Month: August 2007

August 20, 2007

BBC Russia Gets Cut Off

Due to pressure from the licensing authorities, last Friday Bolshoye Radio, the Moscow distributor of the BBC’s broadcasts of Russian-language news decided to cut off the FM signal, and replace the content with locally produced content. The ...
August 20, 2007

RA: Fallout Over Nuclear Deals

The attached by-lined article by Robert Amsterdam was published in today’s Herald Sun, one of Australia’s leading newspapers. Fallout Over Nuclear Deals By Robert Amsterdam August 20, 2007 12:00am MOST Australians know their country ha...
August 20, 2007

Grigory Pasko: A Small Journey in Russia, Part 1

[Article introduction: Readers of the blog may have noticed that our intrepid Russian correspondent Grigory Pasko hasn’t been heard from for a while. No, he hasn’t been on vacation. On the contrary, Grigory has been busy traveling arou...
August 20, 2007

RA in the FT

Robert Amsterdam is quoted in today’s Financial Times: FT: Nest of deals triggers ownership questions In a deal inside a deal, reminiscent of Russian matryoshki or “nesting” dolls, US businessman Stephen Lynch has laid claim to o...
August 16, 2007

CPJ Denounces Psychiatric Detention of Activist

Below is a letter from the Committee to Protect Journalists written to Vladimir Putin regarding the situation of Larisa Arap, a journalist/writer (her profession is disputed) and member of the United Civil Front who is being held against her will ...
August 16, 2007

The Philosophy Steamers

Below is an excerpt of a nice book review of British cultural critic Lesley Chamberlain, whose book Motherland: A Philosophical History of Russia is being released in the United States this summer. In 1922, a year of living dictatorishly, Lenin de...
August 15, 2007

WaPo Does Battle with the Russian Government

It must be tough to work at the Russian Embassy in Washington DC. Every morning your breakfast would be ruined with the sound of the daily newspaper hitting the doorstep; a heavy ‘thump’ of a publication loaded with critical views on t...
August 15, 2007

Total and Shtokman: The Worst Terms Ever Accepted in Russia

Below is a poignant and important letter to the editor of the Financial Times from Mr. Paul Domjan of the Stockholm Network in response to a recent piece by Pierre Noel praising the benefits of Total’s deal with Gazprom to develop the Shtokm...