BMIR # 7

2008-05-15 09:29:14  On May 17, Russia’s Federal Customs Service sued Bank of New York (BoNY) in Moscow for $22.5bn of alleged loss resulting from BoNY’s involvement in laundering shadow imports in Russia in 1996-1999. According to the claim, a “group of Russian individuals and companies,” as a US court put it, continuously understated the value of imported goods to pay less duties and relied on BoNY for actual payments in the US. Last July, US courts indicted BoNY executives for fraud worth some $7bn. As the Russian customs officials seek to continue the inquiry formally closed in November 2005, some big names may yet emerge, causing embarrassment – at best – for individuals and companies whose involvement with BoNY in the 1990s helped them climb to the lists of Russia’s most wealthy and successful.

2008-05-07 08:46:28  11th St. Petersburg Economic Forum was attended by 120 top executives representing the world’s biggest companies. The total number of participants exceeded 6,000, including official delegations from over 60 countries. The official programme involved 2,500 people. This year’s event saw an unprecedented number of direct participants in discussions, said Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref, adding that last year the number was 1,200.

2008-05-06 15:36:53  A review of the 11th Russian Economic Forum in St Petersburg.

2008-05-19 14:07:43  Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov announced on May 31st that assets he retained after a corporate divorce with his longtime partner and ally Vladimir Potanin would constitute a private innovation fund. Prokhorov has predicted bad times and low prices for nickel, where his interests used to be concentrated, and takes on hydrogen energy and nanotechnology instead.

2008-05-06 15:03:10  Every foreign trip by a head of state is definitely politics. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visits to Austria and Luxembourg were also a political act, but the business and, to a certain degree, pedagogic aspects prevailed this time.

2008-05-15 09:24:58  The potential for collaboration between Russian and European small businesses is enormous, but it’s a tough knot to tie; that’s why Opora has just opened a European bureau in Zurich.

2008-05-06 14:36:08  Sergei Borisov, Opora’s president, who is well known to this author and many others for his numerous public appearances, has always said small businesses have a bright future, whatever challenges lie ahead, and will successfully manage their growth. A very optimistic outlook, considering the not-so-bright present for the SMEs.