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 A fresh bid has been launched in the United States to prevent De Beers from liquidating its Russian affiliate, Archangel Diamond Corporation (ADC), and calling off legal proceedings in Denver, Colorado, and in Stockholm to recover ADC’s mining right from two Russian companies charged with fraudulently expropriating it. Also exposed […]

by John Helmer - Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
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By John Helmer in Moscow South of the Sahara desert, the Kremlin doesn’t have a strategy so much as a checklist of commercial interests. These days it can ill afford even those. But when it was decided in the spring that President Dmitry Medvedev would make his first presidential visit to the region, he was […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
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    By John Helmer in Moscow The grain trade war between Moscow and Cairo took a fresh twist this week, following the announcement during President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to Egypt on Tuesday that the two governments have agreed on terms for direct, large-volume shipments. A Russian government briefer has claimed that Medvedev agreed with […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, June 25th, 2009
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By John Helmer in Moscow The Mechel steel and mining group — Russia’s largest producer of stainless steel and coking coal — is the only Russian metals and mining company to submit to the regulatory requirements of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). That began in 2004, when Mechel, then owned by Igor Zyuzin […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, June 25th, 2009
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