Word: kremlins
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...Ukraine's President Victor Yushchenko prepares to visit Moscow on Tuesday, Russia's energy giant Gazprom has delivered a nasty welcome for a leader not beloved by the Kremlin. Gazprom late Thursday issued an ultimatum over new Ukrainian gas debts arising from a price hike, warning that it had instructed its services to turn off gas supplies to Ukraine by noon on Monday - the day before Yuschenko flies in - unless it is paid $1.5 billion...
...Gazprom's decisions in the marketplace are often tied to Kremlin concerns, and there could be several political and economic reasons behind the new pressure on Ukraine. Russia is unhappy at the restoration to power of Yuschenko's pro-NATO coalition following last year's snap legislative election. It is also irked by Ukraine's imminent accession to World Trade Organization membership, which would improve Kiev's ability to stand up to Russian blackmail by giving it the means to block Russia's own, coveted but much postponed entry into the organization...
...British-Russian relations have seriously soured since 2006, when the former KGB/FSB officer-turned-dissident Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned in London with polonium-210, and the Brits demanded extradition of their prime suspect, Russian businessman Andrei Lugovoi. Citing the Constitution, the Kremlin turned down London's demands - and promptly elected Lugovoi as a Duma member on the ballot of Vladimir Zhirinovsky's rabble-raising nationalists...
...success was not guaranteed in advance. The Kremlin is a piranha tank of factions. In order to keep the money flowing into social welfare, Medvedev bared his teeth at predators in the security services and the military-industrial lobby - and, against the quoted odds, he survived and flourished...
...also frequently railed against corruption in Russian public life. He has made a point of saying repeatedly that the country badly needs to protect newly emerging small businesses. His career is apparently devoid of any postings in the Federal Security Service (FSB, the successor to the KGB), whereas several Kremlin leaders, including Putin himself, started their careers in the security agencies. He warmed the hearts of his audience at Davos this year: "We are well aware that there's one simple reason why no nondemocratic state has ever become prosperous: freedom is better than nonfreedom...