Today in Russian Business – June 22, 2011

Inter RAO will delay cutting off power supplies to Belarus until next week; the cash-strapped country apparently owes Inter RAO $1.5 billion.  Belarus receives only 10% of its electricity from Russia, but the threat of being cut off is ‘a psychological blow‘.  Yulia Latynina exposes the methods used to make government tenders exclusive, and criticizes Russia’s failure to reform both its state exams and the military.  Foreign companies are responding positively to the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).  Stroimarket and Stimul could face fraud charges after planting trees around a bridge in Volgograd that ‘had no roots‘.  Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has shown his support for French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde to take the role of IMF leader, calling her ‘worthy‘ and ‘very competent‘.  Putin is currently in France, where he apologized to construction company Vinci for delays to its Khimki Forest highway project, and oversaw the signing of a contract with Indonesian PT Sky Aviation which plans to buy 12 Sukhoi SuperJets for $379.2 million.