New Ukraine President Hopes EU Sanctions on Russia Remain

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday he hopes that European Union sanctions on Russia will remain in place until Ukrainian territories are returned, according to a statement released on the presidential website. The West imposed sanctions on Russia following Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and support for separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine. “Thank…

‘A Corner of Heaven’ in Moscow: Krutitskoe Podvorye

This medieval church residence is a window into the distant past and an island of peace in a bustling metropolis. May 31, 2019 – 15:03 According to legend, Krutitskoe Podvorye was founded in 1261, when the Muscovy lands were under the rule of the Golden Horde. Initially, the residence was a monastery. It then became…

Kosovo Declares Russian UN Staffer Persona Non Grata

The Kosovo government said on Friday that a Russian national working for the UN mission would not be allowed back into the country after his expulsion. It said the UN staffer, Mikhail Krasnoshchenkov, had been declared persona non grata. The UN mission, UNMIK, said on Thursday the Russian had sustained injuries when he was arrested during a…

Notice on holding the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders of PJSC PhosAgro

PJSC PhosAgro (Moscow Exchange, LSE: PHOR) (“PhosAgro”, the “Company”), one of the world’s leading vertically integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers, hereby informs / notifies its shareholders that the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders is to be held on 24 June 2019, Form of the Extraordinary General Meeting: absentee voting. One can inform himself about the data…

Trust in Putin Doubles After Kremlin Criticizes Poll

Public trust in President Vladimir Putin has more than doubled hours after the Kremlin asked sociologists to explain why his trust and approval ratings differ. A state-funded survey published May 24 said that trust in Putin slipped to a 13-year low of 31.7 percent. The Kremlin on Thursday asked the VTsIOM pollster to explain how…

Russia Launches Its Most Powerful Telecom Satellite

Russia has launched a powerful European-made communications satellite for the state energy giant Gazprom from Kazakhstan. Gazprom’s space subsidiary, Gazprom Space Systems, runs Yamal satellites to broadcast to customers in Russia, western and central Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. France’s Thales Alenia Space company manufactures the satellites for Gazprom. The Yamal-601 satellite launched…

IAEA Safety Mission Sees Strengthened Operational Safety at Russia’s Leningrad NPP, Encourages Continued Improvement

An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team of experts said the operator of Russia’s Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant has strengthened operational safety in response to the findings of an IAEA review in 2017. The team also encouraged the operator to pursue continuous improvement. The Operational Safety Review Team (OSART) concluded a five-day follow-up mission on…

IAEA Safety Mission Sees Strengthened Operational Safety at Russia’s Leningrad NPP, Encourages Continued Improvement

An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team of experts said the operator of Russia’s Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant has strengthened operational safety in response to the findings of an IAEA review in 2017. The team also encouraged the operator to pursue continuous improvement. The Operational Safety Review Team (OSART) concluded a five-day follow-up mission on…

Moscow Cries Foul as U.S. Bans Use of Russian Rockets

The U.S. Department of Defense will ban space launch and satellite cooperation with Russia in 2023, the Pentagon said, drawing ire from Russia’s space agency. The U.S. has been trying to cut reliance on Russian-made rocket engines, eyeing 2022 as the latest deadline, amid strained relations. Last year, Russia’s top defense and space industry official…

Russian Version of Elton John Biopic Censors Gay Sex Scenes

Russia has deleted gay sex and drug scenes from the Russian-language version of a newly released Elton John biopic, the Dozhd TV news channel reported Friday. “Rocketman” premiers throughout Russia on June 6, but viewers in Moscow were treated to a prescreening on Thursday. A racy 40-second scene featuring two nude actors playing John and…

Musical Moscow: A Summer of Festivals

In 2013, Moscow suddenly became a major festival hub. Every year there seem to be more festivals in more places — from rooftops to riverboats — with foreign and local musicians performing music of all kinds, from mellow jazz to good ole rock ‘n roll. If you live in Moscow, this might be a good…

PhosAgro Receives Shareholding Notices from Igor Antoshin and Vladimir Litvinenko

Moscow – PhosAgro (Moscow Exchange, LSE: PHOR), one of the world’s leading vertically integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers, has been informed by its shareholders Igor Antoshin and Vladimir Litvinenko about a 1.64% change in their stakes in the Company’s authorised capital. According to the information provided by the shareholders the share ownership of Mr. Antoshin reduced to 4.51%,…

