Month: May 2009

May 20, 2009

Energy Blast – May 20, 2009

The New York Times features a special report on how the energy sector may emerge from the global recession.  GDF Suez is likely to finish talks on joining the Nord Stream pipeline by the end of the summer.  Regarding Nord Stream, ex-Germ...
May 20, 2009

Today in Russian Business – May 20, 2009

The ruble has reached its highest point so far in 2009 as attention turns to rising oil prices.  Economic Development Minister, Elvira Nabiullina, has said that the economy may contract by up to 8% this year.  Prime Minister Putin has ex...
May 20, 2009

RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – May 20, 2009

TODAY: Russia rejoins Georgia talks; US-Russia nuclear talks constructive so far; policy report recommends US cancel plans for missile defense in eastern Europe; Medvedev creates body to counter ‘revisionist’ readings of Russian histor...
May 19, 2009

Controlling Memory in Russia

Earlier today there were reports that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered the immediate formation of a government commission empowered to fight back against “false history.”  It remains unclear exactly what these powers ...
May 19, 2009

Two Visions of Russian Health

Today CNN is running a report entitled “Russia’s bleak picture of health” which cites some scary Eberstadt-like statistics:  average male lifespan of 60 years, some 50% of 18-year-olds who won’t reach retirement age, a...
May 19, 2009

Pimp My Lada

With car sales down by almost 60% this year in Russia, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is making a big push to encourage citizens to buy locally produced automobiles, such as various models of the Lada brand.  To help push the message, Putin pe...
May 19, 2009

No Free Press in the Gulag

[Editor’s note: last week there were reports of a shocking story from Russia of a journalist, Yelena Maglevannaya, being convicted of libel for having written about alleged abuse and torture of one Chechen inmate. Today, our correspondent Gr...
May 19, 2009

Saving Face on the Missile Shield

Washington’s plans to install non-existent anti-ballistic missile technology into Poland and the Czech Republic in order to defend against non-existent Iranian missile technology has long been a sore point in the U.S.-Russia relationship.&nb...
May 19, 2009

Russia’s Eye on Opel

Yesterday we wrote about the potential political influence in Germany that could be obtained through a majority stake in the struggling GM car company Opel (never mind that the last thing the Russian economy needs right now is more automotive manu...