Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Ukrainian TV Comic Zelenskiy Wins Presidency in Landslide, Exit Poll Shows
Ukraine entered uncharted political waters on Sunday after an exit poll showed a comedian with no political experience and few detailed policies had easily won enough votes to become the next president of a country at war. The apparent landslide victory of Volodymyr Zelenskiy, 41, is a bitter blow for incumbent Petro Poroshenko who tried…
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Russia Says It Received Debt Payment From Venezuela on Time
Russia has received a debt payment from Venezuela under the terms of a $3.15 billion restructuring deal agreed to in 2017, Russian news agency Interfax reported, citing Finance Minister Anton Siluanov. The debt payment was due in March, but Siluanov said at the beginning of April that a grace period gave Venezuela another month to…
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Into the Frying Pan: 9 Top Russian Cookbooks
Writing about cookbooks should not be a minefield, but in trying to nail down exactly what constitutes a “Russian” cookbook, I often feel the need of a sturdy flak jacket. When you focus on a region whose physical and political borders have ebbed and flowed as often as Russia’s has, culinary history can well become controversial if not positively incendiary.…
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Admitted Russian Agent Butina Asks U.S. Court to Be Lenient
Maria Butina, who has admitted to working as a Russian agent to infiltrate an influential U.S. gun rights group and make inroads with conservative activists and Republicans, asked the court to sentence her to time served ahead of her April 26 sentencing, according to court documents. Butina, 30, a former graduate student at American University who…
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U.S. Calls On Countries to Deny Airspace to Russian Planes Destined for Venezuela
The U.S. State Department spokesperson has called on countries to “follow Malta’s example” and block Russian military planes en route for Venezuela from using their airspace. On Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Malta refused a Russian request to use its airspace to fly military aircraft from Syria to Venezuela on April…
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Rosneft Threatens to Ban Reuters in Russia Over Venezuela Report
The Rosneft oil giant has threatened to ban Reuters from operating in Russia after the international news agency released a report saying that Venezuela had sold oil to Russia in an attempt to evade U.S. sanctions. Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA has started passing invoices from its oil sales to Rosneft, Reuters reported Friday, citing…
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U.S. Ignored Russia’s Nuclear War Prevention Pact – Reports
Russia sent the United States a draft joint declaration on how to prevent nuclear war, only to never hear back from Washington, the Kommersant business daily reported on Friday. The U.S. and Russia are suspending the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty this summer. The only U.S.-Russia arms control pact limiting deployed nuclear weapons —…
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Kremlin Says Mueller Report Shows No Evidence of Russian Meddling
The Kremlin said on Friday that U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s long-awaited report did not contain any evidence the Russian state had meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Mueller’s report, released on Thursday, details extensive contacts between Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russian operatives who, it said, sought to tilt the election in Trump’s favor. However,…
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Half of Russia’s Alcohol Sold Illegally, Regulators Say
Almost half of the alcohol products sold in Russia last year were on the market illegally, the state Federal Alcohol Market Regulation Service (Rosalkogolregulirovanie) said this week. Sales of alcoholic beverages in Russia rose by 4.6 percent in 2018, according to Nielsen estimates, while official statistics show a 1.5-percent decline in vodka sales to 786…
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Mir Card Payment System Looks Beyond Russia
After Western sanctions gutted Russia’s financial system five years ago, a new bank card began appearing in the wallets of many Russians. Now the country is hoping to introduce its cards, known as Mir cards, to foreign markets where Russian nationals live and travel, Vladimir Komlev, the head of Russia’s National Card Payment System (NSPK),…
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The Russia-Trump Links in Mueller’s Report, Explained
Special Counsel Robert Mueller may not have found evidence of a criminal conspiracy between Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia, but his report details extensive contacts between the campaign and Russian operatives who sought to influence the U.S. election. Many of the contacts in the report were already known. They included former national security adviser…
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Stanislavsky’s Method Lives On
In stuffy room with painted black walls, a group of students clap vigorously as if applauding a performance. Then they seem to be a shower, rubbing their faces and necks, before throwing their arms forward with loud shouts of “Ha!” From the front of the room, an older man observes them intently. For an outsider…
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Putin Ally to Ukraine’s Probable New Leader: Do Deal and Get Territory Back
