Andrei Pestov has been appointed Deputy General Director of ROSVODOKANAL Group of Companies for Strategic Planning and Business Development. Previously he was Executive Vice-President of Integrated Energy Systems Holding Company.

A FIFA delegation arrives in St Petersburg today for the start of its four-day inspection of the Russia 2018 World Cup Bid. Visits to Moscow, Kazan and Sochi, host city of the 2014 Winter Olympics, are also scheduled in the coming days.

Russia's record-breaking heatwave looks set to come to a dramatic end, with a severe storm now heading for Moscow after battering St Petersburg. Nearly 100,000 people around St Petersburg were left without power, rail services were halted and trees felled amid high winds and heavy rains.

Adspend levels rose by 10% in Russia during the first half of this year, as brand owners heightened their efforts to connect with consumers in this key emerging market. AKAR, the trade association, has reported that advertising expenditure in the country increased by 10%, to 105bn rubles ($3.4bn; €2.7bn; £2.1bn), during the opening six months of 2010.

Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL) and Russia's ROLF SCS logistics are establishing a joint venture between their Baltic and Russian terminal activities to deliver cars and spare car parts to Russia, ROLF SCS has said.

Belarusian Railways press service that the Belarusian Railways and the Russian Railways have coordinated the freight traffic activity in the East-West-East direction including transshipment in Belarus with the participation of private licensed Polish carriers.

The Sukhoi Superjet engine, designed by a joint venture between Russia's NPO Saturn and Snecma, a unit of France's Safran, has been certified by Russia, manufacturer Saturn announced last Friday. The Superjet 100 which outsold more established regional jet manufacturers Canada's Bombardier and Brazil's Embraer at the July Farnborough International Airshow in England,and is poised to deliver aircarft next year to clients including an aircraft leasing company in the Bahamas and airlines in SE Asia after the the first aircraft are delivered to Russian carrier Aeroflot and Armenia's Armavia.

The Russian government is considering drastic measures to stimulate business and investment. Amendments to the existing law on competition are being prepared, slated for approval in autumn, according to Voice of Russia.

European news agencies say the French company “Gas de France Suez” has officially joined the Nord Stream as the fifth and the last member of the gas pipeline project, Voice of Russia has reported. According to the French company’s financial report on the results of the first six months of the year, the transaction to acquire a 9% stake in Nord Stream AG is closed. The amount of the transaction is not disclosed. The original memorandum covering the company's participation was signed in Paris in March in front of Presidents Medvedev and Sarkozy. An agreement was signed in July.

The Russian oil company Rosneft plans to increase its oil production to 133 million tones a year by 2015, up from 119 million tones now, the company's Vice President Mikhail Stavsky said Saturday, according to Voice of Russia