The architect of Russia’s tightly controlled political system denied on Tuesday he had accepted an offer to return to the Kremlin, according to a friend, a move that would strengthen liberals in President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.
A senior Russian military official indicated Tuesday that Russia is in the process of setting up a special force for cyber warfare, tentatively confirming earlier reports citing defense sector officials.
The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office said Monday it is investigating the misappropriation of 1.4 billion rubles ($43 million) of budget funds allocated to road maintenance in a southern Russian region.
Russia is preparing tighter customs controls with Ukraine in case Kiev makes the “suicidal” move of signing an association agreement with the European Union, an aide to President Vladimir Putin was quoted as saying on Sunday.
Military investigators have decided not to open criminal a case that could have seen former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov charged with abusing his position to misappropriate government funds, a news report said Monday.
Senior Russian officials, including lawmakers, judges and the heads of state corporations, as well as their spouses and underage children, are no longer allowed to keep their money in foreign bank accounts or financial instruments abroad as of Monday.
President Vladimir Putin‘s calls for domestic companies to repatriate their funds back home from offshore jurisdictions have fallen on deaf ears, with almost half of the $67 billion investment by Russian residents abroad in the first quarter of this year settling in the British Virgin Islands, according to figures released by the Central Bank on Friday.
Ukrainian exporters are complaining about costly delays at the border for shipments of goods from steel to beer that they blame on tough new checks by Russian customs, checks that some in Kiev see as a tactic by the Kremlin to press Ukraine to join a trade bloc with Russia instead of the European Union.
The state arms export agency Rosoboronexport has been expanding its presence on world markets, increasing its sales in the first half of 2013 to $6.5 billion, state technology corporation Rostec reported in a statement Thursday, Interfax reported.
Russia has welcomed an agreement reached between the United Nations and Damascus on sending inspectors to investigate alleged chemical weapons use in Syria, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
