Today in Russian Business – June 15, 2012

According to Citigroup, Russia must lower the average oil price it needs to balance the budget by more than 30% to attract investors and cut risk.  A poll by British auditing firm Ernst & Young has found that foreign investors see potential in the Russian market but are spooked by the country’s lack of transparency.   State statistics show that GDP expanded 4.9% last quarter from the same period last year after rising 4.8% in the fourth quarter.  Russia’s Uralkali, the world’s second biggest potash producer by capacity, has announced a 10.5% quarter-on-quarter fall in the first three months of 2012 to $780 million as a result of lower potash deliveries.  German generic drugmaker Stada apparently anticipates that Russia will surpass Germany as its biggest market by sales in 2015.