Today in Russian Business – July 7, 2011

Russian grain exports passing through the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk will decline this year.  The government has spent $4.3 million on its 2011 harvests, battling 2.2 million hectares worth of locusts.  Seeds and sprouts from Egypt are currently banned from Russia following last month’s E. coli outbreak.  The news that the Duma is cracking down on alcohol sales, with the possibility that beer will no longer be sold at night-time kiosks as of 2013, is affecting industry stock prices: Carlsberg shares have already taken a hit.  Ballistic missile designers and the Defense Ministry are clashing over contracts and delays; the President has called for a probe into claims that the procurement plan for 2011 had been mishandled.  Russia is creating tensions with the U.S. in the realm of space exploration, by attempting to triple the cost of using Soyuz crew capsules as transport to the International Space Station.