http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/russia/ en-us Sun, 3 Jan 2010 17:50:30 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2420061/posts Last partial update, April 2009 * The tax system in Russia underwent a comprehensive reform in the year 2001. This reform is designed, in principle, to ease the tax burden on individuals and companies and to simplify the classes of payments for national insurance. * Russia has a uniform rate of tax on the income of individuals. As of 2009 tax in Russia is payable at the rate of 13% for an individual on most income. (non-residents 30%). Russian residents pay 9% on dividend income. (Deduction at source). Non-residents pay 15% on dividend income. * Exemptions are granted to certain... Russia http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2420061/posts#comment Sun, 3 Jan 2010 17:50:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2419660/posts Last September, President Obama betrayed Poland and The Czech republic under the bus by reneging on a promised missile defense system in an effort to gain favor with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Poland and The Czech Republic have been two of our staunchest allies in the war on terror and Obama’s decision was, to me, not qualitatively different from what Neville Chamberlain did at Munich in 1938 when he appeased Hitler, thus handing Czechoslovakia to Hitler on a silver platter. In a particularly appalling sense of timing, Obama’s decision came on the 70th anniversary of Stalin’s invasion of Poland in... conservatives4palin http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2419660/posts#comment Sat, 2 Jan 2010 20:27:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2419621/posts <p>MOSCOW – The price of the cheapest vodka on the Russian market more than doubled Friday as the government set a minimum price in an effort to fight rampant alcoholism.</p> <p>Drinking causes an extraordinary number of deaths in Russia, where male life expectancy is about 60 years, and it contributes to an array of economic and social problems.</p> Yahoo News (AP) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2419621/posts#comment Sat, 2 Jan 2010 18:57:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2419293/posts Russia introduced on Friday a minimum price of vodka in an effort to fight counterfeit alcohol production in the country. From January 1, any 0.5l vodka bottle selling at below 89 rubles (almost $3) will be outlawed. The price ban is one of the first government steps toward regulating the domestic alcohol market. First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov said earlier other measures in the sphere would be accomplished by July 1, 2010. Theses include the licensing of alcohol supplies, the introduction of a unified excise duty on alcohol, and tougher responsibility for the production and marketing of fake vodka.... russia http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2419293/posts#comment Sat, 2 Jan 2010 02:18:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418883/posts Russia's population statistics are rising for the first time since 1995, says Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Mr Putin said that for the past five years the number of deaths had declined, while births had risen. He said statistics to be released shortly would show life-expectancy had almost reached the age of 69. As president, Mr Putin brought in policies to stop population decline, which has been blamed on emigration, alcoholism, and poor health care. 'Symbolic amount' "We can say with a high degree of confidence that Russia will register a growth in population for the first time since 1995," said... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418883/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 11:36:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418258/posts > Mr Putin "came into a virtual failed state", says Sergei Karaganov, a former advisor to Mr Yeltsin, and now dean of Moscow's Higher School of Economics. He has watched both Mr Putin, and Russia, change. "He is bright, even brilliant, very tough, sometimes rough. He is a street boy turned into a very sophisticated political functionary and manipulator." > One of Vladimir Putin's first moves was to appoint Mikhail Kasyanov as his prime minister. Today, Mr Kasyanov is Mr Putin's implacable opponent. "He was, and is, an old KGB officer who leads, or tries to evaluate all events and... BBC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418258/posts#comment Thu, 31 Dec 2009 12:25:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2417909/posts At a g8 summit, French journalist asked Vladimir Putin a really stupid question, followed by shocking reply from Putin and leaving everyone on the panel and in the building dead silent. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S1ZfjZmjgA YouTube http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2417909/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 21:47:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417900/posts Space scientists in Russia are preparing to boldly go where no man has gone before, except for the actor Bruce Willis. The head of the Russian space agency said today that it was considering a Hollywood-style mission to send a spacecraft to bump a large asteroid from a possible collision course with Earth. Anatoly Perminov told the Russian radio station Golos Rossii: "People's lives are at stake. We should pay several hundred million dollars and build a system that would allow us to prevent a collision, rather than sit and wait for it to happen and kill hundreds of thousands... