Document Type: Quarterly Briefing Notes

Speaker: Dr Mark Galeotti, Honorary Professor at the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies and a Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.

Dr Galeotti spoke about his new book on the Russian criminal underworld.

Speaker: Dr Andrey Klepach, Chief Economist at Vnesheconombank.

Dr Klepach spoke about trends in and forecasts for the Russian economy.

Speaker: E Wayne Merry, Senior Fellow for Europe and Eurasia at the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, DC.

Mr Merry spoke about the current and likely future states of US-Russian relations.

Speaker: Vladimir Yakunin, co-founder and Chairman of the DOC Research Institute and formerly President of Russian Railways.

Mr Yakunin spoke about his book, The Treacherous Path, and provided insight into the realities of doing business in Russia in the current environment. 

Speaker: Andrei Kolesnikov, Senior Fellow and chair of Russian Domestic Politics and Political Institutions Program at the Carnegie Moscow Center.

Mr Kolesnikov spoke about Russian elections and the various constituencies of voters involved. 

Eurasian Economic Union (EaEU). Not to be compared with the EU, because it is dominated by two economies, which are in turn dominated by raw materials and energy. More like Mercosur or South African Customs Union. No political aims or plans to introduce a common currency.

Speaker: E. Wayne Merry, Senior Fellow for Europe and Eurasia at the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, DC.

Merry discussed internal US dynamics regarding Russia policy, particularly following the 2016 election, and provided insight on US-Russian relations.

Speaker: Mikhail Zygar, Author, All the Kremlin’s Men

Mr Zygar discussed his book, in which he made a comparison between 1917 and the situation in Russia 100 years later. He discussed intra-Kremlin dynamics, as well as Russian attitudes towards its leadership in different circles. 

Speaker: Alena Ledeneva, professor, School of Slavonic and East European Studies at University College, London

Prof Ledeneva spoke about the “Sistema” network of governance in Russia, how it works, and the various advantages and disadvantages of it.