Sberbank plans offering commodity transaction financing through its Swiss subsidiary and hopes to become a major player on the European market. It has already launched its first transactions. The initial focus will be on financing Russian commodities exports, but the bank does not exclude expanding internationally to serve independent traders and non-Russian trade flows. The news of Sberbank’s funding commodity transactions came one week after BNP Paribas became the first bank to sell a bundle of commodity trade finance transactions to investors in an attempt to deleverage while continuing to service clients.

In early July, Vnesheconombank (VEB) signed an agreement with Adam Street Partners, which is an international investment group, according to a recent press release published by VEB.

The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) has added American Express to its payment system register. American Express can be divided into two major groups.

The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that the circumstances surrounding Russia’s grant of asylum to former NSA contractor Edward Snowden did not undermine the common interests that the United States and Russia shared.

The Defense Minister of Russia Sergei Shoigu said on August 9, 2013 that United States officials agreed to observe the military drills at Zapad 2013.

Sergei Ryabkov, who serves as Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, participated in early August in a meeting that was being attended by both American and Russian defense and foreign officials in Washington, D.C.

From January to June, the share of the European Union in the composition of Russia’s foreign trade has increased, reaching USD202.7 billion. The monetary value corresponds to a 50.1-percent share of the country’s foreign trade as a whole.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently published a report that stated that the shale oil resources that Russia has total almost 75 billion barrels, which is the largest value for any county in the world.

Rosneft and ExxonMobil have finalized their agreement on starting a collaborative initiative for creating the Arctic Research Center (ARC) in Russia. The two companies have plans to use the most cutting edge technology and support their joint ventures on an international scale.

In late May 2013, ExxonMobil made a decision to pay one of the largest oil enterprises in Russia Rosneft an additional amount of USD0.25 per every barrel of oil reserves.

The U.S.-based oil servicing company OFS International came under the control of TMK, Russia’s major steel pipe producer. Recently, TMK made a statement to the effect that it had acquired a one-hundred-percent interest in pipe services and manufacturing assets of OFS.

The head of Shell gas filling stations in Russian Andrei Arzamastsev recently sat down for an interview with Russian journalists. In the interview, he stated that Shell has set a target to open 40 new gas stations in Russia within the next two years.

OJSC HaloPolymer is one of the largest world producers of fluoropolymer products (nine percent of the world market) and the only Russian producer of specialized fluoropolymers.

The United States Enrichment Corporation, abbreviated as USEC, has started to spend more money on uranium enrichment services. In the first half of the current year, the company has spent an amount that is almost USD36 million greater than what had been spent in the previous year.

Yevgeny Dod recently had an interview with the Russia 24 television channel. During this interview, he said that by the year 2016 or 2017, RusHydro will be completely ready for privatization.

Evraz is a famous producer of steel components in Russia. The company has announced new plans to ship from 100,000 to 200,000 rails and about 40,000 to 50,000 wheels to the United States and the European countries every year.

Rusal Armenal has set a new goal to increase its production of aluminum foil to 33,600 tons. The company hopes to achieve this result by the year 2015.

Pharmsynthez, a leading Russian pharmaceutical company, has plans to place its stock on the NASDAQ exchange by November 2014. Pharmsynthez is aiming at increasing its net profits under U.S. GAAP in the year 2013.

The head of the delegation of U.S. jurists to Ukraine Ita M. Neymotin, a former prosecutor in Florida State Attorney’s office, once proved the innocence of a person sentenced to death and procured his released from prison. Since then, the pursuit of justice has become the key objective of her life.

The Federal Custom Service of Russia has published a report that states wheat exports in Russia have reached the volume of 1.23 million tons. In the same period of the previous year, exports were 6.136 million tons.

Caterpillar has entered into a joint venture with Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) to assemble the SD70Ace locomotive. UVZ is a major producer of railcars and tanks in Russia.

Gary Tilson has spent 29 years at General Motors, working in China and the United States. The decision for Gary Tilson to join the GM Avtovaz venture was taken by the group’s six-seat board of directors chosen by the shareholders of the GM Avtovaz joint venture. The board itself was recently reconstituted.

Officials in Washington, D.C. and Moscow have made an agreement to construct a mail processing center at the JFK International Airport in New York City. The main objective of the mail hub would be to help the Russian postal service process its heavy loads of mail.

Cyber threats can be dealt with more effectively if all states achieve collaboration and cooperation in the area of communications technology at an international level, according to Nikolai Nikiforov, the Russian Communication Minister.

VimpelCom is a major mobile operator in Russia. In the second quarter of 2013, i.e. the period between April and June, the net profits of the Amsterdam-based company surged by 17 percent.

Porgnoz, a software developer based in Perm, has plans to hold its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014, according to the Russian company’s press office.

The International Space Station (ISS) will receive a new laboratory unit this year. This module features an extra cabin which will provide astronauts with complete protection from the radiation that exists in space.

Russia has successfully completed a launch of a telecommunication satellite for a U.S. firm SES. The satellite is meant to replace the NSS 806 that provides digital broadcasting to North America.

Grishin Robotics is a company that has been established by the Mail.ru Group. The company is lead by Dmitry Grishin who is planning to invest USD300,000 in NanoSatisfi, which is a nanosatellite maker.

Mr. Admiran Mutsoyev, one of the board members of the Region Group project, shared with the press the news that the creation of Dream Works parks in St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Yekaterinburg will necessitate an investment of at least 2.1 billion dollars.

TechnoNicol is a European company that is engaged in manufacturing insulating materials, waterproofing, and roofing. Recently, it launched its second plant in Ryazan, a region in central Russia. The new industrial facility will produce Shinglas flexible shingles.

Armstrong World Industries, which is based in the U.S., has started constructing a fiber ceiling plant in Tatarstan’s Alabuga special economic zone. The selected area plays an important role in the economy of Tatarstan.

Aleksandra Kolosovskaya, known as Sasha Kolos, from Stavropol, Russia has hit it big in Hollywood. She has just completed a leading role in the upcoming thriller Silent Screams, starring with Russian actor Elya Baskin (Spider-Man 2 & 3).