Most Russian Ministries Lack Online Transparency — Study

Only four out of Russia’s 22 ministry websites are transparent, a government audit has revealed. Experts commissioned by Russia’s Audit Chamber assessed the ministries’ openness of information, data and dialogue, assigning a letter grade to each of the three categories. Only the interior, culture, finance and energy ministries received AAA ratings, according to the study…

Arrested U.S. Investor’s Cameo Casts Shadow Over Putin’s Davos

The good news for Russian President Vladimir Putin is that his premier investment event won’t be dominated this year by discussions about sanctions. The bad news is that attention will be fixed instead on the arrest of American private equity manager Michael Calvey. Calvey, who remained a Russia advocate even after sanctions caused foreign investment to shrivel…

Russia Ordered to Pay $1.8M Over Chechen Abductions

Russia must pay $1.8 million to the families of 20 people abducted from Chechnya during separatist fighting in the 2000s, Europe’s top human rights court has ruled. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has in recent years awarded damages to the relatives of individuals who disappeared during the second Chechen war of 1999-2009. Activists…

U.S. Seeks Russian Support on Iran at Key Israel Meeting

The United States believes Russia may be more amenable than in the past to addressing U.S. and Israeli concerns about Iran’s influence, including in Syria, when national security leaders meet in Jerusalem this month, a U.S. official said on Tuesday. The United States announced last week that John Bolton, White House national security adviser, would…

World Bank Cuts Russia’s 2019 Economic Forecast

The Russian economy will grow by 1.2 percent in 2019, the World Bank said in at least the third downgrade Tuesday. The Washington-based institution previously downgraded its forecast of Russia’s growth from 1.8 percent to 1.5 percent in early 2019, then again to 1.4 percent in April. Its latest revision — made in the twice-yearly…

Severstal to develop its ow digital busiesses

June 5, 2019 PAO Severstal, one of the world’s leading vertically integrated steel and mining companies, has established a new unit that will be focused on the development of digital businesses. The team will be headed by Sergey Khabarov, previously investment director at Genome Ventures, an innovative human capital development business. The new unit will…

Maximum daily deliverability of Russian UGS facilities to exceed 843 million cubic meters of gas by next winter

Release June 4, 2019, 18:20 The Gazprom Management Committee reviewed the operating results of the Company’s subsidiaries and organizations over the 2018–2019 autumn/winter period and discussed the measures to be taken for ensuring uninterrupted gas supplies to consumers in the upcoming winter. It was noted that in the past winter Gazprom, as in previous years, had provided its consumers in Russia and abroad with the required gas…

Putin Inaugurates Memorial to Jewish WWII Resistance

President Vladimir Putin has inaugurated on Tuesday a monument dedicated to Jewish heroes of resistance in Nazi concentration camps and ghettos during World War II. Putin opened construction of the monument at the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center in Moscow with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in January 2018. Members of the Jewish resistance “are…

Rosneft Joins Global Initiative on Methane Emission Reduction

Rosneft Oil Company has joined the initiative of the world’s leading oil and gas companies and signed “The Guidelines for Methane Emission Reduction in Natural Gas Supply Chain” (hereinafter referred to as the Guidelines). The Company’s Strategy related to compliance with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the UN, approved by the Board of Directors,…

Rosneft Launches Second Field of Erginsky Cluster

Rosneft has put into commission the West Erginskoye field that is a part of the Erginsky cluster. Chief Executive Officer of Rosneft Oil Company Igor Sechin ordered to launch the first oil shipment via teleconference during the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company that is taking place in St. Petersburg. The West Erginskoye…

PhosAgro Delegation Headed by Board of Directors Chairman Xavier Rolet and CEO Andrey Guryev to Take Part in SPIEF-2019

St Petersburg – A delegation from PhosAgro (“PhosAgro” or “the Company”) (Moscow Exchange, LSE: PHOR), one of the world’s leading vertically integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers, will take part in the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (“SPIEF” or “the Forum”) on 6-8 June 2019. SPIEF is a major event for the entire business community and for…

On This Day: Ufa Train Disaster

On June 4, 1989, a railway accident in the Iglinsky District (then the Bashkir A.S.S.R, Soviet Union) killed 575, injuring 800 more. Many passengers were children coming to or from summer camp or holidays by the seaside. It remains the deadliest postwar rail disaster in Russia. While the incident happened about 50 kilometers east of…

Russia Tests New Missile Defense System, Military Says

Russia has tested a new unidentified missile at a launch site where the country had previously test-launched missiles designed to protect Moscow’s airspace, the Russian military said. The Russian Defense Ministry test-launched its anti-ballistic missile at the Sary-Shagan missile testing site in Kazakhstan at least twice in 2018. Those tested missiles had been deployed to…

Gazprom’s Football for Friendship international children’s social programme breaks Guinness World Record

Release June 3, 2019, 20:40 The 7th season of the Football for Friendship (F4F) international children’s social programme organized by Gazprom concluded in Madrid. The final events of the project, which was carried out with support from FIFA, UEFA, and national football federations and associations, took place from May 28 through June 2 within the framework of the official programme of the UEFA Champions League…

Crimean Economy Named Fastest Growing in Russia

Russian-annexed Crimea has experienced the fastest economic growth in Russia in 2019 so far, the RBC news website reported on Monday. Crimea has received large cash injections from Moscow since 2014, when Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine. More than $13 billion in Russian funds will have been spent on the Crimean economy…

Russia Requires Tinder to Share User Data – Reports

The Tinder dating app is now required to share its user data with Russian authorities, according to Russia’s Roskomsvoboda internet rights group. Legislation that came into force in 2016 requires social media companies to store user data on servers located in Russia and provide this data to the authorities on demand. Russia last year issued…

Muscovites Dash Through Annual Color Run, in Photos

What’s one way to make running fun? By adding lots of color (literally) to your race. Runners flocked to Moscow’s Luzhniki Olympic Complex on Sunday for the city’s seventh annual color run. During the 5-kilometer dash, runners doused themselves and each other with brightly colored powder as they flew by. Here’s a look at the…

The Quiet Epic Journey of ‘Maybe Esther’

Katja Petrowskaja has us mesmerized from the first page of her book, “Maybe Esther.” We have no hesitation leaping on the Berlin – Warsaw train with her on a voyage of discovery across Eastern Europe, back in time, and into the very concept of memory.  Much of “Maybe Esther’s” immediate appeal is the ease with…

Photographer Captures Everyday Russia

Dmitry Markov is a Russian photographer who has been capturing images of everyday life in his home country since 2005.  He has also worked as a volunteer in an orphanage and as an assistant tutor at a charitable organization that works with people with disabilities. Today, Markov is based in Pskov, a western Russian city…

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…