Jul. 02 2008 00:00
Small Business Bills Drafted
The government has drafted a series of bills aimed at developing small and medium-sized business, including limits on inspections by regulatory agencies to 70 hours per year, Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina said Tuesday, Interfax reported.
First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said after a meeting on the issue that the bills would also lessen the notification period before starting a business, Interfax reported. (MT)
Erste Buys Russian Stake
VIENNA -- Erste Bank, Austria's biggest lender, said Tuesday that it bought a 9.8 percent stake in Russia's Bank Center-Invest to enter the country.
Erste Bank said it would nominate one member to Bank Center-Invest's supervisory board. Bank Center-Invest has around 1.1 billion euros ($1.7 billion) in assets, Erste said. (Bloomberg)
Renault's Fuel-Efficient Cars
ST. PETERSBURG -- Renault, France's second-largest carmaker, said Tuesday that it began sales of diesel-powered vehicles in Russia to tap demand for fuel-efficient cars.
Renault is accepting orders for a diesel version of the new Laguna midsized sedan, with deliveries available over the summer, the company said. Renault will introduce a diesel-powered Koleos SUV later. (Bloomberg)
Acron Says Q1 Profit Triples
Acron, the country's third-largest producer of nitrogen-based fertilizers, said Tuesday that first-quarter profit more than tripled on increased output and record prices.
Net income rose to 3.96 billion rubles ($169 million) in the first quarter, from 1.3 billion rubles a year earlier, the company said. (Bloomberg)
Gold Miner to Hold IPO
Gold miner Yuzhuralzoloto said Tuesday that it would sell as much as a 25 percent stake in an IPO to fund mining licenses, a processing plant and equipment for its operations.
The company said it would offer as many as 24.99 million shares to be listed on the MICEX and RTS exchanges, without giving a price range, amount to be raised or timetable. (Bloomberg)
Rosinter to Skip Dividend
Rosinter Restaurants Holding said Monday that it wouldn't pay a dividend.
Two new board members were also elected: Vitaly Podolsky, the former chief financial officer of X5 Retail Group, and Tony Hughes, a nonexecutive director at Restaurant Group, the British owner of the Frankie & Benny's chain. (Bloomberg)
Renaissance Taps Nike Exec
Renaissance Group said Tuesday that it appointed Greg Dinges, who directed corporate development at Nike, as group head of finance.
The group also named Peter McNulty as chief financial officer of its investment-banking arm, Renaissance Capital. McNulty joins the bank from Barclays Capital in Hong Kong, where he had been CFO for the Asia-Pacific region. (Bloomberg)
Southern Telecommunications Company said Tuesday that net income more than tripled to 1.2 billion rubles ($51.2 million) from 347 million rubles a year earlier. (Bloomberg)
Baby food maker Nutritek said Tuesday that it wouldn't pay a dividend in respect of last year's profit. (Bloomberg)