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	<title>Stock Market News &#38; Stocks to Watch from StraightStocks &#187; vladimir putin</title>
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		<title>Putin&#8217;s Eye of the Tiger</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/putins-eye-of-the-tiger/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/putins-eye-of-the-tiger/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:46:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitri Peskov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kremlin spokesman]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Remember back when Vladimir Putin "saved" a group of journalists from a wild Amur tiger, dramatically shooting it on national television?&#160; It was probably his most imaginative PR stunt, at least up until he jumped into a submarine to visit...]]></description>
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		<title>Is Russia Experiencing a Change of Heart on Iran?</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/is-russia-experiencing-a-change-of-heart-on-iran/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/is-russia-experiencing-a-change-of-heart-on-iran/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:13:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Asia]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Writing at the New Republic, Michael Crowley scrounges deep down in the evidence bin for an argument on Russia's Iran policy:In recent weeks, Barack Obama's foreign policy has been&#160;derided&#160;by&#160;critics&#160;who say he has almost nothing to show for his first 10...]]></description>
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		<title>Today in Russian Business &#8211;  Nov 25, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/today-in-russian-business-nov-25-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/today-in-russian-business-nov-25-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:00:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[central bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nestle]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Sberbank's profits, at $594 million, are down 85% from last year. &#160;The central bank have cut interest rates to a record low of 9% in an attempt to stave off the destabilizing effects of speculation and slow the appreciation of...]]></description>
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		<title>Today in Russian Business &#8211;  Nov 23, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/today-in-russian-business-nov-23-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/today-in-russian-business-nov-23-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:27:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Prime Minister Vladimir Putin introduced a cash-for-scrap-cars scheme and mortgage support at Saturday's United Russia congress, as he forecasted a 2009 GDP decline of 8-8.5%, 'which would be Russia's worst result since 1994,' notes the Washington Post. &#160;Deputy Prime Minister...]]></description>
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		<title>Russia&#8217;s Consumers Get &#8220;Carried&#8221; Onwards And Upwards</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/russias-consumers-get-carried-onwards-and-upwards/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/russias-consumers-get-carried-onwards-and-upwards/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:24:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Edward Hugh</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7303901362201842397.post-2825345067395600868</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[blockquote“Cutting rates by 50 basis points here and there is not going really diminish the appeal of the ruble,” said Manik Narain, an emerging markets strategist at Standard Chartered Bank Plc in London. “In terms of nominal interest rates Russia (at 9% as of 24 November) is still offering the highest yields in the emerging market space and in an environment where oil prices are remaining relatively well supported we think that the ruble will continue to be seen as an attractive way to position for global recovery,” /blockquotebr /The world's central banks are having a hard time of it these days, having just gotten through the worst banking and financial crisis in living memory they now face a growing dilema between continuing to give support to the developed economies (which are yet to recover from those early hammer blows) and the danger of creating fresh global asset price bubbles in emerging economies, asset bubbles which could easily be being fuelled by low US interest rates and a weak dollar. The latest warning in this respect comes not from Nouriel Roubini (or even from me, a href="http://fistfulofeuros.net/afoe/economics-country-briefings/the-dollar-as-a-funding-currency/"but see this post/a, and a href="http://www.forexblog.org/2009/11/interview-with-edward-hugh-the-dollars-demise-is-vastly-overstated.html"this recent interview I gave on Forex Blog/a), rather it emmanates from Germany’s new finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble. His comments - which were a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4ec41a1a-d616-11de-b80f-00144feabdc0.html"cited in last Saturday's Financial Times/a - highlight official concern in Europe that the exceptional steps taken by central banks and governments to combat the crisis carry with them a series of undesireable side effects.br /br /Such openly expressed concerns only add further weight to a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/85f1fac2-d1dc-11de-a0f0-00144feabdc0.html"recent statements made in China/a, where only a week ago the banking regulator Liu Mingkao explicitly criticised the US Federal Reserve for indirectly fuelling the “dollar carry-trade” – a process whereby investors borrow dollars at ultra-low interest rates in the United States and the invest them in higher-yielding assets abroad.br /br /Wolfgang Schäuble went even further, saying it would be “naive” to assume the next asset price bubble would look just like the last one. “More likely today is a scenario in which excess liquidity globally creates a new [sort of] asset market bubble.” he said, and the fact “ that low interest rate currencies such as the US dollar increasingly being used as a basis for currency carry trades should give pause for thought. If there was a sudden reversal in this business, markets would be threatened with enormous turbulence, including in foreign exchange markets.”br /br /As I argued in my last post on the carry trade, the danger of a short term sudden reversal may be being overstated at this point, since exit from emergency life support will be at best slow and measured in the United States, while ample funding will continue to remain available in Japan, where the central bank a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c3a3be3e-d608-11de-b80f-00144feabdc0.html"has now formally recognised that the economy is once more back in deflation/a (officially it exited in 2006, and did the Bank did manage to summon up half a percentage points worth of interest rate rise before falling back again, but in reality, if we strip out the oil price impact, the sad truth is that Japan never really left deflation).br /br /However, regardless of whether or not we are running the danger of having an overly rapid unwind effect, untold damage is in fact being done, with the structural distortions being produced by the massive “wall of liquidity” which is currently sweeping the planet being evident enough, showing up as it is in some unexpected places, like Russia for example.br /br /br /strongRuble Once More On The Rise/strongbr /br /On the face of it the idea that investors who were rushing for the Russian door following the Roki tunnel incursion back in August 2008 may now be rushing back in again may seem hard to believe, particularly given the serious economic recession which followed, and in reality it isn’t quite like this, but what is clear is that a steady and significant flow of funds is now most definitely heading in Russia’s direction - even if the immediate objective is not to increase Russia most definitely needs, namely capital investment.br /br /In fact, Russia’s foreign direct investment plummeted an annual by 48.1 percent, the most on record, to just $10 billion in the first nine months of the year, while overall foreign investment, including credits and flows into securities markets, was $54.7 billion, down 27.8 percent when compared with the same period a year earlier,according to Federal Statistics Service data. Other foreign investments, including loans from foreign banks and Russian companies’ foreign divisions, were down 20.9 percent in the period to $43.7 billion. The consequence of all this is that the decline in investment activity has been - as can be seen in the GDP growth components chart below - perhaps the greatest single drag on the domestic Russian economy over the past twelve months.br /br /br /a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Swq58CA-BvI/AAAAAAAAPnI/A-avWTMjlnI/s1600/russia+growth+components.png"img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 297px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407338743595927282" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Swq58CA-BvI/AAAAAAAAPnI/A-avWTMjlnI/s400/russia+growth+components.png" //abr /br /But this overall impression no longer gives us a precise up-to-date picture picture because, in a reversal of the previous pattern of capital flight Russia has, significant capital flows have, since mid-September, been making their way towards Russia, in the process enabling the central bank to once more rebuild up its badly shaken currency reserves. These have fluctuated from a high of $582 billion in August 2008 to a low of $384 billion in Feb – April 2009, and now stand at some $413 billion as of September. What is happening is that pressure to repay those outstanding debts which external lenders are unwilling to rollover means the aggregate capital flow data to some extent masque a change in the structure of Russian external debt. In the opinion of Guillaume Tresca, a Paris-based emerging market strategist with Credit Agricole’s Caylon Unit, the Russian authorities are now under severe pressure to accept the inevitability of short term ruble appreciation and even though they “will try to do what they can to smooth the process, it’s very hard for them to go against the flow” since current “capital inflows are massive.”br /br /Indeed a consensus seems to be now emerging that Russia’s central bank may find itself having to reluctantly accept a stronger ruble next year as rising commodity prices prove too powerful a force for policy makers to counter and as consumer demand plays a bigger role in the bank’s decisions. Representatives of the Russian administration have repeatedly asserted that they will cap the ruble’s advance with Vladimir Putin stating his government won’t allow excessive appreciation in a bid to give some support to struggling exporters. But the Canute like task of driving back the ocean is hardly an easy one, and the IMF recently warned that efforts to fight the ruble’s advance may prove “unproductive.”br /br /The problem is, in the short term at least, letting the rouble rise has its attractions for a Russian administration faced with simmering popular frustration with their inability to get the ongoing contraction fully under control. A rising ruble means slower inflation and more spending power for domestic consumers, who have yet to get over the record 10.9 percent economic contraction which hit them in the second quarter. Given that the eight interest rate cuts introduced by the central bank since April have manifestly failed to unlock the credit flow to consumers as banks hold back their lending on concern borrowers can’t repay their debt (see chart below) a rising exchange rate certainly seems to be worth a second look as a way forward, since while a higher exchange rate coupled with near double digit inflation may cripple manufacturing competitiveness, it does transfer incomes directly into people’s pockets, something hard pressed politicians might see as quite beneficial.br /br /a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Swv02_RS5BI/AAAAAAAAPnQ/EGbBRnSLgsk/s1600/russia+credit+growth.png"img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 327px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407685003122500626" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Swv02_RS5BI/AAAAAAAAPnQ/EGbBRnSLgsk/s400/russia+credit+growth.png" //a Lending is still - as can be seen in the above chart prepared by the World Bank for its latest report - a problem, and corporate (or non-financial corporation lending) fell by 0.7 percent in September from August continuing the ongoing decline. Lending to households dropped 1.1 percent making the eighth consecutive monthly decline, with year on year levels now in negative territory, while non performing retail loans rose, climbing to 6.4 percent from 6.2 percent.br /br /And the World Bank expect the many bank balance sheets will continue deteriorating as the share of non-performing loans increases. “In the environment of increasing credit risks, lending activities by the banks have remained limited despite improving liquidity conditions in the economy and continuing monetary loosening.” Bad debts in the banking industry may reach an average of 10 percent by the end of the year according to the Bank.br /br /br /And when we look at ruble realities, as the IMF point out, efforts to stem the ongoing rise with intervention are far from being able to give the desired result. Bank Rossii bought a net $15.2 billion and 485 million euros in October, their largest foreign currency purchases since May, and went on to buy $6 billion during the first 17 days of November according to press reports citing central bank chairman, Sergey Ignatiev. Yet last week the Russian the ruble ended 0.1 percent higher at 35.0632 against the central bank’s target currency basket, its strongest level since December 23 2008. The ruble appreciated 3.4 percent in October against the dollar (for its second consecutive monthly gain) and has risen more than 1 percent so far in November. Thus the central bank has now moved on to use monetary policy to try and stem the rise, and said on October 29 that it would also use interest rates in an attempt to reduce the “attractiveness of short-term investments in Russian assets and stop the accumulation of risk”.br /br /The recent rise follows ruble a 35 percent slump against the dollar between August last year and January, raising the cost of imports (which make up about 49 percent of the consumer goods sold in Russia) and, in theory, making Russia's domestic industry somewhat more competitive externally. However, without a sound institutional infrastructure, and a coherent monetary policy, short term devaluation gains can easily be turned into medium term inflation, thus defeating the purpose of corrective price devaluation.br //pbr /br /br /pThe problem is not in fact of recent making, and is a product of a steady and systematic long term mismanagement of Russia's monetary policy which has now created a veritable Procrustean bed of problems for Russia's economy and society. Failure to address the underlying inflation problem between 2005 and 2008 meant that large structural distrortions were accumulated in the economy, including a massive problem of commodity export dependence, a problem which effectively turned the country into a veritable disaster waiting to happen if ever there should be a protracted lull in the secular rise in energy prices. That lull has most definitely now arrived, and while Russia's future depends in the short term - on energy prices, it is far from clear what the future holds for the energy prices themselves. /pbr /pa href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Swv5min3eZI/AAAAAAAAPnY/rqDWKGy7ABg/s1600/world+bank+oil.png"img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 283px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407690218112776594" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Swv5min3eZI/AAAAAAAAPnY/rqDWKGy7ABg/s400/world+bank+oil.png" //abr /br /Weak global demand for oil has led to a sharp rise in excess capacity and OPEC's spare capacity has risen to levels not seen since 2002, when prices averaged USD25/barrel with OPEC’s pricing power staying very low. Up to now oil prices have remained in the USD70/barrel range, supported by OPEC output restraint and its stated desire to have prices reach what it calls "a comfortable level" - ie near USD75/barrel - as well as by expectations of rising demand. At its September 2009 meeting, OPEC left its production quotas unchanged but indicated it would take rapid action if prices dropped sharply. OPEC production, however, continues to edge higher, with compliance to its combined cuts of 4.2 million barrels per day falling to 66 percent in September from 71 percent in August. Thus there is evidence of OPEC strains and there is considerable uncertainty about real levels of 2010 demand, all of which makes for considerable uncertainty about prices. As can be seen in the above chart, World Bank oli price estimates (like the economic growth ones) have fluctuated from a 2010 price estimate of around $62.95 in March to the current (November) level of $75.29. While the earlier estimate may be considered to be too low, the current ones may well be too high, thus a level of $70 may not be an unrealistic forecast. It should be noted however that there are credible dissenters, and in a more or less reasoned analysis Capital Economics suggest that oil prices could well fall back again in 2010 to average somewhere around $50. If this forecast proves anywhere near correct, the Russian economy is going to be subject to major downside risks, due in particular to the difficulties posed by:br /br /i) financing the fiscal deficitbr /ii) rising unemploymentbr /iii) growing bad loans in the banking systembr /iv) refinancing external debtbr /v) the continuing high level of consumer price inflation and the difficulties this poses for monetary policy at the central bankbr /br /Added to all this, the economy will clearly not rebound as easily as many seem to foresee, adding to the risk element on all fronts.br /br /br /strongA Return To Growth In The Third Quarter/strongbr /br /Following the deep output drop sustained in the first half of the year (10.4% of GDP year on year), the slow recovery in global demand and rise in commodity prices has helped lift Russia’s economy up from its earlier lows. But the recovery has only been a modest one, since preliminary data indicate that the economy still registered a 9.4 percent year-on-year drop in the thrid quarter, indicating only a very small improvement (possibly a seasonally adjusted 0.6%) over the second quarter. More recent data also point towards a rather uneven progression, with the manufacturing sector falling back while rising real incomes means that consumer demand is producing stronger growth in the services sector.br /br /As in other countries, investment (both foreign and domestic) took a severe hit on the back of the credit crunch, and gross capital formation was indeedthe main demand side factor dragging GDP down in the first half of the year (by 14 percentage points), followed at some distance by consumption, which contributed 1.2 and 3.0 percentage points to aggregate output contraction rates respectively in the first and second quarters. Net exports, on the other hand, made a positive contribution (5.1 percentage points in the first quarter and 5.9 percentage points in the second) although strongas elsewhere/strong the strongdrop in imports/strong was the key factor. When imports are looked at in volume (price adjusted) terms we find that real ruble depreciation (the real effective exchange rate depreciated by 5.9 percent in the first nine months of 2009) meant that the import contraction was more severe than it seemed, especially in the second quarter of 2009 when the drop in imports meant that net exports increased by 66 percent.br /br /strongUnemployment Falls Back, But Problems Remainbr //strongbr /br /Six million Russians were added to the government’s official poverty count in the first quarter of this year alone, and by the end of 2009, 17.4 percent of the population or 24.6 million people will be living beneath the subsistence level of $185 per month, almost 5 percent more than before crisis, according to World Bank estimates. Unicredit analysts forecast that the number of Russians with disposable incomes of more than $1,000 per month will fall 48 percent this year to about 13.6 million, or roughly 9.6 percent of the population. Thus this recession is likely to have lasting and important results./pbr /pOn the hand, employment statistics from the Federal Statistics Service indicate that a sharp downward adjustment in the labour market took place up to February this year, before moderating and then reversing. Unemployment seems to have peaked in February at 9.5 percent following the sharp decline in output, and the severity of the blow was especially strong in the industrial sector. /pbr /pa href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Swv-srF1PgI/AAAAAAAAPng/ib8hHjWpxx8/s1600/russia+unemployment.png"img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 201px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407695821023297026" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Swv-srF1PgI/AAAAAAAAPng/ib8hHjWpxx8/s400/russia+unemployment.png" //abr /br /br /Since the beginning of March 2009, however, with real level of economic activity bottoming out (see above chart), the labor market continued to show moderate improvement: by September the number of those in employment had increased by 2.6 million, and the rate of unemployment fell to 7.6 percent, down significantly but still much higher than in September 2008 (5.8 percent). According to the World Bank this steady improvement is rather misleading as it reflects significant seasonal gains in employment and a shift in labor adjustment towards labor hoarding in the manufacturing sector.br /br /As the World Bank also notes, the long term regional differences in Russian unemployment rates are striking ranging from a low of 1.6 percent in Moscow to a high of 52.1 percent in Ingushetia in August 2009. Traditionally unemployment is largely concentrated in the Southern, Far Eastern and Siberian federal districts. However, the crisis related unemployment shows a different pattern, with the largest increases in unemployment being found in the North Western District (from 4.8 to 7 percent) and the Urals (from 4.9 to 8.1 percent). Regression analysis carried out by the World Bank revealed that unemployment levels were higher in those regions with higher levels of manufacturing, and where industrial production accounted for a larger share of GDP.br /br /And while it is entirely possible that the economy will show a “modest” recovery in the second half of 2009, this is “unlikely to have significant impact on social indicators,” according to the World Bank. Unemployment will increase to 9 percent “as seasonal factors wane” from 7.6 percent in September and it may take three years before the number of Russians living in poverty falls to pre-crisis levels, the World Bank estimates. Indeed, in the short term real incomes are “likely to fall further". /pbr /pstrongMonetary Policy Mess /strongbr /br /The political threat posed by growing unemployment and rising poverty must most certainly be one of the reasons behind Russia’s central bank recent decision to lowered its key interest rates for the eighth time in six months, in a bid to both stimulate lending and to stem the inflow of funds and the rise in the value of the ruble which is making the work of restoring competitiveness to the manufactured sector all the more difficult. Earlier this month Bank Rossii cut the refinancing rate to 9 percent from 9.5 percent and reduced the repurchase rate charged on central bank loans to 8 percent from 8.5 percent. Despite the reductions Russia still has the fourth-highest benchmark interest rate in Europe after Ukraine, Iceland and Serbia.br /br /a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Sw24Z-mJeJI/AAAAAAAAPog/dK4SaanO7nc/s1600/russia+interest+rates.png"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 230px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Sw24Z-mJeJI/AAAAAAAAPog/dK4SaanO7nc/s400/russia+interest+rates.