Egypt Tests More Wheat

CAIRO --Egypt is testing a second shipment of Russian wheat for dead bugs and impurities, an Egyptian newspaper said on Monday, after it quarantined over 52,000 tons of Russian wheat last week, citing quality reasons.

The independent Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper said the shipment currently being tested was of 30,000 tons of wheat imported to Egypt at the Damietta port on the country's north coast.

Officials from the Egypt's main state wheat buyer, GASC, were not immediately available for comment. (Reuters)

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Zinc Plant Sale Talks Start

ChTPZ Group found a potential buyer for Chelyabinsk Zinc Plant and is in talks to sell the factory by 2010, Interfax reported Monday, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation.

ChTPZ is in discussions with Urals Mining and Metals, the news agency said. Anna Levitanskaya, a spokeswoman for ChTPZ, Russia's second-largest maker of pipes for the oil and gas industry, declined to comment on the report. (Bloomberg)

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Kerimov Gets 4 Polyus Seats

Polyus Gold said candidates proposed by Suleiman Kerimov won four board seats, while those put forward by Mikhail Prokhorov got three, Polyus said Monday.

Patrick Gillford also holds a seat as an independent, with the final position taken by CEO Yevgeny Ivanov. Shareholders voted May 15 and the results are preliminary. (Bloomberg)

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Putin Talks Up Satellites

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Russia should increase its share of the global satellite-launch market to 50 percent, RIA-Novosti reported.

Russia controls 40 percent of the market and should add 8 percent to 10 percent more, Putin said at a government meeting Monday. (Bloomberg)

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Chigirinsky Out at Sibir

Shalva Chigirinsky is no longer a shareholder of Sibir Energy after businessman Ruslan Baisarov gained his stock, Kommersant reported.

Baisarov is willing to pay $250 million to Sberbank, which had taken Chigirinsky's shares as security for a loan, Baisarov said. He is in talks to sell the 23.5 percent stake. (Bloomberg)

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Deripaska to Keep Russneft

Oleg Deripaska suspended plans to sell Russneft after moving debt of his transportation unit onto the oil producer's books, Vedomosti reported Monday, citing two people familiar with the situation.

Russneft used $2.7 billion of a $2.9 billion credit line opened with Sberbank in February to purchase three subsidiaries belonging to Deripaska's Basic Element holding company, Vedomosti said. That money was used to pay off $3 billion of loans and interest to Sberbank that Deripaska's Russian Machines division borrowed in 2007 to buy the oil company, the report said. (Bloomberg)

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For the Record

Rosneft will gain a stake in Inter RAO in exchange for a share packet in the TGK-11 regional generator, Inter RAO said Monday. (Bloomberg)

Alrosa sold $100 million of six-month commercial paper to foreign and domestic investors, VTB Capital said Monday. (Bloomberg)

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