Blogger Convicted of Extremism

A Samara court sentenced blogger Dmitry Kirilin to a one-year suspended prison term for extremist statements calling for overthrow of the regime. The blog stated that the current system of government is causing the degradation, demoralization, and dying out of the Russian people. Kirilin also advocated granting Chechnya independence, ceding the Kuril Islands to Japan, abolishing the draft, and disenfranchising alcoholics, criminal defendants, and people without secondary education.

http://lenta.ru/news/2009/10/07/blogger/

Medical Malpractice Award Against Railroad

A Russian court awarded a cesarean section patient $17,000 for negligence leading to infection and a hysterectomy. Importantly, the award was made against deep-pocket Russian Railways Company, the hospital's owner.

http://medportal.ru/mednovosti/news/2009/10/07/rusuit/

Yukos Convict Punished for Newspaper Interview

A Russian court approved a prison reprimand and 12-day solitary confinement of former Yukos officer Platon Lebedev for unauthorized correspondence: answering readers' questions in Novaya Gazeta. The court rejected the suggestion of Lebedev's attorneys that because they transmitted his statements to the newspaper outside of the prison, those communications were not subject to prison regulations.

http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=1251479&NodesID=6

St. Petersburg Gazprom Skyscraper Approved

The St. Petersburg city administration approved Gazprom's plans to build a 77-story skyscraper, which will be three times taller than St. Peter and Paul Cathedral, now the tallest building in the city. The project has been criticized as a threat to the city center's relatively intact 19th century architecture, to tourism, and to St. Petersburg's status as a UNESCO world heritage site, while supporters argue that the office and trade center will help the city share the prosperity that has transformed Moscow.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jpjEWSXmE7hMTCCXu4XhEhlGvHNAD9AT2L3G0

Chechen President Wins Libel Suit

A Moscow court held for Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov in his libel suit against rights group Memorial and its head Oleg Orlov for stating that Kadyrov was "guilty" of the murder of Chechen rights activist Natalia Estemirova. The court rejected Orlov's defense that he meant moral and political responsibility for creating an atmosphere in which such crimes were permissible, rather than criminal guilt. The court awarded $2,300 to Kadyrov. Kadyrov also asked the police to bring criminal defamation charges against Orlov.

http://lenta.ru/articles/2009/10/07/ramzan/
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/07/world/europe/07moscow.html

VimpelCom War Over

Alfa Group’s telecommunications company Altimo and Norway’s Telenor announced the end of their five-year battle over corporate governance issues related to their holdings in Russian and Ukrainian telecoms providers VimpelCom and Kyivstar. Telenor’s stake in VimpelCom has been under threat of seizure to enforce a Siberian court’s controversial $1.7 judgment for a 0.0002% shareholder in VimpelCom that challenged Telenor’s opposition to VimpelCom’s entry into the Ukrainian market. Altimo and Telenor will create a jointly owned mobile operator, Vimpelcom Ltd., to operate in Russia, Ukraine, six other former Soviet countries, and Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/technology/companies/06telenor.html?dbk
http://10.vedomosti.ru/companies/print/2009/10/05/852570

WTO Doubts Russia Will Join

World Trade Organization director general Pascal Lamy sees Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s announcement in June that Russia will seek WTO membership only as a customs union with Kazakhstan and Belarus as a sign that Russia has abandoned its 16-year effort to join WTO. Lamy noted in an interview with the New York Times that the proposal lacks precedent under WTO rules, and he observed that there is “no energy in Moscow” to join the group. Analysts point to Russia's emphasis on energy exports (rather than diversification) and suspicion of Western motives as reasons for the loss of interest in WTO membership.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/03/business/global/03wto.html

Bankrupt for a Day

On October 1, Raffeisenbank filed a bankruptcy petition against media and IT company RBC Information Systems, and announced the same day that it intends to withdraw the petition in light of continuing negotiations with the company. RBC is trying to restructure its total debt of $200 million, of which approximately $30 million is owed to Raffeisenbank.

http://10.vedomosti.ru/newspaper/print/2009/10/02/215302

Deripaska Wins Sochi Road Contract

Transstroi, of Oleg Deripaska’s Basic Element group, won a $1 billion contract for roadwork in Sochi. Transstroi was initially disqualified from the tender for submitting three bids, but the regional anti-monopoly authority ruled that this was a technical mistake and ordered that Transstroi be permitted to correct its submission.

http://10.vedomosti.ru/newspaper/print/2009/10/01/215197