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Greenpeace will receive 2.7 million euros ($3 million) from Russia under a settlement reached between the Dutch state and Moscow, the environmental group said on Friday. The agreement should end years of legal battles following the seizure by Russian authorities of a Dutch-flagged Greenpeace vessel, the Arctic Sunrise, in 2013 and the arrest of 30…

Yekaterinburg Protesters Will Hold Out for Proof Church Project Is Canceled

MoscowBy admin May 17, 2019 Leave a comment

YEKATERINBURG — Thousands of residents of Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains who have been protesting the construction of a new church in the city’s central park have vowed to keep up their vigil until they hear an official announcement the project has been canceled. The Mayor of Yekaterinburg, Alexander Vysokinsky and local governor Yevgeny Kuivashev…

How to Spend A Night in a St. Petersburg Museum

On May 18, International Museum Day, most museums, art galleries, and churches in St. Petersburg will be open to the public from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. and can be visited with a single ticket. Tickets — at the very reasonable price of 400 rubles — can be purchased all street theater kiosks. Events are…

Russia’s Crimean Annexation Cost Ukrainian Ports $400M – FT

Ukrainian ports have lost $400 million in potential revenue from Russia’s seizure of Crimea and its chokehold on a key shipping passage with a bridge that connects the peninsula to mainland Russia, The Financial Times reported. President Vladimir Putin inaugurated the $4 billion bridge on May 15, 2018, with a ceremonial truck ride across its…

Ministers Agree Way For Russia to Rejoin Europe’s Human Rights Body

MoscowBy admin May 17, 2019 Leave a comment

Foreign ministers from the Council of Europe, the continent’s chief human rights watchdog, reached an agreement on Friday that opens the way for Russia to return to the organization, resolving a dispute that began after Moscow’s seizure of Crimea. The agreement follows efforts by France and Germany to find a compromise among the 47-nation group…

Russia Makes It to Eurovision Song Contest Final

It’s Eurovision Song Contest time again, and Russia’s Sergei Lazarev has made it to Saturday’s final with a horror-themed ballad. The annual celebration of kitsch — which is more famous for its over-the-top staging and shameless political voting than the quality of the music — takes place in Israel this year, and the guest…

Kremlin Pledges a Response to New U.S. Sanctions on Russian Individuals

The Kremlin said on Friday it would respond in kind to a new round of U.S. sanctions on Russian nationals, saying its retaliation would be consistent with Russia’s national interest. The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on a Chechen group and five people, including at least three Russians, over allegations of human rights abuses,…

Russian TV Cancels ‘The Voice Kids’ Results After Mass Vote Rigging

BusinessBy admin May 17, 2019 Leave a comment

Russia’s state-run television has canceled the results of a popular children’s singing competition after cyber experts uncovered online vote-rigging that favored the 11-year-old daughter of a celebrity and a banker. Channel One hired the Group-IB international cybersecurity firm to investigate claims that “The Voice Kids”’ vote-by-phone system was tampered with in April. Group-IB’s initial investigation…

ROSATOM and Uzatom signed a contract as part of the NPP project in Uzbekistan

On 17 May, a contract for engineering survey to be undertaken at the NPP construction site was signed in Tashkent with a view of further NPP detail design development. The documents were signed by Otabek Amanov, NPP Construction Director, Uzatom, and Dmitry Ashanin, Deputy Director for Prospective Projects, Atomstroyexport (a company of ROSATOM engineering…

‘No End in Sight’ to Fraud in Russia’s Space Agency, Top Investigator Says

Billions of rubles have been funneled out of Russia’s federal Roscosmos space agency over the past five years in corruption schemes, the country’s top investigator has revealed this week. Prosecutors uncovered 1.6 billion rubles ($24.6 million) worth of fraud in the Roscosmos and the Rostec state-run defense corporation last year. Overall, fraud involving Russian state-run…

Venezuela Wants Russia to Help Restructure Its Debt to Other Countries — Reports

Venezuela would like Moscow to help it restructure its external debt to other countries, Russia’s RIA news agency cited Venezuela’s ambassador in Geneva as saying on Friday. Asked whether sanctions-hit Venezuela would like to receive debt-restructuring assistance from Russia, the ambassador was quoted as saying: “Yes.”

