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agents from the Investigations Committee anyway. On 4 April, the Investigations Committee also arrested Udmurtia Governor Alexander Solovyev, also on bribe-taking charges. Markelov arrest is unusual since, unlike the four previous cases, where the regional leaders were only dismissed after being arrested, Markelov has just resigned, and seemingly without public reprimand. Moreover, the President’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, commented at the time of Markelov’s resignation that it was “primarily related to the long duration of [Markelov’s] term in office.” President Vladimir Putin himself, at a meeting with Alexander Eftifyev, who was appointed acting Governor of Udmurtia, said that Markelov “was at Mari for 16 years and wanted a career change.”
Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev says Moscow has removed visa restrictions on Iranian tour groups and business people, Sputnik News Agency reported on April 17. Iranian-Russian trade has improved in the past 12-month period, but banking relations and language issues have dogged progress.
Kyiv’s ban on Russian singer Yulia Samoilova taking part in May’s Eurovision song contest in Ukraine is “unacceptable” and could result in the country being excluded from future competitions, event organisers have said. In a letter sent to Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, the head of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Ingrid Deltenre, warned that Ukraine’s public broadcaster UAPBC “might be excluded from future events”, media report said on April 1. “We are increasingly frustrated, in fact angry, that this year’s competition is being used as a tool in the ongoing confrontation between the Russian Federation and Ukraine,” she added.
Reports about the retaliation against gay people in Chechnya have not been confirmed, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday. He added that law enforcement agencies and Human Rights Ombudsperson Tatyana Moskalkova had been conducting a probe into these reports.
A Russian court banned a doctored image of president Vladimir Putin
19 RUSSIA Country Report April 2017 www.intellinews.com