of the last decade were incredibly successful for Russia’s economy, but the crisis of 2008 hit hard and growth remains decidedly sluggish. Dmitry Travin wonders whether the country’s economy will ever be […]
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(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 1 – Pavel K. Baev – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – January 7, 2013) Early January is a period of partying and hibernation in Russia. Yet, this pause also provides an opportunity to reflect on the incredible ups and downs of the past year. Designated by the Kremlin as a year of return to […]
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MOSCOW. Jan 9 (Interfax) – Russia’s electricity sector in 2012 became a kind of blanket that was pulled in opposite directions by two opposing forces, which were personified by the government’s former and current tsars of the sector, Igor Sechin and Arkady Dvorkovich. They pulled on two, very large, corners – RusHydro and the combination of Federal Grid Company (FGC) […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Scott Rose – January 9, 2013) Russian consumer spending will continue to carry economic growth this year even as slower increases in incomes and borrowing damp household demand, according to BNP Paribas SA. “We see private consumption remaining the primary driver of GDP growth in 2013 and beyond,” Julia Tsepliaeva and Kirill Mavrin, economists at BNP […]
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MOSCOW, January 9 (RIA Novosti) Most Russians consider the critical situation in the housing and utilities sector, inflation and low living standards and corruption as the most pressing problems in the country, a new poll revealed on Wednesday. The majority of respondents, 58 percent, said housing and utilities problems were their main concerns, according to the VTsIOM state pollster. […]
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(Voice of America – Russian Service Crossfire – Donald N. Jensen – January 3, 2013) Russian state has struggled unsuccessfully since 1991 to reconcile three disparate, somewhat contradictory sources of legitimacy. It portrays itself as democratic, but the trashing of the 1990s by the Putin regime deprives the current system of a founding myth. During the Putin era there have […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, 29 December) According to economic experts interviewed by Interfax news agency, the lack of new economic ideas and structural reforms will impede Russia’s economic growth in 2013. The following is excerpt from report by privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax. Subheadings as published. The ending year has shown that the old drivers of growth are no longer working, […]
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(Rich Russians Also Lament New Tax Hikes – Forbes – Kenneth Rapoza – January 3, 2013 – click here for full article) Forbes covers Russian tax hikes on the wealthy, largely impacting individuals, sole proprietors and with high-end luxury items such as homes, cars, boats, airplanes and helicopters: Not only rich one percenters in the U.S. are going to see […]
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MOSCOW. Jan 4 (Interfax) – Political, economic and financial stability attracts investors and artists, Sberbank CEO German Gref told Interfax on Friday, speaking of Russian citizenship conferred to French actor Gerard Depardieu. “The Depardieu situation shows that financial, economic and political stability is frequently a key factor in the choice of the country by investors and artists. I think people […]
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(A revolution in space but calmer streets at home; Pundits predict a loss of momentum for the protest movement at home and see little scope for improvement in relations with the West – Russia Beyond the Headlines – Artem Zagorodnov – January 4, 2013 – click here for google cache version of article) Russia Beyond the Headlines takes a look […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Bryan Bradley – January 4, 2013) U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s opposition to Russia’s growing economic might in Europe wasn’t practical, Vydas Gedvilas, the head of Lithuania’s new parliament, said in an interview with Russian radio. The international influence of Russian businesses is an economic reality that European countries must separate from politics and deal […]
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(Interfax – January 2, 2013) Moscow does not rule out negotiations on Russia’s entry to the OECD may be accompanied by “political risks” linked to the case of Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergey Magnitskiy’s death, the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s economic cooperation department Aleksandr Gorban said, as reported by Interfax on 2 January. “These concerns are fair. There are […]
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[Foreign Policy – Anders Åslund – December 28, 2012 – http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/12/28/Putin_orphans_Russia_crackdown] Anders Åslund examines the state of Russian politics, characterizing it as marked by repression, anger and a realization of a need for change but lacking a grasp of effective alternatives other than personal flight: … I have not found the mood in the Russian capital so depressed since the […]
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MOSCOW. Jan 1 (Interfax) – Greediness often prevents Russian businesses from gaining a foothold on foreign markets, says Alexander Gorban, the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s economic cooperation department. “I would like to mention one significant difference between Russian and Western businesses: it is their desire to have a high profit margin,” Gorban said in an interview with Interfax. […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 31 (Interfax) – The standoff between state and private oil companies over access to Russia’s continental shelf over the past year recalled the cold war of the early 1980s. It was also a combination of clashing ideologies and ambitions, coalitions of allies, war on the periphery, scare tactics, a search for compromises and absurdity. As in the cold […]
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MOSCOW, January 1 (RIA Novosti) Russians can expect to see their real wages rise in 2013, but along with that will come higher utilities tariffs, according to Economic Development Ministry forecasts. Take-home pay is set to rise 3.7 percent in 2013, the ministry forecasts, and the minimum wage is also expected to rise, although it will still lag significantly […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – December 27, 2012) Calls for honest elections and President Vladimir Putin’s removal might attract the urban middle class to rallies, but it is rusty pipes and the poor state of the utilities sector that might persuade thousands of disgruntled citizens of all classes to march in the streets. The possibility that higher […]
