Air China Plans to Add Routes, Staff to Accommodate Olympic Travel Demand

(Bloomberg) -- Air China Ltd., the nation's largest
international carrier, will add routes and staff as the 2008
Olympic Games fuel demand for travel to its hub, Beijing.

Air China will operate more flights to the U.K., France and
Russia, as well as to the U.S., Senior Vice President Zhang Lan
said in an interview in Beijing. It's also applying to add a
route to Pyongyang, capital of North Korea.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Zambia seeks debt relief from Russia, Iraq - finmin

(Reuters) - Zambia is seeking $600 million in debt relief from Russia, Iraq and other creditor countries that were not part of global debt relief plans agreed with the world's poorest nations in 2006, Finance Minister Ng'andu Magande said on Wednesday.

Magande said Zambia had written to Russia, Iraq, Bulgaria, Brazil and others asking them to cancel a total of $600 million in debt.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Pepsi Bottling profit rises on price increases

(Reuters) - The largest bottler of PepsiCo Inc. beverages said net income increased to $162 million, or 70 cents per share, in the second quarter ended on June 16 from $148 million, or 61 cents per share, a year earlier.



Analysts on average were expecting 63 cents per share from the company, which operates in North America, Russia, Spain, Turkey and Greece.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

Rio hires banks for Alcoa/Alcan options: paper

(Reuters) - Rio declined to comment.




Alcan is the world's third-largest maker of primary
aluminium, behind Alcoa and Russia's Rusal. An Alcoa-Alcan
link-up, or an Alcan-Rio combination would top Rusal.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Ford submits sole bid for Romania's Daewoo Craiova

(Reuters) - BUCHAREST, July 5 - Ford Motor Co has submitted the sole bid in a tendering for a majority stake in Romanian car-maker Daewoo Automobile Craiova, state privatisation agency AVAS said on Thursday. "AVAS received ... only one offer, from Ford Motor Co," the agency said in a statement.



Romania wants to sell a 72.4 percent stake in Daewoo Automobile Craiova. Earlier this year, Romania said it had received letters of intent from General Motors Corp. and Russian Machines, as well as Ford.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Putin Says Russia Wants to Play Key Role in Making Balkans an Energy Hub

(Bloomberg) -- Russia plans to increase its
influence in southeast Europe by buying state assets, supplying
fuel through new pipelines and linking power grids, President
Vladimir Putin said.

Companies like Russia's gas-export monopoly OAO Gazprom and
turbine-maker OAO Power Machines want to boost spending on the
region's energy infrastructure, Putin told leaders from the 10
Balkan states at an energy summit in Zagreb, Croatia today.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Russian Benchmark Index Rises, Led by Norilsk Nickel on Nickel Price

(Bloomberg) -- Russian stocks climbed, led by shares
of OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel, Russia's biggest mining company, after
nickel prices rose in London.

The ruble-denominated Micex Index climbed 0.5 percent to
1682.30 at 1:07 p.m. in Moscow. Twenty-one stocks advanced and
nine retreated. The dollar-denominated RTS Index added 0.1
percent to 1895.79.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Billionaire Potanin Joins Russian Hunt for Uranium as Global Prices Surges

(Bloomberg) -- OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel billionaire
Vladimir Potanin is joining the hunt for uranium in Russia and
overseas to benefit from a 20-fold increase in prices for the metal
over the last six years.

Potanin's Interros Holding Co. signed an agreement today with
Russia's nuclear energy agency to explore for uranium in Russia and
abroad, both sides said in an e-mailed statement. Potanin joins
fellow billionaire Viktor Vekselberg in setting up a venture with
the state to find and mine a fuel vital for atomic power
generation.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Russian Shares, Now Cheaper, Get Bear Stearns Upgrade on Profit Outlook

(Bloomberg) -- Investors should buy Russian stocks
because they are cheap given the prospects for economic and
profit growth, Bear Stearns & Co. said, changing its investment
stance on the country.

Marianna Kozintseva and Thierry Wizman, New York-based
strategists at the biggest broker for U.S. hedge funds, raised
their recommendation for Russian equities to ``market weight''
from ``underweight,'' meaning investors should now hold the
country's stocks in proportion to the shares' weightings in
international indexes.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Platinum Climbs in London on Demand for Auto Catalysts; Palladium Rises

(Bloomberg) -- Platinum rose for a second consecutive
day in London on expectations that demand for auto catalysts,
made with the precious metal, will expand. Palladium, also used
in the pollution-control devices, gained.

Johnson Matthey Plc, maker of a third of about 100 million
catalysts sold worldwide every year, is expanding in Russia and
South Korea, adding to growing markets in China and India, the
company said a report today. Legislation to limit emissions is
spreading to trucks and mining equipment.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Russia May Have More Share Offering Flops, Renaissance Fund Director Says

(Bloomberg) -- Russia will have more ``unsuccessful''
initial public offerings after OAO Dixy Group and PIK Group sold
shares at lower prices than they targeted, said Natalia Ivanova,
the manager of the Renaissance Pre-IPO fund.

``This is only a start and we think there will be more of
those in the future,'' Ivanova said yesterday at a conference in
Moscow. ``The quality of Russian companies is not so high yet.
Some companies didn't meet expectations for their financial
performance after IPOs.''


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Russia's Mices Rises, Led by Unified Energy, OGK-5 as Stake Sale Starts

(Bloomberg) -- Russian stocks advanced for a second
day, led by OAO Unified Energy System and its electricity-
generating OAO OGK-5 unit on speculation that a stake in OGK-5
will fetch a high price at an auction today.

The ruble-denominated Micex Index climbed 0.4 percent to
1622.41 at 10:36 a.m. in Moscow. The dollar-denominated RTS Index
was little changed at 1834.40.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

IMF Warns Russia Against Moves to Rapidly Accelerate Government Spending

(Bloomberg) -- The International Monetary Fund warned
about accelerating Russian government spending and raised
questions about whether it will administer the money effectively.

Russia plans to spend ``most of the oil windfall in the
next couple of years,'' Poul Thomsen, head of the IMF in Russia,
told reporters in Moscow today. ``The government must ask itself
whether it's wise to spend this oil wealth so quickly.''


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Russia Shares Post Largest 2-Day Drop Since March; Evraz Falls After Blast

(Bloomberg) -- Russian stocks fell, putting the
Micex Index on course for its biggest two-day decline in more
than 2 1/2 months. Evraz Group SA slid following a deadly blast
at one of the steelmaker's Siberian coal mines.

OAO Unified Energy System and OAO Sberbank also dropped.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Putin Urges Russian Government to Buy Domestic Stocks With Extra Oil Cash

(Bloomberg) -- President Vladimir Putin urged the
Russian government to bolster the country's flagging equity
market by pumping surplus oil revenue into domestic stocks.

Ministers should consider buying Russian ``blue chips''
with excess oil revenue instead of foreign securities, Putin
said at a Cabinet meeting in Moscow today, which was broadcast
on NTV television.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Platinum Falls in London on Expanding Mining Supply; Palladium Advances

(Bloomberg) -- Platinum fell in London, extending
last week's decline, as growing output from South Africa and
Russia may exceed demand from jewelers and carmakers. Palladium
gained to a one-week high.

Platinum output from South Africa, the world's biggest
producer, may rise more than 5 percent this year after a 1.7
percent gain last year, London-based Johnson Matthey Plc forecast
last week. Russia, the second-biggest producer, was allowed to
resume exports after a delay since the start of the year,
Interfax news agency reported in April.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News