Today in Russian Business – Aug 18, 2011

Vladimir Putin underscored the importance of the aerospace industry as Moscow’s MAKS airshow was host to a slew of deals yesterday totaling over $1 billion, listed by the Moscow Times here.  The deals include 24 Sukhoi Superjets for VEB ($760.8 million), 10 Sukhoi Superjet-100s for Gazpromavia, and 10 CSeries Bombardier aircraft for IFC ($660 million).  There may not have been any arms deals at the airshow, but Rosoboronexport says that it will continue to sell weapons to Syria – possibly to make up for contracts lost during this year’s arms embargo on Libya, reports suggest.  A UBS report on costly cities has ranked Moscow in 42nd place (out of 73).  The Agricultural Ministry will buy grain from farmers, with the promise to sell it back at the same price (plus storage fees).  It’s ‘hardly a haven’, but the Russian economy is resilient at the moment, partly because its private sector debt has greatly reduced in the last 3 years, says the New York Times.