Cover Story

How Can Russia Break the Bottleneck of Its Economy

Russia started a new round of economic transformation amid the global economic crisis in 2008. However， control over the economy by a few oligarchs， rampant corruption， and the scale of capital outflow have rendered Russia抯 diversification efforts ineffective. By 2014， the country was trapped in a perfect storm consisting of falling oil prices and Western sanctions triggered by the Ukraine crisis. Given the circumstances， only rising oil prices could get the Russian economy out of the woods.

Projects designed to develop Russia抯 far east were rolled out in 2014. Policymakers in Russia contend that reducing administrative intervention in the business sector and improving infrastructure are what the nation needs to facilitate growth in the region.

PPP Shows Potential Amid Obstacles

With the local government debt problem still putting pressure on financial liquidity， public private partnerships （PPP）， an investment method which leverages social capital and participates in investment and operations of urban infrastructure， has begun to heat up. The promotion of PPP has important significance for decentralization， giving full play to the role of market mechanisms， improving the quality of public services， maximizing public interest and resolving local government debt risks.

However， plagued by low project signing rates， China抯 promotion of PPP thus far has been characterized by 搊ne-sided enthusiasm？of the government. Increasing participation of social capital has become an important and difficult task which requires the government， enterprises， financial institutions and other parties to work together.

Legend Holdings？Two-wheel Drive Evolution

After 22 years of restructuring， Legend Holdings Corp. （Legend） officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on June 29. Legend抯 subsidiary business operations are complex. Driven by the 搕wo-wheel drive？strategy of 搃nvestment + industry，？Legend owns IT giant Lenovo Group， a real estate company， strategic investment companies in the financial， consumer， and medical sectors， as well as three major financial investment companies.

The key factors affecting the value of the company include： how to allow its strategic investments and financial investments to complement each other， thereby reducing the extremely high proportion of IT services； how to continue company founder Liu Chuanzhi抯 influence and control in the future， and how to allow highly independent Legend subsidiaries to achieve collaborative development.

Zhou Benshun抯 Interest Network Exposed

Former secretary of the Hebei Provincial Committee Zhou Benshun， who served as a top aide to disgraced ex-security tsar Zhou Yongkang， was taken into custody July 24 on suspicion of 搒eriously violating Party discipline and laws.？After being appointed party chief of Hebei Province in 2013， it seemed that for a time Zhou had escaped unscathed even after his ex-boss Zhou Yongkang was investigated for corruption in 2014.

An investigation by Caijing exposed an interest network surrounding Zhou， his relatives and related government-business relations. The network extends to cities and provinces such as Changsha， Henan， and Tianjin， as well as industries such as automotive， real estate， and painting and calligraphy.

YoukuTudou Reaches a Critical Moment

China抯 online video industry leader YoukuTudou， which renamed itself Heyi Group （Heyi） earlier this year， incurred greater losses in the second quarter of this year， despite a revenue increase. Many institutional investors are cautiously optimistic about Heyi抯 performance. Merrill Lynch predicts that Heyi抯 losses will narrow in the second half of 2015 as the company continues to diversify its income sources.

Heyi began to pursue changes since the first half of 2014， and has so far brought in external funds， adjusted its organizational structure， and underwent changes in its revenue mix. Going forward， Heyi could become the most anticipated video company should it manage to drastically change its revenue structure； if it fails to accomplish this feat， the company will inevitably be surpassed by competitors.