Tag: Railroads

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin wants new connection between Arctic coast and Indian Ocean; The construction of a railway line to Sabetta is what is needed, the president argues” – The Barents Observer/ Atle Staalesen

Arctic, Central Asia, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Far East, Siberia, APEC, Transportation
Asia Map

“… ‘The idea is to connect the ports on the Northern Sea Route with the ports of the Pacific and Indian Oceans by means of transport arterials through Eastern Siberia, the heartlands of Eurasia,’ … [Putin said to Valdai] conference participants. … [such as] Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, King of Jordan Abdullah II, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Filipinian leader […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Huge crowds greet Putin in Belgrade” – Intellinews/ Valentina Dimitrievska

Balkans, JRL NewsBlog, Kosovo, Serbia
Map of Serbia and Environs, and Broader Map of Europe Highlighting Serbia

“Thousands of people welcomed … Putin … as he arrived for a one-day visit to Serbia to discuss the Kosovo issue and bilateral cooperation. Russia is one of the biggest allies and supporters of Serbia and one of the biggest investors in the country. Most Serbians consider Russia as a brotherly nation with historical, cultural and religious ties. … During […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “The Russian town that might save the world; Torzhok is experiencing a resurgence because of one woman’s activism” – Christian Science Monitor/ Mark Sappenfield

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

“… Before Ms. Sokolova intervened, why had Torzhok been forgotten? The simplest answer is that it had grown mentally stale. … Sokolova’s ideas for new festivals and civic renewal projects were not rocket science. Yet they have begun to push Torzhok into an entirely new orbit, symbolized by restored train service from Moscow and St. Petersburg. …” Click here for: […]

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RUSSIALINK TRANSCRIPT: [Putin at] Meeting with Government members – KremlinRu

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and River

(Kremlin.ru – January 16, 2018) Vladimir Putin held the first meeting with Government members this year. Minister of Transport Maxim Sokolov reported to the meeting participants on passenger air and rail transportation volumes during the New Year holidays and over 2017. Head of the Federal Agency for Tourism Oleg Safonov reported on the growth of domestic, inbound and outbound tourist […]

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Russian Ports and Railways Start to Feel Strain of Giant Harvest

Agriculture, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Transportation, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Black Sea Satellite Photo file image

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Anatoly Medetsky – August 30, 2017) Russia’s massive grains harvest is starting to put a strain on the country’s ability to ship out and store crops. Grains output is set to surpass a Soviet-era record and exports in the season that began in July may be the biggest since the USSR collapsed a quarter of a […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Russia to spend $2.5 bln on Trans-Siberian, Baikal-Amur railroads. Investment is first stage in expanding railroad capacity to increase exports from Far East Russia.” – Asia Times

Budget, Central Asia, Far East, Siberia, APEC, JRL NewsBlog, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Regions, Cities, Municipalities, Transportation
Russia Map

“Russian [sic] has approved US$2.5 billion to expand and modernize the Trans-Siberian and Baikal-Amur railways as part of a larger rail project to boost economic growth and exports from the country’s Far East region that borders the Pacific Ocean. … Putin has given the green light for the government to allocate money from the National Welfare Fund for this stage of […]

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Ukraine plans to stop rail passenger traffic with Russia on July 1 – newspaper

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

MOSCOW. May 25 (Interfax) – Ukraine may halt rail passenger traffic to and from Russia on July 1; the decision is being lobbied by a number of officials whose opinion Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has lately deferred to increasingly more often, the newspaper Kommersant said on Thursday, referencing Kyiv sources with knowledge of the situation. “Kyiv intends to halt rail […]

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TRANSCRIPT: [Putin] Meeting with Government members

Children, Adoptions, Orphans, Disasters, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics, Transportation
Kremlin and River

(Kremlin.ru – March 14, 2017) Vladimir Putin held a meeting with Government members in the Kremlin. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues, We will begin with s number of current issues. The epidemic level seems to be on the decline, but the situation is still serious. Even Mr Medvedev could not stay out of harm’s way, and caught […]

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TRANSCRIPT: [Putin at] Meeting with Government members

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Education, Academia, Far East, Siberia, APEC
Siberian River, Forest, Mountain

(Kremlin.ru – March 16, 2016) Vladimir Putin held a meeting with Government members to discuss measures to develop the Far East, including improvements to the electric power pricing policy, as well as other current issues on the socioeconomic agenda. In particular, the President heard reports from Russian Railways President Oleg Belozerov and Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov about work to improve […]

