The Moscow Times

Market Matters : Oil Tax Pledge Buoys Markets
Markets surged after the swearing-in of Dmitry Medvedev as president in a pomp-filled ceremony Wednesday and a tax-cutting speech by Vladimir Putin the day after, when he was approved as prime minister.

The Moscow Times » Opinion

Issue 3828 | 25 Jan 2008

Getting a Charge From the Moscow Metro
Your Letters

Issue 3827 | 24 Jan 2008

Op-Ed Contributor: Russia's Safe Haven
By James Beadle The benchmark RTS index has dropped 16 percent since peaking at 2339.79 on Jan. 14.

Boris Kagarlitsky: The Lessons of 1968
Although the usual custom is to celebrate 50-year and not 40-year anniversaries, 1968 was such an important year that it would be a shame to postpone discussing it for another decade.

Issue 3826 | 23 Jan 2008

Yulia Latynina: The Bully in the Communal Apartment
The foreign policy scandal concerning Russian authorities' efforts to close two branch offices of the British Council happened to coincide with another event, which took place in Japan.

The Transition From Bipolar to Multipolar
By Fyodor Lukyanov The U.S. presidential election campaign has attracted the world's attention, but it has been a long time since we have seen one so straightforward. The careers of individual politicians and the prestige of their parties are riding in the balance now.

Issue 3825 | 22 Jan 2008

Op-Ed Contributor: A New Opportunity to Make Cuba More Open
Financial Times Cubans did not enjoy genuine democratic freedoms when they voted in Sunday's legislative elections, for which 614 candidates -- all members of the ruling Communist Party -- contested 614 seats.

Konstantin Sonin: The Cost of Believing in America
Ten years ago, an economic crisis in one developing country could set off a chain reaction among investors around the world. And once investors suffered sharp losses in one place -- for example, Thailand, South Korea or Indonesia -- they began rolling back everywhere. This time around, the scenario is playing out differently. Although the financial markets crisis that began last year has not yet reached the point where investors are pulling out of developing markets, money continues to flow freely in the opposite direction as the world's financial giants tap into government funds from former Third World countries.

Op-Ed Contributor: Medvedev's Regional Policy
By Nikolai Petrov First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev left Moscow in early January to tour a few regions. He is traveling more as President Vladimir Putin's de facto successor than as a presidential candidate. Medvedev is using his trip to inspect the major projects that are located in the regions and to establish contact with the local political elite.

Op-Ed Contributor: Shrunken, Proud and Awkward
By Robert Skidelsky The greatest disappointment of the post-communist era has been the failure of the West -- particularly Europe -- to build a successful relationship with Russia. Most policymakers and experts expected that, after an inevitably troublesome period of transition, Moscow would join the United States and Europe in a strategic and economic partnership, based on shared interests and values. The pace of change might be doubtful, but not its direction.

Issue 3824 | 21 Jan 2008

Richard Lourie: Sweet 16
Some anniversaries go unmarked and are all the more significant for that. Maybe it was the excitement when President Vladimir Putin named First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as his successor, while Putin was named Time magazine's Person of the Year. At the same time, the 16th anniversary of the collapse of the Soviet Union on Dec. 25 was neither mourned nor celebrated by public or pundits.

A New Hope For Imedi After Saakashvili Wins
By Matthew Collin When I switch to Channel 14 on my television, all that is visible is a test signal. The station that used to broadcast there, Imedi, is in a self-imposed shutdown, a casualty of these long months of political crisis in Georgia. The flamboyant tycoon who founded Imedi is in virtual exile; he is wanted on charges of plotting a terrorist attack and a coup. If you are looking for a story of moral heroics with a reassuring conclusion, don't read on.

Op-Ed Contributor: Obama, King and Pushkin
By Mark Teeter How should Americans explain to curious Russians the groundbreaking presidential candidacy of Illinois Senator Barack Obama? I'd say skip the lecture on caucuses and primaries and go straight to the candidate's three bullet points: change, hope and dreams.

Issue 3823 | 18 Jan 2008

Finding a Way to Deal with Corrupt Traffic Police
In response to ""Corruption Helping New Fines Work,"" an article by Natalya Krainova on Jan. 11.

Issue 3822 | 17 Jan 2008

Editorial: Compromise Needed Over British Council
The standoff between Moscow and London over the activities of the British Council is regrettable. It is regrettable not only because tens of thousands of Russians could lose the opportunity to acquire new skills, including a better knowledge of English and best practices in Britain, which the council either teaches or facilitates.

