Today in Russian Business – April 11, 2011

According to Vladimir Putin, Russia will not follow any World Trade Organization rules until it becomes a member. ‘Why the hell should they take us in if we are implementing all the rules anyway?‘  On Andrei Kostin’s plans to build VTB into ‘a Russian powerhouse‘.  Could Russia be planning to help Sweden out with its wolf deficit?  $5.5 million in taxes and fines against Arbat & Co have been dropped by an arbitration court.  Germany’s MAN is revealing its plan to start production in St Petersburg.  Andrei Borodin, the president of the Bank of Moscow, insists that he will not seek political asylum in the UK, saying that he hopes to make amends with Russian leaders.  Borodin has reportedly sold his stake in the company for half of its real value ‘according to my perceptions‘, although other sources suggest that the price was a ‘commercial secret‘.  Magnit got a 54% sales boost last month.  Potash producers in Spain, Germany and the UK want the EU to ensure that trade barriers limit rival imports from Belarus and Russia.