POLITICS
Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika vigorously defended his record on Wednesday as his tenure nears an end amid a turf war that has engulfed his own son
(Moscow Times, Moskovskiye Novosti)
The Kremlin has dropped prominent adviser Gleb Pavlovsky over his publicly stated preference for President Dmitry Medvedev in next year’s presidential election, highlighting sensitivities over an apparent rivalry with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
(Moscow Times, Vedomosti, Nezavisimaya Gazeta)
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made clear in the Swedish capital Stockholm that he knew well who – he or incumbent President Dmitry Medvedev – will be nominated for the 2012 presidential election, but did not go into details
(Kommersant)
The scattered Ukrainian opposition united on Wednesday in protest on the one-year anniversary of the Kharkov agreements with Moscow, which extended the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s lease of a south Ukrainian naval base until 2042 in exchange for a gas discount
(Kommersant)
BUSINESS
Sweden’s Ericsson will help Russia develop a $1 billion national emergency hotline similar to 112 in European countries, and Russia will waive some visas for Swedes, officials announced on Wednesday as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made a lightning visit to Stockholm
(Moscow Times)
Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport posted nearly $1 billion in revenue last year
(Vedomosti)
The board of Russia’s largest cellular communications operator, MTS, recommended a shareholder meeting to approve 2010 dividends at 14.54 rubles per ordinary share or $1.04 per American Depository Receipt. The total sum could amount to 30 billion rubles ($1.1bn) or 78 percent of the company’s net profit in 2010
(Vedomosti)
Russia’s second largest state lender VTB intends to record a 2011 net profit 50 percent higher than last year’s record of 54.8 billion rubles ($2bn)
(Vedomosti)
ECONOMY
The volume of deposits in Russian banks has grown tenfold in the past eight years to exceed 10 trillion rubles ($361.9bn) by April 1
(Vedomosti)
SOCIETY
In a rare victory, a motorists’ group has won a promise from Moscow traffic police to change traffic regulations at about 30 locations it identified as “traps” exploited by the notoriously corrupt police force to extort bribes from drivers.
(Moscow Times)
President Dmitry Medvedev promised Russian and Moscow Region government officials that he will send them to extinguish wildfires if they somehow failed to learn the lessons of last year’s heat wave
(Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
Deputies of the Sverdlovsk Region parliament adopted a law to increase their pensions to up to 300,000 rubles ($10,850) a month
(Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
OIL GAS
Matthias Warnig, a friend of Russian Premier Vladimir Putin’s from his days in the East German secret service and the managing director of Nord Stream AG, may soon join the board of directors at Russia’s largest state oil company, Rosneft
(Kommersant)
Four top managers at TNK-BP will lose their posts
(Kommersant)
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