text:
The Global Intelligence Files,
files released so far...
Index pages
by Date of Document
Our Partners
Al Akhbar - Lebanon
Al Masry Al Youm - Egypt
Asia Sentinel - Hong Kong
Bivol - Bulgaria
Carta Capital - Brazil
CIPER - Chile
Dawn Media - Pakistan
L'Espresso - Italy
La Repubblica - Italy
La Jornada - Mexico
La Nacion - Costa Rica
Malaysia Today - Malaysia
McClatchy - United States
Nawaat - Tunisia
NDR/ARD - Germany
Owni - France
Pagina 12 - Argentina
Philip Dorling - Fairfax media contributor - Australia
Plaza Publica - Guatemala
Publica - Brazil
Publico.es - Spain
Rolling Stone - United States
Russian Reporter - Russia
Ta Nea - Greece
Taraf - Turkey
The Hindu - India
The Yes Men - Bhopal Activists
Sunday Star-Times - New Zealand
Community resources
courage is contagious
The Global Intelligence Files
On Monday February 27th, 2012, WikiLeaks began publishing The Global Intelligence Files, over five million e-mails from the Texas headquartered "global intelligence" company Stratfor. The e-mails date between July 2004 and late December 2011. They reveal the inner workings of a company that fronts as an intelligence publisher, but provides confidential intelligence services to large corporations, such as Bhopal's Dow Chemical Co., Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and government agencies, including the US Department of Homeland Security, the US Marines and the US Defence Intelligence Agency. The emails show Stratfor's web of informers, pay-off structure, payment laundering techniques and psychological methods.
[OS] 2011-#197-Johnson's Russia List
Released on 2012-10-10 17:00 GMT
Email-ID | 4618212 |
Date | 2011-11-01 15:58:47 |
From | email@example.com |
To | email@example.com |
List-Name | firstname.lastname@example.com |
Johnson's Russia List
1 November 2011
A World Security Institute Project
JRL homepage: www.cdi.org/russia/johnson
Constant Contact JRL archive:
Support JRL: http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/funding.cfm
Your source for news and analysis since 1996n0
A minimum contribution of $25 is suggested. $50 is the normal
level of support. Business-users should pay more.
You may send a check made out to WSI to:
The World Security Institute Attention: JRL
1779 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20036-2109
You can make a credit card contribution thru Paypal by going
to this location:
Or you can make a credit card contribution by contacting Judy
Edwards of the WSI at 202-797-5260.
In this issue
1. Moscow Times: 3 Russians Vie to Be 7 Billionth Person.
2. Voice of America: James Brooke, 'Voters I Shrunk the Nation' A Slogan for
Russia's Elections?
3. Interfax: Golikova says anti-smoking law to be adopted in any case.
4. Reuters: Putin invokes history's lions for return to Kremlin.
5. RBC Daily: RESTRICTED PUTIN. Vladimir Putin will focus on domestic affairs
between now and his election the president.
6. www.russiatoday.com: United Russia should take bull by horns Medvedev.
7. Interfax: United Russia sets second stage of congress for November 27.
8. Izvestia: CHOOSING AN IMAGE. THE PRESIDENT IS OUT TO FUSE HIS LIBERAL IMAGE
9. Interfax: Russian 'Big Government' Website Launched.
10. RBC Daily: OUT OF FOCUS. MEDVEDEV'S DECISION NOT TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT
11. BBC Monitoring: Russian talk show discusses intelligentsia's role in
12. Slon.ru: Kryshtanovskaya Chairs Meeting of United Russia's 'Liberal Club'
13. Financial Times: Prokhorov goes media shopping.
14. Moscow Times: Alexei Panin, Medvedev Surfed His Way to Irrelevance,
15. www.opendemocracy.net: Mikhail Loginov, The legend of servant Medvedev.
16. BBC: Ex Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov: Medvedev 'dictatorial'
17. http://globalvoicesonline.org: Alexey Sidorenko, Russia: The Data Leak War
and Other Pre-Election Surprises.
18. Interfax: Federal Prisons Service Reports Steady Decline in Detention
Centers' Inmates.
19. Interfax: List of suspects in Magnitsky death case could grow -
20. BBC Monitoring: Russian NTV said to have taken off air report on torture in
21. Time.com/Le Temps /Worldcrunch: Marie Jego, Welcome to 'Ramzanistan': Under
an Ironfisted Ruler, Chechnya Rises Again.
22. Moscow News: Mark Galeotti, Tough job for Russia's new military police.
23. www.newyorker.com: Julia Ioffe, At the Bolshoi Gala.
24. Moscow TImes: John Freedman, A Critic's Back Pages, Part Two.
25. ITAR-TASS: RUSSIAN PRESS REVIEW. Russia may joint WTO on December 15.
26. Trud: WTO member? Expect an influx of consumer goods. Vladimir Putin is
concerned about the future of the consumer goods industry, and for good reason.
27. RFE/RL: Interview: Marshall Goldman On Russia's WTO Bid.
28. Moscow Times: Russia Offers Euro Zone $10Bln in Aid Via IMF.
29. AP: Russia's capital flight to double to $70B in 2011.
30. Interfax: Gref Favors Simplifying Access For Foreign Issuers to Russian
31. Reuters: China says Russia gas talks developing well.
32. Russia Profile: The Baby with the Bathwater. Because the "Reset" in
U.S.-Russian Relations Is Closely Associated with Obama, Republicans Have Made it
a Key Point in Their Attacks Against His Foreign Policy.
33. www.russiatoday.com: Konstantin Kosachev, US politicians need a bad guy:
Russia will do.
34. Valdai Discussion Club: Russia-U.S. relation after 2012 elections. (interview
with Andrew C. Kuchins)
35. Interfax: France, Britain would not have been able to wage war in Libya
without U.S. support - Rogozin.
36. Interfax: Moscow to Adopt Counter Measures If Canadian Lawmakers Approve
"Magnitsky Bill"
37. Argumenty Nedeli: US-Russian Intelligence Collection Discussed.
38. Moscow Times: Alexei Bayer, The Kremlin's China Problem.
39. Stratfor.com: Russia: Rebuilding an Empire While It Can.
40. Moscow Times: Paul Rimple, A Paranoia Epidemic Grips Many in Georgia.
41. Reuters: Kyrgyz president-elect wants U.S. air base closed.
42. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, Kyrgyzstan elections: Unity top
priority for Atambayev.
Moscow Times
November 1, 2011
3 Russians Vie to Be 7 Billionth Person
By Lukas I. Alpert
The global population officially topped 7 billion on Monday, and a worldwide
fight immediately erupted over which lucky baby was the first to reach the
milestone with three infants from the distant corners of Russia vying for the
The first recorded Russian birth came at 12:19 a.m. in the Far Eastern city of
Petropavlosk-Kamchatsky when a 3.6-kilogram boy named Alexander came into the
world, regional officials declared.
While they quickly claimed him as the record-setting baby, doctors in the
westernmost Russian city of Kaliningrad cried foul saying a 3.6-kilogram boy
named Pyotr Nikolayev born there at 12:02 a.m. was the real deal, despite the
time difference, according to Interfax.
"He was born on this day, and that is a great honor," said the boy's mother,
Yelena Nikolayeva, as she held up a certificate for photographers naming her son
as the world's 7 billionth resident. "I do not know what opportunities it will
give our child."
Not to be outdone, Anastasia and Roman Yegurnovykh came forward hours later in
St. Petersburg to say their child a 2.8-kilogram girl named Nelli who was born
at 12:05 a.m. in hospital No. 9, was the true breakthrough baby, RIA-Novosti
That's not even taking into account babies in the Philippines and India where at
least six babies were born between 12 a.m. and 8 a.m. who also laid claim to the
Kamchatka Governor Vladimir Ilyukhin pointed to geography as the only way to
settle the matter at least in Russia.
"Of course, there are many contenders for the title of the 7 billionth baby on
the planet. But our country is known for starting in Kamchatka. Therefore, we
believe that this child was the 7 billionth child and was born in Kamchatka,
Russia," he said in a statement on the regional government's web site.
Experts said it was probably impossible to ever truly settle the question given
that 500,000 babies are born worldwide every single day.
A leading Russian demographer said he found the whole argument somewhat silly,
given the country's rapidly declining birthrate.
"I think it is far more likely that the child was born in either Africa or Asia
than here," Anatoly Vishnevsky, director of the Institute of Demography of the
State University, told The Moscow Times by phone. "The fact is the birthrate here
is declining fast, while every minute a child is born in other parts of the
Government statistics show that Russia has lost more than 5 million people since
1995, with the population currently standing at just under 143 million, down from
148.5 million 16 years ago, according to the State Statistics Service.
That led Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to vow earlier this year to pump 1.5
trillion rubles ($50 billion) into programs to boost the birthrate 30 percent in
just five years.
The United Nations had declared Oct. 31 as the landmark day that the Earth's
population would eclipse the 7 billion person mark, but was less inclined to
declare which baby crossed the finish line first.
"In Russia, we will issue three certificates, and a final decision will perhaps
be made at UN headquarters," Alexander Mordovin of the Russian office of the UN
Population Fund told RIA-Novosti. "If the 7 billionth person is not officially
chosen, we will assume that all of these children will hold the title."
Still, the honor does carry some value. For her trouble, Marina Bogdanova, the
22-year-old mother of the boy born in Petropavlosk-Kamchatsky, was given a free
two-room apartment by the regional government.
The United Nations has long trumpeted Oct. 31 as the milestone day as a way to
draw attention to the fast-expanding global population.
The world reached 1 billion people in 1804 and took more than 100 years to hit 2
billion in 1927. The 3 billion mark was passed in 1959, with 4 billion surpassed
just 15 years later. The population hit 5 billion in 1987, followed by 6 billion
in 1998, UN stats show.
"Seven billion is a number we should think about deeply," Dr. Eric Tayag of the
Philippines Department of Health told The Associated Press following the birth of
Danica May Camacho in a crowded Manila hospital, whose arrival was among those in
the running for the milestone.
"We should really focus on the question of whether there will be food, clean
water, shelter, education and a decent life for every child," he said. "If the
answer is 'no,' it would be better for people to look at easing this population
[return to Contents]
Voice of America
October 31, 2011
'Voters I Shrunk the Nation' A Slogan for Russia's Elections?
By James Brooke
James Brooke is VOA Moscow bureau chief, covering Russia and the former USSR.
My Russia Watch on the plight of Tajik migrant workers in Russia earned me grumpy
emails, many from Russian nationalists. This Friday, November 4, is National
Unity Day in Russia, the annual holiday that nationalists celebrate as their own.
After dressing up on Friday for National Unity Day, why not undress after the
parade? Russian nationalists despair falling birth rates of the nation's core
Slavic population. Here they carry the historic flag of the Russian empire during
a demonstration on the outskirts of Moscow on November 4, 2009, National Unity
Day. REUTERS:Denis Sinyakov
So, in honor of Unity Day, I devote this column to you, Russian Nationalists.
Right-thinking guys and gals, after the rally, after raising a ruckus on the
metro, why not go home, fold up your Czarist banners for next year, unlace the
storm trooper boots, have a glass of wine (one), relax, and, you know, maybe
procreate a bit. Create cute little baby nationalists.
Modern young Russians have no aversion to sex.
It's the reproduction part that seems to be a problem. Abortions outnumber live
births in Russia.
You may have seen the demonstrations of frustrated grandmothers who march into
the metro, corner fertile younger women, and wave signs reading: "Have a Baby!"
So, guys, step up to the plate. Do your patriotic duty: Be a Dad!
In Japan, they used to say, young women prefer the (designer) handbag over the
baby. In Russia's consumer-crazed society, many couples choose a Turkish vacation
over changing the diapers.
With no mindset change in sight, Russia's population shrinkage is slowly moving
through society.
The latest victim is the nationalists' favorite institution: the Russian Army.
In fall 2009, the Russian Army drafted 305,000 young men.
In fall 2010, the Army drafted 280,000 men.
In fall 2011, the Army is drafting 136,000 men.
Get the trend? Forget about the million man army.
Part of that drop is because draft dodging is such a national sport in Russia it
could be included in the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. Depending on the region, a
false medical exemption costs between $4,000 and $7,000.
After five years in Moscow, I can count on my left hand the number of Russian men
I know under 35 years of age who have performed their obligatory military
service. (When Muscovites hear that one of my sons, now in university, aspires to
be an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, they think that he and I have holes in
our heads.)
Faced with a dwindling number of healthy young Russian men interested in military
service, Russia's Defense Ministry now is debating forming a French-style
"Foreign Legion." Under this scheme, foreigners who sign up for five year
contracts would be eligible for Russian citizenship after three years.
Guess where foreign volunteers will come from?
The same Central Asia nations that now provide about 10 percent of Russia's
workforce of 74 million people.
Take Tajikistan. Before independence , about 10 percent of the republic's
population was ethnic Russian, Ukrainian or German. In the 20 years since
independence, Tajikistan's total population has increased by 40 percent.
(De-colonization can have unexpected benefits.) As a result, half of Tajikistan's
population of 7.5 million tis now under 21 years of age. Guess who is going to be
looking for work in the 2010s?
Contrast that with Russia.
According to preliminary results of the Russia's 2010 census, there are 142.9
million people living in Russia a 1.5 percent drop since the previous census, in
But, last July, the CIA's World Factbook published a lower population estimate
138.7 million. This would represent a 4.4 percent population fall in one decade.
This loss of 6.4 million people during the 2000s is comparable to the loss of
Russia's entire population between Lake Baikal and the Pacific Coast.
More dramatic than contraction is the aging profile of Russia's population.
Russia, like Japan and Europe, is moving steadily toward a world where there will
soon be one retiree for every two workers.
With the ranks of Russian pensioners swelling by the day, authorities pray for
continued high prices for Russia's oil and gas. That way Europe will keep
shipping truckloads of money east, covering the Soviet generation's massive,
unfunded pension liabilities.
For months, rumors have circulated in Moscow that the 2010 Census results would
not be rosy.
In mid-October, Rosstat, the Federal Statistical Service, scheduled a census
press conference for mid-December. Conveniently, this will take place after
people cast their ballots in Dec. 4 parliamentary elections.
Two decades ago, the American comedy movie, "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" was funny.
But this week, it would not be a great vote getter for Prime Minister Putin to
review his decade running Russia, and then announce on National Unity Day:
"Voters, I Shrunk the Nation."
[return to Contents]
Golikova says anti-smoking law to be adopted in any case
MOSCOW. Nov 1 (Interfax) - Russian Health and Social Development Minister Tatyana
Golikova admitted that a bill radically restricting smoking in Russia has drawn a
lot of criticism, but said she is confident that the draft law will be adopted.
"The bill has drawn a lot of debate and criticism, but we will still adopt it in
any case," Golikova said in the State Duma on Tuesday.
The bill was developed under the WHO convention on the fight against smoking and
"promotes a healthy lifestyle," Golikova said.
In mid-October, Kommersant reported that Rusbrend, the National Trade
Association, and the Hotels and Restaurants Association had asked the
administration not to adopt the anti-smoking bill drawn up by the Health and
Social Development Ministry, which restricts the sale of cigarettes to large
shops and prohibits smoking in public places.
[return to Contents]
Putin invokes history's lions for return to Kremlin
By Guy Faulconbridge and Gleb Bryanski
November 1, 2011
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin has an answer for Russians worried that his
return to the presidency next year will usher in an era of stagnation: study the
careers of Franklin D. Roosevelt or Charles de Gaulle.
Putin could be president until 2024 if he wins the maximum two successive terms
and by then would have ruled for almost a quarter of a century.
His decision to reclaim the presidency has brought frequent comparisons with
Communist leader Leonid Brezhnev, whose 18-year rule of the Soviet Union until
his death in 1982 is widely seen as an era of political and economic stagnation.
But Putin, who has remained Russia's paramount leader even as prime minister
since 2008, prefers to hold up the examples of long-serving Western leaders to
justify his return to the Kremlin, which is all but certain in next March's
The former KGB spy's history lessons also give a sense of how he views himself
and could provide clues about what his next presidency will hold.
Asked about his decision to return to the post he held for eight years until
2008, Putin corrected an interviewer who referred to Roosevelt, the
longest-serving U.S. president.
"Yes, Roosevelt was elected three times," said Konstantin Ernst, the head of the
Pervyi Kanal (First Channel).
"No," Putin, 59, snapped back, wagging his finger at Ernst. "Four times."
Roosevelt won elections in 1932, 1936, 1940 and 1944, and died in office in 1945,
months after the Yalta Conference where he, Soviet leader Josef Stalin and
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill carved up Europe at the end of World War
"He ruled the country in the toughest years of economic depression and in World
War Two and was elected four times because he was effective," said Putin, who won
presidential elections in 2000 and 2004.
After praising Roosevelt, Putin went on to list other long-serving leaders
including Helmut Kohl, who was German chancellor for 16 years. He also said he
liked de Gaulle, France's president from 1959 to 1969.
Like Putin, Roosevelt, De Gaulle and Kohl rose to power in tumultuous times but
used iron will and considerable popularity to gain almost complete dominance.
Styled by his ruling party as Russia's "national leader", Putin says his biggest
achievement is to have saved Russia from collapse after the chaos and humiliation
that accompanied the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Putin, and some of the people who own chunks of the world's biggest energy
producer, believe he is a ruler who can ensure stability, at least for now.
"He thinks of himself as a national leader," said Nikolai Petrov, a political
analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Centre.
Heroes of their time to supporters, Roosevelt, De Gaulle and Kohl forged fiercely
independent foreign policies but, like Putin, were criticised for accruing too
much power.
Opponents say Russia's stability is a mirage because Putin's decision to stay in
power makes a brittle and atrophied political system too dependent on one man.
By focusing on Western leaders, Putin is also underscoring to Russian voters his
own image as the stout defender of the country's interests in the face of what is
often portrayed as Western hypocrisy.
"By invoking de Gaulle and Roosevelt, Putin hints that foreign criticism of him
is based on double standards, and presents himself as the country's defender,
willing to stand up to hypocritical foreigners who are unfair to Russians," said
David Woodruff, senior lecturer in comparative politics at the London School of
Economics and Political Science.
For the leaders of the United States, China and Europe, the message is clear:
Putin will accept no lecturing but he also wants to be accepted at the top table
of world politics.
Even at face value, there may be other parallels.
De Gaulle put down dissent in Syria, Lebanon and Algeria. Under Putin, Russia has
been accused of human rights abuses in Chechnya and other republics of the
rebellious North Caucasus.
Kohl was criticised for turning a blind eye to party corruption. Putin's ruling
United Russia party has been branded "a party of swindlers and thieves" by
Roosevelt's record stay in the White House prompted Congress to pass the 22nd
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which prevents presidents from serving more
than two terms.
Putin also admires Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father of modern Singapore. Such is
his regard that some of his closest allies have taken up reading Lee's books. Lee
led Singapore for more than 31 years until 1990 but remained senior minister and
then minister mentor until May this year.
Putin's use of bumper oil revenues during his first presidency to boost living
standards and cement his rule while other economic problems went unsolved has
drawn analogies with Soviet leaders, in particular Brezhnev, under whom economic
decline was masked by strong the income from oil sales.
