Archive

July 2, 2008

Kremlin Invests in Patriotic Films

Under Putin, the Kremlin has brought back the former Soviet national anthem, muzzled the free press, jailed the agitators, and re-introduced political show trials and the gulag. So why not throw some government money into Soviet-style propaganda f...
July 2, 2008

Russia’s Lacking Rule of Law Hurts Everyone

I was forwarded this blog post by the FT’s John Gapper from a friend, which I thought raises some interesting points about the wider implications of the TNK-BP shareholder dispute. It finally seems like many are slowing coming around to the ...
July 2, 2008

Kissinger’s Russia Boosterism

Yesterday we linked to a column by Stephen F. Cohen, which appeared as part of a three-part opinion feature on Russia in the IHT. The other two columns were contributed by Russia’s Ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, whose political party is...
July 2, 2008

Video: Total’s CEO Christophe de Margerie Talks Oil Prices

The CEO of the French national champion Total Christophe de Margerie has always been a very interesting character in the Russian energy market – also one of the only ones boasting a successful deal (so far) with the government on the very co...
July 2, 2008

Protecting Indigenous Groups in Russia

Yesterday Bob blogged about the controversy surrounding Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves’s speech to the World Congress of Finno-Ugric Peoples in Siberia. Today there is more in an editorial from the Moscow Times: While Ilves’ c...
July 2, 2008

Energy Blast – July 2, 2008

Investors are betting that the oil price could surge to $300 a barrel by the end of the year, and the King of Saudia Arabia has announced that the current price is “cheap”. BP executives working at TNK-BP “have already begun leaving the country” a...
July 2, 2008

Today in Russian Business – July 2, 2008

Real estate group PIK has bought land in southern Russia with the intention of building a $640-million residential and commercial complex. Phone company Dalsvyaz announced 12-fold profit increases. Roskosmos, the federal space agency, has signed a...
July 2, 2008

RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – July 2, 2008

TODAY: Supreme Court chairman moves on corruption; terrorist “black list” to be released; new Khodorkovsky charges could increase his sentence to up to 22 years; Kissinger optimistic on new Russia; human rights document composed by “deeply out of ...