Putin Favors Ruble Speculators Over Oligarchs in Battle Against Inflation

(Bloomberg) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin's plan
to keep inflation from accelerating depends on favoring foreign-
exchange traders over the country's oil and gas companies.

Putin will probably allow the central bank to double the
ruble's pace of appreciation this year because he has few options
outside the foreign exchange market to rein in consumer prices,
according to strategists at Bank of America Corp. and UBS AG.
Russia's 8.5 percent inflation rate is three times faster than
any other Group of Eight country.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

UPDATE 1-Texan questioned about Russian hunting trip

(Reuters) - Duncan, 74, co-founder and chairman of Enterprise Products
Partners, a big pipeline company, appeared before the panel on
Wednesday to answer questions about a helicopter hunting trip
he and others took with Russian guides five years ago.




Duncan told the Houston Chronicle he shot and killed a
moose and a sheep from a helicopter, a practice he did not know
was illegal in Russia. Neither animal is considered an
endangered species.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Russian Stocks Fall After U.K. Expels Diplomats; Gazprom Lead the Decline

(Bloomberg) -- Russian stocks dropped for the first
time in five days after the U.K. expelled four Russian
diplomats, adding to political tensions between the two
countries. OAO Gazprom led the retreat.

``Politics is certainly affecting sentiment this morning,''
said Julian Rimmer, head of sales trading at UralSib Financial
Corp. in London.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Total Picked to Develop Gazprom's Shtokman Gas Field, Own 25 Percent Stake

(Bloomberg) -- OAO Gazprom, the world's largest
natural-gas producer, chose Total SA to help develop Shtokman, an
Arctic offshore field that may hold enough natural gas to supply
Europe for more than three years.

Paris-based Total will take 25 percent in an operating
company to develop the project, while the Russian company will
hold the rest, Gazprom Chief Executive Officer Alexei Miller said
in an e-mailed statement. Gazprom scrapped its original plan to
let foreign partners take an equity stake in the project in
October.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

UPDATE 2-Russia's Sistema 1st qtr net soars, stock slides

(Reuters) - MOSCOW, July 10 - Russian services group Sistema,
which owns Moscow's most famous toy shop, slightly beat earnings
forecasts on Tuesday with a fivefold rise in first quarter net
profit, boosted by the sale of its insurance business.




But Sistema shares still fell over 2 percent,
correcting a surge in the run up to the results, analysts said.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Investors Should Increase Russian Share Holdings, Morgan Stanley Says

(Bloomberg) -- Investors should buy Russian stocks
such as OAO Mobile TeleSystems because the equity market has
dropped to a level that is ``more appropriate given high
political- and corporate-governance risk,'' Morgan Stanley said.

Strategists led by Jonathan Garner, London-based head of
global emerging-markets strategy, raised their recommendation on
Russian stocks to ``equal weight'' from ``underweight,'' which
means that investors should hold the country's shares in line
with the country's weighting in international indexes.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Russian Stocks Advance, Led by Gazprom, Rosneft: World's Biggest Mover

(Bloomberg) -- Russian stocks climbed, paced by OAO
Gazprom, OAO Rosneft and OAO Lukoil after oil futures gained in
New York.

The ruble-denominated Micex Index rose 3.2 percent to
1662.71, posting the biggest move among equity markets included
in global benchmarks. Twenty-six stocks advanced and four
retreated. The dollar-denominated RTS Index added 3.5 percent to
1870.11.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

European shares off to strong start; Centrica eyed

(Reuters) - Centrica gained 4.6 percent to top European gainers after Russian gas group Gazprom said it was nearing a deal to increase its British market presence.




Gazprom has said it is interested in Centrica as well as a host of other European companies.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Russia Postpones Decision on BP License for $18 Billion Siberian Gas Field

(Bloomberg) -- Russia delayed a decision on revoking
a license held by BP Plc's Russian unit to develop an
$18 billion Siberian gas field, indicating that negotiations may
be continuing with the Kremlin.

A Natural Resources Ministry commission postponed the
decision for two weeks because of the ``complexity of the
issue,'' Vladimir Bobylev, a spokesman for BP's venture, TNK-BP,
said by telephone from Moscow, where company officials attended
the commission's meeting today.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Russia Postpones Decision on BP Siberian Gas Unit's License, Interfax Says

(Bloomberg) -- Russian officials postponed a
decision on whether to revoke the license held by BP Plc's
Russian venture to a Siberian field with enough natural gas to
supply Asia for five years, Interfax said.

A Natural Resources Ministry commission delayed making a
decision on the license for the Kovykta field in Siberia for two
weeks because of the ``complexity of the issue,'' Interfax cited
an unidentified person with knowledge of the decision as saying
in Moscow today.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Russian Stocks Climb Most in Four Months, Led by Norilsk Nickel, Rosneft

(Bloomberg) -- Russian stocks rose the most in four
months on speculation a recent slide has made them cheaper
relative to earnings than other emerging-market shares.

The ruble-denominated Micex Index jumped 3.6 percent to
1570.34, limiting the decline this month to 7.5 percent. The
dollar-denominated RTS Index increased 3.2 percent to 1780.33.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

BP's Russia Unit Faces Loss of Kovykta Field After Siberian Court Ruling

(Bloomberg) -- BP Plc's Russian venture lost a court
case over its license to the giant Kovykta gas deposit, allowing
the government as early as this week to regain control of a
field with enough fuel to supply Asia for five years.

A court in Irkutsk, Siberia lifted an order forbidding the
federal government from revoking the license held by TNK-BP's
OAO Rusia Petroleum unit, after dismissing the unit's demands to
clarify how much gas it had to provide to the region.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Xstrata extends expiry time on offer for Lionore

(Reuters) - LionOre Mining said on Thursday that Russian Norilsk
Nickel's takeover bid
for the company was superior to a rival, C$6.2 billion offer by
Xstrata.




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News