Do you think that the social media platform Facebook is worth $10 billion?The Russian company Digital Sky Technologies sure thinks so, as it has just acquired 2% of preferred shares at $200 million.  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerman said DST was chosen out a large group of suitors because of its good reputation:  "DST stood out because of the global perspective they bring - backed up by the impressive growth and financial achievements of their Internet investments."Riiiight... There were lots of buyers out there who wanted to pay $200 million for 2%.  One analyst told the FT that "I'm sure there are investors closer to home that would be happy to invest in Facebook, but not at that valuation."Add this to Alexander Mamut's purchase of LiveJournal in 2007, and we have Russia emerging as one of ...

We've written before on this blog about the Russian government's declaration of "strategic sectors" in the economy, which is another way of saying that they are open game for state intervention, and foreign participation will be limited.  There are certain areas where this is logical - such as sensitive defense technologies.  There are other areas which make much less sense, such as energy, media, and internet.  The strategic sectors legislation has very little to do with the logic of reciprocity - Gazprom has snapped up assets across Europe, but foreigners aren't allowed controlling stakes in energy projects.  Even Alexander Lebedev has a newspaper in the UK, but no foreign company can get involved in disturbing the Kremlin's carefully managed flow of information to its citizens (how ...

Financial NewsJason Corcoran in Moscow 13 October 2008 Many holdings are up for saleOligarchs on opposing sides of the cash crisis are set to trigger a boom in merger and acquisition activity in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States.Cash-tight tycoons are being forced to sell holdings to meet pending margin calls while their rouble-wealthy counterparts are sizing up distressed assets affected by the liquidity crunch.Oligarch Oleg Deripaska had to sell a stake in Canadian auto parts maker Magna to meet a $1bn (€734m) margin call while Ukrainian billionaire Kostyantin Zhevago was forced to sell a large stake in Swiss-based ore miner Ferrexpo worth $180 in order to meet a margin call by JP Morgan.Analysts are predicting Deripaska, who has $28bn, may have to divest further holdings in his Basic Element investment vehicle to shore up his finances….