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The article examines the role of representatives of the Auerbach dynasty of engineers in the development of mining in the Russian Empire in the second half of the XIXth - early XXth centuries. For the first time the main directions of Auerbach's professional activity - science, rationalization, entrepreneurship and public education - were comprehensively researched. On the basis of archival sources and published materials, it has been proved that A.A. Auerbach and V.A. Auerbach, as representatives of the Russian engineering and technical intelligentsia, played an extremely important role in the development of scientific knowledge about mining, in the improvement of mining production, in the formation and development of stock corporations in the Urals and southern Russia, in the popularization of mining education and in the solving of social issues associated with the protection of the interests of mining workers. It is shown that the representatives of the Auerbach dynasty of engineers were characterized by the following features: a high level of education, exceptional diligence, the ability to achieve a set goal, a desire to combine scientific achievements and production practices, an openness to everything new and advanced, a readiness for critical understanding and the use of foreign experience in the development of mining, taking into account changes in the conjuncture of the Russian economy, and a significant personal contribution to the development of science, enginery and technology in mining. Scientific works and practical developments made by A.A. Auerbach and V.A. Auerbach became an important basis for the further development of mining in our country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We employ a Bayesian VAR model to estimate the economic effects on the Russian economy from Western financial sanctions imposed in 2014. Sanctions caused a decrease in the amount of outstanding Russian corporate external debt, but it occurred during an episode of falling oil prices. We disentangle the effects of sanctions and oil prices by computing out-of-sample projections of key Russian macroeconomic variables conditioned solely on the oil price drop and on both the oil price drop and external debt deleveraging. Declining oil prices alone do not explain the depth of economic crisis in Russia, but we get rather accurate conditional forecasts when the actual path of external debt deleveraging is added. We treat the difference between these two projections as the effect of sanctions against Russia. The effect is modest, yet significant, for most of the variables discussed. While our estimate of the impact of sanctions on GDP growth has large uncertainty, over two-thirds of the density lies in the negative area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we use ten-digit trade data that allow an accurate assessment of how the tariff structure of the Russian Federation will change as a result of the phased implementation of its World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments between 2012 and 2020 and how it has changed as a result of Russia's agreement to participate in a customs union with Kazakhstan and Belarus. WTO commitments will progressively and significantly lower the applied tariffs of the Russian Federation. Russian tariffs will ultimately fall to between 45 and 68 percent of their pre-accession levels, with the larger fall being on a weighted average, rather than an unweighted average basis. Nonetheless, bound tariffs will exceed applied tariffs for almost 1,500 tariff lines. Russia's commitments are not unusual, especially when compared to the transition countries that have acceded to the WTO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the Germany's Russia policy, wherein Germany will modernize Russian economic and political system. Topics discussed include partnership between Germany and Russia after 2009 parliamentary elections, influence of human rights and members of Social Democratic Party of Germany and Christian Democratic Union in German discourse on Russia and role of Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations in building foreign relations of Germany.

Russian economic and political reforms of the last two decades have been closely scrutinized in the West for their successes and failures, but much less attention has been paid to the psycho-cultural dimension of these reforms. It seemed taken for granted by most Westerners that inside every docile Soviet body was a free-enterprise spirit just waiting for the state apparatus to founder in order to escape and express itself. This paper takes a different view, arguing that the transformation of Soviet citizens into the self-regulating, entrepreneurial subjects of liberal democracy and the market economy was no less impressive a feat of social engineering than the transition from state-owned to private property and unfettered business competition. Maintaining that mass entertainment was one of the critical means employed by the new post-Soviet business elite for preparing Russians to embrace an unregulated model of capitalism and a consumerist culture, we offer a multi-faceted analysis of one of the ideological apparatuses of the post-communist condition – the Russian adaptation of the television game show, Wheel of Fortune – which were mobilized to dismantle and reshape a complexly overdetermined system of values, beliefs, and attitudes in the process of what we call the production of the capitalist subject. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article traces the history of political, social, and economic development in the Republic of Yemen, beginning with the Yemeni revolution to overthrow the British colonial government in 1963. Other important developments in the country's history discussed include the unification of North and South Yemen in 1990, the formation of a democratic government, and the discovery of oil and gas. Emphasis is given to Yemen's amicable foreign relationship with Russia, which has worked to establish security and stability in the country.

The article discusses the history of foreign relations between the countries of Russia (at times the Soviet Union) and Laos. The author describes various types of economic assistance the Soviet government offered the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR) after declaring independence in 1975. The relationship between the foreign ministries of both countries is analyzed, with emphasis given to a visit by Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov to Laos, and a visit by Laotian Deputy Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulit to Russia. The implications of this relationship for a summit meeting between Russian and the Associations of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are described.

The article considers features of the current global crisis with respect to the principles of mathematical model building. It describes the formal structure, substantial characteristics, and preliminary results of calculations for the model of the Russian economy are described as well as its development from 2004 to 2009. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an analysis of international economic conditions as of September 2010, from a Russian perspective. It focuses on the responses of the Group of Eight and Group of Twenty to the ramifications of the global financial crisis which began in 2008. Two summits which were held by these international economic groups in Canada in June 2010 are discussed, and the reaction of the International Monetary Fund to a sovereign debt crisis in Greece is described. The increasing viability of Russia as a potential donor of international development aid is also addressed.

The article discusses Russian contributions to United Nations (UN) programs which are designed to combat world hunger and food insecurity. The relevant UN Development Programme goals of the UN Millennium Project are discussed, and various summits and initiatives aimed at achieving these goals are described. These include the Committee on World Food Security of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, the World Food Programme, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and the UN Secretary-General's High-Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis.

The article presents the author's testimony before the Banking Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives in 1998 and discusses the economic crisis in Russia and International Monetary Fund (IMF) credits received by the country. Issues including government debt, the devaluing of currency, and the loss of social services including the closing of schools are described. According to the author, the IMF advised a corrupt Russian government to control inflation at the expense of the Russian population. He asks western nations cease imposing destructive economic policies and sending loans disguised as aid.

The article analyzes the emergence of Russia as an international donor. The author attributes the trend to the country's growing economy and its place in the developing economic powerhouse known as the BRICS. She expresses concerns over the impact of the move of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to leave the country because they were suspected of having political agenda. The effort by the Russian government to improve public health is also assessed.