The volume of Russia’s foreign debt fell in dollar terms by 0.55 percent and as of August 1, 2012 amounted to USD41.323 billion. Measured in Euros, the debt rose by 1.9 percent, up to 33.629 billion Euros, according to the Ministry of Finance.

Russia is less vulnerable to any possible new wave of the economic crisis than other countries. Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev expressed this point of view in a live radio broadcast on the air of the “Echo of Moscow” station.

The surplus of the consolidated budget of the Russian Federation in January-June of this year amounted to 1.126 trillion roubles, according to the Federal Treasury.

The Ministry of Economic Development lowered its forecast for growth of investment in fixed assets in 2012 to 5.5 percent from 6.6 percent, the Deputy Economic Development Minister Andrei Klepach announced.

Russian authorities are aiming to increase the Asia-Pacific region in Russia’s foreign trade up to at least 50 percent. This was announced by First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov at a news conference on August 29.

The official unemployment rate in Russia decreased by 2.8 percent to 1.1 million people, according to an announcement of the press service of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation made on August 10, 2012.

Net capital outflow from Russia this year is estimated at USD3-5 billion so far, said Deputy Minister of Economic Development Andrei Klepach at a briefing in Moscow.

In the first half of 2012, the Moscow Oil Refinery, owned by Gazprom Neft increased its net profit under RAS by one half compared to the same period of the previous year to 2.9 billion roubles.

Electricity production in Russia from January to July 2012 increased 1.4 percent to 617 billion kilowatt-hours, according to the Federal State Statistics Service.

A ceremonial start in the commercial operation of a new combined cycle plant in Perm was held on August 28, 2012.

At the end of August, Gazprom postponed the development of the Shtokman field indefinitely. Earlier in August, Statoil formally left the Shtokman project, returning the 24-percent stake of the Shtokman Development company that it owned.

Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that his agency plans to adjust the Energy Strategy of Russia until 2030 to the growth of shale gas production in the U.S. and the development of LNG in the Asia-Pacific region.

Gazprom Neft-Lubricants and Chevron signed a license agreement for the production of marine engine oils, which will allow the subsidiary company of Gazprom to become a supplier of a wide range of lubricants.

The Sverdlovsk region and TNK-BP signed a strategic cooperation agreement, which will attract additional tax revenue for the budget, the regional administration announced.

Japanese companies Marubeni and Mitsui are discussing their participation in the project of Rosneft to build a petrochemical complex in Nakhodka, according to the Ministry of Energy.

Rospan International (part of TNK-BP) is planning to issue a tender for the construction of oil pipeline Yamal with the total length of about 374 km, which will begin shipping oil from fields in the Yamal-Nenets district and the Krasnoyarsk territory.

In July 2012, primary oil refining in Russia reached an absolute record at 23.6 million tons according to Rosstat. The growth rate of production in the sector also increased compared to last year, from 3.6 percent in June to 4.5 percent in July.

VSMPO-Avisma and Messier-Bugatti-Dowty have agreed to extend long-term agreement for the supply of titanium forgings and assembly components, said the Russian company.

In the first half of 2012 JSC Severstal saw a reduction in net profit under IFRS by 49.1 percent to USD582 million from USD1.143 billion in the same period of the previous year, the company said.

In the first half of 2012, Evraz Group experienced a net loss of USD50 million under IFRS, compared to the 263 million in net profit in the first half of 2011, according to the reported data of the company.

MMC Norilsk Nickel plans to direct an investment of 120 billion roubles in the development of the mineral complex, the company said.

The main trend this year for the non-ferrous metallurgy industry in general, is toward the reduction in the price of all groups of metals. Many businesses are forced to revise their investment programs, increase the timing of their implementation, as well as to cut production.

The international ratings agency Standard & Poor’s upgraded the ratings of Gazprombank’s foreign and local currency issuer default rating to “BBB–” from “BB+”, according to a press release from the credit institution.

At the end of the first half of 2012 OJSC M.Video’s net profit amounted to 1.208 billion roubles under IFRS, which is 1.6 times higher than in the first half of 2011 (766 million roubles).

The retail trade turnover in Russia from January to July 2012 rose by 6.8 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching the level of 11.534 trillion roubles, according to the operative report of Rosstat.

In the second quarter, the net profit of telecommunications company Vimpelcom Ltd., which includes Russian OJSC VimpelCom (operating the Beeline brand), under U.S. GAAP totaled USD488mln.

Credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s assigned a rating of “BB” to the revolving credit line (revolving credit facility) of VimpelCom Amsterdam Ltd. The amount of the loan is USD500 million, and the note matures in 2014.

The South-Western Bank of Sberbank of Russia extended to Gloria Jeans a revolving line of credit with a limit for documentary operations in the total amount of 1.9 billion roubles, the bank said.

In Ulyanovsk, construction began at a site of a new plant for the production of dry building mixes with the price tag of almost 800 million roubles. Each year it will produce 180 thousand tons of primer compositions, waterproofing, putty, plaster, and tile adhesive.

By the end of 2012, the SU-155 construction company plans to increase the production of concrete products in the Nizhny Novgorod region at least two times.

More than 20 million roubles in expenditures, 98 administrative procedures, and a thousand days are needed to overcome government barriers in the Russian residential construction sector.

Two Russian girls were in the top ten at the world beauty contest held on June 30, 2012 in Houston, Texas.

The sales in Russia of the world leading soft drink company Coca-Cola in the second quarter of 2012 increased by nine percent compared with the same period one year earlier, the company said.

International company Unilever plans to consolidate production of an entire line of ketchup and tomato sauces in Russia on a single platform in the Tula region by September of this year.

From January 2008 to January 2011, the total area of agricultural land in Russia decreased by 9.8 million hectares. These figures were presented during an August 2012 council meeting of Russia’s Accounts Audit Chamber.

In the first half of 2012, Polyus Gold International Ltd. (controlling shareholder is “Pops Gold”) has increased its net profit under IFRS by 2.1 times – up to USD425.9 million from USD206.8 million, the company said.

Diamonds Anabara, a subsidiary of ALROSA, filed a federal antimonopoly service (FAS) application for the acquisition of 100 percent of the voting shares of Lower Lena, one of the largest independent producers of diamonds in Russia.

The amount of stone-encrusted jewelry (with corundum and semi-precious stones) produced in Russia increased by 3.9 percent for the first seven months of 2012, compared to the same period of the previous year.

Rosgosstrakh, Russia’s largest insurer, increased its net profit under RAS for the first half of the year by more than seven times to 1.339 billion roubles, as follows from the company’s financial statements.

State company Rosneftegaz headed by former Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, aims to buy assets of IES, which is controlled by businessman Viktor Vekselberg. This information came from the Russian media, citing anonymous sources.

The Rosatom Commission confirmed the Baltic plant as the chief contractor under a shipbuilding contract for the construction of an atomic icebreaker of the new generation with the capacity of 60 megawatts.

Within four years, the share of modern weapons and equipment in the Russian navy will reach 30 percent, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting on equipping the navy in early August 2012.

The Krasnodar region will present at the International Investment Forum Sochi-2012 a series of new industrial projects. There is a venture to create a generic pharmaceutical production line, which would have a price tag of more than 800 million roubles.

Investments in fixed assets of enterprises and organizations in the Tyumen region in January-June 2012 amounted to 62.85 billion roubles, the press service of the governor of the Tyumen region announced at a press conference in late August.