(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 8, 2013) Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said production growth slowed down in Russia in early 2013 and called for the formation of a new economic growth model. Medvedev recalled at a Finance Ministry collegium on Monday that the positive growth of the Russian economy, which has been observed since 2009, seriously slowed down in the […]
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(Interfax – HANOVER, April 8, 2013) The European economy remains strong, despite the problems facing selected euro zone countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. “We’re sorry such things are happening on Cyprus, but the foundations of the European economy, of the German economy – and Germany is demonstrating very good rates of growth and economic reliability – (are strong). Therefore […]
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(Interfax – AMSTERDAM, April 8, 2013) Russian authorities will continue to make effort to improve investment climate in the country. “We will do our best to create favorable business environment,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with Russian and Dutch businessmen in Amsterdam on Monday. “We are doing our best to improve business climate in Russia. Probably, there […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, April 8, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/04/window-on-eurasia-70-major-russian.html) Slightly more than one in every six Russians — some 24.5 million people — lives in a company town facing serious economic and demographic decline, with 68 of these 799 places rated as being high risk of complete depopulation unless a new five-year government program can reverse […]
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(Interfax – Zelenograd, April 5, 2013) The Skolkovo (science park) project will be carried out despite the doubts in its viability circulating in society, the deputy PM and government Chief of Staff, Vladislav Surkov, has said. “Despite various opinions and discussions in society we will have our own way and will still continue building Skolkovo,” he said at the meeting […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Nathan Gray – April 8, 2013) The ongoing financial crisis may be hitting European economies hard, but the continent retains a good deal of interest for Russian customers looking to invest in property abroad. Reasons vary according to country, of course: prestige in Britain, skiing in Switzerland and Austria, warm climates in Spain, Italy and […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Olga Tanas – April 8, 2013) Russia agreed to restructure a 2.5 billion-euro ($3.3 billion) loan granted to Cyprus in 2011, bowing to a request by the European Commission, President Vladimir Putin said. “We are making our own contribution” to help the island, Putin told reporters today at a joint briefing in Hanover with German Chancellor […]
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(Interfax – Hanover, April 7, 2013) The Economic Development Ministry will lower in its revised socio-economic development forecast its estimate for gas exports from the Russian Federation (in natural units), for the increase in investment in the Russian Federation, and for GDP rise, Minister Andrey Belousov has said. “I can definitely say that the forecast for 2013 will have lower […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle – April 5, 2013) Without warning or explanation, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow has rejected an unprecedented percentage of Russian university students applying for visas to take part in the State Department’s popular Summer Work and Travel program this year, dashing hopes and placing the program’s future in doubt. About 80-90 percent of […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW. April 4, 2013) All Russian government officials should be obligated to invest their money in the securities of Russian issuers, deputy Central Bank chairman Sergei Shvetsov said. “Today a large number of officials disclose their assets, and we see vehicles, dachas and land there, we very rarely see mutual funds, Russian securities. The presence of securities in […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW. April 4, 2013) Russian federal state property agency Rosimushchestvo will publish the privatization plan for 2014-2016 in May, the head of the agency, Deputy Economic Development Minister Olga Dergunova, said at the Russian Exchange Forum in Moscow on Thursday. “We are currently at the stage of forming the 2014-2016 privatization plan. The information will be published on […]
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MOSCOW. April 4 (Interfax) – High local-level corruption is the cause of millions of Russians working in the “grey economy”, mentioned by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets, Chairman of the Civil Initiatives Committee and former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said. “I’m sure that local authorities are aware of this business. These citizens (employed in the grey economy) are not […]
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(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 63 – Pavel Felgenhauer – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – April 4, 2013) The Russian government, the expert community in Moscow and the national economic elite are actively discussing the economic future of the nation and possible drastic financial policy changes as the economy slumps into potentially long-term stagflation, which may fundamentally destabilize the […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 5, 2013) A leak of details about offshore bank accounts belonging to Russian businesspeople and the wife of First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov threatens to embarrass President Vladimir Putin, who has vowed to crack down on the use of tax havens. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a network of 160 journalists around […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW. April 4, 2013) Alexei Kudrin, chairman of the Civil Initiatives Committee and former finance minister, said that he sometimes meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “There are meetings with the president. But I’m not ready to discuss their contents,” Kudrin told reporters on Thursday. Kudrin said that he shared his position at such meetings. “I express my […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – April 5, 2013) The official Russian set of technical standards, GOST, has finally solved one of Russia’s two biggest problems: bad roads. In 2011, the Rosstandart national standardization body redefined the definition of a pothole as having a width of at least 1.5 meters and a depth of 7 centimeters. At the time, Rosstandart defended its […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – April 5, 2013) Moscow has finally taken first place in an international rating, but it’s in a category the authorities would like to be excluded from. According to the Tom-Tom congestion index, which was released Thursday and is produced annually by the Dutch firm specializing in navigation products, Russia’s capital is ahead […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – April 5, 2013) The middleclass in Russia grew by about 1 percentage point annually from 2004 to 2011 and now makes up about 18.9% of society, while the share of government officials and silovikis, a Russian term referring to political entities in the military or security spheres, usually former officers of the KGB and […]