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417900/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 21:34:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417672/posts Vladimir Putin calls for more weapons to stop America doing 'whatever it wants' A Topol-M missile in Red Square. Vladimir Putin called for more Russian offensive weapons to punch through America's new missile defence shield Will Stewart in Moscow Russia needs more weapons to punch through America’s new missile defence shield, Vladimir Putin said yesterday in blunt remarks that will complicate efforts to cut the nuclear arsenals of the former Cold War rivals. The Russian Prime Minister, reasserting himself as the country’s real ruler, said that Moscow should press ahead with a new generation of weapons to stop the Americans... The Times(UK) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417672/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 15:51:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2417201/posts A letter published on the Iranian websites claims that Ayatollah Khamenei is planning a possible escape to Russia.There were rumors floating around yesterday that Ayatollah Khamenei was preparing to flee Iran. Today Planet Iran posted a letter written on the official Islamic Regime letterhead that discusses Khamenei’s possible to escape to Russia. Iran Global website has exposed a document that discloses information on Khamenei and various authorities of the regime’s possible escape to Russia. The document is on the National Security Agency of the Islamic regime’s letterhead addressed from the office of the High Assembly of the Islamic Republic’s National... Gateway Pundit http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2417201/posts#comment Tue, 29 Dec 2009 21:40:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417084/posts Russia must develop new offensive weapons systems to counter US missile defenses and prevent Americans from feeling they can "do whatever they want," Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Dec. 29. "To preserve the balance, we must develop offensive weapons systems, not missiles defense systems as the United States is doing," Putin was quoted by state news agencies as saying while on a working visit to Russia's far east region. "The problems of missile defense and offensive arms are very closely linked," Putin said, according to ITAR-TASS. "By building such an umbrella over themselves, our partners could feel themselves fully secure... The New Media Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417084/posts#comment Tue, 29 Dec 2009 18:42:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417022/posts Russian Navy takes delivery of a new submarine for lease to India MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti military commentator Ilya Kramnik) - The nuclear submarine K-152 Nerpa has joined the Russian Navy. The new Project 971U boat is planned to be leased to India, to which it will sail next summer. An Indian crew will undergo training aboard it before the hand-over ceremony. Its trials, which began in 2008, were interrupted by a tragic accident on September 8, 2008, when an unauthorized release of a fire-fighting gas killed 20 men and injured more than 20 others. The accident caused a delay in... Ria Novosti http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417022/posts#comment Tue, 29 Dec 2009 17:09:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416529/posts The number of strategic bombers performing routine patrols could be doubled if the Russian General Staff makes such a decision, the commander of Russia's strategic aviation said Tuesday. Russia resumed strategic bomber patrol flights over the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic oceans, the Black Sea and along the borders of the Commonwealth of Independent States in August 2007, following an order from then-president Vladimir Putin. "As a rule, up to four strategic bombers perform patrol flights simultaneously. However, under specific circumstances and on orders from the General Staff, their number could be increased to up to eight aircraft," Maj. Gen. Anatoly... RIA Novosti http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416529/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:49:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416510/posts 15:5728/12/2009 New An-124 Ruslan (Condor) heavy-lift transport aircraft could start being delivered to the Russian Air Force in 2014, the contractor said on Monday. United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) CEO Alexei Fyodorov said a total of 20 aircraft were to be produced by 2020 in accordance with the state arms procurement program. He added the UAC planned to manufacture three Ruslans each year through 2020. He said the cost to build one aircraft was around $200 million. Lt. Gen. Viktor Kachalkin, commander of the 61st Air Army, said Friday the aircraft of this type is in high demand as "An-124 Ruslan... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416510/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:12:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416509/posts A new-generation Tu strategic bomber will be developed by 2017, Russian aircraft maker Tupolev said on Wednesday. Company President Alexander Bobryshev told Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin the research on the new aircraft project should be completed by 2012, while production-line assembly should start in 2020 to 2025. However, Maj. Gen. Anatoly Zhikharev, commander of Russia's strategic aviation said on Tuesday a new strategic bomber, which will use stealth technology, is expected to enter service in 2025-2030 He said the stealth technology will make "the new aircraft difficult to detect by radar, although it is impossible to make airplanes of... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416509/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:10:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416377/posts Closure of Soviet Concentration Camps Where ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ First Appeared Recalled 23 December 2009 By Paul Goble VIENNA – The theft of the sign, “Arbeit Macht Frei,” which hung over the entrance to the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz has not only sparked international outrage but also called attention to the place where those words first hung at a place of detention of the innocent in the 20th century – the Solovetsky Camps of Special Assignment in the USSR. Seventy years ago this month, Yury Brodsky writes in today’s Novaya Gazeta, Stalin’s secret police chief Lavrenty Beria shut down... Moscow Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416377/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:50:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416368/posts Russia voices concern over Tehran unrest Russia is concerned by the recent clashes between demonstrators and police in Tehran, and calls for restraint and conciliation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday. Security forces clashed with protesters on Saturday and Sunday. A total of 15 people died and over 300 rioters arrested. "We believe the most important thing in such a situation is to show restraint, and seek a compromise on the basis of the law, and also to take political efforts to prevent a further escalation