By John Helmer, Moscow

For long enough already, Roman Abramovich and Boris Berezovsky have been trading mutual recriminations and accusations of bribery, blackmail, extortion, fraud, breach of trust and breach of contract, set out in the latter’s UK High Court claims against the former, so that the biggest surprise at the commencement of the trial this week is the commencement itself. Abramovich has spent more than three years trying to have the claims struck off or dismissed by the court, or the proceedings delayed. He has failed.
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by John Helmer - Wednesday, October 5th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow

Last week, on September 26, Justice D.M. Brown of the Ontario Superior Court threw out a suit challenging the terms of the White Tiger Gold takeover of Century Mining, aka “the Arrangement”, which has been orchestrated by the Russian duo, Maxim Finsky and his career patron, Mikhail Prokhorov.

An oral hearing on the issues took place in Toronto on September 23. The 13-page ruling by Justice Brown ignored most of the unfairness claims which minority shareholders of Century mining have compiled, publishing them on the internet and in submissions to the Ontario regulator, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC).
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by John Helmer - Monday, October 3rd, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow

In the case of the late Andrei Burlakov of FLC West Holding of Luxembourg (middle image), the death weapon was, apparently, what is called травматический пистолет. This can be licensed to be carried by ordinary Joes as a defensive weapon, as if it cannot be lethal. But when fired at the eye, temple, or heart within a range of one-metre or less, the pistol is an effective tool of assassination. And if the police nab the hitman before he pulls the trigger, he can, and quite often does claim he was intending nothing more than a warning. Not since the December 2009 case involving security men employed by United Company Rusal, has such a weapon been carried into oligarch-sized business in Moscow.
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by John Helmer - Monday, October 3rd, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow

If Sergei Frank, chief executive of Sovcomflot, the state-owned Russian shipping company, had not been judged recently in the UK High Court to be dishonest, vindictive, and unbelievable, a warning from a global ratings agency of potentially bad news to come about his company may not be as serious as the red flag raised this week in London.

On September 28, Fitch Ratings issued a release announcing that it “has placed Russia-based OAO Sovcomflot’s Long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of ‘BBB-‘ on Rating Watch Negative (RWN). SCF Capital Limited’s senior unsecured notes, which are guaranteed by SCF, rated ‘BBB-‘ have also been placed on RWN. The RWN is pending completion of a review by Fitch of additional details including but not limited to the issuer’s increased capital expenditure programme over the next few years compared to Fitch’s previous expectations. Fitch expects to resolve the RWN within the next week.”
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by John Helmer - Friday, September 30th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow

Alexei Mordashov’s plan to revive the initial public offering (IPO) of his goldmining group Nord Gold has been reported to be aiming at a relaunch date before Christmas; his first attempt at selling shares on the London market was called off in February when market conditions were much more favourable to him than they are now. The current volatility in gold and other metals prices – Nord Gold documents are forecasting a 10% decline in gold prices between 2010 and 2012 — and in mining share prices, may compel another postponement for Nord Gold.
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by John Helmer - Thursday, September 29th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow

In retrospect, Alexei Kudrin, deputy prime minister and minister of finance, has turned out to be less stupid than Mikhail Prokhorov, when offered President Dmitry Medvedev’s poisoned chalice. On the other hand, by declaring yesterday the race for prime minister is now wide open to all-comers, Kudrin invites a chancy political replay, in which the only certain votes Kudrin can count on are in the Anglo-American financial media, and in Washington, where Kudrin has just issued his bid for Vladimir Putin’s endorsement. In Russian politics, that makes a chalice even more poisoned than the one Kudrin refused and Prokhorov swallowed in June.
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by John Helmer - Monday, September 26th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow

Joint Fruit Company (JFC), once the owner of Russia’s largest fleet of banana boats and the largest importer of bananas in the Russian market, is slipping on something much bigger than one of its own fruit skins. But the company and its owner, St. Petersburg entrepreneur Vladimir Kekhman, insist everything is ship-shape. More, they say — it’s British justice and five High Court judges who are at fault for JFC’s troubles. Kekhman owns 80% of JFC through Cyprus and British Virgin Island-registered entities, Huntley and JFC Group Holdings. Bank of St. Petersburg owns a 20% stake.
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by John Helmer - Friday, September 23rd, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow

Until now the principal reason Russian businessmen ran for election to parliament was to secure legislator’s immunity from criminal prosecution. Lobbying their business interests into legislation, or drawing money out of the federal budget into their company projects and pockets, didn’t require getting elected or taking a parliamentary seat.
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by John Helmer - Wednesday, September 21st, 2011
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1. It looks like there’s going to be a hot autumn in Moscow? Or is that just an illusion due to very vocal electioneering and of course the media accompaniment?
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by John Helmer - Wednesday, September 21st, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow

Michael just isn’t cracked up to be George.

The warrior qualities of Russia’s patron saint could come in handy in politics – aim, endurance, fearlessness – but Mikhail Prokhorov has managed in his three-month political career to demonstrate their opposites, and to prove – stunningly if you calculate his personal wealth — that he’s innumerate: his capacity to count – votes, not money – is pathologically unformed.
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by John Helmer - Monday, September 19th, 2011
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