Russia pays price for playing dirty

BY Matt Atkins

Shareholders of the now defunct oil giant Yukos celebrated on Monday after an international arbitration panel ordered Russia to pay $50bn in damages for bankrupting the company.

The Hague court said Russian officials had manipulated the legal system to bankrupt Yukos, and jail its founder, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, for 10 years.

The court of arbitration rejected the Kremlin’s argument that the asset seizure was due to unpaid taxes, and described Russia’s actions as “devious and calculated expropriation". The Russian finance ministry has hit back, saying said the ruling was "flawed", "one-sided" and "politically biased". The ministry added that the Permanent Court for Arbitration in The Hague "had no jurisdiction to consider the questions it was given". The country is expected to appeal against the ruling.

The claim against the state was filed by a subsidiary for the financial holding company GML, once the biggest shareholder in Yukos Oil Co. "The majority shareholders of Yukos Oil were left without compensation for the loss of their investment when Russia illegally expropriated Yukos," said GML's Executive Director Tim Osborne. "It is a major step forward for the majority shareholders, who have been battling for over 10 years for this decision."

Responding to the news, Mr Khordorkovsky, who was at one point Russia's richest man, said it was "fantastic" that shareholders were "being given chance to recover assets". Mr Khodorkovsky forged  Yukos into Russia's largest investor-owned oil company following the collapse of the Soviet Union. He was arrested in 2003 and spent a decade in jail after being convicted of fraud and tax evasion but was pardoned last December. At the time of his arrest, he had been seen as a potential political rival to Vladamir Putin.

The question now is whether Russia will pay up. The Kremlin denies any wrongdoing, and payment of the fine under the ruling would prove an acceptance of defeat. Even if the state does not voluntarily accept the ruling, it can be enforced by shareholders seizing assets abroad. Shareholders of GML, however, have said that they are prepared to discuss the matter with Russia, according to a company spokesman.

News: Yukos shareholders say would talk to Russia over $50 billion compensation

Canada emphasises home-grown talent

For a number of years, Canada has recognised the importance of immigration to its economic and cultural development. However, the country’s immigration principles place significant importance on employing home talent first – temporary foreign workers should be a last resort, and are generally viewed as a temporary solution to shortages in the labour market.

FW speaks with Howard Greenberg, a partner at KPMG, about corporate immigration in Canada.

10Questions: Corporate immigration in Canada

South Korea receives shot in arm

BY Matt Atkins

In response to a decline in economic activity, South Korea has announced a $40bn stimulus package to help turn around the country’s sluggish output. The package has been earmarked largely to support small and medium enterprises and boost the property market.

This is the second attempt to boost growth this year, after the South Korean government pushed through a $15bn stimulus plan in April.

Data released on Thursday 24 July revealed the extent of South Korea’s decline. While GDP grew 3.6 percent from a year earlier in the second quarter, the figure represents a slowdown of 0.3 percent on the first quarter of 2014.

South Korea is Asia’s fourth-largest economy, but relies heavily on exports which have suffered from low global demand. In addition, the country has been hit hard by the sinking of the Sewol ferry, which claimed the lives of 300 people. Earlier in July, South Korea’s central bank lowered its forecast for economic growth, citing the impact of the tragedy on consumption.

The country’s finance ministry lowered the country's growth forecast for this year from 3.9 percent from 3.7 percent – the second revision in recent weeks. The new stimulus package marks the first push by recently appointed finance minister, Choi Kyung-hwan, to introduce promised aggressive measures to bolster growth.

News: S Korea reveals $40bn stimulus package as growth slows

Skills gap hampers recruitment efforts

BY Matt Atkins

A PwC report suggests businesses are planning a recruitment drive in the next 12 months as growth approaches pre-2008 levels. Organisations in the emerging markets are expected to make the most net hires, particularly in the Middle East, South East Asia and China. The most active sectors are expected to be business services, insurance and technology.

Despite this positive outlook, business leaders are worried about filling the roles they need most. Almost two-thirds of firms (63 percent) are concerned about the availability of candidates with the right skills, a 5 percent increase on 2013. CEOs in Africa, South East Asia and South Africa are particularly alarmed by the lack of skills. Technology and engineering firms are feeling the brunt of the problem.

This skills gap is only expected to increase, causing continuing headaches for emerging nations. For the past few years, large multinationals have been busy cherry-picking the best talent from these regions. In countries such as China and India, where wages are increasing and working conditions improving, employees are beginning to favour domestic employers. However, western firms are now widening their search for new talent into Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Business leaders are looking to the authorities to do more to help to plug the skills gap. Two in five CEOs say creating a skilled workforce should be a government priority and over half believe regulation is hampering their efforts to attract talent.

However, the overwhelming majority of business leaders believe they need to change their approach to attracting and retaining talent, though the majority have yet to do so.

“Business leaders are looking for people with a far wider range of skills than ever before,” says Michael Rendell, global HR consulting leader at PwC. “Gone are the days of life-time careers; chameleonlike employees who apply their skills whenever and wherever they’re needed are now in high demand. Businesses need to get out of the mindset that new skills equals new people. The most successful organisations will combine recruitment with developing their own people to be more adaptable to its changing plans.”

Report: The talent challenge: Adapting to growth

BRICS bank to reshape international finance

BY Matt Atkins

Tuesday 16 July saw the leaders of the BRICS nations launch a $100bn development bank and currency reserve pool aimed at funding development projects in emerging nations. The move has been heralded as the first concrete step toward reshaping a Western-dominated international financial system, symbolised by the IMF and World Bank.

Based in Shanghai, the bank will be led by India for the first five years, followed by Brazil and then Russia. The new bank reflects the growing influence of the BRICS, which account for almost half the world's population and approximately one-fifth of global economic output.

The bank will begin with a subscribed capital of $50bn divided equally between its five founders (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), with an initial total of $10bn in cash put in over seven years and $40bn in guarantees. It is scheduled to start lending in 2016 and be open to membership by other countries, but the capital share of the BRICS cannot drop below 55 percent.

The contingency currency pool will be held in the reserves of each BRICS country and can be shifted to another member to cushion balance-of-payments difficulties. China will contribute the bulk of the contingency currency pool, at $41bn. Brazil, India and Russia will put in $18bn each and South Africa $5bn.

Negotiations to create the bank lasted two years as Brazil and India fought China’s attempts to get a bigger share in the lender than the others.

Negotiations over the headquarters and first presidency lasted until Monday 15 July due to further differences between India and China. These difficulties reflect the issues Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have faced in reconciling their economic and political differences.

While Brazil and India have prevailed in keeping equal equity at the bank’s launch, there are still some fears that China, as the world's second largest economy, could try to assert greater influence over the bank to expand its political influence.

News: BRICS set up bank to counter Western hold on global finances