winthrop88

2008-03-22T19:52:00.003-04:00

I don't want to make any excuses, but one of the reasons I have neglected winthrop88 is because I happen to work for one of the companies that's dominating the financial news lately. So, yeah, a lot of goings on at work.

I will continue to focus on winthrop360, which for those of you who don't know is a Russia/geopolitical analysis blog. I really give it to the hypocrites in the media, for example. It's a cool blog and requires less daily upkeeping.

For Russian news, I'm sure you know the sites, but here are the ones I routinely go to: RIA Novosti, Google News, and Robert Amsterdam. It's also great to check out what Russophobes are saying, so I also go to RFE/RL, Eurasia Daily Monitor, La Russophobe, and The Moscow Times

2008-03-14T11:10:00.001-04:00

Premen Addy (The Pioneer, "India Owes Much to Russia": Russophobia is the infantile disorder Lenin believed Left-wing Communism to be. Russophobia is clearly a British brand, having found expression in the British Press almost two centuries ago in the aftermath of Waterloo and Napoleon's fall from grace. There was a subsequent waxing and waning through the 19th century. The Great Game was how Kipling described thrust and counter thrust on the outer reaches of the Tsarist and British imperial dominions. In Britain music hall songs gave the contest an inebriating edge.

The Tsar was entombed by history after World War I and the Communists took over the reins of power in Moscow. The wartime interlude of Anglo-Russian friendship was duly buried as the 20th century mutation of the Great Game unfolded. In keeping with the spirit of the age it was a less sporting affair. British-sponsored Allied intervention in Russia intensified the country's civil war and lay the country to waste. Russia survived its ordeal by fire but Anglo-Russian relations became fragile. Within a decade the affair of the 'Zinoviev Letter', a British forgery as it turned out, brought them to breaking point.

Come Hitler, and Britain and the USSR were again allies in a titanic struggle. On a visit to Moscow, Winston Churchill, one of the architects of the Allied intervention, asked Joseph Stalin whether he could forgive him. "Only God can forgive," was the former seminarian's memorable reply. With the Soviet Union disappearing into the mists and Communism an increasingly distant memory, there was initially much high-flown talk of a new era of Russian-Western co-operation. Co-operation on whose terms, pray? The sole superpower's, of course.

But Russia is too large, too rich in natural resources and human capital, too proud to bend its knees to foreign diktat. Gifted with an endurance almost beyond imagination, Russia has broken free of the yoke of the Golden Horde, defeated a Swedish king and a Prussian emperor and a succession of Ottoman sultans before vanquishing the great Napoleon himself. The demolition of Hitler's legions and the hoisting of the Soviet flag atop the Reichstag in Berlin in May 1945 was as complete a victory as the world is likely to ever see.

The recent blizzard of Russophobia in Britain may be likened to an old film much the worse for wear. President Vladimir Putin's troubles in Chechnya gave a faint glimmer of hope to his Western critics, but the iron fist of Russian statecraft soon put paid to the territory's Islamist insurgency. Russia gave notice that it was no passive morsel ready for absorption in the digestive tract of the House of Islam.

Staunch supporters of Gen Pervez Musharraf in London and Washington have attempted to earn brownie points with allegations of Russia's poor human rights record. Edward Lucas, the Economist's guru, has issued incontinent appeals for a revival of the Cold War. Wiser counsels appear to have prevailed as British businessmen head for Moscow to join the lengthening queue for a slice of Russia's $ 250 billion road-building contracts.

There seems to be a subconscious Anglo-American resentment that the old USSR had something to do with India's emergence as an independent sovereignty in word and in deed. India's freedom in 1947 came in the shadow of the Great Game. It was fondly hoped that it would join the serried ranks of the West's Third World faithful as Islamic Pakistan had done. Accepted that the West's primary target was the Soviet Union, not India, but Pakistan's atavistic ambitions included more immediately the re-conquest of the entire subcontinent for Islam and, at a further remove, possibly that of the Eurasian heartland as well.

The Pakistani tribal invasion of Jammu & Kashmir in October 1947 touched a sensitive chord in Delhi, which it clearly did not do in Washington. The US State Department's Pakistan desk officer in 1949 excoriated India's "inflexible attitude with regard to Kashmir," suggesting "national traits which in time, if not controlled, could make India Japan's successor in Asiatic imperialism. In such a circumstance a strong Muslim bloc under the leadership of Pakistan friendly to the US, might afford a desirable balance of power in South Asia".

In time Maoist China, in pursuit of an imperial restoration of Han power (a goal shared with Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang) invaded Tibet as Hitler had Sudetenland, following which Sino-Indian ties slid into an abyss of deepening discord. Beijing's relationship with Moscow experienced a similar, parallel deterioration.

Beijing aligned with Islamabad as Moscow did with New Delhi. The Sino-Indian border war of 1962 foreshadowed those on the Sino-Soviet frontier in the late-1960s, a further dimension being added when China invaded Vietnam in February 1979, "to teach it a lesson as India had been taught a lesson", said Deng Xiaping. Earlier, in 1971, the Sino-American rapprochement led to both becoming Pakistan's patrons in Islamabad's war with India, stemming from the Pakistan's genocide in East Pakistan and the consequent Bengali liberation struggle.

The Sino-US accord during this conflict prompted IF Stone, doyen of American radicals, to pronounce: "The world has seen strange bedfellows before but never in a stranger and bloodier bed." But South Asia's power balance was altered permanently in India's favour, thanks to India's victory, to which the USSR made a critical strategic contribution through the Indo-Soviet Treaty of August 9, 1971.

Following the Soviet Union's dissolution, the Financial Times columnist Joe Rogaly advised India to settle the Jammu & Kashmir dispute with Pakistan (on Pakistan's terms presumably), cut the defence budget -- "after the Russians have been paid off for what they have supplied". India's relationship with Moscow had to go as "we now live in one-superpower world, and any acquiescence in bloody attempts to suppress secessionist movements will depend upon the US".

It is for India a wholly different ball park today. The India-US relationship is driven by a new, creative dynamic of which, one hopes, the India-US nuclear deal will shortly become the prime symbol. Civil societies in both countries are discovering each other's special strengths -- which bodes well for the future.

The continuing upward trajectory of the time-tested Indo-Russian partnership, born of the convergence of national interests, is equipped to reach new frontiers of endeavour and achievement.

No longer a basket case, India's economic and technological assets are increasingly appreciated abroad. It is perceived as a receptacle of hard and soft power, even if it takes longer to transmit these into a coherent diplomatic discourse.

What might have been reduced to a mewling coolie state appears at last to have come of age. For this, India owes much to Russia story reference

2008-03-14T10:50:00.002-04:00

Vladimir Putin increases health examination standards in Russia story

2008-03-14T10:47:00.000-04:00

The European Union will continue to depend on ex-Soviet transit states for the delivery of Russian gas even after the opening of two planned pipelines to bypass such routes, a Moscow-based EU official said. Torsten Woellert, EU policy officer for energy in Russia, said capacity limits and uncertain planning would restrict impact of the major Nord Stream and South Stream pipelines that are viewed in some EU states as a godsend for energy security. "Neither of them will stop Russia and Europe's reliance on transit countries such as Ukraine and Belarus for Russian gas," Woellert told Reuters in an interview story

2008-03-14T10:45:00.001-04:00

Russia's Gazprom sees higher 2008 output, exports story

2008-03-14T10:45:00.000-04:00

Microsoft and Intel teamed up on Thursday with a noncommercial partnership to create an industry alliance to help develop the country's IT sector story

2008-03-14T10:39:00.000-04:00

Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: The report is yet another demonstration of the "double standards" in U.S. human rights policy. It clearly exhibits a division of human rights for external and domestic consumption. How else can one explain that the United States - which has essentially legalized torture, applies capital punishment to minors, denies responsibility for war crimes and massive human rights abuses in Iraq and Afghanistan, refuses to join a series of human rights treaties - distortedly comments on the situation in other countries? Meanwhile, the U.S. uses the struggle to spread democracy and the defense of human rights as a cover, totally disregarding systemic problems within its own country.