Op-Ed Contributor: EU's Russia Question
By Giles Merritt Friend or foe, or something uneasily in-between? That's the question Europe is asking about Russia, and Russia about a newly aggressive Europe. President Vladimir Putin's choice of Dmitry Medvedev, chairman of Gazprom, the gas company with an emerging stranglehold on European energy supplies, only throws this question into an even starker light.

Georgy Bovt: Medvedev's Status-Quo Liberalism
Many observers have concluded that First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who in all probability will become the next president in March, is a liberal. But it is a mystery to me why so many people sign on to this interpretation. It may be because Medvedev has a smooth, soft-spoken and intelligent way of speaking. In addition, he is not known for making hard-line speeches and has never engaged in diatribes against the West -- that is, not yet.

Issue 3821 | 16 Jan 2008

Op-Ed Contributor: Bush Should Borrow a Page From Kennan
By Thomas J. Raleigh There was once a time when the phrase ""quiet diplomacy"" was redundant. In terms of how the United States has come to conduct its foreign policy of late, the phrase has become oxymoronic.

: The 16th Assassination Attempt
We are seeing something close to a revolt in the streets of Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan. This is the first display of public disorder after a series of electricity blackouts in the city. Protesters blocked off streets and gathered in spontaneous demonstrations.

Well-Placed to Weather an Economic Storm
By Martin Gilman Next week's annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos will open under more than just the usual degree of uncertainty about the direction of world affairs. The U.S. economy is teetering on the brink of a recession whose global reach is unknown. Political factors further complicate making an assessment of how the world will cope with what is likely to be a challenging 2008. Can Russia detach itself from the spreading gloom?

Issue 3820 | 15 Jan 2008

Op-Ed Contributor: The Professional Army's Dead Souls
By Alexander Golts Jan. 1 was supposed to have been a defining moment for the armed forces. By this date, a federal program to switch a portion of the conscripted armed forces to professional contract duty was supposed to have been completed.

Alexei Pankin: A Sobering Picture
Two themes dominated the media in December: the presidential succession and the New Year's drinking binge.

Issue 3819 | 14 Jan 2008

Alexei Bayer: Russia's Succession Minefield
On Moscow's Romanov Pereulok stands a handsome apartment building dating from the turn of the 20th century. Its facade is festooned with memorial plaques bearing dozens of names of illustrious former tenants, including Semyon Budyonny, a Red Cavalry commander in the Russian Civil War, and Alexei Kosygin, a Soviet prime minister.

Issue 3818 | 11 Jan 2008

Op-Ed Contributor: Russia's Foreign Policy is Not the Problem
By Alexander Kramarenko In my view, a column by Fyodor Lukyanov titled ""With Its Foot in the Door, Russia Needs to Act"" on Dec. 19 misrepresents Russia's international policies on several important counts. I would like to set the record straight.

Editorial: Don't Wait for a Rainy Day to Spend
Even those in this country who do not follow the markets should know by now that global oil prices recently climbed past $100 per barrel to an all-time high. It was hard not to notice the development, which occurred Jan. 3, even though all newspapers were closed for the extended New Year's holiday.

Issue 3817 | 10 Jan 2008

Op-Ed Contributor: The Gun is Hanging on the Wall
By Robert Coalson Despite the calm of the holiday season, tension is mounting in Russia's political environment. And it is a natural product of the unique form of political theater -- imitation democracy -- that the political system has evolved into over the last eight years.

Boris Kagarlitsky: The President's Fate
After emerging from New Year's celebrations and returning to the daily routine, the country is gradually waking up to the fact that it will soon have a new president.

Issue 3816 | 9 Jan 2008

Op-Ed Contributor: Purge or Coup?
By Anders Aslund For years, President Vladimir Putin promised everybody that he would retire from politics when his second term lapsed in 2008. With his usual consistency, he changed his tune last June, saying he would maintain a major political role. In December, he ""agreed"" to serve as prime minister under a future President Dmitry Medvedev.

: Our Native Wiesenthal
Last week, Senator Alexander Torshin, former head of the parliamentary commission that investigated the Beslan school attack, shared some news about the investigation with Ekho Moskvy radio.

Issue 3815 | 28 Dec 2007

Op-Ed Contributor: Schmooze Like a Yankee
By Mark Teeter The holidays are nigh upon us! On Monday evening, a weary Moscow begins its annual fortnight of well-deserved, well-oiled and largely apolitical revelry.

Michael Bohm: Booze Like a Muzhik
'Tis the season to be jolly! In Russia, it is difficult to talk about the holiday season without talking about gathering to drink alcohol or its more acute version -- drinking bout.

