By John Helmer, Moscow Arkady (right image) and Boris Rotenberg are under investigation by the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) for running a cartel and price-rigging to cheat Gazprom, their longstanding business partner and patron. This is unusual for several reasons. One of them is that the Rotenbergs neither produce the goods in trade targeted by […]

by John Helmer - Friday, October 28th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow Renco and its subsidiary RG Steel, the defendants in Severstal’s New York court claim, have a month to file their reply, and for the time being they are saying nothing. Bette Kovach, spokesman for RG Steel, and Andrew Shea, spokesman for Renco, say they “will not comment on matters in litigation.” […]

by John Helmer - Sunday, October 16th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow Severstal has issued a claim in US Federal Court (Manhattan Southern District) against RG Steel, a unit of the private American steelmaking group, Renco. Severstal owner Alexei Mordashov (left image) wants it to be known in the Russian media that he thinks he’s been stiffed. But he doesn’t want anyone to […]

by John Helmer - Friday, October 14th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow When crisis strikes the global steel sector, sales revenues drop faster than costs, and earnings and profits shrink. The normal correction is for mill owners to cut their costs by reducing production, closing furnaces, furloughing workers, trimming supply of steel into the marketplace, cutting product prices to clear unsold inventories, and […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, October 13th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow Victor Rashnikov, owner of the Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine (MMK), appears to have done it to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin one more time. The latest financial report, issued last week by the company, reveals a whopping 93% plunge in net income – second quarter compared to first quarter — despite a 9% […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, September 8th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow Among the Russian steel oligarchs, none is better educated in his specialty than Vladimir Lisin, who wrote his PhD thesis on metallurgical engineering and another doctoral thesis for a DSc in economics. But you don’t have to put that much study under your belt to understand how an electric arc furnace […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine (MMK), owned by Victor Rashnikov (left image), released its second-quarter operational report today, several days behind schedule. The report confirms the Russia-wide trend, already reported here, of cutbacks by the steelmaker for most types of its domestic production. The news may be awkward for Rashnikov, because a fortnight […]

by John Helmer - Friday, July 29th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow It’s almost August, the month when everyone knows that serious coincidences can happen in Russia – and I’m not talking about the lunar cycle or Ramadan. In election years, the prevention of coincidences has always been Kremlin Priority Number-One. This year that’s tempered by President Dmitry Medvedev’s concern that nothing coincidental […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, July 28th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow On February 1, 2010, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released a report on operational results for the previous year, 2009, of the Mechel steel and mining group, Russia’s fifth-ranked steelmaker, which is also listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The group is owned by Igor Zyuzin (image, […]

by John Helmer - Wednesday, July 27th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow Not since the Biblical one – 5 (loaves) x 2 (fish) ÷ 5,000 (mouths) — has the division of assets proved to generate a value multiplier like the one Igor Zyuzin, owner of the Mechel steel and mining group, is trying to pull off. Or proved less convincing to the crowd […]

by John Helmer - Sunday, July 17th, 2011
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