NEWS FROM RUSSIA: February 11, 2024

Edward's weekly Russia-related news roundup & open thread

Famous space lizard Anatoly Chubais unveils a prototype of his latest invention, “more embezzlement”, in 2011. Photo credit: TASS

Welcome to Edward Slavsquat’s weekly Russian media news roundup and open thread-thing. Feel free to share your own URLs in the comments section.

Edward’s Internet Appearances

I was honored to join Steve and Chris at AM WakeUp for a fun morning chat about Russia, Putin, and the profoundly bizarre way in which anything Russia-related is discussed in “independent” media.

I also spoke with my old friend Regis Tremblay about the Tucker-Putin Interview.

Sorry for the sniffling. No, I wasn’t on cocaine. I had a cold.

The quote of the week:

[T]here is the acute problem of the Ministry of Health’s active participation in the development and planned ratification of the WHO’s “Pandemic Agreement,” which could be approved at the World Health Assembly as early as this year.

As recently as October 2023, Health Minister Murashko announced a meeting with WHO head Ghebreyesus and spoke about “an agreement to hold joint events in Russia,” as well as close cooperation in terms of infection prevention. That is, the “partnership” between Russia’s Health Ministry and the WHO, which is financed mainly by unfriendly countries and individual “philanthropists” like Bill Gates, continues.

— Katyusha.org, February 7, 2024

And now for some news.

Economy

• Russia has banned banana imports from Ecuador after regulators claimed they found evidence of the fruit being contaminated by humpback flies. The decision comes after Ecuadorian authorities decided to transfer Soviet equipment and weapons to the United States, which will reportedly be used to supply Ukraine’s military. [mk.ru]

• India sent its first batch of bananas to Russia in January, and export volumes of Indian bananas are expected to increase. [gazeta.ru]

• The prices for tomatoes and cucumbers have increased multiple times. According to Rosstat, in 2023 these vegetables became the leaders among the most expensive products. In some cases, they have become more expensive than chicken and pork. [ura.ru]

• Russia and Turkey plan to create a joint bank to resolve problems with payments and transfers that Turkish institutions had with Russian partners due to pressure from the United States and the European Union. [mk.ru]

• A Russian living in Slovenia since 2020 went viral in Russia media after she returned to Russia and commented on food prices: “I’m just shocked! Why is everything so expensive? What do you eat with such food prices? Some of your products cost the same as ours in Europe!” However, she concluded that this meant that sanctions are failing and the Russian economy is prospering. [tsargrad.tv]

• Russians are complaining that Chinese cars and auto parts function poorly in winter conditions. [avtovzglyad.ru]

• The Bank of Russia said it was premature to talk about a stable trend toward slowing inflation in the Russian Federation, although some indicators already indicate a slight decrease in price pressure. [ria.ru]

• Russian companies continue to purchase foreign technical solutions through “parallel imports”, stunting the development of domestic technologies, Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev said during a meeting in the Kurgan region. This assessment of the trends for 2023 was given by Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev during a meeting in the Kurgan region. [ura.ru]

• Russian energy resources are in demand all over the world, and some European states still quietly purchase Russian oil and gas through third channels, said Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko. [ria.ru]

• The Chinese bank Chouzhou Commercial, which Russian importers used as a main settlement hub, has stopped operations with Russia. Transactions have been halted both through SWIFT and through SPFS, Moscow’s version of SWIFT. Russian banks are now hunting for alternatives. Rosbank told media that it was still able to make payments in yuan using different banks in China. [iz.ru]

• The Ministry of Agriculture increased its duty-free quota for imported chicken by 216 tons, bringing the total to 4,778.6 tons. At the end of December, the Russian government allowed duty-free imports of up to 140,000 tons of frozen chicken meat in 2024 in order to avoid shortages and maintain stable prices. [ria.ru]

• The IMF has predicted a GDP growth in Russia of 2.6%, doubling its previous estimate. The new forecast has prompted some outlets in the West, including the Financial Times, to question the effectiveness of Western sanctions against Moscow. [svpressa.ru]

• According to preliminary estimates, the volume of federal budget revenues in January 2024 amounted to 2 trillion 396 billion rubles, which is 76.6% higher than the volume of revenue receipts in January 2023. Non-oil and gas revenues jumped by 84.8%, to 1 trillion 721 billion rubles. The federal budget deficit in January was 308 billion rubles. [interfax.ru]

• The Bank of Russia’s international reserves decreased in January by $13.144 billion, or 2.2%, according to the latest available data. [1prime.ru]

• Banks of friendly or neutral countries, including banks in China, are blocking payments to Russian food exporters after the adoption of a law in the United States aimed at “reducing the dependence of other countries on Russian agricultural products.” [nakanune.ru]

