“As the world continues to face well-documented economic challenges, the trade forecast suggests grounds for optimism for international businesses. Despite the current climate, the overall trend for international trade is positive, with growth acceleration sooner than expected from 2014, rather than 2015,” the report said.

Oil prices will be higher but GDP will grow more slowly, according to the Russian Economic Development Ministry’s updated 2012-2015 socio-economic forecast.

From 2013 to 2016, the Russian Finance Ministry proposes to move towards budget regulations that limit spending by a benchmark price of oil over a ten-year period.

The creation of a central depository in Russia in the form described by law could deprive custodians of a substantial portion of their business, several representatives of custodian banks, including foreign ones, told Interfax.

The U.S. Congress plans to hear the issue of canceling the Jackson-Vanik amendment by this summer, said Mikhail Margelov, chairman of the Federation Council’s International Affairs Committee.

In March 2012, Russia’s federal budget was executed with a surplus of RUR125bn ($4.26bn, or (EURO)3.19bn), Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said at a scientific conference at the Higher School of Economics.

Official unemployment in Russia will not exceed 1.45mn people in 2012, Deputy Healthcare and Social Development Minister Maxim Topilin said.

The revenues of the Russian federal budget totaled RUR2.964tn ($100.2bn, or (EURO)76.3bn) in January-March 2012, or 25.2% of the plan for the year set out in the law on the 2012 budget, according to the Finance Ministry’s preliminary estimates.

The improvement of competitive conditions in Russia due to its accession to the World Trade Organization will help modernize its economy.

The amount of counterfeit banknotes discovered in the Russian banking system in the first quarter of 2012 was 19 151, down 15.4% from 22 638 in the fourth quarter of 2011 and down 16% from 22 795 in the first quarter of 2011.

Russia has fully overcome the consequences of the global economic crisis, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said when delivering the government’s annual report to the parliament.

In the first quarter of 2012, Russia’s foreign sovereign debt grew 3.7%, from $545.15bn on January 1 to $565.247bn on April 1, according to the Central Bank’s preliminary estimates. 

The number of tax declarations submitted by Russians for 2011 may grow significantly compared to the previous year, Daniil Yegorov, deputy head of the Federal Tax Service, said at a news conference. The growth may amount to 30%-50% in some regions, the tax official said. “This is significant for Russia,” he emphasized.

Russia’s residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) market was able to weather the brunt of the recent economic downturn intact and establish a benchmark of performance for itself in the process, according to a recent report published by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services.

The output of products and services in basic types of economic activities in Russia grew 7.1% in February 2012 compared to February 2011, reported the Federal Statistics Service.

The Federal Service for Fiscal and Budgetary Supervision, Rosfinnadzor, inspected over 30 000 companies engaged in foreign economic operations last year, a Rosfinnadzor official told an online conference.

The board of directors of Shtokman Development AG (SDAG) met in Moscow to make a third attempt at approving the final investment decision (FID) to launch the development of the huge arctic gas field. While two years ago it was postponed by the downturn in prices for LNG, now the investors are haggling over future revenues.

The oil arm of Russia’s energy giant, Gazprom Neft, has approved a medium term investment program to upgrade its Moscow oil refinery. It will allocate more than RUR20bn ($681.4mn, or (EURO)510.6mn) for the project in 2012.

Total can and is willing to help Russia tap its offshore oil and gas fields, Total E&P Russie Director General Jacques de Boisseson said at the 7th annual Russia Offshore conference, organized by the Energy Exchange.

Russia’s Gazprom Neft Lubricants and U.S. Chevron have signed a license agreement to produce marine engine oils, which will allow Gazprom Neft’s subsidiary to become a supplier of a wide range of lubricants, including hydraulic, compressor, turbine, cooling fluids, and specialized lubricants for marine and river transport.

Russia’s largest state crude producer Rosneft has completed open debates of the 2012 seismic data acquisition program for the East Prinovozemelsky areas in the Kara Sea and the South Russky license in the Pechora Sea, in the south-eastern part of the Barents Sea.

The price of natural gas delivered by Gazprom to Ukraine will rise 2.4%, to $426 per 1 000 cu m, beginning from the second quarter, said a source at the Ukrainian fuel and energy company Naftogaz.

