Fitch international ratings agency has revised Russia's long-term ratings outlook to Positive from Stable, the agency said on Wednesday.

Four million foreign nationals work illegally in Russia, the head of the Federal Migration Service said on Wednesday.

Sales of new passenger and light commercial cars in Russia increased by 14 percent year-on-year to 1.13 million vehicles in the period January-August 2010, the Association of European Businesses said on Wednesday.

The Russian government will restrain growth in some state-monopoly tariffs in 2011 even more tightly than in 2010, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

Selling gas to Russian companies on the local market will become more attractive than exporting it, LUKoil Vice President and co-owner Leonid Fedun said on Wednesday.

Iran has achieved self-sufficiency in gasoline production, Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi said on Wednesday.

Russia's top lender Sberbank has chosen Barclay's Capital, BNP Paribas and ING to lead manage its Eurobonds, a banking source said on Wednesday.

Russia's MICEX exchange plans to launch rouble-yuan trading, President Ruben Aganbegyan said on Wednesday.

The Moscow Region attracted more than $1.6 billion in foreign investment in the first six months of 2010, a senior official said on Wednesday.

The government may sell off its stake in VTB, Russia's second largest bank, before the end of 2010 if the market situation is favorable, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on Wednesday.

A Russian bank has won exclusive rights in the banking sector to using Savoy cabbages in its advertising campaigns, Russian business daily Kommersant said on Wednesday.

Russian-British oil joint venture TNK-BP increased its first half 2010 net profit by 21 percent year-on-year to $2.744 billion to US GAAP, the company said on Wednesday.

With Minsk relaxed as ever on car imports, Russians look set to continue buying foreign-made cars with low import duties in Belarus, Vedomosti business daily said on Wednesday.

A delegation from Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto is visiting the facilities of one of Russia's largest potash miners Uralkali with a view to purchasing part of the firm, Vedomosti business newspaper said on Wednesday.

Russia's energy investment company ESN group, owned by tycoon Grigory Beryozkin, has agreed to sell its core energy assets to state-controlled power trader Inter RAO UES, Kommersant daily said on Wednesday.

The position of Minsk on the levying of duties on Russian oil products supplied to Belarus has no legal basis, a Russian first deputy prime minister said Tuesday.

The Russian government could start selling off stakes in state-controlled enterprises before the end of the year, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said on Tuesday.

Russia's second largest bank, VTB, is considering South Korea and Hong Kong as possible floors for its Eurobond placement, VTB head Andrei Kostin said on Tuesday.

Russia will not need to import grain since this year's harvest is enough for the country's domestic needs, Russian Agriculture Minister Yelena Skrynnik said on Tuesday.