VENTURE CAPITAL POST

At his annual speech at the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin acknowledged that actions to improve Russia's business climate should be done immediately after finally conceding that the state's economic problems were grown at home.

Rumors of coercion by the Russian government and President Vladimir Putin on local wealthy industrialists had been shut down by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, who said the moguls enjoyed good deals out of their investor participation for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Despite investor criticism it received for paying more investment attention on its non-core division, Gazprom announced on Tuesday in a joint statement that it had acquired Profmedia from metals tycoon Vladimir Potanin.

Allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin will reportedly get upset about the Russian state chief's latest economic policy to freeze prices starting next year, Bloomberg said in its report.

The shutdown of Russian bank Master Bank was the central bank's most high-profile move yet under the leadership of Russia's first female governor Elvira Nabiullina.

OAO Sberbank, under the leadership of CEO Herman Gref, had undergone layoffs as well as transitions to become one of the top banks in Europe, with interests in Eastern Europe and Turkey.

In an The Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors's (G20), attendees would be seeing a show of power and influence between US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin arguing on how to act on the crisis in Syria.

Russian president Vladimir Putin announced US$13 billion investment plan on Friday during the annual business forum held at St. Petersburg.

Major private equity and sovereign wealth funds on Thursday took tentative first steps to invest in Russia.