Interfax: Russia & CIS Business and Investment news report of 06.03.2009

Weekly news:

INDICATORS

Chief Russian Financial and Macroeconomic Indicators

EVENTS IN THE COMING WEEK

HEADLINE NEWS

Digest of headline news

COVER STORY

Russia, Spain sign impressive package of agreements

Russia could emerge from recession at similar pace to U.S., Europe – Kudrin

Tymoshenko accuses Yushchenko of being behind Naftogaz raid

Naftogaz HQ raided in case claiming misappropriation of RosUkrEnergo gas

OPINION

VTB CEO says state may create institution to buy toxic assets - newspaper

Khodorkovsky sees signs of institutional changes in crisis-stricken Russia

survey

Russian inflation forecasts improve, but differ wildly

Russia could see industrial output decline 12.1% in February – analysts

POLITICS. ECONOMY

Medvedev hopes G20 will forge intl agreement on ways to overcome crisis

Putin: Ruble will not collapse

Putin urges change to Budget Code to fund budget deficit from Reserve Fund

Inflation in Russia at 1.7% in Feb

Russian international reserves grow $2.4 bln in week

Business confidence in extractive industries rises slightly in February – Rosstat

Russia may see growth in number of industries after end of H1 – Dvorkovich

Russia may provide additional support for mortgage lending - Dvorkovich

About 8 billion rubles to save defense plants from bankruptcy – Ivanov

Russian economy continues to contract in Feb – VTB Capital

Russian services sector continues to slide in Feb – VTB Capital

Lawsuits seeking 170 billion rubles brought in Khodorkosky-Lebedev case

COMPANIES & MARKETS

ENERGY & RESOURCES

Putin: Companies must bring oil product prices back down to 2008 levels

Commission approves feasibility study on ESPO’s second section

Rosneft sees US GAAP earnings fall 13% in 2008

Gazprom Q3 IFRS earnings up 16% to 131.7 bln rubles, below forecast

Gazprom to accept less gas from independent producers

Gazprom buys blocking stake in Daltransgaz at discount

Gazprom to return three geological exploration licenses to Uzbekistan

Lukoil to spend 7 bln rubles on R&D in 2010-2011

Gazprom Neft to open office in Serbia

NOVATEK maintaining gas production at reduced level

Sakhalin Energy signs 20-year contract with Osaka Gas for LNG sales

Resources agency publishes list of federal deposits

ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION. NUCLEAR POWER

Appeal of ruling that nullified TGK-11 merger to be heard Mar 11

FGC nominates 3 candidates for Mosenergo board; Moscow – 4; Gazprom – 13

GE Energy negotiates joint construction of power plants in Russia

OGK-2 expects loss in 2008 at 920 mln-950 mln rubles

METALS & MINERALS

Shareholders, not state to decide Norilsk Nickel’s future – Voloshin

RUSAL deal to restructure $7 bln debt still unsigned

Deripaska replaces Moldazhanova as Basic Element general director\

Peter Hambro Mining could produce over 1 mln oz gold in Russia in 2012

Sukhoi Log gold license could be allocated without tender

VTB withdraws FAS application to acquire Polyus shares

MMK ups steel output 32% in Feb compared with Jan, edges March forecast up

Mechel boosts RAS earnings 44% to 48 bln rubles in 2008

VSMPO not expected to undersupply Boeing with titanium

Severstal could invest $10 mln in Liberian iron ore exploration in 3 yrs – reports

Norilsk Nickel mulling copper JV in China

METAL GOODS & ENGINEERING

Sukhoi Civilian Aircraft plans to deliver first SSJ 100 in December

Russian car plants idle due to massive imports of late last year – Khristenko

Kamaz stopping assembly line for 10 days

GAZ to end production of GAZ Siber in 2010

Avtovaz shuts down assembly line due to shortage of parts

GM launches production at new St. Petersburg plant, closes two temporary facilities

Investment in Bauer drilling machines JV in Kurgan to total 4.5 mln euros

IT & TELECOMS

Management revolution at VimpelCom

Rostelecom withdraws request to buy Sky Link

Moscow City Court upholds Chichvarkin’s arrest in absentia

TRANSPORT

Russian airlines fly 20% fewer passengers in Feb

Sibir Airlines defaults on bonds

Vnukovo structures consolidate 75% in Sky Express

FOOD & AGRICULTURE. PROCESS INDUSTRIES, FORESTRY & TIMBER

Share of imported meat in total Russian resource declined to 32% - Rosstat

Russia raises duty on rice imports for three months

Import duty on raw sugar in Russia to stay at $220 per tonne in April

BAT Russia boosts cigarette production 0.5% in 2008

PepsiCo completing Lebedyansky consolidation

Carlsberg representatives could comprise bulk of Baltika board

Coca-Cola ups stake in Turkmenistan Coca-Cola Bottlers to 59.55%

CONSUMER GOODS. RETAIL

X5 retail sees major drop in average store receipt in 2009

Dixy could close all V-Mart stores

Rigla to close 20-30 pharmacies in 2009

Unilever invests $200 million in its main Russian assets in five years

CONSTRUCTION & PROPERTY

Mirax Group, investors agree to restructure $180 mln in CLN

FINANCIAL & BUSINESS SERVICES

Korishchenko appointed head of MICEX exchange; Rybnikov’s contract terminated

Russian Customs Service seeks settlement with BoNY

Deripaska firms owe VTB $1.5 bln, "problems" with GAZ – newspaper

Soviet Sberbank clients to receive double refunds by 2011 – Kudrin

Gazprom bought 75% of Soyuz Bank for 1 mln rubles

VTB 24 had pretax profit of 6.1 bln rubles in 2008 – Rudenko

VTB 24 expects IFRS earnings to tumble 50% in 2009

Over 200 Russian banks post losses in January

CIS

Kyiv sends coordinated draft letter of intent to IMF, expects 2nd tranche

Bank of Ukraine intl reserves down 8.2% in Feb, 16.1% in Jan-Feb

Ukraine had budget deficit of 1.3% of GDP in 2008

Ukrainian national debt shrinks 1.8% in January

Belarusian gold, forex reserves grow 8.7% in Jan-Feb

Kazakhstan had 0.8% inflation in Feb

Uzbekistan posts inflation of 7.8% in 2008

Tajikistan hopes to draw 50 Mln Euro EBRD loan for banks, agriculture

Central Bank of Armenia releases dram’s rate

Central Bank of Armenia boosts refinancing rate to 7.75% as of Mar 3

Armenian GDP down 0.7% in January, industrial production declines 6.5%

FINANCIAL MARKET

Dollar, euro remain steady

GOVERNMENT SECURITIES

Interest in OFZs remains low for week of March 2-6

RUSSIAN EUROBONDS CONTINUE TUMBLE IN EARLY MARCH

STOCKS

RUSSIAN STOCK PRICES CLIMB

RESULTS OF RUSSIAN STOCKS TRADING IN RUSSIAN TRADING SYSTEM

STOCK INDEXES

CORPORATE BONDS

CORPORATE BONDS COULD EDGE UP

Nb: This news report features only the headline of each news.

Agency Interfax