NEWSLINK Wall Street Journal: U.S. Business Consultant Jailed in Russia
Scott Blacklin has been held in Nizhny Novgorod since May 20, for alleged visa violation
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NEWSLINK Reuters: Economy weighs on Russia World Cup plans amid FIFA scandal
President Vladimir Putin is still likely to host the World Cup in 2018 despite an FBI investigation into Russia’s winning bid but his hopes of staging a tournament that impresses his critics are fading.
» Read moreInterfax: OSCE SMM publishes special report on Wednesday fighting near Maryinka
KYIV. June 4 (Interfax) – The Special Monitoring Mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE/SMM) has published a separate report concerning the fighting that erupted near the town of Maryinka in the Donetsk region on Wednesday morning. Between 10:00 p.m. on June 2 and 5:30 a.m. on June 3, SMM observers working in the area controlled […]
» Read moreRussians against Kremlin spending money on Crimea or World Cup
(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Henry Kirby in London – June 4, 2015) [Charts here http://www.bne.eu/content/story/bnechart-russians-against-kremlin-spending-money-crimea-or-world-cup] An overwhelming majority of Russians are against state money for health and education being redirected toward other areas of the economy, according to a recent poll by the Levada Center. In the wake of announcements that Russia’s revised 2015 budget will increase defence […]
» Read moreMore and more Russians slipping below poverty line as recession bites
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Yekaterina Sinelschikova, RBTH – June 4, 2015) As sanctions continue to take their toll on Russia’s faltering economy and salaries shrink in real terms, an increasing number of Russians are finding themselves unable to make ends meet. Data published by Russia’s state statistics bureau Rosstat indicates that 11 percent of Russians were living […]
» Read moreRussian economy in “full-blown crisis” – ex-finance minister
(RIA Novosti – June 3, 2015) Speaking at the Russian Federation Council in Moscow, ex-Finance Minister Aleksey Kudrin has once again criticized overblown defence spending that squeezes the funds out of other areas of Russia’s economy. A large part of the budget deficit that the country is faced with today comes “not from decreased government earning but from the need […]
» Read moreRUSSIA & UKRAINE: Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#109 :: Wednesday 3 June 2015
Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#109 Wednesday 3 June 2015 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Support for JRL is provided in part by […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK Reuters: Russia’s Gazprom presses on with Turkey pipeline despite questions
Russia’s Gazprom plans to start building a pipeline to Turkey this month to get gas to Europe without going through Ukraine, company sources said, although it has no firm agreement with Ankara and faces opposition from the European Union.
» Read moreNEWSLINK Reuters: Sink or sell? Russia spat leaves France with warships to spare
Tensions between the West and Russia over Ukraine have blocked a deal in which Moscow was to buy the ships, leaving Paris trying to negotiate a face-saving compromise and work out CAwhat to do with two unwanted warships.
» Read moreRussia to continue dealing with low oil price as no Opec cuts on agenda
(Business New Europe – bne.eu – bne IntelliNews – June 3, 2015) [Charts here http://www.bne.eu/content/story/russia-continue-dealing-low-oil-price-no-opec-cuts-agenda] Opec members gathering in Vienna for the cartel’s biannual meeting on June 5 are indicating there will be no cuts in production, implying a calmer meeting to the last one in November that featured calls from some members for Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies […]
» Read moreNearly 90% of Russians Oppose Polygamy, Poll Shows
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jennifer Monaghan – June 3, 2015) Weeks after a Chechen police chief took a 17-year-old local girl as his second bride, a state-run pollster has revealed that 87 percent of Russians stand opposed to the practice of polygamy among the population as a whole. The figure, based on a poll conducted by VTsIOM, represents a […]
» Read moreRussia No Longer a Good Option for Foreign Banks
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – June 3, 2015) The economic fallout of the Ukraine crisis has transformed perceptions of Russia among foreign banks and will likely see lenders curtail the operations of their Russian subsidiaries, ratings agency Standard & Poor’s said Tuesday. Foreign banks piled into Russia in the early 2000s in the hope that near 10 percent annual economic […]
» Read moreKremlin Critic Emerges From Coma
(RFE/RL – June 2, 2015) Friends and allies of prominent Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, Jr., who mysteriously fell ill with poisoning symptoms in Moscow, say he has regained consciousness after a weeklong coma. “Vladimir has come out of a coma,” former Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky said in a June 2 tweet. Kara-Murza, 33, is a coordinator for Open […]
» Read moreInterfax: Probable Nemtsov murder weapon found
(Interfax – June 3, 2015) The police have found a handgun which probably killed opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, a source familiar with the situation has told Interfax. “The murder weapon has been found and enclosed in materials in the proceeding, examinations are in progress,” he said. The source added that the detectives had found several handguns, each of which was […]
» Read moreInterfax: Russia air defence firm denies its MH17 claims based on fake satellite photos
(Interfax – June 2, 2015) The evidence presented by Russian air defence systems manufacturer Almaz-Antey to show that flight MH17 was shot down by a Ukrainian missile was based only on preliminary data from the Dutch investigation, said Yan Novikov, the company’s general director, as reported by privately-owned Russian military news agency Interfax-AVN on 2 June. Novikov was commenting on […]
» Read moreRUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2015-#108 table of contents with links :: Johnson’s Russia List – Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#108 :: Tuesday 2 June 2015 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Support for JRL is provided in part […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK New York Times: Vladimir Putin Hides the Truth
Last week Mr. Putin added a new and especially cruel twist to his formula of deception by decreeing that the deaths or wounds of Russian soldiers in “special operations” can be classified as military secrets, even in peacetime. In the past, the list of state secrets applied only to personnel losses in wartime.