• Russia has become South Korea’s main supplier of fish products. [dzen.ru]

“Public Health”

• It would be “illogical and inappropriate” for Moscow to withdraw from the World Health Organization, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said during an interview on February 5. He explained that Moscow seeks “cooperation with those countries that accordingly support our direction” on issues of global health, and supports “exchange of data and information”. According to Murashko, the “pandemic” demonstrated the need for “cooperation” with the WHO. [ria.ru]

• The coronavirus pandemic has not ended, Gamaleya Center Director Alexander Gintsburg insisted on February 2. “The past pandemic, in fact, continues, because the pathogen has not gone away, it has only become more numerous, and has given a powerful impetus to many technological areas in healthcare and science,” Gintsburg said as part of Health Day at the Russia International Exhibition and Forum in Moscow. [interfax.ru]

• Coronavirus currently does not pose a significant risk to people’s lives and basic health, said Anna Popova, the head of Rospotrebnadzor. She added that compulsory mask rules were unnecessary, since the disease is not severe and only a small number of people become infected. [ria.ru]

• The term “disease X” is used to model various situations; it is not a specific virus, said Anna Popova, head of Rospotrebnadzor. She explained that health experts need to calculate various epidemiological scenarios in order to prepare responses to possible threats. [ria.ru]

• Russia adheres to classical values ​​on the issue of gender reassignment, and many countries agree with its position, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said in an interview with RIA Novosti. [ria.ru]

• Specialists from the Moscow Department of Rospotrebnadzor carried out “anti-epidemic measures” in response to a reported case of measles at the Kosygin Russian State University. Rospotrebnadzor employees identified a circle of people who came in contact with the infected student, and the university management was given an order to limit visits to the campus by students and teachers who did not have information about vaccination against measles or a previous illness. [ria.ru]

• The Ministry of Agriculture believes that Avian flu is to blame for dead birds at the largest Sakhalin poultry farm “Ostrovnaya” (located in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk). [interfax.ru]

Ukraine

• Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that using frozen Russian assets as collateral for bonds to finance Ukraine would be illegal. Moscow, according to him, if such a decision is made, will challenge it. [kommersant.ru]

• Zelensky appointed General Syrsky as the new commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. [topwar.ru]

• The Dutch Ministry of Defense has decided to transfer an additional six F-16 fighters to Ukraine, the country’s Defense Minister Kaisa Ollongren said. [interfax.ru]

• Ukraine’s budget deficit has reached record levels for the entire existence of the country. It currently accounts for 20.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). [svpressa.ru]

• The Turkish company Baykar has started construction of a drone plant near Kiev. [regnum.ru]

• Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban believes that the best option for Ukraine would be to create a buffer zone on its territory between the West and Russia. In his opinion, at the same time, Ukraine should be provided with security guarantees. [kommersant.ru]

• How JP Morgan and BlackRock make money on Russian and Ukrainian blood. [tsargrad.tv]

• Gazprom continues to supply gas to Europe via Ukraine in the amount of 42.4 million cubic meters per day, a Gazprom representative disclosed on February 10. [tass.ru]

• A Belgorod—St. Petersburg train was stopped on February 8 due to shelling by the Ukrainian military. [regnum.ru]

• The Russian government has allocated funds for one-time payments to children injured by Ukrainian shelling. The payment will be 100,000 rubles. The total amount of funds allocated for these purposes (as well as the number of affected children) is not disclosed. According to Interfax, payments will be received by families with children injured in the territory of the DPR and DPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, as well as in the territories of other Russian regions. [nakanune.ru]

• The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on February 8 the return of 100 Russian military personnel from captivity. In exchange, 100 prisoners of war were handed over to the Ukrainian side. [regnum.ru]

• The Verkhovna Rada approved decrees of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on the extension of martial law and the timing of general mobilization. [interfax.ru]

• The Russian Ministry of Defense wants to change the age limit for mobilized soldiers to 65. Currently, no one older than 50 can be mobilized. [rbc.ru]

• Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation has completed a pre-trial investigation into former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko’s alleged illegal coal deal with the breakaway republics in Donbass. The indictment against the oligarch will be sent to court. On December 20, 2021, Poroshenko was charged with treason for purchasing coal in the DPR and LPR in 2014-2015. Poroshenko has already been presented with documents for review. He faces up to 15 years in prison for treason. [nakanune.ru]

Society

• Russia’s Central Election Commission has approved four candidates for next month’s presidential election: Leonid Slutsky (LDPR), Nikolai Kharitonov (Communist Party of the Russian Federation), Vladislav Davankov (New People) and incumbent Vladimir Putin. [regnum.ru]

• Russia will firmly suppress any Western attempts to interfere in the presidential elections, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during a meeting of the Federation Council commission on protecting state sovereignty and preventing interference in the internal affairs of Russia. [regnum.ru]