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(Interfax – Gorki, April 3, 2013) Russian Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev has said the social obligations taken by the state are unconditional and set the task of optimizing spending in this area. “A very considerable sum is provided for these purposes (in the social sphere) in the federal budget this year: over R5,000bn (about 160bn dollars at the current rate […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, April 4, 2013) The Russian authorities are dodging vital but unpopular measures and structural reforms necessary to spur Russia’s faltering economic growth, former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on Thursday. “The government is making use of measures other than those necessary while being afraid of real measures because they are not always popular,” said Kudrin, […]
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(Interfax / Religion – Moscow, April 3, 2013) The Russian church official urges Russian elite to realize their responsibility before nation and make their capitals work for the welfare of the Russian economic system. “Our elite has to consider attentively the signs of time and think whether it is time to change, to restore their connections with people and make […]
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NOVO-OGARYOVO. April 3 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin favors broader use of export loans and new forms of settlements in broadening military-technical cooperation with foreign states. “In order to strengthen (military-technical) cooperation with key partners, we should pay special attention to long-term cooperation programs and broaden the use of state export loans,” Putin said at a meeting of the […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 3, 2013) The Russian government will not influence the Central Bank’s independence in decision-making in order to accelerate economic growth, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said at a conference entitled ‘Economic and Social Modernization’ at the Higher School of Economics on Wednesday. “The key principles behind the Central Bank’s work will continue and, eventually, they […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, April 3, 2013) Former Economics Minister Elvira Nabiullina, nominated by President Vladimir Putin to head the country’s Central Bank, said on Wednesday Russia needed to rethink its model for growth amid the current global economic uncertainty and mounting problems in the eurozone. “We need to change our economic growth model and get focused on internal […]
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(RIA Novosti Yakutsk, April 2, 2013) The government is concerned about a slowing of economic growth in Russia at the start of 2013, however it does not signify a recession, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov told journalists. In January-February, GDP growth in Russia stood at 0.9 per cent compared to last year’s figure of 4.3 per cent, and in […]
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YAKUTSK. April 2 (Interfax) – Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the arrival of an effective owner is a must when state companies are being privatized; the government, however, cannot force any decisions on businesses. “No one can force any decisions on anyone. We want our businesses to be socially responsible, but we cannot institute this by passing decrees,” Medvedev told […]
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MOSCOW. April 2 (Interfax) – The funeral of businessman Boris Berezovsky, who died in London recently, will take place in the British capital, TV Rain (Dozhd) reported citing a source close to Berezovsky’s family. “The decision to hold the funeral of the embattled oligarch in the UK has already been made by his children, firstly his older daughters – Yelizaveta […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – April 2, 2013 -Yevgeny Gontmakher, special to RBTH) Analyst Yevgeny Gontmakher commemorates Berezovsky, who was not a hero but a face and a symbol of 90s. Yevgeny Gontmakher is deputy director of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations. Boris Berezovsky, who died last month, was a shrewd self-promoter, but he was […]
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MOSCOW. April 2 (Interfax) – Russian GDP grew 2.1% in the fourth quarter of 2012, the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) said in an initial estimate for the period on Tuesday. GDP growth for the year remains 3.4%. However Rosstat did adjust quarterly GDP dynamics for 2012: GDP grew 4.8% year-on-year in Q1, compared with an original estimate of 4.9%; […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Scott Rose – April 1, 2013) Russia won’t bail out people or companies that stand to lose money held at Cyprus’s two largest banks, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said. “If someone gets stuck and loses money in those two biggest banks, that’s really too bad,” Shuvalov said in an interview late yesterday on Russian […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alina Sabitova, special to RBTH – March 28, 2013) The fifth BRICS summit, which ended in Durban, South Africa, on March 27, resulted in several significant agreements, including the creation of a BRICS Business Council. However, there was no consensus on the details of a BRICS bank, which was expected to be the […]
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MOSCOW. March 29 (Interfax) – The Russian economy will not be able to reach 5% growth or higher in the coming years, Deputy Economic Development Minister Andrei Klepach said while presenting at a roundtable organized by the newspaper Vedomosti entitled ‘Growth of 5% or More: What is Preventing Russia from an Economic Breakthrough’ in Moscow on Friday. “The question of […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Brian Whitmore – March 29, 2013) The oligarch is dead. Long live the oligarchy. Boris Berezovsky’s death in London last week has been called the end of an era, and in some ways it sort of was. The man who once controlled swaths of the Russian economy and was called everything from the Godfather of the […]
