(Business New Europe – bne.eu – MOSCOW BLOG – July 9, 2013) The Russian government has just approved the next three-year budget that runs to 2016 that has cut spending on education and health in favour of boosting it on reequipping the armed forces. Relations between Russia and the west are probably at their lowest ebb since the fall of […]
» Read more
(Interfax – KAZAN, Russia, July 8, 2013) The U.S. ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, has promised to do his best to satisfy a request from Russian human rights group Agora that the human rights situation in Russia be put on the agenda of the planned Russian-American summit this autumn, Agora’s leader said. “The proposal was raised during our meeting with […]
» Read more
(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, July 4, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated his US counterpart Barack Obama on Independence Day and expressed hope that the two states will eventually overcome their differences and find solutions to many bilateral issues. In his congratulatory telegram, Vladimir Putin noted that Russia and the United States bear a special responsibility for guaranteeing global security […]
» Read more
(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 5, 2013) The development of Russia’s armed forces should not deprive the national economy and public sector of financial resources, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. “The defense programs should be reasonable and should not be a heavy burden on the country’s economy and public sector,” Putin said at a Russian Security Council meeting dealing with the […]
» Read more
(Interfax – NOVO-OGARYOVO, near Moscow, July 4, 2013) President Vladimir Putin on Thursday insisted on urgent measures to restart Russia’s stalled economic growth. “Let me stress that the situation in the economy is such that we can’t wait, and spending time on the constant coordination of positions between agencies is also counterproductive. We should act, move forward, make balanced systemic […]
» Read more
(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, July 3, 2013) All Moscow airports must disclose their beneficiary owners as part of a plan to create a unified aviation hub for the capital, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday, in a move that appears to put pressure on Domodedovo airport whose beneficiary owners have refused to reveal themselves. “It is essential that all […]
» Read more
(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 3, 2013) Bureaucrats should not have the right to appoint directors of academic institutes, President Vladimir Putin said. “I would like to call your attention to a key provision of this draft law [reforming the Academy], i.e. the establishment of an agency managing Academy assets and essentially performing one of its main functions – the appointment […]
» Read more
(Interfax – Moscow, July 1, 2013) The presidential council for human rights (CHR), having examined the situation with the eviction of members of the movement For Human Rights from their office, has urged the head of state to take measures to protect non-commercial organizations (NGOs) in cases of this kind. “Considering this conflict in the general context of current tasks […]
» Read more
(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Natalia Antonova, Acting Editor-in-Chief – July 1, 2013) New laws are being adopted at a breakneck pace in Russia – almost as if some sort of legal Apocalypse will soon be upon us, and lawmakers are afraid that they are running out of time. One of the newest bills just signed into law by President […]
» Read more
(Moscow News – Anna Arutunyan, Editor and Correspondent at themoscownews.com – July 1, 2013) This article contains information not suitable for readers younger than 18 years of age, according to Russian legislation. I have a very good friend who is convinced that being gay is a curable disease. Or, at least, he was convinced, until we spoke about it. During […]
» Read more
(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 2, 2013) Abandoning the basic principles used to draw up long-term gas contracts will in the final analysis undermine the energy security of gas importing countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) summit in Moscow on Monday. He told delegates at the organization’s second meeting that the application of new […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 1, 2013) President Vladimir Putin has signed the so-called “blasphemy bill” and the “gay propaganda bill” two pieces of legislation that have outraged the liberal opposition. Both bills were passed unanimously by the State Duma on June 11, 2013, and their full texts appeared on the Kremlin’s site Sunday. The blasphemy law will […]
» Read more
(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 28, 2013) The ratings of Russian leaders remained stable in the first half of 2013, sociologists say. A total of 63% respondents gave positive evaluation to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s work in June and 36% said they trusted Putin, Levada Center told Interfax on Friday on the results of the all-Russia survey. The trust rating of […]