Yandex.Taxi Eyes On-Demand Helicopter Service – Reports

The Yandex.Taxi ride-hailing service is in talks to add helicopters to its fleet of vehicles in Moscow, Russia’s Kommersant business daily reported Thursday. Several companies offer air taxi services in the Russian capital, one of which offers hour-long helicopter rides for the ruble equivalent of $708. Yandex.Taxi is in four-way discussions with Moscow City Hall,…

FSB Makes Arrests at Norwegian Border

Russian border guards have detained two individuals who allegedly tried to make it illegally across the border to Norway. The two people, both of them citizens of Iraq, were detained as they were making an attempt to cross into the neighboring country. Neither of the detainees had needed travel documents and both were caught in…

Russia Rebuffs Japan’s Military Expansion Warning

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that Russia was only operating on its own territory after Japan accused Moscow of a military buildup on a chain of islands in the Pacific, the state-run RIA news agency reported. Russia has held the islands — known as the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils…

Drinking Up in Russia, Survey Says

More Russians drank alcohol so far this year than they did in 2018, a survey by the state-funded VTsIOM agency has said. Sixty-seven percent of respondents said they had consumed alcohol between several times a week and less than once a month in 2019, the pollster said Thursday. Last year’s results said 57 percent of…

Russians Stand Side by Side at LGBT Festival

Last week, the annual Side by Side (Bok o Bok in Russian) LGBT International Film Festival was held in Moscow. Amid screenings of films, gatherings within the community and providing a safe space for the LGBT community, the presence of anti-LGBT protestors and bomb threats tainted an otherwise peaceful event in the capital. “The first festival…

Russians Stand Side by Side at LGBT Film Festival

Last week, the annual Side by Side (Bok o Bok in Russian) LGBT International Film Festival was held in Moscow. Amid screenings of films, gatherings within the community and providing a safe space for the LGBT community, the presence of anti-LGBT protestors and bomb threats tainted an otherwise peaceful event in the capital. “The first festival…

Happy Birthday, St. Petersburg

Despite an unrelenting downpour and cool temperatures, St. Petersburg marked its 316th birthday last weekend with plenty of pomp and splendor, as befitting the Venice of the North. Celebrations kicked off on Saturday with an ice cream festival and retro transport parade consisting of more than 200 buses, trams and trucks from private collections, museums…

Moscow Blames EU and NATO for Latest Balkan Tensions

Rising tensions between the Balkan countries of Serbia and Kosovo are the result of the European Union and NATO “appeasing” Kosovo, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday. The Russian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday accused Kosovo of provocation after its police detained more than two dozen people, including one Russian national, during an armed raid…

U.S. Believes Russia Is Conducting Low-Level Nuclear Tests, Official Says

The United States believes Russia may be conducting low-level nuclear testing in violation of a moratorium on such tests, the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency said on Wednesday. “The United States believes that Russia probably is not adhering to its nuclear testing moratorium in a manner consistent with the ‘zero-yield’ standard,” Lieutenant General Robert P. Ashley said at…

Economists Forecast 6th Year of Falling Incomes for Russians

Russians’ incomes will fall for a sixth consecutive year in 2019, experts from Moscow’s Higher School of Economics (HSE) and Russia’s Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) said. Russia’s Economic Development Ministry has projected real incomes to reverse the five-year slump and grow by 1 percent in 2019, based on a methodology…

Former UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova Elected Chair of PhosAgro’s Sustainable Development Committee

Moscow – The Board of Directors of PhosAgro PJSC (“the Company”; Moscow Exchange, LSE ticker: PHOR) approved the leadership and composition of its committees at a meeting held on 24 May.  The Strategy Committee and Risk Management Committee will be chaired by Independent Director Sven Ombudstvedt. Independent Director Marcus Rhodes was once again elected Chairman…

Moscow Summons Spanish Envoy Over ‘Old Enemy’ Comment

Russia summoned Spain’s ambassador to Moscow on Tuesday after acting Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell referred to the country as an “old enemy,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday. Borrell told Spanish newspaper El Periodico last week: “Russia, our old enemy, is once again saying, ‘here I am,’ and has returned as a threat,…

