Almost half of the alcohol products sold in Russia last year were on the market illegally, the state Federal Alcohol Market Regulation Service (Rosalkogolregulirovanie) said this week. Sales of alcoholic beverages in Russia rose by 4.6 percent in 2018, according to Nielsen estimates, while official statistics show a 1.5-percent decline in vodka sales to 786…
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After Western sanctions gutted Russia’s financial system five years ago, a new bank card began appearing in the wallets of many Russians. Now the country is hoping to introduce its cards, known as Mir cards, to foreign markets where Russian nationals live and travel, Vladimir Komlev, the head of Russia’s National Card Payment System (NSPK),…
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Special Counsel Robert Mueller may not have found evidence of a criminal conspiracy between Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia, but his report details extensive contacts between the campaign and Russian operatives who sought to influence the U.S. election. Many of the contacts in the report were already known. They included former national security adviser…
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In stuffy room with painted black walls, a group of students clap vigorously as if applauding a performance. Then they seem to be a shower, rubbing their faces and necks, before throwing their arms forward with loud shouts of “Ha!” From the front of the room, an older man observes them intently. For an outsider…
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Ukraine’s new president could regain control over the separatist-controlled east of his country within months and get cheap gas and major investment from Russia if he repairs ties with Moscow, the Kremlin’s closest ally in Ukraine said. Viktor Medvedchuk, a prominent figure in Ukraine’s Russia-leaning opposition, outlined the prospect in an interview before a presidential election runoff in…
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President Nicolas Maduro is funneling cash flow from Venezuelan oil sales through Russian state energy giant Rosneft as he seeks to evade U.S. sanctions designed to oust him from power, according to sources and documents reviewed by Reuters. The sales are the latest sign of the growing dependence of Venezuela’s cash-strapped government on Russia as the…
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The United States and Russia both said on Thursday they could not support a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Libya at this time, diplomats said, as mortar bombs crashed down on a suburb of the Libyan capital, Tripoli. Russia objects to the British-drafted resolution blaming eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar for the latest…
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Справка Royal Dutch Shell is a British-Dutch oil and gas holding company focused on hydrocarbon production, processing and marketing in more than 70 countries. Gazprom and Shell are jointly engaged in the Sakhalin II project, which includes Russia’s first LNG plant. The project operator of Sakhalin II is Sakhalin Energy (Gazprom – 50 per cent plus one share, Shell – 27.5 per cent minus one share, Mitsui – 12.5 per cent,…
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U.S. Attorney General William Barr on Thursday offered some details of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russia‘s role in the 2016 U.S. election before making it public, emphasizing that it found no collusion between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Moscow. Barr, a Trump appointee, gave a news conference ahead of the planned release of the…
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When you’re serious about your city’s statues, it isn’t just your home that needs spring cleaning. Muscovites headed outside to give the capital’s famous monuments a solid scrubbing and clean off the winter dirt.
Here’s a look at Moscow’s statues getting spruced up for the new season:
A marijuana business has helped Roman Abramovich’s associate Andrei Bloch return to Forbes magazine’s list of richest Russians. Bloch briefly served as president of oil producer Sibneft from 1998 until Abramovich sold it to Russia’s state energy firm Gazprom in 2005. Bloch and another partner bought Abramovich’s Unimilk dairy business in 2004 — which merged…
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will travel to Russia in the second half of this month and meet President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said on Thursday. The announcement coincided with a moment of discord in efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to reach a deal with Kim to end nuclear tensions on the Korean peninsula.…
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Russia’s internet sector has contributed 3.9 trillion rubles ($60.8 billion) to the overall economy last year, an 11 percent increase from 2017, according to the Russian Association of Electronic Communications. The study correlates with Kremlin estimates that Russian internet companies account for about 4 percent of gross domestic product. E-commerce accounts for half of Russia’s…
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A sharp decline in chestnut trees caused by a parasitic fungus in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region is threatening the area’s honey production, according to local beekeepers and scientists. Asya Minasyan and her husband say they used to produce 500 kilograms of honey per year, but that the situation now is changing rapidly. “The bee is…
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Oleg Deripaska’s van maker GAZ is asking the government for almost 30 billion rubles ($468 million) in support because it claims U.S. sanctions could slash production by almost 40 percent in the second half of the year, the Kommersant business daily reported on Thursday. Kommersant cited a March 29 letter from GAZ Deputy General Director…
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Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree banning Russian exports of coal, crude oil and oil products to Ukraine, he told government officials in televised comments on Thursday. Starting June 1, the export of products listed in the decree will require a special permit, Interfax reported. The decree will also ban the import into Russia of…
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Fiona Hill, an adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, visited Moscow this week and discussed bilateral relations with Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday. Ties between Washington and Moscow are at post-Cold War lows and later on Thursday a long-awaited report on Russia’s role in the 2016 U.S. election…
