Today in Russian Business – May 17, 2012

Bloomberg reports on how the threat of a crackdown on the protest movement is spooking international investors.  Citibank sees a decline in income from oil and an ongoing protest movement as threats to Russian economic stability over the next few years, says the Moscow Times.  It has been found that Russia extended financial aid to Nicaragua and Nauru, two of the nations that recognized the Georgian separatist region of South Ossetia, following their decision to acknowledge the independence of the breakaway territories.  Russia’s top central banker has reportedly warned that capital flight is a ‘serious problem’, as new statistics show that $42 billion has left the country in the first four months of the year.  The New York Times examines the great gains to be made by Alisher B. Usmanov as Facebook gears up for its IPO.