By John Helmer, Moscow In the Naughty-Boy School of Government, it is required for the boys to apply for the master’s permission to sit; stand; ask a question; refill their inkwells, and leave the room to answer the call of nature. In the history of the great English Public Schools, a great deal of bladder […]

by John Helmer - Monday, February 7th, 2011
No Comments »

By John Helmer, Moscow The Prime Minister has asked Russians to send him their choices of a name for a young Bulgarian shepherd dog, which was presented to him by the dog fancier, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, when the two met in Sofia on November 13.

by John Helmer - Thursday, December 16th, 2010
No Comments »

By John Helmer, Moscow The 421-page ruling of UK High Court Justice Andrew Smith, issued on Friday in London, dismisses all charges and claims pursued for the past five years against Dmitry Skarga, former chief executive of Sovcomflot, and Tagir Izmaylov, his counterpart at Novorossiysk Shipping Company (Novoship). The consequences are dramatic for the Russian […]

by John Helmer - Monday, December 13th, 2010
No Comments »

By John Helmer, Moscow The UK High Court ruled this morning in London that the half-billion dollar fraud claim pursued by state shipping company Sovcomflot and its chief executive Sergei Frank was based on fabrications and lies. Frank was condemned in the ruling, and his witnesses dismissed as dishonest. Former Sovcomflot chief executive Dmitry Skarga […]

by John Helmer - Friday, December 10th, 2010
No Comments »

By John Helmer, Moscow After announcing early in the week that 50% of Sovcomflot’s shares will be sold over the next two years, between 2011 and 2013, government officials today refused to tell Fairplay what valuation the government has put on the shipping company, and how much cash the sell-off has been targeted to raise.

by John Helmer - Friday, November 26th, 2010
No Comments »

By John Helmer in Moscow Sovcomflot (SCF), the state oil tanker company and currently the 5th energy shipper in the world, has made its first detailed public disclosure to investment markets in a multi-million dollar debt prospectus. Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, and VTB are the arrangers.

by John Helmer - Monday, October 18th, 2010
No Comments »

By John Helmer in Moscow Gennady Timchenko and his allies in state-controlled companies in the Russian oil business are gradually consolidating their dominance over much of Russian oil from the wellhead to the tanker enroute to international markets, and much of the transportation network in between. As the largest energy exporter in the world, Russia […]

by John Helmer - Wednesday, October 13th, 2010
No Comments »

By John Helmer in Moscow Sovcomflot, the Russian state-owned tanker group, reports that, despite rising revenues of $678.6 million in the first six months of this year — up 11% over the same period of 2009 — earnings have fallen 4% to $292.6 million; and net income has dropped 5% to $111.2 million. Revenues rose […]

by John Helmer - Friday, September 24th, 2010
No Comments »

By John Helmer in Moscow Russia’s ports used to be run by gangsters, because it was one of the easier assets in post-Communist Russia to control by simple violence. The history of the International Longshoremen in the US and Jimmy Hoffa’s Teamsters make this feature of port life unexceptional the world over.

by John Helmer - Thursday, September 16th, 2010
No Comments »

By John Helmer in Moscow The federal Ministry of Finance has moved the planned privatization for the state shipping company Sovcomflot into next year; increased the bloc of shares to be offered from 20% previously announced to 25%; and put a discount on the target value for the sell-off.

by John Helmer - Thursday, July 29th, 2010
No Comments »