NOTE: The Power Vertical Briefing is RFE/RL’s short look ahead to the stories expected to make news in Russia in the coming week. It is hosted by Brian Whitmore, author of the Power Vertical blog, and appears every Monday. Reports have surfaced that Vladimir Yakunin, a longtime crony of Vladimir Putin, is being investigated by […]
The Daily Vertical is a video primer for Russia-watchers that appears Monday through Friday. Viewers can suggest topics via Twitter @PowerVertical or on the Power Vertical Facebook page.
Staunton, November 4 – Russian trains now travel at “almost the same average speed” they did in the middle of the 19th century, and Russian Rail remains a Soviet-style monopoly for all the talk about innovations over the last 15 years, according to a new study which points to these shortcomings as a major reason […]
Vladimir Yakunin, head of Russian Railways for the last 10 years and long a target of allegations of corruption by the opposition, has resigned from his position to seek a senator’s seat. Welcome to our column, Russia Update, where we will be closely following day-to-day developments in Russia, including the Russian government’s foreign and domestic […]
Staunton, May 27 – Russian governors, “even the most loyal” to the Kremlin, as a result of the intensification of the economic crisis, find themselves between a rock and a hard place and are beginning to complain about Moscow’s failure to articulate an anti-crisis strategy which takes the interests of their regions into account, according […]
Staunton, February 1 – Vladimir Putin has clearly learned the lesson some of his predecessors did not: when times are tough, boosting alcohol prices is a good way to trigger a social explosion. But his decision to cut the price of the cheapest vodka — which went into effect February 1 — is a recipe […]
Staunton, January 1 – Russian Railways announced December 31 that it will end some 220 local train routes this month, effectively cutting off the residents of many rural areas from access to medical and other services available only in region capitals. But the corporation insisted that Moscow is not to blame: local governments have failed […]
John Wilson, a Scottish writer, is the author of The City of the Plague, a scary story from the 17th century which takes place in London. In Russian school, we don’t study Wilson, but we read Alexander Pushkin. Among Pushkin’s Little Tragedies, there is one called A Feast in the Time of the Plague, a […]
Russian Railways is under considerable scrutiny of late. Its President, Vladimir Yakunin, has been accused of fraud by opposition leader Alexei Navalny. In a recent ruling, Russian Railways managers will have to report their income and expenditures to the government, which meets some demands of the opposition, but perhaps only in appearance. Russian Railways is also […]
Vladimir Yakunin, the head of Russian Railways, has been accused by opposition leader Alexei Navalny of spending more money than he makes each year. Now, the government has approved a list of organizations whose managers will report their income and major expenses. Of the major state-owned companies only Russian Railways is on that list. – […]
