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Russian Companies In Global M&A
The value of foreign M&A transactions involving Russian capital amounted to almost $11.5 billion from January to May, 2008, and is expected to reach $30 billion by the end of the year, according to M&A-Intelligence. Most of the M&A operations were in the metals industry, the oil and gas sector and construction.
Severstal: More Acquisitions are Underway
Alexei Mordashov is prepared to slash his stake in the company to fund new purchases.
Despite the steelmaker Arcelor having dropped its plans to merge with Russian steel giant Severstal, the company’s chairman Alexei Mordashov still hopes to create one of the largest steel companies in the world. To achieve that goal, he is prepared to reduce his stake in Severstal from the current level of 82 percent to between 40 and 45 percent, using the revenue from the stock to finance large acquisitions. Mordashov has already selected several targets for merger.
Good News for Small London Crowd at the Annual Eeconomic Forum
Speaking to a half-empty hall, the speakers praised Russia as "an island of stability" and "a rainbow in the storm" amid the global financial crisis. As expected, Deputy Finance Minister Dmitry Pankin was the highest-ranking Russian official in attendance, and John Hutton, British secretary of state for business, enterprise and regulatory reform, briefly addressed the forum.
Russia's crude oil output declines
Even politicians are having to admit the country’s once double-digit growth has halted and at least one oil executive believes it will not, at least in his lifetime, be able to produce more than it has in the past two years.
Wal-Mart to Expand into Russia and Eastern Europe
Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, firmly intends to expand into Russia and Eastern Europe to explore emerging opportunities in these markets.
Russians bet on U.S. Steel
Russia's steel elite, with cash to burn from record profits, has accumulated almost 10 percent of U.S. steelmaking capacity as it bets big that demand in the world's largest economy will ride out a global credit crunch.
Russia's booming, but not its factories
Today, Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC – a name the company's founders made up because it sounded foreign – is Russia's largest food manufacturer with annual sales for 2007 expected to exceed $2-billion, and more than 18,000 employees at 37 factories across the country and in former Soviet republics.
But Wimm-Bill-Dann's growth is now being hampered by another hurdle that is stalling Russia's economic development: a dearth of qualified senior and middle managers.
Norwegian company cancels contract with Russian shipyard
Norway's Odfjell announced last week that it decided to cancel a contract of Russia's Sevmash plant for up to 12 bulk chemical product carriers because of production delays and demands for price increases.
Sevmash, located in Severodvinsk on the White Sea, denied breaching the contract and accused the Norwegian company of failing to agree on a "fair price" for its work.
Russia: The Land of Bears and Billionaires
It is the rate at which they seem to be acquiring their wealth. One of Russia's finance magazines, aptly named Finance, has recently made a name for itself by publishing ratings of the country's billionaires. The latest report says Russia now has 101 billionaires (whose fortune is dollar-denominated), second only to the United States, which has 415 of them.
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Where Did Russia's Money Go?
An investigation into the Bank of America scandal reveals a complex scam
As the Bank of New York inquiry proceeds, what will likely become clear is that the investigation is not just about organized crime. Nor is it, as Russia's oligarchs and the current government have argued, simply a story about capital flight, or about legitimate businessmen trying to cope with a ridiculously complicated tax system (though all of that is partly true). Under scrutiny now is nothing less than the fleecing of Russia, the many ways in which its citizens as well as many foreigners who have invested in the country have been burned during the last years of the Yeltsin era. The methods by which the fleecing took place are myriad and complex. But as the investigation moves forward, the key mechanisms are likely to become clearer.
Russia Drafts Law Limiting Foreign Investment
The Duma passed a bill restricting foreign investment in 42 sectors labeled strategic, including the manufacture and sale of military hardware, the nuclear industry, the extraction of mineral resources and mass media.
The bill says that any foreign private investor wanting to buy more than a 50 percent share of a company in any of the designated sectors will need approval from a commission composed of economic and security officials.
U.S. Owned New Manufacturing Plant Deep in Russia
This project shows what is possible when an American company takes the time to research and understand the Russian emerging market and to work with local city and regional governments and private sector vendors.
Russian Farmers Like to Learn More about U.S. Agribusiness
Russia is far behind the United States in farming practices, but they are eager to learn more. U.S. agriculture companies like Bourgault Industries recognize the need for up-to-date machinery in Russia.
Russian Businesses Eyeing Silicon Valley
Like every other part of the world, the Russians want partnerships with valley tech companies and venture capitalists. They offered up their version of a road show during a two-day conference in Mountain View last week, making a pitch for investment in the oil-rich country that's also full of smart scientists and technologists.
