Eastern Europe

ST. PETERSBURG/MOSCOW. Feb 16 (Interfax) - Russia will allocate 30 billion rubles from the National Welfare Fund (NWF) for water transport leasing in 2023, Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Viktor Yevtukhov told Interfax."In 2024 [financing will be] ...

MOSCOW. Feb 16 (Interfax) - Avet Mirakyan's Insight may become the buyer of the Russian leasing subsidiary of the American Deere & Co , the world's largest manufacturer of agricultural machinery and equipment.The deal, which involves the Insight I...

MOSCOW. Feb 16 (Interfax) - The number of hydrocarbon field development projects submitted for state expert review in 2022 has dropped, of particular concern is the increasing deviation of oil companies from the approved production levels in field develop...

MOSCOW. Feb 16 (Interfax) - Ukraine's electricity imports have declined owing to the increased scope for generation in the higher generation in the country itself, however the opportunity for imports is always open, said Vladimir Kudritsky, the head o...

MOSCOW. Feb 16 (Interfax) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has downgraded its growth forecast for Ukraine's economy to 1% for 2023 from the 8% growth that the EBRD had expected in September 2022, according to the EBRD'...

MOSCOW. Feb 16 (Interfax) - The State Duma passed in passed a bill in the second and third readings which suspends through January 1, 2024 the Budget Code provision according to which the National Welfare Fund may be invested only when the liquid assets i...

YEKATERINBURG. Feb 16 (Interfax) - There is currently no opportunity for the systemic liberalization of foreign exchange controls in Russia, with restrictions on cash withdrawals and foreign exchange transfers set to be extended, Central Governor Elvira N...

YEKATERINBURG. Feb 16 (Interfax) - The Central Bank of Russia's signal about the future course of monetary policy remains in effect: the rate could be increased if risks materialize."As for the decision in March [at the board meeting on monetary p...

MOSCOW. Feb 15 (Interfax) - The death rate in Russia declined by 22% in 2022 from 2021, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said on Wednesday."The death rate has declined by 22% from 2021," Golikova said at a meeting on the opening of n...

KHABAROVSK. Feb 15 (Interfax) - The limited liability company Tumninsky Priisk will invest around one billion rubles to create a timber processing center in the Khabarovsk Territory with an annual capacity of over 200,000 cubic meters of products, the Rus...

MOSCOW. Feb 15 (Interfax) - The introduction of limits on the Urals oil price discount to Brent in oil taxation will preserve Russian budget revenues in 2023 in the amount of 660 billion rubles, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Sazanov said in a State Duma ...

MOSCOW. Feb 15 (Interfax) - A tax collection from large businesses in the windfall tax format will definitely not be implemented via existing taxes, while the option of a mandatory payment, which is preferable for the companies themselves, is possible, De...

ROSTOV-ON-DON. Feb 15 (Interfax) - Rostselmash , a major Russian farm machinery manufacturer, plans to increase the volumes of export to Kazakhstan and African countries and to compensate with it for the losses of some markets due to the anti-Russian sanc...

MOSCOW. Feb 15 (Interfax) - Global Ports Investments plc has applied to the UK Financial Conduct Authority and London Stock Exchange to cancel the admission of its GDRs to trading with effect from April 11, 2023, the company said in a statement.The compan...

TBILISI. Feb 15 (Interfax) - Georgia recorded inflation at 9.4% in 2022, according to the National Statistics Office of Georgia.Consumer prices in the country grew by 13.9% the previous year.The National Statistics Office says that the level of annual inf...

MOSCOW. Feb 15 (Interfax) - The planned repairs of a number of power generating units at Ukraine's nuclear and thermal power plants, as well as an end of a flood, might cause electricity shortages, DTEK Executive Director Dmitry Sakharuk said."The...

BRUSSELS. Feb 15 (Interfax) - The European Commission has proposed imposing a ban on exports of certain products to Russia, among them electronic components, various spare parts, transportation vehicles, and elements of jet engines, European Commission Pr...

MINSK. Feb 15 (Interfax) - Output by farms of all categories in Belarus grew 3.4% at constant prices in January 2023 to 1.6 billion Belarusian rubles at current prices, the National Statistical Committee (Belstat) said.Agricultural organizations raised ou...

MOSCOW. Feb 15 (Interfax) - The State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection has opened 91 international markets for supplies of Ukrainian livestock products and agreed on a number of forms of international export certificates for these...

BRUSSELS. Feb 15 (Interfax) - The defense ministers of the NATO member states have agreed to increase support to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, and Moldova to enhance their defense capabilities, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday....

YEKATERINBURG. Feb 15 (Interfax) - The number of DDoS attacks on financial organizations in Russia quadrupled last year, with the total number of cyber threats increasing by 2%, CBR deputy governor Philipp Gabunia said during the "Insuring Against Cyb...

MOSCOW. Feb 15 (Interfax) - The Russian State Duma on Tuesday passed the government's bill on the use of discounts against the price of Brent crude when calculating mineral extraction tax (MET), excess profit tax (EPT) and the reverse oil excise, as w...

MOSCOW. Feb 15 (Interfax) - Ukraine produced 1.13 million tonnes of nitrogen fertilizers in 2022, down 78.3% from 5.2 million tonnes in 2021, Ukrainian media reported, citing a social media post by the Agrarian Policy and Food Ministry.Imports increased 3...

CHISINAU. Feb 15 (Interfax) - The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is fully aware of the current problems faced by Moldova and the North Macedonian presidency backs the country in resolving these problems, OSCE Chairperson-in-Of...

