(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Howard Amos – February 18, 2013) The Moscow Exchange began trading its own shares Friday, successfully concluding the largest initial public offering in Russia since the 2008 financial crisis. The bourse, which was formed from the merger of the MICEX Index and the dollar-denominated RTS, sold 15 billion rubles ($500 million) worth of shares, indicating […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Irina Filatova – February 18, 2013) The head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development promised Friday that accession to the club of the world’s most economically advanced countries won’t take Russia as long as its entry into the World Trade Organization. “It will not take 17 years,” Angel Gurria told Finance Minister Anton […]
» Read more
(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Nathan Gray – February 18, 2013) KRASNOYARSK – Sony opened an Internet cafe in Krasnoyarsk last week. The coffee was free, the Internet and the computer use were free, but there were two catches: first, it was only open three days, and second, you had to be registered for the Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum to visit. […]
» Read more
(Business New Europe – bne.eu – February 15, 2013) In a sign of the times, Russias statistics agency, Rosstat, is going to add the cost of hooking up to the internet and monthly spending on mobile phone bills to the consumer basket that is used to calculate inflation, amongst other things. The Russian economy is increasingly being driven by consumer […]
» Read more
(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Brian Whitmore – February 14, 2013) Does anybody remember Skolkovo? What seems like eons ago, back when iPads were still must-have gadgets for the Russian elite, the scientific and technological center was the showcase project in Dmitry Medvedev’s efforts to modernize the country’s economy to make it less dependent on oil and gas. Well Skolkovo is back […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded that special services’ interference in business disputes be stopped. “I want to emphasize particularly that being dragged into commercial disputes, putting pressure on business, and creating various artificial obstacles and barriers to the implementation of investment projects is unacceptable,” Putin said at a Federal Security Service (FSB) expanded board […]
» Read more
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – Galina Starinskaya, special to RBTH- February 14, 2013) CEO Igor Sechin directed massive growth for state-owned Rosneft in 2012, developing international partnerships in offshore projects, a merger with TNK-BP and a move toward direct long-term contracts. If Gazprom loses its monopoly on exports of liquefied natural gas, as Rosneft expects, the latter will […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Rachel Nielsen – Februry 14, 2013) He has had long discussions with Microsoft founder Bill Gates, sits on the Skolkovo Foundation’s board of trustees with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and presidential aide Elvira Nabiullina and heads a company investing $1 billion of federal money into next-generation technology startups. These weighty responsibilities are the most recent […]
» Read more
(Business New Europe – bne.com – February 14, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin called for an end to the long Soviet-era habit of classifying geological data as a state secret. As part of the new look Russia-can-do Inc, that he hopes will bring in more investment, the president said the information on the size and location of the countrys natural […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) – The accessibility of information about the activities of Russian financial institutions does not yet meet world standards, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said. At a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the prime minister demanded that measures be taken to eliminate this shortcoming. “We need to meet the level of world standards in terms of the accessibility, quality […]
» Read more
(Interfax – February 13, 2013) In mid-February Russia starts hosting the first G20 meetings of its presidency. The most challenging economic problems the world is facing today are on the agenda. Russia, to which Mexico passed the G20 presidency in December, is beginning to host the first meetings of the Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. They […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, February 14 (RIA Novosti) Nothing can stop or slow down the reintegration of the post-Soviet space, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday. “We’ve heard some recent nervous and outspoken remarks regarding integration in the post-Soviet space. Let’s put them down to the emotional rhetoric of these politicians,” Putin said at a meeting of FSB (Federal Security Service) […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. Feb 12 (Interfax) – Healthcare, heavy industries and agriculture should be the primary areas of foreign investments, respondents told the Public Opinion Foundation in 100 towns and cities in 43 regions on February 2-3. Sixty-three percent of 1,500 respondents believe Russian authorities are interested in attracting foreign investments, 7% doubt that and 30% know nothing about investment plans of […]
» Read more
WASHINGTON/MOSCOW. Feb 12 (Interfax) – The United States has criticized the ban Russia imposed on meat imports from February 11 due to ractopamine and says Russia is violating WTO regulations. The Russian agriculture watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor says other countries, including WTO members, have also banned imports of U.S. meat produced with ractopamine and Russia is simply following their example. In a […]
» Read more
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Scott Rose – February 12, 2013) Illicit capital outflows from Russia were as much as $211.5 billion between 1994 and 2011 as the underground economy moved funds abroad, according to Global Financial Integrity, a group that studies financial flows. Total illicit outflows were $9.99 billion in 2011, down from a peak of $41.6 billion in 2010, […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Winning – February 13, 2013) President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday submitted a bill to the State Duma that seeks to ban government officials from holding overseas bank accounts or owning foreign-issued bonds and shares. The legislation, part of a raft of measures proposed by the president that ostensibly target corruption and foreign influence in […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, February 12 (RIA Novosti) President Vladimir Putin has submitted a bill to the State Duma prohibiting Russian officials from holding bank accounts abroad or owning foreign-issued shares and bonds, according to information posted on the Duma’s website. “This ban applies to persons who hold government positions in Russia, the Prosecutor General’s first and other deputies, members of the […]
