(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Ilya Arkhipov and Olga Tanas – November 14, 2012) Russian President Vladimir Putin backed a planned pension overhaul opposed by the Finance Ministry, Economy Ministry and asset managers, who warn it would curb economic growth. The Labor Ministry plan would divert taxes from future retirement plans to meet current pension payments and narrow the state system’s […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – November 13, 2012) Russia’s largest association of migrants opened an “adaptation center” in Moscow on Monday that will help workers from other countries learn Russian, obtain professional training and get medical insurance and bank loans. The center will help to fulfill goals set by President Vladimir Putin in late August to “secure […]
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LONDON. Nov 12 (Interfax) – The boom in shale production will turn the United States into the world’s biggest oil producer by 2020, overtaking current leaders Russia and Saudi Arabia, the International Energy Agency said in its latest World Energy Outlook. Only a year ago the IEA was saying that Russia and Saudi Arabia would be the only candidates for […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – November 13, 2012) Gazprom contractor and billionaire Arkady Rotenberg, 60, has said that his childhood friend President Vladimir Putin was sent to Russia “from God.” Rotenberg, a longtime judo sparring partner of Putin’s who has investments in the construction and finance industries, is ranked as Russia’s 94th wealthiest man by Forbes with a personal fortune […]
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MOSCOW, November 12 (RIA Novosti) Russia’s third-quarter GDP expanded at the slowest rate since the country began recovering from the global financial and economic meltdown in early 2010, according to figures released by the Federal Statistics Service (Rosstat) on Monday. Russia’s economy grew by just 2.9 percent in July-September 2012 compared with the same period last year, Rosstat said. […]
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MOSCOW, November 12 (RIA Novosti) Moscow’s first 24-hour English-language radio station, Moscow FM, started broadcasting on Monday. The radio station is the brainchild of the city government’s Moscow Media holding, hopes to become a must-listen-to resource on events in the capital. “Today we are opening the first English-language radio station in Moscow. I hope that this station will open […]
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(Interfax – November 11, 2012) Russians think that the greatest chance of getting rich fast today is to get an inheritance (23%). The share of people holding this opinion has grown over the years (from 17% in 2005), judging by a poll taken by Romir think-tank. In the years since the time of a similar study the number of pessimists […]
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(Russia is on the verge of change, say Valdai Club experts – Valdai Discussion Club – November 8, 2012 – http://valdaiclub.com/event/51120.html) The Valdai Club announces that a “survey of the Valdai Club international experts point to conflicting trends in the development of Russian institutions and society.” Click here to read the full article: http://valdaiclub.com/event/51120.html “The text of the report both […]
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(Interfax – November 8, 2012) Moscow, 8 November: Opposition figure and blogger Aleksey Navalnyy has announced the launch of a new project, called RosZhKKh, for fighting corruption and shortcomings in the work of utilities and municipal services companies. “It is common knowledge that ZhKKh (Russian abbreviation for utilities and municipal services) in Russia is a black hole that sucks in […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Howard Amos – November 8, 2012) [think tank report here http://henryjacksonsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/HJS-The-Shuvalov-Affair-Report-4.pdf] A London-based think tank is reigniting the row over allegations of corruption against Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov with the publication of a new report Thursday. The document, produced by the Henry Jackson Society and obtained in advance of its release by The Moscow […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle – November 8, 2012) “I got a little bit of sleep, but I was up pretty early,” U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul said Wednesday afternoon, shortly after his boss, President Barack Obama, declared election victory. Fatigue at first appeared to blunt his characteristic cheerfulness, but as the conversation turned to what Obama’s second term […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 6 (Interfax) – Former Russian finance minister and current head of the Civil Initiatives Committee, Alexei Kudrin, is not upset with Dmitry Medvedev, who sacked him when he was president, and does not regret quitting the government. “I will say that at the moment I do not see the conditions for my return,” Kudrin said in an interview […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Ilya Arkhipov and Henry Meyer – November 7, 