Articles by Julie Tolkacheva



Mobile Firms Urge Customers to Talk

  • 19 January 07
  • Reuters
With babushkas now chatting on their cell phones and kids sending text messages to their school friends, mobile phone operators in Russia's saturated market are pushing their clients to talk more to boost revenues.

Pyatyorochka Profits Up Ahead of Merger

  • 19 April 06
  • Reuters
Supermarket chain Pyatyorochka, which is merging with a domestic rival, lifted 2005 net profit 23 percent as it benefited from renovations at its St. Petersburg stores.

MTS Chief Quits as Profits Fall

  • 14 April 06
  • Reuters
The head of Mobile TeleSystems resigned on Thursday, and the Russian mobile phone operator named a replacement from an affiliated firm, dismaying some investors who had hoped for an outsider with fresh ideas.

Shops in Talks to Create Grocery Giant

  • 07 April 06
  • Reuters
Food retailers Pyatyorochka and Perekryostok are negotiating a merger to create the country's largest grocery chain, with turnover of around $3 billion, Pyatyorochka said Thursday.

Brewer Pegs Hopes on Soda and Kvas

  • 07 February 06
  • Reuters
The country's only big independent brewery, Ochakovo, is now looking for growth in soft drinks -- including kvas, a national speciality made from fermented rye bread -- as the boom in demand for beer starts to slow.

Telenor: VimpelCom Could Enter Ukraine

  • 06 February 06
  • Reuters
Nordic telecoms company Telenor said Friday that it would support a move into Ukraine by VimpelCom, in which it has a large stake, in the form of an alliance with an established operator.

Comstar Sets Share Price in $1Bln IPO

  • 24 January 06
  • Reuters
Comstar, the fixed-line telecoms unit of services group Sistema, on Monday set an indicative range for its initial public offering at $6.50 to $8.00 per share.

Contest for Kyivstar to Get Day in Court

  • 24 August 05
  • Reuters
Alfa Telecom opened a new front on Tuesday in a battle with Norwegian business partner Telenor over business strategy in Ukraine by saying it would file suit over its rights in their Ukrainian joint venture, Kyivstar.

Online Retailers See Business Soar 40%

  • 26 July 05
  • Reuters
When Ru-Net Holdings investment company bought ozon.ru back in 2000, the Internet store had monthly sales of just $35,000 and was losing money.

Efes Looks to Quadruple Production

  • 26 May 05
  • Reuters
Efes Breweries International plans to nearly quadruple output at one of its Russian breweries and is looking to expand production to Siberia or the Russian Far East, a company official said Wednesday.

Alfa Calls Meeting to Thwart Telenor

  • 18 May 05
  • Reuters
Alfa Group has called a shareholders' meeting of the country's No. 2 mobile phone firm VimpelCom to discuss its expansion in Ukraine, a plan opposed by another investor, Norway's Telenor.

Illness, Slow Markets Cloud Grocer's IPO

  • 06 May 05
  • Reuters
Grocer Pyatyorochka faces declining equity markets abroad and a hepatitis scare at home as it prepares to price its stock on Thursday for a London listing.

Grocer Hits the Road With IPO in London

  • 26 April 05
  • Reuters
The country's biggest grocery retailer, Pyatyorochka, said Monday that it had set a price range of $13 to $16 for a planned initial public offering of Global Depositary Receipts representing 30 percent of its capital.

VimpelCom Dispute Escalates

  • 20 April 05
  • Reuters
No. 2 mobile phone firm VimpelCom will be better off if its two key shareholders stopped wrangling in court over strategy in Ukraine and merged their Russian and Ukrainian assets instead, analysts say.

Sedmoi Kontinent Set for Expansion

  • 07 April 05
  • Reuters
Sedmoi Kontinent, the country's only listed grocery chain, plans a major expansion to cash in on fast-growing purchasing power among consumers, general director Galina Ilyashenko said in an interview.

Alfa Takes Rivalry With TeliaSonera to Turkey

  • 01 April 05
  • Reuters
Alfa Group said Thursday that it had outbid TeliaSonera for a stake in Turkey's top mobile phone firm, Turkcell, opening a new front in the pair's bitter business rivalry.

Sistema Tipped as Winner in Svyaz Sale

  • 17 March 05
  • Reuters
Good connections and solid infrastructure will help newly listed AFK Sistema become the main winner in the forthcoming liberalization of long-distance phone services, analysts said.

Kudrin Prevails Over Fradkov in VAT Spat

  • 14 March 05
  • Reuters
The government has decided to keep the rate of value-added tax flat at 18 percent despite calls from Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov to boost growth by cutting it, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said Friday.

Dalsvyaz Hit With $25.6M Tax Bill

  • 10 February 05
  • Reuters
Authorities on Wednesday hit a small telecom firm with a back tax bill equaling a quarter of its market capitalization, just as the government is preparing to rein in the powers of the country's tax inspectors.

Rostelecom Likely to Stay With State

  • 03 February 05
  • Reuters
Long-distance network provider Rostelecom is set to be excluded from plans to privatize telecoms holding firm Svyazinvest, and it faces bleak prospects after its monopoly status ends, analysts said Wednesday.

Mobile Giants Plan for Next Generation

  • 25 January 05
  • Reuters
As Russia's mobile phone boom winds down, firms are mulling launching the third generation standard, but analysts say low purchasing power and marketing problems will limit it to big cities.

High-End Brewer Welcomes Beer Ban

  • 19 January 05
  • Reuters
Tinkoff may be Russia's only brewer to welcome a law restricting public beer consumption in a country where about a third of the amber liquid is quaffed in the street.

Stock Watchdog Blasts Deutsche Bank Scheme

  • 23 November 04
  • Reuters
Russia's securities watchdog criticized Deutsche Bank for offering global depositary receipts on the country's biggest bank, Sberbank, saying it strips shares from the local market.

Grocery's Offering Draws Investors

  • 10 November 04
  • Reuters
Investors hungry for exposure to Russia's consumer boom will snap up shares on Friday in the country's first-ever public offering in the retail food industry at leading supermarket chain Sedmoi Kontinent, analysts said.

Mini-Crisis Forces Banks to Evolve

  • 26 August 04
  • Reuters
A banking mini-crisis has scared off household depositors and private banks will have to fight to win back clients by offering a better range of retail services, analysts say.

Central Bank Withdraws Dialog-Optim's License

  • 11 August 04
  • Reuters
The Central Bank said Tuesday it had withdrawn the license of mid-sized bank Dialog-Optim after its attempts to save the likely victim of a recent banking crisis had failed.

Mobile Firms Brace for End of Rocket Ride

  • 05 July 04
  • Reuters
Next year is likely to be key for Russian mobile firms, as the stunning growth in subscribers from regional expansion starts to ebb and profits increasingly must come from new applications and cost cuts, analysts said.

Sberbank Hogs Financial Stock

  • 15 April 04
  • Reuters
Shares in Sberbank have risen as much as 70 percent in the past three months as investors have turned to the country's largest bank and its only tradable financial stock to make a bet on its growing, oil-driven economy.

Central Bank Moves to Curb Ruble Rise

  • 13 April 04
  • Reuters
The Central Bank raised its ruble intervention rate Monday for the first time in three months after its chairman promised President Vladimir Putin he would curb the strengthening currency which is hurting local producers.

Juice Giant Squeezed by Competition

  • 23 March 04
  • Reuters
Russia's leading juice and dairy producer, Wimm-Bill-Dann, reported a 40 percent drop in 2003 net income Monday and analysts criticized the company's poor marketing policies, which hurt its juice sales.


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