In January-March 2012, Russia produced 128 458mn metric tons (944.17mn bbl) of oil and gas condensate, up 2.5% from the same period of last year, according to the Central Dispatcher Office of the fuel and energy sector.

The beginning of March is, as usual, the time for CERA Week. One of the most prestigious energy conferences in the world, IHS CERA Week was held this year in Houston from March 5 to March 9.

Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development plans to start privatizing large energy companies, such as Rosneft, FGC UES, and RusHydro, in 2012, Minister Elvira Nabiullina said on March 29.

State Corporation Russian Technologies, which holds a 70.42% stake in VSMPO-Avisma, a leading producer of titanium and magnesium alloys, including ingots and mill products, is considering reducing its shareholding to a blocking stake.

OJSC Raspadskaya plans to produce 16.7 million tons of coal in 2015, the company said in a Eurobond memorandum. The new production target is 9.7% less than the 18.5 million tons the group said this time last year that it aimed to be producing by 2015.

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has assigned an issue rating of B+ to a proposed Eurobond to be issued by the Russia-headquartered international steel manufacturer Evraz Group S.A. This is in line with the B+ long-term corporate credit rating on Evraz and the issue rating on its other existing rated debt instruments.

Russia’s Severstal, one of the world’s leading steel and mining companies, said it completed the purchase of Liberia-based Putu iron ore project in a deal to strengthen its position in the global iron ore market.

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Evraz Group’s long-term foreign currency issuer default rating (IDR) at BB-, with a Stable outlook, short-term foreign currency IDR at B, and senior unsecured rating at BB-. The rating service at the same time assigned an expected BB-(exp) rating to Evraz’s prospective Eurobond issue.

Russia exported 24 metric tons of gold last year, including nuggets, powder, ingots, and other forms of gold for all applications, up 6.7% from 22.5 tons the year before, the Gold Producers’ Union said. Precious metals exports in products for technology applications totaled 57.2 kg of gold, 24 tons of platinum, 34 tons of palladium, and 4.2 tons of silver.

GV Gold, one of the top ten gold producers in Russia, also known as Vysochaishy, said its net profit amounted to RUR2.429bn ($82.9mn, or (EURO)62.15mn) in 2011, up 35.8% year-on-year. Its 2010 net profit was RUR1.789bn, the company said in its financial statement prepared to Russian Accounting Standards.

Last year, Russia produced 35.140mn carats of raw diamonds, up 1% from 34.857mn carats in 2010, the Finance Ministry said on its web-site.

Fiat SpA, the Italian carmaker that controls Chrysler Group LLC formed through a merger in 2009, plans to build a modern full-cycle plant in St. Petersburg, Russia. The possibility was discussed at a meeting of St. Petersburg Deputy Governor Sergei Vyazalov with Chrysler Group representatives.

Kaliningrad Region Governor Nikolai Tsukanov said that investment agreements are being drafted to build five car plants in Russia’s exclave on the Baltic Sea coast.

In March, new car and LCV sales in Russia grew 13% year-on-year, to 252 816 vehicles from 223 842, the AEB Automobile Manufacturers Committee said. Car sales in January-March 2012 went up 19% to 614 273, compared to 518 266 in the same period of 2011.

General Motors Co. plans to expand production capacity in low-cost countries, the company said in an internal strategy document.

Russia’s leading truck maker Kamaz and the Belgian division of the Swedish industrial corporation Atlas Copco are implementing an investment project to optimize energy efficiency in compressed air production.

AvtoVAZ’s net profit under Russian Accounting Standards grew 25.6% in 2011 compared to 2010, reaching RUR3.106bn ($104.8mn, or (EURO)80.2mn), Russia’s largest car producer said.

Sollers Far East, an operation of the automotive giant Sollers located in Vladivostok, assembled 6 700 SsangYong SUVs in the first quarter of 2012, up 65% year on year, spokesperson Taisiya Lagutina said.