Global Automakers Accuse Russian Courts of Graft

Major automakers are accusing courts in southern Russia of using consumer protection claims to scam them out of 200 million rubles ($3 million) in 2016-2018, the RBC news website reported Tuesday. Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes and Jaguar Land Rover filed a complaint with Russian authorities alleging that Krasnodar judges abuse the consumer protection system to seek…

Severstal uveils ew cliet-cetric corporate structure

May 29, 2019 PAO Severstal announces that the Company’s organizational structure has been reconfigured to support its updated strategy and ensure it consistently delivers an excellent customer experience. Based on agile business principles, all of the Company’s production and “selling” divisions now fall under two streams – upstream and downstream, for which common business goals…

Gazprom in Eastern Russia, Entry into Asia-Pacific Markets Press Conference held

Listen to audio For Gazprom’s Press Conferences audio broadcast please dial: +7 495 719-35-77 (Russian) +7 495 719-30-00 (English) Materials May 28, 2019, 02:30 pm (Moscow time) [embedded content] Participants: Vitaly Markelov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Committee, Gazprom; Elena Burmistrova, Deputy Chairman of the Management Committee, Gazprom; Director General, Gazprom Export; Sergey Menshikov, Member of the Management Committee, Head of Department, Gazprom; Vyacheslav Mikhalenko, Member…

BDSM-Style Graduation Video Divides Russians

A controversial high school celebration in which students dressed in revealing outfits has divided Russian society over questions of morality and freedom of expression. Police issued fines and a headmistress submitted her resignation in the Far East city of Vladivostok after video of the would-be graduates celebrating the last days of school in leather shorts,…

Kosovo Releases Russian UN Worker After Moscow Demand

Kosovo released a Russian national working for the United Nations on Tuesday, the United Nations mission in Kosovo said, after Moscow demanded that Pristina release him. The Russian was detained in a Serb-populated municipality in Kosovo’s north during a police operation there. The UN mission said the Russian and another UN staff member who was…

Kokoshnik: Not Just For Fairy Tales

Pick up a book of Russian fairy tales, and you’ll notice something very distinctive in the costume of the female characters.  Spend Christmas in Russia, and you’ll see the same distinctive circlet on the head of every incarnation of Snegurochka – the Snow Maiden. We refer, of course, to that most iconic Russian headdress: the…

Sibneftegaz Celebrates 25th Anniversary

Sibneftegaz JSC celebrates the 25th anniversary of its operation. This is one of the key gas-producing subsidiaries of Rosneft Oil Company with the accumulated output exceeding 118 billion cubic metres. At the moment, the entity produces approximately 12 bcm annually. In order to expand its production, Sibneftegaz carries out the construction of major production facilities:…

Deputy Director General of ROSATOM Nikolai Spasskiy held a meeting with Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of Azerbaijan Ramin Guluzade

On the 23rd of May 2019 in Moscow Deputy Director General for International Relations of ROSATOM Nikolai Spasskiy held a meeting with Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ramin Guluzade. President of Rusatom – International Network A.A. Merten, President of JSC Rusatom Overseas E.M. Pakermanov and Chairman of CJSC…

Russia Demands Kosovo Release Detained Russian UN Worker

Russia‘s embassy in Serbia on Tuesday demanded that Kosovo immediately release a detained Russian national working at a United Nations mission in Kosovo, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported. The Russian national was detained in a Serb-populated municipality in Kosovo’s north during a police operation there, RIA said. “We demand the immediate release of the Russian and…

Bike Riding in Moscow: Not For the Faint-Hearted

This year, the annual bike parade advocating for better conditions for bike riders in Moscow was not allowed by the authorities. Instead, the city government organized a festival that was more of a party than a demonstration for bike rights. We took a ride with Valery Larionov, a bike activist, to see how safe and…

On This Day: Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Alexander Solzhenitsyn was born in the southern Russian city of Kislovodsk in 1918. He studied both mathematics and philosophy, literature and history before serving in the Great Patriotic War (the Soviet part of World War II) as an officer, later decorated for personal heroism. But despite his record, his criticism of Josef Stalin’s conduct of…

Russia Builds 3 New Churches a Day, Orthodox Leader Says

Russian Orthodox Church leader Patriarch Kirill has claimed that Russia constructs three new churches per day less than two weeks after mass protests erupted over the construction of a new cathedral in Yekaterinburg. The Orthodox Church’s influence has grown in recent years as it has received increased support from the Kremlin. Last year, Patriarch Kirill announced…