(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – January 21, 2013) A left-wing economist who advocated firing Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will help draft the government crisis strategy in case of economic turmoil, according to a presidential order published in December, Vedomosti reported Friday. Sergei Glazyev will be on a task force that will develop the strategy. It will also […]
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(Interfax – January 21, 2013) Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) brought the country many advantages for protecting the domestic agriculture market, Agriculture Minister Nikolai Fyodorov said at a press conference in Berlin. “We view WTO accession as satisfactory and believe that it provides more pluses for protecting the domestic market,” he said. Membership in the international trade […]
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MOSCOW, January 21 (Vladislav Fedotkin, RIA Novosti) Russians have been shopping hand over fist in recent years, and borrowing more money than they can pay back to do it. Last year, overdue consumer loans surged, but analysts say that as long as world oil prices don’t plunge, a slew of emerging safeguards is likely to keep the credit bubble […]
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(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 10 – Jamestown Foundation: jamestown.org – Margarita Assenova – January 18, 2013) Increased state control and consolidation of the oil and gas sector marked Russia’s energy developments in 2012, while the state budget remained heavily dependent on energy revenues. At the same time, Russia’s markets in Europe are shrinking due to the economic crisis […]
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(Interfax – January 17, 2013) The Russian economy is losing out from the process of globalization, Sberbank (RTS: SBER) president German Gref believes. “A question: are we gaining or losing on global markets? Answer: losing. We gained in all recent years only thanks to resource exports. On all other positions we are losing,” Gref said at the Gaidar Forum, commenting […]
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(http://government.ru – January 16, 2013) Speech by Dmitry Medvedev at the forum: Good afternoon, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to thank you for inviting me to speak at the Gaidar Forum. Life changes fast. Currently, all of us, Russians of course, take for granted the possibility to build our lives as we see fit and to do it […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Irina Filatova – January 18, 2013) Russia is on the right path to radically improve its business environment and move up 100 notches within the next five years in the global rankings of the favorableness of countries’ investment climate, a World Bank official said Thursday. But its eventual position in relation to other countries in […]
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MOSCOW. Jan 17 (Interfax) – The development of the Russian stock market this year will to a significant degree be determined by the influence of external conditions, and high volatility is likely to continue, according to a review of the financial market in 2012 worked up by the Central Bank of Russia’s research and information department. This year could see […]
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(Interfax – January 17, 2013) The question of Russia meeting its obligations to the World Trade Organization is closed, WTO Director General Pascal Lamy said Thursday at the Gaidar Forum in Moscow. He said Russia has been a member of the trade body for five months already, so the question of the country meeting its obligations is a thing of […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – January 17, 2013) Russia will not have to assume many of the commitments to liberalize trade that are approved during the Doha round of World Trade Organization talks, the government’s top trade negotiator said Wednesday, Interfax reported. “Russia would like to see [the Doha round] wrap up as quickly as possible if only for pragmatic […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Howard Amos – January 17, 2013) A capital outflow of up to $10 billion every three months would be an acceptable level under current macroeconomic conditions, a leading figure at the Central Bank said. Russia saw $56.8 billion leave the country in 2012, stoking fears that the Kremlin is struggling to control capital flight and […]
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(Kremlin.ru – January 16, 2013) The Kremlin, Moscow Vladimir Putin held a meeting on economic issues to discuss the financial results for 2012 and measures to develop Russia’s economy. PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Good afternoon, colleagues. We will discuss the results for 2012 today and look at additional measures to ensure economic growth. The situation in the global economy […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Irina Filatova – January 17, 2013) Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday urged the Cabinet to ensure stable economic growth of at least 5 percent a year in the near future, a goal some officials said might require changes to current budget policy. The major goal for the country’s government is “to ensure transition to […]
