The October 2012 single day of voting produced approximately the same results for United Russia as were achieved by it in the 2011 parliamentary elections. The CPRF also had a good showing at the polls. The two other parliamentary parties – Fair Russia and the LDPR – did not manage to...

Against the backdrop of dramatically fluctuating oil prices, the main news of January were the plans declared by the Russian government, in particular the budget expenditure cut by 10%, the possibility of privatization of certain big state-owned entities, and the renewal of external borrowing....

In December, President of Russia Vladimir Putin delivered the Annual Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly. During the traditional press conference he expressed his approval of the policies pursued by the RF Government and the Bank of Russia, noting that the current situation was...

As far as Russia is concerned, the main news of May 2015 was the celebration of the 70th anniversary of VE day. Inside Russia, this country's victory in WW2 was celebrated with true enthusiasm on a massive scale. However, an overwhelming majority of foreign heads of state had chosen to ignore...

In March 2015, the topmost headline-makers were various economic issues, including the ongoing discussion on the new draft budget for 2015-2017 and on the future course of Russia's economic policy. However, the beginning of March was also marked by two very serious and purely political events:...

A new truce was arranged in Ukraine in February 2015, following a meeting involving the leaders of Russia, France and the German Chancellor. However, the very context of Minsk II Agreements repeats the numerous understatements of Minsk I Agreements and can be broken any time unless solid...

In January 2015, the Russian Government approved a plan providing for 10% budget spending cuts (except defense, social benefits, agriculture costs and external debt repayment) and extensive financial aid to the banking sector. Most of the proposals on supporting small businesses and lowering...

In December 2014, Russia's authorities faced a severe foreign exchange crisis, which forced them to increase the CBR key interest rate to 17% and to order a number of major state-owned companies, including Gazprom and Rosneft, that their foreign exchange reserves should be brought back to the...

In November 2014, Vladimir Putin declared that he had no intentions to become Russia's president-for-life. In spite of Putin's assurances, this public statement has inevitably sent an alarming signal to society. In November 2014, a court of justice seized the company Bashneft from Vladimir...

In March, Russia was faced with the unsavory prospect of a considerable loss of funds kept by Russian enterprises and individuals in Cyprus, traditionally one of the most attractive jurisdictions for Russian businesses A significant portion of those funds was frozen or seized by the Cypriot...