The biggest internet event in Russia (more than 5.000 participants) is the Russia Internet Forum. As I’m surfing their website I can only think that It’s a good idea to register for 2010 – www.rif.ru. Continue reading ‘Russia Internet Forum – the biggest internet forum in Russia’
Archive for the 'Eyes on Russia' Category
If you read my blog on regular basis you probably know that the Russian Internet market is very interesting for me and right now I’m very excited to hear and meet the “rock stars” of the Russian Internet at LeWeb – the panel is moderated by Jennifer L. Schenker, (Founder & Editor-in-Chie Informilo.com)
Panelists – Russia roundtable:
- - Sasha Galitsky, Almaz Capital Partners
- - Bernard Lukey, CEO, OZON.ru
- - Edward Shenderovich, Managing Director, Kite Ventures
- - Arkady Volozh, CEO, Yandex Continue reading ‘Russia Roundtable at LeWeb in Paris’
I always liked to discover Russia or China as healthy growth alternatives for new business. Last October I was blogging about Russia’s online market in 2008 and right now I have only positive thoughts about this part of the world since they decided to invest more in new media.
I like the new country and the achievements made in the last years: Russia is now a healthy democracy with an emerging market and a healthy appetite for new business. I know that in Romania, politicians are not very keen to maintain business relationships with Russian entities but the opportunities cannot be ignored as we entered a new era of doing business.
The financial crisis had a different impact but the fact that Digital Sky Technologies, a Russian investment group, decided to $200 million investment in Facebook was a great signal for entrepreneurs all over the world. Facebook said the investment represents a 1.96% equity stake at a $10 billion valuation and it seems that DST has indicated that it will offer to buy at least $100 million of Facebook common stock from existing common stockholders. Continue reading ‘Russia, the new financial tiger – online business’
The Russian online market is interesting even for some Romanian entrepreneurs. Far more attractive than the western markets and not so much exposed to global risks 
(just the usual energy/cold crises).
Here are some figures from an article I’ve read this Saturday, published by Lenta.ru:
- total marketing spend for the entire year will be between US$1.04 billion to $1.48 billion;
- Tagline market research predicted that by the end of 2008, media advertising is expected to receive ~$285 million – $390 million investments ;
- $320 million – $450 million – predictions for spent on contextual ads;
- SEM will receive ~$250 million – $400 million;
- web development market estimated between $160 million – $200 million.
- content production, online consultancy, oline PR and blogging will receive ~ $25 million – $35 million (source: Tagline).
- online marketing communications in Russia rising in 2008;
Tagline’s analysis was based on a research involving 600 companies (information acquired using direct interviews and open source intelligence). The funny thing is that the estimates are made in US dollars.
Cold war propaganda recycled (this movie was edited and converted in b/w by Steven Buitenhuis, Student at Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten, Netherlands): Continue reading ‘Viral Propaganda’
…made in France 
The biggest anti-Romanian campaign was triggered last week in Italy. A precise informational war is affecting both Italian/Romanian and EU interests as the news show Romanian immigrants committing crimes, Italian extremists in fascist actions and overall the EU as a “bad idea”. Continue reading ‘Romania, at the center of the storm’
AlJazeera produced another extraordinary documentary about the AK47 (short for Russian: Автомат Калашникова образца 1947 года, Avtomat Kalashnikova 1947). See how proud is Lt. General Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov about his product and probably the most powerful brand in the arms and funerals industry:
Second part:
In the movie you could see The Kalashnikov Vodka.
Here is a challenge for my readers: do you consider the brand “Kalashnikov” more powerful than “Coca-Cola”, “Google” or “Nokia”?
Related links:
- ‘I sleep soundly’ – Interview with and article on Mikhail Kalashnikov at the age of 83
- AK-47’s military and social effects on history – Larry Kahaner
Mikhail Kalashnikov did no evil. He was just a designer.
His product kills 250,000 people every year – this is not a design error.
Transnistria is a “phantom state”, east of Moldova. If you are interested in the matter you should know that we now have a new blog we’re hosting on Imagine Romania from a correspondent from this “war zone”.
Transnistria has a very interesting economy financed from nowhere. In Tiraspol, there is a company called SHERIFF controlling everything from restaurants and supermarkets to showrooms and gas stations. More interesting is that they have a Mercedes dealership over there and all the products and brands of the free world. Here is a movie I find interesting and quite equilibrated about the situation in the former province of Moldova:
As you can notice in the movie below, they have Internet access over there although they are still under the .md (Moldova) administration. Only few people use the Internet services mainly for monitoring the press and propaganda. A few weeks ago we had the first visitors from a school in Transnistria (Romanian speaking users) on e-scoala.ro (Romanian language is never used in public spaces, only in private areas). But young people in Transnistria face a hard life as they are indoctrinated and targeted by the Russian psychological warfare:
Trafficking weapons for Africa, Middle East Irak, Iran and human trafficking are also part of the local economy (women trafficking is part of the strategy aiming exterminating the Romanian population):
And the last part of the report from Journeyman Pictures:
Soviet paramilitary troops in 1992 – here is how all this nonsense began:
In the end, enjoy the latest propaganda from Transnistria:
Spetsnaz (Russian special purpose regiments) is the common name for the elite or special units controlled by the Federal Security Service (FSB) with counter-terrorist and anti-sabotage tasks. These units were the elite of the KGB and performed multiple tasks around the world. By far, the most interesting thing about the members is that they link their combat knowledge to strong psychological techniques:
So basically, they can disarm a person without any effort and do it very fast.
