POLITICS
In his state-of-the-nation address on Thursday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko blamed a recent deadly terrorist attack on the Minsk metro on external forces aiming to “dictate their will to the Belarusian people,” denouncing superfluous “democracy” and promising to eradicate the “fifth column” in the country.
(Kommersant, Nezavisimaya Gazeta)
Approval ratings of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his pro-Kremlin United Russia party have dropped to their lowest levels in two years, two Russian pollsters said.
(Vedomosti)
The United States will allocate $90 million for democratic reforms in Georgia, the U.S. ambassador to the South Caucasus country said. Georgian opposition leader Nino Burdzhanadze said the West had finally begun treating Tbilisi “adequately.”
Giorgi Baramidze, the Georgian deputy prime minister and minister for Euro-Atlantic integration, explained why it is important for Georgia to join NATO.
(Moskovskiye Novosti)
Obama’s decision to replace outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates with current CIA Director Leon Panetta was motivated by Leon’s ability to implement harsh financial policies, experts said. The new defense secretary will face a challenge of cutting the Pentagon’s expenditures by $400 billion while continuing operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.
(Kommersant)
Nikolai Denin, the governor of the Western Russian city of Bryansk, and his wife have increased their land holdings over the past year - to 8,400 hectares in 2010 from 11.6 hectares in 2009.
(Vedomosti)
ECONOMY
High oil and gas prices are no longer boosting the development of the Russian economy, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said during a meeting of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs on Thursday. The minister again called for the development of political competition in Russia, which he said would allow drawing up an effective economic strategy.
(Nezavisimaya Gazeta)
The Russian government has approved amendments to Russia’s 2011 budget. The country’s expenses are likely to exceed previous estimates by 418.4 billion rubles ($14.9 billion). Inflation in Russia has been estimated to stand at 6.5-7.5 percent this year, but experts say it may reach 8.7 percent. (Vedomosti)
BUSINESS
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met on Thursday with Russian oligarchs - members of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs - and promised them to consider the lowering of fiscal charges.
(Kommersant)
The Russian government discussed on Thursday the indexation of taxes for natural monopolies in 2012-2014. The increase in taxes may be 1.5-3 times less then previous estimates.
(Vedomosti)
The Russian Human Rights Council has begun looking into the case of Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former head of oil company Yukos, serving 14 years in prison for embezzling oil from Yukos and laundering over 3 billion rubles ($97.5 million) in revenues.
(Nezavisimaya Gazeta)
Switzerland has opened a money-laundering probe against a former Russian tax official at the request of British investment company Hermitage Capital Management Ltd.
(Kommersant, Vedomosti)
U.S. investor Stephen Lynch, known for buying a subsidiary of Russian energy company Yukos during the company’s bankruptcy procedure, is in talks on the purchase of a stake in Russia’s Lenta hypermarket network.
(Kommersant)
Shareholders in Bank of Moscow elected former VTB employee Mikhail Kuzovlev as the bank's president on Thursday, ending a dramatic fight for control over the capital's lender.
(Kommersant)
CRIME
The son of software tycoon Yevgeny Kaspersky has been kidnapped in Moscow. Ivan Kaspersky, 20, is believed to be being held for a 3 million euro ransom.
(Kommersant, Izvestia, Moskovskiye Novosti)
