Aurelian Resources Was Stolen By Kinross and Management But Will Not Be Forgotten
The company whose shareholders were better than its management
Message: Would you like to be invested here? Kinross is.
And they worry about Ecuador!
Kremlin's heavy hand triggers foreign exodus
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
Last Updated: 10:55am BST 31/07/2008
Foreign investors have become extremely wary of the Russian stock market after the Kremlin moved yet again to tighten its noose around the country's energy and mining sector, launching anti-trust probes against London-listed Evraz Holding and Raspadsky Coal.
| Foreign investors are taking flight |
The move follows last week's assault on steel and coal giant Mechel for alleged overpricing of raw materials and using off-shore trading to cut its tax bill.
Moscow's RTS stock market index has fallen by 25pc since May on fears that premier Vladimir Putin is once again using probes or other heavy-handed methods to reorder the strategic landscape.
The bare-knuckle fight for control over BP's Russian TNK-BP has deeply shocked investors in the City and New York. The joint venture had been launched in 2003 with the personal blessing of Mr Putin, making it quite different from the foreign resource grab during the Yeltsin era that so enrages Russian nationalists.
"The market is panicking and foreign investors are pulling out of equities," said Michael Ganske, a Russia expert at Commerzbank.
"People fear that the rule of law is breaking down. I think this is an overreaction, but the Russian government has to be careful in the way it uses rhetoric in this investment climate," he said.
New Message
Please
login
to post a reply