By John Helmer, Moscow If wine were an investment, like company shares, gold, or real estate, then you would expect the Russian oligarchs to put their hands into this particular till. But hobby vineyards and French chateaux aside, there haven’t been many. Still, Vadim Varshavsky’s Croizet cognac (Charente) has not proved to be as ill-fated […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, June 28th, 2012
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By John Helmer, Moscow Vladimir Kekhman, owner of the Joint Fruit Company (JFC), the near-monopoly supplier of bananas to the Russian market, has wound up his dispute with Star Reefers, the banana boat supplier whose charter contracts JFC cut short and terminated in 2010. The Star boats were operated by JFC to ship bananas from […]

by John Helmer - Sunday, April 15th, 2012
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By John Helmer, Moscow This is not the time of year when there’s much sympathy for the plagues in Egypt. If you are Jewish, there’s the lot the Pharaoh richly deserved — the gnats, flies, frogs, locusts, boils, etc. If you are Russian, there’s pseudomonas solanacearum Smith, the potato brown rot. This Egyptian plague is […]

by John Helmer - Friday, April 13th, 2012
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By John Helmer, Moscow If Russia’s Agriculture Minister, Elena Skrynnik, went to the trouble last week of decrying adulteration of Russia’s milk, then one thing is certain – the Franco-American syndicate which sells most of Russia’s milk and dominates the market is having trouble pricing down or buying up milk producers in the regions where […]

by John Helmer - Monday, March 26th, 2012
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Because the JFC company spokesman refused to confirm the name of Vladimir Kekhman’s wife, and thus clarify whether she has played a role in the management and board direction of JFC, it was incorrectly reported that Tatiana Litvinova, until very recently a board director at JFC, was Kekhman’s wife. This appears to be incorrect, based […]

by John Helmer - Monday, March 19th, 2012
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By John Helmer, Moscow Vladimir Kekhman, the controlling shareholder of Joint Fruit Company (JFC), Russia’s biggest banana trader, has received a summons to appear in the UK High Court to face charges of contempt of court. If he is found culpable, he may be jailed. If he doesn’t appear and is convicted, he may be […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, March 15th, 2012
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By John Helmer, Moscow Does the Russian vodka lobby fear or hate beer so much, it’s thought up a devious customs regulation to make the latter more expensive, and thus less drinkable among penniless Russians? And are the vodka schemers so devious, they have hidden their intention by introducing the customs regulation in the guise […]

by John Helmer - Friday, March 2nd, 2012
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By John Helmer, Moscow It has been obvious for some time that Vladimir Kekhman’s banana financials were so rotten, his Joint Fruit Company (JFC) was republishing its second-quarter financial results as if they were the third quarter figures, postponing the fourth quarter and full-year releases, and refusing response to the question Why? It has also […]

by John Helmer - Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012
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By John Helmer, Moscow There is no family relationship between the fish and the bacteria; the latter are named after their discoverer, Daniel Elmer Salmon (1850-1914). But how much of a relationship there may be at the moment between salmonella in Norwegian salmon and Russian fish-eating security depends on another creature, the land-based red herring. […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, February 9th, 2012
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By John Helmer, Moscow Shipments of Norwegian salmon and trout to Russia, the biggest global consumer of Norwegian fish, have been illegally restricted by the Russian government veterinary and phyto-sanitary inspectorate, Rosselkhozdnadzor (RSKN), according to a report by the government’s competition watchdog, the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS). The FAS told Fairplay that regulations issued by […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, December 15th, 2011
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