By John Helmer, Moscow A case that has been going through the courts in London for months, and will be argued afresh in November before the Supreme Court, Britain’s highest tribunal, reveals not only how easy it was for a group of alleged fraudsters to borrow $225 million from state-controlled VTB Bank. Also revealed is […]

by John Helmer - Monday, October 15th, 2012
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By John Helmer, Moscow It’s no surprise that when Alisher Usmanov (left) proposed an initial public offering (IPO) of Megafon, a mobile telephone company he controls, he decided to keep all his shares to himself, and to oblige new sharebuyers to bid for stock being sold from the treasury of Megafon, and from minority stockholder, […]

by John Helmer - Wednesday, October 10th, 2012
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By John Helmer, Moscow Very occasionally it happens that the lie a man tells, or his lawyer, comes back to haunt him. Here is the judgement in the case of Michael Cherney (Chernoy) v Oleg Deripaska, issued by the UK Court of Appeal on October 3. Not a word of it has appeared yet in […]

by John Helmer - Sunday, October 7th, 2012
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By John Helmer, Moscow Wednesday September 26 was Yom Kippur – the annual Day of Atonement for Jews, the most solemn holiday on the Jewish calendar, when according to the relevant Scripture, God opens his Judgement Book, and takes applications from everyone with an interest in having the black mark removed from his name. God’s […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, September 27th, 2012
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By John Helmer, Moscow Russian banks have been reflecting ponds for their owners since they began twenty years ago; wishing-wells too. That explains why Commerzbank accepted less than $200 million for its 14.4% shareholding in Promsvyazbank earlier this year, fixing the valuation of the bank at $1.4 billion; and why the bank owners, Alexei and […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, September 25th, 2012
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By John Helmer, Moscow The full text of Justice Dame Elizabeth Gloster’s judgement in the UK High Court case of Boris Berezovsky v Roman Abramovich runs to 356 pages, 1253 sections, one appendix, and 555 footnotes. She is kindly toward the case lawyers, the computer system operators, the courtroom administrators, and the simultaneous translators. She […]

by John Helmer - Friday, September 21st, 2012
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By John Helmer, Moscow Private Eye, the only periodical of investigative journalism still made of paper and ink and for sale in the UK, is old enough to be a grandfather in his dodders. So when the editor, Ian Hislop (aged 52), and his anonymous reporters took sides with Pussy Riot last month, it may […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, September 13th, 2012
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By John Helmer,Moscow Russian government investigators are focusing on a tiny, little known Latvian bank through which Oleg Deripaska (front) has been holding and moving billions of dollars. The Latvian Trade Bank (LTB), as it was known for many years, has recently been renamed Expobank, after it was taken over by Igor Kim, who bought […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, September 13th, 2012
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By John Helmer, Moscow The second day of Yury Privalov’s trial in Moscow for embezzling funds from Sovcomflot ended Monday evening without a ruling from Judge Natalia Morozova. The state shipping group, represented by lawyers from Sovcomflot, one of its offshore subsidiaries, and Novorossiysk Shipping Company (Novoship), have requested leniency and Privalov’s discharge. The state […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, September 11th, 2012
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By John Helmer, Moscow A British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) correspondent in Moscow named Steven Rosenberg staged and filmed a rehearsal of what he claims Pussy Riot told him they were planning at the Christ the Saviour Cathedral at least a day, possibly several days before February 21. That is the day when three of the […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, September 4th, 2012
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