According to Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, anyone over the age of 18 who receives the first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine between June 14 and July 11 will automatically be drawn into a lucky draw for a car. According to Sobyanin, five cars worth one million rubles ($13,900) each will be given away weekly. The move comes in an effort to speed up the slow pace of vaccination in this city as the number of new infections in Russia continues to increase. “This is only a temporary solution. To avoid difficult blockade measures and ensure improvement of the situation, we need to speed up the vaccination,” – Mayor Sobyanin shared. A medical professional holds a vial of the Russian-made Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine on January 18. Photo: REUTERS The Russian capital recorded 7,704 new infections on June 13, the most in a single day since December 24, 2020. Russian authorities also reported 14,723 cases nationwide, the largest single-day total since February 13. Earlier in the day, Mayor Sobyanin informed the city’s residents to take a break from work next week to help limit the spread of the disease and to enjoy a productive “long holiday”. Mr. Sobyanin once publicly lamented the small number of people choosing to vaccinate. After the call for people to get vaccinated to receive free cars, the mayor of Moscow did not disclose specific figures on the number of people who came for the injection. On May 21, Mayor Sobyanin announced that about 1.3 million of the more than 12 million people in the capital had received one dose, Reuters news. Russia was the first country in the world to approve a COVID-19 vaccine for domestic use, before the start of large-scale trials.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova. Photo: TASS In this regard, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova expressed: “If I understand their message correctly, does that mean that NATO has in fact expressed a desire to be friends? “It’s time for them to decide: either they stop coming up with spy stories, which they use as an excuse to impose sanctions, or it’s no surprise that they find themselves on the list. Russia’s list of unfriendly countries,” Zakharova said. Reportedly, in May, Russia announced that Moscow had officially considered the United States and the Czech Republic as “unfriendly” countries. With this decision, the US diplomatic missions in Russia will no longer be able to hire local staff, while the Czech missions can only hire up to 19 people. Earlier, on April 23, Russian President Putin also signed a decree on measures to deal with the “unfriendly actions” of some countries, in the context of increasing tensions between Russia and Western countries. . In an interview with Sputnik news agency, Russian Deputy Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that the Russian government never included any country on the unfriendly list arbitrarily, but on the basis of careful analysis of all side. However, Mr. Ryabkov said, Moscow is open to the possibility of reviewing this list. Also according to Russian Deputy Minister Sergey Ryabkov, especially for the US, in order to be removed from the list of unfriendly countries, Washington must immediately stop its hostile policy towards Russia and not interfere in Moscow’s internal affairs.

