Today in Russian Business

British banking giant Barclays, “whose investment-banking arm left Russia in 1999 nursing $250 million in losses,” could be poised to acquire small-size lender Expobank. President Vladimir Putin, at his last news conference as President, praised the economic success of Russia in 2007. Woori Bank, a unit of South Korea’s third-largest financial services company, has signed a preliminary agreement to invest in the construction of roads, buildings and resources projects on the Russian island of Sakhalin. Russian agribusiness firm Razgulay said its 2007 revenue jumped 38% on high grain prices. The Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of Russia confirmed that the Bank would not use further strengthening of the ruble to fight inflation in the first half of the year. Rostelecom says it is ready to sell 11% of Golden Telecom to VimpelCom.