Tag: Russia

‘Blasphemy Bill’ Signals Return to 18th-Century Morals, Activists Say

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Religion
File Photo of Russian Orthodox Cathedral with Man in Religious Garb in Foreground

(Moscow Times – thesmoscowtimes.com – Alexander Winning – May 17, 2013) Rights activists on Thursday ridiculed the notion that Russia is a secular state, saying draft legislation seeking tougher penalties for offending believers’ feelings shows the country is returning to 18th-century morals. “Officials and religious leaders are leading us back to Peter the Great’s times,” Viktor Bondarenko, founder of rights […]

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60% of Russians wish to bar children from social networks – poll

Children, Adoptions, Orphans, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television
File Image of Stylized Eye Surrounded by Binary Code

(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 16, 2013) Some 57% of Russians polled by the Superjob.ru portal support the idea of banning children younger than 13 from social networks. Another 17% expressed their support but said the age limit should be higher (49% stand for 16 years and 21% for 18). Fourteen percent were against and 12% could not answer the question. […]

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Russians Not Ready To Sponsor First Public Service TV Channel – Poll

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television
File Photo of Russian Television Studio

(RIA Novosti – May 16, 2013) Russian Public TV (OTR) programme director Stanislav Arkhipov has said that the television channel, which is set to launch on 19 May, will concentrate on news but will try to avoid emphasis on “know-it-all Moscow”, Russian RIA Novosti news agency reported on 16 May. According to the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM), 50 per cent […]

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Judicial probe needed into activities of Stalin’s security agencies – rights group

History, Soviet Union, Human Rights
File Photo of Prison in Russia with Wall, Barbed Wire, Guard Tower

(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 16, 2013) A leading Russian human rights group has called for a judicial inquiry into the activities of Stalin-era security services after a high-profile public figure accused a Soviet counterintelligence service that existed during World War II of methods similar to those of Nazi Germany’s security agencies. Leonid Gozman, head of humanitarian projects at state corporation […]

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Russian Economic Ministry expects economic growth slowdown to reverse in Q2

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 16, 2013) The current trend of slowed economic growth in Russia might be reversed this quarter, according to the Russian Economic Development Ministry. “We anticipate that there will be a turning point in negative trends already in the second quarter and that economic growth will surpass 3% in the second half of the year,” Economic Development […]

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Russia yet to reverse income inequality trend – Rosstat head

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Cash, Calculator, Pen

(Interfax – BRYANSK, May 16, 2013) 3.4% GDP growth in Russia is good, but there is still income inequality that proves the Russian economy has some flaws, Rosstat head Alexander Surinov told a press conference in Bryansk. “GDP growth rates have shrunk but there is still 3.4% growth. I have been in the statistics business for a long time. 3% […]

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Rosbank Bribery Scandal Highlights Need for Ethics Enforcement

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Empty Boardroom

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – May 17, 2013) A bribery scandal at French lender Societe Generale’s Russian entity Rosbank shows that stricter measures should be implemented by both Western and Russian companies to enforce compliance with their codes of conduct, experts said. The Investigative Committee said Thursday that they have opened a criminal case into Rosbank chief […]

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Russia and the W.T.O.: Equality without Fraternity

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
WTO Logo

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Fedor Kikta, special to RBTH – May 15, 2013) Europe’s auto exporters are irked by Russia’s “scrappage tax” amid mounting environmental pressure. When Russia’s record 18-year-long bid to join the World Trade Organization finally concluded successfully last year, one of the last major stumbling blocks concerned car important tariffs. For the last decade […]

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JRL E-Mail Newsletter Table of Contents :: Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#88 :: 16 May 2013

JRL Tables of Contents, Russian News
Map of Russia

Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#88 :: 16 May 2013 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: www.russialist.org JRL on Facebook: www.facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: http://russialist.org/funding.php POLITICS 1. RIA Novosti: Moscow Weather Sets Another Temperature Record. 2. Interfax: […]

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RIA Novosti: Lavrov Plays Down Reports of New Missile Deliveries to Syria

Syria
File Photo of Bashar al-Assad and Sergei Lavrov

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, May 17, 2013) ­ Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday responded to a New York Times report that Russia has sent advanced antiship cruise missiles to war-torn Syria by saying that Russian arms deliveries do not change the balance of power, are fully legal and take place under existing contracts. Citing unidentified American officials, The […]

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Senior Russian investigations official warns of dangers posed by social media

