“ Mosenergo ” – “Uralsib” Uralsib raised its recommendation on Mosenergo shares from “reduce” to “buy,” and its target price from $0.15 to $0.26. At the end of last year, Mosenergo’s shareholders’ meeting approved an additional share issue in favor of a strategic investor, Gazprom, which currently owns 33% of the energy company’s shares, analysts say. According to them, this eliminates uncertainty regarding the sources of financing for Mosenergo’s investment program.

The company "Aborigen", which entered the tea market at the end of last year, is managed by the management company "Investment Culture" (IC), the marketing director of this company Alexandra Modestova told "Vedomosti" yesterday. She refused to name the owners of "Aborigen". The IC is considered close to the bank "Rossiya".

The main owner of the largest Russian brokerage company, BrokerCreditService (BCS), Oleg Mikhasenko, knows very well how to trade shares. BCS turnover increased fourfold last year, reaching 12 trillion rubles. Now Mikhasenko has decided to put his own company's shares up for sale, although only a blocking stake so far. In an interview with Vedomosti, the president of the BCS group of companies told how he is preparing for the deal.

Kaeser was named by two of the more than ten suspects in the Siemens case. They are Siemens veterans – the head of the real estate division and former CFO of the corporation Michael Kutschenreuther and the former sales manager of the telecommunications division Reinhard Zikaschek.

Yesterday, Wrigley announced that it had signed an agreement to buy 80% of the shares of Russian premium chocolate maker A. Korkunov for $300 million.

In early January, the Investigative Department of the Kanavinsky District Department of Internal Affairs of Nizhny Novgorod opened a criminal case under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Fraud”) against a number of top managers of the Nizhny Novgorod branch of UniCredit Bank, the head of one of the insurance companies, and the organizer of one-day firms for cashing out money.

The major South African media group Naspers Limited has acquired 30% of the Russian company Port.ru, which owns the Russian Internet portal Mail.ru, for $165 million. The sellers were the private equity funds Digital Sky Technologies and Tiger Global Management.

The new tragedies of conscripts Roman Rudakov and Vladimir Shuraev, whose future now depends on the skill of doctors, are reminiscent of the story of Andrei Sychev and confirm the sad statistics. Yesterday, at a meeting with the chairmen of regional courts, the chairman of the Supreme Court, Vyacheslav Lebedev, said that the number of criminal cases brought against servicemen in 2006 had increased by 11% compared to 2005.

Maxim Shein, an analyst at BrokerCreditService , believes that this price is too high. In his opinion, based on the price of the first purchase, RussNeft’s share should have cost $100 million, but given the improvement in the global market situation compared to 2005, the fair price can be raised to $120–150 million.

Lawyers' fees may be fixed, hourly, or a "success fee" - a percentage of the amount won. "Success fees" are permitted by the Code of Professional Ethics of Lawyers. But a lawyer who wins a case for a "success fee" may find himself without compensation if the client refuses to pay. Back in 1999, the Supreme Arbitration Court (SAC) ordered courts not to satisfy such claims by lawyers against their clients, since compensation cannot depend on the court's decision.

In February, Sitronics plans to place global depositary receipts (GDR) on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), as well as shares on the RTS and MSE. The company expects to receive $500–550 million from the placement and invest this money in development. The organizers of the placement are Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and Renaissance Capital, the co-organizer is HSBC, and the depository bank is Deutsche Bank. Sitronics is currently conducting a road show to the IPO.

The government has published a three-year financial plan. According to officials' forecasts, federal budget revenues in 2007-2009 will amount to 6.9 trillion rubles, 7.1 trillion rubles, and 7.8 trillion rubles. They will grow by only 10.9%, 2%, and 9.6%, respectively. Despite the upcoming State Duma and presidential elections, expenses will grow by an average of 10% per year, the Ministry of Finance believes.

All over the country, and especially in Washington, talk of the need for “energy independence” is set to dominate the national energy debate in the coming days, giving rise to new strategies and expansion of existing ones. Even something like a “Declaration of Energy Independence” on July 4th of this year cannot be ruled out. But what does “energy independence” mean for a $13 trillion economy that requires 50 million barrels of oil per day? Is it realistic and achievable?

The IMF predicts that in 2007, Ukrainian GDP will grow by only 4.3%, while in 2006 it grew by 6% (see table). The budget deficit will grow, and the current account will worsen. The official forecast is much higher – the Ukrainian budget includes economic growth of 6.5%, and the budget deficit will be 2.6%. Inflation, according to the Ukrainian government, will also be lower – 7.5%. The IMF is optimistic only regarding the growth of direct foreign investment.

Household appliances The largest sales growth among federal chains operating in Novosibirsk was recorded in the M.Video chain – 27% of the same period last year, said the company’s press secretary Nadezhda Kiseleva. According to her, the success is explained by a marketing campaign. From November 27 to December 31, in all hypermarkets of the chain, customers who made a purchase of one of 1,500 product names for 2,990 rubles or more received gift cards worth up to 10% of the purchase price.