Today in Russian Business – Oct 27, 2009

The first Russian-assembled Opel car, the result of a joint venture between General Motors and the Avtotor plant, has been completed.  RusAl has reported its 2008 losses, saying that it sustained a $5.98 billion hit due to the financial crisis.  The state may start guaranteeing corporate infrastructure bonds by the end of the year as the ruble continues to gain thanks to oil revenues and subsequent renewed investor interest.  The Moscow-Vladivostok time difference is hampering business relations, says United Russia’s Gennady Lazarev, who wants it to be shortened.  Russia’s economic activity was finally back on the rise last quarter, but ‘gross domestic product was still 9.4% below year-earlier levels, underscoring the amount of damage the recession and lower oil prices have wreaked on Russia’s economy‘.