(Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – Tim Wall, RBTH – March 11, 2013) Russian Presidential Commissioner for entrepreneurs’ rights Boris Titov gives an insight he is helping businessmen successfully deal with pressure from officials through the courts. Boris Titov, Russia’s foremost producer of sparkling wines, knows all too well what it’s like to face pressure from officials. But now, […]
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MOSCOW, March 11 (RIA Novosti) – Almost 300,000 self-employed Russians have quit business in Russia in the past three months due to social tax hikes, an Economics Ministry official said on Monday. From January 1, 2013, the Russian government doubled the annual fixed-sum social security tax for individual entrepreneurs to 36,000 rubles ($1,200), in a move that directly affected […]
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[Sergei Magnitsky: The enemy within: A saga that has been a parable of the self-mutilating way Russia is governed – The Economist – Editorial – March 9, 2013 – http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21573119-saga-has-been-parable-self-mutilating-way-russia-governed-enemy-within] The Economist issues an editorial on the Magnitsky saga and its aftermath, and what it shows about brutal, deadly elitism in Russia: Martyred human rights activists; fatally brave journalists: Russia, […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Mikhail Loginov – March 7, 2013) Mikhail Loginov is a journalist and novelist based in St. Petersburg. He is the author of the recently published bestselling political thriller “Battle for Kremlin”. Reports from Moscow of door-to-door passport checks and a proposed new bill criminalising registration infringements are rekindling uncomfortable memories of the Soviet past. Mikhail Loginov reflects on […]
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(RIA Novosti – March 6, 2013) Roughly two in five Russians would like to have a female president, a Levada Centre poll has shown, the RIA Novosti news agency reported on 6 March. The poll, available at http://www.levada.ru/06-03-2013/rossiyane-o-roli-zhenshchin-v-politike, surveyed people’s views on the role of women in Russian politics by gauging responses to three questions. The number of respondents who […]
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(RIA Novosti – February 26, 2013) Aleksandr Lebedev, the co-owner of Aeroflot has nominated three people for the company’ board of directors, including his own son Yegor. According to open sources, Yegor was born in November 2011. Petr Fradkov (born in 1978), the eldest son of Mikhail Fradkov the director of the Russian Federation Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), heads the […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Anna Arutunyan – March 4, 2013) Anna Arutunyan is the politics editor of The Moscow News In Russia, there were a thousand shades of gray before Vladislav Surkov, the so-called “gray cardinal” behind Vladimir Putin’s first 12 years in power, was replaced in late 2011. Now, one year into Putin’s third term as president, there […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, February 28, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/02/window-on-eurasia-from-upper-volta-with.html) Twenty-five years ago, German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt characterized the Soviet Union as being an “Upper Volta with missiles.” Now, Russian analysts, in response to findings of a Swiss firm, have suggested that a better analogy might be between the Russian Federation and a “Nigeria with snow.” The […]
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(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 39 – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – Sergei Blagov – March 1, 2013) The Russian government pledged to manage $3.3 trillion worth of its state-controlled assets more efficiently, including through the continued privatization of state-owned companies. However, the authorities have to prove that the latest privatization efforts could fare better than earlier attempts to […]
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(Governent.ru – February 26, 2013) Correspondent (via interpreter): Mr Prime Minister, thank you very much for finding time for Globo in your schedule. In your recent article in the influential Financial Times, you wrote that Russia should look to the East, to the Asia-Pacific Region. How, looking East, did you wind up in Brazil? Did you follow Columbus who set […]
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MOSCOW. Feb 28 (Interfax) – Some 47% of Russians believe that President Vladimir Putin can keep the election promises, the Levada Center told Interfax after having polled respondents in 130 towns and cities in 45 regions this February. A third (34%) doubted that and 17% were hesitant, the sociologists said. In the opinion of 65%, President Putin has done more […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – February 27, 2013) Gennady Zyuganov, re-elected Saturday as leader of the Communist Party, a position he’s held for 17 years, said Tuesday that public calls to remove Stalin’s and Brezhnev’s graves from the Kremlin Wall Necropolis came from “provocateurs” and “SS loyalists.” He vowed that his party would continue to fight proposals […]
