Today in Russian Business – Oct 29, 2008

As part of a number of significant new financial agreements, China could lend Russian companies $20-30 billion. Silver miner Polymetal is having trouble keeping up with the demands of the financial crisis, although Russian imports are apparently not suffering. One analyst suggests that now is a good time for companies to reinvent themselves – and restart their public images – by rebranding. It’s not all doom and gloom, insists this article: ‘During a crisis, the economy rids itself of its most ineffective and outdated components.’ S7 wants the Austrian government’s stake in Austrian Airlines. Goodbye to the Volga saloon. Russia is in the process of swapping around $675 million creditor claims dating back to the Soviet Union for Eurobonds. Norway’s Telenor intends to fight a Russian court’s decision to freeze the shares it owns in Vimpelcom.