We take a look at what was said in the market in the past week.
“Project Sturgeon and other investigations revealed nothing of any significance. The evidence is that Mr and Mrs Skarga did not enjoy great wealth in the years after Mr Skarga became director general. If Mr Skarga was receiving substantial bribes, he and Mrs Skarga would not, for example, have needed to complete their dacha slowly as and when they could afford to have some work done.”
Justice Andrew Smith reckons that, far from laying his hands on bribes, former Sovcomflot director general Dmitry Skarga was busying thumbing through DIY manuals during his tenure.
“Most of the central witnesses of fact were willing to give dishonest and untruthful evidence. Mr Izmaylov was, in my judgment, an exception: although he was an argumentative witness, I considered that his account was generally reliable, provided that some individual answers were not given an entirely literal interpretation that was not in my judgment intended.”
Hardly anyone came out smelling of roses in Smith’s judgment, except, of course, the energetic ex-Novoship boss.
“The vast majority of the claims against Mr Nikitin were found by the court to be based on dishonest evidence from dishonest witnesses who live in Russia.”
A statement issued by Skarga offers a show of camaraderie to friend and landlord Yuri Nikitin in the wake of the long-awaited judgment in the Sovcomflot trial.
“It is not said that Izmaylov, who was a member of the executive board until late 2001, was then corrupt, and it was clear when he gave evidence that he has a powerful personality and an energetic and enquiring mind.”
The judge was clearly impressed by former Novoship president Tagir Izmaylov who could, apparently, balance lavish holidays with sound business ethics.
“It is likely that again Mr Nikitin used his persuasive charm to influence Mr Izmaylov and to develop their relationship in his own interests. I am not persuaded that this provides any convincing evidence that Mr Izmaylov acted dishonestly.”
Smith may have been able to recognise Nikitin’s charm, but he certainly wasn’t going to fall for it...and he felt others did a similarly good job avoiding his overtures.
“From the first transactions that Clarkson handled for Sovcomflot, Clarkson acted dishonestly and in breach of their fiduciary duties. In particular Mr Gale was dishonest. I am not in a position to conclude whether or not others within Clarkson were also dishonest in any relevant way, and I need not do so.”
Smith gives the London shipbroking giant a bit of a dressing down.
“Even in the case of a witness such as Nikolay Lipka, head of Sovcomflot’s legal department, who gave honest answers in cross-examination, his oral evidence departed so far from his statement that I cannot accept that the statement had ever represented his real account of events or that he understood it in proper detail when he verified it.”
In the end Smith hardly knew who to trust or even what part of their testimony made most sense, as they were just all at it!
(Skarga and Izmaylov set to fight back.)
“Sovcomflot spent five-and-a-half years cooking up allegations against them, causing pain and ruining their lives for all of that time.”
Louis Flannery, a partner with London law firm Stephenson Harwood, reckons Sovcomflot threw pots, pans and the kitchen sink at Skarga and Izmaylov who in the end got their just desserts.
(Skarga and Izmaylov set to fight back.)
“The Kremlin was promised a bonus of nearly $1bn. I have no doubt that questions must now be being asked in the Kremlin about what has happened to that windfall.”
Flannery has a warning for Sovcomflot boss not to expect a particularly happy Christmas once Vladimir Putin finds out the result.
(Skarga and Izmaylov set to fight back.)
“We are slow steaming because we think it is good for our earnings. It also happens to be good for the environment."
Maersk Tankers CEO Soren Skou at least doesn’t try to pretend that the Dane only has green credentials at heart.
“We’ve had loads of covenant resets, both in public and private firms. But those are things we used to call ‘Band-Aid fixes’ and they will probably come back again in the near future as nobody has addressed the fundamental dimensions of the fleet.”
Albert Stein, a turnaround and restructuring specialist, reckons some injured parties are merely plastering over the cuts caused by the economic downturn.
(When business tanks, who are you gonna call?)
“Those hedge funds who are eager to work in distress situations are keen to get in. The trouble is that most owners don’t view themselves as being in distress, so there’s a bit of a disconnect!”
Stein reckons that some of those in trouble prefer to keep their head in the sand.
(When business tanks, who are you gonna call?)
“I met some people who were pretty scary — and they were the lenders! Some of the people who lent large amounts of money to the Saddam Hussein regime were quite characters!”
A lot of financiers to the former Iraqi dictator found plenty of loopholes before Saddam himself did.
(Restoring bank ties to get past the disconnect.)
“The clubs are very good at saying all sorts of wonderful things to bamboozle people but the bottom line is that there is far more competition in hull and machinery than P&I.”
Marine insurance underwriter Jonathan Jones is not at all taken in by what some of the clubs are trying to peddle.
(P&I veteran hits out a club cartel.)
“I think in the last 10 years there has only been 12 or 15 claims over $30m and from the whole world fleet that’s peanuts.”
Jones reckons there’s plenty of room left for some larger claims further down the track.
(P&I veteran hits out a club cartel.)
“It would be good to say, ‘Mr Shipowner, why are you employing Captain Jones? He put his last ship on the rocks so the premium is going to be higher’.”
The ex-Lloyd’s underwriter doesn’t seem to fancy his own chances at the helm!
(‘Multiple cover’ has outlived its usefulness.)
“We are looking to bring in a partner and get a long-term financial structure in place.”
Odfjell CEO Jan ‘Lonely Heart’ Hammer as the Norwegian looks to sell a chunk of its Rotterdam tank terminal to help fund expansion of the business.
(Odfjell seeks terminal cash.)
“With the bulker market heading south and the fear of oversupply of newbuildings, Blue Marine is trying to sell away the ships now.”
A shipping source in South Korea as Blue Marine is rumoured to have hived off three of 12 newbuildings.
(Korean newbie offloads orders.)
“They are very tough. They have to reduce 30% of their credit portfolio and everywhere they can use pressure they do. They are trying to force smaller companies out of business.”
A source as German owner Scanscot Shipping Services bites the bullet, apparently fired by Deutsche Schiffsbank.
(Scanscot sunk as bank plays tough.)
“It takes money to be big.”
Per Anders Koien, CEO of Norwegian ship software outfit Star Information Systems which finally put a legal wrangle with competitor BASS to bed.
(Software players finally end dispute.)
“We currently see a favourable time window for exiting our Hapag-Lloyd position in the interest of value-oriented corporate management. We aim to seize this opportunity.”
TUI chief financial officer Horst Baier puts in a last-ditch effort to try to scoop the ‘Banal Investor Relations-Oriented Comment of the Year’ award. He’s got as good a chance as Russia or Oman, we reckon.
(TUI’s ‘dual track’ still aims to keep line in local hands.)
“You have to move fast if you want to work worldwide and I think we are fast movers.”
Bert Groothuizen, a spokesperson for speedy Dutch dredging and marine-contracting giant Van Oord, which is eyeing more of the wind-turbine-installation market in Europe.
(Van Oord orders new installation ship for offshore wind market at JJ Sietas.)
“One individual had two boxes attached, one box taped to his leg and one box seemingly taped to his forehead. There were what seemed to be wires attached to them.”
Kevin Ramshaw, of ferry operator Kiwirail, as two devout Jews were mistaken for terrorists on a New Zealand ferry.
“I think the authorities should be doing something. I’m quite surprised; they have the authority to know what cigarettes we are smoking but they can’t catch these guys.”
Hmmm, what have you been smoking, mate?!
A spokesperson for Greek owner Seatrans Management Enterprises after its bulker Michalakis avoided a pirate hijacking attempt.
