Putin’s Olympics snub welcomed
Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be going to the London Olympics. British MPs, who have campaigned against human rights abuses in Russia, immediately welcomed the snub.
Former Europe minister Denis MacShane claimed it was a way for the newly-sworn President to avoid pressure on Syria.
He said: “Putin now realises that he is not welcome in London because of Russia’s flagrant rejection of European values and norms and failure to investigate and punish officials who violate rule of law.”
It is possible that Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev may attend the Games which kick off with the opening ceremony on July 27.
Russia will host the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
The death of anti-corruption campaigner and lawyer Sergei Magnitsky has also triggered major diplomatic tensions with Russia.
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Who gets a visit from Putin?
Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn’t choose his foreign visits lightly. On May 31, Putin makes his first trip abroad since being inaugurated for a third term as president on May 7, to neighboring Belarus. The visit is highly symbolic of Russia’s desire to be the leader in the post-Soviet space, as well as Putin’s continued support for the authoritarian president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko (also known as “Europe’s Last Dictator”). Afterwards, Putin will head to Germany and France, Russia’s major trading partners in the EU. After the European visits, Putin will fly to speak with Uzbek ruler Islam Karimov in Tashkent, to Beijing, and finally to Astana, Kazakhstan, to meet with long-time ruler Nursultan Kazarbayev; countries central to Putin’s vision of a Eurasian Union.
Earlier in the month, Putin suddenly declined to attend the G8 Summit in Camp David, under pretext that he was too busy forming a new Cabinet of Ministers, sending instead Prime Minister Medvedev. The move was widely seen as a snub to President Obama, as Putin avoided a meeting with the president, and sidestepped making the U.S. his first foreign visit. A few days later, Obama announced he would not be able to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in Vladivostok this September, because it conflicted with the Democratic Party convention.
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Italy made its own blacklist of Russian officials involved in Magnitsky’s death
Novye Izvestia
One of the resolutions (the one drawn by a representative of the Democratic Radical Party) is stiffer than the other. It suggests discovery of the assets of Russian corrupt officials in Italy and their confiscation. As for the crooks themselves, the resolution suggests that they be denied travel to Italy. “Magnitsky’s case is actually a test for Europe,” said the author of the resolution. “We appeal to all European countries and specifically to Italy to take measures to prevent officials and functionaries guilty of the death of this gallant young man from enjoying free travel and investment here. There is nothing political about it. This is a matter of humanism and justice.” The parliamentarian said that the Italians knew the identities of 60 Russian state officials and civil servants involved in the matter, ones who were never tried for it.
The resolution drawn by the party of ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi is less restrictive. It suggests no financial or visa sanctions against the Russians. And yet even this document appeals to the Russian authorities to investigate Magnitsky’s death and bring those guilty to trial. Authors of the this document point out that the matter is regularly brought up at the Russian-EU talks and that Russian delegations inevitably go out of their way to steer the conversation away from the awkward subject.
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Dem lawmaker not afraid of Russian threats over human rights legislation
Threats of retaliation won’t deter Congress from moving forward with legislation slapping travel and financial restrictions on Russian officials accused of human rights violations, the bill’s Senate sponsor tells The Hill.
“We’ve heard this before,” Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said of comments this week by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, who warned of “repercussions” if the legislation becomes law.
“This is an issue that’s important for Russia. Our legislation just tells Russia to do what is right in their own country,” Cardin said. “We’re not asking them to do anything other than adhere to basic international human rights standards.”
Putin spokesman Yuri Ushakov said Russia would “very much like to avoid” the legislation during a press briefing previewing Putin’s meeting with President Obama during the G20 summit in Mexico next month, according to The Washington Post. “But if this new anti-Russian law is adopted, then of course that demands measures in response,” Ushakov said, according to the Post.
A Senate aide dismissed the heightened Russian rhetoric as a sign that the bill — named after Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer who was arrested on fraud charges and died in custody three years ago after accusing tax officials of a $230 million fraud — has a good shot of passing.
