Day: August 28, 2019
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Russian Opposition Figure Yashin Detained for ‘Record’ 5th Time in a Row
Prominent Russian opposition figure and rejected Moscow city election candidate Ilya Yashin has been detained for a record fifth time Wednesday after serving four consecutive jail terms. Yashin, 36, is among a slew of opposition candidates who were barred from running for Moscow’s legislature on Sept. 8 and handed short jail terms on protest-related charges.…
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Russia’s Richest Families a Mix of Old Faces and Newcomers – Forbes
Three families have entered Forbes Russia’s 2019 list of the country’s 10 wealthiest dynasties, which is dominated by the Gutseriyev family and the Rotenberg brothers. The business magazine estimates that Russia’s 10 richest families held a combined $25 billion this year, slightly up from $24.98 billion in 2018. Gutseriyev, along with his son Said, brother…
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‘The Long Shadow of Chernobyl’
A little boy in a bright yellow jacket stares at a picture of an abandoned kindergarten in Pripyat, Ukraine, a series of rusted cribs covered by dust and chunks of plaster filling a room that has been left untouched since a few days after the nuclear plant explosion in 1986. “Why have they left all…
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PhosAgro 2Q 2019 FCF up 22% to RUB 10.2 bln
Moscow – PhosAgro (“PhosAgro” or “the Company”) (Moscow Exchange, LSE: PHOR), one of the world’s leading vertically integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers, today announces its interim condensed consolidated IFRS financial results for the three months (2Q) and six months (1H) ended 30 June 2019. Revenue for 2Q 2019 rose by 3% year-on-year to RUB 58.1 billion…
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Russia Plans Mass Relocation of Ministries to Moscow’s Skyscraper Citadel, Reports Say
Over a dozen Russian cabinet offices will relocate to a cluster of skyscrapers in the sprawling financial district of western Moscow, the Kommersant business daily has reported. More than two decades in the making, Moscow’s business hub has struggled to fill its office space following the 2008 global financial crisis and Western sanctions on Russia.…
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Moscow Mayor Raises Pensions on Eve of Contentious City Election
Moscow’s mayor has raised the city’s monthly retirement payout less than two weeks before a local election that has triggered the largest sustained protest movement in Russia in recent years. The protests broke out this summer after election authorities barred a slew of opposition candidates from running for the Moscow City Duma on Sept. 8.…
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Kremlin Says Russian State Had Nothing to Do With Chechen’s Murder in Germany
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that the murder of an ethnic Chechen exile in Berlin last week had nothing to do with the Russian state or its official agencies. German prosecutors are considering whether there was a political motive behind the killing on Friday of 40-year-old Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, allegedly by a Russian citizen who shot…
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Russia Discovers 5 Arctic Islands as Glaciers Melt
The Russian military has officially confirmed the discovery of five new Arctic islands which have emerged as climate change accelerates glacial melting. The new islands were discovered by a student onboard a Russian Navy research vessel that conducted a voyage through Arctic waters in late 2016. Russia has been increasing its military and commercial presence…
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Ukraine Frees Jailed Russian Journalist Vyshinsky on Bail
A court in Ukraine ordered jailed Russian journalist Kirill Vyshinsky to be freed on bail and released from custody, as Moscow and Kiev hold behind-the-scenes talks on a possible prisoner swap. Vyshinsky, the head of Russia‘s state-backed RIA Novosti news agency in Ukraine, was arrested last year and accused of supporting pro-Russian separatists. Vyshinsky faces up to…
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Russia and Turkey Discuss Supply of Russian Warplanes
Russia and Turkey are discussing the possibility of deliveries of the Russian-made Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fighter jet and Su-35 aircraft to Turkey, the state-run RIA news agency cited a Russian official as saying on Wednesday. Russia began delivering S-400 missile systems to Turkey this year, in a step that strained ties with Ankara’s NATO allies…
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Russia Denies Visas to 2 U.S. Senators Amid G7 Tensions
Republican and Democratic U.S. senators said Russia refused to grant them visas for a visit to Moscow next week, amid disagreement within Washington and among U.S. allies over whether the country should be readmitted to the Group of Seven. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said on Tuesday that Russia denied him a visa. Senator Ron Johnson,…
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Russia Returns Over 4,000 Rare Tortoises to The Wild
More than 4,000 Red List tortoises, which were smuggled into Russia in a cabbage truck, were safely returned to their Arys region of Kazakhstan, the Russian Interior Ministry said on Tuesday. The tortoises were hidden amongst cabbage in 24 bags on the back of a truck which was stopped at the Russia-Kazakhstan border on June…
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5% of the Russian Economy Is Classified Spending, Reports Say
Russia spends almost $73 billion per year on secret weapons and intellectual property, expenditures that total over 5% of the economy, according to official data analyzed by the RBC news website. Russia’s gross domestic product (GDP) totaled $1.5 trillion in 2017. A Swedish think tank reported this year that Russia officially spent $66.3 billion on defense…