But then we did not expect from the State Department's latest opus an objective assessment of the human rights situation in Russia. After all, the U.S. has long since been regarding human rights as a foreign policy tool story

2008-03-14T10:37:00.000-04:00

UK, Russia: a new Iron curtain? story

2008-03-14T10:35:00.000-04:00

Gazprom's CEO said on Friday that the average price for natural gas for Europe in 2008 could reach $400 per 1,000 cubic meters, 13% more than previously expected. "The price in Europe now exceeds $370. We believe the average price in 2008 could be $378 and could even reach $400 per 1,000 cubic meters," Alexei Miller said at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Gazprom also announced plans on Friday to hold talks soon with importers of Central Asian natural gas following an announcement by regional producers that they would charge European-level prices from 2009. Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan said on Tuesday that they would begin exporting their natural gas at European-level prices from 2009. "The switchover to market pricing principles requires serious dialogue, so we are planning to start talks without delay," Miller said. Kazmunaigaz, the Kazakh gas monopoly, warned on Thursday about the possibility that it could raise tariffs to a European price level for the transit of Central Asian gas via Kazakhstan. The Gazprom CEO said the company was currently switching to market gas contracts with the former Soviet republics, and was already using market pricing for gas supplies to the Baltic nations story

2008-03-14T10:32:00.000-04:00

Veteran U.S. newsman, Dan Rather, has told Russia Today that the United States has neglected its relationship with Russia, which has led to a fundamental misunderstanding of the country by America’s government and media story

2008-03-14T10:31:00.001-04:00

M K Bhadrakumar: The implications are obvious. Russia would be willing to cooperate with NATO, but on an equal and comprehensive basis, and, secondly, the sort of selective engagement of Russia by NATO that the US has been advocating will be unacceptable to Moscow. Significantly, Putin frontally questioned the standing of NATO's monopoly of conflict resolution in Afghanistan...

The million-dollar question is whether there is political will on the part of the Bush administration to reach a "strategic consensus" over Afghanistan with Russia at the forthcoming NATO summit. Clearly, Moscow is willing. NATO old-timers such as France and Germany, too, are conscious that the alliance may suffer a defeat in Afghanistan, which would be a catastrophic blow to its standing, and that NATO and Russia after all share the same goals in Afghanistan.

The Kremlin has badly cornered the Bush administration. Taking Russia's help at this critical juncture makes eminent sense for NATO. The alliance is struggling to cope with the war in Afghanistan. By the analogy of Iraq, some observers estimate that a force level close to half a million troops will be required to stabilize Afghanistan, given its size and difficult terrain.

But cooperation with Russia involves NATO embarking on cooperation with CSTO and possibly with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as well. (Russian ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, addressing the Security Council in New York on Wednesday, proposed that for effectively combating drug trafficking originating from Afghanistan, a system of security rings promoted by Russia in the Central Asian region in recent years would be useful and that the potential of CSTO and SCO should be utilized.)

What worries the US is that any such link up between NATO and CSTO and SCO would undermine its "containment" policy toward Russia (and China), apart from jeopardizing the US global strategy of projecting NATO as a political organization on the world arena.

The most damaging part is that Russia-NATO cooperation will inevitably strengthen Russia's ties with European countries and that, in turn, would weaken the US's trans-Atlantic leadership role in the 21st century.

At the meeting of the foreign ministers of the alliance at Brussels on March 6, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner urged the NATO Council to "take into account Russia's sensitivity and the important role it plays". Moreover, he argued, relations with Russia are already strained over Kosovo and the US's planned missile defense shield based in Europe, and should not be subjected to further strain. The French newspaper Le Monde quoted him as saying, "We [France] think that EU-Russia relations are absolutely important. And France is not the only country wanting to maintain a relationship with Russia as a great nation." (France is assuming the rotating EU presidency in July.)

Indeed, France is not alone in this respect. Germany also has lately shifted to equidistance between the US and Russia on global security issues and is reaching out once again - reminiscent of the Gerhard Schroeder era - as a strategic partner to Russia in European Union-Russia relations...

Washington faces an acute predicament insofar as Moscow won't settle for selective engagement by NATO as a mere transit route but will incrementally broaden and deepen the engagement, and major European allies might welcome it. Moscow insists on the involvement of the CSTO and even SCO. On the other hand, Russia's involvement could invigorate the NATO mission in Afghanistan and ensure that the mission is not predicated on the highly unpredictable factor of Pakistan's partnership.

Will Washington bite? Putin, with his trademark fighting spirit of a black belt in karate, could well be counting that his presidency still has five or six weeks to go and that is a lot of time for making Russia NATO's number one partner globally and ensuring a durable place for Russia within the common European home.

At the very least, history comes full circle when Putin arrives in Bucharest in the next 18 days for the gala 60th anniversary summit of the alliance. That would be 54 years since the Soviet Union suggested it should join NATO to preserve peace in Europe story

2008-03-14T10:31:00.000-04:00

Russia's foreign minister assured leaders of Islamic states on Friday that the country intends to remain a strong ally to the Muslim world on all international issues. Sergei Lavrov is attending a two-day summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in the capital of Senegal, Dakar, which started on Thursday. "As a multinational and multi-confessional society with a centuries-long history, Russia is also part of the Islamic world," he emphasized.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a letter of greetings to participants and guests of the eleventh summit of the OIC, noting that deeper friendship, cooperation with Islamic world is Russia's strategic course story story2 story3

2008-03-14T10:30:00.000-04:00

The world's biggest mining company BHP Billiton will take part in the exploration of the Eeisk-Tagul copper nickel field in Russia's Irkutsk region. Its involvement comes as part of the company's strategic alliance with Norilsk Nickel story

2008-03-14T10:29:00.000-04:00

Anglo-Dutch oil major Royal Dutch Shell is eyeing a high-sulphur gas project in Russia's Astrakhan, the Web site of the southern region's governor reported on Thursday. "We have always paid great importance to the Caspian region, where we have been for over a hundred years," the head of Shell in Russia Chris Finlayson was quoted as saying to the regional governor Alexander Zhilkinym.

Finlayson underlined Shell's interests in the development of sulphur dioxide gas. The company already extracts and processes it in Canada, the United States and Oman. "A large-scale mining and extraction development would play a larger role in increasing the capacity of the South Stream pipeline," Finlayson was quoted as saying, adding that the resources in Astrakhan are "staggering even on a world scale" story

2008-03-14T10:28:00.000-04:00

Foreign banks eager to make Russia entry story

2008-03-14T10:27:00.001-04:00

Russian steelmaker Evraz announced Friday it will buy Canada's IPSCO for $4 billion story

2008-03-14T10:27:00.000-04:00

Russia's major diamond producer, Alrosa, plans to build two electric power plants in Namibia, the Rough & Polished agency said on Thursday, citing the company's president story

2008-03-14T10:26:00.001-04:00

Russian diamond miner Alrosa plans to increase its investments in Angola from the currently estimated $300-400 million, its chief executive Sergei Vybornov was quoted as saying on Thursday story

2008-03-14T10:26:00.000-04:00

Italy's Enel reportedly to invest $3.1 bln in Russia by 2013 story

2008-03-14T10:25:00.001-04:00

Ukraine says seeking long-term gas deal with Russia story

2008-03-14T10:25:00.000-04:00

Investment in Russia's IT sector expected to soar story

2008-03-10T19:53:00.000-04:00

Eventually, Russia will become an assertive global technology "leader" that can tell the world: "We will be successful whatever happens. If you want, we can do it together. Otherwise, we'll still do it," Dvorkovich said story

2008-03-10T19:39:00.000-04:00

Russia's foreign and defense ministers will leave for Paris on Monday to meet with their French counterparts for bilateral security negotiations. The seventh Franco-Russian Cooperation Council for Security Issues will be held on Tuesday, involving Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner, and Russian and French defense ministers Anatoly Serdyukov and Herve Morin story story2 story3

2008-03-10T19:37:00.001-04:00

The complete lack of direct contact between the Russian and British leaders has alarmed the U.K. Foreign Office, the Daily Mail reported. President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Gordon Brown have not had a single conversation since Putin rang to congratulate the premier on taking office on June 27 last year, the British tabloid said.

