Today in Russian Business – Dec 14, 2009

Investors are demanding higher premiums for state-run company debt such as those of Russia’s Gazprom, over fears that yield spreads could widen further as a result of deteriorating public finances.  The FT writes on the monogorod – single industry town – of Tolyatti.  The WTO is waiting for Russia to deliver information on its customs union with Belarus and Kazakhstan before it sets a date to restart talks on Russia’s membership bid.  The UK’s proposed 50% supertax on banker bonuses will send British bankers to Russia, says The Times.  ‘Russia is not an easy environment to do business but the supertax has made the argument much easier,‘ according to the head of research at Renaissance Capital.