Israel Voids Moscow Tender
The Israeli Land Administration said Thursday that it had annulled the results of a tender won in November by Moscow City Hall to build a $100 million hotel in Ein Bokek, on the Dead Sea coast, RIA-Novosti reported.
A spokeswoman for the land-use body said Moscow had not made the required payment within 60 days after winning the tender, the news agency said.
"We will soon announce a new tender, in which Moscow can take part," she said. (MT)
Gazprom Plans Bond Sale
Gazprom plans to sell 15 billion rubles ($479 million) of bonds due in three and five years, a person with knowledge of the transaction said Thursday.
Order books for the bonds close Friday, with a MICEX listing planned for June 30, the source said.(Bloomberg)
LSR Borrows $330M
Vneshekonombank said Thursday that it lent LSR Group 237 million euros ($330 million) to build a cement plant in the northwest of the country.
The 10-year loan will finance a factory with a capacity of 1.86 million tons of cement per year and employ 400 people, VEB said Thursday. (Bloomberg)
Renault Fires French Exec
Renault said Thursday that it decided to replace a French executive vice president at AvtoVAZ, in which it owns a 25 percent stake.
Renault dismissed speculation that it was losing influence at the carmaker, saying it had replaced vice president Jan Vensan with Igor Komarov, a former adviser to Russian Technologies head Sergei Chemezov. The state corporation also owns 25 percent of AvtoVAZ.
"We decided that during the crisis, it should be a Russian professional. He is better adapted to the local market," a Renault spokeswoman said. (Reuters)
Miner to Resume Payments
A source at Metalloinvest said Thursday that it would resume paying its license to the Udokan copper deposit within days.
The ore miner paid 4.5 billion rubles after winning the September auction but withheld about 10.5 billion rubles in additional payments while negotiating changes to the agreement with the Federal Subsoil Resource Use Agency.
Earlier in the day, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Yury Trutnev said the company would not pay on time, but taking the license away wouldn't be the "best solution." (Reuters, Bloomberg)
Ministry to Review Kovytka
WINDHOEK, Namibia -- The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry will review the rights to the Kovykta gas field as the license holder, TNK-BP, and Gazprom have yet to agree to a sale, Minister Yury Trutnev said Thursday.
"Lengthy talks between Gazprom and the license holders have led nowhere," Trutnev said.(Reuters)
Two Banks Lose Licenses
The Central Bank said Thursday that it revoked the licenses of two small banks, KBI Bank and International Trade Bank, citing violations of the law on money laundering and a lack of capital.
The banks had also violated banking regulations, the Central Bank said in a statement on Thursday.(Reuters)
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