Business Is an Unhappy Camper in Russia

Reuters is reporting that the Russian authorities are cutting down on the number of CEOs allowed to join the parallel business summit, and are planning on moving it from a luxury hotel to inside the Kremlin to keep tighter control.  That just looks bad.

U.S. businessmen are expected to use a Russia-U.S. business summit on Tuesday to press Moscow to rein in corruption and improve conditions for western companies operating in the country. (…)

“It looks like the Kremlin doesn’t really want this discussion and Russian business is not very keen either,” said one industry source. (…)

And in a sign of unease about the business summit, industry sources say the list of executives who will meet Obama and Medvedev may be cut to 10 from each side from 18 and access for media may also be restricted.

They also said the meeting could be moved to the Kremlin from a luxury hotel, in a further indication that Russian authorities wanted to keep a tight grip on the talks. The Kremlin declined to comment.