By John Helmer in Moscow Saddleback Gold recruits General Sir Mike Jackson in an attempt to do battle for the Tajikistan gold sector. It has been 140 years since last two English adventurers walked into Tajikistan with a sales pitch of commercial goods and guns, and with the barely concealed intention to beat the Russians. […]

by John Helmer - Wednesday, September 12th, 2007
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By John Helmer in Moscow The break-up of the partnership controlling Norilsk Nickel and Polyus Gold grows more interesting by the day. A half-century ago, hardboiled US city cops used to prosecute the so-called badger game. At its origin, this involved a woman luring a man into a compromising position, only to be caught in […]

by John Helmer - Monday, September 10th, 2007
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By John Helmer in Moscow Russian steelmaker makes billion-dollar bid for Fortescue without explanation to the Russian market. When Victor Rashnikov, owner of Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine (MMK), was in London in April, trying to persuade shareholders to buy up to 14% of his shares, he claimed that the steel mill, Russia’s largest, had secured its […]

by John Helmer - Monday, September 10th, 2007
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By John Helmer in Moscow Mitvol ignores London and goes to US to explain Russian mining rules Roald Dahl once wrote a comedy about a man whose mental powers included the ability to see through cards. Understandably, he spent his life slipping through casino doors, only to be evicted from the gaming table as soon […]

by John Helmer - Wednesday, September 5th, 2007
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By John Helmer Georgian gold miner Madneuli gets Russian financing for goldmine moves in Armenia, Azerbaijan lodges protest Georgian gold miner Madneuli gets Russian financing for goldmine moves in Armenia, Azerbaijan lodges protest. Queen Tamar, the greatest of the Georgian sovereigns (1184-1213), is responsible for the habit Georgian rulers have displayed for the past millennium […]

by John Helmer - Friday, August 31st, 2007
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By John Helmer in Moscow LSE regulators and US government investigations trigger strategy differences on getting Rusal to market. US and European banks are fighting among themselves over the terms of the proposed initial placement offering (IPO) of shares of United Company Rusal, the Russian owned bauxite miner and world’s no.2 aluminium producer. The conflict […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, August 30th, 2007
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By John Helmer in Moscow For the hundred and fifty years between the Opium Wars and the end of World War II, the China Discount was notorious in the Shanghai Bund, on the bank of the Huangpu River. It represented the gap between the little western traders would agree to pay for Chinese-made goods, and […]

by John Helmer - Saturday, August 25th, 2007
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By John Helmer in Moscow Norway is one of those countries, inhabited by one of those peoples, which have exercised some of the greatest comedians in the English language – to little avail. John Cleese once explained his assignment on behalf of the Norwegian Tourist Board, as he stepped out of a wet summer fjord […]

by John Helmer - Friday, August 17th, 2007
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OPINION AND ANALYSIS “It’s pleasant to be here, you feel comfortable, and you don’t feel people are watching you,” Roman Abramovich on buying Chelsea Football Club in London, for equity and debt totaling $240 million. Russian villagers like to say that if you drink you die; and if you don’t drink you die, so it’s […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, August 7th, 2007
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By John Helmer in Moscow Harry Lime was the character invented by novelist and one-time intelligence officer Graham Greene, who understood how an investment banker should operate when the breakdown of government makes the black market the only source of supply, trade, and profit. Lime’s racket in post-war Vienna, then occupied by the allied armies, […]

by John Helmer - Monday, August 6th, 2007
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