of the confrontation," the statement said. The ministry also expressed regret over allegations... Ria Novosti http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416368/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:38:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416264/posts The December of 1989 marked the end of one of the most extraordinary six months of the century. Over that short period of time all of the communist-run dictatorships in Eastern Europe collapsed as the people of those countries sought freedom. The execution of the Romanian tyrant Nicolae CeauÅŸescu on Christmas Day of that year brought the revolutions to an end with a bang. An ideologically and economically exhausted Soviet Union stood by and did not do what it had done so many times in the past: send in tanks to crush these rebellions. That countryÂ’s Communist Party boss, Mikhail... The Atlas Society - The Center for Objectivism http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416264/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 15:26:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416136/posts MOSCOW, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will witness the celebratory launch of the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean oil pipeline, officials say. During Putin's visit to the Russian Far East, he is expected to witness the inauguration of the first leg of the project, which should pump 1.6 million barrels of crude oil per day, the news agency RIA Novosti said Sunday The oil will flow from Siberia to Russia's Far East and on to China and the Asia-Pacific region, the news agency said. The second part of the pipeline is expected to run about 1,300 miles from... UPI http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416136/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 08:41:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415259/posts Islamists claim killing of Russian priest (AFP) – 7 hours ago MOSCOW — An Islamist militant group based in Russia's North Caucases has claimed the killing last month of an Orthodox priest who was an outspoken critic of Islam. "One of our brothers who has never been to the Caucases took up the oath of (former independent Chechen president Doku Umarov) and expressed his desire to execute the damned Sysoyev," said a statement on the Kavkazcenter.com website. Daniil Sysoyev, 35, was killed on November 20 when masked gunman walked into Saint Thomas's church in southern Moscow and shot him four... AFP via Google http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415259/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 13:05:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415087/posts German fighters patrolling the territory of Estonia are prosecuted by the Russian Su-27. Assistance to NATO by Finns. This is not a scenario of military maneuvers or war movie, but the real incident, which took place September 15. Informed about the military industry magazine "Loyal". According to him, two German machine Eurofighter approached the Baltic Sea west of Tallinn to czterosilnikowego jet aircraft Beriew A-50, trying unsuccessfully to establish radio communication with him. One of the German pilots photographed intruder. Then suddenly toward the German planes flew at a speed of two supersonic Su-27 fighters, but no one opened fire.... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415087/posts#comment Fri, 25 Dec 2009 22:09:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414867/posts Myanmar is buying twenty MiG-29s from Russia. Myanmar bought its first twelve MiG-29s in 2001. This new sale will earn Russia some criticism, because Myanmar (formerly Burma) is a military dictatorship with a very bad international reputation. But Russia is desperate to keep the MiG-29 from fading away. To that end, Russia also ordered 24 MiG-29Ks for its sole aircraft carrier, to replace the Su-33s that currently serve on the ship. However, most of the current news about the Mig-29 has been bad. Malaysia, for example, admitted that it is getting rid of its MiG-29 fighters because the aircraft are... Strategy Page http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414867/posts#comment Fri, 25 Dec 2009 08:40:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2414865/posts Russia announced that arms exports for 2009 would be $8.5 billion. That's less than two percent more than last year's $8.35 billion. This is not good. Increasing these sales is very important for the government. The defense industry employs nearly three million people and accounts for about 20 percent of industrial jobs in Russia. At the end of the Cold War in 1991, defense work was more than three times as large as it is now. It was the large size of the defense industry that played a major role in bankrupting the Soviet Union. The Russians were never quite... Strategy Page http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2414865/posts#comment Fri, 25 Dec 2009 08:29:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414855/posts Three years after deciding to start production, the Russian Air Force received the first two production models of the Su-34 fighter-bomber. The original plan was to put 24 aircraft into service by 2010. It was hoped that they would eventually be able to buy a hundred. Apparently one goal of undertaking serial production was to encourage foreign purchases. No luck there yet. The 45 ton Su-34 is a replacement for the 43 ton Su-24 bomber, which is beginning to show its age (over twenty years). There are 300 Su-24s on the books, but most of these are not fit for... Strategy Page http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414855/posts#comment Fri, 25 Dec 2009 07:03:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2414843/posts BY 9 in the morning, the bazaar on a rocky island in the Panj River was a frenetic scene of haggling and theatrics. Afghan traders in long tunics and vests hawked teas, toiletries and rubber slippers. Turbaned fortune tellers bent over ornate Persian texts, predicting futures for the price of a dollar. Tajik women bargained over resplendent bolts of fabric. All were mingling this bright Saturday at a weekly market held throughout the year and, in one form or another, for thousands of years here in the Wakhan Valley, which divides Tajikistan and Afghanistan. “Mousetraps, mousetraps, mousetraps, oooowww!” crooned a... New York Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2414843/posts#comment Fri, 25 Dec 2009 05:59:14 GMT