Budget Shortfall Warning

There is a "considerable risk" that 2009 budget revenues will still fall 800 billion rubles ($23.9 billion) short of the revised target, forcing the government to draw even more from its Reserve Fund, Deputy Finance Minister Tatyana Nesterenko told reporters.

The Federal Customs Service and the Federal Tax Service could take in a combined 800 billion rubles less than planned, or 12 percent of all budget revenue and 2 percent of gross domestic product, she said.

Domestic borrowing might also miss targets, leading to problems for the 2010 budget, Nesterenko said. In a best-case scenario, spending and revenue will be the same next year, forcing the government to draw down the Reserve Fund another 800 billion rubles to 1.1 trillion rubles, she said. (Vedomosti)

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Duma Passes Inspection Bill

A law protecting businesses from superfluous inspections will take effect May 1, two months earlier than planned, after the State Duma approved the bill in second and third readings Friday.

The bill limits inspections of businesses by state and municipal departments to once every three years and establishes control over the way that checks are conducted. Inspections by agencies ranging from tax officials to fire inspectors are a major source of corruption. (MT)

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Securities Law Moves Ahead

The State Duma on Friday approved in a first reading a bill that would ban price manipulation and the use of insider information on the country's securities and commodities markets.

The law defines inside information, market manipulation and insider and nonstandard trades and also expands who would be considered an insider.

Vladislav Reznik, chairman of the Duma's Financial Markets Committee, said clarification was needed before the second reading, Interfax reported. "The bill treats all of an organization's workers as insiders," he said. (MT)

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E.ON in Talks With GDF

FRANKFURT -- German utility E.ON is in talks with Gaz de France on selling part of its stake in the Nord Stream gas pipeline venture to the French energy group, a German business weekly reported Saturday.

"This is being negotiated. We could possibly be prepared to give up a 4.5 percent stake," WirtschaftsWoche magazine quoted E.ON chief executive Wulf Bernotat as saying. (Reuters)

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Rosneft to Bid for Sibir?

Rosneft has held talks with Sibir Energy about a potential bid for the shares of the London-listed explorer, The Sunday Times said, without saying where it got the information.

Merrill Lynch has been conducting an appraisal of Sibir's value in recent days in expectation of offers, the report said. TNK-BP has also talked with investors on potentially buying shares, the newspaper said.

Neither Rosneft nor TNK-BP has contacted the company about a bid, Sibir's acting CEO, Stuard Detmer, said when contacted Sunday. (Bloomberg)

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Medvedev on Mortgages

Russia has provided funds and loans to its mortgage-lending agency in an attempt to reduce mortgage rates to precrisis levels of about 12 percent, President Dmitry Medvedev said.

"We have increased its capital by 20 billion rubles ($600 million), and another 40 billion will come as loans," Medvedev said, according to the transcript of an interview with NTV television posted Sunday on the Kremlin web site. (Bloomberg)

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Forbes Russia Rich List

Russia's 100 richest people lost 73 percent of their wealth last year, leaving just 32 billionaires, Forbes Russia said.

"Not a single business leader in the Golden Hundred increased his fortune in the past year," Forbes said, referring to its annual list, which was published Friday. (Bloomberg)

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For the Record

Gazprom deputy CEO Valery Golubev held talks with Kyrgyz officials including Prime Minister Igor Chudinov, the company said Friday. (Bloomberg)

President Dmitry Medevedev is going to Finland on Monday for a two-day visit. Talks are expected to include Finland's study of the environmental impact of the Nord Stream undersea gas pipeline. (MT)

Toyota Motor said Friday that it would suspend production at its Russian factory for the third time this year after restarting the assembly lines in April. (Reuters)

Sberbank may get a so-called golden share in Yandex, Russia's most-used search engine, Vedomosti reported Friday, citing two sources from Russian state banks. (Bloomberg)