Today in Russian Business – July 13, 2011

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin suggests that the Eurasian Economic Union could come into effect by 2013, and anticipates that this could lead to Russian companies registering in Belarus and Kazakhstan, the two other union members, instead.  President Dmitry Medvedev is privately canvassing business leaders to back him ahead of next year’s presidential elections, says this report, which sums up his message as, ‘support me, or maintain the status quo‘.  Phosagro has raised $538 million from its IPO, pricing at the lower end of its range. Steelmaker Severstal is apparently going to get a $730 million loan from the U.S. government to help it modernize its Michigan plant, as its lightweight steel can help make cars more energy-efficient.  Seven of Belarus’ major state-owned companies could be up for sale to Russian investors.  Reports detailing some of Bank of Moscow’s problematic loans are emerging, including a $1.1 billion loan to a businessman that was ‘unsecured’ and will be ‘hard to recover’.  Yulia Latynina analyses the fall of the bank, and the question of whether or not its former president, Andrei Borodin, will face trial in the U.K.  Sberbank’s year-on-year profits have tripled.