The Russian bank Sberbank believes that Russia will see a recession and that  inflation may exceed 8% this year, as reported by TASS, citing the head of the Center for Macroeconomic Research of Sberbank, Yulia Tsepliaeva. According to her, a decline in consumption and economic growth may also be expected.

“We expect an economic slowdown and an additional year of decline in consumption. Inflation is likely to be high. It is expected to exceed 8%,” Tsepliaeva said.

Tsepliaeva assesses the Bank’ …

The President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, expects that in February 2016, Ukraine will receive the next loan installment from the IMF, as reported by Bloomberg, following a meeting in Davos with the Managing Director of the IMF, Christine Lagarde.

According to Poroshenko, an agreement was reached on the allocation of the next installment of the loan to Ukraine. "We have reached a compromise on the budget deficit and the macro indicators, relative to all," the President assured.

Poroshenko …

The Russian Ambassador to the UK, Alexander Yakovenko, called London’s approach to the "business of Litvinenko" a "blatant provocation" by the British authorities. Yakovenko said this after being summoned to the British Foreign Office.

According to him, for Moscow, "it is absolutely unacceptable to question whether the Russian government was somehow involved in the death of Litvinenko... This is an attempt to exert additional pressure on Russia in connection with the existing differences on …

The resolution of the European Parliament stated that they support the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for investigating the MH17 incident. In 2014, the Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 passenger plane was shot down over the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. The European Parliament also called on Russia to fully cooperate with the international community in order to carry out a full and impartial investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice, the document says.

Russia’s …

Bankers have asked the Central Bank of Russia to introduce a fixed preferential exchange rate for the Ruble; however, the regulator has refrained from doing so for now.The collapse of the Russian currency was the main reason for holding an emergency meeting of the representatives of the Russian Central Bank and leading bankers of the country on Thursday, January 21st. The importance of the meeting is evident as the Chairman of the Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, cancelled her trip to the …

Threats made by the head of the Chechen Republic against opposition leaders, the media, and human rights activists have raised the concern of Amnesty International. The organization notes that it's dangerous to do human rights work and openly criticize the government in Russia.

International human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) has urged the Russian authorities to "immediately and unhesitatingly" respond to the harsh statements of the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, which …

The Deputy Chair of the Economic Committee of the Russian Duma, Sergey Kalashnikov, told RIA Novosti that the Russian Central Bank has to cancel the convertibility of the Ruble and set a fixed exchange rate in relation to the dollar and main reserve currencies. The preferable rate would be 40 rubles per dollar.

According to Kalashnikov, if the exchange rate is fixed, a black market in currency exchange would inevitably emerge in the country. However, that would not be as harmful to the …

Officers of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are providing training for militants in Torez according to the Intelligence Agency.

"On a training ground near Torez, they are training tank and mechanized infantry units. There are assault troops practicing offensive maneuvers under the leadership of senior officers of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation who have recently arrived in Torez," the statement said.

In addition, Russia continues to supply pro-Russian separatists in the …