Head of FSB’s Secretive Unit Charged for $850K Bribery

The head of a highly secretive branch of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has been charged for $850,000 bribery three weeks after his detention, the RBC news website reported Thursday. Colonel Kirill Cherkalin headed the FSB economic security department’s financial counterintelligence support unit. The department played key roles in investigations surrounding former economy minister Alexei…

U.S. Sanctions Chechen Group, Russians for Alleged Human Rights Abuses

The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on a Chechen group and five individuals, including at least three Russians, for alleged human rights abuses under the Global Magnitsky Act, including extrajudicial killings and the torture of LGBT individuals. The sanctions against the Terek Special Rapid Response Team in the republic of Chechnya and the five individuals…

Russian Mayor Halts Church Construction Amid Protests, Clashes

BusinessBy admin May 16, 2019 Leave a comment

The mayor of Russia’s fourth-largest city of Yekaterinburg has suspended construction of an Orthodox cathedral on park grounds as mass protests against the project continued for a fourth day. Thousands of residents have taken to the streets against the city authorities’ plans to replace a central park with a replica of a cathedral demolished in…

Winners of 8th corporate Fakel Festival awarded in Sochi

Release May 16, 2019, 22:00 The final round of the 8th corporate Fakel Festival run by Gazprom came to a close in Krasnaya Polyana, Sochi. Taking part in the Festival were delegations representing 39 subsidiaries of Gazprom from Russia, Belarus, and Kyrgyzstan, together with performers from CNPC (China). The total number of participants exceeded 1,600. The event was attended by foreign colleagues from Gazprom’s partner…

Russia Evades Exclusion From Council of Europe

Russia is to keep its membership in Europe’s top human rights body after Germany and France engineered a last-minute deal to avoid a Russian expulsion, a step that threatened to further incite tensions between the Kremlin and the West. Foreign ministers from the Council of Europe will endorse the agreement at a meeting Friday in…

Russia to Set Up ‘Fake News Database’

Russia plans to launch a public database of news it flags as “fake,” the head of Russia’s powerful media regulator announced two months after President Vladimir Putin signed a law criminalizing the spread of “fake news.” Alexander Zharov’s regulatory agency, known by the acronym Roskomnadzor, has successfully blocked LinkedIn in Russia and is currently engaged…

Why Are Russians Clashing Over a New Cathedral in Yekaterinburg?

MoscowBy admin May 16, 2019 Leave a comment

Thousands of Russians in the country’s fourth-largest city of Yekaterinburg have taken to the streets in recent days in growing protests against a controversial plan to build a new cathedral in a popular riverside park. Tensions came to a head on Monday when opponents of the new church toppled a fence surrounding the proposed construction…

Discover Nikolai Meshcherin

The private Museum of Russian Impressionism was founded less than five years ago, but it has already become an important part of the Moscow art and museum scene. Its significance is not only thanks to its architecturally stunning venue — a reconstructed sugar silo at what was once a confectionary factory — and its central…

Britain Scrambled Fighters Twice to Intercept Russian Aircraft in Baltic

BusinessBy admin May 16, 2019 Leave a comment

Britain has scrambled Typhoon fighters twice in two days in the Baltic to intercept Russian aircraft, the defense ministry said. British Typhoons were launched on Wednesday to intercept two SU-27 fighters and an IL-22 and escorted the formation toward Russia. On Tuesday, British Typhoon fighters scrambled out of Ämari Air Base in Estonia in response to two Russian…

PhosAgro 1Q 2019 EBITDA Grows 73% YoY to RUB 24.8 bln

Moscow – PhosAgro (“PhosAgro” or “the Company”) (Moscow Exchange, LSE: PHOR), one of the world’s leading vertically integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers, today announces its consolidated IFRS financial results for the three months (1Q) ended 31 March 2019. Revenue for 1Q 2019 rose by 32% year-on-year to RUB 72.3 billion (USD 1.1 billion). EBITDA increased by…

A Majority of Russian Families Have No Savings, Poll Says

Two-thirds of Russian families have no financial savings to speak of, according to a new survey published by the independent Levada Center polling agency. The findings back up official data showing five consecutive years of declining real incomes as Western sanctions and dropping oil prices hit Russian consumers. Sixty-five percent of Russian households reported a…