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MOSCOW, December 27 (RIA Novosti) Officially registered capital outflow from Russia frequently reflects Russian business investment abroad, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday. “As for capital outflow, this process is not viewed as simplistically as is frequently talked about. Capital outflow in our conditions does not mean direct capital flight,” he said. A substantial part of this capital is […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 27 (Interfax) – The heads of Russian regions ought to bear a political responsibility for their territories, President Vladimir Putin said. “Governors in the regions should bear a political responsibility for the quality of the business climate there. It is a test of his [governor’s] management skills,” Putin said at a State Council session on Thursday. “As for […]
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MOSCOW, December 27 (RIA Novosti) Russian regions should prepare regional investment roadmaps with clear-cut goals to attract investors and boost the county’s flagging economy, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday. Putin made the statement at a meeting with Russian governors to discuss how to make the regions more appealing as investment destinations. Russia’s regions should demonstrate their potential to […]
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MOSCOW, December 26 (RIA Novosti) Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will chair a meeting on Wednesday on how best to tackle Russia’s slowing economic growth. “This year, Russia has seen falling growth in the major macroeconomic indices gross domestic product, industrial output, and fixed capital investment,” the government press office said in a statement. Russia’s Economics Ministry has cut […]
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(Interfax – December 20, 2012) The approval ratings of Russian leaders grew in December after a minor decline in November, Levada Center told Interfax on Thursday. It held a nation-wide poll on Dec. 14-17. The approval rating of President Vladimir Putin stood at 65 percent in December, as against 63 percent in November and 68 percent in September, the sociologists […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 20 (Interfax) – The Russian government will monitor the implementation of roadmaps to improve the country’s business climate every quarter, Economic Development Minister Andrei Belousov said Thursday at a government session. Five roadmaps were approved and for three of them, including on customs administration, on connection to energy infrastructure and on administration in the construction sector, the deadlines […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – December 22, 2012 – click here to see original article with charts) Overview The world and Russia both passed through the trough of the global crisis in 2012, say investment banks in Moscow, and the question for 2013 is: if the upswing starts, how fast will it go? Going into […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 20 (Interfax) – Corruption is customary for Russia but the government still has to combat it, President Vladimir Putin told a Thursday press conference. “Speaking of the anti-corruption fight; this is one of our problems and a customary one,” he said. Putin told reporters a historical anecdote: Peter the Great ordered Prosecutor General Pavel Yaguzhinsky to execute thieves […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, 18 December) State support for agriculture will double as part of the new state programme covering the 2013-2020 period. “Whereas under the existing state programme (for 2008-2012 – Interfax) we have been giving agriculture R100bn (3.25bn dollars at the current rate of exchange) a year on average, in the period until 2020 the mean figure of federal […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Evgeniya Chaykovskaya – December 19, 2012) Russia’s Federal Tariff Services asked the government to raise tariffs for heating (by 11.5 percent instead of 9.5 percent proposed by the Economic Development Ministry) and water supply (11-13 percent instead of 5-6 percent). If their wish is granted, households will face a 15 percent increase in utility payments, […]
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MOSCOW, December 19 (RIA Novosti) Russia’s unfavorable investment climate is a major factor behind huge capital flight from the country in recent years, Central Bank Chairman Sergei Ignatyev said on Wednesday. The Central Bank has carried out a comparative research of capital outflows in other countries to understand why capital is leaving Russia on such a large scale, the […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Irina Filatova – Dec. 18, 2012) The real size of capital outflow last year was actually half as much as reported, and only reached about $40 billion, with the figure having no correlation to the investment climate, according to a survey released Monday. Some components considered by the Central Bank, such as cash leaving the […]
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MOSCOW, December 18 (RIA Novosti) Former Russian finance minister Alexei Kudrin on Tuesday slammed the authorities for allowing “creeping de-privatization” of the economy despite the government’s commitment to sell state-run companies in order to raise their efficiency and lure much-needed foreign investment. “Despite the declared goals of privatization, we are witnessing creeping de-privatization,” Kudrin said at a press conference […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 14 (Interfax) – All of the procedures for privatizing federal property are enshrined at the presidential and governmental level; the legislative framework is adequate to what should happen with privatization in the coming years, and it does not need to be enhanced, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said. “All procedures are now fixed in federal law, […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Henry Meyer and Agnes Lovasz – Dec. 14, 2012) Russia, the world’s largest energy exporter, is becoming increasingly dependent on commodities and failing to prepare for falling oil output in 20 years, the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development said. Corruption, poor education, immigration barriers and state dominance in the economy, which curbs private innovation, all […]
