By John Helmer, Moscow Until now the principal reason Russian businessmen ran for election to parliament was to secure legislator’s immunity from criminal prosecution. Lobbying their business interests into legislation, or drawing money out of the federal budget into their company projects and pockets, didn’t require getting elected or taking a parliamentary seat.

by John Helmer - Wednesday, September 21st, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow   “Conversations with senior representatives of ALCOA indicate that SUAL was not Deripaska’s first or only choice for this merger (which is one possible reason why it has taken more than five years for the two parties to come together). Deripaska approached ALCOA in the first half of this year, but […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, September 6th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow The US State Department has been torturing Russian oligarchs into making admissions by seating them in the special chair devised by the Spanish Inquisition in September 1970.

by John Helmer - Tuesday, September 6th, 2011
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Dmitry Rybolovlev’s interest in acquiring US assets is well-known in part because he paid the highest price in American history for a house. Take the tour. Compared to the asking price of $125 million and the transaction price of $95 million, Rybolovlev got a 24% discount. But the asset value of the house has done […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, September 1st, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow On Saturday, while the controlling shareholders of Sky News, Rupert Murdoch and his son James, were having to eat their words and apologize for invasion of privacy, bribery of policemen, lying to parliament, and other law-breaking — losing control of Sky News in the process — one of their ace reporters […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, July 19th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow In the wake of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s negotiations in Washington this week, US State Department documents have leaked from 2009 and 2010, revealing that American and other international banks were given an ultimatum by Deputy Prime Ministers Igor Shuvalov and Igor Sechin – either roll over the debts Oleg Deripaska […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, July 14th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow During this week’s Washington, DC, visit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, a mid-level State Department official appears to be the key to whether Oleg Deripaska’s lobbying campaign to recover his US visa will succeed. Dan Russell, who served in the US Embassy in Moscow between 2003 and 2008, is now […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, July 12th, 2011
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By John Helmer, Moscow In just a few hours this week, Rusal’s share price collapsed as a Bloomberg report confirmed what the stock markets have been suspecting for some time now – one of Rusal’s anchor shareholders might need cash so badly, he wants to sell his shares. According to Bloomberg, the requirement for quick […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, June 9th, 2011
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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.

by John Helmer - Sunday, May 22nd, 2011
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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 […]

by John Helmer - Monday, May 16th, 2011
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