Issue 3814 | 27 Dec 2007

Op-Ed Contributor: A New Year of More Confrontation
By Janusz Bugajski A new critical year in East-West relations is fast approaching. It promises to be a year of decision and confrontation. 2008 will present an important challenge for European Union unity, trans-Atlantic cohesion and the determination of the West to stand up to an increasingly assertive and expansive Russia.

Georgy Bovt: A True Citizen More Than a Good Shopper
Moscow has turned into one huge marketplace in the run-up to the New Year's holiday. Judging from the traffic jams in the city, and especially those near supermarkets, the scale of this year's shopping bonanza will set a new record.

Ford Focus and Punching Bags
In response to ""A Draw for Ford but a Victory for All,"" a column by Boris Kagarlitsky on Dec. 20. Editor, The author stated that vehicles produced at the Ford St. Petersburg plant in early December ""might not meet all of the technical standards."" This is completely wrong, as were other less-serious inaccuracies in the story, which were not checked. We can assure you and all of our customers that all cars built during the dispute fully meet Ford Motor Company's stringent quality control standards. Indeed, we have consistently praised the Vsevolozhsk team for equaling the quality of our plants in Germany and Spain, where the Focus model is also built. This is one of the reasons why the Ford Focus is the best-selling foreign-badged car in Russia. Ian S. Slater Vice President Communications and Public Affairs Ford of Europe and Premier Automotive Group In response to ""Saving the Relationship,"" a column by Rose Gottemoeller on Dec. 18.

Issue 3813 | 24 Dec 2007

Op-Ed Contributor: The Power Paralysis
By Lilia Shevtsova Those watching President Vladimir Putin on television could not fail to see a change in his mood. After he decided on his partnership with First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, he started to look like a different person.

Richard Lourie: Fathers and Sons
Two questions hung over Russia: Whom would President Vladimir Putin appoint as his successor? What role would Putin play in that successor's government? We now know the answer to the first, and, to some extent, to the second. But these answers generate as many new questions as they put old ones to rest.

Issue 3812 | 21 Dec 2007

Op-Ed Contributor: The Art of Reading Russia's Future
By Andrew C. Kuchins With Vladimir Putin's presidency winding down, this is a good time to think about his legacy and the future of Russia. The Putin presidency will be remembered for the country's economic resurgence, political stabilization and increasingly assertive foreign policy.

Michael Bohm: Cutting the Jibberish in the Cabinet
A couple of years ago during a Cabinet meeting, President Vladimir Putin asked several ministers to explain why health care reforms were going so slowly.

Issue 3811 | 20 Dec 2007

Op-Ed Contributor: 'What' Not 'Who' Will Shape Russia in 2008
By William Burns As the 200th anniversary year of formal diplomatic ties between Russia and the United States comes to a close, it is a natural moment to reflect on where we have been and where we are going. That is not exactly an easy thing to do these days. In our broader relationship, mutual frustration often obscures mutual interest.

Boris Kagarlitsky: A Draw for Ford but a Victory for All
The strike at the Ford factory in Vsevolozhsk, located right outside St. Petersburg, ended on Dec. 14. It was the longest and most intense standoff in post-Soviet times. The strike began on Nov. 20 and continued for three weeks.

Issue 3810 | 19 Dec 2007

Op-Ed Contributor: With Its Foot in the Door, Russia Needs to Act
By Fyodor Lukyanov The entire issue of who will succeed President Vladimir Putin is a fascinating story, and its possible plot twists will no doubt provide even more entertainment for the remaining months leading up to March.

Yulia Latynina: How Lukashenko Outsmarted Putin
President Vladimir Putin's recent visit to Belarus was rather strange. First, Putin arrived with a huge retinue that included Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov and Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov.

Op-Ed Contributor: The Gazprom Dog-and-Pony Show
By Roman Kupchinsky It is futile to attempt to sell an idea or to prepare the ground for a product that is basically unsound,"" wrote Edward Bernays, the father of public relations, in his 1928 book ""Propaganda.""

Issue 3809 | 18 Dec 2007

Editorial: No Place for Religion in Political Race
Patriarch Alexy II has blessed First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as the next president, giving a literal meaning to the idea that Medvedev is President Vladimir Putin's anointed successor.

Op-Ed Contributor: Saving the Relationship
By Rose Gottemoeller After President Vladimir Putin said last month that Russia would not allow other countries ""to poke their snotty noses into our affairs,"" we should face the fact that security relations with the West are in a shambles. Putin, who is fond of tough-guy slang, used the colorful phrase when he accused the United States of pushing the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to decide against sending observers to the State Duma elections on Dec. 2.