The paper cited diplomats as saying Russian attempts to establish contact had been "blocked by a stubborn Downing Street." "Brown should have spoken to Putin. The real power will remain with Putin and there can be no repair in relations between our countries without the main man being involved," a Russian diplomat was quoted by the paper as saying.

"The current silence is the worst since the Soviet old guard of Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko were in the Kremlin." Former Prime Minister Tony Blair held regular conversations with Putin, with whom he was reportedly on first-name terms. A British diplomat told the Daily Mail: "Part of the problem is that Brown does not have Blair's charm or his ability to defuse difficult situations. Also, he is not particularly interested in foreign affairs, or at least not the traditional power balances" story

2008-03-10T19:33:00.001-04:00

Deborah Zabarenko: With oil above $100 a barrel and Arctic ice melting faster than ever, some of the world's most powerful countries -- including the United States and Russia -- are looking north to a possible energy bonanza. This prospective scramble for buried Arctic mineral wealth made more accessible by freshly melted seas could bring on a completely different kind of cold war, a scholar and former Coast Guard officer says story

2008-03-10T19:31:00.000-04:00

John Vinocur: Germany likely to pose challenge for McCain... Frank-Walter Steinmeier enters here. He is the Social Democratic foreign minister who was chief of staff for Gerhard Schröder, before the former chancellor transmogrified into a Gazprom lobbyist and P.R. man. In a speech in Berlin, Steinmeier sounded as if he was calling for the future of Europe's relationship with Russia to be placed on a similar level of weight and value as its involvement with the United States. In Germany, that has the ring of "equidistance" - one of the fantasies of the Schröder-era that Merkel promised to bury. Talking of Europe, Steinmeier said, "Working on a 'peace order,' which includes our trans-Atlantic allies just as it does our eastern neighbors, is and remains today our essential mission and responsibility" story

2008-03-10T19:25:00.001-04:00

Edward Lucas: Russians live a great deal better than they used to, because living standards have shot up and life is a lot more stable and predictable...

I think where Russia does have a point is on strategic nuclear weapons in space. Russia is still the second power after the United States and this administration has been rather cavalier, to put it mildly, in its treatment of Russia on that. We tore up the ABM treaty and didn't launch proper talks on a new big treaty on nuclear weapons. It would be in America's interest to have deep cuts on both sides and rough parity, because dominance in nuclear weapons doesn't make you safer, it just makes the other guy twitchier and therefore potentially more risky story

2008-03-10T19:24:00.002-04:00

Sotheby's, the biggest seller of Russian art, is aiming to raise as much as 3.8 million pounds ($7.7 million) at its second annual auction of postwar and contemporary Russian art in London on March 12. The sale offers 155 lots, including works by leading Soviet- era underground artists Erik Bulatov and Oleg Vassiliev and works by Russia's current art sensation, AES+F, a foursome from Moscow that produces installations, photos and videos.

Russia's economy has grown for nine consecutive years, creating a pool of collectors willing to spend lavishly. Most purchases have been 19th-century and pre-World War II works, but in the past two years interest in postwar art has increased story

2008-03-10T19:24:00.001-04:00

Russia announces 285 scholarships for Vietnamese students story

2008-03-10T19:22:00.002-04:00

Russia's new-car market is expected to record at least three million sales in 2008, as against 2.5 million in 2007, reported Automotive News, quoting senior executives from General Motors and Ford. Chris Lacey, executive director of central and eastern Europe for General Motors, has said that the growth in the market will, however, not result in the loss of market share by domestic automakers story

2008-03-10T19:22:00.001-04:00

Georgia pays $2 mln debt to resume air links with Russia story

2008-03-10T19:21:00.000-04:00

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday congratulated Russia's President-elect Dmitry Medvedev on his landslide victory and hoped for deepening bilateral relations story

2008-03-10T19:19:00.000-04:00

British companies are set to make hundreds of millions of pounds in revenue from the Kremlin's ambitious plans for a £250 billion roadbuilding programme. The Kremlin wants to start one of the most ambitious roadbuilding programmes ever, building 50,000km of roads in the next six years, at a cost of £2 million per kilometre. The plan includes tunnels, bridges and motorways between big cities and to borders with neighbouring countries.

British consultancy and law firms have won contracts advising the Government. For example, Ernst & Young have advised on the £5 billion Moscow ring road project, for which bids are in tender, while Freshfields helped St Petersburg to put together a PPP deal for the region. British banks and consultancy firms are also in consortiums bidding for some of the biggest deals. HSBC is working with Gazprombank and Basic Element, the investment firm led by Oleg Deripaska, the billionaire, in bidding for a contract to build a £4 billion toll road around St Petersburg. Other British businesses hoping to capitalise on the infrastructure boom include Arup, Mace, KPMG, Mott MacDonald, Steer Davies Gleave and EC Harris. Several other multibillion-pound deals are set to be tendered in the next 18 months, including a tunnel under the Neva River in St Petersburg, a motorway from Russia to Belarus and another to the southern regions story

2008-03-10T19:16:00.000-04:00

Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov arrived in Pretoria, South Africa, on Monday for talks with the country's leaders. Ivanov is set to meet with President Thabo Mbeki and Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka during his stay, and will visit the only Russian Orthodox church in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Cooperation between Russia and Africa's richest nation has been on the rise since President Vladimir Putin's visit to the country in 2006. Russian mining companies are currently involved in projects to prospect and develop manganese deposits in the South African part of the Kalahari Desert. Other potential areas of cooperation include the construction of an aluminum plant in the country, and Russian investment in South African electric power generation story story2

2008-03-10T19:11:00.005-04:00

European governments have been told to plan for an era of conflict over energy resources, with global warming likely to trigger a dangerous contest between Russia and the west for the vast mineral riches of the Arctic. A report from the EU's top two foreign policy officials to the 27 heads of government gathering in Brussels for a summit this week warns that "significant potential conflicts" are likely in the decades ahead as a result of "intensified competition over access to, and control over, energy resources". The seven-page report, obtained by the Guardian, has been written by Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy supremo, and Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the commissioner for external relations. It predicts that global warming will precipitate security issues for Europe, ranging from energy wars to mass migration, failed states and political radicalisation.

