Today in Russian Business – March 5, 2010

According to President Dmitry Medvedev, unemployment is Russia’s ‘main social challenge‘.  Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin are at odds over a government plan to increase pensions by 6.3% next month.  The Kremlin’s strategy for the auto industry includes cutting the initial investment target figure down to $40 billion.  A Moscow court abandoned a suit filed by Yevroset, Russia’s largest mobile phone retailer, effectively prohibiting the firm from attaining a trademark on a slang term.  A government official says that the Kremlin has poured $33 billion into its domestic banks since the financial crisis.