KULIKOV WARNS OF STATE BANKRUPTCY.

Russian first deputy prime minister Anatoly Kulikov warned a group of financial officials on May 5 that the state is hovering on the edge of bankruptcy. Kulikov claims that 44 percent of the federal taxes supposedly collected in the first quarter of the year were in the form of tax waivers and offsets. (Interfax, May 5) Other government officials have not commented directly on Kulikov’s remarks, generally claiming that the reported figures for tax collection (about 60 percent of the planned level) represent cash receipts.

Change in Rosneft Leadership Protested.