Category: Analysis

Other Power Women – A View from Eurasia

On Oct 08 2010

: Image via Wikipedia

I was recently a reporter on the Forbes Power Women list; indeed I have been working on the list since its inception five or so years ago. This year, the list is a bit different; glammed up to be sure.

If I would be able to add to the list, I’d definitely look at some players from Eastern Europe and Central Asia making the list a more global. (in no particular order):

*Roza Otunbayeva – Kyrgyzstan’s parliamentary elections are scheduled for this weekend with over 3,000 candidates running for office. Otunbayeva has had a huge role in making this happen. Her interim government took over after the April ouster of former dictator, Kurmanbek Bakiyev. She removed restrictions on independent media and helped ratify a new constitution in June despite ethnic violence that erupted that month. She will lead the country as president until 2011. The mineral rich nation may offer an alternative to China’s dominance in rare earth metals; Otunbayeva will play a large role in developing mining and other economic policies.

*Yulia Tymoshenko – Don’t dismiss the former (two-time) Ukrainian prime minister and one-time presidential candidate. Now leading the opposition, Yulia continues to be a thorn on the side of the current Yanokovych government insisting Ukraine maintain ties with the West.

*Dinara Kulibaeva – Daughter of Kazakhstan’s president for life, Nursultan Nazarbaev, is a billionaire through her holdings in Halyk bank and married to a potential future leader of Kazakhstan, Timur Kulibaev. Though nothing is certain because Nazarbaev keeps his succession close to his chest, clearly Dinara and Timur will remain among the nation’s future power elite.

*Mounissa Chodieva – Daughter of Kazakhstan billionaire, Patokh Chodiev, Mounissa has previously been dubbed by UK papers as Britain’s “first female oligarch.” She and her father, as well as other partners, minted money when Eurasian Natural Resources went public. As head of the company’s investor relations team, Mounissa is heavily invested in managing the company’s image and messaging. I worked with Mounissa several years ago when I wrote a profile of the company prior to IPO and can attest she will continue to be a mover and shaker.

Grazyna Kulczyk – One of Poland’s richest women is know for her support of the arts and for taking Poland up a notch in the contemporary art world. Since 2007, part of her collection has been shown in her redbrick shopping mall, the Stary Browar, a Prussian-era brewery. She also invested in a new conceptual hotel, Blow Up 5050 – both a luxury hostelry and an electronic-art installation.

Kyrgyzstan parties negotiate to form region’s first parliamentary democracy (theglobeandmail.com)

Rich Lists

By admin

On Sep 24 2010

In Analysis, Billionaires

: Image via Wikipedia

This week the Forbes 400 Richest Americans list came out (which I worked on) amidst the backdrop of the glamorous Clinton Global Initiative. Meanwhile most Americans are doing poorly – recent data from the Federal Reserve states that U.S. household wealth fell by $1.5 trillion in the second quarter, indeed last year’s poverty rate was at a 15 year high. Unemployment is still worrisome, and most people I know are working much harder for much less. So why should we get excited about a rich list which applauds ridiculous accumulations of wealth?

There is substantial economic commentary behind the numbers. As editor Luisa Kroll notes in her intro, more than half of the leaders on the list increased their fortunes. That means money is being made, which means hope for the U.S. economy. As one former editor of the list used to say, if the people on the 400 make money, it trickles down and the rest of us make money. Tech is one area that remains hot and should be the focus of U.S. investment in education and R&D spending.

Another rich list that I recently worked on, Thailand’s 40 Richest, tells an even more interesting tale. The country faced political uproar in May that saw its stock exchange set on fire. Yet the economy rebounded well beyond where it was a year ago. Behind the surface political instability is a nation which finds balance in its long reigning monarch, King Bhumibol (who happens to be the world’s richest royal). Rising incomes are also boosting businesses. Both factors have led investors to pour money into the market. But whether King Bhumibol’s successor will have the same effect when the time comes is up in the air.

So then you can get into the celebrity and drama which is why Warren Buffet appears with Jay-Z on the Forbes 400 web page. Shakespeare would also have a field day: fallen titans, divorce, mental illness. Have a read.

Spring and the Business of Green

By admin

On Apr 07 2010

In Analysis

Consecutive 70 degree days in NYC and I finally feel Spring is really here!

April’s theme at Global Markets is the Business of Green. We have some interesting guest writers to come, and I will be looking at what green means in Central and Eastern Europe. A friend of mine in Romania who is planning to put solar panels on his roof led me to an organization dedicated to promoting green building in the region. Central and Eastern Europe has definitely gotten a boost from the European Union’s very strong green movement. For example, Armenia has launched an EU-funded Web portal Renewable Energy Armenia. Ukraine has benefitted from green funding from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Georgia is exploring a carbon credit program. Some countries have longer to go than others – the coal mining towns in Ukraine’s East need much cleaning up after the pitfalls of Soviet industrialization. The scariest information I ever heard was when I took a demography class with Murray Feshbach who has been chronicling the death of the environment in Russia for decades. He is now with the Woodrow Wilson Center.

For more “green” info check out Ecoseed which says it is a comprehensive green news site.

