By John Helmer, Moscow Once upon a time when the US Government used to plot the overthrow of allied European governments, Ronald Reagan was President, and George Shultz his Secretary of State. On March 25, 1986, Shultz arrived in Athens, intent on delivering an ultimatum for the Greek Prime Minister, Andreas Papandreou; Shultz thought he […]

by Editor - Tuesday, December 16th, 2014
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By John Helmer, Moscow Multi-billion dollar lending to Ukraine by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank has stopped amid growing doubts among country board directors at the two international organizations that the Ukrainian Government can meet repayment commitments and loan covenants for 2015, or deliver on reform promises and budget financing targets tabled […]

by Editor - Monday, December 15th, 2014
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By John Helmer, Moscow The report of the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on CIA torture is long on details, very short on Russia. For the full report, click. There are just five references to Russia; all are footnotes to intelligence reports produced by several US government agencies for review by them all. Three […]

by Editor - Thursday, December 11th, 2014
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By John Helmer, Moscow In the recent history of Russian classical music, Mstislav Rostropovich grew so rich with the cello – Vladimir Spivakov with fiddle, Valery Gergiev with baton, too — how to explain that the broadcasting of classical music on the radio has grown so poor? The technologies of digital reproduction of music are […]

by Editor - Thursday, December 11th, 2014
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By John Helmer, Moscow Tiger is an unlucky brand-name for Russian investment. The record of Mikhail Prokhorov and Maxim Finsky in trying, and failing three times over to sell shares in White Tiger Gold on the Toronto Stock Exchange explains. So why is the Russian Direct Investment Fund, a state development bank, betting on a […]

by Editor - Monday, December 8th, 2014
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By John Helmer, Moscow The new finance minister of Ukraine, Natalie Jaresko, may have replaced her US citizenship with Ukrainian at the start of this week, but her employer continued to be the US Government, long after she claims she left the State Department. US court and other records reveal that Jaresko has been the […]

by Editor - Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014
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By John Helmer, Moscow Edward Lucas has revealed that he is virtually leaving the UK for Estonia. His wife, Cristina Odone, too. That may be strategic, because they think they should be closer to the front line in the war against Russia. It may be personal, because they want to be closer to their family […]

by Editor - Tuesday, December 2nd, 2014
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By John Helmer, Moscow If the flock of smart tarts speaking Russian into their smartphones along King and New Bond Streets in London last week were a sign, nothing much has changed in the Russian art market. Christie’s and Sotheby’s, the art auctioneers, would be the last people to say if or when the bottom […]

by Editor - Tuesday, December 2nd, 2014
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By John Helmer, Moscow When the Russian delegation arrives in Peru next week for a fresh session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), it is proposing several initiatives for debate and vote. None of them proposes to cut greenhouse gas emissions below the target set a year ago by President Vladimir […]

by Editor - Friday, November 28th, 2014
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By John Helmer, Moscow Interpol has issued a Wanted Notice for Sergei Pugachev, making him the first Russian oligarch to have Russian charges of fraud endorsed by the international police organization – and to make a money-launderer of the Financial Times. If Pugachev crosses the border between his homes in England and France, the policemen […]

by Editor - Thursday, November 27th, 2014
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