» Read more
(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Anna Arutunyan – February 11, 2013) Anna Arutunyan is the politics editor of The Moscow News In early December in the Siberian city of Barnaul, Vitaly Sidukhinsky, 28, was trying to board a bus with his mother. The doors closed before his mother could get on the bus, and Sidukhinsky, who was mentally disabled and […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Irina Filatova – February 12, 2013) One-fifth of Russians believe that doing business in the country is easier for foreigners than for local businessmen, a survey has revealed. Twenty percent of participants in a poll by the Public Opinion Foundation believe that foreign investors working in Russia enjoy more benefits than their local peers, since […]
» Read more
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Scott Rose & Olga Tanas – February 12, 2013) Russia’s central bank refrained from easing borrowing costs after inflation surged to a 15-month high, warning of the threat of faster price growth and defying government calls for lower rates to support the slowing economy. Bank Rossii held the refinancing rate at 8.25 percent for a fifth […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Howard Amos – February 12, 2013) Natural gas assets being sold by crisis-ridden Greece are at the center of an escalating battle between Russian companies with ready cash and European officials reluctant to facilitate the growth of Moscow’s influence in their backyard. One of the juiciest prizes of Greece’s privatization program, gas company DEPA and […]
» Read more
(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Irina Granik, Moskovskiye Novosti – February 11, 2013) Old arguments have risen again in the government, after the publication of the “Five Years of Effectiveness” economic program earlier this month. The themes, as before, are how much money should remain in the state reserve in case of a crisis, and how to finance investment projects […]
» Read more
(Ambassador Michael McFaul – Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – February 8, 2013 – Michael Mcfaul is the U.S. Ambassador in Russia) A year ago, I arrived in Moscow to represent my country as the U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation. This is a good moment to reflect on the state of U.S.-Russian relations and my role in developing […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. Feb 12 (Interfax) – A total of 69 Georgian wine and mineral water producers have applied to export product to Russia, Russian consumer safety watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said. “All of the documents received have been forwarded to Rospotrebnadzor experts for study. Priority will be given to those 31 organizations that have submitted information for the documentary check in full. The […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. Feb 11 (Interfax) – The Russian Presidential Experts Directorate has compiled several measures aimed at de-offshorization of the Russian economy, the head of the directorate, Ksenia Yudaeva, said. As well as privatization inside Russia, reforming regulations for investing pension savings and easing the tax regime for investors, the measures suggested include the creation of a special arbitration court and […]
» Read more
NOVO-OGARYOVO. Feb 11 (Interfax) – President Vladimir Putin has emphasized the need for “soft force” mechanisms in Russian Foreign Ministry operations. “Obviously, ‘classic’ diplomacy is, if not particularly out of date, then seriously transformed. You and your colleagues have to deal with the economy, developing business relations, supporting various economic projects and opening new promising markets,” Putin told Russian Foreign […]
» Read more
(Interfax – February 8, 2013) Half of Russia’s trade turnover is with the EU, and EU countries are the main sources of foreign investment in the Russian economy despite the crisis, Russia’s permanent envoy to the EU Vladimir Chizhov told reporters before Diplomats’ Day, which is marked on Feb. 10. “Russian-EU relations can’t stagnate because the Russian economy and the […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. Feb 7 (Interfax) – The rate of Russian economic growth this year will not be any more than 3%-3.5%, Citi economist for Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States countries Natalya Novikova thinks. Novikova told the press on Thursday that Citi analysts are not expecting a significant decline in the price of oil this year, but the problem for the […]
» Read more
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – Elena Shipilova, RBTH – February 8, 2013) Russia is set to privatize three large-scale holdings in 2013, and Putin wants shares sold on the Russian market. Experts, however, believe privatizing state-owned companies via the Moscow Stock Exchange as opposed to London or New York is likely to make them less successful, […]
» Read more
(RFE/RL – www.rferl.org – Daisy Sindelar – February 8, 2013) Many people enjoy the fireworks and celebrations that come with Chinese New Year. Not everyone, however, is enthusiastic about the upcoming Year of the Snake, which begins February 10. For one thing, the Year of the Snake is traditionally considered a less fortuitous cycle in the 12-year Chinese zodiac than […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, February 8 (RIA Novosti) The market value of Russia’s government owned assets is more than 50 percent higher than the country’s 2012 GDP, but the authorities say the property’s management is not always effective. The Russian government held a meeting Thursday to try to work out a concept in the sphere of managing federal property. Russia’s Federal Agency […]
» Read more
(Interfax – February 7, 2013) Russian Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev has said that public officials of all levels should leave the boards of directors of state companies, Russian privately-owned Interfax news agency reported on 7 February. He also criticized the procedure for approving state company directors. “In future only professional directors should work on boards; state employees should leave,” Medvedev […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Nikolaus von Twickel – February 7, 2013) One year before the Winter Olympics are to kick off, it looks like Sochi 2014 is getting mired in controversy. While the country’s leaders have made it clear that the Olympics are a matter of national pride and prestige, national and international media attention is increasingly focused on […]
» Read more
