What to Make of Putin’s Anti-Offshore Crusade
Last month, PM Putin addressed the Government Commission on Electricity Generation. At the meeting, Putin launched into a searing critique of Russian companies using offshore “front companies.” Indeed,...
View ArticleJackson-Vanik: Exit, Stage Left
There is a now-infamous study on the subject of “decision fatigue,” which looked at decisions by Israeli judges to grant vs. deny parole. The researchers found a wildly skewed trend in the judge’s...
View ArticleRussian Business Environment Update – Part I
Economic Fundamentals Economic indicators over the past year were mixed, although a consensus view appears to be forming that they were a net negative and, notably, underscored the long-run structural...
View ArticleStrategic Sectors Law Update – First Commission Meeting of 2012
Last month, then-PM Vladimir Putin chaired his final meeting of the Commission on Foreign Investment Oversight (at least until 2024 barring any change to the makeup of the Commission). Indeed, the...
View ArticleLegal Update – New Law on “Foreign Agent” NGOs
On July 21, Pres. Putin signed the much-discussed amendments to the Law on Nongovernmental Organizations (or, Noncommercial Organizations as their called in Russian). Given the back-drop of protests...
View ArticleStrategic Sectors Law Update – Second Commission Meeting of 2012
On July 30, 2012, PM Medvedev chaired a session of the Commission on Foreign Investment. This is the second Commission meeting of 2012, but the first chaired by Medvedev. In his remarks, Medvedev...
View ArticleThe Engineer’s Plot
Apologies for my absence from blogging over the past few months. I’ve been traveling and generally busy with work. I promise to provide some update on the strategic sectors law and Russia’s...
View ArticleStrategic Sectors Law Update – Third Commission Meeting of 2012
On November 28, 2012, PM Medvedev chaired a session of the Commission on Foreign Investment, the third time the Commission has met this year. Changes to Russia’s Business Environment In his prepared...
View ArticleWar on Corruption – What to Make of the Latest Scandals?
Update: for the Russian speakers, today Kommersant put up an excellent resource on its website, with an infographic on the latest scandals and corruption generally, and links to articles on everything...
View ArticleShould You Hire a Corrupt Manager in Russia?
That’s the provocative question raised by Prof. Maxim Mironov of IE Business School in a new paper, which I came across via this post at the Wall Street Journal. In short, Mironov concludes that yes,...
View ArticleStrategic Sectors Law Update – First Commission Meeting of 2013 and...
On April 19, PM Medvedev held the first Foreign Investment Commission meeting of 2013. At the outset, Medvedev noted that Russia received over $50 bln in FDI inflows over the course of 2012. This...
View ArticleThe Guriev Affair – Signal or Noise?
Last month, well-known Russian economist Sergei Guriev fled Russia in an apparent attempt to avoid what he described as a politically motivated investigation of his involvement in co-authoring a 2011...
View ArticleHow the ‘Experts Case’ Explains Everything that’s Happening in Russia Right Now
As covered in the previous post, in June a prominent Russian economist – Sergey Guriev – fled Russia after investigators began targeting him in the case of a 2011 report on the human rights...
View ArticleGrowth of Russian Bureaucracy – Parkinson’s Law
Parkinson’s Law is a principle governing the natural expansion of bureaucracies, famously articulated in a 1955 essay in the Economist. Under Parkinson’s Law, a government bureaucracy – and, arguably,...
View ArticleStrategic Sectors Law Update – Second (and Last) Commission Meeting of 2013
On November 13, 2013, PM Medvedev held the second and final meeting of the Commission on Foreign Investment for 2013. According to public sources, the following deals were addressed: China National Oil...
View ArticleThe Matrix Strikes Back – the Sanctions and Russia’s Post-US Economic Model
Everyone agreed that the first round of Russia sanctions were laughably ineffective, aimed at a motley assortment of Kremlin B-teamers, whom Putin demoted to limit the damage they can cause and about...
View ArticleStrategic Sectors Law Update – First Commission Meeting of 2014
On June 26, 2014, PM Medvedev chaired the first 2014 meeting of the Commission on Foreign Investment. At the meeting, several deals were discussed/approved and amendments to the Strategic Sectors Law...
View ArticlePutin’s Bad Month – How the Sanctions Are[n't] Working
Will the history books view the shooting down of MH17 as a similarly crystallizing event like the assassination of Franz Ferdinand nearly 100 years before? Maybe (probably depends on whose books you...
View ArticleRussia Declares Open Season on American Brands
For Russians hoping to enjoy a Big Mac, America’s Favorite Fries, and wash down their meal with a Jack Daniels, the news is not good. In a thinly-veiled effort to retaliate against the United States...
View ArticleRussia’s New Old Anticorruption Campaign –“We’re serious this time!”
There’s an article on Bloomberg that caught my eye (h/t @agoodtreaty). The article claims that Pres. Putin approved the launch of a ‘new’ anticorruption campaign following a meeting at the Presidential...
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