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
Putin tries to inspire Russia with the legend of Stalingrad PRO Members Public
Ahead of an anticipated Russian offensive in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin is attempting to galvanize society by invoking the sacred legacy of World War II — or, as it is known in Russia, the Great Patriotic War. Last week, Putin went to Volgograd, which briefly re-adopted its historical name of Stalingrad.
Latest Western oil embargo expected to have minimal impact PRO Members Public
A Western embargo on Russian oil products came into force Sunday — along with the related price cap. Oil products are a market segment in which Russian companies will have a hard time replacing European costumes with Asian ones (traditionally, Asian countries only buy crude oil from Russia). Gasoline prices in
Oil product embargo PRO Members Public
Hello! Our top story this week is about the imposition of the West’s oil product embargo, Putin’s attempt to use the World War II battle of Stalingrad to rally support for the Ukraine war and the International Monetary Fund’s surprisingly positive forecast for the Russian economy. Latest
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 at 0.3% this year. The typically conservative
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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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