Emerging Markets: Half of Russian bankers not paid bonsues, report

Emerging Markets: Half of Russian bankers not paid bonsues, report

by admin on May 26, 2010

By Ivan Anderzhanov

More than half of Russian bankers were not paid a bonus for last year, according to a survey of 160 foreign and domestic financial instiutions by recruiter Antal Russia.

Just 47 percent of bankers got 2009 payouts which were doled out in the spring of this year. Many financiers were paid nothing at all while others had bonuses ‘deferred’, according to banking personnel who spoke to Emergingmarkets.me.

Of those professionals who got bonuses, half admitted that the bonus for 2009 remained the same or decreased in comparison with previous year while 46% stated they had an increase in bonus payments.

Half of the respondent professionals (49%) have changed the job for the last two years which is hardly a surprise in a Russian market which can be frequently characterised by musical chairs.

The level of basic salary was the main reason for changing job for 41% banking managers and 12% preferred to move to a new employer who offered more interesting bonus scheme. However the main reasons for changing job for professionals of banking sector remain career development (57%) and new challenge and more interesting work (53%).

Over 40% of respondents said that they were looking for a raise in base salary of more than 30%. “In part this high expectation on compensation is making up for recent pay freezes and bonuses that were small or not paid at all.

Karl Franzmann, head of the Antal Russia Banking Practice and former head of recruitment at Renaissance Capital, said: “Candidates have memories of the firms who hired aggressively during the boom market, promised high bonuses and then laid people off during the downturn.”

Steel Guru: Russia rolled stainless steel product output doubles in Q1

http://www.steelguru.com/news/index/MTQ3NDUw/Russia_rolled_stainless_steel_product_output_doubles_in_Q1.html

Wednesday, 26 May 2010

According to the data issued by the Russian Special Steel and Alloys Consumers and Suppliers Association, during the first quarter of 2010 Russia output of rolled products of stainless steel increased by 108.3% to 26,139 tonnes compared to the same period last year.

Spetsstal said "This volume is still lower than the amounts from 2007 and 2008, but most of the market participants are optimistic about the future."

In 2009, Russia consumption of main stainless steel products decreased by 36.2% year on to 191,800 tonnes. The pace of consumption recovery will directly depend on the activity of consuming industries, and primarily, on the manufacturers of engineering products.

Moscow Times: Mechel Eyes Zlatoust Plant

Steel and coal producer Mechel is interested in acquiring the Zlatoust Metallurgical Works in the Chelyabinsk region, after signing a supply agreement with the plant last year, spokeswoman Yekaterina Videman said Tuesday.

She declined to comment on possible timing, saying it would depend on market conditions. Chelyabinsk Governor Mikhail Yurevich said Mechel was negotiating the purchase, RIA-Novosti reported. Zlatoust filed for bankruptcy protection in June.

(Bloomberg)

RBC: Rusnano eyes IPO in 2011, subject to condition

http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20100526111656.shtml

      RBC, 26.05.2010, Moscow 11:16:56.The Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies (Rusnano) is poised to make an IPO after its conversion into an open joint-stock company in 2011, head of the state corporation Anatoly Chubais announced during a meeting with venture investors from Silicon Valley.

      As reported earlier, a bill on Rusnano's conversion into an OJSC was introduced to the State Duma in May. The government is expected to hold 100 percent of the new company's shares.

      Yevgeny Samoylov, the author of the bill and member of the State Duma budget and taxes committee, indicated that the OJSC format was more understandable for the market. With that in mind, the corporation's conversion is expected to help attract investments, specifically foreign ones. If the bill is passed, it will take less than a year to complete the conversion.

      RBC, 26.05.2010, Moscow 10:54:08.The net profit of Cherkizovo Group under U.S. GAAP surged 33 percent to $31m in the first quarter of 2010 compared to the same period of the previous year, the Russian agribusiness group indicated in its financial statement today. Meanwhile, net profit denominated in rubles jumped 17 percent.

      Consolidated revenue increased 14 percent in rubles and 29 percent in dollars - to $268m. Adjusted EBITDA climbed 13 percent to $48.1m, while adjusted EBITDA margin remained unchanged at 18 percent. Gross profit inched up 2 percent in rubles and 16 percent in dollars - to $72.1m.

Moscow Times: Sistema's Tourism Arm to Merge With British Operator

Bloomberg

LONDON — Intourist, the travel unit of billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov's Sistema holding company, is considering a venture with tour operator Thomas Cook Group, Sistema chief executive Leonid Melamed said Tuesday.

A partnership with London-based Thomas Cook, Europe's second-biggest tour operator, fits with Sistema's "intentions to buy, merge, sell" as well as develop its current assets, Melamed said in an interview. Thomas Cook had no immediate comment, a spokesman said.

Intourist, the former tourism monopoly of the Soviet Union, provides travel services, hotel accommodation and transportation. The unit's sales declined 35 percent to $399.7 million last year, according to Sistema's annual report.

Russia's consumption "trend is positive," Melamed said, and market conditions for Intourist are "favorable." The country's retail sales rose for a fourth month in April, jumping 4.2 percent, while real wages gained 6 percent, the most since October 2008, the State Statistics Service said Friday.

Thomas Cook would provide investment and technology, while Intourist would hold a controlling stake in the venture, Kommersant reported in November, citing a source familiar with the negotiations.

Sistema, with holdings ranging from telecoms to energy, banking and technology, does not plan an initial public offering for Detsky Mir, its chain of children's stores, Melamed said. The retailer, which runs 128 outlets in Russia, is looking for "potential partnership-creating deals," the CEO said.

Sistema's Comstar United TeleSystems said Friday that it agreed to sell its 25 percent stake in Svyazinvest, Russia's holding company for fixed-line telephone operators, to long-distance provider Rostelecom for 26 billion rubles ($823 million).

Rostelecom agreed to borrow 30 billion rubles ($963 million) from Sberbank to buy the stake, said Oleg Rumyantsev, a Rostelecom spokesman.

Sistema's last acquisition was the purchase of a 49 percent stake in oil producer Russneft, which Melamed said might be merged with Bashneft.

"Russneft is in difficult condition; it's overburdened with debt," Melamed said. Sistema will seek to restructure the Moscow-based oil producer's nearly $7 billion in debt and improve operations before deciding whether to merge the assets, he said.

Sistema agreed last year to pay $2.5 billion to gain control of Bashneft and three refineries in Bashkortostan. Last month, it bought 49 percent of Russneft for less than $100 million.

Russneft founder Mikhail Gutseriyev had fled Russia and sought to sell the company to fellow billionaire Oleg Deripaska in 2007 during a tax fraud probe.

Sistema has sold or ceded some assets to repay borrowing. Its net debt rose 42 percent last year to $12.3 billion.

Sistema could boost Russneft output 10 percent to 15 percent, as it has with Bashneft, said Alexei Kokin, an oil and gas analyst at IFC Metropol. Under the current tax regime, Russneft will benefit from access to refining capacity, while giving the Bashkir refineries a backup source of crude, he said.

"We are strategic investors" in Bashneft, Melamed said. "On top of growth of the global economy, the demand for energy resources will be very high."

Bashneft produces about 275,000 barrels per day, while Russneft produces about 245,000 bpd. Together, they pump about as much oil as Russia's sixth-largest oil producer, Tatneft.