Contents tagged with State Duma
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U.S. refuses to recognize elections to Russian Duma as free and fair
Elections to the Russian Parliament, the State Duma, held in Russia on September 17-19, “took place under conditions not conducive to free and fair proceedings”, said the U.S. Department of State.
"The Russian government’s use of laws on “extremist organizations,” “foreign agents,” and “undesirable organizations” severely restricted political pluralism and prevented the Russian people from exercising their civil and political rights," the U.S. Department of State said in a statement.
“Russian …
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Putin's nephew wants to create new party to run in the Russian parliamentary elections
Vladimir Putin's nephew, businessman and former FSB employee Roman Putin plans to create his own party to participate in the elections to the Russian Peraliement, the State Duma, reports the Russian newspaper Kommersant, citing its sources.
It is expected that the party will be founded on the basis of the "People of action" movement, which is headed by Roman Putin.
According to Putin, the movement was founded in February and has already gathered 16,000 supporters in 45 regions. The movement's …
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Russian lawmakers admit that 2018 GDP growth figures were falsified
No confirmation can be found for the 6-year record economic growth reported by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development and the Federal Statistics Service (Rosstat) last year, said Andrey Makarov, head of the State Duma taxes and budget committee, during a session of parliament on Friday.
Instead of a 2.3% GDP growth, a figure that Rosstat plucked “like a rabbit from a hat”, Makarov said that three weeks after a change of management “completely different figures” are being arrived at.
He …
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Russia considers using cryptocurrency for arms deals
The Russian Engineering Union (“SoyuzMash”) in conjunction with an expert council from the State Duma’s defense industry commission has asked the Central Bank of Russia to consider the possibility of cryptocurrency payments for arms deals with foreign customers, announced Russian MP and SoyuzMash vice-president Vladimir Gutenev.
“We suggested a whole range of measures, and I personally made a suggestion to [Central Bank Head Elvira] Nabiullina. She is currently discussing it. The so-called ‘ …
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Visa and MasterCard may leave Russia
The newly proposed provisions of Russia’s law “On the national payment system” could result in the international payment system (IPS) wrapping up its activity in Russia, and Russian citizens being unable to use their cards abroad, writes Kommersant. Within Russia, cards belonging to foreign credit institutions may no longer be accepted. Russia’s State Duma will consider the second reading of the law on 23 July.
The amendments themselves are supposedly meant to maintain the continuity of card …
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Russia considers introducing sanctions against Georgia
The draft bill of the Russian State Duma on measures in connection with "anti-Russian provocations in Georgia" has been published in the database of the lower house of Parliament.
Russian Deputies urge the government to consider whether special economic measures should be applied against Georgia and then submit recommendations to President Vladimir Putin.
Russian Deputies called protests in Georgia "open attacks of radical forces." According to them, the actions lead to deterioration of …
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Russia officially withdraws from Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty
On Wednesday, July 3, Russia officially withdrew from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree that makes it the president’s prerogative to decide whether to resume participation in the agreement. The law was passed by Russia’s State Duma on 18 June and ratified by the Federation Council on 26 June.
The INF treaty was signed by the US and USSR in 1987, and sought to eliminate an entire class of missiles. The document prohibits the …
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Russia plans to return to PACE meetings with MPs from Crimea
The Russian delegation plans to resume participation in sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) as early as the session in June. The chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Volodin stated this to journalists, as reported Dozhd.
According to him, if on the first day of the June 24 PACE session a resolution is adopted to restore the participation rights of the delegation from the Russian Federation, Moscow will immediately send in its notice …
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Russia to negotiate its participation in PACE summer session
On June 10, The Russian State Duma will consult with the leadership of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe about sending a Russian delegation to the June session of the assembly, as reported by Interfax. Following the talks, an application to participate in the session could be sent, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said.
During the consultation, the issue of ensuring equal rights to the delegations will be discussed. “It is important for us to discuss how equal membership …
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Russia wants to estimate ‘damage to the Crimea’ between 1991 to 2014
A tender for the so-called study to "assess the damage" caused to the Crimea during the period from 1991 to 2014, when the annexed Peninsula was under the control of Ukraine, was published on the Russian Procurement webpage, reports Krym.Realii.
The initial cost of the study is 10 million Russian rubles (more than 150 thousand dollars).
The commissioner of the study is the State Duma of Russia (Russian Parliament). The purpose of the study is "a comparison of socio-economic and legislative …