Today in Russian Business – March 15, 2012

In the wake of Viktor Vekselberg’s wholly acrimonious departure from Rusal, the company’s share prices have fallen to a two month-low, with investors rattled over corporate governance.  A UniCredit Bank report entitled ‘Russian Refometer’, has apparently recommended that the country introduce a slew of economic reforms if it wishes to avoid stagnation.  Internet company Mail.ru Group has announced that its board chairman Yury Milner will leave the company, with all good wishes to its current chief executive Dmitry Grishin, who will become CEO and chairman.  An in-depth analysis by Reuters considers why German generic drugmaker Stada has failed to establish a market presence in Russia, despite prolonged attempts at takeovers in the past two years.  Having gained healthy profits in the fourth quarter, meat producer Cherkizovo has warned that Russia’s expected entry into the WTO could affect domestic prices and hurt the company’s turnover.  Mikhail Prokhorov’s gold miner Polyus Gold is apparently edging closer to its London listing.  President Medvedev has denied a newspaper report that a new bill on official expenses could allow state employees to hide some of their outgoings.