European businesses are on a last-minute lobbying drive in a bid to change a “drastic” new law that would require foreign employees based in Russia to undergo extensive quarterly medical checks, warning it could trigger an “exodus” of staff and investors. The new law takes effect at the end of December and would require foreign…
Our neighbors and friends at the Hyatt Regency in Petrovsky Park have the holidays covered: whether you want comfortable family meals – with a special menu and special activities for children – or a hot night on the town with bottomless bottles of bubbly. Christmas dinner Dec. 24 and 25 The Heritage restaurant on the…
A German court on Wednesday sentenced a Russian man to life in prison for shooting dead a former Chechen commander in a central Berlin park, a murder prosecutors say was ordered by Moscow. The verdict is expected to add further strain to already frayed Russian-German ties. The Berlin court found Vadim Krasikov, alias Vadim Sokolov,…
Russian lawmakers passed legislation Tuesday abolishing regional presidencies in a move analysts described as the end of Russia as a “federation.” The move, which needs President Vladimir Putin’s signature to become law, directly affects the republic of Tatarstan east of Moscow, where the regional leader holds the formal title of “president.” The State Duma, Russia’s…
December 15, 2021, 13:10 According to preliminary data, Gazprom produced 490.4 billion cubic meters of gas between January 1 and December 15, 2021, which is 14.2 per cent (or 61.1 billion cubic meters) more than in the same period of last year. Gazprom ramped up its domestic supplies from the gas transmission system by 14.5 per cent (or by 30.2 billion cubic meters) over said period of 2021. The Company increased…
A Russian court has handed lengthy prison sentences to seven leaders of a protest movement in the small North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia that saw tens of thousands take to the streets against a controversial land-swap deal. The impoverished region saw a rare wave of protests and clashes with police in 2018-2019 after its leaders…
Russian investigators said Wednesday they had detained tycoon Mikhail Fedyayev after a blast at a coal mine in Siberia that killed 51 people last month. The Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said in a statement that it had charged the owner of the SDS-Ugol company and three other people with violating “industrial safety requirements”…
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday hailed Moscow’s ties with Beijing as an “example for the 21st century” during talks with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. Putin spoke with Xi by videoconference for the second time this year as their countries continue to see high tensions with the West over a range of thorny military and political…
Russian lawmaker Maria Butina said she is working on legislation to regulate dolls, pointing to growing diversity and representation in the children’s toys. Butina was jailed in the United States for working as a foreign agent and deported to Moscow, where she was elected to the lower-house State Duma in this September’s parliamentary elections. In a Telegram post Tuesday,…
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ordered Russia to compensate four victims of domestic abuse, including a woman whose jealous ex-husband chopped off her hands with an axe. In 2017, Russian lawmakers scrapped criminal punishment for first-time abusers whose beatings result in “minor harm.” Attempts to pass a law aimed at protecting women…
Background Gazprom’s main partner in China is CNPC, a state-owned oil and gas company. In 2014, Gazprom and CNPC signed the 30-year Sales and Purchase Agreement for Russian gas to be supplied via the eastern route (Power of Siberia gas pipeline) in the amount of 38 billion cubic meters per year. The ceremony marking the start of the first-ever pipeline supplies of Russian gas to China took place on December 2,…
December 14, 2021, 22:20 Andrey Kasyanenko has been elected Director General of Gazprom Dobycha Yamburg. Andrey Kasyanenko was born in 1978. He graduated from Samara State Technical University, majoring in Oil and Gas Field Development and Operation. He has a PhD degree in Engineering. He has been employed with Gazprom for about 17 years. 2004–2007: operator of the operations and control service, later Oil and…
Russia on Tuesday said EU sanctions on targets linked to the Russian private military company Wagner were part of “Western hysteria,” claiming they undermined the independence of African and Middle Eastern countries. “The hysteria unrolled in the West on this topic shows, first of all, the jealousy of some European cities and states towards Africa…
“BIM – Management”, the international educational and hands-on project of ROSATOM’s Engineering Division has been awarded with a special certificate of the GPM Awards Russia 2021 national competition for professional project management in the area of sustainable development. The project has been implemented since 2020, the training module makes it possible to improve professional competencies…
A real Russian winter arrived overnight in Moscow, with the city blanketed in several inches of fluffy snow on Tuesday. The snow transformed Moscow’s already eye-pleasing sights into a fairy-tale landscape. Here’s a look at photos from across the city:
