Corruption

No More Vehicles for Personal Use by Public Officials

July 22, 2013

Mikhail Abyzov, the Minister for Open Government, proposed to stop the practice of procurement of cars for government officials. Earlier, representatives of the “All-Russia People’s Front” (ONF) introduced a bill limiting the value of official vehicles to 3 million roubles. The Minister said that “it is necessary to abandon the practice of acquisition of vehicles […]

Bilalov Indicted

July 17, 2013

Magomed Bilalov was indicted in absentia in the case of a 45.5 million-ruble bank loan scam. In the near future he may be declared wanted by federal and international authorities. – Ed. The Interior Ministry Investigative Department brought charges in absentia against Magomed Bilalov, the former shareholder and deputy chairman of the board of directors […]

It Looks like Putin Wrote Just a Couple of Pages of His Thesis

July 16, 2013

Long before the series of exposures of high-level officials who plagiarized their academic theses, Igor Danchenko and Clifford Gaddy of the Brookings Institution found out that Vladimir Putin’s thesis was “borrowed” from a book by two American scientists. In 2006 it was reported by the Washington Post and The Times. However in Russia that news […]

Five Moscow Mayoral Candidates and Their Money

July 12, 2013

Along with the signatures and documents needed for registration in the elections for mayor of Moscow, the candidates provided their first financial reports on the contributions and expenditures of their campaign funds. Thus, acting mayor of Moscow Sergei Sobyanin has received almost 36 million rubles in his campaign fund, but the communist Ivan Melnikov isn’t […]

Arrested Ex-Mayor May be Involved in Murder of Well-Known Dagestan Athlete

July 11, 2013

Investigators do not rule out that Musail Alaudinov could have been killed as a potential witness. In Dagestan there have been new developments in the murder case of Mr. Mussail Alaudinov, a 38-year old well-known athlete and the director of the “Gorets”, a well-known martial arts club. He was murdered on July 9 outside Makhachkala, […]

Deputies Accused of Living Beyond Their Means

July 10, 2013

[The Russian section of Transparency International monitored the income declarations of State Duma deputies and calculated the cost of their acquisitions. The researchers caught dozens of deputies with their expenses exceeding their income. The deputies themselves unanimously deny any violations, claiming that “their conscience and hands are clean.” – Ed.] The research was conducted by […]

That Flexible Word “Freedom”


July 3, 2013

[At the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, President Putin discussed Internet freedom with global business leaders as the Russian parliament initially approved a draft anti-piracy law despite an outcry from Russian Internet companies and free speech activists, Kommersant reports. Meanwhile, the FSB investigated an online hoax involving Russian Railways chief Vladimir Yakunin the Federal Security Agency […]

New Developments in GLONASS Embezzlement Case

June 24, 2013

[This article reports on new criminal complaints filed in relation to the embezzlement of millions of dollars from the GLONASS satellite navigation programme—Ed.] The Interior Ministry has filed a criminal complaint against the former managers of M2M Telematics, an IT company and a subsidiary of Sistema, JSFC. The company is suspected of involvement in the […]