It is true that Russia lacks global competitiveness and suffers low labor productivity. This subject is often presented, however, from a one-sided perspective, and little attention is paid to the contributing factors behind the problem.

Eight years ago, the West went to war over the fate of Kosovo, the impoverished scrap of land that is chiefly populated by ethnic Albanians but still formally part of Serbia.

Reports that PepsiCo was set to buy a 76 percent stake in Lebedyansky caused a sharp spike in share prices Monday for the country's largest juice maker. The deal, estimated to be worth at least $1.5 billion, would be the largest ever in the Russian juice sector and value the company at about $96 per share, Kommersant reported Monday, citing sources close to the proposed deal.

Gazprom Hits Belgian SnagFederal Grid Shares SwapEvraz to Buy Shares in UnitsTax Body to Be SplitIndia Opens Up to GazpromDaimler Mulls Own BankProsperity Buys in TelecomsAluminum Exports RiseFerrous Exports Drop 9.3%

STOCKHOLM -- Sweden's Tele2 said Monday that it was selling operations in the Irkutsk region to VimpelCom for about 1.6 billion Swedish crowns ($236 million), but that it still planned to expand in Russia.

ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Toshiba, Japan's biggest maker of nuclear reactors, sold a 10 percent stake in its Westinghouse Electric unit to Kazakhstan's state uranium miner to gain access to the world's second-largest reserves of the metal, Almaty-based Kazatomprom said in a statement Monday.

ShalkiyaZinc, owner of Kazakhstan's largest zinc deposit, said Monday that it expected to arrange up to $150 million in debt finance from Barclays Capital to fund expansion of a mine and construction of an ore-processing plant.