By John Helmer in Moscow As Russian villagers used to say in olden times, when the tsar is kind, the wait to see him is long; when he is cruel, there is no delay at all. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s explicit attack on steel prices at the start of this week, and the commencement of […]

by John Helmer - Wednesday, May 26th, 2010
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By John Helmer in Moscow In an unusual break with the traditional hold Russian steel companies like to keep on their domestic coking-coal sources, and secure the future expansion of their steel capacity with ample reserves, the Evraz group is reported to be considering the sale of two of its Kemerovo mines to global and […]

by John Helmer - Monday, March 29th, 2010
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By John Helmer in Moscow The Chelyabinsk prosecutor has opened a criminal investigation into a lethal explosion this week at a coke battery of the Mechel group in Chelyabinsk. One worker at the battery was killed immediately, and three others are in serious condition in hospital after the blast, which occurred, according to a company […]

by John Helmer - Friday, March 12th, 2010
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By John Helmer in Moscow The federal mine inspectorate in Russia, Rostekhnadzor (RTN), has cleared Evraz’s mine subsidiary Yuzhkuzbassugol (YKU) to reopen the Esaulskaya mine, after a methane accident on January 20 led to a regional court-ordered closure on January 25. Evraz is owned by Roman Abramovich’s Millhouse holding, and Alexander Abramov.

by John Helmer - Monday, February 8th, 2010
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By John Helmer in Moscow Evraz, Russia’s largest vertically integrated steel group, has been ordered by the federal mine safety agency Rostekhnadzor (RTN) and a Kemerovo court to stop production at the Esaulskaya mine, in the Kemerovo region, until inspectors have resolved reported methane problems. Esaulskaya is one of several mines in the wholly owned […]

by John Helmer - Friday, January 29th, 2010
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By John Helmer in Moscow Billy Bunter was a fictional schoolboy character well-known to British and colonial schoolboys of my generation. Like most of us, his eyes were bigger than his stomach. Unlike many, by the age of ten Bunter had grasped the concept of leverage — to feed himself he was always borrowing against […]

by John Helmer - Monday, October 26th, 2009
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By John Helmer in Moscow Chinese checkers may be the closest Russia’s metal oligarchs, Igor Zyuzin (right) and Vladimir Lisin (left), have come to understanding Chinese strategy. The problem is that the game is neither Chinese, nor checkers. It’s actually an American invention, dating from the 1880s. It is based on the simple tactic of […]

by John Helmer - Monday, October 12th, 2009
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By John Helmer in Moscow Ronald McDonald is the most famous brand-name franchise in the world. It operates 32,000 sales points, with more than 58 million clients, in about 118 countries around the world. Currently, the McDonald’s Corporation has a market capitalization of $61 billion; this is only 16% below the peak of its pre-crisis […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, September 3rd, 2009
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By John Helmer in Moscow Confirmation this week by Mechel of its takeover of the West Virginia coal producer, Bluestone, has drawn fire from Moscow bank and brokerage analysts, who claim the price paid exceeds the value of the deal. The Mechel announcement was issued on April 22, confirming details of a transaction which first […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
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By John Helmer in Moscow Mechel (MTL:US), owned by Igor Zyuzin, fell sharply in Moscow stock market trading Wednesday on news the company is to acquire unlisted, West Virginia-based Bluestone Coal. Without an official company statement so far, Mechel has revealed to brokers and Moscow industry sources that it has agreed to a valuation of […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, February 26th, 2009
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