(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Henry Meyer and Jason Corcoran – November 16, 2012) Russian government reticence to discuss President Vladimir Putin’s health issues is adding to investor concern about the lack of transparency in a country that’s losing $80 billion a year in capital flight. The Russian leader canceled or postponed five foreign trips over more than a month, including […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Rachel Nielsen – November 15, 2012) At Wednesday’s congress of a major business lobbying group, the president of the country pulled a no-show, the first deputy prime minister told the group to avoid politics and a State Duma deputy personally fielded business complaints. The congress was the 10th annual gathering for Opora, a nationwide group […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Alina Lobzina – November 14, 2012) A State Duma deputy who was riled by the press for estimating the intellectual abilities of “the dumbest” of his colleagues above those of an average Russian, lamented the lack of control over journalists on Wednesday. Ilya Kovtunov, member of ruling United Russia party, tweeted his apologies but got […]
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WASHINGTON November 14 (By Suleiman Wali for RIA Novosti) – A controversial new law that expands the definition of treason in Russia is being decried by critics in the United States as the Kremlin’s continuing effort to return the country to a “darker criminal code.” “Over the past six months, a series of laws have been passed in Russia that […]
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MOSCOW, November 14 (RIA Novosti) – Certain issues and demands, voiced by the Russian opposition, are reasonable, and the authorities should take an appropriate action on them, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said. “It seems to me that, firstly, the fact that the civil society has become more active is a positive thing, and, secondly, that certain issues that are […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, 13 November) [Prime Minister] Dmitriy Medvedev has said that after stepping down as president and moving to the government, his relations with Vladimir Putin have not changed. “As regards about our relations with the president – I have commented on this topic many times – nothing has changed since I went to work in the government while […]
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MOSCOW, November 14 (Marc Bennetts, RIA Novosti) A controversial law on state treason that critics fear could be used to stamp out political dissent came into force in Russia on Wednesday, two days after President Vladimir Putin told human rights workers he was ready to “review” it. The law, initiated by the Federal Security Service (FSB), and signed by […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – November 14, 2012) Valentin Danilov, a Siberian physicist jailed on charges of espionage and treason amid a spying frenzy that swept the country in President Vladimir Putin’s first term, was granted parole Tuesday and could be freed next week. Human rights campaigners praised the ruling, saying Danilov should never have been imprisoned […]
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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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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Ilya Arkhipov and Olga Tanas – November 14, 2012) Russian President Vladimir Putin backed a planned pension overhaul opposed by the Finance Ministry, Economy Ministry and asset managers, who warn it would curb economic growth. The Labor Ministry plan would divert taxes from future retirement plans to meet current pension payments and narrow the state system’s […]
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(RFE/RL – Brian Whitmore – November 8, 2012) In many ways, the current battle for Russia’s future began 30 years ago this week. On November 10, 1982, Leonid Brezhnev died, sparking a generational change in the Soviet leadership and setting in motion an ongoing cycle of reform and reaction in Russia that remains incomplete and inconclusive to this day. The […]
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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 Times – themoscowtimes.com – November 13, 2012) Gazprom contractor and billionaire Arkady Rotenberg, 60, has said that his childhood friend President Vladimir Putin was sent to Russia “from God.” Rotenberg, a longtime judo sparring partner of Putin’s who has investments in the construction and finance industries, is ranked as Russia’s 94th wealthiest man by Forbes with a personal fortune […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Evgeniya Chaykovskaya – November 9, 2012) Former Senator Lyudmila Narusova, widow of President Vladimir Putin’s political mentor, Anatoly Sobchak, and mother of opposition activist Ksenia Sobchak, has given an extensive interview to the Novaya Gazeta newspaper. Narusova was kicked out of the Federation Council last month after having voiced criticisms of the recent crackdowns on […]
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MOSCOW, November 12 (RIA Novosti) Russian President Vladimir Putin approved on Monday the new make-up of the Kremlin’s council on human rights and civil society. The reshuffle comes after a spate of resignations that began in the wake of last December’s disputed parliamentary elections and continued following Putin’s inauguration for a third presidential term in May. “We have to […]
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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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(Russia is on the verge of change, say Valdai Club experts – Valdai Discussion Club – November 8, 2012 – http://valdaiclub.com/event/51120.html) The Valdai Club announces that a “survey of the Valdai Club international experts point to conflicting trends in the development of Russian institutions and society.” Click here to read the full article: http://valdaiclub.com/event/51120.html “The text of the report both […]
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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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(Interfax – November 8, 2012) Only 5 per cent of people surveyed by Russian pollster FOM consider themselves to be properly informed about the opposition Coordination Council (CC), Interfax news agency reported on 8 November, citing the latest survey data. Another 19 per cent of the 1,500 respondents from 43 Russian regions said they had “heard something” about the Council […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 8 (Interfax) – Politics is yet to evoke interest among Russians; 66% of them pay no attention to political events, Levada Center told Interfax. Only 26% of the respondents polled in 45 regions in October gave an affirmative answer to the question if they wished to take part in political life, at least in their home region. The […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 8 (Interfax) – The decline in confidence ratings for President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, which started after the March presidential election in Russia, has slowed. Their confidence ratings stood at 42-44% and 36-38% respectively in September-October, the Public Opinion Foundation reported on Thursday. The Foundation held its latest poll of 3,000 respondents in 204 towns […]
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MOSCOW, November 8 (RIA Novosti) Russia’s extra-parliamentary opposition has grown in influence since last year, according to almost 70 percent of political analysts who contributed to the Valdai Development Index published on Thursday. The Russia Development Index (Valdai Index) is an analytical initiative which grew out of the Valdai Discussion Club, and which seeks to harness the opinions of […]
