By John Helmer, Moscow
South African James Nieuwenhuys has taken over as chief operating officer of Moscow-based Polyus Gold, Russia’s largest goldminer. The mining company, owned in roughly equal parts by Mikhail Prokhorov and Suleiman Kerimov, has been unsuccessful in months of effort to find a major international mining company to partner, or to take over and buy the oligarchs out.
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By John Helmer, Moscow
Oleg Deripaska (right), the chief executive of United Company Rusal, not only persuaded Muammar Qaddafi and his son, Saif al-Qaddafi (left), to invest in Rusal shares to support the company’s listing in Hong Kong last year. It now appears the Libyans also bought a stake in Norilsk Nickel to assist Deripaska in his hostile takeover bid against Norilsk Nickel, which is controlled by Vladimir Potanin and the Russian government.
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By John Helmer, Moscow
Alrosa’s chief executive Fyodor Andreyev has announced that the state-owned diamond monopoly of Russia holds diamond reserves of 1.23 billion carats. Calculated according to the Russian mineral reserves classification, he said that 1.014 billion carats are proven, 211 million carats are probable.
The new numbers were mentioned in a briefing for Russian reporters, and are not an official statement of reserves. Two Moscow business newspapers reported what Andreyev said. Andreyev’s spokesman said this is the official release of the reserves.
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By John Helmer, Moscow
Suleiman Kerimov has applied to the Prosecutor-General in Moscow with a request for an investigation of allegations that he was at one time involved in money-moving operations of Hassan Ali Khan, an Indian hawaladar. Breaking the silence of his spokesmen at the Federation Council, where Kerimov is a senator representing his native Dagestan, and at the Moscow office of his Nafta Moskva holding, Kerimov’s New York spokesman, Eliot Lauer, has announced:
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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 price, and after buyers appear to make their commitments, the price is raised. That’s also called bait-and-switch.
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By John Helmer, Moscow
Dominique Strauss-Kahn — the former managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and if he is acquitted on sex crime charges, the front-runner to be the next President of France — has yet to speak in his defence, and respond to the indictment lodged in Manhattan Criminal Court last week.
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By John Helmer, Moscow
It was just five weeks ago that First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov was pledging his allegiance to President Dmitry Medvedev and his unswerving compliance with the April 2 presidential decree ordering ministers of state to vacate their seats on state company boards.
In Shuvalov’s case, he insisted that under no circumstances could he consider sitting down upon the seat proposed for him as chairman of the board of one of the most lucrative property deals in Moscow – the multi-billion redevelopment of the Exhibition of the Achievements of the National Economy (VDNKh); this is now known for modern reasons as state-owned stockholding company (GAO), Vserossiyskiy Vystavochny Centr — VVC.
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By John Helmer, Moscow
Far Eastern Shipping Co (FESCO), the troubled Russian dry-cargo fleet and ports group owned by Sergei Generalov, broke even on its operations last year, according to international-standard accounts for 2010, just released in Moscow. But Generalov was unable to stop the rot in his fleet arm, and only by radical amputation has he managed to turn a profit on the bottom line.
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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 last Thursday in Ukraine of the agenda for a shareholder meeting scheduled on June 6, at which a vote is proposed on a purchase by Psarko Investments Ltd from Daveze Ltd. for $537 million.
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By John Helmer, Moscow
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) often invoked its sovereign immunity to rape Russia’s governing institutions, including the Central Bank and the Supreme Soviet, in the years of collapse following the end of the Soviet Union. Michel Camdessus, a Frenchman, was the culprit then, instructed by the principal shareholders on the Fund board. It might even be said in exculpation of Camdessus that he was just following orders issued in the finale of the Cold War.
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