By John Helmer, Moscow In the tarot pack, the card of the Hanged Man is not one everyone wants to be dealt. To some it portends doom. Others believe it symbolizes the great awakening to occur the moment after death when, if, there is a resurrection. As cards go, it’s a big bettor who wants […]

by John Helmer - Saturday, May 19th, 2012
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By John Helmer, Moscow On October 12, 2004, Sergei Frank, a former federal Minister of Transport, was appointed chief executive of Sovcomflot, Russia’s largest oil tanker company and one of the top five in the world. Frank confirmed, said the company on its website, “that the Company’s management will take all necessary steps to enhance […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012
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By John Helmer, Moscow When the archaeologists of the next millennium excavate, they will find the evidence of a tectonic shift and turning-point in Russian history that took place in the two months between December 28 and February 25. That’s from the day Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed government order number VP-P13-9308, and instructed Deputy […]

by John Helmer - Monday, February 27th, 2012
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By John Helmer, Moscow I know, I know. It’s old fashioned to regard the celebration of February 23 as Red Army Day. And for all the awards heaped on my head for defending the Fatherland from its enemies, foreign and domestic, on this anniversary I plead paucity of means, and defer to those who have […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, February 23rd, 2012
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By John Helmer, Moscow Russia’s government-owned fleet operator Sovcomflot, run by Sergei Frank, has announced that international commodity trader Glencore will take over, market and operate five of its newest oil tankers as they come out of the shipyard and put to sea. The history of Glencore in Russia since 1991 is a simple one […]

by John Helmer - Sunday, February 19th, 2012
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By John Helmer, Moscow The state-owned maritime conglomerate, United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), will acquire the Vyborg Shipyard, on the Gulf of Finland near St. Petersburg, the USC spokesman Alexei Kravchenko confirmed to Fairplay in Moscow on Friday.

by John Helmer - Monday, January 23rd, 2012
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By John Helmer, Moscow There are two ironies in Sergei Frank’s latest outing in the London courts on November 4. One is that Frank, chief executive of Sovcomflot, is not lodging an appeal against rulings last December and March by High Court Justice Andrew Smith, judging Frank himself to have been dishonest. Nor is he […]

by John Helmer - Monday, November 7th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow Fitch Ratings issued a modified warning on Sovcomflot this week, claiming that the big Russian’s tanker revenues were at risk of coming up short against the company’s obligations. In that event, Fitch London analyst Jeannine Arnold reports, Sovcomflot may have to sell off the hulls and newbuildings which are on order, […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, October 13th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow Sergei Naryshkin (right image), the Kremlin chief of staff, who has been chairman of the board of Sovcomflot, the state-owned tanker operator, has been replaced by Ilya Klebanov (left), a former federal minister of industry, according to a Kremlin release last Friday, October 7. The appointment appears to have taken Sovcomflot […]

by John Helmer - Monday, October 10th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow Oleg Mukhamedshin, the man in charge of raising money and covering debt for United Company Rusal, was spotted last week in London carrying bags into his mansion. This is what has been happening to the aluminium he has been selling:

by John Helmer - Friday, October 7th, 2011
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