Russia 100811 Basic Political Developments

Malware Infection Hits Russian Android Phones

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/10/malware-infection-hits-russian-android-phones/
By NICK BILTON

The adage “Be careful what you wish for” has a modern-day counterpart: “Be careful what you download.” Especially on your mobile phone.

On Tuesday several mobile security companies were analyzing a Trojan horse that appeared on phones running Google’s Android software in Russia.

The malicious software, which was discovered by Kaspersky Lab, an antivirus software company, is said to take advantage of Android phones after users install what appears to be a “harmless media player.” Once the file is installed the Trojan horse begins sending text messages to premium-rate phone numbers “without the owner’s knowledge or consent, resulting in money passing from a user’s account to that of the cybercriminals.”

Lookout, a security company specializing in mobile antivirus software, said in a blog post that the malicious program was the first Trojan horse developed exclusively for the Android platform. But it said the program would not affect Android phone users outside of Russian cell networks.

Security experts also noted that the infected application was not available in the Android Marketplace, the store used to download applications for the Android platform. Phone owners must explicitly change a setting on their phone to permit the installation of non-Marketplace applications.

Jay Nancarrow, a Google spokesman, said Android applications must get permission from the user before doing things like sending text messages or making phone calls.

“We consistently advise users to only install apps they trust,” Mr. Nancarrow said in a statement. “In particular, users should exercise caution when installing applications outside of Android Market.”

Virus sends costly messages from Android phones

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ikM_OCIR13Qi01DaJCojRT6o90Xg
(AFP) – 4 hours ago

SAN FRANCISCO — Mobile security firm Lookout on Tuesday warned that a booby-trapped Movie Player application is infecting Android phones in Russia with a virus that sends costly text messages.

Russia-based Kaspersky Lab discovered the malicious "Trojan" code hidden in a media player application people are enticed to download onto smartphones.

"The new malicious program penetrates smartphones running Android in the guise of a harmless media player application," Kaspersky said in a blog post.

"The Trojan uses the system to begin sending SMSs to premium rate numbers without the owner?s knowledge or consent, resulting in money passing from a user's account to that of the cybercriminals."

The Trojan has apparently only affected handsets operating on Google-backed Android software in Russia.

The Media Player program does ask users to authorize "services that cost you money" prior to installation, according to Lookout, which advised people to protect themselves by refusing to grant such permission.

"With the discovery of this new Android Trojan, it is more important than ever to pay attention to what you're downloading," Lookout said.

"Stay alert to ensure that you trust every app you download".

A Tiger in the Internet Mall

http://www.redherring.com/Home/26391
on 10 August 2010, 14:54
by Matt Gallagher
The private equity firm Tiger Global Management acquired a 50 percent stake in Wikimart, the Russian online mall, according to the Russian newspaper Vedomosti, with a nod to the Quintura blog. The deal took place in May, but only recently surfaced.

The New York investment firm bought 50 percent of the shares of the online mall for $5 million.

Targeting countries from the former Soviet Union, Wikimart provides the infrastructure to allow individuals and small retailers to set up shop online and enjoy accounting and legal support, ecommerce marketing tools and an order fullfillment interface. In exchange for the free store, Wikimart charges a 3 percent per transaction sales fee from its 150,000 monthly users. The company claims over 2,000 merchants selling over 410,000 products with 35,000 visitors a day. Founded in 2008 by Russian Stanford MBA grads Kamil Kurmakayev and Maxim Faldin and launched in 2009, Wikimart has generated a $1.5 million turnover.

In 2009, Wikimart also raised $.7 million from several Western angel investors. Based in Moscow, Wikimart employs 50 people.

This is the second major online investment in Russia by the Tiger Global Group, following the $10 million it cashed in to Anywayanyday, an online Russian travel site. The investment firm has also previously invested in Mail.ru, an online Russian portal.

The Russian ecommerce market is expected to reach $6 billion this year as venture capitalists continue to cash in at the investment table.

Japanese trio bows out of Uranium One

http://www.yournuclearnews.com/japanese+trio+bows+out+of+uranium+one_52798.html

Wednesday, Aug 11, 2010

A consortium of three Japanese companies has agreed to end their investment in Canada-based Uranium One, securing long-term uranium purchasing rights instead. Meanwhile, Uranium One is upping its 2010 production forecast. 

Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), Toshiba Corporation, and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) have signed a new agreement with Uranium One which will see them receive purchase rights for up to 2.5 million pounds U₃O₈ (962 tU) per year from 2014 to 2025, at a market-related price at the time of delivery.

Uranium One has agreed to buy back the convertible debentures it sold to the trio's Japan Uranium Management Inc (JUMI) for C$271.79 million ($264.42 million), equivalent to 101% of the amount originally paid by the three companies when they agreed to buy 117 million shares in the company in 2009. The Japanese companies subsequently agreed to take up convertible debentures instead of common shares in a transaction completed in January 2010.
The latest agreement is subject to the completion of the acquisition of a controlling share of Uranium One by Russia's AtomRedMetZoloto (ARMZ), and is expected to be effective by December 2010.
Uranium One ups guidance  

Uranium One says it expects to produce 7.0 million pounds U₃O₈ (2693 tU) in 2010, up from its earlier predictions of 6.8 million pounds U₃O₈ (2616 tU), because of better-than-expected performance at its South Inkai deposit in Kazakhstan. The company's second quarter figures boast attributable production of 1.826 million pounds U₃O₈ (716 tU), more than double the figure for the same period in 2010, primarily due to the acquisition of a 50% interest in the Karatau uranium mine and the continued ramp up at South Inkai.

