Russia to issue foreign books as ‘summaries’ amid Western boycott PRO Members Public
International isolation is making life tough for Russian businesses that earn money from content — movies, games and books. As a result of refusals by Western companies to license their content for Russia amid the war in Ukraine, movie theaters are either swapping Hollywood releases for Russian titles or coming up
Piracy workarounds PRO Members Public
Hello! This week our top story is about how Russian publishers are to issue “summaries” instead of Western non-fiction books to which they don’t have the rights. We also look at the Finance Ministry’s plans to squeeze more cash out of Russian oil companies and whether Russia and
Russia’s ‘new formula’ to increase tax revenue from oil exporters PRO Members Public
The Russian authorities continue their efforts to balance the books: after demanding funds from big businesses, they are now looking at oil companies. In particular, the Finance Ministry is changing the way it calculates taxes for oil companies. Instead of relying on prices from energy agency Argus, which currently shows
Kremlin looks to squeeze oil companies for cash PRO Members Public
Hello! This is Alexandra Prokopenko with your weekly guide to the Russian economy — brought to you by The Bell. In today’s newsletter, we’ll look in depth at how Russia wants to get more tax from oil exporters — and why these companies might be making more money than many
Former Russian governor gets record jail term for organizing murders PRO Members Public
Former Russian Governor Sergei Furgal was sentenced last week to 22 years in a high-security penal colony. A jury convicted him of organizing two murders and an attempted murder in 2004-2005. Furgal became one of the 34 Russian regional heads and 19 serving governors to be prosecuted in post-Soviet Russia
A regulator leak helps us understand how censorship works on the Russian internet PRO Members Public
Last week, several Russian publications (1, 2, 3) published analyses of a leak of working files and internal communications from Russia’s main Radio Frequency Center, the de facto executive arm of state communications watchdog Roskomnadzor. The center was attacked by Belarusian hackers back in November, but Roskomnadzor played down
Gazprom seeks to acquire one of Russia’s biggest mobile operators PRO Members Public
Russia’s monopoly gas exporter Gazprom is planning to use its structures to acquire Megafon, one of the country’s leading mobile operators. Six separate sources familiar with the market told The Bell about the proposed deal. According to one of them, Gazprom Media is the likely suitor for the
Gazprom Eyes Megafon Aquisition PRO Members Public
Hello! Our top story this week is about state gas giant Gazprom’s plans to expand its empire and acquire one of the country’s largest mobile operators. We’ll also cover the leak that illuminates the inner workings of Roskomnadzor’s online censorship machine and the lengthy prison sentence
A tax that isn’t a tax PRO Members Public
Hello! This is Alexandra Prokopenko with your weekly guide to the Russian economy — brought to you by The Bell. In today’s newsletter, we’ll look in depth at the state of Russia’s budget and the Kremlin’s linked attempt to impose a special levy of up to $3.
IMF predicts Russian economy to rebound in 2023 PRO Members Public
International economic institutions, which recently doubted Russia’s economy could survive under Western sanctions, are now sounding more optimistic than even the Russian government. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), known for its gloomy forecasts, this week predicted Russia’s GDP will grow 0.3% this year. * The typically conservative IMF
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The Bell was founded in 2017 by journalists Elizaveta Osetinskaya, Irina Malkova and Peter Mironenko as a news outlet independent from the Russian authorities, after its founders have been sacked as top editors at the largest Russian news website RBC because of pressure from the Kremlin.
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