MOSCOW. Nov 15 (Interfax) – The Russian Foreign Ministry has expressed surprise about the statements made by some Polish and Baltic countries leaders saying that the NATO training Steadfast Jazz 2013 indicates the allies’ readiness to defend the Eastern European countries from threats from the East. “Is it really appropriate to speak seriously about any threats of attack against NATO […]
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VLADIVOSTOK. Nov 18 (Interfax) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has described the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces’ demand that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must go as a precondition for its participation in the Geneva II conference as unrealistic and going against the Geneva communique. “The opposition, primarily that represented by the National Coalition, said it would […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 15 (Interfax) – The HIV rate is on the rise in Russia, according to a sanitary watchdog, which describes it as an “epidemic.” Between January and September this year more than 54,000 new HIV cases were registered, which was 7.1% up on the same period of 2012, the acting head of the Federal Surveillance Service for Consumer Rights […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Dmitriy Romendik, RBTH – November 16, 2013) As the chair of Russia’s Upper Parliament and a former governor of St. Petersburg, Valentina Matvienko, is more than just the country’s most well-known female politician. To some, she is considered the best female artist among all of Russia’s politicians. Matvienko’s oil paintings have become regulars […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 14 (Interfax) – Russian Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko believes the resources of the Russian Constitution have not been exhausted yet and the issue of changing it should be approached very carefully. “We should treat the Constitution very carefully. We should always remember that this document determines the long-term national development and is far from having exhausted its resources […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 18 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin will give a press conference at noon on December 19, 2013, the Kremlin press service reported on Monday. The venue of the press conference and the admission procedures will be reported later. The accreditation and briefings department of the press service and information department has begun accreditation procedures for the press […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 15 (Interfax) – Two-thirds of Russians (66%) say new terror attacks of the kind that happened in Volgograd in October are possible and 71% fear that their kin or themselves may fall victim to such crimes, Levada Center told Interfax. Fifteen percent gave a negative answer to the question whether a new terror attack was possible, and 19% […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 16 (Interfax) – A positive agenda in Russian-U.S. relations outweighs the difficulties existing in them, U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul said. “Today, those interests and challenges which unite us outweigh those issues which divide us,” McFaul told Interfax on Saturday in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the restoration of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Russia. […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 15 (Interfax) – The absence of definitely positive relations between Russia and the United States does not obstruct their active cooperation in the resolution of international crises, Council on Foreign and Defense Policy (CFDP) Chairman Fyodor Lukyanov said. “The absence of positive relations between the two countries does not stop them from doing active work on the Syrian, […]
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MOSCOW, November 18 (RIA Novosti) Russia and Ukraine have reached a compromise deal allowing Kiev to alter its payment schedule for Russian natural gas imports, Ukrainian Energy Minister Eduard Stavytsky said Monday. The new agreement will allow Kiev to pay on time for energy deliveries, honoring its commitments to both Russian state-owned gas giant Gazprom and European consumers, Stavytsky […]
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TBILISI. Nov 17 (Interfax) – U.S. President Barack Obama has sent a message to Georgian president elect Giorgi Margvelashvili on his inauguration due in a few hours. “On behalf of the American people, I congratulate the people of Georgia as they celebrate the inauguration of a new President and mark the first time a presidential transition has taken place as […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 16 (Interfax) – The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office has dropped its charges against the Foundation for the Development of the Center for the Elaboration and Commercialization of New Technologies (Skolkovo Foundation) after the latter corrected the violations uncovered earlier, the Prosecutor General’s Office said on Saturday. “The management of the non-profit organization Foundation for the Development of the […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 15 (Interfax) – A prominent Russian human rights group has called for repealing the law on “foreign agents,” Russia-based nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that receive funding from abroad and pursue political activities. “This law cannot be amended. No amendment, not even one having the best of intentions behind it, would affect its essential concept but would serve to further […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Oleg Sukhov – November 18, 2013) Opposition politician Alexei Navalny formally joined the People’s Alliance party and was elected its leader on Sunday when it held its founding congress. The congress, which was attended by 111 delegates from 48 regions, marked the party’s third attempt to be registered. The People’s Alliance held previous founding congresses […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, November 18, 2013) The Moscow media are full of stories that President Vladimir Putin plans to propose changes in the 1993 Russian Constitution in a message to the Federal Assembly on December 12 and will announce the establishment of a special 90-person Presidential council to consider and draft revisions. But some Russian […]
