Page 4 - bne magazine September 2020 russia melting

4 I The Month That Was bne September 2020
Politics
Eastern Europe
A poll from independent pollster the Levada Center shows a 9% rise in the number of Russians that believe the country is “going in the right direction” to 51%, its highest level since February this year. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s personal popularity also rose 6% to 66% driven by uncertainty created by the Belarusian protests.
The popularity of the ruling United Russia party fell again to 30.5% ahead of key regional elections in Russia slated for September 11-13,
a poll by the state-owned pollster, the Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VTsIOM) and the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM). The party has
been losing popularity steadily in recent years.
The Rotenberg family, owners of construction company Mostotrest, have topped Forbes's rating of the wealthiest Russian family clans, ousting the Gutseriev family that have assets in oil, real estate and retail, says Forbes. Their wealth
was up by $270mn to $5.45bn. The sale of Stroygazmontazh to Gazprom for RUB75bn accounted for the bulk of the income.
Central Europe
The public was outraged in Poland after MPs voted across party lines
to award themselves a 40% pay rise at a time when unemployment was rising and incomes falling due to the coronacrisis. The pandemic has pushed CEE’s largest economy to the first recession in 30 years. Lawmakers later rescinded the decision.
Poland will open its borders and labour market to Belarusians as well as step up support for civil society and independent media after Minsk’s crackdown on anti-government protestors. Poland will support opposition activists persecuted by the Lukashenko regime, launch
a scholarship programme for scientists and students expelled from universities, make it easier for Belarusians to travel to Poland and work there, and support independent media and NGOs.
A political scandal rocked Hungary after Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto was photographed on board a luxury yacht owned by oligarch Laszlo Szijj on the Adriatic Sea off Croatia when the minister was pretending he was in his office dealing with the coronacrisis.
Three Hungarian parties in Slovakia, Most-Hid, the Party of the Hungarian Community (Strana Madarskej Komunity, SMK) and the Unity movement (Spolupatricnost), will merge into a united Hungarian political party, according to SMK chair Krisztian Forro. Most-Hid leader Laszlo Solymos stressed that the new party will be based on the principles of democracy, pro-European orientation and a strong representation of Hungarian and other minorities in Slovakia.
Southeast Europe
More than 62% of Bulgarians support the protests against government
and chief prosecutor Ivan Geshev,
a poll carried out by Alpha Research upon request by Dnevnik news outlet showed. 18.9% do not support the protests at all, while 18.6% rather
do not support them. After more than three weeks, tens of thousands Bulgarians are flooding on the streets of the capital Sofia and several other towns, urging Geshev and Prime Minister Boyko Borissov to resign over corruption and alleged involvement with controversial businessmen and politicians.
Eurasia
The Kazakh government said on August 26 that it has signed a deal to receive supplies of Russia’s first potential coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine following the completion of its clinical trials. Russia has registered the world’s first vaccine, dubbed “Sputnik V” in honour of the Soviet Union’s first satellite. Moscow will also send 2mn doses to Belarus.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei slammed “wasteful imports” that push domestic producers into bankruptcy and
also asked the government to block luxury imports seen as an “obstacle”
to achieving a better economy. ” The economy must be designed such that officials assume “sanctions will continue another 10 years”, he added.
The agreement between Israel
and the United Arab Emirates to normalise ties will not secure peace in the region, a special adviser on international affairs to the speaker
of Iran’s parliament said on Twitter
in reaction to the deal announced
on August 13. “UAE’s new approach for normalizing ties w/fake, criminal #Israel doesn’t maintain peace & security, but serves ongoing Zionists’ crimes,” tweeted Hossein Amir- Abdollahian, also a former deputy foreign minister.
23.
A third (29.7%) of Ukrainians have a positive attitude towards Russia, and half consider it wrong to ban Russian TV channels, actors, films and social networks, according to
a poll by the Social Monitoring Center.
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