Month: March 2010

March 11, 2010

Today in Russian Business – March 11, 2010

Of all the countries in Europe, Russia has the largest number of billionaires, says Forbes.  Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is in India today to ‘fend off competition from the US and Europe‘ in securing arms and nuclear energy deal...
March 11, 2010

RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – March 11, 2010

TODAY: Medvedev calls for LUKoil crash investigation; police force apologizes over human shield incident; Daghestan calls for dismissal of top investigator; Medvedev to form new political party? Protests across Russia as utility prices rise; Berez...
March 10, 2010

Energy Blast – March 10, 2010

The Federal Anti-Monopoly Service wants to ban oil companies from buying and building gas stations in regions where they have at least 35% of the market, to restore the balance for independent gas station owners who are slowly losing their retail ...
March 10, 2010

Today in Russian Business – March 10, 2010

The Times responds to the news that Russia could consider forming a single economic market with Kazakhstan and Belarus by 2012: ‘A common currency would give [Putin] an economic lever to challenge the US dollar and the euro by creating a reg...
March 10, 2010

RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – March 10, 2010

TODAY: Swedish Prime Minister in Moscow visit; Medvedev on expanding information presence of CIS states; police to receive moral and psychological support as more misconduct stories break; the failure of the four I’s; rock veteran criticizes...
March 9, 2010

Grigory Pasko: After Kaliningrad, FSB inside Opposition

Personal circumstances of an “overwhelming force” was how leader of the Kaliningrad oppositioneers Konstantin Doroshok recently explained his exit from the «Solidarity» movement. Certain political scientists decoded this exit in their ...
March 9, 2010

Kickbacks and the Olympic Test in Sochi

Writing in the Moscow Times, Alexei Bayer doesn’t believe that the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi are going to go very well, and not because the developers won’t be able to finish all the buildings and infrastructure.  “...
March 9, 2010

Keeping Up with the Litvinenkos

Some of the family of the murdered former FSB agent Alexander Litvinenko have been having a very tough time in their temporarily adopted home of Italy, where police have raided and shut down their business, asylum papers blocked, and other harassm...
March 9, 2010

Andropovian Modernization

Blogging at the Power Vertical, Brian Whitmore takes a look at Russia’s pokazukha (fake) liberalization. It’s a bit ironic that Putin and his team, who clearly favor a Yury Andropov-style authoritarian modernization, are now being forc...
March 9, 2010

Energy Blast – March 9, 2010

A feud between Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin and Rosneft Chairman (and deputy prime minister) Igor Sechin over tax breaks for oil companies could damage growth in oil output and jeopardize exports to Asia, says Bloomberg.  Gazprom is seeking...