Today in Russian Business – March 29, 2012

A ‘defiant’ tone has apparently been noted at the current BRICS summit, where Brazil’s Trade and Industry Minister Fernando Pimentel has expressed hopes for a communique from the emerging market leaders which will denounce what they see as ‘unfair monetary policies’ by Europe and the United States.  Apparently VEB Chairman Vladimir Dmitriev has told the press that Moscow and New Delhi will switch to trading in domestic currencies within three years, following the example of Moscow and Beijing.  The BBC considers whether the BRICS could rival the G7.  The law firm acting for first deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov has accused an exiled ex-employee of attempting to tarnish the technocrat’s political reputation by leaking details of his family’s financial dealings.  The Kremlin is reportedly planning to spend as much as $867,000 on Putin’s inauguration do.  Sberbank has posted record annual profits, although both its annual and fourth-quarter results came in below market expectations.  Steelmaker Evraz has apparently agreed to pay a $228 million dividend despite lower than expected earnings.  Leading British department store Debenhams is planning to open its first Russian store in September.  For all of Medvedev’s efforts, attempts to transform Moscow into an international financial center have apparently reaped little success – according to a new survey, the capital is ranked the 65th most attractive financial center in the world out of 77 surveyed – below Glasgow, Shenzhen, Calgary and Warsaw.