Posts Tagged ‘CNBC’
Attacks reignite debate on Russia investments
Russia has long faced challenges assuring would-be investors about its stability relative to Western and Asian nations, or even among other emerging markets. Now a series of terrorist attacks could make that challenge worse.
Two bombing attacks over a 24-hour period this week killed at least 33 people and have heightened worries that Russia may face further strikes leading up to the Sochi Winter Olympics, scheduled to begin in early February.
Alexander Kliment, emerging markets analyst and director of Russia at Eurasia Group, said that the attacks, if they continue, are likely to negatively affect investor perceptions on Russia.
“A certain amount of volatility and violence has been the norm in the North Caucasus,” he said. “However, if we see sustained violence outside of North Caucasus—in ‘European Russia’—that could scare investors and have an adverse effect on funds’ decisions.”
The attacks raise bigger questions about stability in Russia and how much ability President Vladimir Putin really has to control such situations, Kliment said.
Russia already faces low stock valuations compared with other industrialized nations. Russian stocks typically trade at below six times earnings, making the country one of the cheapest emerging markets. The S&P trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.6 as of Tuesday.
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What’s at stake for Russia in Syria
The gridlock at the UN Security Council between the U.S.and Russia is dragging on, due to a gamut of competing interests in Syria.
The Russia-Syria axis is rooted in a strong political and economic relationship that has been cultivated since the late 1950s. The bond has a deep cultural element: many Syrians go to Russia to study, while Russians go to Syria as holidaymakers, advisors or investors. Over the years, Russia has also played an essential role in restructuring the Syrian economy, and wrote off roughly 70 percent of Syria’s $13.4 billion debt in 2005.
While reliable numbers are hard to come by, The Moscow Times estimated Russian investments in Syria at $19.4 billion in 2009, covering infrastructure, energy and tourism. But with outstanding projects ranging from a nuclear power plant to oil and gas exploration, the number today may be considerably higher.
Either way, Russia’s trade with Syria is fairly insubstantial. According to Daniel Treisman, professor of political science at the University of California, Los Angeles, Russian exports to Syria amounted to$1.93 billion in 2011, or only 0.4 percent of Russia’s total exports. That’s less than its trade with Tunisia and Estonia.
Still, what stands out is that Russia-Syria trade is concentrated in the defense and energy industries. “The vast majority of Russian exports to Syria are armaments, which makes Syria relatively more important as an export destination for the Russian defense industry,” Connolly said.
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Hedge-fund magnate Browder says if he’s assassinated, you’ll know where to look
Hedge-fund magnate and outspoken Kremlin critic Bill Browder told CNBC on Friday that if he’s ever assassinated, there won”t be much mystery about who was responsible.
“At the moment, nothing keeps me protected…if I get assassinated, everyone will know who did it…It would effectively be a declaration of war with the West if they decide to kill me,” he said.
Browder, the CEO and founder of Hermitage Capital Markets, is an American who has been living in London since being kicked out of Russia in 2007 for accusing tax officials of embezzlement. Browder — a one-time fan of Russian President Vladimir Putin and a grandson of the former leader of the Communist Party U.S.A. — has been on an anti-corruption crusade against the Kremlin since the death of his tax attorney, Sergei Magnitsky, in a Moscow prison. Magnitsky is the namesake of the Magnitsky Act, which U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law last December, and gives the Treasury and State Department authority for cracking down on Russian human-rights abusers. That led Russia to retaliate by banning U.S. citizens from adopting Russian children.
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Hedge Fund Manager Browder: If I Get Assassinated…
Bill Browder, chief executive and founder of Hermitage Capital Markets, told CNBC the Russian government is “apoplectic” over sanctions imposed on Russian officials that he has campaigned for, and if he gets assassinated, “everyone would know who did it.”
The well-known critic of the Kremlin has been living in London since he was kicked out of Russia for accusing Russian tax officials of embezzlement, in 2007.
Since then, he has repeatedly accused Russia of corruption and has been involved in a high-profile battle with the Russian state over the death of his lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who was investigating fraud among Russian officials.
In April, Russia issued an arrest warrant against Browder on charges that he stole shares in gas giant Gazprom fifteen years ago and requested Interpol, the global police agency, to launch a manhunt for the investment banker.
