The Bank of Moscow disclosed today, without comment, that in obtaining court orders in Moscow and Novosibirsk to seize Vadim Varshavsky’s salary and Moscow apartments, it has also obtained legal sanction for “the restriction of V.E.Varshavsky’s departure from the Russian Federation.”

by John Helmer - Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
No Comments »

By John Helmer in Moscow Vadim Varshavsky, the owner of the bankrupt Estar group of midsize, specialty steel mills, has been hit with court bankruptcy orders in Moscow and Novosibirsk to sequestrate half of his salary as a member of parliament, and at least two apartment residences he maintains in Moscow. The orders by the […]

by John Helmer - Monday, November 9th, 2009
No Comments »

by John Helmer - Friday, November 6th, 2009
No Comments »

By John Helmer in Moscow There is no evidence currently available that Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin has anything like the hot-line to God which enabled Noah of biblical fame to master the surge of the Black Sea, and with the help of the birdie — the first spy satellite on record – to make […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, November 5th, 2009
No Comments »

By John Helmer in Moscow High River Gold (HRG:CN) is being prepared for a sale, along with other goldmine assets of the Severstal Resources group belonging to Alexei Mordashov, to a Chinese buyer. At least, that is what Moscow sources report as the rationale behind a proposed swap of equity for loan, announced by HRG […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
No Comments »

By John Helmer in Moscow On June 16, 1858, in Springfield, Illinois, the young Abraham Lincoln launched his campaign for a seat in the US Senate for Illinois, with a speech that became famous for these words: “In my opinion, it will not cease, until a crisis shall have been reached, and passed. ‘A house […]

by John Helmer - Friday, October 30th, 2009
No Comments »

By John Helmer in Moscow It was ten years ago, almost to the day, that a lawyer from Philadelphia named Bruce Marks had a very smart idea. If you are too small and weak, physically or legally, to recover money you unwisely entrusted to a big Russian crook, Marks recommended going to your nearest federal […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
No Comments »

By John Helmer in Moscow In Russia it is traditional for the tsar to invite the culpable to assist him in finding and punishing the culprits; or to bargain for scapegoats. On Thursday last, October 15, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told the regular weekly session of government ministers that he has ordered the Prosecutor General […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
No Comments »

By John Helmer in Moscow In the very small world of Russian steelmaking genius, Dmitry Pumpyansky (see right figure) has always been thought a bright bird at managing his pipemills, rather than for picking the right ones to buy, or the right price to pay. As the history books show, the acquisition of the Russian […]

by John Helmer - Monday, October 19th, 2009
No Comments »

By John Helmer in Moscow The board of Vnesheconombank (VEB), the state bailout bank chaired by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, agreed yesterday to extend for a year a $1.8 billion loan to the Evraz group, controlled by Roman Abramovich’s Millhouse holding. The loan was first issued in mid-November 2008, and is the largest single government […]

by John Helmer - Friday, October 9th, 2009
No Comments »