Russian firms blur line - Europe - International Herald Tribune

Here in the Caucasus, above Sochi, an elite ski resort is rising beside the Layura River. The resort, a multimillion-dollar project with a hotel and conference center, cottages, six lifts and miles of trails, is a centerpiece of Sochi's improbable bid for the Winter Olympic Games of 2014.

Even more improbable is the project's developer: Russia's state gas monopoly, Gazprom.

Gazprom is a vast and powerful energy giant, a company now worth more than $240 billion, having gained $10 billion in value in one week in April alone. It is the fifth-largest corporation in the world, having in the past year leaped past Wal-Mart, Toyota and Citigroup. Its executives vow to make it the biggest...