"The analogy with Brezhnev is being made... all such analogies are lame and
senseless because we live in a different country, a different world," said
President Dmitry Medvedev, who was swept into the Kremlin in 2008 to get round a
constitutional ban on his mentor Putin serving a third successive term.
Putin has remained the more powerful of the two men in their power-sharing
arrangement know as the ruling tandem.
For such an overtly patriotic Russian leader, Putin has made few references to
tsars and Communist Party general secretaries, all of whom ruled large empires.
Among the tsars, Putin has preferred comparisons with Peter the Great, a ruthless
leader who built Putin's home town of St Petersburg and laid the foundations of
the Russian empire.
"Putin reads all the time, mostly about the history of Russia," his spokesman,
Dmitry Peskov, said. "He reads memoirs, the memoirs of Russian historical state
Opinion polls show Russians' most popular historical figures are writer and poet
Alexander Pushkin, Peter the Great, Josef Stalin, Soviet state founder Vladimir
Lenin and Putin.
For Russians, they outrank Jesus Christ, Alexander the Great or scientist Isaac
But Peskov said Putin had a keen interest in Tsarist Prime Minister Pyotr
Stolypin and Russian Orthodox philosopher Ivan Ilyin, who said Russia should plot
an independent course between dictatorship and democracy.
Putin has made no secret of his respect for Stolypin, who crushed dissent but
also introduced land reform as prime minister from 1906 to 1911 under Tsar
Nicholas II.
Putin said in July that a statue of Stolypin should be placed outside the Russian
government's headquarters in Moscow.
"A true patriot and a wise politician, he understood that both radicalism of all
sorts as well as stagnation, a lack of reforms, were equally dangerous for the
country," Putin said.
[return to Contents]
RBC Daily
November 1, 2011
Vladimir Putin will focus on domestic affairs between now and his election the
Author: Inga Vorobiova
As candidate for president, Vladimir Putin intends to intensively
tour Russia. What information is available to this newspaper
indicates that no foreign trips are included in Putin's itinerary
before March 2012. Experts believe that Putin is of the mind to
poll more votes in the presidential election than United Russia
will in the parliamentary.
The impression is that China became the first and the last
foreign country visited by Putin a candidate for president. It was
in Beijing that Putin told the West and the East why he had
decided to come back. "We know what to do and how to do it," Putin
said, on his own behalf and on Dmitry Medvedev's.
"I wager that there will be no more foreign trips for Putin
before March 2012," said a source within the government. Putin's
Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov confirmed that his patron intended
to focus on domestic affairs. Another source said that Putin
intended to meet with foreign colleagues yet, but only at home. A
meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organization premiers will take
place in St.Petersburg before very long.
His travels restricted to Russia alone, the premier will tour
the country intensively indeed.
Peskov said, "As a matter of fact, there is going to be
little difference between travels of Putin the candidate for
president and Putin the premier. Sure, some nuances in connection
with the forthcoming election will manifest themselves as soon as
he is granted the official status of a candidate. By and large,
however, they will be routine trips."
"Putin's rating is fine and dandy. His political adversaries
are even more so because they are wholly predictable and therefore
pose no threats. Putin needs this massive PR campaign in order to
poll more votes in the presidential election than United Russia
will in the parliamentary. It's a kind of paradox, of course,
because Putin will have to do everything for United Russia first
and then beat even this accomplishment of his," said Political
Techniques Center Director General Aleksei Makarkin.
Putin visited nine foreign countries this year, discounting
nearby foreign countries Ukraine and Belarus and discounting South
Ossetia which is as good as Russia. Frequency of his domestic
travels outnumbered that of foreign trips approximately six to
[return to Contents]
November 1, 2011
United Russia should take bull by horns Medvedev
United Russia members shouldn't just sit around twiddling their thumbs, but
should get down to work and make life in the country better, President Dmitry
Medvedev says.
"The opposition has it easy: it's always easier to criticize. But those who take
responsibility are in a more difficult position, as they must bring their
commitments to life and because they become a target of criticism both
constructive and absolutely unfounded," Medvedev said, as cited by Interfax. The
president added that the ruling party must be prepared for this.
Medvedev, who heads the United Russia list for the December 4 parliamentary
election, met on Tuesday with active party members in the Siberian city of
Speaking at the meeting, he pointed out that the party has every chance of
remaining the leading political force in the country after the State Duma vote.
The president stressed that United Russia needs to keep its leadership "not for
the sake of leadership, but in order to carry out reforms and modernize our
country's economy and social sphere."
Medvedev expressed hope that the party will take an active stance and take
matters into its own hands,working to change life for the better.
Following up on the meeting, its participants met again today to discuss next
steps. These include a whole range of issues from reviving the small aircraft
transportation system, to solving housing problems and preventing the sale of
alcohol to minors.
[return to Contents]
United Russia sets second stage of congress for November 27
MOSCOW. Nov 1 (Interfax) - The second stage of United Russia's congress, at which
the party is expected to announce the nomination of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
as its candidate in next year's presidential election, will be held on November
"The second stage of the United Russia political party's 12th congress will take
place in Moscow on November 27. It will start at noon," the party said in a press
Media outlets can submit their applications for accreditation to cover the event
from November 1 to November 15, it said.
The venue for the congress will be announced later.
United Russia Supreme Council Chairman and State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov said
on October 6 that the party would not delay Vladimir Putin's nomination as its
presidential candidate.
Under Russian law, this decision should be made in November, - starting from
November 25, he said.
"As soon as such a decision is made, we will announce the continuation of our
congress. There will be no delays because our candidate is known - he is Vladimir
Putin," Gryzlov said.
The first stage of United Russia's congress was held on September 23-24. A
preliminary announcement was made that party members were ready to support Putin
as a candidate for Russia's presidency.
Incumbent President Dmitry Medvedev proposed nominating Putin as United Russia's
presidential candidate at the party's congress. Medvedev, for his part,
effectively agreed to serve as prime minister after the March 4, 2012 election.
[return to Contents]
November 1, 2011
Author: Olga Tropkina, Pierre Sidibe[Meeting with representatives of general
public, President Dmitry
Medvedev mobilizes the potential electorate.]
It was just over a month ago that President Dmitry Medvedev
became the leader of the ruling party's ticket. It happened at the
United Russia convention in late September. The president's
schedule was corrected with an emphasis on meetings with general
public ever since (typical of a politician involved in a
parliamentary campaign). Medvedev attended two meetings with
presumably members of the future larger government and met with
Moscow State University students. The president met with young
scientists and businessmen at Skolkovo last Saturday. Meeting of
the Public Committee dedicated to transport problems took place on
Report at the Monday meeting was made by Nikolai Fyodorov,
Russian Popular Front's prime ideologist. Theses of the report
developed theses of the program drawn for the Russian Popular
Front. "The part of the program focused on transport is quite
exhaustive and comprehensive," said Public Committee Coordinator
Mikhail Abyzov.
According to Abyzov, transport problems at the meeting were
considered from three angles - regional, municipal, and individual
i.e. from users' standpoint. That was why the meeting was also
attended by Chelyabinsk Governor Mikhail Yurevich, Mayor of Samara
Dmitry Azarov, and Russian Motorist Society leader Vycheslav
Lysakov. United Russia was represented by Sergei Neverov,
Secretary of the Presidium of the General Council.
The president's meeting with young scientists, innovators,
and businessmen took place on October 29. All in all, they
numbered upwards of 200. Organizers of the meeting said that
criteria for the selection were simple. A person had to be under
30, and he or she needed to have a business project under way or
Institute of Political Expertise Director General Yevgeny
Minchenko said, "That's an attempt we are seeing to fuse two
Medvedevs into one. The first Medvedev is the president who
regularly interacted with general public and who was fairly
critical of United Russia. The second Medvedev is the one who
became the head of the ruling party's federal ticket."
"These are two quite different images. After all, Medvedev is
forced to function in these two capacities i.e. as the symbolic
leader of the liberal general public and as the leader of the
ruling party. It is because of these two capacities of his that
snags occur like the one during his meeting with students," said
Political scientist Dmitry Orlov said that Medvedev was
addressing two problems at once - promoting the future larger
government and mobilizing the electorate.
Orlov said, "I think is it clear that the larger government
ought to be as free of ideologies as possible. But that will be
later on. During the election, it ought to interact with United
Russia and promote its success, of course."
Medvedev's Press Secretary Natalia Timakova said, "The
president is trying to draw the attention of general public to
pressing problems."
[return to Contents]
Russian 'Big Government' Website Launched
October 31, 2011
The website of the "big government", initiated by Russian President Dmitriy
Medvedev, has been launched, Russian news agency Interfax reported on 31 October,
quoting Mikhail Abyzov, the coordinator of a public committee of Russian
president's supporters.
Head of the new website "bolshoye pravitelstvo.rf", Russian for "big
government.rf", Raf Shakirov told the agency that all proposals regarding the
website would be formed taking into account various experts.
"Our portal will be a tool of social partnership between authorities and the
people. Processes like this have existed in the world for a long time, and now it
will be developing here," Shakirov said.
"This government will be open to proposals as Russia is rich in talents," he
In particular, he said that housing construction, development of transport and
towns, as well as the defence and industrial complex and other issues would be
among the main topics for discussion on the website.
"We do not pretend to be exclusive but we are organizing a discussion with the
main purpose of extracting the most rational and promising proposals," he said.
"Most interesting decisions will be forwarded to the authorities," Shakirov
"A website like this is set up because so far Russia does not have a centre that
would accumulate various interesting proposals, systematize them and offer
solutions to various problems," he said.
Earlier Abyzov told the agency that the website was launched to "cover the work
that would be done within the framework President Medvedev's initiative on a
public committee and the "big government" and creating a real platform for
[return to Contents]
RBC Daily
November 1, 2011
Author: Political Information Center Director General Aleksei Mukhin
[Accomplishments of Medvedev the president: a brief analysis.]
Time has come to tote up some preliminary results... Dmitry
Medvedev decided not to run for president in 2012. This piece of
news demoralized liberals and made observers certainly
philosophical. In fact, Medvedev even went so far as to accept
Vladimir Putin's offer to become the leader of the federal ticket
of the ruling party which he had castigated as overly arrogant all
four years of his presidency.
Medvedev's decision demoralized the liberal camp that had
regarded the president as its icon and symbol. His status and
capacity soon to be different, Medvedev is parting company with
the people whose services he enlisted entirely without qualms.
Still a candidate for president, Medvedev was focused on the so
called national projects. That they were but "so called" became
clear the moment he was elected he president when the project were
promptly converted into federal programs and turned over to minor
state functionaries. That the projects a.k.a. programs were
quietly dropped without much ado not long after that need not be
Trying to emphasize at least some difference from his partner
in the tandem, Medvedev focused on staff matters. Establishment of
the so called Presidential Personnel Pool with the Golden Hundred
on top of it became one of his very first initiatives in the
presidential capacity. It did not really matter that at least
every second person within this Golden Hundred was pro-Putin. What
mattered was that the list was called Presidential. At first,
Medvedev even succeeded in keeping it clear of the candidates
suggested by United Russia.
Medvedev calls rotation within the gubernatorial corps one of
the main accomplishments of his presidency. Unfortunately, the
youths he elevated to the pinnacles of regional power in Russia
failed to do any better than the old-timers they replaced. Once
installed in their new offices, the youths concentrated on their
business ventures and had little if any time or desire to deal
with anything else. Once again, it did not matter as long as the
president could tell society that yes, he had refreshed the
gubernatorial corps.
Medvedev's latest idea, the so called larger government, was
really quite pragmatic a move. His associates could forget about
intrigues now and focus on the immensely more gratifying pastime
involving the division of future portfolios. It never occurs to
them to be wary. They seem to have forgotten than Medvedev took
but a handful people with him when he himself was elevated from
the senior deputy premiership to presidency. Medvedev's university
pals are his only proteges. All the rest in the circles close to
him are Putin's people. In a word, Medvedev himself never
succeeded in shedding the image of a man of Putin's team - despite
several attempts to do just so.
The scandal with Right Cause was anther disappointment.
Medvedev's interest in the liberal project was intense but too
short-lived. The president abandoned Right Cause and let political
technologists take over the moment Mikhail Prokhorov hollered for
Soon after that Medvedev kicked out Kudrin, the man Putin had
called "the best finance minister ever" and the man Medvedev
himself had regarded as an ideological ally.
Even Putin looks better from this angle. He sticks by his
teammates, even at the cost to his own repute.
Putin honors personal guarantees he gives to his people, and
people see it. No wonder the premier and the future president
managed to put together a considerable and powerful team whereas
the president and the future premier is still trying to form the
larger government.
[return to Contents]
BBC Monitoring
Russian talk show discusses intelligentsia's role in politics
October 30, 2011
The 30 October edition of the "NTVshniki" talk show on Gazprom-owned NTV channel
was entitled "Who needs the intelligentsia?" and focused on the definitions and
roles of the intelligentsia in the Russian society.
Following a video clip comparing Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and Prime
Minister Vladimir Putin's meetings with Russian intelligentsia representatives,
co-presenter Anton Khrekov asked studio guests why the Russian intelligentsia
seemed to be always silent at meetings with the country's leaders. Answering the
question, writer Zakhar Prilepin said that some intellectuals who did not
challenge the status quo and sat about waiting for their paycheques were not
really a part of the intelligentsia. He also suggested that many representatives
of the intelligentsia were leaving Russia and that the country was lacking a
military aristocracy or military intelligentsia.
Co-presenter Boris Berman defined representatives of the intelligentsia as people
who are able to doubt.
In turn, Mikhail Zhvydkoy, presidential envoy for international cultural
cooperation, said that the intelligentsia are a group of people who are able to
understand the pain of the people and explain it to the authorities. Many of the
studio guests agreed with Berman and Zhvydkoy's definitions.
Film director Andrey Smirnov said that anyone who cares for the country could be
a representative of the intelligentsia regardless of his or her profession.
Doctor of philosophy Andrey Ashkerov suggested that the Russian intelligentsia
did not see the division in its ranks in its attempts to act as the collective
conscience of the people. Ashkerov also said that the intelligentsia were people
who had a spirit of inventiveness and saw a need for engineering intelligentsia
in the country.
[return to Contents]
Kryshtanovskaya Chairs Meeting of United Russia's 'Liberal Club'
October 26, 2011
Article by Roman Dobrokhotov: "The Flying Bear and Nostalgia in United Russia. A
Session of United Russia's So-Called Liberal Club Sorted Many Things Out"
Back when the first talk of a liberal and a conservative wing was only just
beginning in United Russia, Boris Gryzlov sorted everything out with a single
phrase: "We Bears (unite Russia nickname) do not need wings. Bears do not fly."
All the same, many of them tried. Today, during a session of United Russia's
so-called liberal club, it became clear that Gryzlov was absolutely right.
The United Russia liberal club met today in Gazetnyy Pereulok, in the very same
building inhabited by Yakemenko's Rosmolodezh (Federal Agency for Youth Affairs).
For some reason, behind the backs of the attendees there was a banner bearing the
logo of the "state patriotic club," which of course created a rather
uncomfortable atmosphere for the United Russia liberals. "So many years we have
been meeting, but to this day we do not have our own logo," Boris Gryzlov's
adviser Yuriy Kotler complained. But if only that was the main problem.
None of the deputies came to today's session of the "liberal club." Vladimir
Gruzdev is a governor now and has no time for such meetings, while Medinskiy,
Gabrakhmanov, and Makarov simply found more important things to do. This greatly
upset chairwoman Olga Kryshtanovskaya, who, it seems, had invited many other
people, but none of them came, either: "Many people are skeptical: What does
United Russia want with liberals, they say," she explained convincingly, adding
surprisingly: "Guys, do you want checkers or do you want to get anywhere?
(Allusion to well-known joke: A man tries to hail a cab, but none of them will
stop. Then a beat-up old Zaporozhets car stops, but the man refuses to get in,
saying to the driver: "But there aren't any checkers" (referring to the
checkerboard pattern that identifies Russian cabs). The driver replies: "So, do
you want checkers, or do you want to go somewhere?") Do you want liberal reforms?
We are in favor of them! And Medvedev is in favor of them! We all want fair
elections, none of us wants corruption."
In fact the topic of the liberal club's meeting was Medvedev's "Big Government."
You might think that the liberal club would feel enormous satisfaction about
this. Apparently not. The United Russians tore their new leader's initiative to
"The United Russia party is assigned the role of a load of peasants in old carts,
while in front the hussars speed by, dressed in red jackets and riding Arab
racehorses," the metaphors flowed from United Russia's Central Executive
Committee Deputy Leader Andrey Ilnitskiy, who was introduced as the "founder of
the liberal club," "but La Rochelle can be taken by four men acting together
(allusion to episode in The Three Musketeers ), it is impossible to hold on."
In Ilnitskiy's view everything about Medvedev's idea is secondary, and even the
idea itself emerged a month after the appearance in the United States of the
analogous idea of Open Government, which is basically very similar to the "Big
Government." Surely there must be some kind of feedback nowadays, Ilnitskiy said
in surprise, considering that in the summer hundreds of thousands of people were
polled within the framework of the "people's program" project. Surely projects
are being adopted now? After all, there is the Strategic Initiatives Agency.
Surely there must be an extended platform for involving active people now? If
not, what is the United People's Front (as published; the initials, ONF, are the
same as for Putin's All-Russia People's Front)? All this already exists,
Ilnitskiy assured us, concluding his speech with what has already become a stock
phrase: "As Khodorkovskiy said -- did they never try working?"
The atmosphere was cooled slightly by VTsIOM (All-Russia Center for the Study of
Public Opinion) Director Valeriy Fedorov. He quoted the results of polls showing
that people do not absolutely believe in the parliament's power and th ink
everything is decided by the president and the government. For a moment it
appeared that Mr Fedorov was going to say that the elections have become a merely
decorative procedure and that political competition must be brought back, but it
all turned out much simpler than that. "Then let us make a big government and a
small parliament," he proposed, explaining that for some reason
parliamentarianism has not taken root in Russia.
Nobody in the liberal club was about to argue with the idea of abandoning
parliamentarianism. The club members were much more interested in their own
unenviable position. Andrey Kigim, president of the All-Russia Union of Insurers,
was particularly worried about this, expressing outrage that apparently nobody
wants either the club or United Russia in general. It turned out, however, that
Mr Kigim was referring first and foremost to himself. "I respect Gruzdev, but
when I come to the club and he does not greet me..." "He does not greet you?" --
Kryshtanovskaya sighed sympathetically. "No, just imagine! Well, then what can
one say? You will not notice me in the big things if you do not see me in the
small things." Kigim was also outraged at the fact that "they instructed Abyzov
to do everything" in the "Big Government." He is a businessman, Kigim explained,
but here we are talking about values -- how can such matters be entrusted to
businessmen? Kigim proposed that 70% of the places in the "Big Government" should
be allocated to United Russia, so that it receives more powers and can exercise
better oversight of state bodies. He was asked what he thinks the reaction will
be if United Russia declares its "public oversight" over the department of the
printed media, but Kigim was not put off: "I could not care less -- the eyes are
afraid but the hands do the job."
