(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – June 24, 2013) Thousands of jailed businessmen are expected to be freed this summer as part of the amnesty plan approved by President Vladimir Putin and set for review by the State Duma by mid-July. The plan, one of business ombudsman Boris Titov’s first and most important initiatives, was met with great […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 24, 2013) The appointment of Alexei Ulyukayev as new Russian economic development minister will not alter the fundamental objectives of economic policy, but could alter the tactics by which those aims are achieved, experts told Interfax. Do jobs change people? Ulyukayev’s appointment in place of Andrei Belousov will not result in major changes in economic policy, […]
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(Interfax – June 21, 2013) The Kremlin is not increasing pressure on the Russian government; President Vladimir Putin is simply changing the principles governing the work of the executive authorities, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov has said. Shuvalov was speaking in an interview to internet and satellite broadcaster Dozhd TV on 21 June on the sidelines of the St Petersburg […]
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(Kremlin.ru – St. Petersburg – June 21, 2013) Vladimir Putin and Federal Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel took part in the St Petersburg International Economic Forum’s plenary session. In his address to the plenary session, Mr Putin outlined the global economy’s main problems today, looked at the issues on the G20 agenda under the Russian presidency, and noted Russia’s efforts […]
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(RIA Novosti – WASHINGTON, June 19, 2013) Russian technology start-ups that were selected as finalists in a prestigious US business development competition might not be able to take part in the months-long contest because of visa problems, the head of an investment company that is co-sponsoring the event said Thursday. Four teams of two Russians from start-ups developing apps […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Lena Smirnova – June 21, 2013) With the coveted title of Russia’s biggest shopping mall operator, Ikea Shopping Centres leads in a market that is expected to become Europe’s second largest in the next 18 months. It recently celebrated its 10th anniversary and is making big plans for the future. The milestone closes a decade […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – St. PETERSBURG, June 21, 2013) The government’s initiative to attract 25 billion rubles ($781 million) of investment to the Far East by 2025 will fail if the business climate for private investors does not improve, businessmen and state officials said Thursday at a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum dedicated […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – June 21, 2013) Opposition lawmakers and businessmen said at a panel Thursday that Russia had lost billions of dollars due to cuts in import tariffs after its accession to the World Trade Organization. The panel was attended by groups lobbying the interests of the engineering, agriculture and clothing industries but was ignored […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – June 21, 2013 – themoscowtimes.com/news/article/live-blog-spief-2013-day-2/482039.html) It’s day two of the 17th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the annual conference dedicated to economic and business issues that draws several thousand political and business leaders, leading scientists, and public figures from around the world. President Vladimir Putin will open a plenary session at 3 p.m. that will […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Nathan Gray – ST. PETERSBURG, June 21, 2013) Russia’s government was rushing in where investors feared to tread and used the St. Petersburg Economic Forum as a rallying call for aggressive spending in the country’s regions. Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East have especially attracted attention in recent years in terms of the […]
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(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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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – June 21, 2013) Vladimir Putin took the stage to speak at last year’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum as president for a third time, having been inaugurated a month before, but facing perhaps the fiercest political opposition in his 12 years as Russia’s top leader. Despite the ongoing street protests, Putin focused […]
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(Kremlin.ru – St Petersburg, June 20, 2013) The meeting took place on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. Excerpts from transcript of meeting with the Business G20 PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Ladies and gentlemen, It’s very good to see you all. I am happy to welcome the B20 participants to St Petersburg, on the first day […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Artem Zagorodnov, RBTH – June 21, 2013) Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined several radically liberal economic reforms. In a move equally symbolic and practically important, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that a much-touted amnesty for businesspeople had been approved by his office and will be […]
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(Interfax -ST. PETERSBURG, June 20, 2013) It would be feasible to introduce a progressive income tax scale in Russia in 2018, when the current political cycle ends, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov told reporters on the sidelines of the St Petersburg Economic Forum. “It would probably make sense to make the transition to different taxation for personal income from […]
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(RIA Novosti – ST. PETERSBURG, June 20, 2013) The Russian government’s plans to weaken the ruble in a bid to stimulate faltering economic growth is unlikely to yield results, Central Bank First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said on Thursday. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov on Monday said the government is looking for measures to stimulate economic growth in Russia, including […]
