Russiabot Newsletter 8 [12.03.2020]
Congress approves new sanctions on Nord Stream 2, COVID hits ranking members of RUS government, Armenian opposition galvanizes, Chubais sacked from Rosnano, and RUS-lang journos arrested in Latvia...
The Russiabot Newsletter
Thursday, December 3rd, 2020
Good Morning.
It seems that COVID-19 has dominated the international media landscape for this entire year. Understandably so, with the amount of suffering and economic destabilization has brought on humanity as a whole. We may be headed to some sort of light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel scenario, especially with the various vaccinations that have completed their trials in recent weeks. Russia is deploying its vaccine, the ‘Sputnik V’, starting next week. It’ll be interesting to watch how this mass-vaccination program plays out, especially given some of the apprehension at the vaccine’s readiness. However, at this point, one can only hope that -geopolitics aside- these vaccines work, and we are able to restore world to some level of normality…if that’s even possible at this point.
Speaking of geopolitics, something to keep an eye on in the coming week: Armenia’s Political crisis. It seems that coverage of the South Caucasus has once again fallen on the back burner in Western Media after the peace deal was signed a few weeks back, but the whole ordeal may be entering a new level of unpredictability with Armenia’s opposition organizing against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who does not seem inclined to leave office.
I’ll keep an eye out and update accordingly.
Be well,
RB
Here are some top stories making their rounds in Russian media today:
U.S. Congress Approves New Sanctions on Nord Stream 2 Pipeline
COVID-19 Hits High Echelons of Russian Government
Following Loss to Azerbaijan, Armenian Opposition Rallies Around Former Minister of Defense
Chubais Replaced as Leader of State Nanotechnology Company
Arrest of Russian-Speaking Journalists in Latvia Sparks Tensions
1. U.S. Congress Approves New Sanctions on Nord Stream 2 Pipeline
Both U.S. House and Senate have approved amendments to the 2021 Defense Budget to include additional sanctions targeting companies associated with work on the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline, a 764-mile underwater infrastructure plan spanning the Baltic Sea from Germany to Russia.
These new measures – falling into the scope of the 2019 “Protecting Europe’s Energy Security Act” –would place punitive measures on any firms or entities providing support services to the construction of the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline, which includes any forms of insurance coverage or maintenance of Russian pipe-laying vessels.
Earlier in the week, Russiabot reported that construction on Nord Stream 2 was set to resume on December 5th with the approval of the German government. This came after almost a year-long hiatus in work on the effort, following the withdrawal of Swiss firm AllSeas from pipe-laying operations due to financial pressure exerted by the United States government. Gazprom – overseeing construction from the Russian end of the deal—sought to bypass financial pressure on international partners by cutting reliance on foreign firms. This was largely embodied by the deployment of the Russian pipe-laying ship Admiral Chersky to continue work on the project.
U.S. sanctions on Nord Stream 2 have been a source of tension with European States, which have moved to protect companies working on the project against U.S. sanctions: German localities, for example, have moved to create public trusts to relieve companies impacted by sanctions during the course of work on the pipeline.
Should Nord Stream 2 be completed in the Summer of 2021, deliveries of Russian natural gas to Europe are expected to double by the following Winter.
(Interfax, RBC, Kommersant)
2. COVID-19 Hits High Echelons of Russian Government
Coronavirus sent two high-ranking members of the Russian government into self-isolation this week.
On December 2nd, Chairman of the Accounts Chamber Alexei Kudrin tested positive for COVID-19, but announced that he remained in stable condition. Earlier, Valentina Matviyenko, Speaker of the Federation Council, announced that she was self-isolating after meeting an unnamed infected individual face-to-face. Matvyyenko –who is 71 –falls into the “at risk” category for the virus.
Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov underscored that President Vladimir Putin had no recent in-person interaction with these individuals, as their meetings had been conducted over a remote connection.
This is not the first instance of exposure to COVID-19 by Russian government officials. Throughout the pandemic, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Ministry of Culture Olga Lyubimova, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, and 137 Duma Deputies have all tested positive for the coronavirus.
On the heel of these announcements, Moscow leadership announced that they will commence the first stages of vaccination against COVID-19 starting on December 4th. Teachers, doctors, and social workers will receive free vaccinations of the Russian-developed Sputnik V vaccine, which is still technically in its third stage of testing.
At the time of writing, The Russian Federation has endured 2.5 million COVID-19 infections, with 41,600 deaths recorded in the country due to the virus.
(RBC, RBC, Vedomosti, RBC, Kommersant)
3. Following Loss to Azerbaijan, Armenian Opposition Rallies Around Former Minister of Defense
Parties in opposition to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan continue to call for snap elections as the country’s political crisis moves towards its first month following the signing of an unpopular November 10th peace deal with Azerbaijan, bringing an end to a costly war in the unrecognized Armenian-populated Republic of Nagorno Karabakh.
