Today in Russian Business – Oct 14, 2011

Share prices in Russian cosmetics company Kalina have rocketed by 40% following reports that major Anglo-Dutch consumer products firm Unilever Plc is on the cusp of purchasing the Russian corporation for around $850 million.  Businessman Alexei Kozlov, who was freed last month after spending two years in jail for fraud, is being retried at a Moscow court, despite protests from right activists and his wife, Novaya Gazeta journalist Olga Romanova, who claim he is the victim of a conspiracy.  Kyrgyz acting Prime Minister Omurbek Babanov explains his cautious approach to the idea of joining a Russian-led customs union to RFE/RL.  Malfunctioning equipment accounts for the loss of 15 million to 20 million metric tons of grain annually, according to agricultural sciences institute Rosselkhozakademia.  Confident the Games will not need public money, the organizers of the sponsorship-record breaking Sochi Olympics apparently hope to secure deals worth another $200 million and finish the games with a surplus of more than $300 million.  On how the US is profiting from the export of its cattle to Russia.  Networking giant Cisco Systems and USAID have signed a deal under which they will fund up to $50 million of initiatives to increase the use of IT by Russia’s government and its citizens.