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408181483981076626" //abr /br /The best thing that can be said about Russian monetary policy instruments is that they are hopelessly ineffictive. Even October consumer-price growth at 9.7% annually, while well down on June 2008s 15.1 percent peak, is still horribly unacceptable, and it is extremely hard to understand how economic mismanagement and incompetence can have reached such a level that an economy which has been contracting at the rate of nearly 10 per cent a year can still have this kind of price inflation. There is no other word for it, this is a mess.br /br /br /The bank is caught on the horns of a large dilema, since cutting rates further to stem inflows and the ruble rise may only risk fuelling more inflation, yet First Deputy Central Bank Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev stressed only last week that the central bank did not exclude the possibility of further cutting its rates in November and that its board could discuss a cut as early as Nov. 24. Indeed the bank stated explicitly at the end of October that it was ready and willing to use interest rate policy to stem speculative capital flows that "threaten to undermine currency stability". /pbr /pstrongInflation Woesbr //strongbr /One consolation at least in all this mess is that pressure on Russia’s producer prices have been easing, and prices have even been falling. According to the preliminary data from the State Statistics Service, the price of goods leaving factories and mines was in fact down an annual 10.8 percent in August following a record 12.3 percent drop in July. Evidently The with the 2008 spike in oil and energy prices the logic behind this is easy to see. What is not so easy to see is why domestic prices take so long in responding to general capacity utilisation signals and why the Economic Development Ministry still seems comfortable with the expectation that average inflation will range between 12 percent and 12.5 percent in 2009 only marginally down from last year’s 13.3 percent. Stunning!br /br //pbr /br /pa href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Sw0V_P4X0lI/AAAAAAAAPno/7WSwEAciAlg/s1600/russia+inflation.png"img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 243px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408002903880749650" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Sw0V_P4X0lI/AAAAAAAAPno/7WSwEAciAlg/s400/russia+inflation.png" //abr /br /And while consumer price inflation has been tame in recent months this good behaviour may not last long, since it could rise more than expected in November, according to Deputy Economic Minister Andrei Klepach, a development that could prompt the central bank to bring its rate-cutting policy to a halt. Consumer prices could rise "by about 0.3% to 0.4%" in November, Klepach said in comments recently. And Klepach’s prediction seems to be near the mark, since consumer prices rose 0.1% in the week to 9 November, bringing to an end a period of just over three months without inflation, according to the latest data from the Federal Statistics Service. Looking into the future price growth may be further spurred by an influx of budget spending in the fourth quarter, as well as by a planned 30% increase in pensions which is due to come into effect on 1 December.br /br /The rising ruble, driven by higher oil prices and speculative capital seeking to capitalize on Russia's comparatively high interest rates, has put the central bank in a quandry. While a strengthening currency hurts the country's exporters, further rate cuts risk driving up inflation, which Prime Minister Vladimir Putin predicted – probably optimistically - would be just over 8% by the end of the year, which amazingly would be a post-Soviet low.br /br /In fact, despite the fact that inflationary pressures have been easing in Russia in recent months, chiefly due to collapsing consumer demand and outlfows of capital following the crisis that hit the country a year ago, Russia's inflation in January 2010 is only expected to be "significantly below "the level of January 2009, according to the First Deputy Chairman at the central bank Alexei Ulyukayev recently. This kind of argument is hardly reasssuring, since inflation last January was at an annual rate of 13.4%, and the suggestion now is that consumer prices will increase by between 0.2% and 0.3% in November and by the same amount in December.br /br /strongWhy Not Devalue?/strongbr /br /Well, one way not to solve the problem would be a ruble devaluation according to European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Chief Economist Erik Berglof. Even while recognising that the country has a very difficult couple of years in front of it, Berglof argued recently “this (devaluation) is the wrong way to think about the recovery in Russia”.br /br /As he said, Russia’s failure to wean itself off its reliance on commodity exports has condemned the country struggling to find economic growth in the face of a large drop in demand for its key export products. “If you want to have a flexible exchange rate, you need to get out of this dependence on commodities,” Berglof said. “It’s a major concern that in the last 10 years Russia has become actually more dependent on commodities. Unfortunately, not much progress has been made.”br /br /Well, this is eaxctly the point, and is why I have been arguing over the last two year about how a href="http://russiatooat.blogspot.com/2007/12/inflation-in-russia-two-much-money.html"all those wage increases which the Russian administration seemed to rejoice in/a (since they bought short term popularity, and fuelled consumption) simply stoked-up the domestic inflation bonfire and in the process did untold damage to domestic competitiveness. However it is evident Russia's industries cannot now simply be transformed overnight, and this is where I find a weakness in Berglofs argument, since some remedy is needed to straighten out the distortions and get of commodity export dependence. But what? If it isn't devaluation, then surely we will need to see very substantial wage deflation in order to attract the now much needed inward foreign investment.br /br /Of course not everyone agrees with Berglof, and the Russian Association of Regional Banks, whose 450 members include the Russian units of Barclays and Citigroup, has called for a devaluation of as much as 30 percent. Billionaire Vladimir Potanin, realist and owner of 25 percent of OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel, said in recent interview with the Russian Newspaper Vedomosti that the “interests of the economy” will lead the currency to depreciate in the “mid term,” allowing exporters to cut costs and modernize production.br /br /Nonetheless energy, including oil and natural gas, accounted for 69.1 percent of exports to countries outside the former Soviet Union and the Baltic states during the first seven months of this year, according to the Federal Customs Service, while metals were responsible for another 12%. So the commodities dependency is massive, and this situation can't be turned round easily.br /br /strongGetting Carried Away By Global Liquidity?/strongbr /br /Bank Rossi are also not 100% convinced by the merits of Berglof's reasoning, as witnessed by the fact that they facilitated a 35 percent depreciation in the ruble during the second half of last year (see chart below), and as the collapse in raw material prices and the dramatic change in local credit conditions first pushed Russia's economy into recession the ruble’s trading range was widened to between 26 and 41 against the dollar-euro basket.br //pbr /pHowever, as I keep stressing, the central bank is now locked on the horns of a massive dilemma, since as risk appetite returns, with it comes the enthusiasm for buying the so called "high yield" currencies - like the South African Rand, the Russian ruble and the Hungarian forint. Instruments denominated in all these currencies offer investors substantial returns at the present time thanks to offering some of the highest interest rates among globally traded currencies.br /br /Indeed buying Russian rubles was one of the key recommendations made by Angus Halkett, currency strategist at Deutsche Bank in London, in a research report published back in April, and the market seems to have followed his advice The so-called carry trade works by investors borrowing in currencies with low interest rates and good prospects of continuing depreciation (the USD at the moment, for example) in order to buy higher-yielding assets, in countries with high domestic interest rates and continuing prospects for ongoing appreciation.br /br /In general, engaging in one or other form of the thousand-and-one-varieties carry trade is pretty standard practice during times when returns for real economic activity are low, and central banks hold down rates and supply liquidity. Indeed we may include here the kind of carry practiced by banks in borrowing from the central banks only to then lend - for a small, but very low risk, interest rate commission - to their national government, who at this stage in the business cycle will normally be running a fiscal deficit. So more than funding recovery, the watchword at the moment is very much "carry on carrying".br /br /But for those on the receiving end, the consequences of so much carry are far from innocuous, since the process simply funds all sorts of economic distortions, and far from allowing normal market corrections to occur, it simply amplifies the problem. And this is exactly what is starting to happen now in Russia. The ruble had its biggest weekly advance in more than three months last week as risk sentiment rose, following industrial output data from China, which is now the world’s second-largest energy user, which simply showed output increased at a faster pace than forecast.br /br /As a result the ruble tends to rise as risk sentiment does, and in particular as economic data exceeds consensus expectations, and the currency has now been on an upward trend since mid-August (see chart below), gaining 0.7 percent to 30.6629 per dollar last Friday alone. This was the highest close since July 27. Over the week as a whole the ruble appreciated 3.1 percent, the most since the week ending May 22. So things are now becoming very detached from the so called "fundamentals" (whatever those might be in the topsy turvy world in which we now live), since it simply is not plausible that the currency should be rising in this way in a country with 12 percent consumer price inflation and which badly needs to move away from commodity export dependency. The only conclusion which could be drawn is that the Russian economy now needs massive structural reforms, and on any imaginable scenario in the world in which I live these are simply not going to be implemented.br /br /On the other hand Russia’s central bank may have to accept a stronger ruble next year as rising commodity prices prove too powerful a force for policy makers to counter and as consumer demand plays a bigger role in the bank’s decisions. The authorities “will try to do what they can to smooth the appreciation, but it’s very hard to go against the flow,” said Guillaume Tresca, Paris-based emerging market strategist for Calyon, the investment-banking unit of Credit Agricole. “Capital inflows are massive.”br /br /Policy makers have indicated they will cap the ruble’s gains and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said his government won’t allow an excessive appreciation as exporters struggle to tap into a global trade recovery. Even so, efforts to fight the ruble’s advance may prove “unproductive,” the International Monetary Fund warned on Nov. 12, adding that “underlying factors” justify its strength. There is a growing consensus that Russia’s central bank is now close to accepting the inevitable, and will allow the ruble to continue appreciating to help domestic demand and cap inflation. As Clemens Grafe, chief economist at UBS in Moscow puts it, “A higher exchange rate, because it transfers incomes into people’s pockets, could actually be more beneficial,”br /br /strongFiscal Resources Near To Running On Empty?/strongbr /br /br /According to preliminary estimates from the Ministry of Finance, the federal budget deficit totaled 4.0 percent between January and September, slightly below the expected level, in part due to the under execution of budgeted expenditures in the first three quarters of 2009. The federal non-oil deficit (which excludes drawing on oil revenues) amounted to 11.0 percent. This is managable, especially given the comparatively low level of Russian sovereign debt to GDP. However, as the World Bank point out under the likely scenario of a sluggish global recovery and modest growth, Russia will face a tightening budget constraint and need to reduce expenditures and the fiscal deficit over the medium term. Further, funding the planned increase in social expenditures, mainly related to increases in pensions, may well requires spending cuts in other expenditure categories. /pbr /br /pThe Ministry of Finance baseline federal budget estimates with conservative oil assumptions icorporate plans to reduce the federal budget deficit from 8.3 percent of GDP in 2009 to 3 percent in 2012, but the medium term fiscal outlook also indicates an extensive drawdown of Russia's Reserve Fund to finance the deficit. Given the size of the anticipated deficit, the Reserve Fund is likely to be depleted by the end of 2010 and borrowing will be required to offset the gap. Estimates of the Ministry of Finance indicate that the combined external and internal borrowing to cover the fiscal deficit will amount to 1.0 percent of GDP in 2009, 1.6 percent in 2010, 2.5 percent in 2011, and 1.5 percent in 2012. All of this is manageble, but the depletion of the Reserve Fund does mean that if downside risks materialise, and in particular if there are more writedowns in the banking sector needing government support that there is now little in the way of a cushion between managed adjustement and unstable dynamics.br /br /br /strongOutlook – A Hard Road To Travel/strongbr /br /br /If one thing is clear hear it is that attaining a recovery in Russia's economic fortunes at this point is going to be no easy feat, as a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchiveamp;sid=aC8Q3ycECRlw"Trust Investment Bank put it in their latest report/a, October data for the world’s largest energy exporter suggest “an almost complete absence of clear signs of recovery” since industrial output slumped and capital investment fell. October capital investment was still down 17.9 percent while industrial output dropped an annual 11.2 percent in October worse than the September reading. Even unemplyment was up again, at 7.7%, although as the World Bank pointed out, this is the result of the same seasonal factors which lead to the fall in unemployment over the summer. Dbr /br /On the other hand disposable incomes climbed a monthly 6 percent in October and rose 3.9 percent compared with the same period last year, the biggest annual jump since September 2008, according to provisional data from the Federal Statistics Service, while wage declines eased with wages falling an annual 4.5 percent, compared with a 4.9 percent annual decline in September. And retail sales, which had previously fallen for nine consecutive months, the longest period of declines on record, suddenly sprang back to life, with October retail sales rose 3.2 percent from September and declined by 8.5 percent on an annual basis as compared with a 9.9 percent drop the month before.br /br /a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Sw0ZKg7CYQI/AAAAAAAAPnw/bQRC4SINF3E/s1600/russia+retail+sales.png"img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 242px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408006395968774402" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Sw0ZKg7CYQI/AAAAAAAAPnw/bQRC4SINF3E/s400/russia+retail+sales.png" //abr /br /Other data also show this mixed picture. Monthly GDP Indicator data from VTB Capital, based on the PMI surveys for the Russian manufacturing and service sectors, continued to show economic contraction on an annual basis in October, butthe rate of decline eased for the fifth consecutive month. The Indicator showed a 0.6% annual contraction, the slowest rate seen suring the current eleven-month period of continuous decline.br /br /a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Sw2smUlPK_I/AAAAAAAAPoA/Det1Qvhq7ls/s1600/GDP+indicator+2.png"img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 243px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408168501901732850" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Sw2smUlPK_I/AAAAAAAAPoA/Det1Qvhq7ls/s400/GDP+indicator+2.png" //abr /br /The seasonally adjusted Total Activity Index remained above the no-change mark of 50.0 for the third month running in October, indicating growth of private sector output. The Index improved fractionally over September, to 54.2, indicating reasonably robust growth (although it remained below its historic trend of 56.6). This was driven by a faster rise in services activity, while the rate of growth in manufacturing production slowed to a weaker pace. On a quarterly basis the indicator showed 0.4% q-o-q growth for the second month running.br /br /a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Sw2qzRN1UlI/AAAAAAAAPn4/h6pCnqcA1nI/s1600/GDP+Indicator+One.png"img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 242px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408166525313307218" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Sw2qzRN1UlI/AAAAAAAAPn4/h6pCnqcA1nI/s400/GDP+Indicator+One.png" //abr /br /blockquoteCommenting on the survey, Aleksandra Evtifyeva, Senior Economist at VTB Capital, reported:br /br /““The GDP Indicator continued to point to an improvement in economic activity in October. The manufacturing sector’s performance deteriorated slightly while activity in the services sector is approaching pre-crisis levels. This might be one of the consequences of higher oil prices and a stronger rouble as low export orders were the main drag on manufacturing. Another encouraging development highlighted by the October surveys was the deceleration in the pace of job cuts: the employment sub-indices now stand at around 47, which is already higher than last autumn./blockquotebr /The GDP indicator reading was based on manufacturing sector survey findings which confirmed that overall Russian manufacturing business conditions deteriorated in October. Although output, new orders and input purchases all continued to grow, the rates of expansion slowed compared to September. Moreover, manufacturers shed jobs at a faster pace than in September.br /br /The headline seasonally adjusted Russian Manufacturing PMI fell from 52.0 in September to 49.6 in October, signalling an overall deterioration in the business climate at the start of the fourth quarter. It was the first month-on-month fall in the headline index since it plummeted to a record low (33.8) in December 2008, although the latest figure was indicative of only a marginal rate of decline. Of particular note, the new export orders index posted a strongish decline to 47.8, evidently reflecting the recent ruble appreciation. The input price index continued to point to strong rise in costs associated with metals, energy and oil-related items while output prices index pointed to a moderating growth in price charged.br /br /a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Sw2xWi1TESI/AAAAAAAAPoI/50mTeapNq4s/s1600/russia.png"img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 244px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408173728407425314" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Sw2xWi1TESI/AAAAAAAAPoI/50mTeapNq4s/s400/russia.png" //abr /br /In contrast the rebound in Russian services activity rose continued in October, supported by a record fall in charges, and Russia's services sector, which accounts for about 40 percent of the economy, rose for the third consecutive month, reaching its highest level since September 2008, although the reading of 54.3 still remained significantly below the long-run series average.br /br /a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Sw2yMDZ9MQI/AAAAAAAAPoQ/ZbQ0hewWC1Y/s1600/russia.png"img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 243px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408174647684182274" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Sw2yMDZ9MQI/AAAAAAAAPoQ/ZbQ0hewWC1Y/s400/russia.png" //abr /br /br /strongSo Where Do We Go From Here?/strongbr /br /In contrast to the most recent PMI data and the opinions of analysts like Neil Shearing at Capital Economics and Trust Investment Bank , Russia's political leaders are markedly more optimistic. Russia’s economy may expand as much as 4 percent in the last quarter of 2009 following a timid return to growth in the third quarter, according to Deputy Economy Minister Andrei Klepach speaking at a conference in Moscow recently. The economy may show “quite strong growth” of between 3 percent and 4 percent in the fourth quarter over the previous three months, Klepach said. This is an interesting claim, and doubly so given that Klepach has been quite cautious so far this year in his claims. Evidently the rising price of oil and the return of some financial flows into Russia is firing up optimism, as are the numbers for retail sales, we will just have to hope they won't fire up the inflation process again, although with lending to households still stuck in gridlock, perhaps the dangers here should not be overstated. More worryingly, inflation may fail to fall significantly from its current high level, even as the central bank reduces interest rates in a bid to stem the ruble rise.br /br /Klepach's optimism is not shared, however, by the World Bank who in their latest report argue Russia’s economy will suffer a deeper contraction than they previously estimated this year even after a series of central bank interest rate cuts which have manifestly failed to ease the “prolonged” credit drought. The World Bank now expect the Russian economy to contract by 8.7 percent this year, compared with their June forecast for a 7.9 percent decline. The government is currently predicting the economy will shrink 8.5 percent this year and grow 1.6 percent next year.br /br /br /blockquote“We expect that the central bank will continue lowering its policy rate in thebr /near future to facilitate credit to the real sector,” the World Bank said. “Thebr /impact, however, appears to be limited. The policy rates are mostly indicative,br /while the cost of credit remains very high.”/blockquoteThe OECD, on the other hand, seems rather more positive, arguing that Russia’s economy will enjoy a stronger commodity-driven rebound than first estimated, although, they hasten to add, authorities should avoid a sudden removal of stimulus measures to ensure the domestic economy keeps up the pace of its advance. They now expect the Russian economy to expand by 4.9 percent in 2010, compared with a June forecast for 3.7 percent growth, although output is still expected to contract 8.7 percent this year (broadly in line with the World Bank), more than the 6.8 percent estimated in June. The 2010 figure seems very optimistic in the light of the problems here identified, and more than adding to our appreciation of the Russian situation such numbers may rather cast doubt on the methodology being applied, and raise questions about some of the numbers being seen for other countries.br /br /br /blockquote“Although recovery is in prospect, the large output gap and subdued inflation suggest that policy stimulus should not be removed too hastily,” the OECD said. “Fiscal policy should be managed to avoid dislocative demand effects from a surge of expenditures in late 2009 followed by a tightening in 2010.” /blockquotebr /According to the OECD, Russia’s economy will enjoy a stronger commodity-driven rebound than first estimated and “Fiscal and monetary stimulus and the recovery of global demand should result in a strong rebound of output towards the end of 2009". The basic OECD argument is that “A large part of the policy stimulus will be felt only late in the year, as fiscal expenditure is back-loaded and a series of interest rate cuts began only in the second quarter.”br /br /strongLong Term Impact On Russian Growth/strongbr /br /But let us not underestimate the difficulties. According to the World Bank Russia’s real GDP will likely return to pre-crisis levels only in late 2012. And, the Bank says, without a more productive, diversified, and competitive economic base, its long-term growth is likely to be slower than in the past decade and than the pre-crisis expectationbr /br /a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Sw21w05Cq4I/AAAAAAAAPoY/BxotSEDWSOI/s1600/Russia+Trend+Growth.png"img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 213px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408178577978076034" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Sw21w05Cq4I/AAAAAAAAPoY/BxotSEDWSOI/s400/Russia+Trend+Growth.png" //abr /br /Russia’s pre-crisis decade of prosperity was built on strong capital inflows, rising consumer and corporate credit, and significant capital investment. The post-crisis world will look very different: Russia will need to implement fiscal adjustment and diversify its economy in the context of sluggish global growth, low capital flows, and more limited access to foreign financing. So it is now time to look towards a new growth model based on increases in productivity and know-how and on more efficient allocation and use of investment, labor, and FDI. Next generation reforms should be geared to make Russia's monetary policy instruments much more effective, the Russian economy much more productive, diversified, and open—and more able to respond to future shocks. The success and duration of the transition from the current model of heavy dependence of natural resources to a more sustainable growth model depends, according to the World Bank on maintaining a competitive exchange rate, sustaining a prudent fiscal stance, improving the investment climate, more mobile capital and labor, making the financial sector deeper and more efficient, investing in infrastructure to eliminate key bottlenecks to growth, and strengthening governance and fighting corruption as part of the overall effort to improve the effectiveness of the public sector.br /br /The OECD more or less agrees: “Laying the foundations for sustained rapid growth will require unwinding some of the distortive consequences of the crisis". And, may I add, unwinding some of the distortive processes which lead the crisis to be such a severe one in the first place.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7303901362201842397-2825345067395600868?l=russiatooat.blogspot.com' alt='' //div]]></description>
