By John Helmer, Moscow
The Prime Minister has asked Russians to send him their choices of a name for a young Bulgarian shepherd dog, which was presented to him by the dog fancier, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, when the two met in Sofia on November 13.
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By John Helmer, Moscow
Not since Raisa Gorbacheva revealed that she knew how to use a credit card for shopping and displayed the PhD she had bought, I mean earned, has the wife of a Russian head of state attracted such a display of petit bourgeois chagrin.
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By John Helmer, Moscow
The 421-page ruling of UK High Court Justice Andrew Smith, issued on Friday in London, dismisses all charges and claims pursued for the past five years against Dmitry Skarga, former chief executive of Sovcomflot, and Tagir Izmaylov, his counterpart at Novorossiysk Shipping Company (Novoship). The consequences are dramatic for the Russian government. The judgement makes impossible the public listing of Sovcomflot shares in any international market because of the evidence disclosed that the company lies to its auditors, falsifies financial records, encourages perjury, and knowingly engages corrupt officials for the purpose of fabricating schemes of personal vengeance and wrongful enrichment.
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By John Helmer, Moscow
The UK High Court ruled this morning in London that the half-billion dollar fraud claim pursued by state shipping company Sovcomflot and its chief executive Sergei Frank was based on fabrications and lies. Frank was condemned in the ruling, and his witnesses dismissed as dishonest. Former Sovcomflot chief executive Dmitry Skarga and former chartering partner Yury Nikitin, have been vindicated in the ruling by Justice Sir Andrew Smith, which was handed down at 10 o’clock London time.
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By John Helmer, Moscow
Many Hindu gods are depicted with multiple arms. This is a pictorial way of illustrating for believers the many qualities which the god is believed to exercise. By assigning many arms, the illustrator was able to demonstrate the many things the deity can pull off at the same time.
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By John Helmer, Moscow
The Bible isn’t nice to giants. Goliath goes down to a single stone from a slingshot-tossing boy. And Samson, whom the ancient Hebrews thought was so strong he could lift two mountains and rub them together like lumps of earth, fell for the temptress Delilah; she got him to go to sleep, then sapped his strength by cutting off his hair.
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By John Helmer, Moscow
Until today, milk, fruit pulp, and flavoured water (aka juice) have not been known to be strategic resources in the Russian Federation. But clever lobbying, or incredible stupidity, has arranged to make them seem so, and thereby create the appearance of compliance with Russia’s competition and anti-monopoly laws – without the reality.
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From John Helmer, Moscow
LUKoil, the second largest of Russia’s oil producers and exporters, may spend $900 million over the next two years drilling up to 11 offshore probes for oil in the west Atlantic off Ghana and Ivory Coast, a LUKoil source told Business Day yesterday. The number of wells has diminished since LUKoil officials announced their West Africa targets in September, but the proposed investment looks larger.
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By John Helmer, Moscow
When there was a Russian steel consumption boom three years ago, the domestic steel business wasn’t open to foreign steelmakers, even if they were prepared to pay premium prices to buy into Russian steel assets. And the Russian steel sector remained just as closed when the crash came, driving most of the mills to the verge of bankruptcy — that’s because discount asset values are reserved for Russian buyers. If money doesn’t talk in the Russian marketplace, who or what does?
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