Meanwhile, a 150-page manifesto for a new Nato, penned by five former chiefs of staff and senior Nato commanders from the US, UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands, also points to the likely friction in the Arctic as a result of climate change. With specific reference to Arctic exploration, the EU's report says: "The scramble for resources will intensify." But the retired generals complain that the EU is not tackling the issue of "protection of energy resources and their means of transportation. The EU is using soft instruments and this is unlikely to protect energy security"

Next month's Nato summit discussion of the alliance's role in energy security is fuelling speculation that western troops could by deployed as "pipeline police" in places such as the Caucasus. This was dismissed by the Nato diplomat. "Energy security and the security of installations and transportation routes are a national responsibility, not an alliance responsibility," he said. "We should be looking to offer advice and help, rather than putting boots on the ground" story story2 story3 story4 story5

2008-03-10T19:10:00.000-04:00

India awards Russia billion dollar MiG-29 upgrade story story2

2008-03-08T19:51:00.001-05:00

Yuri Zarakhovich: By splitting the West and the wider international community, the U.S.-backed declaration of independence by Kosovo has given Russia an opening. Countries concerned with separatist problems of their own, from Spain or Cyprus to China, have been unable to follow the U.S. lead in recognizing Kosovo's breakaway from Serbia. And Russia has sought to exploit the gaps that have emerged as a result...

Another after-effect of Kosovo's independence is Moscow's rallying of its hitherto reluctant CIS partners against the West. Oil-rich Azerbaijan, for example, had long begun inclining towards the West, but may be pushed back into Moscow's orbit because of Nagorno-Karabakh, a province that broke away in the 1990s and has de facto integrated with Armenia. Last week, for the first time in years, Azeri and Armenian forces clashed in a full scale fighting in Karabakh.

Even a staunchly pro-Western Georgia, furious as it is with Russia, might finally be forced back into Russia's orbit because of Kosovo. "It's indeed surrealistic," quips Japaridze darkly: "How it happens that in terms of the 'Kosovo Precedent' we, Georgians, Azerbaijani, Moldovans, have to support Russia's position and go against the West?!" story

2008-03-08T19:49:00.000-05:00

s well as restating Russia's objections to independence for Kosovo, Putin also hit out at Nato enlargement, suggesting that as it grew, the alliance was seeking to make itself a substitute for the United Nations. "You get the impression that attempts are being made to set up an organisation that would substitute for the UN," Mr Putin said, warning that if that happened "the potential for conflict would only increase" story story2

2008-03-08T19:47:00.001-05:00

Russia's outgoing president praised Russian-German relations Saturday at a meeting with the German chancellor. "I am pleased to note that we have worked well in the past years - both with the previous government and with yours," Vladimir Putin told Angela Merkel, adding that trade in the last six years grew 250% to reach over $50 billion. "Political contacts are regular, relations between public organizations are good, humanitarian and cultural relations are constantly developing," he said.

Merkel said: "During my rule, we have met many times, finding a way to talk about different issues, and it was very often a joy for me but often a big challenge." "Ties between Russia and Germany are very close and they touch upon both political contacts and economic cooperation," she said story story2 story3 story4 story5

2008-03-08T19:45:00.001-05:00

According to Russian military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer, what Moscow is doing with these incidents is providing not a threat but a message. "The message that we're back again, that we're still a kind of something, a chip off the Soviet Union, we have the capabilities, we have those heavy bombers that can carry nuclear weapons, which other nations do not have, and that we should be taken seriously," he told The World Today.

Lawrence Korb, a senior fellow at the Centre for American Progress and former assistant secretary of defence in the Reagan administration, says the US Government will recognise that their posture toward the Russians has to change. "We can just no longer assume that we can do whatever we want in the security realm without some sort of reaction," he said story

2008-03-08T19:45:00.000-05:00

Nord Stream pipeline to be built in line with schedule - Putin story

2008-03-08T19:41:00.002-05:00

Russia's outgoing president Vladimir Putin said Saturday his successor, president-elect Dmitry Medvedev will defend Russia's interests as actively as he did. "I do not think our partners will find is easier to deal with him [Medvedev]. He is a true patriot, and will defend Russia's interests on the international arena very energetically," Putin told journalists after a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel story story2 story3 story4

2008-03-07T19:44:00.000-05:00

As the NATO summit in Bucharest draws nearer it is becoming ever more evident that Tbilisi and Kiev's hopes to be put on the NATO Membership Action Plan are not going to come true. Neither the spirited bid by the Georgian President, nor the joint appeal by the heads of all the branches of the Ukrainian government have convinced the Western leaders story

2008-03-07T14:57:00.000-05:00

Russia, Tonga donate to China for snow disaster relief story

2008-03-07T14:54:00.001-05:00

LUKOIL, Russia's second-largest oil firm, said on Friday it had completed the $580 million acquisition of SNG Holdings Ltd, a group with the rights to oil fields in Uzbekistan story story2 story3

2008-03-07T14:46:00.000-05:00

Marc Kaufman: For five years or more, the United States will be dependent on the technology of others to reach the station, which American taxpayers largely paid for. To complicate things further, the only nation now capable of flying humans to the station is Russia, giving it a strong bargaining position to decide what it wants to charge for the flights at a time when U.S.-Russian relations are becoming increasingly testy.

In addition, some fear the price will be paid not only in billions of dollars but also in lost American prestige and lost leverage on the Russians when it comes to issues such as aiding Iran with its nuclear program.

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin calls the situation his "greatest regret and greatest concern." For most of the five-year gap, he said, "we will be largely dependent on the Russians, and that is terrible place for the United States to be. I'm worried, and many others are worried."

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), chairman of the subcommittee that oversees NASA, went further. "This is a very serious betrayal of American interests," he said. "This will be the first time since Sputnik when the United States will not have a significant space superiority. I remain dumbfounded that we've allowed this serious threat to our national security to develop."

The White House, Congress and the space community have known for years that the gap was looming, but there were always other priorities.

Those most involved with the issue say that its seriousness will become more glaring this summer, when negotiations with Russia begin and Congress is likely to debate whether to grant a waiver to the law that prohibits certain kinds of commerce with nations that support the Iranian or North Korean nuclear program.

Griffin has testified that while the waiver is essential, it is "unseemly, simply unseemly, for the United States -- the world's leading power and leading space power -- to be reduced to purchasing services like this. It affects, in my view, how we are seen in the world, and not for the better."

NASA's budget calls for spending $2.6 billion for transportation to the space station between fiscal 2009 and 2013. As it stands now, much of that would go to the Russians...

"What we have here is an agency that has been given a lot to do but has been starved for funds," Nelson said. "I think the gap is largely due to the administration's refusal to give NASA the funds it needs. And now we'll be forced to give billions to the Russians because we didn't spend millions before. It's the worst of all worlds"...

Despite the broad concern over NASA's future dependence on Russia, Griffin said the agency's experience with its most important space station partner has been good. The Russians helped astronauts stranded on the space station after the Columbia breakup, and they have continued to provide crew and cargo transport services -- currently as part of a $780 million, multiyear contract.

Griffin also said a new deal with the Russians has to be signed by early next year. The Russians, he said, need a three-year lead time to build a sufficient quantity of their expendable, but very dependable, Soyuz and Progress spacecraft story

2008-03-07T14:39:00.000-05:00

Jean Yves Le Gall: He is content, however, because this is just the right kind of depression compared with the one his Arianespace company was contemplating just a few years ago. This is the fire bowl, recently dug from granite, that will deflect the exhaust plume and noise away from a Soyuz rocket as the Russian vehicle lifts clear of the launch gantry on its maiden voyage from the Kourou spaceport next year....

