By John Helmer in Moscow Eurochem, Russia’s diversified fertilizerproducer owned by Andrei Melnichenko, and still unlisted, has unveiled a series of ambitious plans to challenge Russia’s two largest potash miners, Uralkali (URKA:RU) and Silvinit (SILV:RU). According to Eurochem sources, the company will move from zero now to planned production of 2.3 million tonnes of potash […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008
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By John Helmer in Moscow Lundin looks set for replacement on the Ozernoye base metals project. Lundin Mining Corporation (ticker LMC:US) is adamant that it will say nothing at all about its two-year old zinc and lead project in Russia, one of the largest in the world. Speculation that Lundin, a Canadian listed and Swedish […]

by John Helmer - Monday, July 21st, 2008
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By John Helmer in Moscow Russian government gears up to open new, and old, foreign investment deals. The new Russian legislation to supervise foreign investment in the mining and resource sectors is already taking gold miners by surprise. According to a Russian junior, which is planning to list on the domestic stock market shortly, it […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, July 10th, 2008
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By John Helmer in Moscow Oleg Mitvol, Deputy Head of Rospriradnadzor, looks to be on the way out, perhaps for stepping on too many toes In the first days of aerial warfare, during World War I, pilots had no tactical guidebook to help them plot their offence or defence. Attackers could fly unexpectedly out of […]

by John Helmer - Wednesday, July 9th, 2008
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By John Helmer in Moscow “The cleverest subtlety of all is knowing how to appear to fall into the traps set for us,’ is the maxim coined by La Rochefoucauld, one of the cleverest of the 17th century French courtiers. His wounds as a soldier, and the even more serious ones he took in politics, […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, July 3rd, 2008
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By John Helmer in Moscow Trojan horse in reverse — Vekselberg & Potanin attack Rusal Laocoon the Trojan is on record as warning not to trust the famous wooden horse; nor the Greeks bearing gifts. But he, Homer and Virgil can’t help with the corporate raider’s version of the Trojan Horse ploy. This is –if […]

by John Helmer - Sunday, June 29th, 2008
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By John Helmer in Moscow Rusal seeks four seats on the Norilsk Nickel board. Capt. W.E. Johns, the favourite novelist of English schoolboys, wrote 104 books about Biggles – Flight Captain James Bigglesworth, a World War I air ace. The boys’ demand for his adventures was so great, Johns had to press him back into […]

by John Helmer - Wednesday, June 18th, 2008
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By John Helmer in Moscow Terms of new nickel-iron-ore combination put pressure on Rusal and Deripaska “Though poverty and want are an irresistible temptation to the poor, vanity and great things are as irresistible to others”. As she got up from a night of bedding with a high-paying prince in France, this was how Roxana, […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, May 29th, 2008
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By John Helmer in Moscow Volatility in Uralkali share price is no sign of change in value. A month ago, when Mineweb reported that the spot price of potash had cleared the $1,000-tonne threshold and was continuing to rise, the Russian stock market reacted by lifting the share price of lead potash producer, Uralkali (ticker […]

by John Helmer - Friday, May 23rd, 2008
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By John Helmer in Moscow Putin names his merry men, no change in the forest The list of the new Russian government ministers, released by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin this afternoon, preserves most senior officials in their place, and keeps the precarious balance of factions, which compete for and decide Russia’s major resource concessions, and […]

by John Helmer - Monday, May 12th, 2008
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