(Interfax – February 6, 2013) A senior Russian government minister has dismissed allegations that migrant workers involved in preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi are being cheated out of wages and denied adequate rest, food and housing, the privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax reported on 6 February. With almost exactly a year to go until the Games, Dmitriy […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Irina Filatova – February 7, 2013) [Chart here http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/sochi-scorecard-lots-of-progress-but-lots-to-be-done/475172.html] An inflatable 8-meter brown bear floating off into the Moscow sunset followed by applause from the stands during the closing ceremony of the 1980 Summer Olympics is perhaps one of the most colorful moments in the country’s sports history. It took Russia 30 years to win […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Lena Smirnova – February 6, 2013) Bill Mayfield is utterly convinced Russia is ready to embrace more expat workers. He’s so sure it’s not hard for foreigners even those who don’t speak a single word of Russian to find work here that he’s written a book about it. “What are expats good at […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anatoly Medetsky – February 6, 2013) Agriculture Minister Nikolai Fyodorov on Tuesday asked for an additional $1.4 billion in farming subsidies this year, as grain prices are growing and WTO commitments are taking effect. Total federal spending on supporting farmers was initially projected at 158 billion rubles ($5.3 billion) this year. Following a less-than-spectacular crop […]
» Read more
(Interfax – February 6, 2013) The share of food and beverages (including alcohol) in the consumer basket of Russians is one of the highest in the world, said the Central Bank. That share is 37.7% in Russia, versus 23.1% in Brazil, 21.6% in South Africa, 19.1% in Japan, 5.3% in the USA and 13.5% in Germany. In India, the share […]
» Read more
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Henry Meyer and Ilya Arkhipov – February 6, 2013) Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is clinging to his job as President Vladimir Putin grows increasingly frustrated with his protege’s inability to boost growth, three current and former Kremlin advisers said. Putin criticized Medvedev’s government last week for failing to adapt to a “post-crisis” economic model. That followed […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Nikolaus von Twickel – February 5, 2013) Georgian wine and mineral water could return to Russian store shelves as early as this spring, Russia’s chief sanitary official said Monday. Moscow will send teams of sanitary inspectors to facilities in Georgia, Gennady Onishchenko told reporters. If they approve local quality levels, producers can register in Russia […]
» Read more
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Henry Meyer – February 5, 2013) “Are you totally out of your mind?” Russian newspaper tycoon Alexander Lebedev exclaimed as he jumped to his feet. He stared combatively at property developer Sergei Polonsky, who had taunted Lebedev for ridiculing his claim to be a major charity donor. As tempers flared during the recording of a TV […]
» Read more
(Business New Europe – bne.com – February 5, 2013) After dubbing it the most corrupt sector in Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin has moved again to crack down on graft in the utilities sector by calling for public oversight of the sector. Public councils are to be set up to oversee the sector and Putin said this will be done […]
» Read more
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Jason Corcoran – February 4, 2013) Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (G) has been hired by the Russian government to burnish the nation’s image overseas and attract more institutional investors. The bank has signed a three-year agreement with the Economy Ministry and the Russian Direct Investment Fund to advise on issues such as communicating government decisions and […]
» Read more
(Business New Europe – www.bne.eu – Moscow Blog – February 5, 2013) Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev called on the government to pick up the pace of economic growth and raise it to 5% in the near future, which might “require some changes in the budget policy.” The battle lines are being drawn for probably one of the most important […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – moscowtimes.com – Nikolaus von Twickel and Irina Filatova – Februry 4, 2013) One year before they kick off, the Sochi Winter Olympics have already bagged a world record. They will go down as the most expensive games in history. The cost will top 1.5 trillion rubles ($50 billion) in state and private investment, and three-quarters of that […]
» Read more
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – Daria Gonzales – February 5, 2013) Today, the provocative label of “dead town” smothers a thousand human tales of departure, relocation, and long waits in the hopes of a flat in a new city. Yet, not all residents of these nearly uninhabited places have the desire to leave. RBTH explores the lives of […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Irina Filatova – February 1, 2013) Finance Ministry and Central Bank officials on Thursday called for strict adherence to existing budget policy, saying the measure is critical to achievement of the high rates of economic growth set by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. Attaining an annual 5 percent increase in gross domestic product is “very ambitious,” […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anatoly Medetsky – February 1, 2013) Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev took the floor in the Kremlin on Thursday to outline a wide range of goals for his Cabinet, in a move seen as a show of unwavering support for him from President Vladimir Putin. Most of the goals, such as improving the conditions for business, […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. Jan 31 (Interfax) – The main risks that Russia faces are not external, but internal, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said at an expanded government session on Thursday. “And all the main risks are not external, but internal. I’m referring to the forecast reductions in the working-age population, the low quality of state management, the far-from-ideal investment climate, the […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – January 31, 2013) More then 40 percent of Russian businessmen have moved into the shadows since the government increased social taxes in 2011, business ombudsman Boris Titov said. Titov, the government envoy for protecting the rights of small and medium-size businesses, said the introduction of a 34 percent social tax in 2011 […]
» Read more