PALMRUS-LIST (listserv)

Palmrus-list Augments Palms Portal.

It is a discussion group for those with investment portfolios in Russia and CIS. Subscription is free.

TO SUBSCRIBE

Send message to: russia@aa.net

In message text type: subscribe palmrus-list <your e-mail address>

Please provide a biography, so we can introduce you to other members of the list

TO UNSUBSCRIBE

Send message to: russia@aa.net

In message text type: unsubscribe palmrus-list <your e-mail address>

If you are in Russia and have to pay per kilobyte for incoming e-mail you can request "titles only" to save cost. We will then send titles requested only. Please don't unsubscribe due to the volume being higher than you wish. We want Russian colleagues.

TO POST MESSSAGES:

Send message to: russia@aa.net

Palmrus-list is a moderated list and all posted messages are reviewed before being sent to the entire group. This is done to avoid commercial advertisements and flames.

The list is now maintained manually and all postings should be directed to <russia@aa.net> as follows:

FOCUS

This list is comprised primarily of INVESTORS who have a background in corporate finance, venture capital, economics, trade, investment, or of those involved with matters relating thereto, such as monetary policy, economic policies and regulations and financial matters relating to financing economic reconstruction and changes in the environment, law, health, and education of Russia - The Baltics - Central Eurasia and the Former Soviet Union. Most members have personally invested in Russia for several years.

Among the members are officers in Fortune 500 companies, investment bankers, attorneys, economists, industrial engineers, Nobel laureates and government agencies which provide economic aid.

TO START

We urge you to send a biographical sketch to <russia@aa.net> so we may introduce you to existing members.

POLICY

We do not post the following:

• Travel information requests
• Job solicitation
• Product marketing
• Capital requests
• Impolite and disrespectful demeanor
• Use of the list-server as a mailbox for private communication
• Items unrelated to the purposes of the list

We ask members to limit their use of kb to what is necessary and pertinent and useful, no more and no less. There is an official limit of 100kb on the size of postings but please use good judgment.

When e-mailing Russian participants, please be brief. Request permission to send longer messages and advise the length of such messages, before sending them. The Russian e-mail system is comparable to collect calls without the opportunity to acept the charges.

Thank you and I hope you find the listserv useful,

Dr. Petrus Joannes. van de Waal-Palms, IV

aka Dr. Pyotr Joannevich van de Waal-Palms

President

Palms & Company, Inc., Investment Bankers

Tel 1 (206) 828-6774

RECENT POSTINGS

Recent postings available to new members (we are not presently archiving postings):

Postings December 1996

1. USA assistance to Russia

2. New York Branch Inkombank steals American investors money

3. Izvetstia reports crime in Russia

4. Russia Encyclopedia project

5. Russian Ministries have graft of $450 million dollars

6. Population of Russia decreases by 1 million in 1996

7. Russian GDP fall further - Wage not paid 40.000.000.000.000,00 72 trillion rubles taxes not collected. Pensions very low.

8. Possibilities to convert Russian trade credits to hard currency

9. Russian government sells all remaining gold

10. Russian diamond mines receive U.S. credits

11. 700 books available free to every Russian.

12. GDP - Wage Arrears - Unpaid Taxes

13. Gazprom stoc prices according to nationality

14. Ruble uncnvertible - gold reserves sold

15. Contract Killng part of the rules of doing business

16. Norilsk Nickel - two sets of books

17. Crime economy now 40% of Russian economy says police chief

18. Moral decay continues in Ukraine and Russia - population disheartened

Highlights of March - May 1996 postings to Palmport-list:

