Standard & Poor’s raises Outlook on PhosAgro to Stable, confirms ratings at investment-grade BBB-

Moscow – PhosAgro (Moscow Exchange, LSE: PHOR), one of the world’s leading vertically integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers, announces that international credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has confirmed PhosAgro’s rating at an investment-grade BBB- and raised its Outlook on the rating to Stable from Negative. In its report S&P notes that it expects recovering…

Russian Nationalist Ex-MMA Fighter Freed After Jail Time for Brothel Raid

A former mixed-martial-arts fighter and Russian ultranationalist serving time for attacking a brothel was released from prison early on Monday. Vyacheslav Datsik, who fought under the nickname “Red-Haired Tarzan” and has a long criminal history, was sentenced in March 2018 to 3.5 years in maximum-security prison for unlawful intrusion, battery and disorderly conduct. He was…

Corruption of Top Officials Signals Government’s Overall Decay, Majority of Russians Say

A majority of Russians view corruption cases against top officials as evidence of the government’s overall decay, according to a new independent survey. Levada carried out the survey in the wake of the high-profile detention of Russian senator Rauf Arashukov on murder, organized crime and witness tampering charges. His father, the high-ranking gas official Raul…

A Soviet Oscar Winner Restored

There wasn’t a Russian film up for the Oscar this year, but a newly restored 1969 Oscar winner is an apt reminder of Soviet cinema’s impact on the sweeping Hollywood epic.  “War and Peace,” director Sergei Bondarchuk’s adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s classic, expanded the scope, scale and aesthetic ambition of what could play on the…