The Russian Economy in December 2012: Preliminary Data and Major Trends

The most noteworthy events of December 2012 were the adoption, by the U.S. Congress, of the so-called ‘Magnitsky Law’, whereby sanctions were introduced against the Russian officials directly involved in human rights violations; and the passing, by the RF State Duma, of a retaliatory anti-American law. The adoption of the ‘Magnitsky Law’ was inherently related to the abolition of the Cold-War-era Jackson-Vanik Amendment. In retaliation for the ‘Magnitsky Law’, the Kremlin, greatly pained by the passage of the new U.S. legislation, instructed the Russian State Duma to adopt a ‘symmetric’ anti-American law. This retaliatory law (the ‘Dima Yakovlev Law’) introduced a ban on the financing of Russian non-governmental organizations by U.S. funds, forbade dual U.S./Russian nationals to participate in the activities and functioning of Russia’s NGOs, and banned the adoption of Russian children by US citizens. And it was the ban on adoptions that immediately caused a wave of indignation all over the world, including to some extent Russia. The case in point is that the brunt of the anti-adoption measures announced in the ‘Dima Yakovlev Law’ will be carried by disabled children, who have no chance to be adopted or receive proper medical and rehabilitative assistance in Russia. Also, the ‘Dima Yakovlev Law’ contradicts the U.S.-Russia Adoption Agreement and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.