An even simpler way of achieving results was proposed by another member of the
liberal club, Irina Kaznacheyeva, a slim blonde who belongs to Kryshtanovskaya's
movement called "High Achieving Women" (Otlichnitsy). Gesticulating vigorously
with her hands, she explained that the time has come to "change the configuration
of people's consciousness." "I am aware of sociological data showing that Russian
citizens feel unhappy," she said sadly, "but we can change this if we restructure
people's consciousness in a positive way; it is necessary to formulate an image
of the future for them so that they can see somewhere far ahead, like in Soviet
times, thinking that there is a bright communist future, although nobody knows
what form it would take, but the main thing is to believe in it. There are bigger
things in life than money."
The most interesting speech was probably that of Aleksey Malyy. In the time
allotted to him he recounted his own life story, which was very interesting. We
heard about his childhood in the Komsomol (Communist Youth League), the fact that
his grandmother had 20 children and he himself had more than 200 brothers and
sisters (as published), and about his father's Cossack roots, and about his
mother's noble blood, and about how he headed the unarmed combat federation, and
about how they shot his grandfather, and many more things, but unfortunately for
some reason his story was suddenly interrupted.
The results of the productive discussion were summed up by Olga Kryshtanovskaya
herself. She expressed outrage at how little attention the authorities pay to the
United Russians and in particular the members of the "liberal club": "And when
people say that the party of power has the monopoly of power, and so forth...but
the point is that the party does not manage itself, it is managed from outside.
And to a significant degree we ourselves are to blame, because where an active
position should be displayed we keep quiet. But it is the party that should take
responsibility for what is happening. And if things do not work out -- it should
leave, like in the majority of developed countries." And in the end a hand was
raised even against the holy of holies: "In our country, political puppets are
being put in place, even in the party. No political leadership as such is
arising, where a person puts forward some kind of idea and people follow him,
follow that idea. And not because he has a certain name." Kryshtanovskaya's
colleagues looked at her with misgivings. After all, everyone remembers who is
the leader of United Russia and what his name is.
[return to Contents]
Financial Times
October 31, 2011
Prokhorov goes media shopping
By Courtney Weaver
The owners of three of Russia's most liberal media outlets are attracting
attention from an interesting suitor: Mikhail Prokhorov.
The tycoon and New Jersey Nets owner is currently in talks to take a stake in
online TV channel TV Dozhd (Rain TV), news website Slon.ru and Moscovites'
beloved alternative newspaper Bolshoi Gorod (Big City). So is Russia's third
richest man becoming a bona fide liberal?
The oligarch is no stranger to media. Onexim Group, his holding, already owns the
Russian-language magazine Snob, which caters to wealthy Russian intellectuals
scattered everywhere from Moscow to London to New York. Onexim also owns 51 per
cent of RBK Group, the media holding that owns business newspaper RBK Daily and
RBK TV, the business TV channel.
But talks for the liberal media outlets come at an awkward time for Prokhorov.
Last week, Polyus Gold, the gold miner he co-owns a controlling stake in along
with Suleiman Kerimov, announced it had been forced to delay a London premium
listing after a foreign investment commission headed by Vladimir Putin said it
needed more information to approve the company's relocation to the UK.
The postponement has sent Moscow heads into a tailspin, with some wondering if
the delay is tied to Prokhorov's political activity. (The businessman briefly
entered politics this spring as the face and head of the Right Cause, a liberal
pro-business party, but was publicly ousted from the group in September after
ruffling the feathers of certain Kremlin officials.)
Prokhorov's interest in Rain TV, Slon.Ru and Big City all owned by businesswoman
Natalya Sindeeva could be purely commercial. Rain TV reaches almost 285,000
people across the internet and a few scattered cable channels; Slon.ru reaches
668,000; and Big City has a circulation of 150,000.
The businessman is not known for being a big reader. (According to this 2010 New
York Times Magazine profile he once told Snob's former editor, "I don't read", at
a party thrown for the magazine on his dime.)
Still, it's interesting to think that Prokhorov has taken a more serious interest
in media this time, and will be looking at Rain, Slon and Big City as alternative
vehicles to politics.
Dozhd in particular has always had a reputation for taking on more risky
subjects, especially compared to the state-run television channels, and it would
be worth noting if this will continue to the same extent under Prokhorov.
According to Kommersant, Onexim is looking to take a controlling stake in the
media assets, while Sindeeva the current owner could become head of the Onexim
media subsidiary that owns Snob.
[return to Contents]
Moscow Times
November 1, 2011
Medvedev Surfed His Way to Irrelevance
By Alexei Pankin
Alexei Pankin is editor of WAN-IFRA-GIPP Magazine for publishing business
According to a joke that circulated during the breaks at the recent Russian
Internet Week forum, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin did not allow President Dmitry
Medvedev to run for a second term because Medvedev spends too much time on the
Internet. The forum is the main annual event of the domestic Internet industry
and closely reflects the main development trends in this most dynamic of all
segments of Russia's public life.
There is an element of truth in every joke, as the saying goes. Medvedev's
reputation as the main blogger in the country has clearly not helped his image.
Perhaps Medvedev was a victim of his own clumsy propaganda machine. Each of his
short Twitter messages, such as a recent announcement of an upcoming televised
meeting with supporters, becomes headline news and is aired several times a day
on all state-controlled national television channels. Eventually, any viewer
from the simplest to the most sophisticated cannot help but become disappointed
in the blogger-in-chief.
But the most important revelation to come out of the Internet forum was the
finding by various research agencies that there is no reason for politicians to
direct much of their time or resources at the Internet audience.
Yes, the number of Internet users in Russia is growing rapidly, with 60 million
people 12 years of age or older going online at least once per month, and 40
million surfing the web daily.
What's more, the digital divide is shrinking. The most dynamic growth in Internet
use is now among older individuals and residents of cities with a population of
100,000 or less.
But what are those people looking for on the Internet? A cording to the Public
Opinion Foundation, about 50 percent are interested in health and sports, but
only 20 percent are interested in politics fewer than those who want information
on tourism and travel. The director of the Hyde Park social network corroborated
these findings, saying the "politics" tag ranks in 29th place and attracts no
more than 18 percent of all users.
Even more depressing is the limited sway that the Russian Internet has in
mobilizing users to become active in social causes. One popular blogger, Sergei
Dolya, led a campaign for a national trash cleanup day that, even with support
from traditional media and national television, managed to mobilize only 16,000
volunteers from Kamchatka to Kaliningrad. And that is considered one of the most
effective mobilization campaigns in the history of post-Soviet Russia.
At the forum, blogger Ilya Varlamov commented on the gap between the impassioned
Internet response to various social and protest initiatives and people's
willingness to actually get off their rears and take action.
During the Soviet era, tens of millions of people regularly took part in
subbotniki, or voluntary local cleanup campaigns. Organizations such as the trade
unions, Komsomol and other Communist Party organizations urged everyone from
children to adults to take part in these efforts.
I can imagine how angry Putin must be with Medvedev for having gotten too wrapped
up in his iPad and failing to become a worthy successor. But it seems that the
current prime minister and future president has not given up hope.
It is no accident that Putin anointed Medvedev to head the party list of United
Russia, which has become a near replica of the Soviet Communist Party, thereby
giving Medvedev a chance to gain more real world experience in addition to his
virtual exploits.
[return to Contents]
October 31, 2011
The legend of servant Medvedev
By Mikhail Loginov
Mikhail Loginov is a journalist and novelist based in St. Petersburg. He is the
author of the recently published bestselling political thriller "Battle for
Occupying power while showing no intent to take possession of it, faithful
servant Dmitry Medvedev could not have been more obliging to his master. Yet
handing back power in such circumstances will be painful for the still-young
president. His embitterment may yet play out in interesting ways, writes Mikhail
There is an unsigned poem by the Polish Romantic Adam Mickiewicz which is based
on an ancient legend. Once upon a time the Devil appeared to a dying Lithuanian
prince and offered not only to return him to health but to restore his youth. All
he had to do was to find a faithful friend or servant who would hack his body to
pieces and anoint it with magic potion while intoning the appropriate
incantation. However, should there be any deception or even carelessness in the
execution of these instructions, the patient would be condemned to eternal
damnation. So neither a clever rogue nor an honest idiot would do. The poem was
never finished: the author never could decide whether there was such a thing as a
faithful friend.
The story of the relationship between Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev has
finally provided an answer: there is such a thing as a faithful servant. Putin
found someone to whom he could hand over power, who neither lost it nor pocketed
it, and returned it promptly when asked.
'He never said a foolish thing, Nor ever did a wise one.'
Putin could have had one, very slight, consolation: Boris Yeltsin had the same
problem in 1999. Russia's first president realised that neither the law nor his
own physical condition would allow him to extend his rule.
He needed to leave the Kremlin to someone who would not let the communist slogan
'The Yeltsin gang - in the dock!' be put into practice, who would not allow the
courts to take their revenge on Yeltsin's friends and relations.
After much anxious reflection during the 'premiership fever' of 1999, Yeltsin's
choice rested on Vladimir Putin. And the gamble paid off. The new Russian
President achieved much that Yeltsin could never have managed, from the return of
the Soviet national anthem to the reinstatement of the institution of political
prisoners. But Yeltsin himself, along with his friends and relations, remained
In 2007 Putin himself found himself facing no easy task. He did not want to go
along the Lukashenko road and extend his presidential term. The only solution was
to find someone who would hold power safely in his hands for four years, without
either letting it go or taking possession of it.
Vladimir Putin found his man in Dmitry Medvedev. Back in the early 90s when they
worked together in the St Petersburg Mayor's Office, Medvedev was always being
taken for Putin's secretary. Since then he had occupied quite a few senior
positions, but usually as second-in-command. He was always excellent in that
role; carried out the work he was given conscientiously and, most importantly,
left no personal mark anywhere on his work. The earl of Rochester famously wrote
of Charles II that, 'He never said a foolish thing, /Nor ever did a wise one.' If
we were to substitute 'independent' for 'wise', we would have a precise
description of Medvedev. This was the faithful friend, or rather servant, to whom
Putin entrusted his most precious possession his power.
Unexpected temptations
To continue the analogy with the legend, from his first year in office Dmitry
Medvedev was no stranger to temptations. The first of these was the war with
Georgia in August 2008. Putin could only envy the custodian of power: Medvedev
secured a speedy victory at little human cost. He then had the opportunity to
shower the army with medals, raise officers' salaries and in one month gain more
popularity among the military than Putin had in his entire term of office.
Medvedev resisted this temptation.
His second temptation, which coincided in time with the short Georgian war, was a
behind the scenes dispute with Putin. Putin, as Prime Minister, made another of
his clumsy attacks on business, threatening to 'send a doctor' to deal with the
owner of the Mechel metallurgic company. At around the same time, Medvedev banned
officials from 'making life a nightmare' for business. Although Medvedev was
referring to small businesses, the coincidental timing of the two announcements
made it look like a boss reprimanding an employee.
Medvedev had a second potential ally, not in small, but in big, business. The
owners of large companies, apart from those who were close personal friends of
Putin, lived in a state of constant anxiety, and although they denounced
Khodorkovsky in public, his fate was never far from their minds. If Medvedev had
promised them a more comfortable life, he would have acquired allies with
considerable financial potential.
Finally, the third temptation of 2008 was the global economic crisis. Medvedev
could have adopted the role of hard man and won the love of the Russian people
with populist measures. He missed this opportunity as well. When in 2009 the
majority of the population of the town of Pikalevo lost their jobs and vented
their anger by blocking a main road, it was not Medvedev who flew in to deal with
the crisis, but Putin, who, on prime time television, forced the local factory
owners to resume production. It was he who reaped political dividends from the
incident, not Russia's president.
Unavoidable temptations
In 2010 Medvedev had to face not just sporadic temptations but unavoidable,
systemic temptation. He had acquired a certain entourage, people keen not to give
up their political influence, which would inevitably happen were Putin to return
to the Kremlin. So now it was not circumstances that counselled Medvedev to
remain president, but concrete individuals suggesting he liberalise political
life, create a new party as competition for 'United Russia' and, most
importantly, announce his intention to stand again for the presidency in 2012.
The idea of liberalisation was unlikely in itself to guarantee Medvedev any
significant popularity among the voters, but if he had announced a tough war on
corruption that would extend to Putin's cronies, attitudes to him would have
changed for the better. Finally, he could have made a few overtures to Russian
nationalists, at any rate their moderate-civilised faction. Putin would not allow
the nationalists to create their own party, nor the liberals either.
Medvedev did nothing. As before, he let slip every chance to create an image of a
leader who protected his people: in 2010 it was Putin who was seen extinguishing
forest fires from the co-pilot's seat of a fire fighting plane. On the contrary,
Medvedev put through a number of unpopular reforms: national standard tests were
introduced in schools, the Militia was rebranded as the Police. Medvedev's one
distinguishing feature was the presidential Twitter: a toy that means something
to perhaps 3% of the Russian population.
It is difficult to say when Medvedev last said 'No' to his tempters. But on 24th
September he advised 'United Russia' to put itself behind Putin as presidential
candidate, and not himself. Putin, as a gesture of gratitude, entrusted Medvedev
with leading 'United Russia' into the 2011 parliamentary elections.
The embittered servant
So, the legend ended happily, with Prince Putin back on the throne and the
servant who looked after his crown for four years awaiting his reward. It is hard
to say how these years have taken their toll on Putin, but Medvedev will
obviously end up pretty embittered.
In the first place, he will have to hand over power. And if it was relatively
easy for the tired, unwell Yeltsin to do this (and besides, he spent a mere three
months saying farewell to the Kremlin), for Medvedev it will be a severe
psychological ordeal. He will have to continue as president for almost six
months, all the time aware of the fact that for most of his entourage Putin is
already the real President.
In the second place, Medvedev will have to lead to power a party for which he has
no liking. He has more than once made uncomplimentary remarks about 'United
Russia'. Now he will have spend two months lying through his teeth, declaring
that it is the best party in Russia and that everyone must vote for it. To be
honest, Medvedev has already done some lying: on 24th September he told the
party's congress that 'United Russia' had proposed him as their presidential
candidate, forgetting to mention that there were four parties.
At the same time Medvedev is intelligent enough to realise that, however hard he
tries, with his name at the head of its electoral list, 'United Russia' will win
fewer votes than if Putin's name appeared there. The servant was put in a clear
lose-lose situation.
In the third place, once Putin is reinstalled in the Kremlin, Medvedev will
become Prime Minister, and one of his tasks will be to neutralise the negative
consequences of his own actions as President. Election promises and financial
outgoings, for example. As President, he did not criticise Premier Putin, but he
himself will not be immune from criticism.
It is this bitterness and resentment that may explain Medvedev's retribution
against Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin, who was summarily dismissed for refusing
to serve in the next government. Having turned down any chance of the presidency
in 2012, Medvedev tried to show, aggressively and in short order, that for the
time being he was still the holder of that post. He was like a naughty boy
walloped by his father who immediately goes out and kicks the cat.
This episode may well turn out to be the first step in Medvedev's political
evolution. A good servant who has been treated badly is liable to turn bad
himself. And who knows, perhaps in a couple of years citizens who believed in
liberal President Medvedev may be saying. 'Thank goodness Putin is president, and
not him.'
[return to Contents]
October 31, 2011
Ex Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov: Medvedev 'dictatorial'
Former Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has accused Russian President Dmitry Medvedev of
acting "like a dictator".
In a BBC interview, Mr Luzhkov also criticised preparations for parliamentary
elections due in December, predicting fraud.
The former mayor was once one of Russia's most influential politicians but was
sacked just over a year ago after falling out with the Kremlin.
The Russian authorities have since accused him and his wife of corruption.
He said December's vote would not be free or fair and that regional governors
would be under pressure to provide a good result for the governing United Russia
He said the party, of which he was once a high-ranking member, would not be able
to win the elections without a massive fraud.
"There's no competition; there are no alternatives to choose from," he told BBC
"Unfortunately we already know the outcome and we know who will be governing
Russia next year."
Mr Medvedev, who has held the presidency since 2008, is widely expected to become
prime minister.
Mr Luzhkov considers Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is likely to become
Russia's next leader in presidential elections, the more democratic face of the
ruling duo in the Kremlin.
"Despite the fact that Putin is widely regarded in the West as less democratic
than Medvedev, in fact Putin is more tolerant towards any sort of dissent," he
"Medvedev shows inclinations to suppress any dissent," he said. "Medvedev would
make as inefficient a prime-minister of Russia as he was a president."
'Matter of honour'
Russian officials have responded by accusing the ex-mayor of '"limitless
corruption" during his 18 years in office.
Last week Russian prosecutors demanded that Mr Luzhkov appear for questioning as
a witness in a criminal case relating to deals conducted by the Bank of Moscow,
which was part-owned by the city's government during Luzhkov's term in office.
The bank's director, Andrei Borodin, has fled Russia and currently lives in
The investigation also concerns business interests of Mr Luzhkov's wife, Elena
She was once Russia's richest woman, but has sold her construction companies and
has left the country.
The former mayor, currently travelling outside Russia, has been rumoured to be
seeking a permanent move abroad. Both he and his wife deny the allegations of
However, 75-year-old Mr Luzhkov stressed that he remained a Muscovite and would
return to face the investigators.
"This is a matter of honour to me. If I didn't, that would give my adversaries an
easy way of proving that I am guilty," he said.
[return to Contents]
October 31, 2011
Russia: The Data Leak War and Other Pre-Election Surprises
By Alexey Sidorenko
This post is part of RuNet Echo, a Global Voices project to interpret the Russian
language internet.
The second half of October 2011, was marked in Russia by a significant increase
in online political activity. To be more precise, current online political
activity points to information warfare occurring between independent
civil-society groups or remnants of 'traditional' political opposition, against
various government officials and pro-government youth movements.
The pre-election situation online now reminds us of the offline situation in the
late 1990s and early 2000s, when competitive elections existed. Before the
election dates all competing sides would try to spread as much compromising
information against their rivals as possible.
Very often (although, not always) the information was true and revealed
connections with mafia, bribery, etc, which meant that during the pre-election
periods, Russian society had true 'enlightening' moments about their elites and
rulers. The amount of 'black hat' (underhand) election techniques was one of the
excuses to remove the competitive election system in the country in the
The situation in 2011, that thanks to the Internet and especially YouTube, the
amount of compromising materials is back. The difference, however, is that in the
90's people could choose someone else instead of an outspoken politician. Now, it
hardly seems to be the case. Still, the netizens' attempts to bring back
electoral competition are overwhelming.
Private data leak war
The October 2011 leaks began with the publication of ruleaks.ru in the beginning
of the month (see detailed GV analysis here).
The series of events subsequently dubbed as 'the Data Leak War,' however, started
later. On October 23, Kseniya Sobchak, a celebrity journalist, shot a video of
Vasiliy Yakemenko, the head of the Federal Agency for Youth and unspoken leader
of the pro-Kremlin youth movement "Nashi," in the most expensive restaurant in
Criticism followed the video [ru] upload: according to his tax declaration [ru],
Yakemenko could hardly afford to attend such a place.
Later Anna Biryukova, the Federal Agency's press-secretary, sent removal demands
to a number of websites (Echo Moskvy [ru], and Metronews [ru]) threatening to sue
them on the grounds of violation of Yakemenko's private life and image. Portals
claimed Agency's threats had no legal base, since Yakemenko was spotted in a
public place and is indeed a public figure.
