Sept 28. Severstal makes a takeover offer to Celtic at 2.70 pounds per share.

Finamrus com 28.09.2007 20:13
http://www.finamrus.com/newtopics/news03A8C/default.asp

Severstal-Resource (which runs Severstal’s mining assets) has made an official takeover offer to Celtic Resources Holdings. As Severstal said in a statement released Friday, the offer stands at 2.70 pounds per share. At present, Severstal holds a 29.7% stake in the Irish company. The statement of the Russian metal maker specifies that an additional 3.1% stake in Celtic was acquired from DWS Investments Friday, but no transaction price was disclosed. “We have received confirmation that Barrick Gold, which holds a 6.6% interest in Celtic, will back our takeover offer” – the statement emphasized. Severstal points out that the price of the takeover offer is 43.6% higher than the market value of the Irish metal producer’s shares over the past 3 months. Given the price offered by Severstal, the market cap of Celtic Resources Holdings is estimated at 161 mln pounds sterling. Shortly after Severstal’s announcement of the takeover offer Celtic stocks rallied 13% on LSE.

Sept 27. VTB set to propose swapping VTB North West stocks for those of VTB at the earlier approved ratios.

Finamrus com 27.09.2007 17:02
http://www.finamrus.com/newtopics/news03A77/default.asp

VTB plans to propose swapping VTB North West stocks for those of VTB at the earlier approved ratios, VTB CEO and board chairman Andrey Kostin said at a press conference Thursday. "We have plans, if the supervisory council backs, to make an offer to VTB North West's minority shareholders to swap their holdings for VTB securities at the ratios that were specified earlier" – he said.

Sept 26. International rating agency Standard & Poor's has affirmed Moscow's long-term foreign currency obligations credit rating at BBB+

Finamrus com 26.09.2007 13:13
http://www.finamrus.com/newtopics/news03A5C/default.asp

International rating agency Standard & Poor's has affirmed Moscow's long-term foreign currency obligations credit rating at BBB+, the agency said in a press release. The rating carries a stable outlook.

Sept 25. Bluecone Limited, owned by Severstal, has raised its stake in Irish company Celtic Resources Holdings from 22% to 26.6%

Finamrus com 25.09.2007 14:04
http://www.finamrus.com/newtopics/news03A48/default.asp

Bluecone Limited, owned by Severstal, has raised its stake in Irish company Celtic Resources Holdings from 22% to 26.6%, Severstal said in a press release. As Sergey Loktionov, representative of Severstal-Resource that runs Severstal's mining assets, said, the equity stake increased following the acquisition of the company's shares from a private concern.

Sept 21. Investment agreements worth $10 bln are slated for signing at the 6th International Investment Forum "Sochi-2007",

Finamrus com 21.09.2007 14:06
http://www.finamrus.com/newtopics/news03A22/default.asp

Investment agreements worth $10 bln are slated for signing at the 6th International Investment Forum "Sochi-2007", which kicked off Thursday, Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref told reporters on the sidelines of the forum. "We have reached a degree of stability where a Cabinet shakeup cannot undermine investors' confidence in the Russian economy" – he emphasized. He went on to say that notwithstanding the fact that the forum is held just when the new government is being formed "this produced no impact on the number of agreements that will be penned during the forum". Gref said that the forum will be attended by delegations from 33 countries and 58 constituent entities of Russia, as well as 44 governors of the Russian regions.

Sept 20. Mechel Announces its Acquisition of Port Temryuk-Sotra

Finamrus com 20.09.2007 19:15
http://www.finamrus.com/newtopics/news03A18/default.asp

MOSCOW, Sept. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Mechel OAO (NYSE:MTL), one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies, announces it has acquired 100% of the Temryuk-Sotra seaport shares.The acquisition is in line with Mechel's further diversification of its coal and steel product traffic flows in developing its own transport infrastructure.The Temryuk-Sotra seaport is located at the Taman shore of the See of Azov and is primarily utilized for small tonnage river-sea type vessels in the Southern Russia.The company will specialize mainly in coal transshipment. The competitive advantages of the port of Temryuk are determined by its geographical location, proximity to sea communications, year-round navigation, and available railroad and highway accesses. Currently, with the existing depths, the port enables the use of river-sea vessels up to 5,000K tonnage, whose parameters correspond to the capabilities of the Black Sea, Mediterranean, and the mainland waterways in West Europe...More>

Sept 18. Goldman Sachs raises WGC-4 target price 2%, affirming Hold recommendation

Finamrus com 18.09.2007 17:59
http://www.finamrus.com/newtopics/news039FC/default.asp

Goldman Sachs has upgraded its target price for WGC-4's stocks from $0.123 to $0.126, the investment bank said in a note. The Hold recommendation on the stock was left unchanged.

Sept 14. In intraday market updates, trading still looks trendless.

Finamrus com 14.09.2007 13:14
http://www.finamrus.com/newtopics/news039D2/default.asp

On Friday, domestic stocks seem to be flatlining without any signs of a bullish or a bearish trend. 1-1.5% gains posted by some issuers in the closing hour yesterday turned into comparable morning losses today. As of 12:00 noon Moscow time the weakest players were Gazprom (-0.9%) and Surgutneftegaz (-0.8%), while Rosneft fared better, off 0.6%. The range of price fluctuations that we've seen YTD is still in place and is getting narrower. Time will tell whether or not this tendency will come to an end.

