Archive

July 22, 2009

Back to the KGB State

I just saw this big cover splash currently holding down the World section at the Huffington Post.  The article is an AP piece about the new law enabling the FSB to open all mail, which as Grigory Pasko pointed out here a few days ago, has bee...
July 22, 2009

Carl Bildt on the Eastern Partnership

Here the Foreign Minister of Sweden writes on the need for a “reset” on RealClearWorld: The Swedish Presidency, together with the European Commission, intends to organise the first meeting of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum...
July 22, 2009

Medvedev’s Second Term?

Simon Tisdall at the Guardian thinks that Dmitry Medvedev is carving out enough independence to perhaps carry a second term in office.  Though his argument is gently suggestive, though there isn’t much evidence to support it. Medvedev, ...
July 22, 2009

Patience Runs Thin for Medvedev’s Rule of Law

Shaun Walker of the Independent is not impressed by President Dmitry Medvedev’s statements about rule of law and the murder of Natalia Estemirova.  From Russia Profile: Indeed, all that has changed, it would seem, since Medvedev has com...
July 22, 2009

Energy Blast – July 22, 2009

Gazprom hopes to see a profit from sales in the domestic gas market in 2009, where it sells more than 50% of its gas.  The company has lowered the guidance on its five-year dollar-denominated eurobond tranche to 8.25% from 8.5% due to huge ov...
July 22, 2009

Today in Russian Business – July 22, 2009

Another Moscow market has fallen foul of the authorities: Izmailovsky Market, a popular place for tourists has been shut in connection with the closure of Cherkizovsky Market.  The Federal Council has rejected a Medvedev-initiated bill to cre...
July 22, 2009

RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – July 22, 2009

TODAY: Biden reassures Ukraine that Russia-US reset a benefit for all; Minsk and Moscow sparring again over meat and diesel. UN human rights activists seek entry to Russia.  Medvedev backs ethics/religious education in schools; post to be ope...
July 21, 2009

Comments are down

I ask for your patience while we work to fix our comments.  Thanks – mgmt.
July 21, 2009

Russia’s Legal Bonanza in London

With no real functioning courts in Russia, apart for the celebrated practice of the show trial, the legal systems of London and Strasbourg find themselves choked with business disputes and human rights cases.  The Financial Times has a new pi...
July 21, 2009

American Perestroika, Part 2

I am interested and confused by this article in the Moscow Times by the Kremlin polittechnologist Yevgeny Bashanov. Obama spoke to Russian leaders as equals in a manner befitting the leaders of sovereign states. The U.S. president could not behave...