IN BRIEF (Page 17)

Russian economy dour

Russian Economy Minister Elvira Nabiullina said the economy may shrink as much as 8 percent this year, revising down a January forecast.

"The specific contraction numbers could be 4 percent or 6 percent or 8 percent," Nabiullina said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Moscow yesterday. "We're doing various calculations, pessimistic and optimistic. We believe much depends on how efficient we are."