Blood Brothers No More?

10-08-2009

Is President Dmitri Medvedev of Russia trying to come out from under the shadow of his long-time political mentor and former boss Prime Minister Vladimir Putin? So it would seem.

At a meeting last month with the Valdai Club of Russia experts at his suburban residence in Novo-Ogarevo, Putin — who had ceded the presidency to Medvedev and is now rumored to be planning to take it back — insisted that there had been no competition with Medvedev for the office and that there would be none when the next election is held in 2012.

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Russia regains key air base to project power in Caucasus

02-05-2009

As the dust over the August 2008 Russian-Georgian war settles, the extent of Russia’s geopolitical gain in South Caucasus and the Black Sea is becoming clearer.

Besides the naval base in the Abkhazian port of Ochamchire, of which we wrote recently, Moscow intends to restore the former Soviet air base Bombora in the Gudauta district of Abkhazia.

This is the largest military airfield in the southern Caucasus, boasting a runway that is 4 kilometers long. The runway ends less than 100 meters from the sea, allowing aircraft to take off at very low altitudes over the sea and proceed undetected by enemy radar in the initial phases of flight.

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Swords and Shields: Russia’s Abkhaz base plan

02-03-2009

Russia plans to establish a Black Sea naval base at the Abkhaz port of Ochamchire.

Ochamchire is some 60 kilometers southeast of the Abkhaz capital of Sukhumi, near the cease-fire line with Georgia. If permanently stationed there, Russian ships essentially would control the Georgian territorial waters all the way to the Turkish border.

The Georgian ports of Poti and Batumi would be well within striking distance of a base in Ochamchire, giving Russia a strong advantage in any future regional conflict.

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Putin’s "Zaibatsu" - The Russian Technology Property Grab

08-01-2008

July 2008 will mark a momentous month in the history of Russian business. This is when Sergey Chemezov, a close associate of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, consolidated control over 426 additional enterprises that are now a part of the Russian Technologies (Rostechnologii) empire. A global, state-owned Russian weapons-and-metals holding has been born. Yet its birth has triggered the fiercest fight among the Russian elite since Dmitry Medvedev was anointed president.

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Management Reshuffle?

02-28-2008

Last December Russian President Vladimir Putin chose Dmitry Medvedev, a first deputy prime minister, to succeed him in the country’s presidency. March 2 presidential elections are anti-climactic, as they are going to ratify this choice, and as Mr. Medvedev is the only candidate likely to win.
 
Like in 2004, these are elections are without a real choice, in which one voter has cast his crucial ballot - Mr. Putin himself. The elections may have a democratic facade, but not substance.

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Russian Succession: From Putin...To Putin

01-06-2008

Dmitry Medvedev’s  endorsement as a presidential candidate by four pro-Putin political parties and by Vladimir Putin himself confirms not only that Putin will play a pivotal role in Russian politics after he steps down but that he will remain the number one politician of Russia for years to come.

The Bush Administration should lay the groundwork for engaging Russia on important issues, for the benefit of the next U.S. President. Specifically, the U.S. should press forward with the next round of sanctions on Iran in the U.N. Security Council, where the Russian vote is crucial, and continue discussions over the Kosovo independence and negotiations on deployment of the missile defense interceptors in Europe.

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