Russia

The Russian government and the Russian Economic Development Ministry estimate that the Russia is running a $100 billion Russian trade surplus according to the Daily News Bulletin.

While specifics were not given, it is projected that despite the expectation that Russian imports will rise more than Russian exports in 2010 the Russian surplus will still remain high and threaten the Russian economy as both large deficits and surplus do cause challenges for economies.

Russian international reserves currently stand at $445 billion.

The Russian economy saw industrial output decline by 11.2 percent in October according to RTTNews.

The year on year decline is up from the 9.5 percent decline the Russian economy saw in September.

The Russian economic news could be a signal of a decline in Russian GDP.

Payless ShoeSource, owned by US based Collective Brands Inc., plans to invest in Russia by expanding operations in the Russian market in the beginning of 2010 according to the Wall Street Journal.

While the dollar figure of the Russian investment was not disclosed, Collective Brands Inc. plans to partner with franchise partner M.H. Alshaya to built 150 stores with an option to buy.

The investment in Russian adds to the more than 4,500 stores Collective Brands Inc. already has in regions such as the Middle East, South America, the Caribbean and the North America. [Read more →]

The Russian economy saw GDP drop by 10.9 percent in the second quarter according to Bloomberg.

Key drivers of the poor Russian economic news are a continued rise in unemployment, a stalled Russian government stimulus plan to counter the impact of the global recession, and a lack of bank lending as well as the crash in commodity prices. [Read more →]

The second largest soft drink producer, PepsiCo Inc., plans to invest in Russia $1 billion according to Bloomberg.

The investment in Russia will go towards the construction of a new bottling plant outside Moscow and a southern Russia snacks plant in Azov.

The Russian investment brings PepsoCo’s total Russian investment to $4 billion. [Read more →]

Fitch Ratings cut its debt rating for Russia to the second lowest rating to BBB which will severely impact the Russian economy according to Bloomberg.

The Russian debt rating cut is the first by Fitch in over a decade and is another blow to the Russian economy as the ruble continues to decline in value as result of falling oil prices and capital flight.

Estimates suggest the Russian government has spent as much as $210 billion to prop up its currency and maintain necessary foreign currency reserves. [Read more →]

The Russian central bank has announced it will devalue the ruble by 10 percent as the Russian economy continues to melt down in the wake of the global economic slowdown and the decline in commodity prices according to MarketWatch.

The move by the Russian central bank counters its previous gradual devaluation policy as it tries to prop the Russian economy by deterring the outflow of foreign exchange reserves by speculators.

The exchange rate of the ruble is set against a basket of currencies. The 10 percent depreciation sets a new upper limit to 41 rubles against a basket mix of 55 percent US dollars and 45 percent euro. [Read more →]

The Russian economy continues to a take another blow as the Ruble declined to its weakest level in over six years according to Bloomberg.

The Russian economic news comes as the Russian government and central back devalued the Russian currency as it struggles to prop up the Russian economy.

It is estimated that the Russian economy has lost 27 percent of its foreign exchange reserves since August and as much as $200 billion in Russian investment as foreign investors pull their money out of the struggling Russian economy. [Read more →]

Alcoa, the global aluminium producer based in the US, has announced it will cut 18 percent of its workforce as the Russian economy continues to struggle according to Reuters.

The unemployment news comes as the Russian economy continues to decline in the wake of the global economic slowdown and as oil prices continue to slide.

While the cuts are deep, Alcoa Russia President Andrei Donets indicated the reduction in force affecting the Russian economy will execute gradually over the course of 2009. [Read more →]

The Russian government is considering joining the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) according to Bloomberg.

The key driver of the Russian trade move is to join forces with other large producers of oil to reduce oil production in order to prop the price of oil as it continues to slide.

Ideally, the oil producers would like to a see oil price of about $60 to $80 a barrel and a cooperative cut of 2.5 million barrels a day global is needed to hit that target. [Read more →]

The Russian economy saw a record drop to 39.8 in the VTB’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) according to Bloomberg.

The glooming Russian economic news comes as the global economic crisis and the sharp drop in to the price of oil continue to negatively impact the Russian economy.

With the deterioration of the Russian economy, foreign investors have withdrawn as much as $190 billion from Russia since mid 2008. [Read more →]

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) lowered Russia’s investment credit rating from BBB+/A-2 to BBB/A-3 according to Bloomberg.

This is the first Russian investment downgrade since January 1999.

Further downgrades are expected as the Russian economy continues to melt down. [Read more →]

The Russian government has attempted to prop the ruble and protect the Russian economy by spending $4 billion according to Reuters.

The Russian economic news comes as the ruble and oil prices continue to slide to lower levels in the wake of the global economic crisis and the bursting of the commodity bubble.

With Russian government dept increasing dramatically over the last few days it is highly likely that the Russian government will default and mirror the default that afflicted the Russian economy in 1998. [Read more →]

The Russian central bank raised interest rates to 12 percent in an effort to prop the ruble and protect the Russian economy according to the Telegraph.

The news comes as the Russian government continues to spend reserve money on a rabidly devaluing ruble.

Key drivers of the currency collapse are a faltering Russian economy due to declining oil prices and an over valued stock market.

