Are mass surveillance measures a bigger risk than COVID-19? PRO Members Public
Early this week, plans for a system to enforce a Moscow lockdown were leaked on social media (Kommersant newspaper later confirmed their authenticity). It was a terrifying glimpse into an Orwellian future. They consisted of: compulsory QR-codes for all Muscovites further than 100 metres from their homes; a tracking app
Russia gives up controlling stake in Rosneft PRO Members Public
Amid the coronavirus news, you may have missed one of the biggest deals in the Russian oil industry for several years. Oil giant Rosneft announced last weekend that it was selling its Venezuelan business to another state-owned company for $3.8 billion. * All Rosneft’s joint ventures, service companies and
Big Brother during COVID-19 PRO Members Public
Hello! This week our top story is a look at the mass surveillance technology Russia is readying to roll-out as a part of its response to the coronavirus. We also look at Putin’s U-turn on support for oil production cuts, Russia’s month-long public holiday, state-owned oil giant Rosneft’
Can new taxes, handouts and a holiday soften Russia’s economic pain? PRO Members Public
As the U.S. passed a $2.2 trillion legislation package this week to help those hit by the coronavirus, Russian President Vladimir Putin also unveiled a raft of emergency economic measures. Putin promised financial help for business owners, but simultaneously hit them with the burden of a nationwide, week-long
Putin’s populist rescue plan PRO Members Public
Hello! This week, our focus is on Russia’s response to COVID-19: we examine both Putin’s emergency economic plan and the new restrictions on daily life. Away from the pandemic, we look at why new owners at leading business daily Vedomosti likely mean censorship, Pavel Durov’s upcoming defeat
Putin shows his disdain for business PRO Members Public
There was never much doubt about Putin’s instinctive distrust of business and the market economy. And in an interview with the state-owned TASS news agency released this week, he was direct about it, making a snide reference to “so-called” business. But most people disagree with him: 80 percent of
Testing, panic buying & indifference: Russia battles coronavirus PRO Members Public
Until very recently, there were very few cases of Covid-19 in Russia. There are various theories for this, from smart protective measures to a dysfunctional testing system. But the epidemic really took hold this week when the number of new cases started rising by 30 a day — and it has
Coronavirus takes hold PRO Members Public
Hello! This week our top story is about battering taken by stock markets and the ruble and how the government is planning to keep Russian economy on track. We also look at Russia’s changing response to the coronavirus epidemic, an interview in which Putin revealed his instinctive disdain for
Putin election campaign chief given role in Yandex management PRO Members Public
A former co-head of Putin’s 2018 presidential campaign, Yelena Shmeleva, has been appointed to head internet giant Yandex’s Public Interest Foundation, a body created last year as part of a deal with the Kremlin. The 11-member Foundation has management rights, and a veto over transactions involving over 10
Does Russia’s reasoning for abandoning OPEC stand up? PRO Members Public
The week following the breakdown in relations between Russia and OPEC was one of the worst weeks on record for both the Russian stock market, and the ruble. The main architect of Russia’s withdrawal from the so-called OPEC+ was Igor Sechin, the head of state-owned oil giant Rosneft and
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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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