(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 Times – themoscowtimes.com – November 12, 2012) President Vladimir Putin will attend a Russia-EU summit next month, his spokesman said Monday, denying a report that Putin might send Minister Dmitry Medvedev in his stead. “This statement in Nezavisimaya Gazeta is incorrect,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to Itar-Tass. Asked whether Putin planned to travel to Brussels to take part […]
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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. Nov 10 (Interfax) – The reform of the Russian police system cannot be considered finished, and further efforts are needed to improve it, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev on Saturday. “The reform of which it has been said so much and which is being carried out perhaps cannot be considered finished. […]
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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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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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(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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(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. 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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(RFE/RL – Robert Coalson – November 7, 2012) A second term does not necessarily mean a repeat of the first. By most accounts, the Kremlin was hoping U.S. President Barack Obama would win a second term. His rival, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, declared during the campaign that Russia is the United States’ leading “geopolitical enemy.” By comparison, Putin sees […]
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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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(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 – Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 9, Issue 202 – Pavel K. Baev – November 5, 2012) The choice that the United States will make tomorrow is certain to have a strong impact on US-Russia relations, but President Vladimir Putin cannot figure out what outcome will suit his interests better. Back in 2004, […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Duane D. Stanford – November 5, 2012) Beam Inc. (BEAM) wants more vodka-imbibing Russians to drink Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark whiskey. Apparently Vladimir Putin didn’t get the memo. In a campaign to help his people live longer, Russia’s president is pushing the biggest crackdown on alcohol since the cold war. That could complicate Beam’s efforts […]
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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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(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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(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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(“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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(Interfax – Moscow, 31 October) According to sociological surveys, Russians support the president, emphasize the need for reforms in the country and believe that there will be improvements in the political and economic life in the near future. Vladimir Putin’s work as president is currently approved of by 67 per cent of those surveyed, a third of citizens (32 per […]
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MOSCOW. Oct 31 (Interfax) – Russians support the country’s president, stress the need for reform and believe that there will be changes for the better in political and economic life in the nearest future, sociological studies indicate. Currently 67% of Russians support the efforts of Vladimir Putin as president while 32% don’t and the rest are undecided, Interfax was told […]
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MOSCOW. Oct 31 (Interfax) – An inquiry into the abduction of Russian opposition figure Leonid Razvozzhayev in Ukraine has begun, Moscow Public Oversight Commission head and Moscow Helsinki Group member Valery Borshchev said. Commission members again visited Razvozzhayev at the Lefortovo detention facility on Wednesday. “A detective has been assigned to investigate the abduction. Razvozzhayev has met with him,” Borshchev […]
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(Prospect of show trial stirs some Russians’ memories of Stalinism; Some Russian activists are drawing parallels between a potential ‘mega-trial’ for leftist leader Sergei Udaltsov and Stalin’s show trials in the 1930s. But the comparison remains controversial. – Christian Science Monitor – By Fred Weir – October 30, 2012 – http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2012/1030/Prospect-of-show-trial-stirs-some-Russians-memories-of-Stalinism) The Christian Science Monitor reports on concerns by some onlookers […]
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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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MOSCOW, October 31 (RIA Novosti)-Russian President Vladimir Putin will this year avoid a live call-in show that has been held annually for the past 10 years, a leading Russian business daily quoted Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying. “There will be no call-in show this year,” Peskov told Kommersant, adding that the president would field questions “in a different format.” […]
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(RIA Novosti – Andrei Zolotov, Jr. – October 26, 2012) If there had been any expectations among Russia watchers of “a new Putin” coming back to the presidential office after the elections, they must have been finally put to rest after the Russian president’s meeting on Thursday with a group of political scientists and economic experts known as the Valdai […]
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(Putin’s Russia: back in the USSR; The president’s crackdown will do nothing to tackle the source of his problems: a corrupt and unreformable system of government – The Guardian (UK) Editorial – October 29, 2012 – http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/28/vladimir-putin-russia-crackdown-protest) The Guardian (UK) in an editorial accuses Russian President Vladimir Putin of orchestrating repression unseen since the Soviet Union, despite his supposed public […]