All foreigners working in Russia will be required to undergo quarterly comprehensive health examinations, including tests for sexually transmitted diseases, from Dec. 29 under a controversial law designed to improve health safety in the country. The law has drawn backlash from foreign trade associations, which say the rules will drive out thousands of expat workers.…
A record high temperature recorded in a Russian Arctic town last summer is setting off “alarm bells” over climate change, The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Tuesday. The UN agency confirmed after more than a year of calculations that a temperature of 38 degrees Celsius in Verkhoyansk, which is 115 kilometers inside the Arctic…
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that he wants “immediate” talks with the United States and NATO over security guarantees, as tensions soar between Moscow and the West over Ukraine. The US and its allies have for weeks accused Russia of planning an invasion of its neighbour, warning of a massive coordinated sanctions response should…
Two in five Russians believe war is likely to break out with Ukraine and blame the United States for heightened tensions, according to a new independent survey published Tuesday. According to the Levada Center, 39% of Russian respondents believe that war with Ukraine is either highly likely or unavoidable. Another 38% said that Russian-Ukrainian war…
Russia has rolled out the first flight prototype of its Okhotnik (“Hunter”) stealth drone ahead of trials and future serial production, state media reported Tuesday. The Okhotnik’s latest configuration features a 3D-printed “flat jet nozzle” for reduced radar visibility, according to the state-run TASS news agency. Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko said the Okhotnik’s rollout “signifies…
A Belarusian court has sentenced Sergei Tikhanovsky, an opposition presidential candidate who was jailed ahead of last year’s disputed election, to 18 years in a maximum-security prison, Belarusian state media reported Tuesday. Tikhanovsky, 43, is a popular YouTube blogger who criticized strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko and helped galvanize last year’s protests against his rule. Authorities…
December 14, 2021 Dmitry Goroshkov, Director of Sales and Business Development, Energy at Severstal shared the Company’s energy market outlook for 2022 and provided an overview of key achievements in 2021 at an on online media briefing on December 9. In 2021, Izhora Pipe Mill’s share of exports in the order book increased by 11…
Russia defended Tuesday its move to veto a Security Council resolution linking climate change and global security that was supported by a majority of UN member states. Backed by Niger and Ireland, the draft resolution called on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to “integrate climate-related security risk as a central component into comprehensive conflict-prevention strategies.” The text…
Sergei Soloviev, a Russian director, producer, screenwriter and actor, died on Dec. 13, apparently of a heart attack, at the age of 77. Soloviev was born in Karelia and expressed a strong interest in theater and film from an early age, performing as a child in productions of the Leningrad Big Theater and children’s programming…
Belarusian banks are preparing for tougher Western sanctions by signing up to Russia’s alternative to the SWIFT, the international financial messaging network that underpins the global banking system, Russia’s Moskovsky Komsomolets tabloid has reported. Russia’s System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS) has more than 400 domestic users — practically every licensed Russian lender —…
“Fat Lyuba” is a humiliating nickname, especially for a boy. But that’s what bullies called Oleg Lipovetsky throughout his high school years. Decades later, the teenager who once dreaded going back to school, has become a handsome and popular actor. Yet those memories are as vivid as ever, and bullying in Russia seems only to…
Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, telling him to “de-escalate tensions” with Ukraine, Downing Street said. The British leader echoed concern from the G7 on Sunday about the build-up of Russian forces on the border, urging a diplomatic solution to the stand-off, his office said. His intervention comes…
A Russian court on Monday handed lengthy prison terms to two men convicted of murdering one of the country’s most notorious gangsters in 2009. Vyacheslav Ivankov, alias Yaponchik or The Little Japanese, was shot in the abdomen by sniper fire as he left a glitzy Thai restaurant in the Russian capital. He died from his…
The Egyptian-Russian Nuclear Energy Forum, organised by Rosatom and the Egyptian Nuclear Power Plant Authority (NPPA), took place in the Egyptian capital of Cairo. The forum welcomed the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Arab Republic of Egypt Mostafa Madbouly and the country’s Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mohamed Shaker, as well…
European Union foreign ministers agreed on Monday to slap sanctions on targets linked to the Russian private military company Wagner, accused of acting to destabilize Ukraine and parts of Africa. The group itself, said by Western capitals to work on behalf of the Kremlin in conflict zones, was targeted with an asset freeze, along with…
