In December 2014, Russia’s authorities faced a severe foreign exchange crisis, which forced them to increase the CBR key interest rate to 17% and to order a number of major state-owned companies, including Gazprom and Rosneft , that their foreign exchange reserves should be brought back to the...

In March 2015, the topmost headline-makers were various economic issues, including the ongoing discussion on the new draft budget for 2015–2017 and on the future course of Russia’s economic policy. However, the beginning of March was also marked by two very serious and purely political...

In October the current turmoil in Russia’s international relations palpably stagnated. At the same time, Russia’s economic-political scene displayed alarming portents of future troubles in her business environment: it is not an exaggeration to say that, in October, Russia found herself on...

In November 2014, Vladimir Putin declared that he had no intentions to become Russia’s president-for-life. In spite of Putin’s assurances, this public statement has inevitably sent an alarming signal to society. In November 2014, a court of justice seized the company Bashneft from Vladimir...

A new truce was arranged in Ukraine in February 2015, following a meeting involving the leaders of Russia, France and the German Chancellor. However, the very context of Minsk II Agreements repeats the numerous understatements of Minsk I Agreements and can be broken any time unless solid...

In January 2015, the Russian Government approved a plan providing for 10% budget spending cuts (except defense, social benefi ts, agriculture costs and external debt repayment) and extensive fi nancial aid to the banking sector. Most of the proposals on supporting small businesses and lowering...

The top news story of November was the indirect polemical dispute between Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev, centered on the RF Investigative Committee’s attempt to restore at least one of its previous established powers – the right of investigators to open tax fraud cases without a request...

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...

The situation in eastern Ukraine and Russian-Ukrainian interstate relations saw a certain de-escalation in June 2014. In particular, Russia recognized new Ukrainian President P. Poroshenko. However, the situation remains to be tense. The east Ukrainian armed groups cannot see how they may exist...

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...