MOSCOW – The rest of the world’s passions may be boiling over in Copenhagen this week, but Russia is paying no attention. There is an impression that the government and public opinion – quite in the classical liberal laissez faire spirit – share the conclusion that global warming has a moderate and non-unprecedented nature, its impact on human health and wildlife is largely positive and that carbon emissions are hardly the primary factor in climate shaping. Thus, it is not a crisis and there is no need to resort to …
MOSCOW – The Kremlin perceives the Obama Administration’s decision to scrap the third site anti-missile system in Poland and the Czech Republic as a radical review of the US global leadership policy and a serious concession to Russia. At the same time, the Kremlin does not think it necessary to meet Washington halfway and is confining itself to verbal promises. Indeed, Russia in the person of President Dmitry Medvedev and a number of military commanders, announced its decision to reverse its plans to deploy Iskander missiles in the Kaliningrad Region. …
MOSCOW – Last week a number of Russian democratic-leaning online publications posted a Dmitry Medvedev essay titled Forward, Russia! It is an unprecedented and open criticism of Russia’s backward economy, its humiliating raw material orientation, corruption and other woes. Medvedev also offered a critical analysis of the political factors that define Russia’s development – a fledgling democracy, negative demographic tendencies, and volatile Caucasus. Tellingly though, Medvedev’s target audience, Russia’s young internet readership, had a lukewarm response to their President’s insights. His comments failed to make the spotlight in numerous blogs, …
MOSCOW – The upcoming October 11th Moscow city council elections go beyond routine local politics. They are turning into a primary of sorts for the balance of political forces nationwide. Moscow, the Russian Federation’s largest constituent territory and seat of the federal government, has also has accumulated about 85% of the nation’s financial capital and is clearly the object of the Kremlin’s close attention. The Kremlin is interested in securing the maximum loyalty of the local authorities and the city’s socio-political environment stability. Registration of candidates for the Moscow city …
MOSCOW – Both Presidents arrived at their meeting armed with lists of unfulfilled promises. but the latest meeting between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Belarussian leader Alexander Lukashenko yielded no tangible results. Economic factors prevail in Minsk’s complaints – Belarus has yet to receive the promised 2nd tranche of Russia’s $1 billion loan. Lukashenko is rejecting Moscow’s demand to honor his country’s debt for natural gas supplies. He claims Medvedev’s had promised to retain low-priced gas deliveries.
MOSCOW – The Kremlin campaign against what they describe as falsifying history is in full force with the 70th anniversaries of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the start of World War II this month. The Kremlin’s chief objective is to justify the signing of the 1939 Soviet-German nonaggression pact and to absolve Stalin’s role in Hitler’s decision to unleash WWII. This campaign is nothing more than a brazen attempt to rewrite history. All the documents have been made public and specific facts are common knowledge.
Under the excuse of fighting the economic crisis, the Russian government is stepping up regulation that could severely restrict business growth. Ostensibly to stem the tide of rising prices, the government has initiated a dramatic cap on grocery retail chains. The bill submitted to the State Duma bans chains with sales exceeding 1 billion rubles ($31 million) from buying or building any new stores if they control over 25 percent of the market in a city or a town. Formally, this measure is designed to stop retailers from charging monopoly …
MOSCOW – Recently, the Russian Orthodox Church has been enhancing its clout in the nation’s politics. ROC officials have actively been offering comment on the executive’s various initiatives and are seeking to gain a higher profile in public policies. The ROC has been most vocal over the introduction of sexual education in Russian public schools, but has also been a long advocate for an Orthodox basics course. Although Russia is not a mono-confessional nation, the church and state, for now, are separate.
Moscow’s recent diplomatic demarches manifest the Kremlin’s drive to solidify its positions ahead of meeting with President Obama. Therefore, the Kremlin is trying to give the appearance of concessions on the issues that have long been a matter of concern for the American side. For example, on President Medvedev’s order, the State Duma is urgently considering amendments to the NGO law. They are designed to somewhat soften the red tape in regard to NGO activities – to ease accounting and registration requirements. Typically, communists who opposed the amendments unequivocally stated …
The past week saw an extraordinary event in the Russian economy. Prime Minister Putin and other Cabinet Ministers made a surprise visit to one of Moscow’s supermarkets and personally regulated the price rates. Putin discovered that the trade margin on an array of foodstuffs in Perekryostok supermarket is significantly higher than the average. In fact, Putin ordered price cuts, while Yuri Kobaladze, managing director of X5 Retail mid-price chain and Putin’s former foreign intelligence colleague, promised to slash the prices. The government’s intervention in pricing issues and attempts to institute …