Soyuz services at the rocket's traditional base, the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, are sold by the Arianespace subsidiary Starsem. The launcher will continue to fly from there, but bringing the vehicle to Kourou will give it an additional lift - literally... The facilities will be a facsimile of Baikonur, right down to the approximately 150m-wide, 30m-deep bowl. By making them a perfect copy, Soyuz can get straight down to business without the need to trial systems with test launches... In the following years, the Russian system will become the only way of getting to the orbiting platform until the Americans come back online with their new Orion crew ship story

2008-03-07T00:11:00.000-05:00

More foreign tourists visited Moscow last year as Russia's capital became a "more comfortable and modern" place, the city's government said. The city welcomed more than 4 million tourists from countries outside the former Soviet Union last year, a 7.5 percent increase from 2006, the city's tourism committee said Wednesday. The plurality of visitors came from Germany. "Foreign tourists' growing interest in Moscow proves that the city's image is improving abroad," committee chairman Grigory Antufeyev said in a statement. City Hall is seeking to dispel the stereotype that Moscow is unaffordable for middle-class visitors, he said story

2008-03-07T00:02:00.002-05:00

Michael Berk and Dr. Piotr Dutkiewicz: It is hard to overstate the chaos of the 1990s in Russia. Let's look at the inheritance the Yeltsin government left to Putin: In the 1990s Russia suffered the biggest transformational recession in Eastern Europe. Neither World War I or the Revolution of 1917 brought about such a dramatic drop in economic output as was seen in the 1990s.

In 1998, at the lowest point of the 1990s recession, Russia's gross domestic product was at 55 per cent of the pre-crisis peak in 1989. In the 1990s consumption decreased on average by about 33 per cent. More than a quarter of the Russian population lived at the level of absolute poverty and state institutions reached a peak of ineffectiveness bordering on dissolution of the state.

When Putin became president – just eight years ago – he had to face all of the above problems.

In an environment like that, it seems reasonable that the debate over which comes first – survival and social order or democracy – should only be conducted by the people facing those conditions. The Russians made their choice. The majority – 70 per cent to 80 per cent – chose market benefits and social order.

Compare that to the approval ratings for George Bush at around 30 per cent, or the 36 per cent who support Nicolas Sarkozy's performance...

Though foreign investment is growing dramatically in Russia, it would grow faster if there was greater transparency and stronger governance. This is an area where Canada can help.

As a partner in the G8, in the United Nations and in the global community of nations, Canada has a choice to make in how we engage with Russia. We need to bear in mind that involvement in Russia is not a philanthropic adventure, but is in our own political and economic interest.

The new man in the Kremlin will adjust current policies, including those related to Canada. We can no longer sit back and watch. We can either stand on the sidelines, wagging our fingers as this potentially great neighbour tries to right itself, or we can be a real partner and work toward building an even more stable and democratic Russia, above all for our own future story story2

2008-03-06T23:59:00.001-05:00

OPEC on Wednesday rebuffed calls from President Bush to increase oil output, instead citing "mismanagement" of the American economy as a major factor driving prices up. The cartel’s president blamed financial speculators and American economic problems, which have helped lower the value of the dollar, for the high oil prices. After the meeting, oil prices settled above $104 a barrel, a record.

President Bush, who said this week that it would be a mistake for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries not to raise production, was disappointed by the outcome of Wednesday’s meeting, according to the White House. It is the second time this year that OPEC had ignored public calls from the United States to increase supplies. In January, Mr. Bush traveled to Saudi Arabia and urged producers to open their taps. But the plea failed to sway OPEC. When the group met in February, it kept its production level unchanged story story2

2008-03-06T23:48:00.001-05:00

Ukraine's Naftogaz says ready to pay debt to Gazprom / Ukraine PM rejects gas supply deal with Russia story story2

2008-03-06T23:34:00.000-05:00

Flush with foreign reserves from oil and natural gas sales, the Kremlin is pumping tens of millions of dollars into various forms of public diplomacy. They include new media ventures to target international audiences; foundations to promote Russian language and culture around the world; conferences to charm Western opinion-makers; and nongovernmental organizations that are setting up shop in Western capitals to scrutinize the failings of Western democracy.

The Kremlin has hired the giant U.S. public relations firm Ketchum Inc. "to help the government tell its story of economic growth and opportunity for its citizens," said Randy DeCleene, an executive at the firm. He declined to further discuss the relationship, which began with the Group of Eight summit that Russia hosted in St. Petersburg in 2006.

The campaign is part of a resurgent self-confidence in Russian government and society and a conviction that the country is a global player with diplomatic, military and economic heft story

2008-03-06T23:29:00.001-05:00

Moscow has overtaken New York City as home to the most billionaires, according to Forbes magazine, with 74 of the super-rich elite now counting the Russian capital as their home. By contrast, 71 billionaires live in New York, according to the magazine's annual list, which placed London in third place with 36.

"Russia is again the dominant story in (Europe) this year. Its billionaires are just fast and fearsome. What's fascinating is that every single one of them is self made," said Forbes senior editor Luisa Kroll. "Sixteen years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia, with 87 billionaires, is the new No. 2 country behind the U.S., easily overtaking Germany, with 59 billionaires, which held the honour for six years,"" she added story story2 story3

2008-03-06T23:25:00.001-05:00

AFP: Not long ago the queues were for bread, but today Moscow residents wait in line for luxury cars, private yachts and penthouse apartments in the city that has the world's most billionaires.

The high speed transformation and is still very much in progress as the US magazine Forbes reported this week that Moscow has outstripped New York and now boasts 74 billionaires.

When a 530,000-euro (800,000-dollar) Maybach limousine was recently stolen it was almost a matter for celebration by Russian newspapers, signalling previously unimagined wealth in a city long associated with austerity.

Newspapers and magazines are bursting with stories of the super-rich and what they get up to in Moscow and in their second, third, or fourth homes abroad, much of their wealth based on Russia's vast oil, gas and other natural resources story

2008-03-06T23:21:00.001-05:00

Italy's oil and gas giant Eni and electricity company Enel plan to launch natural gas production at deposits in northwest Siberia in early 2010, Enel said on Thursday. Eni and Enel acquired the deposits in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area in 2007 through liquidation auctions of Russia's once most powerful oil firm Yukos story

2008-03-06T23:19:00.001-05:00

Enel holds 59.8 percent of Russian power generator OGK-5 after a public buyout offer, paying 2.6 billion euros ($4 billion) for the stake, the Italian power company said on Thursday. The move cements Enel's role as a major player in the Russian power sector. "It is a strategic presence for Enel in one of the largest markets undergoing liberalization in the world, one with excellent prospects for the profitability of our investments," Chief Executive Fulvio Conti said in the statement story story2 story3

2008-03-06T23:18:00.000-05:00

Italy's Enel is offering Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom a minority stake in an Italian power plant as reciprocity for gas supplies to OGK-5, Enel's chief executive said story

2008-03-06T23:17:00.000-05:00

The Armenian government authorized on Thursday the establishment of a joint venture with Russia for the additional prospecting of uranium deposits in the South Caucasus republic. Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom and the Armenian environmental ministry agreed in February to set up a joint venture on a parity basis for the additional prospecting of Armenian uranium, which will be enriched in a specialized international center in Angarsk, East Siberia story

2008-03-06T23:08:00.000-05:00

Ukraine's parliament resumed work on Thursday after more than a month of inactivity caused by opposition protests over the government's drive to integrate the country into NATO. The legislature reopened after adopting a compromise resolution to hold a referendum prior to making a decision on the country's accession to the plan. "Ukraine will make a decision to join NATO only after a national referendum, to be held on the initiative of the people, is held on the issue," the resolution reads. A recent poll carried out by Ukraine's Democratic Initiatives foundation showed that over 50% of Ukrainians would vote against joining NATO story

2008-03-06T23:07:00.001-05:00

A Russian Proton-M rocket will launch a U.S. communication satellite on March 15, the Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) said on Thursday story

2008-03-06T23:05:00.000-05:00

Russian-German trade hit a record $52.8 billion in 2007, with German investment in Russia increasing 70%, year on year, to $3.4 billion, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said on Thursday. Kamynin said bilateral cooperation was based on economic relations. "The most important task today is to increase the number of joint projects, first of all, in the sphere of high technology, including energy, aviation, outer space, car-making, transport, telecommunications and communications," Kamynin said story story2

2008-03-06T23:03:00.000-05:00

Serbia lifts visa requirements for Russians story

2008-03-06T23:00:00.002-05:00

Russia has lifted trade, economic, financial and transport sanctions on Georgia's breakaway republic of Abkhazia, and urged other CIS countries to follow suit, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. The ministry said that "due to a change of circumstances, the Russian Federation no longer considered itself bound" by a resolution on the Abkhazia-Georgia conflict, which was adopted by the CIS Heads of State Council on January 19, 1996.

