Moscow press review for July 10, 2012
MOSCOW. July 10 (Interfax) - The following is a digest of Moscow newspapers published on July 10. Interfax does not accept liability for information in these stories.
POLITICS & ECONOMICS
The Interior Ministry is investigating whether the Right Cause party properly returned donations to supporters of billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov. Analysts believe the police is thus gathering compromising material on the former presidential candidate (Vedomosti, p. 1).
The ruble's real exchange rate in June fell at the same rate as during the crisis of 2008-2009, Central Bank data show. The Central Bank stopped buying dollars on the domestic market in June, and sold $2.2 billion (Vedomosti, p. 1).
The drop in average oil prices to $100 per barrel will cost the Russian budget 100 billion rubles this year, the Finance Ministry reckons. This will not prevent the government from financing all expenditures, analysts believe (Vedomosti, p. 3).
Preparing Vladivostok for the APEC summit in September 2012 cost nearly five times the origin estimates. Kommersant looks at what has been built in the Far Eastern Russian city for 679 billion rubles (Kommersant, p. 9).
Interview: Boris Titov, Russia's Ombudsman for Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs (Kommersant, p. 1).
OIL & GAS
Russian gas giant Gazprom, which saw record revenues last year, also set a record for the amount of debt owed by former Soviet republics. These countries' debts on gas supplies jumped 36% last year to $6.4 billion at the end of 2011 (Vedomosti, p. 7).
UTILITIES
NESK, a private distribution grid company in Krasnodar Territory that has been hit hard by the recent floods in the southern Russian region, is also in the midst of a financial scandal. The company's current owners have claims against Akhmed Bilalov, a senator and vice president of the Olympics Committee, over transactions totaling 5.7 billion rubles (Vedomosti, p. 1).
METALS & MINING
London's High Court started hearings Monday in Mikhail Chernoi's lawsuit against the principal shareholder of Russian aluminum giant UC Rusal, Oleg Deripaska. The claims dating from the era of Russia's 'aluminum wars' could top $1 billion (Vedomosti, p. 7).
RETAIL & CONSUMER MARKET
The Association of Computer and IT Companies has sent a letter to Russia's Economic Development Ministry proposing to shift responsibility for payment of copyright levies from importers and wholesalers of audiovisual storage media and recording devices to retailers. Retailers oppose the idea (Vedomosti, p. 7).
The owner of Russky Standart, billionaire Rustam Tariko is now not only the largest shareholder of Central European Distribution Corporation (CEDC), but also the Polish vodka producer's nonexecutive chairman. The next goal is to increase his stake in CEDC to 43% (Kommersant, p. 7).
TELECOMMUNICATIONS, MEDIA & TECHNOLOGY
The principal shareholder of mobile provider Megafon, Alisher Usmanov and the shareholders of wireless broadband provider Scartel (Yota brand) have closed a deal to merge their telecom assets in a new holding company. As a result, Usmanov could acquire control of more than 50% of the most developed frequencies for 4G mobile networks in Russia (Vedomosti, p. 11).
TRANSPORTATION
Despite the weak market, Globaltrans, a major Russian private railroad operator, launched an SPO Monday in the hopes of raising about $500 million with the sale of more than 10% of shares. As a result, the majority shareholders will lose direct control over the company. The proceeds of the SPO will be used to pay down debts and buy new assets (Kommersant, p. 8; Vedomosti, p. 8).
AUTOMOTIVE & ENGINEERING
The Federal Space Agency has drafted a plan to reform Russia's aerospace sector that is expected to eliminate redundancies in development and production. Companies in the sector are to be divided into seven integrated structures. Industry sources said reform is the only way to pull the sector out of its "systemic crisis" (Kommersant, p. 1).
Russian aircraft and aircraft associated with Russia secured few orders at the Farnborough air show in Britain. The MS-21 regional airliner needs further development, which will require funding, and potential buyers are still wary of the Sukhoi Superjet due to a fatal crash in Indonesia in May (Vedomosti, p. 7).
Interview: Daniel Akerson, CEO and Chairman of General Motors Company (Vedomosti, p. 5).