By John Helmer in Moscow Russian diamond manufacturers have reacted critically towards Alrosa chief executive, Sergei Vybornov, attacking key proposals he made at last week’s Antwerp Diamond Conference. Vybornov ousted Alexander Nichiporuk from the top spot at Alrosa in February. But after a string of misstatements drew fire from domestic policymakers, he has limited his […]

by John Helmer - Wednesday, October 24th, 2007
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By John Helmer in Moscow De Beers’s arsenal resists Usmanov attack on the Grib pipe and the Arsenal pitch. A public relations blitz under way this month in London and the UK media has produced charges and counter-charges involving Alisher Usmanov, an iron-ore and steel magnate. He is accused of conspiring with other Russians to […]

by John Helmer - Sunday, October 21st, 2007
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By John Helmer in Moscow A public relations blitz under way in London and the UK media has produced charges and counter-charges involving Alisher Usmanov, an iron-ore and steel magnate, who was named in US court papers as one of the principal defendants in the affair of the Grib pipe, a major diamond deposit in […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, October 16th, 2007
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By John Helmer in Moscow A pledge to privatize Alrosa in an initial public offering (IPO) within 18 months, reported to have come from Alrosa chief executive Sergei Vybornov this week in Japan, has run into scepticism and cautions from diamond sector officials in Moscow. According to a Russian news agency report, Vybornov told a […]

by John Helmer - Friday, September 28th, 2007
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By John Helmer in Moscow Alrosa is retrieving its diamond market positions after initial misstatements by new CEO Alrosa, the Russian diamond miner with the largest share of the global rough diamonds market after De Beers, is reconsidering its international market strategy, and correcting several misstatements by its newly appointed chief executive, Sergei Vybornov. Veteran […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007
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By John Helmer in Moscow One of the greatest of the English humourists, writing under the pen-name of Saki, once opened a tale of a disastrous horse-ride with the observation that one of the characters “was looking about as pale as a beetroot that has suddenly heard bad news”. To aficionadoes of Saki, the wit […]

by John Helmer - Monday, May 28th, 2007
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In the most famous words ever addressed to a gemstone ring, the Princess Elizabeth greeted news of the death of her rival, Queen Mary, with the words: “This is the Lord’s doing. It is marvellous in our eyes.” Alrosa officials said almost as much last week — without the hyperbole, but increasingly conscious of the […]

by John Helmer - Monday, April 17th, 2006
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MOSCOW (Mineweb.com) – If Israeli diamantaire Lev Leviev and trade mediator Arkady Gaydamak buy football clubs, as they have recently done, the Roman Empire rule of thumb would be that the businesses of the two men are running into difficulty. English tabloid readers have been told that Roman Abramovich — the Russian oligarch who accumulated […]

by John Helmer - Monday, January 16th, 2006
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MOSCOW (Mineweb.com) — It was a year ago when the President of the Sakha republic in fareastem Siberia, Vyacheslav Shtirov, was summoned to :the Kremlin for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin. That was not a jolly exchange of seasonal cheer; and because certain New Year promises that were made then have not been kept, […]

by John Helmer - Friday, December 23rd, 2005
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MOSCOW (Mineweb.com) –Two things are known for certain about the conversation President Vladimir Putin had with Sakha region president Vyacheslav Shtirov in the Kremlin, at the end of December. One is that Shtirov invited Putin to come to the region for fishing. The other is that Putin replied that now is not the time. Maybe […]

by John Helmer - Friday, February 18th, 2005
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