Month: April 2010

April 22, 2010

Cheap Gas for Militarization

So, Ukraine finally got the gas discount that many critics of the long-term contract, set in place by Yulia Tymoshenko and Vladimir Putin last year, have been hoping for.  In exchange for a 30% discount on the agreed gas price, Ukraine will e...
April 22, 2010

Energy Blast – April 22, 2010

Russia is to give Ukraine a 30% discount on gas imports (an estimated saving of $40 billion through to 2019) in exchange for the extension of its lease for the Russian naval base in Sevastopol by 25 years, which was previously due to exp...
April 22, 2010

Today in Russian Business – April 22, 2010

Russia’s first Eurobond since 1998 has seen demand of $25 billion as its economy has recovered and ‘everybody believes their growth story‘.  The government is reportedly aiming to sell $2 billion of five-year notes and $3.5 ...
April 22, 2010

RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – April 22, 2010

TODAY: NATO meeting to be dominated by Russia questions? Scientology writings banned for extremism; Sochi Mayor orders residents to paint their roofs; IOC life president dies; anniversary of Lenin’s birth; motorists protest flashing blue lig...
April 21, 2010

Resource Reliance vs. Macroeconomics

Vladimir Putin, coughing his way through a cold, made his annual address to the State Duma yesterday, underscoring the need to clear Russia’s budget deficit.  It seems one of his measures for doing so is a massive hike in social securit...
April 21, 2010

Russia Loves Kyrgyz Democracy

A pretty clever one from Simon Tisdall in the Guardian: Now Russia is rightly worried about what it has wrought. President Dmitri Medvedev warned recently of anarchy and a “second Afghanistan”. This week the Russian military was told t...
April 21, 2010

Energy Blast – April 21, 2010

As a bargaining chip in potentially reduced prices for Ukraine’s purchases of Russian gas, Russia could take a controlling stake – as much as 50% – in Ukraine’s airplane maker Antonov.  Ukrainian President Viktor Yanuk...
April 21, 2010

Today in Russian Business – April 21, 2010

The recession is over, says Vladimir Putin, but economic crisis is not.  Putin’s announcement that $16 billion will be spent on healthcare may please voters but will rankle Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, who opposes the tax hike that w...
April 21, 2010

RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – April 21, 2010

TODAY: Poorly Putin makes annual address to State Duma, New Times documents Putin’s Gazprom cronies; flights from Moscow resume; Medvedev orders military to protect Russians in Kyrgyzstan, Georgia charges Russian tanker, volatile states call...
April 20, 2010

Deripaska’s Generosity

So Oleg Deripaska of Rusal is getting a breathtaking $62 million bonus for bringing the company to an initial public offer.  But don’t worry, he says he is planning on donating two-thirds of it to his own charity, which still leaves him...