Russia Reform Monitor: No. 1650

September 25:

Russian cyber-criminals have established an elaborate network of fraudulent websites and Internet clearinghouses to sell fake goods ranging from software to pharmaceuticals to knock-off luxury items, a new study from a top Internet security firm has found. PC World reports that the results of the probe by security group Sophos were detailed at this week's Virus Bulletin security conference in Geneva. The findings, according to the trade magazine, were striking: "the majority of the most powerful and controversial affiliate networks are based in Russia," and involve using a number of methods - from malicious software to search engine manipulation - to redirect Internet users to "the dark corners of the Web," where illicit goods are trafficked.


September 26:

Russia's top political leaders could soon be playing musical chairs. That, at least, is the vague signal from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who Reuters reports has indicated that he might not be averse to the idea of swapping posts with his mentor, current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, should the latter seek to return to Russia's top post. "If it is useful for the country, I am ready to work in any position," Medvedev told students at the University of Pittsburgh during his visit there to attend the G-20 summit. "The job of a president is a rather difficult thing. I can also tell you that the job of a prime minister is also a difficult thing. So there's not much difference in this sense."


September 27:

Today, European capitals are far less concerned than they were during the Cold War about the possibility of outright military hostilities with Russia. The feeling, however, is decidedly not mutual. According to Bloomberg, the Kremlin's three-week-long wargames - now underway in collaboration with allied Belarus and entitled "Ladoga 2009" - are geared toward preventing a potential NATO invasion. “The purpose of the exercises is to prepare the Belarusian and Russian armed forces for securing the strategic stability of the eastern European region,” the Russian Defense Ministry has told reporters. All told, more than 12,500 servicemen, 100 aircraft, and 470 armored vehicles and artillery pieces are taking part in the "exclusively defensive" maneuvers, the news agency reports.


September 29:

Russia's economic ties to India continue to evolve. The Hindu reports that bilateral trade between the two countries ballooned by almost a fifth in the first quarter of this year alone, buoyed by warm political ties between Moscow and New Delhi. The two countries have now set a target of $10 billion for two-way trade for 2010, and have set the ambitious goal of doubling that figure by the middle of the next decade. News of the upswing came as Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma led a 70-person delegation of business leaders to Moscow.

Now that Russia's economy has weathered the global economic meltdown, it soon will be more free of governmental control. Pakistan's Daily Times reports that Russian premier Vladimir Putin has pledged a diminution of state control over the country's economy in coming years. “As the situation keeps stabilising, the crisis is being overcome, we intend to systematically and pointedly decrease state interference in the economy,” Putin said at an investment forum in Moscow. “We have had neither large-scale nationalisation nor sliding into administrative regulation.” Putin also explicitly rejected the idea of greater state control equating to economic stability, terming such a notion "illusory." Instead, Putin warned Russian bankers and businessmen of the dangers of forgetting about economic "freedom" and the market.


September 30:

The Agence France Presse reports that Russia is claiming victory over a new European Union report that pins blame on Georgia for the outbreak of the month-long war between the two countries that took place last year. The study contains a number of "ambiguities" concerning the conduct of hostilities last August, Russia's foreign ministry has said in an official statement. The main conclusions, however, were clear: Tbilisi bore "guilt" for instigating the conflict, and its "aggression" against South Ossetia - which Russia recognizes as independent but Georgia does not - were "illegitimate."