by John Helmer - Friday, June 22nd, 2012
No Comments »

by John Helmer - Sunday, June 10th, 2012
No Comments »

By John Helmer, Moscow The Kremlin has not decided yet how it should privatize Alrosa, according to official disclosures at yesterday’s cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. The kickback, I mean kickoff of the diamond privatization worth at least $14 billion remains out of reach for the time being.

by John Helmer - Friday, June 8th, 2012
No Comments »

By John Helmer, Moscow If President Vladimir Putin is intending to demonstrate he has already lost control of the newly appointed government and their oligarch business partners, then in the proposal of Suleiman Kerimov to expand Alrosa’s asset base by buying BHP’s diamond mines in Canada, and privatize 51% of the company in a public […]

by John Helmer - Friday, June 1st, 2012
No Comments »

By John Helmer, Moscow In the Kremlin corridors under the new management, it is generally acknowledged that one of the stupidest things former President Dmitry Medvedev ever did was to order Russia’s representative on the UN Security Council to abstain from the vote and veto of the no-fly zone resolution aimed at the Muammar Qaddafi […]

by John Helmer - Sunday, May 6th, 2012
No Comments »

By John Helmer, Moscow On October 12, 2004, Sergei Frank, a former federal Minister of Transport, was appointed chief executive of Sovcomflot, Russia’s largest oil tanker company and one of the top five in the world. Frank confirmed, said the company on its website, “that the Company’s management will take all necessary steps to enhance […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012
No Comments »

By John Helmer, Moscow Ahead of the March 16 election of a new board chairman for United Company Rusal, President-elect Vladimir Putin did something that isn’t widely known; has never happened before; and has not been disclosed by Rusal. The story of what happened in the run-up to the board vote can be read here. […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, March 20th, 2012
No Comments »

By John Helmer, Moscow Sergei Stepashin is a former Prime Minister of Russia. He’s also been a security minister, justice minister and interior minister. He holds a doctorate of law, the academic rank of professor, and the military rank of Colonel-General. This is a serious pedigree — when he tilts at a target, Stepashin is […]

by John Helmer - Wednesday, March 14th, 2012
No Comments »

By John Helmer, Moscow This morning Signor Enzo Caderni, the Director of the Grand Hotel & Pace Spa at Montecatini Terme, a well-known establishment in the Tuscan mineral waters resort, has confirmed that the wife of the outgoing president of Russia, Svetlana Medvedeva , has taken his hotel for a personal visit. The entire hotel, […]

by John Helmer - Wednesday, March 7th, 2012
No Comments »

By John Helmer, Moscow Russia is big, so when people make mistakes about Russia, they make big ones. Take this one, for example, by the self-proclaimed genius of the opposite of investigative journalism – advertising. Asked if he planned to open one of his international ad agency offices in Russia, David Ogilvy responded: “what are […]

by John Helmer - Sunday, March 4th, 2012
No Comments »