It said sanctions were imposed amid a confrontation between Georgia and Abkhazia that continued after the 1992-93 war and were designed to compel Abkhazia to adopt a more flexible position, primarily on the return of refugees and other displaced persons. "Today the situation has changed drastically. The majority of ethnic Georgian refugees have returned to Abkhazia's Galsky district," the ministry said.

The Foreign Ministry of Transdnestr, the Moldovan breakaway republic which has a large ethnic Russian population, greeted Russia's decision to lift sanctions on Abkhazia, saying that this would allow Abkhazia to "stabilize the socio-economic sector and boost foreign trade." "Russia's actions are a clear sign that the support of countrymen abroad is a priority for Moscow," the Transdnestr Foreign Ministry said in a statement story story2 story3 story4 story5 story6 story7

2008-03-06T22:52:00.002-05:00

Russia is least susceptible to worsening global growth among 18 European emerging-market nations because of its lower dependence on external financing and "the sheer scale of monetary and fiscal reserves," Standard & Poor's said Wednesday. Russia was also the only country to run a current-account surplus in 2007, S&P said story

2008-03-06T22:51:00.000-05:00

Sovereign wealth funds not harmful: U.S. officials story

2008-03-06T21:19:00.000-05:00

Jack Ewing: Amid economic uncertainty in the U.S. and Western Europe, one bright spot for automakers is Russia. The nation’s energy riches are breeding more people with the wherewithal for both luxury and mass market cars, numerous auto execs told BusinessWeek at the Geneva auto show.

At the high end, Russia has become one of the most promising European markets for Toyota’s Lexus brand. In 2007 Russians bought about 13,000 Lexus cars, says Karl Schlicht, head of Lexus in Europe. That’s almost a quarter of Lexus’ European total. Russia will overtake Britain as Lexus’ strongest market in Europe by next year at the latest, says Schlicht. As a Porsche exec points out, Russia has the kind of buyers that premium carmakers need, namely wealthy people anxious to show off their success.

Mass market carmakers are also benefiting. Ford Motor Co. sold about 175,000 vehicles in Russia in 2007, up from just 4,000 in 2000. The company is also optimistic that models such as the new Kuga mid-sized SUV will sell well in Russia. “We’ll see some weakness in Western Europe balanced out by increasing strength in places like Russia,” says John Fleming, CEO of Ford Europe story

2008-03-06T21:17:00.001-05:00

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed caution Wednesday on the hopes of Georgia and Ukraine moving closer towards membership of NATO, ahead of alliance talks on their aspiration story story2 story3

2008-03-06T21:15:00.000-05:00

Ernst & Young said Thursday that the Russian motor vehicle market grew by 57% in 2007 to over $50 billion. By volume of sales, the Russian car market is sixth in the world and third in Europe. The heavy truck market became Europe's biggest in 2007. "By 2012 Russia will overtake Germany and Italy to become the biggest market in Europe in terms of motor vehicle sales," Ernst & Young manager Ivan Bonchev said story

2008-03-06T21:14:00.000-05:00

Russia is proposing to supply some of the helicopters the United Nations has been urgently seeking to back up the U.N./African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur, Moscow's U.N. ambassador said on Wednesday story story2

2008-03-05T23:26:00.001-05:00

Jeremy Leggett: Total boss Christophe de Margerie warned that oil production may be nearing its peak. He now believes the world will never be able lift production from the current level of 85m barrels per day. One hundred is out of the question, he says, much less the 115m that so many optimists assume. The CEO of ConocoPhillips agrees with him. The oil companies duly announced their 2007 results, and masked in statistics combining oil and gas production was the alarming fact that all, bar Total, had suffered falling oil production. This is not what we expect of an oil-addicted world on course for 115m barrels a day.

The CEO of Hess was the next oil boss to blow a whistle, telling an oil industry conference in Houston that oil companies, oil-producing countries, and consumers need to act now. "Given the long lead times of at least 5-10 years from discovery to production," he said, "an oil crisis is coming and sooner than most people think. Unfortunately, we are behaving in ways that suggest we do not know there is a serious problem."

Sixty per cent of the world's oil production is from countries that have already peaked. As for the tar sands, said John Hess, "their contributions to supply are not material enough to bridge the gap in oil requirements over the next 10 years" story

2008-03-05T23:23:00.001-05:00

Stephen Kotkin: From December 1999 to the end of 2007, a period overlapping the presidency of Mr. Putin, the value of Russia’s stock market increased from $60 billion to more than $1 trillion. When John F. Welch Jr. ran General Electric, from 1981 to 2001, the value of the company’s stock rose from around $14 billion to more than $400 billion.

Fortune magazine named Mr. Welch “manager of the century” in 1999. No one is suggesting that Fortune give Mr. Putin the same title — except, perhaps, all those Russians who have consistently backed his strong-arm policies.

Most Russians do not love Mr. Putin per se, but they love Mr. Putin’s Russia. They love being middle class. They love planning for the future... average wages in Russia are leaping 10 percent a year, in real terms.

The growing millions of Russian homeowners, vacationers and investors may seem inclined to authoritarianism or just apolitical. But they certainly value a strong ruble, moderate inflation, affordable mortgages, access to higher education, satellite television, Internet connections, passports, foreign visas and — above all else — no economic shocks.

If Mr. Medvedev, 42, a former legal counsel at a Russian pulp conglomerate, can continue all that, and occasionally make a show of standing up to the West, he’ll be a hero, too. Still, a gigantic question mark hangs over this succession — and not solely because Mr. Putin may stick around in an ambiguous capacity.

Russia stands at a crossroads bigger than the one it faced in 1998, when it drastically devalued the ruble and defaulted on its debt. That searing debacle turned out to be the prelude to a spectacular resurgence, built in part on newfound fiscal restraint and the boom in the price of oil and other natural resources. But it also was built on a relentless, China-driven rise in overall global demand that, with the cheaper ruble, helped indirectly call back from the dead Russia’s vast unused capacity inherited from the Soviet era.

So after nearly 10 years of robust growth, the Kremlin faces a quandary. Expectations have been raised, and now many Russians, though wary of upsetting social stability, want not just high growth, but also a new modernization driven by innovation and broader entrepreneurialism. They want their whole country to reach a Western European standard of living — a standard that, historically, very few countries outside the region have attained story

2008-03-05T23:15:00.000-05:00

A senior NATO official said on Wednesday the alliance was asking for Russia`s help in Afghanistan, particularly with transporting NATO forces and equipping the Afghan army. Robert Simmons, NATO's special envoy for the Caucasus and Central Asia, told journalists that Russian help could include "regular use of Russian transport means to get supplies to NATO forces in Afghanistan, possible Russian contributions to the re-equipment of the Afghan army." He said that NATO and Russia had "common ground" on issues to do with Afghanistan and that he would be holding discussions with Russian officials on possible help from Moscow story story2

2008-03-05T23:14:00.000-05:00

Russia national coach to receive award from President Putin story

2008-03-05T23:03:00.002-05:00

Russian President Putin praised the outgoing U.S. ambassador on Wednesday for his willingness to compromise despite antagonism between the two countries. Putin thanked Ambassador William Burns for trying to find solutions to their many difficulties. "We have quite a few problems. But there was always the most important thing - and I'd like to thank you for precisely this approach - there was always desire to seek mutually acceptable decisions, compromises," Putin said.

