Today in Russian Business – Nov 25, 2008

The federal budget has given the Deposit Insurance Agency $7.2 billion to protect troubled banks.  Advantages of devaluing the ruble: make Russian exports more attractive.  Disadvantages: deplete the foreign reserve fund.  As banks let go more and more workers, debt collectors are seeing a fourfold increase in clients.  Forget oil prices, says this columnist, investors don’t need much help to be put off: ‘the country’s previous richest man, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, is now in jail and the current richest man, Oleg Deripaska, has his hand out‘.  Unsurprisingly, the government has cut its economic growth forecast for the year.  Could Deripaska’s Soyuz Bank be bought by an affiliate of Gazprom?  Prosecutors have brought further fraud charges against Boris Berezovsky.  Forbes has denied yesterday’s reports that its Russian unit was bought by Onexim Group.