2012) Russian President Vladimir Putin’s opponents are looking to take advantage of a dip in his approval rating by latching on to rising anti-immigration sentiment. With the share of Russians wanting tighter immigration rules at the highest in at least a decade, Alexey Navalny, the country’s most-popular opposition […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, 5 November) Russia will not be able to prevent the adoption of the so called Magnitskiy list either in the USA or in Europe, deputy head of the USA and Canada Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences Viktor Kremenyuk said. “The Magnitskiy list will certainly be adopted (in the USA – Interfax) and Europe will also […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Duane D. Stanford – November 5, 2012) Beam Inc. (BEAM) wants more vodka-imbibing Russians to drink Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark whiskey. Apparently Vladimir Putin didn’t get the memo. In a campaign to help his people live longer, Russia’s president is pushing the biggest crackdown on alcohol since the cold war. That could complicate Beam’s efforts […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Luka Oreskovic – November 2, 2012) Without water, humans can only live for a few days. Yet only about 1 percent of the earth’s water is suitable for human consumption. Rising GDP brings increases in demand for food production, including meat, which demands the greatest amount of water. Treating water is therefore a key utility. […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anatoly Medetsky – November 2, 2012) Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday rejected a government plan to develop science and technology after describing its reliance on a surge in private funding as “absolutely unrealistic.” The proposal, reviewed at a Cabinet meeting, envisioned that private companies would increase spending on research tenfold by 2020, compared to […]
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(Interfax Moscow, 1 November) Vladimir Ryzhkov, co-chairman of RPR-PARNAS (Republican Party of Russia – Party of People’s Freedom), has said that he has mixed feelings after hearing the news that the Velsk Town Court in Arkhangelsk Region on Thursday (1 November) reduced the prison sentence of Platon Lebedev, former MFO Menatep head (and business partner of jailed former Yukos oil […]
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MOSCOW, November 2 (RIA Novosti) Moscow city officials plan to target tourists and English-speaking residents in a whole new way: with a new English-language radio station. Moscow FM, which will be hosted on the 105.2 frequency, is expected to hit the airwaves on November 12, the Kommersant daily newspaper reported Friday. Igor Shestakov, chief editor of the Moscow Media […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, 1 November) The majority of Russians are trying to plan their lives (60 per cent), but mainly over the short term (43 per cent), and 39 per cent of those polled are not inclined to plan for the future, sociologists have found. Among the groups most likely to try to plan for the future are young Russians […]
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(GM Russian Car Venture Is Pleasant Surprise – Wall Street Journal – Lukas I. Alpert – November 1, 2012 – http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203922804578080972277444736.html) The Wall Street Journal reports on General Motors efforts to build cars in Russia, specifically 4-wheel-drive Chevrolet Niva SUV’s for the Russian market. A joint venture with Russian carmaker OAO AvtoVaz, the enterprise struggled at first, during GM’s reorganization […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Howard Amos – November 1, 2012) Russia placed 39th on a list of global financial systems compiled by the World Economic Forum on Wednesday, with no improvement on last year’s position and three places lower than 2008. The goal of turning Moscow into an international financial center and making the ruble a reserve currency has […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, 31 October) According to sociological surveys, Russians support the president, emphasize the need for reforms in the country and believe that there will be improvements in the political and economic life in the near future. Vladimir Putin’s work as president is currently approved of by 67 per cent of those surveyed, a third of citizens (32 per […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Howard Amos – October 29, 2012) WTO director-general Pascal Lamy and the Russian negotiation team leader Maxim Medvedkov celebrating Russia’s entry into the global trade rules club in August 2012. Accession to the World Trade Organization is generating minimal short-term economic gains for Russia, and the long-term benefits are exaggerated, ING Bank said. Russia’s entry […]
