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.
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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?
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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.
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The Current Decline of the Russian Stock Market Is a Reason to Buy Shares

No bigger mistake than investing money in Russian stocks could have been made in July. Over the week of July 25th, the RTS index fell in all categories, hitting rock-bottom following Putin’s unfavorable remarks on Russia’s largest metallurgy company Mechel. This caused agitation among investors who have already heard the news of declining oil prices and warnings of the economy overheating. Now, Russia needs to find a way to bring its stocks back up, soon.
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