By John Helmer, Moscow In The Long Good-Bye, private detective Philip Marlowe says of the snob column in the newspapers, “I don’t read them often, only when I run out of things I dislike.” Some people feel that way about the weekly report from Emerging Portfolio Fund Research(EPFR). That is the Boston outfit which tracks […]

by John Helmer - Friday, June 24th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow In European folklore, will-o’-the-wisps are lambent flames seen flickering over bogs and fens, and known by many different names and stories. Usually explicable as methane igniting, in some Baltic mythologies the will-o’-the-wisp is believed to signal buried treasure. In others, the ignition is believed to be the trick of a mendacious […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, June 16th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow Russia’s price watchdog, the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS), has announced that on its own initiative, it has opened a case against Novolipetsk Metallurgical Combine (NLMK) and its subsidiary, VIZ-Stal, charging that electric steel produced by the two mills has been priced in violation of Article 10 of the Competition Law of […]

by John Helmer - Wednesday, June 8th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow Alexei Mordashov, owner of the Severstal steelmaking and mining group (lapel button), has instructed the executives in his goldmining arm Nord Gold to prepare for another shot at selling their shares at an initial public offering (IPO) in London before Christmas. He’s also told them that the sooner they can buy […]

by John Helmer - Wednesday, June 1st, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow It is quite legal to play lowball, the variant of poker in which the lowest value of the cards you hold in your hand wins over higher values in the hands of the other players. It is less legal in the retail market if a sale is offered at a lower […]

by John Helmer - Monday, May 23rd, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow Over the weekend, Ukrainian reports indicated that the Donetsk steelmaking assets in Ukraine, which went into bankruptcy in 2009, have been bought by Russia’s Mechel group, owned by Igor Zyuzin. The deal cost is reported to have been $537 million, including assumption of debts. Confirmation of the sale appears in publication […]

by John Helmer - Monday, May 16th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow The comic book character known as the Gambit was kidnapped from the hospital where he was born and raised by a gang of thieves. He got his way with unusual powers, like kinetic energy and hypnosis. He was also famous for his skill at card-throwing and combat with a long stick. […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, May 12th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow Oligarchs aren’t elephants who go somewhere secret when their time is up. There’s no fabulous, ivory-rich boneyard for them. So when Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine (MMK), the legendary Siberian steelmill owned by Victor Rashnikov, announced yesterday that there are two candidates for his position as chief executive, it doesn’t mean that Rashnikov […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, April 21st, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow In the game of cricket, nothing is rarer than a hat-trick. That is when the bowler for one side dismisses three batsmen for the opposing side in three successive balls. For the bowling side, it is a rare triumph, and almost never happens in international test games. For the batting side, […]

by John Helmer - Friday, April 8th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow Russia’s price watchdog, the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS), plans soon to impose a hefty fine on the Evraz group’s lead mill at Nizhne Tagil (NTMK) for rigging the prices of steel profiles or sections in violation of the law on competition and non-discriminatory pricing. Maxim Ovchinnikov, head of the FAS industry […]

by John Helmer - Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
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