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(Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 9, Issue 197 – Pavel K. Baev – October 29, 2012) The Moscow rumor about President Vladimir Putin’s health problems appears well-informed and confirmed by several cancellations of long-scheduled visits and by the postponement of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, but it is remarkable how little […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Rachel Nielsen – October 29, 2012) As the government looks to announce another proposal next month to change the country’s pension system, business lobbying group Delovaya Rossia is stepping up its campaign against the currently proposed reforms and promoting its own. In a one-page position paper, the group flatly states that it doesn’t support the […]
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(RIA Novosti – Andrei Zolotov, Jr. – October 26, 2012) If there had been any expectations among Russia watchers of “a new Putin” coming back to the presidential office after the elections, they must have been finally put to rest after the Russian president’s meeting on Thursday with a group of political scientists and economic experts known as the Valdai […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – October 29, 2012) Billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov announced at a weekend congress of his new Civic Platform party that he is quitting business to enter politics full time, and delegates overwhelmingly elected him as their leader. Prokhorov, 47, said he would place his fortune, estimated at $13.2 billion by Forbes magazine, in a […]
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(Kremlin.ru – Novo-Ogaryovo, Moscow Region – October 25, 2012) During his meeting with members of the Valdai International Discussion Club, Vladimir Putin talked about the current state of the Russian economy and scenarios for Russia’s economic development. The ninth annual conference of the Valdai International Discussion Club on The Future Is Being Made Today: Scenarios for Russia’s Economic Development is […]
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LONDON, October 26 (RIA Novosti)-The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said in a revised forecast that the Russian economy will grow more slowly than it previously projected reflecting weaker internal and external demand and growing capital outflow. “On current trends, GDP growth is expected to slow to 3.2 percent in 2012 and pick up slightly to 3.3 percent […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Irina Filatova – October 26, 2012) OVO-OGARYOVO President Vladimir Putin acknowledged Thursday that he had to make a difficult choice when he approved the purchase of TNK-BP by state behemoth Rosneft, as the decision contradicts the government’s policy to reduce its presence in the economy. But he made it clear that the government had […]
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(Interfax – October 25, 2012) Russia’s entry into the WTO will facilitate trade with the European Union and make it more transparent, Russian Permanent Representative to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov told Interfax on Thursday with regard to the European Parliament debate on EU-Russia trade in the context of Russia’s WTO membership. “Naturally, the entry into the WTO, which became […]
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Hand-wringing at dinner with Putin – Financial Times – Neil Buckley – October 25, 2012 – http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ced25a3a-1deb-11e2-901e-00144feabdc0.html The Financial Times examines growing limitations on Russian economic prospects, and the resulting impact on the latest “Valdai Discussion Club” dinner: … the event, and the context, has changed a lot. In Valdai’s early years, Russia was growing at 7 per cent a […]
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(Interfax – October 24, 2012) The resolution on the Magnitskiy (Magnitsky) list passed by the European Parliament is “designed to undermine contacts between Russia and Europe”, Russian Interfax news agency reported on 24 October, quoting head of the State Duma International Affairs Committee Aleskey Pushkov. Politicians On 23 October the European lawmakers passed a resolution requiring the EU to draw […]
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MOSCOW. Oct 24 (Interfax) – Russian GDP will grow 3% in 2012 and 2.5% in 2013, but that is as good as it will get until structural changes are implemented, Alexander Morozov, chief economist for Russia and the CIS at HSBC, said at a meeting with reporters. The ruble will continue to weaken, falling to 32.27 rubles/$1 by the end […]
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(Interfax – Novo-Ogarevo – 24 October) The report issued by the Centre for Strategic Research contains unduly pessimistic scenarios for the country’s development, which can not be accepted, the Russian president’s press secretary Dmitriy Peskov has said. “The report is quite extensive, and gives an expert point of view, of which there are many. Of course, it will take us […]
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MOSCOW. Oct 24 (Interfax) – One of the leaders of the ruling United Russia party and a deputy chairman of the State Duma has given lie to a pessimistic economic forecast in a report by Russia’s Strategic Projects Center released on Wednesday, a paper that blamed the country’s alleged degradation on its leaders. “The report itself has been done not […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anatoly Medetsky – October 23, 2012) Rosneft’s deal to take over TNK-BP masterfully achieves the dual purpose of strengthening the state’s hand in the oil industry to spectacular proportions and showcasing its benevolence to foreign capital at the same time. Officially confirmed Monday, the gradual $56 billion purchase of the country’s third-largest crude producer will […]