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Vladimir Markin file photo

(Interfax – Anapa, May 15, 2013) Destructive forces, including foreign ones, use the absence of controls over on-line publications for information wars aimed at undermining people’s trust in the country’s leadership and law-enforcement bodies, official Investigation Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin has said. “Today, social networks and major blog services comprise hundreds of thousands of independent users who are subjected to […]

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Russian analysts: immigrants, guest workers fertile ground for radical Islamism

Race, Ethnic, Extremism, Xenophobia, Religion, Terrorism
Russian Mosque File Photo

(Interfax / Religion – Moscow, May 15, 2013) The head of a Russian policy think tank has argued that immigrants and guest workers who have come to Russia from Muslim republics of the former Soviet Union are potentially a fertile environment for radical Islamist ideas and called for tighter restrictions on immigration and guest labor. “The migrants are hostile toward […]

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Golos vote-monitoring association may be suspended if not registered as foreign agent – official

Human Rights, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 15, 2013) The operations of the Golos association specializing in monitoring elections in Russia may be suspended for half a year if a court recognizes it as a foreign agent but it still refuses to be registered as such, a Justice Ministry official has said. Speaking at a roundtable discussion at the State Duma on Wednesday, […]

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Khodorkovsky, Lebedev unlikely to be released under amnesty for economic crimes – source

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, YUKOS, Khodorkovsky
Mikhail Khodorkovsky file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 15, 2013) Former YUKOS Head Mikhail Khodorkovsky and former Menatep Board Chairman Platon Lebedev are unlikely to be released under amnesty for economic crimes initiated by business ombudsman Boris Titov because the two were sentenced under articles, which are included in the draft being prepared to be submitted to the Russian State Duma. “There will be […]

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Putin Said to Face Rift on Central Bank Role in Economy Plan

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Russian Central Bank file photo

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Evgenia Pismennaya & Olga Tanas – May 16, 2013) Russia’s government is split over empowering the central bank to support the economy as part of efforts to revive growth, leaving President Vladimir Putin to decide, according to an official familiar with the proposals. While the government suggests lowering bank loan rates, slowing utility-price increases and compelling […]

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Russia could join OECD in two years if politics do not get in way, official says

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Foreign Policy, Security, Visas
OECD Logo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 15, 2013) Russia could complete negotiations to join the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in two years if this issue is not politicized, Vladimir Tkachenko, Russia’s representative in talks to join the organization, said in an interview with Interfax. “If we’re talking about a timeframe, then technically all work could in principle be finished […]

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Russian PM against revising international laws; praises European integration

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Europe, EU, Foreign Policy, Security, Visas
Dmitry Medvedev file photo

(Interfax – May 15, 2013) Russian Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev believes that the basic principles of international law must not be revised even in the face of global crises, Russian Interfax news agency reported on 15 May. Speaking at the International Legal Forum in St Petersburg on the same day, Medvedev admitted that “many things that seem unshakable to us […]

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Kremlin: Obama’s desire for closer cooperation with Russia unknown in lower tiers of government

United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Vladimir Putin Leaning Towards Barack Hussein Obama With Flags Behind Them

(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 15, 2013) A Kremlin aide has claimed that proposals by U.S. President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, for cooperation between American and Russian intelligence services “haven’t been brought down to the executive level” by the White House. “These impulses, these signals from above somehow haven’t been brought down to the executive level on […]

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Obama proposes exchanging info on missile defense in letter to Putin – newspaper

Nuclear, Missile Defense, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Missile Defense Control Room file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 15, 2013) In a letter handed to Russian President Vladimir Putin a month ago, U.S. President Barack Obama proposed concluding a legally-binding agreement on exchanging information related to missile defense to guarantee the absence of a mutual threat, Kommersant reported on Wednesday. Obama proposed “developing a legally-binding agreement on transparency, which would include exchange of information […]

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Interfax: Georgia intends to return lost territories peacefully – Ivanishvili

Georgia
Map of Georgia

(Interfax – TBILISI, May 15, 2013) Georgia will do everything to restore relations with “the big neighbor”, Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili said in an interview with Euronews TV company reported partially by local mass media outlets on Wednesday. “The current state of the relations between Georgia and Russia is not in anybody’s interests. Georgia lost 20% of its territory […]

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Russia: No NGOs Have Registered As ‘Foreign Agents’

