bazilisek: The exclusive distribution contract between 1C and Bethesda probably wasn't entirely kosher, that's what it seems to boil down to. Who knows what's actually in it.
It probably is a combination of "exclusivity deals" a publishing deal can be sold a lot bigger if you are the "only one". That is what 1C got for eastern Europe/Russia (which was, until Steam cracked it, a very undesirable market anyway. So most bigger pubs were probably happy to see at least some money from there). Now 1C on the otherhand probably has a few distribution deals that infer with digital releases. I don't know if there are any big electronic retail chains in Russia, but they probably had a clause somewhere that said "no digital releases" to protect electronic retailers. Which from my experience really doesn't make sense either, because for the most time "retail" in Russia meant pirated games. But my trips to Russia were "stopovers" at best, so I don't really know the local market structure.
But those contracts will probably run out soon anyway, and with Steams success, 1C dominance with probably crumble.
Profanity: Lithuania can't get Skyrim from Steam either, but it's all over the retail stores, so I guess that's the people who win.
Ah, ninja confirmed! Thanks!