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Russia – Holland 2009

On 19 June 2009 a bi-lingual, colour supplement to The Moscow Times will be published. The “Russia-Holland” supplement is an annual business publication, devoted to the partnership between Russian and Dutch companies.

This year the magazine is timed to coincide with the most glorious event in the cultural co-operation between the two countries for the last decade – the opening of Hermitage Amsterdam. The unique exhibition centre will be opened on the 19 June by Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev.



Sunday, July 05, 2009 Updated at 05 July 2009 22:24 Moscow Time.

The Moscow Times » Issue 2188 » Media

Official: U.S. Hypocritical on NTV

23 April 2001ReutersA top aide to President Vladimir Putin accused the United States of double standards Saturday for criticizing the state of press freedom in Russia after a longstanding row over independent NTV television.

Sergei Yastrzhembsky, interviewed by Interfax, stuck to Moscow's line that the dispute over NTV was a strictly commercial matter and similar to labor difficulties between the ABC television network and its corporate owner Walt Disney.

The U.S. State Department last week said the corporate takeover of NTV by state-dominated Gazprom and the staff upheaval and closure at two sister publications were politically motivated.

Spokesman Richard Boucher said the outlets, previously part of the debt-ridden Media-MOST group of Vladimir Gusinsky, were "clear targets of a series of extraordinary pressures from law enforcement and other elements of the Russian government."

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/indexes/107.html Click here to read our special report on the Struggle for Media-MOST.

Russian liberals say the treatment of NTV, a frequent critic of Kremlin policy, is a barometer of Putin's commitment to a free press.

Yastrzhembsky told Interfax the State Department comments would pass unnoticed "if similar events had not occurred at the same time in the United States."

He said discussions over possible job cuts at ABC were also linked to financial concerns.

"The situation [with ABC] is surprisingly similar to that which has recently occurred with NTV," he said. "The same logic is being applied, though in Russian conditions, by the new heads of NTV."

U.S. authorities, he said, were clearly using different standards in criticizing press freedoms in Russia.

The EU also expressed concern over post-Soviet press freedoms last week in similar terms.

"Freedom of speech and pluralism in the media are essential democratic principles and core values for the EU-Russia partnership," the EU said in a statement released by its current president, Sweden.

"The European Union is therefore deeply worried by recent developments in Russia," it said.

Continued actions taken against NTV and other media in the wake of Gazprom's takeover of NTV at the weekend had fueled concerns both inside and outside Russia, damaging Russia's democratic credentials, the EU said.

"These actions could in fact be interpreted as an encouragement to take action all over the Russian Federation to limit the freedom of the media, not least at regional and local level," it said.

The EU urged Moscow's political leadership to reassure Russian society and foreign partners that "it fully supports the continued existence and development of pluralistic and independent media."

"There can be no democratic and modern state without a strong civil society and free media," it added.