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 …
When Russia threatens to outdo the United States on public diplomacy in a place like Poland, something is seriously amiss in the way the State Department and the White House is conducting the relationship with one of the United States’ most loyal allies. Unfortunately, this is exactly what may happen at the commemorations of the 70th anniversary of the beginning of World War II, which will be taking place tomorrow (Sept. 1) in the Polish port city of Gdansk. While the Obama administration has been insultingly negligent in responding to …
Answer: they both want to punish Colombia. Venezuela’s authoritarian, anti-American President Chavez claims Colombia threatens his national security, runs around too much with the “Empire,” [the U.S.], and will one day provoke a war with Venezuela. For these reasons, he aims to punish Colombia by cutting off trade and undermining economic security in Colombia and Venezuela. Being the economic kingpin of Venezuela, he can make it happen. Chavez’s latest attack on Colombia and President Uribe comes just as the U.S. and Colombia move toward agreement on how to operate regular …
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 …
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 …
The past week saw an unprecedented number of President Dmitry Medvedev’s public acts towards civil society institutions. He was interviewed by the opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta, met with representatives of civil rights NGOs and had a protracted televised talk on NTV channel deemed the most liberal of the government-run television channels. The President said the right things – that Russia’s democracy was similar to everybody else’s and did not need to be adapted, that political rights and freedoms cannot be traded for stability and prosperity and NGOs are an inalienable …
MOSCOW – The past week’s developments gave lots of food for conjecture and speculations among Kremlinologists both within Russia and beyond. The regime – President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin – sent out an array of signals that could be interpreted as both the attempts at somewhat liberalizing Russia’s domestic policy and proof of growing differences between the President and the Prime Minister. Medvedev has recalled from the State Duma the government-submitted amendments to the Criminal Code designed to dramatically expand the definition of such concepts as state …
The crisis in Russia is revealing new features proving it is quite unlike the global downturn. Last week saw numerous actions protesting a hike in import duties on foreign cars that were staged in an array of Russian provinces. The government had passed a decision to the effect to protect domestic carmakers. This dealt a massive blow to many provinces. The truth is that auto making is localized in Russia’s European area, and shipping cars to Siberia and the Far East racks up their sales price, especially at the backdrop …
The Russian government is aggressively exploiting the current economic downturn to step up its grip over the economy and actually nationalize most of the lucrative industries. The past week saw new examples of this trend. President Dmitry Medvedev endorsed a new business bailout fund to provide direct financial assistance to industrial enterprises bypassing the existing banking system. In fact, the point at issue is establishing an alternative arrangement to finance select enterprises. It would be even less transparent than the present-day bailout mechanism through budget allocations and banks. Next, Vladimir …
