Russia: Don’t Panic

September 17th, 2014
Via: BBC:
Russian authorities urged people not to panic on Tuesday as the rouble fell to a new all-time low against the US dollar amid concerns about the effect of sanctions on the country’s economy.
The rouble fell about 1% to 38.71 per dollar, the weakest it has been since the currency was restructured in 1998.
Last week, the US and Europe introduced further sanctions against Russia for its actions in Ukraine.
“Don’t panic,” said deputy finance minister Alexei Moiseyev.
Ordinary Russians are concerned the fall in the rouble could drive up the already high rate of inflation.
In early September annual inflation was 7.7% as the weaker rouble increased the cost of foreign imports and Moscow’s food import ban reduced competition.
The central bank aims to reduce inflation to 4.5% next year and Mr Moiseyev said authorities would act to curb any further increases.
His reassurance came as Russia’s central bank said on Tuesday that it would take action to boost liquidity in the banking sector.
The move aims to help the banks overcome their limited access to foreign capital due to the impact of sanctions.
“These operations are aimed at strengthening the capacity of credit institutions to manage their own short term currency liquidity,” the central bank said in a statement.
Former finance minister Alexei Kudrin had earlier warned that sanctions would have a material impact on the Russian economy.
“The sanctions that have been imposed are going to have an effect for the next one or two years because they have limited opportunities for investment in this uncertain environment,” he said, according to Interfax news agency.
New sanctions imposed on Friday last week targeted Russia’s state finances, energy and arms sectors.
Russian state banks are now excluded from raising long-term capital in the European Union, export bans have been extended, while future EU-Russia arms deals are also banned.
The EU has also followed the US in targeting more individuals in President Putin’s inner circle, as well as some major companies.
The West accuses Russia of supporting Ukrainian pro-Russian rebels in their conflict with government forces. Russia denies any direct involvement.

I'm going to throw out a wild guess here --

Is "Moiseyev" a made-up Russian surname?

I recognize "Moises" which is the Latin version of the English "Moses".

Does it mean "son of Moses" or something? It very well could be a false cognate (basically a linguistic coincidence, which would mean my guess is totally off) because I don't know Russian. So I'm only guessing out loud here.

The name Moiseyev (or Moiseev, which is closer in form to the spelling in the Cyrillic alphabet) may well be rooted in the Russian form of Moses, but the name itself is at least several centuries old. There was a famous Russian choreographer and folk dancer named Igor Moiseyev (1906-2007). His father, Alexandr Moiseyev, had been a member of the Czarist diplomatic service before his revolutionary sympathies (dating from the 1890s) persuaded him to enter private legal practice before discovery of those sympathies landed him in hot water.

I do not know whether this particular Moiseyev family was Jєωιѕн, but I never heard Igor Moiseyev so described, and I first saw his company dance in New York almost fifty years ago. I do not believe that Alexei Moiseyev is directly related to Igor or his family.

Incidentally, "son of Moses" would be rendered as Moiseyich or Moisich. The fragment or suffix "-ev" or "-yev" usually suggests nothing but a surname formed from a given name—as indeed most surnames not derived from a trade, an occupation, or a place-name have been formed.

… Incidentally, "son of Moses" would be rendered as Moiseyich or Moisich. …

What I should have written here is the following: "'son of Moses' would be rendered as Moiseyevich or Moiseyich or Moisich." Sorry for the error of omission, Matthew.

Russia may remove itself from the global Internet to protect itself against perceived threats from the West, a Kremlin spokesman suggested on Friday.



The Krelmin dismissed accusations it aims to isolate the Russian Internet, and insists it is merely concerned with protecting its national security – particularly as relations with the West have reached their lowest since the Cold War.

However, the country has recently passed several laws targeting Internet use, which include making popular bloggers register as media outlets, and forcing websites to store the personal data of Russian users.

Earlier on Friday, influential business daily Vedomosti reported that global Internet logistics would be the core subject of Putin’s Security Council meeting next week.

At Monday’s meeting, Putin is expected to discuss a contingency plans to disconnect Russian citizens from the web in the event of “an emergency” Vedomosti reported, according to the Guardian.

Potential proposals could also see the state bring the .ru domain under state control