Today in Russian Business – Feb 20, 2012

There has been another raid on the bank of tycoon and Kremlin critic Alexander Lebedev, just days after he nominated anti-corruption crusader Alexei Navalny for the board of airline Aeroflot, in which he owns a stake.  Russia is, according to the Moscow Times, mulling a one-time windfall tax on those who made money in the privatizations of the 1990s, similar to one introduced in Britain in 1997.  Prime Minister Putin has thanked oil companies TNK and Surgutneftegas for their financial support of Russia’s seaborne nuclear forces in the Pacific in 2002.  The Kremlin has voiced hopes that foreign investors will be involved in the construction and management of the Black Sea port of Taman.  Reuters considers why placing money in Russian infrastructure could be a sound investment.  Alexander Shokhin, chairman of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs apparently believes that once Russian joins the WTO, $13.4 billion will be required to keep Russia’s agriculture industrial complex afloat.  Could Greece scupper otherwise rosy prospects for Russia’s stock market?