» Read moreNEWSLINK Deutsche Welle: Despite distance, war takes toll on western Ukraine
In Ukraine’s west, long a bastion of pro-European sentiment, the war and economic crisis are shaking faith in the country’s leadership
» Read moreNEWSLINK New York Times: Fighting in Ukraine Eases, but Abuses Continue on Both Sides, U.N. Says
Fighting in eastern Ukraine has eased recently, but at least 6,417 people have died in the conflict and abuses that may amount to war crimes continue to be committed by both sides, the United Nations said Monday.
» Read moreNEWSLINK Financial Times/Thomas Graham: Europe’s problem is with Russia, not Putin. Moscow is not a rising revolutionary force but one seeking to restore power
NEWSLINK AFP: Russian bear will roar once more, says World Bank. Russia economy forecast to grow by 0.7pc next year, reversing negative growth forecast
Russia economy forecast to grow by 0.7pc next year, reversing negative growth forecast The World Bank is seeing some improvement in Russia’s battered economy, predicting it would shrink by 2.7pc this year and return to growth of 0.7pc in 2016.
» Read moreSymbols of Ukraine’s Strength Hide Tensions in Kharkiv
(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Glenn Kates – KHARKIV, Ukraine – June 01, 2015) Beside an overpass eight kilometers from the center of Kharkiv lies a newly dug network of trenches lined with bark so fresh the sap still oozes out. Regional Governor Ihor Raynin told RFE/RL of state-of-the-art fortifications being built here to guard against an invasion from Russia, 30 […]
» Read moreTransnistria: West Berlin of the post-Soviet world
(opendemocracy.net – Sergei Markedonov, Associate Professor at the Russian State University for the Humanities – May 27, 2015) How to play hardball: Ukraine’s parliament has revoked the agreement between Russia and Ukraine on the movement of Russian troops through Ukrainian territory to Transnistria. Fresh intrigue is afoot in the Transnistrian ‘frozen’ conflict. On 21 May, Ukraine’s parliament the Verkhovna Rada […]
» Read moreUS aim to “contain” Russia, China a concern – Russian security official
(Interfax – May 30, 2015) The US policy in the Asia-Pacific region is viewed by Russia with concern as it aims to “contain” both Russia and China, Russian Deputy Defence Minister Anatoliy Antonov has said. Separately, Antonov did not rule out “open confrontation” in the region faced with “new challenges and threats”. His remarks were reported by the Russian news […]
» Read moreA dissident’s tale
(opendemocracy.net – Gleb Morev, Gleb Pavlovsky – May 29, 2015) Gleb Morev is a Russian journalist and literary critic based in Moscow. He edits the Culture section of Colta.ru. One of the grey cardinals of modern Russian politics, Gleb Pavlovsky talks dissent, history and politics in the late-Soviet era. Born in Odessa in 1951, Gleb Pavlovsky is famed for being […]
» Read moreRussia is running out of money – revisited
(Business New Europe – bne.eu – MOSCOW BLOG: Ben Aris in Moscow – June 2, 2015) [Charts here http://www.bne.eu/content/story/moscow-blog-russia-running-out-money-revisited] Last December Professor Anders Aslund, then of the Peterson Institute, now of the Atlantic Council, wrote two op-eds entitled: “Russia’s Economic situation is worse than it may appear”, and “The Russian Economy is headed for disaster.” In both pieces he claimed […]
» Read morePoll: Russian Parents Hope to Raise Doctors, Not Priests
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – June 2, 2015) Despite the fact that a significant majority of the population identifies as Orthodox Christian, fewer than 1 percent of Russians wish to see their children or grandchildren grow up to be priests, according a survey conducted by independent pollster the Levada Center. Similar polls conducted by the Levada Center over the past […]
» Read moreInterfax: LPR observes almost 30 attacks by Ukrainian army over past week
