Oct 29. Irish mining group Celtic Resources is still not willing to accept Severstal's takeover offer

Finamrus com 29.10.2007 14:34
http://www.finamrus.com/newtopics/news03BE5/default.asp

Irish mining group Celtic Resources is still not willing to accept Severstal's takeover offer, Celtic said in a press release published Friday. The press release was issued in response to the posting of Severstal's offer document to Celtic shareholders at 270 pence per share, which puts Celtic Resources' market cap at 161 mln pounds sterling.

Oct 26. The Russian government has signed a directive to vote with the state-owned interest (52.67%) in UES at an October 26 EGM,

Finamrus com 26.10.2007 13:12
http://www.finamrus.com/newtopics/news03BCF/default.asp

The Russian government has signed a directive to vote with the state-owned interest (52.67%) in UES at an October 26 EGM, a source close to the Cabinet told Interfax. "The directive instructs Alexander Voloshin, UES board chairman, to vote for the reorganization" – the same source said. Voloshin traditionally votes with the state-controlled interest in UES at shareholder meetings. "After Voloshin receives the instructions he will complete ballot sheets and forward them to Status, a registrar" – the news agency wired. The accepting deadline for the votes cast on the completion of UES' restructuring is 6 p.m. Friday. If the affirmative decision is taken, the energy holding will cease to exist as of July 1, 2008.

Oct 25. Swiss crude trader Glencore has applied to FAS seeking to acquire minority stakes

Finamrus com 25.10.2007 13:09
http://www.finamrus.com/newtopics/news03BC7/default.asp

Swiss crude trader Glencore has applied to FAS seeking to acquire minority stakes in three oil producing subsidiaries of Russneft, but not the shares of the oil company itself, Bloomberg news agency reported quoting Glencore's official representative. The company denies it applied to acquire the oil producer itself. According to the company's representative, the application was filed in September.

Oct 23. Saint Petersburg Bank has announced its target placement range

Finamrus com 23.10.2007 14:02
http://www.finamrus.com/newtopics/news03B9F/default.asp

Saint Petersburg Bank has announced its target placement range, $4.35-$5.65 per share and $13.05-$16.95 per GDR, the bank said in a statement. The lender's market capitalization is projected to be in the ballpark of $1.23 bln to $1.60 bln, and its free float will be up to 18%. As wired earlier, as part of the IPO investors will be offered to acquire the bank's new shares which will amount to 18% of the lending institution's total common voting shares after the offering. The bank is going to float common shares and GDRs without going through GDR listing procedures. Saint Petersburg Bank's stocks to be offered abroad will equal 35,599,999 common registered stocks or 11.7% of the upsized charter capital.

Oct 22. Gas to be supplied by Russia to Belarus could cost $125 per 1,000 cu m in 2008

Finamrus com 22.10.2007 15:07
http://www.finamrus.com/newtopics/news03B94/default.asp

Gas to be supplied by Russia to Belarus could cost $125 per 1,000 cu m in 2008, Deputy Industry and Energy Minister Ivan Materov told reporters in Minsk Friday. "Given the formula the gas price is such, give or take $10" – Materov said. According to him, all conditions will be agreed upon by 2008, as gas deliveries should be launched at the new price starting January 1, 2008.

Oct 19. Russia's international reserves hit record heights

Finamrus com 19.10.2007 14:47
http://www.finamrus.com/newtopics/news03B84/default.asp

Russia's international reserves hit record heights, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced. "The country's international currency reserves grew to $434 bln, the highest figure on record in Russian history, both for the Soviet Union and Tsarist Russia, while the government's stabilization fund reached Rub 3.5 tln" – he noted.

Oct 15. Novatek reported a 2.8% y-o-y drop in total natural gas output to 20.91 bcm in 9M07

Finamrus com 15.10.2007 13:05
http://www.finamrus.com/newtopics/news03B46/default.asp

Novatek reported a 2.8% y-o-y drop in total natural gas output to 20.91 bcm in 9M07, the independent gas producer said in a statement. Production of liquid hydrocarbons (gas condensate and oil) fell 3% to 1.84 mln tons. In Q307, gas production also sank 16.3% to 6.01 bcm, while the extraction of liquid hydrocarbons remained virtually flat y-o-y at 631,000 tons. Unstable gas condensate throughput volumes at Purovsky Gas Processing Plant amounted to 1,559,000 tons in January-September and 543,000 tons in Q307.

Oct 12. Gazprom's executive board has taken under advisement drafts of its investment program,

Finamrus com 12.10.2007 12:44
http://www.finamrus.com/newtopics/news03B35/default.asp

Gazprom's executive board has taken under advisement drafts of its investment program, budget (financial program) and cost containment (reduction) programs for 2008-2010, the gas concern said in a press release. In addition, after a dicussion the executive board ordered to rework the blueprints of the investment program and the budget (financial program) for 2008 and submit these documents to the gas holding's BoD for approval. Gazprom's draft investment program for 2008 involves top priority investment projects, the press release pointed out.

Oct 11. AvtoVAZ cut sales of Lada autos 1.8% y-o-y to 472,000 in 9M07

Finamrus com 11.10.2007 15:11
http://www.finamrus.com/newtopics/news03B26/default.asp

AvtoVAZ cut sales of Lada autos 1.8% y-o-y to 472,000 in 9M07, the auto producer's press service reported. "However, based on the forecasts by the automotive giant's marketing unit, 10M07 sales exceeded the volume recorded in the year-earlier period" – the press release said.

Oct 9. Sberbank's new CEO could start to work by late November,

Finamrus com 09.10.2007 12:20
http://www.finamrus.com/newtopics/news03B00/default.asp

Sberbank's new CEO could start to work by late November, the bank's chief executive and board chairman Andrey Kazmin said Monday in an interview with Vesti 24 television channel. "This procedure (for electing and approving the nominee to the CEO position – Interfax-AFI) takes 45-50 days. We should notify our shareholders of the EGM at least 30 days before the meeting" – he said. At the same time, he noted that a decision should be made to call a meeting of the bank's supervisory council. In turn, the council should endorse the appointee nominated to the position of the bank's general director. Later his/her surname should be placed on special ballot sheets which will be sent out to Sberbank's shareholders.

Oct 5. Russia's balance of payment recorded a surplus estimated at $57.1 bln in 9M07

Finamrus com 05.10.2007 13:07
http://www.finamrus.com/newtopics/news03ADD/default.asp

Russia's balance of payment recorded a surplus estimated at $57.1 bln in 9M07 or 28.4% less than in the same period a year ago ($79.7 bln), the Central Bank of Russia said in a press release. Meanwhile, in the January-September period of 2007 trade surplus equaled $94.1 bln, representing a 15.4% drop on the year-earlier period ($111.2 bln). Trade surplus slid following faster growth in imports, up 37.3% to $154.6 bln from $112.6 bln in 9M06, while exports rose 11.1% to $248.8 bln from $223.8 bln.

Oct 4. WGC-2 gets GDR listing on LSE.

Finamrus com 04.10.2007 14:15
http://www.finamrus.com/newtopics/news03AD0/default.asp

Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) issued by WGC-2 were listed for trading in the main section of the London Stock Exchange. The utility concern's GDR equals 100 common shares. For the record, WGC-2 is a generating company established on the basis of thermal power plants. At present, the company consists of five large power plants (Pskov GRES, Serov GRES, Stavropol GRES, Troitsk GRES and Surgut GRES-1) which are located in various regions of Russia. The company employs over 4,500 staff. WGC-2's commons are on the quotation lists of Russian exchanges (RTS and MICEX in Moscow).