Ukraine’s new president could regain control over the separatist-controlled east of his country within months and get cheap gas and major investment from Russia if he repairs ties with Moscow, the Kremlin’s closest ally in Ukraine said. Viktor Medvedchuk, a prominent figure in Ukraine’s Russia-leaning opposition, outlined the prospect in an interview before a presidential election runoff in…
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Venezuela Skirts U.S. Sanctions by Funneling Oil Sales Via Russia – Reports
President Nicolas Maduro is funneling cash flow from Venezuelan oil sales through Russian state energy giant Rosneft as he seeks to evade U.S. sanctions designed to oust him from power, according to sources and documents reviewed by Reuters. The sales are the latest sign of the growing dependence of Venezuela’s cash-strapped government on Russia as the…
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Russia, U.S. Cannot Support a UN Call for Libya Truce, Diplomats Say
The United States and Russia both said on Thursday they could not support a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Libya at this time, diplomats said, as mortar bombs crashed down on a suburb of the Libyan capital, Tripoli. Russia objects to the British-drafted resolution blaming eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar for the latest…
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Gazprom and Shell praise Sakhalin Energy
Справка Royal Dutch Shell is a British-Dutch oil and gas holding company focused on hydrocarbon production, processing and marketing in more than 70 countries. Gazprom and Shell are jointly engaged in the Sakhalin II project, which includes Russia’s first LNG plant. The project operator of Sakhalin II is Sakhalin Energy (Gazprom – 50 per cent plus one share, Shell – 27.5 per cent minus one share, Mitsui – 12.5 per cent,…
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Mueller Probe Did Not Establish Trump Coordination With Russia, U.S. Attorney General Says
U.S. Attorney General William Barr on Thursday offered some details of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russia‘s role in the 2016 U.S. election before making it public, emphasizing that it found no collusion between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Moscow. Barr, a Trump appointee, gave a news conference ahead of the planned release of the…
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Moscow’s Monuments Get a Spring Shower
When you’re serious about your city’s statues, it isn’t just your home that needs spring cleaning. Muscovites headed outside to give the capital’s famous monuments a solid scrubbing and clean off the winter dirt. Here’s a look at Moscow’s statues getting spruced up for the new season:
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Abramovich Partner’s Marijuana Business Returns Him to Forbes’ Richest Russians List
A marijuana business has helped Roman Abramovich’s associate Andrei Bloch return to Forbes magazine’s list of richest Russians. Bloch briefly served as president of oil producer Sibneft from 1998 until Abramovich sold it to Russia’s state energy firm Gazprom in 2005. Bloch and another partner bought Abramovich’s Unimilk dairy business in 2004 — which merged…
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North Korea’s Kim Jong Un to Meet Putin in Moscow This Month — Kremlin
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will travel to Russia in the second half of this month and meet President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said on Thursday. The announcement coincided with a moment of discord in efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to reach a deal with Kim to end nuclear tensions on the Korean peninsula.…
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Internet Added $60Bln to Russia’s Economy in 2018, Study Says
Russia’s internet sector has contributed 3.9 trillion rubles ($60.8 billion) to the overall economy last year, an 11 percent increase from 2017, according to the Russian Association of Electronic Communications. The study correlates with Kremlin estimates that Russian internet companies account for about 4 percent of gross domestic product. E-commerce accounts for half of Russia’s…
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No Chestnut Trees, No Honey — Beekeeping at Risk in Russia’s South
A sharp decline in chestnut trees caused by a parasitic fungus in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region is threatening the area’s honey production, according to local beekeepers and scientists. Asya Minasyan and her husband say they used to produce 500 kilograms of honey per year, but that the situation now is changing rapidly. “The bee is…
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Sanctions-hit GAZ Wants Government Bail-Out – Kommersant
Oleg Deripaska’s van maker GAZ is asking the government for almost 30 billion rubles ($468 million) in support because it claims U.S. sanctions could slash production by almost 40 percent in the second half of the year, the Kommersant business daily reported on Thursday. Kommersant cited a March 29 letter from GAZ Deputy General Director…
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Russia Bans Oil, Coal Exports to Ukraine
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree banning Russian exports of coal, crude oil and oil products to Ukraine, he told government officials in televised comments on Thursday. Starting June 1, the export of products listed in the decree will require a special permit, Interfax reported. The decree will also ban the import into Russia of…
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Trump Adviser Visits Moscow for Kremlin Talks
