By John Helmer Sergey Frank, Sovcomflot’s chief executive, has testified in the High Court that he knew nothing about an illegal information- gathering operation, targeted against his rival and former CEO, Dmitry Skarga, but that the figure in charge, who is referred to in the court evidence, may have been Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Igor […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
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By John Helmer in Moscow Noone can say that Alexei Mordashov (pictured left), owner of Severstal, Russia’s third largest steelmaker, and Anatoly Kruchinin, the chief executive of the Russian steel operations (right), are overdoing it when it comes to human sacrifice. In 1487, when the Aztecs had rebuilt the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan after flooding, […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
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To Muratov D.A. Editor in chief “Novaya Gazeta” 101990, Moscow, Potapovsky per., 3 From: Law firm “Ivanyan and partners”, lawyers of “Gunvor” company of T. Tornqvist and G.N. Timchenko Subject: Publication in “Novaya gazeta” dated 24.08.09 and letters addressed to T. Tornqvist and G.N. Timchenko dated 11.08.09 and 31.08.09. September 4th, 2009. Dear Dmitry Andreyevich,

by John Helmer - Sunday, October 4th, 2009
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By John Helmer in Moscow On Thursday, the Russian state shipping company Sovcomflot (SCF) opened its three-year old, $800 million claim in the UK High Court; Justice Andrew Smith is presiding. Preliminary applications were heard on the first day, along with a presentation by the barrister representing Sovcomflot. Presentations for the defence commence today. Next […]

by John Helmer - Friday, October 2nd, 2009
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By John Helmer in Moscow The test of a rising empire is how far from home it will go to take wealth from the natives. The test of a declining empire is how much more it will spend on keeping the natives down than being there is worth. By this standard, Russian Aluminium (Rusal) in […]

by John Helmer - Friday, October 2nd, 2009
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By John Helmer in Moscow The Russian government’s quid pro quo for state financing for the Mechel group’s coalmining operations appears now to include the takeover of a fourth steel plant from the bankrupt Estar group, owned by Vadim Varshavsky. According to Dmitry Teplov, the head of the industry department in the Perm region, Mechel […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, October 1st, 2009
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