TODAY: Kremlin cuts privatisation plan; Lukoil will not be bought; Gazprom anticipates loss; Rosneft may buy out TNK-BP minority shareholders; Navalny presents mayoral platform; Lebedev cross-examined, calls upon A-list support; Russia propping up Syrian economy? Obama says will not call Putin over Snowden.

The Kremlin will reduce its original commitments to privatisation, with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announcing that the state would remain in control of giants Rosneft and VTB, apparently due to the current low values of its other assets.  Analysts suggested that selling stakes in these companies, at this point, would create ‘lasting damage’ due to the current state of the markets; and that Russia needs a more vibrant private sector to stimulate growth.  Lukoil denies reports that it has received takeover offers from Rosneft: ‘It would be tough to buy us, practically impossible.’  Gazprom is expecting a loss of 10% of this year’s net profit due to low gas tariffs and at least $800 million in rebates to European clients, and denies allegations that it is blocking natural gas supplies from the E.U. to Ukraine.  Recent energy deals indicate that the Kremlin is ‘finally getting serious about opening up fast-growing Asia Pacific markets’, but what does this mean for its E.U. trade?  Rosneft says it will buy out minority shareholders in TNK-BP to relieve pressure and negative feedback, but Igor Sechin said that the company was not a ‘charity fund’, and would pay less for the shares than they were worth at the time of the takeover.  Two thirds of Russians are skeptical of spending for the 2014 Winter Olympics – ‘the most expensive in history’ – and a fifth believe that games money is ‘simply being stolen’.