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(Institute of Modern Russia – www.imrussia.org – Tatiana Stanovaya – February 25, 2013 – click here for original posting of article) Two important tendencies have marked Russian political life during the past few months. The first is the Kremlin’s attempt to control officials’ and lawmakers’ foreign accounts and real estate holdings. The second is the growing activity of independent bloggers […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, February 25, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/02/window-on-eurasia-putin-system.html) The Russian Federation is “again entering a period of radical changes when entirely different and still unknown forces and figures” will replace those that President Vladimir Putin has assembled around him, according to Valery Solovey, an MGIMO professor who heads the New Force Party. In an interview […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Aleksandras Budrys – February 26, 2013) One-third of Russians still believe that President Vladimir Putin is the best choice for the post as head of state, although his rating continues to fall steadily, a survey conducted by independent agency Levada Center showed on Tuesday. The poll, conducted on February 15 to February 18, surveyed 1,600 […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Natalia Antonova – February 25, 2013) Here is a solution on how to deal with Russia’s archaic registration system: don’t tie registration to real estate ownership. If registration is simply meant to let the authorities know where you’re residing, people should be able to fill out a single form on a website or at a […]
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(www.opendemocracy.net – Grigory Okhotin – February 22, 2031) Grigory Okhotin is a journalist and co-founder of the grassroots police monitoring organisation OVD-Info [‘police-info’]. [Charts here: http://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/grigory-okhotin/arrest-and-custody-russian-style] Police custody, violence, trials and imprisonment have been all to common features on the Russian protest landscape since December 2011. A grassroots monitoring project called OVD-info has kept realtime data on the arrests; co-founder […]
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(Moscow TImes – themoscowtimes.com – February 25, 2013) Two companies co-owned by people seen as close to President Vladimir Putin were awarded the largest number of major road and bridge construction contracts by City Hall in 2011-12, Vedomosti reported Tuesday. In the period, a total of 150 road and bridge construction contracts worth 182.4 billion rubles ($6 billion) were awarded, […]
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MOSCOW. Feb 22 (Interfax) – President Vladimir Putin’s representative in the State Duma Garri Minkh has acknowledged that government executives may have problems selling their assets and foreign company shares in compliance with the president-proposed bill. “The procedure of selling shares is not so easy. Not so easy as selling a glass of sunflower seeds,” Minkh said during the first […]
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(Moscow Times – themocowtimes.com – February 22, 2013) In an interview with the Brazilian daily O Globo, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said talk of Russia as a human rights violator was “frivolous” and suggested prison sentences received by Pussy Riot band members could have been less strict. “I do not believe that we are an absolutely perfect, model society and […]
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MOSCOW. Feb 21 (Interfax) – Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika said he was concerned with groundless interference of police in commercial disputes. “The practice of opening groundless criminal cases, arresting enterprises’ accounts and assets hasn’t been eradicated,” Chaika said during his speech at the all-Russian prosecutors’ conference on protecting rights of businessmen. Chaika said that “the number of operational procedures […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, February 21, 2013) The Russian Foreign Ministry has opened an official account in the social network Facebook, says a report published on the ministry’s website today. “Topical information about the Russian foreign policy, archive materials about the history of the Russian diplomatic service, helpful information for countrymen and Russians staying abroad will be posted there. We expect […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, February 20, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/02/window-on-eurasia-putins-nationality.html) Both the five specific planks of his nationality policy that Vladimir Putin outlined yesterday and problems underlying his entire approach to this issue guarantee that the Russian president will offend both Russians and non-Russians and produce the very outcome he says he is trying to avoid […]
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(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 32 – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – Richard Arnold – February 20, 2013) New recruits to the Russian police will soon undergo mandatory polygraph tests in order to gain admission to the force. The requirement, introduced in June 2012 as part of a comprehensive reform of the police, will now be introduced in practice […]
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MOSCOW. Feb 21 (Interfax) – Support of the Russian public to President Vladimir Putin’s bill banning foreign bank accounts of civil servants is practically unanimous, the Public Opinion Foundation said. It polled 1,500 respondents in 100 towns and cities in 43 regions on February 16-17. Seventy-three percent heard about the bill, and 26% learned about it during the poll. From […]
