Latest Articles about Middle East
TATARSTAN RETAINS PRIVILEGED RANK AMONG RUSSIAN REPUBLICS
Following the September 2004 tragedy in Beslan, the Russian State Duma adopted President Vladimir Putin's new law to eliminate the direct election of regional leaders. Now, all incoming governors in Russia are appointed by the president, subject to approval by local parliaments. Tatarstan, a republic... MORE
STATE BUDGET POSES RISKS FOR RUSSIAN ECONOMY
Last week 11 leading Russian economic experts sent a letter to Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov warning about the possible – and possibly grave – negative economic consequences from the planned massive increases in budget spending on various social programs (Vedomosti, September 30). The government is... MORE
RUSSIA UNEASY ABOUT POLAND’S RIGHTWARD SHIFT
Russia's political class is warily eyeing the government in Poland, where two center-right parties won the September 25 parliamentary elections. As relations between Moscow and Warsaw, never particularly warm, have sunk to new lows this year, the Kremlin is concerned with the possible impact of... MORE
RUSSIA WANTS TO BE MORE THAN CHINA’S SOURCE FOR RAW MATERIALS
While Moscow reiterates its pledges to beef up Russia's strategic partnership with China, some Russian officials are warning that Russia would not accept the role of raw materials supplier for China's energy-hungry economy. As Sergei Mironov, chairman of the Russian Federation Council, traveled to China... MORE
PUTIN PRAISES STABILITY AND PROMISES PROSPERITY
Yesterday, September 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin spent nearly three hours answering questions from Russians who had gathered in specially organized studios across the country. The questions had been carefully selected from over a million messages and the answers were shown live on two main... MORE
GAZPROM FIRMING UP ITS HOLD ON CENTRAL ASIAN GAS
Interviewed in the current issue of the journal Gazprom, the company's Vice-Chairman Alexander Ryazanov announces the imminent creation of a Russian-Kazakh joint venture to process gas from Kazakhstan in Russia. Gazprom and Kazakhstan's oil and gas state company, KazMunayGaz have agreed to supply gas from... MORE
IN GREAT HASTE KHODORKOVSKY FOUND GUILTY, GETS ONE YEAR LESS THAN SENTENCED
Late in the evening of September 22, the Moscow city court announced its verdict on the appeal to revisit the case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, who had been sentenced to nine years in jail by the Meshchansky district court. Normally, such appeals drag... MORE
RUSSIA WARY OF POSSIBLE WATER DISPUTE WITH CHINA
Russian regional officials, water management experts, and media have reiterated their earlier warnings that Russia could suffer economic and ecological damage as a result of Beijing's plans to siphon off some of the waters of the Irtysh River into western China. Notably, Izvestiya ran an... MORE
NEW POLICIES OF A CHECHEN REBEL LEADER: PRAGMATISM AND SELF-RELIANCE
Six months have passed since the murder of Aslan Maskhadov in the Chechen village of Tolstoi-Yurt on March 8. There was speculation after the Chechen president's death about who would replace him as rebel leader. The Russian authorities did their best to inspire an armed... MORE
RUSSIA ASSESSES THE NORTH KOREA SIX-PARTY AGREEMENT
The Russian government and media welcomed the six-party agreement about North Korea's nuclear programs announced on September 19. Izvestiya even called it a breakthrough. Deputy Foreign Minister, Alexander Alexeyev, Russia's delegate to the talks, hailed it as an historic document that would have been unimaginable... MORE