MOSCOW, Dec 16 (Reuters) – Russian companies moving to
London are expected to start making use of their new-found
acquisition currency as they seek a higher international profile

– or a route to cash out — after their stock market listings.
– or a route to cash out — after their stock market listings.

MOSCOW/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Epam Systems Inc, an IT services provider with operations in Russia, is aiming to move ahead with its planned U.S. initial public offering in the first quarter of next year, two sources familiar with the situation said on Monday.

Epam filed with U.S. regulators in June to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering of its common stock. The company did not reveal how many shares it planned to sell or their expected price, but said at the time it would use the proceeds for acquisitions and general corporate purposes.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian stocks and the rouble extended losses late on Tuesday as investors were unsettled by the political fallout from a drop in the ruling United Russia party’s majority at Sunday’s parliamentary election.

Markets were already trading lower on the day but extended losses sharply after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said he would reshuffle the government after he seeks re-election to the presidency next March.

MOSCOW, Dec 5 (Reuters) – Russian power grid company
MRSK is scheduled to list its shares in London this
week, a move it hopes will boost the liquidity of its stock and
enable it to raise funds in the future, a company spokesperson
said.

The technical listing, in which no money is raised, will see
MRSK list 25 percent of its stock as global depositary receipts
– the maximum allowed — on Thursday.

MOSCOW/LONDON (Reuters) – Russian steelmaker Severstal (CHMF.MM: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is set to spin off its Nord Gold unit and could list the standalone business in London, it said on Wednesday, less than a year after being forced to pull a planned $1.5 billion public offering.

Severstal, which aims to complete the separation by late January, said on Wednesday the swap and potential listing of global depositary receipts would allow it and Nord Gold to focus on their core areas of activity, raise the profile of the gold unit and allow it direct access to funding.

MOSCOW, Nov 30 (Reuters) – Russian steelmaker
Severstal is set to spin off its Nord Gold unit and
could list the standalone business in London, it said on
Wednesday, less than a year after it was forced to pull a
planned $1.5 billion public offering.

Severstal, which aims to complete the separation by late
January 2012, said the swap and potential listing of global
depositary receipts would allow Nord Gold and Severstal to focus
on their core areas of activity, raise the profile of the gold
unit and allow it direct access to funding.

MOSCOW, Nov 29 (Reuters) – Vodka producer Russian
Standard Vodka, owned by billionaire Roustam Tariko, has bought
a 9.9 percent stake in Central European Distribution Corp
, a Polish rival which has lost more than 80 percent of
its market value this year.

CEDC, which holds a portfolio of some well known brands on
the Russian and Polish markets such as Absolwent and Parliament,
has twice slashed its outlook this year.

MOSCOW, Nov 25 (Reuters) – Russia’s No.2 oil producer
LUKOIL on Friday reported a worse-than-expected 20
percent fall in third-quarter net profit, hit by foreign
exchange losses, higher taxes and lower production.

LUKOIL has been the only Russian oil major with declining
output, mainly due to moribund West Siberia assets, in contrast
to top producer Rosneft which in October touted an increase in
crude production to 2.4 million barrels per day.

SYDNEY/MOSCOW Nov 25 (Reuters) – Magnitogorsk Iron &
Steel Works is to buy Australian group Flinders Mines
for an agreed A$554 million ($538 million), as Russia’s
third-largest steelmaker follows rivals in the race to secure
promising sources of iron ore.

Steelmakers have been buying upstream assets to lock in
supply and keep costs down, allowing them to remain profitable
during downturns. ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest
steelmaker, is also one of the top five producers of iron ore
and coking coal.

MOSCOW, Nov 16 (Reuters) – Russian industry is exposed
to a deepening euro zone crisis primarily via its steelmakers,
which sell the alloy used in construction, carmaking and
infrastructure to European companies facing a stark economic
future.

The two-year debt crisis in the euro zone risks engulfing
the entire currency bloc and hurting global growth, with
economists forecasting the region could slide into recession by
early next year.