Officials mull tax hike for the middle class PRO Members Public
After a raid on the ‘superprofits’ of metals companies, Russian officials are now looking at new taxes: one on the middle class, and another on high earners. The two levies being considered could bring in as much as 200 billion rubles ($2.7 billion) a year to the state’s
Media law sparks ‘terrorist’ absurdity at Taliban talks PRO Members Public
The withdrawal of U.S. forces appears to have reignited Afghanistan’s civil war and could even return the Taliban to power — but the Kremlin has prepared for such an eventuality by cultivating a relationship with the Taliban. The arrival of a Taliban delegation in Moscow for talks Thursday could
Corporate LGBT+ scandal PRO Members Public
Hello! This week our top story is the social media storm that erupted when a top Russian retailer featured a homosexual couple in an ad — and then apologized for doing so. We also look at government plans for a tax hike on the middle class, and the jokes that resulted
End of ‘liberal era’ at top Russian university PRO Members Public
The resignation last week of the head of Russia’s Higher School of Economics (HSE) generated shockwaves that reached far beyond academic circles. Economist Yaroslav Kuzminov confirmed Friday that he was stepping down as dean of the university he founded in the 1990s and which is today Russia’s finest
Moscow’s backdoor lockdown hits hospitality sector PRO Members Public
Russian officials scrupulously avoid using words like ‘lockdown’. Last summer, the official euphemism for lockdown was ‘non-working days’; today, officially, not even that. However, Moscow’s hospitality sector is suffering from a strict de facto lockdown that does not come with state support and has little chance of taming the
Is Putin still a man of the people? PRO Members Public
Russian President Vladimir Putin held his 18th televised call-in show Wednesday. This annual event has evolved to the point where it has become almost a parody of itself. Despite rising public discontent over coronavirus restrictions and approaching parliamentary elections, it passed off without incident. * Putin’s call-in show is a
Academic soul-searching PRO Members Public
Hello! This week our top story is on why the resignation of the head of one of Russia’s most prestigious universities is a significant moment for society. We also look at how Moscow’s ‘backdoor lockdown’ is wreaking havoc on the hospitality sector, the highlights of Putin’s annual
Russia seeks to avoid lockdown as coronavirus cases climb PRO Members Public
Top Russian officials seemed determined not to resort to a lockdown this week amid a nationwide rise in coronavirus case numbers and few signs that vaccination uptake was growing. Even as local authorities introduced new restrictions, experts warned only a full lockdown could guarantee a significant reduction in infections and
New tax to force metal companies to 'share' profits PRO Members Public
These are good times for Russia’s economic interventionists. It emerged Thursday that Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov has successfully lobbied for a special tax to oblige Russia’s metals giants to hand over about $2 million in “super-profits” from a global commodity boom. Belousov has promised this is only
Russia earmarks $11 billion for electric vehicle development PRO Members Public
A new state program has earmarked 800 billion rubles ($11 billion) to develop electric transport, according to media reports Wednesday. That’s almost twice as much money as a previous version of the program. The program’s targets have also been made more ambitious and now envisage the production of
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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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