Month: October 2008

October 3, 2008

A Weakened Ukraine Negotiates with Moscow

There are reports in the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal about the Ukraine’s discussions with Russia on energy supply deals being hampered because of the country’s defense of Georgia’s sovereignty following the invasion i...
October 3, 2008

Energy Blast – Oct 3, 2008

TNK-BP’s Russian managers have withdrawn a lawsuit against chief executive Robert Dudley that accused him of violating labor rights. Germany’s E.On agreed to swap part of its stake in Gazprom for an interest in Russia’s Yuzhno-Russkoye gas f...
October 3, 2008

Today in Russian Business – Oct 3, 2008

Iron ore producer Metalloinvest announced that it will not hold an IPO this year, amidst news that Russia’s IPO record this year has been the worst since 2004. On Russia ‘lecturing’ the US about the financial crisis, and the perceived end of US he...
October 3, 2008

RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – Oct 3, 2008

TODAY: Russia and Ukraine agree on gradual rise in energy prices, disagree over Georgian arms; Czech government suspicious of Russian intelligence; will troops withdraw from Georgia? Union of Right Forces disbands, Kremlin pressure suspected; Poli...
October 2, 2008

Russia Exports Legal Nihilism to Italy

Or: How Gazprom’s call option on Eni’s stake in Gazprom Neft proves Yukos asset laundering – and I can’t believe I am the only one paying attention to it Just for rhetorical purposes, let’s imagine way back to that ti...
October 2, 2008

Russian Soldier’s Satire met with Siberia Posting

Matthew Chance at CNN has an interesting news clip up about a Russian soldier who has appropriated agitprop pop culture methods of the West (a satire hip hop video spread via internet) to express his disenfranchisement in the military. While other...
October 2, 2008

Grigory Pasko: Russian Architecture at the Venice Biennale

[Editor’s note: this posting from Pasko should have been put up a while ago. The delay is solely my fault!] Concrete creations by concrete lads The 11th Architectural Biennale in Venice Grigory Pasko, journalist In the year 2006 at the archi...
October 2, 2008

Illarionov on Russia’s Economic Crisis

Andrei Illarionov has a piece up on Gazeta.ru which argues that Russia itself is for the most part to blame for its current financial crisis. The Barents Observer provides a good English summary of his comments: Meanwhile, the Russian government s...
October 2, 2008

Hugo Chavez “Milking” Russia While it Lasts

Political science professor Greg Weeks thinks that the Russia-Venezuela lovefest is just a short-term opportunity to poke Washington in the eye, and that Chavez could soon get dropped like a Castro-ish hot potato: There is one point, however, that...
October 2, 2008

Alaska’s “View” of Russia

VP Candidate Sarah Palin has stated that she has Russia foreign policy experience as a function of Alaska’s geography – that she can see Russia from the state. Although there are some discrepancies over her exact statement on the matte...