Category Archives: russia

The Guriev Affair – Signal or Noise?

Posted on June 9, 2013 by

Last month, well-known Russian economist Sergei Guriev fled Russia in an apparent attempt to avoid what he described as a politically motivated investigation of his involvement in co-authoring a 2011 report critical of Russia’s prosecution of Mikhail Khodorkovsky. In an … Continue reading →

Posted in bureaucracy, Guriev, russia, siloviki

Strategic Sectors Law Update – First Commission Meeting of 2013 and Amendments to Law

Posted on May 5, 2013 by

On April 19, PM Medvedev held the first Foreign Investment Commission meeting of 2013. At the outset, Medvedev noted that Russia received over $50 bln in FDI inflows over the course of 2012. This statement is drawn from Central Bank … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Business and Economy, Economic development, economics, Foreign direct investment, foreign investment, Government of Russia, Law, legal update, legislation, pharma, russia, strategic industries

Should You Hire a Corrupt Manager in Russia?

Posted on February 12, 2013 by

That’s the provocative question raised by Prof. Maxim Mironov of IE Business School in a new paper, which I came across via this post at the Wall Street Journal. In short, Mironov concludes that yes, on occasion, it is worthwhile … Continue reading →

Posted in bribery, bribes, bureaucracy, Business, compliance, corruption, officials, rule of law, russia | 1 Comment

War on Corruption – What to Make of the Latest Scandals?

Posted on December 7, 2012 by

Update: for the Russian speakers, today Kommersant put up an excellent resource on its website, with an infographic on the latest scandals and corruption generally, and links to articles on everything I cover below. Of particular interest – the total financial losses collectively inflicted … Continue reading →

Posted in bribery, bribes, bureaucracy, clans, corruption, criminal law, Dmitry Medvedev, mvd, Putin, Rostekhnologii, russia, siloviki, Vladimir Putin, war on corruption | 1 Comment

The Engineer’s Plot

Posted on November 28, 2012 by

Apologies for my absence from blogging over the past few months. I’ve been traveling and generally busy with work. I promise to provide some update on the strategic sectors law and Russia’s anticorruption efforts soon. In the meantime, here is … Continue reading →

Video | Posted on November 28, 2012 by

Strategic Sectors Law Update – Second Commission Meeting of 2012

Posted on August 22, 2012 by

On July 30, 2012, PM Medvedev chaired a session of the Commission on Foreign Investment. This is the second Commission meeting of 2012, but the first chaired by Medvedev. In his remarks, Medvedev largely rehashed Putin’s presentation at his last … Continue reading →

Posted in Business and Economy, Dmitry Medvedev, economics, FAS, fish, Foreign direct investment, foreign investment, goskorporatsii, infrastructure, Law, legal update, Medvedev, offshore, oligarchs, russia, Russian economy, state corporations, strategic industries, Vedomosti

Legal Update – New Law on “Foreign Agent” NGOs

Posted on August 2, 2012 by

On July 21, Pres. Putin signed the much-discussed amendments to the Law on Nongovernmental Organizations (or, Noncommercial Organizations as their called in Russian). Given the back-drop of protests and other opposition activity, the new law generated more interest than usual, … Continue reading →

Posted in Law, legal update, legislation, NGOs, russia, state corporations | 4 Comments