Despite concerns about coronavirus, the Moscow city government decided to celebrate Christmas and the New Year with its annual festival. Called “The Journey to Christmas,” the festival began this past weekend and will go until Jan. 9. Russia celebrates Christmas according to the old calendar on Jan. 7. This year most of the activities are…
Two out of five Russians have no savings, according to a Superjob recruitment website survey published by the RBC news website Monday. According to the poll, 43% of respondents said they have no savings whatsoever. That figure is an increase from 40% in each of the previous two years and 28% in 2008, according to RBC.…
International students from NRNU MEPhI and other Consortium universities of ROSATOM took part in the International Career Day of ROSATOM on December 10, where they received the necessary information about the development of nuclear projects and nuclear infrastructure organizations in their countries, as well as established contact with potential employers. The event was organized by…
Russia’s top social media platform, VKontakte, has appointed the son of an influential Kremlin insider as its new chief executive, the company announced Monday. Vladimir Kiriyenko —whose father Sergei Kiriyenko is first deputy chief of staff in the Presidential Administration — will become the CEO of VK Group, which controls VKontakte and a number of…
Russia will respond “militarily” to what it perceives as NATO’s encroachment on its western borders, a senior diplomat said Monday. Deputy Foreign Ministry Sergei Ryabkov’s threat follows Moscow’s complaints over NATO weapons deployment in Eastern Europe and Western warnings of Russia’s imminent invasion of Ukraine. “Our response will be military” if the Western military bloc does…
Russians with coronavirus antibodies from both foreign and domestic vaccines will be able to get a QR code valid for six months, Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said Monday. QR codes proving one’s vaccination or recent recovery from Covid-19 are soon expected to be required to enter restaurants, shops and other public places across the…
A Russian teenager attempted to blow himself up at an Orthodox school outside Moscow, wounding himself and at least one minor, Russia’s Interior Ministry said Monday. The 18-year-old set off an improvised explosive device at 08:24 a.m. Moscow time at the 14th-century Vladychny Women’s Monastery, the site of the school in the city of Serpukhov less…
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the collapse of the Soviet Union spelled the end of “historical Russia,” revealing he drove a taxi to make ends meet following the U.S.S.R.’s fall. Putin, a former agent of the Soviet Union’s KGB security services, who has previously lamented the U.S.S.R.’s fall, said the disintegration three decades ago…
The United States on Saturday urged Russia to pull back from the brink over Ukraine, warning that the G7 and its allies will impose tough measures if it abandons diplomacy. A senior State Department official told reporters at a meeting of the grouping’s top diplomats in Liverpool, northwest England, that Moscow still had time to…
Winter vegetables can be tough nuts to crack, if that’s not mixing a metaphor. Their admirably sturdy longevity, which makes them highly prized in colder climates, is often thanks to an almost impenetrable exterior. And if you are feeling rushed or slightly fragile, the thought of tackling that exterior to get to the good stuff…
Russia said Friday NATO should formally scrap a 2008 decision to open its door to Georgia and Ukraine, insisting that giving Moscow guarantees on halting the bloc’s eastward expansion was in the West’s “fundamental” interests. The foreign ministry also demanded that NATO stop conducting military exercises close to Russia’s borders and added that this and…
Poland said Friday following an investigation that Belarusian security services were behind the diversion of a Ryanair flight that resulted in the arrest of an opposition journalist onboard. The EU member has been probing the incident as a Polish-registered plane was used for the Athens-to-Vilnius flight in May which made an emergency landing in Minsk…
Dmitry Muratov, editor-in-chief of the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper, accepted the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on Friday. He and Philippine journalist Maria Ressa received the honor for their commitments to protecting press freedom. Muratov, whose newsroom has had several of its journalists killed in connection with their reporting, dedicated his award to his…
Temperature contrasts in Russia reached 85.6 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, the biggest difference in a single country since 1954, according to data from the Climate Reanalyzer website. The temperature in Shatoy in the southern republic of Chechnya reached 24.5 C, while 6,000 kilometers away in Oymyakon in the republic of Sakha it dropped to -61.1…
Three holiday markets This year many of the usual holiday markets are not being held due to the surge in coronavirus. But there are a few, including the historic fair on Red Square that first began about three hundred years ago. This year the booths are selling traditional souvenirs, Christmas tree decorations, felt boots and…
