Year: 2008

January 3, 2008

Telegraph: This time, it’s Russia in the dock

The UK’s Daily Telegraph is running a story today on a new twist to the Yukos case. The article says that investors who lost money in the company when it was taken over by the Russian government are now accusing the Russian Federation of unl...
January 3, 2008

RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – Jan. 3, 2007

The dispute over the British Council’s activities in Russia continues, with a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry saying that the Council’s continued presence in the country constitutes “unlawful activity”. Amid protests that native Russian workers...
January 3, 2008

Energy Blast, Jan. 3, 2007

Azerbaijan’s state oil company is set to auction off 605,000 barrels of Russian oil that will be delivered to Russia’s Novorossiysk port. World Energy The Indian government “must allow prices to be market driven” says oil retailer Indian Oil Corp ...
January 2, 2008

Medvedev as the Friendly TV Salesman

Giles Whittell at the Times says “Dmitri Medvedev is no stooge, as everyone seems to think.” Is that really what everyone thinks? Not from what I have been reading. I’ve always had the impression that Medvedev has a very positive...
January 2, 2008

Why Russia Matters Less than We Think

From Lionel Beehner, a journalist formerly with the Council on Foreign Relations, in the Huffington Post: Why do we suddenly care so much about Russia? Its economy is still smaller than Portugal’s, its nuclear stockpile is no match for our o...
January 2, 2008

RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – Jan. 2, 2007

Dmitri Medvedev “looks like someone who might sell you a flat-screen TV in John Lewis” according to one UK reporter, who nonetheless predicts that Medvedev’s presidency will herald “a new Russia”. The Swedish Foreign Minister says that Russia cann...
January 2, 2008

Today in Russian Business

The chairman of the Russia-Vietnam Business Council says that Russian private firms have begun looking at investment opportunities in Vietnam. Russia’s investment banks are launching online brokerages to encourage investment. “Although Russi...
January 2, 2008

Energy Blast, Jan. 2, 2007

Gazprom has offered to purchase state-owned Petroleum Industry of Serbia, having reportedly offered the Serb government €400 million for a 51% stake. Russia is reportedly looking to cooperate with Uruguay on nuclear energy. Gazprom has announced t...
January 1, 2008

Ray Takeyh and Nikolas Gvosdev on Russia and Iran

A valuable article by Ray Takeyh and Nikolas Gvosdev is running in today’s IHT, which examines Russia’s motives in the Iran nuclear question: The incongruity of providing sensitive nuclear resources to a country that is actively sancti...