There has been much in the news lately about Skolkovo, Russia’s answer to Silicon Valley. In a few days California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, with a delegation of U.S. venture capitalists, will arrive in Moscow and tour Skolkovo as a follow-up to President Medvedev’s trip to Silicon Valley last June. The Governor’s trip will no doubt [...]
Archive for the ‘Business’ Category
Russian Silicon Valley in Skolkovo?
Posted in Business, Modernization, US-Russia Relations, tagged Innovation, modernization, Skolkovo, US Russia on October 8, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
A Local Perspective on Energy Efficiency
Posted in Business, US-Russia Relations, tagged energy efficiency, partnerships, Russian Far East, US Russia on September 13, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Some months ago I wrote a post on “Moving to Energy Efficiency” where I cited a report from the United Nations that urged the Russian government to put a real emphasis on energy efficiency on all levels of government. This report, and others, have cited the various obstacles the government faces in accomplishing the goal [...]
Moving to Energy Efficiency
Posted in Business, US-Russia Relations, tagged energy efficiency, Russia, US Russia on April 23, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
There has been much in the press lately about Russia’s need and interest in becoming more energy-efficient. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) just published a report on the “Energy Sector and Sustainable Development.” It is comprehensive report (all 170 pages), which lays out the human and economic impacts if Russia continues as an energy [...]
Modernization – “If we just had more computers”
Posted in Business, tagged Gorbachev, modernization, Putin on March 4, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Twenty-five years ago this month, Gorbachev assumed the top leadership post in the Soviet Politburo. I had not remembered this date, but was reminded while reading an interesting article in Russian Life (an excellent magazine) about Perestroika. It was a first-hand report by Tamara Eidelman, a teacher in Moscow and the magazine’s history editor, of [...]
A Meeting of Shared Interests
Posted in Business, Uncategorized, US-Russia Relations on October 1, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
“Spark and exploit” new opportunities was one of the messages at the 14th Annual Meeting of the Russian American Pacific Partnership (RAPP) held on Sakhalin Island this week. U.S. and Russian federal leaders listened to the issues in our trans-pacific relationship. Just less than one month away from the first meeting of the Presidential Bilateral [...]
FRAEC on Public Exposure
Posted in Business, US-Russia Relations on September 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
It has been a while since I have posted on the blog. It has been busy: we have had a delegation from Belarus in town, a kick off of our 20th Anniversary and several members of our city partnerships traveled to Russia. I also had the opportunity to be on a live show called Public [...]
A Soft Start Before the Real Work Begins
Posted in Business, US-Russia Relations on July 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Much has been written in the press about the Obama-Medvedev summit this week in Moscow. By now people are analyzing the results, whether or not much was accomplished and whether the Russian people really care about Obama’s visit to Russia. It is noteworthy that this is the first summit in 7 years and that there [...]
Russia’s Withdrawal from WTO Accession
Posted in Business on June 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Russia surprised the U.S. and Europe with its decision to withdraw from WTO accession on Thursday to form a three county customs bloc with Belarus and Kazakhstan. Just last week at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, E.U. and Russian leaders were commenting that WTO accession could be possible by the end of the year. Currently [...]