Reuters: UPDATE 1-Russia says optimistic ahead of U.S. poultry talks - Moscow sees good chance for compromise at Jan 17 talks; Talks to include poultry already on route to Russia
NY Post: Nets owner hosting pal Putin - Soon-to-be New Jersey Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov is hosting Russian leader Vladimir Putin at his $30 million French Alps chalet as a thank you for officially clearing his name.
Russia Today: Russia to chair CIS in 2010
Russia Today: WTO accession key for Russia - The main reason was the financial crisis, as consumers cut spending. But trade barriers don’t help. If Russia joins the WTO that could remove several obstacles – and help Russia in the process, says Aleksey Portansky, Head of the Information Office for Russia’s WTO bid.
Rosbalt.ru: Russia will be glad to new members of the Customs Union - Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov
Global Voices Online: Russian Parliament Start Broadcasting Online
RBC: New requirements imposed on Russian auditors - Starting January 1, 2010, audit firms and individual auditors are required to become members of self-regulatory organizations.
BarentsObserver: The electronification of Russian regions
BarentsObserver: Customs seek control over cash flows - According to a draft law amendment, Russian customs officers will be entitled to confiscate cash from travelers if they suspect that the money comes from criminal activities.
BarentsObserver: Higher wages for local bureaucrats - In spite of the financial crisis, several local bureaucrats and officials in Murmansk Oblast had pay rises in 2009.
Itar-Tass: Gasoline station shelled, catches fire in Ingushetia
Itar-Tass: Trans-Caucasian highway closed because of heavy snowfall
RIA: Railway traffic restored in Russia's Far East
RIA: Two passenger jets collide while taxing at Moscow airport
Telegraph.co.uk: Russia doubles vodka prices to tackle alcoholism - The Russian government has set a minimum price for vodka that more than doubles the cost of the cheapest vodka on the market in an effort to tackle chronic alcoholism.
BusinessDay: Russia’s security men and spies are shifting back to the shadows - According to Olga Kryshtanovskaya, a University of Moscow sociologist who monitors elite groups, the siloviki — literally “strong guys” — hit their apogee in 2007, when they accounted for two out of every three members of the president’s administration. Since the accession to the presidency of Dmitry Medvedev, they are now down to barely one in two.
WSJ: Investments Will Remain a Gamble Until Rule of Law Comes to Russia
Timeslive.co.za: Russian company 'ordered hit' - Three men armed with guns and fake papers purporting to be from Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) were arrested after attempting to enter Helmer's Moscow office. Helmer, suspicious of the men, called the police.
RIA Novosti Highlights: Top ten events in Russian economy in 2009
RIA Novosti choice: The top ten events in the Russian judiciary and legal system in 2009
Russia Profile Weekly Experts Panel: 2009 – Russia’s Year in Review: This is the last Experts’ Panel of the year. It is already our tradition to try to assess the most important results of the year for Russia’s economic policy, its democratic development, and its position in world affairs. What has Russia accomplished in 2009? How does it fare, compared to other countries, in terms of battling the global economic crisis? Has the country become more open and democratic in 2009? And did President Dmitry Medvedev show in 2009 that he has a realistic plan for Russia?
Itar-Tass: Tatarstan to commission Russia’s biggest petrochemical facility in 2010
Your Oil and Gas News: VTB Bank granted a credit limit of 26.8 billion Rubles to TNK-BP
Russia Today: Ecology comes first in Russian Caspian oil search - Vagit Alekperov, the president of Russia's biggest PRIVATE oil company, Lukoil, grew up on the Caspian Sea. He says taking care of its precious ecosystem seems only natural. That's why he personally examined Lukoil's equipment for detecting, and cleaning, oil spills – should they ever happen.
Your Oil and Gas News: Novatek and First Cargo Company sign a three-year cooperation agreement
Globalpost: Poles wary of Nord Stream pact- In Poland, claims the "Molotov-Ribbentrop" natural gas pipeline is an attempt to weaken the EU and NATO, much as the Nazis and Soviets did to Poland in WWII.
MENA FN.com: Moscow throws down the gauntlet to OPEC