A strike-back didn't take long to appear. On October 26, the contents of several
private mailboxes belonging to Alexey Navalny, the famous anti-corruption
blogger, and his wife, were published at navalnymail.kz by someone nicknamed
onenavnav [ru] (the account was later suspended).
Hacker Hell, a German-based cyber-criminal (still not arrested) who has a
reputation of hacking accounts of opposition activists, gave an interview [ru]
claiming he hacked Navalny's mailbox in late summer. Then he transfered data to
'friends' that he refused to name. Hell's 'friends' had probably kept the data
until the opportune moment presented.
Observers, however, could not find anything compromising in Navalny's letters,
except fragments Navalny claimed had been 'planted' by the publisher of the leak;
in one of the fragments someone offers Navalny US$ 50,000 to blackmouth one of
the Russian oligarchs. Netizens, however, seem to support Navalny's version that
these fragments were planted.
As popular blogger Leonid Kaganov pointed out [ru], if Navalny would agree to
publish compromising materials against the oligarch, it could be hardly a minus
for Navalny himself:
"Suppose, Navalny's identity is compromised. Suppose, it is known for sure, that
he receives money for publishing compromising materials, sells vodka and drives
in a car with tinted windows. Even, if we undeniably prove that he's a pedophile,
cannibal, and an incendiary of peat bogs [there are conspiracy theories that last
year's wildfires were initiated by some arsonists]. But how does it relate to the
compromising materials on authorities that he publishes, and no one denies?"
In other words, Navalny once again proved his online dominance and successfully
mitigated compromising attempts, by directly addressing the materials. This,
however, did not end the leak war.
On October 27, the RuNet was struck with a massive leak [ru] of personal data
belonging to 24,324 participants of the pro-Kremlin youth camp "Seliger 2011."
The .zip archive contained names, family names, dates of birth, e-mails, and
telephone numbers of pro-Kremlin activists, as well as some 'ratings' - probably
a system of internal evaluation of the activists.
After the exchange of hits, the RuNet stands still.
Damn YouTube!
At the same time, new information fronts are opening all across the country.
On October 24, an Omsk-based Russian policeman who was caught in July 2011 on
camera [ru] cursing at his colleagues, was fired [ru] after the video (so far
280,000+ views) became public.
On October 25, in Sochi (the future venue of the Olympic Games) YouTube user
belayalenta1 published a hidden recording of an interview [ru, en] with the
city's Deputy Mayor Nikolay Yermolov, who was quite eloquent in sharing various
techniques of discrimination of the civil society activists (the video has
subtitles in English).
Three days later, almost 9,000 kilometers from Sochi, an anonymous male prison
officer from the Amur region who had been captured beating and abusing female
inmates was arrested [ru]. The arrest was conducted after the shocking video
[Warning: graphic content] (146,500+ views) of prison violence was uploaded by
YouTube user MrArtur113 in early October.
On October 27, Udmurtia.tv published a video [ru] (138,400+ views) of Denis
Agashin, Izhevsk city manager, telling the representatives of veteran
organizations that the next year's financial support would depend on the election
results of the "United Russia" party in their district. On October 31,
representatives of the party "Patriots of Russia" filed a complaint [ru] against
Agashin calling the prosecutor to start a criminal investigation that might end
with a five-year jail sentence.
The examples seem to multiply every hour. They exemplify, however, one thing:
despite the manipulations, citizens seem to not only to mitigate online
discrimination attempts but also be victorious in exposing the authorities.
As Alexander Kynev, a prominent political analyst, pointed out: "Progress it's
not only forcing students to make pictures of their signed bulletins [to ensure
'proper' voting, a 'popular' use of the administrative resource by university
deans], it is also a risk to be recorded."
[return to Contents]
Federal Prisons Service Reports Steady Decline in Detention Centers' Inmates
MOSCOW. Oct 31 (Interfax) - Thirty-five inmates were set free from detention
centers in Russia in 2011 due to serious ailments, the Federal Prison Service
said in a report received by Interfax on Monday.
"Thirty-five seriously ill persons were freed from detention centers in the first
nine months of 2011," the report said.
The service noted that it had initiated amendments, which allowed releasing sick
suspects and defendants from custody.
"Thanks to the changing court practice and the broader range of preventive
measures, including the release of suspects and defendants on their own
recognizance, the population of detention centers is steadily on decline," the
report said.
There had been more than 133,000 people in detention centers in Russia as of
January 1, 2009; the number reduced to some 125,000 in 2010 and to 113,000 in
2011, it said.
At the same time, "more than 7,000 additional places for detainees were created
at detention centers in fulfillment of the federal program of the development of
the penitentiary system in 2007-2016," the report said.
"New detention centers were built in the Republic of Ingushetia and the Perm
territory. It is planned to open new detention centers in the Nizhny Novgorod and
Tambov regions this year, and preparations for building similar centers are
underway in other regions," it said.
"The measures substantially improved the custody conditions," the report said.
It also noted that personnel of prisons and detention centers celebrated their
professional holiday on October 31.
Meanwhile, Moscow Public Observation Commission head Valery Borshchev said that
the order of the Russian president to free people with serious diseases from
detention centers was being sabotaged.
"The president's order to release seriously ill detainees is being sabotaged," he
told a press conference at the Interfax main office in October.
The human rights defender said that detention centers should be very careful
about the health of their inmates. "Custody conditions are much harsher at
detention centers than they are in penitentiaries. They have less air and less
physical exercise at detention centers," Borshchev said.
Less than a third of seriously ill people are released from detention centers
nationwide, he said. "Only 30% of inmates eligible for release due to poor health
are freed. The indicator was 50% four years ago. A sharp drop is evident," he
There are no statistics recording the deaths of seriously ill inmates, who have
been denied release, he said. "We asked whether the Federal Prisons Service had
any statistics at all to show how many inmates had died after they had been
denied the right to leave detention centers for health reasons. We were told
there were no such statistics," he said.
[return to Contents]
List of suspects in Magnitsky death case could grow - investigators
MOSCOW. Nov 1 (Interfax) - The investigation into the death of Hermitage Capital
lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in a Moscow jail has not been completed yet, and any new
suspects emerging in the case will be prosecuted, Russian Investigative Committee
spokesman Vladimir Markin told Interfax.
"The inquiry as part of the main criminal case has not been completed. Should
other persons implicated in Magnitsky's death be identified, they will also be
prosecuted for committing the crimes," Markin said.
Magnitsky died in Moscow's Butyrka pretrial detention center on November 16,
2009, while awaiting trial on tax evasion charges.
Human rights activists insist that prison medical personnel and law enforcement
officers are to blame for his death, which caused a huge public outcry in Russia
and abroad.
On July 4, 2011, the Investigative Committee announced the results of an
additional forensic examination. As a result, criminal charges were filed against
Butyrka doctors Dmitry Kratov (Article 293 of the Criminal Code, "negligence")
and laboratory doctor Larisa Litvinova (Article 109, "causing death by
On August 2, the Prosecutor General's Office re-opened a criminal investigation
based on charges of tax evasion brought against Magnitsky.
[return to Contents]
BBC Monitoring
Russian NTV said to have taken off air report on torture in Chechnya
Text of report by Gazprom-owned, editorially independent Russian radio station
Ekho Moskvy on 31 October
(Presenter) The management of the NTV channel has taken off the air a report in
the programme "Central TV". Its authors spoke about torture and abductions in
Chechnya. Darya Polygayeva has the details.
(Excerpt from the removed report follows. Presenter says, presumably over some
footage) Chechnya: it seems that not too long ago the name of the region was
associated with the word war and caused animal fear. Now it seems that roads are
being constructed, skyscrapers are being built and Day of the City (in Groznyy)
is celebrated on a large scale there but does this external accomplishment mean
that there is order in reality?
(Correspondent) Residents of the Far East alone managed to see this report, this
is what the website Grani.ru says, with reference to the committee Protiv Pytok
(Russ: without torture). The report says that torture and abductions continue in
the post-war Chechnya too. The authors of the report told viewers about the case
of Islam Umarpashayev.
Two years ago armed people in uniform kidnapped him from his own house. The
magazine Esquire wrote that the unflattering remarks about Chechen policemen that
Umarpashayev left on a chat in the Internet were the reason behind his abduction.
He was spotted, detained and kept handcuffed to the radiator on the premises of
an OMON (riot police) base in Groznyy, planning to later kill him and make him
look like a killed rebel.
Human rights activists from the free mobile group (of Russian human rights
activists) made the incident public and the young man was released. Now an
investigation is in progress, and, as NTV suggests, it has come across some
(Presenter) Journalists from the "Central TV" programme have not yet commented on
the incident around the report taken off the air. The NTV management is keeping
silent too.
[return to Contents]
October 31, 2011
Welcome to 'Ramzanistan': Under an Ironfisted Ruler, Chechnya Rises Again
By Marie Jego / Le Temps /Worldcrunch
This post is in partnership with Worldcrunch, a new global-news site that
translates stories of note in foreign languages into English. The article below
was originally published in Le Temps.
(GROZNY) Despite its 250,000 residents, the Chechen capital is a ghost town. Not
a soul on the streets, no cars. "You must have a special pass to be allowed to
get around," says an official. The only action is from the avenue next to the
mosque: a group of orange-jacket-clad women are twirling brooms in a cloud of
dust. All the streets in the city center have been blocked, and armed men are
posted everywhere. Is the city getting ready for war? Under a state of emergency?
All of a sudden the sound of an engine breaks the silence. "It's him." Words
quickly spread through the mosque's courtyard where the faithful, guards and a
few invited journalists are waiting. As soon as the black Mercedes parks, they
all flock to its tinted windows. A chubby man steps out: Ramzan Kadyrov, the
Chechen leader, is there to celebrate his 35th birthday in style.
Vladimir Putin placed him at the head of the Muslim republic five years ago.
Since then, Kadyrov has become the figure of the "normalization" wanted by the
Kremlin after two barbaric wars between the federal army and the rebels from 1994
to 2004.
The Kremlin boss and the Chechen leader now have a father-son bond. When
Kadyrov's father, mufti Akhmad Kadyrov, a Russian ally, died in an attack in
2004, Putin took the young Kadyrov under his wing. "When my father was alive, I
always compared myself to him. Now the only leader that counts is Vladimir
Vladimirovich Putin. He is my role model ... I try to set the same policies as he
does," he told Russian TV channel NTV.
Thanks to the money sent by Moscow, he turned the once destroyed Grozny into a
picture-perfect city displaying its newfound wealth: luxurious SUVs, well-paved
roads, perfectly cropped lawns, beauty salons to meet the Botox craze and sushi
restaurants along Putin Avenue.
Grozny's architecture is extravagant. Close to the mosque, which is a pale copy
of Istanbul's Hagia Sophia built by Turkish workers from 2006 to '09, there are
five newly constructed skyscrapers. That's Grozny City, the business center that
gives the capital a sort of Dubai feel. About 10 years ago, when the war was at
its peak, dogs were eating cadavers on the nearby Minutka Square. Now it's all
parks, fountains and over-the-top palaces. Grozny is no longer one of Russia's
provincial towns, it has become the capital of a virtual state: Ramzanistan.
But with what money? Only Russian funds? "Allah gives us some. We don't always
know exactly where the money comes from," says Kadyrov. A fierce critic of
radical Islam, the Chechen leader still doesn't miss an opportunity to show off
his religious ardor. Back in September, in a convertible Rolls-Royce, he
triumphantly displayed a precious cup that the Prophet himself is believed to
have drunk from. To greet the Rolls-Royce and the 60 black Mercedes following it,
all of Grozny's students were ordered to stand on the sides of the road leading
from the airport to the city center.
There is now an Islamic university and a traditional-medicine center. Many
families follow the leadership of sheiks, spiritual gurus, faith healers and
judges. On TV, from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m., religion students participate in the
lalimun, a game show in which they must identify the origins of the different
suras chosen by a jury of wise men.
Eyes Are Everywhere
Grozny could be described as The Arabian Nights meets George Orwell's 1984. Over
the four minarets, a 24-hour camera rides on rails suspended between the avenue
and the gardens. The big round lens is like Kadyrov's eye. The Chechen leader
keeps a close watch and makes all decisions: reconstruction, the latest models of
luxury cars, the dhikr (a Sufi prayer ritual) and what women wear. In Chechnya,
girls have to wear the headscarf starting at age 7. In neighboring Ingushetia,
it's the opposite. The veil is forbidden in grade school.
Just like in Russia, this vertical power is protected by extortion and
corruption. To get a job, one must pay. Leyla (to protect those interviewed,
their names have been changed), a doctor, got a job at the hospital after paying
$9,900 to her employer. A few months later, she was told that she was no longer
fit for the job, that she was unskilled, badly dressed and would probably be
fired. She believes someone else was ready to pay even more to get her job. Had
she stayed, she would have had to earn back the $9,900 she paid, at the expense
of the patients.
Fatima, a teacher, says all employees and students must make regular payments of
a few hundred dollars to the Akhmad Kadyrov Fund. No one knows how it's managed,
but everyone, from businessmen to maids, must contribute. It is not an easy task
in a republic plagued by unemployment (59.6% according to the Russian
Federation's Ministry of Regions). Finding a job is a hard task when there are no
factories and no investments, just football fields, empty luxury hotels and
half-built shopping malls and mosques.
"My family only thinks about one thing: getting close to Ramzan's motorcade when
he throws 5,000-ruble [$165] bills. It's humiliating. I can't take this feudalism
and this movie-set scenery anymore," says Rizvan, pointing to his flat-screen TV
showing Kadyrov's 35th-birthday ceremonies complete with a concert, acrobats and
laser shows.
Money is not an issue for Timur. He has contacts, works for the state and is
developing a small business. "I only think about money. I want my children to go
to the best schools, to have the best clothes," he says as he drives his Japanese
SUV. But despite his financial situation and his contacts, he is afraid. "There
is no such thing as business here, just extortion. Tomorrow they can come and
take everything I have, lock me up and no one would be able to save me."
Though it's impossible to film and hard to measure, fear can be felt everywhere.
Every person interviewed started off with the same warning: "If you quote me by
name, I'm dead." To keep this fear alive, there's nothing like the gory videos
that Chechens share on their cell phones. Kadyrov allows his thugs to leak
footage of their violent punishments. Young Chechens are very fond of this sort
of snuff movie showing torture, agonies, cadaver desecration and other barbaric
There are not many people who make it out of Kadyrov's secret jails alive. Umar
Israilov, who fled to Vienna, willingly talked about his experience in Kadyrov's
custody, how Kadyrov would visit and torture prisoners suspected of supporting
the Islamist rebellion spreading across the Caucasus. He tried to press charges
in front of the European Court of Human Rights but ran out of time: he was shot
dead in Vienna in January 2009. According to the Austrian police, his murderers,
Kadyrov's men, disappeared. Lechi Bogatyrov, the suspected gunman wanted by
Austrian authorities, is now the head of a department of the Chechen Interior
Ministry. Russia has not responded to requests for cooperation on the case.
[return to Contents]
Moscow News
October 31, 2011
Tough job for Russia's new military police
By Mark Galeotti
Mark Galeotti is Clinical Professor of Global Affairs at New York University's
SCPS Center for Global Affairs. His blog, "In Moscow's Shadows," can be read at:
http://inmoscowsshadows. wordpress.com
A BTR-80 armored personnel carrier is a 13-ton vehicle that can do all kinds of
things, from laying down covering fire from its heavy machine-gun to racing
across rough terrain at 80 kilometers per hour. It can also fetch an enterprising
officer 135,000 rubles ($4,500) as scrap, according to investigators from the
Military Prosecutor's Office. They have been looking into the case of an officer
from the Far Eastern Military District who sold the vehicle off to a scrap metal
dealer before leaving the service and taking up a job as a local policeman.
The official crime rate in the military fell by 10.6 percent in the first half of
this year. Even the authorities admit in part this was simply because crimes were
not being recorded. More to the point, in the past year the size of the military
has fallen even faster, so crimes committed per capita continued to rise. Many of
these are cases of theft and violence within the ranks. The brutal system of
hazing known as dedovshchina ("grandfatherism") continues, with more experienced
recruits bullying and exploiting newcomers. There is also growing inter-ethnic
violence, reflecting tensions within society as a whole.
Just as serious in a different way is the extent to which officers and even
defense contractors exploit the system. Contracts are padded, substandard food
and goods provided and then charged at full rate, and commanders extort money
from their own men. In May, for example, a whistleblower at the Air Force's elite
Lipetsk training school complained that trainees were being forced to hand over
monthly payments.
This sparked a series of similar cases; it emerged that the commander of the
Syzran helicopter training school "taxed" cadets 5 percent of their monthly
Even Chief Military Prosecutor Sergei Fridinsky, who has seen his share of crimes
and scams, has been horrified by the level of embezzlement, admitting that "the
scope of military corruption is mindboggling; it seems people have lost shame and
a sense of proportion."
According to Fridinsky, 20 percent of the money allocated to the State Defense
Order disappears through theft and kickbacks, although others claim the real
figure is 30 percent, 40 percent or even half. My own estimate is actually lower,
up to 14 percent, but given that the total order is worth 750 billion rubles ($25
billion) that's still a massive 105 billion rubles ($3.5 billion) equivalent to
all the money the government spends on employment programs and supporting the
jobless in a year.
No wonder that Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov has decided that Russia finally
needs a specialized military police force to give the Military Prosecutor's
Office extra teeth. It was announced in 2010, but the first military police units
are to be in place by the end of this year. Lieutenant General Sergei Surovikin
has been chosen to head this force, an ex-Spetsnaz fighting general who saw
action in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Chechnya. He's not a man to cross when he
commanded the 34th Infantry Division he once chewed up one of his subordinates so
fiercely that the man promptly shot himself.
Eventually, there will be 20,000 military police, many drawn from reservists, in
all major units around the country. This could be great news for all the anxious
parents waving goodbye as their sons head off for their year's national service,
to say nothing of the taxpayers contributing to generals' retirement funds and
admirals' dachas.
It's not a quick fix, though, and will need to be resourced and managed properly.
Just as the regular police are still too often extortionists in uniform, so too
the MPs could become just another layer of crooks. Ultimately, what's needed is a
cultural change to create a democratic, cohesive and more transparent military.
That will take more than just military cops.
[return to Contents]
October 31, 2011
At the Bolshoi Gala
By Julia Ioffe
On Friday night, anyone who was anyone was in only one place in Moscow: at the
grand reopening of the Bolshoi Theatre, closed in 2005 for a renovation that cost
nearly three quarters of a billion dollars. President Dmitry Medvedev and his
wife were there; the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church was there; former
Bolshoi divas and primas were there; students of the ballet academy, waifish and
tired, were there; so was pretty much every cabinet minister, including the
recently fired finance minister, Alexei Kudrin. Someone even reported spotting
Raisa Gorbachev, who has been dead for twelve years. The one notable absentee was
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who, in a fine counterpoint to the orgy of high
culture across town, spent the evening explaining how bureaucrats fond of taking
bribes should be "punched in the face."
