TODAY: Kremlin hires Goldman Sachs to boost investment image; Gozman accuses Investigative Committee of involvement in a vendetta against Navanly; Biden to work with Lavrov on Syrian chemical weapons? Pessimistic outlook for the U.S.-Russia reset; Georgian imports to resume; Sochi mobsters, Internet censorship, Stalingrad, Putin’s birth-rate boost plan.

The Kremlin has hired Goldman Sachs for three years to boost its overseas image for institutional investors, as Bloomberg notes that the trial of Alexander Lebedev, the death of Sergei Magnitsky, and Russia’s overall ‘parasitic bureaucracy’ is putting investors off.  Lebedev’s newspaper, the Evening Standard, has just won its bid for a London television franchise.  Former liberal politician Leonid Gozman, after being questioned by the Investigative Committee over allegations against Alexei Navalny, says he thinks they are being used to enact a political vendetta against the anti-corruption blogger and activist. ‘I think they have been ordered to put Navalny in prison, and how they are supposed to do that is their problem. I have a feeling they do not believe Navalny stole money from SPS.’  Novelist and opposition activist Boris Akunin says he will give up speaking at rallies.  Inflation accelerated at its fastest rate in 15 months in January.