Robert Coalson worked as a correspondent for RFE/RL from 2002 to 2024.
Journalists in Bryansk Oblast in recent weeks have raised the charge that the oblast administration is conducting a "purge" of newspaper editors whose political views conflict with those of Governor Nikolai Denin.
Sergei Stepashin (file photo) Although President Vladimir Putin re-nominated Sergei Stepashin to his post as Audit Chamber chairman on 27 January, the political elites in Russia were caught off-guard when Stepashin told a meeting of the Duma's Motherland faction on 18 January that he had submitted his resignation.
President Yushchenko shakes hands with Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Viktor Chernomyrdin in Moscow as President Putin (far right) and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov look on Newly inaugurated Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko traveled to Moscow on 24 January to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a gesture designed to mollify Moscow's concerns that Kyiv has turned decisively to the West. By keeping a campaign promise that his first official trip abroad would be to Russia, Yushchenko helped Putin save face after a Ukrainian election campaign in which the Kremlin -- and Putin personally -- threw complete support behind former Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.
One of the big decisions facing the Russian government this year is what, if anything, to do with the money that has accumulated in the so-called stabilization fund. The creation of the fund, which is now worth more than 500 billion rubles ($16.7 billion) because of unprecedented global oil prices, was widely hailed domestically and abroad as one of the government's signal economic achievements of 2004.
The Federal Antimonopoly Service announced on 11 December that it has received three bids so far in the 19 December tender for Yuganskneftegaz, the main production subsidiary of Yukos, Interfax reported on 13 December. At first glance, it would seem that the tender will be competitive and legitimate.
Balakovo Nuclear Power Plant On 4-5 November, a wave of panic, fueled apparently by false rumors, swept over the region around the Balakovo Nuclear Power Plant in Saratov Oblast, Russian media reported. The panic reached the cities of Saratov, Samara, Mari-El, Ulyanovsk, Tolyatti, and Penza, as well as many towns and villages in the region, "Nezavisimaya gazeta" reported on 10 November. At least 10 cases of iodine poisoning were registered, as panicked locals tried to protect themselves from the effects of radiation.
Russia's State Duma (file photo) Five and 1/2 years after Russia signed the Kyoto Protocol in March 1999 -- and after two years of fairly intense discussion and, most notably, silence on the part of President Vladimir Putin -- the controversial agreement suddenly sailed through the government and the legislature last month in the space of just a few weeks. The easy passage of the accord demonstrates how effectively the Putin-based political machine can function.
President Vladimir Putin on 4 November telephoned U.S. President George W. Bush to congratulate him on his 2 November reelection, ITAR-TASS reported, citing the Kremlin press service. The presidents discussed future bilateral contacts, including possible summits.
Prague, 4 November 2004 (RFE/RL) -- Russian Central Election Commission Chairman Aleksandr Veshnyakov, who observed the 2 November U.S. presidential election in California, said on 3 November that electronic voting in the United States "does not provide a 100 percent guarantee against possible manipulations of the elections," ITAR-TASS reported.
Prague, 4 November 2004 (RFE/RL) -- Leading figures in Russia's State Duma on 3 November commented on the reelection of U.S. President Bush, RIA-Novosti and other Russian media reported.
Prague, 3 november 2004 (RFE/RL) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on 3 November welcomed the apparent victory of U.S. President George W. Bush in the previous day's U.S. presidential election, Interfax reported.
Prague, 3 November 2004 (RFE/RL) -- Russian Central Election Commission Chairman Aleksandr Veshnyakov, who is in the United States to monitor the U.S. presidential election, told Interfax on 3 November that there were no serious procedural violations during the 2 November voting.
The State Duma, by a vote of 365-64 with four abstentions, voted on 29 October to adopt in its first reading President Vladimir Putin's controversial proposal to eliminate the direct election of regional executive-branch heads, Russian media reported. Putin put forward the proposal in a 13 September speech outlining the government's response to the tragic school hostage taking in Beslan, North Ossetia, earlier that month.
On 5 October 2003, Valentina Matvienko, with the heavy support of President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin machine, won a second-round victory with 63 percent of the vote to become governor of St. Petersburg. This week, she marked her first anniversary in power fittingly -- by meeting in the Kremlin with Putin and reporting on her achievements. According to ITAR-TASS on 21 October, Matvienko reported that despite her efforts, progress on the construction of the city's ring road is stalled. "If you continue to work as energetically," Putin reportedly told her, "you will certainly complete the road."
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov and Transportation Minister Igor Levitan told a cabinet session that a new economic entity, the state-private partnership (GChP), could provide a breakthrough for the Russian economy and, especially, for the transportation sector. To take just one example, according to RBK on 20 October, Russia currently has 890,000 kilometers of roads, but only 36 percent of them meet Transportation Ministry standards. Experts cited by the agency said the country needs at least 1.5 million kilometers of high-quality roads to meet its economic-development goals.
Putin says his reforms are to "ensure the unity of the country" (file photo) In the wake of the Beslan school hostage taking, President Vladimir Putin proposed a number of measures intended to combat terrorism by strengthening the unity and integrity of the country. The main goals of Putin's proposals, according to the 13 September speech in which he presented them, are "to ensure the unity of the country, the strengthening of state structures and confidence in the authorities, and the creation of an effective system of internal security."
Russian President Vladimir Putin's 13 September proposal to replace the direct election of regional-administration heads with a system under which local legislatures confirm candidates nominated by the president provoked very little reaction among the Russian public. In Moscow, liberals and leftists were able to summon no more than 100 people to their modest demonstration against the measure. Public-opinion polls generally show that society -- tired of years of badly discredited local and national elections -- is not particularly worried about this possible curtailment of its democratic rights.
Boris Nemtsov (file photo) Ever since President Vladimir Putin, as a purported response to the horrific terrorist attack on a school in Beslan, North Ossetia, proposed eliminating the direct election of most regional executive-branch heads and replacing them with a system under which local legislatures would approve candidates nominated by the president, opponents have been denouncing the plan as unconstitutional. On 30 September, a group of 19 leading liberals, including six State Duma deputies and former Union of Rightist Forces co-leaders Boris Nemtsov and Irina Khakamada, published an open letter to Constitutional Court Chairman Valerii Zorkin asking him to weigh in on the constitutionality of the proposal. The letter was the initiative of independent Duma Deputy Vladimir Ryzhkov, who has been the most vocal and articulate opponent of the measure.
Kwasniewski and Putin speaking on 28 September Prague, 29 September 2004 (RFE/RL) -- The exchange of diplomatic pleasantries during today's summit in Moscow between the Russian and Polish presidents was interrupted by a discussion on the Polish media's coverage of the Beslan hostage crisis.
Wolfensohn's comments contrasted strongly with most others (file photo) The comments of World Bank President James Wolfensohn in "The Wall Street Journal" on 21 September stood out among the chorus of voices in Russia and abroad that have criticized President Vladimir Putin for allegedly using the pretext of the latest wave of terrorist attacks to strengthen an authoritarian regime.
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