For those who scored an elaborately designed invitation to the inaugural gala
performance, there was a red carpet and a brass band and tuxes and mandatory
floor-length gowns. For crowds of the less privileged, there was the cold,
jumbotrons, and the refurbished theatre's brilliantly lit, iconic fac,ade. The
latter would become a trope in a two-hour variety show, a greatest-hits parade of
the Bolshoi's past productions. During the scene changes, a screen would glow
with elaborate graphicssome 3-D, some more like an etch-a-sketchshowing how the
theatre has changed during six years of renovation, with thousands of workers and
engineers rebuilding its crumbling foundation, fixing the massive cracks running
up the walls, enlarging the orchestra pit, removing the cement the Soviets had
poured under it, creating a cutting-edge hydraulics system to switch up the
stage, reupholstering the seats (now bigger than before) with lush Italian
fabrics, and restoring the touches, lopped off in Soviet years, that gave the
grand hall its grand acoustics. Artisans applied eleven pounds of gold leaf to
the newly ornate interior, using a mixture of whale grease, rotten egg whites,
and clay, then vodka, then brushes of squirrel tail.
And, despite the predictable delays (the theatre was to reopen in 2008), cost
overruns, and allegations of graft; despite the naysayers (Bolshoi principal
Nikolai Tsiskaridze denounced the renovations as "plastic" and resembling "a
hotel in Turkey"); despite finishing touches that included a bit or two of duct
tape, everything looked as deeply and imperially posh as it was supposed to. All
hammers and all sickles had been removed. The bicephalous eagle, which appears on
the arms of both the Russian Empire and Federation, easily skipping over those
awkward seventy years of Communist rule, had come to roost on curtains and
mouldings, in gold. Clearly, no cost had been sparedKudrin, the former finance
minister, told a reporter that it was money well spentand it looked really,
really good. As for the naysayers, Tsiskaridze was simply not invited.
"Our country is very big, of course," Medvedev said when he opened the show. "At
the same time, the number of symbols that unite everybody, those national
treasures, the so-called national brands, are limited. Bolshoi is one of our
greatest national brands." That word"brand"came up a few more times in his
speech, and it struck a tinny, mercenary cord in such a lofty venue: Was this all
a marketing campaign?
Part of the confusion is that Russians think of something else when they hear the
word "brand": to them it means "symbol," where to a Western ear it is tied to an
object for sale. In passing through the Russian cultural prism, the
Anglicismpronounced "brehnd"has come to mean simply something that makes us look
good, something that we're good at. Nesting dolls are a brand, Russian literature
is a brand, the Bolshoi is a brand. And in an era where post-Cold War inferiority
complexes are still circling under the surface of modern Russian life,
brandsthings that we're good at besides all the bad things you know us forare
important in helping Russians square their shoulders at home and hike up their
chins abroad, while playing with the international majors. The symbols are also
key when there is little left to unite the country other than the shared
sacrifice of the Second World War and a growing tide of nationalism.
I caught Vitaly Mutko, Russia's sports minister, leaving the theatre after the
performanceresplendent in a tux, his hair festively shellacked. Mutko oversees
another empire of Russian symbolism: shaped by the vaguely fascistic aims of the
Stalin era and the intensely political competition of Cold War Olympics, Russian
sports remains a key touchstone of Russian identity. National pride is still
measured in gold medals; when the Russian national team flopped badly in
Vancouver in 2010, it was a painful blow to the country's psyche. (Part of the
reason, it turned out, was that, on Mutko's watch, millions were plundered from
the sports budget and athletes were largely left to fend for themselves.) Aside
from that, though, Mutko has also been one of the key figures in an effort to
make Russia an athletic powerhouse again (though Vladimir Putin is the
inspiration behind the operation). The results include winning bids to host the
Winter Olympics, in 2014, and the World Cup, in 2018.
Mutko, in other words, knows a thing or two about Russia's national brands. I
asked him about the Bolshoi. "It is one of the symbols of Russia," he said. "And
now we've opened it after a long break, and now any person, not just a Russian
but any person who visits Moscow, will seek this place out. It's pride, it's
culture, it's the country. It's one of the symbols of the country."
And so, when the gala commenced after Medvedev's speech, the hit parade included
the other great brands of Russia: Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Glinka,
Shostakovich, and, of course, "Swan Lake." There was even a little piece, "Dance
of the Ushers," by one of the more recently exported Bolshoi brands, dancer and
choreographer Alexei Ratmansky. (Joan Acocella wrote a Profile of him for The New
Yorker.) Ratmansky's brand had to be exported, however, because he spun it in a
more radical direction than the Bolshoi was willing to go. And that is the
question for the Bolshoi now: Will it simply stick to the repertory staples, or
will it push the brand forward to something more modern and forward looking? Will
the symbol, in other words, grow and evolve and breathe in a place as gilded and
damasked as the new Bolshoi?
[return to Contents]
Moscow TImes
October 30, 2011
A Critic's Back Pages, Part Two
By John Freedman
John Freedman has been the theater critic of The Moscow Times since its inception
in 1992.
In early September I noted that 20 years had passed since I began writing about
theater for the Moscow Guardian, a precursor to The Moscow Times. I also gave
clear warning that, throughout the season, I would occasionally exploit this
space to reminisce about those times in the theatrical Wild, Wild East. Since I
take my warnings as seriously as I do my promises, here are some more thoughts on
the ancient past.
Moscow has changed drastically since the early 1990s. There was no Givenchy.
Imagine. The Bolshoi Theater was still crumbling. There was no FSB; the KGB was
being reformed under the name of the FSK. The notion of a ruling tandem was
patently absurd Boris Yeltsin and Mikhail Gorbachev despised each other.
And theater well, if you believed what everybody was howling, theater was dead.
D-e-a-d. As in deceased and gone forever. Never to return.
"Oh! There are no directors!" "Oh, there are no playwrights!" "Oh, there are no
theaters worth attending!" "It's all over! Russian theater is a thing of the
past! History!"
I once sat next to a woman at a conference at the Theater Union and I told her
about a show I had just seen that I really liked. She looked at me with pity and
scorn and said, "Oh, come now. There can't be anything worth watching in Moscow
these days!" I demurred but she was not to be swayed. "I was brought up on
Meyerhold," this woman aged 40 said with an entirely straight face. "Nobody now
can compare to what I was brought up on."
Let's skip the fact that my interlocutor was born at least a decade after the
great innovator Vsevolod Meyerhold was murdered in the basement of the Lubyanka
in 1940. And let's forget the fact that when she was growing up Meyerhold's
legacy was kept tightly under wraps what could she really have known about him?
Let's just consider the logic of someone firmly declaring that only theater made
50 or 60 years ago could be of interest.
I remember another incident, one that acquired the flush of controversy for a few
weeks. A small theater newspaper called Dom Aktyora (Actors House) ran the
results of a poll which had asked theater people to give contemporary directors a
military rank commander, general, captain, private, etc. It turned out that not
one single contemporary director was considered to have the authority of a
commander or general the highest ranks were lieutenant, if I remember correctly.
Several accomplished directors were labeled as grunts.
Obviously, it was a tempest in a teapot, but it was also highly indicative of the
age. If you were a living, breathing maker of theater, you could not possibly be
of interest to anyone.
I remember reading and hearing how, in addition to everything else it lacked,
Russia had no stars. Hollywood had stars. Cannes had stars. Moscow? Don't be
Don't be silly, indeed! Which brings me to a show that I consider a turning point
in recent Russian theater history. Produced by an independent company called
ACTors ARTel, the show opened in the early spring of 1992. Its title "The
Gamblers 21st Century" implied that the director Sergei Yursky was purposefully
looking to shake up the doldrums of the '90s.
Yursky is a star. He was one of the most famous actors in Leningrad at the
Bolshoi Drama Theater in his early career, and then he moved to Moscow in the
later 1970s where he built on his reputation and popularity. He starred in many
popular films, including such all-time Russian favorites as "The Man From
Nowhere," "The Golden Calf," "The Meeting Place Cannot be Changed" and "Cherchez
la femme."
In casting "The Gamblers," a rendition of Nikolai Gogol's play about a bunch of
crooks cheating a bunch of cardsharps, Yursky surrounded himself with nothing but
stars. The cast included the great Yevgeny Yevstigneyev (in his final role), as
well as the extremely popular Natalya Tenyakova, Alexander Kalyagin, Leonid
Filatov and Vyacheslav Nevinny. For good measure Yursky gave a prominent role to
one of Russia's most beloved, and funniest, comedians Gennady Khazanov.
Imagine Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep with Robin Williams thrown in
joining forces to do a show together. So much for the "no star" stuff.
"The Gamblers" was one of the funniest shows I've ever seen. The audience was in
stitches from beginning to end. It was fast-paced, it was smart, it was dark, and
it cut like a blade. It was everything a Russian comedy should be.
The premiere, held on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater, was a huge success.
Packed house. Great performances. What else could you want?
Well, the Moscow pundits wanted anything but what they got. They didn't like the
fact that this was a so-called "commercial" production, that it was not a show
conceived and nurtured in the bowels of a repertory company. Why are all these
actors from different places playing together? This was a brand new idea at the
time and no self-respecting critic (is there any other kind?) would be caught
dead supporting that idea. These days it's just the opposite everyone is howling
at the top of their lungs to dismantle the repertory system. That's what 20 years
will do to you.
But to get back to my point, "The Gamblers 21st Century" flew in the face of
expectations and opinion, and Yursky pretty much took it on the chin for his
efforts. The show enjoyed a successful run with the public, but the theater
community turned its back and stuck its nose in the air.
That's what it was like in the early 1990s. If you dared say something was good,
you were labeled a softy. If you dared create something good, you were razzed.
Now let's be honest. Everyone knows Moscow is a tough town. Anyone with any
knowledge of Russia knows the phrase, "Moscow does not believe in tears." Nope.
Not a sentimental city. But I have never seen Moscow harder or more obstinate
than it was in the early 1990s when I began writing about theater.
There was plenty of good theater around. But you had to open your eyes and heart
and close your ears to find it.
[return to Contents]
November 1, 2011
Russia may joint WTO on December 15
Russia may joint WTO on December 15 Russia may join the World Trade Organization
(WTO) on December 15, Arkady Dvorkovich, assistant to the Russian President, said
on Monday. According to experts, President Micheline Calmy-Rey of Switzerland
went to Batumi for getting the consent to it from Georgian President Mikhail
Saakashvili. Previously she visited Moscow, where she had a meeting with her
Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev. Nevertheless, some problems with Georgia
have not yet been settled.
President Michilene Calmy-Rey ended on Sunday the talks with Dmitry Medvedev on
Russia's joining of WTO, and on Monday she went to Batumi for the final
coordination of stands with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, Nezavisimaya
Gazeta writes. The experts specify that she went there to get an official consent
of the Georgian leader. Tbilisi insisted that Moscow should ensure a possibility
of control of Abkhazian and South Ossetian sections of the border by Georgian
It became clear on Tuesday that the confident statement, made by Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov several months ago, that Russia would join WTO by the end
of the year without fail, was more close to the truth, than the emphatic promises
of the Georgian leaders "not to let Russia in" until their demands were fulfilled
by Moscow.
Dvorkovich told journalists on Monday that Medvedev and Ms. Calmy-Rey had
discussed on Sunday all the details of the documents, needed for ending the
"If no serious changes in the stands take place, there is a real chance to
complete the process very soon," Dvorkovich said. According to his information, a
meeting of the working group may be held on November 11, and the process of
Russia's joining of WTO may be completed at a ministerial meeting on December 15,
after which ratification will be needed.
If something goes wrong, however, Russia will miss the December conference of
ministers of the WTO countries in Geneva, Moskovsky Komsomolets writes. The next
such meeting will be held in two years. Anyway, Russia may join WTO without
Georgia's consent through the WTO General Council, if it gets two thirds of the
votes of the WTO member countries. This may take place not in December, but much
later, however late in Mach, at best. Naturally, the fact will not go to the
credit of the incumbent head of state. Anyway, the whole world is interested in
Russia joining WTO, and this is why one may hope that, whatever the
circumstances, a way out will be found for the country to save face during the
joining of WTO.
[return to Contents]
November 1, 2011
WTO member? Expect an influx of consumer goods
Vladimir Putin is concerned about the future of the consumer goods industry, and
for good reason.
By Ekaterina Staroverova
The head of the Russian delegation, Maksim Medvedkov, says some technical issues
remain to be settled, after which the country will be ready for accession. He
noted that the last round of multilateral consultations will be held on November
7-8, and that the working group's final meeting will take place on November
Recall that Russia has been trying to enter the WTO for 18 consecutive years. The
country's first application for membership was submitted in the mid-1990s.
However, the rules of the international body stipulate that each member has the
right of veto when voting on the admission of a new member. Back then, the only
WTO member that opposed Russia's accession to the trade club was Georgia.
In order to settle the issue this year, the countries were forced to dedicate
several weeks to active negotiations with Georgia, mediated by Switzerland.
Left on the sidelines
During a meeting of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin said that in the event of Russia's entry to the WTO, Russia's consumer
goods industry will need to be protected from "cheap consumer goods." He noted
that businesses will need to jointly consider ways to support the industry.
According to economist Mikhail Khazin, a number of Russia's economic sectors will
not be able to withstand the competition following accession to the WTO. The
expert recalled that one of the basic principles of the organization is equal
rights for all member states. "This will impact many industries, including the
consumer goods industry. After its entry to the organization, Russia will simply
become uncompetitive," the economist told Trud.
"The industry needs to be made attractive for large investors," said Maksim
Klyagin, an analyst with Finam. "It is also necessary to implement government
support programs, such as by reducing the fiscal burden through tax breaks, and
subsidizing interest rates on loans."
In need of technical regulations and government standards
"It is necessary to create equally competitive conditions for Russian and foreign
manufacturers, mainly by raising duties on ready-made clothes and shoes," agreed
the president of the Textile and Light Industry Workers' Union of Russia, Tatiana
She cited an example: In 2005, when the duties on imported shoes were lowered,
35,000 people found themselves out of work. Workers suffered another blow last
year, after the establishment of the Customs Union between Russia, Belarus and
"Kazakhstan does not have customs borders; therefore, Chinese goods were brought
into the country, the labels were replaced, after which they were brought to
Russia duty free," stated Sosnina.
To make sure that the industry does not suffer, the Workers' Union suggests
raising the duties on finished products, but lowering on raw materials, synthetic
fibers and dyes. Other countries are introducing quotas on Chinese goods. In
Europe, for example, the duties on shoes from China have been raised to 20 per
Another important condition is the fight against counterfeiting. And finally, the
consumer goods industry could be helped by establishing technical regulations
that would govern the quality of manufactured and imported goods. Today, these
types of regulations apply only to children's products.
[return to Contents]
November 1, 2011
Interview: Marshall Goldman On Russia's WTO Bid
After waiting for nearly two decades, Russian appears to be on the brink of
joining the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Marshall Goldman, the former associate director of the Davis Center for Russian
Studies at Harvard University and author of numerous books on the Russian
economy, talked to RFE/RL correspondent Tom Balmforth about the implications of
RFE/RL: So, is Russia's 18-year wait to join the WTO really finally over?
Marshall Goldman: Well, it seems to be that that's the case. I think there's more
and more willingness from the outside world to include Russia in international
events and not to make it an outcast and an outlaw, but to include it, co-opt it
in effect, and to soothe the savage beast, so to speak.
RFE/RL: When Russia formally joins, what will this mean in practice? What will it
mean for entrepreneurs, consumers, and ordinary Russians in general?
Goldman: Well, on the assumption that Russia joins wholeheartedly and doesn't try
to set up exclusion zones for certain forms of behavior, I think it would be
Russia has many natural advantages certainly in terms of raw materials, and to
include that with investment from the outside world is good. It's better to have
them inside the tent than outside and feeling excluded.
RFE/RL: Are you saying that Russia may try to join the WTO with certain
conditions? And would it be deemed acceptable to do so?
Goldman: It's not allowed, no. The idea is that if you join, you join. But it's
not one individual decision-maker who says we're part of it. You'll have to have
cooperation by different parts of the economic framework to make sure that
everyone's cooperating.
If you have a large enough number of people who try to set up separate operations
to exclude it one way or another, then the whole purpose is defeated and you
don't want that. But there will be some people whose economic circumstances will
be adversely affected and they are certainly going to try to frustrate the
What you have to do is have enough of those people within Russia who see the
advantage of membership doing everything they can to co-opt the opponents and
have everyone join in. But that doesn't happen overnight.
I don't want to say that Russia would be the only country where you would have
this internal battle. Every country has that internal battle where there are
those who say they want tariff protection and those who say that we all stand to
benefit if everyone cooperates and participates. It's not a simple matter -- it
really depends on who is the most outspoken and who is the most effective
politically in bringing this about.
Unsettling Change, For Some
RFE/RL: There is some opposition to membership from influential people in the
business community, where some will need to change the way they operate. Could
you elaborate on this a bit?
Goldman: I think you can expect a big battle on their part. They have a lot to
lose. Russia is not unique in that sense -- this struggle has taken place in
every country that's joined. There are those that say, "We don't want to have
outside competition and we are going to do everything to sabotage that effort."
Russia is not unique in the sense that people are opposed to relaxing of tariff
It will be an interesting struggle. We'll see just how strong those who want to
integrate Russia into the world economy are compared to those who do not.
RFE/RL: Which sections of the business community do you expect to be the noisiest
in their opposition to WTO membership?
Goldman: I think we have to wait and see until the struggle begins because some
people who you would think eager to join may suddenly decide that it's too
dangerous for them. It's going to involve change and change is always unsettling
for people who have strong positions in the status quo.
I would assume that people would be opposed to it in the automobile industry.
Right now domestically made automobiles have protection in Russia. To the extent
that tariffs are reduced, you are going to have more competition from
manufacturers outside Russia. I think that's where the struggle's going to take
place: between those who feel they have been able to operate within the tariff
walls and those who worry that once those walls come down they will be driven out
of business.
I would again say that Russia is not the only country where that struggle takes
place. It's universal. There is always that sense. It takes somebody with a lot
of foresight to see that everybody is a lot better off in the long run once those
trade restrictions are reduced and that you have a comparative advantage. But
there is no doubt that there are going to be shifts in political power and that
is unsettling to those who feel threatened.
More Winners Than Losers
RFE/RL: Will WTO membership help in Russia's efforts to modernize its economy and
diversify from its dependence on commodities?
Goldman: Traditionally in economic theory and in economic history that's the way
it's been: that after a similar tumultuous period of adjusting that some people
are certainly going to suffer. The expectation is that in the long run there are
going to be more people who benefit from that operation than those who will be
put out of business.
But it takes a lot of political will to subject yourself to that kind of
experiment. I'm not sure how willing Russian businesses will be to risk that
unknown. If you're strong now [then you're thinking]: "I'm strong now, Jack, and
doing very nicely now -- why do I need to undergo some new kind of life that's
just too dangerous?" But you have to give them credit for their willingness to
RFE/RL: It's been 18 years since Russia began its bid to join. Why did it take so
long, and why is it finally happening now?
Goldman: When you're a big country like Russia, you think that you have all your
comparative advantages within the country because you've got so many different
wealth situations and so many different manufacturing situations. It's always a
little unsettling to think that there might be foreign businessmen who will come
in and gain an advantage over domestic manufacturing and that's part of the
process of growing and developing.
