Month: August 2009

August 31, 2009

Grigory Pasko on Russia’s Love for the Kremlin

Recently someone left a comment on one of my blog entries, prompting me to respond to address two questions:  “Why do many Russians love the power? Under what circumstances might the Putinite siloviki ever go down?“ First let̵...
August 31, 2009

Who Wants to Fight?

From the looks of it, neither Vladimir Putin nor Donald Tusk want the Poland-Russia summit in Gdansk tomorrow on the WWII anniversary to turn into a slugfest … but seemingly everybody else does.  From Reuters: Polish media reacted angri...
August 31, 2009

Gazprom’s Rebound Relies on Western Rule of Law

Just an interesting little bit here from a rather bullish analysis article on Gazprom’s coming rebound from the poor first quarter results from NewEurope (the author is referring to an interview with Ron Smith from Alpha Bank).  Some Ru...
August 31, 2009

A Difficult Anniversary

Most people would say that WWII started on Sept. 1, 1939, but for Russia, the Great Patriotic War began on June 22, 1941.  How Vladimir Putin handles this challenging 70th anniversary of the Nazi invasion of Poland at a commemoration event in...
August 31, 2009

A Budget Version of the Old Soviet Empire

In their latest piece for Newsweek, Owen Matthews and Anna Nemtsova do an excellent job explaining all the reasons why Russia has tumbled toward authoritarianism and confrontational foreign policy:  it serves the unending quest for respect. &...
August 31, 2009

Khodorkovsky’s Show Trial Now a Tourist Destination

This just came over the air from Svetlana Gubanova at Echo Moskvy with regard to the trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev: “For any Muscovite or visitor to the Russian capital, they say, it has become a sign of good taste not onl...
August 31, 2009

Energy Blast – August 31, 2009

The U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency has filed a report suggesting that North Korea has failed to put a stop to its uranium enriching program and that Russia and China need to wholeheartedly back further sanctions.  According to Bloomb...
August 31, 2009

Today in Russian Business – August 31, 2009

French car manufacturer Renault says that it supports the changes in management at Avtovaz, which should solder the links between the car manufacturer and Russian Technologies.  Igor Komarov has replaced Boris Alyoshin as the company Presiden...
August 31, 2009

RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – August 31, 2009

TODAY: NATO head upbeat on relations with Russia; Medvedev looks to imams for help with Caucasus Islamic insurgents; suggests a TV channel.  Russia on the defensive regarding WW2; 70th anniversary of its start to prove a diplomatic minefield?...