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(Interfax – March 29, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Rostov-on-Don to participate in the first conference of the All-Russia People’s Front dedicated to building social justice. The event is the first in a series of the All-Russia People’s Front conferences dedicated to discussing fundamental issues of Russia’s development, which have been discussed in this or that way […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anatoly Medetsky – March 28, 2013) Russia and four other major emerging economies on Wednesday agreed to set up a council that seeks to facilitate joint business projects. But the five countries, known as BRICS, put off the establishment of a joint development bank, saying the move requires more work. A brief dust-up involving President […]
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(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 58 – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – Pavel Felgenhauer – March 28, 2013) The European Union is Russia’s number one trading partner, and for many years Moscow was seeking to establish a privileged political and economic relationship with select Western European “friends” like France and Germany. Moscow’s most important foreign policy objective since the […]
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(Moscow Times – moscowtimes.com – March 28, 2013) Russia’s economy is facing a slowdown due to a lack of necessary structural reforms, according to a report by Roubini Global Economics, a macroeconomic research firm founded by economist Nouriel Roubini. According to the firm’s estimates, GDP growth will slow to 3.3 percent this year, versus 3.4 percent last year. Growth next […]
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MOSCOW. March 28 (Interfax) – Former YUKOS head Mikhail Khodorkovsky said that he was “very bitter” amid the death of Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky in London. “I was told that Berezovsky had died. We were never friends but have known each other for over 20 years. It is a long time. It is hard to hear that Borya is gone […]
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MOSCOW. March 26 (Interfax) – Differentiation between the levels of unemployment in Russia’s federal districts remains strong – the gap in the districts can surpass four-fold and in the regions 40-fold, the Federal State Statistics Service Rosstat said in a report on employment and unemployment in February. The lowest level of unemployment, in accordance with ILO criteria, was in the […]
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DURBAN, March 27 (RIA Novosti) President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday played up Russia’s potential as an investment destination as he tried to reassure investors at a summit of the world’s leading emerging market economies that the country was open for new business projects. “Let me emphasize that Russia and its economy are open for new trade and investment projects. […]
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MOSCOW. March 26 (Interfax) – Russia’s stock market has very strong potential for growth, Morgan Stanley analysts believe. Russian equities are currently the lowest priced among emerging markets and there are a number of reasons to expect that the discount at which they are traded will decrease, the investment bank’s analysts said in a report. Even the Russian oil and […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Ilya Arkhipov & Vladimir Kuznetsov – March 27, 2013) Russia is among the biggest losers of the crisis in Cyprus and may use its development bank to aid companies with funds trapped behind capital controls in place on the cash-strapped island, the head of the state lender said. “We are prepared to consider proposals and ideas, […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Manik Mehta – March 27, 2013) BERLIN In an attempt to refurbish its image as a tourist destination, Russia went on a charm offensive to court international travelers at the recent Berlin International Tourism Bourse, the world’s largest tourism show. Conceding that visa rules were a big problem, a large contingent of Russian tour […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Howard Amos – March 27, 2013) While most Russians wade through a bureaucratic quagmire to get a visa for the European Union or the United States, once they arrive they enjoy almost complete freedom of movement. For those who choose to come to Russia to live and work, however, the bureaucratic challenges really begin to […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Howard Amos – March 26, 2013) A deal between Cyprus and European lenders was backed by the Kremlin on Monday even as top Russian officials unleashed a storm of angry rhetoric about a compulsory levy on local bank accounts included in the rescue package. President Vladimir Putin “decided to support” the agreement between Cyprus and […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – March 25, 2013 – Conor Lenihan, special to RBTH) Russia has been climbing rapidly up the innovation rankings over the last five years. Conor Lenihan is Skolkovo Foundation Vice President for External Economic Relations. He previously served as Ireland’s Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation. German statesman Otto von Bismarck once famously observed […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle – March 26, 2013) “Is Boris Berezovsky the godfather of Russia’s godfathers? It sure looks that way,” Russian-American journalist Paul Klebnikov wrote in an article published in late 1996, the year a small group of Russian oligarchs, including Berezovsky, engineered President Boris Yeltsin’s re-election. Berezovsky, then a billionaire businessman, objected to the portrayal, […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, March 26, 2013) – Proposals for global economic recovery dominate the agenda for a planned summit of BRICS on Tuesday and Wednesday. President Vladimir Putin will represent Russia at what is the fifth summit of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The meeting will be held in Durban, South Africa. “The pace of growth of the […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Yuri Paniyev, special to RBTH – March 26, 2013) Russian Foreign Ministry has released an official strategy for Russia’s participation in the BRICS association. The document stresses the need to turn the bloc into a comprehensive institution for daily cooperation on key global issues The Kremlin and Russian Foreign Ministry have released an […]
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MOSCOW. March 26 (Interfax) – Recent polls indicate that in the opinion of Russian citizens, lawmakers are the wealthiest of civil servants, and they proposed setting an income limit for those seeking civil service. Fifty-five percent of respondents said deputies of the State Duma and the Federation Council are the richest among civil servants, and 52% said government executives are, […]
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