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		<title>Energy Blast &#8211; Nov 20, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-nov-20-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-nov-20-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:40:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[advisor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chief executive]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[EDF's]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[less gas;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Year's Day]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nuclear energy revival]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the Economist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the Guardian]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ukraine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yulia Tymoshenko]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.22234</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Reports have emerged following yesterday's meeting between 'comfortable' duo Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Yulia Tymoshenko. &#160;Bloomberg says Putin's announcement that Ukraine would not be penalized for consuming less gas than was contracted was warmly received&#160;by Tymoshenko, who pledged...]]></description>
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		<title>Energy Blast &#8211; Nov 19, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-nov-19-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-nov-19-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:12:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ambassador]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Azerbaijan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Boguchanskaya hydroelectric plant]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chief executive]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Commission of European Communities;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas pipeline]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas supplies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Greenhouse Gas Emissions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ukraine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Viktor Yushchenko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.22211</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Russia's EU ambassador says his country aims to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 25% through to 2020. Ukraine's President, Viktor Yushchenko, has written an open letter to Dmitry Medvedev, asking him to change the terms of agreement on gas supplies. &#160;The...]]></description>
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		<title>Energy Blast &#8211; Nov 18, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-nov-18-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-nov-18-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:16:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexander Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chair]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chief]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Commission of European Communities;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas bills]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas disruptions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gazprom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[key reforms]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kiev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric plant]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Slovakia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stockholm]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yenisei river]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.22194</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In spite of recent measures taken to avoid more EU gas disruptions this winter, and a new Russia-EU partnership set to be discussed in detail at this week's Stockholm summit,&#160;Slovakia's Prime Minister can't see Kiev being able to pay its...]]></description>
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		<title>Energy Blast &#8211; Nov 17, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-nov-17-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-nov-17-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:08:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Analyst]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bushehr nuclear plant;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Commission of European Communities;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Commissioner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[European Union]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gazprom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islamic Republic of Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kozmino port]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas reserves]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pipeline network;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[potential gas cuts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Qom plant]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the  UK Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[UK Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ukraine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Nations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yulia Tymoshenko]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.22172</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Russia's Energy Minister and the EU Energy Commissioner have signed a memorandum establishing an early warning mechanism to anticipate potential gas cuts and allow time to find solutions to problems before deliveries are physically affected. &#160;But the memorandum may be...]]></description>
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		<title>Video: Hip Hop Putin</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/video-hip-hop-putin/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/video-hip-hop-putin/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:24:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.22160</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In what are sure to be the most bizarre and cringe-worthy videos of the week, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin showed up as the featured guest on a popular hip hop TV show in Russia.&#160; According to the AFP, Putin commented...]]></description>
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		<title>Energy Blast &#8211; Nov 16, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-nov-16-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-nov-16-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:37:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[British Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[European Union]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas supplies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gazprom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islamic Republic of Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[liquefied natural gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Norway]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil shortages;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia's border;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Singapore]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Slovenia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[South Stream
 pipeline;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[South Stream;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sweden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uppsala University in Sweden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.22159</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Uppsala University in Sweden says the IEA's annual World Energy Outlook 'drastically underplayed&#160;the scale of future oil shortages'. &#160;Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has won Slovenia's approval for the South Stream pipeline, 'undermining European Union efforts to reduce dependency on Russian...]]></description>
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		<title>RA&#8217;s Daily Russian News Blast &#8211; Nov 13, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-nov-13-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-nov-13-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:46:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Analyst]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andrei Lugovoi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Britain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deputy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deputy Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[editor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Far East]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Foreign Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hu  Jintao]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Igor Sechin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Igor Tabakov;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[London]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mikhail Khodorkovsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Platon Lebedev;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Poland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[predecessor and current prime minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shaun Walker;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[St. George hall;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[state and split society]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the Guardian]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Moscow Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Wall Street Journal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unconvinced President]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wall Street Journal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yukos head]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.22147</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[TODAY: Medvedev's state of the nation address warns opposition against using democracy to rock the boat; talks up modernization. Media unconvinced President can match word with deed. Topol-M problem for START replacement talks;&#160; Litvinenko suspect Lugovoi willing to speak to...]]></description>
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		<title>Does Time, In Fact, Equal Money?</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/does-time-in-fact-equal-money/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/does-time-in-fact-equal-money/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:13:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aleksei Kudrin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aleksei Miller]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Anatoly Chubais]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andrei Kostin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[central bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chairman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chechen President]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chf]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deputy Mayor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deputy Moscow Mayor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deputy Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Kozak;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Finance Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[First Deputy Chairman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gazprom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Girard]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[head]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Igor Sechin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Presidential administration;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Samara Governor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sberbank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sergey Naryshkin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Seth Hettena]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vice Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Artyakov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Resin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[VTB Bank]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.22144</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Ever come across something so brilliant you wish you had thought of it yourself? Well that's what Seth Hettena has just put together, via sourcing from Vedomosti: an aggregation of the preferred timepieces worn by high-level Russian officialdom as a...]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>Who Got The Power?</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/who-got-the-power/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/who-got-the-power/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:51:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ambassador]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ambassador to Moscow and consultant]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Angola]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chairman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[consultant]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deputy Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Donald Jensen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Igor Sechin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[intelligence services]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[KGB]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[leader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[member]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mikhail Khodorkovsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mozambique]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil sector]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[politician]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rosneft]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russian Government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SPY]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[St. Petersburg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[state oil concern]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[translator]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[U.S. government;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yukos]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.22136</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin has been ranked number 3 in the Forbes list of the most powerful people in the world, President Medvedev comes in 43rd, after Deputy Prime Minister, siloviki chieftain and Rosneft chairman Igor Sechin at number 42. (See the...]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>Cop Takes Corruption Campaign To Moscow</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/cop-takes-corruption-campaign-to-moscow/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/cop-takes-corruption-campaign-to-moscow/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:39:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aleksei Dymovsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andrei Soldatov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brian Whitmore]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[editor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interior Ministry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Major]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ministry spokesman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[online publication focusing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security services]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.22110</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[RFE/RL follows the movements of former police major and new You Tube star Aleksei Dymovsky, whose campaign against corruption in the police forces has caused a storm of controversy.&#160; According to an article by Brian Whitmore, Dymovsky avowed at a...]]></description>
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		<title>Today in Russian Business &#8211; Nov 10, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/today-in-russian-business-nov-10-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/today-in-russian-business-nov-10-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:03:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexei Ulyukayev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[call operator]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Coal Miner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Coking coal miner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Evraz Group]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[First Deputy Chairman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[First Deputy Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Foreign Investment Advisory Council]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Igor Shuvalov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mechel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rostelecom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[technology-sharing agreements]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The central bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the Washington Post]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Venezuela]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.22090</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov has pledged not to fire workers from near-insolvent Avtovaz, but to create new subsidiaries employing up to 15,000 people.&#160; Auto sales declined by 51% in the first 10 months of 2009, compared with the...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/today-in-russian-business-nov-10-2009/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Medvedev Defends Putin&#8217;s Presidency Ideas</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/medvedev-defends-putins-presidency-ideas/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/medvedev-defends-putins-presidency-ideas/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:06:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Defends Putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Der Spiegel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gorbachev;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medvedev Defends Putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SPIEGEL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.22078</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here's a quick extract from President Medvedev's interview with Der Spiegel, (the whole of which can be read here) where he discusses Putin's eyebrow-raising comments about how power is allotted in Russia:SPIEGEL: Putin's recent comment about the next presidential election...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/medvedev-defends-putins-presidency-ideas/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Dangers Of Dissent</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/dangers-of-dissent/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/dangers-of-dissent/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:27:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[diplomat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Limonov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Robert Bond]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rossiya Molodaya]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stalin;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vice-Consul]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.22025</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A Dissenter's march in Russia wouldn't be a Dissenter's march if it didn't end in large-scale detentions.&#160; Saturday night's march was no different, with up to 50 protesters allegedly held.&#160; Thanks to la Russophobe, for highlighting this link to activist...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Today in Russian Business &#8211;  Nov 4, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/today-in-russian-business-nov-4-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/today-in-russian-business-nov-4-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:57:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Airline]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[AvtoVAZ]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Car Sales]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Development Bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hungarian government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hungary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[International Bank for Reconstruction and Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Itar-Tass]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[KamAZ]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Magna]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philippe Le Houerou]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russian Government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[VEB]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vice President]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.22022</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[After months of painstaking negotiations, GM has scrapped the Opel sale on the basis that it was 'no longer in the best interests of GM, now that the environment for car sales has started to improve', reports the Independent.&#160; The...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/today-in-russian-business-nov-4-2009/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Energy Blast &#8211; Nov 3, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-nov-3-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-nov-3-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:08:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Britain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Denmark]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dubai]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dubai's government;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Emirates National Oil Co.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nord Stream