Delegates to the International Economic Forum St. Petersburg for the 24th time in Saint Petersburg, Russia on June 3, 2021. Photo: AFP/VNA This is one of the discussion topics in the thematic group “Technology, open horizons”, one of the four thematic groups under the Business Program of the forum. The workshop was chaired and moderated by Mr. Andrey Bezrukov, Chairman of the Association for Export of Sovereign Technology; Professor of Applied Analysis of International Affairs, Moscow State Diplomatic Academy (MGIMO) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia. At the beginning of the conference, President Bezrukov commented that the process of digitization is developing rapidly. However, the rapid development will raise the problem of ensuring the security of the critical information infrastructure. Therefore, it is necessary to build a reliable and secure ecosystem as the foundation for digitization. He also said that this is a long process, so businesses need to be aware of this issue in order to participate in cooperation, first within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), then large corporations. of Russia such as nuclear corporation Rosatom, telecommunications corporation Rostelecom. Speaking at the discussion, General Director of cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab, Mr. Eugene Kaspersky recalled the cyber attack on Saudi Arabia’s Aramco corporation in 2011 that halted its operations for two years. week. He also said that businesses in the banking and telecommunications sectors are frequent targets of hackers. However, Kaspersky Lab can develop software that allows to protect the system safely against these attacks, or still monitor the hacker’s access to the system. Mr. Kaspersky affirmed that the technology to deal with cyber attacks is there, but the problem lies in the need to coordinate all businesses, provide training on cybersecurity for employees and regularly check. Meanwhile, Andrey Butko, General Director of Rusatom Automated Control System company specializing in ensuring the safety of nuclear information infrastructure, said that the establishment of the system ensures safety for the market. Nuclear is a challenge. The training of nuclear emergency personnel should be supported by the government. For his part, Andrey Golov, General Director of Security Code LLC, expressed his skepticism about Russia’s ability to export cybersecurity technology to other countries. The main reason is that this is a dual-use technology and countries do not fully trust Russia’s security technology. Before the comments that Russian cybersecurity technology should first be applied within the EAEU, after success, the next step could be to export to other countries, Mr. Golov proposed the idea of ​​creating develop a technology based on which, each country can build its own information infrastructure protection system, autonomous in cyber security technology. Igor Lyapunov, vice president in charge of information security of the Russian corporation Rostelecom, also agreed with Mr. Golov when assessing that Russia’s information technology level still cannot meet the demand for technology. current news in the world. Therefore, it is not possible to impose only domestic information technology and equipment in Russia. Independent expert Dani Danone, Israel’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations for the period 2015-2020, raised the issue that the government should play a leading role in ensuring information security. Children from the time they are in high school also need to be taught about information security. He also emphasized that the information ecosystem needs to be kept safe and needs cooperation around the world Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Vasily Shpak said that cyber security is an extremely important factor and this is a challenge for the Russian government, so it is necessary to establish Russia’s own information systems. To do this, it is necessary to look at the whole, coordinate among Russian ministries/sectors, and at the same time consider the application of new technologies such as quantum computing or artificial intelligence. Deputy Minister Shpak affirmed that this is the “Information Security Front” and must manage this issue from the top. Russia is currently in a favorable position to step by step solve the problem of information security because of its developed science and promotion of the program to replace imported goods. Since 1997, the International Economic Forum of St. Petersburg has become the world’s leading forum for members of the business community to meet and discuss key economic issues facing Russia, emerging markets and the whole world. Plans to hold the forum in 2020 have been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Illustration. The hack brought down the pipeline, now in its sixth day, and led to panic buying and gas shortages in the Southeastern United States. Colonial said it began reopening its pipeline late Wednesday afternoon, a process that could take days, but declined to comment on the ransom issue. Colonial is working closely with law enforcement, the Department of Energy, and US cybersecurity company FireEye to minimize damage and restore operations. Colonial and government responses to the breach are being closely watched following one of the most direct hacking attacks on US critical infrastructure after years of warnings. Ransomware attacks have increased in number and ransom prices, with hackers encrypting data and seeking cryptocurrency payments to unlock. Investigators in the Colonial case say the malware was distributed by a gang known as DarkSide, which consisted of Russian-speaking people and evaded attack targets in the former Soviet Union. DarkSide previously said that it has no intention of meddling in geopolitics and will be more careful about its affiliates going forward. On Wednesday, the group said on its website that it was “dropping” data from three other victims, including a technology company in Chicago. Officials have so far found no significant connection to the Russian government, concluding instead that the pipeline company that supplies 45% of the US East Coast’s oil was crippled by the attack. ransomware. DarkSide allows “affiliates” to infiltrate targets in different places, then handle ransom negotiation and data release. Two people involved in the Colonial investigation said the man linked in this case was a Russian criminal with no special ties to the government.

According to the Kremlin’s announcement, Putin signed the decree relating to “diplomatic missions and consulates, representative offices of foreign agencies or organizations” that act against the state, Russian people or organizations, collectively referred to as “hostile foreign countries”. Accordingly, “unfriendly countries” will be restricted – or in certain cases banned – from hiring or employing Russian nationals. Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo: TASS The Russian government is tasked with determining the number of Russian staff that can be hired by foreign agencies and representative offices in Russia. The Ordinance states that the number of employees in foreign agencies and representative offices in excess of the prescribed number of Moscow government, even though there is a contract before the decree is signed, will have to be terminated. . This decree does not affect diplomats, consulates or citizens of the country where the representative office is located in Russia. The Russian government also has the task of making a list of “hostile foreign countries” and overseeing the implementation of restrictions or bans, as well as ensuring the rights of Russian citizens who are represented by agencies or offices. Foreign labor contract termination due to this ordinance. The Ordinance will take effect from the date it was officially announced, that is, April 23, and will be enforced until these responses are canceled. The Kremlin noted that the decree was consistent with current provisions of Russian law, including a federal law on “responses to unfriendly acts of the US and other countries”. Russia’s decree was issued in the midst of Moscow facing waves of expulsion of Russian diplomats. Germany, Poland and Sweden expelled three Russian diplomats in response to Moscow’s expulsion of three European diplomats for involvement in protests demanding the release of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny. The US expelled 10 Russian diplomats for alleged election interference and cyber attacks. Ukraine expelled “a senior diplomat” from Russia after Russia detained and expelled a Ukrainian consulate-general on allegations of espionage. Most recently, the Czech Republic expelled 18 Russian diplomats over allegations that the Russian secret was involved in two explosions of ammunition depots in the Central European country. Because of “solidarity with the Czech Republic”, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia expelled many Russian diplomats. These moves led to a series of “reciprocal” retaliation measures between Russia and these countries, making relations between Moscow and the West even more tense.

