It’s impossible to imagine anything so absurd that the authorities could not later carry it out—or at least announce it. Two stories in *Vedomosti*:
To Putin for KnowledgeUnited Russia members have opened a Vladimir Putin public reception office at a university. Students enter the campus through the back door, while complainants use the main entrance. A public reception office for Vladimir Putin, chairman of United Russia, has opened at Northern State Medical University in central Arkhangelsk. More A Putin reception office was opened at a state university, and students were forced to use the back entrance.
Without Middlemen At the end of July, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that Russian suppliers were not directly to blame for the disruptions. Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, meanwhile, said that most Russian companies sell oil to the Czech Republic through intermediaries, so it is impossible to guarantee the “fulfillment of export schedules.” The Czech Republic, for its part, said it was ready to negotiate direct contracts with Russia, Interfax reported, citing a source in the Russian government. More Russia proposed supplying oil to the Czech Republic directly, bypassing intermediaries. Sechin is criticizing the middlemen. The very same Sechin who is chairman of Rosneft’s board of directors. And Rosneft itself is perfectly happy to ship its oil for export through middlemen, above all Gunvor. When I proposed at a Rosneft shareholders’ meeting that the company consider organizing exports without intermediaries, that same Sechin said it was impractical. Which is understandable: it’s not Gunvor shipping to the Czech Republic, but other middlemen.