In the long run, it's not only the world that's better-off if Russia's integrated
-- Russia's better-off. But as an individual, it's hard to see if you do know
that you may have to experience trauma in the process and you say: "I don't need
that. I'm alright, Jack, I'm happy now."
It's not an easy process. I think it's important to understand that concerns
within Russia are similar to those concerns within every country that's undergone
that transition. The United States is no exception. When we joined, we had very
strong tariff protection against the outside world in the 1930s. To try and
reduce that kind of protection was not an easy political process. I think the
Russians will need some support, but they are the ones who are ultimately going
to need to bear the sacrifice and it will be an interesting process to watch.
[return to Contents]
Moscow Times
November 1, 2011
Russia Offers Euro Zone $10Bln in Aid Via IMF
By Irina Filatova
Russia is ready to help the indebted euro zone by providing up to $10 billion
through the International Monetary Fund and could consider offering bilateral
support to individual countries if the bloc asks for such help, Kremlin aide
Arkady Dvorkovich said Monday.
The announcement came ahead of President Dmitry Medvedev's participation in the
Group of 20 summit, which will focus on the measures to prevent a new wave of the
global financial crisis.
At the summit, which will open Thursday, Medvedev will cooperate with his BRICS
colleagues in a push to reduce member countries' budget deficits, as "risks
remain ... because no financial consolidation in Europe or the United States has
been fully achieved yet," said Dvorkovich, the Kremlin's top economic adviser.
But Russia is "cautiously optimistic" about the zone's economic future amid the
recent decision on the bailout plan for indebted countries made at the European
leaders' summit last week, Dvorkovich said.
"Now everything depends on whether ... the measures that have been announced will
be taken," he told a news conference in Moscow.
The European leaders agreed at a meeting in Brussels last week to bolster the
size of the European Financial Stability Facility, or EFSF a bailout fund
created by euro-zone countries to fight the debt crisis from 440 billion euros
to 1 trillion euros.
But while the fund's officials are approaching China to get it to invest in EFSF
bonds, Dvorkovich said Russia will provide up to $10 billion of financial support
through IMF mechanisms, since preserving the stability of the European economy is
crucial for the country.
"It's important for us that Europe remain stable because ... Europe is our
biggest trade and investment partner," Dvorkovich said. "If Europe is unstable,
Russia's economy will enter a phase of instability."
Russia, which has the world's third-largest international reserves after China
and Japan, could also consider a possibility of offering bilateral help to
individual countries if such a request comes.
"There have been no official requests from the European Union yet. If our
European partners make such a request we don't rule this out [government
agencies] will consider ... the possibility of providing such support,"
Dvorkovich said.
The option of buying Spanish government bonds was discussed at a meeting of
then-Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin and Spain's economy minister, Elena Salgado,
earlier this year. Dvorkovich said earlier this month that Russia is ready to
help the euro zone tackle its financial problems if the European countries
provide a specific bailout plan.
Another issue to be discussed at the G20 summit is developing the global trade a
crucial issue for Russia, which hopes to enter the World Trade Organization by
the end of this year.
There's a high chance that the 18-year process of Russia's accession to the WTO
could be completed at a conference of the member countries' trade ministers
scheduled for Dec. 15, Dvorkovich said.
Russia is waiting for the outcome of negotiations between Swiss President
Micheline Calmy-Rey and her Georgian counterpart Mikheil Saakashvili, which were
scheduled for Monday, on the remaining issues hampering Russia's accession.
"We hope to hear about the results of these consultations in the nearest time,"
Dvorkovich said.
Calmy-Rey's meeting with Medvedev on Sunday was followed by Russia announcing
that some details of the compromise deal proposed by Switzerland need to be
specified. Switzerland is mediating Russia's talks with Georgia, the only one of
the 153 WTO members blocking the accession.
Dvorkovich said Russia has no radical changes to Switzerland's proposal, but
"rather style corrections."
It was unclear Monday evening whether any progress in the Swiss-Georgian talks
had been made.
[return to Contents]
Russia's capital flight to double to $70B in 2011
By NATALIYA VASILYEVA, AP Business Writer
November 1, 2011
MOSCOW (AP) Capital flight from Russia is expected to double to $70 billion this
year, the Central Bank said Tuesday, highlighting investors' concerns about
political and economic uncertainty in the country.
The new figure is almost twice the previous estimate that $36 billion would leave
Russia. In 2010, about $34 billion was pulled out.
The expected capital outflow this year is equivalent to nearly 5 percent of
Russia's GDP, which amounted to 44.9 trillion rubles ($1.5 trillion) last year.
The Central Bank said foreign investors' capital withdrawals have increased
sharply due to the global financial turmoil, as they avoid so-called emerging
markets in favor of safe havens, such as Treasury bonds of sturdy countries like
the U.S. or Germany.
Russians, meanwhile, are investing money elsewhere because of an "unfavorable
investment climate" in the country, the Central Bank said in a report to
A report from the Higher School of Economics, Russia's leading economic college,
said last week that the capital flight cannot be reversed without fundamental
changes in the Russian economy.
"Capital is fleeing Russia not because things are better elsewhere, but because
things are bad here and are probably going to get worse," the report said.
"Things that need to be done are not new: fostering competition, establishing the
rule of law, fighting corruption and state racket."
Igor Yurgens, chairman of the influential Institute for Contemporary Development
that consulted the Kremlin, said in a recent interview that a heavy state
involvement in the economy and unpredictable rules for business often outweighs
advantages that come from high oil prices.
Investors "need to be confident in their future, property rights, simple
relations with the state" and "predictable tax burden," he said in remarks posted
on the Valdai Discussion Club's website.
Analysts say the money is leaving Russia in part because of political
uncertainty. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
had refrained from confirming their plans for the March presidential election
before Putin suddenly announced his bid in late September.
Sergei Guriev, head of the Moscow-based New Economic School, said that the
decision "has not appeased the markets, to put it mildly, and they keep on
withdrawing money."
At a recent meeting with chief executives of major global companies, Putin
sounded upbeat, predicting a 4 percent growth of the economy and an increase in
foreign investment.
Putin said he was aware of the massive capital flight but blamed it on the
financial turmoil that affects all emerging markets.
Guriev, who has attended some of Putin's meetings with foreign investors, said he
feels that "many foreign investors were disappointed that a lot of the promises
he had made have not been carried out."
He also said investors often get "a bad message" since Putin, who is famously
late for nearly all of his appointments, routinely make them wait for an hour or
two at their meetings.
Some of the investors' disappointment relates to the highly anticipated assets
The government has promised to sell stakes in some of its most lucrative assets,
but has been dragging its feet on the plan. Market watchers say that a big
privatization could help reverse the capital outflow.
Officials said in September they plan to raise $10 billion from the asset sale
next year. They also promised to sell up to 15 percent in the country's largest
oil producer, Rosneft, which could raise up to $40 billion by 2014.
But some of the companies listed for privatization have made public their
opposition to the sale.
[return to Contents]
Gref Favors Simplifying Access For Foreign Issuers to Russian Market
MOSCOW. Oct 31 (Interfax) - It is necessary to simplify access for foreign
issuers to the Russian market, and Russian companies should be permitted to issue
Eurobonds directly, instead of through special purpose vehicles (SPV), President
and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sberbank of Russia (RTS: SBER) German
Gref says.
"It is necessary to simplify the procedure of access for foreign issuers to the
Russian financial market, as well as to permit Russian companies to directly
place Eurobonds, without using SPV companies," Gref is quoted in a bank statement
as saying after a meeting of the International Advisory Board on the creation of
an International Financial Center in Russia.
One of the biggest Western banks is currently showing interest in placing
securities in rubles, Gref said.
It is also necessary to make strong efforts to recover investors' trust in Russia
and its financial market, he said.
"Russia is in one of the best places in terms of its government finances and
level of government debt. But a low level of trust on the part of investors
prevents the realization of our country's potential. It is necessary to make
maximum efforts to recover this trust," Gref said.
Gref proposed considering the abolition of taxes on coupon yields at the federal
and sub-federal level for non-residents, improving the range of debt products,
and creating special federal agencies to manage state debt.
"It is proposed to introduce changes to the legislation on securities, which will
permit issuers to directly place Eurobonds," he said at the meeting.
Currently, Russian borrowers are forced to service foreign loans through
companies specially created to solve the accompanying numerous regulation and tax
issues. "As a result, this market is concentrated on offshore jurisdictions,
which causes investors, as well as the reputation of issuers and the Russian
financial market in general, to suffer," Gref said.
During the meeting, Gref made seven proposals for improving the regulation of
Russian issuers' placement of Eurobonds. He asked President Dmitry Medvedev to
include them in a list of the president's orders.
After the meeting, presidential aide Arkady Dvorkovich told journalists that all
of the proposals made during the meeting would be considered and that some of
them would be implemented in the future.
At the same time, Mikhail Galkin, a debt market analyst from VTB Capital, says
that European and American investors are already accustomed to the transaction
structure in Russian companies, in which the Eurobond issuer is an SPV.
Abolishing taxation on cross-border interest payments would be positively
perceived by investors with new markets for Russian companies - for example,
Asian investors.
"On the one hand, those who have been investing in developing markets for over
ten years are already used to such a structure and have no problem dealing with
it. But for new investors, for example on Asian markets, such a scheme will raise
questions. If we plan to expand the investor base for Russian issuers, it would
be good to remove that discomfort, cancelling taxes on interest payments on
Eurobonds," Galkin told Interfax. But imperfections in the tax system are not the
priority problem to be solved, he said.
[return to Contents]
China says Russia gas talks developing well
BEIJING Nov 1 (Reuters) - Talks between China and Russia on a huge gas export
deal are developing well, with only some specific issues mainly related to the
price structure remaining to be resolved, a senior Chinese diplomat said on
"At the moment, relevant companies from both sides are having working-level
discussions on the important consensus reached on the gas deal during (Russian
Prime Minister Vladimir) Putin's visit," Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cheng
Guoping told a news briefing.
"Both sides are working hard. The gas cooperation issue is developing in the
direction of reaching agreement," Cheng added. "As Prime Minister Putin said, the
natural gas negotiations are in their final stages."
Putin said during a visit to Beijing last month that Russia and China were near a
deal to supply the world's second biggest economy with up to 68 billion cubic
metres of Russian gas a year over 30 years in what would be a landmark trade
agreement between the long-wary neighbours.
An agreement on Russia's gas deliveries to China, the world's largest energy
consumer according to the International Energy Agency, would boost Moscow's
efforts to reduce its export dependency on the European market.
But Moscow and Beijing have haggled for five years over the commercial terms for
any deal.
The firms involved in the talks are Gazprom , Russia's state-controlled gas
export monopoly, and PetroChina , China's second-biggest refiner.
PetroChina Chairman Jiang Jiemin said last month that China and Russia had
"basically agreed" on the route and technological issues for the western section
of a cross-border natural gas pipeline project, but the two sides were still
unable to agree on a price.
Premier Wen Jiabao will visit Russia next week to attend a summit of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization, a security bloc grouping Russia, China and four
ex-Soviet Central Asian states.
Cheng did not rule out gas deal discussions on the sidelines of the meeting.
[return to Contents]
Russia Profile
November 1, 2011
The Baby with the Bathwater
Because the "Reset" in U.S.-Russian Relations Is Closely Associated with Obama,
Republicans Have Made it a Key Point in Their Attacks Against His Foreign Policy
By Andrew Roth
Russia may be close to accepting a Swiss-brokered deal with Georgia that would
clear the path for accession to the World Trade Organization 18 years after it
first submitted an application. In response, Republican congressional leaders and
presidential candidates who don't want Russia to be part of the WTO have begun
taking aim at Barack Obama over his foreign policy, including the "reset." But
while foreign policy is Obama's weakness, what are his rivals promising besides
simply reversing it?
House Speaker John Boehner said last Tuesday in a speech at the Heritage
Foundation that Russia's WTO accession should be contingent on a resolution to
the country's border disputes with Georgia. Yet should Russia decide to accept a
Swiss-brokered deal between itself and Georgia (Russians asked for another day to
consider it today), then there is little that can be done to stop it. Congress
does not vote on WTO accessions, and the United States has already voiced its
support for Russian accession into the organization Georgia, which holds a veto
power in the trade organization, seems to be the last impediment.
Yet in a recent open letter to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, both the
chairmen and ranking committee members on the Senate Finance Committee and the
House Ways and Means Committee wrote that: "A high standard [WTO] accession
package will be essential to ensuring support for granting Russia permanent
normal trade relations." Citing concerns over Russia's poor record on
intellectual property rights protection, among others, the letter seems to
threaten that Congress will refuse to lift the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, which
restricts Russia's trade status with the United States. If the Jackson-Vanik
amendment, which was passed through congress in 1974, remains on the books, then
the United States will be exposed to punitive action from the WTO under the
organization's dispute resolution mechanisms.
Experts differ on how realistic that scenario might be. Ariel Cohen, a senior
research fellow for Russian and Eurasian Studies at the Heritage Foundation, said
that a block on lifting Jackson-Vanik was possible because of powerful support in
Congress. "The indication I see is that the lifting of Jackson-Vanik is not going
through because of the issues articulated by speaker Boehner and also resistance
by the Chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Ileana Ros-Lehtinen," he
Yet Samuel Charap, director for Russia and Eurasia at the Center for American
Progress, said that pressure from business lobbies would likely play an important
role in influencing lawmakers to lift the sanctions. "Once the deal is done in
Geneva it's going to be a matter of American businesses making the case to
Congress about the benefits to the U.S. economy from Russia's WTO accession and
the negative impact of keeping Jackson-Vanik on the books," he said.
Russia's accession to the WTO is only part of what both Boehner and this year's
Republican presidential candidates say is wrong with Obama's foreign policy.
Cohen succinctly described their leading concern as Obama's foreign policy
"appearing to be placating American adversaries and neglecting American friends.
And the examples range from Great Britain, Poland in European missile defense
policy, Georgia, Israel, etc., and then placating competitors such as Russia and
That stance was clearly reflected in a white paper released by Republican
Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney's campaign earlier this month, in which he
promises to "reset the 'reset.'" Terming Obama's policy as "we give, Russia
gets," Romney proposes a broad set of measures, from reviewing the new START and
bolstering projects to relieve Europe from its gas dependency on Russia to
supporting civil society in Russia in a bid against the current "authoritarian
A kind of legend exists that Russians prefer to work with Republican
administrations because they present clear, self-interested objectives. In this
sense, the hard-talking rhetoric from figures like Romney and Boehner might even
present a familiar tone to the Russian government today. "Often Russians will say
they prefer the enemy that they know. So when Obama was running four years ago
there was a lot of concern that he would win, because policy would change from
something they knew, even if it was hard-line," said Gregory Feifer, a senior
correspondent for Radio Free Europe. "There was a lot of concern that an Obama
White House would start criticizing Russia heavily on human rights, freedom of
speech and other things." At this point, republican candidates have broadened
their criticisms of Russia beyond traditional spheres like missile defense, to
include human rights and freedom of speech issues as well, taking the best (or
worst) of both worlds.
Yet sometimes that desire to contradict the "reset," an easily identifiable Obama
policy, has led to some puzzling policy stances, said Matt Rojansky, deputy
director of the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment. "What
doesn't make sense to me in terms of policy content is to have a pragmatic
business-minded person like the putative leading Republican Candidate Mitt Romney
come out so strongly against the 'reset,' which to me can only be explained by
political reasons," said Rojansky. "Supporting free trade seems to me like a
fairly obvious, pro-business Republican position," he continued in reference to
the WTO.
Romney's competition right now is the irreverent Herman Cain, who is running
neck-and-neck with him in the Iowa polls and is proving to be popular among very
conservative voters. He's also produced one of the more quotable moments of the
campaign, telling an interviewer that he was already prepared for the "gotcha"
questions, and "when they ask me who's the president of
Uzbeki-beki-beki-stan-stan I'm going to tell them that I don't know." He went on
to say that he was focused on the "critical questions with critical solutions."
"When I get ready to go visit that country," he continued, "I'll know who it is."
In a strange way, perhaps Cain is right. In an article for the New Yorker this
week, David Remnick noted that only one percent of the population see foreign
policy as the most pressing issue of the campaign. Yet even if Cain is not to win
on his foreign policy credentials, he will still be expected to run a foreign
policy, and has reportedly been beefing up his team in the meantime. While the
Cain campaign has long seemed close to implosion, the New York Times' Nate Silver
makes an important point: "never say never."
[return to Contents]
November 1, 2011
US politicians need a bad guy: Russia will do
By Konstantin Kosachev
Konstantin Kosachev is Chairman of the Committee for Foreign Affairs in the State
Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament.
The closer we come to the elections in Russia, the less the politicians and the
parties are inclined to focus on foreign affairs yet another testimony to the
old and universal rule that a successful election campaign has to rely on a
domestic agenda. Therefore, political debate right now is predominantly
concentrated on things such as grain prices and the availability of
kindergartens, as well as corruption and modernization.
The same has always been true of American politics. The choice of specific issues
may differ, but there are some essential concerns that voters in both the United
States and Russia tend to share, such as gasoline prices, public security and the
prevention of intolerance and discrimination.
However, the 2012 presidential campaign in the US is likely to be very different,
as the contenders have already given quite a bit of attention to foreign policy
issues. Some have even made it their main talking points to criticize the other
party for its failure to resolve a number of global challenges while in office,
in addition to routinely blaming it for the rising gas prices. (I would say this
is the downside of America's predominant faith in its global mission: it presumes
global responsibility.)
The latest foreign policy-related diatribe comes from US House of Representatives
Speaker John Boehner (R-Oh), who posted an angry "tweet" last week arguing that
President Obama's "reset" with Russia had been fatally ill-advised. The
Republican congressman essentially maintained that the president had shaken hands
with the wrong kind of people, that he should rather have been tough and
uncompromising with Russia, and that his failure to do so has eventually put US
national security at risk.
Besides serving as a classic example of foreign-policy issues being invoked for
purposes of domestic debate, Rep. Boehner's criticism has emphasized a principal
difference in mentality between himself and the Democratic administration. It is
the same controversy that made Barack Obama and John McCain so obviously
contrasted to one another during the previous presidential race, and largely
determined the preferences of American voters in 2008. As a Russian, I cannot but
compliment Americans for choosing sanity during the last presidential election.
But as we can see, the hardliner mindset is far from extinct in American
politics, and this year it is poised for a comeback.
It would be a mistake to overstate the differences in foreign-policy principles
between Republicans and Democrats. Both parties see their paramount objective in
pursuing US national interest, which invariably implies a claim for American
global leadership, complete with exclusive rights for dealing with international
issues at the Americans' own discretion. But while this would be the frame of
thought of whichever party is in the White House, there are also substantial
differences in reasoning, which, if simplified, boil down to the following.
One of the two opposite schools of thought presumes that, by virtue of America's
Manifest Destiny as a global leader, the rest of the world must either embrace
its leadership, or be neutralized so as not to oppose American interests. This
"American Empire" mindset inevitably presupposes that anyone reluctant to stand
behind the US (Russia, for one) is an adversary by default.
The other school similarly puts the United States in the center of the world, but
it is different in that it acknowledges that other nations may have their own
legitimate interests, too. This approach could be dubbed "Common Home" mentality,
as it recognizes, if only by way of an admission, that an international
architecture can only be stable and lasting if it is at least relatively
comfortable for all parties involved, not just for the United States.
