Month: March 2009

March 14, 2009

As Obama Meets Lula, the Russians Consider Bombers

The coincidence of these announcements from the Kremlin about placing strategic bombers at Venezuelan and Cuban bases most definitely seems timed to rain on any parade of the meeting between the American and Brazilian presidents.  More commen...
March 14, 2009

Losing Central Asia

From the Chicago Tribune: At a time when the world’s financial crisis has most countries hunkering down, Russia is parlaying the global meltdown into a lever for expanding its influence in Central Asia and other former Soviet republics that ...
March 13, 2009

The Booming Business of Contract Killings in Russia

This one comes from Vidya Ram at Forbes: “Contract killings may have decreased in frequency since the 1990s and the day of wild capitalism, but they are still occurring regularly in Russia, though they rarely make the headlines,” he to...
March 13, 2009

Twilight of the Oligarchs

From Reuters: “Russia has reached a crossroads. Many of the oligarchs are basically bankrupt and will not get out of this mess by themselves,” said one senior Western banker, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of debt t...
March 13, 2009

Khodorkovsky as Sakharov

From Russia Profile, Ethan Burger’s contribution to the debate: There is no doubt that the Russian authorities conducted what amounted to a “show trial” against Mikhail Khodorkovsky. The Russian prosecution does not usually place...
March 13, 2009

Why Obama Should Bet on Brazil

The following article by Robert Amsterdam was published today on The Huffington Post: Despite the well worn campaign slogan, so far Washington’s new foreign policy under President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton seems to ...
March 13, 2009

VimpelCom’s Corporate Governance Goes Down the Toilet

This is the last news Russia needs right now … yet another company violating its own laws to allegedly cheat other shareholders.  Maybe the Norwegians should’ve talked to BP or William Browder before getting into bed with Alfa. Fr...
March 13, 2009

Energy Blast – March 13th, 2009

Oil saw an 11% jump in price yesterday, with some reporting the cause as a rumor that Russia could join OPEC.  Russia plans to invite members of the cartel, together with other major oil producers, to discuss global oil prices at a Moscow for...
March 13, 2009

Today in Russian Business – March 13th, 2009

An investment analyst in London suggests that contract killings in Russia ‘are far more prolific than the number reported in the media suggest’, and the director of Transparency International notes the disastrous effect these killings ...
March 13, 2009

RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – March 13th, 2009

TODAY: Protesters mark Day of Dissent; Russia opposed to G20 fiscal stimulus level; US-Russia relations. Putin PR in Novokuznetsk, Khodorkovksy lawyers want indictment redrawn; Boris Nemstov to run for Mayor in Sochi.Several Russian cities saw opp...