Konstantin Sonin: A Good Pilot Is Needed for Smooth Flight
Whenever a Russian economist says he teaches ""the problems of economic security,"" other professional economists have treated this in a contemptuous manner.

Op-Ed Contributor: Great Shell Game in Duma
By Nikolai Petrov The final composition of the State Duma has been established. Over 100 candidates who ran on the federal tickets of the four winning parties have rejected their posts and refused their mandates.

Op-Ed Contributor: Medvedev Is Doomed by Weak Links to FSB
By Leonid Radzikhovsky Dmitry Medvedev, who was ""elected"" by President Vladimir Putin, is one of the few people in Putin's close circle who does not have any connections, as far as we can tell, with the Federal Security Services.

Issue 3808 | 17 Dec 2007

Op-Ed Contributor: A Bad Blend of Brezhnev and Abramovich
By Vladimir Ryzhkov A new political model has emerged after the State Duma elections -- Putin's model. Putin began constructing this model in 1999, but it only reached its most advanced stage this fall.

Alexei Bayer: Living With Cheap Oil
The deflation of the real estate bubble began with a weak link -- the subprime segment of the U.S. mortgage market among poor homeowners who were unable to service their loans.

Op-Ed Contributor: Stemming Climate Change
By Brook Horowitz At the United Nations Conference on Climate Change that has just concluded in Bali, the world's governments agreed to begin two years of negotiations to replace for the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions.

Issue 3807 | 14 Dec 2007

Op-Ed Contributor: Putin's Three-Ring Circus
By Anders Aslund Circus Putin fascinates not only Russia but the entire world. The questions are numerous, but we will soon have the answers. Will Putin stay on as president?

Michael Bohm: The Jackals Scavenging Among Us
After Putin's fiery speech at Luzhniki several weeks ago, Russians and expats alike went running to their dictionaries to find the meaning of the criminal slang ????????, which the president used to describe how certain groups -- presumably opposition and human rights organizations -- ""??????? ? ??????????? ?????????"" (scavenge like jackals at foreign embassies).

Issue 3806 | 13 Dec 2007

Op-Ed Contributor: Small Democratic Step
By Michael McFaul Democracy is not made by economic, cultural or historical determinants. Democrats make democracy.

Editorial: A Troubling Pattern With 'Premier Putin'
Dmitry Medvedev's announcement that President Vladimir Putin would be his choice for prime minister if he became president should have surprised no one.

George Bovt: Using Pull of FSB Patrons to Make Deals
The recent interview in Kommersant with Oleg Shvartsman, head of the little-known FinansGroup, caused quite a storm.

Issue 3805 | 12 Dec 2007

Caught in the Crosshairs of the U.S. Dollar
By Martin Gilman Once again, Russia is in the crosshairs of U.S. policy. Rather that an intentionally Russia-wary position, it results from a 21st-century form of ""benign neglect"" by Washington -- a term last widely used to describe the attitude of U.S. Treasury Secretary John Connally regarding the plight of the dollar in 1971.

Yulia Latynina: Keeping Medvedev on a Short Leash
Keeping Medvedev on a Short Leash Russia's presidential election was held Monday. President Vladimir Putin voted for First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to become the new president.

Issue 3804 | 11 Dec 2007

Alexander Golts: Cold War Repeats as Farce
Marx has often been attributed with the famous quote that history repeats itself first as a tragedy and second as a farce. I'm not sure if the 40-year Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States can be called a historical tragedy, but the games Russia's leaders are playing now definitely resemble a farcical repetition of the Cold War.

Editorial: A Weak Medvedev, a Strong Putin
President Vladimir Putin has picked a weak figure with his decision Monday to back Dmitry Medvedev as the next president -- indicating that Putin intends to wield considerable influence after he steps down next year.

Op-Ed Contributor: Medvedev's Oil Curse
By Alexei Bayer The emergence of First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as the long-awaited successor puts to rest ominous speculation about President Vladimir Putin's real intensions.

Alexei Pankin: Working for A Media Revolution
During Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev's time, there was a popular saying among journalists: ""Everywhere you look, life is total crap. But when you pause to think a little, life is not so bad after all.""

Issue 3803 | 10 Dec 2007

Op-Ed Contributor: Worn Out by Elections
By Robert Coalson With the dust settling from the State Duma elections, all eyes have turned to the presidential election in March. But some in the Kremlin might be turning their thoughts to the presidential election in general -- as in getting rid of it altogether.

Op-Ed Contributor: Ending an Empire Over a Few Drinks
By David Marples Sixteen years ago Saturday, the leaders of the three Slavic republics of the Soviet Union gathered at a hunting lodge in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha nature reserve near Minsk and signed an agreement that spelled the end of the Soviet Union.

