blockquote“Cutting rates by 50 basis points here and there is not going really diminish the appeal of the ruble,” said Manik Narain, an emerging markets strategist at Standard Chartered Bank Plc in London. “In terms of nominal interest rates Russia (at 9% as of 24 November) is still offering the highest yields in the emerging market space and in an environment where oil prices are remaining relatively well supported we think that the ruble will continue to be seen as an attractive way to position for global recovery,” /blockquotepbr /The world's central banks are having a hard time of it these days, having just gotten through the worst banking and financial crisis in living memory they now face a growing dilema between continuing to give support to the developed economies (which are yet to recover from those early hammer blows) and the danger of creating fresh global asset price bubbles ...

First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov has pledged not to fire workers from near-insolvent Avtovaz, but to create new subsidiaries employing up to 15,000 people.  Auto sales declined by 51% in the first 10 months of 2009, compared with the same period last year.  At the annual Foreign Investment Advisory Council, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has wooed foreign investors by concurring with their criticisms about 'excessive bureaucracy'.  The number of unemployed in Russia has begun to mount, having fallen successively for six months.  The Central Bank may buy gold from the state repository, says its First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev.  Evraz Group plans to sell as much as $1.04 billion of 10-year bonds, the company has announced.  Coking coal miner Mechel has seen a reversal of fortune, now back to a pre-crisis level of production ...

Gazprom's plan to build a 400-meter skyscraper in St. Petersburg is reportedly causing a government split, with many ministers stepping up vocal opposition to the tower.  Central Bank First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev wants state-controlled companies and banks to limit their foreign borrowing, as fears that lack of funds could drive pre-crash practices that could hamper the road to recovery. It is expected that the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi will receive over $1 billion of sponsorship money, having reportedly raised $850 million thus far from just seven sponsors.  Endemol, the television company behind Big Brother, has announced its first third party distribution deal in Russia.  Despite having received $853 million in emergency loans from the government and made heavy job and salary cuts, AvtoVAZ may be forced to file for bankruptcy. ...

Russia may allow the ruble to strengthen at least another 6.7% against its exchange rate basket as the country moves towards free floating the currency before its 2011 target.  Bloomberg features a video interview with Alexei Ulyukayev, first deputy chairman of Russia's central bank.  Oleg Deripaska's holding company Basic Element has denied that it is looking for a buyer for its construction wing, Glavstroi.  'We have long said that we want to attract a partner for some of our businesses, and we might consider the sale of certain specific projects'.  GAZ has confirmed that it is interested in creating a joint venture with Magna and Opel, although the company has suggested it is not actively involved in the bidding.  If the deal goes ahead, GAZ has said that it would produce Opel cars in Russia in ...

Russia’s finance ministry widened the emergency budget funding provision for Russia’s banking system on Sunday, suggesting that despite providing $130bn (€90bn) of additional liquidity to the country’s financial markets the banking system is still under pressure. The number of banks entitled to funding has been expanded from 3 to 28 - previously funding was restricted to the country’s three largest banks, Sberbank, VTB, and Gazprombank.The finance ministry also said it would provide an additional 600bn rubles ($24.21bn, €17bn) in the form of 3 month credit with a minimum rate of 8.75 per cent. The funding will be auctioned today.Russia's finance minister Alexei Kudrin met yesterday with representatives of more than 20 Russian banks, who had been arguing for such a measure to be taken since early last week. Bankers had been complaining that government credits provided to the three top ...

Russian inflation accelerated in August and remained close to its fastest pace in more than five years as food costs continued to rise. The Russian inflation rate rose to 15 percent from 14.7 percent in July, according to data from the Moscow-based Federal Statistics Service earlier today. Month on month, prices were up 0.4 percent, after rising 0.5 percent in July.The central bank forecast slowing monthly price growth or a possible decline in August. Monthly inflation increased ``unexpectedly'' on meat and dairy costs, Alexei Ulyukayev, the central bank's first deputy chairman said in response. Food prices increased an annual 22 percent in August, including a 45 percent gain in pasta and a 33 percent rise in dairy costs.