Today in Russian Business – Oct 28, 2010

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin acknowledges that Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych has had a positive effect on trade ties between the two countries.  The FT looks at the state of this winter’s Russian grain crop in light of lighter planting this year. ‘The government’s forecasts are over-optimistic.‘  Russia’s fishing fleet cannot be maintained without $12.8 billion in investment over the next decade, says the government.  It would appear that the battle between open-source and proprietary software is on, after a schoolteacher claimed he was made to quit his job for voicing a complaint about Microsoft programs. ‘The education directorate is giving preference to Microsoft. There has to be freedom of choice.‘  A ‘motivational‘ tax is to be imposed on systems that only support the Global Positioning System; those which support both GPS and Glonass will be exempt.  Russia says it is willing to consider giving Ukraine access to a Glonass signal.  The BBC gives Russia’s art market a glowing report.