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MOSCOW, October 23 (Marc Bennetts, RIA Novosti) – The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 appeared to have sounded the death knell for the ideas of Marx and Lenin in Russia, but just over two decades on, a new wave of young and increasingly visible socialist activists are eager to hoist the red flag over the Kremlin once more. […]
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St. Petersburg, October 23 (RIA Novosti, Andrei Zolotov Jr.) – Lack of efficient institutions and the political will to reform them were the buzzwords among the strategists and experts in economics and public policy at the Valdai Club’s 9th annual conference on Russia’s trajectory. The Valdai Club, which is co-sponsored by RIA Novosti and the Russian Council on Foreign and […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – October 24 ,2012) It was the first head-to-head clash between the young liberal team in Russia’s cabinet and the old guard Siloviki faction in the presidential administration. On balance, the liberals are seen as having sneaked a win. The battle lines have been drawn since Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev appointed a surprisingly reform-minded […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Matthew Campbell – October 24, 2012) As a small army of advisers from eight investment banks huddled in London last weekend to negotiate Russian state oil company OAO Rosneft (ROSN)’s agreement to acquire BP Plc (BP/)’s Russian venture, the deal’s most important player had already left the country. Igor Sechin, 52, a former Soviet spy and […]
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MOSCOW. Oct 19 (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 80-fold, the Federal State Statistics Service Rosstat said in a report on employment and unemployment in September. The lowest level of unemployment, in accordance with ILO criteria, was in the […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Henry Meyer – October 21, 2012) Nina Sultankina is telling Vladimir Putin to ignore Russia’s ticking pensions time bomb. As the 50-year-old road supervisor counts the days until she can retire and tend to her failing health in 2016, she is refusing to work longer and not even the Russian president can change her mind. “I […]
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MOSCOW. Oct 17 (Interfax) – Russia hopes improve its ranking on the Doing Business index by improving tax administration, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said. In the last Doing Business index, Russia was number 120. The country’s authorities have selected this index as an indicator of the success of their efforts to improve the business climate. In his first instruction after […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Howard Amos – October 18, 2012) Blocked by bureaucracy? Not appreciated by officials? Look for the red button. Under a new initiative by business ombudsman Boris Titov, people sent packing by government agencies will have someone to help them try again. Due to be drawn up by the end of December, the Red Button program […]
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MOSCOW. Oct 16 (Interfax) – Moscow’s Tverskoi Court on Tuesday will continue hearings of the criminal case against a former deputy head of Butyrka prison, Dmitry Kratov, who is the only suspect thus far to have been accused of negligence leading to Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky’s death. Evidence is expected to be provided by investigator Oleg Silchenko, who probed […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Scott Rose – October 16, 2012) Russia needs a better business climate to bolster economic growth and win an upgrade of its investment-grade credit rating, according to Standard & Poor’s. The government must deal with “structural impediments” to growth by fighting corruption, scaling back the state’s role in the economy and improving the judiciary, while moving […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Rachel Nielsen – October 16, 2012) In a recent comedy sketch show, a police officer forks over the pay raise that he hid from his wife after she hears President Vladimir Putin announce the increase on TV. “Vladimir Vladimirovich,” the policeman mutters on the “6 Kadrov” television show, “thank you for raising our salaries, but […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Olga Tanas – October 15, 2012) Russia’s middle class will double to 60 percent of the population by 2050, benefiting hotels and restaurants, according to a report by HSBC Holdings Plc. (HSBA) By that time, about 74 million Russians will earn between $3,000 and $15,000 a year, making them part of the middle class, according to […]
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