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(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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(Moscow TImes – themoscowtimes.com – Anatoly Medetsky – June 20, 2013) St. Petersburg is drawing scores of business leaders to a forum where they are hoping to get the latest tips on the course that the government and major companies might take. Opening Thursday at the exhibition center LenExpo, the three-day event will host President Vladimir Putin for a keynote […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW. June 19, 2013) Optimism prevails in Russian society, and 76% are more or less happy with their life. Only 8% have not adjusted to contemporary conditions, Levada Center told Interfax on Wednesday, quoting a nation-wide poll of late May. A quarter of the respondents claimed “their life was stable and there had been no major changes for […]
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(Moscow Times – June 20, 2013 – themoscowtimes.com/news/article/live-blog-spief-2013-day-1/481995.html) The 17th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), set to host several thousand economic experts, business managers and political leaders, opened Thursday morning with the first session at 9:45 a.m. The forum this year focuses on finding ways to build a new global economy. Today’s discussion topics include maintaining the growth in […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 20, 2013) Fictitious import contracts with entities from Customs Union member states Belarus and Kazakhstan accounted for 40 percent of Russia’s net capital outflow last year, business daily Vedomosti reported on Thursday citing Central Bank data. About $10 billion could have been laundered through fake imports schemes via Kazakhstan, the Central Bank said in a […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Guennadi Moukine – June 20, 2013) Hovercraft, bionic arms, space tourism and nuclear laptop batteries may all be products of the future to be created and brought to market by Skolkovo, the business education and technology center taking shape on the outskirts of Moscow. Despite a bumpy start that has included typical Russian corruption scandals, […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – June 19, 2013) The Finance Ministry has proposed using a state guarantee fund to increase support for promising small- and medium-sized businesses, Vedomosti reported Wednesday. The proposals were prepared in response to the order made by President Vladimir Putin a week ago to stimulate business activity. This year the ministry has allocated 20 billion rubles […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 19, 2013) Shell companies have illegally funneled 760 billion rubles ($25 billion) from Russia in the past three years, outgoing Central Bank chief Sergei Ignatyev said on Wednesday, Vedomosti business paper reported. Ignatyev who is leaving his post next week after serving three consecutive terms, made the statement in a report to the Russian parliament […]
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(RIA Novosti – LOUGH ERNE, June 19, 2013) The next G8 summit will take place in the southern Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi in June 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Tuesday. “The Group of Eight summit I have invited my counterparts to will be held on June 4-5, 2014, in Sochi,” Putin told journalists after a G8 summit […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Yuri Paniyev, special to RBTH – June 18, 2013) With the G8 summit in full swing in Northern Ireland, the world’s leaders try to tackle financial and international challenges including tax evasion, the Middle East stand-off, the Syrian crisis and the North Korea nuclear problem. G8 leaders began their two-day summit at the […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Tatyana Lisina, special to RBTH – June 17, 2013) Despite initial reluctance, Moscow might help the U.S. hunt down tax evaders. Russia appears to have finally yielded to American pressure to adopt a tax dodgers’ law known as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Arguments advanced by Russian economists may have […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 17, 2013) Russia’s privatization plan, which has been very ambitious in the past two years but slow to be implemented, will become more realistic. The government came up with its big plans to divest a number of key assets in the summer of 2011, when current Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was still president. Last June the […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 14, 2013) Russia will use its presidency of the G20 to push for a radical overhaul of the International Monetary Fund and changes to its voting system to give developing economies a stronger voice, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday in an interview with RIA Novosti. “The IMF frequently fails to keep up with the rapidly […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 17, 2013) Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny, founder of Anti-Corruption Foundation, wrote on Twitter on Monday that detectives were currently searching his brother’s apartment. Interfax has been unable to obtain confirmation of Navalny’s words. In December, brothers Alexei and Oleg Navalny were charged with fraud and money laundering. “Alexei Navalny set up a limited liability company […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – June 18, 2013) Opposition leader Alexei Navalny took the stand in court on Monday, denying charges that he stole 10,000 cubic meters of timber from KirovLes in 2009 and saying he had tried to fight corruption at the state-owned company. Navalny, who is also a prominent anti-corruption blogger and a lawyer, began […]
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(Interfax – June 18, 2013) Russia’s United Popular Front (ONF) supports the idea of economic amnesty. “We support amnesty for businessmen on economic counts,” Alexander Galushka, co-chairman of the ONF’s central staff and co-chairman of the Business Russia organization said at a press conference at Interfax on Tuesday. “The presumption of guilt” for businessmen must be scrapped and this chapter […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Nathan Gray – June 17, 2013) As the 2008 economic crisis took hold worldwide, the impact began to spur a change in the direction of economic policy. The most notable change was the replacement in 2009 of the G8 in the field of economic development by the G20, a more diverse organization that reflected a […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, June 17, 2013) Siberia and the Russian Far East are supposed to come up with the money to pay for Vladimir Putin’s promise to develop those regions, an arrangement officials say that in the absence of new revenues they will not be able to do and that is undermining support for Moscow […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – June 17, 2013) The great debate in Russia is if growth has stalled or if the economy is only going through a soft patch at the moment. GDP growth fell to 1.6% in the first quarter (revised up from the initial estimate of 1.1%). But that is still not very good. Industrial production growth […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 13, 2013) The World Health Organization has no right to dictate to Russia how to develop its tobacco pricing policies, Russia’s chief health inspector said Thursday. The head of the WHO office in Russia, Luigi Migliorini, had earlier expressed disappointment in lower than expected increase rates for tobacco excise in the country after 2016. […]