Russian Bill Seeks to Criminalize News That Leads to International Sanctions

Russian lawmakers are seeking to criminalize the publication of materials that leads to sanctions imposed against the country or individuals, the latest in a host of legislation to tighten control over the flow of information. Mikhail Emelyanov, a lawmaker for the pro-Kremlin Just Russia party, is proposing amendments to the criminal code to impose a…

Siberian Mayor Rejects Church Plans as Anti-Cathedral Protests Rock Yekaterinburg

The mayor of the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk has canceled plans to build a pre-revolutionary cathedral in place of a public park as protests against similar plans rocked Russia’s fourth-largest city of Yekaterinburg. Clashes erupted in Yekaterinburg this week as residents tore down fencing enclosing its riverside park ahead of church construction. Dozens of arrests…

Dozens Arrested in Russian City Rocked by Protests Against Church Building

Authorities in Russia’s fourth-largest city of Yekaterinburg have detained dozens of people as thousands of residents continued to defend a riverside park from plans to build a church on its grounds. Protests against placing the church in the city’s central park entered their third day Wednesday following clashes with defenders of the construction site, which…

PhosAgro Board Approves Committee on Sustainable Development and Recommends Dividends

Moscow – The Board of Directors of PhosAgro (Moscow Exchange, LSE: PHOR), one of the world’s leading vertically integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers, has recommended that the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders (“EGM”) approve a dividend payment in the amount of RUB 9.3 billion, or RUB 72 per ordinary share (RUB 24 per Global Depositary Receipt)…

Nuclear Technology Information Center Opened in Tashkent

The official opening of the Nuclear Technology Information Center, a joint project of Uzatom and ROSATOM, took place in Tashkent on 15 May. Uzatom Director General Zhurabeck Mirzamakhmudov, ROSATOM Director General Alexey Likhachev, President of Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences Bekhzod Yuldashev, Russian Ambassador to Uzbekistan Vladimir Turdenev took part in the event as along with…

Russia to Halt Disputed Landfill Construction After Mass Protests – Reports

Moscow will suspend construction of a controversial $162 million landfill in northern Russia after months of protests against plans to ship waste in from the capital, the Vedomosti business daily reported Wednesday. Residents of Arkhangelsk region actively oppose construction of the landfill in the former village of Shiyes designed to take in up to 500…

Russia Dirty Oil Crisis Drags On as Port Loads Tainted Cargo

Russia’s efforts to resolve an unprecedented oil-contamination crisis suffered a setback as the nation loaded another tainted cargo from a port in the Baltic Sea, days after the government had said the port was clear. Traders receiving Urals crude at the Ust-Luga terminal said some oil continues to exceed acceptable levels of organic chloride, the…

‘Paralyzer’ Laser Drones Developed for the Russian Military – Reports

MoscowBy admin May 15, 2019 Leave a comment

Advanced new drones equipped with a stun gun and blinding laser have been developed for the Russian military, Interfax reported Wednesday citing an arms industry official. Russian security forces have been increasingly turning to laser technologies over the past year. In November 2018, Russia’s National Guard bought two laser-equipped vans designed to disperse protesters. The…

Russia’s Largest Rivers From the Amur to the Volga

From May 15 through June 15, Russia holds the United Days of Protection of Small Rivers and Ponds. This movement involves more than 100 environmental organizations throughout Russia, and aims to celebrate the smaller of Russia’s waters. While the country gets set cleaning, assessing, developing and restoring these small rivers and ponds, here’s a look…

Russian National Sentenced to 25 Years Over Alleged Terror Plot

A Russian national has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for allegedly plotting a terror attack in the country’s east, state media reported Wednesday. A total of 20 terror attacks were prevented by security forces in 2018, the first deputy chief of Russia’s Anti-Terrorism Committee told reporters earlier this year. According to the committee’s…

Massive Data Breach Exposes Russian Officials’ Passports, Reports Say

Hundreds of thousands of Russians, including former government officials, have had their passport data posted online in the country’s latest massive data leak, the RBC news website cited new research as saying Wednesday. The breach of at least eight government websites, analyzed by privacy expert Ivan Begtin, exposed the passport data of 360,000 people. Last…

Economic Impact of Activities of Rosneft United Research and Development Centre Evaluated to Exceed 150 Billion Roubles

