Is Russia Destined to Dominate the Arctic? | The National Interest

Is Russia Destined to Dominate the Arctic? | The National Interest

China and Russia thwart plan for Antarctic ocean sanctuary - Sustainability | Thomson Reuters

China and Russia thwart plan for Antarctic ocean sanctuary - Sustainability | Thomson Reuters

The energy-efficient way to punish Putin – and protect the planet | Chris Huhne | Comment is free | The Guardian

The energy-efficient way to punish Putin – and protect the planet | Chris Huhne | Comment is free | The Guardian

Did Russia Destroy The Environment For The Olympics?

Human Rights in Russia: Pussy Riot takes part in committee debate

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/pressroom/content/20130527IPR10553/html/Human-Rights-in-Russia-Pussy-Riot-takes-part-in-committee-debate

Corporate Governance in Russia

In December 2011, the OECD and the Moscow Exchange, MICEX-RTS, launched the OECD Russia Corporate Governance Roundtable. The Roundtable builds on longstanding co-operation between Russia and the OECD in corporate governance starting in 1999.

The Roundtable tackles outstanding corporate governance challenges in Russia and helps develop a robust legal and regulatory framework. Through dialogue, research and access to international expertise, the Roundtable encourages reforms and fine tuning of existing regulations while pressing for better implementation and effective enforcement. The Roundtable contributes to international understanding of Russian corporate governance developments and ongoing efforts.

See full Press Release: http://www.oecd.org/daf/corporateaffairs/corporategovernanceinrussia.htm

President Putin Stages Highly Visible Battle against Corruption

First the defense minister had to go, and now Vladimir Putin's agriculture minister is being pushed out on suspicion of corruption. State-run television has begun an aggressive hunt for "thieves, traitors and enemies of the people." The main target, however, seems to be that of improving the Russian president's approval ratings.

The latest stage of the fight against corruption is illustrated by Russian state television with footage from the Côte d'Azur, images of wild parties with black caviar and diamond-encrusted Kalashnikovs. Then the correspondent approaches Hollywood star George Clooney's villa in a helicopter before more villas come into view. Here is where "Moscow's government officials go to be pampered," the show intones.

The station devoted 70 minutes to portraying the country's chronically corrupt and notorious civil servants. They are a "force in gray jackets who can sabotage reforms and are boycotting laws," moderator Arkady Mamontov says.

See full Article: http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/president-putin-stages-highly-visible-battle-against-corruption-a-870262.html

IFC promotes gender equality and inclusive development

IFC, member of the World Bank group, is promoting gender equality and together with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted a reception to recognize the efforts that IFC clients and partners in Europe, Balkans, Turkey, and Central Asia undertake to promote broader participation of women in economy. The reception was co-hosted by Snezana Stoiljkovic, IFC Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia and Andrei Denisov, First Deputy Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia.

“We all share joint view on the role of women in the modern world and I consider this event as a unique opportunity to exchange experience in implementing gender programs that we and our partners undertake." -- Said Snezana Stoiljkovic, IFC Director for Eastern Europe and central Asia in her opening remarks. "We are grateful to Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their support and partnership in this and many other valuable initiatives”, she added.

See full Press Release.

Green 'Ark' could house 10,000 -- and looks like a Slinky!

Russian architect Alexander Remizov thinks so -- and his prototype design, called "The Ark," bears more than a passing resemblance to the classic children's toy, the Slinky.

Remizov believes his Ark, designed to be constructed from timber, steel and high-strength ETFE plastic, could be adapted for all kinds of environments and put to a number of different uses, including emergency housing -- its prefabricated structure should allow it to be constructed quickly -- and hotels. He's even suggested a variation with a honeycomb-style hull that can float.

See full Article.

Compliance Report on the Russian Federation

I. INTRODUCTION
1. GRECO adopted the Joint First and Second Round Evaluation Report on the Russian Federation at its 40th Plenary Meeting (Strasbourg, 1-5 December 2008). This report (Greco Eval I-II Rep (2008) 2E) was made public by GRECO on 30 April 2009.

2. In accordance with Rule 30.2 of GRECO’s Rules of Procedure, the authorities of the Russian Federation submitted their Situation Report (RS-Report) on the measures taken to implement the recommendations on 30 June 2010.

