Today in Russian Business – Nov 1, 2011

As the court case between Roman Abramovich and Boris Berezovsky continues, the former has admitted that during the 1990s, he used business practices that were common but ‘not very ethical‘.  ‘The case offered a fascinating study in two contrasting personalities – the pugnacious Berezovsky, the quintessential frontroom operator, versus the diffident and media-shy Abramovich’, says the Guardian.  The Telegraph has frequent updates on the case.  Permanent summertime is apparently causing problems for the banking sector: ‘[f]or us it’s a really big problem because the liquidity only really gets into the market when London open’, says Clemens Grafe, chief economist at Goldman Sachs in Moscow.  Rusal owner Oleg Deripaska, state lender Sberbank and Singapore’s Changi airport are clubbing together to create an airport business joint venture aimed at developing airports that will be transport hubs for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.  The Moscow Times reports that Mikhail Prokhorov’s Onexim Group may buy a stake in Dozhd television, an independent Russian channel that broadcasts via the Internet and satellite networks.  Given that he is also contemplating stakes in news website Slon.ru and alternative Moscow newspaper Bolshoi Gorod (Big City), the FT wonders, ‘is Russia’s third richest man becoming a bona fide liberal?’