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MOSCOW. Feb 20 (Interfax) – The fight against corruption intensified in Russia in 2012 and the damage from corruption is estimated at more than 20 billion rubles, Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika said. “We have determined over 49,000 (corruption) encroachments, which is almost one-fourth more than was registered in 2011, and the number of people found to have committed corruption […]
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MOSCOW. Feb 21 (Interfax) – Sixty-five percent of Russians approve of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s work, the Levada Center told Interfax on Thursday, following a nationwide survey conducted on February 15-18. Levada Center sociologists said that the approval rating of the Russian president gained three points, as compared to 62% in January. The approval rating of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Aleksandras Budrys – February 20, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the country should not return cultural property confiscated by Bolshevik and Soviet authorities after the 1917 revolution to its previous owners. “If we now agree that such property of the Russian state will be transferred to someone, we will open a Pandora’s box. […]
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MOSCOW. Feb 20 (Interfax) – The government program for the Social and Economic Development of the Far East and Baikal Region for the Period to 2025, drafted by the Far East Development Ministry, was discussed at a meeting held by First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, business daily Vedomosti reported on Wednesday. “The document was not officially submitted to the […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Irina Filatova – February 20, 2013) Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich got in the spotlight Tuesday amid rumors that he might have to resign in the wake of the recent scandals in the energy sector, which he oversees. In comments posted on his Facebook account late Monday, Dvorkovich unequivocally dismissed speculation in social networks that […]
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MOSCOW. Feb 19 (Interfax) – The long-term forecast for Russia’s social and economic development in the period to 2030 will be the foundation for the country’s long-term budget strategy, as well as federal and regional programs, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said. “Long-term budget strategy, federal and regional programs should be formed on the basis of this document, but we need […]
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MOSCOW, February 20 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s Investigative Committee (IC) initiated criminal proceedings against more than 800 state and government officials last year, including about 600 lawmakers on different levels, committee chief Alexander Bastrykin said on Wednesday. “Last year we took legal action against some 600 deputies and elected heads of municipalities and local self-government bodies, 19 deputies of regional […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Winning – February 20, 2013) Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin is among the few politicians capable of appeasing warring factions within the ruling elite and becoming President Vladimir Putin’s successor, a report released Tuesday said. The report, drafted by the influential Minchenko Consulting Group, said that although there exists a broad consensus within Putin’s inner […]
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(Interfax – February 19, 2013) The decision to abolish daylight savings time, taken in June 2011 under then-President Dmitriy Medvedev and hotly debated since its implementation, is becoming increasingly more annoying for Russians, a survey by the pro-Kremlin All-Russia Public Opinion Research Centre (VTsIOM) pollster has found, the Interfax news agency reported on 19 February. The poll, posted on the […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Robert Coalson – February 19, 2013) It was like putting a match to a powder keg. Reports of the death in Texas of a Russian adoptee are producing an outpouring of outrage from Russian political elites aimed directly at the United States. “Why should we send our children to certain death,” Deputy Chairwoman of the Federation […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – February 19, 2013) Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has ordered the government to find ways to reduce bureaucratic obstacles to regional investment amid a drive to boost regional economies. Medvedev has called for the Economic Development, Finance and Regional Development Ministries to present proposals to increase regional investment, RIA-Novosti reported Monday, citing the […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Aleksandras Budrys – February 19, 2013) Moscow will organize two “subbotniks,” or voluntary labor days, on Saturdays April 20 and April 27, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said at a Moscow government meeting. The tradition of holding “subbotniks” dates back to 1919, when in the early years of Soviet power in Russia, massive voluntary work on weekends […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – February 19, 2013) A bill redefining the conditions under which children can be seized from so-called “socially vulnerable families” has provoked fear among critics that more minors could be taken into state care due to petty infractions. Amid a renewed push by authorities to decrease the number of children in state care, […]