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Putin Said Ready to Revamp Inner Circle as Ally Yakunin Goes

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and River

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Irina Reznik, Ilya Arkhipov, Olga Tanas – August 18, 2015) Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ready to start replacing long-serving allies in his inner circle after the sudden departure of OAO Russian Railways chief Vladimir Yakunin as head of the country’s largest employer. Putin intends to bring in trusted younger people to shake up his team ahead […]

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Putin May Be Tiring of His Cronies

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – August 18, 2015) Vladimir Yakunin seemed eternal: Nothing he could do appeared to undermine his standing in the system President Vladimir Putin has built to run Russia. Yet now he is leaving the top job at the national railroad monopoly, after 10 years of mismanaging it. Putin may be realizing that tough economic […]

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Head of Russia’s Mighty Rail Monopoly Looks Set to Step Down

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – August 18, 2015) Vladimir Yakunin, one of Russia’s most powerful executives and a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, was nominated as a senator for the upper chamber of the Russian parliament Monday, a position that would oblige him to step down as head of the state rail monopoly Russian Railways (RZD). […]

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NEWSLINK Politico: The whispering train. The last link between Kiev and Moscow.

Newslinks, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

“Suddenly, we are the enemy,” Irina whispers to me from the bottom bunk as our Moscow-bound train pulls into Russian border control at around 3am. A year after war broke out in the Donbass, the Kiev-Moscow train is one of the few remaining passenger rail lines linking Russia and Ukraine. http://www.politico.eu/article/the-whispering-train/

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Two of Russia’s Greatest Misfortunes – Roads and Fools – Once Again Come Together

Far East, Siberia, APEC, Roads, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Map of North Polar Region with Real or Hypothetical Rail Lines Across Eurasia, Bering Strait, North America

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, March 24, 2015) Even though the Russian government currently repairs less than one percent of its horrific roads in many regions, Moscow has announced plans to build a superhighway and rail line extending across the Russian north to the Bering Straits and a tunnel to Alaska, a project in which enormous sums will […]

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Interfax: DPR accuses Ukraine of railroad war in Donbas

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

DONETSK. March 19 (Interfax) – Thirty-five railroad bridges have been blown up in the hostilities in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). “Ukraine continues to wage a railroad war on the DPR. The Yasynuvata-Skotovata railroad is the only stretch connecting the DPR to Ukraine. It has been bombed over 30 times,” DPR Transport Minister Semyon Kuzmenko told reporters on Thursday. […]

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The Train Won’t Stop Here Anymore – the Sad Fate of Russian Regions

Regions, Cities, Municipalities, Transportation
Map of Russia

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, January 1, 2015) Russian Railways announced yesterday that it will end some 220 local train routes this month, effectively cutting off the residents of many rural areas from access to medical and other services available only in oblast capitals. But the corporation insisted that Moscow is not to blame: local governments have […]

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RIA Novosti: China-Russia-US Bering Strait Railroad Plan ‘Feasible’

China, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Polar Map of Major Rail Lines in Russia, Canada and United States, With Hypothetical Additional Route Drawn In Connecting Them Across Bering Strait

WASHINGTON, May 13 (RIA Novosti) – A Chinese plan to build a high-speed rail line connecting China to the United States via Russia and Canada is entirely feasible, but it remains to be seen if the US and Russia can cooperate amid the Ukrainian crisis, US rail expert Hal Cooper told RIA Novosti. Cooper, of the Cooper Consulting Company in […]

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Navalny Proposes Sanctions List to the West

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Alexei Navalny file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Christopher Brennan – March 20, 2014) Opposition leader Alexei Navalny, currently under house arrest in connection with a criminal case against him, has written an op-ed for the New York Times in which he calls for sanctions on officials and businessmen connected to President Vladimir Putin. Saying that previous U.S. and EU sanctions in response […]

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Authorities look to Russia’s air, rail to raise mobility

Aviation, Drones, Transportation
File Photo of Airplane Approaching Runway About to Land

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Nathan Gray – December 5, 2013) While freedom of movement for Russian citizens is enshrined in the Constitution, practical social and economic factors often impede its full implementation. The development of regional air travel, abetted by a series of state subsidy programs and last month’s launch of Aurora, the Far Eastern subsidiary of national carrier […]

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Putin Builds North Korea Rail to Circumvent Suez Canal