Estimates put the ruble at a 30 percent decline in the next few days. [Read more →]

General Motors (GM) has just opened a new flexible assembly plant as part of a recent Russia investment according CanadianDriver Communications Inc.

The Russian investment will generate an additional 70,000 units of capacity and continues to position GM as the top non-domestic automobile manufacturer in Russia.

The Russian investment news comes as the ruble and GM’s stock continue to crumble. [Read more →]

The Russian government has blocked Google’s acquisition of ZAO Begun according to AP.

The Russian investment would have delivered the assets of ad service ZAO Begun to Google from Rambler Media Ltd at an estimated $140 million.

The Federal Anti-Monopoly Service did not specifically state a reason for the rejection but it is suspected that tensions between the US and Russian government may have come into play. [Read more →]

Dmitry Medvedev and the Russian government have injected over $19 billion into the financial markets in order to prompt the Russian economy according to the Telegraph.

The news comes as the Russian stock market was suspended for a third day in a row as the global financial crisis and lower oil continues to test the Russian economy.

While many see this week’s event as a repeat of the collapse of the Russian economy in 1998, it is likely that history will not repeat itself as Russia currently holds the worlds third largest currency reserve. [Read more →]

The Russian economy continues to feel pain as the Micex Index plunged a record 17 percent according to Bloomberg.

The significant drop caused a halt in trading by the RTS Exchange for almost an hour as panic over liquidity and concerns over AIG on Wall Street.

While the Russian economy has capitalize recently on higher oil and emerging growth the recent moves on the Micex are creating deep concerns over the stability of the Russian economy. [Read more →]

Russia government’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has announced a calling for Russia to regain its influence over Cuba to that stood during the cold war according to AP.

The statement by Putin and the Russian government is likely in retaliation to the US announcement to development missile-defense in the Czech Republic and Poland.

While likely just heavy Russian government rhetoric, the intent is still chilling should the US move more protectionists as its economy continues to drag. [Read more →]

Russian trade of gas exports were up 17.7 percent year over year according to Reuters UK.

The Russia trade news is predominately based on Gazprom’s gas exports of 109.6 billion cubic meters in the first half of 2008.

Gazprom is a Russian gas monopoly and is the world’s largest gas company.

Vimpelcom, Russia’s second largest cell phone operator has announced a Russian investment in both Vietnam and Cambodia according to Reuters UK.

The Vimpelcom Russian investment involves a 40 percent stake worth $267 million with Vietnam state run Global Telecommunications Corporation (GTEL) and a $28 million purchase of Cambodia’s Sotelco.

For more on each Vimpelcom Russian investment see: Vimpelcom to Invest in Cambodia and Vimpelcom to Invest in Vietnam [Read more →]

The Russia economy slowed from 8.4 percent growth to 7.7 percent in May according to Reuters.

The concern and debate by the Russian government is that the Russian economy is possibly overheated will head into an abrupt slowdown

Nonetheless, the slower grow number is in line with the Russian government’s Economy Ministry which expects Russia GDP to grow 7.6 percent in 2008. [Read more →]

Dmitry Medvedev, the new Russian president, has blamed the US for the current global economic slowdown according to the Telegraph.

In a recent speech Dmitry Medvedev went on to say that the US’s “economic egoism” and protectionism were key drivers of the global economic slowdown and that the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have failed to end the world’s economic problems.

The new Russian president even went on to suggest that the Russian government should be in charge of redirecting global economic policy.

The IMF estimates the Russian economy could experience inflation as much as 14 percent according to Forbes.

Key drivers of the inflation rise estimation by head of the International Monetary Fund include the usual suspects such as rising food and gasoline cost.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and the Russian government have vowed to return Russian inflation to [Read more →]

PPG Industries, US based global supplier of paints, coatings, chemicals, optical products, specialty materials, glass and fiber glass has announced it will invest in Russia according Earthtimes.

While the amount of the Russian investment was not disclosed, [Read more →]

Russia’s Severstal has made a bid for Esmark Inc, a rival US steel company, according to Reuters.

The Russian investment bid is backed by the United Steelworkers union (USW) and is [Read more →]

Peugeot-Citroen, the French automaker, and Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors have announced plan to invest in Russia through a joint company according to AFP.

The $550 million Russian investment by the two firms will take the Kaluga assembly line and produce and estimated 160,000 vehicles per year which equates to almost 6 percent of the Russian car market.

Peugeot will control 70 percent and Mitsubishi will control [Read more →]

UK’s global car dealership, Inchcape, announced it will invest in Russia according to the Telegraph.

The move by Inchcape to invest in Russia involves a $450 million purchase of a 75 percent stake in [Read more →]

Aeroflot, Russia’s national airline has renewed its interest in acquiring Alitalia, Italy’s flag carrier Alitalia, according to AHN.

The possible Russian investment comes as Air France-KLM reported their interest in Alitalia has concluded and as Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he wanted to meet with Silvio Berlusconi, Italian prime minister-elect to discuss the deal.

The move by Putin and Aeroflot comes [Read more →]

Equifax Inc., leading US based provider of credit information, has announced it will invest in Russia according to the Atlanta Business Journal.

The Russian investment involves a 28 percent equity stake in Global Payments Credit Services LLC (GPCS) plus an option to buy up to 50 percent of the company.

The move by Equifax to invest in Russia comes as it continues on its global expansion strategy which [Read more →]