Contents tagged with Kremlin
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Kremlin confirms that ‘CIA agent’ Smolenkov worked in Russian embassy in USA
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova has confirmed that former Russian presidential administration employee Oleg Smolenkov, whom CNN considers a CIA agent, also worked in the Russian embassy in the US. She added that she did not know him personally, and that he was involved in economic matters.
“At some point in his career he worked in our embassy in Washington. I have no more to comment on that. I did not know him personally, our paths did not cross. The only thing I know …
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Russian pension funds to be invested in securities that caused 2008 financial crisis
Mortgage bonds, which gained infamy in 2007-2008 when they bankrupted Bear Stearns, sent markets plummeting and caused a global financial crisis, will now be promoted in Russia using national pension savings.
The Russian Finance Ministry, Central Bank and the Agency for Housing Mortgage Lending (Dom.RF) have approved a roadmap to develop the mortgage bond market, with banks “packaging” physical entities’ mortgage loan payments and reselling them to investors.
Such bonds will be included in …
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Russia’s State Duma to summon foreign diplomats due to protests in Moscow
The State Duma Council has decided to create an inter-party commission on foreign interference in Russia’s internal affairs, the lower house of parliament announced. Vasily Piskarev, an MP from the United Russia party and head of the Committee for Security and Opposing Corruption, will head the new commission.
“We are seeing how on government channels a number of countries are voicing statements like ‘Rise up, Moscow!’, calls to action – all of this constitutes interference in Russia’s …
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Russian gas giant Gazprom asks Kremlin for money for two projects
The Russian gas monopoly Gazprom has asked the Kremlin to provide financial assistance for a gas chemical complex and a liquefied gas processing complex that it plans to build close to the port city of Ust-Luga, Vedomosti reports, citing a letter from Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller to Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
According to the newspaper, the letter was sent at the end of May. In it, Miller asked that the projects be given the status of “national importance for the economy”. He …
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Kremlin vows to respond to US military expansion in Europe, Asia and Pacific
Moscow will take symmetrical measures in response to the US withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (IMF) only when the U.S. begins deploying new missiles in Europe and Asia, said Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu in an interview with Russia 24 TV channel.
"We will not be there until they [the US] get to Asia and the Asia-Pacific region," he added.
At the same time, Shoygu said that Moscow is ready to continue dialogue with Washington on medium and shorter-range …
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Kremlin starts dividing budget between Russian billionaires
The Russian government has officially initiated a process of allocating billions of rubles of assistance to major businesses as part of several national projects that are meant to bring the economy’s growth rate up to world levels, fight poverty and bring about a technological leap.
The first on the list of billionaires, officials and state corporation directors is Novatek owner Leonid Mikhelson, the wealthiest Russian with an estimated net worth of $24 billion according to Forbes.
Russian …
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Italian Deputy Prime Minister calls Putin ‘a great President’
Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister of Italy Matteo Salvini said that Vladimir Putin is “a great President”, reports ANSA news agency.
According to him, he intends to work on improving relations between Rome and Moscow. "Putin is a great President. I say this because I think so, and not because I was paid, as some journalists think," he said.
Salvini also praised the American President Donald Trump, the President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro and the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. …
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Kremlin: Russian citizens’ biometric data to be handed over to security services
The United Biometric System (UBS) that will combine the data collected by various banks to identify their clients will have to cooperate closely with Russia’s security forces, said Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev during a meeting with the head of Rostelecom, Mikhail Oseyevsky.
The UBS that Rostelecom has been developing since 2017 at the initiative of the Ministry of Communications and the Bank of Russia has been operational since 1 July last year, and by 2021 the use of it should …
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Kremlin: Russia prepares ‘mirror response’ to the fine against RT TV channel in the UK
RosKomNadzor (RKN), Russia’s federal agency for censorship of media and telecommunications, is preparing a “mirror response to the biased treatment of Russian media abroad”, the agency announced on its official website on August 1. Draft amendments to the law on foreign media will be put forward in Russia’s State Duma over the next 10 days, and will prescribe fines “well into the millions”, RKN executive Aleksandr Zharov told Interfax. The censorship agency noted that it has already given …
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Kremlin offers Ukraine to extend gas transit contract for a year
Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak said that Moscow offered Kyiv to extend the current contract for gas transit on existing conditions for a year, but the Ukrainian side didn't respond yet, reports RIA Novosti news agency.
He added that the adjustments could be discussed during the negotiations between the companies. "We don't see any reaction yet. We wait for any comments from the Ukrainian government. Then we will discuss the deal at our meetings," the Minister said.
Earlier, …