Putin highlighted the importance of warm relations with the United States on non-proliferation and global security. "Despite the problems and disagreements we have some common ground in key areas. What I mean are the problem areas of nuclear non-proliferation and global security issues," he said. Putin also spoke of the growing bilateral economic ties with the United States.

Burns is due to take up the number three post in the State Department as undersecretary of state for political affairs. Speaking in Russia, he said he was convinced their countries had much to gain from working together. "From my point of view, it would be a grave mistake to disregard this fact because our partnership is important not just for both our countries, but for the whole world," he said story story2

2008-03-05T22:49:00.002-05:00

Dan Simpson: The United States and Russia share some common elements. One of them is that both countries are drawing to the end of eight years of rule by relatively young presidents, George W. Bush, 61, and Vladimir Putin, 55. It is easy to see how the similarities between their situations when they first met near the beginning of their presidencies in 2001 could have suggested to Mr. Bush and Mr. Putin that they could have a fruitful, cooperative relationship.

But since then, they have drifted apart personally and their two countries are increasingly at odds after Mr. Bush's government went on its Iraq "tear," throwing away whatever commonality Mr. Putin's Russia felt with it in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Mr. Putin and Russia were among the first to express profound sympathy and promise full cooperation with the United States in responding to the terrorist assault of that September day. Russia considered at that point that it, too, was fighting terrorism in Chechnya and rebel Chechens in Russia itself...

Back to the point of departure between Mr. Putin's Russia and Mr. Bush's America at the beginning of their runs in 2001. Both had succeeded presidents who had been relatively successful and had then lost their moral tone and ability to lead their countries.

Boris Yeltsin had pulled Russia up by its bootstraps from the ruins of the old Soviet Union through courage, bravado, vodka, and imagination. His lack of management skills and laissez-faire approach had, in the name of modernization and a free market, allowed the Russian economy to turn into the equivalent of a rugby scrum. The country was ripe for the disciplined heavy hand of Mr. Putin.

The U.S. economy had flourished under President Bill Clinton and he had kept America away from military adventures. He had also prepared America spiritually for the desiccated, early-to-bed leadership of Mr. Bush, who - probably through carelessness - allowed himself to be sold an unwise, destructive-to-America war.

Mr. Putin hopped on the wave of rising oil prices and saw Russia's gross domestic product per capita grow by 350 percent in a decade. Capital investment in Russia last year rose 21 percent. Its construction market grew by 20 percent.

The American economy is another story. Gas prices are ruining the lives of anyone who isn't well-to-do. The rest is foreclosures, inflation, stagnant wages, and a president and vice president who came from the oil industry and are ideologically opposed to any measure that might reduce oil company profits. High oil prices are Russia's gain, Americans' loss.

Russia under Mr. Putin has brought Chechnya more or less under control by giving it increased self-government and cash. There remain 40,000 Russian troops there, as well. Russia also closed its last base in neighboring Georgia and Mr. Putin paid the first visit of a top Russian leader since Stalin to Iran late last year.

Mr. Putin selected his own successor, Dmitry Medvedev. The newly elected president, 42, speaks English, is a lawyer, and has headed Russia's natural gas company for years. He is considered a reliable disciple of Mr. Putin but has hinted that he may tackle some reforms, including that of Russia's corrupt, decrepit justice system. He has spoken of Russia's "universal disregard for the rule of law."

Ours, by contrast, is more limited: We have only scrapped due process of law and the right to privacy.

Unlike Mr. Putin, Mr. Bush, through his own choices and failures, has foregone nearly all influence in choosing his successor. He selected Dick Cheney twice as vice president, avoiding competition as well as the traditional anointing of a Republican crown prince.

Mr. Putin apparently will be Russia's prime minister now, continuing as a player. After January, Mr. Bush will be left to make paid speeches, clear brush, and hang out in his new, partly foreign-financed library at Southern Methodist University.

Who would have guessed in 2001? story

2008-03-05T22:47:00.001-05:00

According to Rio Tinto CEO Paul Skinner, the booming economies of China, India and Russia will set off the slowdown of the United States and other developed nations. Amid other things, this assumption is proved by the fact that investors no longer withdraw money from emerging markets in time of another economic collapse. Instead, they tend to dispose of the U.S. assets and buy the assets in developing countries, which appear more secure to them. The stable economic growth will continue in emerging economies this year, particularly in the ones with huge gold and foreign exchange reserves story

2008-03-05T22:45:00.000-05:00

As the dollar slid under 24 roubles at Moscow's exchange kiosks, many average Russians wondered in which currency they should keep their savings. Governments around the world are also diversifying their reserves, and Russia hopes some of them will consider the rouble as an option.

At a Moscow conference on Wednesday, experts and economists said the rouble has a chance of becoming a regional reserve currency. Yaroslav Lissovolik, Chief Economist of Deutsche Bank, shares this view: "The weight of Russia in the world economy has grown significantly, its contribution to world trade has substantially increased and it has the third-largest stock of Forex reserves in the world. There’s every reason to expect the rouble to become a reserve currency" story

2008-03-05T22:35:00.000-05:00

Coke chief upbeat about Russian market. In the long-run, Russia will move toward a more open economy and society because more Russians are entering the middle class, Isdell said. "The middle class are the underpinning of change in any society," he said "And as they come into the real economy, a genuine consumer economy arises — a consumer economy that allows businesses like us to actually thrive and to flourish" story

2008-03-05T22:31:00.001-05:00

BusinessWeek: Lawmakers on Wednesday will hear about the nation's ability, or lack thereof, to provide radioactive fuel as an agreement with a major foreign supplier soon will be slashed in half. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing, slated to begin at 3 p.m. EST, will focus on the country's capacity for domestic uranium enrichment. Shipments from Russia, which supplies about 40 percent of the fuel for U.S. commercial reactors, are due to be cut roughly in half by 2013 story story2

2008-03-05T22:29:00.000-05:00

Russia's no. 2 oil firm LUKOIL said it had fully replaced oil and gas production with new reserves in 2007, but reported a decline in crude reserves. The company said the data audited by U.S. Miller and Lents showed proved oil and gas reserves stood at 20.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent as of the end of 2007, slightly up from 20.36 billion a year ago story story2

2008-03-05T22:28:00.000-05:00

A Dutch energy company is to generate renewable energy in Kolsky peninsula story

2008-03-05T22:27:00.002-05:00

According to the Federal Statistics Service, in 2007 Russia exported 16.7 mln tonnes of grain, up 49.5% as compared to 2006 story

2008-03-05T22:26:00.001-05:00

Electric power stations of RAO UES Russia increased electric power production by 10.1 billion KWh in January-February 2008, a 7.8% growth as compared with the same period of 2007 story

2008-03-05T22:23:00.000-05:00

Russia, China emerge as key gold producers story

2008-03-05T22:21:00.000-05:00

Football icon Oleg Blokhin has spoken out in favour of a joint football league with teams from Russia and Ukraine story

2008-03-05T22:13:00.002-05:00

Days before Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to Moscow, Germany's foreign minister has called on Europe to accept Russian President-elect Dmitry Medvedev's offer of partnership. Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Tuesday, March 4, emphasized the importance of cooperation between Europe and Russia, particularly in areas such as energy security, climate change, armament and counter-terrorism. "Russia is and remains an indispensible strategic partner if we want to secure peace in Europe," Steinmeier said. "It's not only we who need Russia -- Russia also needs us."