Russian President Vladimir Putin. Accordingly, the Kremlin on April 23 said that Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the application of measures to influence the bad actions of foreign countries. The statement from the Kremlin stated: “Mr. Vladimir Putin signed the decree on the application of response measures to foreign acts of bad will”. Specifically, Russia will limit the number of employees that can be recruited at diplomatic missions of countries that act inadvertent to Russia, the number of which exceeds the Russian government determined will be suspended . For this decree, diplomatic missions, consulates and offices of foreign government organizations acting unfriendly to Russia, Russian citizens or legal entities, will be faced with restricts, or even outright ban on, the use of Russian citizens. The Russian government is expected to identify a list of unfavorable foreign states and then adopt the countermeasures set up under the decree. Reportedly, the move above comes in the context of Russia and Western countries recently repeatedly expelled diplomats in the mutual diplomatic retaliation measures.

President Putin on April 23 signed a decree on measures to respond to “unfriendly actions” against Russia. Photo: Tass It is the task of the Russian government to determine the number of Russian individuals that can be recruited by foreign missions. Accordingly, labor contracts with individuals in excess of the number set by the Russian government, signed before the start of the decree, will be terminated, Tass reported. In addition, President Putin ordered the Government to make a list of countries taking action against Russia that are subject to a restriction order, requiring these countries to ensure control over the observance of the labor rights of Russian citizens in the school. their contract is terminated by ordinance. The Ordinance was introduced to protect the interests and security of Russia under federal law No. 281-FZ on “Special Economic and Enforcement Measures” dated December 30, 2006 and No127-FZ on ” Dealing with unfriendly actions of the US and some countries ”June 4, 2018 The Ordinance takes effect from the date it was officially announced.