 pipeline;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nord Stream]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil producer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkmenistan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ukraine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Viktor Yushchenko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.22005</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Russia has reached a new record high in monthly oil production, at more than ten million barrels a day in October, maintaining its position as the world's biggest oil producer.&#160; Rosneft is at the forefront of the increase with production...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>RA&#8217;s Daily Russian News Blast &#8211; Nov 3, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-nov-3-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-nov-3-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:08:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[alcoholism;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexander Litvinenko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexander Zemlianichenko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andrei Lugovoi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[businessman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Businessman and former spy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Miliband]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Trenin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Foreign Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Foreign Secretary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hungary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interior Ministry's Center for Extremism Prevention]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Konstantin Makarov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[London]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Masha Lipman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[member]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Memorial Director]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mikhael Gorbachev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National-Bolshevik Party]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oleg Orlov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[paranoia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Poland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[policeman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[politician]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reuters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sergei Lavrov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shabtai Kalmanovich]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SPY]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stalin;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Moscow Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the Presidential post]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ukrainians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Washington]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.22003</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ TODAY: Opposition activist torture claims; Miliband leaves with no breakthrough regarding diplomatic concerns; meets with rights activists; Putin and Medvedev popularity waning?; President in need of own power structure to realize reforms; Stalin resurrection an identity issue; Gorbachev on...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Blonde Ambition</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/blonde-ambition/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/blonde-ambition/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:17:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[architect]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ceo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kiev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[main media outlets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mikhail Khodorkovsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opposition leader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[politician]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russian Federation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ukraine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Viktor Yanukovych]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Viktor Yushchenko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yevgeny Kiselyov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yukos CEO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yulia Tymoshenko]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21904</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The race for Ukraine's Presidency is hotting up.&#160; With the incumbent serial Kremlin-offender Viktor Yushchenko flagging with ratings of just 3%, it seems that battle has truly commenced between Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych.&#160; Russia-Ukraine relations...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Energy Blast &#8211; Oct 26, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-oct-26-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-oct-26-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:30:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Finland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islamic Republic of Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nord Stream]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil demand]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tajikistan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the New York Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Nations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21902</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Russia 'counts on a controlling stake' in the three small hydropower plants it is building in Tajikistan and 'hope[s] for the Tajik side's understanding' in the matter. &#160;The United Nations nuclear watchdog is in the process of inspecting Iran's uranium...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-oct-26-2009/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Today in Russian Business &#8211; Oct 26, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/today-in-russian-business-oct-26-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/today-in-russian-business-oct-26-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:22:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexander Lebedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexei Kudrin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alfa Bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Finance Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Finland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Itar-Tass]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reporter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reuters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[St Petersburg Bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the New York Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yury Luzhkov]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21901</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The ever-positive Vladimir Putin is forecasting 8% inflation for the coming year, which would be a 'post-Soviet low'. &#160;The government will sell tons of its gold stockpile this year to cover its budget deficit and help it fund other supporting...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/today-in-russian-business-oct-26-2009/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Voting Rights (and Wrongs)</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/voting-rights-and-wrongs/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/voting-rights-and-wrongs/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:58:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Boris Gryzlov;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chairman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[leader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russian State Duma;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sergei Mitrokhin;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[speaker]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yabloko party]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21889</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Outcry over the election results continues.&#160; Sergei Mitrokhin, chairman of the Yabloko party, has an impassioned piece in the Moscow Times regarding the alleged vote-rigging in the October 11 election.&#160; Numerous practices to impede opposition candidates were highlighted both in...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Convict who Frightens the Kremlin</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/the-convict-who-frightens-the-kremlin/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/the-convict-who-frightens-the-kremlin/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:48:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[alleged stolen oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[army]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chief prosecutor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[founder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gorbachev;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[head]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[judge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[KGB]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Khamovnitchesky District Court of Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[law rules]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Le Nouvel Observateur]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[leader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[least flashy member]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lieutenant-colonel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marina Filippovna;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mikhail Khodorkovsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Novaya Gazeta]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil transportation;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[opposition newspaper;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Platon Lebedev;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[prosecutor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russian Government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[special correspondent]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the French weekly]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Transneft;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Valery Lakhtine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vera Tchelicheva]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Viktor Danilkine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[weekly magazine;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yukos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[zealous worker]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21888</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The following is a translation of an article about the second trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky published in the French weekly magazine, Le Nouvel Observateur. The Convict who Frightens the Kremlin From our special correspondent in Moscow Mikhail Khodorkovsky, former head...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/the-convict-who-frightens-the-kremlin/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Energy Blast &#8211; Oct 23, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-oct-23-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-oct-23-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 23 Oct 2009 08:31:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bulgaria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China Investment Corp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China pipeline]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas transit network;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gazprom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Italy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Italy's Eni]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia's Energy Ministry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Silvio Berlusconi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[South Stream
 pipeline;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[South Stream;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SouthGobi Energy Resources]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21884</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In a meeting with Italian prime minister&#160;Silvio Berlusconi,&#160;Vladimir Putin made a surprise announcement that the South Stream pipeline, a joint project between Gazprom and Italy's Eni, could be finished before its official start-up date of 2013. &#160;Plans for South Stream's...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Putting The TV On Mute</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/putting-the-tv-on-mute/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/putting-the-tv-on-mute/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:25:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Anton Nazarov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Director General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gazprom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[General director]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kommersant]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kremlin-friendly RT]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[media  outlets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[media freedom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mikhail Kontserev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mikhail Osokin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Media Group]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nedelya]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Petersburg Channel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ren-TV]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ren-TV spokesman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RT]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spokesman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[St. Petersburg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tow-the-line RT]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Ryzhkov;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yury Kovalchuk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yury Kovalchukm]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21866</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ An interesting opinion piece today by Vladimir Ryzhkov in the Moscow Times sees one of the last bastions of media freedom - Ren TV - looking like it may have to fight for its independence.&#160; The increasingly popular station,...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Today in Russian Business &#8211;  Oct 22, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/today-in-russian-business-oct-22-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/today-in-russian-business-oct-22-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Oct 2009 08:00:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Analyst]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andrei Klepach;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[central bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deputy Economic Development Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Duma]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[First Deputy Chairman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gennady Melikyan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Germany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil Prices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reuters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21860</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Deputy Economic Development Minister Andrei Klepach has suggested that the ruble could return to its 2008 high and reach 23 against the dollar next year, if oil prices continue going strong, spelling problems for exporters.&#160; The Duma has passed the...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Does Tower Disapproval Go All The Way To The Top?</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/does-tower-disapproval-go-all-the-way-to-the-top/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/does-tower-disapproval-go-all-the-way-to-the-top/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:31:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexander Avdeyev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Culture Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Federal Government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Federation Council;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gazprom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interfax]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interviewee Valentina Matviyenko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[leader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Liberal Democratic Party;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[media organ]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sergei Mironov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[speaker]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[St. Petersburg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[St. Petersburg Governor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Valentina Matviyenko;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Zhirinovsky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21824</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Gazprom tower, which threatens to imperil St Petersburg's UNESCO heritage status, has been the subject of several public protests of late and, as you may remember, some imaginative headlines.&#160; Now the&#160; project seems to have encountered a new adversary.&#160;...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Energy Blast &#8211; Oct 19, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-oct-19-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-oct-19-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:44:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexander Lebedev's Timan Oil and Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[conocophillips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[France]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gazprom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Geneva]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[International Atomic Energy Agency]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islamic Republic of Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Major]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil transactions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Venezuela]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vienna]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21807</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is hosting today's Vienna meeting between Russia, France, the U.S, and Iran, which will attempt to finalise an agreement on sending Iranian uranium abroad for enrichment. &#160;Iran says it will enrich the uranium itself,...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Translation from Le Point: Accused Khodorkovsky, Stand Up!</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/translation-from-le-point-accused-khodorkovsky-stand-up/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/translation-from-le-point-accused-khodorkovsky-stand-up/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:55:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[assistant]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Caucasus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chair]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crude oil ring]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Elena Lipster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eugene Rybin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[former oil tycoon;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[head]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Igor Sechin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Journalist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[judge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Katia Swarovskaya]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[KGB]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Khamovnicheski court]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Khodorkovski]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lawyer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Le Point]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[manager]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[manager of a firm]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marc Nexon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marina Filippovna;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mikhail Khodorkovsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natella]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[news agency]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil embezzlement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil production]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil tycoon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Platon Lebedev;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[prosecutor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RIA Novosti]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[special envoy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States Army Special Forces;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Urals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vadim Klyuvgant]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Valeri Lakhtine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Victor Danilkine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yukos]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21797</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Kafkaesque. The former Russian oil tycoon, who stood up to Putin, is back before his judges. Here is the story. [The following is a translation of an article published in the French publication Le Point.] Le Point, October 15, 2009...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Energy Blast &#8211; October 15, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-october-15-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-october-15-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:33:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aladdin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Azerbaijan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cambridge professor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[conocophillips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Resources]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Sector]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eni]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas deal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gazprom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[India]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[international energy agency]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iraq]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Itar-Tass]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lukoil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Norway]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Serbia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21779</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[According to ITAR-TASS, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has commented that Russia does not object to selling energy resources using domestic currencies.&#160; How done is the Russia-China gas deal? wonders the the FT.&#160; Gazprom will buy 500 million cubic meters of...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>RA&#8217;s Daily Russian News Blast &#8211; October 15, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-october-15-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-october-15-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 15 Oct 2009 08:24:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chechen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chechen President]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Duma]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Foreign Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hillary clinton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hillary Rodham Clinton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Inna Yermoshkina]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islamic Republic of Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MGU head]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow State University;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[negotiator]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nepotism-battling lawyer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ramzan Kapyrov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Secretary of State]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sergei Lavrov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sergei Ryabko;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[State Duma]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Moscow Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the New York Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Viktor Sadovnichy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Walt Whitman statue]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yuri Luzhkov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yury Luzhkov]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21777</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[TODAY: Clinton turns attention to civil society and gives speech tackling human rights abuses; Walt Whitman statue unveiled; Putin advises against intimidating Iran; opposition politicians stage Duma walk out.&#160; Memorial to appeal.&#160; Putin turns pop svengali?'In an innovative society, people...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>RA&#8217;s Daily Russian News Blast &#8211; October 14, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-october-14-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-october-14-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:25:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[al-Qaeda]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ambassador]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Anatoly Chubais]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Arkhangelsk  historian]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chief]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Commissioner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Did Clinton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[East German Secret Service]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Far East]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Federal Security Service]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Foreign Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Georgia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Georgian intelligence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Germany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hillary clinton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hillary Rodham Clinton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islamic Republic of Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[John Beyrle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Julian Borger]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lolita]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Novaya Gazeta]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama administration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[official]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Presidential Press Service;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reuters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russian court]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Secretary of State]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sergei Lavrov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sergey Lavrov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stalin-researching historian]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[steel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the Guardian]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Moscow Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the Washington Post]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vyacheslav Ivankov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yulia Latynina]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21755</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[TODAY: Did Clinton get what she wanted?; media reports possible silence for sanctions deal; START treaty progress.