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and St. Basil's

(RIA Novosti – May 15, 2013) None of the NGOs financed from abroad and involved in political activities have fulfilled their obligations under the law that requires them to register as “foreign agents”, RIA Novosti new agency quoted the deputy director of the Justice Ministry’s department for NGO issues, Tatyana Vagina, as saying in the State Duma on 15 May. […]

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Putin’s Regime Resembles Brezhnev’s but Russian Society isn’t Soviet Anymore, Gudkov Says

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Vladimir Putin Sitting at Desk

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, May 16, 2013) The way in which media controlled by the Russian government have played up the recent spy case makes one feel that the country has “returned to the 1980s model of the USSR,” an Russian opposition figure says, but the briefest of reflections leads to the conclusion that the regime […]

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Most Russian Regions to Opt for Governor Polls – Putin

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
Arm and Torso of Person in Brown Sweater Placing Paper Ballot into Ballot Box

(RIA Novosti – BOCHAROV RUCHEI (Sochi), May 16, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that the majority of Russian regions is likely to choose their leaders by direct popular vote. The return of direct gubernatorial elections, scrapped in 2005, was signed into law last year in the aftermath of a wave of anti-Kremlin protests. Earlier this year, Putin […]

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Sacred beliefs: The painful legacy of WWII is made up of questions that cannot be answered

History, Soviet Union
Battle of Stalingrad file photo

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Anna Arutunyan – May 13, 2013) Anna Arutunyan is a correspondent and editor at themoscownews.com The tanks and the Topol-M missile had all passed, the booming, Soviet-era voice of the announcer was quiet, the 11,000 uniformed servicemen were at ease, and the little boy standing on the curb of the Red Square suddenly spoke up. […]

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Putin Gets Helicopter Landing Pad at Kremlin

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Vladimir Putin file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – May 16, 2013) President Vladimir Putin will soon start arriving at the Kremlin by helicopter in an attempt to appease drivers who blame his motorcade for creating traffic jams. Builders have completed construction of a landing pad for Mi-8 helicopters on the Kremlin grounds, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists Thursday. Asked […]

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Independent pollster reports falls in Putin, government, ruling party ratings

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

(Interfax – May 15, 2013) A poll conducted by Russia’s leading independent polling organization, the Levada Centre, has revealed a drop in the approval ratings of President Vladimir Putin, the federal government and the ruling One Russia (United Russia) party, privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax reported on 15 May. The results of the poll, conducted between 19 and 23 April […]

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Moscow Weather Sets Another Temperature Record

Environment
Kremlin and Moscow Environs Aerial View

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, May 15, 2013) ­ The spring weather in Moscow broke the temperature record for the second day running on Wednesday, hitting 28.8 degrees Celsius (83.8 degrees Fahrenheit), Meteonovosti weather website reported on Wednesday. “For the second day in a row, Moscow has set a record high. The previous maximum temperature for May 15, registered in 1946, […]

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Russia moving away from totalitarianism but destination dim – minister

History, Soviet Union, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and St. Basil's

MOSCOW. March 25 (Interfax) – Russia is moving away from its totalitarian past but it is unclear what kind of political system it is heading for, the justice minister has argued. “It needs to be realized that we are getting through an inevitable period of transition from a totalitarian society to another form of society. At the moment, it’s hard […]

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Will Russia pivot East or West?

Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Russia & the West
Eurasia Map

(opendemocracy.net – Jonas Parello-Plesner – January 24, 2013) Jonas is Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. He served as Denmark’s Senior Advisor on China and North East Asia from 2005-2009.   Russia-watchers have long been interested in her place on the international arena. Now, with China at the centre of the growing power game, the question […]

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Russian stock market shows modest results in 2012: Year in Review

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
File Photo of Outdoor Electronic Sign with Russian Exchange Data

MOSCOW. Jan 9 (Interfax) – The Russian stock market gave investors hopes for good profits early on in 2012 but ended up at the rear of global financial flows demonstrating rather modest results. The overall global situation was also certainly far from ideal, but, despite all the European debt troubles, the uncertainty surrounding the U.S. presidential elections and the fiscal […]

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JRL Table of Contents :: Johnson’s Russia List 2012-#224 – 19 December 2012

