(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – May 31, 2013 – Michael Bohm) Michael Bohm is opinion page editor of The Moscow Times and author of “The Russian Specific: An Analysis of the Russian Work Ethic” (A. Golod, 2007). Any discussion about the Russian work ethic inevitably ends up focusing on the Soviet Union, which did more than any other period in […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle – May 31, 2013) Reports that prominent, liberal economist Sergei Guriev has fled to France under pressure from investigators appeared to send shockwaves through Russia’s Western-leaning elite this week, renewing fears of a brain drain amid an “invisible” wave of emigration. The departure of Guriev, a prominent economist who has advised Prime Minister […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, May 31, 2013) Moscow’s City Court ordered the release from prison on Friday of a businessman whose freedom was among the demands of the recent opposition rallies in the Russian capital. Alexei Kozlov was given eight years in prison in 2009 for fraud and “legalization of stolen property,” or the use of illegally obtained property […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – May 30, 2013) A minister said Wednesday that Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s Open Government would continue to work with prominent liberal economist Sergei Guriyev despite media reports that he resigned as head of a major college and left the country under pressure from authorities. Mikhail Abyzov, the Open Government liaison holding the […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – May 30, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin’s anti-corruption drive that escalated last November with the dismissal of the defence minister is starting to take on the appearance of a classic 1930s-style Stalinist purge. The latest victim is Sergei Guriev, Russia’s top liberal economist and a close associate of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who fled […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Lena Smirnova – May 30, 2013) When the virtual hammer came down on the country’s Arctic real estate last week, state-controlled Gazprom managed to get the largest slice. Gazprom vied with Rosneft and was awarded seven disputed areas in the Kara sea shelf and could split the eighth area, in the West Siberian sea, with […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 28, 2013) There will be no quality change in Russia-U.S. economic cooperation until businessmen of the two countries realize they really need each other, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said. “Sure, last year’s trade turnover of $32 billion is ridiculous not only considering the scope of the U.S. and, also, Russian economy but also considering […]
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(Interfax – May 29, 2013) Russian Economic Development Deputy Minister Sergei Belyakov, who supervises public-private partnership issues and liaison with business, has opposed the idea to amnesty businessmen convicted on economic counts. “I will never support this idea, never in my life,” Belyakov told reporters in Moscow on Wednesday. “Punishment for a deed does not depend on the personality of […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Guennadi Moukine – May 29, 2013) Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev visited the Startup Village conference at Skolkovo on Tuesday, reaffirmed his commitment to the Skolkovo innovation hub following a recent embezzlement scandal surrounding the project he conceived during his presidency, and learned a bit of geology. “I never knew that Kaliningrad had commercial geo-thermal sources,” […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 27, 2013) Russian GDP grew 2.6% year-on-year in April, compared with growth of 2% in March, the Economic Development Ministry estimates. The economy grew 1.8% year-on-year in January-April, Deputy Economic Development Minister Andrei Klepach said at a briefing. GDP grew 0.1% in April compared with March on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 0.4% in March. […]
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(RIA Novosti – Alexander Yakovenko – May 27, 2013) [Former ambassaor to UK and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation] Since 2010, Russia has been consistently implementing the top priority national economic project to develop Moscow as an International Financial Center (MIFC). Major reforms to our national financial architecture demonstrate the new advantages of Russia’s financial market […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Daria Tikhonova, special to RBTH – May 28, 2013) The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games are set to become the most expensive Olympics ever. Russia will have spent more than $51 billion on the Olympics by 2014. By comparison, China spent $45 billion on the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, and the UK invested […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 24, 2013) Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Russia grew 63.2% year-on-year in Q1 2013 to $6.304 billion, the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) said. Overall foreign investment grew 65.4% to $60.436 billion. The FDI included $1.148 billion in equity investment, down 38%; $4.726 billion in loans from the foreign co-owners of companies, up 180%; $1 million […]
