February saw a sharp deterioration of Russo-Ukrainian relations in the aftermath of the bloody conflict in Ukraine that led to President Viktor Yanukovych’s flight into Russia and to the Crimean parliament’s refusal to recognize the new Ukrainian authorities. Russia’s authorities have so...

In November 2012, RF Minister of Defense Anatoly Serdiukov, accused of abetting corruption in his ministry, was sacked from office; former Deputy Minister of Regional Development was arrested; criminal proceedings against the managers of Rostelekom and the former top officials of the RF Ministry of...

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 February 2016, the RF Government actively discussed its anti-crisis plan and reached a consensus to the effect that the automotive and housing construction industries, as well as non-raw material exports and agriculture, should be subsidized from the budget. At the same time, the Government...

Against the backdrop of dramatically fluctuating oil prices, the main news of January were the plans declared by the Russian government, in particular the budget expenditure cut by 10%, the possibility of privatization of certain big state-owned entities, and the renewal of external borrowing....