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Russia has been rated 149th out of 180 countries for press freedom, according to an annual index published by international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Russia and Turkey (ranked 157th) continue to be the biggest players in the suppression of free speech in the region, RSF researchers said. A recently passed law that punishes “fake…
DetailsOn April 16, the 11th ATOMEXPO International Forum 2019, a global industry discussion event organized by Rosatom State Corporation, finished its work in the Main Media Center of Sochi. This year, the number of cooperation agreements, memoranda and contracts signed in the margins of the forum has increased. More than 40 signing ceremonies were held…
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A young male polar bear has washed up on an ice floe in Russia’s Far East 700 kilometers south of its natural habitat, triggering efforts to rescue the endangered animal. Polar bears’ dangerous encounters with humans are becoming more frequent as climate change melts the sea ice where the creatures roam. A polar bear invasion…
Details16th April 2019, Sochi – ROSATOM and Cuba’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, have signed a memorandum of cooperation education and training in the field of nuclear energy on the sidelines of the 11th ATOMEXPO International Forum. The memorandum was signed by the Deputy Director General For International Relations of ROSATOM, Nikolay Spassky, and…
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The almost decade-long hiatus in high-level meetings between Baltic presidents and Russia’s Vladimir Putin is set to end this week. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — home to sizable Russian-speaking minorities — have had an uneasy relationship with the Kremlin since communism collapsed. Putin’s annexation of Crimea from nearby Ukraine in 2014 and the ensuing military…
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Almost two decades ago, in a remote Russian city best known for its butter and linen, two brothers shared a bedroom and a Pentium 100-powered computer they used to code their first game. Wall Street wants a piece of what they’ve built since. Playrix has met with some of the biggest banks “and visited their…
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Russia’s environmental ministry has proposed more than 100 oil and gas extraction, infrastructure and tourism projects in the Arctic valued at 10.5 trillion rubles ($164.2 billion), the RBC news website reported Thursday. President Vladimir Putin has promised tax incentives and other benefits to encourage companies to develop the Arctic region and the Northern Sea shipping…
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Russia considers new U.S. sanctions against Venezuela and Cuba to be illegal and it plans to do everything to support its allies in Caracas and Havana, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency cited Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Thursday. U.S. national security adviser John Bolton announced a series of new sanctions against…
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Russian police detained 11 LGBT activists on Wednesday at a Silence Day protest in the city of St. Petersburg. The yearly event meant to raise people’s awareness of LGBT problems in the country gathered around 50 people who sealed their mouths with red tape and marched through the city’s streets. Russia passed a law in…
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April 18, 2019 The Board of Directors of Severstal (“Severstal”, “the Company”) (LSE: SVST; MICEX-RTS: CHMF), one of the world’s leading vertically integrated steel and steel-related mining companies, is recommending a dividend of 35.43 roubles per share for the three months ended 31 March 2019. Approval of the dividend is expected at the Company’s EGM…
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Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) is reportedly investigating allegations that presidential front-runner Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s campaign could be financed by Kremlin-linked figures. Polls have forecast a heavy defeat for President Petro Poroshenko in the second round of Ukraine’s presidential elections on Sunday. Zelenskiy, a comedian and actor with no political experience, won twice as many votes as…
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Russians expressed their support for France in the wake of Monday’s devastating fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris with both condolences and monetary donations. Yet even as the Culture Ministry announced plans to call on the Russian public to raise funds to help restore the 12th-century cathedral, Russian critics have pointed to several historic…
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Russian scientists are proposing pulling space debris out of Earth’s orbit using a device that has been called a “space lasso.” Around 7,200 metric tons of space debris capable of damaging satellites or spacecraft currently orbit the Earth, scientists estimate. Several proposals on how to deal with the growing issue have been collected ahead of…
DetailsThe Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the State Research Center of the Russian Federation JSC “RPA “CNIITMASH” (belongs with JSC Atomenergomash, a machine-building division of ROSATOM) and Bureau Veritas Exploitation S.A.S (France) at the venue of Atomexpo Forum on the 15th of April. The document was signed by Victor Orlov, General Director of CNIITMASH…
DetailsPJSC ZiO-Podolsk (subsidiary of Atomenergomash, Manufacturing Division of ROSATOM) and Hitachi Zosen Inova AG (Switzerland) signed the Consortium agreement for cooperation in the area of waste-to-energy recycling plants construction. The agreement was signed at the XI International Forum Atomexpo in city of Sochi. The parties agreed to set up a consortium with the purpose to…
DetailsOn April 16, 2019, during the XI International ATOMEXPO-2019 Forum held in Sochi, a Memorandum of Cooperation has been signed between the Fund for municipal corporations advancement ‘The Association of the nuclear power plants locations’ (ATR AES, Russia) and the Control, Information and Regional Development Organization (TEIT, Hungary). On behalf of the ATR AES, the…
DetailsThe Rosenergoatom Joint-Stock Company (a part of the Electric Power Division of ROSATOM) is ready to support the novice countries on any aspects related to safe and reliable NPP operation jointly with the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO). This statement was made by Oleg Chernikov, the First Deputy Director of NPP production and operation…
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With his work, Russian photographer Konstantin Vikhrov (@begushiy_po_ebenyam) attempts what he calls an “aesthetic-semantic” game, contrasting neon colors against dark shadows. The results are gloomy cyberpunk scenes reminiscent of film classic Blade Runner, capturing the bright but bleak sides of the capital.