On Thursday, Armenia’s 17 opposition parties rallied behind veteran politician Vazgen Manukyan –Armenia’s first Prime Minister, and later Minister of Defense –as a candidate to replace Prime Minister Pashinyan. This brings together a previously fractured anti-government movement, now presenting a more organized position to challenge the current Prime Minister’s rule.
During the recent war, Manukyan urged Prime Minister Pashinyan to resign, calling for a transfer of political power to the military to ensure an effective mobilization against Azerbaijan’s invasion of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic populated by ethnic Armenians.
Pashinyan’s political bloc still holds majority in parliament, maintaining a level of political legitimacy for his remaining in office. However, there has been a steady level of pressure coming from the streets, as protests continue in response to Pashinyan’s signing of the peace agreement with Azerbaijan on November 10th, ceding large portions of territory formerly controlled by the Nagorno Karabakh Republic to Azerbaijan.
Pashinyan maintains that the peace deal was the only option which remained for Armenia, particularly as the out-gunned republic lost the strategic city of Shushi on November 7th (and as the old Armenian adage goes: he who controls Shushi, controls Karabakh).
The opposition under Manukyan will hold a mass rally in Yerevan on December 5th, where the candidate’s official position will be announced. Of interest, the opposition bloc has vowed to remain in the very peace deal they maintain is the ultimate failure of the Pashinyan government.
4. Chubais Replaced as Leader of State Nanotechnology Company
Anatoly Chubais has been relieved of his position as head of Rosnano –the state-owned enterprise focused on developing a competitive nanotechnology industry in the Russian Federation –after 10 years at the organization’s leading role.
The ousting comes without explanation from the government, although Russian media confirms that the arrangement was made against the wishes of the politician. This restructuring is an expected element of Prime Minister Mikhail Mishutin’s drive to shuffle the various state-owned investment entities, which places Rosnano under control of the Russian State Development Corporation, VEB.
Chubais led Rosnano since its establishment in 2008, overseeing its transition from an institution exclusively injecting resources into the field of nanotechnology, to a more general state-sponsored investment arm supporting the development of Russia’s tech industry.
Rosnano, with an estimated $2.89 billion in assets, will now be led by Srgey Kulikov, formerly the Deputy Chair of the State Military and Industrial Commission, at the request of President Vladimir Putin. Anatoly Chubais was not in attendance at the announcement of Kulikov’s new role.
Close associates of Chubais claim that he will pursue business interests in adapting Russia’s economy to green energy, something which is particularly relevant given the expected economic strains coming as a consequence of the European Union’s looming 2022 carbon tax, a particularly concerning development in Russia’s energy-export oriented economic partnership with Western Europe.
Chubais, despite maintaining a positive image in the West, is a divisive figure in Russian society. An economist working as one of Boris Yeltsin’s “young reformers” in the years following the Soviet collapse, Chubais oversaw the botched mass privatization of Soviet-era state owned assets, driving mortality rates to war-time levels in the nascent Russian Federation.
(The Bell, Meduza, Kommersant, Vedomosti)
5. Arrest of Russian-Speaking Journalists in Latvia Sparks Tensions
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused the Government of Latvia in engaging in Russophobic behavior following the temporary detainment of two Russian-speaking journalists by Latvian Security Services over accusations of their violation of European Union Sanctions Laws.
The journalists were apprehended and questioned by the Latvian Security on December 3rd over their professional dealings with Sputnik Latvia and BaltNews, outlets operating as subsidiaries of Rossiya Seogdnya, a Russian state-owned media company.
According to Latvian officials, the legal action comes as a consequence of the affiliation these outlets have with Rossiya Segodnya, headed by Dmitry Kiselyov, who is currently sanctioned by the European Union over his role in the ongoing geopolitical tensions in Ukraine.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains that sanctions against Kiseylov are not institutional, but rather focus on the media mogul as an individual, which does not put the journalists’ professional associations with Rossiya Segodnya in violation of European sanctions.
Allegations of Russophobia are a sensitive issue in the Baltic States, including Latvia, which have minority populations of ethnic Russians and Russian speakers; A little over 25% of Latvia’s population identifies at ethnically Russian. These ethnic divisions became particularly exacerbated following the start of the War in nearby Ukraine in 2014, generating an environment where one party fears the Russian government will use its proclaimed responsibility of protecting ethnic Russians as a pretext for invading the Baltics, while the other fears repression of Russian linguistic and cultural freedoms by their government.
(RIA, Kommersant, RBC)