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(Kremlin.ru – June 14, 2013) Ahead of the G8 summit in Great Britain and the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Vladimir Putin answered questions from Russian News & Information Agency. QUESTION: You are going to the G8 summit not only as the head of one of the member states, but also as the leader of the country that currently […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW. June 14, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a number of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the upcoming G8 summit, presidential aide Yury Ushakov said. On Monday, June 17, before the official start of the summit, Putin is expected to meet with Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta, he said. “They plan to discuss a schedule […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – June 14, 2013) The consumer confidence level of Ivan Ivanov, the typical Russian modeled in the latest bi-monthly report by Sberbank CIB issued Friday, has, like inflation and unemployment, remained stable over the last two months. While the headline consumer confidence figure remains at the March level of -8 percent down from -4 percent […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 14, 2013) President Vladimir Putin on Thursday described the main difference he sees between social welfare in Russia and in European countries, which he criticized for losing control of their economies and allowing the rise of a “dependency mentality,” according to an interview with RIA Novosti. Europe’s problem is not the welfare state as […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Michael Bohm, opinion page editor of The Moscow Times – June 14, 2013) When the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum opens next week, a traditional fixture of the event will be conspicuously absent: renowned economist Sergei Guriev. During the forum, Russian officials will undoubtedly repeat the usual lines about the country’s untapped potential, its attractiveness […]
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(Kremlin.ru – The Kremlin, Moscow – June 13, 2013) Vladimir Putin announced the signing of the 2014-2016 Budget Policy Address at a meeting with members of the Government Cabinet, heads of both houses of the Federal Assembly and the Presidential Executive Office. The address outlines the basic budget policy objectives over the next three years. The Government will use the […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 13, 2013) Russia runs the risk of a recession, but there are opportunities to avoid it, Economic Development Minister Andrei Belousov said at a Thursday press conference in Moscow dedicated to the upcoming St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). “The risk of a recession does exist, but we aren’t in a state of recession, and we […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin – June 14, 2013) In the coming years, the government will get less revenue than was expected before, and the budget policy for 2014-2016 has to be planned accordingly, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday while presenting the budget policy to senior government officials and lawmakers. Putin also said that while revenues from […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – June 13, 2013) Self-exiled economist Sergei Guriev met with the Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich on Wednesday in Paris his first informal get together with a senior Russian official since he left the country last month, fearing pressure from law enforcement agencies. Guriev, who headed the liberal New Economic School until […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 12, 2013) Amid growing competition in the world in all fields, from art to the defense industry, Russian researchers and scientists should not expect stress-free work, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a ceremony of presenting state awards at the Kremlin on Wednesday. “I will venture to follow up on what today’s laureates have said here […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Evgenia Pismennaya – June 12, 2013) Vladimir Putin is handing the keys of his central bank to a poetry-loving Francophile who pays homage to the victims of Russia’s totalitarian past. The first woman to head a Group of Eight central bank, Elvira Nabiullina’s appointment surprised even herself, according to four colleagues who asked not to be […]
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(Interfax – June 13, 2013) Moscow is hosting the Civil 20 Summit on June 13-14. This is the final event of the civil track within the framework of Russia’s official chairmanship of the G20. The summit’s principal objective is to promote productive dialogue between global civil society, politicians, and decision-makers based on priorities declared in the Russian chairmanship’s official agenda. […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 11, 2013) The range of issues being considered by the G20 has gotten too broad and the Seoul agreements to recapitalize and redistribute quotas in the International Monetary Fund are not being carried out, but the group of 20 major economies has managed to resolve the problem of bailing out too-big-to-fail banks with taxpayer money, Russian […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Viktor Kuzmin, special to RBTH – June 12, 2013) The Russian economy now has an opportunity to harness the unique heritage of the communist empire with modern ideas and solutions. In contrast to southern Europe, Russia has long learned to live within its means, making it better equipped to cope with the economic […]
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