The "American Empire" attitude dictates that Washington should be uncompromising
in shoving its decisions down the throats of weaker nations. It prefers stick
over carrot in dealing with anyone save for a few closest and unquestionably
loyal allies. Meanwhile, the "Common Home" mindset sees the carrot and stick
toolset as altogether inappropriate, as it presumes that the US must draw a
certain line in pursuing its own interests, even when it finds itself in a
dominant position.
Rep. Boehner's rant on the US-Russia "reset" was by no means accidental, but
rather well-timed. The Republican-dominated Congress is about to get preoccupied
with the Jackson-Vanik Amendment. Now that Russia is just steps away from WTO
membership, the amendment is bound to deprive the US economy of the prospective
benefits of this accession, and will turn out a self-imposed impediment unless
repealed. Congressional Republicans are in for an uphill battle against the
Democrats over Jackson-Vanik, and they seem determined to rely heavily on the Bad
Russia narrative in defending their turf.
Meanwhile, Russia and the US have recently proven themselves capable of coming to
terms and moving on without hair-raising crises and international dramas. Among
other things, this has been exemplified by Russia's progress in its WTO
negotiations, including its mutual deliberations with Georgia. This progress is
all the more commendable, as Russia has its own elections coming, which normally
makes it more difficult to bargain on international issues. And even though both
Moscow and Washington still find it equally difficult to compromise, the bottom
line is that there have been efforts made on both sides, and those efforts have
proved rewarding.
I will be looking forward to seeing how the upcoming US election is going to play
out for US-Russia relations. It will be a maturity test for America in getting
over its imperial ambitions similar to the one Russia has passed in the last two
decades while transforming the former empire into a common home, both
domestically and internationally.
[return to Contents]
Valdai Discussion Club
Russia-U.S. relation after 2012 elections
November 1, 2011
Valdaiclub.com interview with Andrew C. Kuchins, Director and Senior Fellow,
Russia and Eurasia Program at CSIS
Looking at Russian-US relations and the "reset", what would you say are the main
Well, the main achievements are one, of course, the signing of a new START
treaty on April 20, 2010, and getting back in constructive and positive
discussions about nuclear arms control and nuclear security. Two, the agreements
for the transitive, lethal and non-lethal materials across Russia and over
Russian air space, and the role that Russia has been playing in a Northern
Distribution Network. It has been really important for the United States, as well
as other cooperation, which we are engaged in Afghanistan, in trying, for
example, to curtail drug-trafficking and other issues. Three, for sure, the
cooperation on the United Nations Security Council on the sanctions on Iran. I
think from the Obama administration standpoint Iran and Iranian nuclear weapons
program is the number one priority in motivating them, I think, in the reset on
the security side. So that has been very important. And maybe just as important
or more important was the decision on Moscow's part to cancel the sale of S-300
anti-air system. That is viewed very positively in Washington. Currently, I hope,
we are going to have Russia's WTO negotiations come to a close, and Russia will
enter the World Trade Organization in December, at the next meeting. That would
be a big achievement not only for US-Russia relations, but more broadly for
Russia and also Russia's engagement in global economy.
Do you expect that the relationships between the two countries will undergo
drastic changes after 2012 elections in both countries?
I do not think they will undergo drastic changes after the 2012 elections in
Russia. I think, that president Medvedev and prime-minister Putin are basically
in agreement about the advisability of the, so called "reset" of the Russian-US
relations that has taken place over the last nearly three years. I think the much
bigger question mark is: what is going to happen in the US elections? If Barak
Obama is reelected, then, I think, we will see basically continuation of the
policy. From my point of view, the "reset" has been successful. The relationship
has been reset. We have now more normal and constructive relationship with
Russia, as we should have. I think, we are not going to have that momentum of
watershed agreements, (and one of them I forgot to mention, of course, the
Civilian Nuclear-1, -2, -3 agreement, which was concluded at the end of last
year). Still I think trying to build on the levels of cooperation that we have
would be the case with the Obama administration. Republican administration is a
much bigger question mark.
Maybe it's just pre-electoral games? Republicans have to play them, trying to
undermine the Obama administration as much as possible.
Right, the Obama administration views the "reset" as one of the most important
foreign policy achievements. Naturally, the opposition party is going to find
ways to criticize that, to try to knock it down. When you come to actual
governing, it's a different matter.
But still there are problems in our relations. What do you think are the most
cunning issues that we have to tackle first of all?
There is one other important area where we have seen a greater degree of
cooperation and mutual understanding and, I think, accommodation of interests in
the past couple of years that we did not see in the Bush administration. That is
our views on what is taking place in the countries on Russia's borders that many
refer to as post-Soviet space. I'd like to get away from that terminology. There
is a possibility for the conflicts in the Russia-US relationships over our
policies and interests in the Caucasus, in the Central Asia and elsewhere, and,
of course, the biggest one is Georgia. The Obama administration has spent a lot
of time during over the past three years, trying to insure that conflict is not
reemerging in Georgia.
The two key goals in 2011 were the WTO session on the economic side and missile
defense on the security side. Things look much more positive for the WTO session
issue (although we are not done yet), then they do on the missile defense. The
missile defense issue will continue to be discussed and I am not sure we are
going to see some rapid progress on that in 2012.
[return to Contents]
France, Britain would not have been able to wage war in Libya without U.S.
support - Rogozin
MOSCOW. Nov 1 (Interfax) - The operation in Libya has exposed a huge military and
technological gap between the United States and NATO's other member countries,
Russia's envoy to the alliance Dmitry Rogozin said.
"It has transpired that even the most powerful European nations within NATO -
France and Britain - are not in a position to wage a war without American
support. The French and British had the strength only to conduct tactical
bombing," Russia's Izvestia newspaper quoted Rogozin as saying on Tuesday.
The main strike, which blinded and disarmed the Libyan army, was launched by U.S.
cruise missiles in the first hours of the war, according to the newspaper.
The U.S. provided entire logistics support, logistics infrastructure and, what
counts most, aerospace reconnaissance, which, for its part, played a vital role
in catching Col. Muammar Gaddafi, who was subsequently killed, Rogozin said.
"NATO's concept envisions the possibility of simultaneously waging two local wars
and six local conflicts. However, the operation in Libya lacked the scope of a
local war, but it involved practically all forces of the alliance's European
members. NATO would simply have had nothing to offer in response if a new hotbed
of tension had emerged near Europe's borders," Rogozin said.
In the near future, NATO will have to shift its strategic direction from east to
south, he said.
"The missile defense shield designed to protect Europe from hypothetical Iranian
missiles, which do not exist and no one knows when they could appear, resembles
the Maginot line, scrupulously built by the French along the border with Germany
ahead of the start of World War II," Rogozin said,
The Maginot Line was a system of fortifications constructed by France along the
border with Germany. The line, however, was bypassed by German soldiers on the
flank after the hostilities began in 1940.
[return to Contents]
Moscow to Adopt Counter Measures If Canadian Lawmakers Approve "Magnitsky Bill"
MOSCOW. Oct 31 (Interfax) - The Russian Foreign Ministry has slammed the
so-called "Magnitsky bill" submitted to the Canadian parliament and warned of
adequate counter measures if it is approved.
"Canadian lawmakers' initiative to bar a number of Russian officials and members
of their families from entering Canada arouses regret and dismay," the ministry's
official spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement circulated on Monday
"We regard this action as a virtual instigation towards interference in Russia's
internal affairs. We hope that the Canadian authorities will show discretion and
refrain from such unfriendly moves. But if common sense is ignored, then,
naturally, there will be an adequate response on our part," the statement says.
Regretfully, Canadian lawmakers are trampling on the principle of the presumption
of innocence and ignoring the ongoing comprehensive investigation in Russia into
Sergei Magnitsky's tragedy, Lukashevich said.
"The wording of some parts of the bill is outrageous and distorts the real
situation in our country," he said.
Earlier, Canada's former Justice Minister Irwin Cotler submitted to parliament a
draft bill proposing visa sanctions against Russian officials allegedly
implicated in the criminal prosecution of Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei
It was reported earlier that the U.S. Department of State had entered the names
of Russian officials who presumably played a part in Magnitsky's death into the
blacklist of U.S. visa applicants. This list is also known as the Cardin list, as
this idea belongs to U.S. Senator Benjamin Cardin. A number of U.S. media outlets
suggested that the blacklist includes Russian Federal Security Service (FSB)
officers, top and medium-ranking policemen, prison guards and doctors,
prosecutors, tax auditors and inspectors. This information was later confirmed by
the U.S. Department of State.
Human rights activists had earlier expressed their discontent with the way a
criminal inquiry into Magnitsky's death was being carried out and suggested that,
despite some dismissals in the Federal Corrections Service, Magnitsky's death has
never been properly investigated.
On July 5, the Russian Presidential Council for Human Rights handed over the
results of an independent inquiry into Magnitsky's death to President Dmitry
[return to Contents]
US-Russian Intelligence Collection Discussed
Argumenty Nedeli
October 26, 2011
Article by Aleksandr Kondrashov entitled "A Feast of the Recruiters: How
Intelligence Officers Work at Arms Exhibits"
International exhibitions are the favorite places of work for intelligence
officers. Although political spies will go to any show where they can meet only
important people, air shows and arms exhibits are the bread and butter of
military intelligence officers.
A Meeting at a "Special Beach"
This "Argumenty Nedeli" columnist is more likely to see Aleksandr Konstantinovich
(tr. note: the author does not use this source's surname in this article,
otherwise identifying him only by first name and patronymic and as "the general")
in Abu Dhabi, India, Chili or any of thirteen other countries, where the largest
arms exhibitions are conducted. But we met at a Black Sea special beach at an
agency sanatorium where a monument to (legendary Secret Police chief Felix)
Dzerzhinskiy stood at the KPP (controlled access point). The general was bent
over the first page of "Argumenty Nedeli." I had to tear him away from reading
the article.
"Long time, no see," responded Aleksandr Konstantinovich. "Are you also on
vacation?" I shrugged my shoulders noncommittally. And the general pointed to an
enormous electronic panel near the pier. It said "Air Temperature +25 (degrees
C), Water temperature +18." Making small talk about the weather, he said "The end
of Indian summer finally made it, otherwise the rain would have driven us crazy."
But then, noticing a book in my hands, he inquired, "What are you reading?"
I showed him the book cover. The general winched as if from a tooth ache. "'The
Aquarium' by (Viktor) Suvorov?! But that's science fiction. Endless fabrications
of a traitor." "On the other hand, what an advertisement for the Main
Intelligence Directorate! For this Rezun-Suvorov (tr. note: author V.B. Rezun
wrote under the pen name Viktor Suvorov) should have gotten an award, and not the
death sentence he was given," I admit that I had long enjoyed egging on Aleksandr
And the general did get worked up. "There's not a word of truth there. I can
prove it in any story in the book." The "Argumenty Nedeli" columnist instantly
took the bait, "But he wrote really well about recruiting at the exhibitions. I
especially liked what he wrote about the small 'demonstration suitcase'."
Aleksandr Konstantinovich looked at me patronizingly. "The 'Diplomat' model with
the double bottom and the mirrors, which visually tripled the packs of dollars?"
I only nodded. And the general contemptuously said through clenched teeth,
"That's a cheap movie trick. No finance office is going to give that much cash
for a demonstration. Especially in the West where everyone has plastic credit
cards and no one carries more than twenties in their wallet. Only Russians carry
around dollars and Euros in their wallets. Do you remember the incident in
Even my suntan could not hide my blushing. The general did not forget how your
obedient servant fouled up after a banquet in honor of the opening of an
exhibition of infantry weapons in France. After the reception I did not get in
the car with everyone else, but decided to take an evening walk through Paris.
And by some ill wind I found myself in the Arab quarter near the central railroad
station. After it got dark I found myself in the vicinity of two dozen juveniles.
Everything happened in a matter of three seconds. A knife was pushed into my
side, a blow to the ribs, a hand in my pocket, and my wallet with two hundred
Euros fell to the ground. I could not even manage to notice who grabbed the
plunder. The crowd of Arab youths instantly scattered.
I had to admit that I was getting the worst of this trading of barbs. So I
changed the subject to a favorite subject of the general, missiles. At that time
at the Le Bourget exhibition he talked a lot about our "Iskander," which is able
to hit a specific window, and about the world's best tactical air defense system,
the "Tor." An Expert Opinion According to Mikhail Barabanov, a specialist in
reporting on arms exports, "The sale of the 'Tor' missiles to Greece, a member of
NATO, has already deliberately revealed all of the parameters of these systems
(at least those of the export version) to all of NATO, including the USA. You
would have to be completely naive to assume that the Greeks did not share all of
the parameters of these systems with their allies and their "big brother" and
would not have given them the opportunity to study them in detail (regardless of
the papers signed with the Russian side regarding the prohibition of transfers to
'third parties'.)"
Russian Missiles at Le Bourget and at Alaska
I have been very interested in the question: Why do our best weapons, that we
show occasionally only at parades and exhibitions, not end up in the Russian
Army, but overseas? And occasionally to the probable enemy. For example, during
the "Red Flag" exercises in Alaska, the Americans showed journalists a model that
was as similar as two drops of water to the Russian combat vehicle (BM) air
defense missile system (ZRK) "Tor-M1." In an Eielson air base press release the
transporting and loading of the BM, designated as the SA-15B Russian radar, was
lavishly illustrated by photographs. The Americans did not hide the fact that
this equipment would help USAF pilots develop skills "to overcome the enemy air
defenses." This system was not supplied to the USA. How did our "Tor" turn up in
remote Alaska?
Aleksandr Konstantinovich frowned, "The missile thieves are like gypsy horse
thieves. Russian stupidity and corruption can overcome any kind of barrier. Do
you remember how at the exhibition at our chalet that Greek with a mustache was
wheeling and dealing? We were very suspicious that he was operating not only in
the interests of his own country." "Did he recruit one of the designers for the
Americans," the "Argumenty Nedeli" columnist asked in the spirit of the
"Aquarium" spy novel. "The technical personnel prefer to recruit Chinese.
Recently yet another spy was caught. He was trying to buy documentation for the
S-300. It was not understood why. We had long ago sold them this air defense
missile system. I think we sold it too cheaply. Therefore the Chinese were
checking and looking for a trick."
"And the 'Tor' was also turned over to the Greeks for a ridiculous price." "No,
that contract was normal. But it was given to the American for almost nothing.
The specialists figure that a good intelligence officer will earn dividends far
greater than the profits from the sale of arms. On the average, for every dollar
invested, there will be twenty 'bucks of profit."
"Rezun-Suvorov writes that at an exhibition an intelligence officer has two or
three instant recruitments. And it takes about two or three minutes to make each
one," the "Argumenty Nedeli" columnist responded quietly. The general only
laughed, "It's not extravagant to spend years on a good recruitment. But that
worthless hack was right about one thing. An exhibition is a 'Shanghai.' There is
always a whirlwind of people and, of course, it is simpler to work. You have
dozens, hundreds of contacts. The intelligence officer's mouth usually never
closes. You get acquainted and chat like the master of ceremonies at a concert.
Do you remember how at the naval exhibition at Singapore, when there was a ton of
exotic food at the reception, in the journalists' press area I ate your last
piece of crab sausage like I was starving?" "At Singapore, you ate it along with
our sardines and black bread, and with 'Stolichny' you put away the best ever
ostrich eggs," I jabbed the general. "And how we sang 'Victory Day' on May 9th at
the exhibition!" the general recalled suddenly. "Singapore had never heard
singing like that." "Argumenty Nedeli" Notes The "Tor" (versions "Tor-M1" and
"Tor-M2") air defense missile system destroys aerial targets not recognized by
the IFF system at ranges up to 12 kilometers and altitudes to 6 kilometers. It is
manufactured by the Izhevsk OAO (Open Joint Stock Company) "Kupol." The "Tor-M1"
has been exported to Venezuela (4 systems), the PRC (60 systems), Iran (29
systems), and Greece (31 systems).
The "Chubays Master Key"
Loud mouths are not admired in the intelligence service. They talk about
patriotism and love for Russia here only at ceremonial events. At business
meetings official questions are even discussed with a share of cynicism. How much
will a particular secret cost? Will compromising material work or should a
particular sum that he will not be able to refuse, be offered to a future agent?
Unfortunately, twenty years have already elapsed since the factor of ideology has
lost its significance for recruitment. Russia has lost its status as the second
super-power and the main deterrent to the forces of the USA. Therefore, the
ideological warriors who were ready to risk their lives for the sake of high
ideals, are almost gone. Alas, in the world of espionage, market relationships
now reign. Money solves everything.
"Rezun-Suvorov writes that the Soviet intelligence services mostly worked with
small firms at exhibitions, where there were no security services. How is it done
now?" The general shrugged his shoulders, "In different ways. Of course no one
wants to go head to head with the counter-intelligence services. But the real
secrets, as a rule, are in the large concerns and corporations. And they are
guarded like the pupil of the eye."
The "Argumenty Nedeli" columnist recalled how at one of the large arms
exhibitions he tried to take a picture with his video camera of an American
exhibit next to a "Photography Prohibited" sign. The image of that exhibit was
constantly fuzzy. Our specialists later explained that there was a "Special
"Aleksandr Konstantinovich, you said that technical personnel at exhibitions love
to recruit Chinese. But how do the Americans and the English work?" I continued
to press the general. My old friend thought about it and then said candidly,
"They use the 'Chubays Master Key' (tr.note: reference to A.B. Chubays, Russian
politician responsible for implementing privatization reforms under Boris
Yeltsin). Seeing my confusion, he explained, "I have in mind privatization,
especially of our defense industries. It was no accident that in the agency that
Chubays headed there were 97 identified CIA agents. And how many more have still
not been exposed?"
"Do you mean they purchased our 'Red Directors' who were privatized by the VTK
(Military Industrial Commission) wholesale and retail?" I asked suspiciously.
"That must have cost a lot of money!" "Everything was not that simple and
primitive," objected the general. "One shouldn't offend the old defense industry
leaders. Sure, there were lots of them who sold their hides. But now there are
new bosses, whose families live in the West, who voluntarily or involuntarily are
now forced to cooperate with local special services. As a rule they are people
who don't pay their full share of taxes or violate the laws. In a word, there is
plenty of compromising materials on them. Such subjects are delicacies for any
recruiter. If they waver you can always threaten to freeze their accounts in
foreign banks. And the sad fate of Gaddafi is before all of our eyes."
[return to Contents]
Moscow Times
October 31, 2011
The Kremlin's China Problem
By Alexei Bayer
Alexei Bayer, a native Muscovite, is a New York-based economist.
China's success has been very important for Russia. Of course, Russian leaders
find it hard to admit that they envy the Chinese. After all, when Communists took
power in Beijing in 1949, China was a younger Communist brother, learning
Marxism-Leninism at the feet of their more experienced Soviet comrades. Then,
after Josef Stalin died in 1953, there were three decades of tension and
hostility. They even fought a seven-month battle along their long shared border
during the height of the Chinese-Soviet split in 1969.
