In December 2012, the so-called ‘Magnitsky Law’ came into force in the United States. This law empowers and obliges the U.S. President to compose the list of persons responsible for the death of the Hermitage Capital Management investment fund’s counselor Sergey Magnitsky and persons...

February saw yet another flare-up in the ongoing turf war between economic clans, first of all be¬tween Ivan Sechin’s and Arkady Dvorkovich’s groups of influence. The latest flare-up was so strong that it even spilled over into Russia’s state-owned TV channels. Thus, in one of its...

In April 2013, rumors of the RF Government’s impending sacking suddenly became much more than simply rumors after Vladimir Putin had announced that this option was now on the table. He made that statement at a government meeting at Elista, and the corresponding footage of the event was then...

In March, Russia was faced with the unsavory prospect of a considerable loss of funds kept by Russian enterprises and individuals in Cyprus, traditionally one of the most attractive jurisdictions for Russian businesses A signifi cant portion of those funds was frozen or seized by the Cypriot...

January 2013 saw yet another surge in protests in Russia – now caused by Vladimir Putin’s approval, on New Year’s eve, of the draft law banning U.S. citizens to adopt Russian orphans (it should be noted that Russia’s authorities have so far failed to offer the orphans anything worth...

The October 2012 single day of voting produced approximately the same results for United Russia as were achieved by it in the 2011 parliamentary elections. The CPRF also had a good showing at the polls. The two other parliamentary parties – Fair Russia and the LDPR – did not manage to...

In December, the Russian authorities made several symbolic gestures designed to sway public opinion both at home and abroad in favor of their policies. Thus, they pardoned Michail Khodorkovsky, Russia’s number one po¬litical prisoner, and declared a large-scale amnesty marking the 20th...

Tensions in the eastern Ukraine were eased a bit in May 2014, although the causes of the confl ict still remain to be resolved. There is a fragile balance today between the Ukrainian military forces and the armed groups of supporters of federalism in Donetsk and Lugansk regions. In the...

In May 2013, RF President Putin continued his criticism of the government, which took the form of a well-planned media campaign designed to shift the blame for every adversity and failure in the country onto the Cabinet of Ministers. It is expected that this campaign will culminate in the...

In March 2014 Russia announced the accession of Crimea based on the results of the referendum held on 16 March 2014. In response the U.S. and EU introduced visa sanctions and a ban on the possession of assets in their jurisdictions for Russian officials (and in the U.S. this also extended to...