LUHANSK. June 2 (Interfax) – The intensity of Ukrainian strikes on the territory of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) has grown lately, according to Igor Yashchenko, deputy chief of staff of the LPR militia corps. “The Ukrainian army shelled LPR populated localities 29 times over the past week. We observed twelve attacks by mortars, 13 by grenade launchers, two […]
» Read moreRussian ‘Troll Farm’ Lawsuit Postponed When Defendant Fails to Show
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – June 2, 2015) Russian court hearings into a lawsuit by a former Internet “troll” against her former employer have been postponed after the defendant failed to show up for the proceedings. A city court in St. Petersburg also ruled that the plaintiff, Lyudmila Savchuk – who said her suit was intended to […]
» Read moreElection Shifts Show Kremlin Wary Of Fallout From Recession
(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Tom Balmforth – MOSCOW, June 1, 2015) The Kremlin is moving to bring next year’s parliamentary elections forward and set up snap gubernatorial votes in several provinces this year, maneuvering that analysts say shows the authorities fear a deepening recession could weaken them and galvanize the opposition. The State Duma elections in December 2011 catalyzed the […]
» Read moreLeading Russian liberal economist does not rule out he may come back to power
(Interfax -June 1, 2015) Head of the Committee for Civil Initiatives, former Finance Minister Aleksey Kudrin does not rule out he may come back to power structures if the country is going to carry out reforms, political among them. In his interview to the Russian privately-owned news agency Interfax on 1 June he said: “I’ve never ruled out a comeback […]
» Read moreFormer Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin Sets Conditions for Return to Government
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber – June 2, 2015) Former Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, who left his position over personal disagreements with the Kremlin in 2011, said in an interview with the Interfax news agency Monday that if the authorities would undertake sweeping reforms, he would be willing to return to the government. “I have never ruled […]
» Read moreRussia and Ukraine Trade Turnover Falls by Two-Thirds
Russian trade turnover with Ukraine fell by around 60 percent in the first four months of this year compared to the same period last year, according to a recent study by researchers at the World Trade Center Moscow, news agency RBC reported Wednesday. Russian exports to Ukraine fell 63.5 percent, from $8.1 billion to $2.9 billion, while imports of Ukrainian goods fell 60 percent from $4 billion to 1.6 billion between January and April […]
» Read moreRUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2015-#107 table of contents with links :: Johnson’s Russia List – Friday, May 29, 2015
Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#107 :: Friday 29 May 2015 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Support for JRL is provided in part by […]
» Read more$110 Billion Expected to Flee Russia This Year as Sanctions Bite
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – May 29, 2015) Capital flight from Russia is forecast to hit $110 billion this year, the Economic Development Ministry said Thursday, as Western sanctions limit foreign investment and force Russian companies to pay off billions of dollars in foreign debt. The ministry’s base forecast anticipates that U.S. and EU sanctions over Moscow’s actions in Ukraine […]
» Read moreMoscow Times: Putin’s Approval Rating Remains at 86% Unfazed by Economic Crisis, Ukraine Conflict
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jennifer Monaghan – May 29, 2015) President Vladimir Putin continues to enjoy the approval of a staggering 86 percent of the Russian public, a poll revealed Thursday, indicating levels of support that many Western leaders could only dream of. Putin’s approval rating, announced by independent Moscow-based pollster the Levada Center, sat at the same level […]
» Read moreWill Ukraine’s bondholders force a default on purpose?