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MOSCOW, November 18 (RIA Novosti) Russia ranked 53rd out of 58 countries in a new ranking of efforts to prevent climate change. Russia lost two slots from last year in the Climate Change Performance Index, presented Monday at a climate conference in Warsaw by the Bohn-based NGO Germanwatch. The first three slots in this year’s rating were left unoccupied […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 13 (Interfax) – One of the reasons why Russia has banned U.S. citizens from adopting Russian children is the demographic issue, Russian children’s rights commissioner Pavel Astakhov said. “We have a demographic forecast: the infant population in Russia will be about 22 million by 2025. And the United States will have 105 [million] by 2025. Is there a […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#207:: 18 November 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: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 14 (Interfax) – Russians give “three and a half” out of five to the relations between Moscow and Berlin and think that the development of Russian-German economic cooperation could contribute to enhancing those ties, sociologists said. The majority of Russian citizens (92%) have never been to Germany but many (57%) would like to go, the All-Russian Public Opinion […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 14 (Interfax) – The World Russian People’s Congress believes the recent incident near the Russian Embassy in Warsaw is a result of Russophobia, which is cultivated in some groups of Polish society. “The main reason for these outrageous actions is the constant fuelling of hate for Russia and the Russian people in some parts of Polish society,” the […]
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(Interfax – November 15, 2013) Moscow has called outrageous the U.S. senators’ demand that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) review its opinion on the Russian law banning homosexuality propaganda amongst minors. “We have paid attention to the letter sent by eleven U.S. senators to the International Olympic Committee president and their demand to review the official opinion of the IOC […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 14 (Interfax) – Russia did not violate international law by imposing a ban on propaganda of homosexual relations among minors, Russian presidential children’s rights envoy Pavel Astakhov says. “Propaganda of homosexuality among children violates commonly accepted principles and norms of international law,” the envoy’s press service quoted him as saying at the international parliamentary forum on ‘Constitution. Democracy. […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 14 (Interfax) – The parameters of 40 Russian government programs approved in 2012-2013 are inconsistent with the budget plan for 2014-2016, the chairman of the Audit Chamber, Tatyana Golikova said in an interview published by Rossiyskaya Gazeta on Thursday. “This refers to 40 state programs approved by the government in 2012-2013, which were laid at the foundation of […]
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(Kremlin.ru – Novo-Ogaryovo, Moscow Region – November 14, 2013) Vladimir Putin chaired a meeting of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI) Supervisory Board. Meeting participants discussed the creation of a good investment climate and the evaluation of new ASI-supported projects. PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Good afternoon, colleagues, Today we are holding our final meeting this year. So I would […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Robert Coalson – November 15, 2013) “Ukraine at the Rubicon.” “Kyiv at a geopolitical crossroads.” “The battle for Ukraine.” The headlines have been dire and the expectations high as the clock ticks down to the European Union’s Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius at the end of this month. With less than two weeks to go, the […]
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MOSCOW, November 15 (RIA Novosti) Ukrainian national fuel company Naftogaz has resumed natural gas supplies from Russia, the chief executive of Russian energy giant Gazprom said Friday. “Naftogaz has stopped pumping gas out of its underground storage facilities and resumed purchases of Russian gas in accordance with the current contract,” Alexei Miller told reporters. Ukraine had halted Russian gas […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 14 (Interfax) – Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, one of the convicted performers of the feminist punk group Pussy Riot, has arrived at a penal colony in Russia’s Krasnoyarsk Territory, a spokesman for the local branch of the Federal Penitentiary Institutions Service (FSIN) told Interfax on Thursday. Her family will be informed of that in due course, he said. “Tolokonnikova’s case […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Vladimir Goryachev – November 15, 2013) The head of Moscow State University on Thursday vigorously denied an allegation by a group of academics that Russia’s leading institution of higher education is planning mass dismissals, calling the accusation “completely false information.” A group of employees from Moscow State University, or MGU, has begun collecting signatures in […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 14 (Interfax) – Former Russian finance minister Alexei Kudrin, today head of the Civil Initiatives Committee, has slammed as a “major backward step” a draft law to bring back the practice where law enforcement agencies could bypass tax authorities in prosecuting suspected tax crimes. “I support those who don’t consider it correct to empower law enforcement authorities to […]
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ST. PETERSBURG. Nov 14 (Interfax) – The Russian constitution is still up-to-date and does not need any alterations, constitution co-author, merited lawyer of Russia Sergei Shakhrai declared. “The constitution of 1993 is 20 years old, which means this fundamental document is still up-to-date and has creative potential,” he told the audience at a conference, “Modern Constitutionalism. Conclusions and Prospects”, in […]
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ST. PETERSBURG. Nov 14 (Interfax) – The 20-year-old Russian constitution has commendably withstood the test of time, Russian Constitutional Court Chairman Valery Zorkin said. “The constitution has been tested during this drastic historic turn in the country’s life,” he told the audience at a conference, “Modern Constitutionalism. Conclusions and Prospects”, in St. Petersburg on Thursday. “It [the constitution] prevented the […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Delphine d’Amora – November 15, 2013) President Vladimir Putin has reprimanded officials for discussing government issues in the mass media and suggested that those who oppose government policy had better leave their posts. The president was speaking Thursday at a meeting of the Strategic Initiatives Advisory Board when he was asked about a contentious bill […]
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NOVO-OGARYOVO, near Moscow. Nov 14 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned it is unacceptable for senior government figures to discuss a planned decision with the media before it has been discussed in government. At a meeting of the supervisory board of the Strategic Initiatives Agency on Thursday, the president of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sergei […]
