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By John Helmer in Moscow In the chapbooks of the medieval Finns, it was reported that pygmies lived in the Arctic Sea regions. The men there were dwarfed, so the Finns and Lapps thought, because of the effect of the North Pole and ice cap as a low-hanging roof over the world that made it […]

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By John Helmer in Moscow Sergei Vybornov, the chief executive of Alrosa since February 2007, is likely to be replaced, sources close to the company have told Polished prices.com. An announcement is expected to be made before the annual general meeting of Alrosa shareholders, scheduled for three weeks’ time, on June 20. Vybornov’s spokesman has […]

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By John Helmer in Moscow The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS), Russia’s anti-trust watchdog, announced this week that it has opened an official investigation of the State Customs Service (FTS). The head of the FAS, Igor Artemyev, is a careful St. Petersburg apparatchik, who has made a 5-year career of running the anti-trust agency without getting […]

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By John Helmer in Moscow The Mechel steel and coal group has failed for the second time in two months to agree with its bankers on repayment of a year-old $1.5 billion loan. The news, first issued in Moscow as trading commenced on the New York Stock Exchange, where Mechel is listed, dropped the share […]

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By John Helmer in Moscow Following the weekend European Union (EU) summit meeting with Russia in Khabarovsk, Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller warned yesterday in Moscow that if the Ukraine cannot pay the tab for past-due bills for gas, or for future deliveries for winter storage, and if the European Union won’t lend the money, […]

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By John Helmer in Moscow Fitch, the international ratings agency owned by the Paris-listed Fimalac, has issued a downgrade notice for Severstal, lowering its issuer default and senior unsecured ratings from BB to BB-. The agency has also placed Severstal on a further watch for the possibility of deteriorating financial information leading to a further […]

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By John Helmer in Moscow Russia has seized a shipment of Egyptian oranges at Novorossiysk port, after discovering Mediterranean fruit-fly infestation. The orange move has been reported in the Russian media as tit for tat for Egyptian moves to seize three shipments of Russian wheat since May 13. Rosselkhoznadzor (RSN), the government’s food and farm […]

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By John Helmer in Moscow Alexei Mordashov, controlling shareholder and chief executive of the Moscow-based Severstal group, has set a sale price on the group’s North American assets of $3.6 billion, according to a source close to the company. Lazard Freres is the investment banking firm advising Mordashov on the deal. The disclosure comes after […]

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By John Helmer in Moscow Russian steelmakers in Moscow have confirmed that their export surge towards China, on which the revival of Russian mill capacity is currently based, is now threatened by an anti-dumping (AD) inquiry launched by Beijing. According to an unconfirmed report from Interfax China this week, Beijing has ordered an AD investigation […]

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By John Helmer in Moscow The president of the Russian grain exporters’ association went on the offensive against Egypt today, charging the Egyptian government has so far failed to report any findings, or lodge any claims, against Russian wheat imports. According to Egyptian media reports, 137,000 tonnes of Russian grain cargoes have been detained from […]