Russia Profile Weekly Experts Panel: Time for a New Global Leader?

In a twist of fate, Russia is now emerging as a country that is ready and willing to resume the responsibilities of global leadership. In recent weeks, the Russian leadership has increasingly come to recognize its dependence on the world economy. The global financial crisis has had an impact on the Russian economy, with the Russian stock market losing more than 60 percent of its value since last May. Is President Dmitry Medvedev showing global statesmanship? Is Russia trying to position itself as a responsible global player that has the ideas and the will to lead?
More
RP

Russia’s Grain Producers Feel the Credit Crunch as Retailers Defer Payments

This year, an exceptionally voluminous grain harvest may help Russia to alleviate the pain brought about by the financial crisis, which is threatening to spread from the stock markets to banks and other spheres such as real estate and employment. But not all that glitters is indeed gold – the oversupply of grain on the market could end up doing more harm than good.
More
RP

Despite the Government’s Disengagement, Russian Businesses Continue Their Quest to Join the WTO

<img hspace=”5″ border=”1″ align=”left” src=”http://russiaprofile.org/media/small-images-2/FrontWTO.jpg” alt=”" />Up until recently, Russia&rsquo;s accession to the WTO seemed to dominate its business agenda. But this is no longer the case. In lieu of the economic and political crises that presently plague the country, Russian businesses have realized that time has come for them to think outside the political box, and to take matters into their own hands.
<a href=”http://www.russiaprofile.org/page.php?pageid=Business&amp;articleid=a1224089243″>More</a>
<a href=”http://www.russiaprofile.org/”>RP</a>

Medvedev’s New Anti-Corruption Measures Leave Too Much to the Imagination

<img hspace=”5″ border=”1″ align=”left” src=”http://russiaprofile.org/media/small-images/FrontCurrency2.jpg” alt=”" />President Dmitry Medvedev has finally introduced a set of long-awaited bills on fighting corruption. At first, the public&rsquo;s reaction was quite benevolent: many experts did not try to conceal the fact that they expected something on a much &ldquo;smaller scale.&rdquo; However, this does not mean that the draft laws are flawless.
<a href=”http://www.russiaprofile.org/page.php?pageid=Politics&amp;articleid=a1224087619″>More</a>
<a href=”http://www.russiaprofile.org/”>RP</a>

Party Like It’s 1998

When the ruble defaulted in 1998, the State Duma and the Federation Council played a key role in stabilizing the situation. Today, the country faces the threat of another economic crisis, but neither institution is in a condition to play that role again.
More
RP

Russia’s Duma Deputies Provide New Guarantees for Investors at the Prime Minister’s Behest

As the financial crisis in the world shows no sign of subsiding, the Russian government is taking unprecedented steps aimed at staving off what the experts call “a run on the banks” in the country. In order to protect the small investor, the Duma adopted a draft bill that will fully insure bank deposits worth up to 700 thousand rubles – the most the Agency on Deposits’ Insurance can promise to give back to the depositor without endangering the insurance fund.
More
RP

Worried Oligarchs Unite

Russia’s businesses, reportedly losing billions of dollars daily as the financial crisis shows no sign of subsiding, attempted to indirectly criticize the government this week. On Thursday, Alexander Shokhin, the president of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), published an open letter with "An Appeal to the Country’s Leadership" as the headline, in which he criticized the anti-crisis measures of Vladimir Putin’s government.
More
RP

Russia Profile Weekly Experts Panel: Medvedev’s War on Corruption

Last week, President Dmitry Medvedev approved and forwarded to the State Duma a raft of anti-corruption bills that introduce sweeping measures to fight corruption at all levels of the Russian government. The new legislation will significantly tighten governmental control over state officials’ and their close relatives’ incomes and property, and introduce new "conflict of interests" disclosure rules. Will Medvedev succeed in rooting out corruption in Russia? Or is his plan doomed, as some critics suggest?
More
RP

Russia’s Labor Market Faces Challenges in Coping with the Economic Crisis

As the ongoing crisis slowly pervades Russia’s financial centers, Moscow and other big Russian cities are starting to feel the heat from this economic meltdown. Experts expect its impact to be felt on the job market in the coming months, but the restrictions of the Russian labor legislation mean that there will be few major layoffs. Instead, income levels will fall. As such, institutional and legal changes are needed to allow employers more leverage and flexibility in adjusting to a tougher economic environment.
More
RP

Russia’s Stock Market Appears Immune to Governmental Financial Injections

Three big loans from the government in a row have apparently been unable to prevent Russia’s stock markets from plunging, Russia’s banks from stopping credit operations, and Russian oil companies from asking for a bailout. Some experts are even apprehensive of these measures, as most of these funds went to state-owned enterprises that are unlikely to throw the money back into the economy.
More
RP