“The substance of the threats aren’t really new,” said the aide. “They might be getting louder as the Magnitsky bill gets closer to becoming law, but the threats are all the same. The reality is that coming to the United States is a privilege and if someone has engaged in activities that are against the rule of law and human rights, the United States will take what actions it has available to it even if others choose not to act.”
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Vladimir Putin to snub London 2012 Olympics
Exclusive: Russian president will send Dmitry Medvedev to Games instead, illustrating Kremlin vitriol towards Britain. Vladimir Putin will not be coming to the London Olympics, diplomatic sources have said, in an apparent signal of the Russian president’s continuing displeasure and irritation with Britain.
Putin won’t attend the London 2012 opening ceremony on 27 July, sources confirmed, despite the fact that Moscow will host the Winter Olympics in 2014 in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. Instead, the Russian president is likely to dispatch his prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, to London.
The snub follows Putin’s controversial decision earlier this month to boycott the G8 summit hosted by the US president, Barack Obama. Putin claimed he was too busy forming his new government to attend, and sent Medvedev instead. He has accused the US of inciting street protests against him and is unhappy with Washington’s missile defence plans in Europe.
Putin has a long list of grievances against Britain. As well as the unresolved Alexander Litvinenko affair – a source of smouldering tension – the Kremlin has been infuriated by calls to ban senior Russians accused of human rights abuses.
In March, a group of backbench MPs voted to refuse visas to officials implicated in the death of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who died in prison, in 2009. The Foreign Office has so far ignored the non-binding vote and ruled out a Magnitsky ban.
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Investor doubts hold back Russian oil powerhouse
The Russian oil company Surgutneftegaz owns refineries and gas stations, sells a valuable product and makes a profit. But it sometimes fails another test of the capitalist world.
The company is valued by the Russian stock market at even less than its cash and easily sold assets. That astonishing fact suggests that investors see no real value in the business.
Surgut, as it is known for short, is Russia’s fourth-largest oil company after Rosneft, Lukoil and TNK-BP. Its sprawling oil fields, pipelines and drilling rigs should be highly valued in the investment arena. It pumps 1.1 million barrels of oil a day. So the struggle to raise its stock value in the eyes of portfolio managers, while more extreme than many of its Russian peers, is emblematic of investors’ broad lack of confidence in the country’s economy. Outsiders view Russia’s companies, however cash-rich, with an incredible degree of skepticism.
Shares in Surgut have fallen in recent weeks to a level where the market value of about $28.5 billion (U.S.) for its common shares on the Russian Micex stock exchange is now lower than the $31.4 billion in cash and liquid assets on its balance sheet, according to Troika Dialog bank in Moscow.
“It’s an illogical valuation,” Chris Weafer, the chief strategist at Troika Dialog brokerage in Moscow, wrote in a research note last week about the company.
The Russian market this spring fell faster than others of the BRIC countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China and since mid-March is down 18.8 per cent. Global oil prices have slumped, reducing expected earnings.
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As BP faces difficulty at its Russian venture, is the country a safe place for UK investors?
City AM
As BP faces difficulty at its Russian venture, is the country a safe place for UK investors?
YES
John McRoberts
There has always been concern around election time in Russia but, now that Vladimir Putin is again President, I expect another period of stability. He has transformed the country, putting in place a new environment for business, built primarily on transforming the tax system. Personal income tax is now a flat 13 per cent and corporate income tax 20 per cent. The oil price has remained fairly strong, and with expected GDP growth of 4 per cent this year, there is much to be optimistic about. By contrast with much of the world, Russia looks like an excellent prospect over the next five to ten years. The legal system continues to reform, Russia has no net debt and there will be huge infrastructure renewal as the 2014 Winter Olympics and 2018 World Cup approach. While there is a view that western-style democracy does not yet exist, economic freedom does and this brings with it a stable but vibrant business environment.
