Today in Russian Business – June 14, 2012

See Bloomberg for the IMF Mission to Russia’s statement on the state of the country’s economy, which notes that pension reform and a fiscal anchor are indispensable for the financial health of the state.  Resistance to participating in a State Statistics Service survey conveys the ongoing distrust small businesses have of the authorities, says the Moscow Times.   Apparently banknotes printed in Russia are circulating in Damascus as the conflict-ridden Syrian regime attempts to shore up its finances.  Heavy hailstorms damaged about 32,000 hectares of fields and gardens on June 8 in Russia’s southern Stavropol region, says ITAR-TASS.  Russia’s antitrust watchdog is hoping to secure an out-of-court settlement in the ongoing Vimpelcom dispute, Reuters reports.  According to two unidentified sources, Russia’s former Transport Minister Igor Levitin may be appointed head of the company that will consolidate the government’s stakes in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo airports.