One of the pleasures of a recent trip to Moscow was getting to know the country’s best-known and most political hip-hop star, Ivan Alexeyev, who goes by Noize MC. He is part of a galaxy of civil-society activists whom I wrote about recently for the magazine in a piece called “The Civil Archipelago.” Alexeyev became widely known for his rap “Mercedes S666,” in which he expressed his outrage at yet another politicized incident on the Moscow roads—a car ferrying an executive for a major Russian oil concern, Lukoil, smashed into a much smaller private car, killing two women. The police blamed the “civilian” driver; eyewitnesses said the Lukoil car was to blame. The video is a cry of outrage, and there is a decent translation from a YouTube viewer:
Category: Putin
Russian nuclear icebreakers fleet – Bellona
Putin and Kiriyenko meet to discuss new nuclear icebreakers
In a meeting yesterday between Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom chief Sergei Kiriyenko, Putin requested Rosatom develop long term plans for strengthening Russia’s nuclear icebreaker fleet for the purpose of gaining predominance in the Northern Sea route, the official Russian government website government.ru reported.
Russia groans under the weight of its rubbish
Russia groans under the weight of its rubbish
Landfill areas in Russia are bigger than some countries and authorities call for more recycling and tougher action against pollution.
With more than 2,000 square km of rubbish and solid waste rotting across Russia, the total area is six times the size of Malta.
Only 30 per cent of Russia’s waste is recycled properly, leading to 80 billion tons being dumped across the country.
The volume increases by 7 billion tons each year, the Federation Council’s first vice-speaker Alexander Torshin said at a national ecological forum, Moskovsky Komsomolets reported.
Vladimir Putin has also warned that the authorities need to act if they want to change the ecological situation in the country.
The Prime Minister said that about 15 per cent of Russian territory is in poor ecological condition, Interfax reported.
“In almost all of the country’s regions air and water pollution remain high,” Putin said at a meeting devoted to improving Russia’s ecology.
Federation Council first vice-speaker Alexander Torshin suggests that in the coming years we will begin mining trash piles for secondary resources (he continues to suggest that this could rival Gas/Oil as a source of resources/wealth)
(Via Johnson’s Russia List)
Medvedev sets sights on cleaner public procurement with new Russian laws
Medvedev sets sights on cleaner public procurement with new Russian laws
As three government departments set about drawing up a new Public Procurement Law, President Medvedev reiterated the need for more openness in the procurement system last week, calling for tougher anti-corruption measures. “I repeat that we need clear, transparent and effective rules in the state procurement system, especially as concerns planning state procurement needs, setting the initial purchase prices for goods and services, and managing and monitoring the way contracts are performed,” he said at a meeting to discuss the execution of presidential instructions.
The Federal Anti-Monopoly Service, the Finance Ministry and Economic Development Ministry are drawing up new legislation that better regulates the state procurement process. Kickbacks in state procurement programs have been a serious problem in Russia, with Konstantin Chuichenko, head of the presidential oversight administration, estimating last November that they amount to one trillion rubles ($32.5 billion) a year.
(Via Modern Russia)
To Lure Foreign Investment, Russian President Calls for Reform
To Lure Foreign Investment, Russian President Calls for Reform
The president of Russia, Dmitri A. Medvedev, on Wednesday proposed a sweeping change to the management of the country’s many state-run companies, saying an overhaul that would remove ministers from the boards of directors is overdue.
After a decade of rolling back the results of its early post-Soviet privatizations, the Russian economy is again top-heavy with government-run companies, particularly in the oil and natural gas industries.
As president, Mr. Putin had appointed loyal officials in his government to crucial positions on the boards of large companies dealing in energy, transportation, military industry and aviation. Igor I. Sechin, a deputy prime minister overseeing the oil industry, is chairman of the state oil company Rosneft, for example.
Mr. Kudrin is on the board of Alrosa, Russia’s diamond mining company.
Mr. Medvedev, when he served as deputy prime minister before his election as president in 2008, had also served as chairman of Gazprom, the big natural gas company.
Related Articles
- Russia’s Medvedev Wants Govt Out of Business (blogs.forbes.com)
- Medvedev Bid to Oust Officials From Boards Is ‘Small Revolution’ (businessweek.com)
Sacked ambassador stokes Russian tension over Libya
Sacked ambassador stokes Russian tension over Libya
Russia’s former ambassador to Libya has stoked new tension between President Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, after calling the Kremlin’s acquiescence to air strikes targeting Libya a “betrayal of Russia’s interests”.
Chamov, who was sacked as ambassador to Tripoli by Medvedev earlier this month, told reporters that Moscow’s failure to oppose the bombing raids would lose Russian companies huge sums of money in arms and other contracts.
Russia abstained last week during the UN security council vote which approved military intervention in Libya.
Chamov, who was reportedly greeted at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport by Russian nationalists bearing bunches of flowers, declined to comment on Medvedev personally.
Analysts said Putin’s comments reflected his desire to please patriotic voters, while Medvedev had acted shrewdly to preserve respect in the west while bolstering Russian interests.
Medvedev and Putin have both said they will agree together who contests the Russian presidency next March. Some observers think any disagreements between the two are cosmetic.
(Via The Guardian)