Why has Russia has finally recognized Libya’s provisional leadership? Hint: Russia believes that the multi-million dollar contracts negotiated with the Qaddafi regime should remain in force. Terminating a spate of long-running price disputes, the Defense Ministry and Russian Helicopters have reached an agreement and concluded a $4 billion deal. The prospects for Russian arms exports to the Middle East may be less positive than they appear, argues this article. Moody’s credit rating agency has a poor prognosis for Russia in terms of related-party lending. Top lender Sberbank is apparently not considering buying Millennium and Kredyt Bank, two large Polish banks.