3. At its 40th Plenary Meeting (1-5 December 2008), GRECO selected, in accordance with Rule 31.1 of its Rules of Procedure, Austria and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” to appoint Rapporteurs for the compliance procedure. The Rapporteurs appointed were Mr Christian MANQUET, Head of Unit, Directorate for Penal Legislation, Federal Ministry of Justice on behalf of Austria and Ms Slagjana TASEVA, Professor of Criminal Law, Dean of the Faculty of Law, on behalf of “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”. The Rapporteurs were assisted by the GRECO Secretariat in drafting the Compliance Report (RC-Report).

See full Report, in pdf format.

The Business of Raiding

In the 1990s, Russian companies would - at best - ignore calls for combating corruption; at worst - they would reward and facilitate it. They had their reasons - mainly that when the Soviet Union collapsed corruption became a way to get things done, to keep deals moving while state institutions lay in ruins. But as corruption settled in, it became more of a problem than a solution.

Enter the new hybrid of Russian corruption - corporate raiding. To simplify, it is a way for people with connections to state institutions to take ownership of companies for a fraction of their real price; or some times for free.

How the process works is explained wonderfully in this article by the Moscow Times. Importantly, the author notes how raiding continues to proliferate despite presidential calls to stop:

See full Article.

Russian taxman swoops on TNK-BP books

Given that BP is having trouble with its local partners, it was predictable that the authorities would begin the harrassment.

Tax inspections, visa difficulties, the environment investigation will come next. All related or just a coincidence?

Bad governance in Russia.

Onésimo Alvarez-Moro

See article:
Russian tax officials yesterday made fresh demands, requesting unprecedented levels of information on a group of foreigners seconded to TNK-BP only hours after Gordon Brown raised official harassment of the company with Russian president Dmitry Medvedev at the G8 meeting in Japan.

The officials wanted time sheets, certification of business trips and passport copies showing foreign travel covering a two-year period, from January 2006 to December 2007, the Guardian reports.

See full Article.

Just say ‘Nyet!’ - Corruption in Russia

In yesterday’s International Herald Tribune, Brook Horowitz (executive director of the Russian office of International Business Leaders Forum) penned a very interesting article - Just say ‘Nyet!’ - about Russia’s new President Dmitri Medvedev’s first decree as president to to create and chair an anti-corruption committee. It has caused quite a stir in a country that has been persitently dropping in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index. Horowitz notes:

Largely unnoticed, many Russian companies are beginning to do something about corruption even before new legislation is put into place. They are starting by getting their own houses in order. They are strengthening corporate governance by creating clearer separation of board and management competencies and responsibilities, introducing International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), greater transparency of accounts and disclosure of shareholders, and nominating independent directors to the board.

CIPE and our partners in the Russian business community have been advocating for these types of reforms for a some time. The Russian Institute of Directors, for example, has been very active in developing human capital needed to ensure effective boards of directors. We’ve worked on the other fronts as well.

See full Article.

Russian corruption skims billions

Corrupt Russian officials are creaming off about $120bn (£61bn) a year - the equivalent of a third of the national budget, a senior prosecutor has said.

The country's new President, Dmitry Medvedev, has pledged to tackle the problem - although correspondents say few expect things will change quickly.

Russia's investigations committee has opened more than 1,000 corruption cases involving officials in 10 months.

The committee's chairman said the extent of corruption was much wider.

See full Article.

Fighting Corruption in Russia

The Perm business advocacy coalition in Russia recognizes that with high demand for bribes, entrepreneurs are often willing suppliers. For individual entrepreneurs paying bribes is usually more cost effective than defending oneself against corrupt bureaucrats through a weak legal system. Therefore, the coalition decided to summon the powers of collective action to utilize norms and legal precedents in the fight for business rights.

Member of the coalition - associations and chambers of commerce - decided to support an entrepreneur whose rights had been violated when city officials fined him for selling goods without a license. Those officials who attempted to fine him were not tax inspectors and exceeded their duties according to the law. Furthermore, the law clearly stated that in this circumstance the entrepreneur was not required to acquire a business permit. The court agreed that the fine was unjust and a precedent had been set for other entrepreneurs to use in defending themselves in similar cases.

Although Russian law does not operate based on precedents, the coalition finds that citing precedents in cases related to business are effective in getting judges to uphold the rule of law and setting norms for business people.

See full Article.