» Read more
(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 29, 2013) Prominent French actor Gerard Depardieu, who recently became a citizen of Russia, believes Russia needs such a leader as President Vladimir Putin. “Putin and I are friends. He is a very strong personality, and Russia needs exactly such kind of leader now,” Depardieu said at a press conference on Saturday following the press screening […]
» Read more
(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Robert Coalson – July 1, 2013) It’s not a great time to be a freethinker in Russia. Offending somebody’s religious sensibilities could get you prosecuted according to legislation signed this weekend by President Vladimir Putin. Criticizing the wrong person with a snarky comment on a social network could run afoul of a vaguely worded law criminalizing […]
» Read more
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Marina Obrazkova, special to RBTH – June 26, 2013) The Russian president’s unexpected initiative may set back preparation of the law. The economic amnesty decree is almost ready, according to members of the lower house of Russia’s Federal Assembly. The State Duma deputies hope to get the bill passed by July 5. Yet, […]
» Read more
(Kremlin.ru – June 22, 2013) Text of report “XI World Congress of Perinatal Medicine, 22 June 2013, Moscow” published in English by Russian presidential website on 25 June Vladimir Putin spoke at the XI World Congress of Perinatal Medicine being held in Moscow. The congress is taking place in Russia for the first time. Around 2,500 delegates are attending the […]
» Read more
(Kremlin.ru – June 21, 2013) Text of report “Answers to questions from St Petersburg International Economic Forum participants, 21 June 2013, St Petersburg” published in English by Russian presidential website on 24 June; subheadings added editorially: Russia’s priorities in G20 MODERATOR (retranslated): Mr President, the St Petersburg International Economic Forum is being held in your hometown. I would like to […]
» Read more
(Stratfor.com – June 24, 2013 – “Russia After Putin: Inherent Leadership Struggles is republished with permission of Stratfor.”) Editor’s Note: This is the first part of a three-part series on Russia’s leadership after President Vladimir Putin eventually leaves office. Part 1 revisits Putin’s rise to power; Part 2 will examine Russia’s demographics, energy sector and Putin’s political changes; and Part […]
» Read more
(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Brian Whitmore – June 24, 2013) A lot of things that people say never happened before suddenly seem to be happening. When news agencies incorrectly reported — based on a forged government press release — that President Vladimir Putin had sacked his longtime ally, Russian Railways chief Vladimir Yakunin last week, some analysts called the incident […]
» Read more
(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 25, 2013) The economic amnesty will apply to persons first indicted or convicted of economic crimes. They will be released from custody and their criminal cases probed by investigative authorities and courts will be closed. The rule is established by draft resolutions of the State Duma on the economic amnesty and regulations for the fulfillment of […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – June 24, 2013) President Vladimir Putin’s announcement of his initiative to combine the Supreme Court and the Supreme Arbitration Court into a single body has been met with suspicion that such a move would deepen current problems within the judicial system. “In order to introduce unified judicial procedures for individuals, organizations, state […]
» Read more
(Interfax – ST. PETERSBURG, June 21, 2013) President Vladimir Putin harshly criticized the Cabinet’s road maps to the implementation of his decrees of May 7, 2012, but “has repeatedly made quite high assessments” of the Cabinet’s overall performance, said the president’s chief of staff. “The president has repeatedly made quite high assessments of the performance of the government. He criticized […]
» Read more
(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 22, 2013) Russia will get confronted with serious after-effects of the demographic crisis of the 1990s, said President Vladimir Putin. “Our country plunged into a deep demographic crisis in the 1990s. We have not yet felt the upshots of that crisis, but they will manifest themselves in the economy, social sphere and industrial development,” Putin told […]
» Read more
