... different topic altogether. Many Russian companies will most certainly be looking eagerly for a window of opportunity to raise their own financing. In recent years, there has been a continuing trend for Russian companies considering an IPO to make London their first stop. RusAl may have bucked the trend at one point by listing in Hong Kong, but that failed to set a precedent and business soon returned to London as usual. The appeal of London is perhaps understandable, but is it really suitable...

Members of Russia's official Olympic delegation to London will find their summer a bit drier than usual. Members of Russia's official Olympic delegation to London will find their summer a bit drier than usual. Alcoholic drinks will be banned at any event organized by the Russian delegation in which ...

Real estate investment company O1 Properties said it aims to raise about $425 million from a London stock market listing to invest in Moscow's booming commercial property market. O1 Properties, set up by former directors at Moscow brokerage Otkritie, on Tuesday announced a price range of $11 to $13 per share for its initial public offering of...

LONDON — Polyus Gold, the country's largest gold producer, has sold a 7.5 percent stake to two strategic investors, raising $635 million and helping to boost its free float ahead of plans to apply for a premium listing in London. Polyus, worth about $10...

A genetic study of horses across Eastern Europe and Central Asia has traced the domestication of one of man's most powerful animal allies to wide-open grasslands shared by southwest Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. LONDON — A genetic study of horses across Eastern Europe and Central Asia has traced the domestication of one of man's most powerful animal allies to wide-open grasslands shared by southwest Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, researchers said. Researchers...

Lawyers for imprisoned tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky denied a report circulating Sunday in the British media that their client sent a letter to the British prime minister urging a visa ban on 308 Russian officials at the London Summer Olympics. Lawyers for imprisoned tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky denied a report circulating Sunday in the British media that their client sent a letter to the British prime minister urging a visa ban on 308 Russian officials at the London...

There are few former Central Asian jailbirds who can also claim to be popular hate figures among football fans in north London — but they include Alisher Usmanov, who became Russia's richest man and married a gymnastics champion along the way. There are few former Central Asian jailbirds who can also claim to be popular hate figures among football fans in north...

... discredited in the '90s because there was so much manipulation, so much dirtiness — the idea that nobody is going to donate apart from fraudsters. But we know how many people there are who have needed oncological help but died. Q: You recently opened a London office of Gift of Life. What differences have you noticed between charity work there and here? A: We opened it because Dina Korzun lives in London, and she actively participates in the charity. Since she is far away and a huge number of our citizens...

Prince Michael of Kent, cousin of the queen, has received £320,000 ($514,000) from oligarch Boris Berezovsky, a Russian exile living in London. Prince Michael of Kent, cousin of the queen, has received £320,000 ($514,000) from oligarch Boris Berezovsky, a Russian exile living in London, The Sunday Times reported. The paper said that during the six-year period from 2002-08, a fund...

Rem Koolhaas, a Pritzker Prize-winning architect, presented his plans to convert an abandoned Moscow restaurant into a new art space for the Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, founded by Dasha Zhukova. LONDON — Rem Koolhaas, a Pritzker Prize-winning architect, presented his plans to convert an abandoned Moscow restaurant into a new art space for the Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, founded by Dasha Zhukova. Zhukova — whose partner...

... recommendation of his lawyers, Andrei Borodin will not comment on the recently distributed rumors about the refusal to grant him political asylum,” Borodin said in a statement. From Vladimir Lenin to Boris Berezovsky, the political kingmaker of 1990s, London has long been a haven for those striving to avoid the clutches of the Russian authorities. Since his arrival in Britain, Borodin has made an effort to highlight the political aspects of VTB’s acquisition of Bank of Moscow. The banker, who...

... course, is Roman Abramovich's. The billionaire finally got his hands on the shiny trophy with big ears he so coveted. A bargain at £800 million ($1.2 billion) and counting. That's roughly how much of his wealth the Russian has poured into the London club he bought in 2003, filling the heads of Chelsea fans with dreams of such special nights and scenes like these. Striker Didier Drogba, scorer of the late goal that kept Chelsea in the game in normal time and of the penalty that won it after...

... nation of nostalgic immigrants who seemed to feel they'd got on the wrong boat. They should have gone to the United States instead. Sometimes the wrong choice was personal rather than political. A friend of my grandmother's met a Czech refugee in wartime London. Postwar, she followed him to quiet, bourgeois Czechoslovakia. Then suddenly, communism arrived. When she finally made it back to London in the 1990s, I commiserated with her on her decades behind the Iron Curtain. "Oh, I didn't mind the regime...

The International College of Economics and Finance, established jointly by the London School of Economics and the Higher School of Economics (Moscow), is inviting applications for part-time teaching positions in Economics, Finance, Statistics, Mathematics, Humanities (taught in English) at the Bachelors' double degree program...

... seen a surge in reversed takeovers, when corporations like VimpelCom, Polymetal and Polyus Gold attempt to change their domiciliary location to avoid the risk associated with Russia. Another trend can be seen in deals where owners eventually settle in London, such as former Yevroset owner Yevgeny Chichvarkin, or former co-owner of Bank of Moscow Pavel Borodin. Mikhail Gutseriyev, who until recently was also an exile in London, managed to come back and reclaim ownership of his company. Regardless of...

VTB Capital acquired a minority stake in Siberian gold miner Zapadnaya Gold Mining, which tried unsuccessfully to list in London last year. VTB Capital did not disclose the size or price of the stake Friday. Sources said last year that Zapadnaya wanted to raise about $70 million during an initial public offering that would have valued the firm at about $200 million. The...

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan — Tethys Petroleum said it hopes to strike a deal with Uzbekistan this year to develop a highly prospective block, after winning the right to develop another oil field in the Central Asian nation. Tethys, listed in London and Toronto, said it hoped to sign a contract this year with Uzbekistan for rights to explore and develop a large exploration block in the North Ustyurt basin. "I think independents need Uzbekistan. It's a great place to work, and it's a perfect...

... at the Borisovo metro station Tuesday, escaping in time to avoid being hit by a metro train. A 28-year-old British man fell onto the rails at the Borisovo metro station Tuesday, escaping in time to avoid being hit by a metro train. Police said the London native was intoxicated and fell down as a result of carelessness, Interfax reported. A quick-thinking witness of the accident was able to help the man, who received a concussion and fractured his tibia, without having the electric third rail de-activated...

Profit and margins at No. 2 telecoms operator MegaFon slipped in the first quarter as it prepares for an initial public offering in London that could raise $4 billion. The company said first-quarter net profit fell 8.1 percent year on year to 9.27 billion rubles ($306 million), hit by network expansion costs and foreign exchange losses. Revenue rose 14.4 percent to 63.1 billion rubles...

... year-earlier period, while 2011 revenue was $515.4 million compared with year-earlier revenue of $324.7 million, an increase of about 59 percent, Mail.Ru said in its latest financial statements, released Thursday. The company, which is traded on the London Stock Exchange, reported net income of $208.6 million in 2011 versus $80.8 million in 2010. Mail.Ru had a 41 percent increase in the number of daily visitors to its Odnoklassniki social-networking site and a 21 percent increase to its Mail.Ru web...