Today in Russian Business – May 31, 2011

The Central Bank has unexpectedly raised its deposit rate to 3.5%, largely thought to be a move to staunch capital outflows.  Russia’s consumer protection agency has banned all vegetable imports from Germany and Spain in light of the recent E. coli outbreak.  The postponing of Domodedovo airport’s IPO comes as no surprise: ‘Why should you go and buy Domodedovo at this price with a political risk when it is operating in a rather negative investment climate when you could go to China, for example, and buy a very quickly growing company without these risks and for the same price?‘  President Vladimir Putin is addressing ‘one of the most sensitive issues for voters‘: road building; he has pledged $285 billion over the next decade.  On the current state of the Dacha rental market.  The price of wheat dropped dramatically after Russia said it would resume grain shipments.  Reports suggest that it could ship 20 million tonnes worth of new grain to foreign markets.  Russia has delivered five MiG-29K carrier-based fighter jets and other technical equipment to the Indian navy.