• Rosfinmonitoring added Sergei Udaltsov, the coordinator of the “Left Front”, to the list of persons and organizations associated with extremist activities or terrorism. In mid-January, Udaltsov was arrested and sent to a pre-trial detention center until February 1. The investigation charged the activist with justifying terrorism. The left-wing activist said that he is accused of supporting members of a Marxist circle from Ufa, who were detained in 2022 on charges of creating a terrorist society, but have yet to be convicted of a crime. [nakanune.ru]

• Rusnano subsidiary Plastic Logic LLC, the developer of the “Chubais tablet” (Anatoly Chubais headed Rusnano in 2010–2020), is filing for bankruptcy. In 2011, Chubais showed Vladimir Putin, who was then prime minister, an electronic tablet called Plastic Logic 100 for schoolchildren. However, the project was never implemented. [rbc.ru]

• The Russian government has approved the Concept for the preservation and development of the intangible ethnocultural heritage of Russia until 2030. The document provides for the creation of conditions for the preservation, study and popularization of traditional culture: customs and rituals, traditions and holidays, folk tales and epics, songs and dances, as well as folk crafts. [interfax.ru]

• Anatoly Chubais is creating a center for Russian studies at Israel’s Tel Aviv University, according to reports. [rtvi.com]

• No decisions have been made regarding a complete ban on VPN services in Russia at the moment, said press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov. [interfax.ru]

• Vladimir Putin will address the Federal Assembly sometime between February 23 and March 8, according to sources close to the presidential administration. [kommersant.ru]

• Another 17 Russian banks are preparing to join the digital ruble pilot project, according to a press release from the Bank of Russia. Among the credit institutions planning to join the project are Rosselkhozbank, Tinkoff Bank, and Sberbank. The Central Bank and a group of banks began testing the digital ruble in August 2023. At the moment, 13 credit institutions, about 30 trade and service companies, and approximately 600 citizens are participating in the project. [gazeta.ru]

• The share of Russians who refused to use biometric data was no more than 5%, said Deputy Head of the Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation Oleg Kachanov at the Digital Economy forum of national achievements. [ria.ru]

• The police refused to investigate Ramzan Kadyrov’s son after he beat a teenager who was in custody for desecrating a copy of the Koran. The office of the Commissioner for Human Rights said the decision was made “due to the absence of a crime.” The assault was recorded on video and shared by Kadyrov on social media. [dzen.ru]

• President Vladimir Putin awarded the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, with the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree. [regnum.ru]

• Yandex’s chat bot, “Alice”, refuses to answer the questions “Who won the Great Patriotic War?” and “who defeated Hitler?”; the AI responds by saying it won’t answer because it’s “afraid to say something offensive”. [ria.ru]

• Oligarch Mikhail Friedman won a lawsuit against a housekeeper who worked in his London mansion Athlone House. The housekeeper was on maternity leave when Friedman fell under sanctions. Soon after she was fired and deprived of benefits. She filed a lawsuit accusing the businessman of unfair dismissal and discrimination, but the court called her a “victim of the process”. While on maternity leave she was supposed to receive £1,500 ($1,900) monthly. [rbc.ru]

• Director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Sergei Naryshkin said on February 8 that new contacts with CIA Director William Burns are planned, but there are no exact dates at the moment. [regnum.ru]

• Former partner of Alisher Usmanov, founder of Trustconsult and Coalco International companies Vasily Anisimov (Forbes estimates his fortune at $1.6 billion) became the seventh billionaire who renounced Russian citizenship after the start of a special operation in Ukraine. [rbc.ru]

• The State Duma will soon introduce a bill that would make it possible to recognize as undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation the activities of foreign and international organizations, the founders or participants of which are government agencies of foreign states. “It’s high time to do this, we are furiously behind reality in this area—to the point that we cannot recognize terrorist organizations as such if they are government bodies (GUR, SBU, etc.),” Duma Deputy Mikhail Delyagin (A Just Russia – For Truth) told Kommersant. [kommersant.ru]

• Russian President Vladimir Putin called Chinese President Xi Jinping his friend and said that he discussed with him, among other things, cooperation within the BRICS framework. [regnum.ru]

• The Moscow Region will create a “digital profile for migrants”. The profile will consist of “electronic card with a chip” that will contain the individual’s fingerprints, medical examinations, and other information. [regions.ru]

• Estimates of the number of illegal migrants in Russia are varied, but it is now believed that there are 3–4 million of them, the head of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ demographic institute told RBC. [rbc.ru]

• State Duma deputies want to create a nationwide pet identification system. The lawmakers believe it would be easier to identify animals if they were required to have a “brand or tattoo” that contained data about their owners. [klerk.ru]

Have a restful Sunday,

— Riley