Today in Russian Business – Sept 11, 2008

Read a factfile on Russia’s raising of its wood tariffs, which will double costs for Nordic paper mills. Some mills, including Stora Enso, are pre-emptively outlining job cuts in anticipation of higher costs. President Dmitry Medvedev is blaming the US for the state of the Russian stock market, saying “they have let us all down”. Russia’s central bank has injected more than $10 billion into the banking system in an attempt to ease the credit shortage. Medvedev is “playing down” the current lull, but the flight of capital continues. Using the example of Mechel in its defense, the Kremlin will give its Federal Anti-Monopoly Service “sweeping” new powers, making it one of the government’s most powerful agencies. Mikhailovsky GOK, a unit of Metalloinvest, has won an auction for the Udokan copper deposit with a bid of $585 million. Read a transcript of Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s Moscow Times interview on investment.