El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha.

El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha. Maybe I fight something inevitable, like my age? Maybe, in place of this, I should embrace the changes and see what they (for example, the 11C at the winter) can bring to me? Maybe to be more ‘open’, keeping the ‘maintenance’ of me realised? Logically confirming that the change of events that are taking place, - all to my advantage? Carry on to cooperate in order to get along “better” with my “clients”, “personnel”, “co-workers”, “clients” and management? In my mind, - it’s not me causing the problem: it’s everyone else. Off course, it’s good idea to instead of giving away my power by determining that everyone else has more influence (i.e. WB, EBRD, IDA, etc.) over my mood and attitude than I do… To “discounting” (i.e. dispose like a garbage in “our case”) my huge experience to working with directors, customers, and other such representatives… I can’t (??) control them, but, I can (or must?) adapt myself to their idiosyncrasies. That’s the fact. Now, should I 24/7 run around trying to find the impossible balance between keeping other people happy and my ambitions? The Goldman Sucs with three cherno-jopyh russkih kozlo-voniuchih bankira, s protianutoy rukoy pod mestnoy bulochnoy? “We” “need” a little technology to help us to “do it”? ‘I can, you can, printer Canon can’, - is of the common knowledge… But does it make any of my achievements any the less remarkable?

Dead babies found in French village. Wednesday, July 28 10:58 pm. French police have arrested a husband and wife after discovering the corpses of eight new-born babies. The couple, in their 40s, were detained after the bodies were found at two different sites in the village of Villers-au-Tertre in northern France. Public prosecutor Eric Vaillant said: "Two people are being held in custody. They are the mother and father of the children."

Fire in German freighter hold, Alicante. Wednesday, July 28, 2010. On July 26 in the morning spark from wielding works ispired fire in cargo hold of general cargo Bonacieux, berthed in Alicante, Spain. In hold were wind turbine fiberglass blades, smoke billowed from hold and was seen from city and local beaches. 5 fire teams fighted fire for about 5 hours till finally extinguished it. No injures, damages estimating. Bonacieux – IMO 9505297, dwt 3300, built 2010, flag Gibraltar, manager Briese Schiffahrts GmbH Spain media.