Fiona Hill, an adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, visited Moscow this week and discussed bilateral relations with Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday. Ties between Washington and Moscow are at post-Cold War lows and later on Thursday a long-awaited report on Russia’s role in the 2016 U.S. election…
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Russia Drops to 149th out of 180 Countries in World Press Freedom Index
Russia has been rated 149th out of 180 countries for press freedom, according to an annual index published by international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Russia and Turkey (ranked 157th) continue to be the biggest players in the suppression of free speech in the region, RSF researchers said. A recently passed law that punishes “fake…
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More than 40 cooperation agreements were signed at ATOMEXPO 2019
On April 16, the 11th ATOMEXPO International Forum 2019, a global industry discussion event organized by Rosatom State Corporation, finished its work in the Main Media Center of Sochi. This year, the number of cooperation agreements, memoranda and contracts signed in the margins of the forum has increased. More than 40 signing ceremonies were held…
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‘Drained and Weak’ Polar Bear Appears 700km South of Habitat in Russia’s Far East
A young male polar bear has washed up on an ice floe in Russia’s Far East 700 kilometers south of its natural habitat, triggering efforts to rescue the endangered animal. Polar bears’ dangerous encounters with humans are becoming more frequent as climate change melts the sea ice where the creatures roam. A polar bear invasion…
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ROSATOM and Cuba to collaborate in nuclear energy skills development for peaceful use
16th April 2019, Sochi – ROSATOM and Cuba’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, have signed a memorandum of cooperation education and training in the field of nuclear energy on the sidelines of the 11th ATOMEXPO International Forum. The memorandum was signed by the Deputy Director General For International Relations of ROSATOM, Nikolay Spassky, and…
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Baltic Leader Set to End Decade-Long Silence by Meeting Putin
The almost decade-long hiatus in high-level meetings between Baltic presidents and Russia’s Vladimir Putin is set to end this week. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — home to sizable Russian-speaking minorities — have had an uneasy relationship with the Kremlin since communism collapsed. Putin’s annexation of Crimea from nearby Ukraine in 2014 and the ensuing military…
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Russian Billionaire Brothers Crush It With Gaming Powerhouse Playrix
Almost two decades ago, in a remote Russian city best known for its butter and linen, two brothers shared a bedroom and a Pentium 100-powered computer they used to code their first game. Wall Street wants a piece of what they’ve built since. Playrix has met with some of the biggest banks “and visited their…
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Russia Explores $164Bln Worth of Arctic Projects – Reports
Russia’s environmental ministry has proposed more than 100 oil and gas extraction, infrastructure and tourism projects in the Arctic valued at 10.5 trillion rubles ($164.2 billion), the RBC news website reported Thursday. President Vladimir Putin has promised tax incentives and other benefits to encourage companies to develop the Arctic region and the Northern Sea shipping…
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Russia Says It Will Help Venezuela, Cuba to Weather U.S. Sanctions
Russia considers new U.S. sanctions against Venezuela and Cuba to be illegal and it plans to do everything to support its allies in Caracas and Havana, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency cited Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Thursday. U.S. national security adviser John Bolton announced a series of new sanctions against…
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11 LGBT Activists Detained at St. Petersburg Protest
Russian police detained 11 LGBT activists on Wednesday at a Silence Day protest in the city of St. Petersburg. The yearly event meant to raise people’s awareness of LGBT problems in the country gathered around 50 people who sealed their mouths with red tape and marched through the city’s streets. Russia passed a law in…
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The Board Recommeds Divided Paymet
April 18, 2019 The Board of Directors of Severstal (“Severstal”, “the Company”) (LSE: SVST; MICEX-RTS: CHMF), one of the world’s leading vertically integrated steel and steel-related mining companies, is recommending a dividend of 35.43 roubles per share for the three months ended 31 March 2019. Approval of the dividend is expected at the Company’s EGM…
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Ukraine Investigates Presidential Front-runner Zelenskiy’s Alleged Russian Financing – Reports
Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) is reportedly investigating allegations that presidential front-runner Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s campaign could be financed by Kremlin-linked figures. Polls have forecast a heavy defeat for President Petro Poroshenko in the second round of Ukraine’s presidential elections on Sunday. Zelenskiy, a comedian and actor with no political experience, won twice as many votes as…
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As Russians Raise Funds for Notre Dame, Critics Point to Russia’s Destroyed Historical Churches
Russians expressed their support for France in the wake of Monday’s devastating fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris with both condolences and monetary donations. Yet even as the Culture Ministry announced plans to call on the Russian public to raise funds to help restore the 12th-century cathedral, Russian critics have pointed to several historic…