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(www.opendemocracy.net – Mikhail Loginov – January 16, 2013) Mikhail Loginov is a journalist and novelist based in St. Petersburg. He is the author of the recently published bestselling political thriller “Battle for Kremlin”. Most radiators in urban Russian homes are fed by hot water transported from heating plants miles away. Ageing pipes frequently burst, causing hardship and even fatalities. Could […]
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MOSCOW. Jan 16 (Interfax) – The political modernization course is unwavering, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said at the Gaidar Forum on Wednesday. “We need political modernization and qualitative broadening of political and economic freedoms,” he said. The other tasks are qualitative renovation, comprehensive modernization of various spheres of the country’s life, technological modernization, economic diversification, reduced dependence on fluctuations of […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – January 16, 2013) First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said Wednesday that the government would not raise taxes for business before 2018, provided that events of a “global” scale do not influence the situation. In an interview published in Kommersant on Wednesday, Shuvalov said that the government finalized its midterm tax strategy last year. “Up […]
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MOSCOW, January 16 (RIA Novosti) Russia should abandon its policy of providing state support to specific sectors of the economy and start supporting domestic firms integrating into world production chains, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday. “It is necessary to go beyond the sectoral approach, which has been established and is frequently practiced in our country. The focus […]
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MOSCOW. Jan 16 (Interfax) – Russia’s economic performance was “relatively satisfactory” in 2012, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting dedicated to economic affairs at the Kremlin. “The economic results of the year have not yet been conclusively summed up, but the preliminary figures look relatively satisfactory. According to the Economic Development Ministry’s estimates, GDP growth for January-November of […]
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(Interfax – January 16, 2013) Year 2012 was calm politically and good economically, despite the difficult State Duma and presidential elections, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said in an interview published in the Wednesday edition of Kommersant. “To me, as a government official, our condition at the end of 2012 is an additional confirmation that the country has learned […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Simon Kennedy & Scott Rose – January 16, 2013) The world is on the brink of a fresh “currency war,” Russia warned, as European policy makers joined Japan in bemoaning the economic cost of rising exchange rates. “Japan is weakening the yen and other countries may follow,” Alexei Ulyukayev, first deputy chairman of Russia’s central bank, […]
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(Interfax – January 16, 2013) Russia, as a country that only recently joined the World Trade Organization (WTO), might not assume many of the commitments to liberalize trade that are approved during the Doha round of talks, Maxim Medvedkov, head of trade negotiations at the Russian Economic Development Ministry, told Interfax. “Russia would like to see [the Doha round] wrap […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – January 15, 2013) Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his newly appointed Ukrainian counterpart, Leonid Kozhara, had a series of meetings on Sunday and Monday to underline the importance of fostering strategic ties between the two countries, with Ukraine’s potential accession to the Russia-dominated Customs Union a central topic. Relations have been strained […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Nathan Gray – January 15, 2013) The fourth annual Gaidar Forum kicks off at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and State Administration on Wednesday, bringing together Russian and international economic leaders to discuss key policy issues around the theme of “Russia and the World: The Challenges of Integration.” The forum grew out of […]
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(www.opendemocracy.net – Andrei Zaostrovtsev – January 11, 2013) Andrei Zaostrovtsev is lecturer at the M-Centre at the European University, St. Petersburg and professor of the Higher School of Economics One way Vladimir Putin has retained his popularity among Russians has been by increasing retirement pensions and other social benefits, and as a result the state pension fund is deep in […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – January 15, 2013) When President Vladimir Putin gave Russian citizenship to French actor Gerard Depardieu, the story became the biggest Internet hit and a subject of political controversy over the long New Year’s vacation. It was the first time in modern Russian history that someone who was not a former spy but […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, January 11, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/01/window-on-eurasia-privatization.html) Staunton, January 11 The Russian people “who 20 years ago dreamed about freedom today are choosing slavery” because they were deceived by the elites about privatization and thus no longer “believe anyone,” according to an analysis by Vladimir Pastukhov, a Russian scholar who now works at […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Kristen Blyth – January 14, 2013) When asked how she became qualified to work as a real estate agent, Emma became defensive. “I don’t want to tell you,” she told The Moscow News. “I’m a realtor now, and that’s all you need to know.” Emma was the broker that Elliott Estebo, an expat English teacher, […]
