Cherkizovo said Saturday that it set up a joint venture with Spain's Grupo Fuertes to produce turkey meat in the Tambov region south of Moscow. The companies will invest a total of 4.5 billion rubles ($150 million) in the project and aim to produce 25,000 to 30,000 tons of meat a year, potentially rising to 50,000 tons. Production will start in...

... Pipeline, or TAP, project that aims to pump Azeri gas to Italy will boost TAP's chances of being picked as the pipeline of choice, analysts said. Producers in the Shah Deniz-2 field in Azerbaijan plan to ship about 16 billion cubic meters a year through Turkey into Europe from 2017 or 2018. "Enel is interested in projects that bring gas to the country," Enel chief executive Fulvio Conti said Wednesday. Asked whether such projects included the TAP, Conti said, "of course." Europe is...

Sberbank is close to buying Turkey's Denizbank, in a deal that would secure it a foothold in its long-eyed Turkish market and nudge out a rival bidder, three people familiar with the matter said Thursday. Europe's No.2 lender by market value, Sberbank was competing for Denizbank...

... surface in that country. The gas giant has built up quite a bit of undersea pipeline experience over recent years. In a consortium with Western European partners, it constructed a line to Germany under the Baltic Sea. The company earlier laid a line to Turkey under the Black Sea. In yet another underwater endeavor, Gazprom has scheduled work to begin later this year on a Black Sea pipeline to Bulgaria. 175768 179742

... retailer IKEA said Friday that it was setting up a bank in Russia. A financial company related to Swedish furniture retailer IKEA said Friday that it was setting up a bank in Russia. The bank will be a 50-50 joint venture between the company, IKANO, and Turkey's Credit Europe Bank. The joint bank will start out by handling IKEA's finances in Russia, said Bo Liljegren, manager of IKANO's business finance division. It could begin operations next year after gaining regulatory approvals. The partners said...

... planned to hold a rally in support of the detainees later Thursday at the Iraqi Embassy in Moscow. The detained bikers — Oleg Kapkayev, Alexander Vardanyants, Oleg Maximov and Maxim Ignatyev — had been taking a trip across Central Asia, Turkey, Iran and Iraq. Earlier they were briefly detained in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk but released after receiving assistance from the Russian Embassy, RIA-Novosti said. The bikers also have ridden through the United States, China, and Europe and Latin...

... Georgia. To claim that Georgia maintains ties with a wanted terrorist under Washington's nose is quite a compliment to the Georgian secret services. Assuming Georgian customs officials allowed a truck full of rocket launchers across the border with Turkey, we would have to conclude that the Russian army, which has a gauntlet of guards in Abkhazia along the Enguri River border with Georgia, must either be inept, corrupt or both. The Abkhaz want more evidence before they can make the connection to...

... revamped the program with a plan calling for slower interceptors that would be upgraded gradually over four phases, culminating with the newest versions in 2020. The early phases call for using Aegis radars on ships and a more powerful radar based in Turkey. Later phases call for moving Aegis radars to Romania and Poland. NATO says the future ballistic missile defense system passed a significant technical test on April 4 and 5 during a series of simulated engagements. In another April test, a similar...

... Krasnoyarsk, which is located in a time zone four hours ahead of the capital. Ticket prices start at 7,000 rubles ($230) one way. Krasnoyarsk's Yemelyanovo Airport is an international airport with charter flights to major sea ­resorts like Antalya, Turkey, and Phuket, Thailand. The 4,100-kilometer trip by train takes almost three days, with prices starting at 3,200 rubles one way. Trains depart from Moscow's Yaroslavsky, Belorussky and Kazansky stations and travel through major cities like Yaroslavl...