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MOSCOW, February 19 (RIA Novosti) The Russian government’s work in the next five years will be crucial to improving the system of state governance and the business climate, essential to restoring investor confidence and the level of investment to modernize the economy, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday. Medvedev made his comments while unveiling a long-term budget […]
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(Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 30 – Pavel K. Baev – February 18, 2013) The meteor that exploded over Chelyabinsk in the early hours of February 15, as damaging as it was, produced even more jokes than material destruction. One of those was about the State Duma urgently approving legislation banning the incursions of celestial […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Pavel Chikov – February 15, 2013) Pavel Chikov is chair of AGORA, an association of human rights organisations based in Kazan. Since 1999 Chikov has been a leading human rights lawyer and head of a number of Russian human rights organizations in Moscow and Kazan Continuing oDRussia’s debate on the future for Russian NGO funding, now a view […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – Februray 18, 2013) In light of the meteorite blast that sent shock waves through the Ural Mountains city of Chelyabinsk on Friday, leaving more than a thousand people injured, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev tasked his deputy, Dmitry Rogozin, with proposing ways to predict and prevent disasters from space. Rogozin plans to give […]
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(Institute of Modern Russia – www.imrussia.org – Alexander Podrabinek -February 14, 2013 – click here for original posting of article) Despite its unfortunate historical experience, Russia is not destined for despotism. According to author and analyst Alexander Podrabinek, the liberal opposition still has a chance of successprovided it maintains its political identity and appeals to the “man from the street.” Russia’s […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Brian Whitmore – February 14, 2013) Does anybody remember Skolkovo? What seems like eons ago, back when iPads were still must-have gadgets for the Russian elite, the scientific and technological center was the showcase project in Dmitry Medvedev’s efforts to modernize the country’s economy to make it less dependent on oil and gas. Well Skolkovo is back […]
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[Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, February 15, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/02/window-on-eurasia-tsipko-asks-which.html] Aleksandr Tsipko, who helped found the Gorbachev Foundation but in recent years has promoted the revival of the traditions and values of pre-1917 Russia, says that his country today faces a most serious question: “Which will die first the Russian state or liberal hatred of it?” […]
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(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 28 – Pavel Felgenhauer – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – February 14, 2013) This week, speaking at a meeting of Russia’s top security officialsthe so called “extended collegium” of the Federal Security Service or FSBAlexander Bortnikov, the FSB chief, announced: “Geopolitical pressure on Russia, coming from the United States and its allies who still […]
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(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 28 – Jamestown Foundation: jamestown.org – Pavel Felgenhauer – February 14, 2013) This week, speaking at a meeting of Russia’s top security officialsthe so called “extended collegium” of the Federal Security Service or FSBAlexander Bortnikov, the FSB chief, announced: “Geopolitical pressure on Russia, coming from the United States and its allies who still consider […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.com – February 14, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin called for an end to the long Soviet-era habit of classifying geological data as a state secret. As part of the new look Russia-can-do Inc, that he hopes will bring in more investment, the president said the information on the size and location of the countrys natural […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – February 14, 2013) Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told students at the Siberian Federal University on Thursday that the key to success in love is persistence. When asked how to be successful in dating by a student, Medvedev immediately responded with, “That’s the spirit!” before revealing that he has “had many experiences, as any human being […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Winning – February 13, 2013) President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday submitted a bill to the State Duma that seeks to ban government officials from holding overseas bank accounts or owning foreign-issued bonds and shares. The legislation, part of a raft of measures proposed by the president that ostensibly target corruption and foreign influence in […]
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