Rosneft Oil Company reviewed the results of the Rosneft United Research and Development Centre (RN-RDC). Since its foundation in 2016, RN-RDC has become Europe’s largest scientific oil and gas centre, the amount of work performed using its own resources has increased more than 2 times. At the moment, it includes 32 design and research institutes,…

Messoyakhaneftegaz Produces the 10 Millionth Ton of Oil

Messoyakhaneftegaz, a joint venture of Gazprom Neft and Rosneft, produced the 10 millionth ton of oil. This target was reached in less than three years of operation of the East-Messoyakha field. During the period, over 300 production wells were built in the licence area. The total drilling rate exceeded 1.1 thousand km. The enterprise produces…

Russia Eases Arms Resale Rules to Avoid Sanctions – Reports

MoscowBy admin May 15, 2019 Leave a comment

Russia has eased its weapons resale rules to alleviate secondary buyers’ fears of U.S. sanctions, according to an unpublished government decree cited by the Vedomosti business daily Wednesday. Reports found that Russia sold the second-most weapons in 2018 despite five years of declining sales. Countries trading with Russia’s defense and intelligence sectors currently face secondary…

On This Day: Mikhail Bulgakov

On this day in 1891, Mikhail Bulgakov was born in Kiev – then part of the Russian empire, now the capital of Ukraine. Today a household name in Russian literature, Bulgakov’s best and most known work was published after his death in 1940. One of seven children, Bulgakov’s father was a prominent professor and a…

Kremlin Protests U.S. Arrest of Russian Accused of Smuggling Fighter Jet Manuals

The Kremlin protested on Wednesday over the extradition from ex-Soviet Georgia to the United States of a Russian man accused of smuggling F-16 fighter jet manuals into Russia in breach of U.S. arms export law. Oleg Tishchenko, a software developer, was earlier this year extradited to the United States from Georgia, where he was reported to have been…

In Russia’s Arctic, Oil Majors and Reindeer Herders Are Coming Together

NARYAN-MAR — Russia’s oil and gas giants are establishing a new model in the country’s Arctic based on sustainable development and cooperation with the region’s native reindeer herders. A decade ago, locals were struggling to sustain their traditional way of life due to the energy firms’ growing encroachment on their pasturelands. And as recently as…

Russian Protesters Clash With Vigilantes Over Church Construction Site, in Photos

Clashes erupted in Russia’s fourth-largest city of Yekaterinburg between protesters and church supporters in riot police gear over the construction of a church in a popular city park. Some of the demonstrators tore down the fencing surrounding the construction site guarded by police and national guardsmen. Witnesses and reporters said that violence and tear gas…

U.S. Senators Introduce Bill Targeting Russia-Germany Pipeline

A group of Republican and Democratic U.S. senators introduced legislation on Tuesday seeking sanctions targeting the Nord Stream 2, a planned gas pipeline from Russia to Germany under fire from the United States and some European Union countries. The bill introduced by Republican Senators Ted Cruz, John Barrasso and Tom Cotton and Democrat Jeanne Shaheen,…

5 Hospitalized, 29 Detained in Russian Church Construction Clashes

Dozens of people opposing plans to build a church in a central park in Russia’s fourth-largest city of Yekaterinburg have been detained and five hospitalized on the second day of clashes with supporters. Violence erupted at the construction site after around 2,000 protesters toppled fencing that appeared around the beachfront park on Monday. The park…

What Did Pompeo Discuss With Putin in Russia?

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday. Pompeo’s trip marked the first high-profile U.S. visit to Russia since allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and a subsequent investigation rankled bilateral relations. Meeting in the southern city…

Putin’s New Energy Security Doctrine Preaches Self-Reliance

Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved a new energy security doctrine preaching self-reliance in the face of geopolitical isolation. Russia has unrivaled energy resources and is the world’s top exporter of gas and its second-biggest of crude oil. The new doctrine replaces the 2012 plan and takes into account threats to Russia’s energy security and…

Putin Says He Senses Trump Genuinely Wants to Repair Ties With Russia

BusinessBy admin May 14, 2019 Leave a comment

President Vladimir Putin told U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday that he sensed that U.S. President Donald Trump genuinely wanted to repair battered relations between Russia and the United States. Putin, speaking ahead of talks with Pompeo, also said that Russia had never interfered in U.S. elections and that he and Pompeo had something to talk about…