&#160; Georgia accused of abetting al-Qaida; Putin 'satisfied' with job.&#160; German official castigates Medvedev for investigation into Stalin-researching historian; the man of steel's grandson...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Energy Blast &#8211; October 12, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-october-12-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-october-12-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:41:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Beijing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[deputy premier]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deputy Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[EDF;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy relations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy talks;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy-hungry power]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gazprom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Greenpeace;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[head]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[head of the Russian energy unit]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Igor Sechin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iraq]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Itar-Tass]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RIA Novosti]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Chuprov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wang Qishan]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21721</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Russia and China have asserted a desire to increase cooperation in the energy industry, at the fifth round of Russian-Chinese energy talks in Beijing, attended by Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin and China's deputy premier Wang Qishan.&#160; When Vladimir Putin...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Today in Russian Business &#8211;  October 12, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/today-in-russian-business-october-12-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/today-in-russian-business-october-12-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:23:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexander Lebvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bill Browder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Efficiency]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[founder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hermitage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nissan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nuclear energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pharmaceuticals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Renault]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russian Government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the Guardian]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the Telegraph]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21720</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[President Medvedev has reportedly said that the damage caused by the financial crisis was far worse than expected and the economy may contract by 7.5% this year.&#160; In an interview with state television, Medvedev designated priorities for economic modernization: 'energy...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>RA&#8217;s Daily Russian News Blast &#8211; October 12, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-october-12-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-october-12-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Oct 2009 08:20:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[A Just Russia;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexander Vershbow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andrei Amalrik]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Assistant Secretary of Defense]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Belarus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Boris Nemtsov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chisinau;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Communist Deputy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Communist Party]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ecuador]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Finland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Foreign Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gazprom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Georgia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kazakhstan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oleg Mitvol]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oleg Smolin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rafael Correa;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sergei Lavrov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sergei Mironov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[St. Petersburg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the Guardian]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TV channel RT]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ukraine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Viktor Yushchenko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Frolov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin's party]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Rodionov;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[World Cup;]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21719</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[TODAY: United Russia sweep polls at regional elections; accusation of vote-rigging fly.&#160; Mitvol receives unusual delivery.&#160; Medvedev had no time for Yushchenko at CIS summit; positive on Obama's peace prize; Ecuador looking for weapons deals?; Russia bids to host World...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Today in Russian Business &#8211;  October 8, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/today-in-russian-business-october-8-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/today-in-russian-business-october-8-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:18:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Anatoly Chubais]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Case New Holland;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[central bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[KamAZ]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mikhail Prokhorov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow Bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Jersey Nets;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil And Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rusnano head]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sayano-Shushenskaya power plant]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Moscow Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21695</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Reuters has a feature on the nanotechnology surge; Rusnano head Anatoly Chubais sees the crisis as an opportunity to drive the economy away from oil and gas.&#160; Chubais has apparently said that Russia's Moscow Bank may create an innovation market...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>How Russia Sees Iran&#8217;s Nuke Threat</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/how-russia-sees-irans-nuke-threat/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/how-russia-sees-irans-nuke-threat/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 03 Oct 2009 16:33:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Boris Yeltsin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Clinton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Clinton administration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islamic Republic of Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[main gas supplier]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama administration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tehran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21641</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Fred Hiatt of the Washington Post has a new column which digs up a number of quotes from American officials over the years which illustrate how often they have been willing to assume a certain level of rational thinking going...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/how-russia-sees-irans-nuke-threat/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Rewards of Violence Against Journalists</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/the-rewards-of-violence-against-journalists/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/the-rewards-of-violence-against-journalists/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:56:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[contemporary politician]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy contracts;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Human rights leader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lev Ponomarev;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[official state actor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reporter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russian Government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stalin;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Nations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21623</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I think it says quite a lot about the freedom of press situation in Russia when a reporter is just as likely to face violence and threats for reporting about the past as they are for muckraking some contemporary politician...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/the-rewards-of-violence-against-journalists/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Energy Blast &#8211; September 30, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-september-30-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-september-30-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:24:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ceo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas market]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gazprom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[India]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nigeria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[North Korea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil firms]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[south korea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[South Stream
 pipeline;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[South Stream;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Statoil Hydro]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the Telegraph]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21599</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Gazprom will cut output in 2009 by 13.8%, the lowest in history, due to dwindling consumer demand domestically and in the former USSR.&#160; The company has apparently said it is considering adding a third partner to the South Stream pipeline.&#160;...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-september-30-2009/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Summarizing the Achievements of Putinist Russia</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/summarizing-the-achievements-of-putinist-russia/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/summarizing-the-achievements-of-putinist-russia/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:14:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil And Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil windfalls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Owen Matthews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia falls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[World Economic Forum]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21571</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Over the weekend Owen Matthews published a preemptive political obituary of President Dmitry Medvedev in Newsweek, pointing out that all of the problems that he has tried (and mostly failed) to confront in Russian society were specifically made by the...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/summarizing-the-achievements-of-putinist-russia/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Sex, Lies, and a Fake Videotape?</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/sex-lies-and-a-fake-videotape/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/sex-lies-and-a-fake-videotape/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:33:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Central Intelligence Agency]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Department of State]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[diplomat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kyle Hatcher]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[location]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[prosecutor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[relatively young diplomat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SPY]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[U.K. Foreign Office]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[U.S. Embassy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Washington]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yeltsin;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yuri Skuratov]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21546</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This story about a kompromat sex tape made of a U.S. diplomat in Russia is spreading like wildfire across the internets.&#160; Kyle Hatcher, a relatively young diplomat posted to the U.S. Embassy to liaise with religious groups in Russia, was...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Energy Blast &#8211; September 25, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-september-25-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-september-25-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:42:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Black Sea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crude oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gas Extraction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gazprom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[island of Jan Mayen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jan Mayen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nabucco pipeline;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[North Sea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Norway]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SeverEnergia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the Telegraph]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ukraine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Urals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yamal Peninsula;]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21544</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin told a meeting of international oil company heads that he is seeking 'stable and long-term' cooperation for gas extraction in the Yamal peninsula, which the country hopes could lead to a 25% share of the world's LNG market.&#160;...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Return of &#8220;Prikhvatizatsiya&#8221;</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/the-return-of-prikhvatizatsiya/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/the-return-of-prikhvatizatsiya/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:38:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mikhail Khodorkovsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil executives]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21527</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Financial Times Lex Column comments on the recent announcement by Igor Shuvalov that Russia will undergo a new wave of privatizations of state shares in companies such as Rosneft in order to lure reluctant investors back. Officials talk, too,...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Energy Blast &#8211; September 21, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-september-21-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/energy-blast-september-21-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:16:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bulgaria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iraq]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kiev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Resources]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Resources Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[offshore energy projects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil And Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil Exports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil Giants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil pipeline]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil Prices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil producer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil producers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Organization Of Petroleum Exporting Countries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russian-backed Belene nuclear plant]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saudi Arabia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[South Stream;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ukranian]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ukranian President]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Viktor Yushchenko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yuri Trutnev]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21474</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Reuters reports that next week Vladimir Putin will hold a meeting with global oil giants on how to exploit gas reserves on the Arctic Yamal peninsula.&#160; Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev has told Reuters that Russia will consider easing laws...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>RA&#8217;s Daily Russian News Blast &#8211; September 21, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-september-21-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-september-21-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 21 Sep 2009 07:57:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[2014 Olympic Winter Games]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Anders Fogh Rasmussen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Black Sea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chairman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cleric]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cnn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Defense Secretary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Rogozin;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[envoy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ingush]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ingush President]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[IOC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islamic Republic of Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[israel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jean-Claude Killy;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mikhail Khordorkovsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[missile defense systems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Park]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Robert Gates]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Secretary General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shimon Peres]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the New York Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the Telegraph]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ukraine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[UN General Assembly]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Viktor Yushchenko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WTO;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yunus-Bek Yevkurov]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21472</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[TODAY: Obama firm on reasons for missile defense decision; Medvedev and Putin seem to take it as a positive sign; Putin wishes to see trade the next barrier broken; Russia will abandon Kaliningrad missile plans.&#160; Pressure mounting regarding Iran situation;...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Prieur’s readings (September 21, 2009)</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/prieur%e2%80%99s-readings-september-21-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/prieur%e2%80%99s-readings-september-21-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 21 Sep 2009 06:56:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Prieur du Plessis</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alan Abelson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Associated Press]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[auto products]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ben bernanke]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Black Sea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Doom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gwen Robinson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harry Dunphy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[high-tech front-running]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hussman Funds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[International Monetary Fund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[investment postcards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[James Grant]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[John Hussman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[premier]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Richard Beales]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sergei Venyavsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the New York Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Wall Street Journal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wall Street Journal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Warren Buffett]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yahoo]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.investmentpostcards.com/?p=11368</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This post provides links to a number of interesting articles I have read over the past few days that you may also enjoy. Please also add the links to any other worthwhile articles you would like to share to the comments section. ]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/prieur%e2%80%99s-readings-september-21-2009/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>How Not to Begin an Interview</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/how-not-to-begin-an-interview/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/how-not-to-begin-an-interview/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 20 Sep 2009 11:12:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jim Hoagland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[media relations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SPY]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21470</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A lesson in media relations from Vladimir Putin:The world's economic crisis does not seem to have been unkind to you, Vladimir Putin notes as we sit down to a lunch that begins with calf's tail in aspic. "You all look...