Business Special Report Russia has added video content to its web site and launched a video channel on YouTube. The video reports are from the recent Russo British Chamber of Commerce Forum in London.

"While we have carried video reports from third party providers for over a year now, this marks the first time that we have originated video material and the results can be considered a trial for BSR-TV," said  BSR Founder and Editor-in-Chief, John Bonar.

By John Bonar

At a business conference in London last week H.R.H. Prince Michael of Kent set the tone when he said in opening remarks, "2011 may well go down as a watershed year in Russian post-Soviet history." Watch video here.

Prince Michael, Patron of the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce, was opening the chamber's annual Russia Forum. The prince, who celebrates his 69th birthday next week, and travels extensively not only to Russia but within Russia "by air, by trans-Siberian express and by vintage Bentley" said Russian businesses were "well on their way back to their original (pre-crisis) strength".

Greg Page, the head of Global agribusiness giant Cargill, believes Russia and Ukraine could play a bigger role in meeting global demand for food. If the two countries lifted export restrictions and were more open to foreign investment in agriculture they could boost crop production. Page was speaking to the Finanvcial Times during a visit to Kiev. Russia is due to lift an 11-month ban on grain exports on Friday July 1.

In Pall Mall, last Thursday, I joined scores of British businessmen who came to listen to experts, and discuss the wealth of opportunities that Russia offers business in a Forum organised by the Russo British Chamber of Commerce.

Russia has come a long way since the break-up of the Soviet Union just 20 years ago. Despite losing all the Soviet satellite states the Russian Federation is still a vast country. It spans 9 time zones. And from the borders of Europe it stretches across the top of the Northern hemisphere to frontiers with Alaska, China and Korea, and a short boat ride to Japan.

Celebratory events in the UK and Russia this week marked the success of an epic sea voyage and a historic trade link between the two countries.The delivery of a unique beer, ‘Russian Imperial Stout’, has been achieved with the arrival of ‘Thermopylae Clipper’ in St Petersburg, Russia, on Wednesday 15 June 2011, from London.

The ship has been carrying fourteen different versions of ‘Russian Imperial Stout’, a strong beer originally supplied to the Empress Catherine the Great and her Court from England. It is the first time that ‘Russian Imperial Stout’ has been shipped to Russia in over 100 years.

By Gordon Hahn

This commentary originally appeared on Russia: Other Points of View blog

Despite claims that nothing is changing in Russia and, more specifically, that Russian president Dmitry Medvedev’s anti-corruption drive is going nowhere, the fact is that the campaign is picking up steam and has a chance of making a real dent in Russia’s massive, endemic corruption.  Let’s begin with the least impressive but by no means insignificant of the recent steps.  In his May press conference at Skolkovo Medvedev called for a relaxation of the technical inspection of automobiles during the registration process; something that would reduce GIBDD presonnel’s opportunities for demanding bribes.  By the end of the month, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had prepared a government resolution waiving the requirement for new automobiles to be inspected upon their initial registration or during their first year on the road (Aleksandra Smarina, “Voyazh Medvedeva na ammita utonul v potoke informatsi o Putine,” Nezavisimaya gazeta, 27 May 2011).  This deprives the auto inspection department of a key opportunity for soliciting bribes; another step in Medvedev’s anti-corruption drive.

Russian Airlines, Aeroflot has sold its Nordavia subsidiary to operating structures controlled by mining and metals giant Norilsk Nickel for $7mn plus assumption of $200mn in debt. Nordavia, which operates mainly in Northwest Russia from its base in Arkhangelsk formerly operated as Aeroflot Nord but reverted to Nordavia after a 2008 fatal crash at Perm.

Nordavia recently won full membership of IATA and its route network includes Helsinki, Moscow, Astrakhan, Tomsk and Novosibirsk.

The airline links the Norilsk Nickel's company town of Norilsk in the Arctic with Moscow, Ektaerinburg, Rostov, Chelyabinsk and Sochi amongst other destinations.

Gazprom Global LNG (GGLNG) has announced the signing of 15-year time charter agreements for two state-of-the-art liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers with Sovcomflot. The two LNG carriers will be built by STX Offshore & Shipbuilding in South Korea and are scheduled for delivery in the 4th quarter of 2013 and the 2nd quarter of 2014 respectively. The vessels will be state-of-the-art and highly efficient with ice-class and winterisation, tri-fuel diesel electric propulsion and a strengthened membrane containment system, each with a capacity of approximately 170,000 cubic metres.  The vessels will join the GGLNG’s fleet of chartered LNG vessels which support its growing global portfolio of supply and purchase LNG agreements.

Yury Budanov, a former Russian army colonel and Russia's only convicted war criminal was shot dead in Moscow last Friday, a law enforcement source said, according to RIA Novosti news agency. Budanov was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2003 for the kidnapping and murder of an 18-year old Chechen girl Elsa Kungayeva, but was released early on parole in 2009.

By Gordon M. Hahn

This article originally appeared on Russia: Other Points of View

This week saw the New York Times’ and Washington Post’s continuation of their tradition of allowing only those articles and opeds that paint the worst picture of Russia and–– occluding from the American public the positive changes occurring in Russia under President Dmitrii Medvedev in tandem with former president Vladimir Putin, his Prime Minister.