Today in Russian Business – Dec 24, 2010

The BBC’s Steve Rosenburg takes Arkady Dvorkovich to task over corruption, lack of the rule of law, the Magnitsky case and the Khodorkovsky trial in a video interview.  In an unprecedented case, the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce has fined the Russian government $3.5 million in damages to be paid to Yukos shareholders.  Click here for a Bloomberg video report on how likely it is that Russia will join the WTO in 2011.  Russia’s GAZ Group and Daimler have signed an agreement to launch a new facility for the production of light commercial vehicles in Russia.  Did a factory worker lose his job over complaints to Vladimir Putin about poor working conditions?  Rusal has called for the removal of the board of directors at Norilsk Nickel, in a sign that the aluminum giant is still unwilling to relinquish its stake in the miner.  Truck maker Volvo has said it will increase its investment in trucks assembly in Russia to €250 million euros.  Prime Minister Putin has pledged that Russia will spend about $555 million next year to support the domestic auto industry.  Evraz Group has apparently purchased Inprom, thus forming the largest steel distributor in the former Soviet Union.  Russia’s eternal love affair with markets.