Today in Russian Business – July 22, 2011

As the prognosis for Russia’s car market looks remarkably healthy, Renault is apparently considering a plan to launch vehicle production at a third site in partnership with its Japanese ally Nissan and its local affiliate Avtovaz.  A vindication for the French company, whose ‘investment seemed risky in 2008 and worse in 2009, but now it looks as if Russia could turn out to be Renault’s China‘, says one analyst quoted by Bloomberg.  A U.S. senator from a car-manufacturing state of Michigan has urged U.S. trade officials to demand Russia remove barriers to American cars before being allowed to join the WTO.  The Moscow Times reports that Alexander Lebedev has denied an interest in acquiring Rupert Murdoch’s defunct News of the World but is interested in launching a similar newspaper in Russia.  The Deposit Insurance Agency is facing its largest-ever payout after the Central Bank pulled the operating license of the country’s 83rd largest bank, AMT, which has around $534 million in retail deposits.  Russia’s largest mining company Norilsk Nickel has announced that full-year profit rose 27% to $3.3 billion, failing to reach the $5.12 billion mean predicted by fifteen analysts in a Bloomberg survey.