Today in Russian Business – Aug 9, 2010

‘Bad things happen in August. That’s why you should sell now.‘  Fire damage is not impacting insurance companies as much as might be expected, because ‘few homes are insured and even fewer claims are made for damaged property‘ – less than 15% of Russia’s homes are thought to be covered by insurance.  Egypt says that it agreed the terms of its wheat imports from Russia before the government announced its temporary export ban, and is now therefore seeking an additional 60,000 tons of wheat per month to make up for the inflated price of its 540,000 ton order.  Vladimir Frolov says that Medvedev’s comments on the 2012 presidential elections ‘turned him into a political lame duck […] Who is going to believe in Russia’s modernization — much less invest money in it — if the political father of the plan might step down at any moment?‘  Russia could move to boost domestic production by tightening restrictions for foreign car assembly and propose investment guidelines for companies that could affect major players like GM, Ford and Toyota, says Reuters.  On privatization: ‘one of the key questions – and something that will influence which banks the government hires – is the level of non-Russian investment the state is prepared to countenance.‘