The credit crunch (continuation).

The credit crunch (continuation). I don’t think that the intervention of medvedev was casual. Speaking a hours before the Astana meeting, I see this like his individual play. When they, (you know how I call them), exercise pressure (the obvious harassment), - even to hind it behind the ‘quick’ flirtation and long romantic invitations, - I see only no more than his new pent-house in Manhattan. With him, or with others, the message is simple; - don’t rely on talker promising do great things for you. Even these ‘powerful’ people with enormous resources can find that there are some factors they cannot adjust. The same is with me. The man who looking at the Ronaldo appeared son, or at the $12 million paid by Shachtar to buy-back (after receiving the $24 million), the one of theirs ‘players’, - are conscious of his limitations. Who also aware of the reason why, long ago had dropped a “plan” in favour of some easier way to proceed… Will be just great, if the “colleague”, (“friend”, “co-worker” or institution) feel motivated by the words. We’ll can to achieve a lot together.

Medvedev: mortgage rates. 02/07/2010, 13:58. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev believes that Russian banks continue to decline in mortgage interest rates. The economic recovery can’t come soon enough for Russia’s property developers and mortgage issuers with both waiting for signs of a pickup in the market.In 2009, mortgage lending slumped to 152.5 billion rubles but with some signs of a bottoming out late in the year and further signs of some life at the start of 2010. For 1Q 2010 mortgage lending totaled 60.8 billion roubles compared with 56 billion roubles lent in the first six months of 2009. Irina Veliyeva, the head of the credit institution ratings at Expert Ratings agency says a range of factors came together to help shape the rebound, with despite bad loans continuing to grow.

Ex-Sibir boss fined in Russian tycoon case. July 5 2010 22:43. The former chief executive of scandal-hit Sibir Energy has been fined £350,000 ($529,877) by the City watchdog for failing to disclose cash payments made by the company to one of its largest shareholders, the Russian tycoon Chalva Tchigirinski. The fine against Henry Cameron for market abuse, which will be announced on Tuesday by the Financial Services Authority, brings the curtain down on a corporate intrigue surrounding what was once the biggest company on London’s Aim alternative market with a value of £2.5bn. The FSA will say that Mr Cameron gave false and misleading statements about bail-out cash payments made by the Russian-focused oil company to Mr Tchigirinski in return for a set of real estate assets in October and December 2008. People close to Sibir said Mr Cameron agreed to the £350,000 fine as part of an early settlement with the regulator, and received a 30 per cent discount. Mr Cameron never stood to benefit directly from the property transaction. Mr Cameron and an FSA spokesman declined to comment. In February 2009, trading in Sibir shares was stopped. This was after it emerged that Mr Tchigirinski had in fact been paid $313.5m (£207m), rather than the $115m originally disclosed by Sibir – an act that the FSA believes gave a false and misleading impression about the value of Sibir shares. Mr Tchigirinski, not accused of wrongdoing by the FSA, held a 23.5 per cent stake in Sibir and was facing margin calls on borrowing secured against his shares as global markets tumbled after the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
Mr Cameron agreed to have Sibir advance $115m to Mr Tchigirinski in October 2008 as partial payment for the Sovietsky Hotel and the New Sovietskaya development in Moscow. Sibir then agreed a plan to buy a further $340m of real estate assets from Mr Tchigirinski in December 2008. The deals were withdrawn by the Sibir board, however, before the advanced payments had been disclosed. At the time Sibir justified the transactions with Mr Tchigirinski by arguing that a forced sale of his stake would have “devastated the share price and destroyed the existing shareholder structure, exposing the company to ruthless predatory activity”. Mr Cameron stepped down from Sibir after an internal investigation into the real estate deals was launched, with the company’s board later launching legal action against both Mr Cameron and Mr Tchigirinski in an attempt to recover $400m from the property deal. As part of its legal proceedings, Sibir secured an entitlement to the proceeds of Mr Tchigirinski’s Eaton Square house sale after a mortgage on the property was repaid, a person close to Sibir told the Financial Times in July last year.
Mr Tchigirinski sold the mansion for a knock-down price of £33m last year. In late 2009 Sibir was de-listed after Gazprom Neft, its partner in the Moscow oil refinery project, bought a 80 per cent stake in the company. The City of Moscow holds a 19 per cent stake.

Europäische Kommission prüft Schritte gegen Apple. 06.07.2010. Apple droht weiter Ärger mit der Europäischen Kommission. Der EU-Behörde ist das geschlossene System zwischen dem iPhone und dem App Store ein Dorn im Auge. Die Kommission könnte Apple zwingen, das System zu öffnen.
Die Europäische Kommissarin für die Digitale Agenda, Neelie Kroes, möchte die Interoperabilität zwischen verschiedenen Smartphone-Plattformenprüfen. Ein Problem könnte sein, dass Apple über den App Store kontrolliert, wer für das iOS welche Apps entwickelt und wie er dies tut. Durch die Geschäftspraktik konnte Apple bisher Flash vom iPhone und iPad fern halten und dafür sorgen, dass Entwickler ihre Apps nur mit dem Apple-eigenen Tool Xcode schreiben. Die Kommission könnte Hardware-Hersteller mit einem geschlossenen Software-System für den Zugang auf den europäischen Markt zwingen, Lizenzen zu vergeben oder das System eben ganz zu öffnen. Ziel ist, Innovationen und den Wettbewerb zu fördern.
In Zukunft möchte die Kommission dabei nicht nur gegen Unternehmen mit einer “dominanten” Position auf einem Markt vorgehen, sondern auch Schritte gegen Unternehmen mit einer “signifikanten” Marktstellung prüfen. Somit könnte Apple noch schneller in die Schusslinie der Behörde gelangen. In der Vergangenheit hatte die Kommission beispielsweise Microsoft gezwungen, eine Version des Desktop-Betriebssystems Windows ohne den Internet Explorer anzubieten.

After years of discussions Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus have launched a customs union as a first step towards forming a broader EU-type economic alliance of former Soviet states.
Meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan on Monday, the leaders of the three nations signed a declaration stating that the customs union comes into effect on July 6. The meeting was held on the sidelines of a summit of the Eurasian Economic Community (Eurasec), a looser alliance that also includes Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Ukraine.

Lloyds Banking Group agrees to sell control of finance unit. Updated Tuesday, July 6, 2010 12:53 am TWN, AP. LONDON -- Lloyds Banking Group has agreed to sell a controlling stake in its Bank of Scotland Integrated Finance business. Lloyds said Monday that Coller Capital, a private equity company, is paying 332 million pounds (US$504 million) for a 70 percent stake in the unit. Lloyds will remain as a minority partner with a 30 percent stake. Lloyds, which was bailed out by the British government during the financial crisis, says it has now disposed of 750 million pounds in assets.