RusAl is urging City institutions to back it in its attempts to replace and increase Norilsk Nickel’s board. Russian shareholder group AAR is expected to press for a secondary listing of shares in TNK-BP, allowing TNK-BP to raise fresh capital and diluting the current shareholders’ control of the business. Three miners have died in an accident at a Siberian coal mine owned by Evraz Group. Egypt has agreed to supply Lebanon with electricity and natural gas. Gazprom has launched syndication of a $500 million, five-year loan.

Rail operator CSX, will report its second quarter financial results on Tuesday 07/15/08 after the close of the stock market. Art Hatfield, an analyst with Morgan Keegan is forecasting that CSX will meet Wall Street’s estimates. He thinks the impact of high fuel costs will be offset by continuing improvements in the company’s operational efficiencies. CSX has had quite a quarter. Despite a 37+% rise in the shares year to date, 12% this quarter in which the stock market in general has been decimated, and the stock trading near this year’s highs, the company has attracted the ire of a shareholder group comprised of The Children’s Investment Fund (TCI) and 3G Capital Partners. The shareholder group is claiming that CSX is underperforming and could achieve $2.2 billion in annual productivity gains within five years. The group also says profits at CSX could quadruple in five years compared with company forecasts ...