Today in Russian Business – Dec 7, 2009

‘[N]o amount of image building will ever hide the fact that Russia has not yet mastered the art of designing a decent internal-combustion engine, a 19th-century technology,‘ notes Vladimir Frolov, arguing for the insourcing of technological innovation.  The New York Times has a round-up of soundbites, translated from its Russian-language blog, on Medvedev’s proposal to change Russia’s time zones, as well as an article presenting evidence for the proposal.  ‘If the time differences were less, then Russia would be perceived by people as a more compact, more manageable place.‘  Sberbank is reporting a profit drop of almost 88% year-on-year. The Indian prime minister is in Russia for a three-day visit, working towards the goal of reaching $10 billion in annual trade by the end of next year.