Leaders on the Horizon: Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina

By admin

On Mar 26 2010

In Analysis

Delly Beekman, the incoming president of The Association of Junior Leagues International Inc., recently called the civic leaders among us to action in a guest post. It got me to thinking of the work of civic leaders who have inspired me, in particular the women I have researched for Forbes’ Most Powerful Women in the World list. There are two names that may one day be added to the list depending on how they fare in 2010 elections. I may not share their politics but I am impressed by both.

Margaret (Meg) Whitman is the billionaire business mogul who built Ebay and is now worth $1.3 billion; she cochaired John McCain’s stunted presidential run and hasn’t looked back. She may spend up to $150 million to become cash-strapped California’s new chief in November (even more than Michael Bloomberg spent on winning his third term as New York City mayor). Those millions seem well allocated: a recent poll by the Public Policy Institute of California indicated Whitman has a lead over likely competitors (she still has to win her Republican primary in June).

Another fellow California tech mogul and McCain supporter, Carleton S. “Carly” Fiorina, is running for U.S. Senate. Fiorina is perhaps better armed for the challenge. The former chief of Hewlett-Packard orchestrated the $19 billion merger of H-P and Compaq against fierce opposition from the H-P founders’ families, led principally by Walter Hewlett, son of H-P founder Bill Hewlett. She is facing similar catcalls in her Senate race, but is aggressively moving forward and recently made headway in the polls. She is also putting out controversial attack ads.(Demon Sheep Ad)

Back in 2003, I wrote a book review of two books about Fiorina stating “she is clearly poised to make history.” I should have said she continues to make history.

Only 2 Women Billionaires in Eastern Europe, Russia and rest of CIS

By admin

On Mar 15 2010

In Analysis

Where are all the women? We’re Half the Sky as but we’re always underrepresented as Catalyst reasearch points out (see my previous post titled International Women’s Day). The same is true for Eastern Europe, Russia and the rest of the CIS where only 2 women reached Forbes billionaire ranks out of some 40 or so total women on the 1,011 long list.

The richest in the region is Elena Baturina who returned to the list after a rebound in Russia; her net worth: $2.9 billion. The wife of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov (who has been in power since 1992) runs Inteko which started out in furniture and crockery then moved into construction. Her real estate projects were hard hit by the 2008 financial crisis but she is back building affordable housing for Russia’s rising middle class. She also reportedly has interests in Africa, a continent where several CIS oligarchs are looking to expand. Though rumors swirl about favoritism in winning city contracts because of her family connections, nothing sticks; Baturina is aggressive about maintaining a clean reputation.

The other is Dinara Kulibaeva, the media-shy second daughter of Kazakhstan’s long-serving president Nursultan Nazarbaev and wife of Timur Kulibaev, also a billionaire and rumored to be a potential successor to Nazarbaev. She also returns to the Forbes billionaires list; her fortune is estimated at $1.1 billion resting on her shared stake in Halyk Bank which received hundreds of millions of dollars in bailout funds from the government post 2008/2009 financial crisis.

The common thread between the two is the connection to powerful men. Though the Soviet State introduced equal gender rights and formal equality under law and this should have been grandfathered into newly independent states, the theory has not always played out in practice. Some states in Central Asia (Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) have even taken steps backward since the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union with discrimination against women rising.

More Billionaires in Eastern Europe, Russia and rest of CIS says Forbes

By admin

On Mar 10 2010

In Analysis

2009 was a year of recovery for the World’s Billionaires as a whole reports Forbes (for whom I have been freelancing). The wealthiest in Eastern Europe, Russia and the CIS states improved their fortunes as commodities markets recovered and world stock markets rose.

Poland, a success story among transition economies, but which had only 1 billionaire on the list last year, Zygmunt Solorz-Zak, is back with 4 billionaires. In addition to Solorz-Zak, Jan Kulczyk, Leszek Czarnecki and Michal Solowow return to the Forbes billionaires list. Kulczyk, who was last on the Forbes list in 2006, is strengthened by his energy holdings.

Dinu Patriciu, Romania’s richest billionaire, is also making a big push in energy, going after licenses to explore for oil and metals in the Black Sea; in January he even got patent for a method of mining and processing seabed sediment.

Despite the fact Romania’s GDP contracted an estimated 7% in 2009 and its hopes to introduce the euro by 2014 may be thwarted by collapsing euro-economies like Greece, the country saw the return of former tennis ace, Ion Tiriac, to the Forbes billionaires list and added one new billionaire, Ioan Niculae, who has interests in agriculture.

Indeed it was a good year for agriculture – the world’s rising population needs to be fed. Andrej Babis joined the Forbes list as a new billionaire from the Czech Republic; his Agrofert agricultural holding company keeps growing and may be looking at European expansion plans. Along the same theme, two new Russian billionaires, Andrei Guriev, and Anatoly Lomakin, made their fortune in fertilizers; and fellow Russians Pyotr Kondrashev and Vyacheslav Kantor return to the billionaires list based on their interests in the fertilizer business.

Category: Analysis

Other Power Women – A View from Eurasia

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Rich Lists

Spring and the Business of Green

Leaders on the Horizon: Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina

Only 2 Women Billionaires in Eastern Europe, Russia and rest of CIS

More Billionaires in Eastern Europe, Russia and rest of CIS says Forbes