(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – May 26, 2015) Will Ukraine’s private bondholders force the country to default on its debt on purpose by refusing to negotiate on the restructuring, or “haircut”, that Kyiv is demanding on $10bn worth of debt? It’s not such a crazy question, because it has happened before. In 2009, Morgan […]
» Read moreRussia and Ukraine Trade Turnover Falls by Two-Thirds
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – May 28, 2015) Russian trade turnover with Ukraine fell by around 60 percent in the first four months of this year compared to the same period last year, according to a recent study by researchers at the World Trade Center Moscow, news agency RBC reported Wednesday. Russian exports to Ukraine fell 63.5 percent, from $8.1 […]
» Read moreYoga Journal Celebrates Its First 10 Years in Russia
(Moscow Times – themoscowtime.com – Lara McCoy – May 28, 2015) To celebrate its 10th anniversary this spring, the Russian edition of Yoga Journal didn’t make plans for a huge party, or even a special yoga retreat. Instead, the magazine marked the milestone by launching an extensive analytical survey of yoga in Russia and its practitioners, which appears in the […]
» Read moreUkraine Creditors Said to Offer Coupon Cuts, Debt Extensions
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Natasha Doff – May 28, 2015) Ukraine’s creditors including Franklin Templeton put forward a restructuring proposal that includes maturity extensions of up to 10 years and reductions in interest payments of about $500 million. The offer, submitted on May 9 by a group owning about $8.9 billion of Ukraine’s debt, involves amortizing the bonds over a […]
» Read morePutin Classifying Troop Losses Proves They’re in Ukraine – Analysts
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – May 29, 2015) Legal amendments introduced Thursday that classify as state secrets any losses sustained during peacetime special operations are further confirmation of Russia’s direct involvement in the Ukraine conflict, legal and military experts told The Moscow Times. The amendments, signed by President Vladimir Putin, make “information disclosing the loss of personnel […]
» Read moreWhat Putin Got Wrong
(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Brian Whitmore – May 28, 2015) Since the Ukraine crisis erupted, Vladimir Putin has befuddled his foes with hybrid-war tactics, poisoned discourse with a sophisticated disinformation campaign, and alarmed the West with a series of provocative moves aimed at probing NATO’s defenses. The Russian president has kept his opponents off balance and on the defensive; and […]
» Read morePoll shows 80 per cent of Russian businessmen see economic crisis in the country
(Interfax – Moscow, May 28, 2015) Data from a telephone poll conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) shows that an overwhelming majority of Russian businessmen (80 per cent) believe Russia to be in an economic crisis now, while 16 per cent are sure that there is no crisis. Two-thirds of those polled believe that the crisis harms the sector […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK Wall Street Journal: The Russians Are Coming, Again; Vladimir Putin violates another peace deal with Ukraine.
So much for February’s Ukraine cease-fire. Russian proxies on Saturday shelled Avdiyivka, a town in eastern Ukraine held by the Kiev government, killing a Ukrainian service member and a civilian in an attack that also shut down a coke-manufacturing plant. On Sunday pro-Kremlin forces fired on Ukrainian positions near the port of Mariupol, killing a Ukrainian soldier and wounding two.
» Read more[PDF] TRANSCRIPT: BROOKINGS HOSTS VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN FOR REMARKS ON THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE CONFLICT
… You know, it’s now been 14 months since Russian aggression in Ukraine last spring. And it has literally transformed the landscape of European security. Everybody wants this conflict to end as soon as possible. The question is on whose terms and how will it end. Because it’s not a remote conflict between neighbors arguing over who gets what, what’s happening […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK Christian Science Monitor: For fear of ‘foreign agents,’ Kremlin blacklists a Russian charity
Dynasty, which promotes scientific education, is funded almost entirely by Russian communications tycoon Dmitry Zimin. Because he’s using offshore accounts to do so, he’s run afoul of Kremlin bureaucrats. Critics say it’s time for a rethink.
» Read moreSwitzerland probes Russian 2018 World Cup bid over bribery charges
(Business New Europe – bne.eu – bne IntelliNews – May 27, 2015) Russia’s bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup is under criminal investigation on corruption suspicions, Switzerland’s attorney general announced May 27, after investigators seized data and documents from the Zurich headquarters of soccer’s global governing body FIFA. The move comes only weeks before the draw for the qualifying rounds […]
» Read moreRUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2015-#106 table of contents with links :: Johnson’s Russia List – Thursday PM, May 28, 2015
Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#106 :: Thursday PM 28 May 2015 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Support for JRL is provided in part […]
» Read moreRUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2015-#105 table of contents with links :: Johnson’s Russia List – Thursday AM, May 28, 2015
Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#105 :: Thursday 28 May 2015 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Support for JRL is provided in part by […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK International New York Times/Michael Khodarkovsky: Putin’s Disunited Nation
During those tense days in early March when Vladimir Putin disappeared from public view, the Russian president issued only one official statement: He instructed his prime minister to prepare a blueprint for a new federal agency that would work toward ‘consolidating the unity of the multiethnic nation of the Russian Federation.’The move passed relatively unnoticed, but it raises provocative questions. […]
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