Posts Tagged ‘economist’
Lavrov in London
Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov is visiting London this week, amid some talk of a “reset” in British relations with Russia. They have been in the deep freeze (or at least the cool box) since the murder in London in 2006 of Alexander Litvinenko, a Russian emigre who had become a British citizen. The investigation is still open and many in British officialdom are convinced that the murder came about with the active help of Russia’s FSB. Others think it is time to move on: if BP, Britain’s largest company, can snuggle up to Rosneft, Russia’s best-connected one, why can’t politicians be cordial and constructive too.
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“A thief should sit in jail…”
The conviction of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a former Russian oil tycoon, is a sobering reminder that the Russia of Vladimir Putin is surely a throwback to the bad old days of the totalitarian state. Mr Khodorkovsky has already spent the past seven years in prison for tax evasion and money-laundering; after the new trial (a travesty of justice that has led to public criticism from Hillary Clinton and the EU) more years in prison seem inevitable—enough to keep him in custody well after Russia’s next presidential election, due in 2012.
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Battle against corruption is an uphill struggle
Economist Intelligence Unit
SUMMARY
Corruption has become arguably Russia’s biggest problem, hampering its ability to recover from the 2008-09 economic crisis and preventing meaningful diversification of the economy away from natural resources. The crisis hit Russia hard, and its economy would also be likely to fare badly in any future global downturn. There are signs that the president, Dmitry Medvedev, is gradually moving against bribery, graft and outright pilfering of national resources by corrupt bureaucrats. However, this is a major challenge, and there is a high risk that progress will be insufficient to tackle this major obstacle to Russia’s economic development.
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Be critical, not hypocritical – Western leaders should be much readier to criticise Russia
After more than a decade with Vladimir Putin in charge, few can be sanguine about Russia’s direction. Its democracy is a sham. Strong growth may have raised living standards, but its dependence on oil and gas exports often makes its economy resemble that of the Soviet Union. Corruption has become so pervasive that it undermines even the functioning of the state. Above all, the rule of law is absent, as will be seen again on December 15th when a Russian judge is expected to sentence Mikhail Khodorkovsky to another term in prison. The true crime of Mr Khodorkovsky, an unlovely oil oligarch who fell out with Mr Putin in 2003, is that his present jail term is about to expire.
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