"Russian port operator sees profits climb" from Portworld

"The company, based in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, reported profit of $233 million for the nine months to end September, up from $208 million in the same period last year, Revenue fell 1.7% to $499 million."

"Chinese officials last month told Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov that they may resume buying major Russian weapons systems after a break of several years." from South China Morning Post

"China's lack of foreign military bases - it has insisted that it will not station troops abroad - limits its ships on long-term missions."

"Yuan bonds soar as currency appreciation hopes spur demand" from South China Morning Post

"Expectations for the fastest currency gains among the so-called BRIC nations of Brazil, Russia, India and China are adding to the allure of yuan assets, even as Chinese regulators tighten limits on fund inflows. New issuance will help drive up the average daily turnover of so-called dim sum bonds as much as sixfold to 300 million yuan (HK$349.29 million) by the end of 2011, from 50 million yuan this month, according to Standard Chartered."

"Rail Container to boost trade with Russia" from South China Morning Post

"Rail Container, the joint venture between Russian state-controlled TransContainer and China Railway International Multimodal Transport, which comes under the Ministry of Railways, was launched on Monday. TransContainer owns 50 per cent plus one share of the joint venture, while the Chinese partner owns the rest. On the same day, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced plans for a US$14 billion extension of the Trans-Siberian Railway that will increase trade with China, according to Russian media reports."

"Museum sued over 'stolen' Cezanne"

"A Parisian engineer is sueing New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art to recover a Paul Cezanne painting that he said the Bolsheviks stole from his great-grandfather during the Russian revolution."

"China may double gas buys in five years after opening pipeline" from South China Morning Post

"China may more than double imports of natural gas from Turkmenistan in five years after opening a pipeline from the Central Asian nation, which holds the world's fourth-largest reserves. Turkmenistan plans to export 17 billion cubic metres of gas to China next year, rising to 40 billion cubic metres in 2015, said a Turkmenistan official. China opened the TransAsian pipeline from Turkmenistan through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in December. China turned to Central Asia for gas supplies as talks on deliveries from Russia, which has the world's largest reserves, remain deadlocked over prices."

"Russia buying Canadian dollars, eyes other currencies" from South China Morning Post

"Moscow: Russia has started adding the Canadian dollar to its international reserves and may increase those holdings in coming months, said Alexei Ulyukayev, first deputy chairman of Russia's central bank."So far, the amounts are very small, but there's perhaps potential for increasing our holdings," Ulyukayev said. Russia aims to diversify its reserves, the world's third-biggest, and promote the use of regional currencies in international trade and finance to reduce risks posed by US dollar. It has said it also plans to increase gold holdings and may consider including other currencies, including the Australian dollar."

"Bulgaria, Russia set up up gas joint venture" from South China Morning Post

"Bulgaria and Russia have set up a joint venture to build and operate a stretch of the South Stream gas pipeline. South Stream Bulgaria, equally owned by Bulgarian Energy Holding and Gazprom, will plan, build and operate the Bulgarian stretch of the 3,600km pipeline to carry Russia gas to Europe through a 900km link under the Black Sea, bypassing the major gas supply route in Ukraine."

"Moves to take control of Russian car-maker AvtoVAZ may be the Renault-Nissan alliance's final opportunity to grab the leading position in one of the four largest growth markets." from South China Morning Post

"Carlos Ghosn, who heads Renault and Nissan Motor, needs Russia because mature markets are stagnating and the remaining three biggest emerging markets already have dominant overseas carmakers. Volkswagen is the biggest in China, Fiat is largest in Brazil and Suzuki Motor leads in India."

"VW owes its lead in China to a successful encounter with a visiting Chinese delegation in the 1970s, Christoph Stuermer, a Frankfurt-based analyst at IHS Automotive, said. Europe's biggest carmaker now claims more than 11 per cent of Chinese vehicle sales, according to IHS data. Suzuki, once invited to rescue Indian carmaker Maruti, now dominates that market with a 36 per cent share."

"Moscow is wooing Beijing to resume negotiations on the purchase of Su-33 fighters for future Chinese aircraft carriers after talks collapsed last year, a Macau-based military researcher with strong PLA connections says." from South China Morning Post

"The Russian government has admitted that it is spending almost US$5 million to develop a "national" operating system based on the open source Linux OS." from South China Morning Post