The Political and Economic Results of April 2013

Abstract

In April 2013, rumors of the RF Government’s impending sacking suddenly became much more than simply rumors after Vladimir Putin had announced that this option was now on the table. He made that statement at a government meeting at Elista, and the corresponding footage of the event was then ‘unofficially’ displayed on the LifeNews information portal. It should be said that for some time the government had clearly been confused and dismayed by the ongoing decline in Russia’s economic growth. Moreover, the government had repeatedly caused the ire of Igor Sechin, Putin’s personal favorite and head of Rosneft, whose attempts to influence the solution of all personnel issues and to create for Rosneft some unprecedented benefits and uniquely favorable conditions had been rebuffed by a number of ministers. All those factors had apparently increased the government’s vulnerability. In April, the Russian authorities received considerable diplomatic assistance from US President Barack Obama, who refrained from including in the Magnitsky List any more or less important Russian officials. Obama’s ‘moderation’ was interpreted in Moscow as a green light to further onslaught on non-profit organizations and their across-the-board labeling as ‘foreign agents