Day: March 15, 2019
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Tycoon Deripaska Sues U.S. Over Sanctions
Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska sued the United States on Friday, alleging that it had overstepped its legal bounds in imposing sanctions on him and made him the “latest victim” in the U.S. probe into Moscow’s alleged election interference. In what legal experts called a long shot attempt, Deripaska asked a federal court in Washington to…
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Thousands March in Crimea to Mark Fifth Anniversary of Russia’s Annexation
Thousands of people marched in Crimea’s capital city of Simferopol on Friday in an event staged by Moscow-backed authorities to mark the fifth anniversary of Russia’s annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine. While participants waved flags and sang songs of celebration, many of them told The Moscow Times that the dramatic increase in living standards…
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Alexey Miller and Francois Fillon discuss current trends in European gas market
Release March 15, 2019, 18:50 A working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Francois Fillon, French politician, took place today in St. Petersburg. The parties touched upon the current trends in the French and European gas markets, while also highlighting the successful operation of the Nord Stream gas pipeline and the importance of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline construction for…
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Demand for Russian gas in France continues to grow
March 15, 2019, 18:45 A working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Management Committee of Gazprom, and Isabelle Kocher, CEO of ENGIE, took place in St. Petersburg today. Through their respective representants, Gazprom and ENGIE discussed current Russian gas supplies to France. By the end of 2018, Gazprom increased gas exports to the Republic on 5.4% compared with 2017 – to 12.9 billion cubic meters. At the beginning…
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Russia’s Aeroflot Will Cancel Boeing 737 Max Order If Safety Issue Not Solved
Russia’s national flag carrier Aeroflot will cancel its order of 20 Boeing 737 Max planes unless Boeing is able to guarantee the plane’s safety after Sunday’s deadly crash in Ethiopia by November, Aeroflot CEO Vitaly Savelyev said on Friday. Aeroflot has ordered 20 Boeing 737 Max planes for its low-cost subsidiary Pobeda and Boeing is…
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U.S. Asks Russia for Proof Detained Ex-Marine Is a Spy
The United States on Friday asked why Russia had not provided any evidence to back up its accusation that Paul Whelan, a detained former U.S. marine, was a spy, a day after Whelan alleged he was being mistreated by a “kangaroo court.” Whelan, who holds U.S., British, Canadian and Irish passports, was detained in a Moscow hotel…
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Russian Lawmaker Detained on $49M Bribe-Taking Charges
A Russian State Duma deputy from a small opposition party has been detained on suspicion of accepting 3.2 billion rubles ($49 million) in cooperation with a former governor. Vadim Belousov, 58, had been deprived of official immunity in December in connection with a bribery investigation into fugitive ex-Chelyabinsk region governor Mikhail Yurevich. His detention follows…
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Russia Calls for U.S. Dialogue With North Korea to Continue
Russia wants dialogue between North Korea and the United States to continue, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency cited the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying on Friday. North Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hu said earlier on Friday that North Korea was considering suspending its talks with the United States, the state-run TASS news…
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Russia Considers Tightening Alcohol Rules
Russia could raise the legal drinking age to 21 from 18 and restrict alcohol sales in residential areas this year, according to the RBC news website. The change would be part of President Vladimir Putin’s ambitious plan to overhaul Russia’s economy by the end of his last term in office. The total spend will be…
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Siberian Authorities Halt Construction of Lake Baikal Bottling Plant After Backlash
Authorities in Siberia have suspended the construction of a controversial Chinese bottling plant in the world’s largest fresh water lake following public outcry and pressure from the Kremlin. Residents in Irkutsk region criticized the Chinese-founded AquaSib company’s plans to bottle 190 million liters of water per year from Lake Baikal starting in 2021, saying the…
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EU Sanctions Eight Russians Over Azov Sea
The European Union sanctioned on Friday eight more Russians over a stand-off with Ukraine in the Azov Sea, including senior security service officials and military commanders that the bloc accuses of preventing Ukrainian ships from reaching port. Last November, the Russian navy captured 24 Ukrainian sailors and their vessels in the Kerch Strait, which links…
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Russians Conflicted Over Crimea Annexation’s Value
Despite still approving of their country’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, fewer Russians view it as beneficial on the fifth anniversary of the annexation, a state-run survey has found. Independent polls have shown a yearly uptick in the percentage of Russians who believe that their country benefited from “the return of Crimea” despite economic…
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EU Moves Closer to Adopting Sanctions With Magnitsky Name
European Union lawmakers have called on member states to adopt an EU law which would punish state and non-state actors for human rights violations using the name of Sergei Magnitsky, mirroring similar legislation in the United States. The U.S. passed the Magnitsky Act in 2012 to sanction Russian officials linked to the 2009 death of…
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Travel the World With Your Taste Buds at Depo
An old tram depot in the center of Moscow has become the city’s latest foodie haven. Depo Food Mall, which opened last month near Belorussky Station, houses more than 200 stalls, shops and restaurants serving food from all over the world. It continues Moscow’s food revolution that started when the Soviet-era Daniilovsky Market got a…
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Russian Spacecraft Arrives at International Space Station After Successful Launch
A Russian Soyuz spacecraft has arrived at the International Space Station after a successful launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Aboard the spacecraft were NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Christina Hammock Koch and cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin of the Russian space agency Roscosmos. Hague and Ovchinin were originally meant to launch to the ISS in October, but…