Chávez: still MIA
If the Caracas rumour mill was already in overdrive, it may now just about explode. It has been spewing out theories of varying degrees of fancifulness as to what’s up with Hugo Chávez ever since it was announced that he had an emergency operation due to a “pelvic abscess” on June 10 in Cuba, where he remains.
Now, he has postponed a major regional conference which he had been planning to host on July 5 on Margarita Island, off Venezuela’s northeast coast in the Caribbean. Continue reading »
China and Argentina: warming up cultural ties
A long-term agricultural project between China and Argentina could sow the seed of deeper cultural ties between the two key trading partners. That is the idea of a pilot language scheme being launched as a $1.5bn deal kicks off between the province of Río Negro and China’s top crop producer, Beidahuang, to irrigate unproductive valleys in the Patagonian province and produce corn, soya, wheat, fruit and other crops to be shipped back to China. Continue reading »
Belarus: dark days ahead still
There is no sign of much of an improvement in the creaking Belarusian economy, which on Wenesday suffered a cut-off in power exports after Russia’s Inter RAO power exporter said it was forced to act after not being paid $43m.
The reason that Belarus couldn’t pay the Russians was that the country was simply unable to gather enough foreign currency to pay the bill – a mark of true desperation. Continue reading »
Sovcomflot: looking for gold in Arctic oil shipping
Russian oil companies have been grumbling that the development of the country’s vast offshore petroleum reserves is impossible under existing tax rules, but Sovcomflot doesn’t seem to think this will last long.
The state shipping company and Arctic sea pioneer is staking its future on Russian offshore oil and gas as it prepares for an initial public offering this year. Continue reading »
Chile’s Polar: drama not over yet
Things have been looking up for La Polar (LA POLAR:SGO), the Chilean retail chain whose shares plunged some 80 per cent earlier this month when irregular consumer credit practices came to light. Stock in the company surged as much as 38 per cent during Tuesday’s trading as the market digested the fact that the Saieh group, which previously held a stake in rival retailer Ripley, had taken a 10 per cent stake.
But for auditors PWC, things were not so rosy. Continue reading »
Eastern Europe: not so happy after all
Good news – on the face of it – for Greece. An extensive new survey by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development finds that east Europeans, though hit much harder than western counterparts by the financial crisis, emerged with their life satisfaction levels, overall, almost unscathed.
Drill down into the figures in the EBRD’s Life in Transition report, however, and they may not provide much reassurance to Greeks protesting against the austerity measures being voted on by their parliament. Continue reading »
China’s nappy war: Mamy Poko v Pampers & Huggies
Procter & Gamble and Kimberly Clark have a problem in China and it goes by the name of Mamy Poko pants.
The multinationals’ grip on the global nappy market – or diapers - is being challenged by Japan’s Unicharm group in the world’s most populous country and elsewhere in Asia. Continue reading »
Build Your Dreams – wakey wakey
Build Your Dreams (1211:HKG) may have built its own dream but it is finding it increasingly hard to keep that dream alive. The Chinese company that turned itself from a small lithium battery maker into a car maker was once so attractive that Warren Buffett billed it the “fastest growing auto company in the world”.
But it clanged back to earth on Wednesday by announcing a fall in first quarter net profits of 84 per cent – not the best news on the eve of the company’s debut on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Continue reading »
New York headlines
* China and Germany launch green initiative
* Athens tops agenda for Lagarde
* China enters shale gas era with tender offer
* Daimler plans $2bn China investment
* BTG Pactual raises record Brazil fund Continue reading »
Further reading: Brazil’s driving force
Wednesday’s top picks from the beyondbrics team: Meeting the jovial Brazilian who built South America’s biggest car rental company, and why the brakes are being administered on China’s high-speed trains. Elsewhere, a report on a new generation of Chinese rural migrants. Continue reading »
Biggest casualty of China audit: philanthropy?
China’s national audit office shone an unflattering light this week on the finances of local governments. Its report about their heavy debts, which total more than a quarter of Chinese GDP, has received extensive coverage from Western media, including, of course, the FT.
In China, however, another report from the audit office this week has garnered as much, if not more, attention. Continue reading »
Yurun: escaping Muddy Waters?
Hong Kong-listed Yurun has been one of a string of recent casualties of the Muddy Waters saga – despite the fact that the short-seller has yet to utter a word on the Chinese meat producer.
The old adage of ‘buy on a rumour, sell on a fact’ appears to have turned on its head. Continue reading »
London headlines
* China and Germany launch green initiative
* Athens tops agenda for Lagarde
* China enters shale gas era with tender offer
* Daimler plans $2bn China investment
* BTG Pactual raises record Brazil fund Continue reading »
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