(Kremlin.ru – St. Petersburg – June 21, 2013) Vladimir Putin and Federal Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel took part in the St Petersburg International Economic Forum’s plenary session. In his address to the plenary session, Mr Putin outlined the global economy’s main problems today, looked at the issues on the G20 agenda under the Russian presidency, and noted Russia’s efforts […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – June 21, 2013) Vladimir Putin took the stage to speak at last year’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum as president for a third time, having been inaugurated a month before, but facing perhaps the fiercest political opposition in his 12 years as Russia’s top leader. Despite the ongoing street protests, Putin focused […]
» Read more
(Kremlin.ru – St Petersburg, June 20, 2013) The meeting took place on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. Excerpts from transcript of meeting with the Business G20 PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Ladies and gentlemen, It’s very good to see you all. I am happy to welcome the B20 participants to St Petersburg, on the first day […]
» Read more
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Artem Zagorodnov, RBTH – June 21, 2013) Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined several radically liberal economic reforms. In a move equally symbolic and practically important, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that a much-touted amnesty for businesspeople had been approved by his office and will be […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle – June 19, 2013) Russia and the United States have a signed a bilateral agreement for protecting, controlling, and accounting for nuclear materials, continuing important aspects of a now-defunct program that was seen as a cornerstone of post-Soviet cooperation between the former foes. President Barack Obama hailed the deal as an example of […]
» Read more
(Interfax – June 18, 2013) Russia’s United Popular Front (ONF) supports the idea of economic amnesty. “We support amnesty for businessmen on economic counts,” Alexander Galushka, co-chairman of the ONF’s central staff and co-chairman of the Business Russia organization said at a press conference at Interfax on Tuesday. “The presumption of guilt” for businessmen must be scrapped and this chapter […]
» Read more
(Moscow News – Anna Arutunyan, editor and correspondent at themoscownews.com – June 17, 2013) Remember the season finale of “Game of Thrones,” when Daenerys Targaryen liberates thousands of slaves, and then tells them that she didn’t give them their freedom because it’s not hers to give? The people are so struck by her gesture that they physically rally around her, reaching […]
» Read more
(Alexey Eremenko, RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 18, 2013) Last week President Vladimir Putin took the helm of a quasi-political movement officially meant to help ordinary Russians inform the Kremlin of problems that need solving. But analysts remained skeptical about the organization’s stated aims, wondering why genuine feedback from society should have to go through the president’s office. More […]
» Read more
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Yulia Ponomareva, RBTH – June 18, 2013) Vladimir Putin welcomes wary supporters of United Russia to the Russian Popular Front. The pro-Kremlin United Russia party has been taking blow after a blow to its reputation, as several of its high-ranking members have been accused of plagiarizing their postgraduate degree theses; others have been […]
» Read more
(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, June 17, 2013) Siberia and the Russian Far East are supposed to come up with the money to pay for Vladimir Putin’s promise to develop those regions, an arrangement officials say that in the absence of new revenues they will not be able to do and that is undermining support for Moscow […]
» Read more
(Institute of Modern Russia – imrussia.org – Donald N. Jensen – June 13, 2013) The fundamental driver of Russian elite politics is the clan: a network of personal contacts that cuts across facile divisions between “state” and “oligarchs,” liberals” and “conservatives,” and “reformers” and “siloviki.” According to Donald N. Jensen, Resident Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at the […]
» Read more
(Interfax – June 17, 2013) Analysts believe that the leaders of Russia and the United States at their bilateral meeting in the framework of the G8 summit in Northern Ireland are likely to pay most of their attention to the Syrian conflict and preparations for the Geneva conference on Syria. “I believe with a probability of 60 percent or even […]
» Read more
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Natalia Bespalova, special to RBTH – June 14, 2013) Russia is witnessing the revival of Rodina, whose members consider themselves Putin’s “black-ops”. In early June, the conservative party Rodina, whose unofficial leader heads the national defense industry, held a congress at a location outside Moscow. Disbanded in 2006, the party is today enjoying […]
» Read more
