For 28-year old Julia Oktyabreva her 2006 honeymoon in Bali changed her life. The young Muscovite and her husband not only had a romantic holiday in the tropical paradise but were so impressed by the standard of local handcrafted furniture that they decided to sell it in Moscow.

Telecommunications companies Rostelecom and MegaFon signed a record $460 million sponsorship deal in January for the 2014 Sochi Olympics. A month later Rosneft signed up to another $180 million in a deal making the Russian oil major the General Partner of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games 2014 in Sochi (until 2014); General Partner of the Russian Olympic and Paralympic Committees (until the end of 2016) and General partner of the Russian Olympic and Paralympic teams (at the 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016 Games).

Baikalsk Pulp & Paper Mill on the shores of Lake Baikal a UNESCO World Heritage Site, long condemned by environmentalists for polluting the oldest, deepest lake in the world has closed, perhaps never to reopen in the face of plunging pulp paper prices worldwide.

The timely construction of everything required for the November 2012 APEC summit in Vladivostok, which is closely watched by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, is giving the Governor of Primorye Krai, Sergey Darkin, another opportunity to demonstrate his leadership effectiveness. Last year the Governor had his home and office raided by prosecutors and it was widely rumored he faced removal from his post. A spell in a Moscow medical facility for heart related treatment gave him the opportunity to to meet with Russia’s leaders and he appears to be back in favor.

The discount fashion retail chain owned by U.S. entrepreneurs John Ortega is expanding, opening two more outlets in addition to its original suburban Moscow store in Marino. A store in Moscow’s Prazhskaya district features late night shopping until 22.00 and the latest store in Moscow’s Taganskaya district brings high street fashion brands at discounted prices to the city’s centre. The retailer is said to have options on several other locations but is waiting for rent stabilization in the retail sector.

In a bid to sustain demand in the housing market the Agency for Housing Mortgage Lending, also known as AIZhK is disbursing an additional 200 billion rubles in funding from the government. “We will give additional resources to banks that give out mortgages and, accordingly, mortgage lenders will be able to issue bonds backed by their mortgages, and the bonds will be guaranteed by AIZhK,” Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin has said. From there, the bonds can be refinanced by the Central Bank, he said. VTB, Sberbank and some commercial banks use AIZhK to finance mortgages including Uniastrum Bank, 80% owned by the Bank of Cyprus.

The construction of Russia Tower, the planned landmark of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov’s Moskva-City skyscraper development, or the Moscow International Business Centre, slated to be Europe’s tallest building at 612 meters, is in doubt. The troubled contractor, Russian Land, owned by Shalva Chigirinsky, froze work on the project last November. Chigirinsky is selling some of his real estate in Russia, France and Britain together with an airplane to repay $307.4 million in debt to Sibir Energy, where he is a director and to a partner.

After a bruising corporate dispute between BP and its Russian billionaire partners in the 50-50 venture was resolved last September, three independent directors including former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder joined the TNK-BP board. BP CEO Tony Hayward singled out Schroder’s decision to join, saying, “The counsel of such a distinguished statesman, who brings both enormous geopolitical experience and a history of strong relationships with Russia, gives me particular confidence that the next chapter will be good for all shareholders and for Russia.” Schroder said he would make TNK-BP a beacon for foreign investment in Russia.

Overtures by metals billionaires Vladimir Potanin, Oleg Deripaska and Alisher Usmanov to merge their metals firms into a ‘National Champion’ with state support which would have wiped out existing debts have been quietly rebuffed.

Russian state uranium miner, Atomredmetzoloto, or ARMZ, will increase output of the metal to 4,300 tons this year from 3,880 tons. ARMZ plans to invest 203.6 billion rubles by 2015 in a massive expansion plan as demand from the nuclear power sector grows. Russia holds more than 10 percent estimated at 545,600 tons of the world’s uranium reserves. The agency is positioning itself as a major player in meeting growing demand from the fast-growing nuclear industry.