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/how-not-to-begin-an-interview/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A. Lebedev: &#8220;Putin is a hostage to the tradition of a corrupt country&#8221;</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/a-lebedev-putin-is-a-hostage-to-the-tradition-of-a-corrupt-country/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/a-lebedev-putin-is-a-hostage-to-the-tradition-of-a-corrupt-country/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:36:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[KGB]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lebedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[London]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mikhail Khodorkovsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil magnate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reuters Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saint-Tropez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21418</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A blogger for Reuters has grabbed some sharp quotes from the always interesting oligarch Alexander Lebedev on the sidelines of the Investment Summit:"The conditions for entrepreneurship in Russia are simply horrible," Lebedev told the Reuters Russia Investment Summit.Lebedev has plenty...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/a-lebedev-putin-is-a-hostage-to-the-tradition-of-a-corrupt-country/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<title>Today in Russian Business &#8211;  September 15, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/today-in-russian-business-september-15-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/today-in-russian-business-september-15-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:28:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexander Lebedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexei Kudrin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[EUR]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Evening Standard]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Finance Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mikhail Prokhorov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Norilsk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil Prices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sberbank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The central bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Evening Standard]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21405</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Central Bank has cut its key refinancing rate to 10.5%, the sixth such cut since April.&#160; Russia could borrow less than $18 billion abroad next year if oil prices stay high.&#160; Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin has defended BRIC as...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/today-in-russian-business-september-15-2009/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A Life in the Day of Mikhail Khodorkovsky</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/a-life-in-the-day-of-mikhail-khodorkovsky/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/a-life-in-the-day-of-mikhail-khodorkovsky/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:15:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[psychological tool]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21394</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In the Sunday Times of London, Mark Franchetti interviews Mikhail Khodorkovsky on his conditions in prison, the absurd second trial, and how he fills the endless days. The campaign against me was organised by the Kremlin. The first case, which...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/a-life-in-the-day-of-mikhail-khodorkovsky/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Hugo Chávezs Pattern Recognition</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/hugo-chavezs-pattern-recognition/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/hugo-chavezs-pattern-recognition/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:55:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Asia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Abkhazia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexander Lukashenko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Belarus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bolivia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Caribbean]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy agreements]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Georgia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hugo Chávez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islamic Republic of Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kosovo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nicaragua]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nuclear technology;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil refiner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Omar al-Bashir]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[premier]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[state-owned energy;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sudan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Venezuela]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Washington]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21361</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is known for his erratic behavior, but his latest move to extend official recognition to Georgia's separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia during his visit to Moscow is a bit of a head-scratcher.&#160; In...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/hugo-chavezs-pattern-recognition/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Today in Russian Business &#8211;  September 11, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/today-in-russian-business-september-11-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/today-in-russian-business-september-11-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 11 Sep 2009 08:33:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[EUR]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[General Motors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Guinea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iron and steel manufacturer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[London court]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Magna International/Sberbank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Truck maker]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21363</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
        Opel has been bought by the Magna International/Sberbank consortium, with GM holding on to a minority stake.&#160; According to Reuters, General Motors is likely to establish limits on the assembly of some Opel models in Russia.&#160; Vladimir...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/today-in-russian-business-september-11-2009/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>RA&#8217;s Daily Russian News Blast &#8211; September 9, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-september-9-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-september-9-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:28:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ambassador]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Arctic Sea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Black September]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Black September anniversary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[French Foreign Ministry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Guryanova street]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[head]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[International Atomic Energy Agency]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islamic Republic of Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[israel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ivan Sekretarev;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[North Korea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scott Anderson;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sergei Lavrov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the 10th anniversary of the attack]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the Guardian]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the New York Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ukraine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Venezuela]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Viktor Yushchenko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yulia Latynina]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21326</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ TODAY:&#160; Drug use nightmare for Russia; Medvedev calls for US support.&#160; START talks to restart; tanks for Chavez.&#160; Possible loan to Ukraine whilst relations remain chilly.&#160; Black September anniversary; Scott Anderson interview. &#160;Russia denies arms in Arctic Sea; infrastructure...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Clan Wars Ramping Up Over Gazprom</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/clan-wars-ramping-up-over-gazprom/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/clan-wars-ramping-up-over-gazprom/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:57:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Commission of European Communities;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy arrangements]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[European Union]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas needs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gazprom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ukraine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.21316</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Some weeks ago, I had noticed a new separation of tone and policy toward Ukraine between Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev, with the former closing deals and renegotiating contracts, while the latter becoming more antagonistic and confrontational on the energy...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/clan-wars-ramping-up-over-gazprom/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Apologies for All</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/apologies-for-all/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/apologies-for-all/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Sep 2009 20:18:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Angela Merkel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[famines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gazeta Wyborcza;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Germany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hitler;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joseph Stalin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kazakhstan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Molotov-Ribbentrop protocol]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Soviet Union]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wwii]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.20640</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Angela Merkel is about as gracious as they come.&#160; During the Danzig Summit, there seemed no crime of WWII that she was unwilling to accept responsibility for:&#160; "I pay tribute to the 60m people who lost their lives in this...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Yevgeny Zhovtis Trial, Day 1</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/the-yevgeny-zhovtis-trial-day-1/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/the-yevgeny-zhovtis-trial-day-1/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Sep 2009 18:55:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Asia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[additional member to the defense team]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Advocate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andrey Aranbaev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cellular telephone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[central Asia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[director]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Evgeniy Zhovtis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Evgeny Zhovtis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Executive]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Inessa Gezelle Meerburg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[International Committee]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[judge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kazakhstan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lawyer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nazarbayev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkmenistan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vienna]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vitaliy Ponomarev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[well known lawyer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yevgeny Zhovtis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yuri Dzhibladze]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.20639</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Russia is far from alone in the neighborhood in its staging of show trials and corralling of political prisoners, and in fact, what is happening to human rights advocate Yevgeny Zhovtis of Kazakhstan, shows an measurably deeper level of political...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/the-yevgeny-zhovtis-trial-day-1/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Energy Blast &#8211; September 2, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/energy-blast-september-2-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/energy-blast-september-2-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Sep 2009 09:09:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Boyko Borissov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bulgaria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Caucasus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Electricity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Far East]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Finland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas link]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas problems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gazprom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Japan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nord Stream]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reuters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Moscow Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ukraine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yulia Tymoshenko]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.20629</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Russia may raise electricity prices more than the 5% planned following the Sayano-Shushenskaya power station disaster, says Reuters.&#160; Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has stated that the country's gas problems with Russia have been almost entirely resolved.&#160; According to the...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/energy-blast-september-2-2009/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Medvedev the Photographer</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/medvedev-the-photographer/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/medvedev-the-photographer/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:49:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gallery of President]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gbp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[golfer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kim Jung Il]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lake Baikal;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[North Korea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Photographer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russian Federation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.20618</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I just spent an entertaining few minutes perusing the amateur photography gallery of President Dmitry Medvedev (the Moscow Times is running a story on this one).&#160; So far I think Medvedev's photos are much better than Vladimir Putin's foray into...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/medvedev-the-photographer/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Energy Blast &#8211; September 1, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/energy-blast-september-1-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/energy-blast-september-1-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Sep 2009 09:20:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Australia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brazil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Caspian Sea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Donald Tusk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Luiz Inacio Lula]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas project]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil fields]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Organization Of Petroleum Exporting Countries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Poland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[premier]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Qatar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkmenistan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ukraine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yulia Tymoshenko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Zarubezhneft Co.]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.20606</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ Shell has begun building a $100 million lubricant blending plant in Torzhok, which is the first to be constructed by an international firm in Russia.&#160; After talks with Polish premier Donald Tusk in Gdansk, Vladimir Putin will meet with...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/energy-blast-september-1-2009/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A Difficult Anniversary</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/a-difficult-anniversary/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/a-difficult-anniversary/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:05:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[70th anniversary of the Nazi invasion of Poland at a commemoration event]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eastern Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gazeta Wyborcza;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Poland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[secret protocols]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Soviet Union]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.20594</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Most people would say that WWII started on Sept. 1, 1939, but for Russia, the Great Patriotic War began on June 22, 1941. &#160;How Vladimir Putin handles this challenging 70th anniversary of the Nazi invasion of Poland at a commemoration...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/a-difficult-anniversary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Putin Reiterates Backing for Kadyrov</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/putin-reiterates-backing-for-kadyrov/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/putin-reiterates-backing-for-kadyrov/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 Aug 2009 20:48:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Akhmad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Akmad Kadyrov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Baltic Sea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chechen leader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chechnya]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Estemirova]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[government site]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grozny]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pacific Ocean]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia's Memorial]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.20525</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[From the Reuters report on Vladimir Putin's surprise visit to Grozny to stump for the increasingly embattled Chechen appointee Ramzan Kadyrov, and lay flowers at the grave of his father, former Chechen leader Akmad Kadyrov.&#160; Also see the comments posted...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/putin-reiterates-backing-for-kadyrov/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Yoga Diplomacy</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/yoga-diplomacy/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/yoga-diplomacy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:53:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[John Lough]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[London W1]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Kingdom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.20516</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Our friend and colleague John Lough has a letter published in the Financial Times: Sir, Vladimir Putin's taut upper body has indeed become a sad symbol of Russia's increasingly limited ability to impress its neighbours and international partners. The country...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/yoga-diplomacy/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Energy Blast &#8211; August 24, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/energy-blast-august-24-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/energy-blast-august-24-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 Aug 2009 09:28:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aksa Enerji]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chief]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ecuador]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy market]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gazprom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Igor Artemyev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iraq]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[large new oil field]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ministry of Economic Development;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mongolia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nuclear energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil and gas prices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil fields]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sergei Shmatko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sinopec]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[state refiner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[uranium mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.20511</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Following the hydropower disaster, Vladimir Putin has instructed Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko to submit proposals for regulating the wholesale power market to prevent high increases in prices.&#160; Anti-monopoly chief Igor Artemyev has said that oil companies should beware of a...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/energy-blast-august-24-2009/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>RA&#8217;s Daily Russian News Blast &#8211; August 24, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-august-24-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-august-24-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 Aug 2009 08:38:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexander Nemenov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Battalion of Martyrs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Defense Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Georgia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ingush President]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ingushetian]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ingushetian President]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Itar-Tass]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mongolia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil-fighting chemicals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Poland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[powerhouse media firms]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[separatist group]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tanker operator]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TB]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the Washington Post]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vasil Sikharulidze;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Washington]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yenisei river]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yunus-Bek Yevkurov]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.20509</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ TODAY: Ingush President returns to work; concerns about dam surfaced decade ago; Georgian minister retracts comments on US aid; Medvedev in Mongolia; TB alert; anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact sees debates resurface.President Medvedev is, according to ITAR-TASS, confident that...