Andreas Brecher, a Merkel spokesman, said that the timing of the trip was a "good sign" for the future of bilateral relations. Russian and German officials will discuss the entire spectrum of bilateral ties, including economic cooperation and energy, Petz said. "Russian-German relations are distinguished by very regular political dialogue at the highest level," said a Russian Foreign Ministry official. Merkel will arrive Saturday for a one-day visit to Moscow, where she will meet separately with outgoing President Vladimir Putin and Medvedev story story2

2008-03-05T22:05:00.001-05:00

Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov convened a meeting yesterday, which focused on creating an oil exchange in St. Petersburg story

2008-03-05T22:04:00.000-05:00

OPEC said it unanimously agreed at its production meeting here today to "support" member state Venezuela in its current legal row with US oil giant Exxon Mobil story

2008-03-05T22:02:00.001-05:00

Washington attacked Opec on Wednesday for its refusal to increase oil production on Wednesday after an unexpected drop in US crude oil inventories pushed prices to a record high. In a strongly worded criticism, President George W. Bush accused the oil producers’ cartel of damaging the US economy. Mr Bush said high oil prices were “making it harder here in America for working families to save and for farmers to be prosperous and for small businesses to grow”. He said he was “disappointed” by Opec’s decision to leave its production limits unchanged in the face of record energy prices. US oil prices on Wedneday jumped $5.04 to a record of $104.56 a barrel story story2

2008-03-05T22:01:00.001-05:00

Private investors will build 59 Olympic facilities in south Russia's Krasnodar Territory, Regional Development Minister Dmitry Kozak told the lower house of Russia's parliament on Wednesday. The minister said a total of 243 facilities would be built for the Olympics, including 20 sports venues, 48 transport infrastructure buildings and 59 engineering infrastructure projects, as well as 11 telecom, 36 power and 33 hotel facilities. Kozak also said that 180,000 people would be employed in the construction of Olympic facilities in Sochi story

2008-03-05T22:00:00.002-05:00

Kosovo's declaration of independence has led to the "de-facto partitioning" of the Serb-dominated north from the rest of the territory - just as Russia repeatedly warned would happen, Russia's U.N. ambassador said Tuesday story

2008-03-05T21:48:00.000-05:00

he construction of the second stage of an oil pipeline being built from East Siberia to the Pacific Ocean could begin in the second half of 2009, a project manager said on Wednesday. The East Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline project is slated to pump up to 1.6 million barrels of crude per day from Siberia to Russia's Far East and then on to China and the Asia-Pacific region story story2

2008-03-05T21:47:00.004-05:00

Georgia's breakaway republics aim for recognition. Update: Parliaments in North and South Ossetia adopted at a joint session on Thursday an appeal to Russia's parliament to recognize South Ossetia's independence story story2 story3

2008-03-05T21:45:00.000-05:00

Barclays Bank pays $745 million for a place on Russian market story

2008-03-05T21:44:00.001-05:00

A sea-based Russian-Indian BrahMos supersonic cruise missile has successfully hit a designated ground target for the first time, a spokesman for the Indian manufacturer of the missile said on Wednesday story

2008-03-05T21:42:00.000-05:00

Ukraine not against letting Russia into its gas market - Tymoshenko story

2008-03-05T21:39:00.002-05:00

Ukraine pledges not to cut Russian gas transit to Europe / Yushchenko calls for resumption of gas talks with Russia / Ukraine's PM orders Naftogaz to pay gas debt to Russia / Russia and Ukraine agree to restore gas supplies story story2 story3 story4 story5 story6 story7 story8 story9

2008-03-05T21:37:00.000-05:00

Russia’s LUKOIL will likely not supply crude to Germany in March for a second month in a row due to a pricing dispute with the monopoly importer of Russian crude to the country, trading sources said on Tuesday story

2008-03-05T21:26:00.000-05:00

Vladimir Socor: Gazprom’s blitzkrieg capture of five European Union member countries for its South Stream project, preempting the EU- and U.S.-backed Nabucco project, has shattered the credibility of Brussels’ and Washington’s energy security agendas. Country after country (excepting the lone holdout, Romania) have succumbed to the Kremlin-backed project because the Western one had neither gas resources, nor investment funds to offer after five years of efforts to obtain them.

By contrast, Gazprom comes up with the gas volumes, construction funds, and supplementary incentives in the form of collateral energy projects for the countries it targets... The countries joining South Stream (Italy, Greece, Serbia) and -- even more to the point -- those defecting from Nabucco in favor of South Stream (Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria) are motivated quite unsurprisingly by short-term thinking and opportunistic calculations on the economic level. They go for deals with Gazprom because their neighbors and potential competitors do so now; Brussels lacks the instruments of a common policy for energy projects, and Washington’s eminently sound cautionary advice comes without gas or investment credits and without top-level political support...

Hungary’s incorporation into South Stream means that Gazprom has secured the final leg of the transit route for Caspian gas to Europe and the markets along that route to Vienna. The outgoing and incoming presidents of Russia, Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev, witnessed the February 28 signing ceremony in the Kremlin with barely disguised gloating, to Gyurcsany’s fawning.

Putin derided the Nabucco project: “You can build a pipeline or even two, three, or five. The question is what fuel you put through it and where do you get that fuel. If someone wants to dig into the ground and bury metal there in the form of a pipeline, please do so, we don’t object.” Sarcastically, Putin dismissed the notion of a competition between Nabucco and South Stream: “There can be no competition when one project has the gas and the other does not” (Interfax, February 28; Rossiiskaya gazeta, February 29).

Gyurcsany demonstrated that he had internalized the arguments for surrender. Citing Putin’s 2006 proposals to extend South Stream (at that time as the Blue Stream-Two version) to Hungary and on to Austria, Gyurcsany thanked profusely: “It is with satisfaction and gratitude that I see Russia doing everything it has promised to us. Hungary has realized that it had no alternative to cooperation with Russia.” He portrayed the choice of South Stream as a Hungarian national choice, in preference to Nabucco: “You were faster than the [Nabucco] project. And it is up to us to determine the tempo of implementing projects in our interest” (Interfax, Russia Television Channel One, February 28)...

In Brussels, the Russian ambassador to the European Union, Vladimir Chizhov, also felt able to deride the Nabucco project: “Nabucco is a classical example of an energy project that is being pushed to get rid of Russia. An empty pipe will bring no profits. What South Stream will be filled with is clear to us, but what Nabucco will be filled with, is clear to nobody” (Russia and CIS Business and Financial Newswire, February 29). What seems clear to Moscow is that South Stream -- if actually built -- would enable Gazprom to control Central Asian and even Iranian gas, for which the Nabucco project had been conceived.

The U.S. government made last-minute attempts to caution Hungary against rushing into the South Stream project. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matt Bryza gave several interviews to Western media, which Hungary’s media replayed, during the week prior to the Moscow signing event. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried published an article in Hungary’s leading newspaper, pointing to the economic disadvantages of South Stream to Hungary and the non-transparent endgame negotiations with Moscow (AP, Reuters, February 22, 25; Nepszabadsag, February 25, 28).

Hungary’s Fidesz opposition party and even the Free Democrats, junior partners to the Socialists in the government coalition, are criticizing the agreement with Moscow on South Stream and demanding a full-fledged parliamentary debate. However, due to Western failures to open access to Central Asian and Iranian gas, Russia’s South Stream is winning by default story

2008-03-03T21:19:00.000-05:00

ATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Monday that NATO and Russia should discuss their differences, and he described a forthcoming meeting between NATO and Russian President Vladimir Putin as very important. "In the NATO-Russia relationship, in my opinion, the key word should be engagement," de Hoop Scheffer said during a one-day visit to Athens. "NATO cannot do without Russia, and Russia cannot do without NATO." The NATO secretary general said that although the two sides have "difficult issues to discuss... if we don't discuss them they'll stay difficult. So let's discuss them" story