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(Daniil Kotsyubinsky – opendemocracy.net – Daniil Kotsyubinsky is Russian historian and journalist based in St. Petersburg – October 25, 2012) President Putin’s popularity has been dented by the open opposition of two celebrities, hitherto ardent supporters: Lyudmila Narusova and Kseniya Sobchak, respectively widow and daughter of his former political mentor, Anatolii Sobchak. A real stab in the back and evidence […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Roland Oliphant – October 29, 2012) After six full years of development, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin finally has a car more beautiful than U.S. President Barack Obama’s, the ZiL auto company announced. A ZIL-4112P prototype, with a 7.7 liter engine and six-speed automatic transmission, was unveiled to federal television channels on Sunday just months after […]
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(oilprice.com – Marin Katusa – October 28, 2012) Exxon Mobil is no longer the world’s number-one oil producer. As of yesterday, that title belongs to Putin Oil Corp oh, whoops. I mean the title belongs to Rosneft, Russia’s state-controlled oil company. Rosneft is buying TNK-BP, which is a vertically integrated oil company co-owned by British oil firm BP and […]
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(Kremlin.ru – Novo-Ogaryovo, Moscow Region – October 25, 2012) During his meeting with members of the Valdai International Discussion Club, Vladimir Putin talked about the current state of the Russian economy and scenarios for Russia’s economic development. The ninth annual conference of the Valdai International Discussion Club on The Future Is Being Made Today: Scenarios for Russia’s Economic Development is […]
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(Voice of America – James Brooke – October 24, 2012 – James Brooke is VOA Moscow bureau chief, covering Russia and the former USSR) The conventional wisdom is that the Kremlin would like to see Barack Obama back in the White House next year. Just last month, President Putin told RT, the state-owned TV channel, that Obama was “a genuine […]
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Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2012 From: Peter Lavelle <untimelythoughts.lavelle@gmail.com> Subject: Press Release: October 7 the book “Putin’s New Russia” is available. Press Release: October 7 the book “Putin’s New Russia” is available. [Find text here: http://www.hellevig.net/ebook/Putin%27s%20new%20Russia.pdf] The editors Jon Hellevig and Alexandre Latsa have brought in a host of contributors that have the independence and courage to speak out against […]
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Hand-wringing at dinner with Putin – Financial Times – Neil Buckley – October 25, 2012 – http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ced25a3a-1deb-11e2-901e-00144feabdc0.html The Financial Times examines growing limitations on Russian economic prospects, and the resulting impact on the latest “Valdai Discussion Club” dinner: … the event, and the context, has changed a lot. In Valdai’s early years, Russia was growing at 7 per cent a […]
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Russian Attitudes toward Putin and His System Increasingly Negative since March Vote, Study Finds – Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2012/10/window-on-eurasia-russian-attitudes.html Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ratings are becoming more negative: Since the Russian presidential election in March 2012, Russians have become increasingly negative about Vladimir Putin personally and about his current impact on the country, according to a […]
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From: Lucy Ash <lucy.ash.05@bbc.co.uk> Subject: BBC online stories Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2012 Audio slide show for “Putin’s favourite monastery. The wooded island of Valaam, in a large lake in northern Russia, is a beacon for Russian Orthodox believers – among them President Putin.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20041504
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MOSCOW. Oct 24 (Interfax) – President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Russia’s Cabinet are becoming more popular among Russians, an opinion poll suggests. The Levada Center, a Moscow-based opinion research group, told Interfax on Wednesday that 67% of respondents in a poll this month – compared with 63% in a survey in August – said they approved of […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – October 25, 2012) Russians view the ruling elite as aggressive and predatory and believe that revolution is one of the only realistic ways to change the government, according to a report released Wednesday by an influential think tank. The report, ordered by the Committee of Civic Initiatives, a group of political and […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – October 24 ,2012) It was the first head-to-head clash between the young liberal team in Russia’s cabinet and the old guard Siloviki faction in the presidential administration. On balance, the liberals are seen as having sneaked a win. The battle lines have been drawn since Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev appointed a surprisingly reform-minded […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Matthew Campbell – October 24, 2012) As a small army of advisers from eight investment banks huddled in London last weekend to negotiate Russian state oil company OAO Rosneft (ROSN)’s agreement to acquire BP Plc (BP/)’s Russian venture, the deal’s most important player had already left the country. Igor Sechin, 52, a former Soviet spy and […]
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Russia’s Putin sacks member of Medvedev’s cabinet – Reuters – Gleb Bryanski – October 17, 2012 – http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/17/russia-putin-government-idUSL5E8LH6ZB20121017 Reuters covers a move by Russian President Vladimir Putin to remove a member of Dmitry Medvedev’s cabinet: Putin signed a decree dismissing Regional Development Minister Oleg Govorun, one of two ministers he had publicly criticised last month, and replacing him with Igor […]
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“After Nosediving In 2011 Vladimir Putin’s Approval Rating is (Mostly) Holding Steady” – Forbes – Mark Adomanis – http://www.forbes.com/sites/markadomanis/2012/10/17/after-nosediving-in-2011-vladimir-putins-approval-rating-is-mostly-holding-steady/ Forbes.com looks at polls on Russian President Vladimir Putin: Now as you can see from the graph Putin is, at the end of 2012, arguably weaker than he’s ever been. It’s true that he’s previously been in the same territory in […]
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