(kremlin.ru – Novo-Ogaryovo, Moscow Region – June 14, 2013) Vladimir Putin met with representatives of the Civil 20, an international forum for dialogue between civil society organisations, politicians and experts from the G20 countries. Taking part in the meeting were delegates to the Civil 20 summit, taking place in Moscow on June 13-14, from Russia, Mexico, and Australia, the three […]
» Read more
(Kremlin.ru – June 14, 2013) Ahead of the G8 summit in Great Britain and the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Vladimir Putin answered questions from Russian News & Information Agency. QUESTION: You are going to the G8 summit not only as the head of one of the member states, but also as the leader of the country that currently […]
» Read more
(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 14, 2013) President Vladimir Putin on Thursday described the main difference he sees between social welfare in Russia and in European countries, which he criticized for losing control of their economies and allowing the rise of a “dependency mentality,” according to an interview with RIA Novosti. Europe’s problem is not the welfare state as […]
» Read more
(Kremlin.ru – The Kremlin, Moscow – June 13, 2013) Vladimir Putin announced the signing of the 2014-2016 Budget Policy Address at a meeting with members of the Government Cabinet, heads of both houses of the Federal Assembly and the Presidential Executive Office. The address outlines the basic budget policy objectives over the next three years. The Government will use the […]
» Read more
(RIA Novosti – NOVO-OGARYOVO, June 14, 2013) Russian legislation regarding non-governmental organizations is far more liberal that of other countries, President Vladimir Putin said Friday, in an implicit response to Western criticism that recent Russian legislation on NGOs is too restrictive. “Our legislation is more liberal,” he said in Moscow at a meeting of the Civil 20, the arm […]
» Read more
(Kremlin.ru – Moscow, June 12, 2013) Vladimir Putin took part in the founding congress of the Russian Popular Front. The congress’s delegates adopted the founding documents, including the Russian Popular Front Charter, which enshrines the movement’s post-partisan nature. The delegates elected Mr Putin to be the movement’s leader. Speech at founding congress of Russian Popular Front PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – June 13, 2013) When it came time to elect a leader at Wednesday’s conference of the All-Russia People’s Front, there was no need for formalities: The ecstatic crowd was already chanting “Putin, Putin, Putin!” “So are we going to vote? Are there any other nominees? Vladimir Vladimirovich, I congratulate and sympathize with […]
» Read more
(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 12, 2013) Amid growing competition in the world in all fields, from art to the defense industry, Russian researchers and scientists should not expect stress-free work, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a ceremony of presenting state awards at the Kremlin on Wednesday. “I will venture to follow up on what today’s laureates have said here […]
» Read more
(Kremlin.ru – Moscow, June 11, 2013) Vladimir Putin visited the new Russia Today broadcasting centre and met with the channel’s leadership and correspondents. The President toured the production control room, the sound editing booth, the English, Spanish and Arabic desks, and a visual effects studio. Russia Today is a Russian international multilingual media company, which comprises five 24-hour television channels: […]
» Read more
(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 11, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin says he expects the government to take extra measures to stimulate the national economy in the near future, but Russia is not going to start a currency emission process. “I hope the Russian government, after our numerous meetings, will propose extra steps to stimulate economic development,” Putin said while taking […]
» Read more
(Interfax – June 11, 2013) Russia needs a more flexible immigration policy to make it possible to attract the specialists the country requires, President Vladimir Putin has said. He was speaking during a visit to state-owned international TV channel RT (formerly known as Russia Today) in Moscow on the same day, as reported by the Russian media that day. “On […]
» Read more
(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 12, 2013) A revived pro-Kremlin movement that aims to unite civic activists loyal to the government announced at its official founding congress on Wednesday that President Vladimir Putin will become its leader. In his speech, Putin thanked the members of the All-Russia People’s Front (ONF), which has been renamed by the congress as People’s […]
» Read more
(Interfax – June 11, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that he and his wife Lyudmila Putina never married in church and that their decision to divorce was a mutual one, privately-owned Interfax news agency reported on 11 June. “We never married in church,” Putin said at a meeting with staff from the RT TV channel (formerly Russia Today). […]
» Read more