Russia’s LED traffic light market is expected to grow 300% to (EURO)100mn by 2015, Anatoly Chubais, head of Russian state nanotechnology corporation RusNano, said at the ceremonial signing of the agreement to establish a joint venture between Philips and the St. Petersburg-based Optogan.

Sheremetyevo International Airport and Terminal, which operates Terminal D at Sheremetyevo, have completed their merger. Sheremetyevo has taken over the Terminal’s rights and obligations.

Russia’s largest air carrier, Aeroflot, said it served 2.3186mn passengers in January-February, or 30% more than in the same period of last year.

Russia’s transport safety watchdog said it has grounded all Bell-407 light helicopters operated by Ak Bars Aero until the causes of the crash in Tatarstan on April 6 are established. A Bell-407 of the Tatarstan government’s official flight operator vanished from radar screens. A local resident later found it in the republic’s Almetyevsk region. The pilot died.

Domestic freight handling increased 2% to 850.8 million tons, as international carriage rose 6.1% to 543.7 million tons. Exports weighed in at 400.0 million tons (up 3.9%), imports at 112.5 million tons (up 13.7%), and transit freightage at 30.3 million tons (up 9.3%).

Grain harvest in Russia may reach 94mn to 100mn metric tons, Arkady Zlochevsky, head of the Russian Grain Union, told a videoconference between Moscow, Astana, and Kiev on preparations for spring sowing.

Russian mineral fertilizer producer Acron has commissioned a new urea line at its plant in Veliky Novgorod in northwest Russia. Acron started working on the Urea 1000 project in 2008, and a full-scale construction of the new urea line began in 2010. The company invested $95mn in the project.

The world’s largest fast food chain, McDonald’s, said it will invest over RUR5bn ($168.7mn, or (EURO)128.8mn) in business development in Russia, according to Khamzat Khasbulatov, CEO of McDonald’s Russia and Eastern Europe.

Fitch Ratings has assigned Bank VTB’s two issues of senior unsecured exchange bonds, Series BO-03 and BO-04, each for RUR5bn ($171.1mn, or (EURO)129.1mn) long-term local currency ratings of BBB and national long-term ratings of AAA(rus).

The World Bank considers it necessary to introduce legal restrictions on cash turnover in Russia, World Bank expert Cem Dener said at a seminar on the modernization of the treasury systems in APEC economies held in the capital city of the Volga republic of Tatarstan.

The aggregate sum of liabilities of the Moscow region’s banks dropped 4.9%, or by RUR1.039tn, in January-February 2012 to RUR20.091tn ($679.4bn, or (EURO)517.14bn), reported the Central Bank’s Moscow division.

Last year, MDM Bank’s net profit under Russian Accounting Standards surged 210% to RUR1.38bn ($46.7mn, or (EURO)35.5mn), it said in a statement.

The maximum interest rate on deposits with Russia’s top ten banks for personal deposits grew by 0.03 percentage points in the first ten days of April compared to the last ten days of March, to 9.54% from 9.51%, reported the Central Bank.

The Russian insurance market has become attractive to foreign investors again, said Lyuba Tarnopolsky, principal banker at EBRD.

Russia’s KIT Finance Group said that it has closed the deal to sell 99.99% of voting shares in its subsidiary, KIT Finance Insurance, to international insurer Liberty Mutual.

The Urals city of Yekaterinburg has started preparations for the Ural International Exhibition and Forum of Industry and Innovation, Innoprom-2012, due to be held from July 12 to 15.

International payment system PayPal may enter the Russian market over the next year, Mikhail Mamut, a board member of the Electronic Money Association, told Interfax.

As analysts said one year ago, intensified consolidation was one of the key trends on the Russian telecommunications market in 2011, when seven interregional wireline operators were integrated into one long-distance operator Rostelecom.

Russia’s nascent mobile advertising market is set to evolve alongside the growth of mobile advertising worldwide and the rapid development of mobile technology, although the effectiveness of mobile advertising has yet to be determined, and subscribers have expressed some resistance, analysts say.

The Altai Territory in southwest Siberia will host the first international festival and forum entitled “Rural Tourism in Russia” in June. Russian and foreign participants will be able to demonstrate their experience to develop rural tourism, folk crafts, and other non-agricultural rural activities.