Year: 2008

November 18, 2008

Pasko: It’s Clear Who Benefitted from Politkovskaya Murder

Our Russia correspondent Grigory Pasko talks to the BBC about the opening of the trial of Anna Politkovskaya’s killers: They were things the militia commanders in Chechnya and their bosses in Moscow did not want the outside world to hear abo...
November 18, 2008

The Crisis that Dare Not Speak its Name

According to this article by Adrian Blomfield at the Telegraph, survey results in Russia are showing that people are feeling even more positive about the economic outlook this month over last: And sure enough, at a time when their country is locke...
November 18, 2008

Video: Driving to the Kremlin

An AP reporter drives the route that both Putin and Medvedev take every day to the Kremlin, noting the stifling traffic, annoyances, and negotiations with traffic cops – but points out the great architecture you can see driving in the middle...
November 18, 2008

When in Ruthenia . . ., Part 2

Last week we published a translation from Izvestia about the potential interest the Russian government may have in supporting an obscure nationalist movement in Transcarpathia, Western Ukraine, including the distribution of passports.  Below ...
November 18, 2008

Grigory Pasko: The Banana Republic of Vladivostok

An international event – in the regime of a state of emergency Grigory Pasko – journalist A couple of days ago Russian television in the popular humoristic broadcast «Nasha Rasha» [“Our Russia”, but using a transliteration ...
November 18, 2008

Russian Human Rights in Support of Singapore Dissident

I am grateful to our Russian correspondent Grigory Pasko, who has done his best to spread the world among the Russian human rights community about the plight of my client Dr. Chee Soon Juan, one of Singapore’s greatest defenders of democracy...
November 18, 2008

Vasily Alexanyan Undergoes Surgery to Remove Spleen

Vasily Alexanyan was once the Harvard-educated general counsel of Russia’s most successful and prestigious company.  Today he may be becoming the world’s first victim of prosecutorial murder via medical blackmail.  His story ...
November 18, 2008

European Dependency on Russian Gas?

Pierre Noël, an energy academic, has a post over at the EU Energy Policy blog which questions the traditional assumption that Europe is becoming increasingly dependent on Russian gas, and points out that Gazprom is facing a number of daunting chal...
November 18, 2008

Energy Blast – Nov 18, 2008

Russia is to resume talks with China in an attempt to secure a $25 billion loan for its oil industry.  Gazprom may begin an exploration of offshore Alaska with ConocoPhillips.  In return, the company is considering ExxonMobil and Conoco ...
November 18, 2008

Today in Russian Business – Nov. 18, 2008

NPO Saturn’s inability to secure a loan may force it to cede some control to the state.  ‘NPO Saturn’s story highlights the risk of favoritism and abuse in the state’s distribution of tens of billions of dollars in bai...