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Russian Scientists Are Developing ‘Lasso’ to Round Up Space Debris – Reports
Russian scientists are proposing pulling space debris out of Earth’s orbit using a device that has been called a “space lasso.” Around 7,200 metric tons of space debris capable of damaging satellites or spacecraft currently orbit the Earth, scientists estimate. Several proposals on how to deal with the growing issue have been collected ahead of…
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CNIITMASH and Bureau Veritas signed Memorandum of Understanding
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the State Research Center of the Russian Federation JSC “RPA “CNIITMASH” (belongs with JSC Atomenergomash, a machine-building division of ROSATOM) and Bureau Veritas Exploitation S.A.S (France) at the venue of Atomexpo Forum on the 15th of April. The document was signed by Victor Orlov, General Director of CNIITMASH…
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PJSC ZIO-PODOLSK and Hitachi Zosen Inova AG (Switzerland) have signed Consortium Agreement
PJSC ZiO-Podolsk (subsidiary of Atomenergomash, Manufacturing Division of ROSATOM) and Hitachi Zosen Inova AG (Switzerland) signed the Consortium agreement for cooperation in the area of waste-to-energy recycling plants construction. The agreement was signed at the XI International Forum Atomexpo in city of Sochi. The parties agreed to set up a consortium with the purpose to…
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The ATR AES Fund and the Control, Information, and Regional Development Organization have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation during the ATOMEXPO-2019
On April 16, 2019, during the XI International ATOMEXPO-2019 Forum held in Sochi, a Memorandum of Cooperation has been signed between the Fund for municipal corporations advancement ‘The Association of the nuclear power plants locations’ (ATR AES, Russia) and the Control, Information and Regional Development Organization (TEIT, Hungary). On behalf of the ATR AES, the…
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Rosenergoatom is ready to advise the novice countries on any aspects related to safe and reliable NPP operation jointly with the WANO
The Rosenergoatom Joint-Stock Company (a part of the Electric Power Division of ROSATOM) is ready to support the novice countries on any aspects related to safe and reliable NPP operation jointly with the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO). This statement was made by Oleg Chernikov, the First Deputy Director of NPP production and operation…
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Russian Photographer Shoots Moscow With Blade Runner Aesthetics
With his work, Russian photographer Konstantin Vikhrov (@begushiy_po_ebenyam) attempts what he calls an “aesthetic-semantic” game, contrasting neon colors against dark shadows. The results are gloomy cyberpunk scenes reminiscent of film classic Blade Runner, capturing the bright but bleak sides of the capital. Here are a few of our favorites:
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Ukraine Says It Captured Russian Military Intelligence Hit Squad
Ukraine’s security service SBU said on Wednesday it had captured a Russian military intelligence hit squad responsible for the attempted murder of a Ukrainian military spy in the run-up to a presidential election on Sunday. The issue of how to deal with Russia, which annexed Crimea in 2014 and backs pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine,…
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Russia Completes Delivery of Su-35 Fighter Jets to China for $2.5Bln
Russia has completed the delivery of Su-35 combat aircraft to China in defiance of U.S. sanctions, Russia’s military and technical cooperation agency told state media Tuesday. Russia and China signed a $2.5 billion deal on the delivery of 24 Sukhoi Su-35s in 2015, making it the first foreign buyer of the fourth-generation multirole air superiority…
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CNIITMASH, AEM and TAPROGGE GMBH (Germany) signed Cooperation Agreement
The Cooperation Agreement was signed between the State Research Center of the Russian Federation JSC “RPA “CNIITMASH” (belongs with JSC Atomenergomash, a machine-building division of ROSATOM), JSC Atomenergomash and TAPROGGE GmbH (Germany) at the venue of Atomexpo Forum on the 15th of April. The document was signed by Victor Orlov, General Director of CNIIT-MASH, Alexander…
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SNIIP, Atomenergomash and Elkon Elektrik of Turkey have signed Memorandum on Strategic Cooperation
On April 15, 2019, Memorandum on Strategic Cooperation and Joint Activities between JSC Atomenergomash, JSC SNIIP and Elkon Elektrik (Turkey) was signed at the XI International Forum ATOMEXPO-2019. According to the document, the parties plan to develop cooperation to implement joint projects for the localization of the production of certain types of marine electric and…
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Russia’s Fast-Growing ‘Youth Army’ Aims to Breed Loyalty to the Fatherland
At first glance Ivan Mertsalov seems like an average teenager. He plays music, watches sports and is not yet sure what he wants to do with his future. Yesterday he wanted to be an actor, today a lawyer, tomorrow it’ll probably be something else. But unlike most teenagers, Mertsalov, 15, can take apart and reassemble…
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Russian Scientists Find Liquid Blood in Extinct Siberian Foal Dating Back 42K Years
