Contents tagged with Kremlin

  • Yet another Russian billionaire asks Putin for government assistance

    Following the billionaires Vladimir Potanin (worth $18.1 billion), Oleg Deripaska ($3.6 billion), Leonid Mikhelson ($24 billion) and Alexey Mordashov ($20.5 billion), yet another Forbes’ list member has turned to the Russian government for assistance, reports finanz.ru.

    Musa Bazhaev, President of the the Alliance Group, holder of a 40% stake in Russian Platinum and co-owner of the Forte Village Resort in Sardinia, met with President Vladimir Putin on Monday in the Kremlin.

    After reporting to …

  • Rate of theft by Russian officials reaches more than $7 million per day

    The total damage in the corruption cases concluded in the first eight months of 2019 in Russia is approximately 102 billion rubles, around $1.6 billion at current exchange rates.

    These figures were cited on Monday by Dmitry Sevastyanov, deputy head of the division for combating the misuse of budget funds at Russia’s Chief Directorate for Economic Security and Opposing Corruption, Kommersant reports.

    The average rate at which money leaked from the budget on various levels was thus around $200 …

  • Kremlin admits: Billions stolen in construction of Vostochny Cosmodrome

    More than 10% of the funds allocated to the construction of the Vostochny Cosmodrome were stolen, said Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Monday, November 11. “A total of 11 billion rubles (around $172 million) was stolen, 3.5 billion rubles ($55 million) has been recovered,” Peskov said, noting that, overall, the equivalent of $1.4 billion was allocated to the construction of the spaceport.

    Putin’s press secretary noted that, at first, 128 court cases were initiated, although these were …

  • Kremlin praises Macron for 'thoughtfulness'

    The Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov called French President Emmanuel Macron's approach to assess Russia's development options as "thoughtful," reports RIA Novosti news agency. According to Peskov, the options proposed by Macron "favorably differ" from the superficial Russophobic and apocalyptic scenarios that are often discussed between different "experts."

    Peskov also said that Russian President Vladimir Putin favors Macron's approach and "highly appreciates" their …

  • Kremlin explains decision to write off billions of African debt

    By writing off billions of dollars owed by African countries, Russia has “opened a way for its companies to operate on the continent,” said Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, as cited by the Interfax news agency.

    Peskov explained that for a long time the debt burden had prevented the development of collaboration and cooperation between African countries and Russian companies. By law, companies with major debt could not enter into any new projects, he explained.

    “This is how it’s been cleared …

  • Kremlin: Turkey may purchase Su-35 and Su-57 fighter jets from Russia

    There is a high probability that Turkey will be interested in the Russian combat aircraft of the new generation, but it will depend on many factors, reports RIA Novosti citing Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov.

    The Deputy Prime Minister did not rule out that Turkey would turn to Russia in the future for the purchase of modern warplanes, but this will depend on further relations between Ankara and Washington. According to him, Turkish officials expressed great interest in the Russian …

  • Kremlin calls Trump's letter to Erdogan 'unusual'

    On Thursday, the Kremlin commented on US President Donald Trump's letter to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, calling its tone highly unusual for correspondence between Presidents. The American President asked his Turkish counterpart not to be a "tough guy" and "a fool."

    On Wednesday, the White House published Trump's letter to Turkish President, which was sent on October 9. The American President urged his Turkish counterpart to stop the offensive in Northeastern Syria and recommended …

  • Kremlin calls Kyiv's proposal to dissolve DPR and LPR 'unexpected'

    The Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov called Kyiv's proposal to dissolve the self-proclaimed republics of the Donbas (Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics) "very unexpected." According to him, these are some "new inputs" for Moscow, as well as for Berlin and Paris, reports RIA Novosti news agency.

    After a meeting of a Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine in Minsk, the Press Secretary of the Kyiv's representative, Darka Olifer, stated that Ukraine is ready to fulfill its …

  • Kremlin announces launch of program to study Putinism

    Russia is heading rapidly towards the Central Asian forms of state governance.

    Now that books of Putin quotes (“Thus said Putin”, “100 and 1 quotes of V. V. Putin”) are available in bookstores throughout Russia, Putinism could also obtain the status of ideology and research direction, just like Marxism-Leninism and Maoism.

    According to RBC news agency, Actual Comments, a publication founded by the pro-Kremlin Political Environment Center, has announced the launch of a series examining …

  • Russia to require passports to use email

    A group of Russian senators led by Andrey Klishas, author of the law “On sovereign internet”, has proposed a series of amendments with stricter rules for accessing the internet.

    According to the documents published on the State Duma’s website, as of January 1, 2020, email users within Russia will have to identify themselves.

    Email services will be considered equivalent to messenger services, which similar rules have applied to since 2017: Users must identify themselves using a telephone …