John McRoberts is founder of Aurora Russia, the private equity fund.
NO
William Browder
You shouldn’t be fooled into thinking Russia is a good place to invest because stocks are cheap or certain business sectors are growing. There’s a good chance you will lose your money and possibly much more. I should know. I was once the largest foreign investor in Russia until I was banned from the country and my offices were raided. Some try to portray my case as an isolated incident, but one out of every six Russian businessmen is sitting in jail. It is not just Russians who are targeted. Yesterday’s news that BP is entering its fourth major dispute with its Russian partners should give people reason to worry. And if it doesn’t, just look at the troubles that Shell, Ikea, Telenor, and Bank of New York have had, just to name a few. The next time you get the urge to invest in Russia, please lie down for 30 minutes and wait until that urge has passed. You will thank me.
William Browder is chief executive and co-founder of Hermitage Capital Management. быстрые займы на карту срочный займ на карту https://zp-pdl.com/online-payday-loans-in-america.php https://zp-pdl.com/get-quick-online-payday-loan-now.php unshaven girls
Russia warns of retaliation for U.S. Magnitsky bill
Russia is prepared to retaliate if the U.S. Congress passes the Magnitsky bill, which would freeze assets of and deny U.S. visas to Russian officials linked to human rights abuses, President Vladimir Putin’s top foreign adviser said Tuesday.
“We would very much like to avoid it,” Yuri Ushakov said. “But if this new anti-Russian law is adopted, then of course that demands measures in response.”
Ushakov’s comments came in an otherwise upbeat briefing on a meeting between Putin and President Obama set for June in Mexico. The Obama administration has been resisting the legislation, introduced by Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.), viewing it as too provocative, even as the State Department has acted on its own to refuse entry to Russian officials associated with the Magnitsky case.
But in a recent interview, Cardin said he was sure the bill would pass, adding that he thinks the administration is preparing to accept the legislation if it is paired with another bill granting Russia normal trade-relation status. That is required under the terms of Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization, one of the central achievements of Obama’s “reset” of relations with Moscow.
The administration has apparently realized that it cannot stop the Magnitsky bill and will have to deal with the anger of the Russian leadership. If Ushakov’s remarks were designed to encourage a presidential veto of the bill, they are unlikely to succeed, given the difficulty the White House would face in killing a human rights measure. It could come out of committee as early as next month, according to a congressional official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
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Magnitsky Resolution introduced to Italian Parliament
Today in the Italian Parliament, motion. no. 1-00899, was introduced by Matteo Mecacci MP (Democratic Party) to the Chamber emphasizing the seriousness of the case concerning the torture and murder of Sergei Magnitsky. Similar resolutions and motions have already been submitted in other international and European Parliaments.
Read the text of the Resolution here:
http://banchedati.camera.it/sindacatoispettivo_16/showXhtml.asp?highLight=0&idAtto=50224&stile=7
The motion states that the Russian Federation has flagrantly violated the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights, and urges the Italian Government not to grant visas to people identified as responsible for the death of the lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky.
See Matteo Mecacci introduce the resolution here:
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To learn more about what happened to Sergei Magnitsky please read below
- Sergei Magnitsky
- Why was Sergei Magnitsky arrested?
- Sergei Magnitsky’s torture and death in prison
- President’s investigation sabotaged and going nowhere
- The corrupt officers attempt to arrest 8 lawyers
- Past crimes committed by the same corrupt officers
- Petitions requesting a real investigation into Magnitsky's death
- Worldwide reaction, calls to punish those responsible for corruption and murder
- Complaints against Lt.Col. Kuznetsov
- Complaints against Major Karpov
- Cover up
- Press about Magnitsky
- Bloggers about Magnitsky
- Corrupt officers:
- Sign petition
- Citizen investigator
- Join Justice for Magnitsky group on Facebook
- Contact us
- Sergei Magnitsky
