As BP faces difficulty at its Russian venture, is the country a safe place for UK investors? May 29, 2012 YES John McRoberts There has always been concern around election time in Russia but, now that Vladimir Putin is again President, I expect another period of stability. He has transformed the country, putting in place a new environment for business, built primarily on transforming the tax system. Personal income tax is now a flat 13 [...]
Oligarchs’ favourite Maxim Barsky to return to TNK-BP May 29, 2012 TNK-BP has beefed up its team ahead of a looming dispute with its co-owner BP, with the Russian oil firm’s former deputy chief executive Maxim Barsky rejoining as an adviser. Barsky, who left the firm last year when BP failed to support his appointment as chief executive, is a favourite of AAR, the group of [...]
Oligarch leader of BP’s Russian venture quits May 28, 2012 THE BILLIONAIRE head of BP’s partner in Russia resigned yesterday, putting the oil giant’s relationship with TNK-BP under further strain. Mikhail Fridman, the chief executive of TNK-BP and a key investor, will stand down at the end of June for personal reasons, the firm said. But sources close to Alfa-Access-Renova (AAR), the group of oligarchs [...]
How love triumphed in the Gulag May 28, 2012 A celebrated historian of Russia, Figes’s new book is a collection of letters between Lev and Svetlana, two Moscow scientists who met in 1935 but were kept apart for 13 years by war and internment. Their letters tell the incredible story of how they kept communicating through Lev’s internment at the Pechora Gulag where he [...]
Fat lot of good: Ennis silences critics with British record show May 27, 2012 LONDON 2012 prospect Jessica Ennis gave her Olympic gold hopes a huge boost by breaking the British heptathlon record in her final contest with her main medal rivals before the Games. Ennis blew away the field in Gotzis, Austria yesterday with a score of 6,909 points – the best by any woman for five years [...]
Companies pull London IPOs May 24, 2012 London’s reputation as a global centre for capital markets suffered another blow yesterday when a third company pulled its planned London Stock Exchange listing in the space of a fortnight. Georgian Railway blamed market turmoil as it postponed plans to raise up to $250m (£160m) by selling as much as a quarter of its stock. [...]
Asian demand for beer boosts SABMiller profit May 24, 2012 KEEN drinkers in emerging markets have boosted the world’s second-largest brewer SABMiller’s profits by 75 per cent to $4.2bn (£2.68bn). The annual results, which include a one-off gain from the sale of SABMiller’s Russian and Ukrainian operations, saw revenues grow by 11 per cent to $31.38bn and pre-tax profits climb 55 per cent to $5.6bn. [...]
Fresh blow to London as Tungsten delays its float May 23, 2012 TUNGSTEN, the British bid vehicle founded by Edmund and Danny Truell, yesterday announced a raincheck on its IPO. Citing adverse market conditions, the financial services investment fund said it was postponing its flotation, set to raise £200m. The announcement will come as a blow to the London Stock Exchange, which was expecting to list Tungsten [...]
Russian billionaires in High Court showdown May 23, 2012 A BATTLE between two Israeli-Russian billionaires over profits from the Angolan diamond industry kicked off yesterday in the High Court, with witnesses including a chief Rabbi and the former head of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. Arkady Gaydamak is suing his ex-business partner Lev Leviev in an attempt to enforce an agreement that he claims was [...]
Sechin takes the helm at Rosneft May 22, 2012 Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev yesterday appointed Igor Sechin as chief executive of state-controlled Rosneft, putting the man who ran energy policy in the last government in charge of Russia’s largest oil company. Sechin recently masterminded three offshore deals with western oil majors. He pledged to boost Rosneft’s production in taking the post.