By John Helmer in Moscow After months of bluster, denials that his job was under threat, and attempts to intimidate reporting with phantom lawsuits, Sergei Vybornov has issued a lengthy interview to a Moscow reporter, in which he intimates that his ouster — made official by the Alrosa board last Friday — was the result […]

by John Helmer - Monday, July 13th, 2009
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By John Helmer in Moscow Fyodor Andreev (also spelled Andreyev — see picture) is the new chief executive officer of Alrosa, the state owned Russian diamond miner, and will take up his functions this week, a high company source told PolishedPrices.com today. It turns out that Alrosa’s CEO has a seat on the company’s Supervisory […]

by John Helmer - Sunday, July 12th, 2009
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By John Helmer in Moscow This is the strange tale of a mining company which noone admits to owning, at least not in the fareastern Primorsk region of Russia, where it is the principal source of work and income, not to mention cancer exposure, for the village of Svetlogorye (“Clear Mountain”, population 700); and where, […]

by John Helmer - Friday, July 10th, 2009
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By John Helmer in Moscow The two well-known controlling shareholders of the Evraz steel group, Russia’s largest steelmaker, are to pay at least $400 million into the cash reserve of the company to help reduce its current debts, and avoid a breach of bankers’ covenants governing Evraz’s loan position. Through an announcement yesterday by Evraz, […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, July 9th, 2009
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by John Helmer in Moscow A revival of government accusations in Moscow about Belarus milk exports was dismissed by Belarus officials on Friday. The government in Minsk has accepted a temporary cut-off of the dry-milk trade, but it continues resisting Russian pressure to sell its dairy production plants. The Belorussians charge the Russian government with […]

by John Helmer - Wednesday, July 8th, 2009
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By John Helmer in Moscow When it comes to investigating, Sergei Stepashin, the former prime minister, is like a small dog with a big bone. Transfer pricing, tolling, and related metal trading schemes that evade huge sums of tax are his bone. Stepashin’s problem is that no sooner does he get his teeth into something, […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, July 7th, 2009
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By John Helmer in Moscow Silvio Berlusconi, November 6, 2008: “I don’t see problems for Medvedev to establish good relations with Obama who is handsome, young and suntanned.” Russian anecdote: “The driver of a heavy tanker-truck, covered in mud and slush, is stopped in the centre of Moscow by a traffic policeman eager for a […]

by John Helmer - Sunday, July 5th, 2009
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Visit The Cat’s Paw Page here.

by John Helmer - Friday, July 3rd, 2009
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By John Helmer in Moscow Vladimir Gusev was a surprise new member of the 7-man board of directors, voted by Mechel shareholders at their annual general meeting on Thursday. The controlling stake is held by Igor Zyuzin, who has reported to the US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) that he holds 66.76%. J.P. Morgan holds […]

by John Helmer - Friday, July 3rd, 2009
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By John Helmer in Moscow Russia’s resources tsar, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, is considering a new plan to award the mining right to Sukhoi Log, one of the largest unmined gold deposits in the world, to a special-purpose company backed by Russian Technologies, the state metals and minerals conglomerate run by Sechin’s old ally, […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
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