• 1. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COMMAND SYSTEM AND MARKET SYSTEM IN ALLOCATING RESOURCES AND CAPITAL TO INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY
• 2. MISSION STATEMENT OF THE ECONOMIC TRANSITION GROUP - RUSSIA A group of 44 prominent economists. The group includes 5 Nobel Laureates and the heads of the major economic research institutes within the Russian Academy of Sciences.
• 3. Criminal Financial Dealings Dramatically Increased in Russia Russian Editor Reveals Mafia Connection .Alexander Zhiln is Editor for the Moscow Newspaper Moskovskie Novosti. The original article appeared in Prism and in Transition, the newsletter of the World Bank, about reforming economies.
• 4. U.S. COMPUTER MAKER IBM HALTS RUSSIAN FACTORY PRODUCING $1 BILLION IN SALES (investor's analysis).
• 5. OLD PRIME BANK NOTE SCHEME NOW BEING USED IN RUSSIA AND THE BALTICS
• 6. Government Accounting Office report to Congress: Foreign Assistance: Assessment of Selected USAID Projects in Russia(Letter Report, 08/03/95, GAO/NSIAD-95-156).
• 7. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT RUSSIA - 1996 - PROGNOSIS Alexei L. Gorshkoff, Russian Government Bureau of International Humanitarian Aid And Technical Assistance (BIHATA)
• 8. Current world market exchange rates for rubles
• 9. Views of the Minister of Finance of Russian Federation about Russian Economy
• 10. New York Times opinion about Russian investment climate April 28, 1996
• 11. Dialog with Moscow State University about Education of Russian Business-managers
• 12. Results of U.S. Democratic Development Assistance to Russia
• 13. Comment about Russian claim that Lack of capital Poses threat to Russia
• 14. Financing for Leveraged buy-outs of Russian building materials industry
• 15. May 2, 1996 Expatriate American Investor Charles Swan living in Voronezh gets the visa renewal refusal treatment. A Tactic Russians use to get rid of their debts
• 16. Russians must pay $0.10 per kb to access WWW pages located on listservers outside Russia including America. Mirror sites in Russia eliminate that cost and increase exposure.
• 17. Palms Portal to Russia exceeds 400,000 viewers per month.
• 18. U.S. Exports to Russia Growing 19. Why is Russia canceling Nicaragua's $.4 billion debt to Russia 20. Leasing is growing in Russia.

DIALOG AND COMMUNICATION WITH RUSSIAN INSTRUMENTALITIES:

The experience of both U.S. and Russian government agencies and private business during the period 1989-1996 are gradually being assessed. This experience includes economic assistance programs of all types, both for-profit and non-profit as well as private investment experience. The realization is dawning in both countries that there must be a better and more effective way and that results obtained for resources expended must be improved and produce concrete results. Such assessment and evaluations and dialog, will be posted to Palms Portal and the list server.

Dr. Pyotr Joannevich communicates regularly with government officials both in Russia and the U.S. Whenever possible such communication will be posted to the extent they are not confidential. Subscribers are invited to join in this dialog and offer their experiences and ideas for improving delivery of technical assistance dealing with economic development, monetary policy, and economic policies and regulations.

Of particular interest will be actual experience with barriers to trade and commerce and instances of unilateral arbitrary retroactive changes in economic policies and regulations, abuse or disregard for espoused policies and laws, including corruption and crime and its impact upon development of constructive commercial relations.

The purpose is to document where the "level-playing-field" and "rule of law" break down and hamper constructive economic progress.

MANAGEMENT MENTORS:

Since 1989 Dr. Pyotr Joannevich has lectured on entrepreneurship micro-economics, marketing, international trade, corporate finance, and investment banking at the Moscow Business School, Leningrad Management School and Russian Academy of Science in Vladivostok. In addition since 1989 he has conducted Asynchronous 'just-in time' distance education mentorship for General Directors of Russian industry and elected and appointed officials

An ongoing dialog has developed regarding the strategy for revitalizing and re-tooling of industry, the effective utilization of human and natural resources, the creation of self sufficiency in micro-economic geographic regions and the reconstruction of relationships between social and non-profit sectors of the economy and the commercial sector, which are required to generate programs of self-help, boot-strap, and "barn-raising" and eliminate dependency on international aid. Position papers and essays by Dr. Pyotr Josannevich about such matters are largely found in "Commentaries". Assessments by other sources, will usually be found in the "Links" pages of Palms Portal.

Subscribers are encouraged to respond directly to the posted communications of participants with their suggestions and recommendations.

FINANCING BARRIERS:

There is a gap between the large sums of capital ear-marked for investment and the utilization of such capital. International technical assistance is rarely ear-marked for investment and is primarily directed at providing "consulting services" by expatriate experts. These services produce descriptions of problems rather than pre-investment analysis, business plans, feasibility studies, projected operating statements, market studies, that might lead to portfolio creation. Neither Russian industry nor non-Russian capital managers have been willing to finance the expenses of such "due-diligence". As a result, technical assistance has not effectively lead to concrete investment results, nor addressed the need for economic policy and regulatory reform that would be disclosed by such "due-diligence".

Documentation of such gaps will be posted the the list server and the Palms Portal when appropriate and subscribers are invited to participate in a dialog about such gaps.

SUGGESTIONS

Suggestions for improving the effectiveness of Palms Portal are always invited and encouraged. All matters involving economic reconstruction are appropriate. This list is not for pen-pals, social dialog, travel advice, cultural matters unrelated to economic development, student exchange programs, employment searches, or traders notices. It is for politicians and businessmen, NGO's, NPO's, and GO's concerned with creating a level-playing field and rule-of-law climate for economic reconstruction.

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