Reuters 2/3/11 CONAKRY – Guinea’s President Alpha Conde on Tuesday enlisted the help of billionaire investor George Soros to review the resource-rich West African nation’s mining code and fight corruption in the sector.

by John Helmer - Thursday, March 3rd, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow Oleg Deripaska will fail to swing Norilsk Nickel’s international shareholders into voting for his slate of candidates for the new board of directors at Norilsk, according to a report and proxy vote recommendation by Institutional Shareholder Services/Risk Metrics, a Washington, D.C.-based advisory specialist.

by John Helmer - Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow The Jackal’s Wedding is an old Bedouin expression. It means that the beasts will love each other so long as their fallen prey is ample enough to feed the pack. And if there’s no meat, they will attack each other.

by John Helmer - Thursday, February 17th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow Alisher Usmanov’s enthusiasm for the earnings in the bush has always been more infectious than his success in getting his hand on the bird.

by John Helmer - Wednesday, February 16th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow It is the most famous argument in favour of suspending disbelief in the history of the United States. Every year the trillion-dollar retail sector of that country turns several billions of dollars in profits by merchandising the belief through the cash register. That is, the belief in Santa Claus, first raised […]

by John Helmer - Monday, February 14th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow The key figure behind years of allegations against three Russian partners — Oleg Deripaska, Michael Cherney (Mikhail Chernoy), and Iskander Makhmudov — appears to have turned turtle, and sought a meeting with Cherney in Israel late last month.

by John Helmer - Thursday, February 10th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow In the Naughty-Boy School of Government, it is required for the boys to apply for the master’s permission to sit; stand; ask a question; refill their inkwells, and leave the room to answer the call of nature. In the history of the great English Public Schools, a great deal of bladder […]

by John Helmer - Monday, February 7th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow If you stroll past BP’s London headquarters at night, and glance up, to the right of the top storey you will see an office window illuminated in bright blue. This may be the playroom of the former BP chief executive Lord Browne, whose departure from the company was accelerated by the […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, January 27th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow Suppose, just suppose that Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of Russia (image far left), and Igor Sechin, the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of resource concessions (image far right), were stakeholders somehow of United Company Rusal, the state aluminium champion. And suppose, just suppose they decided that the hostile takeover strategy of […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, January 18th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow When a man of quality like Robin Lane Fox finds beauty in a row of cabbages, it’s churlish to do anything but admire his acuity and taste. And if the cabbages are in the kitchen garden of Jacob Rothschild, the 4th Baron Rothschild (left) and father of Nathaniel Rothschild (right), let […]

by John Helmer - Wednesday, December 29th, 2010
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