But to Russian nationalists, Communists and others nostalgic for the Soviet era,
China provided a highly successful alternative to Western democracy espoused by
Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin. In those circles, democracy and market
capitalism in Russia are seen as a failure, resulting in corrupt privatization,
winner-takes-all crony capitalism and the humiliating capitulation in the Cold
War. Many in Russia believe that China made the right decision to leave the
monopolist Communist Party apparatus in charge and curb political freedoms while
implementing market reforms.
In the Kremlin, China is seen as a natural ally against the United States. Moscow
eagerly chimes in with Beijing in criticizing the U.S.-dominated "unipolar"
world, its huge debt and weakening dollar. Russia would like to join forces with
China to find an alternative to the dollar as a reserve currency, but the Chinese
are understandably reluctant to undermine the greenback since the bulk of China's
$3.2 trillion worth of hard currency reserves is held in dollars.
The Kremlin also sees China as an alternative to the European market for oil and
natural gas. Russia hopes that its oil pipeline from Eastern Siberia to the
Pacific Ocean and China will not only boost its export revenues but give the
Kremlin more leverage as it tries to exert political pressure on the West by
turning its energy spigot on and off when necessary.
But all this may come crashing down. China is teetering on the brink of an
economic crisis. Economists worry that the Chinese economy may be facing a hard
landing. The Chinese real estate market, which is every bit as inflated as the
U.S. bubble that burst in 2008, is starting to come off the boil. Prices are
stagnant or declining in more than half of urban markets.
While China may not have a subprime mortgage problem that hit the U.S. banking
system, Chinese banks sharply increased lending after 2008 on the instructions
from the government to counteract the global economic slowdown. The amount of
loans issued by Chinese banks, at nearly $8 trillion, dwarfs both Greece's $350
billion of debt and even Italy's $2.5 trillion. With the jobless rate rising, the
debt burden may undermine China's notoriously opaque banking system.
True, nobody has made any money doubting China's resilience over the past three
decades. But a crisis has to come sooner or later, especially since the Chinese
economy is so dangerously unbalanced.
The Communists in Beijing have been living in mortal fear of an economic crisis,
afraid that it would trigger political unrest. They never let the economy release
any steam in a smaller downturn, which means that when a crisis does eventually
occur, it is bound to be a major one. How the rigid, one-party political system
will fare is anyone's guess.
In any case, China is likely to be preoccupied with its economic problems in
coming years. As a result, Beijing may be drawn much closer to Washington,
leaving Moscow on its own to combat the U.S.-dominated "unipolar" world.
[return to Contents]
October 31, 2011
Russia: Rebuilding an Empire While It Can
By Lauren Goodrich
U.S.-Russian relations seem to have been relatively quiet recently, as there are
numerous contradictory views in Washington about the true nature of Russia's
current foreign policy. Doubts remain about the sincerity of the U.S. State
Department's so-called "reset" of relations with Russia the term used in 2009
when U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton handed a reset button to her Russian
counterpart as a symbol of a freeze on escalating tensions between Moscow and
Washington. The concern is whether the "reset" is truly a shift in relations
between the two former adversaries or simply a respite before relations
deteriorate again.
The reset actually had little to do with the United States wanting Russia as a
friend and ally. Rather, Washington wanted to create room to handle other
situations mainly Afghanistan and Iran and ask Russia for help. (Russia is
aiding in moving supplies into Afghanistan and withholding critical support from
Iran.) Meanwhile, Russia also wanted more room to set up a system that would help
it create a new version of its old empire.
Russia's ultimate plan is to re-establish control over much of its former
territories. This inevitably will lead Moscow and Washington back into a
confrontation, negating any so-called reset, as Russian power throughout Eurasia
is a direct threat to the U.S. ability to maintain its global influence. This is
how Russia has acted throughout history in order to survive. The Soviet Union did
not act differently from most of the Russian empires before it, and Russia today
is following the same behavioral pattern.
Geography and Empire-Building
Russia's defining geographic characteristic is its indefensibility, which means
its main strategy is to secure itself. Unlike most powerful countries, Russia's
core region, Muscovy, has no barriers to protect it and thus has been invaded
several times. Because of this, throughout history Russia has expanded its
geographic barriers in order to establish a redoubt and create strategic depth
between the Russian core and the myriad enemies surrounding it. This means
expanding to the natural barriers of the Carpathian Mountains (across Ukraine and
Moldova), the Caucasus Mountains (particularly to the Lesser Caucasus, past
Georgia and into Armenia) and the Tian Shan on the far side of Central Asia. The
one geographic hole is the North European Plain, where Russia historically has
claimed as much territory as possible (such as the Baltics, Belarus, Poland and
even parts of Germany). In short, for Russia to be secure it must create some
kind of empire.
There are two problems with creating an empire: the people and the economy.
Because they absorb so many lands, Russian empires have faced difficulties
providing for vast numbers of people and suppressing those who did not conform
(especially those who were not ethnic Russians). This leads to an inherently weak
economy that can never overcome the infrastructural challenges of providing for
the population of a vast empire. However, this has never stopped Russia from
being a major force for long periods of time, despite its economic drawbacks,
because Russia often emphasizes its strong military and security apparatus more
than (and sometimes at the expense of) economic development.
Maintaining a Strong State
Russian power must be measured in terms of the strength of the state and its
ability to rule the people. This is not the same as the Russian government's
popularity (though former president and current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's
popularity is undeniable); it is the ability of the Russian leadership, whether
czar, Communist Party or prime minister, to maintain a tight grip on society and
security. This allows Moscow to divert resources from popular consumption to
state security and to suppress resistance. If the government has firm control
over the people, popular discontent over politics, social policies or the economy
do not pose a threat to the state certainly not in the short term.
It is when the Russian leadership loses control over the security apparatus that
Russian regimes collapse. For example, when the czar lost control of the army
during World War I, he lost power and the Russian empire fell apart. Under Josef
Stalin, there was massive economic dysfunction and widespread discontent, but
Stalin maintained firm control over both the security apparatuses and the army,
which he used to deal with any hint of dissent. Economic weakness and a brutal
regime eventually were accepted as the inevitable price of security and of being
a strategic power.
Moscow is using the same logic and strategies today. When Putin came to power in
1999, the Russian state was broken and vulnerable to other global powers. In
order to regain Russia's stability and eventually its place on the global stage
Putin first had to consolidate the Kremlin's power within the country, which
meant consolidating the country economically, politically and socially. This
occurred after Putin reorganized and strengthened the security apparatuses,
giving him greater ability to dominate the people under one political party,
purge foreign influence from the economy and build a cult of personality among
the people.
Putin then set his sights on a Russian empire of sorts in order to secure the
country's future. This was not a matter of ego for Putin but a national security
concern derived from centuries of historic precedent.
Putin had just seen the United States encroach on the territory Russia deemed
imperative to its survival: Washington helped usher most Central European states
and the former Soviet Baltic states into NATO and the European Union; supported
pro-Western "color revolutions" in Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan; set up
military bases in Central Asia; and announced plans to place ballistic missile
defense installations in Central Europe. To Russia, it seemed the United States
was devouring its periphery to ensure that Moscow would forever remain
Over the past six years, Russia has pushed back to some degree against Western
influence in most of its former Soviet states. One reason for this success is
that the United States has been preoccupied with other issues, mostly in the
Middle East and South Asia. Moreover, Washington has held the misconception that
Russia will not formally attempt to re-create a kind of empire. But, as has been
seen throughout history, it must.
Putin's Plans
Putin announced in September that he would seek to return to the Russian
presidency in 2012, and he has started laying out his goals for his new reign. He
said Russia would [] formalize its relationship with former Soviet states by
creating a Eurasia Union (EuU); other former Soviet states proposed the concept
nearly a decade ago, but Russia is now in a position in which it can begin
implementing it. Russia will begin this new iteration of a Russian empire by
creating a union with former Soviet states based on Moscow's current
associations, such as the Customs Union, the Union State and the Collective
Security Treaty Organization. This will allow the EuU to strategically encompass
both the economic and security spheres.
The forthcoming EuU is not a re-creation of the Soviet Union. Putin understands
the inherent vulnerabilities Russia would face in bearing the economic and
strategic burden of taking care of so many people across nearly 9 million square
miles. This was one of the Soviet Union's greatest weaknesses: trying to control
so much directly. Instead, Putin is creating a union in which Moscow would
influence foreign policy and security but would not be responsible for most of
the inner workings of each country. Russia simply does not have the means to
support such an intensive strategy. Moscow does not feel the need to sort through
Kyrgyz political theater or support Ukraine's economy to control those countries.
The Kremlin intends to have the EuU fully formed by 2015, when Russia believes
the United States will return its focus to Eurasia. Washington is wrapping up its
commitments to Iraq this year and intends to end combat operations and greatly
reduce forces in Afghanistan, so by 2015, the United States will have military
and diplomatic attention to spare. This is also the same time period in which the
U.S. ballistic missile defense installations in Central Europe will break ground.
To Russia, this amounts to a U.S. and pro-U.S. front in Central Europe forming on
the former Soviet (and future EuU) borders. It is the creation of a new version
of the Russian empire, combined with the U.S. consolidation of influence on that
empire's periphery, that most likely will spark new hostilities between Moscow
and Washington.
This could set the stage for a new version of the Cold War, though it would not
be as long-lived as the previous one. Putin's other reason for re-establishing
some kind of Russian empire is that he knows the next crisis to affect Russia
most likely will keep the country from ever resurging again: Russia is dying. The
country's demographics are among some of the world's worst, having declined
steadily since World War I. Its birth rates are well below death rates, and it
already has more citizens in their 50s than in their teens. Russia could be a
major power without a solid economy, but no country can be a global power without
people. This is why Putin is attempting to strengthen and secure Russia now,
before demographics weaken it. However, even taking its demographics into
account, Russia will be able to sustain its current growth in power for at least
another generation. This means that the next few years likely are Russia's last
great moment one that will be marked by the country's return as a regional
empire and a new confrontation with its previous adversary, the United States.
This report is republished with permission of STRATFOR
[return to Contents]
Moscow Times
October 31, 2011
A Paranoia Epidemic Grips Many in Georgia
By Paul Rimple
Paul Rimple is a journalist in Tbilisi.
There is the Georgia with new roads, buildings and parks and policemen in new
cars and uniforms who never take bribes. It's the Georgia the World Bank has
twice named the top reformer in the world and former U.S. President George W.
Bush called the "beacon of democracy." This, we know, is all because of Georgian
President Mikheil Saakashvili.
Then there is the Georgia where people take the batteries out of their phones
when they talk politics. They unplug the television set if it is part of the
Silknet network because they believe that Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili
owns that telecommunications provider and that he is listening. They whisper that
they would support Bidzina Ivanishvili but are afraid of what would happen to
their family members if they did.
Their fears may seem extreme, but they will tell you how their relatives or their
neighbor's relatives have been victims of the Georgian criminal justice system,
where judges not prosecutors convince the innocent that it's better to accept a
plea bargain and pay than to fight, lose and end up in an overcrowded prison cell
for years.
Fear, experts say, is a negative effect induced by a perceived threat. The threat
can be entirely fictitious, but the resulting fear is real enough. Today in
Georgia, an epidemic of paranoia is gripping the nation and is affecting all
segments of society, including the presidential administration.
Since Ivanishvili announced his plans to organize an opposition against
Saakashvili, authorities have stripped him and his wife of their Georgian
citizenship, seized more than $3 million of his bank's cash and announced that
Ivanishvili possessed items of an "occult character used to predict the future."
They also sacked Zurab Abashidze and Victor Dolidze, two city lawmakers belonging
to Our Georgia-Free Democrats, an opposition party associated to Ivanishvili.
Saakashvili finally came out and stated a "serious opposition force" is trying to
throw the country into the past. And this is just the beginning. Meanwhile, the
major television networks have been busy smearing Ivanishvili. Some countries
call it slander, but in Georgia it's "free media."
The upsurge in fear is a dangerous condition that results in irrational behavior.
A nation that unplugs electronic devices before they talk in their homes needs a
government to reassure them that their fears are misguided. Instead, they have a
government manic over one man's aspiration to enter politics.
[return to Contents]
Kyrgyz president-elect wants U.S. air base closed
By Robin Paxton
November 1, 2011
BISHKEK (Reuters) - Kyrgyzstan's president-elect said on Tuesday the United
States should leave its military air base in the Central Asian republic when its
lease expires in 2014, the same year NATO-led combat troops are due back from
Almazbek Atambayev, the pro-Russian prime minister who claimed victory in a
presidential election on Sunday, said Kyrgyzstan would honor its current
agreement but he had no intention of renewing the lease on the base.
"When I was appointed prime minister last year, and again this year, I warned
employees and leaders of the U.S. embassy and visiting representatives that, in
2014 and in line with our obligations, the United States should leave the base,"
he said.
The U.S. military uses the Manas transit center as a supply route for the war in
Afghanistan. The base is adjacent to Kyrgyzstan's main international airport,
also called Manas, just outside the capital Bishkek.
Kyrgyzstan, a landlocked former Soviet republic of 5.5 million people, also hosts
a Russian military air base. Washington and Moscow share concerns about the
possible spillover of Islamist militancy as troops withdraw from nearby
All NATO-led combat troops are due home from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, and
mounting bills and war weariness among the public mean there is little chance
that foreign troops will be fighting there in significant numbers beyond that
The closure of the U.S. base is sure to please the Kremlin, which views former
Soviet Central Asia as its sphere of influence.
Former Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, ousted in an April 2010 revolution,
promised to close the base after receiving a financial assistance package from
Moscow in 2009. He reversed this decision after securing higher U.S. payments.
Atambayev, whose victory may be challenged by candidates who complained of voting
abuses, told reporters that he did not believe the U.S. base provided security
for his country.
"We know that the United States very often participates in various military
conflicts. It happened in Iraq, in Afghanistan and now there is a tense situation
with Iran," he said.
"I wouldn't want any of these countries one day to make a return strike on the
military base. A civilian airport should be a civilian airport."
Atambayev proposed that the Manas airport could become an international center
for civilian airlines.
"We are ready to create a civilian transit hub together with Russia, the United
States and any interested state," he said.
[return to Contents]
Christian Science Monitor
October 31, 2011
Kyrgyzstan elections: Unity top priority for Atambayev
Newly elected Kyrgyzstan President Almazbek Atambayev has said his biggest
challenge will be to unify the country, which has seen two revolutions and a
string of questionable elections during the past decade.
By Fred Weir, Correspondent
Moscow - Former Prime Minister Almazbek Atambayev declared victory Monday in
Kyrgyzstan's presidential polls. The small, strategically-located central Asian
nation's election is its latest attempt to restore political stability following
two revolutions and a string of dubious elections over the past six years.
Mr. Atambayev, who was supported by Moscow, won almost 63 percent of the votes in
a field of 16 candidates, electoral officials announced Monday. International
observers described the election as mostly fair, though marred by "procedural
flaws," including irregularities with voter lists and ballot-counting.
However, two leading contenders from the ethnically-diverse region in southern
Kyrgyzstan former parliament speaker Adakhan Madumarov and head of the Ata-Jurt
opposition group Kamchybek Tashiyev have alleged massive fraud and indicated
they may challenge the result in court.
"Atambayev is the clear winner, there is no doubt about that," Asiya Sasykbayeva,
deputy speaker of the Kyrgyz parliament, said by telephone from Bishkek Monday.
"He was the most acceptable candidate. He's not a nationalist who will split the
country between north and south, he's not a radical who will seek to upset our
international relationships, and he already has plenty of experience in managing
the state as prime minister. There may be protests from the losers, but his
margin of victory was so overwhelming that it's not likely to make any
Russia and the US, both of which maintain military bases in Kyrgyzstan, are
likely to welcome the result. Atambayev is a known quantity who appears likely to
press for closer relations with Moscow, but also to carefully avoid offending
Washington by threatening to close down the US military transit center at Manas,
a vital link in the resupply chain for NATO forces in nearby Afghanistan, as some
of his predecessors have done.
"Kyrgyzstan needs cooperation with Russia, while Russia is strongly interested in
maintaining stability in that region," says Konstantin Zatulin, director of the
Kremlin-funded Institute for the Commonwealth of Independent States in Moscow.
"Atambayev has a lot of friends here in Moscow, he has declared that he's
pro-Russian, but at the same time I think he'll seek to keep relations with other
countries, including the US, on an even keel. Basically, he's a cautious, smart
politician who will do what's in his country's best interests," he says.
Kyrgyzstan's rocky divide
Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic of 5.5 million at Asia's heart, is divided
by a high chain of snowcapped mountains between its relatively prosperous and
ethnically homogeneous north and its impoverished and chronically unstable south.
Under former President Askar Akayev, a Soviet-era physicist, the little country
was widely praised for its stability, liberal institution-building, and openness
to the world.
But that ended when Mr. Akayev was overthrown in 2005's "Tulip Revolution" after
being accused of rigging elections and running the economy for his own family's
enrichment. Akayev's successor, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who hailed from the south of
the country, soon faced widespread allegations of massive corruption and winning
re-election in 2009 through fraud, in polls that international observers
described as "disappointing."
Mr. Bakiyev was turned out of office last year in a street revolt that brought
Roza Otunbayeva, a feisty former diplomat, to power as interim leader. Ms.
Otunbayeva attempted to break the country's cycle of instability by rewriting
Kyrgyzstan's constitution to slash the powers of the presidency and vest more
authority in the legislature.
Parliamentary elections a year ago created the first genuine parliament-dominated
system in central Asia, but were sharply criticized by Moscow which is leery of
such precedents in the region it regards as its 'sphere of influence'.
Last year's democratic revolution was tarnished by bloody ethnic riots that
killed hundreds in Kyrgyzstan's volatile south and raised the specter of national
breakup. Many experts say that continuing unrest in the south is abetted by drug
lords, who use the region as a staging ground in the lucrative export of
narcotics from Afghanistan, via pipelines through former Soviet territory, to the
"We know that drug operations are expanding, and now there are even opium
plantations around Osh (in southern Kyrgyzstan), and this has got to be a key
concern for Russia," says Leonid Gusev, an expert with the official Moscow State
Institute of International Relations. "Joint efforts will have to be stepped up,
and that's one good reason for more cooperation."
Strategic location
Kyrgyzstan may also be a prime candidate to join the "Eurasian Union," a
post-Soviet superstate proposed by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who
seems virtually certain to return as president next March.
"Kyrgyzstan would like to join the Eurasian Union," says Mr. Gusev. "But while
the political establishment is positive about that, many local businessmen fear
being muscled out by competitors from Russia and (next door) Kazakhstan if they
do join."
If no serious unrest over the election result occurs in coming days, observers
say the election of Atambayev may have given Kyrgyzstan its best chance in almost
a decade to regain its national balance.
"It was important that the people of the Kyrgyz Republic had the opportunity to
express their choice in a peaceful and orderly manner," Nursuna Memecan, the Head
of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly delegation, said in a statement
Monday. "I hope this election will be a step towards breaking the vicious cycle
of corruption, lack of implementation of the rule of law and ethnic tensions. We
call on all political actors to continue doing their utmost for the stability of
the country by protecting the human rights of all its citizens and respecting
democratic standards."
[return to Contents]
Forward email
This email was sent to email@example.com by firstname.lastname@example.com |
Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe(TM) | Privacy Policy.
Johnson's Russia List | 6368 Circle Drive | Chincoteague | VA | 23336