On the 18th of July 2024 the "Collective Action - Brussels" organized an event addressing the difficulties with access to the data that should help analysts understand the economic, political, social and overall situation inside Russia today.
The Kremlin’s aggressive war has put Russia at the center of the EU’s agenda, but a lack of reliable data complicates policy decisions. Russia has stopped publishing statistical data on oil production, import/export volumes, and detailed budget expenditures. Survey results are unreliable due to censorship and repression. Severed EU-Russia institutional links since 2014 and 2022, including halted inter-parliamentary dialogue, Russia’s exclusion from the Council of Europe, and restricted civil society interactions, have worsened this information deficit.
These information gaps create vulnerabilities exploited by Putin’s regime through influence and disinformation campaigns. Josep Borrell noted in March 2022 that “systematic information manipulation and disinformation by the Kremlin... is also a significant and direct threat to the Union’s public order and security.”
This event is for
EU institution staff
policy analysts
researchers, and policymakers to share
expertise
express concerns, and ask questions.
Topics addressed at the event
Accessible and restricted data on trade
economy
energy
citizen sentiment
'Mirror' and alternative sources for unavailable data
Data completeness
reliability
verification
validation
Speakers
Arnold Khachaturov Researcher at CEDAR Topic: The reliability of data on GDP, income, and poverty, and alternative sources like social networks and messengers.
Vladislav Netyaev Researcher at Transparency International Russia. Topic: Data on trade and sanctions evasion, energy, and war beneficiaries and lobbyists.
Vlad Siiutkin Researcher at Laboratory of Public Sociology. Topic: Data interpretation on Russian society and citizen attitudes.
Kirill Titaev Researcher at The Russia Program, GWU and Yale University. Topic: Design for data analysis in (semi-)closed political regimes.