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Far East, Siberia, APEC, Middle East, North Africa, North Korea, Transportation
North Korea Map and Flag

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Ekaterina Shatalova and Nicholas Brautlecht – October 15, 2013) Vladimir Putin is inching closer to his goal of turning Russia into a major transit route for trade between eastern Asia and Europe by prying open North Korea, a nuclear-capable dictatorship isolated for half a century. Russia last month completed the first land link that North Korea’s […]

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Back to the 90s – Russia to freeze energy tariffs

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Oil, Gas, Energy, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Blue Flame from Natural Gas

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – September 10, 2013) In the face of persistently high inflation and capital outflows, the Russian government has decided to freeze energy tariffs, which will give the economy a short-term boost, but will also stymie the long-term development of the economy. Times are tough in Russia after economic growth dropped […]

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Proposed Freeze on Utility Prices Seen as Politically Motivated

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Oil, Gas, Energy, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Electrical Yard file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin – September 9, 2013) On the eve of elections, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev gave the government three days to prepare a feasibility study on how a possible freeze on natural monopolies’ prices next year might affect economic growth and business in general. The Cabinet on Friday was ordered to evaluate by Monday the […]

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Russia dreams of creating an alternative to Suez

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Far East, Siberia, APEC, Transportation
Eurasia Map

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Ilya Dashkovsky, special to RBTH – August 26, 2013) Railways across Siberia and the Far East might become alternatives to the sea route. An ambitious program of railway expansion in Russia’s Far East opens up the prospect of creating rapid new trade routes between Asia and Europe. At least $17bn is to be […]

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RIA Novosti: Russian Railways CEO Denies Navalny’s Allegations of Corruption

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Alexei Navalny Being Grabbed by Police at Protest

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, July 19, 2013) The head of one of the world’s largest transport companies, state-owned Russian Railways, this week dismissed as unfounded corruption allegations made against him by opposition protest leader Alexei Navalny, Prime news agency reported. In a blog post earlier in the week, Navalny published details of property and offshore companies that he claims are […]

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Moscow metro to get new circle line

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Aerial View of Moscow From Beyond Stadium, file photo

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Dmitry Romendik, specially for RIR  – July 8, 2013) Two rapid rail links will come up in the Russian capital within the next few years ­ a new subway circular line and a surface, commuter-train circular line. Muscovites who travel on the efficient yet crowded underground will benefit from expansion of the Moscow […]

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Trans-Siberian Railroad Getting New Lease on Life

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Far East, Siberia, APEC, Transportation
Polar Map of Major Rail Lines in Russia, Canada and United States, With Hypothetical Additional Route Drawn In Connecting Them Across Bering Strait

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin – July 5, 2013) David Bowie, Paulo Coelho and Alexander Solzhenitsyn are very different in life and in art, but they have one thing in common. They all traveled on the Trans-Siberian Railroad ­ the iron artery that has brought freight and passengers across the country since it was first completed in 1916. […]

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The End of the Consensual Hallucination

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Vladimir Putin Sitting at Desk

(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 […]

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Long List of Suspects in Yakunin Hoax

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova and Alexander Panin – June 21, 2013) Russian Railways chief Vladimir Yakunin on Thursday attributed rumors of his voluntary resignation to a fight for control over large-scale projects of his company. But experts said Yakunin may have angered regional authorities by receiving huge subsidies for his agency and failing to significantly improve railway […]

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Russian Security Services Hunt Culprits in Railroad CEO Hoax

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Spies, Spy Allegations
Kremlin and St. Basil's

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 20, 2013) ­ The hunt is on to find those behind hoax claims that the CEO of Russia’s railroad monopoly had been dismissed, which caused a flurry of confusion in the Russian media. On Wednesday evening, Russian news outlets received a press statement saying that Vladimir Yakunin had been dismissed as head of Russian Railways […]

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EVENT: Kennan Institute Caucasus Railroads and Pipelines Conference April 2, 9:30AM-2PM

Caucasus, Europe, EU, Events, Georgia, Oil, Gas, Energy
Woodrow Wilson Center Facade file photo

From: “Ariel Cohen” <Ariel.Cohen@heritage.org> Subject: INVITATION: Kennan Institute Caucasus Railroads and Pipelines Conference April 2, 9:30AM-2PM Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2013 Dear Friends: I am honored to invite you to the following event, at which I co-chair a panel. If you do not live in the Washington, D.C. area, our apologies. Feel free to forward to your friends in the […]

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