A Year of Increased Graft and Deadly Disasters
In an opinion editorial for The Moscow Times, Vladimir Ryzhkov, a State Duma deputy from 1993 to 2007, comments that Russia will finish out 2009 sadder and a slightly more sober than usual but hardly any wiser. Russia's economy fared worse than all other Group of 20 countries during the crisis, and the excessive number of catastrophes it suffered underscored how woefully ineffective, incompetent and corrupt the government is.
The State Duma's reaction to Yegor Gaidar's death is highly symbolic and is a fitting way for President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to conclude their disastrous year as leaders of the nation.
In March, Moscow's Khamovichesky District Court started a new criminal case against Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his former business partner Platon Lebedev that is even more absurd than the first conviction.