Norilsk's motives are also fairly clear: Mr Potanin would like to get a foothold outside Russia in case the government there decides to bully metals producers as it has done Yukos, the country's largest oil company.
There can be no stability and prosperity in the Russian empire, now called the Russian Federation, until Russia's government honestly and unequivocally decides finally to decolonise and allows plebiscites to determine which autonomous republics or regions want to remain part of the Russian Federation, and which would rather say goodbye.