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(www.opendemocracy.net – Pavel Usanov – January 11, 2013) Pavel Usanov is head of the Hayek Institute for Economy and Law in St. Petersburg and Reader at the Higher School of Economics. Since the collapse of the USSR investors have flocked to Russia, tempted by the high rates of return and the Alice in Wonderland atmosphere in Moscow, where everything seems […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – January 14, 2013) Former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, who at an inquiry Friday into allegedly illicit property sales gave investigators “a few sheets of paper with explanations” then refused further questions, faces being considered a suspect, the Investigative Committee said. “If the former defense minister believes he is free of any guilt with regard to […]
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MOSCOW. Jan 9 (Interfax) – The multi-part drama known as the corporate dispute at Russian mining giant Norilsk Nickel (RTS: GMKN) came to a conclusion at the end of 2012 with an unexpected twist. The distribution of forces that had emerged at Norilsk Nickel since the end of 2008 seemed fairly stable and safe. Vladimir Potanin’s Interros and Norilsk Nickel’s […]
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(www.opendemocracy.net – Andrei Zaostrovtsev – January 9, 2013) Andrei Zaostrovtsev is lecturer at the M-Centre at the European University, St. Petersburg and professor of the Higher School of Economics Owning a business in Russia today is a hazardous affair: each year thousands of companies close after their owners are accused of ‘economic crimes’ and face either prison or protection payments […]
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BEIJING, January 10 (RIA Novosti) China-Russia trade grew 11.2 percent in 2012 from the previous year to $88.16 billion, the Chinese General Customs Administration reported on Thursday. Trade with the European Union, China’s largest trading partner, declined by 3.7 percent last year to $546.04 billion while trade with the United States, China’s second-largest trading partner, grew by 8.5 percent to […]
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MOSCOW. Jan 9 (Interfax) – The Russian stock market gave investors hopes for good profits early on in 2012 but ended up at the rear of global financial flows demonstrating rather modest results. The overall global situation was also certainly far from ideal, but, despite all the European debt troubles, the uncertainty surrounding the U.S. presidential elections and the fiscal […]
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MOSCOW. Jan 9 (Interfax) – Officials and businessmen need to win people’s confidence back, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, the head of the synodal department on liaison between the church and society, said. “Many people now feel alienation from decisions made in the economic sphere. Decisions are made by a limited circle of people. Our president has called the privatization unfair. This […]
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MOSCOW, January 10 (RIA Novosti) Russia’s economy is among the least free in the world, according to an index published on Thursday. Russia took 139th position out of 177 countries on the 2013 Index of Economic Freedom, published by the Heritage Foundation think tank and the Wall Street Journal. The showing represented a slight improvement from 2012 for Russia, […]
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(Dmitry Travin – www.opendemocracy.net – January 7, 2013) Dmitry Travin is Research Director at the European University in St. Petersburg’s Centre of Modernization Studies. The first eight years of the last decade were incredibly successful for Russia’s economy, but the crisis of 2008 hit hard and growth remains decidedly sluggish. Dmitry Travin wonders whether the country’s economy will ever be […]
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(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 1 – Pavel K. Baev – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – January 7, 2013) Early January is a period of partying and hibernation in Russia. Yet, this pause also provides an opportunity to reflect on the incredible ups and downs of the past year. Designated by the Kremlin as a year of return to […]
