Without Dispute: Medvedev As Putin’s Consigliere

Without Dispute: Medvedev As Putin’s Consigliere

What more could Medvedev do to conclusively expose the truth about the myth of his “contradictions” with Putin? Probably only by speaking in the Boss’s voice, which he has now managed to do. The trip to Davos has shed light on the real priorities of the Russian government and the tasks that stand before it once again. The program planned for the forum was cut several hours short by the tragic events in Domodedovo, so Medvedev was easily able to carry out his primary mission and avoid any uncomfortable questions. Once again, the lives of Russian citizens became loose change for the games of the Putin regime.

Moreover, Medvedev’s role has now been defined conclusively.

Any self-respecting mafia boss has his own consigliere to search out loopholes in the legal system, so as to justify their unlawful actions.

Medvedev already learned to handle such a function back in the ’90s, when he was legal director for Zakhar Smushkin’s company Ilim Pulp Enterprise. Now he’s reached the peak of his career – he has become the boss of all bosses (capo di tutti capi). He tells world leaders that the arrests of opposition leaders are in the legal realm of Basmanny justice, which consistently carries out the task of legalizing the privatized assets of Russian oligarchies in the West. Despite bashfully saying a month ago that he had no right to comment on the Yukos case before a sentence was handed down, now he has no problem avoiding any formal pangs of conscience. For the cool kids, who not only got rid of a successful competitor and took his business but also attracted reputable gentlemen to carve up the loot, there’s no shame in such small change as Khodorkovsky’s verdict. So discussion of possibly transferring Medvedev to the Constitutional Court appears to be only logical.

As consigliere, Medvedev successfully added Sechin to head the power block that guarantees the interests of the mafia gang currently in power.

Together, they conveyed the boss’s main message to the audience at Davos: foreign businesses in Russia have to play by the rules established by the government.

Anyone that has a problem with this situation can await Khodorkovsky’s fate. The increased confidence of Putin and his cohorts after the successful deal with BP has allowed them to openly declare, as an ultimatum, that affairs will be carried out “by our rules.”

Any hope for a “Medvedev thaw” or of disagreements within the tandem have been shown once again that their actions are in complete harmony. Although, this is unlikely to have an effect on the position of the systemic liberals, who occupy a comfortable niche and have played a key role in the formation of the oligarch state.

Now, when total control over the political processes in the country has been established, the ruling elite aims to integrate into the world economic system as fast as possible.

Although, there can be no doubt of the cynicism of western corporations promoting their commercial interests; the less aggressive the tone dialogue takes place in, the calmer they are. Any special operation, as we all know, calls for a cover – which, in this case, is provided by famous people who continue to enjoy a liberal reputation. A close analysis of the words and deeds of this “thin layer of the intelligentsia” shows that they also have no systemic disagreements with the tandem. This theme will be developed in my next post.

National Economic Trends

Russia Stocks Climb Third Day This Week as Oil Trades Above $100

By Halia Pavliva

Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Russia’s Micex Index climbed for the third day this week as oil traded above $100 a barrel in London, bolstering the earnings outlook for producers in the world’s largest energy exporter.

The 30-stock gauge added 0.7 percent to 1,761.54 as of 10:35 a.m. in Moscow. OAO Rosneft and OAO Lukoil, the country’s biggest oil producers, advanced. The dollar-denominated RTS Index rose 0.6 percent to 1,929.14.

“Russia is overall correlated to oil prices,” said Luis Saenz, the London-based director of international sales at brokerage Otkritie Securities Ltd., in an e-mailed message.

Brent crude for March settlement rose to a 28-month high of $103.37 a barrel yesterday on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London before erasing gains. It climbed 0.2 percent to $102 a barrel today on bets U.S. employers added jobs. Non-farm payrolls probably climbed by 146,000 workers in January, according to a survey of economists.

To contact the reporters on this story: Halia Pavliva in New York at hpavliva@bloomberg.net; Mark Crumpton in New York at mcrumpton@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at gserkin@bloomberg.net; David Papadopoulos at papadopoulous@bloomberg.net

Banks have 425.9 bln rbs on CBR correspondent accounts on February 4.

http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=220066

MOSCOW. February 4 (Interfax) - Russian banks have 425.9 billion rubles on correspondent accounts in the Central Bank as of February 4 including 238.6 billion rubles for Moscow banks

The balance on February 3 was 423.0 billion rubles and 245.9 billion rubles, respectively.

Banks had 1009.3 billion rubles on deposit accounts in the Central Bank on February 4 against 951.5 billion rubles on previous day.

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