Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov is quietly optimistic that 'a slow and cautious recovery is under way'.   Shuvalov has predicted that the economy could return to its pre-crisis state by 2012 and does not envisage circumstances necessitating the devaluation of the ruble in the near future.  Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin has told reporters that Russia's GDP in the July-September period is expected to increase 1.5% against the previous quarter.  Is a new privatization program on the cards?  Reuters reports that Russia has apparently spent more than 50% of the $480 billion it had allocated for crisis fighting.  St Petersburg construction workers are apparently threatening Pikalyovo-style action unless Putin personally deals with the problem of wage arrears.  Who knows, they might even get a free watch.  The Washington Post reports that Russia has reached a settlement with ...

A World Bank report has said that the Russian economy is contracting more than expected and 'damaging waves' are rippling through the whole of the ex-Soviet Union.  Vladimir Putin has signed a second anti-crisis plan to prepare for the 'post-crisis' period.  Russia's unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped for the first time in a year last month.  The New York Times reports on the imminent sale of Telenor's stake in Vimpelcom.  The Federal Court Marshals Service has ordered the state to auction the 26.6% share.   Bad debts within VTB could reach $9 billion by June 2010.  The Kremlin has decided to make recapitalization funds available to only Russia's biggest banks.  Transport Minister Igor Levitin has retained his place as chairman of Aeroflot's board of directors.  The airline is planning redundancies to save money.  Avtovaz has ...

By Edward Hugh: Barcelonabr /br /Russia's foreign-exchange reserves have been now been declining very rapidly since mid August, and as the money goes so does the faith that the large stock of reserves the country built up during the boom times would be sufficient to see them through any downturn in energy prices. As the money leaves, so it seems does the decade of economic growth and stability which they symbolised. Indeed so rapid has been the decline that Russia's international reserves, which are the third-biggest after those of China and Japan, have now fallen $161 billion, or 27% percent, since 8 August last, and decreased by $17.9 billion to $437 billion in the week to 5 December. Investors have now pulled $211 billion out of the country since August, according to estimates by BNP Paribas.br /br /br /pa href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SUbQptNe4tI/AAAAAAAALyE/K0xlBOy3AlA/s1600-h/russia+GDP.png"img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280137028067844818" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: ...

Financial NewsJason Corcoran in Moscow28 Jul 2008 The Russian investment bank benefits from privatisations Andrei Sharonov, managing director and chairman of the board of directors at independent Russian investment bank Troika Dialog, knows more than most about the links between Russia’s public and private sectors. He served in the Government for a decade, including nine years as Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade.Troika’s status as, in observers’ eyes, the Kremlin’s preferred investment bank has been cemented by its leading role in the recent sale of a 25% stake in state-controlled carmaker AvtoVAZ to France’s Renault, its mandates from the break-up of the electricity monopoly UES and its involvement in the privatisation programme of the state-owned rail giant RZD.The deals have propelled Troika to the top of the Russian mergers and acquisitions league table for the first six ...

Financial News Jason Corcoran21 July 2008 Letter from MoscowMarathon queues, stony-faced immigration officials, lost baggage and creaking infrastructure may soon be a thing of the past at Moscow’s main international airport, Sheremetyevo.The airport, which hasn’t altered much since the Soviet era, is sprucing itself up and trying to improve its image as it prepares for a possible flotation.Travellers no longer have to face up to three hours snarled in traffic on the Leningradsky highway into the city following the introduction last month of a direct rail link.State-run Russian railway operator RZD invested more than $200m in the project, an amount matched by private investors. The public-private partnership is thought to be the biggest of its kind in Russia. The shuttle train into central Moscow will depart from the new business district know as Moscow City, ...