Vladimir Putin has offered the support of the Russian authorities to resolve a dispute between Norway's Telenor, mobile operator VimpelCom and the Alfa Group.
The Russian and Norwegian shareholders in VimpelCom have being at loggerheads since Telenor, which holds 29.9 per cent of Rusisa's second-biggest mobile phone operator, blocked a bid for a Ukrainian mobile network - clashing with fellow shareholder Alfa.
Now Putin, who insists the Russian government is completely neutral in a dispute which has seen Telenor ordered to pay $1.728 billion to VimpelCom, has offered to help out.
But his olive branch has had a sceptical response in Norway. An editorial in the country's Aftenposten newspaper hinted at foul play by the Russians.
"It is obvious the dispute must be settled in the courts," the paper writes, echoing Putin's own comments. "But the courts must also be ‘completely neutral'."
Norway fears that Russia's designation of telecommunications as ‘strategically important', coupled with President Medvedev's well-publicised critiques of Russian justice, mean that it will be difficult for Telenor's side of the story to get a fair hearing from Russian judges.
Put a cork in it
Elitny wines are losing favour in Russia as belt-tightening forces bon viveurs to pop the cork on the plonk.
Decanter.com reports a mini-French revolution rippling through the wine world, with some importers lamenting a 50 per cent drop in sales.
But the crisis may be driving people to drink more - but buy cheaper. Kirill Drozdov of Vinoteca Grand Cru said: "They are buying less Montrachet and more Pouilly Fuisse."
Winning the sack race
Russian Railways, or RZD, and GAZ carmakers have taken their place in a global hall of shame of companies which fired the most workers due to the economic crisis.
Figures in Russia's Trud daily paper show 54,000 RZD staff reached the end of the line, making their bosses the third most trigger-happy in the world. Troubled oligarch Oleg Deripaska wielded the fifth-biggest axe worldwide, sharing his woes with 6,667 employees at GAZ as profits stalled.
No to protectionism
EFTA members are due to start talks on a free trade agreement with Russia later this year, according to tax-news.com. Four EFTA nations, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland) highlighted the need to prevent protectionism during the financial crisis as they prepared for negotiations this autumn. Similar talks with Ukraine are already underway.
Raging bulls
Top of the class
Troika Dialog was Russia's best local investment bank last year, according to Emeafinance magazine. In the mag's awards for banks in Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS, Troika was praised for retaining its independence.
Firesale suits BlackRock
Investors BlackRock Inc is leading the charge to snap up undervalued Russian stocks which it claims are "priced for bankruptcy". Managers there believe Russia is the best-value emerging economy and have been investing heavily in banks and commodity producers, expecting strong yields when the global economy recovers, Bloomberg reports.
Toxic assets
Milking the crisis
A Siberian farmer has given up three of his calves in a bid to beat the bailiffs, RIA Novosti reports. With debt collectors in the Kemerovo region going hell for leather after his 250,000 rouble debt, the 40-year-old man offered three five-month-old calves, worth around 5,600 roubles each. Local bailiffs are collecting a small menagerie, having earlier seized a pedigree cat and a thoroughbred horse.
Trading deficit
Dmitry Medvedev is "not pleased" after Russia's bilateral trade dropped by around a third in the economic crisis, AFP reports. Speaking to Russian officials in Khabarovsk ahead of the EU summit, he said: "With some partners it's a bit more, with others a bit less. Of course, this statistic does not please us." More than half of Russia's trade last year was with EU states, while Far Eastern cities like Khabarovsk enjoy close links with nearby China - something Moscow wishes to develop further with a joint Sino-Russian recovery plan.
Loss warning
Russia's biggest lender, Sberbank, warned it could post a loss this year, according to Kommersant.
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