INTERVIEW: Bringing PR to Russia

http://www.businessneweurope.eu/dispatch_text12479

Ben Aris in Moscow

August 11, 2010

Communism didn't incorporate the concept of press relations, so when the former Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev decided to visit California with his wife Raisa after a summit in Washington with then-president George Bush senior in 1990, his KGB minders were at a loss. Who would organise the press and handle the Politburo chief's interaction with the ravenous running dogs of the western media?

Peter Necarsulmer was running a PR consultancy in California at that time when he got a call from the White House. "Sid Rovich called me, the senior advisor to President Bush. Gorbachev was in Washington for a summit, but he and his wife Raisa wanted to visit California. Once they left Washington, it was no longer an official visit and Sid asked me if could handle all the media relations," says Necarsulmer.

Ten days later and a full-blown media frenzy descended on Los Angeles. Gorby, as he had already been dubbed, was already an icon in the West and more than 2,000 journalists followed the Soviet premier to LA. Necarsulmer worked hand in glove with the Kremlin handlers to organise over 40 events as well as a major detente speech that Gorby gave to students of Necarsulmer's old alma mater at Stanford. Gorbachev also wanted to meet business leaders (a bit like Russian President Dmitry Medvedev who repeated much of the same trip in July). The South Korean president was in town and Necarsulmer set up the first ever meeting between the leaders of the two states. Raisa spent her time shopping. And there was even a sleepover with Ronald and Nancy Reagan. "It was a very jolly evening. It was Reagan's swan song, as he had done a lot of the work of restarting relations with Russia," says Necarsulmer who was present for part of the evening.

Necarsulmer filled in as the de facto press service for Gorbachev and did so well that after the Russians had returned to Moscow, he got a another call, this time from the Russians, who asked him to handle all the PR for a trip by 50 leading business from the Fortune 500 list to Russia that autumn.

By September, Necarsulmer was in Moscow for the first time with the delegation. Working on the fly, Necarsulmer went to see Paul Tatum, the pioneering American businessman, and persuaded him to open the doors of the Radison Slavenskaya hotel that he part-owned for a lunch for his delegation and a press conference for more than 400 journalists. "The Radisson was not officially supposed to open for another year and a half, but they cleaned out some space and held a lunch there for the visiting businessmen, which is when I got to know Tatum," says Necarsulmer.

The flamboyant Tatum was one of the first foreign investors in Russia after the thaw between east and west began, but epitomises the difficulties of doing business in Russia during the 1990s; he ran foul of his Russian partners and was brutally gunned down on November 3, 1996, taking five shots to the neck, just above the bullet proof vest he habitually wore under his suit.

Still, the press conference went so well and the KGB was so impressed with Necarsulmer that they asked him to move to Russia permanently. With American corporates like Coca-Cola also drifting into Russia, Necarsulmer opened the first PR agency in Russia, The PBN Company, in January 1991. It was the start of a rollercoaster ride that has yet to end.

PRatfalls

That autumn Gorbachev was deposed and the Soviet Union collapsed. The daily fax that Necarsulmer sent out summing up news and reports from the city became a major source of news during the August coup and Necarsulmer went on to organise the foriegn correspondents club.

Even during the 1998 crash, when many foreign investors left, Necarsulmer decided to "tough it out." This paid off, as within 18 months Russia was booming again after Vladimir Putin took over in early 2000 and oil prices began their inexorable climb towards $150 a barrel.

Necarsulmer has always stuck to his guns and famously said in a speech to the American Chamber of Commerce in the autumn of 1998: "There is an opportunity for turning the lemon which is Russia today into lemonade. And nowhere is this more true than in governmental policymaking. The message to each and every operating company represented here today is, do not become so pre-occupied with day-to-day operational matters that you miss this unique opportunity."

Current President Dmitry Medvedev has been very active pumping out this message and seems to be bringing home the bacon; following the St Petersburg Economic Summit in June and the president's trip to the US shortly afterwards in July, the Kremlin crowed it had done billions of dollars in deals. However, Necarsulmer says that much of these promises are probably empty. "Typically, the talk of investment is more of a government-relations exercise. The promises are designed to shore up the other aspects of business and state contracts," says Necarsulmer. "The whole [procurement] process remains non-transparent and works on the basis of who you know."

Despite his obvious commitment to the Russian story, Necarsulmer remains a pragmatist. From a PR perspective, he believes the government's new "investor friendly" campaign is long overdue. "Compared to the Bric countries, Mexico or other emerging markets, Russia pales by comparison when it comes to selling itself. The events like the [Kremlin-sponsored Russian Economic Forum in] St Petersburg, [or hosting the 2014 Winter Olympic games in] Sochi are good, but they need to do a lot more than just hold these house parties," says Necarsulmer. "The competition for foreign investment has never been higher than now and if you look at the risk/reward returns in Russia, even though the returns are very high, the risks remain too high for most. The government policies to do something about this are not yet effective."