FBI Let Blacklisted Russian Tycoon Visit US

Kremlin uses financial crisis to further its aims of 'renationalizing'

(NEWSER) - Vladimir Putin has insisted for years that Russia made a colossal mistake by privatizing the nation's giant reserves of oil, gas, and other natural resources after the fall of the Soviet Union. The president-turned-prime minister has made muscular efforts to renationalize those industries—most notoriously the Yukos oil company, whose CEO is in a Siberian jail. Now the Kremlin is using the economic crisis as leverage to take over troubled companies, the New York Times reports. More»

Metal mogul Deripaska gets $4.5B handout to help pay loans from Western banks

(AP) - The Russian government has agreed to loan $4.5 billion to metals magnate Oleg Deripaska to help him pay off a loan to a group of Western banks. While the state bank overseeing the bailout would not confirm the news, three newspapers have reported that Deripaska, who is considered Russia's richest man, will receive the cash to prevent foreign banks from seizing his metals company as collateral. More»

Russia bails out first businessman, but more trouble looms

(NEWSER) - The Kremlin is allowing an individual businessman to tap into a $50 billion rescue fund, reports the Wall Street Journal, signaling a shake-up of the relationship between the Russian government and the country's oligarchs. Mikhail Fridman, whose creditors declared him in default on a $2 billion loan from Deutsche Bank, got the bailout from a state bank controlled by Vladimir Putin—but other capitalists might not be so lucky. More»

Chechen crime group, government officers implicated

(NEWSER) - Ten men were arrested today in the murder of Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya last October, the Guardian reports. A Chechen organized-crime boss led the group responsible for the slaying, Russian authorities say. Those arrested are said to include current and former officials in the interior ministry and the security service. More»

(NEWSER) - A Russian billionaire with possible mob ties plans to buy a major stake in the company that aims to purchase Chrysler. If aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska does buy the $1.54 billion stake in Magna International, the cash will come in handy for the Chrysler deal. But Oleg's shady past may raise flags for regulators, the Wall Street Journal reports. More»