Russia

Dmitry Medvedev and the Russian government have injected over $19 billion into the financial markets in order to prompt the Russian economy according to the Telegraph.

The news comes as the Russian stock market was suspended for a third day in a row as the global financial crisis and lower oil continues to test the Russian economy.

While many see this week’s event as a repeat of the collapse of the Russian economy in 1998, it is likely that history will not repeat itself as Russia currently holds the worlds third largest currency reserve.

The Russian economy continues to feel pain as the Micex Index plunged a record 17 percent according to Bloomberg.

The significant drop caused a halt in trading by the RTS Exchange for almost an hour as panic over liquidity and concerns over AIG on Wall Street.

While the Russian economy has capitalize recently on higher oil and emerging growth the recent moves on the Micex are creating deep concerns over the stability of the Russian economy

Russia government’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has announced a calling for Russia to regain its influence over Cuba to that stood during the cold war according to AP.

The statement by Putin and the Russian government is likely in retaliation to the US announcement to development missile-defense in the Czech Republic and Poland.

While likely just heavy Russian government rhetoric, the intent is still chilling should the US move more protectionists as its economy continues to drag. [Read more →]

Russian trade of gas exports were up 17.7 percent year over year according to Reuters UK.

The Russia trade news is predominately based on Gazprom’s gas exports of 109.6 billion cubic meters in the first half of 2008.

Gazprom is a Russian gas monopoly and is the world’s largest gas company.

Vimpelcom, Russia’s second largest cell phone operator has announced a Russian investment in both Vietnam and Cambodia according to Reuters UK.

The Vimpelcom Russian investment involves a 40 percent stake worth $267 million with Vietnam state run Global Telecommunications Corporation (GTEL) and a $28 million purchase of Cambodia’s Sotelco.

For more on each Vimpelcom Russian investment see: Vimpelcom to Invest in Cambodia and Vimpelcom to Invest in Vietnam [Read more →]

The Russia economy slowed from 8.4 percent growth to 7.7 percent in May according to Reuters.

The concern and debate by the Russian government is that the Russian economy is possibly overheated will head into an abrupt slowdown

Nonetheless, the slower grow number is in line with the Russian government’s Economy Ministry which expects Russia GDP to grow 7.6 percent in 2008. [Read more →]

Dmitry Medvedev, the new Russian president, has blamed the US for the current global economic slowdown according to the Telegraph.

In a recent speech Dmitry Medvedev went on to say that the US’s “economic egoism” and protectionism were key drivers of the global economic slowdown and that the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have failed to end the world’s economic problems.

The new Russian president even went on to suggest that the Russian government should be in charge of redirecting global economic policy.

The IMF estimates the Russian economy could experience inflation as much as 14 percent according to Forbes.

Key drivers of the inflation rise estimation by head of the International Monetary Fund include the usual suspects such as rising food and gasoline cost.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and the Russian government have vowed to return Russian inflation to [Read more →]

PPG Industries, US based global supplier of paints, coatings, chemicals, optical products, specialty materials, glass and fiber glass has announced it will invest in Russia according Earthtimes.

While the amount of the Russian investment was not disclosed, [Read more →]

Russia’s Severstal has made a bid for Esmark Inc, a rival US steel company, according to Reuters.

The Russian investment bid is backed by the United Steelworkers union (USW) and is [Read more →]

Peugeot-Citroen, the French automaker, and Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors have announced plan to invest in Russia through a joint company according to AFP.

The $550 million Russian investment by the two firms will take the Kaluga assembly line and produce and estimated 160,000 vehicles per year which equates to almost 6 percent of the Russian car market.

Peugeot will control 70 percent and Mitsubishi will control [Read more →]

UK’s global car dealership, Inchcape, announced it will invest in Russia according to the Telegraph.

The move by Inchcape to invest in Russia involves a $450 million purchase of a 75 percent stake in [Read more →]

Aeroflot, Russia’s national airline has renewed its interest in acquiring Alitalia, Italy’s flag carrier Alitalia, according to AHN.

The possible Russian investment comes as Air France-KLM reported their interest in Alitalia has concluded and as Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he wanted to meet with Silvio Berlusconi, Italian prime minister-elect to discuss the deal.

The move by Putin and Aeroflot comes [Read more →]

Equifax Inc., leading US based provider of credit information, has announced it will invest in Russia according to the Atlanta Business Journal.

The Russian investment involves a 28 percent equity stake in Global Payments Credit Services LLC (GPCS) plus an option to buy up to 50 percent of the company.

The move by Equifax to invest in Russia comes as it continues on its global expansion strategy which [Read more →]

Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world’s largest retailer, is one step closer to an investment in Russia with the appointment of Stephan Fanderl as president of Wal-Mart’s Emerging Markets-East according to AP.

With a key European executive Fanderl in place, Wal-Mart is now poised to enter the $140 billion Russian food sales market as it looks to invest in Russia through a [Read more →]

The Russian government has announced plans to cut taxes for oil companies according to Bloomberg.

