Today in Russian Business – May 3, 2012

Presidential aide Arkady Dvorkovich has reportedly expressed hope that the rearmament of Russia’s army, which will cost $681 billion, will stimulate the growth of the country’s industry in its entirety.  Bloomberg reports that in April Russian manufacturing grew at the fastest pace in more than a year as output and employment rose and new orders mounted.  Putin has told a meeting of the government commission for foreign investment that in 2011, ‘over $52 billion worth of direct investment came to Russia from abroad. By FDI dynamics, we have actually reached the pre-crisis 2007 level’.  The same commission has backed an anti-monopoly claim which hopes to overturn the recent increase by Telenor of its stake in mobile operator Vimpelcom.   Logistics firm InterBulk Group has won an £8.1 million contract to provide packaging, warehousing and loading operations in Siberia.  Alfa Bank has revealed it will not be offering bonuses as its operations suffer.  Britain has refused to offer former head of Bank of Moscow Andrei Borodin political asylum.