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-august-24-2009/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Paying Out the Dead</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/paying-out-the-dead/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/paying-out-the-dead/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:40:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Caucasus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.20501</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One can appreciate Vladimir Putin's genuine efforts in response to the tragic accident at the hydroelectric dam in Sayano-Shushenskaya.&#160; He's ordered a probe into the state's infrastructure, and promised to boost much needed investments - this dam provided 2% or...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Video: Stephen Colbert Against Russia&#8217;s Commuting Dogs</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/video-stephen-colbert-against-russias-commuting-dogs/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/video-stephen-colbert-against-russias-commuting-dogs/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:51:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Angela Merkel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stephen Colbert]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Colbert Report]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.20493</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Bear with me through the off-color Angela Merkel jokes up to about minute 2:30 of this clip from The Colbert Report...&#160; "This dog is either asleep after a long day of commuting, or he spoke out against Vladimir Putin."&#160; Classic....]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/video-stephen-colbert-against-russias-commuting-dogs/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Sechin as Russia&#8217;s New Viktor Bout?</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/sechin-as-russias-new-viktor-bout/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/sechin-as-russias-new-viktor-bout/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:30:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Angola]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Caracas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chavez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[czar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Department of State]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[deputy premier]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy czar;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy geopolitics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[foreign-policy tools]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hamas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[head]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hizballah]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Igor Sechin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[interpreter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islamic Republic of Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kalashnikov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Latin America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Leningrad State University]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[linguist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mozambique]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sukhoi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Venezuela]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Viktor Bout]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.20490</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Did you know that Igor Sechin allegedly worked with the famous arms dealer Viktor Bout back in Mozambique in the 1980s?&#160; Neither did I, but you probably already know we have been watching all these orders coming for more Russian...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/sechin-as-russias-new-viktor-bout/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Russia&#8217;s Healthcare Reform Problems</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/russias-healthcare-reform-problems/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/russias-healthcare-reform-problems/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:26:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Healthcare System]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[insurance plan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin's government]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.20470</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As U.S. President Barack Obama looks to bet his presidency by actually doing something about the deplorable, non-functioning healthcare market, he's facing an angry and implacable opposition from the Republicans, who are even fond of sending guys carrying assault rifles...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/russias-healthcare-reform-problems/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Summer Reading, Part 1: Idov&#8217;s Caffeinated Comedy</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/summer-reading-part-1-idovs-caffeinated-comedy/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/summer-reading-part-1-idovs-caffeinated-comedy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:03:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cafe Trotsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[calculating lawyer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[career journalist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[editor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mark Scharf]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York Magazine;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nina Liau]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Poland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reading;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vienna]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Whip]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Woody Allen-esque]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.20468</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Have you noticed things a little lighter here at RA lately?&#160; You're not imaging it.&#160; Bob is currently spending some quality time with the family before his very existence slips the minds of his daughters, while I have been assigned...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/summer-reading-part-1-idovs-caffeinated-comedy/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Latest Western Insult to Russia</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/the-latest-western-insult-to-russia/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/the-latest-western-insult-to-russia/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:23:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Berlin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Black Sea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Canada]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[coasts of Canada]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Coca Cola]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[France]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gazprom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nabucco]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opel;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paris]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pepsi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PepsiCo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[repeated energy supply cuts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Venezuela]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.20464</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[OK, folks, this has gone far enough.&#160; There's no need for the United States and Europe to continue in their unchecked and outrageous aggression against Russia, renewing Cold War tensions and antagonism, no matter how jealous they are of her...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Russia and the Energy Charter Treaty</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/russia-and-the-energy-charter-treaty/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/russia-and-the-energy-charter-treaty/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:04:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Emmanuel Gaillard]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy investments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Sector]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[France]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lead counsel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paris]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Professor of Law]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yukos]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.20452</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The following letter from the law professor Emmanuel Gaillard, representing the former shareholders of Yukos, was published in the Financial Times.From Prof Emmanuel Gaillard.Sir, Almost unnoticed, Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, announced in July that Russia will withdraw from the...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/russia-and-the-energy-charter-treaty/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Today in Russian Business &#8211; August 17, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/today-in-russian-business-august-17-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/today-in-russian-business-august-17-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 Aug 2009 08:48:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alisher Usmanov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Angela Merkel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chancellor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Igor Yusufov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Infineon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kodak]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[VNIPIneft]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Walt Disney]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.20432</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Medvedev told Chancellor Angela Merkel at their meeting in Sochi that stronger ties could 'help our economies and people overcome the consequences of this heavy crisis and come out of it even stronger'.&#160; Merkel announced that she would welcome Russian...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/today-in-russian-business-august-17-2009/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Khodorkovsky: Putin and Sechin Began Yukos Affair</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/khodorkovsky-putin-and-sechin-began-yukos-affair/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/khodorkovsky-putin-and-sechin-began-yukos-affair/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 15 Aug 2009 20:17:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[current president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deputy Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Igor Sechin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.20430</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Below is an excerpt of a new interview with Mikhail Khodorkovsky published by Newsweek: How do you feel about Vladimir Putin and Deputy prime minister Igor Sechin? Do you think the Yukos case was their handiwork?I think the case was...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Energy Blast &#8211; August 14, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/energy-blast-august-14-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/energy-blast-august-14-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 14 Aug 2009 09:05:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Angela Merke]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chancellor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ed Morse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy agreements]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas pipeline]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gazprom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Germany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islamic Republic of Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil analyst]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil and gas sector]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil Prices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reuters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RusHydro]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saudi Arabia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkmenistan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.19806</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[RusHydro has sold investors 3.5 billion of 7.5 billion new shares in a public offering, with the rest bought by its own unit for a later resale.&#160; Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has approved a Russian-Turkish draft protocol on cooperation in...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/energy-blast-august-14-2009/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Today in Russian Business &#8211; August 14, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/today-in-russian-business-august-14-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/today-in-russian-business-august-14-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 14 Aug 2009 08:58:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andrei Kostin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bank head]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[GM Motors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iceland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[IzhAvto]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lithuania]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Magna]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Molot factory]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reuters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sberbank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[VTB chief]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.19805</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Following stalls in negotiations, Magna and Sberbank have modified the terms of their agreement to buy Opel, and are now apparently confident that GM Motors will be able to accept their offer.&#160; To see a timeline of events in the...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/today-in-russian-business-august-14-2009/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>RAs Daily Russian News Blast &#8211; August 13, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-august-13-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-august-13-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 13 Aug 2009 07:31:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Abkhazia's state border]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alik Dzhabrailov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chechnya]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chief of staff]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Commentator]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Commission of European Communities;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hermitage Capital]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow Helsinki Group]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Novaya Gazeta]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sergei Bagapsh;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spokesman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spokesman for President Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sukhumi maternity hospital]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ukraine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[US Department of State;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Viktor Yushchenko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Zarema Sadulayeva]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.19786</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[TODAY: Putin promises to fortify Abkhazia with new base; Ukraine still smarting from Medvedev blow.&#160; EU urges Russian leadership to work on safety of human rights advocates.&#160; Lawyers in Russia beware - it is not just their clients who face...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Energy Blast &#8211; August 12, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/energy-blast-august-12-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/energy-blast-august-12-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:11:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chief economist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[electric producer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fatih Birol;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[international energy agency]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mosenergo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil belt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil extraction;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil Prices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil reserves]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Organization Of Petroleum Exporting Countries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Orinoco;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PDVSA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[South Stream;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[state oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The International Energy Agency]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Venezuela]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.19771</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The International Energy Agency's chief economist Fatih Birol has said that if oil prices rise higher than $70, the global economic recovery will be rendered more difficult.&#160; Birol has also predicted there may not be sufficient demand for natural gas...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>China Imports Putinism in Rio Tinto Case</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/china-imports-putinism-in-rio-tinto-case/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/china-imports-putinism-in-rio-tinto-case/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 11 Aug 2009 21:31:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Asia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Beijing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gazprom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sakhalin Island;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[state secrets law]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.19751</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When the Russian state laid siege to Yukos and imprisoned Mikhail Khodorkovsky, many things were accomplished:&#160; state officials behind Rosneft and Gazprom illegally became overnight billionaires, energy resources were sharpened into an even greater political weapon, and the key proponent...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>RA&#8217;s Daily Russian News Blast &#8211; August 10, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-august-10-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-august-10-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2009 08:22:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Anna Politkovskaya]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Caucasus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[current Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Georgia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Journalist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mikhail Saakashvili]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natalya Estemirova]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Presidential Press Service;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[prosecutor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rights activist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia's ties]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[said President]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sarkozy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Chechen President]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Moscow Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the New York Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladikavkaz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.19727</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[TODAY: Medvedev firm on realignment of Caucasus; pledges support for the breakaway territories; details of Cyxymu hacking case emerge.&#160; Justice for Politkovskaya meets obstacles; Kadyrov shows little love for Estemirova; Putin celebrates ten years in power.&#160; Helicopters, cars and cops....]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-august-10-2009/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Pikalyovo Virus Spreads to Tolyatti</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/the-pikalyovo-virus-spreads-to-tolyatti/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/the-pikalyovo-virus-spreads-to-tolyatti/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 07 Aug 2009 13:35:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Analyst]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[call RT CEO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ceo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Detroit]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dresden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paul Goble;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pikalyovo;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Renault]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RT]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sergei Chemezov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[St. Petersburg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Volga river]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.19712</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When wide scale protests over wage arrears broke out in the town of Pikalyovo, near St. Petersburg, this past June, Vladimir Putin leaped into action to put out the fire.&#160; He toured the factories, met with protest leaders, called the...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Energy Blast &#8211; August 7, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/energy-blast-august-7-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/energy-blast-august-7-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 07 Aug 2009 08:27:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Anatolian Peninsula]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Berlusconi;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bill Schrader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Black Sea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Black Sea gas pipeline]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BP Azerbaijan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy deal meeting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gas Exports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas pipeline]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas supplies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas turbine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gazprom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[head]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islamic Republic of Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Italy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[manager]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MOL;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[overseas banks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[South Stream;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tim Summers;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TNK]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkmenistan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.19711</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin has rejected the 15-year old international Energy Charter Treaty.&#160; According to the Prime Minister, Turkey and Russia 'agreed on everything' regarding South Stream at their energy deal meeting and added, 'it is obvious there is demand' for the...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Not Yet Out of the Woods</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/not-yet-out-of-the-woods/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/not-yet-out-of-the-woods/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:48:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexei Kudrin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Finance Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil fund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil Trading]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russian Government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.19688</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The RTS is surging, oil comfortably trading around $70, and even Vladimir Putin is doing his topless thing again, which is always a sign of economic robustness.