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(Kremlin Can’t Decide Whether Russia is Heir to the Soviet Union or to Imperial Russia, Inozemtsev Says Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, November 7 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2012/11/window-on-eurasia-kremlin-cant-decide.html) Paul Goble, in Window on Eurasia, examines an argument by Vladislav Inozemtsev, head of the Civic Force Party, that the Kremlin is wrestling with how to regard Russia’s heritage in terms […]
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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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(Dmitri Travin – opendemocracy.net – November 6, 2012 – Dmitri Travin is Research Director at the European University in St. Petersburg’s Centre of Modernization Studies) The Russian regime may present a united front to the world, but behind the scenes the cracks are beginning to show. In the week when Putin fired a senior government member, Dmitri Travin looks at […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – November 7, 2012) Sergei Shoigu said he was surprised by his appointment to replace Anatoly Serdyukov as defense minister, but his combination of popularity among the public and loyalty to the Kremlin makes him a fitting choice to head one of the country’s most important government sectors. Shoigu, who entered government service […]
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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. Nov 6 (Interfax) – Former Russian finance minister and current head of the Civil Initiatives Committee, Alexei Kudrin, is not upset with Dmitry Medvedev, who sacked him when he was president, and does not regret quitting the government. “I will say that at the moment I do not see the conditions for my return,” Kudrin said in an interview […]
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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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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Ilya Arkhipov and Henry Meyer – November 7, 2012) Russian President Vladimir Putin’s opponents are looking to take advantage of a dip in his approval rating by latching on to rising anti-immigration sentiment. With the share of Russians wanting tighter immigration rules at the highest in at least a decade, Alexey Navalny, the country’s most-popular opposition […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 7 (Interfax) – The Revolution of 1917 had more pros than cons, respondents told the Russian Public Opinion Study Center (VTsIOM). The center polled 1,600 adults in 46 regions on October 27-28. Some 27% believe the revolution spurred on social development of Russia (the indicator stood at 34% in 2002), and 21% believe it opened up a new […]
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From: “William Dunkerley” <wd@publishinghelp.com> Subject: Vedomosti Misrepresented Survey Results in Recent Article Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2012 Vedomosti Misrepresented Survey Results in Recent Article By William Dunkerley William Dunkerley is a media business analyst and consultant specializing in Russia and the former Soviet Union. An October 30, 2012 Vedomosti article titled “No Pathologies in Anatomy: Russians disbelieve that protesters meant […]
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MOSCOW, November 6 (Dan Peleschuk, RIA Novosti) Economic progress, a clear political mandate, and good press: these are the things, according to a new report by a leading Russian think tank, that make a Russian region truly stable. It was otherwise largely unnoticed regions, such as Mordovia, that fared best in the rating, despite other ostensibly more likely contenders […]
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(Interfax – November 6, 2012) Most polled Russians believe that a revolution cannot be allowed to take place in the country nowadays, the Russian news agency Interfax reported on 6 November. According to a poll carried out by the state-funded All-Russian Centre for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM), most respondents are convinced that a revolution cannot be allowed to […]
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(Paul Goble – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 9, Issue 201 – November 2, 2012) The Kremlin has created a new “agitation and propaganda” (agitprop) administration, which will focus on the elderly, whom the regime hopes to influence or at least keep in its corner now, and the young whom it can only hope to affect […]
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(Mikhail Loginov – www.opendemocracy.net – November 2, 2012- 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”.) October is Russia’s local election month, and some regions have just elected governors for the first time in seven years, part of an electoral reform designed to […]
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(Kremlin.ru – November 4, 2012) During the reception, Russian state decorations were presented to foreign citizens for their contribution to strengthening cooperation with Russia and developing Russian culture abroad. Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky presented the decorations. Speech at a reception marking National Unity Day PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Good afternoon, friends. Congratulations on the National Unity Day! This […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 3 (Interfax) – Advertising agencies have been refusing to make or publish banners for Russian Communists with pictures of Vladimir Lenin and Josef Stalin and with Bolshevik slogans for the upcoming 95th anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution, a Communist leader complained. “Three banners have become the stumbling block – those with pictures of Lenin, Stalin and the cruiser […]
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(Voice of America – James Brooke – November 3, 2012 – James Brooke is VOA Moscow bureau chief, covering Russia and the former USSR) Vladimir Putin is suffering back pains and is cancelling foreign trips and his annual November press conference marathon. He may also be suffering from a foreign policy migraine: multi-party democracy is alive and well in the […]
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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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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Nikolaus von Twickel – November 2, 2012) Fresh speculation that President Vladimir Putin has health problems was swirling Thursday, when a media report said the 60-year-old was suffering from an exacerbated back injury. The injury flared up after the president’s latest outdoor stunt when he flew a hang-glider with rare Siberian cranes, Vedomosti reported, citing […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, 1 November) The majority of Russians are trying to plan their lives (60 per cent), but mainly over the short term (43 per cent), and 39 per cent of those polled are not inclined to plan for the future, sociologists have found. Among the groups most likely to try to plan for the future are young Russians […]
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(“The Putin Crackdown: First he went after the punk rockers. Then the activists.” – Wall Street Journal Editorial – November 1, 2012 – http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204840504578087152147315198.html) A Wall Street Journal editorial calls for Congresss to pass the Magnitsky Act: Congress should get over its gridlock and pass the Magnitsky Act that bars Russian human-rights offenders from traveling to or banking in the […]
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(Interfax – Novo-Ogarevo, 31 October) Russian President Vladimir Putin does not intend to abandon the format of “direct-line” (live phone-in conversations) and, in addition, is going to resume the practice of holding big traditional news conferences, the president’s press secretary Dmitriy Peskov has said. “There will be no direct line this year. This does not mean, as some mass media […]
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