Central Bank of Russia. (Source: TASS) Reluctantly “the victim” The Russian local currency has fallen more than 3% in the past month, currently trading at about 76 rubles for 1 USD. The sharp slump took the Ruble hard, in one of the most severe of any emerging market’s leading currency. Analysts expect the ruble to rebound in 2021 after falling 16% last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic and falling oil prices. While the Russian economy is reviving, the country’s Ministry of Economy has just revised its growth forecast to 3.8% last week and Russian businesses are rushing to capitalize on the stock boom to sell. stocks, ruble will be an important instrument signaling the health of the economy in the strained relationship with the West which has not seen a stop. Russian economist Sofya Donets at Renaissance Capital said, “Geopolitics is what is driving the movement of money markets – especially concerns about tougher sanctions from Washington, which have caused too much. damage to the Russian economy in recent years, before the situation is “hot” gradually at the border with Ukraine “. Sharing the same view, BlueBay Asset Management strategist Timothy Ash asserted: “Obviously at the moment, geopolitical concerns are having a big impact on the Ruble.” In it, a clear indication of the Ruble’s sensitivity to potential diplomatic changes is the possibility of an immediate upstream rise, following a phone call between US President Biden and his counterpart. Russia Putin. The White House said Biden had expressed “concerns about Russia’s sudden military build-up in Crimea and on the Ukrainian border, and urged Russia to de-escalate tensions.” Recent worries have also aroused in the Russian government bond market – a most likely target as the United States imposes sanctions in response to the international cyberattack SolarWinds, in which Moscow is alleged. to interfere in the 2020 presidential election or the poisoning and imprisonment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. “Weapons” counterattack In fact, US sanctions against Russia have already severely affected the Ruble and government bonds. However, analysts said that this new move will not have a significant negative impact on the Russian budget and market in the long term, because Russia has already prepared. In retaliation for the cyber attack, the White House said that President Joe Biden had ordered the expansion of existing restrictions on US banks dealing with the Russian government, expelling 10 diplomats and punish 32 individuals. However, shortly after the sanctions were issued, the Russian Ministry of Finance announced its decision to cut 875 billion Rubles ($ 11.45 billion) in the 2021 loan plan compared to the previous plan of 700 cuts. billion Ruble. Initially, Russia plans to borrow 3,700 billion rubles with OFZ bonds (Russian government bonds issued in rubles) by 2021. In response to the US sanctions, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said the new sanctions mean that US banks will miss opportunities, at the same time, said the demand for bonds Russian government remains at a high level. And Russia will carefully study the market conditions when deciding whether to add more OFZ in the coming weeks. To avoid the risk of being forced to sell bonds by foreign investors, the Russian Ministry of Finance will cut the 2021 loan plan more than expected and will only provide new OFZ bonds from June 14 – the day after US banks will then be banned from buying ruble government bonds directly from Russia. The share of international banks, pension funds and international wealth managers among OFZ bond holders has declined over the past several months. At the end of March, foreigners’ share among OFZ holders fell to 20.2%, the lowest level since August 2015. However, Russian state-owned banks such as Sberbank and VTB have guaranteed to replace foreign investors if necessary and help the Russian Ministry of Finance use OFZ bonds to cover the budget. According to statistics, US investors only hold about 7% of OFZ, with a value of less than 1 trillion rubles, lower than the amount of OFZ worth more than 4 trillion rubles held by Sberbank and VTB. Analysts expect the ruble to rebound in 2021 after falling 16% last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic and falling oil prices. Consensus to de-dollarize and reduce dependence Recently, President of the Federal Council (Senate) of Russia, Ms. Valentina Matvienko, noted that the Central Bank of this country and the government “at the behest of President Putin are still pursuing a policy of de-dollarization.” To date, the Russian Federation’s gold and foreign exchange reserves have become less dependent on the US dollar, and Russian investments in US government bonds have also fallen 30 times over the past 10 years. In a recent interview, the President of the Federal Council stated the reason, the dollar, of course, will not disappear anywhere, it is and will be widely circulated, not prohibited from use. . But reducing dependence on a financial center is the right policy and the Russian Parliament supports it in any way possible, since it is a matter of the sovereignty of the country. Earlier, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov also affirmed that Russia should reduce its dependence on USD, which must be done due to the risk of potential new US sanctions. Recently, Russia has been constantly taking steps to consolidate the ruble, increasing its attraction to businesses and its citizens and this is bringing about significant results, as the Ruble appears more and more in the investment transactions and trade exchanges.

The US intends to punish a series of Russian diplomats.

Accordingly, 12 Russian individuals, including intelligence officials and government officials, and 20 other entities in the US sanctions category.

In addition, Washington is also preparing to expel 10 Russian diplomats.

Just last week, Bloomberg reported that the US administration had completed an intelligence assessment of Russia’s potential role in a cyberattack against SolarWinds and meddling in the 2020 presidential election.

The White House is considering actions against US diplomats, including punishing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s advisers and agencies involved in allegations of election interference.

In mid-March, US intelligence released a new report, alleging that Putin had authorized the Russian government’s “influence activities” to undermine the then Democratic candidate. Biden in the 2020 election and exacerbated political divisions in the US.

The Kremlin considers the report “completely unfounded and unfounded” and expressed its belief that this is just an excuse to introduce new sanctions. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stressed that Russia does not interfere in the US vote, is not involved in the campaign against any candidate. He also noted that Washington’s sanctions policy could exacerbate bilateral relations.

One day earlier, the RIA news agency quoted information from the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying that Russia would act decisively if the US took new “unfriendly steps” such as imposing sanctions.

The same day, the White House announced that the new US administration would work towards a stable relationship with Russia, but to seek predictability rather than trust between the two countries.

Meanwhile, Mr. Biden recently offered to have a face-to-face conference with the Russian president in a European country. The Russian president just “wished him well” and invited Mr. Biden to a face-to-face conversation after hearing that the US President agreed with the view that Putin was a “murderer”.