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By Roland Oliphant, Russia Profile
December 2, 2009
The ruling by an ad-hoc arbitration tribunal in the Hague on Monday, stating that Russia is bound by the European Energy Charter Treaty, opened the way for Yukos shareholders to sue the Russian government over the state’s takeover of the once-powerful oil company. Group MENATEP Ltd. (GML), the holding company that owned Yukos, called it victory and plans to sue the Russian government for $100 billion. Most commentators are skeptical that the court would award that much or that Moscow would pay up if it did. But the ruling also has implications for other foreign investors in Russia.
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By Tom Balmforth, Russia Profile
December 1, 2009
British courts on December 1 postponed their decision on extraditing London-based telecoms tycoon, Yevgeny Chichvarkin, to Russia until August next year. Chichvarkin argues he is the victim of trumped-up charges. But after the British Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on November 30 ruled-out any political or economic motivation in the charges brought against him, it was thought the magistrate’s court would rule in favor of extraditing the former owner of Yevroset, a multi-billion dollar mobile phone company. So is this another blow to British-Russia relations?
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By Svetlana Kononova, Special to Russia Profile
November 30, 2009
Russian Post, the state-owned corporation that provides most postal services in the country, has announced plans to cut 33,000 jobs (some eight percent of its workforce) next year. The layoffs are not supposed to be the result of the economic downturn, but rather a measure aimed at modernizing the enterprise and making it more efficient. But will cutting the number of staff actually help the company to serve its customers better?
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By Tom Balmforth, Russia Profile
November 17, 2009
Europe’s stalling Nabucco gas pipeline project took another blow on November 14, as Slovenia’s economy minister signed a deal in Moscow confirming Slovenia’s participation in the rival South Stream pipeline. The Russian-led project, which will deliver Russian gas to Europe, now has all the European signatory countries it needs to be completed, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence after the deal was signed. This latest development for South Stream, however, presents Nabucco’s lobby with some familiar questions. Does Nabucco make commercial sense as a project? And how much does the EU want energy diversification?
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By Tom Balmforth, Russia Profile
November 6, 2009
Russia’s ailing car industry took another blow on November 4, as America’s General Motors unexpectedly cancelled the proposed sale of its German Opel unit to a consortium of Russia’s Sberbank and Canada’s Magna. The collapse of the deal, which comes after months of negotiations, is not only a setback for Russia’s auto industry, but also represents a major blow to the government’s entire strategy for modernizing the Russian industry. By bringing in Western technology and management experience, the deal would have given Russian car makers a much-needed competitive edge, and would also have allowed Russia to gain an important foothold in European business, setting a precedent for future Russian investment projects.
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By Svetlana Kononova, Special to Russia Profile
October 26, 2009
Despite the heavy blow that the recent economic downturn has dealt to Russia’s job market, the latest signs are those of recovery, analysts say. The number of available vacancies is slowly growing, and salaries in some segments of the job market are on the rise.
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By Roland Oliphant, Russia Profile
October 22, 2009
As the nights draw in and Russians turn up their collars against the looming threat of winter, the country’s rulers turn once again to the task of drafting the budget for the coming year. Yesterday the State Duma overwhelmingly approved the first reading of Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin’s federal budget for 2010, effectively signing off on deficit spending funded by the first foreign borrowing in a decade.
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By Svetlana Kononova, Special to Russia Profile
October 19, 2009
The financial crisis has had a profound impact on Russians’ lifestyle. Previously known as a high-spending hedonist, the average Russian consumer has slashed his spending on luxuries and even on basic items such as food. And although businessmen are seeing green shoots of recovery, analysts warn that the new austerity is here to stay for the foreseeable future.
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By Graham Stack , Special to Russia Profile
October 12, 2009
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s last visit to China, when he attended the opening of the Beijing Olympics in August of 2008, went badly wrong when Georgia used the occasion to opportunistically attack South Ossetia, and the resulting war damaged relations between Russia and the West. But Putin has a chance to continue Russia’s eastward expansion on his upcoming visit to China, by signing long-term gas supply agreements between Gazprom and the China National Petroleum Corporation.
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By Roland Oliphant, Russia Profile
October 7, 2009
Statistics show that the Russian book mMarket is growing while the number of consumers is shrinking. Although Russians are still ranked as one of the most literate nations in the world, ever fewer of them actually buy books.
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