Today in Russian Business – Jan 27th, 2009

Yevgeny Chichvarkin, the former owner of mobile phone company Yevroset, who is suspected of kidnapping in Russia, has reportedly fled to London.  ‘The case is likely to irritate the Kremlin, which regards Britain as a pernicious haven for Russia’s enemies.’  Sberbank has seen a mild rise in third-quarter profit, contributing overall to the highest Russian stock climb in seven weeks.  The Kremlin is planning a 900 billion ruble ($27.4 billion) capital injection for commercial banks, which will favor those that are state-run.  Truck maker Kamaz expects a net loss of 1.5 billion roubles ($45.59 million) in 2009.  Russia’s Polyus Gold and Canada’s Kinross Gold Corporation have signed an agreement on joint gold exploration at the Nezhdaninskoye deposit in Eastern Siberia.  Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Russian metals companies could merge with their rivals, but only to enhance competitiveness, rather than to consolidate debt.  ‘It doesn’t take a lot of brains simply to unify debts with debts.  If we combine two poor people, the family will not become richer.’