Here are a few of our favorites:
Ukraine’s security service SBU said on Wednesday it had captured a Russian military intelligence hit squad responsible for the attempted murder of a Ukrainian military spy in the run-up to a presidential election on Sunday. The issue of how to deal with Russia, which annexed Crimea in 2014 and backs pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine,…
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Russia has completed the delivery of Su-35 combat aircraft to China in defiance of U.S. sanctions, Russia’s military and technical cooperation agency told state media Tuesday. Russia and China signed a $2.5 billion deal on the delivery of 24 Sukhoi Su-35s in 2015, making it the first foreign buyer of the fourth-generation multirole air superiority…
DetailsThe Cooperation Agreement was signed between the State Research Center of the Russian Federation JSC “RPA “CNIITMASH” (belongs with JSC Atomenergomash, a machine-building division of ROSATOM), JSC Atomenergomash and TAPROGGE GmbH (Germany) at the venue of Atomexpo Forum on the 15th of April. The document was signed by Victor Orlov, General Director of CNIIT-MASH, Alexander…
DetailsOn April 15, 2019, Memorandum on Strategic Cooperation and Joint Activities between JSC Atomenergomash, JSC SNIIP and Elkon Elektrik (Turkey) was signed at the XI International Forum ATOMEXPO-2019. According to the document, the parties plan to develop cooperation to implement joint projects for the localization of the production of certain types of marine electric and…
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At first glance Ivan Mertsalov seems like an average teenager. He plays music, watches sports and is not yet sure what he wants to do with his future. Yesterday he wanted to be an actor, today a lawyer, tomorrow it’ll probably be something else. But unlike most teenagers, Mertsalov, 15, can take apart and reassemble…
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Researchers who found the body of a 42,000-year-old foal frozen in the Siberian permafrost have retrieved liquid blood from the extinct animal that might help bring its species back to life, media outlets reported on Tuesday. According to The Siberian Times, a group of scientists from Russia and South Korea wants to clone an extinct…
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Russia’s republics of Dagestan and Chechnya have suspended negotiations over border delineations following months of public anger over Chechnya’s land swap deal with neighboring Ingushetia. Protests reignited in the North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia last month to demand the resignation of its governor, who signed the land swap agreement with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov in…
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Oleg Deripaska’s lawyers plan to set up a $600,000 award for journalists to “dig into” why the United States imposed sanctions on the Russian tycoon, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. Washington lifted sanctions on Deripaska’s main assets — aluminum maker Rusal and its parent En+ — in January after he dropped control of them,…
DetailsOn April 16, 2019 in Sochi (Russia) Russia and the Republic of Congo signed the roadmap to foster establishing cooperation in the field of peaceful uses of atomic energy. The document was signed within the framework of the XI International Forum ATOMEXPO 2019. Rosatom Deputy Director General – Director of International Affairs Department Nikolay Spassky…
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Russian theater director Kirill Serebrennikov received two prestigious theater awards at a ceremony in Moscow on Tuesday, less than two weeks after his release from house arrest. The Gogol Center’s artistic director was released on bail on April 8 after spending a year and a half under house arrest on criminal fraud charges that his…
DetailsOn April 16, within the framework of the XIth International Forum “ATOMEXPO-2019” in Sochi, the agreement of intent was signed between the Rosatom Technical Academy and the Agency for the Development of Nuclear Energy under the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Uzbekistan (“Uzatom” Agency). The agreement was signed by the Rector of the…
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Russian President Vladimir Putin favors a plan to build a high-speed railway line from Moscow to his home city of St. Petersburg rather than Nizhny Novgorod, the Vedomosti business daily reported on Tuesday. Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin pushed for the high-speed railway to St. Petersburg to be built at the end of last year, according…
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This year is the Year of Theater in Russia, and to celebrate, the Theater Gallery on Malaya Ordynka is running an exhibition of works by the delightfully zany artist Vladimir Lyubarov entitled “The Year of Theater in the Village of Peremilovo.” In 1991, Lyubarov left his hometown of Moscow in favor of a simple life…
