Two interesting articles on Russia were just posted to the FT, the first from Paul Betts, the second from Neil Buckley and Catherine Belton excerpted after the jump. From Paul Betts:

A large part of the problem is Russia’s continued poor reputation in business. Justifiably or not, the World Bank still places Russia near the bottom of its governance pile. According to this year’s Edelman Trust Barometer, Russian companies are the least trusted in the world. This reputation undermines the chances of Russian multinationals pulling off mega foreign takeovers.