Researchers who found the body of a 42,000-year-old foal frozen in the Siberian permafrost have retrieved liquid blood from the extinct animal that might help bring its species back to life, media outlets reported on Tuesday. According to The Siberian Times, a group of scientists from Russia and South Korea wants to clone an extinct…
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Russia’s Dagestan, Chechnya Halt Border Talks Amid Ingushetia Unrest
Russia’s republics of Dagestan and Chechnya have suspended negotiations over border delineations following months of public anger over Chechnya’s land swap deal with neighboring Ingushetia. Protests reignited in the North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia last month to demand the resignation of its governor, who signed the land swap agreement with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov in…
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Republic of Congo will study the potential of peaceful uses of nuclear in the next two years
On April 16, 2019 in Sochi (Russia) Russia and the Republic of Congo signed the roadmap to foster establishing cooperation in the field of peaceful uses of atomic energy. The document was signed within the framework of the XI International Forum ATOMEXPO 2019. Rosatom Deputy Director General – Director of International Affairs Department Nikolay Spassky…
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Deripaska to Award Journalists Who Investigate U.S. Sanctions Against Him – FT
Oleg Deripaska’s lawyers plan to set up a $600,000 award for journalists to “dig into” why the United States imposed sanctions on the Russian tycoon, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. Washington lifted sanctions on Deripaska’s main assets — aluminum maker Rusal and its parent En+ — in January after he dropped control of them,…
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Serebrennikov Wins Top Russian Theater Awards After Release
Russian theater director Kirill Serebrennikov received two prestigious theater awards at a ceremony in Moscow on Tuesday, less than two weeks after his release from house arrest. The Gogol Center’s artistic director was released on bail on April 8 after spending a year and a half under house arrest on criminal fraud charges that his…
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Rosatom Technical Academy and “Uzatom” Agency Signed an Agreement of Intent in the Field of Nuclear Education
On April 16, within the framework of the XIth International Forum “ATOMEXPO-2019” in Sochi, the agreement of intent was signed between the Rosatom Technical Academy and the Agency for the Development of Nuclear Energy under the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Uzbekistan (“Uzatom” Agency). The agreement was signed by the Rector of the…
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Putin Chooses High-Speed Railway Line to St. Petersburg Over Nizhny Novgorod
Russian President Vladimir Putin favors a plan to build a high-speed railway line from Moscow to his home city of St. Petersburg rather than Nizhny Novgorod, the Vedomosti business daily reported on Tuesday. Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin pushed for the high-speed railway to St. Petersburg to be built at the end of last year, according…
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Celebrate Theater in Peremilovo
This year is the Year of Theater in Russia, and to celebrate, the Theater Gallery on Malaya Ordynka is running an exhibition of works by the delightfully zany artist Vladimir Lyubarov entitled “The Year of Theater in the Village of Peremilovo.” In 1991, Lyubarov left his hometown of Moscow in favor of a simple life…
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Most Russians View Assange as Freedom Fighter – State Poll
Most Russians view WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange as a freedom fighter, according to a state-funded poll published a week after the Australian’s arrest in Britain. WikiLeaks published hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables that laid bare often critical U.S. appraisals of world leaders, from Russian President Vladimir Putin to members of the Saudi…
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Russians View Assange as Freedom Fighter – State Poll
Most Russians view WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange as a freedom fighter, according to a state-funded poll published a week after the Australian’s arrest in Britain. WikiLeaks published hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables that laid bare often critical U.S. appraisals of world leaders, from Russian President Vladimir Putin to members of the Saudi…
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Energy Delta Institute’s training programs fostering competencies for successful implementation of international projects
Release April 16, 2019, 16:25 The 18th meeting of the International Supervisory Board (ISB) of Energy Delta Institute (EDI) and EDI’s annual International Partner Meeting under the theme “The Role of Natural Gas in the Energy Transition” were held in St. Petersburg. Taking part in the ISB meeting were Sergey Khomyakov, Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, Han Fennema, CEO and Chairman…
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CNIITMASH and PETROJET signed Memorandum of Understanding
On 16th of April at AtomExpo 2019 International Forum the State Research Center JSC RPA CNIITMASH and the Petrojet Company, Egypt, have signed Memorandum of Understanding about development of cooperation for execution of nuclear projects in the Middle East and North Africa regions. The Memorandum was signed by the General Director of CNIITMASH Dr. Orlov…
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