MOSCOW. Feb 15 (Interfax) - The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) have jointly appealed for the allocation of $5.6 billion in aid for people affected by the Ukraine crisis.Ukraini...

MOSCOW. Feb 15 (Interfax) - Russia's Finance Ministry is not currently considering the matter of waiving the tax maneuver in the oil industry, State Secretary and Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Sazanov said when speaking at the State Duma."Given t...

MOSCOW. Feb 15 (Interfax) - Gazprom Capital will place additional issues of local bonds in dollars and British pounds in order to replace the outstanding Eurobonds of Gazprom maturing in 2027 and 2024, respectively, according to the company's disclosu...

MOSCOW. Feb 15 (Interfax) - The Russian Federation Council session due March 1 has been moved forward to February 22 at the government's request due to the need to adopt laws related to the Tax and Budget Codes, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Ma...

MOSCOW. Feb 15 (Interfax) - Ukraine will not encounter a food crisis in 2023, and the available resources are sufficient to supply the country with all groups of agricultural products, head of the Verkhovna Rada's agrarian and land policy committee Al...

ASTANA. Feb 15 (Interfax) - Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has endorsed a constitutional law to declare the constitutional law on the first president of the Republic of Kazakhstan void, the presidential press service said on Wednesday.Both houses ...

MOSCOW. Feb 15 (Interfax) - A medical commission has cleared Russian cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov, a backup for cosmonaut Andrei Fedyayev who will fly to the International Space Station (ISS) on the U.S. Crew Dragon spaceship on February 26, the Gagarin C...

BERLIN. Feb 15 (Interfax) - The Swiss Federal Office of Justice resolved on Wednesday that a possible confiscation of Russian private assets kept at Swiss banks and their utilization for Ukraine's recovery would be unlawful."The working group [......

ASTANA. Feb 15 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan has yet to ship 20,000 tonnes of oil via the Druzhba pipeline to Germany with commercial negotiations between the supplier and the buyer ongoing, Kazakh Deputy Energy Minister Askhat Khasenov said at a briefing Wedne...

ALMATY. Feb 15 (Interfax) - Nostrum Oil & Gas plc, the parent company of Kazakhstan-based oil producer Zhaikmunai LLP, has made changes to its board of directors following the restructuring of two issues of senior notes, the company said in a press releas...

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - Russian retail chains are counting on the ongoing supply of vegetables and fruits from Turkey, and expect no delays due to the earthquake.Retail chains currently are not experiencing any issues with deliveries from Turkey, incl...

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - The damage sustained by the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft and the Progress MS-21 resupply ship, both docked to the International Space Station (ISS), is similar but may have different causes, Roscosmos head Yury Borisov said."An e...

MINSK. Feb 13 (Interfax) - The Belarus government expects the second unit of the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant to be connected to the network in March, Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko said."All measures relating to the start-up phase are being carri...

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - The Anti-monopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) has cleared the Cyprus-registered Namsen Limited, controlled by Andrei Verevsky, chairman of the board of directors of the Kernel agricultural group, to increase his stake in the Lu...

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - The Supervisory Board of the Ukrainian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (UBRR) has appointed Leung Ka Man the bank's deputy CEO and board member until February 7, 2025.Leung Ka Man headed the trade and working capita...

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - A large asteroid, around 800 meters in diameter, will pass by Earth at a distance of 4.6 million kilometers on February 16, the Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics of the Russian Academy of Sciences said."Scientific co...

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - Life expectancy in Russia increased to 72.6 years in 2022, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said."Life expectancy increased to 72.6 years, the infant death rate declined, more than 1,600 primary care [healthca...

MINSK. Feb 13 (Interfax) - A program of cooperation between the Foreign Ministries of Belarus and Hungary for 2023 was signed in Minsk following talks between Foreign Ministers Sergei Aleinik and Peter Szijjarto.The cooperation program between the two cou...

BAKU. Feb 13 (Interfax) - OJSC Azerenerji on Monday started to expand its thermal power plant in Mingachevir, which is the largest in the South Caucasus region, by constructing new generating capacity of 1,280 MW."According to information provided to ...

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - Kiev has received two solar power facilities from Roy Group Energy, a French producer of photovoltaic panels, as humanitarian assistance, Ukrainian media said, citing the press service of Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klichko.They will be ...

BAKU. Feb 13 (Interfax) - Gas production in Azerbaijan rose 4% year-on-year in January 2023 to 4.2 billion cubic meters, the Energy Ministry said.This includes 1.1 billion cubic meters of associated petroleum gas produced at the ACG, or Azeri-Chirag-Gunas...

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - JSC Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukrainian Railways) and Moldova's Calea Ferata din Moldova (CFM) railway operator agreed at their delegations' meeting on February 10 to enhance cooperation within the next three years to boost cargo...

ALMATY. Feb 13 (Interfax) - Kazakh Electricity Grid Operating Company (KEGOC) is making efforts to switch the power plants in six southern regions to full capacity to compensate for the power loss and restore electricity supply.A failure at the Ekibastuz-...

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Ukraine's foreign- and domestic-currency long-term issuer ratings and foreign-currency senior unsecured debt ratings to Ca from Caa3 and changed the outlook to stable from negati...

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will provide a loan of $100 million to MHP Food Trading LLC, a subsidiary of major Ukrainian agricultural holding MHP Group, to enable sufficient financing to cover th...

NOVOSIBIRSK. Feb 14 (Interfax) - The Kazakh airline Qazaq Air has resumed flights from Astana to Novosibirsk, the press service of Novosibirsk's Tolmachevo Airport, which is part of the Novaport holding, said."There are two flights a week, on Tues...