Today in Russian Business – June 9, 2011

Could Russia’s thirst for technology be quenched with Skype source codes?  Microsoft Russia head Nikolai Pryanishnikov has reportedly said that the FSB may be the lucky recipients of the encryption codes for the online telephone service, though this report suggests otherwise.  Sberbank is making headlines with its plans to develop to an ATM with an inbuilt polygraph as a mean of preventing consumer fraud.  Ford is apparently planning to take its production in Russia up a gear with local partner Sollers.  According to the leader of the Georgian opposition party, quoted by an unidentified source in the Moscow Times, Georgia is likely to announce that it has removed its block on Russia’s entry into the World Trade Organization.  As Russia prepares to snatch up Belarussian assets, Nafta Moscow, the investment vehicle of tycoon Suleiman Kerimov, is reportedly in talks to acquire a controlling interest in state-owned Belarussian fertiliser producer Belaruskali for $15 billion.