Today in Russian Business – Dec 16, 2011

Russia joins the World Trade Organization today, bringing to an end 18 years of negotiations.  WTO entry requires members to have ‘transparent and nondiscriminatory government procurements systems’, but Russia’s still need to be more transparent, particularly state expenditures like roadbuilding.  Will Russia’s WTO accession really improve the climate for foreign investors?  The BBC looks at continuing uncertainty.  Russia has committed to giving upwards of $10 billion to Europe through the IMF (and could end up giving double that).  The Moscow Times interviews the head of Boeing Russia.  The Independent reports on the aluminium-based £2 billion London court case between Uzbek-born Israeli billionaire Michael Cherney and Russia’s Oleg Deripaska.  Could VTB’s chairman be about to step down over structural disagreements?