Today in Russian Business – July 16, 2008

Alisher Usmanov has abandoned plans to take control of Kazakhmys through a reverse takeover “amid concerns over the opacity of his business affairs,” and is searching for another way of merging. Russian industrial production rose last month at the slowest pace since January 2003. Acron, the Russian producer of nitrogen-based fertilizers, is marketing 10% of its equity in London. A Russian ban on meat imports from eight countries, including Germany, France and Italy, begins today. Aeroflot agreed to buy five A321 aircraft worth a total of $452 million from European manufacturer Airbus.