Today in Russian Business – June 29, 2009

Federal budget revenue will account for about 16% of national GDP in 2009.  Bloomberg reports on why it will take the government years to recover from the crisis.  Following Vladimir Putin’s complaints about the cost of pork, X5 Retail Group has slashed prices.  Telenor has said that it will not enter discussions with Alfa Group about settling their dispute until the end of Farimex Products’ lawsuit.  An op-ed piece in the Moscow Times argues that ‘Telenor’s legal troubles echo the Yukos case and have become a test of President Dmitry Medevedev’s commitment to the rule of law and an independent judiciary’.  Sberbank has warned that their joint deal with Magna to buy Opel could fall through.  Bloomberg reports that the bank may abandon the joint bid for Opel after GM raised the prices for its unit.  The Times reports on how the opening of Telman Ismailov’s new luxury hotel in Turkey has fueled the ire of Prime Minister Putin.  The Times also features a report on a lawsuit between Boris Berezovsky and his former yachtbroker.  The New York Times reports on the wave of unemployment that it suggests will follow the government’s closure of all gambling establishments.