Interpol refused the request but Browder said he feels under constant threat.
“At the moment nothing keeps me protected…If I get assassinated, everyone will know who did it….It would effectively be a declaration of war with the West if they decide to kill me,” he told CNBC in London.
Browder’s colleague Magnitsky was imprisoned and taken ill, and he died later in hospital. Browder has since sought to bring the Russian state to trial over Magnitsky’s death.
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A Bizarre Trial Stirs Western Concerns About Russia
The government of Russia will underscore its place as one of the world’s most bizarre when it begins Monday the trial of Sergei Magnitsky.
It is not bizarre by Russian standards that Mr. Magnitsky was an attorney imprisoned essentially for defending his client, American investor Bill Browder.
It is not even the most bizarre part of the case that the 37-year-old Magnitsky was allegedly tortured in prison and Russia appears to know who did it and has refused to prosecute. This has led the U.S. to pass a law banning travel of corrupt Russian officials to America and a strange response from Russia banning U.S. adoptions of Russian babies.
What is truly bizarre about the trial is that Mr. Magnitsky is dead, and has been dead since 2009, the result of wounds sustained in prison, human rights groups say. The trial would be the first posthumous trial in the history of Russia — there is no record of even one of the famous Stalin show trials being prosecuted against a dead man.
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Romney backs Russia trade bill only with human rights added
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney would support legislation to upgrade U.S. trade relations with Russia only if Congress also passes a measure to go after Russian human right violators, his campaign said on Thursday.
“Gov. Romney believes that permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) should only be granted to Russia on the condition that the Magnitsky human rights bill be passed,” Lanhee Chen, policy director for the Romney campaign, said in a statement.
Chen was referring to legislation being considered in Congress that would require the U.S. government to impose sanctions on people believed responsible for the death of Sergei Magnitsky, an anti-corruption lawyer who died in a Russian prison, and other human rights violators.
Chen also accused the Obama administration of trying to “scuttle” the bill. U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk told lawmakers in June the administration would prefer a “clean” PNTR bill without the Magnitsky legislation attached.
Romney, who faces President Barack Obama in the November 6 election, has taken a tough line on Russia, which he has called the “No. 1 geopolitical foe” of the United States.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an interview aired on Thursday, took aim at Romney, calling his criticism of Russia “mistaken” campaign rhetoric and suggesting a Romney presidency would widen the rift over the anti-missile shield the United States is deploying in Europe.
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BP-Rosneft Shows Russia Is ‘Not Investable’: Browder
The collapse of a BP share-swap deal with Russian state oil company Rosneft is just one of a string of failures which show that Russia is “uninvestable”, according to William Browder, once the country’s largest portfolio investor.
BP’s [BP 44.71 0.34 (+0.77%) ] proposed tie-up with Rosneft fell through after an agreement could not be reached with Alfa Access Renova (AAR) — a consortium of local billionaires who had a pre-existing joint venture with the oil giant, TNK-BP – to break an earlier contract.
BP had been hoping to work with the state-owned company to explore and develop assets in Russia’s arctic regions.
“What this story shows is the long and sad tale of BP in Russia, and how they’ve basically encountered problems at every single turn in their quest to get Russian oil reserves,” Browder told CNBC.com.
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BP Made Faustian Deal With the Kremlin
The recent deal between BP and the Russian oil and gas giant Rosneft was a Faustian pact that was forced on the London-listed major by the Kremlin, William Browder, a fund manager with Hermitage Capital, told CNBC Tuesday.
In mid-January, BP agreed a deal with Rosneft which would give it access to offshore exploration in the South Kara Sea and at the time BP CEO Bob Dudley told CNBC the deal offered huge rewards to BP given the access they would get to new fields and reserves.
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Bill Browder on CNBC: Every Company in Russia faces Corruption
“You have to understand that every company that does business in Russia finds themselves running into massive amounts of corruption,” William Browder, CEO of Hermitage Capital told CNBC. Browder was the largest investor in Russia until he was kicked out in 2005. займы на карту без отказа hairy girl zp-pdl.com zp-pdl.com займы онлайн на карту срочно
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