BP May Sell Venezuela Oil Stakes to Russian TNK-BP Venture. Jul 29, 2010. BP Plc has told Venezuela’s state oil company it’s interested in selling stakes in three projects to its Russian venture, TNK-BP Holding, Petroleos de Venezuela SA Vice President Eulogio del Pino said. BP needs the Venezuelan government’s approval to begin negotiations on the proposed sale, del Pino said in a mobile phone text message. BP, seeking to overcome cleanup costs and liabilities from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster, didn’t indicate a value for the assets, he said late yesterday. “We received a letter from BP raising the possibility of transferring its stakes of 16.66 percent in Petromonagas and its minority stakes” in two further ventures to TNK-BP, he said. BP said July 27 it plans to dispose of as much as $30 billion in assets in the next 18 months, after reporting a record second-quarter loss because of the costs of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. BP is in talks with TNK-BP over the sale of a $1 billion package of Venezuelan projects, the Times reported earlier today, without saying where it got the information. “Both companies may lose as a result of such a deal,” said Alexander Nazarov, a Moscow-based analyst with IFC Metropol. “BP needs to get the highest price for its assets. TNK-BP would be seeking a considerable discount from BP, being a BP associate. Moreover, the deal would be subject for a close consideration by regulative authorities, as a related party transaction.” Vladimir Buyanov, a BP spokesman based in Moscow, said the company wasn’t commenting on its divestment plans. Pakistan, Vietnam. BP said last week that it sold $7 billion of assets in the U.S., Canada and Egypt to Apache Corp. It also plans to sell holdings in Pakistan and Vietnam. BP may revive the sale of fields in Alaska after they failed to make it into the Apache deal, two people with knowledge of the matter said last week. “TNK-BP would have no problem,” paying about $1 billion dollars for new assets, said Svetlana Grizan, a Moscow-based analyst with VTB Capital. In Venezuela, BP has stakes in the Petroperija and Boqueron oil fields and the Petromonagas heavy oil-upgrading project, which produces 110,000 barrels of oil a day, according to BP’s website. Petroperija and Boqueron produce a combined 19,500 barrels a day, according toPDVSA’s website. The largest, Petromonagas, was formerly known as Cerro Negro and was operated by Exxon Mobil Corp. It includes wells, pipelines and an upgrader to convert tar-like crude into lighter synthetic crude. Nationalization Drive: Venezuela took over the project on May 1, 2007 along with other privately operated oil ventures as part of a nationalization drive by President Hugo Chavez. Exxon demanded about $5 billion in compensation for the project, according to Venezuela’s ambassador to the U.S. at the time,Bernardo Alvarez. Morgan Stanley and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc may be involved in BP’s negotiations with TNK-BP, the London-based Times said in its report. The Gulf of Mexico disaster has cost Tony Hayward his job as BP’s chief executive officer. He will be replaced Oct. 1 by Robert Dudley who was forced to leave Russia two years ago in a battle for control of the 50-50 venture with the company’s billionaire shareholders. BP plans to nominate Hayward as a non-executive director of TNK-BP, the U.K. producer said July 27. He will also remain on the BP board until Nov. 30. Russian Billionaires: TNK-BP shareholder German Khan said July 27 he had congratulated Dudley on his appointment. “We also welcome the possibility that Tony Hayward will be named to the board of TNK- BP,” Khan said. “We think he’s highly qualified specialist and was the victim of a subjective situation.” Moscow-based TNK-BP accounts for about a quarter of BP’s production, a fifth of reserves and about a tenth of earnings. In 2008, TNK-BP’s partner AAR, a group of companies owned by Khan, Mikhail Fridman, Viktor Vekselberg and Len Blavatnik, called for Dudley’s ouster in a dispute over strategy at Russia’s third-biggest oil company, alleging he ignored their interests. Dudley denied the charge. BP reported a record $17.2 billion second-quarter loss on July 27. It is reducing its debt to as little as $10 billion in the next 18 months after cutting it by $5 billion to $23.2 billion last quarter from a year earlier. To raise funds for President Barack Obama’s $20 billion spill fund and shore up investor confidence, BP last month canceled the $10 billion dividend for three quarters and said it would reduce investment to raise funds. BP has spent $4 billion on the spill response so far, and analysts say the total bill is likely to be about $33 billion, according to the median of 11 estimates in a Bloomberg survey.

Lukoil to invest in themselves. American ConocoPhillips this year can come out of capital "Lukoil ", and he - to buy its own shares, paying nearly $ 9 billion This will be the largest deal in Russian oil industry since the sale of Yukos assets 29.07.2010,Until the end of 2011 ConocoPhillips will sell its entire stake in "Lukoil"- 19,21% of the capital, announced yesterday an American company. Already signed an agreement to sell itself "Lukoil 7,6% aqueous package (buy it "daughter "companies - Lukoil Finance Ltd) for $ 3.44 billion The deal should close by 16 August, and to purchase the remaining 11.61% is the option to September 26, 2010, said "Lukoil ". Option price of its representatives did not disclose. A message from Conoco that the package can be sold on the market.
Conoco five years was a shareholder and general partner of "Lukoil " (see the cutout), but last year the company decided to sell the assets at $ 10 billion over two years to reduce debt by a third. And in March, the president "Lukoil's Alekperov said that Conoco offered his company to buy up to 10% of its own shares. Y "Lukoil "is preferred right of redemption, said Alekperov, but enjoy his company does not intend: "While I do not see the need. Quotes "Lukoil "will not be affected if selling the package on the market in small portions, he explained. Until the end of June Alekperov more than once declared that "Lukoil "is not going to buy from Conoco own shares. "We believe that today our company has other problems - explained the president. - I, as leader, would not want to jeopardize the financial stability of company especially in 2010-2011. because, in our view, crises have not yet ceased to influence the industry. " What has changed over the last month and why "Lukoil yet decided on a deal with Conoco, "Vedomosti "of unknown. Managers of "Lukoil "did not want to comment on the position of President, to get comments from him "Vedomosti "failed. A spokesman for Prime Minister Dmitry Peskov assured that the Russian government no recommendation "Lukoil "to deal with Conoco did not give - "neither formal nor informal. Immediately after yesterday's message "Lukoil "has begun to appreciate. By the end of the day it's capitalization has grown RTS by 3,4%, on MICEX - by 3,5% (both indices declined). The market clearly believes that "Lukoil comes rationally, said employee. The deal price by 5% below the quotations on the LSE before the announcement, but almost at the level of average prices last week. So, the deal was in absolutely the market price, said managing partner "Dashevsky & Partners Steven Dashevsky. Perhaps, "Lukoil "decided on the deal because Conoco to sell 19% stake in the shortest possible time, argues the Bank of Moscow analyst Denis Borisov, since a seamless selling such a package should be four years. It quotes "Lukoil grow, because repurchases - is a signal: management believes in the growth of capitalization of the company, adds analyst.Problems with the resources at "Lukoil "should not be: by April 1 on its accounts was $ 3.3 billion, the ratio of net debt to EBITDA - 0,5, which means that it may well bring the market up to $ 20 billion If the "Lukoil "will acquire all shares of its common costs will be close to $ 8.7 billion (the price is already a transaction). And then it will be the largest deal in the oil industry in Russia since the sale of assets of Yukos (which "Rosneft"has spent nearly $ 26 billion). Conoco plans in Russia is not yet clear. The experience of the company was "positive ", including the authorities of the country, and Conoco awaits "productive relationship in the future ", cited in the press release of its CEO Jim Mulva. While in March Financial Times, he explained the decision to get rid of investments in "Lukoil "that "major strategic opportunities were reserved for companies that are 100% Russian, we knew it. "

