Moscow press review for December 26, 2012
MOSCOW. Dec 26 (Interfax) - The following is a digest of Moscow newspapers published on December 26. Interfax does not accept liability for information in these stories.
POLITICS & ECONOMICS
The former head of the Moscow department of the Federal Property Agency, Anatoly Shesteryuk was arrested late Tuesday evening on charges of helping to steal more than 100 government owned properties worth more than 10 billion rubles (Kommersant, p. 1).
Moscow Deputy Mayor Maxim Liksutov, who is responsible for transport infrastructure, has sold off all of his business interests, including a 25% stake in Aeroexpress, the passenger rail company he cofounded (Vedomosti, p. 1).
The Russian government plans to link the luxury tax on automobiles to their price. Proposals to link the tax to horsepower and the size of engines have been dismissed (Vedomosti, p. 1).
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will have to come up with a way to accelerate Russian GDP growth, by either increasing government spending or improving the management of the economy. A meeting on stimulating economic growth will be held today (Vedomosti, p. 3).
OIL & GAS
Novatek, Russia's biggest independent natural gas producer, is lobbying for the right to independently export LNG from the Yamal Peninsula. State-controlled gas giant Gazprom is opposed to the idea. The decision will be up to President Vladimir Putin (Vedomosti, p. 7).
Lukoil has snapped up Russia's last major undistributed onshore oil asset, the Imilor group of fields, for 50.8 billion rubles, twice the starting price and a new record. Imilor should help Lukoil maintain production in Western Siberia, which has dropped by 17.5% in the past five years (Kommersant, p. 8; Vedomosti, p. 8).
Interview: Vladimir Yevtushenkov, President and principal owner of Sistema JSFC (Kommersant, p. 1).
Interview: Leonid Mikhelson, CEO and largest shareholder of Novatek (Vedomosti, p. 5).
METALS & MINING
The co-owner of Russkaya Mednaya Kompaniya (RMK), Igor Altushkin has returned his stake in Yenisei Industrial Company (EPK), which holds the license to the Elegest coal field, one of Russia's largest, to companies controlled by Sergei Pugachyov. It is not clear whether Altushkin recovered all the money he paid for the EPK stake (Vedomosti, p. 1).
BANKING, FINANCE & INSURANCE
The Federal Financial Markets Service is concerned about the purchase of Absolut Bank by companies affiliated with Blagosostoyanie, the pension fund of Russian Railways. The regulator is worried about the preservation of the fund's reserves and has demanded clarification of the structure of the deal. It has never been concerned about such situations before (Vedomosti, p. 7).
Interview: Mikhail Zadornov, CEO of VTB24 (Vedomosti, p. 6).
RETAIL & CONSUMER MARKET
Russia's Federal Anti-Monopoly Service and Industry and Trade Ministry will draft amendments by the end of January to the section of the law governing the retail sector that sets a 25% threshold of dominance for retail chains at the municipal level. Retailers might be allowed to exceed the limit through organic growth, or the threshold might be raised to 35% (Kommersant, p. 1).
Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization has cleared the path for food imports. Imports of some goods, such as beef, pork and dairy products, have jumped 10% to 33.5% in the past three months, putting pressure on Russia's meat and dairy industries (Vedomosti, p. 7).
TRANSPORTATION
Billionaire Gennady Timchenko is selling a 13% stake in railroad operator Transoil to tycoons Iskander Makhmudov and Andrei Bokarev in a deal market players estimate at $150 million-$200 million. Timchenko will retain an 80% stake in Transoil. Market players see no obvious economic logic in the deal and believe it is political (Kommersant, p. 7).
AUTOMOTIVE & ENGINEERING
Russian railcar builders are asking for government support ahead of an anticipated steep decline in the market. They are asking the prime minister to bar the extension of the service life of railcars. Otherwise production of new cars could plunge 40-60%, the industry will lose 200 billion rubles in revenue and could post losses of 5 billion rubles (Kommersant, p. 8).