Year: 2008

May 8, 2008

Energy Blast – May 8, 2008

Key US lawmakers have reportedly urged President George Bush to suspend the US civilian nuclear cooperation pact with Russia until concerns about Russia’s nuclear ties to Iran are cleared up. Russia and Kazakhstan will double the capacity of...
May 8, 2008

Today in Russian Business – May 8, 2008

Arms exporter Rosoboronexport has won its defamation suit against Oleg Shvartsman and Kommersant newspaper over allegations that it would abuse its power to take over small businesses. Swiss private bank Pictet & Cie is moving into the Russia...
May 8, 2008

RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – May 8, 2008

TODAY: US optimistic on future relations with Russia, remains critical on Georgia situation; Medvedev orders new government to begin redistributing federal lands; art market faces crisis over discovery of fakes. ‘Medved’ is the Russian word for ‘b...
May 7, 2008

The Star Wars Theory of Russian Government

So much energy spent by the pundits trying to figure out who’s who in Russia’s new tandem-ocracy, when they could just cut to the chase and listen to the difference in the inauguration musical soundtracks.
May 7, 2008

Angry Estonia

An Estonian member of parliament, Marko Mihkelson, was quite miffed by a recent Stephen Cohen column in the International Herald Tribune, and has a strongly worded letter to the editor in response. …and here I was thinking that the expressio...
May 7, 2008

Grigory Pasko: The Narcissitic Power

The narcissistic power Grigory Pasko, journalist (Если Вы хотите прочитать оригинал данной статьи на русском языке, нажмите сюда. Read this in Russian.) Not so very long ago in Stockholm I observed the following picture. A helicopter was hovering ...
May 7, 2008

Alexei Kudrin Interview

For the most part, we like Russia’s Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin. He often presents some convincing arguments for the management of Russia’s overheating economy, and shows a certain amount of bravery by upholding orthodox finance vie...
May 7, 2008

A Deluge of Opinions on Putin and Medvedev

I read all of these so you don’t have to … below the highlights and lowlights of today’s op/ed deluge on the inauguration of Dmitry Medvedev. Lee Hamilton, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars: “Whatever Putin a...
May 7, 2008

Energy Blast – May 7, 2008

The President of the Russian Gas Union has defended the government’s decision to raise consumer prices by 40%. Russian refined products exports fell in April following an increase in export duties and maintenance work. Exxon Mobil and Falcon Oil &...