July

// POLICY

7.5 years of the Chukotka regime

On July 3, Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree on the voluntary resignation of the head of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Roman Abramovich. This desire arose among one of the richest people in Russia back in the spring of 2005, when the governor, elected to this post in December 2000, said that he would not like to remain for a second term. However, Vladimir Putin reappointed him as head of the district, and rejected the resignation letter he submitted on December 20, 2006. The “chief of Chukotka” received the “okay” to leave only from the new president.

However, Roman Abramovich, who was replaced by his former deputy Roman Kopin, will work for Chukotka in a different capacity. He agreed to be elected to the district duma and then become its chairman. As the Chukotka deputies assured, this post will not be too burdensome for the businessman, since it will not require him to have a permanent presence in the region.

// FINANCE

The fourth rate of the Central Bank

In mid-July, the Bank of Russia raised the refinancing rate for the fourth time this year - to 11% per annum. Thus, the Central Bank is trying to fight inflation by limiting the volume of money supply on the market, since it is the refinancing rate that is the base rate when calculating the rates at which the Central Bank provides funds to commercial banks.

However, what is interesting is not the rate increase itself (since the beginning of the year it has increased by only 1% per annum), but the frequency of such actions by the Central Bank - here it’s really time to talk about records. Considering that the first rate increase this year took place in February, the average rate of its change can be taken as 8 times per year. The Central Bank showed greater activity only in 1994 and the crisis year of 1998 - then the rate was changed nine times a year; a more modest result achieved in 1993 (seven times). Four consecutive increases in the refinancing rate were observed only once - in the period from August 23, 1994 to January 6, 1995. And from 2002 to 2007, the Bank of Russia limited itself to one or two rate changes per year, gradually reducing it.

// BUSINESS

Critical $60 billion

On July 24, at a meeting in Nizhny Novgorod regarding prices for metals and coal, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, for the first time since the Yukos affair, sharply criticized a specific company - Mechel - and its owner Igor Zyuzin. They were accused of an inadequate pricing policy and domestic prices exceeding external ones.

The stock market reacted to the prime minister's statement immediately - panic selling of securities began the very next morning. The leader of the decline was, naturally, Mechel's securities, which fell by 29.64% during the day. Following them, shares of other metallurgical companies began to fall - Severstal (-10.13%) and MMK (-9.96%). At the end of the trading session, the MICEX index fell by 5.49%, the RTS index lost 5.58%.

According to experts, the result of Vladimir Putin’s criticism of a single issuer was a drop in the capitalization of the Russian stock market by almost $60 billion. For comparison: on the first trading day after the arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the RTS index lost 14.47%. True, the price level was completely different then, so market capitalization fell only by about $17 billion.

// CULTURE

Millions of Yves Saint Laurent

€300-500 million - this is how experts estimated the collection of paintings, jewelry and furniture collected by Yves Saint Laurent and put up for sale by his friend Pierre Berger two months after the death of the couturier. Choosing between two auction houses, Sotheby`s and Christie`s, Mr. Berger, who himself is the owner of the successful auction house Pierre Berge et associes, still chose Christie`s. Contrary to its rules, the Christie's auction house announced the upcoming auction six months before it began - it will take place in February 2009 in Paris. The auction, which experts have already called historical, will feature a collection of paintings in which paintings by Goya, Picasso and Matisse sit side by side with works by Andy Warhol, Chinese art of the 18th century and African art, as well as jewelry from the early Renaissance and unique furniture from the Art Deco era. A collection of manuscripts by Andre Gide, Andre Breton and Gustave Flaubert, collected by Pierre Berger himself, will also be sold.

// SPORT

One on two covers

At the beginning of July, Roger Federer's magnificent winning streak at Wimbledon was interrupted. The Swiss first won this tournament in 2003 and has not given up the championship title to anyone since then. Federer has lost at other Grand Slam tournaments. But Wimbledon has always been his championship. However, this time Federer failed to retain the crown. And it was taken away from him by perhaps his only real competitor - Rafael Nadal, who beat Federer in a dramatic final, which became the longest decisive match in the more than 130-year history of the tournament. Given that Nadal won Wimbledon, having previously won his fourth consecutive title at Roland Garros, he repeated the unique achievement of the great Bjorn Borg. The Swede was the last person to win such dissimilar tournaments in one season. This happened in 1980.

Pedestal – Money – Kommersant