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[Russian politics: A new ideology for political ends: Vladimir Putin’s state-of-the-nation address – The Economist – Dec. 15, 2012 – http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21568431-vladimir-putins-state-nation-address-new-ideology-political-ends] The Economist reports on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s State-of-the-Nation Address, noting what it saw as a values-oriented focus: For a man known for his pragmatism even cynicism President Vladimir Putin’s state-of-the-nation speech on December 12th was heavily […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 14 (Interfax) – The majority of Russians want the government to restrict labor immigration. The number of people favoring labor immigration restrictions has grown from 57% to a six-year high of 64% over the past 12 months, according to a November poll held by the Levada Analytical Center. The number of those who have not yet formed an […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Irina Filatova – Dec. 13, 2012) President Vladimir Putin expanded Russian vocabulary Wednesday, as he called for “deoffshorization” of the country’s economy, a measure he said would help repatriate capital channeled to offshore jurisdictions. In his state-of-the-nation address, which covered a wide range of economic issues, Putin pushed for agreements with tax havens that would […]
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(RIA Novosti – Dec. 10, 2012) Russian President Vladimir Putin thinks that Russia must find its place in the geopolitical transformation (of the world), but not on conditions of confrontation. “In this geopolitical transformation, we must find our place. Can we do it? Of course we can, with our vast territory, with our traditions, with our growing economy. But, without […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 11 (Interfax) – Russian economic growth will pick up in 2013 and reach 4.2%, while inflation will go down to around 6%, Yaroslav Lisovolik, a senior economist at Deutsche Bank Russia, says. Lisovolik told the press on Tuesday that one of the main reasons for such a relatively high rate of GDP growth in 2013 would be high […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 9 (Interfax) – Rumors of corruption in Russia are exaggeratory and opponents take advantage of the Russian image of a highly corrupt country, Economic Development Minister Andrei Belousov told President Vladimir Putin’s election agents on Sunday. “Corruption rumors are exaggeratory. This does not mean we have no such problem, but I will be honest: the idea of Russia […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 10 (Interfax) – Russian Economic Development Minister Andrei Belousov has forecasted that the country’s GDP may grow 3.5%-3.6% this year. “This year we are coming to 3.5-3.6%. Next year, according to fairly optimistic estimates, we will approach 4%,” he said at a Sunday meeting of Cabinet members and Kremlin administration officials with President Vladimir Putin’s election agents. The […]
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(RIA Novosti – Moscow, 3 December) Political analyst Aleksey Mukhin believes that the authors of the Carnegie Centre’s report “The awakening of Russia” are somewhat late with their conclusions, some of which could have been partially accepted in December 2011 – March 2012. According to Mukhin, there is no reason to talk about a crisis in the country, including a […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 5 (Interfax) – The Ob River liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker, chartered by the Gazprom Group (RTS: GAZP), successfully completed the world’s first LNG shipment via the Northern Sea Route on Wednesday, the Russian gas giant reported. The tanker, which departed from Norway’s Hammerfest Port on November 7, has arrived at the regasification terminal at Tobata Port in […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, 5 December) Surveys by VTsIOM (All-Russia Public Opinion Research Centre) sociologists have shown that the feeling of social well-being among Russians has increased over the last year. For example, the percentage of Russians who are satisfied with the life they lead has increased from 26 per cent in November 2011 to 40 per cent in November 2012, […]
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[Russia may change its image in bid to find more allies – Russia Today – Dec. 3, 2012 – http://rt.com/politics/russia-change-bid-find-128/] Russia Today writes on Russian foreign policy ambitions following an assembly of Russia’s Council for Foreign and Defence Policy. In part, Russia Today cited attendees as highlighting military spending, including conventional forces: Conference members also observed that in modern times […]
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(Interfax – Dec. 1, 2012) During its G20 chairmanship, Russia intends to offer a substantive agenda to its partners aimed at resolving problems facing all countries of the world. “We see the main objective of Russia’s chairmanship in concentrating the G20’s efforts on developing measures stimulating economic growth and the creation of jobs,” Putin said in a welcoming address for […]
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MOSCOW, December 3 (RIA Novosti) – The world’s developed nations should not abandon their budget consolidation and debt reduction plans, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Monday. “The majority of developed countries with a high level of debt recognize the need to have debt reduction programs,” he said at a news conference at RIA Novosti devoted to Russia’s G20 […]
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MOSCOW, December 3 (RIA Novosti) Russian state-controlled energy giants Gazprom and Rosneft, and state-run savings bank Sberbank top the list of where Russians most want to work, according to a poll published by the VTsIOM pollster on Monday. “Gazprom remains the most attractive employer for Russians. If respondents could choose a job in any large company operating on the […]
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[The Illusion of a Rich Russia – Moscow Times/Vedomosti – Dec. 3, 2012 – http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/the-illusion-of-a-rich-russia/472315.html] The Moscow Times provides an English-language version of a Vedomosti editorial about perceptions and realities of wealth and poverty in Russia, holding that “Amid all of the seemingly good news, however, Russia’s poverty problem is far from conquered.” First Vedomosti recounts some of the Western […]
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