Sergey Dorogavtsev, Asset Manager, Finam Investment Company

Sept 13. The employment agreement of Transneft CEO Semen Vainshtok is to expire today, on September 13.

Finamrus com 13.09.2007 12:32
http://www.finamrus.com/newtopics/news039C5/default.asp

The employment agreement of Transneft CEO Semen Vainshtok is to expire today, on September 13. Vainshtok has headed the world's largest pipeline monopoly over the past eight years. On Tuesday Russian President Vladimir Putin offered Vainshtok to head up a state-run corporation that will be established to prepare Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics. Under his command Transneft launched the largest project in history of modern Russian to build the East Siberia – Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline that will link East and West Siberian fields with the Pacific Ocean and will open new opportunities for Russian crude exports. Vainshtok's successor has not yet been named, although news agencies view possible candidates as Zarubezhneft CEO Nikolay Tokarev, Gazprom's deputy board chairman Nikolay Golubev and even Industry and Energy Minister Victor Khristenko. Officially, the nominee should be appointed by Rosimuschestvo which owns Transneft stocks on behalf of the state. Meanwhile, state officials categorically decline to comment on the issue.

NEWS & EVENTS: Breaking News

Finamrus com 12.09.2007 14:33
http://www.finamrus.com/newtopics/news039BA/default.asp

Sept 12. Russia's GDP could grow 7.5% this year, Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin announced Tuesday speaking before students of the Budget and Treasury Academy attached to the Russian Finance Ministry.

Sept 11. Sberbank is to cancel fees for storage of its stocks and those of Rosneft starting October 1

Finamrus com 11.09.2007 14:08
http://www.finamrus.com/newtopics/news039AA/default.asp

Sberbank is to cancel fees for storage of its stocks and those of Rosneft starting October 1, Sberbank's deputy board chairman Bella Zlatkis said in an interview with Kommersant business daily. According to her, private shareholders of Sberbank, as well as those of Rosneft (most shareholders who picked up Rosneft securities in the IPO hold their shares on deposit accounts with Sberbank), were concerned by the issue of fees charged for stock storage.

Sept 7. The Board of Directors of Gazprom Neft, a subsidiary of Gazprom, elected Thursday Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller as the oil company's board chairma

Finamrus com 07.09.2007 14:14
http://www.finamrus.com/newtopics/news03981/default.asp

The Board of Directors of Gazprom Neft, a subsidiary of Gazprom, elected Thursday Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller as the oil company's board chairman, the oil producer's press office reported. In addition, Gazprom Neft's BoD decided to call an EGM on November 19, 2007 in order to reelect BoD members, approve a new edition of the charter, make amendments to a number of internal documents and also pay remuneration to board members.

Sept 6. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) is to invest over $1 bln in the construction of an auto steel plant in the State of Ohio (USA),

Finamrus com 06.09.2007 14:01
http://www.finamrus.com/newtopics/news0396F/default.asp

Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) is to invest over $1 bln in the construction of an auto steel plant in the State of Ohio (USA), MMK board chairman Victor Rashnikov said at a briefing in Saint Petersburg Wednesday. He went on to say that the new facility’s production capacity will be 1.5 mn t of cold-rolled products a year.

Sept 4. Basic Element, that runs Oleg Deripaska's non-core assets, applied late last week to FAS

Finamrus com 04.09.2007 12:06
http://www.finamrus.com/newtopics/news0394B/default.asp

Basic Element, that runs Oleg Deripaska's non-core assets, applied late last week to FAS seeking authorization to acquire 100% of Russneft which makes up Top 10 of Russian O&G companies, a Basic Element spokesman told RIA Novosti Tuesday. "The application was submitted at the end of last week" – the news agency's respondent said adding that Basic Element took into account the remarks made by FAS to the application filed in July, when the documents were not accepted due to their improper registration.

Sept 3. Norilsk Nickel has wrapped up syndication of $3.5 bln loans to take over LionOre.

Finamrus com 03.09.2007 13:01
http://www.finamrus.com/newtopics/news03937/default.asp

Russian metal giant Norilsk Nickel has completed the syndication of credit facilities for a total of $3.5 bln, the company said in a statement. The credits were issued as part of a $6 bln fund-raising procedure aimed at taking over Canadian nickel and gold producer LionOre Mining.

Aug 31. UES (RTS: EESR) has accepted Norilsk Nickel's buyout offer,

Finamrus com 31.08.2007 14:03
http://www.finamrus.com/newtopics/news0392C/default.asp

UES (RTS: EESR) has accepted Norilsk Nickel's buyout offer, presenting 5.2 bln shares (11% of the charter capital) of WGC-3 for buyout, the energy holding's PR director Margarita Nagoga told Interfax. The shares will be divested at the price of the SPO which was acquired by Norilsk Nickel, i.e. at Rub 4.54 per share.