June 3:
The Moscow Times reports that Russia’s Regional Development Ministry has proposed a major development plan for the recently annexed Crimean Peninsula. The suggested $33 billion spending program will attempt to solve the infrastructure problems in an area that has been dubbed “one of the most underdeveloped regions in Europe.” Russia’s Economic Development Minister, Alexei Ulyukayev, has said that a number of other projects elsewhere in the country - including the construction of a deepwater port in Krasnodar region and a bridge across Siberia’s Lena River - have been cancelled in order to free up funds for the development of Crimea.
In the aftermath of the most expensive Olympic Games in history, Russian President Vladimir Putin has secretly awarded medals to the billionaire oligarchs who invested in the project. The Moscow Times reports that the covert state honors were awarded in March to CEOs and businessmen of “state- and tycoon-owned companies” who funded the $51 billion venture, which took place earlier this year. The recipients of the awards included Sberbank president German Gref, as well as oligarchs Vladimir Potanin and Oleg Deripaska.
Russia’s recent annexation of Crimea has opened up a new market for Russian banks. With Ukrainian financial institutions exiting the region, Russia’s Bank Rossiya - which has already been sanctioned by the U.S. - is expanding its activities there. Local leaders expect the bank to “become one of the leaders of the Republic of Crimea's banking sector,” the Moscow Times reports. The number of Russian bank branches in Crimea is projected to rise from 400 to 900 in the near future, according to official estimates.
June 5:
Fresh off its recent power-sharing deal with the government of Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas has set its sights on further political rehabilitation - in Moscow. Al-Monitor reports that coming weeks will see a visit to Moscow by Khaled Mishaal, the Islamist group’s political leader, in what many see as an attempt by the movement to bolster its foreign relations and lessen its international isolation. Experts say that Hamas hopes Russia will use its political clout to promote the movement among its allies, including Iran (with whom the group’s previously-deep relations have soured somewhat over the issue of Syria). “Hamas being welcomed by a superpower is a great achievement, allowing it to break through the siege imposed upon it,” the group’s spokesman, Hossam Badran, has said.
Europe and the United States may be urging continued economic pressure on Russia over Ukraine, but at least one international financial institution isn’t playing ball. According to the South China Morning Post, the World Bank has approved an investment in Russia over international opposition. The Bank’s private-sector lending arm, the International Finance Corporation, has green-lit some of a 250 million Euro package that would allow French grocery chain Groupe Auchan to expand its business activities to include the Russian Federation.
June 6:
Almost nine months after seizing it in the Arctic, Russian authorities have released the “Arctic Sunrise.” TheNew York Times reports that the vessel, owned by Greenpeace International, was seized last fall - along with its crew - following a protest at a Russian oil platform in the Arctic. The crew members of the “Sunrise” were released back in December by the Kremlin as part of a year-end amnesty granted by Russian president Vladimir Putin.
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