Archive

June 2, 2010

Clarification

I’ve been informed today that there are some false reports and rumors circulating out there on the Russian internet that my firm’s been hired by the ousted president of Kyrgyzstan, Kurmanbek Bakiyev.  To be clear, if you didn̵...
June 2, 2010

The “Active Core” of Russian Citizens

Writing in the Weekly Standard, Leon Aron of AEI comments on the changing profile of Russian protesters. On April 3, Professor Evgeny Gontmakher, a leading figure at the Institute of Contemporary Development, the think-tank rumored to be favored b...
June 2, 2010

Grigory Pasko: The Chichvarkin Chronicles

Everybody here seems to be talking about the video appeal of the not-yet-fully-imprisoned businessman to the man sitting in the president’s chair. Yevgeny Chichvarkin, a multi-millionaire businessman and founder of a mobile phone company Yev...
June 2, 2010

Energy Blast – June 2, 2010

Russia’s oil output may have decreased slightly in May but it remains close to the record high levels of above ten million barrels a day for the ninth month in a row.  Transneft has seen an increase in profit of 70% in 2009.  Russi...
June 2, 2010

Today in Russian Business – June 2, 2010

Boeing has beaten Airbus to win a lucrative tender to supply Russian airline carrier Aeroflot with 65 mid-range jets.  Sberbank president German Gref has warned that the most recent cut in the benchmark interest rate may have a negative impac...
June 2, 2010

RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – June 2, 2010

TODAY: Opposition attack police rally response, journalist’s arm broken after beating; International Children’s Day St Petersburg protests; United Russia’s drive to protect young minds; Orthodox Church calls for strict abortion c...
June 1, 2010

The Hyperreality of Thai Propaganda: A Response to the Nation

An editorial published today in the government-controlled Thai newspaper The Nation makes reference to my work and that of my colleague, lawyer Geert-Jan Alexander Knoops. Apart from the usual attacks, untruths, and libel that accompany intense po...
June 1, 2010

The Soft Underbelly of Siberia

The leadership of the Russian Federation is all too often willing to openly identify the United States and NATO as its #1 enemy in leaked (on purpose, of course) security doctrines.  The idea that NATO actually has coherent plans to harm Russ...
June 1, 2010

Ukraine’s Sticky Pendulum

Some interesting musings on just how far gone Ukraine finds itself under Russia’s proclaimed sphere of influence published in the Financial Times: “People expected the pendulum to swing, but not so sharply,” says Andrew Wilson, a...
June 1, 2010

Russian IPOs Fail to Catch On in Hong Kong

Bloomberg is running an interesting piece today about the lukewarm reception of many Hong Kong-based investment funds to Oleg Deripaska’s recent listing of the metals giant Rusal.  For many Russian companies looking to raise funds throu...