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova denounced as “shameful” a London court’s decision that will allow the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States. “This is a shameful verdict in a political case against a journalist and public figure, another manifestation of the Anglo-Saxon alliance’s cannibalistic worldview,” the outspoken Russian diplomat said…
Giving the infamous “foreign agent” status to newspaper Novaya Gazeta, a rare independent outlet in a Russian media landscape largely under state control, would be “stupid,” its editor-in-chief said Friday, hours before receiving his Nobel Peace Prize. “I believe that during the 30-year lifetime that our newspaper has had, we have done so much positive…
December 9, 2021, Büyükeceli, Mersin Province, Turkey – Construction workers have begun constructing the foundation slab for the pump station of Akkuyu NPP Unit 1. Reinforcement and installation of formwork is underway at the site; around 400 people are involved in the works. Pump stations are a complex of facilities designed to supply seawater to…
Some 72% of Ukrainians say Russia is a “hostile state,” according to new polling conducted amid a tense standoff between the two countries. Russia has been accused of preparing to invade Ukraine and is amassing tens of thousands of troops close to the Ukrainian border, according to satellite images and Western intelligence reports. Moscow says…
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said that the conflict in eastern Ukraine between Kiev’s army and pro-Russian separatists “looks like genocide,” at a time of heightened tensions with the West. Putin’s comments came as U.S. President Joe Biden was scheduled to speak with Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the heads of other countries on…
December 9, 2021, 21:55 The award ceremony for the 2021 edition of Gazprom’s Science and Technology Prize took place at the meeting of the Company’s Management Committee. The total economic benefit from the award-winning solutions and technologies exceeds RUB 102 billion. “The high level of the Company’s technological development and the speed of innovation are among the most important competitive advantages of Gazprom. For…
December 9, 2021, 21:35 The Gazprom Management Committee approved the 2022–2026 Comprehensive Target Program for the reconstruction and re-equipment of automated process control systems at the facilities of Gazprom. The Program aims to further improve the level of automation and the quality of management of production and technological processes at the Group’s enterprises. This significantly contributes to the continued reliability of Russia’s Unified Gas Supply System. The…
Russia will return to Greece the pre-war archives of Jewish communities that were stolen by Nazi forces, the country’s Jewish council said Thursday. “Our history returns home,” the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece (KISE) said in a statement. KISE said Nazi forces in July 1942 had plundered archives, books and religious artifacts from…
Last week the AZ Museum in Moscow held a ceremony to award the winners of the first Anatoly Zverev Art Prize, putting a very celebratory end to a story that began in the spring, involved hundreds of people and thousands of hours of work, and — perhaps — changed, at least slightly, the landscape of…
Moscow, 9 December 2021: The government of the Republic of Serbia and ROSATOM have signed a General Framework Agreement to construct a Centre for Nuclear Science and Technology (CNST) and an agreement to form a joint venture that will implement the project in Serbia. The agreements were made the day before the Serbian Prime Minister…
Russian billionaires have amassed an extra $145 billion so far in 2021 — a 30% jump in their net worth — as the country’s ultra-rich continue to benefit from the global economic recovery, according to Forbes. Russia’s billionaires have a combined wealth of $630 billion, the magazine estimated. The cohort’s jump in 2021 was the…
Malik Mutaliyev walks by an abandoned amusement park in wintry Baikonur, a secretive town in Kazakhstan’s inhospitable steppe that appeared alongside the eponymous Baikonur Cosmodrome where the Soviet Union’s space program rose to glory. “Our town has lived through a lot: Perestroika, the fall of the Soviet Union, electricity shortages. We’ve been through it all,”…
Ten years ago, tens of thousands Russians took to the streets in what became some of the largest political protests in modern Russian history. The Bolotnaya protests, which rallied against what protesters called a flawed electoral process, marked a pivotal moment for both Russia’s opposition movement and the government’s attitude toward street protests. In many…
President Joe Biden said Wednesday he had warned his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of unprecedented US sanctions if Russia attacks Ukraine. A day after talking for two hours by video link, Biden said he had told Putin the United States would retaliate with sanctions “like none he’s ever seen” in the event of a Russian…
Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking publicly for the first time since his high-profile talks with U.S. leader Joe Biden, said Wednesday Moscow reserves the right to “defend its security” but refused to say if he planned to invade Ukraine. During their summit by secure video link on Tuesday, Biden warned Putin of a “strong” Western…