Month: October 2008

October 2, 2008

Khodorkovsky’s Treatment Indicative of Wider Abuse

We are very glad to see this excellent article from Eric Watkins in the Oil and Gas Journal: Let’s Not Forget Khodorkovsky The fate of Russian oilman Mikhail Khodorkovsky has been written about before in this space and he has not been forgot...
October 2, 2008

Energy Blast – Oct 2, 2008

Russia’s stock market may be struggling, but its oil wealth reserves have just hit $189 billion. The US Senate has approved its ‘breakthrough’ civilian nuclear deal with India. The global financial crisis could stunt the growth of nuclear plant pr...
October 2, 2008

Today in Russian Business – Oct 2, 2008

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s announcement that social security taxes paid by businesses will rise by as much as 8% in 2010 to strengthen the pension system has frightened businesses. Putin again blamed the ‘irresponsible’ US for current global ...
October 2, 2008

RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – Oct 2, 2008

TODAY: EU monitors unhindered in South Ossetia; no grounds for Cold War, says Medvedev; soldier sent to Siberia over rap video; what’s wrong with Russian liberalism?; Supreme Court rules to rehabilitate the last Czar; Medvedev and Merkel to try re...
October 1, 2008

“We thought the Cold War would never end…”

From Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post: McCain’s scorn for Barack Obama was on unrestrained display in Friday night’s debate. How dare this impudent whippersnapper imagine he can be president, you could almost see McCain thinking. I&#...
October 1, 2008

How Smart is Russia’s Venezuela Move?

Blogger Robert Farley reads the news about Russian nuclear warships being dispatched for exercises off the coast of Venezuela, and asks some interesting questions about exactly how effective this move might be in terms of prompting a desirable out...
October 1, 2008

Video: EU Monitors Arrive to Georgia

A news clip of the first deployment of European Union monitors to Georgia to observe the ceasefire agreement. Russia still is not allowing them to enter South Ossetia.
October 1, 2008

The Coming Bank Consolidation in Russia

Former KGB officers really don’t like any aspect of the country’s affairs to be outside their control, be it an election, the media, civil society, or even the internet or racy cartoons. This is however especially true with the economy...
October 1, 2008

Medvedev Seeks to Alleviate War Worries

Remember how we posted that Nezavisimaya Gazeta translation which reported on a big shift in attitude among some groups within the Kremlin to forge better relations with the West? Remember when Alexander Lebedev openly complained about Putin’...
October 1, 2008

Energy Blast – Oct 1, 2008

The financial crisis is forcing energy companies to reduce their projected spending plans, with Gazprom Neft suggesting a drop of 10-20%, but state nuclear corporation Rosatom has just been granted a six-year, $83 billion finance program by Prime ...