JRL Tables of Contents
Map of Russia

Johnson’s Russia List 2012-#224 19 December 1012 davidjohnson@starpower.net A World Security Institute Project JRL homepage: www.russialist.org JRL on Facebook: www.facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: http://russialist.org/funding.php Your source for news and analysis since 1996 POLITICS 1. Moscow Times: Kudrin Lashes Out at Medvedev’s Cabinet. 2. ITAR-TASS: Struggle against corruption seems to be easing – analysts. 3. Vedomosti editorial: CORRUPTION […]

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Brezhnev’s Children

History, Soviet Union, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Leonid Brezhnev and Richard Nixon Sitting and Talking, as Nixon Gestures, with Third Man Standing and Leaning Closely Between Them

(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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Russia’s Lavrov Says Relations With USA Improving, Missile Defence Main Obstacle

United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Missile Defense Control Room file photo

(RIA Novosti –  Moscow, 22 October) Relations with the USA have acquired very positive dynamics over the recent years, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced on Monday (22 October). In an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper he noted that “a multi-aspect vector of development has emerged – this is the presidential commission which comprises 21 groups”. Lavrov added that one […]

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Russia Walks Out of Nunn-Lugar Agreement ­- Paper

Nuclear, Missile Defense, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Russian Nuclear Missile on Mobile Launcher Near Woods

MOSCOW, October 10 (RIA Novosti) – Moscow is to abandon participation in a decades-old program with the United States aimed at dismantling weapons of mass destruction, Russian daily Kommersant reported Wednesday. The paper reported sources in the US State Department as saying Russia is no longer interested in the Nunn-Lugar program ­ also known as the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program […]

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Next Mass Protest Postponed Until December – Russian Opposition Activist

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Moscow Winter Protest

(Interfax – Moscow, 19 September): The opposition organizing committee has postponed the next March of Millions event from 20 October until early December, Left Front leader Sergey Udaltsov has said. “The opposition organizing committee decided today to hold the next March of Millions in early December, the (first) anniversary of the start of mass protest,” Udaltsov told Interfax on Wednesday […]

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Europe-Western China Corridor to Become Shortcut Between Europe, Asia-Pacific – Putin

Central Asia, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Map of Russia

PAVLODAR. Sept 19 (Interfax) – Innovations will help make transportation systems more reliable and effective, said Russian President Vladimir Putin. “The introduction of innovations will help significantly enhance the reliability and effectiveness of transportation systems, first of all under the project to build a transportation corridor between Europe and Western China. It will run from St. Petersburg to the border […]

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Bureaucrats Smile in Special Economic Zone

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Cash, Calculator, Pen

By Anatoly Medetsky –  Moscow Times – September 17, 2012 – JRL 2012-165 Even customs officers received praise Monday when foreign investors heaped accolades on the Alabuga special economic zone. In terms of attracted investment, Alabuga, in Tatarstan’s Yelabuga region, is the biggest of the 16 zones in the country where the federal government and regional counterparts have created favorable […]

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Opposition Calls for More Rage in Fight With Kremlin

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Moscow Protest file photo

Moscow Times –  September 17, 2012 – by Jonathan Earle Sending a signal of defiance to President Vladimir Putin, an eclectic crowd of tens of thousands marched peacefully through central Moscow over the weekend, although their numbers appeared smaller than at previous protests. While opposition leaders trumpeted the protest as the largest yet ­ more than 100,000 turned out, they […]

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Michael Launer: “Re: Doing Business in Russia”

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Message Flow Charts file image, adapted from image at asc.army.mil

Date: Sun, 10 Oct 1999 From: “Michael Launer” <mklauner@russtechinc.com> Subject: Re doing business in Russia My wife, Marilyn Young, is a subscriber to The Johnson List. Some time ago she printed out a number of messages regarding the perils of doing business in Russia. The attached message is a response to one of those messages that dealt with interpreters. I […]

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About the JRL

Russian News
Map of Russia

Your source for Russia news and analysis since 1996 The JRL is a project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University‘s Elliott School of International Affairs. Key Staff: David Johnson – davidjohnson@starpower.net Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Johnson’s Russia List “David Johnson: Navigator of Russian Media”, David Johnson interview in The Moscow News; JRL […]

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JRL E-Mail Newsletter

JRL Tables of Contents, Russian News
Map of Russia

Johnson’s Russia List, “the JRL,” has been a favored source of Russia-related information since it was founded by Editor-in-Chief David Johnson in 1996. Like an “Early Bird” focused on Russia and related subjects, the JRL since its beginning has been a voluminous, full-text e-mail newsletter, where its complete content resides. > click here for recent JRL tables of contents > […]

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