The move by the Russian government is designed to help Russian oil companies overcome the stagnation they are experiencing after a decade of growth.

Oil production in Russia has declined 1.3 percent in March and comes [Read more →]

The Russian government has announced that it will restrict foreign investment in Russia according to MWC News.

The new limits on foreign investment in Russia are focused on key sectors such as energy, aerospace, mining and media, etc.

The move by the Russian government now requires foreign investors to received [Read more →]

Deere & Company, a.k.a. John Deere, the world’s leading provider of advanced products and services for agriculture and forestry, has announce that it will significantly invest in Russia according to Fox Business.

The Deere investment in Russia is estimated at $80 million in order to build a central operations center outside of Moscow.

A spokes person for Deere indicated that not only is the Russian investment good for the Russian economy but also for the other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) markets which include [Read more →]

The Russian government has announced that it will raise export duties on Timber exports according to Reuters.

The move by the Russian government has hit a nerve with the European Union and could potentially risk Russia’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The plan, driven by Vladimir Putin, sets Russia trade duties on timber to 25 percent up from 20 percent and begins on April 1. Furthermore, the government of Russia plans to [Read more →]

Russian monetary authorities have announced they, in conjunction with Russian banks, will inject additional loans into the Russia economy according to The Moscow News.

The move aims to ensure 7 percent GDP growth of the Russian economy [Read more →]

VTB, Russia’s second-largest bank, is expected to become a key asset manager for Russia’s sovereign wealth fund National Wealth Fund (NWF) according to Reuters.

National Wealth Fund (NWF) is worth $32 billion and VTB targeting investment banking deals that are likely to include a large percent in international investments.

Sovereign wealth funds from Dubai, China, and Singapore have recently been in the spotlight for US an EU security concerns. Russia’s National Wealth Fund (NWF) will surely be on the minds of US and EU leaders as the strength of the Russian government continues [Read more →]

The Pepsi Bottling Group has announced that it will invest in Russia by purchasing the Russian bottling company Sobol-Aqua JSC through a joint venture according to Reuters.

The amount of the Russian investment was not [Read more →]

Russia is expected to finish negotiations for acceptance as a full member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) by 2009 according to Xinhua News.

Since 1993, while Russia has concluded bilateral talks with more than 60 WTO member countries, there are still three more countries that are required as Russian trade partners: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Georgia.

The deal breaker is Georgia if the Russian government fails [Read more →]

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, S&P, has revised it previous rating on the Russia economy from ‘stable’ to ‘positive’ according to The Moscow Times.

Key drivers of the rating increase include the benefits of Russia’s crude oil and natural gas, a budget surplus of 5.5 of GDP, and gold reserves of up to $490 billion, etc.

Nonetheless, S&P pointed to Russia’s banking system and the real Russia economy as [Read more →]

As expected, Dmitry Medvedev won the Russian election on Sunday.

While the majority of the Russian population agree that the electoral process for the next Russian government was likely less than democratic, most believe this is the right choice of the country wants to continue on its current path of economic prosperity.

For more on the Russia government election and the events leading up to the less than free and fair Russian election, watch this informative CBS News video: Putin’s Man Wins

[Read more →]

While the Russian government will not hold official elections until this Sunday, Vladimir Putin has essentially already won the election as his choice for succession goes to Dmitry Medvedev.

For a deeper look into what to expect with the newly elected Russian government and how the election is progression, watch this informative video: Russian opposition out in cold.

[Read more →]

Evraz Group, the Russian steel producer, announced that it plans to invest in China’s Delong Holdings in order to expand into the China market according to Forbes.

The Russian investment into Delong Holdings is valued at about $1.5 billion, consists of a 51 percent stake, and yet is subject to Chinese government antitrust clearance.

The move by Evraz follows a bid for Claymont Steel Holdings [Read more →]

Russian president Vladimir Putin has announce that he consider the Russian economy highly inefficient and warned that the Russian economies lack of diversification is threatening according to Forbes.

The statement by Putin came in a speech outlining the vision for Russian economy development up until the year 2020.

The message was clear that if the Russian economy continues to rely on oil and gas exports then it would only lead to a grater dependency on imports of not only goods but also technologies leaving the Russian economy at [Read more →]

Russia trade with India is expected to hit $10 billion by 2010 according to the Statesman.

Through the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), Russia and India plan to enhance Russia trade with India [Read more →]

The US and Russia have signed a Russia trade deal to export $5 billion worth of uranium to the US over the next 10 years according to Xinhua News.

The Russian trade deal is aimed to encourage bilateral trade with the US and the uranium is intended for peaceful purposes.

Essentially, the agreement will allow Russia to convert 500 metric tons of high-enriched uranium (HEU) from dismantled Russian nuclear weapons into low-enriched uranium (LEU) which will then be used for US fuel consumption.

The 500 metric tons [Read more →]