Mobile phone operator Vimpelcom paid $561.8 million to boost its stake in Kazakhstan’s carrier Kar-Tel to 75%. Metalloinvest, the iron ore and steel company controlled by Alisher Usmanov, has picked Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse and Deutsche as organizers for an initial public offering. A group of State Duma deputies proposed a major overhaul of the Customs Code “aimed at simplifying the process of importing goods into the country and stamping out corruption.” Oleg Deripaska is “offended” by the London High Court judge’s decision that he could be tried in Britain and his implications about the state of the Russian justice system. A new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers reveals that Russian bankers and their counterparts abroad view liquidity shortage as their biggest risk during the credit crunch.