Author: Steven Sahiounie

The move would see the retail giant completely withdraw from the country. Swedish company Ingka Group, the owner of IKEA stores and Mega shopping malls in Russia, plans to sell all its real estate in the country, RBK reported on Friday, citing sources in the retail market. According to the news outlet, the company has begun its search for a buyer for its entire real estate portfolio, which equates to more than 2.3 million square meters of property. That includes 14 Mega malls, 17 IKEA stores, and several plots of land on which construction was planned but has not yet…

The Spanish social affairs minister, Ione Belarra, has called on the government to bring down prices of basic products by introducing discounts, as food costs continue to rise in the country amid double-digit inflation. A reduction in value added tax (VAT, known in Spain as IVA) has proven insufficient as prices for essentials are still “the highest,” Belarra posted on Twitter on Thursday. She urged the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) to subsidize the basic consumer basket by 14%. The minister also proposed bringing prices down to levels seen prior to the conflict in Ukraine, adding that Spanish “families can’t wait any…

Spending on new cars in Russia more than halved last year due to the impact of Western sanctions and to surging prices, Reuters reported on Friday, citing analytical agency Autostat. The latest figures show that Russians spent 1.5 trillion rubles ($20.4 billion) or 52% less on new cars last year, while the number of new cars sold dropped by 58.8% as prices soared sharply, disrupting sales. Automobile production also slumped to its lowest since the early 1990s, the outlet said, as Western car makers halted production and sold factories. Russia’s automobile industry, which is heavily reliant on foreign investment and…

America is no longer as tempting a place of residence for the world’s wealthy as it was before the Covid-19 pandemic, a newly released Wealth Report by London-based immigration consultancy Henley & Partners has found. According to the report, inflows of high-net-worth individuals to the country dropped more than 80% last year compared with pre-pandemic levels. The figure fell to just 1,500 millionaires in 2022, from up to 10,800 between 2013 and 2019. The report states that “the country is losing its luster among migrating millionaires” and “the ‘American Dream’ is now on life-support.” The report also noted that the countries where…

Nearly half of Russians have successfully found domestic substitutes for foreign products made unavailable due to sanctions, RIA Novosti reported on Wednesday, citing a poll by NielsenIQ research company. According to the findings, over the past year, 47% of Russians “have completely switched to locally produced brands or began to buy products of local production more often.” About a third of respondents did not change their preferences and continued to buy the same brands they used to before 2022, and 17% switched to new brands, but also of foreign production. Respondents offered several reasons for turning to local brands. Over…

Now, it must pour billions of dollars into rebuilding 11 southeastern provinces flattened by the February 6 tremor — the worst disaster of its post-Ottoman history. That money will have to come on top of the billions of dollars in election promises that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made in the run-up to crucial polls still tentatively planned for May 14. All this cash could turbo-charge consumer spending and industrial production — two key indicators of economic growth. The problem for Erdogan, however, is that Turkey is very short of funds. The central bank’s vanishing coffers have been replenished by…

LONDON — A tight labor market and comparatively slow return to earth for inflation means the Bank of England is likely to press ahead with a further interest rate hike in March, economists suggest. The market probability of a further 25 basis point increase at the Monetary Policy Committee’s next meeting nudged up past 73% on Wednesday before sliding back to around 66% by Thursday morning, according to Refinitiv data. The U.K. annual inflation rate dipped for a third straight month to 10.1% in January, landing below consensus forecasts, even as high food and energy prices continue to squeeze British households. Although…

Shares DraftKings surged Friday morning after the sports-betting company reported stronger-than-expected revenue and raised its outlook for 2023. The stock closed 15% higher at $20.54, giving it a market value of $8.39 billion. The bump came on the heels of DraftKings being the most downloaded sportsbook app in the U.S. on Super Bowl Sunday, according to the company. States where sports betting is newly legal are boosting sales, too. For its fiscal fourth quarter, Draftkings said its revenue of $855 million is an increase of 81% compared to the $473 million it took in during the same period in 2021. It reported a loss…

Roses are red, violets are blue, if you’re single and rent, more money is due This Valentine’s Day, Zillow has uncovered a heartbreaking truth for apartment-hunting singles: Renters living in a one-bedroom on their own face a yearly “singles tax”1 of nearly $7,000, according to an analysis by Zillow. While singles across the country pay a high price for a solo living arrangement, the size of that “tax” varies widely depending on where they live. The price of living alone in a one-bedroom apartment is the highest in New York City, where StreetEasy data finds that singles pay $19,500 more a year than someone living with a…

Railway engineering workers are set to take part in a series of 48-hour strikes next month due to a pay dispute. The action comes after the workers at infrastructure group Balfour Beatty overwhelmingly rejected the company’s offer of a 5.5% increase in pay. Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union will take strike action between the 3-5 March, 10-12 March, and 17-19 March – with each of the walkouts starting at 10pm on the Friday and ending at 10am on the Sunday. “These highly skilled workers have had enough of not been offered a decent wage rise”, said RMT general…