&#160; Despite all the rosy news, Owen Matthews at Newsweek thinks that the crisis...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Energy Blast &#8211; August 5, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/energy-blast-august-5-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/energy-blast-august-5-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 05 Aug 2009 09:08:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bosphorus Straits]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Commission of European Communities;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Projects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[European Union]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Far East]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas pipelines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas suppliers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gazprom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[helicopter maker;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[israel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Israel's IAI]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mediterranean]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil development programs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sergei Shmatko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tatyana Mitrova]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Moscow Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TOTAL SA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vertolyoty Rossii]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.19680</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[According to Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko, during Vladimir Putin's upcoming visit to Turkey it is expected that deals on energy projects will be secured.&#160; Russia will sign an agreement with Turkey on building a pipeline to transport Black Sea Oil...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>RA&#8217;s Daily Russian News Blast &#8211; August 4, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-august-4-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-august-4-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 04 Aug 2009 08:06:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Anders Fogh Rasmussen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andrei Shvaichenko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Anniversary of Solzhenitsyn's death]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chief]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[commander]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Commentator]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Commission of European Communities;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deputy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[European Court of Human Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gazprom board member]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[general]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Georgia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[governor in the Perm region]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[head]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Journalist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[judge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kyrgyzstan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nikolai Solovtsov;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[North Korea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nuclear chief]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Perm]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RIA Novosti]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Solzhenitsyn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stanislav Naumov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the anniversary of his death]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Moscow Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trade Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Nations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uzbekistan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Fedorenko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yuri Simonyan]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.19664</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[TODAY: New NATO chief asserts Russia needs to acknowledge sovereignty; nuclear chief fired; Uzbekistan wary of Kremlin's Kyrgyzstan plans.&#160; Moscow-appointed judge in Yukos case to step down. Anniversary of Solzhenitsyn's death. The new head of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, has...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/ras-daily-russian-news-blast-august-4-2009/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Annual August War</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/the-annual-august-war/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/the-annual-august-war/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:22:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chechen government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[european commission]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas war;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Georgia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joe Biden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kveshi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nabucco pipeline;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Year's Day]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tbilisi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the 1st anniversary of the Russian invasion of Georgia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ukraine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Washington]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.19652</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We are less than a week away from the 1st anniversary of the Russian invasion of Georgia, and the accusations are flying.&#160; The Georgians say that Russia is attempting to seize more land, sending troops into the nearby village of...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/the-annual-august-war/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Photo of the Day:  Putin&#8217;s Pipe</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/photo-of-the-day-putins-pipe/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/photo-of-the-day-putins-pipe/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:20:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Asia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas pipeline]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Khabarovsk;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pacific port of Vladivostok]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sakhalin Island;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin Source]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.19629</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[No extensive commentary is needed for this one.&#160; The Prime Minister flew across some seven time zones to put his signature on the pipe which will bring gas from Sakhalin Island.&#160; Exxon, and other foreign participants are reasonably panicked about...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/photo-of-the-day-putins-pipe/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Energy Blast &#8211; July 31, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/energy-blast-july-31-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/energy-blast-july-31-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 31 Jul 2009 09:57:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Afghanistan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bulgaria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crude oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy plans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Exxon Mobil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Far East]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas link]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas pipeline]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Georgia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[North Korea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reuters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[south korea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tajikistan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vitaly Belik]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.19625</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[At Medvedev's meeting with with the presidents of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan, he emphasized the importance of energy projects as that which 'really helps governments that need to strengthen their economy'.&#160; Timan Oil has announced that tycoon Vitaly Belik has...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Energy Blast &#8211; July 29, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/energy-blast-july-29-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/energy-blast-july-29-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:26:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andrew;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Britain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Canada]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ceo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas liquefaction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[North Sea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prince]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Senior Management]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Suez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the Telegraph]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the Washington Post]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.19591</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[TNK-BP's profits have fallen by 56.5% to $2 billion in the first six months of the year with demand tumbling. &#160; Second quarter profits for the company did rise by 69% on the previous three months.&#160; 'We are in turbulent...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>¡Bienvenidos a Caracas, Comandante Sechin!</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/%c2%a1bienvenidos-a-caracas-comandante-sechin/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/%c2%a1bienvenidos-a-caracas-comandante-sechin/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 28 Jul 2009 06:33:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Asia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Caracas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[conocophillips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Costa Rica]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[czar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[deputy chief executive]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deputy Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deputy Prime Minister and Rosneft Chairman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Development Bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Medvedev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy ambitions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gazprom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[high ranking official]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hillary clinton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Honduras;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hugo Chávez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Igor Sechin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[KGB]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Konstantin Sonin;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Latin America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Manuel Zelaya]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mikhail Khodorkovsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil field]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oscar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oscar Arias]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ousted President]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ousted President of Honduras]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PDVSA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rafael Ramirez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reuters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rosneft chairman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[St. Petersburg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[state news agency]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[travel schedule]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ukraine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Venezuela]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Venezuelan government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.19567</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you want to know what Russia's energy ambitions are in the emerging markets of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, I used to tell people that all you had to do was carefully track the travel schedule of Vladimir Putin.&#160;...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Always Sunny in Ingushetia</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/always-sunny-in-ingushetia/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/always-sunny-in-ingushetia/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 27 Jul 2009 17:00:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[4th of July]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[acting president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Caucasus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Colonel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ingush]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ingush President]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Journalist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lawyer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Magomed Gadaborshev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Magomed Yevloyev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rashid Gaisonov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[senior military official]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stanislav Markelov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yunus-Bek]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.19557</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Though Chechnya often gets the street cred, Ingushetia is a pretty rough place as well, and one of the most bloody war zones of the Caucasus.&#160; Before his untimely death, the last article that lawyer Stanislav Markelov contributed to this...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Energy Blast &#8211; July 27, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/energy-blast-july-27-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/energy-blast-july-27-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 27 Jul 2009 09:33:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexei Miller]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chief]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas emitter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas extraction tax]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gas Monopoly]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gazprom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sub sea energy resources]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thailand]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkmenistan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ukraine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.19550</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Gazprom chief Alexei Miller has argued that the increase on gas extraction tax proposed by Vladimir Putin is unwarranted at the moment, and has suggested that an import duty for natural gas could instead raise funds.&#160; Gazprom Neft claims to...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Today in Russian Business &#8211; July 27, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/today-in-russian-business-july-27-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/today-in-russian-business-july-27-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 27 Jul 2009 09:23:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[alleged crime chief]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ambassador]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ambassador to Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[businessman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Commission of European Communities;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Sector]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marc Franco]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Resources]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Resources Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Semyon Mogilevich;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sergei Pugachev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Steel Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Nekrasov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yuri Trutnev]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.19549</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The EU Ambassador to Russia, Marc Franco, has suggested that Russia will remain a 'third world economy' unless the rule of law and democracy are re-enforced.&#160; Whilst Russia is hoping that higher taxes from the energy sector will help reduce...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Why Biden Talks about NATO</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/why-biden-talks-about-nato/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/why-biden-talks-about-nato/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:48:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[deputy Foreign Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Georgia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grigory Karasin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joe Biden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kiev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas pipelines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama administration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tbilisi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ukraine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Washington]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.19532</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[So much for the reset, writes Steve LeVine, as Joe Biden visited both Kiev and Tbilisi stating that Washington will continue to support their drive for NATO membership if that is the route they choose to take.&#160; He does a...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Today in Russian Business &#8211; July 22, 2009</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/today-in-russian-business-july-22-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/today-in-russian-business-july-22-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:01:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Arbat Prestige]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[big retail chains]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Federal Council]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Glavstroi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mikhail Prokhorov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oleg Deripaska]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sergei Bobylev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[state bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sunrise owner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yevroset]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.19492</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Another Moscow market has fallen foul of the authorities: Izmailovsky Market, a popular place for tourists has been shut in connection with the closure of Cherkizovsky Market.&#160; The Federal Council has rejected a Medvedev-initiated bill to create small innovative companies...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/today-in-russian-business-july-22-2009/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov Targeted</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/moscow-mayor-yuri-luzhkov-targeted/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/moscow-mayor-yuri-luzhkov-targeted/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:13:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[businessman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Catherine Belton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Elena Baturina]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forbes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gazprom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[London]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mikhail Khodorkovsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shalva Chigirinsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sibir CEO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkish coast]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yuri Luzhkov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yuri Luzhkov Targeted]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.19465</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[What does the closing of a large Moscow flea market have in common with a fake tax evasion case-slash-state takeover scheme of an oil company?&#160; Moscow's Mayor Yuri Luzhkov is at the center of both them, revealing, what some sources...]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Race Away from Russia</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/the-race-away-from-russia/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/the-race-away-from-russia/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:27:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Asia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexander Lukashenko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexei Mukhin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Armenia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Azerbaijan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Belarus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Center of Political Information]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Commonwealth Day]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Commonwealth of Independent States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Georgia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harley Davidson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[head]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kazakhstan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kyrgyzstan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moldova]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moscow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tajikistan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkmenistan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ukraine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uzbekistan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.19462</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Reuters points out some members of the CIS are having some disagreements with the Kremlin.This year's Presidential Cup horse race, a traditional cue for an informal gathering of the 11-member Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), drew only five top guests:...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Saakashvili Looks to Open Up to Survive</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/saakashvili-looks-to-open-up-to-survive/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-russia-stocks/saakashvili-looks-to-open-up-to-survive/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:20:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Amsterdam</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[army]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biden;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[democratic leader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[France]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Georgia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nicolas Sarkozy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opposition leader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saakashvili]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Salome Zourabachvili]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tbilisi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vice President]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vladimir putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:www.robertamsterdam.com,2009://1.19460</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This week Vice President Joseph Biden is visiting Georgia, and in honor of being graced with his first high ranking visitor in quite a long time, President Mikheil Saakashvili has released an early copy of his speech to the Wall...]]></description>
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