Against the Grain: Why the psychology of crisis may explain Russia’s future growth trajectory October 1, 2013 THE PERFORMANCE of the Bric economies over the past decade or so has been mixed. Russian growth, though impressive by Western standards, has lagged behind that of both India and China – which have themselves experienced a recent relative slowdown. Russia’s underperformance, however, has been particularly noticeable since 2008. I got an insight into the [...]
Russia’s Rosneft offers $1.5bn for minority stakes in TNK-BP September 30, 2013 RUSSIAN oil giant Rosneft yesterday said it plans to buy the remaining shares in TNK-BP Holding for a fraction of the price it paid BP and a group of oligarchs for their stakes, in a worrying development for minority shareholders in Russian companies. Rosneft bought the holding company and its parent TNK-BP last year in [...]
The US is busy reinventing its future – the rest of the world isn’t so lucky September 29, 2013 I'VE always been a John Steinbeck/ Bruce Springsteen sort of American. I share their common mantra, "Aren't things terrible here, but I wouldn't want to be anyplace else." Being clear-eyed about the US's failings, while remaining romantic about it at heart isn't easy. But America's extraordinary capacity to right its ship – to reinvent itself [...]
MBA rankings: Proceed with caution September 25, 2013 Candidates should look beyond league tables to find a course that will suit their needs SINCE BusinessWeek published its first MBA rankings in 1988, others have rushed to design league tables of their own, rating and comparing different programmes. So where should you study your MBA? According to the FT’s 2013 rankings, Harvard Business School [...]
Rosneft adds to Russian assets September 24, 2013 OIL FIRM Rosneft is acquiring Enel’s indirect stake in Russian gas producer SeverEnergia, valued at $1.8bn (£1.1bn), in its latest move to boost its presence in the gas market. State-owned Rosneft, the world’s top listed crude oil producer, has been aggressively expanding its gas business with a slew of purchases, including Russian gas company Itera [...]
China secures its potash supply with minority stake in Uralkali September 24, 2013 RUSSIAN potash producer Uralkali yesterday said that Chengdong Investment Corporation – the Chinese sovereign wealth fund – has acquired a 12.5 per cent stake in the company. CIC is now the second largest shareholder in the firm, after Russian oligarch Suleyman Kerimov who owns a 21.75 per cent stake. Uralkali said CIC had received the [...]
BP part of new Azerbaijan gas supply contract September 19, 2013 OIL MAJORS including BP and Statoil are part of a consortium that yesterday unveiled a new multi-billion pound sales agreement that would bring gas directly from Azerbaijan to Europe for the first time. Just over 10bn cubic metres a year of gas will be produced from the Shah Deniz field in Azerbaijan each year, in [...]
Evraz sells iron ore mine for £12m September 19, 2013 FTSE 250 Russian steelmaker Evraz yesterday said it has sold its iron ore mining and processing plant subsidiary to NPRO Ural for $20m (£12.4m), as part of its plan to divest non-core assets to cut costs. In addition, Evraz will pay up to $12.4m to the subsidiary “for the purpose of normalising the working capital” [...]
Arip to take part in Exillon auction September 19, 2013 Maksat Arip, the founder of Russian oil producer Exillon Energy, yesterday said he planned to take part in the sale process for the company after its directors gave the sale the green light on Wednesday. Arip, the company’s largest shareholder with a 30.17 per cent stake, had initially approached the company in late July. Arip [...]
Asos sees sales soar with strong UK market and new growth in US and Russia September 19, 2013 Online retailer Asos has announced UK retail sales up 47 per cent for the three months to the end of August with 49 per cent growth in the UK. (Release) Retail sales for the year were up 40 per cent year-on-year. The company had 7.1 million active customers at the end of August, up 42 [...]