by Gordon M. Hahn

The latest evidence suggests the U.S. mainstream media still just can’t or willfully refuses to ‘get it’ when it comes to Russia’s new reform era – dubbed here variously as ‘Medvedev’s thaw’, ‘the tandem’s thaw,’ and ‘Perestroika 2.0’ nearly four years ago now. What began as a result of bias regarding Russia is now reinforced by self-interest; rejection of the “other Russia” they refused to mention for years must continue in order to coverup their prior journalistic malpractice.  But as the expression goes: the coverup is worse than the crime.

From the web site of the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation:

Democracy and the quality of government

Sustainable social development is impossible without a competent state, while genuine democracy is a fundamental condition for developing a state designed to serve public interests. Real democracy cannot be created overnight and cannot be a carbon copy of some external example. Society must be completely ready for using democratic mechanisms. The majority of people must see themselves as citizens of their country, ready to devote their attention, time and efforts on a regular basis to taking part in the process of governance. In other words, democracy is effective only when people are ready to invest something in it.

by Gordon M. Hahn

Russian Prime Minister and would-be third-time president Vladimir Putin has challenges ahead of him.  Most of them are rooted in several categories that could have been avoided. First, there is concern that Putin went too far in centralizing power in his efforts to rein in the oligarchs, republic presidents, regional governors, and Chechen militants (turned jihadists) who ran roughshod over the Russian state and society in the 1990s.

According to a survey carried out by the Federal Statistics Service of Russia, the entrepreneur confidence indicator fell in the manufacturing sector in December 2011 to –6% and in the mining and quarrying sector to –3%. In contrast, the industrial production index (IPI) rose 2.5% in December 2011 versus the same month of the previous year. Different causes are attributed to such versatile dynamics. The seasonal effect exacerbates the negative results. Entrepreneur confidence tends to decline towards December and rise towards July. December 2010 showed similar dynamics in entrepreneur confidence, and December 2011 posted no change from the previous year figures.

At the beginning of the discussion at Russia Forum 2012, panel moderator Ksenia Yudaeva (Director, Center for Economic Research, Sberbank) gave an overview of the macroeconomic situation. The main feature of today's market is high volatility and ample fluctuations in liquidity. Investors have differing views, and this does nothing to heighten stability. The policy of the Central Bank plays a big role now.

Anton Karamzin, Sberbank's CFO, moderated this panel and started proceedings by suggesting that the crisis of the past few years has highlighted that emerging market banks are now better able to understand risk management and pricing than their developed market peers.

In the fourth successive article outlining his electoral program, Russian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin explains the organization of Russian democracy, and how it must evolve in order to shape the future of Russian society. Putin acknowledged that after the end of communism in Russia, society underwent comprehensive reforms that were ultimately hijacked by an oligarchy that used the public wealth to its own benefit, depriving citizens of the bare essentials in the process. 

By Dmitry Medvedev, President of the Russian Federation

Russia has taken over the rotating chair of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in 2012 and will host this year’s APEC Leaders’ Week in Vladivostok. For Russia this honour comes with a great sense of responsibility. Just as Russia is an integral part of the vast and forward-reaching Asia-Pacific region, that is crucial for the socio-economic development of Russia, especially Siberia and the Far East. Therefore, one of the country’s top priorities is to promote trade and investment cooperation with Asia-Pacific countries and to actively participate in regional integration.

Top managers of Russian developers and homebuilders discussed a number of questions at the Russia Forum 2012 including regulation, management competitiveness, the market beyond Moscow, the cost of land, investment and the future outlook.

Norway announced an initiative this week to invest about 1 million USD towards a Norwegian-Russian project that will assess the technology needed to develop theuntapped oil fields in the Arctic region, particularly in the Barents Sea. The project has a total funding estimate of about 2.7 million USD over three years and will include partners such as INTSOK, Gazprom, Tschudi Shipping, and others. The group will assess the challenges, gaps in technology, and methods and best practices in order to determine a path forward. According to Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre...

Read the full article at DiploNews here: http://www.diplonews.com/articles/2012/20120203_NorwayRussiaArctic.php