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NOVOSIBIRSK. Nov 14 (Interfax) – Colonization of asteroids is one of the most promising areas of space exploration, Khrunichev Research Center head Sergei Antonenko said. “About 10,000 asteroids are circling around the Earth and the asteroid belt consists of approximately 2 million bodies. Their total size is three times large than that of the Earth,” he said at the Technoprom-2013 […]
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NOVO-OGARYOVO, November 15 (RIA Novosti) Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to fight corrupt officials regardless of their rank or any other factors that may hinder the effort. “We will in the most serious way … continue eradicating this infection regardless of position or party membership,” Putin said at a meeting of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, which is tasked […]
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MOSCOW, November 15 (RIA Novosti) Russians now face fines for smoking in public places, including near metro stations and airports, under new amendments to a broad anti-tobacco law that came into force Friday. Smoking within 15 meters (50 feet) of entrances to the metro, train stations and airports, as well as near hospitals, schools and playgrounds, is now punishable […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 14 (Interfax) – The protest potential of Russian citizens dropped considerably in the past eight years and they are more eager to participate in large-scale demonstrations against falling living standards than in those advocating political issues, a poll showed. In 2005 a total of 23% were ready to engage in protest rallies, while only 17% are ready now, […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 14 (Interfax) – Public accord in Russia is attainable and its legal grounds are the basis of the Russian Constitution, which has considerable potential for legal reforms, Russian Constitution Court Chairman Valery Zorkin said. A number of research publications emerged in the field of Russian social science in the recent years and they allow that Russia has a […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#206:: 15 November 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: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Anna Kuchma, RBTH – November 14, 2013) The Russian Ministry of Economic Development (MED) has lowered its forecasted growth rate for the country’s development through 2030. Experts caution that the new projection is conservative and describes the most negative Decreasing real oil prices and oil production output will cause Russia’s economic growth during […]
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(Pravda.ru – Anton Kulikov – November 12, 2013) The Russian State Duma deputies proposed an introduction of the “Separatist Propaganda” article in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and establishing a prison sentence of three to six years for said propaganda. So far this is only a draft bill, and its future is unclear. The document was proposed for […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – November 14, 2013) A group of academics from Moscow State University has begun collecting signatures in support of an open letter it wrote asking President Vladimir Putin to halt mass dismissals at Russia’s leading university. The letter, published on the University Solidarity website, says that the university’s administration has not received budget funds to raise […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Anna Arutunyan – November 14, 2013) On November 2, President Vladimir Putin signed a controversial law changing Russia’s anti-terrorism legislation, enabling law enforcement authorities to confiscate the property of relatives of anyone who has committed a terror attack. The Moscow News has asked five experts to weigh in on whether the law will work and […]
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ST. PETERSBURG. Nov 14 (Interfax) – Lawyers have met with several Greenpeace Arctic Sunrise activists in a St. Petersburg detention facility, a Greenpeace spokesman told Interfax on Thursday. “The lawyers met with five environmentalists, including Russian citizen Andrei Allakhverdov, who had been placed into the Kresty [detention facility]. The detention facility is basically all right, and the conditions are acceptable. […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, November 13, 2013) Russia’s key non-governmental organizations could change to the voluntary principle of operating because of pressure from the authorities, the head of the oldest human rights organization in Russia, Moscow Helsinki Group, Lyudmila Alekseyeva, told Interfax on Wednesday [13 November]. “It pains me to look how our human rights movement is being destroyed. Not a […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, November 13, 2013) Russian citizens’ protest potential has significantly declined over the last eight years, and their willingness to take part in mass protests against falling living standards is higher than [their willingness to take part in protests] with political demands, sociologists have found. In 2005, the proportion of respondents willing to take part in protests was […]
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(Interfax – November 13, 2013) The head of the Presidential Administration of Russia, Sergey Ivanov, on 13 November addressed a meeting with deputy governors who are in charge of internal policy issues. He criticized the regional and local authorities for not sorting out petty local problems so people have to turn to the federal authorities for help, told regional authorities […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 14 (Interfax) – The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) acknowledges that it has very high inflationary expectations, the bank’s first deputy chief, Ksenia Yudayeva, said during a session of the State Duma committee for economic policy, innovative development, and entrepreneurship on Thursday. “Only just today I had a meeting on this subject. We have quantitative parameters of inflationary […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – November 14, 2013) Did Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych just outfox Russian President Vladimir Putin and make a complete fool out of the entire EU? A string of events over the last week suggest that Yanukovych never had any intention of signing off on the free trade and association agreement at an EU summit in […]
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CAIRO, November 14 (RIA Novosti) Iran tentatively agreed to a US proposal for limiting its nuclear program, but backed out of the deal after last-minute changes in Geneva, Russia’s foreign minister said Thursday. “The version with the amendments was distributed literally at the last moment, when we were about to depart from Geneva,” Sergei Lavrov said, referring to high-level […]
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