POLITICS
The first anniversary of an air crash that killed then-Polish President Lech Kaczynski near the western Russian city of Smolensk was darkened by a series of scandals. The April 2010 tragedy brought Russia and Poland closer together but its consequences could put the two countries at odds again
(Kommersant, Vedomosti)
European Parliament deputies on Sunday said their monitoring of elections in Russia could result in sanctions against Russian officials. Participants of a Moscow conference on elections suggested that President Dmitry Medvedev reform laws on elections and political parties
(Kommersant)
ECONOMY BUSINESS
The Russian government is launching a large-scale protectionist campaign in power plant engineering. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin supported an Industry and Trade Ministry idea to raise import duties for energy equipment and instructed the Economic Development Ministry to conduct antidumping probes
(Kommersant)
Tatyana Franus, a co-owner of Russian supermarket chain operator, X5 Retail Group, has founded an investment and construction group, Mavis. The group plans to become a big developer and is already building a trade center in the Moscow Region and a residential compound in the Leningrad Region
(Kommersant)
Embattled Bank of Moscow President Andrei Borodin said his “arms were twisted” to make him sell 20% of the bank’s stock to Vitaly Yusufov, a son of a former presidential envoy, who received the $1.1 billion to pay for the purchase as a loan from the Bank of Moscow
(Vedomosti, Moscow Times)
Russia will nearly overcome inflation by 2014 but there will be no breakthrough in economic development even after the 2012 presidential elections, the Economic Development Ministry said in its three-year forecast.
(Vedomosti)
Russia’s biggest cell phone operator, MTS, could sell 49% of the eponymous Belarusian company if Belarus agrees to put up a 51% stake for an open tender
(Vedomosti)
SOCIETY
Former and active members of an elite Interior Ministry unit were allegedly involved in a brawl for the right to use the premises of Moscow’s Mechta restaurant
(Kommersant)
The richest Russians have doubled their fortunes and the poorest have become 50% poorer in the past 20 years of reform, the Higher School of Economics calculated
(Vedomosti)
Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev discusses the country’s police reform
(Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
Bank of Moscow President admitted that circumstances could force him to ask for political asylum in Britain
(Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Moskovskiye Novosti)
ENERGY
The Russian government should revise the taxation system for the gas industry, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said. According to his ministry’s data, Russian energy giant Gazprom’s revenues grew while the share of taxes and customs dues dropped
(Moskovskiye Novosti)
Deputy Chief Prosecutor Yury Zolotov ordered a re-examination of a case of criminal negligence at the Mayak nuclear processing facility in the Urals after local media received an anonymous letter warning of a “nuclear Armageddon” at the facility. Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom and the plant’s management say they are the victims of a smear campaign
(Moscow Times)
IT
LiveJournal Russia head Svetlana Ivannikova discusses recent cyber-attacks on the popular blogging site
(Ogonyok)
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