Russia was everywhere and nowhere at the recent Eastern Partnership summit in Riga.
The ‘rationalisation’ of medical and social services in rural Russia has compelled people to acquire new skills in order to survive, but life for the weakest is very hard – and very expensive.
While political demonstrations are on the slide, economic protests are on the rise in Russia. Can the two be united?
In Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, the authorities don’t even have to stuff the ballot boxes, their presidents have done everything they can to appear irreplaceable.
As the General Election approaches, we desperately need to expand our discussion of 'the economy.' Here's a start.
While an economic and political union between Russia and Europe is unlikely, it could serve the interests of both sides in an increasingly hostile world.
Russia’s Prison Service, the FSIN, wants to put inmates’ employment on a more businesslike footing, but their working conditions are still more like slave labour.
Russians regularly lose their savings in the pyramid schemes flourishing throughout the country. And the government is doing – can do – nothing about them.
Russians pride themselves on their capacity for state-building, but their idea of the state is not one that the West would recognise, or was hoping for…
Amendments to Russia’s new media law limiting foreign ownership to 20% show there is no free market in the country.
Having been accused of misappropriating hundreds of millions of dollars, Gulnara Karimova is now under house arrest in Tashkent; one more indication of the schism that is splitting the ruling family.
In 2012, President Putin promised to increase the healthcare budget. Two years later, the Russian government is cutting back. But not on the defence budget… на русском языке