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(Interfax – KALININGRAD, May 24, 2013) More than half of foreign investors welcome positive changes in Russia’s investment policy, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said. “The government believes that the investment climate in Russia is improving now. This is what foreign investors are saying. As many as 53% foreign companies working in the country confirm this opinion,” Shuvalov […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – MOSCOW BLOG – May 27, 2013) There has been a lot of noise about the possibility of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev being sacked and replaced by the former finance minister Alexei Kudrin. We think it will happen just not yet, but possibly as soon as this autumn. Russian President Vladimir Putin is […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – May 23, 2013) President Vladimir Putin’s popularity throughout much of Russia is founded on an implicit social compact: People have given up some freedom in return for economic prosperity. Now, Putin’s authoritarian ways could be killing the economic growth that has helped keep him in power. Time and time again, Russia’s leaders have […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – May 24, 2013) President Vladimir Putin, who was expected during a meeting with more than a hundred entrepreneurs on Thursday to give a nod to the State Duma to draft an amnesty act freeing thousands of imprisoned business people, said the concept needed more work, Russian television reported Thursday. Putin said at […]
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(Interfax – May 23, 2013) First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov has said there will be no recession in Russia in 2013, Russian Interfax news agency reported on 23 May. “The will be no recession this year. This is my short answer,” Shuvalov said at a briefing on 23 May. He said that currently the economy was not in a […]
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(Interfax – May 23, 2013) Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov does not think that Russia will have a recession this year. “There won’t be a recession this year. Short answer,” he said at a Thursday briefing. The economy is not currently in a crisis situation. The issue is that the government is not satisfied with current growth levels […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 22, 2013) Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev believes that government officials and members of parliament should share economic risks with the rest of the country and keep their money in Russian banks, but he is not convinced that they should be prohibited from holding foreign assets. “Members of the government, State Duma deputies, administration officials should after […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Lena Smirnova – May 23, 2013) When it comes to Russian college students’ career aspirations, Gazprom’s gas fields might as well be described as the fields of dreams, according to an annual ranking released Thursday by the Universum consulting firm. The state-owned gas giant was rated the most attractive employer by business students, with Sberbank […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Guennadi Moukine – May 22, 2013) The role of the government is to provide infrastructure and facilitate technological development and innovation, Communications and Press Minister Nikolai Nikiforov told business representatives at the Leaders’ Club forum on Tuesday. Information technology is important for the Russian economy, Nikiforov said. It accounts for 4.6 percent of the nation’s […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 21, 2013) Head of the Russian State Duma’s International Affairs Committee, the United Russia member, Alexei Pushkov, said that former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin was responsible for the current state of the Russian economy. “Kudrin is better not to say anything on the current state of the economy. He is directly guilty of it. GDP dropped […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.ru – Ben Aris in Moscow – MOSCOW BLOG – May 22, 2013) Confusion reigns over what will happen to the Russian economy in due course: is it headed into the “dustbin of history”, in Trotsky’s immortal phrase, or will it be the fastest growing in Europe by the end of the year? Compare the headlines […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – May 21, 2013) The Russian government has no plans to break up the state-owned gas monopoly Gazprom, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich told the state-owned paper Rossiiskaya Gazeta on May 20. Speculation has been mounting that the state will break the inefficient behemoth up in its quest to make Russias biggest tax payer more […]
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(Interfax – SOCHI, May 19, 2013) Normal macroeconomic indices, the budget rule and privatization deals are the main results of the year that has passed since the government started working, said Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. “A year has passed, and it was filled with so many different events. However different opinions may be, the country kept developing, credit for which […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 18, 2013) Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has lashed out against legal initiatives that may discourage private enterprise. “It is a completely unacceptable situation that, as a result of some decisions, the total number of those who see entrepreneurial activities as their future occupation should decline,” Medvedev said at a meeting of the leadership of the ruling […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Guennadi Moukine – May 20, 2013) Greater cooperation between tax authorities from 45 countries, including more extensive information sharing to help catch evaders, was the result of an international conference in Moscow that was hosted by the Federal Taxation Service and ended on Friday. “The message to tax evaders and those who facilitate tax evasion […]
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(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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(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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(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 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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(Interfax – May 16, 2013) Russia will continue improving its investment appeal and introducing innovations regardless of the scenario of Russia’s socio-economic development adopted by the Russian government by 2016, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said. “We will continue improving the investment appeal, supporting the high-tech sectors, and introducing innovations regardless of what scenario will be eventuated,” Medvedev told a […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 15, 2013) Consumption in Russia is higher than production efficiency, and this could weaken the ruble and drive up inflation in the medium-term if labor productivity does not significantly improve, Economic Development Minister Andrei Belousov said while presenting at a Wednesday conference entitled ‘The National System of Competences and Qualifications,’ organized by the newspaper Vedomosti and […]