On the other hand, the unit has a zero tolerance approach to terrorists – they are trained to use the element of surprise, to act fast and eliminate all targets:
Before jumping to the next movie you should keep in mind that all this soldiers are elite – basically they can fly or can be invisible but the politics when dealing with terrorists is sometimes cinical. At that time, the leaders had 2 things in their minds: “never negotiate with the terrorists” and “we should set an example”.
334 civilians killed, 186 were children (437 people, including 221 children, were hospitalized) mainly due to the use of heavy weapons by the spetsnaz:
The mainstream story at that time was that the terrorists provoked all the deaths. At that time the event was branded as another “fight against terror”. Because people and governments change, due to the latests scandals involving Russia, there is a new story coming to us: the spetsnaz and Putin are responsible for the killings and Beslan meant poor crises management.
I guess this is one of those cases where the truth doesn’t matter anymore. For some.
“Relations between Russia and Britain were facing fresh turbulence yesterday after a billionaire oligarch wanted by the Kremlin for tax evasion was reported to have escaped to London. Mikhail Gutseriyev – the former head of one of Russia’s largest private oil firms – disappeared from Russia last week. On Tuesday a court in Moscow issued a warrant for his arrest.
Last month Mr Gutseriyev stepped down from his oil company, RussNeft, citing “unprecedented bullying” by Vladimir Putin’s government. Mr Gutseriyev – whose personal fortune is estimated at $3bn – accused the Kremlin of “illegally” forcing him out of business using trumped-up tax claims.”
The full story in the Guardian…
Meanwhile Dinu Patriciu sold Romanian gas company Rompetrol to Kazakhstan state company for US$3.6 billion so maybe now It’s easier for Gutseriyev and Patriciu to meet and talk business. I guess It’s not easy being eastern billionaire
The Economist – North America Edition:
“OUR pilots have been grounded for too long. They are happy to start a new life.” So said Vladimir Putin as he sent Russia’s nuclear bombers back aloft on the world-spanning patrols they had suspended after the collapse of the Soviet Union. This comes hard on the heels of talk of reopening a Russian naval base in the Mediterranean, joint war games with China and the planting of the Russian flag in the polar seabed. The Soviet Union is dead and communism long buried. But Mr Putin wants you to know that the Russian bear is back—wearing a snarl with its designer sunglasses.” – read more…
Russia’s strained relations with Britain have deteriorated further, with the authorities in Moscow stopping local transmission of the BBC Russian Service from today.
In an echo of the Cold War, when BBC broadcasts were jammed by the Soviet Union, the FM broadcast station in Moscow said that it was taking off air all BBC Russian Service transmissions. Most Muscovites who listen to the six hours of daily BBC programmes tune in on the FM signal.
The move, by Russia’s Federal Service for the Supervision of Mass Media, Communication and Protection of Cultural Heritage, was seen as the latest punitive action by Moscow in the row that broke out between Britain and Russia over the murder in November of Alexander Litvinenko, the former KGB officer who has poisoned with the radioactive isotope polonium-210. | Times
Of course, the murder in November of Alexander Litvinenko is just a cover. They were not promoting Putin in a healthy way over there:
Of course, the anti-BBC propaganda has other sides also (see it before it gets banned):
I guess is tough for a brit to do business in Russia this year…
He Fan – the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences:
China has accumulated a large sum of US dollars. Such a big sum, of which a considerable portion is in US treasury bonds, contributes a great deal to maintaining the position of the dollar as a reserve currency. Russia, Switzerland, and several other countries have reduced the their dollar holdings. China is unlikely to follow suit as long as the yuan’s exchange rate is stable against the dollar. The Chinese central bank will be forced to sell dollars once the yuan appreciated dramatically, which might lead to a mass depreciation of the dollar.
Read also:
- About the nuclear blackmailing on Wikipedia
- China may sell off Treasury bonds if US imposes trade sanctions – report in Forbes
- China threatens ‘nuclear option’ of dollar sales – Telegraph.co.uk
Using $1.33 trillion of foreign reserves is a great political weapon – who needs nukes anymore?
Coca-Cola has plans to enter the Russian kvass market (traditional local beverage that has become one of the fastest-growing soft drinks sectors in the country):
The Russian edition of Forbes magazine has published its list of the most popular and richest celebrities of Russia, actors, musicians, models and sportsmen:
First, the classical “Kalinka”:
Now, click here to check out the Red Russian Army Choir & Leningrad Cowboys singing Delilah…
