In an apparently unscripted exchange with reporters in Kursk last Thursday, Mikhail Prokhorov corrected the earlier impression he had given a fortnight before that, if elected by Russian voters in December at the head of the Right Cause party, he may not take his seat in parliament.

However, the garble reported by Interfax adds to the unbelievability of Prokhorov’s first national election campaign even before the party’s convention has selected him; or the first public opinion poll has been taken with Russian voters.
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by John Helmer - Monday, June 6th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow

A fleet of between 200 and 1,000 vessels will be required to carry newly released Russian wheat and other grains to markets in the Mediterranean and East Asia, grain traders and port sources have told Fairplay, in the wake of the May 28 order from Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Putin stole the thunder of other officials, announcing that the grain export embargo, due for extension or termination next month, will be lifted, and exports resume from July 1.
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by John Helmer - Thursday, June 2nd, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow

Gennady Onishchenko, the Russian government’s chief food inspector and head of the federal inspection agency Rospotrebnadzor, has ordered a ban on imports of vegetables, announcing: “we urge the population not to buy fresh vegetables from Germany and Spain. Buy Russian production.”

But this time the notorious protectionist of Russian farm, food and wine producers hasn’t gone too far. Instead, a spate of international reports claiming that in addition to cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce, Onishchenko has also stopped imported fruits turns out to be mistaken.
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by John Helmer - Wednesday, June 1st, 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 out the Canadian minority shareholders of High River Gold (HRG:CN), the sooner the IPO can go to market – and the sooner they can earn their bonuses.
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by John Helmer - Wednesday, June 1st, 2011
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by John Helmer - Wednesday, June 1st, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow

Mikhail Prokhorov’s last attempt but one to gather popularity among Russians was the idea that they should be compelled to work harder each hour and for up to 60 hours per week. That doesn’t sound like an election clincher anywhere in the known world, does it?.

Prokhorov’s last attempt but two was what he calls the “remodelling” of the term snob, to sell a social network site and magazine in Russia, and then to make the product international, or at least northeast American. The person who edits this product described its popularity this way: “something that fills the space between politics and movie reviews — sex, food, children, urban issues.” Launched last September, the product has reportedly won the advertising vote of Maserati, Christie’s art auction house, the New Yorker, and Lufthansa.
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by John Helmer - Monday, May 30th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow

Oleg Deripaska has been losing ground to Russian rivals in Mongolia, and is facing unprecedented administrative sanctions in Ukraine and Russia. The commercial effect is to force upwards the cost line on his balance-sheets, squeezing the earnings from which he must pay his debts and shareholder dividends. The political effect is to undercut the perception that Deripaska and his allies are too tough to resist.
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by John Helmer - Friday, May 27th, 2011
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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 - Thursday, May 26th, 2011
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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 - Thursday, May 26th, 2011
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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 - Wednesday, May 25th, 2011
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