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Most Russians view WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange as a freedom fighter, according to a state-funded poll published a week after the Australian’s arrest in Britain. WikiLeaks published hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables that laid bare often critical U.S. appraisals of world leaders, from Russian President Vladimir Putin to members of the Saudi…
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Most Russians view WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange as a freedom fighter, according to a state-funded poll published a week after the Australian’s arrest in Britain. WikiLeaks published hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables that laid bare often critical U.S. appraisals of world leaders, from Russian President Vladimir Putin to members of the Saudi…
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Release April 16, 2019, 16:25 The 18th meeting of the International Supervisory Board (ISB) of Energy Delta Institute (EDI) and EDI’s annual International Partner Meeting under the theme “The Role of Natural Gas in the Energy Transition” were held in St. Petersburg. Taking part in the ISB meeting were Sergey Khomyakov, Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, Han Fennema, CEO and Chairman…
DetailsOn 16th of April at AtomExpo 2019 International Forum the State Research Center JSC RPA CNIITMASH and the Petrojet Company, Egypt, have signed Memorandum of Understanding about development of cooperation for execution of nuclear projects in the Middle East and North Africa regions. The Memorandum was signed by the General Director of CNIITMASH Dr. Orlov…
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Moscow recognizes the new authorities in Sudan after President Omar al-Bashir was ousted, Russia‘s state-run RIA Novosti news agency cited Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov as saying on Tuesday. The Sudanese group that led protests against the deposed president called on Monday for the transitional military council that has taken power to be disbanded and for…
DetailsOn 16th of April Rosatom Engineering Division – JSC Atomenergomash concluded a memorandum of understanding with the Petroleum Projects and Technical Consultations Company (PETROJET), one of the leading EPC companies in the Middle East and Africa. The document was signed during the XI Atomexpo International Forum. “The signing of the memorandum is an important step…
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The Second Russian-Chinese Energy Business Forum will take place on June 6-7, as part of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. The Russian Federation Presidential Commission for Strategic Development of the Fuel and Energy Sector and Environmental Security together with the State Energy Directorate of China act as the coordinators of the Forum. The Forum…
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A Russian court has granted student Varvara Karaulova early release after she served most of her sentence for attempting to join the Islamic State terrorist group. Karaulova, who had legally changed her name to Alexandra Ivanova, was found guilty and sentenced to four and a half years behind bars in December 2016. Her defense team…
DetailsOn April 15, 2019 the team placed the first cubic meter of concrete at the construction site for the replacing Kursk NPP-2 (an affiliate of the Rosenergoatom Joint-Stock Company, a part of the Electric Power Division of ROSATOM), which marked the start of concreting the 2nd power block’s reactor building foundation. This means that the…
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A court in St. Petersburg has sentenced two police officers to four years behind bars for torturing suspects, the Zona Prava (Zone of Law) human rights group said Monday. Russia’s penitentiary system was rocked by a scandal last year after bodycam footage showed guards violently beating prisoners in a notorious prison outside Moscow. The leaks…
DetailsOn April 16, 2019, at the 11th ATOMEXPO International Forum 2019, TVEL Fuel Company of Rosatom and IDOM Consulting, Engineering, Architecture S.A.U., Spain, signed a Memorandum of Understanding. The document was signed by Konstantin Tulupov, Vice President for Business Development of TVEL JSC, and Javier Ruiz Morin, Nuclear Services Director of IDOM. The parties intend…
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Twitter and Facebook have nine months to comply with data law by moving Russian user data onto servers in Russia, Interfax cited communications watchdog head Alexander Zharov as saying on Tuesday.
Zharov was also quoted as saying he hoped Russia would not end up blocking Twitter and Facebook.