bne
Fri, 3rd Feb -- Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made his boldest pledge yet on February 2 that he will liberalise the Russian economy, telling delegates at the Troika Dialog investment conference in Moscow that he if he's elected president come March, then his administration will push for Russia to rise a full 100 places on the World Bank's "Doing Business" survey to 20th.

bne
Fri, 3rd Feb -- To help investors gain exposure to the under-invested agricultural sector, GAIA Capital Advisors has devised a new index that offers investors exposure to global food producing companies, many in emerging markets, which will be the basis for the launch of an exchange-traded fund.

bne
Thu, 2nd Feb -- Russia's Deposit Insurance Agency has obtained a French court order to seize a chateau near Nice owned by bankrupt oligarch Sergei Pugachev, French paper Le Monde reported on February 2.

bne
Thu, 2nd Feb -- Central Europe reported lowered gas imports on February 1 after Gazprom announced it had diverted extra flows to its domestic market amidst the sudden cold snap. While Poland and others downplayed the news, the fact that Russia has cut volumes as temperatures dip will do little to improve Europe's view on it as a reliable supplier.

bne
Wed, 1st Feb -- In his first major interview since he was moved into the post full-time in December, Russia€™s little-known Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov has pledged to continue the conservative fiscal policies of his former boss and predecessor Alexei Kudrin. He makes all the right noises for the markets and Russia's liberals, but critics would point out that's the fashion in the government right now.

Ivan Tchakarov of Renaissance Capital
Wed, 1st Feb -- Renaissance Capital chief economist Ivan Tchakarov met with opposition leader and famous blogger Alexey Navalny, and gives his personal impressions on someone who could end up as the next Russian president.

Sergei Kuznetsov in Minsk
Wed, 1st Feb -- Sergei Dubkov, deputy governor of the central bank of Belarus, tells bne that the regulator has proposed to Russia's VTB Bank to sell the Belarusian government its Belarus' subsidiary, Moscow-Minsk Bank, in order to merge it with state-owned Belinvestbank.

bne
Tue, 31st Jan -- Global car giants look set to take control of the heart of Russia's dilapidated automotive industry, with reports on January 31 suggesting Daimler could take a controlling stake in legendary truck maker Kamaz, while Renault-Nissan is set for a similar role at Lada-builder Avtovaz. The news offers hope that the Kremlin is serious when it says it is ready to let foreign investors revamp its ailing industrial base.

bne
Tue, 31st Jan -- The Chinese celebrated the start of the "Year of the Water Dragon" on January 23, which suitably suggests we are in for a year of fiery courage or a bit of a damp squib, depending on which element prevails.

bne
Mon, 30th Jan -- Vladimir Putin has published an article aimed at taking back the political and economic agenda of Dmitry Medvedev. The publication raises hope that the core of the reform process Medvedev has pushed could continue once Putin retakes the Kremlin. As ever, implementation will be key.

bne
Fri, 27th Jan -- The multitude of Ukrainian businesspeople that reportedly pay through the nose for the benefits that a parliament seat offers are delighted to find that an upcoming rejig of the country's election system could cut the price by half.

Tim Gosling in Prague
Fri, 27th Jan -- Although registered in the US, Epam Systems has the bulk of its operations in the CIS, and Belarus in particular. That makes its forthcoming IPO - for which it provided an initial pricing guide on January 23 - an interesting test of investors' attitude to Alexander Lukashenko's troubled country.