Opinion
FPRI BMB Russia: Sberbank releases a three-year transformation strategy to e-commerce concern
Sberbank released its latest three-year strategy on December 1, and despite the bank’s rebranding to Sber, it has a ways to go to become a bona fide tech company.
FPRI BMB Russia: Putin shakes up Russia’s development agencies
After shaking up the government, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin is moving on to Russia’s development institutions. Mishustin announced the long-awaited reform of Russia’s sprawling network of 40 development institutions.
COMMENT: Ukraine and the Biden Presidency
Will the upcoming Biden Presidency be good for Ukraine? The answer is yes, but there are questions that must be answered.
COMMENT: Moscow's new rules
Three decades on from the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia is learning to be just Russia. Its imperial ambitions have evaporated and its relations with its neighbours have become more pragmatic, as Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Nagorno-Karabakh events show.
STOLYPIN: Hawks in DC risk empowering their counterparts in Moscow
There has been a rash of commentary ahead of the Joe Biden presidency calling for a hardening of foreign policy towards Russia, whereas the leading analysts in Moscow see the possibility of a less confrontational Kremlin.
COMMENT: Ukraine is set up for a fast recovery
The Ukrainian economy is going through a typical V-shaped recovery – a 11.4% y/y drop in 2Q narrowed to c. 5% y/y decline in 3Q, according to SP Advisors, a Kyiv-based investment boutique that is a veteran of investing into Ukraine.
In Karabakh deal, as many questions as answers
The deal left unmentioned critical issues like the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh and Turkey’s role in implementing the ceasefire.
FPRI BMB Russia: Government mini-reshuffle
The Russian government underwent a mini-reshuffle yesterday that resulted in new leaders for five of its 21 ministries. In quick order, Putin announced the resignations of several ministers, after which PM Mikhail Mishustin proposed replacements.
CEE Banking Sectors: In crisis and recovery mode at the same time
There is positive news for all Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) commercial bankers, market observers and investment bankers. The fresh 2020 CEE Banking Report by Raiffeisen Research paints an encouraging picture of banking in CEE.
COMMENT: The problems with sanctions
On October 23 the United States imposed sanctions on a Russian government research institute for its links to malware used to target critical infrastructure. The trouble is sanctions have largely failed to force the Kremlin to change its ways
COMMENT: The anatomy of Ukraine’s Constitutional Court crisis
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is facing the greatest political and constitutional crisis since the end of the Revolution of Dignity