De Beers after Penny – report. Gareth Penny's decision to quit as De Beers CEO came as little surprise to diamond analysts in London, writes Sunday Times. His contribution to the diamond company has been praised by chairman Nicholas Oppenheimer. But De Beers has still to define a direction to address the results of management follies that stretch back decades, the report said. While the $2.6 billion sales of rough diamonds during this year's first half were much higher than the catastrophic $1.4 billion of 2009's first half and the second half's $1.8 billion, the sufferings of the recession are far from over. The sales improvements owe much to restocking by cutters and the trade, now about complete. Achieving a degree of stability now depends on actual purchases at retail jewellers. And that demand remains fragile in North America and Europe, though the group says it is "encouraged" by demand in Asian markets.
On this will depend the group's ability to continue to generate positive free cash flow needed to manage its recently restructured $1.98 billion external debt and shareholders' loans of $785 million, the report said. It might be possible to clear some debt by selling more South African assets, following those of the Cullinan and Kimberley underground mines to Petra Diamonds. Selling stakes in the partially-owned Botswana mines, which delivered two-thirds of the past six months' 15.4million carats, is simply not on.
Much the same goes for the Namibian properties. Gaborone and Windhoek have progressively reversed the years of what they saw as one-sided "exploitation" by De Beers. Finding a replacement for Penny will be an exercise in horse-trading between the dominant shareholders Anglo American (45%) and the Botswana government (15%). Despite its 40% shareholding, the Oppenheimer family is increasingly viewed as the junior partner. Finance director Stuart Brown and commercial director Bruce Cleaver will act as interim joint CEOs. Penny will remain until the end of September, but will defer to the two.
Suggestions that he might be replaced by fourth-generation Jonathan Oppenheimer are unofficially dismissed by Anglo insiders. They are aware that Anglo must be sensitive to its own shareholders' insistence that De Beers be led by someone competent to fill the CEO's position. Anglo is itself undergoing a thorough change of direction and focus, and that has called for fresh approaches to influential shareholders, said the report. Outsiders place the odds on Brown becoming CEO, if an insider is selected. But Anglo itself brought in an outsider as CEO, Cynthia Carroll, when it felt the need for a fresh focus and a clean leadership break from the old Oppenheimer influence. Among issues the new CEO will need to address is the outcome of the folly of believing lawyers might enable De Beers to beat class actions in the US. The hope that making an offer and coughing up millions might work has been proved baseless by the court's recent overturning of a proposed settlement, the report said.
What does Anglo plan to do with its minority stake in De Beers?