· April, 2011

Stories about Russia from April, 2011

Russia: New round in the TNK-BP row

RuNet Echo  28 April 2011

Streetwise Professor points to the parallel buyout of a partner in TNK-BP oil company by the Russian state oil company Rosneft and British Petroleum, with the abolition of a tax release, possibly resulting in decreased company value for the upcoming sale.

Ukraine: Memories and Photos of Chernobyl in August 1986

RuNet Echo  28 April 2011

Aleksandr Strannik (LJ user av-strannik) arrived at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in mid-August of 1986, some four months after the April 26 blast at Reactor #4, to assist in the clean-up effort. Twenty-five years later, he is sharing some of his memories and photos from that time.

Russia: Communist Party Leads Social Networks Activity Rating

RuNet Echo  27 April 2011

Nikolay Podosokorskiy analyzes [ru] activity of Russian political parties in the social networks. According to his brief research, ruling party “United Russia” is one of the closest and inactive parties online, while the most active is the Communist Party of Russia with more than 73,000 members at Vkontakte groups and...

Russia: Bloggers Discuss Best Practices of Crowd Funding

RuNet Echo  27 April 2011

Anton Nossik publishes [ru] 5 rules of successful crowd funding: 1.it should have an aim, 2. it should be transparent, 3. it should be tested before launch, 4. it should also facilitate non-financial help, 5. initiators should disclose their own efforts of improving the project they collect money for. Oleg Kozlovsky...

UK: The Royal Wedding's “Russian Connection”

  26 April 2011

Siberian Light writes about “a Russian connection” in the UK Royal Wedding story: “the George III Tiara, or the Russian Fringe Tiara” that Kate Middleton may wear for the April 29 ceremony. Also, “even if you’re in Russia, there’s no escape [from the Royal Wedding Mania], because you’ll be able...

Russia: Two Bloggers Sentenced for Extremism

RuNet Echo  26 April 2011

The Ufa city court in Bashkortostan sentenced bloggers Robert Zagreev and Ayrat Dilmikhametov to three and six years in prison for extremist activities “with the use of media,” Russian news agency Interfax reported. The bloggers pleaded not guilty.

Russia: Blogger Found Guilty in Harsh Criticizm of Bashkir Authorities

RuNet Echo  26 April 2011

Alexander Izmailov was found gulty in posting 649 comments online criticizing the authorities and not shying away from curse words, Ufimskij Zhurnal reported. Izmailov also frequently produced photo collages making fun of the President of Bashkortostan Murtaza Rakhimov who is notorious for limiting Internet freedom in the republic. Izmailov will...

Russia: Regions Reduce Digital Divide

RuNet Echo  26 April 2011

More than 90 percent of new users are not from Moscow or Saint-Petersburg, Yandex regional Internet development report says [ru]. Authors note a significant increase in Internet use nation-wide, 30-60 percent decrease in broadband prices, 10 percent raise of everyday user share. The report, quite optimistically forecasts that country's Internet...

Russia: Grigoriy Golosov, Political Analyst and a Blogger, Assaulted

RuNet Echo  24 April 2011

Grigoriy Golosov, professor at the European University at Saint-Petersburg and a political blogger at Slon.ru [ru], had been assaulted at the street. According to his blogpost [ru], on April 23, 2011 two persons followed him to his home, called his name, and after receiving a positive reply one of them hit...

Russia: Photos of Moscow, Circa 1931

RuNet Echo  22 April 2011

LJ-user nikolas11 shares [ru] rare photos of 1931′ Moscow made by Branson DeCou, XX century traveler and photographer. Hand-colored photos depict Russian capital 2 years after the “Great Turn” and before many Moscow churches had been destroyed by the Bolsheviks.

Russia: Medvedev Unhappy With Websites on Drug Preparation

RuNet Echo  21 April 2011

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called for shutting down the websites containing the information on preparation of drugs. He said that web hosting providers should be responsible for closing those sites, Russian information agency “RIA Novosty” reported.

Russia: Reactions to Putin annual speech

RuNet Echo  21 April 2011

Democratist shares some reactions on Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin's, speech to the Russian parliament on Wednesday April 20, and reflects upon it from the perspective of the 2012 presidential elections.