Moscow press review for September 11, 2013
MOSCOW. Sept 11 (Interfax) - The following is a digest of Moscow newspapers published on September 11. Interfax does not accept liability for information in these stories.
POLITICS & ECONOMICS
Russia's Investigative Committee intends to regain the right to initiate criminal tax cases, which it lost while Dmitry Medvedev was president. Businesses fear such cases will be targeted (Vedomosti, p. 1).
The first lawsuit under the Magnitsky law has been filed in the U.S. against persons suspected of stealing 5.4 billion rubles from the Russian government using the company's of Bill Browder's Hermitage Capital. The main defendant is Cyprus-based Prevezon Holdings and its subsidiaries in the U.S., which are owned by the son of a Moscow regional government official (Kommersant, p. 1; Vedomosti, p. 1).
The number of victims of the ongoing flooding in Russia's Far East has reached 100,000 and is likely to grow further. The federal Finance Ministry is preparing to pay out 14 billion rubles in financial aid (Kommersant, p. 2).
The Moscow city government plans to cut budget spending by 129 billion rubles in 2014 and 181 billion rubles. The biggest cuts will be made to the road construction program, which will be slashed by a third (Vedomosti, p. 5).
METALS & MINING
Russian potash giant Uralkali intends to raise about $1.4 billion from Sberbank and VTB Capital to refinance its debt, and is promising to soon secure a contract with China. But investors are still hoping for a change of owners (Vedomosti, p. 12).
Although four years working with Rio Tinto did not bring Norilsk Nickel any benefits, the Russian mining giant is again prepared to work with global players. Analysts believe Norilsk Nickel could invite foreign partners to help develop the Maslovskoye platinum group metals deposit in Krasnoyarsk Territory. The company intends to offer minority stakes in projects in exchange for financing (Kommersant, p. 9).
BANKING, FINANCE & INSURANCE
Legal amendments to introduce criminal liability for falsifying bank financial statements have finally been submitted to the Russian government in the toughest form. However, they could yet be revised as they are opposed by the Prosecutor General, who could be backed by the Kremlin legal department (Kommersant, p. 1).
Kapital Asset Management, which is controlled by Leonid Fedun, the billionaire owner of the Spartak football club, is launching a mutual fund that will allow Russian retail investors to invest in the shares of Manchester United, Borussia Dortmund and other sports companies (Vedomosti, p. 10).
RETAIL & CONSUMER MARKET
Russia's food safety watchdog has followed through on its threat and banned imports of wine products from Moldova, as it did in 2006. But while at that time Moldovan wine had a 25% share of the Russian wine market, now it only has about 5% (Kommersant, p. 10; Vedomosti, p. 18).
Interview: Isadore Sharp, Founder and Chairman of Four Seasons Hotels (Vedomosti, p. 8).
TELECOMMUNICATIONS, MEDIA & TECHNOLOGY
Russia's Communications Ministry is willing under certain conditions to make a concession to mobile operators and postpone the launch of mobile number portability from December 1 this year to March 1, 2014. But if companies do not meet the deadline they could face fines amounting to millions of rubles per day. The ministry reckons MegaFon is most ready for MNP, while Rostelecom is least ready (Kommersant, p. 1).
Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), Russia's leading mobile operator, is again thinking about become the third shareholder of Euroset, the country's biggest mobile phone retailer. MTS has already held talks with Euroset's owners, rival operators MegaFon and Vimpelcom (Vedomosti, p. 10).
Russian media group RBC has finally sold its Salon Press publishing house, to Germany's Burda, which analysts estimate might pay $15 million-$20 million. RBC paid $33.8 million for its controlling stake in Salon Press (Kommersant, p. 7).
AUTOMOTIVE & ENGINEERING
Russian aircraft engine maker NPO Saturn is forming another joint venture with France's Snecma - to manufacture components for and repair the popular CFM-56 engines, which are used on the Boeing 737 and Airbus 320 airliners (Vedomosti, p. 11).
