January 27:
Amnesty International warns that Russia will set a “dangerous precedent” if officials insist on reopening the case against the deceased lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. Preliminary hearings are scheduled for early February, Reuters reports, in a move that critics decry as an attempt to discredit the well-known whistleblower. Magnitsky’s death while in prison on charges for the fraud that he uncovered drew international criticism, and contributed to the recent downturn in U.S.-Russian relations. His lawyer insists that it is illegal to prosecute a dead person in Russia, “unless requested by relatives seeking rehabilitation for their loved one.” “It’s a dance on the grave of a dead man,” he added. Both Magnitsky’s family and his former employer refuse to participate in the proceedings.
January 28:
Gazprom is reportedly demanding $7 billion from Kiev in payment for using less gas than required under their most recent bilateral deal. Ukraine is contractually obligated to purchase 33.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually from Moscow, reports Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, but only bought about 25 billion in 2012. Ukrainian officials claim Kiev repeatedly told their Russian counterparts about a reduced need for Russian gas, but were ignored. “In order to pay, one has to have money,” noted an independent Ukrainian energy expert. “As far as I understand, Naftohaz (Ukraine’s state oil and gas company) doesn’t have that kind of money.” Vladimir Putin and then-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko signed a ten-year contract on natural gas deliveries in 2009. Tymoshenko was later arrested and sentenced to a seven-year prison term in connection with the deal.
January 29:
Russian officials announced plans to invest about $10 billion in energy projects in Venezuela in the coming years. Delegates from both countries met in Caracas to sign five different agreements, which include offshore natural gas and oil projects, as well as the organization of a new joint energy company. The plan is part of a larger move to expand energy cooperation between the two countries, reports Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez estimates that the two countries will jointly invest up to $47 billion in energy projects over the next six years.
January 30:
In a bizarre effort to encourage the rise of Russia’s birth rate, Russian President Putin is bringing Boyz II Men, the most successful R&B group of all time, to Moscow. The concert is scheduled for February 6, reports the Moscow Times, “hopefully giving Russian men some inspiration ahead of St. Valentine’s Day.” Russian leaders have worked for years to counter the country’s slumping birth rate, offering tax incentives to families with multiple children, and even creating national holidays to encourage procreation. During his re-election campaign, Putin pledged to increase Russia’s population from its current level of 143 million people. Despite recent increases in the national birth rate, experts predict that, if unchecked, the country’s population could fall sharply over the next fifty years.
U.S.-Russian relations took another hit with the Kremlin’s announcement to scrap another cooperative agreement with Washington. Reuters reports that the deal, which was signed in 2002, provided for bilateral cooperation in law enforcement and narcotics control. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who signed the order, said the agreement “does not address current realities and has exhausted its potential.” The deal outlined financial assistance from the U.S. for Russian law enforcement and narcotics control programs.
January 31:
According to the rights group Human Rights Watch, the Kremlin’s recent crackdown made 2012 the worst year for civil rights in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union. “Measures to intimidate critics and restrict Russia’s vibrant civil society have reached unprecedented levels,” said the director of the group’s Europe and Central Asia Division. “Pressure and reprisals against activists and non-governmental organizations need to stop.” The shift coincided with the return of Vladimir Putin to the presidency, Reuters reports, not only as a reversal of the liberalization of the Medvedev era, but as a strong swing toward authoritarianism. Since returning to office in May of last year, Putin signed laws restricting protests, placing new restrictions on NGOs, and redefining treason in a manner that critics argue “could place almost anyone who associates with foreigners at risk of prosecution.” A Foreign Ministry spokesman said that he had not read the report, but that officials will “show that the human rights situation in Russia is not the worst.”