Mineral and Raw Material Base Development. Gas Production. Gas Transmission System Development Press Conference held

Watch Press Conference 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 14, 2019, 02:30 pm (Moscow time) Participants: Vitaly Markelov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Committee, Gazprom; Oleg Aksyutin, Deputy Chairman of the Management Committee, Head of Department, Gazprom; Sergey Menshikov, Member of the Management Committee, Head of Department, Gazprom; Vyacheslav Mikhalenko, Member…

Russian Fighter Jet Drops ‘Powerful’ Bunker Buster

MoscowBy admin May 14, 2019 Leave a comment

An anonymously published video of Russia’s fighter jet showed on Tuesday what is purported to be “the most powerful” laser-guided bomb in service. “In the video, the work of the Su-34 using the most powerful of the guided bombs in service,” the video caption reads. The undated video identifies the bunker buster in question as…

Contest: Two Free Tickets to Romen

If all you know about Romani music came from listening to a couple of singers at a Mediterranean resort jiggling lots of fake gold and stamping their feet — who were, by the way, a Spanish-French-German couple from Des Moines — then you don’t know anything about Romani music. And if you think all Romani…

Russia’s Plan to Cleanse Tainted Oil Pipe Proves Slow-Going

Russia is racing to return oil exports to normal after deliveries to eastern Europe were cut by a contamination crisis that shut down parts of the giant Druzhba pipeline almost a month ago. Where has supply been restored? Shipments to Belarus via Druzhba have restarted, while oil transport in the direction of Ukraine via the…

It’s Time for New U.S.-Russia Relations, Lavrov Tells Pompeo

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday it was time for Moscow and Washington to put aside years of mistrust and find a way to work together constructively. Pompeo is in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi for talks with his Russian counterpart, and later on Tuesday will also…

Russian Celebrity Stylist Fined for Lake Baikal Bottling Plant Picket

Famous Russian stylist Sergei Zverev has been fined for staging a one-person picket in Moscow against a Chinese bottling plant near his hometown on Lake Baikal earlier this year. Zverev was described as an “unlikely activist” against the bottling plant in the world’s largest freshwater lake outside a village where he was born 55 years…

Russian Priest Breaks Records While Circumnavigating Southern Hemisphere

Russian Orthodox priest and survivalist Fyodor Konyukhov has broken records while completing the first of his three-leg effort to circumnavigate the Southern Hemisphere in a row boat. Konyukhov, 67, embarked on the 27,000-kilometer solo voyage from New Zealand in early December. He completed the first leg on Thursday, reaching the southern tip of Chile in…

Kremlin Says U.S. Has Not Offered a Putin-Trump G20 Meeting

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that the United States had not made any formal proposal for U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet on the sidelines of a gathering of the G20 in Japan next month. Trump said on Monday that he would meet Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the…

Young Russian Journalist Dies After Falling From Window

A promising journalist for an online feminist magazine has died at age 25 after falling from an eighth-floor apartment window in a tragic accident that does not appear suspicious. Wonderzine editor Margarita Virova fell out of her window while trying to take a photograph of her friends in the early hours of Monday. She died…

Russia Warns U.S. is Preparing to Use Nuclear Weapons in Europe

MoscowBy admin May 14, 2019 Leave a comment

The United States is laying the groundwork to use nuclear weapons in Europe, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s arms control and nonproliferation chief has warned. The U.S. and Russia are suspending the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which bans either side from stationing short- and intermediate-range, land-based missiles in Europe. Russia has said it was…

Celebrating Rock Star Zemfira, 20 Years After Her Explosive Debut Album

Legendary Russian rock singer Zemfira released her debut album in May 1999. The young musician quickly attained cult status and became one of the most popular artists in the country and a symbol of the era. Twenty years later, many still adore the musician.

Turkey Weighs New U.S. Call to Delay Buying Russian Missiles

Turkey is considering a U.S. request to delay the purchase of a Russian missile-defense system into 2020, a move that could ease tensions between the NATO allies, according to two people familiar with the proposal. The Trump administration last week asked Ankara to postpone receiving the advanced S-400 missile-defense system which was set for July,…

Clashes Erupt During Protest at Russian Church Construction Site