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(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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(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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(Interfax – May 15, 2013) The head of the Skolkovo Foundation, tycoon Viktor Vekselberg, has denied reports that the innovations centre has been financing the opposition in Russia, privately-owned Interfax news agency reported on 15 May. Asked by journalists whether the Skolkovo Foundation may have been involved in financing the opposition movement in Russia, he said: “No, it is categorically […]
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(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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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Victor Davidoff – May 13, 2013) One year ago on May 7, President-elect Vladimir Putin’s motorcade traversed the empty streets of Moscow, cleared of every living soul by the police, to his inauguration in the Kremlin. This anniversary passed mostly unnoticed by the public and mainstream media. The reason is not so much that it […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, May 13, 2013) The idea that “Moscow is not Russia” has long been a commonplace among both residents of the capital and residents of the portions of Russia beyond the ring road, but the two are increasingly dissimilar, raising the possibility that a conflict between the capital and the rest of the […]
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(Interfax – May 13, 2013) State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin has partially backed the proposal made by business ombudsman Boris Titov on amnesty for economic crimes. “Some citizens convicted for so-called economic crimes can and should be amnestied. Some of those who have committed economic crimes should still serve their sentences,” Naryshkin told reporters in the State Duma on Monday. […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anatoly Medetsky – May 13, 2013) The government’s fiscal watchdog has started looking at Gazprom’s books in an audit that is poised to produce exciting results, the agency’s chief said. “I think the findings will be interesting,” Sergei Stepashin, chairman of the Audit Chamber, said Friday, Interfax reported. His remarks are the latest update on […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, May 10 New Russia legislation to prevent officials from having cash or stock accounts abroad, promoted by the regime as a step toward “the nationalization of the elite,” brings Russia into line with countries like Bangladesh rather than the West and gives the Kremlin powers much like those of medieval Muscovy, […]
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(Interfax – LONDON/MOSCOW, May 8, 2013) Russian business tycoon Boris Berezovsky was buried Brookwood cemetery, Surrey, in Great Britain, a source close to the businessman told Interfax on Wednesday. “The burial service was conducted in the family circle, while the burial ceremony itself was attended by 50 to 70 people – the family and friends of the late oligarch,” the […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Alexandra Ilina, Moskovskiye Novosti – May 8, 2013) GALKINSKOYE, Sverdlovsk region – The village of Galkinskoye is no different from any of the other towns and villages around the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, with its old wooden houses, rickety fences and decaying former farm buildings. However, in 2008, Vasily Melnichenko came up with the idea […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – May 8, 2013) An investigation into the embezzlement of budget funds from state-owned innovation hub Skolkovo has led to a public spat between the agency conducting the investigation and the Cabinet of Ministers, whose head, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, created the institution in 2010. On Tuesday, pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia published a damning […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – May 8, 2013) An initiative by business ombudsman Boris Titov to free more than 100,000 entrepreneurs serving prison sentences for white-collar crimes will be submitted to the State Duma next week, Kommersant reported Wednesday. Titov warned that many people were likely to oppose the idea, but he acknowledged that without such a measure it would […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, May 7, 2013) Only seven percent of Russian citizens currently engage in entrepreneurial activity and few of the remainder even consider that a possibility, according to the Global Entrepreneurial Survey, which ranks Russia 67th out of 69 countries in terms of the number of people who form and operate new companies. Olga […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 7, 2013) Most Russians claim they are accustomed to contemporary living conditions yet 54% admit “life is hard but tolerable,” sociologists said. “The number of such citizens has declined over past months (from 85% in December),” the Russian Public Opinion Study Center (VTsIOM) told Interfax on Tuesday presenting a recent poll. Meanwhile, the number of respondents […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – May 8, 2013) A growing number of Russian businessmen expect the country’s economy to grow in the next 12 months, according to a quarterly survey by Grant Thornton International released Wednesday The latest survey data, when compared to last year’s results, shows an increase in the number of Russian business leaders who are annoyed with […]
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