Year: 2008

September 2, 2008

Energy Blast – Sept 2, 2008

The retreat of Hurricane Gustav has seen oil prices fall. “If the industry is able to get on its feet quickly, any long-term impact on petrol production would prove minimal.” Russia will cut oil export duty by 2% for the first time in a year this ...
September 2, 2008

Today in Russian Business – Sept 2, 2008

Russia may proceed with 2005 plans to sell advanced S-300 air defense systems to Iran under a secret contract. Billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov advises students that if they want to make serious money, they should bypass state corporations and work f...
September 2, 2008

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

TODAY: EU summit “disappointing” / demonstrates “unity”. Talks on new EU agreement suspended until Russia withdraws troops from Georgia; 1 million-strong Georgian anti-Russia protest; Lavrov calls for arms embargo. Ingushetia website journalist’s ...
September 1, 2008

Iran Sees Opportunity in Russia’s Georgia Crisis

Writing at the Financial Times, editor Roula Khalaf argues that with regard to the Russian invasion of Georgia, “It is to Iran’s advantage to stay on the sidelines as a new geopolitical game unfolds, and Tehran tries to figure out its place ...
September 1, 2008

Simes: Russian Military Pushing its Own Agenda

Dmitri Simes, who usually only says very positive things about Russian authoritarianism under Putin, tells the Financial Times that during the war in Georgia there were numerous cases of military officers exceeding their mandate and acting beyond ...
September 1, 2008

Unity and Credibility

The Economist points out that the emergency EU Summit held over Russia today is the first of its kind held since 2003 when the organization met to debate the Iraq war, which should at least count for something: But there are other bits of the EU w...
September 1, 2008

Europe’s Recurring Question of Unity over Russia

France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy (C), France’s Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner (L) and European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pottering (R) are pictured prior to an emergency summit of European Union leaders on the crisis in Georg...
September 1, 2008

The Murder of Magomed Yevloyev

What commentary can one really add to this reprehensible slaying of Kremlin-critic blogger Magomed Yevloyev? The return to the headlines of the crisis in Ingushetia, which the opposition claims involves an open policy of genocide by the Russian st...
September 1, 2008

A Bereaved Murderer Joins the War

In many countries the tragic story of Vitali Kaloyev, the man who stabbed to death a Swiss air traffic controller whom he believed was responsible for the accidental death of his wife and child, would be fodder for inspired fiction and probably a ...
September 1, 2008

Sechin’s Summer Vacation in Cuba

Igor Sechin, center, one of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s closest aides, walks through the historic center of Old Havana in late July. During the trip, Sechin met with Raul Castro in an event that was qualified by the local media a...