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MOSCOW. Jan 9 (Interfax) – Russia’s electricity sector in 2012 became a kind of blanket that was pulled in opposite directions by two opposing forces, which were personified by the government’s former and current tsars of the sector, Igor Sechin and Arkady Dvorkovich. They pulled on two, very large, corners – RusHydro and the combination of Federal Grid Company (FGC) […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Scott Rose – January 9, 2013) Russian consumer spending will continue to carry economic growth this year even as slower increases in incomes and borrowing damp household demand, according to BNP Paribas SA. “We see private consumption remaining the primary driver of GDP growth in 2013 and beyond,” Julia Tsepliaeva and Kirill Mavrin, economists at BNP […]
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MOSCOW, January 9 (RIA Novosti) Most Russians consider the critical situation in the housing and utilities sector, inflation and low living standards and corruption as the most pressing problems in the country, a new poll revealed on Wednesday. The majority of respondents, 58 percent, said housing and utilities problems were their main concerns, according to the VTsIOM state pollster. […]
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(Voice of America – Russian Service Crossfire – Donald N. Jensen – January 3, 2013) Russian state has struggled unsuccessfully since 1991 to reconcile three disparate, somewhat contradictory sources of legitimacy. It portrays itself as democratic, but the trashing of the 1990s by the Putin regime deprives the current system of a founding myth. During the Putin era there have […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, 29 December) According to economic experts interviewed by Interfax news agency, the lack of new economic ideas and structural reforms will impede Russia’s economic growth in 2013. The following is excerpt from report by privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax. Subheadings as published. The ending year has shown that the old drivers of growth are no longer working, […]
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MOSCOW. Jan 4 (Interfax) – Political, economic and financial stability attracts investors and artists, Sberbank CEO German Gref told Interfax on Friday, speaking of Russian citizenship conferred to French actor Gerard Depardieu. “The Depardieu situation shows that financial, economic and political stability is frequently a key factor in the choice of the country by investors and artists. I think people […]
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MOSCOW, January 4 (RIA Novosti) – Legendary French actor Gerard Depardieu said he is glad to be granted Russian citizenship, adding that he loves Russia and promising to study the Russian language. “Yes, I have applied for a passport and I am glad my request has been granted,” Depardieu said in a letter to Russian journalists posted on the website […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Bryan Bradley – January 4, 2013) U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s opposition to Russia’s growing economic might in Europe wasn’t practical, Vydas Gedvilas, the head of Lithuania’s new parliament, said in an interview with Russian radio. The international influence of Russian businesses is an economic reality that European countries must separate from politics and deal […]
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(Interfax – January 2, 2013) Moscow does not rule out negotiations on Russia’s entry to the OECD may be accompanied by “political risks” linked to the case of Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergey Magnitskiy’s death, the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s economic cooperation department Aleksandr Gorban said, as reported by Interfax on 2 January. “These concerns are fair. There are […]
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[Foreign Policy – Anders Åslund – December 28, 2012 – http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/12/28/Putin_orphans_Russia_crackdown] Anders Åslund examines the state of Russian politics, characterizing it as marked by repression, anger and a realization of a need for change but lacking a grasp of effective alternatives other than personal flight: … I have not found the mood in the Russian capital so depressed since the […]
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(Russia rings in new year with ban on kiosk beer sales – AP – Jim Heintz – January 1, 2013 – Click here for full article) AP covers Russia’s abolition of sidewalk beer vending, as well as a Russian move to reclassify beer as alcohol rather than food: A big question in Russia in this year may be: “How do […]
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TBILISI. Jan 1 (Interfax) – Twenty Georgian companies producing wine and mineral water are preparing to resume the deliveries of their output to the Russian market, head of the Center for Georgian-Russian Economic Cooperation Giorgy Seturidze told the press summing up the results of a Monday meeting with representatives of these companies. He said all technical questions related to the […]
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MOSCOW. Jan 1 (Interfax) – Greediness often prevents Russian businesses from gaining a foothold on foreign markets, says Alexander Gorban, the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s economic cooperation department. “I would like to mention one significant difference between Russian and Western businesses: it is their desire to have a high profit margin,” Gorban said in an interview with Interfax. […]
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