Putin's Pretend Democracy
By Mark H. Teeter Now that the pretend results from the pretend elections to the nation's pretend parliament have been certified, the next order of political business will be the pretend presidential election in March.

Refugees Dreaming of Home in Hotel Charm
By Matthew Collin The Hotel Charm isn't really a hotel any more, and it's definitely not charming. The hallways are scruffy, the stairwells are filthy, broken light fittings cast a pall of gloom across the corridors, and in winter it's cold and damp. But for more than a decade, this dingy concrete block in Tbilisi has been home to around 25 families.

Issue 3802 | 7 Dec 2007

Op-Ed Contributor: Kitchen Dissent Once Again
By Yevgeny Kiselyov The State Duma elections are behind us. The official results have been released, and it is now possible to draw some conclusions.

Op-Ed Contributor: Give the Donkey a Sporting Chance
By Chris Weafer The State Duma elections did more than just give President Vladimir Putin a mandate to choose his future role as a moral authority and national leader after he leaves office.

Issue 3801 | 6 Dec 2007

Op-Ed Contributor: Why the Vote Was Not Fair
By Klas Bergman On election day, with snow covering the street in Moscow, over 60 percent of voters went to the polls at well-organized and efficient polling stations and in a mostly calm and friendly atmosphere.

Boris Kagarlitsky: A New Era for Labor Unions
The State Duma elections, which tried but ultimately failed to frighten voters, are finally over. We can breathe a sigh of relief and forget for the time being about the parliament.

Issue 3800 | 5 Dec 2007

Yulia Latynina: How Nemtsov's Arrest Differs From Anya's
Last week I heard the most optimistic news that an inveterate pessimist like me could have possibly imagined. No, I'm not referring to the recent State Duma elections.

Issue 3799 | 4 Dec 2007

Editorial: Winners Must Make Good on Mandate
Now that United Russia has claimed a landslide victory, it has secured its much-desired mandate -- and the accompanying responsibility to make good on its campaign promise to follow President Vladimir Putin's policies once he leaves office.

Op-Ed Contributor: Voting at the Buffet
By Georgy Bovt Ever since the first elections to the Supreme Soviet in 1937 under the Stalinist Constitution, buffets at polling places have been an integral part of the election process. My earliest recollection of these heavily discounted buffets was in the 1970s, when I accompanied my parents as they ""fulfilled their civic duty"" on election day.

Konstantin Sonin: Kremlin Wins a Duma With No Legitimacy
I drafted this column on Sunday before the results of State Duma elections were in, but I do not need to change much after the Central Elections Commission announced their preliminary results on Monday.

Op-Ed Contributor: Buying the Pensioner's Vote
By Ilian Cashu and Mitchell A. Orenstein No Russian politician would risk opposing pension hikes in an election year. During the State Duma campaign, the competition was fierce among all of the parties to become the greatest friend of the country's 38 million pensioners.

Issue 3798 | 3 Dec 2007

Editorial: The Vote Was Not Free or Transparent
Vladimir Churov, head of the Central Elections Commission, gave a small group of foreign reporters a personal guarantee five days before the State Duma elections took place.

Alexei Bayer: Dubai on the Moscow River
Writing in the Nov. 22 issue of The New York Review of Books, former Soviet dissident Sergei Kovalyov analyzed the reasons for President Vladimir Putin's remarkable popularity.

Issue 3797 | 30 Nov 2007

Op-Ed Contributor: How to Build a More Equitable World
By James D. Wolfensohn The notion of a divide between the rich North and the poor South has long been a central concept among economists and policymakers. From 1950 to 1980, the North accounted for almost 80 percent of global gross domestic product but only 22 percent of its population.

Issue 3796 | 29 Nov 2007

Op-Ed Contributor: 20 Years After a Revolution by Culture
By Leon Aron Twenty years after Mikhail Gorbachev initiated glasnost, it is clear that, like every fateful ""tipping point"" in human history, the change has furnished enough material for scholars to plumb for many years. It may be too early to appreciate what glasnost has contributed, its depth, its passions and, yes, even its significance.

Georgy Bovt: Trumped by Traffic Jams
None of my friends knows what to do about the upcoming State Duma elections. Some think that it would be wrong to vote for United Russia since it has turned the campaign into a Soviet-style farce.

Issue 3795 | 28 Nov 2007

Yulia Latynina: A Friend in Need
President Vladimir Putin still hasn't declared his final intentions regarding the presidential election in March, and all of this uncertainty is driving the Kremlin elite crazy.

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