Business Watch
Editor
Risque 'Sexpat' lawyer allowed to sue after dismissal from Moscow office
Deirdre Clark achieved fame in Moscow writing under the pen-name Deirdre Dare while a £126,000 a year (before bonuses) lawyer with the Moscow office of top international law firm Allen & Overy. She published a novel, Sexpat, chapter by chapter on her website which the Evening Standard described as “about the debauched sex-an-drugs lifestyle of highly paid Western expatriates in Moscow.”
Statistical evidence that Russia is changing
by Patrick Armstrong
Change. More change working away. Last Sitrep I reported about a quarter of Russians had travelled outside the former USSR. Now we find that about 90% have cell phones and about 40% of adults use the Internet daily. ROMIR tells us that 70% of Russians have savings, the overwhelming majority in Rubles, many in banks. And a per-capita GDP is getting on for half that of Japan. I believe that easy communication, travel, access to the New Media and savings accounts are the outward signs of internal change: “middle class” things. I think it’s fair to say that Russia has never been a “middle class country” before: it’s not there yet but getting there.
Medvedev Q&A full transcript (in English)
Last Thursday (26 April) outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had a frank and open discussion with news anchors of Russian television networks Channel One, Rossiya (RTR), NTV, Dozhd and REN TV in the studios of Ren-TV which was broadcast live. This is the complete transcript of the broadcast as translated by the Presidsential Press Office and available on the web site http://eng.kremlin.ru/
The Litvinenko contamination case is contaminated
by William Dunkerley
Mention the Alexander Litvinenko case, and people think of radioactive contamination. Now, though, it's looking like the case itself has become contaminated. The London Coroner's office has played a central role in the Litvinenko case. But these days it appears to be in disarray and hiding from the public. What's Behind This?
Troika Dialog Appoints Dmitry Sredin as Senior Banker at Corporate Investment Unit
As part of the integration of Sberbank of Russia and Troika Dialog, Dmitry Sredin has been appointed as a senior banker of the Corporate Investment Unit. Dmitry will work together with Sberbank of Russia’s Department of Corporate Clients. One of his primary tasks will be developing and implementing a strategy for building relationships with key Russian and international clients of the merged company and offering them personalised financial solutions based on a complete range of commercial and investment banking products that fully meet their needs.
Is a change about to transform the Russian regime?
Recent events raise hopes for regime transformation in Russia. For the past four years Russia has been undergoing a very gradual liberalization that has been much like an iceberg melting. The big question is how and what kind of transformation it will be. A country’s form of rule can be transformed in several ways, and can produce democratic, authoritarian, totalitarian, or hybrid (soft authoritarian or weak democratic) outcomes. Historically, there are two basic kinds of internally-driven regime change: revolution and transition. These transitions, as a rule, are more likely to produce democratic outcomes than revolutions.
Sberbank's Gref calls for more public involvement to improve governance
Russia could improve the effectiveness of governance using crowdsourcing technology, the president and chief executive of Sberbank, German Gref said in an article published in Vedomosti last Friday. "We need to introduce a fundamentally new model of governance, based on the maximum involvement of the country's citizens in all stages of making key government decisions at the federal and regional levels," Gref said.
Inbound tourism to Russia distorted by business travellers on tourist visa
The Russian inbound tourism industry has been slammed as a “disaster”, during a lively panel debate at the inaugural WTM Vision Conference – Moscow. KMP Group President Vladimir Kantorowich labelled the inbound Russian industry as the “Cinderella of the Russian tourism industry” claiming the “government has done nothing to develop it”, at WTM Vision Conference – Moscow, which took place at the Moscow Marriot Grand Hotel.
IN FROM THE COLD: THE RISE OF RUSSIAN CAPITALISM
Russia's transformation from central planning to a market-based economy over the past 20 years must rank as one of the biggest economic stories of our time, according to a new book on the rise of Russian capitalism. The authors – all economic and finance professionals who have invested in the nuts and bolts of the Russian transformation – demonstrate why the positive economic achievements of the last 20 years should be more widely recognized in the West.
Amendments to Civil Code submitted to Duma aimed at improving business environment
On April 2, 2012 the Russian President introduced to the State Duma draft amendments to the Civil Code (the Draft) prepared jointly by representatives of both the legal and business communities. The Draft is primarily geared to improve regulations and the business environment in Russia. It should be furthered by the proposed modifications and enhancements with regard to legal entities, transactions, agreements, and other provisions.
Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners’ experts who were actively involved in preparing the Draft are pleased to represent an overview of the key amendments to the Civil Code as well as their expert opinion on the most important of them here.