• Russian Justice Ministry defines ‘political activity’ to amend ‘Foreign Agent Law’

    In 2012, the Russian State Duma adopted a law requiring all nongovernmental organizations engaged in political activity that receive funding from abroad to register as “foreign agents” with the Ministry of Justice, a designation that severely hinders an NGO's ability to operate in the Russian Federation. While the law initially provided a vague definition of "political activity", the Ministry of Justice adopted a new amendment on Friday defining it as any work in the sphere of federal or …

  • Sberbank: Russian Inflation will Exceed 8 Percent in 2016

    The Russian bank Sberbank believes that Russia will see a recession and that  inflation may exceed 8% this year, as reported by TASS, citing the head of the Center for Macroeconomic Research of Sberbank, Yulia Tsepliaeva. According to her, a decline in consumption and economic growth may also be expected.

    “We expect an economic slowdown and an additional year of decline in consumption. Inflation is likely to be high. It is expected to exceed 8%,” Tsepliaeva said.

    Tsepliaeva assesses the Bank’ …

  • Russian Ambassador to the UK Calls Litvinenko Investigation a Provocation

    The Russian Ambassador to the UK, Alexander Yakovenko, called London’s approach to the "business of Litvinenko" a "blatant provocation" by the British authorities. Yakovenko said this after being summoned to the British Foreign Office.

    According to him, for Moscow, "it is absolutely unacceptable to question whether the Russian government was somehow involved in the death of Litvinenko... This is an attempt to exert additional pressure on Russia in connection with the existing differences on …

  • European Parliament Supports Establishment of International Tribunal for MH17

    The resolution of the European Parliament stated that they support the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for investigating the MH17 incident. In 2014, the Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 passenger plane was shot down over the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. The European Parliament also called on Russia to fully cooperate with the international community in order to carry out a full and impartial investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice, the document says.

    Russia’s …

  • Leading Russian Bankers Hold Emergency Meeting to Discuss Ruble Devaluation

    Bankers have asked the Central Bank of Russia to introduce a fixed preferential exchange rate for the Ruble; however, the regulator has refrained from doing so for now.The collapse of the Russian currency was the main reason for holding an emergency meeting of the representatives of the Russian Central Bank and leading bankers of the country on Thursday, January 21st. The importance of the meeting is evident as the Chairman of the Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, cancelled her trip to the …