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
Constitutional changes mean Putin can rule through 2036 PRO Members Public
If you have glanced at the news from Russia this week, you will know that President Vladimir Putin approved changes Tuesday to Russia’s constitution allowing him to ‘reset’ his presidential term count and — at least in theory — remain president until 2036. In April, the new constitution will be put
The eternal president PRO Members Public
Hello! Before we get into what happened this week (spoiler: a lot), we’d like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you for subscribing to The Bell. We hope you value our newsletter. But in order to be able to continue what we do, we need your
Russia braces for oil shock PRO Members Public
Hello! Before we get into what happened this week, we’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you for being a subscriber to The Bell. We hope you value what we do. In order to be able to continue our newsletter, we have to keep growing, and to
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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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